#another plot bunny to add to the pile

[after-witch]

So I've thought about Chrollo having a thing for nylons/tights/stockings, and y'know, that's hot. A very hot thought.

Especially in a yandere kidnapped situation. You're already at the man's mercy, now he's taking away your comfortable white socks with padded cushions and there's only variations of sleek nylons in your drawer or suitcase.

And he seems to always be able to get you to put your feet up on his lap when you're wearing them, too. And he enjoys it when you try to jerk your feet away because he can't resist running a finger along the thin material.

But.

But.

But.

But what if yandere Feitan had a thing for nylons?

[woniverse-writes]

"MOTH TO A FLAME (part 2)"

Bada Lee x Fem!Reader

part 1.5 ⟵ part 2 ⟶ part 3

series masterlist

summary: y/n l/n is the youngest team member of Jam Republic, competing in the second season of Street Woman Fighter. she’s got the sweetest smile and the most vibrant personality, but she also may or may not be the biggest hothead on the show when it comes to defending her teammates. apparently that’s attractive to Bada Lee.

word count: 12.8k (i'm so sorry)

warnings: swearing, suggestive at times, both Bada and reader are highkey obsessed with each other, Redlic, reader is described as younger and small a lot, Bada is kinda confusing with her feelings, sometimes isn't very accurate to swf's actual plot, also this isn't proofread so... sorry for any mistakes lol- lemme know if I missed anything!

After heading back to their rooms, each team celebrates finishing the first mission. some are more excited than others, based on their ranking. Like Jam Republic for example, whose first thought is to shake some ass for their victory. Kirsten and y/n keep posing and dancing toward the camera, blowing kissing, and having fun again.

“I can’t believe we just did that” Audrey sighs out, flopping back on the couch. Y/n piles on top of her, causing the slightly older girl to dramatically huff out a breath as to tease Y/n for plopping on her. The younger adjusts quickly and stares at her friend with a glare that holds no real malice, but is simply another teasing moment between the two. Audrey laughs and squeezes Y/n’s face.

“Oh, angry bunny!” she shakes the girl's head from side to side, still holding her face. The younger whines out loudly in protest, quickly pulling herself away and running to the other side of the room. The other members laugh in admiration of their youngest members.

“I hate it when you do that!” Y/n continues to whine but she also laughs along with her crew.

“Oh, but if Bada did it it’d be fine, right?” Ling provokes, and all heads whip in her direction. She has a knowing smirk and all the members burst out laughing with wide eyes as their youngest stands there shocked beyond words.

“That- that’s not- that is absolutely NOT true.” Y/n tries to suppress her nervous smile, but her bright red face and inability to cohesively string a sentence along doesn’t help her case.

“Right… yeah okay we believe you…” Emma crosses her arms and relaxes, letting out the last of her chuckles. Y/n throws her hands up and nods about to move on before it all goes downhill again.

“Puppy” Emma finished off her previous statement, sending her teammates into an even more intense frenzy of screams and chaos.

“ENOUGH” y/n’s screaming and covering her face in embarrassment, falling to the floor and curling up in a ball. They’re all laughing so hard their faces are red, and some even have tears streaming down their faces. Kirsten is trying really hard to be a responsible leader and get them to pull themselves together, but every time she looks over and meets y/n’s panicked puppy eyes she can’t help but start laughing again.

“Okay, okay, we need to take a lap and pull ourselves together” Kirsten manages to get out as everyone has calmed down for the most part. Shortly after, an announcement appears on the screen and the host is back, beginning to explain the next mission.

After it’s explained how the competition is going to work, and each team has picked its members, the lineups are revealed. The rookie class is revealed first and every team just about loses their minds when they see y/n is put in rookie.

“Ugh, I knew she was gonna be here, but I was just really hoping somehow she wouldn’t” Redy whines into her hands, receiving a comforting shoulder pat from Harimu. When Bebe sees the lineup, they’re just as worked up seeing y/n as a rookie.

"How is this even fair???" Tatter whines in despair, throwing her head back and running her hands down her face.

"Oh girl… You better get to work NOW" Lusher adds in, leaning back in her seat, side-eying the blonde.

"Maybe she's not good at choreographing…" Bada tries to ease Tatters’s mind, but as everyone  turns to look at her, they can all tell even Bada doesn't believe her own words by the way she sinks into her seat

"You can't be serious right now." Tatter scoffs, covering her face and groaning.

"Yeah I'm sorry, I don't know what you want me to say- I can't think of a single bad thing to say about that girl." 

"Yeah, we know" Bada's mouth drops open slightly at the jab from Cheche, who has a slight smirk on her face. To be completely honest, Bada didn’t know what to expect. It made the most sense to put y/n in the rookie class, as she’s the youngest in her crew and has danced less years than some of the others. BUT- she also has a ton of experience in different settings and styles, making her a versatile performer. Knowing her background, Bada can’t help but worry for her teammate as well as the others who have to go up against her.

The rest of the lineups are revealed and everyone gets working on choreography. Y/n is really excited yet focused as she works on her routine. The vibe of the song suits her style well and she feels confident that her choreography will at least be one of the top choices. She brings attention to every beat by articulating her movements and adjusting the strength of each one in accordance with the strength of the beat. The girl feels good about it, feeling her interpretation was executed well, but she wants to express the lyrics directly more. Having some basic knowledge of the Korean language was definitely helpful in times like this. 

When it’s time to present the choreographies, y/n is one of the last to show hers, and everyone is blown away. Most of them weren’t expecting her to directly interpret the lyrics as well as incorporate the beats. Her combination of straightforward articulation and usage of lyricism, on top of her naturally flawless musicality really drew everyone in and caused her to stand out. When it came time to decide the choreography that everyone wanted to do, almost everyone thought y/n’s was the best… but that meant nothing in this competition. 

"Y/n, I thought your choreography was amazing, and I'd love to dance it…" Redy starts, but a timid smile appears on her face. Y/n begins to smile gratefully before hearing the rest of Redy’s statement.

"After the competition… I think you'd be uneatable and no one else would stand a chance if we did this choreography. I'm sorry." She nods her head in apology, and y/n nods hers in understanding.

The time comes for them to all make their final decisions and Rena is the only one to vote for y/n, who happens to be the only one to vote for Rena as well. After Capri’s choreography was chosen, they all quickly conversed about when they would be back to start learning it, then went their separate ways. Along the way, y/n was stopped by Rena.

“They must be really scared of you” the Tsuba Kill member declares with a joking lilt in her voice as she walks up to match pace with the younger girl/ Y/n turns her head to look and Rena before grinning a little.

“I could say the same about you. We both got dropped for the same reason.” Y/n replies disappointed but not surprised. Rena ‘tsks’ and tilts her head, laughing off her annoyance.

“Ehhh, what can you do?” she shrugs before continuing, “We’ll just have to work even harder to prove why we’re the only ones suited for the main dancer position, right?” the older girl challenges raising an eyebrow at y/n. The younger girl raises her eyebrows in response, then sticks her hand out to Rena.

“I think we’re gonna make a good team.” She smiles and jokes slightly. Rena giggles and shakes her hand before they go to their individual rooms.

Yeah so Tatter comes back from the meeting and everyone can immediately sense her stress, so she explains how everything went down.

"I really loved y/n's choreography, but I knew she'd look best doing it, so I couldn't bring myself to vote for her" Tatter sits back and sighs, running her hands down her face. All of Bebe nods and hums in understanding. Not even Bada tries to counter the fact that y/n would look best doing her choreo, because it’s true, and she couldn’t bring herself to lie about that. 

“It’s okay, you made the right decision. It’s better for you to have chosen something you were confident in learning and executing, rather than something you wouldn't have been able to achieve in the short period of time we have.” the leader calmly reassures her member and pats her head, smoothing out her hair.

When y/n returns to Jam Republic’s hideout, she’s not as visibly as upset as she was before talking with Rena. 

“How’d it go??” Kirsten asked with wide eyes, seated and ready to listen. Latrice tuned in but continued to work on her own choreography. Y/n sighed and closed her eyes for a second.

“I did really well” she started with her eyes still closed. Kirsten straightens her stature and throws her hands up in excitement.

“That’s great!! And you must've done REALLY well for you to be able to say that yourself-” she praises her youngest dancer, excited to see her recognizing her own talent, but then Kirsten takes notice of the lack of excitement on the other end. Her face drops slightly and she lets out a sigh

“But…” Kirsten urges, and y/n takes a deep breath

“But they all thought I did too well… they all loved my choreo and wanted to learn it, but not for the competition. None of them want to compete because they think I’ll look the best doing it, and no one else will stand a chance.” she explains and looks even more disappointed than before. Kirsten clicks her tongue and stands to give her a hug. Latreice stops working on her piece and also comes to embrace the girl.

“That’s such a stupid reason not to vote for your choreography. They should be picking based on which one is the best, and if they recognized yours as the best but still didn’t pick it, it’s because they’re intimidated…” Kirsten begins to explain, tucking a piece of hair behind y/n's ear, and then petting her hair affectionately.

“Exactly, so now you just need to go out there and show them exactly why they should still be intimidated. Because no matter who’s choreography gets chosen, you’re gonna eat it up.” Latrice finishes, gently rubbing the younger girl's back. Y/n exhales and nods.

The next day of practice goes well and y/n feels confident with Capri’s choreography. It was easy, but she knew how to accentuate and execute each move to suit her style best. When they all finish learning their respective dances, the teams meet back the next day to battle for the main dancer position. They have a few minutes before they actually start shooting, so most dancers are getting some last-minute practice in or discussing with their team. Both Jam Republic and Bebe are working non-stop to perfect the pieces they’re about to compete. When y/n pauses to grab water, Bada sees this as an opportunity to quickly catch up, and maybe even an opportunity to psych her out a little in favor of Tatter. Did Bada feel bad thinking this way? Of course she did, but she held no ill intent, she just knew y/n would be amazing no matter what, so maybe just a little bit more pressure and it’d cause her nerves to hinder her a bit. Because at the end of the day, this was still a competition, and Bada was dedicated to winning.

The Bebe leader sauntered over to a focused y/n with a cool expression. The younger girl stood with her hands on her hips, head back and eyes closed as she caught her breath. Bada didn’t want to startle her necessarily, but we all know how she loves to tease. The older girl tugged on y/n’s beanie, pulling it down over her eyes, causing her to yelp in surprise and stand up straight, quickly pulling the hat off her own head. Her wide eyes meet Bada’s, who’s busy giggling at her shocked expression- but when she processes everything, her hands are back on her hips and she tilts her head with what’s supposed to be a stern expression.

“Hey.” is all y/n says and it has Bada dying laughing. Both of their respective teams are now subtly watching the interaction. 

“You should probably put your hate back on” Bada raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms as she recommends the younger girl. Y/n fakes pouts and crosses her arms as well.

“And why should I? Hm?” she questions raising her own eyebrows. Bad pokes the inside of her cheek with her tongue and grins, pleasantly surprised at y/n’s lack of obvious nerves. She notices the girl’s slight blush, but that’s her only present giveaway.

“Because your hair is a mess” she states calmly but still teasing, and ruffles the short girl’s hair, messing it up even more. Y/n whines and moves her head back so it’s out of Bada’s reach. She pouts and tries to fix her hair by running her fingers through it.

“You’re so mean to me!” she pouts trying not to smile or laugh, the blush on her face becoming much more intense as Bada continues to laugh at her. y/n finally gives up on trying to fix her hair and turns to fully face Bada again.

“Fix it.” she demands, looking up at Bada, still pouting. It’s the older girl’s turn to be shocked, as her eyes widen immensely and her face goes red in an instant.

“Eh?” she tilts her head and giggles, only slightly confused. 

“You made my hair a mess, so you fix it.” The small dancer just continues to talk with a pout, still trying not to smile, waiting for Bada to do something. The older dancer hesitates slightly before sighing and pretending to be annoyed at the demands, before starting to run her fingers through y/n’s hair. The second Bada’s hand makes contact with y/n’s head, the pout from the younger of the two immediately dissipates into a gentle smile. She’s staring up into Bada’s eyes, who happens to be avoiding eye contact, opting to focus on smoothing out y/n’s hair. 

“There, you should be good.” Bada nods, still not meeting y/n’s eyes, causing a small pout to return to the younger’s face. She just takes the beanie that y/n is still holding and positions it neatly on her head, tucking her hair so it sits comfortably but still looks nice. Meanwhile, anyone who happens to look over right now would how lovestruck y/n is by the older dancer. Her eyes glitter and she’s trying so hard to suppress the biggest smile ever that she has to bite her lip- which in turn causes Bada to have to focus even harder on anything besides the girl in front of her. When she finally does glance down to meet y/n’s eyes, Bada’s breath catches in her throat, not expecting the look she was getting from the younger girl. 

“Alright, get out of here. Go back to practicing.” Bada turns y/ns by her shoulders and shoves her slightly back in the direction of her team. Y/n just laughs, feeling so at peace with Bada, not realizing the effect she has on her.

“You’re the one who came over here to bother me!” the younger of the two exclaims, still laughing and watching Bada retreat backward, still keeping an eye on her. The older waves a hand dismissively and shakes her head.

“No wayyyyy, that’s not what happened.” She elongates and smiles charmingly, still trying to tease and get a rise out of y/n. 

“Yeah?” y/n raises an eyebrow and Bada can’t help but think how attractive she looks when she’s confident. She’s only ever been shy around her up until a few minutes ago, and Bada can’t tell which she likes more yet. She shakes her head at the younger girl and continues back to her team’s area with a smile and blush painting her face. Bada was expecting to get y/n worked up before she had to go on in hopes of getting her nervous enough to slightly underperform, but she’s pretty sure that totally backfired, because now Bada herself is the one feeling flustered, and Y/n seems more confident than she did before. Once reaching her team, Bada doesn’t even go back to practicing right away, she just sits down and takes a large drink of water.

Y/n puts her earbuds back in and goes back to practicing with agrin on her face after watching Bada sit down.

“So she’s not even gonna debrief with us what just happened?” Emma questions from her seat near Latrice and Kirsten. Ling, the biggest y/n-targeter, glances at the girl again to see her marking the routine but with full facials and can tell her adrenaline is pumping even more now. She turns back to Emma and chuckles

“She’s on a different level right now- I don’t think we can disturb her even if we tried” Ling just laughed and stretched her arms above her head.

“It’s like Bada’s attention gives her energy” Audrey notes smiling at how focused her friend is on executing the routine diligently 

“Bada could probably spit in her face and tell her she’s the worst dancer she’s ever seen and y/n would just be like “I have to be better for her”.” Emma mocks in a dainty voice causing the others to laugh. 

“Oh leave her alone, there’s nothing wrong with having a little crush.” Kirsten, ever the motherly type, gently comments to the rest of the team. She herself glances at y/n to see her taking another short sip of her water, eyes still sparkling, but also fiery with determination.

As the time arrives for the rookie class to compete for the main dancer title, all of the teams are hyping up their rookie. y/n is being shaken around by her members in an attempt to hype her up, which is very effective until she steals a glance in Bada’s direction to see her pressing her forehead to Tatter’s. 

"haha that was cute- I'm killing myself" Y/n fake laughs and the look in her eyes says “I’m fucking dying inside”. Her teammates panic for a second and whip around back to face her direction, then follow her line of sight. Emma tries to cover up her laugh with a cough.

"Don't worry y/n, I gotchu-" Audrey jokes around, aggressively grabbing y/n by the face and planting a fat kiss on her cheeks, making sure to cause an annoyingly loud 'smooch' sound. y/n yelps in surprise but then laughs and shoves her away, not even bothering to wipe away the lipstick stain on her cheek

Bada doesn't see the interaction but notices the lipstick print on y/n's cheek when she steps into the center, and suddenly feels bitterly confused. Now she can't even focus on the competition in front of her because she's so stuck on trying to figure out which Jam member's lipstick matches the one of y/n's cheek. After she realizes how obsessive she's being, Bada tries to solely focus on watching everyone perform

"Let's go, Tatter!" she's screaming and cheering for her teammate, but her eyes are mostly focused on the girl next to her. y/n dances the choreography as if it's her own, showing her truest self as a performer. Bada feels like it’s truly amazing watching her dance because it’s almost like the music lives inside y/n with the way she hits every beat and accent flawlessly and effortlessly. Every move she makes looks natural- like this is too easy for her. 

