#but sometimes you forget it's in your hand or you can't bring yourself to throw it back so you take it home

[stevieschrodinger]

Everything is going slowly foggy. The fear is fading. Eddie's vaguely aware that it's probably because he's dying. What was terrifying a couple of minutes ago, is only vaguely of interest now. An ephemeral pressure on the back of his brain. Present, yet easy to ignore.

All he can taste is his own blood, but it's not so bad. At least he can tell Dustin how much he loves him. And Steve's there. Steve Harrington. Who knew he would turn out to be such a great guy? So, yeah. It all feels alright.

Eddie feels sleepy, vaguely aware that he's, actually, probably dying.

He closes his eyes.

There's a strange sense of vertigo, strange enough that Eddie notices he's standing up before he notices that someone's kissing him. It's a soft press of lips. It's wonderful.

Eddie blinks his eyes open, and from an inch away, he's looking at Steve Harrington.

He's standing in a kitchen. it's nice. Eddie's clean; he's wearing sweats and a tee. Barefoot. The kitchen smells like coffee, and sun is shining in through the window.

Somewhere in the house, a child sequels; Eddie startles. "Steve?" He asks, carefully. "I mean...not that it isn't-"

The child comes barreling into the room. It's a little girl. She's wearing the smallest Dio shirt Eddie's ever seen. She throws herself at Eddie's legs, screaming "Papa!"

Eddie has no idea what his face is doing as he looks down at this little girl, but Steve is taking his hand, tugging it, Eddie looks up, "it happened again, didn't it? You forgot again?"

"I...what?"

Steve scoops up the little girl, throwing her over his shoulder, she squeals again, laughing like this is the best thing ever, "come on pumpkin patch, Papa's not feeling so hot today and auntie Robin's going to be here in two whole minutes."

He looks back to Eddie, mouthing 'just wait, okay?'

Eddie, at a loss, just nods.

He creeps to the doorway, watching, fascinated, as Steve Harrington fixes the little girls hair into pig tails. Helps her get her socks straight. Helps her tie the laces on her sneakers. Gets her back pack on her, "eat your carrot sticks today, okay Ronnie?"

'Ronnie,' Eddie mouths to himself.

Watches as Steve puts her little hand into Robin's, standing on the front porch. Robin looks different. Older. She's smartly dressed.

Steve whispers something to her, and she looks at Eddie. Smiles a sad smile. They leave.

Steve stands there for a moment, waves them off, then closes the door. He seems to steal himself, and then he turns and comes back to Eddie, "I have to go to work, but, come on, let me show you something."

Eddie follows Steve into an office, there's shit everywhere, "I don't come in here often, your mess drives me fucking batshit," Steve digs into a desk drawer, brings out a notebook. "I have no idea what's in here, I've never read it. Something about...what happened. You did die. You were oxygen deprived long enough to cause a brain injury, so sometimes you...forget everything. After the second time it happened, you started writing letters to yourself. So, yeah...you call it your instruction manual, I get it for you when this happens."

It takes Eddie what feels like a really fucking long time to process this, and he can't help but notice that Steve's eyes are wet, Eddie feels crushingly guilty about it.

"Okay so what do I...do?"

Steve shrugs, "read it, I guess. You add to it whenever anything important happens...Eddie...just, the bats, they did a number on you...when you, when you look at the scars, the first time, just, brace yourself, okay and...don't forget that I love you, no matter what, I love you."

And Steve just...leaves the house. Leaves Eddie in this absolute disaster of an office. Leaves him holding a notebook that's ratty and untidy and feels like it's bursting at the seams.

Eddie reads.

So, I'm going to try and keep this simple, but I'm you, from the past, and our dumb ass has fucking brain damage...

You're not going to fucking believe this...we bagged Steve Harrington...

Hold on to your hat big boy, but we got fucking published! And if you're reading this, then you are in for a treat, because it means you get to read our genius for the first time all over again...

Okay, so this one was a bad one, we initially, didn't react so well, so, here's what I was worried about, and I'll talk you through it...

So, I need you to not fuck this up for us, okay? So, this is the Steve Harrington play book. The man is romantic, buy flowers, do nice shit. I cannot stress this enough - just pick up your crap man, he hates it when the place is messy. Now, we have to get it right so here's everything I know, I'll start at the top and work down. He loves having his hair played with, and tugged, but not too hard, gentle but firm, there's a sweet spot. The neck, the whole thing is an erogenous zone, I really can't downplay the importance of the neck...

We bought a fucking house! Look at it! Just look at it! And Eddie does, because there's a Polaroid stuck to the page.

So, this might sound dumb, and I probably should have written to you sooner, but...Steve jizzed in a cup for Robs, and Nancy turkey basted it, you know. Anyway, the point is...Rob's pregnant. With our baby. And then me and Nance got drunk, like, to celebrate, and she got all sad that her and Robin weren't having a baby, stay with me, I know this is mad as shit, but Nancy wanted our kid and their kid to grow up together....

Look, I don't know if it's the stress of like, imminent fatherhood, but we've been forgetting a lot lately, so, here's the plan for when Rob's in labor, and everything you've talked to Steve about when it comes to being the stay at home parent, okay...

The next page is just a Polaroid, a little scrunched up face. A little pink potato swaddled in blankets, and underneath it says 'Ronnie Jamie Harrington'...

And the next page, another Polaroid, another scrunched up face, another little pink potato swaddled in blankets, and underneath it says 'Stephanie Edwina Wheeler'...

Steve comes home. He looks exhausted. Like, drained. And, worried and scared and pale and lots of other things Eddie can't even begin to imagine. Eddie holds his arms out and Steve practically throws himself into them, "how long does it take, for me to get back to normal?"

Steve shrugs, "it's different every time, but it's a good sign you're still here, sometimes you run. Those times are the worst ones."

Six weeks later, Eddie writes to himself, "do not, under any circumstances, run away..."

Eddie thinks he's seeing things. Thinks maybe he's going senile. But he hasn't forgotten for...well, it's been years now. At least seven or eight. And yeah, Ronnie might be about to finish high school and Steve might be stressed to fuck over her college applications, but...Eddie's glad. He's glad she's spreading her wings. He's glad they managed to produce a stand up human being.

He's really glad her and Steph are trying for the same colleges, they're always going to have each other.

But yea...he's worried his mind is kind of...slipping. Hasn't told Steve. Doesn't want to worry him. They're both sprouting a few gray hairs, no need to add to those.

But sometimes. Sometimes when Eddie looks out of the window, he thinks, for a moment, that the sky is dark and...it looks like snow?

And sometimes, Eddie catches himself in the mirror, and he's sure he's dirty. A mess. Covered in blood but...no. He walks back a step, checks again. Everything is fine.

Sometimes he's sees movement out of the corner of his eye.

Sometimes, in the beat of the music or the rumble of the car engine, he swears he hears things. Sometimes a voice. Sometimes it sounds like they're yelling.

Sometimes it sounds like Steve.

And once, he blinked awake, Steve bringing him a coffee. But it wasn't Steve, for the time between startled, half asleep blinks, it was Vecna.

It gets worse.

Something isn't right. The house is empty, and it shouldn't be.

He can hear Steve, but he can't find him. And that's silly because the house isn't that big. He searches and searches, growing more frantic. He calls back to Steve, but Steve...doesn't seem to hear him.

There's something dim about the light, but the light has always been that way, hasn't it? Something...dusty, in the air. Eddie feels like he's dreaming. He has to be dreaming; there's a crack in the living room wall. A crack that spreads and lengthens until the whole house is crumbling and Eddie can see clearly now that the sky here flashes red.

That it's always been flashing red.

How did he not see before? The dust on every surface? The pages of his notebook are blank. Eddie knows. He's always known.

Steve.

Steve is here. He's hanging from Eddie's fist, bruised and bloodied and begging Eddie. Begging Eddie to stop this, to hear him, to see him. It's Steve.

It's Eddie's Steve.

Next to him, Vecna says, "finish it."

Eddie has something in his hand, the hilt of something he's sure of, long and sharp and dependable.

Eddie doesn't think, he just moves.

He drops Steve.

He doesn't need to look. Eddie turns, and he swings.

Part Two

[toruro]

LO$ER=LO♡ER

pt 2

tags: smut (18+), toxic relationship, pet names (princess)

a/n: someone get me out of this toxic!svt brainrot. or maybe send me more asks abt it. either work. if this is incoherent i'm sorry i've been smoking too much tn

thinking about your toxic best friend mingyu.

he's not too bad actually—at least that's what you tell everyone. you wonder if you're maybe trying to convince yourself of it too.

he's the sweetest, really. gets you flowers for any big occasion, treats you for every small accomplishment—he got you the coat you'd been eyeing for ages when you finally got the guts to kick your shitty roommate out, bought you your favorite box cake when you got that small promotion, brought over your go-to boba order when you told him you finished all of your work early and had an extra free day, and—you get it.

mingyu's the best best friend anyone could ask for, honest! which is why you're just a little extra lenient with him when he scared off your last talking stage.

it was an accident! mingyu swears! he tells you he didn't even know that you and jimin were talking like that. (you ignore how there are texts between the two of you from just three days earlier where you told him you were going on a date. mingyu's forgetful, he tells you.) one thing led to the next and the last time you and jimin were hanging out with your group of friends, mingyu might've gotten just a bit too close.

jimin called things off with you the next night. said he can't be friends with someone who's got a puppy on their trail.

all your other friends bring it up too. how you're both just so close. how you've known each other for so long. how you look so nice together. sometimes you shake your head and deny it. tell them "it's not like that!" that you and gyu are "just best friends!"

it's the little things, you've realize. the little things, that lead you to believe that mingyu isn't as sweet as he lets on.

more often that not, mingyu beats you to the punchline, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pressing your cheeks against his, grinning when he says, "well who wouldn't love their best friend when it's her."

you talked to him about it after the first time he said that. told him he can't let other people think that you're dating 'cause you're not. mingyu got a little pissed. pouted a little. told you that you were being a shitty best friend, 'cause a shitty best friend wouldn't push him away like this.

you haven't brought it up since.

maybe it's because you're scared of being a shitty best friend, as gyu put it—scared of losing him (because are you really anything, if not mingyu's best friend?). maybe it's because you don't wanna fight it anymore.

maybe it's because you're just a little too fond of the feeling of his big, veiny hands running all over your body.

"you like it princess?" mingyu chuckles when he clambers on top of you on his couch, pressing you into the soft cushions. you two share a wet kiss as you throw your head back, legs spreading instinctively to allow him to clamber between your legs.

slowly, he lips leave yours and begin to trail sloppy kisses down your chin, jawline, finally settling on sucking at your neck. you're not quite sure how you ended up in this position, but as your mind grows hazy, you vaguely remember the argument that got you here.

(mingyu might've blocked the guy you were talking to on instagram, from your account at that. you aren't sure how he got your password, but mingyu swears that isn't the point. why don't you trust him? don't you know that he just wants what's best for you? he knows that guy wasn't good enough for you anyways. don't you trust him to know what's best for you? c'mon, let him prove it to you ...)

"see princess?" he murmurs, slipping his hands beneath your shirt and riding the flimsy cloth over your stomach and bra-covered tits. he lifts his head up to gaze down at you, cheeks flushed as your back arches upwards and into his touch as he continues to rub his rough palms all over your torso and soft tits. "i know what's good for you ..."

the words reverberate in your skull when he starts to tug at the waistband of your sweats, pushing them down only a little so he can rub his fingers over your clit through the fabric of your panties. when you moan loudly, mingyu grins.

"there she is ..." he grunts, rubbing tight circles over the growing wetness before slipping his shirt over his head. "c'mon ... lemme be the best best friend," he pleads, and you don't even have a moment to think about what you're doing before you're shoving your pants all the way down so they pool at your knees.

"shit, gyu—please!" you cry out, eyes the painfully large tent that rests between his legs and under his jeans. because if mingyu is anything, it's your best friend, and you'd be damned if you let anything—anyone—get in the way of that.

read pt 2 here!

[illubean]

srry I keep doing super long requests so I'll try to make this one shorter.

Illumi, Chrollo, Feitan, and Leorio's reaction gn!s/o or crush who fights by shredding mfs with tooth and claw like some kind of feral animal

they see a cowardly enemy try to run, turn to him and go "hey babe, do me a solid and throw me." so they can drill down onto the mf and maul the shit out of 'em coming back just absolutely soaked in blood.

for bonus comedy maybe they say somethin like "that felt sexy. we should do that more often." or "lmao we should name that move..."

HXH With an S/o W/ Sharp Teeth/Claws

Characters: Leorio Paladaknight, Illumi Zoldyck, Chrollo Lucilfer, Feitan Portor Type: Headcanons, Gn!Reader

up to you if nen makes ur teeth/nails grow or if ur just freaky all the time

Warnings: violence

Leorio Paladaknight

this man is HORRIFIED

YOU'RE SO SCARY

forget him throwing you in battle bro he is RUNNING FOR COVER

the first time he ever saw you maul something like an animal was those damn pigs at the hunter exam

fuck a weak spot you just bit a chunk out of it and it died 😭

"YOU'RE COVERED IN PIG BLOOD!" "Oopsiesss :3"

he is so scared

do not put your mouth anywhere near him he will run away screaming

he shivers every time your hand brushes up against him

poor guy

Illumi Zoldyck

you're like a personal guard dog, forget mike

he lets you take care of whatever business he doesn't have time for

and if he's going on a mission where he has multiple targets he'd bring you just for funsies

its almost like he's walking around with a chain chop at all times

if you asked him to throw you he'd be like ??? ok then CHUCK YOU LIKE A JAVELIN

he thinks it's kinda gross how messy you get especially since it like...gets in your mouth

he's already iffy about physical affection but this man will not touch you until you have been thoroughly sanitized afterwards

he won't even let you step foot inside the house

he WILL hose you down like a dog he don't play

"y'know you should throw me more often!" "only if you're clean before I touch you."

Chrollo Lucilfer

you know when dads grab their kids by the back of their shirts and swing them?

yeah that's how he's going to throw you

at some point it just becomes routine for him to quite literally throw you into battle since you enjoy it so much

why? he has no clue but he will indulge you

and every time its like fnaf jumpscare for your opponent

Chrollo is another one who doesn't like the mess and he rather you stay a safe distance until you clean yourself

the amount of hydrogen peroxide he has to get is insane

bro refuses to let there be bloodstains on ANYTHING and he will do all your laundry too

with gloves on of course

one day you came up to him and were like "maybe we should call that the flying squirrel"

Feitan Portor

he likes your style

you're straight to the point no bs and get shit done

sometimes this little sadist sits back and lets you do all the dirty work because he likes watching you

you guys were occupied with some lowly enemies and you noticed one trying to run off

and when you tell Feitan to throw you he does it with no hesitation (even though I imagine its kind of awko cus yk...hes a small man)

and when you rip this guy apart like some sort of rabid honey badger he's like

heh nice

and when you come back covered in blood and looking like a golden retriever wagging it's tail he is a #proud bf

"we should totally name that move :3"

he doesn't say much but he'll grab your hand and lead you away from the scene

you can't tell but he has a lil proud smile behind his cloak mask thingy

[stonedcoldfoxtarot]

What do people admire about you?

Ft Margot Robbie as Barbie

Pile 1 -> Pile 2

Pile 3 -> Pile 4

Pile 1

8oC, 10oS, WoF, 2oW, Devil, AoP, Lovers, 4oP (Temperance)

You're the kind of person who’s bounceback is always greater than the setback. When life throws you a curveball, you have a knack for transforming negative energy into abundance and success for yourself and those around you. Moreover, you value your worth and are ready to let go of anything that no longer serves you. It's clear that you have been blessed and are naturally lucky. But you don't rely on luck alone – you actively create your own opportunities and pursue what you want in life. You disregard the word "can't" or "won't" and consider every "no" completely erroneous.

In addition to your leadership skills, there's something about you that attracts people effortlessly and without even trying you make them want to shower you with gifts, money, or financial support. If you ever need help or a way to make ends meet, you have a network of people who are more than willing to lend a hand. Money seems to flow effortlessly to you, and whatever you spend comes back to you several times over. Many of you have a radiant aura that attracts beauty, love, and positivity into your life and it's not uncommon for people to fall head over heels for you or view you as their ideal romantic or platonic partner. Sometimes, they may struggle to let go or hold on too tightly, but you always find a way to bring balance and harmony back into the situation. Pile 1, your ability to alchemize negative energy or situations into abundance and growth and material success is what makes you stand out to those who admire you. 

Channelled Song: Speed Drive (From Barbie The Album) by Charli XCX

Pile 2

Hermit, 9oC, 9oW, 6oC, 7oS, 3oW, 6oP. 7oP (Justice)

Pile 2, many of you may have recently embarked on a journey of self-discovery and emerged on the other side with a wealth of knowledge, wisdom, and self-control that surpasses that of the average person. You faced your inner demons/shadow side and endured challenging times to become the person you are today. Difficult situations that would make those around you fold don't even faze you most of the time, and people can clearly see your strength when confronted with adversity. You've earned everything you have through hard work and you will fiercely protect what is rightfully yours. Anyone who dares to challenge you or interfere with god’s plans for your life will have to go through you and your angels first.

What people really admire about you is your knack for thinking strategically, staying focused on your goals and holding your ground once you've accomplished them. They're also incredibly impressed by the fact that you can achieve all of this without depending on anyone else besides yourself. And while they know you work tirelessly, they also see that you know how to treat yourself every now and then in order to create the life you've always wanted. You might also be a single parent who works hard to give your child the things you never had growing up, and your child sees you as their hero and biggest supporter.

Pile 2, you know how to move in silence when it counts, but you're also a kind and generous person in your interactions with those you love. You never forget a kind gesture and always strive to repay others in the same way. Some of you may also be your own boss or have achieved success on your own terms which makes you a role model to many. You know how to take charge of your future and make sure you get everything you want and more in this lifetime which sets you apart from the rest.

Channelled Song: Angel (From Barbie The Album) by PinkPantheress

Pile 3

7oW, Star, Sun rev, 2oS, AoC, Lovers, AoP, Hermit (AoS)

Pile 3, you are a badass and a force to be reckoned with. No one can mess with you, even if they wanted to. You have unwavering confidence in yourself and your ideas and you're never afraid to tackle any challenge head-on and fight for what you deserve. Whether you're dominating your social circles or making big strides in your career, you're steadily climbing to the top where you belong. You never back down from a challenge and you're always ready to fight for what you're passionate about, giving you a major advantage in achieving your goals.

Pil 3, your star power shines bright, even when you're just being yourself. Setbacks don't hold you back for long, much to the surprise or dismay of those who want to see you fall. Even when people try to block your path or dim your shine, they quickly realize they can't touch you because you're loved and adored by many and you have the favor of the most high on your side. You walk through life feeling incredibly blessed, as if you're truly god’s favorite. And everyone else? They're just Ken.

But no matter how strong-willed and influential you are, you also possess a heart full of love, empathy, and kindness. Your intentions are always genuine, and those who care about you may even find themselves falling in love with you, both platonically and romantically. To truly know you is to love you, and if someone doesn't love you, it's likely because they haven't gotten to know you well enough or are simply envious of how you always seem to get what you want out of life. In fact, you're so popular that opportunities seem to come your way effortlessly. People may even go out of their way to assist you because it boosts their own self-esteem to be associated with your success, and many more will continue to admire and look up to you as your star continues to rise.

Channeled Song: Barbie World (with Aqua) by Nicki Manaj, Ice Spice

Pile 4

2oC, 4oS, 4oW, 6oW, Hermit, 3oW, 9oW, 6oS (AoP)

Pile 4, you are a natural people person who always leads from the heart and shows kindness and respect for others no matter what. Making friends comes effortlessly to many of you, even though you mostly prefer to stay low-key and out of the way. You may notice that others usually find solace in your presence and are often drawn to you like a magnet wherever you go. And even if they never say it, just know that many of your loved ones are addicted to your energy and miss you so much whenever you're not around.

What makes you stand out is your commitment to being a positive role model in your community. While others around you might be focused solely on themselves, you often go out of your way to help or bless others whenever you can. For some, you may volunteer your time or money, and for others you help by inspiring others simply by being yourself and going after what makes you happy in life. Please believe your acts of kindness don't go unnoticed, as the universe sees all that you do for others and rewards you with good karma threefold. And though you may not be living a lavish lifestyle just yet, rest assured you will continue to be protected and provided for in many unexpected ways in this lifetime and the next.

Pile 4, I also see that being in your presence empowers others, as you naturally gas them up and boost their self esteem. And you're not one to offer empty compliments or platitudes either; your words hold weight and sincerity. Many recognize your wisdom and view you as someone who knows what they’re talking about when it comes to winning in life. They see you effortlessly overcoming obstacles and bouncing back from any temporary setbacks as if they were never in your way. In fact Pile 4, a lot of people can't help but think you're destined for something extraordinary in this lifetime and some even speculate that you may achieve fame or recognition for your work very soon. They can tell you are on a road less traveled and even if parts of it are still unpaved, you are definitely on the right path for future abundance and success. 

Channeled Song: Dance The Night (from Barbie The Album) by Dua Lipa

Thanks for reading🔮✨

© 2023 stonedcoldfoxtarot. All rights reserved. Please do not copy, translate, edit or redistribute.

[sweet-as-an-angel]

Wanted: Bonus Ending

Warnings: Fluff, fluff, more fluff! Implication of Smut, Implication of Pregnancy, Ghost can't Cook :-( (but we love him for it), Polyamorous Relationship), etc.

Original Fic

You woke up beside König and Ghost the next morning, exhausted and bruised. Ghost looked down at you, mask absent, his face lifting in a warm smile.

“Morning, Sweetie,” he said, voice gravelly from the night’s activities. König shifted beside you, squinting as he became conscious. You smiled up at Ghost and landed a kiss on his lips, sweet and soft.

“Morning, my love.” König stretched next to you, spine popping. He groaned.

“Don’t think I’ve got another one of those in me,” he jested, leaning back on his elbows, taking in your disheveled appearance. You laughed, Ghost gave a chuckle. All was well. Until you tried to rise from the bed.

“Well, I’d better go and make some breakfas–”

“Oh no, you’re staying right here,” Ghost said, getting out of bed, stretching his arm across his chest. “You need to rest; you’re not lifting a finger.”

“I second that,” came König, rubbing the back of his neck. He’d also abandoned his veil, having discarded it sometime after you fell asleep.

Your muscles ached, everything sore. It didn’t take much for you to relent.

“Alright,” you said, rolling your eyes. “Fine.”

You looked around the room. “I like the new apartment, by the way. Very roomy.”

“Exactly what I said,” Ghost said, throwing on a shirt and his boxers. He amde for the hallway, calling back: “Took us long enough to find it!”

König leaned over and pressed a kiss to your cheek. “We thought you’d like it. It’s got enough space for the four of us.” König looked down at your stomach, his eyes crinkling in a smile. You took his hand in yours and squeezed it, hoping he could feel even a fraction of the warmth - the love - you felt now. You remained in each other’s gaze until Simon called König from the kitchen, at which the taller rolled his eyes, playful.

“I must go; my boyfriend needs me!”

You pouted. “But I need you!” König bit back a laugh.

“Maybe, but you’re not a walking disaster when it comes to cooking, though, are you?”

“Give me enough time; anything can happen.”

You shared a laugh before he alighted and took to the kitchen, grabbing his favourite robe on the way. He rounded the corner, and you eased yourself into the pillows. König popped his head back round the doorframe.

“Oh, before I forget, if you move even a muscle, I’ll be forced to put extra bubbles in your bath.”

“Oooh, is that a threat?”

König smiled, his nose crinkling. “No, it’s a promise!”

Neither Ghost, nor König let you do any work for the rest of the week, tending to your every need and whim, ensuring that you felt every inch of their love as they snuggled with you on the sofa, watching your favourite film for the tenth time that week. And, as you belted out the opening theme song, they couldn’t help the smiles that crossed their faces, your shared future flashing in their minds’ eye, feeling all the joy it would bring.

Reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself tremendously :-)

Masterlist

Masterpost

[iamasaddie]

if I'm still alive, my regrets are few

PIMP!Joel masterlist

paring: Joel Miller x fem!afab!Reader

rating: explicit

word count: 6k

summary: still scared of what's to come your brain comes up with an unexpected escape plan, that forses you to learn things about yourself

warnings (for the chapter): FonF 69 (thank you @milla-frenchy for the inspiration and prompt), oral m receiving, fingering, questionable sex positions but it works in my head; light praise kink; light dirty talk, Tess is a queen

a/n: wow, it's here, isn't it? i can't believe my eyes. un-betaed, finished at midnight, i will come back to edit if there are any magor mistakes i didn't see on my fifth reread. hope you enjoy it, don't forget to leave a comment!

ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴀ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ᴏꜰ ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ, ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ꜰᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ɪꜱ ᴀ ᴡᴀʏ ᴏꜰ ʜᴇᴀʟɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇꜱꜱɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀ ꜰᴏʀ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ᴅɪᴄᴛᴀᴛᴇ ᴏʀ ᴘᴏʟɪᴄᴇ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴅᴏ ɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛʏᴘᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴡᴏʀᴋꜱ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴄʜᴏᴏꜱᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴜᴍᴇ. ꜱᴛᴀʏ ꜱᴀꜰᴇ, ᴘʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴄᴇ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴇɴꜱᴜᴀʟ ꜱᴇx ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴘʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴏᴠᴇ.

“Fuckety fuck, fuck, fuck!” 

The smell of the burning food hit your nose and you ran out of the bathroom, hands covered in soapy foam up to your elbows. When you left Joel last night, it was with the heavy burden of guilt. You knew you shouldn’t have done that, yet you did it anyway and now you faced the consequences. Joel had more than every right to be angry with you, but you felt that nagging pang, that someone was rightfully mad at you, that he was mad at you, and it made you feel sick to your stomach. 

You've been tossing and turning all night, expecting for Joel to show his face like he did the first night, but it looked like sex made him less of a light sleeper. Unable to find calmness in unconsciousness, you got up, making up your mind.  

Obviously, you couldn't take what you did back, and you'd already said you were sorry, but you thought you could go an extra step, do something nice for Joel. If not to mend your relationship, then to at least make sure he wouldn't give you five clients in one day.

You shuddered. 

You made peace with yourself, praying, meditating, and just turning off your brain accepting that the day had finally come. You knew that you learned enough to be a decent birdie, even though your confidence was still lacking. Sometimes you thought that you had some kind of a know-at-all syndrome, like you needed to know everything and maybe more to finally walk with you head up. Shaking your head, you sighed, there was no way Joel would spend any more of his time on you, he made that clear, but at least you could part on good terms.

That was how you ended up flooding his small bathroom with foam caused by using too much detergent, and burning the eggs you decided to make for breakfast at the same time.

You hurried to take the smoking pan off the stove, but the handle was too hot so you ended up dropping it barely escaping your feet.

“What the hell's goin' on?” Joel's groggy voice was not a surprise, yet you hoped you'd have some time to clean up. Plastering the sweetest smile you could manage, you looked up at him.

“Good morning, Joel, I made breakfast!”

He  looked at your feet where the pan was still smoking, eggs burned to a crispy black edge, and raised his eyebrows. “If that's a good mornin', I'm afraid to ask what a bad one looks like.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, you seem to say that a lot.” He clenched his jaw and brought his hands to his face, rubbing his cheeks and bringing some color to them. “Can you fix that? I'll go wash up. We’ve got a long day.”

You just nodded, squatting to get the pan. The burnt smell made your eyes water, and you hurried to drop it in the sink, throwing away the egg remnants and filling the pan with water.

Water.

“What the fuck happened in the bath?!”

Fuck.

You pushed reheated yesterday’s dinner around your plate, every piece of food sticking to your throat, making it almost impossible to swallow. Joel in front of you didn’t seem to have such a problem. When he finished shoveling down the last bits of breakfast - both of you kept the space around you drenched in silence - he moved the plate away and leaned back on the chair. He tilted his head to the side a little, scratching the spot where the hair was missing on his outgrown stubble.

