#and people talk about dying slowly and not even realizing like it's some impossible horror

[saltedsolenoid]

[comingtothetree23]

Protecting The Heart (Rewritten)

Paring: Peter Parker x Reader

Word Count: 8.7K

Summary: (Y/n)’s new friend seems fishy, especially since girls’ hearts are being taken. Will Peter and the Avenger save (Y/n) from heartbreak? Literally!

Warnings: Poorly written fight scenes, Idea from Monster High, Swearing, mentions of Sex.

Happy Valentines day!

"Wait, wait wait..." Peter waved a hand to stop you from continuing, "You're telling me this 'old friend' of yours wanted to hang out with you after the world discovered you were an avenger?" You gave him a shrug as you two wait for the meeting to start.

"I mean...yeah?I know it sounds weird but I haven't seen him since I was ten." You looked away for a second, "He was my best friend growing up." Peter frowned as he knew what that meant. You were that loner in class, no friends, no one to talk to....until Peter came into your life. He opened his mouth to say something but then...

“Oh ‘Best Friend’ Sorry Pete you’ve been replaced,” Tony stated as he entered the room, also entering the conversation. everyone turned to look at you and Peter. You quickly turn to look over at him with a smirk.

“If anything Pete replaced him.” You nudged Peter’s shoulder while he just rolled his eyes, “Are you mad? if so, don’t be me and you are way closer than me and Arther ever been.” You gave him your smile he thought was just adorable, you thought the same thing about his smile.

"You two are inseparable," Nat smirked as she took a sip of her drink. You gave her a look Peter couldn't describe and certainly didn't know what it meant.

“Hopefully the guys not mad might get revenge on Parker,” Sam smirked at Peter as you scoffed at that. Arther was the nicest guy ever…Even if he never tried to reach out to you until you became an official Avenger.

“Arther not like that,”

“You don’t know, You haven’t seen since you were ten? Six years can change someone.” Sam warned, making you roll your eyes and pout a little. Arther was your best friend, your only friend for a while there. That had to make him a good person, not judging you before meeting you. 

"Let's just start the meeting." You murmur as you try hiding your face. Peter frowned and intertwined his fingers with yours making you smile. 

"Okay crew, We were sent about this case that seems below our paid rite if you ask me." Tony started standing in front of a projection, "F.R.I.D.A.Y can you do the honors?"

"Yes, Boss.”

You listened to the A.I with a bored expression, it’s the same thing. Pictures came on screen making your eyes wide and sit up straighter as you stare in horror.

“14 Teenage girls were found dead in their homes.” Everyone stared at the screen where they showed some of the crime scenes, “The bodies are only missing one thing, their hearts.” your eyes widen even more at that, “All the bodies were found in their own houses, no sign of struggle or breaking and entering.” The next thing F.R.I.D.A.Y says making your heart race, "All the girls are in the age range 15-18 in this area.“ You didn’t fail to notice everyone’s eyes move over to you.

"Any leads?" Steve wondered as more and more pictures are shown on the screen of the girls. 

"There are no leads." 

"No leads, no evidence?” You mumbled before looking over at Peter, who was looking down in thought.

“That’s impossible. There’s no way you can’t leave evidence at a crime scene.” Peter spoke up before leaning his head on his hand, “This makes no sense,”

 "I’m pretty sure people have left crime scenes without making evidence.“ You leaned back in your seats while in deep thought. 

"Technically, no. You can’t have a crime scene without evidence. Practically, yes. You can have a crime scene without evidence.” Tony explained to you all, making you all look at him confused.

"So, no struggle or breaking and entering?" You looked at the screen seeing the girl's bodies with a hole in their chest, making you shutter, "T-That can't be right." 

“ We'll figure that out later." Nat spoke up, "Me, Steve, and Tony will go to some of the crime scenes.” She looked over at Steve and Tony, "Sam and Bucky you go talk to the girl’s parents…“ You stopped listening to her as you thought of the girls, having their hearts ripped out sounded extremely painful. You hated that you couldn’t have helped them in time.

” Peter, you will continue to do your patrols but keep an eye out for anything suspicious.“ You frowned as you looked at Nat, she was stoned-face, like she usually was.

"Nat, what about me?" you question as she turned and look at you. You and Nat became close friends right as you joined the avengers. Nat seemed to think for a moment before speaking up.

"...You will join Peter-"

"What!?"

"Nat you can't be serious."

"She's a target!" Nat raised a hand to silence the crowd.

"You will join Peter but if anything serious happens you will stay in the tower where it's safe. Alright." You looked at her and she had a look you knew she was right. You hesitantly nodded as she gives you a tiny smile, "Alright team, head out."

Who made her in charge?” 

“Yea, I though I was the leader.” Steven frowned.

~~

"Pete, C'mon let me go." You grunted as you tried to walk. It was hard since Peter was acting like a koala and hugging you tightly, not letting you go, "I have plans!" 

"Cancel them!" Peter yelled tucking his face in your neck, "It’s dangerous out there! You could be hurt.” 

"Is it about those girls? Pete, I have training I'll be fine!" You tried to argue but Peter started putting more of his weight on you, making you fall.

"Pete."

"Hmm?" 

"We're on the floor now." You tried crossing your arms but Peter tightened his arms around you and now it kinda hurts. Peter didn't seem to care you guys were on the floor since he snuggled his face into your hair. You closed your eyes with a sigh as you messed with his curls.

"And then I said- Why in hell are you two on the floor!?" Sam asked as he and Bucky entered in the living room to see you two on the floor.

"Pete's being a baby and isn't letting me go meet up with Arthur." You explained as you stare up at the two men standing above you.

"Oh, makes sense." they shrugged and walked over to sit on the couch, completely ignoring you two on the floor.

"What!? No! Help me! Pete!" You yelled as you started to struggle in Peter's arms, which honestly didn't do anything for you since he's supa strong.

"Outta Luck, (L/n)," Bucky smirks as he sits back and watched some dumb movie. You groaned loudly as you finally stop struggling.

"You guys suck!"

"We know."

"Yep."

You sat there for a moment staring at the ceiling thinking about how you could get out. You looked over at Peter to see his eyes were closed and face tucked into your neck, breath tickling your neck. Your wide widen as an idea came into your head.

"...you can come with me. If it makes you feel better." You watched for his reaction, He opened his eyes and looked at you confused, "You can come with me to meet Arthur. I’m sure he won’t mind.” You shrugged as you looked back up at Peter, who was thinking the idea over.

"W-would you mind?" Came his shy voice making you smile a little. Peter was always kind and never wanted you to feel uncomfortable, which you loved.

"Of course, I don't want you worrying all day." You brushed your hand through his curls, making him sigh contently, "Even if everything would be okay."

"You don't know that, (Y/n)." peter frowned as he stared into your eyes, "It took us until 14 girls to realize this man is out there. He knows what he's doing." You frowned as you realized he's right.

"That's why I want you to come with." You look down at him and gives him a sweet smile, "To protect me if anything happens." Peter smiled and snuggled into your again and sighed contently when you messaged his temple.

"Yeah sounds great." His smile got bigger as you hummed a tune he knew you listened to a lot in your room. He could of stayed like that forever but it all ended when you spoke up.

"uhh, Pete, we're gonna be late if we don't leave now." Peter sighed softly as he slowly uncurled himself from you and stood up, helping you up, "Thanks, now let's go." You linked your arm through his as you two walked out of the tower, Sam and Bucky watching.

“There’s gonna be a fight.”

~~

“(Y/n)!” You looked over at a teenage boy waving over at you, you looked at the boy confused. The boy has short dyed black hair, green pricing eyes and he is wearing a fancy shirt for being in a small town cafe. 

“Do you know him?” Peter asks as he takes your hand and told it tight. You didn't bother to take your hand away from his since you know Peter is not letting go.

"I... don't know." You tilted your head as you got a good look at him, "He doesn't look familiar at all! Not even a little." You explained causing Peter to tighten his hold on your hand. 

“(Y/n), it’s me, Arthur!” Your eyes met his and you imminently recognized him. He always had those green eyes You smile and wave at him, You drag Peter over at the table as you both sat down.

"Arthur, That's you? You look so different." Maybe it was just your memories messing up but he looked so different. You smile as you put two hands on the table. 

"It's me darlin', You haven't changed a bit." He smiles at you but this smile wasn't like Peter's. Peter's smile was cute and calming making you feel safe while Arthur’s was bone-chilling and seemed more like a smirk, "Who's your friend." Arthur frowned as he looked at Peter. You put a hand on Peter's shoulder as you explain.

“This is Peter Parker, he’s my really good friend. He’s one of Tony Stark’s interns. That’s how we met." That, That was a lie. You two meet way before his internship and right after Arthur left school. Peter sent you a look trying not to show his confusion.

“Tony Stark, That’s mighty impressive.” he lean his chin on his hands as he smirks, “What do you do there, Peter?” Peter frowns and tries to reach for your hand as his Peter tingle screeched 'Danger’ at him. Your hands were on the table and he didn't want to be a bother, He already forced himself here. 

“Oh, you know…” He laughs nervously, “Bring him his coffee, helps him with his inventions sometimes…The normal intern stuff.” He looked over at you with panicked eyes which you did notice and subtly nodded his way.

“Ain’t that interesting,” Arthur smirked at Peter before looking over at you. He gave you a look that when you two were little would make your heart melt but now you felt nothing. You gave him a smile as Peter watched your interaction. 

'Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger!'      

“So Arthur, How are you? Are you doing anything?” You moved the topic away from Peter and the Stark internship. You smiled at him, wanting to know more about him.

“I’m doing just fine, darlin'. Thank you for asking." He gently took your hand and placed a gentle kiss on your knuckle with that same cocky smirk, “I’ve been moving School to School recently.”

"Wait? Really? is that why you left years ago?" You leaned forward as you question him. You were devastated when he just left without a word. You always wondered what happened to him.

“Afraid so, None of the places really captivated me.” You and Peter share a confused glance before looking back at Arthur, “But this place is just lovely.”

“It’s New York,"  Peter spoke up looking around the small cafe you three were in. New York was nice but the people here could be... uh not nice.

"And I’ve always wanted to live in New York.” Arthur quickly shuts Peter down, sending him a look that made his senses scream, “And then I discovered that you lived here, darling.” Arthur took a hold of your hand, Peter's sense screamed, “And I was over the moon!" 

"Oh, I’m not that great.” You laugh gently and took your hand away from Arthur’s, “I bore people really easily." 

"That’s not true, (Y/n).” Peter spoke up, making both you and Arther look at him, “You are amazing to be around! Your fun, smart and weirdly obsessed about TikTok." 

"They're funny and you know it!”

“Don’t forget that you are beautiful, darling. Oh, I have something for you.” He handed you some flowers. You looked at them in shock as you felt a weird feeling.

“Oh, Thank you, Arthur.” You give him a fake smile as you place it gently behind you, “They beautiful." You noticed a small note in the flowers.

"Like you, There's a little poem a wrote for you In there.” You nodded at him with a tight smile. You didn't think about it when Arthur puts on some sunglasses and frowned deeply at you. 

"I would have gotten more but I was so excited to see you again I couldn't wait." Arthur leaned forward a bit, completely ignoring Peter as you and Arthur stare at each other.

There was something about his eyes that made you stare at them. You didn't even notice when yours and Peter's phones went off at the same time. It was when Peter shook your shoulders did you look away. 

"(Y/n), it's work. we gotta go." Peter explained making you nod toward him. You put a hand on your forehead before shaking it lightly, you feel lightheaded for some reason."

“Hey, Sorry Arthur.” You pointed behind you, “We both got to go, See you later?" 

"Of course, Darlin'. I’ll see you real soon.” He smirked which made you shiver as he gently took your hand and put a kiss on it. 

“Bye Arthur.” You stood up, took Peter’s hand, and left the cafe. Arthur's eyes never left your figure as you two walked down the streets toward the Avengers tower.

~~

“You don’t like him, Do you?” You ask as you and Peter sat on a roof, looking for any crime. You wore your super-suit while Peter was in his Spider-suit. You kick your feet out as you waited for his answer.

“…Did he seem weird to you?” He avoided the question, he didn’t want to answer your question, which answered your question.

“Well, He’s always been… a little weird.” You sighed as you kick your foot a little more, “but…” You quickly shook your head and layed down to look at the stars.

“But?" 

"But… He kinda made me uncomfortable,” you confessed as you avoided Peter’s eyes to look at the stars. What made you uncomfortable was it seemed like he wanted one thing from you.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Peter asks in a soft voice, making you look over at him. You let out a sigh as he layed down next to you and you both stared at the sky.

“It’s just… he never reached out to me before I became an Avenger and I didn’t really mind. It’s just when he started giving me flowers acting all romantic toward me. I just don’t like him like that anymore and we literally just got back in touch.” You knew Peter was looking at you through his mask but you continued, “As I said earlier, We were never really that close.”

“Why don’t you tell him to stop?” Peter asks you making you let out a long sigh.

“I will don’t worry. I’m just in a mood. I’m just worried about the girls.” Peter gave you a nod as you continues, “Having their hearts ripped out, must be so painful I can’t even imagine.” You felt tears sting your eyes. You felt a hand touch your shoulder and you look over at Peter.

“Hey, Don’t worry. We’ll find the person who did this.” Peter gently pulled off his mask to show you his face, he knows how much just seeing his face calms you down, “You’ll be fine.”

“I’m not worried about me! I’m worried for other girls out there.” you looked over at Peter and gave him a look, “I just want people to be safe. Like how I was.” You avoided Peters’s gaze as you turned your head away from him. You suddenly felt a gloved hand on your chin and Peter moved your head to face him as he gave you an adorable smile

“Don’t worry you will, (Y/n).” He gave you another smile that made you smile. You look away for a moment before leaning in and giving him a peck on the lips and quickly pulling away.

Peter stares at you for a moment before cupping your cheeks, giving you a soft gentle kiss on the lips. You smile into the kiss as you return the kiss. It was gentle and full of love, Love that made you so happy you met Peter Parker. You two pulled away but kept your foreheads touching.

“How was that?” Peter shyly asks, trying to catch his breath. You let out a soft laugh as you gently pinch one of his rosy cheeks

“Perfect." 

"Peter, there’s a bank robbery far east from here,” Karen explains to him, not realizing she's kinda ruining an important moment.

“Duty calls.” You giggle before placing a kiss on his nose. You stand up and jumps off the building and making a portal to the crime scene.

Leaving Peter watching you with a daze smiley look before shaking his head and putting his mask off and chases after you.

~~

“You learn anything new from the case?”  you entered the kitchen to see the group. Peter had his arm around your waist. Ever since last night, you weren’t willing to let go of each other.

“No, there’s nothing at the crime scene. No fingerprints, no bloostains-” Steve started, looking over at Nat as he explains. He had bags under his eyes showing he wasn't sleeping.

“Surprising." 

”- No nothing! We found nothing!“

"How… How are the bodies?” Peter spoke up quietly, not wanting to upset you but this was something you all needed to know. especially since you could be a target.

“The only thing found was a hole in their chest, where the heart was.” Nat sighed not looking at any of you, “Sam and Bucky are starting to interview the parents. Hopefully, they’ll find something.”

“They will don’t worry.” You detached yourself from Peter and walked over to Nat, putting a hand on her shoulder, “We’ll find them. We always do.” You finished with a smile making Nat look you. 

“So, You and Parker?” She smirks, You blush as you smile giddily at her with a quick nod of your head, “Guess that old friend of yours wasn’t that fun, huh?”

“He was… Eh." 

"Eh, That bad huh?” Nat took a sip of her drink with a raised brow. 

“He wasn’t bad it’s just he was being all romantic like he were in a novel.” You sigh dramatically, "Two lovers torn apart but they find a way to each other and live happily ever after blah blah blah.“ 

"You know what he wants right?” Nat asks you as you look up at her sighing and nodding.

“Yeah, Yeah, I do.” you look down sadly, “I really wanted to be his friend again but I guess that’s not what he wants from me." 

"Who cares? You’re a badass Avenger who can handle herself. You should be proud and happy, Your finally with Peter. Everyone knows you two wanted that for a while now.” You let out a laugh at that.

“Yea, I really did.” You look over at Peter, who was suddenly on the ceiling because of peppermint, “I’m really lucky.” You gave him a soft smile which Peter noticed and gave one back.

~~

“Hey Arthur, Can we talk?” You walked over to Arthur, you two stood in a soccer field at an old park. There weren't that many people around you surprisingly. 

“Of course, Darling. I got you something,” He pulled out a necklace that looked really pretty, some force was raising your arm to take it but you forced it down, coughing.

“That’s why I'm here to talk.” He paused looking confused, like this never happened before, “The gifts and things are nice and all but it makes me uncomfortable. I don't think of you like that.” Arthur looked at you for a moment before his face hardens, making you panic, “We can still hang out! I just want you to know.” You wave your hands in the air, not trying to be mean.

"It's that boy, isn't it?"

“What?”

“Parker? His name was I'm assuming I didn't care enough to remember.” He shrugged walked closer to You, you kept a brave face as he leaned down, "You know, I was surprised when I saw you walking into that little old cafe holding some random boy hand." 

“Dude, This isn't really your business." You put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him away gently as you try walking past him, "I don't owe you anything! Goodbye Arthur." A hand gripped your wrist, making you stop walking. 

"But it is my business.” He pulled you back and pinned you to a tree, making you look at him, “Your love-life is my business. Which is why I know it’s Parker.” You glare at him as he takes his hand off your chin.

“What are you talking about?” You look at him with a glare before rolling your eyes, “Let me guess you want one thing from me. I wonder if I can guess what it is.” you made a motion with your hands before Arthur pins them again, making your roll your eyes.

“I do want something from you but it’s not what your thinking.” You look up at him confused as he takes his sunglasses off showing his piercing green eyes, “I want your heart.” Your eyes widen as your blood runs cold, “But I kinda like your suggestion. I think I just might do that too." 

"Get off of me." You growl lowly, Arthur looks at you almost smugly.

"What was that Darlin'?"

"Get off of me!" You yelled as you kicked him in the stomach, pushing him off of you. He stumbled a bit before standing up straight and staring at you almost bored, "You kill those girls!"

“Killer? Now I’m offended, I don’t kill them.” He starts to walk over to you, you held up your fist ready to fight, “No need for a fight. I’m not going to hurt you.”

"I bet you said that to those girls!" You lunged at him making both of you fall as you punch him, over and over again, "14! That's how many girls were hurt because of you!" 

"And I only got caught now." He smirks at you, making you see red. You pull out some handcuffs and cuffs his wrists before standing up and taking a couple of steps away, "and what are you going to do with me?" You scoffed as you crossed your arms. 

“I’m bringing you to Avengers tower to bring you in. So, you won’t hurt any other poor girl, You heartless-fuck!” You raised an arm and opened a portal to your room in the Avengers tower. You walk over and picks him up walking toward the portal.

“Wait!” He yelled making you stop and look at him, “Can you do one last thing for me, darling?" 

"Hell no, after everything you don't get anything." You growl before you felt him grab your wrist, making you glance at him. You did a double-take as you notice the handcuffs were off.

"H-How?" You shuddered as he stood up and walked toward you with a smirk. Once again you couldn't look away from his green eyes, just like the cafe. 

"You think you're the only girl that caught on?" He chuckled as your back met a tree, "dated an officer's daughter, That was a challenge." He suddenly grabbed both of your wrists and pinned them to the tree and leaned closer to you, "But you're much more of a challenge, Darlin'."

His eyes started glowing pink before you felt your cheeks heat up while your heart started beating faster. It got worst as you tried looking away but Arthur cupped your cheek, making you stare at him. 

“I will have your heart, darling. It’s too special not to.” You tried shaking your head as you tried...Wait, why were you struggling? Arthur’s your friend, he wouldn't do anything bad. You gave a small smile as you leaned into his hand, making him smirk.

"There you go, (Y/n). Just give in, I'll make you feel loved." That was the last thing he said to you. You stare up at your best friend with a smile, eyes glowing pink. You let out a small giggle that Arthur smirked at. 

~~

“(Y/n), (Y/n), Where are you!? (Y/N)!” Peter howled as he walked the streets of New York, people gave him weird looks but he didn’t care. Ever since you left that morning his Peter Tingle has been going crazy. He knew it had something to do with you. he shook his head as he tried not to think about what could have happened to you.

'Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger!' 

He sighed before he saw a glance of your (H/c) leaving a shopping store and entering an ice cream shop.

"(Y/n)!" He ran inside the shop and looks around for you. It was until he saw you and Arthur sitting down on a booth. He started walking toward you two. As he did, his senses were screaming at him louder and louder.

'Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger!' 

“(Y/n), where have you been!? I’ve been looking all over for you?” Peter scolded but froze when he saw you. You were holding onto Arthur's arm as you leaned into him. You looked up at Peter but showed no emotion what-so-ever. Usually, when you saw him you screamed a hello at him, no matter where you were, "(Y/n)?"

You looked at him a little bit more before looking at Arthur with a confused glance. Peter frowned as he looks at your appearance, You were more dresses up than usual and even wore a necklace he never saw before. When you looked back at him He noticed your eyes were blank, something he was no used to.

“Can I Help you, sir?” Arthur answered for you, something you hated. Peter frowned as you didn't look mad you actually looked relieved, he also wondered why Arthur was wearing sunglasses, inside a building.

“I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to (Y/n)!” Peter snapped taking a hold of your shoulder, shaking you a bit, “(Y/n), The Avengers are worried about you. You haven't been answering my text, you're worrying us.” You tilt your head in confusion at him.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just been having the time of my life with Arthur.” You giggled as you laid your head on Arthur's head, making him smirk at Peter. Your voice sounded off as you ran your hands on his chest, “I just lost track of time.”  Peter watched you with a frown, weren't you two together?

“What’s up with you?” Peter asks, hurt clear on his face. He really thought you two were together, yeah you never said you were but he kinda thought since, "This isn't like you." he shook his head.

"No idea what you're talking about." You didn't even look at him. Peter frowned as you waved your hand away, "We'll talk later, I'll be home later."

"How late?"

"Later." You finally looked at him and held a look that made him nod and walk away. He frowned as he thought before something confused him. Why were your eyes pink?

~~

"No, she was acting so weird!" Peter ranted as he paced around the living room. He was calling Ned through F.R.I.D.A.Y no realizing the Avengers were also in the room, listening, "She wasn't even looking at me. I-I really thought..."

"Peter, maybe she's just cuddly with him. They were friends before you two were." Ned says softly, not wanting his friend to be hurt, "She never said you two broke up."

"We were never together. We just kissed and cuddled." Peter explained softly, falling into the couch and covering his eyes, "I just assumed we were together but I guess not."

"Ask her if she gets back." Ned suggested, "she said you'll talk when she gets back so talk." 

"Okay..."

"Okay, I gotta go my mom's calling me. See you at school." Ned hung up leaving Peter sitting on the couch in pain. The Avengers all look at each other before going back to the case, but still listening in.

"I'm home." You called as you carried bags on clothes, flowers braided into your hair, "Hey..." You murmur as you try walking past him but Peter quickly walked in front of you cornering you.

"Can you move, please? I gotta get to my room." You smiled as you tried walking past him but Peter grabbed your wrist gently, making you stop and stare at him.

"(Y/n), we gotta talk," Peter says making you stare at him before shrugging and sitting down on the couch. Peter stares at you for a moment before sitting next to you.

"What do you want to talk about." You asked softly as you stare at him confused. Peter stared at you for a moment before sighing and deciding to just man up.

"What's going on with you and Arthur?" He questioned causing the Avengers to sit up and stare at you two unnoticed. 

"What? You don't know?" You laughed slightly causing Peter to fear what you are going to tell him, "We're dating, it's official." You stood up and clapped excitedly, Peter's heart broke. The Avengers stare at you in shock before starting at each other.

"No... that can't be true," Peter spoke up making you turn to look at him confused, "(Y/n) you are not acting like yourself. You can tell me if something happened." You stare at him like he was crazy.

"Nothing going on! If anything, I feel better than ever!" You giggle as you sigh dreamily, "Arthur bought me this dress and others. But this one is my favorite so I wore it just for him, He loved it so much." 

"Something is wrong!" Peter stood up and grabbed your shoulders, shaking you a bit. 

"What do you mean? Nothing is wrong." You walked out of Peter grip and put your hand on your hips, you looks at him confused as he got angry, "Why are you so angry?"

“You just don’t kiss people for fun! You don’t kiss someone just to throw them away the next day and run away off to someone you didn’t talk to in 6 years.” Peter snapped as he stared at you you frowned as you stare at him confused.

"Peter, we never kissed." You started softly, making Peter's heartbreak even more, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Peter stared at you as you looked at him confused. His heart broke as you never called him Peter you only called him Pete.

“You're not making any sense!" 

"I don't know what you tell you." You put a hand on your chest offended, "We never kissed, I don't want to make you upset but we're partners but that's all."  The worst part of this was that you weren't yelling you were being sincere with him.

Peter frowned as he turned his back to you, he stared one last glance at You. He looked into your strangely blank eyes and he swore he saw that they were still pink instead of your normal eye color. Your face softens as you reach for him.

"Pete..." Your eyes glowed pink as your face hardens as you storm to your room. Peter sat on the couch and tried to calm himself down, the Avengers stared at him before Nat stands up.

"I'll talk to her." 

~~

"(Y/n)," Nat spoke firmly when she opened your door, You changed into your pajamas. Your shoulders tense before you slowly turned to face her with a blank face, "What was that?" She took steps toward you.

"Whatever are you talking about?" You gave her a look and she gave one right back at you. Nat studied your face for a moment, it was blank and your voice sounded flat.

...unusual.

"(Y/n), You know what I'm talking about. Don't try to lie to me, you know how I am." Nat frowned at you as you continue to stare at her, "You really hurt Peter, I don't know what's been going on but..."

"Pete?" You tilt your head in confusion as you stare at her. Your eyes glowed bright pink as you stared at her, Nat narrowed her eyes as she memorized the pink.

"Peter Parker, your teammate, ring a bell?" Your eyes move around the room as you think, you seem to be confused, "The teammate you just had a nasty fight with?" You move your head up, confused.

"Fight? I didn't have a fight recently..." You bite your finger as you think, "Come to think of it... I don't know an Peter Parker." Nat's eyes narrowed as she took a step toward you.

"Who's your best friend?" 

"My best friend?" you chuckled, "My best friend is Arthur, well now he's my boyfriend. I've been waiting for ages for this." You gushed as you giggle lightly, Nat notes mentally that your eyes are glowing a brighter pink.

"How long have you been friends for?" Nat questioned, It sounds like your memories have been affected but she needed to know much more. If she was correct then you were in deep trouble.

"We've been friends since diapers. Gosh, I can't believe it's been like 8 years since we met!" you clapped as you jumped a bit, making Nat frown as she thinks.

8 years? Nat clearly remembers you saying you haven't seen him in 6 years. She looks up to see you tapping away at your phone, You looked up when you felt her eyes.

"Sorry, it's Arthur. We have a date tomorrow." You chuckle sheepishly as you rub the back of your neck. Nat glared at the phone for a moment before smiling.

"Don't worry, (N/n). Enjoy your date." And before you could say anything, Nat left. You watched your doorway, your eyes fading to your regular eye color before your phone went off, eyes returning pink.

"Hey, Baby..."

~~

"Something is clearly wrong with (Y/n)," Nat explains as she sits down at the table. the others all looked up from their research, Sam, and Bucky explaining what they found.

"Nat, now's not really the right time..." Steve motioned toward Peter who was eating a buttload of cereal. Nat stared at Peter with a look of sympathy before looking at Steve

"She's next." which caused everyone to sit up straight.

"What do you mean she's next?" Steve asks causing Natasha to give him a look before sitting down and staring at the papers scattered around.

"Well, it seems that (Y/n) has never met a Peter Parker in her life." That caused Peter to look at her as she continued, "She claims her best friend of 8 years is that Arthur guy that she hasn't seen in 6 years. How long has she been acting like this?" She asked looking over at Peter who seemed to be thinking.

"Uhh since she left this morning." Nat looked at him thinking before grabbing a paper and inspecting it.

"And who was she with?"

"uh, I don't know this morning but when I found her she was with Arthur," Peter explained as he started to connect the dots. He could have slapped himself, how could he be so stupid!? He was support to Protect you!

"Has her eyes been different lately." She looked around the table as they thought about it.

"I haven' really looked at her eyes."

"How the fuck would I know?"

"...Sam."

"Yea," Peter started causing them to look at him, "I thought I was going crazy but I swear her eyes has been turning pink or something?" his shoulders sagged as his guilt started eating him up, "I didn't think about it." 

"She's next." Natasha frowned as she glared at the papers from the Parents of the girls who were attacked, "It seems like this was one person doing. Anyone wanna guess who?"

"Arthur..." Peter practically growled making Sam and Steve stared at him, Nat nodded gravely as she puts the papers down on the table, "That sneaky son of..." 

"Language!" 

"Okay, I have a plan but we need Wanda." Peter looked at her confused, Wanda? yea he heard of her but how can she help them? Sam and Steve seem to understand what Natasha meant by that, "And we need it to happen soon." 

"Anyone has a way to contact Wanda?" Natasha looks at the two males in front of her, Ignoring Peter's. Sam shrugged while Steve looked a little nervous, it was until they heard footsteps coming.

"What do you mean you have something special for me tomorrow?" Your voice rang through the halls, making them all snap their attention on you as you ignored them, "Aw, Arthur you shouldn't have! I can't wait!" 

Peter frown deepens as he watched you closely, something special? His eyes widen as he realizes what that meant for you as you were oblivious to your fate.

"I wish I could do something for you." You paused listening to Arthur’s answer.

"How about a gala?" Nat spoke up making you look over at her confused, "Tony's having a gala tomorrow and I think that could be fun." You looked over at her before beaming.

"We're having a gala tomorrow?" Peter asks as he was completely ingored.

"You hear that babe!?" Babe? Peter wanted to throw up, "C'mon it could be fun and you could still show me your surprise." There was a pause before your frowned, "What no?...oka-" You were cut off as suddenly Natasha took your phone and held it to her ear.

"Hello, Arthur? Yes, it's Black Widow listen you are being invited to Tony Stark’s gala how could you not want to go?" Nat's face was blank as she listened to his response, "Romantic? You want it to be Romantic who do you think people go to galas? For fun? No, it's to be nice to their partner. If you don't go your missing a chance of a lifetime." There was a long pause before Natasha smirks, "Okay, Nice doing business with you."

"Thank you, Nat." You smile as you held onto your phone before placing it to your ear, "I can't wait! We need to plan what to wear..." your voice faded as you left for your room.

"....That sucked." Peter pouted as took another bite of his food. Nat looked serious as she looks at the group again.

"We need Wanda here by tomorrow. Tell Tony what's happening." Sam and Steve nodded as they both went in different directions. Peter watched them leave with a confused frown.

"Peter." Nat knelt to watch Peter, "We need you there tomorrow to help, and don't worry, We'll get (Y/n) back." Natasha patted his back before standing up and getting ready for a gala.

~~

"This still sucks." Peter huffed crossing his arms as he watched you in your stunning dress walking with Arthur. Arthur smirked as you clung to his arm.

"I know Pete, I can't believe how weirdly dresses he is." Tony raised a brow before taking a sip of his drink. Nat rolled her eyes when she walked over with Wanda, who looked confused.

"I'm sorry what's going on?" she asked looking around the group, waiting for an answer. Peter made the mistake of looking back at you to see Arthur dipping your down in a dance he slammed his eyes shut.

