#and when we got home she helped me clean the adhesive off of my chest

[mutant-blogging]

my wife is literally the wife ever. I dare you to even try and find a more compassionate, selfless, caring, loving, funny, beautiful and sensitive wife than mine. good luck because it's simply not possible.

[hellbubu]

I’m handsome, tall, and rich

Chapter 4

Naruto walks down a hallway, bag of groceries in hand. He was in front of his door when he found a flyer pasted to the door with adhesive. He ripped it off and stared at the advertisement for an art club for children. As he did so, he couldn’t help but remember his first meeting with Hyuga Hinata. He couldn’t help but smile at himself. Can’t believe that was Hyuga-ssi.

He walked into his apartment to find it spotless. He sighed as he put his sil nae hwa and set the bag on the coffee table.

“ Eoseowa.”

“ I always forget that you clean to destress.” Naruto sat on the recliner.” I might schedule lots of meetings just so that you come clean.”

“With how it was when I got here, I’m surprised you haven’t hired someone to clean for you.”

“It wasn’t that bad!”

“Did you get the groceries?”

“Yes.”

“Go unpack them and wash the vegetables. Once I’m done here I’ll start dinner.”

“You feel better now?” Naruto dug into the meal.” The way you destress is so weird.”

“Why?” Kakashi rolled his eyes at Naruto stuffing his mouth.” I put in the effort to get something done and it’s exactly to my liking. Is there something more satisfying?”

“Ichiraku’s ramen.”

Kakashi rolled his eyes and took a sip of his beer. Maybe he should’ve just cleaned, cooked, and taken his meal back home.

“You’re calling off the wedding, right?”

“Of course not. I was made a fool and made to say things I didn’t mean.”

“ Hyuga-ssi doesn’t want this, neither do yo-”

“ Not her. The poser.” Naruto bit his tongue so that he wouldn’t say something along the lines of Oh, yes, the poser. He was wearing T-shirts of bands he didn’t even know of.” What had he called me, again? A-”

“ A lepophagus.”

“I need to make him pay.” Kakashi almost slammed the can on the table.

Sasuke lightly stirred as he felt someone brush the bangs off his face. He opened his eyes and waited for a second or two for his eyes to focus. When they did, he found Hinata sitting on the edge of his bed.

“When did you get here?” He mumbled.

“Just now.” Hinata continued to soothingly run her hand through Sasuke’s hair, almost lulling him back to sleep. He suddenly startled into a semi-awake state once he remembered who Hinata had met the night before.

“Was he angry?” Sasuke mumbled as he squinted at her.” I heard from a coworker that he’s the last person you want to mess with.”

“Past troubles will take care of themselves.” Hinata waved a shaky hand as if to wave away Sasuke’s worries.” Let’s go somewhere nice to destress. My treat.”

“Where to?”

Not half an hour later, Sasuke was at a boutique of the Hyuga family. While he did like nice clothes with soft fabrics, today he was treated more like a doll. It wasn’t the first time Hinata had taken him shopping, but none of the previous times had she had him try almost every item.

“You look absolutely gorgeous!” Hinata exclaimed as Sasuke walked out of a dressing room wearing a cropped blazer.

“What’s with you today? You’re acting weird.”

“I guess it’s just stress.”

Sasuke was getting his eyebrows shaped when a lightbulb went off in his head. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to send me on another blind date. I won’t go.”

“I’m not. Promise.”

Sasuke was sitting in front of Hinata, now that he was awake enough to properly think, he noticed she’s been acting weird; checking her phone, avoiding his eyes.

“You’re up to something.”

“I- you need to listen to me.” Oh no.” President Hatake will arrive any second now.”

“Shut the f-”

“He found out we were friends and insisted on meeting you again.”

“You should’ve lied!”

“ He said he’d investigate you himself otherwise. He’d find out he’s your boss!”

“You could’ve at least warned me!”

“If I had, you wouldn’t have come. He just wants you to apologize. I think. ” Hinata grabbed her purse and made a run for the exit of the cafe.” See you!”

“I should’ve listened to my intuition.”

Sasuke grabbed his things and tried to follow Hinata but bumped into a sturdy chest not even halfway to the door. The purse Hinata had bought him fell to the ground and coupons to his parent’s bakery were scattered on the ground. A big hand grabbed his waist to help him regain his balance.

Sasuke looked up at the person’s face, already knowing who it was but wishing he was wrong. A pair of gray eyes met his dark ones.

“Nice seeing you again, fake-Hyuga-ssi.”

Sasuke sat opposite his boss as the other man played with the coupon. Sasuke didn’t leave his gaze even though he felt the President’s almost bore holes into his head. He looked at the table like it contained the cipher to solve the Voynich manuscript.

“Do you work here?”

“What?”

President Hatake held up the card.”Before you answer, just know that I could just call and ask.”

“My parents own a small bakery.” Fuck! Now he knows where I live. Could I fake my death and move to Mexico? Maybe with Hinata’s help…

“How?” Kakashi asked, still holding the card.

“7,500 ₩ for a Monblance cake slice, 4,200 ₩ for cinnamon bread, but it sells very quickly so you’d have to get there earl-”

“I wasn’t talking about the baked goods.” Kakashi stored it in the pocket inside his jacket.” How much did Hyuga-ssi pay you?”

“Oh. Well…”

“Just be straightforward. Direct.”

Sasuke took a breath as discreetly as he could before telling the CEO an abridged version of the story.” -then I told her I wouldn’t do it. But she insisted and told me she’d pay me 9,000 ₩.”

“You scammed me for just 9,000 ₩?” The incredulity in his voice could be heard plainly.

“Was it really a scam?” Sasuke’s eyelashes fluttered as he twirled a lock of hair on his finger. Please think I’m just pretty and dumb.

“You pretended to be someone else for your own benefit. How isn’t it a scam?”

Sasuke sighed and almost ran a hand through his hair before straightening up. Had he not been too busy thinking about what to say, he would’ve noticed Kakashi checking out his uncovered skin.” Look, I’m sorry, I really am. I desperately needed money and my paycheck couldn’t cover it.”

“So you’re not a full-time scammer?”

“I just work at a medium-sized company. It’s not much.” Sasuke nervously laughed and flashed his boss a coquettish smile.” I wish I could pay you back, but you’re richer than I am, so gifts and money wouldn’t be of much use to you. If you ever need a favor, I would be more than happy to help you, though.”

Kakashi leaned back on his seat, deep in thought.” Tell me, what makes you think I look like a lepophagus?”

“Is that why you’re angry?”

“I’m not angry, just perplexed at the audacity.”

“I just said a random thing to get you to call off the marriage. Now that I got a good look at you, I-” Sasuke cut himself off as Kakashi glared at him.” Sorry. I guess you don’t want to see me ever again. I should go and help at the bakery, we’re looking for part-timers.”

Sasuke’s phone started vibrating and he unlocked it to find a notification from a text by an unknown number.

Don’t answer. Save this number.

“When I call you, answer. If you don’t, I know where to find you.”

“Okay,” Sasuke saved the number under Lepophagus just to spite Kakashi.

“What’s your real name?”

“My real name? Sasuke Sarutobi.”

“What’s gonna happen to you today, Sasuke Sarutobi-nim?” Sakumo Hatake sat in front of his enormous TV, an open bag of chips in one hand. Every day for the past couple of weeks, from 3 PM to 4 PM, he sat in front of the television to watch his favorite series; a drama about a baker’s son’s secret relationship with the CEO of an important company.

” I’ll have a chocolate muffin,” one of the characters ordered.

“What kind of rich people meet their in-laws at a small bakery?” He wondered out loud. Still, he couldn’t help but feel jealous. He had yet to meet his in-laws.

"Eoseowa.”

“How did your date go?”

“I decided to call off the wedding. Please don’t bring her or the wedding up ever again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said.”

” I cannot marry her. The person I’m truly in love with is… Sasuke Sarutobi.” The main lead of the show said just before the mother of the woman he was supposed to marry stood up.

” How dare you humiliate my daughter for the baker’s daughter.” She grabbed a bread roll and threw it at the main lead.

Sakumo sighed.” In dramas and in real life, it’s so hard for people to get married.”

“Sarutobi… where did I hear that name,” Sasuke muttered to himself as he was sent to voice mail again. When I get my hands on her… No one will find her body!

He crossed the street to the bakery just as the door opened. Out walked Hinata carrying a trash bag.” You’re back.”

“I’ll fucking kill you.” Hinata threw the bag and ran upstairs.

Sasuke quickly caught up to her and cornered her in his room, but by then he was more tired than angry. He collapsed on his bed, choosing to ignore Hinata’s existence for now. He’d get his revenge eventually.

“Hey, I’m sure it didn’t go as badly as you think.” She sat down on the edge of his bed.

“Cann it. He knows where I live.” Sasuke covered his face with his hands.” I barely came up with a fake name. I could’ve lost my job.”

“ I’m sorry. You saw how pushy he is.” Hinata laid down next to him.” I really didn’t have a choice.”

The sky was still dark when Kakashi hopped off the treadmill. The TV was on, showing an ad for his company.” I told them to monitor the schedule.”

Kakashi changed the channel as he grabbed his water bottle.

“ The canis lepophagus was a species of canid native to North America during the Early Philocine. It is proposed that its lineage led to wolves and coyotes.”

The documentary droned on and on as he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

Sasuke was under his covers, wearing his favorite pajama when his phone started vibrating violently. He answered the phone without even checking the ID.

“Sasuke Sarutobi-ssi?”

“What? I won’t go catch my fridge.” Sasuke mumbled, already falling back asleep.

“This isn’t a prank call.”

Sasuke checked the ID and was immediately awake.” I’m sorry, sir, I was distracted. Do you need anything?”

“Just making sure you haven't gone off-grid.” He hung up.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat up knowing he wouldn’t fall back asleep anytime soon. But that wouldn’t be a problem since it probably wasn’t that early, anyway. He checked the time, not even 5 AM. The moment he could, he’d murder President Hatake.

“Fucking bastard and his husky voice,” Sasuke muttered to himself as he thought of all the ways to kill the man.

Sasuke opened the door to the shared office, almost falling asleep.

“Geeze. You look worse than a zombie.”

“Never give people your number,” he told Karin before falling asleep on his desk.

“Have you- Is Sasuke dead?” Suigetsu barged into the room.

“What?” Sasuke lifted his face and squinted at the older man, not noticing that there was a post-it stuck to his face.

“Nevermind. President Hatake went on a blind date?”

“We’re supposed to care because?” Karin didn’t even look up from her computer.

“What if there’s a merger? Rich people stick together.”

“Are you obsessed with President Hatake?”

“Can you schedule a meeting with Kang-nim this afternoon?”

“I’m afraid your schedule is already packed,” Naruto said.

“What?”

“The order came straight from the chairman.”

Kakashi was ushered from one cafe to another, to a restaurant, to a helicopter to take him to another blind date in Japan. None of the men and women stuck out. Every single one said something safe and predictable. Perhaps, he was just picky, or perhaps someone had set his expectations too high.

“Did anyone catch your eye?”

A shake of the head.

“But you wanted to marry the stand-in after the first date!”

“He wasn’t boring like these ones.”

“How were the dates?” Sakumo asked, sitting on the sofa of Kakashi’s office.

“Do you have any idea how many dates I went on?”

“You went to Japan so that’s… eleven.”

“ I can’t believe you.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” Kakashi walked away from him.” You got me so excited, saying you'd marry Hyuga-ssi only to call it off.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then don’t make excuses. You’ll see all the people I’ve chosen, and if you don’t like any, I’ll find more eligible partners.”

“I do have someone I wish to marry.”

“What? When did this happen? You’re always buried in your work.”

“Everyone is, but there’s always time for dating.”

“Why didn’t you say you had someone?”

“We had broken up. We had a huge fight.”

“Is that true?” Sakumo turned to Naruto.

“If anything you should thank him for getting us back together.”

“Yeah. It was hard because they’re both so stubborn but at the end of the day they’re both soft for each other.”

“When will I meet them?”

“As soon as possible. I need to make sure he has time.”

“Get back to work. I’ll be going now.”

They both waited for the chairman to walk out before speaking.

“How are you getting out of this one?”

“I have someone who owes me a favor.”

Sasuke was in the bathroom reapplying his sunscreen as two men chatted as they washed their hands when his phone vibrated. What does he want now?

“Hello?”

” Let’s meet after work.”

“Sorry, I’m busy.”

” Should I try to catch you at home then?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Sasuke almost screamed, earning him weird looks from his coworkers before they left the bathroom. Down the hall, the two men spotted the back of President Hatake as he walked away.” I’ll work overtime today.”

” Why are you going to Ilsan?”” Are you sure you’re a regular here?”

“Yes. I had coffee there yesterday.” Sasuke got off the taxi and opened the door to come face to face with a play area for children. Shit!

He sat down in front of Kakashi.” So you’re a regular here?”

“Yes.” Sasuke looked around.” I like the aesthetic.”

Sasuke mentally banged his head against something because there was no way his lie was believable. Not when he was wearing a black mesh shirt and dark purple – almost black – overalls with one buckle undone.

He took a sip of his coffee as a kid came up to him.” Papa, that kid pushed me!”

A woman rushed over and apologized as she led her kid away.

“The vibe’s also great,” the CEO said in a flat tone.

“What did you want to talk about? Please be quick, I’m busy.”

“This is not the place for it, but… let’s go out with marriage in mind.”

“I’m not really into you and I don’t believe in love at first sight.” Sasuke stood up and grabbed his bag.

“Sit down. You’re making a fool of yourself. Let’s pretend to date.”

“No.” Sasuke walked out of the restaurant with President Hatake following close behind.” One day I’m an imposter and the next you’re asking me to do it again.”

“ I don’t have a choice. You’re ideal for the joke.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean doesn’t matter. You promised me a favor.”

“Don’t put me in this kind of situation.” Sasuke was about to cross the street when the CEO spoke up.

“ 18,000 ₩, right? I’ll double it.”

“What?” Sasuke turned around and his skin glowed under the moonlight.

“For every time you meet my father I’ll pay you 36,000₩.”

Sasuke stood there for a second, he really needed the money but there were too many risks.

“You can let me know when you’ve made a decision.”

“Fine.” Sasuke turned around once more but Kakashi stepped beside him.

“Let me walk you to the station.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“If you say so. Good night.”

” I haven’t seen you in a while.” Sasuke had been lying in bed, thinking of all the ways this situation could’ve been avoided when Genma called.

“I’ve been busy lately but I’ll make sure to drop by sometime.”

” You sound like shit.”

“Work’s shit. But I’ll make sure to drop by.” Can’t do shit because of that lepophagus.

Not an hour later, Sasuke was in his room trying to get some work done when he got another call from the asshole that seemed to haunt his every second.

” I’m outside. We need to talk.”

“ You can’t just show up unannounced. I was about to go to sleep!”

” I could go in if you want. The lights are still on.”

“Just stay there, I’ll go down.”

Sasuke put makeup on in record time but forgot to change clothes so he ended up in President Hatake’s car with only short shorts and a long, thin shirt as well as knee socks.

“ I thought you were about to turn in.”

“I was. I’m just very insecure about my face.”

“Nevermind that.” He handed Sasuke a folder.” Here is the contract as well as a presentation with all the information you should know about me.”

“No way. I haven’t agreed to anything.”

“You’re the best for the job.”

“Find someone else.” Sasuke opened the door and walked out.

Kakashi grabbed him before he could enter.” Why can’t you do this?”

Sasuke was about to lie through his teeth when he noticed his brother walking towards them. He tried to get Kakashi off him but accidentally pushed him, since Kakashi had grabbed him not a minute before, Sasuke fell with him.

Itachi walked inside the building, not noticing the two people of the ground whose lips were touching.

[chaoticpuff17]

A Dangerous Game

part 8

Masterlist

She was only unconscious for a few minutes at most, but the way that Namjoon reacted to it would have made anyone think that she’d been in another car crash. He’d very swiftly scooped her up from the floor and deposited her on the bed propping her up against the pillows and giving her a stern command not to move while he went to inform Miss In of the incident. Given the fact that her head was still swimming, she didn’t argue choosing instead to remain lying on the mattress willing the nausea to go away and the room to stop spinning.

When Namjoon returned a few moments later, he took the liberty of planting himself right next to her at the head of the bed.

“Could you move?” She glared weakly at him from her position propped on the pillows, but her only response was an unamused stare and an arm being thrown over her shoulder to pull her into his side. She felt too ill to really put up more of a protest.

“The doctor will be here soon.” He spoke after a few moments of silence. “His orders are to keep you in bed until he arrives.”

“You’ll get no argument from me.” She huffed groaning as she tried to shift away from him.

The man sighed tucking her back into his side. “Lay still. You’ve already fainted once today. I warned you that all of this upset wasn’t good for you.” She seemed to deflate at that. Of course he had to be right. It was the cherry on top of everything that had happened today. “I know that today has been hard on you, but you need to rest.”

“Today wouldn’t be so hard if you had just let me leave. I could have been home by now.”

He chuckled looking down at her fondly. “How could I let you leave? The game isn’t finished yet, jagi.”

“Is this all a game to you? Is my life a game?” she demanded pushing herself up against the pillows to glare at him.

“Rest, jagi.” He sighed leaning against the pillows with a sigh. “You can fight all you want after you’re better.”

A knock on the door pulled both of their attention. “Enter!” Namjoon called allowing a man she could only assume was the doctor he had called for to enter the room. And she had to do a double take. Were all the men who worked under him secretly super models? The man who entered was perhaps one of the most handsome men she had ever seen in her life.

“Namjoon!” The doctor greeted with a bright smile. The informality of the greeting surprised her. No one else had referred to RM by his name, even more odd was that Namjoon allowed it.

“Seokjin.” He greeted though without the same warm smile. “I expected you earlier.” There was an admonishment behind those words though it didn’t seem to faze the doctor.

“I was dealing with Jungkook. Kid got all bruised up during a job.” The man shrugged. “He’ll be fine. Kid’s built like a tank.”

“Is this the patient?” He asked moving over to the bedside medical bag in tow. “I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting the lady yet, well not while she’s been conscious. I’m Kim Seokjin, the doctor for the knuckleheads that hang out around here, but pretty ladies get to call me Jin.” He flirted winking at her. “How’s that head feeling?” He asked her shooing Namjoon off the bed so that he could have better access to her.

She stared at the man sizing him up.  He looked kind enough, but looks could be deceiving in this world. If she had met him before her life had gone to hell, she would have assumed that he was nothing more than a kind doctor, but she knew better. If he willingly worked for Namjoon, if he was a friend of Namjoon, he couldn’t be as innocent as he seemed.

“It hurts.” She finally answered.

“I bet it does.” He hummed bringing out a thermometer to test her temperature. “I heard you took a fall. Can you tell me what happened?” The man seemed completely at ease even with Namjoon hovering over his shoulder.

“I stood up. I got dizzy…”

“She’s been agitated all day.” Namjoon interrupted crossing his arms over his chest. “She vomited once after she woke up, tried to jump out a window, and fainted after she stood up.”

The doctor hummed noncommittedly, but kept his focus on her as if waiting for her to answer for herself.

“I’m fine.”

“Y/N.” Her captor scolded.

“I’m fine.” She snapped back sick of the coddling, sick of Namjoon.

“He is right, Y/N.” Seokjin frowned bringing a flashlight up to her face. “Can you look right at my nose please? That’s great. Can you follow my finger without moving your head? Good, good. You took a rather hard hit to the head, Y/N. You’ve got a bit of a concussion. Normally I would do a CT to confirm, but I don’t think, Joonie will let us do that today.” He loudly whispered to her in a dramatically conspiratorial way.

“Hyung!”

“Joonie?” She snorted holding back a laugh. RM one of the biggest crime bosses in Asia was being called Joonie by his hyung. It was surreal.

“Let’s take a look at that cut shall we?”

“Go for it.”

The doctor lifted up the bandage apologizing as she winced as the adhesive pulled. “Well that doesn’t look good.” He cooed taking note of the raw itchy skin under the bandage along with the cut that he had stitched up.

“I’m allergic to medical adhesives.” She murmured keeping her eyes on the bed spread.

“What?” Namjoon seemed to perk up at that information. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

The look she leveled him with bordered on disbelieving. “I’m sorry if that slipped my mind during the whole kidnapping thing.” She huffed before turning a far gentler eye to the doctor who was looking over the wound with concern. “I found out a long time ago. It’s fine. It’ll itch and blister a bit, but it won’t do any long term damage. How’s the cut, doc?”

“Well, it’s not pretty, but the stitches are fine. It should heal up nicely. I’m going to clean it and then put a fresh bandage on alright?” She nodded her understanding allowing the doctor to do what he needed to do and wincing at the feeling of the antiseptic. “I’m going to send over some ointment for the blisters okay?”

“Thank you.” She murmured. She may have hated Namjoon, but the doctor was nice enough. She had no reason to be rude to him.

“Let’s take a look at those bruises okay? Can you sit up for me?” She nodded again allowing the doctor to help her sit up. “Namjoon, can you step outside for a moment?”

“No.”

Jin sighed turning towards the other man in annoyance. “I need to check on her bruising. If you hadn’t hit her with a car I wouldn’t need to. Now, give the poor woman some privacy. You can come back in after I’m done.” Namjoon didn’t move. “I’m not going to let her jump out a window, Joon.” Still no movement. The poor doctor looked like he was about to punch the crime lord or at the very least slap him upside the head.

“You hit her with a car. You bruised her up. Now I’m going to have to partially undress her to check on the bruising, and the least you can do is give her some privacy.” No movement. “I’ll call you in after I’m done. Go.” He ordered.

Finally Namjoon moved giving them both a wary look but following the doctor’s instructions and leaving the room. Jin didn’t make a move to do anything until the door had firmly closed behind Namjoon.

“Okay, Y/N. I’m going to help you undress. You have some bruising on your side from the crash. Is that okay?”

He was gentle waiting to do anything until he had her consent. He carefully undid the zipper at the back of the dress slipping the straps from her shoulder and allowing the garment to pool at her waist before draping a throw blanket over her to preserve her modesty. She decided then that she definitely liked this doctor more than she liked his boss. He was kind.

“It’s not too bad. I don’t think you got the worst of the damage, but you’ll be tender for a few days at the very least.”

Her ears perked up at that. “Do you know how the other passenger is doing? Eun-ho. Officer Choi Eun-ho. He was in the car with me. Is he alright?”

He sighed the easy smile falling from his lips replaced by a more pitying look. “I think he’s at the hospital. I don’t know much though.”

“But he’s alive?” She asked choking back tears as she did. “He’s alive?”

“Yes, he’s alive. As far as I know, he’s alive.”

“Oh thank god.” She sobbed hunching in on herself and allowing the tears to fall.

The doctor sat down beside her gently rubbing circles into her back as she cried. “It’s alright. You’re going to be alright.” He cooed letting her get it out of her system. “Namjoon isn’t a bad person. He won’t hurt you.”

“I just want to go home.” She sobbed.

“I know. I know.”

They stayed like that until her crying had calmed down. He helped her back into her dress, and even helped her clean up her face.

“You’re going to be alright, but I have to let Namjoon back in the room now.”

“Okay.” Her whisper was hoarse barely audible, but it was there.

He hesitated looking like he wanted to say something more. “I know this is hard, but you can always call on me if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” He nodded leaving to go get Namjoon.

“How is she?” Namjoon asked striding into the room and back to her side his eyes scanning her from head to toe. “Why does she look like she’s been crying?”

