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ohmyeyesmyeyes · 3 years

Note

Idk if you do one shots inspired in songs, but if so, Would you mind doing one with a Taylor Swift's song which is called "The 1"? With Mason Mount please

< i love taylor so much and i really hope i didn’t completely butcher this, but thanks for the challenge :) >

MASON MOUNT ONESHOT

the 1

( WARNING: little bit of angst and fluff?, swearing )

word count: 1.8k

Things don’t often go as we expect them to, and it’s often incredibly difficult to replan your life around that massive change and adapt your lifestyle so you can — in reality — live again.

It’s like trying to find your feet when you’re in the air — it feels impossible but you know with time you’ll eventually meet the ground again.

That’s what it felt like when you and Mason broke up four years ago.

You were fresh out of uni and at the time, you really thought he’d be it for you, and honestly, so did he. A break up thrown into the mix of having to navigate adult life just seemed to put a huge stopper on all your plans; the holiday you two had both booked for a weekend away in Ireland, the meals out with friends that you had to cancel, and the house showings you were set to attend.

Looking back on your relationship now, you realise it wouldn’t have been the worst thing to end up with Mason. All the years and effort and time put into loving him were — without a doubt — some of the best years of your life (at that stage in life), and did you regret it?

Not one single bit.

But four years is the perfect amount of time to heal, remove the salt from the wound and finish grieving.

But he was here. In real life.

You’d imagined running into him in the supermarket or on a night out with your friends, but a bus stop?

That one was weird. Mainly because you both hated catching the bus with a burning passion.

But it lead to a catch up over coffee.

It was a quiet place, out of the way of the usual lunchtime hustle and bustle in the city, and for that you were grateful. You could hear your own thoughts.

It was awkward at first, you couldn’t keep your eyes from fixating on his figure, his features, because four years can really change a person. He was much broader, his hair a little shorter, but he was still that same Mason you once loved.

You knew that because the first thing he did when he sat down was offer you that cheeky, charming smile that had you hooked from the second you met.

He’d asked how you were, and you answered honestly: you were living well, your best life, and to the fullest. And you knew and he knew that it wasn’t a lie.

He could tell by the smile on your face and the new, sparkling band on your wedding finger. He half expected that blow to sting a little — that you’d found someone and he hadn’t, but he was never one to be bitter whatsoever, at least, not when it came to you.

Instead, he offered his congratulations and the only inkling of regret he held was not being there when it happened.

I guess you never know, never know,

And if you wanted me, you really should’ve showed,

And if you never bleed, you’re never gonna grow,

And it’s alright now.

There was silence after that.

You had one thing on your mind, and you knew by the way he was looking at you that he was also thinking the same thing.

You took a sip of your coffee.

He mirrored your actions, seemingly startled when you placed your mug onto your saucer, the chink of porcelain against porcelain echoing around the small shop cutting through the previous quietness.

“I think I hated you for a while.” You murmured, and if Mason wasn’t leant over the table slightly, he would’ve missed the statement completely.

He nodded in understanding, his brown eyes shining with the faintest hint of guilt.

“I think I was so frustrated with the idea that we just…didn’t work, and I blamed it on you.” You paused, fingers twisting your rings.

He paused, mulling over his words, “And now? Still hate me now?”

You bit back a small smile and met his eyes, “No…I think it’d take a whole load of bad shit to get me to hate you.”

He smiled.

“That’s good to know.”

“I mean, I think it was a long time coming anyway, that break up.”

“It didn’t feel right for a while.”

“No,” you agreed, “as much as it hurt to admit, I think we just failed…as a couple. There was a point where we were just together for the sake of not giving up on the relationship, but with no real reason to continue.”

But we were something, don't you think so?

Roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool,

And if my wishes came true,

It would've been you,

In my defense, I have none,

For never leaving well enough alone,

But it would've been fun,

If you would've been the one.

He seemed to ponder over your words, and although he never voiced it, he came to the conclusion that you’d just put into words — perfectly — the itch that had been tickling his brain for the past few years.

“Despite that, you can’t deny that we weren’t something…” he started, before breaking off and shaking his head, as if the mere thought was ridiculous.

“We were something special. I think, had things stayed like they were in the beginning, that…you and I…” you waved your hand, tilting your head, and he nodded in agreement, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Me too. I think…in another life we could have made each other happy. It would have been fun.”

The words ‘if you would’ve been the one’ echoed in your head, and despite the passive aggressiveness of your conscience, you found yourself holding back a smile.

“Water fights in winter and eggs with ketchup…perfect. I’d never have gotten tired of that.” You mused, and he spluttered slightly on his coffee, laughing along with you in what felt like a decade.

I have this dream you're doing cool shit,

Having adventures on your own,

You meet some woman on the internet and take her home,

We never painted by the numbers, baby,

But we were making it count,

You know the greatest loves of all time are over now.

“Then again, who knows? Maybe you’ll fall over in the airport and some lucky person will help you off the floor—”

“You’re about to say something cheesy, aren’t you?” Mason covered his mouth, scrunching his nose in anticipation as you nodded.

“All this nostalgic bullshit has me emotional! I swear, just this once…just this once, and I promise you can laugh about it afterwards.” You swore, holding out your pinkie for confirmation.

He didn’t hesitate, and linked your pinkie.

“You’ll find someone else. It’ll be love at first sight—hey, let me have this moment…maybe love at second sight, knowing you… you’ll go to some really magical place and have the most amount of fun you’re ever gonna have…hikes, skydiving, looking after animals I’m sanctuaries…you’re gonna have the time of your life — like Grey and Swayze.” You sniggered, unable to hold in your laughs at the ridiculous scenarios.

Mason pulled a face, unable to hide a smile.

“Okay, okay. End of story: they’ll be perfect. The Chandler to your Monica or the Robin to your Ted. But, you understand what I’m talking about, right?” You asked, sighing out of frustration.

“You’re saying I’ll find my person.” He concluded, sitting back in his chair.

“Yeah.”

We were something, don't you think so?

Rosé flowing with your chosen family,

And it would've been sweet,

If it could've been me,

In my defense, I have none,

For digging up the grave another time,

But it would've been fun,

If you would've been the one.

“Like…your grandma and grandad. I want what they have.” Mason smiled.

“They’ll be pleased to hear that,” you said, “I don’t think they’re quite over us yet. You were too…you at family meals. They fell in love with you too.”

This time Mason really laughed. Really laughed. He threw his head back and the people working at the counter turned to look at him, fighting their own smiles at his carefree nature.

What you’d said wasn’t even that funny.

“Too me? Thanks, I think?”

“Oh, that’s definitely a compliment. You’re too damn charming for your own good, it’s a problem. You should come with a warning label on your forehead: EASY TO LOVE.”

“That’ll solve a lot of problems.”

There was silence.

It was relieving to say the least.

“That whole conversation was about four years too late.” You said, pursing your lips.

“Better late than never.” Mason murmured, his eyes trained on you.

The pressure on your shoulders was lifted. All the things that needed to be said were said.

As time passes, the wound heals — sometimes, but in your case, that was true, as hard as it was to come to that conclusion — and it suddenly became easier to recall the loss of what might have been without bringing you back to wishing it would be again.

It was nice.

“Would it be totally inappropriate—”

“Not at all.” You interrupted, shrugging at his raised eyebrows.

“You didn’t know what I was going to say.” He chuckled.

“I’ll have you know that years of knowing you granted me the issue of knowing what you’re going to say,” You said, pointing an accusatory finger in his direction.

“What was I going to say?” He challenged, “If you get it right, I’ll get you tickets to the next game.”

You raised your brows.

“Confident, are we?”

He shrugged, a smug smirk on his lips.

“I don’t think it’s totally inappropriate to be friends.” At your words, he slumped in his chair, hands going to cover his face.

“No.” He groaned, repeating the word like a mantra as you pumped the air with your fist.

“Three tickets to the next game in the bag.” You bragged.

“Honestly.” He whined, peeling his hands away. “Why are you so difficult?”

“You offered the terms.”

“Why am I so dumb?” He rephrased.

“Ah, I'm afraid only you can answer that one.”

“The brain cells I have left don’t have enough energy to come up with an answer to a question as philosophical as that one—yes, it was philosophical to me, okay?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” You promised, putting your hands in the air in surrender.

“Just remember who’s going to give you those tickets, yeah?” He teased, sitting up.

“Abusing your power, nice move.”

“Oh…shut up.”

“Weak.” You coughed, trying to disguise the fact you said anything.

He looked straight at you, highly unimpressed by your tactics.

“Very original.” Was all he said.

“Is it supposed to be this easy?” You blurted out, spitting out the words before you could rethink the consequences of them being thrown into the abyss between you and Mason.

He knitted his brows together in thought.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, “but we were friends way before, it’s not hard to fall back into old habits. I think that’s why it’s so easy.”

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illumilu · 4 years

Text

“there’s only one bed” - chrollo lucilfer x reader

a/n: a very stereotypical cliche for fanfics, but, yk what? cringe is heavily underappreciated. so here, have my drabbling of what would happen if you were to spend an unwanted night in the same hotel bed as the adultrio. for the last part, we’re taking a look at chrollo lucilfer! also! this may suck!

summary: you arrive at the hotel with chrollo, your childhood friend and colleague, but to your horror (wink wink), there’s only one bed. this is part three of a three-part series, with the adultrio. hisoka and illumi are already written so i suppose that concludes the series!

warnings: no particular trigger warnings, lowercase intended, a lot of fluff! and cuddling! chrollo being his usual self, charming but kinda dead ,,, except this time he’s not using you (cough neon nostrade) ... no nsfw :)

chrollo lucilfer:

- chrollo lucilfer was an undeniably enticing man.

- you two had just exited the train station, and were now walking to your hotel.

- why had this trip been planned? well, chrollo had bought reservations, claiming he “had something private to say” one night. honestly, he made you nervous sometimes. just what you expected from the leader of an internationally renowned murder gang.

- the refreshing cold air chilled your face, as you walked along the damp pavement. the large, multistory hotel loomed in the distance, like an upright torch in a sea of gray. you turned to look at chrollo.

- “it’s cold, isn’t it?”

- “astounding observation.” he smiled audaciously.

- growing up alongside them hadn’t been easy for you; after all, meteor city was dilapidated. after leaving the place, you had found the estimated population to be around 8 million people. funnily enough, it had never felt like that many.

- you still remembered the day chrollo had formed the phantom troupe. you had watched as he set out the rules standing proudly on the trash-pile; as he described the metaphorical spider and its immortality.

- personally, you hated spiders. too many legs.

- either way, you stayed there, listening, observing - you had seen them running around the city before, laughing and playing together. how could people be so happy in such an obscure place?

- meteor city; it was almost... suffocating. the fact that no one acknowledged the residents, even as a collective percentage, chilled you to your core. you wanted to be known. you guessed that was why you were still alongside chrollo today.

- you supposed the only way to get through the maddening sense of compression was with friendship. alas, you didn’t really have many friends. it was always hard to find them. therefore, you would check to see what chrollo’s group were doing together, but would never join unless invited.

- that fateful night, the ignition of the troupe; truly a day to remember.

- as soon as you had turned around from behind some abandoned trash, chrollo had slowly turned to look at you. you had been listening as he mused about the phantom troupe’s intentions. he had personally seen you around the junkyard many times. always watching. waiting for something? no, just observing. here you were, eyes on him, yet again.

- a pause. you could feel everyone’s eyes on you. but it wasn’t humiliating; it was exhilarating.

- you still remembered the way you had cursed yourself for thinking like that. why had you come out from your hiding place? you didn’t want anything to do with this group; killing people, stealing things, wandering astray from the path of morality... what was this?

- “did you hear everything?” he had asked.

- “yes.” you whispered.

- your eyes lifted to meet his. you knew almost nothing of where that day would eventually lead you. you shared a long stare that night, almost childish, waiting for him to say something. you could swear his eyes were boring into your soul.

- “you don’t want to join, do you?”

- you gulped and looked at the dirt beneath you.

- “no.”

- things had changed since then.

- you had never did end up joining the phantom troupe. it was too chaotic for you. but, you did end up sticking around and, somehow, you came to know each of the troupe members extremely well.

- whenever they’d rendezvous and cause destruction, you’d always be there, observing from the sidelines. chrollo liked to call it your “unofficial bond”. having spent a lot of your time with the interchanging 13, you knew their likes and dislikes, and often helped them out when they couldn’t get information. for some reason, you felt as if chrollo trusted you with this greatly.

- rarely, you got to spend time with him alone. you two were undoubtedly closer than any other pairs from the troupe, yet it was more of an unspoken connection than a full-blown one. compared to, let’s say, nobunaga and uvogin, and no one would have even speculated chrollo and you being as close.

- nevertheless, you loved when you got to spend time with him; whenever he loosened his idiotic “i’m the leader and we’re going to kill hundreds of people now!” demeanor, he was actually quite the gentleman.

- back to the present, you scoffed and continued walking; each breath made a little cloud in front of you, making you grin a little. when you were younger, you had always pretended to smoke whenever it was cold enough for it to happen.

- “you’re such a child.” chrollo said, adjusting his beige headband. you often wondered why he decided to get a tattoo on his forehead. troupe matters, you supposed. finally reaching the grand entrance to the hotel, chrollo pushed the gold revolving door, with an ironic “after you” look. you went through hastily, raising an eyebrow at him on the way in.

- the lobby was truly extravagant, full of grandeur that you had never seen before. you could only begin to fathom how much money the troupe got from stealing.

- honestly, you really felt like smacking chrollo. what right did he have to take you to such a huge place? with his own laundered money? that he probably earned from making someone else’s life hell? you opened your mouth to protest. he promptly interrupted you.

- “be quiet, y/n. you know have money to spend, so why shouldn’t i spend it on you? just this once?”

- that was a lie. he knew he would definitely do something like this again.

- your mouth closed, knowing the same thing. you sighed momentarily and went off to sit on a weirdly smooth velvet couch in the lobby.

- while absentmindedly checking in, chrollo began thinking about what exactly he was going to say to you. truthfully, there was no real reason for him bringing you here, to the hotel. it was just, lately, he had been feeling strangely drawn to you. you had a certain warm magnetism that contrasted his philosophical coldness. whenever you sat together, he felt some sort of strange exaltation, just by looking at you. whenever you smiled, he couldn’t help but smile back. he had also become considerably happier.

- “wow, boss~ you seem jokier these days~”

- the thought of hisoka made him wince, driving him back to the clerk in front of him.

- as he stared back at you, who was currently trying to figure out whether you could take the hotel magazines for free, he closed his eyes and let out a light breath.

- you jolted as chrollo stood before you, tapping you on the shoulder. loosening your grip on the cheap magazine, you glared at him.

- “keys.” he said, dangling them above you.

- “chrollo. don’t tell anyone. but i think have a plan.”

- “what? y/n, y-”

- you grinned, grabbed the keys and started towards the stair doors, yanking chrollo’s sleeve along with you. he ran behind you, making quite the commotion as you two thundered up the switchback stairs, shoes scuffing along the floor. through ragged breaths and giggles, he asked you why in god’s name you were going so fast.

- stopping abruptly to catch your breath, you told him to look at your hands, with an impish look on your face.

- the hotel magazine, crumpled in your hands.

- he furrowed his brow at you, laughing confusedly at your antics. you often helped him unwind with your spontaneous, stupid acts, and he was grateful for it. chrollo was someone who didn’t recognize how much they needed a break until they got one. he truly enjoyed how you just treated him as a normal person. since you weren’t part of the troupe, he wasn’t your “boss”. he supposed he was your... friend.

- you slowly made your way up to the room with him. despite him being unnervingly annoying sometimes, you enjoyed every moment with chrollo. every look you shared with him, every joke you had made.

- even when he was being serious you couldn’t help but admire his twisted resolve. often, you’d brush hands and sparks of ecstasy would rush to your heart. you guessed that was what happened when people were close. but what was “close”? you often found yourself mulling over the classifications of love, even if it wasn’t specifically about him. of course, you could love someone as a friend; what was romance, anyways?

- if there was one thing you had in common with chrollo, it was your interest in human emotion.

- chrollo had always been fascinated by the human psyche; so much so that it seemed like he knew what people were about to say before they even uttered a word. he too found himself musing over love; occasionally, you two would sit together and debate where each emotion stemmed from.

- however, no matter how equal you were, chrollo could always predict what you were about to say, never vice versa. he chalked it down to knowledge and experience, yet he found it ironic that emotions were his interest. he speculated the reason for it, and once, very wisely, said that “humans are always interested in what they do not have.”

- you reached the room fairly quickly, roused from the race up the stairs. half of you had already forgotten about what chrollo “wanted to tell you”; he opened the door and walked in first.

- “hey, wait out here for a second, i have a surprise.” he said, closing the door so it was only jarred open a little.

- nodding, you turned around, waiting in the lit hallway.

- chrollo turned to look at the room.

- wait.

- shit.

- a singular queen-sized bed stood in the middle of the room.

- chrollo blinked.

- he could have sworn he asked for two twin beds. blinking a few more times, beginning to sweat a little, he jolted as your voice came from the door; “chrollo, is it ready?”

- “no, not yet, stay there!” he shouted, pacing towards the hotel phone, frantically dialling room service.

- “hello?”

- “good evening. how may we help you?”

- “yeah, uh, so you see, i’m in room 444 and i definitely, most certainly booked two beds, not one - would you mind checking?”

- “no problem! it says here that you booked one queen sized bed, with two reservations. are you sure you didn’t misclick? perhaps the room was booked by someone else?”

- suddenly, chrollo remembered; shalnark did all his computer work. that bloody, meddling... no, he shouldn’t say that. he had nothing but gratitude for all the troupe members. some were very, very, very difficult to like, however.

- “are there any spare rooms around?”

- “yes, of course! but moving will cost around-”

- “chrollo?” you interrupted, peeking around the doorframe.

- you blinked.

- the bed was... larger... and more... singular than expected.

- “y/n! there’s been a mistake... just; bear with me, okay? everything will be fine. i just need to pay a-”

- darting to where he was, you grabbed the phone and slammed it back onto the receiver. you grabbed chrollo by the shoulders, shaking him violently (rather dramatically, too).

- “what do you think you’re doing? i tell you to stop spending money on me, and here you are, spending the money you got from murdering people?”

- you did not like the idea of sleeping in the same bed as chrollo one bit. however, you hated the idea of having him use his dark money on you way more. here he was, about to spend it on a simple matter. the persistent bastard.

- “whatever you say.” he murmured.

- “look, just think of it as a fun sleepover. no need for things to be awkward.”

- you were right. nothing would happen. childish as you were together, both of you knew boundaries. despite the recent appeal you had to him, he knew that your comfort was more important than anything.

- both agreeing to get some sleep, you changed into more comfy clothes and met back at the bed.

- something you often overlooked was how pretty chrollo was. grayish-brown pupils that, to the gullible eye, seemed neutral and boring, but to you seemed like a world of wonder and speculation. his eyelashes seemed almost delicate, unaware of how beautiful they were. his lips always looked cold, with a reddish tinge, yet somehow fit harmoniously with the rest of his features. it was no secret that his muscles were extremely defined, as you had seen whenever he wore his coat. somehow, his skin was smooth and pale all over, not comparable to porcelain, but better; it had the duality to glow with pride or to appear a solemn gray. his hands were almost never without a book, yet when they were occupied with something else, you couldn’t tear your eyes away from his elegant fingers. his hair, admittedly odd when slicked back, wisped across his face, fluffy as always. your eyes riveted on his.

- “what did you want to tell me?”

- shit. in the heat of all the issues, he had forgotten to think of something.

- what did he want to tell you? everything about himself, honestly. who he was, what he wished to do, his own personality, his philosophies. the dilemma was, he did not know himself.

- who am i?

- the pressing question that bugged him so, that tugged at his sleeve like a child he wished he could ignore. the word that fit chrollo best was, “enigma”. he truly wanted to find himself, but what did that even mean? he spent his life growing from nothing, becoming nothing and, despite having the largest reputation in the world, still feeling like nothing. yet, it was something that was locked within you that opened him. the buzz of emotion he had felt from you; that had been something. pride and happiness were good, all in all, but you defined him. you gave him something to live for. of course, chrollo still stood by death as if it was an old companion, but some tiny part of him would feel remorse if he ever died. remorse for leaving you behind. that had never happened with anyone else. the closer he became to you, the more he had a meaning. he contemplated; were you his meaning? two souls meant to be intertwined?

- “y/n.”

- “hm?”

- “love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. do you know who wrote this?”

- a silence met the air.

- “it was william shakespeare. a midsummer night’s dream.” he continued. “yet i wonder, what would one do if they had no mind? if love looks with the mind, yet had nowhere to look from, how would it see?”

- somewhere within you, you sensed he was talking about something very relevant.

- love would find a way. it would shoot from every outlet it could, from one soul to another; love would find a way to reach someone. conscienceless or aware, love would perpetuate through every single molecule left in someone’s resolve. two ribbons that were meant to find each other would undoubtedly find each other if they their love was strong enough. that is what you thought as you sat there with him, mutually mulling over the question.

- “i think it would find a way, wouldn’t it?” you said.

- “probably so.”

- “that was random, chrollo?” you questioned after a few still moments.

- “i suppose so... i miss times where we talked about the philosophies of the mind.”

- you nodded. you missed them too, even though they were frequent. you yawned tiredly; it was getting late. chrollo advised you to get some rest, which you quickly heeded. slowly, you headed to the left side of the bed. he took the right.

- “do you mind if i turn off the light?”

- “i think i’ll read for a while.” he smiled. typical.

- you turned to your side, dreams of the awaiting night already outstretching their comforting arms. eventually, you slipped into a peaceful sleep.

- chrollo cocked his head to the side to look at you. he watched your chest rise and fall for a few seconds, before promptly returning to his book. 1984 by george orwell. his eyes skimmed over the page, blurred names and metaphors flying indifferently past his eyes; he wished to find the quote that resonated with him every time he had previously read it.

- bingo.

- “if you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love.”

- chrollo had everything to give to you; yet you did not enjoy any of it. he found that you seemed happiest when you just sat together with him, ruminating, or joking or just sitting there in silence. perhaps the only thing he hadn’t tried was the simplest; the most human. maybe the answer to his infatuation with you was right in front of him.

