#but keep the pretty header and colours and such

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

OH MY GAWD YOUR THEME IS SOO CUTE HUN! ♡

THANK YOUUUU!!! ♡♡

[targaryenluvs]

VICTORS SPOILS

pairings: dark!finnick odair x fem!capitol!reader

warnings: obsession, following/stalking, creepy behaviour, naive/younger reader, age gap, (reader is 19 and finnick's around 25), non-con touching and kissing, manipulation, bj mentions/insinuations, sex mentions, prostitution mentions, finnick lowkey preying on you - descriptions of brown reader (i was self indulgent since i’m indian 😁) condescending/nit picking mother and pushy parents!

summary: a victor should be celebrated! a victor should get what ever they wish, even if it’s a sweet capitol girl who misplaced her kindness in someone who was in desperate need of reprieve and distraction.

a/n: ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!! HERES A GIFT FROM ME TO YOU ❤️GUESS WHO MADE HER OWN LITTLE HEADER GAHH!! i tried my bestttt - ive been away for a littleeee!! sorry babes <33 it was like 3am and i cooked this up in my head before opening my brewing pot (notes app) and jotting it down - NOT PROOFREAD

the hall was so loud.

they always were at capitol parties. your mother and father always dragged you along, stating that a young lady should be getting out, meeting people, friends, becoming well versed and established in the capitol. and that they wouldn’t always be here. “you need to learn to be alone, fend for yourself and stand your ground. how are you gonna do that if you’re always trying to keep to yourself dear?” your mother sweetly smiled as she looked over you, “i think you still have time to change that dress, not the most flattering sweetie.”

you scoffed as she walked away ever so elegantly. you looked over yourself in the mirror, the green dress was gorgeous, to you at least. but the blue dress your mother had chosen was breath-taking, as much as you hated to agree with her opinion. so you bit your tongue and put the chosen dress on.

mother knows best right?

the sun was setting with an especially beautiful array of colours to which you figured no one would really notice you were gone if they were all focused on something else. there was probably a screen upstairs which you could watch something on. a few things to eat and drink then you’d head up there.

finnick was glancing over to you the whole night. you’d worn blue, and he’d taken it as an ode to him. you hadn’t looked over at him yet but your leaving of the party seemed like an invitation to him to finally introduce himself.

as you settled down on the plush couch you felt all your tensions melt away. but finnick wouldn’t leave you alone for long. “i’m sorry i didn’t know this was occupied.” finnick looked sad and you had no clue why, so being as nice as you are had you opening the room in invitation to him. “no, no! i just wanted to get away from the party. you’re welcome to sit with me finnick.” it felt odd to you for some reason, calling him by his name as if he was a friend. you’d only ever seen him through screens and from afar yet he looked as amazing as always.

“are you sure?” you nodded and smiled, moving down the couch to make room for him. he sat down, respectful of your space. he looked drained and you felt the same way. “tired of the party?” you asked as he smiled and nodded, “a lot of people asking a lot of questions.” you spoke, “everyone has something to say or ask. my dad told me he got three men asking for my hand. we haven’t even been here for two hours. it’s like being in a room with vultures. and if i do accept i’ll just be, nothing. someone stuck to the side of some ugly guy who just wants a pretty face.” you didn’t know what it was about him but you felt as if you could tell him anything.

and he sat, and listened. nodding his head and adding it where appropriate. it felt, nice. having someone actually listen to what you said rather than just asking what you were wearing. he was nothing like what you expected. you’d heard the whispers. that he was a playboy, he was with and had been with multiple women and men over the years. and that he liked it, the gifts, the people, the uhm, other aspects.

“but you, i’m sure you have people to meet, scope out.” you wanted to curl up and die as soon as the words left your mouth. “no! oh my god, i do not mean it like that. you- i- you should not feel ashamed of what you like. i am so sorry- i didn’t mean to imply-” god would you stop droning on? finnick pressed his lips into a thin line, “hey it’s okay. you’re fine. in all honestly, i know everyone has mis-conceptions of me.” you took his place in attentive listening as he explained the truth.

the threats, the people pawing at him, him being sold from fourteen.

you were crying. it all sounded unbelievable and unbearable for someone to go through at such a young age, his life was ruined all because he was pretty, desirable. no child should even have to think of such things let alone experience them. and rather than you comforting him, he was sitting with his arms around you. he was too good to be true.

“i- no i’m so sorry that happened to you finnick. i had no clue, no one does. you are such an amazing person, from the little time i’ve known you. you don’t deserve any of this. how could you get away from this? we could- we could expose snow we could-” finnick cut you off with teary eyes, “there’s nothing we can do. trust me, if there was i would have tried. but i think, if i got married perhaps. i’d have a reason to stay away from the captiol. we’d live in district four, in peace.”

the idea was pretty decent, you’d give him that. and you couldn’t help your heart running a little faster at the prospect of potentially marrying him. you were already fast friends, at least you’d marry a friend? even if he potentially loved someone else or you loved another.

“what if- if you married me?”

he’d hoped you’d say that.

“you’d do that for me? seriously?” finnick faked shock as you nodded, “we’re friends, i’d much rather marry you than anyone else here to be honest. we could be happy.” you smiled as he wiped away his last tear. “y/n, that’s an amazing idea.”

your wedding was marvellous.

your parents pushed out buck after buck, no expense spared for their little girl. as if they actually cared for you. your wedding dress was white and pristine, courtesy of snow. your brown hair in curls and your brown skin glistening. but you added blue accents for finnick, or you thought you did. it’s not like he pushed for you to wear the things he bought by incessantly reminding the makeup artists and helpers that you were marrying the finnick odair, his wife deserved nothing but the best.

you stood infront of a friend, smiling, happy to be marrying a kind soul.

he stood in front of the object of his affection, his desire and love.

in the first few weeks you were undeniably happy, finnick was as sweet as ever and respected you. it was your best outcome. but overtime you seemed to notice changes in his behaviour. when you’d want to go out into town for dinner he’d always have an excuse up his sleeve.

“there’s roadworks towards your favourite restaurant honey. maybe another time?”

“apparently they’re all booked out, maybe in a few weeks time?”

“wouldn’t you rather have a home-cooked meal? i made your favourite sweetheart.”

it began to annoy after the sixth time. “it can’t always be busy can it? we use to go all the time, and it’s not like they’d refuse you finnick. what’s going on?”

“i give you everything you could ever want. why the hell do you want to go out so much? am i not enough? are you- are you seeing someone?” finnick slumped in his seat.

your eyes widened as you rushed over to him, settling on your knees as your hands were placed on his thighs, “finnick how could you say such a thing? i would never do that to you. i swear there’s nothing going on, i just, i’m bored. i’d like to go out with you, explore your district with you, meet new people with you.” finnicks eyes burnt into yours. this is certainly not how he first wanted to see you on your knees, but at least you were whining.

“yeah? you like me? you promise there’s nothing going on?” you nodded dumbly, “yes yes! nothing i promise.” finnick looked down at your hands in his lap, “how do i know you’re not lying?” your hands were on his knees as you straightened your back, coming closer to his eye level, “i promise finnick. you are my husband, i’m with you. i’ll do anything to prove it to you.”

finnick was fighting off every muscle in his cheeks to not start grinning whilst the sad look on his face was breaking your heart, “yeah? anything?” oh this was going to be good. your cheeks were flushed as you heard the words come of out his mouth, “undo my belt sweetheart, show me how much you mean it.” wavering hands hovered over his belt buckle as finnick relaxed into his seat, it couldn’t get better than this right?

wrong.

every time you asked to go out, to meet a friend, to go to the capitol he’d always sulk. and the night would end with you on your knees, him on his to make you forget, or the two of you tangled in sheets.

finnick was finally happy, he had the girl of his dreams after such a long period of sadness, of exploitation and terror. fake smiles and lingering eyes.

he finally got something out of the games.

and his gift?

the victors spoils.

[z3rinn]

# #. BATHTUB MERMAID.

in which your daily walks on the beach have been becoming more eventful as time passes. But after finding a certain scale, you feel as if you’re being watched at every turn.

this was a little unedited idea I came up with for halloween!! I wrote that Azul has scales when octopi dont- so uh-. slight yandere content up ahead !! hope you guys enjoy !! also- new header !! wdyt??

❝ rise and fall silver moon ❞

You never believed in mythical creatures.

The beach had become a safe spot for you throughout the years. It was still and serene; a place where life's problems sunk into the deep ocean before you.

The ocean had always been mysterious. It was a deep and spacious space, the beginning of life so to say. It held a sense of tranquility, yet alongside that, unpredictability.

The Sea held emotions. It could be violent and vicious, yet benevolent and peaceful. Perhaps this is what led to your fascination with the sea and its inhabitants. It's creatures.

The ocean reflected beauty, showing the world its colors and scales, it was a place creatures could thrive. However the deeper you go, the more terrifying it gets, showing what could be awaiting you in the unknown. 

The human imagination was vast, and could come up with many creatures and ideas. There were vampires and werewolves, Cryptids and Ghosts- all fantastical tales made up by the imagination.

The Sea had its own creatures as well, mermaids, yet similarly known as sirens. They were fantastical stories, usually depicted by sailors and legends. They were beings similar to humans, well, only half of them that is.

They were only half man, with long beautiful tails from the waist down. They were akin to fish, luring others with their songs and beauty. Their majestic colours aiding them.

A fishermens tale, as they say. You didnt believe in the stories, no matter how scary they could get. Scientifically it couldn’t be proven.

However, these legends didnt deter you from the ocean.

Now, on a dark night like this, where the silver moon lit up the sky, there shouldn't have been anything to worry about. It was an ideal night, peaceful and soothing.

The wind breezed across your face, brushing against skin and cloth. It was a chilly night, the cold ocean and air made a combination that was welcomed.

You walked slowly across the shore line, feeling the sand between your toes. It was soft and rocky, a texture you had frown accustomed to. The sand had significantly cooled compared to the burning heat from the morning, it felt nice against your skin.

You glanced behind you, seeing how far away you traveled from the lifeguard. You couldn't help but take notice of the tide that erased your footsteps.

It was if the world was erasing you.

Well, you wouldve thought that if it were for the black scale that washed up on shore.

And wow was it pretty.

You gently picked the scale up, rubbing off any remaining sand in the way.

You gaped in awe, cradling it in your hands. No way this could be real. Not with how beautiful it was.

The scale reminded you of an obsidian stone. Smooth and soft to the touch. It oddly resembled hard candy in your opinion.

You turned it over, noting that it was also very shiny. It looked like holographic sparkles with the way they shone against the moons silver light. Shifting it back and forth you could see bits of purple and blue reflecting in the moonlight.

It seriously looked like a jewel. Perfectly crafted and precise.

Hm.

You pocketed the scale. Continuing on with your walk. It's not like anyone would miss it right? In the end it was just another scale. No one would miss it.

You had keep reminding yourself of that. As the feeling of someone watching you became more apparent.

❝ mirror covered in chalky steam ❞

Showers weren't uncommon to take when coming home from the beach. In fact they were usually welcomed and desired.

Although going to the beach almost everyday you still couldn't get used to the feeling of sand everywhere.

It was so uncomfortable.

The need to get the grimy sand off was strong. And the urge to just pour clean water all over you was overwhelming. You just had to clean yourself of this dirt.

A light sigh escaped your lips as you stepped into the bathroom, ridding yourself of your clothes while turning the water on. Luckily this time you didn't go for a swim, so just a quick rinse would suffice.

But alas with some more thought you decided, sometimes a long bath was nice once in a while.

Grabbing your phone, you put a playlist on. The one you specifically made for your long walks on the beach. It could still work good enough, right?

A smile formed on your face as you stepped into the bathtub, hot water enveloping your body. It was a nice contrast against the beaches cold air.

You sunk deeper into the tub, unknowingly letting sleep sink its claws deep into you.

The last thing you saw was an array of sharp teeth above you, a soft, yet comforting voice lulling out a song. A pair of gold and grey eyes hypnotizing you, a spell to put you at ease. To sleep.

However, you were too far gone. And while your heart lept with adrenaline and fear, the drowsy feeling wasn't going away. No matter how much you screamed at yourself to get up you couldn’t. You could only feel yourself sinking deeper and deeper into the water around you.

And you could've sworn you felt a hand cover your eyes.

Slimy and webbed.

❝ touch me, touch me, kiss me to sleep ❞

It was another day at the beach. Another day where the cool air brushed across you, consuming your being whole. It was a quiet day- or was one.

You glanced over at the sea from your spot under the bright blue parasol, contrasting the dark sky. Waves crashed, yelling ensued. All fun and games it seemed.

Being at the beach usually meant a time just for yourself. However this time you accompanied by your brother- and his oddly annoying friends.

Usually on days like this you relaxed, watching them play with a volleyball like they were in the big leagues. You'd only ever get up when someone hit the ball too far off- being ever so kind to help them out.

Just as you were doing now.

A groan left your lips as you stood up, watching the beach ball drift further away from you. It'd be a run to get it.

Your feet patterned against the sand, moving into a slight jog to catch up with the ball. However, every time you begun to creep closer to the ball it drifted away. It was weird.

It want long before you caught up to the ball, the wind blowing through your hair as you observed your surroundings. You'd stopped in front of the monstro cave.

The monstro cave, a place where many had gone 'missing'. Apparently a place so deep that many generations got lost in its caverns.

You'd never believe these legends of course, there was absolutely no reason to. If the cave was so dangerous, why hadnt it been blocked off yet? And with modern technology it wasn't hard to get help if ever lost.

However, it wasn't hard to get frightened by the cave. The legends and vibe of the corridor could easily freak someone out.

Almost everyone was scared of the cave at some point.

You glanced up into the cavern, noting the cold air that poured from it. Before stopping in your tracks.

And your heart sank.

A yellow eye stared up at you from the darkness. A singlular eye. Staring. Watching.

It was wide, and almost downturned, glowing in the darkness as it just watched. It gazed deeply into your form, never breaking contact with your eyes.

You could hear the ocean water crashing behind you, almost as if it was angry.

Your body screamed at you to move, your heart pounding in your chest. But you were frozen still.

The eye squinted, scrutinizing your form. A gut feeling hung over you, whoever it was took pleasure in your horror.

You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move. You had to move---

You slowly stepped back. A shaky sigh left your lips, the sense of fear washing over you, tenfold. Perhaps it was time to go.

Yes, you never believed in mythical creatures. But it was hard to forget all these encounters.

❝ im a bathtub mermaid ❞

[imyourbratzdoll]

𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓

🍓the strawberry shack masterlist🍓

summary - after a hunt, dean decides to go and relieve some stress with one of the sweet girls at the strawberry shack.

warning - smut, oral sex, gloryhole, swearing.

18+ only please, the gif and headers I use aren't mine.