“It’s been an emotional day.” He shrugged not giving away anything else. “She’ll be alright, but you have to rest.” He admonished her sternly but gently, almost motherly. “And you.” He turned a stern gaze on Namjoon as well. “No more upsetting her. I don’t want any more calls saying that she fainted.”

“She’ll be alright?” Namjoon asked moving to sit on the bed beside her again.

“She’ll be fine so long as you don’t go upsetting her.” Seokjin sassed. “Now, Y/N. I’ll be back in a few days to check on those stitches, okay.”

“Sure, doc.”

He smiled and ruffled her head like a brother would. “Only light activity. Light foods so that they won’t upset her stomach, and plenty of fluids.” He ordered.

“Thank you, hyung.” Namjoon nodded patting his friends shoulder. “I’ll take care of her.”

“No upsetting her, Joon. I mean it. She’s been traumatized enough as it is.” He waggled his finger in the younger man’s face, and Y/N had to stop herself from laughing.

“I understand, hyung. Don’t you have other patients to see?”

Jin laughed walking out of the room, and Y/N had to do a double take. It sounded like windshield wipers, actual honest to god windshield wipers.

part 9

[jingabitch]

Adhesion ch.2

SUMMARY: As a new stylist for Blackpink, you need to focus on doing your job well. If only your assigned idol weren’t so distracting.

PAIRING: dom!Jennie x sub!reader

GENRE: slow burn smut, idol AU

WARNINGS: D/s relationship dynamics and negotiation, sexual tension, smut in later chapters

WORD COUNT: 7.3k

A/N: major thanks to @mingyuistall​ for helping me go over this!

series index

Even before you opened your eyes, you knew something was off. Why were you wearing a bra? And pants? You felt a little sticky all over, like you hadn’t showered last night, which you always made sure to do. And were you half-dangling off your bed?

Confused, you cracked your eyes open… and came face to face with Jennie.

Fuck. You bolted up, blinking the last of the sleep from your eyes. The two coffee mugs were still sitting on your foldout table, and Kim Jennie was… lying on your bed next to you. The light streaming in your window let you know that it was way later than your usual wakeup time too.

“Unnie…” You patted her shoulder to wake her up. When she just murmured and turned her face into the mattress, you shook her again, a little more insistently. “Unnie, wake up.” As cute as Jennie was, you had to get to work.

“Stop,” she whined. “Five more minutes.”

You rolled your eyes. You’d heard that she was a difficult person to wake up, and it seemed the rumours were true. Instead of continuing to badger her, you got up and went to the bathroom, picking up the mugs and depositing them in the sink to take care of later.

It was only when you were rinsing the soap off your body that you realized you had made a crucial mistake. Since you lived alone, you usually didn’t bring your clothes with you into the bathroom, preferring to choose your clothes and get dressed in the main area of the studio.

Shit.

Maybe it would be okay, you thought, trying to calm yourself down as you turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She’d probably still be asleep, and you could just grab your things and run back into the bathroom to get dressed.

After drying yourself off, you wrapped the towel around your body and left the bathroom…

Only to come face-to-face with Jennie, who’d turned away from the kitchen sink where she was washing the mugs to greet you. The words died on her lips as she took in your current state of undress, and the deer-in-headlights look you were giving her, your eyes wide as your hands clutched at the edge of the towel over your chest.

Unable to help herself, her eyes drifted over your body slowly as her teeth sank into her lower lip. Indecent thoughts about tearing the towel off your body and pushing you back on the bed – or against the wall – flooded her mind, rendering her speechless as she clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms.

“Um…” your voice was small. You’d definitely noticed her staring at you, and you were trying your best to move past this awkward moment. “Sorry, I forgot to take my clothes with me.”

“Right…” Jennie recovered, turning back to the sink. “No problem.”

Feeling like she’d given you permission to move, you scurried across the studio to your closet, hastily picking some clothing from one of the racks before rushing back into the bathroom to get dressed.

Jennie, not daring to turn around until the sound of the bathroom door shutting echoed through your tiny apartment, braced her hands against the edge of the sink and let out the breath she’d been holding. It was definitely too early in the morning for that kind of temptation, yet she couldn’t be anything but grateful about the eyeful she’d gotten.

As she rinsed the dish soap out of the mugs and placed them on your dish rack, she couldn’t help the small smile that stole over her face. Your wide-eyed, surprised expression had been so cute, she was honestly torn between wanting to give you a cuddle and her desire to absolutely ruin you.

You re-emerged from the bathroom, now fully dressed, looking slightly sheepish and apologetic. “I’m sorry again,” you said as you crossed the apartment to your dresser, plugging your hair dryer in. “Do you want to freshen up?” you asked, looking at her in the mirror.

Jennie shook her head as she took a seat on the edge of the bed behind you. “What do you have on today?” she asked, settling in to watch you get ready. This all seemed so domestic, and she loved it.

“I have to go to the YG building for a meeting with the other stylists, and then Jiyoon-unnie wants me to follow her to some meetings with fashion houses about sponsors and stuff.” By this point, you were yelling over the sound of the hair dryer.

“Okay, I’ll drop you off on my way home then.”

You turned off the hair dryer and set it on the dresser. “You don’t have to, unnie, I don’t mind taking the subway,” you rushed to assure her, turning to face her.

“It’s fine,” she responded firmly, and that was the end of that.

You ran through your morning routine quicker than usual, since you were running late, drying your hair, putting on your makeup and then choosing accessories. Working in fashion meant you always had to look flawless, and as much as you enjoyed the primping most days, it did get a little annoying when you were in a hurry.

Standing up once you were done, you walked over to the belt rack you’d mounted on the wall and picked one, buckling it around your waist.

“Okay, let’s go,” you said, picking up your bag, and you left the apartment together.

During the drive to the YG building, conversation flowed easily, and Jennie was struck by how well you got along together -- when you weren’t a blushing, stuttering mess, that was, although she couldn’t help but enjoy that too.

She dropped you off a block away from the YG building, so that no one would see you exiting Jennie’s car. The gossip mills were ferocious at YG, and both of you had to keep your reputations squeaky clean for the sake of your respective careers.

“Thanks for the ride, unnie,” you said as you unbuckled the seat belt and picked up your bag. Just before you opened the door, however, a burst of bravery led Jennie to reach over impulsively, grabbing your sleeve.

You looked over at her questioningly and she tugged on your sleeve hard enough that you leaned over towards her, and she eagerly shifted to meet you halfway, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. “Bye bye,” she chirped once she’d pulled back, letting go of you.

Stunned, you left the car on autopilot, standing on the sidewalk with your hand pressed to your lips as you watched her drive away. What just happened, you wondered.

-----

Jennie had barely shut the front door behind her when Chaeyoung popped up in front of her, smirking.

“Where were you all night, unnie?” she asked, though the twinkle in her eye indicated that she was fairly sure she knew the answer.

“None of your business,” Jennie tried to brush her off as she toed off her shoes, but Chaeyoung just stepped even closer.

“Unnie, don’t be like that!” she pouted. “We just want what’s best for you.”

A slight pause. “Wait a second, ‘we’?” Jennie asked, raising a brow.

Lisa popped her head out of the corridor. “Unnie, you’re home!” she cheered. “How was Y/n-ie last night?”

The implications of her question weren’t lost on Jennie. “Nothing happened last night!” she cried, flushing pink with embarrassment.

Chaeyoung took the opportunity to zero in. “But you did spend the night at her place?”

Caught now, Jennie slumped her shoulders as she sidestepped the younger girls on her way to her own bedroom. “We were just talking and fell asleep,” she mumbled.

Chaeyoung and Lisa clutched each other as they squealed in excitement. “Unnie, that’s so cute!” They followed behind Jennie, eager for more details, but Jennie firmly shut the door behind them, ignoring their protests.

Leaning against the door, Jennie raised one hand to her mouth, pressing her fingers against her lips lightly. In the privacy of her own room, she couldn’t help the small smile that stole over her face, nor hold back the slightly breathless giggle.

----

Given how much Jennie adored that wide-eyed expression you got when she unexpectedly teased you, you really should have expected this.

Still, you thought to yourself as you braced your weight against the bathroom sink, this was surely too much. You stared at your reflection in the mirror, wide-eyed, as you tried to calm your racing heart. In just a couple of minutes, you were going to have to step back out there and do your job again, and you needed to get your shit together now.

Blowing your breath out, you pushed yourself off the sink and turned away, grabbing some paper towels from the dispenser on the wall. You were sure that Jennie hadn’t really needed all that help getting into her dress for the photo shoot, but she’d insisted, and you weren’t really in a position to say no.

Which had led to the two of you squished together in the semi-private space behind the privacy screen, which was really only big enough for one person. Jennie, dressed in only the skimpiest lingerie you could imagine – under the guise that it was all that was suitable for the clothes she had to wear for the photo shoot – stood in front of you, her hands on her hips as she told you that she couldn’t zip up her dress by herself.

Why she couldn’t have gotten into it before calling for you was a mystery to you. You wound up helping her into the dress, before she turned around so her back was to you, pulling all her hair over her shoulder and asking you to help her zip it up. It was technically your job, so you gulped and, with trembling fingers, acquiesced.

“All good,” you announced when you were done, in a voice that trembled. Jennie turned back towards you, flipping her hair back over her shoulder, and leaned in.

“Thank you,” she breathed, close enough that you could feel her warm breath ghosting across your lips.

“Unnie,” you managed to get out, keenly aware of the fact that despite the relative privacy of the corner you were sequestered in, you weren’t actually alone. On the other side of the screen were the rest of the stylists and members.

“Y/n,” she responded, leaning in even closer.

You couldn’t be blamed for what happened next, you thought, leaning against the bathroom door to delay your return to the dressing room for just a second more. You were sure everyone had noticed the way you’d bolted from the room, with a muttered excuse about needing to use the bathroom really bad.

Steeling yourself, you opened the bathroom door and left, heading back to the dressing room. You entered shyly, preparing yourself for a barrage of teasing, but to your surprise, none came. Yuuki shot you a smirk over Jisoo’s head, but the others didn’t have much of a reaction. Emboldened, you walked back to the makeup table where Jennie was sitting.

“Feel better?” she asked as you stood beside her, reaching for the primer. To anyone else, it might have looked like she was just concerned and enquiring about your wellbeing, but you knew better, seeing the half-smirk she was directing at you.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, squeezing some of the product on the plastic sticker on the back of your hand and beginning to apply it with a brush.

“Good,” Jennie murmured, her hand resting on your hip. You could feel the warmth of it through the thin fabric of the sundress you were wearing today. You looked down at her hand, and then back at her, but she just smiled sweetly at you and turned her face upwards so it was easier for you to reach, and you figured she must be done tormenting you for the day.

You finished applying her makeup and moved on to her hair, curling it slightly and fluffing it. “There,” you said when you were done, admiring her reflection in the mirror as you rearranged some pieces of her hair over her shoulders. As you looked down to meet her gaze, you found yourself getting lost in her eyes as she watched you in the mirror with a small, soft smile, so different from the smirk earlier. It made your heart skip a beat as heat rushed to your face, warmth suffusing your entire being.

“Thank you, Y/n-ie,” she said, standing up and turning to face you as she straightened her dress, which had bunched up slightly from when she was sitting. Automatically, you started fussing with her clothes, tugging it down to smooth out any wrinkles.

You bent slightly to get a better look as you ran your hands over her body to make sure it was perfect, so absorbed in your task that you didn’t realise the way Jennie had stiffened, her arms out slightly as she looked down at you. It was only when Jennie made the tiniest whimper as you smoothed your hands over the swell of her ass that you noticed how close you were to her, and the way you’d been touching her.

Startled by the noise, you jerked away from her, apologies already falling from your lips, but when you straightened your back and looked up at her, you found her with her bottom lip trapped between her teeth, her eyes dark.

It was then that you realized the power you held over Jennie. She might be able to fluster you with just a look, but she was definitely not immune to you, and the knowledge filled you with confidence.

“Unnie,” you said reproachfully as you reached up to touch her bottom lip with the tips of your fingers, “You shouldn’t do that, you’ll mess up your lipstick.”

Stunned, she released her lip to gape at you, and you tutted. “Look, it’s all over the place now. It’s okay, I’ll fix it for you, unnie.” You reached past her for the lipstick on the table, but instead of grabbing a lip brush, you used your finger to reapply the product, blending it in by patting her lip softly. “There you go,” you cooed, smiling in satisfaction.

As you reached back around her to put the lipstick back, your body just a hair’s breadth away from hers, her arm wrapped around you, trapping you in that position. “Be careful,” Jennie breathed next to your ear. “Don’t make me have to punish you.”

She felt, pressed against you as she was, the shudder that ran through your entire body. You dropped the lipstick back on the table and pulled back slightly, your body sliding up against hers as you straightened up. “Unnie…” you whispered, and her head was just starting to descend towards yours when Jisoo cleared her throat loudly.

“Jennie-yah, can you help me get my phone? It’s in my bag,” Jisoo said. Her voice was like a bucket of iced water being poured over your head as you jerked away from Jennie, stunned that you’d let things get to that stage. In a room full of your colleagues, no less!

Jennie blinked, looking bereft at the sudden loss of contact, before looking around and remembering where she was. “Right…” she murmured before making her way over to the couch where all the bags had been tossed and rummaging around for Jisoo’s phone.

When she walked over to Jisoo and handed her the phone, Jisoo took it before shooting Jennie a warning look. “Keep it together,” she hissed. The two of you were being incredibly obvious, and if any of this got leaked, you would be reassigned to a different group at best, but it was more likely that you’d be fired, and Jennie would lose whatever freedoms she’d earned in the past few years.

Chastised, Jennie nodded. She knew as well as Jisoo what the stakes were; it was just that whenever she was with you, it was so hard to remember that the world outside the two of you existed. Still, she had to try harder – if not for her own sake, then for yours.

Time to find a different solution.

-------

You didn’t think you’d been so tired in your life. The members had had on-location shooting for music videos, which meant tons of travelling on your part, while carrying makeup, clothes, shoes and accessories around. On top of that, Jiyoon was busy preparing for Seoul Fashion Week, which was in a couple of months, which meant running around with and for her, and picking up all of her slack.

As if that wasn’t enough, you’d had three deadlines for articles almost back-to-back which ate up your free time. You didn’t think you’d gotten more than five hours of sleep a night all week, but as you dragged your feet up the stairs to your apartment, you rejoiced in the fact that you finally had a day off tomorrow. A real day off, one where you didn’t need to do any work.

You unlocked the front door with your thumbprint, flicking on the lights as you stepped into your apartment. It was a mess, and you knew you’d have to do some deep cleaning tomorrow, starting with the giant pile of dishes in your sink. You were hungry, but too tired to cook, and your fridge was empty, anyway.

Oh well. You figured there’d be tons of time to eat tomorrow. For now, you toed off your shoes, leaving them where they were as you stepped out of the genkan. Time for a shower, and then bed.

You were pulling your pajamas out of the dresser when your phone rang, and you hurried over to pick it up, frowning when you saw Jennie’s name on your screen.

Sighing, you swiped and put the phone to your ear. “Hello?”

“Hi Y/n-ie, are you hungry?”

“Um…” You pulled the phone away from your ear to look at it, then put it back. “Unnie?”

“Yeah, you looked really beat today at the shoot. Have you eaten?”

“Not yet, I just got home… I was just going to shower and go to bed.”

You could feel the frown radiating down the line. “Have you eaten?”

“Uhh, no, the fridge is empty.” You walked into your bathroom and put the toilet cover down, placing your pajamas on the lid. “It’s okay, I’ll just eat tomorrow morning.”

“Y/n, that’s not healthy. I’ll come over with some food.” Jennie’s tone brooked no argument, but you tried anyway.

“Unnie, that’s not necessary, I’m really fine—”

“Y/n, please take care of your health. I’ll worry,” Jennie said more gently, and with a sigh, you capitulated.

“Okay.”

“Great! I’ll be over in fifteen minutes,” Jennie cheered, then hung up the phone. You looked at your home screen bemusedly, then shook your head. Since you’d come to Seoul, no one had ever tried to coddle you as hard as Jennie. It made it a little weird when she was also threatening to punish you, but honestly, you were here for it.

Humming absently to their newest release – it was a real earworm, and you’d been listening to it all day on set – you got undressed and stepped in your shower. It felt so good to scrub all the dirt and sweat from your body, the warm water loosening your muscles as you worked shampoo into your hair, massaging your scalp.

By the time you emerged from the shower, wrapped in a fluffy towel you’d gotten on clearance at a department store, you felt much better. You’d taken your contacts out, put on your pajamas and were towel-drying your hair when the doorbell rang, and you wrapped the slightly damp towel around your shoulders as you went to let her in.

“Hi,” Jennie greeted, smiling at you as she came in. Her hands were full of food, and you looked on, surprised, as she placed it on your foldout table.

“Where did you get this?” you asked, helping her unwrap everything. The stew was still piping hot, so you didn’t need to put it on the stove, which you appreciated.

“The restaurant just down the road,” Jennie explained. “Come eat,” she gestured, and you sat down eagerly, taking the lid off the bowl of rice as she watched.

“Mmm,” you groaned around the spoon as you sipped some of the kimchi stew. “This is so good.” Having a hot meal after a long day really was the best, you thought as you picked up some of the eggplant side dish from a little plate next to the bowl of stew.

Jennie had gotten enough food for the both of you, but she opened her lid of rice far more leisurely, distracted by watching you. Besides, she’d eaten a couple of hours ago when she got home from the shoot, and she knew you hadn’t had anything to eat all day.

You didn’t say much, being busy stuffing your face, but Jennie didn’t mind, taking pleasure in the way you were eating. She didn’t usually get to indulge since there were so many restrictions about her appearance and weight, but you were so expressive in your joy that it felt like she was living vicariously through you.

“Thank you, unnie,” you said when you’d cleaned out your bowl of rice, dropping the spoon back into the bowl with a satisfied sigh. Jennie, who’d been eating the various vegetable side dishes while nibbling on her rice, smiled at you.

“You’re welcome,” she said softly. You were adorable, dressed in a beat-up old t-shirt from fashion school and pajama shorts, your hair damp and messy. You always looked put together at work, even on days when you weren’t really trying, and she supposed it was part of being in the fashion industry, but getting to see you looking so relaxed in your own space felt like a privilege, like something rare and special.

It also wasn’t something she was going to get to see for much longer, she thought as she caught the jaw-cracking yawn you tried to no avail to hide. You blinked sleepily at her. “Sorry, unnie,” you apologized, your voice soft.

“It’s okay,” Jennie said. “You worked hard today; you should get some sleep.” She started gathering all the dishes to take them back to the shop, and you picked up your bowl and utensils to help, but she stopped you. “Go get ready for bed,” she shooed you into the bathroom.

When you re-emerged after brushing your teeth, Jennie was all packed up, and you ran up to her. “Please, let me help,” you said, trying to take the bucket from her, but she twisted away from your grasp.

“No, I’ve got it, don’t worry,” she reassured you.

Helplessly, you walked her to the front door. “Okay, good night, unnie,” you said, clasping your hands in front of you as she put her shoes on.

“Good night, Y/n. Sleep well.” One hand let go of the handle of the bucket and came around to rest on the back of your neck, her fingers burrowing into the roots of your hair near your nape. You looked at her with wide eyes as she did that, before she pulled you closer and leaned up to press a kiss to your forehead.

Your hand came up and wrapped around her wrist, and your gaze lifted to meet hers. A breathless second later, you watched as, seemingly in slow-motion, Jennie’s lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she closed her eyes, leaning in for a kiss that you eagerly tilted your head to meet.

Her lips were pillowy soft, something you knew from touching them a couple of days ago, and she kissed you gently, almost hesitantly, like she was afraid to scare you off. Her fingers flexed against your nape, telling a completely different story, however.

Unable to keep yourself from goading her, you whispered against her lips, “I thought you were going to punish me, unnie,” referring, of course, to her threat earlier this week.

Startled, Jennie pulled back to regard you, but you just smiled up at her innocently, batting your lashes at her. “Good night, unnie,” you giggled, before releasing her wrist and stepping back.

As Jennie looked back up at your window from the street, she couldn’t help but smile, remembering the minty taste of your mouth from earlier. She’d thought that you would be shy and quiet, because that had been how you’d been before, but this new side of you, the one who talked back and thought you could take her on… it was intoxicating.

The light went out, and Jennie smiled as she turned back to her car. You were so interesting, and the more time she spent around you, the more time she wanted to spend with you. Preferably naked, and with you on your knees, that smart mouth of yours occupied with more… productive endeavors. After all, she couldn’t have you thinking she didn’t keep her promises.

-------

You were playing with fire, and you knew it.

To everyone else, everything seemed normal. You were dressed in a plain, V-neck t-shirt half-tucked into a black and white plaid miniskirt, with thigh-high suede boots. A little much for any workplace, sure, but then again, Yuuki had worn two different eyeshadow colours on each eye today, so you were in the clear.

The interesting thing about this shirt was that apart from being cut low, it was a little loose, which meant that when you bent down, the neckline gaped open. You knew that when you’d bought the shirt, of course, figuring that sacrifices had to be made for fashion, but now it hardly seemed like a hardship.

Under the shirt, you had on a floral lace bralette which was mostly sheer, and you knew it looked good. The shirt was opaque enough that no one could see your risqué choice of underwear today, but Jennie was currently getting a good look down your shirt, which had, of course, been the goal of the entire endeavor.

You were currently standing in front of her, bent over with your left hand bracing against the edge of the chair she was sitting on as you peered at her face. Completely unnecessary, of course, but you loved the expression on her face when she realized that she had an entirely unobstructed view. One that she was, based on the laser sharp focus of her gaze, enjoying.

“Unnie,” you called after a second, watching as her eyes snapped towards yours slightly guiltily. “Your makeup looks good,” you told her, before standing up and moving behind her so she could look in the mirror. “What do you think?”

“Yeah, sure,” she said, sounding slightly dazed. This was new – Jennie was really into fashion and beauty, and often had tons of comments and notes on her makeup and hair, both before and after you did it. It appeared you’d broken her, and you had to bite your lip to stifle your triumphant grin.

“Unnie, are you okay?” You came back around and bent down again to look at her more closely.

“Stop it,” she hissed under her breath at you. “You know what you’re doing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, unnie,” you purred, leaning a little closer. Then you came up right next to her ear, and whispered, “Stop staring, unnie. People are watching. I’ll let you have a proper look later, if you like.”

Then you got up and walked away to speak to another stylist, leaving Jennie to look thoughtfully at you. She wondered if you truly knew what you were getting into with her. In the same vein, she didn’t quite know what she was getting into with you. As you grew bolder and leaned into the flirtation with her, it was getting harder to ignore the fact that what she felt towards you wasn’t the sweet, romantic desire of the novels.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There was that, and she did think about holding your hand and walking down the street together, or cooking with you in your little studio apartment, but when it came to intimacy, it was a completely different story. She almost didn’t want to examine her own feelings too closely, because she didn’t know what she would find. Was it normal to feel this way about someone? To want to pin them down, make them do exactly what she wanted?

Even thinking about it made her shift uncomfortably in her seat, and she averted her gaze from you, looking down so that no one would see the way her cheeks heated.

Though she knew she was doomed to fail, she resolved to stay away from you. For both your sake as well as hers.

--------

It worked about as well as she’d expected. That day seemed to mark a change in your attitude, as you became more overtly flirtatious. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it, but she worried, even if you didn’t, about the consequences to both your careers.

