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kittykatzpaws · 3 years

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“Hey! Kolt, was it?” The green naga gave a friendly smile, tail flicking excitedly behind her. “I hear you’re joining our team, that’s real exciting! I’m Mya!”

At the woman’s urging, Kolt followed her into the warren-like halls of the team’s base. “Yeah, I’m excited to be here! This place is… well, it’s not like the other bases I’ve used, but it’s cool!”

Mya’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Oh, you’ve been part of a team before? I haven’t, this is my first time being a hero. But I’m so happy that Janus accepted me! I’ve always wanted to be a hero; I love helping people.”

Kolt couldn’t help but smile at the genuine excitement on her face. He remembered being new to the hero business, bright eyed and eager to help. He was still eager to help, of course. But it was still refreshing to see those first-time jitters up close. Mya seemed very chatty, rambling away about the other jobs she’d worked before she’d joined the team. Finally, she circled back around to talking about their current job.

“I really love working for Janus, we’re like a family here! I never used to think my power was all that useful, all I can do is create illusions. But Janus said I have a lot of potential!” She stopped in front of one of the many doors in the winding halls. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the others!”

Kolt let her usher him into what looked like a living room. There were a couple of couches, a table and chairs, and even a little kitchenette in the corner where a grizzled old rabbit was pouring himself a cup of coffee. A smiling frog with a distant look in her eyes was playing cards at the table with a brooding cow. Watching them from the couch was a panther with what looked to be black wings blending into his fur. It took a moment of staring for Kolt to realise that the wings were attached to him by straps.

“Hey, everyone!” Mya clapped her hands once to get everyone’s attention. “The new guy’s here! Everyone, this is Kolt!” There were a few scattered greetings, and Mya dragged him over to the panther first. “This is Dizzy, he can fly and he’s got super strength!”

Kolt waved with a grin. “Hey. I’m Kolt, I make force fields. And…” He formed one around himself, lifting into the air to hover for a moment before setting himself back down. “Maybe we should have a race some time?”

“Sick! I’m down for a race.” Dizzy hopped up to inspect Kolt, walking in a slow circle around him with an appraising hum. “Yeah, you’ve got the hero look down. Janus picked well.”

Kolt glanced around. “Which one’s Janus?”

“Oh.” Dizzy laughed and shook his head. “He’s not here right now, I’m sure he’ll be along soon to show you around. Janus is very trustworthy. If he’s not here to greet you, there’s a reason for it. He probably wants you to get used to the team first. We’re like a family here.”

The phrase tickled something in the back of Kolt’s brain, but he brushed it off, letting Mya lead him over to the card players. “This is Lily and Jasmine.” She gestured to the frog and cow respectively. “Lily can see the future and Jasmine controls the weather.”

Lily gave a smile and a slight nod of greeting. “Lovely to meet you. We’re all very happy here. I’m sure you will be too.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Oh, ignore her. She says weird stuff. I think seeing the future kinda makes it hard to hold a normal conversation. Too much going on in her head…” She shook her own head before laughing. “Anyway, you met Dizzy already, right? Never let him fly you anywhere. There’s a reason he’s called Dizzy.”

“Hey, just because you don’t like doing barrel rolls…” Dizzy defended himself with a huff.

“No one but you likes it.” Jasmine scoffed and shook her head, turning her attention back to Kolt. “Anyway, welcome to the team.”

“Thanks!” Kolt beamed. “I’m excited to work with you all!”

“We are too.” Lily smiled warmly. “We’re like a family here. I think you’ll fit right in!”

Mya pointed over to the rabbit who was brooding in the corner, sipping at his coffee with a scowl. “That’s Blue. Ice powers. Don’t bother him unless you have to. And never before he’s had his coffee. Dizzy tried once…” She shivered a bit at the memory. “Just… don’t do it.”

Kolt nodded. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. So, when do I get to meet Janus?”

“Oh,” Mya waved a hand dismissively. “Soon, probably. Don’t worry, Janus is very trustworthy.”

Kolt’s brows furrowed. “You know, Dizzy said that exact same thing earlier…”

Mya blinked, looking confused for a moment before shrugging. “Must be a coincidence. My thoughts are all my own. I just think Janus is wonderful, and I always trust him to do the right thing. He’s the reason I’m a hero now, after all! I love it here. I never want to leave.”

Kolt’s expression softened at how genuine and starstruck Mya seemed when talking about Janus. He knew this sort of thing well, younger heroes idolising older ones. It was very common and always very sweet. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Wait with us, I’m sure he’ll come round soon to show you around.” Dizzy patted the couch.

Kolt sat down, watching the game of cards. It wasn’t a game he’d seen before, but he could tell by the way that Jasmine was huffing and slamming her cards down every so often that Lily was winning. It wasn’t surprising, everyone knew not to play cards with someone who could see the future. Though Lily didn’t seem the type to use her powers for something like cheating at cards.

“Double or nothing?” Lily gave a demure smile, seemingly oblivious to how angry Jasmine was getting.

Jasmine growled, but nodded. “Fine.”

Dizzy seemed to notice Kolt’s look of confusion and shrugged. “They do this a lot. You get used to it.”

“If it makes her so mad, why doesn’t she stop playing?” Kolt asked.

Jasmine turned to look at him for a moment with a frown. “Because one day I will win my money back. Besides, I’m not mad. We’re all very happy here.”

The phrase seemed a little out of place coming out of her mouth, but Kolt brushed it off with a shrug when Dizzy laughed. “You got any more cheesy slogans for the new guy?”

“It’s not a slogan.” Jasmine glared at him. “My thoughts are all my own.”

Kolt shifted nervously. She was the second person to say that exact thing… He didn’t have much time to think about it more, the door opening and another naga entering the room. He was much bigger than Mya, his presence commanding. It was clear from the way the rest of the heroes sat up straighter and stared reverently at him that he was Janus. Mya waved him over excitedly, tail twitching once more.

“Janus, look! Kolt’s here!” She seemed more than a little awestruck by him, grinning like a fool when his gaze turned to her.

He made his way over slowly, appraising Kolt with a small nod. “Good to see you again. I’m glad you decided to join us. How about I show you around? This place can be a little… disorienting.”

Kolt gave a slight laugh and nodded, standing up. “Yeah, I’ll probably get lost in all these hallways a lot.” He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “All the doors look the same.”

“Don’t worry.” Janus gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and Kolt could feel the barely restrained strength behind it. He’d heard a lot about Janus, super strong, fast, and durable. He was an impressive hero, and everyone wanted the chance to work with him. “You get used to it. And we’ll all make sure to help you adjust to being part of the team.”

Kolt felt reassured by Janus’ presence, nodding in agreement and following him back into the winding, identical halls. Janus showed him a glimpse into each room as they went by, explaining a bit about how everything worked. There were bedrooms for all the team members—the five he’d met today were just the ones currently on call, the team was large and very quickly growing—a few kitchens and plenty of bathrooms. There were storage rooms for equipment, different rooms specially designed for people to practice with different weapons and powers. There were debriefing rooms, security rooms, rooms full of files on known threats… It was a lot to take in, but Janus assured Kolt that he would get used to it soon enough.

“You can ask anyone for help if you need it. Everyone is like a family on our team. Sure, there’s an argument here or there, but in the end, we always help each other.” Janus smiled warmly at Kolt. “After all, we all just want to do what’s best. That’s what being a hero is all about, right?”

Kolt nodded in agreement. “That’s why I got into the business. I want to help as many people as I can.”

“That’s very admirable.” Janus nodded. “You’ll do well with us. We want to make the world a better place, together. Now, let me show you to the most important room in the base. The programming room.”

“Is that where you hack into things?” Kolt asked, curiously.

Janus gave a vague smile and a shrug. “You could certainly say that…”

Kolt wasn’t entirely sure why the programming room would be the most important, but he trusted Janus would explain more when they arrived. He wasn’t sure how many different hallways they’d turned down, or how many of them connected to each other. It was confusing and disorienting, walking through the halls. He tried to focus on Janus’ words instead, listening to him talk about camaraderie and teamwork, much like every other team leader he’d had before.

Janus stopped in front of a yellow door, the only one that Kolt had seen so far that didn’t look like all the others. He opened the door, ushering Kolt into the room. Far from the computers he’d been expecting from a place called the “programming room,” all that was inside was a single overhead light and a chair. Janus closed the door behind them both, gesturing for Kolt to take a seat. Perhaps this was some kind of initiation? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been interrogated or otherwise tested before being trusted by a team.

“Now.” Janus pressed a button on the wall when Kolt sat down, metal shackles coming out of the chair to restrain him. “I want to show you what this room is for. The programming room. Or, more accurately, the reprogramming room. You asked earlier if we do hacking in here. And we do. But a very different kind of hacking.”

Kolt struggled against the shackles as Janus took his watch from him. “What are you doing?”

“I can’t have you getting out of that chair before you’re ready to join the team. Don’t bother trying to use your powers either, those shackles won’t let you.” Janus stood in front of Kolt, eyes swirling slightly. Kolt found himself unable to look away, Janus’ gaze too intense to break. “Relax, Kolt. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just going to talk to you. And you’ll listen to me, and understand what we do here.”

Kolt felt the naga’s words sink slowly into his brain, his body relaxing as soon as he was told to. Janus didn’t seem to be making any moves to touch him, merely staring into his eyes with those hypnotic swirling irises of his. Kolt wasn’t sure what was happening, but he felt like he should sit and listen to what Janus had to say.

“Now, we’re going to talk a little bit, alright? I want you to keep looking into my eyes. I need to know that I can trust you. I’m sure you understand. I can’t just let anyone come in here and join us, I need to make sure you have the right intentions. That you’re not going to ruin everything we’ve worked for.”

Kolt gave an understanding nod, keeping eye contact with Janus. So far, everything he was saying sounded reasonable. Though Kolt was struggling to focus on the meaning of his words, distracted by the rhythmic undulating colours in Janus’ eyes. “Yeah, I get it. Not everyone who says they want to be a hero really does.”

“Exactly. Not everyone is here for the right reasons.” Janus gave a soft sigh. “It’s a shame, really. Our goal here is very noble. But you seem like the kind of guy I can trust. So, we’re just going to chat for a little bit, I’ll teach you some of the things you need to know, I’ll tell you more about what we do here… and then, if all goes well, you’ll be working with us properly in no time! You’ll be part of the team.”

Kolt smiled at the thought of being part of the team. Sure, they were all a bit strange, but they seemed nice enough. Except for Blue, who he would be sure to stay away from. “What do you need me to do to prove you can trust me?”

“Nothing at all.” Janus assured him. “All you have to do is look into my eyes and listen to my voice. Can you do that for me?”

Kolt nodded, focusing back on his eyes and feeling himself growing sleepy. “I can do that.”

“Remember, you need to look into my eyes the whole time. I need to make sure I can trust you. Now, tell me what you see when you look into my eyes.”

Kolt tried to shake off the sleepy feeling and focus again. “They’re changing colour. They’re… blue and green… and orange… and red…” It was like watching technicoloured ocean waves, overlapping and washing over each other.

“How do they make you feel?”

Kolt’s brow furrowed. “Tired. I feel tired. And calm. And… like my head is full of mashed potatoes.”

Janus gave a soft laugh. “Well, that’s alright. Just let that feeling wash over you. You don’t need to think, you just need to listen and understand. And you need to keep looking into my eyes, no matter how tired they make you feel. Do you understand?”

Kolt nodded. His head felt too full of fluff to fit any thoughts into it, and his eyes felt so heavy he wasn’t sure how he was managing to keep them open. But he did, still staring into the naga’s hypnotic eyes. “I understand.”

“Don’t try to fight the feeling. You’re tired, let yourself rest. Relax, you don’t need to use any energy to listen to me. You don’t need to think about my words too hard, just listen to them and you’ll understand, I promise. Don’t think, just listen. Can you do that for me?”

Kolt nodded.

“Good. Good. It’s okay, Kolt. You’re safe here.” Janus assured him, watching the fox’s eyes glaze over slowly and his head start to droop. The longer he stared into Janus’ eyes, the heavier his head felt and the more the naga’s words sank into his brain without resistance. “Repeat after me: Janus is trustworthy.”

Kolt blinked slowly and nodded. “Janus is trustworthy.”

“Good. Very good. Janus is trustworthy. I want you to remember that. To keep it in mind. If you think of questioning me, if you hear someone else question me, just remember… Nagas are stronger than you. We’re superior to you. We’re better than you, so you can trust us. Janus is trustworthy. Janus is trustworthy. You can trust me.”

Kolt’s voice was a soft mumble, his head still nodding along slowly. “Janus is trustworthy.”

“Very good. Janus is trustworthy. I trust Janus. That’s how you feel, you feel deep down that you can trust me. That you should listen to me, trust me, follow me. Because as a naga, I’m better than you. I’m your superior. You feel like you can trust me. Because you can, Janus is trustworthy. Now, say it: I trust Janus.”

“I trust Janus. Janus is trustworthy.”

“Good, good. I trust Janus. Janus is trustworthy. Now, let’s talk about the team. You’ll be very happy here, on my team. You’ll get along great with everyone! We all get along well. We’re like a family here. Can you say that? We’re like a family here.”

“We’re like a family here.” Kolt repeated obediently.

“We’re like a family here. You love us like your family. You think of us as family. If someone wants to hurt us, you defend us like your family. You support our goals, you love us, like your family. We’re like a family here. Do you understand?”

“We’re like a family here.”

“Good. We’re like a family here. And Janus is in charge of this family, as the superior being. You can trust nagas. You can trust me. Janus is trustworthy. I can trust Janus.”

“We’re like a family here. Janus is trustworthy. I can trust Janus.” The more Kolt heard and repeated the phrases, the more they sunk into his brain. He felt, deep inside, that it was true. They were like a family there. Everyone had greeted him so kindly; he was part of their family now. And he could trust Janus to lead their family in the right direction. Janus was so strong and superior to himself. He could trust nagas.

“Do you remember how you felt when I agreed to let you join us? How happy you were? And how happy you were when you met the team? Do you remember how happy the team were? We’re all very happy here. Who wouldn’t be happy, working for a naga? We’re like a family here. We’re all very happy here. Do you understand?” Janus moved closer, keeping his eyes locked with Kolt’s.

“We’re like a family here. We’re all very happy here.” Kolt repeated, feeling warmth spread through his chest as he thought about his team. No, his family. He was very happy there.

“We’re all very happy here. We’re like a family here. You feel like you’re part of the family, and that makes you happy. Being with your family makes you so happy. You trust us, you care about us. And we care about you. You’re safe here. You’re under our protection. The protection of stronger beings. I’m safe here. Remember that whenever you worry. I’m safe here.”

“I’m safe here.” Kolt gave a smile, feeling the last remaining tension seep from his shoulders. He was safe there.

“I’m safe here. You’re safe here, you’re happy here, you’ve found a family here. Why would you ever want to leave? Would you ever want to leave?” Janus asked.

Kolt shook his head, the movement sluggish and lazy. “No…”

“I never want to leave.” Janus was pleased by how well Kolt was taking the suggestions, the mantras ingraining themselves in his brain with ease. “I never want to leave. Why would you want to leave your family? Why would you want to stop serving those better than you? You’re safe here, you’re happy here. I never want to leave.”

“I never want to leave.” Kolt agreed, voice monotonous as he internalised the mantras.

“I never want to leave. Remember that. Remember everything we’ve talked about. Everything we’ve agreed on together. Janus is trustworthy. I trust Janus. We’re like a family here. We’re all very happy here. I’m safe here. I never want to leave. I never want to leave. I’m safe here. We’re all very happy here. We’re like a family here. I trust Janus. Janus is trustworthy.”

Janus repeated the mantras over and over again, watching as Kolt slowly began to mumble the phrases along with him. The two of them repeated the mantras over and over and over, Kolt’s eyes never straying from those swirling irises that captivated him so much. Slowly, Janus stopped saying the mantras. Kolt continued to mumble them to himself, body swaying back and forth as much as it could in the shackles.

“Kolt?” Janus interrupted him once he was sure the mantras had stuck. “Now we need to talk about our mission here. You’re dedicated to our mission, right? You want to make your family happy and help us achieve our goals?”

Kolt nodded. “We’re like a family here. I trust Janus.”

“Very good.” Janus gave a nod of approval. “You’re part of the family, so you want to help the family, right? The family is much bigger than you realise. There are many of us, who share a goal. You want to share our goal too, right?”

Kolt nodded. “We’re like a family here. I never want to leave.”

“Good. Because what we do here isn’t quite what you think. You’re part of our family now, so I can tell you, we’re here to bring back an ancient tradition. A very ancient tradition. Do you know any history?” Janus paused for a moment, a smile coming to his face when Kolt didn’t respond, too busy gazing into his eyes. Good. He was deep enough under hypnosis to not fight back. “Many thousands of years ago, naga ruled this part of the world. Our empire was extensive. We controlled everything. You see, naga have a power. One many no longer know about. We’re able to control people, to hypnotise them. I’ve been trying to teach Mya, to unlock her hidden power, but I need to train her first. Teach her about her people. For now, she’s as brainwashed as all the rest. As brainwashed as you’ll be by the time I’m done with you. How does that make you feel?”

“I trust Janus. I’m safe here.” Kolt replied, the mantras still echoing in his head.

“Perfect. You’re going to be part of our family. We’re a very big family, much bigger than just this team. And all over the world. You’re part of our family, and you’ll help us bring back the naga empire, to take over the world. You’ll be part of that empire, as a lovely brainwashed helper. You’ll be serving your superiors, because you know deep down that we’re better than you. That you’re here to serve us. Do you want that? Do you want to be part of our family?”

Kolt nodded, eyes still drooping and movements still sluggish. “We’re like a family here. I never want to leave.”

“Good. Now, let’s teach you one final phrase, okay? We don’t want anyone to know about this. Not even you. Janus can be trusted, but you can’t. You’re not as strong as a naga, you can’t be trusted to remember any of this. So you’re going to have to be good and forget it all for me, okay? Can you do that?”

Kolt nodded again. “I trust Janus.”

“Good. Janus is trustworthy. Now, whenever you wonder why you want to help me, why you’re agreeing to things, why you’re thinking or saying things, I need you to say ‘My thoughts are all my own.’ Okay? My thoughts are all my own. No one has told you how to feel. No one has told you to trust me, or that you’re happy here, or that we’re a family and you never want to leave. My thoughts are all my own. You’ve decided to trust and help us of your own free will. You believe all of these things. You believe them because deep down you know it’s the right thing. You know reviving the naga empire is the right thing to do. It’s the good thing to do. My thoughts are all my own. Can you say that?”

“My thoughts are all my own.” Kolt repeated, the mantras sinking deep into his brain until they really did feel like they were his own thoughts. “My thoughts are all my own.”

“Very good. My thoughts are all my own. And what thoughts are those?”

“Janus is trustworthy. I trust Janus. We’re like a family here. We’re all very happy here. I’m safe here. I never want to leave. My thoughts are all my own.”

“Wonderful.” Janus pressed the button on the wall, releasing Kolt. “Remember, I trust Janus. I trust Janus. That’s the most important thing.”

Kolt nodded. “I trust Janus.”

Janus finally broke the eye contact, his irises no longer changing colour. Kolt blinked a few times, his thoughts coming back to him, though he couldn’t recall anything that had happened since stepping into the room. Janus patted his shoulder gently. “That was a good talk. I think we can trust you. You’ll be a very good addition to our team. Now, Mya should be waiting just outside to show you to your room. Good luck. And welcome to the family.”

Kolt smiled, heading for the door and stopping for just a moment. “Thank you.”

“So, what happened in there?” Mya asked excitedly, tail flicking as Kolt slipped out of the yellow door. “The walls and doors in this place are way too thick to hear through.”

Kolt’s brow furrowed slightly as he tried to remember what had happened. He remembered Janus showing him around, telling him all about the base, leading him into a yellow room to talk… they must have spoken in there. But he wasn’t sure what about. I’m safe here, a voice in his head reminded him, calming him instantly. “I don’t remember.” He shrugged it off. “But it’s fine. I trust Janus.”

⚜ Commission Me ⚜

#hypnosis #brainwashing #snapdragon posts #snapdragon commissions

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baepsaesbae · 4 years

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Parang Kape Ko. Bittersweet. || Just Like My Coffee. Bittersweet

Pairing— Kim Taehyung x reader

Genre— Fluff/Romance, Enemies to Lovers au, coffee shop au

Warnings— None

Word Count— 1.8k

Summary— You work at a coffee shop with the most annoying person ever. Kim Taehyung.

A/N— Thank you @kitsutaes for requesting! I hope you like it darling. You can still request drabbles up until the end of the August with this post

You couldn’t quite place it. Something about Taehyung made your skin crawl since the very first day you laid eyes on him. To make matters worse, your manager kept pairing you together for nearly every shift (she couldn’t help it, she thought you guys looked cute together).

You despised the way girls would giggle and try to subtly give him their number after ordering their drink. You rolled your eyes every time he’d wink and flirt back with them. Each shift with just the two of you was unbearable.

Taehyung was naturally a player, anyone could see that. Women would swoon from a mere flash of a smile. They’d be putty in his hands with a simple wink. That being said, Taehyung was so taken aback when his charms didn’t work on you. He couldn’t figure out what he did to tick you off, but it seemed like you didn’t like him from the start. That was a concept he couldn’t fathom.

It was like a never ending game of tag that you didn’t want to play, and you couldn’t risk Taehyung finally catching up to you. The more you showed your disdain for Taehyung, the more intrigued he’d be by you, thus spurring him to pester you even more.

“Hey grumpy grump! How was your weekend?” Taehyung greeted you as you clocked in.

“It was fine. Yours?” you replied with indifference.

“It was chill, kinda lowkey. I actually found a cool hole in the wall restaurant that I thought maybe we could--”

“I’m busy,” you interrupted without looking at him.

“But I didn’t even say when--”

“You don’t need to. I’m very busy all the time,” you walked away to prep the machines before Taehyung could even reply.

“C’mon, just give me a chance! It doesn’t even have to be a date. I genuinely want to get to know you. Why do you hate me so much?” Taehyung pouted as he followed you around like a lost puppy.

“Prep the tables and chairs, please,” you commanded without acknowledging his whining.

“Yes ma’am. See? I’m such a good boy, I always listen to you,” he called out from across the cafe as he unstacked chairs.

You ignored him. This was your normal routine every time you worked with Taehyung. He seemed to get a thrill every time he riled you up, so you’ve learned not to give him the satisfaction. Straight up ignoring him was the best way to go.

Taehyung became preoccupied with taking orders once the customers started piling in. You absentmindedly made the drinks, a task that you could now do with your eyes closed. You thought about what Taehyung said. Sure, he’s an annoying prick who knows he’s too handsome for his own good, but does that really justify your hatred for him?

You hated to admit it, but Taehyung is the most handsome man you’ve ever seen in your life. Your heart fluttered every time he teased you, and though you gave off the impression that you wouldn’t care if he disappeared off the face of the Earth, you were secretly pleased with the attention he gave you. On occasion, you’ve caught glimpses of random girls glaring at you while Taehyung was messing around with you.

You shook your head as you powered up the blender to make a double mocha frappe with 2 extra shots of espresso. What the hell were you thinking? This is exactly why you don’t like Taehyung. He lives in your mind rent free.

“I think that frappe is blended enough,” Taehyung observed. He appeared out of nowhere, startling you.

“You good?” he asked with a hint of concern.

“I’m fine,” you answered curtly as you handed him the drink.

“Frappe for Tiffany!” Taehyung called out before returning his attention to you, “I was serious earlier by the way. This little game of ours is fun, but I honestly want to get to know you. Plus, you never actually talk to me so I don’t know what I did to make you hate my guts or whatever. Unless you’re like a massive introvert or something. I’d respect that of course, but like I said I literally wouldn’t know that because you never talk to me so--”

“Okay! Fine! I’ll go with you to that stupid restaurant. Will you finally shut up now?” you snapped.

“Aw, so you do listen when I talk to you. It’s a date! Or not, that’s up to you. You free after this shift?” he lifted his eyebrows with excitement.

“Yeah,” you begrudgingly nodded.

The rest of the shift flew by with the nonstop stream of customers. The morning rush is always tough, but Taehyung handled the flow perfectly every time. His demeanor calms even the most irate caffeine addicted customers.

“I’m starving,” Taehyung announced as he clocked out.

“What kind of food does the restaurant serve?” you asked as your stomach rumbled.

“Hamburgers!” Taehyung beamed.

“Cool. Text me the address and I’ll meet you there,” you say as you head towards your car.

“Wait! It’s actually not too far from here. There’s no need to take two vehicles,” Taehyung rubbed the back of his neck.

“Do you wanna ride in my car?” you asked quizzically.

“Actually I wanted to take you for a ride. On my bike,” he quickly added.

“Sure I guess. You got a little basket for me to ride in or something?” you attempted to be friendly.

“Not quite. I don’t have a spare helmet, but I can assure you that I’m a safe driver,” he says as he leads you to his parking spot.

“You have a moped?” you asked in shock. You couldn’t help but smile at the cute little lavender moped that Taehyung probably zips around on every day.

“Yeah, I love this little sucker. It used to be my sister’s, that’s why it’s purple. But it’s badass on the streets,” Taehyung patted the seat.

“So where am I sitting?” you asked even though you already knew the answer.

“You’d be safest sitting behind me. You can hold onto me if you’d like. For safety reasons, of course,” he smiled.

You climbed onto the moped after him. You didn’t want to hold onto him, but you whimpered and quickly wrapped your arms around him as soon as he took off. The tiny moped was surprisingly fast, and since it was so small, you could practically feel every bump on the road.

Taehyung smirked as you hung onto him tightly. “Cute,” he thought.

Taehyung’s scent enveloped you as you leaned into his back. You’ve grown accustomed to his smell since you were always together at work, but being up close and personal with him was a different story. He had a comforting smell that made you want to snuggle up to him even more. You wondered which cologne he was wearing, just in case you wanted to pick it up for yourself.

You felt how solid his torso was as you clung to him. Your thoughts lingered to his earlier question yet again. Why did you hate him so much? He really didn’t seem like a bad guy. In fact, the opposite is true. Sure he could be a bit flirty, but he was also always kind and gentle. You realized that he never flirted with the customers first, he simply returned their energy.

“We’re here!” Taehyung happily announced.

He led you into a small restaurant that appeared to be family owned. The owners greeted Taehyung by his first name, indicating that he’s probably a regular customer.

“Welcome in! And who’s this lovely lady you brought with you?” the man greeted.

“Taehyung! Is this this coffee shop girl? She’s just as gorgeous as you said she wa--” his wife began to ramble until Taehyung cut her off.

“I’ll have two of the usuals please. Oh, and two sodas. Thanks guys,” Taehyung ordered quickly before bringing you over to a small table in the corner.

“How much do I owe you?” you inquired as you took out your wallet.

“Nothing. This is my treat. I’m surprised you finally agreed to hangout with me,” Taehyung smiled as he shifted his weight in his chair.

“What was that lady saying before you ordered?” you tilted your head.

“She uh, was telling me about the daily special,” Taehyung lied.

“No she wasn’t. I was right next to you, Taehyung. Am I the coffee shop girl?” you teased, delighted that the tables have turned.

“I mean you are a girl and you do work in a coffee shop. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re THE coffee shop girl…” Taehyung was flustered.

“Is this a date or are we just hanging out?” you pressed further.

“Which would you like it to be?” Taehyung retorted.

“I asked first,” you countered.

“I guess I can’t argue with that. I would prefer this to be a date. But since you hate me I’d happily settle for us just hanging out,” he admitted.

“I wouldn’t say that I hate you…” you trailed off.

“Oh really? Then why do you always ignore me and only talk to me to boss me around. I find that hot by the way, but we don’t have to get into that right now,” he smirked.

“I...I don’t know. Your face always bothered me I suppose,” you answered thoughtfully.

“My face?” Taehyung burst out into a fit of laughter, “___, am I so ugly that you just can’t stand being around me?”

“The opposite actually. Oh what the hell, we’re here anyway. You’re so goddamn handsome it’s aggravating. You’re so nice it’s unnerving. And when you talk to me it’s like you’ve known me forever. If I didn’t act so cold towards you I would’ve fallen for you so easily,” you finally got everything off of your chest.

An awkward silence filled the room and you began to regret coming clean. The owner came by with the burgers and you noticed the ketchup was done in the shape of a heart.

“Damn,” was all that Taehyung replied after a while.

You silently nodded as you bit into your burger.

“I’m glad I kept bugging you then. I thought you were a cutie during orientation. I knew you weren’t actually a bitch because I’ve seen the way you interact with people who aren’t me. You’re such a sweetheart. Also please don’t think I’m a creep for watching you at work sometimes,” he chuckled.

“I’m sorry for being so cold towards you. I’m not really good with processing emotions and all that,” you blushed, “But now that everything's out in the open, I’d be willing to let my walls down I guess.”

“Sure. We can take it one date at a time. And maybe you could actually talk to me at work?” Taehyung gave you big puppy eyes.

“Maybe. I’ll see what I can do,” you failed to suppress a smile.

Kim Taehyung might not be too shabby after all.

#bts fluff #taehyung fluff #bts drabble #btswritingcafe #bangtanarmynet #taehyung drabble #paralumanplaylist #bts fanfic #kpop fanfic

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songfell-ut · 4 years

Text

I give up, here’s Chapter 17

I should’ve posted this a week ago, but I’ve been like “nuuu it’s cool no one minds a 25,000-word chapter” and yeah here’s only 15k that I finally split off into its own thing. Chapter is here, hi @lostmypotatoes

The Grand Hall lived up to its name: Frisk had never been to the nicer parts of the humans’ castle, but there was no way it could be more amazing than this place, which had a ceiling hundreds of feet tall blanketed with tiny lights, speckled marble columns that reached nearly all the way up, and beautiful murals on the walls showing forests, rivers, even the ocean! Monsters stood in long lines along a central aisle of sparkling white sand, so new that it had obviously been made for the humans’ visit, stretching up a gentle slope to the foot of the grand staircase leading into the Underground.

Queen Toriel had taken Frisk from the house in the Ruins through a snowy town – how did it snow inside the mountain? – and on her first-ever boat ride, which ended all too soon in a place called “Waterfall”; from there, they hurried down to the Grand Hall just in time for the Royal Guard to announce the human delegation. Luckily, instead of having to walk through all those monsters, they used a partly-hidden network of hallways to emerge right at the head of the staircase. Toriel gave the child one more pat, telling her to be good and stay where she was, before the Queen walked out to take her place beside Asgore, nodding to the guards.

Frisk was glad she didn’t have to talk to the King yet; he looked like a bigger, hairier, scarier version of his wife or son, scowling and fidgeting around until Toriel cleared her throat. They stood just in front of Prince Asriel, who noticed the child and gave her a friendly nod before he turned to face the aisle. Frisk crept out far enough to look around the rest of the cavern, wondering why humans talked about the Underground as if it was some kind of filthy mudhole. It was such a beautiful place, with boat rides and snow and twinkling lights…

Something like trumpets sounded, and the Grand Hall’s enormous bronze gates swung open. The monsters all put on their politest expressions as the delegation came through the entrance and headed up the aisle, with the frontmost humans stopping at the bottom of the staircase. “Greetings,” boomed King Asgore, extending his arms and flaring his purple cape out like great wings. “Welcome to the Underground, one and all!”

On cue, the monsters broke into cheers and applause. As the echoes faded, a fussy-looking human stepped forward to give a long speech about greetings and honor and honorable blah blah blah; it was starting to get boring when he was cut short by a cry of “Mama!” and someone rushing past him.

“Chara!” Forgetting her dignity, the Queen of monsters hitched up her robe to run to her estranged daughter. They nearly crashed into each other halfway down the stairs, Toriel’s crown falling askew as the human leapt into her embrace. There was a lot of murmuring and more genuine applause, which swelled into a full ovation as Toriel sank to her knees, holding on as though her child was drowning and her arms were a life preserver.

Asriel had also hurried down to meet his sister, and Asgore was starting toward them when it happened: Chara looked up for the briefest second, and when she saw Frisk near the head of the stairs, the woman’s eyes flashed sheer hatred, as though she wanted her dead on the spot.

Frisk jerked back so hard that she stumbled and nearly fell. When she caught her balance, she found herself looking down at Asgore; he was staring at Chara, and followed the woman’s gaze back up to Frisk. For a long second, the King regarded the human child with a question in his eyes, as though he wanted to say something, but knew better; then Chara was all teary smiles again, hugging Asriel and extending an arm to “Papa!”

The applause grew even louder as Asgore joined them, parents and siblings joyously reunited, and Frisk could have cried with rage. Why did Chara have to hate her for being there when she was lucky enough to have her own perfect family? Couldn’t Frisk have had more than a couple of minutes with those wonderful monsters before Chara stole them back?

It was too much. The child sniffled, and turned to trudge back down the hallway, trying not to think of what her mother was going to say when she found out where Frisk had been.

But as she approached the branching path that led to the Grand Hall floor, she came to a sudden halt: someone further down the hall was shouting, “I’M TELLING YOU, IT IS DEFINITELY THIS WAY!”

“sure, bro,” another person mumbled, his deeper voice echoing up the passage.

“SANS, PLEASE! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE CORRECT DIRECTION THIS TIME! THERE IS NO NEED TO LOOK AT ME IN THAT TONE OF VOICE!”

“relax, pap. i’m just impressed you know all these different ways to go.”

The voices weren’t moving—she was trapped up here. Frisk held her breath as the louder person demanded, “REALLY? THEN WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THAT SMIRK?”

“…uh, bro? this is how I always—”

“DON’T LIE TO ME, BROTHER! THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS WHAT A SMIRK LOOKS LIKE! IT’S A REGULAR SMILE, BUT IN THAT TONE OF VOICE!!”

“you got me. it means ‘pap is the coolest and knows all the directions.’ you like it?”

“…I SEE! NYEH-HEH. YES, I DO LIKE IT! FROM NOW ON, YOU MAY SMIRK ALL YOU WANT!”

“aww, thanks, bro. you’re the best…and that’s the tooth.”

The joke was so dumb that Frisk had to laugh. Whoever it was, they sounded friendly enough, not to mention silly. Were they humans she hadn’t talked to on the way here? Or—

“DID YOU HEAR THAT, BROTHER?” She jumped as the voice came closer. “IS SOMEONE THERE? SOMEONE WITH EXTREMELY BAD TASTE?”

“hey! i think they’ve got great taste. i mean, they obviously speak our tongue.”

Frisk laughed again, and was only a little afraid when the strange pair came into view. They were skeletons—not just thin people, but actual, literal bones that walked and talked. One was very tall, dressed in showy red boots and some kind of fake armor, while the other was much shorter, in clothes far too casual for an event like this. Why was he wearing pink slippers?

Both of them were also looking her over. With the tiny little lights in his sockets trained on Frisk, the taller one bent down to whisper to his brother. “OH MY GOD, SANS!” he yelled. “IS THAT A HUMAN?”

The short one stared at her for a moment, then nodded, and somehow closed one socket in a wink. “i dunno, pap. he doesn’t look that monstrous to me. who’re you, kid?”

“My name is F—Kris,” she said, giving them a bow, “and you’re right. I’m a human.”

“OF COURSE I AM RIGHT, HUMAN, FOR I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! HOW PLEASANT FOR YOU TO MEET ME!” The tall skeleton struck a heroic pose. “HAVE NO FEAR! WE MONSTERS HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE AND THEN BECOME FRIENDS! THEREFORE, YOU MAY SIMPLY REFER TO ME AS ‘PAPYRUS,’ EVEN IF IT IS ONLY HALFWAY CORRECT.” He indicated the other skeleton. “THIS IS MY OLDER BROTHER, SANS. DO NOT BE DISTRAUGHT THAT HE IS NOT AS GREAT AS I AM, AND TRY TO BEAR WITH HIS TERRIBLE JOKES, NYEHH.” Nudge. “SANS! SAY SOMETHING THAT IS NOT TERRIBLE!”

Sans was watching her carefully; he looked like he was smiling, but Frisk had the feeling it was just how his face was made. He wasn’t happy to see her at all. “sure,” he said coolly. “the name’s sans. sans the skeleton.” Papyrus nudged him again, and Sans sighed, as if resigning himself to his fate. “yeah, i know what his majesty said.” He put on a wider grin. “welp, nice to meet you, kris.”

Fakeness or not, the monsters she’d met so far were still much better than any humans she knew. So Frisk smiled shyly at him, and whispered, “It’s nice to meet you, too, Sans.”

His smile dropped a little. They regarded each other for a few seconds; to her delight, his mouth rose again in genuine approval. “heh. you seem like a nice kid.” Shrug. “pap’s right. we’re all gonna be pals, so…”

Papyrus looked pleased as Sans took his hand from his jacket pocket. But as Frisk reached out to shake it, Pap’s smile suddenly vanished. “WAAAIT A MOMENT,” the taller brother said suspiciously. “SANS, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT—”

Too late. The moment Frisk grasped the skeleton’s hand, something erupted in a palm-tickling explosion of Pfffffftttttppppppfffffffff…ffffffppp…pppf…pp……p.

Silence.