It comes down to the final four being her, Capri, Tatter, and Rena. They rematch and Bada is just happy Tatter made it that far- of course, she hopes the blonde is able to secure the main dancer title, but she’s pretty positive y/n’s had it secured since she learned the choreography. Watching the rematch only confirms Bada’s thoughts, y/n somehow executing the piece even more excellently than the first time. She cheers, albeit slightly resigned, already knowing the outcome. 

The judges converse for quite some time and then finally face the dancers.

“We’ve chosen this member as the main dancer based on the quality of their movement and their ability to flawlessly interpret the song’s vibe” Monika prefaces the reveal with their reasoning.

“Main dancer for the rookie class is…” Mike Song starts back up

“Jam Republic’s Y/n.” Her tense figure relaxes as she sighs and the rest of her crew comes running up to surround her in a hug. She’s grinning and giggling slightly as the mic is passed over for her to say a few words about getting the position. She can barely even bring the mic up to speak into it, as her members are still hugging her tightly.

“This really is an amazing opportunity, and I’m extremely grateful. I’ll continue to improve the performance and show everyone an even better version. Thank you.” she bows politely (or attempts to, still secured in place with the loving arms of her members). The other teams applaud her again and Jam Republic walks back to their seats, y/n is in the back of the bundle. As they walk past Bebe, Bada confidently shouts out

“Y/n-ie congratulations, you were amazing!” and the small girl whips around, confused puppy dog eyes quickly scanning and finding Bada in the audience near her. She smiles the brightest smile ever seen and her breathing quickens a little bit.

“Thank you, so much” she replies a bit breathlessly, bowing and then not even trying to suppress her girlish giggles when she turns away from the older girl. 

“Wow… she even got a recognized by Bada… y/n really is THAT good, huh…” Yeni Cho gushes, jealous of the praise and recognition the youngest competitor is getting. 

“Did Bada just compliment you?” Kirsten murmurs the question once y/n gets closer to her. The younger of the two just giggles again and shrugs her shoulders, trying to suppress her smile.

“I guess she did…” 

__________________

Next was the sub-leader battle, which let’s just say, did not go well for y/n. She was still riding her high from getting crowned main dancer, and she was so excited to watch Latrice perform after watching her choreography, but she was still mildly annoyed at the others for doubting her members. The judges ask about the process and hardships and Redlic begins to speak. She expresses an irritation towards Latrice’s apparent lack of professionalism, causing all of Jam Republic to prickle slightly, especially their designated hothead, y/n. She was able to control her distaste for a bit, but then Redlic started talking out of her ass again and y/n couldn't help but roll her eyes and scoff in irritation.

"I'm so fucking sick of her attitude" and Kirsten's eyes get so wide, she immediately turns to her and covers her mouth

"You really need to start remembering you're on camera," she says seriously but laughs a little. y/n doesn't even look pissed at this point- she's got this annoyed, almost disgusted look on her face.

"your girl is pissed off again"

Bada immediately turns to look for y/n, and Tatter throws her hands up in defeat. y/n keeps listening to Redlic complain, now with an exhausted glare, waiting for her to shut the fuck up

"I'm so tired of her shit-" she starts with arms crossed, "maybe if she was better she wouldn’t have to rely on making excuses as to why she couldn't pick up the choreo." y/n speaks evenly and surprisingly calm, but one look at her face tells everyone that her comment was a genuine dig intended to knock the blonde dancer down a peg. Members from both Bebe and 1 Million hear her, as they are the two teams sitting on the outside of Jam Republic, and can’t help but either laugh in shock or sit there with scared wide eyes.

“Waaaah y/n is so scary!” Redy exclaims hiding slightly behind Lia Kim, giggling nervously.

When it comes time for them to finally dance, y/n is already on her feet ready to cheer Latrice on louder than anyone has ever cheered. Although she’s ready to cheer, y/n still looks cold and scary with her arms crossed and the tired glare beaming in her eyes. The music starts and y/n is already screaming.

“Let’s go Latrice! It’s yours! TAKE IT!!!” her screams even had Bada raising her eyebrows in shock at the volume and continuous energy coming out of the small girl. She suppresses a smile and goes back to watching Lusher dance alongside Latrice. Once the music stopped, y/n was critiquing openly in an instant.

"She tried too hard to make it sexy, it ended up looking cheap" she states, cold eyes trained on Redlic.

"damn, you are RUTHLESS" Audrey comments, laughing at her friend's easy to activate temper.

The judges converse once again, and they seem to make a decision quicker than when y/n had competed.

“The dancer chosen to fill the main dancer position is Jam Republic’s Latrice.” they announce and y/n shoots up in the air like a rocket, screaming her lungs out. The relief she feels after hearing the news is very evident on her face. As the judges gave their opinions and reasoning behind their decision y/n felt herself finally feeling satisfied, a proud smile overtaking her features. Her peace is disturbed very quickly though by Redlic, who expresses how she thinks the decision was unfair, and that Latrice was only picked for her physique. 

Y/n had never felt more enraged at that moment.

“Is she fucking serious?” she outwardly and quite loudly questions, causing everyone to look at her, and Kirsten to put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a look as to say “watch yourself”. Redlic meets the girl's eyes and immediately regrets everything. Y/n has never looked more dangerous, poking the inside of her cheek with her tongue. She’s got this angry, evil smirk- and she laughs when Redlic turns around and goes “sorry” while hanging her head.

“Yeah, that’s what I fucking thought” Y/n crosses her arms and leans back in her seat, face still hot with anger, and eye trained on Redlic as she walks back to her seat. Kirsten sighs and massages her forehead, stressed because 1) why the fuck did one of her dancers just get talked about like that in the grand year of 2023, and 2) she doesn’t know how she’s gonna deal with little-miss-attitude-problem. Even after putting her rage aside for a moment to congratulate and celebrate Latrice, y/n is back to glaring at Redlic, unable to pay attention to anything else, until it’s time for the leader lineup to compete.

The leaders all step away from their crews and into the fight zone, preparing to battle. Audrey, wanting to cause some mischief and tease her friends some more, turns to y/n with a look that can’t mean anything good.

“So who do you want to be the main dancer y/n? Are you still our team member or has Bebe won you over?” the short-haired girl ponders sarcastically.

"What kind of question even is that? Of course Kirsten- she's my mom, Bada is just my girlfriend." y/n answers sounding fully serious, but obviously joking when she shares the second half of her response. Emma ‘tsks’ and looks over at the two of them with a strange look.

"Why do you always have to say stuff that's gonna get you canceled when there are cameras around" the oldest of the three asks jokingly, causing the youngest’s jaw to drop in confusion.

"Why would I get canceled??"- "BECAUSE YOU AREN'T DATING HER????" Emma and y/n go back and forth just like siblings. Audrey laughs at the chaos she caused, Ling sighs- disappointed but not surprised with the banter, and Latrice minds her own business- focusing on Kirsten and the competition.

"I just wish for one day of peace where y/n isn't saying weird shit and being delusional-" "DID YOU SEE THE WAY SHE LOOKED AT ME BRO???"

yeah…

It’s officially time for the leaders to battle and, y/n is sat, ready to go. Bada and Kirsten are in separate groups, much to y/n’s satisfaction, as she can freely watch both without having to worry about missing the other. y/n tries to control her awe while watching Bada, but she gets a little too excited and ends up outwardly cheering- and she panics and laughs when Audrey playfully side-eyes her. She sits back down and tries to suppress her excitement, but Bada is just too good to be real. It’s not a style that y/n would be able to pull off unless she was 100% confident in knowing the choreography, but watching Bada do it so effortlessly made her want to learn it too. When she does the final ‘lighter’ pose at the end, Bada comes back to reality and can feel eyes on her, which makes sense since everyone was watching, but she still shifts her eyes slightly to meet with y/n’s. Y/n, who is holding her breath, covering the lower half of her face (hiding a blush). Y/n, whose eyes widen about three sizes when she realizes Bada is staring at her. The girl fumbles for a second but then moves her hands away from her face to give Bada a double ‘thumbs up’ and frantically nods in approval, revealing a blush in the meantime. Bada just smirks and turns to exit the floor in order to make room for the next group.

When she's watching Kirsten though- it's a shock how y/n hasn't passed out yet with how much she's screaming and cheering. Bada’s eyes are going back and forth between Kirsten and y/n. She’s surprisingly able to focus more on the leader’s dancing, rather than the younger member’s cheering. Either way, she’s irritated. If y/n were on her team, would she cheer for her like that?  Does she truly think Kirsten is better than her, or is it just because they’re on the same team? Bada’s head is full of questions, but she forces herself to push them aside for right now, putting her full focus back on the competition.

When they rematch the first time, y/n controls her emotions even less. Again, Bada and Kirsten are in different groups, allowing y/n to enjoy both of their performances. Then when they rematch the third time, all her restraint is out the door. She’s screaming and cheering as loud as ever, and everyone just assumes it’s for Kirsten- which most of it is! But occasionally y/n will react to something Bada had done, and nobody even questions it.

The two finish dancing together and everyone can admit that they’re untouchable.

“Can’t they just both be the main dancers?” Y/n groans and whines in anticipation as the judges take their good ‘ol time deciding the main dancer. When Bada is announced as the winner, y/n claps respectfully with a disappointed but somewhat satisfied smile. Of course she’s extremely happy for her, but it’s still a loss for her team. So the young girl stands up and claps slightly more enthusiastically, just happy to have been able to witness such an insane performance.

Bada is feeling unexplainably proud. She falls to the ground and thanks the judges. Kirsten did such an amazing job and Bada truly felt honored to have been able to dance with her. She really did have a better understanding now why y/n admired her so much. 

Then Bada kisses Kirsten on the cheek, and the young girl stops smiling and clapping altogether- she just kind of freezes, her mouth slightly hung open. With her body still frozen mid-clap, y/n just slowly turns her head to Emma who's already looking at her with an amused smirk, trying not to burst out laughing at her younger teammate's jealousy.

“Why is it everyone BUT ME???” y/n snaps out of her frozen frame and dramatically crumples to the ground.

___________________

On the day of the video shoot, everyone is getting their hair and makeup done. Bada is sitting away from the rest of the leaders when she feels her phone buzz. She picks it up to see a text from y/n, and when she opens it, she's met with a selfie of her and Tatter. It's the two of them making scrunched-up faces and pouting playfully at the camera. They're both holding onto a ribbon-tied strand of the other's hair, pretending to tug on it. Bada smiles subconsciously and hearts the message, saving the picture. She then aims her camera at the mirror snapping her own selfie and sending it. She’s honestly really glad y/n set that because the two hadn’t texted since Bada first got her number a few days ago. 

Y/n’s phone pings twice and she opens it, only to slam it back down. It wasn’t even that serious but Bada looked way too good in that picture for y/n to think rationally. On top of that- she didn’t really want her stylist to accidentally peek over her shoulder and see that she was texting Bada. So she waited for the stylist to walk away for a second, before opening her phone again to heart the message and reply with ‘stooop, you look so good😩’. She hesitated for a second before ultimately deciding to save the picture to her camera roll, smiling then placing her phone back down on the counter as her stylists came back. 

Bada opens her phone again, smiling at the message. She types out ‘call me on your break’ but decides to change it to ‘text me when you guys get a break? I wanna talk to you<3’ then presses send. Y/n receives the message and turns her brightness down to make it harder for anyone else to see. She bites her lip to suppress her smile and replies ‘ofc!!’ with a heart emoji.

The shoots begin and everything is going moderately smooth until it's announced that people have the opportunity to switch parts, but only the main dancer can make that decision. y/n groans and throws her head back while covering her eyes. She starts laughing in disbelief and looks around at the other rookie members

"Let's just have fun, please. Obviously- work hard and strive for your best, but just have fun when you dance cuz that'll make all the difference to me" was what she told everyone when she was asked how she felt about it. 

The rookies were all laughing and having a blast, especially Redy, y/n, and Rena- the other two shared the center with y/n a lot, although they often alternated with Tatter and Gooseul. Gooseul, trying to get on y/n's good side, always comes to find her on breaks and takes lots of selfies with her, making sure to compliment every aspect of the girl. Redy, who actually has taken quite a liking to y/n feels a little defensive and worms her way into any conversation Gooseul tries to have with the main dancer. So now Gooseul and Y/n selfies are Gooseul, y/n, and Redy selfies, which eventually just become Y/n and Redy selfies.

Now THIS catches Tatter's attention- and Tatter is making a move to start conversation with y/n- asking her about certain moves and how she wants the quality of a specific section to be portrayed. She has to stay on y/n's good side because 1) she knows this girl is ruthless and will easily tear her apart if she needs to, and 2) Bada would probably die of heartbreak if Tatter and y/n didn't end up on good terms.

The go on a quick break and y/n thinks about texting Bada, but she worries she won’t have much time to talk. Instead she just reviews the notes she made for the shoot regarding what she wanted to do with the concept. 

“I wish we could do an outfit change” y/n express with a slight pout.

“You’re the director- you can make the call do have an outfit change,” the staff tells her. They had prepared multiple outfits in case some hadn’t ended up blending well with the others, so it wasn’t a problem.

“REALLY???” She gets so excited and runs to tell the other girls her idea. y/n explains how she wants them to do the final chorus in different outfits that are a bit more girly and cunty to bring the vibe together more, to which they enthusiastically agree. Y/n keeps sharing her ideas, and making changes to better the final product, and surprisingly no one is complaining about it- or ar least not to her face.

“I want the second verse to be all small groups or duos” She shares her next idea, which everyone agrees with in a heartbeat cuz they all want more screen time. She organizes it so that Yeni Cho and Buckey take the first chunk of the second verse, and Rena and Capri take the latter half; leaving Tatter, Redy, and Gooseul with the build-up to the chorus; and y/n coming back in as the center for the chorus.

As they practice the blocking for this part, y/n works with the groups one-on-one and the others continue to practice, except for Yeni and Buckey who are trying to figure out a way to make their screen time last longer.

Ultimately Yeni and Buckey try to get y/n to make their part longer, but she politely declines saying she choreographed each part for a specific reason and it wouldn't make sense with the music to elongate their part-

“Try not to worry please because the camera angles will capture you- I promise you’ll have other opportunities to be seen” And they’re obviously not happy. Yeni kind of just resigns in defeat after trying and failing to get more screen time, but Buckey’s attitude is a little less cooperative now. As they continue the shoot, Buckey’s not really being a team player because she’s trying too hard to stand out, and causing it to look messy. Y/n keeps monitoring and asking to redo shots because Buckey isn’t blending well with everyone

“Buckey please try to blend better- maybe relax your movements a little here-“ she starts but it cut off by Buckey

“Why would I want to blend in with everyone?” She questions irritated. Y/n’s eyes just widen in gentle confusion, because why is she suddenly upset?

“Well you need to blend but not necessarily blend IN- you stand out too much right now” the main dancer tries to explain calmly and evenly while still genuinely trying  to appease Buckey’s stress

“Y/n I think I look fine, You have to realize I’m competing to win too, so I have to do what I can to catch the judges' attention” It’s silent among the girls as they all stand baffled by mannequeen’s dancer. They turn their glances towards y/n who’s standing firmly with her arms crossed, looking eerily calm, her eyes starting to have the daring glare that only appears when y/n is so angry that even she knows it’d be bad for her to speak before thinking.