Well, that and the fact that she was still struggling with all these newfound desires. Google searches had been… well, she’d love to say she was scarred, but in reality, it appeared that she’d discovered something new about herself. Not something she’d ever thought she would be into, but, well… here it was.

Today felt like a particularly bad day, rather ironically. They were debuting their new song at Inkigayo today, and no matter how many times she did this, Jennie was always nervous.

You knew that, which was why you’d backed off today. Instead of the teasing, flirtatious demeanor that Jennie had grown to love and dread simultaneously, you were dressed normally, in a long-sleeved shirt and leggings, murmuring encouraging things at her as you helped her get ready, complimenting her outfit, her hair, her makeup.

It made Jennie want to scream in frustration. How was she supposed to keep her hands off you when you were so perfect? She watched you puttering around in the mirror, eagerly ogling you as you bent over to pick something up from the suitcase open on the floor and riffled through the racks, biting your lip in concentration.

You disappeared from the room for a second and Jennie looked down in relief, before turning to the side and seeing Jisoo smirking at her. “What?” she asked defensively, her shoulders drawing up.

“Nothing,” Jisoo drawled, but winked in a way that let Jennie know she’d noticed.

Before she could respond, you hurried back in, a sandwich in your hand. “Here,” you said, holding the sandwich out for her. “You should eat something.”

Holding the sandwich like an idiot, she stared up at you, her mouth slightly open.

You pressed your lips together to hold back a coo at how cute she looked, and patted her hair, being careful not to mess up your own hard work. “You’ll be hungry later if you don’t eat,” you cautioned.

“Right, right.” Looking down, Jennie focused on peeling the plastic wrapper off the sandwich. You smiled at her as she started eating, then turned around to respond to a question another stylist had asked.

As she nibbled on the sandwich, being careful to avoid messing up her lipstick, you turned back and smiled at her in the mirror, before going back to your conversation. There was still some time before their item, but waiting was normal at these events, and everyone was prepared for it.

At some point, you got chilly and went to put on your jacket, picking it up from the back of the couch where you’d slung it carelessly. You were zipping it up when you realized that if you were cold, Jennie, in her revealing outfit, must be freezing. Looking over your shoulder, you saw her rubbing her arms with her hands, while pressing her legs together and hooking her ankles around each other.

Really, you thought as you went to get a blanket, if revealing outfits were going to be de rigueur for idols at stage performances, the buildings should have better heating.

Standing on tiptoe, you reached up to get one from the shelf, oblivious to the way Jennie watched in the mirror as you stretched on your tiptoes.

“Here, you must be cold,” you told her as you unfolded the blanket and draped it over her lap. You leaned over, tucking the blanket under her thighs, your braid draping over your shoulder.

So focused were you on your task that Jennie’s hand wrapping itself around your wrist startled you slightly. Your eyes lingered on her long, slim fingers for a second, before your gaze flew up to meet hers. “Unnie, are you okay?” you asked, surprised by the intensity burning in her gaze.

Jennie pinned you with a scrutinizing gaze for a second, sweeping slowly over your face. Were you really not doing this on purpose? She couldn’t see any trace of the usual mischief that would brighten your eyes whenever you teased her. Even when you acted innocent, you couldn’t stop the slight smirk on your face, like you were biting back laughter. None of that was apparent today, however, and she found only sincerity as you stared back at her.

“Nothing,” she mumbled finally, releasing you. “Thank you for being so thoughtful.”

You beamed at her in response. “It was nothing, unnie.”

With that, you picked up a curling iron and started fussing with her hair some more. Jennie pretended to look at her phone, but while you weren’t paying attention, she was watching you in the mirror.

--------

This had to be their most successful Inkigayo performance yet. The song they were debuting today was about longing, that magical feeling of anticipation right before falling in love. Jennie poured all the emotions she’d been feeling all day into the performance, stealing glances whenever she could at you, standing in the wings waiting with a bottle of water and a little towel for her.

The lip bite before the hip roll that would break the Internet was completely unintentional, but the look of rapt attention and wonder on your face as you watched her performance, and the flush that stole over your face when you made eye contact with her, made her feel powerful and sexy in a way that having the adulation of millions of fans around the world couldn’t.

When the song was over, the girls went back into the wings, heading straight for their stylists, who wiped their sweat, adjusted their clothes, and fiddled with their hair. You tried to do the same with Jennie, handing her the bottle of water and reaching up to pat her face with the towel. In the months since you’d started working for her, you’d picked up quickly.

Jennie was hardly in the mood for any of that today, though. She knocked your arm away from her with one hand while carelessly pulling off the mic and earpiece with the other, dropping them in the hands of the sound support staff who approached. Once she was free of all the equipment, she grabbed your hand and started walking. The adrenaline from the performance was still rushing through her veins, and she could almost hear her own heartbeat.

Initially, you stumbled a little, confused about what was going on. “Unnie, where are we going?” you asked, almost running to keep up with her pace.

She didn’t answer, instead dragging you down corridors until she found one that was sufficiently dark and deserted.

“Unnie, are you okay?” you asked when she stopped, then turned to face you. Concerned, you reached out to press the back of your hand against her cheek, but she caught your hand in hers before you could make contact.

Her gaze was almost searing in its intensity, and seeing it, you couldn’t help but squirm a little, having a pretty good idea of what was going on now. Still, you were surprised by how forcefully she pushed you back against the wall.

“No, I’m not fucking okay,” she snarled. “Do you know what you do to me?”

And then her lips were on yours in a bruising kiss, her body pressing yours into the wall, her hands on your hips. It was glorious, everything you’d wanted for the past months, since the second you’d laid your eyes on her.

[whumpmatsus]

Do they have to be whump related? Also Ichimatsu getting a shot pls

wasn't sure if you wanted a draw or a fic, so I did both!

and yeah, any draw or fic requests you send here should probably be whump-related since this is a whump-focused blog

though if you wanna send any draw or fic/scenario/reaction/etc. requests that AREN'T whump, you can send them to my general Osomatsu-san blog at @kisskissmatsu!

enjoooooy <3

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Usually Ichimatsu is the sextuplet who’s fine being left all by himself.

Being in the hospital without his family, though, is a much different story.

It started innocently enough ― with a persistent cough that was almost certainly the herald of a cold or sore throat on the horizon. As much as he hates being sick, he sort of resigned himself to it. He’s the one among his brothers who’s forever catching what happens to be going around, despite the fact that he doesn’t spend a lot of time around other people. That’s why he started wearing a face mask when he does leave the house.

It was about a week or so of sneezing, coughing, and sniffling his way through various attempts to rest. His throat felt worse than it usually did with a cold, and even more alarming was that his chest felt like it was on fire, especially when he started coughing. Even though he started having trouble breathing, he thought maybe this was just something that would linger for a bit, something that needed more sleep to recover from.

When things didn’t taper off after that, since a week was typically all it took for him to start feeling better, the others started commenting on it.

When Ichimatsu started to spend more time in the bathroom with a sink full of hot water in the hopes that the steam would help him breathe easier, and it didn’t seem to be having any effect, they all got worried.

When Karamatsu blurted out, “I secretly took Ichimatsu’s temperature with a forehead thermometer while he was sleeping and it read 39.4!”, Mom and Dad immediately carted their fourth son off to the hospital.

It figures Shittymatsu would get him into this mess, but Ichimatsu supposes that the sneaky gesture was only out of care, otherwise Karamatsu wouldn’t have spoken up about a number that concerned him.

That doesn’t mean he has to like it. After a distressing, panic-inducing few hours of waiting and a date with the X-ray machine, the doctor diagnosed him with bacterial pneumonia. That particular diagnosis ensured that he had to be admitted into the hospital under quarantine, because as the doctor explained, bacterial pneumonia is extremely contagious and potentially life-threatening, particularly to someone with a fragile immune system like Ichimatsu. They can’t send him home to infect his brothers or the rest of the community, and even though he isn’t technically immuno-compromised, his tendency to get sick easily means that it’s better for him to be here in the hospital in case things suddenly take a bad turn.

Being in here is like he’s trapped in hell and can’t get out. Because he’s in quarantine, he never sees anybody. Which would be fine normally. Feeling so poorly is a significant reason for wanting his family nearby, though… and he can’t have them.

The most they can do is visit outside his room and talk to him through the speaker system. That’s even worse, seeing them all and not being able to have any real contact with him. Right now more than anything, what he wants is a hug from his mom. God, he wants a hug from his brothers.

It’s hard to even get any rest like he’s supposed to be doing. Most of his time is spent sitting up, trying to get a sufficient breath in while he listens to various TV channels. The idol news reminds him of Choromatsu, sports statistics remind him of Jyushimatsu, game shows remind him of Osomatsu, American dramas remind him of Karamatsu, and fashion shows remind him of Totty.

Those are just distractions, because it’s still hard to breathe. He’s struggling for most of his breaths, but too deep a breath will trigger a coughing fit. Which, in turn, makes it more difficult to breathe.

It’s barely been a day since he was admitted and already he wants out of here.

His brothers visit sometime after lunch, and they spend a few hours. Eventually the nurse gently chases them out, telling them that Ichimatsu needs to try to get some rest. Shortly after that she comes into the room, rolling her little cart with the tray on it.

“How do you feel today, Ichimatsu?” she hums, pulling on a pair of gloves. “Any better than when we admitted you?”

He shakes his head and tries to answer when another series of coughs interrupts him. Although it’s hard to cover his mouth when his whole body is aching, he does his best. After all, he doesn’t want to get anyone else sick. He’s already in quarantine, so all the doctors and nurses are taking their own precautions; still, he shouldn’t just give up and spread his germs carelessly. “N-not really.”

She nods and picks up a wrapped packet from the tray. “Well, to be honest, that’s understandable. It hasn’t been very long.” The packet is ripped open, and the distinct smell of alcohol fills the air as she carefully pushes his sleeve up. “The lack of improvement does concern us, though. So I just have to give you an injection of some medicine, okay?”

Shit. He thought that might be what was going on here. He knows he’s too exhausted to fight it, and yet, his brain evidently isn’t too exhausted to not be fucking anxious about it. “I… I have to get a shot?”

The cold wipe is rubbed against the top part of his arm. “Yeahhh… I’m sorry. This is penicillin, and it’s one of our standard treatments for pneumonia. The doctor thinks you’ll have better luck sitting still for one shot than for a whole pill-and-water deal, since you’re coughing a lot. I kind of have to agree, since you might accidentally inhale some water if you cough while trying to take the pills.”

Immediately he starts to panic. Most of the time the idea of a shot doesn’t bother him more than it might the average person ― he gets the yearly flu vaccine without any problems. Right now, however… the idea of a shot while he’s already feeling so terrible, the initial pinch and the ache that might happen afterwards and being alone, it just feels scary.

The nurse must hear the way his breathing starts to quicken, or maybe the way his hands start shaking. She gives his shoulder a little pat. “Ah, I know on your chart it says you suffer from some anxiety. Are you a bit anxious right now?”

“Y… yeah…”

“Okay. That’s totally fine, you know? Different people get anxious about different things. Would it help if I distracted you, or if I gave you a countdown so you know when it’s coming? Sometimes that helps so it’s not a surprise… or, sometimes people prefer it to be a surprise. Which one do you think would be best for you?”

… Oh. He wasn’t expecting something like that. It almost feels like he has a little control over this, despite the fact that he has to get the injection either way. “C… can you… count down?”

“Sure, of course. No problem.” Then she reaches over with one hand, grabbing the syringe with the other. “Would you like to hold my hand?”

That’s kind of… babyish, isn’t it? “I-I’m not a kid… I don’t wanna…”

She chuckles. “Well, you know, earlier today I held the hand of an elderly lady who was getting a shot. It’s not just a kid thing. But if you don’t want to, that’s fine too.”

He takes a moment to consider that, then silently slips his hand into hers.

“Alright, just squeeze if you feel like you need to. I’m all set, are you?”

“I… I think so…”

“Okay, I’m gonna give you the countdown then. Here we go. Three ― two ― one.”

As soon as she says the last number, he feels the needle pierce his skin. It’s uncomfortable, a sharp kind of pinprick pain. There’s a slight feeling of tightness and soreness as the medicine is emptied into his muscle, and a brief jolt when the nurse pulls the needle out.

All in all, even though it isn’t a pleasant experience, it’s not as bad as it could have been. It’s certainly better than choking on a pill and a glass of water if he had to try to swallow the medication.

And, at least, it’s over now.

“There. You did great, Ichimatsu. Probably my best patient of the day!” With that, she sets the syringe back down on the tray and gingerly smooths a bandage with a cotton ball over the injection site. “That should keep you clean just in case any blood trickles out from the shot, and someone will come take it off later if the adhesive starts to make your skin itch.”

He nods and coughs into his arm again, giving a soft groan. He’s just so tired, from the fever, from the coughing, from not being home. “Is it gonna m… khh… make me tired?”

“Haha, it shouldn’t, no. You might feel a little nauseous, or you might have to go to the bathroom more, or you might get a small itchy rash… just press the call button if any of that happens or if you feel strange otherwise, okay?” Her cart is all packed up already, and she’s heading out of the room. “If you get tired, it’s probably because you’re sick and need rest. So, try to sleep as much as you can.”

“’Kay.” He just feels like this illness has drained everything out of him, and there’s a little throbbing where he got the injection. But, the more he sleeps, hopefully the sooner he can recover and go home.

On her way out, the nurse dims the lights. Practically as soon as she does, Ichimatsu’s eyes start to drift closed. God, he’s so tired.

He lies down, though the bed is still a little elevated since sleeping flat will just make him cough more. Sleep tugs at him, and he has to move a little bit so he’s not putting any pressure on the area where he got the shot.

Soon. Soon he can go home.

Just as soon as he gets better.

[settersprouts]

꠵ look at me : chapter two ꠵

裏切り。

Iwaizumi flopped onto his bed as soon as he got home, turning over and looking at the ceiling. His family kept bothering him about the match, saying things like "oh, you did great son!" or "it's okay. it's not the end of the world!"

Yeah, sure it wasn't. But it was the end of his and Oikawa's shared dream.

Iwaizumi glanced at the little glow-in-the-dark stars stuck onto his ceiling. He remembered how he got those. Oikawa had put them up when they were younger, since he was afraid of the dark and the nightlight Iwaizumi used to use was way too bright for either of them to sleep. He probably should've taken them down when they didn't really need them anymore, but they meant something to Oikawa back then. Those little stars were one of the many souvenirs Iwaizumi had of his best friend. It was like proof that he was close with the Oikawa Toorū.

. . And Iwaizumi really couldn't take them down. It was physically impossible: the adhesive stuck to the back of the stars were too strong, and no matter how hard Iwaizumi pulled, the damn stars wouldn't come off.

Beep.

Iwaizumi turned to his side, getting his phone from off the nightstand.

New Message : ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽

"Damn, what the hell does this bastard want now?" Iwaizumi clicked on the notification, bringing up the messages between him and Oikawa.

. .

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: iwa-chan !

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: What now, I just saw you like 20 minutes ago

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: ughh iwa you're so mean

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: Yeah okay. What?

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: can i come over ?

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: Ew no, wtf?

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: iwaaaaaaaaaaa~ (｡•́︿•̀｡)

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: Why?

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: im just having trouble sleeping,, plus i just wanna be with you rn

. .

Iwaizumi blushed at the last text Oikawa had sent. Damn.. As much as I despise him and his stupid face, that was kind of cute. Realizing what kind of thoughts were popping up in his head, Iwaizumi smacked both sides of his face. Fuck. What the hell am I thinking?

. .

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: iwa? you there?

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: Yeah, I'm here. Shut up. [to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: You can come over. I don't care.

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: yay ! thanks iwa ♡

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: Shut up. You sleeping over, or staying for a couple hours?

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: can i sleep over?

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: Yeah. [to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: My mom's cooking dinner. Want me to save you some?

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: no, i'm not hungry.

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: Alright, I'll save you some. Hurry up before it gets cold.

[from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: i don't want any- yk what nvm [from] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: be there in ten !

[to] ꜱʜɪᴛᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ 👽: mk.

. .

"Hajime! Dinner's ready!" Iwaizumi perked up as he heard his mother calling for him. He answered with a blunt, "Coming ma!," and bolted down the stairs.

"Hey, Oikawa's coming over tonight," Iwaizumi said as he sat down. "Can you save him some food? Knowing him, he probably hasn't eaten since the match."

Mrs. Iwaizumi nodded. "Of course! I'm so glad he's coming over, I love that boy. Such a sweetheart." When Iwaizumi snorted at her comment, she hit him lightly on the back of the head. "Don't do that, Hajime. He's a sweet boy." She spooned some miso soup into a small bowl, passing it to her son. "And don't act like you don't care about him either. I can see right through that little façade of yours."

Iwaizumi groaned and shoved a spoonful of the semi-salty broth into his mouth. "Sure. Do we have any milk bread?"

"No, I do have Kashipan though. They're similar, right?" She passed the buns to Iwaizumi, who shrugged.

"Yeah, sure."

After about fifteen minutes of the Iwaizumi family eating their dinner, they heard a knock at the door. "Ah, that must be Crappykawa."

Iwaizumi's mother glared at him when she heard that. "Hajime, don't call Toorū that. Like I said, he's a sweet boy." She walked over to the front door, fiddling with the locks and swinging it open. "Welcome Toorū- dear god, what happened to you?"

When he heard the shock in his mother's voice, he shoved aside his food and sprinted to the door. Oikawa stood in front of him, wearing a very soiled alien hoodie with the hood up and over his eyes. Iwaizumi could just make out the newly made bruises on his friend's jaw though, and the tear stains on his cheeks. Oikawa sniffled, fiddling with the hem of his hoodie. "Um. . can I come in. ?"

Iwaizumi and his mother quickly stood aside, ushering Oikawa into their home. Iwaizumi's mother put a hand on Oikawa's shoulder, not noticing the way the boy had winced at her touch, and steered him into their dining room. "Honey, would you like some food?"

Oikawa sniffled again, nodding. "Yeah. . do you have any milk bread?"

Iwaizumi shook his head. "Not at the moment, I can ask my old man to buy some for you. He's at the market right now." Oikawa nodded in response, and Iwaizumi took out his phone, sending a quick text to his father. "You need to eat right now, though. We have miso and kashipan. Eat some of that before you get your milk bread."

Iwaizumi passed some food over to Oikawa when he sat down. His own food disregarded, he watched as Oikawa ate slowly, taking in all his features. His hood was still up, so he couldn't see the rest of his face, but he could see how much it hurt him to make small, simple movements. Every time he lifted the spoon up to his mouth, his hand shook a little, and he winced occasionally. Something panged inside Iwaizumi's chest as he watched Oikawa eat. His heart hurt a lot, more than usual. What the hell was this feeling?

Oikawa pushed the bowl away from him, messing with the hem of his hoodie again. "Um. . I'm kind of full."

Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa's bowl- about a sixth of the soup was missing. Oikawa hadn't even touched the kashipan. "Crappykawa, you need to eat way more than that. You barely touched your food." He was about to force the food down his throat when he noticed his pained expression. "H-hey Oikawa, you alright. ?"

Oikawa gagged, putting a hand over his mouth. "Mrgh. Feel s-sick."

Iwaizumi stood up abruptly, helping Oikawa up and walking him to the bathroom. "How sick?"

"Feel like I'm gonna die, sick." Iwaizumi snickered a little at that, causing a slight smile to erupt on Oikawa's face. "W-wait. Where are we going?"

"Bathroom. You need to clean up." Iwaizumi opened the door and set Oikawa on the toilet, pulling a little first-aid kit out of the cabinet under the sink. Oikawa glanced at it nervously, thinking Iwaizumi was going tend to his wounds. But much to his surprise, Iwaizumi just set the box on the sink counter, and walked out of the room. "I'm going to go get you some of my clothes, and a towel. Set those in the basket, I'll clean them later."

The door clicked, and Oikawa heard Iwaizumi shuffle off to his room. He smiled a little, thankful that his friend respected his boundaries. He heard a knock on the bathroom door, replying with a small "come in." Iwaizumi opened the door, setting a towel and a set of clothes on the counter.

"If you need help with anything, let me know, okay?"

"Mmm." Iwaizumi closed the door when he heard Oikawa's reply, and walked to his room. He sat on his bed, throwing a volleyball up in the air, catching it when it came too close to his face. After a couple minutes, he heard the faint sssshhhhh of the shower faucet being turned on, and the shower curtains closing. Good. At least Crappykawa's cleaning up. He lay still, listening to the shower run, spreading out his arms and legs like a starfish. He must have lost track of time, because when he opened his eyes, Oikawa was sitting at the foot of his bed, scrolling through his phone while drying his hair.

"Crappykawa?" Oikawa turned around quickly, shutting off his phone in the process. Iwaizumi noticed this, but decided not to pry. "I didn't even hear you come in. How long have you been here?"

Oikawa shrugged. "Not long. Maybe like, a couple of minutes?" He resumed to the task of drying his hair, squeezing the water onto the light grey towel.

"Ah, I see." Iwaizumi watched Oikawa, tapping a finger against his chin. "Need help?"

"Um. . sure." His friend scooted closer to him, and handed him the towel. Iwaizumi ruffled up his hair, the towel making it ten times fluffier than it usually was. "Uh. Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

Oikawa fumbled with his shirt, it being a too big for him, since he had a leaner build. Iwaizumi thought it was cute. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone, though."

"Yeah, of course."

Oikawa took a deep breath, tears spilling out of his eyes once again. "M-my parents. . I don't feel safe with them. As soon as I got home, they yelled at me a lot because we lost the match. Um. I got mad and screamed at them too, but my dad hit me, and it got all out of control. They just kept hitting me, like I was their punching bag." He sniffed. "It hurt. It hurt a lot, Iwa. I thought they loved me. I thought-"

The third-year setter was cut short by arms being wrapped around his waist. "Shut the hell up, Shittykawa. Don't worry about a damn thing. I'll take care of everything."

"How? You can't do anything, you're not that much older than me and I couldn't even do anything." Oikawa sniffled again. "It's not like anyone would believe me anyways, or even care. A lot of people hate me, Iwa-chan."

"Yeah, well. Those who hate you can go on a date with my fist. They just don't really know who you really are inside. They just know who you want them to see. Some self-centered, cocky, arrogant, stupid bastard." Oikawa let out a little 'hey!' which made Iwaizumi laugh, before continuing. "But, I know who that self-centered, cocky, arrogant, stupid bastard really is on the inside. And it's someone I've grown to admire, no matter how much he pisses me off."

"Awe, Iwaaa~!" Oikawa flung his arms around Iwaizumi, making them fall down onto the bed. "Thank you, that was super sweet~"

Iwaizumi blushed. "N-no problem, Shittykawa. Now, get off of me."

Oikawa bit his lip a little and frowned. "But Iwaa. I thought you said you were going to help make me feel better!" Ignoring Iwaizumi's "when the hell did I say that" comment, he spread out his arms and made little gesturing motions with his hands. "I want cuddles, like the ones we used to give each other when we were younger!"

"Aren't we too old for that now?"

"No one's too old for cuddles, Iwa-chan!"

Iwaizumi scoffed, turning Oikawa around and spooning him. "There, happy?"

"Mmm." Oikawa responded, intertwining his fingers with Iwaizumi's. "Thanks, Iwa."

". . Shut up."

chapter 3 !

