#and they try to 'ruin a mans reputation' by making people angry about the actions he did

[faultsofyouth]

Sometimes I think I miss some of my old male coworkers and then I remember the way they defended Johnny Depp and im like nah

[darnell-la]

True rumors - Eddie Munson

pairing: dark!bully!toxiceddie munson x toxic reader

warning: eddie is the bad guy, sa, hair pulling, dominating, rough sex, crying, begging, etc.

note: don’t read this story if you do not like anything to do with assault!!

WE DO NOT CONSENT FOR COPIES OF OUR STORIES!

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3rd person pov

“Why the fuck would you tell the school I fuckin’ assaulted you!?” Eddie had angrily approached y/n in the empty hallway. “Why did you tell the school you fucked me?” Y/n snapped back, making him roll his eyes.

“So this is what this is about? Couldn’t you just come to me and confront me instead of trying to ruin my reputation?” Eddie asked, trying to out himself as the victim but y/n knows what kind of man he is.

Yes, Eddie is the freak of Hawkins, but he’s not a freak you can just bully and give away with. He comes back for you. He fights back. He talks back. He’s like the bully in a freak form.

“You tried ruining mine first,” y/n said, making him chuckle. “Oh, so you’re like the rest. You think sleeping around with the freak will ruin your life?” He asked, but that’s not it. “No, I think sleeping around with random people will ruin how I feel about myself,” y/n said before shutting her locker and walking off.

“I’m not random, and I don’t think it’s too bad if we ever fuck. But I won’t accept until you get rid of your rumor,” Eddie said, making y/n laugh as he stalked behind her. “I don’t want to fuck you, Eddie. Especially after knowing what kind of man you really are,” she said.

“And what is that? It was clearly a joke, but not you’re so sensitive and preppy,” Eddie spat. “You’re telling people I fucked you, Eddie. That’s my body. It’s not sensitivity,” y/n has stopped and turned towards him.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, princess,” Eddie said. Y/n rolled her eyes as she turned around and walked away. “Tell them you lied and maybe I’ll do the same!” Eddie shouted before he walked off as well.

“Is it true? Did the freak actually touch on you?” A girl from school asked y/n as the groups surrounded her to gossip. “No, but he lied about having sex with me, so I gave him a taste of his own medicine,” Y/n said, making the girls agree with her actions.

“Good, because he’s weird anyway. I’ve seen the way he stalks you and like, I don’t know if I should say this, but like, I’ve heard he pushes you around and like tried to talk you into getting either him,” a girl said. “He must be desperate,” another one said.

“Yeah, I told Jason about that after he pushed Eddie off of me at homecoming in the halls. He kept begging for a dance then a kiss and Jason saw so he pushed him away from me,” y/n told the girls, not feeling bad about anything she was telling them.

“He’s so fuckin’ sick,” a new girl said. “Yeah, he very much is,” y/n said as she left with everyone around her before she carried on her night with drinks and maybe a few hits from her friends.

“Where is she!?” Y/n heard a familiar voice shout throughout the party. “I don’t know man,” some dude at the school replied. “Where the fuck is she!?” The familiar voice shouts again as y/n looks in the direction.

“Shit! I gotta go,” y/n said to her friends before running through the ground. “Don’t you fuckin dare!” Eddie shouted as he spotted y/n running towards the back door. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Y/n stressed as she made it to the door.

Y/n ran around the house party, passing people trying to talk to her, but she didn’t have time. She can’t confront Eddie right now. Especially not alone.

Y/n made it to her car and locked the door, knowing Eddie would probably get to her before she had the chance to take off.

“You bitch! You fuckin’ told people about that night!? I beat Jason just so he could keep his mouth shut, but you had to fuck yourself. You had to fuck me!” Eddie grew angry, knowing how everything he did looked bad.

“Look, Eds — If you didn’t do it, you’d be fine, but you did. You can’t be angry at something you did,” y/n said as she started her car. “Ima gonna ruin you, bitch,” Eddie growled in a voice she’d never heard before.

Y/n quickly backed up and pulled off to her dorms. She can’t be here anymore, and Eddie has totally lost himself. She might have to report him now that he’s showing signs of aggression.

Y/n safely made it back to her dorm room after a scary ride home. Usually, she waits for the alcohol to wear off completely. She was even going to stay over the house like some of her friends, but Eddie ruined that for her.

Y/n had taken a shower and gotten relaxed on her bed after her long day. She can still feel the alcohol in her system so she took a few pills to make her sleep better and stop her headache.

What she didn’t know was that Eddie had sat outside her dorm apartment for a couple of hours, thinking of what he wasn’t about to do.

He’s lost himself. Y/n has always played this preppy girl in school, and he hates those kinds of girls. But for some reason, he couldn’t hate y/n.

No matter how many times she’s pissed him off, he couldn’t get rid of the desire and obsession over her. Usually by any other girl, he would’ve walked passed them like he never knew them, but y/n — He can’t do it.

Eddie’s now speeding towards the from of her apartment building doors to do something he wouldn’t even regret. He thought for too long. He’s stalked y/n for so long. He’s hit on y/n for too long. It’s time to put things into action.

Y/n is currently knocked asleep. She’s so deep into her sleep that she doesn’t even hear Eddie burst into her room.

Eddie had realized that and gone quiet. He shut and locked Y/n’s door before quietly getting undressed. The beer and weed are still in his system as he stalks towards y/n sleeping body.

“Sleeping beauty doesn’t know what’s coming,” Eddie said, admiring y/n. He can’t wait to ruin her. “Alright, princess! Time to wake up,” Eddie said as he grabbed y/n, causing her to wake up.

“What the- Hey? Hey! Eddie-“ y/n realized Eddie had snuck into her room. “Save your crying, princes. No one's gonna hear you,” Eddie said as he tugged on the panicked girl's clothes.

That’s when she realized Eddie was undressed. “Eddie, get off of me!” Y/n yelled, hoping he’d see how scared she was, but he liked watching her like this. “I don’t think so, baby,” Eddie climbed on top of y/n as he turned her on her stomach.

“You’re gonna lay here and take every fuckin’ inch I give your ungrateful ass, okay? If you fight or disobey me, I’ll hurt you, and you don’t want me to hurt you, right princess? Your face is too pretty for that,” Eddie gripped a handful of y/n’s hair to look down at her face.

“Yeah, cry! Cry this one out, because I’m not holding back,” Eddie said before he ripped y/n’s cheap panties right off of her. “No!” Y/n yelled, hoping to be loud enough but Eddie pushed her face into her pillow, rejecting her cries for help.

Without wasting any time, Eddie pushed right into y/n, making sure to fill her with every inch of his huge cock. He knows he’s huge, and he’s gonna give it all to her, whether it’s what she wants or not.

“Fucking’ hell, baby. You hear that?” Eddie asked as he began to pound into the girl's now wet cunt. “Yeah, I fuckin’ know. I knew you loved being stuffed by random guys,” Eddie chuckled as a knot built up in her stomach.

“Look at the bright side, princess. At least the rumors you told about me are true now,” Eddie said before bursting into an evil laugh. “And Ima cum in you. Let’s see if that rumor goes around you slutty bitch,” Eddie said before slamming into y/n, causing everything to go dark right before she came all over him and her bed.

[smartzelda]

Thoughts on l/matsuda/beyond as a ship?

Oooooh hoo hoo, anon, I'm delighted by this ask

My simple answer is a large resounding YES 💖💖 but this is also me, and you asked for thoughts

And so (under the cut so you can choose this) thoughts you shall recieve

Okay, so to explain this I'll have to break down each facet of this, because clearly BB and Matsuda haven't interacted at all in canon/any DN material, right?

So you have to wonder exactly what could be in it for me (1) and (2) how this ship would even work as a full true triangle

Okay, let's begin with the easy part. Lawtsuda? This one begins with my interpretation of Matsuda. Specifically, that he just really has *something* going on (idk if it's coincidence or kink or what) about people whom he admires who are above him. To be even more specific, this begins because of how Matsuda acts during Yotsuba arc.

Unfortunately, I don't yet have picture evidence because I originally watched the anime on Netflix (I have been rewatching with Xion, but we haven't yet gotten to Yotsuba arc) and it doesn't allow to screenshot, and I haven't had a chance to pick the manga back up and read to that point. So, I hope it rings a bell when I simply say that Matsuda is...more than just sucking up to L.

Because every time someone else is praised for their hard work or someone makes it clear that they're doing important work, he tries to bring L's attention to himself. There are just scenes where he's practically asking for praise the way he's like "Ooh Ryuzaki I was helpful too!" and "But I *also* helped, Ryuzaki!"

Okay okay fine I'll manga panel search, at least to prove my own point

And I also ended up nabbing some anime screenshots

Now, I'm aware that part of Matsuda's attention seeking comes about specifically because he doesn’t want to be "dead weight". However, I also think it's highly interesting that in all of these examples/scenes, Matsuda brings attention to himself when *L* specifically praises someone. Come off pretty praise seeking to me idk idk🤷

In any case, the other alure of Lawtsuda to me, aside from Mr. Matsuda and his praise seeking, is that I think they could be very sweet, even if L would be a bit of a dick to him regardless 👉👈

Now for BeyondLaw. Of course, to each their own (as they say), but to me personally, as I reread LABB again, BB's motivation/actions make as least a slight bit of sense if he has complicated feelings around L, part of which is definitely...some sort of love or attraction.

I'll try to do a quick explanation 😂

So I think the biggest pieces of evidence for me are

1. The fact that BB is so obsessed by specifically making sure L remembers him. Yes, revenge or dislike of him is most likely a part of this, but, really fellas. It sure is something to be so obsessed with a man that you need to create the biggest slight against him. You need to *win*. You need to be responsible for his one and only failure. Even if the world remembers you as a victim, named only by the fact that he was killed in the LABB murder case, *he* will remember you. The greatest detective will be forced to be plagued with his loss and the memory of you, the only person to surpass him. He wants to live in L's head rent free even after death, and *that* is something. To be so angry with someone for how they may have influenced a friend or peer to die, to be so obsessed with surpassing him, to only care about *one* man remembering you above all else, so you can make him frustrated, ruin his reputation a little, and live in his head rent free.

2. Sorry but it’s literally the "aggressive top" bit. If I remember correctly, when it comes back up again and BB decides that he's going to top L, someone else said that the original Japanese novel literally used "uke" and "seme" to denote BB "topping" L? For a man who reportedly did not seem to be affected in a uh sexy way about Naomi stepping on him, nor did he pursue her romantically, it's very...funny for him to get so passionate about the aggressive top bit.

So, yes. It's complicated, it's angsty, it's "love and hate are two sides of the same coin", it's unrequited feelings, it's pettiness, it's funny. In a canon setting, it's fun to explore how they might feel about the other, and in a fanon setting, it's funny and interesting to me to make up situations in which they can interact in person. So, yes. I love the possibilities of them and I love how complicated their feelings really would be

And now we finally get to Beyontsuda.

I adore this ship as well (just because I'm writing a fic of them for Xion does not mean I do not greatly enjoy them myself), however, in situations like this, one must admit that they do not have anything canon wise. They have never met. Everything about their relationship is made up to me and absolutely depends on context. In a setting where BB is alive and still trying to get to L/mess with him, Matsuda might be an unfortunate causalty, a bit naive, nice man. Matsuda might be an unfortunate casualty at worst, and at best Beyond might be drawn in by his goofiness and sweetness. Depending on the situation, he could remind BB of A, lending some complicated feelings, or he might be a nice choice (of the sweet domestic vibe) in terms of settling down. And from Matsuda’s end, perhaps his L cosplay (sorry I'm tired rn and this is the easiest way to say it😂😂)/current similarity in looks to L draws Matsuda in at first or gives him the wrong idea. Perhaps Matsuda sort of mistakes him for L at first, can't help but compare the two, but perhaps he pulls at the B underneath a little. Idk. I like the idea of BB becoming smitten and Matsuda being interested

Okay, so now that we've established all that, BeyondLawTsuda

As a true triad, they once again only exist in my head in fake situations I make up for them. Perhaps BB and L are petty and can get a bit extreme and Matsuda is mediator. Perhaps L is a bit of a dick to Matsuda and calls him stupid, and BB gets on his case for the insult. Perhaps, in which BB still crafts his appearance to be L-like, when Matsuda is soft and/or cuddly or affectionate with L, BB can't help but wonder if Matsuda is only interested in him because he looks like L currently. Perhaps, even, BB and Matsuda are able to tag team getting L to eat properly. Or maybe even, it's one of Xion's aus, and BB is smitten with Matsuda, has some sort of thing going on with L, while Matsuda himself hopelessly pines for a bit more than the occasional make-out session from L.

Idk I think it has potential, I think the shared history in the group makes it fun, I think the feelings can be wonderfully complicated and these men can be bad at them. I think they can live a domestic life of pettiness and a bitersweet life of feeling the ghosts of your past in others, of unrequited feelings. Whether they're dating or living together or not technically together at all, I find mixing all of their dynamics into a true triad to be very fascinating indeed

So, yeah. I love them. I love kinda messed up dynamics and good/nice things for Matsuda!

[destinygoldenstar]

The Ultimate Delinquent And The Ultimate Heartbreaker (Full Gwuncan Story: TDDRI) (Part 3)

SPOILERS FOR TOTAL DRAMA DANGANRONPA ISLAND (Mind the tags)

(GWEN’s POV)

'"Can we talk?" You asked.'

'I wanted to say no. I wanted to run away and abandon you. I thought this was some trick. I was unstable at the time. I didn't know what I was gonna do with my role, especially not after DJ wound up dead and Izzy, well, you could guess.'

'But you were sincere with me. I could tell from the look on your face and your baby blue eyes... I could see why Courtney described them as easy to swim into.'

'Maybe we could forgive each other, and move on as friends.'

'That's the perfect world.'

'We head outside of the treehouse so no one else could hear. I could sense Cody stalking regardless, and believe me, I wanted him to get out of here. But there's nothing I could do about that. The sun was setting along the sky, leaving us with a decent amount of shadow.'

'As much as I wanted to deny it, I wanted to apologize just by looking at you. You were bold, confident, brooding and an asshole, yes, but getting to know you, you were a great friend back then, before all went wrong. A friend that understood me, was willing to hang out with me even though I'm... different. I could be myself around you. I didn't have a lot of people who did that, and still don't, so you were special to me.'

'Then I... ruined it.'

'No. No I didn't... it was the Internet... Courtney had no ground to be angry... he wasn't her boyfriend at the time...'

'I'm still a good person...'

'"This better be important, Duncan," I sneered, "I'm not getting rained on."'

'You took a deep breath. You were nervous.'

'"Gwen..." You got out, "When I was... in jail... I-uh... I had some time to think, you know?"'

'"Okay, so?" I asked.'

'"About... how much of a dick I was as a teen." "Heck yeah you were," I admitted with a bit of a chuckle.'

'"Look, what I'm trying to say is... I was wrong." You said.'

'I was shocked to hear that.'

'But you kept going. "I was... one hundred percent in the wrong. I... I hurt you, I hurt a lot of people. The whole Courtney drama, and... doesn't matter how much of a grudge I had with her at the time, it was wrong for me to go behind her back, and drag you in for that matter... it was... even more wrong of me to see you not as you... but some escape door."'

'"You're implying what I..." Was this what I thought it was?'

'You said, "I treated you badly. I ruined your reputation. I dragged you in drama you didn't need to be in... I'm sorry."'

'Did I hear that right...?'

'You apologized to me. I never thought you were that kind of person. I could tell by your desperate gaze that you meant it... god you made me so weak...'

'"No..." It got out of me before I could think of it. "You're not the one who needs to apologize."'

'Your eyes widened in surprise. But I had to say it.'

'"If I could change what I've done, if I could somehow be the hero, you would have never felt the need to get yourself behind bars, maybe they'd still be alive..." I expressed. "You'd be the great man you are, you would smile, and I'd know I was worth the effort."'

'"Is this about...?" You tried to ask.'

'"I could undo everything a thousand times over and make it so that all my actions were perfect. I'd be perfect. I wouldn't hurt anyone..." I felt a tear over my eye.'

'You had no context. You didn't know I was the traitor. But I meant what I said.'

'Boy did Monokuma hear that.'

'"Forgiving is what good people do, right?" I asked you. You said, "How should I know? I'm a criminal."'

'That's how I knew it was a perfect world.'

'I threw my grudge in the back of my heart so it was stabbing me. I smiled, I tried to stop crying, and I fully accepted the apology.'

'I wrapped my arms around you in a hug, resting my head over your shoulder. I got a friend back. I won someone over, made amends with who was once a close friend, before we ruined it...'

'So then because I forgave you, you...'

'The next day, Noah, the little shit with a smirk, plotted the next murder.'

'Noah overheard us, and you threatened him with what he said earlier about survival. It scared the absolute f**k out of him. Because you were defending me.'

'He put the wasp nests together by the river and lured you to them...'

'You got a D in the blackened test, so you had no repellent on you.'

'I watched as the wasps stung you down as you tried to run. Courtney found us and ran over in shock and horror as your head was on my knees.'

'"Don't cry..." You told us, voice weakened. "I did good, right?"'

'Courtney threw a rage when you died.'

'After that trial, where we smashed Noah's head into a book for homework, I was needed for the reboot.'

'That was how I learned that forgiving you would lead to your death.'

'So in the next version of the story, I refused to. Boy was I sick to hear your apology over and over again...'

~~~

"Do what you gotta do, Gwen."

You... he...

Why would you... accept this?

I have you on the ground! I'm aiming Gungnir at your throat!

I did the same thing today already.

Geoff's terrified face when he saw me with that screwdriver.

Then, once the announcement was heard, I could see it in his face. He realized it.

He realized that I was the traitor...

And he...

Then I...

And now you know too, and yet you don't attack me or strike me down. Hell, you helped me when it was all revealed what I had done.

What exactly are you?

You're no hero. That's for sure. You're an asshole, a criminal, a womanizing freak... But you're not cruel enough to be a villain either. Not like me.

You even tried to save the dweeb from getting executed. I can see the visible bloody burns on the muscle of your upper right arm, the splintered palms that need to be washed, the many cuts and bloody marks on your chest and face.

That devilish, gorgeous face...

I stare you down as I hold Gungnir close to your spiked collar. It feels like hours as I stand overtop of you in this position, the purple lights of the academy darkening the scene.

I expect you to fight me like Geoff did. I expect you to call me out like Courtney did. I expect you to do something...

But you don't. You sit there. Your green mohawk hair getting widened from sitting on the floor. Your lagoon blue eyes staring into me and stabbing me back...

Aren't you scared?

I know you're not one to be scared, but...

I nudge Gungnir a little closer, so that it tips at a spike on the collar, expecting you to move.

You don't.

Why? Why am I hesitating? I did this before! Just today! I did this!!

But this time, it'd be even more warranted.

You ruined my life. You used me for internet drama and as a purse over your shoulder. You made me lose Trent, my first love. You made me lose Courtney, my close friend. You left behind all the hatred in the world to rain down on me, an outside world where I could literally say any words, or make any movements... and I'm hated.

You drove me into this cycle of endless killing, watching my friends die over and over again as I plead for everything to go right and go perfectly.

Every time. It was you. You drove it.

'Drama is the enemy. Not you.' Char told me. 'Not us.'

'Those who inflict drama and drive it to it's peak are the enemy.'

And they're right. They're so right...

Their trust me is already strained when I started crying at the trial like an idiot...

If I kill you, my worries would be gone.

But if I kill you, I know it would keep happening.

After all... I'd still be alive with someone's blood on my hands.

If I kill you, no one would suffer.

But if I kill you, everyone would suffer.

You're so willing to accept your fate at this point, it's unholy. It makes me sick. To be someone as bastardly as you accepting a cruel fate... I don't understand you, Duncan. I don't understand you...

My heart's beating so much I can hear it...

I take Gungnir, my trust spear in my hands, and stab it down.

Your eyes go wide in shock, darting to the spear's tip resting on the floor next to your head.

I hear my own breath go weary under my teal lipstick, my arm shaking on the spear's handle.

A few seconds later, I remove my hand from the stick entirely, hiding my arm in my cloak.

I can't help but gaze at myself as I do that. I can see my own reflection in the metal spear, one of a dark, pale, hideous monster.

I'm wearing skinny black leggings that blend in with my boots, my stomach showing as I have a sleeveless crop top over my breast and a black collar in my neck that has a necklace transitioning to white on a clock pendant with ruby handles. I have sheet white gloves on my hands. All of it is covered by a massive black intrigue cloak over my arms that has white trims on the hoodie downwards with a flame eye pattern lining it. My new crimson red hair stands out like a sore thumb from all the black and white, as well as my teal lipstick.

Long gone are the days of an innocent gloomy teenager. What stands in her place is a young villainess making her way into adulthood as an assistant dictator.

My gaze is broken as I hear you begin to laugh. Slow. Bitter.

You're smiling, disappointingly.

I hear you say, "I knew it... I f*****g knew you didn't have it in you..."

I look back at you, unsure what to say.

I have no idea what's going on in your head right now.

You say, "The one time I can die thinking I'm doing something worthwhile, and somehow I f**k that up too..."

What are you talking about dying worthwhile? You antagonized us to survive. You did everything you did to survive and leave us all to burn. You risked your ass to let Harold burn too.

I mutter, "You sure love f*****g with people. Guess that's karma."

"Don't tell me twice," You say, you head tilting to the spear. "At the rate I go, I f**k up one thing after another. You're just another trading card to my collection of lives I ruined... get the whole set, and you get a ticket to a graveyard of crippling memories free." You say that so jokingly, so casually. Do you even care about the lives you've destroyed?

That's when you add as a clear joke, "It doesn't come with a coupon either..."

Asshole.

I can't help but smirk.

*Tap*

Both of our eyes jolt open in shock as we hear that.

"GWEN? YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED DOWNSTAIRS!!"

The Punisher.

Do they know?! Duncan...

Oh my god.

He knows.

He knows I'm the traitor...

What is he gonna do?! Is he gonna tell everyone?! If he tells everyone, I'm finished!!

If the Punisher finds out about this, he's dead...

There aren't any surveillance cameras in the academy. They don't know about this.

They don't...

"Is that my cue to leave?" He asks, already scurrying to get up.

In the panic, I grab him by the wrist, demanding, "Tell anyone about this, and you're dead!!"

He smirks, saying, "You had the chance..."

"That's not my choice!" I warn him. The Mastermind is gonna kill him!

"Get outta here!" I say as I let him go. "Get out of here now!"

Without much more linger, he runs, speeding up the stairs and out of sight.

It takes a few seconds for me to realize what this means.

Someone on the island knows that I'm the traitor.

And I let them live.

Out of all the people it could have been...

He's my burden now. I made him my burden.

What does that mean...?

I know Duncan. He'll never keep a promise if he finds it stupid.

The worst thing that can happen is that he tells everyone and they take me out.

And I told myself when I joined: 'Nobody needs to know what I do down here.'

~~~

(DUNCAN’s POV)

With a cup of coffee in my hands, I take a sip of it, bringing up, "Oh, I forgot to mention. Where's Gwen?"

Leshawna scoffs. "Who cares where Gwen is?"

"I... now hold on..." Bridgette tries to refute the coldness, but is interrupted by something.

She's standing by the doorway, staring down the room with a harsh dark gaze. She's wearing a black hoodie with a skull on one upper sleeve, and dark red jeans with loose leg ends. The hoodie is over her head, almost covering her hair.

I can't make out what her emotion is supposed to be.

Everyone pauses as though the world has stopped, unsure how to approach her.

I notice Courtney narrow her eyes on Gwen. She's not sure what to do any more than we do.

"If it isn't the devil." Leshawna brushes off, ignoring her afterwards.

"Gwen..." Bridgette isn't sure what to say, even if it's clear she wants to say something. "...hi?"

She killed her boyfriend. I would be more aggressive and bitchy about it than Bridgette's being right now. She's walking a fence of anger and chill.

"Oh Gwen! Hash browns!" DJ says. He's the only one not pissed with her.

The goth turns her head away from my direction. She says softly, "Let me eat. Then I'll go."

She walks along, and everyone watches her like she's on a fashion runway. Quietly, she grabs a plate, eyeing the fruit bowl.

"Duncan made that." DJ says, which makes Gwen look over at me.

I nudge my head away and gulp down my coffee, pretending I'm not paying attention. This is awkward...

Her eyes are widened in surprise about the fact. She mutters to DJ, "You're kidding, right? There's no freaking way..."

DJ shrugs, admitting, "Cut him some slack. We're all not feeling well."

Gwen hesitates before she takes the bowl and leaves. Her eyes dart over to me one more time, quietly judging me. She sits on another isolated table, silently eating her breakfast.

~~~

"The hell was that about?"

I turn around, seeing a certain traitor at the top of the stairway. I can tell from the aery expression on her face that she heard everything.

"Why hello Pasty," I greet with bitterness, "Here to change your mind?"

She narrows her dark eyes at me. That would be a no. "Of all the people... it had to be you."

"Well, thanks for making the beans!" I say to her, "Is that why you made them?!"

"I didn't want to!" Gwen argues, getting up to the tower entirely to face me. "I was-"

"Forced to? Bullshit! You still wouldn't do it!" I counter. "How many people have you killed?! Mentally counts too, so... you certainly killed me more than once!"

That stiffens her. That clearly offends her beyond belief. I mean what I say though.

"Is it too wrong to ask for your assistance?" She asks me.

"Oh, so you can use me, so you can kill someone else?!" I scoff.

"We both know I am in a bad status with Courtney to get away with that!" She argues. Good point, to be fair.

I claim however, "You don't care about me, or my say in this. You just want to go home. You reject the one time I be sincere with anyone since I left jail, and now that I know your big bad secret about your... murder of my friend, you're all over me and desperate for my help! Well, there's your karma!"

I clearly guilt tripped her with that. It's enough that she grits her teeth at me, claiming, "And you're right! You're absolutely right to... defend the heroes here where you belong, FAKE!"

I turn my head around to her, my hand shaking at that. I scream in her face, "DO NOT put me on the same level as that!"

"You definitely acted just like one this morning!" She counters.

I counter, "I'm sorry, my friends were murdered because of you, and I have a sore arm with bad stitching on it because of you! Are we sure Heather died?!"

She snaps, "I am... perfectly like Heather, but I'm not Heather! Heather actually thought rationally, I... don't! Ever! I am not New Heather, I-I AM New Heather-"

"AND you're a traitor! And what did Heather want to do again?! Kill someone?! HMMM... I think Chris put you on the right team! Miss 'I technically didn't do anything wrong', and WOW, you're actually DISGUSTING!"

"At least I'm not a womanizing freak!"

"Blame Scott, he should have never interfered-"

"The thought that I kissed you for no good reason-"

"And you just blank me for no good reason-"

"-just makes me want to hurl!"

I counter despite us talking over each other, "And you'll never be satisfied! You don't know what you want! You never did! You never do now! What? You think helping the Mastermind kill us all will relieve your stress of broken hearts YOU caused?! But in the next season, you'll just break up with the Mastermind too and get your ass handed to you when you complain that you're not like other girls and you want to be heard! But you don't actually want to be heard! You have nothing to hear! You just want to complain about being bad at talking!"

"The girl who started in that show is a stranger!" She claims.

To that, I roll my eyes and scold, "I heard that before..."

"To think I'm stuck with you now, to think I actually defended you when everyone called you a selfish juvenile f*****g bitch! I disgust myself!"

"Well so do I! But you don't pull the knife at me if you don't use it! That's my job asshole!" I shoot back. Whatever temper we have is non-existent now. It's clear she wants to do the same when I want to just... feel justified. But I know I'm not.

"Then pull it and murder, what the hell are you waiting for?!" She screams. "You USED me!"

"You're literally a VILLAIN!!" I scream back.

"You made me a villain!" She proclaims.

"You want to make yourself look good and dump all over me because it's a good 'make amends with everyone else for what you did?!' Fine! I don't give a f**k! But you and I both know that you and I are evil f**ks killing people, and we CHOSE to be evil f**ks EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME!! I could have gotten therapy or listened to my parents sooner, but I didn't! I wanted Courtney until I didn't! You wanted Trent until you didn't! You wanted ME until you didn't! We used everyone just to get out of dealing with anyone but ourselves!"

"I didn't blank you-"

"You did! And then you blamed me for the kiss when you obliged with the kiss! You could have just slapped me in the face!"

I expect her to do that now, but there's a pause.

"Well, go ahead! I know you want to!"

She doesn't.

"You've got nothing?!" I whine, "And yet you, Courtney, everyone, you just want to make me look like the bad one, the one who f**ks up, the one who does everything wrong. You always make it clear that I'm just not good enough to be good, that I can't stop being bad, and when I accept that, you whine about it! I'm sorry, am I not trying to be what you described me to be?! You wanted me either way! And that... that meant the world to me! Then you moved so fast... and now you're back again to ask me to be your assistant traitor?! F**k you! I ain't doing it! You're a traitor! That's ALL you are! I don't care if you cry, I don't care if you're sorry, I don't care if you whine your ass off! You have no excuse for being such a spoiled entitled bitch!"

She's tearing up at that, and yet she keeps shouting at me, trying to outmatch my volume. "I help you and you stab me! I reject you and you stab me! I BREATHE AND YOU STAB ME! WHAT CUTS IT?! HUH?!"

I roll my eyes, muttering, "This is why they hate you..."

She screams, "WHY DO I KNOW YOU?! I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE EXES FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES, WHAT IDIOTS DECIDED TO FIRE THAT?!"

To that, I slam my entire arm on the wall, and from there I repeatedly bang on the hard stone. I want my bones to break, and I certainly feel the pain aiding my boiling blood. I curdle at the top of my lungs, "I DON'T F*****G KNOW!!! AND YET YOU'RE SOMEHOW BETTER THAN ME!!"

"ARE YOU F*****G KIDDING ME?!" She can't believe that. "I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT WAS RIGHT OR WRONG! I WAS WORSE BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN BORN!"

"AND I WISH I NEVER WAS!!!"

Once it's out of my mouth, it's out. I can't stop as I look her in the eye and scream, "EVERY DAY SINCE PRISON, I HOPE SOMEONE MURDERS ME AND PUTS ME OUT IN THE GARBAGE! I-IF I KNOW THAT EVERYONE WOULD BE SO MUCH HAPPIER SO MUCH SAFER AND HAVE SO MUCH LESS PROBLEMS WITHOUT ME, THEN I HOPE YOU OR ANYONE STABS ME WITH A SPEAR AXES MY CHEST HANGS ME POISONS ME OR DROPS ME OFF A LIGHTHOUSE SO WE CAN ALL SAY 'THE EVIL IS DEFEATED' AT MY DEATH, I KNOW NO ONE WOULD CARE IF I DIED ANYWAY!!!"

I'm hoarse now.

I step back, knuckles on my head. As I was screaming at it, I was regretting my words.

I just want it all to be over...

If I die... if I become a victim... the pain would be over...

Before I know it, I fall on my knees, holding back a scream in agony. I'm failing.

Gwen hesitates to do anything. The tears on her cheeks says everything. She's completely shocked at what I said, and I can see the cogs turning in her eyes. She tries to say something but breathes it out upsettingly.

I feel too stiff to move by myself, so a hand caresses my shoulder to soothe me. She's kneeled down, trying to comfort me without getting too close. We stay like this for several minutes, not saying anything else.

After that, I feel like we know each other so much more, yet I don't know how to process anything we said...

Finally, the sneering pain in my arms makes me bring up, "Just hurts, you know...?"

"It does..." She admits softly. She's hoarse too.

She scales back, hands over her eyes to wipe away her tears. She asks, "What are we gonna do...?"

Neither of us have an answer.

She has a point. No matter what, we're stuck together. I know she's the traitor. No one else knows she's the traitor. She has to keep a leash on me. The only out of working together is if she kills me, but she would have done that last night.

We hurt so many people. In that regard, we have to work together to make things right. Neither of us know how to take the first step though.

I guess I should make the first move...

So I hold out my hand.

She hesitates, thinking about it.

Then she takes my hand, calmly shaking it.

So that's that then. I have an alliance.

We stand up, both of us unsure what else to do. She looks confused on what we just committed to. So am I.

She gestures her eyes at the stairs, wanting to show me the rest of the mansion, palace, thing.

I follow her down the stairs, and we continue our tour together.

~~~

"Noah took all the books." Gwen mentions.

"Did he now?" Is all I can say. Of course, I don't care, but...

The third floor, like last time, has the lounge and bedrooms. The difference here is that the furniture is red, and the sign reads, 'Men's corner'.

"You ask me, Chris is a sexist shit." Gwen says softly. "I don't want the pink room."

I don't think Bridgette and Leshawna want it either. They're both sitting on the couch in here. Leshawna's stirring a spoon in a coffee mug. I'm assuming she brought it with her, because I didn't see a coffee maker anywhere here, let alone a kitchen. What palace has no kitchen?

They seem bitter, and on edge. I don't know what to do with them.

Leshawna looks up at me and Gwen, wondering, "What do you two want?"

"U-uh..." Gwen tries to change the subject, going towards the tray on the cushioned stool. She asks, "You want any sugar for your coffee?"

"Ha!" Leshawna scoffs sadly, "I'm trying to drink cautiously here."

I can tell from her saddened eyes that it was a bad question to ask.

I turn to Gwen, asking, "You said Noah took the books here, right?"

Gwen answers, "That's what Bridgette told me."

"Well surfer?" I turn to Bridgette, asking, "You saw Noah?"

She lives right across from him.

"Hm?" She looks up from whatever daydream she was having.

"Did you see Noah?" I repeat.

"No. I accused." She answers. She sighs, trying to change the subject. "This castle isn't really my cup of tea. Izzy had to burn the resort, which I'm so grateful for..."

Sarcasm, or is she legit?

Gwen replies, "I doubt Izzy's gonna come join us for anything. She's pretty shaken up."

"And you're not?" Bridgette asks bitterly.

Gwen tries to say, "I didn't-"

"I know you didn't." Bridgette cuts her off. "That's why it's painful."

Bridgette's saying all of this so calmly, yet I can sense her grief over this whole endeavor.

"Anyhoo..." I try to change the subject, "What's going on here?"

Bridgette answers, "Leshawna got here first. Ask her."

"I got coffee, then she came and told me it was bad for the heart." Leshawna answers just as bitterly. "She wants me to drown away the trial and forget about Harold."

Are they still doing this?

"He was a murderer! Geoff died because of him!" Bridgette argues.

"And Geoff willingly helped him murder Owen." Leshawna argues back.

Gwen grips my arm and pulls me aside, whispering, "Let's leave them alone. Okay?"

Seems like I have no choice anyway. These two are not on good terms.

I don't see anyone else here anyway, so maybe I should head back to the Mess Hall with Gwen. Maybe I can find the others along the way.

~~~

"So what if one has good intentions?! Izzy had good intentions. In her mind! Hell, GWEN could have good intentions, and we don't know it!"

Gwen seems startled by my claim. Frankly, it left my mouth faster than I could process the thought. Could Gwen actually be a traitor for a good cause? How should I know? I'm not her.

I keep going, knowing they're listening. "What the hell? Go on, answer me. What even IS hell? What IS a good intention anymore? I never had a good intention in my life! I'm f****d up... so... so are the rest of us! Assholes! That's what we are even with a good intention! Ass. Holes!"

"Duncan!" Courtney tries to snap at me.

"Duncan, what in the world?!" Bridgette's also disgusted.

"I... I don't like that..." I hear DJ whimper. "I don't want to be related to a butt... I-I want to be good! Isn't the opposite gonna kill us?"

"Ignoring Duncan being an asshole..." Courtney's voice is risen and her phrase slowed to make sure I get that message. "Our next move should be to go after Izzy. If we can stop her, we should. We let her do her thing, we're dead. Am I wrong about that?"

"Of course not." I say to that. "You're right more times than I enjoy."

~~~

I hold Gwen back from joining them.

"What?" Gwen asks.

"You know what." I leave it at that.

Gwen's the traitor. She'll know how to stop Izzy. Plus, I need to be on good terms with her to protect the others.

By the time we begin to walk out to the plaza, the others have already left. It's just the two of us.

Well, it would be if it weren't for a certain someone.

"What the hell is she planning?"

Chris is... worried?

Is that the face he has right now? It's way less sociopathic and punch-able than before.

"None your beeswax," I scold anyway.

"It's SO my beeswax!" Chris shoots back. He's not playing the ego.

"What is your problem?" Gwen asks, telling him, "Go fix your hair or some shit."

"The only problem with my hair is the emo look I'm forced with." Chris defends. "That said, I do fit in with you two!"

"I just don't understand half the time what the hell I do. My interns are yelling at me like a bunch of slabs. Cause drama. Bring peace. Cause despair. Bring them together. Make them kill. Make it a challenge they overcome so they don't kill. Where's my paycheck!? Now we have miss psycho to deal with?! WHAT DO THESE EXECUTIVES WANT FROM ME?!"

"The idea that you were bailed out of jail is laughable," Gwen says to that.

How can she take that outburst so casually?

Gwen says, "I always thought your job was to play for the camera."

"I always play for the camera!" Chris tells her. "It's what I do! The audience lives for a sociopath hurting teenagers! What more complexity do I need than that?"

"This some meeting, or...?" I assume this is casual, since they're working together.

"I'm stressed. Okay? My punisher is mad about Izzy and losing their goddamn mind, and now the bear dude is mad about the punisher announcing a 'no more double murder' rule, and they're losing their goddamn mind, and the little rebooter chick STILL won't open her goddamn mouth!"

Gwen says nothing.

To prove his point I guess.

"Rebooter chick?" I ask. Is that Gwen?

"Chris, what is going on?" Gwen asks.

All Chris says is, "Lock your doors tonight."

He leaves.