“Nervous?” His voice startled you, and you dropped the fork on the table creating more irritating noise. 

“Nah,” you tried to brush off, but he looked at you intently, and you gave up. “Yeah, a lot.”

Joel nodded like he wasn’t expecting any other answer, he dropped his hand from his face and placed both of them on the table, hands in fists but not tense. “Don’t be.” He said simply, and you wanted to laugh at his ignorance. Like it was him that was going to sell his body to strangers. “You’re a good girl, have a good cunt. You’ll be just fine.”

You choked on air hearing his compliment but still mumbled thanks, not really convinced by his words. Joel let out a long breath, patting his stomach with one hand with the other still on the table.

“What are you nervous about?”

It was the longest conversation you had in the last three days, and you felt kind of grateful. Even if he didn’t really show it, you knew he’d just leave you wallowing in terror if at least a tiny bit of him didn’t care about you. That made you feel warm inside. Perhaps a burnt breakfast and half washed laundry was a key to a man’s heart.

“I don’t think I know…” you started slowly, trying to find the right words inside your brain. “I don’t know everything I need to know. Like,” a couple dozens of examples ran through your mind but you landed on the least helpful one. “What was the weirdest thing a client asked?”

Joel raised his brows, dark brown pools hidden under them looked at you with wonder. Clearly, he didn’t expect that. He sat up straighter, while still trying to keep his voice nonchalant. 

“We’re not some… fetish club. Everything that happens at ‘Eden’ is pretty classical. Maybe…”

He stopped himself, and that only grabbed your attention more. You leaned on the table, as if moving closer to Joel would make him speak. Your bones were trembling with all the ideas your brain provided. How bad was it? Did they hang people up with hooks? Could clients cut you for the right price? Were they allowed to shove stuff in your? Your pussy clenched in fear.

“What?” You heard your voice tremble, already wound up from your own thoughts. 

“I dunno,” Joel shrugged his shoulders and swiped his thumb over his brow, making the hairs stick out a little. “Sometimes women come and ask for a girl. But I wouldn’t call it weird. It’s still sex.”

For a moment you felt the weight of the world dropping from your shoulders. If woman on woman was the weirdest thing happening in that place, it was far from Sodom and Gomorrah playing out in your head.  But as soon as relief came it was washed away.

“Wait, women?”

Joel nodded simply. “What, you have a problem with that?”

“No, I…” Fuck. You had just learned what sex was like with a man, and here you were, going somewhere where you needed to be Devil’s favorite call girl, who knew the tricks and secrets. And it wasn’t the fact that there could be women in your bed that was making you nervous, it was the fear of being unable to give them pleasure. The thought of an exasperated sigh followed by a condescending ‘it’s okay, sweetie’ in a fake, almost synthetic female voice in your head made you shiver. “I don’t know.”

“You don't know if you’re okay with having sex with a woman?” You kept your silence, not even able to give the answer to yourself, let alone Joel. But he kept giving ideas, followed by bright  even if blurred pictures in your mind. “What if there’s a threesome? A client, you and one of my other girls?”

Now it was just getting scarier and scarier. It was one thing to disappoint just one woman, but to have an audience?

“No, I mean… I think I’m okay with having sex with women, I just never did, so I don’t think I can…” You tried to explain yourself, failing miserably. “It’s easier with men, you’re pretty basic in your pleasure.”

Joel barked out a laugh and you couldn’t ignore the warm twitch of your heart. You liked it when he laughed, he had a very special rasp to it, and he did it so rarely that you learned to treasure it.

“Week ago you couldn’t speak about sex without flustering, and now you’re what, dick whisperer?”

“I don't mean..-”

“I know what you mean. It's okay, I won't send you girls, yet.”

“Or maybe…”

An idea punched you in the head like a bright light early in the morning. Here it was, your salvation. Or, at least, postponement. You didn’t let yourself dwell on it, scared that you’d back up immediately, but as if Joel read your mind he tugged the words out of you with a simple question.

“Yes?”

“If you're fine with that… Maybe you could invite one of your birds over? To… to practice? The more I know the more money you'll get, no?”

You were scared to raise your eyes to meet Joels, instead studying all the ways you could bend your fingers this and that way. That was until you heard Joel’s chair creaking, and he took the similar position as you, with his elbows on the table, his head leaning to you so close that you almost touched.

“What has gotten into you, hm?” He whispered incredulously, you heard amusement in his voice.  “Are you becoming a little nympho?”

“A whompho?” 

You raised your head, your eyes immediately caught in the honey trap of his. He studied you for a while, and then got out the table, the chair legs screeching against the wooden floor. You didn’t move, just followed him with your eyes as he got dressed and prepared to leave the apartment.

“Clean up in here, we're having a guest over tonight.”

Your arms and knees were sore when you finished cleaning up. Taking in the results of your work you smiled proudly, the floors were clean, the blankets were folded, and it even almost stopped smelling like burnt eggs. You wanted to stretch on the couch, but were afraid that you’d fall asleep again, so you opted for sitting at the table, counting the little cracks in the old wood. Time was passing torturously slowly and you jumped at every sound you heard. But amidst the lingering anxiety, you couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation. You tried to imagine how your evening would go, thinking about who Joel would bring and if he’d participate himself, and instead of being terrified at the idea of another woman in your bed, you felt arousal painting your panties.

A woman, just like you. Soft, gentle, complicated. Beautiful. Your mouth salivated. What would it feel like to kiss lips that are so similar to yours, what would you experience if you dive into the wetness of someone else’s pussy, bringing them pleasure like you learned to bring it to yourself.

You never thought about this aspect of yourself. Never had an opportunity to fully explore your attractions, so you just went with something that was automatically given, but now, you were thrilled. This whole experience became something way more important for you than you expected in the first place, you didn’t know if you were happy or terrified. 

You heard the key turning in the lock, two pairs of boots stepping inside the apartment followed by two voices: one you knew intimately, and the other you didn’t know at all. Your heart raced as you stood up, caught between anticipation and anxiety.

A woman walked in, her eyes landing on you immediately. You tried saying hello, but the words stuck in your throat and you just stared back. She was gorgeous. Easily older than you, her eyes bearing more intellect and experience than you thought you could gather your whole life. She gave you a once over, stopping at your bare legs, covered to the mid-thigh by the t-shirt you borrowed.

Joel followed her into the kitchen and as soon as he stepped inside, you felt like you could breathe. Like everything was under control now.

“So,” the woman in front of you didn’t look very interested in anything besides you, her eyes watching your every twitch and tremor. She was calm, her voice quiet but strong. “You’re the famous rabbit, huh?” 

You saw Joel tense up, the knuckles of his clenched fists became wide, and he looked at the woman with something like warning, which she ignored plopping down on a chair and taking his untouched cup of coffee from the table, the only thing you were afraid to pour out knowing how attached the man was to his caffeine.

You didn’t know you were famous already. Did that mean Joel was advertising you or something? Your cheeks burned. The woman in front of you was intimidating. No more than Joel, but intimidating nonetheless. It sent an unexpected shiver downpour spine and straight to your core. There was something undeniably sexy about her, you didn’t even wonder why Joel chose her for what you were about to do. She was still looking at you like she was expecting an answer, even though it was quite obvious. You nodded your head, coming closer and sitting down next to her.

“Guess I am.” You put your hand on the table, and soon after saw the woman letting go of Joel’s cup and placing her still hot palm on top of your, gently brushing over your knuckles while still looking into your eyes.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Tess.”

Tess, the sound of her name was like a whisper, like a delicious hiss of meat on a hot pan, something that made your heart race, and your cunt clench. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Tess.” You loved tasting her name on your tongue, her hand soft and warm around yours. You didn’t lie, it really was nice to meet her.

“You seem a little frightened, little rabbit,” she tilted her head, finding your eyes and smiling at you. “Did this big old dog scare you?”

She didn’t need to point at Joel for you to know who she meant. You shook your head, embarrassment heating up your neck.

“Then what is it, baby? You can tell Tess, I swear I won’t bite unless you ask me to.”

“I just never, I…” You looked at Joel, and Tess did the same.

“Joel, can you leave us for a moment?”

You looked at Joel, taking in his form. His brooding form was still as a constipated statue, his jaw tense, you could almost hear his teeth grinding. He didn’t look at you, instead staring Tess in the eyes, as if communicating wordlessly. She handled his look without batting an eye.

“Tess…”

There was warning in his voice. You’ve heard it before once, but you still got the shivers running down your spine. Tess, on the other hand, remained unaffected, waving him off.

“Us girls need to chat. We’ll meet you in the room.” She vaguely pointed towards where his room was, and gave him a little smile before whispering sultry, “get naked, Daddy.”

You furrowed your brows at the nickname she gave him, something pinching your insides, but you shook the feeling off, turning your attention back to Tess. You didn’t know how she did it, but Joel listened to her, barely nodding and retreating to his room.

“Men, right?” She huffed, taking one of your hands in both of hers and squeezing. “So, rabbit, why you tremblin’?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” Somehow it was easier to admit that to her. Maybe because she was a woman, or because she looked at you with such warmth that you took a chance trusting her.

“Does anyone?” Tess leaned back on the chair, still keeping one of your hands between hers. The gesture made you at ease, like she was taking all the stress away with a gentle brush of her thumbs.

You smiled, lowering your head a little. She did not look like a stupid woman, but you still decided to elaborate. “No, I mean like in bed, I don’t know what I’m doing in bed.”

“Again, does anyone?” Tess shrugged her shoulders. "Baby, sex ain’t math, you can’t have a perfect algorithm to make every encounter you have a hundred percent success.”

Unbelievable. She was fucking unbelievable. The look in the woman’s eyes didn’t change a bit when you bared your insecurities to her. You were no-one to Tess, maybe you were even a pain in the ass since Joel clearly took her here to ‘work’, and yet there was nothing that gentle care and understanding falling from her lips. Like she was afraid to hurt you, to scare you off. Such a strong-looking, intimidating woman with a confident stride and a sharp wit, and yet she handled you with such delicacy. 

“Look, yes, we obviously have pleasure spots, kinks, fetishes that get us off without a fail, but you can only learn that with a partner. Someone who’s either open and loud about everything, or someone that has been with you for a long time. There’s no shortcut to a perfect sexual experience.”

You admired her ability to effortlessly navigate the sensitive topic with grace and honesty. In that moment she reminded you of Joel. She was telling you everything you were dying to hear, and still the nagging itch of hesitance disturbed your feelings. “But what if I mess up? Men are so much easier, you stroke their dick and they cum, easy peasy.”

“Don’t tell that to Joel,” she laughed quietly as you continued.

“Women are…”

Tess didn’t let you finish, softly slapping one of her hands on top of yours. “You know what, let me take the lead today, okay?”

“What do you mean?” Your eyebrows furrowed, you didn’t exactly know how to take what she was offering. 

“I mean,” Tess leaned into you, your lips almost touching, “I am going to bury my face in your gorgeous pussy and show you all the right moves, and then you can do the same to me, okay?”

“I..” You licked your lips, your breathing speeding up.

“I take that as a yes.”

Tess stood up, not letting your hand out, and tugged you closer to her. You felt the heady, raw smell of her, mixed with something woody, almost like Joel. She dragged you towards Joel’s room, her arm around your waist keeping you close.

You stopped right before she opened the door.

“Can I ask you one more question?”

“Sure, baby.”

“Why are you… doing this?”

“That’s a story for another time, little one.” Her eyes gloomed over with something that contradicted her confident smile. You didn’t need her telling you the who’s and why’s to know that this was not her first choice. For the first time you felt sick from being right. You didn’t want to be right, not with her. Not with this woman that calmed you down with one flirty smile, that looked at you like you were worth something. Like you were worth a lot. She placed her warm palm on your cheek, brushing your cheekbone with her finger and making you look back at her. “But it’s not as bad as it might look. And Joel, he cares. He really does.”

She didn’t wait anymore, opening the door and dragging you with her.

You realized that nerves and anxiety got the best of you when Tess closed the door behind you both, and gently shoved you towards Joel, who was already sitting naked on the made up bed, stroking his half hard cock lazily. The look of his massive hand going up and down the intimately familiar to you shaft was the last thing you could remember before giving your body off to Tess to deal with it how she deemed worthy. 

She was gentle with you, undressing you both piece by piece, and then guiding you on the bed and laying down, completely ignoring Joel with his back to you. You were quiet, both of you, letting your bodies do the work.

“Don’t be shy, baby, let yourself go,” Tess whispered, before claiming you trembling lips with hers, and placing your hands on her soft breasts, her hands on top of yours and squeezing.

Oh, what a new feeling it was. She was all tender flesh and soft moans as your bodies started grinding against each other. At one point she tugged you on top of her, making you straddle her hips as your wetness became one mixture of pleasure and excitement. There was no shame, there was no awkwardness, just raw desire to give. Give more, more, more, hear her moaning louder and sweeter in your ears. Tugging on the long silky strands of her hair as her fingers found your heat without question, letting you know what a woman could do to you. How unique and unforgettable her touch could be.

You felt hers coming up to your eyes, pleasure and gratitude overwhelming you as Tess plunged two of her fingers inside of your drenched pussy, but they couldn’t leave your eyes as she kissed them away.  You swiped your nose along hers, closing your eyes and for the first time initiating the sweet kiss between you.

“It’s all good, but we aren’t making love here, birdies.”

Joel’s voice was loud as a slap in an empty room. With Tess under you, in you, you completely forgot that the man was in the room, and he seemed to notice that. You tried to turn your head and look at him, but Tess grabbed your cheeks, still sealing your lips together even if for a moment. She let you go with a wet swipe of her tongue on your lower lip, “your lips are delicious, baby, but let me taste that beautiful cunt. Turn around and sit on my face.”

"What?” You whispered back in shock, not sure if Joel should hear what you say or not.

"Do as I say, okay? Be a good girl for me.”

You nodded dumbly. At that moment you wanted to be everything Tess could ever want, so if she wanted you to be on her face, who you were to say no.

You fought the awkwardness you felt as you took the position as fast as you could, immediately ending up on the same level with the woman’s pussy. You felt weird, crowding her head with your thighs, not exactly sure what you were supposed to do next, but Tess took the lead, roping your legs with her arms and practically shoving your face in her pussy, making you almost lay on her with your whole weight.

She didn’t wait for a signal, or a command from Joel, diving in your wetness eagerly, like it was her second nature, and - oh fuck - maybe it was her first.

You could barely contain the sweet moans as Tess let her lips wander and nip at your soft folds, swiping her tongue deep inside you before pulling out and gently circling your clit. She was less hungry, but more determined, perfectly aware of every little spot that made you twitch and shake. 

With her tangy smell invading your senses, you didn’t even need to make a decision before tentatively sliding your own tongue through her leaking core. Apparently, what you thought was awkward, felt absolutely different for Tess because you felt her moan deep inside you before you could hear it. “Go on, baby, just like that.” She said, before giving each of your thighs a small bite and returning her attention back on your pussy. You didn’t need to be told twice, as you returned to your caresses, trying to replicate everything Tess did to you. When she plunged her tongue deep in your entrance, you greedily gulped down her arousal, when she sucked on your clit, repeatedly swiping the tip of her tongue up and down over your bud, you made sure that you gave her the same attention.

Either you were less sensitive, or she was more turned on, but as you brought two of your hands beneath her asscheeks, squeezing them and trying to press her glistening cunt harder in your face, what you could swear looked like you were trying to eat her alive, Tess started shaking, her movements on your pussy coming to a halt as her back arched up, lifting you both up. 

Oh, what a beautiful, beautiful sound it was, you thought to yourself, still trying to lick up every drop of her that she left on your lips.

You felt the bed dip, and then someone’s hand lifting your head up by your hair.

“Good job, now you get a treat.”

“What?” Of course it wasn’t just someone, it was Joel, the man of whose existence you completely forgot as every part of your mind and body was dedicated to make a woman beneath you feel as much pleasure as you could. But he was always there, standing as a shadow, leaning on a wall with his hands tight in his fists, and his cock furious with arousal and untouched.

Now that same cock was centimeters away from your puffy lips, still glistening with Tess’ cum.

"You worked Tess beautifully, so let’s play out a scenario when you also have a man in the room. You wanted to learn, right?"

You could barely understand what he was saying, but with the woman’s lips back on your pussy and working you up to your orgasm vigorously, nothing looked more attractive than Joel’s cock in your mouth. The thought of his cum mixing with her in your mouth made you let out another stream of arousal and Tess hummed in your entrance.

You placed your hands on Joel’s hips, changing your position a little, but still straddling the woman’s face as he guided his cock in your waiting mouth.

“Fu-uck,” he exhaled, as you tried to shove as much of him as you could inside your mouth and moaned as his salty taste complemented the one of Tess’. Almost on autopilot, you hollowed your cheeks, saliva and cum that coated your lips made the glide of your mouth easier, and you fell into a perfect dance, as Tess fucked your hole with her tongue, and Joel fucked your mouth with his cock.

It was deliciously heavy and throbbing on your tongue, filling up the limited space of your mouth and inching down to tease the back of your throat with the fat head.

"What a perfect little whore, just fucking - God, you’re so greedy for my cock, just my cock, nothing else matters, baby.” You were delusional, every cell of your body screaming and itching, every pore electrifying as you felt Joel grab your throat with his wide palm and taking all the control from you. His cock relentlessly fucked into your heat, his words slurred and understood only by him, like he was just unable to keep his mouth shut. 

“Fuck, I’m gonna fill you up, baby, feel your little throat real good, I know how bad you want it, saw you salivating over me, fuck, fuck, take it, just take it, baby.” His movements became erratic as his cock burst deep inside your throat. Just as you predicted, his salty, slightly bitter taste was a perfect combination for Tess’ honey still clinging to your palette. You didn’t expect Joel to cum so fast, when you were still on the verge of orgasm yourself, but you couldn’t complain. The man was the solution to your pleasure, the discovery you still tried to ignore, and now it was just one   little lick, one suck from those skillful lips, and you felt you would - -

“That’s enough.” Joel’s voice was barely loud enough to pierce through the moans that continued leaving your opened mouth, and the deafening rush of your blood as Tess continued sloppily slurping on your pussy, shoving her tongue in your sensitive hole just to make you beg and whimper. Joel’s hand grabbed your head that you lowered as soon as he slid his softening dick out, and he yanked it up, making you look at him. His eyes concentrated on a drop of his cum that managed to escape your lips. He swiped his thumb and shoved it inside your open mouth, not reacting when you bit at it with your teeth while also licking the last remnants of him off. “I fucking said stop, Tess.”

Surprisingly to you, she listened. Her mouth unlatched from your puffy, glistening cunt, and you heard her smack her lips, saying nothing.

“No-no-no,” you started whining, Joel’s finger pressing on your tongue made the words slurred. You were so close, you knew, a couple more licks from Tess and you’d spray her face with your cum. You looked at Joel with confusion and anger.

He ignored the daggers from you, released his finger from your mouth furrowing his brows when you grazed his skin with your top teeth too hard, and patted Tess in her thigh. “You can go, birdie.”

“What? But I didn’t get to..-” you were interrupted by Tess gently pushing you off herself and you fell in your ass, body still buzzing with the undelivered orgasm. Tess made a quick work of her clothes, the woman got dressed even faster than undressed, and the look of curiosity that painted her face when she looked at Joel didn’t escape your attention. As she finished buttoning up, she came back to the bed where you were still naked, silent, and confused. Her soft hand caressed your cheek, and she lowered herself to be in the same face level with you. 

“Don’t worry, baby, you’re gonna be fine.” She sealed her words with a gentle kiss, that you could barely feel on your lips. 

As soon as the door behind her closed, you turned to Joel, staring him dead in the eyes. Was it his way of torturing you? “Why didn’t you let me cum?”

“We talked about it already on your first night, sometimes the client won’t be able to make you cum. Most of the time they won’t. But you still need to enjoy the process, you know. At the end of the day what’s more important is that your client comes, and both of yours did.”

“But she could make me come, Joel. You just stopped her!” You felt the boiling frustration overwhelm your senses, your hands twitched with violent intentions. You wanted to slap him right across his smug face.

“Could, couldn’t. It doesn’t matter now. She’s gone.”

He shrugged his shoulders, absolutely comfortable in his nakedness, his dick soft but still impressing and glistening from your saliva.

“Fucking great, just absolutely fuckin’ royal shit.” You shuffled from the bed, ripping the sheets you tugged over yourself to cover your nakedness and stomping on the way out of the room.

“Where are you going?” You turned back to look at Joel, he still didn’t move, but he didn’t smile anymore, instead he looked almost… disappointed? 

“I am going to shove whatever you have in your freezer up my pussy, because this,” you vaguely pointed at your lower region, “is just painful.”

“Don’t you want to come?”

“Are you fucking with me?”

“Not yet.”

Fucking Joel, with his fucking riddles and his fucking confidence and that stupid fucking dimple when he smiles at you like that.

“What’s the point of this lesson if you let me come then?” You still didn’t hide neither anger nor frustration from your voice, but this time they were accompanied by curiosity. 

“The lesson is pretty simple, if you don’t get to come with your client, you can always come to me,” Joel pointed at himself, and it should’ve looked ridiculous with his naked state, but it didn’t, and it pissed you off, but more so it turned you on. “And I’ll help you as soon as you ask.”

“Will you help me?” You took a few steps towards him, already feeling arousal wetting the skin between your thighs. 

“Told ya, just need to ask me that’s all.” 

His eyes were fixed on you, seeing every move, and you already knew the hunger inside them. You didn’t need to ask, he would still give it to you. But you still played his game.

“Please, Joel, ” you placed your hands on his naked chest, letting the sheet you held as a cover drop on the floor, and your thumbs stroked his nipples, “make me cum.”

Joel almost shoved you back to the bed, hovering above you, bracketing you with his arms and thighs. You took one look 

“Just like the first time, baby,” he whispered in your ear, kissing the shell of it with his words, “you’re even more riled up now.” Two of his fingers teased your swollen, almost raw from all the abuse clit, and then slowly sank in your pulsing wet entrance. “Bet it’ll only take a couple of strokes.”

You both hated and loved that he was right. You were right there, and Joel’s thick fingers filling you up more than four of Tess’ could just made you wanton. Mad with desire and pleasure he so freely gave to you, you soon became bouncing on his fingers yourself, trying to shove them deeper, trying to feel that sting that ruined you the first time.

“Come on, baby, I feel her squeezing me, she’s so close, let her go, let her cum, she wants it so bad,” he whispered in your neck, tasting the sweat that already covered your body.

“Please, please, please,” you didn’t know what you were begging for, your mind foggy with pleasure, pain, need, every little thing overwhelming your senses. You felt a sharp, stinging bite on your neck and that served as the last button, pushing you over and soaking Joel’s hand along with his sheets. Your moans overflowed his soft praise, and you didn’t feel the barely-there kiss he let himself leave in the middle of the throbbing bite mark.

“Am I your birdie now?” You felt weird sensations laying in his bed together. The intimacy of staying so close, the mix of sweat from your bodies mixed on your skin, when you’re not actually having sex felt raw and you hurried to sprinkle it with reality. 

“Nah,” Joel lifted himself up on one elbow and leaned over you to grab a dozen cigarettes tied together by a rubber and a pack of matches. He laid back down, tugged one cigarette out and lit it. The smoke came out from his lips in one steady stream, but he made an attempt of twisting his lips to the side, so he didn’t blow it in your face. Joel continued looking at the ceiling, the only contact left between you two were your sticky shoulders glued back together. “How can you be my birdie, if you’re a rabbit? Rabbits can’t fly.” He finally looked at you, grazing you with a proud smirk. 

Something warm spread inside you when you heard him call you by your nickname. Another wave of excitement spread beneath your skin, like when he so brazenly left a kiss on your neck. But then your heart slowed down, remembrance of what’s to come washing over you. Your sad smile didn’t share his joy, so you quietly sighed, it was your turn to stare at the crumbling plaster above your head. 

“So what? It’s not like any of your birds got wings.” You chuckled softly, the sound catching in your throat.

don't forget to leave a comment if you liked the chapter 🐇🤍

[meaningofaeons]

i absolutely love the way you write jing yuan! can you do some general domestic hcs for him? like him coming home after a long day at work and what'd you'd do together?

or on the weekend, where he doesn't have work, some cute sleeping in shenanigans before reader has to drag him out of bed

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ mundanities

⊹ character(s) - jing yuan ⊹ word count - 803 ⊹ notes - gn!reader

hi anon!! ty for the req!! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to get around to it </3 hope you enjoy !!! (=♡ ᆺ ♡=)

Now, Jing Yuan is a man of dignity.

He's the General of the Xianzhou Luofu, for Aeons' sake. Though he may nap on the job occasionally, nobody would ever question his status and majesty.

Well, nobody except for you.

It's difficult to take him seriously when he's composed one minute on screen, delivering a speech to the masses with poise and honor, and the next thing you know he's practically flopping into your arms once he gets home, completely deadweight.

Even if you wanted to scold him for throwing himself at you, it's impossible.

The General looks like a puppy when he gazes up at you, sleep-ridden expression doing nothing to get rid of the shine in his eyes upon seeing you.

"I'm home, my dear."

And his honey-like voice soothes your senses the moment he greets you.

He sounds so unbelievably happy and relieved, it's adorable.

Jing Yuan doesn't really enjoy doing anything too excitable or bothersome after a long day at work.

Really, if he had his way, he'd spend every day (working or no) in your arms, snuggled up in bed. Maybe with Mimi cuddling you two as well.

He's not opposed to some activities, though.

If you offer a game of chess or a walk around the gardens of Central Starskiff Haven, it's unlikely he'd deny you no matter how tired he is

But sometimes he will have to gently let you down—especially so if he's already made his way to bed and can't bring himself to rise from the plushness of the mattress.

(If you do end up going out, halfway through the walk or chess game he's probably going to hang off your shoulder and start snoozing lightly)

Jing Yuan can nap and doze just about anywhere and everywhere, but when he's in bed, there's not a chance in Hell of waking him.

Let him hold onto you, though.

Even if he'd rather not do anything at all once he's off work, he's still quite clingy to you.

Will groan and grumble like a child if you need to go on an errand or some such

Tries very hard to convince you to just stay with him.

Please bend to his will!! He works so hard, just let him enjoy the time he has to snuggle up to you

Stroke his hair, run a gentle caress over his face, he'll melt into your touch

Odds are he either gets home very very late and it's time for bed anyhow, or he gets home midday/afternoon and sleeps enough to ruin his bedtime

If it's the latter, he might be the one to ask you to take a walk and admire the stars together, surprisingly.

Jing Yuan is like a cat in that he can kind of sleep as much as he wants to, but sometimes he appreciates going out with you more than cooping up inside!

Now onto the weekends... You can't tell me this man is the worst on days off.

No need to get up for work? To him, that's as good as 'no need to get up at all.'

Obviously, there's stuff to be done around the house, or he made a promise to train with Yanqing that he may have forgotten about once he felt your hand stroking his white locks in the morning...

Not to mention, not only does he not get out of bed himself, but he has a vice grip on you making it so you can't get out of bed.

"Jing Yuan, darling. I need the restroom."

"Mmm... five more minutes..."

"I'll come right back."

"Ugh..."

I swear, if you thought he was petulant about you leaving during his afternoon naps, he's a whole new breed of childish in the morning if you so much as scoot away from him a bit

Forget about getting him up to do any chores or run any errands.

It'd be a miracle if you yourself managed to get out and finish them.

Once you manage to escape his grasp and run the errands you need to take care of outside of the comforts of your home, you will in most cases return to a somewhat guilty Jing Yuan who has taken care of the household chores in your absence.

You had scolded him to get up and get ready to go ten times before giving up, so the guilty conscience it put on him was very deserved, but...

He may be a bit lazy, but he's far from a slob, and he's certainly not ungrateful enough to you to let the household work go unfinished in your absence.

Besides... once your warmth had vanished from beside him, he found it a bit easier to drag himself up.

