#at least the fact that they didn't stick with that and kept his younger-sounding voice in the lazy in space episodes

[fluffveebee]

i know im deffo not the first one to complain about it but i really don’t like how the netflix bee and puppycat condensed down the first season and the pilot partially as well. the original season one gave you time to get to know the characters personalities i feel? moreso than the characters importances plotwise, like season one had a charm to it and while it could be a little hard to follow at times i suppose, it gave you time to piece things together. and cutting down the pilot and season one down into three episodes really feels like such a disservice to bee and puppycat to me. like i still enjoy the new episodes but i’m really missing getting to see bee and puppycat’s relationship towards each other grow as it does in the first season. especially with the absence of bee’s line, “if you want, i can help you figure out a nice ending” in reference to puppycat’s story... the smushed together, more of a recap version of the season one episodes really made things feel a bit too rushed, at least to me

[captainmarkone]

Chapter One.

character(s): arthur morgan x reader. warning(s): slight mention of sa (very brief) other than that: none. summary: Brought into the Van der Linde gang at a young age, life has been anything but normal. Constantly on the run, dodging bullets, the law, left and right. Find peace is hard to do. Especially finding someone who wants that peace with you. a/n: now i just love starting new series and never picking up old ones (just kidding). but i hope this series of arthur morgan is good for you guys because i got big ideas. if you see any mistakes, ya didn't.

masterlist | ao3

1884.

Eleven years old, a fresh runaway from Saint Jude Orphanage, you walked the streets of downtown Ohio. You were hungry, tired. But this was what you chose. Both parents being dead because some low lives wanted the little money they had in their pockets.

Caused you to be alone for the rest of your life.

You didn’t last even three months in the orphanage. Especially the one on one moments with Father Fredrick. The one thing you wanted right now? Food.

Standing outside the saloon in town, you watched as men stumbled down the steps. Their movements ditzy and drunk form the many shots of whiskey the wreaked from their clothes.

Seeing a tall man with hair black as night, his vest a velvety red, his white cotton button up shirt was tucked into his well tailored pinstripe black slacks. His thick boots thudding on the fresh mud that the rain recently created. He was your target.

His arm around a male who was equally as drunk, but much younger than who he was holding up. You tucked further into the side of the saloon, watching the two stumble.

Pushing from the wall, you began a shrill of laughter as you looked back to no one. But putting on an act as if you were.

“You got it mama! I won’t forget the apples!” you exclaimed into the void. Not watching where you were going, you slammed into the older males leg and gasped when you fell on to the fresh mud.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, mister!” you said. You gave him an innocent smile, pushing your little legs further toward the small grocery store. Pushing the door open slowly, you greeted the shop keeper and rushed out the back door.

Grinning to yourself as if you just made off with, what felt like, all the money in the world. Looking down at the silver chain in your hand that was attached to a money clip.

There must’ve been a few hundred dollars.

You entered the woods, finding the small little nook behind a fallen tree you called home. For now at least

You were a child. But clever. A real sneak with sticking little fingers. Maybe that’s why kids at the orphanage never showed you their toys.

Pulling the blanket (which you found in the garbage a few nights ago, that had plenty holes throughout) further up your body and covered your arms the best you could. Snuggling close to the log, you drifted to sleep.

Gunshots woke you up. Eyes shot open and looking around the area as if wildfire had started to spread. You didn’t dare lift your head when you heard a voice booking from the edge of the woods.

“Little lady?! I know you have my money!” a stranger called out into the vast nothingness of the dark woods.

Not moving an inch, you kept the blanket tight around you. Listening closely to the surroundings. You knew these woods better than anyone.

“Come out, sweetheart! I won’t hurt you!” the voice continued. You didn’t believe it for a second. That was something the nuns would say before beating your bum with a wooden spoon.

But you decided dying was better than living a life on the streets. You slowly stood, and exited the woods tree line with the silver chain in your fingers.

The moon hung high in the sky, the only source of light. It reflected on your face, and giving the stranger a silhouette in the bleakness of the night.

“Well… you’re a smart thing. Would’ve gotten away with it t’ if you weren't a menace around these parts,” he said, not showing any sign of anger.

In fact, he sounded impressed.

“Never have I met a street kid… pull off what you almost accomplished.”

You stare up at him, eyes blinking slowly. Sleep still fogging your mind as you watched the strange man walk to what you could only assume was his friend. Though, it wasn’t the one you saw from earlier.

“My dear… what is your name?” he asked, and when you said your name with a proud tone, he took your small hand in his rather large and rough one. Shaking your hands respectfully.

“I am Dutch Van der Linde. This is my friend Hosea Matthews. My dear, do you have a home? Parents?” he questioned, his brows furrowing.

Was he worried? Did he actually care?

You didn’t care. No fate could be better than this. If this was what God had in store for you, who were you to question?

“No sir… my ma and pa are dead. Been dead for a few months,” you say, confessing this. You were sad they were gone. “They were robbed by a couple of bad men…”

Your words soon fall, your tears stinging from the memory.

A rough finger wiped your eye.

“Well, honey, we’re your family now.”

1899.

Eyes shooting open, you take gulps of air as you try to regain consciousness. Your head groggy with sleep, not fully functioning or catching up with you.

The heat was sticky and foul. It made your cotton chemise stick to your skin like a piece paper that had just gotten wet on a windowpane.

Summer was finally rolling in and it was definitely better than the harsh colds of Colter in the mountains.

Rising from the cot, you groan lowly at the sweat that pool on your back.

Drenched.

Standing from your bed, you opened the flaps of your tent only to run into a person head on. You grunted softly, eyes shifting up to see the only cowboy you’ve ever seem to like. John Marston a close second.

“Oh… good morning, Arthur,” you greeted, your voice still strained with sleep. But it sounded like honey none the less.

He tipped his hat, only to soon take it off and rest it against his chest. The toothpick between his teeth stuck from his mouth was pulled by his fingertips and his eyes darted down and soon up at the heavens.

Your own eyes looking down to see what he trying to avoid was, well, you. You hadn’t realized you didn’t change and you gasped softly. Slinking back into your tent and cursing softly under your breath.

“How can I help you, Mr. Morgan?” you asked behind the flaps of your canvas tent.

The cowboy cleared his throat, and stepped a little closer to the entrance of the canvas but not opening. He had never seen you dressed like that.

“‘m going into town. Hosea wants some sort of book. And Dutch needs me to check something for him as well… I won’t be long,” he explained and you nodded to yourself.

“Okay, Arthur… I’ll see you when you get back,” you promised. And it was something he always needed to hear before leaving camp.

After John left that one year, to ‘find himself’, he was worried you’d up and leave too. After all, he was the one that watched you grow. You both grew together.

It was no secret though, that you and Arthur were thick as thieves. Every time a gun fight ensued, you both made sure the other was okay, safe. Saving each other’s lives every now and again.

As you watched from the slit of your tent, Arthur climbed onto his horse and made his way out of camp. Sighing softly, you decided to get ready for the day. Miss Grimshaw told you the night before that she’d need you for the day so no ‘boy chores’ in the meanwhile.

You braided your hair to the side and stepped out of your tent. The flow of the yellow cotton dress you wore swayed with your movements. You knew she was gonna have you sew today so you decided to wear a delicate thing to help muster through the stiff air.

Finding a spot on an empty crate, you got to work. Sewing a few of John and Charles’ shirts. Pulling the deep red button up shirt from the pile, you noticed it was Arthur’s. He only wore these when he was going on night out with the guys.

You noticed the bullet graze on the left arm and sighed softly to yourself. He was getting on in his years. Something you often teased him about. That certain memory tugged at your lips, a soft laugh exhaling your nose.

“Oh, c’mon Arthur! Can’t keep up?!” you called out as you ran down the hill to the lake nestled below. You two were sent to hunt for the camp, but little did people at camp know you two were set to just relax and get away from them.

As you hobbled toward the river on one leg, since you were getting your boot off, you fell, only to stand right back up.

Arthur gave a hearty laugh, one that made a tear form in his eye. He wiped it away and he continued to laugh. You managed to get the boot off, as well as the other one.

“Well, ma’am, looks you had a bad fall! And you’re calling me old?” he guffawed, head thrown back as he continued to laugh.

You threw a glare his way, shaking your head as you dipped your left foot into the water. It was cool to the touch and it had you humming happily. You looked over your shoulder to see Arthur staring. His laughter slowly dying.

As Arthur saw you look over your shoulder, he thought you were something from a book he once read. An angel Reverend would go on about and how they helped God or whatever. He’s only read the Bible once and it wasn’t that… appealing. But seeing you, looking over your shoulder at him, your hair in waves that cascaded down to the middle of your back, he knew angels were real.

Arthur removed one boot, then the other. Removing his suspenders from his shoulders and stripping down to his black union suit.

You stepped further into the water, pulling the dress up further so it didn’t get too wet.

“C’mon old ma-!”

Before you could finish your sentence, you turned, only to be consumed by water as Arthur tackled you in. Resurfacing, you let out a laugh and splashed Arthur over and over when he came up for air.

“Oh you! Arthur Morgan, you wretched man!” you exclaimed, and he let out the same laugh as before. You splashed him again, and groaned as you trudged out of the water. Your clothes clinging to you, and you huffed and groaned.

“Dammit Arthur! Now I have to get these dry!” you wail, scurrying out of the river and wringing out the bottom your skirt. “For an old man, you’re truly the rudest alive!”

You smiled down at the shirt, fixing it up in no time. The memory tucking itself away once again.

“Here ya go,” a voice said from behind you. You turned your head slightly to see a hand holding a folded bill. You laughed softly and took the dollar bill.

“Why, this will get me a room up in Valentine,” you mused, your head soon craning your to see Arthur standing above you.

“It’ll be my treat, Mr. Morgan. Don’t you worry about getting yourself a room.”

He let out a chuckle, and tilted his hat.

“Well Miss, I don’t mind sharing a room with you if it means saving a dollar,” he said, and you shook your head. You tossed the shirt up at him and smiled when he caught it. Standing from the crate, you waved at Susan.

“All done Miss Grimshaw!” you called out.

“Help Pearson cook dinner later!” she yelled back, helping Tilly with the dishes.

“How’d your trip into town go, cowboy?” you asked, pressing a finger to his chest as you walked around him.

“Wen’ good. Didn’ get into any trouble this time. Went to th’ grocer. Needed some things for Buck,” he muttered, tilting his chin to the chocolate brown mustang tethered to the post just outside of camp.

Glancing at the horse, you smiled at him before your eyes shifted back to Arthur.

“Can you take me into town tomorrow? I kinda… wanna meet someone there. He has information about a stage coach we can rob,” you said and Arthur’s lips turned into a smirk.

“Now,” he started, and you rolled your eyes, “you ain’ gettin’ involved with type of thang!”

Heaving a heavy sigh from your chest, you turned and started walking toward your tent.

“Arthur, I’ve already been shot at many times! What’s once more?” you questioned, turning on your heels to meet the glare Arthur was sporting.

“I was the one that picked Dutch’s wad of cash many years ago. I can handle a gun. I can handle myself!”

Arthur rested his hands on his hips, shaking his head slightly as he looked down at the grass.

“Fine,” he drawled, eyes meeting yours. “We’re meetin’ this feller, and I decided if you go.”

He had the final word and you watched him stalk toward his wagon.

Arthur was the big brother you never had, never wanted. It was no secret you and Arthur were protective of each other.

(It was a secret that you’ve always felt more than ‘family’ love for him when you’ve grown older. You were already 26 and without a husband. Some people would say it’s too late for you.)

Feet picking up, you went back to your tent and lit the kerosene lamp that hung in the corner of your tent. The sun slowly beginning to dip behind the mountains on the east of camp. It casted bright hues of pink and purple tonight and you were always so taken away from it.

Sunsets were your favorite, and so were early dawns when the sun peeked from the trees in the east and gave the world a preview of the sunrise with colors of orange and yellow shades.

But for now, your eyes stared at the sky that was filtered by those purply pink hues, stars slowly beginning to brighten and confirm it was finally night.

You walked toward Pearson’s wagon after some time of admiring the sky, smiling when the older man greeted you and you chop the deer.

From his cot, Arthur’s hand was furiously drawing you in his leather bound journal. Wanting to capture the moment (because he didn’t get to last time) of an angel.

[wlwmarvelenthusiast]

Just Doin’ My Job, Darlin’

Summary: Your job as a Ravager gets you into trouble with the intergalactic hero known as Captain Marvel.

Pairing: Reader x Carol Danvers

Warnings: some blood, light violence

Words: 3,547

"Uh... hey," you practically stuttered out, startled to find someone behind you.

You were a ravager, and you were damn good at your job. That meant knowing your surroundings, especially when you were on a job. Yet, somehow, she'd managed to sneak up on you. If you hadn't been quick enough to shove the ring deep into your pocket, you'd have been caught red-handed.

You were damn good at your job, and you composed yourself in seconds. The ring slipped out from where it was clutched between your fingers and you withdrew your hands from within your pockets. You plastered a confident smile on your face as you crossed your arms across your chest.

"Hey there," the blonde offered, an equally confident smile on her face. "What's up?"

"Nothin'," you shrugged, uncrossing your arms and looping your thumbs through the belt loops on your pants. "Taking a walk. Beautiful night, isn't it, Beautiful?"

The blonde's eyes sparkled in amusement. She took a few steps closer. Confidence still coursing through your veins, you let her. You didn't make any move to back down. She noticed that. When she stopped, she was only a few feet away from you. Another step and she could have reached out and touched you.

The blonde's lips crept into a cocky expression. "Beautiful night indeed."

You didn't dare make it obvious how you were checking out the area for the second time. When you'd entered, you'd made note of every entrance and exit to the area. The blonde was blocking the one that lay directly ahead, but not the one behind you. That was free for you to turn and run to. You just needed to wait. If you went now, she'd be right behind you and able to catch up to you in mere seconds.

"Headed somewhere? I could walk you?" She offered. "You know, Fennal isn't always safe at night."

"I'm just going up the street. I'm good thanks."

You could feel the ring pressed against your leg in your pocket. You knew she knew you were up to no good. You also knew that she knew you knew she knew. Neither of you would say that aloud, though. It was a bit of a game, at this point. She wanted that little piece of jewelry in your pocket. You wanted it too. No, you wanted the pay you were promised for stealing it.

"You sure? I'm probably headed in the same direction."

"I doubt it," you laughed.

The blonde smirked a little. You kept your eyes with hers, unable to ignore just how beautiful her light brown irises really were. But you wouldn't tell her that. You wouldn't tell her jack shit. You were waiting for her to get distracted for one brief moment so that you could turn and sprint down that alley. It seemed your wishes were heard.

"Hey, Carol!" A voice called.

The blonde, Carol, let her gaze flicker toward the voice for a mere millisecond and you took the opportunity to turn and dart as fast as you could down the alley behind you. Your ears strained to hear over the sound of your own shoes hitting the gravel beneath your feet. Unmistakably, though, you heard the set of footsteps chasing after you. You pushed even harder.

You ducked through a backyard, pushing out of your way a jacket that was hanging on a clothesline. At the other side of the yard, you hopped over the fence and landed smoothly on the ground on the other side. But now, you didn't hear Carol's steps. You didn't risk slowing down. You kept onward in the direction of your pod.

As you ran, you became aware of your shadow growing in front of you. It was surrounded by a glowing orange light. Even as your lungs struggled to get enough oxygen, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. When your shadow began to spin around your body until it was behind you, you realized why. You could have huffed aloud at the complete unfairness of the situation.

Carol was fifteen feet off the ground, surrounded by a bright orange glow. She still had that same smirk on her face as she looked down on you. You were hesitating in your step, now, not sure you could outrun her. You knew one thing, though. Despite these powers the blonde had, you weren't about to give up. You turned on your heel.

You watched your own shadow to keep track of Carol. She was following you. Your shadow shrunk and indicated she was getting closer. When your shadow began to shrink faster, you made a sharp turn to the left. The shadow grew a little as she fell behind a few feet, not prepared for the sudden change in direction. Your chest was rising and falling rapidly, but you weren't a stranger to chases. You'd had more than a few run-ins with guards from many planets throughout the galaxy.

You smirked at the sight in front of you. One of the planet's natives had just inserted the keys into a hover bike but hadn't yet gotten on. You struggled to go faster than you thought you could. You pushed him to the ground, hopped on, and immediately pushed the bike as fast as it would go. You had to grip the handles tight as your inertia tried to hold you back.

The bike seemed to rival Carol's speed. The size of your shadow in front of you stayed constant and you managed to take a quick glance behind you. Carol was high in the air, hands down by her hips, moving more quickly than a person should be able to in order to keep up with the bike you were on. Then your pod came into view and you let a small smirk come over your face. You turned to the bike made to move past the ship, then jumped off.

Pain raced through your body. You ignored it, rolling a couple times to take the impact, racing up the ramp as quick as you possibly could, and slamming your hand down on the red button to shut the hatch. Carol wasn't thirty feet away. You took the last of your energy to roll onto your back.

"Athena, max speed!" You shouted.

The AI heard. She ignored every protocol about seatbelts and closed doors as the captain's voice override her programming. The pod had a max speed of 50,000 kilometers per hour. It was nothing compared to the main ship, but it was sure faster than Carol. The ship's acceleration got the best of her, and soon enough you were barreling through space and leaving her far behind.

As it had sped up faster than physics should have allowed, though, your body had slammed into the wall behind you. You groaned as you rolled away from it, every bone, organ, and tissue in your body aching from the speed. Your organs seemed to have caught up to the ship, finally. You resisted the urge to puke as you pulled yourself to your feet, rubbing a sore shoulder and swiping your fingers over the blood dripping down your forehead.