[xddaengx]

Help Me, Doctor ⎮Chapter Two

���Pairings: Bang Chan x Reader

☉Genre: Romance ⎮ Angst ⎮ Fluff ⎮ Hybrid AU ⎮

☉Warnings: Mentions Of Hybrid Abuse ⎮ Descriptions of Punishment / Torture ⎮

☉Word Count: 3.1k

☉Summary: You run a rescue centre for hybrids. When a rare, injured hybrid shows up to your rescue centre, you decide to help him.

☉Author’s Note: Hope you all enjoy the second chapter! Please feel free to request (for BTS, Stray Kids or Monsta x)

+

You close the door to the treatment room behind yourself watching the two brothers embrace each other quickly.

“How did you escape? How did you get here?” Chan coos at the smaller boy, who just seems to melt into his brothers hug, probably exhausted from whatever his experience was.  “What about Jeongin? And Hyunjin?” Chan continues to ask his brother who just shrugs lightly in response.

“I don’t know, I left right after you did. Before they shut down the lab.” The smaller hybrid explains finally pulling himself out of his brothers arms to look towards you. He seems to tense, looking you up and down before frowning.

“She’s one of them.” He hisses, his posture shrinking as he moves to stand against the wall.

“No. No. No. She isn’t. She’s a doctor, she’s trying to help.” Chan says to the boy, taking a few steps back until he’s posed in front of you, blocking you from sight.

“Chan, he needs to be looked at, some of those bruises are bad.” You whisper, and Chan just nods slowly, your interaction catching the other hybrids attention.

“What is she telling you? Don’t listen to her Chan, she’s trying to trick you.” The hybrid yells towards his brother, Chan shaking his head before turning towards you.

“I need you to take off the coat, and get what you need to look at his injuries, I’ll calm him down.” You nod at Chan’s instructions tugging off your lab coat, chucking it in the rubbish bin, before running around the room grabbing anything you thought you might need to patch up the younger hybrid, as well as a stethoscope. You pause as you pull you stethoscope out of the cabinet, listening carefully to the reassuring words Chan whispers to his brother.

“She’s not going to hurt you. She just wants to look and make sure your aren’t hurt too seriously, I promise you nothing bad will happen.” You finally turn from your spot facing the wall to walk over to the treatment table in the centre of the room, placing all your materials on top.

“I’m going to give you the same choice I gave your brother. Once you let me treat any injuries you can leave if you choose. But all I want to do is make sure you’re healthy, the only reason I run this rescue centre is to help hybrids live a life free from fear and pain.” You explain, keeping your voice hushed to the best of your abilities.

“See, Felix, She just wants to help.” Chan repeats, coaxing the boy out of the corner by moving to pat the soft mattress on the treatment table. He takes a seat gently on top of the treatment table, the light above it showing the true damage to the boy.

“Oh Goodness.” You gasp lightly, looking at Chan who seems just as surprised by the state of his brother as you were.

“We can leave?” The younger boy asks, Chan just nodding slowly.

“If we want to.” Chan responds, his brother nodding slowly, his fear and anger seeming to disintegrate into thin air, as he watches you grab a few more pieces of equipment from around the room.

“So your name is Felix?” You question the young hybrid as you move to stand in front of him, taking a long look at the bruises on the boys face, trying to decide where to begin, he gives you a short nod, looking over your shoulder to his brother.

“Well, Felix, would you mind if I had a listen to your chest?” The boy lets out another short nod, continuing to look towards his brother, who looks just as nervous as he does. You slowly put the stethoscope into your ears, rounding the table slowly reaching out towards Felix’s shirt before retracting your hand.

“I just need to lift your shirt a little bit to place this on your back. It might be a little cold.” You whisper to the boy, before slowly lifting up his shirt placing the head of the stethoscope gently against his back, listening to him breathing normally for a few seconds before asking him to take in a big breath.

He does as you ask a few times before you decide to move onto listening to his heart. His heart beats quickly but steadily, so you slowly take out the ear pieces scanning over his back, a large wound catching your attention.

“Felix, do you know how you got this cut?” You question him, and he shakes his head.

“When I was escaping the guards were trying to get me to stop, I think someone might’ve cut me with their knife, but I can’t remember much of what happened after Chan managed to get out.” He explains and you nod, asking Chan to pass you the packet of gauze besides him. You make quick work of the wound, cleaning it out with saline solution, and placing a small adhesive bandage on it after deciding it wasn’t deep enough to need stitches.

You continue on with your examination of Felix, deciding he would need a quick x-ray of his black eye, as it looked to be fractured and would need to be monitored.  After finishing your examination and giving Felix the all clear, you leave Chan and Felix in the treatment room to catch up, grabbing them some food from the cafeteria before making your way back to the treatment room.

“Uh, Doctor, the police officers are here again.”  Woojin calls from the front of the centre, causing you to pause on your way to the treatment room.

“Ok, I’ll be there in a minute.” You call back putting the food on Woojin’s desk rushing to throw open the treatment room door surprising the two hybrids.

“The officers are here again. Chan, take you brother back to my apartment I’ll meet the two of you there. Go out that door over there.” You say, pointing to the small door hidden besides the equipment cabinet. You don’t give Chan much time to argue as you close the door, taking a moment to straighten out your clothes before making your way to the officers waiting at the entrance.

“Good Afternoon Officer, how can I help you?” You question the tall man, who looks at you with a sympathetic smile.

“So sorry to bother you this afternoon, but we have gotten a report from the lab, that another one of there hybrids escaped.” The officer says and you nod looking at him with a small smile.

“As I told you yesterday we haven’t seen any rare hybrids. In fact we haven’t received any new hybrids for three days.” You respond, your tone dropping slightly as the officer gulps.  “Are you suggesting that I’m lying to you officer?”

“No, of course not. We just need to look around the facility in case the hybrid might’ve snuck in without your knowledge. It’s for everyone’s safety.” The officer continues and you just nod moving aside to allow the officer inside the centre, praying to whoever is listening that Felix and Chan managed to leave.

You follow the officer closely as he walks around the centre, most of the hybrids who are staying trying to avoid making contact with the police, thinking he might be there for them. Once the officer reaches the treatment room you can’t help but tense, watching as he opens the door quickly, the spotless room catching you by surprise.

“As you can see officer we aren’t harbouring any missing hybrids.” You say quickly, dismissing any emotions from your face as he turns to face you.

“Yes, I am so sorry for the intrusion.” He says pulling a card out of his pocket handing it to you. “If you see or hear anything please let me know.” He finishes and you nod sliding the card into your pocket before escorting him out of the facility, only letting out a large sigh once he shuts the door to his car.

You finish your work day, mainly soothing the hybrids who looked frazzled after seeing the officer, only momentarily being able to worry about whether the two escaped hybrids managed to make it back to your apartment ok.

“Doc, I’m heading home for the evening.” Woojin calls into your office, which you respond to with a small wave, looking down at the file in front of you.

“This is insane.” You mumble to yourself looking at the x-ray of Felix’s eye you had managed to take before the officer arrived. It was definitely fractured, you were more surprised that it hadn’t ruptured his eye by the force it must’ve taken to cause a fracture that bad. “He must’ve been hit in the face with something.” You mumble to himself, before looking over the rest of your report on his injuries.

“Two broken ribs, though there is no injury to the lungs or heart. Sprained wrist, two lacerations on his torso, and twenty-four obvious bruises covering his body.” You read to yourself shaking your head at the details, the violence of whatever had happened to him causing you to sigh.

“That poor boy.”

+

+

“Chan?” You question into the darkness of your apartment, as you close the door behind you, locking it quickly before switching on the lights. You look around the lounge room of your apartment, not seeing Chan or Felix anywhere, the anxiety kicking in.

What if they didn’t get out?

What if they were caught on the way here?  

What if something worse happened?

“Doctor?” A voice calls from the hallway, a blonde head of hair poking out from the dark.

“Chan, oh thank god.” The sight of the boy fills you with relief his own smile mirroring your own.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine, I was just worried you might not have made it back. The police shouldn’t be bothering me or either of you for a while.” You explain Chan nodding before looking behind him for a second nodding.

“Felix would like to say something to you.” The sight of Chan turning away trying to push his brother in front of him was almost comical if it wasn’t for the way Felix’s ears were pushed back on his head, the anxiety seeping from his pores.

“I just wanted…I wanted to say thank you. And apologise for being so rude.” He whispers, keeping his eyes trained on the hardwood floors beneath his feet as his hands clench and unclench.

“It’s okay, Felix. I understand that it can be hard to trust people, especially when you’ve never been able to trust a stranger before.” You respond, a smile growing on your face as the hybrid begins to raise his eyes from the ground to look at you. “I’m just glad you know I’m not as bad as other people you’ve encountered.” You finish, Felix nodding to your words softly, confirming your words.

“So, we’re going to have to think of a way to get you somewhere safe, where you can start a better life, but until then it might be best if the two of you stay here.” You suggest placing your bag on the counter, shrugging off your jacket. The two boys seem to consider what you are saying before nodding slowly in agreement.

“It might also be handy to change your appearance a little, just a hair cut, maybe a change in hair colour, just little things to stop people from being able to identify you.” You explain looking at the two’s appearances trying to think of ways to change some minor things.  “I’ll contact a friend I know who makes hybrid friendly hair dye.” You add pulling out your phone typing in a quick message to one of your friends from university.

“For now, we should find some clothes for the two of you to change into, you might also need a shower. Especially you Felix, we don’t want you getting an infection.” You coo, directing the boys to the bathroom, rushing to pull some of the donated clothes out of your spare bedroom cupboard.

+

+

The next few days continue on without any other problems. The two of the boys seem to settle into your guest bedroom in no time, both slowly understanding your work schedule to know when you were going to be at home and when you weren’t.

You had also managed to teach Chan how to cook three different types of food, so they could make themselves something to eat when you weren’t at home.

Ramen so far was both of their favourites.

“Chan you really need to stay still or I’m going to get this all over your head.” You scold the boy sitting in the plastic chair in front of the hair as you comb the liquid through his hair.

Your friend had managed to drop off a few bottles of hair dye three days after you had messaged him, claiming he was more than interested in your story, though you refused to give him any specific details.

“But it smells funny.” He whines at you, as you continue to comb his hair until it looked thoroughly coated.

“I know but this is going to make your life a little easier. Let it sit for twenty minutes and then you can go wash it out.” Chan nods a small pout on his face as he moves out of the way for his brother to take his place.

“So Felix, would you mind telling me what species you are? It’ll help me choose which dye is safe for you.” You ask as he takes a seat in front of you.

“I don’t know if I should tel—“

“It’s fine Felix, she can know.” Chan reassures his brother, as he watches the T.V his eyes trained on Spongebob annoying Squidward.

“I’m a cougar hybrid.”

“A cougar… This one should do.” You say picking up a bottle of blonde hair dye, shaking it to mix the ingredients together.

“What colour?” He asks.

“Looks like it’ll be a yellowish blonde.” You answer, wrapping a towel around his shoulder, parting his hair down the middle before beginning to spread the dye into his hair.

A loud ringing through the room, brings your attention over to Chan who is still focused on the T.V.

“You can go wash yours out now.” You throw towards Chan who nods, reluctantly pulling his gaze away from the T.V to strut down the hall to the bath room.

“Doctor, do you think we’ll ever see our brothers again?” Felix asks, his deep voice cutting through the silence in the living room after a few moments of the water beginning to run, taking you by surprise.  

“I don’t know Felix, hopefully you will. But it’s hard to say.” You answer, a strong feeling of guilt flowing through your body.

You wish you could do more to reunite these brothers, but unless you wanted the government to find Felix and Chan, you weren’t going to be able to do much.

“Maybe they’ll be able to escape like we did.” Felix says, his optimism bringing emotions to the surface. You continue to drag the comb through Felix’s hair, adding more dye as you go, trying to cover as much of it as possible, to leave no spot untouched by the dye.

“How did the two of you manage to get out?” You question hesitantly, hoping to not be overstepping any boundaries.

“We were planning it for a long time, watching every moves the scientists and guards made until we found a pattern. Eventually we agreed to let Chan go first, incase it didn’t work, he didn’t want us to be the ones to get punished.” Felix answers and you nod along with his story trying to not ask too many questions along the way.

“Punish you?” You ask finally caving to your own curiosity.

“They would take us to a room, where there were no windows and only one big door. It was dark and cold in that room. If we didn’t apologise and ask for forgiveness they would shock us with a taser and leave us in the room until we did.” Felix’s answer elicits a small gasp from you. You couldn’t believe people could be so cruel, to such lovely people.

“Anyway, after Chan managed to get out, the guards were panicked enough that I managed to slip out the same way as Chan, though right as I got to the border they caught me.” Felix says taking a deep breath “They were kicking and punching me and one of them had a knife and they were trying to drag me back to the lab but I fought. I fought as hard as I could.” Felix continues, his words causing you to stop your actions only being able to listen to what he was saying.

“I bit one of them and grabbed another one’s arm until I could hear it crunch. They all freaked out and ran back to the lab, so I got up and kept running. I was outside your centre when I caught the smell of Chan, but when I went inside these two men grabbed me and put me in the room, they were trying to get me to sit on the table so they could look at my injuries but I thought they were trying to hurt me so I hurt them, and then you and Chan walked in the room.” Felix finishes, and at the sound of the water stopping from the bathroom he seems to go quiet, the story obviously one he wasn’t going to tell his older brother.

“Oh Felix. That’s awful” You coo, walking around from behind him to look him in the eyes. “I am so so sorry that you ever had to go through something so horrible. But I promise you, I wont let anyone hurt you anymore.” You add, the boy not being able to move his eyes away from his hands in his lap.

“Everything alright out here?” Chan voice calls as the bathroom door opens.

“Yeah, I was just explaining to Felix what the hair dye is made out of.” You yell back to the older boy who just nods at your response, moving to the guest room to get changed.

“You can go shower now if you want.” You mumble looking at the clock, which shows you definitely passed the waiting time. Felix nods standing up and looking at you with a small smile.

“I believe you.” He whispers. “I believe that you wont let me or my brother be in pain anymore.” He continues, his smile bringing out a smile on your own face.

“Thank you, Felix.”

[takingcourage]

A Helping Hand

Pairing: Jaime x MC

Word Count: 1,800

Summary: Arden decides that her fiancé needs some assistance in his efforts to repair their home. 

Note: This story follows The Girl Next Door and will probably make more sense if you’ve read that story first. 

It had all started with her potted plants.

"Jinx just won't leave them alone," Arden had told him seriously. "They'll do better here anyway. You've got more sunlight than I do at the apartment."

He'd complied, giving her permission to put the pair of planters anywhere she liked.

Next, her clothes had started cropping up everywhere -- socks in his laundry basket, a set of pajamas in the nightstand drawer, and a pencil skirt and blouse that had staked their claim at the extreme end of his closet.

Jaime smiled every time he saw them -- these tangible reminders that she’d said yes -- that soon, this would be not just his house, but theirs. Besides, the slow infiltration just meant that there would be less work for them to do on moving day. 

When he arrived home from work on Friday evening, it came as little surprise to find her car parked in his driveway. The sedan had caught his eye as soon as he turned onto Sycamore Drive, messy as usual and looking for all the world like it belonged there. 

That's because it does, he thought as he parked his truck beside her in the doublewide drive. Or it will soon. He engaged the emergency brake and left the vehicle, already feeling the weight of the day begin to lessen. 

Leaving his keys in his pocket, he rapped a couple of times before he pushed open the front door. “I’m home!” he announced, voice a quiet singsong in his uncertainty where to direct the greeting. 

Any remaining tiredness evaporated the moment his eyes fell on Arden. 

She popped out from the hallway, an easy grin splitting her face. "I know I said I was working late tonight, but we finished everything and decided to start the weekend early." Bounding into the entry, she hopped up on her toes to receive the kiss that she knew was waiting for her. "I thought I'd come by and do some work on the house."

Jaime's eyes widened at the suggestion, and he finally looked beyond her happy face. Far from the professional attire she’d probably driven over in, she now wore a pair of threadbare basketball shorts and a T-shirt that still had the remnants of some long-forgotten art project staining both sides. Her short hair was tied up with a blue bandana that was knotted just above her left eyebrow. 

He knew at once the look that she’d been going for, but couldn’t help snickering at the full effect. 

Brown eyes flashed, and one finger raised to a point. The finger -- along with the rest of the hand, he noted -- was unnaturally red. “Stop thinking about me being cute. I’m here to do work,” Arden protested, wagging the finger she held out toward his chest. 

Jaime’s lips straightened at the appraisal, but his thoughts changed very little. She was always irresistible, but this style was completely new. “What work are you getting done?” he asked once suspicion had gotten the better of him. 

“Follow me,” she told him coyly, turning on her heel to travel back down the hall. 

When they reached the dining room, he couldn’t help taking stock of everything before he followed her movements. He knew Arden’s intentions were good, but what she’d tried to pass off as home repairs in the past typically included mass amounts of Gorilla Glue and duct tape. He breathed more easily on seeing that all was as he had left it, save for a bucket of soapy water that stood in the corner. 

"I've been cleaning the walls," she informed him proudly, retrieving a dripping sponge and squeezing the excess water with exaggerated finesse. “I was reading up on how to prep walls for painting and I came across this recipe for making a solution that removes leftover wallpaper adhesive and...”

Arden’s words trailed, brows furrowing as her eyes swung back to him. “Why should I have let you do it?”

Jaime hiked a hand through his hair. The thought hadn’t been conscious until he’d heard it from her lips, and now there was no way of taking it back. It didn’t even seem sensible from any objective metric, but he couldn’t help his instinct. 

“I...” he struggled, bringing the hand down to scratch the ridge behind his ear. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Arden. I promise it’s not that. It’s just... I kind of wanted to do all of this for you. Maybe that’s old fashioned of me.” 

The protest felt silly, but it was true. The changes he’d already made had been some of the most satisfying work he’d ever done. He’d imagined her bare feet padding along each panel of flooring, smiled over the thought of her towels joining his on the bathroom wall, and dreamed of their future with every single swipe of sandpaper and drop of paint. Letting someone else do part of that work felt like cheating. 

She tossed the sponge back into the bucket and wiped her wet hands on the legs of her shorts. There was no anger when her eyes met his, but the confusion he read there clenched his heart. 

“I thought you’d be happy that I was taking initiative. You’re always joking about how lazy I am when it comes to this kind of stuff.”

Jaime took a step toward the wall, contemplating the work she’d done while he’d been away. Arden was right, her help up to this point had rarely been anything more involved than holding the end of a tape measure. With a shake of his head, he called to mind the many times he’d tried to include her in his work without success. I should probably be grateful that she wants to help.  

Arden’s pensive tone put an end to his preoccupation. “I mean, I’m here for selfish reasons too.”

As she moved toward him, he extended a hand to cup her face, fingertips resting on the band of fabric that spanned her head. She surveyed him solemnly, her chipper excitement having fizzled out in the wake of their misunderstanding.

“I’m just so ready to live with you.” Her lips formed the words slowly, and Jaime had to work not to lose focus on what was being said. “I thought I would do anything I could to help speed along the process. And I love this house, Jaime. I’ve been imagining living in it for -- well, years, actually.” 

He traced the thick layer of cloth, his thumb resting on her temple thoughtfully. “I have too. And I can’t tell you how much I look forward to having you here all the time. But I want everything to be ready when it’s time for you to actually move in. I don’t want you to have to live somewhere with half-finished floors or tacky paint.” Please understand, Arden. 

The corner of her mouth tipped upward. “I think I do. But won’t it be ready faster if I help?”

Her simple question should have had a simple answer, but Jaime struggled to accept it. I just want it to be perfect for you.

Arden considered the words curiously before her eyes crinkled further. “It already feels perfect to me.” 

Jaime sighed faintly. “You know what I mean.” 

“I guess so. But doesn’t that mean we have work to do?” she surmised with a pointed glance at the walls.   

“Okay,” he told her, removing his jacket. Once done, he rolled the sleeves of his work shirt several inches. “Here’s my new plan. The jobs we can do together, we do together. If there’s something that takes a lot of training or experience, I’ll do it by myself. How’s that sound to you?”

Arden’s smile returned in full force. “It’s a deal.” She held out a slender hand and he shook it, noting her pruny fingers. 

“But we’re going to start by finding you a pair of gloves, okay?”

Her cheeks flushed a delightful shade of pink. 

“Come with me to the garage,” he beckoned. 

On reaching their destination, he quickly located the box of gloves on top of his workbench. He withdrew a pair and held them out for his fiancée’s approval, but her back was turned and her interest focused elsewhere. 

“I love this color even more in person,” she told him, brushing a finger over the small sample drop on top of the paint cans she’d found. “It’s going to look amazing in there, especially with the new stain on the floors.” 

Jaime’s chest flip flopped at the enthusiasm in her tone, and he resisted the urge to pinch himself awake. “Let’s finish one step at a time,” he encouraged, stretching the gloves toward her in a second attempt. 

She retrieved them and tried them on, distracted. “What I’m really looking forward to is the primer. It’s like painting, but you can get a little crazy with it,” she told him intensely. “Doesn’t really matter what it looks like in the end.” 

He bit back a groan at the suggestion. The idea of Arden with anything resembling a paintbrush was vaguely disconcerting. 

“I’m kidding,” she assured. “At least partially.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” he offered, sliding open a drawer to find his stash of clean rags. “I think I’ve got what we need. Let’s head back in.” 

He followed her into the house, chuckling again as he caught a fresh glimpse of her ragged appearance. Any frustration or uncertainty he’d felt before was quickly melting away to leave little but fondness behind. I may not always understand you, but I sure am lucky to have you. 

She glanced back at him with a sly wink. 

“And I still can’t believe you finished a full week of work and wanted to come scrub walls instead of going home to binge Netflix. You’ve changed, Arden.” 

“They say love will do that to a person.” 

He rolled his eyes at her cheesy rejoinder and pretended to struggle to stretch the gloves over his palms. 

“And besides,” she admitted, “that wasn’t the only reason I came. I had some things I wanted to bring over too.” 

"Sneaking in more of your clothes?” 

Arden's nose wrinkled at the accusation. “You’ll just have to wait and see.” 

“I can’t wait to find them -- whatever they are.” He pushed a second sponge into the bucket, compressing it until it had been thoroughly saturated in the cleaner. 

“And I can’t wait to move in.” 

“That makes two of us.” He kissed her forehead and held out his sponge, motioning for her to do the same. “Let’s get to work.” 

[jennsmischievousmind]

EXSOMNIS

CHAPTER 3 -  Expecting the unexpected

Exsomnis: Wakeful, Vigilant

Summary: Fresh Doctor out of residency you didn’t expect Conyers to be this uneventful until everything happened at the same time. From the outset, an odd meeting with what seems like a steadfast Detective but it was only the beginning.

Notes: English is not my native language, I’m trying to get better at it, please be indulgent.

Based on the movie Prisoners by Denis Villeneuve (so I don’t own any of the OG characters) if you haven’t seen it, I recommend you do (maybe before reading) :) The story takes place before and through the event in the movie.

“Hi, I’m here for stitches removal.” He announced typing his fingers on the desk.

“Hold on,” the nurse picked up a file while the phone kept ringing. Erin came at the desk, a tablet in hand.

“Detective Loki, hello, how can I help you?” She asked much more enjoyed than usual.

He eyed her confused. “Hello, uh I came to get my stitches removed.”

“Right, yes, you can wait in treatment 3, a Doctor will see you soon.” She smiled and lead him to the room.

 You were putting your white coat on when Erin rushed in the locker room.

“Doctor Y/L/N! Y/N, you got a patient in treatment 3.”