"Something's wrong with him." Gwen simply puts it, "Ever since Owen and Geoff died, he's wanted to go after the killers. Harold was satisfaction, and now he's mad at me... so he's been bummed out about ratings. Claimed, I guess. He's more so pissed."

"Come to think of it," I point out, "He did tell me about the picture. He was blunt about it too. If he was against me, why would he...?"

No.

No he's not helping.

He's killed how many people?

No, I will not believe for a second Chris is trying to help!

Gwen then says, "I came into this operation before Chris did."

"The f**k?!" What?!

She explains, "About a few days after I came on board, we worked with some... outsiders Char knew to kidnap him. We hooked him up, and now he's our host."

"Pasty, you have a lot more to explain than that." I tell her.

"You want me to dump everything I know?!" Gwen asks stubbornly.

She sighs, answering her own question with, "Yeah, guess you deserve to know."

Hell yes. I know not a goddamn thing.

She motions me to somewhere. I follow her all the way with no second thought.

She takes me down to the outdoor theater, further down to the woods.

It's so dark outside. All the trees...

Shit, am I scared of the dark now? I thought I was past that.

I have my knife out behind my back. There are echoes across the woods.

'Don't trust her...'

'Don't trust Chris...'

"The speakers aren't on." Gwen says. She's seeing my expression.

What? Then how?

Is this in my own head?

"Are they dead?" I ask. "The people from the speakers screaming at us..."

Gwen doesn't answer.

"Are they kidnapped?"

"No." Gwen says, "I don't know where they got the voices from."

"Liar." I sneer.

"I swear on my life, I don't know!" Gwen bluntly states. "I will tell you as much of the truth as I can!"

So she doesn't know everything?

A few minutes later, we arrive at the fields of the woods. The waterfall is glistening in the moonlight. The grass is tall enough to cover my ankles.

It's just us, the fields, and the sky.

"I just wanted to get away from the others." Gwen says.

I guess I understand that. I'm the only one who knows that Gwen is the traitor.

We both lay in the grass next to each other. The stars are above us, watching.

They seem to twinkle less at us together. Deserved.

I turn by head over to Gwen, whose eyes are blank at the sight above her. She gives a heavy sigh, as though she wants to relax but can't.

"Start talking." I say.

Nothing.

"Whenever you feel like it."

That gets her to ask, "How can I trust you?"

"You can't." I'm honest. "You want to shut me up, cut me off. You want to kill me, do it. You want to tell me I'm not helpful? I know I'm not. But people are dead. They died trying to stop you. Maybe I'm the bad guy for not doing the same right now, heh... suits me."

It's a sin to admit it, I'm sure, but I feel... safe with Gwen. I feel like I can tell her anything, and she'll be fine with it. She won't judge me, and give me an distained 'whatever' at worst. I used to date her, and yet I still don't know what she wants.

She starts talking from there.

"I didn't start this killing game. I was contracted to join these... producers, if you will. Said faction consists of me, Chris, Char, and Monokuma. Currently."

"Char?" I ask.

"It's the nickname I gave the Ultimate Punisher. They won't show me who they really are."

"What the hell...?" I mutter.

"You want to call someone by 'Punisher' all the time?" Gwen defends.

Fair enough.

She continues, "Said Punisher is the host of the island. They control Monokuma, Chris, and myself. Monokuma is the source of our control of the island, however."

"And you were forced to join?" I assume.

"I was kidnapped." She says. "I was called to see Courtney again, and she wasn't home. Then these people knocked me out and took me to the island. When I woke up, I tried to find a way out, but... that's when I met Char. They told me they wanted my help to 'rewrite the show'. So they injected me with... with..."

"With what?"

"It's a little hard to explain, but... Komaeda's blood."

What?

She explains, "That's how I was forced to join. Apparently when Char found Monokuma, the thing was covered in dried blood. So they put it in a lab and figured out how to make some radioactive shit out of it. Char explained to me that it was designed to make us 'Despair Servants' to Monokuma, and descendants to Komaeda's cause. The blood helps us manipulate a factor of the killing game..."

"Magic?" I ask.

Gwen answers, "Science. Beyond what I know how it's possible. Basically, Char controls Monokuma itself, and feeds off of it's influence the most, even if they fight back sometimes. Chris can do those flash teleports to vanish and always be a part of the camera. He's the surveillance. The blood is from someone who heavily despairs, so I guess the ability is decided based on a twisted version of what we want."

So 'Char' wants control, Chris wants to always be on the camera, and Gwen...

"What's yours?"

Gwen lingers, but answers, "I'm the reboot."

"Huh?" I don't get it.

"This is a game." Gwen says. "I save the game. I restart the game. This whole island game, I restart it."

"You're a time traveler?!" I sit up, realizing, "You can bring everyone back then! You can undo all of this!"

Gwen then says, "I can't decide when I restart the game or not. I have no control. Monokuma controls all of us. Kinda the point of the blood treatment."

So she can't bring them back. She's tied to Monokuma...

So she can't leave even if she wants to.

"So I was forced to become a traitor. A spy for the killing game. The whole time, I've been... I've been trying to figure out how to escape. No luck. Not even now. The whole place seems... locked off. When Izzy said it was another dimension, it got me thinking... it'd definitely explain how the reboots are possible."

Okay, but what dimension is this then? More importantly...

"Where does Chris tie into this? You kidnapped him too?"

She answers, "Like I said before, Char had some outside allies, who I know nothing about. All I know is that Char called them the Ultimate Pyro, and the Ultimate Nemesis. They brought Chris to us and... like me, Char injected him. Now he's with us as our killing game illusion host."

"That's the real Chris?!" I'm shocked. "I thought it was some robot!"

"He's... also forced to do this." Gwen puts it simply. "I guess he embraced the idea pretty quickly, like the evil mother f****r he is."

Chris is being forced to lead the killing game? He was kidnapped to do this? I guess Chris really is one to indulge in pain either way, but still. How shallow is he to not even fight against this game?

Gwen continues, "So our killing game started. We kidnapped the rest of you and Char inflicted her 'peaceful island approach'... at first, Monokuma was pissed at the idea, so we were slashed across the skin to make you guys kill each other. So Char came up with the idea: Motives. We'd give the campers a motive to kill to cause drama that'd keep Monokuma pleased. Me, and whoever Char is, would help you all overcome the motives and move past the killing mind. And Chris? Well, we could pin the blame on him when things got dicey..."

"The idea was that the drama would happen, we'd overcome it, and you were all turned to perfection with each and every motive. It's failed. Trial and error."

"So you reboot to fix that?" I ask.

"Yes." She answers. "It was only until you died when that snap happened."

I choke on my breath.

"I DIED?!?!"

That shouldn't be too surprising, but... I died! I actually died! I was robbed of eternal sleep by these people!

"You died here." Gwen says, a sniffle in her eye. "When you hit... t-the bugs... Courtney was so pissed..."

So that's why I was given an A in the grading system. So I wouldn't die again...

The memory is clearly upsetting her. She's trying to pull herself together to finish the story.

"When it-when it was rebooted, I was so relieved to see you were okay... then Izzy came to us..."

'She made a public announcement to the island in the Mess Hall. She had a sinister grin on her face at the idea.'

'She said with laughter, "Ha ha... that's smart of you Monokuma. You think you've really outdone yourself, didn't you? I thought your policy was to kill or be killed... so this new Mastermind wants to play the good guy? Wow, that's new. The idea that this one wants to help you all. I guess that makes you proud of yourself..."'

'"NOT."'

'"I know what you did Mastermind! I can see right through the act!"'

'"You caused their deaths! You got Duncan killed! And then you reset the killing game because you didn't want your favorite boy perish..."'

'She laughed hard at that. Past Duncan was pissed and confused. He didn't remember.'

'"You think you're the only one who can run a killing game? Reshape the entire world to your liking, purely by your hope! You can play god! You can SAVE YOUR GAME! I thought I knew everything but... your abilities overpower mine. That'll change. Somehow someway, I'll get you."'

'Everyone was on a riot. They had no idea what Izzy was talking about. No one believed her. They didn't remember.'

"Izzy remembers?!" How is that possible?

"I don't know how it's possible either, but she does!" Gwen exclaims, "And she's clearly lost it now! She's after us harder and harder every time!"

"So this has happened before?!"

"Yes and no. She never referred to us as Monokuma before this, but she has tried to burn our property and go for Monokuma. We were able to stop her every time. We can stop her now."

Izzy remembers the reboots, but we don't. How? Our memories were wiped about these, but hers weren't.

She remembers us dying. All of us.

Over and over again...

Shit. She's more far gone than I thought.

I thought losing Owen was bad, but potentially losing him over and over again...

"That's everything I know." Gwen concludes. "Ever since, we played killing games, and I was forced to reboot whenever Char or Monokuma was unpleased... I can't find a way out..."

"How many times have you rebooted?" I ask.

She sighs, teary eyed. "I stopped counting... I don't know if my family is even the age I left them..."

I guess she's quite a bit lost on hope at this point. She's accepted her role.

"Well, now you have me now. We can kill Monokuma and you'll be free," I tell her, unsure how to approach her.

"Thrilled..." Gwen rolls her eyes and turns away from me. She becomes sincere when she tells me, "I don't want your help. If you get involved, you could die, and this... just please, let me take care of it. Let me protect you."

Despite everything?

Despite everything I've done?

I sigh, admitting, "That's for the best..."

It's best if I stay away from her. Everyone I get close with dies from my influence. Heather... Harold... I don't want that to happen to Gwen too.

I don't know if she can even die...

She's about to get up and leave, but she sits back, asking me, "Did you mean what you said before? When you said you wanted to die?"

Did I?

"Why are you asking?"

She says, "Just... all the times you've died and I've saved you, you say that to me? Makes my work pointless, you know?"

"You don't even want to do your work," I counter. "What? You related or something?"

"No." Gwen says bluntly. "I'm fighting. I'm not letting myself die so selfishly."

So she's never had any suicidal thoughts?

I wish I never did.

She looks torn down despite her claim. Not like she's lying, but like she's exhausted of her truth. I can't possibly understand what she's going through, but... I want to help. I don't know why, but I do. I know she won't want it, but I do.

*Ding Dong Bing Bong*

~~~

There's hesitation between the two of us before Gwen says, "Guess they're after all of us."

"You sure?" I ask.

Gwen answers, "We'll be okay. We've done this before. Plus they'll make me help anyway."

She sighs as she remains standing, clearly distraught. I can't tell what she wants...

Before thinking, I get up and grip her back, asking her with a forced smile, "Have you ever played the night?"

She's confused when she says, "No. I don't... huh?"

 ~~~

I drag her to the stage, grabbing the two guitars in the back. They're electric, and it's night, so I don't plug them in.

I sit crisscross and strum a bit, letting the rhythm match the sounds of nature around me. A crack of a stick, a hum of the wind, and a workout on keeping heavy eyelids open.

"What are you doing?" Gwen asks me, watching on the other side of the stage.

"Shhhhhhh..." As though the guitars were loud to begin with. I explain, "When I was running from the cops, this calmed my heartbeat and helped me reflect. That's what rock music does. Rollercoaster of stress."

Gwen brings up, "You don't even like music..."

Oh yeah, so...

"I don't." I claim.

I get back on topic, motioning her hands to her own guitar. "Just... play what you feel."

She hesitates.

"You're not lacking, are you?"

She nods no, setting up her fingers to pluck the strings. The music is slow, touchy, and fighting back the electric echo of the guitar. Breathing in and out with the gentle night breeze, she becomes lost in her own little song.

'I'm not yours'

'To think I fell for you'

'Though I'm not yours'

'I let you pull my strings'

'Oh I love yours'

'I wish I could say I hate you as much as you deserve for those things'

'But even though this path is wrong'

'I hold back the fear of the dark of night'

'The thing is I'm already over you'

'Cause the only future I can control is mine it seems'

'I told myself there was no sorry that could get through'

'We know it isn't true'

'But all I can say to you'

'Is you're touching the heartless'

'Touching the heartless'

'They fill the island with drama and stress'

'So stop touching the heartless'

What is this song?

Her voice is small, shrill, and solemn. I can tell she's shy of increasing the volume of something she's making up. I can tell it's not an existing song, from how much it... hits at home.

Who is she mocking with this song?

"Gwen, I-" I try to speak.

She plucks an off note to interrupt me. Her voice becomes blunt.

'I have no choice!'

'With the bear I'll survive'

'I had no choice!'

'With the show I stayed alive'

'Never had a choice'

'Gotten on ships just to survive the sea'

'I didn't have a choice'

'If the contract says so, then it's so'

'Whatever I am meant to be'

'Is what I have to do...'

She pauses, staring directly at me. Her dark eyes go hollow, and I can't read them.

Does she want me to say anything? I don't sing. She knows that. Unless this is some sort of payback.

I can't read how she feels if she doesn't throw it out.

I pluck my own guitar strings as hard as I can, making it clear silent rock. If Chris makes fun of my vice though, he's getting it.

'Who said you had no choice?'

'Now you have someone to blame'

'Who said you had no choice?'

'Rock out nights in your own name'

'Raise that shrill wild voice'

'You have your hands so fill them with matters'

'And if it involves punching me, go ahead'

Gwen looks a little frightened by my outburst. I'm not good at this either, especially with guitars that aren't plugged in.

I want to know what she's thinking though.

Is this about the traitor status?

The Mastermind?

Me?

Her family?

Courtney?

Geoff?

What?

What are you thinking Pasty?

All I can do is lie when I strum softly,

'I know what you're thinking, I'm thinking it too.'

Gwen pauses, tempted by the phrase she's heard before.

She strums back,

'You don't know what I'm thinking, so what would you do?'

I answer back,

'It's not about what was framed on a show'

'It's just tonight with only me and you to know'

'Let's say we had any choice'

'What would you say with your voice?'

Gwen's hesitant, unsure how to take the advice.

"What would you say, Gwen?" I ask with just my voice. "There's no one here to judge you but me."

"The cameras..." Gwen's scared. I don't blame her. One way or another, her secrets come out in ugly ways.

"You don't care about my voice, I don't care about yours," I assure her. "What would you say to the producers if you could?"

There's seconds of silence. I stare down her with my own eyes, letting her know that I won't judge her for her answer. We need to understand each other once more if we're gonna work together.

"I'd say..." Gwen tries it, strumming her guitar rapidly. She keeps strumming it faster and faster, letting it all go wild.

'I'd say to them f**k you!'

'I'll never belong to you!'

'I am not your pawn to play'

'And I'm not cargo to be left on a ship to display'

'As if I'm gonna give up my home, my family, my life for something like fame'

'The famous like ain't the same'

'It's not why I have a name'

'I won't touch the heartless'

'Touching the heartless'

'You fill the island with drama and stress'

'I'm not touching the heartless'

'There's nothing for me or you to confess'

'I'm not touching the heartless!'

I'm in awe the whole time, seeing her rock out with a hard raw voice, letting the guitar strums run as wild as possible. The moonlight is her audience cheering her on. I can tell from it all that she's prideful. One moment where she's the most prideful I've seen her in years.

She wanted to become a member of a rock band when she grew up.

That's why I set my guitar down, letting her have it. It's better that I don't get involved. After all, it's what she wants. She doesn't want me.

I'll watch in the sidelines as my eardrums are in pain from her pride. I'm cool with that...

Then she stops suddenly, staring me down in embarrassment.

Why did she stop?

She says softly, "But I can't say this... not if I want to literally become heartless... so it's over. I'm moving on."

She drops the guitar and starts running off.

"Gwen!" I call out, but she doesn't stop. She's out of my sight.

What was that? She was doing so good!

I don't know how to help her.

Can I even help her? I made things so much worse when I thought I was. I don't want to do that again.

But, it's our alliance. I can't back out of it.

I guess since Gwen's... a time traveler or some shit, she knows how to stop Izzy tonight. Maybe that's where she's going. Everything will be fine then. There's nothing to worry about.

I would say I'd help, but what if in one of those timelines I died trying to?

~~~

"Duncan!"

Someone's banging on the door.

"Gwen?!"

"Duncan, are you in here?!"

Courtney and Gwen reveal themselves past the door, both of them with panicked expressions on their faces.

"Girls?!" I exclaim in my panic.

"Are you okay-?!" Gwen tries to ask.

Courtney looks at Gwen, asking, "What are you doing here?"

She doesn't answer.

I interrupt any chance of an answer anyway, demanding, "Someone explain to me what the hell is going on?! Where are we?!"

"The palace." Courtney says. "Or rather, I think it's the palace. I can't tell, I was up and tried to look, but the door is barricaded and slammed shut!"

It's what?!

"So they trapped us here?!" Is what I'm hearing. "Why?!"

Gwen stares me down without saying anything.

"She was at this tower already," Courtney explains, "Seems that way. I came from the girls one."

"Are the others here?" I ask.

"I can go check," Courtney says, prompting her to run off.

Now Gwen and I are alone.

"Gwen, you better explain right now!"

"I-I-I don't know what happened... we-we... we lost! She got through... we failed! She has the bear... she took the bear..."

"Hang on, hang on, I thought you said you could stop her!"

"I thought so, doesn't mean I could..."

She's panicking. All I can say is, "This is bad, isn't it?"

"I don't know what she wants to do!" Gwen exclaims. "I don't know what this means, all she said to me was something about guiding us and helping us be better killing game influencers-I don't-she had a bomb on me, I couldn't-then she goes along and kidnaps everyone..."

"They're all here?!" I ask.

Gwen confirms, "Yes!"

So who's running this motive?!

"She doesn't know about you and me," Gwen says, "Thankfully."

That could be our way of stopping whatever it is.

"We're getting out of here and trying the door," Gwen demands, "I'll wait for Courtney to get the girls, you go wake up DJ and Noah and get them down to the main corridor."

She runs off without hearing my consent.

~~~

Before I join the others in looking, I go over to Gwen. "Um... Pasty?"

"I know," Gwen says, "I tried to stop it..."

"We'll talk about our options later," I decide, "Just hang tight."

"Duncan, we have more important things to do!" Bridgette's coming over, trying to ignore Gwen.

"You want me to help Bridgette?" Gwen asks.

Bridgette gives her a nasty glare.

I guess this is her way of saying 'Stay out of it, boyfriend killer.'

"I can help!" Lindsay raises her hand. "What do you want me to do?"

"Trying to find an axe, or a gardening hoe, or something to bust barricades," Bridgette says.

I snicker. I can make so many dirty jokes from her statement, but she won't like that.

"Yeah... we're gonna have to wait till tonight," Gwen says to me. "When they're not here."

She sighs, admitting, "Everyone here hates me..."

"And you wonder why?" Bridgette asks, still here.

"No. I know." Gwen says back to her. "And I'm sorry. Again."

From a boyfriend kisser to a boyfriend killer... how things change.

Do I really have to question my alliance with Gwen?

After all, this is the girl who killed Geoff...

Bridgette sighs, telling her, "It's gonna take a lot more than that for me to forgive you... and that's coming from me."

"Don't think I'm not aware," Gwen accepts.

"Understanding? Wow..." Bridgette's surprised.

"Hey guys, do you know if we can use the plants?" DJ asks.

"What for?" Bridgette asks, turning her head around.

He holds up Bunny.

"Oh dear..." That's concerning, even when I'm seeing it.

"Is he...?" Gwen tries to ask.

"He'll be fine," DJ tells us, "There's a few grassy plants here. Bunny's getting food."

Bridgette groans, "Now I wish I was a rabbit."

~~~

"Yes." Gwen stands up, joining in on saying, "We will take down Izzy. By any means necessary."

Leshawna then says, "If you're saying it, there's no hope."

Gwen sits back down again.

"Hey, she's sorry guys," I defend her, "Leave her alone."

~~~

"Duncan?"

Someone's shaking me out of my little slumber.

"Duncan! Get up!" Gwen continues to shake me, speaking in a whispering tone.

My eyes flicker, with her bright red bangs being a light of its own. I let out a moan as I try to sit up. My body feels a lot heavier than usual.

"I know, I know..." She sympathizes. "But we gotta get up."

"Don't worry about me Pasty, I'm fine," I assure her. "I survived juvie, prison, and Total Drama. I can survive this."

"You're starving to death," She corrects.

"So I'm not human," I play. It's been what, twenty hours? Thirty since our last meal? I am not starving to death. She's overreacting.

Then I remember what words she chose to use. "Wait, YOU'RE?! What about you?! Don't you mean we?!"

She falls silent.

"Gwen!"

"Exactly," Gwen makes clear. "I just got back from a little Mastermind meeting with Izzy. She gave us pig. I didn't eat it."

"Cause you felt bad?"

"Yeah..." She confesses. "She went on this whole lecture about how to stress out the residents and force them to do stuff. She's insane, but I guess that's how she survived. When I refused the food, she kicked me out, and now I'm lost on information."

"And she doesn't want to kill you guys because...?"

"'We're young and misguided' or some shit like that? I don't flipping know, I'm not in her head space. If I were, I'd know who Phil was and why he was given broccoli. Point is, it's just Chris down there now, still tied up. I had to wait hours for her to leave, I don't know if she's even gone."

"Where is that little maniac even staying?" I ask. "Certainly not here!"

"That's why I think there's passages in this palace. Our way out." Gwen says.

I've finally finished sitting up, and I notice she has her black robe around her, and some sash carrying... a spear?

"By killing me?" I assume.

Gwen stares me down.

"Right, you would've done that already."

She still stares me down.

"What's stopping me from taking that spear from you-?"

I reach out to her to test that and grab the end.

Then my hand singes into electricity.

She has to slam my mouth shut to muffle my screams of agony. What the f**k?!

I glance at my hand again. It's steaming. There's a burn mark on it.

"I have bandages, just say you cut yourself with your knife," Gwen comes up with. She hands be said bandages so I can cover the injury.

"Like anyone's gonna believe that!" I protest. "What the f**k is that thing?!"

"First of all, you punch before you let me answer the questions," Gwen mocks. "Second, this is a Gungnir spear. Only people with Komaeda's blood in them can touch it without... yeah. Blood code."

"Kinda got that when you burned my hand," I reply.

"You burned your hand," She says, "I was just standing here."

I sigh. That's a good point.

"So how about it? We go down to Chris and talk about our options?" Gwen suggests.

I groan. She's right though. We got to talk to Chris... motherf*****g Chris.

We get up and slowly walk down the stairs, trying to process ideas.

"Hey, Gwen? About this alliance-?" I try to ask.

"We don't have a choice." Gwen says bluntly. "Please, don't make this have a say on you and me."

Okay then.

We make it to the bottom of the stairs, and Gwen goes over, "So our options so far are: Kill someone and play the game. Try to kill Izzy. Give up and starve and die. Or we figure out about the bunker."

"And if we choose the first one, I'm gonna have to kill, aren't I?" I ask.

"Yep." She puts bluntly.

Then no thank you.

She pauses in her tracks for a second, wiping her eye as she leans on a column.

"Gwen?" I try to ask.

She sighs, clearly holding back her feelings. "Look, you... I think..."

She swallows it, deciding, "It's not important. We need Chris."

She's upset. I don't blame her.

We cross the hallway, finding it dark and empty. Well, except for a certain someone whining with a hand mirror.

"Aw... left to rot here while chicks yell at me that I deserve it... what's a poor celebrity to do?! I'm just doing my job! Blame the showrunners, not me!"

He's whining in front of his hand mirror, with text on the back that I can't read.

"You are loved..." I'm assuming he's reading off of it since he turns it around. "Chris McLean, you are loved. They will come to you. And they will love you for your personality..."

He turns his head around. To us.

"It worked!"

"You are not only a goddamn asshole, you're a goddamn lunatic too," I mutter.

"Hey! It was a gift from the orphan headmistress, alright?" He defends.

Then he backs up, realizing I'm here. "Oh wait. Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. GWEN?!"

She says nothing.

"And DUNCAN?!"

I say nothing.

"THE Duncan and Gwen. THE pair that gave my show its controversy?!"

We say nothing.

"I am hallucinating. This is all a dream. No, I won't believe this. This is a dream. I would pinch myself, but it would ruin my skin further. And I already have rope burn. Or, ribbon-burn in this case-"

"Shut up." I finally jab. "We're not here for mercy. Not for you, anyway."

Gwen and I walk over to him, crouching down to taunt him.

Gwen proclaims, "First of all, you better listen up. You tell no one about this encounter. Not Izzy. Not anyone."

Chris makes it clear, "Yeah, here's the thing, I don't go by promises from a teenager-"

She points the spear at his throat.

"Fine."

She then makes her proposition, "You've been tied up here long enough. You can tell us how to open the bunker. That, or tell us how to escape."

"Why do you think I would know more than you?"

I point my knife at his throat.

He points out, "You know, getting stabbed in the neck by a spear and a knife at the same time. That'd be a killer murder mystery. Down for that."

I narrow the gap between the blade and him.

"But if it's me as the victim, no thank you." He says all his lines upbeat. I have to tch at him. "What? I'm not used to getting threatened. Not with lethal consequences, anyway. How do I act in something like this again?"

Dread?! Much?!

What is his connect with TV and reality?

"And another thing, don't go in the bunker." Chris finally speaks something useful. "Yeah, it's a way out, but you're dead if you get out that way."

"How so?" I ask.

"You know Komaeda, right?" Chris brings up. "I watched his execution on the news, and I read a biography on him for a high school project. He pointed a revolver at his head with six bullets to win some strawberry shortcake. You want to do that? Be my guest."

Point a gun at our heads... even to me, that sounds messed up.

Chris adds, "I actually wanted to do that Russian Roulette thing for a challenge in TDA. Would've made a great 'guy in a coma' movie genre... stupid network policies."

"You two are not that different," Gwen points out.

"But do you know how to open the f*****g bunker?!" I ask.

"Say it nicer, and maybe I'll tell you," Chris replies.

I oblige. "May you pretty please with a cherry on top help us discover the opening of the f*****g bunker?!"

Chris grins at me.

"AND DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!" I shout at it.

"This is why I put you on the heroes team," He guilt trips. "You are so ungrateful."

I try to grip his throat, but Gwen grabs my hand. She demands, "Duncan. We need him alive."

I flick my wrist off of her, stepping back to grumble, "Stupid killing game."

"Uh, it's for ratings, thank you, and keeping me tied up here to rot is gonna give you bad ratings!" Chris talks back.

"GOOD." I snap.

Chris sighs, admitting, "To think I saw you as a money making tool at first. You were my prize kid..."

"YOU THREW ME IN JAIL!"

"Another reason why I'm being tortured for no reason." He says to that.

"No reason?!" I roll my eyes, unable to believe that. "You goddamn TV whore!"

"As much as I like the roast..." Gwen has to admit, "Now is not the time."

"He deserves to be called worse." I defend.

"Come on, is that anyway to talk to your network father? Who made you kids famous?" Chris tries to play that card.

"You're not our dad." Gwen states. "You're not any authority figure to us."

"You kids chose to be under my belt!" Chris defends. "You chose your life! You chose to play the game! You chose to KILL. So why are you using ME as your personal scapegoat?! This whole thing is because of Izzy. Because of whoever the Punisher is. Because of YOU."

His tone becomes serious when he says all of that. He tops it off with a frustrated sneer, "I think you should reconsider who has blood on their hands."

Is he trying to make a point?

Does he have a point?

"Gwen, can I stab him now?"

"How about a grip to the chin?" She suggests.

"No, not the chin..." Chris whines.

I do so, threatening to his eyes, "I'm not gonna ask you again, HOW DO WE GET IN THE BUNKER?!"

"I don't have to tell you..." Chris tries to say.

I harden my eyes as much as I can, keeping the blade to the neck.

"...the chandelier."

That was easier than I thought.

I let him go, looking up at the chandelier.

So I just aim the knife and cut down the chain holding it up, right?

I do so...

It hits the chain. It doesn't cut.

Now my knife is stuck.

"Good job," Gwen says.

"Don't suppose your burning blood coded spear can cut it?" I suggest.

"If your knife can't," Gwen points out. "We'll have to wait for everyone else to be awake. We can stack."

That could work.

"And I call the higher end," Gwen says before I can call it.

"Are you done with me?" Chris asks, "Or do you two want to make out and give me entertainment?"

We both give him a matching death glare.

"Of course you're not done with me. If you want, we could talk a little about ourselves." Chris suggests. "If we had tea, I'd say it'd be a nice cup of tea."

"No." Gwen is disgusted.

"Maybe learn a little more about your network dad?" Chris says anyway. "Did you know I was given up for adoption? My headmistress gave us the Total Drama sludge for breakfast and she didn't permit sweets. But she had a sweet stash all for herself that I'd raid. I served as a janitor and was a proper student in military school, for five years. I met Chef there. Oh, and I started being a TV star selling my hair spray, but I didn't get a deal. I got a job a few months later hosting a new network show about shark stunts, around my twenties actually. I was kinda like you guys back then, just young sprites who wanted a name. A label. Something to be called. It's how history runs after all-"

"Will you shut your trap?!" Gwen snaps. "We don't care what backstory you have! You're still a dick!"

"Okay, if you want me silent," Chris says. "I look good on magazines anyway. They really should make an audio magazine-"

I take a gag from the table and shove it in his mouth.

"That's better," Gwen says to that.

"Okay, so we're escaping then?" I wonder.

"We don't know that yet. It could be a trap." Gwen points out. "And if Chris lied, we'll do this all again."

At least Chris can't speak against that now.

Gwen crosses her arms, trying to shake off all these thoughts. "Scapegoat, huh? Of course he's just guilt tripping us... of course I'm a scapegoat..."

"Gwen?" I turn over to try and figure out what's going on.

"Look, if anyone should go in that bunker, death trap or not, it should be me." Gwen suggests. "I'm the best candidate on getting in there, after all. They'll pick me anyway, might as well."

"Maybe, but why?"

She falls silent.

"Gwen. This isn't your fault-"

"Uh, yes it is!" Gwen snaps back. "Don't you get that?! I caused all of this! I'm the one who's the traitor! I'm the one who can't defect even if I wanted to! I'm the one who caused everyone's deaths! I killed Geoff directly! Maybe I should... maybe I should tell everyone-"

"If it's a last resort!" I cut her off. "We're not telling them!"

I don't know what they'll do to her if they know.

"I'm choosing to suffer." Gwen puts bluntly. "You're all going to die... because of me. Because I was stupid."

"You can't know that-"

"If I never framed Owen, Harold wouldn't have killed him, and Izzy would have no reason to do this!" She claims. "So YES. It's because of me! I'm a demon..."

"You're not a demon, Gwen." I claim. "Demons wouldn't feel bad."

She sits by the steps of the throne, lost in thought.

I try to add, "Think of all the people you see on the news. Rapists. Murderers. Terrorists. Warlords. Criminals. People getting death penalties. You look at what you're doing, which is what? Cheating on a school test? You could be so much worse."

"That doesn't mean what I did was okay." Gwen counters quietly. She's becoming teary eyed now. "I know it won't fix it, but... just let me do something right. One thing right. No one else has to die."

I crouch down next to her, trying to figure out how to approach her.

She looks me in the eye briefly before turning back and standing up. "Look, Duncan, not even you deserve this. Not me, you deserve anyway. You made a mistake supporting me in that trial."

I can't say anything now. It's all too familiar for me... because I would say the same things.

"Look at me. I'm never gonna be able to make up for this. I never made up for anything. Cooped up from the world in my shitty room, my mom telling me to go out and get some sun. Meet some people. You'd be happy... They would get to know you, and see that you're not a bad person, like they say. Then I finally get out there. Then I finally let them get to know me. And it assaults me... and they were right."

"I don't deserve to be cared for, Duncan. I'm not good. I don't know what I am anymore. A traitor? A murderer? A weird goth girl? A boyfriend stealer? A villain? Who could ever care for that, knowing that?"

She's staring at me directly, teary eyed. She's smiling, and yet she's clearly tortured. Her words alone are making the air chiller. I can't fully understand what's on her mind. Fear? Grief? Despair? Dread? Sadness? All of the above?

But I know I've felt those more times than she has.

Who could ever care for someone who's done so much horrible shit?

What care do they deserve?

Are we victims? Are we sympathetic? Are we redeemable? Or do we deserve it?

That all becomes a blur, I guess. There seems to be no line.

For me? How could I ever care for someone who is a traitor that helped kill my friends?

There's no reason why I should.

But I do it anyway.

I slowly approach her, keeping her frozen in place in confusion.

I wrap my arms around her, keeping her in them by tightening my grip on her.

That uneven beating in my heart is starting up again, but this time I let it be. I need this. I don't deserve it, we don't deserve it, but we're giving it to each other anyway. There could be a soul out there who calls it wrong. That we deserve to be treated horribly. All I know is that I'm a monster who deserves hate, giving another monster love.

I can't see her reaction, but I can tell she's shocked. About a minute later, I feel her arms on my back, hugging me. I caress her back a little with my fingers, doing what I need to comfort her.

I can hear her give the softest whisper at one point, which says, "I wish I could stop time right now..."

She finally puts her arms down, prompting us to part.

"Duncan..." She tries to say, "You're complicated, okay? That's not a bad thing. You're human, at the end of it all... Someone out there is gonna believe in you. Always."

Does she mean that?

She sighs, deciding, "Look, you've convinced me. There is something I can do tomorrow, that doesn't involve a death. Get some sleep, and we'll escape with everyone."

I give a soft smile in return.

So we part ways, and I go back to my room, climbing in bed to try and sleep.

Everything in me feels far warmer than usual. And I'm okay with that.

 ~~~

I remember back when we were together, watching the stars on a cute little picnic date night. I was trying to get away from my family, and she needed escape from the world.

Back then, she'd turn to me for escape.

She'd be asleep in the grass, head resting on my shoulder. She'd have the calmest sleeping face, and it'd calm me.

Back then, I would hold her tightly, caress her back, and give a lingering kiss on her forehead.

"It's cheesy to say..." I'd whisper to her, "But I love you. You're the only one I'd be this cheesy to."

Back then... she was the world to me.

...

Now, we're situational allies at best.

And she sees me as a monster at worst.

Whatever I want to return to in terms of comfort with her is all in my dreams.

Maybe it's better if it stays that way.

~~~

"Where's Gwen?" I ask.

Bridgette points over to the throne. She's sitting by the steps of that, alone. Her face is pale, as though she'd been crying.

"Gwen?" I try to get her attention over to me. It works, as she looks up at me. She was trying to apologize, right?

She stands up once more, raising her hand to try and get everyone else's attention.

Everyone ignores her.

She clears her throat as loud as she can.

Everyone ignores her.

I bang the table, making everyone glance at me.

"Let her speak." I say, making everyone turn to her.

"Not another apology, it's not enough," Leshawna grumbles.

Gwen hesitates to speak. It's clear in her voice that she's losing hope.

"I've told you how to get out of here... I need your help... look at what the stakes are here! Look at what's gonna happen to us! I know you can't trust me, and I know you won't trust me, but fight for your life. That's it for me."

"If... if I could save Geoff's life... if I could take it back..."

"I've slept here trying to get out by myself. I'm more drained than any of us. You might not believe such from me. You just watched and turned away when I asked for help, to help you... life is a bitch and gets lonely. I'm not one to complain about being alone, though. I've taken out so much on Chris, like he deserves, but it just makes me cold... that's never felt so deserving, but so wrong at the same time."

"Maybe Geoff would do this better. Owen, Harold, Cody, Tyler..."

"Punch me like the bag I am, and yet I'm still here..."

A tear falls from her eye. She's choking on it.

"Or just say I'm insufferable for crying. That works too..."

No one says anything. I look around, and everyone's stone faced.

"But look at what's going to happen if we don't get out of here. If we don't help each other out. I know I don't deserve to escape. I know you're thinking about killing me for revenge. But let me say my peace first before you do that..."

"If I could switch places with Geoff... if I could trade my life with all the people we lost... they'd all be here to ease your pain, and with me out, you'd be happy."

"I know about death more than you guys think. With my dad... and all of you... in every timeline... but I know there's no going back from sinning."

"But... I'm not scared. I know I have the empathy to keep holding on. And I know whose side I want to be on. Just let me use what breath I have left to get you all to safety. And then you can hate me for the rest of your lives. Then you can kill me."

I notice DJ, Courtney and Leshawna's hands flinch.

"Do they want us to give up? Do you want what they fought for to go to waste?"

"This isn't for me! This for them! I don't want your forgiveness, they do!"

She falls silent from there, trying to wipe away her tears.

It takes several minutes of pause and silence. Everyone's thinking about it.

Has Gwen not mentioned the others before this time?

There are times when apologies, no matter how grand, are meaningless.

For some people, that is.

I get up, asking her, "So what do we have to do to get out?"

It makes everyone look up at us. In her tears, she smiles at me. It's one of the most relieved smiles I've seen in years.

That's when DJ gets up too, saying nothing but everything at the same time.

Then Lindsay joins.

Then, to all of our surprise, Courtney.

"For them." She says briefly.

That makes Gwen shed another tear, and another as Courtney walks over to hug her tight.

Even I'm touched. Forgiveness. It's a beautiful thing.

I look over at the rest of the table, and they're already walking away, retreating to their rooms.

Bridgette, Leshawna, Noah...

I guess it wasn't enough for them.