"That case that we got assained, we know who it is and who's next," Natasha explains to Wanda before subtly motioning toward you and Arthur. Wanda looks over at you and Arthur with red eyes for a moment before her eyes widening, "What did you see?"

"We need to return her memories now." She explains before turning her back to Arthur and whispers, "He's close to ....finishing his mission." 

"Which is?"

"When he controls the girls he can see how much love they have for him in their hearts." She starts, voice quiet and grim, "Once their heart is full of love for him he steals it and turns it into his own personal trophy. (Y/n)'s heart is to complete his collection." No one said anything for a good while.

"What!?" Peter yelled causing the others to shush him, "How the hell do you make a heart a trophy!?" He raised a hand to grip and pull at his hair, something he does when he's nervous.

"He finds a way." was Wanda's only response before Steve speaks up.

"So what can we do?" Wanda looks at Steve for a moment before turning to Peter and nudging him.

"I have an idea but I'll need your help, Peter." Wanda gives him a smile as Peter looks at her like she was crazy, which is a possibility.

"Why do you need my help?" Peter asked which made Wanda smile at him.

"You'll see." 

~~

"Hey um, (Y/n)?" You hear a voice say, you turn around slowly to see that boy standing there. What was his name again Pablo? Pedro? Patrick?, "Can we talk?" You tilted your head slightly in confusion.

"Um-"

"Can't you see we're dancing here?" Arthur cut you off and practically growling at the boy in front of you. He held your hands tightly and held them to his chest, you just stared at the boy, "She made her choice, you see? I don't even see why you try?" He chuckled darkly, "A boy like you could never make a girl like (Y/n) happy." the boy just frowned before shaking his head before pressing a hand to his ear.

That's when everything around you went dark, the boy...Preston? No not now! the boy and Arthur are both gone. You looked around to see a playground? That..that's not what you expected but you continued to look around.

You stopped when you saw a little girl, oh wait she was you. It was you when you were little, you were laughing and playing with a younger Arthur you smiled at no matter how much change you can always count on Arthur. You walked closer to hear the conversation that was happening.

"You're moving? Well..." You frowned, Arthur never moved away? She paused for a moment before smiling happily at Arthur, "That's okay, we'll...we'll have our mommy's talk. We would still be able to see each other!" You smiled as she held his hands and intertwined their fingers. Arthur looked at their fingers before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry (Y/n) but no, we can't talk." What? No, no this is when you convince him to stay or something because he never moved away. Maybe he moved for like a year but most he must have came back, "We can't talk when I'm away but I'll come back for you." 

"Why can't we talk when you're gone?" she pouted as you watch closely Arthur stared at your younger self's face before smirking lightly and cupping your cheek.

"You're right, we should talk. Every Saturday we'll talk and it'll be like I never left." She smiled and hugged Arthur tightly as he hugged her back. You smiled to yourself, that's how you stayed in touch when he was apparently gone.

"It's all coming together." You nodded to yourself and went to walk off, find a way out of here. You stopped as you noticed something and stopped and watched with a frown.

It was you sitting on your mother's kitchen counter, the clock says 9:45 AM. You were sitting on the counter next to the kitchen phone, kicking your feet with a smile. You watched as the clock turned to 3:12 PM and you made a tiny portal and was barely able to jump through to the other side of the room before staring at the phone. 

Suddenly It was nighttime and You were holding the phone to your ear pressing random numbers as the clock read 1:30 AM. Your younger self was crying before someone came in.

Your eyes widen as you stared at your mother in the doorway, you haven't seen her since...since...

"(Y/n)? What are you doing up still?" Your mother asks as she takes the phone away from you and where it belongs. You walked closer to her, you felt the need to see her again, hug her again.

"A-Arthur hasn't called me. He said he w-would call me every Saturday." Your younger self sniffled before your mother took her in her arms and hugging the life out of her, "I-I thought he wanted to-to see me again." 

"oh, (Y/n), I'm so sorry." Your mother's voice dropped in a whisper, "I'm so sorry." You stood there not knowing one she was apologizing for. 

The world moved around you to see you walking through school by yourself, friendless. You watched as you walked into school every day with no friends, people avoiding you and talking behind your back. You watched as your younger self would cry to herself alone, you watched as your life reached a low when you lost your mother. You watched yourself falling deeper until something happened one day.

"Watch out!" A voice called before you watched as your younger self jumped into someone. You walked closer to see it was...it was that boy from the party! well, he was younger but it was still him. Awe, he wore glasses and they looked huge on him.

"I am so sorry, I didn't see you there! I should have been watching where I was going it's my fault I am so sor-" The boy rambled before getting cut off by your laugh. 

"No, no, it's fine. I wasn't watching either." You looked down to see your papers all over the place, you knelt down to pick them up and smiled when you saw the boy was doing the same thing. When you both got all the papers the boy handed you the papers and you held out your hand with a smile, "Hi, my name is (Y/n) (L/n)." The boy stared at your hand for a moment before shaking your hand with a shy smile.

"Peter Parker, n-nice to meet you." Your younger self smiled as you took a moment to drop his hand. 

"Nice to meet you, Peter Parker. I feel like we'll be great friends." the people in front of you drifted away as you stood there in shock. Peter Parker, that was his name. Your eyes widen as a gasp left your lips.

"Peter Parker" You whisper to yourself as the memories all come back to you. Getting to know Peter, Befriending Ned and M.J, Meeting the Avengers, Becoming a family, Peter becoming Spider-man, falling in Love.

Pink faded to your normal eye color as your memories show all around you. You frowned as you realized Arthur wasn't your soulmate, he wasn't your friend, he was your enemy. When you thought of your soulmate it wasn't Arthur you were thinking about...

It was Peter.

You open your eyes to see you're back at the gala,  you turn to see Peter staring at you with the Avengers around him. You turn and look at Arthur who was holding your waist. You looked at Arthur to see him staring at you like an object before looking back at Peter who was watching, waiting to see how you were. Staring at you with love in his eyes.

"Pete?" You whisper out as you felt tears in your eyes, "Peter!" You pushed Arthur away and ran over to Peter and wrapped your arms around his neck.

"(Y/n)!" Peter picked you up and spun you around while laughing before gently putting you down. Peter nuzzled his face in your neck and inhaling your scent, something he missed doing. He pulled away and stared at you in the eyes and holding your shoulders, "(Y/n), I-is it really you? Are you back?" 

"I'm back, I'm me again Pete." You let out a wet laugh as Peter smiled and cupped your cheeks and presses a love to your lips. You smile into the kiss before kissing him back. You two pulled away when you need air, pressing your foreheads together.

"I missed doing that," Peter whispered so lowly only you could have heard. You gave him a smile and another peck on the lips before cupping his cheeks.

"Welcome back, lovebirds," Tony yelled before the group ran over and gave you the biggest hug you've ever had.

"You little shit, you scared us half to death!"

"If you do that again I will kill you slowly." 

"I'm sorry to do that but it was the only way to get you back!"

"It's good to see you again, kid." 

"We missed you so much!" You heard what they were saying even if they were overlapping. You let out some tears as you hugged them all tightly. You forgot how many people care about you, you swore you'll make sure you'll never forget that again.

"I know, I'm sorry I left." You moved your face to the monster himself, Arthur, "It won't happen again." and you detached yourself from the group to walk over to Arthur.

"What... just happened here?" Arthur looks around the group confusion showing in his eyes. You stood there with stone-cold gaze as you glare at him.

"Something you wouldn't know, true love." You lifted your chin and narrow your eyes at him as he watched you with shock all over his face. He stared before chuckling to himself making you glower.

"You think that's true love? Only I know what true love is and I gave that to you." He walked closer to you, trying to make you stand down but you won't, "And you threw that all away. You'll never know what true love feels like." 

"No, what you gave me wasn't true love. Even if it was..." You gripped the necklace that he gave you days ago, "Your love stinks." You ripped it off your neck and threw it to the ground. You start walking toward him as he slowly backs away.

"You think I'll let you catch me, No one would even suspect me." He smirks making you smirk as you motion to the people behind you.

"Yeah, no one, No one except for The Avengers." You smirk as you snapped your fingers, "I think we found our criminal. Take him away." 

"With pleasure," Natasha smirks and walks toward Arthur before handcuffing him and taking him away, Steve following suit. You only relax as Arthur leaves the room. You turn around to see Peter walking toward you.

"Hey." You smiled at him, memories of you two when you were little flash around you.

"Hi." Peter smiled shyly at you before taking your hand and planting a small kiss on it. You let out a laugh before you wrap your arm around Peter's shoulder. 

"You saved me." You whispered quietly and for a moment you thought he didn't hear you. You let out a long breathe before giving your hairline a sweet kiss and looking in your eyes.

"I'll always protect you." You give him a smile before cuddling into Peter's side. You both looked at each other with content smiles.

[winchesterandpie]

Reminders (Thorin Oakenshield x reader)

Pairing: Thorin Oakenshield x reader

Sort of Modern!AU

Word Count: 1517

Warnings: some angst, mentions of death (nobody actually dies though)

A/N: So, I watched the Battle of the Five Armies when it was on TV as part of a Hobbit marathon... naturally this included Thorin, Fili, and Kili all dying and I was Not A Fan, so I had this fix-it imagination/thing. The reader (that’s you!) got transported to Middle Earth, and saved our boys and now those three dwarves plus you watched BOTFA (don’t ask me how they got transported to and from Middle Earth, because idk, it just happened). The two lines of dots are just my way of maintaining space on the mobile version! Gif is not mine (I got it from google, but it appears to have a credit in the top corner)! Love you all and hope you enjoy!

Shoutout to the lovely (hehe) @legolaslovely​ for helping me bounce ideas and get unstuck!!

The movie was over but I could barely push myself to my feet and through the halls of my house, muttering an excuse about needing to use the bathroom. It’d been dreadfully hard to live through Thorin and his nephews nearly dying, but to have to watch them actually die over again? It was just too much. 

Why did I let those blasted dwarves talk me into watching this movie with them? I could’ve just been faster to turn it off and we could’ve avoided this whole thing but noooo. 

Even now, they were watching the beginning of the first Lord of the Rings movie, unaffected by watching their own on-screen deaths and unaware as I tried desperately to force back the tears I could feel welling up. Without paying attention, I came to sit before a window in the other room, staring out at the yard and the streets as I tucked my knees close to my chest. I sucked in a sharp breath as flashes of memory struck.

.   .

.   . 

This one dies first.

Then the brother.

Then you, Oakenshield.

You will die last.

Ice filled my veins at the words I had heard so many times before in the movies. Now, though, it was real. Fili was real and a real friend, not just a fictional character.

Helplessly, we watched from below as Azog jammed his cruel blade through Fili before letting him fall to the ice. Instinctively, I reached out, trying to slow the blond prince’s fall. Miraculously, I somehow managed to catch him, though the limp weight of him knocked me to the ground. He lay unmoving atop me as I struggled to get out from under him.

.   .

.   .

Kili charged recklessly towards Tauriel’s voice, hearing her cry out as she was attacked by Bolg. I saw him move from across the ice, separated by a horde of goblins and orcs. Muttering curses under my breath, I followed, cutting my way through the army as quickly as I could, ignoring the cuts I received in the urgency I felt to get there before it was too late. 

Alas, fate, it seemed, was against me as Azog’s son threw Kili onto the stone steps. As I reached the ledge, I saw the dwarf’s head hit the stone hard and he didn’t get back up. My last throwing knife leapt of its own accord into my hand, where it was sent with deadly accuracy and force into an unarmored part of Bolg’s head. 

My knees were almost buckling under the weight of losing both of the dwarf princes, under the weight of my own failure to save them, but I forced myself to keep moving. There was yet one more son of Durin who drew breath on this hill, and I had to try. No tears, not yet, I told myself.

.   .

.   . 

From across the ice, I could see that Azog had some dwarf I couldn’t identify pinned beneath him. My breath caught in horror as I realized it was Thorin, trying desperately to stave off Azog’s blade. I had already used most of my arrows, leaving only two in the quiver. Still, I could tell I only had time for one shot. One shot in which to pull the Pale Orc’s attention to me, as I didn’t trust my aim to kill him.

Unconsciously, I had drawn the bow, the fletching on the arrow brushing my cheek as I aimed carefully. One shot. One breath. One smooth release. The arrow flew on its way with a hiss.

It slammed into Azog’s upper arm, and his head whipped in my direction, just like I’d been counting on. Thorin’s attention was dragged to me, distracting him from Azog, which I hadn’t counted on. The orc moved to stab Thorin again, but I snapped off my last arrow before I started sprinting in their direction. The arrow tore through his stub of an arm, pushing his sword stroke aside. Or so I had hoped.

I thought I saw my arrow shift where his blade struck, but it didn’t stop him and I was still too far away. I saw the blade sink into Thorin, who couldn’t block it in his exhaustion, and the sight hit me like a physical blow. The loss of the brothers had hurt, but not like this. Not him, I begged to whatever deity would listen, Please, not him.

.   .

.   . 

I was brought out of my thoughts suddenly by a hand on my face, brushing away a tear I hadn’t realized was slipping down my cheek. My mind slowly processed and understood where I was, though the grief lingered heavily. They hadn’t actually been dead, thankfully, though that knowledge hadn’t been part of the memories I’d recalled.

“Come back to me, ghivashel.” Thorin’s voice filtered over my ears, I pulled my gaze to his face, still staring without seeing. With conscious effort, I forced myself to focus on him, registering his furrowed brow and concerned gaze.

“There you are.”

“Sorry,” I replied quietly, not wanting to disturb the quiet.

“No need to apologize. Where were you?” His hands, cupped around my cheeks, held me there as he gazed intently into my eyes.

“Erebor,” I hedged, hoping he’d leave it at that. I’d managed to keep my voice from cracking, but only just. He was worried enough about trying to get back to Middle Earth to have to worry about whether I was breaking. I was, however, betrayed when another tear slipped from the corner of my eye.

“What’s wrong, lass?” Thorin caught the tear with a gentle brush of his thumb. “I’ve been homesick, I’ve seen you homesick. This is something more. You don’t need to hide from me.”

“I… that movie… I didn’t expect… didn’t expect to watch you die today, Thorin.” My voice finally cracked as I put words to the painful thoughts.

“And you were remembering the battle.” His gaze became impossibly soft as he looked at me. Carefully, he pulled me into his chest, his fingers winding through my hair. I felt the gentle press of his lips to the crown of my head as I sucked in a shuddering breath. 

“That part of the movie always hurt, but this time…” I trailed off with a helpless shrug.

“It is understandable to be troubled by reminders of such times. You are not weak for that,” the king murmured soothingly as the hand that wasn’t cradling my head to him began to trace little patterns on my back.

“I don’t see you, or Fili, or Kili so troubled, and you were the ones who nearly died and then watched your own deaths!”

“Different things trouble different people. Besides, you were the one who watched what you believed to be our demise unfold before you in the real battle. Watching it now was as though you were reliving the memory.” 

I nodded slightly, supposing that what he said made sense. Safe now in the dwarven king’s strong arms, the tension and grief slowly loosened their hold, helped along by quiet reassurances that he was there, that they were alive. Every inhale brought Thorin’s scent into my nose, another reminder that he was real and alive. 

“What happened to Aunt Y/N?” I heard Kili’s quiet question but didn’t move. 

I didn’t really pay attention to Thorin’s reply, just the soothing rumble of his chest as he spoke. 

“Is there anything we can do, Uncle?”

“What do you think, love? What do you need?”

I shifted my head a little as I thought, feeling the soft brush of Thorin’s lips against my forehead. “Maybe we could watch something else? Something to take my mind off it?” I only paused briefly before my jumbled thoughts slipped from my mouth. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be-”

“No apologies, ghivashel,” Thorin cut me off gently, pulling back enough to lift my chin in his hand and look me in the eye. “You don’t ever need to apologize for having feelings. You are not a burden for them.” As usual, the dark-haired dwarf saw through me to where the immediate guilt was coming from. I nodded, closing my eyes and leaning into his hand as I tried to burn his reassurance into my mind. 

“We don’t know how to get to a movie, but we’d love to watch another one with you,” Kili offered after a moment had passed.

“Yeah, I should probably man the remote.” I chuckled weakly at the thought of them trying to work the unfamiliar technology.

“Fili, Kili, you get some food to eat while we watch. We’ll be there in a moment.” 

The brothers bounced toward the kitchen, jostling each other playfully as they went. I smiled at the sight before turning back to see Thorin watching me adoringly. 

“Thank you,” was all I could say. 

“Men lananubukhs menu,” was all Thorin said in reply. His hand found the back of my neck, pulling me in so he could rest his forehead against mine with the utmost care, and I knew that he knew everything I was failing to convey. 

Somehow, he always knew.

Translations:

Ghivashel: treasure of all treasures

Men lananubukhs menu: I love you

Hope you enjoyed!!

Forever Tags:

@riddikulus-obsessions​ @addictionmarvel​ @peppermint--teas​ @mercedesbarnes​ @javapeach​

Tag list is open! Shoot me a message or an ask if you’d like to be added!

[faylor]

Broken

Characters: Penny Parker, Tony Stark

Relationships: Iron Dad / Spider Daughter

Rating: General

Warnings: Panic Attack, PTSD, Slight Language

Prompts:

“If you don’t want to talk about it, just say so. Don’t lie and pretend to be fine when you clearly aren’t.”

“I’m just tired.”

“You’re not broken.”

There had been an orange sky, dust filling it, darkness surrounding it, then nothing. Penny couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. She didn’t know where she was. Was she... in space? But there weren’t any stars or planets. Just... nothing. Had she died? She didn’t know. But she was scared. She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t - wanted to scream for help, but she couldn’t. She was alone in what she couldn’t only describe as nothingness. She was-

“Earth to Penelope,” Tony’s voice sounded from her left.

“Huh?” Penny suddenly jerked her head toward him, her eyes widening as they focused back into reality. “Oh, um, yeah. What, uh... What were you saying?”

“I was asking if you had everything packed for your trip,” He raised a brow. “But apparently the desk was more interesting.”

“Right. Um, yeah, I’ve got everything. I think.” Penny blinked, her eyes turning back down toward her notepad. Tony watched her carefully, eyes narrowing as he noticed her mannerisms.

“You okay, kid? You seem a little out of it,” he suggested.

“Oh, I... I’m just tired.” She shook her head as a huff of breath escaped from her nostrils. She’d hoped it was believable enough. After all, she’d been down in the lab all afternoon, brainstorming new ideas for suit upgrades and testing them out with Tony’s help.

On the other hand, she was almost positive that Tony had noticed her being a bit more... spaced out since after the battle against Thanos. Things had gone back to normal, or as close to normal as they could be. But Penny didn’t feel normal at all. She’d been gone for five years. Five years she’d missed out on her life - on the people in her life.

Not to mention the invasive thoughts that had seemed to plague her mind every day. They were always about the same thing - nothingness. The same nothingness that she’d experienced after she was turned to dust. The same nothingness that she was alone in, and no one was coming to help, no matter how loud she tried to cry for help.

She could barely think straight, let alone try and focus on enjoying a somewhat normal life now that Thanos was gone. They’d won, and everyone she loved was here with her. She was still herself, right? But why did she feel so out of place? So different. Like she wasn’t herself.

“I guess I’m just a little... stressed about... the trip,” she stammered, her shoulders shrugging.

Tony slightly narrowed his eyes as he spoke. “Just yesterday, you couldn’t stop going on about how excited you were for it. You sure you’re okay, kiddo?”

“Everything’s all good, I promise.” The corners of her lips turned slightly upward before she turned her attention back to her notes. “I just need to... finish...” she trailed off. Maybe if she could just get back to focusing on her work, her mind would be distracted just enough... But then flashes of orange danced through her mind again, and it was suddenly becoming uncomfortably warm in the room.

Tony let out a soft sigh, standing from his chair. “Alright, spiderling. I think it’s about time for a snack. We’ve been at this for, what, a few hours now? I could go for a sandwich myse-“

“No, no. I’m good, Mr. Stark. Really,” she replied flatly, not exactly meaning to cut him off as her eyes were pinned to her notebook. Yet she found it almost impossible to focus on the writing within it, because her mind was racing again with images of dust particles filling the air around her - and Tony’s bloodied face staring right at her in nothing short of horror... And now her head was feeling light, and her breathing became unsteady.

“And now you’re refusing food?” His voice was almost teasing. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on, okay?” The words came out just a bit harsher than she’d intended, and she forced her eyes shut, shaking her head ever so slightly. “I-I’m sorry... I just... I’m sorry,” she spoke through slightly stifled breaths.

There was a short pause between the two of them before Tony sighed. “Pen... If you don’t want to talk about it, then say so. Don’t lie and pretend to be fine when you clearly aren’t.” His voice was more serious now, but not angry.

She hadn’t meant to snap at him. But her heart was beating way too fast, and it was becoming harder to catch her breath, and she couldn’t think straight- or, rather, she couldn’t stop thinking.

Dropping her pencil rather suddenly, she slowly stood from her chair on slightly shaky legs. In fact, her entire body was shaking now, and she hated it. She hated this. But it wouldn’t stop. The walls had been closing in on her, she was scared, and she needed to get out of there.

“I-I just need to... go to the bathroom,” she managed to voice before her feet began walking her toward the lab’s door.

“Penny?” Tony called as she walked away, his brow furrowed. But she ignored him and kept walking. And walking. Until her legs couldn’t anymore. She was in the corridor leading from the lab when her back fell against the wall, her legs practically buckling under her weight as she slid to the floor.

She lowered her head, burying her face within her hands. Her muscles tensed as she felt a heavy wave of sudden and absolute dread wash over her. She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs were on fire. And now she felt like she was drowning as she gasped for air, but only choked sobs came out. Her entire body was anxiously vibrating - and at the same time, she felt completely frozen. Tears were now escaping onto her cheeks and hands, and she felt totally helpless. She was Spider-Girl. She was a superhero. So why did she feel so weak and vulnerable?

“Penny?” Her mentor had appeared in the hallway, standing mere feet from her. His voice was now brimming with concern, and his expression had changed to match. He took a small step toward her. “Talk to me, kid. What’s going on?”

She couldn’t even think about trying to answer him. Not when she felt like she was dying. Was she dying? No... no, she couldn’t be. She’d already died once, and it was nothing like this. This was worse.

He moved closer to her, crouching down right beside her as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Penny, you’ve gotta talk to me. Are you hurt?” But the only reply he got from her was in the form of more sobs and exasperated breaths.

His gaze suddenly turned toward the ceiling. “Friday, what’ve you got?”

“I’m not detecting any injuries, but she does have an elevated heart rate and she’s hyperventilating.” There was a short pause from the AI. “I believe she’s experiencing a panic attack, boss.”

Tony felt his heart drop at the words. He’d known how this felt all too well, and now Penny - his kid - was going through this.

“Oh, Pen...” He couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going on in her head after what she’d been through. He positioned himself so that he was sitting beside her, gently wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

“I’ve got you, honey. You’re alright.” His tone was softer now as he slowly rubbed her arm. “Just breathe... I’ve got you.”

The two of them had sat like that for what seemed like forever, but Tony didn’t care. He’d sit there with her for as long as it took to get her out of that horrible place of mind.

Before too long, Penny’s breathing had finally started to even out, and her sobs had all but stopped. Her head was still spinning though as it remained buried within her hands. The first move she made was to wipe ferociously at her eyes as they rapidly blinked away any remaining tears.

“I- I’m sorry, Mr. Stark...” She spoke with a shaky voice that sounded tired and faltering. “I didn’t mean to-“

Her voice caught in the back of her throat as a gentle hand placed itself atop her head.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Pen.” Tony assured, stroking her hair.

“I shouldn’t have let it get to me... I’m sorry...” She finally raised her head up to look at him, eyes bright red and still welled with tears.

“Don’t apologize, honey.” He paused. “You wanna talk about it? You don’t have to, but sometimes it can help.”

“I- I don’t know...” And she really didn’t. Would he even understand? Would he get it? And even if he did, how would he even be able to help? Unless he had some kind of memory altering device that could wipe clean those images from her brain. That would be wonderful.

She hated so much that she’d let those damn thoughts get to her that badly. She’d been able to suppress them well enough for the past few weeks, but it’s like they just kept getting worse and worse. And now they’d brought her to her knees, taken the breath right out of her, pounded her head to a pulp. She was Spider-Girl. She’d been beaten and bruised thousands of times before, but somehow this was a million times as bad as the worst fight she’d ever taken part in.

“It’s... probably nothing,” she dismissed, sniffling again. “Just got freaked out.”

“A panic attack isn’t nothing, Penny. But it is something I can help you with.”

A... panic attack? Right, that’s what Friday had said. But Penny had never had a panic attack before. Not after the ferry. Not after the Vulture dropped a building on her. Not even after Ben. So why now? Was she... broken? Is that what being brought back to life after you’ve died does? Break you? No, no. She wasn’t broken. She had to be fine. She had to tell herself she was fine.

She hadn’t even realized that a dazed expression had been on her face as she mindlessly stared at the wall across from her.

“Penny?” Tony’s voice finally registered in her ears and broke her from the focus she had on those thoughts. How long had he been talking? “Penny? Are you with me, kiddo?”

“Am I broken?” The question slipped past her lips before she could even think about what she was saying. But the thought was swirling around her head now, taunting her.

Tony blinked, a look of almost disbelief forming across his face. “What- Of course you’re not broken, honey.”

“Why is this happening?” Her voice was barely above a whisper now. “I can’t get it out of my head...”

“Pen, you... You’ve been through a lot. More than anyone your age- hell, anyone at all should ever have to. And that’s not fair.” He sighed, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “But if I know you, you’re stronger than all of it. And I’d like to think I know you pretty damn well.”

“It doesn’t really feel that way,” she responded, followed by a small huff of breath. “It feels like I’m just so... lost. So... not me. It’s like I can’t control my thoughts and everything just spins and I feel like I’m drowning and being crushed and... breaking.”

“I don’t want you to ever think you’re broken because of what’s going on inside your head, okay?”

Penny leaned her head back into the wall she was sitting against, a shaky sigh escaping from her. “Do you remember when we were in space?”

Tony’s brows furrowed at the question. “Yeah, honey, I do. Is that what...” His voice trailed off, unsure if he should even finish the question.

“Yeah,” Penny stated plainly. “When I... died. Everything was dark and I was all alone and no one was coming to help me.” The words ran together as she rushed through them. “I can’t get it out of my head and it’s like I’m dying over and over again.”

“Penny,” Tony started. “Look at me.” And she did, her eyes reluctantly wet again. “You’re not alone. Never will be. You’ve got so many people that’ll be here for you no matter what. And of course that includes me, kiddo.”

That got a small smile out of Penny, her eyes glancing down at her hands for a moment. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

“You’re gonna get through this, okay?” He gave her a soft but encouraging smile. “I promise.”

“Okay,” she all but whispered as a tear dared to fall down her cheek. Tony reached over to wipe it away as he spoke again.

“Love you, kiddo.”

“Love you, too, Mr. Stark.”

Thanks for reading!

[lokislytherin]

euphoria // vampire!jungkook

pairing: vampire!jeon jeongguk x human!reader  summary: you’re scared of vampires - until one saves your life one night. word count: 1988 + 1808 + 2373 + 

chapters: prologue / chapter 1 / chapter 2 / chapter 3 / chapter 4 / chapter 5 / chapter 6 / chapter 7 / epilogue

Over the next few weeks, Jeongguk's appearances in your apartment become increasingly frequent until it's a daily occurrence, regardless of whether Seokjin is there or not.  Jin is like an older brother to you, and you know he would never allow you to bring home a boy he hasn't given his stamp of approval, let alone a vampire he's never even met.

But the thrill of breaking the rules has always excited you, hasn’t it?

Slowly but surely, you and Jeongguk grow steadily closer.  You learn a lot about him: he likes photography, but a part of the curse of vampirism makes it impossible to appear when not seen by the naked eye; impossible to be caught on camera; or reflected in your bedroom mirror, for that matter. He's unintentionally scared you one too many times for you to be comfortable stepping out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around you anymore.  He adopted a tiny white dog called Gureum, but he wasn't able to visit ever since he 'died' and was turned - Gureum barked every time Jeongguk even came close.  Jeongguk had sniffed himself, wondering if he smelled any different.  He couldn't tell.

He also learned a bit about you - like your opinion on pineapples on pizza, which had baffled him endlessly.  He'd looked at you, distrustful, wondering how you could possibly not like pineapples on pizza.  Equally horrified, you'd turned to him, asking how could a fruit like pineapple possibly belong on pizza? After a lengthy debate, both of you had reached a final decision to agree to disagree.  You'd even told him you were saving up to get two tattoos - a fleur-de-lis with mismatched angel wings, a personal choice; and a dragon, a symbol of your family.  He'd nodded in approval, lifting up the sleeve of his hoodie to reveal an armful of tattoos.  You'd asked about some of them - the tiger lily was his birth flower, and the 'please love me' inked behind it was "wishful thinking"; a skeletal hand making the rocker sign and a lyric by Nirvana was for how he'd wanted to be a singer.  Ironically, the lyric said 'better be dead than cool', and Jeongguk had laughed at his own expense.

At one point, both of you had bonded over contact lenses - you had a pair of red ones you'd used the previous year for Halloween, and Jeongguk had screamed when he saw you with them on, thinking you'd been turned and he wasn't there to protect you.  You thanked him for the sentiment, plucking the lenses off your eyes as he fell onto the bed in relief.  He told you his eyes weren't naturally blue, but brown - he'd been wearing blue contacts when he was turned, and now the color had merged onto his eyes.

Soon, you find yourself anticipating Jeongguk's midnight meetings with you, excitement making you shiver when night falls.  You're not surprised when you find yourself falling for Jeongguk, hard.  He's basically perfect: he's cuddly (but lean and muscular underneath), just how you like him; always buying you little trinkets that reminded him of you; even going to far as to bring you flowers, sometimes braiding them into your hair.  His good looks are just a bonus.  His only flaw so far is his love of pineapples on pizza.

On nights like this, you find yourself thinking - what if he was a human? What if the two of you could be something more than just friends? What if he could be yours?

You're rudely interrupted from your blissful, wistful daydream by the sound of harsh knocking on your bedroom window.  Your apartment isn't far from the ground - anybody with a good grip could probably make their way out without much sweating.  It's probably a prank - one of your exes was petty enough to throw pebbles at your window until Seokjin opened the window and screamed until he fled.

More than a little cranky and annoyed, you barely think about the consequences before you throw the window open and yell out into the gloom: "Who the fück is knocking on my window at one a.m?"

A pair of familiar but haggard-looking blue eyes stare into yours.  In the dark, his eyes look purple, until you realize that they're tinged with red.  Even though you know full well that it's Jeongguk and he wouldn't hurt you, you can't help but fear for your life: it reminds you of the first time you 'met' him, the vampire starving and driven to kill by the blood-lust that controlled him.

"Permission to enter," he rasps.  Normally, his voice is smooth enough to make you swoon, but not today.  Today, it is husky and a near growl.  "Wards increased power."

You blink.  Ward? What ward? You have no clue what he meant, but you grant the young vampire permission anyway, urging him in.  The pain and exhaustion is clear on his face, and it worries you, empathy completely overriding your innate 'prey' response of fear. “Thanks, Y/N,” Jeongguk mumbles as he staggers into your arms like a drunk man.

You clap a hand onto your mouth upon seeing the state that he's in. Oh, god. Blood. So much blood.

