#bring out the dead man

[voolfman]

Bring Out the Dead Man

ctir multi-chapter fic posted on ao3 by voolfman

Chapter 1

“Really?!” This was too good to be true, but- “Then bring back my brother-”

[Anything but bring back the dead!]

Ah, and there it was; the harsh blue box coldly said as much. It really was too good to be true. As with everything else in Yoojin’s pathetic life, even a “Wish Stone '' with the ability to grant any heart’s desire, nothing would ever go his way. Even if it was just to bring back his precious, baby brother, a boy so awkward in his ability to show he loved Yoojin, to show that he cared, that his only way to care for his older brother was to push him away.  To make him hate Yooyhun.

He dug his fingers deeper into the folds of his baby brother’s cloak, still feeling warmth from the gradually cooling corpse. “No,” he couldn’t accept it, he wouldn’t. “No! Bring him back! This world still needs him!” The world didn’t need a useless and crippled F- ranker like him, but people still needed saving, and only Yooyhun could do that. 

Therefore, there was one thing Yoojin could do, and he wasn’t so virtuous or naive enough to wish for something vague like “world peace” or “for the dungeons to go away,” who knew what would happen if he wished for that instead. No, he would dig in his heels in his last few seconds, and call the damn system’s bluff.  “Fine-" his words were starting to slur "-if you won’t bring him back, then I’ll die here as well and take this useless stone with me.”

[Wait, honey-]

The box was blurry. Why honey? “Give. Him. Back.”

Yoojin squinted. The text had changed. To what? He wouldn't know. The world was tiltled, and slowly smothered in the dense dark smoke of dying embers.

It was the soft thump of something landing on his chest that finally woke Yoohyun up. Not fully, but it brought his consciousness mostly to the forefront, where it had been…? Where had it been? And what was this weight that was settling on his chest? What was he doing-

“Yoojin!” he gasped as his eyes shot open.

[Quick! Honey needs help!]

Honey? Who was Honey? Where was Rauchitas? Was he asleep? So many questions, too many questions, were swirling through his foggy memory. And what was this weight on his chest? He glanced down, and his chest collapsed in on itself, the featherlight pressure resting there was suddenly a boulder pressing down on him.

Delicately he placed one shaking hand on his brother’s back, securing the smaller man in place, and used his other arm to help him sit up. No, no this was all wrong, after all he’d done to keep him safe- Gently he placed two fingers on the artery below his brother’s jawline and felt one little desperate pulse and then another and then another.  They were small and somewhat irregular, but his pulse was there.  Yoohyun almost hugged his brother and cried with relief, but he didn’t. Knowing how dire their situation was and that he couldn’t waste another second if he wanted to save Yoojin’s life. Not even to kill Rauchitas; he’d just have to come ba-

Yoohyun stumbled as he stood, careful not to drop his irreplaceable cargo. “Rauchitas… is dead? How-” He shook his head, interrupting his own shock at the massive dragon carcas that was already rotting right in front of his very eyes.

[Hurry!]

The pop up box was right, there was no time to wonder or worry about this.  If the boss was dead, he needed to get out of the dungeon quickly, before they were trapped with only one gate stone.

It was several days after he had escaped the dungeon with his hyung, that Yoojin woke up. It was a little less busy at Hayeon, and the press had finally calmed down somewhat in reaction to Yoohyun busting out of a closing dungeon gate with his heavily injured brother cradled carefully to his chest. With this in mind, Yoohyun decided to pay his brother a visit at the hospital, not only because he was worried with how close his brother had brushed with death, but now it was probably better to show his face than to abandon Yoojin again. His cover was already blown.

Quietly he slid the door open, not wanting to wake the injured man, only to find him attempting to sit up and tears streaming down his face.

“Wait a moment, hyung, let me remove the oxygen mask.”  Tenderly, Yoohyun helped his brother sit up and used the button to help him lie down in a somewhat upright position. He then exchanged his brother’s mask for a few sips of water in a poor attempt to replace the water Yoojin was quickly losing through his tears.