- a few minutes later, he thought it would be best to sleep. closing the lights, he lay there quietly, falling into a passage of thoughts that soon turned sleepy and incoherent.

- the night passed.

- when morning came, things, once again, were different.

- chrollo was the first to wake up; fluttering his eyelashes, he soon became fully aware of his situation.

- he was on the other side of the bed.

- something was clinging to him.

- chrollo was clinging back.

- oh my god. he felt your arm wrapped low around his waist, with his doing the exact same around yours. almost like... you were mirroring each other. it was like you were hugging, except, when he looked down, you were still fast asleep.

- shit. this was weird.

- what did he do? he couldn’t just wake you up and cause a commotion; it was him who had thought “nothing would happen”.

- so much for a goddamned “sleepover”.

- your head was buried in the crook of his chin, so you were cuddling into his chest; the bed had been long enough for you to shuffle down and start hugging him? not to mention, somewhere in the night, you had entirely switched places.

- he couldn’t exactly get up to roll you away, either.

- what a conundrum. silently and rather awkwardly, he waited, still embracing you. this definitely made things exponentially more complicated than they needed to be.

- after around 10 minutes of waiting, you began to stir a little.

- blinking a few times to clear your vision, you murmured something unintelligible.

- chrollo, about to pull the biggest bastard move of the century, shut his eyes and pretended to sleep.

- what a jackass.

- pushing away from his body, you stared at him, taking a few moments to register the situation.

- and so, your internal panic monologue began, rapid as ever.

- why the SHIT were you in chrollo’s arms not less than 5 seconds ago? and why had it felt undeniably cosy??? did you hug him? did he hug you? of course he was still sleeping. maybe he wouldn’t get to know. why were you on the other side of the bed? did anything happen? no, you would have remembered. you couldn’t roll him over, either. what the shit.

- chrollo inconspicuously pretended to wake up, theatrical fake blinking and all.

- “oh.” he stated blankly.

- you scrunched your face; that was the only thing he could say? meanwhile your soul was rapidly disintegrating?

- “chrollo, i have no idea how that-”

- “certainly interesting.” he interrupted.

- the best decision was to leave it. right?

- “huh? what? looooook... i think i’m going to go change...” you said, suppressing your fluctuating heartbeat.

- chrollo sat up, nodding.

- as you left, you began speculating what to do; because you definitely couldn’t ignore this. when you woke up, you had felt safer, more comfortable. why was that? as much as you wanted to, you couldn’t drop the feeling that chrollo and you were something more than friends.

- chrollo, still on the bed, mulled over the various quotes and lines he had picked up. he ruminated over fond memories with you, and that buzzing feeling from earlier. he noticed it had skyrocketed. he felt... meaningful. bottling up his feelings wouldn’t do any good, would it? he had to say something. but it was dangerous. getting into matters like this may get in the way of the troupe. was it worth it? somewhere, he felt as if he already knew. this matter wasn’t exactly trivial. so, would he do it or not?

- subconsciously reaching for 1984 once more, he flicked past the cover and turned to a well-loved page of his.

- “at the sight of the words, “i love you”, the desire to stay alive had welled up in him, and the taking of minor risks suddenly seemed stupid.”

- as people usually do at urgent times such as these, he realized what had to be done.

- let’s just say; chrollo’s library began to harbor a lot more romance.

dear reader, i sincerely sincerely apologize if ur here rn. i wrote a wholeass 3554 words and i dont want people wasting their time LMFAO, this was so dumb?? i am SO SO sorry for being inactive for weeks, i’ve had exams, but i kind of felt obligated to finish off this series. which once again. i am so sorry for. this one felt even MORE tedious than the illumi one. i feel like the characterization was poor, even though i tried ,,, but i guess we all take Ls. i’m gonna just let this one be chalked down to my sleep deprivation and hopefully(?) continue writing. thx <3

either way, likes or reblogs or whatever are super appreciated, but don’t feel forced to or anything! either way, i feel like no one’s gonna see this with my reach LMAOO but anyways thank you for reading, if you made it here! feedback and tips for writing on here are always helpful :)

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bloodbuzz-smartypants · 3 years

Text

Sweet guardian over my sleep

Part 2 of 'Oh my compassionate light' It's also on AO3.

Fandom: The Witcher (TV) / Pairing: Geralt x Jaskier / Words: 2322

Summary: Snow had been falling gently all day and the moon was now high and bright, its light hitting his bed like the midday sun through the narrow window. He could feel the silence finally setting in the keep, all its residents now in the comfort of their rooms. His was simple, cold, and honest to gods depressing but he had slept in worse. Cold as he was in it the room was not the problem.

Or: A sleepless night and an outburst by the fire. Prompted by lyrics from Wunderbar, by Deine Lakaien.

///

Glittering snowflakes Under your golden glow Wrap myself up well In my woollen coat I am lying at your feet Sweet guardian over my sleep

Jaskier was contemplating the ceiling in his bedroom in Kaer Morhen for what seemed like an eternity. He had hoped the empty bottle of wine resting in the small nightstand would have lulled him to sleep by now but instead of quieting his mind, it was making it vibrate with a million thoughts.

Snow had been falling gently all day and the moon was now high and bright, its light hitting his bed like the midday sun through the narrow window. He could feel the silence finally setting in the keep, all its residents now in the comfort of their rooms. His was simple, cold, and honest to gods depressing but he had slept in worse. Cold as he was in it the room was not the problem.

The problem was he hadn’t been sleeping well for a while now, and no amount of comforts had made a difference. And he had tried, lordlings and noble ladies notwithstanding. He felt changed and he concluded that his mind hated silence where it once thrived in it for inspired writing and song. The quietness was now deafening. It left him alone with his own thoughts and he had been avoiding those for the better part of the past two years.

After a story with dragons and a mountain, Jaskier had found himself in what had been the worst time of his life. He had already been through a lot while growing up and traveling with Geralt on the Path. He’d seen and experienced horrors and tragedy, but Geralt’s words to him that day had bruised his heart like nothing ever before.

Once he settled to what his life would be without Geralt he realized he had changed. It hadn’t been just the betrayal, disappointment, and heartbreak. Or the loneliness and longing. It had been the silence. His own silence.

After the mountain, he tried to fill every possible moment with sound and laughter. Until then he had never been as loud, which was a statement on its own. He chatted mindlessly with anyone and every one as if silence were chasing him. He courted and sang and fucked to muffle his mind whenever he found himself alone with it. He felt chased by his own thoughts. Thoughts of Geralt, unrequited love, and abandonment. Memories of starving brushes of skin, desperate stares, and an ongoing humiliation and shame for not being able to stop loving his best friend and muse. And so the nights had been different ever since.

With not only his mind against him but also his risky life as the Sandpiper, a torture session and jail time later, he was exhausted. Even after months of poor sleep, his mind was the constant intruder to a much-needed peace.

He relented and got up with a frustrated sigh. There was no point in freezing here if he was not going to sleep anyway. He figured the old but large settees that were placed in front of the fireplace, in one of the grand hall’s adjacent rooms, would be empty and a much warmer alternative. He’d get another bottle of wine from the pantry on the way there and try to finally pass out and sleep.

He was thankful for the deserted keep this late at night. He was in no mood for cordial exchanges or bitter banter, whichever came first. The large fire ahead was still going strong and he could feel himself warming up, a quarter of the new bottle down his throat already.

This was a small room. The fireplace was disproportionately big for the space, its mantlepiece tall enough to almost fit a man beneath it. In front of it there was a settee. It was large enough to fit a handful of Witchers and when he turned to sit he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Melitele’s tits!” Jaskier shrieked. “Fuck, Geralt! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”.

Geralt was laying there, his front to the fire, his right arm supporting his head, staring intently into the dancing flames.

“You’re the one sneaking around,” he grunted, eyes still on the fire. With a sniff, he turned to Jaskier, who immediately felt overly conscious of the bottle in his hand, and he gripped it tighter.

Geralt looked from the bottle to Jaskier and then back to the fire in from of him. “Can’t sleep?”, he asked.

“No, dear. Sleep has been a bit elusive of late,” he said in a low voice. “Besides, my room is fucking cold so I decided to try my luck here!”, he eased then.

“And I see your sleeping habits are still awful.” Jaskier glanced at Geralt then, his hair gently touching his cheek, eyes even more golden with the reflected fire in them. Gods he was beautiful and Jaskier just wanted to reach out and touch him. “I figured you’d sleep better in Kaer Morhen.”

“I usually do. Just not tonight.”

Jaskier wanted to know what was keeping him awake but decided not to ask. Depending on the reason he might not like the answer.

Geralt remained quiet and Jaskier assessed his options. He felt a little uneasy with these alone times with Geralt. They were few and far between these days but Jaskier hadn’t particularly wanted to fall into a too quiet setting with him. He feared he would feel the need to fill that quiet and he worried he would say more than he should, or that Geralt would pick on even more with his Witcher senses without the usual fuss that followed them during the day. But he also missed having Geralt just to himself, his attention always consumed with something else. He missed the intimacy that he no longer hoped he could have.

It would be suspicious to leave and go back to his room, or any other place for that matter. Geralt was splayed across the settee with little room left to sit next to him and it wasn’t likely he would make an effort to budge. Jaskier placed the bottle on the floor and lowered himself down to the furs that were placed in front of the sitting arrangement, careful to not obstruct Geralt’s view of the fire, and placing himself a little to his left, facing the fire as well.

They spent a few moments in silence, the cracking fire loud enough to fill to room. Their minds were somewhere on their own, and Jaskier was wanting to speak but failed to get something to say. He didn’t want to talk about anyone else, or the Path and its monsters, or the keep’s secrets and stories. The need he had to fill every void with chatter when he was with anyone else simply didn’t happen when he was with Geralt. It had, at first, and for a while, but after a few years, their silences became loud enough that words were not as needed anymore. He wondered how he could feel so alone when surrounded by crowds of people and feel so whole when alone with Geralt. His heart ached at the thought.

“You’re tired.”, Geralt finally stated.

Jaskier looked at him, a little surprised. “Is it that obvious?”

“It is to me.”, Geralt returned his gaze at him.

Jaskier’s heart skipped a beat at that and he felt the need to hide from a Witcher’s scrutiny as he sensed Geralt was always very much aware of what he was trying to hide even if when presented with Jaskier’s best-schooled expressions. Fuck. His uneasiness with being alone with Geralt had not been misplaced.

Jaskier averted from his questioning gaze and turned it back into the flames. He flexed his hand, now healed, and suppressed a shiver, but then smiled when he remembered Geralt’s angry speech of how that fire-fucker would pay tenfold on what he’d put Jaskier through. A sign he cared, at least a little.

A hand to his hair snapped him out of this memory. He turned to Geralt again, eyes wide and inquiring, his heart rate picking up. “It’s gotten long. It suits you.”, Geralt smiled, petting Jaskier’s hair slowly.

The gentleness of the gesture almost brought tears to his eyes and again his mind raced with the same million thoughts that had been his curse the previous years. Thoughts on how some feelings had come to be, like love, and how sure he was that others wouldn’t, like happiness.

Thoughts about unfairness, heartbreak, and anger. Thoughts about fleeting touches, loving stares, and missed opportunities. Oh, how his mind had played tricks on him, giving his heart the hope he had never really felt was real.

They stayed like that for a while. Jaskier drank some more, and Geralt sat up to join him and to share from his bottle. Jaskier was now a little drunk, his cheeks pink from the wine and the warm fire. The closeness and intimacy pulled him in into a haze, and the wine was now a velvety goad to his tongue.

“I’ve missed this, you know. Our time spent in front of fires such as this.”, Jaskier said. “When our worries were different and I felt we had all the time in the world. I always thought those times would last forever.” He leaned his head into Geralt’s knee and Geralt moved his hand back into Jaskier’s hair, soothing him. Jaskier closed his eyes and didn’t dare move lest Geralt remove it. This gentleness was killing him.

“I am tired, Geralt. I’ve been trying so hard to be… useful and deserving. But then, I’m not even sure what I’m trying to be deserving of. Of kindness? Empathy? Of you, I think.”, he concluded, eyes fixed on the flames.

“I feel like running away. I feel like I don’t want to face what is coming, but I can’t fandom the idea of having you face it without me. Of not being with you. And when you left me on that fucking mountain…”, he wanted to be angry, to lash out but sobbed instead. “I thought I could be strong enough but I don’t think I was. I was so alone. I missed you so damn much. And you discarded me like I were an old useless thing!”, tears were rolling down Jaskier’s face now, a slight tremble in his voice.

“I did what I do best. I helped where I could. You know I hate injustice so I did what I thought would be good. But I also did it to make you realize that I’m good enough. I did something that I thought would make you proud of me. I’m so selfish! I got praises and thanks but all the while I spitefully thought “Geralt would be proud of me for this! He will regret leaving me behind.” I’m such a hypocrite.”, his crying came in ragged breaths, pent-up emotions coming all at once. “I think you would be ashamed of me. Maybe you were right all along, and I should have just stayed in Posada that day and unburden you with the likes of me.”

Geralt lowered himself to the floor, sitting next to Jaskier and pulling him into a hug. Jaskier’s face was now burrowed into Geralt’s neck and he wept.

“I could never be ashamed of you, Jask.”, Geralt says quietly. “You are the bravest man I know and I am proud of you no matter what you do. And I know your heart. You are good and I just want you to be you. You are enough and that is all I need.”

Geralt parted a little so Jaskier could look at him, so he could see the sincerity in his eyes. Jaskier felt his words envelop him like a warm blanket on a cold night.

He was a mess, with tear-filled eyes, red cheeks, disheveled hair. He had never felt this vulnerable but the thoughts that had been torturing him relentlessly were now subsiding and silence was starting to feel like silence once more. Geralt was looking at him fondly, even if a bit worried. Gods, Jaskier would drown in those golden eyes if he could.

Geralt wiped Jaskier’s tears away and kissed his cheeks so softly that Jaskier had to make an effort not to bawl again. Kindness had been lacking from his life and Geralts’ felt so true he was not sure how to take it. He had always known Geralt to be kind, even if the man himself opposed the notion, but he had seldom experienced it. This small gesture had been so intimate he felt moved by its honesty.

They stared at each other for a few moments, until Geralt pulled Jaskier’s head into his lap so he could continue to gently, always gently, stroke his hair.

As if sensing exhaustion finally catching up to him, Jaskier laid down to do so, his reeling mind going blank and he found himself focusing on his senses instead. Geralt’s warm hand on his waist, the other stroking his hair. His head pressed on a strong thigh, Geralt’s legs stretched, his feet crossed, closer to the fireplace. The ongoing cracking sound and his now slowing heartbeat.

He felt warm and safe, his mind giving him some deserved rest now that he was under Geralt’s care. Jaskier let himself be soothed into sleep and for the first time in a long while he drifted into a dreamless slumber.

Tomorrow he would agonize about words that had been said and not said. He’d fret about tears that had been spilled so earnestly. He would again regret his runny mouth and bared feelings, but for now, he felt protected in his frailty, his heart sheltered in Geralt’s hands.

For now, his silence would give him a truce, his relentless mind at ease with Geralt as a guardian to his sleep.

#the witcher #geraskier #geralt #jaskier #my fic #there's a bit more angst on this one #because it's jaskier so ofc there is #happy to get comments #and happy to get input #hope you like it :)#who knew i'd write more #oh well #fis fics

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ktheist · 4 years

Text

02 — show me yours & i’ll show you mine | m

➙ muses. seokjin x college student / gamer!reader ft. best friend! taehyung

➙ genre. best friend’s brother au. university au. working au. fwb au.

➙ word. 1.9k

➙ warnings. explicit content. oral (f receiving).

➙ index. 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | finale | side story 1 |

➙ synopsis.

“can we have morning sex?”

“not today.”

“is that my brother’s shirt?” is the first thing kim taehyung says to you after a whole night of you declaring war against him for choosing his girlfriend over you.

your body clock’s designed in a way where no matter how late you go to sleep, you’ll always wake up at 8 in the morning. the question of whether you can go back to bed or not varies. like right now, when your stomach is grumbling because it’s decided to deem that the spicy carbonara ramen you had has lost its sustaining-abilities.

“uh, is that a woman-choosing, best friend-abandoning human i see?” you say, eyes squinted at said human.

“whatever,” that seems to have taken taehyung’s interest off the creme colored sweater hanging off your shoulders and way past your butt. you could’ve not word shorts when you went out to get yourself a bowl of cereal. mainly because the brothers have a similar habit of sleeping in until the sun’s shining directly into their faces and they’d have no choice but to wake up - that is, in the event that they forgot to shut the blinds.

“what are you doing up anyway?” you ask but it’s a no-brainer because every friday night, kim taehyung and you would never fail to release a week’s worth of pent up frustrations over playing video games until the crack of dawn, “don’t tell me you haven’t slept.”

“unlike some people, i’ve got things to do,” he steals away the bowl of cereal you just finished preparing for yourself, “places to be.”

you can’t even get mad at his brazenness, not when those eyebags make him look like he’ll pass out with one swing of your punch. and you do punch like a girl - besides the fact that you are one, it’s already a settled fact that you’re really not fond of the idea of wasting your energy on something pointless - so you tend to give the least amount of energy for, for instance - if you do choose to - punching kim taehyung who’s walking away with your bowl of cereal.

so you fix yourself a new bowl, savoring it while watching an episode of the tale of nine-tailed and spending the entire morning catching up to the latest episode. it’s only until half an hour past noon, do you strut back into seokjin’s room, noticing the lump under the sheets now shifting with a sign of wakefulness.

“morning!” you greet, hearing the sound of hymns trickling into chuckles as seokjin pushes the sheet off his face and steals a glance at the uncalled for being that’s perched on top of him.

“you’re up early,” he remarks, arms stretched over his head, muscles flexing deliciously.

“can we have morning sex?” you put on your best smile, lashes fluttering in what you hope to be a coquettish manner rather than someone who looks like they have dust in both their eyes.

“not today,” he says but his large hand latches on your right breast, massaging with a expertise before pinching on your nipple and making you jump in surprise.

“ah!”

but before you get to complain, he’s pulling you down and engulfing you into a warm but shirtless hug (on his part at least).

“not fair,” you pout but snuggle closer anyway, forehead leaning against his chest.

but it’s short-lived because thunderous footsteps start echoing in the hallway and sounding dangerously close with each passing second. for a split second, you watch seokjin watch you, panic spreading across his face before your hands instinctively push him away. then the panic dissolves into alarm as he calls your name, accompanied by another timber-like voice that’s shouting out the same syllables.

“___!”

and then your butt hits the ground, then your back and your head at the same time.

“whew chile, that sounds painful, you okay?” taehyung sounds concern, but he doesn’t take any step towards you to further assert your head - you could’ve had a concussion for all he knows!

“um, gee thanks for making sure,” you want to roll your eyes, but you’re too busy rubbing the spot where your head made contact with the floor.

but seokjin, ever the thoughtful person, is already climing over the bed and pulling you up with one heave.

“why are you shirtless?” taehyung suddenly inquires.

the cozy creme sweater clinging onto your body feeling immensely inadequate as you ice up. he looks between you and his brother, screws twisting in that head of his before he asks another question.

“is that really my brother’s shirt?” his eyes scream concluded assumption.

well, it’s true, but-

“would you give me your sweater if i said i was cold?” you don’t give him a chance to respond, “no. right. so shut up. what do you want anyway? hurry up cause i wanna take a nap.”

“let’s play, the squad wanna go one more round with you before we all go to sleep,” he says, the matter of why seokjin is shirtless or if it’s really said man’s shirt you’re wearing now no longer a matter of importance.

you like how his brain works.

“the fuck? you came all the way here just for that?” you narrow your eyes, as if visually asking him if he knows whether he’s making sense or not but you get up anyway, walking towards your laptop that’s perched on the desk where you left it last night.

your friends greet you with less enthusiasm than they did last night - everyone sounded like they either need sleep or need a fuck. there’s no clear answer to what they need but you guess you’re up for one game.

“alright losers, let’s geddit.” your cheer is met with groans and tired version of ‘wooo’s and ‘yeah’s.

five minutes into the game, you feel a peck on your cheek and a smiling kim seokjin gazing down at you with bed hair and puffy cheeks. the smile you offer him back is fleeting because you have a character to maintain and a team to support. this time, you choose the supporting role while hoseok takes on the fighter role.

once you realize that the figure casting a shadow over you remains still and unmoving, you peek up at him for the briefest seconds to ask ‘what?’.

you’re only met with a higher tug of his lips.

and then he falls down on his knee - and you don’t even have the chance to wrap your head around it when he grabs hold of your ankle and spread your legs apart. lifting your ass up as he pulls down your shorts seem to be a muscle response than your brain actually understanding what’s happening. but by the time it does, seokjin’s face is already buried deep between your thighs.

“wah- yikes!” you manage to divert your surprise to the enemy that came on screen, forcing out a laugh, “th-that was a close one, whew i was about to die.”

“the fuck? you already had 8 hours of sleep what are you messing up for?” taehyung says into your headphone.

seokjin licking a strip up your love nub.

but that doesn’t stop you from retorting, “oh my god, did i tell you to play all night and not sl- sleep?” you bite back, barely managing to end your sentence with a consistent amount of sarcasm when the tip of seokjin’s tongue slips into your entrance.

“okay, okay, we’re all a little sensitive here,” jeongguk, the most competitive and non-losing-accepting out of the five of you actually tries to placate.

oh, you’re sensitive alright.

then he says something about how “we’re a team” and “if you wanna fight, fight the enemy team.” or something. you’re not so sure because you’re too busy clasping your hand against your mouth whilst trying to dish out healing powers to your team that’s fighting a few feet in front of you as seokjin tugs on your thighs, positioning them in an angle where his tongue can reach deeper inside you, so much so that your ass is almost hanging off the air.

“fine,” you almost choke on your supposedly vindictive reply as your toes begin to curl, back arching as the only sound that manages to escape you is a sob-like whimper whilst sparks erupt from the depth of your stomach and course through your veins like sweet, sweet poison.

seokjin kisses the inside of your thigh once your breathing slows down and you’re slumping on the chair like you have no energy left in you. jimin’s voice demanding you to cover for him barely registering in your brain as you click an ability that showers him with a protection spell.