"Thanks, Athena. Take us home."

"Roger that, Boss."

You let yourself drop into your chair. You took the black mask off from where it had rested over the top half of your face, rubbing the pad of your index finger over the spot where it had pushed into the bridge of your nose, grumbling in frustration. You could feel the indent in your skin.

"ETA?"

"Twenty-seven minutes."

Those twenty-seven minutes seemed to take forever. The pod was small. There wasn't anywhere you could lay your head back. There wasn't a damn bathroom, a fact you couldn't seem to get your mind off. When the pod had secured itself to the mothership, you practically sprinted out and to the nearest toilet.

Your red jacket was undone as you stepped onto the bridge of The Athena. It was the middle of the night based on your home planet, the time that you and your crew followed to at least keep a semblance of a schedule. Because of the time, though, most of the crew had retreated to their quarters for the night and were fast asleep.  

"Hey, Cap."

The greeting caught your attention. You turned toward the voice, smiling when you met the gaze of your first mate. He wasn't much younger than you were. He was from a planet called Dervius, having retreated from the planet to live a life with the Ravagers after living a life of poverty there for ten years, having been cast out by his family at only eight. It was your third day as the leader of your clan when you picked him up and took him in, giving him a spot in your crew. That was already five years ago and the Dervion had worked his way all the way up to first mate.

"Vyn," you greeted.

"How'd it go?"

You pulled the sparkling ring from your pocket. Vyn grinned at the sight of it. He pulled a device out of his pocket, tapping on the screen a few times and then humming quietly as he scrolled. He let out a soft exclamation of victory as he found what he had been searching for.

"Three hundred thousand. Damn, Cap. That thing can't be worth 100k."

"Well, we charge for the stealing part too, Vyn."

Vyn shrugged. "Fair enough. Why don't you go catch some shuteye? We should be back to the buyer in a few hours. Who's doing the delivery?"

"I will," you said, sticking the ring back into your pocket.

Vyn chuckled. "You know, Cap, that most clan leaders aren't so hands on with the dirty work."

"I'm not most clan leaders, Vyn," you winked. "I'm heading down to my quarters. Call for me when we get there."

︽✵︽

You straightened out your red jacket as you stepped out of your pod. You nodded at the landing strip attendant as you ventured onto the familiar planet. You whistled merrily on your way, flashing wide smiles at whoever you happened to make eye contact with. You glanced at your phone as it directed you where to go. You could have caught a ride, but you were up for a bit of a walk.

It was a half hour walk to the place you were looking for. You stepped in quietly. It was a bar, and not exactly a very nice looking one. You wouldn't be surprised if half the people in there were criminals. In fact, you wouldn't be surprised if you weren't the only Ravager in there. When you entered you pulled the mask over your face again, clipping the flames of the Ravagers over your chest.

You stepped up to the bar and ordered a drink. You took it when it came and slid into one of the booths. You'd arrived early, and knew it'd be a while before the client arrived. You scanned the area as you waited, sipping quietly as you watched the planet natives, finding entertainment in two particularly large guys fighting over who had made the illegal move in a game of darts.

"Captain Red?"

Of course, that wasn't your real name. You'd never give your real name to a client. You only nodded, gesturing to the seat across from you. He sat down and fumbled with his hands a little, clearly nervous. It wasn't an uncommon reaction. He was meeting with a thief for hire and paying a good sum of money for stolen goods.

"I have the money."

"Straight to business, I see," you hummed, sipping from your glass. "That's alright with me."

You reached into your pocket, pulling out the ring. His eyes immediately locked to it. He reached out and you pulled away, keeping the piece out of his reach. You raised a single eyebrow as his eyes moved back up to yours. You clicked your tongue as a small smile of amusement played over your lips.

"Units first."

He nodded. He pulled out a device from his pocket, pressing some buttons on it. Yours, which sat out on the table in front of you, beeped. You glanced at it to find the transfer complete. Then you nodded, placing the ring flat in your palm, and holding it out in front of you.

"Pleasure doing business with you, sir."

He grabbed the ring, nodded, and scampered out without another word. You chuckled lightly to yourself, draining what was left in your glass. You pulled the mask off again and took the pin off your chest. Everyone else in the room was too drunk to notice the change. You stepped up to the bar once more.

"I'll take another."

The bartender nodded. He filled your glass as you put a finger to the comm in your ear and let Vyn know you were going to stick around for a little fun, should anyone want to join. But the Ravagers had made their own fun the previous night and were far too hungover to think of joining you in the bar. You rolled her eyes as you lowered your hand.

"Prettiest girl in the bar, aren't ya?" A voice slurred to your left.

You turned just in time to see the man flashed you a wide grin. You nodded and tilted your head a little. "I'd expect."

"So why don't ya come sit a little closer?"

You laughed. "I'm alright just where I am."

He sneered. "Listen here-"

But a shadow appeared between you and he, cast upon the bar top. It distracted the both of you. You turned to see who had stepped up to the two of you, and your jaw could have hit the ground. But your face stayed blank as the blonde's gaze met you for just a brief second before turning back to the man who had been hitting on you. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Everything alright here?"

"'Course."

"I'd hope," she hummed. "Because I seem to remember you and I having a nice, long talk about good manners."

"We did," he coughed. He stood up, nodding at you and retreating back across the room to where his friends were all jesting and shouting, spilling their drinks on the tabletops, the floor, and themselves.

You turned your attention back to the woman who had stepped up next to you. She was taking the seat beside yours, ordering a drink for herself and another for you. You smirked a little when she turned to you. Despite your lack of a mask and the absence of the flames upon your chest, she recognized you immediately.

"Long time no see," she offered.

You chuckled. "Very. What's a Fenarian guard like you hangin' out in a place like this for, Carol?"

"Caught my name, I see," she said, accepting the drink that was slid toward her. "But the guard thing isn't quite accurate."

"Oh, no?"

That didn't get a reply. You sipped your drink, watching her the entire time. She only shrugged her shoulders, drinking from her own glass. It stayed like that for a long while. Your egos were both too big to dare be the one to break the silence that had fallen upon you. So, you drank in silence. In fact, you'd both drained your glasses before Carol finally took it upon herself to be the one to speak the first words.

"You know my name, and I don't know yours."

"That's intentional," you told her. "But if you must call me something, I usually just go by Captain. Cap works."

"That's a title, not a name."

"A fact I am well aware of, Carol."

When she didn't reply, you smirked a little. You weren't shy about the way you were eyeing her up and down. She was, to be frank, one of the most attractive women you'd ever met. She was smirking too, once your eyes had finally made their way back up to hers. You only offered a small tilt of your head in acknowledgement.

Carol stood. She placed a few coins down on the bar, enough to cover her own tab, yours, and a little more. She offered you a hand. You were confident, cocky even. You weren't one bit afraid of this woman. You put your hand into hers and let her pull you to your feet. She led you away from your stool, out the door, and into the bright sunlight of the planet. Then she kept going, moving away from the bar and leading you down the streets. At some point your fingers had intertwined with hers and now you were walking hand in hand down the streets.

"You know I didn't need anyone to save me from that guy, right?"

"A thanks might have sufficed," she replied.

"It might have," you agreed.

Finally, you both arrived back at the landing strips. She led you right back to your own pod. You hadn't yet paid the fee for having kept it parked there for the last hour and a half but, judging from the look on Carol's face, you weren't going anywhere just yet. This time it was you leading as you pulled her on board, closing the hatch behind you. Once it was closed you moved.

Your hands moved and took Carol's waist, pulling her close to you. Her body was flush against yours, her hands in your hair, as she kissed you back. She let out a soft noise as you pushed her against the wall behind her. You smirked against her lips. It was a long moment before Carol pushed you away breathlessly. But you weren't done.

Your lips moved down to her neck, bringing the skin between your lips as you sucked roughly at it. It was a full moan that tumbled from her lips this time. You wanted to laugh in victory, but instead you released the skin, running your tongue softly over the mark you'd left on her. You moved back up to her lips and pecked them once, pulling back to glance into those light brown irises.

"That all you got then, Y/N?"

"I thought you didn't know my name."

Carol rolled her eyes. "Sorry, love. I could call you Captain if you wanted."

You put a hand against her cheek. "That would be extraordinarily hot."

Carol laughed. She put her lips against yours again, kissing you once more. She spun the both of you so that you traded places. This time it was your back against the wall. You leaned into it without much fight, letting her take her turn controlling the pace of the kiss. When you finally separated, she rest her forehead against yours.

"I love you."

You laughed. "We just met."

"Oh, fuck off," she laughed too.

You brought her hand into yours, thumb gliding across the ring you'd put on her finger five years ago. Her eyes darted to the identical one on yours. Her smirk faded into a smile and she brought you hand up to her lips, kissing your knuckles softly. You leaned a little further into her touch, pecking her lips once more.

"I love you, too," you muttered against her.

She laughed. She put two fingers beneath your chin, tilting your gaze up to meet hers. You loved those eyes with that cunning sparkle in light brown irises that you'd fallen so hard for all those years ago. Just as she was about to kiss you once again, there was a banging on the outside of the pod. You huffed in frustration.

You didn't even bother going out. You quickly transferred the fee you owed electronically. The banging stopped, and so you assumed everything had gone through without a problem. You shoved the small device back into your pocket and then turned your attention back to Carol. She was watching you with amusement sparking in her eyes.

"You're cute when you're angry," she commented.

"Yeah, yeah," you rolled your eyes. "We should get out of here before someone, you know, chases me off the planet."

Carol laughed, she put her arms around your waist. "I'm Captain Marvel. I can't let some thief get away with stealing valuables. Maybe they shouldn't have run."

"Just doin' my job, darlin'," you chuckled, arms resting on her shoulders and hands linking loosely behind her neck.

She hummed softly at that, kissing you again. It had been five years and her touch still made you melt. You were sure another five years could pass and that still wouldn't have changed. Your eyes fluttered shut and your lips moved with hers and the world could have disappeared around you and you wouldn't have noticed. But it didn't. There was banging on the door again.

"I need this spot!" The attendant shouted from the other side of the door.

You huffed. You forced yourself to peel away from Carol's body. You took a seat in front of the controls, and Carol took the one next to you. You started everything up, checking that they'd recharged the battery while you'd been there. Once you were sure of everything, you lay a hand on Carol's thigh and glanced out the front window.

"Take us away, Athena," you said.

"Roger that, Captain Danvers." 

[na-na-na-nanna]

Catching Feelings

Part: six

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Wordcount: 5980

Pairing: goblin!Yoongi x reader

Warnings: cursing, drinking, smoking, kissing

Summary: Yoongi, a 700 year old goblin who has grown tired of his eternal excistence and wishes to become human, must gain all the human emotions before he can achive this, but the only way to do so is by kissing the humans who possess them

A/N: this got a lot longer than i planned, so i hope it’s not too boring. Also hope the shift in narrator won’t be too confusing. Anyways I’m a little nervous about this chapter

[20:28]

Yoongi had experienced human parties before, but to be frank it had been quite awhile. The last time was probably back in the Joeson era if he remembered correctly. At that time Jin had dragged him along, and forced him to partake in every human activity imaginable, and so he did. He drank their alcohol, sang their songs and played their games much to everyone else’s amusement. Yoongi didn’t particularly understand why his old friend and the humans he used to surround himself with wanted to dedicate so much of their mortal time doing such silly things, but then again he never really understood much about them to begin with.

“Which one of these say ‘I’m down to do it, but I’m not a slut?’” Yoongi was immediately snapped out of his trip down memory lane as Jungkook waved, what looked to him like, two identical black t-shirts in front of his face.

“I don’t know,” Yoongi answered truthfully.

The younger man was clearly unsatisfied with the lack of help and let out a big sigh before turning his attention to Jin.

“Same question,” He said, and Jin examined the two options that had been laid before him for a second before he let out a short “left one”.

For the next couple of minutes Yoongi just sat on the coach and quietly watched as Jungkook and Jin were bickering with one another over some expensive watch of Jin’s that Jungkook wanted to borrow for the party.

“You never let me borrow any of your stuff” Jungkook whined.

“That’s because they’re my stuff” The older one huffed in response.

“But you have so many, and you never go out,” Jungkook began to argue. “Don’t you think it’s a shame that no one gets to see them?”

“Not my problem,” Jin said without giving an ounce of care for what the boy had just said, and said boy knew he had lost yet another argument with his immortal master.

Jin had changed a lot since Yoongi had last encountered him, he had noticed, and he couldn’t figure out if it was simply just the passing time or if it was living in the human world that was the course of his drastic change of character. The great and beautiful Kim Seokjin, that Yoongi remembered from centuries ago, loved humans and would never pass on an opportunity to be around them. Back then Yoongi had struggled to understand Jin’s fascination with mankind, but had nonetheless always followed his friend's request to indulge in anything the human world had to offer.

It was strange how the tables had turned, and it was now Yoongi that was chasing after humanity while it seemed like Jin had left it behind. This change was truly strange, Yoongi thought, he could have sworn that Jin at some point even had a human…

“The car is ready for you now,” Jin said to the two party goers in his house.

“Sweet!” Jungkook exclaimed “I call shotgun”

[21:02]

The moment Yoongi and Jungkook stepped out of the car, the cold winter air hit them like a titlewave, and Jungkook was regretting his decision to wear the short sleeved shirt. He tried to hide the shiver that was taking over his body as two girls, which were also wearing outfits that did not seem to fit the weather conditions, walked by. It didn't make sense to wear so little clothing this time of year, Yoongi thought, and he wondered what could be the reason why humans choose to expose so much skin despite it being so impractical.

As the two girls passed them, Jungkook sent them a slight head nod followed by a cheesy smile, which immediately sent the girls into a fit of giggles. Once the girls were out of hearing distance Jungkook nudged Yoongi in the side with his elbow and with a smug smile on his face he said “See what I mean? A smile like that will make any girl’s knee weak”. Yoongi nodded as to show he had heard the information given to him, but he was still processing what actually to do with it.

“You should try it”

“Try what?” Yoongi asked.

“Try smiling for once,” Jungkook commanded “Like this” To demonstrate his face morphed into a big warm smile, almost textbook perfect. Yoongi studied his face for a bit before he tried to mimic the expression. He slowly opened his mouth to show off his teeth like Jungkook was doing. It seemed a little awkward, maybe he wasn’t showing enough of the inside of his mouth, maybe he needed to make the smile even bigger. And so he did, putting his gums on full display for anyone to see.

“Jesus Christ! What the hell is that?” Jungkook exclaimed in terror upon seeing the goblin’s miserable attempt at smiling.

“Am I not performing it accordingly?” Yoongi questioned his teacher.

“If your a bloody psychopath, maybe”

“So I am doing it correctly?”

“No that’s not what I meant,” Jungkook said, a bit frustrated. “Maybe you should just stick to not smiling for now. You know, go for the whole dark and quiet mysterious guy type of thing instead. Girls dig that too.” Yoongi didn’t really need the humans to “dig” him. He just needed them to be able to share their emotions with him, but he did like the idea of doing it quietly. He wasn’t so sure about the mysterious part though.

“You just let me do the talking, okay?”

“Okay”

Yoongi barely got to respond, not that he had much to say anyways, before Jungkook was dragging him into the apartment complex where the party was taking place. Even though it was still early in the evening the small apartment was filled to the brim with intoxicated humans who all looked to be enjoying themselves, at least Yoongi thought so. He had observed that humans were a fairly social species and liked to be around each other, even though it meant being packed together in limited spaces like this. This fact was also a mystery for Yoongi, but then again solitude had for the most part of his long life been the only thing he had known.

“Taehyung!!” Jungkook shouted from across the room. “Over here!” Once Jungkook had caught the attention of the man he was calling, said man made it through the crowd of people to where they were standing.

“Hey, good to see you man” the guy said as he pulled Jungkook in for a half hearted side hug. “Who’s your friend?” The guy shifted his focus to Yoongi.

“This is my friend Yoongi,” Jungkook introduced. “He’s new in town. Hope it’s okay I brought him”

“As long as he doesn’t break anything” Taehyung said, a little tense and probably referring to some of the other party attendees. It seemed like Taehyung stock out of norm and didn’t enjoy a lot of other people in a small space.

“Don’t worry. Yoongi is cool” Jungkook answered for Yoongi.

“Well, drinks are in the kitchen. HEY!! What are you? A caveman?” Some guy had now caught Taehyung’s attention. “Use a fucking coaster!”

“Guess you have your hands full,” Jungkook laughed.

“You have no idea,” Taehyung sighed “I’m literally going to kill Jimin after I teach this guy some etiquette” and just like that Taehyung was back in the midst of people slowly disappearing “Come on guys! The table is antique”

[21:43]

Yoongi was sitting alone on the couch next to a couple that were too invested in each other to even notice he was there, while Jungkook had gone to the kitchen to get them something to drink. Yoongi thought his seat on the couch was a good spot for observing the humans and maybe even spot one he himself could kiss, but he found it hard to concentrate due to the couple making out, which kept catching his eye. Maybe this was actually a good opportunity for him to learn about the way humans do kissing. The male was seated on the couch while the female was on his lap with her hands around his neck. The male’s hands were all over her, one minute they were in her hair, the next on her bare thighs or waist. The way the couple kissed was a lot different from the way the TV couples Yoongi had watched as reference did. The couch couple were much more engaged and almost animalistic in their movements and sounds. Yoongi had thought that the kisses he had seen portrayed in dramas were probably pretty accurate, but now he wasn’t too sure. He decided that the couch couple next to him was probably a better representation since they were not actors in a role. The both of them did seem to be very skillful.

“Hey creep!” Jungkook shouted as he returned with a drink in each hand. “Don’t drool on the carpet”

“I wasn’t” Yoogi corrected him as he received one of the drinks from him.