“You idiot!” was the first thing that hissed out of Yoojin’s drug addled mouth, and Yoohyun winced only a little. He was used to Yoojin hating him and saying hurtful things to him at this point. “You could have died!” The older man dropped his head and covered his mouth, and thinking that he may be feeling ill, Yoohyun made an aborted motion for the nurse when Yoojin whispered with hollow eyes, “You did die.”

And that…that was news to Yoohyun. Because if Yoohyun had died, well he wouldn’t be sitting here with his brother right now. “Yoojin, you must’ve been mistaken.  Rauchitas’ poison-”

Now Yoojin was glaring at him, his fists curled into the sheets. Shaking, pale, and sweaty, but the heat in his eyes was enough to compete with Yoohyun’s own fire. “Killed you. And you left me. You died with the belief that I’d never find out about the past eight years, and that I would hate you until the end of my days-” and suddenly all of that anger and rage dissipated from Yoojin’s tensed shoulders, and he placed his unsteady hand on the side of Yoohyun’s face, “But I could never hate you, I raised you.” He tried to pull Yoohyun’s bulky build into a hug, and slowly, he let the exhausted man. “I was hurt and confused and lashing out, but try as I might, I could never hate you. I love you.”

Yoohyun was in shock.  He never thought he’d hear such sentiments from his brother. He'd steeled his heart to the thought of ever receiving a kind word from Yoojin again, all so that he could protect him from his enemies. Before he could say anything, Yoojin slumped exhausedly back against the bed, still gripping Yoohyun.

"Yoojin," he whispered, "Yoojin, I'm sorry, but you need to let go of me." Unfortunately for the younger of the two, the older brother was completely out cold and instead of letting go, he gripped onto Yoohyun’s back even more. Not that the stronger grip was even remotely strong at all, and with a light tug the young guild master freed himself and allowed the nurse to busily right everything and check Yoojin’s slowly and steadily improving vitals.

As he exited the room, he turned to Kim Sunghan who had been keeping watch.

"How much of that did you hear?"

The older Hunter grimaced. "Everything, sir."

Yoohyun glanced back a the closed door and said, "Nothing leaves this room. Make sure the nurse and doctors know this. Make them sign a contract if you feel that's necessary."

"Understood."

"You have questions, I know. So do I-" Yoohyun could see the uncertainty in the Hunter's eyes, "but right now the only one with answers is my hyung, and I don't want to slow his recovery."

Sungham inclined his head slowly, and without looking at his Guild Master, asked very quietly, "Did you really try to purposefully make him hate you?"

He asked that because he knew that was the one thing Yoohyun had an answer for. "Yes." And he stormed back down the hallway, leaving his most trusted employee to watch over the fragile treasure that lay recovering in the room.

The absolute irony of Yoojin's life was he had finally acquired amazing L- class and even SS- class skills after having apparently "single-handedly defeating a dragon," and yet he was still an entirely useless F- rank. Not to mention he received it all at the cost of the only thing he loved. He wasn't entirely sure how he had arrived at the hospital or escaped from the dungeon, perhaps he did use that gate key in a moment of unconscious desperation to ensure his own survival. He knew he was under Hayeon's surveillance, though. That bastard Kim Sunghan thought he was being sly when he peeked through the window. Honestly, he should just tell the A-ranker to get it over with. The man had been so loyal to his bro-, to Yoohy- to Hayeon's Guildmaster that Yoojin wouldn't blame him, might encourage him or egg him on really, it's not like he had any more reason to-

"Hyung!" Yoojin continued to stare in front of him even as he heard the door's dainty click of the lock. "I heard you're awake…?"

Yoojin knew he shouldn't look, shouldn't dare. Shouldn't hope. He'd already had that dream, but he couldn't help himself. He really was the worst of them all. "Yoohyun." The whisper itself was only a little more than a breath, spoken almost as a prayer.

The eyebrows scrunched together in concern over eyes swirling with confusion and a myriad of other emotions. His face wasn't rosy with life, but, well, Yoohyun had never been rosy, but his face was certainly alive and entirely unharmed, moving, squinting, saying something. But Yuujin, he was entirely too focused on his living little brother. He scrambled to life, grunting a bit as his weakened arms struggled to lift him into a sitting position, compelling Yoohyun to quicken his pace to his brother’s side.