He's quick to latch right back onto you when you get home, though.

[dahliaes]

𝝑୧ yandere crazy boyfriend jean kirstein

cw; heavy yandere behavior, dumbification, obsession, fem reader

jeans a romantic. he's incredibly sweet and gentle, he holds the door open for you and protects you, but theres this reputation he has that you just can't believe. he's gotten into fights at bars and parties, you've seen him with bruised or broken knuckles and his heart just melts when you come and soothe him

when you take care of him, bandage his bloody knuckles and wipe blood from his forehead, just that one time, jean realizes you're too precious to ever be with anyone else.

you're too sweet to be alone.

jean would never hurt you. jean would never be violent in front of you. he would never scare you. he promises.

he brings you flowers, he says you remind him of daisies because of how pretty and soft you are. he takes you on dates where no one is around, no one but him. he wants to watch you. he isnt clingy, he's possessive. youre his pretty baby that only he is allowed to hold. he owns you. he just has to teach you this, not force it

he holds you from behind and wraps those big strong arms around you, sometimes he does it so hard you cant breathe. he'll let up, but he doesn't let you leave the bed. he will take you back to his chest, whether you're fussing or not. he'll use just one arm to carry you back to him and he'll put his hand over your mouth when you're whining begging him to let you go

"shh baby shh its okay, just let me hold you, quit fussin’”

hes the only man that should be around you. really, hes the only person that you need; he'll do everything for you—feed you, clothe you, protect you—and he'll do it while keeping you in his arms. hes going to carry you whether you like it or not.

he feeds you, not letting you lift a finger. he'll playfully keep your fork just out of arms reach until you let him be the one who puts food in your mouth

sometimes he just wishes you'd forget how to do things by yourself, that way you'll be clinging onto him for everything

even if he has to, jean will grab you and take you away from anything he doesnt like. he doesnt wanna hurt his baby, but maybe you need to remember what might happen while he's away and you're all alone.

he doesn't think you're stupid, he tells you this whenever you start to throw a fit—he just thinks you're too sweet to be by yourself. what if someone hurts you because of how nice you are? what if someone tries to take advantage of you in that pretty dress? why dont you stay in tonight and come cuddle with your man and let him take care of you?

he'll breed this into you, this dependency that renders you helpless when he's gone. jean doesnt want you to he afraid without him, but isnt it nice to know his precious baby is waiting for him at home, all alone where no one can touch her except him? waiting all alone in the little panties he picked out, hiding under the covers waiting for the door to open so you can run to him and jump up in his arms before spreading your legs open and letting him pump his cum into you...

waiting for him to come and help you, always with some flowers in his hand

[sugar-omi]

Qiu x mc?

omg i've been thinking about writing ol2 stuff im glad you asked even if its vague <3 also!! perhaps unrelated but needing to be said: i am NOT writing smut/nsfw for qiu + tama right now until at least the step 3 beta is released. #1 bc i want them to be 18+ in game #2 i want to have a better feel for them. but i'm happy to write fluff and dating/crush hc's n drabbles until then <3 also isn't the header i made so cute, i love it sm

tags : fluff, inbetween step 2-3

synopsis : what it's like having a crush and going through puberty at the same time.

you're the only person besides tamarack that qiu trusts and considers his dearest friend

but you're also his crush and it's hard sometimes...

on one hand, you're so sweet and caring

and you take care of him, even if you don't know how to comfort him you offer him a shoulder to cry on and a place to clear their thoughts

but on the other hand you're so beautiful/handsome and the way you look at them has qiu about to fly away from the butterflies

as you're growing up, qiu spends a lot of time with you.

i can see them sneaking into your room or throwing a couple pebbles to have you sneak out the front door

and you watch the stars together, all curled up together because it's cold and you only had half the mind to bring your blanket, which wasn't nearly enough

and even though your little midnight trips are frequent, neither of you prepare for the next.

and perhaps you're both "forgetting" a blanket on purpose so that way you have an excuse to cuddle up together, but who's to say?

no matter if you're shy or bold, there's this song and dance between you and qiu.

the longing glances across the room...

qiu flushes up to his ears, something he tries to hide by tugging at their long hair

and if you're feeling mischievous, you'll wink at him or perhaps you'll flutter your eyelashes at him, giving him a teasing smirk with a tantalizing stare.

or the way your hand lingers on his arm, making soothing circles with your thumb

you throw in an occasional heart, but with no way to trace the small action, qiu just flushes and stares blankly at his ceiling during the night wondering if it even happened

you two also hold hands whenever possible

only if there's a reason to of course

like crossing the road, very dangerous!

or walking on a log, you could fall into a pile of leaves!!!

so it's up to qiu to hold your hand and if he doesn't let go even when Tama is around, well you didn't let go either so why are you scolding him?!

mmm, if your hands were cold they would put your hand into his pocket and cover it with his own warmer ones

or even better, if you're parting and you came to school with cold hands, they would give your their gloves and pat your hands together

qiu doesn't particularly like jewelry, but if you gave him a piece of jewelry they'd wear it pretty often

especially if it's made by you

wouldn't wear it to school too often just in case it got ruined

omg imma have to write this but

think abt confessing to qiu while you're having one of your lil midnight excursions

you're on the floor of one of your bedrooms, or perhaps the forset floor I can't decide

and they're laying there, hair splayed out across the floor and looking at you with those eyes that are so welcoming yet bore holes into with the passion and fire behind them.

qiu is like a sunflower in a sea of poppies.

or a butterfly in the snow

and even if the words don't escape your lips

even if you can't bring yourself to kiss him

somehow you still find yourself flushed, perhaps with your lips meeting in the middle and suddenly tomorrow looks so much brighter

[atzfilm]

— the kraken; (m)

— kraken!yunho/f.reader, 25.5k

— fantasy, fluff, angst, smut

— finding a man in the middle of a snowstorm, you try your best to figure out how to get him back home.

— content warnings under cut

— a/n; rewrite of one of my old fics ♡ hope you enjoy ;;

content; fire, injuries, hospital, cussing, smut: watersports, tentacles

“Only three?” Jongho pouts, holding up the oranges in his hand. “But it’s buy four get one free, you don’t want to give a farmer some extra money?”

You snort, nodding as he quickly adds two more to your bag before you could protest. “You aren’t even a farmer, your grandparents are. And we’re not even close to any fruit fields. We’re next to a beach, Jong.”

Jongho and you have been friends ever since you stumbled into his shop one night after a high school breakup, tears running down your cheeks. Instead of the noble thing, he told you to make sure not to put your makeup on anything and passed you an old bread they didn’t sell during the day. At the time, you were pissed off at him for being so inconsiderate, but looking back at it now, he probably didn’t know how to respond to a random stranger walking into his parent’s, well now his, store. After seeing him in the halls and apologizing for that mess of a night you had, your relationship with him grew pretty quickly. By the time a month passed, you’re sure you knew everything about him. Insecurities and all.

Fate brought you into that shop that night, and you’ve never been more grateful for it.

He shrugs, showing you your total before you hand him the cash. “I’m just trying to run a business here, if a white lie gets me an extra dollar who really wins in the end?” he passes you your bag and you thank him, tucking it into your larger one. “Who cares if you’re my best friend and you know everything about me? You just found out about my grandparents ten years ago. People forget you know.”

You laugh, “Just ten years ago? God, I really should invest my money into other things. Like Walmart.”

He gasps, holding his hand over his chest in mock shock. “Walmart? You’d buy their pesticide-filled fruit over my luscious, moist plants? Is this who we are now?”

You stick your tongue at him. “Please don’t say moist. See you at the barn tonight. And don’t forget your pie, you know that Mingi would have a fit if you don’t bring it.”

You see the soft red on his cheeks darken, eyes flicking away from yours. “A-ah, right. Pie.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure that’s not the only thing he wants to eat tonight.” You quickly navigate out the shop, expertly dodging the old bread Jongho throws at you as you wave goodbye, closing the door lightly behind you.

You’ve lived in this town most of your life, moving into your grandparents' home after your parents' divorce. It’s not like they didn’t want you, they love you and still do. But sometimes, relationships are difficult to maintain. And for better or worse, you all agreed that spending time with your grandparents seemed like the best for everyone. For that, you’re thankful. You can't imagine yourself anywhere else.

You glance both ways before crossing the street, tucking a hand in your pocket. The sky looks a bit dark today, but you don’t recall seeing rain in the forecast. Maybe a sudden storm? The weather reports aren’t always accurate but from the look of those clouds, you can only guess it’s more than a light sprinkle. You tug your zipper up higher, unlocking your car door.

“Shit,” you shiver as you turn up the heat, placing your bag to the side and driving away.

Your mornings consist of you waking up, going to visit Jongho at his store, then going back home to organize some loose ends that they left behind before you went back to work. This week you’re off from your job, Mingi insisting that you need a break. You’ve worked at the bookstore-library combo for longer than you could remember, to the point where you’re now a co-owner, next to him. You couldn’t believe your eyes when Mingi handed you the paperwork to make you partial owner, tears springing to your eyes. He laughed at you but you could tell how much it affected him as well, explaining that he had dust in his eyes as he wiped tears. It was an easy choice at the time; Mingi has been your best friend longer than Jong has. Two peas in a pod.

Your phone rings, and you glance at the caller ID on the dash, before picking it up. Speak of the devil.

“Aren’t I supposed to be on vacation, sir?” You say, slowing down to a red. “Why are you calling me? I’m going to deduct this from my vacation.”

“Please shut up,” Mingi whines, and you only laugh. “I was just calling you to let you know that the forecast just called for a storm, so don’t go to the barn tonight.”

“What? But it’s the annual town fundraiser, how can I just not go? Everyone is going to be there!” You beep loudly at a car cutting into your lane, sighing loudly. “Idiots.” You murmur.

“Yea, I know. But we both know how you drive. I don’t want you to get into any accidents or worse. Just, stay off the road, okay?”

“Mingi, you don’t have to worry about me. You know that.”

“Yea,” his voice cracks, but you can’t tell if it’s the reception or him himself. “But I do anyway.”

Your relationship with Mingi is unique. You consider him a brother rather than just a best friend. He’s always been there. You honestly cannot think of a moment where he wasn’t always present; your middle school graduation, high school graduation, college graduation. When you were engaged at some point but broke it off just hours before the wedding. He’s your rock, and you are his. So you never blame him if he worries. You’d do the same if you were in his position.

“Fine. But I’m still going, rain or shine. I’ll take my bike instead, or walk. It’s only a few minutes away.”

“y/n…”

“Nothing you say is going to stop me from going. You might as well accept it. I’ll just call you when I leave the house, alright?” You pull into your driveway, glancing at his profile picture. It’s the day you graduated, faces squished against one another as you scream in happiness. “And don’t even try to offer to drive me there. You’re the host.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “Fine. But please at least text me. I know you’re going to forget to call like you always do.”

You frown. “No need to point that out, asshole.”

“Haha. But seriously, stay safe. If you think it looks too risky out there just stay home. There are so many more events during the year you can come to. I’ll talk to you later!”

He hangs up before you can add another snide remark. You roll your eyes, grab your phone and bag and leave the car. You glance up at the home they left you. It’s an older style, the wood panels peeling off the sides, roof in stable condition. It’s enough to last for the remainder of the year, but you’re not too sure if it’s going to go beyond that. Of course, you’re forever grateful for them passing it down to you, but you can’t help but think about how much it’s going to cost to fix it all. Hopefully Seonghwa, your local contractor and good friend, could somehow give you a decent enough estimate in the appointment this week so that you could save and by the end of the year, Have enough to pass your budget in case there's any hiccups, he says.

You unlock the door, tossing your keys to the side and dropping your coat on the rack. You stretch, humming to yourself lightly as you go to the pantry, placing your oranges in the bowl. They’ve been preparing for the event for months, a yearly festival where they raise funds for the local library and other small shops that need it. It’s always successful, several thousands of dollars immediately allocated to where it needs to go. And despite Mingi being one of the recipients of the awards, he hasn’t hosted it until now.

You sit down, glancing over your documents as you sigh. He insisted that you’d take care of this tonight even though you suspect it’s because of the weather, to keep you home. You crack your knuckles, pulling up the information on your laptop and home computer.

Two can play at that game.

-

You lock your door behind you, grabbing the umbrella lying next to your mailbox. You can only imagine Jongho running up to your house in disgust at how you still haven’t gotten an umbrella holder after years of living here, but you digress. You’re cutting it a bit close to the time, but it’s enough to get there a few minutes late. Not to be too harsh, but there are mostly older people living in this town. Mingi, Jongho, and you are part of the very few younger people residing here.

You can recall your mayor constantly pointing you out whenever there are town halls, explaining how the “youth” would like change. Even with your blatant disgust at him wanting a large corporation to move into town, he still tried to use your face at the meeting to make it seem as if you were supporting the expansion. You could only scoff at him, shaking your head. If only they allowed citizens to make remarks without having to reserve the spot weeks before.

You open your umbrella above you, already hearing the pitter-patter of rain splattering across the concrete. You glance up at the sky, the clouds staring angrily down at you. Maybe you’ll make it before it actually begins to pour. Jongho promised that he’d take you home after so there’s no need to worry about that. You increase your pace anyway, the vision of a drowned rat circling in your head.

As you walk, you glance over at the ocean. An odd shadow sits on the creek, almost blending with the sand and dark ocean. It doesn't quite look like a body shape, maybe distorted by the distance and your subpar eyesight. You look once more before looking away, your nerves high. Your neighborhood hasn’t had any violent crimes for hundreds of years, but you wouldn’t like to be the first.

And so, the jogging begins.

-

“You’ve made it!” Seonghwa holds the door open for you and you thank him, placing your umbrella on the hook. Luckily, you’ve made it before the brunt of the storm unscathed, a few droplets barely hitting your shirt. “Wait, did you walk here?”

“How else would I get here Min?” You nudge him, glancing around the room. It’s busier than you thought, already half the town filling the barn. Glass jar lights hanging from the beams, something Seonghwa more than likely came up with. The lighting is dim enough to make it feel homey inside. You see Mingi running back and forth across the room, thanking people for coming and handling issues that pop up.

“How long has he been like that?” You ask Seonghwa. He gives you a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his head.

“For hours now. I don’t think he’s stopped moving since I came here.”

You sigh, quickly walking up to him and stopping him in the middle of another sprint. His eyes meet yours and he pulls you into a bone-crushing hug, you groaning against his shirt as he says something too quickly for you to understand. He pulls back, about to navigate around you before you stop him in his tracks.

“y/n…” He whines. “I have so many things to deal with, there’s no time for games.”

“You’re sweating in an air-conditioned room that’s freezing. And Seonghwa told me that you haven’t gotten a break this whole time. Mingi, relax. Everything is fine. You’re fine, and people are having a good time. There’s no reason to stress yourself over this, okay?”

He sighs, rubbing his eyes. “Fine, fine. But, um, have you seen Jongho? It’s been an hour or so and he’s always early to these things?” He glances around you, a hint of a blush decorating his cheeks.

“No, I haven’t. Did you text him? He hasn’t answered any of mine…” You look at your phone, your message read, but never responded to. It’s unlike him to ever miss a message; the man is glued to his phone most of the day since businesses around here never truly get busy unless it’s a holiday. “Should I be worried? Maybe I’m worried–”

“y/n, relax. He’s fine, he’s probably up to no good like usual. I’m sure he’ll show up sooner or later,” Mingi squeezes your arm. “And I’m glad you made it here fine,” he frowns slightly. “Even though you didn’t listen to me.”

You roll your eyes, stepping to the side. “I’m a grown woman, Mingi. I can take care of myself. How about you go and track down the mayor? I’m sure he’s somewhere around here spewing some shit to make people vote for him again.”

He lets out a loud sigh, “Fuck him. You should run next time, we need young people more involved.”

“Absolutely not,” you push him in a random direction, him blowing you a kiss before he disappears into the crowd.

There’s a lot more people here than you expected, even the younger people of your community gathering inside. You’re not that shocked; Mingi’s charisma demands a crowd, even during high school. The man smiles and people swoon. With an event like this? He could probably gather the whole town without even trying. And as you push your way through, bumping and stepping over toes, saying hellos, you’re sure at least half the population is in this barn. But still, no sign of Jongho. You know Mingi told you not to worry, but you messaged him again, and no response.

you: are you okay? you’re not one to just disappear :( do you need help with anything

Again, read. Zero response. Either he left his phone open on your chat and is pissed, or… something has happened.

You step outside, away from the loud music, and dial his number. You quicken your steps to his store and home, your anxiety rising.

“Hey, it’s Jongho! If you’re listening to this, I’m either dead or exhausted. Leave a message after the be-”

You hang up, and dial his number again.

“Hey, it’s Jongho!…”

You turn the corner, bright orange and yellow flashing in your eyes. Your phone slips from your fingers, cracking on the pavement as you stare in shock. Flames rise to the sky of Jongho ’s home, bright against the dark night. Your legs pump underneath you, thoughts filled only with Jongho . The burning heat feels as if it melts your skin as you push through the doors.

"Jongho!"

Flames glide along the floor, burning everything in sight. You stick close to the floor, covering your mouth with your scarf as you glance around for any sign of Jongho . The glass scattered across the tiles dig into your skin, adrenaline masking the pain. Blood drips each time you slide, but you ignore it. Your eyes flick to an open door, and without much of a thought, you crawl through.

Jongho’s head is tilted to the side, body slump against his desk chair, head thrown back in an odd position and stained with blood. Your legs want to buckle underneath you at the sight, but you push through, reaching out and grabbing him by the shoulders, carefully placing him on the floor. He’s heavy, you struggle as you pull him through the flames. The heat burns your skin as you scream in pain, tears rolling down your cheeks, smoke slowly filling your lungs.

Your head is dizzy, fingers slipping as you fall back to the floor. You groan, glancing down at your ankle, seeing it turned in an odd position. Did this just happen? Were you walking with it this whole time? You gag, your body weakening as you struggle to grab him.

“Please,” Your tears are hot as they fall down your cheeks, eyes on him. This isn’t what you wanted. Jongho and you were supposed to be at the barn, celebrating Mingi’s first hosting as you all laughed at the strange citizens in your small town. But here you are staring at him, knowing that you don’t have the energy to pull you two the rest of the way.

“I’m sorry,” you can’t even say the words properly, coughing through your sentence, eyes fluttering as your throat burns. Before your eyes shut, you feel arms embrace your body. Wet, cold, different from the heat around you. But you don’t get a chance to see who it is, your head tilting forward as you pass out.

-

“y/n? Is she waking up?”

“It will take a moment, her lungs were filled with smoke. I’m surprised the patient even lasted that long with it. In ordinary circumstances…” The voice trails off.

“She isn’t ordinary.”

“Quiet down, your voice might disturb her.”

“Ah, sorry. I’m just worried.”

“I know, I know. Just be patient, she will wake soon.”

-

You blink slowly, a throbbing headache greeting you as you open your eyes. You take a long breath, your throat scratchy. Coughs overtake you as you lean forward, trying to figure out exactly where you are.

“y/n?! Nurse!” You feel arms hold you. You turn to the touch through your tears, the brown, wavy hair of your friend appearing between. He looks at you, eyes flicking between yours.

“I’m okay, Jong. I’m okay,” you clear your throat, the burn making you cough again. A nurse walks in before you can protest, checking your vital signs and handing you a bottle of water. You drink it slowly, the strange feeling slowly dwindling down to nothing.

“You’ll be fine,” the nurse says, smiling at you. “It’s pure luck that there wasn’t any damage to your lungs, this man over here too,” he tilts her chin to Jongho. “You lowered him to the ground and probably saved his life. A hero. Call me if you need anything. On the coms, please.” He holds up the button next to your bed, glancing at the monitor before disappearing from the room.

“Mingi and Seonghwa came, but they had to leave because their businesses needed to open,” Jongho explains, letting out a loud sigh. “You scared me, you know. Why the Hell would you enter a burning building? You could have died, y/n. I wouldn’t have been able to live with that.”

You frown, drinking more water before speaking again. “Are you kidding me? You could have died if I didn’t go in there! Was I just supposed to stare and wait for a firetruck to come? Is that what you want?”

“Yes! Yes, I wanted you to wait for the professionals to handle it. And now look at you,” he gestures to your arm, wrapped in bandages from your shoulder to the tips of your fingers. “You’re hurt because of me.”

“I don’t regret running in there and helping you. I’m sure you would do the same if it was me. I care about you Jong, I’m not the type to just stand by and watch someone like that happen. A thank you would be nice,” you murmur the last line, giving him a side glance.

He’s quiet for a moment. You feel the soft touch of his hand slowly curling with yours. You look at him, and you can see the concern lining his eyes as he watches you. He looks wrecked as well, right arm resting in a sling, left covered in gauze. Cuts scattered across his face. But it’s less than you thought, and for that you’re grateful.

“Thank you,” he mumbles softly. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. I’m sorry for arguing with you, really. I just… I hate to see you hurt. I can’t even picture not seeing you for a day, let alone for the rest of my life. Just, thank you. And please be careful, you’re not a superhero. You’re y/n.”

You smile at him, leaning back into the bed. “You’re welcome.”

Your mind runs back to when you collapsed on the floor, a mysterious figure whispering something to you before you grew unconscious. It wasn’t a firefighter, that you could remember. Their clothes were dark, but you couldn’t make out their face. God, what did they say to you?

“Jong, was there anyone else at the scene? Did anyone tell you anything?”

“What do you mean?” he furrows his brows. “It was just us. Don’t you remember? You dragged the both of us outside. If we were still in there, we could have died. You saved us.”

“No, no I didn’t,” You try leaning up again, but Jongho pushes you back down.

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Jongho, I couldn’t make it to the entrance. The smoke was too much, I couldn’t breathe and fell to the floor. There’s no possible way I could have made it out.”

He tilts his head in confusion. “Then how did we get outside? They didn’t mention anyone else.”

“I…” Did you imagine it? No, you could remember those last moments clearly. It was smoky, but there was enough clarity to see someone in front of you, helping you. Did they leave after they brought you outside? Why would they do that, wouldn’t they make sure you were safe? “I don’t know what happened, but I didn’t do it. Someone else did, I’m sure of it.”

“Well,” he shrugs. “They didn’t see anyone else. I don’t know how someone would be able to, anyway. The fire spread so quickly, you would have been burned trying to get through it. But…” he grins, glancing at you.

“Guess you’re not my hero anymore.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“I’m kidding, I'm kidding– hey, that’s my bad arm!”

-

The next few weeks are rough. Walking on your two feet is wobbly at first and holding things without it hitting your cuts is even worse, but you get through it. Eventually, they heal enough for you to go through daily tasks with less pain. Mingi takes it easy on you though, making you sit at the front desk and help customers that enter, sometimes picking up the phone when he isn’t lingering around to pull every single task away from you. You insist that you can handle walking around and fixing fixtures or putting books back, but he doesn’t sway from his decision. Mingi didn’t want you to come back to work this soon, pushing you to take a paid vacation. But you can’t imagine yourself shut in your home, staring at the wall, or watching television all day. Surrounded by books is something that you love, staying away is the last thing you want to do.

“Please give it a rest,” he whines, taking a book from your hand. “Your hands aren’t going to heal properly if you continue to break them open. Please.”

“It’s fine,” you try grabbing it again, but he only guides you into your chair, fingers lightly pressing into the bruises that still line your arms. You wince slightly and he panics, glancing over you.

“Oh my god I’m sorry–”

“I swear if you apologize for nudging me, I will resign.”

“I’m sorry. Now will you go home?”

“No.”

He rubs his face in frustration. “How have I ended up with the best and worst employee in my entire life? You know I could force you to go home since I am your boss.”

“We are co-owners, Mingi,” you stick your tongue at him. “And if I want to come in I can. Don’t be whiny.”

“I care about you, that’s all,” he frowns. “Be more careful, I’m serious. I’ll file a complaint on you and force you to go home if I have to.”

“With who?”

“Jongho.”

You gasp, turning around to him as he walks around you and places the book in the return cart. “Mingi–!”

“Yea, I’m using the big guns. You’re not scared of me, but Jongho would make you go home. You know he’s already wary about this anyway,” Mingi sits next to you. “I feel like I’m your parent.”

“You’re acting like one too,” you glance at the computer. “I’ll be more careful. Having these bandages on sucks, and they stink really bad at the end of the day.”

“You’re honestly the grossest person I’ve ever met.”

“At least I don’t track my crush's poops on an app,” you murmur.

“He asked me!”

“Ah, so you admit you and Jong have a thing?” You wiggle your eyebrows. He flicks your forehead, getting up from the seat. You reach out to kick the back of his legs, but he steps forward quick enough to evade your lunges. His laugh echoes around the store as he disappears into the back. You make a mental note to pay him back later, clicking on the search engine.

Search results for: how long does it take for someone to die from smoke inhalation

You click on the first website you see.

Smoke inhalation can kill a human in only a few minutes, as well as creating disorientation and obscuring vision. There is a possibility that the person may become unconscious, quickly leading to death. Long-term injuries…

You tap on your mouse lightly, rubbing your hand. Jongho and you would have died if you stayed on that floor for just a few moments more. How did this person even survive long enough to pull you two out? The possibility is close to zero.

“Who are you?” You say, staring at the screen.

-

You wave to Mingi as you walk inside your home, locking the door behind you. You kick your shoes to the side, throwing your bags on your couch. Your eyes flick to the kitchen, water running. Before you turn it off, an almost moist, slimy sound stops you. You look down. A foreign liquid coats your shoes, as well as the rest of the kitchen. It travels in a circle around the table that sits in the middle, before disappearing off into the back. Fingers curled around a knife you just grabbed from the holder, you walk slowly to the back, hands shaking.

This is a bad idea, you think. This is a terrible idea and here you are, being a dumbass and walking further into the back. You flick on the light, trailing along the line until you see it disappear out the back door. No, correction. The open, back door. Did something crawl into your kitchen, looking for food? And what kind of animal leaves behind this… viscous-like liquid? You look out your back door, seeing none of the liquid on the porch or in the grass. You shut the door, placing the knife on the side.

What got into your home?

-

“Eww, that looks sour, like funky,” Jongho’s nose scrunches up as you show him your floors through the video call. You hold the phone in one hand, mop in the other. “Maybe a colony of snails traveled through your kitchen, couldn’t find anything, and then disappeared into the abyss.”

“That sounds like the most unrealistic scenario of my life.”

“Unrealistic, yes. Impossible, no. I mean, you did leave your backdoor open. Did you expect to come home to a clean and tidy home?”

“I didn’t leave it open,” You glare at him through the screen, placing it on your stand as you scrubbed the floors. The smell is strong, but not unpleasant. You thank the universe that you don’t have to deal with a sour smell. “I looked around my house but I couldn’t find anything that would explain what it is. Seonghwa even came in and said he hasn’t seen anything like it. He works on old homes all the time, so I thought that maybe he’d have an explanation. But nope. Nada.”

“Maybe you haven’t taken a shower yet and you tracked your ooze around your home, nasty.”

“I honestly hate you.”

“Stinky.”

“Jong please,” you stick up your middle finger at him, his laughs echoing around your kitchen. “Maybe I should call a bug expert or something to check it out. What if it comes again and I can’t clean it out?”

“Are you talking about an entomologist or a pest control technician?”

You stare at the phone, deadpanned.

“Don’t give me that look! I’m trying to help you out, not the other way around. I can call my buddy I know who loves bugs, and he can check out the discharge for you.”

“…I really don’t like the way you worded that.”

“You’re really picky.”

“I’m hanging up. Oh, wait,” you throw some more cleaning solution on it, before turning to look at him. “How are you and Mingi? Progress? Did he massage your legs after the fire? How about your toes?”

You can see the burning of his cheeks even through the terrible camera quality. He rubs the back of his neck, glancing away. “Well, he’s helped me find a temporary place while they work on the shop. Seonghwa told me that it can be fixed in less than two months, which is a relief. Someone must have been watching because it started to storm even though it wasn’t on the forecast. It saved my shop.”