“sorry, got distracted,” you say into the mic simply before hearing jimin’s “it’s okay, nobody died.”

literally.

if anyone of you died, it would’ve definitely been on you. last night, you got away with saying you weren’t in your ‘zone’ but today, your underperformance will be the reason you get kicked out of the squad for good. probably.

and because you’re under fire, you can’t stop seokjin when he slips away and out of the room, leaving you to make up for your mini blunder.

the game lasts a good 20 minutes before the golden symbol of victory flash across your screen and more energetic sheers erupt in your headphones. everyone starts bidding each other farewell and ‘good night losers’s before the headphones go quiet.

only then, do you bound down the hallway and into the kitchen where you know the reason of the sizzling, salivating scent is because of kim seokjin. a still shirtless kim seokjin with his beautiful, broad back on you as he chops something on the chopping board and gracefully pours it into whatever he’s cooking.

“that wasn’t fair - you should at least give me a warning,” you stand with your arms crossed over your chest.

“did the enemy you go against give you a warning before ambushing you?” he asks in a matter of factly, teasing smirk on his lips that makes your heart go flip flop.

he’s never smiled at you like that before.

“that’s- that’s different,” you refuse to back down, “they couldn’t even if they wanted to because the system doesn’t let us communicate with the enemy team.”

he nods whilst stirring the - you’d peeked - fried rice that’s sizzling in the pan, “i did give you a warning.”

“um where?” you can fee your eyebrows knitting together.

“the kiss,” he taps his cheek twice before shutting off the stove, devious smirk playing on his lips.

“i thought that was a bona fide peck!”

“that’s on you,” he shrugs, pouring the fried rice into four plates, “like namjoon says - never assume.”

“okay, maybe he did say that,” you concur, taking a seat across from him where he places the plate and offers you a fork and a spoon that he took out from their respective drawers under the counter.

“something smells good,” taehyung comes popping out from the hallway, bowl of empty cereal in hand as his eyes light up at the sight of the two other plates placed between you and seokjin, almost as if knowing that the only other thing that coud summon the kim brothers out from their dwelling is seokjin’s cooking.

“i’m starving,” namjoon announces, seconds apart from taehyung’s assertion.

so you have breakfast - or lunch, really - together like you would. just four kids from the same hometown who found home in each other’s presence.

you might’ve found something else that you like in seokjin’s pants - but that’s besides the point.

note. and here we go for the 2nd installment! hope yall enjoyed!

taglist. @scalubera @aretha170

#seokjin scenarios #bts scenarios #bts smut #bts fic #seokjin smut #seokjin fic #seokjin x reader #bts x reader #taehyung smut #taehyung fic #taehyung x reader #taehyung scenarios #taehyung fanfic #bts fanfic #seokjin fanfic #seokjin scenario #bts scenario #taehyung scenario

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weighty-ghosts · 3 years

Text

‘My Favourite Dark Creature’ (wolfstar)

My Favourite Dark Creature, by weightyghosts

“‘The flirtations were getting out of control, and either Sirius knew the effect he had on Remus and enjoyed torturing him, or he was completely oblivious and Remus would have to put up with it for the rest of his miserable, lonely life.’

A story of fantasies and fears, pining, and love languages.”

Rating: Teen

Word count: 2729

Pairing: Remus x Sirius

Published: March 10, 2021

Warnings: None

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29950935

“I swear you’ll be the death of me one day,” Remus grumbled at Sirius, straightening up after having almost been decapitated by the case of butterbeer Sirius was levitating.

“It’s possible,” Sirius quipped, “I am heart-stoppingly good looking.”

“‘Stoppingly’ is not a word,” Remus sighed as they continued down the underground tunnel, illuminated only by the bright blue flames Remus had charmed to float above their heads. He twisted his wand so that his own case did an elegant flip over Sirius’. They’d learned by now to put protection charms on the bottles for the hike back from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. Sirius tended to get bored.

“At least you agree about my looks,” Sirius remarked with a casual toss of his long hair.

“What gave you that idea?”

“You didn’t disagree,” he replied simply.

“Yeah, but I didn’t agree,” Remus countered.

“Yeah, but you didn’t disagree.”

“Considering my heart is pounding away in my chest,” Remus pointed out in a patronizing tone, “Your theory must be incorrect.”

“Oh it’s pounding away, is it?” Sirius raised his eyebrows, a teasing smile on his lips.

“Don’t make a dirty joke because I said pounding,” Remus pleaded, and neatly skirted his case out of the way when Sirius tried to knock it against the wall.

“I don’t know where your mind is, Mr. Moony-”

“Unfortunately spending too much time with you, Mr. Padfoot.”

“-But I was only going to ask if it’s normal for your heart to be pounding while walking at a leisurely pace? Or,” Sirius stopped abruptly, and pulled Remus to a halt beside him, “Is it being in proximity to an outrageously gorgeous bloke, such as myself, that makes your pulse race?”

“My pulse isn’t racing, thank you very much,” Remus lied, his voice much more stable than he felt. He was mesmerized by the way the dark lighting threw deep indigo shadows on Sirius’ face, accentuating his sharp cheekbones and alluring Cupid’s bow.

“Shall we see?” Sirius whispered. He reached out and brushed his fingers along Remus’ neck, just above his collarbone and up to a spot below his jaw, right where Sirius would be able to feel his frantic heart.

Remus cleared his suddenly dry throat. “My heart rate is faster than yours,” he quickly grasped for an excuse, “Werewolf thing.”

“Really?” Sirius asked, looking from Remus’ neck back up to his eyes as his curiosity was piqued. It was enough of a distraction for Remus to wriggle away from him.

“No,” he grinned over his shoulder as he fled the scene, trying to walk as fast as he could without it seeming like he was actually running from Sirius.

His case of butterbeer bounced off the wall as he rushed around a corner, and he finally spotted the false wall that hid the entrance to the secret passageway. Remus almost groaned with relief. He had to get away from Sirius; the flirtations were getting out of control, and either Sirius knew the effect he had on Remus and enjoyed torturing him, or he was completely oblivious and Remus would have to put up with it for the rest of his miserable, lonely life.

“You know,” Sirius remarked as he appeared behind Remus, “Lying is a huge turn off, Moony.”

“So is your massive ego, Padfoot,” Remus replied.

They set their cases on the ground, tapping them with their wands so that they shrunk down to pocket size. After straightening up with the bottles safely tucked away, Sirius pulled James’ invisibility cloak from his robes and, once again, stepped up to Remus. “I only state the facts, Moony.”

“It’s not like I was trying to turn you on,” Remus said, trying to sound defensive, but failing as his voice wavered when Sirius crowded into his space. He took out his wand and extinguished the blue flames so that Sirius couldn’t see his panicked face, plunging them into near darkness.

“Good,” Sirius retorted in a low voice, and threw the cloak over them. “Neither was I.”

“Good,” Remus echoed, and looked away under the pretence of bending his neck so they would fit without their feet showing. He didn’t know why he played this game with Sirius. It always ended with Sirius having the upper hand, and Remus blushing and running away. He could easily change the subject, talk about disgusting things like bubotuber pus or whatever was growing under Pete’s bed, but apparently he couldn’t help himself.

He could feel Sirius watching him for a moment before he turned and opened the hidden entrance. They came out onto the first floor, stepping around the statue of Gregory the Smarmy as the concealed wall silently moved back into place on its own. They made their way to the main staircase, and Remus braced himself for the intimate trek to Gryffindor tower, intensely aware of the warm air they were sharing, as well as every place their limbs brushed against each other.

“Pete’s birthday should be fun tomorrow,” Remus blurted out, desperate for something to focus on that wasn’t the enticing scent of his best mate’s hair.

“Yeah,” Sirius agreed, glancing sideways at Remus, “As long as we make sure he’s the centre of attention, he’ll have a great time.”

“You mean as long as you sacrifice your own time in the spotlight?” Remus mocked, playfully elbowing Sirius in the side.

“Oi!” Sirius protested, reciprocating with his own elbow jab, “I’m happy to shine the spotlight on a mate when it’s his birthday.”

“So all the girls that will undoubtedly be fawning over you, you’ll send them Pete’s way?”

“Of course.”

“But then who will you let out all of your charm on, Sirius?” Remus pretended to be utterly concerned by this, “I think you might implode if you don’t flirt your way into someone’s knickers at a party.”

Sirius scowled at him in a way that Remus thought he shouldn’t find so damn attractive, but then again, he was fairly sure Sirius could have his eyebrows hexed off and Remus would still want to snog him silly.

“I sense a challenge, Moony,” Sirius declared, “And I accept.”

“I didn’t challenge you,” Remus pointed out, “But I don’t think you could do it anyway.”

“You might be right.” Sirius tapped his chin as he mused on this. “I need an outlet,” he concluded, turning to Remus with a cheeky smile, “How about you, my Moony dearest? Perhaps I’ll woo you at the party tomorrow.”

“Woo me?” Remus snorted, pushing down the frenzied butterflies that had spawned in his stomach. “No, thank you.”

“I see. Well, maybe that’s for the best,” Sirius said with a shrug of casual indifference, “I doubt you could handle the full power of the Sirius Black charm.”

“You don’t think so?”

“Nope. I haven’t met anyone yet who’s been able to resist.”

Remus snickered. “McGonagall does a pretty good job.”

“Nah, Minnie loves it,” Sirius dismissed him with a wave of his hand, “She wants me.”

“What a fun little fantasy world you live in, Sirius.”

“Trust me, Remus,” Sirius dropped his voice as if he were letting Remus in on a furtive secret, “If we were in my fantasy world, this evening would have gone a lot differently.”

Remus stopped walking so suddenly that Sirius almost entirely slipped out from under the cloak. He quickly backtracked and sidled up to Remus, surreptitiously looking around to make sure no one had seen the lower half of his body.

“What is it?”

What is it? Did Sirius really expect Remus not to pause at his remark? At the possible implication that Sirius might be having fantasies about him? He felt a hot blush creep up his neck, colouring his cheeks.

Sirius must have been able to see his flushed face even in the dimly lit castle, or maybe he could feel the heat radiating off Remus, because he smirked in a thoroughly smug (and distractingly sexy) way. “Told you that you couldn’t handle my charm, Moony.”

“No,” Remus huffed with indignation, “It’s not that.” He tried to reassure himself that Sirius was just kidding. Sure, this might have been taking the flirting further than he ever had before, but Sirius flirted with everyone. What made Remus any different?

“Then what is it?” Sirius asked tentatively. He was chewing on the inside of his cheek, a habit he couldn’t control when he was unsure or nervous, and Remus didn't know what to make of that.

“I was just...” Just thinking about my own fantasies that you star in almost every night, Sirius. No, he couldn’t do it. He didn’t understand Sirius’ feelings or motivations, and not understanding something made Remus uneasy. He swivelled back to familiar territory, “Er, just thinking what a dark and terrifying place your fantasy world must be.”

“Oh,” Sirius exhaled with a shaky laugh. “Yeah, you definitely wouldn’t want to go there,” he said, as they started to softly walk through the halls again, “Spooky stuff.”

“Full of ghosts and ghouls and dark creatures?” Remus teased.

“Yeah, but don’t worry,” Sirius reassured, his mouth pulled into a warm half-smile, “My favourite dark creature is there to keep me company.”

Before Remus could respond, they arrived at the portrait hole, and Sirius looked around for any roaming prefects or professors, before tugging the invisibility cloak off of them. “Treacle tart,” he said to the Great Lady, who grumbled sleepily at them and opened the hidden door to their common room, which was empty due to the late hour.

Remus climbed through first, his thoughts reeling as he waited for Sirius. Remus liked to think he knew Sirius well after more than six years. Sirius wasn’t one to spell out his innermost thoughts and feelings; he hinted at things, showing his emotions through actions, not words. And how did he act with Remus?

Moments of their friendship played inside his mind, quickly flipping past like the scenery through the windows of the Hogwarts Express: Sirius’ gentle hands on him after the full moon; Sirius bringing him his favourite tea; helping Remus with his homework when he’s too exhausted to think straight; pulling a blanket over him when he’s fallen asleep reading; becoming an animagus for him so that he doesn’t have to spend the worst nights of his life alone every month…

It was hard for Remus to admit. Even though his parents had done what they could to make him feel loved, a part of him always suspected that that was out of guilt or obligation. He had spent so much of his life believing he wasn’t good enough, or human enough, to truly be loved. But didn’t Sirius spend every day showing Remus how much he loved him?

They ascended the stairs to the boy’s dorms silently, both lost in thought, and Remus’ doubts began to filter in as quickly as his hope had. Sirius would be mad to choose a dark creature over a whole, healthy human. While Sirius claimed to never be afraid of Remus, friendship was different from a romantic relationship. Wouldn’t he be scared to spend his life with someone like Remus?

They reached their dorm and paused outside it, turning so they faced each other.

“You’re not afraid of him, then?” Remus asked in a low voice, fidgeting with his shirt sleeve.

“Who?” Sirius asked, blinking as if coming out of a haze. He also kept his voice down so as not to alert James or Peter that they were there. “My favourite dark creature?”

Remus nodded minutely. “Must be dangerous, no?”

“Nah,” Sirius grinned as he dismissed that as a ridiculous question, “He’s as harmless as a crup.”

Remus snorted in disbelief, though there was no humour in it.

“It’s true,” Sirius insisted. “Besides,” he murmured, sliding closer so they were almost toe to toe, “What’s life without a little danger, Moony?”

All Remus could hear was his pulse hammering in his ears, and all Remus could see was Sirius looking up at him, his dark grey eyes brewing with a storm of emotion that was yet unfamiliar to Remus. He was pulled towards Sirius as if the gravity that grounded him to the earth had now flowed to the beautiful person in front of him, and he could feel a tectonic shift occurring under the surface of their friendship.

He moved closer, until Sirius’ breath came as warm puffs of air on his face, and just as Remus’ eyes slid down to his lips, they parted as Sirius spoke.

“I am a little afraid, I think,” he confided in a soft voice.

Remus jerked back, not having realized just how close he’d been leaning in, his eyes wide with alarm. He’s afraid of me, he’s afraid of me, I knew it.

“No!” Sirius exclaimed, “No, Moony, not...I’m not afraid of you,” he hastened to explain. He put his hands up, as if he were going to reach out and place them on Remus’ chest, but reconsidered and dropped them lower, playing with the fabric on the front of Remus’ robes. He was chewing on his cheek again, his gaze focused on his fingers. “I’m just... I don’t want…”

Remus felt that magnetic pull again, like his heart was trying to jump out of his chest and into Sirius’ hands. “You don’t want what?”

Sirius’ shimmering eyes flicked back up to his, and he whispered, “I don’t want-”

They both jumped a foot in the air as the dormitory door was abruptly yanked open, and they leapt apart when James’ confused face peered out.

“What’re you two doing?” He asked, frowning with suspicion.

Sirius put on a smile and patted James’ shoulder. “Just talking about how much we missed you this evening, Prongsie.” He sidled past James without another glance at Remus.

James rolled his eyes and moved aside for Remus to follow. “More like plotting how you’ll get me and Wormy to go on the next Hogsmeade run so you lazy arses don’t have to.”

“We were happy to do it for our Wormy’s birthday,” Sirius refuted in a dignified voice. He stepped over to Peter, who was laying on his bed, and took out his miniature case of butterbeer to hand it to him. Peter grinned as he accepted it.

Remus walked over and did the same, watching as Peter tucked them away in his trunk with the other supplies for the party, and avoided looking at Sirius as they settled in to go over the birthday plan again.

A little while later, Remus was in his pyjamas, brushing his teeth alone in the bathroom, when Sirius came in. He wandered over to the sinks and hovered next to Remus, methodically taking out his toothbrush and squeezing on his favourite rhubarb toothpaste, a thoughtful expression on his face. Remus was rinsing his mouth and about to bolt from the room when Sirius spoke.

“I was thinking, Moony,” he garbled around his toothbrush, looking up into the mirror so their eyes met. “I don’t know if we have enough butterbeer for tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Sirius nodded earnestly, “We might have to go back to Hogsmeade before the party.”

Remus saw a glint of a promise, a secret, in Sirius’ eyes, and he felt those same frenzied butterflies migrate back into his stomach.

“‘We’ as in…”

“You and me, of course,” Sirius stated, as if this were obvious, and leaned down to spit into the sink before rinsing his mouth. He turned towards Remus, their faces inches away, and Sirius reached out to tug gently on the hem of Remus’ shirt, “That tunnel is spooky,” he continued in a low voice, “I’ll need my werewolf there with me.”

Remus could see in the mirror that his mouth had popped open in surprise, but he couldn’t seem to get his brain working again to do something about it. He should respond, but his mind was completely empty, except for the vague thought that Sirius still looked gorgeous with toothpaste on his chin.

Sirius suddenly dropped his hand and stepped back, beaming at Remus. “‘Night, Moons,” he said cheerily, then dashed out of the room, leaving Remus staring after him.

That night, it took Remus a long time to fall asleep, but when he did, it was with a smile on his face, and the words, ‘my werewolf,’ playing on repeat in his head.

#wolfstar #sirius black #remus lupin #ficbyweightyghosts #i know i called her the great lady instead of the fat lady #fat is beautiful #but jkr is fatphobic af and i question her motives #pre-wolfstar #wolfstar fluff #hogwarts #marauders era #marauders #James potter #peter pettigrew #almost kiss #flirting #wolfstar flirting #padfoot x moony

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pawsitivelymiraculous · 4 years

Text

Driving. (Day eight)

I'm alive!!! Kind off... Idk school is though. I am sorry for disappearing last week was the end of the bimester so I had finals and late homework that was stressing me out, but I'm back now!

Anyways, this is part two of the Twins AU

@biodad-bruce-month

Masterlist

Twins AU Part two

The Wayne manor buzzed with nervous energy as all its residents waited for the arrival of one Marinette Dupain-cheng.

Despite Damian's threats, the moment Bruce found out about his daughter he contacted her and made arrangements to have her visit America on her school break.

And now that the day has arrived.

"Well, I think we should all prepare in case she turns out to be a female version of demon spawn." Jason said, trying to break the silence, and maybe make Damian angry in the process. Ever since Marinette confirmed that she was going to Gotham Damian had been acting strange, and it was honestly scaring Jason.

Damian lunged at him, "I dare you to say that again Todd!" He yelled, while grabbing him by his collar. Ah, there he is the Damian they know and love.

"Get it off me!" Jason shrieked.

Dick, the peacemaker, tried to pull Damian away but it was proving to be a rather difficult task.

That's when Bruce walked into the room.

He stopped when he saw Jason and Damian wrestling on the floor as Dick tried to stop them. Meanwhile, Tim stared blankly at the wall with an empty mug on his hand.

Bruce wanted nothing more than to simply walk out, pretend his children weren't crazy.

but unfortunately as a father he couldn't do that.

Taking a deep breath, Bruce opened his mouth to scold them. But before he got the chance he was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

Everyone froze, Tim getting so startled that he dropped his mug. "That was my favorite mug," he whimpered, looking down at the shattered pieces sadly.

They all gaped as a petite 16-year-old girl walked in dragging a ginormous suitcase with Alfred at her tail begging Marinette to let him help her with the luggage.

"Grandpa Alfie, thank you for offering but I'm fine." She said.

"Grandpa Alfie?" Dick asked.

Marinette grinned, "Well yeah, Dami told me how he took care of our father when he was young. So, he's Grandpa Alfie!" She replied cheerfully. "Anyways, you must be… Grayson? So… Dick! Nice to meet you! I'm Marinette."

Marinette stretched out her hand, but Dick hugged her instead. "I think you're my new favorite, baby sister."

"I'll have you know that I'm older than Dami." Marinette said with a pout. Then laughed when Dick ruffled her hair. "Speaking of Dami..." Marinette looked around the room until her eyes landed on her twin.

Damian walked over to her, and to everyone's surprise, gave her a small awkward hug. "Nice to see you Mari." Then he smirked, “and you aren't older. We were in a artificial womb so it hardly counts"

Marinette giggled. "You're just bitter that I'm older by two full minutes."

Jason looked at the two in confusion. "Mari? Dami? I- I think I need to lay down." Placing the back of his hand against his forehead as if trying to take his own temperature. "Demon spawn has a twin who is pure sunshine, and… and they have nicknames for each other. Bruce, I think we somehow ended up in an alternate reality. " He concluded dramatically.

"Demon spawn? Wow Dami, I also heard that they call you Ice prince. That's some reputation you got." Marinette teased. Damian glared at Jason. "And you are… Jason?" Marinette guessed.

Jason nodded. "Yep"

Marinette looked at his leather jacket, more specifically the tears and stains that were clearly not caused intentionally for fashion's sake, in disdain. "You need a new jacket."

The look in Jason's face was priceless.

Both Dick and Tim laughed, and Damian looked amused as Jason sputtered.

"Lucky for you, I made you one!" Marinette said, ignoring the laughs. "In fact I made you all something plus a suit for the upcoming gala." Marinette grabbed the bag that held all the gifts and handed them out.

Tim looked at his "Coffee flows through my veins" hoodie. "I have to agree with Dick, Marinette is my favorite sibling now. This is amazing."

Marinette smiled as the rest thanked her. "Oh and Grandpa Alfie, I have something for you too, but I'll give it to you later." She added with a wink.

That's when Marinette finally seemed to realize that her father was in the room. Her father who had been standing back in the shadows watching her interact with her siblings.

Marinette blinked at him. "Uh… i- it's nice to me-meet you Dad." When he said nothing, Marinette started to freak out. "It's it okay to call you Dad? I mean you are my father… b-but if not that's fine." Bruce's cold shell cracked at the girls rambles.

What was it that Jason called her? Sunshine? It definitely fit her, especially after he smiled at her. She lit up and gave him a smile so bright that it could rival the sun.

Bruce couldn't quite understand it, but there was something special about that girl that made a person want to wrap her up in bubble wrap and protect her and love her. Looking around at everyone in the room Bruce could tell that everyone thought the same.

"It's alright, you can call me dad. It's nice to finally meet you too, I do wish that Damian hadn't kept you a secret." He said the last part while shooting a glare at his son.

Marinette laughed at that and playfully nudged her brother. "I know right? I wanted to meet all of you before, but grumpy cat here wouldn't let me." She poked Damian's face.