"Yoohyun," he murmured, his shaking hand lightly resting on Yoohyun’s hovering arm. "You're alive. That wasn't a dream." His shoulders drooped as he suddenly gripped the outstretched arm. "It worked, you're alive. It worked."

The scrape of a chair pulled Yoojin out of his reverie as Yoohyun sat down in the chair beside the bed, scooching it closer. "Hyung, that's actually what we need to discuss. If you don't feel up for it, please say so, I just- I'm confused. You said I died in the dungeon, yet here I am? I know I also believed that was the end of the line for me, but…"

Ah, it was time to 'fess up about the skill he'd kept close to his chest all these years. "Well… as you know, Yoohyun, I have a Custodian title and a small buff skill-" he searched the younger's eyes for a moment. For what, he didn't know. He then went back to staring at the empty hospital wall. "What you, and no one else knows, is that I also have a skill called Final Thanks. It only activates for a short amount of time after someone under my custody dies, not only giving me their skills and rank, but doubling them."

Puzzle pieces were clicking into place on Yoohyun’s face. "That…explains Rauchitas, but I don't have a revival skill…"

"No, I received a Wish Stone as a reward."

There was a slight moment of hesitation. "And you wished to bring me back?"

The actual answer was a bit more complicated than that, but Yoojin was growing tired and unsure if he should even explain all the details of what occurred, since according to the pop up box, it really shouldn't have. "Don't look at me like that," Yoojin twisted his mouth into something resembling a rueful smile, but it felt too sorrow laden for that. "I'd like to hope that I would have wished to bring you back, regardless, but there’s one more aspect to Final Thanks.”

Yoohyun stayed quiet as Yoojin reached, hesitated, and then took Yoohyun’s hand in his as softly as a willow branch caressing a pond. Taking a deep breath, and holding his brother, reminding himself that at least one of his mistakes had been reversed, “As part of Final Thanks, I not only receive their power doubled, but also their final memories before they pass on.”

“Then you know all of it?” Yoohyun’s voice trembled.

“No,” he admitted while shaking his head. “Just bits and pieces. Only enough to know I should’ve known better than to doubt my precious little brother.”

“Hyung- no- I”

Yoojin raised his hands and waved them about in a sweeping manner. “Ah- buh- buh, I’ve already made my peace.  I don’t blame you anymore, yes you hurt me, and yes we both could’ve gone about this in a better way, but what’s done is done. Now,” and at this Yoojin drew himself up as best he could, and placed his hands on his hips. “You ought to get out of here before you let nearly a decade of hard work of ignoring me go down the drain. Go on, shoo shoo. I’ll be alright on my own, I’ll stay out of dungeons. Heh, not that I’d be able to anytime soon even if I wanted to.”

At that Yoohyun froze and looked away, slightly abashed. “Actually-” he cleared his throat, “I might have already done that when I escaped the dungeon with you.”

“Ahh… sorry.”

Before Yoohyun could respond, Kim Sungham made himself known as he opened the door.  “Guildmaster, visiting hours are over now.”

Yoojin gave his younger brother a light punch, moreso for protection of his own knuckles than out of any even remote fear of injuring the S- rank Hunter. “Good luck, keep it up, and stay safe. Who knows if we’ll come across another Wish Stone?”

That was when Yoohyun frowned, drew together his eyebrows, and decided to throw a fastball and shock both of the other men in the room.  “We’ll be back after midnight.”

“Why?” voiced twin voices of concern, Sungham and Yoojin being in sync for the first time.

“To kidnap you, of course.”

[s0fter-sin]

something happening on a mission, something personal that has soap spiralling; panic and rage making him reckless, thoughtless, and ghost has to draw the line

“you’re compromised johnny; you know what that means?”