“OH. MY. GOD,” Papyrus said in the voice of doom, and rounded on his brother. “SANS, YOU IMBECILE! YOU HAVE BROKEN THE HUMAN! LOOK, IT ISN’T MOVING! IT—”

Frisk couldn’t hold it in: she howled with laughter, and only got louder as Sans pulled his hand back to reveal the rubbery, air-filled contraption that had made the rude noise. “what can i say? it’s always funny,” he said proudly. “quite a gas.”

“HOW COULD YOU, BROTHER?! THIS IS A CLEAR VIOLATION OF ACQUAINTANCE ETIQUETTE!” raged Papyrus. “HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ASCEND THE HEIGHTS OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP NOW THAT YOUR IDIOTIC PRANK HAS DAMAGED THE SMALL HUMAN?!” Papyrus stabbed a gloved finger at Frisk, who was now doubled over. “IF THIS IS HOW YOU ARE GOING TO BEHAVE, YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO HOME NOW! YES, HOME! YOU CAN PICK UP YOUR ROOM IN CASE WE HAVE HUMAN GUESTS!”

“i dunno, bro,” said Sans, winking at Frisk again. “it’s probably too heavy for me. you should get it instead.”

“NYEHHH! I MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT GET IT!”

“aw, pap, don’t be so hard on yourself. i’m sure if you just try harder—”

“LEAVE!! NOW!!!”

Funny as the brothers were, that seemed harsh to Frisk—the nearest houses had to be pretty far away from the Grand Hall, and making Sans walk all the way back because of a few jokes was a little much. She eyed Papyrus doubtfully, wondering if he was like humans after all.

“it’s fine, kiddo,” Sans told her, as if reading her thoughts. He winked one more time. “don’t worry, i know a shortcut. so, eye will see ya later.”

Before Frisk could react, Sans was…gone. Baffled, she looked around, then up at Papyrus. “HM? OH, YES. SANS HAS DEVELOPED HIS MAGIC EXACTLY ENOUGH TO BE AS LAZY AS POSSIBLE,” the tall skeleton said distastefully. “I CAN ONLY HOPE HE IS ACTUALLY CLEANING HIS ROOM NOW. MORE LIKELY, HE IS—”

There was a sound of clapping and cheering from the Grand Hall. “THAT’S RIGHT!” Papyrus threw his red scarf over his collarbone. “COME ALONG, HUMAN! I SHALL INTRODUCE YOU TO THE OTHER MONSTERS! YOU WILL BE DELIGHTED TO MEET THEM, ESPECIALLY THE ROYAL GUARD, AND THE FEELING WILL BE MUTUAL! NYEH-HEH! FOLLOW ME, NEW ACQUAINTANCE!”

“Um…” Frisk bit her lip. Papyrus was a lot to take in, especially without warning, but he didn’t seem to be faking his enthusiasm, or his kindness. Frisk looked at him, made up her mind, and smiled again. “Can we be friends now?” she asked, holding up her hand.

The skeleton’s cheekbones turned bright pink, somehow, eye sockets going wide and glittery. “REALLY?!? WOWIE! I CAN’T BELIEVE I—” He made a noise like a cough. “I MEAN…O-OF COURSE YOU WANT TO BE MY FRIEND, KRIS! I AM EXTREMELY GREAT.” Papyrus leaned down a little to take her hand. “COME ALONG! AS A FRIEND OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, YOU SHALL BE KNOWN AND LOVED BY ALL! NYEH-HEH-HEH!”

Frisk sure hoped so, especially if the other monsters were as nice as he was. Even if they weren’t, she’d already made new friends, exactly like she was supposed to. Mama couldn’t be mad at her for that, and Chara couldn’t take them away from her!

The dream with Asriel was a fitting end to a frustrating night. Sans had picked the biggest inn he could find and asked for a room with the biggest bed they had, only to find that it still wasn’t big enough for him. He didn’t want to try sleeping in his disguise, which meant another night stretched out on the floor, longing for the massive bed in the High Priestess’ quarters. He never would have thought he’d want to go back to the humans’ castle—that damn bed had spoiled him for life! Not to mention that when he was sleeping in it, he had Frisk all to himself…

He had just started dozing off when the door to the next room opened and closed, a couple of human voices whispering back and forth. Sans made the mistake of concluding that that was it, and was completely unprepared for the sounds that exploded through the wall a minute later.

Sans was not an expert on human…anything, but he knew was he was hearing, and that he was hearing it very very loudly. At that point, he had several options; after mulling exactly one of them over, he sat up and ran a thread of magic through the lamp fixture over the bed, worming it through the conduits in the wall and into the next room. From there, he could feel the vibrations of the bed moving – ugh – and spread his magic in a thin layer under one side of the mattress; then he twitched his hand, and grinned at the shrieks and thuds of the couple being dumped onto the floor.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t need to do anything else. The humans got dressed in a hurry, grabbed their things, and left, and did not come back. Sans let his magic dissipate and settled down, feeling a little smug, but mostly annoyed that the sounds were still stuck in his head.

The giant skeleton tossed and turned, dreamed, and got up in the morning a lot later than he intended; he was so unrested, and so disturbed at having seen Asriel – had it been real? Why and how would the Prince visit him of all people? Why now? – that he barely remembered to put his chain back on before he left the room. He forgot to ask directions when he checked out and had to grump his way around town at random, looking for the stables the warehouse lady had mentioned. He had to get the carts and horses, then go to all the stupid places and get the stupid things…

Well, this wasn’t the right way: he was on a street lined with cute little cafes and humans sitting around in fancy metal chairs. He stopped to get his bearings, and nearly swore as his stomach growled. At least there were food stands everywhere…but what the hell was a “crepe”?

A minute later, he found a place to sit down and gnaw on a couple of folded-over, chocolatey things, which were actually pretty good. There wasn’t much to do as he ate but people-watch, which would have been kind of neat if the people in question weren’t humans. They followed the overall pattern he’d observed at the castle, where the men were loud and stupid-looking, while the women were also loud and ranged from scrawny to actually-lumpy to extremely lumpy. Even the ones with nice faces were still too…human, without any soothing voices, or graceful movements, or sweet expressions…

It made him wonder yet again if Frisk’s SOUL was the real reason he’d been so drawn to her; the first time he’d seen it, he was scared shitless, and then he wanted to rip it out for strictly non-romantic purposes. Was it because she’d reminded him so much of Kris? Or would he have just eventually fallen in love with any human who was powerful enough for him, even if she was a gross person on the outside or inside?

…Nope. It was because she was Frisk. Satisfied with that line of introspection, Sans finished the second crepe and tossed the wrappers in a trash can, forgetting that she wasn’t there to yell at him for littering. Time to ask someone for directions to a more useful part of town.

The first person he talked to just shrugged, and the next pointed him the wrong way entirely, but an irate half-hour later, Sans was back on the right track. This street seemed much dingier, with fewer people around; it smelled weird, too, like horse pee and desperation.

Maybe that was why someone had started following him. Sans smiled to himself, wiggling his fingers inside his coat pockets. Should he get further into the back alleyways before he confronted the guy, or—

“Heya.”

Sans glanced to his right. A man in his early twenties was standing by a side street, nodding at him. “C’mon this way,” he said. “Got somethin’ to show you.”

“I don’t think so, pal,” said the disguised boss monster. “Whatever ya want, you’re wastin’ yer time. Don’t have any cash on me.” Without waiting for an answer, he speed-walked further ahead, grinning as he heard a soft whistle behind him.

Sure enough, someone was waiting right around the next corner, an older man in nice clothes. “Excuse me, sir,” he said loudly, “but do you have the time?”

Sans thought of the old woman again and snorted. “Nope,” he replied, and tried to walk around him.

The man quick-stepped back into Sans’ way. “My. Her Eminence doesn’t pay you enough to buy a watch?” he asked innocently.

What the hell? He wasn’t wearing the armband. “Who said anythin’ about—”

The distraction almost worked: the guy made a sudden feint toward him, and if Sans had been any less alert, he’d have backed right into the human sneaking up to grab his neck with a wire loop. Instead, Sans pivoted and slammed an elbow into his would-be assailant so hard that he felt the guy’s ribs crack. The man who’d stopped him cursed under his breath, turning to run.

Almost absent-mindedly, Sans waved a finger in the fleeing human’s direction. There was a shnk of bone erupting from the pavement, and a muffled scream as the man’s ankle was impaled mid-flight. The rest of his body yanked to a stop and hit the ground in a twisted heap.

Footsteps pounded toward them, and Sans turned to face the first guy who’d talked to him, then one other human. They sized up the situation and moved to either side of him, one armed with some kind of club and the other sporting a huge knife.

Sans gave a low laugh as bloodlust started bubbling to the surface. Finally! This was what he’d been waiting for! No more playing cute and harmless! No more letting people do whatever the hell they wanted with him! No witnesses!

Really, the only problem was that it was too easy. Sans let the one with the knife get in close, then grabbed his arm and broke it at the elbow, spinning the would-be assassin around and shoving him into the guy with the club. Both humans hit the ground, but the knife guy was up in a moment, scrabbling for his weapon with his good hand. Sans kicked the knife away, pinned both of his palms to the ground with a couple more bones, and lifted the remaining human by the neck with his magic.

Was that it? He glanced around at the one with the wire loop – on the ground, struggling to breathe – then the guy with the impaled ankle, who seemed to have passed out. The third was staring at his hands and making weird noises – not very knife of him, ha ha – and the last one dangled a few inches off the ground, clawing at the red mist around his throat.

Sans hummed under his breath, surveying the four men with an artistic eye. Well! Where to begin? Might as well start with the one he was holding up. The human windpipe was so fragile that one good crunch would do it…but no one said it’d have to be a quick crunch. Sans began to apply pressure, slow and hard, and grinned as the man’s eyes bulged in terror—

Out of nowhere, he froze mid-squeeze as a strange emotion hit him. It was…nostalgia, and then—guilt? That was it; the longer Sans stared at the captive human, the less he enjoyed the guy’s fear and despair. He knew exactly what it felt like to be trapped by someone stronger, didn’t he? Back in his jail cell, cowering behind a human witch’s barrier, knowing she could do any damn thing she pleased to him—had he looked like this to her?

Sans shook his head in irritation. What was he thinking? That was different! He wasn’t Frisk, and these guys had tried to kill him!

…just like he’d tried to kill her before and after she stopped him from hurting anyone. What had she done to retaliate? Kept him safe, given him her own stupidly oversized bed, let him sleep for over a day, and fed him more in one sitting than he’d eaten in goddamn weeks.

Sans tried again to shake it off, to rationalize that no one in their right mind would hold a psycho like him to Frisk’s standards, but when he looked again at the human in his grasp…

No, dammit! These assholes had attacked him out of nowhere, and he’d defended himself! Surely she wouldn’t expect him to just stand there and get murdered?

…But none of these guys could move under their own power anymore, much less hurt him. Now Sans could see Frisk snarling up at him in all her tiny, furious glory: “If you kill anyone and you cannot look me in the eye to tell me why it was necessary, I don't want you to come back at all!”

Argh! It wasn’t fair! She wasn’t here to stop him—she would never even know! Why should he quit right when it was finally getting good? Couldn’t he at least nick ‘em a few more times, enough to make them sorry? They might be pretty sorry already, but… “But,” Sans mumbled out loud, scowling.

Now he was thinking of Dr. Serif. The boss monster could practically hear his cool, smug voice: “But what, Sans?”

Tch. If he had to be hearing things, he’d much rather it be Frisk. He knew he should’ve taken a shortcut back to the Underground last night. Then he could’ve seen her and…done…something? Maybe he wouldn’t be so damn frustrated now, his mind jumping all over the place…

“Sans.”

Oh, shit. What about the fortune-teller? “Don’t kill anyone.” That guy had been right about stuff so far; would something happen to Frisk if Sans ignored his stupid, cheap advice? For all he knew, it could—

“SANS.”

“What?” he snapped. “Whaddya want, Doc…tor?” He gaped at Dr. Serif, who was standing only a few yards away, arms folded. “The fuck are you doin’ here?” demanded Sans, releasing the human from mid-air and ignoring his wheezing.

Dr. Serif came closer and made two gestures. A skeletal hand popped up and seized the fallen human by the throat, glowing green before vanishing. “He should live,” the royal sorcerer said crisply. He glanced at the man whose hands were affixed to the pavement, and the one up ahead. “In the meantime, do you plan to leave these gentlemen like that?”

Sans was still mad that he couldn’t leave them dead, but… He made a disgusted noise, and the bones all vanished. “Ya gonna tell me why you’re here, or what?”

“What.” Dr. Serif walked past Sans and snapped his fingers. Two pairs of disembodied hands sprang out of thin air, and one latched onto each human’s head; to Sans’ immense discomfort, the hands glowed blue, and each man obediently got up with sluggish, jerky motions – even the one with the shattered ankle – to come sit in a row, legs crossed like schoolchildren. “Why did you attack this man?” Dr. Serif inquired. “Only speak if you have useful information.”

The human with the broken ribs mumbled, “He’s the High Priestess’ agent,” in a voice that made Sans feel even weirder. There was good old-fashioned violence, and there was this. “Gonna hold him for ransom and lure in the skeleton.”

“Do not lie to me.” The humans jerked, eyes going glassy as the blue intensified. “This is not an instrument of live capture,” said the royal sorcerer, retrieving the wire loop with yet another hand. “Why do you, or your employers, want him dead?”

There was a round of silence. Evidently, no one knew, or probably cared. They’d had their orders, and that was that.

Sans stepped closer. “Were you the ones going after Frisk a few weeks ago—the High Priestess? Are you gonna try it again?”

“Wasn’t us,” said one.

“No one’s supposed to kill her anymore,” said another, and his associates nodded slowly.

Dr. Serif blinked a few times. “According to who, and since when?”

“Last week. Someone paid the Assassin’s Guild to blacklist her. She’s untouchable—anyone who goes after her gets a bounty put on his head.”

Sans had never seen the royal sorcerer so taken aback. “I didn’t know that was even possible. It would cost several hundred thou—no, a million dinar to make it worth their while,” he muttered. “Do you have any idea who did it?”

More silence. Meanwhile, Sans was not that surprised to find out there was a formal guild for murderers. Humans were such fucking scumbags.

“Are you affiliated with poachers, then?” was Dr. Serif’s next question.

“Yeah,” they all said at once.

The doctor’s foot tapped a few times. “Does your attack on the priestess’ agent have to do with the timing of his delivery to the Underground? Fewer monsters will be venturing outside if food is being brought directly to them—I assume you wanted to prevent this?”

Sans watched the men’s faces stay blank. That was probably too many words for them. “What’re you gonna do if ya can’t catch any monsters?” he asked instead.

The blue light intensified again, and someone finally mumbled, “Ransom. The High Priestess will pay to get her agent back. She won’t know he’s dead yet.”

Dr. Serif frowned. “And you’re hoping she’ll send the boss monster to rescue him?”

Nods. “It’s worth a hell of a lot of money.”

There was an odd pause. “For his magic?” the doctor asked.

“And ransom. She’s screwin’ it,” one man said tonelessly.

Dr. Serif grabbed Sans’ shoulder to restrain him. “Surely you’re not taking that rumor seriously,” he said. “It can’t be worth the danger of trying to capture such a powerful monster—he was relatively weak when he was first caught, and two men still died of their injuries.”

“Lady payin’ us says it’s true. She doesn’t want Her Eminence arrested for mis…missen—”

“Miscegenation?” growled Sans.

“Yeah. That. She wants us to catch it, but not kill it. We’ll keep it and get a shitload of magic, then sell it back later. Win-win.”

“Hm. So, your employer is a woman who wants to help the High Priestess? What is her name?”

No one answered. The blue light flickered, and one man finally said, “Dunno. We just got a few letters, and payment up front. Pretty sure it’s a rich lady ‘cause of the handwriting and the way the paper smelled, but we don’t know for sure.”

The doctor stared the man down, still holding Sans’ shoulder. “And she has hired you to hold the skeleton prisoner…for how long, exactly? And through what means?”

The human shrugged. “She said she’d tell us more once we killed this guy.”

Dr. Serif thought about it for a moment, then snapped his fingers again. The skeletal hands tightened, and Sans watched the men writhe in tandem and fall sideways like puppets with cut strings. “Well, that was more interesting than expected,” said the royal sorcerer. His hand tightened on Sans’ shoulder. “Come along.”

Sans shut his eyes as magic surged around them. It didn’t have the rushing-through-space feel of his shortcuts; this was more as if the ground had jumped out from beneath their feet and just as quickly hopped back into place. He opened his eyes and started. “Where—”

They were standing outside a large, well-kept stable. The doctor released him, saying, “I must commend you for not killing any of those men. We’ve acquired valuable information, and once they wake up, word will get around that the High Priestess’ agent is not to be trifled with.” He smiled, ever so slightly. “They will not recall I was even there.”

Sans gestured impatiently. “What the fuck was that about? Someone wants human-me dead, but they just wanna borrow real me to keep Frisk outta jail? An’ someone else’s paid out the ass to keep her alive? What’s—”

“It could well be the same person.” The royal sorcerer brushed some dust off his robe. “What is miscegenation?” he asked curtly.

Sans’ toes curled. “Boning a monster. It’s a literal crime. I heard somebody talking about it last night.”

“Interesting,” the doctor said slowly. “No one spreading that rumor in the city seems to know about it yet.” Sigh. “If you overheard it here, I suppose it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows.”

Sans didn’t want to talk about that right now, or ever. “How long were you following me?” he asked instead.

Pause. “Long enough.”

The boss monster didn’t like that, either. “Whatever,” Sans mumbled. “But thanks fer gettin’ all that stuff out of ‘em. You’re pretty freaky, but I guess ya come in handy.”

He heard the familiar sound of someone ignoring a pun, and then “You’re welcome.” Dr. Serif crossed his arms. “I was sent here to intercept you and the High Priestess. Given that I have not seen Her Eminence with you, may I assume you were foolish enough to come alone?”

“Uh…”

“As you were also foolish enough to leave the castle when and how you both did, I am not surprised.”

Sans snorted. “Ya think that was my idea?”

“No, but this almost certainly was.” The royal sorcerer gestured to the smushed roll of papers in Sans’ front pocket. “Come along. There should be three carts on reserve in Frisk’s name here, for when you were supposed to have picked them up on your way to the Underground.”

Sans followed him into the stable. “What, ya didn’t like us bailin’ on you?” he asked, taking childish pleasure in the older skeleton’s annoyance.

The doctor reached back without looking and took the papers from Sans’ pocket. “Hello,” Dr. Serif said cordially to the human behind the counter, who stepped right up to assist them.

This turned out to be prophetic: the doctor not only accompanied him everywhere for the rest of the morning and afternoon, he took complete charge. He made things so much smoother that Sans couldn’t even be mad about it; people listened to him, and he could fully answer their questions while Sans inspected the cargo and supervised the loading. The doctor also signed the bills of lading, reminding Sans after the first visit that as a perfectly normal human and not a monster in disguise, he was not “Sans” and needed to pick a pseudonym already.

They had almost no time to eat lunch or dinner, electing to grab a couple of sandwiches as the drivers brought the carts to the second-to-last warehouse. “So, was it your idea to swoop in on us like this?” Sans asked. “I know it was annoying to wake up and have us gone, but—”

“His Majesty is extremely unamused by his daughter’s behavior,” said the royal sorcerer, in a tone that wiped the smirk off Sans’ face. “To be very honest, I am glad I will not be there when Her Eminence receives this.” He extracted a long, expensive-looking envelope from his robe. “His Majesty assembled the paperwork yesterday for—”

“The adoption thing?” Sans interrupted. “Is it true?”

Dr. Serif made a face. “No matter where I go, the speed of gossip remains constant.” Another sigh. “Whatever you’ve heard is likely true. Should Frisk’s mission prove successful, His Majesty is prepared not only to pardon her theft, but place her directly in the line of succession.”

Sans took a long sip of water, trying and failing to figure that one out. “I thought ya said he was pissed off at her. Why…?”

“Tell me, Sans. Knowing Frisk, do you think she would appreciate being pressured into accepting such a heavy responsibility, especially in anticipation of her little brother’s death? His Majesty knows exactly how she will feel about it.” Dr. Serif paused for a huge bite of his sandwich. “Also, he may personally be unhappy with her actions, but he knows better than anyone that if she can outmaneuver him, then she is worthy of the throne.”

Fuck. “Yeah, when ya put it like that—”

The royal sorcerer glanced at him. “Out of curiosity, when did you learn that the King was her father?”

“Not till we were almost t’the Underground. I kinda found out by accident.”

Dr. Serif half-smiled. “It’s been common knowledge ever since she was brought to St. Brigid’s. And…by any chance, did she ever tell you anything about her mother?”

Sans had to whack himself in the chest as the last wad of his sandwich threatened to get stuck in his windpipe. Why did human bodies use the same damn tube for breathing and eating? “Only that she’s dead,” he rasped. “Why?”

“Wipe your hands, please, and put this somewhere safe until you can give it to her.” Dr. Serif held out the gilt envelope. “It contains copies of all the relevant documents, including an investiture of nobility—she would technically become a duchess first, then Crown Princess upon the death of the King or the Prince.”

Sans scrubbed his hands on his shirt and took the envelope. He was thinking so hard that he almost didn’t notice Frisk’s full name in fancy cursive across the front; then he looked again, and stared at it for a minute, and finally said, “Huh.”

“You don’t seem entirely surprised,” the doctor observed, sounding almost disappointed. “Have you already heard something to that effect?”

“Yeah. I had a long talk with Grillby the other day, and…I wasn’t gonna ask Frisk, but I was kinda wondering, and then she said…” Had the King done the calligraphy himself? “I never did hear her last name. I figured the High Priestess just doesn’t need one.”

“It was not hers to use for most of her life, and I would be very surprised if she chose to do so now, or ever. According to what I have gleaned from Rosa, the name does not have pleasant associations for Frisk—another fact of which the King is very aware.”

“Holy shit.” Sans looked at the envelope again. “He’s callin’ her that ta piss her off?”

“It is technically her legal name and belongs on a document of this importance. So, yes.”

“Shit.” Sans scratched the back of his head, thinking even harder. “So whoever filled out the paperwork for him knows her name, too? Which means everyone is gonna know about it by the time we get back?”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “You’re coming back with her, then?” He let the question hang in the air, and Sans ignored it till Dr. Serif continued, “You are correct. I am genuinely sorry to leave this with you, but you will have to give her the news before you return, or else she will be completely blindsided. Please don’t do that to her.”

Sans wasn’t going to admit that the thought had already crossed his mind: throw the envelope away, let her enjoy the rest of her time in the Underground, and feign astonishment when they got back – hopefully triumphant – and found out she’d someday have the power to do literally anything she pleased, such as freeing monsters with a single decree.

Except…she was already helping monsters, and had already spent three lonely, stressful years as High Priestess. How much worse would her life be if she became the actual Queen? Would it technically fit that second fortune? Fear stabbed him so hard that he could barely breathe—what if she got surrounded by advisers and hangers-on determined to harass him away from her? There was no telling how long her father and half-brother would be around, and they probably wouldn’t let her keep a pet skeleton around, not to mention a suspiciously bony kid…

Sans couldn’t help it. Dr. Serif eyed him warily as the boss monster snickered again: a fucking crime. It was too perfect.

The carts were ready now. The boss monster tucked the fancy envelope into an inner pocket and resolved to quit thinking about it for now. Frisk could handle this; she’d know what to do. If she didn’t, they’d figure it out together.

Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. By the time they were ready to head back to the Underground, the sun was just touching the horizon.

Everything had fit into three large-ish carts, which Frisk had accurately predicted would be a better idea than two really huge ones. The drivers were nervous about starting so late in the day, but Dr. Serif had implied that they were just headed to the city, the road to which was well-lit and patrolled by watchmen. Sans got a huge kick out of seeing the humans’ faces when the procession reached the outskirts of the village, went about a hundred yards, and came to a sudden halt. “You may remove the horses now,” said the doctor. “Please return to the village. Here is a small gratuity for your trouble.”

If the humans had questions, they were effectively answered by the five-hundred-dinar pieces Dr. Serif placed in each of their hands. They unhitched the horses and jogged them back in the fast-fading light without a backward glance, leaving the loaded carts sitting in the road.

From there, the disguised monsters waited until no one was in sight – not difficult, given the hour and the cold – and then enacted the plan they’d agreed upon earlier: Sans encased the lightest cart in a film of red magic, thought carefully about the place by the river where Undyne had attacked him, and teleported the whole thing there. No more than ten seconds later, a large patch of blackness crept over the pale bedrock; Gaster rose from it head-first, followed by the carts, and everything settled into place as the ground shimmered back into ordinary rock-ness.

“What the crap?” Sans pulled his chain off. “How do you even have that much magic?”

Gaster brushed himself off again with two extra hands, keeping his own tucked beneath his flowing black coat. He glided in a circle around the carts, checking that they had made the journey safely, and nodded. “Surely you’re not worn out from one spell?”

“No, but I’m a damn boss monster!”

The older skeleton smiled. A hand appeared in front of Sans, holding a gray orb slightly bigger than the hole in its palm. “Humans use these to store magic. Keep at least one on your person at all times and let it absorb your ambient power. Put it away when full, then repeat the process. Do so regularly, and you will soon have a supply built up for contingencies exactly like this.” The hand vanished. “Has Her Eminence used the teleportation spell I gave her yet?”

Sans remembered the brooch she’d gotten on All Souls Day, and shook his head. “I don’t think so, but she wears it a lot.”

“Good.” Gaster looked at the nearly-night sky. “Lead the way.”

The boss monster wondered exactly how many more of those stones Gaster had squirreled away in whatever fold of subspace he was using, and contented himself with the fact that the creepy bastard still seemed to be on their side—Sans hadn’t forgotten the fortune about bewaring him, but right now, he didn’t have much choice. Even the lightest of the carts was much heavier than the wagons full of monsters had been, and as tired as he was, he doubted he could’ve pulled or teleported them all on his own.

Gaster’s extra hands were pulling and pushing two of the carts with apparent ease as they followed the river. Sans tried to think of something that would pass the time without leading to invasive questions, and finally thought to ask, “The solar panel demonstration went okay?”

“Oh, yes.” Gaster’s voice was neutral, and it was impossible to read his expression in profile. “Someone attempted to sabotage it by cutting several of the wires on the main panel, so I used my own magic as a substitute. It was most impressive, if I say so myself.”

That sounded like one problem too many. They had enough crap to deal with in the Underground without worrying about sabotage or the King being passive-aggressive or some random lady who wanted to keep him away from Frisk! Get in line, he thought bitterly.

“How is Her Eminence’s mission going?” asked Gaster, as if reading his mind.

“Pretty good, I think. Asgore hasn’t met with her yet, but he’s letting her do whatever.” Sans felt the corners of his mouth lift. “She’s spent a couple nights with Undyne and Alphys at Toriel’s house, havin’ some girl time. They went shopping yesterday, ‘n pro’ly today.”

Gaster nodded. “I don’t know how you intended to do this alone,” he said, glancing at the carts, “but given your accelerated timeline, I suppose it was the best way to let her enjoy herself for a day or two. It will also help her cause if the monsters see a great deal of her firsthand.”

Sans knew what he meant—all Frisk had to do to win them over was be herself. He didn’t notice that he was smiling until he felt Gaster’s stare; the other skeleton was suddenly in front of him, drifting backwards as Sans walked. “Don’t mind me,” murmured the royal sorcerer, examining the boss monster’s sternum.

“What’s my LV?” Sans asked bluntly.

Gaster reappeared beside the cart. “You are at LV 16.”

Sans was…almost surprised. Gaster gave him a hard look. “The first time I checked, you were—”

A sound off to their left made both skeletons stop to listen. It was faint, but unmistakable. “Keep going,” Gaster said, and they picked up the pace, both assuming their disguises.

There was no question of outrunning the humans, so they let the sound of hoofbeats gradually overtake them. “Well, well,” said the first rider, pulling up in front of the carts and forcing them to stop. Two more poachers rode up alongside, and three more brought up the rear. Each man had a coil of chain slung over his shoulder, and their leader carried a heavy crossbow. “What are you doing out here so late?” he demanded. “Where you headed with all that?”

“The Underground,” Dr. Serif said calmly. “We have no monsters or valuables with us, so if you would kindl—”

“Bullshit.” The leader nodded to the other men. “Search ‘em. There’s gotta be—”

Sans didn’t even see what happened next: an unseen force yanked each man out of the saddle to hit the bedrock, filling the air with thumps, whinnying, and curses. “This is your last warning,” said Dr. Serif, still sounding very reasonable. “Leave us, or you will suffer.”

When the men didn’t answer – except for more profanity – the doctor made a gesture. This time, Sans glimpsed the skeletal hands smacking the horses on the rump, one after another; the animals screamed in panic, nearly trampling their riders as they bolted in different directions.

The poachers gaped at each other, then at the human-shaped skeletons. “What the fuck are you?” demanded the leader. With no warning, he whipped up his crossbow to fire at—

—Gaster, whose body had vanished, leaving nothing but an eerie smile and empty sockets. “Well, then,” he murmured, his eyes lighting blue and yellow. He glanced at Sans. “Please go on without me. I will see you back at the castle in…” He paused, counting on a set of hands. “…nine days.” The fingers snapped once, twice, thrice. “My regards to Her Eminence.”

Sans opened his mouth to object, and the ground dropped out from beneath him.

Silence descended in his wake, leaving the poachers in abject terror. Without the carts’ lanterns, it was impossible to see anything but the light in Gaster’s sockets. “Well,” the monster said. He looked at the men with mild curiosity, like a child with a jar full of insects. The leader jerked as a hand suddenly latched onto his face. “Can I trust you to keep this little encounter a secret?” asked Gaster.

The man nodded frantically, clawing at the hand as blood began welling under its phalanges. The others nodded, too, babbling reassurance.

“Good,” the skeleton said pleasantly. The humans had exactly enough time to start hoping before his eye-lights dilated, illuminating the hideous, masklike face. “What a pity that I do not believe you.”

There was a gruesome sound, and another, and another, and another. Silence; a tide of magic rose and swept over the bedrock, leaving nothing behind but a few splashes of blood.

Gaster nodded in satisfaction and turned to rinse his hands in the river, humming Sans’ favorite song. He paused long enough to chuckle to himself, then brushed his coat off once more, extracted a fresh stone from his coat, and vanished.

The sentries outside the Grand Hall’s gates rolled their eyes as another knock came from within. “Any sign of him?” someone asked through the crack.

“No,” the rabbit monster snapped. “For the last time, you don’t need to keep asking every ten minutes! We’ll tell you when he—”

A long, low sound from the opposite direction cut him short. “Sans?” called the guard.

“The one an’ only,” a gruff voice answered over the rise. In the still, cold air, they could now hear the sound of wheels on sandy rock, and the labored breathing of a boss monster managing three heavily laden carts by himself. “Can I get some damn help here?”

Twenty minutes later, Sans had recovered enough to get up from the cavern floor and hobble through the swarm of hungry monsters by the gates, some of whom had been waiting all day for their share of the food. “You guys don’t need to inspect it,” the colossal skeleton informed the guards, who were busy walking around the carts and poking them at random. “Me an’…someone I trust watched ‘em load it up.”

The rabbit guard looked at his partner, then at Sans. “This came from humans, right? It’s probably gotta be—”

“It’s gotta get out to people now,” Sans growled. He pointed at someone randomly. “Go get more help, whoever’s awake. I’m gonna go find Her Majesty.”

“No need,” said a clear voice. The monsters all bowed out of the way as Toriel stepped off the patchy gray sand of the central aisle. “I am glad to see you back safely, Sans. Thank you so much for your efforts,” said the former Queen. “Please, get some sleep. I will handle the rest.”

Sans was so tired that he could barely stay upright, but he shook his head. “I’m gonna check in with Asgore first.” Toriel’s face darkened, and he sighed. “C’mon, To—Your Majesty, ya know he’ll freak out if he finds out this came in without ‘im knowing.”

The other boss monster sighed, closing her eyes. “True. And if you go now, you may run into the Captain and Dr. Alphys. They will also want to know you’ve arrived safely. But after that, I want you go straight home! Do you hear me?”

He did, but sleep could wait: if those two were at Asgore’s house, then Frisk might be, too. His magic flared up, and without another thought, the skeleton took himself straight there.

Remembering how easily the women had detected him before, Sans aimed for the end of the house near the master bedroom, and caught himself with only a slight stagger into the wall. Voices were coming from the living room; the boss monster waited for his vision to clear, then pushed himself upright and crept down the hall to listen.

“It is lovely,” Asgore was murmuring. There was a musical clinking of fine metal and china—the King must be looking at the tea service Frisk had picked out for him.

“Yeah, she was pretty proud of it. Everything she’s brought has been awesome,” agreed Undyne.

Sans scowled. Frisk wasn’t here after all. Well, he didn’t have enough magic to zero in on wherever she was, and Undyne was still talking, so he might as well eavesdrop. “She got me some targets, and comi—uh, battle strategies, and stuff for my scales. It was really thoughtful,” said the Royal Guard Captain.

“And I can finally finish Adventure Lady!” Alphys exclaimed. “C-can you believe it?!”

To Sans’ surprise, Asgore chuckled. He didn’t think the King knew how to do that anymore. “I’m glad to hear it, Doctor. I know how much that was bothering you.” Clink. “What about the agricultural implements Sans mentioned?”

“Yes, Y-Your Majesty. We spent a few hours today looking them over—she knows how to treat plants so that they can go days without being watered! We t-talked about different chemicals that can improve the quality of our soil, specific nutrients for whichever crops we decide to plant first, and all the seeds she brought. The next step is to decide which fields to convert to pasture if we want to raise c-cattle or sheep.”

“Hmm. Yes, that would be wonderful.” Sans heard tea being poured and china clinking again. “What else has she been up to?” asked the King.

“We went shopping for clothes yesterday,” the Captain said, “and Mettaton is teaching her how to dance. It was pretty fun—did you hear he wants to have a big party before she leaves?”

“Yes, I have. Some festivities could be good for our people, but…we’ll see.”

“Right.” She cleared her throat. “And just so you know, Majesty, we’ve spent the past couple nights at the Ruins.”

A long pause. “I…see. Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah,” Undyne said quietly. “Everyone did.”

“That…” Asgore heaved a great sigh. “That’s good to hear. What about today?”

Undyne’s chair creaked. “Today was a little more complicated. She checked on some of the people she brought back—not that she busted in on anyone,” the fish monster added hastily. “She only got started ‘cause Vulkin asked her to come visit.”

Asgore made a startled noise. “Vulkin wanted to see her? Why?”

Sans wanted to run in and shake the King like the idiot he was, but he edged back and tried to think nicer thoughts as Undyne answered, “She said Frisk was the only human who ever gave a crap about them, basically, and her family wanted to meet her. We ended up staying for over an hour.” Another pause. “Also, Majesty…Frisk’s got this thing she does where she can hum something at you, and it’s…really nice. Not hypnosis or anything sneaky, it just…” Sans could almost hear Undyne shrug. “Right before we left, Vulkin started getting worked up, and Frisk calmed her down just like that.”

“She’s done it for us, too, right before bedtime,” said Alphys. “I haven’t s-slept so well in forever.”

“Hm. She has other abilities, then, besides creating barriers?” He poured more tea. “Have you investigated her capabilities in that respect?”

“N-No, Your Majesty. She wanted to have your permission before she made any, even j-just to study them in the lab.”

Sans got the feeling that Asgore was a little put out by Frisk conducting herself so well. “If you believe she is trustworthy,” said the King, “then by all means, study her barriers as fully as you can. The knowledge may prove…useful.” More clinking. “Thank you for your time, both of you. Get some rest. And…” His voice softened. “Please thank her for the gift.”

The giant skeleton smiled a little. Before they could get up and notice him lurking in the hall, Sans used the tiniest wisp of magic – all that he had left – to whisk himself outside to the courtyard. He waited by the tree, foot raised as if in mid-step; when the door opened, Asgore saw him and started. “Sans! You’re back!”

“Hey, Majesty.” Sans raised a genuinely weary hand. “Yeah, I just got in with all the stuff. Everything’s fine. Just wanted to let you know.”

“Thank you very much,” the King said heartily, another trace of his old self showing. “I’ll be down right away.”

“Uh.” The bigger boss monster fake-coughed. “Please don’t, Yer Majesty. Someone’s already got it under control.”

Blink. “Some…oh.”

“Hey, you,” Undyne said, moving around Asgore and hopping down the stairs in one easy bound. “How’d it go? Are you okay?”

“It’s fine, ‘m just worn out.” Sans let out a full-force yawn. “I’ll walk back with you guys,” he said as Alphys came down the steps.

“All right, then,” Asgore murmured. “Thank you again, Sans.” The skeleton nodded, and they politely waited for the door to close before turning to leave.

“Don’t even think about it” was the first thing out of Undyne’s mouth. “She’s asleep already.”

Sans was too tired not to ask, “Where? Tori’s again?”

“I’m not telling you!” snapped the fish-woman. “We had a lot of fun yesterday, but today was pretty rough on her.” She eyed him as they stepped into the elevator and waited for the grating to close. “You don’t look so hot, either.”