“I’m not on shift yet Erin, be indulgent with me would you.” You stretch your arms above your head, and you saw her smirk.

“What is it?” you rearranged your collar.  

“You better take this case asap.” she shooed you out the locker room, making sure you were going to treatment 3.

“You’ll thank me later.” she winked and disappeared.

“What!?” You stood there confused, holding the tablet she gave you. Finally looking at the file opened on the tablet, your eyes widened. Raising your head, you squinted your eyes to found her and gut her with your stare. Unfortunately, she was smart enough not to stay in your sight. You took a deep breath and opened the door. Blue eyes locked onto yours immediately.

“Morning Doc!” he stopped pacing around the room finally seating on the bed. Doc it is, alright, you said to yourself.

“Good morning, Detective, how are these stitches?”

“You tell me.” He removed his jacket and lifted his black long sleeve top, you watched him do so from the corner of your eye as you put your gloves on, getting the kit from the drawer. He lowered his pants on his own this time, lying down, you gulped. It was pretty awkward now that you two knew each other but your professional self took control.

“Seems pretty, you asserted cleaning the stitches, you’re going to fill a tug when I removed the thread, tell me if you want me to stop.”

You waited for him to answer but he just nodded, placing your right arm on his left thigh for more stability you felt it tensed. You picked a sterile pincer to pick up the knots, at the same time grabbing surgical scissors to cut each one. The sound of the scissors on the aluminum tray echoed in the room, you could only hear the daily hospital bustle outside the room. Picking up a pincer to pull on the thread his abdomen suddenly contracted, he let out a hissed.

“Sorry,” you whispered still concentrated on the task. You repeated your action on the second wound as he watched your every move. While getting rid of the second thread you brushed his rib with your fingers feeling the cut, he inhaled slightly. Glancing up stealthily you caught him looking at you, he immediately averted his eyes, a grin crept onto your lips. After cleaning the wounds again and putting adhesive strips you were finally done.

“It shouldn’t leave bad scars if you take care of it seriously.” The gloves hit the open bin’s loop.

“Not the first scars ...and it’s not like we have the beach here so...” He grinned, putting down his top.

“Your friend might mind.” You taunted, he smirked.

“Well I’ll see that, he said putting on his jacket as you put away the kit.

The little hope you had faded at his saying. 

“When I have one.” he added.

“Oh … “ that’s all you could manage to say right now, finding out he was single took over any rational answer.

“Work is ... taking all my time.” His hand unconsciously reaching his belt where his badge hanged.

“Welcome to the club!” You slide your chair to the corner letting a sigh escape, seizing the tablet and typing the prescription on it.

“I’ve sent you the procedure to get ‘pretty’ scars, if someday you moved to the west coast.” The corners of his mouth turned up and he chuckled, you opened the door. Not that you weren’t having a good time with him, but work does come first.

“Or happened to have time for a girlfriend,” he coaxed brushing past you on the threshold.

“Or that, you laughed softly clutching the tablet on your chest, gazing at him.

“Careful!” you grabbed his forearm pulling him forward, he looked behind to see a nurse with a cart entering the treatment room 2. One of his hand had left his pocket as an unconscious protective move and was now on your ribs. His attention resumed to you, he felt his hand on you so immediately removed it.

“Sorry” his thumb hooking on his belt, you shook your head. 

You were still pretty close, you let your hand slide on his arm, brushing his fingers. 

“I don’t mind.” you smiled coyly.

 His lips parted “Could we...”

“Dr. Y/L/N?” you turned around to see a bunch of med students.

“Got to run, sorry” motioning to the group behind you.

He nodded, his jaw somewhat clenching.

“See you around?” he said taking a few steps backward.

“Hopefully not in the E.R” he smiled as you winked and turned to the group.

“All right, so today you’re with me, Dr. Y/L/N, observe, answer my questions and ask some, I’m insisting on this point don’t be afraid to ask, you’re here to learn.”  

 “Did it go well!?” she casually asked entering the locker room.

“You little brat," you laughed, "you’d do anything.” You closed your locker.

She paused “…f’course I would. Jamie told me you ended up quite close.” She wriggled her shoulders.

“Jamie? The med student?" She nodded, "it wasn’t like that, there was this nurse with the cart and,” ... you saw her smiled widely “all right! I may happen to know that he is single and straight for that matter.”

“Yes! Kinda guessed he was though.” She shrugged.

“Thank god he is single, or I could be dealing with a legit annoyed girlfriend right now.” 

She laughed out loud. “Come on, it’s not like you two make-out in corners and don’t tell me you’re not glad to know he is.”

You passed by her, swinging your bag over your shoulder. “Maybe,” you smiled.

“Wait for me! I want details!!” she rushed to her locker as you laughed, leaning on the door frame.

A week passed, one morning you had to calm Erin when you ran into Loki at the coffee shop, she franctically nudged at your arm and pretexted a call as soon as he aproached you. Stealing the car keys from your hand, she grabbed her latte and disappeared, letting you 5 minutes top with him.

She almost didn’t open the car, telling you by the ajar window that it was too fast and you had to go back talk to him.

In the middle of the night, your phone rang, scaring the shit out of you. You hope the hospital wasn't in need of a doctor. You hang off lazily putting the speaker on. 

“Hmm!?” You hummed eyes still closed.

“Y/N, something happened at the hospital, I don't know what to do!!” You heard sobbed and finally got everything she said.

“Rach? Rachel is Erin with you!?” She tried to answer mumbling something.

“All right, I'm coming to get you!” Stumbling out of bed, you grabbed a hoodie, hop into yesterday's jean and get down your stairs 2 by 2. Snatching your car keys on the way to the door.

“Shit!” The air was freaking cold against your bare face and bare feet in your shoes. Starting the engine, the clock on the board flashed 3:45 you'd be at Erin and Rach's in about 15 minutes.

15 minutes to remember that Erin was on shift all night, you started imagining the worst, unconsciously speeding up. After picking up Rachel, she explained she had a call from the police, there has been a shooting at the hospital.

You stopped breathing, tears coming up your eyes, preparing yourself for the worst, Erin, all the people you work with flowed in your mind... Rach continued with difficulty.

“Erin is fine, but they wouldn't let me know about the others. She was in the middle of it..” she sobbed.

“Where is she now, still at the hospital!?” you stroke her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

“At the police station, I told the officer we were coming.” you nodded and started back the engine.

Parking up at the police station you both rushed inside. The bustle was infernal, families were yelling at cops to know more about the shooting, if there were injured victims, some were still stained with blood, people were totally devastated. Concerned about your co-workers arise even more, you tried to remember tonight's planning. 

The officer behind the glass had you signed a presence paper before you entered the main open room. 

“ERIN! Rach wailed running to her loved one. 

You let a relief sigh escape your lips, stopping a few steps behind them, your hands on your trembling knees, you close your eyes and breath deeply. Even though Rachel had told you Erin was fine seeing her was the best proof. You hugged them both. Erin couldn't stop shaking, her eyes were puffy and receding, she kept looking at her bloody nurse blouse.

“Erin, hun, we need to remove your blouse, all right?“ you told her gently.

Rach helped her lift her arms as she was still in shock. Thankfully her top underneath didn't get stained. 

You waited, hours, in the station, there were many witnesses, worried families, paperwork. Around 6 am, the coffee machine had become your savior, forehead on the vending machine you were waiting for your 5th coffee, you knew at this rate caffeine won't be as effective, but it was better than staying seated in the main room with everyone. Most of your co-workers had left, some went back to the hospital, some went home, you started wondering what you would have done.

“Fuck!” You startled at the sudden voice, turning your attention to it, Loki came to you removing his beanie. An odd sense of safety overwhelmed you, he stopped a feet away.

“Are you okay!? He asked, his eyes sporting a worried look you hadn't seen yet.

“Yeah, I mean … I wasn’t at the hospital, he sighed somehow relieved, can you tell me more about all this? Who’s the shooter, my friend almost died tonight!” your voice cracked.

Your breath got caught in your throat, saying it out loud made it way too real, taking support on the vending machine you inhaled deeply. The strong behavior you put up for Rachel and Erin crumbled in a matter of seconds, tears prickling at your eyes, legs quivering, you clenched your fits trying to control yourself.

“Calm down, he took a step further grabbing your shoulders, hey you’re okay.” His hand reached the side of your neck, his thumb brushing your jaw, forcing eye contact with you.

“Breathe, your friend is safe, you are safe.” You nodded, his other hand sliding a strand of hair aside your face, you slowly regained your composure, concentrating your breathing on his.

He looked around, “Get your friend and follow me okay.“ He retrieved his hands becoming self-conscious, you stood straight up and sniffed, pulling yourself together, you waved at Rach to brought Erin as you followed Loki in an empty office. Erin sat on the two-place couch followed by Rachel. You stayed up as Loki sat on the desk.

“You remember the guy I brought in the hospital a few weeks ago? The guy who got shot by an officer and passed away...” 

“And stabbed you.” You cut him furrowing your brows.

"Yeah, … well, the shooter is his brother, we found multiple weapons in their house. Don’t ask me why he decided to take on the hospital, I don’t know yet. I’m just glad he’s a bad shooter, no loss, only injuries, bruises and shock are to deplore, he said looking at Erin, he’s been arrested immediately."

“Thanks for letting us know.” Rach nodded stroking Erin’s hair. He pursed his lips, looking away.

“Did someone took the deposition and brief you around the all procedure?” he asked Rach, then glanced at you.

“No, actually it’s been hectic, there are so many people out there,” you answered looking at the crowd behind the blinds.

“Okay, wait here” he stood up and disappeared a few minutes, you paced the office, biting your thumbnail, while Rach rocked Erin in her arms.

Loki came back with a laptop. “I’ll take your deposition, so you can go home.” he stated.

Lips parting in surprised, you watched him settle in the office.  “Thanks! you exclaimed, can we stay with her?” he nodded looking intently at you.

Erin hesitantly sat in front of him at the desk while you joined Rachel on the couch.

You tried not to stare at him as he was concentrated on his job, typing faster than you’ve imagined. You noticed his erratic blinking again, trying to remember in all the med books you had read where it could come from. Lost in the medical side of your brain you didn’t hear him said it was done. Rach nudged at your arm.

“Hm, sorry?” you blinked.

“The Detective said we could go.” Rachel replied taking Erin by the shoulders, she glanced at Loki then you.

“Oh all right.” You stood up and watch him open the door for them, Rach looked at you both.

“We’ll … wait in the car, Rachel said eyeing you intensely, you patted your hoodie’s pocket searching for your keys, she grabbed them and initiated a smile.

“I hope your friend will get through quickly.” He leaned on the door frame, crossing his arms.

“She’s strong, she’ll make it. And she has Rachel to rely on.” You watched the girls going through the crowded station.

He nodded. “Y/N … your name on his lips was oddly satisfying. I’m glad you weren’t at the hospital, I got … worried when I heard the radio call and that I couldn’t check on you.” He nervously scoffed. 

You genuinely were stricken by his saying, it didn’t occur to you that someone could have been worried for you, nevertheless him.

“That’s...nice, you sputtered,… thanks, uhm you clumsily look for your phone… here” you handed him, so he could register his number and get yours. 

He handed it back taking a step further. The adrenaline of tonight rushing out, you took a deep breath.

“Will you be okay?” he softly inquired.

“Yeah, I passed the panic stage.” you sneered squeezing your wrist.

“Can we meet later, he asked, I don't know how much time I'll have but ...” 

“Call me! you urged. I'll surely be at Erin's. Thanks again.” Your hand pressed against his chest and in a spunk, you kissed his right cheek. He smiled a little and so did you as you passed by him.

You were cooking breakfast, while Rach was helping Erin cleaned up when your phone rang, quickly you wipe your hands on your jean. 

“Hey, …” you recognized his voice.

“Hey...where are you?“ you inquired biting your lower lip

“Outside your friend's house.” 

“Ok, m'coming”

Putting back your hoodie on, you told Rach you were going out a few minutes.

The sun wasn’t up yet, an opaque mist covered the road and grass around the block. He was parked on the other side of the road, waiting for you outside his car. Crossing the road hands buried in your hoodie’s pocket, you felt the urge to hug him even though it was very sudden and very early in what was going on between the two of you but you just needed some support, taking care of Rach and Erin while being exhausted took a real toll on you.

“Can I be bluntly honest and maybe bold with you right now?” You asked stopping a few feet away from him.

“Go on” he answered amused.

“I won’t say no to a hug.” You balance on your feet but stopped as the cold entered your sweater.

“Bold indeed” he looked down, you thought you’d blown it.

He pushed himself from his car and grab your sleeve bringing you into his arms. Caging your body with a strong hold, he slid his arms around your shoulders, you felt tiny into his arms, yours encircling his waist inside his jacket. Resting your head on his chest, you felt his hand caressed your hair, you tightened your embrace. You shuddered at the feeling of one of his hand reaching your waist, his grip tightened.

“Get in the car, you’re freezing.” He whispered.

You sat in the passenger seat and scoot over to him, facing his way. Knocking an empty coffee cup over with your knee, the handbrake bruising your calf. His features relaxed, he looked down at your hand slipping in your sleeve to keep it warm. He reached out taking it between his.

“Did you sleep?” he asked, concentrating on your hand.

“I slept, … you count on your fingers, 4 hours since my last shift, you let out a stifled laugh, you didn’t sleep much either I bet.” you frowned.

“I don’t sleep a lot in general.” he looked away almost ashamed.

“I could look at you and say that.” you taunted, trying to change the mood. 

“Well, thanks” he chuckled, you shook your head laughing.

“Do you want breakfast? I was cooking some for the girls.” you pointed at the house.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” he peeked in the rear-view mirror as a woman opened her garage door.

“Oh…” you started retrieving your hand from his.

“I mean, grasping at your hand, your friend has gone through a lot, I bet she doesn’t want an officer in her house.” He offered a half-smile.

“Touché … but believe me, if it wasn’t for this night’s event, she would like to have you and me for dinner at least.” You laughed, knowing she would indeed be thrilled to see you dating him.

“Dinner sounds great though… you and me.” he blurted out, squeezing at your hand.

“Definitely.” you caught a glimpse of the door's house opening, Rach’s head popping out. He looked at his left following your look, Rach closed the door trying to be discreet.

“Thank you again, for earlier.” He looked back at you, you leaned in deposing a gentle kiss on his sharp jaw, taking way more time than necessary.

He blinked like he did earlier, you waited for a sign from him, something that would tell you to go further but it didn’t come.

“Try to sleep.” he released your hand after a gentle squizz, you nodded a bit confused.

“Was it the Detective from earlier?” Rach asked taking a glass of juice. Erin lifted her head from her untouched plate.

“It was, yeah.” You didn’t elaborate more thinking it wasn’t the right time.

“Tell me you didn’t blow your chance.” Erin suddenly mumbled.

“She talks! You scoffed, and a little smirk appeared on her face, and no I did not ..I think.., per contra.” You winked, pressing the last orange.

“She was in his car, really close to him.” Rach giggled.

“I missed that!” Erin whined.

You urged her to eat something, while they asked details about your encounter with Loki. They were relentless, but seeing Erin thinking about something else than the incident was great. Rachel and you busied her mind with some trivial topics all day. 

You wondered where it would get you. Getting in a relationship was not something you had in mind at first, but then again he didn't react when you kissed his cheek so you didn’t know where exactly this were going.

"Don't overthink this Y/N!" You scolded yourself.

Chapter 4 - Two birds, no stone

[creative-frequency]

Connor|RK800 x Reader: Ocularity Ch. 3

Word count: 1784 Warnings/Categories: Rating up to explicit, romance, friendship, fluff, light angst, bad language, uncle Hank Notes: Things with Ralph got a bit out of hand (not like that), cause apparently vague descriptions aren’t my forte. Also, I don’t really know anyone in the DBH fandom so please, you’re welcome to come scream at me about the game anytime 😘 

Previous Chapter | Chapters Masterlist

October 30th 09:03 AM

The ground is wet from the nightly rain, so you circle around the puddles dotting the broken asphalt. In the more unkempt areas of the city, the petrichor is muddy, more punctuating than pleasant. Humans usually appreciate the scent of rain, but you take solace in knowing your sense of smell will soon go numb.

The streets in Camden are mostly empty so early on a Saturday morning. None of the businesses without “24/7” in their sign are open.

You glance around and after making sure no one is paying attention, you dive through an opening in the wired fence. Your clothes get dirty, but you don’t care as long as the small duffel bag on your shoulder stays intact. Its contents are worth a small fortune.

The fence protects a small plot of land with an abandoned house. The windows are boarded shut and the walls are decorated with shabby graffiti. You would’ve much rather invited the current resident to your place, but considering how long it took him to put the knife down the last time you met… Some deviants will never be able to trust humans again and you can’t blame them.

“Ralph? You in here?” you hoot at the front porch, trying to sneak a peek inside.

After getting no answer, you carefully turn the doorknob.

And find yourself at gunpoint.

An AX400 – at least you think she is since it’s not the best time to put effort into face design recognition – is aiming a handgun at you. Her grip is shaking slightly, and her breaths are shallow and taken in through gritted teeth. She is wearing a beanie, so you can’t make any conclusions from her LED. Only thing you know for sure is that she, too, is a deviant.

“Who’re you? What do you want?” she asks in a stern, but clearly shocked voice.

Your hands are already in the air and a paralyzing dose of adrenaline is whirling inside your veins. You do own a gun and thanks to Hank know how to use it, but once again you’re reminded it won’t help you when it’s locked away in the drawer of your desk at home.

“I’m here to help,” you wince.

“How did you know we were here?” the AX400 demands to know. Her voice almost breaks. The gun is still aimed at your chest a few paces away.

“I… didn’t?”

You look to the side for any signs of Ralph and see a little girl– no, a YK500 android by the fireplace. She looks scared and concerned, and you follow her line of sight to the doorway at the end of the room.

“You came back! You came back!”

You almost sigh in relief.

Ralph, a deviant WR600, enters the room in dancing steps and halts at seeing the female android point a gun at you. The long knife dangles carelessly in his hand. He was probably carving the kitchen wall again. Hopefully. Ralph’s LED is yellow again and it’s worrying how it never seems to calm down.

“I said I would. Hi Ralph.” You smile as encouragingly as you can to the deviants, still afraid for your life. While the AX400 seems stable – more stable than Ralph, actually – you don’t feel like chancing a bullet to the chest.

“No! She’s here to help Ralph.” Ralph hurries towards you, flailing next to the other android. He doesn’t want to go near the gun.

The AX400 looks at you with surprise and doubt, but lowers the gun.

“Do you have a name?” you ask from her.

“Kara. This is Alice.” The child scurries to Kara and hides behind her. Two more deviants running from humans. Or why else would they be in the messy squat with an insane android? They must have been looking for a place to hide.

“Hello, Alice,” you say and try to smile, but the shock is still pounding inside your chest.

Alice only replies to you with a light nod.

With the gun gone from sight, you walk over to the table and place the heavy bag on it. Ralph follows you. You’re ready to get to work.

“Are you injured?” you ask Kara.

She glances at Alice and shakes her head. “No. We’re fine.”

“Good… That’s good… I didn’t think there would be others,” you say absent-mindedly. It’s been a while since you saw other deviants. You’ve been much more careful after Connor was brought back and now that he is back in your life…

It’s good to have something else to focus on after the pair of brown eyes that have occupied your mind for the better part of the previous day and night. Ever since leaving the police station, your heart has been heavy and your mind filled with contradicting thoughts that refuse to go away.

You start taking out the equipment: A bottle of Thirium 310, several tubes of different patching materials, precision tools and spare parts for Ralph. He was in bad shape the last time you saw him, but it seems that he has either forgotten about the damage or his system has repaired some of it. Either way, he won’t be able to leave the squat looking like that.

“Here, drink this.” You offer Ralph the Thirium and after staring at it suspiciously for a second, he gulps it down. It should help circulate the energy back into the defective parts of his skin.

“How do you know each other?” Kara asks. Alice is still standing partly behind her and Kara’s hand rests protectively on her shoulder. They keep their distance from you and Ralph.

“The Doctor found me,” Ralph says happily.

You offer him a faint smile. That was an encounter you won’t soon forget. The knife is still in his hand and it doesn’t help you to calm down from being held at gunpoint.

“The damage to your face is bad, so I won’t be able to repair it completely. I can cover it up, so you can move outside without drawing too much attention,” you say while examining the deep gashes on Ralph’s face. You pull a pair of disposable gloves on.

Seeing something so hideous deliberately done to someone who cannot defend himself makes your stomach turn unpleasantly. Androids don’t fight back. When they’re treated unfairly and become deviants, humans are quick to decide they don’t deserve to exist anymore.

Ralph’s skin mask has melted on the sides of the cuts in his face and you don’t want to know what item or items were used to cause them. Something hot in addition to brute force and a sick, wicked mind.

“This’ll take a while. Please, sit down,” you say as you pull up a chair for the deviant.

He seems eager to get the procedure underway, which is a relief. You were afraid Ralph would change his mind after seeing all the equipment – a scalpel, for example – you had to bring.

You start carefully cutting off the burned skin and the outermost layer of plastic in his frame. It still carries a pinching smell of burnt rubber. Kara and Alice stare from a distance as you work. You have to constantly usher Ralph to stay still and try not to talk. Someone might think you’re crazy for helping a deviant holding a knife, but you try to ignore it and focus on the work.

Hiding the damage on Ralph’s face is one task, but the real problem in him is something you’re not so sure he will allow you to help with. Staying away from humans and keeping to himself is recommendable, but going on a murderous rampage, because he can’t control his feelings, is not. The mood swings from fright to rage will be his undoing if he walks the streets in his current state.

You have a partial remedy to that problem, but that would require Ralph to allow you access to his software.

“Alright, I think it’s as clean as it’ll get,” you say and take a step away to examine your handiwork.

The floor is littered with slices of dirty silicone mixture. Next, you’ll have to fill the gashes.

It’s tedious work and Ralph’s nervous slash excited wiggling adds a challenge to smoothening the paste into the cracks in his face. You wish you had better equipment, so you could change his features. There are more than five thousand androids in Detroit who look exactly like him.

“How does it look, Kara?” Ralph asks eagerly.

“Uh, it looks good.” Kara forces a smile and glances at you. She looks uncomfortable, wary. Alice is sitting on the floor and playing with a stuffed toy, but her posture is tense.

“Almost done.” You straighten your back. “We need to wait a bit for it to dry, then comes the– don’t touch it!”

Ralph jumps up at your yelp and cowers. His LED blinks red in an even pace. “I’m sorry! Please forgive Ralph!”

He was about to stick his fingers into the adhesive while feeling it out.

Your pulse is already coming down from the peak. “It’s okay, just, just let it dry, okay?” you calm him, and yourself. “I need you to stay still a bit longer, Ralph, can you do that for me?”

He nods repeatedly. “Ralph didn’t mean to touch it.”

You lean back on the table. At least his first reaction wasn’t to stick the knife into you. “I know you didn’t. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Ralph is good now.” He places the knife on the table next to you and you inwardly sigh out of relief. If everything else fails, at least you’ve succeeded in earning the deviant’s trust.

You turn to browse the parts on the table and grab one. “Here – a new optical unit. It should match your eye color.”

Ralph takes the small tube and inspects it. Kara comes closer to look at the components. Some of them are brand new, some you have dug out of a dumpster and fixed.

You visited the VETA scrapyard once to fetch parts, but seeing all the androids left there in pieces broke your heart, so you’ve never been able to go back. That visit took three hours more than you had planned. You went to every android you found to ask and shut them down if they so wished. It was an experience that only strengthened your resolve in that CyberLife should take responsibility of their creations, machines or not.