“you’re not pulling me out,” soap immediately snarls. he turns on him and ghost barely recognises him; venomous fear turning his eyes to unyielding ice. "you're not sidelining me; i need to be in this-!"

but ghost has never been afraid of venom; spat or dripped straight from bared fangs.

he snakes out a hand grip the back of his neck, jerking him in a rough shake. "if you can't think, you can't be a soldier," he growls and he flinches like he's been struck.

his lips quiver as they twist in a sneer and he wrenches, trying to free himself of his hold.

ghost doesn't let him.

"it means you give your body to me because your head ain't fucking attached to it anymore."

soap stills, body trembling beneath his hand as he sucks in shaking breaths.

he tightens his grip, pulling him closer and digs his forehead hard into his. “it means you give yourself to me so i can have the weapon that you are and use you the way you're meant to be used."

the ice in soap's eyes fractures.

ghost’s voice drops to a whisper, spoken only to johnny, not this facade of vengeance and pain, and wills it to reach him through the glaciers.

“so i can keep you safe ‘til it’s done and i can bring you back.”

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

D'Arce S Ending: "As soon as I can revive him from the dead, the wedding is BACK ON!"

[milimeters-morales]

ATSV Miles: i only recently learned to use my palms to amplify my venom-

Comic Miles about to summon a venom-saber, send out concentrated energy beams, throw lightning balls, and just generally fuck around: hola mi nombre es Spider-Man y esto es Jackass 💯⚡️💥💥🔥🔥

[sskk-manifesto]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple and how “ability users” (opposite to “normal people”) learning to accept themselves through the acceptance of their own abilities is a queer metaphor of acceptance of own's sexual orientation and gender: an essay by me

[tinyangrynerd]

I can't believe they actually dragged me back into this fucking game, after setting several pieces of cheese under a cardboard box for me, with 2v8 mode of all things.. (it was fun <3)

I have also found a new favorite gross lil' freak! :3c

[necrotic-nephilim]

au - tim sneaking out of jason's room one night at the manor and accidentally locking eyes with dick who is sneaking out of bruce's room at the exact same time, breakfast is very awkward the next morning

(i did think of having it be jason instead of tim but honestly jason has 0 shame and even less issue outing himself if it means fucking with bruce and, to a lesser extent, dick)

i'm cackling I love these types of things so much. they're so silly. sometimes we deserve mindless crack for these ships. have a *very* low effort ficlet bc this just makes me snort, enjoy <3

Dick closed Bruce's door as quietly as he could. Usually, he didn't have to sneak around when he slept with Bruce. But the temporary room Bruce had given Jason in the manor was just down the hall, and Dick didn't feel like looking Jason in the eye if he walked out of Bruce's bedroom in the morning at the wrong time.

Just because he was pretty sure Jason knew, didn't mean he needed confirmation and confrontation.

Dick had almost caved to staying in bed with Bruce when Bruce tried to pull him back down, but he kept some level of wits about him, prying Bruce's arm off of him and giving him a final kiss on the cheek before heading for the door.

The one thing Dick did allow himself, though, was wearing one of Bruce's shirts instead of his own. It was a size too large on him but smelled safe and comforting. Dick breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the door latched silently. He let go of the handle, turning around to creep off to his own bedroom in another wing.

And found himself staring at another figure.

With all of the lights off and only faint moonlight streaming through the windows, Dick couldn't tell who it was, at first. His reaction was embarrassing no matter who it was, jumping nearly a foot backward and clutching a hand over his chest.

He was a goddamn vigilante. This was just embarrassing.

The other person wasn't nearly as shocked as Dick, but they stood perfectly still, staring with wide eyes that faintly reflected what little light illuminated their face. Dick squinted, leaning forward to see who it was.

"Tim?" Dick hissed, trying to keep his voice to a whisper. Bruce had fallen asleep and if Dick woke him up now, he was never going to get the stubborn bastard back to bed.

Tim, still looking like a deer in headlights, just blinked at Dick.

"What are you doing up this late?" Dick asked. They'd all agreed to take tonight's patrol off, letting Babs, Helena, Dinah, and Zinda handle it in exchange for tackling the massive human trafficking ring in the morning with fresh eyes and cleared heads. The job was the only thing that had gotten Jason to agree to work with them in the first place. Bruce barely managed to strong-arm Jason into sleeping in the manor, with a decent amount of guilting from Alfred.