Warnings and Reminders - Please do not plagiarise, copy, repost/republish, adapt, or translate any of my work on any social media platforms, apps, or third-party sites. The only platforms I post my work on are: Tumblr and Wattpad. I do not own any character of any franchise (Marvel etc.) All my works are fiction and may be dark or triggering content: READ ALL WARNINGS BEFORE PROCEEDING.

The sound of Dean’s Impala can be heard as he drives up and parks, turning off his car and getting out. Dean grunts, looking around before heading to the pretty coloured building. He smirks at the woman sitting at the front desk, handing over some cash before heading to the room he needs to go into. He looks around, surveying each female before he heads over to you and begins to undo his jeans, groaning as he wraps his large hand around his thick member. 

“Hey, sweetheart.” He grumbles, pushing his cock through the hole. His head falls back as you lean forward and begin to lick his swollen tip, humming around him as your mouth opens wider, swallowing him deeper into your awaiting mouth. “Your mouth is like heaven, sweets.” He rests his hand and forehead on the wall as you take him into your throat. Your tongue swirls around his swollen tip and throbbing base, tracing the prominent veins before flicking the slit where his pre-cum drips out. 

You begin to focus on his tip, swirling your tongue around it before you wrap your lips around the large mushroom tip, sucking hard and slow. Taking your time with the big thing, savouring his musky taste, your hands move up and down his thick base, squeezing and twisting your wrist. You feel yourself dampen at the moans that pass his lips, wondering if he is as sexy as he sounds. You moan around his cock, sending vibrations through him, causing Dean to let out a series of swear words. You slowly take him deeper, sucking and gagging as his tip hits the back of your throat.

“Son of a bitch! Shit, sweetheart! Sucking me so fucking good!” Dean groans, and his head falls back as he pants. His eyes roll to the back of his head, and his cock twitches as his end approaches. “Shit, shit! Sweetheart, if you keep sucking me like that, I’ll cum!” He groans, pathetic whines escaping him as you continue to take him deeper, swallowing around him and sucking harder. You want to taste him. “Fuck!” Dean huffs, his balls tighten, and his cock throbs before thick amounts of cum shoot out of his swollen tip and into the back of your throat. You swallow, humming in joy at the taste of his saltiness before you lick his cock clean and slowly pull away after there’s no more cum. Dean pulls himself out of the hole and tucks his softening cock back into his jeans. “Thanks, sweetheart. You are heavenly.” He taps the wall twice before heading out and back into his car, driving off with a plan to return soon.

thank you for reading!

feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

[alaezasmystery235]

rules, disclaimer and notes ☆

[ Disclaimer ] : this reading was made for entertainment purposes only. this is obviously a general reading so takes what resonates and leave when it doesn't, you don't need to force your energy to read this and leave such a bad comment just to say it doesn't resonates with you at all because the answer is very obvious!

lastly, be happy and enjoy reading my works — feedbacks, comments, likes, reblogs and follows are really appreciated by the reader. (that's me, lol :3)

[ source and creditable ] : All of the pictures are collected and downloaded from 'pinterest' i don't own any of them but credits goes to the rightful owners however edits goes and belong to me only @alaezasmystery . I use the editor tools canva and kapwing for the header and divider.

Extra credit to @daninixx for giving permission to use her rules and disclaimer.

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ＰＩＬＥ 1

LOVES LOVES LOVES Coffee

Has long hair , straight and soft

Winter is prominent , May have their birthday or it's their fav season . Also loves Christmas !!

Height is between 5'10 - 6'1

Plays guitar or takes singing lessons

Work related to healing , crafting or humanity

Has an outgoing personality. But doesn't indulge in social functions often

May have a brother or sibling whom they trusts the most

Loves beaches and spends time in solitude

Smells good and has a clean cut , Muscular fit .

Their spirit animal can be Bear and Spider

Very very good at sex .

Green Blue eyes . Specs are coming for some .

Has won some medals or prizes on sports such as swimming , yoga or HITs .

Loves savory foods and often dines at fine restaurants

May keep charms or souvenirs for luck . I'm getting some kind of family heirloom

Aesthetic Vibes :- Softcore & 90s

Their handwriting can be small in font and slanting .

Places I got = Turkey , Israel , Japan

Zodiac signs = Taurus , Sagittarius , Aries

ＰＩＬＥ 2

Quite different from your usual types

Has a big friend circle / Friendly & Outgoing

Loves astronomy . Possibility of being a starseed.

Full of surprises and enjoy life to the fullest

virgin and have a high sex drive

Height can be between 5 '7 - 5' 8

Fashionista . Loves mainly caps and bracelets

Divine Connection . Has witchy vibes .

Loves animals and wants a pet

Curly short healthy hair . Black and Red are prominent .

Graduated . Has some kind of major . OR just finished college

Not too old & young . Age between 22- 27 .

Loves Cars and bikes in colours blue / White .

Aesthetic vibes :- Dark Academia & Glam

Always on the GO !!! Doesn't like lazy people .

Has some mommy issues .

Intimidating , Majesty and model vibes

Loves to compose either books or music

Very pretty hands and nails

Places I got = USA , Florida , Brazil , Northampton

Zodiac signs = Leo , Scorpio , Aquarius , Pisces

©️ @alaezasmystery 2023

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[beedesigns]

My Favourite VS Code Extensions

This actually started with a conversation about favourite VS Code themes which got me to thinking. But as always I had to be that little bit extra. So, here are a few of my favourite VS Code extensions that I think would be particularly helpful for new coders or folks just starting with VS Code.

These are in no particular order! I've tried to keep the list to extensions that help read your code and make thinsg pretty. There are hundreds of extensions for almost every type of code, but I wanted focus on ones for beginners. Ones that won't encourage you to become too lazy relying on shortcuts. So, with no further ado, here we go:

Colorize

This extension will highlight any colours (hex, rgb, hsl etc) in your code.

Auto Rename Tag

Okay, this one might make you a little bit lazy. Sometimes you need to switch things up, and that can start to get complicated if you're working on a lot of code. This extension will change the opening or closing tag name paired with the one you manually change. It prevents mispellings that will break your code and makes life easier.

Spellcheck

Ever typed heder instead of header? Or justfy-content instead of justify-content? Well, this extension will help pick up on those typos and keep your code clean (and working!).

Indent Rainbow

This is such a small thing, but possibly one of my favourites on the list. Indent rainbow does pretty much what it says on the tin, adding a coloured line down the lefthand side along the indent of your code. It looks pretty and helps easily keep track of where you are.

Color Picker

Who doesn't love beautiful colours? Colour Picker lets you choose all the beautiful colours you could want without having to leave VS Code.

HTML Checker

This extension helps prevent errors by checking your code against the W3C Markup Validation Service searching for errors. Great of avoiding issues further down the line. Useful for beginners and pros alike to be honest.

Rainbow Brackets

I tend to find this one more useful in javascript, but it's good for everything. I used to use another, also called Rainbow Brackets but that's been depricated, and I like the default colours in this one. There are a few, so shop around.

Prettier

This extension forces a set format on your code, keeping things neat and tidy. It can take a little getting used to but the documentation is pretty good. Helps build good habits, keeping things uniform and easy to read.

These are just a few of the ones I've personally got installed. As I mentioned, there are hundreds of different extensions. Many of which will do the same thing. So, make sure you have a look around and find what works best for you!

Which extension would you recommend for a beginner?

[rxmye]

I know this isn't a request but how do you make your blogs so aesthetically pleasing?😭😭 they r so pretty!!!

THANK YOU FOR ASKING?? LIKE I TAKE THAT AS SUCH A BIG COMPLIMENT? Okay so, sdosefjeo heres a few small things I like to do with graphics and shit.

Borders!! Make sure to always have borders, I find that this helps keep shit super organized !! Personally, I prefer thin borders, chonky ones makes it a bit errr not so yummy.

For pinned posts, I try and not make them too long? Long could also work, depending on the header you choose, I usually slap 3 pictures, from the same manga/manwha that are the same size so it fits well, and doesn't look disproportionate, you could also do two manga covers !! (Covers are usually more maximalist, esp if u use the edited ones you can find on pinterest!!), if you choose to go for one picture, I recommend something thin, like a long rectangle. (This is preference, honestly for me I'm super picky)

For fanfic headers I tend to form a border, because it looks nice to me, and I usually just layer it and add in a blur feature, or change the saturation and shit, mainly use pixlr and play around with what they say have.

And for the over all colour scheme, I usually use graphics from the same editor, so the theme is consistent, and use one of the photos, put it through image colour picker and use the colours from it to colour my blog, it helps keep everything consistent, yk?!!

[lemon-natalia]

Nona the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 1

oooh and now we have another countdown - this time its five days until the tomb opens! which is both concerning and mildly confusing given Harrow already opened the tomb

and a new image for the chapter header - not an animal skull or a skull at all but a cave with chains over it! presumably representing the tomb itself which in of itself is very intriguing

‘Late in the year of nobody she really thought of in particular’ hah, take that John

ok so Nona’s dreaming of a painted face … the first two immediate options that come to mind are Gideon and Harrow, clearly. in a body of water, could it be the River? or possibly, if the ‘her’ in ‘her hands’ she’s talking about is Alecto, it could be the saltwater of the tomb?

so far the first thing thats struck me is just how sweet the relationship between Nona and Camilla is 

‘A beaker of violently orange liquid, radioactively orange even in the dark’ what the fuck kinda eggs are these guys eating

and Nona has black hair! very long black hair which grows fast, which very much suggests that this is Harrow’s body, given what Ianthe did to her hair last book. this also pretty much rules out another initial theory i had for Nona, which was that she might have been in Gideon’s body, since we know that was picked up by the BoE last book

and another point for being some kind of amnesiac Harrow - Nona appears to have a lot of issues with eating 

Okay … so Camilla and Pal are sharing Camilla’s body, kind of a reverse of Gideon-in-Harrow last book, but not quite given that they somehow seem to have swapped each-others eye colours. it’s not just that they’re sharing a body, since Gid & Harrow explicitly retained their own eye colours, but some kind of other situation

hmm Nona seems relatively upbeat, but there’s a lot of conversation about militia links and black market goods, life wherever they are doesn’t seem all that great tbh

and they’re hiding something about the overall situation they’re in from Nona, and its very unclear whose side they’re on. given the end of the last book, the fact they seem to be in some kind of hiding on a non-House planet, I doubt they’re fully with the Emperor/Nine Houses. but then they definitely don’t seem to be onboard with, and have a very uneasy relationship with, the Blood of Eden, especially given the whole kinda-Lyctorhood situation they’ve got going on. 

and there’s an awful lot going on here. they keep mentioning a search and recovery mission, which begs the question for what exactly are they looking for. it can’t be the Tomb or anything because its pretty well known where THAT is. and Pal and Pyrrha have very different philosophies on whatever’s happening - Pal seems to want to help some kind of situation with people trapped in barracks, while Pyrrha thinks its not worth it. and on top of all of that BoE is not quite one cohesive group as it was described in HtN, there’s some kind of inter-organisational conflict going on. 

‘I know how to farm … I can teach you and Nona’ rip G1deon who never got to live his Stardew Valley dreams. Locked Tomb: the Farming Simulator when?

also it is interesting that even G1deon, seemingly the most loyal of the Emperor’s lyctors (or at least the only one seemingly not actively trying to kill him) still had a backup plan and wanted to run away to just lead some kind of a normal life

and they need masks of some kind? and Nona’s immune - more points for her being Harrow, or at least in Harrow’s body, Nona’s body clearly works like a Lyctors 

oh shit there’s a mysterious blue light in the sky that’s ‘periscoping’? It could be some kind of surveillance but i think its far more likely to be the seventh Resurrection Beast, which is there for … some reason? Lotta questions raised just in this one chapter

[corpseaten]

YANBL͟R͟ ͟I͟N͟T͟R͟O͟D͟UCTION

౨ৎ. Sylv or Sylvie . ?!

𓏵 ﹒she / her eighteen ⸝⸝

⌣ 　 unlabelled. & "⠀ single !

⠀⠀⠀… ⠀◞⠀ isfj + angelkin . . ;

my yandere type is ; dsmt

Less aesthetic part down here , more information about me! You may recognise me, through the way I talk or about information about myself, but if you do, I would prefer you not tell me! I have dated one person in this community but! they were not good to me, which is why I am on a new account , I will be using this account to put my thoughts and feelings out there, and maybe to interact with others on here. I do tend to keep most people at arms length, If i feel distant with you please do not take it to heart. I only have it in me to show my real self to a lover. I do not have one yet, but I am claimed, so, make of that what you will.

I am a yumeshipper — I see myself with characters, for those wondering my main yumeship is Chae Yul . . but once I am interested in someone I cannot think of anybody besides them, so this is a problem with an easy solution.

My inbox is open if you would wish to speak to me or learn more about me, I do not mind, I can be formal in the way I speak so I hope such a thing will not be bothersome. If I ever do get recurring anons, they will be listed here.

( 🍀 )

I do classify myself as a yandere, and I have BPD — this affects my reactions to certain things so please do forgive me, I am a pretty full on yandere mentally, but then very submissive in my actions, i do not take something because I believe I should just be happy with what I’m given and never ask for more, I am more of a pathetic stalker who will never advance, happy in the shadows when out of a relationship and am manipulative / guilt-trip when in one, I prefer my partner to be the more violent leaning one. . . Useless things to know about a stranger, but, it is my blog so I will talk about whatever I like! Despite what I said before I am also a himedere , i want to be pampered and looked after , despite never asking for it, though I am less of a himedere than a yandere though, so I can survive without it. Please do not ask what is going on in my brain as I do not know how I am like this!

If you are wondering about why this accounts theme is pink and based off of Columbina — I just happen to like the colour pink and am an angel myself, I do not believe I act or type the way my account theme is.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Trigger warnings for my account.

yandere themes (can get extreme) , violence , things that hint at nsfw topics (such as hierophilia), kidnapping , stalking , mental abuse & manipulation, religious themes, blasphemy, corruption, suicide, actual toxicity, unhealthiness , I do endorse everything I post about — why would I be on yanblr if I didn’t.

⠀ ⠀Do not Follow! (it is okay to like / reblog my posts)

> If you are under the age of 16 I do not want you here, you can interact with my yanblr posts of course, but, I feel uncomfortable having people too far younger than me actually trying to see my posts.

> If you consider yourself an “irl darling“ (switches are good!) , you are just an attention seeker sweetheart, do you not know how bad it hurts to have extreme feelings for somebody that they dont even share?

> If you are wildly older than me, such as being in your 30s to 40s, that is just too old for my liking.

> If you fetishize yanderes , I will just block you.

> If you follow me and only reblog / post nsfw, that is okay, though I will not be following you back as I do not want to see that whenever I open this app.