“Good,” you say, smiling at him. “Now to ask Mingi on a date, and everything will be sealed and ready to go!”

“y/n…” he groans, “You’re too nosy. How about you accept that invitation from Hongjoong and actually go on a date with him? He’s been asking about you every time he sees me. I feel like I’m the one rejecting him at this point.”

“He’s still lingering around?” You sigh, glancing down at the floor. It’s not like you don’t want to go on a date with him. You’ve just been so caught up with work and personal things that dating him would only be a crutch. And you wouldn’t want to treat anyone as if they’re not an option, so you thought it would be best to tell him that you’re too busy.

He’s handsome, he owns a small farm. He’s funny and kind, the timing is just… off. And he's a little strange too. You're not sure if it's just you, but he's an enigma. Something about him rubs you the wrong way.

“You know I can’t go out with him. But this isn’t about me, it’s about you–"

“You’ve been single ever since that weird kid you dated freshman year moved away.”

“Wooyoung? He wasn’t weird!”

“He put holes in his socks and wore them as fingerless gloves. Please tell me how that’s not the least bit strange.”

“I’m suddenly very busy! I’ll call you later!” You hang up before he could say bye, tossing your phone on the counter. It buzzes, and you glance at the notification.

rat: and he ate three bars of cheese at lunch

“Fuck you,” you mutter, grabbing another sponge and scrubbing.

-

You drag yourself into your home, not bothering to even lock the door behind you as you fall onto the couch. The injuries from the fire have faded into mostly scars, only a few barely bothering you. You still haven’t figured out who exactly helped you out of the fire, but you pushed the thoughts to the side, choosing to move on with your life. Speaking of life; it’s tourist season, and the town is filled with people who want to experience the “small-town” vibes. The mayor loves it; tourism means more revenue. You should love it too since it means more business to your bookstore and library combo.

But instead, all you do is frown at the new faces that enter your shop, Mingi having to nudge you so that you can plaster a fake smile on your lips and pretend that you care about their presence. The sales were fine before, enough to keep you afloat with extra just in case. Now they’ve gone through the roof, time during the week that you can take off because of how high it is. You’re thankful for that, Mingi spending time on his own too. But everything else…

The large crowds in the grocery stores, the constant noise at night, your early morning cafe runs ruined by the lines. Everything else only makes you more annoyed. You groan into your sofa, rolling over to stare at the ceiling. Only a few more months until the warm weather hits, and everyone leaves the town for a more traditional, beach-loving vacation. A part of you feels bad that the people on the prettier shores have to deal with it, but only a little.

Your phone rings, and you glance at the caller ID before answering it.

“Mingi, did I forget something?” You sigh into the phone.

“Please I don’t only contact you for problems, we’re still friends.”

“That depends on the day of the week,” you joke.

“Haha, you’re so funny. Hilarious, even. But no, I’m calling you because there are free drinks in the town square. I know you hate touristy events-”

“I do.”

“-but it’s free. No money, zero. And you never leave the house except for work, so this is me inviting you out to get out of your hole and meet new people. Please.”

You snort. “Added that please at the end because you knew I’d say no.”

“y/n.”

“Fine, fine,” you peel yourself off the couch, letting out a sigh. “At least let me change my clothes, I’ll be there in 30.”

“Thank you! See you there, and don’t forget your umbrella, it might snow.”

You hang up, plugging in your phone and quickly changing into someone warmer. The brief shower that you took makes the clothes feel cool against your skin. You shiver before grabbing the umbrella and stepping out. There are flurries, but not enough that makes you want to run back inside. Curse your friends and their desires to socialize. All you want to do is be a goblin and hide underneath your blankets as you watch a film.

You grab your keys, shutting the door behind you, and step out. You turn on your car, sitting in for a couple of minutes before putting it in gear and driving off. You don’t bother turning on the radio, the drive takes less than ten minutes anyway. And sometimes, you like the silence. Gives you room to think of random scenarios.

You slow down at a red light, glancing over at the river. You squint, seeing something strange in the distance. Is that… a man? Lying on the ground? You quickly turn into the parking lot without much of a thought, parking right next to the entrance. Not bothering to turn off the car you leap out, rushing down the path. The man is lying on his back in the snow, eyes closed. His clothes are a bit old-fashioned, probably something that you would have worn decades ago. But that doesn’t concern you right now.

“Oh my god, sir? Sir!” You shake him, feeling the cold temperature of his skin. His pulse is low but steady. “Can you hear me? Sir?” He doesn’t respond. You glance around for a sign of anyone, but the streets are empty. Probably due to the gathering in the city center. You wrap your arms underneath him, dragging him down the path. God, if someone accuses you of killing this man…

You make it to your passenger side, flinging the door open. It’s hard to get him into the seat; he isn’t exactly light, but you position him properly, putting on his seatbelt and quickly getting on the driver's side, turning up the heat to maximum. You touch his cheek, still ice cold. His eyelashes flutter, so you know he can feel your touch.

“I’m gonna get you out of here, bring you to the hospital.” You quickly make a U-Turn, going as fast as you can through the snow. It’s heavier now, sticking to the roads. At this rate, it’d take you over a half hour to get to the nearest hospital, and you don’t know if this man even has that much time. No, now’s not the time to have negative thoughts.

“No.”

You turn to the man, his eyes still shut closed.

“No? Can you hear me? No, what?”

“No.” He says again.

“I don’t know why you’re saying no, but I just found you on the side of the river. I’m going to bring you to the hospital–”

“No,” he says, eyes slowly opening. “No, no.”

“No hospital? Then where? My home?” You snort until you see him nod. “What? No, no fucking way am I bringing a dying man into my home. I don’t even know you. You have to go to the hospital, sir.”

“No, no,” his voice trembles, hands tugging on his seatbelt.

“Hey!” You reach over, stopping them in their tracks. “I’m sorry for touching you, but it’s bad out here and that means a higher chance of getting into an accident. I can’t let you take off your seatbelt, alright?” You stare at him, and he looks back.

His eyes are brown, but it looks as if the color is swirling as he stares at you. He lets go of the seatbelt, gaze focused on you. “No,” he says again. Maybe he can’t speak well? He hasn’t said anything other than no, so he must be limited.

“Okay. No hospital. Then…” Your home? You’re going to bring this man you know nothing about into your home? It’s a terrible idea, but there’s limited options left. Either you drive to the hospital and risk this man dying on the way from hypothermia, or you can help him at your home which is only a couple of minutes away. Your fingers curl into a fist as you glare out your windshield.

You might be making the biggest mistake of your life.

“We’re going to go to my home instead.” You look at him. His tense shoulders relax and he nods, hands completely letting go of the strap of the seatbelt. You let out a shaky breath, turning your car around and heading to your home instead.

The ride is quiet as you glance at him from the corner of your eye. He’s shivering despite the heat from the vents, so you don’t dare turn it down, even if you’re sweating buckets. You have no idea how long he’s been unconscious sitting outside. From how cold his skin is, it could have been almost an hour. There aren't any signs of frostbite that you can see. Your fingers curl around the wheel, staring straight ahead. If he dies in your care… No, you can’t think about that. Everything will be fine.

Everything has to be fine.

-

You get out of the car, closing it and walking around the other side to open his door. He jumps at your approach, and you hold up your hands. “It’s okay, no need to be afraid. Can you walk?”

He stares at you silently, and you frown. Grabbing him while he was unconscious is completely different from doing it while he’s watching. You hesitate, glancing at his seatbelt. He tried to take it off before. Could he do it again? You point to the buckle, and he glances at it. His hand hovers, before he pulls on it.

“That’s not how you-”

The buckle rips out of the clasp, belt whipping back into the slot. You widen your eyes as he stands, paying little mind to your reaction. Did he just break the seatbelt with his bare hands? What the hell?

He wobbles, and you quickly reach out to him. He flinches.

“I’m just trying to help you, okay? You might have broken bones or something, that’s probably why you can’t walk straight. Okay?” You look up at him. He looks at you silently, and you take that as a yes, slowly helping him to your door. The treck is slow. It’s as if you’re teaching him how to walk, each step slightly more confident than the last.

You finally make it to the door, unlocking the door as you guide him inside. He rests on the couch with ease. His eyes flick around the room rapidly, chest rising and falling. He looks a bit anxious, fingers playing with one another.

“I’m going to close the door, alright?” You give him your back, locking your car with the button and closing the front door quickly. Stranger danger bells ring in your head. He hasn’t done anything to make you not trust him, but it could change at any moment. What if he suddenly starts speaking, and laughs methodically? Kidnaps you in your own home?

“Don’t be stupid,” you murmur lowly, turning back. Your eyes flick to the empty place on the sofa, blood growing cold. Shit.

Shit.

“Hello? Sir?” You ask warily, glancing around. You step slowly, looking into your kitchen. He sits at the table, fingers dragging along the countertops. If someone else were to do that in your home, you’d call them insane. But for some reason, it looks as if he’s doing it more out of curiosity than anything else. You step slowly, his eyes moving up to yours. You flick on the light and he squints, blinking quickly. In this light, you can finally see him.

His hair is a light brown, some strands darker than the rest. His skin is tanned, eyes identical to his hair. But what bothers you the most is the attire he’s wearing. It’s thin, the shirt hanging loose around his body, held together by old strings. His slacks are thin as well, and you’re sure he isn’t wearing anything underneath the fabric. But it looks old, not even something that exists at random stores in this century. It’s as if he just popped out of the 1800s on the docks.

“Do you know your name?” You ask. He blinks slowly, before staring back down at the countertops. You take slow steps to your stove, turning on the flame. The ticking makes him turn to you, but he doesn’t move from his spot. He still looks freezing, so you walk to your thermostat, turning up the heat to max.

Your phone rings. You take it out of your pocket, leaning against the counter as you answer it. “Hey.”

“Did you bail at the last minute?” Mingi’s voice is slightly disappointed.

Oh hell, you completely forgot about the square. The man stares at you as you speak into the phone. “I’m sorry Mingi. Some family things came up and I needed to take care of it instead. I forgot to contact you because I’ve been dealing with it.” You say slowly. The man tilts his head slightly, eyes scanning your face.

“Oh shit, is everything okay? Do you need me to come over?” You can hear rustling from his side, probably his jacket in the light wind. “I can make it in about a half hour if needed.”

“No, no. It’s fine, thank you though.” You can only imagine his face when he walks in and sees the man sitting at your kitchen counter. He’d probably collapse if he knew. “I’ll call you later, alright? I need to sort these things out for a while.”

“Okay okay,” his voice is sweet, something that you love about him. Unless he’s worried for your well being he doesn’t push or involve himself in things. “Please call me if you need me. You know I won’t hesitate.”

“I know Mingi.”

“I love you, y/n, talk to you later.”

“Love you too, bye,” you end the call, the man still staring at you. If only you knew his name…

Your eyes flick around his finger, seeing nothing that would ID him. You’re sure he doesn’t even have pockets on his outfit. And it’s strange. Despite being in the cold, wet snow, he’s not dripping wet. His clothing is completely dry, unlike yours. You take off your coat, resting it on a chair. You’re a bit afraid that if you leave him in the room alone, he’d disappear again. You take a ramen package off the table, placing the dry noodles into the boiling water. You add the seasoning to the water, before you sit in the chair across from him.

“Do you understand me?” You ask him again. Maybe there’s a few words that he can comprehend. Maybe it’s enough to figure out where he came from, and how you can bring him back. Somehow.

He nods slowly. You sigh in relief.

“Good. Do you know your name?”

His eyes narrow as he shakes his head.

“Okay, okay. No names. Can you say things other than no?”

“Yes,” his voice rumbles as he stares at you. “Yes. No.”

Well, at least you can ask him those types of questions. “Okay. I don’t know what to call you. Uh…” You glance around the kitchen, until they land on your manhwa. There’s one character in there that reminds you of him…

“Can I call you Yunho?” You ask.

He’s silent, eyes flicking between yours. You think you’ve offended him, so you immediately backtrack. “Oh, I don’t need to call you that–”

“Yes.”

“Yes?” You raise your brows in shock. “Okay, Yunho. Nice to meet you.” You hold out your hand. He reaches out lightly, before running his middle and index finger down the side. You shiver slightly at the light touch, pulling away. “I’m y/n.”

He nods slowly. “Yes.”

“Do you know how old you are?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember how you ended up on the docks?”

He’s silent. He doesn’t say yes or no but stares at you, as if he’s willing you to understand through his eyes alone. You hear the stove sizzle, and you quickly stand up, turning down the flame. You grab two bowls, pour the ramen into it evenly, and grab chopsticks. You place the bowl in front of him, the other in front of you.

“Can you hold chopsticks?”

“No.”

You stand, walking around the table. “Look here,” you hold your fingers in front of you, demonstrating how to properly rest the sticks. He follows your instructions slowly, before he gets the hang of it. You show him out to pick up a noodle with your food, taking a bite.

He stares as you slurp it up, before staring down at his bowl, doing the same. He swallows it slowly, expression growing wide. “Yes,” he says, eyes looking at you. “Yes.”

You can only chuckle at his enthusiasm, watching as he quickly eats the noodles. Your smile slowly fades as you observe. He doesn’t even know his name. How could you bring him to where he’s supposed to be if he can’t articulate it to you? He can’t even hold a chopstick. Did he escape from somewhere? You grab your phone, looking up missing people in the area. None of them look like him, which makes it even more peculiar.

Just where did Yunho come from?

-

The night fades quickly, Yunho gulping down most of your ramen storage. You’ve settled on bringing him to the police tomorrow, knowing that they could handle this easier than you ever could. You gave him some old clothes one of your flings left at your home. He’s quite tall, the clothes tight against his figure. But it’s all that you have, and it’s enough for one night. You don’t plan on him staying longer than that.

He sits on the couch, eyes focused on the screen. They haven’t moved for hours, hands tucked underneath his thighs, legs crossed. You drink your coffee slowly, watching the screen along with him. You touched him with his permission before he sat on the couch. His skin is still ice cold, but he looks completely fine. He’s not even shivering anymore, mouth slightly agape as he narrows his eyes at the bright lights flicking across the scene.

He asked for water, well, he pointed to the water. And you haven’t stopped giving it to him. You’ve stood up every five minutes just to fill up his empty cup. You’ve never seen a human being this thirsty before, and it only concerns you more. Where did he come from? Is he dehydrated? Maybe the place that he came from refused to give him anything, that’s why he just endlessly asks for it. The more you look at this situation, the more dire it becomes.

“Have you ever watched TV before, Yunho?” You asked, and he glances at you from the corner of his eyes, before shaking his head. “Do you know where you’re from?”

This time, he moves his whole head away from the screen, looking at you. It would be terrifying if the loud action music wasn’t playing in the background. “Yes,” he says slowly as if he’s gauging your reaction.

“Would you be able to show me tomorrow?” Maybe then, you can bring him back. You appreciate his presence, you’re usually alone. But taking a random stranger into your home is bad enough. You can support two people with ease, but his name isn’t even Yunho. You just made it up on the spot. Someone must be looking for him. Anyone.

“Yes.” He turns back, and you sigh in relief. You stand up from the couch, telling him that you’re going to get his room prepared. You listen closely to the TV as you walk inside the room, glancing around. It’s a bit dusty, but it’s too late to clean. And you’re sure he wouldn’t mind anyway. He’s a man of few words.

Ha. Ha.

Words, few.

Hilarious.

“Yes!”

You throw the blankets on the bed, quickly walking back into the living room. Yunho is standing, pointing at the television. He looks at you, shaking his arm as he points at the television. You turn to see what he’s looking at and widen your eyes.

A sealife show is playing, octopi crawling along the seafloor. You cross your arms, looking back at him. “Hmm?”

“Yes, yes,” he takes more steps to the TV, pointing aggressively. You’re not sure what to make of it, the exasperated look growing on his face. You nod slowly.

“Yea, octopus. What about it?”

He rubs his face, grabbing a cup next to the table. He points at it, points at the show, and then presses his finger into his chest. He… likes octopi?

“I’m sorry Yunho, I have no idea what you’re saying. But I prepared your room for you, you can come in and I can show you around before I sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.” You feel bad, you really do. But the connection between him and the octopus isn’t really clicking. Maybe the place that he came from is called octopus? It’s a long shot, but that’s all you can think of right now.

He sighs, taking his bottles and following along after you. His steps don’t make a sound, but you can feel his presence behind you as you walk inside, pointing to the bed. Each room in the farmhouse has its own bathroom, so if he was thirsty in the dead of night he could just grab some water from the sink. He watches you in silence as you explain everything to him, following you around the large room. You finish, turning to him.

“I hope you sleep well, I’ll be right next door if you need me. The door will be closed but you can knock–” you hit your knuckles against a chest– “like that, and I’ll come and help you with anything. I hope you sleep okay.” You smile at him. He places his bottles on top of the side table in silence, before turning to you.

He looks as if he’s struggling, his mouth opening and closing. You wait patiently, still wary of his condition. He sighs, closing his eyes for a moment again, before opening them. They seem to glow as he keeps your gaze, blinking slowly. “Thank… you.”

Your lip twitches. “You’re welcome, Yunho.”

-

You wake up bright and early, stretching out your arms before you walk out of your room. From outside, you can see that the snow piled up pretty high, probably over two feet. Which means… You can’t leave to bring Yunho anywhere. Stuck. You feel your phone vibrate, and glance at the contact. Mingi messages you and says the library is closed for today, which is lucky for you. It’s not like you don’t trust Yunho, some may say you trust him a bit too much, but leaving him in your home while you go to work is just something that you didn’t plan on doing. You glance at his door, closed shut. Listening closely, bathwater is running, so you assume that he’s just cleaning himself up. You left spare clothing on his bed before you went to sleep, so hopefully, he uses that while you clean the dirty ones.

You hold the bag of his clothes tucked beneath your arm, opening the laundry door lightly as you start the machine. You pull out each garment, wrinkling your nose as you examine it. You cannot believe a human being in this time period wears clothes like this. Sure, it may be a trend that you haven’t heard of. But the garments are so thin, you can’t imagine that it would be comfortable to wear this day and age without people giving you looks, or a police officer stopping you in your tracks.

Your finger drags along the lining, seeing it clearly through the thin stitching. “How did you wear this out in the cold?” You wonder out loud, tossing it into the washer. You didn’t see a label on the clothing so you put it on delicate and for a short amount of time, starting it.

Yunho is still in his room, no, the room, so you start breakfast, turning on the television.

“Good morning! In today’s news, a strange storm has appeared on the coast. Weather forecasters across the country are baffled at this appearance. Nothing on the radars indicated any sense of a storm to form. And from the satellites, it seems to have formed yesterday night out of thin air…”

You glance at Yunho walking into the room, dripping wet. The clothes that he wears are drenched in water, splattering across your floors. You widen your eyes at his nonchalant attitude, his blank expression not the slightest bit affected by it.

“Yunho, you can’t just walk around wet!” You turn off the stove, placing the food in front of him. He blinks slowly, watching as you frantically walk around him to grab some towels. You ignore how the shirt and pants stick to his body, showing off some things that you’d rather look away from. What an interesting man, not the slightest bit embarrassed by his appearance.

“Here, sit on the towel so you don’t wet everything. Are you not cold?” You ask, sitting across from him at the table, fork in hand. He shakes his head, hesitantly poking the food on the plate. His eyes move to you. You eat slowly, raising your eyebrow.

He glances back down, before copying your actions. He chews slowly, before his eyes widen, shoving it down quickly. You snort at his actions, knowing that your parents would probably tap you on the side of your head for eating so fast. You both sit at the table silently, the news playing in the background. Your phone vibrates again, and you check it. This time, it’s a call from Jongho that you’ve just missed. You stand, telling Yunho that you’ll be right back before you disappear into your room.

He picks up on the first ring, eyes and nose filling the whole screen. You twist your face in disgust as he laughs, pulling back. “Good morning to you too!”

“What’s up Jong?” You ask, sitting on the edge of your bed. “Any news on the shop?”

“Yes, but no. The shop won’t be completed for a while, especially since there are random ass storms brewing from thin air. But I didn’t call you about me, I called about the mysterious man in your home.”

You cough, glancing out the door. You can see Yunho from here, turned around and staring at the television in silence. How the Hell did Jongho find out about him? It hasn’t even been a full day since he’s been here.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” you smile at him. He only frowns in response.

“So now you’re hiding your hookups from me? Nice, y/n. Nice.”

“First off, this is my business. And second, he’s not a random hookup. He’s my cousin, and he’s just staying over for a bit. He was supposed to leave today, but the storm is preventing that from happening. So, yea. No hookups here.”

Jongho pouts into the camera, stirring his coffee. “That’s much more boring than I thought. There’s no juicy tea here.”

“How did you even find out about this? Do you have spies on me?”

“No!” He says quickly, holding up his hands in defense. “Someone saw him in your car when you were going home, and then it spread across town. You know, exciting things don’t stay a secret around here. I’m pretty sure even the mailman knows about him.”

One of several things you hate about small towns. Nosy people.

“You look upset, don’t be upset! I won’t talk about it anymore if you don’t want to.”

You sigh softly, glancing at Yunho again. Lying to Jongho is something that you never want to do, and you know he can keep a secret for you. At least, until Mingi comes cozying up to him and convincing him to spill the beans. You can’t blame him, their love for one another is open to everyone but them. Maybe one day you’ll see them confessing. But for now, they just tell each other everything and pretend that nothing is happening between the two of them. So if everyone in town knows about Yunho, if you tell Jongho about who he actually is, there’s only a matter of time before everyone knows that too.

Wait.

Maybe you do want them to know. What if someone could pinpoint where he came from, and bring him back? You would have peace again, and not have to worry… But still, Yunho is a person too. He should have his privacy. So, that settles it. You won’t utter a word to Jong about it.

“I’m not upset. I’m just, I really don’t want to go out there and shovel.”

Jongho laughs. “Oh? So the lazy gene is kicking in, isn’t it? Don’t worry about it, the forecast calls for bright, sunny skies tomorrow. It’ll probably melt on its own. But hey, did you hear the rumor going around?”

You adjust yourself in your bed. “What now? Seonghwa is hooking up with Hongjoong or something? Marge finally cleaned her drain pipes? The mayor got into a scandal and he’s finally out of office?” The last one, you can only hope for.

“That sounds way more exciting than what I’m about to tell you. No to everything you said,” he rolls his eyes at your disappointed expression. “Anyway, have you heard of the Kraken?”

Kraken?

“As in, the big octopus monster thing?” You say, and he nods quickly. “What about it?”

“Well, there’s an urban legend that says it rises every hundred years. And in fact, the day that my place burned down is the mark of when it was supposed to wake from its slumber. And with the strange events that have been happening, it looks as if he’s walking around our town.”

“What strange events, Jong?” His idea is ridiculous, but you can’t help but entertain it. Something other than Yunho to speak about is a good distraction.

“The fires across the coast, the strange weather changes. I mean, there was no record of a winter storm coming, y/n. Usually, they predict it at least a week before, but we were said to have sunny temps for the next two weeks! How did it suddenly start to snow?”

“So your conclusion is that the Kraken has risen.”

“…when you say it like that it sounds idiotic.”

“Well, I’m not one to believe in giant squid monsters.”

“y/n, I didn’t believe a person could be as clumsy as you, but here we are. Anything is possible these days,” He grins at your expression. “Well if it appears, don’t say I didn’t say so. In fact, I should be the first person you call up and say, ‘I’m sorry for not believing in you, Jongho . Forgive me for my lapse in judgment.’”

“That would never happen.” You look up again, the spot where Yunho once was, empty. Your heart drops. “I gotta go, I’ll talk to you about your weird theories later.”

“But-”

You hang up, throwing your phone on the bed as you quickly walk into the kitchen. Yunho sits on the couch in the living room. legs crossed as he stares at the screen. You sigh in relief, falling back into your chair. He barely glances up at your appearance. You look at the TV, seeing another broadcast of that sea life show you were watching last night. He likes it a lot, you think. There must be a connection there, but you just can’t pinpoint it.

“Yunho?”

He turns around to look at you.

“Do you want to help me shovel the snow?”

He raises his brows in curiosity. “Yes.”

You grin. “Great!”

-

You push the shovel through the thick layers, sweat already dripping down your face. You strain as you lift it, until a hand covers yours, stopping you. Yunho looks at you, shaking his head. “No.”

“Yunho, I have to pick it up–”

He pulls it from your grasp, lifting the snow with ease. He continues to follow the path you were going, not a bead of sweat forming on his head. He stands in the middle of the snow, a frown on his face as he holds the shovel in his hands, pushing it. You haven’t picked it up once, ever since he saw you struggling with lifting a pile.

“I can help.”

“No.”

“Not even a little?”

He turns to you. “No.”

You roll your eyes, looking away. “Annoying ass,” you mutter.

“y/n!”

A familiar voice makes you freeze, gaze moving to see Hongjoong walking over to your home, a shovel in his hands. He smiles at you, glancing at Yunho. Fuck.

“Oh, I came over to help you move the snow. But it looks like you already have someone helping you, hm?” He holds out his hand to Yunho. “Nice to meet you, I’m Hongjoong. y/n’s friend.”

Yunho stares at the outstretched hand, not bothering to lift his. He doesn’t even touch it as he did to yours. Instead, giving Hongjoong his back and continued to shovel. Hongjoong clears his throat, rubbing his hand against his jacket as he turns back to you. God, is no one in this neighborhood secretive?

“Hey, Joong. Thanks for the offer, but I have all the help I need.” You gesture to Yunho.

He nods slowly, “Ah, that’s fine! No big deal! Ha, just wanted to stop by and say hello anyway. I heard this was your friend, right?” You know why he’s being a bit pushy, and you don’t blame him. You’ve rejected him plenty of times, but you haven’t exactly said no. It’s your fault, yes, but him showing up at your home is just another layer of absolutely not. No matter how small your town is.

“He is. I’ll see you later, alright? I have to finish this up and make some hot chocolate.” You’re being too nice.

“Oh, sure! I’ll see you around.” He glances at Yunho once more, before disappearing down the sidewalk. You watch as he disappears around the corner, before rubbing your face in exasperation.

A soft touch interrupts your annoyance, brushing against your cheek. You move your hands away, seeing Yunho stand in front of you, expression unreadable. He rubs your cheek softly, before pulling away. He tilts his head, eyes flicking between yours. For the first time, you see something other than confusion in his eyes.

Concern.

“Okay?” He asks, blinking slowly.

“Yes, yes. I’m fine, Yunho. It’s fine.”

He hesitates for a moment as if he can read through your lies. He nods, moving back. Your body yearns for his touch again, but you ignore the feeling. Watching as he gets back to shoveling. You rub your skin where he touched, swallowing.

Not good.

Not good, at all.

-

“Yunho?”

He looked up from the television, giving you his undivided attention. “Yes?” Simple responses like that made you happy.

“Today you’re going to show me where you came from, so you can go back home. I don’t want to take you away from your place, and we really don’t know each other well. You’ll feel more comfortable there.”

He narrowed his eyes at your words. But you don���t backtrack; some things need to be said. It’s not like you don’t love his company, seeing him sitting in the living room whenever you come back home makes you happy. But you feel like you’re taking advantage of a stranger. You don’t really know him, and he doesn’t know you. No matter how much it pained you… He didn’t belong by your side. He didn’t even have an ID.

“Want me go?” He asked. “Want me go away?”

“No, no! Of course not! I just, I know that you’d want to go away.”

He looked at you in silence. “No.”

“No?”

“You don’t know.”

-

Yunho sits in the car next to you as you drive to the spot he said he came from. The path is oddly familiar; the same trip that you took not too long ago to save him from the cold. As you’ve spent more time with him, he speaks more and more. Not as much as you’d like, but improvements are improvements. Perhaps the cold that day affected him in some way you can’t understand. But still, he struggles to express his feelings the way he wants. You feel bad. He stares at you in frustration before giving up, it took you a while to even get him out of your home to find out where he came from. . So here you are, continued silence. Yunho’s gaze out the window, left hand digging into his seat. You tried to start a conversation but it led nowhere. You’re glad that he likes to spend time with you, but some good things just don’t last.