“I will be in a minute.” Sans swayed on his feet as the elevator descended. “After all, we’re goin’ to Hotland.”

Undyne twitched. “Nope. We’re not doing those.”

“Aww, c’mon, fish-face.” Yawn. “I’m just gettin’ warmed up.”

Twitch. “I’m serious, boss. Drop it.”

“Drop it like…it’s hot?”

“I SAID—”

The elevator ground to a halt, and he felt Alphys tug on his coat. “L-let’s go to my lab, Sans. You can take a nap and get some magic back befo—not yet!”

Sans had the impression of falling and something grabbing him, but he didn’t pay much attention till Undyne heaved him onto the lab’s concrete floor. “Ow,” he tried to say, but it was too much effort; he decided to pass out instead.

They weren’t heading to the family’s main house; for some reason, Asriel had insisted she come with him to the one in the Ruins, where he and his mother had been living before the delegation arrived. He’d told her that he had a surprise for her, but he was so anxious that she didn’t think it was going to be a good one.

Good or not, she had to admit that when Asriel opened the bedroom door and motioned her inside, she was very surprised: she backpedaled so hard that she crashed into his legs.

“It’s all right,” said Chara, very quietly, from her seat on the bed. “I wouldn’t be glad to see me, either.”

“Chara,” Asriel protested.

“It’s true.” The woman watched Frisk lean into Asriel, clutching his robe with one small hand. “Isn’t it, Frisk?” she added.

The child inhaled sharply, looking up at the Prince in alarm. “It’s all right,” he told her, smiling with such affection that she had to smile back. “I know all about you, Frisk. You’re ten years old, and you’re a girl, and you belong here. In fact, you could say you’ve come home.” He looked at Chara, beaming. “Right, sis?”

Sans must have teleported from the lab at some point – maybe in his sleep – because when he properly awoke, he was in his own room. The boss monster sat up and turned the light on with a speck of magic. A glance at the clock made him do a double take: how was it almost ten o’clock?! Sans sprang to his feet and zipped down to the living room.

No one was there, but he heard children running around outside, with the occasional shriek of happiness, or anger, or possibly disembowelment—he never could tell with kids. There was Papyrus’ voice, and Undyne’s; then he heard Frisk, and without thinking, he took another shortcut out beside the house.

Before San could get his bearings, a handful of snow hit him upside the head. “Morning, boss!” shouted Undyne. “About time!”

“GOOD MORNING, BROTHER!” Papyrus raised his head from beneath a pile of children. “WE ARE AT WAR! WOULD YOU CARE TO JOIN US?”

Sans blinked. “War?”

“Yes, indeed,” Frisk said gravely, and he looked up to see her standing on the balcony, not far above his eye level. Magic rippled through him in gentle waves as she smiled. “Is everyone ready?” she asked the monsters.

The giant skeleton came forward for a better view as the children sprang to their feet, or paws, or seahorse tail. Frisk dipped something into a narrow bottle, raised it to her mouth, and leaned over the railing to blow a stream of huge, wobbly, fast-floating bubbles.

In an instant, the kids were charging after them, leaping and clawing and even biting them joyfully out of the air. Frisk dipped the stick again and angled herself toward Papyrus to blow another round of bubbles; instead of popping them, the younger skeleton surrounded each one in blue and sent them flying in all directions, which was Undyne’s cue to materialize a short spear and leap after them, yelling, “Come back here, you cowards!”

When the last bubble had been vanquished, Frisk made even more of them, almost obscuring the pack of children; this time, Papyrus used his magic to grab all the bubbles, and instead of chasing after them, the kids tackled him again. Undyne coordinated the assault, directing her troops to surround the enemy and attack as a unit, ignoring Papyrus’ protests of being muuuurdered and that she could not have his pirate-ship bed once he was dust, because for the hundredth time even if she did have an eyepatch that did not mean she deserved to be a pirate more than him. Then everyone scattered again for Frisk to send another batch the kids’ way, and two more groups for Papyrus to keep away from Undyne.

It was hard to say who was enjoying themselves the most. Sans hadn’t seen his brother playing like this in…how long? Even some of the adult monsters were coming over to watch, standing around and chatting with each other, or asking Frisk how she’d made the bubbles and happily accepting the extra bottles she tossed down for them. It was like she’d never left…

A thought struck him, and he backed further away from the house to crane his neck all the way upward. There it was, the thin brown haze of negative energy that’d been accumulating since he absorbed the last round of it. …But—

Sans had avoided looking too directly at Frisk, and tried to take another quick peek now, only for his eyes to lock onto her. She’d taken off her cloak, revealing one of probably many new outfits: a dark-green velvet dress that accented the curves of her bust and hips, silver earrings that shimmered as she bent down to refill the bottle, and gray boots that reminded him of the fact that she had feet.

And when he finally managed to look back up toward her face, he was ambushed by the sight of a black choker. The damn thing looked like a collar, but it wasn’t even trying to be practical; it was just a little bit of lace hugging her neck, and a flagrant reminder that most things wearing collars had nothing else on. He’d contemplated keeping her as a pet, once upon a time, before he even—

Suddenly, Undyne vaulted onto his shoulder, crashing his nasal ridge into the bottom edge of the balcony. The Royal Guard Captain rapped him on the skull with the butt of her spear, dispelling the last of his lust-induced stupor. “Quit staring, moron,” she hissed, and gestured to Frisk. “C’mon, lady, we need more bad guys to kill,” the fish monster said in a normal tone, raising her voice to finish, “unless Papyrus is too weak to keep going!”

“I AM NOT!” The skeleton stomped his foot in feeble rage, trying to catch his breath as Undyne leapt down. “BUT PERHAPS…PERHAPS WE COULD TAKE A BREAK, FOR THE CHILDREN?” Two small monsters ran circles around him as he desperately added, “THEY SEEM VERY TIRED, NYEH-HEH!”

Frisk bit her lip, and Sans wanted more than ever to scoop her up for a giant hug—not only was it always hot when she did that, it meant she wanted to help Pap without hurting his feelings. Luckily for everyone, his mouth-related thoughts suddenly turned in a more wholesome direction. “Hey,” Sans murmured, catching her attention. “Ya know what you oughta do?”

The others stopped as Frisk leaned down to hear him whisper. “That’s a wonderful idea,” the priestess said warmly, and Sans felt his skull turn red. “Here, Undyne, I want the children to help me try something,” Frisk told her, dipping the wand again. “You two can supervise.”

Papyrus was happy to accept his new role, and Sans also paid close attention to Frisk’s lips as she blew a long, low stream of smaller bubbles. The kids grabbed at them and squealed as a sound followed each pop—to their delight, every bubble now contained a tiny burst of music.

Undyne reached out to poke one. “What, did you whistle into ‘em?” She jumped at the sudden sound, then laughed, popping another one. “That’s so damn cool!”

“Sans thought of it,” Frisk said. She was grinning from ear to ear, almost prancing in place. “Here!” This time, instead of a single pitch, she whistled a scale of several notes, sliding up and back down; when the children popped them, it produced a whole tangle of sounds. The adult monsters drew closer as more bubbles drifted and burst, scattering bits of music through the chilly air.

“Yo!” cried Monster Kid, bounding nearly straight up for emphasis. “Guys! Let’s try to make ‘em into a song again!”

The adults chuckled and shook their heads, but the children loved the idea. And as it turned out, they were right: the sheer futility of trying to break the bubbles in the right order was so much fun that, before they knew it, nearly every monster in the field was chasing after them. No one could hear much of anything over all the shouting and laughter, but that was okay. Everything was okay.

“Sans?”

Still smiling, the giant skeleton turned to face Toriel, noting that she was coming from the ferry and not the Ruins. “What’s all this?” she asked.

“We’re slaughtering our foes in glorious battle,” a cute little bunny said in passing. “It sounds pretty!”

“LIKE THIS, YOUR MAJESTY!” Papyrus demonstrated with a couple of quick jabs.

Toriel’s eyes widened as the sounds made a faint chord. “How wonderful!” She looked in amazement at the crowd of happy, energetic monsters. “You haven’t even received your rations yet—is this an early celebration?”

“Nah, it’s just fun,” Undyne said cheerfully. “People were fighting over who was gonna get what, and the kids were upset, so Frisk showed ‘em how she could make this stuff. Next thing you know—” Quick as scaled lightning, the Captain flicked an energy-toothpick at a bubble overhead, grinning at the resultant chime. “F sharp! Nice.” With a salute to Toriel, Undyne was off again, lifting a couple of random children onto her shoulders.

“How wonderful,” Toriel said again. She sighed, looking fondly up at the balcony. Frisk was starting to puff a bit, but clearly determined to keep going. “What a fine young woman she’s become! It’s almost like having Chara back with us.”

Sans shuffled his slippered feet. He knew it was the highest compliment Toriel could give, but the comparison really rubbed him the wrong way. Not only had he heard a lot of things recently, he couldn’t shake the dream he’d just had—the Prince so eager to have Frisk and Chara back together, and the child trying to be good, but unable to hide her fear and uncertainty…

And speaking of Asriel: “Tell her I’m sorry.” What was that about? Who was—

Suddenly, the dreams clicked together in his mind like puzzle pieces. Asriel had tricked Frisk into meeting with Chara, knowing perfectly well that the poor kid didn’t want to. Was he only sorry for that, or had something else happened afterward, awful enough to make Asriel want to apologize from beyond the friggin’ grave?

Toriel was saying something, and the skeleton shook his head. “Sorry, Tori. What was that?”

She cleared her throat. “I was asking if you’ve met the boy who’s courting her. Frisk said he’s very kind, and wealthy, but…she didn’t seem terribly enthusiastic.”

Sans almost laughed out loud. So much crap was going on that he’d actually forgotten about that guy! “Had some girl talk, huh?” he asked carelessly, shoving his emotions way, way back down and hoping his eyes weren’t glowing.

The goat monster chuckled, still watching the field. “We stayed up the other night to discuss where to distribute all the food you were bringing. Afterward, yes, we did talk about her love life.”

He made an indifferent noise. He was fine. He could do this. “I met the guy once,” he said. “Kinda boring, but I guess he could be worse.”

Toriel nodded. Her ear twitched as a longer, sweeter trill came from above—Frisk was pulling out all the stops, Sans thought proudly. “Were you there when she spoke to the fortune-teller?” she asked.

The skeleton made himself shrug, as if he wasn’t screaming internally. Stupid girl talk! How much had Frisk told her?

Well, the fact that Toriel hadn’t murdered the shit out of him meant she probably didn’t know everything yet. How she was failing to connect the dots between Frisk and Sans’ human love interest was beyond him, but he’d keep playing along for now. “Yeah, I went with her to that festival,” he said. “Pretty weird stuff. Apparently, she’s on track to have a kid soon.”

Toriel grimaced. “I certainly hope not. Frisk is much too young for that kind of responsibility.”

Sans snorted, and Toriel turned to glare at him. “Sorry, but ya haven’t seen her in action,” he said. “The first time I met her, she kept me from killin’ a whole bunch of people, all by herself, an’ she wouldn’t let ‘em kill me back. She got all bloody fixin’ up some kid who came to ‘er for help at two in the morning, she’s payin’ everything for three or four different orphanages that I know of, she keeps tabs on anyone in the whole damn kingdom who might need help, and she’s workin’ on freein’ us, too.” He shook his head. “She’s not a little kid anymore, Tori. She’s got so much crap ta deal with, and she’s been takin’ care of it all on her own. As long as she finds the right guy, it’s…”

He had to stop before he got any more worked up. Luckily, Toriel was too deep in thought to notice. “That does sound impressive, but you’re right. Her happiness depends on whether she can find a good husband, one she can trust to stand by her and care about her children—”

Now they were both grim and silent. “Just a few more,” the human called from above them.

She sounded so breathless that Sans shook his head, reaching up to tap on the railing. “Hey, Frisk? Quit it before ya pass out.”

Toriel listened for a moment, then nodded. Sans watched her stride out to the middle of the field and clap her hands. “Everyone,” she said, “I am glad you’ve enjoyed yourselves, but please return to your homes now. The Royal Guard will be here shortly to deliver your share of the supplies that Frisk arranged for us and Sans brought in last night.” The former Queen nodded benignly in their direction. “Thank you, both of you.”

The giant skeleton was rather embarrassed by the round of applause that followed, though Frisk seemed to take it in stride. Then again, it could be the fact that she was barely conscious. “Time to come in, Pap,” Sans said, jerking his head as the monsters bid each other cheerful farewells and went their separate ways. The children still seemed more excited about the bubbles than the prospect of food—were the poor little bastards just used to being hungry by now?

There was no need to ask Undyne to take care of Frisk: she had already jumped straight onto the balcony and was assisting the human inside. Sans teleported into the living room, where he immediately got in the way of the Captain half-carrying her down to the couch. “’m fine,” Frisk muttered.

Sans leaned over her, scowling. “Ya need your breath, kid. Don’t use it all up next time.” Now that he was closer, he could also see dark circles under her eyes. “How much sleep didja get last night?” he demanded, and looked at Undyne. “Were you guys at Tori’s house?”

“No,” the goat monster said, shutting the door behind her and coming to sit beside Frisk. “Mettaton kept her up so late that she spent the night at the resort.” Toriel’s hand came up, glowing green, and brushed Frisk’s cheek. “If you had stayed with me, child, I’d have made sure you rested properly.”

The priestess rubbed some feeling back into her lips. “I beg to differ,” she said a moment later. “Remember how afraid I was to fall asleep that second night? Undyne was already mad because I caught her cheating at cards—”

The Captain swelled like a pufferfish. “For the last time, I didn’t frickin’ cheat! My 6 got stuck behind my queen, and I didn’t know it was there when you asked for it!”

“Mmmm-hm.” Frisk let her head fall against Toriel’s shoulder as the goat monster stroked her hair. Sans had to look away, more irritated than ever—how stupid was it to be jealous of someone mothering her? Especially considering what she’d had for an actual mom…

“Anyway,” said Undyne. She glanced at Sans, saw his expression, and whacked him again to get his attention. “You know what your damn human did to me?” Frisk smirked as Undyne pantomimed writing huge letters across her own face. “GO FISH. Is that the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard, or what?”

Sans snickered. “What? She was probably just being supportive. You know, ‘go—”

Frisk and Toriel dissolved into laughter as the Captain smacked her forehead with one webbed hand. “Argh! That’s the same dumb thing she said!”

“It’s all right,” the human said, in what Sans gleefully recognized as her pre-pun voice. “I guess our humor is just that sofishticated.”

“NOOOOO,” moaned Papyrus, who had just come inside. “NOT YOU, TOO, NYEHH!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Sans, winking at Toriel as she covered her face with one hand. “Are you mad enough to krill someone?”

“SO HELP ME, YOU TWO, I WILL LEAVE THIS HOUSE AND NEVER—”

“But it’s so nice to sea you,” Frisk said, and Sans snorted so hard that he had to sit down before he fell over. Toriel was giggling uncontrollably, clutching her sides; Undyne just shook her head and retreated into the storage room behind the kitchen cabinet.

Papyrus looked mollified. “YES, I KNOW. BUT I—” He stopped, and they nearly died as they watched it hit him. “GRAAAAH! IF HER MAJESTY WAS NOT HERE, I’D—”

“It’s all right, Papyrus,” Toriel said behind her hand. “I know I can trust you to control your temper.” Papyrus nodded, and the goat monster added, “You’ve always been a pacifisht!”

Undyne poked her head into the kitchen, raising her voice over the din: “Pap! Get away from those nerds and come help me! We need to make room for your stuff when it gets here.”

The younger skeleton sighed dramatically, even for him. “NYEH-HEH! I SUPPOSE I MAY AS WELL. AT LEAST SOMEONE AROUND HERE WILL BE DOING SOMETHING USEFUL!”

“Thank you. You’re the least shellfish person we know,” squeaked Frisk, at which Papyrus made an incoherent sound and stormed off into the kitchen.

Sans was pounding the floor, the women nearly sobbing. “Children—children, please,” Toriel said weakly, wiping her eyes. “Really, it’s time to calm down now.” A long pause… “We can’t keep kraken up like this!”

“Oh my God, they’re gonna kill themselves,” Undyne grumbled from the storage room. They had closed the cabinet door, but it wasn’t soundproof enough. “Let’s move some of this stuff to the shed, and…hey, what’s this?” She picked up a heavy package lying in the back corner. “Huh. Looks like one of Frisk’s. Pap, go ask—”

“SANS! POSSIBLY FRISK!” Papyrus charged into the living room, hoisting the box over his head and nearly tripping over his brother. “IS THIS A FORGOTTEN PUZZLE?! MAY I OPEN IT TO KEEP IT COMPANY?”

“Oh!” Frisk gave a last snrk and accepted a clean handkerchief from Toriel to wipe her face. “Actually, Papyrus, that one is for Sans.”

“Wha?” The giant skeleton sat up and quirked a brow at her. “What’re you talkin’ about? I was with ya when we bought all this crap, and I don’t remember you gettin’ me anything.”

“That’s because you weren’t paying attention,” the priestess retorted.

…She had a point. There had been quite a few times when they were in a shop and he was so bored that she could’ve been plotting the death of all monsterkind without him noticing.

“SURPRISE PUZZLES ARE THE BEST KIND! OPEN IT ALREADY!” urged Papyrus, shoving the gift at his brother’s face.

“Yeah, boss,” Undyne said from the kitchen. “Don’t be so damn shy.”

“I’m not bein’ shy! I just…I wasn’t expectin’ it.” Scowling, Sans grabbed the package and dug his phalanges into the lid. One good rip would get this over w—

“Sans!” Frisk’s voice made him hunch his shoulders like a guilty kid. “If you tear it open like that and break something, I will end you! Do you understand?”

The others watched the colossal skeleton set the package down gently, unwrapping the paper and moving it aside as though it was made of glass. Toriel and Undyne exchanged disbelieving glances as Sans located the box’s tucked-in corners, eased them loose, and picked at the ribbons tying it shut.

But a moment later, as he removed the last layers of tissue paper, their amusement faded into gasps and murmurs. Inside the box lay a chessboard gleaming in white marble and flawless onyx, each of the pieces individually wrapped and set in neat rows.

Undyne chose one at random and peeled the paper away to reveal a knight astride a black pegasus, wings spread and hooves ready to strike. “Whoa!” She picked another, this one a rook carved in the shape of a ruined tower, complete with crumbling bricks and a few tiny bird’s nests in the windows. “Where’d you find this?! Are you gonna teach him how to play?”

“We did most nights back at the castle.” Frisk shrugged. “He beat me every time.”

“Incredible,” murmured Toriel. She took the knight and held it up to examine the sculpting of its plumelike tail. “Humans have such an amazing capacity for beauty. I never could understand…” The goat monster sighed, handing the piece back. “What do you think, Sans?”

Sans couldn’t answer. He’d calmed down a lot after all the fish puns, and he would have been fine just hanging out with everyone until the Royal Guard came by. He hadn’t known Frisk was going to give him anything, much less something beautiful and thoughtful and completely perfect—like her, dammit. How was he supposed to stop feeling all these feelings when she kept doing things?

The pause became more and more uncomfortable as he glowered at the chessboard, heat building around his SOUL until he wanted more than ever to just rip his clothes off right there. “PSST! BROTHER!” Papyrus nudged him. “YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SAY, ‘THANK YOU FOR THE MAGNIFICENT PUZZLE, NYEH-HEH! I SHOULD ASK THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO PLAY IT WITH ME, AND WEEP GENTLY WHEN I LOSE!’”

Sans fidgeted, and Frisk looked expectant. “This’s…ya know, ya didn’t hafta waste a bunch more money on somethin’ we—” His head snapped up, startling everyone. “Hey, there’s the Royal Guard! They probably need help, right? Let’s go help!”

“SANS,” Papyrus began, and huffed as his brother disappeared. “THAT’S NOT WHAT I TOLD HIM TO SAY AT ALL! HOW DID HE GET IT SO VERY WRONG?”

Sans was not surprised by the others’ reactions when they joined him a few minutes later at the cart by the town Christmas tree. He could only imagine what they’d been saying, though the glare Undyne was giving him made her opinion pretty clear.

“Good day,” Toriel said to the cat monster holding the supply list, ignoring Sans entirely. The cart had just come through Waterfall, the sacks and crates patterned with condensation that was already freezing into ice crystals. “I have a very selfish request,” the former Queen continued. “As you know, I was awake for the entire night, and I am extremely weary. I would like to bring my share home with me now, unless of course you need me to—”

“You were up the whole night, Lady Toriel?” Frisk repeated, one hand on the side of the cart. She frowned, then rounded on Sans so fast that he flinched. “You want to be helpful, don’t you? Then you can take her and her things back to the Ruins!” An imperious gesture at the three guards. “The list, please,” she ordered in her High Priestess voice.

The cat-lady handed it over, bemused. The tiny human ran her finger down the page, nodded, and turned to the cart. “It should all in that crate, there, and that stack of—look where I’m pointing! Yes, that one, and those over there. No, don’t put it—”

Sans obeyed her as fast as he could, setting the boxes neatly beside Toriel. Frisk checked them over again, then handed the list back to the feline guard. “That should be correct, but if you find any discrepancies, let me know. Has everything gone according to plan so far? No thefts or serious disputes?”

“No, milady,” the guard replied. “We should be finished by this evening at the latest.”

Frisk smiled. “Excellent work. Please keep it up.”

The Royal Guard all saluted. Toriel’s eyebrows were raised, and Sans wished she’d look at him so he could mouth Told you so. “Good job, guys,” said Undyne, not bothering to hide her grin. “It looks like you’ve got this under control, so Frisk and I are gonna go see Alphys now. You coming, Pap?”

“HMM.” He glanced from her to his brother and crossed his arms, clearly torn. “SHOULDN’T I STAY AND HELP PUT OUR FOOD AWAY?”

“Oh, but Sans wants to help so much, we shouldn’t take that from him.” Undyne looked daggers – spears? – at the giant skeleton. “He can come right back here and do it after he drops off Her Majesty. Right?”

Dammit. “Right,” grunted Sans.

Frisk was already starting to turn away. He cast around for an excuse to talk to her again, and said, “Hey.” She glanced at him as he rummaged in his inner pockets. “Ya want those invoices back?”

The priestess frowned at him. He hated it when she did that, especially when he deserved it. “I suppose it could be useful when I talk to His Majesty.” She started to extend a hand, and her eyes widened. “That’s right,” she said to the guards. “Did you give him my note?”

“Yes.” The dragon guard cleared his throat. “He said no.”

“What R02 meant to say,” the cat monster, “is that King Asgore regrets he will not be available to speak with anyone today.”

“But he does want to talk to Sans,” the rabbit said helpfully, “and Dr. Alphys.”

“I see,” Frisk murmured. “Thank you.” As Undyne glared at R01, the human stepped back, pulling her cloak around her. “You’d better keep them to show His Majesty, then.”

Sans shrugged, rolled the papers back up, and opened his coat wider to find exactly where they’d been. All he could think about was reaching over to tug down her choker where it was riding too high on her throat; he forgot what else was in his pockets till he noticed her staring at something inside his coat. His SOUL tingled in alarm: the King’s golden envelope was sticking up partway, with the letters FRISK D showing. “Sans? What is that?”

“…Uh.” Fuck. It was too late to disappear again. He glanced around at everyone listening, and at Frisk, who was already unhappy because of him. Was this really the time to tell her what her father was planning, and that the humans all knew her name now? “It’s…I-I’ll show ya later, I promise. There’s a bunch of stuff we’ve gotta talk about.”

Her frown deepened. “Agreed.” Just like that, Frisk turned to smile at Papyrus. “Shall we?”

“CERTAINLY!” He gallantly held his arm out to her, neither of them noticing how Sans’ socket twitched.

Before the bigger skeleton could say something stupid, a touch on his radius made him spin around. “If you could take me home now, I would greatly appreciate it,” Toriel said quietly.

“Sure.” He gave Frisk one last glance. “Have fun, guys.”

Undyne made another face at him, and Papyrus waved. “GOODBYE, SANS! HAVE FUN! PLEASE BE USEFUL TO HER MAJESTY AND NOT RUN OFF AGAIN BECAUSE YOU ARE EMOTIONALLY INCOMPETENT!”

Sans twitched again, and Frisk smirked. “Have a good rest, Lady Toriel,” she said over her shoulder.

“Enjoy yourselves,” Toriel replied cheerfully. But the moment the trio was out of sight, the goat monster’s smile vanished. “Back to the Ruins, please,” she said coolly.

Sans had a headache already. “Yes’m,” he mumbled. At least all this inner turmoil meant he was generating plenty of magic: she laid a hand on his arm, he made a swiping gesture at the crates, and they were all standing in the entryway of Toriel’s house, easy as butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

“I wish I could do that,” the goat monster commented, not for the first time. “Can you bring those to the kitchen for me?” She strode ahead, briskly opening cabinets and moving things aside to make room. “Also, please tell me what the matter is.”

Sans grunted, twitching a finger to waft the crates over. “Do me a favor, Tori, and gimme a check. You can probably see it for yerself.”

Toriel obligingly turned and squinted at his SOUL. “Good heavens,” she said after a moment, and looked up at him. “Sans, what in the world…?”

If it looked half as turbulent as it felt, then it was probably pretty scary. “I wasn’t kiddin’ the other night,” he muttered.

“I…didn’t think you were. Still…” She rubbed her eyes, swaying a little with sheer tiredness. “I did want to ask you something. I heard you telling the guards last night that you inspected the carts alongside someone you trusted. By any chance, was that…?”

Well, there was a convenient misunderstanding if he’d ever heard one. “Was that what? Someone I’m totally nuts about an’ hafta stay away from because she’s a human, and just friggin’ deal with it?” He rapped on his chest. “Does it look like I’m dealin’ with it?”

“No, you are not.” Toriel crossed her arms at the waist. “Sans. I know this must be difficult for you, but—”

“Let’s play pretend for a minute,” he said conversationally. “Imagine I came up to you sometime real soon with a human an’ said, ‘Here ya go, meet the wife.’” Just saying the word made his SOUL ache further. “What would you do?”

Her eyes narrowed to golden slits. “It would depend,” Toriel said with deceptive calmness, “whether you would prefer I be kind, or truthful. Do you want my blessing to try and find happiness for a few short years, and to be even more alone in the world once she d—”

That did it. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Tori! Ya think I don’t know how screwed I am?” Sans snarled, and her mouth fell open. “I didn’t tell you about this so you could give me a kick in the goddamn teeth! I told ya ‘cause I wanted to talk with somebody who might have some idea what I’m goin’ through! If that’s too much to ask, just fuckin’ forget about it!”

“I am sorry, Sans! I truly am!” There was a puff of smoke as Toriel threw her hands up. “If you could marry a human, I would be the first to congratulate you! But as things are…” Her face contorted. “What does my opinion even matter? You know that I have no power here, no matter how many people keep calling me ‘Majesty’! I can do nothing to help you!”

“You could still be my goddamn friend! That’s all I wanted!” He kicked at nothing. “But no, yer so worried about botherin’ little ol’ Gorey that—”

Whump.

Sans stared at the scorch mark at his feet, a smoking, blackened ring on the tiles. Then he looked at Toriel, whose hand was still aimed at the floor, her chest heaving as though she’d run the entire length of the Underground. “Do not. Talk to me. About. Asgore,” she said through gritted fangs. “That wretched man has already cost me my entire family! Do you think I enjoy catering to his paranoia and living in fear that someone else I care for will be banished, or die? What do you think he would do if you were to wed a human? What would happen to you, and to her? If Asgore decided you were truly a threat—”

He could feel his eyes burning, and didn’t trust himself to say anything. Toriel gulped. “It is not safe for you to marry a human, Sans. It is not safe for any human down here! You’ve seen it for yourself! Frisk is the only one he will even tolerate, and he could still…” Another shake of her head, ears flapping against her cheeks. “You know Asgore. All he has to do is ignore her until she leaves. It would be so easy, wouldn’t it?” The goat-woman buried her face in her hands. “Those damned men would just shrug and say that she failed in her mission, and I would never see her again! I can’t lose anyone else, Sans! I can’t—”

The skeleton’s anger subsided as he watched the former Queen’s shoulders rise and fall. He took a couple of steps toward her, sliding his hands into his pockets. “What happened with Chara?” he asked quietly. “Why wouldn’t he let her come back?”

Toriel’s fingers curled, claws digging into her muzzle. “It wasn’t her fault,” she muttered, eyes hard and dry. “He said he didn’t blame her, but he still agreed to send her away. And when that bastard human would not marry her as he promised, Chara needed us—she needed her family! But Asgore said she was lying, and he sent her away again! I didn’t see my little girl for ten years, Sans! And then—”

Sans stayed silent. Toriel let her arms fall, and slid down against the cabinet until she was slumped on the kitchen floor. “I got her back, and it was too late. She hated us both,” she said dully. “She died hating me, Sans. And she was right. I couldn’t protect her from Asgore, and when the accident happened, I could not protect her or Asriel. I was right there, and I could do nothing! All I did was send the humans away, and he even begrudged me that!” The goat monster gripped her robe, nearly puncturing the fabric. “Now my only friend comes to me for a sympathetic ear, and what do I do? I sneer at him for confiding in me and complain about my troubles!” She scrubbed her eyes with her sleeve. “I’m completely useless, as always.”

“Don’t say that, Tori! Remember that one little thing where ya kept the humans from declarin’ war on us an’ sealing the whole damn Underground? Besides…” Sans shuddered as something else came to him. “For all we know, he woulda had Kris killed, too.” He crouched to her eye level. “You saved Frisk’s life, Tori. Are you sayin’ that wasn’t worth somethin’?”

She swallowed again. “I…I don’t—”

“An’ she grew up to be High Priestess, and she saved my life when I got caught. If it wasn’t for you, she’d be dead, and I’d be dead or worse.” He shook his head. “If she was dead, we wouldn’t be gettin’ any food deliveries, or monsters comin’ home, or random bubble parties—” Despite himself, he chuckled. “Or fish puns—”

Toriel managed a smile. “That was fun, wasn’t it? Poor Papyrus.” She gave a long, deep sigh. “I may have saved her life, but as far as I am concerned, you are the reason she has come back to us. Thank you, Sans.” The goat monster got to her feet and wiped her eyes again on her sleeve. “I…I still don’t know what to tell you about your human. I haven’t even asked you her name, what she is like, how far your relationship has progressed—may I assume you intend to keep courting her?”

“Uh…” Sans ducked his head, scuffing his slipper over the burned floor tiles. “Tell you the truth, she’s kinda the one courtin’ me.”

“Sans!” the goat monster scolded him. “You’ve found a woman with enough magic, strength of mind, and good taste to fall in love with you, and you’re letting her do all the work?”

The skeleton scratched his neck vertebrae. “…Yeah?”

Toriel gave him one of her squinty, pursed-mouth glares, and he held up his hands. “I know, I know! It’s just…there’s all this stuff, but it’s her, an’ I never met a her before, an’ I—”

“All right, all right.” Toriel sighed again. “I still wish you would change your mind, but I understand that it’s not so simple.” She couldn’t conceal a yawn. “We can talk more when I’ve had some rest. I promise.” To his surprise, she took his hand and gave it a good squeeze. “In the meantime, go and help the Royal Guards, and then apologize to Frisk. That was the most lovely gift imaginable, and you behaved as though she’d handed you a steaming pile of—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sans lifted one shoulder. “Okay, Ma, I promise I’ll be good. Go get some sleep.”

“Yes, dear. And, Sans—” She gave him a look he couldn’t interpret. “I hate to be intrusive, but…if everyone is gathered again this evening, could I please join you? If it’s all right with the others?”

Sans made a rude noise. “Of course I’ll come ‘n get you. We’re almost halfway through her offishal visit.”

Toriel laughed. “Well, water you still doing here? Go on!”

He chucked, raising a hand. “‘Kay. See ya, Toriel.”

“Thank you, Sans.” She swatted at him playfully, letting him dodge out of the way. “Now, shoo!”

#songfell #why am i like this for reals

49 notes · View notes

noctuascion · 4 years

Note

I'm gonna make 2 requests, because I'm greedy and a little Cryptage starved right now. Also, you write so good and you have this way of turning a phrase that makes me super jealous so here goes. 1) FAKE DATING! Just... always with the fake dating. 2) Not sure how the lore works on your au but if it's applicable, either vamp crypto accidentally exposing wolf mirage to silver or wolf mirage exposing vamp crypto to sunlight.

;; Be as greedy as you want, sweetums. I love writing your prompts and also love you so it works out. uwu

Also, anything to keep me from falling asleep lol

I'll write your second request in a different post, but it'll be a bit. I write kinda slowly chjdjw ;;

Elliott Witt has had a lot of things happen to him. He's had first loves, first kisses, first everythings. He's done a lot in his life, but, in all his years of living and loving, he didn't think fake dating his rival would ever make the list. It did, though, as much as both of them resented it.

One of the promotional managers had called them in for a quick meeting. Basically, he laid down that they were to start appearing in public more and that they were doing it together. At first, Elliott had been on board. Having more time in the limelight sounded amazing, but then came in Park, who was now going to be his boyfriend.

Now, he's not saying Park's disgusting or revolting or that he isn't comfortable enough with his sexuality to be able to freely hug and tell his buddies he loves them (because, well, his only friends are a lesbian and a drug addict for the most part), but he's straight, a ladies man! Sure, the kid's pretty and everything, but he's not feminine either. He has his own special type of charm that's not entirely easy to put into words. (He has nice legs, though. Elliott will give him that much.)

He's glad, though, that he's not the only one entirely against this. Park managed to miss a lot of meet 'n greets, forgoing seeing his fans and opting out of photo shoots. He's rarely seen in public, and, if he is, he looks about as shady as a drug dealer—hiding his face, oversized clothing, etc. He hates the spotlight, Elliott quickly figured out, and that was his only real issue with this whole ordeal.

And when Elliott pointed out that he seemed to be perfectly fine with dating him, he called him what he assumes are curse words and insults in his native tongue before telling him he'd sooner date Nox.

However, their word was final, and the two were now a "couple" in the eyes of the public. Their fellow competitors were allowed insight on their little "agreement," and they did what any supportive friends would do: they laughed and wished the new couple a happy life.

Today was their first official "date" as a couple, so Elliott intended for it to be at least somewhat decent for them. He was aware Park hated public places, but they wanted them to be seen in public together. He couldn't please both parties, so he decided a small, family restaurant would be their destination. There wasn't a lot of people that normally visited, but Elliott was a personal fan of the food served there. The atmosphere was warm and friendly and he's sure Park would appreciate that much.

Why am I trying so hard again…?

Shrugging, he pulled on his second nicest jacket—a nice yellow shade that went well with his white shirt and blue jeans. His hair was done up in its usual style, though he lacked the goggles he normally wore, so his hair fell in his eyes a bit. He was sure Park wasn't going to try too hard, so he didn't either. It was a casual outing, after all; no need for either to wear anything extravagant.

Well, Elliott was wrong when Park met up with him wearing a white turtleneck, a nice black blazer, and matching slacks. He suspects a turtleneck because he's at least trying to hide his cybernetic implantations without being too obvious and still looking like effort was put in. There was such a stark color difference, though—he felt like the sun next to the moon.

"Oh, h-hey, you look…" Elliott trailed off, unsure if he should give a genuine compliment or play it off like a joke—but he's already stuttered, so he may as well commit, "… good—you dress up nice."

"Paquette and Wraith helped." He huffed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I wouldn't have put in so much effort otherwise."

"Such a heartbreaker, Kim."

Elliott chuckled before reaching out and opening the door, gesturing for him to hop inside his car. The hacker rolled his eyes before slipping inside, the trickster shutting it before hurrying to the other side.

"Where are we going?" Park asked once Elliott was inside, turning the engine on and beginning to leave the complex.

"I know you don't like public places, and a movie is a terrible first date, so I picked out a small family restaurant that has some of the best lemon cakes I've tasted. Not to mention some people will see us, together, so it'll make the higher-ups happy, y'know?"

"Hm. You're smarter than I thought you were."

"I'm full of surprises, sugar."

"Don't push your luck with this 'dating' thing, Witt."

"Oh! That reminds me—we should probably establish some boundaries." Elliott took a right, keeping his eyes on the road but focus elsewhere. "Personally, I don't really care. So long as we don't have sex, I think I'm good otherwise. How about you?"

"No kissing, holding hands, touching in general, stupid pet names, or sex."

"… Well, you've eliminated every possible way of showing we're 'dating.' Anymore you wanna ban there, kid?" Elliott sighed, stopping at a red light and looking over to where Park was seated, glaring out the window. "This is definitely more like a friendly outing, if anything, but no one's gonna talk about us if we just seem like friends. Higher-ups will have our necks."

"I take back what I said earlier. You're an idiot if you think I care about whether or not they're happy with what I do."

"All right, fair point. Can we at least hold hands? That shouldn't be too much to ask."

Park sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and sinking into his seat. "Fine. If it'll get them out of our business, we can do that. But only for a few seconds."