Credits for post layout &&. header

[aoikitty]

Hi Aoi! I'm Luna- I know it's been a bit since you first posted your art, but I wanted to say welcome to the Lu fandom! It's a great place :)) we like arson

I am curious- where is your pfp and header from-is it your art?? It is very pretty :D

Also you seem very cool and I like your name. I envy your pinned post and with your tags-I'm still trying to figure all that out XD

I think you are amazing and you matter /gen

<33

Oh my gosh hello and thank you!! Sorry for responding 2 weeks late- I totally missed this in my notifications o(-(

And yes it is my art! Pfp is a drawing of my Sona I did a while ago in my sketchbook (highlighters & ballpoint pens, my most beloved art supplies <3), the header was a mixed media piece I did for an art show with my class!

Not sure how well It shows up on photo, but it has two separate layers of canvas for a 3D effect! Unfortunately the colours aren’t nearly as vibrant in person (water colours just aren’t made for super neon colours 😔) but im still super happy with it!

I have a bunch of other misc art from my sketchbook & such that I’ve been meaning to share so maybe I’ll start posting that here if people are interested

And yeah I totally get it with the tags and such- i wanted to make sure I keep things organized here right from the start. I never made a proper art tag on Twitter so my media tab has become a fucking MESS & it drives me crazy- I can’t let that happen here too LMAOO

[f1-giuki]

Ao3 Masterlist:

Hello readers *in James May's voice* and welcome to the masterlist of the fics I wrote/ I am writing! There are playlists and song recommendations for each fic!

I hope this post will be understandable and not too ugly!

1. A Sunday Kind of Love series: an ongoing series of fics set in the Emilia Romagna countryside, tons of fluff. They can be read alone. playlist.

1.1 Hearts of Gold : 9.4k words, summer fic. playlist. fic post.

Plot: One late afternoon in August Charles sat on a very pretty round bale, eating a slice of watermelon, white sunscreen on his face, cursing himself for having stained his last clean white t-shirt. He was having an unexpectedly good summer break, for someone with his bad luck (his fiat panda was holding on for dear life under the sun, much like his Ferrari F1-75, so this might be a stretch). To be honest, being on holiday in the Emilian countryside shouldn't have been his first choice of vacation, but he needed something different, something unusual that could take his mind off of racing for a while. But he needed a distraction, not a way to forget, so he chose to stay close to Maranello, his second home, but just in another province.

And something different he found indeed, someone rather than something. Someone with blue eyes and the constant need of sunscreen.

1.2 Moka Pot Mondays : 4k words, blurbs and slice of life. soundtrack.

Plot: The Italian countryside is the setting, Summer break the time and Lestappen are our main characters.

1.3 Cosa Sarà? : 9.2k words, end of summer break AU. playlist.

Plot: Charles sat on the side of the dry canal, in the field opposite to that which held his first kiss with Max. He would have sat with the Dutch in front of their field, but a tractor harvested it one afternoon and now only pointy golden thorns populated that lonely field. It felt like a prelude to a new chapter. Life goes on, like that song says.

And so Charles turned around and watched the alfalfa field and smelled the little purple flowers from a distance, complicit with the wind. The Monegasque was a nostalgic and a romantic person, the Regency era would have loved him dearly, and that field contained all the shades of the memories he held dear during his holiday. From the green of his old bike to the different shades of purples that tinted the fresh fruits he ate, passing from the blue of his lover's eyes.

That little field was going to be embroidered in his heart, like the hand on the small of his back, or the mischievous grin on Max's lips.

1.4 September : 8.5k words, set during the September European triple header. playlist.

Plot: August came to an end, some say sipped away like a bottle of wine, and with it ended the summer break. The Formula 1 season got back on track, for the last European races. This however didn't stop Max from tightly planning confessions, weird coming out moments and some unfortunately needed therapy sessions.

Luckily for him Charles Leclerc, his stubborn Charles, had other plans, such as casual homoerotic times in hotel rooms surrounded by fans, getaway cars to eat sandwiches and sheepish heart-eyes.

And maybe, with a lot of food, support from their stupid friends and some ABBA songs, maybe the two idiots will be able to finally say those three little gigantic words.

1.5 you're as beautiful as my home : 8.1k words, the fall and winter vibes are finally here friends, playlist.

Plot: The 2022 F1 season ended and Charles couldn’t stand the loneliness of his flat without Max or the flights to Italy inside grey clouds bringing rain around. So he decided to keep himself busy, having fun in Max's plane, causing the Formula One world to wonder if he could be a queer icon during podcast interviews and buying a house in Italy.

Max is right there by his side, befriending old people, providing perfectly timed songs, unwanted opinions about paint colours and homemade French fries and cakes, mostly enjoying the colourful chaos of Charles’s mind, with his cheeks red from Daniel’s teasing.

Or a set of stupidly romantic episodes starting from the 2022 Japanese GP

1.6 I would never take my eyes off of yours : 25.2k words, the April break au, playlist.

Plot: Max doesn’t exactly love spring. Well, we should say he doesn’t like certain aspects of it, like the insane amount of pollen flowing around in the air, next to bees, flies and all the other insects that exchange the blond mop of his hair for a flower bush.

What he loves about spring, though, is the warm sun, the spotless blue sky, cut only by the white traces of planes, and trees in full bloom. He also loves when Charles drags him to countryside festivals and dinners, when he composes new things on the piano, when Charles fights him after suggesting he should bleach his hair and especially when he gets on his knees.

Max should really change his mind about spring... 

2. Homeward Bound : 74.4k words, 12 chapters, completed, Magic/Urban Fantasy AU. each chapter has a playlist, c1, c2, c3, c4, c5, c6, c7, c8, c9, c10, c11, c12.

Plot: Max Verstappen liked many things, like playing the piano, jazz music, Star Wars (Mark Hamill, comrades, say no more), his new flat in New York City, Daniel's cuisine and Charles Leclerc, the cute ghost that flies in his living room. He didn't know if that made him a necrophile or something (Sebastian says it doesn't, it's just a confirmation of his being a bisexual disaster).

Max moved to New York to follow his dream of being a jazz pianist but he would have never imagined that such a transatlantic move would imply the discovery of a magical world he always lived in but always ignored. Or that he needed to fight people with an enchanted sword to stop the fucking Apocalypse and being able to date Charles, but yeah, another day in the New York City life.

3. The Sting series: what happens when top-tier Interpol detective Charles Leclerc and world-class thief Max Verstappen (or as he's known in the field: The Dutch Baron) cross paths?

3.1 You could hang it in the Louvre : 10k words, one shot, art theft AU. soundtrack + bonus.

Plot: Charles, a young Monegasque, is one of the top detectives for stolen artworks in the Interpol organisation and hates with a borderline homoerotic passion the Dutch Baron, an art thief who keeps on ruining his career plans.

Max, a young Dutch, is one of the most wanted thieves on the globe and Charles’s archnemesis. He’s kind of an idiot, hence the idiotic nickname he chose for himself after his first big heist, the Dutch Baron.

What happens when Max’s new and biggest heist goes let’s-say-not-exactly-well and Charles sees his face for the first time?

3.2 Late night devil, put your hands on me: art theft AU, 6 chapters, completed. soundtrack, fic post.

"Do you want to know what is more incredible?" Max asks, staring at Charles' full and round pecs without any shame.

"What?" Charles asks, enjoying how Max's cheeks get redder and redder as he licks clean the fork.

"Stealing the Nine Pieces of Eight, with me," Max says and Charles drops his fork in the plate.

"The Nine pieces of eight? Isn't that like a legend? The owner of those artworks is unknown…" The Monegasque asks, furrowing his brows.

Max grins and rolls his eyes.

"I know a guy..." Max says, pulling Charles close by the elastic band of his boxers.

or: World-class thief Max Verstappen asks Interpol Detective Charles Leclerc out on a date (to put on the world's most complicated heist ever conceived) but things never go as planned.

4. Red, White & Orange-Nassau : 54.9k words, 9 chapters completed, Royalty AU. fic post.

Plot: Diplomatic accidents don’t necessarily happen because of political feuds, sometimes they happen because a certain rockstar can’t shut his mouth at a royal wedding and the Crown Prince feels the need to obliterate his idiotic face, with those gentle green eyes and that stupid dark eyeshadow he always wears.

Said European crisis, as the New York Times put it, is more likely to happen if those in the room fighting are Charles Leclerc, frontman of rock band Moonlight, and Dutch Prince Max Emilian van Orange-Nassau Verstappen, the two eternal mediatic rivals.

But what if the fight ruins the short streak of good press the Dutch Royal Family got, what if suddenly the Dutch public opinion stopped liking Max, what if Charles’s reputation starts cracking too and with it his chances to win a Grammy?

What if this leads to a fake public truce and an equally fake friendship? Could this be the start of something at court or just the beginning of the end?

5. Fast and loose (and all that jazz) : 2.2k words, one shot, older sugar daddy Max, young sugar baby Charles.

plot: Max comes home from work and Charles, his sugar baby/young boyfriend, has a surprise waiting for him, a surprise made of red lace and dirty talk.

6. When I kissed the teacher (under the mistletoe) : 23.2k words, one shot, kid fic, uni professor Max, young dilf Charles. playlist, fic post.

plot: The Monegasque waits for a second before inhaling roughly and speaking.

"No, but I need two favours, actually, Professor," Charles says, keeping his head on the desk.

"Uhm, yeah?" Max asks, scratching his head.

"Could I call you Max just for my next question?" Charles asks.

"Uhm, a little unorthodox, but if it's relevant to your point, yes, you may, Charles," The Dutchman answers, his pitch raised just a bit.

Charles bangs his head against the desk once again, nearly cursing before speaking again.

"What I wanted, Jesus, sorry, what I wanted to ask you, Max, was if you'd like to go out, on a date, with me?" Charles asks and he doesn't dare look at Max to see his reaction.

7. If you'd have been there (if you'd have seen it) : 3k words, one shot, sugar daddy Max, sugar baby Charles. Christmas special! fic post.

plot: Max comes home after yet another problematic situation at work and Charles, his sugar baby/young boyfriend, has prepared a very kinky and tight Christmas gift for him.

8. Something to give each other : 6k words, two chapters, completed, lestappen rule 63, landoscar, friends to lovers. Valentine's special! fic post.

plot: "You know, you should just talk to her, Max, you’d be surprised how a conversation can solve things!” Oscar repeats for the fifteenth time that day. He’s chopping some tomatoes up for his famous tomato soup. 

Max huffs on the couch, sadly hugging her stupidly big IKEA bear. They named it Carlos, just because Lando thought the IKEA employee at the register was called Carlos and was hot.

“That's rich, coming from you, Mr I pretend to be straight instead of telling Lando I'm bi because then I fear he'll friendzone me intentionally!” Max points out.

9. Evil under the blossoms : 11.6k words, one shot, lestappen, florist Max, detective Charles, fluff. playlist, fic post.

plot: Max shows Charles the way to the plants lab. 

"That's where I think the robbery happened. These are the shelves where I keep the single flowers, this morning the tansies spot was empty. That is the greenhouse, but there are no missing plants in it. Then the rest of the lab here is a mixture of trees and different plants, the bushes that disappeared were there. I track in the register everything I sell, and I never miss a day, I'm-

"A plant nerd?" Charles jokes with a teasing smile. 

"A plant nerd, yeah..." Max answers blushing. 

or 

Max is a florist and one day flowers start disappearing for his shop. He calls Charles Leclerc, private investigator and childhood crush, to help him solve the case.

10. Prepare for trouble (and make it double!) : 19k words, 2/5 chapters, lestappen 1970s tennis au, interview format, playlist, fic post.

plot: The Davis Cup has always been the most important international tennis competition for national teams, but from 1970 to 1980 the tournament was renamed "International Cup" and moved on a continental-basis. For half of that decade, the European team was the team to beat.

These four iconic players, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, George Russell, Esteban Ocon, under the guidance of Austrian tennis legend Torger ‘Toto’ Wolff, wrote one of the most epic pages of global sport.

After all those years, they have no more qualms in revealing the secrets and the stories of their time in the funky and undisciplined Dream Team (alongside an incredible amount of gossip concerning Verstappen and Leclerc).

This interview tells their story and the story of the strongest tennis team in the world.

11. Brat Summer : 3.5k words, one shot, spideypool lestappen, deadpool max and spiderman charles, smut, playlist, fic post.

plot: “You mean to tell me that Sebastian Vettel, Iron Man, the guy who just saved the universe, was worried about me? And asked me to go on a mission with fucking Deadpool for my safety? I call bullshit!” Charles shrieks, nearly crying, the Avengers consider him a baby, he might as well behave like one.

12. First Impressions : 38.2k words, 3 chapters, completed, pride and prejudice lestappen au, girl!charles au, eventual smut, fic post.

plot: Miss Charles Leclerc, the daughter of a country gentleman, meets Mr Verstappen, a rich gentleman who owns land, at a ball in a nearby town.

At first, Charles is resolved to hate him, thinking him proud and full of prejudices against the people of her rank, but, as her life erupts in is various turmoils, her feelings start to change.

13. Dripping wet : 5.8k words, one shot, maxoscar, misuse of grindr, pwp, fic post.

plot: Oscar's bathroom sink is leaking and he needs a flathead screwdriver to fix it. Luckily for him he found a nice makeshift plumber on Grindr under the name of 'Max'.

14. Wanna know what I got goin' on down there? : 4.7k words, one shot, maxoscar, pwp, Max has a dick piercing, playlist, fic post.

plot: "He got it, Lando," Oscar says, blushing and making a face.

"What? Motherfucker disease?" Lando asks, raising an eyebrow.

“A piercing...” Oscar tries to explain, taking a steadying breath. This is the moment where Lando will call Carlos to ask for the number of a good exorcist.

“Max has several of those, Oscar, be more specific,” Lando complains.

"He got it there..." Oscar whispers, turning around, as if afraid of someone listening to him, making Lando's face light up with laughter.

15. Are you thinkin' 'bout me? (I'm kinda thinkin' you are) : 4.4k words, one shot, lestapstri threesome, pwp, Max gets a tongue piercing, fic post.

plot: Charles Leclerc is in his hotel room, sending him borderline erotic pictures of his boyfriend. He didn’t know his dirtiest fantasy was just waiting for him in his hotel room.

16. Prompts : tell me a song you love at the moment, an f1 pairing you like (whatever pairing!!!), and if you want fluff, smut or angst and I'll write you a blurb inspired by the song!!

[restlessmaknae]

you’re my fireflower [k.s.h]

As a medic, you would have never let an unconscious, bleeding boy die in front of you, but by saving him, you actually tie yourself to him for life.

➳ Characters: soldier!Seunghun x female!reader/you

➳ Genre: romance, fluff, comedy, fantasy, magical realism, kingdom au, hybrid au

➳ Words: 14.7k

➳ Warning: mentions of blood, wounds, cuts, minor character deaths, attacks

➳ A/N: This story was inspired by Seunghun’s red hair, hence the header from the 458 MV. I hope you enjoy it because I truly enjoyed writing this story. A poll is up at the end for possible spin-offs. Thank you so much for reading! ❤️

➳ CIX taglist: @wccycc, @dat-town​

As a medic, you were used to treating wounded people, sometimes even half-naked wounded people, but a fully naked person was new even to you.