You’ve accepted that fact long ago.

“Here?” You stop in front of the dock, the same place you found him not too long ago. He nods slowly, eyes looking past you and into the river. You unlock the car and both of you walk out. It’s still cold outside, so you’re tucked in your coat, following Yunho. You still haven’t gotten his real name out of him yet, but that’s another issue in itself.

He stops in front of the water, crouching down. You stand next to him as he reaches down, his fingers gracing over the water. He looks at you, and you widen your eyes at his expression. It’s filled with longing and concern, a glimpse of a smile dusting his lips. You haven’t noticed but from the upturn of his lips, you can see light creases indenting his skin.

“Here,” He points down, letting his hand glide along.

“But, it’s just water. How could you come from water?” You furrow your brows, staring out. Did he somehow get left behind from a boat? But you haven’t seen any new ones in years. Every boat on the dock belonged to someone from the city. Maybe that day affected his mind as well. “Yunho, what are you saying?”

“I came… I come from here.” He says methodically, pulling his hand out. “Here. Home.”

Alright.

“Oh, okay. Did you want to come back home?”

He’s silent for a moment, staring out. “Yes.”

“Can I bring you there?” You hope you’re not coming across as rude, but if he wants to go, it’s not your decision to make.

He blinks. “No.”

“No?”

“Time.”

Time. He probably needs more time to figure out how to get back. You crouch down next to him, eyes flicking out into the water. It’s funny; your town is surrounded by this river, most of it leading to the ocean. And yet, you can’t swim. Your parents always told you that it was a necessity, but why? You hated going into the water, and there was no reason for you to hop on a boat. Water and you just didn’t mix.

“Thank you.” He says softly, head resting on his hand, eyes on you. “For saving me.”

You can feel your face warm as he focuses on you. “You’re welcome, Yunho. But there’s no need to thank me. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

He nods slowly, eyes unmoving from yours. You’ve never met someone like him, so willing to share his true feelings, blurt out anything that’s on his mind. Even with his staring. As your face burns and you stumble across your words from nerves, he doesn’t look away. You let out a chuckle, shaking your head.

“You’re welcome to stay at my place as long as you need to, but you have to go home soon.”

He frowns. “Why?”

“We don’t really know each other. I mean, I don’t even know your name-”

“Yunho,” he points to himself. “Yunho.”

“But that’s what I call you. You have to have another name, you know? You look to be around the same age as me-”

He laughs.

“-so, there’s someone out there that knows it. I don’t want to take your identity from you.”

He nods slowly, reaching his hand out to brush a leaf from your cheek. You shiver at his touch. He’s naturally cold, you learned that after being with him for a while. It concerns you a bit, but there hasn’t been anything that has appeared. He’s healthy, he’s just terribly cold.

“Beautiful.”

“Hm?”

His smile widens as he watches you. “Beautiful,” he says softly.

“You’re beautiful.”

-

You chew your food slowly as you sit in front of Jongho , listening to him rant and rant about his “date” with Mingi (it was just a bump into each other at the market), and his store. He’s repeated the same things over and over. You can’t help but zone out, think back to Yunho sitting at home, a worried look on his face as you walked out the door and told him you’d be back soon. You left for work daily, but somehow, this expression seemed more bothered than the rest.

You sigh, not noticing Jongho examining you. “y/n? I’m used to you zoning out on me, but you looked worried. What’s up? Is it your cousin?”

“My cousin?” You raise your brow, before quickly nodding. “Uh, yea. He’s had a rough… time, without his family around. It’s taking a toll on him so I’m just worried, that’s all. It’ll be fine though,” you wave off his concerned gaze. “I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, you know,” he says, taking a sip of his orange juice. “It’s okay if you don’t want to elaborate, but I’m here for you in anything. At all. Just say the word.”

You have to tell him.

“Well…”

“Jong?” You both turn your heads at the sound of his nickname, seeing Hongjoong jogging up to the both of you. You rub your face in frustration, already annoyed. Jongho gives you a sympathetic look, before smiling at Hongjoong.

“Hey! What’s up!" They do their strange handshake before Hongjoong sits in the third seat. Next to you. Perfect. Amazing. Spectacular.

Just wonderful.

“Hey y/n,” he says, smiling at you. Maybe you’re a bit too harsh, or maybe you just aren’t in the greatest of moods. But even him sitting next to you only makes your irritation increase. “How’s it going? I haven’t seen you and your cousin around for a bit.”

“Family things.”

“Ah…” he nods slowly. “He seems a bit reclusive. The last time I saw him he didn’t even shake my hand.” He laughs at the last part, rubbing the back of his neck.

Your frown deepens.

“Well, it’s about time we head out. Right, y/n?” Jongho sees your irritation immediately, quickly standing up. He’s friends with both of you and he hates to intervene, but you’re his best friend. “We’ll see you later, Hongjoong.”

“Oh, see you!” Hongjoong waves, watching as you both go. “Say hello to Yunho for me, yea?” He smiles at you.

You leave the cafe, Jongho pulling you along to his car. You shut the door behind you, throwing your head back and groaning. “Why won’t he just leave me alone? One day, I would like peace and quiet.”

“Ah, don’t be too hard on him. He just has a little crush on you, that’s all,” Jongho drives off, hand rubbing your arm in comfort. “You have to admire his persistence.”

“Persistence, more like harassment.”

“He’s a nice guy,” Jongho mumbles. “A little overbearing sometimes, but kind. I haven’t seen him do anything bad in his entire life.”

You turn to Jongho , narrowing your eyes. “Who’s side are you on?”

“No one! I just think…” he taps his fingers on the wheel, thinking for a moment. “I know you mean the best, but sometimes, you’re a little mean. I mean, Hongjoong is just trying to befriend you, and you don’t even give him the chance to do that.”

Your eye twitches. “Jong. He came to my home uninvited to ‘just say hi’, fuck him,” You make air quotes with your fingers. “I don’t know about you, but that’s a turn-off for me. He’s too involved with someone he doesn’t know. And he hasn’t taken the hint that I don’t like him. I can’t force myself to be friends, or more, with someone I can’t stand.”

“He went to your home?” He widens his eyes in surprise. “Why did he tell me that you went to his house?”

You lean forward. “What?”

“Yea,” Jong glances at you from the corner of his eyes. “He told me that you went during the snowstorm to help him out. Fuck, y/n. If I knew he was lying I wouldn’t even have let him sit at the table. I’m so sorry.”

You thought of Hongjoong as harmless, never threatening to you at all. But hearing this news from your best friend, that he’s been lying through his teeth. .. For what? To make himself sound better? Try to insert himself into your life with ease? It makes your stomach roll with disgust. Kim Hongjoong. You can feel yourself fill with anger, nails digging into your palms.

“y/n, relax. I’ll talk to him-”

“No, I can handle it. I just, I can’t believe he lied about something like that to you? It makes me wonder what else he’s been telling you. He can eat bricks,” you mumble, staring out the window. “I can’t catch a break, can I?”

“I’m sorry, really,” Jong says softly. “I’ve been a shit friend, trying to push you two together. I don’t know what to do to make it up to you.”

“Jong…” You nudge his arm. “It’s not your fault, I wouldn’t blame you. At all. Just because he’s a conniving asshole doesn’t mean I put you in the same boat. He’ll learn his lesson.”

“That sounds a bit terrifying. Please don’t kill him. Or hurt him. Or anything illegal. I don’t want to spend a night trying to bail you out of jail.”

You roll your eyes. “No promises.”

-

“Okay?”

You’ve been silent for a while, glaring at your phone and waiting for Hongjoong to message you back. Unfortunately, you didn’t have his number and had to get it from Mingi. He already knew about the issue from Jong (who asked you first, of course), and gave it to you willingly. Well, not before giving you a speech about how you shouldn’t kill Hongjoong, but that’s beside the point. And now, you’re just waiting for him to confirm that you can go to his home. Confront him about his lies, and tell him to never speak to you again. Simple, easy.

You feel a light tap on your hand, and glance up. Yunho stares at you in concern. He’s grown quite responsive, showing his emotions with ease. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not.” You place your phone on the side, running your fingers through your hair. “There are too many assholes in this town, Yun. Promise me that you’d leave right when you find out where your home is.”

He smiles. “I won’t leave you.”

You feel the familiar tingling in your chest. No, not now. You’ll deal with that later.

He observes you, watching as your chest rises and falls with anger. The way your hands trembled, fingers picking at the skin loose against your nail bed. He reaches over slowly, letting his hand cover yours. He can hear the slowing down of your heartbeats, the normal breathing. You look at him, and he only nods slowly.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Your lip trembles. “Thank you, Yun.”

“No thank you,” he leans forward, and you panic. Is he going to kiss you? No, you barely know each other-

He presses his forehead lightly to yours, closing his eyes. He hums for a moment, before pulling back. “Okay?”

You can feel the anger that lingered in your body dwindling down to nothing, the wild bonfire only mere ashes. “How…?” You question, looking at him. He only shrugs, moving away from you.

“Magic,” he wiggles his fingers, and you laugh. He chuckles low. “You help me. I will do what I can to give back to you.”

-

You walk into Yunho’s room, knocking on the door. You haven’t seen him for a while, and you’re worried that something happened. Without an answer, you peek in, glancing around. His room is neat, not one thing out of order. It’s like he hasn’t even made it his own, which is good, at least. Even if it makes you feel a little strange. He’s been at your home for a while now, a little over three months.

You open the door wider. “Yun?” Silence. You walk in slowly, glancing at his dresser. A photo of you sits there, one you gave him when you left him to shop on his own. Just in case he somehow got lost. But that was over a month ago. It’s a little creased, as if he’s kept it in his pocket the whole time.

You walk to the bathroom door, knocking on it loudly. Still, silence.

“Yun, I’m coming in. I’ll cover my eyes if you’re naked,” You say loudly, before pushing the door open slowly. His head peeks out of the tub, but he’s not moving. You yank the door all the way open, running to his side.

You shake him, seeing that he’s still wearing his pajama shorts. He jumps at your touch, eyes flicking open. You hold his face in your hands, looking between his eyes. He blinks slowly, brown eyes wide. You slowly let go of his face, looking in the bath. His skin is cold, but that’s nothing new.

“Are you okay? Did you faint?”

“No,” he says slowly, staring at you. “I was resting.”

“In the tub? Yun, your fingers are going to be pruned-” You reach for his hand, furrowing your brows. Despite being in the water for this long, they’re completely smooth. You run your hand along his palm. You let go but he grabs your hand again, his fingers curling into yours.

“You scared me. I thought something happened to you,” You mumble, rubbing your face. He takes your other hand, holding both of them.

He smiles, eyes never leaving yours. “I’m okay. I’m sorry I worried you. I take baths everyday because…” he trails off. “It makes me feel like I’m back home.”

Home. He rarely mentioned it, only when you brought him to the end of the river. You’ve waited for him to tell you where it is, but he always insisted that it was the water. There is nothing you can do to pinpoint exactly where, so you’ve accepted him as a temporary resident in your home. It’s funny; you’ve wanted to bring him home for so long. But right when he says it now, it makes you feel a bit sick. You’ve gotten too used to his presence in your home. Seeing him gone only makes you want to curl into a ball and cry.

It’s selfish.

“I can still take you home,” you struggle to say the words. “Just let me know, and I’ll take you anytime.”

He shakes his head. “It’s not possible. And I like being here with you.”

You smile. “I like you here too, Yunho.”

“Then I won’t leave for a while.” He shrugs. Compared to before, his communication skills have grown exponentially, now using anything and everything to tell you how he feels. He’s blunt and sometimes brutally honest, but you appreciate it.

Your phone vibrates. You pull your hands from his, a slight tug on his end.

Hongjoong: sorry, i’ve been out. let me know when we can meet. i wont be home for a few days, but anytime after that is okay!

He finally messaged back. After weeks of no communication, he finally says something. You quickly message him.

you: of course! let me know which day and i’ll be there

Hongjoong: friday?

It’s only Tuesday. Your plan of snooping in his home is finally coming true. It’s a bit immoral, but something about him bothers you to the core, and you want to figure out why.

you: sounds good to me! see you then

Hongjoong: :)

“y/n?” Yunho leans forward, only inches from your face. You can feel the instant pick up of your heart rate, moving back from him. An unreadable emotion flicks across his face and disappears. “Are you okay?”

“I have to go to the bookstore, I'll be back soon," You say, ignoring his gaze. If you meet his eyes, you know he'll see that you're lying. It seems as if he always knows once you look at him. So it's best to avoid his expression. For now. Until you can look at him without an ounce of guilt. It's not a horrible thing you're doing. Slightly questionable, partially illegal, but not horrible. What's the worst that could happen, trespassing on someone's property? And besides, only big crimes get attention in your town. A little snooping isn't going to hurt anyone.

"Okay," Yunho says simply.

You feel regret bubbling in your heart. Just tell him, you think. Everything will be fine, if you just tell him where you’re going. But then he smiles at you, the deep dimples you’ve admired for a while rarely appearing on his cheeks. So you decide to continue to hide it from him. It’ll be fine. Everything will be okay.

“Don’t wait up too long, okay? If I’m not back by midnight, you can just go to sleep. I’ll be fine.”

He frowns. “I need to know you’re safe. I’ll wait for you.”

“Okay,” You stand, rubbing your knees. “I won’t bother you when you’re in the tub, but just make sure the water isn’t high and don’t sleep in it. You can drown, you know.”

He smiles, amused. “I won’t. I’ll see you later.”

You almost hesitate. Almost decided to stay home with him. Almost.

But not quite.

“See you!” You wave, walking out the room. You don’t see the flicker of worry etched in his skin. The clench of his hands on the edge of the tub. The determination as he gets out of the water, something strange trailing behind him.

-

You walk into his home slowly, your fingers clammy and your heartbeat throbbing in your ear. You can't hear much besides the creaking of the floors as you take steps. It's a bit eerie, you've never stepped into his home before. It looks almost abandoned. There's nothing on the shelves that would indicate that someone lives here. Photos not in sight, cupboards and cabinets empty. You didn’t hear anything about him moving (the town talks), so this only grows your suspicion. Has anyone ever visited him? You're sure he'd be the talk of the town with a home *this* vacant.

Your fingers glide along the shelves, skin caked with dust. It's as if no one even lives here.

"y/n?"

You turn around, seeing Hongjoong leaning against the pillar by the door. Usually, you'd be annoyed seeing him. But something feels off. Hongjoong usually wears all black clothing, a bucket hat covering his sightline. But standing in front of you, it's as if his style has changed. Large overcoat, fancy shoes, tighter jeans. Nothing like the man you see daily. It's subtle, but you know that he's blocking your nearest exit. You should have listened to Jongho. You should have stayed home, or waited until he came with you. And now no one knows where you are.

A stupid, idiotic move on your part.

He raises a brow, arms resting on his chest. "Care to tell me why I have the honor of your presence in my home?"

For a moment, you forget the dangerous situation you're in. For a moment, only anger fuels you as you stare at him. "You lied to Jongho, told him that I came to your home uninvited. What else have you lied about, Joong?"

He laughs low, shaking his head. "You have no idea."

"Excuse me?"

He moves off the pillar, taking slow steps toward you. You take a few back, and he notices, eyes flicking to your shoes. He holds his hands up in defense, shaking his head. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. If you thought that, you wouldn't have come here alone. We're just talking, that's it."

"It doesn't feel like it."

"Well, you came to my home without permission. Walked through the doors. Didn't even hesitate. I could call the police if I wanted and say you were trespassing on my property," he shrugs. "But we're friends."

He smirks. "Right?"

Something about him has changed. The innocent atmosphere around him is filled with confidence and cockiness instead. The grin on his face, it’s uncomfortable. As if he can see through you. He waits for you to say something patiently, eyes flicking between yours.

"Let me leave, we'll talk about this later."

He raises his brows, hands still in the air. "Later? Why not now? You're not afraid of me are you?" He laughs dryly, shaking his head. "Poor girl. You're shaking."

You can feel your fingers trembling as you watch him move closer. If the layout is similar to yours, you could run out the back door and call the police. A night in jail for trespassing is better than whatever is running through his mind right now.

"Hey–"

You quickly turn around and dash through his home, his laughter echoing around you as you frantically look for the exit.

"Oh baby, did you think I'd just let you in here without having a plan?" His voice booms. You reach the back door, your heart dropping. It's covered with boards, nailed shut. What the fuck is this man on?

You can hear his slow steps behind you, inching closer and closer. "You know I like the chase, right? Makes catching you so so much better."

You're running out of time, and he's only seconds away from getting to you. You quickly take the stairs, not caring that he could hear the stomps. Your eyes flick around, until you find an open door. You run inside and pull at the window. It's sealed shut.

"Fuck," you say between low sobs. You didn't want this, you didn't think it'd be this way. If only you listened, if only you told someone–

"There you are."

You turn, seeing Hongjoong standing in the doorway, hands tucked in his front pockets. He tilts his head as he scans your body.

"Such a shame. Maybe if things were different, we could have been together. Happy. But you had to involve yourself with that... creature," His lips curl into a snarl. "Disgusting."

"What the hell are you talking about? Just let me go, please." You'd say that this isn't him, but it so blatantly is. No wonder you felt off every time he was around you, like there was something wrong with him. Gut instincts are so rarely incorrect.

"Promise not to call the cops on me?" He pouts his lower lip, before laughing. "You're the only way I can get to that thing. It likes you." He reaches into his jacket. A needle slowly appears from the sleeves, and you gasp. You turn around, desperately trying to pry the window open.

"Please please please," You beg, but it doesn't move in the slightest. His hand wraps around your shoulder, and you raise your fist, trying to land it on his face.

He stops it with ease, hand covering yours. You raise your leg to hit his balls, but he just grabs your neck, holding you against the wall. His eyes swirl with craze and madness.

"You're demented," You gasp, clawing at his hand. He tightens his fingers, your brain becoming foggy as you glare at him. "Fuck...you."

He winks. "We'll do that later."

You feel the needle break your skin. You can feel the fogginess slowly spread across your mind, making you fall into a deep sleep. Your eyes flutter, his finger stroking your cheek slowly.

"Sleep tight, y/n."

-

You gasp, leaning up quickly. Tight rope holds your hands and ankles together, your head knocking against the side of...

You look around. The sounds of waves splashing echo in your ears, the fresh smell of salt water filling your nose. Are you on a ship? You tug on the restraints but to no avail. They only dig into your skin more, worsening the wounds. You scream against the duct tape covering your mouth, kicking and hitting against the wall. It seems like you're inside the captain's quarters. Blaming yourself for being stupid isn't going to help you right now, but you can't help but dwell on it. How the hell did Hongjoong even get you on a ship without others noticing? There aren't even any large ships around, only small boats in your town. Did he drive out with your unconscious body in the backseat, and throw you on as a stowaway? Or did he use a small boat and drive out to see on a larger one? So many possibilities run through your mind, but only one objective:

Getting out of here.

A loud creak interrupts your thinking, heavy stomps making their way to you. You turn to the sound, screaming at the man you see. Seonghwa stands there, staring down at you. He tsks, glancing at your restraints in mock pity.

"Poor girl. This is what happens when you involve yourself in matters that don't pertain to you. Should have left the thing on the side of the dock," he crouched down, slapping your cheeks a bit too hard. You curse, moving away from his touch.

Park Seonghwa, your Seonghwa? The Seonghwa that you lived with for years in the small town, the one that's helping you renovate your house. The one that always gave you shy smiles and winks, soft reassurances whenever you needed it. One of your good friends. Involved with Hongjoong, currently holding you captive. You stare at him in disappointment.

"Ah, don't look at me like that. I've been good to you all this time, y/n. I listened to you rant about anything and everything without complaints. I even helped you fix your home. We’re friends,“ he grins, tapping your cheek once more before standing up. ”And we should stay friends after all of this is over. Don’t let a little kidnapping change it, alright? Being bait isn’t easy, but I’m sure you’ll get through it. You’re a superstar.“

“Why are you trying to make her feel better?” Hongjoong walks in behind him, wearing the same dark clothing as either, a large overcoat covering him now. He looks down at you, a slightly disgusted look on his face. “I have no sympathy for people who help those creatures. They’ve been terrorizing our seas for hundreds of years, thousands even. And don’t listen to him, we’re not going to let you walk away from this. More than likely this sweet talker right here is gonna bury you under those waters.”

Loud waves hit the side of the ship, interrupting his rant. His eyes flash with excitement as he looks out the circle-shaped window, flicking his gaze to see something you have yet to figure out. “It’s coming soon. The waves are getting rough.”

“Ooh!” Seonghwa claps his hands, “Do we bring her out?”

“No,” Hongjoong murmurs, ignoring his pout. “There’s no reason for that. It could just take her and drag her away and we’d never see the thing again. She has to stay under here so it can scent her, and give us enough time to kill it for good.”

“Fine,” Seonghwa rolls his eyes. “Don’t need to be so pissy, Hongjoong.”

“Fuck off.” He looks at you. “If there was any other way, I would save you and set you free. But if I do that, you’d only go to the police and tell them. So,” he leans forward, ripping the duct tape off your mouth.

You cry out in pain, and he only sighs in frustration.

“Today is your last day living, y/n. Might as well enjoy it. I gave you a first-class view of the deck, so you can watch that creature fight to save you, while we kill it.”

“I…What are you even talking about? What creature?” You pull on your ropes by accident, wincing in pain. “You two are talking to me as if I know what you’re referring to. I haven’t helped any creatures, you must be thinking of someone else-”

Seonghwa throws his head back, laughter echoing around the small room. “Oh, y/n. How naive can you be?” He taps your head lightly, before walking out. “It’s cute!” He shouts, disappearing out the door.

Hongjoong is silent, finger resting on his lower lip as he paces back and forth, looking at you once in a while. He stops in front of you, eyes flicking between yours. “I really do like you, y/n. Most of the crew wants to get rid of you after the job is done, but…” he bits his lip. “If you want, you can join us. Help us rid of other monstrosities that lurk on this Earth. With me?”

For a moment, he looks just like the old Hongjoong. Large, bright eyes, hope-filled. No sign of the man that just drugged you and threw you on a ship, threatening to end your life once the job ended. It scares you how quick he can flick the switch, show you this innocent side that is anything but true. But you have to get out of this. If lying would save your life for even a day longer, you can figure out a way to get out of here.

“Okay.”

His eyes brighten with glee. “Really?”

“Yea, yea. It will take me a while to get used to it, but yes. We can do that.”

He chuckles happily, his hang dragging down your cheek. You flinch at his touch, but he pays it no mind. Too stuck in his own ‘happiness’ to even give it a thought. “I’m really happy you chose to stay with me. Then we’ll get to know each other even more, and maybe… maybe something more.” His hand lingers on the curve of your chin before he pulls away.

“Just stay here until it’s over. I’ll convince everyone that you’re an asset and you can join the crew!” He grins, turning on his heel and walking out. He closes the door behind him, and you let out a shaky breath, turning back to the window.

You had no idea why or what creature you helped that made you get into this situation, but you no longer wanted to question it. Just get back home, tell Jongho and Mingi what happened, Yunho- Yunho. He’s probably panicking right now, the short trip you told him about ending up being goodness knows how long. You hope that he knows the neighborhood well enough to tell someone that you’re missing.

A wave hits the side of the ship, hard, causing you to hit your head against the metal. You groan, tears springing to your eyes. “Someone help me…” you whisper softly.

The crew outside are yelling rather loudly. You turn to look out the window, and your heart drops. Men are being dragged back and forth across the main deck, by large… tentacles? You blink rapidly, hoping that your eyes are deceiving you. But no. They’re huge, the appendages slowly wrapping around the length of the ship. The strong grip has it at a standstill, but it isn’t holding it tight enough to break it in half. What scares you the most, is that it could at any moment. Throwing you into the deep depths of the sea.

You have no idea how far away from shore you are. And you can’t even float, let alone swim. You’re a trapped mouse. You tug hard on the restraints, but it only digs deeper into your wrist, causing you to cry out. The door to the quarter’s swings open, Seonghwa walking in. He smiles at you, grabbing you by the ropes on your wrists, and drags you out the door.

“Your sweetheart is finally here for you, y/n,” he says, completely wet from the pouring rain. You scream as he pulls you through the ship, your feet scrapping on the hard, wooden floors. “Keep on screaming love, maybe he won’t tear my ship up.” He says it through clenched teeth, his grip on you tightening. “Fucking disgusting creatures. This is the shit I have to deal with. Should have died a long time ago.”

Seonghwa shakes his head. “Hongjoong had the opportunity and fucked it up. Shit.” He glances down at you, before throwing you down the stairs. Luckily it’s only a few steps, but it’s enough to bruise your body. You cry out in pain, your head throbbing, cuts and bruises covering your body. Seonghwa kicks you, laughing loudly.

But you can’t pay attention to him at the moment. The sheer pain echoing in the air is the only thing filling your ears. Screams surround you as the ship violently shakes, people thrown into the air. The salty smell of the ocean fills your nose as you rock back and forth on the deck, Seonghwa’s tight stance and foot on your rope the only thing keeping you steady.

“Hey, you piece of shit, looking for her?” You hear the loud yelling of Hongjoong in the distance, and you shake your head.

“No, no no no-”

Hongjoong makes it to your side, carefully lifting you up on your feet. Your eyes turn to the large creature in the ocean. The bulbous balls move their gaze to you, one of it’s tentacles merely feet away from throwing you overboard. The fish smell overwhelms your nose as Hongjoong holds you next to him, grinning at the creature in front of you. You can’t understand how he’s not running in terror, laughing as he tugs you around.

“She’s here, your y/n. Too bad she’s with me,” Hongjoong presses his face against yours, cheek to cheek. You try to pull away, and he clicks his teeth, throwing you to the ground. “Sorry love, gotta agitate him just a little. You don’t mind it, do you?” he pouts at you, sorrow filling his gaze.

This man is crazy.

The creature roars, the ship shaking violently. People in the distance are thrown overboard, your fingers holding onto a bar on the deck to keep you from flying as well. Seonghwa steps on your fingers, and you cry out in pain, letting go. He laughs. The sound of crashes waves fill your ears as the creature lifts one of its limbs, grabbing onto Seonghwa with ease. His eyes widen as he feels it curl around his torso.

“Fuck-!” Hongjoong tries to get to him, but it’s too late. He’s pulled off the ship, the large octopus slowly tilting back, opening its beak. It looks as if Seonghwa is passed out as he’s thrown into the air, and into the mouth of the creature. You scream in terror as he’s swallowed, turning to Hongjoong.

He stands there in shock, mouth in a straight line. “Two can play at that game…” he sneers, glancing back at you. Comfort no longer lines his gaze. Instead, there’s pure anger. He grabs your ankle, tugging you to the edge of the ship. You scream, begging him to stop, to let you go.

“Hongjoong, please-! Let me go!”

He grins, tilting his head. “Okay. See you!” He grabs your waist, and before you can hold onto something, you’re kicked off the side of the ship. You scream as air whips past you, the plunge into the water feeling like bricks hitting your back.

You can no longer scream, the deep depths of the waters pulling you deeper. You frantically try to move your limbs in a way to help you swim, but it’s no use. The fear of the ocean, of not being able to, overcomes you. You open your mouth to scream, water filling your mouth immediately. Your chest tightens at the lack of air, limbs slowing down. Your eyes flutter as you look up, the moon still shining above. Before you close your eyes, you see a large shadow blocking your view of the moon. Is it your hero, your savior? Your lips curve into a weak smile, before the darkness consumes you.

Almost there.

Just a little longer, hold on.

Please don’t die on me.

You gasp, fingers digging into sand as you look around. You try to lift yourself up, but your body cries out in pain, too much for you to even turn your neck slightly. You cry out, legs struggling to even move. You somehow made it to shore, your restraints off of you.

“Don’t move too much, you’ll hurt yourself.”