“Then stop perverting on them”

“I was just observing them,” Yoongi told him.

“Is what a pervert would say,” Jungkook joked.

[22:00]

“What about her?” Jungkook pointed at the crowd filled with dancing bodies. “She’s hot”

“I don’t think she’s what I’m looking for” Yoongi dismissed Jungkook’s suggestion.

“Are you for real?” Jungkook exclaimed. “Just look at her,” Yoongi took a closer look at the woman Jungkook was talking about. “She is definitely feeling it.” The woman in question was dancing closely with another guy to the rhythm of the song and seemingly enjoying the way all eyes were on her.

And Yoongi too caught himself staring at her for a bit longer than he did the other humans around him. Could she maybe be the one to make him feel?

“And then he left me!” A loud female voice sobbed from across the room and managed to steal Yoongi’s gaze away from the woman dancing.

Even to Yoongi it was clear that the woman crying was extremely upset and therefore also extremely emotional, Yoongi thought.

“I have to go after him” she cried out to her friend who was trying to console her. She was headed towards the door, and Yoongi couldn’t let an opportunity like this slip through his finger, so without much thought he ran through the crowd determined not to lose sight of the crying girl. This resulted in him taking a few hits as he made his way through the sea of people, but because he was so focused on reaching the girl in time, he didn’t notice who he bummed into.

[22:40]

“Do you think she could have gone home?”

“I think that’s very likely,” Jungkook said. “We’ll probably have much better odds at finding another girl crying her eyes out in Tae’s bath room, besides it’s fucking freezing out here”

“You go in,” The older said. “I’m just gonna take a few more rounds around the block”

“Suit yourself, pal,” Jungkook gave Yoongi a pad on his shoulder before he began running towards the building entrance.

Yoongi then began walking again, looking at every bypasser to see if it was the one that he was looking for. He eventually made his way to a convenience store where a young couple were standing closely up against one another.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” the guy said. “I’ll never do it again”

“You promise?” the girl said with teary eyes.

“Yes, I promise” The two of them now began kissing as well, and this time it looked exactly like in the k-dramas. Once again Yoongi was left not knowing how this act between two people was supposed to be performed, but he knew that the girl had stopped crying and it would therefore no longer make sense for him to also lock lips with her.

Yoongi began heading back to the building where the party was, hobing it wasn’t too late for him to find a human to kiss. He was about to cross the road when he noticed a woman walking in his direction. It looked like she was coming right at him, and the closer she got to him, the more apparent the look in her eyes became, a look Yoongi had never seen displayed on any human before.

[17:05]

“Y/N!” The sudden knock on the bathroom door almost caused you to slip in the shower stall out of surprise. You had gone straight to Teahuyng’s apartment after class in order to help him get ready for the night, on the condition that you could shower at his place. “I need you to go to the store with Jimin.” Taehyung's voice came from the other side of the door. You turned off the water which you immediately regretted now that your body was missing the warm embrace it was providing.

“Jimin is a big boy. Why do I need to go with him?” You complained, wishing desperately that you could stay in the shower until you had used all of Taehyung’s hot water.

“Because we both know that this big boy will end up only buying booze and forget all the practical stuff,” Taehyung argued. “Oh and you have the best taste in snacks”

“Aghh fine,” you sighed in defeat. “Just give me 10 minutes and I’ll be out, okay”

[17:26]

Even though you had borrowed Taehyung’s sweats for your quick trip to the store, you still found yourself clinging to Jimin’s left arm in hopes of stealing some of his warmth.

“Why are you only clingy when you gain something from it?” Jimin said with annoyance as you still hung off of him as you entered the store.

“Survival of the fittest, baby” you sent him a teasing smile, which he returned with an eye roll and an attempt to push you off, but you were stubborn and stronger than you looked, and if Jimin didn’t wanted to cause a scene right in the middle of the supermarket, he would have to let you stay right where you were.

As expected Jimin steered the two of you in the direction off the alcohol aisle first thing. You didn’t have much say in which and the amount of bottles Jimin so carefully picked out from the shelves with his free hand.

“This should do it,” Jimin finally said proudly after almost 15 minutes of picking and choosing.

“You do know that Tae only agreed to a small gathering, right?” You asked your friend in disbelief.

“Yes, but what’s the fun in that?” he said with a mischievous grin growing on his face.

“He is going to kill you” you tried to warn him, but Jimin seemed to care more about making this night one to remember (or rather forget) than his potential murder.

You knew there was no point in trying to talk some sense into Jimin so you just shrugged your shoulders and said “Whatever. It’s your funeral”

Once you made your way to the snack aisle of the store, it was now your turn to be in charge of what needed to be selected, which by the way was just as important as the liquor. You knew that the difference between a good party and a great party was the snacks, no doubt about it, so you always took your time when deciding which ones would be the perfect choice for the maybe not so small celebration of Taehyung. Chips was always a safe choice, everyone likes them and they won't leave you full but they’ll still be satisfying nonetheless. Now what flavours to choose? You knew it was always a good idea to have something with a lot of salt, so the sea salt flavoured ones would be the smart choice to go with, but personally you found them so boring. Popcorn was a much better option for a salty snack.

“Jimin, can you grab the popcorn for me?” Jimin did as you commanded and threw the box into the already filled shopping cart. Okay, back to choosing chips flavours. Your personal favourite was sour cream & onion, though controversial, but you had to admit it was hard to find a good dip to go with it. Maybe you should just stick to the classic that was cheetos.

“What do you think? Sour cream & onion or cheetos?” You asked for guidance.

“Uhm Y/N…”

“You’re right. We should just take boht” you said and grabbed the two bags of chips with your left hand from the lower shelf.

“What? No that’s not it” Jimin stammered hesitantly. When you looked up and in the direction of Jimin’s gaze, you understood why. On their way into the aisle, was your fuck buddy, or ex fuck buddy, with his other fuck buddy turned girlfriend holding his hand. You immediately made eye contact with Johnny and suddenly became super aware of the way you were still clinging to Jimin’s side. You tried to distance yourself from him, but it was now Jimin’s turn to not let go of you.

“Hey guys” Jisoo said in a cheerful tone as she and Johnny made their way over to you and Jimin. “Wow That’s some party you’re throwing” she giggled as she noticed the interior of your shopping cart.

“Oh yeah” you said “Taehyung got an internship so we’re celebrating. You should come”

“No we wouldn’t want to tag along” Johnny said for the first time.

“It’s fine, you wouldn’t. Right Jimin?” you looked to your friend for back up.

“Uhm sure,” he said “The more, the merrier”

“Okay, see you there then” Johnny sent you one last awkward smile before he and Jisoo went back to their own shopping.

[17:45]

“Now why would you invite them?” Jimin asked in all seriousness once you left the store.

“Why wouldn’t I?” you asked, trying to sound surprised by his question. “Johnny and Jisoo are cool, and I’m sure you’ve already invited a dosin of people”

“Yeah but they’re not my ex”

“Johnny is not my ex, though” you corrected him.

“You know what I mean,” Jimin said annoyed.

“So if you and I stop messing around, would you want me to not invite you to parties anymore?” you said teasingly.

“Shut up. You would miss me to much”

“In the bedroom or at the parties” you questioned him with a growing grin on your face.

“Both” he said confidently, and rightfully so. “But don’t you think it will be awkward?”

“It’s only awkward if we make it awkward” you told yourself.

“And you’re not the slightest bit jealous?”

“I’ve told you I’m not”

“You’re a fucking ice queen, you know that?” Jimin laughed at your seemingly lack of any human emotions.

“It’s one of my biggest virtues” you smiled at him.

“Except this ice queen is very bothered by the cold,” he joked before pulling you into his space again making sure you were warm.

[19:13]

“Is that what you’re wearing?” It slipped out of Taehyung when you stepped out of the bathroom where you had gotten ready. You looked down at the outfit you had brought with you from home and didn’t see why Taehyung would question it.

“Yeah, why? Anything wrong with it?” You asked.

“No, nothing wrong with it. It’s just a lot,” he clarified. “Or less, I guess” he grinned. You suppose he was right, but you had worn similar outfits in the past. The short skirt, showing of your legs and the skin tight top hugging your curves was nothing new.

“Yeah I know” you said “It’s kinda the whole point”

“Gonna show Johnny exactly what he’s missing” Jimin chimed in. Jimin wasn’t entirely wrong, but you were never going to admit that and it wasn’t like you had planned to run into him at the grocery store.

“No,” you said firmly “I picked this outfit out way before I knew Johnny was gonna be here”

“Johnny’s coming?” Taehyung asked with both a confused and concerned look on his face.

“And Jisoo,” Jimin said.

“Seriously!?” Taehyung whined “I told you guys not to invite friends”

“Whatever grandpa,” Jimin dismissed Taehyung’s words. “So tell me Y/N, if you’re not planning on making Johnny boy jealous, why the outfit then?”

“I always wear things like this” you tried to defend yourself.

“Yes, but not in the middle of winter, you don’t” Namjoon’s rational self joined the conversation that was unfolding. You were taken aback by Namjoon’s sharp optivational skills and searched your brain for a clever comeback or a perfectly rational reason for your decision to wear the revealing outfit, but nothing came to mind.

“I-l” you stammered “I don’t have to tell you anything” you said in defeat, knowing all too well that your friends would never let it go until you in fact told them.

“Let me guess then,” Jimin said with a devil-like expression on his face. “You plan to find Johnny’s replacement tonight” Fuck, you didn’t even realized that was what you were doing when you picked out what to wear. Why did Jimin have to know you better than you knew yourself at times?

Jimin took your silence as a sign that he had been right on the money. “Am I not enough for you?” he said, faux offended. “I’m hurt”

“Will you just shut up!” you exclaimed at his annoying teasing.

[21:26]

Hobi was a saint, that much you knew, and he had made it his life mission to make sure that you were okay, and tonight that meant never leaving your glass empty, especially everytime you would run into Johnny and Jisoo. Hobi would try to steer you in the opposite direction saying either you or he needed a refill. You appreciated your friend’s efforts to spare your feelings, but it really wasn’t necessary, you were fine. You had no reason to be anything but. You didn’t want what Johnny and Jisoo had, and you knew you could never give that to Johnny, so it was a good thing that they had found each other, you truly believed that. You tried to explain this to Hobi, but he still looked at you with pity in his eyes.

“Seriously Hobi, I’m fine” you reassured him “The only thing a feel is sorry for the poor guy trapped next to them on the couch as they make out” you sent Hobi the biggest smile you could plaster on your face to really convince him that everything was just fine. Hobi seemed to finally buy your words as he grabbed you by the wrist and dragged you to the living room that had become the unofficial dance floor. The amount of people in Taehyung’s small apartment made it difficult to fully unfold on the dancefloor, so you and Hobi opted for a more grinding close up at each other kind of dance.

This was nice, you had fun and was drunk off your ass, something you probably wouldn’t be able to do if you were in Jisoo’s position. You wondered if Jisoo would get jealous if she caught Johnny looking at you like this. You glanced over, and, wow, they were still going at it on the coach. Did they even care that there were others around them? Probably not. That was how it was to be in love. For a second you couldn’t help but think that it could have been you on Johnny’s lap if you had let him get close to you, blissfully unaware of your surroundings. It looked nice though, but no, that was not what you wanted. You liked your freedom and you liked simple, and one thing you knew was that once you gave that part of yourself, things stopped being simple. You liked how things were, and maybe you just needed someone new to remind you of that. That guy in the corner had been staring at you for a while now, not that you could blame him. You tried sneaking in a few glances at him to see if he was your type without being too obvious about it. You couldn’t get a proper look at him, but it didn’t really matter since he had this weird energy around him, which told you everything you needed to know about him.

“What are you doing?” Hobi had noticed the way your dancing now seemed a lot more calculated from only moments prior.

“7 o’clock” you whispered to him.

“What are you talking about?” Hobi asked over the music.

“The guy in the corn…” Wait where did he go? You looked around, your eyes searching through the room when your eyes landed on a moving silhouette who was charting towards you. Oh shit, he had finally gathered his courage and decided to come talk to you. “Okay stay calm,” you told yourself “you’re the ice queen, remember”. You straightened your back and pushed your chest slightly forward ready to show this guy exactly who he was up against.

“Hi, I-“ you were cut off before you could even get to the verb of your planned sentence. The guy had just walked straight past you, and bumping into your shoulder in the process. The fuck! Who did he think he was? Even if you had completely misinterpreted his intentions, the least he could do was apologize for the shoulder injury he had coursed in the collision.

“Man down. I repeat, man down” Jimin was dying of laughter because of the scene that had just unfolded in Taehyung’s living room. Seriously, why did Jimin’s annoying ass had to see you fail so miserably. You knew he would never let this go.

[22:56]

Upon your failure and the intense dancing session with Hoseok, you had lost most of your energy, and your feet and legs felt heavy. It seemed like Johnny and Jisoo had decided to move their make out session to somewhere more private since the couch was now all abbonned, and you saw a unique opportunity to get to sit down.

Like a sack of potatoes you fell into the soft cushions followed by Hobi, and for a brief moment you closed your eyes and leant back, but the moment soon passed as you could feel a pair of concerned eyes on your face. You forced your eyes to open again, and they of course were met with Hoseok’s.

“Are you okay?” he asked for the hundredth time that night.

“Yes, I just need to relax for a bit” you told him truthfully.

A cheeky smile appeared on your friend’s face “I might actually be able to help you with that” You looked at him with confusion painted on your face “Uhm okay that sounds kinda sketchy” Hoseok didn’t seemed to mind your weariness as he began to search the insides of his pockets.

“Tada!!” he cheered excitedly as he held out a neatly rolled blunt in front of your face. “This should do the trick”.

You didn’t normally smoke and the couple of times you had, it had been with Hobi. Both times you had been a giggling mess, which now that you thought about it wouldn’t be too bad. You could also need the relaxed and warm feeling you had experienced the other times you had gotten high.

“Fuck it,” You finally said. “You got a lighter?” But as Hobi fumbled after one, a dark looming figure appeared behind you.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shit! You jumped in your seat and nearly kicked over the bottles that were placed on the small coffee table.

“Uhm… N-nothing” you managed to stutter even though the evidence of what you were planning was still on full display in the palm of Hoseok’s hand.

“For fuck sake!” Taehyung exclaimed. “Do you want me to lose my depositum?”

“No,” Hoseok chimed in. “But don’t be such a party pooper. She needs this” The death glare Taehyung sent Hobi shut him up immediately.

“I’m so fucking stressed” he whined “But please just go outside” he almost pleaded. You would have felt sorry for him, but then you remembered he had made you go to the store with wet hair, something that was still causing you to shiver.

“But Tete it’s freezing outside” You tried to convince him, but there was no use in trying as he coldly responded with a “Not my problem.” And that was how you found yourself outside on the sidewalk in your miniskirt in the middle of winter trying to get high. Your hands were shaking as you tried to guide the blunt to your lips, which made it way more difficult than it needed to be. This made Hobi, who had just passed it to you, laugh uncontrollably. You found yourself starting to laugh along with him since it kinda dawned on you how ridiculous this whole situation was and how much of a fool you had made of yourself in the span of this night.

“What are you two maniacs laughing at?” Jimin and Namjoon had gone outside as well to get some fresh air, Jimin with some drunk girl under his arm and Namjoon with his red solo cup in hand.

“Y/N she’s,” Hobi said between giggles. “She’s fucking saking”

“Facts!” You yelled.

“You really should have worn something else” Mr. Know-it-all-Namjoon said.

“I know, I know, I’m a dumbass” you admitted.

“Yes you fucking are,” Jimin said “Want to borrow my jacket?” You looked him up and down before making eye contact.

“Won’t your friend be cold?” You referred to the girl haning to his side.

“Mhm…” He looked down at the girl. “You cold, baby girl?”

“No, daddy” she said with a sweet voice, and you couldn’t help but blur out a “Ew” upon hearing her nickname for Jimin.

“Someone’s in a bad mood,” Jimin teased. “And I bet it’s not entirely because of the cold” You knew he was referring to your brutal rejection in the living room.

“Listen the guy was in a hurry, okay,” you began to defend yourself. “If he wasn’t, he would have been all over me”

“You sure about that?” Hoseok annoyingly joined the conversation.

“Yes, not that it matters anyways. He was fucking rude. Lucky he got away before I could give him a piece of my mind.” You said seriously.

“Guess it’s your lucky day, then” Namjoon said and pointed to somewhere across the streets, and everybody’s heads turned to see what he had meant by his statement. You squeezed your eyes trying to see more clearly who it was standing alone on the other side of the street across from you. Something about the unidentified silhouette somehow drew you in, like a special energy. Wait a minute, it was him! The guy from earlier. Seriously, what were the changes?

“Now’s your chance,” Jimin dared you. Why did he have to know exactly how to get under your skin. You couldn’t stand to lose face once more that evening, so before you knew it you were crossing the street. And to be honest you were ready to go tell this guy exactly who he had been oh so rude to. On your way over you were gearing yourself up and practically fuming when you finally reached your destination, but that all disappeared once you found yourself standing face to face with the stranger and all the things you had planned to say in your head was completely gone the second the stranger had captured you with his gaze. He didn’t say or do anything, just looked at you, awaiting your first move.

“I-I uhm.. You” you stuttered trying to go somewhere with your words, but the man in front of you didn’t let you.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked abruptly which caught you off guard.

“What?” Were you hearing this correctly or were you just hearing what you wanted to hear.

“Is it okay if I kiss you?” he asked nonchalantly. Was he really being serious, or was he just being a jerk like earlier? Your better judgement told you it was the latter, but you still found your body leaning in closer and closer to the man.