“Buckey I want everyone to stand out, but as of right now, you’re only doing so in a negative way. I understand you want to catch the judges’ attention, but this is the wrong way to do it…” she takes a deep breath

“And if you continue with this current attitude, you’ll end up placing last by the judges and be voted worst dancer.” Y/n’s firm statement sent a chill down everyone’s spine. She cracked her jaw and then let out a heavy sigh

“Let’s get back to the shoot.” she directs loud and clear and turns around to head back towards the set. Everyone glances around at each other, then discreetly at Buckey, before following y/n

"She's so scary when she's upset" Gooseul whines in a whisper

"Yeah and that's exactly why you shouldn't make her upset-" Redy whispers back

"just don't do stupid shit around her and you won't make her upset- y/n seems to be really chill unless you cross a line with her, which makes sense." Tatter joins the conversation with the other two who nod and hum in agreement.

After the slight incident, the rest of the shoot went really well. Buckey got it together but still had a sour attitude, yet everyone looked amazing. Y/n felt really proud of them and honestly wished to work with them all again. They wrapped up the shoot by filming the final chorus in their new outfits, in which they all made sure to take plenty of selfies in. When they finally finished everything, all the girls went to their dressing rooms to take off their makeup and put on their regular clothes. Y/n had been so focused on directing the video, that she totally forgot to text Bada on her break.

She whipped out her phone and typed a quick ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t text you when I had a break- I was so focused on perfecting the project that I didn’t even have my phone on me’, feeling stupid for already screwing things up. Bada didn’t respond for about 45 minutes because the leaders were still shooting, and when they finished up they had all done the same as the rookies and immediately washed off their makeup and put on comfy clothes. When Bada saw the message, she felt bad for leaving y/n on delivered but quickly rationalized that she couldn't have helped it. 

‘It’s totally fine! I completely understand- we actually just finished filming so that’s why I wasn’t able to respond right away.’ The older girl replies to her text, and receives an almost instantaneous response of ‘oh okay! How was it??’ and they discuss how each of their days went. The two continue talking for the rest of their way back from their shooting sites, and even after they’ve both showered and changed into their pajamas. 

‘I’m honestly obsessed with the outfits we had today’ y/n texts. ‘Oooh do you have pics?’ Bada replies. ‘Of course I do! But…’ ‘...but what?’ y/n debates on whether or not she actually wants to send Bada all the cute pictures Redy took of her, but she ultimately decides against it for now.

‘But I want you to see them tomorrow and be surprised 😋’ the younger girl finally responds, feeling like teasing a little bit. Bada smiles at her phone but acts annoyed over text- ‘Ugh you can’t be serious’ she replies then adds on ‘Not even one picture? :(‘And of course y/n can’t help how fast her heart beats and how much of a loser she is for Bada, so she gives in.

‘Fine, you can see ONE picture, and it’s not even gonna be my full outfit cuz I still want you to be surprised- so just makeup and the top half!’ the young girl offers, to which Bada likes the message and hits her with a ‘yes, of course, I promise I'll still be surprised’, just excited to see her again. Y/n giggles and sends her one of the mirror selfies she took after changing into her second look. Bada was absolutely speechless- the girl had her hair in two high pigtails with a few wispy pieces left out and had in blue contacts with pink makeup- pink eyeshadow, strawberry gloss, rosy blush, and of course glitter. Along with her makeup, y/n’s entire outfit (from what Bada could see) was pink and glittery- she truly looked like a Barbie. What really secured Bada’s astonishment was her expression- y/n’s plump and glossy lips were ever so slightly parted and her eyes (accentuated by her makeup making her look more cat-like than the usual puppy-eyes-girls that Bada was used to) holding a sultry, seductive stare. Bada didn’t hesitate at all to save the photo and expose herself by immediately sending it to the Bebe group chat with the text ‘I can’t do this anymore’, to which Lusher responded with ‘my gf is so fine🤭’ and the leader’s immediate response was ‘muting the group chat now and blocking your ass’. 

She was about to continue her argument with Lusher until she got another text from y/n. ‘Uhm okay yeah just beg me for a fit pic and then leave me on read, okay🙄 jk lol’ and Bada panics for a second realizing she did in fact open her first message and not respond. ‘Sorry! I’m gonna be totally honest I was literally left speechless and didn’t know what to say’ and when y/n read this, she laughed slightly in disbelief ‘ohhh okay, suuuuure’ she types out and presses send with a relaxed smile overtaking her face. The feeling y/n has whenever talking to Bada, whether it be in person or over text, is just so indescribable that she doesn’t even wanna think about what that could mean for her. Bada reacts to the message with the ‘haha’ button and continues to try and defend herself. She and y/n joke around some more before talking about how excited they are to see each other’s videos, then saying goodnight and falling asleep shortly after.

The next day all the main dancers are called in to help edit their videos. Y/n and Bada pass by each other exchanging quick ‘good-mornings’ and shy smiles before heading their separate ways with blushes already painting both of their faces. 

A few hours of editing go by and they all go on break, getting up and walking around to get some air. As Bada walks out of her designated office space that she’s been working in all day, y/n comes bounding up to her with a gentle yet vibrant smile.

“Hey!” she stops in front of her and stares up at Bada with bright eyes. The older of the two suppresses a giggle but smiles endearingly never the less.

“Hi, y/n” Bada greets her in a soft, some could say “loving” tone, with that same gentle, endeared smile that seems to have become her default when seeing the small girl.

“Sooo I was wondering…” y/n starts by elongating the first word of her sentence and looking around, dramatically avoiding eye contact, causing Bada’s smile to grow at the girl’s silly attitude.

“Would you maybe wanna get lunch after this? Or- I guess dinner depending on when we get out- either way, it's whatever… but… yeah!” she tries to finish confidently but gets tripped up once she realizes he doesn’t know exactly when they’d both be free during the day. The smile on her face, when she concludes sharing her idea, makes Bada feel so terrible knowing she has to decline. The older immediately sighs and her face drops, causing y/n’s to do the same and Bada feels even more guilty seeing her sad, wide puppy eyes.

“I’m so sorry y/n-ie, but the rest of the team and I made plans to go out to eat tonight since we haven’t had much time to actually talk to each other with filming and all…” Bada explains and it genuinely pains her to have to decline y/n. The smaller girl just furrows her brows and shakes her head quickly dismissing Bada’s apology.

“You don’t have to apologize at all! It’s totally fine, really I promise!” y/n smiles reassuringly, even though she’s a little crushed. Bada still has this regretful look in her eyes and the younger girl giggles when Bada’s frown turns into a full-on pout.

“I promise you, we will go out soon. The two of us.” she assures, looking into y/n’s eyes. The girl couldn’t look more in love than she does when staring into the older girl’s eyes. y/n just keeps smiling and the feeling of warmth and happiness is so intense even she herself is sure her eyes are sparkling. 

“Promise?” y/n asks softly, trying to suppress the giant grin that she knows would be taking over her face if she wasn’t trying as hard as she was now. Bada has a similar look on her face- a gentle smile and soft eyes.

“I promise.” she confirms with a nod. There’s a short pause as the two just look into each other’s eyes before y/n breaks eye contact. She looks down and finally stops suppressing her smile, letting herself giggle a little bit before looking back up and trying to retrain herself again.

“Okay.” she replies softly and nods, then turns to walk back to her office space. She looks over her shoulder to glance at Bada, then turns around fully to walk backward while talking to her again

“You should probably get back to editing your video so you can go enjoy free time with your team” the younger teases a little with a smile. And Bada’s slightly knocked out of her lovestruck stare, scoffing and rolling her eyes playfully.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever- and you should be doing the same thing” she starts walking in the same direction, as both of their respective spaces are on the same side of the building.

“Actually, I have all night. I don't have plans, remember?” y/n teases again, raising her eyebrows at the Bebe leader, causing her to throw her head back and groan. The smaller of the two laughed quietly watching the other.

“I’m sorry- I feel awful, I really do want to go out with you!” and even though y/n knows she didn’t mean it in that specific context, her heart still picks up the pace and she flushes a little, once again suppressing a grin.

“I’m totally messing with you… ya know- like how you like to mess with me” as they reach y/n’s office space she finishes her teasing by coolly crossing her arms over her chest and leaning on the door frame, looking at Bada once again. Bada makes eye contact with her and holds her breath for a second. She sighs and then chuckles softly.

“Yeah… I guess I do like to tease you…” she avoids eye contact, standing with her hands in her pockets, but still smiles knowingly. Right as she’s about to leave she flicks the brim of y/n’s cap then pulls it back down over her eyes,

“But I guess we’re even now” She shrugs and and walks off after teasing the younger girl, leaving her to groan and laugh in annoyance.

___________________

After editing and such, the day ends for the main dancers and they prepare for the following day, which is when each video will be shown to the rest of the dancers. When they all arrive at the studio that day, everyone is excited and chattering. After a while of setting, everything is ready and it’s time to watch each group’s music video.

The rookies go first, and y/n feels like electricity is shooting through with how excited, yet nervous she is to see the final product on a big screen. When y/n appears for the first time- everyone is once again in shock at how different she looks. The professional hair and makeup, along with the outfit she had on, turned her into a totally different person. The charismatic, alluring girl on the screen was definitely not the same as the excited baby girl who was currently hiding behind her teammates, shyly peaking over their shoulders to watch the video

The video is playing about 30 seconds in, everyone is losing their shit. Why? Because Rena, Tatter, and y/n are already a powerful trio that no one knew they need, but on top of that- them shaking ass on each other like their lives depended on it in the first 30 seconds of choreography was just too much to handle for some people. 

Some people being Bada Lee- who was so baffled that after she screamed probably the most fangirl-esque scream ever, she didn't know what to do with herself. Her jaw just dropped to the floor, and her eyes slightly glazed over as she hyper-fixated on the screen in front of her. She only came back to reality when y/n was no longer on the screen for the moment, and Redy and Gooseul took over briefly. When y/n repapered, she was doing partner work with Tatter, and Bada's excited smile and cheers made a comeback

"Ugh, I love my girls" she gushes, staring ahead affectionately at the screen. Bada is just so blown away by the music video as a whole. She’s mainly focused on y/n and Tatter, very appreciative and thankful to see how much screen time her teammate got. But besides that, Bada can’t help but mentally praise y/n for directive skills. The set and concept suit every member so well, and when the bridge arrives Bada can feel something the tension rising, and anticipates whatever creative decision y/n made.

As the final chorus arrives, the camera transitions from just y/n in her main outfit to the whole group in their matching pink outfits, per y/n’s request. Everyone flips again, surprised by the full outfit change and slight alterations in set design. 

Bada screamed and clapped, totally forgetting that this was the outfit y/n was talking about yesterday, still just as surprised, as she promised. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty though, as now she found it absolutely impossible to focus on anyone else in the video, even her own teammate, since y/n’s full outfit was revealed. Bada’s face got red and her eyes slightly glazed over again as her face went serious trying to erase the thoughts of y/n dancing confidently in a tight top and mini skirt, with her thigh highs and ribbons. 

The video ended and the studio was filled with applause and screams from everyone, including the judges who all stood and cheered just as loud as the rest of the girls. 

Bebe’s leader sits there with her jaw dropped and her hands on her head, just absolutely astonished by the final product of the rookies’ video. The rest of her team is still cheering and clapping, and once Tatter notices Bada’s frozen figure, she starts laughing and playfully shakes her by her shoulder out of excitement. Bada turns slowly, smiling lightly, still in a daze

“Tatter, you might have to start planning my funeral” she informs her jokingly in a soft tone, but in all honesty, Bada feels dizzy still.

After everyone settles, middle-class and sub-leader-class videos are played, both getting similar reactions to the rookies’. Once both have been viewed and gotten their respective reactions and attention, the leaders’ video is the last to be played.

“Why am I actually so nervous…” Bada anxiously laughs and sighs rubbing her hands together. Tatter leans her head on her shoulder and glances up at the leader

“Because you want y/n to like it.” the blonde states matter-of-factly, not moving her head off Bada’s shoulder, but turning her attention back to the screen where the video is about to play. Bada huffs out a laugh and nudges her slightly, just enough to disrupt her peace, but not too much to knock her off.

“I want everyone to like it.” Bada clarifies, even though everyone knows how much more she seems to value the Jam Rrepublic dancer’s opinion these days compared to other dancers.

The video starts and the cheers for Bada start from the second she appears. When she takes off her helmet and shakes out her hair, everyone is going feral, obviously including y/n. 

“A MOTORCYCLE???? SHE HAS A MOTORCYCLE?????” The girl is screaming and then she pretends to faint onto Audrey who just laughs and shakes her out of excitement and adrenaline. y/n’s next cause of heart failure is when Bada holds up the lighter and then blows out the flame before everyone starts dancing. 

"Kirsten I love you so much, but I think I might have to leave with Bada after all this" “Y/n it’s been 40 SECONDS- please have some decorum…” Emma, ever the y/n-delusion-destroyer, sighs out, shaking her head, but still managing to laugh. It’s no use, Emma, this girl is red in the face already, and definitely not thinking tv-appropriate things.

Variations of the same situation continue to happen throughout the viewing of the video, except y/n gets even more excited when Kirsten and Bada appear at the same time, sharing the spotlight. The video ends and y/n just stands up and claps while shaking her head in astonishment.

“I’m never gonna move on from this…” She sounds worn out and by the way she was screaming and freaking out, it made sense.

Since all of the videos had been viewed, it was time for each main dancer to pick the worst dancer from their mission crew. They end up going from bottom rank, therefore starting with the rookie class. Y/n’s mood has totally changed, and now as she walks to the center of the fight zone, her bright smile and confident aura nowhere to be seen.

"I really didn't want to pick anyone as the worst dancer, because I sincerely enjoyed working with each and every one of them…" She starts holding the mic with both hands (Bada's beginning to think this is a nervous habit of hers)

"Even when there were some issues, I was still very proud of everyone and felt very lucky to be able to create such an amazing project with these people…" y/n bites her lip and looks up, blinking fast, feeling tears start to build up. The mood in the studio was completely different than it was only a few moments ago.

"Ah poor y/n, she really did have such a good time with everyone" Rena expresses, frowning along with her team, nodding her head in pity.

"Oh no, this must be so hard for her" Sayaka sympathizes, pouting in understanding of the young dancer's distress. Other teams shared similar looks and small conversations. Y/n took a deep breath and held the air in her cheeks, causing them to puff.

"AWW I'M GONNA CRY WITH HER-" Mannequeen's Yoonji expresses as she feels for the girl in the middle of the dance floor

"Oh my god- how can she still be so cute even when she's crying" Yeni Cho comments with an endeared smile directed at y/n's small stature settled in front of them all, cheeks still puffed up. The young dancer finally lets out a big sigh and lowers her head for a second, letting a tear fall

"DON'T CRY BABY- IT'S OKAY!!" Lusher shouts over her teammates' heads trying to reassure her friend, and giving her a big comforting smile and a thumbs up when y/n meets he eyes. Y/n laughs a little, wiping her tears and then tucking a piece of hair behind her ear before clearing her throat.

"I'm sorry- ultimately I made my decision based on the fact that there were some points when professionalism was sacrificed for the sake of wanting to gain attention, which in turn put the quality of the project at risk… and for that reason…" she lets out a shaky breath, tears building up quickly again.

"I choose Mannequeen's Buckey as the worst dancer" she finishes in a choked voice. Holding the mic away from her in one hand now y/n hangs her head and covers her mouth with her other hand as she cries silently. She heads back over to her team, sniffling and they all immediately hug her, causing her to burst into full-on sobs

"This is so much harder than I thought it was gonna be." She looks up again, trying to get the tears to stop flowing. From across the room, team Bebe is just about as worried as Jam Republic, seeing as y/n is practically an honorary member now.

"This is the most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen." Bada stares directly at y/n's distressed frame and feels herself sink into her seat, the sadness of the whole situation getting to her. Or rather- the sadness of y/n is getting to her. Bada feels her own tears beginning to prick in her eyes.

"I know… poor princess" Tatter shares the same expression of sympathy as the rest of her crew, wishing she could just go and give the girl a big squeeze and tell her she did a good job.

"It's sad, but at least it wasn't you" Lusher points out, still just as somber as her teammates. They all nod and Bada's focus is only on y/n until the next class is announced. She doesn't pay attention as the main dancers for the middle class go up, too focused on making sure y/n is able to calm down. The Bebe leader made a mental note to go right to her when they went on break to make sure she was okay.

