#but you’re just spending time with my fucking brother and shit all cuz he’s been having gastrointestinal issues lately

[galariangengar]

💭

[smileysuh]

- MARK LEE

works. 6 I words. 92.2k

solo works. 3 works featuring other members. 3

Aphrodisiac - Mark

☕️ synopsis. You kiss him softly at first, waiting to see how he reacts. Mark is frozen, but after a second, his hands pull you closer, his lips moving more urgently against your own. His tongue licks at you, and you open your mouth for him, accepting everything Mark is giving you on the dance floor. You hook your fingers in Mark’s belt, pulling his body flush to your own. He groans against your lips, deepening the kiss. It’s a struggle to breathe, a struggle to do anything but get lost in the demon hunter as he kisses you in a way you’ve never been kissed before. He tastes like rum, coke, and a deep longing that’s been brewing for much more than a week. His hands cradle you close, as if he never wants to let go, and you wonder for a moment if he’s wanted this for as many years as you have.

tw/cw. slight cnc (demon!Hyuck uses an aphrodisiac power to make reader and Mark fuck, but they've been into each other for years), weird voyeurism, weird demonic shows of dominance through dirty talk, dirty talk, breast worship, pussy worship, oral (f receiving), exhibitionism (fucking in a deserted alleyway), Mark has big dick energy in this, roughness, unprotected sex, slight overstimulation, face riding, aphrodisiac assisted powerful orgasms, multiple reader orgasms, death, etc…

🐻 rating.18+ explicit I wc. 5.5k I demon hunter au

Real Talk - Mark

☕️ synopsis. “You’re Jeno’s roommate, Jeno’s my friend- I know we’ve just met, but I know things about you.” Hyuck explains. “When you were with your last girl, Jeno used to come to the bar and bitch about you never coming out- he’s been wanting you to meet the rest of the boys for a while, but never wanted to invite us over cuz your last girlfriend had some supernatural cootchie-grip hold on you or something- point is, I know you’re a serial monogamist. Two long-term girlfriends. You like the domestic shit, and I get that- but if you want domestic, it’s not our little Miss Sunshine expo girl. She can’t even sleep next to guys she’s fucked- wakes up at five am, and dips out without a word. Trust me on this, dude, you wanna stay far away from that man-eater.”

tw/cw. Unprotected sex, multiple sex scenes, reader has a hard time cumming, oral (f/m receiving), Mark is a MUNCH, deep throating, fingering, masturbation, use of toys/vibrator, dirty talk, praise, Mark is a simp, sex realism, overthinking during sex, mentions of sexual favours in return for affection, a string of bad ex-lovers, breast worship, creampies, aftercare, finger sucking, drunkenness, etc… I pet names: (hers) sunshine. (his) puppy boy.

🐻 rating.18+ explicit I wc. 19.4k I restaurant au

Sunday Kind of Love - Mark

☕️ synopsis. Mark is fine with having a crush on the girl in the library. He’s fine watching her from afar. And he’s fine with never speaking a word to the girl who he spends many nights chasing in his dreams. But fate, and a few nosey frat brothers, think Mark would be much better if he was forced to talk to the cute girl from the library that he can’t seem to get out of his head. 

tw/cw. inexperienced/soft reader, frat nct, extreme pining, tooth hurting sweetness, the softest boy in the world, a love so pure it’s going to hurt you, oral (f/m receiving), dry humping, tiddie worship, multiple orgasms, switchy/no bdsm role Mark, etc..

🐻 rating.18+ explicit I wc. 35.8k I frat au

Send In The Clowns - Mark I ft. Jaehyun & Haechan

☕️ synopsis. “She’s not the reason we’re dressed as clowns,” Hyuck is quick to insist. He’s such a good liar. Jungwoo would almost believe it, if you hadn’t told him your Halloween clown plan. It’s no secret to you that your three frat friends all have crushes on you, so you’d decided to tell Jaehyun about wanting to fuck a clown, just to see who would actually follow through with the costume. You’d expected one, maybe two- but here are all three men, dressed as exactly what they are: clowns. And it’s obvious to Jungwoo that they think this is their own idea. As if you’re not the puppeteer behind this all. God, Jungwoo loves having you as a best friend, even if your bucket list includes a frat clown Halloween orgy with three of his best friends.

cw/ tw. clown kink? orgy, foursome, unprotected sex, semi-inexperienced reader, oral, blow jobs, pussy eating, cum eating, squirting, fingering, masturbation, guided masturbation, spanking, choking, spit-roasting/Eiffel tower, cum/filling kink, praise, dirty talk, first time anal, cock warming, double penetration, triple penetration, multiple reader orgasms, dacryphilia, overstimulation, deep throating, face grinding, etc… I pet names: (hers) barbie, babe, baby.