Oh god, he's covered in blood, dark red liquid painting his white shirt crimson.  The metallic tang makes you want to puke your guts out the window, but you notice that there are traces of it on your windowsill, and Jeongguk is dripping the stuff all over the floor. “Jeongguk? Jeongguk, are you okay?” You can hear the desperation in your own voice.

"Hi, Y/N." He smiles at you, a little loopy, the twinkle in his eyes missing.  He doesn't look like the Jeongguk you've gotten to know.  "Good... to... see... you."

He bares his fangs in a weak grin.  One is a little chipped (you've noticed that before), both are gleaming red with blood (that's new).

“Oh my God, Jeongguk,” you whisper, horrified, “what did you do?”

“Sorry… Y/N.” He looks mildly apologetic.  "Didn't mean to."

A whimper of a scream escapes you as his eyes roll back in his head and he collapses on top of you, bringing you down to the floor.

You muffle your screech with your sleeve as you shove him off as gently as you can, praying that Seokjin can't hear you from the room across the corridor.  Your hands are red with blood, all over your fingers and rolling onto your arms.  You wipe it on your shirt in an attempt to get it off, but there's blood under your nails, too.  That's not even the biggest problem - whose blood is it?

Thankfully, Jeongguk opens his eyes after a minute or two.  It felt like ages to you.  He's conscious now, but his irises are redder than when you saw them last. “What happened to you?” you ask him, confused, worried, scared.

He grunts, trying to push himself into a sitting position.  There's a long gash on his arm, though it doesn't look very deep.  "Got ambushed," he hisses, something feral in his voice.  He doesn't quite sound human, but he seems to be holding back in front of you, trying to be human even though both of you know he's not.  He carefully pokes and prods himself, trying to find out the sheer extent of his injuries.  "Damn hunters again."

You remember what Jeongguk said about the hunters before - humans who knew about the secret nightlife, humans who were so thirsty for some sort of vengeance that they would hunt down vampires, werewolves, and witches alike, regardless of how said creature had treated them in the past.  Jeongguk had sneered when he talked about his previous close scrapes with hunters, but this was the first time he'd been caught.

"I took a few down, but there were too many.  I tried not to hurt them, I really did.  But they didn't hold back, so neither did I." He grits his teeth at a particularly deep cut on his thigh, which sizzles and oozes blood.  You stare at it in horror.  Did he climb all the way to your apartment with all those injuries? He growls lowly.  "Fückin' silver knife." It's the first time you've heard him swear.  "Hurts like shït, but it's worse for werewolves." He laughs hollowly.

But why you? Why, of all people, would he come to you?

"You're the only one I'd trust with helping me," he grunts as he plucks a small shard of wood out of his thigh.  He tosses it out the window.  "Also, this is going to sound crazy, but I think your roommate is a witch.  He knows I've been here, and he strengthened the wards around the apartment." He flinches when one of his wounds begins to steam.  "That's why I had to ask for permission.  He's trying to protect you, but I put both of you in danger by coming here.  I think I lost the hunters, but they have a good tracker."

You frown.  Seokjin, a witch?

You rewind back to all the times he's seemed particularly magical in any way.  Perhaps it's his cooking, and how everything he makes seems to be better than yours even though you're not too shabby a cook yourself.  Or maybe it's his looks - most times, he goes unnoticed, but once you make eye contact with him you seem to be unable to look away.  It doesn't help that he looks the same as he did ten years ago, you've seen his pictures.

But now is not the time to question Seokjin's humanity.  Jeongguk is badly injured, and by the steam rising out of the wounds and the fading light in his eyes, he looks like he may even be dying in your arms.  "Let me help you, Jeongguk," you beg, "just tell me how."

Jeongguk shudders, squeezing his eyes shut as a silent scream rips out of his mouth.  When he reopens them, the lovely blue of his irises is almost gone, covered by flecks of red.  "Blood." Fangs slide out of his gums, and he eyes your neck.  "I need fresh blood."

“Fresh… blood?”

"I mean, dead animal blood works too," he adds hastily, "just not as well.  I'd heal faster with fresh blood." His voice is deeper and gruffer, and you like the sound of it a little more than you should.  "But please, hurry.  Make a decision.  Once my eyes go completely red, I'll lose all control." His voice goes even lower.  "I don't know how I'd live with myself if I hurt you somehow."

You can see his blood-red gaze on your throat, sharp fangs peeking out of his mouth.  The look in his eyes is damn near predatory, and you shiver when his tongue darts out hungrily.  If this feral side of Jeongguk isn't the hottest thing you've ever seen, you don't know what is.

Slowly, you brush your hair away from your neck, exposing your throat to the young vampire.  His gaze pins you to the spot - no doubt he can hear every frantic beat of your heart.

Blue briefly flickers in Jeongguk’s eyes. “Are you sure about this?” He sounds scared for you.  “'Cause once I start, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.” “It’ll be okay, Guk. I’ll be fine.” Are you reassuring him, or yourself? “We’ll be fine.” “If you still say so.” He still sounds uncertain.

As soon as the red bleeds into his eyes, he becomes another person completely.  Gone is the Jeon Jeongguk who would make you flower crowns and buy you pretty little trinkets - here is an apex predator (who totally does not get you all hot and bothered, by the way.)

Jeongguk licks his lips, a small smirk on his face.  The tips of his fangs are stark white against the red of his lips, and you can feel your cheeks heat up.  It’s too late to back out now.

He pounces, pushing you down against the covers, trapping you under him.  You gasp as he clamps his teeth onto your neck, fangs piercing through the skin of your throat and sinking deep into your jugular vein.  The feeling is foreign, as is the pain, and you struggle a little.  Jeongguk lets out an animalistic growl, sucking hard as he pins your wrists above your head.  Your eyes flutter shut after a few moments - after the initial sting of the bite fates, all you're left with is a growing sense of euphoria.

All is well until you start to feel woozy.  Jeongguk is literally draining away your lifeblood, and if he keeps going you'll be dead in a few minutes.  You nudge him gently, but there's no response.  You nudge him a little harder, and you get a grunt this time.  Not much better, but a little progress is better than none at all.  "Jeongguk," you start gently, "that's enough." You hope the thirst has faded enough for him not to lose his temper and snap your neck.

He groans, mumbling something about your sweet blood.  You call him again, a little more fear in your voice.

Footsteps sound from across the corridor, and you swear under your breath as your housemate kicks the door open, revealing Seokjin in all his alpaca-nightshirt wearing glory.  He's wielding his phone like a weapon, the torch on as he squints.  "Y/N, what the-"

He takes in the state of your room - bloodstains all over the floor, the vampire attached to your neck.  You're less scared of Jeongguk now, more fearful of your roommate.  The only thing worse than an angry and protective Seokjin is a tired, cranky and protective seokjin. “- hell?” Well, you’re screwed.

[jenomark]

Part 2

➔Pairing: Haechan x Reader (Female) ➔Other Members/ Characters: Jisung ➔Genre: Supernatural Thriller ➔Warnings: Mentions of mental illness | Mentions of death | Horror | Suspense | Strip club |  Almost blowjob | A little violence ➔Word count: 4,677

➔Definition of stranger 1: one who is strange: such as a person or thing that is unknown or with whom one is unacquainted

“You haven’t been here in two weeks,” he said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  You sat across from your therapist. Being in his office again felt strange. No matter how you sat, you couldn’t get yourself to feel comfortable. He had moved things around since you last visited, bought a new shelf, and a new oil diffuser that added a specific scent you had smelled before but couldn’t place. 

  You stood up and walked to the window. The restless feeling in your legs wouldn’t stop, and you needed to move around. His eyes followed you across the room, his pen drawing circles in the margins of his paper. 

“Avoiding it won’t make it go away.” he said.

  You looked down at the street. You had to take the bus and train to get to his office. It was a nice day, so you didn’t mind the travel. All below you, people roamed in complete ignorance, their shiny happy faces too ugly for you to look at for too long.

  Two weeks. Appointments cancelled. Texts dodged left and right. You shut yourself inside your apartment, your ability to function in society slipping underneath a rug. It wasn’t until the ridiculous feeling set in that you realized you should probably go outside. If therapy is where you found yourself, you wondered if what you really needed all along was help.

“It does for a little.” you said.

 He didn’t sigh. It would be too unprofessional for him to do that, but you could feel the exasperation brewing. You didn’t follow his advice enough. If you were him, and your client was as stubborn and pigheaded as yourself, you would question the waste of money. Help wasn’t cheap.

“I think I was too scared to come,” you said. “My life has felt a little..off..lately. Actually, it’s felt off for a long time. Half the time I’m not even sure what I’m seeing is real.”

“Maybe it’s time to put you on medication,” he said. “or at least begin talking about it as a serious option.”

“No,” you said quickly. You placed your fingers on the glass window and leaned in slightly, your breath fogging up the glass. “I just need a little time to gather my thoughts, I think.”

 The pen scribbling felt louder. Circle. Circle. Circle. You could hear the creak of his chair as he lifted his body, could hear him padding across the floor. You so rarely saw him out of his chair. The thought of him leaving it further shifted your reality.

“Do you know what I mean?” you asked. “Do you know what I’m trying to say?”

  You didn’t turn to him, but you could feel his presence behind you. Tall. Looming. Judging. You figured he was giving you some space to talk it out, but he was still too close for comfort.

“Do you ever just want to get away from everyone you know?” you asked. “To forget who you are and disappear? Change your name, your hair color, your likes and dislikes. To be reborn as someone new, someone who doesn’t have the same problems as you. Have you thought about it? I think about it all of the time. Whenever things don’t go my way, or whenever things I can’t explain happen to me, my brain's first reaction is to abort itself. I don’t think it’s healthy, but then again, I wouldn’t be here if my mind were healthy.” 

“That’s not true,” he said. “Even healthy people need help. It’s good to talk about things. You can’t keep it all inside. You can’t run away. You have to live through it. You have to survive.”

  You laughed. You didn’t mean the laugh to sound so maniacal, but you felt like you were truly losing it. 

“Is that your answer to everything?” you asked. “To survive?”

“Of course,” he said. “It’s better than waiting for what’s going to kill you.”

  You thought about his words, digesting them internally. You were so lost in your own thoughts that you didn’t notice how still everything was. The traffic below had stopped, the footfalls dying out. In the office, you couldn’t hear the nasally voice of his secretary, or the tapping of her long fingernails on computer keys. You could hardly hear your own breathing.

“Sometimes I think it would be easier knowing when I die.” you said, your voice echoing in the space.

  Your therapist moved closer, so close the hair on the back of your neck stood on end. You had read about therapists taking advantage of their clients, and even though you considered yourself someone who wouldn’t allow that to happen, you froze in place. His mouth was so close to your ear that you could feel how hot his breath was.

“You’re going to die..right..now” he whispered.

 You swung around so fast the back of your head smacked the window. With your back pressed against the glass, and your eyes bulging out of your head, you looked at him. What you were met with wasn’t your therapist, and it wasn’t a man. With teeth as large as your head, and eyes so big and red, it smiled like it had you finally trapped.

It opened its mouth the same time you did.

You screamed first.

  When you woke up, you were still screaming. Your alarm clock was going off, the most jarring sound imaginable. You slammed your hand down on it and set that same hand on your chest to calm your heart. In a sitting position, you rocked yourself forward. You tried to breathe, tried to banish the monster you were dreaming about to the back of your mind. You pulled back your hand and could see the sweat dripping down your palm, running a river through the deep set lines.

“What. The. Fuck.” you said, dropping your hand onto the bed.

  You checked the clock: 10:44 a.m. You had slept a full twelve hours. Peeling the blankets back, you threw your legs over the side of the bed and pushed your feet into a pair of slippers. Despite getting good sleep, the nightmares were making you feel exhausted. Every night it was more of the same: You at therapy, your body uncomfortable, your mind frantic. The monster varied, but he was always trying to eat you alive. When you woke up, the tiny fragments you remembered lessened each day. It had been happening for two weeks.

  You walked across your room, dodging the laundry on your floor, and the old take-out wrappers. The mess was accumulating well, but it was nothing compared to the smell. Most days, you could barely bring yourself to shower because you couldn’t stand to be in the bathroom for more than a few minutes at a time. You brushed your teeth in the kitchen, closed your eyes to take a piss. And even through it all, ignoring the issue really is what you did best. 

“Shit,” you said. “I’m sorry.” 

  A fluffy black cat curled around your legs and jumped to rub his head against the back of your knee. His meow was deep and full. You leaned down to scratch behind his ears to make him purr.

“I’m not the only one I’m neglecting,” you said. “Guess we’re in this together, huh?”

  As you made your way to the food bowl, the cat followed diligently. You fed him and set the food back onto the counter when something caught your eye. Slowly, one foot in front of the other, you walked to the window and peered out. In your nightmares, the view was the same as your apartment building, which didn’t make sense.

“I didn’t leave this open.” you said, shutting the window. You pulled the blinds down and turned back to your cat, who was scarfing down his food. “And you don’t have thumbs.”

  You walked to your desk and sat down. The best thing about working from home was not having to go outside and talk to people. It was easier to exist on the inside, in your pajamas. You opened your laptop and looked through your work email, at the various unread emails that plagued you. Instead of reading them, you shut the laptop and placed your chin on your fist. Every day was the same. You pretended like you were okay and could handle what happened until you found yourself obsessively thinking about it.

  Two weeks ago felt like an eternity. You knew your memory would fail you the further you got away from the day you met him, but you didn’t think it would be so hard to remember everything. When you tried to think about the day, there was a fog over each picture in your mind. You grew tired every time you tried too hard to remember, passing out on the couch no matter the time of day. Trying to retain any of the dialogue between you and him was like attempting to find a speck of glitter in sand. Impossible.

  Haechan. You could remember his name. You remembered how he looked in your car, but couldn’t seem to remember the feeling that made you follow him. There were voices whispering in your mind, but you couldn’t pick out one from the other. Something in your brain told you it was in your best interest to forget the whole situation, but you really were so stubborn. You had to know.

  The next person to invade your mind was your not-boyfriend. You hadn’t seen him since the convenience store.  The only thing you could remember is how he looked when he left the car. After that, everything was hazy. Still, you felt something was wrong. He usually came over at night when he was horny, and if he wasn’t up for having sex, he would at least check in to make sure you were okay. You called his phone but there was no answer, no voicemail. You thought he must have been avoiding you, so you let him be. 

 You leaned back in your desk chair and swiveled around until it was facing the window. Your cat was staring at you, his green eyes unblinking. You called him over, but he didn’t come. You stared each other down, your eyes glazing over. The doorbell to your apartment buzzed and you jumped, hitting your knee on the desk and knocking over an old iced coffee that had been sitting there for four days.

“Coming.” you called.

 Your voice didn’t sound like yours. You definitely were not the type to answer the door. Your usual brand included staying away from the door in case they could see your shadow underneath the crack, or holding your hand over your mouth in case they heard you breathing. Jumping up from the chair and yanking the door open was not your average reaction. Neither was the smile that found its way to your lips.

“Did you order a pizza?” a man asked. “I have one pizza.”

  The pizza in question was, in fact, in his hands. You looked into his eyes and shook your head. He looked at the receipt and shook his head.

“I’m going to get fired,” he said. “Have a nice day.”

“You too.” you said, your hand getting ready to close the door.

“Hopefully,” he said. “I hear it’s getting harder to survive out there.”

  You closed the door, his words not hitting you until you heard the click. You stared at the knob. You couldn’t hear his footsteps fading away down the hallway. You looked down and could see his shadow standing in front of the door. It was moving like he was jumping up and down, but there was no sneaker connecting with carpet.

  You were too scared to move, to speak. The sound of your eyeballs moving back and forth in their sockets felt extremely loud. 

“Have a nice day.” you called out, swallowing the lump in your throat.

  The shadow disappeared. You exhaled, but you were still too scared to move a muscle. You didn’t have the courage until you heard your cat meow behind you, and when you turned around, you wished you hadn’t. The pizza man was standing there, but there wasn’t a pizza in his hands. There was no smile on your lips.

“I plan on it.” he said.

  There was no time to scream. You jumped towards the door and opened it, all thoughts leaving your head. All you could think about was survival. You looked back before you closed the door shut behind you and saw the pizza man fling his whole body at the door. You ran down the hallway, your legs pumping as fast as they could go. You couldn’t wait for the elevator, so you bolted down the stairs. Taking them two at a time, you could feel the pressure on your ankles. The sound of the door upstairs opened and hit the wall. The noise in the stairwell was loud and set your teeth on edge. You looked up in between the stairs and saw a hand on the rail, and it was sliding down fast. You kept going without looking back, your whole body shaking with fright. When you made it down to the lobby, there was no doorman waiting. You pushed the front door open and found yourself out in the sunlight, the people on the sidewalk watching you with curiosity. 

“Help me I-” you started to say before you noticed that no one was listening.

 You ran up to the nearest car and banged on the window, your fist balled up and still shaking. You didn’t know what you were planning on saying when the person rolled down their window. You kept looking over your shoulder and expecting the pizza man to appear behind you, his teeth large and ready to devour you, but he never came. You looked back at the car and noticed, for the first time, that it was the same car that your not-boyfriend drove. You looked through the window and saw two hands on a steering wheel. They were his hands. He didn’t lean over to invite you in, and he didn’t roll down the window. You backed away and could see the outline of him, could see that he was staring blankly ahead, as if he were in a trance.

  There was not enough time to find out what was going on. You kept walking, bumping shoulders with people as you passed. Your brisk walk turned into a jog that knocked the breath straight out of you. Two blocks and zero direction later, you were bent down and clutching your knees. You patted your pockets, the cold realization that you didn’t have your phone or money with you sinking in. 

 You looked around and thought about your options. You could keep walking and hope pizza man would be gone by nighttime. You could ask a stranger for help, or you could---- Images of him began to float to the surface in your mind. You stood on the sidewalk, not really seeing the world before you. 

“Haechan,” you said. “I have to find him.”

 You hailed a taxi, something you had never done before. The taxi pulled up and waited for you. You had no money, but you would deal with that problem when the time came. You stepped up to the car door and opened it, taking one last look at your surroundings. That’s when you saw him standing across the street, his eyes on you, half of his lanky body hidden behind a car. 

“Lady,” the taxi driver said. “Are you getting in?”

 You couldn’t remember his name, but the longer you looked, the fog was clearing up. You felt exposed, your soul stripped down until it was a nub of nothing. He didn’t move his lips or his eyes. He just stood and watched from across the street, his visual bringing everything back to you at once. 

“Jisung.” you said.

  The lights in the club painted purples and pinks on the wall, the paint brush a little cleaner than the one he was used to. It was easier to hide out in seedy strip clubs than the higher end places, because you never knew who you would run into. He liked to confine himself to the corners where he could see who was coming and going. As long as he kept the money flowing, they let him stay as long as he wanted.

“Baby, you look lonely,” one of the girls said. “Can I keep you company?”

  He had been there long enough to learn every girl's name, but the one before him was brand new. They all had fake names just like him, but they were the realest people he’d ever met. He liked to strike up conversations to get to know them a little, to find out what made other people tick. He smiled up at her. 

“I’m not lonely,” he said, taking a wad of cash out of his pocket. “But I would appreciate the company.”

 The girl got onto her platform and started to dance for him. She worked the stripper pole awkwardly, walking around it with her hands grasping it. Right away, he noticed the way she eyed his table full of empty drink glasses. Twenty or so glasses littered the top, leaving wet rings on the surface. Though none of the drinks would get him drunk, he knew people didn’t drink as excessively. The shock was hard for her to hide.

“Can I get you another?” she asked.

“No, thank you.”

 The cash would be all hers, she knew it well enough. None of it belonged to him, anyway. Cash was easy to come by when you could make other people forget how he acquired it. The other thing he liked about strip clubs is how no one ever asked where he got his money, and they never questioned the validity of his attire. Dressed in an expensive suit, Haechan certainly looked the part of a rich, drunk asshole.

 He threw singles onto the little stage and sat back in his booth to watch her. She was pretty, but her face was hard to focus on. He looked at her body and felt his very human needs swelling up. She placed her heel in between his legs and crossed the gap between stage and booth, straddling his lap and slipping her hands inside of his suit jacket.

“You look like a baby.” she said.

“Only in this world.” he said.

 The girl didn’t hear his words. She started grinding on him and sucking on his earlobe. Haechan touched her thigh and let her kiss his neck, his body still. He looked towards the doorway and watched men file in. He would bet that most of them came from out of town so their wives wouldn’t know what they were up to at night. He avoided that crowd, choosing to keep a neutral disposition about what people did with their lives.

“You tip a lot,” she said. “ Other girls talk about you. Tell me, where did you get all that money from?”

He smiled. “Does it matter?”

  She kissed him on the lips. When she got to her feet, the hand she held out was open. He could smell the greedy stench on her. He placed his hand in hers despite it, and let himself be led outside. Past the dumpsters and discarded traffic cones, she got on her knees to blow him. 

“We don’t get a lot of men like you,” she said, her fingers yanking his belt off. “You seem shy. You’re definitely handsome. I don’t normally do this.”

  Haechan looked down at her, at the roundness of her breasts, and how her lipstick was stuck to the front of her veneers. He believed that taking random strangers out back and performing oral sex on them wasn’t her regular activity. Like most people, she was drawn to him. It wasn’t her fault. She pulled his zipper down and touched the front of his cock. The way it felt made him forget who he was for a small moment. He could have been any of those men walking through the door, and he liked that feeling, too. He wanted to enjoy having her mouth around him, to give in to the excitement brewing in his belly. 

“Stop.” Haechan said before her pink tongue touched his cock.

  From her perch on the ground, she looked up at him. He asked her to get up, which she did. Haechan zipped up his pants and buckled his belt. She watched him in silence, her expression regretful.

“You don’t want me?” she asked. “This always happens to me.”

“It’s not you,” he said. “Trust me.”

 Before she could say another word, he looked into her eyes and leaned in close. The words that came out of his mouth would affect her, he knew. He said, “You and I are strangers. You’re right, I am lonely. I didn’t want a dance from you tonight. You found the $1,000 I gave you, and you’ll tell no one about it. Use it on yourself and your daughter.” 

With eyes that grew expressionless, she nodded. 

  Haechan closed his jacket and went back the way he came. When he went back into the strip club, he started cleaning up his own mess, which was something he needed to do more often.

  The taxi car stopped on a random street. You banged on the glass partition and asked the taxi driver to keep driving. Ever since you drove away from Jisung, your memories flooding back to you, you were scared of stopping in a neighborhood you didn’t know. You didn’t know if he was following you. There was something about that boy that unnerved you. 

“Oh no,” the driver said. “This is where the trip ends.”

“What?” you asked. “I asked you to drive me to the motel. I gave you the address.”

“And I did drive you,” he said. “Enjoy the rest of the walk.”

  You looked around and saw that the motel was nowhere in sight. The driver made eye contact with you in the mirror and turned around to face you. He looked like he was debating whether or not he wanted to speak, when he opened his mouth and spit out all the words at once.

“Thatplaceiscursed.” he said.

“Cursed?” you asked. “The motel? The motel is cursed?”

“Yes,” he said. “No one goes there. Everyone knows to stay away from it. Therefore, this is where I leave you. Give me my money, and have a nice day.”

  You were trying to make sense of it all. Your mind was struggling to keep up with everything trying to filter in. In a strange world, you had to contemplate the possibility that the driver had the same experience you did. Or maybe you were crazy. Or maybe everyone was crazy.

“Wait,” you said. “I was there two weeks ago. What do you mean everyone knows to stay away from it? That motel is empty.”

The driver's eyes widened. “Get out.”

“What? Why?” 

He got out of the drivers side and opened the back seat. “Get out.”

  You were getting ready to object, when he reached in and grabbed your leg. He pulled, and you screamed. His long nails were scratching at your skin. The more you kicked, the more aggressive he became.  He was angry, spit flying out of his mouth.

“Get the fuck out of my car,” he said. “Get out. Get out.”

  He pulled you onto the pavement, your ass bouncing off of the cement. He didn’t check to see that you were alright, just got back into his car and slammed the door shut. You thought he was going to step on the gas and peel away but his last shred of humanity rolled down the window and looked at you laying on the ground.

“Go back, “ he said. “You don’t belong here.”

  You sat on the ground long after he had driven away, the hot sun beating on your back. When you found your footing, you weren’t thinking about anything. You kept walking forward. On and on you went, taking different directions, not really knowing where they would lead you. You thought about finding a phone and calling someone, but you didn’t know who would listen. You hadn’t talked to your sister in awhile, and everyone in your life would be tired of picking up the call just for them to have to forgive you.

  Thinking about just going home made you turn around. You turned around and around until the final turn saw you in front of the motels parking lot. 

“How the fuck did I get here…” you said.

  The motel looked much the same as it did when you left. No, it hadn’t. When you left, it was destroyed. You remembered the glass crunching beneath your feet, and how Haechan told you to stop being so nosy. He was protecting you from looking at the body of the old woman. You remembered his hand on your back and how he guided you to the edge of the parking lot. The motel before you looked the same as the day you first saw it. With the old woman in your mind, you moved forward. There was no broken glass, no signs of a struggle. It was like you had taken a step back in time. You went up to the door of room 11 and touched the face of it. You could hear her words in your head: Can I help you?” 

“Yes.” you said, out loud.

  You moved to the side of the building where you knew room 22 would be. There was no beer bottle, no proof of what had happened that day. The only thing that stuck out as odd was the open curtains. You could see inside his motel room, and it was empty. You moved forward and touched the door, your fingers against the blue paint until you found the knob. A curious twist later, the door was opening.

  Inside, the room was like every other motel room. There was a bed, an outdated television, a phone, a chair, and a lamp and other tables stuffed into the small space. You retraced your footsteps from two weeks ago, to when Haechan pulled you through the room. You were brought to the bathroom door, its door closed and perfectly intact. You looked underneath the door and could see a shadow moving. You would be lying if you said you weren’t scared shitless. You thought about running, but then you remembered what your therapist said.

Running away won’t make it go away.

  You moved out of the way, just in time. You turned the corner to where the mini fridge sat. At the same time, the bathroom door opened. You held your breath, terrified that you would find another monster getting ready to fling their body at you. When Haechan came out, you felt yourself relax a little. There was a familiar feeling of comfort surrounding him, like a halo.

 Haechan crossed the room, confidently. He had just gotten out of the shower, the towel hanging from his hips tightly secured. He didn’t see you standing there, arms by your sides, and your eyes raking over his body. He touched the clothes on his bed, the price tags still on them. You were getting ready to step forward when his body started disappearing slowly, fading away until it was nothing but smoke. A thick, black fog was suddenly before you, hanging in mid-air. It rolled over the clothes and went inside them, bringing them up into a stand position. You watched as the black fog filled out the suit, an arm and a leg forming to make Haechan. When it was all filled out, he rolled back the cuff on his sleeves and fixed you with a stare.

“I thought I told you to go home?” he asked.

[ahomeganeyatsu]

Building

Set on their first night in the Awakened Academy.

Wooin felt his phone vibrate to his right. He marked his place in the book he was reading and hastily caught the device before it tumbled off the edge of the bed. He should have been sleeping, preparing for an early start for their first class tomorrow.

Instead, here he was. Awake.

Sleep was particularly elusive. Always has been when he found himself in an unfamiliar place. He found it funny. He thought that growing up without a permanent address would’ve rid him of that quirk of his. The opposite proved to be case. The passing years only had him resigning to acceptance. On the bright side, it was only limited to the first night.

His phone vibrated once again and demanded his attention. He wasn’t sure who would be texting him at this hour. There were only five people registered on his phone—six with the addition of Lee Subin days ago. The chat that Jiwoo had spawned for them was silent. The last being Subin’s, “GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP JISUK” and Jisuk’s obnoxious GIF of a cat with a human face. A cursed image if Wooin had anything to say about it. It still managed to make him snort in amusement though.

Wooin had a guess as to who it was. He didn’t want to assume but looking at his inbox pointed to one person. He unlocked his phone, swiped his thumb down and there on top of his notifications was a single name.

 Jisuk-ah Are you still up? Forget it. You’re probably asleep.

 Considering that that the message’s status has updated itself to read, it would be remiss of him not to reply. He was certain Jisuk would still be awake. It had only been seconds since he received the message.

  Yes. I’m still awake.

 Succinct. Jisuk had once told him there was no mistaking the way he texted for anyone else. It’s just Wooin-ish, yanno? Jiwoo had nodded in agreement and Wooin just made a noise of acceptance.

Seconds passed and his phone remained silent. A frown slowly took form on his face. Jisuk was usually quick to reply. He had harped Wooin about it before but upon realizing that the other boy had never actually texted anyone prior to meeting them, Jisuk had let him be. Wooin still made an effort to at least tell Jisuk if he couldn’t talk at the moment. At least, it didn’t leave Jisuk wondering. He gave Wooin the same courtesy.

So when his reply was left unanswered, Jisuk leaving him on read, it left a strange feeling. Wooin tried not to fret over it. Maybe he was talking to someone else at the moment? Or some other matter needed his attention more? There were a ton of plausible reasons. Whatever it was, Wooin stopped himself from lingering.

He was about to pick up his book again when he heard a sudden tapping. He scanned his room but nothing was out of the ordinary. The tapping came again, this time more insistent. There was one place he could check, but what in the world could be tapping at his window? For one absurd moment, he thought it would be a ghost. He shook his head to banish it. Maybe he shouldn’t have read that webtoon Jiwoo sent him. Who would have thought a guy like Seo Jiwoo would have a penchant for horror stories?

The tapping continued stopped. By the frequency, it wouldn’t be stopping any sooner. Wooin was sure now that it wanted his attention. Enough dawdling then. He turned his head to the window beside his bed and found his mind trying to comprehend the sight.

He wasn’t sure what to think. Only that it was impossible. And utterly ridiculous. He blinked. Rubbed his eyes. Yet the scene outside his window didn’t change. Oh, well, with that frown and the jerky gesturing to the window’s latch, it did change a bit. A little dazed, Wooin made his way dumbly to the window. He unlatched the lock and nearly bruised Jisuk’s face as he swung it open.

“Fuck, warn a guy will you?” the boy complained as he climbed through. The sound of rushing wind dying down in an instant. Ah, that explained the fluttering.

“I think I should be the one saying that,” he retorted.

Jisuk turned to him and smirked at finding the still bewildered expression plastered on him. “Wipe that dumb look off your face.” He walked to Wooin’s bed and dropped himself on it. He looked pretty right at home.

“What are you doing here?” he asked instead.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” Jisuk raised a brow at him. Wooin knew exactly why Jisuk was here. The throbbing on his wrist said all there was about that matter. That wasn’t the point of his question though and he was sure Jisuk knew that too. With a groan, he pushed himself back up and leaned forward to grab Wooin’s wrist.

In the next second, Wooin was dragged to his own bed, nearly lying on top of Jisuk. They stared at each other. A moment passing between them, before Wooin was pulled further down and Jisuk’s arms slid around his waist.

“Hi,” came whispered to his ear.

“Hi,” came his muffled reply, as his face remained tucked into Jisuk’s shoulder.

“I’m still not used to this.”

Me too, he wanted to say but he could only hum.

Being touched like this was still a novelty to him. He wasn’t raised with casual intimacy. Even the years under Professor Delaine didn’t prepare him for it. He wasn’t an affectionate man. Wooin had understood that wasn’t part of the relationship when the man took him in. He was used to pats or a quick ruffle to the hair. They were few and far in between. Wooin soaked it all up. It wasn’t a surprise that when Jisuk hugged him, Wooin had been rigid and it took a long time before he realized what was even happening. Or to loosen his tense muscles. Jisuk stubbornly held him all throughout.