However, when you heard a loud thud as if something had crashed into your wooden house, you couldn’t just sit still and do nothing. Birds flew against your walls a lot of times, especially at nights when the dim lights outside didn’t provide enough light for them to be able to differentiate between your house and the rest of the woods. Cons of living beside the woods included frequent encounters with more or less wounded animals, but the pros included being close to herbs and flowers that you collected to make creams and lotions in order to treat the citizens of the kingdom.

On the other hand, when you walked out of the house (prepared with a wooden stick in your hand in case it wasn’t a bird after all, but a bigger animal) and you caught sight of a totally naked guy in the mud, you literally froze in place. He had some scratches on his face, there was a huge cut across his abdomen and his arms seemed bruised as well.

When you cautiously walked closer to him, an alarming thought crossed your mind: what if he was dead? It would still not explain why he was totally naked because even if he might have been defeated by an animal in the woods, it was highly unlikely that he would be rid of all of his clothes including his boots. You contemplated whether or not you should wait for Hyunsuk to come back from gathering night-blooming flowers, but he had just gone out, so it was unlikely he would come back anytime soon, and the boy in the mud seemed to be losing blood from his abdominal cut pretty quickly. The flashback of your parents bleeding out in front of you came back, and you shivered, not wanting history to repeat itself. That helplessness, that desperation…

As if anything could make the situation worse, it started raining yet again, and as the raindrops came in contact with the boy’s body, his scars seemed to darken in colour. You didn’t know what was happening - just who he was or what he was -, but based on your medical experience, it wasn’t good. Even though you didn’t specialise in magical medicine, you had a feeling that it wasn’t a good sign that his scars were changing colours, so you crouched down to the stranger, threw his arms around your shoulder and started dragging him inside the house with you.

Since there was no way you would clean him up when he was losing blood this intensively - it was enough to bear the sight of his naked body -, you laid him on the ground beside the fireplace to warm him up and put a blanket over his body, so that you could concentrate on treating his wounds while not having to look at him from the waist down. His chest was rising up and down extremely slowly, but you didn’t know what happened, so you didn’t know what to do for him. You tried to gently nudge him in the shoulder, then you patted his cheeks, but he didn’t react to either. You were really, really hoping that he wouldn’t die in front of you.

You touched his forehead to see if he had a fever, but he didn’t seem to do so. You tried to take care of his abdominal cut first, but he was bleeding so rapidly, you felt searing tears sliding down your cheeks. He couldn’t die, you had to save him. You wouldn’t be able to keep living peacefully if you let someone die after how your parents had died in front of your eyes. You just couldn’t. Fear already engulfed your mind the moment you had caught sight of him, but now you were basically terrified, so you tried to work as fast as possible.

You continued on by disinfecting his scars that seemed almost black in the flames’ light, so you wondered whether he was attacked by a werewolf for it was said that werewolf’s bite caused black marks. Though you had no recollection of werewolves inhabiting the nearby woods, so you didn’t think that it was possible. Your brain was trying to come up with more and more scenarios as you were tending to his scars, trying with a fireflower lotion in hopes of aiding blood circulation as fireflowers helped to regain one’s strength and energy.

When you got to his arm bruises, you swore your eyes played tricks on you because the scratches on his arms didn’t seem black, they were a dark ruby-red.

“I must be going crazy,” you mumbled to yourself as you put on some lavender-infused drops on his wounds. Lavender was said to soothe the skin, and it worked for all kinds of injuries: burns, bruises, inflammation, rashes and so on. So whatever he had been through, you hoped that it would help him.

After that, all you could do was lean over him and pray for him. You instinctively put your hand on his abdomen as you were crying over his body. You felt an odd sensation going through your fingers, your whole body becoming numb as you were weeping over him for god knows how long. A wave of fatigue rushed over you as if you had been drained of your energy, and you felt dizzy. You really, really wanted to save him, but what if it didn’t work?

When there was another loud thud by the doors, you almost jumped back from the boy’s body on the floor, thinking that it was another random stranger. As it turned out though, it was only Hyunsuk fumbling with the keys to the door as his fingers were slippery due to the rain.

“I swear that it’s always me who gets to pick flowers at night when it’s raining. I’m getting tired of it. Maybe someone actually cursed me or-” Hyunsuk started complaining the moment he made his way inside, and you didn’t dare to interrupt him because you didn’t really prepare an explanation for the recent events.

When your brother walked into the room and caught sight of you crouching beside a boy whose naked upper half was exposed, he was understandably shocked.

“What did I miss? Who is he? And why is he half-naked?” Hyunsuk raised an eyebrow challengingly, lacing his arms in front of his chest as if he was the older one out of the two of you, and you weren’t his older sister. “Don’t tell me you’ve brought a guy over while I was away,” he added with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and if you had your wooden stick from before, you would have surely launched it at him.

“Does it look like I brought him over when he looks like this? Do you think I even beat him up?” You exclaimed frustratedly, your tears drying on your face as you pointed at the bruises on the boy’s body only to realise that there were no bruises on his face anymore. The bandage around his abdominal cut was also less bloody than before. The cuts on his arms seemed to heal quickly as well. At least, you thought so. “Wait a minute…” You held up your hand, waves of shock going over your body. You couldn’t hallucinate his bruises. You weren’t crazy. They had been there just a few minutes ago, and there’s no way your medicine helped him to recover so quickly.

“It’s okay. You can continue. I’ll just pretend I’m not here-”

“He’s unconscious, Hyunsuk. I didn’t do anything to him and I wasn’t planning on doing anything to him, okay? Just listen to me without interrupting me, please,” you said through gritted teeth, throwing one last confused glance in the stranger’s direction before straightening up and explaining the situation to your little brother from the odd noise outside as if something had crashed into your house, finding him in the mud naked and bruised to raindrops changing the colour of his wounds. Then, you pointed out that he didn’t seem to have any wounds anymore even though you had surely seen them before.

Thankfully, Hyunsuk didn’t play you for a fool, instead, he listened to you with growing concern. Just like you had suspected, Hyunsuk was also pondering whether this guy had something to do with magical medicine as the whole blood changing colour didn’t make sense to either of you.

“It doesn’t really make sense to me. Let’s say he was drunk, but why would he go around naked in the woods while drunk and then crash into our house?” Hyunsuk mused, just as perplexed by the facts of the recent events as you were. He examined the guy on the floor as if it was an unknown plant you had never seen before and didn’t know of its use, his serious self resurfacing. “Wait, look!”

When Hyunsuk exclaimed, you turned your head towards the stranger, and your jaw dropped. It wasn’t enough that his bruises were now actually gone once and for all, the bandages turning back to their original white colour, but his previously pitch-black hair was slowly turning ruby-red. Lock by lock, soon enough, his whole hair was displaying a vivid burgundy colour.

“Uhmm, what did you give him?” Hyunsuk blurted out teasingly, and you smacked him in the chest. Though when you did so, you felt a rush of fatigue coming over you yet again. Maybe you should sit down or go to sleep soon. That night there was already a lot to take in.

“I didn’t give him anything that would turn his hair a different colour. I only put fireflower and lavender on his bruises.”

“Well then, we are either both hallucinating or this dude isn’t reacting normally to non-magical medicine.”

There were two types of medicine in your kingdom: magical and non-magical medicine. Magical medicine was mostly used on the members of the royal court including the royal family and the royal army, plus magical creatures that lived in the woods or in the mountains - such as fairies, unicorns and such - or serving the kingdom - such as dragons guarding the palace. Non-magical medicine, on the other hand, was used on humans to treat their wounds, and that was what you practised with Hyunsuk. Magical medicine was also extremely rare since only magic practitioners could deal with it since they were the ones born with the ability to tame magic, but even they needed thorough practice and extensive training to be able to make use of their abilities to their full potential. Magical medics were also almost exclusively serving at the palace.

Since you and Hyunsuk were no magical medics, you used herbs, plants and other natural remedies to treat those who came to ask for your services. You didn’t have the ability to tame magic, nor did you help magical creatures. However, since you knew what was normal in your practice and what was not, the stranger’s blood changing colour and his bruises going away in the matter of minutes were definitely not normal, and you both knew it.

At this moment, the stranger’s eyes flicked open and he sat up to reach up with his hands (though he was merely grasping air), his whole body tensing in the act. He focused on nothing in particular, and it was as if he didn’t even see you, didn’t even see what was going on around him, he acted more like a person awakening from a nightmare.

“Run!” He exclaimed, desperation dripping off his words before he fell back to the ground, his chest heaping up and down in a more uneven rhythm.

You and Hyunsuk blinked at the scene, more puzzled than ever before, and you probably waited a few minutes in silence until you dared to speak up.

“Maybe he’s actually drunk,” was what your little brother said, but he still offered to look over him for the night in case the burgundy-haired stranger woke up again and attacked you. You highly doubted that he was drunk or that he was capable of hurting someone, his previous act looked as if he wanted to warn someone about a possible danger, but as to why it seemed like that or what was it about, you had no idea.

So you let Hyunsuk keep his eyes on the stranger, you were tired either way. So tired that you fell asleep the moment you fell into bed.

You usually offered medical services in your house since your herbs, lotions and other medical remedies were stored in a separate storage room inside, but you couldn’t let visitors in until you had a naked stranger (still with a blanket covering his body) in your house. Even though Hyunsuk decided to move him from the living room to his own room, you couldn’t risk someone catching sight of him and questioning you or the stranger waking up and causing trouble. So you listened to the citizens’ concerns and symptoms on the terraced front, putting out some chairs to sit on, and if you needed something from inside, you went into the storage room and got what you needed.

Since Hyunsuk and you usually took turns offering services, it was unusual that you were on your foot all day, helping patients, but your brother insisted on watching over the stranger instead of you.

“It’s enough that you’ve seen a guy fully naked, and you aren’t married,” he had mentioned sulkily, and even though he wasn’t a very conservative boy, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t overprotective when it came to you. Especially after you had lost your parents, and you had only each other now.

“It’s not like I’ve purposefully wanted to,” you had counter-attacked, letting out a huff. You couldn’t have believed that it had been what he had been fussing over, but you had decided not to go against his words when he had offered to watch over the stranger.

So that’s why you were out treating patients all day, and when they asked why they couldn’t go inside, you said that Hyunsuk himself was sick, so you didn’t want them to catch anything. It worked though, they didn’t question your words, only a few younger girls were sad to hear that it wouldn’t be Hyunsuk who would be helping them out. Your brother was indeed popular with girls.

At the end of the day, when you asked Hyunsuk if anything had happened, he said that the stranger had seemed to wake up, grabbed Hyunsuk by the shoulders and told him to ask for help, then fell back into the bed like the night before when he had exclaimed to run. His body temperature seemed to rise after this, but it went back to normal a few hours later. A few of his locks also turned back to pitch-black, but when you stole a glance at him at night, half of his hair was still bright burgundy.

He was breathtakingly beautiful, you had to admit, with his sharp jawline, his high cheekbones, his plump lips and his charismatic aura. There was just something about him that pulled you in, but you knew better than to trust a pretty face. He might have looked gorgeous, but he was still a stranger you knew nothing about.

“Do you think something might have happened to him, and he’s having flashbacks?” Hyunsuk mused out loud that night when he came out of his room to have some warmed-up porridge with you.

“I guess so. It’s definitely odd that he’s suddenly awakening and exclaiming such alarming things. On the other hand, it’s also really odd that his wounds are no longer visible, and his hair is changing back to its original colour. Just who could he be?”

“Or what could he be?” Your little brother topped your question, and he was saying something for you knew that this was definitely not a normal occurrence. He couldn’t have been a magical creature because such creatures didn’t have fully human forms. However, his hair and super fast healing definitely had something to do with magic, so maybe he was a magician practising his skills in the woods, it’s just that whatever he had been doing the night before had backfired? That was the only logical solution you could have come up with, but that still didn’t explain his naked self.

Either way, nothing happened that night and the following morning. Everything was just like the day before, and you were about to go inside for some water since you didn’t seem to have more patients waiting outside when Hyunsuk came out of his room. More like ran out of it.

“He woke up, and he wants to talk to you. He seems pretty stable to me,” Hyunsuk notified with ragged breaths, and you furrowed your eyebrows in question.

“Me?”

“Yeah. Come on!” Your brother prompted you, but before you would have done so, you put out a sign saying that you were closed for the time being and closed the front door.

When you went into the room, you didn’t expect to see the stranger in clothes, but thankfully, Hyunsuk had seemed to give him some of his clothes although they were a bit big on him. His hair was also back to fully pitch-black, and he seemed conscious and awake, not tormented by any flashbacks.

When his eyes landed on yours, he eyed you for a second, and you thought that he would be intimidating because his gaze was deadly, and you felt like you could drop to your knees if he wanted you to. He had that aura around him, it was nowhere near his ethereal, peaceful aura when he had been sleeping. However, in the next second, his lips curled upwards, and his whole face softened.

“I’ve heard that you were the one who found me,” he stated matter-of-factly, his eyes still on yours. Gosh, his gaze was really intense, you wanted to look away, but you could already feel Hyunsuk tense up beside you, so you didn’t want him to think that you were more uncomfortable than you should have been. He seemed as harmless as one could be.

“Oh, yes…”

“Thank you so much. You’ve saved me. I’m very, very grateful for that,” he continued gently and did a whole 90-degree bow. Your hand flew to your mouth, and you exchanged a puzzled look with Hyunsuk. He was so polite as if he had been someone from a high rank.

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just… I just did what I felt like was the right thing to do,” you explained to him, a bit bashful after his sincere gratitude. You definitely didn’t expect him to be so well-mannered and collected, but maybe it helped that he was all healed now, fully clothed and he had a natural colour to his hair. He looked less intimidating this way.

“I’ll repay you both for your assistance, but before that, can you tell me what state I was in when you found me?” The stranger looked at you expectantly after straightening up, and you were sure that you were blabbering at this point, but you tried to describe the situation as best as you could. He thanked you yet again when you brought up the fact that you had taken him in from the rain, and when you mentioned what kind of medicine you had used on him first. The pitch-black haired boy hummed as he was listening to you, but slightly giggled when you mentioned him being naked.

“I’m sorry about that. That’s out of my control.”

If anything, that just made you even more confused, but sensing that you had nothing more to add, Hyunsuk picked up the storyline from where you had left off and told him about the past two days including the change of his hair and his wounds healing fast. The stranger didn’t seem surprised by it, if anything, he seemed neutral, he only seemed alarmed when you had told him that he had been here for two days.