Surprisingly, Damian didn't snap or… bite her. Which is what was sure to happen had it been anyone else doing it. Instead, he just grumbled and glared at the floor.

"Now that we are talking about secrets…" Marinette reached into her pocket and pulled out a small drawstring sack. "I wanted to give you this," she said to Bruce as she handed him the sack. He dropped the object that was inside into his hand, then looked at his daughter in confusion.

Marinette grinned mischievously, "Damian was no help when I was trying to figure out what to give you, so I made you two suits. But then I found this and I thought it would be a perfect addition." She explained.

Everyone watched as Bruce looked at the little plastic toy and. "Is… is this a toy stamp?" He asked.

"Yup! It has a cute little bat on it."

"I- uh thank you?" He said, still looking confused.

Marinette laughed. "Like I said, blame Damian. But I mean you can use it to… well I don't know… sign notes? Use it if you save a child to brighten their day? If you can't adopt them?" At that, everyone except Alfred and Damian burst out laughing. "I just found it and it reminded me that my dad dresses like a bat and goes out to save the city at night, so I thought I would give it to you." Marinette said.

Jason was probably the one laughing the hardest, "I- I am vengeance" he choked out between laughs. "I am the night… I AM BATMAN… a- and… I… HAVE A BAT-STAMP TO PROVE IT."

They all broke down laughing.

Alfred took the stamp from Bruce and said, "I shall add this to your utility belt, Master Bruce."

Bruce shook his head, it seemed like his daughter would fit right in with the family.

"Ooo are you going to the batcave? That's where you keep the batmobile right?" Bruce nodded. "Can I drive it some day? I can drive you know." Marinette asked.

Bruce chuckled, "You really are Damian's twin."

Marinette smiled. "Yeah, but knowing him he didn't do this when he asked." She proceeded to stick out her lip a bit in a small pout and look up at him with big, seemingly innocent, eyes.

"That must be the so-called 'puppy eyes' Mari talked about." Damian mused.

And they worked.

~♡~♡~♡~ Tag List ~♡~♡~♡~

If you want to be tagged please let me know!

@coffeecaffineandeverythinginbtwn, @ramos123 , @certainmuffinbagelcalzone , @thatonecroc , @bakergirl13 , @dast218 , @tomanyfandomsonmymind , @alysrose-starchild , @greatcatblaze , @trippingovermyfeet ,@starlightshield , @just-reblogs-by-h , @cresentmo0n , @witchsblackfox , @chocolatecatstheron , @indecisive-mess-named-me , @justafanwarrior , @slytherin-heartthrob , @demonicbusiness , @toodaloo-kangaroo , @iamablinkmarvelarmy , @queencommonsense , @maribat-is-lifeblood , @redscarlet95 , @bran-thecreeper-stark , @laurcad123 , @lizziejay , @animegirlweeb , @maleive07 , @zeneralla , @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl

#marinette dupain cheng #maribat #miraculous ladybug #ml x dc #mlb x dc #bio!dad au #bio!dad bruce wayne #bio!dad bruce wayne month 2020 #bio!dadbrucewaynemonth2020 #b!dbwm2020 #my trash writing

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stolen-pen-name23 · 3 years

Note

when were you going to tell me? prompt for Obitine?

Ahhh hello! Thank you for the prompt!! I had fun with this :)

(From these angst prompts)

---

Obi-Wan really hoped this would all be over soon.

He never cared for missions that involved escorting politicians. They so often left him in positions like this – standing off to the side playing guard dog. A show of force more than any actual use of The Force. He hated being a prop and he hated bureaucracy. The only reason he accepted this mission was because… well… it was her and who better to protect her than someone who already had extensive field experience?

But now, as he stood off in the corner, he wasn’t feeling all that threatening. He wasn’t feeling well at all actually. He woke up this morning stiff, shaky and altogether miserable, but it wasn’t like any other Jedi was around to take up his position on this mission – not that he wanted another Jedi to take up the position. So he steeled himself and hoped he would recover as the day progressed.

He did not recover, however, he was quite good at masking it. None of the Mandalorians seemed privy to his weakening state, which was for the best. Satine seemed to trust the others in this room well enough, but Obi-Wan still didn’t want them to know that the man protecting her was in less than perfect health.

“Master Kenobi,” Satine said, snapping him out of his quiet musings. “My business is concluded here. Shall we go?”

Finally.

“Yes, Duchess, of course.”

He crossed the room and took her hand in his and guided her out of the room. All they had to do now was get back to the palace. If he got her back to the palace, then he could take his leave and turn in early for the night.

“The discussions were promising,” Satine said. “I’m sure you have your own thoughts on them, but I think they went rather well.”

“I agree.”

Satine paused and narrowed her eyes at him.

“What parts did you agree with.”

“Um,” Obi-Wan faltered.

“You weren’t listening at all were you?”

“Apologies Duchess,” Obi-Wan said. “My thoughts were elsewhere.”

“That’s alright I suppose,” Satine conceded. “You’re never required to listen to these talks when you come to them. I’m just surprised.”

“How come?”

“You always listen.”

“Evidently, not always.”

“Yes, you do,” Satine said. “You can’t help it. You can’t resist. You always have to find something to contradict me on. It’s like a sport to you.”

“It is not like a sport. I can’t help it that your political ideals lack the nuance of the bigger picture.”

“There you are,” Satine said. “I missed you.”

Obi-Wan’s cheeks burned from more than the fever now. “I… I missed you too, Duchess.”

His eyes were on her. That’s why he failed to see the men in black approaching them. Why he failed to sense them… well, that couldn’t be attributed to just a lack of attention, not for him anyway.

“Obi!” Satine gasped, but Obi-Wan reacted to her warning too late. A blaster bolt hit his shoulder and he took a split second to feel the shock of it all before springing into action. He ignited his saber and in a flurry of blue light, he deflected every blaster bolt aimed at him and the Duchess.

He fell into his fighting style with ease, any illness forgotten, replaced by adrenaline and his mission. In between defensive parries, he noted the armor his assailants wore. Death Watch. Of course it was Death Watch. They were a formidable opponent, but Obi-Wan was too. He dispatched two of the members with their own blaster bolts. His focus now fell on the third.

Obi-Wan could feel the man’s hatred and anger and fear rippling in the Force around him. Like a ship splitting the water, Obi-Wan glided right through it and turned it against him. The Mandalorian shot a cable at Obi-Wan and it wrapped around his right wrist. Obi-Wan didn’t pause. He dropped his saber and caught it with his left hand. He sliced the cable and pushed forward towards his assailant. He pushed back the Death Watch lackey with the Force and the man fell back, too stunned to get up. Obi-Wan hit the man with the butt of his saber and he fell unconscious. Guards began to swarm around them and started restraining the Death Watch members.

With the assailants taken care of, the adrenaline started to dissipate. He staggered over to Satine.

“Are you alright, Duchess?” he asked, though he felt his words starting to slur together and his vision was becoming less clear.

“Are you?” Satine countered. A pause. “Obi?”

“I’m fine,” he murmured. “Just… just a little lightheaded...”

It was in that moment that his knees decided to give out and he sank to the ground. He vaguely felt Satine grabbing onto him, slowing his fall. He could hear her voice calling to him, but it was as though he were underwater.

“Satine,” he whispered in quiet response to her frantic calls before he finally fell unconscious.

***

Obi-Wan woke to sunlight hitting his face. He squinted at the brilliant light until his eyes adjusted and landed on Satine. She was sitting on the edge of the soft bed he found himself laying on, and her hair was backlit by the sun. She looked to be wearing a crown of golden curls.

“Satine?”

“There you are,” Satine said quietly. “Welcome back.”

“Where… where am I?” he asked.

“My bedroom.”

“What?” he said, sitting up. He stopped when he felt the sharp twinge in his shoulder.

“Easy now,” Satine said. “The healer just patched that up. You don’t want to reopen it, now do you?”

Obi-Wan looked down at himself and noted that he was bare-chested. There was a bandage secured over the blaster bolt wound on his shoulder.

“Why… why am I here?”

“Because I know you,” Satine began. “And I know you don’t exactly care for healing wards or med bays. I assumed you would be more comfortable in my quarters. I did some persuading and the healers agreed to treat you in here.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan said. He felt a chill run through his body and he realized he was trembling. Satine frowned.

“When were you going to tell me you were sick you stupid Jedi? You just had to wait until after you got shot, didn’t you? Actually no, you didn’t even tell me after you got shot because you were too busy collapsing at my feet.”

“Didn’t think it would be a problem,” he groaned.

“Well, I’ll agree that you certainly weren’t thinking.”

“Mmm,” he hummed. It was all he could manage at the moment.

“You know, I stayed with you throughout the night,” she said, softening ever so slightly. “It’s funny. You were the one who was supposed to protect me.”

Obi-Wan felt a flare of indignation. “If you’ll recall, I did protect you.”

“Yeah, and then you collapsed and I thought…”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“You didn’t have to do all this you know,” Obi-Wan said after a pause. “You didn’t have to put me up here in your bedroom. You didn’t need to stay with me throughout the night.”

“I know, Obi-Wan,” she said softly. “I wanted to stay with you.”

#obitine #prompt fill #thanks for the prompt!#my writing #obi-wan kenobi #satine kryze

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onwesterlywinds · 3 years

Text

PROMPT #6: Avatar

Dedicated to @cogflox for reasons.

Set roughly ten years in the future of Hydaelyn’s present day.

"Hmmm," Edge mused. "A story, huh?"

He had Tomaj on his lap, with Sylvia on Stella's nearby; they all were bundled up in knitted blankets around the hearth while Ashe watched them from the far end of the living room, elbows-deep in scrubbing the week's laundry. Though she longed to join the rest of her family, this task was the last of the chores that needed doing before bed - and it was the least she could do to give Edge some respite, since he had cooked dinner and cleaned up more nights in a row than she could remember.

"What about the story of the skeleton war?" said Tomaj, ever the morbid one.

Edge chuckled but shook his head. "Nah, that's your ma's. I'll leave it for her to tell."

"Not because it scares the living daylights out of you still?" Ashe quipped, to the girls' laughter.

He whirled around toward the corner with the washing bin in mock affront. "Oh, hush, you!" To the kids- "Anyway, how about a story from Doma?"

Tomaj wrinkled his nose. "Not the story about Tamamo Gozen again. We hear it every time."

"But I like that one!" Sylvia whined.

"I know you do, love," said Edge, in his most diplomatic tone. "He's right, though, I do tell it an awful lot. Maybe... the story of the Four Lords? I don't believe I've shared that one in a long time."

Stella stared off in thought, looking for the moment rather like the wide-eyed girl from ten years ago with no reprieve from her Echo; then a warm smile came over her, and the memory faded in Ashe's mind. "Right," she whispered. "I do remember this one."

Ashe stilled her movements against the washboard to tuck back a wisp of her hair with sudsy hands. "Just tell it normally, please - the way Hien does."

As Edge launched into his story, he threw out his arms in elaborate ninjutsu stances from where he sat.

"North. West. South. East. Long ago, the four nations of Othard lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the mad auspice Koryu attacked!"

Stella bit back a laugh at whatever disapproval was surely brewing on Ashe's face, but it was already much too late: Edge was in full swing and their two youngest were hooked, their eyes wide and their mouths agape.

"Only Tenzen, the greatest samurai of the age, could stop him. But when Othard needed him most... he vanished."

"That's not how the story goes and you know iiit," Ashe sang under her breath.

"Excuse me Grand Steward, Madam Representative, Warden of the Undercity - I don't believe you're the one telling the story." He cleared his throat for dramatic effect and barreled on. "But Doma did not lose hope. Doma believed that somehow, Tenzen would return to save the world."

"How?" Tomaj chimed in. "How could he save the world if he's vanished?"

Ashe glanced up to see Edge gesturing toward their son on his lap, as if to accuse her of having awoken a monster with her own interruptions. She offered him a shrug in response.

"It's because his spirit lived on within a new hero," Edge explained. "And one day, that hero set out to calm the four auspices of each of Othard's four lands..."

To her husband's credit, the rest of the tale proceeded mostly without undue embellishment - excepting the parts about the Firebird Suzaku's love of Tenzen, doubtless in an effort to appease the budding romantic that was Sylvia. Tomaj ceased his pestering and was mostly asleep by the time the story concluded, and Ashe finished the laundry in time for her to lift his droopy body from Edge's knee and carry him to his bed.

"What happened after?!" Sylvia was busy demanding of her father upon her return. "Was the hero okay? Where did Suzaku go?"

"Tell you what," said Edge. He let her hold onto that thought for a moment while he stood and stretched, wincing for only a moment before bending down to give her a kiss directly on the top of her head of purple curls. "Tomorrow, if you still can't think of an ending, we can write a letter to Lord Hien and ask him what he thinks."

Sylvia gasped. "You really mean it?"

"Of course. We can even use your ma's fanciest stationery."

"And my fountain pen," Ashe added. "If you promise to be very careful, and not leave a mess."

"I promise!" she said at once.

"Then that's that. Now go get into bed."

Sylvia sprinted into her room without another word, let alone a goodnight kiss for Ashe, leaving the two of them alone with Stella.

"Still meeting Sihtric?” she asked. “It's half past nine; you're more than welcome to stay here."

She shook her head with a smile. "I owe Sihtric Selsson too many favors to let him think I'm standing him up." Family or no, some things from their time as Heart-Seers had never changed. It warmed Ashe's heart more than she cared to admit. Stella hugged them both at once, gave them each a kiss on the cheek, and hurried out the door with a "Love you, good night."

Edge was smiling at her before the door fully closed, and Ashe wove her way into his arms. "Your story was wonderful, by the way."

"You do have a point, though," he said, drawing her ever closer and swaying with her in time to some rhythm known only to him. "Probably should get used to telling them the real versions of Doman folktales. Before my versions are all they know."

"Before they embarrass you in front of Hien, you mean?"

"Yeah, that."

She giggled and buried her face into his neck, and soon enough they were both laughing too hard for a proper kiss.

#FFXIVWrite #FFXIVWrite2021 #Ashelia Riot #Edge Marbrand #Stella

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sondepoch · 4 years

Text

An Angel’s Sin (Simeon x Reader)

There’s more to the relationship between demons and angels than being simple opposites, but after an afternoon with Simeon, it becomes clear that their interpretation of sin is a pivotal point in their differences. Spurred on by the conversation, you teasingly encourage Simeon to sin, but you quickly find that you’ve asked for more than what you initially expected. Though, with this particular angel, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

~Oneshot

MASTERLIST

They got it wrong.

Well, not entirely. But whoever discovered the concepts of angels and demons definitely didn't get it all right.

You shuffle in your seat, trying to keep your head out of sight so that your teacher can't see you openly ignoring his lecture as you stare out the window. Hey, it's not like you even need to pay attention. You're in Human Studies right now. Yeah. You, a human, actually have to take this class. And the teacher is currently going over what you learned in fourth grade, so you can afford to slack off.

But anyway, you think, mind drifting back to your previous train of thought. They definitely got it wrong.

You suppose you should commend your human ancestors for even figuring out that demons and angels exist in the first place. According to Solomon, it had been discovered through a trail of clues left behind from witches when they forged pacts with demons. Considering the obscure nature of casting sites, it's almost a wonder that people managed to understand anything at all.

Well, most of it was speculation. You muse, absentmindedly twisting your pen in your fingers. The same speculation that caused them to get everything so horribly incorrect.

You sigh.

For one, demons aren't evil.

You'd sensed it when you first arrived in the House of Lamentation, and the feeling persisted as you continued to bond with the various brothers, but there's no denying it now.

Demons are a lot of things: chaotic, messy, obnoxious, and rude, but they're not inherently evil as all the holy texts say.

Just last night, Satan cornered Lucifer in the dining hall with a plate of spaghetti while Belphegor threw meatballs at the firstborn, the two demons teaming up in the first demonstration of their "Lucifer Sucks" club while Beelzebub cried in the background over all the food wastage. Reckless, yes, and somewhat amusing to watch. But evil? Not even a little bit.

You smile at the memory, glancing at the clock.

There's barely a minute left in this period before you get to head to your next class: one of the only classes you have with Simeon. And while you usually look forward to Angel Studies, today you're excited for another reason. Someone like Solomon might be better for an objective analysis, but you want to hear what the angel has to say on the topic of demons and their innate nature.

The bell rings, and a smile blooms on your lips as you practically jump out of your seat.

You normally walk quicker to this class than all the rest, having developed a mild (read: intense) crush on the chocolate-haired boy, so no one bats an eyelid when you dart out of the classroom, practically skipping your way through the halls.

I wonder if he brought food today. The thought causes your stomach to grumble in anticipation. The two of you bonded long ago over your shared boredom in Angel Studies—Simeon, because he knows the subject better than the teacher, and you, because the Celestial Realm really isn't all that interesting. Conveniently seated next to each other from the very first day, you'd caught on early that Simeon was sneaking snacks into class. When he caught you staring, he'd offered you a cookie with a sheepish smile.

Everything after that point is history.

That single cookie had been the catalyst for conversation, laughter, and more food. Almost every day, Simeon now strolls into Angel Studies with half his binder stuffed with various treats prepared by Luke, ready to share them with you. What's not to love about the arrangement?

A soft smile blooms on your face as you enter the classroom, pleasantly surprised to find Simeon already seated in the back.

"Hey," You call, tossing a notebook onto the desk. Simeon turns to face you, a warm smile etched on his lips.

Typically, you two would take advantage of the beginnings of class to make plans for later in the day, like to review the material for Demon Studies (the hardest course for both of you) or to simply chill at Purgatory Hall; but today, the teacher walks in and immediately begins ranting about the lack of effort students are putting into his class and how upset it is making him.

From the corner of your eye, you glance at Simeon, who's shooting you that mischievous smirk of his, subtly sliding you a container under the table. You gasp in delight when you glance down, seeing the unmistakable outline of four delicious lemon squares through the glass covering.

You almost want to open the box and try a piece now, but your teacher's ranting has finally subsided, and it's too quiet for you to do such a thing without being noticed. You watch as the elderly demon finally sighs and crosses his arms, evidently ready to actually assign you your work for the period.

"So, to showcase your efforts, I want you to teach yourselves this next unit. You are to open your textbooks and read the passage: The Angel Trials of the Seventh Archbishop. I then want you to complete an analysis of the contrasting moral arguments that led to such controversy, and a concluding paragraph pointing out your personal beliefs on the matter. This is due next week, and this time I will not be accepting late papers."

You let out a sigh of relief when the teacher finally sits down, a silent instruction for all the students to begin their assignment. Where the other demons open their textbooks, though, you turn to Simeon. He's better than any book could hope to be. Not just in his natural gift for explaining, but with those abs? Nothing else stands a chance.

"So," You begin, voice low so that your teacher won't hear the whispering. "The trials of the seventh archbishop. Wanna summarize?" You ask with a giggle.

"Oh, please. You'd tune me out in my first sentence." Simeon chuckles. He has the truth of it. Since birth, you've been gifted with the rather unhelpful habit of zoning out whenever people begin explaining things you're not interested in, whether you want to or not. But after two study sessions with the angel, he'd quickly figured out the one way to keep you drawn in: food. Specifically, Luke's homemade chocolate chip cookies. "I'll explain it to you at Purgatory Hall this afternoon. Luke was planning on baking cookies anyway, so he won't mind."

You smile at the angel, thanking him for his offer.

You don't know what it is about having a cookie in your mouth while someone explains, but something about the deliciousness of the treat silences all the background noise in your mind, leaving you fully able to focus on Simeon while he explains whatever. In fact, Simeon is pretty much the only reason you're not failing your classes right now.

You sigh in contentment.

He truly is an angel.

A smart angel, at that.

"Hey Simeon," You say, suddenly remembering what you'd spent all of last period thinking about. "Why do humans depict demons as beings of pure evil and angels as beings of true good?"

The angel's eyes widen. He stares at you in pure surprise, lips forming a small o-shape before you awkwardly cough. "Sorry, sorry!" He apologizes, instantly snapping out of it. "It's just...I'm surprised. Solomon said it took him years before he realized the truth about the three realms... it's amazing that you're questioning it after only having been here a few months."

You shoot Simeon a questioning look. "The truth about the three realms?"

You have no clue what this boy is on about.

"Ah, sorry," He apologizes again, taking a second to gather his composure. You've learned that he can be quite a good teacher when he tries, so you know that he's about to go full explanation-mode on you. "Your question is valid, little lamb. When humans discovered the concepts of angels and demons, they didn't fully understand the meaning behind those ideas, which led them to make their own conclusions about our nature."

"And?"

"And those conclusions were wrong." Simeon chuckles, stealing the container of lemon squares off your lap to break one in half, offering you a piece while he continues. "It's something that people don't usually notice on their own. That's why I was so impressed that you'd picked up on it."

You smile at the boy, taking a bite of the treat in your hand. "Well, it's not like I noticed it very early. Up until now, I think I mostly bought into the whole idea that demons are evil."

"And now?"

"Well, I live with seven demons. How can I dislike them? They have their flaws, but I've seen more good than evil in them."

Simeon smiles at you, the same beaming grin that lets you know that he's proud of whatever deduction you've reached. "You're right. The human interpretation of angels and demons has never been very precise. We angels tend to love it, since it paints us in a good light...but a part of the reason why demons in the Devildom are so biased against humans is partially because you began it all, by depicting demons as emblems of pure evil."

"So then, what's the difference between an angel and a demon, if your supposed differences don't lie along the lines of good and evil?" There it is. The question that you've been thinking about this whole time.

Simeon smiles, taking another bite of the lemon square in his hand.

"Angels and demons...are merely two sides to the same coin. Two journeys to the same destination. Two halves to a whole that remains incomplete without both. We're nearly identical, in truth. Anatomically speaking, angel wings and demon wings are no different. And the way that demon horns materialize out of nowhere is akin to a halo's appearance. It's just that where angels believe in light, demons believe in dark."

"But isn't that it? That light is good, and dark is bad?" Simeon was making sense at first, but now you're more than a little confused.

"Not at all," Simeon says. He laughs his usual cute laugh. "Assigning moral values to natural features like light and dark has always been a human construct. A flawed construct, at that. Whether you're in the Celestial Realm or the Devildom, light and dark are two things that cannot exist without each other. They are entirely unrelated to good and evil."