Jisuk was unexpectedly a tactile person. He never tried holding Wooin again so hastily after that first time. He did slowly build up on the touches—standing close, brushing their shoulders, holding his hand, hooking his arm over his shoulders and so on. Each one a step further in the ladder. Wooin still tensed at some touches but he easily melted into them after a second.

Jisuk shifted and Wooin flowed with it. He rolled them to their sides, their contact never breaking. Wooin wondered how much of this was the bond or whether Jisuk was simply indulging his need for contact. Maybe it was neither. Maybe it was both.

Wooin had been resigned never knowing whoever owned the mark on his wrist. He had stopped thinking about it. Not until the moment he and Jisuk found themselves bare chested in front of each other in Jiwoo’s bathroom.

To think that they found out being each other’s soulmates by accident. Typical really. Considering they had been at each other’s throats not too long ago.

It wasn’t particularly hard to accept it. There was something right about being in Jisuk’s company. They may have gotten off on the wrong foot, it didn’t change that it was easy to get along with each other. Jisuk may have been rough around the edges, but Wooin wasn’t blind to see that he didn’t dislike his company.

(In fact, something just clicked in their little group. Jiwoo may have been their common point, but it was more than that made them stay.)

The bond wasn’t fully realized yet, but with the way they were behaving, the certainty of it was well on its way.

Wooin didn’t know how long they stayed like that. They didn’t talk much. Just kept the contact to satisfy the bond that’s been recently acknowledged. At some point, they rearranged themselves to lie better on the bed. He did remember falling asleep to Jisuk spooning him. The next morning, he woke up to Jisuk gone. He dreamt of Jisuk leaning over him, lips brushing against his cheek and his figure sliding out of the window.

Seeing that it was slightly ajar, the likeliness of it being a dream was null.

His phone vibrating signaled the others were awake. The chat was once again active. As expected, after Jiwoo’s morning greetings, Subin and Jisuk were ribbing each other once again. He smiled at their antics. Unused to such liveliness yet he didn’t find the change unwelcome.

He set his phone aside and began getting ready for the day.

  And if later that night, Jisuk snuck into his room again, they just had to be careful not to get caught.

[angelkurenai]

Imagine having a live on facebook while in bed and your secret and very naked boyfriend who is sleeping next to you, Jensen, crashing it by revealing your relationship by accident.

A smile slowly tugged at the corners of your lips when you felt the small and light but certainly significant dip on your bed. You were sure it wasn't your fiance because he was certainly a lot heavier and was already softly snoring beside you. You turned without opening your eyes to the side you felt it, your brows furrowing when the light from the curtains shone right over your eyes. How the man next to you could keep sleeping even with the sun shining over his face you had no idea but you guessed he was too exhausted from work as it was, so it only made you glad he could this much-needed peace and relaxation in your home.

Feeling the softness over your face, caressing your cheek, the smile on your lips became even bigger and rubbing your eyes you decided to open them to be greeted by one of the cutest sights you could see.

“Well good morning to you.” you said in a baby voice, and you were greeted with a beautiful meow from your cat. The second he noticed you were awake, he approached you even more. You brought a hand up – thankful that your fiancedidn't have a grip on you as per usual – and gave him a couple small kisses and in return not only he nuzzled his face against yours but also gave you a small lick on the cheek which made you giggle.

“Oh alright, I see.” you petted his head, moving to his back to give it a rub “We've been spending too much time with Steve and think you're a golden retriever yourself huh?” you asked in almost a whisper, not wanting to wake up the sleeping man. Your cat however gave you no reaction other than plopping next to you and enjoying the attention and petting from your part.

“What time is it though?” you asked mostly yourself, reaching out for your phone on the nightstand. But the second you took hold of it and checked on the time and notification you had set for the live on facebook which you had promised to your fans, your eyes went wide in horror. You were far too late for that, and maybe you knew who you were going to blame for that when he woke up because tired or not he had managed to keep you up for most part of the night.

“Crap” you muttered before letting out a heavy sigh. You could still do it, sure, and it wouldn't be the first time you had a live only a couple minutes after waking up but this time, unlike the previous one, there was a man sleeping next to you. And the relationship you had with him had been a well-kept secret for a long time that you didn't want out just yet.

Contemplating the choice for a couple more seconds, you glanced at the man next to you and saw that he was still peacefully sleeping. With a final sigh and making up your mind, you brought your phone up and opened the app for the live. Making sure you and your cat were the only ones in the frame and that there would be anything that would hint the other side of your bed was occupied, you finally started.

You paused for a second “Is this thing working?” you narrowed your eyes “I sure hope it is.” a small laugh escaped your lips “My gosh, sometimes I'm worse than Jensen. And the funny thing is I tease him about it!

“Alright, alright we're good.” you shifted to get a bit more comfortable “Well, good morning you guys... I guess if anyone is around at this time?” you squinted at your phone to see the comments and reactions rolling in or more like coming in inwaves “Oh wow ok, plenty of people around I see. You all have been waiting for me?”

You took a look at the comments and other than the usual 'I love you's and 'Good morning's there were several that said they did. “Sorry I had to keep yall waiting but if it wasn't for this one here, I wouldn't even be awake at this point. I feel so exhausted these days but you guys are gonna love it, I promise.” you winked at the camera.

You paused for a second, rubbing softly your cat's back as he purred, reading the comments “Can't give away much at the moment, no, sorry.” another small pause “Oh yeah, he always does it.” you grinned, glancing down at your cat who more than enjoyed the attention “But it's not because he misses me, no. The only thing this one misses is food and attention. He's an attention whore, aren't you Tony?” you asked him, giving him a few more kisses on the head as he closed his eyes and relaxed more “You little bitch only come here when you want food or love but when I want it what do you do hm? Ignore me.”

“He lives up to the reputation of the name.” you smiled, looking back at the camera “And now I'm gonna be waiting for RDJ's comment to be like 'Excuse me? Little bitch? Queen bitch, please!' you said with a giggle, feeling the bed shift next to you and instantly stopping yourself.

“Alright, alright-” you cleared your throat, making sure to lower your voice “I'm gonna have to be a bit quiet today though because I'm not alone in here. So I hope you'll excuse my sort of whispering.” you stopped for a second, taking a look at the comments or at least sections of them as they changed so fast. Your eyebrows raised and your eyes nearly widened when you realized your slip up.

“Oh wow you guys.” you breathed out a laugh that sounded so effortless, easy and genuine but on the inside you were dying “I'm sorry to ruin it to you but I'm talking about one man, and one man only.” you switched the camera so that it was showing your dog laying on his bed on the corner of his room where it was his favorite spot, before you switched it back to yours “Stevie boy loves his sleep, sometimes he makes me think he's a cat himself.” you were so glad you were an actress and your voice came out so confident otherwise it would have been so easy for everyone to tell what you meant.

“I mean-” you tried to seem as you possibly could “I have to look into this. But truth is he never has caused any trouble in here, not unlike this guy right here.” you looked down at your cat who at that specific time decided to look up at you and give you an adorable meow.

“Oh what? What little one? You understood that didn't ya?” you asked with a growing smile and heard another meow “Of course you did. Of course you did. Of course-” you stopped yourself when you realized you were talking to him as if you were talking to a baby and then proceeded to laugh softly with yourself “I've turned into a mama without knowing it hmm. And I love it. Because you're the smartest baby ever.” you gave a small kiss, which was in return followed by a small lick from him.

“I swear you guys, I can hardly look away from him to read your comments. This live is gonna be all about me smothering Tony with love. And it's gonna be one of the best lives for sure!” you whispered with a small giggle, before laying fully on your back – certainly keeping the sleeping man in your bed out of the frame – and Tony curled on top of you, still enjoying the attention “I love you.” you said in a baby voice “I love you.” he just looked at you and you giggled.

“Yes, I love you.” you got a bit more serious, voice slowly turning into a softer whisper “I love you. I lo-”

But the next time the four-lettered word didn't get to leave your lips. Not when you felt an arm around your waist and a strong and loving hold on it but above all, his body moving so that he was nearly laying half on top of you, head on your shoulder and even more very much into frame. Your eyes went impossibly wide and the air got stuck in your lungs.

“Well, sweet g'morning to you too, sweetheart.” his voice was deep and very much husky, the natural gruff that laced it made your heart leap to your throat but you didn't have the mind for that at the moment, no.

“Oh my gosh. No, nope. No-” you tried to cover the camera, do something to end even the live if you could but at that moment you couldn't even find the button and he made sure you were an absolute tangled mess so you really couldn't. And when he kissed your cheek you thought you lost it, but apparently you didn't know what was coming next.

“Are you hot too? I feel a bit hot, I felt a bit hot all night. I just wanna...” he made a cute noise as he pushed down some of the blankets you had on maybe a bit too roughly because he was ready to reveal a lot more than he'd want the public to see. A small squeak left your lips but you managed to hold at least one of them in place to make sure he was covered – you had made the smart choice of wearing his shirt at some point when you went for a glass of water and didn't take it off.

“Jens” you warned softly, your voice barely above a whisper as your eyes still remained wide as they could ever be.

“I mean-” he huffed a bit and you would have found that insanely adorable too any other morning, with his beautifully pouty lips and closed eyes and messy hair, which you had definitely caused just the previous night, being a total cuddle monster with you, except this one “'M not wearing anything anyway. Must be all these blankets you put on.”

“Jens, please.” it almost came out in a small whine because truth was you were slowly dying on the inside. But he had apparently just gotten started because the worse had yet to come.

“Hmm” he licked his lips, a grin – and oh you knew very well that kind of grin – slowly spreading on his lips “Now, why do those sounds and words sound familiar?” and he had to put on the flirty and sexy voice for you, of course. And he couldn't even open his eyes to look at the freaking phone for one second.

“No, Jensen please. I- I mean- don't.” you closed your eyes, praying this was a dream you'd soon wake up from “I mean, stop.”

“Now that is something I really haven't heard before.” he said with a small chuckle and boy was he about to make it worse “Especially last night.”

“Oh my gosh Jens, no!” you covered your face with one hand. The frame didn't show the entire scene anymore but it showed at least a good half of it to capture your reactions.

“Jensen, please please, that's enough. If you could just-”

“Are those the first moments of the married life? Jared said somethin' about it and we might be a couple months away from that but I mean being engaged is-” he started talking again, and hell for a sleepy man and not a morning person he talked a lot. Much to your dismay.

“Jensen!” you nearly screamed this time “Oh my gosh, will you please just shut up for a minute and open your freakineyes here!”

“Oh wow ok, what's gotten into you all of a-” but he also stopped when he turned to look at the camera. Hoping that he'd finally get it and at least help you a bit undo this mess or get over the embarrassment, because you knew there was no taking back anything of what had just been said and done.

Jensen frowned, squinting a bit at the camera, one eyes sill half closed because he was a bit sleepy before he turned to look at you “Are you recording or something?” and then that smirk grew on his lips, the one that said he really had something dirty in his mind “Are we... experimenting here or- Wait, is this like a new kin-”

“Oh my gosh Jensen!” this time you couldn't help the yelling, already feeling like your face was on fire didn't help in calming you down.

“Whoa easy, what's up with you?”

“Dude!” you looked at him in disbelief “It's a live!”

“Alive?” he asked and you actually laughed because of how stupidly embarrassing this was turning out to be.

“A live! A live on facebook!” you tried to explain “I was playing and cuddling with Tony and having the live I promised the fans before you- you well, you were you.”

“Huh?” his smile fell, he raised an eyebrow and looked back at the phone examining the screen more carefully and blinking sometimes before turning to look at you all serious and maybe a little hurt “So you mean... those 'I love you's weren't for me?”

That was it. That was his only question. That was all he really had to say about it. While you only could stare at him at a loss for words for a couple seconds. Only when you saw that adorable boyish grin form on his lips, one started to appear on yours and soon before you knew it you were laughing. Jensen fell back on your side, his face buried in the crook of your neck where he kissed softly. His deep chuckle made his chest rumble softly which as a result made your body relax. There was nothing you loved more than his laughter.

It took you a couple seconds to recover from your feat of laughter, the phone had nearly fallen off your hand, but when you calmed down you brought it slightly higher to look back at the screen “The I love yous weren't for me.” you giggled as he chuckled “Can you believe it? That's all he had to say!” you wiped out a stray tear that came from all the laughing “After everything, that's all he had to say. Jensen Ackles ladies and gentlemen!”

“I mean come on!” he gave you an insanely adorable smile “Do you think I could take back any of the things I said or something? No, so what's the point?”

“My gosh, you're enjoying this aren't you?” you narrowed your eyes at him as he chuckled “He's so enjoying this!” you looked back at the camera “Alright you want love, Ackles, here. Look at all the hearts you've got... from the fans that you didn't manage to kill with what you just did, that is.”

All he did was snicker “Well, what can I say honey? Cat's out now!”

.

..

…

“And he means it. Literally!” you switched the camera for a couple second to show your cat exiting the room through the slightly opened door.

“Tony's like 'Nope, I'm done with your shit!'” Jensen said with a chuckle and you giggled.

“Well, when his papa is being such an idiot only a couple minutes after waking up, he realizes it's going to be a long day!”

He snickered a bit more “Right, that's probably why.”

“Wait, what? What's that even supposed to-” but you stopped yourself when it dawned on you “Jensen Ross Ackles, you were awake all this time, weren't you?”

“And yep, that's my que to get out too!”

“Oh my Gosh Jensen!” you gasped “Get your ass back here before I show the entire world just how it was underneath all these blankets all this time!”

[aliceslantern]

Retribution, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, chapter 16

Newly a person again, Ienzo is weighed down by guilt and his humanity. He's prepared to do whatever it takes to atone... only to find unexpected solace in a familiar face. With more insight into the bonds between people than ever before, Ienzo reaches for a dangerous element from the past to help Kairi and Riku in their search for Sora. What is his life if it means saving another, brighter light?

Chapter summary:  Kairi goes to a deeper place of sleep. Ienzo pays a price.

Read it on FF.net/on AO3

---

He’d only come into the lab to drop off some notes Ansem had asked for. As soon as he was in the office he noticed the tension, thick, making his heart rate spike. Both Ansem and Even were standing over Kairi.

“What’s going on?” Ienzo asked.

“She won’t wake,” Even said. “I stopped the sedative hours ago--yet--and all her vitals look normal. I don’t understand--”

“Perhaps she is naturally asleep?” Ienzo asked, though he didn’t believe it as he said it.

Ansem shook his head. He offered Ienzo the tablet they’d been using to monitor her vitals. “Look at her neural activity.”

“She’s dreaming,” Ienzo said softly.

“She’s gone to a farther place of sleep,” Even said. “Perhaps… seeking something, or…”

Ienzo could feel his pulse in his throat. “What of the data?”

“Inconclusive nonsense,” Ansem said, flicking through a few tabs. “The numbers. It’s as though--”

“Perhaps she is slipping too,” Ienzo said, with horror. “If she connected with Sora… but is that possible?”

“I’m not sure. It’s unnatural for her to be alive anyway, and the price was Sora’s disappearance. If she were to try and connect with him, that could be--undoing everything, and the fates could be taking her.”

The notes dropped out of his hands. Ienzo could feel the panic in his breast, thick, sticky, and hot. “This is my fault.”

They both looked at him.

“I encouraged this. Joining our power together--getting her to call out for him--this is on me. She trusted me.” He was breathing hard. “The nature of that power--the nature of Sora’s price--oh no. No.”

“Don’t be absurd,” Even said, but he sounded shaken. “That’s impossible. You were merely looking at her memories and tracing them. That wouldn’t make her disappear.”

Ienzo’s hand snapped up to his head. “I was trying to--I never should have--this is all my fault. No. ” He tried to think.

There was one thing he could do to stop her from slipping away.

“We don’t know anything to be certain,” Ansem said magnanimously. “This sleep could very well be willful on her part. She’s a princess of heart--the rules are different for her.”

“Your power wouldn’t poison like darkness,” Even agreed. “But yet… this isn’t meaningless.”

“We need more data to draw any conclusions.”

“So we just wait?” Ienzo asked.

“What other alternatives do we have?” Even asked tiredly. “For all we know… given their connection… she’s onto something.”

“We have to trust in that,” Ansem said. “Ienzo. Peace. Your experiment was not successful, but it wasn’t harmful.” He came over to him and eased him down onto a chair. “It’s alright. We’ll figure this out.”

As Even and Ansem fretted over the data… Ienzo waited.

Regardless of what they said, this was his fault. With him gone, Kairi must have continued to trace that connection on her own, going to a deeper place, her heart calling to a world that might not exist, that should not exist. There was a not insignificant chance this would make her disappear as well. As Ansem said--since they were essentially trying to reverse fate’s decision, some one was going to have to go in Sora’s stead.

Oh.

So that’s how it was to end. But it was all his own doing, of course.

Ienzo waited.

He pretended to leave with Ansem and Even, so as to not arouse suspicion. He ducked back through the library and down again towards the lab.

Ienzo looked down at his phone. He entered the number and dialed.

"Zo? What's up? I can't really talk--I'm still working."

He felt a lump tighten in his throat. "I just wanted to hear your voice."

"My sexy drawl?" He laughed. "Really, though. Is something going on? You sound upset."

"Just congested," he lied. "The air is very dry in here. I… have to help Ansem with some data entry. I won't be able to see you tonight."

"...Oh." He sounded disappointed. "Okay. Well. Don't work too hard."

"I'll try." He bit his lip. He knew saying this would raise alarm bells, but he couldn't stop himself. "I love you."

"Hey, I love you too. You in a sappy mood?"

"You could say that. I'll… I'll let you go."

"See you soon," Demyx said, and hung up.

Ienzo approached Kairi slowly. He tried to calm himself. Center himself. It was an uphill battle. He pulled up a chair, wiped the back of his hand with a prep pad wearily. His hands were shaking and it took a few tries to find a vein for the IV catheter. He was aware these were likely his last moments of consciousness, and equally tried to push the thoughts away.

He took her hand. As he started the sedative, he began to so slowly reach out to her, everything getting hazier until finally it was all foggy.

There was so much fog.

Ienzo blinked. Then blinked again.

He'd never put himself to sleep--not as such. He was aware this was a lucid sort of dream, perhaps part illusion. He looked through the bluish fog for any source of light. "Where are you?" He muttered. It was hard to wade through all this. Was she too far to reach? He pulled for the lexicon, feeling its weight. He opened the cover and sought her memories.

The pages were blank. All of them.

Ienzo began to riffle through them with panic. Much as Xion disappearing caused memories to be purged--Kairi must be disappearing as well. "Kairi!" He called. "Kairi, you have to come back. You're going to disappear!"

Silence. Ienzo ran blindly through the fog, seeking that familiar light.

"I'm sorry. I'm so--I was wrong. You have to come back. Kairi."

He didn't recall ever feeling so helpless before. So lacking composure.

In the mist, he thought he saw something, a little girl. "Kairi?" He followed her. She kept running, kept giggling, like this was a game. "No--just stay still," he said. "Please."

The mist started to fade so slowly, revealing, of all things, a small library in the castle. Ienzo looked down at the girl.

Red hair. Unmistakable violet-blue eyes. She must've been four, perhaps younger. She clapped her hands. "Kairi?" A deep memory of hers, then.

She slid her tiny hand into Ienzo's and led him over to a small table. There were photos spread all over it. She picked one up and handed it to Ienzo.

Sora, equally as young. A night sky full of meteors. "You started at the beginning," he said. "When your hearts first connected."

She nodded eagerly.

"Kairi, if you keep following him you're going to disappear. Your memories are already unravelling. It's my fault. Let me help you. I should never have--"

She looked at the table and whimpered.

"I know. I know. It probably feels like you're closer than ever. But you won't be reunited if this continues. You'll just vanish. And he wouldn't want that. We're violating the narrative. He'll come if he's meant to, but not like this. Not using this power."

Tears filled her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I really thought--"

She touched his hand. When Ienzo looked up she was sixteen again. "I know where he is."

"Kairi--"

She shook her head. "I can feel him. Ienzo, I don't know how, but I don't think I'm actually disappearing. I think my heart is going to meet his. Maybe I can bring him back using this connection--all the ones that have been opened, data or other. You've given us options."

He was, again, dizzy. "You're sure?"

"Yes. Can't you feel it?"

All Ienzo could feel was vertigo.

"Trust me. I need you to go tell Riku. It's going to take both of us."

"But what about--"

She was already gone. Ienzo heard another set of footsteps. He looked from the fading photos up to the source.

His own face stared back at him; young, eight or so, in the overlarge lab coat they'd sewn for him. The kid watched him warily. "Are you my heart as well?" Ienzo asked him. "Or a memory?"

The kid reached up for his hand. Ienzo took it. It sent a pang of pain through his chest.

They waded through the fog, through his memory. Through the pain of the apprentices' lies and Ansem's disappearance, through the experiments, the memories shattering like crystal. Through the fire and smoke of his parents' house. Through his own atrocities, the worlds that fell, the hearts that were harvested. "Why are you showing me this?" Ienzo asked the boy. He said nothing.

They stood at the center of a web of memory, one slowly withering. "Is this the power?"

The boy nodded.

"So I guess this is the end of the line."

Another nod. Faint pages flickered and burned. Ienzo picked up the lexicon. It, too, was vanishing. He took a deep breath and heard the boy do the same. He pitched it into the center of the web. The fine filaments unraveled more quickly, the power withering and dying inside of him. Sacrificing it was all he had left. To turn fully away from this very, very long chapter of his life, and accept the consequences. Namely... that this was not all his fault.

The veins shattered. In their place, other lines, weak but growing. Ansem's embrace during their reunion. Even holding him as he cried. Aeleus, gentle, stalwart, Dilan’s attempts to rebuild.

Demyx, holding him, their first kiss. The realization that they were falling in love. The way the bond made him stronger, more him than ever before. The way it let him be vulnerable, and the strength in that vulnerability. That it made him capable of love.

Ienzo opened his eyes.

The pain, the dizziness, worsened. It felt like there was a massive weight on his chest. He wasn’t on the chair, he was on the floor, and he was being cradled. “Ienzo? Ienzo, can you hear me?” In the bright light of the lab, Demyx’s face was in silhouette.

“Hey.” He was gasping, a hoarse, animal sound. “How did you--”

“Help’s coming. Someone’s coming. You just have to hang on for a little while.” His own voice was ragged.

“How did you know?”

“When you said you loved me. You never say that over the phone. I knew you were going to do something stupid.” He touched Ienzo’s face.

“Is she--where is she--”

Demyx looked over his shoulder. “I don’t know. I figured she ran to get someone.”

“Oh…” The laughter hurt his chest. “She really did it.”

“Did what?”

“Found his heart.” The words were taking all his strength. It was getting harder to breathe. “She told me she had… I thought she was… disappearing. Not to him. From reality.”

Demyx touched his mouth. “Save your breath.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lie. I thought I was doing this to her.”

“It’s okay, Ienzo.”

A weird giddiness overtook him. In a flash of consciousness he realized it was likely hypoxia. He was starting to have to think about these breaths, forcing it consciously. He reached up to Demyx’s face. His hand was trembling and weak. “I’m really not very smart, am I?” He had to gasp between words.

“You were trying to save her.”

He was starting to grow tired…

“Tell me a story.”

He blinked. “What? I thought I… shouldn’t talk?”

“You have to stay awake. A story, a memory. Something.”

“I…” His other hand, at his side, twitched. He forced himself to breathe. “When I was… small." Ienzo coughed a little. “Ansem used to… to take me… out to the gardens. It was like… another world. They never used to let me explore. They didn’t want me to get hurt. He would… break Even’s rules… and just let me wander there for hours and hours.”

“I guess Even was the strict dad?”

“Very… neurotic.” He could feel his eyes rolling. Demyx shook him gently. “Always… “don’t do this, don’t do that.” But he did it… because of how my parents died… because of the accident that started the fire… wanted to stop that.” His arm started to tremble from the exertion of holding it up. Demyx laid his palm over his to keep it there. “But it was because of Ansem that I knew I could be… more.” For a moment he just had to focus on breathing. It was getting harder. “There was so much… more out there.”

“There still is.” His expression slipped. Ienzo realized it was taking as much strength for Demyx to appear calm as it was for him to breathe.

“I wanted to help people.”

“You are. You will.”

Another wave of giddiness. He was starting to go numb. “I’m dying.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Even and Aerith are going to come fix you. I already called them. It’s okay.”

“I used to think that I wanted this. But it feels so… I’m scared.” He could feel it, the numbness encroaching. “Will you tell them?”

“Who?”

“The others. That I love them. And I’m sorry. I ran out of time. I never got to fix things. I--”

“You’re not going to die.” The desperation crept into his voice. He looked at his phone. “Please, oh please--”

“I love you.”

“Ienzo--”

“Sing to me?”

His eyes clouded with tears. Ienzo tried to keep breathing, but his body was no longer responding to him. Demyx kissed his forehead and remained there, his cheek against Ienzo’s face. In a shaky and halting voice he sang, a lullaby that sounded like water.

It was so hard to stay awake. Things were getting so hazy, so quickly, all of it dissolving, until at last all there was was his shaky voice.

And then there was nothing.

[wetookanoath]

It's Jason day, here's a silly prompt: the boys get stuck in a Friday 13th movie, The Final Girls style

(On AO3)

5

They are not gonna make it.

Movies are easy to experience because at the end of the day, doesn’t matter how intense feelings can get, it’s still on your screen and it won’t actually try to murder you.

But the blood in his hands is real, and so is Ryan’s wound on his shoulder and the fact that all their friends are now dead, and they are freezing in a lake, under a deck, shivering and scared as hell.

All Shane could do was to look at Ryan, the way his body was shaking with the cold, his eyes still wide open in spite of the pain and exhaustion. A part of him wanted to say this is not happening, it’s impossible, out of the realm of reality. But the truth is right in front of him.

Shane knew, as he took Ryan’s hand and interlock their bloody fingers, the man looking at him with frightened eyes as he saw the ruins they were now, they were not gonna make it.

1

Shane woke up to Devon’s screams and a weird feeling of being watched.

It was not their hotel room, not the city they were in, not any place they have ever known. The only real and constant thing with him was Ryan, trying to make him run, saying it’s happening, it’s Friday the 13th and it’s happening.

When the hockey mask appeared, he laughed. He laughed like a maniac, thinking this time TJ and Ryan really did it, they went beyond themselves for the prank.

It wasn’t until someone’s lady’s head was in his hands that he realized, this was not a joke.

3

They used to joke that they would survive a situation like this, no one has seen as many horror movies as them and no one is more logical than him. Ryan had been sure they would make such a great team, their survival was secured.

Back then it was easy to joke, all Shane had to do was ignore his feelings and listen to Ryan all the time. The best part of his day, the face he loved. It’s hard to look away and ignore all those feelings when your breathing is difficult and you may never see that person again.

“I love you.” Ryan broke the silence and Shane slowly looked at him, both sitting under the same old and tall tree.

“Would you have said it if we weren’t about to get murked?”

There’s a tiny smile on Ryan’s lips. He knew he wouldn’t, none of them would. They had been running from the truth for so long, ignoring the way things were better with the other around to the point being single seemed to be the only constant in their life from outside their little world.

He should have said it back in that moment. Maybe if they had kissed or stood up to hug, Shane would have seen the killer coming and Ryan wouldn’t be bleeding, they wouldn’t have needed to run, and run, and run, and run, and run…

4

“I love you, too! I love you, too!”

It didn’t matter how many times he said it, Ryan wasn’t opening his eyes and there was nothing Shane could do.

He thought of the first time he saw Ryan, clean shaven and cheeks round, happy smile and big laugh so distracting, Shane almost asked to be seated somewhere else. But the sight in front of him was a blessing, something beautiful to go work with.

Before Los Angeles, things weren’t right. He had been drown in so much self doubt and emptiness, he had forgotten things could be light, that they weren’t just ruins.

This bright young thing in front of him was a blessing, and his life was turning off in his arms as he hide them from whoever was trying to kill them.

“Ry?”

“Not dead yet.”

Shane sighed, his chuckle sounded strange even to him. Like a sob.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, baby…”

They were just running now, Ryan always so brave was running away from the scene with him, who has always been a coward. He wished he would had given him something else. Hope, perhaps. Hope and bravery in the shore of their lives.

2

Ryan had a theory. A stupid one. Like every theory in every case of their supernatural segment. But it was all they had.

“I think we are in a movie.”

“I’ll kill you myself if we weren’t being chased by a maniac that thinks he is Jason.” TJ answered, Devon started to cry harder at his side.

“No, I mean it!” Ryan said, Shane kept driving, trying to cancel the sound of his voice.

They were all stressed and scared as hell, of course Ryan would lose it at some point. It was common for the mind to try and explain, a form of escapism when it feels like there’s nowhere to run.

But the entrance to the cabins they had been left in was right ahead and Shane sighed, driving as fast as he could to reach it and say goodbye to this hell.

“None of us remember how we got here because we fell asleep as normal in our rooms. Hell, does anyone actually knows where we are?”

“Drugs, kidnapping…”

“Teej, please. You said it yourself, the sensation of being watched? It’s because we are! It’s a movie!”

“Ryan come on!” TJ said, sounding more angry every time. They finally passed the entrance and Shane sighed, driving as fast.

“And the way people talked to us! Dialogues! They don’t know what to say when we ask different things that aren’t part of the script, the killer can find and reach us even when he goes so slow, we can see in the dark because there’s light enough for the scene to be seen—“

“Guys,” He tried to interrupt, the road was open again, rocks instead of pavement.

“We’ve been dying like in a slasher movie: the adult, the kids that had sex, the smart one, and now…”

“Guys…”

“Christ, fucking fuck, Ryan!”

“I’m the jock, TJ you are the badass, Shane is the nerd and Devon is the final girl!”

“Guys!”

By the time they finally shut up, they were passing the cabins again. The same body they left behind was there, the lights, the other cars. He drove away in silence, faster, faster, faster until they passed the entrance again.

There was a sense of dread in the car, it felt like a graveyard, these ruined fragments of people they had become, with its silence and darkness.

And then, the road opened and they passed the cabins again.

6

“I got another theory.”

“Shoot.”

Their clothes were damp, Ryan’s shoulder looking worse than a few minutes ago and they were walking aimlessly in the grass when they saw a barn on the other side.

In silence, they walked towards it as most of Ryan’s weight was on Shane’s body and the man kept their hands joined.

“What if when we die, we go back to the real world?” He suggested, Shane looked at him. “Since we fulfilled our part in the story and all.”

“At this point, Ry, I believe in everything.”

In another life, Ryan’s laugh would have been sarcastic, tonight was happy and hopeful. Shane didn’t dare to tell him he didn’t think so, these fragments of stolen moments hitting their ruins were theirs to enjoy for as long as they were able and Shane loved him, he loved Ryan too much to take his hope away.

“Maybe we can make it.” Shane said. “We’ve seen all Friday the 13th movies, right? We can kill this bitch.”

Ryan laughed again, this time seeing a bit more alive. They were close to the barn now, when the door opened and from it, Katie’s head popped, looking frightened but very much alive even if covered in mud and blood.

They stopped walking, holding each other up. He wondered if they were thinking the same, of how if this was a movie, the ruins they had become were not to survive.

But when Katie went out with a big smile, waving at them without saying a word, obviously trying to not catch anyone else’s attention… Her smile was so big, full of relief, Shane couldn’t hate her even just a little bit.