"Okay..." Gwen moves on anyway, "I think this is enough people. We need to get up on that chandelier."

~~~

The TV turns black.

It's just static.

It's just... fire.

What is that supposed to mean?

"Why you thinking about fire?" I ask.

"I'm not..." Gwen says.

So why is it fire?

"Gwen?"

That's Chef's voice.

"Can we get her? Can we get through?! Is everything okay?! Gwen, if you can *static* you're *static* don't *static* you're *static* We're gonna *static*"

It's not a silhouette...

It's a very blurry image, but one of... Chef?

Chef, and two police officer girls, one dark and lanky, the other plus sized and with a ponytail. The former cop girl is by a hospital bed of sorts, with several machinery and shit around... a body? The body is covered by a blanket. There's a red light above them.

I focus all my attention on that, and it says, 'Heather Audet.'

"We're trying, okay?!" Chef tries to say. "We're getting you out! I don't know what... Gwen, come on! Get through!"

"You're trying to reason with a human firewall!" The cop with the ponytail shouts. "The entire system's held by her, I thought we established that! What? You think surgery's gonna fix it?!"

"Mac!" The other cop scolds.

*Static* "No, no, we're losing them! Gwen!! Gwen, we're... we don't know what's gonna happen to you, I'm being honest..." Chef says, "But you're gonna-! Well find a way for you to survive this, but... we lost so many already..." *Static*

"Just" *Static* "We don't" *Static* "The one behind" *Static* "The one behind all of this-" *Static*

"THE MASTERMIND IS-"

It cuts off.

Gwen and I stare at each other in utter shock.

What the f**k was that?!

"Chef is...?" I try to process that. "No... Chef wouldn't... why is Chef helping us? And why the hell aren't those cops arresting him?!" I don't even know those cops.

"Firewall?" Gwen tries to process that. "Is that why the TV isn't-?!"

Gwen is a firewall?!

Fire...

Fire...

The TV is green.

There's flames everywhere.

The cops...

My dad...

My brothers...

Me. As a child. Walking out of the flames.

"Mal! Mal, did you see that?! I blew it up! I actually did it! Mal? Mal, where are...?"

I'm facing my dad now. We both put two and two together.

"You did this?" Dad asks.

I don't answer.

"People lived there!" Dad begins to raise his voice.

"What?!" I didn't know that. "B-but he said... what?! W-where are we?!"

"You ruined people's lives." Dad says.

The cops are approaching me, menacingly.

I'm crying. I'm crying in fear. I'm crying in terror.

"I'm sorry!" I whine. "I didn't... I just... I didn't want to hurt anyone... I just wanted to get away... I was just scared..."

"You ruined people's lives." Dad says again. His voice is angering more and more by the second.

I cry, "I just wanted to-"

"YOU RUINED PEOPLE'S LIVES!" The next thing I know, my own father is punching me in the face, slamming me to the ground.

I keep screaming, begging, and crying the whole time, but the cops keep tackling me and yanking my eyes to my back. Soon, I can't move my hands from my back, and the cops are trying to pull me up and away into a car. I'm crying the whole time, screaming, "NO! NOOO! NO! STOP! STOP, PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I'LL MAKE UP FOR IT! DON'T TAKE ME AWAY!!! I'M A KID, PLEASE!!!! I'M SORRY, PLEASE!!! HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!! HELP!!!"

No one helps me. My brothers simply say, "This oughta teach him."

I keep screaming, my words becoming wordless and my tears sneering at my face. But the cops keep pushing me into the car, their hands anything but soft on me. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!?!?!"

To that, my dad grabs the car door with enough force to make it shake, angrily spitting in my face, "YOU ARE A BAD BOY! DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'RE A BAD BOY!!"

Next thing I know, I'm running out. I'm running away. I'm running into the darkness, as far to the ladder as I can.

~~~

Breathe in...

Breathe out...

It's okay...

There is nothing bad going on...

Except there is.

I can't focus on what words to focus on as I stand in the void of unconsciousness. I sit down and cover my head to try and get them out.

"Duncan? Are you okay?"

I turn around, seeing Gwen standing there in panic.

"Gwen?! What are you-?!"

"It's my fault! I'm sorry! I'm distressing you! I-I-I-" She begins weeping yet again.

I immediately rush over to her to hug her tight, telling her, "You're not at fault, it's-it's me. I'm the one who hurt you in the first place, it's my fault you're suffering. I'm not going to hurt you again, I swear..."

She hugs back. Warmth. Affection. I need them right now...

Then she grins sinisterly, holding her spear out to my back.

My eyes shoot open as I shove her away before she can stab me. The spear slashes across my back.

"You soft vulnerable fool!" She cackles. "You think you can trust a traitor?! You think I could just forgive you for what you did?! Can anyone?!"

"But I'll give credit where credit is due, unlike the others here, I'm actually ALIVE!"

I step back, trying to run away. Sadly, you can't run away from your own head.

She's here.

"Heather?"

She proclaims, "You promised you'd be my friend! We were gonna destroy the island together, and now you throw it all away! I guess you don't care abut me, huh?!"

I step back from her, but I end up bumping into Tyler, who screams at me, "You killed me! It was an accident! I didn't want to do anything wrong! I-I-I- YOU deserve to be the one executed! Not me!"

They're all showing up.

"Dirty Gwen stealer... dirty violent animal that flung me in a trap!"

"You wanted to help me... why did your help get me targeted then?! Huh?! Huh?! What am I supposed to do then?!"

"You couldn't even bother to protect Bridgette, dude. You just had to leave her grieving and alone!"

"Why did I ever think we were friends? I wanted to be the hero, I wanted you to make me the hero, but you made me a murderer instead! There's blood on my hands! YOU put blood on my hands!! Now look at how many people are dead! We're all DEAD, BECAUSE OF YOU!!!"

They circle me, and I try to pull my knife out, only to find no weapon.

Fire circles around me as the figures disintegrate in my head. Heather's breaking apart. Tyler's vomiting water. Cody has bugs swarming around him. Owen is choking. Geoff is being held like a puppet. Harold's body is covered in soot.

I point my finger at them, trying to reach over to them, but all that comes out is a bullet, shooting down the walls in front of them saying, "We're all dead because of you"

It shatters along with the illusions of them.

"And now you want to be the good guy, huh? Don't want to be the bad boy?" Gwen asks me, holding the spear. "Go on, say the line! 'I don't want to be the bad guy anymore!'"

I choke on whatever words I want to get out.

Gwen adds, "If you really want to play the hero? Tell me, why are we all dying? Why are you asleep while this is all happening?"

I can't say anything.

Literally, I can't say anything. Someone is stabbing a spear into my torso, pain sneering all the way.

Izzy is cackling behind me. "There can only be one crazy guy on this island! You seem like a fun guy to kill!"

"You know, Izzy, for once, is right!" Leshawna, DJ, Lindsay, Bridgette, and Noah are walking up smiling at me on the ground bleeding. "We always thought Duncan was a cruel, unlikeable bastard, and he's been in the show for far too long. Sooner we get rid of him, the better."

"You know, I can always find another delinquent to get my ratings, one that won't betray me." Chris chimes happily. "And the death of Duncan Allen will be the best of ratings!"

*BANG*

*BANG*

Izzy and Chris are struck, disintegrating in the fire.

Courtney is standing there with a gun. She walks up to me with a stern look. "You're the reason I'm here, Duncan. I want to be free from all your abuse you put me through. And you don't have to worry about the others. I'll take good care of them. I will be the hero who gets them out of here. I will gladly kill Gwen, Chris, and Izzy! I'll even kill Monokuma! Then everyone can stay here happily ever after! Forever!"

"And then Duncan... you'll be next!"

She points the gun at my face, pulling the trigger instantly.

*BANG*

 ~~~

Once the fire is heard, it all vanishes, leaving me to jump up.

The black void is now white.

My wounds are gone.

"Duncan? Are you okay?"

I turn around, seeing Gwen standing there in panic.

"Gwen?! What are you-?!"

"It's my fault! I'm sorry! I'm distressing you! I-I-I-" She begins weeping yet again.

I hold back, not wanting to approach her.

"You can't trust me, is that it?" Gwen asks. "You don't want to be near me thinking I'll hurt you?"

Thinking I'll hurt you.

I sit down, finding my knife next to me.

"Forget about me, Gwen..." I breathe out. "I can just... I can just make it all easier..."

I pick the knife up, wondering how to point it at my neck.

"I went through multiple timelines to save your life, and here you are trying to end your own?!" Gwen calls out. "You can't die here, Duncan! Not when everyone's who's alive is..."

"Look, I NEED you, Duncan! You must have some reason to stay alive!"

"It's my fault you're suffering..." I say to her. "I'm just the bad guy..."

To that, Gwen says, "You didn't cause my suffering. You were trying to escape from something unhappy. I was too... but that's the beauty of redemption."

"Redemption?!" I put the knife down and call out, "There's no such thing as a redemption arc!"

"Then why do I believe in it?" Gwen asks, approaching me to put a hand on me. "I kinda like nice you. We all do. Bad boy. No bad boy. There are people who like you."

"I caused people's deaths!" I whine. "I'm irredeemable!"

"You're not the enemy." Gwen makes it clear. "Chris is. The Mastermind is."

The chains are on the figures of all the dead campers, who stand there lifeless. They're chains held not by me, but Chris.

"You tried to stop it all. You never wanted to condemn them."

"Doesn't matter..." I call out when Gwen says that.

That's when the puppets start talking to me.

"You were there to give a new sense of joy and purpose. Especially after Alejandro. You talked to me when no one else was."

"You and I had a laugh together. Not a lot of people did that."

"You gave me advice on how to treat Gwen and give me the idea of my sanctuary."

"You returned me to Izzy. You listened to me when no one else did."

"You were one of my best friends, dude! I have more nice memories of you than you realize!"

"Despite you being my bully when I was around... you gave me hope to move forward. You were like a brother to me."

Then the chains pull on them, trying to yank them away.

"Guys!" I run over with my knife, and one throw is all it takes to cut the chains and leave them standing there.

Those chains all had words on them.

'Failed Villain'

'Victim Of Circumstances'

'Unfortunate Sexual Target'

'Too Good For The World'

'Cartoon Violence'

'Failed Hero'

"A hero..." Izzy's there, dumbfounded. "You would do that if you could... I never could do what you could do... that is, if you'd do it..."

"There are people you can still save!" Leshawna, DJ, Lindsay, Bridgette, and Noah are walking up pleading at me like I'm some savior. "We never thought Duncan would be the one to save us, but he is quite the survivor. So help us! We need your help!!"

"Hey, I wanted that!" Chris scoffs. "He'll say no, of course!"

Someone grips my hand. It's Courtney.

She rests her head on my shoulder, asking, "Do you think we could still have a chance together? We could be free here, and sort things out. We can take good care of everyone left together. We can be the heroes who get them out of here..."

"What do you say?"

I hesitate, shaking.

I don't know what to do...

"I CAN'T!"

~~~

"Gwen?!" I call out.

She looks over at me in panic. She asks, "Duncan? Are you alright?"

"Yeah." No.

She puts a hand on my forehead, then she slaps me in the face.

"I don't want your lies right now!" She scolds.

"You know about the room?" I ask.

"Leshawna took you up here. Obviously. Lindsay bailed, and Courtney and I kept going. There's a door at the end of the TV maze. The Final Dead Room. Izzy warned us that the game was lethal... so Courtney encouraged that we bail and try to get the others so we can vote. Noah has not done anything with us, DJ was looking after you, and Bridgette only tried once before bailing. Leshawna, Courtney, and I have been scavengers outside the room, and... looks like Leshawna found something."

"Izzy wants us dead!" I claim. "Of course she'd do it with bombs! Unless we... unless we..."

Unless we kill someone.

No matter what we choose, we die.

It's clear that's not all that's on Gwen's mind.

"I didn't get another one of those Chef messages..." Gwen brings up. "Is this Island even real?"

"We are. The Island, probably not." I point out. "It sank, remember?"

"Yeah..." Gwen wonders. Her voice turns cold as she recalls, "Something about a firewall holding this place together..."

'"You're trying to reason with a human firewall!" The cop with the ponytail shouts. "The entire system's held by her, I thought we established that! What? You think surgery's gonna fix it?!"'

"What that cop girl said?" She recalls. She's hugging herself, questioning, "A m    I    e v e n    s o m e o n e    w h o    c a n    b e    s a v e d . . . ?"

Her voice is slow and shrill in questioning that.

"Of course you can be saved," I state. "We're getting out of here. We'll figure it out."

What does it mean that Gwen is a firewall? What kind of system did the Mastermind put in her body?!

And I don't think DJ knows surgery, so I wouldn't try it.

"If that's true..." Gwen tries to stay calm, but she's shaking. "We gotta kill the ones responsible for this. We gotta find Izzy and kill her."

"Kill Izzy? You realize how impossible that is?! She survived all this other shit!" I proclaim. "Gwen, we're not killing Izzy without a plan!"

"Then what's your plan, huh?" Gwen asks me. I don't answer. "Exactly. I say we hear Courtney out first before we decide."

"Should we tell her then?" I ask. It might be our only choice.

"I've been flip flopping on what. Whether I should tell her I'm the traitor or not." Gwen admits. "But I just got her forgiveness back..."

That's... selfish of a reason.

"Look, we gotta go, we gotta figure out what our next plan of action is," Gwen says, ushering me out of bed so we can go.

My legs are shaking as I stand up. Come on self, don't fail on me now...

~~~

Noah's yanking his weapon out, not stopping. He proclaims when looking at the two of us laid on the floor, "I did say I would kill the delinquent if I chose to do this!"

He goes in for the stab.

That's when someone else steps in, blocking it with another weapon.

"Gwen?!" I look up, seeing Gwen holding out her spear, blocking the blade of the knife.

"You have a weapon?!" Noah realizes, shocked.

"Back off!" Gwen calls out, pushing the little guy off his feet.

The others are left in shock. "Gwen, where did you get...?!"

Are they putting the pieces together based on that?!

With no question, and no chance to reflect, Gwen grabs the hands of both me and Courtney.

And she sprints us out of the scene.

I have no strength on my own to run this fast, or process where I'm going. It's all Gwen. She's running for her life.

No. For our lives.

She only stops running when we're by the top of the Vulture tower, as she's slashing her spear across some walls.

"Gwen?!" Courtney's trying to catch her breath, utterly confused. "What the hell are you-?!"

She doesn't answer, kicking down a small door to a little hole.

Not hearing our consent, she shoves us both in there, leaving us with a small fall.

We both land on a pile of soft pillows, so we're not hurt.

Now we have time to reflect on what just happened.

We're in a little room between the walls, with sleeping bags and art supplies everywhere. There are drawings on the walls, pencil sketches of certain things. There's one of Chris and his sadistic smile. There's one of Izzy and Brainzilla together in an embrace. There's one of me amongst the TV static...

I don't want to ask how Gwen found this. That's not important right now.

"Gwen?!" Courtney's getting up, shocked. "What the hell was all of that?! Noah's... the others are... they're still out there!"

"We can't go back out there with Noah trying to kill us!" Gwen snaps.

Courtney snaps back, "You are being alarmingly selfish right now!"

"If he killed someone, wouldn't the BDA have gone off?" Gwen asks.

True. It hasn't.

The others are okay?

"And what's with the spear?!" Courtney asks. "Where did you get that?!"

Gwen doesn't answer.

"Huh?! Where did you get that?!"

She still doesn't answer.

"We have to go back-!"

"We can't!" Gwen proclaims. "We can't rush out there right now!"

I speak up, admitting, "Best we can do is... I don't even know..."

"We need to-"

"No we don't Courtney!" I call out. "Your peacekeeping didn't work! It NEVER did! Look at where we are right now! Noah's snapped! Who knows who else has snapped! Someone's gonna kill..."

This is it. Any idea of an alliance or joining together is over.

It's every camper for themselves.

"Noah's not the only one," Gwen says. She's looking through some sort of peephole by a broken piece of floor.

I shove her away, looking through.

The corridor is empty now, chairs flung everywhere.

Lindsay's walks by, holding shakingly a knife of her own.

No... she's one of the last people expect to-!

This is worse than I thought!

"They're split," Gwen says.

So we have two people running around trying to find someone to murder.

Leshawna, Bridgette, and DJ? I have no idea where they are, or if they've snapped too.

"Gwen..." My voice is shaking. "What do we do?!"

"I don't know!" She snaps, kicking one of the pillows. "I don't know what to do to stop this..."

We glance over at Courtney, who's sitting and facing the wall.

"Courtney... we can explain..." I try to tell her.

"I know you two tried." She admits. "I'm not mad at you guys... I'm kinda mad at... no..."

Herself?

"Courtney..." Gwen breathes out.

"I can't believe this..." She processes. "I failed... I lost... I actually lost... I thought I could do everything, I thought I was doing the right thing for everyone... then I get told I care about no one, and when I do... this happens. This always happens. They still died..."

"Courtney, I don't blame you," Gwen tells her. "I never did. I know it comes bad, but... I know you mean the best you can."

We all huddle together. This is the first time the three of us have in a long time...

"I don't know what happens after this..." Courtney admits.

Me neither.

"Whatever the case, we die together. Ain't that a punishment in of itself?" I try to say.

It warrants a snicker from Courtney. The idea of the three of us stuck together forever.

"I bet I could've forced you all through that bunker, then we would've been out. Maybe." Courtney brings up.

"Stop. They would have never obliged anyway and you know it." I say.

"Yeah... yeah, I know. I just... I just thought I could have more power than this... I have the luxury of the Canadian Law by my side. I'm supposed to be the center of order and direction. I'm supposed to always know what the right call is to get the best results... but nobody cares about that. Not you. Not Noah. Not Izzy. Not Harold... not anyone."

She groans to herself, burying her face with her hand. "Sorry. I'm being a pain right now."

"You were targeted for murder just a few minutes ago, don't stress it," Gwen understands.

"I-it's great to be the leader, but... that's a lot of weight," I admit. "A hero... that's a lot of pressure. Maybe that's why it's better to do wrong for me. It's easier... killing is easier..."

"I am a hero." Courtney says. "I can be, anyway."

"Everyone's got something bad about them, ya know?" I try to ask.

Gwen's adjusting her position to get out her book. She asks, "Hey Courtney, that dream journal you had. Where is it?"

"It's not here." Courtney says.

"You have dream journals?" I ask.

She tells the story, "When I was around six, I had a book I'd use to write a fantasy world of my own, and I was the queen. I'd have a kingdom of fairies and unicorns, living in glitter and color and happiness... when my mom found out about it, she threw it away and slammed a textbook in my face. She told me that I didn't need a dream journal. I had one dream. To rule Canada."

"Well damn, ruling Canada..." Gwen finds that harsh.

"Don't look at me, you still binge read Twilight." Courtney shoots back playfully.

"And is it... good?" I've never read it.

"When I was ten, sure," Gwen says, "Was in a hardcore vampire phase. Then some sick kids bullied me for reading them. So I had to sneak my way to them."

"Why sneak?" I ask, "Couldn't your mom take you to read them?"

"She would, but... I dunno, it was easier to sneak them. And more fun." Gwen admits.

"Ooh, Gwen the rebel!" I tease.

"I'm not a rebel! I'm just... able to handle myself," Gwen defends.

"You think your mom will be okay?" I ask her.

She hesitates to answer, but sighs and says, "If I were to get out... I think they'll be very disappointed in me. Like when I got with you."

I get that. To have to admit to your family that you were working for executioners...

"I try to make choices that give people a good perspective of me," Gwen says.

"Me too." Courtney replies.

"I don't." I reply.

"I guess it's all in the perspective of the situation," Gwen admits. "On one hand, I betrayed Courtney when I kissed Duncan. On the other, I was helping him be happy."

"At the end of it all, we can at least agree on one thing," I decide. "Total Drama started it."

"Fair," Courtney decides.

"Even if the flow sucks, we went with it," Gwen confesses. "The river is a bitch but it keeps flowing. I always seem to get caught up in the wrong current, and... I never knew why. Or what I did to deserve it. I mean, Courtney, for example, your current is great! You have a whole life of luxury and ruling and all these lawyer friends!"

"Don't push it, my life isn't that great," Courtney says. "My so called dad cheated on my mom, and my mom died just a bit before the show."

"Gwen's dad is gone too, right? I mean, I'm no expert at good parenting, but seemed like Gwen had the best ones before that," I admit.

Gwen confesses, "When my dad died, I imagined what death was like... for all my life. Is this where I find out?"

"Why would you even think of that?" I ask.

Gwen asks back, "Why would you?"

True... I did say I wanted to...

"Gwen, Courtney, you have more to live for than me." I admit. "You two have love to go back to. A home. A chance to change... I don't."

"Yes. You do." Courtney calls out. "You always have. You just decide not to change."

"It doesn't matter now," I try to dismiss.

"Matters enough to know as much about each other as we can before we die!" Courtney calls out. "And I'm here to say, you would have your reasons to live so much more visible if you didn't constantly burn them!"

"And you expect me to just put it back together?" I ask.

"I'm not you." Courtney admits. "None of us are you but you."

"I'm just offended by it all, and disgusted," Gwen says. "Even after all of this. Even after the internet hate. Even after the boyfriend kisser status. Even after the killing game. Even after I killed Geoff. Even after all of this... I STILL wanted to stick around. And I still do."

That's proof enough that she's far better than me.

Gwen asks, "You ever look back at your bad choices in life, and realize how it all could've been avoided if you just talked it out?"

"Oh yeah. Totally. But some of us just refuse to do that." Courtney replies.

"I really should've seen it earlier, when I had control of my life, at least," Gwen says. "This is what I get for being bad at talking."

We fall silent after that.

Is this really gonna be the end?

We can't just hide out here and hope that someone kills. That's not right.

We can't just wait here to die.

These two girls right here? They have lives. They don't deserve to die. They can't die...

Die...

Dead...

The Final Dead Room.

I glance over at Gwen and Courtney, who are huddling together. I hear Courtney say to Gwen, "Despite everything... I'm glad you were there for me through it all."

This might be the last time I see them. If I...

I can barely stand up. My fever is still slamming my head like a brick wall. My hunger's gotten pretty unbearable these past few hours. I can't even bring myself to second think my choices.

That's why I'm the perfect one for the job.

I find the strength in my to stand, shaking the whole time as I go for the little hole we came in from.

"Duncan?" Gwen realizes.

By that point, I'm grabbing the part of the wall and slamming it in, throwing the stool in the room over it.

Now they're safe.

"Duncan!" Gwen is banging on the wall. She's screaming, "Duncan, what are you doing?! Duncan!!!"

"Take care of each other," I say.

"Duncan, stop!!" Courtney's screaming as well. "Duncan, don't go! Don't do this!!"

I'm already walking away, not hearing whatever escape plan they have.

"DUNCAN! STOP!! DUNCAN, I NEED YOU!!! STOP!!!!"

~~~

(GWEN’s POV)

"We gotta get Duncan!" Courtney demands, already running towards the bunker.

But midway there, someone comes out of the bunker.

DJ is teary eyed. He's carrying Duncan in his arms, who is burned on the back, bitten in the arm, bloodied nose, and soot covering him.

"Duncan!" Courtney runs over, devastated. "No! No no no no... you bastard! Why would you do this?! Wake up!!"

I keep my distance, but I'm shaken up. Shocked.

What happened to him?!

"Izzy was there..." DJ whimpers. "She was trying to strangle him... I-I punched her in the face! She's knocked out down there! I... I hit someone!!"

He's crying at that idea.

That's surprising to me. DJ is such a pure soul. I can't imagine anyone so kind hitting someone...

But still, given the circumstances!

"DJ! Stop!" I proclaim, arguing, "You did the right thing! Look at me! You saved someone's life! Do not be ashamed of that, okay?!"

DJ might not see it, but he's a hero right now. If he didn't step in, Duncan would be...

"He's alive?!" Courtney realizes.

"There's three of us." I state. "If he was dead, an announcement would've happened. Or at least the bombs would be defused."

"Get him help!" Courtney immediately proclaims.

"There are bombs about to go off-"

"I don't care!" She shouts at DJ. "Get him to safety!"

So on Courtney's demand, we get Duncan up to his room, placing him in bed to safely rest.

"Help him!" Courtney's still begging. "DJ, please!"

"I can't help him, Courtney!" DJ shouts, "Don't you realize that?! I have nothing to work with! I have no food to give him! No medicine. No TIME! I..." He's crying again. "I want to help, but..."

"I'm sorry... Duncan's on his death bed."

"You're kidding!" Courtney's enraged. "You're kidding me right now!!!"

"Courtney!" I try to talk to her, but she's storming out of the room, bawling her eyes out.

"Gwen, I'm sorry, really, I am..." DJ's saddened. "I'll... I'll try and help Courtney, at least..."

He walks out of the room too, leaving me alone with an unconscious Duncan.

I kneel next to the bed, hearing weak scattered breathing from the delinquent.

My hand grips the bed. I don't know what I'm feeling right now seeing this, but none of it is good.

My blood is boiling right now, like I have no control over myself. But I want to.

I can't go back. It'll just make things worse! Nothing I've done will be erased! It'll all last forever!

My care for this punk lasts forever...

No! I won't go back! I won't oblige with it! I...

You forced me to do this, Monokuma! You took me away from my home and took everything I had! I obliged cause I thought I could be saved!

But no... that's the very reason we're all here... cause I've been trying to save myself...

I'm backing up from the bed, kicking the floor as I yank my hair. I'm scared out of my mind.

My friends are dying!

They're gonna die from the time...

0:33:09

0:33:08

0:33:07

I don't want this! I never wanted this!

I wanted to live. I wanted to see my family again! I believed! I had hope I could get out of this!

But I'm the firewall...

I'm the...

I yank out my spear, slamming it on the floor over and over again, finally throwing it to the other side of the room.

I crouch there, bawling, hitting myself in the head over and over again to bury it, get rid of the sound of the constant ticking.

0:31:03

0:31:02

0:31:01

I scream. Feral.

I want to get out of here with everyone! I wanted a happy ending since I got here! I just wanted to...

Is it really impossible now?

~~~

Duncan!

  *BANG*

  0:01:09

  I'd love to have more time with you. My cherished friend...

If I see you here sooner than fifty years, I'll make the other side miserable for you.

In the meantime, I'll leave the rest to you.

~~~

(DUNCAN’s POV)

Not her...

Not her...

Please not her...

I...

I didn't want to lose her... less than anyone else...

Someone I once loved... someone who stole my heart and broke it...

I can't stop shaking. I can't help but crawl over to her, gently touching her once lovely dyed red hair...

Hot tears are still falling off my face as I hold her head.

And from there, it's just empty thoughts.

And wordless screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!"

"GWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!!"

(People hate this ship. People in universe hate them. And it would be wrong to ignore why. These are two screwed up selfish kids, who are walking through hell. There’s no sugarcoating any of this. It sounds like forth wall breaking, but Total Drama always functioned like this. The show destroys people. Even though Gwen was always gonna die, I originally was gonna have them get back together, but I knew deep down that was not gonna work for this story. They were never a healthy relationship. But there was a reason why they cared for each other in the past that can never be ignored, even if you really, REALLY want to.)

(Gwen to me in the canon show is the most misunderstood character in the entire franchise. And here, she’s nothing short of a tragedy. A character whose Ultimate title only gave her a bad name and would destroy her until she died. What kind of talent is it to destroy relationships? You’ve been shut out of the world all your life due to grief, and you’re forced out of the world, being assured you’d be cared for, and nobody in the world would hate you. Then you get out in the world, and the whole world hates you. You could blame everything on her, say she’s selfish, say she’s evil, say everything is her fault, say her death was the only good thing that came out of her, and you’d be valid. You could say she was a victim, say she was used by everyone, say she only wanted what was best for everyone, say she was always a good person deep down, say she didn’t deserve such a cruel fate at all, and you’d be valid. (Gwen’s red hair is a reference to the version of her in the drawing board, where she could be a straight forward hero with a happy ending and could escape the version of her that Total Drama has made her. But that’s all it is, a drawing board. She’s still Gwen.) For so many TDDRI characters, there’s no one way to look at them, as it’s impossible to do so for any person in the real world.)

(And I think the most tragic part of their story here is that Duncan never got Gwen’s forgiveness. You can take Gwen’s final monologue and interpret it as her forgiving him, but she never told him to his face that she forgave him. Maybe she did. Maybe she didn’t. Either way, Duncan would never know, and would now spend his whole life thinking he screwed her over and caused all of her suffering. Again, whether or not Duncan deserved forgiveness is up to you. You’re valid in saying he is, or isn’t. I’m not one to decide all your thoughts on my story.)

(It’s a tragic moral at the end, but I think is one that is necessary. And the only other forms of media I saw address this besides a comedic interpretation in the canon show is Bojack Horseman and Madoka Magica (And very recently Puss N Boots): Some situations are flat out hopeless. You can look at things as optimistically as possible, be as hopeful as you want, and press on to try and escape the bad times... and sometimes that’ll save you, but other times, you will be powerless to stop certain things. Things won’t have a happy ending. For all you know, you could not have a happy ending at all, and your story could be cut short. What matters is how you deal with your black situation. Do you give up? Do you try and cower from it? Do you live in a lie? Do you drag others with you so you don’t feel alone? Or do you stare despair in the face and take control of it, and keep your dignity as the soul you want to be remembered as to the bitter end. As a fighter, a bystander, a victim, or a sacrifice. The more you cower despair, the worse it’ll get, so the best you can do is face it head on. Face despair, face drama, face your own demise.)

(And with the Deadly Life of this chapter, Gwen’s trial will reveal exactly how she died and what she did when she faced her despair. And it’s a message that’s gonna carry on to the remaining survivors of the killing game. A lesson that the Mastermind won’t learn, but others will. Yeah, if you couldn’t tell, this story’s Mastermind wants a peaceful reality, full of law and order, and rejects despair that’s uncalled for. I know. That’s irony.)

(My favorite scene of their plotline will always be Duncan hugging her. I think the best words I could give is what I wrote in the story. A monster who deserves hate giving another monster love. It’s also touching and shows both of their state of character growth. Duncan is actually thinking of a girl beyond whether or not he wants to bang her, he’s unapologetically being the soft and caring one in this dynamic.)

[redheadspark]

"you are not burdening my love, talking care of you is my responsibility" thats so regency era and so Benedict Bridgerton 💖

Anon: My heart! I love this request! Thanks anon!

Not A Burden

Summary: After a nasty falling out with your family because of your courtship with a Bridgerton son, the love of your life comforts you and brings you peace.

"I know this news is quite shocking--"

"Oh, on the contrary, Lady Bridgerton, it is a sandal! A mere scandal in the making!"

You were standing in the study of the Aubrey Hall, overhearing Violet Biridgerton try to calm down your mother and father before they were going to leave permanently. You were crying, silently in tears as your heart was breaking and your world was shook to its core. You merely invited your parents over to tea and to tell them of the recent news of your engagement, your fiancé at your side on the loveseat couch and thinking that both your father and mother would be ecstatic with the news.

You were wrong, dead wrong.

It wasn't that your parents were nasty people, they were rational and decent. They were well respected in the community and amongst the upperclass. But your father was strict with you and your actions, not wanting to tarnish the reputation and the name of your family. You are their eldest daughter, the next in line and you too had a decent reputation to uphold. They have heard of the Bridgeton and some of the scandals that the family was part of in the past, all cleared up no doubt. But still, a scandal was a scandal in the eyes of your father. However, that didn't stop you from being smitten with a fellow artist in your class at art school.

The second eldest Bridgerton. Benedict.

As soon as your parents heard the news of your engagement, they were floored. Your father as livid, searing angry eyes at you and telling you that it would ruin your reputation and your life to be married to such a man with a scandalous name behind him. You were surprised and in tears to hear him denouce you as his daughter, stomping out of the room and your mother on his heels in tears herself. You were frozen in your seat, Benedict seeing you in agony and weeping and was angry himself. He was about to chase after your father, fury on his tongue for making his fiancé break down when his brother, The Viscount, stopped him and told him to take a breather and cool off. Kate, Anthony's lovely wife who immediately took you in as a sister, rushed to you side and comforted you as both Anthony and Violet Bridgerton went after your parents and tried speaking to them.

"Your daughter and my son are very much in love," Violet explained calmly, you sniffing a bit as you were slitting in some more and trying to hear the conversation, "They are a good match, surely you can see it?"

"I only see the disappointment of my parenting for my daughter to go against my wishes!" Your father sneered back, "This is not how I raised my daughter to behave and respect her parents,"

"Your daughter is a respectable and noble woman who brings happiness and joy to my brother, sir," Anthony relied cooly, "Surely the happiness and joy of your child is far more important than the choices of ones parents, even if those choices are fallacious,"

"Anthony, please!" Violet hushed her son.

"I will not let my daughter drag our name in the mud for this!" you father explained, taking in a deep breath before he went on, "You and I have always been decent with one another, Violet. Your family has done well in the past, and although you have mended those scandals you were in...I cannot afford to be tied to it. Nor can my daughter...and I do not wish to recognize her as such if she marries your son,"

You gasped, covering your mouth and fresh tears were falling.

"Surely you can't be serious in doing this to your daughter, your own child, Thomas!" Violet said in a low tone, sounding just as shocked herself. You heard nothing for a moment, thinking that it was a mistake in what your father said. He wouldn't cut you off, take you out of his life...would he?

"Goodbye, Lady Bridgeton, Viscount," He cooly replied, and he was out the door with your mother in tow. You hurried over to the window, hiding behind the curtains there to not be seen, as your father and mother climbed into the carriage and took off down the path. Out of your life, it felt so permanent and so real. They would simply let you go, remove you from their lives and blood line, all because you fell in love with a boy.

"How could they do that to their child?" Anthony said in a low tone, sounding angry himself as you the door opening beside you that lead out to the patio. You looked, seeing Benedict and his brother Colin coming in with The Duke of Hastings and Daphne on their tail. Benedict saw you, walking over in massive steps to hold you in his arms as you wept and cried.

"T-they cut me out and d-d-disowned me," You whimpered, hearing a gasp from Daphne and a low growl from Colin, "Your mother and Anthony t-t-ried to reason to them, but my f-f-ather....he--"

"I got you, my dear," Benedict hummed to you, you clinging to him tightly as he kissed your head, "I'm so sorry they did that to you. You didn't deserve it,"

"Neither of us d-d-did," You replied in a croak.

"Come now, it's alright," Benedict said in a soothing tone, "I have you now, okay? Let's go sit and calm ourselves by the fire,"

"I'll speak to Anthony about this, perhaps we can figure something out for the sake of your fiancé ," Simon said to Benedict, walking out of the room with Colin in tow as you felt a blanket over your shoulders. Soothing gentle fingers from Daphne was felt along your arms.

"Let me make you two some tea and get a new fire going," She said soothingly, petting your hair with affection before she took walked out. Benedict guided you to the very loveseat where you broke the news to your parents. You remembered being happy in that moment, thinking that they would be over the moon with joy for their daughter and future son-in-law.

"You are going to stay here for now on," Benedict explained to you as he rubbed your arms and brought the blanket tighter around you, "Mother already made a room in advance for you for use. There's no where else we want you to be then here with us,"

"I can't have your family do that and be responsible for me," You reasoned, looking up at Benedict and seeing him give you a look of concern, "How would it look to have a disowned women sleeping under your mother's roof?"

"It would look like my mother's taking care of her future daughter in law and making sure she is loved and safe," Benedict explained calmly with a small smirk on his face, tracing a tear away with a thumb, "We already love you, my dear. It's not a real struggle, not with this lot of a family."

"I would be a burden to you all when this news breaks out," You explained some more, sniffling and rubbing your nose with your fingers, "Gossip will run rapid, and my father will simply think of me as a ghost--"

"Sweetheart," Benedict said to you, silencing you instantly as his bright eyes poured into your own. You loved his eyes, they were the first thing that took your breath away about him when you two met in art class, not to mention the sound of his laugh and the gentle touch of his fingers against your hand.

"You are not burdening my love. Taking care of you is my responsibility. It is an honor to do so, and I have no problem with that," He explained to you soothingly, you watching him with wide eyes as he went on, "I knew you were going to be my wife when you first told me I was using the wrong paintbrush in class. I knew then that you were the one for me, and I still stand by it,"

You grinned, seeing him smile back in return from the memory. He leaned down and kissed you softly, you leaning into him and feeling that warmth again. He pressed one more kiss against your lips before your noses nuzzled. Your head rested on his chest, breathing in his unique smell and the fireplace that was being started by one of the servants.

"You have this family now, my dear. And as your family, I promise to love you and be by your side. I will only love you and show you that you are deserving of love. Your father made a grand mistake in shutting you out of his life, but I will never do that to you. I swear to you,"

You said nothing, the pair of your watching the new fire in the fireplace come to life as the evening went on. It was going to be heard and stressful for you, not knowing what tomorrow will bring into the world. But to think that your new family would be there, including the man holding you in his arms, that was enough.

Becoming a Bridgerton was a blessing for you.

The End.

[moonlit-reveriee]

Baby Blue

technoblade x fem!reader

concept: techno is scared of ‘corrupting’ the reader, but the reader’s kinda into it...

content warning // NSFW, virgin!reader, very minor angst?, small argument that gets resolved

listen to this while you read: BBBlue (Single) by Olivver the Kid

(this fic was heavily inspired by the lyrics of this song, so i highly recommended giving it a listen!)

───※ ·❆· ※───

When Techno found out you were a virgin, he was terrified. Not necessarily of the thought itself, but of the implications.

He’d never forget the look on your face when you told him. You tried to be casual about it, but he knew you well enough to spot the dusting of pink across your cheeks. You nuzzled yourself closer into his side. Whether out of embarrassment or something else entirely, he couldn’t tell. All he could feel was his heart dropping as the voices chanted at him to “ruin her”

Of course you, his pure sweet angel, would be a virgin. He once again crumbled under the idea that you had chosen him. How on earth could a person like you even think of being with a beast like him. Yet alone, giving up your virginity to him.

He hated how horribly turned on he was by the thought of taking it.