“Okay” you agreed mindlessly as you closed the gap between the two if you as he placed his hand on your cheek and began to move his lips gently over yours. As he did so, you were passively taking everything in, enjoying being kissed on the sidewalk on a winter's night by a stranger who seemed to know exactly how to use his lips. You rested your own hands on his slim waist, slightly tugging at his jacket, while you began to reciprocate his kiss. He tasted so deliciously, it made your head spin, and before you knew it you were eagerly kissing him back with everything you got. His lips parted ever so slightly and you felt both greedy and bold, and seized the opportunity to sneak your tongue passed his lips. He followed your lead perfectly as both of your tongues entangled themselves with one another. The contact with his tongue send a shiver down your spine nonetheless, but weirdly enough ever since you had entered his space, you had stopped shivering from the cold, a first for the night, and now the only thing that made you shiver was the warm bubbly feeling you felt inside every time his tongue would grace yours, making you muffle soft moans against his mouth. His kiss was intoxicating and addictive, and you just couldn’t get enough of it, and to your surprise, you were so desperate for more, but somehow you didn’t care to try and hide the fact. For some reason he had this power over him that made you lose all senses and better judgement.

The kiss was getting sloppier now as you found it hard to control yourself with him, but when he put his hand on your hip, you almost lost it completely as your skin was practically burning under his touch. Who was this guy, seriously? And why did he have the ability to get you this rilled up merely from just kissing? You didn’t care enough to break from his lips to ask, you just drank in every last bit of him, dreading the moment you would have to let go of him. He must be some kind of god of kissing to have you feel this way, since kissing was normally your least favourite part. It was more times than not just something to get out of the way before moving on to something more daring. This was so unlike you.

In a perfect world you wouldn’t have to let go of him, but you had to break from his lips to catch your breath, and as you pulled away from each other a string of saliva was still connecting you. Neither of you said anything, and Yoongi was looking at you like he was trying to solve a code. All of a sudden you felt shy under his intense stare as if you hadn’t just sucked his face.

Yoongi was the first one to break the silence. “Nothing,” he blurted out.

“I’m sorry, what?” you asked.

“I felt nothing,” he sounded disappointed. ”Just now”. And just like that you were back to being cold.

You opened your mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out, and much to your surprise he stripped himself of his jacket and placed it over your shoulders. “Here, this is better” he said matter of factly before he turned on his heel and started walking away without another word, leaving you dumbfounded. You would probably have stood like that until the sun came up if you hadn’t been pulled back to reality by the sound of your long forgotten friend’s laughter from across the street. This was really a miserable ending to a just as miserable evening.

Taglist:

@strawberriewithchocolate-blog @salad-bar-but-with-more-options @sugaaddiction @min-yus @tonightletspretend @preciouschimine @ggukkieland @peterparkerspjsuit @simpinforyoongi @loveyoongles @kevinssecretplace4546

[join-the-joywrite]

Take my hand (take my whole life too)

"We played the Oprheum!"

The bouncing hug only lasted a second or two. While the boys regained a significant amount of lost strength, Julie's was slowly dwindling. She was, after all, only human and was out of home way later than usual. Her own internal clock seemed to be screaming at her to at least sit down.

Instead, she went down with the boys as her foot caught on a cable and she stumbled to the floor.

Alex made for a soft landing, one for which her apology was littered with giggles. Alex didn't mind. The slight pain was welcome in comparison to Caleb's jolts. Not to mention, he'd wanted to hug Julie ever since she cried during her not-so-private performance of her mother's song weeks ago. So he lay on the floor and squished Julie tight, only bringing forth more giggles.

"Hey, my turn!" Reggie yelled, rolling over and dropping himself half on Julie, fully on Alex.

"Oof," Luke commented, "that looks like it hurt."

"It did," Alex wheezed, adjusting himself to get used to the additional weight.

As one, all three of them held out an arm to Luke, who didn't hesitate to scoot closer and join the cuddle pile. Head on Alex's shoulder, he was right in front of Julie. He gave her a smile that, had she been standing, would've probably made her lose her balance. She gave him one back.

"I like this," Reggie murmured contentedly, closing his eyes.

"Yeah," Julie agreed, relishing in the fact that she could finally hug her boys, "me too."

They stayed like that for a moment before Alex sat up with great difficulty, sending them all tumbling. "You're all very heavy," he stated by way of explaining.

Julie chuckled and moved to stand up. Luke and Reggie grabbed one of her arms each.

"Stay," both whined. Reggie continued with a grin. "I promise I can be a soft pillow for you."

"I'd love to, honestly, but Carlos is waiting for me. He wanted to talk to me and. . ."

"Fine," Reggie huffed, "but just know that I'm feeling incredibly hurt right now."

Julie ruffled his hair, grinning when he closed his eyes and smiled under her touch. "There's always tomorrow."

Still, all three of them pouted when Julie stood up and righted her clothes.

"I'll see you guys in the morning," she said before walking to the doors. She paused just before closing it. "Thank you, guys."

Alex gave her a wave. Luke smiled at her with a dopey expression. Reggie continued to pout.

Julie bounded up the pathway, gait as giddy as her smile. Carlos was waiting for her in the living room.

"Hey," she said, joining him on the couch.

"Hey."

"Whatcha got there?" she asked, nodding to the paper Carlos' hands were clamped around. "Another French dip recipe?"

Carlos shook his head. "You know what this is."

"I . . . really don't."

"Your band! They're--!" Carlos stopped and glanced around looking for their father. He leaned across the vouch and whispered to Julie with wide eyes, "ghosts."

Julie forced a laugh. "What? No, don't be silly, there's no such thing as ghosts."

Carlos lifted his eyebrows. "Okay, then explain this."

Julie picked up the little black and blue page Carlos tossed to the middle of the couch, recognising it as a CD insert. For Sunset Curve. Julie's own eyebrows lifted slightly, but she continued to pretend like she hadn't a clue what was happening. Then she turned it over and knew the jig was up. Staring up at her was all four members of Sunset Curve. Trevor, or Bobby, sure looked different when he was younger.

"They're just lookalikes--"

"I'd believe you if they were here and we could touch them."

The idea of being able to hold and hug her bandmates brought a warm smile back to Julie's face. She quickly wiped it off and shook her head. "Where'd you even find this?"

"In the box with the French dip recipe."

"Ah."

Carlos suddenly looked around wildly. Julie looked around too.

"What? What happened? What are we looking for?"

"Are they here?"

"What? No, they're in the garage--"

"Aha!" Carlos grinned and folded his arms. "You're a terrible liar, Jules."

"Wh-- I am not!"

"You are, though."

Julie jumped slightly and moved away from Reggie. Carlos noticed and immediately turned his gaze where Julie looked. "Are they here now? Tell them I say hello!"

Julie rolled her eyes. "They can hear you, dork -- and it's just Reggie."

"Tell him that I say hello."

"Reggie says hello," Julie said, heaving a resigned sigh. "What are you doing here? I told you I'd see you in the morning."

"I knew it," Carlos whispered to himself as he watched his sister talk to thin air. She looked, in all honesty, a bit insane, but at least he knew he was right about the ghosts. "So how does the ghost thing even work? How come I can't see him now, but we can all see them when you play?"

Julie whipped her head from Reggie to Carlos. "It -- I'll explain it all tomorrow, okay? It's been a long day. Reggie, go back to the studio. Carlos, to bed. It's late."

"All right," Carlos grumbled, sliding off the couch. He paused at the stairs and glanced back to see Julie scolding nothing. He hoped he'd get to officially met the guys. Julie made them seem fun.

"All right, little man, what do you wanna hear?"

Julie repeated the question to Carlos, letting him know that it was Reggie who asked.

Carlos thought for a moment. "I like the song you were singing before you got back into the music program."

"Oh, that's not our song, that -- that--"

"No, it's okay," Luke said, "I'm sure we can work something out."

"I -- okay."

Carlos sat down on the couch, almost bouncing with excitement as Julie took a seat behind the piano. The melody she played wasn't loud and energetic like their usual songs. It was quiet and gentle. Even when the band kicked in, they were much softer than usual. Julie hummed along where the words should be so that Carlos could easily speak to the boys.

"I'm--"

"Wait!" Carlos said, jumping off the couch, cutting Luke off. "I'm gonna guess based on what Julie says about you."

"You talk about us?" Luke asked with a teasing grin.

Julie hit a particularly furious note. "Shut up."

"Luke, Reggie and Alex," Carlos said, pointing to the correct band member as he went.

"Nice, little man!"

"This is so cool," Carlos whispered, eyes widening when Reggie paused playing and knelt down for Carlos to stick his hand through Reggie's arm. "Woah."

The band noticed that they were very intangible to Carlos.

Luke was only slightly disappointed when Carlos chose to focus his attention on Alex next.

"I like your hoodie."

"Thanks," Alex said, beaming. "Here, you wanna try?"

"Nah, I don't play music . . . okay, maybe a little."

Julie laughed softly as she watched Alex stand and then point where Carlos should hit. To keep them from disappearing, she continued the piano. Luke kept up with his guitar, grinning at her all the while. Their little musical conversation didn't go unnoticed by Reggie and Alex, who shared a knowing glance before Carlos grabbed Alex's attention.

"Have you ever accidentally stabbed your drums through with the sticks?"

"No, and please do not do that. We have no idea what it costs to repair dead instruments."

Carlos handed the drumsticks back to Alex and hopped off the chair. He stood in front of Luke, who knelt down as Reggie had done.

"So. You're the one my sister has a crush on."

"Carlos!" Jullie yelled, standing up and slamming down about five wrong keys.

"It was nice meeting you," Carlos yelled as he fled the garage.

With her face burning, Julie chased him down.

Alex and Reggie did their best not to laugh. They really did. But the shell-shocked look on Luke's face was hilarious. Even the withering glare Luke sent them didn't help quieten their laughter.

Up in the house, Ray Molina thought he was about to witness a wrestling match. "Julie! What are you doing?"

Julie, who suddenly realised there was no way to explain why she was attacking Carlos without either sounding like a lunatic or exposing the phantoms to her father, slowly slid down to the ground.

Carlos sat up on the couch. "Julie has a crush on Luke! Julie has a crush on Luke! Julie has a--"

"Oh, that is it!"

Perplexed, Ray watched Julie spring back on the couch with a war cry, followed by a pained, "How could you say that in front of him?!"

"Who's Luke?"

Carlos, seemingly determined to ruin Julie's life, broke out from her seeking arms and grinned at Ray. "The beanie boy in her little boyband--"

"CARLOS!"

"Julie," Ray said, a playful warning edge creeping into his voice as he folded his arms, "is there something you want to talk about?"

"No! Not at all! Excuse me, I have to go, um, rehearse!"

"Rehearse?" Ray exchanged an amused grin with Carlos. "What for?"

"Uh, future gigs? You know, since we played the Orpheum, we might get like a ton of calls and -- oh, like this, see?" As Julie held up her phone, both Ray and Carlos saw Flynn's name, but both decided to give Julie a small reprieve. In the meantime, Carlos could fill Ray in about this little crush business.

"You are not going to believe what just happened," Julie said, taking the stairs two at a time. "I took Carlos down to the garage to meet the guys, you know, 'cause he figured them out and he wanted to meet them, but then he told Luke I have a crush on him and I ended up chasing Carlos back to the house 'cause I didn't want to stay in the garage with Luke -- and Alex and Reggie -- and then my dad caught us fighting on the couch and then Carlos told my dad that I have a crush on Luke and my life is over!"

Flynn took a moment to respond. "Well . . . it's not like he's wrong, is he?"

"Flynn!" The wail that Julie threw into her pillow as she face planted her bed was equal parts betrayed and mortified. "How am I supposed to show my face at practice now? Can I come and bury my head in the sand at your place?"

Flynn laughed over the phone. "Grow up, Jules. You turned Nick down for this air cutie. Nick. You made your choice, now live with it."

"Flynn," Julie growled.

"Okay, okay. Look, you have to talk about it at some point. There's no way you can have that kind of fire on stage without some mutual attraction, and that's just Luke and Reggie. Then there's Luke and you. Jules, that's not even a fire anymore. There is something serious between you two and even though I still think it's a bad idea because he's, you know, air, I still think you need to talk about it before the wrong thing blows up."

"I know," Julie sighed. "I can handle Luke -- I think. It's my dad I'm worried about. How do I explain it all without him wanting to take me to a shrink?"

"Don't tell him anything. Show him. Maybe with a little less flair than you did with me. Play him something soft. Like . . . wasn't your mom in a couple of bands when she was our age? Maybe he'd know one of her songs. Maybe if you guys played something of hers, he'll have enough of his head around him to know it's all real, but enough of it will be in the clouds that it'll be easy to explain."

Julie stared at her phone, at the contact photo she had of Flynn. "You are a genius."

"I know. So, I was just calling to ask how you're holding up, but I'm going to assume everything is fine and the guys didn't cross over?"

"Yeah, no, it was really weird. Caleb's curse just sort of . . . broke, I guess, after I hugged them."

"Wait, hold up. You hugged them? What was that like, arms hanging in the air and hoping you were touching?"

Julie sighed a happy sigh. "We have a lot to talk about."

"I'll be there for dinner, no excuses -- and I expect your dad to know what's going on by then."

Julie rolled over and muffled a groan of despair into her pillow.

"Rough day?"

"It's only ten," Julie whined, lifting her head to give Alex her sad eyes.

Alex smiled. "You'll be fine -- I mean with your dad thing. With Luke on the other hand. . ."

Julie faux sobbed into her pillow, eliciting a soft chuckle from Alex, who sat down on her bed. He reached out for her shoulder then quickly drew back. Ever since Julie left the garage last night, it had been on his mind -- on all their minds -- that the hug was a one-time thing. He didn't want to confirm their fears if they were right.

"Hey, it's okay, Jules."

Julie let out a strangled wail that took Alex a few seconds of clamping his mouth shut to avoid laughing at the poor girl.

"I'm serious. You know, Luke, he . . . he's not great with feelings. He talks with music, with songs, with lyrics. He says the most important things when he looks at you on stage or at a rehearsal or when you're writing music together. He's just scared. I mean, we all are, but him most."

Julie sat up, hugging her wail-pillow to her chest. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."

Alex shrugged. "All I'm saying is, give him a chance -- and give Carlos a break. Honestly, he might have just done you a favour."

"I cannot believe you're taking Carlos' side."

"I'm not! I'm not, I'm just -- things are already complicated. How much worse can they get?"

Julie sighed. "I don't know. . ."

"Well, it's not like Luke does either. He's locked himself in the bathroom and Reg and I think he's been crying in the bathtub this whole time. We'd phase through the door but Luke can actually hit us if he wants to so. . ."

"Oh, and you think I can't?" Julie teased.

The two shared an amused grin, but beneath it, both were thinking the same thing. What if she couldn't?

"All right, I'll tall to him. But you and Reggie have to leave."

Julie ventured into the empty garage. She looked around for Reggie and Alex, unsure if she was relieved or not when she didn't find them. Up in the loft, they watched Julie disappear as she headed further in towards the bathroom door.

She knocked gently. "Luke?"

Silence.

"Come on, I know you're in there. Alex says you've locked yourself in and won't come out."

"I'm not Luke."

"Okay, but I need to talk to Luke so can you pass on the message for me?"

"I'll let him know."

Julie smiled, finding Luke's behaviour somewhat amusing. She leaned against the door. "I'm sorry about Carlos, he . . . he just really enjoys embarrassing me in front of people. I guess he figured since you guys can't really speak to other people, you'll have to talk to me and we'll all have to confront whatever he said so that's why he picked you to tease and --" Julie broke off with a sigh.

The bathroom stayed silent.

"And I'm sorry for running out after him. I was just . . . I was afraid of what you'd say."

When Luke spoke again, though his voice was much softer, it was also much clearer. As if he were closer to the door. "Why? Was he . . . telling the truth? Did you say something?"

Julie fidgeted with the sleeves on her yellow jersey. "No, but I'm not exactly the most subtle person and if you haven't noticed, I suck at lying."

Luke laughed softly. "Oh, we noticed. Everyone knows you're a horrible liar."

"Thanks," Julie said with a grin, "I mean, I really just came here to affirm what a bad liar I am."

"Ooh, sarcastic too."

"Shut up."

"Well?" Luke said after a moment of silence. "Was he?"

Julie leaned against the door and sighed. "What does it matter? It's not like anything would come of it."

"It does matter, Jules. It -- it matters because -- well, I mean, you matter. To me."

"I know," Julie said softly, turning so that her back was against the door. "It sucks, doesn't it?"

"Not all of it sucks," Luke murmured from the other side of the door. "We could find a way. You've already done so much that no other lifer ever has, as far as anyone knows. Why stop there?"

Julie laughed. "Your ambition is very inspiring, Luke, but everything has a limit."

"So find that limit, then. You'll never know how high it is if you stop now."

Julie felt something brush her hand and glanced down to see Luke's arm phasing through the door. She wanted to reach for his hand but she was afraid she'd just pass through him. So she made a joke instead.

"You do realise that a floating arm is way more unsettling than anything else ghosts have ever done, right?"

"How's a floating head?" Luke asked, pulling his hand back and leaning forward. He gave Julie a grin. "That's always scary, right?"

"Stop it, that's weird."

Neither noticed that Julie had managed to make physical contact with Luke until after she'd shoved him back into the bathroom.

"If I come out there, are you going to poke me in the eyes again?"

"First of all, I didn't," Julie said, appreciating that Luke wasn't reacting with the panicked excitement she felt. "Second of all, I'll try not to."

"Okay, but if you do, I'm really going back into the bathtub."

Julie twisted her fingers and wrung her wrists and bounced nervously as she waited for Luke to step through the door.