“I need to go now, they’re already worrying about me,” he announced firmly, and you didn’t have the confidence to ask who he was referring to. However, before any of you could speak up, the stranger continued. “You two need to come with me, too.”

“We don’t even know you. You could be a criminal.” Hyunsuk threw him a glare that usually worked on those people who didn’t take no for an answer, but the pitch-black haired boy didn’t waver. If anything, he seemed apologetic about having brought up such assumptions.

“I’m sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Seunghun, and I work for the royal palace. I’m the prince’s most trusted soldier.”

“You mean, prince Jinyoung’s?” Hyunsuk emphasised in shock even though there was no other prince at the royal palace. The King and Queen had two children: prince Jinyoung was the first-born and princess Jinhee was the second-born.

“Yes. I was in a carriage delivering a message to the neighbouring kingdom when our carriage was attacked. I told the coachman to run and ask for help, I’ll deal with those who attacked us, but I don’t know if he has managed to notify anyone,” he explained thoroughly, and you could feel that Hyunsuk was ready to doubt him, but he shut his mouth close when Seunghun got to the end of his monologue.

Oh. Oh, that made more sense. Not just his actual identity but the flashbacks he was having. It didn’t explain why he was naked, but you could take it for what it was: an explanation.

“Why would you need us to come with you after this? Are you still in danger? Are we in danger now?” You eyed him tentatively, and your heart skipped a beat in fear. Did you get yourself into trouble because of him? Were these attackers looking for you too now? How serious was it?

Seunghun shook his head. He looked away for a moment before he looked back at you, and even though he was trying to keep up with his friendly approach, you could sense that what he was about to say made him feel uneasy as well. His face hardened, and his lips quivered a bit before continuing.

“It’s not about that. You have to take an oath to the royal family that you would not tell anyone about what you have seen.”

That didn’t seem so bad in your opinion, but Seunghun still looked at you as if he had been asking for a lot. You could see that he was struggling within himself, and despite not knowing him, your heart did a silly little turn out of concern.

“Why can’t you just take our word for it? We won’t tell anyone that a random naked guy just crashed into our house,” Hyunsuk insisted, his judgemental tone resurfacing. He was usually the one who could tell people off because he didn’t like putting up with people’s nonsense whereas you were more soft-spoken.

“Not even about my hair changing colour or my wounds disappearing? Or my wounds turning to black in the rain? Or why was I naked in the first place?” Seunghun asked, almost weary, and the air around you shifted completely. It was icy, rigid and doubtful. Not something that you would have expected from the soldier with the warmest smile.

“Well, we won’t,” you spoke up feebly, trying to appear as confident as you wanted to be. “It may seem odd to us, but since we don’t know why these happened to you, we can’t tell anyone,” you reasoned, and Seunghun let his lips curl into a bittersweet smile. It was a sad little smile, as if he had already had this conversation replayed in his head before he knew what you were about to say.

“That’s exactly why you need to take an oath. You can’t tell anyone what I am because I’m not supposed to be alive. I was killed by those attackers, but I still survived because I’m a phoenix.”

A phoenix. That couldn’t be. Magical creatures didn’t have human forms.

“I’m not even supposed to exist, not in this form, but I still do, and one of the reasons for that is because I’m tied to the magical medic who saved me. I can heal faster and be reborn if the magician’s powers and fireflowers’ effect are combined, but this time, it wasn’t him, it was you who saved me,” he added without batting an eye, and looked straight into your eyes. Your heart literally skipped a beat, and you were frozen in place, your mind shutting off.

“But… we are no magical medics,” Hyunsuk blurted out instead of you, and you were thankful that he did so because you didn’t have the will in you to speak up.

“Or you merely think so,” Seunghun tilted his head, then took a step closer to you. Hyunsuk protectively took a step closer to the soldier, but he got the message and stepped back. “You said my wounds started healing when you started tending to my wounds. If I can get recharged with magic and fireflowers, my wounds heal within minutes, even if they are serious. If you don’t have magic in you, that wouldn't be possible.”

“But I…”

“Didn’t you unconsciously put your hands above my abdominal area? Weren’t you extremely desperate to save me, and suddenly tired after doing so?” Seunghun inquired, and your jaw almost dropped. You had forgotten about weeping over him with your hands resting on his stomach, and that odd sensation going through you followed by waves of fatigue. You didn’t think of it too much, you didn’t think that it had to do with anything, let alone the way his wounds started healing afterwards. You assumed you had been too emotional, and the stranger’s near-death experience had drained you.

You nodded, albeit still in shock, and it was only thanks to Hyunsuk’s collected self that you understood the weight of the soldier’s words.

“You’ve said that you’re tied to the magician who saved you, but this time, it was my sister. So now is she tied to you, too?”

“Yes, she is.”

You felt like the ground had opened up beneath you, the realisations hitting you one by one. The stranger you had saved was not only a phoenix, but you were also a magical medic who was now tied to someone like him - someone who shouldn’t have existed.

After learning about all of these, there was no way Hyunsuk would have stayed behind. Even if he hadn’t been the one who had saved you, he still knew of what Seunghun was, so he needed to take the oath, too. On top of that, the soldier couldn’t exactly tell you what would await you there since the magical medic who had once saved him practised at the royal palace, and it was safer for him there because they were deeply connected. Since you saved him this time, he couldn’t tell what it truly meant because it had never happened before.

“I didn’t die a lot of times before, to be honest, and every time I did, it was Byounggon who helped me heal. Usually, if I die as a human, I can take on my phoenix form and I can fly back to the palace to receive medical help. This time though, I can only assume that I didn’t succeed,” Seunghun explained while you were making your way to the royal palace on horseback. It took around 2 hours to reach the royal palace on horses, but it was the fastest option, and in this area, it wasn’t common to hire carriages. So as always, it was Hyunsuk’s friend, Yonghee, who gave you three of their horses since they had a farm, and he always helped you out in exchange for you not charging him when he or his family needed any medicine from you.

You gulped down a nervous lump in your throat, a bit frightened what it could entail for him to die, then take on his phoenix form and then be reborn again. Since magical creatures didn’t have human forms, it took you time to process the fact that he was a phoenix. He had explained that his parents had died when their house had caught on fire, and he would have died with them too, but Byounggon - who had been a little boy back then just like Seunghun himself and who had been living close to Seunghun’s home - had noticed the fire and dragged the boy out while risking his own life. His magic had barely resurfaced back then, but it had come out in full-force as he had been trying to save Seunghun’s life. Since he hadn’t known at first just how much he could have helped the almost burned boy, he had also applied fireflower on his wounds - the flower that was born after fires, so interestingly so, it was almost like a phoenix, born after turning to ashes.

When you inquired if the combination of magic and fireflowers aided his healing or one was enough, he couldn’t be sure. He said that Byounggon didn’t want to experiment on this, so he always used both, and actually, you did so, too.

“So why were you naked in the woods?” Hyunsuk blurted out after a few minutes of tense silence had fallen over the three of you, and the soldier found it so amusing, he started giggling. You blushed at the thought of having seen him naked while your brother seemed to put on his usual overprotective face.

“Well, that is what comes with me switching between my human and phoenix forms. If I go back to my human form after my phoenix one, I always end up being naked,” he shrugged casually as if it was an everyday thing for him to speak about it. The thought crossed your mind that it must have been quite bothersome for him to always leave his clothes behind when he died, but he didn’t seem to be bothered about it. Instead, his lips turned into a cheeky smile, and he averted his eyes to you, mischief glinting in his beautiful mahogany orbs. “But it wasn’t that bad of a sight, was it?”

You almost choked on your own saliva, but you had more pride than to let him be so cocky around you. Besides, Hyunsuk looked like he was about to throw hands at the soldier, so you spoke up before he had the chance to do so.

“Well, you’re quite fit if that’s what you’re asking… but Hyunsuk is quite strong as well,” you pointed out matter-of-factly, then turned your attention back to the road ahead of you instead of Seunghun’s burning gaze. You didn’t want to give him the satisfaction to see you blush, but you were sure that your cheeks were on fire, so you started fanning yourself with one hand while you held the reins in the other.

“Yes, so don’t make her feel so uncomfortable again,” Hyunsuk commented, his voice not leaving room for any disapproval. However, the other boy didn’t seem too fazed by your words or your brother’s slight warning, instead, he continued playing the little game he had started.

“Did I make you feel uncomfortable?” He inquired, his voice posing a challenge for you. You knew that the question was directed at you without looking in his direction, and you shook your head even though your heart was telling a different story. “See, I didn’t.”

“Hey, know who-”

“Enough, Hyunsuk,” you turned to him, trying to plead with your eyes. The last thing you wanted was for the two of them to end up in a fight and show up in front of the royal family with bruises all over their body. “We’re heading towards the palace after all,” you voiced out your reasoning, and despite not appearing less agitated, your brother left it at that with a slight huff and a pointed glare in the soldier’s direction who found the situation more amusing than anything.

Oh dear gosh, you couldn’t wait to arrive at the palace.

Two hours had never seemed so long before. Even though you were on horseback, you had to slow down to march through villages, and you could only speed up through hills and woods. Seunghun continued blabbering all throughout the journey, and you could tell that he was a jokester for he always tried to drop a joke here and there, but Hyunsuk didn’t seem to appreciate it at first. After a while though, he realised that he and the soldier had a similar sense of humour, and if it hadn’t been torture before, it would have been torture afterwards with these two trying to top each other’s jokes. At least, Hyunsuk seemed to let go of his hostility towards the other boy, and they didn’t get into a fight even when you took breaks to feed the horses and let them drink from the river.

You had never been around the royal palace, so you had no idea what to expect, but the palace seemed even more magnificent than you could have imagined. It was a huge building with tall towers scraping the sky, wide terraces and a beautiful, blossoming garden around. However, to get inside, you needed to go through three security gates - one that involved the dragons that guarded the palace. You were lucky that you had left the horses outside the first gate because you were sure that they would have gotten scared and maybe even run away if they had seen the dragons from up-close. You also felt your knees wobble at the sight of these gigantic animals just a few feet away from you. However, when Seunghun discussed the situation with the guards, they whistled at the dragons that immediately backed away and cleared the path for you.

After all the gates, the huge front door had another handful of guards standing by, but they easened up as they caught sight of Seunghun, and had a little chit-chat about where the boy had been before letting him in. One also offered to notify the royal medic that he arrived, but the so-called Byounggon showed up almost immediately when you stepped inside the spacious hall. It was a hall full of paintings, large flower vases, tables made of glass and wood, glass windows that let in the many colours of the setting sun, painting the otherwise blandly coloured carpets in a palette of colours.

“Oh my god, Seunghun! You’re alive! I’ve thought that you… I didn’t feel the connection anymore, and I assumed…” The medic in a beautiful burgundy-black tunic shrieked, fighting his tears as he made his way towards the soldier. When he reached him, he hugged him so tight, you wondered whether they were more than just a soldier and a medic. They seemed like good friends finding each other again.

“You’re crushing me, Byounggon,” Seunghun chuckled joyfully, but no malice could be detected in his voice. The medic hugged him for some more time, and only let go of him when the soldier announced that he was alive thanks to you.

As if it was the first time he had noticed you and Hyunsuk standing beside Seunghun, the medic looked at you apologetically and introduced himself as Lee Byounggon, one of the royal magical medics at the palace (and Seunghun’s best friend as the latter added). He bowed politely and wiped his tears away as he straightened up. You briefly introduced yourselves with your brother and bowed back out of courtesy.

“So you… you know who he is, right?” Byounggon blinked at you rapidly, trying to put together the pieces of information.

“They do. They didn’t know at first, but I’ve told them after they’ve saved me.”

“It was my sister, actually. I just… assisted to look over him,” Hyunsuk corrected the soldier, and the gaze they exchanged told you that they had no more revulsion between the two of them. Hyunsuk’s gesture almost seemed friendly as well, you were more than baffled.

“Ah, thank you so much! Thank you so much for saving him!” Byounggon thanked you profusely and even bowed frantically as if he was trying to overdo someone else in a bowing contest. You were so shocked by his gratitude that you had no idea what to say, but after what you had heard of him - how he had saved Seunghun when he had been young, and how he had taken care of the soldier ever since -, you could only imagine him like this. Forever caring and having only good intentions.

“I… I didn’t even know how I did it,” you confessed, feeling torn about the whole situation because you didn’t feel like you earned his gratitude despite the fact that you had saved the soldier. Byounggon furrowed his eyebrows quizzically, so Seunghun explained the whole situation to him, not leaving out the part that you didn’t know about your own magic. Hearing that, the medic mentioned something about a visit to the master magician, but before he could elaborate on that, a lanky boy walked into the hall with two muscular men by his side.

He had a small face with delicate features, and nothing could compare to the aura he held. He radiated elegance, chicness and that kind of icyness that came with him being in a high rank. As opposed to the guards by his side or Byounggon’s attire, he wore only white - a white tunic that was split in the front, so that he could move around more freely with his arms, it had sleeves for maximum protection, a hooded back and probably cotton pants, though his tunic almost reached the floor, so you couldn’t be sure. He had the deepest shade of black hair, but his eyes were warm when he looked at you all. There was no question that he was prince Jinyoung.

Following the others’ action, you also bowed deeply alongside your brother, but when you straightened up, the previous rigid atmosphere was nowhere to be seen. It was replaced by a tender one with the prince asking about Seunghun’s condition, and telling him how worried they had all been when he hadn’t come back from delivering the message even though the carriageman had arrived the day before, albeit a bit wounded. He was fine, prince Jinyoung reassured Seunghun, before moving on to the two of you.

You introduced yourself yet again, and even your usually confident brother seemed to sway a bit in front of the prince. Prince Jinyoung, sensing his discomfort, patted the boy’s shoulder in a friendly manner, and you watched the sight with a small smile.

“You two will need to take the oath as Seunghun has already told you. However, you will be greatly rewarded for helping out the best soldier of the royal palace, and for saving him even though you did not know his identity,” he announced with an air of authority, and you didn’t feel like you had the right to go against his words despite only doing what you were always doing - helping others. So you bowed yet again, thanking him for his generosity.

“Prince Jinyoung, I believe we need to visit the master magician as well. Do you think it is possible for him to see us as soon as possible?” Byounggon turned to the prince with a slightly worried expression whereas the royal merely waved his hand.

“It is possible if I say so,” he answered confidently and turned around to lead the way to the master magician. Hyunsuk’s jaw almost dropped to the floor, and he mouthed how slick it was from the prince to say something like that, and you had to hold yourself back from laughing at your little brother’s antics.

Seunghun, on the other hand, caught sight of your scene, and when his eyes found yours, he gave you an amused smile, one that made his eyes smile, too. He was too gorgeous, you had to look away.