The voices had been relentless about it ever since. They were hyper focused on your every move, twisting every thought of his into something promiscuous. When you rolled out of bed in the morning and stretched, a small sigh escaping your lips, it was endless cries of “make her do that again” “you should fuck those moans out of her” “make her scream”

While making breakfast together in the morning, they wouldn’t stop telling him to “bend her over the counter” “take it right here”

Even at times where he was alone, the voices preoccupied him with endless thoughts of you. He was fairly certain they had forced him to imagine every possible way in which he could have you. “imagine fucking her against the wall” “you can be gentle for the first time y’know” “she’d feel so good writhing underneath us” “press her face into the mattress instead” “make her get on her knees and suck you off” “she’ll be such a pretty little slut for us”

He tried to take care of himself as often as he could, but it was becoming impossible to keep up with. There were only so many times a day he could jerk himself off alone behind locked doors. He was desperate, and sexually frustrated to say the least.

He felt disgusting for it.

After a week of this torment, he could barely even look at you yet alone touch you without the voices and his own guilt pounding against his skull. You couldn’t even think about broaching the subject again, because he was avoiding physical contact like the plague. He wouldn’t come to bed until he knew you were asleep, and would leave long before you woke.

As much as he tried to hide it, you could tell he was tired. Something was wrong, but you knew that he’d never just tell you about his problems unprompted. Techno was insufferably stubborn in that way. After several days of avoiding your gaze and leaning away from your touch, you chose to confront him.

“Techno”, you called for his attention quietly, trying to sound stern while remaining gentle with him. He didn’t turn to fully face you, but he glanced at the spot on the wall just above your head.

You struggled to find the words you wanted to say, so you settled on telling him, “Techno, you look tired.”

He turned his attention away from you. “Just a lot of work around the house this week. I’ll be fine after I rest.”

“Then come to bed with me.” You saw the way his body tensed and tilted away from you at that simple suggestion.

“I just need to write a couple letters first. You can go ahead of me.”

“Techno...”, you whined, daring to take a step closer to him. He gave you an almost panicked look, “why does it feel like you’ve been avoiding me?”

“I haven’t been avoiding you”, he responded quickly, trying to look through you instead of at you.

“Yes you have”, you responded firmly. A flash of guilt washed over his face at your tone. “You haven’t kissed or touched me for nearly a week now. I don’t even know for sure if you sleep in the same bed as me anymore. Fuck, you barely even talk to me.”

Angry tears threatened to spill down your cheeks, but you wanted to hold them in. Techno felt his chest tighten at the sight of it. He instinctively turned and reached out to comfort you, but forced himself to freeze.

“There”, you said, gesturing towards him, “just like that. You’re stopping yourself. Why are you doing that?”

He repeatedly opened and closed his fists at his side, wanting to have any conversation other than this one.

“[y/n], there’s just a lot going on in my mind right now”, he said. It wasn’t a complete lie. “I just need to work though it.”

“Then let me help you.”

“No”, he responded a little too quickly, “I- I mean, I just don’t want to talk about it with you yet...”

“Why not?”, you retorted, trying to squeeze any information you could out of him.

“I just don’t, okay? It’s uncomfortable, I don’t want to talk about it yet.”

“... is this about me being a virgin?”

“I never said that”, he replied, but the tension in his shoulders was enough to tip you off.

“Ah geez Technoblade, if it was that much of a problem for ya, you should have just told me”, you said sarcastically, “instead of avoiding all physical contact for a like week straight!”

“It’s not a problem, [y/n].”

“Certainly doesn’t feel that way.”

Techno huffed in frustration, grabbing a fistful of his hair at the root. He wasn’t sure if he was more upset with himself, or the fact that a few of the voices were still begging him to “please fuck her already”

“Love, I wasn’t avoiding you because I didn’t want it. They”, he tapped a finger against the side of his skull, “they want it so badly. It’s driving me insane.”

He breathed in and out shakily, trying to gauge your expression in the brief moments before he continued.

“I’m a monster. I’ve spilt more blood than anyone every should in a single lifetime. My appearance is more beast than man.”

He looked up briefly to find you staring right at him, a tight-lipped frown upon your face.

“What does that have to do with any of this?”

“I- ... I don’t want to corrupt your innocence”, he admitted.

“What on earth do you mean by that?”

“[y/n], you’re so perfect”, he answered almost breathlessly, “you’re so kind and so pure. Just living with me does enough to taint your reputation, I don’t wanna-“

He cut himself off to swallow thickly. He almost seemed scared of the words he was going to say next.

“I don’t want to ruin this part of you either...”

A heavy silence filled the tiny sitting room of techno’s cottage. In those few seconds, your eyes widened ever so slightly as his words suddenly clicked in your mind. This hulking boar of a man, an undisputed war criminal, was scared. He was scared of damaging you, your reputation, or your recently revealed ‘innocence’. Compared to himself, he saw you as a pure being who could be tainted by unwholesome thoughts.

If what he said about the voices was true, then his actions of the past few days would’ve made sense for him.

“Oh techno...”, you muttered softly, tentatively placing a hand on his jaw. His posture was curled inward, making him look small despite his size. He was stiff at first, but allowed you to lift his gaze to meet yours. He searched your eyes desperately for an indication of your reaction. You gave him a reassuring smile.

“Do you remember when we first met?”

A small wave of confusion washed over his face, but he nodded anyways. “It was at the festival...”

“That’s right”, you said, moving the hand on his face down to rest over his shoulder, “and do you remember what I did that day?”

“You threw an axe into Schlatt’s shoulder”, he answered, watching as the scene played out in his memory.

You lived with Niki in her bakery at the time, and witnessed firsthand the injustice she faced during Schlatt’s presidency. As the chaos after Tubbo’s execution occurred, you took the opportunity to hurl your axe where Schlatt stood upon his podium. The blow wasn’t fatal, but that wasn’t necessarily your goal. You just wanted to see the man in pain.

“It was a lucky shot really”, you admitted, “I wasn’t even aiming properly.” That managed to draw a small smile onto Techno’s lips.

“And do you remember”, you continued, “when I tried to confront the Butcher Army by myself?”

He grimaced at the thought. You had told him you just needed to make a quick trip to L’manburg for some supplies, leaving him at home alone to recover from the previous day’s events. You returned that evening with a sprained wrist and a couple large bruises forming on your body. None of them were trying to kill you, but you took a pretty good beating from Quackity just for trying to confront them.

“Why are you bringing all of this up now?”, he asked.

“Because”, you said, “this is the evidence that will support my next point.”

He looked bewildered by that statement, but continued to listen.

“I’m not a perfect person”, you resumed, “I have blood on my hands just like you do. I know it’s hard to compare to you, but I’m not devoid of my own sins. I can be mean, I’ve hurt people. I’m not a pure, angelic being who would quiver at a single inappropriate thought. I think you forget that sometimes.”

He let your words swirl around in his head; he couldn’t deny the logic in them. The evidence prevented him from denying the truth of your statement. He could almost be mad that you’d talked him into a corner, but he was more overjoyed at the fact that you knew him well enough to do so.

“And you know...”, you spoke quietly, letting your hand fall down to rest on his chest, “if you did somehow ‘corrupt my innocence’ as you say... I really wouldn’t mind that.”

Techno’s breath hitched in his throat. There were a brief few moments, maybe minutes, where he just stared at you. Then his lips were on yours; sudden and clumsy, but passionate. You gripped the fabric of his shirt as he grabbed at your waist, desperate to have you in his arms again.

“I’m sorry, I had to”, he muttered, his lips left hovering a hair’s breadth away from yours.

“You’re so silly sometimes”, you sighed affectionately, rubbing small circles into his collarbone. He gave you a gentle smirk before pressing another kiss into your lips.

“I’m sorry darling, I really am”, he said as he drew you into a tight hug. He took in your scent and the feel of your skin for the first time in days. It felt like he could survive off the feeling of your arms wrapped around his body alone. He wondered why he ever let himself be depraved of this.

“You know I trust you, right?”, you spoke with your face pressed into his chest.

“I’m not sure why, but yes.”

You decided not to reprimand him for saying that. You could help him unpack all that later. Instead, you brought your head up to whisper in his ear.

“You have my full and unconditional consent to take my virginity whenever you’re ready.”

Techno inhaled and held his breath, though for what, he wasn’t sure. It took a while for the full weight of those words to sink in. He leaned back to stare at your face, bringing one of his large and shaky hands up to cup your cheek.

“Are you sure?”, his eyes were wide with trepidation, practically pleading with you to tell him the truth. You leaned into his palm, indulging in the feeling of his skin on yours.

“I want you, techno. I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”

Techno was lost in your words. The sudden absence of guilt left his heart light and airy in his chest. For the first time in days, the voices were only a gentle murmur.

“she’s so beautiful” “she wants you” “make her feel good” “show her how special she is” “make her smile” “she’ll be so pretty” “she’s always pretty” “be gentle, no need to rush”

“make love to her”

“... I think I’m ready now.”

───※ ·❆· ※───

ayyyy guess who finally finished writing something!!!

parts of this feel a little rushed but ehhhhhh i was just excited to finally post it. i looove writing techno as an extremely self-conscious character who’s too caught up in their own head to see how ridiculous they’re being. so, this was a treat for me to write

i hope you enjoyed :D

-moonlight

[bubbledumbbinch]

Reactions of the dorm leaders hearing their gf get in trouble for beating a someone's ass bc they were being sexist( like girls shouldn't do this or you can act like that?) Thank you😘

A/N: this piece of writing is SFW/fluff!! Please keep in mind before you follow me, I post SFW and also NSFW! Please do not follow me unless you are 18+

Pairings: Dorm Leaders x Fem! Reader

Riddle Rosehearts x Fem! Reader

Riddle would be horrified to hear you would get in trouble! Since when did his rose think it was okay to hit another student?

Once he finds out the reason though, he also gets angry at the student who harassed you based on your gender. When he finds said student who was still in pain after you beat him up, it’s “Off with your head!!!”

Riddle would lightly scold you about not letting your emotions get the best of you - he knows how it feels all too well and it doesn’t feel good for anybody afterwards.

However, he is proud of you for being able to stand up for yourself.

Leona Kingscholar x Fem! Reader

Leona widens his eyes and lets out a small scowl when you showed him your bruised knuckles and told him you got detention.

“Tch, what did you do that for, herbivore… seriously, getting yourself into trouble?”

When you argued that it was for good reason because the student was provoking you, telling you “You’re not strong enough to be at this school, especially as a girl”, you just about had it.

Leona smiles when he hears you proved the sexist student wrong, hearing about how the student had to be taken to the infirmary because you beat his ass like he deserved.

Leona considers taking Ruggie to the infirmary to pay the student a little visit later to ask if he’s learned his lesson yet.

Azul Ashengrotto x Fem! Reader

When Azul hears a commotion going on in the lounge from the VIP room, he didn’t expect to see you being held back by Jade.

“My, what’s the matter here?” Azul’s voice rose, making everyone silent.

Azul found out that while you were serving tables, you had been repeatedly harassed by a particular student in a big group. The student was trying to touch your hand, grab you by the waist, and his stare was unforgiving as he scanned up and down your body. Finally, when he said “Come on back to my dorm baby, you don’t need to be working with these lame guys!” you had enough and decided to punch him right in the jaw.

Azul heard your story and simply beckoned for Floyd to “get rid of him as he seems fit”, causing the eel to laugh maniacally and the student to scream as he was dragged out of the lounge.

“Angelfish, I’m happy to hear you were able to defend yourself. Next time this happens though, please let Floyd, Jade, or I know so we can get rid of the student quietly.”

Kalim Al-Asim x Fem! Reader

Kalim heard from Jamil that you were currently in detention and the boy practically jumped and ran to wait outside of the classroom where you were! You got into a fight?! His precious darling?!

Once you finally got out, Kalim was waiting for you with tears pricking his eyes and a big pout on his face. Seeing him so sad shot a pang of guilt through your body.

“Why, Y/N? What happened?” He simply asked you. After filling him in on how a student wouldn’t stop following you around and harassing you because you were a girl, Kalim wiped away his tears. “Why would someone do that?” He could only muster out as his cheeks turned pink.

Kalim feels a bit mad, but mostly disappointed at the student who did you wrong. He wants to find the person to make him apologize to you, but he realizes you might just want to let it go when you don’t want to talk about it anymore.

Kalim would comfort you with cuddles, sweet treats, and some love to help you try to feel better! He would kiss the bruises on your knuckles to hopefully make them feel better too!

Vil Schoenheit x Fem! Reader

Vil sighs in disappointment once he is told by Rook about your fight. The hunter describes the way you fought in perfect detail, telling the dorm leader how you thoroughly bruised and bloodied up the other student’s face and body.

Vil was growing increasingly upset until Rook told him WHY you had gotten into the fight. When Vil understands you did it to protect your reputation as a girl at a prestigious school, he wasn’t as angry.

Instead, he texted you immediately to come to see him. Once you do, you hang your head in shame, not wanting to meet your boyfriend’s gaze. It wasn’t until Vil lifted your chin up gently that you met his gaze with tear-filled eyes.

“I- I’m sorry, Vil… I know this could ruin your reputation so I’m sorry…” Vil would wipe your tears away and coo at you, telling you it was okay. He already sent Rook off to threaten deal with the student again.

Vil tended to your wounds and decided to try to lift your spirits by making a loving post about you on Magicam, calling you talented and strong person. Hundreds of thousands of people commented and called you beautiful, gave you words of encouragement, etc. !

Idia Shroud x Fem! Reader

Idia saw it for himself - well, if you count the video feed from Ortho’s cameras installed in his body - you slapped a student so hard in the face it left a red mark.

Ortho played back the video for Idia, showing his brother that someone was harassing you and calling you names and saying really awful things based on your gender while the two of you were on the way back to Ignihyde.

Ortho couldn’t do anything but get angry at the student so imagine his shock when you landed a hit! Idia also moved back, almost falling out of his chair!!

Idia would be surprised with you but also didn’t want you to keep getting in trouble. He doesn’t want you to get detention or anything since Ortho might start thinking it’s okay to use violence.

Idia would secretly be impressed, “Is this unlocking her delinquent skin/cutscene?”

He secretly likes how you could be tough if you wanted to be…

Malleus Draconia x Fem! Reader

The fae prince. He can only chuckle in amusement once he’s heard what you’ve done from Sebek!

“Well, my child of man was simply trying to prove her honor. I see no wrong here…” Malleus only grinned, making Sebek angry.

Malleus would still take you on a nightly walk to discuss why violence is not always the best answer. As a future king, he needs to have a mindset that squabbles can be taken cared of in a diplomatic way.

“But Tsunotarou-,” Malleus only hushed you. He told you he wasn’t upset with your actions. If anything he was surprised in a good way!

He told you that you just need to be careful because there can be evil magic users that would ultimately try to hurt you worse than you did. Malleus is only worried that you wouldn’t have a good way to defend yourself.

“Hmph, I guess that means you need to be there to protect me then!” You tutted back. Malleus could only pat your head lightly. For you, he would defeat anybody that dared stand up to hurt you.

[ray-ray-writings]

A Dedicated Pig-Technoblade

#3 and 47 from this prompt list! Check out my masterlist here! This is in the DreamSMP Au. I

This is a Technoblade x GN reader! 

So in this AU I am making it so that your cannon lives are shown on your left wrist. And if someone types something in chat or if someone joins the server, it appears as text on your right arm until you dismiss it! If you are confused feel free to ask me any questions!

Part Two! Part Three! Part Four!

Y/N finally meets the one that everyone has been walking on eggshells over.

Y/N’s POV

I will never forget the gasps, murmurs, and then tense silence that followed the notification that everyone received on their right arm. Technoblade had joined the SMP. I didn’t understand why it was such a big deal though. Of course I had heard the stories. The horrors that he had done. The fights he picked and won. The amount of blood that had been shed at his hands had earned him the title of “The Blood God”. But when push comes to shove, he’s just another mortal man.

Everyone was a little freaked out and on edge because of the new addition to the server. I mean, Schlatt had just banished Techno’s family, his two brothers, from the nation that they created and fought for. Everyone knew that family was everything to Techno and if there was one thing Techno would do anything for it was his family. He would literally go to hell and back if it meant that his brothers and his father were safe. 

Finally after a few minutes of everyone holding their breath, I scoffed, rolled my eyes, and went on with my work, cleaning up the election decorations. All eyes turned to me “Y/N” Niki hissed, “Do you not understand what just happened? He could be anywhere” I let out a joyless laugh as I looked at my best friend, “You really think he’s going to come here right away? With nothing on him? With his brothers on the run? You think he’s going to worry about coming here, where it would be a 1 vs…” My eyes scanned the crowd doing a quick mental count, “15 plus? Come on Niki, think with that big brain of yours.” I claimed, a little annoyed, as I took down a banner. 

Niki let out a shaky sigh but nodded and continued helping me. “You’re right,” I chuckled at her response and bumped her shoulder, “You know I always am”. Soon, everyone went back to their own tasks, forgetting the news we all had just received. ‘See Mr. Pig Man Blood God’ I silently thought to myself, ‘You’re not as scary as you may think’. 

*Time skip*

A week and a half had gone by since Technoblade had joined the server and no one had seen him. Like I had predicted, he immediately had searched and met up with his brothers and had stayed clear of the main part of the server. That being said, I should have known that he would rear his pink head at some point…

When I first joined the server, I had made myself a small farm for food. Well of course everyone found out about it and wanted a part of it. So my small farm grew and grew. When Niki built her bakery, she needed a steady supply of well… supplies. Sugar, wheat, eggs, milk, and all that. I had plenty and I was more than happy to give her what she needed in exchange for baked goods. So once a week I would haul boxes of supplies across the SMP from my farm to her bakery. 

Everyone was aware of this and so on these days everyone would stay out of my way. Which is why I was so surprised to slam into someone while carrying a box of eggs to the bakery. 

I let out a huge gasp as the sound of eggs cracking filled my ears as I slammed into someone. The box fell out of my hands as raw egg covered my hands and body. “What the hell!” I cried out, looking up to yell at whoever had just crashed into me. I was momentarily stunned. There in the flesh, right in front of me, stood the Blood God himself, Technoblade. My surprise  didn’t last long as I remembered why I was angry in the first place. 

“What the hell are you doing here? It’s bakery day, sure you didn’t know that, but you should have taken the hint not to be here when you didn’t see anyone walking this part of the Prime path!” I shouted at the pink haired man. Techno’s brown eyes widened as I verbally attacked him. “And now I’m covered in raw egg! This is not pleasant! It’s gross and sticky and cold and I do not enjoy it! You are sooooo lucky I have a change of clothes at the farm and that my chickens laid a lot of extra eggs this week or else you would have had to explain to dear sweet Niki why she wouldn’t be able to open her cute bakery this week.” I hissed out. 

“I’m sorry,” Techno began with a raised eyebrow, “Do you not know who you’re talking to?” He questioned with a deep voice. I let out a loud scoff at the audacity of his question, “Of course I know who you are, Mr. Blood God,” I mocked. “So. You do know who I am and what I am capable of.” I scoffed at his smug words. “I said I did, didn’t I? And frankly I couldn’t care less about you and your reputation. You’re just a guy. A guy that has ruined my day because I now have egg all over me!” I complained, wiping my hands on my pants. 

I reached down and began picking up the box and the eggs and egg shells that had fallen on the ground.“You know, I could kill you with no hesitation?” Techno claimed as he crouched down, moving his face close to mine. “I’ve done it before to many others. They blink and my sword has entered their chest. I’ve probably slaughtered more people than you’ve ever met in your life,” Techno mused, a smug smirk tugging on his lips. 

I looked up from my box with a blank expression on my face, “Am I supposed to be scared of you? Is that supposed to scare me? Make me shake in my boots?” I questioned, my eyebrow raised. Techno’s smirk slowly slipped off his face. He quickly stood up and stared at me in shock, “Didn’t you hear me? I could kill you!” He explained. I rolled my eyes and also stood up. “So could another human. Literally anyone else. So could a fall from a huge height. So could a dedicated chicken. You’re not special.” I stated, turning on my heel and began walking back toward my farm. 

“So you’re really not scared of me?” I heard Techno question as he began to jog to catch up to me. “Haven’t I made that clear? You may have scary stories and legends surrounding you, but when it comes right down to it, you’re a man. Well, part pig, part man, but a man and mortal all the same.” Techno let out a scoff, “Technoblade never dies,” he claimed. “But you could. You have three cannon lives just like the rest of us.” I concluded. 

Techno silently followed me as I moved through the barn, replacing the eggs that had cracked when we collided. After I filled the box once more, I set it down before stepping into the bathroom I had built. “I’ll be right out. Don’t touch anything.” I commanded. Techno gave me a mock salute before looking around the barn once more. I closed the door and quickly cleaned up. I took off my egg covered clothes, washed my hands and body before putting on the clean clothes I kept here. 

I found Techno where I left him. “You ready to go?” I questioned softly. His eyes trailed from my horses back to me as he gently nodded. I made my way back to the boxes before picking the egg box back up. “Is this going to?” Techno asked. I looked over and found him pointing at the last box needing to go to the bakery. “Yeah, but you don’t have to-” I was cut off by Techno picking up the box. “Let’s go” He said walking out the door. I let out a laugh before following him, being sure to close the door behind me. 

The two of us made small talk about anything and everything on our way to the bakery. Techno told me all about Wilbur and Tommy’s constant squabbles and I told him all about everyone’s wariness ever since he joined the server. Techno helped me put everything away, which caused me to be done a lot sooner than I usually get done. The two of us left the bakery and made our way back outside. We began strolling the prime path and subconsciously came to a stop where the two of us met. 

Our conversation died down and the two of us stood there for a moment, just staring at each other. I finally cleared my throat, “Thank you for helping me today. I really appreciate it.” I thanked, running a hand through my hair. Techno mirrored my actions with a shy smile on his face, “No problem. It’s the least I could do.” There was a slight pause before he spoke again, “Hey. Listen. I’m sorry for threatening you earlier. It’s just… Everyone I’ve ever met has been terrified of me and when you weren't… It really threw me for a loop. So… thanks. Thank you for giving me a chance.” I let out a giggle at his vulnerability, “It’s no problem…. Maybe when this is all over and you and your brothers are welcome back into L’Manberg, we could hang out more.” I offered. Techno gave me a soft smile and a gentle nod, “Yeah. I’d like that. A lot.” 

“Techno!” A voice whisper shouted. The two of us jumped at the sudden interruption and turned to look at who had called the pink haired man’s name. It was Wilbur. “There you are! Where have you been?!” He questioned, marching up to the two of us. Techno made a gesture to me. Wilbur’s eyes shifted to me. I gave him a smile and a wave. “Hey Wilbur. It’s great to see you” Wilbur’s eyes softened as he gave me a smile, “Hey Y/N. It’s so good to see you too. We’ve got to go. Techno was supposed to be on a spy mission, but I see he got distracted…” I laughed at his words and nodded. “Something like that,” Techno claimed, rubbing the back of his head a blush. 

“Well it was great to see you Wilbur. Tell Tommy I miss him and that I say to stop trying to decorate with things that aren’t his, yeah?” Wilbur gave me another soft smile and nod, “Will do Y/N. Tell Niki I miss her?” I returned his smile and nod. I then turned to Technoblade and gave him a smile as well, “It was lovely to meet you. I really hope this is over soon so I can show you my weapons collection.” Techno’s eyes lit up and he nodded. “It was amazing to meet you too Y/N. And I would love that. So much.” I giggled at his response and nodded. “I knew you would. Bye guys.” I gave them both one last smile before turning and headed back to my farm. 

As I was leaving I overheard the next part of Techno and Wilbur’s conversation. “So… Y/N huh?” “Shut up.” “Who knows, when this thing is all over maybe you’ll get together and have pink haired, Y/E/C babies… Oh I would be the best uncle and-” “I’ll give you a five second headstart.” “Oh come on Techno-” “Five” “Please” “Four” “Tech-” “Three” “You know it’s-” “Two” “Oh come on” “One” “OH GOD! RUNNING!” 

I let myself look over my shoulder at the two. Sure enough Wilbur was sprinting down the prime path as fast as he could, but Techno was right behind him. “Get over here!” Techno shouted after Wilbur. “NO!” I let myself giggle at the two’s antics. My eyes focused on the two for as long as I could, but soon enough the two were out of my view and my ear shot. Oh I can’t wait until this is all over. 

There you go! I hope you enjoyed! And I hope I did the anon that requested this justice! If you did enjoy, be sure to leave a like! And maybe even a reblog or reply telling me what you liked about it! Until next time!

[sinner-as-saint]

His Obsession.

Mob!Seb x Housekeeper!Reader

Run-through: You work for the notorious mob boss. You’re at his house regularly; tidying up and cleaning and surprisingly you’re not scared of him like the rest of his staff are. Sure he is authoritative, and mean but he’s never disrespectful or inappropriate, nor does he bark orders at you like he does with the guys. And you were almost certain that he barely pays attention to you. Until one evening he confronts you about something. And what starts out heated, ends in a night neither of you will ever forget…

Themes: mob!seb (because I miss him), jealous!seb, housekeeper!reader, angst, fluff, dark (ish) mob!seb

a/n: this is my thank you note to all of you :) Enjoy! 

“Miss Y/N? Could you come here for a minute?”

You heard the sound of your boss’ voice. His voice.

Sebastian… You stop right at the stairs and turn around to find him standing by the door of his magnificent bedroom. One which you had cleaned and tidied just this morning itself.

You nod and he immediately walks back into his room and leaves the door open. Your heart pounded, and your body felt all cold for a second. Had you made a mistake? Was there something you did which he didn’t like?

You had heard from the butler a while ago that your boss once fired a guy for parking his favorite car in the wrong spot. The mob boss, after all, was a perfectionist. He was a very proper man with rules and regulations which had to be followed within the walls of his home. Hence, you were nervous like never before as you entered his bedroom.

He was sat on the dark grey couch by his bed, looking down at his phone and sipping on his liquor. The couch which always seemed so comfortable, and soft. But you never dared to even touch for too long, afraid to you might ruin it.

You would be lying if you said that you didn’t find him attractive. He was hot. He was perfect; mean, intimidating, and powerful. All of him screamed danger; but he was also the kind of man one feels naturally drawn to. His effortless bad boy charm, his authority and how he took control in the span of seconds made him lethal. Gorgeous, but lethal.

“Yes, sir?” you spoke up, trying to get his attention.

He looked up immediately and he had that no-nonsense look on his face. Oh you knew that look all too well. Earlier this week, he had the same look on as he punched the living shit out of a member of his gang who was sent to spy on his by a rival gang.

You realized that right now, as your boss looked at you, he was angry. His blue eyes were cold, and the intensity of his gaze made you shiver.

He spoke, “Yesterday was your day off, no?”

You nodded. He clenched his jaw and exhaled loudly through his nose; another sign pointing to his current bad mood.

You tried not to seem too intimidated by his stern gaze. “Yes sir.” You responded, still unsure of where he was taking this. Could it be perhaps that someone had messed up something while you weren’t here yesterday? But that still wouldn’t explain why he couldn’t just tell you outside.

Why did he have to call you into his room?

As soon as that question crossed your mind, Sebastian got up and walked over to you. His phone in one hand, and his drink in the other. He approached you as you stood by the end of his bed; slowly, steadily and making your heart race.

He stopped right in front of you and put his phone screen right in front of your face, showing you a picture. “Care to tell me about what’s going on in this picture?” he tilted his head to the side and stared deep into your eyes with his stormy ocean blue ones.

In front of you was a photograph. A picture of you at the club last night. You were sat on a stool by the bar, talking to a guy. His hand was on your thigh and you remember how much he was making you laugh.

You were shocked at first as you took in the details. A picture of you, out clubbing with some friends and this guy you met a few weeks ago. In fact after last night, you concluded that it’d be better if you were just friends.

“Why do you have my picture? Who took this?” you asked, keeping your calm with your boss even though you were quite irritated. Mob boss or not, how dare he spy on your personal life?

Sebastian smirked, definitely not finding anything amusing. “You tell me why you’ve been out and about with my rivals.”

Your eyes widened at his words. Rivals… what? It couldn’t be, the guy said he worked at… wait, the guy didn’t say anything about his work.

“Your rivals, sir?”

Sebastian locked his phone and threw it carelessly on the couch then turned to face you again. “Now, what does that say about me, Y/N? Why is someone who works for me, out and about with my rivals in my own club?”

His club… that explains how he must’ve have gotten the phototgraph. His people must have sent it to him. But why were they watching you?

“I didn’t know anything about all that. Why do you have people spying on me?” your irritation was taking over little by little.

He stared at you for a few more seconds as he recalled all that happened yesterday…

 -flashback-

Sebastian was at home, in his study when his phone rang. He saw that it was the manager of one of his clubs calling. Weird.

He answered rather annoyed, “What is it?”

The guy spoke up, nervously. “Boss uh, your girl is here.”

Sebastian froze.

“Who’s she with?” was the first thing which came to his mind. You were at his club which meant that you couldn’t possibly be alone. For some reasons, the thought of you out clubbing with another man made him want to punch something.

Yes, he was completely spellbound by you. The big bad mob boss had lost his heart to his daily. How could he not?

You were kind, and patient and always filled the house with warmth whenever you stepped in. Not to mention that the first time he saw you, you took his breath away. And no woman had ever done that before. And from that very moment, Sebastian found himself thinking about you constantly;

When he was at work. When he wasn’t at work. When he was in a boring meeting. Even when he was in the company of other women, he was obsessed with the thought of you.

However, it was hard to get you alone and talk to you. You were always busy and he was always surrounded by his guys or his guards. And he couldn’t seem all soft with his guys around. Although, he often worried about what would happen if you find someone else. Someone less dark and dangerous, someone with a less tainted reputation than him.

You probably deserved it, but he couldn’t let that happen. No, you were his. And he would treat you like a queen, if only you’d notice him…

He tried to talk to you often, calling you up in his room for absolutely no reason. Sometimes to help him tie his tie, or other times to steam his suits. He liked having you around, but he also knew that you would never see him in that light, given who he is.

But despite that, he wasn’t going to give up. He wanted you. Needed you. Craved you. Desperately. He needed you in ways he hadn’t thought were humanly possible. He wanted you in his arms, preferably without the black uniform and little white apron you wore each day. He wanted you in his bed, naked and lying on his sheets as he shows you how well he can treat you. Oh he would treat you like a queen.

And now he learnt that you’re out and about with another man. He was pissed. The manager’s response made the mob boss see red. He was almost ready to drive all the way there and punch the fucker you were with in the face and drag you to his home.

But no, he wouldn’t do that. So you were out clubbing with his rival gang members. Oh he’ll deal with it. “Send me a picture. And follow the guy when he leaves. Also make sure Y/N doesn’t leave with him, you hear me?” he barked on the phone.

“Yes boss.”

-end of flashback-

 “Because you’re mine.” he said it in an authoritative tone which both angered, and excited you. It was a confusing feeling, but you didn’t hate it entirely.

“Excuse m-,”

He cut you off by grabbing you by the waist with one arm and pulling you into him. “You heard me. Now answer me babygirl, why were you with this guy last night?”

Babygirl? Oh the audacity of this drop dead gorgeous man…

“With all due respect sir, my personal life is none of your business.” You sounded less confident than you intended to and it make Sebastian smirk.

“Oh?” he asked, amused. “Is that how it is now?” he pressed your body further into his, allowing you to feel that hard muscles of his tones body along with his body heat. “You’re gonna talk back to me?” he leaned in and nuzzled your cheek, making your heart race, “Disrespect me?” he chuckled right in your ear before pressing a kiss on the shell of your ear. You shivered at his voice.

“I don’t-,”

He cut you off again by pulling away and looking into your eyes. His stare was intense and hot, and so distracting that you didn’t realize his hand was making its way under your skirt. “You dare talk back to me?” he sounded amused, his hand reached further up your inner thigh and you shivered under his touch, “Even when you’ve been out and about, being a little whore,” he whispered, “with my rivals?”

You gasped at his choice of words, and how his fingers gently stroked along your clothed core. Where was this coming from? You also gasped at how you liked it. “I… I didn’t know.” you mumbled as you tried to hold back a moan which threatened to escape your lips due to his salacious actions.

He chuckled, applying the slightest bit of pressure against your throbbing clit and he noticed how you squirmed in front of him. “But now you do. And I’m gonna make sure that you remember from now on that you,” he leaned closer, his lips brushing against yours, “belong to me.”

You felt hazy as he pulled away from you just a couple of inches. Your heart pounded. Your body was on fire, your mind only being able to focus on only one thing – him. His mouth. His body heat. You wanted him closer all of a sudden. So close that you almost began leaning into his touch even more.

You hadn’t realized that the palms of your hands were pressed against his chest. He felt warm, and muscular. Fuck…

“Kneel.” He simply said and you were immediately in a trance. You lowered down on the carpeted floor instantly, on your knees. Sebastian just smirked and caressed your cheek gently. “I want your mouth around me. Come on, make me cum.”

That damn authoritative and powerful tone sent shivers down your spine. You quickly undid his zipper and pulled down his briefs. His hard cock stood proud and tall in front of you. Your mouth watered shamelessly at the sight of it. Thick and big, you realized you wanted him just as much.

He was bigger than any one of your past partners, and that excited you. Your hands instinctively wrapped around his length and you placed the tip against your lips, kissing it and feeling the pre cum coating your lips. You pushed your mouth against it, taking in the tip and swirling your tongue around him.

He groaned, his hand holding your head and guiding you further down his cock. You took him in your mouth slowly, inch by inch; his raw taste drove you crazy. And so did the sounds which left his mouth. Sebastian slid his hand through your slightly messy hair and gently guided your mouth up and down his cock; while slowly sipping on his liquor at the same time.

You bobbed your head around his tip a few more times and soon, he came in your mouth; sending his seeds down your throat. You swallowed whatever he gave you, and stood up after you did so.

He gripped your hips tightly as he dipped his head into the crook of his neck. His hand slipped under your skirt again and he dragged your underwear down your thighs. He placed his fingers against you and rubbed your wet folds again. You couldn’t help but moan, desperate for his touch despite this whole situation being wrong.

“Hmm. You did good, babygirl.” he whispered along your collar bones as he licked and bit the skin; leaving marks behind. Claiming his territory like he always wanted to. “But I’m not quite done with you yet.” He sounded mischievous.

He lifted his glass up to your lips. Still hazy and heart pounding, you parted your lips slightly as he tilted the glass at your lips and let some of the liquor into your mouth. You immediately liked the taste, it burned just a little as you swallowed. However he smirked and tilted the glass more than he should, and the contents went over the lip and down the sides of your mouth – dripping down your chin, your neck and your somewhat exposed chest which was making him go crazy as it is.

“Oh,” he pointed out, pretending as though all that wasn’t down on purpose, “Such a messy girl.” He sighed dramatically while undoing your apron, followed by the zip at the back of your uniform, “Now I have to clean you up.” He looked into your eyes and smirked.

You caught the naughtiness in his eyes. And next thing you knew, you were being pushed back onto his bed; half naked already. “Lay down for me sweetheart.” He ordered and you hesitated for a moment.

“Should we-,”

He cut you off by holding your jaw gently in his grasp. “Shh.” He let go of your face and leaned in to kiss your lips. His tongue gently stroking your lower lip, gathering the liquor which dripped earlier. Then his mouth trailed downwards, kissing your neck, your collar bones down to your breasts – licking and kissing and leaving behind his marks on your skin.

Your body felt hot. Burning under him as he took his time and kissed every inch of your skin. “I’ve always wondered,” he spoke up as he pressed kisses down your chest, “how sweet you must taste. And now look,” he chuckled as he kissed further down, “I get to figure it out finally.”

Maybe it was the sound of his deep voice laced with lust, or maybe it was the confession about how he thinks about you in such an intimate way; regardless, it only fueled the fire deep within you. Supporting yourself up on your elbows, you looked down at him all settled and ready in between your legs. Then you saw the shift in his eyes.

He was all cocky a second ago, but now he was feral. His fingers found their way in between your legs as well, carefully parting your wet folds before slipping inside you. Your body welcomed him in with ease.

Then his following question made your heart race. “Did he touch like this last night?”

You widened your eyes. Does he think that you slept with the guy? “What, no. I-,”

Sebastian leaned in again, and hissed in your ear. “He better not have. Else he won’t live to see another day, babygirl.” His fingers stroked you gently. “You should know, I don’t like sharing. Especially not my girl.”

Fuck… he was messing with your head so easily and wonderfully, and you were letting him.

Sebastian smirked, speeding up and finger-fucking you faster. You whined and squirmed but you wanted more. Oh you wanted more.

You threw your head back and whined loudly, your body betraying you as you felt your walls clench around his fingers. He smirked. “Oh? You wanna cum, is that it?” he leaned in closer, whispering against your mouth, “You want it so bad, don’t you baby?” he teased; chuckling darkly.

You moaned, and whined and tried your hardest to keep quiet but you ended up being loud anyways. His touch, his stare, his words… his cold rings pressing against your hot body each time he pushed his fingers deeper inside of you.

You wanted more. And he knew. “Look at you,” he whispered in awe, kissing along your jaw and biting down on your skin occasionally as his fingers took you higher…and higher, “So perfect… and all mine.” he bit down on your neck as you squirmed; wanting so desperately to crush his arrogance at once, but also wanting him to dominate you. “Cum for me. Now.”

You let go, allowing the warmth to take over you. Releasing and savoring the sweet pressure in between your legs and you came with a strained cry all over his fingers; coating them with your arousal and making his bite his lip and swear at the sight of you so… disheveled.

Your underwear was off, your bra unhooked, your little black uniform on his bedroom floor and your almost naked body on his bed sheets – this was all Sebastian’s ever dreamt of. This moment right here, and now that he had you; he wasn’t going to be easy on you.

“You’re mine.” he repeated. You were still recovering from your previous orgasm that you didn’t realize his mouth was on you again. Closer. Hotter. And determined to make you cum again, his mouth latched on to your core, the lower half of his face completely submerged in between your folds.