"Gotcha. Man, whoever dated you in the past must've been as touch-adv—avd—ad—ad… adverse as you."

"…"

"… Holy shit—you've never dated anybody."

"Shut up."

"No, no, that just makes this whole thing worse!" Elliott began driving again once the red light changed to green. His eyes returned to the road as well, though he was no less focused on the topic at hand. "You're experiencing a date for the first time with someone you don't even like, a-and that's not fair!"

"I—"

"No, y'know what? No, you're getting a date. Getting everything! You're getting the ol' Mirage charm, gonna get swept right off your feet."

"Witt—"

"No buts! You're being dragged out of your cave and getting screwed out of a first date with someone you're actually interested in. The least I can do is be as good to you as possible."

Park only stared at him, silent, before an amused breath left him, letting himself smile. "Okay."

—;;

Park wasn't a conversationalist, Elliott quickly found out. He was very quiet and reserved, which didn't help much either. He was, however, a great listener, and Elliott loved to talk, so, in a way, it worked out for the better.

The small restaurant they were seated in was relatively quiet, but they could hear hushed whispers about them being together, seated in a secluded booth that helped alleviate any anxiety Park might have with being seen by a bunch of people.

The holographic expert had ordered himself a steak, medium rare, with a salad on the side. He opted out for any alcohol, since he was the driver and he had no idea if Park was comfortable dealing with someone drunk, so all he ordered was some tea. Park, though, only asked for steak fries and a soda.

"Y'know," Elliott said after taking a sip of his tea, "you should get more meat in your diet. Helps build muscle, gets some meat on your bones."

"Hm…"

"C'mon! You also never join us for dinner. Or lunch—or, actually, I don't… see you eat. You eat, right?"

"Yes."

Elliott hummed in suspicion, a hand smoothing down his beard, though Park's stoic gaze didn't relent any. "All right… What do you normally eat?"

"Usually from whatever takeout menu is closer."

"… How are you even standing right now?" Elliott looked sad for a moment before shaking his head. "Let's make a quick deal here—"

"We've already made a deal."

"Let's make another. If you agree to come out of your cave for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I'll agree to do whatever you want. Anything. Well, except really bad stuff. Like, I won't kill someone. Too far."

It was Park's turn to hum, taking a sip from his straw, before placing the glass on the table. "I benefit from this more than you do."

"I get the benefit of helping my sweet sugar plum get better, even if it's just a little bit."

Park raised a brow. "What did I say about pushing luck?"

"Ya love me. You wouldn't leave me on our date like this… Well, I hope not."

Park wanted to roll his eyes, say "I would and I will," but he didn't. He kept silent, giving Elliott a look, who seemingly took the hint and changed subject.

"So, have you ever been asked out before?"

"Isn't that a bad topic for dates?"

"Just curious. Feel free to not say. Besides, it's not a real date."

"Don't let them hear you say that." Park stirred his drink with his straw absentmindedly, watching it fizz up at his ministrations. "No, no one's ever asked me out."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised."

Elliott laughed in disbelief. "Well, yeah! I mean, you're…"

"What?"

"I dunno—gorgeous, beautiful, cool and mysterious! You'd think girls would be all over you."

"I'm not exactly pleasant to be around, Witt. I'd think you'd have figured that out by now."

The trickster waved a hand, like he was denying Park's claim. "You're rough around the edges, but you're not horrible." He shrugged, taking another sip from his drink. "I'm sure someone out there's just dying to wanna date you! Or maybe you haven't met them yet. Who knows!"

Park let another faint smile curl his lips, looking into his drink. "Who knows, indeed."

—;;

Day two of their time as a couple was during a duos match (of course it was just them), and Elliott had counted this as possibly his most unlucky match.

They had landed at Epicenter and Park landed on top of the tower, alone, and Elliott landed on the ground with two other squads, one consisting of Nox and Octavio and the other being Natalie and Ajay. Nox had trained his sights on him immediately and began chasing him down (the sadistic bastard), and he had to rush to find a gun. All he could find was a P2020, and it wasn't exactly a fair match against the scientist's Spitfire.

Neither of them had any shields, but just a couple of shots from the toxic trapper's gun was enough to down him, slipping on ice and colliding with the hard ground.

"Oh—fuck!" the trickster cursed, trying to crawl away from the man towering over him. "C-C'mon, Caustic, don't you have anyone else to shoot at?"

"No."

"That's a lie and you know it."

However, before Nox could kill him off, the sound of a Sentinel going off, following by Nox quickly being down, sent a wave of relief through his system, looking over onto the cliff to see Park perched atop it, the bolt-action sniper in his hands.

No scope. That's kinda hot.

The hacker had shot off a few more rounds, and Elliott could hear Octavio shout in pain, before he began sliding down the hill, swapping out his sniper for a Wingman. The revolver was shot off twice before Nox's death box suddenly popped up in front of him, signaling the end of that squad.

However, they still had Natalie and Ajay, though they'd been injured by Octavio. They were clinging to D.O.C.'s healing up until Park tosses a grenade where they were healing. Natalie hadn't escaped fast enough, and she ended up downed, whereas Ajay was only injured.

She put up a fight, firing off her Alternator with frightening precision, and, had Park not hit his shots, he would've been killed off.

However, the man calmly approaching his fallen teammate was enough of an indicator that he won that battle, only a few wounds and scratches indicating his prior struggle.

"Kid, if I didn't know better," he said, pausing to let out a grunt at the syringe being plunged into his chest, "I'd think you're trying to show off and steal my heart."

For a moment, Park was silent, helping Elliott back to his feet, before a smirk crossed those dashing fractures, looking up at the other with a faint sense of mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Did it work?"

For once in his life, Elliott was left stunned, mouth open, unable to formulate a response, before the surveillance expert left to loot.

He regained his senses after a moment, blinking himself back into reality, and shutting his mouth.

Kid's full of surprises.

—;;

Their third date wasn't for the public. Their third date wasn't even suggested by Elliott. Park had just grabbed Elliott by the arm, dragged him out to god-knows-where, late at night, and laid down on a small hill. He didn't say anything, didn't give any explanation, and, honestly, Elliott didn't expect anything less. He just laid down beside the other, looked up at the stars, and let out a breath.

However, as Park's own mind was clear, hands resting on his stomach and a leg bent at the knee, Elliott's own was filled with thoughts of confusion, his hands behind his head, acting as a pillow.

Park was such a strange guy. One day, he acts like he's the bane of his existence, and, the next, he's smiling and making quips that make Elliott's heart race. Elliott's been with a lot of people, and he's learned a lot from his time with them, but there's never been a time where they've made him feel like… this.

They never badger him about his gross, smelly hair spray, they never playfully banter with him, they never push him off of exploding trains, and they certainly never made him speechless, never made him feel like he lost the ability to function. They never treated him like a person. They always just treated him like… Mirage.

"Hyeon?"

"Hm?"

"I don't think I'm straight."

"Mm. What makes you say that?"

"Because I think I'm in love with you."

Park smiled, letting out a quiet laugh. "You don't even know how I feel about you."

"I don't. You're weird, and you're never forward w-with how you feel, but… I just… thought you should, y'know, know, since we're doing this whole… thing."

"Mm. The fake dating thing?"

"The fake dating thing, yeah."

"… Do you want it to be fake anymore?"

Elliott turned into his side, Park own head moving to meet his gaze. "No."

"Mm. Good." Park's head turned back to the stars, shutting his eyes. "Neither did I."

#apex legends #cryptage #oops this was really long !!!#but that's okay #i hope you at least enjoyed my gross cheesy cliché nonsense #i'll get to working on the other one i promise #maybe make it a little shorter lol #lenardo does a write

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frozenartscapes · 4 years

Note

Wilhelm + Rhea - I’m pregnant.

Something was wrong, Seiros was sure of it. She staggered back to her cot after running a cool, damp cloth over her face, and flopped down with little grace. She groaned as she clutched her abdomen, praying to the Goddess that the world would stop spinning so much.

Someone must have poisoned her. Or rather, is poisoning her because this is the fifth day in a row she’s woken up like this.

“Seiros!” A singsong voice floated through the opening of her tent, all bright and chipper.

“Come in,” Seiros managed to call out, gulping as she felt her stomach heave again.

It was Rowena, which was probably good considering her current situation. How Cichol had ever managed to find, woo, marry, and have a child with such a woman so…different from himself had always been a mystery. But it was times like these that Seiros was thankful she was around.

Rowena frowned when she spotted her companion curled up on her cot. “Another rough morning?” she asked, producing some herbs from her bag and setting them down on the desk. She pushed aside some of the war maps and got to work making a nausea remedy.

“We really must…find whoever’s...responsible for this,” Seiros grumbled.

Rowena brought over the concoction and wordlessly handed it over. As Seiros brought it to her mouth, she caught her friend’s knowing, and worryingly smug grin. She gulped anxiously and asked, “What?”

“I think I know who’s responsible,” Rowena teased, “You might want to have a word with Wilhelm.”

“Why would he be poisoning me?”

“Poisoning?” Rowena’s gleeful laugh filled the tent, though Seiros was still at a loss as to why, “Oh my dear, please tell me all this war planning and scheming hasn’t clouded your head that much!”

“I…I don’t understand…”

Rowena reached out and took Seiros’ hands in hers, and gently pulled her up into a sitting position. “Seiros, my dear,” she said softly, breathlessly happy for her friend, “You’re pregnant.”

“…I’m…what?”

Rowena chuckled. “Don’t worry. That news always takes a moment to sink in.”

“I’m what?”

“Expecting, Sweetie.”

“But… I…I can’t be pregnant!” Seiros cried, “We’re fighting a war! I’m leading the war! A…and Wilhelm and I… I mean… We did, but he’s human and I’m…not…” She gasped, clamping a hand over her mouth as it finally, finally hit. “Oh Goddess I’m pregnant.”

“I don’t think you have much to worry about,” Rowena assured her, “It isn’t unheard of for our kind to have children with humans. And it’s not like you’ll be in this alone. I’ll be here, and so will the others. And of course there’s Wilhelm.”

“Oh Goddess…Wilhelm!” Seiros exclaimed, “I…I have to tell him!”

“Knowing Wilhelm I imagine he’ll be rather excited, too,” Rowena added.

“But what about the others?” Seiros demanded, “Cichol and Indech I’m not too worried about, but Macuil will be furious, I know it.”

“Oh don’t you worry about that old windbag,” Rowena sighed, “If he gives you any problems, send him to me.” She suddenly clapped her hands together, bouncing a little in excitement. “Oh little Ceth will finally have someone she can play with!”

“I’m pregnant,” Seiros murmured, suddenly feeling nauseous for a different reason. This was something completely out of her wheelhouse. She could lead an army. She could wield a sword. She could kick anyone’s ass with just her fists if she had to.

She could not picture herself as a mother.

She sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands, trying not to think too deeply about how this was going to affect her war against Nemesis.

“Oh Wilhelm! What perfect timing!” Rowena greeted cheerfully.

“Very funny, Wena,” Seiros groaned.

“Oh! I’m…sorry… Is this a bad time?”

Her head snapped up in an instant. “Wilhelm! No, it’s… Actually Rowena’s right: it’s perfect timing,” she said quickly.

“I’ll…give you two some privacy,” Rowena said, making her way to the door of the tent. She slipped out quickly, but Seiros could tell by the shadow cast against the canvas walls that Rowena’s definition of “privacy” was a tad skewed.

“Is everything alright my Love?” Wilhelm asked, a look of concern marring his gentle face, “Have you been sick again?”

Seiros was momentarily lost in his warm hazel eyes, but she shook her head briskly to bring herself back. “I…yes, I have,” she admitted, “And Rowena believes she’s found out the reason why.”

“It’s not poison, is it? I swear on my life I’ll find the bastard that’s been doing this to you and—“

“It’s not…poison, Wilhelm,” Seiros cut in with a wince. She patted the space on the cot next to her, and Wilhelm readily sat down beside her. She worked her hands into his, and gave a small squeeze. “My Light,” she breathed, “I’m pregnant.”

There was a pause, as the information sunk in. Then a brilliant smile - as bright as the sun itself - worked its way onto Wilhelm’s face. “You are?” he gasped, laughing with joy. He leapt up from his seat, dragging her along with him. He twirled around the tent with her in his arms, before slowing to pull her into a tight hug. “That’s wonderful, my Love!” he sighed.

Then he stopped, pulling away while still holding tight to her arms. “That…is wonderful, right? I… If you’re not… What I mean is, I know you’ve got your own—"

She put a finger on his lips, a common action of hers whenever the excitable man began to ramble. “It…it is wonderful,” she assured him, “I just…never thought it would happen to me.”

He chuckled. “I have to admit, knowing you can I believe that,” he said, tucking a lock of her emerald hair behind a pointed ear. She cast him a playful glare and he smiled innocently in response. “But…” he continued, “Wouldn’t this mean that… Well, we’ll be a family. You, me, and the little brawler waiting to come out.”

She snorted at the thought. “I should hope the child decides to become a brawler after they are born, my Light,” she stated. But then her mood sobered, as the rest of his statement was realized. “A…family…”

He frowned when he saw her eyes beginning to glaze over. “If it’s too soon, my Love, I…”

“No. No, it’s…” Tears began to form in her eyes, and slowly a large smile spread across her face. She could barely contain her joy as she uttered, “I’ll have a family again.”

— — —

She held the bundle close to her chest, still exhausted and sore. But a tiny hand had a tight hold of her finger, and wide, green eyes stared up at her. The child in her arms giggled, then, and tightened his grip.

“He’s incredible,” Wilhelm breathed as he watched over her shoulder, “So…small. But incredible.”

“He’ll grow to be a great Emperor someday,” Seiros sighed, looking up to meet the gaze of the newly-crowned Emperor of Adrestia.

“Hopefully he’ll know more of what he’s doing,” Wilhelm stated anxiously.

Seiros reached for her Light’s hand. “He’ll have an excellent role model,” she assured him gently.

In her arms, little Lycaon reached for his Papa and smiled.

— — —

AN: Ok, hear me out... This is my take on Rhea and Wilhelm. We don’t really know a whole lot and the stuff we do know comes from fairly shaky sources. We know Rhea - then Seiros - had some kind of relationship with Wilhelm but we don’t know the extent. We also know Wilhelm had a son, but we don’t know with who.

So what if Rhea is the matriarch of the Hresvelg legacy?

I’m going to expand on this more later, but for now I wanted to first, answer this prompt, and second, cover something I probably wasn’t going to cover in my longer fic.

So here are my headcanons that appear here and will likely pop up later:

Rhea and Wilhelm genuinely loved each other. They met when Rhea was in a dark place, having lost her family and unsure of where to turn next. Wilhelm was a kindhearted farmer who wanted to help her out, saved her life from some of Nemesis’ men by sacrificing himself, and was then saved by her in turn when she gave him her Crest in the healing process. From there, their relationship blossomed. Rhea calls him her “Light” because he brought light and warmth back into her life when she thought it was all gone (much like how El views Byleth...hmm, symbolism...)

Rhea tells Wilhelm that Nemesis destroyed her family, but doesn’t go into details. He respects her enough to not push for more answers, though he is curious. He always hopes that one day she’ll trust him enough to open up.

The other Saints join the fight against Nemesis at Rhea’s insistence, but they stay for Wilhelm. He’s a charismatic guy, a hell of a warrior, and a kindhearted man, and he wins over Cichol and Indech with little effort. Macuil, however, never trusts him and acts like the scary big brother protecting his little sister (Seiros).

Rowena is my take on Seteth’s wife/Flayn’s mother. I picture her as a Nabatean, just not one of the powerful saints. (I always kinda pictured it like a hierarchy of Sothis first, then the Children of the Goddess/Saints, then lesser Nabateans forming the bulk of the community.) Like Flayn, she’s mostly a healer and has a bubbly personality. She brings out the fun and happiness in Seteth, and after her death he struggles to feel such things again. Her loss was heavily felt by all, due to how friendly she was with everyone.

The reason Edelgard doesn’t look more like Rhea/only has a minor Crest of Seiros, etc. is due to the fact that it’s been centuries since Rhea gave birth to Lycaon. The Nabatean traits eventually fade, as Rhea is the only Nabatean to ever continue the line in the Hresvelg family. Crest-strength and other traits shared by Nabateans eventually faded as more human genetics were added in. (This is also why I HC Flayn as having two Nabatean parents rather than just one.)

Rhea, having lost Wilhelm in the war and then watching her son grow old while she stayed young, disconnects from those types of relationships once the heartbreak becomes too much. In her altered history, she makes sure Lycaon’s mother is listed as unknown, and eventually the number of people who did know becomes only her close, remaining family. And she swears them to secrecy. Eventually, the connection she and the Church have with the Hresvelg family shifts and breaks, and it eventually becomes unimportant that the Imperial family literally wouldn’t have existed without her.

Perhaps that was a dumb decision, along with some of the other dumb decisions she made back then, but I also headcanon that Nabateans age very slowly. So while she was probably around 100+ years old by then, for a seemingly immortal being who appears to be in her 30s? 40s? nearly 1100 years later, her emotional age by that point would have been maybe late teenager? Early twenties? Around the same emotional age that Edelgard was when she decided that there would be no potential flaws in her Flame Emperor stunt. That’s not to diss either of them - it’s just that they were young, and dealing with emotional shit far too heavy for any one person to deal with. So Rhea’s choices back around year 90 through to year 100 should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

All those centuries don’t make it any easier, though, when Edelgard declares war on her ancestor unknowingly, and through all the anger and betrayal Rhea feels she can see the same passion and fire in the girl that Wilhelm once had.

#fanfic #fe three houses #rhea #wilhelm i #prequel fic #i have a bunch of headcanons under the read more #if anyone wants to add or discuss feel free #i'm down for some brainstorming #Anonymous

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ask-hetaaca-southafrica · 4 years

Text

Infatuation

Perhaps it was weird to expect to see his crush just wandering around in the unbearably early morning, but, other than hunting down the tall kid to apologize, there was really nothing else Marick could do. Though he had arrived at camp a couple of days ago, the flight all the way from Cape Town to the island had left him jetlagged, and his sleep seemed far more like that of an old person, sleeping from dinner to sunrise.

Still, he liked the quiet of the early morning, the way everything seemed to sharpen as the sun rose. Even as a social butterfly, Marick still loved the feeling of basking in silence, feeling himself settle in his own body.

He had just been strolling aimlessly through the camp, marvelling at the animals and plants that seemed so different from home. However, now looking up at the circle of cabins that surrounded him and the blue fabric that hung from all of them, it seemed as though he had ended up at the second-year housing.

No matter how much he liked this mystery second-year though, Marick was still not one to follow the objects of his affection around. It was far too creepy for him to be comfortable with. Continuing his morning stroll, he promised himself that if he did see his fellow student, he would attempt to introduce himself.

Fortune always favours the bold. Yi-Hsuan had been lying a lot over the past few days at camp, telling whoever who asked about his feelings towards the event how exciting it was to be around everyone. Really, he wasn't any kind of enthused about going to an extended gathering of people he honestly didn't care about. Though having his own cabin set him at ease somewhat, it was also having his own cabin that left him tapping on his paired watch every few hours during the night.

He had gotten up just a little earlier today since he couldn't fall back asleep. It was only by about half an hour, but that was enough time to clear through his morning routine. Finishing up his morning movements, he raised his hands upwards and clasped his hands. There was a temptation to stretch out his exercise session since it was the only activity he expected he would enjoy for the entire day. Unsurprisingly, the team sports weren't his taste.

After a couple of seconds of deciding against picking right back up from the beginning, Yi-Hsuan didn't have much of an idea of what to do next. He had already had a snack, and going back into the cabin was a waste of the particularly pretty day and good weather. A walk sounded nice, but he didn't have a detailed enough layout in his mind of the forest to feel comfortable to go on his own with his needed mask of pacifism.

It only took a second at most for him to think of the only person he liked to be around at the camp and finally lower his arms to pull out his phone, still standing outside his cabin.

Strangely enough, despite the ungodly hour, there was still a person up and about. Marick squinted at the figure, a grin blooming on his face as he realized who exactly it was.

“Good morning!” He waved, trotting up to the mysterious second year. Hearing someone greet him, Yi-Hsuan put his phone back in his pocket. Who was that tall guy coming towards him? Racking his mind didn't turn up any answers, though it wasn't like he had many options stored in his mind to look through.

He yanked the corners of his lips up and brought up his hand to wave back. "Hello! Good morning!"

Surprisingly enough for Marick, he had gotten a friendly and energetic reply from the mystery boy, something he wasn’t quite expecting with how cranky people usually were in the morning.

“Sorry for bothering you, but I just saw you around the school lots and just wanted to say hi!” Despite his normally confident demeanour, Marick began to balk at the idea of actually speaking to his crush face-to-face, the strange silence of the forest not exactly helping his racing mind and blabbering mouth. “My name’s Marick by the way, I’m in year three.”

"I'm Yi-Hsuan from 2-C!" Outstretching his hand towards Marick, he was clearly reaching out for a handshake. "Most people just call me Yi."

Yi-Hsuan was not feeling all too happy to be speaking to some stranger from an entirely different year. "It's nice to meet you!" This third-year seemed to be the super talkative type on top of being unnecessarily vertically gifted. Looking him over, Yi-Hsuan spotted some piercings that didn't really help to add some excitement to having this conversation. But at the same time, it wasn't like this meeting would go anywhere and it wasn't like he'd see this dude again, so whatever frankly. Most people would just introduce themselves to him and leave it at that.

Shaking the other’s hand enthusiastically, Marick smiled, eyes briefly squinting and lips curling with joy. Perhaps it was time to shoot his shot. Just as his luck would have it, he had noticed a flyer for a carnival in town right before arriving at camp. The romantic side of Marick was tempted to ask Yi to go, but looking at the other’s sunny deposition, it seems like it would be hard to convince him to break the rules in such a major way.

Still, he did hear on TikTok that good girls like bad guys. Maybe he could try that theory out.

“How are you liking camp?” He asked, playing at faux-innocence. Yi-Hsuan didn't let his smile drop for even a second despite the massive urge to. Thinking of camp only stirred feelings of yearning for home and general annoyance for everything the camp was. "It's been good! Everyone's really fun to hang out with! My favorite part is the activities!" It was rehearsed through having this same conversation over and over again with others, but it wasn't like Marick knew every single chat Yi-Hsuan had ever had at the camp, so whatever really.

He brought his hands up to his chest, clasping them together. Combining it with a cheery tone, he asked whatever question came to mind first since they were only having small talk. "What about you?"

Oh. Well, if Yi liked camp that much, it would be harder for Marick to convince him to leave. Still, Marick couldn’t help but agree. The camp was pleasant enough with its friends and noises and laughter.

But it was not an ideal place for a date.

“I guess it’s cool, yeah,” Marick shrugged, eyes fixed on his crush’s smile, trying his best to not be obvious about his staring. Someone as cute as Yi was probably not unused to having admirers and Marick did not want to embarrass himself at their first meeting.

“Honestly, could they have chosen a worse time though? There’s a carnival in town now, and we have to miss it because we’re in the middle of the woods,” Crossing his arms, Marick quirked an eyebrow at Yi, a conspiratorial glint shining in his eyes. “Still, I bet we could sneak out and go together, if you wanted to?” That sounded pretty good. Within a short moment, a plan was already thought of: Yi-Hsuan would agree to Marick's offer and just get "lost" at some point; it didn't matter at when as long as he could go home. Yeah, he didn't know how to get through the forest on his own, but that was only a small setback. This was an easy way to leave, and this guy looked confident enough in his offer. Perhaps this third-year knew the way out. Why would he seem so self-assured otherwise?

Yi-Hsuan pressed his knuckles against his chin, glancing back and forth between the cabin and Marick in a hesitant manner, mouth in a stiff line. "I don't know," Dragging out the last syllable solemnly, his gaze landed on Marick. "the carnival sounds super cool, but what if we get caught? I really want to go though, honestly."

Wow! Surprisingly enough, Yi actually sounded interested in his offer. Marick grinned, his delinquent facade crumbling in his excitement. “It’s gonna be fine!” He chirped, clapping his hands together and tilting his head. “My quirk is luck, y’know? So we’re not gonna get caught, promise!”

Thoughts of a romantic carnival date flitted through Marick’s mind. He had been pining over this boy for months now, and now that camp has provided them with a perfect Hallmark-esque opportunity, he was going to make sure it was the best date Yi could ever ask for. He could even imagine the teasing faces of his family at home, making fun of him for only now asking out a boy he had been talking to them about for forever.

Still, late is better than never. That’s the way Marick looked at the world at least. He could take a few jokes on his dignity if it meant he could get to know Yi better. The change in demeanor was something strange, and candidly, Yi-Hsuan didn't fully understand what a luck quirk was, but he didn't dwell on either of those facts. There were more important things to think about. Plus, no reason to doubt Marick came up. Yeah, perhaps, maybe, definitely, Yi-Hsuan saw Marick's delinquent appearance as sort of an argument against leaving with him specifically, but it wasn't like he was going to stick around to see much more of it anyways.

"You promise?" Only a little more of this and a vacation from both this and the camp would be guaranteed--at least Yi-Hsuan was hoping so. Letting a little bit of genuine anticipation seep through, a smile appeared on his face again. "Well, if you say it's going to be fine, it'll be okay, right?" Truthfully, he wanted to fight a little more against leaving, but there was no case for it when Marick seemed so eager for whatever reason.

Marick hadn’t exactly thought that escaping the camp would be easy. Not with its facilities full of qualified faculty, each trained to take down villains far more powerful than the kids they were assigned to watch. Still, he thought his luck was supposed to kick in at some point. So when he heard the unmistakable sound of Mr.Bhatt rounding the third years up for breakfast, Marick tensed. He and Yi were not deep into the woods yet, and he had a feeling that getting caught trying to escape camp would not be a good first date. They had been following a hiking trail that led to a clearing near the edge of the forest, and it was clear that Bhatt was now on the same trail. As the sound of the teacher drew nearer, Marick froze, trying to figure out a way to escape with Yi without making too much noise and alerting the teacher. Yi’s expression twisted to one of determination as he wordlessly reached up and pulled at the air, jerking the thick branch of a lush tree down with nothing but the power of his quirk. Marick yelped as leaves brushed against his head but Bhatt passed them, nonplussed. Moments later, a phone began to ring. The science teacher picked up, a smile evident in his voice as he sauntered away, chattering to whoever had called him. Turning his gaze to Yi, Marick grinned, awe sparkling in his eyes. That was a cool quirk.

Yi-Hsuan was not having a great time. An estimate of how long this journey through the forest was updated itself every few minutes, and it had started to reach a number he was not pleased with. Though, he couldn't be sure whether it just felt long or if it actually was--out of courtesy, he hadn't brought his phone out of his pocket. There seemingly wasn't going to be a chance either to bring it out; Marick's chatter had been nonstop beyond the occasional question so there wasn't a silent break long enough to check the time. Instinct told Yi-Hsuan they were getting somewhere. They hadn't crossed any landmarks or trees he noted in his brain more than once, which was a win. All that meant in the end however was that they were wandering, which quelled Yi-Hsuan's positive outlook with the equalizing force of a loss. As much as he wanted to ask about the exact time until they'd be out, it was plain with just a thought to the path they had already taken that the third-year probably wouldn't know either. But Marick took his steps with such self-assurance, it felt like there was something to the obvious meandering. When the shadows from the overcast of the trees on Marick's face disappeared, Yi-Hsuan was surprised to find them on the edges of the forest. That was pretty lucky.

There wasn't anything else to do for a while other than mess around on his phone. Yi-Hsuan had been hiding out in the bathroom for a few minutes; if he stayed in long enough, maybe Marick would leave or go off and do something.

Almost immediately after arriving at the carnival, Yi had asked for the direction of the bathroom. Of course, Marick, being the gentleman he was, simply just bought a few snacks for them to share and waited. And waited. And waited.

It was a good day, really. The carnival was so much more than Yi-Hsuan expected in every sense of the phrase; it was larger with more space to walk than he expected, the lights and rides were extremely flashy, and there were so many items both food and toys that there was no one he could ever assume could buy them all. Every ride was better than the last, especially at night when they glowed. Though his original plan didn't work out, and he ended up spending the day with some guy he just met, for some reason, there was no sense of regret.

Marick returned to camp with a spring in his step, a big teddy bear cradled to his chest, and the cutest guy in school meandering beside him. His giddy grin refused to leave his face the rest of the night, every glimpse of Yi bringing back memories of a fun-filled day. As he went to sleep in a cold, almost-empty cabin, he could only imagine the other dates that they would go on in the future. Call him an optimist, but some gut feeling told him that everything was going to work out.

(Thank you @ask-hetaaca-chiwanan for Yi’s writing and art!!)

#aph south africa #aph taiwan #hws south africa #hws taiwan #hetalia #marick #yi #my art #other's art #summer camp event

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ollieologys · 5 years

Text

summertime (with you) | p. parker | prologue.

SUMMARY; In Queens, things have finally calmed down for Peter Parker - he’s more than content with the way life is going. In Brooklyn, Y/N struggles with her own identity. Out of nowhere, Spider-Man dies, and Y/N begins to stick to things. (into the spider-verse/multi-verse au)

PAIRING; peter parker x spider-woman!reader

WORDS; 2k

WARNING; mentions of death

BEING Spider-Man was never easy.

Those who knew the story knew the story. Those who didn’t have no idea. No matter what anyone knew, everyone was sure that Spider-Man protected New York no matter the cost. Peter Parker knew that, too.

Of course, he still was simply the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and kept a mask on. He still went to school every weekday and even had a curfew (to which he broke constantly). Peter had some crushes here and there, never acted on them though - too nervous and he knew he wanted to focus on his duty. He tried his best to be engaged with his life, though. Ned was still frequently found on his bed with scattered legos waiting to be pieced together.

Things were going relatively well for Peter. It was safe to say that he was happy. He even had personal contact with Mr. Stark now.

At the end of the day just before the weekend, Peter stuffed his unneeded books into his locker and slammed it shut.

“Are you going to see Tony Stark today?” Peter jumped and turned.

“Dude,” Peter started, glaring at Ned. “Don’t scare me like that.” Peter glanced around, but no one had seemed to overhear what Ned said. Not that it really mattered, he still had the whole “Stark Internship” scheme going.

Ned laughed nonetheless. “Sorry. I thought your, um, senses would have let you know I was here!” Peter shook his head, adjusted his backpack strap, and walked out of Midtown High with Ned beside him.

“Anyways, are you going to?” He asked again.

“I think so. Happy said he would meet me at my place after school.”

“Peter, that’s literally so cool. You have a chauffeur. Just remember me when you finally become famous.” Ned gushed. Peter smiled softly at his friend. He had no plans of telling the world his true identity anytime soon, and he certainly did not see Happy as anything close to a chauffeur. Even so, Peter felt pride flow through his chest. It was really cool that he was Spider-Man. Super cool, if you asked him.

Ned stopped walking when they reached the downward stairs into the subway. “I’ll catch you later. Betty and I are gonna go grab lunch in Manhattan.” Peter tilted his head to the side.

“I thought you guys broke up?” He questioned.

“Yeah, but she and I are still friends. Anyways, you’re gonna be late.” Ned stepped forward, and he and Peter exchanged their personalized handshake. As Ned disappeared down the stairs, Peter waved and put his earbuds in his ears. He walked with a skip in his step, a small yet genuine smile forming on his lips. Not only was he excited to see Mr. Stark, but he had a good day. He aced his Pre-Calc test, and they served his favorite school lunch. Even standing on the crowded bus, he felt happy.

His keys jangled as he struggled to find the right one. He noticed Happy’s car out front, but he needed to freshen up before he left. As he opened the door, he saw his Aunt May chatting with Happy.

“Oh, hey Peter,” May said. “Hungry?” She asked. Peter shook his head no.

“Hey, kid,” Happy greeted him with a wave. Peter nodded and looked between the two adults, suspicious as to their “summer-fling” as it wasn’t even Summer just yet. “Hey, Happy. I’ll be ready to go in just a sec.”

Peter headed into his room and fell backward onto his bed, thinking as to what he needed before he left to go to the compound for the weekend. As soon as he got his thoughts together, he packed his toothbrush, toothpaste, clothes, laptop (that he was gifted for his birthday by Mr. Stark), and of course, his suit. Not long after, he said farewell to May and hopped in the backseat of Happy’s car.

They didn’t make much conversation, though it wasn’t awkward. Peter looked out the window and listened to his music. Happy did the same, though his music was fainter.

When they arrived at the compound, Peter smiled to himself. He never failed to be impressed whenever he was in the presence of anything related to the real Avengers. Seeing them all in one place made him feel a different sense of familiarity and family that Peter cherished deeply.

Happy parked the car, and they walked inside together. Mr. Stark was kind enough the greet them at the door.

“Kid! Good to see you, how you been, huh?” His arm draped over Peter’s shoulder, and he couldn’t help but stutter while his eyes shied away. “I’ve been good, Mr. Stark,” Peter answered. Happy trailed behind, eventually breaking off to place Peter’s bags in the room designated for him.

“Good,” Tony responded. He looked to be enjoying his time, too. He was wearing his signature suit, but also had his high-tech, multi-billion-dollar sunglasses on. Peter wondered what compelled him to continuously create. “We got work to do,” Tony said, leading Peter into the elevator after waving at Betty, the receptionist.

“You’ll be staying next to Vision, alright. You won’t mind. He’s really working hard on not going through walls that are bedrooms. You can do some training - if you’d like, but we’re for sure gonna work on that little Spider-Man suit of yours.” Peter simply nodded as Tony waved his hands around as he spoke. When the doors opened, Peter was created to what seemed like the living space of the compound. Though he’s met them all before, this was really the first time he was staying with them all as though they were one big, happy family.

Tony grabbed the attention of all the Avengers. They all greeted Peter kindly. He knew they viewed him just as the kid he was, and appreciated the protection he gave the city of New York. Despite being relatively comfortable, Peter fumbled over his words as he greeted everyone. Steve just laughed and went back to reading his newspaper, and the rest didn’t pay much mind to his nervous attitude.

“Well!” Tony started as he looked at Peter, “I’ll catch you in my lab in say, ten minutes? Let you unpack and everything?” Peter nodded quietly and smiled as Tony gave him one last pat on the shoulder before walking off and saying something to Friday.

For the day, Peter spent the majority of his time with Mr. Stark. They listened to music they both enjoyed and tested out new prototypes for his new suit. Peter loved every second. He never thought he’d feel this connection once his Uncle Ben died, but Peter was grateful that he was wrong. At the end of the day, the Avengers joined together to have a meal and discuss amongst each other. By then, Peter had warmed up once more and laughed as Mr. Stark made jokes, and the rest of the team responded. Yes, he was most certainly happy.

After dinner, Mr. Stark wanted Peter to try out the changes in his suit.

“You go ahead and get changed and then go hang out in the living room. I’m gonna go grab some stuff from my lab.” Tony closed the door to Peter’s room, his footsteps fading. Peter looked around the room. It was somewhat bland, but Mr. Stark said that Peter could decorate however he wanted. He wasn’t planning on asking Mr. Stark to buy anything for him, of course. But he did plan on bringing in some of his Star Wars posters and other things of his. Peter shook his head and attempted to regain his focus. He stripped down to just his boxers and slipped on his suit. Though baggy at first, he pressed the center spider, and the suit lost all bagginess - hugging his form so that it became a spandex-like material.

When Peter entered the living room, he was alone. His phone buzzed, and he looked at the message. Ned texted him. “Send me cool pictures of the Avengers base!” it read. Peter laughed, sent him an eye-rolling emoji jokingly, and put his phone away. He looked back up at the tall, wide windows. It was dark outside. He looked at the clock and saw that it was just past nine. He took in the view of the sky. Clear and scattered with stars, he inhaled the sight. After all, it wasn’t every day he saw constellations and stars brighter than city lights. The city was much too polluted for that.

“Pretty, right?” Peter jumped and turned. He felt a sense of deja vu from earlier. Nonetheless, he nodded and walked towards Mr. Stark. “Yeah. Sucks we can’t see it in the city.” Tony shrugged. “It’s the little things that you don’t always have that make you love it so much more.” Peter smiled and agreed. “Yeah, you’re right, Mr. Stark.”

Tony smiled back. It was quiet for a moment. Peter opened his mouth to speak until suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. His eyes widened. Tony seemed oblivious, though. “What is it, kid?” He asked. Peter didn’t answer, but his senses were tingling. No, they were spazzing.

Tony, realized the dexterity of Peter’s anxiety, stepped forward. Suddenly, the floor began to rumble. Peter crouched slightly, bending his knees, preparing to fight. There was no enemy, though. His senses told him to look up, and Tony followed suit. In the middle of the ceiling was what seemed to be a forming black hole. Literally a black hole. Shades of blue and purple poked out from the sides, and it appeared as though it were glitching - but the crater continued to expand.

“What is that?” Peter questioned, his voice reaching an octave higher in panic. Objects in the room began to levitate. “Peter!” Tony yelled. The couch, TV, TV stand, coffee table, and lamps were suddenly in the air - and so was Peter. He searched around in a panic, looking for anything to latch to. Tony reached out his hand, but Peter was scrambling, and no matter how hard Tony pulled, he wouldn’t come down. Tony himself was shaken to his core in fear. He had no idea what the hole was or where it came from, but he couldn’t lose Peter.