When it’s Bada is picking the worst dancer for leader class, y/n seems more nervous than Kirsten

"I think she might pick me" Kirsten calmly admits

"Don't say that, I'll cry. If she picks you… I don't think I'll be able to recover from that heartbreak" y/n expresses in a daze, genuinely starting to worry about the results. Then Bada declares Mina as the worst dancer, causing everyone to let out a sigh of relief, except deep n dap of course. 

y/n's eyes are trained on Bada with a worried look mixed into her signature puppy eyes. Once she sees a tear roll down her face, y/n has to turn away or else she knew she'd start crying again too. She could already feel the pressure building in her eyes and heart. She hugs her leader and looks up at her for a second, silently communicating how proud she is of her, before leaning her head on her shoulder. Kirsten hugs the younger girl back and rests her head on top of y/n's, letting out a sigh.

"I hate when people cry, but it makes me especially upset seeing Bada cry" y/n whispers, a tear escaping down her face, while still clinging to Kirsten, who pets her hair and nods.

"That's because you're an angel, y/n. you care so much about the people in your life, and can't stand when they're sad…" her leader declares gently.

"You also are pretty much in love with Bada, so she's been subconsciously added to your mental list of people whose emotions you pick up." She finishes with a little bit of teasing in hopes of brightening the young girl's mood. Luckily it works, as y/n glances up at Kirsten once again, with a playful pout before huffing in faux-annoyance and letting her head fall somewhat aggressively back onto the leader's shoulder causing her to let out a gentle laugh

All the main dancers have picked the worst dancer, meaning it’s time for the final mission ranking. y/n is so excited that Bebe goes from sixth to third- once they're announced, she shoots up out of her seat with wide eyes and jaw dropped, her hands go straight to the sides of her head as she stands there in excited shock. When everyone's individual scores are shown, and it's revealed that Bada got a perfect score, y/n isn't shocked at all- in fact she expected it and was satisfied with the result

"waaaaah…as expected of Bada Lee…" she expresses proudly, staring up at the screen in admiration.

"She's so much more than a dancer, like- she's just absolutely insane… wow" This is the calmest y/n has ever been when talking about Bada, and her teammates almost feel like her lack of panic is somehow worse than the girl's usual blush and frantic expression. They all just look at her and while some smile along with her, others chuckle at the girl's proud lovestruck expression.

"We've officially lost her…" Emma jokes, shaking her head, purses her lips, and then lets out a sigh

"Please take care of our y/n, Bebe" Audrey joins in, wiping a fake tear from her eyes

Other teams are announced and once the girls realize Jam Republic made it into the top two they all start lowkey freaking out. they are announced as the first-place team and all celebrate respectfully making sure to hug each other. Their scores were revealed and the cheers got even louder. y/n had gotten a perfect, same as Latrice and Bada. 

The girl just about collapses to the ground in a ball, covering her mouth in shock. Bebe applauds and cheers loudly, especially Lusher and Tatter-

"LET'S GO Y/NNNNNN!!!" the blonde screams alongside Lusher, both happy to see their new friend succeed. The younger smiles brightly, now standing again with the mic held in both hands as she expresses her gratitude, with beautiful sparking eyes

"I'm honestly a little shocked with myself, because of how many great dancers I had the opportunity to perform alongside with." she begins, looking around the room at each of them. Her smile somehow gets even bigger

"Thank you so much for making this such a wonderful experience, and I'll work harder to show you an even better version of myself, as well as Jam Republic. Thank you" she finishes elegantly and bows before handing the mic to Latrice.

"Wow… she really is a princess." Bada mumbles, dazedly gazing at y/n with what could only be explained as the same lovestruck look the young girl had earlier. The leader smiles softly in adoration at Jam Republic's youngest member. And Bada's members don't even tease her, they just smile and Tatter pats her on the shoulder, as they all agree- Y/n is definitely a princess

The small but mighty member of Jam Republic sits elegantly admiring as Latrice gives her speech. No one could deny that when y/n wasn't performing (or being pissed off) she looked like an actual angel- a beautiful angel fairy princess that definitely doesn't seem like the type to have such a temper as she actually does

Once everyone finishes their speeches, the next mission is announced- Kpop choreography mission

Everyone freaks out and starts excitedly chattering. But mostly, everyone is talking about the songs, or more specifically who’s already choreographed/danced to them. A lot of the teams start mentioning Bada, especially seeing next level as one of the song options

But then they do the same with y/n mentioning her since she danced center for "Not Shy" and "Kick It" at k-con, as well as choreographing a cover for “Eve, Psyche, and the Bluebirds Wife”, and went viral all three times. 

Everyone is a bit worried about competing against Bada and y/n specifically, even if they won’t admit it. Some are still underestimating the teams, saying how Bebe is only Bada and her students- and how Jam Republic is less skilled because they have less experience in kpop style dance. None of them wants to recognize that the rest of Bebe is just as talented and charismatic as Bada, and that Jam Republic is able to adapt and adjust quicker than any other team.

"y/n's known for her dance covers, but she's the only member of her team with experience in this setting…" Yoonji comments looking in the direction of the pink team.

"She's gonna have to carry the members" Funky Y added

"We're getting a lot of side-eyes" Ling points out her observation, and y/n surprisingly responds pretty calm

"Probably because they're all expecting us to do badly since we don't have much experience with the style" the youngest member responds maturely, nodding and observing the room

"Well you have plenty of experience, and we're all fast learners, so I'm not really worried" Kirsten coolly states, giving her members a confident smile

The dancers are given a break and teams begin to separate and head back to their rooms to decide which company they want to go for. Y/n starts to hop down the bleachers and stretch her arms above her head.

“This is just too much right now” y/n whines, pouting while she stretches. Her members look at her with adoration

“You’re such a cat…” Latrice comments, causing y/n’s pout to turn confused and the others to giggle

“No, she’s definitely more of a puppy” Kirsten counters ruffling her hair causing the pouting girl to whine at the older members’ teasing. She’s never gonna live that down.

From across the room, Bebe is discussing a strategy already, not paying any mind to the fact that they’re on a break right now. That is until y/n comes bounding over, with her signature smile.

“Congratulations Team Bebe!!” she cheers and throws her arms up in the arms. All of their serious faces immediately soften and Lusher hops off the bleachers to throw her arms around the younger girl

“My baby! You’ve cried so much today, are you okay?” she asks and frowns while holding the smaller girl's face in between her hands to dramatically look into her eyes and make sure she’s okay. Y/n laughs and lets the sub-leader pat her head and coddle her.

“I’m okay! I’m just very emotional…” she finishes softly, almost a little shy. Bada, not even caring about everyone else being around right now, holds her hand out. once y/n grabs it, the older pulls her towards her seat and sits her down next to her. Bada puts her arm around y/n’s shoulder and pulls the small girl in even closer, resting her head on top of y/n’s. All of Bebe is shocked, as well as y/n herself. Lusher and y/n share a wide-eyed look, causing Tatter to burst out laughing. 

Shortly after, Audrey and Kirsten make their way over as well. Audrey sneakily has her phone out and snaps a candid picture of y/n and bad that she’ll be showing the girl later. Bada makes eye contact with Kirsten and doesn’t even bother to lift her head off y/n’s all the way

“Do you need her back now?” Bada asks with a slight pout in her voice, but it’s so subtle they almost didn’t catch it. Kirsten smiles and Audrey giggles behind her hand.

“No we just wanted to come join the party.” the Jam leader explains shrugging her shoulder. Kyma is the first to enthusiastically agree, having gotten along with Audrey pretty well when they worked together on the middle-class mission.

“WAIT- that actually just reminded me that I never showed you the pictures I took the other day!” Y/n excitedly recalls, sitting straight up as she stares at her best friend and leader with wide eyes. She unlocks her phone and opens her camera roll, scrolling through he pictures and showing her teammates. Bada just stares at the side of her head, with her own puppy eyes now, hoping y/n will show her too and she won’t have to ask.

“I can finally show you know” It’s like y/n was reading Bada’s mind or something, because right as she was about to complain about y/n not showing her the picture, the younger girl turned her full attention to her and started scrolling from the beginning.

The pictures had Bada mesmerized- y/n looked fucking amazing. Some were cute, while others were sexy and Bada couldn’t help but think about making some of them her wallpaper, but then she realized how strange that would be. 

One of the pictures caught her attention in a not-so-good way though. it was a mirror selfie of y/n and redy- y/n was leaning on the table and redy was posing directly behind her, holding onto y/n’s hips, both of them sticking their tongues out and looking cute and sexy. Bada tried not to be jealous and rationalize that it was just a normal thing for girls to pose like that with their friends. Was she upset because it was Redy and not her? Or was it specifically the position you were in? Was it both?? Bada didn’t know, but she also didn’t seem to realize it was bothering her so much- as she unexpectedly commented out loud on it

“We should recreate this one” she swipes back to the picture that was pissing her off. Y/n couldn’t even hide her shock if she tried. And since none of the others could see her phone, they had no idea which one Bada was talking about- and were only left to imagine what it could be after seeing Bada’s teasing smirk and y/n’s astonished, very red face.

y/n laughed out in shock and just closed her eyes, nodding her head. She opened her eyes again and Bada was still smirking, leaning back on her hands.

“Sure… sure we can recreate it” y/n massages her forehead and sighs trying to regain a normal pace of breathing, as well as her natural skin tone instead of burning red. Bada’s smirk shifts more into a teasing smile and she leans forward to throw her arm around y/n again

“But for real- send me the ones of just you…” The older girl starts focusing on the phone in y/n’s hand. 

“You look extra pretty in them, and I wanna stare at you some more” Bada shifts her gaze to look y/n the eyes with a darker look that she’s only ever received two other times. At this point Audrey and Kirsten have begun to converse with the other Bebe members, leaving y/n and Bada in their own little world. Their faces were so close, y/n felt like she was holding her breath.

“Okay…” she whispers and nods slightly, not wanting to disrupt the peace, even though the situation made her feel far from peaceful. She looked back at her phone and started selecting which pictures to send to Bada, whose arm was still wrapped comfortably around her shoulder. She leaned her head on the shorter girl again and began to tell her which pictures she wanted. y/n giggled a little at how serious and demanding Bada was being over some selfies.

After all the pictures were selected, Kirsten and Audrey finished up their conversations with the other members and began to descend the bleachers. Once they reached the bottom, they looked and y/n and she lifted her gaze to meet Kirsten’s

“Time to get working?” the youngest questions. 

“Unfortunately, yes. But don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time afterward.” The Jam Republic leader reassures, and y/n stands up and stretches. She turns back to wave at the Bebe crew members then looks at Bada. She smiles a different smile than the one she had towards the rest of the members- this one being shy but knowing.

“I’ll talk to you later!” she tilts her head waiting for Bada’s response. The tall girl nods with a smile and leans back on her hands again to look up at the girl standing in front of her.

“Maybe we’ll be seeing each other sooner than we thought- we might pick the same songs and get to compete against each other” Bada tilts her, raises her eyebrows slightly, and smirks at the idea. Y/n’s face says it all, as that idea actually sounds quite terrifying to her.

“Please don’t manifest that” She laughs but is very serious, causing the other girl to laugh as well, knowing she also wouldn’t be able to survive competing against y/n.

The trio from Jam Republic meets up with the rest of them and heads up to their room, ready to start discussing the next mission. Audrey and y/n are at the back of the group as they walk down the hall, a bit of space between them and the older members.

“So…” Audrey starts with a knowing smile- y/n’s eyes widen, nervous for what she’s about to say

“Oh no… what now?” y/n variously laughs and Audrey chuckles 

“You and Bada??” “I KNEW THAT’S WHAT YOU WERE GONNA SAY”

notes: i really did NOT think this part was gonna be as long as it was. also-it's 2 am here and i'm falling asleep writing this but i had to get it posted, so i'm sorry of the end is kinda shitty lol

taglist (open): @tinybada @angel-hyuckie @violetinferno @jesuschrist2006 @1luvkarina @uwulyn @justandloyal2961 @deadgirlwalking3 @heeheemich @squidvoldyvoid @vivzyo @ouhaika @jksjx @ocyeanicc @idontknownemore

[nouklea]

Fic Tag Game!

I was tagged by @beri-allen, @writerrose1998, @cosmic-lullaby and @wileyonce. Thanks! <3

20 questions below the cut:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

16

2. What’s your AO3 word count?

136,228

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Wednesday for now. I used to write for StarWars (see question 12) but no traces remains from that era.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Woe of Wrath

I'm on my Way

Variations on a Main Theme - 1

A Second Chance for a First Impression

Five Minutes Earlier

5. Do you respond to comments?

As much as possible. Usually I respond to every comment, even if it's just to say a quick Thank You. The only fic on which I haven't done that is Woe of Wrath, if fell into limbo and I have a hard time focusing on it right now. And I feel kind of weird to answer comments after several months of silence, but the more I wait the weirder it gets...

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Doomed is a Dead Dove Do Not Eat fic. The entire text is dark, including the ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I will go with Double-Date With Dad. Farewell Xavier Thorpe ends on a really good note too (if you are not a fan of Xavier).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

It never happened. Fingers crossed.

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

I try. I find it difficult for two reasons. First, it's tough to avoid clichés. When you read smut, you end up noticing some general patterns, and I do my best to stay away from those. Second, I'm not a fan of some popular kinks, for instance I can't stand the expression "good girl", and therefore I'm not interested in writing it, even if I keep reading authors that use them. Some people probably think my smut fics are boring, too soft, too ordinary. But I don't care (yeah, I do, but shh).

10. Do you write cross-overs?

No. And I have a really hard time reading cross-overs too. And I hate cross-overs in tv shows. Complete respect to authors, however. It's just not my thing.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. I guess I could translate my own fics in French since it's my native language, but for now I don't see any reason to do so.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I did. It was a weird kind of toxic partnership. The other person was responsible for writing the general plot (because my ideas weren't good enough), and I had to turn every page he wrote into a three-pages long section, adding descriptions and filling the blanks. And correct the spelling and grammar, and add better vocabulary...

13. What WIP would you like to finish but doubt you ever will?

I hope I will finish every WIP I currently have, even if they tend to pile up (WIP bunnies...). My biggest challenge is to go back to Woe of Wrath. It is my first fic, it is a multi-chapter one, and I started to write it just to let the steam out after a twenty-years-long writing hiatus, so the outline was not super clear, there are many plot holes I try to fix, the sentences and vocabulary are bad... I know where I want to take the story and how it ends, but it's hard not to want to start over.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

For fanfics I'll say Weyler because it's the only thing I've ever written. Now besides that... For those who read Guy Gavriel Kay, I'm forever bound to the Diarmuid/Sharra ship, followed by Paul/Jaelle. Quite fond of the Clary/Jace ship in The Mortal Instruments (The books! Don't talk to me about the movie or the tv show!)

15. What are your writing strengths?

No damn idea. I've been asking myself the same question since I was thirteen.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably not being able to answer question 15. Imposter syndrome.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

In French it's not a problem, of course. I've done it in Impulsion. I have studied Latin for two years in highschool so I felt comfortable enough to translate a few sentences in Woe of Wrath. For other languages, I would only do so if I can find a beta reader fluent in this specific language to correct the grammar. I cringe everytime I read English fics with badly written French dialogs, it makes me loose the focus on the story (Same for tv shows, by the way. Come on, you have 2 millions $ to produce an episode and you can't find someone to double-check your French sentence?). It's really hard for me not to comment with a correction (AO3 etiquette: do not provide corrections unless the author specifically asked for it). I don't want to inflict that on my readers by butchering their native language.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars. It was a long time ago (in a galaxy far far away), when there were only three movies and a few books (Timothy Zahn forever!). And for those who wonder how old I am, I used to write with WordPerfect, DOS version (it was the pre-Windows era). It had a blue background (terrible for the eyes) and some keycodes you had to use to change the font to bold or italics. Since you can't visualize anything in DOS (it's not a wysiwyg), it used colors, so you had to remember what it meant (yellow letters meant italics...). And I used to save those texts on a floppy my mom took to her office to print.

19. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

It's not a popular one, but I really like Monologue for a Hyde. I like the tone. Pretty happy with Fuck Me Once Shame on You, Fuck Me Twice Shame on Me, too.

20. What fic would you want to rewrite one day?

Woe of Wrath without a doubt. With a proper plan, and a lot of plot holes avoided (that damn cellphone...)

I will tag the Death Metal and Glitter Club members whose Tumblr ids I know, aka @anotherbluesunday, @tastethesetears, @darling-gemini, @darlingfuego,

As well as @broken-everlark, @persephoneed, @bithablu, @allergictocolor and @insomniac1994.

[unicyclehippo]

Beatrice of Silva is the patron saint of prisoners, if that spawns any plot bunnies for you.

hm. fuck. i’ll add another story to the pile

[puckthisshift]

💞🌿🌻 for the fic writers asks 😘

💞 What's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

I'm very much a character-first writer. I'm obsessed with character development and growth and making mistakes but learning lessons from those mistakes. Yes, the technical stuff is important, but if the technically perfect way isn't how a character would speak or think... I'd choose character over anything.

🌿 How does creating make you feel?

When I'm in the flow, when I've thought of this new world or this one line or... I feel so excited, so engaged, so thrilled that I get to figure it out and put it on paper, and share it with everyone. It's such a wonderful way to express thoughts and feelings.

There's also the occasional despair when it won't work but... yeah.

🌻 What makes you want to give up on writing? what makes you keep going?

Sometimes I just wanna give up when it feels like people aren't getting it, or when I see people love on concepts or characterization that feel so contrary to what I'm doing. I'm not good at making friends, so sometimes the feeling that "everyone is getting along and writing for each other and I'm trying but I keep getting it wrong" hits so hard that I just wanna quit. Usually, that's when Otter or @whatsaboomlakalaka talk sense into me, so there's that.

"Actually Leon is abusive" comments when I've specifically commented saying not to do that make me wanna give up

My friends make me keep going. Kind messages make me keep going. Reading too many books and sparking yet another plot bunny to add to the pile makes me keep going. That and you know, stubbornness and spite...

[satans-codpiece]

not to add another plot bunny to my pile

but Ramattra fucking you & telling you how he would interface with you, if you were an omnic. Describing how he would “see” your thoughts, feel everything you do, know all of you, if he chose— and you would see anything he sends you- thoughts, feelings, sensory data. He could make you feel what he feels while fucking you- or lock your muscles in place with a single command, no restraints required.

[phoenixwrites]

Ok so you were talking about doing an inuyasha hellcheer au and 1) plzzzz plz do, it would be so perfect (I’ve been thinking abt doing one myself (as though I need to add to my pile of unfinished unpublished hellcheer aus/fics 😵‍💫) and, you know, two cakes!!) 2) pls can Vixie show up as a fox demon (I am a Vixie stan (I comment on fics from a different account than my writing account (secondhandmoon))). Also, I’ve been thinking about this one panel from the thunder brothers arc but with Eddie and Vecna for MONTHS. I’ve been wanting to draw it but it’s been a while since I’ve drawn anything so I just haven’t got to it (the ADHD doesn’t help lmao)(sorry for the rambling, just jazzed at someone else being into both inuyasha and hellcheer)

I love that you're a Vixie stan.

I hadn't thought about including her in the Inuyasha AU, but you know what? You've sold it to me. She WILL be Shippo! And just FYI, I would ADORE to read another Hellcheer/Inuyasha AU.

I know this blog has been currently focused on my Hellcheer hyperfocus, but I have an eternal obsession with Inuyasha and you are so fucking welcome to come into my inbox and ramble about either whenever you like!

I can't wait to read yours! (I'm with you on the eternal pile of WIPs and plot bunnies...)

[tomboyjessie13]

I had this scenario in my head for a while and I had ChatGPT flesh it out but I will rewrite it myself, because this is more of a plot bunny but tell me how funny this idea is.

The Scene: Cozy Living Room

The Nordics were gathered in a cozy living room, sitting around a large coffee table piled high with snacks, board games, and a few whimsical ornaments. It was a lazy afternoon, and the atmosphere was relaxed, filled with laughter and playful banter. But beneath the fun, a competitive tension began to simmer. Each of them silently vied for Cindy’s attention, hoping to charm her with their unique styles—much to the unspoken annoyance of the others.

Cindy lounged comfortably among them, blissfully unaware of the brewing rivalry. As she watched, she felt a playful sense of power—she had the affections of all these intriguing Nordic beings, and it was amusing to see how far they were willing to go to win her over.

The Flirting Begins

Norway leaned closer, sharing a story about the breathtaking fjords back home. “You should visit sometime. The scenery is… breathtaking, much like yourself.”

“Aw, Norway, I’ve seen a few pictures, but I’d love to see it for myself!” Cindy smiled, her eyes sparkling.

Denmark, sensing his moment slipping away, chimed in with a loud laugh. “Yeah, but have you seen the wild parties in Copenhagen? I could show you a good time that you’ll never forget!”

“Please, like you could out-fun the beauty of Norway’s nature!” Norway shot back, his voice laced with feigned annoyance, but his eyes betrayed his jealousy.

Finland decided to jump into the mix, attempting to keep the conversation serious. “Well, Cindy, if you’d prefer some tranquility, we could always relax in a sauna together. I promise it’s a wonderful experience.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather have some action! Why relax when you can party?” Denmark interjected, clearly wanting to drown out Finland’s suggestion.

The playful verbal sparring only escalated, and soon Sweden couldn’t stay silent. “If you’re going to party, let’s make it a proper one by having some good Swedish food too. What about some meatballs afterward? You can’t have a party without meatballs.”

Rising Tension

As the banter continued, the mood shifted. Glances became sharper, and little jabs turned into full-on competitive remarks.

“Come on, Finland, your idea of fun is sitting in a hot room and meditating!” Denmark exclaimed, crossing his arms and leaning back dramatically.

“Oh really, Mr. Wild Party? Is that why you’re constantly getting kicked out of venues?” Finland shot back, a smirk forming on his lips.

Cindy chuckled at their silly bickering but found herself slightly overwhelmed by their intense rivalry. “Guys, it’s all in good fun! You don’t need to fight over me!”

“Maybe you should pick one of us then!” Iceland chimed in, attempting to add fuel to the friendly fire. “Everyone knows that I’m the most cultured here!”

The Cockblocks Enter the Scene

Suddenly, to diffuse the tension, Cindy pulled out a bag filled with quirky plush toys shaped like square chickens, aptly named Cockblocks. “Alright, enough of the banter! How about you all take a shot at my new plushies instead?”

“What are those?” Norway asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

“They’re Cockblocks!” Cindy laughed, pulling one out and tossing it at Denmark, who caught it mid-air.

Denmark’s eyes widened in mock horror. “You’ll pay for this, Cindy! I’m not a cockblock!” He tossed the plush toy back at Norway, who caught it with a smirk.

“Oh, but look at it, Denmark. It’s perfect in matching your personality,” Norway teased, chucking the plushie back at him.

The chaos escalated as each Nordic began throwing the Cockblocks at one another, laughter filling the room as they cleverly made comments with each throw.

The Cockblock War

“Oh, look, Denmark! A perfect representation of how you always try to block my path!” Norway laughed as he pelted Denmark with another plushie.

“Hey! At least I have more charisma than your ‘brooding silence’ act!” Denmark shot back, tossing two plushies in tandem, hitting both Norway and Iceland.

Iceland jumped up, shouting, “That’s it! I’m declaring a Cockblock war!” He grabbed two plushies and started throwing them wildly, almost hitting Cindy.

“Watch it! I’m the one giving those out, you fool!” Cindy exclaimed, laughing as she dodged a flying Cockblock.

“Too slow, Cindy!” Sweden teased and threw a plushie directly aimed at Finland, who tried to shield himself with his arms.

“Guys! It’s practically raining Cockblocks in here!” Finland shouted, attempting to throw them back but ended up tripping over a cushion instead.

Cindy, laughing hysterically at how silly the situation had become, finally yelled, “Okay, okay! Enough! Maybe you should all just use these to block each other out!”

Aftermath of the Playful Chaos

Finally, as feathers exploded from the Cockblocks and laughter filled the room, the Nordics paused, panting from the playful frenzy. They looked around at the mess, at each other, and then at Cindy, who was gleefully enjoying the spectacle of their antics.

“Okay, we might need to work on our aim,” Denmark chuckled, picking up a plushie and tossing it to Cindy.

“Or at least learn to be more civil about this,” Sweden said, trying to catch his breath.

As the laughter slowly died down, all the Nordics found themselves a bit closer, their competitive spirits momentarily quenched by the silliness of what had just happened. They realized how much they enjoyed sharing this light-hearted moment with Cindy and with each other.

Cindy smiled brightly, looking at each Nordic in turn. “See? This is what good fun looks like! You’re all great, but just remember—no blocking!”

With that, the Nordics gathered their plushies, settled back into the couch, and took a moment to find peace in the shared laughter and joy of sibling rivalry, each secretly more determined than ever to win Cindy’s heart, but for now, simply enjoying the moment of camaraderie.

...............Uuuuuhhh...

[dgcatanisiri]

The thing about my ridiculousness is that it always STARTS so simply.

I get an idea, I start going through with it. It's like climbing a tree, just to see how far it goes. As I go through with it, the idea branches and I go further with it and chase those branches, which takes me further and further up the tree. The branches keep going and branch further, and suddenly, I end up in a mile high canopy and can't see the ground.

And this always seems to happen any time I think "oh, here's a simple little project for myself." I mean, that's how my Buffyverse expansion developed.

And now it's hitting me outside the creative - I think "oh, I'll get the Destiel fics that aren't already in my to-read list, for the sake of having as complete a collection as possible." I get through that, and then think, "when this does get transferred to my laptop and I start reading them, I should probably get some more fic and other pairings, just to have some variation." That led me to going back through various other pairings I seek out. In some cases, I've changed my expectations and what I once dismissed, now I pick up. In others, I'm probably grabbing something that I did dismiss for valid reasons and can't remember any more. And with others, considering the last time my reading of the fic I had even managed to get past the second half of the alphabet was like during lockdown in 2020, they're probably fic I have collected and actually do already have in the pile, but hey, better safe than sorry, right?

Granted, also causing problems is that I read these on my laptop, and I do not have a reliably functioning one right now, and won't for at least another month, if not more, so for the sake of managing to keep my awareness of what I have and have not read consistent and coherent, I'm basically on pause with reading them, and I'm actively watching things that add to my collection list right now, so I'm encouraging further collection...

Which is, ultimately, to say that I'm pushing the point of having 10000 fics to add to my to-read pile right now, and, at the rate I'm going and with the things I'm adding, it's not unreasonable for me to think that by the time I resume the reading proper, I'll be pushing the 20000 marker and have 40000 to-read fics in total...

All this, of course, and my listing of plot bunnies is now at 62 pages and counting, so at some point I'd like to actually put some of those together as well...

Have I mentioned that I'm a ridiculous person?

[sapphire-wine]

February 2023 Fic Recap

Me when I have to do the thing I said I was going to do: 😔

Fics posted Trapped inside of your own heart (G) Oryctolagus cuniculus (E)

General

Trapped inside of your own heart

He takes a cloth from the bowl beside him and strings out the water. Leans over and presses it to Edgeworth’s head, keeping mindful of the horns. He dabs at his face, though he thinks that might only serve to wet the fur underneath. “I’d like to be friends.” He replies. Edgeworth huffs. “Friends.” “Yeah. Is that so wrong? I’m here either way.” ~~ The scene from Beauty and the Beast where he fights off the wolves and that sparks their blossoming relationship with some wound care. Very charged. Very beautiful, very powerful.

I wrote this immediately after posting the bunny fic. I won't lie there was no prep or planning involved, I just love the tension of treating someone’s injuries. Grow closer, idiots. Lore has come to my mind for this fic if I ever write more but it might be lost to the pile of motivation death with the other fics that might not see the light of day. Specifically I’m thinking of an Edgeworth POV fic taking place the morning after this fic and a Phoenix POV fic for the ‘end’ of the story, though I’ve thought of different versions of it. I’m very partial to the older versions of the fairytale where they’re just chill with each other from the beginning and the Beast just lets her leave and then just almost dies in a bush because he missed her so much lmao. Of course it would have to factor in the layers of von Karma etc but the more I think about it the more Franziska particularly is giving me a hard time to fit. However, the world is my oyster and the ideas and motivation will come in their own time. Anyway I did love this fic would love to write another one like it one day.

Explicit

Oryctolagus cuniculus

When Phoenix received an urgent message from his partner telling him to come home immediately, this wasn’t the situation he pictured waiting for him. Miles Edgeworth. Standing in the middle of the living room. Floppy ears the same color as his hair hanging behind his bangs. ~~ The bunnygirlification of Miles Edgeworth in 1.8k words but only using the synonyms for cock from that tumblr tier list post.

This is it. My February magnum opus. This one I thought a lot of people were going to be mad at me for in two directions since I bunnygirl’d him and if they liked that I then did the synonyms bit from a tumblr post I saw on tier lists. I came up with the actual fic plot in the morning and then sat on it for the entire day until going “yeah alright I can bang this out in an hour and a half or so” because that is the timer I set for myself to write now and then just add minutes onto it. Since people still thought it was upsettingly hot I’m considering this a win. If you didn’t know, the title is the binomial nomenclature for European rabbits. The endnote for this was almost ‘this fic was written in jest but the puppy play one was real.’ I could make this one real tho with the right motivation I can and will animal play him fr fr.

Overall, I keep writing a lot of words and then not finishing the fics so hopefully March will be nicer to be in finishing the entire process.

Bonus: Monthly Update to the 2023 version of the most important pie chart

[starpollen1998]

Uber Allergic: A Romance - part 1 / ?

I don’t know what it is with me and cars lately.  Maybe because I haven’t driven one in nearly 4 years, or maybe because I had a plot bunny about a hired driver and then couldn’t decide which direction to take it.  So, naturally, I wrote 2 stories. A warning: I have never taken an Uber.  I have used a similar company in the country where I live, so I imagined it would be the same.  Apologies for any mistakes.  Hope you enjoy!

The Ride - Part 1

When I saw him standing on the curb waiting, I couldn’t help but blink. And then swallow hard.  The man was stunning: tall, broad-shouldered, long-limbed, with a perfect jawline and dazzling smile.  His hair was that rare coiff that crested like waves from his head, barely brushing his ears, thick and tawny like a lion. When he dropped into the back seat, I saw his eyes were a stunning shade of blue.

I’ve had attractive men in my car before, sure.  But none quite as mind-blowing as this one.

“Heya, darlin’,” he quipped, firing off a devastating wink at me through the rear view mirror.

“Hi,” I replied, barely able to get that single syllable past the lump in my throat.  I prayed I could focus on the road in front of me and not the Greek-god-incarnate in the back seat.  He was headed across town, a trip that would take us roughly 40 minutes.

We rode in silence for almost a full minute, him tapping away on his cell phone while I gritted my teeth and forced my gaze at the horizon. Occasionally I glanced at the GPS, checking that we were on track.

Then…

“heHH?...”

I couldn’t help it.  My eyes darted up to the rear view mirror.

I watched as Greek-god pinched his nostrils shut, rubbing in hard, tight circles, finishing with a small shake of his head, blue eyes blinking furiously.  Was it my imagination, or did those eyes seem to be getting red?

I kept driving.

Not even a minute later…

“heh-heHH?...”

Once more, my eyes snapped like magnets to the rear view mirror.  My passenger was frozen in classic pre-sneeze expression: eyes squeezed shut, mouth open, lower lip trembling… nostrils flared, the tip of his prominent nose visibly twitching.  His elegant head turned left, then right, and then…

“heght--SHHzzztT!!”

He sneezed - snapping into his elbow at the last second.