Jason, who was in the room only a few feet away from Dick. The room that Tim's hand was resting on the doorknob of.

"That's Jason's room," Dick said slowly.

Tim just nodded. "I know." He wasn't whispering like Dick was, but his tone remained impossible to read.

He just saw Dick walk out of Bruce's room. Had he put it together? It was Tim, after all. if he hadn't yet, Dick assumed he only had a couple minutes before it dawned on Tim.

"What were you doing in Jason's room?" Dick frowned. If he focused on Tim, it could keep the focus off of him for as long as possible. Dick tried to ignore how fast his heart was beating.

Tim's expression was hard to make out in the dark. "We were talking about the case." Still, his tone remained entirely neutral.

Too neutral, for Tim.

"At two am?"

"Well, what were you doing?" Tim huffed slightly when he said it, folding his arms over his chest.

He was shirtless, Dick just realized.

Shirtless and coming out of Jason's room.

"I was-" Dick stumbled over his words, choking as he tried to come up with an alibi. "We were talking about the-"

"I already used that excuse, pick your own," Tim deadpanned. Dick was pretty sure he also rolled his eyes. "I've known about you and Bruce for years, you know. You don't have to pretend."

The noise that came out of Dick's throat was almost as mortifying as the realization that not only did Jason likely know, but so did Tim.

"It... okay it has not been years," Dick's face was hot and he was glad it was too dark for Tim to see his blush. "I mean- it's been a while but not years-"

"Whatever you say." Tim shrugged, sounding unconvinced. "There have been feelings between you two for years, close enough for me."

If Dick died, right here, in this hallway in front of Bruce's door, he hoped the cause of death would be put down as homicide instead of natural causes. Because every word from Tim's mouth made another piece of Dick die inside, just a little.

"It's none of your business either way." Dick tried to stand up straight to sound more in control of the situation, clearing his throat.

"Trust me, I don't want it to be my business."

Dick would've laughed, if this was happening to anyone but him.

"What about... you and Jason?" Dick asked carefully.

Tim shifted on his feet. "What about it? I told you, we were talking about the case."

"Right." It was Dick's turn to roll his eyes. "In his bedroom, at two am, without your shirt?"

Tim stared at Dick for a long, torturous moment. A moment that made Dick agree with Tim, about not wanting to know any sordid details.

"I'm going to bed," Tim said suddenly, turning away from Dick. "Goodnight."

Dick had a thousand more questions he wanted to ask. How Tim and Jason even got together, when it happened. Last Dick knew, they could barely stand to be in the same room.

But Tim was walking away at an alarmingly brisk pace and Dick just sighed. He was too tired and mortified about his own secrets to chase Tim down for an impromptu interrogation that would just end up embarrassing them both more.

Maybe it was best for Dick's sanity if he didn't know the specifics.

Dick didn't consider how awkward it would be until he was standing in the kitchen, staring at Jason bent over a cup of coffee.

Did Jason know Dick knew? It didn't seem like he did, but he had always had a good poker face.

When Tim ambled into the kitchen and grabbed overnight oats from the fridge, he didn't even look at Dick. He seemed to be pointedly avoiding it, sitting as far away from Dick as he could at the oversized dining room table.

All while Dick couldn't seem to stop staring.

"Your cereal is going to get soggy," Jason muttered, and it took Dick a moment to realize Jason was talking to him. "At least eat it before trying to explode my head with your mind, or whatever your staring problem is."

"I'm not-" Dick stuttered. he shut himself up with a mouthful of cereal when Cass gave him an odd look.

Would she be able to figure it out just from his body language?

Dick had never fully understood the lengths her ability to read people could go. he looked away from her and stared at a random spot on the table, trying to eat at a normal pace.

Bruce was the last to wander into the kitchen. He squeezed Dick's shoulder as he walked by, making Dick jump. It was an innocent enough touch that no one would question, but all Dick could think about was the brief look from Tim before he quickly averted his eyes again.