“The final girl.” Ryan murmured.

Shane nodded. “These fragments I have shored against my ruins…” Ryan looked up at him, now fearless but so profoundly sad. “Keep rolling, sweetheart.”

They met Katie at the door and immediately went in.

They were not gonna make it.

[drumboydowoon]

CRESCENT | ATEEZ Fantasy Au | 3

Chapter 3 | Strangers in Unfamiliar Places

Prev / Next / Masterlist

WARNINGS | I probably use the h*ll word once

Word Count | 5,364k

Summary | You wake up in a strange place that you don’t recognize. 

---------

“Little Lily…”

The menacing whisper of a voice startles you awake. Gasping for air, you jolt up and breathe in and out deeply. No dreams or nightmares are coming to mind, only a voice calling to someone in the dark. Maybe it’s your imagination. 

You try to think more about it, but the memory and the words fade in a snap. Soon you found yourself scrambling to remember what you were thinking about in the first place. As you slowly let the airflow through you once again and your thoughts wander, you took notice of something very unusual. 

This isn’t your bedroom. 

The walls, aren’t even walls, to begin with. Just flimsy brown fabric that moved when the wind blew its breath on it. The bed you were sleeping on, just a bedroll that sat on the floor, of what you assumed to be a tent by the flappyness of it. All while you’re surrounded by items and vials that you’re don’t belong to you. 

You have no idea where you are. This sends you into a panic. 

Jumping from your bed, you hustle out of the tent’s entrance in such a way that would make you the town’s next exorcism. You scrambled to get on your feet once you got outside, only to be met with thick snow that was making it incredibly hard to stand like a normal person. 

Footsteps crunching into the snow begin the hurry towards you, and you don’t have time to look since you’re still concerning yourself over trying to stand instead of wobbling around like a deer. The freezing cold climbs up your body like a snake, wrapping you in an icy choke. It’s hardly noticeable though.

Out of the blue, a hand reaches out and grabs onto your arm to steady you, then pulls you up. It’s strong, yet gentle at the same time, “Are you alright?” His voice is deep but soft. 

You finally collect yourself and able to look at the stranger. Eyes wide and jaw dropped open, you stagger for words, “I - uh...uhm.” He appears to glow from the sun’s rays with his honey hair and bright eyes. It’s hard to tell if it’s a prince or lord standing before you. 

“Seonghwa, what’s going on over there?!” another voice calls out in the not so far distance. Finally snapping out of your trance, you glance around, hoping to find out where the voice is coming from, but you pay attention to the abundance of tents instead. And you suddenly remember that you’re unsure of your whereabouts and who this stranger is clinging to your arm.

The stranger in front of you turns his head in the direction of the voice “It’s the girl! She’s awake!” he shouts back. Then he focuses his attention back to you, “Are you alright,” he repeats. There’s a look of worry on him, though you’re not sure what he’s worried about. 

You looked down at the grip he has on your arm, then back at him, and back at your arm. You finally rip your arm away from him and step back cautiously. “Wh-who are you? Where am I??” the questions poured out like raindrops, “Why was I in a tent? Oh my god, did you kidnap me?!” You couldn’t even think about the words that spilled from you, only that you needed to get them out. 

The man in front of you, the one with honey hair and princely features, chuckles nervously. There’s a look on his face, you can’t tell if he’s smiling, or dying on the inside, “Sorry about that…” he trails off and drops his hold on your arm, “I’m sure you must be very confused right now.”

“Uhm… yeah just a little,” you blatantly exasperate, “That’s why I keep asking, but I’m not receiving any answers.” You’re lost, confused, surprisingly exhausted. You just want to know what the hell is going on. 

“Let me start again,” he begun, “I’m Seonghwa. One of my friends found you outside of our camp. You were passed out, so he carried you back here,” he explained. He’s weirdly calm for someone who has a girl clucking in panic before him. You can’t help but think about his words.

Outside? Why were you outside in the first place? First of all, it’s far too cold and the snow would deter anyone from traveling. And secondly, you’re not even allowed to leave home that often, much less go out of town and hang out in the forest. Where’s Uncle, or Kihyun? If you’re traveling then they would surely be with you.

Flashes back to what happened before you passed out occurred to you. You remembered seeing a silhouette of a person coming towards you. You and your warped up mind made you to believe that it was death, or even… Kihyun finally coming to you.

The full realization of what’s happened comes rushing back to you in a tidal wave of horror. Uncle, Kihyun, Faracre, the witch hunt. It all seems like an awful nightmare, and for a moment, you think that it’s just another nightmare. But where you are now, is real, and you at this moment is real. 

Tears well in your eyes at the thought of it. They’re all gone. You are alone. 

But never truly alone, in fact, you’re in the company of strangers, all who both happen to be men (however you have yet to see the other one). Seonghwa notices your watery eyes and immediately becomes frantic. He’s rushing out apologies not even a second later, “I’m sorry if I upset you. I-”

But he’s cut off by a powerful voice that marches up to the both of you, almost out of nowhere, “Now that you have your answers, you’ll be answering some of mine.” He must’ve been listening nearby. 

A fierce look invades his sharp features, making your heart pound in your chest abruptly. He looks so small and delicate for a second with his strangely colored snow-white hair that blends in with the scenery, but the energy he gives off screams one of power. The snarl he gives you doesn’t help either.

“Hongjoong, you’re going to scare her,” Seonghwa points out, giving his friend a disapproving look. You gulp at his sudden intrusion. 

Hongjoong chooses to ignore him and continue his attack, “Who are you, and why were you snooping around our camp?” You much rather talk with the kind man known as Seonghwa, since he seems so much nicer (and taller) than this one. 

Tears threaten to race down your face, but your smart to hold them in. Even as the aggravated man stares you down, you hold your ground. With a shaky voice, you try to answer, but nothing comes out. Instead, you stand there with your mouth gaping open. Why is it so hard to speak? But you figure that answer soon enough. If you talk, you might burst.

Hongjoong frowns at this. He keeps asking you questions that you can’t answer, “Did Captain Salgado send you here?” When he kept quiet, his face seemed to light up in frustration, “Answer me!” Not is accusatory his name, but also impatience.

It takes a second, then another, and another before you snap out of whatever daze you’re in. Words slip past your lips at last, “My name is Sooyun,” you began with a quake, “I don’t know any Captain Salamander, that would send me to snoop around your camp. In fact, I was just passing through. I wasn’t aware of anyone nearby.” 

You end up staring past both Hongjoong and Seonghwa, not daring to make eye contact, or who knows when your emotions will take over. Apart from that, you didn’t dare compete in the stare down they were giving you.

And even though you’ve answered what he wanted, Hongjoong still wasn’t satisfied, “These are very dangerous woods, you know?” he starts with a low voice, “So why’s a woman traveling alone and passing out int the middle of nowhere?” You’re not looking at him in the eye, regardless, you can still feel his intense stare lingering on you. 

Seonghwa looks to Hongjoong, knowing all too well what’s going through his friend’s mind. You, on the other hand, had no clue what he was thinking, and that made it hard to swallow properly. The unknown can be a dangerous thing, and this unknown person can be one of those dangerous things.  

You gulp heavily thinking about how to answer the question. At first, you didn’t even want to answer. A wall is threatening to cave in and allow a landslide to crash through you, and you don’t think you can recall the events without breaking. But the seeming leader’s threatening stance and aurora, tells you it would be unwise to say nothing at all. 

After an internal debate, you decide that it’s best to give them so clue of what happened. However, you have to be careful about what you inform them. Not every detail like being a part of a witch family, is important. They only need to know about two things. 

“I was running away,” you blurt out, which actually surprises the two, “The townspeople… they chased my family out for false crimes.” Don’t break now, you kept chanting in your head, almost like your own spell. 

Brows raised amongst the both of them, and both for different reasons. 

“So that’s the cause of our little problem…” Hongjoong muttered, looking at the other man with annoyance. Seonghwa pursed his lips and breathed deeply. Hongjoong didn’t say anything else about their little problem, but he continued his onslaught of questions, “For false crimes you, say?” It’s a question, but the way he says it with certain suspicion tells you that he doesn’t believe a word. It’s the kind of tone you heard from Kihyun many times before.

“Yes, false crimes,” you grumble at him. Though it’s a lie, there’s a reason you’re wanted and Uncle’s hanging went through. It still wasn’t right, so yes it was because of false crimes. Uncle never asked to be born with magical gifts, and you certainly didn’t ask to be born a witch without supernatural gifts.

Hongjoong folds his arms across his chest, “And where’s the rest of your family?” The Gallows is what first pops up into mind. Then the angry mobs of people that you used to know, chasing your beloved friend and doing god knows what to him. You wished you could forget about it, forget about it all, but it’s impossible to erase the trauma from your memories. 

You know how to answer the question, yet you can’t. Or it’s because you don’t want to. If you tell them what happened, then, you’re afraid, you’ll be accepting their fates. And accepting your only family’s deaths is impossible. You couldn’t possibly do it. Not yet.

Seeing the distress, yet distance expression on your face, Seonghwa can almost feel your sorrows. He decides to step in, “I think that’s enough questioning for now. She’s clearly not a threat, for now at least.” He’s trying to defend you, and you’re not sure why. These men are too unpredictable. 

“Why do you say that?” Hongjoong looked more annoyed than before. 

Seonghwa’s eyes scanned you up and down, taking in your fatigue state and worn wardrobe, “Well, it’s clear that she’s far too exhausted,” he looked to the dark bags under your eyes, “There's no way she can overpower us in her current state," he saw the way you subtlety shook under their gazes, not just from intimidation but also because of how long you’ve been stranded in the cold. He was trying to reason with his friend, just until they figure out what your deal is.

Hongjoong didn't look convinced. Though he did see how worn down you appeared, he didn't believe it was an excuse to let down their guards. 

Seeing the expressions he knows all too well, almost reading Hongjoong's mind, Seonghwa sighs. "There's four of us, and one of her. And as your a-" 

There are four of them? Where are the other two?

Hongjoong stopped him with a harsh pointed look and a snap of his voice, "Yeah yeah, I hear you…" The glare never left his face. 

"If anything happens, it's on you," he thrusted a finger into Seonghwa's chest with such strength that it makes him take a step back from the force. 

Hongjoong glances at you, scanning you over with a glare, almost as if he's warning you of something unsaid. And this is one of the few warnings you know you should listen too. Then he stomps off to from wherever he came from. Each stomp left a dirty imprint in the snow. 

Watching him leave allowed a breath of air out that you didn't even know you were holding in. The air suddenly became so much clearer and safer. Each and every muscle in your body relaxes, however you’re still somewhat tense and wary. 

Another awkward, sheepish smile has the blessing of gracing Seonghwa's face, "I'm sorry about him. He's just…" 

"Untrusting? Suspicious?" you finish for him. He nods in agreement, however, he feels guilty. "Don't worry, I am too." 

There’s too much you don’t know. It seems too convenient that they happened to find you. The overwhelming feeling of them being after you, possibly men sent by Faracre, came over. But surely by now they would’ve bound you and hauled you off if that was the case.

Somehow, the man looks disappointed, but he also understands. “Are you hungry?” he asks, trying to change the subject from becoming too awkward. 

Yes, you’re starving. After eating only a handful of berries you found in the forest, you’re starving. But after thinking of the past suppressed your appetite quite a bit. Thinking of Hongjoong’s terrifying fire in his eyes, made it disappear completely. 

“No,” you half lied. 

That wasn’t the answer he was looking for, but he let it go anyways. “Then you must be tired. Maybe you should get some rest.” It was more of an order than a suggestion. Which made you figure that he wants you to rest rather than explore. It was a nice thought, but it only made you more suspicious. You couldn’t call them out on it, though, since this isn’t your territory. 

“Thank you,” you bowed to him in a sign of appreciation, but it felt a little weird since you basically told him that you don’t trust him earlier.

“You can use the tent again. I won’t mind,” he said. 

You thanked him once more before you were heading back into the tent you came from in a hurry. Once you returned to the warmth and familiarity of the tent, you sigh a breath of relief. You plop down onto the sleeping bag and lay back. Millions of questions fill your mind to a point where you feel like you might go insane. 

You don’t hear Seonghwa’s footsteps leave until a few seconds later. You wonder what he could be thinking of, or what he’s planning on doing. 

It’s difficult to continue to think of that. As you lay back, your eyes grow heavier. He was right, you’re exhausted. Despite being passed out for… god, who knows how long, all that you want to do is sleep. There’s no time to think about where you are, or what might happen to you. Hell, you’re not even sure if it’s the right time to think about where Othello is. Maybe he ran off after you fell off of him, maybe he’s dead. Oh no, now that’s all you can think of. 

But the dreaded heaviness to your eyelids keeps calling to you, begging you to join it in rest. You don’t want to listen to the call, you just want to think. You want your mind to think of everything wrong with the world and you. You want to think about what you could’ve done, how you could’ve possibly warned Uncle somehow. 

Soon the calls and pleas of your restless mind turned into commands. Your mind demanded that you shut your eyes. At first, you resisted, but the commands became harder and harder to endure. So you listened against your will. And you fall into a deep sleep. 

There’s so dreams. There are no nightmares. There are no dreadful thoughts of the dead. Only enchanting sleep without thoughts. 

----------

When your eyes open, it’s difficult to adjust. It’s nearly pitch black with the exception of the dim orange flickering light coming from the side of the tent. For a moment, you think it’s another dream, but you snap out of it and remember that you’re sleeping in a tent in someone’s camp.

You scramble to get out, but your vision is still blurry from the deep sleep. You crawl out of the tent and are met with the inky night. All around you, it’s dim and quiet. The wind passes the trees as they whisper amongst themselves with their rustling leaves and snapping branches.

The orange glow was brighter out here, and immediately caught your attention as you sought out the beacon beckoning for you. With each step you took towards the fire, the more you register how cold it is. Nearly shivering with every step and breathing deeply, you were slow, yet desperate to reach the warmth. 

Voices were heard all around, more than you have known before. Perhaps it’s the other two Seonghwa was referring to earlier. If that’s the case, then you should be extra guarded. There’s no telling what they’ll do. 

As you came closer, a new voice perked up, “It looks like the little stranger is awake!” he called out, making all heads turn to you. A blush creeps up on your neck, not liking all the attention suddenly. So much for being guarded.

Nervously, you make your way to them with your head turned down, avoiding all unnecessary stares. Seonghwa is the first to stand and properly greet you, “How did you sleep?” 

“It was alright,” then he gestured for you to sit near the fire with them. You didn’t want to, but it seemed better than freezing because of your stubbornness. 

You sat in the empty space between where Seonghwa was sitting, and the person who called you out earlier. He had some of the most distracting shade of purple in his hair than you’ve ever seen before. Then again, you’ve never seen someone with purple hair before. You were sure to sit far away from Hongjoong’s glowering, which was sitting just across from you and on the other side of the fire. 

Warmth and relief floods your system immediately. It melts sweetly against you, making you slump over in ecstasy. Seonghwa follows and sits back into his place, instantly warming up again. You look around the fire and see one other new face. It’s almost hard to see his face with the black hat casting a dark shadow over his features. Something about him is familiar. 

There’s a tap on your shoulder bringing your attention back to purple-haired boy. He’s holding a bowl out to you, “Don’t worry, Seonghwa doesn’t poison the people he feeds… usually,” he said, seeing the hesitation in your eyes. You’re not sure if that’s supposed to make you feel better not. 

Seonghwa glares at him from behind you while you reluctantly, you took the bowl from his outstretched hand. It felt hot in your hands as you looked down at the soup sloshing around in the bowl. You take the spoon and have your first taste of it. 

You’re not dead yet, so that’s a good sign.

Purple-haired boy smiles, “I’m Wooyoung,” he holds his hand out again, but this time it’s for you to shake, “May I ask what brings such a pretty girl here?” 

“Wooyoung…” Seonghwa warned. 

“What? I just want to make sure I heard the story right the first time,” he shrugged. His eyes stayed on your own, somehow encapturing you without your knowledge. 

A sinking feeling weighed down on your chest. You hated the idea of having to go through the events again. Seonghwa’s soft eyes met your own, “It’s okay if you don’t want to,” he began, “But it would be nice to clear some things up and get a full understanding, after all, you did come from nowhere”

You’re afraid that there was more to his sweet words. No matter how kind he’s being towards you, he still doesn’t place trust in you. You can’t blame him. You don’t exactly trust anyone around you at the moment either. 

You gulp as you try to recount the story you told earlier, making sure you don’t accidentally tell them something that could give you away. Who knows what they would do to a witch, much less one that’s related to one. If you could get through the night without being chased out, that’s a win for you. 

You open your mouth to speak, but it’s different. “Well, it began when I was out with my friend. We were walking about town when we heard shouts coming from the direction of the Townsquare,” you gulp again and your voice comes out shakier than before, “We ran towards the sound and found my uncle at the Gallows” 

There was a silence in the air that you were unsure of. You weren’t sure if it was the mention of the Gallows that scared them or if it was because they were putting their full attention on. 

The way you spoke up again was much different than before. The words that spilled out came choked, “T-they accused him of being a,” think think think, “A thief.” Honestly, you wanted to smack yourself in the face for saying something so stupid, but the hot tears that poured down your cheeks in a heavy waterfall stopped you from doing so. It was too painful gong through the events again.

The boy, who you still had yet to name, raised a brow, “They sent him to the Gallows for thievery?” It was probably the first thing you’ve heard from him since you’ve been sitting there. 

Wooyoung, who was sitting closest to him, smacked him on the arm, “Let her finish, Jongho.” Ah, so that’s who Seonghwa and Hongjoong were talking about. It sent a chilly shiver down your spine, seeing the brooding man wearing all black was the one who saved you. You’re not sure if you should be scared or relieved. 

Both Seonghwa and Wooyoung looked at you to continue, so you did, “Then he…” you didn’t want to use the words you were thinking or you might break down more than you already have. You hoped they were smart enough to put the pieces together themselves. “Then the townspeople came after us next. We tried to run away, but there was so many of them. My friend, he helped me escape, but he didn’t follow…”

By now, you’re sure you looked like a mess. But why care when that’s all you can feel on the inside--a complete mess. Overwhelming emotions devour you in an instant, making you feel things you’ve never felt before. You hated it with a burning passion. 

When you looked up to face everyone, they all stared at you. Most with unreadable expressions that made you wonder what they could be thinking about. Maybe they’re sympathizing with you, maybe they’re trying to take it in. 

Maybe they think you’re a liar. 

After an odd pause of the unbearable quiet, someone clears their throat. All eyes meet Jongho’s. Quite awkwardly, he diverts his gaze from all the stares and shuffles reach something behind him. He retrieves a brown satchel that makes you squint at first. 

It takes you more squinting until you realize that it’s the same one that Kihyun gave to you. It’s hard to believe that you’ve forgotten about it for this long. The moment Kihyun sent you off to your uncertain fate in the woods, the bag slipped your mind. You didn’t know of the contents of the satchel and somehow it made you wary of stranger having the possibility of getting a glimpse of its secrets before you. 

“This is yours,” Jongho lifts it up to show it you, then he tosses it in your direction. You scurry to catch it before meets the flames from the pit. Luckily, however, he was smart to aim away enough and it made it safely into your arms. 

Cradling the bag in your arms, you think of how precious it is. It’s the last thing you’ve received from your family. You think of taking a peek inside and getting a preview of what remained from your home, but you stopped yourself and decided it best to open it when you’re alone. Instead, you keep it by your side. 

Hongjoong raises a brow at him, giving him silent looks that you can’t decipher. Jongho speaks aloud about it, “Don’t worry. There’s nothing dangerous in there.” Your gut turns now that you know someone has looked through it. It only made you more eager to find out what was in it yourself. 

Wooyoung shakes his head and tsks at his friend clad in all black, “Stealing from women now? How shameful.” Though you can’t see it, you can feel Jongho’s glare all the way from here. 

You take another spoon full of soup. And you nearly spit out when Hongjoong stands up and sighs, “I’m sorry for your loss S…”

“Sooyun.”

“Sooyun,” he tested the name out on his own tongue. There’s something off about him. He’s less tense than when you previously met him, and it made you feel somewhat safer. Everyone’s eyes are on their friend with questioning and curious looks. 

“For now, you can stay in Seonghwa’s tent. It’s not safe to travel alone, so we’ll lead you out of the woods once we’re done with our business here,” there’s something oddly formal about his voice that makes your head spin. You look at him in a new light, which is even weirder since this is the same guy, who looked like he wanted to rip out your spine earlier. 

Instead of thanking him, you choke on your soup and both boys sitting beside you pat your back in a second’s notice. Hongjoong looks like what he feels on the inside, awkward. “Now, I’ll be heading off to bed. First thing in the morning we’ll begin our search again,” he declares before moving away and heading towards the tents. Search for what? You haven’t the slightest idea.

“Well, that was weird…” he trailed off, and in a burst of energy, he was cheerful again, “Welcome to the crew, Sooyun!” He took you by surprise when he wrapped an arm around your shoulders and gave you some kind of half-hug that nearly knocks the bowl from your hands.

Seonghwa didn’t appreciate this and scolded him, “Can’t you see she’s been through a lot?” he frowned. He glanced at your puffy eyes, then glared at Wooyoung. The younger pouted and grumpily let go of his grip on you. “I’m sorry about him,” he pauses, “I’m also sorry for everything that’s happened. Is there anything that you need?”

Quickly wiping away at your eyes, you can’t help but feel embarrassed for crying in front of a bunch of people that you just met. Once your sure that you’ve wiped up most of the salty tears, you gave Seonghwa a small smile, “Thank you, but I’m okay.” You’re not sure if it’s a lie meant for him, or for you. “I think I just need some time…” 

“Of course,” Seonghwa looked around the fire. He stood up and stretched his long limbs out, “I think we all should be getting some rest. Everyone heard Hongjoong, we’re getting up early,” he reminded them, earning a collective groan from the other two boys. 

You wondered what business they could be up to tomorrow that they need to get up as soon as the sunrises. You could question it, but the others seem so tired that you don’t want to bother them. Besides, you can always ask in the morning. 

“Just get some sleep because we all know how grumpy Hongjoong will be if you’re all exhausted. We’ll never hear the end of it,” he tried to reason with the younger members. 

“We only groan because he wants to look for this thing at the crack of dawn, and some of us need our beauty sleep,” Wooyoung grumbled under his breath, nearly sounding childish. 

But Seonghwa’s warning still got them up in less than a second. Personally, you’ve seen their leader’s bad side already today, and you could only imagine that he doesn’t go any easier on his own friends, or crew, or whatever they are to each other.

Purple ha-- Wooyoung and Jongho both say their goodnights to each other and walk back to their tents for the night. 

You continued to sit there on the hard earth. You finished the rest of your meal and kept it in your hands, savoring the last of its heat that was diminishing with each second. Seonghwa crouched down to you, “You should head back to my tent too. It’s going to be much warmer in there than out here in a little bit,” he said. Then he remembered, “And don’t worry, I’m sharing a tent with Hongjoong for now.”

You replied as you stared into the dying fire, “I just want to stay out here a little longer, then I’ll go back.” There’s still a lot to take in, and you just want some air. You need to be alone.

Wordlessly, he nodded in understanding and stood up again. “Goodnight,” He stayed there for a minute, surveying the surroundings. Then he went off to follow the others. He stopped misstep though as he remembered once final thing, “And if you’re wondering about your horse, Wooyoung took care of it after Jongho brought it in along with you.”

So that’s who rescued you. The scary man in all black saved you from icy doom. It was relieving that he saved you, yet it also worried you that it was him who did it. With that last thought, Seonghwa walked back to Hongjoong’s tent at last. 

For a while, you sat there listening to the crackles from the fire and the wind brushing through the trees. It felt blissful sitting there, it was the calmest yo felt in the past few days. You glance around camp and spot where Othello is standing, peacefully sleepy. He looks better than before. 

Looking around, you looked at all the little details, enjoying every last thing since it’s your first time being away from home. It’s strange being out here, almost nice, but the consequences for being out here outweighed the positives. You wouldn’t be out here in the first place if the incident never happened.

After staring off into anything and everything, you finally decide it’s time to look through your bag and see what was salvaged. You plop the bag into your lap and unlatch the clasp keeping it together. Once opened, your hands pry it wide open to look through its cargo. 

The first thing you see is red. You think it takes the entirety of the space in the bag, but it deceived you once you pull it out to examine it. There’s still plenty of space left in the bag. It’s red cloth at first, then a blanket, then a cloak that makes you gasp at the familiarity of it. It’s the same one Kihyun pointed out to you in the tailors. Pondering over how he possibly got it, you think it’s for the best that you let it go and not think too much into it. 

What’s left in the bag is a pouch of coins, not many, but enough, a journal that you’ve never seen before, a few jars containing foods that made you wished you weren’t such an idiot and checked the bag earlier. Then there’s the… Your heart stops and you gulp harshly at the sight of the final item. You might be in trouble.

[kristannafever-fics]

Unknown Fate - Part Three

Kristanna Canon Divergence 

Rated: T

WC: 2770

Previous Chapters

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A melody sprung into her conscious.  It was soft and sweet, something similar to the songs her mother would sing for her and Elsa when they were children.

Elsa…

The devil with auburn hair suddenly exploded into her mind, yelling and taunting her with his evil smile. He had crept back into the courtyard that night that the coronation ball had ended.  He had climbed up the castle, to the balcony of Elsa’s room.  He had witnessed the same thing Anna did when she burst into the room after Elsa shut down the ball early.  It was a flurry of snow hanging in the air and Elsa collapsed onto the bed, crying in despair.  

Anna recalled the details of that night with cruel clarity, then the world suddenly shifted and she was a kid again, her mother soothing her fever sickened body with a gentle palm against her forehead.  It felt so real.  How could a dream feel so real?  Anna calmed and sighed, slipping back into sleep, feeling comforted by the loving presence in the room.

After that she dreamed of the woods again.  It was a dream she had often when she was a child, something that scared her and excited her at the same time.  It was voices speaking to her from the darkness as she sat surrounded by rocks and trees… a place that was intimidating, yet safe.  She somehow knew it was a sacred place.  An ancient place.  A magical place…

Then she knew nothing but darkness until she started to feel a chill press upon her body.

Anna blinked in the dimness unsure of where she was.  It was too small to be a room in the castle… Wait, no, she didn’t live there anymore.  She was on the streets… yet she was in a room? A relatively warm room with a fire dying in the hearth.  She was in a comfortable bed and there was a man sleeping against the wall across from her…

Wait, what?

It all came flooding back into her conscious.  The kindness, the food, the offer of a place to sleep…. Something about a dress…

The ice man was straight legged, ankles crossed, leaning his back against the wall across from her with his head lolled to the side.  He was facing her like he had been watching her when he fell asleep.  Anna wasn’t too sure how to feel about that.  

The opportunity to study him seemed to good to ignore.  Anna slipped gently from the bed and tiptoed near him.  Her slight weight made no sound on the old wooden floorboards. Kneeling a few feet away from where he sat, she looked at his face very closely for the first time since she’d met him.

He was young.  Younger than he first appeared when he was scowling in the market.  His features were rugged and yet soft at the same time.  His blond hair gave him a boyish charm that seemed to contradict his impressive frame.  He was her age, perhaps a few years older.  

He suddenly shifted with a soft hum.  Anna startled, scrambling back to the bed, not wanting to let him know she’d been spying on him while he slept.  Sure enough, his eyelids started to flutter a few moments after Anna had tucked herself silently back in the bed.  She closed her eyes to feign sleep.

She heard him groan softly as he lumbered to his feet.  After a pause – stretching maybe – he walked to the fireplace and quietly placed some more wood on the fire.  Then he went over to the small table near the chair.   Anna was surprised how light his stride was for his size.  She heard him rummage through the basket and then the unmistakable sound of teeth biting into an apple.

Suddenly ravenous, Anna pretended to wake up.  She would be happy to fake it a little longer but her stomach was already rumbling.

She stretched as she slowly opened her eyes, pretending to be looking around for the first time. When her eyes met his, he smiled at her.

“Good afternoon.”

“Afternoon?”  Anna was unable to hide her shock.

He nodded, looking oddly solemn.  “You’ve been asleep for a while.”

“How long is a while?”

He shrugged his big shoulders.  “Almost a whole day.”

“A whole day,” Anna repeated, trying to comprehend the idea.  

He nodded again then stood up beside the chair and gestured for her to come and take a seat.  “I’m sure you’re hungry.  Come and eat something.”

Anna remained in the bed. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?” he blinked at her.

“Being so kind to me. Why?”

He didn’t break his gaze as he seemed to consider his words for a moment.  “Someone did the same for me once,” he said then turned his focus to the basket of food and picked out a carrot.

Anna nodded to herself, feeling a sudden need to move the conversation along to something else.   There was something he wasn’t saying and honestly Anna didn’t think she’d be able to handle to hear it just then.

“So… you live in the mountains?” she asked as she got out of bed and walked over to the basket, grabbing the first thing that her eyes settled on.

He nodded.  “Almost all my life.”

“Where are you from? I’ve never seen you in the market until a week ago.”

“Closer to the North mountain.   I used to sell in Arendelle all the time.  It’s a lot closer and used to be much nicer there.  I always had great customers.”

Anna gulped.  She hadn’t even thought about where such a question could lead.  She didn’t want to talk about anything regarding her past, but her curiosity won out. “How come you don’t go there anymore?” she asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.  

“I haven’t gone back since King Hans raised the taxes again.”

Anna startled to hear his name along with that title.  She tried to cover up her surprise by pretending she had fumbled the pear she was holding.  If Kristoff caught on, he wasn’t showing any sign.  

“King Hans?  I thought… well, I thought over there that Queen Elsa was…”

“Oh, yeah, she still is, but she got married not long after her coronation.  Must have been a quiet celebration.  There wasn’t much fanfare.  The gates are always closed anyway, no one really knows what goes on in the castle.”  He shrugged. “Everything was okay until she got married.   Then laws were changed by King Hans and taxes for selling goods were raised.  Merchants had to raise their prices to cover the new taxes and people couldn’t really afford as much anymore.  Then he raised them again and small peddlers like myself had to take our business elsewhere.”

Anna barely heard him. Suddenly she was back in her sister’s room, shocked by the events unfolding in front of her.

She hadn’t even been able to say a single word to her sister before Hans burst into the room from the balcony.  Anna watched in horror while the room swirled with a sudden blizzard as Elsa cringed back when Hans approached, drawing his sword.

“Sorceress,” he growled. “Wait until the kingdom hears about this!”

“No,” Elsa pleaded, “No, please.  No one can know.”

Anna realized Elsa hadn’t even seen her in the room.   The bed was on the far side, away from the windows and the balcony, moved there after Elsa had taken over their parent’s old room.  Had Hans even seen her?   She had just barely gotten through the threshold when he burst in through the balcony doors.  He had his focus solely on Elsa.  His back was mostly to her.  Surely, he would have threatened her too if he knew she was there?   She needed to get out if she could.  She just had to slip away unnoticed…

She backed up, silently watching as the snow swirled faster.  Hans moved like a cat stalking its prey, slowly approaching the bed, turning his back fully to her.  This was her chance.  She tiptoed from the room and took off in a dead run to find the guards.

The only problem was that the guards were still ushering people from the courtyard in order for the gates could be closed.  Anna grabbed the first one she found and screamed about what was happening.  The guard shouted orders and five men took off behind Anna to Elsa’s room.  