“B-... Bless you,” I stammered, sure I was blushing red as a tomato.

But Greek god wasn’t done.

He raised his head, eyes still shut, shoulders bouncing with stuttering hitches.  My eyes were darting between the road ahead and the rear view mirror, terrified that I was either going to rear-end someone … or miss one second of the spectacle in the back seat.  

Then - a red light.

Thank you! I screamed in my mind to whatever higher power was listening.

When I came back to the rear view mirror, his right hand was raised, hovering loosely cupped, nostrils stretching into little round O’s, his upper lip curled back from gleaming white teeth…

“hegt--SCHgtT!!” he snapped down, visibly misting the hand. This time he stayed down, and I could almost see his abs rippling beneath his button-up shirt.  “eegh--SCHHtT… aAH-SCHTch-u!!”

“Bless you,” I barely breathed, glad that this particular red light seemed to be taking a lot longer than usual.

His voice - husky and a little congested - floated up from behind the hand still cupped to his nose.

“... snfll… thanks, darlin’.  … sdrfl…. Don’t suppose you h-have… sdrffl…  any tissues?”

Fumbling, I opened the glove box and pulled out the stack of drive-through napkins I kept stashed away for emergencies.  Usually spilled coffee.  Twisting in my seat, I set the stack on his left knee, fingertips brushing the hard muscles of his thigh.

Peering through the tawny strands of hair that had been knocked loose by the fit, his eyes crinkled with a smile.  “Thanks.”  

An impatient honk made me jump.  Heart pounding, I whipped back around to face the road and eased us forward through the intersection.  His soft chuckle made my ears burn, sure that I was blushing fire-engine red by now.

I heard soft blowing, more wet sniffles, and managed to catch in the mirror when he stretched two KFC napkins between both hands and muffled a wet double: “t’SCHmp--g’SCHHm!”

“Bless you,” I managed, happy when my voice sounded even and calm, even though my hands were gripping the steering wheel hard.

“Darlin’ you don’t… hH!--... have to say that every time… snffl---hHehH!--... l-looks like I m- muhH!-HGK’tSCHHt!... excuse me.  I might be at this a while...”  Taking another napkin from the dwindling stack, he pinched it around his nose and rubbed again in small, fast circles, brows drawing together in concentration.

Grateful for another red light, I stared into the mirror.  My passenger had a fist full of crumpled napkins in one hand, the other pinching and rubbing desperately at increasingly pinkening nostrils.

“Does… this happen often?”

Another husky chuckle, which deteriorated into more hitching breaths and another itchy-sounding sneeze. “hgz’CHHT! … Depends,” he breathed, bringing the knot of used tissues up to dab at his watering eyes.  “Do you have a c-... hHihh!... a cat?”

The Ride - Part 2

 My mouth dropped open, eyes wide.  He saw my expression in the mirror and gave another chuckle.  Swiping a knuckle under his nose, he flashed me a wry grin.  “Well, that explains it.”

 “I’m sorry,” I looked back at him, stricken.

 “Nah, don’t worry about it,” he gave a dismissive shake of his lion’s head.  “You couldn’t know.  heh-GSCHhtu!... And it’s not like there’s a box to tick in the app, or anything. ...snfl…  ‘Driver has pets.’ ...sdrfl … A lot of people do.  Have pets.”

 “I know,” I replied softly, turning the wheel smoothly as we rounded a corner.  “But I can still be sorry that you’re… you know…”  I couldn’t bring myself to say it.  I couldn’t even glance in the mirror.

 But I heard the smile in his voice when he said, “It’s fine.  Really.  It h--hH!  hg’zCHHt!-heh’GZShht!... excuse me.  It happens a lot, actually. snfl.”  

 That did make me glance at the mirror, brows raised in surprise… and interest.  “Really?”

 Greek god had placed the growing pile of used napkins in the seat beside him, frowning down at both his watch and the small stack of napkins still on his leg. The tip of his nose was flushing a tell-tale pink, blue eyes definitely red-rimmed.  He blinked rapidly and sniffled constantly, dabbing at his eyes or wiping at his nose, overall looking the very picture of ‘itchy’ and ‘allergic.’

 “Yeah,” he replied, breath spiraling in preparation for another sneeze… but it left him last-minute, causing him to give a frustrated cough. “I’m allergic to most animals, but you might say I’m… uber allergic to cats.”  Those stunning blue eyes twinkled at me in the mirror, followed by a mischievous wink.

 “Why risk taking an Uber, then?”

 “Well, as cliché as it sounds... my car is in the shop.”

 “Oh?”

 “Yeah, snffll, I got a… hH!--... a recall letter.  Better safe tha-… heh-GSCHt--ahh-GSCHu!... ugh. Apologies.”

 We chatted a little more during the ride, about his job as an IT consultant and my 3 jobs: kindergarten teacher, waitress at Olive Garden, and Uber driver.  By the time we reached his destination I had counted no less than 56 sneezes, nearly always he followed up with ‘excuse me,’ or some other polite apologetic. He had used my entire stash of emergency napkins, and his handsome face was a bleary, blotchy wreck: nose red, eyes puffy, voice croaky and thick with congestion.

 “I’m sorry, again,” I said when we stopped at the curb in front of his building. 

 “Add - agaid - you dod’t have adythig to be sorry for,” he rasped, palming the pile of used tissues and reaching for a few that had fallen to the floor.

 “Oh, I can do that,” I got out in a rush.  “You don’t have to--”

 “Oh, doh,” he chuckled, voice breaking on the second word like a prepubescent.  “I cad take by owd dirty tissues, darlid’.”  Glancing up, he gave me a soft smile.  “You’ve beed padiedt edough about all this.”  Maybe I imagined it, but it looked like he blushed just a little.

 “Well it’s my fault,” I insisted.  

 He opened his mouth to reply, but instead turned and gave a tired-sounding sneeze into his elbow. “H’eISCHt!... gkm, pardod.”

 “Bless you,” I murmured. 

 “You dow, sdrfl, I usually dod’t like it whed people say that…”

 “I’m sor--”

 “But sobehow whed you do,” he glanced back, swiping a knuckle under his nose and giving that same, soft smile.   “I dod’t mide.”

 He exited, leaving me staring after him with a mixture of warmth and confusion.  Definitely one of the most… unusual... rides I’d ever had. 

 Throwing the lever into park, I got out to do my usual check of the interior in case the passenger had left something behind. A flash of white tucked by the seatbelt latch caught my eye.  Thinking Greek god must have missed one of the used napkin wads, I reached for it. 

 And pulled out a business card.

 “C. B. Decker - Sunfire Technology”

 I turned it over.

 “Thanks for the ride...  Have dinner with me sometime?”   

I pulled my head out of the car, staring over my shoulder at his building.  I wasn’t sure, but it looked like someone was standing just inside the glazed doors, watching.  Turning back to the card in my hand, I bit my lip.  It was a violation of my Uber contract if I said yes.  

 But.

 That guy...

 Aw, hell.  I could get by without the income.  Probably.  

Maybe.

 I looked back at the building, and was now sure I could make out his tall silhouette, tawny mane just a bit disheveled.  The figure suddenly bent forward, and I knew. 

 I kept my eyes on the building as I made a show of putting the card into my pocket.  It wasn’t a no.  But it wasn’t a yes.  

 Not yet. 

 As I drove home for the night, my imagination spun out as I deliberated whether or not to accept.  One, he knew I had a cat, was apparently ‘uber’ allergic... and wanted to see me again, anyway.  Two, I had been getting tired of driving 30 hours a week, and maybe I could arrange to suspend my contract.  Or I could quit, and then get rehired if things didn’t work out… or, if they did... 

 I crawled into bed, reaching up to stroke Sheba where she always slept on the second pillow. She made a little mew, flipping her head upside down and curling tighter into a furry ball. 

 As I drifted off to sleep, his delicious sneezes echoed in my dreams…

[writer-rochelle]

In the Still of the Night: Javier Peña x reader

(a/n originally this was a steve randle fic I cooked up once upon a sleepless night. but after re-reading it I decided to turn it into a javi one shot because pedro pascal owns my ass. this takes during season 2, specifically episode 6. Also for plot’s sake pretend you are a nurse who used to work with Connie) 

Javier trudged up the small flight of stairs that led to the front door of the apartment building. It had been another late night stuck behind a desk. Another late night with a plethora of leads that inevitably led nowhere. It had taken the pot of coffee he and Murphy had been drinking to gradually turn into hot burnt bean flavored water for the two exhausted Agents to finally throw in the towel. Maybe Javier could convince (y/n) to let him steal some of the gourmet coffee she had stashed at his place. 

Recently, he had taken to staying longer and later, trying desperately to weasel in the information he received from Los Pepes without causing suspicion. Javier knew he was on thin ice with Steve after that incident at the checkpoint when they were close to catching Blackie. It was a wonder his friend hadn’t let anything slip, but then again he knew Murphy was more inclined to let Javier deal with his shit on his own. Besides, he had told Steve he could handle it. Couldn’t he? 

Javier signed, leaning his forehead against the cool wooden door to his apartment. How had he never noticed how truly exhausted he was? He felt heavy, weighed down by all that had been happening in Columbia lately. His feet felt like cinder blocks as he took a step back to unlock the door. The seasoned agent wanted nothing more than to eat, sip an ice-cold beer, take a shower, and collapse into bed. Maybe he would be lucky enough to sleep soundly with little to no nightmares. Undisturbed till his alarm would sound off early the next morning. 

"Damn it", he groaned, searching blindly for his apartment key. He had forgotten to put it back on his key ring after he had made a copy for (y/n). He exhaled in relief, having found the piece of metal nestled in the pack of cigarettes in his breast pocket.  

‘I told you to put it back on there! One day you’re gonna lose that damn thing for sure, and I promise I’m not giving you my copy to get in!’, Javier smirked imagining his girlfriend scolding him. Her voice would be tinted with laughter, her threat empty. The pair had each other wrapped around their respective fingers. There wasn’t anything (within reason) that the young nurse wouldn’t do for Javier. And when the used to be bachelor was told he was whipped he simply shrugged and said, “Listen, when you really care for someone you’ll do whatever it takes to show them that. (y/n) says jump? I say how high.”

Much to the surprise of his colleagues (Steve included),  Javier had moved past the honeypot method to get what he wanted from certain informants. And to add more to the surprise, (y/n) was very much aware of the man Javier Pena used to be. It never ceased to amaze him how open-minded she was. Most women would have run-away after being told of the things he’d seen and done in the field. “At the end of the day, you come home in one piece to me. But don’t think about trying that crap again while you’re with me.” she had said one night during one of their few late-night conversations. 

"(y/n),cariño? You still here?", Javier called into the seemingly empty apartment. He stepped in, closing and locking the front door before moving towards the living room area where he threw his leather jacket over the arm of the cream-colored couch. All the lights were off, except the one in the kitchen. He turned on a lamp, the white envelopes sitting on the coffee table littered with some paperwork caught his eye. He’d deal with it tomorrow. 

"Babe?" he called again, climbing the steps that led up into the kitchen. He glanced at the clock built into the stove, the neon green glowing numbers reading 12:30. He spotted a plate of food resting on the small circle table, and a pink sticky note stuck to the top. He smiled softly, wondering how she managed to take care of herself, her busy workday, and still make time to cook for him. 

Javi,

I hope you came home at a decent hour. I’m still here, had a long day. You missed the dust bunnies I excavated from under your couch. 

Love, (y/n)

It read, her neat handwriting taking up little space on the small piece of paper. Javier paused a moment. Dust bunnies? Had she cleaned his apartment? He took a quick look around the area laid out in front of him. Gone were the empty bottles and cups he usually left lying around. The thin film of dust that usually graced his small television screen was gone, and it actually smelled nice in the room. The musty male and cigarette odor had been replaced with the smell of cleaning products and a candle she had left burning on the stove. Placing the note down, he turned to blow it out; the time now read 12:40. Javier turned to the fridge, grabbed a beer and took his lukewarm dinner in front of the TV in the adjoined living room. Maybe he could take a crack at some of those papers still sitting out there. 

[One hour later]

Javier woke with a start, the black and white static on the tv illuminating the room. He blinked blearily, standing up to stretch.  How long had he been asleep? He meandered over to the kitchen, disposing of his empty plate and bottle. The stove time now reading 3:00. 

‘May as well just head to bed, no point in showering now.’ Javier thought, making his way into his bedroom, turning off the few remaining lights as he went. 

He stood staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. Not necessarily enthralled with the tired, grumpy looking man staring back at him. The past few months had taken their toll on him, the bags under his eyes adding on a year or two. It didn’t help that  his vision hadn’t been up to par as of late either. He refused, however, to get glasses until absolutely necessary. He could already hear the jokes that would be made at his expense. “Having trouble in any other departments Pena?”

Rolling his eyes, he shut off the bathroom light and shivered as the cool ac hit his bare legs and chest. Clad in only his boxers, he moved out into the hallway, trudging zombie-like into his bedroom, his dark brown eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkroom as he quietly shut the door behind him. Javier picked up on (y/n)’s soft breathing as she slept, everything but her head swallowed up by the thin white blanket on their bed. It was a wonder she had slept through the noise he had been making since he had gotten home hours earlier. She really must have had a long day. Ever since Connie and Olivia had left back to the States, the (y/h/c) nurse had taken more hours, helping to fill in the spot her blonde friend had left. And in some ways, maybe Steve had taken to staying longer to avoid an empty apartment. Something Javier had once been used to, but now the thought of having to start sleeping alone in his queen-sized bed made him cringe. 

An orange street light filtered in through his blinds, casting a soft spotlight onto the bed, drawing him closer. The "spotlight" shone on (y/n), illuminating the soft unique features of her face. Her mouth slightly open as quiet snores slipped through. Javier yearned to freeze time. To simply lay in this lumpy bed, with the most beautiful kind-hearted woman he’d ever met. His mother had only been the one other woman who cared this much about him, and it hurt that couldn’t she meet her. Javi was sure she’d love the passionate young woman as much as he did. He crept closer slipping under the covers, curling his arm around her waist to draw her closer to his bare chest. He lay a soft kiss to the back of her head, the sweet scent of her shampoo clouding his senses. He was content. 

“Javier? Is everything okay? What time is it?" the young woman mumbled her voice heavy with sleep, raising her head slightly to catch a glimpse of the alarm clock on the bedside table. 3:30 am.

"It's me, baby, everything is fine. Go back to sleep."

 "Okay. I love you."

"Love you too," the tired man said, kissing the back of her head as she fell back asleep. Javier lay awake for only a few moments more, finally succumbing to the slumber that was now his master.

Javier Pena knew that when the morning came he would have to return to that godforsaken office, and shift through the same pile of papers, and deal with the weight of his actions resting on his shoulders. But for the time being as he lay next to the love of his life in the fleetingly late hours of the night/early morning, he could pretend that he was just another man off the street, far away from Escobar, far from cocaine, and far from Columbia. 

A reality that only existed within the still if the night.

(i hope you all enjoyed my first Javi fic....and I hope i didn’t write him too OOC. Let me know what yall think, and my requests are open! more work to come soon. <3 roach) 

taglist: @sunshinepascal (dm to be added!) 

[roseofdarkness0]

Edit: I'm halwayf through writing this and it's quite big ass plot bunny and I am on mobile song can't add read more so yeaaaaaah

Also, Little Nova = DJ SS

~•~

Okay so I went through @lunasdestiny tag of NSR and found the episode ask thingies, so I raise to you all another concept with the time episode where Tatiana looses control over her powers, done a tad different, also, for the purpose of the plot. Neon J and DJ SS don't recognise each other from childhood:

So the childhood friends au, ye? The one where Neon J and DJ SS are childhood friends? Very good shit I love that.

So Tatiana looses control.over the time powers and it targets certain portion of NSR elite artist, specifically DJ SS, Zuke and Eve. They are turned into their childselfs so they don't know about the whole grow up stuff they done, a bit like memory loss. So, whilst rest of the artists is panicking and trying to work out what to do, Neon J is like staring at Little Supernova and being like why do I recognise him?