A head slowly appears in your vision, dripping water on your face. You flinch at the drops, and he apologizes quickly, moving away. “I’m sorry. I just need to touch your arm for a moment, to give you enough strength to stand. Just don’t move too much. Can you do that for me?” He asks.

You open your mouth to say yes, but the salty, bitter taste of water causes you to cough. Yunho panics, quickly crouching to your side. He touches your arm, moving away from your view. “You might lose consciousness again, okay? But you’ll be fine. I’m here for you, I’ll always be here for you no matter what.”

-

Your eyes flutter again. This time, the pain is minimal. Not enough to consume you, but enough to cause your body to ache. You lean up slowly, rubbing your face. You turn, seeing Yunho staring at you silently. “Are you okay?” He asks. He’s still dripping wet, strands sticking to his face as he watches you.

“How…” You cough again, and he moves closer, patting your back lightly. “How did you find me?”

He chuckles softly. “I can always find you, y/n. Let’s go back home, okay?” He doesn’t wait for your answer, lifting you with ease.

You let him guide you through the streets, oddly abandoned. You’re a bit slow, struggling to move one foot after the other. Yunho is silent, but it isn’t awkward. Comforting, his large arm holding you as you walk. You look up at him, seeing wounds covering his face.

“Are you okay? You look hurt, I have some things at home to help you.”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “Even when you’re like this, you still worry about things other than yourself.” he looks down at you. “I’m fine. I wasn’t the one drowning in the ocean.”

Your mind immediately goes back to before. The kidnapping, Hongjoong tying you up, that… thing, eating Seonghwa. You being thrown overboard. So many things happened in just a night, your stomach turning. You hold back the acid that slowly creeps in your throat, shaking your head. No, you’re fine. Yunho is fine. It had to be a hallucination. Seonghwa isn’t dead. Hongjoong isn’t a pirate. It was just a dream, a terrible dream.

A nightmare.

Yunho guides you up your steps, opening the door. He walks you into the kitchen, until his grip loosens. You look at him, but he’s already on the floor, convulsing. You reach down to help him, but he pushes you back, sweat gathering on his forehead. This is the first time he’s seething hot, your fingers almost burnt to the touch as you try to assist him.

“Yun!”

He groans, fingers clawing into the floor. Gurgling sounds emerge from him, a wet patch slowly appearing on his back. The fabric tears, strange things slowly emerging from his back. You widen your eyes, moving back. This isn’t Yunho. It can’t be, he isn’t this thing in front of you.

"What are you?" You stumble back from the man–, or creature, fear growing in your chest. He struggles to his feet, a strange limb slowly oozing from beneath the fabric of his pants. It slowly flops to the floor, a bit of it splattering on your cheeks.

Is that... no, that's not possible… It can’t be.

His eyes flick up to you, a slow smile unveiling sharp teeth shining in the dark at you. "Do not be afraid. I won't hurt you." He tries to stand but his legs fail and he falls back to the floor. “Help me.”

"Tell me, what are you?"

“y/n-”

“Answer my question!”

He's silent for a moment. “Some people call me the Kraken. But you call me Yunho.”

You freeze in your backing up, looking down at him. Beneath the fear, beneath the tangle of limbs in front of you, you look at his face. His eyes look into yours desperately, willing you to see him. To really, see him. Yunho. Your Yunho. You’re confused, scared, furious, and… disappointed.

“You’ve been lying to me,” you say, watching as he buckles under his weight, body on his side as he takes quick breaths. “Why have you been lying to me?”

“Water…” he gasps, fingers clawing at the floor. You push your fear away and quickly go to the kitchen, grabbing three gallons of water. You rush back, sitting them next to his body. He grabs the gallon with a tentacle, squeezing it. The plastic bursts with ease, and you watch as he pours it over his body.

The wounds on his tentacles and skin slowly merge before your eyes. He uses the other two gallons up quickly, turning back to you. “Water…”

“My bathroom. Go to my bathroom!” You say. He tries to pick himself up from the floor, but he stumbles back down. You weigh the options in your head, before leaning forward, grabbing his shoulders.

You tug him along the floor, a moist trail left behind as you take him into your bathroom. With the last break of energy left, you throw him into the tub, turning on the faucet. He pushes himself underneath the flow, letting the tub fill up just enough to touch the edges, before closing the tab.

You try not to stare, but you can’t help it. He has about six tentacles coming out of his body. Dark green and oozing something you’d rather not dwell on too much. Some spill out of the tub, inches from you. You move away slightly, sitting on the floor. Your head throbs as you stare at him.

Too many thoughts occupy your mind. The man you saved being a mythical creature. Seonghwa and Hongjoong kidnapping you to take the Kraken as a prize. The creature you saw, destroying the ship, the same man that sits in front of you right now, eyes shut. Hongjoong being thrown into the ocean before your eyes, Seonghwa being swallowed.

You touch your cheeks. Hot tears trail down your cheeks, along with blood. Your head throbs as you stare at your stained fingers, rubbing it slowly. Exhaustion hits you immediately. Before you can move from your spot, you fall unconscious, head hitting the floor underneath you.

“y/n!”

-

You gasp, leaning forward. A massive headache and pulsing vision makes you groan out loud, rubbing your face. You glance around, seeing that you’re still in your bathroom.

“You’re awake.”

You jump, turning toward the voice. Yunho still sits in the tub, memories from last night flooding back. He sees the slow panic growing in your features, and holds up his hands.

“Hey, hey. Just take a breath, please. I can explain it if you don’t fall unconscious.”

“Fuck you, Yunho!” You try to stand but fail. "All I’ve done in the past 24 hours is pass out.”

“Be careful-”

“You have no right to tell me what to do or what not to do. You lied to me all this time, took advantage of my kindness, you…” You point at him, feeling tears trail down your cheeks. “You hurt me, Yunho. You really hurt me.”

His face crumbles underneath your sad gaze. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know I’d be here so long. I, this is my fault. I would have left if I knew this would happen. That I promise.”

“I can’t believe that promise, Yun.” You say, looking away. “I can’t.”

“I know. But please, just listen to me for a moment. I can explain it.”

You look down at his extra limbs, tentacles curling and uncurling. You nod slowly. “Go ahead.”

A look of relief passes over his face. He turns to you, some water splashing to the tiles. But it doesn’t phase you, your mind filled with too much trauma to even think about water on the floor.

“As I’ve told you yesterday, I am the Kraken. Humans considered me a mythical creature, only found in folklore or stories passed down. But I am real, and alive. I have existed since the creation of this Earth. But not as the form that I am right now. Because I wouldn’t blend in like Mother wanted me to. So as the years passed, my appearance changed. But only temporarily.” He thinks for a moment.

“I have always existed as the Kraken. Humans have had encounters with me, but I haven’t killed as much as they say. I only defended myself when I was attacked, or when pirates sought out to kill me for a higher reputation, or other strange human rituals. I wanted to live a peaceful life. But that was impossible because of the sheer size of my true form. And the strange condition that was put on me.

“I appeared every 100 years. One year out of the 100, I appeared, and the ninety-nine, it is like I am frozen in time. And each moment I wake, I am in a different place. Environment. I know little of the language around me, but I can understand enough.” He looks at you. “That’s why I was unable to communicate properly with you for a while. Because I physically could not.

“I shouldn’t have hidden it from you this long. But for the first time in my millions of years on this planet, I had something that I didn’t want to lose. I had you, and you cared about me. You dropped many of your priorities to take care of a being you didn’t know, without complaints. That is something that is rare in nature. I should have told you, and I tried to in the beginning. But once I realized how much I cared for you, I couldn’t.”

He looks down at himself. “My form is something that humans are not used to. There are no half creatures, half humans in your world that you know of. If I walked around like this I would immediately be trapped or killed. I should have known that your friend was a pirate, I just didn’t put two and two together.”

“Hongjoong and Seonghwa? That’s what they are, that’s why they wanted to kidnap me?”

Yunho nods. “They are from an old line of pirates, dated back several centuries. Those humans pinpointed when I would rise and across the world, they would look for me so they could claim to be the one to kill me. It is strange, I cannot see why they would want that fame,” he rubs his forehead. “I put you in danger. I didn’t see the symbol on them, so I didn’t think much of it. They must have evolved and hidden the symbol somewhere. I am deeply sorry for the pain and sorrow that I have caused you. I was being selfish, and still am for staying in your presence.”

You watch as his tentacles slither across the tiles, slowly sinking into his skin. His eyes flutter, until they’re completely out of sight. His hand brushes the top of the water, in deep thought.

“I won’t keep you here for long. I must leave now that they know where I am. Hongjoong may come back, and I cannot risk your life. You don’t need to worry about that.” He smiles at you. “I know it’s difficult to wrap your head around this-”

“You have no idea, Yunho. No idea,” you rub your face slowly. “I don’t… I know this isn’t your fault, and I’m not blaming you at all. I made the mistake of even going into Hongjoong’s house. But I was kidnapped because of you, and they almost killed me.” Your fingers shake at the thought. “They threw me overboard. If you weren’t there, I would have drowned. That’s not something that I can just forgive easily, you know? I care about you, I do. And I’m sorry for you. But you’ve lived centuries, and maybe I’m a little selfish in thinking this, but… I have less than one hundred years on this planet. It was almost taken away from me that quickly.”

“I can only imagine how you feel.”

“Yea, imagine. And that makes it worse,” you look at him. “It’s funny, I don’t even care about you being the Kraken. I think I’m just more hurt about you hiding it from me. Thank you for explaining yourself, but… I think you need to leave now.”

He nods slowly. “I understand.” He slowly stands from the tub, and you get up from your spot. You step out of the room to give him some privacy, walking into the kitchen and sitting at the island.

You can feel your heart telling you to let him stay, but most of you is saying otherwise. He’s a danger, and staying here when there are pirates chasing him… That could only lead to a bad path. What if Hongjoong comes back? What if Mingi or Jongho are in your home and end up in the crossfire? You care about Yunho, you do. That’s why you think that it’s best for him to leave. Even if your heart yearns for him. Some things are just bad ideas.

Maybe you should have ignored him on the dock that day.

Yunho clearing his throat interrupts your thoughts. He stands there awkwardly, shifting his weight as he glances everywhere but your eyes. “Before I leave, I want to help you heal.”

“You don’t have to do that-”

“Yes, yes. I do.” His eyes plead with you.

“…okay.”

He drops his belongings on the marble, barely a foot away from you. He leans forward, slowly pressing his forehead to yours. A flow of calamity flows over you, the cold temperature of his skin slowly overcoming you. You look down at your injuries, seeing a strange blue glow cover them. You blink, and there is only your unblemished skin left, nothing more. Yunho pulls back, taking your arm and examining it closely.

“You’re back to yourself again,” he says softly, thumb rubbing your skin with barely a touch. Enough to feel the pressure and make you tremble slightly. He lets go, backing away from you.

“I know this might be selfish of me to say,” he looks at you, eyes flicking between yours. “But I’m very happy that you’ve decided that I’m not welcomed here.”

You furrow your brows. “Why?”

There’s slight hesitancy in his gaze as he watches you, lips pursed. He closes his eyes tightly, glancing away for a moment. You think he isn’t going to answer it, until he opens his mouth. “Because I don’t know if I’d be able to leave you when the time comes. Because for the first time in my life, I have something that I cannot imagine gone from my sight. And I know that if I stayed for even an hour more, I wouldn’t be able to leave as easily.”

No, he can’t do this. He can’t say those things, not when he’s put you in so much danger. Not when you were at the brink of death because of him. Even if he saved you, even if he promised that he’d protect you, even if… even if…

You feel the same way as him.

He turns away from you, opening the door, and slowly closing it behind him.

-

You made a mistake.

His presence is around your home. The two bowls you put out accidentally. The indent in the couch where he used to sit daily, watching his sea life shows. The piled up snow on your lawn, slowly melting away. The storms, gone. His clothing was left on top of his bed in a messy pile. You laughed at it when you walked in, knowing that he couldn't fold clothes. Even the bathroom that he used. Every part of this house he touched.

You made the biggest mistake of your life. And there's no turning back on it. You have to accept that he's not coming back, and ignore the pounding of your heart each time you drive by the docks, each time you look at a boat. It will fade. The feelings will fade one day, and you'll move on. It's strange; you barely knew him and it feels like you've lost the love of your life. How can it feel that way? Why does your heart betray you like this?

You place your coat on the rack next to the door, Jongho and Mingi following close behind. You told Jong about Yunho, Hongjoong and Seonghwa. At first he thought you were joking, but then eventually believed every word you said. And after comforting you, even clowning you for saying he was a fool for believing in the Kraken. You only rolled your eyes at the time. Jongho has a heart of gold, he knows how to cheer you up with ease. Mingi was harder to convince. A man of seeing and then believing, it took you weeks for him to finally crack.

"No one would be this sad about a cousin leaving," is what he said to you. "I can tell your heart is broken, and love sometimes does that to you."

You rub your face, flicking on the television screen. You insisted on being alone, but the two gathered around you whenever they could to cheer you up. And even with your annoyance, you're glad. You would be spending your time crying into your pillow, reliving that day over and over. Who could've guessed that Yunho dug himself so deep in your heart that you'd never be the same.

Mingi sits next to Jong, their arms brushing. They haven't told you about their relationship recently, probably due to your current state, but you can tell something has changed. The looks that they give one another, the brushing of fingertips as they talked, the shy glances. And you couldn't be happier, you just want them to tell you when they're comfortable enough.

"I told you two I'm fine, I was just going to make some potatoes and watch something. That's it. I'm not wallowing in my emotions anymore. I'm okay."

"Well we just wanted to keep you company, as all," Mingi says, grabbing your chip bag and chewing rather loudly. "That shouldn't bother you too much. Best friend hangout time."

Jongho rolls his eyes. "How old are you again?"

"Don't be an asshole," Mingi sticks out his tongue. "Anyway, we can tell how you feel, y/n. No need to sugarcoat it, it hasn't even been that long."

You sigh. "Yea... yea I know. I'll be fine though. You don't need to worry about me."

"We're best friends, y/n. Who would we be if we didn't worry?" Jongho says simply, biting the chip that Mingi offered to him. "Plus, we can bond too. You haven't let us inside your house in forever."

"Because you two are nosy," You grumble, sitting across from them. "And I'm out of potatoes."

"We can go get some together!" Mingi stands up, folding the chip back. "Shopping trip!"

"You two can go, I'll just wait here. I'm not really in the mood to go anywhere right now." And maybe cry a little. That always worked for you.

"y/n..." Jong says softly, eyes flicking between yours. He must have seen the pleading look you give him, grabbing Mingi's arm and pulling him to the door. "Fine, but you better not start any shows without us. I'll curse your whole family line."

"That's overdramatic, but okay," You smile at him. He wiggles his brows, ignoring the protests Mingi gives him, shutting the door behind the two.

You plop your head on your hands, taking slow breaths. This shouldn't be a big deal. He's probably fine, as you are. Maybe you did do a little research about strange weather happening around the world. And maybe, just maybe, you tracked him being in Northern Egypt. The strange storms are unlike the usual weather they have.

"What's wrong with me?" You murmur, shaking your head. "You barely know him, what the hell are you thinking?"

Knock.

You freeze. You slowly lift your head, glancing out the front window. Jongho 's car is gone, so it couldn't be them. No, you're just making things up. Nothing is happening. Nothing's wrong.

Knock.

You stand quickly, rushing over to the knife holder. You wrap your finger around the handle. A solid object stops you in your tracks, digging into the middle of your back.

"Turn around, slowly. And let go of those pretty little knives."

You drop your hand, slowly facing your intruder. Hongjoong holds a gun to your chest, index finger resting on the trigger. His eyes are wicked, scars from the incident a few weeks ago riddled on his face. His lips slowly curve into a smirk, head cocked to the side.

"Did you miss me?"

"He's not here–"

The gun is pushed harder into your chest, stopping you from talking. You can feel the intense fear rolling over you as you hold up your hands in surrender, your breaths shaky. Hongjoong laughs, head tilted back, hands unmoving.

"Oh baby, look at what we have here. Little y/n, all alone. The octopus shit not here to save her. Friends gone. Do you know how long I've been waiting for this? Hm?"

You're too terrified to give a response, and thankfully, he doesn't ask for one.

"Weeks, y/n. I tracked that fuck down across the world, but he disappeared once we made it to Northern Ireland. Nothing. Not a trace," he shakes his head, letting go of the gun with one hand to push loose strands from his face. "God, all of that time wasted. Seonghwa would be disappointed in me."

He slowly looks back at you. "I believed in you. I believed that you would come to me after I killed it, and be with me. You promised me on the ship you would be with me. But you're not. Did you even look for me, care about me?"

He takes a step closer, a sneer on his lips. "Or were you thinking of that disgusting thing? Were those tears for that thing?" His eyes widened. "No, it was for me. It was all for me, I can tell. You pushed it away. You didn't love it like you love me, right?"

He moves the gun away, light sobs falling from your lips as he lets the weapon run down your cheeks.

"It's okay, I'm here now. You don't have to worry about me anymore. One I kill it, we can be together. We can be okay. Shh, don't cry," he wipes your tears, ignoring your flinching. "It's okay. I'm sorry for pushing you into the water, but you're okay. You're fine. I knew you’d be okay, you’re a survivor-"

A bang makes Hongjoong grab you by the neck, gun pointed to your head as he holds you against his chest. Your fingers are tight against his arm, trying to pull him off.

"Did he come for you?" Hongjoong hisses in your ear. "Is that all I had to do? Mess with his little girlfriend?"

A loud crash echoes through your home. You try to catch your breaths, hiccups consuming you. All you could think about is wanting to live, not wanting to end up this way, wishing you went to the marker instead of being alone. A large shadow slowly enters the room. Your eyes strain to look around the corner to see who it is. You almost buckle at the sight.

Yunho stands there, but he looks different. The color of his skin is almost translucent, slowly pulsating, changing whenever he moves slightly. His skin is dripping wet, hair cut down to almost a buzzcut. Markings cover his skin, almost as if he's covered in purple tattoos. Tentacles emerge from his sides and back, slowly slithering around the floor. His pupils are slits. He looks more like a creature than a human. And even with that fact, your heartbeat quickens in his presence.

He's here.

Yunho stares at Hongjoong, before his eyes move to you. They seem to soften immediately, flicking over your body for any signs of injuries, before moving back to your captor.

"Let her go."

"Let her go? Let her go? Who the fuck do you think you are? I have her, I have a gun to her head. I can kill her before you'd blink, and you think I'll just let her go? Not today, you fuck."

He pushes it deeper into your temple. You can feel it digging into your skin, blood slowly trickling down the side of your face. You groan in pain, still tugging on his arm. You can't risk doing anything without him killing you. All you could do is be helpless, hoping that he can save you from the monster that has you in his arms.

Yunho takes slow steps into the room, eyes on Hongjoong. "What do you want?"

"Your head on a platter. Finish the job like I was supposed to do a while ago, instead of going on this crazy goose chase."

Yunho sits on your stool, raising a brow. "Is that so? And what will you do then, after I'm dead? Do you get a little certification that says you killed the Kraken? The whole world except a few measly pirates wouldn't believe a word you say. You would be considered a mad man, too involved in his fantasies to see reality," Yunho's finger runs down the edge of your counter. "Is that what you want?"

"I…" Hongjoong curses, tapping the gun on your temple. Yun watches the movements, narrowing his eyes. "I just want Seonghwa back. Give me back to him, and I'll give up on you. Tell the others that you are resting for another 100 years."

"Lying to me will only hurt you in the end."

"I'm serious, Yunho. I'm one hundred fucking percent serious. Just… give me Seonghwa back. I'll leave you alone. Both of you." Hongjoong glances down at you. “I just want him back.”

Yunho tilts his head as he stares at him. “That isn’t possible.”

Hongjoong’s grip loosens slightly, enough for you to lift your leg, kicking him in the shin and stumbling to Yun. Yunho quickly hides you behind his back. Hongjoong is on his knees, gun still held in his hand as he stares at the floor. His hand trembles as he pushes loose locks away from his face, lost in thought.

“You’re a fucking monster from millions of years ago, and you’re telling me that you can’t bring him back? You can’t bring one human back from death? What’s your purpose if you can’t do a simple thing like that? You’re the one who attacked the ship, you’re the one who killed all of those people, and you can’t change it?” He stands up, slowly raising his gun. “Give. Him. Back.”

It seems as if he’s unafraid of the weapon. He narrows his eyes at him, shaking his head. “I am a giant octopus, why would I have the strength to bring back a human from death? But either way, Seonghwa isn’t dead.”

What? What? You saw as Kraken-Yun swallowed him, how could he survive that? You look up at Yun, but he’s still watching Hongjoong carefully.

“After I saved y/n from your attempted murder, I regurgitated him. He is alive on an island not fair from here. I believe it’s called Hawaii.”

“Hawaii? In the middle of the ocean?” Hongjoong widens his eyes. “Are you shitting me right now? You put him there, out of all places?”

“He is fine and not injured. I thought you would be grateful that I didn’t digest him. I am not fond of the taste of humans,” Yunho shrugs. “I have told you pirates that I am not a killer, that I only defend myself from attacks and the humans that I care about.” He glances at you. “Humans do the same, but they also do senseless acts. I am just defending myself and my territory.”

Yunho gestures to the gun in Hongjoong’s hand, currently pointed at him. “A lot of pirates I’ve met are immediately violent without thinking things through, irrational. Even now, I have told you where your Seonghwa is and you still are threatening her life.”

“You are a creature, an abomination. And you must be eradicated. It’s what I’ve been taught since I was young. Nothing that you say is going to change that!” Before Yunho utters another word, he fires the weapon. Two, three, several shots echo around you and you scream, clutching onto Yunho’s arm desperately. He pushes you away from the firing with ease, throwing you back into a wall.

“Shit!” he curses, leaping to Hongjoong. His tentacles immediately wrap around Hongjoong’s torso, slamming him to the ground. Hongjoong groans as Yunho towers over him, glaring down. “Stand down.”

“Fuck, you,” he hisses as a tentacle slowly wraps around his neck. He gasps, clawing at the limb. “Not surprised you’re killing me. That’s what you do, isn’t it.”

A strange emotion flicks across his face. He slowly lets go of Hongjoong’s neck. He takes the opportunity to grab the gun next to him, neck flicking to the side and aiming it at you. He fires. You don’t have enough time to react.

Time moves in slow motion. Hongjoong smiles in a sadistic glee as the bullet pierces through your stomach. The gasp that falls from your mouth as you look down, seeing the slow spread of blood staining your shirt. The front door opens, Jongho and Mingi walking in. Yunho grabs Hongjoong’s neck as life fades from his eyes. The smile on his lips burned into your skull as you slid down, fingers touching the hole in your skin.

“y/n!” You’re not sure who is calling you, but that’s the least of your worries. You look at Yunho, yelling. Telling him no, that he can’t kill him. It seems to hit his ears, because he lets go of Hongjoong. Mingi gasps at Yunho, Jongho running around him and going to you.

“You’re okay, you’re going to be okay. This isn’t a big deal, it’s just a small wound, nothing more-”

Yunho quickly comes to your side. You’re not sure when the tentacles disappeared, but your head is throbbing. Mingi moves from the door, closing it and locking it. The three surround you as your vision moves in and out.

“It’s just one bullet.”

“There’s three in here, Jong. We have to take her to the hospital. Can’t you see the one in her chest? Oh my god.”

“I can take care of her. Get me water, now!”

Footsteps echo away as you blink slowly. Death is such a fickle thing. You never really thought about it much. It’s the end, it’s a simple thing. You honestly believed you’d live to be at least 80, but you didn’t even make it halfway there. Here you are, riddled with bullets, choking on your own blood as you stare at whoever is in front of you.

Yunho. Yes, it’s Yunho. And Jongho. Oh, he looks so scared. You try to tell him that it’s okay, but you only choke more. Tears are falling down his cheeks as he holds you, a splatter of water covering your vision for a moment.

“You won’t die on me. That I swear.”

Who’s voice is that? All you seem to do is pass out. It’s quite tiring. Maybe this time you just don’t open your eyes again. It will be fine, everything will be fine.

“Tie him up, we’ll deal with the police once y/n is okay.”

The voices are blending together now. You can’t tell who’s holding you. But the pain, the searing pain that fills your body is unbearable. You scream and choke, body convulsing as you try to stop the pain yourself. Hands hold you down against the floor. Your hands grab for anything, something to help you take out some of the pain. Fingers wrap around your hand, and you squeeze tightly, silently begging. You don’t want to die. Not now, not like this.

Hands push down on your chest, hard. You scream, this time it is echoing around the room. You grab the wrists of whoever is pushing down on you, eyes fluttering open. Yunho’s eyes are on yours, worry in his gaze. He smiles when he sees you looking at him.

“You’re okay. Breathe.”

You gasp, touching your chest quickly. Jongho ’s fingers are curled with yours, Mingi next to him. All of them are staring at you with worry, Yunho’s hands shaking as he removes his hands from your chest. He holds up three bullets, tsking.

“He fired all of them and they hit your chest and stomach. I was able to take all of them out and cover your wounds, but you’ll be sore for a while.”

Mingi glances at him nervously. Jongho blinks slowly, shaking his head before turning to you. “I think we should call the police. If we let Hongjoong go, he’ll just continue to try and attack you, or attempt to kill him. It’ll be an endless cycle of horror, and you’ll live your life on edge everyday. Seonghwa is too far away to find you for now, so he’s not someone to worry about.”

Jongho rubs his face. “I really didn’t think he’d turn out like this. Lied to all of us, tried to kill you…” His voice wavers as he looks down at you. “You almost died, y/n. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.” Mingi rubs his back as tears trail down his cheeks.

“Maybe we send him off to a livable island,” Yunho murmurs. “I know human police are quite fickle, and it would be unwise to try to explain everything when he might tell information about me.” He looks down at you. “There has been attempts in the past to capture me by several countries. I am not too sure if this one is different.”

“I don’t want to risk you,” you say, your hand reaching for his. He lets you curl your fingers around his, looking at you in concern. “I can’t lose you again. Not now.”

“Then what?” Mingi turns to an unconscious Hongjoong, tied up. “How are you going to take him out of here?”

“Ah… you bring me to the ocean with him, and I’ll take it from there. But we have to make sure he is not conscious so he will survive the trip,” he notices your grip tightening. “I won’t be gone for long.”

“Will you come back?” You ask, eyes flicking between his. “I’m sorry for what I did, I…” You cough, Mingi rubbing your back. Yunho leans forward, pressing his forehead lightly against yours. Your lids flutter as your skin touches, the cold temperature calming the rapid thumping of your heart.

“I won’t let you go again. I’ll be back before you know it.” He pulls back, a small smile on his lips. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

He stands up slowly. There’s resistance in his grip as he lets go of your hand, glancing back at Hongjoong. He purses his lips, glancing at Mingi and Jongho. “Are either of you willing to take me?”

“Not necessarily-” Jongho m starts, earning a hard shove from Mingi. “-but I have no other choice.” He smiles at you, following Yunho. He picks up Hongjoong with ease, throwing him on his shoulders as Jong judges him silently, guiding him out the door. It’s quiet for a few moments, until Mingi chuckles, shaking his head.

“God, I can’t believe I just met the Kraken, and you’re in love with him.”

You widen your eyes. “No-”

“I know my best friend, y/n. And I know that he feels the same way. Kind of felt like a third wheel when he was speaking to you,” he says, cheeks flushing red. “Next time warn me before you two get all mushy.”

“Mingi-!”

“I’m glad you’re okay, I really am. I don’t know what would have happened if he wasn’t here. I just…” he sighs, glancing down at your body. “I’m happy that you have someone in your life that cares so much about you. Now I don’t have to worry anymore. You know, I would have probably cursed at you if I found out about you being in contact with him. But seeing how much he cares about you, how much he risks himself to help you, I couldn’t ask for a better person to care about you.”

“Thank you Mingi, really.” You say softly.