The vacuum of space pulled Peter faster. He shot his web-shooters in at the floor, trying to pull himself back to the ground. “Mr. Stark! I- I can’t pull myself - I can’t--!” He was cut off as he suddenly was sucked into the vacuum, his web snapping and his body vanishing.

The objects fell onto the floor, and Tony blinked with his mouth open in shock.

Meanwhile, Peter screamed as he felt his body misshaping itself. He opened his eyes for a split second and saw colors all around his glitching as though they were static. He had nothing to grab onto. It felt as though he were falling forward if that were even possible. Then, he felt his body, including his face, hit something hard - it felt like cement. He stopped screaming, his throat sore. He bounced between hitting the pavement and being in the air, but he couldn’t pull himself together quick enough to see where he could shoot his webs. Then, he slammed into a pole and stopped moving.

Peter groaned, slumped over for just a moment before trying to stand up properly. He rubbed his eyes. Looking down at himself, he was still in his Spider-Man suit. The new one, he and Mr. Stark, had been working on. Peter glanced around. Quickly, he realized he was in Manhattan. Times Square it seemed like. Only something felt different. He felt like he was in the wrong place. He was, to his knowledge. He was supposed to be in upstate New York at the Avengers Compound with Mr. Stark. Then, his eyes landed on the large monitor placed on the tall skyscraper. After seeing the screen, Peter was beyond confused.

On the monitor with a photo of what appeared to be Spider-Man, although it wasn’t Spider-Man. It was, but it couldn’t have been because he was Spider-Man. Next to the photo was a man similar-looking to Peter - yet he was blonde-haired and blue-eyed with a freshly growing back beard. Then, as he read the caption, Peter’s heart dropped.

“Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, dies at 26.”

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exordiumed · 5 years

Text

prescience

↳ superpower au | college au | friends to lovers au

pairing: oh sehun & you (featuring kim jongin, do kyungsoo, park chanyeol)

genre: fluff + barely there angst

word count: 4.016 words

summary: he could see the future, but he never saw you coming

You would think that having precognition powers would be quite beneficial, being able to stay out of danger and such.

But for Sehun, he rarely uses his powers, if ever. He likes not knowing what’s going to happen, or so he says. He likes being on his toes, the unknown, a real challenge.

And then there was you. The biggest unknown in his life.

Sehun remembers the day he discovered his powers. The day of his 16th birthday. He was walking home from school, when he had a total Raven Baxter moment where he had a vision of his friends and family setting up birthday party decorations in his home and then hiding. Confused, he shook off the vision and chalked it up to his subconscious’s wishful thinking.

Or so he thought, until he opened his front door and was greeted by utter silence. Shrugging off his backpack and toe-ing off his shoes, he decided to try something.

“Guys, I know you’re all here the surprise party didn’t work.”

His statement was met with groans and “aww’s” and a “who told you?!”. Sehun shrugged and told them he just had a feeling. A feeling that would happen to him a lot more frequently than he would’ve liked.

The second time his powers was made known to him, was a week before his grandmother passed away. This time, the vision showed him his grandmother flatlining, and her funeral. Disturbed by this, he decided to visit his grandmother everyday of the week, until she passed. But Sehun still didn’t believe he could see the future, maybe it was just pure luck, he thought.

The third time it happened, well, let’s say Sehun was less convinced of it being luck and more of him actually having a superpower. This time, he was out with his friends, walking around town after having dinner together. Once again, he saw into the future. This time, he saw someone run up to a random lady, rob them, and then run away.

“Someone’s going to rob that lady,” he said.

His friends halted their steps and turned to look at him like he grew a second head.

“Uhh.. What are you talking about?”

Sehun titled his head in the woman’s direction and watched.

Sure enough, some random mugger came running up behind her, snatched her handbag and ran off. But not too far off because Sehun was ready for him and surprised him by tackling him and ripping the lady’s handbag off of his grubby hands.

After calling the police, and returning the stolen bag, his friends asked him a question he was still trying to figure out the answer to.

“How’d you know that was gonna happen?”

And then one day, he got his answer.

His mind filled to the brim with questions of his visions, his knowledge of things happening before they happened, he decided to ask his father. He just had a feeling his father would hold the answers he needed.

And hold the answers he did.

A knowing smile appeared on his father’s face the moment Sehun came to him about his questions of having visions and seeing the future. The two sat down in the living room and suddenly Sehun was introduced to a world he thought only existed in comic books and movies. It turns out, his father had powers too, telekinesis. And so did his grandparents, and his great-grandparents and so on. Apparently, he was from a long line of superpowered humans, also known as metahumans. They’re not really common knowledge to the general public, in fear of their reaction and potential conflict between the two communities.

His dad figured Sehun didn’t have any powers since, he married a non-superpowered human and also, powers don’t take too long to manifest in metahumans so for the most part, he assumed Sehun didn’t have any powers. Nonetheless, he was proud his son had any, he was happy the legacy of the Oh family being metahumans would continue on.

“You know what this means now don’t you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re gonna be transferred to a school for metahumans now.”

Surprisingly, Sehun wasn’t all that upset. Sure, he would miss his normal school and his normal classes and his normal friends, but he was excited at starting a new life. A superpowered one.

Settling into The Academy (very creative name, he thought) was a lot more easier than he thought he would be. After a quick tour of the main building and also the dorm he would be staying in, he decided that he liked this place.

He liked his roommate too, a shy boy with a laugh that could probably cure cancer, Kim Jongin. The first day they met, Jongin introduced himself with the basics: name, age and also superpower, which would soon become the norm for Sehun.

“So, you can see the future? That’s so cool!”

“I think absorbing and copying anyone’s and everyone’s power is a lot cooler than mine, but thanks.”

Within a week, Sehun was introduced to Jongin’s friend group consisting of Kyungsoo, an intimidating but very nice metahuman who could sense and control magnetism, and Chanyeol, a big friendly giant pyrokinetic. Sehun liked them too.

This place wasn’t so bad after all. Albeit, a bit mundane. For a school of metahumans you would’ve expected a lot more action in this place, but it just felt like his old school, but now he was older and just had more resources to train his power. It was then, when Sehun decided he liked seeing into the future, but, he liked the unknown a lot more. He told his roommate this, and was met with a look that said, “what the fuck?” but he explained that, knowing everything that will happen gets boring after a while. He wants to be surprised, kept on his toes, a lot of people fear the unknown but Sehun embraced it.

His first surprise was you.

Jongin had dragged him to some random party happening in some random dorm and Sehun didn’t have the heart to tell him he wasn’t in the mood for a party. The pair quickly found Kyungsoo and Chanyeol tucked away in a corner casually sitting down on some sofa and drinking.

“You’re here!”

“I mean, of course we are you invited us, and by invited, I mean threatened.” Was Kyungsoo’s stupidly funny but accurate reply to Jongin’s exclamation.

Jongin, who seemingly ignored Kyungsoo’s reply, immediately set off toward the makeshift dancefloor in the living room. Sehun didn’t really take Jongin for the party type either but he supposed Jongin just wanted an excuse to dance. Sehun liked dancing too, and that was probably how the two of them became good friends so quickly, but he wasn’t about to join Jongin, not when he was still trying to get used to the noisy environment he found himself in. Deciding he needed fresh air, he quietly slipped out the window and onto the fire escape outside and took a few moments to collect himself.

“Hey.”

A soft voice shocked him out of his thoughts and he realised he wasn’t alone on the tiny fire escape.

“Hey,” he replied while he calmed his heart. He wondered what you were doing out here, the same as him perhaps?

“Couldn’t wait to get out of there huh?”

“I guess you could say that. I’m Sehun.”

“(Y/N).” You stick your hand out for a handshake and he takes it. You like the way his hand fits into yours, but you don’t dwell on the thought. The two of you sit on the fire escape. Admiring the night sky, relishing in the slight breeze. It didn’t take long before you broke the (comfortable) silence between the both of you.

“I guess I have to ask.. What’s your power?”

“Precognition.”

“Cool,” you started. “So, can you only tell your future?”

He shrugged. “I guess so, but I suppose I could train myself into seeing other people’s futures. That’d be cool wouldn’t it? What’s yours then?”

“Probability manipulation,” you said. You saw how his eyes widened and you had to stop yourself from giggling, though you couldn’t stop the small smile that played on your lips and Sehun thought he quite liked seeing you smile and a small part of him would like to see more of it.

“Wow,” he breathed. “So, you can just make yourself lucky? And other people unlucky? And you can make unlikely events happen? Is that how your powers work?” Sehun couldn’t help the amount of questions that spilled out of his mouth but if he was being honest, your power fascinated him. He would’ve loved a power like that, it seemed fun. Not saying that he didn’t enjoy his own one, but probability manipulation seemed very intriguing to him.

“I guess you could say that,” you echoed his words from earlier, and Sehun grinned.

Sehun briefly checked the time on his phone before deciding to return back to his friends, and more importantly making sure his roommate was safe. He turned to you and smiled.

“I enjoyed talking to you.”

It was your turn to smile this time. “Me too.”

“See you around.”

And with that, he left. A part of you thought you should’ve done something to make him stay longer, to get to know him better. Or maybe he looked into the future and he didn’t like talking to you and decided he should get rid of himself from the situation. You shook your head. Whatever it was, you hoped you would see him again. Though, you could use your power to make it happen, a small childish part of you wanted to leave it up to fate.

It was about a week before you saw him again. It has been a long seven days with him occupying your thoughts at all times. You chided yourself, it was stupid really, you’ve talked to the guy for like a good half hour and here you were unable to rid your mind of him. You’re just glad your roommate isn’t a telepath otherwise you’d never hear the end of it. Sighing for the nth time that day, you decided to take a walk around the school.

Heading out towards the front lawn of the school where everyone likes to hang out at on sunny days like these, you quietly hoped you would see Sehun again. Again, you were entirely aware of the fact that you could make your powers make it happen for you, but you wanted it to happen genuinely.

And perhaps the universe had heard your prayers, because while your head was in the clouds, your body had collided into someone’s back.

“Watch where you’re-“

That voice.

“(Y/N)?” You really liked the way your name sounded with his voice.

“Sehun?” The aforementioned man’s mouth broke out into a grin when he fully processed that it was you who bumped into him.

“Fancy seeing you again,” you said.

“You sure you didn’t use your powers just so you could see me again?” He teased. You laughed and smacked his shoulder, though you were thinking of it earlier on. The two of you walked towards a tree and sat underneath it, a welcome shade from the sun and wonderful place to relax and finally get to know the man you’ve been dying to see for the past week. And the rest was history.

From that day on, the two of you became inseparable. Jongin even joked about you replacing him as his best friend but you laughed and said there was always space for him in Sehun’s heart even though you wanted to be the only one in his heart. Though, you weren’t sure if it was going to happen any time soon. This Fate thing really needed to hurry up and make it happen, because you really really liked him, and you hoped that he did too.

And he did, but he was confused. He sees the way Jongin looks at you, and the way you look at him and it upsets him. He knows the two of you had been spending a lot of time together. It left him feeling… jealous? Which led to him feeling confused. You’re not together and he sure as hell has no reason for feeling this way. He’s confused with all the things left unsaid between the both of you and the hidden meanings behind every word, every gesture the two of you make. Sometimes he fools himself into thinking, you see him the way he sees you, but he eliminates every single thought of that. There’s no way. You deserved far better than just Sehun. You deserved Jongin, and he deserved you. His two favourite people together.

And so, days, weeks, months, passed with neither of you doing anything about your feelings. But, the two of you did become even better friends, almost like you were two peas in a pod. Wherever you went, Sehun was there and wherever Sehun went, you were there. That’s just how the world works now. Though, you weren’t sure how long you could keep your feelings at bay. You were tired of being unsure of how he felt for you. You could very well end your suffering whenever you liked by just asking him, but for some reason, you can’t. You’re not blind. You see the way he looks at your roommate whenever she hangs out with you and the rest of the guys. And your roommate is pretty cute. Sometimes, he confuses you. Just like every single boy you’ve encountered in your life.

Sehun’s second surprise was Jongin.

“What?”

“I said, I know you like (Y/N). Honestly, you’ve been living with me for how long now and you still think I can’t see right through you. I’m offended at the lack of faith you have in me Sehun.”

“You’re not mad?”

Jongin gave him a look. “What am I supposed to be mad for?”

“I thought you liked her too,” Sehun said, though he felt stupid the moment the words came out from his mouth. They’re not in high school anymore, why was he acting like this?

“You have got to be the biggest idiot I’ve ever met. No, I don’t. I’m far more interested in her cute roommate though.”

That probably explained why Jongin and you had been spending a lot of time. He probably just used her as a buffer for Jongin and your roommate to hang out. And that also explained why your roommate always asked him about Jongin every time she bumped into him. To say Sehun felt like an idiot was an understatement. And he didn’t feel any better when he saw the smirk Jongin was giving him, though he supposed he did deserve it.

“You’re welcome, by the way,” Jongin confidently says as he walks out the door.

Sehun gave his front door a long, hard stare before deciding that he wanted to see you. Grabbing his phone, he left and immediately his feet took him in the direction of your building. He passed by Jongin and your roommate on the corridor leading to your room and Jongin sent him a wink.

“She’s waiting for you,” he says.

Sehun doubted that, but walked towards your door anyway. And he stood there. He was standing outside your room, thinking of his plan of action. If he wanted you, this had to be absolutely perfect. He decided, to look into the future.

His vision showed him, walking into your room, you laying on your bed and your face showing absolute delight in seeing Sehun. His vision showed him confessing to you, and Sehun thought he was ready for what happened next, he wasn’t. He saw your grin slowly fade off from your face and he heard you say: “Sehun, I’m sorry.”

And he decided he had seen enough. And so he left. It was a shame though, if he had decided to delve deeper into the future he would’ve seen the whole story. He would’ve seen the two of you talking your doubts out like normal adults, he would’ve seen the two of you eventually realising you liked each other, and he would’ve seen you finally being in his arms.

But he didn’t.

Jongin came home to a very dejected Sehun. He could tell what had happened earlier in the day.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Sehun decided that the best course of action was to avoid you. Brilliant, obviously, so he could have the time and space he needed to get over his feelings for you. It was so brilliant, he didn’t realise he was hurting you too.

You were left even more confused than before. You thought you meant something to him, being his best friend and all. But here he was, avoiding you. It hurt. And the worst part was, you had no idea what you had done. You were hurt, but most importantly, you were tired and by God, you were going to tell this boy you liked him whether he wanted to hear it or not.

Maybe, you should’ve come up with a plan before barging over to his dorm, because now here you were standing outside his door like an idiot.

Steeling yourself, you knew that this was something you had to do, you’ve had enough of this stupid boy and his stupid actions and you were gonna tell him you had feelings for him dammit.

Before you could regret your decision, you knocked thrice on his door and you immediately regretted your decision anyway. Before you could turn and walk away from this situation, the door swung open and there he was. You wanted to be mad at him, but how could you? You liked him far too much for you to be mad at him, even if he was being as ass and pushing you away the past few days.

“We need to talk,” you started. Okay, maybe you should’ve come up with a better starter because that’s the number one sentence that induces panic in people.

“Sure,” he said after much hesitation and moved so you could enter his room.

,“I’m sorry,” was the first thing you said when you entered, awkwardly standing in his doorway with his back facing you as he walked further in, but upon hearing your words, he whirled around.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, for whatever I did to make you avoid me for like an entire week! So, whatever it is, I’m sorry,” you said. You could feel him staring at you. His eyes piercing, like he could stare through your soul or something. You swallowed hard.

“I think I’m the one who should be sorry,” he said. “It was.. a dick move to avoid you like that, especially when you haven’t done anything to me, and especially because I did it to get over you.”

“Get over me?”

Shock was written on his face, clearly he hadn’t meant to say that, but the words had already come out of his mouth, he needed to deal with it.

“I had, or I guess I still have feelings for you and I know you didn’t feel the same way so I guess I decided to stay away from you..?” His explanation came out more as a question than as an actual statement, but he supposed he was just nervous of your reaction.

Incredulous, you asked, “and how do you know I don’t feel the same way?”

Sehun swallowed. He knew he was gonna sound like a total clown explaining why, but he’s already gotten himself knee-deep into this mess, he’s going to have to see himself through it.

“I saw the future.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. He’s an idiot. But he’s your idiot. And one good thing to come out from this messy discussion was that he had feelings for you, and that was enough to lift your spirits from the Sehun-less week you had prior to this.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” Sehun smiled sheepishly. “Why don’t you come confess and see what my real answer would’ve been?”

“What?”

“You heard me. Confess, and I’ll tell you what my answer is.”

Sehun was nervous, to say the least. He wasn’t sure why; it wasn’t like he hasn’t confessed before. There was just something about you that made him nervous. He didn’t want to lose you, he wanted you with him, for a very, very long time. It kind of scared him, how much he needed you, depended on you. He never thought he would end up being that kind of guy, becoming so attached to someone, like how someone needed air, he needed you. He didn’t know how long he had felt like this, but after a week without you, it felt like a part of him had been ripped away, and as dramatic as that may be, he realised one thing: it was a mistake to push you away.

Swallowing, he began, “(Y/N), I like you. A lot. Like really a lot. Like so much, that I can’t even begin to explain it. It scares me, how much I like you, but I really do, and it was wrong of me to assume you didn’t feel the same because of some vision I had of the future. I-I hope you feel the same way, but it’s okay if you don’t, we can just be friends, that’s okay with me too. I just need you in my life someway somehow.”

He’d never admit it, getting that out of his system felt good.

“I like you too.”

Sehun thinks he’s hearing things, and you repeat yourself because he was looking at you with his brows furrowed, like you were saying it just to trick him, even though that was far from the truth. You liked him, truly, and you finally told him. You repeated yourself over, and over again until his frown melted into a smile that made his eyes turn into crescent moons and you could practically see the happiness radiate off him.

You nearly had the wind knocked out of you as he sudden rushed towards you and lifted you into his arms and spun you around. He slowly lowered you back down and peppered your face in kisses. If you’d known he would be this affectionate, you would’ve told him a lot sooner. You giggled at this.

He cupped your face in his hands and looked into your eyes, and you couldn’t help but think that this whole situation felt a bit too romantic drama-y for you, but it’s Sehun so you didn’t care.

“You like me.”

“Mhm.”

“And I like you.”

“Yep.”

He smiled again before moving closer to give you a sweet kiss, one of many, you hoped.

The moment was interrupted when the door swung open to reveal a rather smug looking Jongin with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo behind him.

“I told you so,” said Jongin. “C’mon lovebirds, let’s grab some food, I’ve been waiting for the two of you to make up so we can all hang out together so let’s go!”

The three of them left, and you made a move to leave, but not before Sehun took your hand in his and placed a kiss on your forehead.

The two of you were disgustingly sweet, but the two of you were also bickering and play-fighting and trying to out-sass the other person. It felt like you two were best friends who kissed and slept together occasionally. Maybe that’s just how it was meant to be.

Like the sun rising in the East and setting in the West, the way the Earth revolves around the sun, the way Jongin never fails to absorb Sehun’s precognition powers just to get a glimpse of his own future; you and him were just meant to be, simply put.

In all of the worlds, now and forever, in all of the lives that you are, in every version of your lifetime, you love him, you will love him, and he loves you, and he will love you. And one will never be without the other.

#part 2 of me being scared to upload this #fun fact: half of this was written while listening to telegraph ave #exo #exo imagines #exo scenarios #exo x reader #sehun #exo sehun #sehun imagines #sehun scenarios #sehun x reader #oh sehun #4k words of nonsense....

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cuefunkymusic · 5 years

Text

Never be mine || chapter 1

Keicho Nijimura/Okuyasu Nijimura x reader // childhood friends self insert

chapter 1 (you’re here, dude) | chapter 2 (s o o n)

Word count- 1618 Oh boy, I haven’t written a) fanfiction or b) angst in m o n t hs so I'm probably super rusty at this stuff, so sorry if it ends up being bad later :’) Feedback is VERY appreciated!! Thanks for reading in advance.

|-under the cut-|

Looking through the car window, you couldn’t help but take in all of the sights. Some of them you remembered as a child, though some of them were completely new to you. Morioh had certainly changed in the past 8 years.

It was only recently that your mom had decided to make the move into Morioh. After hearing about your grandfather’s recent death, you were both distraught, and things seemed to go even more downhill.

Last week, your mom had found out that In his will he had written that his house would be inherited by her. The apartment you and your mother used to live in was run down. The outer city was a complete wasteland- trash was everywhere, the terrain was desolate, and it seemed like the place had been devoid of all hope. Your mother didn’t even bat an eye before deciding to make the move.

In comparison, Morioh was such a change from the city, and a willing one, too. Tranquility and life seemed to exude from the town, and the whole place filled you with hope. Years before your parents had divorced, you had all lived in Morioh together. After things had fallen apart, you moved to the outer city with your mother. The last thing you were expecting was to be back here, 8 years later.

After a few moments of taking in the scenery, the car turned left into a driveway. Looking out the window, your eyes were met with a small house, with a pathway leading up to the main door with a cute little fenced gateway. It was tiny but homey. Although in comparison, anything would be better than your old apartment.

Your mom parked the car, and you stepped out, looking around. It was a bright, sunny day, and you could hear birds singing joyfully while a soft breeze blew. For summer, it wasn’t as hot as you expected it to be- the temperature seemed to be just right, and not uncomfortably hot.

“Hey, y/n, can you help me with the boxes in the trunk?” Turning around, you took a box from your mother as she grabbed another. The two of you walked up the steps of the house, and your mom went in front of you, taking out a key from her pocket.

You watched as she inserted it into the lock, and the door opened. You weren’t expecting anything in particular, but as you walked into the house you were taken aback.

Everything about the house seemed so cozy and homey. You immediately felt at ease as you walked around in the main room, and even though it was empty, the house seemed to welcome you.

As you set down a box, you sighed as you took in the sight of the interior. A staircase lead up to the second floor, only to three rooms. The other rooms seemed relatively small but livable. Walking around the house, you counted four, five other rooms on the main floor.

Going back to the room your mother was in, you smiled. “This is such a nice place,” you mused, wondering what room you would end up claiming as your own.

“It surely is an improvement from that old apartment,” your mom said, walking over to the room on her right. “I’m actually not sure if we’ll have enough furniture to fill the whole house.”

“Didn’t grandpa also issue money to be distributed to us, to help with both the move and the furniture?” you asked, looking over to your mother, who was currently walking around the house.

“Yes, there was. Although, I don’t think that there was too much of it left over after the move. At least to buy furniture.” You frowned. Perhaps there would be a working opportunity for you to gather money for more furniture?

Looking out the window, you could see that the other people in the neighborhood were outside. Of course, they must have been notified that someone new was moving in. You grimaced as you remembered that at one point or another, you’d have to meet all of them.

When you and your mother lived in the outer city, you hadn’t had the best experiences with your neighbors. Of course, this wasn’t an apartment, so it was different, but it didn’t change the fact that no matter where you lived, it seemed like your neighbors were always against you in some way.

The people that had lived above you always threw parties, and whenever you tried to complain to them they would curse you out drunkenly, telling you to go back to your apartment. When you had reported it to your landlord, they were just as useless, saying there wasn’t really any use in stopping them.

Later, you had found out that those people had bribed said landlord to let them keep throwing parties. The people next to you weren’t any better. They would always leave their stuff outside your door in the hallway, and again, the landlord didn’t seem to do a single thing about it.

Everyone that was there already seemed well adjusted, while you and your mother were just the newbies in the complex. Even though several years had passed, it seemed like your neighbors had never really accepted you.

You hoped that the new neighbors would be better, although deep down, you had a feeling they would be just as worse.

Almost as if it was on cue, you heard a knock at the door. This early? It had only been 30 minutes since you and your mother had just gotten here. Couldn’t the neighbors wait? Before you could protest, your mother walked by you and opened the door.

Looking over to see who it was, you saw a woman, probably in her late thirties, with a boy who seemed around your age. They both had strikingly dark purple hair, and the boy had his hair in a neat pompadour.

“Hey there, it’s nice to meet you!” your mother smiled as she shook the hand of the woman, and then who you could assume was her son. Unwillingly, you walked over next to your mother to greet your new neighbors.

“Oh? Who’s this?” The woman asked as she looked at you, smiling. Before you could speak, your mother spoke instead. “This is my daughter, y/n.”

The woman held out her hand to you, and you shook it, noting her very firm grip. “Nice to meet you. I’m Tomoko Higashikata, and this here is my son, Josuke.” She gestured to Josuke, who stood next to her.

“Hi Miss l/n, y/n. It’s nice to meet you.” Before you could really do anything else, your mom and Ms. Higashikata started talking, seemingly endlessly.

If anything, your mom was quite a talker. Sometimes, you had to pull her away from conversations in order to talk to her, or even leave a place. Luckily, it wasn’t like she knew many people she could talk to for hours. Until now.

You and Josuke stood there for a few minutes awkwardly, as your mothers conversed. Shifting your weight, you pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear, trying to start up a conversation. “So, uh… how long have you lived here for?”

“I’ve lived here for… pretty much all of my life, actually!” Josuke’s voice seemed lighthearted and humorous, and something about him just seemed to exude friendliness. Had you actually lucked out with neighbors this time?

After a moment, you continued the conversation. “Oh, nice. My mother and I actually used to live here in Morioh eight years ago. We only moved back now,” you said, a smile creeping up on your face unbeknownst to you.

“Cool, cool. So do you know if you’re gonna attend the public high school here?”

Oh, yeah. School started soon. You had almost forgotten- you had been enjoying your break so much you weren’t even keeping track of time anymore. Hopefully, said high school was close to your house. Where you lived before, it was such a long walk to get there.

“Yep. I’m starting my first high school year at that public high school. What about you?”

“Oh, me too!” Josuke was smiling ear to ear, giddy with excitement. “Maybe we’ll have the same classes together!”

For a neighbor, Josuke seemed very friendly. Something that you would normally doubt. But you could tell that his friendliness was genuine. Turned out that you had lucked out with neighbors after all.

“Hopefully so!” you agreed, actually looking forward to starting school for once. At least you’d be able to meet more people, and even if you didn’t, you had Josuke.

Before you could say anything else, you heard your mother start to say goodbye to Ms. Higashikata.

“Well, Josuke, we’d best get going by now.” Josuke’s mother smiled warmly to your mother, waving goodbye. “It was nice to meet you two! Hopefully we’ll be able to talk more!”

As they started to walk down the steps, you heard Josuke’s voice yell out as you saw him turn towards you, waving wildly.

“Bye, y/n!”

“...Bye, Josuke!” you waved, watching him and his mother walk down the street and back into their own house.

“Hey, y/n! Can you help me with these boxes?” hearing your mom’s voice from outside, you opened the door to help her unload stuff from the moving van. You smiled to yourself as you walked over to her.

Luckily, the Higashikata family seemed nice. Even if the other neighbors weren’t as kind, at least you still had them. Lifting up a box full of clothes, you walked back inside the house, setting them down.

Even though it hadn’t started, you had a feeling this school year was gonna be great.

#jojo #jjba #fanfic #x reader #Okuyasu x reader #Keicho nijimura x reader #angst #imagines #reader insert #never be mine #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojo part 4 #scenario #JoJo's Bizarre adventure #have fun waiting like... 2 weeks for the next chapter #jjba scenario #scenarios

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thunder-birb · 6 years

Text

The 5 times Tamaki accidentally confessed to Mirio and the one time he didn’t have to

Mini Series Part III

I clutch the white envelope tightly in my hands, trying to think of anything else, but the red UA wax seal beckoning me to rip the thing open and see what it says. Mirio and I promised we would open it together, but Mirio also told his dad he would wait until he comes home from work. So, here I am pacing back and forth in my room, trying to hold on to the part of me that is refusing to freak out.

But let’s be honest, I’m never really good at that and after countless of hours practicing in my room, Mirio’s room, Mirio’s living room, the park, Mirio dad’s room, the gym after school and even at the Ramen stall- you get my point, the pressure just builds up that even my regular breathing exercises aren’t working anymore. So, I throw the envelope on the floor and crash face first on my bed. I stay there not trying to think of anything at all, but okay maybe just one thing--memory of my parents taking my oneechan, Mirio and I to a butterfly sanctuary.

My sister was actually the one who loved them to death--well that was until I saw them, as they fluttered about and chased the patches of sunlight that reflected from the diamond shaped glass of the translucent ceiling above us. It was spellbinding to watch how they lifted off a flower’s petals and spread their wings for take off. Their wings looked unreal and moved with a grace of elegance that I wished I had an ounce of.

It was unlike any time I visited conservatories or zoos with my family and the best part was when one of them even stopped to rest on my shoulder. It was black and purple and had yellow dots aligned at the edge of its wings. I only realized it was sitting on me because Mirio happily snapped a picture on his phone and saved it as my profile photo.

The little one stayed with me for half of our journey around the glass house until it decided to plop for a minute on Mirio’s hair probably thought it was some variation of the sunlight like a couple of the butterflies did and then, it went on its merry way up the various flowers that encircled the stone pathways.

I also took a couple of shots on my phone and one of favorites was when a bunch of the butterflies hovered around Mirio and my sister as they merrily spun around them. It was blurry and out of focus, but that smile was there and I wish we were there now, so--

The affable sound of a seasoned guitarist plucking note after note to announce the arrival of the sun resonates in my room and my phone lights up from my computer desk. I let the first verse play out somehow finding solace in the soothing familiarity of the song and then, slowly make my way over there.

It’s crazy because just a minute ago, I was dying to know what the letter would say, but now that I am actually about to open it, I can’t imagine reading what it says inside. The unbearable wait has turned on me and now I don’t want to know at all. Yet, I pick up the call anyway because Mirio’s smiling face with the amiable butterflies is on my phone screen and I really need to talk to someone before I drive myself insane, favorably him.

“Oh good you answered! I was starting to worry and thought all the waiting around was gonna drive you mad…no offense” he adds careful and I almost laugh because he totally guessed that right.

“Too late, but now that you’re calling I actually don’t want to know and have decided to just live in my room until I die” l lean back on my black desk chair and tilt my head up to stare off at my glow in the dark solar system set plastered across my ceiling. Mirio thinks it will help distract me when I can’t sleep at night.

“Tamaki~” Mirio has this teasing way of calling my name, which I have no idea where it comes from or why he suddenly uses it, but it disarms me right away and I groan at him because I can never properly speak afterwards. “We made a promise and I would never let you rot in your room when you could be going to hero class with me” Mirio replies in such a way that I can picture him winking at me, all cool and sanguine because he’s just never been a downbeat kind of guy.

“Do I have to?” I cringe at how small my voice comes out, but even after all these years of knowing me, Mirio never sees it as a weakness. He thinks I’m brave for always speaking my mind when I’m with him, disregarding the fact that he’s really the valiant one for doing so in front of everyone.

“Well technically no. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. And I can wait. I don’t think I could cross this milestone without you” he replies back and honestly what do you even say to that? It’s not that he is intentionally manipulating me to open the letter because Mirio is not an unscrupulous sort. Far from it actually because he genuinely means every nice damn word he says and it’s absolutely maddening. But is also why everyone likes him.

“No, you’re right. I would never even have the guts to go after my goal of becoming a hero if you weren’t there believing in me every step of the way, so yeah. I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be” I say with my right hand clutching my shirt right above my heart, feeling it beat wild with resolution.

“And there you go proving just how fearless you truly are! Tamaki you’re courageous in your own way and let’s get to ripping this envelope up before you change your mind!” he laughs and I chuckle along with him because he’s right again. My bravery definitely has a time limit.

“Alright. Countdown?” I prepare myself and grab the envelope on the floor, shaking a little as I bend to retrieve it. I stand up, but then plop back down on the floor, deciding no matter what the letter says, it’s best to be on the floor already, then fall on my face from shock.

“You know it!” Mirio replies and I can picture him punching the air for emphasis.

“3- 2- 1- GO!!!” We sort of scream and so does every cell in my body. I rest my phone in between my cheek and shoulder, while I tear the envelope open and nervously take out a gray circular device inside.

The thing lights up as soon as I place it on the floor and a holographic screen appears in front of me. Principal Nezu pops up with a friendly wave, paws moving left to right. My eyes travel to his projection and the green blackboard in the background.

“Hello Amajiki, Tamaki-san. As I am aware of your anxiety, I wanted to get straight to the point and congratulate you on being accepted into UA. If you look behind me we have listed your points during the Practical Exam as well as the Written Exam. You have demonstrated--” he continues to say more and even starts playing a video of my performance, but I could not hear anything past: You have been accepted into UA.

I GOT IN

I GOT IN TO UA

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Mirio joyously yells on the phone and I readily scream with him. “TAMAKI YOU DID IT! Man I’m so proud of you! Principal Nezu is still showing me videos, so I started listening to what he was saying to you instead, but wait-- he’s about to---Ohmygod. OHMYGOD WE’RE GOING TO UA TOGETHER TAMAKI WE’RE GONNA BE HEROES!” he rambles even louder as I hear Principal Nezu congratulate him on the other end of the line.

Then, I hear his dad yelling with us and a loud smack, followed by more screaming and an “Oh crap Dad! My phone!” I want to laugh because I’m sure Mirio’s dad has tried picking him up again, forgetting how big Mirio has gotten and they’re probably sprawled out on the floor while his phone takes a fall. But I’m so overwhelmed with my own feelings that the wet tears continuously slide across my face and goes all the way down to my hoodie. All the tension living like a parasite in my heart spills out, leaving me bare and finally free.

I actually made it! Me. Nervous energy Tamaki... This is crazy!

It does not take long before my sister comes into my room and sees me on the floor with my face wet from tears and the phone still pressed against my cheeks. Mirio and his dad are blasting party music on the other line and I can’t find it in me to separate from their buzzing energy just yet. She hurries by my side, probably worried, but she spots the letter from UA and the holograph of Principal Nezu.

So, she grabs the circular device knowing I won’t be able to speak no matter what the result and presses the middle button for it to play all over again. It starts with Principal Nezu greeting me and then he segways into congratulating me for my admission to UA high school. She freezes upon hearing the news, turns her head at me, eyes wide with realization and soon enough she too, is screaming and hugging me so tight it is the only thing stopping me from floating away in a happy daze.

“TAMAKI!! YOU GOT IN!!” she screams into my ear and the phone that’s keeping me connected to Mirio and his dad, eyes welling up with tears. We all continue to yell because I don’t think we know any other way to react to such good news. They’ve seen us, day after day; with me eating and manifesting as many features as I can at the same time and Mirio with all his bruises from getting his face, arms, fingers, legs, chest and various body parts stuck in walls, doors, and windows of every kind. Every failure is another push to work harder and finally we have earned our first step.

“This calls for a celebration! I am calling your parents!” Mirio’s dad yells into the phone and my sister replies for me because yeah I still can’t form proper words.

🐙🐙🐙

After more frantic screaming and tight hugging, my mother calls all of my close living relatives and proceeds to plan a party with Mirio’s dad. It’s supposed to be a “small impromptu gathering” with my family and Mirio’s family, but that doesn’t stop it from being completely embarrassing and usually I would want no part of it. Yet, having the validation that my dream is an actually possibility even with someone as anxious and meticulous as me, just feels too good that I could hardly care.

My sister hands me a flower crown she’s made for me as a surprise with a purple paper butterfly in the middle. I start crying all over again because she’s really too nice sometimes, even though I just fidget and worry all the time. I hug her in gratitude and she messes up my hair in return, while calling me a crybaby. I hug her even tighter in retaliation and help my parents prepare the table, while she pushes me away to order a bunch of food.

In exactly 45 minutes, my obachan and ojichan come over to the house, followed by my aunts, uncles and cousins. The house is so full of people, I can’t imagine Mirio’s family fitting in somehow. But that is where I am wrong because Mirio’s dad and uncles come through the door with a large cake filled with sparkling candles, bottles of sake and all accompanied by their exuberant and excessively loud singing voices making the whole place light up like the Christmas markets in the city.

The Togata’s are like the happiest people you’ll ever meet. Just picture a bunch of Mirio’s entering a room each with a big smile on their faces and a skip in their step. They give off this brightness unlike I’ve ever seen before and each room is now booming with Mirio’s rich laughter and that captivating gleam in their button eyes.

It’s almost too much for me, so I keep my hoodie on and try not to be in a room with more than one of them, despite how they all approach me and trap me in the Togata’s infamous bear hugs.

I just want to be stuck with the actual Mirio Togata, but he’s being congratulated, picked up (without much success) and kissed by his family and mine. So, it’s been really hard to talk to him alone.

My sister also hands him a flower crown with a cut out paper Sun on it and he envelopes her in a bear hug shocker to show his gratitude. She laughs, looking so tiny in Mirio’s arms and now my little cousins hovering around them want to be picked up too. Mirio chuckles at the small hands tugging at his pant leg and proceeds to pick every single one of them up. I swear my family members are suckers for the Togata’s. There’s just something about them that’s hard not to like.