You moaned out loud, involuntarily, as you felt his warm mouth on top of your dripping core. His tongue slipped past your folds and teased your entrance; occasionally flicking your sensitive bud mercilessly. Your hands immediately gripped his hair and tugged gently at his roots. Wet sounds erupted from where his mouth latched on to your core, “You taste so good, babygirl.”

You whimpered under his touch, feeling his beard rubbing against your soft skin; it burned a little, but you enjoyed each and every second of it and craved for more. His mouth felt good. So good that you wanted more and more with each passing second.

“Fuck…” you moaned out loud as your back arched off the cool satin sheets for just a moment, your eyes closing and your head leaning back as you felt a wave of intense pleasure wash over you. Intense and hot, just like his touch. He was taking over you and you were letting him yet again. He was hard to resist, you knew that since day one.

“You’re gonna cum for me, is that it, hmm?” he whispered and got back to teasing your clit with his warm and wet tongue; relishing your taste.

“Please, please….” You murmured. He chuckled, his warm breath fanning your wet folds.

“Come on now, ask nicely.” He whispered, biting down on your hip bone before kissing his way back to your clit.

Your eyes flew shut and you whined, and begged – not caring if you sounded coherent or not. Once satisfied, Sebastian got back to eating you out like there was no tomorrow. The pressure in between your legs was building up nicely as well. So with a few more strokes of his skilled tongue, you let go and gushed out all over his face; your eyes watering.

He didn’t stop, he kept at it while your orgasm washed over you; lapping up whatever you gave him. He couldn’t get enough of you. He licked you clean and kissed your thighs a few more times before finally standing up, admiring how much of a mess you were; panting, and trembling just with his tongue.

“So fucking beautiful,” he whispered, looking down at you. He had that same feral look in his eyes, the desire unhidden. Shameless, and raw. Passionate. He wanted you and he wasn’t hiding it. He wanted to own you. Ruin you in the best way possible. “Get on your hands and knees. Now.” he ordered and proceed to finish his drink before he was onto you again.

Discarding his expensive suit, lifting your hips up and securing an arm around you; you knelt in front of him on the bed, legs spread apart, hands gripping the sheets while your back faced him. You couldn’t see him, but you knew he was there – right behind you. Plotting all the ways in which he could play with you.

Sebastian trailed a finger lazily up your spine before sliding his fingers into your hair. He gripped your hair gently, and pulled back just enough so he got your full attention. His lips hovered over the side of your throat and his other hand reached around and toyed with your folds; his fingers furiously rubbed the skin around your clit and making you tremble.

You could feel his warm skin, and his hard on pressing against your butt. And your heart raced in anticipation.

“You’re gonna take me nice and good, aren’t you baby?” his voice was deep and gravelly when he spoke in your ear, his tongue licking along your neck while he abruptly stopped toying with your folds. You whined and nodded, unable to hide the fact that you wanted him bad. So bad.

His hand gripped your hair and tugged on it, harsher than earlier and his action elicited an involuntary moan out of you. “Good girl.” He noted and gripped the sides of your hips tighter. He pushed into you without a word said; earning a sinful moan out of you. You were all wet and ready for him, and he slipped inside you with ease.

He groaned and grunted as he filled you up entirely; your ass cheek pressing into his pelvic bone as he buried his cock into you. Your knuckles gripped the sheets tightly, and your head lowered as your felt the familiar pressure forming again in no time, given you were already so sensitive and sore from before.

You were barely able to keep yourself up, and if it weren’t for his tight grip on you, you would’ve collapsed on the bed long ago.

“So fucking good… you’re all mine…” Sebastian spoke in a haze, and you barely heard him as the only thing you focused on was the sounds your bodies made when in contact with one another; along with your whimpers and his incoherent words. The air around you smelt of sex, sweat and Sebastian’s cologne.

He pounded into you like his life depended on it. Stretching you out and filling you up each time he rammed his cock into your entrance. You moaned, worn-out and still craving more and more of him. You could feel the soreness his touch would leave behind, and the bite on your neck, and all of the other marks he left on your skin.

With a few more strokes of his thick cock, you felt his felt his cock throb against your walls. You tightened around him, feeling your orgasm so close that you could almost feel it taking over you. But just as you were right on the edge, he pulled out and flipped you around. His rough manner of handling your body turned you on even more.

He smirked when he saw the look of surprise on your face. “Can’t give it to you that easily now, can we?” he chuckled. “I want you to beg for it.” He parted your legs, and settled in between them again, his cock slipping inside you once again. “Beg for me.”

His mouth soon found yours and he nibbled on your bottom lip and you let out ragged breaths. He was taking over all your senses and you were more than happy to surrender to him. While he fucked you raw, his hand moved up to your throat again. His fingers wrapped around your throat and forced you to open your eyes and look into his. “I said,” he growled, “beg.”

A thin layer of sweat formed on his face, as he fucked you relentlessly; earning more and more moans out of you each time his cock stroked your walls. Your lips parted as you gasped. “Sir please… please make me cum…” you whined, “I need you-,” you cut yourself off, moaning wantonly as he filled you up nicely.

He grunted and moaned shamelessly right in your ear and the sound sent shivers down your back. Your legs started to shake as he quickened his pace. He pounded into you incessantly. You could feel the headboard knocking against his bedroom wall, and the sound echoing around the room, along with your moans and his growls.

“Are you gonna cum? Do you deserve it, huh?” he mocked you, his hand reaching up and grabbing your jaw tightly in his grasp. “Look at me, babygirl.” He urged you to focus on him, despite knowing that you were barely able to concentrate on anything other than how well he was fucking you.

You stared into his eyes; tears escaping your eyes, lips swollen and bruised, neck littered with his bite marks, and your eyes just as wild and passionate as his. “Are you gonna remember now? That you belong to me?” He stayed still inside you for a moment, letting you feel just how big he was. You whined and groaned as he stretched you out like no one ever did. “That you’re all mine?” he growled.

“Yes… yes, sir.” You mumbled, pleading him with your eyes. Begging him to let you cum.

Sebastian saw the desperation in your eyes. The silent plea. He knew you wouldn’t be able to take it any longer. But he had to make himself clear. “Tell me, who do you belong to? Hmm?”

“You.” you gasped. Please…

You felt like you were losing your mind. The pleasure was too much and you couldn’t hold back anymore. So, you gushed out around his cock; moaning and squirming in the process. He moaned out loud when he felt your walls pulsating violently around him. His thrusts became irregular as he came right after you, filling you up again.  

He didn’t pull out. He just kept his throbbing cock carefully buried in you as he lowered his face and pushed it into the crook of your neck. Both of you panting and wondering; what the hell just happened, and how did it escalate this quickly.

You recovered and tried to move, but failed miserably. Sebastian noticed and smirked to himself despite the fatigue.

“Come here,” he spoke gently pulled you into him. You settled in comfortably into his side, surprisingly. His body was warm, and he smelt familiar. “Get some sleep. I know you’re tired.”

You widened your eyes and looked up at him. He smiled and reached out to caress your cheek. “Sorry if I hurt you. I- I can’t see you with someone else.” He repeated again, “You’re mine.”

You sighed. “I work for you.” you pointed out wearily.

He scoffed. “Then congrats, you’re fired.” He said it like it was nothing. You sighed and tried to scoot away but his grip was strong. “Hey, I’m serious.” He argued. “Stay, don’t go.” He pleaded.

You were too weak and worn out to move anyways, besides his bed was comfy so you stayed. You were quiet for a minute then you spoke up. “What happens now?” you asked.

He chuckled, and his tiredness could be heard. “Now I ask you out, and you say yes. And we live happily ever after.” He answered.

You rolled your eyes. “And my job?”

“Baby, I have enough money to last us a couple of lifetimes.”

“I refuse to be dependent on you. And certainly not a burden.” You sounded tired too.

“None of that. You’ll be my queen.”

You snuggled closer to his warm body as he covered your naked body carefully with the soft blanket. “You’re so bossy. And controlling. And mean.” You mumbled, half-way asleep.

He gave you a sleepy chuckle. “Yeah but you like me. And don’t you dare lie, I’ve seen the way you look at me.” He argued.

You chuckled faintly, eyes closing on their own. “Bossy and controlling and mean, but handsome.” You corrected yourself.

“Hmm.” He liked how he was right. “Now go to sleep babygirl, I’ll be here when you wake up.” He leaned down and gave you a kiss on the forehead, and whispered, “I’m gonna place the world at your feet if you just ask for it. Don’t you worry about a thing, angel. You’re mine now, everything will be alright.”

At last, his girl was finally here with him. Totally, and entirely his.

 ---

a/n: thank you for 14K followers Sin Army! I love you guys so much. I’ll add the tag lists tomorrow I promise ;) 

[vrishchikawrites]

Anon asks - There was another idea I had seen on @crossdressingdeath's tumblr where JC's reputation was ruined because of his behaviour and WWX's attempts to protect him from the consequences of his behaviour. The concept happens pre Qiongqi Path where JC attacks WWX to the point it injures and frightens him. A passerby sees WWX startled and asks him what's wrong but WWX dismisses it as nothing. Said bystander ends up thinking that JC had sexually assaulted him resulting in the cultivation world gossiping about JC being a rapist when really he isn't. Overall, the cultivation world gossips about the other shitty things JC had done and because he did alot of pretty bad things, he can't defend himself and resorts to victim blaming WWX. That however only has him dig a deeper hole for himself. WWX, on the other hand is left confused as to why everybody was pitying him all of a sudden when they used to hate and/or fear him. By the time the truth comes to light, the cultivation world thinks JC had deserved it anyway with it ending with JC hated just for him being himself and public opinion on WWX flipping. If you don't mind, can you make it light-hearted?

(Probably not as light-hearted as you would wish. It is a bit complicated. Be a little gentle because I wrote this twice and ended up fleshing it out much more. Is this a short prompt or a long one? who knows. writer is tired. she will sleep now.)

Everyone has personal boundaries, even people who are usually tactile and social. Boundaries exist even between family members who love and trust each other.

Wei Wuxian is a veteran fresh from war. He has survived bloody battlefields, spent days dealing with one hostile enemy after another. Even before that, he had spent his days constantly battling resentful ghosts and monsters in a place he can’t bear thinking of now. Before that, he had survived torture at the hands of the Wens. And before-

Better not to think about it.

So, when Jiang Cheng presses up against him threateningly, his face twisted and eyes furious, Wei Wuxian can’t help but flinch. He takes a step back and puts some distance between them quickly. Jiang Cheng has grown increasingly bitter and discontent in these past few months and Wei Wuxian is getting tired of dealing with it. He doesn’t want to be in such close proximity with a man seething with fury.

Unfortunately, that reaction proves to be a mistake because Jiang Cheng follows him, “What? Are you too big for us now? Turning away from me in disgust now that you’re a war hero and the best of us?” Jiang Cheng is so close, their noses almost touch and Wei Wuxian feels his hair stand on end in response.

“Jiang Cheng,” He says lowly, something unsettling stirring in his chest. He feels almost anxious. His heart is racing and the proximity makes him feel like he’s trapped, “Back away.”

“Back away?” Jiang Cheng snarls, “Who are you to command me, Wei Wuxian? Do you know what people are saying about YunmengJiang? Do you know who-”

“Back away,” Wei Wuxian says tightly, his skin crawling, “Now.” His hard-earned instincts are sounding alarms. He feels threatened and provoked. He feels the resentful energy in him respond to the danger.

“What are you going to do? Send a few ghosts at me?” He sneers, “Try it! We’ll see how brave you are under the wrath of my Zidian.”

No. Wei Wuxian isn’t going to just stand here and let Jiang Cheng pick up Yu-furen’s habits, He’s just about to react, to give Jiang Cheng the thrashing he clearly desires when he realizes they are outside. He glances beyond his Sect Leader’s shoulder and sees a small group of three clad in bright white looking at them with wide eyes.

He bites back his angry retort and masters himself. He’s not going to squabble with Jiang Cheng in front of Lan disciples. His relationship with Lan Zhan is strained as it is.

“We’re in public,” He says, hoping that concern for his Sect’s reputation would move Jiang Cheng if concern for Wei Wuxian doesn’t.

Jiang Cheng looks over his shoulder and sneers at the Lan disciples before rolling his head, “Lans, of course.” He snarls and pushes Wei Wuxian away roughly, “I’ll deal with you later.”

Wei Wuxian takes a deep breath and watches his brother leave.

The Lan disciples are still looking at him with heartwarming concern. He waves at them with a smile and watches as they start like little ducklings and bow to him before fleeing.

Cute.

---

“We have to do something!” Lan Zhanxiao insists, “Did you see how he looked? Wei Wuxian was clearly trying to-”

“Shh! Keep your voice down!” Lan Lishan reprimands.

“Don’t say his name!” Lan Guan whispers urgently, looking around in a panic. There are already a few curious and interested eyes glancing in their direction. Wei Wuxian is a notorious name, after all. Even non-cultivators are interested in the man who had just a material impact on the war. It is hard to tell if they would’ve won without that powerful unorthodox cultivator on their side.

“We can’t just stand by and do nothing,” Lan Zhanxiao, always the righteous one, continues. He doesn’t care about the people around them, “If Wei Wuxian is hurt and we do nothing to prevent it, aren’t we culpable as well?”

“This is Wei Wuxian. Who would dare?” Lan Guan asks incredulously, “He is one of the most powerful cultivators in existence.”

“Is he?” Zhanxiao demands, “Doesn’t everyone know he’s very loyal to Jiang-zongzhu? Would he take a step against him? Even if it meant saving himself?”

“He should be building his own sect,” Lan Lishan says reluctantly, “He’s the Grandmaster of his cultivation form. It may be an unorthodox method, but it is still something new and entirely unique.” He would know. Lan Lishan is an avid student of history and cultivation theory. He knows that most cultivators with unique abilities tend to form their own sect to pass their teachings down.

He shudders at the prospect of cultivating resentful energy but Wei Wuxian has mentioned it is a technique people with absent or damaged Golden Cores can use.

The potential is almost limitless.

“See what I mean?” Lan Zhanxiao points out, “Hasn’t he been isolated from other cultivators because they fear his methods? If Jiang-zongzhu is really hurting him or…” He grimaces and lowers his voice, “That expression, Shan-ge, it reminds me of jiejie. What if Jiang-zongzhu is… doing something inappropriate?”

They all exchange alarmed glances, “You don’t think…?” Lan Guan breathes, horrified.

“He was scrambling to get away,” Lan Zhanxiao says, “And Jiang-zongzhu kept pressing-”

“We can’t talk about this here,” Lan Lishan says firmly, “Come, let’s leave.”

Unfortunately, they leave chaos behind.

---

Rumors are a powerful entity in the cultivation world. They are born in tea and wine houses, spread from one tradesman to another and spread to the far reaches of cultivation society in a matter of months.

The rumors about Jiang’ Wanyin’s treatment of a war hero are no exception to this rule. People gossip about it with their friends and neighbors, share the news with vendors while on errands, and the rumors continue to grow. With every retelling, the story changes, growing increasingly distorted and vile.

“The entire business is unpleasant,” A small clan cultivator says to one of his tradesman friends, “Jealousy really alters a man.” He speaks about old rumors then, speculations about Wei Wuxian’s parentage, Madam Yu’s wrath, and the Jiang heir’s relatively lackluster growth in comparison to his prodigious shixiong.

“Surely not,” Another cultivator scoffs, “Who would dare raise a hand against Wei Wuxian? Did he not decimate a large Wen battalion with just his flute and some music?”

“Merchants at Lotus Pier say Wei Wuxian always looks wan and tired these days. He has grown pale.” One woman whispers to her companion, “He spends more time in wine houses with ghost maidens than in the comfort of his rebuilt home.”

“It seems so improbable!” A young cultivator protests, “Why would Jiang-zongzhu provoke the sleeping dragon like this? Wei Wuxian is stable now but who knows when he will give into resentment?”

“Lan disciples saw it.”

And that’s the crux of the matter. If the rumor didn’t originate from Lan disciples, it might not have traveled so far. Lans are known for their honest and forthright nature, after all. What cause did they have to lie? And no Lan spoke carelessly, so their words must be the whole truth, without any exaggeration.

Because Lans are the source, everything they say is taken as fact. If one Lan disciple finds Jiang-zongzhu’s behavior horribly inappropriate then it must be. If another Lan is worried about Wei Wuxian’s safety, there must be a just cause.

The rumors spread and propagate, and soon almost the entirety of the cultivation world is aware of them.

---

Gossip is forbidden at Cloud Recesses. Disciples are usually discouraged from meddling in other sect business. Rumor-mongering is punished severely, with all parties involved facing the wrath of the disciple whip.

But Lans are raised to be righteous and compassionate. If someone is in trouble, a Lan must act. He must offer a helping hand and take the victim away from danger.

When the rumors reach Caiyi Town and land on the ear of one Lan Ruyao, he hesitates. He asks around, gets more information, and then rushes back to Cloud Recesses, intent on knowing it all.

Lan Ruyao seeks the three disciples that are the cause of it all and demands an explanation, his mind disturbed with worry. What he hears gives him no comfort for he cannot discard their concerns. The behavior they describe is alarming and their observations are precise, without any emotion clouding their judgment.

Lan Lishan narrates the incident in detail, describing every action with no embellishment or exaggeration. He speaks of Wei Wuxian’s retreat, of Jiang Wanyin’s insistence, the threat of whipping, and words spoken with cruelty and disrespect.

Lan Ruyao’s mind is disturbed as he retreats, absentmindedly assigning some lines to the junior disciples. They have erred by being so indiscreet but their cause is righteous. They don’t deserve severe punishment.

He meditates on the matter for an entire morning, trying to decide on a course of action.

You see, Lan Ruyao is Lan Wangji’s peer. He has known the Second Jade for many years, and while they are not close, they are of the same clan. The entire cultivation world may believe Lan Wangji hates Wei Wuxian, but Ruyao knows better. The Second Jade wouldn’t have been so insistent on bringing Wei Wuxian to Gusu if he didn’t care.

Lan Ruyao suspects both of them hold each other in some esteem. They have saved each other’s sides many times and seem to get along well when they’re not quarreling. He believes that they are friends.

It would be unwise to keep this from Lan Wangji.

Decision made, he quickly requests a private meeting with the Second Jade. The request is granted promptly and soon Lan Ruyao finds himself before his peer, readying himself for a difficult conversation.

The Second Jade listens to his piece without any interruption, his expression blank and beautiful as white jade. But his golden eyes are twin chips of flint, coldly furious.

Indeed, they are friends.

Lan Wangji summons the three junior disciples and questions them thoroughly. His demeanor becomes frostier as the interview progresses, his spiritual energy gaining a deadly edge when the juniors murmur of ‘inappropriate behavior.’

“You have my gratitude,” Lan Wangji says finally, bowing to him and nodding to the juniors, “Rest assured, I will address the matter directly.”

---

“Lan Zhan, wait!” Wei Wuxian protests as Lan Zhan drags him away by the elbow, his uncharacteristic behavior taking him by surprise, “Don’t take him so seriously, Lan Zhan! You know he’s a temperamental brat.”

Lan Zhan doesn’t say anything until they are a fair distance away from Jiang Cheng and the Lotus Pier. Wei Wuxian tries to get an explanation for such unusual behavior but his companion is entirely silent, guiding him towards a crop of trees that offer some semblance of privacy.

“How long have you borne this?” Lan Zhan asks once they stop walking, his golden eyes bright and fierce, “How long have you endured without speaking a word to me or your friends?”

“All my life,” He rolls his eyes, “You know Jiang Cheng has a temper and says careless things, Lan Zhan. Don’t worry, I know how to handle him.”

“All your life?” Somehow, Lan Zhan seems stricken, “Wei Ying!”

“Aiya, Lan Zhan,” Honestly, he is moved by Lan Zhan’s concern for him. They have spent so many years just quarreling and being distrustful towards each other. The concern is a pleasant distraction from the wretched state of their relationship, “Don’t worry about it. I can deal with everything Jiang Cheng throws at me.”

“How can you be so callous about your own well-being?” Lan Zhan asks, his tone betraying his dismay, “Do you not care-” He visibly bites back those angry words and calms himself, his voice taking on a gentler note, “Did you think I would not help? That your friends wouldn’t offer you shelter or protection?”

Really, this is a bit of an overreaction, isn’t it?

“Do I really have any friends left, Lan Zhan?” He asks casually but the reaction he receives is anything but casual. Lan Zhan’s eyes widen as though he has been struck, “Aiya, please don’t look like that,” Wei Wuxian feels a stir of panic because Lan Zhan looks almost hurt, “I’m just being a brat.”

“Have a care,” Lan Zhan says, “Your dismissal of this matter doesn’t put me at ease.”

“Lan Zhan,” He sighs, “I’m used to it. You saw how we were at Cloud Recesses. Did I look unusually troubled then?”

“You’ve become… accustomed to it?” Lan Zhan asks, once again looking uncharacteristically stricken. Wei Wuxian feels a stir of concern in his stomach and reaches out, placing a hand on the Second Jade’s arm, “You’re accustomed to it.”

Not knowing what to do in response to such open emotion from Lan Zhan, he looks for something to distract him. Immediately, his mind remembers an old promise, “Let’s focus on something more pleasant. It’s about time you saw Lotus Pier in its full glory, Lan Zhan! I want to show you all of my favorite places, including all of the trees I climbed!”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan’s voice is low and pained.

Wei Wuxian’s smile softens as he tugs on the Second Jade’s arm, “Don’t think of unpleasant things, Lan Zhan. It’s a beautiful day and we haven’t seen each other in months! Let’s be happy, alright?”

Wei Wuxian feels a jolt of surprise as Lan Zhan raises a hand and covers his fingers, squeezing gently. The touch is warm and reassuring, and it sets Wei his heart racing.

Lan Zhan studies him for a long moment before dipping his head elegantly, his grip on Wei Wuxian’s fingers still firm and steady, “If Wei Ying wishes it,” He promises, “I will make it so.”

Oh.

---

It all comes to a head at the Discussion Conference. Wei Wuxian is accustomed to being the center of attention these days but the quality of that attention is different now. Instead of wary glances, he sees eyes filled with sympathy and tentative smiles of welcome.

Wei Wuxian being Wei Wuxian, ignores the nagging suspicion that lingers at the back of his mind and smiles brightly back at them.

That seems to make things worse because the looks of sympathy seem to somehow intensify. He even sees a few women blink their limpid eyes and turn away, as though disguising tears. Somewhat alarmed, he glances at Jiang Cheng and winces.

His martial brother is bristling with anger. There’s a thundercloud-like expression on his face as he meets every eye in the room with a clear challenge.

If glances towards him are filled with sympathy, those towards Jiang Cheng are filled with contempt and disapproval. Between that and Lan Zhan’s protective hovering, Wei Wuxian is at the end of his patience.

He needs answers and he needs them now before the situation can escalate somehow.

Baffled by the situation, Wei Wuxian looks around and finds the most reliable source of gossip he can find. “What is going on?” He demands as soon as he is at Nie Huiasang’s side, “Why are people glaring at Jiang Cheng like he’s a fierce corpse?”

Nie Huaisang waves his fan, his expression a strange mix of amusement and grim satisfaction. For one, his old friend doesn’t hide behind his usual prevarications. He glances around the room and seems to catch someone’s eye. Wei Wuxian follows that gaze only to blink as Lan Zhan walks sedately towards them, expression stern and disapproving, “Do you know what’s going on, Lan Zhan?”

The Second Jade remains silent, his eyes fixed on Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian sighs in frustration and glares at Nie Huaisang, “Nie-xiong, what?”

His curt tone is enough to snape Nie Huaisang out of his musings. The man smiles wryly behind his fan, “Ah, Wei-xiong,” He waves his free hand, “There has been some speculation about your relationship with-”

“Why don’t you speak up?” A loud voice asks and Wei Wuxian turns around, “Why don’t you defend Wei Wuxian, Jiang-zongzhu? You’re going to let people slander your loyal Head Disciple so boldly?”

It’s Wang Jin, the Sect Leader of Runan Wang Clan. The man’s face is twisted in rage and disgust as he stares at Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian frowns, ready to step forward and stand by Jiang Cheng in such a hostile environment.

Lan Zhan’s hand on his arm stops him.

He looks at the Second Jade questioningly but the man just shakes his head, “Wait.”

“Why should he defend him?” An annoying Jin pipes up, his voice sharp and mocking, “We know what Wei Wuxian is! He may pretend to be loyal on the surface, but he is nothing but a faithless dog-”

“Jin Zixun!” Nie Mingjue snaps, “I will not have you insult one of our men in my presence! He fought and bled on our side.”

Nie Mingjue’s words silence him and Jin Guangyao speaks up soothingly as Wei Wuxian frowns, studying the scene with keen eyes, “Let us all calm down. I’m sure Wang-zongzhu means well.” He smiles placidly, “There have been rumors, just a bit of gossip about Wei-gongzi speaking ill of Jiang-zongzhu.” Wei Wuxian tilts his head to the side, mind whirling.

He refuses to be angry. There’s something about this situation that has his instincts rattled. He needs to focus.

“The Hanguang-jin himself said they were lies. Wei Wuxian has never spoken ill of Jiang Wanyin!” Well, that’s not entirely true. He is certain he has called Jiang Cheng a temperamental brat in Lan Zhan’s presence more than once. “Jiang-zongzhu should know better than to-”

“Why does Jiang-zongzhu need to do anything for that man?” Jin Zixun demands and Wei Wuxian feels a stir of amusement. All of this drama on his account? He’s honored.

“What kind of Sect Leader is he?” Wang-zongzhu asks, fuming, “If he doesn’t even defend his own Head Disciple? Has he not brought glory to YungmengJiang? Doesn’t the Sect owe him a debt of gratitude?” Wei Wuxian winces and Jiang Cheng’s expression turns stony, “If you want to talk of rumors, why not discuss the other rumors?” Wang-zongzhu turns to Jiang Cheng with a scowl, “Is he not your brother in all but blood? Didn’t the former Jiang-zongzhu raise Wei Wuxian as his nephew? Is this how YunmengJiang treats its brightest disciple? How will you face Jiang Fengmian, Jiang-zongzhu?”

Wei Wuxian bites back a groan as Jiang Cheng’s expression darkens with fury. This is the absolute worst thing to say to his martial brother.

“Why is he so concerned about this?” Wei Wuxian asks, almost to himself.

Nie Huiasang leans in and whispers in his ear, “His sisters were… assaulted by the Wens.”

Wei Wuxian feels a shudder crawl down his spine and shakes his head. Those disgusting wretches deserved the death he inflicted on them.

He still doesn’t understand what this has to do with him.

He glances at Lan Zhan, he is looking at the scene with his usual frosty expression, giving nothing away. He looks ahead to see Jiang Cheng ready to erupt and frowns. “Lan Zhan, I need to… help, somehow.”

“Wei Ying needs to do nothing.”

He’s about to protest when Jiang Cheng finally snaps, “Glory to YunmengJiang? He has brought nothing but devastation to it!” Wei Wuxian flinches and Lan Zhan steps forward and to the side, pointedly placing himself between the two Jiang Sect cultivators, “YunmengJiang has always been glorious. My ancestors bled and fought for it! We earned our glory through centuries of cultivation and diligence! I owe him a debt? Wei Wuxian owes me the lives of my parents! He provoked the Wens to save Lan Wangji’s life and I lost my family because of it!”

“Jiang-zongzhu, perhaps-”

“Shut up!” Jiang Cheng interrupted Jin Guangyao, “How I treat my Head Disciple is none of your business.”

“It is very much our business if you’re abusing him,” Nie Mingjue says and it silences everyone.

Wei Wuxian is… dumbfounded. He feels like he’s just a mass of confusion at this point because nothing about this situation makes sense. “Abuse?” He whispers harshly to Nie Huaisang, grabbing his arm to drag him away to a quieter corner, “Nie Huaisang, what is going on? Jiang Cheng doesn’t abuse me!”

“Does he not?” It is Lan Zhan who speaks, his expression solemn, “Truly, Wei Ying? Does he not abuse you?”

“Of course, not-”

“So he didn’t threaten you with Zidian?” Nie Huaisang asks, “Or try to physically intimidate you while you were clearly trying to step away?”

Wei Wuxian frowns, “Well yes, but that is just him being angry! He does that all the time.”

“That is no comfort to us.” Lan Zhan says stiffly.

“Didn’t he push you away several times? We have accounts from people who saw you fall to the ground.” Nie Huaisang’s expression is unusually stern, “Didn’t he seek to isolate you from everyone? Didn’t he keep telling you Wangji-xiong hated you?”

“Wangji-xiong gave every impression of hating me.” Wei Wuxian firmly denies, “Let us not attribute that particular error to someone else.”

“Indeed,” Lan Zhan nods graciously, as expected. He wouldn’t be Lan Zhan if he didn’t accept his own mistakes without hesitation.

“Wei-xiong,” Nie Huaisang tucks his fan away and he sees Lan Zhan focus on that, his eyes suddenly sharp, “He has been saying the same thing since you were at Cloud Recesses. He has always dragged you away from Lan Wangji. You saved Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan’s lives. Why is he so intent on our Second Jade, hmm?”

Wei Wuxian shakes his head, “You’re making this unnecessarily complicated.” He says, “On the surface, all of these actions appear wrong but the intent behind them isn’t cruel.”

“Your love for him blinds you.” Wei Wuxian narrows his eyes sharply at his old friend, “If er-ge treated Wangji-xiong like that, you’d be furious. Just the threat of da-ge whipping would have you reaching for your flute.”

“Huaisang-”

“Did you think we wouldn’t feel the same way?”

Wei Wuxian studies him and Lan Zhan, realizing they are utterly serious. Concerned and a bit baffled, he looks at Jiang Cheng over his shoulder, only to find him nose to nose with Wang-zongzhu. “Heavens,” He breathes and steps forward, determined to intervene.

“You think what?” Jiang Cheng’s voice is full of disgust, “You… you think I have… that I’m some disgusting cutsleeve?!”

Wait, what?

“How dare you?! I would never touch a man!”

“Is that what he’s focusing on?” Nie Huaisang asks incredulously.

For once, Wei Wuxian has nothing to say.

---

It takes a few weeks for fresh rumors to make their rounds. People now know that Jiang Wanyin hasn’t behaved inappropriately with his martial brother, but that doesn’t make much difference.

The cultivation world, in general, still believes that Jiang Cheng’s behavior is abhorrent. Wei Wuxian is tempted to point out the hypocrisy of their words but knows it is futile. Once the masses make up their minds about something, few can persuade them to think otherwise. Jiang Cheng’s reputation has been tainted forever and there’s little they can do about it.

Unfortunately, this issue has also cemented the break between Wei Wuxian and his Sect Leader. There’s nothing that can repair the relationship now. He feels a pang of loss but he had already resigned himself to that when he had given away his Golden Core.

Fortunately, it seems he has some options available.

“Come to Gusu with me,” Lan Zhan says, his tone softer, his voice imploring, “Please.” This time, Wei Wuxian can’t mistake his intent. Lan Zhan’s reaction to the entire mess made one thing very clear to him.

Lan Wangji cares about him.

Isn’t that something? Never in his life did Wei Wuxian think he would be in such a position. He had always assumed Jiang Cheng would be by his side and Lan Wangji would stand against him. But everything is different now.

Wei Wuxian thinks of his childhood home, thinks of a life that has been irrevocably changed, and sinks in those memories for a brief moment. Despite what everyone thinks, there have been some good times. He doesn’t regret the course his life took when he was welcomed to the Lotus Pier by Jiang Fengmian.

He lingers, briefly, on regret,

Then, he shrugs it off and looks into the golden eyes of his future with a grin, “I’ll come to Gusu with you, Lan Zhan.”

And that’s that.

[m00nchild-02]

Miss Mafia | jhs (m)

pairing: Hoseok x reader, Taehyung x reader (He's just a childhood friend, no love interest)

rating: 18+

word count: 15.5k sorry not sorry :)

genre: mafia au, strangers to lovers, secret agent, you are a mafia boss

summary: It's not easy to be the boss of one of the biggest mafias in South-Korea. And surely not as a woman. When a secret agent got discovered by one of your people and brought to you, you would've never dared to guess he would turn your world upside down in multiple ways.

warnings: praising, big d*ck Hoseok, oral (m receiving), hard sex, dom Hoseok, sub reader, v penetration, no protection (reader has an implant so she can't get pregnant. Make always sure you use protection guys!), also a bit of fluff at the end

music recommendations: - Lacrimosa - Mozart - Symphony no 9 - Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata - Beethoven - more songs on this playlist (youtube)

- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yXNkU806Y7EZruvrbl4g9?si=76931ed2ebae4c2c (spotify)

a/n: Again back with a story! I'm sorry for any grammar errors. It is such a big one shot. I'll probably proof read it later so I'm again sorry for any grammar mistakes in this ff! Just ignore it please :')

I was originally thinking of making this a jungkook ff but I eventually ended up making it a J-Hope ff instead. I think he would do a great job as main character here ;) Give it a lot of support and

enjoy reading!

masterlist

Lacrimosa from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Such a pleasant song to listen to with a good glass of wine. You take a sip of the dark red liquid as you softly move your head to the music playing through your boxes. This is how you liked to spend your time alone. A good glass of wine in one hand and the remote of your boxes in your other hand putting on some of your favourite classical music. Like Lacrimosa from Mozart or Beethoven's 9th symphony. All great composers with excellent music. You smiled as you felt your body relax after the long stressful day you had today. Your placed your red tinted lips on the glass for another sip of your wine you would never get to taste.

"Miss!"

You let out a deep sigh as you turned around in your chair towards the front of your desk. One of the maids walked inside and bowing at you. You gave her an unpleasant look. "Didn't I told the staff clearly not to come into my study for the rest of the day?" You asked the woman in front of you who kept looking down, probably not daring to look you in the eyes right now. Everyone knew you could be a real furry when you got angry or irritated. You can ask the last butler you had, after dropping a glass of whine on you by accident. It costed him a finger because you accidentally dropped a knife on his hand.

You softened the volume of the music before speaking again. "Tell me what's going on. It better be good if you don't wanna lose your job." You said coldly, don't sparing her a glance as you emptied the bottle into your glass. "I-It's about the issue from last week mam." She said. A bit of fear could be heard in her voice.

"Go on" You said. "They caught him miss." She said. You looked at the girl in front of you and suddenly began to laugh. The girl looked up for the first time, confusion all written over her little face. You turned towards the painting of your father on the right wall of the study and smiled, raising your glass. "See dad? The company is in great hands. I told you I would get him." You turned back towards the girl, that smile/smirk still on your face.

"Tell them to bring him to la grande salle. I'll be there in a minute." You told her. The maid bowed and then left the room closing the door on her way out. " You chuckled as you licked your lips. "Turns out this day is gonna be better than I expected..." You said, turning up the volume of the boxes and taking another sip of your glass of wine.

A few minutes later and your men walked in dragging a guy with them. His hands and feet tied together, his clothes covered in bloodstains and his hair a complete mess. You leaned forward in you chair as they dropped the man right at your feed. You were currently in your grand salle, how you like to call it, where you handled business of all kinds. From having meetings, recruiting new members till having a talk with bastards like the guy in front of you right now.

"Well, well, well... What do we have here." You said, letting out a small laugh. "Jung Hoseok, isn't it? Secret agent at the National Intelligence Service. They say you're one of the best in your profession. Sad that reputation will end today." You said, leaning back in your chair, snapping your fingers as a sign for the maids to leave the room. Leaving only you, Hoseok and two of your bodyguards. You threw the papers that were in your hand onto the table next to you, the pages falling open on some pictures of Hoseok and his meetings with the NIS.

"I must admit Mister Jung, I'm quite impressed. You have been undercover in my companies for five years. My father always knew there was a spy between us but he never had the chance to catch you." You looked away, staring into the distance as you said your next sentence. "Caught a bullet right through the head. Very tragic." You looked back at the man in front of you. He was still looking down, not saying a word or sparing you a small glance. Was he even still alive? Anyways, you still went on with your little speech. "But times change. After my father's death I took over and look! It's been less than a year and I already caught you."

Suddenly Hoseok started to laugh. You looked at him confused as he slowly tilted his head so you could look at his face for the first time today. His cheeks and upper lip were bruised and a dried stream of blood could be seen under his nose. He looked you right in the eyes. "Took you long enough to figure out it was me." He said. "But congrats. I'm happy you can finally make daddy proud." He mocked, spitting some blood on the white marble floor. His words and actions made your head boil. How dare he speak so lowly about your father. The bodyguards stood read to walk over and beat the shit out of him but you raised your hand stopping them.

You took a deep breath, trying to keep your cool. "Listen here," You said, getting off of your chair, slowly walking around the men on the ground before making a halt behind him and squatting down. You pulled out a blade out of your pocket and held it against his neck as you pulled his head backwards. He let out a painful groan making you smirk. You leaned in closer towards his ear before saying the following words, "You can say anything you want Mister Jung but know the more shit comes out of your mouth the less pleasant your stay at my villa will be before I release your soul from your body, understood?" You said, your mouth dangerously close to his ear.

The man didn't seemed intimidated as he scoffed. "Bring it on Missy. Good luck with keeping me locked here." He said.

You stood back up, a bit overwhelmed by his bold words. You walked towards his front, wanting to see his face. "You got a big mouth for a guy who just has been beaten the hell out of." You said. "Maybe I should just kill you here right now. Makes it a lot easier for the both of us." You said as one of the bodyguards handed you a gun. You loaded it and pointed it towards his head.

He looked you right in the eye as you held the trigger ready to shoot. What surprised you the most was that he was smiling. Why was he smiling? This guy made you so confused. "Not the brag princess but-"

"Don't call me that!" You yelled at him with gritted teeth.

"Ok my lady." He said teasingly. "What I wanted to say is you can't kill me." He looked quite relaxed when he said that.