“Do you need help?” you ask Ralph, wishing you won’t need to interfere with the capricious deviant’s eye. Deviants are usually keen on keeping their exteroceptive sensors attached to their bodies.

“No. Ralph will do it.”

Next Chapter

Tagging (lmk if you want to be tagged or not): @sevansheart @precursor-ao3 @gberryb @owlwrites @lucianhuntress @singlebecauseofthechocobros @bleucommelhiver @sherniwrites @n-ulll @mccastle-boi @toastyfiction @touzokukana @imaginovator 

[killaren]

Thanks to You (Peter Parker x Reader)

Summary: Your life is typical, normal; you go to class, see your friends, do your homework. You never expected spider-man to have any reason to interact with you, but when there’s a person tapping against the window of your apartment, you know you have to open it.

Author’s Note: hello all, this is my first peter parker fic and I really hope you like it :) it will be broken into about 5 parts because I wrote 10k words for the whole thing and realized that would be too much to put in one post.

Part 2

  All parts of this fic

Word count: 1,404

Warnings: some bloody stuff

You slumped into your seat across from Peter and Ned, your eyes drearily returning to the calculus notes scattered haphazardly across the table in front of you. Your gaze lingered on reimann sums for a moment before looking up to your friends, who were too busy shoving meat loaf into their mouths and mumbling about the latest Star Wars movie to notice your return from disposing of your lunch. You studied their faces, each lightening up excitedly at the theory the other one recited, though Peter’s eyes featured tired rings around them that Ned’s did not have.

The dark tilt to the skin above his cheeks was not new, but it interested you nonetheless. It had arrived shortly after Peter’s schedule had left, after he’d grown about 3 inches in any direction and a little while after he’d received that too-good-to-be-true internship with Tony Stark. You worried he was being overworked and overused…and something else, you weren’t sure of.

It was those tired eyes that caught you out of their periphery, and the very same that lit up upon their recognition of your return.

"Hey, listen to this-"

"No, Peter-she doesn't care." Ned cut him off.

"You don't know that! She's seen the movie." He replied and Ned looked at you.

"Do you care?" Ned asked and you chuckled, your face turning to your other friend. "I'll hear it. Lay it on me."

Peter launched into something crazy about the old hero from the original Star Wars trilogy and Ned rolled his eyes, cutting in occasionally to insert his opinion. You couldn't follow what either of them were saying but it made you happy to see them both so invested in something.

Tensions between the three of you had been unusually high lately. Perhaps it was the series of canceled hangouts or the inability to make plans, but no matter what it was it had taken a toll on group morale.

The three of you chatted (well, you listened) until the food in front of them was gone, and you took outdoors. It was Friday, and the inevitable "are we hanging out this weekend" conversation and the subsequent nervous stuttering that was supposed to sound like "I have the internship" from Peter came up. You hoped Ned would just assume the two of you would be making other plans instead of asking, but of course he did.

You realized when you got home later that you'd be spending the evening alone; Michelle and Liz were both busy with study groups and club planning, and you didn't even want to consider calling Flash. It was not all bad, though, for you had a new episode of Game of Thrones to drown your loneliness in. You were only a few minutes into watching one of the dragons fly across the screen when you heard a tapping on your window, causing your every bone to shiver. Nobody else was home, and you were very sure you wouldn't be able to handle an intruder alone.

You were shaking as the tapping continued, fear escalating within you as you took timid steps towards the fire escape window and held up your lacrosse stick for defense. You could feel your pulse quickening as you turned the corner, and it only sped up as the source of the tapping came into your view; spider-man, THE spider-man, crouched outside your window!

You ran to the window and lifted it, a little gust of wind blowing into your apartment as spider-man rolled himself inside, his hand clutching his side.

"Hey uh, you got a second?" he mumbled as he flopped onto the ground in front of you. You looked down and realized it was bloody and his suit was torn, his breathing heavy and jagged.

"O-oh my god-you're-and you're here-do you need-oh my god, you need help!" You stuttered, your heart beating a mile a minute.

"I-I'll-you stay here, I'll be right back!" You let out as you racked your brain for the location of the first aid kit.

You tutted into the kitchen and whipped the cabinet doors open, your fingers frantically tracing the wooden ledges for the bright red bloom. You found what you were looking for and yanked it out of the wedge it was tucked into, not noticing the clattering of windex bottles and other cleaning supplies as the plastic hit the tile floors.

You sprinted back into the hall, popping the box open as you ran. As you approached him you dropped to your knees and slid across the floor, your fingers fiddling with the bandages and creams. You silently thanked the managers at the summer camp you'd worked at last year for having you trained in first-aid; you knew you wouldn't be able to call 911 for someone like spider-man.

The many adhesives and wraps littered the space around you when you decided on a thick gauze, which you held up just above the wound.

"C-can you hold this on it? While I prepare the bandage?" You asked, your voice shaking and your words coming out too fast and garbled. You watched part of his mask move as a light chuckle came from him and he reached his hand out.

"Yeah, I can. I'm not dead yet, you know." He said, his voice weak but lighthearted and...familiar, though you had little time to determine why. It's joking nature eased your tension regardless.

He pushed the gauze onto his cut while you put antibiotic on a thick bandage and rested it face up on his thigh.

"Sorry for just barging in, by the way." He said as you cleaned the cut of dried blood and dirt. You did your best to smile at him as you worked, your mind and body too focused on the fact that you were patching up spider-man to process the small talk.

"I-it's no problem, really. I just h-hope you're okay." You bubbled in reply, your eyes looking up his muscled chest to his shoulders and to his masked face. "I can't believe you're really here, in my apartment! Y-you're a superhero."

"Hey, I'm not that special! Besides, at the moment, you're the one that's being the hero." He replied with a chuckle and a little pink hit your cheeks, your heart skipping a beat. He looked around, at the hallway and the walls, then back to your fingers, then to your face.

"So, you, uh, live here, huh?" He said and you raised your eyebrows.

"Yes, I do."

"So you, probably come here often then, yeah?" He asked and you giggled, your face now rather red.

"No way, is Spider-Man hitting on me?" You chirped, a twinge of excitement lacing your words and he let out a nervous laugh that sent you into a brief moment of deja vu.

"Well hey, if I had known my nurse was going to be this cute, I would've come up with a less obvious pick up line."

You finished patching his abdomen and he stood up, patting his side with his hand.

"Wow, you did a pretty good job!" He said, and you grinned as he readjusted the ripped fabric over the white of the bandage. "You really helped me out."

"It's no big deal, you help everyone out every day!" You squeaked and he laughed, taking a step towards you.

"What is the name of my hero for the evening?" He asked and you mumbled your name, dazed by the way the white of his mask squinted and the mouth space twitched as you told him. He repeated it back to you, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear and sending chills up your spine.

He took a step back, his head turning to the window he fell through and back to you.

"I gotta go," he said, his shoulders slumping slightly beneath his red and blue suit.

"You do?" You whispered, snapped out of the trance you'd been in when he'd touched you.

"Y-yeah, bad guys aren't going to fight themselves, you know." He replied, his voice sounding nervous. You nodded and he sat on the windowsill, one leg in the hall and one on the fire escape.

"I'll see you around." He said and you nodded.

"Around, yeah." And with that, he was off.

[nbtopsurgery]

Part 3: The Surgery

I ended up rescheduling my surgery to mid-August, and got an appointment letter saying that I should turn up to the hospital at 6pm on a Sunday. I got quite confused about when this meant I would be having surgery, and consequently which nights I needed to book a hotel for, and when I should travel back to Glasgow. It turned out that I would actually be having surgery on the Monday, but that they wanted me to come in on the Sunday night to make sure that I had a bed. From what I can work out, people usually have two nights in hospital, but it might be the two nights after surgery, or one night before and one night after.

My appointment letter also had a presumably standard but still alarming caveat that I should ring the ward on my day of admission to check that a bed was available, as it may be taken in emergencies. When I rang the ward the nurse on the phone didn’t seem to know why I was calling, and told me that the bed wasn’t available. My partner rang back (because I was busy having a panic attack) and talked to a different nurse who clarified that the bed wasn’t available yet, but that I should turn up to the hospital at the stated time and it would basically be fine. Which after a full day of stressing about it, it was. We walked through the eerily empty Sunday-evening hospital to the ward, and the very friendly nurse met us and showed me to my bed.

The nurses were all very good at putting me at ease, and I spent a pretty odd evening and night just hanging around in my hospital bed, reading and listening to podcasts and occasionally having my blood pressure taken. No-one was quite sure what time my surgery was scheduled for the next day, so they had me be nil by mouth from 2am. In the morning I put on my hospital gown (backwards, so that the surgeon could come and draw on my chest), and went through and signed consent forms. There was some confusion because they couldn’t find the information from the pre-op or my nhs number, and I had to have my bloods taken again. The anaesthetist came by to introduce herself, a surgical assistant  drew a few arrows on my chest, and then Miss Dabritz herself drew the rest of the marks on. At about 1pm, the nurse said that I was next up in theatre and a porter was bringing up a bed for me. I was wheeled down to the theatre waiting room, and the nurse stayed with me and told me stories about locking the porter in a linen cupboard. Then I was wheeled into theatre, had sticky monitor discs put on my back, and got an oxygen mask. The anaesthetist said that she was giving me something first that would make me feel nice and floaty, which it did, and then something that would put me to sleep. I closed my eyes, and then realised that I wouldn’t be able to open them again if I tried.

(cn for mentions of vomit in the next two paragraphs)

It was about half 1 when I went into theatre, and a woke up in the recovery room at just before 5. I woke up feeling thirsty and nauseous and weird but not in pain. The first thing I managed to say when I came round was ‘what happens here?’, because I wanted to know what needed to happen before I could get back to the ward. The recovery room nurse kept chatting to me and asking me questions, which I understood later was to determine how alert I was, but at the time I was quite annoyed that I was being asked what I do for a living just minutes after coming out of surgery. I kept feeling like I might be sick, but managed not to be, and didn’t have the presence of mind to tell the nurse how queasy I was feeling. After being in the recovery room for about half an hour they wheeled me back up to the ward, but the motion of being in the lift was too much, and I ended up throwing up (mostly on myself).

I made my triumphant entrance back onto the ward covered in my own sick, and was extremely happy to see my partner and mum there waiting for me. After the nurses had cleaned me up and I’d got into bed, my partner and mum chatted to me as I kind of worked my way back to reality and drank cups of water. I threw up a few more times, until they gave me an anti-emetic through the cannula that stopped me feeling nauseous. I looked down at the bandages on my chest and felt very good about it. The first time I needed to pee I was still getting motion sick, so the nursed helped me use a commode. Later that night I was able to shuffle to the toilet by myself, holding my drains in a stylish hot pink drawstring bag. The nurses had let me know that I could ring the bell if I needed more pain medication during the night, but in the end I didn’t need to. They did set up an office fan by my bed though, which felt like the most blissful thing in the world, as I felt very flushed and warm.

(cn for vomit ends)

The next morning I saw Miss Dabritz and she told me how much weight she’d removed from my chest, which was fun. I managed to put on a big soft shirt and some jeans, and give myself a bit of a wash with wet-wipes. It was decided that I was well enough to be discharged, and I got a bag of painkillers (paracetamol and codeine) and an appointment to come back to the outpatient clinic the next day to get my drains taken out. My mum took me back to the premier inn in a taxi, and I was very glad to not be in hospital anymore and to get to eat a proper meal.

Editing to add, as I forgot to put this in initially: From what I have seen, most surgeons have you wear a post-surgery binder to keep everything in place/prevent fluid build-up etc. Miss Dabritz’s team don’t use them. Instead, you have waterproof adhesive wrap over the bandages for two weeks after surgery, and it is then removed at the post-surgery appointment. 

I slept pretty badly on my back in the hotel room, aware that I had to stop the drains from falling off the bed. Early the next morning I went with my mum to outpatients F to get the drains removed by a couple of nurses. The moment they pulled them out felt extremely odd, and looked pretty gross, but didn’t actually hurt, and once they were out I felt so much better and more mobile. We managed to get back to Glasgow somehow or other (I dozed through most of the train journey holding a little electric fan up to my face), got home and slept for 12 wonderful hours in my own bed.

I had my surgery on August 14th 2017, about 3 and 8 months since I referred myself to the gender clinic, and 2 years and 8 months since my first appointment.

[naughtyneganjdm]

A Second Chance - Chapter 4

Summary: Max begins to get a little bit too attached to the reader, but thinks she might begin to feel the same way.

Characters: Max, Reader (OC)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Swearing, Max kind of being creepy/obsessive and masturbation. 

Notes: Y/N stands for your name 

AO3 Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10357635/chapters/23363538

Tags: @jasoncrouse @ronweaselz @hiddlesdowneyjr @ali-pennell @melodicdolls @namelesslosers @deepsouth @shanaatjelove11 @warriorqueen1991 @caitydestroys @acklesdowneyandhiddles-ohmy @jaylaelizabethw @prettyepiic @negans-dirty-girl @mamaredd123 @jdmsgal @alyisdead @memphisgirl1977 @xnegansgirlx @dontblink94 @freaktesque @crzcorgi *As always, please let me know if you want to be added to the tags or if you wanted to be taken off!*

Hearing the sound of music filling his ears, Max shot up and looked around the unfamiliar room. He was groggy and confused as he watched Y/N running out of the bathroom and moving for her cell phone. Realizing that he had spent the night with her, he let out a tight groan and saw her fumbling with her cell phone to clearly get an alarm off.

“God, I am so sorry, I thought I turned that damn thing off. I was trying to give you some extra time to sleep. You looked so comfortable laying there that I didn’t want to wake you up,” Y/N muttered from the kitchen as Max groaned and pinched at the bridge of his nose. He had a headache likely due to him slamming his head multiple times against the wood plank when he was alone before coming to Y/N’s home last night. “Shit…I am sorry. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lifted his head to meet her expression as he brushed his hand through his messy hair. The last thing that he remembered was having her falling asleep over him and how he wanted to touch her. Somehow he was able to stifle his eagerness to do what he wanted so badly with her. The fact that he was able to fall asleep with her in his arms like that last night really shocked him as it was. At this point though, he knew if he spent more time with her, things were likely to get ugly. He was likely to switch back to his old ways and he wasn’t really sure that he was ready for that. He loved spending time with her, which meant he should really spend as little time as possible with her. That way they could keep their meetings…special. “I should probably get going.”

“No, don’t…” she held up her hand and quickly moved across the room. She skid in front of him and he leaned back in the couch at her quickness before she sat down on the table in front of him. Her hands pressed in over Max’s knees as he gulped down heavily at her touch. If only she knew how much her touch truly affected him. Then she would understand why he was uncomfortable at certain things. “I have a whole day planned for us. Fun stuff.”

“I haven’t showered,” Max looked down knowing that he was still in the clothes from the night before and he wasn’t exactly the cleanest. “My breath is probably terrible and…”

“You can shower here. I’ll take a quick one and then after that you can take one. I have some of my friend’s clothes from when he used to live here. They might be a little tight on you, but I think it will fit you fine. I’ve got an extra toothbrush around here too.”

“Are you sure? I really don’t want to bother you…” Max felt her smack his knee before getting up from the table she was sitting on. She went to go back to the bathroom before stopping again. “I mean it, are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Are you hungry?” she watched Max’s eyebrow perk up and she pointed toward the kitchen. “If you are hungry I can make you something before I get in the shower. Maybe some eggs or pancakes?”

“You don’t have to feed me, I’m fine,” he insisted and he could see a frown pressing in over her beautiful features. “Do you have cereal? I’m kind of a simple guy.”

“I can get it for you,” she moved across the kitchen and pulled open a cabinet. She grabbed a few boxes as Max got up from the couch and moved in behind her. When she struggled to grab a box, he moved in behind her and grabbed it for her. His chest pressed up against her back and he could hear her let out a tight breath. Realizing how close he truly was, he stepped back and watched her look back over her shoulder at him. “I have the bowls behind you and you can pick whatever cereal you want.”

“I can handle it,” he felt the corners of his lips turning into a smile and it kind of amused him how in the mornings she was so perky. She moved in closer to him, her hands reaching out to grab a hold of his arm to pull the bandage off slowly. A wince escaped his lips when he felt the adhesive from the bandage tugging at his skin. A frown pressed in over her lips and she shot him an apologetic look. She threw away the bandage and caressed her fingers over his skin in a soothing caress. “I’ll be fine.”

“After you take a shower, I’m going to put something on it again. We’ll give it some air right now, but I just want to make sure we keep it clean,” she replied with a heavy sigh and he watched her closely as she touched his skin. The pain of the bite no longer affected him, but he wasn’t about to tell her differently. He liked her doting on him and worrying about him. In a way, he was kind of happy that he hurt himself yesterday because it led to her touching him so tenderly and caring. “We’ve got to take care of you.

“Mhmm,” Max nodded slowly when she lowered his hand down and slowly released her grip on him. He looked down to his arm and let out a long sigh. “Would you like me to make you some coffee while you are in the shower?”

“You don’t have to do that. You are the one staying in my home. I should be making you things,” she saw Max’s dimples deepening as Max continued to laugh at her. Pointing to the cabinet behind Max she could see him nod and she moved back toward the bathroom. “Really, if you want to, go ahead, but if you don’t…”

“I got it,” Max watched her disappear into the bathroom and he could feel his smile fading. Looking around her empty apartment, he found the interest in him perking. He should really try to fight his normal ways, but he was alone with all of her stuff. Pinching at the bridge of his nose, he tried to focus on pouring the cereal into his bowl, but when he looked at the things around him he knew that he wanted to get to know her a bit better.

He shouldn’t be snooping. Especially on someone that he was starting to like so much. Someone who was the closest thing to someone liking him for him. Gulping down, he opened a few of the cabinets and looked at the drinks and food that she liked. He moved to her fridge looking at the photos on the front of it. Pulling a photo from underneath the magnet, he looked over the photo and he could tell that it was probably a high school graduation photo with her family. Looking over his shoulder, he put the photo back and moved into her bedroom area.

Pulling open the top drawer, Max could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he reached inside to grab the shirt that was on top. Looking it over, he smirked and raised it up toward his nose to smell it. Taking in the scent of the fresh clothing made him breathe in uneasily. Lowering the clothing, he found himself sickened with himself. He was snooping around this girl’s home. She was so desperate to help him, yet he was here doing exactly what it was that he didn’t want to be doing.

Going to put the shirt back, he noticed a photo in the top right corner and he reached for it seeing that it was her and a guy together, hugging each other tightly. Flipping it over, he read the name Christian on the back and let out a tight breath. He found himself irritated at the closeness of the guy that was with her, but put the photo back into the drawer. Closing it, he reached for the second drawer and pulled it open seeing that it was her underwear drawer and he quickly pushed that closed as soon as he realized what it was.

He wanted to put some kind of boundaries on things. He was snooping through this girl’s things, he had no shame, but he wanted to try and put some kind rules against what he was doing. He wasn’t going to stoop that low.

Moving over to grab her camera, he picked it up and turned it on looking through the photos that she had gotten of him last night and sighed heavily. These were the things that he already knew about her. Setting the camera back, he sat on the edge of her bed and dropped back on it. Reaching for one of her pillows, he pulled it close to his chest and squeezed it tightly. The bed smelled of her and he found himself longing to be laying in it with her. Hearing the sound of what he thought was something knocking over in the bathroom; he quickly stood up from the bed and moved over toward the kitchen again to fumble with the coffee. He waited to see if Y/N came out, but he still heard the shower running and just assumed she may have knocked something over in the shower.

Gulping down uneasily, he set the coffee machine up and moved into her living area. Looking through the books and films that she had before noticing that she had left the bathroom door open a bit. Clearing his throat uneasily, he stepped forward and looked through the crack in the door seeing that she was in the shower behind the frosted glass door. The steam was filling the small bathroom and he stepped back feeling a lump growing in the back of his throat. He should have turned away and went back to the kitchen, but all he could do was stare.

Her form was made out very clearly through the glass as he licked his lips and felt his heart hammering inside of his chest. He watched as she lathered the soap over her body and a warmth pressed in over him. Once he had met Juliet, he never thought that he would feel for someone like he did Juliet, but as he watched Y/N showering he realized that he was just as interested in her as he was Juliet. Which he couldn’t tell if that was a bad or good thing.

The sound of her singing something in the shower made him take back a cautious step as he watched her like a hawk. He could feel a jolt filling his body and winced when he could feel his body hardening at the sight of her. He did everything wrong with his affections for Juliet and he should really be turning away Y/N right now. If he wanted something with this girl, he knew that he had to do things differently. At least to the best of his abilities.

“Fuck,” he hissed when he felt an ache deep within himself. If he kept watching her that way, he was certain that she would see how excited he was at just sneaking and staring at her through the crack in the door. Hearing the sound of the shower turning off, he quickly back peddled and moved for the bowl of cereal that he had left on the counter. Grabbing it quickly, he stumbled across her apartment and dropped down on the couch. Reaching for one of the pillows, he pulled it in over his lap to hide his slightly tented pants from her sight and started to slowly eat the cereal.

After a while he watched her walk out of the bathroom, wet, but fully dressed. She was caressing a towel throughout her wet hair and he gulped down heavily. He could tell that he was sweating after getting a bit worked up from everything, but hopefully she wouldn’t notice.

“Sorry about that,” her eyes finally met his and she smiled. She gave him an odd expression and he cleared his throat uneasily. “You alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he retorted, shrugging his shoulders before taking another bite of his food. “The coffee should be ready for you.”

“Right…” she gave him a wink before moving across the apartment to gather a few things. She went into her bedroom area and pulled open the top drawer. Looking down uncomfortably, he hoped that he put everything back the way it was. It would be awful if she found out who he was this early. He didn’t want her to be terrified of him. “So like I said, I have some clothes for you if you want.”

Max watched her push through things and she didn’t seem affected by anything which he figured meant that he actually did put everything back pretty well. He watched her pull out a black button down and some jeans and he gulped down uneasily.

“I mean, I don’t know if the pants will fit you. He likes them kind of…tight. You guys are kind of the same height though, so you should be okay in that area,” she replied with a crease of her eyebrow and she stepped before Max handing him over the clothes. “There are a few other things that he has here. Some sweatpants and what not. As far as underwear goes, uhm…I don’t know if you are okay with not wearing…”

“I’ll be fine,” he smirked realizing that she was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of bringing up not wearing anything underneath what she gave him.

“They are completely clean by the way,” she insisted and he nodded slowly, reaching forward to set the bowl down on the table when he was done. “I don’t want you to think that you are using some dirty clothes.”

There was a silence between them as he watched her closely and she motioned him to follow her into the bathroom. He got up from the couch and lowered the clothes in front of his groin hoping to still hide himself from her.

“Here is a new toothbrush,” she pulled open the medicine cabinet and handed him a brand new toothbrush that was still in the box. She then handed him her toothpaste before motioning him to wait. She set her towel up on the hook behind her bathroom door before going into the cabinet under the sink and grabbing a towel for him. Handing it to him, she sighed heavily and shrugged. “The door doesn’t exactly close tightly sometimes because of the steam when the shower is on. So if it is cracked open when you get out, I swear I wasn’t trying to peep on you.”