The silence around the table was going to eat Dick alive. He started eating cereal faster.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Jason broke the tension, throwing his head back and slamming an empty mug down onto the table. "Everyone knows you two are fucking, alright?" He gestured between Dick and Bruce. "Stop being so goddamn weird about it, you're acting like there's a bomb in the room."

Bruce choked on his coffee. "Jason." He tried to sound reprimanding, but his voice was a few octaves too high.

Dick threw his hands in the air. "I knew you knew about that, but I didn't know about you and Tim until last night so excuse me for feeling a little awkward."

"You didn't know about what?" Bruce nearly yelled, spinning around to face Jason.

"Damnit, Dick!" Tim groaned, putting his head in his hands.

Jason just scoffed, pointing a fork at Bruce. "Oh don't even give me that self-righteous bullshit-"

Their argument went back and forth while Tim just rubbed his temples, muttering to himself and glaring at Dick.

Worst of all, Dick was pretty sure Cass was giggling next to him under her covered mouth.

Dick just sighed and ducked his head, dutifully waiting for the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

So much for his breakfast.

[pumpkinrootbeer]

just so you know I'll never recover from the ending of magi like yeah in general it left me devistated but Jafar's final appearance being him back in the sindria robes still with this just steadfast never ending belief in a man who he devoted his life to and who then in return betrayed him on such a fundamental level. like im gutted.

[untouchedsoap]

there is something sooo fucking good about early seasons ian and mickey, about watching this summer fling turn into something more, the fear that elicited from mickey but him being unable to stop, finding those little moments hidden away and taking all this meaning from small gestures and persevering in dugouts and under bleachers and barely pressed confessions in the back of a church that is soo good for my brain

like i am very glad mickey gets to shout his love for ian from the mountain tops and also beat his love for ian into his dad's face but when he was clenching his teeth shut and his love for ian was coming out regardless ohhhhh baby i was eating

[laugtherhyena]

Control over time

[voolfman]

Bring Out the Dead Man

Sctir fanfic multi-chapter fic posted on ao3 by voolfman

Chapter 4

Anxiously, Yoojin drummed his fingers in a tight and fast tattoo against the top of his knee as he waited for the eternity to end and for the doctor to come back so that Yoojin could check up on that Myeongwoo and make sure someone else had not in fact bled out in front of him and well on him in the span of less than a week-

“Mr. Han,” and wow, Yoojin had not even noticed the doctor entering the room. Maybe he had used more mana than he had intended. “You have a clean bill of health,” the aging doctor monotoned, fixing his rimless bifocals, “There’s no no need to make another appointment unless something else comes up. Thank you and have a pleasant rest of your day.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Yoojin called to the quickly retreating man, grabbing his crutches and meeting Sunghan right outside the doorway. “Shall we go check on our fallen rockstar?”

Sunghan quirked his eyebrow up at Yoojin. “He’s two floors up in room 649. He’d lost a lot of blood and was pretty dehydrated, but they expect him to make a full recovery.” He pressed the elevator button and Yoojin let out a pent up breath as they were lifted to the injured man’s floor.

As they stopped in front of Myeongwoo’s door, Yoojin hesitated as he internally debated the wisdom of what he was about to do, but he clenched his fist, his nails threatening to bite into his skin, and knocked on the door.

For what felt like five years, but could have only been five seconds, Yoojin’s stomach roiled anxiously before a thin, reedy voice called out, “Come in.”

Yoojin gently slid the door open, “Hello! Glad to hear you’re going to be on the mend…Myeongwoo?”

The hunter, who was now sitting up somewhat in the bed in the brightly lit hospital room, raised his eyebrows almost up to his hairline as his fingers gripped the sheet. “Yes? Do I know you?”

“Ah, personally? I doubt it,” Yoojin chuckled quietly and somewhat derisively, “But I did happen to catch you before you tried to kiss the pavement?”

Myeongwoo’s eyes grew to the size of saucers, and, when not hidden by the stringy carpet of hair, Yoojin thought that he had nice eyes. Kind eyes. “You..helped me?”