You scoffed. "What are you talking about? I can kill you wherever I want, whenever I want! Just watch me."

He shook his head. "Sorry to burst that bubble of yours but you can't. You see... I've been undercover for 5 whole years. I know a lot about your company and you." He said, smirking, never looking away from your eyes. "I have been in every building, every city and every warehouse of yours."

"And what's your point?" You asked, getting annoyed of his talking. "To make it short, I have placed bombs and dynamite all over the place. If you kill me you'll never get to know the password and won't be able to deactivate them. So say good bye to your drugs, weapons and men... my lady. Bye, bye money." He said before laughing again.

"And why should I believe you?" You asked. "Busan, the warehouse at Ilgon street, number 45 (a/n: I made the street name up. For people who are wondering.). Look under the floor in the janitor's closet." He said.

You heart raised and your breathing became more rapid as you looked at one of the guards. "Go check if it's true what he's saying." You told him. This couldn't be true. If that bomb was really there then he probably said the truth and there would be more. That would also mean the end of your little mafia life and your source of income. That could never happen, not in a million years. Your family has worked so had for all this and now you're finally almost at the top, yes almost, he would barge in and ruin everything. You couldn't let that happen.

You looked at the guard as he finished the call. "They just found two boxes full of dynamite in the basement under the janitor's closet." The guard confirmed what Hoseok just said. "They say there are timers placed on them. They can only be removed by password, cutting a wire would mean the end." He said.

You brought your hand to your mouth and started to bite at your nails as you paced back and forth. "How much time do we have?" You asked. "7 days, mam." The guard answered.

7 days... You had 7 days to figure out that damn password and get rid of these bombs. But would you really be able to dismantle them on time? "Get Taehyung and put him to work." You told the guard before he disappeared to go get your hacker to fix the job. "You," You said, pointing towards the other guard. Lock Mister Jung up in the basement and make sure he doesn't escape." You said. "You can just call me Hoseok my lady. No need for the formalities." He said, giving you a wink. "Oh, shut up you. You're in no position to talk right now."

He laughed. "Right now I'm in a much better position than you would think love." The man came over to Hoseok and picked him up brutally from the ground. "Good luck with finding the password!" He said, before the doors closed, leaving you all alone in the room. You hoped Taehyung would be able to find it because you weren't in the mood of talking to that asshole again.

"Have you already found something?"

It had been 3 days since your encounter with Hoseok and him telling you about the bombs. 3 days of your hacker Taehyung trying to find a possible password to deactivate them. "I'm sorry y/n. Still nothing." Taehyung was one of the few people that could call you by your real name. You practically grew up with the boy so of course you got some kind of bound with each other.

Taehyung was typing all sorts of things on his computer while something was loading. "Whoever placed these bombs knows damn well how to use them. I can't crack into the system, nor can I track them or dismantle them without the password." He said. "Who did your father mess with?" He asked, his eyes never leaving the screen. "The secret agents agency of South-Korea." You said softly while biting on your nails again. It was a bad habit you did whenever you got stress.

Taehyung pulled at your hand so you couldn't bite on them anymore. "You should really learn how to stop doing that." He told you, looking at you for the first time after you entered the room.

You sighed. Taehyung was not successful in finding the password, the troops you sent hadn't found a single bomb yet except for the one Hoseok told you about and tracing was also out of the question. You were really losing hope. "Just keep looking." You told Taehyung before leaving him behind in his little room.

You were getting tired of all of this and decided to distract your mind a bit. And what is better then visiting your favourite casino when you are bored and stressed? So you went to your room and dressed up for a night out.

Little did you knew a surprise was waiting for you the other day...

"Mam! Mam!"

The door of your bedroom opened, a maid running inside out of breath as she stood at your bed, bowing first before waiting for your permission for her to speak again.

You groaned as you heard the woman storming in your room. Your head pounding because of the amount you drank the evening before at the casino. You slowly opened your eyes, hand on your head, holding it because of the pain. You gave the woman an angry look. "Speak" You snapped at her.

"M-Mam, T-The prisoner! He- He-"

"He what?!" You yelled, tired of the stuttering and hesitation in her speech.

She swallowed before talking again. "He escaped..." She said softly but clear enough for you to hear.

"WHAT??!!"

You made your way down the halls of your mansion while you wrapped your bathrobe around your body. While you made your way downstairs a few of your men were running upstairs but halted once they saw you. They stared at you with wide eyes while you stood there furious looking down on them. "I'll ask you once..." You said as you slowly walked down until you were face to face with the head of the guards. "What happened?"

"We were guarding him like you asked and suddenly someone of the kitchen came to bring us food. They said it was a treat for our hard work. After we ate it... We blacked out. When we woke up again the door was open and he was gone." The man said, looking down.

You clenched your teeth and slapped him right in the face. "YOU IDIOTS! How could you let him escape! I asked one thing of you and you couldn't even do that!!" You yelled at all of them. They all looked down like puppies that were being scolded at. "You're all useless!" You said as you made your way further down the stairs. They all bowed at you one by one as you made your way down.

You took a few corners before ending up in front of Taehyung's bedroom. You knocked, not waiting for an answer, and walked in. "Taehyung I need you to check the CCTV footage of last night. That fucking agent escaped." You said pacing around in Taehyung's room while the boy sat up, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "How late is it?" He asked groggily as he looked at you with puffed cheeks, bad hair and small eyes. "It's 8 am." You told him.

He sighed. "Give me a few minutes to wake up and then I'll go check ok?" You nodded. "Ok, I'll give you 15 min. Not more." You said and you walked out.

Like promised, in 15 minutes Taehyung was already sitting behind his desk returning back to the footage of yesterday evening. You saw the images of you walking out of the house, ready to go to the casino. "You can skip past that." You told him. He skipped a bit forward until you told him to stop. "Stop! right there." You said pointing at the screen. A man with a hood and a mask on walked in the shadows towards the back of the house. Taehyung checked one of the camera's at the back and you saw the men slipping in through the back door where the kitchen is. "He must be the one who drugged the food of the guards."

"They were drugged?" He asked and you nodded. "These morons thought they got food because of their hard work." You answered him. "Now go to the footage of the basement." Taehyung did as you said and showed the images of the sleeping men and the hooded man breaking the chain, letting Hoseok out. "He must have informed someone somehow where he was." Taehyung said.

You sighed. "I need that password. I can't dismantle these bombs without him. I don't like to admit it but... I need him. I need Hoseok." Taehyung turned towards you in his seat. So what are you going to do now?

You thought for a second. Indeed, what were you going to do? You knew everyone would fall for Hoseok's tricks all over again. Except for you. You would never fall for his charms, right? "I'll go after him." You then suddenly decided. Taehyung looked at you in shock. "Are you sure?" He asked. "You got men to do the dirty work for you." He stated.

You nodded. "I know but I can't trust them anymore. Those idiots already let him escape once, I can't let them do it a second time." You told him. "Check the CCTV's of the streets and every nearby city. I need to know where he is."

"Sure will." Taehyung said before going to work again.

While Taehyung worked on tracing Hoseok's location you went towards the dining room to grab some breakfast. Because of all this drama this morning you haven't even had the time to get some food into your system. Your stomach was already growling as you sat down at the filled table, set for two. Two? You may ask. Yes two. Today was the day your second hand would come back from his yearly vacation. He was one of the most trusted men into your house.

His name was Marcus and besides being your second hand he was also your dad's best friend. He has always been by his side and helped him in any way possible. After he died Marcus swore loyal to you and said he would do anything in his might to protect you. So the least you could do for him was to treat him as one of your own show him your gratitude.

While you were peacefully enjoying your meal the doors suddenly opened, revealing a man in suit. You smiled at the man immediately recognising him. "Marcus! Welcome back." You welcomed the man as he walked over towards you. He bowed at you before sitting down at the table where you were already seated. "It feels good to be back mam." He said, smiling before taking a look at the breakfast in front of him. "Well this is sure a great come back." He told you Smith amused eyes. "Please, enjoy yourself." You said. "Take whatever you want." You told him. "I'll sure will." He answered before digging in.

"So how was your trip?" You asked him. "Pretty good. Got some time to relax." He said. "How were things going here while I was gone?" He asked you.

You sighed. "It has been an entire rollercoaster. Oh Marcus," You said dramatically. "How happy I am you're back. I have so much to tell you." After you told him everything Marcus looked at you in shock. "You finally caught him?!" He asked surprised and you nodded. "Kind of, but he escaped yesterday evening while I was gone. These idiots can't do anything right around here anymore..."

"Only if I had been here to stop all this, huh?" He said teasingly and you nodded. "You know you're the best." You told him.

You ate and talked for a good hour before Marcus decided to go see his colleges and try to lessen the damage that had already been caused by Hoseok's escape. You really hoped he could do something about all this.

That evening you also went to go see Taehyung again to check on the situation. "You already found his whereabouts?" You asked the man in front of you. He turned his chair around and smiled at you. "Even better." He said licking his lips and clicking on one single button on his keyboard a whole screen popping up full of information. "I know which city he is in, which district and even in which building!" He told you, all proud of himself.

You walked over and stared at the screen with big eyes. "Really?! You are the best Tae!" You said, wrapping your arms around him in a big hug. The man laughed. "Alright, alright! You're welcome Y/n-ie" He said as you let go again.

"God, I could kiss you right now! You bring me so good news right now!" You yelled at him and he laughed. "You're welcome and about the kiss... no thanks." He said, showing off his boxy smile afterwards. "Go find me a plain ticket for the first flight tomorrow and tell Marcus he has the leadership until I'm back. This girl is going to Busan for some business..."

"Yes mam!"

And so the next day you flew all from Seoul to Busan. You took a taxi from the airport to your hotel while checking the info about Hoseok's whereabouts on your tablet. You mailed Taehyung, telling him you had a safe flight and to thank him again for his good work. He would definitely get a raise once you got back. You smiled as you closed your tablet and looked outside as you drove past the chore. "How long until we reach the hotel sir?" You asked the driver. "We're almost there miss! Just a few more minutes." He said. "Good" You answered, opening your window a bit and closing your eyes, enjoying the fresh sea air filling the car.

After a few more minutes you finally arrived at your destination. A five star hotel Taehyung booked for you. You got out of the taxi, payed the driver and walked inside the building as some staff took your bags out of the cab. You walked towards the counter and asked for your room. Of course it was the penthouse. You knew you could trust Taehyung. He always knew what you wanted. Once you got the key you went towards the elevator and went upstairs. You already felt completely drained from the trip towards where you were now.

As you arrived you walked towards the end off the hall and opened the door with your key card. A big smile as you entered the room. "Finally some rest." You said as you stretched your neck and walked towards the bed. But as soon as you walked through the door two men grabbed you by the arms. You tried to scream and break free from their grasp but it was no use. One of them held a cloth against your mouth and nose with some chloroform on it making you stop struggling after a while and falling into a deep slumber.

While you were unconscious the men dragged you outside the room, making sure no one saw you. They took you inside the elevator where someone was already waiting for your arrival. It was the lady from the counter that gave you your room earlier. "Let's move fast. Once you get out of the elevator go immediately towards the right. Go through the last door and that should lead you towards the back of the hotel. The van is waiting there." She said. Once they got you in the van they drove off to who knows where.

A few hours later you woke up with an incredible headache, as a side effect of the chloroform. You groaned as you opened your eyes, white light shining all around you. Once your eyes got adjusted to the light that came from big windows all around you you could also make out some silhouettes. "Our little princess is finally awake." You heard a voice. The voice sounded awfully familiar. But you couldn't put a name on it just yet.

You tried to move your hands but quickly figured out they were bounded behind your back. Same went for your legs. Tied against the legs of a chair. You looked back in front of you and the silhouette stood up from his place and walked closer until it was close enough. It squatted down in front of you and now you were able to identify the person clearly. "Hoseok..?" You said with unbelief.

He smirked at you. "Good morning princess." He said smiling. "Hope you slept well." Then you noticed the pain in your neck, shoulders and lower back. How long had you been tied to this chair for? You asked yourself. "You've been out for a pretty long time." Hoseok answered before you could even ask. "I hope my men weren't too rough on you." He said letting out a chuckle and standing back up to walk back towards his chair. He picked up an envelope from next to him and gave it to the man on his left. "Here, split it between you and the other guy. You did a great job." He told the man before he left the room, leaving only you and Hoseok.

"W-Where am I?" You asked. Your voice still a bit husk. "Is this xxx street? Your hide out here in Busan after you escaped?" You asked making Hoseok only laugh.

"Oh you wish sweetheart. Busan was just a distraction to get that tech guy of yours and your men off of my tail. We're in Ulsan right now." He told you. "I must admit... Your men are good at finding me but remember, I'm always a step ahead." He said. You looked at him and scoffed. "Asshole..." You muttered under your breath. "I heard that." Hoseok answered.

"Good, glad you know." You told him. He sighed and shoved his chair a bit closer before leaning forward, his arms resting on his thighs. "Tss, even bounded to a chair you still are a furry." He said. "Do you know why I brought you here Miss y/n?" You stayed quiet, clenching your teeth. "I brought you here because I got a proposition for you."

You scoffed. "And what may that be? You're gonna turn yourself in to me and let me torture you?" You asked nonchalantly.

He shook his head and hissed. "Aish, such a beautiful face but such a dirty mouth." He said, leaning back again. "You know the Choi clan right?" He asked. You scoffed. "Of course I know the Choi clan. Who doesn't? They're the biggest mafia out here in South-Korea. My father's mafia's greatest enemy."

Hoseok nodded. "Indeed. We've been already trying for years to stop them but without success."

"And what does all this got to do with me?" You asked him, not impressed by his little talk about the Choi's.

"I need your help." He said, a serious gaze on his face. "I need you to tell us everything you know about the Choi clan and help us arrest them. There is no better view over a mafia as the view of a mafia boss itself." You looked aside, out of the window. Now only noticing you were at a house right next to some low cliffs ending at the sea. You laughed. "And what's in that for me? I can help you but you're probably gonna arrest me afterwards anyways. So why should I bother?" You looked back at him.

He nodded, following your path of thinking. "I knew you would say that. Here's the deal. You help us destroy the Choi clan and I guarantee you won't go to prison. It's that simple." He said, standing up and walking around your chair. You wanted to say something but Hoseok was first. "And I know you're gonna refuse but think for a second... You have no where to run y/n." He stood now right behind you. He leaned in closer towards your right ear. "I got bombs all over your places." Then he switched to your left ear. "And I got you, tied to chair here right now. So either you're going to help or I turn you in right now and then you can say bye bye to your little mafia life." He said.

You scoffed. You wanted to protest but you knew he was right. He had you completely in the palm of his hand. There was no escape from him. "I give you three days starting today to decide whether you're in our out. In that time," He said, cutting the rope that was holding your hands together. "You are free to stand and walk wherever you want but," He said, turing towards your front and also cutting through the ropes at your feet. "You don't go off this domain. You'll stay at the house or at least in its presence. I have guards all over this place so don't you dare escape. Cuz things won't end well if you do" He spoke lowly, standing up while you pulled your hands to your chest, rubbing your sour wrists. The skin a deep red colour from where the rope had been a while ago.

You watched as he walked towards the door at the back of the room. "I'll stay here too. Come see me whenever you made your decision. I hope you enjoy your stay here." He turned his head towards you one last time, giving you a big grin before turning back around and walking out of the room leaving you all alone.

Already one day and one night had past and you still hadn't made your decision. You know going in on Hoseok's decision was your only option so far but you couldn't stop thinking if there maybe was another way. If your men maybe could get you out of here without Hoseok's deal involving. Should you go accept Hoseok's deal? Maybe. Where you stubborn? ... Hell yes. You don't like to lose and give in to others. So this time you also didn't want to just give into him. You couldn't. You were the boss of a big mafia! You shouldn't bow for just anyone.

That day you didn't talk to Hoseok at all. You did see each other sometimes and ate meals together but that would always be in complete silence. You expected Hoseok to annoy you but surprisingly he didn't. After lunch Hoseok left the house for the first time since you were here leaving you all alone. (The bodyguards are still there so dw, you can't escape that easy ;)).

That night when Hoseok came back he was so frustrated. You could see it at his behaviour as you were both eating dinner together at a rather late hour, you must admit. "What's wrong?" You asked. If you had to stay here for a few days you could at least make it a bit less awkward between the two of you.

Hoseok looked up at you. Surprised that you actually started a conversation with him after ignoring his existence in this house for at least 24 hours. "So you haven't lost your voice yet? That's a relief." He joked.

You sighed. "I'm serious Hoseok. What's wrong?" You tried again, trying to be as friendly as possible es hard as it was. He looked at you confused as for why you would care for him. "It's nothing you should concern about." He stated before starting to eat again.

You sighed. "Look, I know we're enemies and We both know we can't stand each other for one bit but... If I need to stay here for the few days ahead I want to make it at least a bit more comfortable for both of us. So..." You swallowed your proud and stubbornness as you said the following lines. "So, if something is wrong then please don't hesitate to come talk to me. I'm here for you ok?" You cringed at stating your own words but this was something you needed to do. Not only to make it more comfortable but also to earn Hoseok's trust. Maybe it could come in handy later on. You never know.

Hoseok nodded at your request. "I will princess." You wanted to snap at him giving you that nickname again but you quickly figured out you better shouldn't. Hoseok knew you were holding yourself in for not going all furry on him and he loved it. He loved making you all worked up and angry. Besides that fact that you were a dangerous mafia boss you were also a very pretty woman. No denying that. And seeing you all worked up and going all furry on him made him feel some kind of things.

"I'm a bit tired." Hoseok stated after a while. "I'll go get some sleep. You should do the same." He said, shoving his chair backwards and getting up from his seat. "And don't forget to think about my proposition Y/n. It's a very good and reasonable deal if you think about it throughly. I hope you can state me your decision tomorrow. But for now, goodnight." He said and then left towards his room.

After you were done eating you also left towards your room to get some good night rest. You sat onto your bed after putting on some sleep wear. You sighed as you thought about your situation. You really felt stuck. You couldn't contact anyone since you didn't have your phone. Hoseok must have hidden it when you were unconscious. your men also haven't been looking for you yet either... Did they even knew in what kind of situation you were right now? Did Tae knew? Would he be worried right now since you haven't texted him yet in these 2 days you've already gone missing?

You let out a deep sigh as questions kept filling your mind. It made you crazy! But suddenly all worries were blown away, out of your mind, as you felt two arms wrap around your frame from behind and two lips placing a delicate kiss onto your neck. Your eyes widened in shock. You quickly looked at your side only to lock eyes with someone you didn't expect.

Hoseok.

He softly smiled at you. "Hey princess." He said, smiling softly. "W-What are you doing here?!" You asked while getting out of the man's grip and standing up from the bed. Why was he here? Why did he touched you like that? Why did he acted so... sweet?

Hoseok tilted his head to the side and looked you up and down, smirking and biting his lip. "Couldn't sleep." He said.

You looked confused at him. He couldn't sleep? So why did he came here then? Out of all places why here? In your room? "So?" You said.

He let out a small chuckle and stood up from the bed, making slow steps forwards, closer to you, making you taking steps backwards until your body hit the wall. No where to run now.

Hoseok placed his hands at both sides of your head, against the wall. "Listen up my lady, I can't sleep and it seems like you can't sleep either, so what do you say about having some fun together hm?" He asked, his eyes scanning your face for some kind of reaction before resting on your perfect shaped lips. God, it drove him wild. Those delicious luscious lips...

You looked at him in shock. Was he really asking what you thought he was asking?! Was he referring to sex? "You tried to slap him in the face but he caught your hand on time and pinned it against the wall making you gasp. You must admit it was kinda hot, seeing his fast reflexes.

He pushed closer against you, one of his legs pushed between yours, his knee against your princess parts, his chest pressed against yours. You swallowed as you looked into his deep brown eyes. You could see they were filled with lust. Completely the opposite of how you both would look at each other a day ago.

God, it made you feel things... That lust filled gaze of him. And his knee, pressed against your core didn't made it any easier. "What will it be love? I don't have all night. I know we're supposed to be enemies but I remember a certain person saying we should get more comfortable around each other and that I was always welcome. Do you still remember that princess?" He asked you and you nodded. You didn't knew what was wrong with you but Hoseok's sudden dominant behaviour got the best of you.

He leaned even more closer towards you, your noses brushing against each other, his lips so close to yours and yet they didn't touch. "What do you want princess? Tell me..." He said, and with those final last words you lost it.

"You" You answered him almost immediately. Without hesitation Hoseok started to kiss you and you surrendered completely to him. You kissed him back and Hoseok let go of your hand that was still pinned against the wall. Your arms fell onto his shoulders. You pulled him closer, deepening the kiss some more, your fingers playing with the locks at the back of his hair. Hoseok bite and sucked at your bottom lip until you finally opened your mouth allowing him inside. Hoseok slipped his tongue inside and started to play with yours. You both moaned into the kiss as it got really steamy and messy. "Fuck Y/n- I didn't knew you could kiss that well." Hoseok stated, breathing heavily between kisses. You smirked. "Had lots of practise in the past i guess." You answered before he guided your leg around his hips, his mouth smashing against yours again in a hot kiss. He slapped your thigh two times, asking you to jump which you gladly did. You wrapped both of your legs around Hoseok's waist, not breaking the kiss as he takes you with him towards the bed.

When he hit the bed frame with his feet he slowly sat down, making you sit on top of his lap. You grinned against him, never breaking the kiss. Soft moans and groans coming out of both of your mouths. Hoseok let go of your lips only to wrap them around your jaw and throat. You moaned, grinding harder against him as he found your sweet spot. "Fuck Hobi-" Without you realising a cute nickname slipped out for the man under you. Hoseok stopped kissing for a while looking up at you. "What- What did you just say?" He asked, already half out of breath from your make-out session.

You blushed as you bite your lip, looking away in embarrassment. Hoseok took a hold of your chin and made you look at him again. "Hey, Look at me while I'm talking. Now answer me princess." He said. "What did you just call me." It sounded more like an order now then a question.

"H-Hobi..." You said quietly. It was quiet for a second. Hoseok just stared at you as he took in your words. Then he suddenly grinned, a soft chuckle leaving his lips. "Cute..." You could hear him whisper under his breath before he pecked your lips. Then he went down again, kissing and napping at your sweet spot. You were sure it was going to leave a bruise later on but right now you didn't mind. Your brain was a haze, your body felt hot and you were so wet down there.

His hands kept roaming your body. From caressing your back to gripping your hips, to grind you more and harder against him, grouping your ass and so on. His hands found their way under you shirt and he pushed it up to get it off of you. You helped him getting it off making him stare at your red laced bra afterwards holding onto your breasts.

He grouped them into his hands, squeezing them softly while you just watched. You knew you shouldn't love all this right now and you knew you surely shouldn't do it with him but you couldn't resist it. And besides, it had been so long since you've had dick. And from what you could feel in his pants right now he got one on the larger size.

You bite your lip as you looked at him getting one breast out of your bra, his thumb caressing over the little but making you whimper. He looked at you, giving you a lazy smirk before he attached his mouth to your breast. He let his tongue roll over your nipple, now and then sucking on it, making them go even harder. His other hand still working on your other breast before he switched sides. Now your left nipple in his mouth and his fingers playing and pinching the other one. While he was busy sucking your tits he unbuckled your bra, making it fall onto your lap. You slept your arms out of the straps and threw it aside.

When you turned your head back towards him his lips met yours again in a quick but deep kiss. "Now love... It has been so long since I've had a woman so close to me. So what would you say of making me feel your mouth, huh? Would you do that for me princess?" He said, his thumb tracing over your bottom lip before slipping onto your mouth. You wrapped your lips around it and started to suck on his finger. It may look strange but it kinda comforted you, making you feel smaller and wanting to submit more to him. Letting him take full control.

You nodded as an answer and smiled, getting his thumb out of your mouth. "Now," he said. "Get on your knees love."

He pulled down his pants and boxers as you sat down on the floor, his dick springing free standing tall and red. He was so ready for you. You licked your lips before kissing his length. Starting at the bottom and making your way towards his already leaking top. When you got at the top you started to take him inside of you, making him groan as you suck on his tip, your tongue rolling over the little slit. "Fuck-, that feels so good princess. Keep going." He said, closing his eyes and putting his hand behind him leaning on his strong arms as he felt his body melt under your touch. After teasing the tip for a while you tried to slowly bob your head up and down, every time when you're going down taking an inch more into your mouth until you couldn't anymore. The part that didn't fit into your mouth you stimulated with your hand, moving it up and down in a steady motion with your head.

Hoseok grasped onto your hair out of pleasure, pulling it softly and getting it out of your face. He wanted to see your face while you pleasured him so well. You were such a good girl for him. So good... He never expected for you to go in on his proposal of having a one night stand for tonight but he loved how turned on you got from him and how submissive you got after you acted like such a brat earlier. He liked to get you worked up and make you go all furry to him but having you now submit to him did something to him. He had been watching you for already so long and now he had you for him alone he couldn't drop the chance and just rushed to your room.

Hoseok felt himself getting close as you went bit faster, your droll already rolling over his dick and towards his balls, your eyes getting teary but you didn't cry. "I'm close baby." He told you. "I'ma cum in your warm little mouth and you're gonna swallow it all. You're my good girl after all, isn't it?" He asked and you nodded.

You loved to be a brat but for some reason hearing Hoseok call you a good girl made you want to please him in all kind of ways. You wanted to be his good girl and his only. You loved his small praises, the cute nicknames he gave you and that irresistible smirk of him whenever you did something he loved or when he had a little plan up in that head of his. In other words he made you go crazy for him.

A few more thrusts and he finally came, tinting the walls of your mouth white. And just like he asked you, you swallowed it all, showing him afterwards. "Good girl. Did so well princess." He praised you again and you smiled up at him as he held your chin, pulling you back up.

He sat you back on his lap and kissed your lips, tasting himself before flipping you over onto your back, on top of the soft mattress. You gasp as he does so.

He grins and hovers over you, ghosting his lips over yours for a while making you hungry for more until he finally kissed you again. He kissed over your jaw and behind your ear. "Princess, I want you to turn around for me." He whispered before biting your ear playfully and getting up so you could turn around for him. You did as he said and turned around now laying on your stomach. He slowly looked you up and down, his hand gliding over your half naked body until he stops at your ass. He helps you out of your pants and panties, throwing them aside. After that he also gets off his remaining clothes before hovering over you again, leaving soft kisses on your shoulders. You whimpered as you felt his hard dick poking your asscheeks. You had been so wet this whole time. Your pussy was craving for some attention.

Hoseok chuckled deeply as he felt you grind against him. "Such a slut for me princess. Your body is just begging me to get touched." He said making you whimper a second time.

But luckily you didn't have to wait long or his full length was already inside you. You moaned as he filled you up so well. "Fuck-" Hoseok breathed out. Because you were already so wet for him he slipped right in and he didn't expected that. But it wasn't like you were to loose. You still felt so tight. It was like your little cunt was just made for him.

He pulled it out before pushing it back in, making you both moan simultaneously this time. You both felt so good. No words to describe it.

When Hoseok started to move for real this time he didn't hold back. He didn't really wait for you to adjust to him (not that you needed to) and started to thrust at an already rapid pace. Moans and groans filled the room as Hoseok was ramming into your pussy like crazy. Right now you felt like you were on cloud nine and on Hoseok's side it was just the same. You both had no thoughts at that moment, the only thing on your minds is how good the other's body felt against your own.

After a short while you felt that familiar knot in your stomach. Meaning you were close. Hoseok could feel it at how tight your pussy became. Sometimes pulsating, driving him crazy. "I-I'm c-close-" You said to him between moans and heavy breaths.

As you told him that he suddenly seemed to stop making your groan and whimper. "Hoseooookkkk-" You were whining, not liking his warm flesh leaving you wet and aching hole. But before anything else he flipped you around and pushed back in. You moaned.

"Want to see your face." He said. "Wanna see how good I make you feel." He stated before slowly starting to trust again, his eyes never leaving your face, taking in every detail, every new expression that took place on that oh so beautiful face. He speed up a bit, seeing your expression change again and hearing your moans getting louder. Like before you ached around him, getting tighter and tighter as that wave of pleasure came back, bringing you close to pure ecstasy. "Cum for me sweetheart." Hoseok said as he felt himself getting close as well.

As like his words were the magic spell your body was waiting to hear you both came undone, Hoseok's mouth devouring yours again, muffling your moans as you came. You both stayed in that position for a while, your lips still attached against each other as Hoseok spilled his load inside of you until his dick softened down again and slipped out. You whimpered at the loss.

Hoseok gave you a last peck on the lips before getting off of you and laying on his back beside you, staring up at the ceiling. "That... Was amazing." He said out of breath. You laughed and nodded. "That was indeed." You answered him. "It has been so long since I had such good sex." You admitted. "Me too, princess. Me too..."

"You're on the pill, right?" Hoseok suddenly asked, turning his head towards you. "Why you asking?" "Well, we didn't use a condom. I hope you don't mind." Hoseok said, blushing a bit and rubbing the back of his neck nervously. How was this the man the one that ever took control over you a while ago?

"I don't take the pill but I got a spiral implanted. So no need to worry about getting me pregnant." You told him. He nodded and then stared back at the ceiling. He suddenly laughed. "What?" You asked turning towards him. He shook his head. "Was just thinking of something.." "Tell me." He played on his side and looked at you. "You know what they say about keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" He asked, a playful smile on his face. "Well I think this way we're definitely keeping our enemies closer." He winked at you and you scoffed, a little smile creeping through.

And that's how you both ended up talked a bit that night until you felt your body getting tired and just fell asleep.

Opening your eyes the next morning it seems you were the first one awake. You tossed around and laid on your other side facing the still fast asleep man next to you. You smiled as he looked so soft while sleeping. So... harmless. You smiled as you looked at him, admiring his cute, puffy face he made while sleeping. How could anyone want to hurt this man?

You shook your head. Did- Did I just think that?! You asked yourself. Get him out of your head Y/n! He's supposed to be your enemy! You told yourself. But yesterday night was just so... You bite your lip as you thought back about yesterday night. Maybe... Just maybe you could trust this man for once. Maybe it was ok to let go for just a little while.

You thought back about his proposition. You didn't knew if yesterday night was one of his plans to get you to follow him into his idea or not but this morning you finally made your decision. You were gonna take Hoseok's offer. It's not like you had any other plans, right?

Before you knew it the men next to you woke up and when he saw you were awake he smiled, closing his eyes and yawning, stretching his muscular arms. "Morning.." He said softly in his deep morning voice. God, you were such a simp for that voice from now on. "Morning." You answered him. You got a bit shocked as the boy leaned in and softly pecked your lips.

Hoseok looked at your shocked face and let out a small giggle before turning onto his back and looking up at the ceiling taking a deep breath. "Last night was... amazing." He said. You nodded but of course he couldn't see it so you answered him afterwards. "Yeah.." You said softly. "Hoseok?" You asked and he turned his face sideways so he could see you, a soft smile plastered onto his face. "Please call me Hobi." He said. You blushed as you remembered you accidentally calling him that last night.

You gave him a small awkward smile and a soft nod. "H-Hobi?" You tried again. "What is it angel?" He asked. Angel... Well that was a new nickname to add to the list. He hadn't called you angel before. You kinda liked it... Stop it! Stop thinking about it Y/n! You internally sighed. Why did he made you feel like this??

"Y/n?" Hoseok called out your name as he saw you were caught in thoughts all of a sudden. "Huh?" You said as you heard his voice. "Oh.." You looked at him and bite your lip before deciding to be bold and sit a bit up. One hand holding you up and one softly wrapped around Hoseok's naked chest under the blanket. You softly let your fingers glide over the warm skin. "I just wanna say... I'm in." You told him, not really wanna admit it but your heart said it was the only right thing to do and your brain said it was the only option to do.

Hoseok looked at you a bit confused before understanding it. "You're for real?" He asked shocked and you nodded. "I will help you catch the Choi's. I already kinda know how too I think..." You said. You looked up at him and Hoseok was smiling at you. He softly started to pet your head. "You made the right decision. I'm glad you decided to cooperate." You don't know why but hearing Hoseok saying you did well made you feel all giddily and good around him. And on top of that the pats he was giving you... You felt like you were in heaven. You may look and sometimes act like a real bitch, well- actually most of the time-, but somewhere inside there you were just a soft girl.

Hoseok let out a deep breath getting you both out of your silent trance you both seemed to be in. "We should go get some clothes on and then we can discuss further details." He said and you nodded, unwrapping your arm from around him and laying back down so he could get up.

Once you both showered and were fully dressed again you sat together at the table to discuss your plan. "So, you said you had something in mind right?" Hoseok asked and you nodded. "Tell me."

"Well," You started off. "You probably already know Mr Choi has two daughters" Hoseok nodded. "but did you knew he also had a son?" You asked and Hoseok looked at you confused. "We've been through those files multiple times. He had a son. He died 10 years ago." Hoseok said, grabbing the file and showing you.

You smirked and shook your head. "That's the part he made you guys see. The rumour goes that he's still alive." You said and Hoseok looked at you in shock. "How is that possible?"

You grinned. "I don't know either but apparently he is. About this... there is good and bad news. What you wanna hear first?" You asked Hoseok. "Good first." He answered.

"Very well then. The good news is, they guy should be in Korea. Multiple people keep saying he's still here and have seen him. It has also been confirmed with pictures. Now the bad news... We have no idea how he looks like. We have witnesses but no descriptions or clear pics of his face."

"So he could be anyone..." Hoseok said and you nodded. "Exactly." "And what has this son to do with getting the Choi's?" Hoseok suddenly asked.

"Well, get the son and you get to the father! People say they still see each other once a year. You said you couldn't get your hands onto Mr Choi? Well he's your chance." You said.

Hoseok seemed lost in thoughts as he looked at the documents in front of him. "But how are we going to find him?" He asked. "There live thousands of people here in Korea." He stated.

You smirked. "I got the perfect solution for that."

A few hours of convincing Hoseok and taking a plain back to Seoul and you were standing again at your own house. More specifically, Taehyung's workspace. "So you are sure this guy can find Choi's son?" Hoseok asked you for the already umpteenth time. You sighed. "For the last time Hope, Taehyung is the best. This guy here gets everything done." You said earning a grin from Taehyung himself who was seated at his usual place, behind his computers. "Well, thanks for the compliment Y/n." He said. "And Hoseok, don't worry. I'll find this guy. It's not because you failed that I will." He gave Hoseok a quick wink making him scoff.

How does he even has the audacity. Hoseok thought. "Good luck man." Hoseok said before walking out of the room with you, leaving Taehyung alone to do his job.

"So what do we do in the meanwhile?" Hoseok asked you. "We just relax a bit. There's not much we can do anyways." You told him. And before you knew it you had let him to your bedroom. (Not for what you think you pervs out there.😏 It's not always about sex.)

You sat down on your bed as Hoseok admired your room, standing still at some pictures. "Is that you?" He asked, holding up one in particular. You smiled and nodded, thinking back about old good memories. "That's me and my mom." You said as you thought back about her. Her soft hands, her warm smile. You missed her a lot. "What happened to her?" Hoseok asked; like he could read you expression. "Cancer..." You answered. "Dad was so broken after she died." You looked up from the picture at Hoseok again, giving him a sad smile. "It's not because we are feared mafia's that we don't know what true love is. What mom and dad had... Was something special. They really loved each other." You said.

Hoseok put the picture back down and walked over to you, sitting down next to you and holding your fragile frame. "I wish she was still here. She was a wonderful woman." You said as Hoseok softly caressed your head. "She told me I should always follow my heart."

Hoseok pulled back from the embrace and gave you a small reassuring smile. You don't know why but your body seemed to react on it and you started to smile back at him. You didn't knew how you became from being enemies only a few days ago to feeling so close to him now but it felt good and you kinda didn't want to let go of that feeling.

Hoseok put a strand of hair behind your face before speaking. "Y/n, what would you think of getting out of this... mafia live of yours? Just start a new life, a better one. Maybe even go start a family." He said.

You laughed ad shook your head. "I can't do that... I maybe had a choice as a kid but after my father died and I took over... I can't just leave like that. And besides... Some people here are like family to me. I can't just leave them." You told him.

"What if you could?"

Before you could answer him, the door to your bedroom opened. "Boss! I didn't knew you were already back and oh- You found him?! Do I need to get the guards?" Marcus asked after storming in.

You smiled and turned towards Marcus. "No need Marcus. It's alright. I made a deal with Mr Jung here so from now on he won't be our prisoner anymore. He will be our guest. And besides, I already told you to just call me by your name. You're not just anyone Marcus. You were my father's friend. So please be comfortable and just see me as a friend too." You said, earning a smile back from him. "Sure Y/n. Do you guys need anything?" He asked and you shook your head. "Not really but thank you Marcus. I'll see you later downstairs." You told him and with that he left your room again.

"Marcus?" Hoseok asked and you turned back to him. You nodded. "My father saved him a few years ago when I was still a kid. Since then he had been my father's most trusted man and also his friend. After he died he swore to protect his family no matter what. So that's how he became my wing man now." You told him and Hoseok nodded. "I see.."

You sighed and stood up. "Well... I should go downstairs now. Marcus is probably waiting for me. You can stay here until I come back our just room around a bit in the house. Whatever you like." You told him and he nodded. "see you later Hobi!" You said with a smile as you walked towards the door. Hoseok smiled back, even happier as he heard you used the little nickname again. "See you later." He said before you finally walked out of the door.

"Ok... explain to me Y/n why that guy is just randomly relaxing in your room?" Marcus asked you once you were both sitting downstairs on the sofa. "Well Marcus, Like I told you, I made a deal with Mr. Jung." "Are you crazy?!" Marcus yelled. "That's like making a deal with the devil!"