Then, things get more loud as the food finally arrives. Mirio’s dad keeps handing Mirio and I shots of sake to celebrate, which is only happening in the first place because my mom is not in the room and it’s really hard to say no to Mirio’s dad. I’m also sure it has something to do with the shots he has been sliding my otosaan’s way and how it’s making him forego his trademark austere nature and start singing a song to my mom, who is actually my uncle next to him.

“To our boys! After all their hard work and endless training sessions, they’ve finally made it one step closer to their dreams! Let this be an inspiration to all of us to never give up and go beyond! Say it with me now- PLUS” Mirio’s dad raises his glass, beaming like he did when Mirio could fully phase through a wall; so proud and like nothing could be greater than watching his son live out his dreams.

“ULTRA!” we all scream and I realize then that this is just as much about our family as it is about us. So, I take the shots less suspiciously, even though by the 3rd one, I feel a sudden rush of heat on my face, my back and my ears. It’s a weird sensation, especially since it’s not caused by my overthinking. It’s also making me slightly drowsy and lighter? I don’t know, I just feel like I could probably handle another shot or two and woah does takoyaki always look so-- round???

One of my cousins call out my name and I get up before my limbs are ready, so I stumble a little bit and then a lot. But, I somehow get up the third time, the second time was a mistake, give my uncles a couple of hi-fives because one is nearly not enough and all without tripping over myself, which is a feat that feels so great, I just have to go tell my mom in the kitchen.

However, the way to the kitchen seems a lot further than I remember, but if I can make it this far in life, then I sure as hell can walk to the kitchen; is what I thought at first, but man the way there feels like I’m on a suspension bridge with my mischievous cousins jumping at the far end. I also don’t quite remember why I’m walking this way anymore, so I take a quick detour to my room, which is so much closer.

I open the door to my room, take in the darkness, except for the stars glowing above and smile, realizing this must be what I wanted all along. I make long strides to reach my bed, bumping into a couple of things along the way and just as I am about to get there, I slip on my blanket, which is somehow on my bedroom floor.

The crash is loud and I have to shake my head a couple of times to stop the dizzying waves messing with my inner ear. I press my right hand on my forehead, slowly regaining the rational part of my brain back and use my left hand to push hard against the floor, hoping to pull myself up. But, the ground feels odd and warmer than it usually is, so I open my eyes and realize that there’s actually a person there, covered in my blanket.

I blink my eyes open and close a couple of times to make sure I’m not making any of this up and surely enough, I’m right. There is a human huddled under my blanket on my bedroom floor. I slowly drag the blanket down, curious to know who could it be when I see a familiar face covered in messy blonde hair, completely dead to the conscious world.

“Mi--” He turns over to my side before I could finish and grabs a handful of my blanket. Once he finishes fully covering his chest, he stays completely still and then, begins to snore lightly. His face is flushed in a deep red, all the way down to his neck and even his ears. I can feel the heat he is radiating and somehow that brings the color back to my face, too. I crouch lower, moving my face closer to his and watch his long hair fall into place, concealing most of his left cheek and eyes.

It takes all of my control not to poke him and ask why he’s on my floor when there’s a bed right next to us or move his hair out of his face. But, he looks so peaceful and settled in, and it just seems wrong to steal the bits of sleep he can finally have after our rigorous training. Not only did we have physical exercises, but also long study sessions, which he finds hard to concentrate on.

“So...Whatcha doing over there?” I spin my head towards the door and there stands my sister with a vexatious smirk growing bigger by the second that screams evil intent and could probably cause my demise.

My face reddens and I hurriedly jerk away from Mirio, scared that my sister will comment on how close I was to his face. “Not---nothing” I muster staring hard at my fingers and pray that she will be nice and not make any ridiculous observations.

“Maji? Because it looks like you’re about to eat a snack the way you’re eyeing Togata down there. I mean who can resist those muscles, amiright? It’s like they grew overnight!” she giggles, winking at me and I crumble.

“What-- NO I-- SHUT UP! Mirio’s my friend and--” I struggle to say something cohesive and not air out the panic ensuing in my mind, but it’s evident that I’m freaking the hell out.

“Okay, okay-- Easy there. Just teasing” she comes forward, looking a little concerned- “You might wanna wipe off that drool on your face if you’re gonna convince me otherwise” she sits on my desk chair, turning it around to face me and breaks into another laughing fit, as I reflexively move my hand up.

She’s snickering louder now and I fake like I am reaching for my hoodie, so I can cover my face. Judging by the way she is still laughing at me, she clearly doesn’t buy it and I sit there feeling so stupid and small in my own room running away from a party that is actually for me. I should’ve just went to the kitchen like I initially planned. Why did I come here?!

Then, to make matters worse, the door burst open and I’m beginning to question how I could possibly hear this and not my sister come in. Mirio’s dad walks through, footsteps loud and determined and I immediately see the obvious difference between them. She’s evil and up to no good, while he’s concerned and--

“Oh heyyyyy, there they are! And woah Mirio’s passed out isn’t he?” his dad approaches us, crouches down on the floor and ruffles his son’s hair out of his face with a fond smile. “I shouldn’t have sneaked him a few drinks before getting here, but I’m just so happy for him you know?” he continues to pat Mirio’s head, settling in the spot I was in earlier before my sister decided to kill me with her words.

“He’s like- the best thing I have going for me and---oh god! Here comes the dad tears” he laughs sounding just like Mirio.

“Sorry I’m such a sap” he apologizes as his eyes well up even more and the tears start falling on his cheeks. He sniffles loud and unconcerned, then he pulls the blanket up to Mirio’s chin. “Wake him up in 10 mins okay? I think we should start heading out before I get properly hammered too” he looks at Mirio one last time before he turns and gives me a hug, too.

“So proud of you both” his eyes are still watery and he ruffles my hair, before getting up, smiling at my sister and then closing the door.

I make a move to stand up, but my sister has other plans and directs the desk chair even closer towards me. She smirks again and I know she’s going to ruin that sweet moment just by the glint in her eyes. “Yeah Tamaki, wake him up in 10 minutes after you finish tracing his muscles with your fingertips” she teases and that’s it. I cannot be blamed for this. I manifest my arms into tentacles from the takoyaki I ate earlier and lift my sister off the chair.

She screams in terror, swinging her arms and legs around that I start to lose my anger a little bit and kind of second guess this. They’re going to hear us and come in here. Then, they’re going to think she did something to me, which is why I’m torturing her. After that, they’ll start asking us questions and I really don’t want to have to explain why.

In the midst of her yelling to be free and my consciousness spiraling into a black hole of terrorizing confusing emotions, I feel the blanket hover over my feet.

“Hey guys---” Mirio slurs as he slowly opens his eyes and looks at my sister up in the air and then at me. “Am I dreaming or is your sister floating in the air? I didn’t know she had two quirks” Mirio scratches his head and tries getting up, but his knees wobble and he falls.

Without even thinking about it, my left arm-tentacles reflexively lets go of my sister and tries to catch Mirio before he hits the floor. I have a strong hold on both, but Mirio weighs nothing like my sister, so I put her down near my bed and swing my right arm-tentacles over to Mirio to keep him up.

I move my foot back to get some space between us, but trip on the freaking blanket I forgot is still there and we go down. My sister tries to save us, but it’s too late and I plummet on the floor butt first. I groan, turning on my side, so my butt isn’t pressed against the floor and curse this descend to hell. Why does something bad always happens?

I open my eyes to glare hard at my sister, finding it easy to blame her for my pain, but then big warm arms are quick to wrap around the small of my back and pull me to an even wider and cozier chest.

I freeze, mind blank and heart pounding so hard against Miro’s. I slowly look up and Mirio has the most confused look on his face like he doesn’t understand how I even got there when he is the one who pulled me in. Wrinkles are forming on his forehead; a look he only has when he’s thinking really hard, which is rare and I want to make it go away, but my body is too busy buzzing with electricity to function.

“Tamaki--” his eyes widen and I gulp forgetting my sister is still in the room and now has more ammunition to torture me with for the rest of my life. “Did you know your eyes are purple-- like a really deep purple?” he smiles like he just discovered something monumental and not a fact everyone already knows. Great. He’s still being victimized by alcohol then--what with the number of drinks his dad probably gave him before the party and then after I wouldn’t be-

“Wooooshhhh~~~ woooooshhhh~~~~” He starts playing with my hair while making those sound effects as he goes. He’s getting really carried away and my hair’s becoming more tangled up like it isn’t a mess to begin with and I groan in perpetual suffering.

“Haha! Dude your hair is so messy! You should use a comb more often” he laughs like it’s not his fault it’s in this state and my sister giggles in the background. Mirio doesn’t seem to hear her and lifts my head up, so we’re at eye level. He inspects his work further, turning my head to the left and then to the right.

“Yup, it's definitely like the bird’s nest we found at the school yard that one time” he adds and then tucks my head against the crevice of his neck, while chirping like a freaking bird. Drunk Mirio is a mess.

“Mi--Mirio please let me go” I struggle against his arms, fighting for escape. “Mirio I can’t breathe like this” I try again since his hold is only tightening, the more I try to break free.

Mirio finally loosens his embrace and I make the mistake of looking at him because now his eyes are blown wide and lips pouting into a very dejected “kicked-puppy” look. “Do you not like me anymore Tamaki? Am I too lame to be your friend, now that you got in to UA?” he asks, frown creasing deeper, which makes no sense at all since he got in too, but KOs all my ability to breathe anyway.

“Yeah Tamaki, are we not cool enough for you?” my sister chimes in and I just want to jump over there and kick her in the shin, but I can kick her any time. Mirio’s fears though have to be addressed now, even in his drunken state.

“Mirio, no that’s not--”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to hang out with me. I wouldn’t want to hinder your progress. You’re doing so well with manifesting and handling your nerves these days that I couldn’t be prouder! Meanwhile, I can’t even phase through things for long and I take so much time too! Anyone can just strike at me and bam, I’d be done for!” he laughs, but it sounds so sad and resolute that I want to kick my own shin for making him say those things or think any of that stuff is close to the truth.

“Mirio listen to me-” I grab his face and dammit his eyes are so despondent, but I gulp down my nerves and forge on.

“You’re amazing! No one I know works harder than you do and deserves to be a hero! You don’t just help others out, but you also inspire them to keep fighting! You’re the brightest star of all Mirio, that’s why you got in to UA, or why everyone likes to hang around you or why I--- why I-- um-- you’re my--- I mean you’re the sun! You light up the world” I barely make it out and panic as soon as I finish because I know Mirio is probably too drunk to notice my slip up, but my sister surely will. And she’s definitely going to make my life miserable, especially since I lifted her off the chair.

I shut my eyes, shaking from embarrassment and slowly ease myself away from him. So, I can run away and hide in the bathroom forever.

“Tamaki, you’re way too nice to me I swear! But thank you man! You’re such a good friend” Mirio hugs me tighter before I can evade him, rubbing the tip of his nose against mine and my sister is now rolling on the floor laughing like a mad woman. Man, I should’ve kicked her when I could’ve. I try to manifest my leg to retaliate, but nothing happens and the door bursts open again. Doesn’t anyone know how to knock anymore?!

“Tamaki, is Mirio awake? His dad-” my aunt pauses as she comes in, and then my mom hurries past her, leaving the door wide open.

“It’s fine now.” Mirio yells, voice suddenly very deep, which turns all of the attention towards us not that it already isn’t.

“Why you ask? Because I. AM. HEREEE!” Mirio declares as he rises from the floor, raising me up like a freaking sacrificial offering with a big smile on his goofy face. And that’s all it takes for my mom, aunt and sister to howl with laughter.

Mirio, why

This eventually catches everyone’s attention, mostly because my door is wide open and the fact that my sister and aunt are smacking the floor from laughing too hard. So naturally, everybody else starts peaking in and soon they, too double up with laughter at how drunk Mirio is.

Then, my cousin has the brilliant idea of taking out his phone and starts taking pictures of us with me still up in the air completely mortified because; for one Mirio is drunk and we might fall afreakinggain and also this may be the worst moment of my entire existence. And now there is evidence for the whole family to bring up at any inconvenient time. Awesome.

Mirio’s dad joins in too. Both in taking photos and being in the photos, as he raises his arms next to Mirio screaming “Plus Ultra.” I bury my head deep into my hoodie and slip down from Mirio’s arms when the fatigue has finally caught up to him. I quickly descend to the floor and make a mad dash to the bathroom, locking myself in and refusing to come out. Small gathering they said. It will be a nice time they said. This is the absolute worst.

Part 1 2 of 5

Part 3 is uppp! Pardon the monstrosity that is this chapter hence the read more break off, especially compared to the humble beginnings that is the first chappie. I honestly don’t know what happened. This could even be a stand alone one shot... and I have a feeling the rest might be more or less long like this one, so yay us? Also, there might be errors here and there, but I was starting to get impatient and will scrupulously edit it again later. Thanks once again and I hope you hold out for the other 3 chapters coming up soon~

#miritama #mirio togata #tamaki amajiki #mirio x tamaki #bnha #mha #mirio #tamaki #soft fic

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theonceoverthinker · 6 years

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OUAT 3X01 - The Heart of the Truest Believer

Finally, I can start Season 3! It’s been so long that I can HEART-ly believe it!

...Did you miss the puns? I missed the puns. I don’t think Emma did, because I’m just hanging on by a thread!

(Ha! Snuck two in!)

Anyway, let’s get under the cut and see what this episode has to offer!

Press Release Emma, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, Mr. Gold and Hook enter Neverland to search for a kidnapped Henry, they’re greeted by a school of not-to-friendly mermaids who threaten to end their search before it begins; Henry finds himself on the run from the Lost Boys with another escapee from Peter Pan’s encampment; and Neal, recovering from his wounds, travels through the Enchanted Forest with Mulan in an attempt to learn the fates of Emma and Henry.

General Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness Neverland Seas ”I blame you.” Yeah, I disagree, Emma. For one thing, this plays a pretty small part of the overall story. For another, while they tried to convince her of what to do, it was Emma’s ultimate decision to do it. As she says, “We’re the same age. We have equal amounts of wisdom.” For a third, their decision, while endangering Henry, saved Regina. For a fourth, the only people’s faults for Henry’s capture are Greg and Tamara. *sighs* Look, I get Emma’s grief and worry, but this writing direction doesn’t feel genuine for her to deflect blaming Snow and David. It feels like a conflict was thrown in so that there would be more of a disconnect between her and her family. I love Emma, but I can admit when a scene makes her completely unsympathetic despite the framing telling me otherwise, and this is a prime example. And here’s the thing: This never comes up again! Emma doesn’t apologize to them. This moment is utterly pointless!

The importance of teamwork is the big theme of this segment and once we get over that hiccup of a scene as I just mentioned, it’s delivered incredibly effectively. The conflicts between the characters, both internal and external, are incredibly real and no one is holding back. And the twist of those conflicts causing the storm is handled well! Rumple presents the bare essence of the theme, about Emma’s lack of belief, and because he chooses to go off on his own, the narrative has him fail by putting him into a traumatising position, whereas Emma’s belief in their abilities as a team and, in correlation with Rumple’s speech, herself, allows for the rest of the Nevengers to succeed.

Neverland Island So I have a nice bit to say about this segment, but it all applies to my “Favorite Dynamics” segment, so you’ll see that down there!

Enchanted Forest There’s not really much to be said about the story other than I liked it. That’s not to say that I didn’t like it or I didn’t appreciate the characters re-introduced or the interactions between them, but it was rather simple and that just doesn’t leave me a lot to talk about in terms of a breakdown of themes of major character actions. Still, the pacing was nice and the story was engaging!

Insights - Stream of Consciousness -So I didn’t realize that Emma giving birth to Henry was the first scene of the season. For some reason, I was under the impression that it happened at the start of “Coming Home,” but I honestly love it being here. Immediately, you get the sense that this arc was well planned so that it could return to this moment at the end of “Coming Home.”

-Also, I love that flicker of light as Emma gives birth! Such a special part of Emma’s life -- one filled with both joy and misery as she decides to give Henry away -- deserves the magical treatment!

-I seriously got choked up as Emma denied her chance at being Henry’s mother from the start. There’s so much love for him from the start and while it’s causing her so much pain, she’s doing what she thinks is best for him. And the gentle and yet powerful way the theme plays in the background just kills me. Swan Believer forever!

-Damn, what a cool way to go back to the present! We’re put right in the action, not missing a minute of the adventure.

-I will NEVER get over how much I love hearing Killian say “Neverland.” Whether in “The Crocodile” or here, Colin puts so much energy into the word, encompassing the danger and adventure to be found there.

-”It’s a good thing you guys don’t ask any questions.” My sentiments exactly, Henry!

-”More time than I care to remember trying to leave this place to kill Rumplestiltskin.” This provides some interesting insight into Killian’s character. It implies (to me) that he devised his Dreamshade plan with quite a few years to spare before his escape, whereas I always assumed that the planning took most of the time and that the escape was just a pinch of time towards the end.

-”Villains don’t get happy endings.” It’s incredible that this line, said by a character that left so little of an impression, is what follows Regina, Rumple, and Killian throughout basically the rest of the series.

-”That’s a great use of our time. A wardrobe change.” To be fair, Killian, Rumple’s not going to be in fighting shape sporting a Calvin Klein suit. This...honestly weird ass outfit makes the most sense.

-”You don’t believe in your parents, you don’t believe in magic, or even yourself.” Talk about a kickass line of foreshadowing of all that she’s going to overcome by the end of this arc!

-”When have you ever taken a real leap of faith?” Give it about a half hour, Rumple!

-So I must say, it’s funny that a lack of evidence is brought up as such a big story element here, but once Tink enters the picture, it’s her need for evidence as to the safety of their voyage back that secures it. A bit of dissonance, but nothing too severe.

-I love how Rumple spins his cane as he disappears. Rumple is the most beautifully extra person across the realms.

-I probably should’ve discussed this last time, but I love the design for the Lost Boys. They give off this air of being lost souls and their numbers stand to make them very intimidating.

-So going off of Greg’s death as well as the events of “Awake,” I’m gonna say that a shadow rip doesn’t necessitate death unless the shadow ripper wants it to mean death.

-”No time for questions.” I like that subtle line that’s in tune with Greg and Tamara’s line of no asking questions, foreshadowing the revelation about him.

-Damn! JMO is strong!

-The dialogue in the scene with Neal, Mulan, Aurora, and Phillip flows so naturally!

-”How long was he with you?” ”Long enough for me to know that I miss him, too.” I normally don’t make timeline jokes, but...come onnnnn!

-”I will not be capsized by fish.” This may be my new favorite David line.

-Also, any pretense that murder leaves any long-lasting effects of Snow and David go the fuck away when David tries to kill mermaids.

-Why didn’t Regina get rid of them earlier?

-”If Pan wants you, he WILL get you.” This line is delivered so well. Pan is not only just barely holding out from outright bragging, but is trying to deteriorate Henry’s belief and seeing that it isn’t working, cementing his part to play in Pan’s ploy.

-”Lead the way.” Am I the only one humming “Follow the Leader?”

-I like how, until Rumple enchants her, Tamara physically can’t talk. Very realistic.

-You know, everyone talks about heart colors when it comes to Rumple, Regina, Snow, and Killian, but does anyone notice how Tamara’s heart was pretty freakin’ red when Gold crushed it?

-Did no one read “Lord of the Flies?” Get the conch shell away from your enemies!

-”Filet the bitch.” I’m starting to think that all of my favorite character lines in this show have to do with aquatic life.

-”We need to think this through.” Emma, that why they’re shouting at each other. They’re discussing the matter.

-Okay, so I’m not the biggest Robin Sr. fan (And I’m hoping that this rewatch changes that for the better), but this was a solid entrance. It feels iconic, plays to the character’s power and good nature, and the more neutral yet noble tone that the scene requires plays well to Sean’s strengths.

-”See these markings? He was keeping track of me growing.” Awwwww!!! Papafire moment! That was necessary and beautiful!

-I just realized, this is our intro to blood magic! Cool!

-”I ruined YOUR life?” Regina, please. I thought we were past that…

-”Don’t call my wife a slag!” Yeah, Killian. You deserved the fuck outta that punch.

-I love the music that plays during the flying sequence! It’s gorgeous, distinct, and whimsical!

-CAPTAIN CHARMING BROMANCE!!! We have taken off!

-So I’m guessing that Rumple has encountered Felix at least one or two times.

-”Each of us have been too busy being at each other’s throats to be believers.” Those things aren’t correlated.

-”We need to do this the right way.” “No, we don’t. We just need to succeed.” YESSSS! Emma! That is my girl! She gets her tactics from her mama!!

-”It’s easier to get people to hate something than to believe.” That’s...incredibly accurate.

Arcs - How Are These Storylines Progressing? Everyone Working Together AND The Mission to Save Henry- ”It’s time for all of us to believe, not in magic, but in each other.” Emma’s speech took a sentence to get going, but once it did, DAMN did it get good! Now, as one gleams from this episode, these two arcs are one and the same. The only way Henry is saved is by working together, and this episode completely captures why that’s so important.

Emma Accepting Her Parents - This second-part-of-an-arc got off to SUCH a weak start, and that’s frustrating because I KNOW it gets better from here. But what I said above does apply.

Greg and Tamara - “We don’t ask questions. We just believe in our cause.” Holy crap. Tamara and Greg went from being two pretty intelligent and well designed villains into being total morons. I will say, part of me is glad that they did because if not, their conflict would’ve been way too close to a science vs. religion debate for comfort. But they also die here. To be honest, if anyone but Rumple was to find one of them, I’d rather it have been Greg who got the additional moments of life to speak and allow for Henry to get away. His story, well, was actually a story, whereas Tamara’s connection to Neal is loose at best.

Killian’s Redemption - Killian’s redemption takes an honest-to-goodness step forward. He’s acting on his decision to care about someone other than himself (And that shows through the two people aboard the ship that can stand him), but still has quite a bit of his verbal firepower and contempt (Towards David and Rumple) that reminds us of his villainous past and that his redemption won’t be all sunshine and rainbows.

Rumple’s Redemption - Rumple takes what is a realistic step back, though I’m not even certain I should call it a step back. Despite being his Rumple-y self, the narrative makes it very clear that his decision to dessert the group and chastise them beforehand are made on behalf of the mission to save Henry. And as we see the personal trials he’s already taken on in this pursuit with the confrontation with Pan’s minion, there’s so much power that grows with these decisions.

Regina’s Redemption - Regina also takes a step back into some of her more vicious tendencies: hating on Snow, defaulting to magic and violence for all her solutions. I personally like this because while there’s an understanding that these people are family, the anger and resentment between Regina and them is still present and in the heat of the moment, Regina won’t forget it. I will say, the Regina Blames the World trope is back and it still annoys me, though slightly less so here because the framing wasn’t going for sympathy in that moment.

Favorite Dynamic Henry and Pan. Pan’s dynamic with Henry sets up perfectly the kind of monster he will be for the rest of the season. He’s an incredible manipulator and plans out everything he says in order to activate Henry’s belief just when he needs to. Look at the way he set up the pixie dust and how that moment pays off! It’s makes for a triumphant moment that becomes terrifying in hindsight. But what makes this dynamic work so well is how it is set up. In the few minutes we see before Pan’s disguised appearance, Neverland has shown itself to be a cruel place. The location itself is darkly lit and the two villains of the previous season are violently murdered. Because of that, we as an audience clutch to Pan just as Henry does and because of that, for the first time, our belief causes suffering as the deception is exposed.

Writer Adam and Eddy, as usual start up the season! And I honestly like it. A lot of it is good! I’d compare it to the Season 1 finale where it’s a good mix of story and character moments (And just like in the Season 1 finale, has a completely pointless and aggravating moment, but thankfully, this one doesn’t mean a lot)! I feel like the characters were put in a solid place where they have room to grow and are put somewhere that keeps them intimate and gives them opportunities for great dynamics!

Rating 9/10. This episode is a great way to start off the season! The settings and themes have been set up well, and the characters are in good form! It’s exciting and adventurous, but nerve racking all the same. It makes me super excited for what’s to come!

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness” Captain Swan - Look, season 2 was not Captain Swan’s golden time for shipping (For me, at least), but Season 3 is here and they are glorious! Killian is incredibly respectful of Emma, comforts her over her worries, addresses underlying grief she has for Baelfire, and supports her as she prepares for Neverland’s horrors. It’s honestly amazing! Also, Emma and Killian are sailing the Roger together during the storm!! They’re working together and it is the BEST!!! Ship of dreams...quite literally! Swanfire - And don’t think I forgot about Swanfire! Both Emma’s grief and Neal’s devotion to getting back to her is such a big presence in this episode. “Tell Emma I’m alive, and that I love her.” Letting Emma know that he’s both okay and loves her is Neal’s main priority and that’s just incredible! And I loved Neal’s scene with Mulan as he discusses his regrets leaving Emma. <3

-----

Woohoo! Season 3 is off to a solid start and I can’t wait to take the rest of Peter Pan’s Flight! Thank you for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales!

Next time...I don’t know. Reader, help me out, cause I’m lost...girl… ;)

See you guys then!

Season 3 Total (9/220)

Writer’s Scores: Adam and Eddy (9/60)

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 3x01 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat

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wannawrite · 7 years

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Taiwan’s Treasure

• who?: Wanna One's Lai Guanlin • genre: 🌸 • type: bullet point

• flower boy! AU

• there’s this really cute Taiwanese flower boy who keeps changing his flower crown every few days

the 'our two lips' flower boys LDH PJH PWJ KJH IYM blog navigator. second last instalment for this month and I hope you guys enjoyed this series!! Thank you!! also, trying to gender neutralise my works a bit more but i'm sorry if i make mistakes!! - Admin L

• you have lived in the same neighbourhood for as long as you could remember so you recognise everyone • when a moving truck stops to the empty house next to your own - the previous neighbours immigrated - you're mildly excited for new people • since all your neighbours are nice senior couples and good-hearted grandmothers who feed you and your brother really often bc you two are the only teenagers in this place • your brother is still a young child must protect • anyway, you have school the day they're moving in and you don't get a chance to spy them out

• your chauffeur - Jisung, who is pretty much an annoying older brother to you but you love him - comes to pick you and your brother from school • just as your car approaches, you spy a young woman getting out of the car, beaming • she's very well-dressed #lairich and pretty • there seems to be someone else still sitting in the car they arrived in but you can't exactly make out who it is • your car is parked in the driveway and the gates are closing before you know it • "wow, it's interesting to have new neighbours again...." your younger brother pipes up • agreed • you don't see your neighbours for a good two days • until one day, you're walking back from school by yourself • since your brother got sick during school hours and was rushed to the hospital where your dad was • you hear sounds of a basketball even through your loud music • it must be your new neighbour • the house seems deserted and even the cars are out • might as well go and introduce myself • there's a teenage boy playing basketball by himself in a big ass driveway, his main gate is ajar so you slip in • "hello!" • he is stunned and nearly drops the basketball, he fumbles to collect it for a while • you take that time to observe him • d a m n • a visual • "um...hi" he replies shyly before clearing his throat, "Sorry, my Korean isn't good." • uh no way you genuinely thought he was a native speaker from those words • but since you're nice you try to speak simple, basic words • "oh! welcome to the neighbourhood! where are you from? my name is Y/N, I live next door." then you blush because you realise you just bombarded him with a ton of words • "i'm sorry!" you apologise, blushing • he laughs it off, "i-it's fine. i'm from Taiwan and m-my name is Guanlin" • perks of attending C9 International Academy, you know a tad bit of Chinese and you manage to communicate with him a little • unfortunately, that's the only time you have a proper conversation with him • the rest of the time, you're leaving for school just as he wakes up and you come back while he's still at Cube International Private • guanrich • you see him venturing out early in the mornings when you are doing your morning stretches • secretly, you're spying on him from his room window • two of you never get a chance to talk • the time his family invited yours over for dinner, you had prefect camp in school and had to miss out • your friends wouldn't stop joking about your bummed out face for the entire two days • "ahh, Y/N is mad because she missed out on the chance to meet a rich, handsome, foreign cutie!" • "don't joke so much Cheng Xiao, here, a lot of the students are rich, pretty and foreign too" • your best friend clicked her tongue while smirking, "oh, he's different" • it's safe to say that camp was the least enjoyable • to make matters worse, all your brother did was rave about 'Guanlin ge' • confused, you asked him why he didn't call Guanlin 'hyung' • "he told me we're close enough to call him brother in his mother language!" • ge, 哥, is older brother in Chinese • apparently, Guanlin played basketball with him late into the night and even managed to convince your strict parents to allow him to stay up late • they both played into the night under the watchful eye of Jisung who wasn't sure if he was a chauffeur or your servant • he loved you guys like siblings though • ANYWAY • Guanlin seemed to be running off early in the mornings as soon as the summer started and you weren't sure why • in the evenings, he came home looking flustered and exhausted • you found out the reason for his weird schedule a few days later • when your friends invited you to head out cafe hopping • the first stop: our two lips • an aegyo a day keeps the doctor away • but if it's too much you might need to see the doctor • Park Jihoon needs a surgeon ASAP • but another reason you decided to go there is because your cousin, Bae Jinyoung got hired to be a flower boy and you want to collect pictorial evidence of him to make memes out of and embarrass the hell out of him at the next family gathering • you're texting your friends and Xiyeon and Cheng Xiao tell you they're going to be late and for you to go ahead • shock is written all over your face when a familiar, handsome neighbour greets you • "y/n...." your name tumbles from his velvety lips in a raspy tone, as if he can't believe you're standing there either • your mouth forms a small 'o' and you two are standing there just gazing at each other for a while • he is mesmerising • Guanlin clears his throat and awkwardly offers to show you to a table • god that was so rude of me • you fiddle with your Kate Spade cross body along the way, feeling mildly self-conscious • he's so nervous he messes up his Korean and has to repeat his sentence three times • he has gotten a lot better though! • you feel super proud • "your skill is improving! that's good! you must have worked hard, what a genius!" you praised, awed by his smartness • Guanlin smiles bashfully as his face grows hot. he rubs the back of his neck in shame. "Ahh, no. I didn't even sign up for this job willingly. Seonho tricked me into thinking it was a cupcake eating competition" • you burst out laughing until your stomach hurt from all the giggles • "aww! next time, you can ask me if you need help with anything." • he nodded and dutifully took your order before whizzing off • Guanlin is the one who works hard but also plays hard while on the job. he is also the kind who brightens his hyung's bad days and sometimes falls victim to their pranks • the next time Guanlin visits your table to drop off your tea, you notice his flower crown is different from the rest of the boys • again, his face goes red and you nearly squeal at how adorable he looks • "ohh, these are plum blossoms, the national flowers of Taiwan. Uh, my mum felt like being extra and I guess my aunt almost went overboard," he said, revealing the whole story • you beamed, adoring the cute story. "it's unique and cute, just like you!" you blurted out • "whoops! sorry, I didn't mean too!" • Lin Lin goes even redder and clamps his mouth shut • instead, he plucks his own flower crown off and settles it on your head before smiling and walking off • FREAKING OUT • you can't remember what it felt like to have a normally paced heartbeat anymore • brhidhsksjdn • his flower crown is definitely the prettiest and it's made out of real flowers! • damn someone give his aunt a raise pls • Cheng Xiao and Xiyeon waltz in • they were secretly watching the exchange between you and your crush from across the road through the lens of binoculars • how supportive • Xiyeon can't stop smirking at your blushing cheeks • "hey, stop that," you whine, covering your face • when Cheng Xiao's latte arrives, her latte art is a super cute writing of sheep [ go support Yixing ] in Korean • with a bit of listening in to the fellow flower boys, it's Guanlin's way of revising his Korean writing • it's the cutest latte art you've seen • also, it reflects his hard-working personality and willingness to learn • "oooh, I really wonder whose flower crown this is...." Xiyeon muses, sipping her tea • your blush worsens and you slump in silence, almost in defeat • "okay, okay. I like him? So what?" you burst out, but only loud enough for your friends to hear • at least you thought so.... • across the room, a particular Taiwanese boy is struggling to keep his cool • Y/N likes someone else, just accept that! • it's probably that Bae Jinyoung • you don't know but Guanlin has a crush on you • ever since you introduced yourself whilst he was playing basketball • he saw you a couple times at friendly basketball matches against C9 • you were always hanging around the captain of your team, Bae Jinyoung so Guanlin assumed he was your boyfriend • but Baejin is your COUSIN • pls don't date your cousins guys it's illegal • his mood is definitely dampened after he hears your confession, his heart has sunk to the bottom of the ocean • of course not, why would Y/N like a foreigner? We can't even communicate properly! • Guanlin was trying his best to be attentive in Korean class so that he could hold a proper conversation with you someday • the G in Guanlin is for genius • much to your dismay, Guanlin didn't try to talk to you anymore but you figured he just got shy around your friends • he has no reason to be shy around his neighbour • 'Neighbour' is all I would ever be...... • eventually, you leave but not without returning his special flower crown, fixing it securely on his head and complimenting it once more, which causes him to blush furiously • sigh...that's the last glance of flower boy Guanlin you get • until....... • a couple of days later, you're exiting your gate, out on your mid-morning run when Guanlin's mother calls your name from her front door • you greet her with a huge smile, winning her heart over completely • Gosh, I hope Guanlin stops crying over Y/N and talks to them instead, they're so sweet • "Y/N darling, if it isn't too much trouble, could you drop by Guanlin's work and give this to him on my behalf? You are a sweetheart." • you can't exactly say no to your nice neighbour future mother-in-law • Mrs Lai feeds you and your brother all the time ??? She sends Taiwanese snacks all the time and your heart just melts • especially when she mentions her children helped her to make them • baking with Guanlin • NEXT • so, tentatively, you find yourself stepping into the cafe again. clad in your workout attire and all • Nike sponsored your outfit so you look chic and hot asf • 😍😍😍 • Guanlin when he saw you ^ • then he remembers Baejin and he's like 'oh' then sighs, 'i can't flirt with someone who is taken. that is just rude' • he watches from behind the counter as you talk to Ong Seongwoo, casually admiring how pretty you look • like literally, who can look that good after exercising? your skin is glowing, your eyes are happy, there's some sort of sun-kissed gleam about you that lights up his entire face • "hey, Lin Lin!" Ong yells "y/n is here for you!" • Ha Sungwoon, who is ushering the last few customers out before they close for a lunch break, does a 360 spin when he hears the telltale clatter of a metal tiffin • Guanlin takes the tiffin from you, mumbling a 'thank you' • his fingers brush against yours and sparks shoot through his entire body, making his eyes widen and he nearly loses grip on the entire thing • please don't waste food • "Jinyoung!" you beam, running over to hug your cousin affectionately but not before making sure Guanlin made it safely to their break room with the food • Guanlin's emotions are conflicted. he is confused why you act so nice to him when you already have a boyfriend. yes, there is such a thing as being friends but he can't handle his feelings for you. he lets out a frustrated groan just as you and Baejin enter the break room • "y/n, did you eat? you should join us for lunch," Park Jihoon pipes up, looking hopefully at you with his doe-like eyes. • before you can nod, Ong stands up and announces there's a shortage of chairs so there's a scramble to find one for you • whoosh! suddenly you and Guanlin are left alone • today, he has some sort of rose pinned to his shirt pocket in place of his flower crown • "it's very pretty, just like you," you babble out without thinking. um deja vu much? you might as well just throw caution to the wind and straight out flirt with him now • outside, your cousin is struggling to hold in his laughter while recording blackmail • Guanlin just shrugs, pretending to busy himself with unloading the tiffin tiers while he tries to suppress his rising emotions • where are my hyungs? • "oh my gosh! this smells amazing! what is it? your mother must be a great cook," you praise, but restrain yourself from digging in without the others • "it's traditional Taiwanese food. my mum makes only the best," Guanlin says proudly • "i should try to learn some from your mum. that way, we can make it whenever you come over!" • "......" Guanlin is speechless and the image of you cooking and learning how to make his traditional mother land dishes makes him soft!!! • "i mean, with your sister! and, and your parents, of course!" you continue • there's an awkward pause before you start talking again, "has anyone requested for you to feed them as fanservice?" • Guanlin cringes and shakes his head. "thank God but Woojin hyung did get asked once and I think I still have a video of it on my phone." • Woojin's shame and annoyance is pretty much radiating off him right now • with a burst! of confidence, you scoop up a spoonful of rice and lets it hover near your lips • "would you like me to feed you?" • EW NO I AM SO CRINGEY PLS LET ME LIVE I AM SORRY I AM SO SORRY SWEETIE • Lin Lin is so stunned his mouth drops open and heat creeps up the back of his neck. he doesn't know how to tell you that your action reminds him of the wedding tradition where the bride has to prepare glutinous rice balls for the groom • okay Guan we get that you have a crush on y/n but maRRIAGE IS TOO SOON STOP YOU ARE A CHILD IM YELLING • maybe it's a thing you do to your friends all the time but to Lin Lin, he's only ever been fed by his family or really close friends... never his CRUSH • he isn't going to complain about being fed though we all know he loves food • fksodhjds his feelings are all over the place now • "why do you act like this when you already have a boyfriend?" • um what? run that by me again? • Guanlin spends excessive time on chewing so as to avoid answering your questions • "oh...you know, Bae Jinyoung? The captain of C9's basketball team? Also the guy you were hugging two seconds ago?" he retorts, face falling in realisation that you probably had to admit and confirm your relationship • contrary to his expectation, you burst out laughing and so does Baejin and Jaehwan • "guANLIN! BAEJIN IS MY COUSIN!" • flsjskdjsksdj he has never gone so red in his entire life • only you have that effect on him ;) • "s-so...you're single?" guanlin stammers out ruefully • boldly, you press a quick kiss to his cheek • "yes, very" • "c-can...w-will you go o-out" • someone save him he's switching between English, Chinese and Korean in one sentence • "yes." • relief just washes over his face and his hyungs burst back into the room • "wow! it took us fifteen minutes to find one chair! this place has terrible storage!" • you turn to Guanlin and poke his cheek gently • "yah, wipe that smug smile off your face. if you were a flower, you would be white calla lily" • he quirks an eyebrow, "innocence and purity?" • cue hyungs cackling • "yeah! your next flower crown should be made out of those!" • the next week, he comes to work with one commissioned by his aunt • but he refuses to leave for work until he has stopped by your place to give you a matching one • you get his aunt's phone number and surprises him with a flower crown of butterly orchids - another flower native to Taiwan • he straight up faints out of happiness and collects the flower crowns you make instead of utilising them • his precious • "y/n, you're really feeding my flower boy reputation" ( deja vu ) • Guanlin gifts you Dior's Miss Dior - Blooming Bouquet out of nowhere bc he can and he wants to show his appreciation and kinda feels bad you spent not your money but your time slaving over learning to cook and make flower crowns • then again....guanrich but not everything is about money • at the end of it all, he's still the same flower boy Lin Lin

#Admin L #wanna one #wanna one scenarios #produce 101 #produce 101 scenarios #lai guanlin #hwang minhyun #kang daniel #ha sungwoon #yoon jisung #ong seongwoo #bae jinyoung #park woojin #park jihoon #kim jaehwan #lee daehwi

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purrincess-chat · 7 years

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How to Catch a Ladybug CH2

Ayyy! Finally updated something after forever! Here is the next chapter of my Lilanette fic~ It’s been so long since I introduced this, and I kept meaning to work on it, but it kept getting shoved aside. Thank you all for being patient with me lately. School has been hectic, and all of my free time to write gets put into working on my piece for the Big Bang which I can’t share with you guys until December, but I pinky promise you’ll love that one when it comes out! For now I’m going to do my best to finish up Ladrien Summer and this fic over the course of this month, and maybe work on finally finishing Fluff Month for the love square. In November I have a new fic that I’m super excited for that I want to introduce, so hopefully I can get through some of these oldies before then.