“Well-” Yoojin scratched the back of his neck, trying to hide the slight redness that was creeping up it - “Mr. Kim here did most of the heavy lifting, really, I just became a cushion…”

“Thank you!”

“Whoa! You don’t need to bow-”

“Thank you-”sniff- “really!”

Panicking slightly, Yoojin scrambled up to the crying man’s bedside, “Hey! Uhh hey-hey, it! It’s okay! Don’t cry! You’ll open your stitches! I’ll uhh I’ll be back tomorrow…”

That got the watery mess to calm down. Wiping his tears and blowing his nose into the handkerchiefs Yoojin was handing him, he finally choked out a response. “Really?”

Internally heaving a massive sigh of relief at the fact that Myeongwoo was no longer sobbing his eyes out over an act of general, human decency, Yoojin grabbed his crutches and ruffled the man’s hair before it occurred to him that Myeongwoo was probably the same age as him (old habits die hard) and did his best to act casual despite his faux pas. “Yeah, really. Rest up, eat well, and we can talk tomorrow. It was nice to meet you, Myeongwoo.”

A starstruck gaze stared up at Yoojin similar to the likes of a kid doing his best to stay up in the hopes of meeting Santa Claus. “It was nice to meet you, too…?”

“Yoojin,” dripped hesitantly off of his tongue.

“...Yoojin,” Myeongwoo mumbled as his eyes drooped and he fell asleep.

Turning to Sunghan, Yoojin put his finger to his lips in a shushing motion and silently hustled the two of them out to the hallway.

“Phew,” Yoojin leaned against the wall, “Sorry, I hope you don’t mind if we come back tomorrow? I mean, I’m sure he’ll be alright, but…”

In the silence that followed, Yoojin was sure that Sunghan was thinking of a way to bring down the hammer of Yoohyun’s absolute rule. Honestly, if this kept up, Yoojin loved the kid, but there really was a limit - "I… would like to apologize.” It was a low rumble, a quiet admission, a gut punch that stole the breath from Yoojin as his weight was kept hold by the wall and his crutches. “I may have misjudged you.”

"...nah, I acted outta line at some points.” Wild how your whole perspective can do a 180° once you find out that your only remaining family member didn't immediately abandon you as soon as they possibly could. "Thanks for looking out for Yoohyun, though. He's always been a quiet kid, so appreciate your taking care of him."

An ever so slight smirk snuck onto Sunghan’s face as the two started to pick their way back to the car, “I only picked up where you left off. I can see where the Guildmaster picked up some of his more… unique quirks.”

“Yoohyun was a perfect child! What are you inferring?” Yoojin smashed the elevator button grumpily. Yoohyun was just a little emotionally stunted, that was all.

Instead of answering, Sunghan only chuckled and stated that Yoohyun was a very good Guildmaser and that he was incredibly lucky to be a part of the Hayeon Guild. Which was an obvious sentiment because of course Yoohyun was running Hayeon well, he was Yoojin’s perfect little brother who was standing in the kitchen cooking when they arrived back at the apartment.

“Why’re you here?” Yoojin gasped and raced across the apartment as fast as his crutches could carry him. The kid had at least five more days until he was supposed to have finished the dungeon.

Yoohyun turned away from whatever he was frying in the pan to speak to his brother.“I live here-” the spatula dropped from his hand and splattered sauce all around the stovetop. “Hyung! You’re covered in blood! Mr. Kim-!”

“It’s fine. It’s not mine.” Yoojin brushed away his concerns to pull Yoohyun close and examine him, pulling back his sweater’s sleeves and reaching up to tilt his brother’s face this way and that. “Not the point. Did you rest at all in that dungeon? It looks like you’ve got quite a pair of eyebags-” Yoojin bit his bottom lip, “You should’ve been in there for at least a week longer!”

“It wasn’t a difficult dungeon.” Yoohyun squinted in mild annoyance at Yoojin brushing off his own concern only to absolutely baby Yoohyun. Hypocrite.

“It wasn’t- It was S- rank!”

“An easy S-rank.” Yoojin called bullshit on that lame excuse.