"Calm down!" You yelled back at him, making him shut his mouth and sit back down. "Now let me explain." You d-said, fixing your hair. "When I was in Busan I bumped into Hoseok like planned. We... had a little encounter afterwards." You said, thinking back about how he kidnapped you but afterwards how he could pleasure you so well. You swallowed, stopping your thoughts and licking your dry lips. "Then Hoseok came with a proposition. His agency is after the Choi's. Even more then after us. He promised if we helped he would leave us alone afterwards." You explained to the man in front of you.

"And what makes you think he's speaking the truth?" Marcus asked you. You stared into the distance, a small smile forming onto your mouth. "I believe Hobi." You said.

Marcus looked at you with questionable eyes. "H-hobi?" He asked. You swallowed, eyes in shock. Did you just said that out loud?! You looked at Marcus. "I-" How were you going to explain this? "What happened back in Busan?" Marcus asked. "Nothing just-... I was tired of him giving me those little nicknames so I gave him one to annoy him too! Yeah! That's it." You said, a nervous giggle afterwards. You hoped he didn't suspected anything.

Marcus nodded. "Alright then.." He said, dropping the topic. "And besides, Imagine. For so long the Choi's have been at the top of Korea's mafia. Once they're down we're the new number one. We'll finally stand at the top Marcus! How wonderful is that!" You told him enthusiastic. Marcus nodded. "That's... Indeed great!" You frowned your eyebrows. You expected Marcus to be the most enthusiastic out of the two of you. "Is everything alright?" You asked him.

He cleared his throat. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. I was just worried about you. What if something happens to you. I still can't trust that Hoseok guy." He said. You gave him a soft smile, placing your hand on top of his. "Don't worry Marcus. I got this." And with that you stood up and walked out. "By the way Marcus," You said, turning around one last time. "Can you go check how Taehyung's work is going and give me an update on it? It's quite important and I only trust you with it." You told him. He nodded. "Of course. I'll go check right away boss!"

When you came back to your room you were surprised that Hoseok was still there. It was like he never left. "I thought you would've already went off to go explore the place." You said as you walked in. Hoseok looked up at you. "Neah, not really. I rather stay here. It's quiet here." He said, laying back onto the bed.

You went to sit at the edge of the bed and looked outside the big window in your room. Suddenly you felt Hoseok's hand grabbing yours and to Hoseok's surprise you laced your fingers with his. He smiled, looking at your face as it looked beautiful to him with the current lighting coming from your windows. You hair already got a bit messy from walking around all over the place all day. You may have been a target for him at first but right now, the only thing he could think about calling you was his angel. That's how you looked in Hoseok's eyes like an angel still trapped into the claws of the devil... The mafia. If he only could get you out of this life and give you a better one. "Leave this place with me tonight."

You turned your head towards Hoseok as these words came out of his mouth. "What?" "You heard me." Hoseok said, sitting back up and sitting a bit closer towards you. "Leave this place with me. Y/n, I can see this is no life for you... I promise I can give you a better one." Hoseok said, looking deep into your eyes. You suddenly felt all naked, like Hoseok could look right through you and into your soul. It's not like you loved the mafia but it also wasn't like you hated it.

"How...?" You quietly asked. "I already told you it's not that easy..." You said, looking down at your still intertwined hands. "Let's just leave this place tonight. No one will know. And we'll see what happens afterwards." Hoseok pushed your chin back up with his free hand. "Look at me Y/n. Do you trust me?" Hoseok asked.

You thought for a second, nervously chewing on your lip. Eventually you nodded your head. You knew you couldn't deny anymore what was happening between you and Hoseok. You knew it all went quick but there was just this sparkle between you and from today on you couldn't unseen it anymore.

Hoseok smiled at your response. "Good. So please Y/n, please come with me." He said, leaning in closer and delicately kissing your lips. You nodded. "A-alright. Let's get out of here tonight. But... I can't leave Taehyung here behind. I need him to go with us. He's my best friend Hope... We grew up together."

Hoseok looked you into the eyes while playing with your hand. "You're sure you can trust him enough to let him come with us?" He asked and you nodded. "I'm a hundred percent sure of it." Hoseok nodded. "Ok then. Go tell him. We'll leave at 3am. Everyone should be asleep by then."

And so as planned you went to speak to Taehyung. You told him the plan and of course he supported you in your decision. He was glad you asked him to go with you. He joked around saying' if Hoseok didn't take you away from here I would'. You laughed at him but then he started to question you about Hoseok and then the blushing and stuttering came. Of course, as the good friends you are, you told him about how you felt something towards the boy but wasn't quiet sure jet but it just felt right. As last you also talked about who the son of the Choi's could be but Taehyung only said it was difficult and he didn't knew yet.

After your little chat with Taehyung and bumping into Marcus inside the hall you were finally back in your room, making everything ready together with Hoseok. "Go get some rest Y/n." Hoseok said, packing the last of your things. You didn't intended to take much with you but no matter what Hoseok insisted he would help you pack. With the small bag finally packed you lay down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. You heard Hoseok close the zipper of the back before feeling the mantras getting heavy next to you. "I am surprised I'm doing this... A few days ago I wouldn't even have thought of escaping this life. I was so focused on making my parents proud..." You said before scooping a bit closer towards Hoseok, resting your head on his shoulder while he wrapped his arms around you. "No matter what you do, I think your parents will always be proud of you Y/n. Now go sleep. You got a few hours." He said, kissing the top of your head.

"Goodnight Hope."

"Goodnight Y/n."

While you slept Hoseok didn't close an eye. He stayed awake all night, staring at you and also keeping the guard. He knew it may be foolish of him but there was someone in this house Hoseok didn't trust. And that was Marcus. Marcus had always been a strange figure in Hoseok's eyes and today it only got worse.

Hoseok lied to you when you asked him if he stayed in your room the whole time you were gone. In fact, Hoseok went to look for Taehyung. He had something in mind and the only one that could confirm it was him.

"Taehyung, can you look into someone for me?" Hoseok asked as he walked into Taehyung's office. "Who do you need me to look for?" The guy asked, looking at him from behind his desk. "I want you to get some research done on that Marcus guy."

Taehyung looked at him in shock. "Marcus? Why?" He asked, genuinely confused. "I don't trust him at all and I need to confirm something..." Hoseok said, standing behind Taehyung, looking at the screens.

"Marcus has been friends with Y/n's father for so long. Why wouldn't you trust him?" Taehyung said. "You don't think that-" Taehyung broke his own sentence into a silence as he finally understood what Hoseok was looking for. Hoseok nodded. "I think he's our man."

And just like he had thought Taehyung confirmed it that evening. Marcus was indeed the person you guys had been looking for. He was the son of the one and only Mr. Choi. But what would the son of a filthy rich mafia boss do in their enemies house? Hoseok could only think of one thing...

Then a bullet shot through the window and got caught by the opposite wall. Hoseok shook you awake. "Y/n wake up! Plans have changed, we need to go now!" You immediately woke up and you both stood up from the bed, only to hear another two gunshots. You both quickly laid flat on the ground. "W-what is that?" You asked, still halve asleep and confused. "They're here to kill you Y/n."

"What?!" You asked confused. "Who would possibly want to kill me?!" Again shots and Hoseok pulled you with him inside your closet. No windows there so the shutters don't know where to shoot anymore. Then a door opened giving you the answer to your question. "Well, hello hello!"

You looked at Hoseok in shock recognising the voice. Was that Marcus?! Hoseok put his finger in front of his lips telling you to not make any noise.

"Where are you little princess? I know you're somewhere in here~" Marcus said as you heard him walk around the room. "I know your lover boy is with you too." He said.

"You know... I wished things would've gone other ways but you just leave me no choice Y/n. You're just like your father." He said before shooting at the ceiling, making you jump a bit.

But what did he mean, just like your father? "You know the day your father died... It was my doing. He tried to escape too and just like you now, he left me no choice but to kill him right there and then."

You placed your hand over your mouth in shock. Your body was trembling while tears were threatening to leave your eyes. Marcus killed your father? But why would he ever do that? They were like best friends. Hoseok took your trembling body in his arms, shushing you quietly while he was eagerly looking for a way out of here.

Marcus started to speak again. "I know you're probably wondering... 'Oh why did you kill my daddy Marcus? Weren't you like best friends?' " Marcus said, trying to imitate your voice. "Well dear, It may look like we were friends but I am his worst nightmare. Your worst nightmare!" You heard him push a closet on the ground, making a hella loud noice. "You know who I am Y/n? Why doesn't Hoseok tell you, huh?" You looked at Hoseok confused. What would he know you didn't? "I am Marcus Choi. The son of the biggest, most feared mafia boss." Then a maniac laughter could be heard from him. "Wasn't it a great idea from me to infiltrate your little mafia and bring it down? After the accident happened everyone thought I died but I didn't, what caused me to be in the most ideal position. I thought when your father died I finally made an end to the Lee's but then you showed up from your house in the US and took over!" This time a vase could be heard shattering onto the ground. "Of course daddy's little girl had to take over business! Now where are you Y/n! Cut the crab and come out already!" Marcus yelled.

Hoseok slammed the door open as on clue and run with you towards the door as Marcus tried to shoot at the both of you. Luckly no bullet caught you. Or so you thought... "Hoseok! Your shoulder!" You said while you were running through the halls. "I'm alright. We need to get to Taehyung first to warn him and then get the hell out of here." He said. You looked at his shoulder and let go of his hand. "You'll need your hand to put pressure on that wound." You said.

"WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BITCH!!"

You quickly opened the door and ran into Taehyung's room as you heard Marcus yell from upstairs. "Taehyung!" You yelled as you run towards him and hugged him. He hugged you back. "I heard gunshots, what's happening?" He asked, letting go of you. Then he looked at Hoseok and his arm that was covered in blood. "Fuck that looks bad..." He said. "Is it Marcus?!" He asked and Hoseok nodded. "He somehow must have heard us talking about escaping. We need to go now."

"COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!"

Marcus voice could be heard closer and closer. "He's getting near." You said. The panic could be seen in your eyes as you looked at the two boys. "You two need to get out of here as fast as possible." Taehyung said. "And what about you?!" You asked and he gave you a soft smile. "We can't escape with all of us. Marcus knows this place too well. He'll catch onto us in no time. You go and I'll distract him."

"But what if he hurts you like he did to Hoseok?!" You asked concerned. "Don't worry about me Y/n. I'll be alright. I always am in the end. Just trust me ok?" Leave the house and I'll make sure you escape safely." He said.

"He's right Y/n. We got to go now." Hoseok said as he pulled at your arm. You gave Taehyung one last glance. He smiled and nodded, like he was saying 'it's alright. It's all gonna be fine.' And so you trusted him on that and left with Hoseok through the front door.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Marcus yelled from the top of the stairs aiming his gun towards you but shot into the door because Hoseok could close it on time. A tear left your eye as you thought of Taehyung being inside there with that maniac. You were so scared of what Marcus could do to Taehyung. Then you saw the house go into lockdown. You knew this was Taehyung's doing and it was also a sign for you and Hoseok to leave.

"Where are your cars Y/n?" Hoseok asked. "Right there, behind that corner." you told him as you both ran towards the garages. You opened one and got inside the car as fast as possible, Hoseok behind the steering wheel. "Buckle up!" He said and then started the engine. But before you could ride away a shot was heard. You both looked at the side, it was Marcus. Somehow he managed to escape the house and he just shot one of your tiers. This was no good. "You both looked at him in shock as he aimed the gun towards you two again. Fear in both of your eyes this time as you had no where to run to now. You were so scared knowing this could be your last moment.

You still had so many things you wanted to do. You want to stop this mafia shit, make more times to spend with friends and family and most important of all, start a new better life with the one you loved... Hoseok. As you were so concentrated you didn't saw Taehyung stumble out of the house all beaten up by the hooligan in front of you.

You closed your eyes in fear of what would come and then it finally came. Two gunshots could be heard.

...But strangely they never reached you nor Hoseok. You opened your eyes again and saw Marcus coughing up blood before falling down onto the floor. Someone had shot him. Then from everywhere around the building and bushes men with guns appeared. Hoseok rushed out of the car and towards the men. You looked at your saviours in shock as Hoseok talked to them about something. Two persons went to check on the corps while Hoseok looked back and forth between you and then one he was taking to.

You decided to get out of the car as well and with small steps you walked towards Hoseok. He gave you a soft smile and then took you into a tight hug. "It's alright. It's all over now." He shushed you while caressing your hair as you cried into his chest from the chock and all the stress you had been going through tonight.

"Who is this Seok?" The man that was standing with Hoseok earlier asked. "This is Y/n. She was one of the people captured here by Marcus." Hoseok said. "I see... Can you both come testify one by one in a while?" The man asked. "Sheff, can we do it together? I don't think she's in a state to handle this on her own now." Hoseok stated and the guy nodded. "I give you 15min to calm down a bit. Come inside afterwards.

Once the guy left Hoseok let go off you and took a step back to look at you. "It's alright. Just take some deep breaths." You did as Hoseok said and it calmed you down a bit. "Now, I want you to let me speak when we get inside for the interrogation. If they know you're the boss of this whole mafia you hang." "They will put me in prison?!" You asked in shock and Hoseok shock his head. "No, no, no. I won't let that ever happen princess. Just let me do the talking and everything will be alright, ok?" He said and you nodded. "Ok.." "Good."

"Now... How did all these men come here?" You asked, confused on how Hoseok's men suddenly found your house. "I called them in. When you were talking to Marcus I went to Taehyung to search a bit more information about the man."

"You already knew... You didn't trusted him from the start." You said and Hoseok nodded. "I didn't trusted him indeed but I didn't knew. Well... I wasn't sure yet. So that's why I needed proof. Thanks to Taehyung's help I got it. I contacted my boss afterwards. I told them my location and everything they needed to know. My plan was to get you out first so they could storm in and clear this mess without you having to worry about it. I didn't knew he would come and try to kill you first..." Hoseok said, looking down. "I wanted to capture him to get to the Choi's as originally planned but then the shots and he tried to murder you and-"

"ssh," You said, placing your hands on both of Hoseok's cheeks. He looked up at you and you placed your forehead carefully against his. He calmed down a bit, taking a deep breath. "I'm here Hope. I'm right here. I'm still alive thanks to you. You did good by calling your troops here. Thank you for saving me." You said, smiling at him and he smiled back.

You took a deep breath yourself before both going inside for your interrogation. Like you discussed earlier outside Hoseok did the talking. He had to lie a bit for that but it was necessary to not get you in prison. He told them Marcus killed your dad and captured you afterwards. He told them Marcus took over and then caught him too. When you tried to escape today Marcus tried to kill you both and then the troops came in. That's the story Hoseok told the police. "Can you confirm this Ms. Lee?" The agent interrogating you asked. You nodded. "Yes it is. I have been captured by that battered for years until Hoseok finally came and saved me." You said, Hoseok squeezing your hand under the table as if wanting to tell you 'good job'.

After all that happened that day you still had to find a good story for Taehyung. After that was all done and Taehyung was completely healed again you and Hoseok decided to live together. Taehyung was so happy for the both of you. The only thing he ever wanted was to see his best friend happy and now he knew you finally were.

"Guess who?"

You laughed as you knew who these hands and voice belonged too. "Hoseok, we're the only one in the house right now. Of course it's you." You said giggling. It had been a year since what happened with Marcus and right now you were living happily with Hoseok in a villa at the beautiful coast of Italy.

Hoseok took his hands from around your eyes and went to sit next to your legs onto the sunbed you were currently on. You put off your sunglasses and looked at the man in front of you as he leaned in closer for a kiss. For the ones asking, yes you and Hoseok were a pair. A month after everything that happened and after recovering from the chock for a while Hoseok finally asked you to be his and without hesitating you said yes. And so you now both lived happily in each other's presence.

"I got a surprise for you." Hoseok said, pulling back from the kiss and smiling at you. He then pulled an envelope from behind his back. "What is that?" You asked. "Open it." He said, giving you the envelope. You opened it and pulled out two tickets for... "The opera? Is this real?!" Hoseok smiled and nodded. You wrapped your arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so so so muchhhh!!" You said while hugging him happily. In that year of living together Hoseok slowly dithered out your love for opera and classical music so one day when he sat behind his computer he decided to get you a little present. "See it as an early birthday gift." Hoseok said as you let go of him and kissed him full on the lips. He laughed as he kissed you back, loving to see you so happy.

"It's tonight so I suggest you go pick a nice dress to wear because I know if I don't tell you now you'll take ages." You playfully hit his chest while he laughed. "It's true tho! Now go get ready, we leave at 6." He said. You stood up and got a smack onto your ass. "Yah-" You turned around and looked at him. He smiled and just put on his sunglasses laying down onto the sunned you payed on earlier, smirk on his face. "Go get ready! The longer you take the later it will get."

Once you and Hoseok were ready it was indeed almost time. "Told you, you always take a long time in the bathroom." Hoseok said, kissing your naked shoulder as he wrapped his arms around your waist. He checked you out through the mirror in front of you. "You look beautiful in that red off shoulder dress." He said and you smiled at him, kissing his cheek. "Thanks love. You don't look that bad yourself in that black suit with red tie." You turned around and playfully pulled on his tie, pulling him closer so you could kiss his lips. He kissed back, pushing you a bit backwards against the sink of your bathroom. "We should stop now or we won't even make it to the opera." Hoseok said, pulling away from you.

He did a step backwards and reached his arm towards you. "My lady," He said playfully. You laughed and wrapped your arm around his as you both walked out of the house and towards the car.

Once in the opera house Hoseok saw that sparkle in your eyes and it filled him with love and admiration for you. You looked so happy and it made him happy too. "Look how beautiful and classy it looks here! Wah." You said as you walked towards the giant stairs. "Did you knew that 'common people' always needed to sit at the low levels and that the rich sat at their private balcony? Until now it are still the most expansive places in the house." You told him, already walking towards the door that lead you towards the lower levels assuming your seats were there.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hoseok asked, pulling you back. "I'm going towards our seats?" You said questionable. "What else?"

Hoseok pulled you with him and onto the stairs. "Hoseok-" You said, looking at him in disbelieve while he pulled you with him up the stairs. "My princess only deserves the best." He said, kissing the top of your head before walking further through the hall on the second floor.

He opened a door with Hoseok's name written on and just like in every opera house there was your private balcony. "You really paid for all of this?!" You asked surprised while walking onto the small balcony, looking down at the podium a bit further. Hoseok went to stand behind you and held you as he admired the opera house with you.

You really were surprised at how he managed to pay for this. After leaving the mafia you of course also had to leave all the money behind. Mafia wasn't really legal so the money went towards the government who would do it's thing with it. You were already shocked at him Hoseok managed to buy the villa in Italy you were currently living in and now these expensive opera tickets?

"My job pays quite well Y/n. I think you sometimes underestimate my job as a secret agent love." He said, kissing your nape before letting go of you and sitting down in one of the chairs. "Come sit with me love." You went to sit down and as if on clue the lights dimmed and the show started.

"This was so good Hoseok! I loved it so much!" You said enthusiastically. The whole car it back home you couldn't stop talking about everything that evening. From the beautiful building to the lovely voice of the sopranos. He felt like he just took a little girl towards Disneyland, mesmerised by the many fairytales around her. That's how it felt with you right now. "Cute..." He mumbled as he opened the door for you.

Once you walked inside you saw something you didn't expected. The floor was covered with rose petals and on every closet or chair were cadges lighting the way towards the living room. You turned around towards Hoseok in shock. "Did- Did you do all this?" You asked him and he gave you a bright smile nodding. "I hope you like it." He said and you nodded. "Are you kidding?! I love it! Hope... You're so sweet." You said, a tear leaving your eyes.

Hoseok wrapped you in your arms letting out a soft chuckle. "Oh baby, don't cry now." He wipes the tear away that fell out of your eye. "This is supposed to be a happy day." He told you. You smiled through your tears. "It's just that- You're just so sweet Hobi, you're amazing and so kind and caring towards me. I can't help it." You said.

Hoseok softly kissed your lips. "It's alright love. I like doing cute and sweet stuff for you. Seeing you happy makes me happy. You know that. The only thing I want is for you to feel loved." He said. He turned you around, holding your hand. "Now go walk a bit further. I got another surprise for you." You gave him a questionable look before walking further.

"T-Taehyung?!" You run towards him and unfolded him into a tight hug. "You're here. You're really here!" When you left Korea Taehyung didn't. He decided to stay, going back to his family and live there for a while, while he would try finding a new job. You thought you would never see him again and here he was, right in your arms.

"Did you set this all up?!" You asked, pulling away from your arms. The boy laughed and nodded. "How did you manage to do all this?" You asked, looking around the room. There were red, pink and white balloons hanging at the ceiling, small red paper hearts were covering the curtains and of course the many candles and rose petals all over the place. "Thank you so much for this. Both of you. This is so cute." You said, your hands on your chest as you looked at the two boys and the work they pulled off.

"Oh, where are my manners." You said, fanning your head. "Sit down Tae! It's been so long. I wanna talk and know everything that happen with you while I was gone. You want something to drink?"

Taehyung laughed and stopped you. "It's alright Y/n. You don't need to do all this." He gave you a sweet smile. "Besides, this evening is supposed to be only you and Hoseok. I stay here for two weeks so enough time to talk later. You go and enjoy your night with your manz." Taehyung said, raising his eyebrows and taking his jacket off of the couch. "I'll leave you alone now. Have a great night guys!" He said, winking and smirking at you as he passed by. "See you tomorrow!"

You laughed as he left the place. "Aish that little-" You said as you watched him leave. Hoseok stood behind you again to hug you. He loved giving back hug's a lot lately. Even while you were sleeping he would always spoon you. "Baby?" Hoseok called out your name while he placed his head on your shoulder. "Let's do what Taehyung said and make this night ours." Hoseok said. "And how are you planning to do that Mister Jung?" You asked your boyfriend teasingly.

He took a deep breath. "I don't know yet Misses Jung." You turned around and looked at him in shock. In the past year he had never used his last name to address you until now. "Misses Jung?" He nodded and smiled taking a step backwards and suddenly going down on one knee. Your hands went to cover your mouth in chock. Was this real? Was he really just... proposing to you?

Hoseok pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it. "Y/n Lee, what would you think of becoming Misses Jung? Will you marry me?" He asked sweetly. He was smiling but you knew inside he was very nervous. So you didn't made him wait long and started nodding your head. "Yes, a thousand times yes. I would love to become your wife Hope." You said and Hoseok's smile widened even more as he stood up again and held you close, his lips meeting yours into a soft but passionate kiss. "You have no idea how happy you make me right now." He said, kissing you over and over again.

You were expected to get the ring around your finger but Hoseok just tossed the box onto the couch and picked you up bridle style. You gasped as he swept you from your feet quite literally. "Let's go celebrate this upstairs, shell we?" He asked and you giggled, caressing his cheek and nodding, kissing his lips as he carried you both upstairs towards your room.

"I love you Hope."

"I love you too, Y/n. My miss mafia."

[moonchildridden]

Don't Say No The Series: a rant about the disgrace that was episode 11 (character development and story progression wise)

Yep. Here we go again.

Helloooooooooo, beautiful people! It’s moonchild here, back again with another rant because I like to complaint and have people actually being aware of my complaints. Actually, I was not planning to be back with another rant, at least not so soon, and was in the middle of writing my first post for DSN, a beautiful and in-depth post, intended to be posted before episode 11 aired but life got in the way and I couldn’t finish it in time; however, episode 11 happened, I got pissed about it but instead of doing what I did with my rant about Fiat’s mom, a post made right after I finished watching the episode, I decided to sleep and see if my thoughts and feelings would be different after a night sleep…I guess y’all can guess what happened, if this post has “rant” on its tittle.

I am still pissed about episode 11. REALLY. PISSED.

I feel like the fact that I didn’t just did this after the episode ended, with my emotions still all over the place, is actually good because it gave time to organize my thoughts in a much coherent way, where I’ll be able to explain exactly why this episode was a blatant insult to LeoFiat as characters that had been shown to have a certain type of personality and behavior towards certain situations and us as the viewers that were given this descriptions and actions consistently since episode 0 until episode 10. To be brutally honest, episode 11 was a stupid, bad joke.

Before I start, I wanna say that I am “used” with characters being ruined in the penultimate episode of a series for no reason that just drama for drama sake (Fighter in WHY R U, Sarawat in 2gether, The in IPYTM, Tiffy in Lovely Writer, etc) and because show runners always seem to have no idea on how to create continuity. I am also used” with episode 11 being the “dreaded one”, with a lot of unnecessary problems created just because they think it will make us comment more about the episode (producers, I SWEAR that the public will still talk about your shows even without this goddamn “cursed episode” you guys turned into a rule), so I was, in a way, expecting something similar to happen in DSN (both because it is a story from MAME and that woman has a reputation on its own and because I remembered that there were still scenes from the trailer that could only happen in this episode), however that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t feel outraged by the debauchery I had to witness.

Anyways, because I don’t want this post to be long and I think I can summarize my thoughts, let’s see my reasons as to why I HATE this episode, in regards to LeoFiat as characters.

Leo: Leo, since the beginning, was shown as being a reasonable man and very smart. He always think first and acts later, having analyzing the options he had available to him and seeing what was the one with the most positive outcome. He rarely gets angry and when he does is because Fiat is involved but, even when he is in those type of situations, Leo always maintain a certain level of awareness about everything around him and how that influence the way he behaves.

In this episode, the Leo that we were presented with had almost NONE of those traits (I don’t wanna say that he looked like a totally different character here, because he didn’t, but is like 98% of his essence was gone) and took all the wrong decisions possible.

Before the bar scene:

- Punn told him that King had a plan against Fiat but he didn’t asked her how she knew that. I mean, if someone I know likes me and tells me that the man I hate, that also hates me back, is trying to do something against my partner, I would ask that person how did they got that information. He didn’t do that.

- Leo didn’t question the validity of her claims, not even after she decided to trade the information she supposedly had about said plan for a kiss, a kiss that had to “satisfy her”.

- Leo didn’t found odd that Punn, a woman that hates Fiat, was doing something that would actually benefit the man she hates! It would be easier for her to let King’s plan, if existed one, to be executed and wait for LeoFiat to breakup, so she could try to get him for her.

- Leo didn’t consider the possibility that Punn and King were working together in said plan. After all, King hates him and have “something” for Fiat and Punn likes him, so it would be logical for them to be together.

- Leo really thought that he could kiss Punn the way she wanted and gain the information he wanted, when he liked Fiat, was in a relationship and expressed not wanting to have anything more than a senior-junior relationship with her.

Leo had ALL the information he needed to realize that something was wrong about the things Punn were telling him but, magically, decided to ignore all logical reasoning he demonstrated for 10 episodes straight and be a dumb version of himself. Also, when Fiat caught Leo and Punn after the game, he had the chance to tell that King was planning something against him but decided to cave in to Fiat’s insistence that he didn’t needed to know about it, instead of making Fiat listen to him. Fiat, the person who King was plotting something against, was kept in the dark and instead got a half ass warning from Leo, a warning that was meaningless without context.

After the bar scene:

- Leo didn’t asked Fiat how he was. Even if he assumed that Fiat was drunk, without knowing what King could’ve done to him before he arrived on the bar, the first thing he should’ve done was to make sure nothing major had happened with Fiat.

- Leo didn’t gave time and space for Fiat to explain why he was with King. He also didn’t told Fiat who told him where Fiat and King were or how he knew they were together.

- Leo said that Fiat was hugging King when he arrived, something that wasn’t true. No matter how dark it could be at the bar when he got there, it was very clear that Fiat had his head on King’s shoulder and King was patting Fiat on his head.

- Leo said that he knew that it was all King’s plan but still blamed Fiat for things he didn’t do.

- Leo said that while he and Fiat were only friends, he could handle see Fiat with other men but now things were different, adding that he couldn’t look at Fiat’s face. And had the AUDACITY to look shocked when Fiat said that probably they should’ve stayed friends in the first place.

Now tell me, is this the same Leo we have been following since the beginning? The same Leo that said that he would take the best care of Fiat? The same Leo that always directed his anger to the men in Fiat’s past and not Fiat himself? Does it make sense the reactions he had in both situations, the words he said to Fiat, his lack of reasonable thinking towards people he knows he can’t trust?

Fiat: Contrary to Leo, Fiat is a more of a “react first, with a bit of initial thinking, but not so much” man, more expressive than Leo and a bit more sensitive. He tends to get affected by the way the environment around him is and overthinks a lot, even if sometimes he knows how to separate things and see the situation in a more rational way. When he trusts someone, practically nothing will make him distrust that person unless they do something really bad, and he is really loyal to those he love. In regards to Leo, he sometimes feel like he doesn’t deserve his love but still fights to keep Leo by his side.

Remember in episode 5, when Leo told Fiat that if he wants to know something, could straight-up ask him? Well, apparently, Fiat forgot that and decided to “pretend” nothing happening while suffering in silence and asking himself what could be happening. He claimed that he trusted Leo but at the same time, instead of going to his boyfriend and ask what had happened and why, decided to keep quiet and not make any comments about what he saw to Leo (ring any bell?).

Before the bar scene:

- Fiat saw that Punn was doing her best to rile him up, but fell for the trap anyway. Granted, seeing her kiss Leo did the job it was supposed to do, destabilize him so King’s plan could work, but for someone who was quick to ask Leo who Pobphan was, when all he had was Leon’s word that Pob likes Leo but as soon as he sees something personally, backtracks?

- Fiat refused to let Leo explain to him why he saw him and Punn kissing.

- For some unexplained reason, Fiat had King’s number on his contact list (this could be easily explained considering the fact that King blackmailed Fiat a year ago) and more unexplained even still keeps King’s number on his contact list after everything that happened.

- Fiat believed King when he told him that Punn wanted to make her father force Leo to be with her and didn’t question the validity of that claim. We are talking about someone that loves to manipulate him and Leo, a person that blackmailed him a year prior to have sex with him, a person that messed with Leo’s head enough to make his team lose a match, and yet Fiat believed him. (familiar?)

- (I may be stretching a bit here but I also think is important to talk about) Fiat, knowing how cunning and bastard King is, didn’t consider the possibility of King having planned something really sinister with the garcon, consider the fact that he got there before Fiat. For someone who used to club a lot before, he should be aware that it is possible to drug a sealed drink, no matter what it is. Is King we are talking about, that man can’t be trusted. (Being clear, I am NOT blaming Fiat for being drugged, just showing that when someone is sketchy, you put your guards up and leave them there).

After the bar scene:

- Fiat didn’t told Leo why he was with King at the bar.

- Fiat didn’t asked Leo about the first kiss he had with Punn.

There isn’t much to talk about Fiat’s behavior after the bar scene, because the man was a bit disoriented, consequence of being drugged, and also because his actions were a reaction to Leo’s actions, his response to Leo’s behavior. Like I said earlier, he tends to get affected by the way the environment around him is and Leo was being everything except receptive to listen to anything he could or wanted to say.

Everything I mentioned could’ve be avoided if LeoFiat had done what they had been doing since the beginning and TALKED WITH EACH OTHER. None of this would’ve happened if Leo had told Fiat what Punn told him right of the bat, instead of that fucking cryptic “warning”, working with Fiat instead of trying to fix things alone, if Fiat had left Leo give him the explanation he wanted instead of running away, if Fiat had taken more minutes to think about what King had told him, if Leon had second guessed what Punn told him. They acted totally different from what they were supposed to act, didn’t communicate when they have been doing that pretty fine until now, caved in when the finals were close and it could all be a plan from King. It pained me to see such a wonderful character development thrown away just because we had to have some drama, as per “tradition”.

In the post I wanted to give you before all of this mess happened, I was going to make a sort of “prediction” as to what, according to my “natural story progression” theory, where episode 11 would be something along the lines of a Disney movie, where the good guys pretend to follow the bad guy plan, to make them think that everything was going according to what they wanted and in the end the good guys would come on top and destroy the bad guy. Literally: LeoFiat realizing that King was up to something, deciding to play along, make a bit of a show and in the game (because we know King is doing all of that to make Leo lose the match against him at the finals) ending up winning and telling King off and celebrate the victory; yeah, I got my Disney-esque episode, just not the one I wanted.

Again, I am REALLY PISSED with how they handled this situation, just like I wished MAME hadn't ruined another one of her characters like that, because it just doesn't need that to make a good story flow.

[robinofinashiro]

“you're the one they adore, who they came to see, you're a rock star baby. everybody wants you player. who can really blame you? we're the ones who made you.”

character: bertholdt hoover x fem! reader

request status: OPENED / okay pls listen to ‘we made you’ by eminem in order to set the mood for the fic and this is an au! 

you were hanging out with Annie, seeing the way your ‘boyfriend’ was surrounded with his fangirls. you were leaning back against the wall, not wanting to bother Reiner in the middle of his groupie time. Annie could tell you were angry and just waiting for Reiner to notice the look you were giving him. 

Annie knew the relationship was holding onto a thread by this point. you had fallen out of love with Reiner quite a long time ago but you wanted to be the one to break up with him first. you weren’t going to look like an idiot to save Reiner’s reputation. 

ever since he became the main quarterback to the school football team, his entire attitude changed. the photos you both had up on Insta were taken off. he skipped out on dates almost constantly and before your relationship had taken a toll, the friendship between him and Bertholdt had completely fallen apart. 

at first, you thought it was Bertl that became jealous of his friends new found status but when your issues with him finally started, you started to understand why their friendship was no longer there. it was Reiner’s fault. 

“you good?” Annie asked. you laughed, your annoyed tone giving it all away. just as you were about to get up to ruin Reiner’s fun time, you felt someone tap you on the shoulder. you turned around, seeing Bertholdt looking down at you with a small smile playing on his face. 

Annie could feel the tension between the two of you almost immediately. she had no idea if it came from anger, unspoken words, or pure hatred from Reiner pinning you against him but as soon as she realized she should no longer be there, she walked away claiming she needed to get a drink. 

“hey Bert,” you said softly. he gave you a wave before murmuring if the two of you could talk alone. you followed him out of the party, into a less crowded space in the backyard and sat with him on a bench, “what’s up? I haven’t seen you in a while,” you told Bert, seeing him shrug in reply. 

“yeah, i’ve been keeping low for a while,” Bert finally responded, “ever since Reiner and I stopped being friends, I really haven’t been in the mood to be around people,” he added on. you nodded, completely understanding, “oh, how I know how you feel,” you sighed. 

Bert whipped his head to look at you, “whatever is going on in the blond’s head is getting to him. ask me when’s the last time we’ve hung out alone or he’s even bothered text me first thing in the morning and I’d tell you that it’s been almost two months,” you confessed. 

Bert’s eyes widened, not believing what he heard, “wait, you’re still with him?” he asked in disbelief. you nodded slowly, “the entire school thinks the two of you are broken up. at least that’s what Reiner told me before our fight happened,” he said slowly. 

you covered your mouth with your hand, trying to figure out when there was time for Reiner to make up such an elaborate lie, “wait, what?” you said rhetorically, “the entire school believes we’re broken up?” you asked. Bert nodded, “I’m nothing short of a petty bitch, Bert. I know we weren’t friends long enough for you to figure that out but wanna make Reiner pissed off?” you asked, a smirk playing on your face.

“what are you thinking?” he asked, not knowing where you were going with this. “just answer, wanna make Reiner suffer?” you asked again. Bert nodded slowly as you grabbed his hand and pulling him up, “come on,” you replied, running back inside of the house. 

you first brought Bert to the bar where your friend Pieck was handing out the drinks. you ordered both you and Bertholdt two shots of tequila, wanting to shake off any nerves you had in your system. Bertholdt didn’t bother to question what your plan was and followed along. 

“lets go,” you said through a face of disgust because of the tequila. Bert nodded, feeling you lead him to dance floor. he could see Reiner sitting by the beer pong table, talking his ear off with a few girls but Bert knew that if Reiner were to look up, he’d see you both immediately. 

you grabbed Bert’s hands, placing them on your hip as you turned around to dance against him. the song wasn’t exactly one to move in the way you were but you knew that if Reiner even saw the way you were being with Bertholdt, he was going to blow a fuse. 

Bert remained as stiff as a board, not knowing what to do. he had never danced this way with anyone before but feeling the way you were against him, he couldn’t like, he was getting turned on a bit. 

you were turned yourself back around, trying to get eye to eye with him but as soon as you did that, you felt a stare onto your back. “is he looking?” you asked Bert with a giggle in your voice. Bert nodded, finally understanding what you were doing. you were going to make Reiner purposely jealous. 

Bertholdt was not a man of many actions, everyone knew that. he was awkward, weird some might say, and really not the kind of guy to be petty but in this case, he could make an exception. not only that but he always found you attractive so that was a plus on his end. 

breathing, Bertholdt took a chance and dipped you in for a kiss. you were stunned, not expecting that coming out of Bertholdt but regardless, you shook it off and kissed him back. considering Bert was a fucking bean stock, you had to get on your toes to even reach him. 

after the two of you pulled away, Bert bent down, “he’s livid,” he murmured in your ear. you laughed, “I knew it, serves him right,” you responded before going back and dancing with him, “I think we deserve it, no?” you asked. 

he nodded before giving Reiner a small wave, making sure there was a spark of competition in his eyes. whatever lipstick you had on had smeared a bit on the side of his lips and wiped it off, his eyes still locked on Reiner’s. 

+ 

you held Bert’s hand as the two of you walked through the hallway. it had been a couple of weeks after your incident with Reiner. within those weeks, you had started seeing Bertholdt more. it started off with dinners which turned to you both watching movies at his place and then it gradually became the two of you just dating. 

Annie was surprised to see that it was Bertholdt that made the first move. the two had known each other for maybe the same amount of time him and Reiner were friends and she never thought Bertholdt would ever grow the pair to ask you out. 