“You’re welcome. Now…” he grins. “Does he have a tentacle dick?”

“Mingi-!”

-

You hear a soft knocking on your door. You leap from your seat, stumbling over pairs of shoes in your way as you swing the door open. Yunho stands there, hands tucked in a new pair of pants, nervously shifting back and forth. His brown eyes immediately meet yours, the smile that you’ve missed for so long spreading on his face.

“Hi,” he breathes. He smells like the ocean and taffy, skin tanned from the sun.

“Hi,” you say back, giddy. Before he says anything else, you immediately pull him into a hug, your arms wrapping around his neck. His hands slowly move from his pocket and wrap around your torso, squeezing you tightly against him. You can feel the fast beating of his heart pressed against your chest, in tandem with yours. You try to pull away, but his hold tightens even more.

“I missed you so much,” he says softly. Tears begin to fall on your shoulders. You move your head to look at him in the eyes, hands on either side of his face. His eyes are moist, eyelids blinking rapidly as he tries to control his emotions.

“Yun…?”

He guides you inside, shutting the door with a kick. He lets go of your body reluctantly, but keeps your hands attached. He crumbles, knees hitting the floor, gaze glossed over. His hands cover his face, soft sobs rake through his body. You crouch down with him, confused. His arms curl around your body without hesitation, tucking his face into your chest.

"I don't want to hurt anymore, I don't want to do this to humans. I just want to live." He says over and over, "How can I stop this? How?"

“What happened?”

“From before. I was so willing to kill him without hesitation. The only reason I stopped was because of you, because you told me that I should spare his life. All of my time living, I have tried my hardest not to hurt a human soul because I know how short their lifespan is. But at that moment, I didn’t even care. I didn’t even think twice. Maybe I’m the monster that he says I am.”

“Yunho, you are not a monster.”

“I am.”

“No, you’re not. You are one of the kindest people I know. Hongjoong’s life has been filled with people telling him what you are and what you’ve done. That’s why he calls you that, because that’s all he has ever known. But you spared him. You helped him live, you didn’t let him go to prison. You saved him.” You let your fingers run through his hair. “That’s heroic to me, the opposite of a monster.”

“I'll be here for you. Every step of the way. I won't give up on you. I promise that.

His shaking is lessened now, more stable than before. His gaze meets yours, eyes flicking all over your face. As if he's willing himself to memorize it. His hands glide along the side of your body, before resting on either side of your face. His fingers strokes your cheek, an unreadable emotion in his gaze.

"Why do you care so much for me, y/n? I have offered you only worries and trouble. But you have stayed. Why?"

How do you tell a several thousand year old creature that you're in love with him? How do you utter those words to a man that probably has never even experienced something close to love?

"I care about you, Yunho–"

He shakes his head. "That's not what you want to say. Tell me, y/n. Why do you care so much? Why–"

"Fuck, Yunho! I'm in love with you, okay?" You pull his hands off your face, standing up. He remains in his spot, watching as you walk back and forth. "And I know I shouldn't be, but I am. I'm in love with a... octopus hybrid, half man half creature, and I can't stop myself. I care about you too much, you're on my mind constantly. I mean, even when I'm checking someone out at the library all I think about is if you'll like this book. I'm just... I don't know what to do. Because you can't stay here forever. You exist in our world every 100 years, and then you go away again. I can't be in love with you, but I am."

"You are?" He asks, saying those two words slowly. "You're in love with me?" You don't see the smile creeping on his face, the steady steps toward you.

"Yes, I am. I can't believe I'm confessing to you right now. The worst possible timing ever," You snort, rubbing your face in exasperation.

“I love you.”

You stop in your steps, looking back at him. “What?”

“I didn’t know what human love was. I always questioned it, always thought that it was a frivolous human emotion that just made your relationships grow or procreate. But it is so much more than that. I don’t know when I realized it, but I have loved you for a while. It might have been when you took care of me without knowing my name, or when you sat next to me on the dock. I just… I know that I love you.”

Yunho stands closer to you, his hands entangling with yours. “I love you, y/n.”

Your heartbeat quickens as you stare up at him. Fear, Love, Care, Confusion, Anxiety, love, love love love…

You pull his face down, barely centimeters away from your lips. You both breathe slowly, eyes staring into one another’s. Before you could ask, Yunho takes the leap. He presses his lips against yours, small gasps falling from them as he kisses you. And kisses you, kisses you, kisses you…

Your fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt and he presses his forehead into yours, lips trembling against yours. All you can hear is your breaths, until you giggle, shaking your head.

“Did I just kiss an octopus?”

“Did I just kiss a human?” He raises a brow.

“Touche,” you mumble back. He laughs, shaking his head.

-

“So, you two are a thing now?” Jongho says through big bites, glancing at Yunho out of the corner of his eye. “You’re dating a cephalopod? Isn’t that illegal somehow?”

“He’s… well,” you glance at Yun. “I mean, yea. Not sure if it’s illegal if he’s half human too.”

“Well, not exactly half human,” he squeezes your arm, eating his ramen. “More like full octopus, sometimes transform into a human for convenience. So Jongho is correct in that sense.”

“You’re making this weirder than it already is,” you grumble. Jongho laughs and Yunho shakes his head lightly.

It’s been a few weeks since Yunho sent Seonghwa and Hongjoong to their own designated islands, far far away from here. You’re glad that he did it, you’re not as afraid whenever you walk outside to get your mail, or go to the grocery store. Moreso, because Yunho is constantly by your side. It’s not something you mind at all, it’s just a little funny. Whenever you open your front door, Yunho appears immediately by your side, watching as you take it from the box. He insisted on doing it himself (and everything else, but you stopped that immediately). There’s always a pout on his lips as you do it, but it’s only for show. He just wants you safe, and that’s something that you don’t mind.

The grocery store is a different story. You’ve never felt closer to him whenever you go. He’s attached to your arm, fingers curled into yours as you walk around. Always asks questions about what things are, annoyed whenever someone gets a bit too close to you, hands running down your arm. You’ve noticed that when he’s nervous his skin gets a bit sticky (an almost slimy texture), and small circles appear on his hands. After you confronted him about it before, he shyly explained that it’s his suction cups, and sometimes they appear whenever he feels extreme emotions.

God, you’d never get used to having an octopus as a partner.

“How’s the shop renovation? Complete yet?”

Jongho nods happily. “Finally! Just need to get some things shipped from the farm and everything will be freshly stocked. God, that fire seems like years ago,” he shivers. “I still have no idea how it happened or how we got out.”

“I did it.”

You both stop chewing, looking at Yunho. His eyes flick between you both, light circles starting to appear on his arm. “Is there anything wrong?”

“You saved us from the fire? You dragged us out?”

He nods slowly. “I just appeared on the surface, but I sensed you two in danger so I pulled you out. I thought you knew this already, you were staring right at me as I dragged you.”

“I couldn’t see anything because it was too dark-!”

“Thanks!” Jongho interrupts you, patting Yunho a bit harshly, causing him to spill a little soup on his shirt. He stares down at it as Jong speaks. “If it weren’t for you well, we’d be six feet under right about now.”

Yunho picks at the stain. “What does that even mean?”

“Dead. We’d be dead,” you say, still staring at him in awe. He furrows his eyes at your stare. This man is more involved in your life than you realized. He’s saved you more than you know, and you wanted to push him away. What a fool you would have been. “Thank you, Yun.”

He smiles. “Anything for you.”

-

Everything is amazing with Yunho. You get to see him often, he sometimes visits you at the library whenever the sea shows that he watches isn’t enough to entertain him, or the park is closed. You love spending time with him, you do. But something changed. The past few days it grew even more apparent. You would come home from work, and he’d sniff you. You assumed that it was just a random encounter, but he does it each time you leave the room and come back in. Head on your neck, inhaling your scent.

And that’s not the strangest part. He’d stare at you for a moment, brush his hands over the spot, linger, then look away and pretend as if nothing happened. The first time was subtle, not enough for you to pay much mind to. But it happens too often for you to just let it slide. In the mornings, (Yunho still sleeps in his own room), he’d stand outside your door, do the usual routine, and then take his hours long baths. Everyday.

Every. Single. Day.

And now, as you sit next to him on your bed. He does the same. Your legs wrapped around him, hand resting on his stomach. His head is in the curve of your neck. This time though his breathing is heavy, fingertips indenting your side as he pulls you closer. You shudder as his tongue slowly runs down the skin, mouth closing around it, sucking lightly.

“Yun,” you stutter. He stops immediately, pulling away from your body.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he quickly runs through the apologies, finger stroking your cheek as he spills more and more. You laugh, shaking your head.

“If you wanted to have sex all you had to do was ask, you know.”

His face burns darker than you’ve ever seen him, hand trembling as he strokes your cheek. “I didn’t,” he rubs his face. “I do, I really do. But, you’re a human, and I am a… I don’t know. It might be different, and I don’t want to hurt you. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I ever caused you any injuries.”

You shake your head. “You won’t.”

“But what if I do?”

“But you won’t.”

“But-”

“Yunho.” You stop him from speaking. “I know you’re not going to hurt me, okay? I can always tell you to stop, and I trust that you’ll listen to me if I feel like there’s something wrong.”

He looks at you, his brown eyes warming as the sun hits them. “I don’t deserve you.”

You shrug, “Well, that is true…”

He laughs, shaking his head as he pulls you in for a kiss. Looking into your eyes to see if it’s okay, he slowly guides you against him, his body moving on top of yours. His hands slowly travel underneath your shirt, guiding it off of you. You lift your arms, letting him move it up your body. He pauses when it reaches your bra, pressing light kisses against your stomach, sternum, leading up to the curve of your breasts. His mouth lingers on the plump lift of your chest. You can feel as he smiles into your skin, the remainder of your shirt thrown to the side.

“You’re beautiful,” he says softly, eyes slowly lifting to yours. They’re much darker, swirling with lust and love. “Is it all for me?”

“Yes,” you breathe. He winks, his hand tugging on your bra. Before you reach to unclasp it for him, he rips it easily with a slight tug of his hand. Your breath hitches, not knowing whether to be turned on or a little scared.

Or both.

His tongue glides along your skin, reaching your nipple and sucking lightly. You moan as he pushes down your pants, nails scratching you as he quickly pushes them to the side. His fingers dig into your hips, mouth moving to the other side. His skin is cool, slowly growing moist and sticky as he continues.

You feel a strange sensation on your thighs, and look down at him. Yunho is still against your stomach, groaning lightly. Sweat decorates his forehead, dripping onto you. You quickly lean up, fear coursing through your veins. Is this what he was talking about? Does sex hurt him?

“Yun?”

Your eyes widen once you lean up, finally seeing what’s wrong. There’s a huge tear in Yunho’s shirt, tentacles growing larger and larger, some falling onto your legs, the others lying on the side. He looks up at you, eyes completely black, mouth open as he groans, fingers digging into your thighs. It’s not enough to draw blood, but you’re sure they’re going to leave behind small bruises.

“We can stop if you want,” he gasps, a tentacle slowly wrapping around your leg, inching closer and closer to your center. You fall back slowly, watching as another touches your hand with hesitancy, it’s moist texture raising your curiosity. You can feel the suction cups adhere to your skin, pulling on it lightly as it travels it’s way.

“y/n, please. Tell me what you want,” he murmurs, biting your thigh lightly. “If this is too weird for you, we don’t have to do anything. I can enjoy you as we are, nothing too far.” The pure and unrivaled care that he has in his voice. It only makes you sniffle. Yunho quickly flicks his head up to you, uneased. His whole body freezes.

“I… I love you Yunho, and I want to do this with you.”

“Why are you crying?” he asks gently, hands massaging your side.

“Because I’ve never met someone who cares about my feelings so much,” you confess, rubbing your eyes. “God, I can’t believe I’m crying during sex.”

He beams at you, “You only make me more and more elated,” his tentacle pulsates around your leg, now on your lower thigh. “And a little aroused.”

You chuckle at his dirty talk, your laugh disappearing quickly when one of the tentacles make it between your legs. It hesitantly teases your lips, before slowly guiding along your mound, pressing against your clit. Your legs tighten around Yunho as he holds you apart, eyes on your middle. It’s secretions moisten your mound more than it already is, entering you. It’s small at the end, the size of a finger. You groan, throwing your head back as it enters more and more slowly.

Yunho lets go of your legs for a moment, ripping the rest of his clothing off. His torso is covered in small circles, a more green color, as if he’s blending into your bedsheets. He leans down, eyes on you as he sucks your clit lightly.

“Fuck,” You gasp, clutching your bedsheets. “Please…”

Another tentacle makes it underneath your body, lifting you with ease. It travels around your back, slowly moving around the curve of your ass, before making it just outside the hole. Before you could tell Yunho that you’ve never done that before, the tentacle enters slowly. He trembles, moving away from your cunt, hands shaking.

“You’re so tight,” he utters through struggling breaths. “I have to tell you something.”

You nod, moaning as his tentacle moves another inch. It doesn’t hurt as much as you thought, the burn of the entrance mended by the slick skin of the tentacle. Yunho pauses for a moment.

“I know humans don’t usually urinate when they mate but…” His eyes flutter as he feels you tighten around him. “That’s how I mark my territory. My limbs are going to release into you. I just need to know if you’re okay with me inside of you.”

He looks into your eyes. Urine? You’ve never thought much of it before, but it did linger in your head sometimes. To be honest, it never turned you off whenever you stumbled upon it during your endless searches. And Yunho, staring at you as his tentacles moved inside you, doesn’t seem like a better time to try it out.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“You can pee in me, fuck.” His tentacles immediately pick up the pace, suckers sticking to places inside you, moving in and out with precision. You moan loudly as the bed creaks, another two limbs encircling your chest, squeezing your breasts. Your senses are taken over by the moist, cold tentacles moving on you. Yunho leans forward, lips against yours, tongue frantic as the tentacles pick up their pace. His head tucks into your neck, breaths rapid.

“They’re about to…” he trails off, groaning. Immediately, the warm liquid spills into your ass and cunt, pushing as far as it could inside of you, filling you up. Your orgasm hits immediately, legs trembling as they tighten around the limbs, keeping them in place for a moment. With struggle, the tentacles slowly slide out, dripping as they pull out, moving to the side. Yunho reaches down, and you follow his hand.

His fingers are wrapped around his cock. It’s a light green in color, ridges running down the length. It’s an average size, but the girth is more than you expected it to be. It’s almost as thick as a soda can, and your heart only beats faster at that realization. It would split you apart.

Yunho rubs it slowly, lids heavy as he stares down at you. Fuck it.

“Can I?” he asks, rubbing his length along your cunt, the ridges rubbing against your clit. You nod, and he slowly enters you, groaning. His tentacles wrap around your back, slowly guiding you onto his cock. His length is difficult to enter you, the help of the tentacles and the layer of slick from them making it easier. Soon enough, his balls rest against the outside of your lips.

You’re a bit shocked that he made it in with such ease, the feeling of him taking over everything else. Your fingers dig into his arm as he slowly backs out, before entering you again. He does it inch by inch, lightly kissing your body to comfort you. He slowly drags his cock out of you. His gaze moves down, the combination of his slick and your arousal covering his cock. You feel empty, your hand tugging him forward again.

He chuckles. “You’re an interesting one.”

“What does tha-”

He pushes himself harshly against you, the breath leaving your lungs for a moment. He’s moving much quicker than you thought, balls slapping against you as he quickened his pace. His veins pop out against his skin, fingers slowly sticking to your skin, suckers appearing on his palm. He groans, muscles straining as he takes in the feeling of you around his cock. His tentacles wrap around your body, one moving closer to your neck. It tickles your skin, before wrapping lightly around it.

Your cunt only tightens more, encouraging him. His hips pick up the pace, cock easily moving in and out of you. The slap of his skin on yours echoes around you, the fear of him ripping you apart replaced with the need to reach your end. He keeps up the neverending pace with ease, panting and eyes focused on yours. He can feel his cock getting harder, his end getting closer and closer to fruition. You can feel your end hearing as well, the pulsing of your cunt and the high almost at the perfect spot.

“I… I think I’m going to cum,” he utters, hips stuttering. “Cum for me, y/n.” His fingers grip your hips, harshly pulling you against him. He leans forward, mouth sucking on your neck and tentacle moving to the side. “Cum.”

Your orgasm hits you at one more pump of his hips, legs wrapping around his body as you violently tremble against him. Yunho wraps himself around you, holding you against his body as you feel his hot cum against your walls, filling you as much as it could. Your breaths level out, Yunho still wrapped around you. Despite his orgasm, you can still feel how hard he is inside of you, stiff against your still trembling walls.

“Why are you still hard?” you mumble into his ears.

He laughs, kissing just behind your lobe. “I have a lot of stamina.”

“How long?”

He moves away from your neck, eyebrow raised. “At least four more times.”

“Four-?!”

“Relax y/n, I’d never make you go that far. Once is enough for me,” he says softly, love in his eyes. “I’ll do anything you desire.”

“That’s cute, kinda gross,” you murmur, and he only chuckles. “I love you, you know. I don’t care what you look like or how many tentacles you have. I’ll still love you the same.”

“What happens when I leave?” he says so softly, you almost don’t hear it. “Once I turn back into a Kraken…”

“That’s not something to think about right now. I have you at this moment. And that’s enough for now.”

He nods slowly, looking at you in deep thought. “I won’t leave you, I’ll figure something out. There’s no use for a Kraken in these modern times. I don’t need to protect the seas any longer. I will stay human.”

He somehow presses you closer to him, “For you. I won’t give up on you.”

-

@cultofdionysusnet

[thebearchives]

it's time to be real | CL16

P​​AIRING: charles leclerc x reader

REQUESTED: [] yes [X] no

WORD COUNT: 2.2k

SYNOPSIS: with a sudden fixation on the extremely attractive hot guy standing near the water fountain, and no plan whatsoever on how to talk to him, you can't help but be thankful when your phone buzzes and your friend brings up the idea to get him to take your bereal photo.

WARNINGS: fluff, charles being bad at social media, charles not understanding social media, probably incorrect descriptions of ibiza idk i’ve never been, reader is so down bad for charles, very small “epilogue of sorts” at the end featuring pierre gasly bc it’s not a charles fic without pierre

A/N: a little fluff to get over the bullshit that was the belgian gp (ferrari can shove their strats up their own asses thank u very much)

as always, don't be a ghost reader!

you had always known that the sunsets in ibiza were beautiful, but seeing a picture of one could not compare to experiencing it in real life. you said as much to your best friend, who sat across you with a flute of pink champagne in her hand.

the two of you were at a restaurant in the heart of ibiza, seated under the orange-tinted sky with a clear view of the setting sun. you’d been very lucky today, as the waitress had said herself, to have a balcony table open up just as you came in. with a view like this, you didn’t have to wonder why it was a hot commodity.

indeed, you had been very lucky. not just because of the perfect view of the changing skies, but also because of the beautiful man you had spotted near the large water fountain below. god, he was absolutely beautiful and you couldn’t even see him clearly.

“you know, if he were to just look up at a 45-degree angle, he would see your eyes just staring into his soul. can you chill out?” your friend rolled her eyes, absolutely done with your fixation on the man behind her.

“he’s literally so attractive, it’s unreal.” you furrowed your eyebrows, “he’s unreal.”

“what if he’s one of those guys who are actually super ugly close up but just look pretty from afar?” ever the pessimist, wasn’t she?

“can you just be happy for me?” you ripped a small piece off of the bread sitting in the middle of the table and tossed it at her face. 

she rolled her eyes, “he doesn’t even know you exist. what if he’s a douche?”

“but what if he isn’t?”

she closed her eyes, throwing her head back in exasperation. after a couple of seconds, she looked back at you, “are you done eating? maybe if we go down now, we can still get to him before he leaves.”

and that is why she was your best friend. even if she didn’t understand you sometimes, she was willing to help you out.

“have i ever told you that i love you?” you smiled at her as she called a waiter over, asking for the bill.

“yes, but you can show me how much you love me by paying the bill,” she fluttered her eyes at you and gave you a big smile.

“oh, you are such a bitch.” you’d walked right into that. 

“and don’t you forget it!”

before you left the balcony, you looked back at the greek god of a man one last time. hopefully, he would stay put in the time it would take to reach him.

“so, what’s your plan?” your friend looked at you as you held the door open for another customer.

“my plan?” you smiled politely to the old lady who thanked you for holding the door open before making your way over to your friend, “plan for what?”

“you’re telling me, that you wanted to go see this man, up close and personal, but have no plan for what to do after you get there?”

“well, when you put it that way, yes.”

“god, you’re incorrigible.” she stepped away from you, “i’m not doing this with you, you’re on your own. if you embarrass yourself, do not come back to me. i don’t want to be seen with you.”

“you’re literally so rude,” you frowned at your friend.

“and you’re dumb.”

you huffed, “what did i do to deserve this?”

“exist.”

“f/n, please,” you grabbed her arm and shook it, whining, “you have to help me! he’s still there, and he’s even prettier in real life, please.”

before she could say anything, both of your phones buzzed. the bright yellow caution sign emojis caught your eye. a bereal notification. 

“oh my god,” your friend grabbed your arm and started tugging you towards the fountain where the pretty man still stood. you could tell from her expression that she might have just solved all your problems.

as she pulled you, she began to explain her idea, “you’re gonna go and run to that man and ask him to take a picture of you for your be real account, and then when he does, you will have a picture of his own face, all to yourself. creepy, yes, but i mean, i’ve seen worse on tiktok.”

“do now, ask questions later.” she cut you off before you could even speak, “you’re running out of time!”

after a rather hard push from your friend, you found yourself speedwalking toward the pretty man. luckily his back was turned towards you, so he didn’t see you hyping yourself up before ultimately tapping on his shoulder.

“uhm, excuse me?”

he turned around, the look of confusion present on his face melting into a soft smile, “yes?”

wow. it was like that one word had just punched you in the gut and left you breathless. his voice was perfect. he was just like the sunsets in ibiza, so much prettier up close.

he shuffled a bit, uncomfortable with your lack of communication, “ehm, hello?”

“oh,” you blinked, “i am so sorry, i uhm,” you pushed your phone towards his chest, “would you mind taking a picture of me for my be real?”

“your be real?” he seemed confused.

god, the way his face moved into different expressions was mesmerizing. 

“yup, you’d just need to click the button on the bottom to take the picture. but it is timed, so you’d have to take the picture in under two minutes.” as you explained, you didn’t take your eyes off of him for even a second. you noticed that he had ducked his head down to look at your phone, eyes squinting as he paid close attention to what you were saying.

the second you finished speaking, he leaned back up and smiled at you, “ah, okay. let’s do this.”

you quickly unlocked your phone, passing it over with the bereal app open and ready to take a picture.

“do you want me to take the picture of you in front of the fountain?” common human decency had never sounded as good as it did coming out of his mouth.

at your nod, he smiled and held the phone up, waiting for you to get ready.

“okay,” he started, “one, two, and…”

he held the phone for a beat, and you smiled wider. that should have been enough for the selfie. as you made your way back to him, you noticed his distraught expression.

“oh, i am terribly sorry. i was taking the picture like you asked, and then when it saved, my face was in the top right corner,” he explained, showing you your phone as proof.

you smiled at his cluelessness, it just made him so much more cuter, “oh, that’s okay! it’s actually a feature for the app. it takes a picture from both front and back cameras.”

his cheeks reddened slightly, “oh, well this is slightly embarrassing.”

“endearing, actually.” you smiled at the sight of his cheeks getting darker, “shall we take a look at the picture then?”

as if realizing he was still holding your phone, he jolted, hand reaching up to place the phone back into your hands. his fingers brushed against your palm as he let go, “sorry about that, i forgot i was still holding it.”

“no worries,” you couldn’t keep the smile off your face while talking to him. you quickly clicked the save button on the bottom of the picture before moving the phone in between the two of you.

you tapped on the little window with his face on it and smiled at the insanely attractive picture that had been captured. you didn’t realize it then, but as he took your picture, his eyes got squinty again, focused, and from between the rosy pink of his lips, you could see a bit of his tongue poking out.

“oh, mon dieu.” his voice came out low and quiet. fuck, was that french? holy shit, this man just kept getting hotter and hotter.

“you look cute,” you bit the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from grinning like a madman. 

“no, no, no,” the man shook his head, “nothing about that picture is cute.”

“no?” you tilted your head at him, a smirk painted on your lips, “i don’t know, i kind of liked it.”

you noticed that his ears turned red before his cheeks, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips. he shook his head, “no, no, can we please retake the picture? i’ll promise to look better now that i know i will be in it, also.”

now, who were you to stop such a fine man from wanting to take another picture of himself in your phone? you handed the phone back to him, “be my guest.”

you hovered the phone over his hand for a second. you decided to take a shot, “you know, if either of us is fast enough, we could meet in the middle and take the selfie together.”

he hummed, the noise sending shivers down your spine, “that sounds like fun.”

and so, naturally, the two of you attempted it. and failed every time. all the failed attempts sat nestled in your camera roll. 

one picture had caught the man with a smile on his face, his hair tousled in the air as he tried towards you in time. he had been too slow. 

in the next one, he decided to stand a bit closer to you, but this picture had been too blurry for either of your liking, a flash of skin colour and pink from the sky.

the third picture had been your last attempt, and the best one yet. but still, it was blurry and you wished to just grab him and take a picture with your cheek pressed against his.

“okay, we have less than thirty seconds to get this right. i have an idea, okay?” you grabbed his hand, tugging him much closer to where you had been standing for the pictures, “you stay here, okay? i’ll come to you for the selfie.”

at his confused nod, the two of you manned your stations for the last time. he cleared his throat, beginning his countdown once more. you waited for his signal before rushing to him as fast as you could. at the very last moment, you jumped, arms wrapping around his neck while your legs wrapped around his waist.

the man instantly reached to stabilize the two of you, one hand wrapping under your thigh while the other stuck out in a way to recenter himself. you watched as the picture automatically uploaded itself, reaching the end of the time limit.

you let out a breathy laugh, “sorry about that.”

you could tell that he was still quite shocked, his jaw dropped and eyes wide open. after a couple of seconds, his shoulders started shaking, the most attractive laughter escaping his mouth.

he helped you slide off of his back, his shoulders still shaking slightly, handing your phone back to you. 

“quick!” he was excited, eyes shining brightly, “i want to see how that one turned out.”

unsurprisingly, the picture did not come out as clear as either of you had hoped, but you still thought it was the best of them all.

 the picture had captured the moment you jumped onto his back, the sudden jerk in the camera causing the picture to be rather blurry. but it was a nice kind of blurry. you noticed you had been smiling so widely in the picture, your eyes appeared as mere slits. on the other hand, the love of your life, as you had labelled him, was captured with an expression halfway between shock and happiness, with a smile on his lips, but his eyebrows raised in surprise. 

“it’s cute.” he voiced your thoughts out loud, “i’d like a copy of this picture if you can save it.”

your head shot up to him, “really?”

he smiled and nodded, “yeah, i think i want to remember this moment for the rest of my life.”

your eyes met his, a soft smile gracing both of your lips.

your phone made its way to his open hand for the last time. you watched him closely as he punched in his number. his ears were still fairly pink, although the blush on his cheeks had gone down. his bottom lip had been pulled into his mouth, teeth gnawing on the flesh as he contemplated what to name his contact id. he’d left it plain in the end, with just a red heart next to his name.

charles ❤️

— very, very short epilogue:

*ynlover just posted late.*

charleslover: well, aren’t you just the prettiest man in the world <3

ynlover: @/charleslover only for you, mon coeur

likedbypierregasly: mate we can all see you flirting

ynlover: @/likedbypierregasly wait, so i can’t private message on here?

charleslover: no, mon ange. we’ve been over this.

[glubsurleseuil]

Don't be scared - Chapter 2

A Pennywise X F!Reader fanfic. First - Next

Chapter warnings: Violence, blood, discreet mention of a desire to die. It's just the beginning, it's about to get worse.

(Note: It was translated by Deepl, English is not my mother tongue, so I apologise for any mistakes. If you want to correct me, don't hesitate!)