When they all burst in Anna expected snow everywhere and Prince Hans ready and willing to use his sword. All six of them immediately faltered to see Elsa sitting at her desk, looking furious over the sudden intrusion.

There wasn’t a snowflake in sight.

Elsa demanded to know what they were doing.  The guards did not blame Anna, instead issued several severe apologies as they backed out of the room.  Elsa turned her focus to her sister when they did and Anna could see her thinly veiled fear.   She was putting on an act.  Hans was still somewhere in the room.

“Wait,” Anna shouted. “Guards, search Elsa’s quarters! He is in here somewhere.”

“You will do no such thing,” Elsa demanded, standing tall and brave.

“But Elsa,”

“Princess Anna! You will remember your place!  I am your Queen and you will do as I command.  All of you, leave my quarters!  Immediately!”

Guards began to grab at Anna to drag her away.  She fought them, kicking and screaming the entire time, pleading to Elsa to tell them the truth.  The last thing she saw in Elsa’s gaze when she was pulled from the room sent shivers of dread down her spine.

The guards took her all the way to the great hall while she begged and pleaded for them to let her go. “We’re following the Queen’s orders your majesty,” they kept repeating.  

It wasn’t until Anna spotted Kai that she stopped struggling.  She freed herself from the guard holding her and went to him, explaining everything as fast as she could.  Kai assured her that he would check on the Queen himself and told her to wait in her room.  She did as she was told, wanting to get away from the pitiful stares of the guards.  Two of them followed and she knew they were standing outside her door should she choose to disobey her Queen again.

It seemed like an impossibly long time, pacing the floor at the foot of her bed, before Kai finally came into her room.   He looked solemn and frightened as he shook his head.  

“She insists that everything is fine,” Kai said quietly.

“You don’t believe her though, do you?”  Anna could see it in his eyes.  He knew something wasn’t right, just as she did.

“Are you okay?”

Anna blinked, suddenly back in the room with the big blond.  She couldn’t let on.  No one must know her true identity.  “Sorry,” she said slowly.  “I kind of zoned out there.”

He smiled at her, seeming none the wiser.  “That happens to me sometimes.”

She gave him an awkward feeling smile and took a bite of her pear.  She chewed in silence, trying not to think about the past.  

“What about you?” he asked. “Where are you from?”

“Nowhere in particular,” Anna answered quickly, knowing she needed to change the subject again.  “So, you said you got me a dress?  What’s that all about?”

His cheeks turned pink as he started to stammer.  “I did, because I thought… well I didn’t want to assume anything of course, but I was maybe hoping… no that’s not the right word…. I was just wondering…” he shook his head and his hand came up to rub the back of his neck and he let out a long sigh.

Anna found his embarrassed gestures quite endearing.   She decided to let him off the hook.  “You were just trying to help me?” she asked softly.

His eyes came slowly before he nodded.  “I just thought, if it was me, I would want to get clean and put on some new clothes. I know what it’s like to have to live in filthy garments.  It’s no fun.”

Anna wondered again what his hardships have been to have him be so kind to her.  Clearly, he understood her predicament better than anyone else she had ever encountered.  “Can I see it?”

He blinked at her before giving her a quiet “sure.”  Anna had to smile that he suddenly looked nervous, like she was going to hate the dress for some reason.  It could literally be a pile of rags for all she cared, as long as it was clean, that was all that mattered.

He went over to the small dresser that was in the corner of the room and removed a box from the top drawer. He didn’t look over at her as she watched him place it on the end of the bed and step back.  

Anna opened the box, her eyes opening wide and her mouth falling open.

“Its, well, it’s nothing special.  It’s sort of plain…” his voice trailed off.

Anna barely heard him as she pulled the garment all the way out of the box.  It was the most beautiful dress she’d ever seen in her life. Nothing extravagant like the dresses she used to wear when she lived in the castle, but stunning in its simplicity.

Anna ran her fingers over the black bodice, making the crisp white of the dress seem even more bright by comparison.  Kristoff was right, it was plain, but Anna had never seen a dress more special. Perhaps it was because of the person who was giving it to her?

She looked up into his eyes. He was watching her carefully like he was still worried that she might not like it.  Anna was suddenly taken aback by everything he had done for her and she burst into involuntary tears.

“I can get another one,” he said quickly, making Anna cry even harder.

“No,” she sobbed. “No, no, it’s absolutely beautiful. It’s wonderful, thank you.”

“Then why are you crying?” He asked quickly, clearly panicked that she was sobbing.

“Because I don’t deserve this,” she mumbled through her snivelling.  

“Hey, don’t say that.”

His voice was so soft and caring that Anna would have cried harder had he not placed a wonderfully warm palm lightly on her shoulder, giving her no other choice but to meet his eyes.

“I’m serious.  You deserve some kindness.  There’s not enough of it in this world.”

Anna found herself nodding despite how she still felt like she was still being a massive burden to him, regardless of how he seemed to view it.

“How can I ever repay you for it though?” she asked in a whisper, not trusting her voice at the moment.

He was silent for a moment before he spoke, almost the same volume that she did.  “There’s no need.  But, would you at least… tell me your name?”

She looked at him and blinked.   No one had ever asked her what her name was since she had left the castle.  Was it wise to tell him?  He was from near Arendelle, what if he put two and two together.  Then again, no one in Arendelle probably knew she was even missing if the gates were still closed.  No one really cared about her anyway.  She was just Elsa’s shadow.

She hesitated, about to tell him a fake name when she remembered that he had given her food and shelter, a dress… he had shown her kindness.

“Anna,” she said quietly.

He stared at her a moment before he gave her a tiny smile.  “Anna,” he said.  “Thank you.”

“What about you?” she asked, running a dirty sleeve past her nose.  “What’s your name?”

“Kristoff,” he said with a small shrug of his shoulders that made Anna smile.  How the hell was he so handsome and adorable at the same time?

“That’s a nice name,” Anna said, smiling with him.  

They stared at each other for a moment before his eyes fell down to the floor and he cleared his throat softly.  “Would you want to maybe head down to the bath house?  I know I would love a wash.”

Anna nodded. “Sure.  And thank you, for the beautiful dress.”

Kristoff’s cheeks turned pink before he turned away to his old leather bag and pulled out some clean clothes.  When he had everything he needed, he cleared his throat and looked at her.

“Shall we?”

Anna smiled at him, very much looking forward to being clean.  “After you.”

[thewritingcaptain]

The Pieces (Part 1)

Nothing quite brings you back to reality like the feeling of the person leaning on you starting to move. No, not move. Disappear.

Notes: Hello everyone! So this is a response to a prompt from @httydlovena here on Tumblr. I said I would try this for them, so here it is! I haven’t decided if this is going to be a cohesive, full-chaptered thing or more of a series of scenes that I have in mind, hints this being part 1 and not chapter 1. 

So the prompt was, in essence, if Tony had been snapped instead of Peter, and what follows that. Some of this is going to be different based on some of my logic, decisions, possibly headcannons, etc, but some of it will be largely the same, hints why I’m not sure how exactly how much I’ll be writing out. But anyway, I won’t drone on anymore. Thanks to everyone for reading, and I love you all 3000! Part 1 below the cut. 

“Something is coming,” Mantis says.

Her voice is barely a whisper, but it carries across the desolate planet as well as if she’d yelled it. Peter doesn’t even look up. He scrambles over to Tony, helping the older man to his feet, and they both pretend not to notice how heavily he’s leaning against him. Peter doesn’t mind, and he doesn’t want him to pull away before he’s ready to. It wasn’t exactly the hug he’d never got, but being close to him in any capacity was… nice. Even if this wasn’t the ideal situation. 

Far from it, actually, as he’s about to find out. 

They’re barely approaching the wayward group again when Mantis disappears. It’s not a flash, exactly; more like she melts away, leaving little pieces floating through the air as the only thing that remains of her in less than a second. If he’d blinked, he could have missed it. 

Drax goes next, but he’s slower. He calls out to Quill, who just stares at him in horror, as if he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. 

He still looks like he’s trying to process it when he turns to dust, too.

Peter is aware of people talking - Mr. Stark, Doctor Strange, and the blue woman is still there as well. She’s silent, for now - at least he thinks. Her lips aren’t moving. But he can’t really hear anything through the blood pounding in his ears. Is it fear? Adrenaline? A sign that he’s going to be next? He doesn’t know. 

Nothing quite brings you back to reality like the feeling of the person leaning on you starting to move. 

No, not move. Disappear.

Peter whirls. Mr. Stark falls on his knees the moment he lets go of Peter, but Peter is there, instantly, gripping the elder hero’s arm as if that alone can keep him from going. “Mr. Stark?” His own voice is weak and wobbly, unfamiliar even to his own ears. “Please-”

“Listen to me, kid,” Mr. Stark interrupts. His face is streaked with blood and ash and dust, and each one assaults his senses as the man leans closer, pressing his lips to his forehead gently for just a moment. Peter wants to close his eyes, to lean into the feeling, but he’s too afraid the moment he does it will all disappear. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. I promise.”

He can’t promise that, and they both know it. Peter could be next. Even if he isn’t, he could be trapped here, or left adrift in space. He may never get home again. He may never see May again, or his friends - if they’re even lucky enough to survive. He’s not entirely sure what’s happening, but Thanos made his goals pretty clear. 

Half of everyone. He doesn’t know how he did it, but he obviously has. 

Peter blinks back tears, squeezing Mr. Stark’s arm so hard that he knows it has to hurt. But he can’t stop it, can’t loosen his grip, and it hardly matters when it turns to dust under his fingers. 

His eyes snap to it, the dust floating where the limb should be, sweeping slowly up the rest of his body, and he can’t stop the tears from spilling over. Mr. Stark tilts his head back up, his hands so unexpectedly gentle, and the tenderness in his eyes is like a knife to the gut. “Mr. Stark,” Peter chokes. “Please, please don’t go.” 

Mr. Stark just shakes his head. “I’m so sorry, Pete,” he whispers. He reaches up to wipe a tear from his cheek. 

His fingers make contact for a split second. Peter closes his eyes, trying to memorize the touch and simultaneously make reality disappear. 

When he opens his eyes, reality is still there. But Mr. Stark is gone.

Sobs tear their way up his chest. He falls forward, right into the pile of dust where his hero used to be. The pain is immense, so much so that for a moment he wonders whether he’s actually going to go too, if he wasn’t spared after all. 

But no. He knows this pain. It’s the same pain he felt when his parents died. Then again when Ben died. 

Every time he thinks he’s shaken it, it comes back. 

“Kid.” 

Peter flinches and looks up. His senses are all screaming, and his eyes are wet and wide. He’s still sitting in the pile of dust that used to be his mentor, and yet- there’s only one person who calls him that, and he can’t help but hope-

But it’s not an undusted Tony Stark that leans over him. It’s the wizard again. Doctor Strange. 

Peter doesn’t bother to wipe his face. Sadness gives way to fury at the sight of the other man. The one who gave him the stone. Who did this to them, made this all possible-

Strange reads the anger on his face. His face softens almost imperceptibly, and he sighs a little as he kneels down beside him. “I know. I said I wouldn’t, and I did, and you’re confused and upset, but there’s no time to explain. The mirror dimension can only delay the inevitable for so long.” 

“Mirror-” Peter looks around, confused, and suddenly realizes exactly why all of his senses are screaming. They’re in the same place, but it looks… different. Shimmering and refracted on all sides of him, and it’s not just because of how wet his eyes are. 

“Peter,” Strange says, drawing his attention back to him. “I did what I had to. You’re not going to understand right now, but you will, eventually. Listen.” He puts a hand on his shoulder, and Peter flinches again, unable to help himself. The familiar touches, plus the fact that his senses are in overdrive, make it all too painful, impossible not to react. “I can’t hold on much longer. When I let us out of here, there’ll be a portal open. I need you to go through it. It’ll get you back to Earth, where you’ll be safe.” 

Safe. The word resonates something in him, and he looks away. “Safe? I don’t think anywhere is safe, not anymore. And what’s the point?” He gestures wildly around them. “We lost. It’s over.”

“It’s not over,” Doctor Strange says firmly. “This is just the beginning. But only if you do what I tell you to, do you understand? You have to-” He stops, straightening quickly and stumbling back a few feet. “Dammit. We’re out of time.” 

“What?” Peter stands up too, instinctively reaching out to steady him. “I don’t understand. What do I have to do?”

“Just-” Strange grimaces, nearly doubling over in front of him. “Go through the portal. You’ll figure out the rest.”

Peter opens his mouth to protest. This is all too much. He doesn’t understand, and he can’t pretend that he does. Some part of him wants to listen to Doctor Strange, to believe his assurances that this isn’t over, that they can still win, but things look pretty desolate and he’s covered in the dust and blood of one of the last few people in the world who gave a shit about him with no guarantee that the others are even still alive. What’s the point in going back to Earth? What’s the point in any of it? Dying out here would be easier. He wishes he’d been one of the ones to go. He’d have given himself for Mr. Stark in a heartbeat. 

But he doesn’t get to say any of that, because then the world around him literally shatters, and he instantly knows he’s back in real time. There’s the telltale hiss of a portal opening in front of him, and he knows he should move, should go back through it, but he just can’t find the strength. 

“Kid.” Strange’s voice again, low and pleading. 

Peter closes his eyes against it. He just can’t. 

But Strange isn’t talking to him. He’d forgotten about the blue woman, it seems, but she hasn’t forgotten about him. 

He senses more than hears or sees when Strange goes. The portal is open for a split second after his disappearance.

In that split second, arms circle around his torso, grabbing him tightly, and yank. 

There’s the sensation of freefalling, and he’s barely gotten used to it when they slam into solid ground, the cold metal of her partially inhuman form slamming into him. 

It hurts, but he barely registers it. His senses are too busy being assaulted by the hellscape that the world has turned into around them. 

Shrieking. Honking. Screaming. Crying. Alarms. Metal on metal. The smell of blood, sweat, tears, metal, antiseptic, smoke, but also flowers, grass, the fresh air- 

He can feel the grass under his hands, the metal of the nanotech suit is too cold and hard against his skin-

He barely rolls onto his knees before he’s retching. He throws up everything he could possibly have in his stomach, then dry heaves for another good few minutes. 

Then he collapses, and it’s days before he knows anything more. 

[evans-maxed-out]

Of Want, Need And Destiny Chatzy

Who: Sam Evans and Mercedes Jones:

Where: Masquerade party Le Palais d’Exchangistes, Hawaii

When: 11/30/19

Notes: Sam and Mercedes reconnect in a surprising environment...

Sam: This was so not his scene, he thought sourly, as he knocked back the glass of whiskey that the bartender had poured for him. Around him couples, threesomes, sometimes more gyrated to the music, hands touching everywhere they could. He rolled his eyes as Francis sat down next to him and held up a hand. "Don't even start..I'm not interested in knocking up your wife and you go anywhere near my fiancee with that dick, I'll cut it off and beat you with the wet end of it, understood?" Francis chuckled, offering him a hand. "Truce. I get it..kinda. I still think you're a fine ass couple and me and Pat would've loved to have had some fun..but I just wanted to thank you." Sam's brow furrowed in confusion. "You want to thank me..what for?" Francis smiled, turning on his stool to face him. "We'd never thought about trying golden showers..I mean Pat has hotwifed, I've reverse gangbanged..we both love oral and anal and double pen-" he stopped seeing Sam's face. "But as much as we like that stuff..something was missing. We spied on you guys and heard you begging Mercedes to piss on you..So we tried it to see what all the fuss was about..And guess what?" Sam was staring in horror, completely speechless. This idiot here thought he was into being pissed on? "We had the best fun we've had in years..and we realized something. We don't need others to fulfill us sexually...that stuff was us trying out things on our road to discover our Holy Grail. Golden Shower. So thanks man..I'd better go, get my wife before some other fucker thinks they can get their dick wet. We're..exclusive now. No need for anyone else. Just me, Pat and golden showers.." Sam watched him walk away completely bemused. Christ, what kind of folks were these? A woman sat down beside him, but he barely took any notice, as he scanned the crowd for Mercedes. Suddenly he felt a hand on his thigh and he shifted about to open his mouth and tell the woman off. "Dude..no talking!" The bartender admonished sharply. "You already broke the rules talking to that guy.." Sam huffed, and turned back to the woman, who objectively speaking was hot, but no way was he interested. Shaking his head, he pushed her hand off and stood, turning to walk away and go in search of his errant fiancee.

Mercedes surveyed her surrounding as she made her way into the ballroom. She began going through the sea of people happy that she could see what was happening around her through her mask. She convinced Sam that they should arrive to the masquerade at different times to make them finding one another sorta fun. Plus, she didn’t want him to see how she was dressed until they were trapped in this room and he wouldn’t be able to speak to her. She knew he hated being here. He didn’t enjoy this trip she planned and she felt awful about the whole ordeal. She continued to search the room for Sam and had to keep her wits about her at some of the things she witnessed from the crowd of people. She was beginning to think he didn’t even show when she spotted him wandering around. His back was turned away from him and she slowly made her way over to where he was at. Right before she made it to him someone brushed up against her side fingers grasping her elbow and she politely waved them down. She sighed a sigh of relief when the person honored her wishes and backed off. Finally she was standing behind Sam, his shoulders sorta slump and she couldn’t help the slight laugh she made. She reached out tiny hands dancing up his back, and then down. He wanted to turn but she stopped his movement, hands moving to his shoulders to keep him facing from her. She pulled him into her body flush against hers as her hands travelled to the front of his body from behind. Her hands roamed his stomach and then slowly she began to run them up along his chest as she rested her head on his back.

Sam: It was her- the moment she had run her hands over his back, he'd known. He'd know her touch anytime and anywhere and he grinned when she stopped him turning around, her hands moving over his stomach and then onwards over his chest. His hand moved behind him, gliding over her navel, eyes widening as he felt just how much she wasn't wearing. Suppressing a growl, his fingers dipped between her thighs, slipping under the barely there underwear she was wearing, brushing against her clit. He was horny, had been dying of blue balls for what felt for a fucking decade and then she just had to show up to this party, with all these damned perverts staring, wearing an outfit best designed to be worn at a strip joint. No more. The refrain rang through his mind as he removed his hand and spun around, arms banding around her. They glided over the mounds of her ass, and he lifted her, his hips thrusting into the cradle of his, and stalked off to the side of the room, to press her back up against the surface of the nearest wall. "The fuck, you thinking wearing something like this?" he demanded before his mouth crashed down on hers, and one hand ripped her panties from her body. "Don't care who fucking sees," he told her, a feral light in his eyes. All around them, people were kissing, fucking, in pairs or more and he couldn't bring himself to care who saw them. " Who were you wearing this for? Huh?' his fingers probed her opening before sliding deep into her hot, wet, depths. "Gonna fuck you, right here, right now.."

Mercedes: She knew she was flirting with danger when she chose the outfit she did. It took her a look of willpower to muster up the courage to leave the hotel room and she could see that it was well worth it. “You like?” She quirked her brows at him with a smile. Sam didn’t give her time to even finish her little game before he was on her. She hadn’t seen him like this but one other time before. Right after she returned from being gone four years he was insatiable. Her back hit the wall with a slight thud and she didn’t know whether to be frightened or even more turned on than she already was. “Someone’s anxious aren’t we?” She asked when he ripped her panties from her. “Francis is looking mighty fine tonight, maybe he’s finally wore me down....” She teased with a shrug of her shoulder. She was skating a fine line with that last statement but to hell with it. She wanted him, wanted to get so fired up that she’d sure be sore in the morning. His eyes told a story, Sam was seriously about to fuck her senseless against this wall. “Fuck Sam,” she moaned into the open air as he used his fingers to slip into her wet pussy. Her hips moved grinding against his fingers as they drove her insane.

Sam: At the mention of Francis, his eyes flashed dangerously. Jealousy, white hot and bitter, shot through his veins like a powerful hit of adrenaline. His thumb grazed over her clit as he pumped his fingers inside her. “ The fuck you’re going anywhere near him,” he grated out, furious. “ You know what your problem is, Cedes?” He asked her as he rubbed her bliss button relentlessly. “You’re a fucking cocktease, and tonight, you’ve pushed me past my breaking point. The room was dark, the only thing he could make out was the silhouettes of lovers moving feverishly against each other, moans of ecstasy permeating through the air. Sam had never been an exhibitionist, some things were meant to be private, in his opinion, but tonight, tonight he wanted her screaming HIS name, wanted her creaming on HIS cock, uncaring of who was watching or listening. His fingers pulled out of her roughly and he dropped to his knees. He lifted a sweetly rounded thigh over his shoulder and buried his face into her sex, without preliminaries. His tongue lashed her clit, rolling it over and over again. His fingers slid once again inside her, thrusting deep, searching for the spot that he knew would drive her insane. “Shit, you taste so good, baby,” he groaned, before sucking her clit back into his mouth, his teeth grazing it lightly. It was desperate, the need to make her lose all control, burning like an uncontrollable fire inside him. He felt her hips buck against him and he looked up at her, grinning wickedly. “You’re really wet Cedes, you’re creaming on my tongue.. you know that? So fucking delicious..” His other hand slid upwards over her stomach, rising higher to cup her breast, thumb roughly tweaking her nipple in time with his fingers’ thrusts inside her. “ You’re getting so tight too, aren’t you baby? Feels like you want to come..D’ya think I should let you..after all those times I’ve been left high and dry and jerking off in the shower?” He teased her, knowing there was no way she was not going to come right here, right now.”C’mon Cedes, give it to me..come for me..” he entreated, before his mouth sought her clit again, tongue flicking over it again and again.

Mercedes: She might’ve took it a little too far with the Francis comment but she didn’t care. The dark green glare of jealousy in Sam’s eyes her her rubbing her knees together in anticipation. “I aim to tease,” she smirked, “how else do you expect me to keep you coming back for more?” She could feel her essence began to slide down her thighs she was so wet. This right here was why she could never engage in any of that mess Francis and Pat had been sprouting. Sam was the only man she’d ever react this way to. He knew it too. He knew he had her hook, line, and sinker. Which is why when he dropped down to his knees in a ballroom full of people and began his vicious assault on her promise land she didn’t bat an eye. She didn’t care that anyone and everyone could be watching her with her fiancé’s face buried between her thighs. She used the thigh he threw over his shoulder to pull him impossibly closer wanting more from him. The need to find release had her body aching. “Fuck baby, don’t stop,” she moaned hips thrusting up to where she was desperately humping his face. She was so close, her fingers weaved through his golden locks pulling roughly as she felt the tightening in her stomach. It was then when he paused. She could murder him in that moment. “Don’t you fucking dare,” she warned him. “Now is not the time for games Sam.” He must’ve seen how serious she was because once again he dove back in this time his intent on pulling her release from her was evident. She squirmed against the wall as he continued to devour her. It was all too much. She wasn’t lasting much long. “Shit Sam I’m gonna cum,” she informed him hands going up to tweak her hard nipples. Her whole began to quiver as she felt her orgasm hit her. “Fuck Sam, holy fuck,” she cried wantonly, eyes fluttering, and breathing hard and labored as she flooded his mouth.

Sam: He heard her cry out his name the second she shot over the edge, groaned deep in his throat as he tasted the juices that coated her sex, infused with the sweet taste of her. He pulled away and rose from his knees, mouth slamming down harshly on hers, tongue pushing inside her mouth, allowing her to taste herself on him. “Got anything to say about Francis now?” He growled near her ear, then proceeded to kiss his way across her collarbone and downwards, pushing the dating fabric of the indecent outfit she was wearing. His tongue painted a path along her breast, before his lips closed over a temptingly pouting nipple, teeth biting down lightly on it. He couldn’t get enough of this, wanted her too damn badly, and he knew, that tonight, nothing short of a nuclear bomb would stop him from burying himself deep inside her. “ So damn hot..” his whispered, the words blurred against the sultry sweetness of her skin. One hand flicked open the snap of the leather pants he wore, his cock hard and aching, presses against the unrelenting seam. “Jesus Christ Cedes...touch me..please..” he begged.

Mercedes: “Francis who?” she pondered dazed and still coming down from her high. Her body was still thrumming from what Sam had done to her and still she wanted more. Needed more. He was so damn hot, demanding and in charge but she could see the pure want for her in not only his eyes but the way he kissed her as well. She turned them both as she grabbed him this time him against the wall as she sucked his tongue in her mouth moaning at the feel. “Don’t worry baby, I’m going to do more than touch you,” she promised as she went back in tongue dominating his as she snaked her hand down his body reaching between them and caressing his manhood. “Damn Sam, your dick is practically throbbing in my hand. All that for little ole me?” She laughed against his lips. “Tell Cedes what you baby?” She was in pure temptress mood. She felt this newfound desire for her man and she was going to show him just how badly she wanted him. “You want this?” She asked hand stroking his full length and thumb rubbing the tip collecting all the precum from it. She brought her thumb up to her mouth and made sure he watched as she sucked it clean. “Here’s how it’s going to go down,” her hand going back down to his rubbing it along her wet folds. “First, I’m going to use my tongue and mouth to taste you. Then....mmmm” she moaned as she continued to tease him head brushing her still sensitive clit. “I want you buried deep, inside me, fucking me till I tap out. Got it?” She didn’t wait for his answer as she dropped down to her knees and took him fully in her mouth, tongue lapping his cock with every stroke.

Sam: Fucking goddamn shit...his thoughts all coalesced into one only..get inside her as quickly as possible but then she listed what she was going to do and her mouth enveloped him and the war was lost. “Fuck yeah..Got it..” he practically whimpered as her warm mouth ran over his cock. This was his favorite thing ever-apart from being buried balls deep inside her- to feel her tongue running down the thick vein that wound a path along the underside of his shaft. So damn hot, when she looked up at him, doe eyes full of innocence and sin, mouth full of his cock. He was harder than hell, completely aware that if she didn’t stop the wicked things she was doing with her tongue he’d completely disgrace himself and flood her mouth with his come. “Up!” He ordered her pulling his hips back before he fucked her mouth to oblivion. Tugging her upwards he reversed them once again, her back to the wall, as he hoisted her up legs either side of him. His cock rubbed at the entrance of her sex, covering the top in her juices and he canted his hips towards her, eyes locked with hers, as he started the slow slide inside her body. She was tight, scorching hot and something just so purely Mercedes, that he could’ve wept at the feeling of relief that suffused him at finally, FINALLY being back inside her. “Oh God’” he muttered frantically, pulling his hips back and slamming back into her, over and over again.

Mercedes: She whimpered when he lifted and impaled her with his cock. Ugh, it had been too damn long. Too long since he was last buried balls deep inside her dick hitting her spot with every wicked thrust. Her back slid up the wall as he fucked her senseless. “Missed this,” she admitted looking straight in the eyes of her fiancé. Her legs tightened around his waist as she rolled her hips into countering his frantic movement. She was teetering close to cumming for the second time tonight. She took a second to finally look at her surrounding since Sam had pulled her off the floor and in that moment she had revelation. While most here came to find excitement in someone new she didn’t need it. Sam was more that all she would ever want and for her to be fearful of ever being like they were now, insane with want just for the other was ridiculous. It was more than just sex, it was form of intimacy she couldn’t really describe. They had it. The thing most couples crave, beg for. The spark between them always blazing. “That’s it Sam, fuck your pussy. Make me cum baby.” This was his. Every inch of her. He branded her since the first time they ever made love. She’d remain his forever and always. Her head flew back hitting wall as she gripped his shoulder for dear life. She was cumming harder than before and his name ripped from her lips in a loud scream.

Sam: He loved this-the raw,carnal sex between them that was so much more than sex-it was their very souls connecting in a rhythm as old as time and transcendant through all of their lives together. He lived for this, her warm skin pressed against him as she lost herself in his arms, the feel of her warm tongue stroking against his and the heat of her sex holding him deep inside her, where he was born to be. This had to have been pre-ordained- somewhere, sometime in a past life he must've done something freaking amazing to have been rewarded in this one, with her. They were destined, one incomplete without the other and they'd found a love most people could only dream of ever having. "Yeah baby..missed this..missed you..missed loving you like this.." he agreed dazedly as her legs locked tightly around him. He drove deep inside her, barely holding onto sanity as she clenched around him, head thrown back in surrender, in this moment totally his just like he was hers, body, heart and soul. He felt the moment she came, loved the screams that were torn from her-had never felt as incredibly close and intimate with her as he did now, in a room full of fornicating people. Locked in their own world, the only thing he could hear or feel was her cumming hard on his cock. "Oh Christ Cedes.." he muttered desperately thrusting into her as he felt the familiar tightening of his balls."I love you so damn much..You're the love of my life," the words wrenched from the depths of his soul as he came in complete abandon, his seed painting her pussy thickly. Pressing his forehead against hers. still lodged deeply inside her, he kissed her gently, heart pounding in his ears. Shooting her a lopsided grin he looked around and sighed. " Never thought I'd be one for sex in public..but damn that was hot...But I think we'd better get out of here before these folks think we're fair game.." He withdrew from her gently, loving the way her sex glistened with his cum and took her hand in his before heading for the exit. The vacation may have been a bust but he'd do it all over again for a moment just like this.

[aiikawarazu]

Hourglass Chapter #19

Title: Serendipity

Rated: M

Summary:  Armin fought to prove Mikasa’s innocence, while Mikasa and Eren both tried to find a way to overcome the incident between them, and come to term with their feelings.

FFNet here

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin (I wish I did... then I wouldn’t make them suffer as much...)

- All of this isn't a coincidence

Just just my own feelings -

It was, to put it short, a very beautiful day for winter.

It was chilly still, just several degrees above zero. But Mikasa checked the weather forecast in her phone early that morning before heading to school – and there should be no rain nor snow today. It was, finally, a winter day full of sunshine.

However, Mikasa could feel nothing in her heart except dark, gloomy, out-of-the-mood irony.

"Mikasa! Breakfast is ready!" She heard her mom calling her from downstairs. "Coming!" she answered. But she didn't budge from her place in front of the mirror. Carefully, she took out a hairbrush and started brushing her hair, trying to find any strands to detangle, staring at her reflection absent-mindedly.

Actually she knew, her smooth black strands required no more brushing. She was just trying to put off going to school for as long as possible.

"Mikasa!" Her mother called the second time. Mikasa heaved a deep sigh and put down her hairbrush. She took a pair of fresh socks and started putting them on, taking her time to do it much more slowly than usual. She counted until five minutes had passed. Then she ran down the stairs just as her mother was about to call her the third time.

"Finally," she said. "What took you so long…?"

"I woke up late, sorry," she apologized and took her seat on the table. Her mother had cooked her some eggs, along with fresh vegetable salad. Mikasa began scooping rice into her bowl and grabbed her chopsticks, while Kyoko helped her with two pieces of sunny-side up. "Eat your veggies," she reminded her daughter. Mikasa nodded wordlessly and started digging in.

Truth was, she really didn't want to go to school. Maybe she should pretend that she had a fever. But her mother would know as soon as she checked her temperature.

Mikasa let out another sigh before she knew it. Her mother raised an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong?"

Yes, Mikasa wanted to answer.

If she remembered correctly, a boy just kissed her yesterday.

Out of nowhere.

In the middle of the street, in a public place where anyone could have seen them.

And then, as though not to make matters worse, he left just as suddenly, saying that he 'was sorry' because he 'didn't mean it'. Mikasa didn't know how anybody could have kissed another person like that and not mean it. Was that supposed to be normal? Or was she the one too inexperienced at these things?

She needed answers. But she was too afraid to initiate anything, so she hadn't talked to Eren again since then. The boy hadn't contacted her either.