The master magician repeated what you had already known about Seunghun’s condition, about how he could be reborn, how much it took for him to heal with a magician’s help and how connected he was to the magician who helped him reborn. On the other hand, he couldn’t tell you exactly what it meant that you were the one who had saved him this time, not Byounggon, as it had not happened before. He also added that it would be too dangerous to try and see if you can change the connection back to Byounggon’s magic because it might risk not just Seunghun’s life, but yours and Byounggon’s as well.

Nonetheless, Seunghun’s body had seemed to accept your magic, so now, it seemed that you were the one connected to him, not the royal medic. Byounggon also admitted that he had felt like the connection with the soldier had been caught off two nights ago - on the night you had saved him. Byounggon had fainted and spent the next two days resting, he only sprung out of his room when he had seen from his window that Seunghun had been approaching the entrance.

“Does it mean whenever something happens to Seunghun, I will feel it? Is it the same vice versa?”

“Yes, you may feel it just like Byounggon had described it. Seunghun might feel it too when something happens to you because now your magic lives in him,” the master magician explained patiently, not looking down on you at all, and his gentle approach reassured you that you can ask about anything that might concern you. That’s why you decided to pose a question that has been on your mind ever since Seunghun had mentioned the deep connection between him and Byounggon.

“If, by any chance, I die, does it mean my magic will not keep Seunghun alive?”

The room fell silent for a moment, and out of everyone, Byounggon seemed the most bitter about your question. You could only guess that he had already asked this question before. Seunghun, on the other hand, avoided your gaze, and you had a feeling why.

“It may happen, but I have never seen a magic like this before, so I can’t confirm it for sure,” the master concluded after letting silence stretch long enough for it to be unbearable, his fatherly smile showing empathy and understanding.

You weren’t a fool, you knew what it meant. Above anything else, you needed to take care of yourself and protect yourself because if you didn’t, it might hurt Seunghun, too. Your magic was inside of him, it kept him alive - you kept him alive. No matter how absurd it seemed, his life was in your hands now.

“What does it mean for me then? I can’t tame my magic. I didn’t even know I possessed it until today.”

“It means that it would be better if you stayed here and learned how to tame your magic. In return, we can protect you, and by protecting you, you can also protect Seunghun,” the master suggested, but it wasn’t an order. He looked at you as if he understood your internal battle, and you had a feeling that not even prince Jinyoung would have held you back if you had decided to leave.

You, on the other hand, might not be able to live with the guilt that you could possibly kill Seunghun if you had gotten into any unfortunate incident. It was enough for you to be reminded of how suddenly your parents had died when a fight had broken out at an inn close to your home. One wrong timing, one dangerous man had been enough to take the lives of many.

“What about my brother?” You asked instead of pondering more about your own life. After all, Hyunsuk didn’t show that he had magic in him, or at least not yet, and there was the question of your medical services as well. Who would take that on if you weren’t around?

“It is possible that he might possess magic since he is your brother, but he might not. He can stay here and learn with you, or go back to his usual life while possibly attending one of our training centres.”

You exchanged a glance with Hyunsuk, one that was bearing so many different emotions. The prince reassured you that you didn’t have to decide right then and right now since you still had to take the oath officially and then write a confidentiality contract about it. On the other hand, you seriously felt like time was slipping through your fingers because the more you thought about it, the more quickly the following events happened, and soon enough, you found yourself with a brand new fate.

There was just so much to wrap your head around that you didn’t have time to mope over the recent change of events. Hyunsuk went back home to take care of your medic shop while signing up for a magical training class to see if he possessed the same kind of magic you did. He also sent your clothes over even though you received a handful of clothes by the royal court - similar to those beautifully sewn tunics the medics here worn and other garments that you might have needed as a female. The clothes people wore at the royal court were elegant yet useful, each a bit different from the other depending on the person’s position, however all of them were in the burgundy-black colours of the kingdom. The only ones who could wear white were the members of the royal family.

You immediately began your training with the master magician since you had done something extraordinary that hadn’t happened before, so he wanted to keep a close eye on you. He was an elderly man who had seen a lot and practised his magic a lot, he was said to be the master of the most powerful magicians in the kingdom, so it was an honour to learn under him. Given his responsibilities though, he had to take care of a lot of matters, so you learned from other magicians as well, and you had classes with Byounggon too who helped you understand what it meant to be connected to Seunghun in detail, and what it entailed that the boy was a phoenix.

Byounggon was an exceptionally gentle soul. He might have looked intimidating with his sharp facial features and strict gaze when he was examining something, but he was patient and ever so empathetic. He never raised his voice at you, instead, he shared amusing or quite awkward stories of his time in the court. He also shared many stories of him and Seunghun from early childhood to present days. Based on his words, Seunghun was the most loyal person he had ever met, someone who cared deeply, and someone who had been there for him through thick and thin - and not because of their bond, but because of their friendship. Even though the soldier was witty and liked to pull pranks on poor medic who was self-aware enough to know that he was incredibly gullible, he could never truly hold a grudge against his best friend.

Even though you could only see Seunghun in passing for the next few days since they had to take care of the carriage attack matter, you could see for yourself just what kind of a person he was when he seeked you out one night, asking if you could talk privately.

The royal court was the extended part of the palace, not attached to the main palace, but separated by a back garden that had an area that was free to visit as long as one had the permission to be on the palace grounds in the first place (the other part of it was strictly reserved for the royal family). You didn’t really have time to look around the garden since you had gotten here, but the pitch-black haired boy chose it as the place to talk.

He showed you some of the flowers he found especially gorgeous, took you to the little pond where you could see blindingly beautiful water lilies dotting the surface and hiding many colourful types of fish underneath. There was a little bridge connecting the walking path to a tree-lined island with a lantern-lit pavilion in the middle, and he came to a halt there, sitting on the bench at the pavilion.

You followed his example, taking in the beautiful scenery with fireflies flickering in the distance, the palace lit like a dazzling spectacle, the pathway in the garden dimly lit by lanterns guarding the sights as if it was a hidden gem, a well-kept secret. It was tranquil and serene, away from the hustle-bustle of the court grounds where everyone was heading somewhere - to deliver messages, to take classes or trainings, to hold classes for the royal family, to cook or wash or make anything for the royal family and such.

“I’m sorry,” Seunghun broke the silence suddenly, his voice coming out deeper than before. You could tell that he was being very sincere because there was no hint of mischief in his voice, nor in his face. The boy that looked back at you was deeply apologetic, his shoulders hinged, his features solemn and the ends of his lips quivering as he caught your gaze.

“About what?”

“Everything. You have every right to be angry at me for being tied to you. If I hadn’t-” He started on his monologue, but you cut him off.

“If we hadn’t met and I hadn’t been the one who had found you, you could have died. I am glad that I could save a life. As a medic, that’s the most I can ask for,” you insisted since you saw it from a different point of view, and this was what you had promised to do for life after you had lost your parents.

You had been young back then, sewed at a nearby house alongside your mother, while your brother had been helping out your father hunting in the woods and selling the meat of the animals you hadn’t reserved for yourself. You had always been interested in medicine, and since the woods were close to your home, you had often gone out to pick up herbs and medical flowers to make lotions that were soothing for your mother’s tired hands after a long day of sewing. You had also been the one who tended to your father’s or brother’s bruises whenever they had had any. After you had lost your parents though, you had felt so helpless and kept messing up what you had worked on while sewing, so you had started learning under the nearby elderly medic, and soon, your brother had followed you. After the elderly medic had died, you had opened your own medical services to the nearby people, and it had thrived ever since then.

So for you to be able to save a life was more than you could have asked for, it was the result of your hard-work, added luck and it seemed that your hidden magic, too.

“But still… You must have plans for the future, plans that would take place outside of the palace, and now, it’s best for you to stay here. You might even have a suitor waiting for you back home,” Seunghun blurted out rather troubled, but hearing his last words, your lips curled up at the end. You would have never thought that someone like him would even think of a suitor waiting for you back home, but maybe your brother’s warning words had gotten to him.

“I don’t have a suitor, and Hyunsuk will be fine. He might seem childish at times, but he is really hard-working. Plus, the master said that we can leave the palace, it’s just better if we do so together,” you pointed out what you had learned, your voice rather patient. You didn’t intend on arguing with the soldier, you merely wanted to share your point of view. Since he didn’t seem to believe you thus far, you decided to ease the tension. “I thought you’re on better terms with my brother than before,” you added with a semi-playful smile, and there it was, that beautiful smile blossoming on his lips in return. Seunghun seemed so much more gentle and approachable when he smiled for there was something in it - warmth, compassion, hope or maybe because it felt a bit like solace - that softened his whole facade.

“That’s true, but now I have to make sure that he will like me even more,” he set his intention proudly, still smiling, and you had to look away because the sight in front of you was too much to take in. He was too much to take in, your heart felt oddly giddy beside him, and you didn’t know what to do about it.

Hence, you looked back at the scenery in front of you. While you couldn’t deny that just a week ago, you couldn’t have imagined that you would be living in the royal court, tied to a phoenix in the body of a handsome soldier, it had its own beauty. You believed that everything had its reason, so maybe, meeting Seunghun was the universe’s way of helping you discover your magic that might be able to help many others in the future, and to reassure you that you weren’t doomed forever after your parents had bled out in front of you. You could save a life.

“It’s true that it’s rather sudden, and it’s true that I didn’t think my life would turn out like this, but I know you wouldn’t have tied someone to you on purpose, and actually, you’ve helped me discover my magic. That is something that I consider a gift,” you decided to share your thoughts with Seunghun since you couldn’t tell just how agitated he still was over your bond. “I just… I feel so out of place,” you confessed, a slight hue of pink tinting your cheeks.

You usually liked to uphold a strong, invincible facade because you were the older sibling, and after your parents’ death, you didn’t want Hyunsuk to have anything less than what he might have needed. If not for yourself, you wanted to be strong for him, but here, with you being a new addition to the court, with you still learning about your magic, you felt vulnerable.

“I’ll be here if you need anything, and Byounggon is also a really, really nice guy. Prince Jinyoung and princess Jinhee are also on good terms with those who live in the royal court. Even the courier, Donghyun, is a nice kid. Everyone is really welcoming, so you don’t need to worry. And really, don’t hesitate to send someone for me. I’ll also check up on you whenever I can. I know I couldn’t do so this past week, but I’ll do so in the future. I promise,” he said it in one-go, only taking in a deep breath when he finished. You directed a soft smile at him as you looked back at him, waves of gratitude washing through your body.

“Thank you, but you don’t have to.”

“But I want to. I want to get to know you better, too,” he replied instantly, almost tormented. You were rendered speechless for a moment, and he took that as a bad sign, so he added right away: “If you’re comfortable with that, of course.”

“I am,” you bobbed your head, hoping that your cheeks didn’t flush too much. You thought that after seeing him naked, nothing could make you feel this way around him, but here you were, your heart hammering rapidly, threatening to jump out of your ribcage.

“I’m glad then,” he noted, trying to suppress his proud smile by pressing his lips into a thin line, but he looked like he was trying to hold water in his cheeks instead. You looked away, suddenly aware of the closeness of the boy, and you were secretly glad that he didn’t speak up for some time, but then…

“Besides… Your medic attire here really suits you. It highlights your beauty,” he complimented sincerely, and you almost felt like your neck had whiplash, you looked back at him so quickly. You were ready to tell him to stop joking around, but he looked rather shy, not the smug Seunghun you had expected to see who boasted about the sight of his naked body, so you didn’t have the heart to tell him off. Instead, you mumbled a quiet thank you, earning yet another coy smile from the boy.

You spent the rest of the night talking about your past life. Since you had already known some stories of the boy, it was no surprise that he was interested in you, too. When he heard that you had lost your parents when you had been younger, he seemed deeply empathetic, not making any jokes or belittling your feelings. He did crack up though when you started telling him stories of little Hyunsuk since he had seen more of Hyunsuk’s intimidating self than his silly, goofy self. He also shared stories of him and Byounggon, and how him, Byounggon and prince Jinyoung used to play hide and seek in the royal gardens when they had been younger since the latter had barely any court members his age until Byounggon’s father - a magical medic as well - made the young boy and the rescued Seunghun visit the master magician at the palace. They had been at the palace’s service ever since and living there, but according to Seunghun, neither of them minded. That’s why the prince had seemed friendly towards the two boys when you had first seen them, because they were actual friends.

That night, Seunghun walked you back to your cabin at the royal medic’s house, and after he left, although you failed to notice Byounggon by the corner, he watched your goodbye with a fond, almost excited smile.

You fell into a routine at the royal court, and soon enough, you were looking forward to your training sessions and your weekly visits back home. Even though you were often exhausted after using your magic, you learned bit by bit how to tame it, and it made possessing magic a less terrifying experience. You knew that you were in good hands here, and everyone was trying to help you out as much as they could, so you didn’t want to disappoint anyone. You practised as much as you could, and when you didn’t have training, you helped out with the herbs and non-magical medicine since it was your expertise after all. You also met more members of the royal court, and soon enough, you didn’t feel so out of place anymore. Seunghun was right: everyone from the women working at the kitchen to the courier kid were welcoming, and often, even the prince and princess came to spend time with you all. The royal court was like a little village, so you didn’t feel that stuck anymore either, you had everything you needed there.

You couldn’t deny that you missed Hyunsuk, but with how busy you were at the palace, days passed by eventfully, and your promised weekly visits arrived quickly. Seunghun always accompanied you, and indeed, the two boys became good friends over the course of the next few weeks. Hyunsuk had also become more responsible about his duties, and now, he had Yonghee to help him out who had always seemed interested in medicine, so he could make use of his book-smart medical knowledge now. Yonghee’s family had a farm where he usually did what his parents asked him to do, but he had three siblings, so there was enough help at home, and he had always been too smart to not put his brains to use.

Hyunsuk did go to see if he possessed magic, but they said at the training centre that he might not have or it might not have resurfaced so far even with the exercises they gave him. He wasn’t discouraged by that, after all, he didn’t measure his worth by his ability to have magic within him or not, and for that, you really, really admired him. He could have easily been jealous over your abilities, but he was the furthest from jealous. A know-it-all, he was though…

“Don’t worry about me, sis. Worry about your soldier instead. I’m afraid his eyes will pop out once, he keeps looking at you with those loving eyes,” Hyunsuk once whispered in your ear when you were about to leave and Seunghun already went out to check on the horses. Bewildered, you looked at your brother in disbelief, and smacked him in the chest.

“Hey! Don’t say things like that. It’s not what you think,” you reprimanded him in your usual older sister tone, but as expected, Hyunsuk didn’t even bat an eye. Instead, he boasted a cheeky grin that made him look so much younger than he was.

“You seem to be in too much denial for it to be a groundless assumption,” he singsonged joyfully, but before you could counter-attack him, the door flew open, and Seunghun came back with a giddy smile, letting you know that the horses were ready. When you looked at your brother, he still had that annoying, knowing grin on his face, and shrugged as if he didn’t say anything.