FF | AO3

Chapter 2: According to Plan

That conniving little faker! The only reason she was being so nice was to hide how horrible she really was on the inside, and Lila couldn’t believe she’d almost fallen for it. She wasn’t going to stand for it! That girl did not deserve to be a hero after the way she treated a complete stranger. Sure, Lila, had been lying, but she didn’t have to call her out like that in front of Adrien. What did she care anyways? Probably just jealous that she was taking attention away from her precious alter ego.

If only there was a way to get rid of her and knock her off her throne for good, then Lila could show the world how much better she was at being a hero than that brat. She needed to get her hands on those earrings, then she would be the new Ladybug, and Paris would have a real hero. But how was she going to get her hands on them?

She eyed Marinette, who was chatting with Mylene in the courtyard, from the second floor with a pensive frown. Marinette wasn’t aware that Lila knew her secret, so she had that advantage at least. Maybe she could swipe them when Marinette took them off. That was bound to happen eventually, right? For now, she would continue to play her friend because stealing them would be a lot easier if she was part of her inner circle, so, swallowing her disgust and planting a friendly grin on her face, she marched down to Marinette with probably the smoothest mask she had ever worn. Lila was accustomed to lying. She was good at it, and acting was only a small extension of lying, so when she pulled Marinette into a tight hug, she didn’t suspect a thing.

“Thank you so much for showing me around yesterday. Moving can be so daunting, and I really appreciate your kindness,” She said energetically. “No wonder everyone loves you; you’re such a good friend.”

“Oh, you’re welcome! As class representative, it’s my job to make sure everyone feels welcome,” She replied, waving it away.

“You’re good at your job. I feel a deep connection with you, and I’m really glad we’re friends,” She ran her fingers through Marinette’s hair and smiled. “Let’s hang out after school. I don’t know of many cool places in Paris yet.”

“Of course! I’d be happy to show you around,” Marinette agreed politely. Seems like Lila wasn’t the only good actress at the school. Marinette was better than she’d anticipated which was fine by Lila. It would only make stealing her Miraculous that much more rewarding.

“Hey, maybe we can get a group together. I’m sure Juleka and Rose would love to come as well,” Mylene suggested.

“Good idea! It’ll be more fun with a lot of friends.”

Drat.

It was going to be more difficult to get her hands on those earrings with more lingering eyes on her. Looks like her scheming was going to need a bit more time. She’d have to wait for the opportune moment to strike, but she could keep her charade up as long as Marinette could. In fact, she was going to take pleasure in forcefully befriending her.

x x x

Getting alone time with Marinette proved harder than Lila originally thought. She knew practically everyone in the school, and every time she suggested hanging out, someone always butted in. Little miss superhero was popular with or without the mask it seemed, which only vexed Lila more. Every time she changed schools, Lila had to work hard to make friends, but Marinette made it look so easy. In fact, Lila was certain that she’d hung out with more people in the last week than she had in several years.

For a moment, she almost forgot what Marinette had done to her, losing herself in the lustful call of friendship, but she wasn’t so easily fooled. It was all a façade anyhow. She knew the feeling of malice was mutual between them and that any friendliness was just as fake as Lila’s smile each time they saw each other. Perhaps she was luring her friends on all of their escapades on purpose, so that she wouldn’t have to focus on pretending the whole time, which, Lila had to admit was a smart tactic as she herself was getting worn out.

Lila had always been a good liar, but she had to give credit where credit was due. Marinette was good. Really good. In fact, she kind of admired her skill a little bit, and it pushed her to try harder. Every day her smile became more elastic, her laugh more convincing, and her excitement seemingly more genuine. If she was going to convince Marinette to trust her, she had to bring her A-game. This battle wasn’t one she could afford to lose. She just needed to get her alone.

“Good afternoon class,” Mme. Mendeleiev greeted, shutting the door behind her. “Today we will be covering the conservation of mass and energy, and then you will prepare a short presentation with a partner to present this Friday.”

Lila perked up a little. This could be her chance. All she needed was a little stroke of luck then those magical earrings would be all hers, and Paris would be rid of its pest problem. Then she could prove to Marinette that she was the better heroine after all, and the only one that Paris needs.

“Your group assignments are as follows: Adrien, Nino, and Alya, you will be a group of three to balance the odd number in the class.” Nino and Adrien fist bumped on the front row, and Mme. Mendeleiev continued. “Max and Kim, Juleka and Rose, Alix and Chloe-”

The pink haired girl sucked her teeth and slumped, and the blonde girl up front raised her hand in protest.

“Mme. Mendeleiev, you can’t possibly expect me to work with-”

“Deal with it, Chloe.” The blonde girl slumped with a low growl, prompting an eye roll from several classmates. “Ivan and Mylene, Sabrina and Nathaniel, and Marinette and Lila. I will not be reassigning groups, so don’t ask.” She shot a pointed look at Chloe, who pursed her lips sourly.

Lila sat back with a sly smirk. As it seemed, fate had smiled kindly upon her that day as Marinette glanced back at her with a cheerful grin. Now all Lila needed was a plan to get the earrings, and she was home free. Thinking about it, Marinette wouldn’t be able to do anything without revealing her own identity, how popular she could become if word got around that she was Ladybug. Then Adrien would really be eating out of the palm of her hand since she got the vibe that he had a thing for superheroines. Everything was going according to plan, now all Lila had to do was wait.

“I’m glad we got paired up to do the project, Lila. I’ve been having a lot of fun hanging out with you lately,” Marinette said after class as they headed to the locker room.

“Yeah, me too,” Lila lied smoothly.

“You’re not bummed that I got partnered with Adrien again, are you?” Alya asked with a wince, and Marinette shook her head.

“No, I mean, sure, I’d love to be in a group with him, but I’m okay if it’s you,” She said shyly, clasping her hands together in front of her. “I’m just glad Chloe didn’t get paired with either of us this time, and Sabrina got paired with someone else too, that must really be irking her.”

“Yeah, I feel bad for Alix though,” Alya remarked, glancing across the way where Chloe was lecturing a very bored-looking Alix.

“Oh well, at least maybe Chloe will have to do some work herself for once,” Marinette snorted then turned to Lila with a smile. “So, wanna come over to my house today to work on the project?”

“Absolutely. I’d love to,” Lila returned the expression with equal gusto, mentally gagging at how fake her voice sounded.

“Cool. I live just across the street, and my dad makes the best cookies you’ve ever had,” She said cheerfully, a slight spring in her step as they entered the locker room. Lila wondered what the beast’s parents were like, and she imagined ugly, decrepit creatures with sharp teeth and glowing red eyes.

“Can’t wait.”

It was the moment she’d been waiting for all week. A chance to be alone with Marinette, and she was leading her right where Lila wanted. Soon enough the world would be rid of that horrible bug monster, and Lila would reign supreme.

“Welcome home, sweetie,” A surprisingly normal and round-toothed Mrs. Cheng greeted when they walked through the doors of the bakery.

“Hey, Mom,” Marinette replied, pecking her cheek. “This is my new friend Lila. We’re partners on a chemistry project, so we’ll be upstairs, okay?”

“Need some brain fuel?” The largest and most jolly man she’d ever seen asked, offering a plate of the most delicious smelling chocolate chip cookies, and Lila felt her mouth water a little.

“Thanks, Papa,” Marinette giggled, stretching up to kiss him.

Lila was a little taken aback by how sugary sweet they all were. She was certain that her family would be cold and authoritative to raise such a skilled liar like Marinette, but perhaps the apple didn’t fall far from the tree in that case. Maybe their whole nice act was just a front to hide their problems from the outside world.

“Your parents seem nice,” She commented, observing Marinette’s expression as she set the cookies down on the coffee table. If there was any sense of sorrow or disdain in her expression, Lila didn’t detect it, and her bright smile spread across her lips effortlessly.

“They are. They’re always happy when I bring friends home,” She said without missing a beat.

“Right.” She eyed the cookies on the plate wondering if they were poisoned or laced with some sort of sedative.

“You can have one,” Marinette urged, picking one up and chomping into it cheerfully. Lila pursed her lips, supposing that she wouldn’t eat one if they were harmful, so she grabbed one too while Marinette dug out her textbook. “So, why don’t we split up the chapter and pick out key points that we want to highlight and work from there?”

Lila hated to admit Marinette was right about the cookies being some of the best she’d ever eaten, and it boiled her blood that Marinette was so much better than her at everything. Better at lying, better at luring people in, better at getting attention. Lila hated her guts.

“Is everything alright?” Lila blinked, realizing she was glaring at the cookie, and she quickly plastered on a smile.

“Yeah, totally. That sounds great.”

“Awesome,” Marinette beamed, turning back to her book, and Lila’s scowl returned.

Things weren’t going according to plan, and she supposed that Marinette wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Nevertheless, Lila shoved the rest of her cookie into her mouth to mask her conspiring expression. She liked a challenge.

#miraculous ladybug #lilanette #lila rossi #marinette dupain-cheng #how to catch a ladybug #my writing

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crowned-ladybug · 7 years

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Once Upon A Dream

Hey I’m back with my shitty titles

About three months and 10k words later here’s the fic I wrote out of that one dream I had once...kind of a self-indulgent pile of headcanons and feelings.

NOTE: I started writing this in the beggining of May and I didn’t want to keep changing it, so it ignores every piece of canon from after that. “Google gets an upgrade” is probably the first big thing I didn’t end up involving.

Please, if you don’t like this fic, or the ideas behind it, or the fact that it’s quite possibly very OOC, please just leave me alone about it. This story has become really, really important to me.

Special thanks to @lum1natrix for letting me submit the original dream to her (which ended up being ~2k words of this and the rest of me is trying to fix it), @sunkistjello for being genuinely interested in my headcanons and the story itself, and @bajszi-s-secret-life for letting me ramble on about my story ideas to her even if she probably can’t understand half of them

Word count: 9.7k words

Warnings: mentions of blood, injury and death, possible character death

Having a pocket dimension as your primary residence isn’t the worst thing in the world, really, even if it comes with a whole pack of rather...interesting roommates. It definitely has its charm, at least.

Said roommates are all interdimensional and, in certain cases demonic beings tied to living, breathing people’s life force, none quite like the other.

There’s Dark, demeanour and looks just like his name would suggest. He’s tall and wiry, his skin is pale as chalk and he’s always wearing a suit. Looking at him makes anyone feel dizzy, because he looks like a glitch dragged out from the deepest depths of an old VHS tape. He’s bossy, strict, and he denies ever having smiled in his existence. Some of the other beings are legitimately scared of him – or at least they’re really wary.

There’s Wilford, who’s the sickening mixture of cotton candy and murder compressed into a human shape. He wears a mysterious pink moustache, which gets its mysteriousness from no one knowing whether it’s dyed, fake or if it’s always just been pink since the dawn of time. He seems friendly from afar, smells like a candy store and talks weirdly. In a strange way, he could be called brave, or maybe he’s just too reckless for his own good – but either way he’s one of the only known beings to have teased Dark in the face and lived to tell the tale. He also seems to have an unhealthy obsession with trying to interview everybody and making it big on TV.

There’s Anti, the wild kid who might not be a kid, but he’s definitely wild. He’s like the lovechild of a computer glitch and a murder-happy demon, dangerous and unpredictable. Just like the person his life force is tied to, Sean, he’s loud and full of energy, trotting everywhere he goes, white noise sizzling in his path, excited at any chance to cause mayhem. He can be terrifying, but mostly he’s more of a friend to everyone else in the little pocket dimension. One day he decided he likes Dark and started following him around – and to everyone’s surprise, Dark, heartless, terrifying Dark, grew fond of him. Now the two of them are friends and definitely a force to be reckoned with.

There’s Google, who’s just like how you’d expect: punctual, emotionless and fast. His hands are always cold and he claims his heart is too, but everyone here has at least a little humanity stuck in them. He plans and does the logical thing and goes about everything the most optimal way, which sometimes only gains him glares from the group of ragtag hectic demon spawns he’s living with. For the most part he’s helpful and calm, but one time Anti tried to dump a bucket of water on him and he started swearing in every language available to his translate function – all at once.

There’s the Host, the observant one who knows more than anyone else around who has eyes to see. He’s a mystery in itself, with a bloodied blindfold he’s never seen without and a soft voice that always narrates what’s going on instead of speaking like everyone else, and so he sometimes stays silent and gestures instead of talking. He’s a pleasant company, as surprising as it is. He holds small talk, helps out where he can and sees others’ distress with sightless eyes. He sees what once was and what only will be, and somehow that has made him almost kind.

There’s Chase, who isn’t magical or mysterious or terrifying. He just wishes to have fun and for everyone to get along, and he dreams of his old life before it all crashed. He had lived thinking himself a human for long, building himself a human life because he forgot the one he had had before. Anti found him once things had gone bad and Chase was alone, and brought him back to their own little dimension. In a way, Chase is even more different than the rest of them. He just wants to play with his toy guns and look cool while doing so, and he sees friends in all the bloody-handed demons around him. Anti considers him a brother, and while Chase is grateful, he can’t help missing his other family.

There’s many others who come and go, some stay long and some only pass through, some good and some bad, some powerful and some...not so much. There’s too many of them to count.

In a strange way, they’re like a family.

The pocket dimension changes at its own will and today it’s nothing but a labyrinth of shadowy corridors with no windows, and rooms to match. There’s long desks and uncomfortable chairs in some of the rooms, but everything just looks the same. The air feels dry yet it seems foggy, for it’s grey and details get lost way before you’d expect them to. Everything is grey, just grey.

Chase doesn’t like it. It reminds him of bureaucracy, cold buildings and offices with strict people telling you to sign papers and thinking you’re nothing but a string of numbers and a handful of bills. His feet make almost no sound as he walks and he can’t tell what the floor’s made out of. He searches from room to room, hoping to stumble upon a coffee machine, but he gives up after the twentieth failed attempt.

He fixes his belt that has a loaded Nerf gun hanging from it and makes his way down the next corridor, hoping to at least run into a friend. Hell, at this point he would take Dr Iplier and his constant predictions of painful death, because wandering alone in such a creepy place is starting to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

He barely turns the corner when his luck comes into play and he hears a distorted cheer that changes pitch at least twice in the middle. Turning around with a genuine smile he finds Anti running towards him, glitching back a few steps every now and again. But aside from that, he’s barely messing with reality, no changes of hue or contrast surround him, and even the cut on his neck is closed up into a thin red line. He must be having an unusually great day.

Anti catches up to him and flings an arm around his shoulder, shouting as he greets his friend. Chase laughs and leans into him, grabbing the back of his shirt and cheering a half-mocking “Suh, dude!” with enthusiasm.

Anti laughs too and squeezes him around the shoulder, guiding him the opposite way. “Come on, man, I gotta show you something!”

Chase silently hopes it’s not a dead body.

They wobble down the corridor because they’re both yet to figure out how to walk properly while hanging onto each other like this. They run into corners a few times and trip on each other’s legs, but it makes their walk all that much more fun. Chase thinks about how much they must look like they’re drunk, but he doesn’t mind. Anti shoves him to the side and he shoves back and their heads knock together.

It flashes through Chase’s mind that Anti considers him a brother, and he finally decides that he likes that. He likes – loves – his glitchy, demonic, occasionally murderous brother.

“...and then he tells me, me, that he always keeps his files neat and organised!” Anti is fully immersed in the story he’s telling about his human host with much more emotion than necessary. He nudges Chase playfully as he continues. “Me, who’s slept in his computer like a dozen times at least!”

“...and is known to have eaten an equal amount of files,” Chase teases, and it earns him an exasperated groan.

“That was one time! And it was an accident!”

Chase laughs. “Alright, bro, alright.”

He would keep walking, but Anti suddenly forgets about his wounded pride and lets out a really choppy-sounding “whoop, whoop!”. Chase almost trips over his own legs when his friend grabs his arm and drags him into one of the rooms he almost passed.

“We’re here!” Anti exclaims, and as he waves his free arm around it displays the magenta of missing textures for a second. Chase is about to ask “Where?” when his eyes adjust enough that he doesn’t feel the need to.

Well, he’s still not sure where exactly they are, but it’s very much a here. The room is dark and pretty vast he assumes, as he can’t even seem to make out the walls. The only light source is a combination of multiple screens across the room, attached in a curved line and giving the impression of equipment at a spy hideout. Chase guesses there must be something displayed on the screens, but for now he can only see their unpleasantly bright light. He can make out a few silhouettes, and as his eyes adjust, enough details to recognise them as his friends and acquaintances, fellow beings he shares this pocket dimension with. Almost everyone who’s usually present is there. Chase’s heart swells – he’s found them, finally.

In front of the screens are a few chairs, and he can see Dark sitting in one of them, reading a book in the piercing light – though Chase can’t help but wonder if he even needs the light.

To his right are several more chairs and a few tables, one of which is covered in papers. Wilford is standing next to the desk, organising the papers, reading through them, making corrections with a pen that he then absent-mindedly tries to put back into his shirt pocket, failing a handful of times before succeeding. Finally he waves enthusiastically towards the other end of the room, pride shining in his eyes, and in response another being appears in Chase’s sight. Bim Trimmer, resident gameshow host who’s both somewhat human like Chase and kind of bonkers like Wilford makes his way over to the tables, and as he passes he flashes an award winning smile towards Chase and Anti as a greeting. Chase assumes him and Wilford must be discussing plans to try to make it big on TV – again.

On one of the spare chairs sits the Host. Google is standing nearby, silent and unmoving, his eyes shut, probably on energy saving mode. As the two newcomers watch, the Host reaches out to touch his arm and get his attention. Google comes to life immediately, the logo on his chest lighting up and his now open eyes flashing for a second before they focus on the blindfolded man next to him. He asks in a slightly robotic voice how he could be of help, and the Host responds in sign language.

It isn’t exactly an unusual sight. The Host isn’t the most thrilled about his constant narrating whenever he speaks, his inability to converse like anyone else. So, when he can’t take his own voice any longer, he goes silent and instead, he signs.

Google responds without hesitation, speaking because while he can sign too, the Host is still blind. The conversation continues and Chase stops staring, but he sees the grin spreading on the Host’s lips and the way his movements gain more momentum. He only recognises one sign (he’s started learning recently, but he’s only making slow progress), flat fingers against the lips, then moving outward as if blowing a kiss – thank you.

When he looks away, he sees Anti already beckoning him deeper into the room. He follows good-naturedly, curious as to what else is there to see. He thought finding the rest of the entities was the big thing to show, but apparently he was very wrong.

Anti leads him straight to the screens. As Dark notices them approaching, he stands, putting his book back on the chair he had previously occupied. Chase bites the inside of his cheek – Dark is intimidating, even if he isn’t particularly trying to be at the moment. He only relaxes when he sees that his gaze is fully fixed on Anti.

“Look, Chase!” Anti gestures at the screens. Being this close, Chase can make out what they’re displaying: a scene equally as grey as where they are, but this one is of thin streets veiled in fog, and there’s a figure walking along who looks like but a silhouette against the faded background.

As Anti’s fingers hover closer, tiny glitches start sparking to life on the screen and he withdraws his hand quickly, flashing Chase an almost apologetic smile.

“That’s Sean,” he announces without lingering. Chase would have never recognised his - their - human counterpart on his own, but he chooses to believe Anti. “We somehow managed to track him!”

Now that makes it sound like Sean is some elusive target, when in reality both Chase and Anti could easily find him in his world. But having a window to said world, solely focused on him as well, that is…impressive. Chase doesn’t know what to think.

“That’s…cool?” he shrugs meekly, but it is good enough for Anti, who turns back towards the screens and watches his host go harmlessly about his walk.

Chase allows him a few minutes of that, partly because it feels polite to do, partly because he still has to digest the situation…and partly because he feels like if he did anything slightly out of line, Dark would murder him (which would be quite impressive considering they’re both beings immortal as long as their current host is alive, so killing Chase would only be manageable by inadvertently killing Anti as well).

“So…” he starts after his thought process comes to a halt at “What do we do now?”.

Anti takes his time before answering. He grabs one of the nearby chairs, sits down, makes sure to arrange his legs comfortably and lean back before the clever gaze of his eyes finds Chase again.

“I feel like this would be the perfect opportunity to prank him a little,” he speaks with eloquence that is very unlike him. But his painted mask of seriousness crumbles just the next second, his signature grin taking over his lips. “Let’s scare the shit out of him!”

Chase swallows, hard. His eyes wander to look at Dark instead, because right now he feels like a much bigger threat. He’s leaning on the back of Anti’s chair, lazily eyeing Chase like some black cat that’s too smart for its own good. Except this cat has more than just tiny fangs to bite with and more cruelty than any feline. Chase feels like if he makes but a single wrong move, Dark will pounce and he will be nothing more than a memory.

Usually Chase feels glad that Anti has found friends amongst all these other beings, but right now he isn’t the happiest about one of those friends being a fiercely protective and sadistic demon.

He slowly looks back to Anti, who is waiting patiently for a response. Patiently. That’s quite unusual of him. Chase decides to thank their brotherly relationship for his luck.

“That’s...not a very nice thing to do,” he responds finally. He might be soft, but his heart is in the right place and he has probably the strongest sense of right and wrong out of everyone present. Right now that sense is telling him that scaring Sean, a harmless human on his way home on the foggy streets who has never done anything to hurt any of them wouldn’t be the nicest thing to do.

Dark blinks slowly, but he’s no cat and Chase knows not to take it as a sign of contentment. He’s still looking Chase up and down as if not knowing what to make of him in the current situation.

“Maybe,” Anti shrugs, and suddenly Chase gets the feeling that he might be getting some pleasure out of playing authority like this. Playing king is definitely not Anti’s style, but for now he seems to be enjoying just sitting back and watching Chase be uncertain with his words. “But it would be fun.”

“Eh, let’s just...have some fun that doesn’t hurt anybody, okay?” Chase tries with a half-hearted shrug, and he silently prays that he can somehow convince his demonic brother to lay off his idea. Even if they don’t end up giving Sean a heart attack, two guys materialising out of nowhere in the middle of a town street could possibly get some unwanted publicity with the humans. The last thing they should want is for Sean to get into trouble.

Anti is about to respond as he absently glances over to the glowing screens – and the words get lost in his throat. Instead, he’s jumping up, his chair falling back from the force and startling Dark enough to make him blend into the shadows for a moment. Chase flinches back from the sudden noise as the chair hits the ground.

Anti remains staring at the screen for another moment, his whole body tense and ready to spring, eyes turned pitch black and his fangs pulling at his lips. Chase follows his stare to the screen and his blood runs cold in his veins when he sees what got his friend so wound up.

The uneventful scene of Sean walking home in the fog has turned unsettling. Chase can no longer make out details and he can barely tell which way the street is going. There are dark figures, tall and sinister, getting closer and forming as if they’ve come to be from the fog itself. It’s impossible to tell what they are, but Chase doesn’t even think to because it doesn’t matter. They’re making their way towards Sean and they don’t seem friendly.

Before Chase could say a word or Dark could hold him down, Anti launches himself forward, right into the screens and through them. The image keeps glitching for a moment after he’s gone through, but once it clears out, Chase and Dark can see him standing beside Sean.

Anti can feel the rush of adrenaline in a way that feels almost a little too human, and he pulls strength from it on top of his already superhuman abilities. He glances to the side, giving a reassuring, friendly grin to a visibly shocked Sean. He doesn’t realise that maybe it’s not the easiest to muster “friendly” when his pupils are nothing but thin slits against red eyes and his fangs are long and sharp enough to put dragons to shame. He feels blood trickle down his neck, and knowing that his cut has opened up more with his rushing blood, he wipes at it absently.

He jumps into combat without a second thought, swinging his hand with his fingers curling into talons. For a moment he regrets not having his favourite knife on him, but it’s not like he’s helpless without it. He finishes one dark figure after the other without caring to look what they are and definitely without them even realising what’s coming for them. Why would he care, anyway? All he cares about for the moment is that these...these whatever they are had clearly had ill-intentions towards Sean, and Anti just won’t stand for that. He completely forgets the fact that just a few minutes ago he was planning to pull a possibly cruel prank on the man, because in his mind it would have been all in good fun. But these creatures, they weren’t here for fun. They were here to hurt his friend, and Anti would have to be dragged all the way to the Underworld and chained to the biggest poplar tree before he let that happen.

He only turns back towards Sean when he has torn off the last head he could see. The fog is thick and a monochrome grey again, and Anti can’t tell whether the figures had melted back into it or if it’s simply too dense to see through.

Sean still looks just as shocked as when Anti appeared beside him out of nothingness, but the tension in his eyes slowly starts to let up when he looks at him demonic friend. Anti looks really proud of himself. No, proud sounds like too plain a word to describe it. His eyes look almost human, and they sparkle with pride and some warm kind of joy Sean has never seen on him before. He wears a smile to match, a wide grin that’s soft and friendly and excited all at the same time.

No words are spoken, but Sean reads them from Anti’s face. I did it, you see? I did it, I defeated them, I protected you. I protected you! Just like a good friend, a real friend!

The fleeting thought crosses Anti’s mind that he hopes his friends on the other side are seeing this, seeing him being victorious and protecting his friend. He hopes Chase is grinning like a madman, maybe throwing his fists in the air because look at that, look at his bother – his brother! - kicking ass. He hopes Dark cracks a small smile, nods his head a little in the way that is like a whole speech of praise coming from him.

A smile spreads on Sean’s lips, and he’s about to laugh or walk up to Anti and pat him on the shoulder, maybe even hug him, thank him for what he’s done or ask what just happened, anything that’s just very nice and very human and very Sean. He never gets to do any of that.

Abruptly, Anti lurches forward, his eyes widening as his joyful expression melts into one of shock. Sean jumps forward to cross the distance between them, but there’s nothing he can do as Anti tumbles to the ground.

On the other side of the screen things seem frozen. Dark is the only one who moves, letting out a pained scream of his friend’s name that sounds almost more like the roar of a wounded beast, then he launches forward and through the screen, not entirely unlike how Anti had done so only a few minutes prior. Chase remains standing in the same spot, paralysed, feeling and looking like a terrified child.

Dark collapses to his knees next to Anti’s body. He couldn’t care less that the ground is wet and he’s probably ruining his expensive clothes. Sean hovers nearby, shocked and unsure of what to do, but Dark doesn’t spare him a single glance. His eyes are focused on the growing red stain in the middle of Anti’s chest. He presses his hand to it, clumsily trying to stop the bleeding as if he were a human and as if Anti were one as well, but the blood bubbles past his fingers and he feels helpless.

No one had heard the gunshot. No one can tell who even fired, there’s no one else around, no one they can see at least, and right now it’s not important either. For once, Dark is not hellbent on taking revenge, he’s instead clutching his friend’s body in his arms as if he could just keep him together and make him okay again if he just holds him tight enough.

He doesn’t know what snaps him out of his trance, but he suddenly stands, still clutching Anti’s limp body in his arms. He doesn’t look at him anymore, he just can’t. Poor guy’s eyes are rolled back into his head, his mouth is half open and he’s barely breathing. His hands are ashy black and Dark doesn’t want to question why, but aside from that and the cut on his neck, he looks almost human and all too vulnerable. But if Dark doesn’t look, maybe he can convince himself that Anti’s just asleep, he’s fallen asleep on him again, how annoying, right? He just fell asleep again and Dark is simply carrying him over to somewhere he can sleep without ruining his back, because Dark cares, even if he does so in secret.

He orders Sean to follow but doesn’t look his way to confirm he’s heard. He just takes a step forward, slipping through the fabric of this dimension and into another as if he was just walking through a curtain. Even he’s surprised he manages so easily when he’s so unfocused.

Dark never registers the small tug at the back of his coat as Sean grabs onto him the last second, allowing himself to be pulled along.

They arrive back in the dark room with the screens, and Sean immediately lets go of Dark. He steps to the side, looking around and still unable to shake his shock. He’s just hopped into another world, just like that.

Chase is still standing in the same spot, staring at Dark and Anti now, but no one knows if he actually sees them. He’s trembling slightly and his eyes are wide and empty, and Sean listens to his good heart when it tells him to comfort him. He walks over and wraps an arm around the poor guy’s shoulder, who almost collapses immediately. Sean bites his lip as he holds him up until Chase finds his balance again, and then they just stand there. Sean really wishes he knew what to say, how to help at least one person – being, whatever – in this room, but he just doesn’t. They’re both confused and terrified.

Wilford comes closer, casting curious glances at Anti’s limp form and waiting for an explanation with unhidden curiosity. He doesn’t seem concerned in the slightest, but then again maybe he doesn’t realise the weight of the situation yet. Google follows with a neutral expression, but his eyes are flashing wildly and Dark would know if he had the time to think about such things that he must already be searching for solutions to the current situation, trying to come up with anything that could help. The Host stays where he is and doesn’t come closer, which seems like a very Host thing to do. Sean briefly wonders if he already knows what Anti’s fate will be, or if he had already known before Anti decided to jump over into the human world. Bim is nowhere to be seen.

Dark’s eyes find Wilford’s, the only being’s who might be able to help. He might be missing a few marbles, but no one could ever deny that somehow, Wil knows a lot.

“He’s been shot,” informs Dark coldly.

Wilford nods to signal he understood and hums quietly, thinking. He doesn’t speak for long enough that Dark deems it too long, and when he tries to get closer, Dark’s immediate response is to clutch Anti closer to his chest, growling in the back of his throat.

Google doesn’t seem to see, probably too deep into searching for answers, so Sean deems himself the most competent being in the room after Dark and Wilford. It puts a bitter taste in his mouth, but his shoulders tense knowing that he might have to separate the aforementioned two before they get into a fight over Anti’s (possibly dead) body.

“Lemme see, will ya?” Wilford asks friendlily, and Dark glares daggers at him but loosens his hold on Anti nonetheless. “We shouldn’t need to worry,” he adds, staring at the wound on Anti’s chest. “He’s immortal here like the rest of us are, he’s probably gonna be fine.”

Dark’s teeth grown into fangs for a moment (no one’s seen him do that before, it’s normally Anti’s thing) as he snaps at Wilford. “Well, he’s supposed to be immortal out there too and it sure as Hell doesn’t feel like it now!”

Sean swallows hard and Chase looks at him expectantly. He has a feeling they’re both thinking the exact same thing. Anti’s only immortal as long as Sean is alive – but he’s alive, right? Fear stirs in his chest just when he’s thought there’s no way for him to be even more scared, and he’s definitely not a fan. But before he can voice his doubts, Wilford speaks again.

“Listen, my friend, Sean is doing just fine, probably more alive than ever from what I can tell,” as he says that, Sean lets out a silent sigh of relief in the background. “And as long as he’s fine, Anti should be too. Simple as that.”

Dark doesn’t respond. His eyes narrow, but instead of having a long stare-down with Wilford, he pushes past him without wasting another word. As he walks away, still clutching Anti in his arms, Wilford shouts after him.

“You can sulk all you want, Darky, but that won’t change the fact that I’m right!”

Sean doesn’t know what to think, but he’s pretty sure the pink man isn’t right. He silently grabs Chase’s sleeve (God, the guy is still shaking like a leaf) and drags him along as he follows Dark out of the room.

Once they’re outside and Sean sadly notes that the corridors are just as grey as the streets in his world are right now, he turns to Dark, not even intimidated by the fact that he’s a good head taller than him and, well, very dark looking. “What now?”

Dark takes a deep breath before responding. He looks at Anti, who’s out cold and still completely limp, but at least the red has stopped spreading on his chest and his neck wound has closed up again, too. He’s not sure if that’s a good sign.

“I don’t know,” he admits, and Sean can feel Chase sway beside him, though that could still be the effect of his panic. When Dark looks up, Sean thinks he can see helplessness in his eyes. “Do you think Mark could help?”

Mark – he’s another mere human, Dark’s human counterpart, and Wilford’s and Google’s and the Host’s and Bim’s, and Sean’s friend.

Sean lowers his gaze for a moment before answering. “I don’t think so,” he knows that’s not the answer Dark was hoping for. “No human could, I don’t think. Anti’s not human, we can’t just...bring him to a hospital,” and silently he adds, only to himself that maybe if Anti was human, he wouldn’t even be alive anymore.

“Dr. Iplier? Dr. Schneeplestein?” Chase asks hopefully, but Dark’s expression doesn’t light up like he hoped it would.

“They’re almost never around. I’m not sure if they’re even actual doctors, either. Maybe they would just do more harm than good.”

Sean wants to cut in that there’s not much worse than being shot in the back and bleeding out with no help, but he keeps his mouth shut. Even if he’s not feeling like himself at all at the moment, Dark is still a powerful demon and who knows what he’s capable of – especially in a dimension Sean is not familiar with.

So, he tries the next worst thing.

“But, he’s immortal, right? So what if-”

“Immortal means he can’t die unless you do or if severe your bond, not that he heals magically,” Dark cuts in bitterly, but without any anger. “In which case the best thing than can happen is he stays like this. In a coma, if you will,” he looks at Sean with something in his eyes that makes him seem human for a moment, and he draws his arms tighter around Anti’s frail frame. “Do you really think I’d want to do that to him?”

“No, of course not,” Sean sighs, and he can see Chase nod out of the corner of his eye. “Let’s just...figure something out. Quick.”

Dark starts walking down one of the corridors without another word, and Chase and Sean follow without a question. Chase catches up to Dark, looking at Anti the whole time with worry in his wide eyes. He wants so desperately to help. Anti is his family. But after a few steps, his shoulders shake, and he falls into step behind Dark again. Sean can’t bring himself to comment on the fresh tears running down Chase’s face.

Time feels strange and Sean can’t keep track of it well. It gives him a sliver of hope, that maybe Anti can hold on longer this way, but he isn’t sure how much he actually believes that, how much trust he is willing to put into the physics of a strange pocket dimension. He can’t tell how long they have been walking when they wind up in another room, almost as dark as the previous one.

There is a bed, a wardrobe and a few cabinets, and a single window with nothing but darkness on the other side. Sean makes a mental note to not go near it.

While Sean looks around, Dark walks over to the bed and lays Anti down carefully. Chase immediately crawls onto the mattress, sitting as close to Anti’s unmoving body as he possibly can. He lowers his head, staring at his brother and looking every bit as still as him.

“Why are we here?” Sean asks Dark after he averts his eyes from the heartwrenching scene. He’s scared for Anti, he really is, and he feels sorry for Chase, but he can’t let that take over him right now.

“We’re closer to the centre here,” Dark states as if expecting Sean to know what he means by that. He realises his mistake as he walks over to the wardrobe, so he explains. “The dimension has a centre, where its energy is more dense and powerful than towards the edges. The room where we arrived was near the edge. I’m hoping that maybe here Anti can...stay alive easier.”