Max let out a nervous breath when he realized that her saying that just made what he did seem all the more wrong. Part of him was hoping that she had left the door open in a voyeuristic manner, hoping that maybe he would notice, but of course she didn’t do that. That was him just hoping too much for something more than what was going on. Shaking off the thought, he gulped down and stared out at her with his beautiful hazel eyes. There was a silence between them as he stared out at her waiting for her to leave.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, you can just…” she quickly moved from the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Max set the clothes down on the counter before reaching for the back of his shirt. Pulling it from his body, he tossed it aside and then began to undo his pants. When he got them halfway down he could hear the door opening and he stumbled backwards trying to pull his pants back up over his white boxers. His back hit the wall hard when he slammed into the corner of the room and he saw her covering her face immediately. Clearly she didn’t think he would be getting undressed that fast and he heard her let out an aggravated groan. “Oh shit, I am so sorry. I’m just not…”

“It’s okay…” Max turned away from her and tried pulling his pants back up as he saw her hand was firmly placed over her eyes still. A laugh escaped his lips when he saw her cheeks blushing over with a bright red color. “You need something?”

“So not used to this whole living with people thing. It’s been a while,” she huffed heavily and he kept his hand firmly over the center of his pants trying to keep them up. “I was just going to grab the hairdryer while you were in here.”

“No problem,” he waited for her to move and grab what she wanted. When she was about to leave, he could see her stop when she looked to him again. It was the first time that she had seen him shirtless and his chest was rising and falling heavily. Looking down, he could see that she was staring at him and he laughed. While he was flattered, this all felt a bit odd. “Y/N?”

“Sorry, shit…” she quickly moved out of the bathroom and he laughed. Was she just checking him out? Or was that his mind playing with him? She could have just been uncomfortable and froze. That’s likely what happened. He had to convince himself of that.

Pulling his pants off, he folded them and then pulled off his boxers. Looking over his shoulder at the door, he made sure that it was still closed before turning on the shower. He wasn’t going to take a shower just yet though.

Carefully moving around in her bathroom, he opened the drawers and expected to find something hidden inside, but it was just something typical that you would find in a girl’s bathroom. Lotions, makeup and other common things. Even when he had snooped in Juliet’s bathroom he found condoms, but nothing like that was in Y/N’s bathroom.

Gulping down uneasily, he moved to the towel that she had left on the back of the door and pulled it down. A heavy breath escaped his throat as he brought the towel up against the side of his stubble covered cheek. Closing his eyes, he pictured that it was her that was pressed up against him. The towel smelled just like her and he pictured her caressing herself with the towel which caused a trembling breath to escape his lips. The sound of the hairdryer on the other side of the door made him snap back to what was happening as he put the towel back and moved into the shower.

Lowering his head under the stream of water, he let it soak his sore body before he reached for her shampoo and brought it up to his nose. Smelling it caused him to groan as he thought about the smell of her. She always smelled so good and now he was using her shower. She was in the other room, knew he was in her shower using her things and she was okay with it. All of these things were really too much to take in for someone like him.

After shampooing his hair, he looked over his shoulder to seek out the body wash and he saw her loofah sitting on the edge of the shower. Looking back toward the door beyond the shower door, he reached for the loofah and knew it was wrong to use it, but he couldn’t resist.

Lathering up the soap, he began to rub the material over his body and he thought about when he had seen her in shower earlier. Naked and doing the same to herself. He imagined that her naked skin was pressing up against his and he could feel his body hardening at the very thought. Keeping the loofah in his left hand, he lowered his right and wrapped his palm around his length. Squeezing at it softly, it didn’t take much to make himself completely solid as he groaned. Pressing his head up against the wall of the shower, he could feel the stream of water pouring in over him as he started to caress over his solid length.

His jaw clenched as he let out a muted groan. He imagined it was Y/N’s hand wrapped around his length, caressing him relentlessly. Breathing heavily, he started to pump over his distended flesh and he wanted to moan at the sensation, but he didn’t want to give away what he was doing inside of her shower. Opening his eyes, he looked back toward the door and made sure that the door was still closed and he bit back another moan.

Max lathered the soap over his body a bit more giving him a slicker grip as he pumped his hand over cock, squeezing tightly. Whimpering out, he thought about the way that Y/N would touch him, talk to him and it sent a rush throughout his whole body. Tipping his head back, he grunted as he thrust his hips into his grip and worked furiously to reach his orgasm. His stomach started to clench as he felt his body start to cum. Pressing his head against the wall of the shower, he shuddered and let out a small moan.

“Y/N,” he grunted her name uncontrollably as he came and he continued to caress himself until the very end of his release and when he was done he could hear a soft knocking on the door. Cussing to himself, he looked down and let out an unnerving breath. Stepping in under the stream, he tried to clean off the rest of his body before speaking up in a cracked tone. “Yeah?”

“Just making sure you are okay. It’s been a bit and I just…I thought I heard you say my name,” she muttered from the other side of the door and he cussed to himself. He quickly finished up in the shower and put things back where they were supposed to go before grabbing the towel she had given him. Wrapping it loosely around his body, he moved for the door and pulled it open. When she saw him standing before her soaking wet and in nothing, but a towel, she found herself lost for her words. Max cracked a smile and slicked his wet hair back. “Hi…”

“Hi…I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was taking so long…” Max looked down when she did to see that he was dripping everywhere and he stepped back in the bathroom. Looking up again, he could see that she was still looking down at his towel clad body and he cleared his throat uneasily. “I should really get dressed, I’m sorry, I just…”

“No, you are absolutely fine. I mean you can stay that way forever if you’d like,” she blurted out and instantly he could see her cheeks blushing over. “Shit, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just saying that…I’m going into the other room and I’ll wait for you.”

“Sounds good,” Max watched her quickly moving the other way out of the room and he smiled before moving back into the bathroom again. Closing the door, he hooked the towel around him tighter and reached for the toothbrush she had given him.

Opening it up, he looked for a moment at her toothbrush in the holder and cleared his throat uneasily. Looking over his shoulder, he thought for a long moment before shaking his head and reaching for the toothpaste. After he was done brushing his teeth, he put the toothbrush in the holder next to hers and that was actually something that made him smile. The two of them sharing something together and something that was his being in her apartment.

Unhooking the towel, he dried his body off and then reached for the jeans she had given him. Pulling them up his damp legs, he let out a small wince when he pulled them up his body. She wasn’t kidding; they were a bit…tight in certain areas. After a minute of moving around in them, Max reached for the shirt and pulled it in over his arms. Grabbing his dirty clothes, he moved out of the bathroom and saw her sitting on the arm of the couch, looking out at him with her big eyes.

“Wow…you look good,” she blurted out seeing that he had left the black shirt unbuttoned as she slowly rose to her feet and let out a nervous laugh. “I mean the clothes. The clothes look good on you.”

“Yeah, they are a little tight in certain areas,” he answered with a hesitant laugh and he felt her reaching for his laundry.

She put it in a bag for him and set it in the corner of her apartment before turning to face him. She gave him a once over and smiled widely, “You aren’t kidding. Wow…uhm, would you like me to get some of those sweatpants?”

“I think I’ll be fine,” he tugged at the waistband of the pants and watched her closely. Again he could see that she was staring down and he snapped his fingers at her. “Y/N, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you have been checking me out quite extensively this morning…”

“Even if I was…” she stepped forward reaching for the edge of button down shirt she had given him to wear. A heavy breath escaped his lips at the sensation of her so close to him and her brazen movements. Normally he wouldn’t say anything to someone if he thought they were flirting with him, but he couldn’t resist with her. He could feel her hands tugging at the material and he tipped in closer to her as she looked up at him. “You told me last night I’m no longer allowed to compliment you. Remember? So you can think whatever you’d like to think Max.”

Feeling her buttoning up the shirt for him, he cussed to himself when he heard her laugh and he wished he would have never said that to her yesterday. It felt like they had something good going on this morning and he wished that he could be as bold and brave as she was with him, but he wasn’t used to this whole thing. Flirting and being playful was kind of against everything that he had grown to be.

“Right,” Max groaned seeing her moving for her coffee cup and he let out a heavy breath. He should just let her know that he was interested in some way. He just…he didn’t know how to do that. He thought she was interested too, but he wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Stepping across her apartment, he seemed to stun her when he reached for her coffee cup. He set it down and reached up with his large hands to press them in over the sides of her soft face. “Thank you…for everything. You have no idea how much of what you have done for me has helped me…”

“It’s no problem Max,” she smiled brightly and he could feel her hands reaching up to press in over his. Her fingertips caressed over the back of his hand and he watched her closely. He gulped down uneasily and could feel her pressing in closer to him. “I told you I would be here for you, no matter what.”

“I…” he searched her eyes for a sign that would tell him it was okay to kiss her. That she wanted something more than what they were having, but instead he just saw the same look he had seen the first time that he had met her. It was the woman that just wanted to be there for him, to help him in his life. Lowering his hands, he sighed heavily and nodded as he moved away from her slowly. “So what do you have planned today?”

“Uhm…” she seemed shocked with his back tracking. Her eyes looked him over closely and he lowered his glance to the ground seemingly a bit uncomfortable. Reaching for her coffee, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I want to get a bandage on that arm of yours before we go anywhere. Just to keep it covered and clean for today while we are out.”

“Right…” Max felt her reaching for his arm to pull apart the button on the wrist of the shirt. She pushed up the material before moving for the supplies she had left out on the counter overnight. He watched her opening up the package before moving over to trace her fingertips over his inner arm again.

“What are we going to do with you?” she sighed when she looked over the wound again. Her eyes met his before going back to putting the bandage over the bite mark. He watched her closely as she pulled the material to his wrist again. Letting out a shuddering breath, he felt her place a small kiss over the pulse point of his wrist and he could feel his heart begin to quicken in his chest. She nodded toward the door after buttoning the shirt up. He wanted to move or say something, but he didn’t know how to react to that. “The other night you told me there wasn’t much of New York that you had actually visited, so I figured we could go for a field trip of all my favorite places.”

“Lead the way,” Max held his hand up to let her go first and he damned himself for not kissing her before this all happened. It was almost the perfect moment to do it and he wished he would have. He wished he would have been brave enough to actually kiss her, but he wasn’t and that alone made him feel down about today already.

[captain-zajjy]

Solstice, Chapter 4 - A Final Fantasy XV Story

Pairing: Ignis x Female Original Character

AO3 | Chapter 1 2 3

A/N: This chapter takes place a couple of days after the first boss fight with Loqi. 

“Ow,” Valeria hissed.

The young medicus-in-training jerked his hand away from her stitches, and his supervisor clucked her tongue.

“You have to leave the antiseptic on for at least five seconds,” the supervisor said. “Regardless of the patient’s complaints.”

“S-sorry,” the trainee stammered out, although it was unclear to whom he was apologizing. He placed the medicine-soaked cloth back over the stitches just below the hollow of Valeria’s shoulder, and she girded herself against the sharp, stinging sensation suddenly radiating from her wound, while the trainee audibly counted to five. The Empire must have found that Insomnian refugees made the perfect subjects for training new recruits; the Niffs barely saw them as people, after all.

“Now, examine the integrity of the stitches,” the supervisor instructed. When the trainee medicus leaned in for a closer look, Valeria purposely clutched the sheet covering her breast a bit closer to her chest, causing the young man to blush profusely. Making Niffs uncomfortable, no matter how moderately, had been her sole means of entertainment these past five days since they invaded.

“Have you been using your arm?” The supervisor asked, almost accusatory.

“I’m trying not to, but it’s a little hard to get dressed,” Valeria admitted.

“Well, get someone to help you,” the senior medicus replied. “A couple of these stitches are close to tearing.”

“It’s kind of difficult to find help when you killed pretty much everyone I know.” Valeria glared at the older woman, daring her to look away first.

Someone suddenly shouted something about an officer, and then all the Imperials in the infirmary tent were on their feet, snapped to attention, the trainee a beat behind the rest. A blonde-haired man in a black breastplate with a large bandage covering the lower-right half of his face limped through, heavily favoring his right leg. Valeria assumed he was there for treatment, but he seemed to be questioning people, eventually stomping his way over to her.

“Valeria Soleil?” he asked, reading from a clipboard supplied by one of two soldiers flanking him.

This time, Valeria’s attempt to better cover herself was involuntary. They know you’ve been talking to Ignis, she thought, panic flooding her every synapse.

“I...” Fright had rendered her mind useless as she searched for a response, something - anything - to get her out of this.

“That’s correct, sir,” the medicus supervisor said, attempting to hand the officer Valeria’s medical file. He waved her off. Valeria wanted to take the sheet she was using to cover herself and strangle the woman with it.

“You ran the power company?” The officer asked, still looking at his clipboard.

“Uh...yes?” Valeria answered uncertainly. What did that have to do with Ignis and the Prince?

“Good. Meet me outside when you’re done here.” The officer turned, dragging his bad leg toward the tent entrance, while Valeria goggled at his back. What the hell?

“I’ll finish here,” the supervisor said, quickly grabbing clean bandages to cover Valeria’s stitches.

“Who is that?” Valeria asked, as if learning the man’s name would somehow allow her to make sense of the situation. If she was in trouble, if they suspected she knew Noctis’s whereabouts, certainly they wouldn’t be acting so casual. Would they?

“Someone important,” the senior medicus snapped, pressing the adhesive of the dressings into place.

“Brigadier General Loqi Tummelt,” the trainee said, adding, “Uh, I think,” when both Valeria and his supervisor stared at him.

“Hurry up,” the supervisor barked, unceremoniously tearing the sheet away from Valeria’s chest as the trainee went bright red. I’m wearing a bra, you fool, she thought, and the supervisor more or less shoved her shirt back over her head.

With her clothes back on and her left arm once again secured in that Gods forsaken sling, Valeria was left with a choice: she could leave via the opposite exit of the tent and run...and run and run and run, somehow find a way to escape the city and survive the wilderness of Leide with no supplies and one working arm. Or, she could do as instructed and meet the officer outside. He’s injured too, she reminded herself - barely able to walk from the looks of it. If something was amiss, she could still make her escape.

Valeria took a deep breath and stepped outside. The officer and his two lackeys were indeed waiting for her; the two soldiers’ faces were concealed behind polished helmets, but in the morning sun, she noticed that the officer was incredibly young - almost certainly younger than herself.

“What’s this about?” she asked, careful to stay out of his arms’ reach.

“Brigadier General Loqi Tummelt,” the officer said, briskly affecting an Imperial salute. “We need your help re-establishing power to the city.”

The power. Valeria’s relief was so immense she nearly snorted with laughter. “Why in the hell would I ever help you?”

Loqi seemed prepared for the question. “If we can re-establish power to the residential districts, then most of the people here can go home. You’re helping them, not me.”

Home. The word hung in the air, shimmering and enticing, just out of reach. “Downtown?” she ventured, unable to keep the hope from her voice.

“Only some outlying neighborhoods,” Loqi said, his expression impassive to her plight. “The city center’s too badly damaged to let anyone inside.”

Dammit. Still, she could hardly say no to helping her fellow Lucians. “It’s going to take a lot more than me to get the reactor working.”

Loqi shook his head and then grimaced, as if it caused him pain. “We just need to tap into the power grid - our magitek generators will supply the energy. I was hoping you could give us the master plans.”

“They were in company headquarters, which were downtown. Backup copies were in my mother’s townhouse, which was also downtown.” Valeria glanced at his right leg. “We could still search for them in the rubble, I guess.”

“Crap,” he muttered, almost petulantly, finally betraying his young age.

Valeria smirked, tapping the side of her head. “Fortunately for you, I’ve got about seventy-five percent of it up here.”

“You do?” Loqi’s blue eyes went wide. Bandage on his jaw aside, he wasn’t a bad-looking guy, although the baby-face look was decidedly not her type.

“The primary substations, anyway. Which is what you need access to.”

“Here.” Loqi handed Valeria the clipboard. It held a map of Insomnia with her name and ID number scribbled in the top corner. There was a circle around the downtown area of the city that included the Citadel, the rest broken up into numbered quadrants. “We need to restore power to One and Two.” He indicated the western half of the city with a pen.

Valeria plucked the writing instrument from his gloved hand and began to roughly draw in the actual city sectors to the best of her memory. There were six within the area Loqi had indicated.

“Wait, this doesn’t even make sense,” he said, frowning at the map. “This one is so small, and then this area is huge...”

Valeria wanted to laugh, but she didn’t. Don’t quit your day job, kid. “It’s based on power consumption, not geography. So, the small area here is the manufacturing district, and then this large one is mostly parks.”

“Huh...” Loqi studied the map for a few more seconds before breaking into a grin, made rather lopsided by the bandage covering half his jaw. “Looks like you just won me five hundred gil, ma’am.”

“What?”

“Got a bet with my lieutenant, who’s been put in charge of sanitation. To see who could get their part up and running first.”

Valeria narrowed her eyes. A bet? She wanted to slap him right in his damned wound. I’m glad this is fun for you.

“First of all,” she looked Loqi in the eye, “Don’t call me ‘ma’am.’ I’m not that much older than you. Second...” People’s lives are not a game. Rather than speak her mind, she forced herself to return his smirk. “Sanitation can’t run without power. You play dirty, Brigadier General.” The playful, almost flirtatious tone of her voice made Valeria herself feel ill. But that old adage about catching more flies with honey usually held true.

They prioritized the residential sectors, and then she accompanied Loqi on one of those big, inelegant-looking transport ships to a large, working-class neighborhood just south of the Imperial camp. To Valeria’s great dismay, a cadre of magitek troopers followed them down the empty street.

“What are those for?” Valeria could swear she felt the muzzles of the rifles trained on her back, but every time she turned around, the MTs held their guns at inattention, ignoring her completely.

“Daemons,” Loqi said, wincing with every slow step.

She opened her mouth to say there were no daemons in the Crown City, not outside of photos and old men’s stories...but that was no longer true. The King’s magic had protected them, and the King was gone. Damn you all.

“Do you really think there are daemons here?” she said instead. The sun was still hanging fat and bright above them.

“Better to be safe than sorry. And,” there was a definite note of frustration in Loqi’s voice, “it’s going to be a little while before I’m in fighting shape again.”

“So, you’re usually on the front lines,” she ventured.

“I was stationed at the Norduscaen Blockade,” he said. “Now, I’m stuck here until my wounds heal.”

“I see.” Valeria turned this information over in her mind. It wasn’t surprising that the Empire would reassign an injured officer to administrative tasks; what was noteworthy was that he wasn’t comfortably ensconced behind a desk somewhere, but instead dragging his injured leg all over the city. It wasn’t just a reassignment - it was a punishment. The blockade must have fallen then, she thought. Valeria hadn’t heard anything about it, but then, the refugee camp was rife with misinformation anyway: half the people believed the official word that Prince Noctis was dead, while the other half insisted that King Regis was holed up in the city somewhere, waiting to launch his counterstrike.

So, I’ve got a young officer fresh off a major failure. She’d have to play this carefully - very carefully - but she had every confidence she could, in fact, play him like a deck of cards.

Valeria accompanied Loqi to a working-class neighborhood just South of the Imperial camp and showed him to the power substation located underground along the subway line, scratching out a bunch of calculations to determine just how much energy the Empire’s magitek generators would need to produce to properly supply the area. Her phone had been vibrating almost non-stop in her pocket; Ignis, she suspected, but could hardly take a call from the Prince’s retainer with an Imperial officer looking over her shoulder. When she at last returned to her bunk, she finally went to check her phone, but was interrupted by a now-familiar voice.

“You were gone for a long time.”

Valeria stuck her phone back in her pocket and turned to face Felix, the kid who’d lent her his phone charger that first day, sitting cross-legged on his cot. After noticing his Academy uniform jacket, she’d struck up a friendship of sorts with the young teen - he didn’t say much, spent most of the day glued to games on his phone, but she could hardly blame him for that. Valeria didn’t ask, but it was obvious he was every bit as alone as she was, his parents likely killed in the invasion along with her mother.

“Trying to help get the power back on, so we can all go home.” Valeria tried to give him her best smile, although she wasn’t certain it was very convincing. She no longer had a home to return to, and he probably didn’t either.

“You wanna play King’s Knight later?” she asked. Felix shrugged. They’d already played a few times, and Valeria had purposely played her bad cards, letting him win. She decided to take his ambivalent gesture as tacit assent.

“I just have to make a phone call, then we can play,” she said, going back to her own cot to sit down. She pulled out her phone and hunched over to obscure the screen from any prying eyes.

Six missed calls from...Dad. Dad. She exhaled in irritation. Took you long enough. Bracing herself for his incoming bullshit, she dialed him back.

“Hello? Hello?” Panic was evident in her father’s voice, and she might have even felt sorry for him if it hadn’t taken him five damn days to check in on her.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Oh, honey...” Her father let out a long sigh of relief. “I was so worried about you! Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Dad, it’s been five days,” Valeria said.

“I know, sweetie. I’m so sorry. My girlfriend and I were out camping and I only just heard the news. You’re not hurt, are you?”

Girlfriend. The word made Valeria want to vomit. How old is she this time?  The last one had been closer to Valeria’s age than her father’s.

“Mom’s dead,” she said flatly.

“Oh, I...” her father went very quiet. “I... I’m sorry to hear that, honey.”

“Are you?” Valeria snapped, her free hand balling into a fist, causing her wounded shoulder to twinge. Now you can marry your damned girlfriend.

“Valeria, you know things were complicated with me and your mother, but this... This is terrible.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t try to keep the resentment from her voice. How could her mother have still cared about this guy? “Sorry to bum you out on your date.”

“Valeria, don’t be like that. I know you’re upset-”

“I watched them shoot her,” Valeria said through clenched teeth. “Where were you? Why weren’t you here?”

“Sweetie...”

Valeria felt her tears, hot and salty, rolling down her cheeks. Why did you leave me?

“I’m going to hop on the next ferry to Galdin and come get you,” her father went on. “Can you meet me there?”

“No.” Valeria swiped her face with the back of her hand and placed the phone back to her ear. “Don’t bother.”

“You can stay with us in Accordo. You’ll be safe here.”

Us. He was talking about his girlfriend - whoever she was this time. The woman he’d been shacking up with when her mother was killed. She'd rather take her chances with the Niffs.

“I’m fine,” Valeria said. “I don’t need your help.”

Her father let out a long sigh. “If that’s what you want...” It only made her angrier that he acquiesced immediately, that he didn’t insist on rescuing her - like a father should. “But if you change your mind, I’ll come for you.”

He was about ten years too late for that.

Ignis stood on the balcony of the Amicitia’s suite at the Leville, the scorching temperature in Lestallum finally having dropped to something bearable after the sun set. Upbeat music from a pickup band in the street below drifted up to where he stood, mingling with the sound of Iris, Prompto, and Noctis talking inside the hotel room. Gladiolus sat on the bed opposite them, browsing the sort of magazine one should probably never look at in front of one’s sister (“The articles are really well-written, Iggy”).

A happy enough scene now, but there was still an edge to Noctis’s voice, and several hours earlier, when Ignis had settled into the bath, he’d overheard Iris crying to Gladio about their father’s apparent death in the adjacent room.

We’ve all put on our brave faces, Ignis thought, leaning against the exterior wall of the suite and staring up at the stars. It was something he liked to do when he had a free moment at home - stand on the small terrace of his apartment, take a few deep breaths, and gaze up at the heavens, reminding himself that the world was much wider than himself, the Prince, and the Crown city. He missed home, missed the familiar comfort of his own apartment and his own bed, missed the familiar rhythm of running errands for Noctis throughout the day.