Meanwhile, Little Supernova is kinda anxious and not understanding what is happening and wants his friend Jay (James? I think it's Jay so Imma stick to that) so he asks for him. The artists confusion gets interrupted by loud ping sound/screech and everyone turns to Neon J like ????? Everything okay my dude?

Neon J on the inside is like wait that's my childhood friend??? And I missed that even tho he is my coworker??? On the outside he just clears his throat and propose that they all have designated older artists take the mini artist back to their own homes to find the solution. sounds good? Great, bye! And he effortlessly picks up Little Nova and orders 1010 back to the mansion with them.

Little Nova is of course confused because what? But stubbornly doesn't answer any of Neon J questions or 1010 questions as they try to entertain him. This goes on all the way to the mansion, and stuff happen I guess? Mainly my idea here is that Neon tries to keep it together and not able everything to Little Nova because that can end up badly™, 1010 is trying to busy Little Nova and keep him out of trouble whilst trying to know what's up with Dad J cause he behaves strangely.

After all of that it ends with Neon J giving Little Nova a peep talk (just encourages him to follow his dreams and truing to quench any anxieties he remembers DJ SS having at that age) and big cuddle pile consisting of Neon 1010 and Nova.

Probably next day, the little artists turn back to normal and but without knowing what had happen the day before and just fluff ya know?

~•~

But yeah big ass description of my idea on the mini artists thing, sorry its so long and for any grammar mistakes or words that don't make sense but yeah, maybe I turn it into a fic? I doubt but we see what future holds.

[wendibird]

If This is a Dream... (Ch. 1)

Fandom: Supernatural Pairing: Sam X Eileen Wordcount:  4,803 Warnings: Canon Character Death (already happened), Angst (eventual happy ending), Sex mentioned but nothing explicit is shown Summary:  Directly following the events of 14X13 "Lebanon" Sam receives a tip about a restless spirit haunting a particular patch of woods in South Carolina, one who is deaf and has asked for him by name. He must now deal with the thought of putting to rest someone he once cared for a lot, but will things go that simply? And in the midst of all the other problems on his plate, is he even ready to deal with the feelings of loss that he's tucked away for so long?  Author’s Note:  This was spawned from a writing prompt given by @becaamm  for a Valentine's Day challenge. We had a list of songs and a list of lines, and we had the option of picking one of each or two lines, but I just zeroed in one of the lines which immediately inspired what this fic has turned into. "If this is a dream, I really don’t want to wake up"|

Also, I'm a horrible procrastinator who procrastinates and I didn't get the whole fic written up in time. BUT, I'd say I have enough done for a fairly decent first chapter. It will probably only be 2 chapters in total, though it may extend to 3 depending on how far down various plot-bunny trails I go. (It was SUPPOSED to be between 500 and 7,000 words, but I'm pretty sure it's going to go over that.) Cross-posted on AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/17796449/chapters/41985947

Artist Credit: @idreamofplaid made the wonderful aesthetic board for me to go along with this. She’s awesome! 

Sam's dreams had never really been anything to look forward to. As a child they had often been filled with flames, or shadowy figures moving just out of the field of his vision, or yellow eyes and a voice telling him dark things he didn't want to remember. After Jess there were more flames, but the face within them had become one he knew intimately better, and those persistent feelings of longing, guilt, anguish and anger pervaded everything. Years upon years of fighting evil and not always winning only seemed to add more fodder for his subconscious to torture himself with. Almost two centuries in hell hadn't exactly helped either. So when he sometimes found himself dreaming about one other person he'd failed to save, one other person who'd meant something to him but was now gone forever, well, he honestly hadn't thought too much of it.

 Sometimes when he dreamed of Eileen, she was running through some darkened woods, her breathing fast and heavy with more than just her physical exertions. There was sometimes a note of panic, of desperation in every breath that passed her lips, and sometimes another creature's breathing could be heard, or felt; harsh and snarling. Sometimes he felt searing pain across his own back, even as the invisible predator pounced on her. Other times, the forest was still and the moon was full, and he and Eileen sat together, curled in the roots of an ancient tree, talking with hands and lips and eyes to one another about things he could never remember upon waking. And still other times they clutched each other in a tight embrace, hands gliding over sweat-dampened skin and unfulfillable promises murmured from desperate lips in between sharp intakes of breath and tingling surges of sensation that left him gasping awake, disoriented and aching with the sudden loss.  

 They didn't happen that often. Though every time they did, Sam felt the persistent, hollow pain of her death linger for days. With everything that had gone on since her death though, there were plenty of other nightmares vying for his nightly attention, and if he hadn't really noticed that they never seemed to happen at the Bunker, or anywhere else west of the Mississippi, well, he could probably be excused.

 Tonight he probably wouldn't have had to worry anyway, even if he weren't in the Bunker. A crushed pearl and then his father had been fading from his sight, for the second time in his life. Although this time... well, he wasn't exactly happy, but it wasn't the same as before either. Things he'd wanted to tell his dad for a long time had finally been given voice, and a certain feeling of resolution soothed old scars he'd almost forgotten he'd even had. But it didn’t quite take the sting out of the knowledge that they’d had him there for a short while and then had to lose him again, like so many other people in their lives. His brother and Mom had retired to the kitchen some while ago to reminisce over a bottle of whiskey and he'd settled himself back into the library, going through yet more materials on angelic lore. He seriously doubted he'd even be going to bed before the next day dawned.

Once Cas had been filled in on the strange events of that day, he’d offered to heal both him and Dean from the injuries sustained while fighting his alternate self, but they'd both declined, claiming nothing was damaged that wouldn't heal on its own, and their angel's powers had been noticeably affected by Heaven's energy crisis. They didn't want him draining himself on their account when something much more pressing might come up later. Now, Castiel was down in one of the supplementary store rooms, as determined as he himself was to find another way of dealing with Michael than that metal box. He was going through the various books and boxes of relics that Sam hadn't had a chance to get to yet, and would bring him anything that looked promising.

 With a heavy sigh Sam thunked another weighty volume onto the "not any help" pile on the table, which was sadly, much larger than the "might be some help" pile. (Which was still larger than the as-yet non-existent "will actually help us" pile. But, he still hoped, and still had a clear spot reserved for it, just in case.)

 He took a moment to absently rub at his temples, considering the magnitude of the problem they faced. Thoughts of magic golden eggs, metal boxes (a coffin, really), spells, charms, Enochian sigils and an industrial grade fridge door held closed with a screwdriver all floated through his head. So many directions things could go, and most of them not good. But he'd meant what he'd told Dean, that they would find another way, and he was determined to keep that promise.

 Just as he was about to reach for the next book in the "yet to go over with a fine-toothed comb" pile, he was interrupted by a jingle from his phone. With a sigh, he reached into his shirt pocket for it, his brows furrowing when he saw the unknown number listed on the screen. He briefly considered letting it go to voicemail, but then decided against it. Between their Hunters, Jody’s and Donna's contacts, and the few other Hunters they had a passing understanding with, there was too much of a chance it could be someone or something important. (Or just someone they knew who'd had to replace a damaged or otherwise compromised phone.)

 So with that in mind he swiped the "accept call" symbol. "Hello?"

 The voice on the other end came through a bit choppy, apparently not having a good signal, but he could still make out the gist of the words. "Hello? -is Sam Win-ester?"

 "Yes." He responded, still feeling a little guarded. "I can barely hear you."

 "-old on." There were some sounds of shifting around, and then a few sharp swears as whoever he was apparently tried to move to a better location. "Can you hear me now?"

 "Yeah," Sam responded, still not recognizing the voice on the other end, although it did sound vaguely familiar. "Who is this?"

 "It's me!" came the oh so helpful response. "Ed."

 Sam waited, hoping for more to go on.

 "Ed Zeddmore."

 Sam thought his eyes might roll out of their sockets if they weren't attached in so firmly. "Oh... Right. Ghostfacers." He couldn't keep the tiredness out of his voice. "What do you want?"

 "Well..." came the hesitant reply, "Not really the Ghotsfacers anymore... Harry left for good. Got back with that girl he was interested in and married her."

 Sam couldn't really bring himself to feel sorry for Ed or care about his personal issues, not with the main big problem along with a bunch of other little problems all heaped onto his plate. "Look," he tried. "I'm sorry to hear that things didn't work out with you two. But I don't really see how I can-"

 "Oh! No, not... not asking anything like that." Ed interrupted then continued on briskly. "I still look up hauntings you see. Solo though. Still interested in the paranormal and all that but... well, I try to stay away from the really dangerous sounding ones."

 He didn't outright say it, but Sam could practically hear the unspoken "The ones you guys usually take care of." With a shake of his head, he cleared his throat. "Yeah. Um, that's probably for the best, you know."

 "Yeah." The despondent tone in his voice was clear even over the still somewhat staticy line. Sam really wished the guy would just get to the point of why ever he'd called.

 "So..?"

 "Right. Yeah." The other man audibly cleared his throat. "So, I was looking into this haunting in South Carolina. Just some sightings really, and a few odd occurrences happening, but no deaths. No injuries even. Just witnesses saying that this ghostly figure would sometimes appear, running in the woods like they were being chased by something. Sometimes screams were heard. Sometimes it seemed like they were trying to communicate with people but it never seemed to work out well."

 Sam had already resumed reaching for the next book on the table as Ed was relaying the details of the case. "Okay... sounds like a non-violent, restless spirit. Probably either needs closure of some kind or to be put to rest. You should be able to handle that." Sam had to admit to himself, even if the Ghostfacers HAD been annoying, they had managed to get enough of a real picture of the supernatural to deal with something low-scale like that, even if Ed was going solo.

 "Oh, yeah." He agreed readily. "Yeah, I mean, I was going to. Even tried talking to her. But I think this one... well, it's really something you should come down here to help with."

 "Why's that Ed?" Sam asked tiredly, flipping through the pages of the old, leather-bound treatise on the intricacies of the angelic hierarchy.

 "Well, 'cause she asked for you. By name." Sam's hand froze, his brows drawn together in puzzlement. Something niggled at the back of his head. Like, the various threads of information should already mean something.

 "What?"

 "Yeah, she was asking for Sam Winchester. I tried talking back to her but it was like she couldn't hear me. And it looked like she might be trying to use sign-language. I mean... have YOU ever heard of a deaf ghost?"

 It felt like the edges of the room started to white out as his heart suddenly clenched in his chest.

 South Carolina. A wooded area. A deaf, restless spirit, asking for him. By name.

 A cold, heavy feeling settled into the pit of his stomach along with a spreading numbness. A numbness that some distant, clinical part of his mind unhelpfully informed him was a typical reaction to sudden shock, intended to help the individual deal with the present situation so they could sort their feelings out later. With a slight tremble, his hand reached for the pad of paper and pencil he had nearby for taking down notes. "Where?" His voice came out rougher than he'd wanted.

 "Um, here, I have coordinates." As he rattled them off, Sam wrote them down. And yeah, it was the same area where she'd been found. "So..." Ed ventured uncertainly, having picked up on the sudden shift in Sam's emotions.

 "Yeah." Sam said tightly. "I'll take care of it."

 "Want some help on it?" The other man offered, seeming all too anxious to team up with someone again, even if he hadn't had the best track-record in the past of working with the Winchesters.

 "No." Sam didn't even try to soften it, as the lump in his chest seemed to grow tighter. "No, I'll deal with it. I'm... I'm already familiar with... Just, go on. She... she's not going to hurt anyone." It had been well over a year, but the pain of her loss was already welling up inside him, like an old injury that you thought had mostly healed until you managed to wrench it just the wrong way and it made itself known again.

 "Okay. Um.. yeah." Ed stammered, having not expected the emotions he could hear in the Hunter's voice, despite Sam's efforts to keep himself under control. "So, good luck, and all that." Sam ended the call before he said something he'd regret.

 His phone fell to the table and his head fell into his hands as he tried to fend off emotions that now assailed him, reverberating through his mind like a damned echo chamber. The certain knowledge that this was Eileen. The gut-wrenching pain he'd felt when he'd gotten that call from Jody, telling him that she'd been found dead. The even worse feeling when they'd gone there and seen her actual body, cold and still like so many others they'd viewed over their bloody careers as Hunters. The knowledge that she'd been trying to reach them but hadn't made it. The questions left unanswered, until the day he'd cracked into that hard drive he'd taken from the BMOL's base and among other things found her case-file and the cold, clinical explanation of what they'd... of what Ketch had done to her. He'd never directly brought it up to the former assassin, once the man had more or less joined their side. But after the fall-out of Michael’s initial possession of Dean he'd firmly suggested that if Ketch still wanted to help them, to do so overseas. To follow up on leads in Britain and Europe that they had no way of seeing to themselves. Ketch hadn't argued the point.

 Even as Sam was still reeling from the news Dean's distinctive footsteps wandered in from the hallway to the kitchen and up the steps into the library. "Hey, Geek-boy," he said by way of greeting.

 Sam startled a little, raising his head from his hands and trying to wipe casually at his face, as if he was just tired. "Hey... Mom turn in?"

 Dean took in his brother's posture, the quaver he tried to hide from his voice, the extra moisture on his cheeks as well as his red-rimmed eyes and sighed heavily before plunking one of the tumblers he'd brought with him down in front of Sam, filling it half-full from the bottle of Jack he was also carrying. "You know..." he ventured, taking the seat across from his brother, "you coulda joined us. I know-" he paused, rubbing the back of his neck, "well, you and Dad seemed to have kind of worked some stuff out, but it couldn't have been any easier on you than the rest of us."

 Sam shook his head a little, not drinking from the glass, though Dean figured from the look on his face that he really needed it. "Dean... it's not- I mean, yeah, that wasn't easy but that's not why-"

 "And look," Dean continued, having noticed the various piles of books, "I know you're all gung-ho to find some special archangel fix-it in all this stuff, but man, you gotta sleep too."

 Sam's sigh was almost exasperated, though there was still a slight hitch in it. "Yeah... sleep. Cause THAT'S ever nice and-" his head suddenly tilted and his brows furrowed, as he got that look on his face that Dean had become well accustomed to over their lives. It was the look of his braniac brother fitting seemingly random pieces of information together into something that made sense. "Son-of-a-bitch..."

 Dean waited a few moments to see if Sam would continue, but when his brother's expression shifted from dawning comprehension to something distinctly more pained, he spoke up, trying to lighten the mood. "Care to share with the class?"

 Sam closed his eyes for a long moment before pushing the pad of paper over to Dean, who swiveled it around to take a look at it. He saw notations of book titles and page numbers, a few lines here and there that didn't make a lot of sense to him out of context, a few lines of symbols that looked to be Enochian and then larger and away from everything else, some numbers that looked like they could be map coordinates. They were heavily circled also. Shooting a questioning look up at Sam, he shrugged. "Are the coordinates for someplace special?"

 The taller hunter nodded. "Got a call about a non-violent, restless spirit. She's been appearing sometimes, trying to communicate but apparently that's been difficult because she's deaf." Dean started to get a sinking feeling in his gut, one which only got worse as his brother continued. "But she managed to ask for me. By name. And this is where most of the sightings have been."

 Dean didn't keep map coordinates in his head, but even without that, he had a fairly good guess where this was leading. And the clench in his gut only got worse as his brother's behavior began to make sense. "It's Eileen, isn't it?"

 "Yeah, probably." Sam was resting his forehead against one of his hands now. "Those are for the area where she was-" he couldn't quite say it, but Dean didn't need him to.

 "Well..." he knew nothing could make this situation "okay" but he still wanted to find something to help his brother out with it. "I mean, you said she's not being violent. So, that's good. Maybe she just needs closure or something."

 Sam was nodding. "Yeah, that's what I'm hoping too." He straightened up again, seeming to have come to a decision and began to shut down his laptop. "Look, I know there's still a lot to do here, and I don't want you to think I'm ditching-out on you, but I think I need... I mean, she asked for me specifically. I owe her that much."