"Can we try that again?" Luke asked, holding out both hands to her.

The scene felt vaguely familiar to Julie, and everything came crashing down when her hands passed through Luke's once and then twice.

"You're nervous," Luke said softly, "there's no need to be. You didn't think last time. You weren't nervous."

"I can't. I don't know what it is--"

"Yes, you do. You know it's not us doing anything. You're the one with all the magic, Jules."

Nervous but now confident, Julie tried once again. She thought she'd be able to walk on water whe she felt Luke's hands close around her own. The smile he gave her was the usual dopey look she always noticed him wearing around her.

"See? It's all you."

Julie squeezed his hands, almost like she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. "I like this," she murmured.

"Hey, Jules?"

"Yeah?"

Luke watched her eyes widen the tiniest bit as she gave him a questioning look. "Uh, do you -- about what Carlos said . . . We will talk about that, right?"

"Yes. I promise. Just . . . later?"

"Okay." Just the promise was enough for Luke. Besides, he could hold her, now. He could hold her hand, brush her hair out of her face, hug her. He could even flick her nose or tug her curls to annoy her, nudge her around when she didn't laugh at his jokes. And if -- he hoped she did -- but if she didn't feel the same way he did, then being able to be her best friend and just high five her now and then would still be enough. She wasn't just out of reach anymore.

Ayeeeee this just be sitting in my notes??? I found it like this??? All it needed was a title??? Speaking of, I might change that title and steal it for a sad fic oop

[roselen-mylady]

In Another Life

Bucky Barnes x reader ° part one

Waiting 88 years to find your soulmate? It was cruel. But it was a cruel fate Bucky would have to face whether he accepted it or not. Bucky was a tortured man all his life and he wasn't even granted the solace of having his soulmate at his side. All he had was the promise of one in another life.

They were separated by two different times.

But the pain in their lives were connected. Y/n had been alone ever since she could remember. All she could depend on was the soulmate that was destined to be at her side. Yet when the snap occured she lost him.

And Bucky never got to meet her.

32332 days, 1 hour, 6 minutes and 23 seconds. 

Surely that wasn't right. 

"What does it say, Buck?" Steve's voice cut through his confused daze. Bucky held out his right wrist letting Steve observe the outrageously long number of days his poor friend would have to wait. Steve's eyes widened and he took hold of Bucky's arm, trying to see for himself. 

Bucky had been too dazed to do the math but the alarming number caused him to fall into despair as he dropped his arm numbly. 

It was his 18th birthday and two minutes ago he had been just as excited as most people were during their coming of age. But as he stared at the countdown on his arm, watching as the seconds slowly ticked by, he couldn't help but feel hopeless. 

"That's like 80 years." Steve gasped, realizing after the fact that his statement probably wasn't the most helpful. Most people didn't even live to see 80, let alone wait that long for a soulmate. Was it some sick joke? Was he destined to be alone? 

Steve couldn't even find words to uplift his friend's spirits, making them fall into an upsetting silence. They sat there for a few minutes before Bucky stood from his chair with a soul crushing expression. 

"I think I'm gonna call it a day." He said, unsuccessfully hiding his tearful gaze. Steve stood reluctant to leave but Bucky was insistent. He was never one to be weak in front of others, especially not one he devoted his every waking moment to protecting.  

Unsurprisingly, the celebration between the two friends ended and Bucky managed to find himself alone for the rest of his birthday. What was supposed to be a joyous day had quickly soured as he mourned the loss of someone he hadn't even met. 

Did he do something wrong?

What made him deserve such a cruel fate? 

•••

It took years for Bucky to somewhat accept his countdown and he had developed a habit to cover it up. He was able to almost forget about it even if only for a while before he eventually needed to expose his wrist. It was a horrible feeling knowing he would most likely die before meeting his soulmate. Even with medical advances, the odds were against him. 

Steve found that while most days Bucky was alright and things seemed normal, he still had bad days. Steve tried his best to distract Bucky on these days and avoided the subject of soulmates all together even when his own countdown appeared. Of course Bucky had been able to force a smile and express his happiness for his friend but Steve knew it wasn't real. 

He wasn't sure when Bucky started to move on but he remembered it was sometime in their mid-twenties. He had been ecstatic upon hearing Bucky so cheerful after so long being depressed. But Bucky's methods weren't the best or healthy for that matter. 

Bucky had decided that even though he'd never find his soulmate, it didn't mean he had to be alone so he started to become a lady's man of sorts. Oh, how Steve wished he hadn't. 

He couldn't exactly object to his friend's behavior, it was fairly common for men to date the way he had and it wasn't like Bucky was inappropriate in his relationships. Yet rather selfishly, Steve hated the idea. He knew his friend's behavior was only a way of coping with his countdown but part of him still felt that Bucky's countdown meant something. The idea made Steve ashamed but he was a firm believer that fate and soulmates were definite and that Bucky would find her. 

Perhaps it was that guilt he felt that kept him from saying anything about it when Bucky appeared with a new girl on his arm each time. Eventually Steve grew used to being the tag along and any opposition he felt faded away. 

Once he was used to Bucky's flings he wondered why he didn't try to stick to one girl. He must've cared enough about at least one of them to want to start a real relationship. But he realized first hand why Bucky had made an effort not to get too close. 

"He's my soulmate, Bucky!" The girl shouted, throwing down the picture frame she had been holding. Steve flinched at the sound of shattering glass, feeling embarrassed to be caught in the middle of the couple's fight. Inside the frame had been a picture of Bucky and the woman smiling while holding one another. It was horribly ironic as Steve looked to his friend, his heart wrenching at the devastated expression on Bucky's face. 

"Soulmates are a lie! It's not fate! It's not destiny! It's some idiotic hoax we all let control our lives!" Bucky yelled back. The girl fumed at his comeback, her face clearly expressing her anger. 

Steve couldn't blame either side. People had been raised to believe that their soulmates were tied into their lives forever and whether the relationship was romantic or platonic you could never escape them. He couldn't wait to meet his own soulmate and start a life with her much like the poor girl before him wanted. But Steve knew that Bucky's situation was to blame for his resentfulness not because he actually believed what he said. 

Because what no one knew except him and Bucky was that before he got his countdown, Bucky wanted that life too. 

But it didn't stop her from grabbing her bag and storming off toward the door. "You're only saying that because you'll never meet yours!" She screamed, hitting him where she knew it would hurt most before slamming the door behind her. 

It was agonizing watching his friend let go of the one girl he actually wanted to stay. They were good together, Steve knew that much but the girl had found her soulmate and Bucky was helpless to stop her from throwing everything they had out the window. 

Bucky had gotten horribly drunk that night and Steve would forever remember his slurred words as he gave Steve a short and bitter piece of advice. 

"Soulmates only cause pain and suffering. Don't ever let yourself fall victim." Bucky choked, bringing the liquor bottle back to his lips before wiping his tear stained cheeks. 

Steve wanted to tell him it wasn't his soulmate's fault and not to blame her. It was the girl's own fault for so mercilessly ripping out his heart for another man. Soulmate or not it was heartless and yet Steve couldn't help but feel in a way it had been Bucky's soulmate who was to blame.

For the heartbreak he saw in Bucky's eyes that night weren't for the loss of his girlfriend. They were for the missing soulmate he knew he'd never find to complete him.  

•••

Shortly after that night, America entered the second World War and Bucky had enlisted as many men in his country had. 

"It's for our country." Bucky had explained rather patriotically and while Steve felt the same for his country, he couldn't help but feel that Bucky had only become involved as another distraction. 

Steve tried desperately to follow in his footsteps, his motivation split between his inherited patriotism and dedication to looking out for his friend as Bucky had for him. And after months of trying he got his wish in a more unconventional way, becoming the famous Captain America. 

Yet unbeknownst to Steve, tragedy had struck Bucky again overseas and he was captured after an unsuccessful attack in Azzano. Strangely the idea of dying hadn't seemed as terrifying to him as it had the others. Whenever he thought of his soulmate, his death came to his mind along with it and he was almost numb to the thought, as sick as that sounded. 

"Stop." Bucky begged, leaning his head against the cold metal bar. His plea had caught the attention of the others in the cell with him and they stared at him, thrown off by the statement. 

"What?" One of the men asked. Bucky rolled his head to the side lazily, looking at him. He knew he couldn't be mad at them for making conversation using the one thing they all had in common but he couldn't help it.��

"Stop with the soulmate talk." He said gruffly. He turned his head back, staring up at the grated hole above them. The men were silent at first trying to respect their Sergeant's request but one bold soldier found himself unable to leave it alone. 

"Would you care to talk about yours?" He questioned. Bucky shot him a short glare at his snide remark. It was a younger soldier, one Bucky had known wasn't one for rules but hadn't had too many problems with before then. 

"No." Bucky growled, trying to get the kid to back off. He was much too tired to deal with the arrogant young soldier but he knew the kid wouldn't stop there. 

"Why not? She dead or something?" He asked. The other men quickly snapped at him for his insensitivity but Bucky was already on his feet. The soldier watched carefully as Bucky paced over to him, a glint of fear in his eye as Bucky stood before him. 

As a leader he wasn't new to asserting authority among the soldiers and whipping some into shape. But in their circumstance he found he didn't have the will to do so, instead letting out a long sigh as the others stared at him. 

"No. But I will be." His voice was soft, just barely loud enough for those around him to hear. The soldier said nothing more to him even as Bucky volunteered himself to be taken away, sparing his soldiers even if only for one more day. 

The idea of soulmates had left Bucky bitter and he cursed the universe for having dealt him such a bad hand. Soulmates were supposed to give people hope, a reason to carry on in the miserable scheme of things. But he had been deprived of that from the beginning. 

He found that he could no longer fight the emptiness that had grown in his heart for years from the absence of his other half. So he warmly welcomed whatever HYDRA had planned. 

But rather than torture or death he was met with Steve, yet not the Steve he had left. No this Steve was much bigger and stronger and Bucky already knew he was never going to get used to it. Once escaping, Bucky soon came to learn of the supersoldier serum and how Steve was now America's hero. And it didn't take much convincing on Steve's part to get Bucky to join the Captain's team of men as they sought out and destroyed the HYDRA bases. 

Bucky would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy fighting alongside his friends as they took out a significant branch of the German forces. Unlike his soulmate, fighting the good fight gave him a purpose and he was able to finally accept his unfortunate countdown, no longer feeling anger or sadness toward it. He didn't really feel anything towards it. 

Or so he had thought. 

He allowed himself to share it with the others, something he had only done with Steve. It was rather entertaining listening to their brainstorming and for the first time he laughed about it. It was ironic laughing at his misfortune but he felt entitled to do so. 

"What if you meet her in the future?" One of them questioned suddenly. The statement had rattled him so much he hadn't even known which had suggested it. 

"What?" Bucky mumbled, stunned. The idea of meeting someone 78 years in the future had never even seemed possible to him and he certainly wouldn't have allowed himself to hope.

"What if you meet her in the future? I mean, if Steve can be a superhuman who's to say time travel isn't in the near future." Dum Dum added. 

Bucky fell silent, processing the words carefully. He didn't want to give himself hope in finding her but there was some logic behind his statement. What if fate hadn't meant for him to never meet her? What if it was just going to take a bit longer than most? 

And with that small bit of confirmation from his heart, for one blissful second he let his mind imagine her. 

He thought of the color of her eyes or the style of her hair. Did she like animals? Did she bite her nails? Was she funny? Did she like the snow? Could she dance? He almost smiled thinking about teaching her to waltz. 

Steve watched with anxious eyes as Bucky stared at the ground, his smile slowly fading as he thought more. 

Was she out there somewhere believing the same as he did? Did she feel lonely too? Did she think about him? Would she love him?

A part of him felt that she would. Even though he resented the idea of soulmates he knew he loved her more than he felt was rational. It was an indescribable feeling, loving someone you knew nothing about and he would've argued he didn't if he didn't feel so depressed by knowing he'd never meet her. He loved and mourned her all at once and he knew deep down she was the only one who would understand how that felt. He knew she would love him too even if the only thing connecting them was their mutual loss of one another. 

"I think we should call it a night." Steve announced, not wanting them to say anything else that might hurt Bucky. They agreed and walked off toward their tents with drunken giggles and taunts. Steve went with Bucky to his tent though it was a silent walk. They sat inside on his cot for a good while before Bucky built the nerve to speak. 

"Do you think she loves me?" Bucky questioned suddenly. Steve hesitated before replying, unsure whether to play into getting Bucky's hopes up. 

"Yeah. I think she does even if she doesn't know it yet." Steve answered truthfully. He couldn't help but hope for his friend's happiness. Even though it seemed impossible, it didn't stop him from believing that one day Bucky might find his soulmate. 

Bucky nodded keeping his eyes on the ground. Steve took that as his cue to leave and he gave Bucky a quiet goodnight before heading off to his own tent. 

Bucky fell asleep shortly after that but was abruptly awoken sometime in the early hours in a cold sweat. For the first time in years, he had a dream. It left him shaken to the core and before he could even process it, he had begun to cry.

In his dream, he saw the woman he had believed he'd never meet. By the time he had woken up he could only remember a blur of her but it was enough to give him hope that maybe, just maybe one day in another life he'd finally be able to see her. To hold her close and tell her how long he had been waiting for her. 

But even his new found desire to find the woman behind the face couldn't save him from his fate that cold, devastating day. 

•••

His time at HYDRA came back in dizzying fragments but he remembered them finding him at the bottom of the frozen canyon, blood trailing from his torn arm. He supposed they thought he was unconscious because they began their procedure right away. He felt every torturous second of having the remainder of his limb removed and replaced with a metal version. 

He must've finally slipped from consciousness because when he had come to, he had control of the arm and he instantly used it to choke the man closest to him. They drugged him to get him to stop and reluctantly his grip on the man loosened as his body went numb. 

He didn't know how long he had been frozen for or exactly when he was frozen again but he knew every time he came out of cryostatis, someone died. With being the new fist of HYDRA, he assassinated important figures who might oppose them and while most were still foggy to him, he vividly remembered killing Howard Stark and his wife. 

During the times he was out of the ice he struggled to remember who he was or what he was doing. He was a soldier and every part of his identity had been scrubbed clean from his mind. But there was one part of him they could never erase and he recalled staring at the countdown every chance he got. He supposed it was the only piece of himself he had to hold onto and though he couldn't remember what the numbers had been the last time he was thawed it still gave him hope that he had a purpose other than to kill. 

"How many years are in 23,725 days?" He had questioned someone numbly. The HYDRA scientist closest to him had taken pity on him, answering his question quietly as to avoid getting in trouble. 

"About 65 years." They said shortly. He nodded silently, not even noticing as someone stormed into the room making the scientist cower knowing he'd done something he shouldn't have. 

However Bucky had been so satisfied with the answer he didn't even fight as they shoved the rubber piece into his mouth and forced him back. Those simple numbers were the reason he was thrown into the blender so often but it didn't stop him from asking whenever he got the chance. 

Of course no one answered him, not after what had happened to the last guy but even his simple curiosity was enough for them to tear apart his mind like a discarded puzzle that needed to go back in the box. Even years after being freed of HYDRA he couldn't remember most of the things they had done to him. 

It went on like that for decades and sometime during that he stopped asking about his countdown, finally becoming the mindless soldier they desired. Not even the idea of his soulmate could remind him that he was human and he hadn't questioned their cause for a long time. That was until Steve came along.  

Reminding Bucky of who he was wasn't an easy process, most attempts ending with him becoming hostile, even feral due to years of brainwashing. But soon the memories became too strong and even frequent brainwashing wasn't able to stop him from remembering parts of his past life. And after his final fight with Steve he realized staying with HYDRA was no longer an option but neither was going with Steve.  

So he went underground, trying to protect both himself and everyone around him. It was only a matter of time before Steve found him again, leading to the catastrophic fight between Avengers at that Berlin airport. After the final fight between Steve and Tony he realized the only way to keep Steve and everyone else safe was to go back to cryostasis. Thankfully Wakanda had supplied a way for him to do this, though Steve was naturally reluctant. 

"You sure about this?" Steve questioned. Bucky smiled, having never been more sure of anything. 

"I can't trust my own mind. So, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head I think going back under is the best thing...for everybody." He sighed, looking down, guilt washing over him. He had done so many terrible things, most of which he didn't even remember. He couldn't inflict himself on the world again. 

"Besides, maybe when I wake up my soulmate will be waiting for me." He offered with a playful shrug. Steve laughed, putting his hand on Bucky's shoulder. 

"Yeah, well if she is, chew her out for keeping you waiting for so long." Steve replied. Bucky laughed, shaking his head. He remembered the hate he once felt for soulmates but whether it be his fragile mind or just the fact that the numbers on his wrist were almost normal looking, he no longer felt angry. 

Instead he felt something he hadn't felt in a really long time. 

He felt optimistic. 

"She'll be worth the wait." 

•••

He was taken out again once his mind and arm had finally healed enough for him to feel like himself again. Unfortunately his soulmate hadn't been waiting for him when he woke up but he was content with waiting a little longer. And with the help of Shuri he made a life of farming and solitude in Wakanda while he did so.

Much of his time out in the green fields were spent allowing his mind to run wild about her. He had never let himself become excited about his soulmate since it seemed so hopeless before but now his wrist wore a more plausible countdown. Looking forward to it was justified and even expected now that he was so close. 

The numbers had decreased drastically in the 73 years his mind had been lost and it now read a fair number of 1825 days. Once showing Shuri the countdown she calculated the exact second he'd meet his fated soulmate but he could only remember it was sometime in October of 2023. While the year sounded like something out of a book he realized he had actually lived to 2018. The impossible thing he had told himself he'd never be able to witness was only 5 years away and he felt euphoric knowing he only had to wait a little bit longer to meet her. 