“...an easy-!” No, Yoojin was going to step back. Yoohyun was 25 now. He was 25 and alive and Yoojin was still going to worry, wasn’t he? “ Anyway, while you are resting up, Yoohyun-” and you are going to rest was unspoken “- I’m gonna have to head out tomorrow.”

“No.” And that’s final, was left unspoken for him.

“Yoohyun,” Yoojin shook his head, it wasn’t like he was requesting to go into a dungeon, “I’m going to visit a friend I saw in the hospital.”

The disbelief was abhorrently evident on Yoohyun’s generally impassive face. “You … have a friend in the hospital?”

The silence following the question could have been compared to the vast, unknowable solitude of of the universe, only broken by the gentle and playful sizzle made by the oil in the pan. “You know what? That’s so rude. I have friends.”

“...” Yoohyun seemed to think that silence was the better part of valor in this scenario and pushed around the pork belly so as not to let it burn.

Refusing to back down, Yoojin turned to the man who had been accompanying him all day and to all of his past trips to the hospital for the past couple of weeks. “Mr. Kim, back me up.”

Sunghan, however, would never lie to his Guildmaster. “You met today.”

“And I saved his life, hence the blood,” Yoojin gestured to his ruined clothes, “ his blood. We’re friends.”

Yoohyun shot his Second in Command a concerned look before turning all of his worry towards his brother.“Hyung…”

“Mr. Kim will be with me, and Myeongwoo’s an F- rank, so it’s fine.”

“Fine.” Yoohyun could tell that Yoojin would not back down with this. He’d let him go, just this once, though. “Just be careful and be back before dark.”

Oh, how the tables turned, or at least that’s what Yoohyun thought. Really, was he that naive? Yoojin was 30. He was an adult. “Are you giving me, your older brother who raised you, a curfew?”

“I made lunch, Hyung-” the adorable little bastard had plated the food and it looked divine, holding it out to Yoojin.

“Your attempt at changing the subject is successful for the sole reason that I don’t want to fight, but I am going to the hospital tomorrow. You have work to do anyway. And for pity’s sake, make sure those under your care are alright after going through an S-rank dungeon at such a reckless speed.”

[spotinthespiral]

Ryan-Posting again! ♡

Otherwise Titled: a stressed Orphan and her protective Guardians.

Ryan gets her Found Family .2 seconds after entering the Armada Ship. Subodai watches her back from the start, and his take is basically: That's a child. She's capable, yeah, and a great leader, but she's a child. I'm protecting her with my life. He effectively becomes her Dad. (As well as her First-Mate)

And then, of course, there's Dead Mike. He's like her uncle. He was the one person who didn't ever abandon her or her parents (willingly) and he swore his afterlife to avenge her family, and now to care for her. He's a big softy, and the moment he realized Ryan was still alive, he swore to be there for her till his second death.

And, as it goes, I also love the concept that Ryan is generally pretty harmless-looking when she first starts her adventures. No name for herself, she doesn't speak, and her actions are sneaky so people rarely know it was her who hit them. Until she becomes more infamous, Dead Mike and Subodai act as her big scary goons. They hit hard and w/o hesitation if Ryan orders it.

(Also picturing Ryan ready to tear someone to pieces, but she's already low on health, and Ratbeard or Steele holding Ryan back with Subodai and Mike roll up their sleeves and go demolish the enemy. And/or Armada coming by in a town, and Ryan ducking behind Subodai and clinging to his hand (hoof?) As she uses him as a wall between her fear and herself.)

[arthursfuckinghat]

The silence after "well, maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do" will never not hurt me

[ra9in3z]

geppetto couldnt have been bothered to show any love for either of his sons 💀

[souenkun]

Congrats to old man yaoi pokemas event for winning over everyone's heart in both the japanese and worldwide voting for the trainer's tales competition by scoring in the top 5! 🥳🥂

[designernishiki]

it’s so weird to think that ryuji was only a major character in one canon game. like he’s such a strong character with such a strong personality it doesn’t feel like he was only prominent in one canon game at ALL. he feels almost as ever-present and beloved as someone like daigo and yet he’s basically never even mentioned after kiwami 2. that’s so crazy to me.