"But isn't it natural that darkness is associated with fear, and things that are generally bad?" You pause for a minute, trying to find your words. "Light is comparable to sunlight, which directly supports life and growth. Whereas too much darkness will lead to deficiencies and...um...a worsened mental state?"

"I see your point, but the analogy is flawed. Just as not enough sunlight will kill a plant, too much sunlight will do the same. How can light be inherently good? Or the dark inherently bad?" Simeon pauses, letting his words sink in. "A blind man lives his entire life knowing only the darkness, but does that make his existence one shrouded in evil?"

Simeon pauses, letting his words sink in. By the time they have, you're left awestruck.

How have you never considered this before? It's always seemed so natural that halos and sunshine were equated to good, and horns and darkness were a sister to evil. But if what Simeon is saying is true...

"So there's no real difference between angels and demons, then, is there?"

"Not quite." Simeon hesitates, seemingly uncertain of how to put his thoughts into words. "I told you before that angels and demons are like two different journeys to the same destination. Our lives end with the ultimate purpose of serving the rulers of our respective realms, but the way we do it is where our differences come in."

"Elaborate?"

"Demons believe in more strongly in self servitude. They believe that by giving oneself their innate desires, that will result in a more satisfactory life and will better enable them to serve the demon lord. Angels believe in serving the realm before themselves. We devote ourselves to principles like virtue and servitude in hopes of reaching personal happiness."

"So then, if all that is true..." You hesitate, not sure if Simeon will laugh at your next words or not. "Then, does that mean that angels can sin, too?"

"Of course." A devious grin crosses Simeon's face. "The level of sin that an angel may allow themselves is different than what a demon would do, but certainly."

"I don't believe you," You say, smiling. Simeon? Sin? Yes, the angel dresses like a stripper, but the sheer notion of him doing anything bad seems so impossible. "I can't imagine you sinning."

"Well," Amusement flickers through Simeon's eyes, the teal-eyed boy, staring at you through a pause pregnant with thought. "Why don't I show you today? Let's skip Demon Studies today."

"Oh my god," You murmur, trying to choke back a laugh. "That's your big idea of sinning? Skipping class?" You flash the angel a grin as the bell rings, but honestly, you're surprised that he's even willing to go that far. You've yet to see any demons skipping class, so for an angel to play school delinquent? That's quite something.

"Oh hush," Simeon murmurs, gathering his things. He breaks off another piece of a lemon square before gathering his materials in preparation for the next class. "Just meet me in the courtyard, alright? I'll show you just how much an angel can sin."

"Alright," You agree, turning to gather your own materials.

The rest of the day passes quickly. Lunch is entertaining, but given that you sit with the demon brothers, lunch is never not entertaining. Today, Mammon managed to convince the lunch she-demon to double his meal portion. He then attempted to sell his extra foodstuffs to Beel, whereupon the secondborn was instantly shut down by Belphegor. Lucifer caught wind of the situation and threatened to string Mammon up for a hundred years, only calming down when you stepped in to deescalate the situation.

You couldn't fully focus on the demon brother's antics, though. Because across the lunchroom, at a table not too far from your own, sat Simeon, quirking his eyebrows mischievously as if to remind you of your plans for ditching Demon Studies.

The courtyard, he seemed to mouth out. You nodded at him, a confirmation that you'd be there. And at the time, he'd nodded back, his usual reassuring smile on his face, the entire exchange going unnoticed by any of your tablemates.

So where the heck is Simeon?

You glance at your D.D.D., checking to see how many minutes have passed since Demon Studies began. Six. Six whole minutes.

It can't take that long to get here from Simeon's previous classroom, right? What if the angel got cold feet over ditching and decided to go to class? What if he's not coming? What if Lucifer finds you skipping and strings you up for a hundred years?

"Little lamb!"

The voice unclogs a dam of relief that floods through your body. "There you are!" You exclaim, turning around to face Simeon. "I thought you'd decided not to cut class, after all."

"And leave you all alone?" Simeon asks, walking over to the bench you're on. It's comfortably under the shade of a nice, leafy tree, so the sunlight doesn't obstruct either of your eyes when you look at each other. "Why, that's a bigger sin than ditching in itself."

You smile at the angel's words, the boy never failing to bring a fresh shade of pink to your cheeks with his endless compliments. If they were to come from anyone else, you might assume them to be a form of flirting, but you doubt the angel knows the true effect of his words on you.

"Alright, so let me hear it. Tell me about all the sins you've committed!" You exclaim, clapping your hands together in excitement. You haven't forgotten the primary reason why you agreed to skip class in the first place.

"Oh, little lamb." Simeon pats your head. "Have you ever written down every single thing you've done that could be considered celestially questionable?"

Your silence says more than words can.

"I thought so." Simeon smiles. "It would be impossible for me to tell you of my every wrongdoing, or all my sins. But if you want to know a more recent example..."

"Yes!" Your voice is eager, anticipation lifting your spirits like the cool breeze of wind that rustles Simeon's fluffy hair. What kind of sins does an angel commit? Simeon told you earlier that angels consider sin differently from what demons and humans will consider sin, so you're dying to know what this mystery is. Your voice rings out clear in the courtyard: "Tell me!'

"Well," Simeon begins, angling his body toward you so that he can look at you as he tells his tale. "I'm sure you know that the Archangel Michael was the one who decided upon sending Luke and me down here as envoys of the Celestial Realm for Diavolo's program."

You nod.

"What you may not have realized is that my purpose here lies exclusively in guiding Luke, and ensuring that his exposure to demons at such a young age is not corrupting his angelic beliefs. I'm sure you can tell that we don't need to worry about that, but Michael made it clear that those were my only duties." Simeon frowns lightly, casually lifting a lock of your loose hair with his fingers and examining it as he speaks. It's a gesture he's always done, but it's never felt as intimate as now. "Michael made it especially clear that he did not wish for me to allow myself to be involved with anyone."

"Involved?" You ask, wondering if the word carries the same connotation in the Celestial Realm as it does in the human world.

"Involved," Simeon responds, and the way he says the word is enough for you to know that yes: it very much does mean the same thing.

"And...did you?" You ask. You try not to let it show, but inwardly, your brain is going wild. If Simeon is already with someone, you may as well just give up on your feelings now. No one would give up a man as perfect as him—with those godlike abs and naturally charismatic personality, and he's too good to break anyone's heart.

"Not yet," Simeon says. "My orders were clear. Though, as of recent, someone has been encouraging me to sin." His eyes are twinkling.

You feel your ears grow warm at that. "Hey!"

"So I think I might just disobey that order. What do you think, hm?" Simeon asks. He turns his gaze away from the lock of hair between your fingers, looking you straight in the eyes. Hair dropped, he uses his index finger to tilt your face towards his when you try to look away. As you stare into his eyes, you notice that the rich sapphires seem to be hiding a darker blue. But...the darkness isn't akin to evil. If there's one thing you've learned, it's that.

No, the deep blue of Simeon's eyes is speaking a different message entirely: desire.

"Should I 'involve' myself with the person I so want? Should I..." Simeon leans forward, letting his next words out softly into your ear so that you alone can hear this angel say these words of blasphemy. "Should I sin?"

You're left wordless. Or is it breathless? You can't tell. Simeon's close proximity to you no longer feels innocent. The finger he had on your cheek is now under your chin, keeping your gaze locked onto him as he awaits the answer to his question.

And you know.

You know he's aware of what he's been doing to you all this time, with his little touches and lingering looks and sweet smiles. And you can't even be embarrassed that he's so openly been pulling you further into the arms of your attraction for him, because with the way he's looking into your eyes, there's no denying that he feels it, too.

"Yes," You whisper, the wind gently carrying the word to his ears. And the second he hears your response, his restraint vanishes, and his lips are on yours.

Soft. That's your first thought. Soft, and gentle. Chaste, and beautiful.

The kiss is calm, serene as the boy himself. There's no unnecessary movement, no dramatic moaning, no senseless biting. It's just his lips, on yours, letting you feel the soothing wave of emotion and affection he has for you. His lips, on yours, and the tender hand that reaches up to cup your cheek. His lips, on yours, and the quiet pull of the moment, with the tranquil breeze dancing around you two as it touches every spot in the courtyard but where you stand, leaving the two of you blissfully alone in the moment of intimacy.

And then Simeon pulls away, and you feel the wind flitting in between you two once more. A light laugh escapes the angel's lips as he smiles down at you, gently moving to rest his forehead atop yours.

"Was it worth sinning?" You ask cheekily, interlacing your fingers with Simeon's other hand, savoring the brief squeeze he gives them.

"Absolutely," He whispers, stroking your cheek with his thumb. "Would you let me do it again?"

"Yes," You murmur, and then the distance between you two vanishes, the world stopped once more.

When he pulls away, all either of you can hear is his quiet whisper as he asks your permission to do it again, to steal just one more kiss from your lips, and your immediate reply that grants him the sin.

Only when you finally tell him that he doesn't need to ask does he stop requesting your explicit assent, and then the moment truly never seems to end, the brief breaths of air you take between kisses forgotten and replaced by new touches, new affection, new warmth.

How much time passes by before you gain the courage to cup Simeon's cheeks, touching the smooth skin you've spent so many hours daydreaming about? How long is it before his spare arm snakes around your waist and pulls you even closer to him? You cannot keep track. Even time seems to have stopped as Simeon embraces what he's spent so long denying himself, granting himself the rare mercy of an angel's sin: the most beautiful sin of them all.

You pull him closer, lips pressing against his, a quiet message to not let this stop: not just the moment, but the act. The closeness. The intimacy.

And the way Simeon squeezes your hand, it's as if he's responding. Telling you that the kisses won't end today, or tomorrow, or anytime soon. It's a quiet promise to stay with you, to be with you, to sin, and to do it all as long as it's with you.

You smile into his lips.

You wouldn't have it any other way.

MASTERLIST

Word count: 3.9k

Notes: My favorite part of this entire fic was the beginning where I described Satan cornering Lucifer with spaghetti and Belphie providing backup via meatballs - it really took all my restraint not to abandon this and write a crack fic about that

Comment & Like

Thank you for reading <3

I do not own the rights to Obey Me! or any of the characters within it.

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echo-three-one · 3 years

Text

Whatever It Takes

It's Task Force 141's first mission after gathering intel about the whereabouts of Samantha Coleman. Gary and the rest of the team proceed to briefing and would probably head straight to their rescue mission. Do these mini summaries even make sense? Find out soon.

Chapter 3 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

Previous Chapter : Soap - F.N.G.

"Run Through the Jungle"

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

Task Force 141

Task Force 141 - Mess Hall

Gary was almost done with his raccoon story when the PA system alerted them of an immediate briefing. Simon nodded to him and got up making his way to the briefing room. Gary also noticed the rest of his squad from earlier walk to the door, and was France crying on Alex? Much to his curiosity, he went to John who was still sitting by the chair.

"Anything you want to tell me, Soap?" he asked, patting his comrade's shoulder.

"Bugger off, mate. Let's just go to the meeting." he replied, Roach couldn't tell if he was sad or disappointed or mad, but it may have something to deal with France crying.

"Whatever mate. I'm always here if you want to talk it out." he assured, and he was in fact true. It's been a month since the Task Force was created and Gary was the team's therapist, everybody's friend and ally no matter what. He always felt that he could feel everyone's emotions and believes he could be a sponge for someone who's unable to deal with the trauma. Ghost was one of his customers, he had a lot to deal with and Gary was always there for him.

"Few hours ago, our informants intercepted with a group of armed men on a safehouse near the borders of Germany. They told us that there was a man named Augustus who happens to be our step closer to Nero." Gary took note of the information General Shepherd relayed, his scribbles became faster as the General continued.

"We also received word that our hostage, Samantha Coleman is with them in one of these houses. We have to proceed with caution as this area may be rigged with traps or surrounded with tangos." he added.

"As for rules of engagement, fire only when fired upon. This is a local settlement and civilians may be anywhere. We don't want to create unnecessary civilian casualties just to retrieve a single person." he instructed. Gary took a quick survey of the room, everyone looked at the screen intently, he could see MacTavish's eyebrows furrowed in anger, France's eyes were downright sad and Alex, despite being a CIA agent, actually looked worried.

"As for assignments, I'll let your captain take the floor." Shepherd concluded and exited the area, Price then stepped forward and began briefing.

The silent chirping of the crickets echoed from the nearby forest. Gary took a cold exhale and leaned on the railings just outside their quarters.

"Big day tomorrow, huh?" Ghost surprised Roach as he spoke.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since I spotted, but I still know the basics." Gary answered. He and Ghost were assigned for sniper support a few clicks away from the Alpha Team lead by Alex and the Bravo Team lead by Captain Price.

"Your math is good and fast?" Ghost asked, chuckling at the question. Gary inhaled before he answered the question.

"Yeah. Try me." he dared, glancing at the masked man.

"Suppose there's a target about 516 meters far, the wind is one half value." Ghost planned out the situation. Gary's gears started turning as he scratched his freshly shaven chin.

"Five degrees. Descending." he muttered. Ghost thought about it and agreed.

"Yeah. Your math is still on point." he mused laughing at him.

"What do you think Nero is up to? I mean it all doesn't add up. And what's with erasing memories?" Gary flooded the man with questions. Simon just pondered without saying any words.

"I dunno mate. I'm as baffled as you are." he replied, waving to Alex and France who were out on a late night walk.

"Say Gary, what's the deal with the new girl? One minute she looks tough as nuts then the second Soap comes in she's fucking crying?" Ghost rambled. Gary could feel a hint of jealousy but not entirely. It's as if he's mad and jealous at the same time.

"Well, we were too far from their table and I couldn't hear anything. Maybe they had an argument while Soap was out with her on the training room?" Gary speculated, he saw Simon's fists clench as he left his side.

"Eh. Not that I care anyway. Get some rest, spotter. Big day tomorrow." he remarked and went to his room.

"Yeah yeah." he replied waving at the two walking around the oval. They both waved back and Gary yelled good night to them before entering the quarters himself.

Gary plopped on his bed and closed his eyes. He was actually nervous enough that he could hear his own heartbeat, he took deep breaths and lulled himself to sleep. He wanted to see to it that they save the hostage tomorrow and a perfect sleep is what he could contribute right now.

GERMANY

0458H

Gary hated the ghillie suits. It was heavy, uncomfortable and animals sometimes land on you, but it does the job well. Treading the dense forestry just above the safehouse, Gary and Simon head out to look for a perfect spot.

"This one's got a view of the houses." Ghost whispered, signaling Roach to move forward.

"This is Echo Three One, we've cleared the two houses on the right, all empty. Over." Alex reported over their comms.

"Bravo Six copies that and the two houses here are also clear." Price reported.

"Looks like it's going to be the one on the far side." Soap concluded.

"I've got eyes on the safehouse. There's no activity on all windows. Proceed with caution." Ghost reported.

"Rog." Price replied.

"Copy that, eye in the sky." Alex replied.

Gary put out his spotting scope and placed his eye behind the lens.

"I've got my eyes on them, Ghosty. Alpha Team is on its way." he whispered.

Ghost rolled some knobs on his sniper making a soft clicking sound as he spins it.

"Don't call me that, Bug. I have eyes on Bravo Team. Still no movement from the safehouse."

"This is Alpha Team, approaching the left side of the safehouse."

"Bravo Team is Oscar Mike as well."

"Roach, did you see that?" Ghost whispered.

"Yeah. The winds are shifting." Gary noted, sticking out a tool that detects wind speed.

"Three Fourths value at 400 meters. 15 miles per hour. Adjust to 15.3" he informed, calculating on Ghosts still shoulder with a pen. Decimals are too dangerous to calculate mentally. Ghost's sniper clicked once again to adjust with the wind, he took a deep breath and his targets stabilized once again.

Leaves rustled behind them, Roach quickly held on his rifle and slowly turned back to check if it was an animal. Nothing, but before turning back on his scope, he saw a black figure from the corner of his eye.

"Bollocks. We've got movement on our Six." Roach reported.

"Remember our ROE, Roach. Fire only when fired upon." Price reminded.

"I'll take care of it from here. You go check on that." Ghost said as he turned back to his scope.

"Roger that. Be safe." Roach quickly ran to the direction if the rustling.

He couldn't make out much of the figure, but he was sure enough it was human. He tried to look for areas where the leaves were disturbed but with the wind picking up, he was clueless. Then there it was again, movement. He quickly dashed to it's direction, not wanting to get lost again. His boots slapped the fresh soil as he made his wauy to a clearing.

'Left, right then left by the rocks.' Gary mentally noted his each turn so he could easily remember but when he's chasing someone whom he felt like it doesn't know where it goes, then it's a whole different story.

Gary was alone in the windy forest, in pursuit of a person who's out on the woods at five in the morning. He wanted to go back but there's something that bothered him and convinced him to keep chasing it.

"Roach, you okay? They're almost in the safehouse." Ghost pointed out.

"Yeah haaaah… I'm still haaaah… hot on its trail." Gary panted. He suddenly turned when he heard a yelp.

"It's a girl. It might be our hostage." he radioed and followed the direction of the sound.

Soft sobs and English curse words could be heard from where Gary emerged. This alerted the injured female and she plead at the British solider.

"Please. I'm not an enemy. I'm I'm- I don't know who I am or where I am… Please. Don't hurt me." She was an American girl, possibly around 20-30 years old and had blonde hair wearing a black tank top and grey sweatpants, there were a few bruises on her arms and she was threatening him with a stick.

"Maam, put down your weapon and calm down. I will not hurt you." he dropped his weapon slowly on the ground stepped forward, his hands both raised.

"Good good. I need help." she whimpered, looking at her sprained ankle.

Gary immediately took his ghillie off and ripped a piece of his sleeves to wrap around the sprain, treating it with something from his medical kit.

"There you go… You're feeling better now? Maam?" Gary accommodated. The unknown blonde nodded in agreement.

"So.. you don't know who you are?" Gary asked.

"All I know is that I'm with another girl, Brunette." she added.

"I located the one out on the woods. She's American but I can't ID her. She's about 20 - 30 years old, short blonde hair." Gary informed.

"Is that Maxine?" Alex and France simultaneously replied over comms.

"Excuse me. Do you go by Maxine?" Gary asked politely. The girl quickly covered her ears and screamed.

"Aaaaaah! My head hurts!" She yelled. Gary was quick enough to cover her mouth as soon as she opened it as to not give away their presence.

"I don't know if that's a yes or a no guys. But that definitely is a reaction." Gary said over the comms. He assisted "Maxine" and lifted her up as he tries to get back to Ghost.

"Thick trees everywhere. Any Idea where you are Ghost?" he asked over the secure radio.

"I'm at the same spot I've been since we got here. Can't you retrace your steps?" he replied.

"I could try." he muttered, carrying an unconscious woman on his shoulders across the jungle.

Next Chapter : Déjà vu

#horRAYfic #codmw #codmwfic #gary roach sanderson #john soap mactavish #john price #simon ghost riley #alex echo 3 1 #Roach deserves some love

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tuanyiems · 4 years

Text

Champagne Truffles

Yugyeom x Reader (f) It’s a little angsty at the start oops but still this is a fluffy one, it’s me after all words: 4k plot: it’s your anniversary date night and he’s determined to make this a night you’ll never forget, established relationship!au a/n – Forgive this unedited piece, it’s 3am rn lulz I spent too much time gushing over got7 I had to take out the smut content to make the deadline lol but anyways, make sure to stream Last Piece as you’re reading!!! And this concludes my November of posting exclusively for Yugyeom! (It still counts as November if I haven’t slept yet!) And what a beautiful month it was! Thank you for following me on this Chocolatier journey, I’m sure these two will show up again in a drabble or two in the future. But until, please enjoy and give got7’s new album a listen if you haven’t already. It truly is another masterpiece album c’: // part of Le Chocolatier drabble series, which you can find the masterlist for in my blog. feel free to read this as a one-shot or part of the series, in any order you want <3

“So, how was work today?” you start, climbing into bed where Yugyeom is already tucked in and scrolling on his phone. The bright light illuminates his face, and you pause, admiring his profile as you wait for him to answer.

But Yugyeom only shrugs, not even bothering to look at you. You grab your own phone from your nightstand, twisting it awkwardly around in your hands as you think of something else to say.

“It’s getting colder these days, isn’t it?” you ask softly, staring down at your phone as you flip it once more and watch it light up to a picture of you and Yugyeom at a carnival. It was one of those summertime, pop-up fairs. Yugyeom had convinced you to call in sick and the two of you made a trip an hour out from the city to play like two teenagers in love.

Your lips twist as you press your thumb into the screen where Yugyeom is holding your hand in his. Even when your hands were getting clammy from the summer heat and the nerves of waiting in line for the pirate ship, he had refused to let go.

“Nice try,” he had scoffed, before lifting his hand to kiss the back of yours. “If I let you go for even a second, you’ll definitely find a way to hurt yourself.”

You rolled your eyes, “You’re so protective for the weirdest things.”

“Weird? Who was the one who fractured their wrist while bowling?”

You looked away, pretending not to hear.

“And who’s the girl who got a concussion while walking in a department store, hmm?”

“Hey! That time wasn’t my fault!” you pouted, allowing yourself to be tugged along as the line moved up. “Who puts such heavy items on the top shelf anyways?”

“But what normal person climbs the shelves?!”

“An! Independent! Woman!” You defended, slapping his chest with your free hand with each word.

He only laughed, eyes shining down on you. “You could’ve called for help, or oh I don’t know, asked your boyfriend to get it for you? I mean, what else is my height good for?”

“Eye candy, of course!”

“I’m just a piece of meat to you, aren’t I?” he joked, bumping you by the hip before quickly pulling you back into his chest.

You giggled, “Oh course not, babe. I’m obviously using you for our future offspring too. It’s my gracious consideration for future generations.”

“Future offspring?” Yugyeom’s cheeks blushed a rosy hue and as soon as you noticed, you followed suit.

“I mean! Uh-well…if…” you sucked in a breath, forcing your heart to calm. “Anyways, if they end up inheriting your height and my butterfingers, it’ll end up being a disservice to society actually.”

He chuckled, hand squeezing yours. “Probably,” he mused softly, cheeks still warm with daydreams.