But his happiness didn't last long for the King of Wakanda himself came to Bucky with a new arm. He already knew what T'Challa would ask of him and he sighed, looking down at the black Vibranium arm likely made for him by Shuri. 

"Where's the fight?" He questioned, resignation clear in his tone. A part of him had known things were too good and that something would happen to change that but he had naively wished it would happen after finally meeting his soulmate. 

But the universe had planned to make him suffer one more time and he was woefully incapable of fighting it this time. 

•••

The battle against Thanos's forces had been harder and crazier than any fight he'd been a part of before. He hadn't even grown used to the advanced technology Wakanda contained and yet there he was fighting aliens alongside a talking raccoon. His years of being a soldier of HYDRA came in handy as he held his own against the horrible monsters that invaded the once peaceful land of Wakanda. 

And when Thanos had been hit in the chest with the ax that was larger than life, he found he was relieved. In that short moment he decided this would be his last fight and that he would dedicate every moment from that point forward to finding his soulmate once and for all. 

He didn't care if he had to spend the remaining years searching the far corners of the world. He would find her. 

But he hadn't realized how far things were from over until the snap. 

Tragedy struck Bucky one more time that day, only he hadn't been around to witness it. He was the first of many to be taken from the world at the hands of Thanos. 

But the countdown continued.  

Part two

[derireo]

Wilting Lotus / CH. 3

Flashback Three: The Guardian Angels to a Glutton

Coming together to create theories of why this all happened in the first place, Izumi learns a couple things or two about the men that saved her that night.

「 Read it on AO3 」 「 2.7k words 」

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　-: ✧ :-゜・．

Izumi was in the middle of eating a snack when Itaru and the stranger came back to her room, causing a slight ruckus as the door was violently swung upon. The door handle slammed into the wall, resulting in a faint cracking noise that startled Itaru and Izumi, and they quickly glanced at the man who was in the middle of readjusting his tie.

Quietly, Itaru slinked around and checked the wall where the door hit, and did his best to keep his face neutral so that the man wouldn't know that there was a huge ass hole in the dry partition.

Izumi was kind of glad she asked the guards to stay outside otherwise one of them would've died on the spot.

The young blond held a finger to his lips when she glanced his way, causing her to hide her smile behind the treat she was eating as the man in the glasses went to sit down in the chair by her bed.

Slowly, her smile faded away when the stranger caught her attention just by sitting there, hands falling to her lap to show respect while doing her best to swallow the rest of the food that was in her mouth.

The drip of the IV was the only sound in the room, and the way the silence permeated throughout had Izumi clenching her fingers. The man that sat in Itaru's former spot was sitting with his leg crossed over the other, and he was staring at her in thought while he pinched his lower lip between his fingers; as if wondering about what he should do with her.

Helpless, Izumi looked over at Itaru who was also doing the same thing by the wall he broke, his eyes squinting at her.

"Guo Dian and Li Xiahouji, huh?" The stranger pondered under his breath, but peered straight into Izumi's eyes. His irises were a light purple, but with how intense his stare was it looked menacingly dark. The young woman frowned.

Izumi nodded at the mention of the familiar names and felt her heart squeeze painfully tight. She kept her lips sealed to prevent the two men in the room from hearing her strained voice, and instead weakly lifted her arm to motion for the man to continue.

"They've fled to the outskirts of the city; too far for the cops to reach and definitely too far for us." He informed, and mirrored the frown that was on Izumi's face. They had moved so fast that even Itaru was surprised when they first received the news– it looked like they started heading out not too long after the men found her in that alleyway.

The news was disheartening enough to make Izumi slump in her bed despite her injuries screaming at her to be careful. She cringed at the sharp pain that stabbed her in the side, and the ache in her lower back as the man by her bed watched on in silence, going back to his wondering state.

"Do you have any idea why this happened?" Itaru wondered aloud and kicked the door to the room closed, stepping to the side to hide the hole that was still there in the wall. He was also frowning, puzzled by the unusual act of unorganised crime.

Izumi shook her head. "Not any good ones."

Both men sighed in slight exasperation and looked at each other with a shrug, their lips pursed. They didn't know much about Guo Dian and Li Xiahouji despite their notorious monikers and how they moved in clubs, and for some reason whenever they looked deeper to latch onto something, only Izumi's name and information would show up.

Itaru couldn't wrap his head around it. He had no idea how they were able to hide everything about them that was important for their search.

› Tachibana, Izumi.

› 21, Freelancer.

› Originally residing in Ki Village, now lives in Yunliong City in pursuit of a man named [ REDACTED ].

› Head of a small notorious group called Hanbei.

› Only connections in city are two others, Dian, Guo & Li, Xiahouji.

› Dian, Guo.

› 23, Part-Time Tutor, Freelancer.

› Permanent resident of Yunliong. Former resident of [ CONFIDENTIAL ] and [ CONFIDENTIAL ].

› Reason for coming to the city: UNKNOWN

› [ REDACTED ]

› Has connections with [ CONFIDENTIAL ], [ REDACTED ].

› Li, Xiahouji.

› 22, [ BLANK ]

› Permanent resident of Yunliong. Former resident of [ CONFIDENTIAL ] and [ CONFIDENTIAL ]

› [ REDACTED ]

› Reason for coming to the city: UNKNOWN

› Has connections with [ CONFIDENTIAL ] and [ CONFIDENTIAL ].

Deep down, they knew that one of those two had something against her. With all of their presumed locations classified or removed, there was no way they would be able to find that duo so easily. Despite having the power of this city, the government only saw them as a nuisance, and never acknowledged them so they had no chance of getting their help.

Gently biting into his thumb, Itaru glared at the back of the other man's head in thought, his arm curled around his waist while he leaned against the wall to rest.

"Don't you think they were just using her, Sakyo?" The young blond asked, curious. If he took a look back at their files, he'd see the name Hanbei, and the place she used to live. She was also said to be in pursuit of a man whose name is redacted on the document, and her only connections were Guo Dian and Xiahouji, whose files were mainly wiped out or not available to the public.

The man in the glasses, Sakyo, turned his head halfway to send a sidelong glance at Itaru who was still biting at his thumb, eyebrows furrowed as he stared back.

"We know Hanbei. We've seen those three at clubs many times already," Itaru frowned, "and as much as her file wants to say that she was the leader of them – we never saw her do anything other than drink and be left alone by those two."

Offended by the accurate observation from Itaru, Izumi stayed silent and huffily crossed her arms over her chest, doing her best to ignore the searing pain that burnt through her body as she agitated her injuries.

Sakyo's steely eyes flickered back to her as he stood up to press a button that was above her bed, going back to sitting after the light flashed red.

"It doesn't make sense to me why they tried to kill her though." The older man rumbled lowly. His sharp gaze stayed on Izumi as she sighed, and he watched as she looked at him with a soft frown on her face, uncrossing her arms and resting her hands in her lap.

"I don't know how I got mixed up in this," she murmured, picking at her hospital gown, "but maybe they're planning something and I was the diversion?"

"That is exactly what I had in mind." Itaru wagged his finger lazily and pushed himself off the wall to stand beside Sakyo, who was mulling over the idea. Itaru's kimono shook violently as he slapped a hand onto the pondering man's shoulder, earning him an icy glare that he happily ignored. "Her 'death' gave them an excuse to escape because they have no 'leader'. They are definitely planning something." He complained and shook Sakyo's frame.

With a strong grip, the stoic man held onto Itaru's hand with a crease popping up between his eyebrows, nearly throwing the younger man off of him before smoothing his hand down the lapel of his coat.

"They could have easily left the city without trying to kill her." Sakyo argued, checking his watch to how long it had been since he pressed the assistance button. "It seems either one or both of them didn't want you in the picture at all." He said, finally addressing Izumi.

The young woman scoffed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. There was no reason to be so rude to Sakyo anyways when she's mostly upset at the fact that her former boyfriend and friend decided to just off her. What the fuck?

"Obviously, considering they were doing this behind my back."

Her sullen expression made Itaru frown in sympathy, and he bumped Sakyo to the side so that he could sit down on the armrest that he wasn't using, arms going back to crossing over his chest.

She really had the short end of the stick and to be fairly honest, Sakyo and Itaru both immediately knew who she was when they found her in the alleyway. They had been keeping their eyes on her two years after she came to the city due to the request of a former member of their gang, but never approached her. They watched as she hung out with her friends at the clubs, and had others trail her during the day to see she made it home okay.

But they never saw this coming; meeting her in that alleyway. The only thing they knew was that they had a bad feeling about the two who were around her, and noticed that there was something off-kilter about that relationship with the other girl.

It was also quite obvious that there was a side thing happening between her and Izumi's boyfriend, but it looked like their girl was a little too dense to even notice.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, how do you feel about moving abroad for a little while after you've recovered?" Itaru asked and clapped his hands together with a sharp smile, head tilted as he watched an expression between confusion and shock took place on Izumi's face. The question was out of the blue and all too sudden; it had Sakyo sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose between his index and thumb.

"I don't.. really have enough money to do that." She murmured sheepishly, cheeks burning. As much as she'd like to go and travel overseas, her humble education and difficulty with finding a stable job prevented her from earning enough. Sure, there was also the variable that she partied a lot with her friends which resulted in a lot of money going down the drain, but she at least had enough to pay rent on time.

Both Sakyo and Itaru eyed each other before turning back to Izumi who was avoiding their gazes, and both men shrugged their shoulders indifferently.

"We'll take care of expenses." Sakyo flicked off an imaginary piece of lint from his pants while Itaru nodded enthusiastically at the offer (statement, really). "All you have to do is stay safe, and we'll pay for everything you need."

It was curious -- having two of these men offer her a way out of the country while not knowing who they were. Her quizzical gaze switched between the two of them as she tried to muster up the courage to ask why they were giving her a chance to leave, and who they were to so easily pay for her travels. She again picked at her gown and looked away, still unsure of whether to accept or decline their offer.

Itaru harrumphed, obviously amused once he picked up the awkward feeling she was giving off.

"You do know the names Itaru Chigasaki and Sakyo Furuichi, right? He teased gently. It was a bit silly to be asking, but when he revealed his name to Izumi a few hours prior, the weight of it didn't seem to sink into her brain, and neither when he called for Sakyo did she pause and think.

"Presumably they're your names." She answered, much to their amusement. Itaru covered a smile behind his hand while Sakyo turned his head to the side to hide the corner of his mouth tilting up, much to Izumi's annoyance. She really wished they would just get to the point with these things, honestly.

"You're correct," Itaru said, muffled behind his hand as he tried not to giggle, "and do you know what is under those names?"

Izumi nearly threw her hands up in the air out of frustration, but held herself back. The stab wounds on her body were still fresh and she probably reopened them earlier with her childish arm cross, so she bit her lip instead and scrunched her nose in distaste to show Itaru that she wasn't amused.

Sakyo's hand jumped up to hit Itaru square in the back of the head causing a loud thunk to be heard, causing Izumi to choke on a laugh. The young blond almost flew off the chair.

"Ugh, jeez. Fine. You two are no fun." He muttered under his breath with slouched shoulders and tried to soothe the ache that spread through his head.

"We run Heaven on Earth, Silly. These clubs and pleasure districts you're always going to? They're ours." He chuckled and obnoxiously held his arms out in a show-off gesture, causing Sakyo to roll his eyes as Izumi paused in her tiny giggle fest, her eyebrows furrowing together in shock as she looked between the two men that sat in front of her.

"Uh? I don't think I should be receiving help from you guys then--" She started, but was quickly cut off by Itaru who shushed her by holding a finger to his lips and shaking his head, his eyes closing. The corners of his mouth were twitching up into a smile as he willed his heart to stay calm. He didn't really want to mention that person, but it may be the only thing that convinces her to agree.

"Someone who used to be close to us requested a long while back that we look after you, and that's what we're doing. Wouldn't it be terrible of us if we broke that promise when all this has happened already?"

It was obvious with the tone in his voice that he was trying to persuade her into agreeing, but with how he pouted as his yellow tinted circle shades slid down his nose, Izumi found it difficult to resist. It also made her curious as to who would be looking after her. She's been in Yunliong for only three years, and she barely made any new friends; let alone acquaintances.

Izumi sighed, slumping back into her bed with a resigned nod. "Alright."

"Great! You'll leave once you're fully recovered, so make sure you take care of yourself!" He badgered. "I want to teach you a few self-defence things before you go though, so leave your schedule open for me." He batted his eyelashes prettily.

Sakyo and Izumi cringed at the display of shameless cuteness and looked at each other silently, somehow having a conversation with just their stares while Itaru tilted his head dumbly, his smile still etched onto his face. After a few seconds of staring, Izumi quietly burst into laughter as the older man's lips twitched, and he made a move to stand up from his seat just as a nurse had carefully slipped into the room with a new roll of gauze and alcohol.

"You'll also learn how to hold a gun, so rest well." He murmured gently, reaching over the hospital bed's barrier to pet Izumi's messy hair. "I don't know how dangerous your friends are and how far their reach is. I'm not willing to risk anything." He continued and absently brushed his fingers down her face to pinch her squishy cheek between his fingers, causing the girl to grumble at the sudden affection between them.

"We'll come back to visit again when we're not busy!" Itaru said enthusiastically and stood up from his spot on the arm rest, not minding when Sakyo bumped into him as he turned away. His shades dimly glared in the light as he bent down to print a cheeky kiss to her temple, but Sakyo swiftly grabbed him by the collar to tug him away from her, giving the nurse space to help the young girl up from her resting position.

Izumi sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth as sparks of pain flew throughout her body, but still managed to wave at the two men as they headed towards the door, receiving help from the nurse to lift up her gown to tend to the wounds that she had reopened.

"See you." She spoke softly, which earned her a wave from Itaru and a nod from Sakyo as they closed the door behind them.

And thank goodness Sakyo didn't notice the hole in the wall.

[jising-jisang-jisung]

Truth or Dare | Kim Seungmin

Genre: fluff

Word count: 1.9k

A/n: hi I did this instead of everything else I was supposed to do and I think it's really cute and I love Seungmin and I hope you like it

"Cmon y/n, when will you confess to Seungmin?" Your friend, Kate taunted you again. She has been on your case ever since you filled her in on your little crush. She only knows that you've liked him since freshman year, but really it's been since like 7th grade. "It's senior year, what's the worst that could happen if you confess? You move away in a few months and never have to experience the awkwardness of seeing each other everyday? How awful." You don't laugh at her joke, so Kate takes that as a sign that it's time to change the subject. "Well, yknow how my birthday is in like 2 weeks. My mom is letting me have a party with my friends and she won't even have to be there to supervise. Since I'll be an adult and all!" She emphasizes adult as if being 18 suddenly makes her mature.

"Sounds great, Kate," you rhyme. You're hardly paying attention because something, or rather someone, caught your attention. "I'll see you after class," and then you're off to math while Kate had biology. She definitely noticed how hard you were staring at Seungmin while she was talking with you. Of course, you know nothing of what's to come.

~

"Hey! Felix!"

"What's up, Kate?" Felix was friends with Seungmin and some other boys. He also tended to be seen with Kate. Most people just assumed they were dating, and maybe they were, not even they know for sure.

"I'm having a birthday party next weekend and you and your friends are invited! Especially Seungmin." She adds a wink with the last statement.

"Will Miss y/n be there?"

"Of course. Why do you think I'm specifying for Seungmin?"

"It's so painfully obvious that he likes her so why can't he make a move already?!"

"Y/n is no different," Kate admits. "That's why I have a plan."

~

"H-hey y/n, " Seungmin stutters as he sits in his seat next to you.

"Oh, hi," you manage to reply, blush evident throughout your face.

"Um, did you get number 27 on the homework? I was super confused."

"Yeah, the equation for that one is different than the others because..." you explained the concept to Seungmin while he stared at your face unbeknownst to you. "Does that make sense?"

"Yes. I get it now!" He smiles and you actually die. You caught a glance at his homework to see number 27 done correctly but you were to affected by his smile to put two and two together.

~

All the days seemed to be same, passing by until it was finally Kate's birthday party. Obviously you went super early to help her set up. There was no alcohol allowed since her mom said she would let her throw it all by herself under that one condition, not that Kate would ever underage drink anyway we are good children here.

Kate left to answer the door as you pulled some cookies out of the oven. "Kate! Happy birthday!" You heard Felix's voice ring through the entryway. You weren't surprised she invited him, but then you heard more voices.

"Your house looks really nice."

"Happy birthday, Kate."

"Where should I put this gift?" Your eyes widened. You could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Kate! Can you come here for a moment?" You shouted for her.

"What's up, buttercup? Are the cookies okay?"

"I can't believe you invited Seungmin. Bro, I thought we were cool." You overreacted.

"Chill, y/n, all his friends are here, along with our friends. There's so many people, don't even worry about it." She tries to reassure you.

"Well... do I at least look okay?" You ask shyly.

"Look fine to me." You jump at the boy's voice. "But I suppose I'm not the one you want to look good for."

"Jisung, you scared the crap out of me," Kate smiles as you nearly died of embarrassment. Had he heard your whole conversation?

"No. Only the last part." He answers. It's only then that you realize you asked that out loud. You face palmed with bright red cheeks as more boys filed into the kitchen.

~

"Now that everyone is here, let's get this party started!" Kate announces as she turns on some speakers and blasts some upbeat music. She and Felix dance on the coffee table while everyone else is jumping around on the couches and dancing on the floor. The mess of people was starting to become overwhelming when you felt someone push you from behind. Unluckily, you fell directly into Seungmin's arms.