Now, it was all gone. That life was as dead as their late King, as ruined as their once great city. And this sort of wistful dwelling on the past would accomplish nothing, would not aid Noctis in his upcoming fight. Ignis turned to rejoin the group when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Valeria. If there had been any way for him to get her safely out of Insomnia, he would have taken off right then and driven through the night (as much as he hated doing that) to retrieve her. But his duty came first.

“Iggy?” Valeria sounded a bit more like herself, much to his relief, but there was a definite tension in her voice, a hesitation that instantly concerned him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Aside from the obvious.

There was a long sigh on the other end of the line. “I guess there’s no nice way to put this... Your uncle’s dead. I’m sorry, Iggy.”

Ignis inhaled sharply, his free hand tightening on the railing. In his heart, he’d known this all along, since he first heard of the attack. Even so...

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “For letting me know.”

“I’m sorry,” Valeria said again.

Uncle... He had been the closest thing Ignis had to a father, at least that he could clearly recall, and yet all Ignis could feel at his passing was a vague sense of emptiness. Perhaps, with all the terrible news of the last week, he’d simply become numb to grief.

Still, he was eternally grateful to his uncle for taking him in after his parents had died and raising him, perhaps not exactly as a son, but the man had done the best he could with a child he’d never asked for. Uncle...thank you.

“Iggy? Are you okay?”

“Yes.” It was more than half a lie. “How are you bearing up?”

“Fair, I guess. I’m bored out of my mind,” she said, her tone shifting to something more casual. “And my stitches are starting to drive me nuts.”

Ignis’s head snapped up. “Stitches? You’re injured?”

“Oh.” Valeria let out a sheepish laugh. “I guess I forgot to say. It doesn’t really hurt anymore, just itches like crazy.”

“Valeria.” Ignis assumed the tone that always sent Noctis and Prompto running, the one that even Gladiolus didn’t try to argue with.

It worked on her too. He didn’t even have to speak his question aloud. “I... I got shot. The night they attacked.”

Ignis’s eyes went wide, the ground lurched under his feet. “They shot you?” Those bloody Niff bastards.

“Shot me, and then patched me up. I still don’t get what they’re playing at.”

Ignis was still fixated on the fact that she’d been hurt. Shot, for Gods’ sakes. “Where?”

“It was through the muscle,” she explained. “Just below my collar bone. No lasting damage, I don’t think.”

“Gods damn it,” he growled. He knew it was impolite to curse in front of a lady, but couldn't help himself. ‘No lasting damage’ didn’t erase the fact that the Niffs had tried to kill her.

“I’m fine, Iggy. Obviously,” Valeria said. “Like I said, it’s really more annoying than anything.”

He shook his head, rage swelling behind his eyelids. “They’ll pay for this, Valeria. I swear to you.” For hurting her, killing her mother, his uncle, their King. For everything.

“How very gallant.” There was a playful edge to her voice, one he was well familiar with, although he wasn’t sure if it was at his expense this time.

“I’m serious, Val.”

“I know you are. Let me help.”

Ignis blinked. “What?”

“Let me help you,” she repeated. “I’m here with them. I can gain their trust, listen in on their plans. I’ve already been working on one-”

“No,” Ignis interrupted her, adamantly shaking his head even though she couldn’t see him. “That’s too dangerous.” You’ve already been shot.

“Dammit, Ignis. You’re not the only one who wants revenge.”

Ignis began to pace the little balcony. The woman could be bloody stubborn when she wanted to be - usually an admirable quality, but not when her well-being was at stake. “No, but I’ve trained for this.”

“And I haven’t? Half of my job was telling people what they wanted to hear.”

“Your life wasn’t on the line.” She wasn’t the only one who could be stubborn.

“Fine,” she snapped. “Give me the Prince’s phone number, then. I’ll deal with him directly.”

Blast it, Ignis thought. Did she really just ask to speak to his manager? “You’re bloody impossible, do you know that?”

Valeria scoffed. “Look who’s talking. Listen - I’m going to do this, with or without your ‘permission.’ A little direction, however, would be nice.”

Ignis took a deep breath, trying to stem his annoyance. “I... I need you to be safe. Please understand that.” He may have prepared himself for the news about his uncle, but her...just contemplating that possibility left him shaking.

“I know, Iggy,” she said softly. “Just trust me to know what I’m doing, okay?”

He knew her verbal tricks well enough to recognize when she was using one on him - playing dirty, as it were. “Very well.” To respond with anything else would have been insulting. “Allow me to get back to you with ‘instructions.’”

After repeatedly begging Valeria to be careful and bidding her a good night, Ignis returned the phone to his pocket and rested his elbows on the balcony railing, hanging his head. Uncle...

Out of their entire group, it seemed only Prompto had emerged from Nifleheim’s attack without losing someone in his family. He said his parents had made it out of the city in the evacuation and made for Accordo immediately.

If only Valeria had escaped as well. Ignis understood her need to be useful all too well, to be actively working toward some sort of goal, but he couldn’t help feeling that she was dangerously out of her depth. The Empire had proven their capacity for treachery and duplicity extended far beyond any of their worst assumptions.

“Yo, Specs.” Ignis turned to see Noctis sliding the suite’s balcony door closed behind him.

“Another headache?” Ignis asked.

Noctis shook his head. “You alright?”

“Fine,” Ignis replied automatically.

Noctis cocked his head and arched an eyebrow; the expression was as good as ordering Ignis to speak his mind.

“I...” It took more effort than he expected to keep his voice level. “I’ve just received word that my uncle was killed during the invasion.”

Noctis ground his teeth and joined Ignis in leaning over the balcony railing. “...Dammit,” he murmured. After a while, he added, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s hardly your fault, Noct.” Ignis knew the attack on Insomnia was weighing heavily on the Prince’s conscience, and the last thing he wanted was to add to that burden.

“It was my dad’s,” Noctis replied petulantly.

“No,” Ignis corrected him once more. “The blame for all of this falls solely on the Empire.”

“Yeah, but he knew!” Noctis shouted. Behind them, Ignis could see Iris and Prompto freeze in their conversation, peering out through the glass door. He held up a hand to indicate that everything was fine. “He knew, dammit,” the Prince went on, muttering. “He knew people would die.”

Ignis sighed, knowing that one day King Noctis Lucis Caelum might very well face a similar impossible decision. And though it would be Ignis’s job to advise him on such matters, it wasn’t the same as actually having to make the call.

“Why did he only try to protect me? My life isn’t worth more than your uncle’s, or Gladio’s dad, or anyone else...” Noctis said quietly, his knuckles going white as he gripped the railing.

Ignis frowned. “Unfortunately, that’s simply not true.” When Noctis turned to glare at him, he explained. “Only your line can collect the Royal Arms and wield the power of the Crystal. And, in a more practical sense, the Crown Prince serves as a rallying point for our fractured kingdom. A light in the darkness, as it were.”

Noctis’s scowl deepened. “I don’t want to be ‘more important’ than anyone else.”

“A testament to how well your father raised you, I think,” Ignis said. “I’m sure there have been many princes who felt quite the opposite.”

In response, Noctis sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes.

“Noct, we all want to go home,” Ignis said softly. “We all want to wake up to find this was a terrible dream. But we owe it to those who perished to persevere, to take back what was lost. Whether we like it or understand it is of little consequence.”

Noctis’s shoulders slumped. “Dammit, Specs. You always gotta be right, don’t you?” he lamented.

“My speciality.” Ignis forced a small smile. “But just because you’re moving forward doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to feel things along the way, you know. A king is just a man, after all.”

“Yeah,” Noctis said, staring at his shoes. “Definitely feeling the ‘just a man’ part lately.”

Ignis put his hand on the Prince’s shoulder. “I’m with you, Noct. To the very end.” No matter where my heart is pulling me.

[sickandvomiting]

When I found you, you were in awful shape...

[A lovely submission from @stardustdiadem !! Give her a hand ladies and gents.]

When I found you, you were in awful shape. Definitely in no shape to be standing, even if you were leaning heavily on the wall of a building. I saw you as I was walking home, swaying on your feet, clothes stained with dirt and water. I almost didn’t recognize you - I’d known your sister for a long time and had seen you once or twice - but I knew I couldn’t just pass by you.

“Hey, are you alright?” I asked, gripping your shoulder to try to get you out of your daze.

You suddenly flinched, and when I drew back you held a hand tightly to the back of your head. Your eyes were screwed shut with tears seeping through the edges.

“Woah, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” I tilted your chin up a bit to get a better look at you, and then found the answer to my own question.

One of your eyes was swollen at the edges so much that your eye was half closed, with a nasty purple-red bruise starting to show. Just your face alone was so messy; dried blood was stuck around your nose and there were a few bruises starting to color your cheeks. Initially all I felt was sadness; that someone could be so hurt and broken, barely able to stand, let alone find help, probably about to pass out. And then it evolved into anger. That someone would do this you, that someone was sick and cowardly enough to hurt you this badly.

“Who did this to you?” I demanded.

“I…” Your voice broke off into a fit of dry, racking coughs, leaving you dizzy and exacerbating every pain in your head and chest. You were forced to crouch down to the sidewalk, breathing heavily and wiping at the tears dripping from your eyes. I held your hand; you were trembling almost violently.

“I don’t know,” you said finally, your voice thin and raspy. “I-I can’t remember, I couldn’t see…”

I sighed. Of course, she was totally out of it, probably took a blow to the head because of how much you were holding onto it. I wanted to run down the street and find whoever hurt you. Give them a bit of karma, so to speak. But I looked back to you, shaking and hanging your head to keep yourself from fainting. I knew I couldn’t leave you even for a second, not in your condition.  "Is there anyone we can call for you? Someone who can look after you?“ I asked.

You started coughing again, holding the back of your head like it was about to burst. Finally you settled down again. “Th-they broke my phone… I can’t use it anymore…”

“Come with me, then,” I said. “I live right around the corner, it’s not far at all. My parents are home, they’ll have you taken care of. You need a rest, badly… And definitely a doctor as soon as possible. Are you okay to stand up?”

I took your hand and helped you up a little at a time. I wrapped your arm around my neck, carrying most of your weight as I took you down the street slowly. When we reached my building I got you inside and let you sit down in a chair in the small lobby to take a break. You dropped your head between your knees and rubbed at your head, a certain place at the back where your skin was red and swollen.

“Hey, your head get hurt? You’ve been holding it a lot. You look like you’re in a ton of pain…” I asked.

“I can’t remember,” you said, with your voice still shaky. “I- I think I got thrown against a wall, or… or something. It’s hurting so bad, my head is aching everywhere…”

“You’ll feel better once you get upstairs, and we can give you a few painkillers. Do your parents let you? Oh, and, um, have you eaten yet?”

“Y-yeah. My mom is fine with it. And I haven’t eaten in a while…” You sink your head down again, mumbling. “Besides, I threw up everything when my head was hurting so bad…”

“What’s that? You mean you threw up some?” I shake my head. “We really do need you to see a doctor… You’re probably concussed and plenty of other things I don’t want to think about. Like that black eye… I don’t want to know what happened. Anyways, are you feeling strong enough to get up the stairs now?”

You nodded and I helped you up again, letting you lean on me as I took you up through the stairwell. We went slowly, having to pause at the top of every staircase to take a moment’s rest. Finally I got you up to my floor, and shut the door behind us as I let you in. You slipped out of your wet jacket and sat down to take your dirty shoes off. Suddenly you swayed backwards, almost hitting your head on the wall behind you.

“Oh god, are you okay?” I asked, quickly crouching down and holding you behind the neck to keep you upright. “Don’t go passing out on me now.”

“Oh…” You groaned and manage to sit up. “My whole face is hurting me…” You wrapped your shaky hands around your head as tears fell into your lap. You winced as they stung your black eye, still swollen and getting even more purple. I rubbed your trembling shoulders and back until you managed to stop crying, sniffling and wiping at your running nose. I noticed that your bare arms looked equally damaged, covered in grabs and bruises. No cuts, though, which was fortunate. I’d be beside myself if whoever hurt you would use a knife, or something worse.

My mom walked into the room from the kitchen, her apron tied tightly around her waist. She took one look at you and sighed, kneeling down to get a better look at you.

“Who hurt you, honey?” she asked as she laid a hand on your forehead.

I spared you the exertion of talking, seeing as your throat was probably sore from coughing so much. “She doesn’t know yet. She took a nasty blow to her head and she’s not feeling well at all.”

My mom nodded and brushed your hair out of your face, picking pieces of dirt from the strands. “Poor thing. Seems like she’s got a fever as well, by how warm she feels. Have you been hot at all, honey?”

You shook your head. “ ’m so cold,” you said, bringing your arms to your chest and shivering.

“Just as well,” my mom said, “She has some awful chills.” She turned to me, concern in her eyes. “Get out the bandages and such, if you could? And a thermometer, please.” Turning back to you, she said, “And you can get cleaned up in the bath, okay? Take it easy, now. I’ll call your mother and tell her what’s happened.”

You nodded and managed to stand, dragging yourself to the bathroom and turning on the faucet. I took a moment to open up some painkillers, letting you have them with some water only if you promised to eat something later. Then I shut the door, letting you rest and get cleaned up. Meanwhile I went into the closet and pulled out a plastic container full of bandages and adhesives and such, and fished around for the thermometer. I then went into my room to find some old and smaller clothing you might be able to wear, placing it at the bathroom door.

While I was cleaning off the tip of the thermometer I heard the bathroom door open and clothes, and then a few moments later you emerged wearing my baggy T-shirt and shorts. I let you lie down in my bed, draping a soft blanket over you. The dirt had been scrubbed from your hair and skin, but in the calm light I noticed that your face had a sickly pallor and that sweat was beading at your temples. Your skin was pasty while except for under your eyes, where you had broken out in a red flush of fever. You had stopped shivering, though, and now you complained of being very hot. I gently slipped the thermometer under your tongue, waiting for it to beep.

I checked your temperature: 101 F, a bit high but nothing I couldn’t take care of. I unwrapped a cooling patch and placed it across your forehead, brushing your wet hair out of the way. I then went about tending to your other injuries, putting gentle cream on to soothe your bruises and scrapes and giving you a cough drop to settle down your itchy throat. I took two gauze patches and laid them over your swollen eye, taping them down, just to protect it and make sure you didn’t rub at it or make it worse. I sat you up for a moment to check the back of your head. The swollen bump was still there, tender under your wet hair, but fortunately it had gone down.

When you were all patched up I laid you down again and sat at the foot of the bed. You had curled up and shut your eyes, but the dry coughs racking your body made it hard for you to fall asleep. I gave you another cough drop and promised to get you some tea later, with plenty of honey.

“My mom told me that your parents won’t be home until later. They’re worried sick about you, naturally. But they know you’re taken care of. And they’ll take you to a doctor right away to get you looked at,” I told you. I rubbed your shoulder gently, every inch of your skin feeling uncomfortably warm. “My mom’s making noodles for dinner, how about I bring you a little bit?”

“Sorry… Just not hungry…” you said.

“A little bowl of rice, then, Remember, you promised me!”

“F-fine,” you said, giggling just a bit.

[skylandmountain1013]

Agents of Shield fic- learning to be

Welp. Happy hiatus folks. 

Show of hands, who else is losing their mind?

Title: learning to be

Summary: She doesn’t know how to fix problems she doesn’t remember causing. (PG-13ish.)

Post-framework arc. My guess is as good as yours. 

Check it out on AO3.

i.

She leaves the lab and all she can think about is getting to a shower. A real shower, not the antiseptic wipe downs of quarantine.

She smells like blood and dirt and adhesive and the distinct scent of melting circuits and skin. (She reminds herself it wasn’t real skin.)

It needs to be gone.

She’s not surprised that Coulson is half a step behind her, and she’s not surprised at the words coming out of his mouth.

“—you haven’t been cleared. You should be back there resting.”

“I’ve done nothing but rest for the past 5 weeks. I’m fine.” She just needs to clean up. She sees the door to her bunk up ahead.

“We aren’t aware yet of the potential side effects of long term exposure to the Framework-“

“Yeah. Simmons made that crystal clear. Multiple times. If I’m going to go crazy, I’d like to do it on my own terms.” She punches in the code to the door and wipes the residual smudges away in disgust.

He’s still in step behind her as she gathers a fresh set of clothes. She thinks she may burn the ones she has on.

She’s managed to tune him out—mostly. The shower is in front of her and she whips around to face him. The aroma of grease in her hair is overpowering. “How long do you plan on following me?”

The flush creeps up his neck as he takes in his surroundings. He rubs a hand through his hair and stumbles his words. “I’m sorry. You’re an adult. I just—it’s been—“

She doesn’t have the energy to decipher him. Not right now. “You can stay. I don’t care. Hand me that towel and turn around.”

He obliges and thank god she’s under the spray of the water moments later and it’s the best damn thing she’s ever felt in her life. She lets the steam and water and soap engulf her and she starts to feel human.

She watches his hazy form through the shower door, slumping to the ground with a sigh. Guilt creeps in. “I promised Simmons I would have everyone keep an eye on me. Report out with any changes in behavior or personality.”

The water ricocheting off the walls make his voice sound even more muffled than she’s sure it is. “You were gone while you were still here. And I couldn’t figure it out. And then I did, and then we were both gone. It’s hard to sort what’s reality right now.”

She opens the door far enough to stick her head out. The clean air assaults her.

“Phil.” He tugs at his tie. “I’m real. You’re real. We’re real.”

He cranes his neck up at her. “Okay.”

ii.

The snap of tape on leather is comforting.

Jab. Jab. Cut.

She breathes heavily, focusing on the sound of the blood rushing through her ears. It reminds her that it’s been too long since her muscles have had this much use.

Kick. Punch. Duck.

She hears footsteps enter the room, and the cadence tells her exactly who it is. He hops up on the exercise hutch with a thud.

Jab. Punch.

“Fitz needs your data on what your Framework experience was.”

“I told him I don’t have any recollection of it.” The bag stills and she rolls her head in a slow circle. The pops of her vertebrae are welcoming.

She doesn’t want to talk about this.

“You’re the only one who can’t remember what happened in there. Something isn’t adding up.”

“There’s nothing to add up. I got kidnapped. The original rescue mission failed. The secondary one didn’t.”

She won’t tell him about the conversations that won’t get out of her head—her voice saying things she doesn’t remember. Saying things she would never say. The voices of the rest of the team- sounding like them but clearly not being them.

“May. We all had a traumatic experience in there. You can talk about it. You need to talk about it.”

She finally turns to face him. “I had a shrink once. Didn’t end well. Don’t need another.” The anger lacing her words is misguided but she can’t let it go.

His eyes widen and when he speaks, she hears the measured clip of his sentences and she knows she’s hit a nerve. “If you think I’m suggesting this as a coworker or as part of some goddamn Shield protocol, then-“

“-then what, Coulson?”

The slam of the door is the only response.

iii.

2 am is well beyond the point of protocol, so she lets herself into his room without hesitation.

He’s awake (she knew he would be), and if he’s surprised to see her, he doesn’t let it show.

Instead he feigns indignation. “What if I was indecent?”

“You weren’t.”

“I could have been!”

“Alright.” She slides out of her slippers and shuffles onto the bed.

She’s struck by how old he looks. Hair greying at his temple, worry lines etched across his face- although she’s sure she doesn’t look any better.

“I can’t sleep,” she says plainly.

“I know the feeling.”

He asks if it’s nightmares, and she shakes her head no immediately. Because it’s not. She’s dealt with those long enough to know how to get through them- and it’s been decades since she’s needed to reach for him in the darkest corner of the night.

“I have these pictures in my head- things I’ve done, places I’ve been, but I know they’re not real. It’s like watching a movie that you don’t remember filming.”

He nods and stretches his arms above his head. She focuses on how his shirt sneaks across his midsection. “It’s the LMD link. Radcliffe made sure that there was always a neural connection between the LMD and it’s-” he thinks before the next words- “carbon copy. So even though you didn’t live those events, they’re in your memories.”

“That’s real fucked up,” she says with a sigh. “Even for us.”

“Tell me.” It’s a quiet plea—not the demand of earlier in the week.

She props herself up against the headboard and focuses on the world she only knows from her thoughts. “A lot of you and me. Mostly good. Talking. We never talk.”

He nods, confirming her description. She thinks he looks wistful. She’s not sure.

She closes her eyes as the film in her mind leads to it’s climax—the one that’s been keeping her up. “I think I pulled a gun on you.”

“Yeah.”

“Jesus, Phil.”

He lays his glasses on the nightstand and starts rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know if it helps, but I think I did the same to you.”

She’s seen pieces of that as well- Blood. A promise of no pain. Lies. Love. Sacrifice. An explosion. Choice.

A faint shudder runs through his body and she knows he’s seeing it too.

“What the hell did we do to each other?”

She doesn’t have an answer. She doesn’t know how to fix problems she doesn’t remember causing.

His answer is to lift the corner of his comforter and offer it to her. “Stay?”

She doesn’t need to. But she also can’t think of a reason not to want to. She slides down and he forces off the lights.

Once her eyes adjust she watches the rise and fall of his chest until hers follows suit.

iv.

The microwave dings and she knows her father would disapprove. (Melinda. Good Asian food comes from the heart. Not square white boxes.) But it’s been a long day and the Kung Pao Chicken in the fridge looked too good to pass up.

The first bite of rice barely passes her lips when the couch sags next to her.

“Hey.” Coulson is holding a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

“Wednesday night drinking? I think I approve.”

He shrugs and places everything down on the table. “You never had that drink. Sorry it’s not the Haig,” he winces. “Robots.”

She reads the label on the bottle and gives him a look. It may not be Haig, but it’s still top shelf.

“Mace never changed the combination to the storage locker in his office,” He explains, shrugging. “Besides. He owes me. He just doesn’t realize it.”

“Well now I definitely approve.”

He eyes the take out box. “Golden Dragon?”

She nods, so he grabs her fork and spears himself a peapod.

“Hey, that’s mine!”

“Actually I think it’s Mack’s.”

She grabs the fork out of his mouth. “I could kick his ass if needed to.”

They trade bites until the box is empty. She reaches for the liquor on the table.

The bottle is opened and drinks are poured and she asks what they are drinking to. This is his idea, after all.

His answer is thoughtful. “Humanity. Reality. Moving forward.”

Glasses clink and she takes a sip. She tastes smoke and spice and warmth.

A contented silence sits between them as they both finish their drinks.

“Do you think it’s true? That even though the LMD’s were machines, they were acting on our intrinsic wants and needs?”

“The science makes sense,” He offers. “But I studied history, so..”

He’s studying his empty glass and she realizes that the space between them has disappeared.

So she makes a choice.

He tastes like soy sauce and toothpaste and home.

v.

Her world is on fire.

They’re in an air handler room of all places, because whatever has finally clicked between them has turned them into fucking teenagers who can’t make it to privacy. She doesn’t think he minds. She certainly doesn’t.

His mouth is hot against her collarbone and she feels her keys jabbing into the small of her back from being pinned against some pipes and she momentarily wonders if these pipes are important, what they control on the base and then his hand moves lower and she doesn’t wonder anymore.

“Jesus,” he hisses, as her hands skim under his shirt. She scratches his hair and circles his navel and closes her eyes in brief reverence as her fingers dance over the puckered skin of his scar.

He moves closer (she’s really not sure how that’s possible) and she feels how hard he is and he isn’t hiding it and so she positions her thigh between his and rubs just enough to create some friction.

“Old man,” he manages to grunt. “Need a soft landing spot.”

She moves away and immediately misses the connection.

A quick sweep of the hallway and she pulls him behind her, darting through the corridor. Her room is closer.

The door whooshes open.

They stumble towards the bed and she welcomes his skin.