When you turn your phone again, the screen flickers awake and there is his blushing face again, eyes twinkling with thoughts of the future…or, that’s what you always thought he was imagining when you look at this photo, but maybe you were just being delusional. It could’ve just been the summer heat making him flush.

The Yugyeom from that memory and the one sitting next to you feel like completely different people. You don’t understand what happened, only a few months had passed since that day. At first, you had summed up his quiet behavior to the changing season. It’s not like Yugyeom had never been quiet or moody before, but never has he iced you out like this for so long.

It makes you nervous actually. In two days, it’ll be your three-year anniversary. This is supposed to be a good thing of course, but in the back of your mind sits the nervous belief that something bad will happen on that day.

None of your previous relationships have ever lasted longer than a year. You and Yugyeom were always so stable that you never thought this would be a problem, but his sudden changes have made you more superstitious.

“Baby?” you utter softly, touching his wrist to put his phone down. He looks over but doesn’t say a word. “Um, I was wondering how you wanted to spend this Saturday? We haven’t really talked about it, so…”

Your voice trails. He looks at you almost fiercely, a slight frown on his lips.

You swallow. “Not that we have to do anything. Maybe we could just have a quiet day inside. We can marathon that anime you really like! What was the name again? With the cute pig?”

“Seven Deadly Sins,” he answers, looking back at his phone.

“Yeah, that one!” you say, voice much brighter than how you feel. “But…I was just suggesting. We can do what you want to do. Did you have something in mind? Food you’re craving?”

Yugyeom sighs, turning on his side to turn the lamp off. “It’s late, babe, let’s decide later.”

“Oh, okay.”

In the darkness, your worries fester though.

“Baby?” you whisper cautiously. Quietly, you curl against his back, wrapping your arms around his waist. “Goodnight, Gyeom.”

A moment passes before he twists in your arms and pulls you to his chest. You smile, looking up even though you can barely make out his features in the darkness.

“Night baby, I love you,” he presses a kiss to your forehead, and you find yourself relaxing in his arms.

That night you fall into a sleep so good, you end up missing your alarm.

Rushing around the apartment in only a forest green blouse and your nude hip huggers, you unpack your purse for the fifth time that morning.

“Babe, have you seen my charger?” You yell from the bedroom.

“It’s not in your purse?” Yugyeom calls from inside the bathroom.

You huff, throwing the items haphazardly back into your bag. “No!”

“Just take mines!”

“Thank you!”

Rounding the bed, you make your way to Yugyeom’s nightstand. Unlike your own though, his drawer is a disorganized mess. You furrow your brows, shifting through the old mail and random trinkets.

“How does he find anything in here?” you mutter, stuffing your hand to the back and hoping the wire was buried somewhere there.

“Y/N!” Yugyeoms voice booms from behind you. You jump in surprise. “Why are you going through my drawer?”

He snatches your hand out and slams his drawer shut.

“I-” You try to blink back your surprise. “I was just looking for the charger.”

He let out an exasperated sigh, bending behind the nightstand, and pulls the wire out.

“Here,” he tosses it into your hand before walking to your shared closet. “And don’t go through my things.”

Gaze on his back, you place the charger into your purse meekly. Grabbing your cream trousers from the bed, you quietly step into them as Yugyeom gets dressed too.

“Sorry,” you mumble when he finally turns to you.

He lets out a sigh, threading his fingers between yours. His thumb rubs over your hand gently. “I’m sorry too, I didn’t mean to yell.”

“Jackson,” you slide on your rolling chair towards your cubicle buddy, cup of hot chocolate between both palms.

“Uh oh,” Jackson looks at you once before twisting dramatically in his chair. “You’ve got the frowny face!”

“Frowny face?” Jinyoung pokes his head into your cubicle. Seeing your expression, he immediately walks into your cubicle, leaning onto Jackson’s desk. “Who do we need to hurt?”

“No one,” you sulk, stirring your drink. “I just had a question.”

“It was Susan, wasn’t it? I hate her,” Jinyoung scoffs, crossing his arms. Jackson chuckles, nudging him to stop.

“No, I was just wondering,” you pause, looking at your cream flats. “What are some signs when a guy no longer loves you?”

“I’m going to kill Yugyeom.”

“Why is murder always your go-to?” Jackson jokes, trying to lighten the mood. “It can’t be that bad, the last time I saw Yugyeom he was madly in love with you!”

“I just…I don’t know…it’s a feeling,” you frown, gut twisting as you’re speaking the words aloud. “It’s probably nothing.”

“Well, what signs have you been getting from Yugyeom?” Jinyoung asks.

“He’s just gotten quieter in the last couple of months. Sometimes it feels like he’s hiding something from me. Like last night, he was mostly on his phone even though I was trying to talk to him.”

“On his phone doing what?”

You tilt your head, shrugging. “I don’t know, Instagram? Twitter? But that’s not the point.”

“Wait, Instagram or Twitter, Y/N? Was he scrolling through news or was he sliding into DMs? These are important details,” Jinyoung interrupts. Both you and Jackson look at him with wide eyes.

You feel your heart jump to your throat. “Y-you think…maybe, he’s c-cheating on me?”

That thought had never even occurred to you as a possibility but now that you hear it…Your vision starts to blur.

“Oh my gosh, Y/N!” Jackson slaps Jinyoung’s thigh, pushing him away as he hurries to put an arm over your shoulder. “Jinyoung was just asking stupid questions. Yugyeom’s not that kind of guy.”

“But what if he’s right?” you mumble. “This morning I was looking in his drawer to borrow his charger and he yelled at me for going through his things. He’s never done that before! And every time I ask about his day, he won’t really tell me anything.”

You sniffle, rushing to wipe your falling tears.

“Don’t cry, Y/N,” Jinyoung pats your hand softly. “You’re probably just spiraling right now. I don’t know Yugyeom the way you do. He was probably just scrolling through pictures of tattoo art or something.”

“But he’s so handsome and amazing, he could have any girl he wants. What if he’s found someone better? Someone who doesn’t burn toast or, or-”

“Hey,” Jackson squeezes your arm with a frown. “We don’t tolerate that kind of talk in this house.”

“House?” Jinyoung chuckles.

“Our cubicle home!” Jackson clarifies, making you smile.

“Ah, I see a smile,” Jinyoung announces, making your lips stretch wider.

“My makeup is running, isn’t it?” you laugh weakly.

“Yeah, you’re a mess,” Jinyoung teases.

“Good time to ask Susan for an early weekend,” Jackson nudges you playfully.

“Yeah, leave early and go have a real conversation with Yugyeom about how you’re feeling. No use in holding things in if it’s just going to make you cry anyways.”

“Someone’s crying?” Susan, your project manager, pokes her head into your cubicle. When she sees your state, she gasps. “Y/N, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

“I’m okay,” you flush with embarrassment.

“Nonsense, you should let her start the weekend early, Susan,” Jinyoung states before smiling at her sweetly. “And as her favorite co-workers, you should let us join her!”

“Nice try, Jinyoung,” she laughs goodheartedly, before turning to you. “You two have to stay, but Y/N, you’re free to go. Come back Monday, feeling better, okay?”

She sends you a wink before striding off.

“I hate her so much,” Jinyoung grumbles.

“You gotta stop lying to yourself, man,” Jackson laughs. He turns to you and pulls you into a hug. “Go and talk to him, Y/N. The longer you wait it out, the longer you’ll just be running circles in your head.”

You nod, convinced. “Alright, I’ll do that. Thanks guys.”

“Call me if you need a hitman!” Jinyoung calls as you rush out of the cubicle.

“Hey, why are you calling at this hour?”

“I just missed you,” you hum into the phone, as you walk down the familiar sidewalk towards your favorite chocolate store. “How’s work?”

“Um, actually,” there’s a pause on the other line before he continues, “It’s kind of busy. Probably be home late today.”

“Oh, okay,” you put on a tone of disappointment as you round the corner to the store. You snicker to yourself. Maybe surprising him at work and helping him with the shop will pick his mood up.

“Yeah, sorry, but you know this time of year. People like to eat chocolates.”

You smile to yourself, slowing your step as you reach the storefront. “Yeah, I know. It’s how I met you.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” you chuckle.

“Anyways, I really have to go now.”

“O-” You freeze, staring into the window of the chocolate store. “Okay.”

“Bye,” Yugyeom doesn’t wait for you to reply before he cuts off the line. You barely register the dead phone line though. You gulp, watching as your best friend, Jenny, pulls Yugyeom into a tight hug between the counter. In her arms, he smiles with full cheeks.

Stepping back, you cross the street in a rush, collapsing into a seat outside the French café across from Yugyeom’s store before your legs give out entirely.

This doesn’t make sense. While Jenny was one of your closest friends, she and Yugyeom weren’t especially close. This was partially due to the fact that Jenny lives in another city two hours away from yours. Yugyeom has never expressed any interest in spending time with your friends unless you were with him, and so things just don’t add up.

Jenny never sent you a text that she’d be in town, especially on a Friday. Just as you’re about to go through the text messages in your phone just in case, you see the door of the chocolate store open and out walks Yugyeom and Jenny. They’re so deep in their own conversation, they don’t even glance at you, right across the street from them.

You take in a breath, shaking your head. This just doesn’t make sense. Getting up again, you make your way down the street, watching them from across. Maybe Jenny needed a special order of chocolates. Was there a birthday you were forgetting?

You stop in your tracks, watching as Jenny practically jumping with excitement alongside Yugyeom. She must’ve said something funny, because he tilts his head back, mouth open wide, the same way he always laughs at you when you make a stupid joke.

Shaking your head again, you continue your steps. No, Jenny is a trusted friend. You’ve known her since high school. But the longer you follow, the more your stomach starts to hurt. It’s exactly because you’ve known Jenny for so long that you know she would never be this animated with your boyfriend.

Your chest hurt at just the thought, but you can’t help it from echoing in your brain. That the two of them look too comfortable—like they’ve been meeting for a while.

Biting your lip hard, you stop in your tracks again and force yourself to turn around. No, this just didn’t add up. And you didn’t want to trail after them like some kind of stalker.

You trust Yugyeom and you trust Jenny.

Hailing the nearest cab, you enter with a huff. It was like Jinyoung said, you were probably just spiraling.

“I’m home,” Yugyeom calls softly as he enters the house. You freeze in your seat at the kitchen table, despite having sat there for three hours for this very moment.

“Hey,” Yugyeom peeks his head into the kitchen, looking at you with furrowed eyes. “What are you doing just sitting here by yourself?”

You chuckle dryly, trying to shake off your nerves. “Oh, I guess I was just spacing out.”

He smiles at you before sitting down in the chair across from you. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s okay,” you lie. “How was work?”

“It was fine. Busy as usual,” Yugyeom shrugs. “What did you have for dinner?”

“I made pasta. There’s leftovers in the fridge for you.”

“It’s okay, I’m stuffed already.”

“Oh? You ate?”

Yugyeom’s eyes grow wide before he is blinking away, running his fingers through his hair. “Uh, yeah, um…Bambam, he bought me dinner.”

“That was nice of him,” you mumble. You breathe loudly, trying to keep yourself collected despite feeling like you were going to vomit with each second that passes.

He chuckles before raising his voice abruptly. “Anyways! Let’s talk about tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow? Did you have something in mind?” your chest jolts with hope.

“Actually, I was thinking you could have a girl’s day with Jenny! And then we could do something in the evening.”

“Jenny’s in town?” you watch him closely, noticing the way he licks at his lips and swallows.

“Oh! Yeah! I uh, I heard it from Bam. He must’ve seen a story update from her or something.”

You dig your nail into the cuticle bed of your thumbs as you listen to him lie straight to your face.

“Jenny didn’t text me though. She probably has something else going on this weekend.”

“Nope!” Yugyeom whips, smiling far too big for this conversation. “I messaged her about tomorrow already.”

“So, you want me to hang out with Jenny…on our anniversary?” You question slowly.

Yugyeom looks away, his ears flushed. He brushes at your hand. “Yeah, you two should catch up, get your nails done or something. You should really stop doing this to your nails.”

You look to your hands, your nail beds raw.

“I’m tired,” you mutter, getting up from your seat first. “I’m gonna go to bed first.”

“Oh, okay…well, just remember, you and Jenny at noon!”

You don’t answer.

“You’ve been awfully quiet,” Jenny turns to you with concern as the nail technician keeps her right hand hostage. “Is something bothering you?”

“Why are you in town again?” you ask, eyes concentrated on the deep red shade that your nail tech paints onto your fingernails.

“Oh!” In your peripheral, you can see her noticeably jolt. “I came for a conference on Friday and when Yugyeom reached out to me I decided to stay for the weekend.”

“A conference, huh?”

“Yeah,” she mumbles, turning back to her technician. “You know how much the beauty industry loves their conventions.”

“Must’ve been draining.”

“Yeah, totally. That’s why I didn’t text you I was in town. I was completely exhausted by the end of it that I completely forgot.”

“That’s understandable.”

“Mhm,” she turns back to you. “You should add a gold accent. Gold accent, please!”

Your nail tech nods, bringing out another tray of gold embellishment from underneath her desk. You turn your head, hearing the click of Jenny’s nails on the screen of her phone. There’s a bright smile on her face and it makes you want to burst into tears on the spot.

At first you thought maybe the two of them planned for Jenny to reveal the truth to you. You didn’t think Yugyeom was a coward but lately, none of the things you thought before make sense anymore. However, after hours spent with Jenny, all you’ve managed was getting prettier nails and lots of lies from who you thought was your best friend.

“Gorgeous,” Jenny coos, leaning in to admire your fingers.

“Yeah,” you murmur half-heartedly, feeling your spirit fully deplete.

No confession comes. No explanation. When evening comes, Jenny sends you right back home. Your walk up to the apartment is slow. This is it, isn’t it? Gyeom needed time to prepare himself to break up with you. It’s why he didn’t want to be with you for your anniversary.

Your stomach sinks when you get to your door. Was this your last time ever entering? Where were you going to move to?

As the familiar tone of the keypad rings in your ear, hot tears prick at your eyes. Stepping into the house, your vision blurs as you step through the hallway and into the kitchen. Yugyeom is standing at the stove when he turns to you with a smile.

“You’re back!” he greets you. When you hear his laughter, tears spill down your cheeks. “Crying already, babe? You haven’t even tasted it.”

Hiccupping, you try to calm yourself but the more you try to contain the tears, the more your chest fills with fear and floods you. You cry even harder, a terrible wail leaving your throat.

The sound of tin crashes onto the floor and quickly, you are enveloped in Yugyeom’s warmth. The feeling only makes you more sick and you bury your face into his chest, crying harder. Your last embrace. Your last time being comforted by him. The thoughts send sharp pains straight to your chest.

Yugyeom holds you tight against him, taking the impact of your shaking body to his chest. “Baby, what’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

It’s a long time before you feel calm enough to stand on your own. When you finally do, stepping back from his arms, you feel yourself tearing up again from seeing the concern on his face.

“What happened?” he whispers, fingers reaching out for yours.

You pull away though, taking another step back.

“Yugyeom,” your voice comes out shaky but determined. “Are we breaking up?”

Tears spill again.

Yugyeom looks at you with a shocked expression. “What? Where is this coming from?”

“You don’t love me anymore,” you cry.

“Of course I do! What are you talking about?”

“Then why did you lie to me?” You look at him sharply, gaze severe despite the shine of tears. He doesn’t say anything, and the silence breaks your heart.

Lips quivering, you sit down at the kitchen table. “You lied to me. Jenny lied to me…H-how long? How long have you been doing this?”

“Baby,” Yugyeom whispers, bending to the floor. He rests his hands on your thighs, looking up at you and there are tears in his eyes two. “Baby…baby, you’ve got this all wrong.”

“Even if it’s not Jenny, it’s still not me, is it?” you whimper, tears spilling down your chin. They splatter on the back of his hands. “You don’t talk to me anymore. You don’t want to share anything with me. Not even stories about your day.”

Tears run down Yugyeom’s cheeks as he presses a kiss to your knee.

“No, no, baby, you’re wrong.”

You sniff, cupping your palm to his wet cheek. “I want to be wrong. Please prove me wrong, Gyeom.”

“I was trying to keep it a secret,” he scoffs to himself, shaking his head. “I was planning this for months.”

“Planning?”

“I was so afraid I’d accidentally let it slip, or that you’d find it.”

You frown, brows furrowing in confusion now. “Find what, Gyeom?”

Yugyeom takes in a deep breath, breaking into a gentle smile as he glances down at the kitchen floor. Following his gaze, you realize he had dropped a tray of chocolates earlier.

“Chocolates?”

“Champagne Truffles,” he tells you, reaching down to grab one.

“You…you made a new recipe?”

Yugyeom lets out a loud sigh. “Good thing I marked it.”

You look at him, bewildered. He chuckles softly, turning to you again.

“I’m not going to break up with you, baby,” he laughs, digging his thumb into the spine of the chocolate until it bursts with a pop. “I’m trying to spend my whole life with you.”

Your hands to fly to your mouth in surprise as a fresh wave of tears spring to your eyes. He drops the chocolate shell to the floor, holding onto the shining gold band with shaking hands.

“Every day since meeting you,” his voice breaks and you cry, hands coming to cup his face as tears run down his cheeks too. “I thought I had a good life, and then I met you…And then I realized, I was missing everything before you came into my life.”

“Gyeom,”

He sniffs, breaking into a smile as more tears fall from his eyes. “Baby, you’re my everything. You’re the first person I want to tell anything to. You don’t know how hard it’s been trying to keep this from you.”

You laugh with him, “And Jenny.”

He nods. “She was helping me pick out the ring, plan the event, pick the flowers.”

You grin, pressing your forehead to his. “You bought me flowers!”

He laughs, nose brushing softly against yours. “Yeah, and a ring too…if you want it.”

“I do, I do, I do,” you giggle against him as your tears wet his cheek.

He chuckles, breath ghosting your lips.

“Not yet, baby, that one’s for the wedding,” he chuckles and you laugh with him.

“Either way, it’s I do.”

#got7 scenarios #got7 imagines #got7 reactions #kim yugyeom #got7 series #fluff #angst #writing #fanfiction #le chocolatier series

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kaminobiwan · 4 years

Text

stargazing

pairing: obi-wan kenobi x jedi!reader

summary: Existential musings under the stars. Real Disney Princess moment here, folks. (Obi is the princess obviously)

a/n: The prompt demanded it be given to Padawan!Obi. I simply complied. Also, I sprinkled some of my astronomy knowledge in there, bc uni. Thank you AST 104.

This was part of my 175 follower celebration (still open), requested by the ever lovely @highcouncil! Please, for the love of all that is holy, do your Obi-Wan Kenobi-loving hearts a favor and read her amazing work. You’ll thank yourselves for it.

“That one’s the Burning Snake.”

Obi-Wan points to an ambiguous spot in the sky, his too-big robes flapping across his face. He shakes his arm, readjusting the folds, and gestures again.

“Sorry — that one.”

He hears you toss a snort over your shoulder, your back to his as you lean on each other to stay upright. Both of your necks are craned towards the constellations that dapple the ink-black backdrop blanketing Coruscant, and the night is soundless with the exception of your voices.

“Are you sure you’re remembering these right? I’m pretty sure you were reading that starmap upside-down earlier.”

“Was not,” he exclaims, though there is some truth to each of your statements. He’d quickly corrected the map before too long, and he was sure of his memorization after spending so much time in the archives. Positive.

You shift against him, seemingly placated, and he relaxes too, careful not to tug on the Padawan braid behind your ear. It’s predictably still sore after Quinlan had tangled your braids together in a practical joke only three hours ago, the two of you too engrossed in your readings to notice that the Force was being manipulated against you. It had taken fourteen minutes and half a jar of flounut butter to unravel the knots that had formed in the fray.

You gesture towards a star in the distance, and Obi-Wan follows your lead. “What’s that one, then?”

His answer comes immediately. “The Eye of the Pirate. At least make it a challenge for me.”

Your noise of lofty glee jolts him from his position, and he nearly falls flat on his back as you maneuver your body above him so that you’re face to face. Though from his point of view, you’re upside-down. “It was a trick question. The Eye of the Pirate is only visible from Corellia.”

He frowns, his hands moving to cushion his head. “No, it’s not. We can see it from here, too.”

You make an unpleasant face at him, but he thinks it’s rather cute from this angle. As soon as the thought passes through his brain, though, it’s gone. He shuffles away to hide his face from you, but you’re too close to escape.

“You’re wrong. Not every red star is the Eye of the Pirate, Obi!”

Truthfully — and it’s not just because he doesn’t want to admit he might be incorrect — he’s not sure if the star is in fact the one he claims it to be, or whether he’d mixed up Coruscant with Corellia in his studying. But he’s desperate to get out of your line of sight — even though it’s late into the evening, the moonlight pouring into the Temple garden illuminates the entirety of the landscape, and no doubt his embarrassment along with it.

Ever since you’d started to call him Obi, it was hard to handle being in close proximity to you. The physical reaction his blushing upper body always displayed was definitely not something Qui-Gon would be pleased by.

“Okay, maybe it’s not!” He retorts, and you tumble down next to him with a laugh. He blinks some of your hair out of his eyes, but doesn’t ask you to move away from the spot you’ve placed your head, snug into the juncture between his shoulder and neck. Much better.

“Enough with the quizzing, anyway.” Your murmur brings him back to the stars, and he has to remind himself not to turn his head to look at you. “Let’s just take it all in.”

“But you love quizzes.”

“Yes, when the real thing isn’t right there in front of us,” you tease, and Obi-Wan clamps his mouth shut once more. “It’s called stargazing. Not star-analyzing.”

“There is such a thing as — ”

“Shh!”

He fidgets in the grass, unsure of what to do in the silence next to you. As he connects the dots between the clusters of stars across the dark expanse, his memory supplies endless cascades of information and astronomic facts, filling his mental capacity to the point that —

“Obi-Wan.”

Your voice is hushed, as if you’ve just woken up from slumber, but he hears the slight command in your words. “Yes?”

“I can hear your thoughts from here.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

You lean up on your outside elbow, tilting towards him and tucking your hair behind your neck before it can prick the skin of his forehead. “Aren’t you the prodigy of meditation among your crèchemates? What’s wrong?”