Nevertheless, you tried your best to forget about Hyunsuk’s words, but you couldn’t help but wonder if the soldier felt the same way about you. After all, he kept his promise, and checked on you almost daily, but you assumed that it was out of pity first, or maybe it was because he was connected to you. Byounggon also pointed out that Seunghun kept finding a reason to see you, and he didn’t usually act like this, but according to his best friend, the soldier was in a particularly good mood lately. He was usually upbeat and energetic, but there was something different about him.

“I haven’t seen him like this before, so I can only assume that it’s because of you,” the medic admitted, yet his smile wasn’t cheeky or knowing. It was a gentle, almost prompting smile, one that you reciprocated with a shy one, and diverted the topic to your abilities instead.

The more you thought about it, the more you realised that you cared about the boy, and not just because you were tied to him, not just because he had almost died in front of you. However, you didn’t dare to let him know about your feelings. Even though he wasn’t immortal despite being a phoenix (he aged like everyone else because of his human self whereas he could be reborn because of his phoenix self, but one day, he wouldn’t be able to be reborn again), and when he wasn’t in a dangerous situation when you needed to help him, he was just an ordinary soldier who kept making you blush by the garden pond and who kept making you laugh with his silly pranks on poor Byounggon, you didn’t know whether it could work, whether you would actually put him in more danger by being closer to him than you already were.

Still, he gave you flowers when he visited you, and when you heard a gardener complaining that someone had chopped off some of the flowers in the royal court’s garden, you had to resist the urge to laugh. He loved talking about what your favourite flowers in the garden represented, precious little things he had probably asked someone about, but he presented it as if he had already known about these. He also got you dates and dried fruits from the market when he was doing errands out of the palace since he knew how much you loved them. Even apart from these gifts, he was a man of affectionate acts; it was in every look he gave you when you as much as miscalculated your steps and almost slipped, it was in every hand he held out for you when you were getting off your horse, it was in every enthusiastic wave he directed at you even if you were on different sides of the pond (somehow he always caught sight of you), it was in every spoonful of food he put on your plate instead of his when you had dinner at the court canteen together, and he knew which side dishes were your favourites.

On the other hand, you couldn’t stop worrying about him. You knew that he couldn’t die if you were around, but he was a soldier, and he didn’t need to go far to get bruises or a swollen ankle. He gave it his all during his physical training, and those resulted in some scars that healed fast if tended to by magic, but others couldn’t know about what Seunghun was, so he was usually treated by other magicians apart from you while you were preparing to do so yourself. Byounggon said that it usually took him only a few minutes to heal Seunghun’s smaller wounds whereas the others might have needed more time.

Once though, Seunghun came back from the border covered in bruises when a group of rebels tried to attack the royal army. Since the rebels were good fighters, Seunghun suspected that they were from the neighbouring kingdom’s army, but he couldn’t be sure why (though after the carriage attack, something had to be going on), so they held the rebels as hostages, and they were currently being interrogated.

The soldier, however, was rushed to you by Byounggon who said that you should try to heal him now since the master magician had deemed you ready after you had been already using your magic on others, strictly under a more experienced magician’s watch. This time, too, Byounggon was by your side, and you three were in a smaller room at the royal infirmary. If it hadn’t been for your bond with Seunghun, others could have been around as well, but Byounggon knew the best way to treat Seunghun, so it was better this way.

As you practised, you pulled in all of your magic - that felt like a wave of energy rushing through your body, waiting to be used up -, concentrating on the image of Seunghun’s bruises healing, and put your hands above his core. It wasn’t necessary for you to place your hands over his wounded body part since the centre of his energy was around his abdominal area, and what you needed to do was to recharge his energy centre with your magic. Apparently, that’s what you had done while weeping over him on that fateful night, and similarly, you felt the same kind of desperation moving in you. The room ceased to exist around you, all you could feel was that energy rush transferring through your hands. It was as if you had been running nonstop, your throat burning, your mouth dry and heart beating so rapidly that you needed to catch your breath when you felt a hand over your shoulder.

“Good job! You can stop now,” Byounggon notified you firmly, his voice bringing you back to the present. As you opened your eyes, you tried to take in everything in the room to ground yourself, awakening all your senses; the smell of the freshly washed sheets under Seunghun’s body on the bed, the softness of the pillow under you in the chair, the warmth of Byounggon’s hands over your shoulders, the sight of Seunghun’s now intact skin, and the sound of the slight hustle-bustle in the corridor outside of the room.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Seunghun smiled at you affectionately, his eyes twinkling with mirth. You, on the other hand, felt a bit numb still, and as you were trying to stand up from the chair, you nearly lost your balance. If it hadn’t been for Seunghun’s firm grip on you, you might have fallen back. “Are you okay?” The soldier inquired, genuine worry causing his forehead to appear wrinkled. You had never seen him so concerned before, and the way he looked at you as if he was ready to walk through fire for you made you feel even more dizzy.

“Yes, I’m fine,” you nodded nevertheless, but didn’t go against the other medic’s advice when he suggested sitting back down. As you took a seat again, Seunghun’s grip loosened around your wrist, but he still didn’t let go. You didn’t mind. It was as if he was your anchor, and you were ready to let him ground you.

“It’s normal for you to feel everything more intensively when it comes to Seunghun. It’ll get better after the first few times,” Byounggon explained with a hint of empathy in his voice. No wonder you had slept so well the night of saving Seunghun. You had basically knocked yourself out back then. “I’ll bring some water for you,” Byounggon offered without you asking him to do anything, and left the room immediately.

You blinked a few more times, the dizziness slowly losing its grip on you. Soon, everything shifted back to place around you, yet you weren’t worried about yourself. Instead, you kept looking at Seunghun’s exposed arms and face to examine if there were remains of his bruises or there was none left.

“Why are you so worried? You can see that I’m fine,” the boy mentioned with a wide, toothy smile, and he looked down at himself to prove to you that you weren’t hallucinating. He looked as if he hadn’t been attacked at all.

“I know, I just… I can’t help but worry about you. Despite knowing that you can’t get seriously hurt, it’s still painful for you until someone tends to you, and I don’t like that,” you huffed, your lips forming a pout unbeknownst to you. Seeing that, Seunghun let out a joyous laughter, something that warmed your heart, yet confused your mind.

You finally looked up at him, looked into his deep, dark orbs, and blinked a few in confusion.

“You’re cute when you’re sulky,” he explained the cause of his laughter, a smile blossoming on his lips yet again. You felt bewitched when he smiled like that, and you were sure that your cheeks were turning ruby-red, so you switched on your defensive mode.

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

The more you bickered, the wider the boy’s smile got, and the faster your heart was beating. You felt like a kid again, that childish excitement yet nervousness that you experienced when you had been playing hide and seek with Hyunsuk in the woods. This time, it was also a bit like that; trying to hide your feelings while seeking out his reaction to see if he felt the same way.

While you were bickering, Seunghun leaned forward a bit each time he spoke up and so did you. So after a few rounds, your faces were so close that you could see the slight blemishes on his skin, the roughness around the edges, the imperfections that made him perfect. You could see a tiny version of you in his mahogany orbs, and you wondered how he actually perceived you.

You kept gazing at each other for a few seconds before the boy dared to speak up, quiet and tentative, yet there was that confident edge to his voice that told you that he really wished to know the answer to his question.

“Why are you actually worried about me?”

You gulped nervously. He was too good at reading you, it seemed. Something that you would have hated if it had been for someone else since you wanted to appear as strong as possible at all times to hide your vulnerabilities and pain, but it was him out of all people, and he knew more about you than anyone else apart from Hyunsuk. Plus, he hadn’t left or ignored you despite knowing about your past and despite seeing your weaknesses.

So you wanted to be honest with him.

“I… I think I’ve gotten used to worrying only about Hyunsuk after what happened to our parents, and I was fine with that, but when it comes to you, since the moment I saw you, I’ve been worried,” the flashback of seeing the boy covered in bruises and that huge cut on his abdomen came back, and you shivered. You noticed only then that Seunghun was still holding your wrist because he gave it a slight squeeze. “Then, I got to know about who you are, and that we are tied, and I actually felt relieved. I thought I saved you once, I can do so again, but now I’m scared. I’m scared because I know I’m worried for another reason.”

The confession fell from your lips almost easily, like a part of a lullaby that you were singing to him. He was nothing but caring towards you, and since Byounggon had also mentioned that he had never seen his best friend like this before (and Hyunsuk had also teased you about Seunghun’s heart eyes), you dared to guess that he reciprocated your feelings. Not to mention the way the boy worded his question, as if he was also trying to see if you felt the same way.

And now… Now when your faces were so close to each other’s, when you could see every crease, every twitch of his lips, every shift of the emotions crossing his face, something in you told you that Seunghun didn’t lean back for the same reason you didn’t.

When he leaned forward, ever so subtle and ever so slow as if he wanted to give you time to back away (though you wouldn’t), you prepared your heart for what was about to come, your eyes slowly closing.

However, the door flew open right in that moment, and you immediately leaned back into the chair whereas Seunghun put his arms behind him on the bed to support himself, increasing the distance between you two quite drastically.

“Sorry for the wait. Mrs Choi stopped to tell me about the letter she received today, so I couldn’t leave until she told me all about her grandchildren,” Byounggon chirped rather bashfully as he put a jug of water on the bedside table and poured you a glass of water before reaching it out to you.

“It must have been exciting,” Seunghun noted rather forcefully, but his slightly awkward smile went unnoticed by his best friend.

“You know how she is. You can’t escape from her once she starts talking.”

“Yes, you’re right,” you mumbled after taking a few sips of water, knowing the elderly woman at the canteen all too well. However, when you exchanged a glance with the soldier, you could see that he was rather embarrassed about the situation as well, so he directed an apologetic smile at you. You smiled back, albeit a bit coy, and let the other medic tell you all about the stories he had heard.

After your rather intimate moment at the infirmary, nothing changed, except the fact that during random times of the day, the image of his face being so close to yours came back, and you immediately flushed. You couldn’t do anything about the state of your heart either, it went crazy whenever Seunghun was around. Before, you had never as much as dared to think about loving someone so deeply apart from Hyunsuk, let alone letting others love you. You had steeled yourself because the less people you had close to your heart, the less painful it would be to lose them.

However, even since you had entered the royal court, you had become so intertwined with other’s lives, there was no turning back from here. You became friends with the maids, the couriers, the ladies working at the kitchen, Byounggon and the other magicians, and even princess Jinhee. Seunghun, however, was a totally different story because you weren’t just friends, you knew that. You could feel it in your bones now; after the infirmary, you couldn’t go back to how things had been before, it was just a matter of time before you fully gave in to your emotions, and you both feared that moment and waited for it to happen.

In the meantime, you went on your usual evening strolls when the weather and your duties allowed, Hyunsuk visited you one weekend to bring over some night-blooming flower lotion and some home-made kimchi from Yonghee (who had been nothing but grateful for the opportunity to work with his friend), and then, you went home for the weekend with Seunghun. In the beginning, you had felt like it would be a burden for the soldier to come with you since there was only a slim chance that anything could happen to you, let alone you losing your life. However, after a while, you had realised that he would have been more bothered by the fact that he couldn’t have accompanied you, so you let go of this concern.

Usually, you left the palace early in the morning and came back later at night, but this time, Hyunsuk and Seunghun got way too competitive when it came to a round of children’s games, and kept competing until you told them that it was time to leave. Your suggestion wasn’t approved by either of them, so you gave in to staying for the night. Once they had enough of the games, Hyunsuk washed up first, then Seunghun (who was given Hyunsuk’s clothes yet again to sleep in something clean), and after that, it was your turn.

However, when you came out of the washroom in your nightgown and wished goodnight for both of the boys who had agreed on sleeping together in Hyunsuk’s room, your brother closed the door on himself and locked it from the inside.

“Wait! I thought Seunghun would be sleeping in your room,” you shouted after him after exchanging a puzzled glance with the soldier. You could imagine Hyunsuk leaving you without a reply, but at least he shouted back:

“Not a chance. He’s all yours.”

You didn’t know what to do with your little brother’s sudden behaviour, but you tried to make it as casual as possible when you suggested different options for Seunghun. The jet-black-haired boy couldn’t accept your offer of staying in your room on a mattress beside your bed. Instead, he brought the mattress out of the storage room to the living room, beside the fireplace. He even cracked a joke about that particular spot being familiar since Hyunsuk had told him about how he had been placed there when your brother had walked into the house on the night you had met.

You bid your goodbye to Seunghun afterwards who singsonged a goodnight to you, and you headed back to your room with butterflies in your stomach. Sleep didn’t even come to you easily, and you kept tossing and turning in bed until you had to use the restroom. You tried to be as quiet as possible because the restroom was on the other side of the living room, meaning that you had to cross the living room to get there. Seunghun, however, was with his back to you when you walked past him, so you assumed that he was sleeping.

Nevertheless, when you were about to walk back to your room, you noticed him turning towards you.

“I’m sorry. Was I too loud?” You whispered tentatively, halting in your steps. The boy shook his head, a gentle smile forming on his lips. He didn’t seem weary, there was no sleep in his eyes, so you believed that he was telling the truth.

“Not at all. I couldn’t sleep either way.”

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“No,” he shook his head yet again before you could think of making adjustments in case he was uncomfortable beside the fireplace.

You bobbed your head as you received his answer, unsure what to say. You felt like you could just sit beside him and talk for hours just like you did during your night strolls at the court, but you weren’t sure that it was the time or place for that. Before you could overthink the matter though, Seunghun broke the momentary silence.

“Actually, I have something to say,” he announced confidently, waiting for you to potentially go against his words if you wanted. Since you were all ears, you prompted him to go on as you lowered yourself onto his mattress, so that you could be at eye-level with him. He also pushed himself up into a sitting position, so you were face-to-face, just like at the infirmary.

“I pressed you about being worried about me because I feared that you might feel like you have to do so. Because of our bond, you know. I don’t want you to feel like you must do something because of me. And I had this silly thought too… That you might like me, but you feel like you have to because of the fact that we are tied.”

Your heart skipped a beat when the word ‘like’ rolled off his tongue. His voice was tender, his words even more so, and the look he gave you was nothing but affectionate. Still, there was a hint of doubt in his orbs, the seed of uncertainty planted in his features from his tensed shoulders to the way he fumbled with the ends of the blanket in his hands. This moment, of him being so raw and concerned and uncertain, scared you a bit for you had never seen him in such a state. This moment was like a glass bead that could break if you were hasty with your answer or if you didn’t word yourself right.

“Do you only care about me because of our bond?” You tested the waters, not taking your eyes off him. He seemed a bit taken aback by your question; not hurt, but instead, bewildered that you would have ever dared to assume such a thing.

“No. That’s so not true.” He shook his head fervently, many different emotions crossing the sky of his orbs. He might not have realised why you asked about this out of the blue, but his shoulders easened when your lips curled into an understanding smile.