As a result, she almost couldn't sleep the night. Even now, Mikasa found herself torn in between. Half of her really didn't want to see that boy (she didn't even know what kind of face she was supposed to make when she saw him) – but another half was dying to see him, just to ask what was going on between them yesterday.

She took another deep sigh.

"I'll be going now," she said, finally realizing that the latter side had won. Staying home will only exemplify the magnitude of questions she already had in her head right now – and sooner or later she would have to see him – so why not now?

Mikasa rose from her seat and gave her mother a peck on both cheeks.

"Bye mom."

- The whole universe was different from yesterday

Just just from your happiness -

Mikasa was half worried that she might have run into Eren accidentally in the station. Trying to not make eye contact with anyone, she quickly swept her way past the exit, joining the crowd of students in Shiganshina North High uniform, all heading toward the same direction – up the hill, and past the front gate of their school.

Some students stopped to chat or greet their friends. Others who were walking in groups took their time to walk slowly. Mikasa slipped past a group of male students from 3rd grade – who were discussing loudly about the football game last night – bowed politely to a teacher who stood near the entrance to school building, grabbed her slippers from her shoe locker and quickly left. As she climbed the flight of stairs and took a right turn toward the end of the corridor, Mikasa slightly prayed that her expressions wouldn't betray her when she finally saw him.

Which was, she realized, near impossible.

The buzzing sound of early morning conversation reached her the moment she opened the sliding door. No one uttered a single greeting to her – not even a simple 'hello' or 'good morning' – but Mikasa was used to the silent treatment by then. She proceeded to her table, only to find that her bullies simply didn't take any rest. She stared straight, unblinking, to the word 'TRASH' formed by capital black letters, which glared at her silently from the shiny surface of her table.

Of course. She had come to school too late today – much later than her usual early morning schedule. As a result, she now felt the prowling glances of her classmates on her back, waiting to see her reaction. As if. She wasn't going to ever give them the satisfaction. After a few moments of silence, Mikasa carefully put down her book bag and started the routine – which was slowly becoming like a habit – of cleaning up her table.

Her lack of reaction seemed to disappoint her eager classmates. Reluctantly, they went back to chatting – resuming their previous discussion which was cut off due to her arrival. As she continued cleaning her table – Mikasa felt a strange tug in her heart. It wasn't pain. She wasn't hurt. She didn't care that she was being bullied by the whole school. Surprisingly, what she felt in her heart was pure, unadulterated pity.

She pitied all her classmates, all the students in school who commenced the bullying toward her. They wanted her to feel lonely. They tried their best to treat her like she was invisible, the scum of the earth, like someone who never belonged in their society.

But they never knew. She had felt that way since a long, long time ago. All the time she spent enduring the abuse in her house had made her change, though not for the better. She'd lost track of how many times that bastard of a stepfather had made her feel like a trash. There were countless times when she felt empty – pained, and hurt, she almost thought of taking her own meaningless life. But she struggled, through and through. And the only way she found to keep clinging to this life was to desperately hide her scars, her insecure self, by pretending to be someone she wasn't.

She wanted to be everyone's definition of perfect. Because she knew – it was the only way for her to ever get along with people – to make friends. Had she shown even an inch of her weak and pitiful self to anyone – no one would ever want to approach her.

And now – these people thought that they managed to exile her, made her suffer. They were terribly wrong. Their abuse was nothing compared to her past horror. It was like child's play – it didn't affect her one bit. But of course, Mikasa couldn't bear herself to tell them the truth.

She finished cleaning up her table, and put away her washcloth. Now sitting on her chair, she stared listlessly ahead.

It wasn't that she felt she didn't belong with them now. She'd never belonged there since the beginning.

- I'm afraid, just as much as my heart flutters

Because fate keeps being envious of us -

His chair was empty.

Mikasa tried to keep herself from looking – but found her eyes helplessly darting between Eren's table and the door. A million thoughts were racing in her head.

When is he going to come? Is he absent? Is he avoiding her? Is it because of yesterday? And then…

What the fuck is she going to do if he really doesn't come? She couldn't possibly endure this pain for another day!

She was distracted for a while when the morning bell finally rang – and Mr. Levi entered the classroom for homeroom period. The students rose from their seat, bowed politely to him, and sat back down, waiting for him to make a call roll.

Mikasa's name was the first to be called. She rose her hand. And Mr. Levi went on the next names on the list. One by one he called the student's names to check if they were present. And as he got closer to the bottom of the name list – Eren's chair was still empty.

Mikasa started tapping her fingers impatiently to the surface of her table. If the bullies wanted her to feel pain – this was the real pain. Waiting on him to show up (not knowing if he ever will) was torture, and telling her mind to shut up was even more agonizing. She tried to find other focus, but it lasted only for several seconds before her mind was back to him.

Will he ever show up?

Fortunately enough (or unfortunately), she heard the classroom door open a few moments later.

"'Sup."

Mikasa's body froze. He's here. She couldn't have mistaken that voice.

"Is that how you apologize for being late?" Mr. Levi's steely gaze greeted the boy, as he walked, ever so casually to his seat behind Mikasa. She didn't dare to turn.

"My alarm clock's dead," said Eren, slamming himself to his seat. "And homeroom's not over yet, so – guess I'm safe?"

"Sounds like you need me to get you a new one," Levi remarked, to which Eren replied lightly, "Sure Sir, could you get me a new TV too…? My old one's broken as well."

Several students gasped, probably horrified at how cheeky Eren could be toward a teacher – but Mikasa heard several others scoffed into their textbooks to hide their laughter. Levi's cold gaze swept the room, effectively silencing the class. Sometimes Mikasa still got the impression as though her uncle was secretly trained as a humanoid weapon. How else did he learn to give such cold, murdering gaze?

"And with that dramatic arrival from Yeager – our homeroom is over," Levi said dryly, clapping his attendance book closed with his left hand. "Ackerman, Yeager, report to me once the school is over for your detention duties."

"Yes, Sir," said them both in unison.

The room was once again abuzz with conversation once Levi slid the door closed. Usually, Eren would have reached straight to Mikasa, sitting directly in front of her – just to see her face, her smile, and talk about anything – or nothing – in particular. Today, however, he simply couldn't do it. From his seat, Eren could see that Mikasa had opened a grammar book and was reading intently. He got a strange feeling as though she was only pretending to read the content. But he didn't want to make her face this way.

He lied to Levi about his alarm clock being broken. He arrived late on purpose. As cowardly as it sounded, he really didn't want to face her after the mess he made yesterday. Hell, he didn't even know how to explain himself – or to apologize. He just kissed her. And left.

Kissed her and left! It sounded even worse every time he repeated it inside his head. He cringed every time his memories brought the fresh details of the events yesterday afternoon vividly. She was warm, and fragrant, and her lips were so… soft. Damn it. He was such a goddamn pervert! But seeing her in front of him now – her back to him, ever so calmly reading her book while he could see glimpses of her profile and her delicate shoulders – really didn't help him erase that memory.

His face burned. The heat was severe, he almost thought he had a fever. Hopelessly, he buried his face in his palms.

He just wanted today to pass quickly.

- I am just as afraid as you are

When you see me, when you touch me -

"Ayako, I need to talk to you about something," Mikasa said as soon as the bell rang, marking the start of lunch break. The brown-haired girl stared at her friend curiously. Mikasa really didn't seem like her usual composed self. She looked… urgent. Like she might explode if she had to wait another second before spilling her thoughts.

"Sure," said Ayako. "I'll just go grab something from the cafeteria for my lunch, and then let's head to Home Economics lab to meet with the others."

"NO," Mikasa pressed. Her tone caused Ayako to raise her eyebrows a bit. "Er… just today, I don't want to have lunch with the others. Let's have lunch, just the two of us."

"Okay… then let's buy something and eat our lunch here."

"No," Mikasa said again. "Let's have our lunch… outside."

To Mikasa's surprise, Ayako really didn't complain about her idea of having their lunch outside, in the garden, although the weather was freezing cold.

"Y-y-you'd better explain," Ayako's teeth started clattering. She was desperately holding her warm canned coffee with one hand and grabbing her pocket heater with the other hand to stop the cold from creeping in. "Before us both caught h-hypothermia for standing here too long in the cold."

"I'm sorry," Mikasa said automatically. She kind of felt bad toward her friend, but she really didn't want to risk anyone eavesdropping on their conversation. Thankfully, the garden was deserted (absolutely, because no one in their sane mind would have wanted to go outside in this cold).

"Why are we not having lunch with Yeager and Armin? Did something happen again between you and Yeager? I think I'm starting to get used to it," said Ayako, trying to keep her tone from being too sarcastic.

"No, it's just that… I have something I need to talk to you… privately."

Ayako looked curious. "And Yeager and Armin absolutely can't know about this? Wonder what's so important."

"That's why I'm telling you now. Ayako… I know you have more experience than me about boys…," Mikasa's intro caused Ayako to raise her eyebrows again, not quite following her friend's point. "And umm… I just wanted to ask…" for a moment Mikasa was uncomfortably playing with her fingers, clasping and unclasping them again, trying to arrange her thoughts into something comprehensible.

Waiting on her friend to finish her sentence, Ayako clicked open her canned coffee, and started sipping it. Her curious light brown eyes were on Mikasa all the while – trying to guess where the black-haired girl might have wanted to go with the topic of their conversation.

"Can boys really kiss someone without meaning to do it?"

Ayako almost spit her coffee. She was coughing rigorously for a few seconds – Mikasa patting her back all the while – as she tried to regain her train of thoughts. Whatever Ayako had expected Mikasa to say - she totally did not expect this question.

"That depends," Ayako said, after her coughing fits had passed. Cough cough. "I think they certainly can. Even I kissed a lot of people without really meaning it. Sometimes just because I was bored, or because I was curious how it would feel like. But then that's that – like you said, there really was no meaning to it." Mikasa's expression suddenly turned grim.

"I see, then," she said flatly.

Mikasa really didn't seem happy, that Ayako had to ask her what was going on. After a while, the former finally started again.

"Say you… say you know a boy. Just imagine that you have this boy you're really close with – but he's not your boyfriend."

This was getting weirder, but Ayako said nothing. She nodded. "Okay, done."

"Then," Mikasa continued, "One day this boy just… suddenly kissed you, out of nowhere. You were surprised, and it looked like he was surprised too. But then he left, saying he was sorry. He said he didn't mean the kiss." Mikasa paused. Ayako still stared at her strangely.

"What do you think it's supposed to mean? Was it just a one-time thing? Or… was… I mean, could there be any other meaning to it – to that kiss…?"

For a long while, Ayako stood without uttering any response. Mikasa's story went from weird to downright bizarre in a matter of seconds – and she was left with connecting the dots.

"Wait," said Ayako, trying to slowly shed some light in her friend's story. "Are you saying that a boy kissed you…."

"Not me," Mikasa protested, "It was my… my friend."

"Okay, so your friend was kissed by a boy who said that he didn't mean the kiss."

"Yes."

"And he said he was sorry?"

Mikasa nodded.

"And… what happened after that?"

"Nothing. The boy didn't say anything to her at all after the incident, and she was too afraid to ask so that's why – that's why I'm asking you right now." Mikasa flushed slightly at the end of her sentence, so she turned away quickly before Ayako could see her.

Ayako processed the facts in her head for a while before asking, "Were there feelings involved?"

Mikasa didn't answer, only her face was turning slowly - into a more obvious red.

"I don't know," she said finally. "He might be tipsy or something, or just lost in the spur of the moment. He might just have a slip-up, or like you said, just wanted to try something different. That might be why he –"

"Did Yeager kiss you yesterday?" Ayako asked. It was kind of a lucky guess, but she learned the truth the moment her friend's expression change from bemused to mildly shocked.

"Oh My God!" she squealed. "I was right, wasn't I? Did you kiss? Did you really kiss? How did that happen…? I can't believe you tried to hide this from me!"

Mikasa sighed, looking into Ayako's grinning face. She totally gave herself away.

"Fine," she said, scowling a little. "You won."

"So it was true…?" Ayako asked, slightly jumping upside-down on her spot, barely trying to conceal her excitement. "Did you and Yeager just… kissed yesterday? How did that happen?"

"We didn't kiss," Mikasa said in a half-groan. "Well, technically it was a kiss, but… Anyway… we were on the way home from school, and we stopped by the convenience store, and we were talking. And then it just – stop squealing, it wasn't like that! It just sort of… happened. But it's more like… he was the one who kissed me. And I was too surprised to do anything."

"Wow."

(Damn it, Yeager)

"And after that, he said he didn't mean it."

"What….?"

(Yeager, you fucking idiot)

"I just… I don't know…," Mikasa covered her lips. She could still feel him. His taste of coffee, and the smell of cigarette – even his soft breath on her skin was too real to ignore, and it's driving her mad. "I don't understand…. is that how boys are…? Can they really kiss someone without meaning it?"

"Umm…" Ayako contemplated for a while. Truth be told, Ayako did know Eren and his previous track records – she knew that the boy have had flings and make out sessions with girls left and right – girls he didn't even properly date. He probably – no, positively – had even gone further than a simple kiss or two with the girls that he dated (and the girls he did not). But Mikasa was unlike any of them. She was too pure, not to mention inexperienced.

And now Eren just treated her like she was one of those simple-minded girls out there. The girls he met at a blind-date events, in a bar, or in a karaoke. The girls he could make out with and bring home and see if he could get lucky with them. That made Ayako even angrier. She continued her inward cursing, trying to remember every single bad words she'd learned and direct them toward Eren. That idiot really couldn't read the circumstances. She didn't know if she should slap him on behalf of Mikasa – or kick him in the groin. She wanted to do both.

"Well – I don't know either," Ayako said finally with a shrug. "If you want to know what he meant – then talk to Yeager. I'm not a psychic. I can't understand his thoughts."

"I don't want to," Mikasa said, half-panicked at the thoughts of facing him directly. "Ayako, I can't. I can't face him. And I certainly can't ask him if yesterday's kiss meant something."

"Wow, Mikasa. For once in a while, you are totally human." Ayako wanted to laugh, but she restrained herself after a close look at her friend's upset face. In spite of everything, Ayako did know Mikasa very well. At this stage, she could see through her friend's mind as easily as though she was seeing them from behind a glass window. Nevertheless, she tried her best to repress further teasing remarks that were on the tip of her tongue.

Because this was such a simple matter. And Mikasa's inability to make sense of things somewhat amused her, if not making her more exasperated. Sure, Eren did make things difficult for her - but the answer was so easy. Mikasa, of course, will still struggle to find answers in matters concerning the heart, instead of the brain.

Ayako decided to give her friend a little extra hint.

"Why are you so afraid to ask Yeager now?" she asked, eyeing her best friend closely for her reaction. She could almost hear Mikasa's brain thinking.

"Why? There's no specific reason but – is it supposed to be normal to just ask him casually 'why did you kiss me'?" Even Mikasa could feel her insides blushing at that prospect. "That sounds silly to me, or even more – it's embarrassing."

"Look here, I can't help you to understand what Yeager thought of that kiss," Ayako continued, rather carefully. "But at least, I can help you to not lie to your own feelings. Or," she contemplated for a few split seconds, "I can help you come to terms with them."

"Come to terms with what? You're not making any sense now."

Mikasa slowly turned to look into Ayako's furtive smile, and immediately, she felt strange. Her best friend looked like she knew something about Mikasa, that she herself didn't.

"Hey, Mikasa. Just… give me your honest answer, okay?" Now it's Mikasa's turn to be confused by how serious her best friend sounded. Ayako heaved a deep sigh.

"Did the kiss actually mean something… for you?"

"For… me?" Mikasa blinked at Ayako's question. "How is this connected? I thought we were talking about Yeager." Ayako gave a tired sigh. Surely, there was a limit to how thick someone could be.

"Summer is going to come before you even realize what's going on with yourself," Ayako let out a desperate laugh, slightly covering her face with one hand. "Or… we will both be rushed to the hospital in a few hours, because we caught hypothermia. Well, I don't want to continue standing here in the cold, so… I'll make this quick. Lend me your ears now, Mikasa," she pulled the other girl closer and leaned forward to whisper in her ears.

"Hey, what the -?" Mikasa tried to pull away, but Ayako impatiently yanked her back, shus-ing.

"Shut up! I'm only going to say it once, so listen carefully." She looked satisfied when Mikasa finally gave her the undivided attention.

"You are…"

- You are my Penicillin, the one who saved me

My angel, my world -

Armin knew something was wrong. The moment Eren stepped inside the Home Economics lab on his own, announcing that Mikasa and Ayako won't be joining them today – Armin eyed him with his typical scrutinizing look. He didn't say a word and nodded calmly at Eren's explanation – of why the two of them were absent - but then, ever so lightly, followed it up with a killer question.

"So what did you do this time, Eren?"

Which made Eren wonder if Armin was actually a psychic in disguise.

"Why do always you suppose I did something?" he asked rather defensively. He hoped he sounded innocent, and a little bit hurt. "Like I said - they just told me they wanted to have girls' time, so they're not coming today – that's all I know."

"You're lying though," said Armin lightly. His blue eyes were tinkling with some sort of wicked amusement.

"I didn't –"

"Your ears are red when you tell a lie," Armin pointed out, grinning. That shut Eren up completely.

Fucking non-cooperative ears.

"So – just admit it," Armin asked once again. "What have you done this time? I have a feeling you've done something stupid again. Don't tell me you're throwing away all your hard efforts to get along with Mikasa until this point."

There was a complete silence, only to be broken later by the sound of Eren clearing his throat.

"Well… like you said… It's just something stupid. So… not worth mentioning." His right hand jumped to ruffle his hair awkwardly – a gesture he tend to perform every time he got nervous. "Anyway – things will be all right again soon. I hope." There was a pause, and Eren could hear his inner self doubting his words.

"Well, they might not, but – I hope they do." He swallowed.

And suddenly, he felt all feverish again.

"Whoa, you're all red," said Armin, stating the obvious. "Are you – are you okay…? Do you want to go to the nurse's office?"

"NO! No, I'm… I'm fine," said Eren, sounding way more agitated than usual. When will that scene stop replaying itself inside his head? When will his stupidity stop slapping him in his face?

And when, just when will he stop imagining the taste of her sweet, soft lips?

He wanted to know if he could ever stop himself from feeling like he wanted to kiss her again, hold her inside his arms, bring her somewhere just the two of them – and make out with her for days on end.

Because that was wrong. That was completely inappropriate of him on almost every moral ground. He wanted her. He'd realized that since the first day he'd known her – although it turned out ugly, because he was too busy stereotyping her with certain people he had met from his past.

He might not like her back then, but still – he was attracted.

It was a complex mix of emotions, really – he wasn't even sure what he was feeling toward her back then. She was pretty and attractive, and that prompted his interest. And then he got to know her a little more – and she wasn't at all like he expected. From then, his interests only deepened with time – until he realized that she had been occupying such a large part of his mind.

When he spotted her sitting in silence, calmly reading her book – he started wondering what she might be thinking. When he knew she was abused but she didn't do anything – the pain in his heart was beyond any physical pain he had ever felt. There was sort of an uncomfortable prick that he felt in his chest every time he saw her then – anger, pain, exasperation, impatience, and all other sort of displeasure that killed him slowly – but the more he felt them, the more he realized that his attraction toward her wasn't a simple feeble interest.

He cared a lot about this girl – about Mikasa Ackerman. Of course, having been through those bitter experiences in his past – Eren knew how disappointment could come from betrayals by the people he deeply cared about. But that didn't stop his feelings toward her. He mistook it as anger once, but it was a strong, burning, feverish passion. It was such an exceptional emotion, slowly consuming and drowning him. The more he tried to repress them – the stronger those feelings came back to him.

If he was to be completely honest, he'd really been trying to keep himself on restraint these following months. Didn't he succeed…? He didn't do anything to her when she was staying in his house. At least, he didn't want her to think that he was taking advantage of her. He didn't want her to see him as such a lowly human being.

But yesterday… it seemed that he's already restraining himself for long enough, that somehow it just… broke.

And he let his desires control him. He succumbed to his wild thoughts. He let himself kiss her, following the very basics of his instincts.

How very very like him, he smirked inside.

"Well, to put it simply," Eren sighed, his head a little hurt from thinking too much. Armin's eyes were still eyeing him closely. "I… lost my control again."

"Okay…?" Eren knew from Armin's expression that his friend needed further details. So he covered his face and sighed.

"I did something crazy."

"Won't be your first or last time at it."

"This time, it's completely crazy."

"Tell me what it is, and I can attest to you then."

"I kissed Mikasa."

He turned to look at his blonde friend. Armin's mouth was gaping slightly, either to protest, or simply because of utter disbelief. Slowly, he repeated Eren's words, "You… were…."

"I kissed Mikasa, yeah."

"You… kissed her…," Armin looked like he had a difficult time pronouncing the words out loud. "And – and how did it go?"

"Well, it was great, obviously. If she ever lets me kiss her again, I'd do it…"

"I mean," Armin interrupted before his friend could go into too many details. "Did she say anything?"

"Nothing, actually. I ran away as soon as I came to my senses. She just looked shocked." Armin said nothing, still trying to digest the facts.

"I – I wasn't thinking right," said Eren, more to himself than to anyone in particular. "I was possessed or something – I don't know. I had a gazillion mad thoughts at that time, and – and then it's just – she was so pretty. It's driving me mad. And the next thing I know, I was kissing her." The more he said that out loud, the more horrifying it sound. Even Armin was at loss for words to say. Once again, Eren hid his face deep between his palms.

"Just fucking say it, Man. I'm an idiot," Eren moaned. A few moments of silence. Then:

"You sure are," Armin shook his head. "A big, fucking idiot."

"Nice to hear you use profanities for once, Armin."

"And I give you a 15 out of 10 rating for your craziness."

"Shut up."

"And now you need to make things right with her again." Armin stretched his hand and patted Eren's back on a somewhat mock concern. "Good luck, I don't envy being in your place this time."

"You little devil," Eren mumbled unpleasantly. "I know you're not sorry at all. You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Armin's grin only grew wider at Eren's words, but the boy said nothing to affirm or deny the accusations.

"I have to make things right with her again – fuck this. I know that! But I just…"

"Don't know how…?" supplied Armin helpfully. "Yeah, certainly it's not like you can just go to her and apologize and tell her to forget everything. That's not how human brain works."

"You reckon she even wants to speak with me after this…?" asked Eren, looking somewhat miserable that Armin decided not to tease him further.

"Well," the blonde boy said carefully. "Let's be honest… I think she's been through even more horrible versions of you – and she still speaks with you. So… I guess it's a yes…?"

Eren looked a little relieved. "You're right," he said. "So… do you think I can just…"

"But still…. You owe her an apology." Eren's face fell. He knew Armin was right. The latter frowned his nose. "You owe her an apology… yet again. I felt like this is a deja vu. I'm sure something similar happened in December…"

"Shut it, Armin," Eren groaned. "You know what, you can be such a little jerk if you want to."

"I think that rubbed off on me from a certain someone I know," Armin replied, grinning in satisfaction.

- I am your Calico Cat, here to meet you.

Love me now, touch me now -

Eren was walking along the corridor between school buildings when a pair of hands suddenly grabbed him and forcefully dragged him aside.

"Ow! Hey! What the hell…?" he protested, but a voice silenced him. "Shush! Shut up!"

"Ishijima?" said Eren, mesmerized. The girl with fluffy light-brown hair was standing beside him, and it was indeed her who very roughly manhandled him. "What's the big idea here?" He rubbed his arm, which slightly hurt from the way she yanked him aside.

Ayako crossed her hands in front of her chest, suddenly looking stern. "First of all," she said. "How dare YOU."

"How dare I what?" asked Eren, confused.

"You know what I'm talking about," was her only reply. She sounded stiff, and from the way her eyebrows taut together, and the look she gave him - it all suddenly clicked inside his head.

"Well….," he said in a long sigh, ruffling his hair awkwardly and staring to the floor. "Yeah. Right. So I guess… Mikasa told you…?"

"Damn smart, "Ayako chimed. "I can't believe you did that to her, by the way."

"It wasn't intentional –" Eren tried to defend himself, but Ayako wasn't listening. She started talking, and her screeching pretty much drowned all of Eren's response.

"You're wrong if you think she's like one of those easy girls you find out there…"

"It's not like that, I didn't –"

"Kissing her out of nowhere like that, come on, Yeager! That could be considered sexual harassment by the way…"

"I didn't… I mean I wasn't… Oh come on, listen to me here!"

"If you dare for one second think that you can play around with Mikasa, then…."

"THAT'S WHY I'M TELLING YOU –" Eren raised his voice over hers in order to be heard. "THAT I'M NOT PROUD OF IT!"

Ayako stopped talking immediately. Her eyes were now focused on the boy standing in front of her.

"What?" she asked, eyebrow raised. "What do you mean… so you're saying... you regret it?" Ayako implored, but Eren shook his head.

"I said I'm not proud of what I did," Eren repeated, not looking directly into Ayako. The girl's look started to turn unpleasant, but Eren continued. "Look, I know I was wrong, I get that. Mikasa's not like those girls, she's not even like you. But I regret nothing."

This put a smile on the other's face – though faintly.

"I thought we're both over that one," she said.

"There is nothing to get over with," Eren sighed. "It was just us both – being bored and – trying to do something different. We only made out once – that one time."

"Yeah," Ayako agreed, "It was really nothing big. I suppose that's why you didn't remember me when we first met in this school." Eren burst out laughing.

"To be honest, I never remember all those… girls I've made out with. There are way too many – names and faces – or sometimes I don't even need names. You know how it is. They just come and go. It's not meant to be memorized."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ayako muttered, frowning. "To be honest, I probably don't either. I just do things and forgot." Eren grinned.

"But I was only teasing you that time," he said. Ayako looked up to him, rather surprised. "I actually remembered you, cause of the vibes you gave at the blind date. Your hair was black, much shorter, and straight back then. I got the impression you were trying to sell yourself as a girl with innocent charm. Either way, you were definitely not innocent." Ayako scoffed.

"Neither were you."

"Yeah, I think I was half drunk when we made out," Eren frowned, trying to remember. "Anyway, that's all in the past. I've certainly done… things. But that's before I – moved here and…."

"Before you met Mikasa, I get it," Ayako finished for her, nodding slightly.

"Yeah," Eren stared up to the ceiling, in a desperate attempt to contemplate, "She kinda made me wish I could start over clean. With everything. With her."

"Stop being dramatic," Ayako teased him, and the boy smiled.

"You won't ever tell Mikasa about us, will you…?" Eren asked Ayako, his eyes were still staring at the ceiling, as though there was an invisible drawing there. She scoffed.

"You think I will go so far to hurt her feelings, Yeager? I'd never do that."

"Yeah, thanks," she could hear his smile. "I know you won't. That's why I trust you. I mean… I do want to tell Mikasa about me, or what I used to be. And how I've come to get such a shit rep here and there. Hell – she sure knows I'm not a good person, otherwise I won't be expelled."

When he said the word expelled, Ayako shifted awkwardly in her place. "Yeah, I heard a thing or two about that," she began, and Eren's face suddenly hardened.

"I expect you would. My old school try their best to fend off the scandal, but they can't silence people nor stop the story from spreading. Guess you're afraid of me now…?" Eren forced out a smirk.

"I don't believe it entirely," said Ayako, restlessly playing with her fingernails. "And don't get me wrong – it's not like I'm afraid of you. I got to know you these 6 months and I don't think you're as bad as what people say. Although I can't help but… question if it's true."

"What did you hear…?"

Ayako chewed her lips nervously. "Well…," she started.

And she told Eren of what she'd heard. About him – and how he got expelled. The boy listened to her in silence. When she finally stopped to take a breather, he let out a sour laugh.

"That," he said. "Is not far from the truth. But you didn't hear the entire story. I guess the school did a good job to ensure the most horrible part of the story never goes out."

"And that's the part that you're going to have to tell Mikasa yourself," she said quietly.

"I know," he sighed. "I'd probably scare her away though. That's why I'll wait until I'm sure I can tell her. I've made such a mess of my life."

Ayako leaned on the wall, hands on her pocket, looking at the boy with a rather gentle sparkle on her eyes. "Well… if you think you should start over for her, why don't you do it now…?"

Eren turned her way, looking pained. "Ishijima, I'm not even sure she wants to talk to me right now. Plus I don't even know what I should say to her – to make me not look like such a jerk."

"Just say whatever you want to say. Don't think too much. You know you're not good at it."

"Yeah, right on point," Eren muttered, sounding annoyed.

"I mean…," Ayako tried to slightly revise her words. "That's not my point, Yeager. Point is… the longer you put this off – the more chance Mikasa will slip out of your hand. She might think you hate her – or worse, by not talking to her like this, you're actually giving off vibes that you don't care about her, like you're just playing around." Eren suddenly looked horrified.

"Damn it. You're right." He seemed to be deep in thinking. Ayako didn't disturb her. She observed the boy calmly, but she knew he was taking her point.

"You know what, Ishijima – you gave such good advice sometimes," he finally said. Ayako looked rather pleased at the compliment. "Well, I am her best friend, after all."

"Yeah. She's lucky to have you – considering how her other best friend turned out to be."

"Actually, that's my second point," said Ayako, suddenly looking serious. "I and Armin have decided that we're going to catch them in action."

"Them who…?" Eren blinked.

"Nanako, of course. And her accomplice."

"What, she has an accomplice?"

"Yes! So we're going to –"

"And you've found this accomplice already?"

"Yeager, one more interruption from you, I'm going to cut your balls," said Ayako, sending her most dreadful look to Eren.

"Sorry, go on," he said, slightly grinning.

"Anyways," Ayako took in a deep breather. "To answer your question, yes – Armin has found her accomplice. He's been hiding in photography club all this time. Most obvious hiding place, right…?"

Eren let out a low whistle.

"So how did you smoke him out?"

"Well, technically, Armin did it – I can tell you later about it too. But we're monitoring him closely now. Armin managed to corner him yesterday, so he's bound to report this to Nanako soon. Things are going to escalate quickly from there. And… that's how you come into our plan."

"I'm all ears."

- The universe moved for us, there was nothing out of place

Our happiness was expected. Cause you love me, and I love you -

(Yesterday Afternoon – Shiganshina North High School, Club Room Building)

Ayako had gone to spy on Nanako. Mikasa and Eren had also left school after their detention was over. It was now Armin's turn to do his part of the deal with Ayako – investigate the photography club.

Saying it was easy, but executing the idea was way more complicated. He couldn't possibly waltz in to the club room and ask if anybody there possessed a strong paparazzi lens and had been using it to stalk anyone recently. Tactics, he reminded himself. He needed to be tactful, otherwise his target just won't show up. The problem was if he could ever get to fire the right questions, in the right directions.

Thankfully, he had got something up his sleeve this time. It's time to put his plans into action. He wasn't sure it's going to work the way it should, but at least it's better than nothing.

Armin went down to first floor and walked along the inter-building corridors to reach the row of club rooms located in the other building. He stopped for a while in front of the building map – and found that photography club room was located on the second floor. Following the map, he went up the flight of stairs, found the door bearing photography club name on it, and gave it a sharp tap – twice.

Knock knock.

"Yes, come in!" said a voice on the other side of the door.

It's time, Armin thought. Silently, he slid the door open, and made his way in.