"Wow. Falling for me this early in the night. I hate to say I'm not surprised, y/n," Seungmin says in a low tone. "I'm just kidding," he quickly adds when he sees your eyes bulging out of your head.

"Oh, yeah. Right! Haha! So sorry I fell into you. There are so many people."

"Since I have you here, wanna dance?" He smiles again. How could anyone say no to his perfect smile?

"I'm sorry what was that?" He looks confused, like a puppy.

"I said yes!" You lie trying to cover up your thoughts that you must've spoken out loud, again. You and Seungmin begin to jump around, laughing. Kate gives you a knowing look which you return with a glare. Little did you know Felix and Seungmin were in the same boat.

~

"What else do you have planned?" Felix asks sounding very rehearsed.

"Hmm. Why don't we play truth or dare?!" Kate suggests. That was not on the schedule you had for the night's events. You knew something bad was going to happen when Kate smiled your way.

Everyone sat criss cross applesauce in a circle and Jisung volunteered to start. "Minho, truth or dare?"

"Dare." The boy responds with a brave look in his eye.

"I dare you to," he pauses, thinking of something good, "do a sexy dance for everyone."

"Pff. Okay." Minho continues to grind on the ground, not minding the looks he's getting at all. In fact, Jisung had to stop him, because it was getting too out of hand too quickly.

"I didn't dare you to strip, MinHOE!"

"Whatever, you know you liked it," he teased back. "Hmm let's see. Kate, truth or dare?"

"Uh, I'll pick truth."

"Do you like Felix?"

She furrows her eyebrows together, looking confused. "Felix and I are dating. So, to clarify, yes I like him very much." Everyone is so lost as to how they hadn't known that the two were official. I mean, y'all obviously could see that they liked each other duh. "Felix, truth or dare?"

"Dare." He adds a wink to Kate.

"I dare you to kiss me." The crowd shouts a bunch of ews and grosses as Felix briefly pecks Kate's lips.

He turns to Seungmin with a devilish look. "Seungmin, truth or dare?"

He must not have been paying attention yeah cuz he was admiring you face again whore because he is completely oblivious to the grin on Felix's face right now. "Why not? Dare."

"I dare you to kiss y/n" Felix sticks his tongue out at Seungmin as everyone turns to look at you. You tried so hard to keep your face from looking like a tomato but you knew it was no use. Seungmin gulped as he stared at you.

"I- I can't." His words made you frown without thinking. "Y/n, should have a say in this too. I can't just kiss her without her consent," he elaborates.

"Fine then," Felix speaks again. "I dare you to go up to Kate's room alone with y/n. Anything you two might do in there is all up to both of your consents." Felix smirks at you and then back to Seungmin. You both kept eye contact as you stood to head to your friend's bedroom. There were lots of hoots and hollers following you two as you made your way up the stairs with faces painted with crimson shades.

~

You both sat on Kate's bed. You face was on fire even more now because he was so close. When I mean close,, like your legs were nearly /touching/. And you can't handle being so /close/ to your big phat crush. However, the feeling seemed somewhat mutual for Seungmin.

"Do you like me?" You squeaked out. It was completely random and Seungmin even flinched slightly at the sound of your voice.

"..." the boy stayed silent and you refused to meet his gaze.

"ohmygosh that was so rude of me to just ask. I'm sorry. Just forget I said anything." You began to get up to walk away when he grabbed your wrist.

"Do you- like me?"

"..." it was your turn to mimick the silence you'd not heard moments earlier.

"Did we both not say anything for the same reason?" You opened your mouth to respond when the door opened, revealing Jeongin.

"I was told to come make sure you two weren't doing anything," he narrows his eyes on Seungmin, "gross." You both sat there like deer in head lights. Jeongin looked at your hand and then back at Seungmin. You hadn't noticed that Seungmin's and your pinkies had been laced until Jeongin's judgy stare pointed it out. "Also, you are both welcome to rejoin the party." The younger boy smiled and walked back down the stairs without a care in the world.

~

"Wow look who's back," Jisung announced. "You two didn't have too much fun did you?"

"Don't be icky!" Jeongin defended you. "They weren't even talking to one another when I walked in. But- they were basically holding hands!"

"Not true! He's lying!" Seungmin shouts back. You laugh, looking down to see that you, in fact still had your pinkies intertwined. You broke away and returned to your seat to continue the game.

"Anyway, it's my turn," Hyunjin claims. "Seungmin, truth or dare?"

"Me already again?" He looks a bit freaked out before taking a breath and choosing, "truth."

"Wrong choice, buddy. Do you like y/n?"

He makes deliberate eye contact with you as he answers the question. "Yes. Y/n, pick truth."

"Truth." Everything was happening so quick, you didn't have time to react to what Seungmin was even saying before you responded.

"Do I have your consent this time?" It took a moment for you to figure out what he meant. When you put together that he was asking if he could kiss you, you shook your head quickly. He wasted no time before softly pressing his lips to yours. They were sweet like honey and warm and soft and you thought you could get lost in the moment forever. That is, until he pulled away. It was much to soon for your liking, until you remembered where you were. You both looked around to see everyone's jaws dropped in shock. You timidly smiled and your friends began to cheer. They were soon followed by Seungmin's friends screaming, Jeongin in particular.

Needless to say, you remember very little of what happened after that moment at the party. All you do know is that your friends set you up and Seungmin's friends set him up and now you two are in love. Senior year sure was going to be interesting.

[the-daily-multi-fandom-post]

Klaus and Elijah mikealson’s friend?

Part 2 of ?

**Summary: Y/n was as normal as she could be. Other then the fact of her being a witch and a Petrova doppleganger. But y/n didn’t know about her being a Doppleganger until her first day at her new school where trouble came walking in. And being kidnapped. Little after that she’s running around like a chicken with its head cut off ( sorry I’m really southern it’s a thing I say) because two original vampires are after her. **

Flash backs are in italic

**Warnings: angst, cussing? **

After a three hour drive, you had finally pulled up infront of the old lake house. The lake house was really old. Your mom inherited the cabin from her great grandparents and kept it up to date ever since.

Walking up to the house with your duffel bag on your shoulder. You opened the wooden door with your key. You walked into the house laying the key into the key rack and searched for the light switch. Dragging your hand on the light grey colored walls you found it. Flicking the light switch on you saw the dust from the unkept house. “Home sweet home.” You said with a smile laying the duffel bag on the leather sofa and looked around.

You walked around getting use to the feeling and memories of being there. Walking around the living room you picked up the black picture frame and looked at it. It was a picture of you, your mom and dad smiling happily.

“_Alright sweetie smile.” Y/m/n said as she tried to take a picture of you and your dad on the fishing dock. You had just caught a nice sized cat fish and your mom was trying to capture the moment with a picture but your smiling five year old self wasn’t having it. Smiling at your dad excited your started to look up and he looked at you with a smile. “Good job, kiddo. You did good.” He said as he rubbed your head making your (hair color) hair stick up everywhere. “ Alright time to go in.” Y/d/n said after he released the cat fish off the line. “Can we just stay out a little longer, please?” You asked trying your best puppy dog face. You dad looked down at you then towards you mom. “No, uh uh. Nope I’m not having a say in this. It’s between you two.” She said grabbing her camera and walking towards the cabin. “Five minutes buttercup.” _

You were pulled out of your memories by the sound of a knock at the door. Placing the picture frame back into its place on the end table. Y/n slowly walked towards the door. Not forgetting to grab her knife from her boot.

Walking towards the door she looked out the small peek hole and saw a young man standing there. He had brown hair, brown eyes and a bit younger than her. Carefully she placed her knife back into her boot and slowly opened the door.

“Hi, umm.. I’m sorry to be bothering you. My names Jeremy. My car broke down. And my phones dead. Can I come in and borrow yours?” Jeremy asked looking at the girl who was a dead ringer for his sister. You looked at the boy and thought. ‘Maybe He was working with the originals.’ ‘He might be trying to kill me.’ ‘What if he’s some physco murderer, coming here to murder me.’ That’s all you could think about until your thoughts were cut if by a phone ringing. It was your house phone. Looking at the boy then inside.

Moving to the side you let him in, not saying a word. He walked in clearing the thought of him being a vampire. You walked over to the phone and picked it up. “Hello?” You asked into the phone looking at the boy who you had just let into the house. “Is this y/n?” A girl voice asked into the phone. “Yes it is, who is this?” You asked turning your back on Jeremy for just one second. “Turn around.” The voice said. Turning around you looked at Jeremy who seemed to be unsettled from the situation. “Sorry.” He said right before he grabbed a gun from he side and tried to hit you with the back of it. Being faster than him you dodged it right in time and he fell fowards.

“Y/n!” A voice said from the front door. You looked up seeing Elena there standing beside Damon and his little brother Stefan. Damon and Stefan looked angry, while Elena looked scared. “Look you don’t want to hurt him. We can talk about this.” Elena says as she watched you take the knife from your boot and hold it against Jeremy’s neck. “Why not, you guys were about to do god knows what to me.” You said looking at Elena holding Jeremy still with the knife slightly cutting into his neck. “Look y/n, we came here the wrong way.” Stefan said as he looked at you with a small smile. “We just need to talk. No one here needs to get hurt.” He said as he held is hands up in surrender. “The thing is I don’t trust vampires like you. You and Damon can’t get in here. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t put Elena in danger by letting her in here without you at here side.” You said looking at the Salvatore brothers. You were about to say something when you heard something in the kitchen. “Look, I don’t want to kill him and I sure as hell don’t want to be in any kind of trouble with fucking blood suckers. So I will let Jeremy go. As long as you get the hell away from here.” You said slowly putting the knife down. It looked like Elena was about to say something when everything went black. “Great, I got blood on my shirt.” Kathrine said as she looked at you. Your head was bleeding since she hit you over the head with a fire pocker. “You didn’t have to do that.” Jeremy said as he watched the blood start going to the floor. “How did you get in there any way?” Stefan asked looking at Kathrine. Kathrine rolled her eyes and pointed behind the Salvatore brothers and Elena where y/m/n stood. “Is she compelled?” Elena asked as she watched y/m/n stand there like a zombie. “Yeah, but it didn’t hurt anyone. Well other than her.” Kathrine said as she lightly kicked your arm.

-Time skip-

“Ah look you brought her just in time.” Klaus said as he watched Damon carry you into the mikealson household. “She is here just as you asked. Our deal is done. Elena doesn’t have to be hurt.” Stefan said as he watched Damon lay you onto the flowery sofa. “Yes, you have brought me the Doppleganger. You are free to go. But I would like to say.” Klaus started looking at the two brothers. “If for some reason this doesn’t work and your for some reason protecting the girl. I will not hesitate to come for Elena.” Klaus said with a smile. “Have a good night, gentlemen.” Elijah said with a smile. Damon and Stefan nodded leaving and Klaus looked at Elijah with a smile. “Brother, what are you doing here?” He asked with a smile. “You know why I am here. You have everything you need correct?” he asked as he looked at his brother with a smile. “ Of course I have everything I need;  the moonstone, A witch, a vampire, a werewolf, and last but surely not least the doppelgänger.” Klaus listed off right before a groan was heard coming from your mouth. 

“Oh look who’s awake.” Klaus said with a smile. “Drink this.” Elijah said as he handed her some type of potion that was a deep red color. “What is it?” You asked not trying to push anyone's buttons. “This is a potion that will keep you alive after the ritual.” Elijah said offering you a smile. “So your gonna kill me than bring me back to life?” You asked looking at the two brothers. Klaus looked at his brother with a smile an than to you. “We are doing a spell that will take my curse away. After a while you will be back to life.” Klaus explained as he sat down beside the brown headed girl, with puppy brown eyes. “Has anyone told you that you have the brightest brown eyes?” Klaus asked with a smile as he looked at Your brown eyes. Blushing you looked down and your heart started to beat really fast. “You made her nervous Nik. That’s not very nice.” Rebekah said as she walked down the stairs of the house. “I didn't try to. I was just simply flirting.” He said with a smile. “Well anyway, I need to get going. I have to get everything set up for tonight. I will see you soon, love.” Klaus said. With a kiss to your forehead he left, leaving you a blushing mess. “ I believe someone has a crush.” Rebekah said as she sat beside You. “I must say, your brother is quite the catch.” You said with a smile on your face. “Well I must go. I need to make sure Niklaus isn't killing anyone. I will see you tonight.” Elijah said, leaving a kiss on Your knuckles leaving with a smile. “This is history repeating.” Rebekah said with a smile. “what?” You asked looking at her with a confused look on your face as she had a smile on hers. 

[hadesrebelofadaughter]

A Sisterly Chat

I gave myself sister feels and I may have written a thing. I get family feels a lot for Jess and her bunch.

Also! Some folks are gonna be tagged as their characters are mentioned in this.

Jess and Eden had gotten. . .better, or at least had gotten to the point where they could sit near each other in silence without them devolving into an argument. They even chatted about music sometimes. It was a slow thing but Jess understood Eden's anger all too well and she didn't want to push her sister too hard, she remembered how much she used to hate it when people did that. Poked and prodded at things she didn't think was their business even when they were just trying to help.

Eden was stubborn but that seemed to be a Hades kids trait- as Jess was learning, all of their siblings were like that- not just an Eden thing. Was her sister an idiot, far too used to getting her way and who was attempting to get into something that was way over her head and would probably get her killed? Yes but she was also a 15-year-old who was rebelling, had issues that hadn't been addressed and who was hurting.

That seemed to be a theme with them. They had shitty childhoods that spat out angry teens. Only Jess didn't think her solution or Nico's solution was going to work for Eden, she was pretty sure Eden needed to sit and have a very long talk with their father but she refused to see him so they were working on that. She was hoping that getting everything out in the open with Hades would help and they could go from there. Maybe get her to see someone who helped with this sort of thing for a living. For now, she was content with her drugs which. . .both Nico and Jess protested very heavily to but she kept managing to sneak them in so they'd both kind of given up on that front.

Jess had travelled to Camp to see her, Nico and Will were hanging out in the Apollo cabin which after dinner, left Jess and Eden sitting in the Hades cabin alone. Jess was studying while Eden was flicking through her music, seemingly settling on a song before she mumbled a vague excuse and went out the front, lighter and a pack of cigarettes in hand. She left the front door open and Jess let out a quiet sigh and got up and followed her out. Not because that was an offer, Eden just wanted to listen to her music while she smoked but because Jess was picking up on Eden's mood and she was worried.

It was a little chilly out but not cold enough that either of them were very bothered, going and sitting on the bench they'd recently put near the door. Some space between the two of them while Eden lit a cig up and had a puff.

“Those are going to kill you” Was all Jess said and she gave Eden a look when the other blew a mouthful of smoke at her, wafting it away with her hand as best she could.

“You could just take them off me” Eden said and Jess sighed

“I could but I know you probably have spares hid all over the place, Neeks and I don't see much point anymore” Jess said

“That's annoying, what am I going to do with the ten packets I have hidden around the cabin now?” Eden said with a sigh, a joking tone to her voice and Jess quirked a grin

“Guess you'll have to give them to the satyrs, what a shame” She joked, the two looking at each other before they laughed “We really shouldn't be joking about this, those will kill you”

“Would you prefer these or the hardcore stuff?” Eden asked and Jess just gave her a look “That's what I thought!”

“Don't sound so smug” Jess said, gently flicking Eden's arm “You're still an idiot”

“You're still trying to help, what do you call the person who tries to help the idiot?”

“Someone who cares even when she wishes she didn't”

“Why do you care? I'm just some person who happens to share half your DNA. That doesn't mean anything” Eden said and Jess shrugged

“To you it might not. Family is important” Jess said and Eden just rolled her eyes “Come on, don't act like you don't like having a brother and sister around”

“Only because you guys are useful and grab me things”

“You say please, how can we say no?”

“Fuck you”

“Little Madam! Language!”

“I hate you”

Jess just laughed and grinned, giving Eden a playful shove which earned her a shove right back

“I'm sure you do, you small little ball of anger” Jess teased and Eden kicked her leg “A little harder, I think I almost felt that”

“Bitch” Eden grumbled, letting out a huff before seemingly remembering something and shuddering, her next words a mumble. “Jisu is scary”

“Only to people who piss him off” Jess said, looking up at the cloudy night sky “You just happened to piss him off, he's protective”

“And doesn't have the weird thing about family that you do” Eden added and Jess made a noise that could have been a noise of agreement or one of disagreement, even she wasn't sure.

The song Eden had put on inside faded out and another started up and Jess glanced at Eden, she knew this song.

Begging for contagion These hospitals won't save us And when these toxins leave us It's sad when we'll be bleachless

“Didn't take you as an Elizabeth Grace fan” Jess said, listening as the chorus filled the air outside. Eden just shrugged

“I like this song” She said quietly, the two falling silent again

I'm not sick with depression I just have all the symptoms And all the questions My thoughts can't stabilize Feelings I can't verbalize

And all you have to say is that it's gonna get better It's gonna get better But it never does And all you have to say is that it's gonna get better It's gonna get better But it never does It never does It never does

“Depending on what your other demons are Eden, somethings don't get better” Jess said, Eden turning to look at her sister who was still staring up at the clouds still “Death doesn't get better, it just gets easier to ignore, the pain of someone leaving doesn't get better, it just makes you hold tighter to the people you have left. Even when that person comes back, even if you never got to meet them. The hole is still there. For some people they're lucky and they end up growing and not caring, some of us don't get that. We get pain and anger and sadness and silent wonderings if we weren't good enough and if we were the reason they left years later. Even in our case where it's for our protection, there's those feelings of 'things would be different if dad was here' that don't go away”

“I'm beginning to think you need to see Zack more than I do” Eden said and Jess just shrugged

“Maybe but you're still young and don't have healthy ways of dealing with things, I do. You're more important here”

And all you have to say is that it's gonna get better It's gonna get better But it never does And all you have to say is that it's gonna get better It's gonna get better But it never does It never does It never does

The song trailed off on its last note and Eden snuffed out her cigarette, shifting to face Jess and Jess turned her head to look at her

“Do you really have moments where you think that?” Eden asked, causing a sad smile to appear on Jess's face

“I do, mostly when I'm really not doing okay. I have moments where I hate Dad for the pain, It's not his fault. It's the stupid rules that our Uncle has in place but when I think about how much pain we've all been through. Nico and Bianca, Hazel, Jisu, Nick, Volant, Haven, Op-” Opal's name caught in Jess's throat and she found her vision swimming with tears and she was quick to wipe them away, there was still a lot of guilt when it came to Opal. Guilt Jess was still trying to process and get past, she was sure she wasn't the only one who had that. “Op-Opal, you. Every one of our siblings that died before us. We've all been through shit and it was painful and it's left scars. I have moments where I think that if Dad were around for all of us, we could have been able to help each other. Our sisters would be alive, Nico and Jisu wouldn't have such big burdens on their shoulders. We'd be better off but. . .then I remember that Dad tried so hard to have that for Bianca and Nico and their mother payed the price.”