“I see,” Sean says, staring at Dark’s back absently. He doesn’t question all the talk about Anti dying if he’s immortal, because no one knows enough about his kind, about these beings in general to be sure about anything. No one knows if they’re truly immortal or just very hard to kill, no one knows how fragile Anti is on his own or what it would take for the bond between him and Sean to shatter. No one wants to find out, either.

“Good. Go, be near him. He’s tied to you, maybe you being near will help,” Dark adds, digging into the wardrobe and visibly relieved that he doesn’t have to keep explaining something even he doesn’t fully understand.

Sean goes to sit down on the bed, his eyes travelling to the wound on Anti’s chest without meaning to. The room falls into silence.

...and silence is exactly what Sean doesn’t want. It allows his thoughts to gain his attention, and he doesn’t want to think right now. He barely knows what is happening or where he is, a literal interdimensional being tied to his soul (though he had come to accept that part a long time ago) is possibly dying right in front of him for protecting him from Lord knows what...When will he even get home? And how the Hell can he explain all of this to Signe? “Oh, yeah, sorry I’m late for dinner, I got dragged into another dimension trying to save Anti’s life.” Doesn’t sound likely.

He smooths his hand over the covers absent-mindedly, watching as the fabric creases under his fingers. Funny, he could have sworn it was black, but now it looks more like dark red. He doesn’t think much of it. Instead, he turns his head to stare at Dark’s back. Anything but his own thoughts, anything but dozens of unanswered questions that only lead in circles and make him anxious.

He’s thinking about how he’s glad that these beings, Dark and Anti and Chase and all the others, just look similar to their hosts and not exactly like them. He’s glad that when he looks at Dark, it’s Dark looking back at him, not Mark. Because Dark is tall, taller than Sean and definitely taller than Mark, he’s lean and his face is thin, and there’s no kindness in his eyes. And similarly, if you asked Sean he would say that Anti looks nothing like him either, because Anti’s a lot more angular and pointy looking, he’s thinner and his eyes can get so sharp their gaze could pierce skin.

“What do we do?” he asks quietly, not looking up from his hands as he bunches the sheets between his fingers.

Dark stands beside the bed, apparently having found nothing of use in the wardrobe. He watches Anti for a moment before speaking, a humourless chuckle in his voice. “You’re too human even for this strange world.”

“I don’t-” Sean’s voice drowns out when he follows Dark’s indifferent gaze down to his hand. He feels Chase’s silent stare, too. Suddenly he understands why the red sheets had seemed black at first.

“This place has been grey all day,” Chase says, his voice so fragile that Sean has trouble believing it’s actually him. “But it’s not, not around you.”

An idea strikes Sean, and without thinking he hovers his hand over Anti’s arm (his heart jumps when he sees his skin as a more lively colour and how the ashy tint of his clawed hands seems to fade), then places is on his chest. The blood under his hand is warm and wet, and he recoils immediately. Why did he do that?

As he draws his hand away, Anti lets out a tiny groan, and they all freeze in shock, watching if he’s waking up. But he goes still again just like that, like he’s never stirred in the first place.

Sean stares regretfully at his bloody hand. He doesn’t know if he’s done a good or a bad thing, and he also has no idea where to wipe all the blood off now.

“There should be towels in the wardrobe,” Dark says as if he’s reading Sean’s thoughts. He’s staring intently at Anti still, like he believes if he looked away, Anti would disappear.

There’s a whole shelf of towels, and Sean makes quick work of wiping the blood off his hand. He stares at the stained towel in disgust. That blood is the blood of a friend of his.

Before he could throw the towel away and reclaim his spot on the bed, he hears the door on the other side of the room open. From the corner of his eye he can see Dark self-consciously straighten his back, and he turns to see who the visitor is.

It’s Google. He’s wrapped up in his usual artificial glow, and the quiet ticking that imitates his breathing seems awfully loud in the silent room. He looks around with more emotion in his eyes than Sean thought an android could ever muster.

“Anything new?” Google asks. No one speaks, but he gets his answer as Dark turns away to keep staring at Anti instead, looking about as old as he must be – a couple thousand years, probably.

Eventually Sean makes his way back to the bed and sits again, and Google stands near Anti’s head. The minutes that pass seem like hours.

“Sean, you’re turning this world human around you...maybe you could turn him human, too,” Chase speaks hoarsely after a long bit of silence. “I’d rather have him be mortal than to keep him like this forever...” his voice rises near the end of his sentence, then he chokes up. He fails to notice Dark’s pointed stare.

“And risk him dying to his wound?” Dark retorts before Sean has a chance to speak, but there’s barely an edge to his voice. “Chase, even you should know better than that...”

And that’s when Chase breaks. Dark bites his tongue, eyes flashing with instant regret as if he’d just made a child cry, but it’s not his fault. Yet another thought of helplessness was just the final bit needed before Chase couldn’t hold himself together any longer.

The room goes still, and no one knows what to do, and Chase buries his face in his hands and he sobs and whimpers and shakes. He just feels so helpless. In that moment, he’s not a father of two, he’s not a demon who never unlocked his full potential, he’s not some mysterious being in a mysterious dimension. He’s just a normal guy, the most average of bros, who’s losing the only family he still has, and he cannot do anything to stop it. It’s heartbreaking.

Sean doesn’t know what to do with himself. He wants to help, so much, but there are no words of comfort in a situation like this. He can’t bring himself to lie that everything would be alright.

There’s a faint whirring coming from Google’s direction, almost drowned out by Chase’s crying. His eyes are flashing white and his body is rigid as he’s trying harder than ever to find solutions. It’s the only form of sympathy he has to offer.

Slowly, over time, Chase’s crying subsides. He keeps his hands in front of his face and his breaths come in little hiccups that make his shoulders quake, but he’s just a tiny bit calmer. Sean gives him a small smile even if he can’t see it.

In the meantime, Sean has taken to resting his hand on Anti’s arm. It doesn’t appear to have any effect at all aside from bringing back some colour, but that small detail is comforting just the tiniest bit. The black patches of skin are fully gone now, and Anti’s hands look like normal human hands again. Even his nails are trimmed nicely, and they aren’t painted black like they were the last time Sean had seen them, only a few days ago.

It’s a while before anything happens again. The door opens, and once more Dark and Sean are the only ones to react. They both watch as one person after the other files into the room.

The Host is first, looking downright dejected and guilty as if this was all his fault. He blames himself for not seeing what would happen to Anti. Next is Bim, following the Host closely, eyes red and cheeks puffy. It’s obvious that he’s been crying, and it looks like he still might. Lastly, there’s Wilford.

Sean doesn’t need to look to know that Dark isn’t happy. Wilford knows too, and he directs his words at Dark immediately after politely closing the door behind himself.

“Look, my friend,” Dark’s frown deepens a that word, but Wil doesn’t seem fazed. “I may be an a-hole, but even I don’t want him to die!”

After another moment of staring, Dark gives a small nod and turns back to the bed. He has more important issues to deal with right now than playing one-on-one turf wars with Wilford.

Wilford considers that good enough, and makes his way deeper into the room. Everyone gathers around Anti silently.

The Host, his shoulders slumped in defeat, raises his hand and signs towards Dark, Sean and Chase, moving his fist against his chest in a circle. Sorry. Then his frown deepens, and it takes him another moment before he speaks.

“The Host wishes, with all his heart, for Anti to wake up and be okay,” that’s all he can do. Wish. Hope. Because he can’t see.

Dark nods silently, and he’s grateful for those words even if he doesn’t show it. Sean mutters a tired “Me too, buddy”.

Bim finally gathers the courage to sit next to Chase, who still hasn’t recovered from his crying. He glances up curiously as he feels the mattress dip beside him, and he doesn’t pull away when Bim hugs him from the side and presses his head into his shoulder. Bim starts crying again, and soon the two of them, the most human ones out of the group, are weeping silently together. Sean doesn’t notice, but there’s tears rolling down his face, too.

Google still hasn’t moved, but he looks more and more hopeless as he just searches and searches...the internet knows nothing about saving demon lives.

Wilford places a hand on Dark’s shoulder, but he doesn’t look particularly offended when it gets shaken off immediately.

“Y’know, gotta admit,” he sighs, more quiet than he’s ever been. “I am kinda fond of this kid,” he decides he doesn’t want to risk an all-out war with Dark right now, so he doesn’t add the last thought – it’d be a shame if he didn’t make it.

Sean just can’t bear the silence anymore, the silence and those stray sentences that float away without anyone grasping them, and decides that if no one else is going to talk properly, then so be it, he will.

“He came out there to save me,” his throat feels tight, but he swallows and continues. “He saved me from...Lord knows what those things were, and he, he looked so happy in the end.”

Bim raises his head to listen properly, Chase wipes at his eyes, and Google’s whirring slowly stops as he finally gives up the search. They listen.

“He looked so happy with himself once he was done fighting. He just...looked at me and,” he smiles shakily. “he was proud of himself. He did the right thing! He helped me, he saved me...” he swallows again. “I think he really just...wanted to be a good friend, y’know?”

Chase nods along silently, and Dark lowers his head. The Host absent-mindedly signs “friend”.

“Is he...” Bim says, but he cuts himself off like he’s scared of his own voice. He takes a breath and tries again. “Is he going to stay like this forever now?”

“No.”

Everyone’s heads snap to look at Dark, and even Wilford looks genuinely surprised.

“Why?” Bim asks again, because if he’s the one who’s started this conversation, he has to be the one to carry it out. “How do you-”

“Because he’s my best friend,” Dark says, and he does so with so much certainty that no one dares pry after that.

Silence, again. Chase hiccups another sob and wipes at his face.

Then, Anti stirs.

Everyone goes still and just watches, because what if they just imagined that – or what if they didn’t, is it good or bad? Anti’s head rolls to the side and he frowns, and Sean’s fingers twitch with the need to grab him, shake him to wake him up and know if he’s okay. Chase reaches out tentatively, but the moment his hand would touch Anti’s arm Anti jerks and curls up on his side. As he tries to push himself up, his arms shake and he starts coughing, and still no one knows what to do.

Anti retches and keeps coughing, and then there’s blood splattering on the sheets. Chase panics, because that’s so much blood, too much, it’s pooling on the sheets and dripping on the floor and it terrifies him because that’s Anti’s blood. He reaches over, grabbing the back of Anti’s torn, bloody shirt, and he finally manages to pull him up to sit. The fabric rips further under his fingers and he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the feel of dried blood against his skin.

There’s blood running down the sides of Anti’s mouth and dripping down his chin, and he coughs another one or two times after sitting up. His eyes are glassy and he doesn’t seem to recognise anyone around him.

He takes two deep breaths and shuts his eyes tight for a moment, and just for good measure, wipes the blood off his face and cleans his hand on the already ruined covers. Then he opens his eyes again quickly, too quickly, and looks down at his chest – and more importantly at his bloody shirt, black fabric soaked with dark crimson. He visibly freaks out and takes it off as fast as he can, ripping it even further. He tosses it to the other end of the bed in terror.

He has new scars. Star shaped ones, thin lines running into a single spot without leaving a dent, shiny and white. One on his back and a smaller one on his chest to match. Demons scar differently from humans, but it’s all too clear what left those.

Anti takes a few more shaky breaths, trying to calm down as if waking from a nightmare. He blinks rapidly a few times, shuts his eyes tight, then chokes a small sob. A few tears roll down his cheeks and he whimpers in the back of his throat. Then he wipes at his face again, opens his eyes. His gaze slowly focuses on Dark as he comes to his senses.

Everyone is silent and still. They don’t know what to make of the situation, what to do, what to say. Then…a chuckle. Shaky, weak, but undeniably alive.

“So...best friend, huh?” Anti’s lips draw into a small grin, not quite the usual one but getting there, because damn him if he’s not going to try and hide his pain and fear with humour.

Dark looks aside and shrugs. He doesn’t exactly know what else to do.

Anti lets out a little laugh. “I always knew you were sappy deep down, you old fart.”

He would probably say something else too, but before he knows it Dark is sitting on the bed and hugging him tight. Anti doesn’t know what to do for a moment, because Dark is not a hugging kinda guy and now he’s holding onto him like his life depends on it. Then he feels Dark gently knocking him upside the head without letting go.

“Shut up.”

Anti chuckles again, then he finally hugs Dark back as tight as he can, and he’s glad his nails aren’t sharp right now because they would be tearing holes into the perfect Armani suit. He tucks his face into Dark’s neck and smiles against his skin because Dark is his best friend.

When Dark sits back, he has an unusually soft expression on his face. Anti smiles at him, but then his eyes drift to the side and he sees Chase. Poor guy looks even more shaken than Anti, with eyes red and tears still running down his face.

Anti offers him a small smile, too. “Hey, bro.”

The next thing he knows, he’s on his back, Chase on top of him hugging the life out of him. He laughs, loud and joyful and very much alive, and he hugs his brother back. Chase is crying again, full on crying into Anti’s shoulder and his whole body shakes with it.

“I...I almost...almost lost you...” Chase stutters, and suddenly Anti feels really bad. “You idiot...No, don’t you...don’t you dare...say sorry.”

Anti stays silent and just holds onto him until he can sit up again. When he does, Anti’s sitting up as well, and he grins at Chase before taking the snapback that had somehow stayed on his head all this time. Chase lets him, and Anti looks really proud of himself with his brother’s favourite hat on his head.

It seems Anti’s only realising bit by bit how many people are present, because he looks absolutely delighted when he notices Sean sitting on the bed too. Sean smiles at him – everyone seems to be smiling now – and waves, saying a soft “hey”.

Anti wobbles over to him on his knees and pulls him into a hug, because he doesn’t care, he’s so happy and he wants to hug everyone now. Sean doesn’t object.

“Thank you for saving me back there,” Sean mutters, and Anti’s rarely heard him this serious.

“Anytime, man.”

Sean sighs and pats him on the back. “You’re my favourite dumbass demon.”

Anti pulls away laughing and he playfully punches Sean’s shoulder. He feels so happy to be alive, he thinks he’s going to burst.

Wilford seems to be resenting the fact that he’s not in focus, because he loudly claims that “this calls for a group hug”. Bim cheers loudly at that, and the Host smiles.

They all pile onto the bed, clumsy as it gets, and they all but suffocate Anti in one giant hug. For once Dark doesn’t mind physical contact, Bim fights the urge to cry again and Google smiles softly as he props his chin on the Host’s shoulder. And Anti’s in the middle, smile huge enough to reveal his fangs, just radiating joy. Things were scary, he’s pretty sure he almost died, but now everything feels better than ever. He’s just so happy.

After a while they all pull apart, but most of them remain sitting on the bed. Anti’s in the middle, grin wide and his hat knocked to the side. Dark comes back from the wardrobe with a towel in his hands and wraps it around Anti’s shoulders to make up for his ruined shirt for now before he sits down behind him. Anti thanks him and pulls the towel tight around his shoulders.

“So...what happened?” Anti asks. No one responds. “The last thing I remember is that I was fighting to protect Sean from those things, but after that it’s just...nothing.”

Everyone remains silent. The wounds are still fresh, thinking, let alone talking about the hours when they thought they would lose Anti would just hurt too much. Bim suddenly finds his cuffs very interesting. Chase shifts a little bit closer to Anti.

The other reason no one is speaking up is because they actually have no idea.

Google starts whirring, and everyone watches as it gets louder and louder until he slaps himself on the forehead. Anti and Sean are very amused by that ending.

“We’re all idiots,” Google says, and Dark is already opening his mouth because he’s not willing to accept that as fact. Google doesn’t pay him any mind and continues. “We already know that Anti gains his power from attention, and more importantly love, right? I think because we were all here, worrying about him, not wanting to lose him, loving him...that was enough to bring him back from the brink of death.”

A stunned silence settles between them. It makes so much sense. Anti sniffles a little, but everyone pretends not to notice, and Chase pulls him into a hug again to comfort them both.

Dark is the first one to speak. “Now, regardless of that,” he semi-seriously scolds Anti. “don’t you dare pull a stunt like that ever again.”

Anti agrees to try.

“The Host wishes to say that he could not be happier with the outcome,” the Host smiles, and Bim nods along enthusiastically.

“I think we can all agree on that, my friend,” adds Wilford. He earns a rare smile from Dark, but no one dares mention it.

They talk about nothings for a while, because no one wants to mention today’s events but being in each other’s company is comforting. At some point Chase gets his hat back and they get rid of the ruined covers to make sure no one sits in blood. Sean doesn’t mention it, but he notices the whole room seems to be gaining colour.

“Guys, I’m sorry, but...I think I should probably get going,” Sean says after a while. It earns him some disapproving whines. “I don’t know how late it is in my world, but if it really is late, I don’t want Signe to worry. Plus I do want to tell her about what happened to day, and man, I’m exhausted.”

No one really argues aside from Anti’s tentative “five more minutes?”. Sean only laughs and hugs him and Chase goodbye.

“I’ll escort you back,” Dark offers. Anti immediately bounces to get up, but Dark shoots him a glare. “You stay here and don’t get yourself into any more deadly situations.”

“But I’m-”

“Don’t say that you’re fine, I won’t believe you anyway,” and while Dark looks really strict saying that, there’s genuine worry in his eyes. That alone convinces Anti to stay put.

Sean bids goodbye to everyone and jokingly tells them to be good and stay out of trouble before he takes ahold of Dark’s arm and the two of them disappear into thin air.

It’s evening in the human world, and the sun is just setting. They appear near where Anti got shot and leave the scene as quickly as possible. Neither of them want to remember right now.

Dark walks Sean all the way to his house. It’s a bit of a walk and, naturally, Sean won’t stay silent during it.

“Best friend, huh?” he teases, but he’s genuinely curious.

“I might be a bitter old demon,” Dark says without looking his way. “but even I have a heart too.”

“...and Anti stole it?” there’s a small smile forming on his lips. He can’t help it.

“Yeah,” Dark chuckles in a way that makes Sean think “fond”. “that glitchy rascal. Plus,” he shrugs. “that Chase kid needs his brother.”

Sean finishes quietly like he’s able to read Dark’s thoughts. “...and we all need our friend.”

Dark nods. They agree on that.

Sean is long used to having these beings in his life – so is Signe, so is Mark, so are some of Mark’s friends. They came out of nowhere, no one really understands how or why, they’re strange, sometimes scary or funny or cunning or very, very human. Sean is glad he decided to make friends with them. After all, they had just waltzed into his life, first Anti, then all the rest of them, and he could do nothing about it other than make the best of it. He’s happy he did. They’re a strange gang of curiosities, an ever growing family of demons and entities, and damn would he miss them if one day they just up and disappeared. He really hopes that day will never come.

Street lights flicker on as they walk and Dark regards them with mild interest. He looks almost human in the evening light – or maybe it’s just his peaceful mood making him appear so, Sean isn’t exactly sure.

They arrive at Sean’s house in comfortable silence. He walks up to the door and Dark waits a few steps away before he turns back to say goodbye.

“Well,” Sean smiles lightly. “It was nice seeing you again, Dark.”

Dark nods his head with respect, and it’s clear that he’s bidding farewell to a friend. He disappears into thin air the moment Sean closes the door behind himself.

“You too, Sean.”

#jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #darkiplier #chase brody #googleplier #fanfiction #writing #wilford warfstache #bim trimmer #the host #another warning: i'm my own beta #so i apoligise for the possibly endless list of mistakes in this #also this is the longest thing i've ever written and it's almost twice as long as the previous record holder #if anything doesn't make sense it's bc it's all based on a dumb dream #you can find said dream on my or lumi's blog but i won't link it bc posts with links don't show up in tags #i really....love this fic #so please be gentle #also i think after this i'm gonna get back to writing fanfiction #for these fandoms at least #bc even if no one really likes it i know krista likes my ideas and that's probably the most important #and i have a lot of ideas in my head now #trust me if i had started this after google gets an upgrade it'd 100% have bing in it and now i gotta make up for that

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5hfanfiction · 8 years

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Dash Into My Heart - 2

Vero unsurprisingly finds it hilarious when you text her later saying you ended up following your dad’s not-as-stupid-as-initially-thought advice.

[Vero]: WAIT U ACTUALLY ASKED HER BY SAYING SO U COULD PROVE UR NOT PSYCHO????

[Vero]: UR FIRST DATE WITH HER AND U GOTTA PROVE UR NOT DANGRROUS

[Vero]: IM W H E E Z I N G

You don’t get the chance to correct her in saying that it’s not a date. She sends you a seventeen second voice note and it’s literally just her laughing and you make sure to leave her on read for the rest of the night.

There are multiple messages congratulating you for not being as useless of a lesbian as before (which you strongly refute because you weren't entirely useless). They turn into messages of indignation when she realizes you really aren’t going to text back. You stop checking your phone entirely when she resorts to sending you gifs of Kim Kardashian crying.

The next morning rolls around and you’re kind of… giddy? In the least, you’re unusually chipper for someone who hates the mornings and you’re glad your parents have already left for work because you’re more than sure they’d tease you to no end. You obsessively check the time, even when you know that hardly any time has passed since the last time you checked but you at least finally text Vero back.

[Lauren]: sorry I was sleep

[Vero]: since 7 pM????

[Vero]: unlikely

[Vero]: guess u were right

[Vero]: friendship cancelled

[Lauren]: help me pick out an outfit for lunch?

[Vero]: friendship MOMENTARILY resumed

You laugh because neither of you could get rid of each other even if either of you tried. She’s been your best friend since you two could walk and you’re both practically family at this point.

[Lauren]: thoughts?

[Vero]: more like THOTs

[Vero]: ur really not going for subtle huh hoe-regui?

[Vero]: I support it

[Lauren]: ok so I’m changing

[Vero]: unfortunate

[Lauren]: this one?

[Vero]: screams broody hipster

[Vero]: “u prolly nevr heard of my fave band theyre really underground. theyre called the 1975”

[Lauren]: I’m going to ignore that and take my chances with broody hipster

[Vero]: not the worst choice to have made mija

[Lauren]: gee thanks ma

[Vero]: anything to help you impress your new lady friend :)

You roll your eyes at all of Vero’s responses, putting your phone away and checking your outfit once again in the mirror. Not that you’re trying to impress her though. You just want to look… non-threatening. And Camila is like, really pretty, so you want to not look like a hobo next to her. All this fluttering you’re feeling is just insanely high attraction. Yeah, that’s it.

You still had an hour to kill so you figure taking Dash out for a walk would be a good way to pass the time. You smile at all the breaks he seems to need to take because however much energy he has, his legs are just too short to keep up with all of it. He completely tires himself out after about half an hour and finally he just lays himself down under the shade of a tree and you just glare at him with your hands on your hips.

“Really? You’re gonna crap out on me now? We’re literally two blocks from the house, you lazy bum.” There’s no harshness to your tone because Dash is your lil baby and he could do no wrong even if he tried. He’s cute enough to get away with just about anything. So after another minute of him just laying there and blinking at you, you finally scoop him up in your arms and make your way back to the house.

You don’t expect to run into Camila again because it’s a quarter to noon and you wouldn’t think she’d be home yet. Except she’s currently in her driveway, arms resting on the open window of a car with a boy in it. They’re clearly talking and you hear them both laugh as your legs carry you closer. You don’t mean to stare but it’s hard not to because Camila’s back is turned to you and she has to bend over to lean on the car and- look, you can’t really stop your eyes from seeing it so you go ahead and sneak a look.

Your eyes focus back to the boy that Camila’s talking to and you try to stop your face from looking so sour. God, what’s got you all moody? You barely know this girl, she’s not that cute.

(Later you’ll find out that she really is that cute but right now you pretend you have your shit together.)

Still carrying Dash, you’ve made it to your own driveway and try not to pay any mind to Camila and whatever douchenozzle with the mustang that she’s talking to. But of course, Dash notices and barks, squirming in your arms. You set him down and he runs towards Camila, barking lightly in his approach, the younger girl immediately turning around and her face lighting up at the sight of him.

“My sweet baby!” She coos as she kneels to pick him up and Dash is quick to lick her face. You enjoy the laugh that it elicits out of the girl who finally notices you as she situates the dog in her arms.

“Hey Lauren!” Her smile when she sees you is literally so big and you can’t help returning it in kind, giving her a small wave. You hadn’t realized you were making your way towards her until you’re standing a couple feet away from her in her driveway and up close to the car with the boy she was talking to. He’s watching the both of you from the driver’s seat with an easy smile on his face but you insist he’s probably a douche anyways.

“Hey Camila, I see my dog likes you better.” You point at the way Dash is laying in her and arms and tail wagging against her hold. She laughs and kisses the top of his head and you almost audibly ‘aw’ at the sight because holy fuck this girl is cute.

“That’s because I spoil him,” she uses a baby voice as she literally coddles your dog and you hate how you smile as you watch them. It’s fucking adorable, okay?

“Oh, my bad! Lauren, this is Shawn,” she nods her head towards the douchenozzle in the mustang and he gives me a fairly friendly smile that I do my best to return.

“Shawn, this is Lauren. The one I told you about.”

Oh? She’s been talking about you?

“The one with the bat?” Shawn chuckles and you practically shrink because of course that’s why she’s been talking about you.

“I thought you were an intruder!” You insist, smacking Camila’s arm with the back of your hand. She just laughs, sticking her tongue out at you before turning back to Shawn.

“Are we going to hang out this break?”

“Yeah my parents are saving the trip home to Canada for this summer so I’ll be around. Text me whenever you’re free?”

“For sure. Thanks again for the ride home,” Camila nods as her hand scratches behind Dash’s ears. She waves at Shawn as he starts backing out of the driveway, who yells out what you think is a friendly 'nice to meet you’ before driving off. You don’t really want to say the same because 1) you’re officially the girl with the bat and 2) there’s a very petty part of you that wants to monopolize Camila’s time if only to prevent her from spending any of it with him.

Geez what the fuck is wrong with you.

You pull yourself out of your thoughts and face Camila who’s looking at you expectantly.

“So, lunch?”

You end up taking her to this Italian place because you thought taking her to your parents restaurant was just a little tacky (but the food would’ve been free so you keep it in mind for future lunches that may happen).

“Wow, you know the way to my heart don’t you?”

“What?” You stare up at Camila with wide eyes because no- that’s not- you aren’t-

“I love pizza, so you’re doing pretty well on the whole 'making it up to me’ front,” Camila gives you an easy smile and you ignore the way it makes you feel.

“That’s good. Now I have to work on convincing you that I’m not dangerous to be around. I promise I’m mostly normal.”

“Well that’s only mostly reassuring then,” she laughs and it does wonders to help calm your nerves.

“Welcome to Enzo’s, my name is Austin and I’ll be- oh! Hey Camila,” the guy who’s approached the table smiles down at the girl sitting in front of you and you do nothing short of glaring at him. Whom the fuck-

“Hey Austin,” Camila greets with a smile of her own. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Yeah, I started a couple of weeks ago.”

“That’s cool, I could never handle being a server. I’d trip and drop everyone’s food, probably.” She jokes easily and you aren’t the biggest fan of the way she smiles at him. He doesn’t even spare you a glance as he starts fawning over Camila. You just keep glaring.

After some more idle chatting that you tune out because this boy’s voice sounds like a drone, Camila reaches for a menu, seemingly to prompt this Austin guy to remember that he’s at work.

“Oh right,” he seems to finally realize that you’re also sitting there. “What can I get you two to drink?”

“Just a water for me,” you say with a clipped tone.

“Water for me too.”

“No problem, I’ll be right back with that.” He smiles brightly at Camila, probably forgetting that you’re also sitting right there.

“I’m sure you will be,” you mutter under your breath.

If Camila heard you, she doesn’t say anything about it. But she does raise an eyebrow at you but you press forward.

“Another one of your suitors?” You try to come off as teasing but you’re worried your tone makes it sound more as petty.

“What do you mean another?” She looks genuinely confused this time.

“That Shawn guy from earlier?”

The look she gives you says hilariously disgusted and you’re kind of relieved.

“Oh god no, Shawn’s great but he’s also painfully in love with his boyfriend. He’s just the Gay Best Friend, y'know. I mean we’re both the gay best friend so, yeah.” She finishes off her mini rambling with a timid smile and she seems too nervous to look at you. You let out a breath of relief because you hadn’t even considered the possibility that she was straight. But apparently, not an issue.

“And Austin?”

“Oh definitely a suitor, but no interest in that. Gay best friend and all.”

As if he’s just waiting around the corner for one of you to mention him, Austin comes back with your drinks and asking for your order. You realize you haven’t looked at the menu once and turn to Camila.

“Just a personal cheese pizza for me.”

“Yeah, for me too.”

“Great, those will be out shortly,” Austin assures the two of you. You hope he’s not around much more, glaring at him the whole time he’s walking away. When you face Camila again she’s smirking at you and you both seem to let the topic of Austin go.

Camila turns out to be easy to talk to, even if she does more of the talking. It’s nice, letting her carry the conversation because now you don’t have to focus on fucking something up by saying something stupid. She asks you about school and she complains about hers. She’s hoping to hear back from UCLA and Berkeley, along with NYU, she’s even applied to Penn State which you get a little more than excited about.

You tell her you’re majoring in business administration with a minor in music production. She practically squeals because she genuinely thinks that’s so cool. You give her a fond smile because hardly anyone is ever really excited about something like your major and it’s like, really nice to witness.

When your food finally arrives, Austin fortunately has more tables to tend to and doesn’t stick around to try and flirt with Camila. You’re entirely prepared to spill your drink on him at any given point.

Just in case.

But you’re soon distracted by how much Camila manages to eat. She’s not a slob in any measure and it’s not as if she inhales her food but- wow she can really put it away. Where does it fucking go? She’s so damn tiny. It’s only a personal size pizza but it’s still a lot for one serving and geez hers is practically gone and you’re still working on yours-

“Does your family have any plans this winter break?” Camila’s voice cuts through your thoughts and you’re momentarily caught off guard.

“Oh uh, I don’t think so? Unless they’re surprising me with something. But they’re pretty busy with the restaurant and I’ll probably end up helping them some weekends.”

“So I’ll be seeing you around during break then?” The way she looks at you when she asks is a little more than curious and you can’t really tell if she’s smiling at you because she took a bite of her pizza after asking. Is she…flirting with you?

“If you want me to be around, I’ll be around,” you say simply. You hope it comes off as reasonably friendly but also potentially flirty. You think it does when she smiles at your answer.

“Only if you’re unarmed.”

“Oh my gaaaahd,” you groan while laying your head down, resting your forehead against the table. “I’m never going to live that down am I?”

You almost bring your head back up at Camila’s laugh, loud and welcoming. Only almost. Because this is still embarrassing.

“Not in the foreseeable future, no.” Camila’s stopped laughing but you can practically hear the smirk in her voice. “I might stick around solely to patronize you about it.”

“If I knew you were such a jerk I wouldn’t have bothered to apologize, y'know.”

“You would’ve just gone ahead and swung, wouldn’t you?”

At this you finally raise your head again to face Camila and she’s still smiling because she’s not quite done laughing at your situation. But her smile is nice so you think it’s fine.

“I probably would’ve swung. Conveniently excused because I thought you were an intruder. Which is true,” you reason.

“Wow, who’s the bigger jerk here?”

“You! A nice person would’ve understood it was a mistake and that I misread the situation.”

“But it was funny and no harm done so it’s safe to tease,” Camila sticks her tongue out at you before returning to her last slice of pizza.

That’s not how I want you to tease me though.

You shake your head of your thoughts because totally not the time. And definitely not the place.

“You’re an ass. You’re paying for your own food,” you stick your tongue out to her in return.

“Woah hey, I was totally kidding. All jokes are done, no more teasing, I promise!” She gives you a toothy smile that is not at all convincing.

“Unlikely, but okay. Do you have any plans for your break then?” You kind of (really) hope she doesn’t.

“Probably just get dragged to a few parties my friends want to go to.”

“Not into parties?”

Camila scrunches her nose, shaking her head. “Not really. I don’t hate them but I need to really be in the mood for one and when it’s too crowded it stresses me out because I can’t be for sure about an escape route. And also the possibility of getting trampled.”

“I- oh.” It’s all you can say because you weren’t expecting that answer. “Well that makes sense when I think about it. I like parties better when I’m high.”

“Never tried at a party. Maybe I’d like them better if I were high too,” she muses.

“That can be arranged,” you offer. She simply gasps, dramatically clutching her chest.

“First attempted assault and now illegal substance use? You may be mostly normal but you sure are a bad influence, Jauregui.”

“You just said you’d try it!”

“I am a child of god, too good for the devil’s lettuce,” Camila says calmly, straightening her posture and turning her nose up at you. She looks and sounds a little ridiculous and you kind of want to kiss her.

“Devil’s lettuce? You’re so full of it shit. You’re probably a huge sinner,” you insist.

“I’m pure!”

“Lying is a sin and you’re also gay so you’re basically a huge heathen,” you smirk as her jaw drops in disbelief.

“I didn’t realize dragging me is your way of making it up to someone,” Camila grumbles and you’re so completely endeared when she pouts that you almost apologize. Almost.

“So you agree? You’re a filthy and impure sinner?”

“Anyways, where’s the check?

You might have been a little worried about how lunch was going to go because Camila is really cute while simultaneously being really hot and you’re kind of easily distracted. But she laughs the whole time and she’s easy to talk to in the way that banter isn’t forced and jokes don’t go too far. It went really really well and you may or may not be driving just above the speed limit to make the ride home as long as possible, short of making a giant ass circle around your neighborhood.

The ride is full of her dramatically performing each song on the radio and you’re almost upset that you had to drive because you want to be able to properly see her act like a complete idiot. At some point along the way you consider how at ease Camila seems to be, belting songs out in your car as if she hasn’t just met you. And you figure that yeah, she makes you a little nervous, but she’s also really comfortable and you haven’t felt like you needed to second guess yourself at all. You don’t realise it but you smile the whole way home.

When you park (in your own driveway), you decide to talk Camila to her door because that’s polite, right? No ulterior motives.

"So, how’d I do?” you ask as you approach her front steps.

“What?”

“Making it up to you. How’d I do?”

“Well considering you called me a filthy heathen earlier, I’m gonna have to say not so great,” she gives you a playfully disapproving look. “I guess you’re just going to have to make it up to me some more.”

She’s looking at you with a lopsided grin and you bite your lip because now you definitely want to kiss her. And honestly if you don’t get your hormones in check-

“Oh geez,” you start. “I have to spend even more time with you?” You pretend to be completely burdened with the idea and you’re pretty sure she sees right through you, if the excited smile on your face is any giveaway. She lightly shoves your shoulder but she giggles too so you know it’s okay. You’re both standing in front of her house now and you’re practically waiting for her to tell you to leave because you can’t seem to say bye.

“Well, do you maybe want to come inside so you can finish making it up to me?”

And you really hate yourself sometimes because you have no business turning her words into something they’re not. The innocent look she gives you makes it clear that she doesn’t consider how… suggestive her words are and you’re left with your mouth hanging a little and staring. Because you are very much aware of how suggestive it sounds and now your mind is so far deep in the gutter imagining Camila-

“Lauren?”

You realise you must’ve been staring for some time because Camila gives you a strange look and you immediately clear your head of those thoughts.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about if I had anything to do today.” You mentally high five yourself for avoiding looking like a complete ass.

“Oh, well if you’re busy we could just hang out another time-”

“No, I’m free,” you say a little too quickly. You clear your throat and speak a little slower this time. “Y'know, so we can get this over with,” you motion with your hands like you’re waving her off. She swats at your arm and rolls her eyes as she turns to open her front door.

“Oh whatever you already love my company, I can already tell.”

“Uh huh. Okay,” you nod dubiously, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Don’t be an ass, this is just like that time you almost swung a bat at me. Do you remember that?” she sends you a cheeky smile as you two enter her house you stop right at the doorway.

“Wooooow, I suddenly remembered that I have to go vacuum my…roof.” you say without conviction, glaring as best you can at her.

Camila throws her head back in a throaty laugh, reaching for your arm when you pretend to turn to leave (because you both know you’re going nowhere).

“Nooo, I was kidding. I’m sure your roof can stand to wait another day to be vacuumed.”

“Mm I don’t know,” you pretend to contemplate. “It’s kind of been a while since anyone’s done it.” You have to mentally hold yourself together when she pouts and you’re literally seconds away from taking it back when she speaks up.

“Okay fine then. I already love your company. So stay? Just for a lil bit?”

What she’s giving you right now is a practiced puppy dog look, you can just fucking tell. She knows- she fucking knows what it does to people. If you weren’t already going to stay anyways, this would’ve been what convinced you. Not that it would’ve taken much since you’re a sucker for a cute girl and Camila is downright adorable. Who loves (!!!) your company.

“I suppose I could stay then,” you sigh dramatically as if you aren’t mentally squealing. “You know, since you like me so much.” Nudging her shoulder with yours, you give her a shit eating grin and she’s back to rolling her eyes at you.

You figure it’s okay to admit to yourself (and only yourself) that you like Camila’s company just as much.

A/N

wattpad: @taller-smol

thanks for reading babes

#UPDATE #series #AU #camren #humour #romance fluff #submission #Dash Into My Heart

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