(Note 2: I found the gif at @pennydaddywise)

(Note 3: The "lyrics" of the song are actually quotes from Mr Stephen King.)

It was a difficult night. First, when you arrived home, your body's first reflex was to throw up in the toilet. Then your brain's reflex was to search your apartment from top to bottom to make sure no one was home. Then, finally, you curled up in a ball on your bed, scared out of your wits, unable to sleep. Every minute, you checked your phone, not wanting to believe that the clown's damn message had disappeared. You'd searched your whole phone but couldn't find it. And you hated for most of the night the incredible capacity of the human survival instinct to try and make you believe that all these strange and terrifying events never really happened. Finally, you fell asleep convinced that no, you're not crazy.

Of course, like every night for some time, you had a dream. But not the same one this time. This one was just as hazy and incomprehensible, but less terrifying, and you woke up more peacefully. It made you remember the clown's message: Don't be scared... You laughed nervously, shivers running through your body just thinking about your adventure the day before.

The day had gone by too fast for your liking, and you'd been unable to concentrate on anything, that damn clown haunting your mind at every turn. Then it was finally time for work.

It was a quiet evening, without too many customers. These evenings are often pleasant to spend, but this evening in particular, you could take advantage of it and go home early. The very idea of not seeing the sun when you leave the bar terrifies you.

"Are you sure? There's no one on stage tonight. You can sing if you want."

Your boss suggests you go on stage when there's no one there. You love these moments. Singing and playing on stage is the only time you feel your life isn't miserable. But singing tonight means coming home later, when it's dark... Fuck.

You can't refuse. These moments are too rare. You get up on stage and take advantage of this moment to forget everything, your rotten life, the sadness, the anguish... The clown...

Monsters are real, And ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.

Your voice trembles slightly and you close your eyes to concentrate.

God is cruel. Sometimes he makes you live. The devil's voice is sweet to hear.

At the end of your song, the few remaining customers applaud. You hate that noise. It reminds you of harsh reality.

Finally, the bar closes and you leave through the back door. The cool silence of the night reminds you of the horrors of life and you look down the dark, empty alley. The lights are still malfunctioning, and there's a large section of the alleyway plunged into darkness. Obviously...

You reassure yourself that you don't have to go into the forest this time. Phone in hand, you make your way down the alley, lighting every nook and cranny, and you're soon relieved to see that there's nothing and no one there.

You move forward, a little more reassured, towards the exit, towards the light. And as you put your phone back in your bag, something touches your back. It's light and it bounces against you. You turn around slowly, cautiously, holding your breath...

A balloon? A balloon. Red, floating in the middle of the path, alone. The first thing it brings to mind is your dream from last night. Yes, there was a red balloon in it, which you grabbed and flew high into the sky...

Looking at it more closely, you see a piece of paper hanging from its string, wriggling like a hanged man. You untie it and unfold it. On it, in ink as red as blood, a message.

DON'T BE SCARED

You swallow your saliva as thick as sand and your whole body shakes with tremors, preparing to run. But as you turn to leave the alley, two gloved hands grab you, one by the nape of the neck, pulling your hair as you go, the other by the mouth, pressing down hard enough that you can't scream. And you find yourself facing those predatory golden eyes, one of whose pupils squints outwards. A multitude of gleaming, pointed teeth, dripping with slime, smiles at you, just inches from your face.

Faced with such an apparition, your first instinct is to punch the face you recognize as the clown's, but you instantly regret it. True, the grip of his hands has loosened, but you note with horror that his features have deformed where you struck him, his uneven teeth protruding from his mouth in an excruciatingly inhuman way. Blood is dripping from his lip... floating upwards would be more accurate.

You push him back hard and turn to flee, knowing full well it's no use. He grabs you by the arm and pushes you violently back against the alley wall. You grit your teeth as you feel your back and the back of your skull crash against the hard surface. With one hand, he grips your neck and lifts you to his full height. No matter how hard you pull on his arm, you're unable to free yourself and breathing becomes difficult. The clown brings his face close to yours like an enraged predator.

"I said... don't be scared!!!"

He finishes his sentence by slamming you back against the wall. You close your eyes in pain, your head begins to spin and you no longer feel strong enough to push him away. All you can do is watch him rage at you, hoping it's just another nightmare.

"You don't want to live, I know it! Then why are you afraid? Stupid, ridiculous humans... This fear... So beautiful, so appetizing. How am I supposed to resist this?!"

The clown hits you once more, more brutally. This is too much. As your arms fall unconscious to your sides, you faint under his fingers and everything goes black. The last thing you hear is the clown swearing to himself.

When you open your eyes, you're unable to understand where you are. An old-fashioned smell of mildew assails your nostrils and you see dust flying in the dim light of the room. You realize you're lying on something soft, covered. Probably a mattress on the floor. Soon, the pain in the back of your skull reawakens. You run your hand through your hair to find dried blood tangled in your locks.

You sit up abruptly, the events before you fainted coming back to you in an unbearable headache, and a question forces you to hold your breath. What else has this clown... this thing... done to you? Trembling, your hand raises the old grey blanket over your legs and you begin to inspect yourself... Nothing. At first glance, anyway. Everything suggests that he's just put you down there, nothing more. You breathe again.

Your gaze finally settles around you: you find yourself in an empty room, apart from the mattress you're lying on. The light is diffused, so unnatural that you want to define it as dark, even if that doesn't make sense. The windows are so dirty that you can't tell if it's still night. You have no idea what time it is or how long it's been since the clown attack.

You suddenly see your shoes tossed haphazardly around the room, as well as your bag. That's all it takes for you to rush out of the mattress and rummage through it, your phone being your goal. But you panic when you realize it's buggy. It doesn't look particularly broken though, it simply refuses to work, the screen displaying bizarre glitches and... The message the clown marked last time, in the forest. You throw your phone to the ground in anguished annoyance.

Close your eyes. Inhale. exhale. You've got to get out of here. A hint of determination returning, you pick up your phone, your bag and put on your shoes. Passing as quietly as possible through the first doors you come to, you arrive in a corridor with a staircase leading down a few meters from you. You descend carefully, the steps creaking beneath your feet. But there's no sign of the clown, and the door opposite the steps seems to be the entrance door. You suddenly have the foolish hope of getting out of here without any trouble.

You approach slowly, your hand sliding noiselessly over the handle of the closed door. You turn it slowly... but nothing happens. You pull, you push, quietly at first, then louder and louder, suddenly panic-stricken. But nothing happens. The door doesn't move. It doesn't move at all. As if it were an optical illusion painted on the wall. A groan of despair escapes and you hold back your tears. Inhale. Exhale. All is not lost, there are always the windows.

They're as dirty and dimly lit as those upstairs, plunging the house into an atmosphere of eternal twilight. Some are boarded up, but not all. In a room that looks like a living room, you work hard on one of them, but get the same result as with the door. In a fit of anger, you end up banging on what's supposed to be the glass, even throwing a stool lying around, in vain.

A few seconds pass before a cry of rage comes from your mouth. And you knew that all the noise you'd made would attract the clown. A weak but piercing laugh pushes you to turn towards the entrance to the room. There he is, leaning against the wall, mocking you without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

"Silly, silly little human. Thinking you can escape from my house. So stupid, so angry..."

He pauses, and you can see his mocking smile break down, giving way to annoyance, his features turning stern.

"...So scared... again..."

You step back as he moves closer to you. You'd have thought his eyes were blue a second ago... You quickly bend down to grab the stool you threw at the window, tossing it at the clown to distract him and get around him, running towards the living room exit. You already knew it wouldn't work and you're not surprised to feel him propel you to the floor. He barely gives you time to turn around before pinning you down on your back. Your eyes see his face blurred by tears, while you feel warm drool running down your shirt. Above you, the clown shakes frantically, as if arguing with himself about what to do with you.

"Fear... so delicious... Maybe I should... eat you.... No! Or maybe... just a little...?"

He shakes his head like an animal shredding a piece of meat, and the comparison terrifies you.

"No. No! You are..."

His gloved hand caresses your face with a gentleness that makes you sob. Your eyes close tightly, as if that's enough to make you forget everything that's going on.

"...perfect. I need you."

You feel the clown's breath coming closer and your eyes reopen in panic. You can see his lips curling over his sharp teeth, many more of them. Your brain refuses to believe what it's seeing and you start laughing nervously.

"Don't. Be. Scared."

It's an order and he emphasizes it by snapping his teeth together in a jaw-clenching sound that echoes in your head. At this point, he lets go and walks away, leaving you alone on the floor with your migraine, covered in drool. All you hear is the echo of your own delirious laughter, resonating in your eardrums as if it belonged to someone else. 

[wifetomegatron]

i love you (it'll pass). ratchet(idw)/gn!reader

that one scene from fleabag, with the priest... yeah, but with ratchet

" You knew this was coming."

There was a pause, a heartbeat, or two, where you're limp against his arms. Draped against his right side and struggling to compose yourself, trembling with every exhale. Like a child trying to hold it in, there was no use in fighting the tears. So you let it flow. Down your chin. Your neck. He pulls your body closer into the hug, rubbing his servos up and down as if to soothe you. But it was inevitable. It would be like trying to make Rodimus change course from a path he had stubbornly chosen to sprint and crash into. Or changing the trajectory of a comet as it plummets itself through the atmosphere, snagged by the planet's gravity, it's helpless. Sometimes the best thing to do is to let it fall. Let it crash.

" I know," You sniffled. Trying to hide your face from him, which caused him to laugh — the smile not reaching his optics. He gently guided your chin back to face him. Ratchet always looks tired. Weary. And now he looks even more worn, like he's been fighting and finally decided that enough is enough. You couldn't bear it, so you turn away once again. Staring ahead into the distance.

There were quiet noises all around you. There were insects gently singing by the creek, the waters trickling down the narrow stream. The water was clear, so clear that if you paid attention you would've seen the little animals swimming by the shallows. Beneath your palm, the grass was still wet with morning dew. Sunrise halfway past the hills, crawling past the curves and grazing your skin. This was what Ratchet loved about Earth. It was soft. Gentle. Peaceful. You like to think that it gave him a kind of comfort that made him forget about the war — an alternative to the cold, sharp edges of Cybertron that he can't bear to miss. He could say the same thing about you as well. But that would be unfair. And maybe that's why this has to end. Because you were never his home.

" I love you," You sighed. Helpless.

" It will pass," He whispered.

The silence continued, and for a minute, you were about to cry again. It was hard to be rational about all of it when your heart felt like it was about to collapse in itself. And Ratchet knew this. Saw this. From the way, your hands curled into fists as if it has nowhere to go — no longer allowed to seek refuge in his.

So he placed his palm on your head, stroking your hair and breaking the silence, " I think you know how to love better than any of us. That's why you find it all so painful."

Finally, you look at him.

When two stars collide, they merge to create a new, brighter star. A dance of hydrogen gas and light, a birth of a heavenly body. There is creation. There is love. But when a comet crashes into the Earth, it bends and breaks and burns the soil and reshapes the terrain until it is unrecognizable. Unwillingly leaving a mark. And you will have to carry the shape of him within you forever. Irreversibly changed. You find it all so unfair. But you can't bring yourself to be selfish. Not like this.

So you throw yourself into his arms one last time, accepting the inevitable. The crash. ( And your body will continue to remember this moment: the juts and bend of his armor. The weight of his hug. The thrum of chassis. )

He swiped the last few drops from the corner of your eyes, " So, see you tomorrow?"

You gave him a shaky smile.

" Just kidding. You're never allowed in my ship, ever again."

And with that, he's up, back to his original mass, and walking towards the ship. You tightened the grip on your bags, trying to remain grounded. Like a song finally coming to a slow, he stops a few meters away to turn around — almost against his will, unable to bring himself to keep a straight face.

" I love you, too."

When the Earth is scorched, metal continues to shine. Even hours after the Lost Light left — most likely drifting into the vast echo of space — it still left an imprint against the tall grass.

[lucivinyl]

mc visits devildom after getting into a fight with their family

pairing : om brothers x gn!reader (separate)

warnings : none

note : reposting old works because i accidentally deleted my account OwO reblogs and likes appreciated!

Lucifer

He's buried in paperwork when the doorbell rings. He isn't expecting a visitor this late and finds it annoying at first. But when he sees you standing out in the dark with swollen eyes, he takes you in immediately, worry written all over his face.

If you want to rant to him, he'll make sure to give you his full attention, and if you ever start blaming yourself, he'll stop you immediately. He wants you to be honest with him.

If you don't want to talk about it, he'll take you in his arms and let you cry as much as you want while trying to soothe your breathing. Hearing you so broken makes his heart break, but he has to be strong for you.

Either way, you're gonna end up in his arms, and he's not going to let go for the whole night. He'll be more tender and gentle as usual, pampering you with kisses and confessions that he never had the courage to say.

His comforting words are based on logic and reason as he tries to show you that whatever you're feeling is validated.

Brings you to bed afterwards knowing how tired you are, doesn't matter how much work he still has to finish. Nothing is more important to him than your happiness.

Mammon

It's so unexpected that he doesn't know what to do at first.

He's on cloud nine when he learns of your sudden visit, but the broken look on your face makes his heart drop. He's immediately worried, asking you what happened and whether anyone hurt you.

He understands that as important as families are, they can be a pain in the ass sometimes, so he'll always side with you and show his support any chance he gets.

Lets you talk as much as you want, but ultimately he runs out of words to comfort you. Instead, he just brings you into a crushing hug, trying his absolutely hardest to show you how much he loves you with his arms.

Tries to distract you with all kinds of things. Will movies do the trick? He'll put on a scary movie if it means you'll forget about being sad. You crave local Devildom snacks? He's already putting on a jacket for his trip to the stores. Whatever you need, just say the word.

But ultimately, he just wants to cuddle with you and squeeze the sadness out of you. He's not going to stop until that brilliant smile returns to your face.

Levi

He is so clueless and it frustrates him. What exactly should he do so that you'll feel better? All he wants to do is console you, but he can't even do that… no, it's not the time to sulk!

Starts with listening to your explanations, running his hand up and down your back. His shoulder is all yours.

Rakes his brain for the right words, can't find any, but when he sees you at the brink of tears again, he just says what's at the top of his head.

"I'm sorry that happened, MC. No one is allowed to hurt you like that. But you're the strongest person I've ever met, and while my words don't do anything, I want you to know that I'll always be here for you."

No stuttering, no hesitation, just something honest and sincere. He hopes that it's enough for you.

If you don't feel like going to sleep yet, he makes you game with him for a while to distract you, but if you're worn out, he'll take advantage of the small bathtub and hold you close to him as you drift off.

Satan

He may get angry immediately, ready to throw hands with whoever caused your tears, but when he takes a second look at your state, he knows that you just need him for now.

Satan is a good listener. You'll be sitting on his bed while he sits across on a chair, holding your hands tightly. Don't mind him if he interrupts you with questions, he really just wants to understand the whole situation better.

He's resourceful. He reads a lot, and he knows exactly what words you need to hear, be it realistic advice or understanding reassurances.

If you're more angry than sad about the whole situation, he helps you blow off the steam. It may be screaming into the void, it may be making biscuits and absolutely obliterating the dough, he'll even act as your punching bag (though he's sure you wouldn't ask that of him… right?).

It's bad to bottle up feelings, so just confide in him! After making you feel better, he'll give you a huge smooch on the forehead before getting in bed <3

Asmodeus

He's fussing over you in seconds, bombarding you with questions like, what's wrong and did someone hurt you and tell me their names and I'll make them pay for hurting you!

After learning that it's your family though, he understands he can't just go over and avenge you, so he asks you directly if you'd want something special from him.

He probably gives wonderful massages, so he'll have you lay on his bed as he works magic all over your tired muscles. Will definitely give you an eye massage and steal kisses from you while he's at that.

Of course, he's not just going to ignore your worries. He can't help but complain about how your family treated you, but he realizes that you probably don't want to hear all that. That's why he chooses to take care of your body instead. He'll make you relaxing tea and run you a bath with the most luxurious bath bomb he has. He already treats you like a royal on a normal day, so imagine just what length he's gonna go just to make you feel good.

He promises to bring you somewhere fun the next day. But for now, a refreshing sleep is what you need.

Beelzebub

He cares a lot about his family, and he knows they care for him too. So when he hears about what went down in yours, he's confused.

"Aren't families supposed to make you feel happy and at home?"

"Not mine, apparently."

He suggests making you some snacks to lift your spirits, but he also understands that when you're hurt, there's a hole in your chest that not even food can fill. He isn't afraid to ask you what you need to feel better.

The best thing he can give you is his presence. He has this magical ability to make you feel safe anytime he's nearby. Ask him for some cuddles and he won't let you go, not ever.

He may still feel inadequate though, so while you're asleep, he'll go to all of his brothers and ask them how to cheer you up-- how to fill that hole inside you.

You're going to wake up to a lot of gifts and stuff around you, and it's obvious who came up with which idea, but the fact that Beel spent his whole night running around and preparing the surprise for you is what makes him special.

Belphegor

His hazy, sleepy eyes blow wide open when he sees the pain in yours. Immediately, he wants you to tell him the details.

You'll be lying in bed, face-to-face as he takes your words in. He is aware of how much families can hurt you, but he also doesn't want to go straight to the conclusion that your family is bad. That's why he doesn't give a lot of comments.

Instead, he holds you close to him and tells you how much he appreciates you. Belphie somehow knows just what to say to you. They may not even be about your family issues, just simple compliments.

Sleep always makes him feel better, so he wants you to try it as well. It always seems to solve all kinds of problems. But the next day, he'll make sure that you're totally fine. If you're not, he'll gladly sacrifice his napping time to spend time loitering around with you or planning pranks on other students. Surely that will get your mind off unpleasant things.

[quigonswife8]

Understanding: Anakin Skywalker x reader

After not eating breakfast for days, you pass out at training with your master

warnings: not eating, passing out

"Training..." you grumble, pulling yourself into a sitting position. It's 6 in the morning, the usual time for training. Anakin is most likely waiting at the Dojo- you have half the mind to fall back asleep but your master won't like that.

Getting out of bed you get dressed into your everyday attire. Once done you fasten the lightsaber to your belt though you forget about eating, and leave.

Everyday at 6 am this is your routine; get up, get dressed, eat, and meet up with your master. Sometime's he'll be waiting outside for you, most time's he'll be waiting at the Dojo for you.

For the past couple of days, however, you have chosen to skip the third part of your routine. 'Eating' in the morning hasn't exactly been your number one priority, despite it being the most important.

By skipping breakfast you have found yourself feeling a bit woozy throughout the day though you've pushed through this. 'it will pass' you'll tell yourself.

----

As you enter, you note your master already set up. His lightsaber fastened to his belt, and his cloak discarded nearby.

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up..."

Anakin turns in your direction, bright eyed, and excited. How can he even be this awake this early? then he unclips his lightsaber from his belt and moves over to the training area.

"...good morning to you too, master..."

you smirk at him, bringing a hand to rest on your hip. Anakin playfully rolls his eyes but he can't help but smile. Playful banter has always been a thing between you two, even as younglings.

"Good morning (y/n). How did you sleep?"

"...better than yesterday.." unclipping your lightsaber from your belt, you halt in front of Anakin. Your master stops in front of you, hand moving to rest on your shoulder.

"...that's good."

"How about you, master?"

"The same, padawan..."

Anakin wishes to keep this conversation going, but you must train. He removes his hand after a moment and moves back,

"...that's good.."

You watch as Anakin brings himself around, to circle you, so you mirror his actions.

"...okay, padawan.."

With a hint of a smirk on your master's lips, Anakin nods.

"...let's begin..."

---

"Good..."

You duck, quickly blocking with the lightsaber.

"...thank you ma- woah!"

Using a move he'd taught you in the past you flip and use your right arm to block his lightsaber from below. Anakin, impressed, smirks and you feel proud.

"You remember what I taught you.."

"Of course. It's one of my favourites."

You spin the lightsaber and move back to give enough room to continue the training. Anakin switches the lightsaber over to his other hand and readies himself;

"...well, im proud of you."

"Thank you..."

It's often that he tells you he's proud of you, and every time you feel a sense of excitement. It's one thing to be told this but another by your own master, it tells you that you're getting better.

"...you're welcome."

With a flip of the lightsaber Anakin attacks again, and you barely have enough time to block. Pushing him back you attack below but he blocks it:

"...good job, master. Maybe some day you'll be as good as master yoda..."

"Yeah, yeah..."

With another flip off his lightsaber he throws his right arm out, but you catch it. Flipping him around you end up on the other side of him, lightsaber coming up to his throat, but he manages to stop you.

"Not so fast..."

"Aww come on anakin, that all you got?"

Your cockiness is something you've picked up from Anakin. He often likes to show off, brags about stuff, so much so that you picked this up from him. Soon Obi-wan began calling you 'Anakin 2.0' which only made you laugh am I really like him?

He stifles back a laugh.

"Nope..." making sure to emphasise the p. Anakin spins his lightsaber, not attacking at first. He needs to come up with a plan, and quick, to beat you.

Quickly he looks for an opening to knock you down. You're ready for whatever is to come, except you've made a mistake. With a smirk Anakin chuckles again 'bad choice, padawan'

"What?- ow!"

The impact of your butt hitting the mat makes you pout up at Anakin, who's approaching you. He's already tucking away his lightsaber, that smug smirk on his lips.

"You weren't watching your feet, (y/n)."

"Force..." Anakin holds out his hand, his smirk soon changing into a smile. "...sorry, master."

"That's alright. Now you know for next time."

Helping you to your feet, you reach down to grab the lightsaber that had fallen. It's only when you're standing back up that you're hit with an intense wave of lightheadeness, only able to stop yourself from falling by grabbing onto Anakin.

"W- woah, (y/n)..."

It will pass

"Thank you..."

In hopes he'll just think this was a matter of stepping the wrong way, or tripping over your feet, you glance at him. Anakin looks worried though his confusion shines through more.

"You okay?"

"Yeah..." you lie "...just mis-stepped. I'll be fine."

"Okay then..."

He helps you stand up again. You let him go, confident that it will pass, so as you step back you look at Anakin with a smile. Everything seems to be fine…until it’s not

"You sure you're okay (n/n)?"

"Yeah. I'm sure..." you tuck the lightsaber away.

"i'm....woah..."

It returns, only worse this time. The colour drains from your face fast, and you find yourself pretending that everything is fine.

"(y/n), you're not fine, are you?"

No

wanting to calm his nerves, you try and think up another lie. Though you fall short when a wave of white floods your vision, and you're sent falling to the floor. The yells of Anakin being the last thing you hear, and then you’re out.

-------

When you wake up, you notice that you're not in the training Dojo any more. Instead you seem to be in your room, from the looks of it, which is confusing at first until you realise he must have carried you there.

"Goodbye.."

Anakin?

He enters, holding a bottle of water, and a bowl of something. His eyebrows are furrowed, lines on his face indicating his stress. With this being the case it's not hard to feel him through the force and tell what his feelings are, at the moment.

Anakin closes the door, and turns in your direction. "(y/n)..."

"hey, master." before you can even blink he’s by your side, having placed what he'd brought in to the side.

"Thought I lost you for a second there..."

Propping yourself up enough that you don't pass out, again, you cringe at the thought of how you passed out.

"...(y/n).."

Anakin moves closer. He has a look of something in his eyes, but you can't quite tell. Understanding, maybe?

"I...I need to tell you something, anakin..."

"I know..." he simply replies, nodding. "...I know why you passed out.."

"You...do?"

Anakin knows what this is, because he's been through this. He's seen this before, in himself. That's why after you'd passed out, when you were getting examined by a doctor, it clicked.

"...you haven't been eating breakfast for a few days, right?"

he can see the surprise on your face, pretty quickly. Shaking your head, Anakin continues.

"...because of stress..."

"How did you know?"

"Because I've done exactly what you have."

Anakin has never really been open about these kinds of things. However with you being so close to him, and going through what he has, it's only right he shares this with you. At least you'll have someone who knows what it's like.

"...I let the stress get to me, to the point I was skipping out on breakfast so I'd have less to worry about. Master Kenobi figured it out, and had a talk with me. He actually was there to make sure I ate..."

Anakin reaches over for the bottle, and the food:

"...which is what i'm going to do for you..."

"Master..."

"And I know it's not going to be easy, I know." Anakin nods. "...but i'm here for you, i'll help you, I promise.."

He's right, it's not going to be easy. It's not that you don't want to eat but you focus your energy on other more 'important things', and while you do eat dinner, it's not been good by skipping out on breakfast. You feel happy to know someone knows how it is, and what better for it to be than your own master.

Unable to hide the smile, you nod back at Anakin.

"Thank you for this, for being here, it means a lot..."

Taking the bottle of water, you pop off the lid. The cold water is an instant relief to your dry throat; Anakin takes the bottle from you once you're done, and hands you the food. It smells delicious, and you want to dig in, but before you do, you look at Anakin again.

"...Thank you again, really."

Oh there are so many things Anakin wants to say to you, but he settles on a simple 'you're welcome'. With another smile sent his way you dig into the food, Anakin beside you the whole time.

---

[imagine-silk]

Moon Knight w/ Autistic s/o

Sometimes you need to do things for yourself. (Steven Grant + Marc Spector)

Hyper-Fixation

Steven is all for it. If it is about Egypt he can tell you everything you could ever want to know and it is delicious. Ask any question and he can answer and pull out all the books he has that are well loved and covered in notes. If it's about literally anything else he'll ask about it and let you talk it out knowing you'll figure out more if he questions things. You can always be completely sure he's listening, he'll be cooking with his back turned and he'll perk up and ask what that last thing meant. Marc doesn't understand everything but he tries to. You are more than willing to explain. It's very nice to you because he's not being demeaning or annoyed, he's genuinely confused because he missed something. He at one point said you should probably talk to Steven about it and accidentally upsets you because you think he doesn't want you to talk rather than saying he's not very good at following. You just make it very clear you like talking to him.

Overstimulated in Public

Steven brings you down right then and there. He'll take you aside and cover your ears so you can catch your bearings. If you need pressure he'll hug you. If your eyes hurt he'll get you in better shade and give you sunglasses. He'll squish you in his shirt if it makes you feel better. Every single person who passes by get a look from him; a polite smile to say silently that you were okay or a contemptuous one saying 'fuck you' as overt as it is silent. Marc will find an exit. He knows it will take a good minute to get home because you don't have a car but it's the best place he can handle it. He knows it's a bit harsh, your discomfort varies from woozy to 'I'm about to cry' the whole time. In the flat you are immediately under the covers with an ice-pack before he gets to work. He puts things under the blanket, fidgets, food, headphones, things of that nature. It's a little system. He gives and you throw out the things you don't want. And if you leave your hand out he'll hold it.

Weird and Random Compliments

Steven shines bright and takes it without question. Telling him you like the way his eyes turn a hint of red in fading sunlight is just as hitting as telling him the contrast between his forehead and cheeks are proportioned right. Marc some times feels like he didn't hear you right. He's never thought about how rough his hand are or how that might be desirable. He has more trouble believing it than taking it. He knows you believe it, you just have to reinforce it.

Not Understanding Jokes

Steven and Marc will explain it away from others. In the moment they laugh low so if you don't laugh it's not that weird or they'll tap you if you are making a face. If it's them making the joke and you don't laugh they'll just let it slide knowing it's not personal or a testament to their humor, you didn't get it. They don't explain unless you ask.

I can't get close enough to get the fuck away from me

Steven is a bit touchy. Not overwhelming but he will passively peck you on the cheek regularly. If you're in touchy mode he is more than willing to hug you til you turn blue. If you don't want him to touch you he'll try to go to the other room because he can forget and he doesn't want to just get in your face when you told him no. Marc doesn't go out to his way to touch you but if you're next to him he'll give you a peck. If you're in touchy mode he'll either lay down and be a pillow or carries you on his back while he does his thing. If you don't want him to touch you he just won't. He does hover to make sure you're okay.