Jess let out a slow breath and held her hands out, shifting to face Eden on the bench. Eden gave her a suspicious look before she put the lighter and the packet of cigs into her jeans pockets and gave Jess her hands. Jess just gave her a small smile and gave her hands a squeeze.

“I'm going to be the last person you believe with this as I'm very much pro-dad but. . .he does love us. He loves our mothers, he tries to protect us. Admittedly he fucks up, he's not perfect but he's trying.” Jess said quietly, giving Eden's hands another squeeze “Shit happens because it happens, the fact we're demigods and have a higher percent of shit going wrong is just something we have to deal with and it sucks. I have my moments where I hate dad and then I have moments where I remember he's our dad and I remember how much he's helped me and how many times he's stuck his neck out to help protect me. He's a dad, dads protect their children, keep them safe. Keep away dangers that we don't always see”

Jess looked and saw tears slipping down Eden's cheeks and pulled her younger sister into a big tight hug

“I didn't get that” Eden whispered, her arms wrapping around Jess and she buried her head into Jess's chest. Jess just held her close and tightly, rubbing her back

“You have your mother Eden, who is so smart and so brave. She sought out people and made deals to protect you, worried about what would happen to you with who dad is. You didn't get dad but you got someone so much better” Jess said, letting out a coo as she heard Eden hiccup. “I've met your mother remember? She loves you so much, she just wants you to be happy. You have your mother and now you have us. Even if you stick to never wanting to see Dad. Your mother and us? We'll still be here, we'll still want to help. Your mother especially. She worries about you Eden, she isn't sure what will push you further away. That's why she's so flighty, she doesn't want to lose you.”

“I don't want to hurt her, I just get so mad and I yell and she just takes it and I feel so bad after and I hate it. I don't want to hurt her” Eden whimpered out and Jess cooed, tightening her arms

“I know, I know you don't but you need to tell her that sweetheart. You need to tell her that and try to work on it. Things aren't going to magically happen as much as we wish it would” Jess said softly, rubbing her back still “Things take time and while not everything gets better. If you work at it. This will. This will get better. . .do you want me to take you home tonight so you can see her?”

“Please?” Eden asked quietly and Jess smiled softly, nodding

“Of course. Come on, let's get you home” She said before she shadow travelled them off. The two appearing in the living room of Eden and her mother's house. Jess pulled away from the hug and wiped at her sister's cheeks with her sleeves, giving her a reassuring smile as the quiet singing from the kitchen was a dead give away where Eden's mother was. Jess stood and held out her hand, giving Eden's hand a squeeze when she gave her, her hand and Jess led the way towards the singing. The two of them got to the doorway of the kitchen before Eden rushed over, her mother turning just in time to catch Eden giving her a tight hug.

Her mother looked shocked before she saw the tears in Eden's eyes and she wrapped her arms protectively around Eden, giving Jess a look that could only be described as 'pissed off mother bear' and Jess just held her hands up

“We just had a talk, you may want to sit down in the living room and listen to what she has to say. I'll let you have the rest of the week with her. I hope it goes well” Jess said before she shadow travelled off. Leaving Eden and her mother to have a talk they'd been needing to have for awhile.

[ghost1643]

Hogwash-idea

(So since JK Rowling is asking like a trash again, I figured I’d posted the Hogwarts story idea I wrote when I was in middle school baed off of a tumblr idea about a few ideas a read on tumblr, mainly one about a Muslim student at Hogwarts, which happens to be Alma but, I never learned enough about the religion to feel like I could write it even remotely correctly.)

And pleas let me say that I also had plans to add two gay couples (one was two boys, one from Spanish boy from Slithern named Cole and one was from Raven claw, was an African American named Jack) (other couple was to girls, one named Oliva and was from raven claw and one was Abbigail who comes uo later in this rant part) a bisexual boy named Eric from hufflepuff puff ti the group and a trans griffindor girl, name Abbigal, who was supposed to have freckles and always wear pink just b/c she likes it.)

Year one, day zero

It was a normal day at platform 9 3/4. Wizard and muggle parents were hugging their children goodbye before they left. One family had a young eleven year old who was trying to escape his mother's grip.

Graham's mother was hugging him to death while giving him kisses. Each time she would kiss his blushing cheeks red lip stick stain in her lips place. Meanwhile behind his mother, his father was holding back a stiff laugh while his little sister hugged his legs tightly. Meanwhile his grandfather just watched from a distance with a look of disgust on his face as he saw muggles walk by. Each one of these family members had bright blond hair so, it was easy to tell who was related.

"Ma, stop it. You're embarrassing me!" Graham complained. His mother kept hugging him to death. Like always her long blond hair flew in the wind with ever move she took. As for her black dress, it went to the floor, covered her arms completely and had a red belt to it. She also had a grey cape over her back.

Meanwhile his little sister Tulip whipped her running nose on his black pant leg. She was wearing the same perfect red puff dress as always. Her hair was always in perfect curls too. The young six year old girl always found a way to look as cute as possible. Even while crying her eyes out.

"Melissa, we have to let him go. Even his owl is getting impatient." His father chuckled. Graham's mother let another snuffle escape her mouth as she let go of her baby boy. Tulip copied her mother but, ended up hugging her mom's legs instead.

"I know but, I can't help it. It feels like just yesterday I was holding him in my arms and now he's off to Hogwarts." Melissa sobbed looking at her young son. Her dark brown eyes were filled with almost as much tears that were in her daughter's brown eyes. She pushed her hands through her son's blond hair with a sad smile. Graham reached up  and held his mothers hand.

"Mom, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'm gonna be just fine." Graham smiled. His mother gave him another sad smile before she walked over to her husband. She some how had escaped her daughter's grip. Which was probably why she was back to hugging his legs while crying.

"Tulip, I gotta go." Graham smiled as he messed with his sister's perfect hair. She looked up with big tears in her eyes.

"Don't forget about me." She begged as she finally let go.

"How can I forget my favourite flower?" Graham asked as he put his left hand back on his suit cases. Meanwhile the snowy owl that had been walking back in forth on it's cage was now trying to find a way out. The cage began rocking back and forth while sitting on top of his suit cases.

Graham just sighed as he began to walk into a large train that had just pulled up to the station. Meanwhile his crying mother and sister were hugging his father to death. Yet, his grandfather raced over and pulled him into a hug. Graham froze before hugged him back. His grandfather usually was never like this. Not even at his great uncles funeral.

"Stay away from mudbloods. They don't deserve to be with us today." His grandfather whispered in his ear. Graham sighed. Wizards born by normal non magic users were known as his grandfather's worst enemy. In fact, there were rumours going around his home that he killed two muggle children at a beach and was never charged.

Graham preyed that those weren't true. Yet, he knew there was a chance that this happened. After all his grandfather talked about being a death eater at house parties at their place. Were they true? Only his grandfather knew.

"I will." Graham lied. His grandfather pulled away with a Saturn smile on his face.

"Good." His grandfather stated as a loud whistle rung out from the train behind them. Quickly he turned his back and hurried into the train. A few more children ran in after him. You could hear them laughing an stalking with each other. Then everyone ran to the windows as the train began moving.

Graham hung out an opened window. His little sister, mother and father were waving goodbye from where they stood. That is until his sister as well as his mother chased the train with tear running down their faces. He waved goodbye whole yelling,

"See you all this Christmas!"

The he turned around to see six children staring at him. Quickly they all turned around but, he knew why they were staring.

(Sorry text is stuck like this for some reason now)

He was apparently related to a death eater. It was like a sort of disease at this school. Everyone hated them. They did kill a lot of people though. Like thousands of non-magic users and magic users. Thousands of families were ripped apart before the dark lords defeat in 1999. Yet, it was 2017 and no was one was over it. No one would ever be over it. There were even rumours of the dark lords child being around. So, every child was ready to turn on a slitherin or others if needed.

Graham quickly ran down a hallway looking for an open compartment. The first one he saw was full of ravenclaw second years. As for the second one, it was full of fifth slitherins. Now the third was full of fourth year griffindors. Then as you could guess, the fifth was full of third year hufflepuffs. After that when ever he would look in a compartment  someone would close the door quickly. That is until, he entered a compartment with a brown haired girl in current world muggle clothing.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked. The young girl's bright brown eyes drifted from the window to him. Looking in them made him think of the best hot chocolate ever. Her eyes also made his heart speed up a bit.

"Nope. It probably won't be either unless you sit in it." She stated. Her voice was high pitched but, had a sort of tone that made it sound like she was singing a beautiful medley. It also lacked the same accent that everyone around him spoke. This some how made her more unique in his eye.

Graham sat down next to the strange girl. She was wearing a weird hoodie that was rainbow coloured with a symbols that read "nike". Graham assumed that 'Nike' was some sort of secret muggle club. She also appeared to be wearing long blue pants with rips in them. Which also look a little weird to him. There was also a golden heart necklace around her neck.

"I'm Graham by the way." He smiled as he extended his hand. A tiny cute smile spread across her large pink lips.

"I'm Melody. And if you don't mind me asking, what the fresh heck are you wearing?" She asked looking at his outfit. Graham was wearing a green fancy robe that had a black gem stone right under his neck. He kinda looked like he was a vampire or something. Or at least to Melody it did. Maybe she should stop watching monster movies with her family.

"It's a robe. A very fancy expensive one. Plus, I wanted to know what are you wearing?" He asked.

"This is common non-mag, I mean muggle clothes. What? Never seen a muggle born before?" Melody asked with a smirk. Wait, this girl was a muggle born? He had never seen one this up close before. Especially one who knew about the wizarding world.

"Your a muggle born? What's life like for you? No wait, is it true you have some sort of machine to wash dishes for you that can't use magic? Is it also true you have a machine to wash clothes? Is it true that ghost can talk to muggle too? What's your house like? I bet it's tiny! Oh do you have a pet? Not like a magic pet but, a normal pet that cane be handled by muggles. Is it true that you can adopt a large dog and have it be a hard dog for you? What's this LGBTQ I heard about?" Graham asked over 21 questions after these. Melody just felt her face heat up a bit until he stopped talking. After words a tiny bit of laughter filled the room. It was one of the prettiest things Graham had ever heard.

"You've never meet a muggle or muggle born before have you?" She asked. Graham shook his head no. With a smile she began to explain all of these things as the train continued down the track.

Eventually the two twelve year olds bought candies. Oka, Graham went to guy the candies then heard Melody stomach rumble. Then he found out she didn't have any money, just a couple sandwiches. Which she searched for and couldn't find. So he bought candies for them to split. What kinds? Well he got chocolate frogs, jelly slugs, Bertie Bott's every flavour jelly beans, acid pops, ice mice and fizzing whizbees. All of which Melody loved.

The two began joking around while, eating wizard candy until Graham put a single yellow jelly in his mouth. Then he had a look of disgust fell across his face. Quickly he stuck his younger out and tried to look for a place to spit it out. He raced around their art until a laughing Melody opened a window. He spit that out the window before she could say anything.

"W-what flavour was that?" Melody asked through a lot of laughter. Graham whipped his tongue on his hand once. Then he realized that the taste was still there. So he did it again. And again. And again. He ended up doing this 15 times before the taste was gone. While he did this Melody continued to laugh her butt off.

"Vomit. It was vomit flavoured." Graham stated. Melody laughed before saying one thing.

"This is going to be the best school ever."

~time skip~

The large sorting hat was placed on top of Melody's long brown hair. She looked as nervous as everyone else did. Yet, she didn't whisper which house she wanted to be in or not be in like everyone else now a days. Nope. She just kept whispering,

"Please let me have friends where ever I go for once."

She just kept repeating it over again and again. That is until five seconds later when everyone heard it say something. Which was...

"Hufflepuff."

Graham felt his face fall from where he was sitting. He had kinds hoped that Melody got sorted into Slytherin with him. Not so she could be the fist muggle born in there. Nope. So he could be friends with a non rich kid. Yet, this didn't mean they still couldn't talk.

Soon Graham found him self sleepily walking to the dungeon to the Slytherin dorm room. He rubbed the sleep out of his blue eyes as the people around him were laughing and talking. They had tried to avoid him. These kids seemed to hate him too. Who knows why!

"This year the password is mudblood." The perfect let out a crew smiled. Graham felt his face fall. He wasn't going to say that word daily just to go in his room. Nope! He would rather sleep in the hallway. So would two other Slytherin. Which they would end up doing in exact two days.

~~~~~~~…~💜~~~~~

Year one, day one

Character based on this head canon.

Graham could feel his eyes bulge out of his head as he saw a fimilar brunette race across the room to the ravenclaw dining table. Students were supposed to sit with their houses while eating. Not other houses. Yet, he soon realized she was talking to a girl with olive skin wearing a blue scarf over her head. The young girl she was talking to was sitting all alone at the end of the table. Which was probably why Melody was able to get to that seat quickly.

The two girl's laughed a bit as the scarf girl ate vegetables. Which seemed to be the only thing on her plate. The scarf girl's brown eyes seemed to be filled with as much joy as ever as she seemed to tell a joke. He only assumed it was a joke since it made Melody laugh so hard she snorted.

Then they seemed to talk about something else. Something Melody said made the scarf girl look that way. Her dark brown eyes were confused before she turned to Melody. Graham's face heated up as he saw this scarf girl saying something to her while pointing her long olive fingers at him. Melody's brown eyes flew over to him. A large smile spread across her face as she waved him over. Meanwhile scarf girl giggled a bit.

Graham looked to his left. Then his right. Afterwords the large table where the teachers ate. Luckily the teachers were all to gust talking to notice the hufflepuff sitting with a ravenclaw. Then there was also the fact that no one at this table would ever listen to him. He was really bored at this table anyways.

So he made a mad dash over to that table. Somehow he got over to the seat in front of the two girl's without being seen. Both girl's giggled a bit seeing the look of fear on his face. Plus his hair was a mess. Quickly he ran his hand through his hair before smiling back. Hopefully it was back to normal.

"Hi. I'm Graham." He smiled. The scarf girl giggled the same time Melody laughed. They both had large smiles on their face.

"Graham this is my friend, Almas." Melody smiled. Graham smiled as he extended a hand to her.

"It's nice to meet you Graham. Melody talks about you a lot." Alma smiled. She had a accent he had heard before. It was a nice accent. A beautiful one but, not as beautiful as Melody's voice all together.

"Nice go meet you Almas." Graham smiled. Almas looked at him for a moment before a large smile spread across her face.

"You know, you are unlike any other Slytherin I meet here so far." Almas stated as she ate a fork of vegetables. Graham sighed. That would make sense. Other Slitherns weren't exactly the make friends kind of people. They preferred to stay together like a wolf pack so that no one would judge them. It seemed to be the only thing anyone did any more.

"I know, I am the most handsome boy in the house." Graham smiled leaning back in his seat and holding his leg in the air in a bit. All while making something called 'duck lips' that Melody said models in the muggle world used. Both girl's giggled while looking at each other.

"I don't know about that." Almas smiled. Graham sat up straight before putting on a a fake pouting look on his face. This just made both girl's giggle again. Which in Graham's defence was his plan.

"but, you're the only one who has actually talked to me in your house and mine." Almas sighed. Graham could feel his face scrunch up. No one had talked to her? Why? She looked like any other kid here. So, why had no one talked to her yet?

"Like I said Almas, if you want I could always make them talk to you." Melody stated looking at her. Almas sighed.

"I know you can but, I still I just want one person in this house to talk to me on their own will. Not because they're forced to be my potions partner." Almas stated again.

"How many times do I have to tell you, that's not the reasons I talked to you for." Melody sighed. Graham looked at Almas again. Why would no one talk to her?

"If it helps, Melody talks to everyone. She likes everyone." Graham explained. Almas's eyes lit up as a tiny smile spread across her face. Meanwhile Graham was now frowning. Did she really think Melody didn't like her?

"I would never have suspected that." Almas smirked as she ate another bite of her supper. Melody rolled her eyes.

"I told you. Now, let's get back to the topic we were talking about before hand. Graham?" Melody asked. Graham jumped a bit hearing Melody say his name. Almas now had a larger smile on her face. Almost as if she knew something was there. Something that Melody wouldn't admit was ever there.

"Yeah?" Graham asked.

"Would you tell Almas that anime isn't all blood and guts! She's only heard of one and now she think all anime are bloody!" Melody complained throwing her hands up in the air. Graham stared at her for a moment.

"What the bloody hell is anime?" Graham asked. Melody's jaw dropped.

"You both have much to learn my apprentices. So much to learn." Melody explained.