Instead of meeting your eyes, Obi-Wan shrugs, and feigns a stretch. “Just having trouble, I guess.”

“You guess.” You echo, unconvinced, but lay back down regardless. “You’re worried about something.”

“I’m not worried, I’m restless. It doesn’t seem right to be stargazing if we’re not going to at least study them. We both have upcoming assignments, might I remind you.”

As if you could have forgotten. Your mission to Halcyon was all you’d been talking about the past week. Still, you’d gushed more over your excitement at hearing his stories than chronicling your own. Obi-Wan had promised to tell you all about the planet of Naboo upon his return to the Temple.

“You’re fretting over the trade dispute? I’m sure you’ll be able to handle the Federation representatives. Though I’ve read that Neimoidian workers regularly compete amongst themselves, and the winning team gets to eat the other — !” You catch the look he sends you out of the corner of your eye, and he allows himself a half-smile as you bashfully fall silent. “Sorry. Probably not what you want to hear right now.”

The apology wasn’t necessary. You both know it. But sometimes, he appreciates that you’d rather it still be said.

“I’m just…feeling unprepared. Luminara and Shaak Ti both faced the trials at my age, and I thought I’d be ready. But I can’t even tell if Qui-Gon thinks I am or not.” You’ve stilled beside him, but he feels you latching on to every word. “I don’t know.”

“You are ready,” you say simply.

“Yes, and if I am, then what?” He asks, to no one in particular. He knows the stars have as much a probability of knowing the future as you do. Maybe more, judging by how often Qui-Gon called to them in exasperation. “Everything changes. I can’t help but feel as though nothing will be the same, soon.”

You’re quiet for a moment, but then he hears what sounds like a chuckle from you. He raises a confused eyebrow, but doesn’t shift his body.

“Obi, of course everything will change. Nothing can stop that,” you say, reaching your fingers out and upwards. “Even the stars can’t prevent themselves from growing and dissipating. Eventually, they’ll all turn into nebulas, or supernovas, or black holes in violent implosions.” You trace an imaginary line across the air, drawing your own constellation, joining together specks that Obi-Wan imagines must be hundreds of parsecs apart. His eyes follow the pattern as you go. “You’re not a star.”

He blinks. “I’m not?”

Immediately, he wants to palm his face, because obviously he’s not a star, no matter how luminous Master Yoda professes him to be, but he just hadn’t known what you meant and now he’s gone and made himself sound like an idiot. But you continue, unfazed, as if you’d predicted he’d respond in kind.

“You’re not,” you repeat, and lower your hand down to your stomach. “You can choose what you become. You’re not born with a predestined fate. You have control.” Obi-Wan feels his body sink further into the ground, and some voice in the back of his head has the agency to surmise that you sound much wiser beyond your years right now. “What matters most is whether you take that control, or give it back to the universe.”

And now, he’s silent, because how in the name of the Force is he supposed to respond to that?

But you bound up again, high-spirited and bubbly and not nearly as prophetic as you had been a second earlier, and conclude, “At least, that’s what Master Koon says.”

He groans as you release a peal of laughter, and slumps further into the dirt. “Did you seriously just recite one of his lessons to me?”

“No! I made it much more interesting,” you clutch a hand to your chest in mock displeasure, and Obi-Wan crosses his arms. “I mean, I ad-libbed along the way, but I still meant what I said. I don’t think it’ll do you any good to worry.” As you speak, he lets his eyes unfocus towards the stars, white and yellow and blue diamonds alike blurring together in a disjointed mosaic. The tip of your nose rims the edge of his vision, and he exhales slowly with what feels like relief, though he isn’t completely sure. But you seem to be more at peace, too, and your voice even drops to a solemn resonance. “What you ask for tends to come and find you. Serenity, wisdom, trouble…”

“I’ve definitely heard him say that,” Obi-Wan muses, and he knows you’re hiding a grin next to him.

“It’s true,” you reply.

You both lay in the garden for several long moments more, until the voices of your masters can be heard calling your names.

Neither of you get up, despite it. A smile of his own creeps up his cheeks, and Obi-Wan knows you’re thinking exactly the same thing he is.

“Pretend we’re asleep so they’ll have to carry us back to the dorms?”

“Master Koon might break another arm, but yep. Worth it.”

“Worth it,” he agrees, and closes his eyes.

#rini writes #obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan kenobi imagine #obi wan kenobi x you #star wars imagines #YES THEY’RE STUDY BUDDIES AGAIN WHAT ABOUT IT #AND YEAH HE’S IN HIS 20S BUT WE ALL LIKE BEING CARRIED BACK TO BED DON’T WE #and yes plo koon is your master bc he is dad™#obi has high functioning anxiety and feels like he must be doing some thing productive at all times 25/8 #tbh i never thought i’d write padawan obi but after this i must return to him he is a soft boi #also he is so damn fine in that gif like whew he’s beautiful #anyways that’s my thoughts #this was so cute to write 🥺#made myself soft LOL #i love you all xxx #hope you like it #rini reaches 175!

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flooffybits · 4 years

Text

Goodnight

Would you trust mere coincidences? When more questions arise, it only makes sense to believe something that willingly shows itself and perfectly fits the pattern.

Warning: fire, burns, being chased, deer heads

Back || Next

Sitting on the bed with your head in your hands, you stare at the watch that sat on your coffee table, trying to comprehend just what on earth was happening and where the hell did it come from. You never had a pocket watch, especially one that looked like this, and you surely never saw this particular watch in your entire life, except for the one in your dream.

Lifting your head, you take the watch from the table and turn it over in your hands, closely examining the intricate design of a dreamcatcher etched on the back of the watch. You weren’t sure what about the design had grabbed your attention, but you couldn’t help but stare at it, letting your fingers gently trace over every curve and every little detail before there’s a faint glow from the center of the dreamcatcher.

The light reflects in your eyes, images swirling in them, but it’s all too much that it causes your head to hurt.

“-o dangerous.”

“-go!”

Surprised, you pull your hand back, snapping out of the trance you were in, and press it against your head, grunting before putting the watch back on the table and getting up. Looking around, you try to find anything that could help you take notes on the things that have been happening before opening the table beside your bed.

Heading back, you open the drawer and rummage through your things, spotting the old notebook you had kept with some drawings and notes. You take it out and pick up one of the pens on your desk before writing down everything that’s happened thus far, both with the watch and hallucinations and then the continuous nightmares you’ve been having.

You wouldn’t be getting any answers just yet, that you concluded, so you decided that the best to do was to meet with Minji for now and do some research when you come back home.

Having enough time to get ready, you grab your phone and then the watch, putting the latter on top of your desk, before heading out of your apartment to meet with your friend. You quickly texted the woman, informing her that you were headed to the area you would usually see her and she replied with an okay and that she would be heading out to see you there.

By the time you arrived, Minji was already waiting for you, grinning and bright like usual before she began to excitedly wave her hand as soon as she caught sight of you. “Y/n, I was honestly worried you wouldn’t be coming.” She chuckled while giving you a quick hug and you smile while reciprocating the action.

“Hey, I promised you that I would, I am making up for worrying you the other night, too.” You tell her. “It’s good to know you like to stick to your word.” She teases, making you stick your tongue out playfully. “Well, you seemed like you were about to cry if I didn’t.” You shot back before she gave you a small push.

“Me? Cry because of you?” She scoffs but can’t hide the smile that was fighting to take over her lips when she latches to your arm and starts tugging you in the direction of where you’re supposed to go. “Anyway, come on. Since you’ve most probably eaten, you have energy to help me out.”

Blinking, you look at the woman while following her to her home. “What exactly am I helping you with?” You ask her and she smiles nervously before shaking her head. “I’ll tell you when we get there.” She answers vaguely and you have no room to question her further because she was already dragging you further away from the park and in the opposite direction of your own apartment.

The walk isn’t too far because in ten minutes, she was already pointing to a nice looking house not too far away. It had a red roof and the exteriors of the house was beige with a lively looking garden in front of it, flowers blooming and some cute decorations that fitted the owner quite well.

Blinking, you move your head to peek around the house after catching a shadow disappear behind it, reminding you of the things you’ve been seeing lately. A frown comes to your face and you could feel yourself tensing slightly at the reminder before shaking your head.

Minji had already let go of your arm during the walk and opted to just walk next to you. But when she sees the troubled look on your face, her steps gradually grow slower to match your pace before she’s placing a hand on your arm.

“Hey, is everything alright? You look bothered.” She wears a worried expression on her face and you can’t help but smile lightly. “No, I was just… thinking. You know, work and all.” You tell her, but she isn’t exactly as convinced as you hoped when her stare lingers on your face and her lips pursed together.

She tries to say something, but hesitates. Eventually, she lets out a breath and squeezes your arm before finally saying, “Just don’t overwork yourself, please.”

With a nod from you, she finally releases your arm before leading you to the front door, gently knocking on it and you wonder if she had anyone living with her despite the seemingly small house.

The door swings open and you feel your eyes widen at the woman that stood at the doorstep, your body going stiff behind Minji as the person who answered the door greeted her. “Unnie, you’re back!” But as she looks over your friend’s shoulder, her expression falters and her eyes narrow.

“What are you doing here?”

Minji quickly slaps her arm, sending the woman a warning look. “Yoohyeon, be nice. This is my friend, Y/n, and she’s helping us clean up.” The woman, Yoohyeon, gives you a quick look before she was turning around and re-entering the house. “I know who she is, she’s the one I bumped into at my apartment building.”

Your friend quickly looks at you, surprise was written on her features as you rub the back of your neck awkwardly. “Wait, you mean the girl you were talking about was-”

You don’t even let her finish as you nodded your head in embarrassment, and her smile came back while she gestured for you to come in. “Well then. I guess we do live in a small world.” She muses as you follow her in.

When you enter, you’re immediately shown the living room, having a long sofa in the middle with a coffee table in front of it then two couches on either side of the table. A television was set perfectly in front of them, placed on top of a drawer with pictures and books scattered around. There’s an archway that leads to the kitchen, the dining table also there, all clean with just a few more books and papers.

Yoohyeon had taken up one of the couches and had her eyes glued to her phone, looking uninterested by your presence and Minji beams before calling out. “Cherry! Pie! Come here!”

You’re confused for a moment before the quick pitter patter of tiny footsteps against the wooden floor greets your ears until two little puppies are barking and jumping at your feet. One of them, you remember being Yoohyeon’s dog from last night, so the white one was most likely Minji’s.

Minji had crouched down to pet the two little fur balls as they happily barked and accepted her affections before they were sniffing you. You crouch down as well to properly look at the two and smile while putting your hand out for them to sniff.

But to your surprise, they started jumping on you, tails wagging as they barked again and again, also startling your friend as she watched. “Well, this is interesting. They don’t usually do well with strangers.” She laughed before you gently patted their heads. “They’re really cute. What are their names again?”

Minji places her head on top of the brown Pomeranian before scratching it. “This one is Pie, Yoohyeon’s dog.” She answers before picking up the other one. “And this is Cherry, my baby.” You mentally coo at how she holds and addresses Cherry before slowly standing up as Pie went to her owner after the woman called for her.

“They’re certainly lively, makes me wish I had my own dog.” You comment before standing back up with Minji doing the same, Cherry still in her arms.

With your focus on your friend, you miss the way Yoohyeon side eyes you before she was back to fiddling her phone and keeping herself preoccupied with that and the pup in her arms.

“So, what did you need my help cleaning up for?” You question again when she leads you to the kitchen. “I just need to clear some rooms for my friends. Two of them are moving here so I wanted to clear the rooms before they arrive.”

You were confused as Minji set Cherry on the table when you sat down and she went to the fridge to fetch a pitcher of water as she explained. “I’ve been rearranging the place since their visit, and I know it isn’t a big deal, but I want them to feel comfortable when they settle in with me.” Cherry walks over to you and sits between your arms, nuzzling your neck when you move to hug her.

The sight causes Minji to pause, her eyes softening before she smiles and puts the glass in front of you. “I know that you would rather do something else rather than help fix some stuff for complete strangers but I-”

“Relax.” You laughed lightly while subconsciously rubbing Cherry’s back. “I don’t mind helping out. I do need some kind of distraction from things, so it’s no trouble at all.” You quickly assure the woman while petting her dog and she seems to relax at your words.

She takes the seat across from you and Cherry was comfortable in your arms that it makes her smile more when she reaches over to gently scratch her between the ears. “Cherry seems to like you.” She noted as you look down at the yawning pup that was curled up before you.

“It would be a shame if she didn’t.” You say and Minji nods her head in agreement.

Minji shows you the room afterwards, up the stairs and to the left where two rooms were located. She informs you about her room being on the other side due to your confused stare and then you get to work with one room while Yoohyeon and Minji take the other, seeing how the latter absolutely refused to be anywhere near you.

While you were busy dusting the room and putting some things you weren’t sure were needed there in a plastic bag, you slowly became uneasy with how quiet the room had gotten. While you could still hear Minji and Yoohyeon walking about across the hall, the quiet room was making you uncomfortable, it was almost suffocating like you were choking on smoke.

Lightly rubbing your neck, you try to continue with the task at hand, thinking that the feeling would just go away if you finish quicker, but when you grab some of the boxes that were stacked up against each other, only to be shown a mirror that was leaning on the wall behind it.

You blink while holding the boxes, grip tightening when you see the same red haired woman from the office elevator, standing a few feet from the window and your head swivels around to look, only to find the room empty, so you cautiously go and set the boxes with all the other items you found and put aside.

As you let go of the boxes, the feeling in your throat gets worse that it even causes you to cough a bit. Shaking your head, you head back to wipe the dust off the mirror, only to see the woman still there, nearer to you and standing just a few feet away from where you placed the boxes.

You felt your heart jump to your throat as you stumbled backwards and landed on your ass while the redhead kept watching you, curiosity filling her eyes. But before she could move any closer to you, Minji was rushed into the room, Yoohyeon not too far behind her when they both saw you on the floor, visibly shaken and terrified about what you had just seen.

“Y/n, are you okay? What happened?” Minji quickly came over and knelt beside you and helped you sit properly. “I-I just - I saw…” But when you look back, there’s no one there except for Yoohyeon’s dog staring at you with her head cocked to the side, tail wagging with her tongue poking out.

Minji looked questioningly at the pup and then back to you. “Pie, come here.” You watch as the dog quickly rushes to her owner and blink before looking back at the mirror. Your friend follows your line of sight before she sees the mirror. Her frown only worsens as she helps you stand back up.

“I’m okay. I just… need a moment.”

Yoohyeon looks from Pie to you, her lips pressed into a tight line before she spoke up. “Are you that easily frightened?” She had asked and your eyes turned to her before she added, “I think your friend needs some rest, unnie.” She says offhandedly before exiting the room and Minji sighs softly as she watches you.

“Are you sure you’re alright? It looks like you’re almost done here, I can finish up.” She offers before you shake your head despite the lingering feeling of someone watching you. “No, I can handle it. I guess Pie just surprised me.” You mutter softly while taking another look around the room and then showing a small smile.

“You can deal with the other room, I promise I’ll be fine.” You assure her and Minji stares at you for a moment before she’s sighing once more and nodding her head in agreement. “Okay. But if you ever need anything, Yoohyeon and I are right across the hall.”

You watch her walk off, smiling when she glances back as she reaches the door and then finally leaving you alone. When she disappears from sight, you let yourself take a seat on the bed and let out a deep breath as you take another look at the mirror, finding absolutely no one but yourself.

It takes you awhile to recover, but you eventually feel much better compared to before. You could breathe easy and there was no longer a weight on your chest or anything suffocating you, however the feeling of being watched did remain until you finished fixing the room.

Meanwhile, when Minji exits the room you were in and enters the one she and Yoohyeon were arranging, the younger girl had her arms crossed, her expression still the same as when she left the room you were in.

“Are you sure you want to keep her around? She doesn’t look too good and by the time Sua unnie and Siyeon unnie arrive, I doubt they’re going to give her an easy time.” She states and Minji runs her fingers through her hair. “She’s just tired, Yoohyeon, and it wouldn’t hurt if you acted a bit nicer towards her, you know.” She retorted, and the latter’s expression hardened as she looked away with a grunt.

“Why should I? It’s not like that’s going to change anything.”

She doesn’t even give Minji the time to reply because she was already grabbing the trash bag, tossing whatever garbage she found in, and then exiting the room without another word and the older woman was left watching after her with a frown seemingly fixed on her face.

The only time she’s able to bring a smile back to her face is when you come around, a trash bag of your own at hand, when you tell her you were done with the room.

She had given you some water to help and even a few pastries she baked, happy that you were looking a bit better. But at the back of her mind, she still couldn’t brush off what Yoohyeon had told her.

By the time her friends came over, they were sure to give you a hard time.

A couple hours after cleaning the house, you find yourself in the kitchen with Minji, preparing some food for the friends that would be moving into the house with her. You opted to help out when you were able to get your energy back, Cherry and Pie helping with making you feel better as they let you forget about your earlier scare.

You tried to involve Yoohyeon in conversations, asking her a few questions, but the woman had only brushed you off or just replied with one word replies, leaving Minji to be the one to answer the questions for her.

“She doesn’t like me, huh?” You couldn’t help but mumble while rubbing Cherry’s belly, smiling when the pup happily wags her tail and Pie nuzzles your other arm, asking for affection as well and you enthusiastically give it to her.

Minji places the tray of cookies into the oven and then shuts it before leaning against the counter to watch you playing with the dogs on the floor. She breathes out and glances at her friend before shaking her head.

“It’s not that she doesn’t like you.” She bites her lower lip anxiously. “Yoohyeon is just going through some things. With you suddenly coming, I guess she isn’t too comfortable yet.” She explains and you can’t help looking over to the quiet woman who had her eyes glued to her phone and doing just about anything to stay away from you.

You frown slightly at the younger girl as you rest your hands on top of the two’s head. With your eyes softening, you look down at the ground while Minji quietly observes you.

“She seems lonely.” Your words seem to surprise the latter as her eyes widened. “I don’t know why, but when I looked at her earlier, she seemed kind of… sad.” You murmur as the two pups stare at you with wide eyes, licking your hands as you stopped petting them, almost as though they were attempting to comfort you.

Minji had to tear her eyes away from you before she could say anything without thinking. Swallowing the lump in her throat, the dark haired woman had to collect herself before she moved around the kitchen to grab a few plates and utensils for when her friends would arrive. “Well, that’s what happens when you lose people close to you.”

Though you don’t know her, you felt a pang in your chest at Minji’s words. For some reason, knowing that Yoohyeon was hurting because of a lost loved one caused your own heart to ache and it had caused your own mood to lower.

But before you could even do or say anything, Pie and Cherry were perking up as a knock came from the front door and they were racing there. Minji smiled before she went to answer it while you stood up and dusted yourself off, quickly washing your hands and then heading to the living room where a woman, who was at least a head shorter than Yoohyeon, was already tackling the younger girl and hugging her.

“How was the drive? Was it as bad as the last time?” After being pet on the head, Cherry was running back to you, barking before you picked her up and smiled politely when the three newcomers finally noticed your presence in the room.

A woman with shoulder length blue hair, piercing eyes that nearly resembled that of a wolf was the first to greet you, smiling and waving her hand in your direction. “Hi there! My name is Siyeon, it’s nice to meet you.” She chirps and the other that finally left Yoohyeon alone had marched up to you and forced you to take a few steps back when she was beginning to intrude in your comfort zone.

“Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?” Despite her height, the girl was way more intimidating up close. Her long hair was tied in a ponytail with a few strands framing her face. Her brown orbs pierced right through you with a scowl painted on her lips that it made you feel chills down your spine.

Cherry ended up barking at the woman while you did your best to answer. “M-My name’s Y/n, I’m a friend of Minji’s.” You stuttered out whilst the mentioned person buried her face in her hands while silently groaning, Siyeon giggling into her hand as she watched the scene unfold before her.

While you try to figure out the right words to say, you don’t notice how the mask the woman wore began to crack until she was full on laughing at you. You looked like a deer caught in headlights while watching her, wondering what exactly was going on until Minji cut in. “Sua, don’t scare her away. Seriously.”

There was a light tint to her cheeks as she spoke and Siyeon patted her back comfortingly before the woman, Sua, held her hands up in defense. “I was just having some fun.” She waves and then faces you again with a broad grin. “My name is Kim Bora, but everyone calls me Sua.” She says nonchalantly and you just nod your head before another voice cuts in.

“I’m Lee Yubin, but call me Dami.” When you face the remaining guest, all color drains from your face when you quickly identify her as the woman from the bus and the one you saw behind Yoohyeon in the elevator.

“Have we met before?” You couldn’t help uttering out and the rest seemed surprised, minus Yoohyeon as she kept her head down, before Yubin’s brows pinched together. “I… don’t think we have. Yoohyeon and I recently moved here and I’ve been busy with arranging our apartment to be meeting anyone.” She answers plainly and you go quiet before slowly nodding your head. “Oh, sorry.”

When there was nothing else, Yubin excused herself to sit beside Yoohyeon and you watched her go, doing your best to convince yourself that you weren’t losing your mind even with everything you've been seeing.

Bora quickly glances to her friends and Siyeon immediately intercepts to avoid any awkwardness from going further. "Oh, right. Gahyeon texted me a while ago and said that she and Dongie are going to have dinner with us." Hearing that caused Minji to blink before she was nodding her head and then gesturing to the seats. "Okay, let me just make sure I have everything ready."

With the home suddenly being full of Minji's group of friends, you suddenly felt like an intruder since you didn't exactly know anyone. The person, other than Minji, who you spent most of the afternoon with, wanted nothing to do with you, so you gently set Cherry back down while patting Pie's head.

"Well, if that's the case, I think I should get going." You inform Minji and she looks at you in surprise. "Already? But the cookies aren't done!" She seemed worried with your sudden need of leaving early. But when she sees the way you shift a bit away from the crowded living room, understanding quickly dawns on her and her expression softens.

Bora notices your uneasy posture before she’s sitting properly. "Why don't you stay a while? If you are Jiu's friend, I think it would be nice to get to know each other." She states with a friendly smile, a complete contrast to her earlier demeanor when she introduced herself to you. Siyeon was already agreeing to the latter's suggestion and rested her chin on her hand.