"Excuse me," he said. Walking in, Armin had quite an expectation of how the club room will look like. He had imagined it to be somewhat messy – a cramped 30 square meters space where artists constantly meet to discuss and bring their creative ideas to fruition really didn't sound tempting for Armin – especially since he'd experienced the mess he made of his own workstation, every time he produced another piece of art. The more creative he got, the messier he tended to be. He only found the will to clean his room once in a while – and living alone with his grandfather certainly didn't help him becoming tidier. His grandfather didn't care whether Armin left his room in a neat state or in a mess, as long as he knew how to take care of himself.

Which was why – Armin was quite surprised to find a bright, airy room with a lot of breathing space inside. The walls were painted white, and there was a mini photo studio in the back of the room, complete with two softbox lightings and a diffuser setup. Armin guessed they must have been doing portrait shoots before he came in here. The mini studio's background was interchangeable. It was set to white, but Armin saw one black screen, and a green screen for special effects. In the farthest corner, away from the door – he saw a closed room with tight curtains. Though somewhat impromptu, that must be the dark room.

Not bad at all. In fact, this room looked more like a professional photo studio rather than an amateur high school photography club.

"Can we help you?" the question brought Armin back to his senses. He looked ahead, to the four curious pair of eyes that were staring at him. One girl and three boys.

"Are you here to join our club?" asked a boy with a serious face and a bowl-cut black hair, stepping forward. He seemed to be their leader. "That'll be the first one in a loo-ong while," said the girl from behind him, grinning widely. She had wavy blonde hair that sported a bob cut, and a cheerful, almost carefree personality that seemed to be in stark contrast compared to her peer. The boy with bowl-cut black hair sent her a sideways look, telling her silently to hold her tongue, but the girl didn't seem to mind it. "What is your name?" she asked Armin.

"Armin Arlelt," he answered automatically to her question. "I'm from class 2-3."

"I'm Hitch Dreyse, but everyone just calls me Hitch," she said. "Class 2-5. I don't believe we have met."

"We haven't," Armin replied. "I came here today just to take a look. I have been doing photography, you see – but I never had anyone to discuss it with. So… I just thought I might stop by."

"Really? What kind of photography are you into…?" said a boy with silver-grey hair, suddenly joining the conversation. He stepped up toward Armin from the corner of the room. "I did a little bit of street photography," said Armin. "But mostly… I just photographed anything that caught my interest. Here is my portfolio, if you want to see." He pulled out a clear folder from his bag, filled with photographs taken, not by him, but by his friend. Armin didn't do photography of course, that was just his cover. His friend didn't ask him why Armin would want to take home some of his photo prints, and Armin didn't tell either. Some things better remained undisclosed.

The boy with the silver-grey hair leaned in closer with interest, reaching out to grab the pack of photographs from Armin's hand. "You have talent," he said, after examining the photographs closely. Hitch, who had been eyeing the photographs from behind his shoulders, nodded too. Armin pretended to be happy and nodded as well, thanking them for the compliments, though of course he knew they would praise the photos. The author had his work shortlisted for display in Shiganshina Christmas Townhall, after all.

"I'm thinking of doing something different this time," Armin began, after the boy with the silver-grey hair returned the photos to him. He raised his eyebrows, eyeing Armin carefully. "What's that?" he asked. Armin inhaled.

"Lately, I have heard people talking a lot about… Telephoto lenses," said Armin, carefully closing in on the subject of his interest. "You know, it is good to zoom in from long distance and… that means you don't need to get too close to the object." He caught Hitch and the silver-grey haired boy exchanging glances.

"Well, we don't deny it," said the boy with the silver-grey hair. "But to be honest… we don't really know much about that kind of lens."

"It has the infamous reputation of being a paparazzi lens, or a stalker lens," said Hitch, shrugging. "Unless you work in entertainment industry and have to take photos of artists, professional photographers rarely use it."

"Wrong, Hitch," said the boy with the bowl-cut black hair, turning everyone's attention to him. "There is someone in our club who uses that lens." Hitch looked lost for a while, but then her face lighted up.

"Oh, you're right!" said Hitch. "Tachibana uses it. But I don't see him use it that often, I kind of forgot about it. He is in the dark room now, but let me see if we can bring him out. Hey! Tachibana!" Hitch knocked on the dark room door.

"What?" said a voice from inside, sounding rather annoyed.

"Hey, we got a visitor! Come on out!"

"I'm not finished!"

"Finish it later then, I know you can be there for hours if we don't ask you to come out."

Nothing can be heard for a while. But then, Armin heard the dark room door click, and it swung open. From beyond the door, a boy with average height stepped out. He would have been handsome, had he not look like someone who forgot to take proper care of himself. His body was thin and fragile, his hair was unkempt, there was a stain on his uniform shirt (probably from coffee), and his face was expressionless, without any hint of smile. His eyes swept the entire room, and immediately found Armin, who gave him a half-hearted grin. "I'm sorry to interrupt your time," said Armin immediately, suddenly feeling compelled to apologize. He knew how annoying it was to be disturbed when he was concentrating on doing something. The boy, though, didn't say anything in response. It almost seemed like he didn't hear Armin. He turned to Hitch. "What is it?" he asked.

"Don't be so tense," Hitch took the boy by the arm and brought him forward to Armin. "We got a visitor. Armin, here is Tachibana – Tachibana, meet Armin." Armin politely bowed and said "Nice to meet you". He could see Tachibana doing the same, out of politeness, but Armin could tell that the boy was dying to go isolate himself inside the dark room again rather than listening to him. Armin tried to shake off his uncomfortable feeling, like was intruding on something, and instead telling himself quietly that this was his chance to dig up the perpetrator. If not now – he might never get another chance. He didn't want to go home empty handed.

"I want to ask you…," Armin began, telling the same story he had told the other three members before, "About telephoto lenses. I've been doing street photography, and my friend told me a Telephoto lens might be good to step up my game, so…"

"I don't have a Telephoto lens," said Tachibana, curtly interrupting Armin. Four pair of eyes stared wonderingly at him, confused by his words.

"But… you do have a Telephoto lens," said the boy with the bowl-cut black hair, sounding more probing than assuring. "Right?" he asked, when Tachibana didn't respond to his words.

"I used to have it, not now," Tachibana answered shortly. Armin felt like Tachibana avoided their eyes on purpose. Hitch raised her eyebrows at this statement. "What happened?"

"It… I broke it. I was careless and it broke down. It cost too much to fix the lens. So I just left it." There was an awkward pause at the end of his sentence. Nobody had guessed this kind of outcome, it seemed. Armin looked around and everyone seemed to be on the same, stunned silence. He sighed deeply.

"That's sad," Armin finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry to hear it. But… can you still give me advice? I'm looking to buy a Telephoto lens and…"

"That kind of lens is expensive," Tachibana finally stared at Armin now. "What are you going to do with it? Normal photographers wouldn't use it."

Armin could almost hear it in his words, though Tachibana didn't say it out loud.

Only stalkers use it.

"Wildlife photography," said Armin quickly. He had prepared a response in case questions like this came up. "I can't get too up close to my objects, or they will flee. I'm going to photograph birds. But as you said, that lens is expensive, so…" Armin locked his eyes intently with Tachibana, "I'm actually looking to borrow. Too bad you broke your lens…"

Tachibana averted his gaze slightly away from Armin, effectively breaking their eye contact. "Yeah," he said, without looking directly to the blonde-haired boy. "I'm sorry. I can't help you." Armin's heartbeat slightly went up. The movement might be subtle, but to Armin, it was the moment he had been waiting for. It was the movement that gave him away. Armin could feel that rush of anticipation now. This must be what hunters felt like, when they waited all day for their prey to show up, and finally spotted their target.

"I have to go back in now," Tachibana said after a moment of silence, politely implying to Armin that their business was over. Armin looked back at him, and saw an unexplainable emotion in the boys' clear dark eyes. He looked annoyed, sure, but… did he also spot fear?

Not being able to say anything else, Armin nodded. "Thank you for your advice. I'm sorry again to interrupt you."

Tachibana didn't say anything as he walked back in to the dark room, and clicked the door closed behind him.

Sorry we weren't able to help you, said Hitch, and she really did look sorry.

Come back anytime you want, maybe we can hang out and take pictures together sometime, said the silver-grey haired boy, who was apparently named Boris. I and Marlowe here will be glad to help you if we can, he pointed at his friend with the bowl-cut black hair, who also nodded. Armin smiled and told them it was no problem, before leaving their club room.

He pretended to go home, but he didn't. Instead, Armin went around and up the flight of stairs of the main building. He went into an empty classroom, where he could get a clear view of the photography club room. His business there was not yet finished. His gut instincts told him that yes, Tachibana indeed had something to do with the stalking incident and the poster, but he couldn't be sure just yet. He needed another one, the last key, last piece of evidence.

It had been over one hour, the sky was getting darker. Marlowe had come out of the clubroom, his school bag in hands, and then Hitch and Boris, but still Armin hadn't seen Tachibana going home. Armin waited, patiently, eyes never leaving the photography clubroom door in case he would miss the target.

Another hour passed, and it almost became completely dark around him. Just as Armin was wondering what he could have done with the low visibility, he saw the photography clubroom door opened, and his target emerged.

Tachibana turned around, pulled out a ring of keys from his pocket, and locked the door. Armin held his breath in anticipation. Now! he could hear a voice inside his head. Now, or you'll never get the evidence at all. Armin stood up abruptly and left his post, pausing slightly to see where his target was headed. Tachibana had turned toward the stairs. Armin bet on the possibility that he was heading toward the school gates to go home. He needed to be quick.

The blonde boy rushed down the stairs, toward the shoe locker, and waited. If Tachibana was indeed going home, he'll pass by this place soon enough. He crouched behind the rows of shoe locker, making sure it was far enough from Tachibana's locker. A few minutes later, he heard footsteps approaching from the inter-building corridor. Armin held his breath and listened quietly. There was a sound of locker door opening, followed by something being put on the floor, and then fabrics rubbing against each other. The person was putting on his shoes. Then it was another sound of locker door closing, and then the footsteps headed toward the door. Armin didn't dare to look, for it might give him away. He counted carefully to ten, then raised his head slightly. He saw Tachibana, just out of the school building – crossing the front yard, and headed toward the school gate.

Now what? Armin thought to himself. He cursed at his own stupidity. There was a good one hundred meters out in the open – space between the building and the school gate – in which his target is walking leisurely in now. He couldn't possibly tail him out there in the open like that. Tachibana would definitely spot him and get suspicious. So he had no choice but to wait, until his target was safely out of the school gate.

Tachibana made a left turn. It was toward the train station. Could he possibly go home by train…? There was only one way to find out. Armin got out of his hiding place and dashed, as fast as he could, crossed the empty front yard, until he was almost out of the school gate, and then glanced to his left.

Bingo.

His target was still there, several few meters in front of him, walking in leisure pace. Trying to catch his breath, Armin considered himself lucky that Tachibana wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere tonight. If he made good use of the shadows and alleys around them, Armin could follow him without a problem. He slightly felt his adrenaline rushing. His heartbeats continued to pound in his ears like drums, despite his best attempts to calm them down. He knew his face was flushing red, because he could feel the heat radiating. Carefully he stepped forward, from shadow to shadow, making good use of the low visibility to cover himself. He felt like one of those spies from suspense movies, tailing the suspect with caution. It could all end up in his favor, or he could completely blow his cover. It was all up to him now.

Armin focused all of his senses into following Tachibana and making sure that he did not get caught, until, at one point, he realized that they were indeed headed toward the train station. Armin sighed in relief. It might be harder to keep an eye on his target now that they were in a public place crammed with people. But on the positive side – now Armin could approach him without arousing too much suspicion. It wouldn't be weird to bump into someone you know on the train back home.

Realizing this, Armin quickly picked up his pace, tapped his commuter card on the gate, and followed his target down the stairways, toward the West Line. Armin's house wasn't on that part of the town – but he could easily say that he was on the way to a friend's house, or somewhere he had a business to. Even if he was suspicious, Tachibana wouldn't be able to verify it.

His target now stood firmly on Platform 5, waiting for his train. Armin made his way, around him the train station was buzzing with the usual commuter noise. Footsteps, mingled with conversations, and people rushing toward different directions, alone or in groups, listening to songs with their earphone, looking straight ahead or down, with face masks on to fight against influenza virus or scarves to protect themselves against cold.

Train in Platform 5 is approaching, please watch your steps and stay behind the yellow line.

Armin knew he only had a few minutes to gather evidence now. He stepped forward, and called out.

"Tachibana!"

The boy turned around. His face changed when he saw Armin. "What are you doing here?" he said, his tone obviously was not friendly. Armin stayed unbothered, approached him, and answered, "Are you taking this train? I'm taking the train after this," he pointed toward the timetable. He was about to mention that he's visiting a friend's house – just like his original plan. But then he got a much better idea. "Mikasa's house is in that part of the town. I'm visiting her. Do you happen to know her…?"

It was there only for a split second, but Armin spotted it immediately at the mention of Mikasa's name. He was wary at best, or at worst, scared. The name had invoked something within him, truth that he didn't want to admit – but he knew he had no choice except to answer – exactly as Armin wanted him.

"Don't know her personally," Tachibana finally admitted, gazing down to the station floor, his tone close to an inaudible murmur. "I heard her name a lot though. She is our model student, isn't she?"

"Not lately," Armin launched his next attack. "Not after, you know, all the posters attacking her." Tachibana bit his lips. Armin watched him closely for his reaction. If Tachibana was indeed guilty, he would reveal it now, in some kind of way. Armin had given him enough push. The next thing he said, or did – would determine Tachibana's involvement in this whole incident. It could be a slip of words – a change of facial expression, or any other nonverbal clues. Lying, hiding, and pretending had never been easy. It was a mental strain on the person. Just like hunting for preys, a liar will leave their traces, their scent along the way. And it was up to the hunter to pick it up. Now, Armin was the hunter, following closely on the trail of his prey.

"I don't know anything about it. What happened?" asked Tachibana. Clever, Armin admitted quietly. He wanted me to explain so he had time to prepare to react.

"You must have not been one for gossips," Armin gave him a slight smile. "Actually, there is not much to tell. Some two weeks ago, someone spread posters around the school, accusing Mikasa of sleeping around with boys. Ever since then, the whole school seemed to conspire in bullying her."

"That is low. I'm guessing someone must be jealous of her," said Tachibana, his tone unchanging.

"That leaves plenty of people as suspect," Armin laughed. "I'm more concerned because… Mikasa told me, the day before the posters spread – that she felt she was being followed. And she was certain someone took her pictures." Tachibana raised his eyebrows, his body stood still and wary of Armin's next words.

"As I recalled…," Armin gave a slight pause. "You know… on that day, I was with Mikasa. I came around to her house, and I was with her when she started to panic." It was a lie, of course. Armin was not there with Mikasa. It was Eren. But Armin did it deliberately to fish him out. If Tachibana took his bait, and accused Armin of lying, then Armin will know immediately that he was there.

But Tachibana remained impassive. He didn't take the bait, although Armin could see colors gradually leaving his face. This was bad. The boy was tougher than he expected. He couldn't be sure. He needed one final push.

"Now that I think about it…" Armin paused again on purpose, pretending to be deep in thought, eyeing Tachibana's reaction.

"Were you somewhere around the area that time, Tachibana? I think I remember seeing you."

Unlike previously, the change on Tachibana's face was instant this time. His face went red and his breathing immediately became heavy as he blurted out, "That is not true!" several decibels above his normal tone, causing several passersby to stop and look. Tachibana seemed to be aware of the scene he caused, because he immediately lowered his tone.

"Don't speak unnecessary things," he said to Armin through clenched teeth. The other boy stood his ground, despite the quiet rage radiating silently from his conversing partner. "If you are accusing me of following her, you…. you are mistaken."

Armin opened his mouth to reply, but at that time, a train came into the platform, howling and screeching, steel against steel, and drowned his words. Several moments of silence passed between them – as Tachibana continued to look closely at Armin with a quiet rage, and Armin attempted to remain calm.

"Don't come near me. I don't ever want to see your face again."

With those final words, Tachibana entered the train, and disappeared from Armin's sight.

- Ever since the day the Universe was formed, everything has been decided

Just let me love you -

(The Day After, Classroom 2-1, After School)

You are…

Don't say it.

You are clearly…

Stop! Stop!

"What's that? A new type of theatrical act?" A sass, crass voice resounded in hear ears, and Mikasa looked up to see the familiar face of Eren Yeager looking at her from beyond the classroom door, grinning. She was about to say something witty back at him, make him swallow his own words, but nothing came out of her mouth. Instead, she just opened, and closed it again, feeling like an idiot.

"You have been squirming a lot in your seat, didn't even hear me calling, did you?" Eren moved in closer and sat next to her in the empty classroom. "You were like this." He covered his ears and began to wriggle around in his seat, like a worm tied by invisible set of strings. Mikasa's face reddened.

"You're joking." She must have looked completely ridiculous.

"I'm not," he grinned. "Is that the kind of thing everyone is into lately?"

"Stop mocking me," said Mikasa, flushed red. "I'm just… I was thinking."

"No wonder. Is that how smart people think? Maybe I should try it, see if it can up my grades."

She slapped him on the shoulders. "Fine, mock me all you want if it makes you satisfied. Jerk," she put emphasis on the last word, which made him grin even wider.

"Don't be mad. I'm just here to offer you a walk."

"To the station?"

"No, to the palace. Of course it's to the station, where else?"

And have you kiss me again along the way and pretend there was nothing about it, like now? Mikasa almost said it, but she quickly bit her lips. Her mind rolled back to the scene just at lunch break, when she and Ayako stood side by side, and she desperately asking her best friend for advice on how to act. She remembered Ayako, clutching her warm drink to stop herself from freezing, and her desperate laugh, at Mikasa's lack of knowledge, and lack of experience.

She remembered Ayako's frustration when the brown-haired girl finally pulled her closer by the arm, and whispered to her ear.

You are in love with Yeager.

Mikasa had heard a lot, read a lot, about blank spaces between memories, a period where human brains completely blacked out and refused to make memories, caused by a total shock. But she had never experienced it herself, never known how it felt like, until that afternoon.

She didn't remember how she reacted to Ayako's words. She didn't remember what she said, or did. It was all a complete blank. When she returned to her memories, she was already sitting back in her classroom, with Ayako by her side, looking very concerned.

"What..?" she asked. And Ayako was suddenly very relieved when Mikasa finally showed some reactions to her.

"Thank GOD. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…," she chirped, squeezing Mikasa so tight she almost couldn't breathe.

"What happened?" asked Mikasa, lost between her friend's strands of fluffy light-brown hair.

"I'm so sorry, Mikasa… Don't be angry to me…please?"

Mikasa, of course, didn't know what to say. She didn't even remember. But according to Ayako, Mikasa just stopped responding to her – got up, and immediately went back to the classroom. She wouldn't respond no matter how much Ayako called her and apologized. Ayako really thought Mikasa was so angry at her that she refused to speak – and the girl was pretty much in the same state of shock as Mikasa, when she found out that her friend didn't actually do it on purpose – she really didn't remember anything.

Contrary to that, though, Ayako's last words – ones that she remembered, at least – rang again and again in her ears, echoed inside her brain, until at some point she could almost feel like they were tattooed inside her mind.

You are in love with Yeager.

No, I can't be.

How can you know? You've never been in love, her mind spoke again to her, annoyingly, in Ayako's voice. That's why the kiss meant so much to you. That's why you're desperate to know if it also meant something for him too. It all makes sense.

No, it doesn't!

Just stop resisting. We all know it.

"Oi, Mikasa!" Eren gave her a tap on the shoulder. "You're really not listening to me, are you?"

She blinked a few times, trying to bring her mind back to the present. "I'm – I'm sorry," she stuttered. They were halfway to the station, and again she couldn't remember how they got here. Her mind was too busy replaying the scene with Ayako, and fighting with the annoying voice. She needed to stop this. She'd had enough living a day – let alone her entire existence – like this, filled with questions. She had to make sure.

"I – I have a question to ask you, Eren." Her tone was firm. And at that Eren knew, what was coming had to come, sooner or later.

"I know," he replied, unexpectedly managed to sound calm, though his insides felt jittery, like all his organs suddenly were alive and started jumping around. "I have something to say to you too."

It was one of those moments, when they both perfectly knew, there was something unspoken between them. It was one of those moments that Mikasa would call a milestone, one day in the future when she looked back at this memory with some kind of fondness. They both knew what to say, and that they had to say it – they just didn't know how. Mikasa never struggled so much with words until now.

Because the moment she stood facing him, slightly looking up toward his pair of emerald green eyes and his crooked, furtive smile, nothing else seemed to come to mind. She never knew, that out of a billion words that existed in the dictionary for her to use, it could be this difficult to find the right words.

For a few seconds, it started to feel like a recollection of yesterday's event, they were both standing in the street toward the train station, bathed in pale winter sunlight. He didn't smoke this time, but she stood close enough to him that she almost could feel his body heat. She remembered that feeling again, being entangled in his arms, close enough to feel his breath ghosting on her skin.

And suddenly, just as abrupt as the way that memory had invaded her mind, Mikasa felt that it didn't matter. Not now, at least. Because there was only so much words could convey. And this time, words couldn't carry the weight of her feelings at all. It was something beyond words, something that both she and he knew, but couldn't describe. And she didn't feel the need to ruin it.

At this thought, she felt much lighter. Her smile emerged, and Eren was a bit surprised to see her face lighting up.

"Never mind," she said playfully. Her sudden change of attitude, from serious to cheerful, seemed to confuse him. "What?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"I said, never mind," she laughed at his confusion. "Eren, I…. I think I know what you're going to say," she locked her pair of stormy grey eyes with him. He was slightly stunned. "And I think you must know my question too, but… for now… I'm not going to ask you to explain anything. I'm just going to keep it… the way it is. The way it's supposed to be," she thought slightly to herself.

"Some things aren't meant to be explained," she continued. "At least… that's how I feel now."

"You're not…," Eren paused. "Not angry? At me…?"

"If you give me a reason to be angry, of course I will," said Mikasa, eyeing him carefully. "Do you want me to be angry?"

"Of course I don't," he answered before he could help it. "But… let me just say this," he clapped his hands in front of his chest and bowed to her. "I know I was wrong yesterday. I shouldn't have done that. It was extremely, extremely, impolite to you." She was at loss for words for a while. "It's fine, Eren… I told you, there's no need to explain."

"But I want you to know that I'm not sorry," he finished his words. He lifted up his face to look at her, and was somewhat satisfied to find her blushing red. "Next time I will do it properly. I promise."

She could feel her face reddening. How did he find the courage to say such thing, straight to her face, without even a single moment of doubt? But then again, it was very much like him to go after what he wanted, only looking forward, not letting anything ever stop him. It was the reason why she fell for him in the first place.

And, she realized now, that Ayako was right about her.

She was in love.

She had been in love with him, for a long time. She didn't know when, she didn't even realize it. But as she tried to trace her memory back, through both the dark and sweet times, the first thing she remembered was always him. He told her to fight, when no one else would. Pulled her out from darkness and gave her another home, though only for a short while. Sure, he could be a jerk – but there were countless times that she could feel his heart, his warmth. And he left her with a memento – a red scarf now tied securely around her neck. An epitome, and forever a memory, of his warmth. A piece of himself that he left with her.

She inhaled, and, once again, a smile formed on her lips.

"We shall see about it," her eyes twinkled slightly with happiness. Her free hand jumped to play with the end of her red scarf. He returned her smile, grinning sheepishly. Guess he was kind of embarrassed with his declaration, after all.

"So…," they both started, but then paused. She flicked her glance to her right hand side, and he gave a slight laugh.

"Loser pays for lunch tomorrow?"

"Deal," said Mikasa, flexing her muscles. Eren faced forward, ready for what's coming.

"Okay, ready… set…"

"GO!"

And they both raced toward the station, amidst the crisp weather and the last streaks of orange sunlight rays in that winter afternoon.

[carrotcouple]

Resolve (AO3)

Taejun has a long overdue conversation with his father and moves forward. 

For months after Princess Yona and her group had left the Fire Tribe, Taejun’s dreams were of flower gardens, pavilions and guqin music. Sometimes he would hear his mother laugh, or his brother shout at him for doing something ridiculous, or even the steady but powerful voice of his father telling him about the people of the Fire Tribe.

Picking up the pieces of what his father had left behind was hard and Taejun found himself seeing his father every corner that he turned or asking himself how his father would handle a certain situation. Taejun had easily learned, he had not the strength of will that his father had, he had not the leadership qualities that his brother had and he had not the patient endurance that his mother had. He was just one small man attempting to breathe back life into his tribe.

And then Taejun dreams became those of blood and the falling and tattered Fire Tribe flag. He could see his brother screaming and King Soowon standing before his father’s corpse. Taejun clutched his arms to himself, and prayed. He prayed for the heart to stand such nightmares. Sometimes, his brother drew a sword and rushed at the King. Sometimes Taejun would let him, sometimes Taejun would hold him back and sometimes Taejun would jump in front of the King and feel the blade sink into his chest and blood climb into his throat and then his brother would look at him desperately and whisper:

“Why?”

It was impossible to not let his brother’s question nag him.

“In the time that I haven’t seen you, have you forgotten about your own father?”

Taejun wondered honestly if he had somehow failed to have the right reaction that a son losing his father would have. He had always been the odd one out in his family, the soft one, the stupid one, the child that couldn’t do anything right.

“Taejun,”

His father stood before him, his robes impeccable, as if he had never been stabbed, had never gone to war. Taejun turned to face him, dressed in his coarse and muddy robes, his hands caked with dirt and sand under his fingernails.

Ah, Taejun hadn’t had a dream like this before.

“What are you doing?” his father asked him. Taejun looked down, surrounded by freshly tilled fields, his feet sinking into the soil.

“I’m farming, father.” Taejun linked his fingers together, feeling nervous.

“Why?” His father frowned disapprovingly.

“To help those who are hungry. To help those who do not know how to provide for their families,” Taejun said excitedly. He was always eager to tell more people about his work, about what they could do to help as well.

“Where is your sword? Where are your proud fire emblemed robes?” His father hissed.

“A-ah! Don’t worry, they’re safe back at the headquarters building-” Taejun nodded furiously. He wouldn’t do something as stupid as to lose those!

“Why are you doing something shameful and stupid again? Isn’t it enough that you failed at seducing the Princess and that you dropped her off a cliff?” His father roared. Taejun flinched and stepped back. Taejun squeezed his hands together, trying to resist the urge to instantly agree to whatever his father was saying. He was conditioned to submit to his father’s angry voice at this point.

“I wonder if I can rely on you. Please protect the people of the Fire Tribe.”

“To give a task such as that to someone like me is the highest honor!”

“I’m not doing something shameful father! I’m h-helping these people! I’m helping the people that you failed to see!” Taejun’s nails dug into his skin as he raised his head to look at his father in the eyes. His father looked furious.

“What are you talking about?” His father was still shouting.

“You kept drafting soldiers and your people fell apart. You had no idea, father. So I am helping those that you couldn’t.” His entire being was trembling under his father’s terrifying gaze, but he stood his ground, as if his feet were sinking into the fields.

“Doing this won’t help these weak and useless people! You have to make the government strong! While you could be making the Fire Tribe the strongest tribe, you’re rolling in the dirt with sick brats and old men!” His father stomped his foot against a budding plant and Taejun cried out in distress.

“Father! You’re stepping on a plant!” Taejun cried out. “The people need every plant! You can’t do that!” Taejun rushed forward and pushed his father out of the way. He bent down and tried to straighten out the plant.

“What are you doing?!” His father snarled.

“I am doing what Princess Yona asked me to do!” Taejun turned and snapped back at his father, feeling angry. “Why won’t you listen to me! Just for once, listen to me! I want to help these people! Everyday your people are dying. I can’t be the one to look at what the future will bring! I can only do what I can now! Yesterday Jinyu gave birth to a healthy baby girl! But she has no money or food for her child! If I don’t do something now, her daughter will die in the span of four years! Father, have you seen a baby straight after birth? If so, how could you bear to abandon it to death? I will not abandon these people, father, even if I have to plow fields and carry the sick to doctors!” Taejun shouted. He huffed for breath as he finished.

His father was glaring down at him quietly. But it wasn’t the same glare he gave him when he did something stupid. The look in his eyes was cold and strangely it looked like he had properly heard Taejun. Taejun turned back to the plant and tried to put a stick against it to hold it up.

“Did you say Princess Yona?” His father said quietly. Taejun turned around and got to his feet. He was just his father’s height, he realized. But because he hadn’t looked his father in the eyes for so long, he hadn’t noticed.

Why hadn’t he looked his father in the eyes in so long? If he had, would things have been different?

“I did,” Taejun nodded.

“I see, so you have abandoned your father,” His father’s voice was like ice in his heart and Taejun’s eyes widened.

“No, no,” Taejun shook his head. “I would never abandon you, father! You are my father, the man I look up to the most!” Taejun reached out for his father’s hands.

“Then pray, tell me, why would you listen to the words of spoilt and ignorant brat that only takes up space?” His father asked flatly. Taejun froze, his hands mere inches away from his father’s. Taejun drew his hands away and straightened up, suddenly feeling the calmest he had ever been in his father’s presence.

“Father, you may never understand, but Princess Yona is not what you think she is. To me, she is the only Queen that I will serve wholeheartedly,” Taejun said firmly, clenching his fists and refusing to back down. “She opened my eyes and helped me see everything that I had ignored. I will do anything to help her and I will help the Fire Tribe with my own strength. I am no longer that ignorant child.”

His father stared at him for a bit and then frowned.

“I suppose anything I say to you means nothing?” his father, crossed his arms and Taejun smiled nervously.

“That is not true. You are my respected father and I have always sought to listen your words. I have always loved you and I always wanted to be like you. I chased after your back for so long. But father, you changed. You changed and left me, brother and mother behind.” Taejun’s smiled turned sad. “If you changed, father, then it is only expected that I am capable of changing as well. I...am my own person...I am not just your son...I am also Kan Taejun, the younger brother of the Fire Tribe General. I can make my own decisions and stand by them now.”

And before Taejun’s eyes, his father’s robes started to seep red and blood began to trickle from his mouth. Taejun’s eyes widened in horror and fear.

“Father-” Taejun started. His father held up his hand and stopped Taejun.

“You have changed, Taejun. You are correct. I don’t believe I ever raised you to follow the words of some child, but I suppose that is my own fault that I neglected your studies during your teenage years. I don’t care anymore what you do or what consequences befall your actions for the choices you have made are your own and have nothing to do with me, as you’ve made clear.” His father turned and started to walk away, blood dripping from his robes and onto the soil. He turned to look at Taejun one more time and small, blood filled, wry smile spread across his face.

“You’ve become strong. You are no longer that child that cowered before me. You have to watch your own back from now on, for I have nothing to do with you.”

Taejun watched him walk away and then his legs gave way and he fell to his knees, his chest heaving.

------o------

“Taejun sama?”

Taejun shot awake, gasping. Someone was outside of his door and calling for him. Taejun felt tears slip from eyes and into his hair as he choked on wet sobs and wheezed for breath. He turned and buried his face into his pillow. His pillow was made of low quality fabric and smelled of earth and lavender. The smell calmed him down.

“Taejun sama, it is late. Are you not coming to the clinic today?” It was Kilsung’s voice.

Taejun took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I am coming, give me some time.” Taejun pushed himself out of bed and dragged his hand down his face. He got up and quickly splashed his face with water from the basin and then redid the bun in his hair. Taejun clenched his fists and stood straight, squaring his shoulders.

“I’m going,” he said to his empty room.

Because I will not turn back, father.