“hey, what’re you both up to tonight?” Annie asked. you looked to Bert, “not much probably. why do you ask?” she handed you two a flyer, “the schools state football game is tonight and both of you should go,” she said, knowing that what she was planning would be the thing to make Reiner suffer the most. 

“why the hell do we need to do that?” you asked a bit in disbelief. she smiled, “wouldn’t you think that Reiner seeing you and Bertholdt at one of the biggest games of his life would really irk him?” she asked. 

Annie had been there for both you and Bertholdt when it came to your issues with Reiner and if she had to be honest, she was a bit more than pissed off at him. he pushed away the two most important people in his life and he still acted as if it was nothing. at the end, he really just pushed the two of you together but it still angered her seeing Reiner being as carefree as he was. 

“Annie come on, we’re evil but not that evil,” you told her, not sensing what she was getting at by ruining something that meant so much for him, “i’m just offering a small sense of advice for tonight. i mean, he was the one who let fame get into his head and decided drop you both but hey, that’s just my thought,” she murmured before heading off to her class. 

you looked to Bertholdt who remained silent, “I mean, it is just a game,” you told him before looking down at the flyer. Reiner was plastered on the cover with that annoying smile on his face. “sure, I’ll buy tickets but this is the last time we do anything petty!” Bert threatened. 

you put your hands up in defense as Bertholdt dialed the number to get the tickets for tonight. you were hugging him by the side, smelling his cologne and gaining comfort from it. 

+ 

the night came faster than you would have wanted too. you pulled on your schools sweater and paired it with ripped jeans and converse. Bertholdt didn’t know how to feel about the entire situation. a part of him felt bad that he was going to his former best friends game to try and get him to slip up but another part of him screamed that he deserved it. 

“ready?” you asked the tall boy. he nodded, a neutral expression playing on his face, “come on, lets go so we can get this over with,” you joked, grabbing the keys to your dorm and locking it. the field was not too far from your dorm building so the walk was relatively quick. 

Annie had already saved both of you seats so by the time you both got there, she was already sitting down, sipping on a water. you waved at her, “oh, they’re on the field already?” you rolled your eyes annoyedly. she nodded, pointing out Reiner who was on the field, talking to what you assumed was his third girlfriend of the week. 

the whistle blew, catching both of you off guard. the seats Annie had picked were the closest to the field. you and Bert clapped in support as the team had gathered themselves on the field and gave each other a pep talk before getting into position to play. 

you were screaming in support for everyone on the team except for Reiner. Bert had caught Reiner watching you a few times and grabbed your hand, not letting it go for even a second. you found it odd that Bert’s grasp on your hand had not loosen up but you payed no mind to it. 

the fourth quarter had came quicker as the game was neck and neck. you had seen Reiner getting nervous by just his facial expression alone and you couldn’t help but laugh. you knew he needed someone to comfort him but considering he no longer had a girlfriend, no one was there to do that. 

the other team had caught the ball in an interception and booked it to the other end of the field, getting everyone upset because of Reiner’s screwup. you and Bertholdt looked at each other before looking to Annie and laughing. all of your laughs had caught the blond’s attention and instead of getting angry, his heart fell to getting upset. 

you locked eyes with Reiner, shrugging and looking back to Bertholdt to make sure he saw the kiss you gave him. when you pulled away, you turned back to Reiner as the opposing team were screaming in excitement and gave him a tiny wave. 

“better luck next time.” 

you mouthed to him as Reiner’s heart fell even deeper to his stomach. because of his childish decision, not only had he lost the girl he loved but he lost his best friend and one of his other friends and there was nothing he could do about it. 

all of you had the last laughed which he ultimately deserved. 

[spencers-renaissance]

Start With This

Summary: Luke accidentally hurts Spencer because they are both hopelessly stupid, but when Spencer's faced with a dangerous situation there's nothing he wants more than Luke. Calling him turns out to be a very good decision.

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Misunderstandings, Making Up, Getting Together

Pairing: Luke x Spencer

Word Count: 3.9k

Warnings: implied/mentioned sexual assault, more detailed cw on the end notes of the AO3 post <3

Read on AO3

Luke knows he’s getting obvious. His subtlety has completely thrown itself out the window, his dignity’s in the wind, and he’s so, so painfully aware of it all. 

He was probably in love with Spencer before he even met the man: his reputation had preceded him -- as he’d told him that first day in the briefing room -- and the way his friends talked about him, the gentleness he seemed to possess along with the dynamite intelligence of a 187 IQ had his stomach fluttering as he walked in to meet him for the first time. And hadn’t that just sealed the deal. 

Spencer’s face as he walked into the room feels like it’s been permanently burned into the back of his eyelids ever since. He’s not sure what he’d been expecting but it certainly wasn’t someone so adorable. He’d been so open and welcoming and they’d hit it off straight away, every look shared between them, every joint task on the case in Arizona had him buzzing with excitement. If he could spend every waking moment with Spencer, he would. 

And he’s been so good at keeping it under wraps, but lately the looks the girls and Rossi have been sending his way are a bit too… knowing. Like they see right through him. It’s terrifying, really. He’s never had a bad coming out story, mostly because he didn’t until his late twenties when it was much less taboo to be gay and he was surrounded by people who cared far too much about him as a person to care about who he fucked. But he’s also never had a crush on a coworker before, not even a friend, so to be under so much scrutiny in a situation that feels so out of his depths is overwhelming to say the least.

The next case they take on, then, he takes extra caution to be subtle. He volunteers to pair up with others before Emily can assign him something with Spencer; he ignores the looks he directs his way and leaves him behind to room with JJ while he pairs up with Steven. Maybe it’s even more obvious, maybe the looks he’s getting now are far harder to deal with than the ones before but he’s made his bed. Now he’ll lie in it.

And he’ll pointedly refuse to acknowledge the hurt looks Spencer is shooting his way. It’s better to ruffle a few feathers now and get over his crush than ruin such a good friendship and drive a wedge through the team, even if his gut twists and his heart protests as Spencer furrows his brow and looks at his feet.

★

Spencer is fully aware that his chances with Luke are slim to none -- he’s not delusional -- but boy does it hurt being avoided like the plague. It takes him back to school, when he was either politely ignored, mocked from a distance or straight up bullied, when nobody could associate themselves with him without risking a beating of their own. 

As soon as the case is over, he declines Emily’s invitation to go for a drink at her place with the rest of the team, instead opting to go out by himself. There’s a small, hole-in-the-wall joint a few blocks from his apartment that he’s been to a few times; it’s low-key and reasonably quiet, and the food is nice, too. It’ll do him good, he thinks, to get out of his head a bit with a few drinks and a book or three. He’s met the guy who owns the place a few times, and no-one pays enough attention to care that he’s reading a book at a bar instead of solemnly staring into a pint or gyrating on the dance floor, neither of which especially appeal to him.

As predicted, the bar is quiet, so he orders a drink and some nachos and heads to a table in the back. He used to hate bars; so full of people and germs he tended to avoid them at all costs. Now though, he finds the background noise soothing, the chatter and music a comforting backdrop to his own isolation. And on days like today, after difficult cases and tricky emotional minefields to navigate, it’s the perfect setting to sit quietly and read, far more preferable than the deafening silence of his apartment. 

For some reason, though, he simply cannot get his mind off Luke. He was so hopelessly gone for him and it was making everyday tasks that much harder. Even psyching himself up to get out of bed and go to work was proving more and more difficult: knowing he would have to face the man he loved so much who clearly did not love him back was bordering on psychological torture at this point. 

His one saving grace, though, was that he’d always been able to take refuge in the fact that they were friends. That even if he could never have Luke kiss him or take him on a date or sleep in his bed, he could have his friendship. He’d have the warm smiles and hugs and inside jokes and that would be enough. But now even that was seeming like a farflung pipe dream. Had he figured him out? Did he realise Spencer’s feelings for him and feel disgusted? Violated even? 

It’s only after Spencer’s been reading the same page over and over for nearly 10 minutes that he gives up and orders another drink. If he can’t distract himself, he may as well drown his sorrows now he’s here. 

And drown them he does. He finally stumbles onto the pavement outside the bar in the small hours of the morning feeling a little dazed and confused, and he squints his eyes as he tries to get his bearings. He lives round here, he knows that much, but where? He’s looking around for a taxi when a man he’d seen sitting not far from him in the bar approaches him. 

“Hey, baby,” he grins, checking Spencer out as obviously as he’d been doing inside.

It takes Spencer’s mind only a few seconds to recognise that he’s in a potentially vulnerable or dangerous situation but he can’t for the life of him sort through his muddled brain fast enough to figure out the correct response, here. Instead he stares dumbly at the man in front of him, trying to not look as scared as he feels. 

“You looking for a good time?” the man asks, reaching a hand forward to pet crudely at his face. Spencer wishes his flinch wasn’t so obviously borne from terror, but he’s sad and drunk and confused so all he can do is shake his head aggressively and back away. “Aww, come on. I’m a catch, I promise.”

Spencer jumps back further, his back hitting a brick wall as he finally finds his voice. “No, leave me alone, thank you,” he says, trying to sound firm but only sounding scared shitless. The man is huge, Spencer is not, and the street is quiet. Spencer does not like any of these variables, let alone a cocktail made from them. 

The man laughs cruelly, but before he gets a chance to respond another beefy guy he recognises from inside the bar comes over, cigarette in his hand, and clocks the situation. “Oi,” he shouts aggressively, approaching the two of them. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Dude said no.”

“Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?”

Before Spencer can blink, the beefy guy punches his assailant square in the eye, causing him to cuss them both out before telling Spencer he isn’t even worth the trouble and leaving to lick his wounds. “Hey, you okay?” the beefy dude asks, voice much softer when talking to Spencer. “You need me to call someone?”

At this moment, the only person Spencer wants is Luke. He’s shaken up and so sad, and even if Luke is sort of the reason for that, he has to try, right? Maybe… maybe he just was having a bad day and it isn’t Spencer at all. He could call JJ but even her cuddles wouldn’t scratch the itch that’s burning away at his skin, so he finally shakes his head at the guy looking at him with concern. “No, no it’s okay,” he says slowly, voice catching a little. “I know who to call.”

★

Luke also says no to Emily’s invitation, instead heading back to his own place and cracking open a bottle of wine before plonking himself in front of the team and appreciating the cuddles Roxy chooses to bestow on him. He throws in an oven pizza sometime around 11pm and eats it, laughing humourlessly at the scene for a moment. God, if his colleagues could see just how pathetic he is Emily would have to boot him off the team. 

The wine and the warm temperature of the room have him dozing off on the sofa by midnight but he’s woken up abruptly by his phone ringing not long after. The clock on the wall says 1.50am so this is either a case or an emergency; blearily he picks it up to see Spencer’s name on the screen and he can’t slide his finger to answer it fast enough. 

“Spencer?” he asks, voice full of concern. 

The only reply is a choked off sob, making Luke sit up on high alert. “Spence, what’s wrong?” his voice is gentle but determined, he wants to know what’s wrong so he can fix it damnit.

“Can you-- Can you come and get me?” Spencer asks tearfully. He sounds hesitant like he thinks Luke might say no or be angry with him which doesn’t make any sense. He’d never feel like that, not for anything Spencer needs from him. 

“Of course,” he reassures him, gently, still a little bewildered by the absurdity of it all. He springs into action and leaps off the sofa, slipping into some trainers and grabbing his keys. “Where are you, Spence? I’m on my way to the car.”

Spencer rattles off an address before he says, “Wait, don’t go, can you stay on the phone with me?”

Luke’s heart damn near melts at that but he obeys and stays on the phone with him, mumbling platitudes and promising he’s on his way the whole five minute drive until he pulls up in front of the address Spencer gave him, immediately spotting the younger man hunched down against a wall. He parks the car quickly and rushes over, crouching down in front of Spencer and gently pulling his head away from his knees so he can look into his eyes. He immediately recognises he’s drunk and sighs internally, hoping this won’t be too impossible. 

“Hey, Spence, what’s going on?” he asks earnestly, holding onto the man’s forearms partially to help steady himself and partially to offer a noninvasive point of contact for Spencer. 

“Sad,” Spencer says, looking into Luke’s eyes with wide, honest eyes. “You’re angry at me.”

“What?” Luke asks incredulously. “I’m not angry at you, Spencer.”

“Yes,” Spencer nods enthusiastically. “You wanted to work with other people on the case today. You were ignoring me.”

He’s not quite slurring his words but it’s close, and if Luke wasn’t so concerned about the situation at hand he’d find it adorable. “Oh, Spencer, no,” he protests, a sinking feeling in his chest. His own insecurities and fears had got the better of him and he’d managed to make Spencer feel bad about himself. “That was unrelated and not your fault at all, okay? It’s complicated and definitely not a conversation to have on the ground outside a bar at 2am, but we can talk about it somewhere else if you’d like. Do you want me to take you back to your place?”

Spencer looks back at him. “No, don’t want to be alone, please don’t leave me on my own, Luke,” he says, eyes wide in fear this time, not honesty. 

“Okay, okay,” he placates him. “Would you like to come back to mine?”

Spencer launches forward to hug Luke, burying his face into his neck and Luke takes the opportunity to relish the feeling of Spencer’s lithe body against his own, the intimacy he craves so deeply finally being awarded in a small way. “Should I take that as a yes?” he chuckles.

As soon as they get into Luke’s apartment, he gets to sobering Spencer up. He’d managed to pry the number of drinks he’d had out of him in the car, and as soon as they get back he butters him some toast and gives him a glass of water to drink on the sofa while he fills up another glass and grabs some advil. 

“How’s that, Spence, are you okay?” he asks softly as he joins him on the sofa where Spencer is dutifully munching down the toast while late-night TV plays in the background. 

“Yeah,” he whispers, smiling up at Luke, already looking more lucid than he did on the street, though he suspects part of the reason was he was scared and a bit disoriented then and now feels safe. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Spencer,” he smiles back, patting his knee affectionately as he pours him another glass of water. “Have your toast and another glass of water and then you can have a shower, if you like. It’ll help ground you and warm you up a bit.”

Spencer’s compliant through it all, which is obviously desirable, but he’s also quiet. He takes the hoodie Luke chucks his way without comment and slips it on -- Luke very pointedly does not think about how good he looks -- before looking to him for his next direction. 

His eyes are much clearer now and he seems far more sad than drunk, so Luke steers him back to the sofa and hands him a blanket. “Hey, Spencer,” he says, waiting for him to look up before continuing. “What’s going on? Why did you need me to pick you up?”

Spencer fidgets with the blanket as he answers. “Well, I went to the bar to stop thinking, like distract myself, but it didn’t really work so I just decided to have some wine instead, which was really nice and I liked the fuzziness, but then when I left there was this man. He came up to me and was trying to… like he was trying to ask me to sleep with him,” he risks a quick look up to check if Luke is listening to him but averts his eyes from the intense stare when he realises he is. “But I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do and I panicked but then this man came out of the bar and he punched the other guy and helped me but then I called you so he didn’t have to do anything else.” His voice is nervous as he talks, clearly unsure of himself from the way he darts around from point to point, his typical eloquence evading him. 

“I’m sorry, Spencer,” Luke says, earnestly. “I’m sorry that happened to you but I’m even more sorry that you were sad enough to drown your sorrowsbecause of me. Tomorrow, I promise we can talk about this and I’ll explain everything, but right now I think you should sleep. You can take my bed or the sofa tonight, whichever one makes you feel more comfortable, and then I’ll make you whatever you want for breakfast in the morning and we can chat. How does that sound?”

Spencer looks satisfied for now, cocking his head to the side. “Hm, can I have pancakes?” he asks.

Luke laughs fondly at that, leaning forward to ruffle Spencer’s hair lightly as he tries not to read into it when Spencer leans into his touch. “Are you kidding?” he teases. “You’re looking at the pancake maker extraordinaire right here.” He relishes Spencer’s giggle at that, pleased at how relaxed he looks now he knows Luke isn’t angry at him. “Pancakes in the morning. For now, where would you like to sleep?”

“The sofa’s fine,” Spencer says softly, a small smile playing over his face as he follows Luke with his eyes as he stands up to collect some blankets and pillows. “Thank you, Luke.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he smiles back, and hands him the extra blankets and cushions. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

★

Spencer wakes up to the sound of dog paws on wooden floors and is momentarily confused -- he does not have a dog nor wooden floors -- before the events of last night flood into his head with a crashing wave of humiliation. He sits up abruptly, blinking his eyes against the soft grey light of the gloomy day, and looks around until he meets Luke’s eyes where he’s sat drinking a cup of coffee at the dining table. 

He knows he’s flushing an embarrassing shade of red but he can’t help it, this whole situation is so bizarre. “Good morning,” he finally says.

“Morning Spencer,” Luke says, hiding his far-too-wide smile behind his coffee mug. “Did you sleep okay?”

He just nods and hums in response, before excusing himself and rushing to the bathroom for a small semblance of privacy. Looking in the mirror, he splashes his face with some cold water and fiddles with his hair until it’s sat the way he wants it to before taking some deep breaths in a vain attempt at composure. He’s sort of in love with Luke, being in his apartment like this is mildly intoxicating. 

Eventually, he surfaces back in the main living area where Luke’s already started on the pancakes. “Hey, you good?” he calls over his shoulder as he flips the pan, a delish smell intoxicating the kitchen.

“I’m good,” Spencer confirms, joining him in the kitchen for a front row seat of Luke cooking. Chatting menially together as the pancake stash slowly builds, Spencer gathers all the toppings at Luke’s direction before they move to sit at the table and start tucking in, both trying to ignore the rising tension at what they both know is coming.

“You’re being so nice to me now but all throughout the case you barely looked at me, I mean you couldn’t even share a room with me in the hotel,” Spencer says after a few moments of silent apprehension as they have their first bites. “Is it… is it because I’m gay?” His voice drops to a whisper, face contorting from confusion to apprehension, feeling a little nervous that Luke might get angry now he’s reminded him of it.

“What, no, Spencer, of course not,” Luke says defensively. “God, I’m not a homophobe. The exact opposite, actually. I’m gay, too.”

“Oh.” 

“Yeah.” Luke puts his knife and fork down and runs a hand over his face as he psychs himself up. “That’s the problem. The truth is, I’m into you, Spencer, very much so. And I’m fully aware that you’re my best friend and you won’t feel the same way, so… that’s a problem. The others were starting to realise so I distanced myself, but it has nothing to do with you, it’s all me so please don’t blame yourself, alright?”

“Oh.” Spencer’s brain is short-circuiting.

“I’m sorry, I just needed to explain why I acted like that.” Luke apologises, sitting forward again. “I know this is probably making you uncomfortable, I can drop you back or call you a cab or something--”

“No,” Spencer says suddenly, snapping back into action as the information finally processes. Leaving right now is the last thing he wants. “No, I’m fine. Sorry, I’m just caught off guard. You… like me?”

“Well, yeah,” Luke smiles, a little awkwardly. “If you want to put it like that.”

“Oh.” He pauses for a moment as everything finally clicks into place. “We are both very stupid.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because the primary reason I was sad and drinking at a bar alone last night was because I am very much in love with you and feared you were pushing me away. That I’d lost my chance forever,” Spencer explains. “I don’t have much experience with relationships, so I didn’t know how to deal with it and when you started acting distant I did the same and… ran away, I guess.”

Luke’s glad that Spencer’s eyes are clear this morning and his eloquence is back or he’d fear he’s still somehow drunk out of his mind still and has no idea what he’s saying. “Oh.” It’s his turn to blank on a response. 

“To be honest, Luke, I don’t know where to go from here,” Spencer laughs, a little awkwardly.

“Let’s start with this,” Luke says, getting up from his seat across the table and sliding into the chair next to Spencer, bridging the gap between the two before he kisses him gently. Spencer’s hand reaches forward to grip the front of his shirt, kissing back with just as much trusting desire as he feels Luke smile against his lips. They part at the kiss’ natural conclusion, pulling back to look at each other, tense awkwardness replaced with a new understanding of one another. 

“Yeah,” Spencer smiles. “That feels like a good start.”

It’s a good start, but it’s by no means the end. The heaviness that had weighed between them for so long finally lifts and the lightness that replaces it means they both breathe easier, finishing their pancakes in between shy, cautious looks and shameless giggles. “Do you have anything you need to do today?” Luke asks as he washes their plates up, Spencer perched on the kitchen counter next to him. 

“Nope,” Spencer says, smiling at the implication of such an answer. 

“Well, what do you feel like doing?” he asks, wearing far too cheeky of a grin for Spencer to avoid leaning down and planting a kiss on his lips. 

“Hm,” Spencer ponders, looking out the window at the rainy day. “I think movies and snacks would be perfect if I have you as company.”

“You smooth little thing,” Luke teases, poking Spencer’s side with a wet finger and delighting in the giggle that escaped his lips. “That sounds perfect to me.” He washes the frying pan last and quickly wipes down the kitchen before they head to the sofa, arms piled high with all the crisps, chocolate and cookies they can find in his cupboards. Spencer also digs about in the freezer and finds a pint of ice cream to share, which they feed each other bites of later in a sickeningly sweet, cliched moment of tenderness.

Luke chooses the first movie, picking out a Marvel film that Spencer ends up actually enjoying, though Luke can’t exactly say the same about Spencer’s choice, an obscure period piece from the 1960s. Still, he cuddles him close and pays attention to every minute. If it matters to Spencer, it matters to him. 

And if wasting the day away with movies, snacks, and heart to hearts turns out to be exhausting enough that Spencer just has to stay the night again, this time sharing Luke’s bed with him and Roxy, then they’ll just have to make the absolute most out of such a terribly inconvenient situation. And they’ll deal with how to hide a 2 night love-fest from a team of profilers in the morning, because they’re far too oblivious to realise they already know.

Tags: @johanna-swann @pretty-b0yy 

[arashikitten]

I just finished reading Hamlet, and I wanted to give a rundown of all the major characters.

Or Arashi just wants to write headcanons and make fun of characters from a 500 year old play because there are so many memeable things about this play that no one talks about because it’s written in Ye Olde Proper English.

Starting off with Hamlet: Basically if a theater kid and the Emo dude fused together. There is no way this dude is even remotely straight: definition of disaster bi. Screams into the void because no one will ever listen to him, except for his totally platonic, absolutely not gay at all hetero-life-partner Horacio. Said “god gave me depression ‘cause he knew I’d beat him in hand-to-hand combat at age 16 if he didn’t”, and I Stan him for it. When he does love someone, it’s with his whole heart. Never forgets a grudge, feels betrayed very easily. Conflicted 90% of the time, Stabby-stabby impulsive the other 10%. Finds one (1) person to latch on to and gets angry at everyone else. Dude just shoot your uncle already he’s so obviously a murderer it’s not even funny anymore. Would sell everyone (but Horacio) to satan for one corn chip. Can actually be pretty smart sometimes. Get this boy some therapy, hot chocolate, and Horacio stat.

Claudius: Nasty rat bastard man. Read Machiavelli’s The Prince one time and decided “ahh, yes, I will do everything in this book”. Might’ve actually been a decent king if not for the whole fratricide/selfish asshole thing. Killed his brother and immediately decided to marry his wife, which, as much as I think Claudius sucks, I must admit is one hell of a power move. Literally forgot how to pray right as Hamlet was about to finally kill him. Doesn’t care about how his actions affect other people, only cares if his actions do something for his reputation. Heard that his chief advisor was killed and his immediate response was “how do I deal with this without ruining my rep”?

Ophelia: Did not deserve ANY of this bullshit. The only character besides Horacio with a moral compass that isn’t a roulette wheel. Speaking of which, she and Horacio would ABSOLUTELY bond over their theatrical emo disaster bi while sipping wine and watching Claudius freak out. Should have lived and I will be forever salty that we didn’t get any Horacio/Ophelia interactions. Please, just let her be happy. Is manipulated by her abusive dad, but still loses it when Hamlet takes away his living privileges. Totally knew about Claudius’s guilt near the end, I will go down with that headcanon. The story would’ve been way shorter if the ghost had appeared to her instead and we all know it.

Polonius: God I hate this man. Like, not even in a “Disney villain” way where they’re so flamboyant and funny that we kinda like them a little- like no, I absolutely despise Polonius with every fiber of my being. Hamlet took every opportunity to insult him to his face and this is one thing where I absolutely would’ve done the same. Emotionally/mentally abusive to both his kids, but especially Ophelia. Did not deserve to be a father at all. Reminds me of Darkstripe from Warrior Cats: a suck-up, a liar, keep away from children. My favorite scene with him is when Hamlet stabs him from behind the curtain.

Laertes: If a jock and a theater kid fused. Works with Claudius toward the end to get revenge on Hamlet for killing his abusive dad. Laertes is what would happen if Hamlet was straight and a jock. Very angry, unless Ophelia is in the room. Decided to start a coup the second he heard that Claudius killed his father, and would’ve done Hamlet’s job for him if Claudius hadn’t been a snitch. If Laertes and Hamlet switched places, this play would be like 90% shorter.

Horacio: Lowkey super gay for Hamlet. The only person who is even remotely sane, has to put up with everyone else’s bullshit. The final girl. That scene where Hamlet dies in his arms? Peak tragic gay and I love it. Would’ve been friends with Ophelia if Shakespeare hadn’t been a COWARD. If the line “I try to stay a little optimistic, even though I will admit, things are getting pretty sticky” was a person. Let him live with his boyfriend please.

[afterhoursfic]

Geralt comes back from a hunt to find Jaskier and Ciri teasing each other or just being playful and they go to stop messing around but Geralt axii's them to pursuit it further and do it like he isn't there and he watches as Jaskier ends up plowing into her and she screams for more. Maybe it's not enough and Geralt ends up axii-ing them to keep going, to get Jaskier to eat her out after he's cum in her and to fill her again and again and Geralt gets off on his fav 2 people finding pleasure

So this is technically the half way point of the fic week so have you been enjoying it so far? or not so much? :’D

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It had been an easy hunt, refreshingly easy almost, as what was thought to be a werewolf turned out to just be an extra aggressive pack of wolves, easily dispatched and left his blood thrumming under his skin for an outlet.

He tried to scout the area to find any more wolves or even wild dogs he could kill just to take the edge off, but after half an hour of nothing, he resorted to just heading back to camp and just hoped Ciri had managed to hunt something decent for dinner, that was if Jaskier hadn’t eaten it all already.

It had been strange, but pleasant, coming across Ciri on their travels, and she had gladly joined them on the path for a time, but it had been even stranger to see her and Jaskier embrace like old friends, almost like lovers before they seemed to remember he was there and pulled away with sheepish looks.

The next few days had been just as strange. The two slept side by side, in separate bedrolls of course, but they were usually sharing one come morning, and the evenings they were spent huddled together in conversation talking about their travels and health, their plans for the future, and about meeting for the solstice. A couple of times he swore he could see them holding hands, of Ciri’s sword calloused hands tracing marks on Jaskier’s lute calloused ones as they snuck gazes at each other in the dying firelight.

He wasn’t sure how he felt. At first, he was angry, traveling with Jaskier as long as he had he knew his dangerous reputation of sleeping in the wrong beds with the wrong people, but he couldn’t pinpoint when, but things had changed. He still flirted and left several people flushed and aroused in his wake, but he never went through with it, in fact, he didn’t know when was the last time Jaskier had taken someone to his bed.

He wanted to be mad, to be the protective father figure to Ciri, but even he couldn’t deny that she looked happy by Jaskier’s side, an almost childish youth to both of them when they were together, and wasn’t that what he wanted? The people he cared about most to be happy and healthy?

At least that’s what he thought as he approached the camp, until he heard the faint whispers between his two companions and some other noise he couldn’t place, made clear when he passed through the treeline to see Ciri sat on Jaskier’s lap, his hands down the back of her pants, grinding them together whilst they made out with each other.

Whilst he suspected something was going on between them, it was different seeing it happening right in front of him, but he felt frozen in place as he saw Jaskier pull away from the kiss, flustered in a way he’d never seen before he went to nibble at Ciri’s ear, and he felt his traitorous cock twitch when he heard her moan.

“I promised you the solstice Ciri, best we don’t go any further tonight” He could practically see the pout on Ciri’s face at Jaskier’s words, but that didn’t stop the girl pleading with him anyway, snaking a hand down to rub at Jaskier’s cock, he guessed, and sure enough he saw the bard’s eyelids flutter closed and let out a strained groan.

“C’mon Jaskier, he’s hunting a werewolf miles away, he won’t be back for an hour at least” Both he and Jaskier were fixed on Ciri as she moved down his lap so she could begin to lick at the head of Jaskier’s cock, and it was his fist in his mouth that stopped his moan from being heard.

Jaskier just stroked a hand in Ciri’s hair and let her continue for a minute as she began to suck at the head of his cock before pulling away for a couple of teasing strokes with her tongue, and it was then that Jaskier pulled her away, a chuckle on his lips as he kissed her “Then you underestimate him, my dear, I’ve traveled with him for years and I can bet you he’s on his way back now”

The news however didn’t deter Ciri, who simply smirked into the kiss before getting up on her knees and began to pull her pants down below her ass before positioning herself just over Jaskier’s cock “Guess we better be quick then, shouldn’t be a problem for you old man”

In the next moment Jaskier had rolled them over so that he was on top, a smile on his face as opposed to Ciri’s put out one, clearly, this had happened more than once and he watched as Jaskier carefully put his cock back in his pants before he kissed Ciri’s still exposed hip.

“I told you we’ll wait until the solstice, you’ve gone longer without my cock before” He could see the protest already on Ciri’s lips, but Jaskier is quick to kiss them away before she can voice them “Besides, I don’t intend for Geralt to castrate me tonight if he catches me having my way with you”

The clearing is filled with the sound of both of their laughter, and he feels reassured by it almost, knowing that the both of them are truly happy together as he watches Jaskier pull Ciri’s pants back up before a hand in his hair is pulling him down for a kiss.

“It would be a shame to lose such a beautiful cock, although I think half the continent will hunt Geralt down if they found out”

“And we wouldn’t want that, I put far too many years into improving his reputation for it all to be ruined in a fit of fatherly rage” their snickering was quickly replaced with the sound of their kissing, if it could even be called that, more a mess of tongue and teeth, nothing more than pure passion, and again he felt his cock twitch at the sight.

He lowered a hand to try and readjust himself in his pants and give his cock a squeeze to try and deter it from getting any harder at the sight of his best friend and daughter getting off together, but he couldn’t help but watch the fluid way they moved together, one that spoke of practice together and he was all the more curious just how long the two had been together.

He must have made a sound or something, for the next thing he knew the two of them were tearing away from each other and getting to their feet, and even just where he was stood in the treeline he knew Ciri had seen him from the red in her face and how she kept avoiding his gaze even as she tried to ask for details of the hunt.

The gnawing feeling of guilt began to eat away at him, he had intruded on a personal moment between the two of them, one which made them uncomfortable and would likely mean they wouldn’t seek comfort in each other whilst he still hung around.

Besides who was he to meddle in their affairs, they were happy and so he’d give them what they both wanted, and totally had nothing to do with the half hard cock already straining at his pants.

They didn’t even notice as he performed the sign, just stared at him as he told them to pretend he wasn’t there, that he wouldn’t return until the morning and the effect was instantaneous. Immediately they went to each other and began to make out, any finesse to their actions gone as Jaskier nipped at Ciri’s bottom lip which caused her to moan and press closer against him.

He watched as Jaskier began to undo the laces on Ciri’s shirt and moved to kiss along her neck as he pushed it off of her before moving to his knees to start tugging her pants down “I know I promised you the solstice love, but given the situation, it would be such a waste not to fuck you like you’ve been begging me too”

“I do not beg, bard” He heard Jaskier’s chuckle, muffled from where he was pressing kisses along Ciri’s hips before venturing lower to lick up her clit and watched as Ciri shuddered with a muttered swear.

“And yet you were ready to write odes about my beautiful cock, you’ll have to beg if you want it so bad”

“You’ll have more luck asking the grass to change color”

“We’ll see about that Ciri” It’s then Jaskier got to work, lifting one of Ciri’s knees to hang over his shoulder before eagerly licking at her cunt, the only sound in the clearing being the slick sound of Jaskier licking and sucking at Ciri’s clit accompanied by her moans and the bard’s growls.

He watched as Jaskier first teased one finger along her folds, taking a break to rub at her clit before teasing her hole with it, a smirk on his face as he pressed it in as he watched Ciri’s back arch at the intrusion. He must have done something, moved his finger in some way, or teased it somewhere because the next thing Ciri’s legs jerked and her breath caught before she was shaking through her first orgasm.

“Something you want to say, love?” He could hear the mirth in Jaskier’s voice and could imagine the smirk on his face, especially when Ciri hooked her knee behind his head to shove his face into her cunt again.

“Put your mouth to good use, bard”

“As you wish, your highness” Jaskier didn’t give her a chance to make a rebuttal as he put his efforts into getting her off, sucking at her clit as two then three fingers fucked her to get her through a second then a third orgasm that she was still shivering through when the first rattled please escaped her lips.

He ignored whatever happened next because he was struck by how beautiful Ciri looked, sheened in sweat under the light of the moon, chest, and legs shaking as she bit her lip to try, and fail, to keep back her whines as she shuddered through a fourth orgasm.

That was when his eyes flickered to Jaskier, who was prowling up Ciri’s body, taking his time to lave over one nipple to enjoy the hitch in Ciri’s breath before he moved to her other nipple, tugging it with his teeth until a hand in his hair forced him up to Ciri’s mouth, able to press a quick kiss to her jaw first before flicking his tongue into her mouth.

He saw the muscles in Jaskier’s back bunch and move, watched as Jaskier’s legs forced Ciri’s open wider until she was splayed obscenely, her hands pulling at his hair and scratching down his back whilst her teeth tugged at his ear. Over the sounds of their panting and the slick sound of Jaskier working Ciri’s cunt, he could just about hear the moment Ciri finally begged.

“Please Jaskier, please fuck me”

“What was that Ciri?”

“Don’t play, just get your cock in me, need it” Geralt couldn’t hold back his swear as he grabbed his cock, and squeezed it through his pants, the fabric already wet with pre that was starting to leak down his thigh. He saw them freeze and for a moment he thought that they had heard him, but a quick flash of axii and a bit of suggestion and Jaskier was back to teasing the tip of his cock around Ciri’s hole whilst she tried to use her legs to force him inside her and stop the whole game.

He didn’t see who won, didn’t care when he got to watch Jaskier with his head thrown back and a low groan in his throat slowly grind his cock deeper and deeper into Ciri as she swore and tried to pull him closer.

When Jaskier was fully seated, Ciri pulled him down for a kiss which was more of a messy meeting of tongues as Jaskier started fucking her, quick and hard and dirty and nothing like he’d seen them act that night, not the slow practiced movement of lovers but something to get them off as quickly as possible.

He hadn’t even realized his hand has made its way into his pants, just that he was jerking his cock whilst Jaskier fucked into Ciri, whose back was arched, breasts held tantalizingly close to Jaskier’s mouth and he was only a little jealous when he saw him begin to bite on one nipple and only with Ciri’s hand in his hair did he move to the other one.

It wasn’t long before both of their breathing became ragged, Jaskier telling Ciri to come, to be a good girl and listen to him, and she did with a whine, Geralt watched her body shake, and Jaskier pull her closer as he fucked her through it, even after she began to groan when her pleasure edged with pain. He would intervene but it was clearly just what they did, Jaskier getting her to come over and over until she was limp and sore, and even then, begging for more, frankly, he was surprised Jaskier had the stamina to keep up with her.

Yet he watched Jaskier fuck her through a second orgasm, which had Geralt bite his knuckles as he leaned against the nearest tree to catch his breath as his come spattered over the forest floor, obscenely loud to him and yet the other two paid no mind, Jaskier’s thrusts growing sloppy and desperate, letting out small growls as he tried to hold onto his control.

He watched Ciri move her leg and in a quick movement had flipped them around, a move he had taught her, and that had Geralt swear as he grabbed his cock again, ignoring the ache as he began to jerk himself off to the sight of Ciri eagerly bouncing on Jaskier’s lap, small moans leaving her lips as her tits bounced until Jaskier put his hands on them, thumbing and pinching the nipples before pulling Ciri down to kiss.

In a matter of seconds, it was over, Jaskier let out a shout as his hands clawed at her hips, leaving dents in her skin as she rode him through it, never losing pace even when he whined ‘no more’ which quickly turned into ‘yes just like that love’ and ‘faster princess’.

He had always admired Ciri’s stamina and he did so now as even with sweat coating her and hair clinging to her forehead and a loose smile on her face, she continued to ride Jaskier like it was the only place she wanted to be. He came before they did, Jaskier lifting his hips to meet hers with every thrust until the slap of their skin was the only sound for miles around and it was so obscene, so dirty and yet it was them, his best friend and his daughter in love with each other and so desperate they would have done it in the forest despite him, well they did but before he axiied them.

They didn’t last long after that, first Ciri and then Jaskier let out groans as they came for what felt likes hours before they settled, chests heaving and sweaty as they came down, smiles mirrored on their faces before they met for a messy kiss and let their heartbeats slow down.

Geralt was just about to leave them, to make some excuse to leave, not like he needed one, but to give them privacy to clean up and so he could jerk himself off a couple more times and take the edge off before rejoining them. However, he hadn’t even turned around before Ciri was pulling off Jaskier’s cock, come already dripping out of her and onto Jaskier as she moved over his body until she was straddling his face.

The last thing he saw was Jaskier’s wolfish grin before he put his hands on her ass to bring her closer, to grind her cunt against his tongue, and watched as Ciri tugged at Jaskier’s hair, each pull getting another growl from the man as he edged her towards another orgasm. Well, it gave him an excuse to stay and jerk off here, maybe with a bit more axii he’ll help clean up and look after them later and hope they don’t notice his come staining the ground when they leave tomorrow