"That's right. We haven't seen unnie in a while, and since you're the first friend we've properly met, I'm assuming you're close." She had said it so casually yet it didn't fail to bring a light blush to your cheeks as you rubbed the back of your neck. "I haven't actually been here for long. Minji just found me when I was lost and couldn't figure out my way home."

"Really? How long have you been here for?" Siyeon asked curiously. "Do you live nearby?" Bora quickly added and you nervously glanced over to Yoohyeon, only to catch the glance Yubin had sent your way before she was back to talking with the other girl. "I've only been here for two or so months. My apartment is, uh, at least twenty minutes away by foot."

"I'm curious as to how you got lost though. Come on, tell us about it and maybe even a bit about yourself." Bora beckoned you over to sit and you looked to Minji for help, only to have her smile encouragingly while nodding in her friend's direction. "It doesn't hurt to have more friends."

With that, you found yourself seated in front of the couple, as you'd soon find out when you notice how their hands rarely separates and Bora mentions a date they had that ended up ruined thanks to their little group of friends.

While they did make you somewhat misplaced when they arrived, Bora and Siyeon were able to make you comfortable again as you talked about each other, sharing stories and Minji even came in a few times when she was sure that the food wouldn't burn.

You hadn't even realized the time passing by until there's another knock and Yubin went to get it, letting in two more people in and your attention is torn away from the couple as you all turn to greet them.

"Gahyeonnie!" Siyeon had shot up from her seat and went over to hug the pink haired woman who happily reciprocated the embrace. "I hope you managed to unpack all of your things." Bora says as she hugged the other woman.

This time your entire body stiffens when you see her face. This had to be the most torturous thing life was giving you because there was no way that this woman was real.

But the longer you stare at her, you just could not shake off the fact that this woman is also the same redhead that you saw in the mirror just hours prior. Quickly rising to your feet, you take a step away while the group is busy greeting each other, and rush to the bathroom without drawing attention to yourself.

When you reach it, you run over to the sink and splash your face with cold water a few times, patting your cheek as you squeeze your eyes shut. "Get a grip, Y/n. It's okay. You're going to be okay." You mutter to yourself while gripping the edges of the sink, water dripping from your face as your body begins to tremble.

There was just no way.

It could have been excused, seeing Yubin on the bus, but you were positive you saw her in the elevator, you even heard her. And the other one, Handong, you're absolutely sure that you did see her.

It was impossible for you to be making these people up and then have them pop up into your life a day or so after.

"No, no. It's probably just the exhaustion. You're tired. That's what's happening…"

With your thoughts going a mile a minute, something else appears in your head and it causes a stinging pain that forces you to close your eyes and clutch your temple.

Meanwhile, in the living room, everyone settled down after exchanging pleasantries and Siyeon grinned at the two new guests. "Oh, right. Jiu unnie has someone over." She announces before turning to where they had left you and Yoohyeon furrows her brows while Gahyeon blinks in confusion.

"Who?"

Yoohyeon looks down when Cherry paws at her leg and she gently scratches her chin before looking back to the group. "It looks like she's in the bathroom." She informs them and Handong frowned slightly, glancing at the shut television briefly before turning to the eldest in the room. "Is she okay?"

Seeing the worried look sent her way, Minji excused herself to look for you, which wasn't exactly too hard considering what Yoohyeon said.

But seeing you hunched over the sink had caused her worry to grow and she quickly came in after pushing the door fully opened. "Y/n, hey, what's wrong?" But you couldn't seem to respond to her as you continued to mutter under your breath and she felt her heart jump before she was forcing you to sit on the toilet.

"Come on, Y/n, you're okay. We're just with friends." She tells you while cupping your face. She took a good look at your face and she had to suck in a deep breath before running her fingers through your hair, her lips pressing against the side of your head as she whispered softly. "It's going to be okay. Just calm down."

Almost instantly, your trembling ceased and your shoulders gradually grew less tense. Minji continues to rub your back with one hand while the one in your hair continues to caress it as she keeps humming softly. In a matter of seconds, your heartbeat was back to a steady pace, matching that of the woman who was holding you before she finally took a step back to look at your face, glad to see that the color was back on it.

You had to take a deep slow breath and Minji offered a smile when you made eye contact with her. "I'm… okay." You say carefully and she sighs in relief before squeezing your hand in a comforting manner, easing you just as she had hoped. "I hope you're not too uncomfortable with this much people?"

With a shake of your head, you gently grip her hand to assure her you were alright. "I was just a bit surprised, but I can stay a bit longer if you want. Sua and Siyeon seem to be keen on making me stay for dinner." You tell her and a giggle passes her lips before she tugged on your hand, leading you out of the bathroom and back to where everyone was waiting and talking among themselves.

“Well, you sure took your time.” Siyeon commented with a smirk as she eyed your joined hands and Minji felt heat rush to her face while you slowly withdrew your hands, matching the woman’s blush as you looked away while clearing your throat.

“Anyway, Y/n this is Gahyeon, Siyeon’s younger sister, and then Handong, her girlfriend.” Gahyeon smiled and waved at you, similar to how Siyeon had done so earlier, and you returned the gesture, smiling at the adorable looking girl. The woman next to her, Handong, smiles lightly at you before waving her hand as well, though more calm compared to her partner.

“You must be the Y/n Jiu unnie mentioned during our last visit.” She says teasingly and you look curiously to the other mentioned person who was purposefully avoiding your gaze and glaring at her friend. “Oh, yeah! Jiu has talked about you before, I should have realized as soon as you mentioned getting lost.” Bora cackled while clapping her hands. "I should have pieced that right off that bat."

While her friends chattered excitedly, the woman next to you could feel her face on fire before she quickly shut them up. "I just mentioned her a few times. Stop making things weird." She pleaded and her friends giggled, minus Yoohyeon and Yubin as they simply listened and watched everyone act like school girls talking about their crushes.

But it didn't really help that everyone there was paired up, minus you and the owner of the house.

"Alright, alright. No need to get so worked up." Siyeon chuckled as she patted your arm. "If you're not interested, maybe I can introduce her to a few people." Minji shot her friend a glare before she recollected herself and turned away.

"The food is almost done, so I want all of you to wash up and be ready." She instructs before the girls get up to do as told. "Oh, we pulled the cookies out of the oven for you." Gahyeon explained. "Yoohyeon burned her tongue when she stole one instead of letting it cool." Yubin quickly stated, earning a smack from her girlfriend.

But the admission caused Minji to smile as she nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Of course, she did. Well, we can start eating once you're all ready. I know that the trip was tiring for most of you, so help yourselves."

Right after your friend had said that, everyone was sitting around in the dining area where Minji conveniently had a table big enough to accommodate all of you. While she took on one head, Bora took the other, sitting across her and Siyeon sat to her right. Next to Siyeon was Gahyeon and then Handong was to Minji's left while you were to her right.

For some reason, Yoohyeon easily situated herself to the seat next to yours, earning a surprised look from her girlfriend before she slowly took the remaining available seat.

The girls exchanged a quick glance with one another as Yoohyeon realized her mistake, but kept quiet as everyone began to eat. The girls were all very nice and welcoming that it all felt almost natural when you each exchanged stories with one another.

“Where were you originally from?” Handong asked you after you explained to them that you had only moved due to work. “I was originally in Toronto.” You answer after wiping your lips and then setting your utensils down. “Canada? How are you so fluent in Korean?” Bora asked in awe. “Does your family speak Korean or did you just learn on your own?” Gahyeon asked afterwards and you blinked a bit.

“Well I don’t really live with my… family.” There’s a dull pain at the back of your head but you were able to ignore it. “I don’t really live with them, but I think I just learned on my own. Since I was always fascinated by the culture and country, I thought it would be a good idea to learn.” You answer with a shrug.

“Since you’re from Canada, did you learn French, too?” Yubin inquired and you nodded your head in response, a little relieved that she was talking to you at least. “Most schools teach it as a secondary language. While it isn’t necessary to speak it, knowing gives you more opportunities.” You explain to them and Minji looked just as surprised since you’ve never really mentioned anything about it.

“You and Yoohyeon will get along just great. She’s always studying, maybe you can teach her since you live in the same place.” Siyeon mentioned mindlessly, causing the table to grow quiet as the mentioned girl suddenly put her utensils down and stood up. “I’m full.”

You don’t dare lift your head as she steps away from the table and leaves for the living room. While everyone watched her leave, Minji looked worriedly at her friend and Yubin glanced at you with a small frown as she noticed the way you simply stared at your hands on your lap.

“Let me talk to her, sorry.” Siyeon quickly apologizes before standing up and following the woman. Handong looks at Minji and fiddles with her own chopsticks before she begins to fix her plate. “I think we should start cleaning up.” She says with a small smile and everyone agrees as they begin cleaning the table.

You helped even when they insisted it was fine. You already helped with making the food and cleaning the house so they decided that it was only fair to give you a break.

So while they were busy in the kitchen, you stayed at the table when it was vacant. Since Yoohyeon obviously wanted you to stay as far away from her as humanly possible, you opted to stay out of the living room and give her the space that she wanted.

While you were on your own, you decided to bring out your notebook and just write everything that’s happened today that coincided with your nightmares. You noted the appearances of both Yubin and Handong, pointing arrows at their names to connect them to previous events.

With your attention focused on trying to make sense of the information you had thus far, you fail to notice Bora walking closer and then taking a seat beside you. “Hey, how are you holding up?” Her voice causes you to look up, covering your notes in the progress with your arm and she makes a mental note with how you do your best to subtly put it away.

“Look, I know what happened with Yoohyeon was a bit… off putting, but don’t hold it against her.” The older woman pleads while running her fingers through her hair. “She’s not usually like this. Believe it or not, Yoohyeon is one of the louder people in our group and she’s very friendly. You just remind her a lot of-”

“Someone she lost.” You finish quietly and she nods with a grimace. “I see Jiu’s told you. But I hope you can put what happened behind you. She still blames herself for what happened to our friend, so everything’s a little…” She makes a gesture with her hands and you immediately understand what she means. “Don’t worry, I just hope she feels better.”

Later when you inform the group that you would be heading home, Minji escorts you to the door with a pensive look on her face after everyone has bid you goodbye. “Are you sure you don’t want me coming along?” She asks for what seemed like the hundredth time and you giggle before squeezing her arm. “I’ll be fine. I know the way now, so have a little faith.”

The pout comes right after when her arms cross over her chest and you mentally aww at the adorable expression. “Just please promise me you’ll text when you get home.” She pleads and you quickly agree, no longer wishing to worry her and even remind her of what happened a few nights ago. “I’ll text you as soon as I get in the building.”

“Also… I’m sorry about what happened with Yoohyeon.” She tells you and you smile gently at her. “It’s okay, it’s not her fault.” Hearing that seemed to have struck a nerve, but Minji smiles at you before you finally bid her goodnight and walk back the way you both took to get there and Minji watches you for a while like always before finally heading inside and shutting the door behind her.

“Will she be okay?” Gahyeon asked worriedly and Siyeon lightly rubbed her sister’s back in an assuring manner. “Don’t worry. Dami’s taking care of her since Handong can’t.”

Bora stares at the table, pondering over the day’s events before she looked to everyone as they gathered in the living room. “She’s going to find out, sooner or later.” Yoohyeon huffed as she petted Pie’s head and pulled her legs up on the couch. “You said the sooner, the better. I’m surprised she wasn’t freaking out when she saw unnie.”

Handong shakes her head in reply before nodding in the eldest woman’s direction. “She was having a breakdown in the bathroom.” As soon as she said that, most of them quickly understood and sighed while they tried to think of what to do next.

Finally getting home, you sent Minji a text as promised and then placed your things down on the table, flipping through the pages of the notebook until you reached the page with today’s events. You only noted both Yubin and Handong due to the circumstances, but you also noted the detail about Yoohyeon and why she’s been so cold towards you.

While staring at everything, you look to and from the page of Minji’s friends and the one in your dreams when you remembered something from last night.

Turning to the previous page, you try to check if you had written it down, but see that you failed to do so. When you go back, you quickly write down where you heard the voice last night before finally noting the events.

“The mirrors.”

With everything you’ve written and remembered, it all connected with Handong being in the mirrors. The first time you saw her was in the office elevator, then in Minji’s house when you were cleaning the room for Bora and Siyeon. Then the last information you forgot to write down was the hair from the mirror, having nearly the same color as Handong’s, when you heard someone speak last night.

You’ll find us soon enough

Us.

It rang in your head because just last night, the person you assume as Handong had just told you this, and today, you ended up meeting both her and Yubin. But who was the woman in the suit that found you the first night?

She’s never shown herself after that and it didn’t help that you didn’t see her face, so there was no way you could tell if any of Minji’s friends were also the same person. It could probably be Yoohyeon, she didn’t want you there and she was dating Yubin. It would make sense, but the hair seemed different.

With nothing else to help you proceed, you finally put the notebook back on the table with the pocket watch and then get ready for bed, sighing in relief as your body hit the soft mattress. “God, I’m really hoping it’s over, but I know you’re bringing me back there.” You mutter to yourself before closing your eyes and doing your best to sleep.

And you were right.

As soon as your eyes open, you find yourself in an eerie looking office with various red candles over the place, a clock inside a glass container sitting in the middle of the desk, faux deer heads on the wall along with pictures and notes then just some old looking books.

The place, as you’ve noted, contained various books and clocks.

In your pocket, you’re not surprised to have the pocket watch with you, but the time was back to when you first picked it up. But looking at the clock on the desk, it shows that the time was only a few minutes before six o’clock.

Checking everything else in the room after pocketing your watch, you step closer to the pictures, seeing a few girls, all dressed in similar white outfits. Odd enough, each girl looked familiar to you yet you’re sure you’ve never seen any of these girls in your entire life.

There’s one girl though whose face had been marked off. It didn’t show you what she looked like, but it made you feel both irritation and disappointment as you stared at it. But other than that, it made images appear in your head, the sound of laughter ringing in your ears as feathers filled your vision before you were wrenched away by a voice.

“It’s good to see that you’re okay and that you’ve figured at least one thing out.” The voice comes to your right; another mirror. Walking over, you’re no longer surprised when you come face to face with Handong instead of your own reflection.

“You-”

She chuckles before shaking her head. “I know you’re confused, but that’s why we’re here.” She tells you and you squint slightly at her. “Why and how have you been appearing in mirrors?” And she smiles almost sadly at your question. “Reflections, actually. I can move through reflections, which was how you saw me in the window and in the elevator.” She answers instead to help you out. “And Dami?”

“Mine is somewhat similar to unnie, but without the restrictions of reflections.” You jump in surprise as the said woman appears behind you, causing the one in the mirror to lightly roll her eyes. “We said not to scare her anymore.” But the younger one shrugs her shoulders before turning to you. “I travel from one space to another, dimension hopping as some might say.”

She demonstrates by disappearing from view, only to appear next to the mirror where Handong was watching. “Okay… but that doesn’t explain why you’ve been appearing out of nowhere and then pretending like I was crazy earlier.” You huff while watching the pair in suspicion. “And why am I here? Why can’t I get out?”

“You never tried going out.” Handong states as a matter of fact and you do your best to keep the embarrassment from your face, grumbling as you head for the door. “That’s because I couldn’t see anything.” You tell them while turning the knob, but it won’t budge.

Glancing to the pair, they stay where they were and you grunt while trying to get it to budge, but fail. “Why isn’t this moving?” You question before taking a look through the peephole, spotting a figure standing right outside.

“Unnie does enjoy making things difficult.” Yubin sighs just as you’re surprised to see Bora’s face staring right back at you. But she wasn’t doing anything. In fact, she wasn’t even holding the door nor was there anything to block it.

“She’s forcing it shut.” Handong helps out and you spin around to look at them in confusion. “She’s not even touching it.” And Yubin shakes her head. “She doesn’t have to touch things to move them around. She can move them at will.”

It doesn’t take you long to understand what they meant. Both these girls had abilities, so it was only sensible that Bora had some sort of ability as well. But how did you not see her before? Was it possible that you had missed something?

“You haven’t fully figured it out yet, but we’re going to help you.” Handong assures you before Yubin appears beside you, her hand landing on your shoulder before familiarity washed over you and you soon find yourself in front of the house.

Taking a good look at it though, it was no ordinary house. The place was a mansion with how big and grand it all looked yet it still gave you the same chills you received when you were inside it. You stood just outside the large gates, staring at the silhouette of the whole thing before you realized that Yubin was nowhere to be found.

“Unnie, what are you doing?” A voice behind you spoke up and you turned around to find Gahyeon sitting on the bench at the entrance of the forest. She was less cheery compared to when you met her earlier, but what did stand out was that she was wearing the same white outfit you saw in the pictures.

“I don’t think you should be alone out here. It isn’t safe.” She says softly, the worry shining in her bright eyes before the sound of leaves rustling met your ears. “But you’re right here, so I’m not really alone, right?” You try to be as optimistic as possible in front of the younger girl, but someone was already grabbing your hand and forcing you into the forest.

“We need to hurry or else he’ll find us.”

You’re surprised to see Siyeon this time, leading you past the trees and avoiding the tall grass that was surrounding you. “But what about-” When you look back to the bench, there was no sight of Gahyeon anywhere.

“He’s too close, unnie. We need to hide.” You’re even more surprised to hear Yoohyeon talking to you this time, along with the fact that her hair was now silver instead of having the tips pink. What was even more surprising was the fact that she was clinging to your arm as Siyeon pulled both of you behind a large tree, using the bushes around you to hide yourselves better.

You don’t speak even when a thousand questions begin swarming your head because you see the figure of a man walking through the forest. His face was covered with the cloak on his shoulders but it was clear that he was looking for something, or in this case someone.

When you look back, Yoohyeon was trembling beside you, her grip on your arm nearly too tight to cut off circulation, but you give her a small squeeze to assure her you would be alright despite not understanding what was happening.

And in that moment, another wave of pain shot to your head, much stronger and not one you could simply brush off. Your back hits the tree and Yoohyeon gasps, the sound catching the stranger’s attention and Siyeon panics as she begins to pull her along.

You try to stand and run after them, but something catches your leg and prevents you from moving. When you look back, the man was only a few feet away and was gradually closing the gap between you.

Looking down to see what was preventing you from moving, you do your best to prevent a scream from spilling from your mouth as you see arms keeping you in place. And it wasn’t only one but a few pairs that ended up grabbing your arms as well.

“Y/n unnie!”

Just as you heard Yoohyeon’s voice, flames came from the direction she and Siyeon had come from, forcing the man to stop and turn back to avoid them. The wooden arms get burned from the fire, and as though they were being controlled, they don’t touch you except for the one arm that seemed to refuse on letting you go. You had to pull it off, burning the skin of your palm as you threw it away.

The smoke causes you to cough as you try waving it away, but as your vision clears, you’re back at the gates of the mansion, this time with you inside and that they’re locked, keeping whoever was chasing you out.

“Are you alright?”

You recognized that voice almost immediately, and when you looked up ahead, standing in front of the door, your lips pursed together when you took in her appearance, still the same as the first night. The only difference was that you were finally able to see her face.

“I was hoping I could talk to you first, but the girls thought it was better this way.” She says with a soft smile. “Minji… What the hell is all this? What’s happening?” You demanded and her smile disappeared before she beckoned you closer. “Let’s talk inside, he might still be lurking somewhere.”

Looking behind to the forest, you know better than to stick around outside. Even with the gate locked, there were ways of breaking it, considering that your pursuer had abilities as well.

Stepping inside, there’s not much change in the mansion as Minji leads you back to the living room and you see the candles once more, two of them flickering back to life while one remains snuffed out.

Minji observes you for a while before she let out a sigh and then gestured around. “I know that this all looks and seems weird, but you aren’t going crazy, that I can assure you.” She begins and you give her an incredulous look. “Then what? All of this real? I’m not asleep?”

She grimaces before shaking her head. “You’re still asleep, don’t worry, but yes everything that’s happened here was real.” You note how she says it in past tense. “So, this is your life before? Someone was after you girls and then Yoohyeon lost whoever it was in the fire?”

A candle goes out as soon as the words fly from your mouth and you flinch when a figure comes from the corner of the room. “I didn’t lose just anyone.” Yoohyeon informs you with a somber expression and Minji looks at the girl. “Yoohyeon, we said that I would-”

“I wanted to do it, myself.”

Turning back to you, the younger girl stepped closer until you could properly see her face. She takes in a deep breath before she’s able to speak despite how weak she sounded. “You might not believe this, but we know who you are before we even arrived, before you even met unnie.” She begins and you’re even more puzzled.

“We’ve been trying to find you for… who knows how long, really.” Minji nodded in agreement. “It’s been more than a millennia, if we’re being honest. Dami and Handong try to locate you the best they can and we try to reach out with every chance; every lifetime, ever timeline.”

“Why are you trying to find me?” Was the only thing you could ask and Yoohyeon stares at you while biting her lip. “Because you used to be with us, and I…” She trails off, her voice cracking at the end and Minji gently holds her hand to comfort her. “It’s okay, I can tell her.” But the younger woman shook her head.

Blinking back tears, the silver haired woman looked back to you with regret and guilt swimming in her eyes. “It was my fault we lost you. You tried to get me back, but you ended up taking my place in the hell loop because you didn’t make it out.”

You quietly stare at the two as Yoohyeon spoke, but the more she said, the less it was making any sense to you. How were you supposed to believe any of this?

“I know you’re doubting this, but with everything that’s happened, do you really think it’s impossible?” Minji asked with a meaningful look and you know that she was right. With what Yubin and Handong have told you, the watch, it wouldn’t be too far off to say that this was all real, too.

“Okay, I’ll believe you… for now. But I need you to explain all of this, how I’m supposedly connected with all of you.” You negotiate and Minji smiles lightly before nodding her head and Yoohyeon disappears from sight before the candle that went out earlier came back to life and Minji waved you over.

“Just head to my house when you wake up and we’ll explain to you everything then.” She brings you back into the circle before placing a hand over your eyes. “Just trust me.” Was the last thing you heard before you felt your body being pulled down.

When you’re able to open your eyes again, you’re back in your bed. While moving to get up, there’s a tingling sensation on your hand, and when you look down, you frown at the burn, exactly like the one you got when you pulled the arm off you. Your frown only deepens and the urge to meet with the girls grow when you see the burn on your other arm.

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