 "Hey, seriously," Dean did his best to reassure his brother, "it's okay. Look, I'm in no shape to drive tonight, but we can get an early start in the morning, and-"

 Sam shook his head. "I'm leaving tonight Dean. And it's okay." He pointedly pushed the glass of whiskey back over towards the other Hunter. "I'm fine to make the drive. This should only take a day or two."

 Dean blamed the five or so other glasses he'd had already for being a bit slow on the uptake, but when it finally clicked he felt his "Big Brother Warning Bells" going off like crazy. "Wait, hold up. You're NOT just gonna waltz in there alone. If you're that desperate to leave tonight, fine. For this I'll let you drive. But I'm coming with you."

 Sam was already shaking his head. "Dean... look. I appreciate it." Dean could tell from his tone that he meant it, "But I need to deal with this alone."

 "Sam-"

 "No Dean!" A hint of the anger and desperation that he'd seen in his brother's eyes a few nights ago in a parking lot in Iowa was resurfacing as he abruptly rose to his feet, shoving the chair back with legs and almost knocking it over. "This is going to be hard enough as it is. I have to put her to rest, one way or another. And I just had to send our Dad back to the past so he could die like he's supposed to." Dean flinched a little at that. No one had really asked, but he knew that there was no way they would have made their Mom be the one to crush the pearl, and when Sam had set things up to do it himself, he'd honestly been relieved. He wasn't sure if he could have done it either, as much as everyone had understood that it had to happen. But he should have realized it wouldn't have been any easier for Sammy. "And if things get bad with Michael... if I can't find another way in time..." He didn't need to finish that thought for Dean to see where it was going. Not with the promise he'd extracted from both Sam and Cas to put him in the box if things went south.

 Dean shook his head and rose, swiftly stepping around the table and over to Sam to rest his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Hey!" He squeezed, wanting to make sure he had his attention. "Hey," he continued a little softer, "I told you I believe in us, Sam, and I do. And I believe in you. I know you're gonna find something. So, don't let that keep hanging over you. But..." his gut twisted a little, his instincts yelling at him to not say this, but he could tell it was important, "if you really need to deal with this alone, that's okay. I'll stay here and..." he made a vague gesture towards the heaps of books on the table.

 Sam's eyes widened a little. "Seriously? You're going to do research?"

 Dean tried for mock-offended. "Hey, just 'cause I don't usually like to research doesn't mean I can't. I'll have Cas and Jack fill me in on your system here and we'll be all set."

 Sam still seemed more than a bit surprised, but he managed a half-smile. "Thanks, Dean. Maybe you'll see something I overlooked." Reaching up to give his brother's hand a squeeze, he then stepped away so he could close-up his laptop and tore the part of the sheet of paper with the coordinates on it off from the rest, folding it up to shove into one of his pockets.

 Dean grumbled something under his breath about that last remark as he fished in his own pocket, bringing out the car keys which he tossed to Sam once he'd turned back around. "I don't wanna see a scratch on her, y'hear?"

 Again, Sam seemed a bit shocked, but he nodded, giving his brother a tight smile before heading off to his room to get his gear together.

 When Sam was out of sight, Dean sagged against the table and shook his head. "Once, just for once couldn't we catch a break?" He wasn't sure who exactly he was asking though, as he was even more sure than ever that Chuck had skipped the universe a while ago. Picking up the glass left on the table, he downed it, welcoming the burn and hoping it would help numb the ache he was feeling for his brother. The kid didn't deserve this. He hadn't deserved to lose a woman that he'd so clearly cared about, and who just as obviously had cared about him. And he definitely didn't deserve to have to be the one to put her to rest. Though, hopefully it wouldn't turn ugly. And maybe... maybe this would give Sam a chance to do what he hadn't been able to before. Maybe now he could say goodbye. Hell, maybe that was what Eileen needed too.

 He almost considered taking the bottle of whiskey with him off to his room, but resolutely decided against it, instead leaving it in one of the little corner cabinets next to one of the poofy leather armchairs. He'd been serious when he'd told Sam he'd start looking through this stuff, and making his impending hangover worse wasn't the best way to go about that.

 As he wandered back to his room, he scrunched his brows together, realizing he hadn't found out just what exactly Sam's "Eureka moment" had been about.

 ~0~0~0~0~0~

 Back in his room, Sam slid his laptop into his backpack then reached over to the ledge he kept a number of books on, grabbing the one titled "Learning American Sign Language". The pages were well-worn and several slips of paper marked various places in it, but it also had a thin coating of dust on it. It had been some while since he'd picked it up. With a tightness in his throat, he put it in his backpack too. He pretty much always kept a duffel ready with the basics of clothes and whatnot in case he had to head out in a hurry, so it was just a matter of adding a few specific things to it.

 Almost ready to go, he paused a moment, his hand hovering over his backpack before finding its way to a smaller pocket on the side. Unzipping it, he gently took out what was inside, sitting down on the bed without really realizing it as his memories drifted back, almost unbidden, to the last time he'd seen her alive.

 She'd been crushed over having accidentally killed a human, even a human as douchy as that Renny guy had been. After holding her for a while Sam had gently suggested that she try taking a shower to relax, and that they should all get some sleep. Later that evening, after he'd had his own shower and was reading for a bit he'd heard a low knock at his door. Eileen was there when he'd opened it, the overlarge (on her anyway) flannel he'd lent her the previous day now being worn as a nightshirt. "Sam... I..." her eyes had been downcast, so he'd gently raised her chin with his hand before signing that it was okay. "I just, I don't want to be alone right now."

 He'd nodded and pulled her into another hug, softly stroking her still slightly damp hair. They'd slept together that night in the strictly literal sense, Eileen curled up protectively in his arms, and as he'd felt himself slowly drifting off he'd felt that feeling somewhere deep in his chest that he'd always felt when spending time with her, even if it was just face-timing on his phone or computer. It was a feeling that he'd hesitated to define, but right then it was growing, as if it could have filled all of his being. He'd had his share of one-night-stands and random flings, and even though he and Eileen hadn't ever had sex, hadn't even kissed for that matter, he'd known that what he'd felt for her was stronger anything he'd felt for any of those others. He'd known that he would do anything he could for her, known that what he'd wanted most was to protect her. And he'd instinctively known that she was very emotionally vulnerable right then, and pushing her into something physical, something she wasn't really ready for at that point could have truly hurt her.

 That thought alone had been enough to keep his libido in check and just appreciate her presence; the feel of her soft warmth pressed against him, the rosemary scent of her shampoo, the slow sounds of her breathing and the way her fingers had slipped under his t-shirt and held onto his side even in sleep. His last thoughts before falling asleep had been wishing there could be more of all that. More of her. More of them. For them to be a "them".

 When morning had dawned, her look of gratitude had been enough to reassure him that he'd made the right choice. Though her words telling him of her decision to go back to Ireland had landed like a punch to his gut, but he'd tried to hide his disappointment. She'd seen right through him though, and her expression had grown a little sad. "Not forever. I promise I'll come back. I just... I want a chance to connect with who my parents were, and hiding under the Men-of-Letter's noses might be the safest place for me, since they'll probably be looking for me in the States."

 He'd nodded, understanding her reasoning. After a quick breakfast of toast and some eggs that he'd miraculously managed not to burn, he'd helped her carry her things outside to her car, giving her another long hug before she pulled away, but not to leave just yet. She'd spent a few moments looking deeply into his eyes, as if she could fully plumb their depths. "Thank you Sam. For everything." Then she'd surprised him by sliding a hand up to the back of his neck and drawing him down while reaching up on tip-toe, pulling him into a kiss that started out sweet and soft before gaining heat. He'd been a little surprised at first, but definitely not reluctant, and for a few moments that had felt like eternity and yet also entirely too brief, the world around them had seemed to fade away, and all he'd known were her lips and the feel of the two of them pressed as close together as they could have managed to be.

 When they'd finally broken off the kiss, she offered him one last, sad smile before wishing him goodbye and to keep himself safe. He'd done the same, waving at her in a bit of a daze as she'd driven off.

 Later, when he'd gone back into his room he'd found something she'd clearly left for him on his desk; a lock of her dark brown hair secured with one of those little black hair-ties.

  He held it now as he sat there, feeling the softness of it and still catching the faint scent of rosemary. "This is why you visit my dreams sometimes, isn't it?" He murmured softly. "You're tied to that forest, but you're also tied to me through this, and I take it with me whenever I go out on hunts." He found himself having to blink a few times to keep the tears at bay. "Guessing the Bunker's wards keep you away when I'm here though... But I'm coming. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry it took me this long." He couldn't keep his tears from falling this time as his voice broke. "I'll be there soon."

[hastalux]

*sighs and adds another WIP to the pile*

I am physically incapable of only doing one thing at a time, I swear. The new plot bunny is an American-set Uni!Mystrade. With sports. And a lot of Men in Showers.

*buries head in hands and reminds myself yet again that there are three other projects I am supposed to be working on right now that are not this idea*

Yeah if anyone has good methods of increasing focus on one work at a time... lemme know. 

[rayanyprocrastinates]

Breaking Writers Block: 7-KidLaw AU- Isolated Passion

"Oh, another one."

A soft voice, rough from disuse, had him whirling around.

"What do you mean by that?" he had no memories of where he was, or more importantly who he was.

"You. You're a special gift from Kid. That's his marking there on your chest." the graceful hand lifted and pointed at the symbol on the chest of his boiler suit. It was a smiling circle surrounded by several protrusions.

"Who's Kid?" was the only question that came to mind.

The cloaked man in front of him gave a gentle smile. "He is the Creator, Life himself. Kid always enjoys tinkering around with his creations, finding various ways to make them each unique. The ones he makes especially with me in mind bare his marking."

"Then who are you?"

The gentle smile grew and took on a more darker look.

"I'm Death, but you can call me Law." the same hand from earlier easily grasped onto his and he was promptly dragged in an undisclosed direction. "Come, I'll introduce you to the others. They'll be overjoyed to find out there's a new member."

•~•~•

They met only once, back when they were first created.

They were the last creations of their predecessors, the Life and Death from before the Reset.

But now was the emergence of a new time, a new vision.

The two were told only of their names and roles before their elders dispersed into the last wind from an old era.

The new Life was named Kid.

His job was to create everything and anything of his heart's desire but was allowed only three Helpers of his own design to aid him.

The new Death was named Law.

His job was to collect the creations once their time was up and send them back to Kid for Recycling. However, this he was to do alone. Unlike Kid, Law did not have the power to create. Instead he was gifted the power to harvest.

As a result of their conflicting domains, the two were to never meet again. Fated to an eternity of creating and harvesting, a never ending cycle in necessary isolation.

But while Law carried out his assigned duties indifferently, Kid couldn't help but be distracted. His only Other was to be alone, Law's eternal existence to be spent in solitude while he was able to have Helpers. It simply was not acceptable.

For centuries Kid was distracted by side projects, exploring small possibilities and loop home, desperate to find a way around Law's forced solitude.

Then one day, he did.

It wasn't like his usual creations. Instead of being bare, this one had pure white fur for covering, nor did it share any human traits.

Aside from one that is.

After the last few finishing touches, Kid sent it off to it's new companion, a glee-filled grin stretching his face painfully wide.

He finally did it.

•~•~•

Law was making his usual rounds when he found the First.

It's call was different from anything that he's ever Harvested before, that's what initially grabbed his attention.

Far to the north, that's where he tracked it, to the coldest place that even Kid's creations didn't yet dare to explore.

At first he couldn't see anything, dark brows furrowed in confusion. He had never been wrong before, but then he saw movement amongst the pure white.

It was a new creation, seems to be another animal this time. Kid surely lived up to his name as Creator with his endless imagination.

The beast slowly approached him, nose sniffing curiously at his out stretched hand.

"What a splendid creature, such a shame he need to be Recycled." Law spoke more to himself than anything, hence why he was surprised when he received an answer.

"I'm sorry."

For the first time since he was created Law stumbled back in pure shock. Did this creature just talk?

•~•~•

Even after days and weeks and months of trying to Recycle the bizarre talking creature, Law gave up. Bepo- he later named him, refusing to continue to refer to him as creature- stayed by his side, accompanying throughout his duties.

The new Death was perplexed, how was he to do his job if he was unable to follow through. Was there something wrong with his powers?

An uncomfortable sensation settled in the pit of his stomach.

Was he deffective? Would he be replaced if he wasn't able to Harvest the bear?

It was another dozen or so decades later when he faced the abnormality again.

By this point Bepo had become a close ally and friend (something Law had never dreamed of having), they knew everything about each other yet the only thing that remained a mystery was the strange symbol that marked the bear's chest. A smiling face surrounded by several T-shaped protrusions. A foreign symbol Law had a nagging feeling he'd seen before, if he were able to have them he'd say it was in a dream.

After wandering out to another routine Harvesting, Law stood in a full out gape.

Marking the chest of the confused man in front of him was the very same symbol that marred Bepo's fur.

Could it be? Was this another entity that would be unable to return to their creator?

The man had no memories of his life, which was bizarre because that was one of Law's duties- to reset the Creations for proper Recycling- he had never had one come to him as a blank slate before except for Bepo.

Law soon came to the conclusion that it must've been something in the way Kid was making them. He himself was unable to prevent someone's end and with no other like him, Kid was the only other explanation.

A soft smile touched his lips as the new Marked was warmly welcomed by Bepo a few feet away.

"Thanks, Eustass-ya."

•~•~•

But as it is said, all good things must come to an end.

The world was in a state of decay. Deaths happened at a faster rate than births did. Recycling became backed up, Law was left with no place to lead the people who were Harvested and was forced to simply let them roam around.

There was a shift happening in power.

A shift that was never supposed to occur.

With gritted teeth Law bit out a curse as he took in the rapidly deteriorating surroundings.

This was supposed to be theirs, their creations, their image, their world.

What was that fool up to?

•~•~•

Kid laid hunched against the work table he spent all his time lovingly creating over. His Helpers were off somewhere trying to salvage what they could of the situation. Desperately trying to keep their world from falling to pieces.

A cough rattled around in his chest, his energy long since depleted with the damaged Recycle system.

Despite his weak state Kid couldn't help but feel joy. Finally, his other was free and able to strive. To interact, to live, to feel.

Law.

Was the man fairing alright? Of course he hadn't seen his only other since the Beginning but he never had his Marked returned to him so he assumed they were a success.

But as his breaths came less and less, Kid couldn't help the inkling of doubt that blossomed. Perhaps they never made it in the first place, their existence burning up in the strenuous entry. Or maybe they simply weren't suitable for recycling at all.

Oh. But wait. It was all fine now. Law was able to be the dominant force, Death now being the primary power in the world they made together.

Kid's eyes blurred, this must be it. The time for a new Life, the next Creator.

Damn, there was so much more that he had wanted to do.

As his eyes started to slide shut he felt the ghost of a hand brush against his cheek.

"To think after so many centuries of waiting, that this is how we'd finally meet again." Startled by the new voice- he hasn't heard a new voice since he made the last of his Helpers- Kid's eyes shot open. "The universe is truly cruel."

"Law." He breathed, unable to accept that his other was truly there. Looking so different yet just the same as he was when they first met.

"You fool, Death was never meant to have such power."

Cold pale hands cupped his own, bringing them to hover between the two.

At first nothing happened then suddenly a black whisp of smoke emerged in the cupped air. Violently twisting and turning before settling to a puddle in their joined hands.

"Take it, it's rightfully yours." Pale hands patiently guided their clasped ones to his trembling lips.

"I-I can't. I did this for you!" Kid whispered brokenly, too weak to stop the advancement.

"I know." Sorrow filled gray eyes locked with his as unwavering hands forcefully tipped the golden liquid past his lips. "That's what makes this hurt the most."

•~•~•

What? I'm writing random nonsensical AUs instead of doing my history homework thats due in 3 hours that I haven't even started on yet? Psssh noooo. How could you even suggest such a thing? I'm insulted. My first KidLaw fic to add to my writer's block pile. This was gonna be it's own full story but it got mashed into a one shot when a new plot bunny borrowed in my skull. Hope it was at least intriguing and that you liked it~!