“It’s the same for me,” you reassured him first things first. You wanted to tell him all about your feelings so badly, but you needed to pluck up your courage. Instead, you reached for his hands first. He was reluctant to let go of the blanket he was still toying with, but when you peeled his fingers off the material, he let you hold onto him just like you had let him hold onto you at the infirmary. He looked down at your hands for a moment before looking up at you again, and there it was, his signature tender smile that you loved so much.

As if it was the one thing that prompted you to speak up, you found yourself delivering your confession; by the crackling fireplace, over your intertwined fingers and through the rapid beating of your heart.

“I like you, Seunghun. Not the one I’m tied to, but the soldier who’s loyal to his friends, who would do anything to make others around him happy, and who always remembers every little thing about me. I like you for who you are, not what you are,” you emphasised, squeezing his hand in the meantime.

Seunghun looked at you as if he had looked at you for the first time. He didn’t move for a few seconds as if he was still trying to process what you had just said, but then, he didn’t hesitate. He leaned forward to continue what he had started back at the infirmary, and you didn’t protest. You kept looking into his warm, mahogany eyes, swimming in them, drowning in them, letting the waves crash over you as his lips touched yours. Your eyelids shut unconsciously, and for a moment, there was only him, only you, only him and you.

You felt Seunghun lean back from the kiss, and you opened your eyes to see a fully blossomed smile tinting his plush lips. He seemed radiant like the first ray of sunshine in the morning after a stormy night, and your heart felt warm just by the sight. You would have never thought you would be the one to make him so happy one day because he gave away so much of himself to others, but you were delighted and a bit shy that you could make him beam like that.

“Gosh, I like you so much,” Seunghun exclaimed, his voice and face and heart full of love as he crushed you into a hug, and kept you in his arms tightly. You felt yourself melting into his embrace, feeling safe and sound, vulnerable and well-protected at the same time.

You were in such an ecstatic state that you were only made aware of your surroundings when you heard a key turning, and in a blink of an eye, Hyunsuk opened the door of his room just to lean towards the door frame, eyeing you two hugging each other.

“It was time,” he grumbled, but there was a mischievous smile in the corner of his lips, so you could tell that his annoyance was fake. You knew him enough to know very well that he had seen it coming.

“Did you hear everything?” You guessed frantically as you let go of each other with the soldier to turn towards your brother. Nonetheless, your fingers were still intertwined.

“Yes, so now that’s done, don’t be too loud. I want to have a peaceful sleep,” he semi-warned you, but there was still that cheeky smile on his lips.

Once Hyunsuk went back to his room again, you exchanged a glance with Seunghun, only to start giggling. Then, you felt his arms around you yet again, and you eased into his touch, his warmth already familiar despite it being so new still.

“This feels like a dream,” the boy sighed into the embrace, and you could only share his sentiment. This really did feel like a dream, the best kind, that made your heart flutter and your cheeks flush. On the other hand, it was your here and now, and you weren’t ready to let go of it anytime soon.

“Hopefully, it won’t end soon.”

“It won’t,” Seunghun insisted, newfound confidence lacing his words. “We’ll keep on dreaming together for a long, long, long, long time,” he emphasised quite playfully, but when he let go of you, and you looked into each other’s eyes again, you knew that he was being serious.

“I can’t wait.”

“Me neither,” he replied, albeit a bit coyly, and you giggled yet again. It really felt like a dream you didn’t want to wake up from, it was so warm, so comforting, so hopeful.

You might have been the one to save Seunghun on that fateful night, to forever seal your fate together, but you felt like he had saved you, too. He was your phoenix that rose from the ashes despite the hardships life had thrown at him ever since he had been really young, and you were his fireflower; growing from even the toughest grounds through the toughest circumstances and blooming for him, only him.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the twist with Seunghun’s phoenix form. Since phoenixes are usually red and gold, the idea came to my mind seeing his red hair that he should have red hair in his phoenix form, and when he turns to ashes and reborns as a human, his hair turns back to pitch-black. That was basically where it evolved form. I don’t write a lot of fantasies, so let me know if you have any questions regarding the fantasy world in the story. 🥰

All in all, I hope you enjoyed the story! Thank you so much for reading it! ❤️

If you want to read more stories of mine, let it be for CIX or for other bands, consider signing up for my taglist here.

Since I’ve gotten quite attached to the side characters in the story, I have some possible spin-off ideas.

VOTE FOR SPIN-OFFS HERE!

[clarabowmp3]

Blog rec anon here to spread the cheer! Recommend a blog that: 

Is a bestie from afar

Reminds you of a specific taylor song (can be for whatever reason)

Has the best tags on their posts

Makes amazing gifsets

Has pretty colors!

Has a great icon or header

A blog that you think Taylor should scroll through!

I keep not saving the draft SKJDKDK so this is like my fifth time, sorry for taking so long! (Also I was very distracted while doing this sorry)

Besties from afar: @evermoreftboniver @intomymelancholia @abbaswift @wtnytv @rep-meow-tay-tion @gothmacbro @delicatetaylorsversion @babefourtheweekend @domperignonubroughtit @dancingwithourhands

reminds of a specific Taylor song: @left-in-the-motel-bar @bttysgarden @youareonyourownkid @thelasttimeyoueversawme @likeasecrett @starsaroundmyscars @wouldvecouldveshouldve

best tags: @1989tv @lavenderr-haze (sorry I don’t normally have the attn span to read tags 😭😭)

amaaazing gifsets: @thatwasthenightthingschanged @snownonthebeach @seegoldendaylight @lovestory @tayl0r1989

pretty colours (this and the category below overlap a lot)!!: @starsbythe @taylorswifff @taylorryoullbefine @stood-onthecliffside @mythicalthing @honeyed-sunflowers @lostinthestarsss@antiticketmaster @under-sparkling-lights @itsme-iamtheproblem++ literally all of my mutuals how do y’all have such good colour theory sense 😭

great icon or header: @i-dont-know-anything (STILL cracks me up) @candyswiz @iknowyoubyheart (so soft 🥺) @fightwithyouinmysleep @oursacredoasis @readthelastpaage @sadbeautiifultragic

Blog that Taylor should scroll through: nslakajxnxmala allll of them actually but special mention goes to @ftpanon (I think she’d rlly love the linguistic games)

this took way toooo long and there were so many ppl I wanted to mention I hope o didn’t miss anyone outtt 💖

[justcallmesakira]

I need you to give tur on how you do your theme PLSTUHHBRTHH

HELLO I am gald you asked so basically if you want a pretty theme you just pick a specific aesthetic, character etc.

💌MAIN ATTRACTION--

I use melanie martinez for this so let's use my theme as an example. It's good to know whay6ypyr making your theme based off, like is it a character? Is it an aesthetic? Is it a food? Is it a bakery based? Like thaf

💌COLOUR CHOICE--

I always pick specific colour scheme like I used k-12 album, it has many nude colours, starting from a soft pink to greyish blue, with some beige and baby blue and a tint of soft purple.

You can search up colour schemes on pinterest because i use it to make my banners and everything

Remember if you want a colourful theme use tints of other colours here and there like if you use pink and white use aspects of purple or blue in your banner or dividers!

If your going for a black, dark, goth theme prefer using grey for the second colour

💌BANNER AND HEADER--

You can always ask me for a banner if you want, I try going creative with them like my current banner in my pinned post.

For your header I usually use objects like take a similar object to match my theme put it on ibispaint and remove bg to make it transparent.

You can also use a character! Remember you can stretch the header or keep it small and position it

I can't make super pretty dividers if you want however super pretty ones here are some creators:

@/anitalenia @/@plutism @/v6que @/muruffin @/dollywons @/cafekitsune

TRUST ME they're dividers are the best of the best and I mostly pick dividers from them! Ofc there are others but this is creators choice ^^

💌BLOGS AESTHETIC--

If you want to keep ur blog neat I prefer making a Navi an also stating your age! Please if you read nsfw state your age it's important.

Also reblog mood boards which suite your blogs aesthetic it will look neat.

And if you want you should make tags for stuff! Like I make it like "sakiras reblogs!!!", "sakiras dirty secrets!!!" for nsfw etc. That way you can find whenever you are trying to find something!

That's all hope I helped you somehow if you want I can help with more just jop into my inbox! I love seeing sakiras followers in them. >×<

kind regards from,

-sakiras editor

[imyourbratzdoll]

𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔

🎄christmas masterlist🎄

warning - smut, slight bondage, tiny elf male, human behaviour, slight angst, slight fluff, dumbass elf plays with something he shouldn't, adorableness.

18+ only please, thanks to @lavender-annd-lilac without them, I would've been stuck with nothing to write for steve. the gifs and headers aren't mine. @royalsweetteaa

Warnings and Reminders - Please do not plagiarise, copy, repost/republish, adapt, or translate any of my work on any social media platforms, apps, or third-party sites. The only platforms I post my work on are: Tumblr and Wattpad. I do not own any character of any franchise (Marvel etc.) All my works are fiction and may be dark or triggering content: READ ALL WARNINGS BEFORE PROCEEDING.

Steve wandered around your house, getting distracted by your Christmas decorations. As he enters the loungeroom, his mouth becomes a gap at the sight of your Christmas tree. Steve’s eyes sparkled at how pretty the lights looked. A mix of blues, whites, reds, and greens flicker around the room, the gold star shining brightly at the top.

So caught up in the colours, Steve completely forgets why he’s here. His tiny body moves closer to the lights as if he’s entranced. A lone strand of a cord catches Steve’s attention, his eyes lighting up when he notices colourful bulbs connected to it. Steve’s body filled with excitement, and he took off into a run as he headed toward that lone cord. 

In pure excitement, Steve grabs onto it and begins to tug. Soft giggles escape his mouth as he watches the pretty colours bounce. His eyes widen as the lights get closer to his face, only for him to realise it loosened from the small branch. Before he can take off, the cord wraps around his little body, entrapping him. 

Steve’s brows furrowed, and soft whines leave him when he tries to untangle himself from the pretty Christmas lights. He huffs, stomping his foot, wondering how he’s supposed to get out of this situation. 

You begin to walk into the room, wondering why there’s so much noise coming from there. Looking around, you notice something is tangled in your lights. Once you get closer, you see another one of those tiny men that keep coming into your house. 

As you get closer, the small man looks up with wide eyes. His mouth opens and closes when you get onto your knees and reach out to him. “How’d you manage this?” 

Steve is frozen in awe, wondering how someone can be so beautiful. His body tingles as he feels you touch him. His cock rock hard, straining against his tights and throbbing as he is filled with arousal, enjoying how your skin brushes up against him as you help untangle him. Steve’s heart rapidly beats in his chest as you give him a soft smile before his head tilts back, and his breath hitches when you accidentally graze his bulge.

The feeling is short-lived when you manage to free him in record time, he whines, looking at you with sad wide eyes. “There you go, little guy.” You continue smiling at him until you abruptly turn, swearing you heard a noise behind you, but when you turn back to the man on the ground, your brows shoot up.

There stands Steve, pants down. His hard cock sprung free, and the lights you untangled him from managed to wrap around him again. Steve stares at you with wide eyes and a shy smile, gesturing to the lights again. 

“Aw, you poor thing!” You worry, feeling as though he’s cold because his pants must’ve fallen off from being too big for his tiny form. “Here, let me help.” 

Steve grins, spreading his arms as you begin to untangle him again. Tiny giggles and moans escape him as your fingers brush against his exposed flesh. His member throbs with every touch, causing Steve’s eyes to roll back, his hips to jerk rapidly, and his balls tightened. Not being able to hold back anymore, Steve groans, white exploding from his thick mushroom tip and all over your fingers. 

Steve’s chest heaves up and down as he catches his breath, and after he regains it, Steve opens his eyes and notices he’s finally untangled again, and then he looks up. Eyes widen in shock as you stick your fingers in your mouth and suck his cum off of them. Your eyes flutter closed as a soft moan falls from your lips, his taste exploding on your taste buds. 

Steve’s cock twitches at the sight before he pulls his pants up and places his pointed hat back onto his head, as it must’ve fallen off during everything. Your eyes open and connect with his, and Steve becomes flustered at your beauty again. 

A soft giggle falls from your lips as you smile at him. Your hand rests softly against his body as your thumb strokes his small hat. “You guys always look so adorable with these little hats.” Steve’s cheeks turn rosy pink, his pointed ears twitching at the compliment before he nuzzles into your palm, eyes closing as he accepts the warmth. 

After a small moment, Steve opens his eyes. He gives you a small wave before turning and disappearing into the night, not before tripping over a few things.

You sit there for a while, wondering if this will be the only short amount of peace you receive. You don’t hate that these tiny men seem to adore you, but you wish someone larger would also be enchanted by you as they are.

Who knows, maybe for Christmas your wish will come true.

thank you for reading!

feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

[sassybluee]

I was tagged by @prolestari! Thank you!

1. why did you choose your url?

I had a blog in college where I frequently changed the url to match my current obsession. It was always "sassyblue[character name]". I went thru many variations lol. I decided to keep the sassyblue part and leave out the character so I could be more multifandom. On AO3, there was already a sassyblue and sassy_blue, so I added an extra e to the end.

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

I have a couple for clj events! @cljprompts (which is an ongoing event!) and @clj-fanweek (which happened last year, but you're welcome to use the prompts and post in the collection still)

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

I joined w my first acct in 2011, then deleted the blog in 2018 or so. This current blog was made in 2021 when I got into writing fic and fandom in general.

4. do you have a queue tag?

I don't bother queuing much lol. If I do queue I just let ppl assume I'm online lmao.

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

To look at pretty gifsets and art and just talk about my shows haha.

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

I made it for the lols because DFQC is such a cat man to me. Then I liked the pic so much I made it my pfp.

7. why did you choose your header?

To keep the DFQC theme, I found a screenshot of him that matched my blog's colour scheme.

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

I think it's probably my "alternate opening credits for clj" video

9. how many mutuals do you have?

I'm not sure really? maybe like 20-30?

10. how many followers do you have?

722, which surprised me tbh! I feel I miss most "follow" notifs lol

11. how many people do you follow?

I follow 228 people, I try to keep the # low-ish so I can keep track of who's who lol.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

Yes lol. So many.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

I check notifs in the morning and the occasional scroll on mobile during work. I do most of my scrolling after work in the evening.

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

yep... never again lol

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts

I tend to ignore them, I don't want to stress people out, even if I think the info is useful.

16. do you like tag games?

I like them!

17. do you like ask games?

I do but I don't always get asks so it makes me hesitant to participate

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I feel @harocat might be tumblr famous thanks to yoi lol

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

not really!

20. tags?

I'll tag a few people, but anyone can feel free to participate! @uhhhhmanda @timetoboldlygo @rubberduckieassassin @autisthottygoth @gusucloud