🐻 rating. 18+ explicit I wc. 10.6k I frat

Sunday Sinner - Mark I ft. Haechan

☕️ preview. “Everything is wrong,” Mark sighs. “Doing this with you two is wrong. Wanting you this badly is wrong. Getting hard in Church is wrong. What I want to do to you is wrong. But… as crazy as it sounds, it also feels right.”

tw/cw. threesomes, inexperienced!Mark, fingering, blow jobs, deep throating, pussy eating, spit roasting, voyeurism, lots of masturbation (especially in the shower), Hyuck has a dirty mouth, sin sin sin, unprotected sex, creampies, cum play, kink for being 'full', religious contention, Mark gets hard during Sunday Service, Mark getting outed as low key virgin, proposition, Mark uses a cross necklace in sinful ways, praise, slight degradation, inklings of corruption kink, squirting, etc… I pet names: (hers) angel.(Mark's) church boy.

🐻 rating.18+ explicit I wc. 12.6k I frat

Roommates - Mark I ft. Haechan

☕️ synopsis. as Jungwoo's best friend, you have your pick of fratboys to date, including Jeno, who has a huge crush on you. But you're only attracted to Lee's that come in pairs, and you can't get roommates Mark and Hyuck off your mind.

cw/ tw. drug use (weed), threesome, pet names: baby & kitten, praise, degradation, dirty talk, spanking, fingering, oral (f/m receiving), hand job, anal, double penetration, unprotected sex, edging, body worship, cumplay/creampie, etc…

🐻 rating. 18+ explicit I wc. 8.3k I frat

✘ masterlist

[harlowtales]

Jack gets carried away shopping for baby clothes 👶🏼🤰🏽

18+ only - Adult Themes

“1,2,3….and open your eyes!” Jack said. He was standing behind you with his hands on your eyes.

You didn’t know what to say at first. You were stunned.

“Babe?” Jack said concerned you didn’t like it.

You turned to bury your face in his stomach and just started bawling.

“Ah it’s ok baby. You’re just emotional, but you like it?” Jack asked.

“Yes of course!! It’s beautiful. Our baby girl is so lucky. I’m so lucky to have you.” You gushed wiping your tears.

You were holding pups who barked in approval.

Jack, his friends and brother had built a playroom/nursery for the baby from scratch. Jack’s dad being in construction led the project. Jack wanted to do something personal for his daughter coming soon. The top decorator in the South was flown in and put the finishing touches on everything. The room was so off limits you stayed with Jack’s family until it was done.

“So this was worth not being allowed in my house!” You said playfully hitting him.

“Cuz you can’t not look baby. I had to do something.” Jack said happily.

“Well now you know what we need to do?” You asked your husband rubbing your belly.

“Anything you want babe.” Jack said

“We need to shop for baby clothes.” You said, not really sure he’d want to come with you.

“Oh fuck yeah let’s go right now.” Jack said enthusiastically.

“Really? Now?” You said in surprise. Jack hated the mall.

“Babe now cuz I gotta hit the studio in a bit and I want to be in on this. I want in on absolutely everything to do with this.” Jack said “Let’s head to Target now.”

“OMG babe look.” Jack said “Cutest little jumper it’s a must have.” He said putting it in the cart immediately.

You couldn’t believe this was the same man who refused to stay in any store for more than 15mins before sighing, checking his phone constantly, and begging to go somewhere else while you browsed.

“And look this matches the jumper perfectly. Our little princess has to have the best fits on the playground.” Jack said determined.

“Hunny chill out a bit. The cart is half full already and I’m sure we’ll get designer clothes as gifts.” You cautioned.

“Um yeah but who can deny this jean skirt?” Jack said putting yet another item in the cart.

“Ok sir that’ll be $8,556.22 cents” The cashier said with a straight face not recognizing Jack at all.

“Oh my god.” You said under your breath. For a quick run to Target for some outfits in case the baby showed up tomorrow this was insane. Jack picked out some toys for the playroom, stuff for bath time, accessories, shoes, jewelry, purses and backpacks, a mini car when you lived in a condo, and another stroller he liked better because she’s “gonna have to flex on all those mofos at play group.” You just watched him go nuts and stayed silent, smiling and nodding approval for whatever next thing he was sure was needed as soon as she arrived.

“Do you need carry out sir?” The cashier said dryly

“All this can’t fit in the jeep baby.” You said to your husband. “We’ll have delivery.” You said

“Jackman.” You said sweetly to him placing a caring hand on his thigh in the jeep. “We have to talk about spending on this child.”

“I’m rich as shit and we don’t spend a lot on us. What am I working for?” He said annoyed. You were a major buzz kill.

“Ok sorry babe just added up quickly is all.” You said gently. This whole process Jack had been pretty calm. At times you felt he didn’t care much but he was tired trying to wrap up projects for when the baby came. “Probably just nerves” You thought.

“K so is my little princess hungry?” Jack said to your tummy. It was clear you were coming in second to “the princess” already.

“Yes WE want fried chicken and ice cream.” You said rubbing your belly tiredly. “Jack had worn you out in the store. Now you know how he felt going shopping with you.

@itsyagirljaz @ride4harlow @okaaay-mice

[miaisinlovewithlukehughes]

It’s so easy to love you

Luke HughesXOc/reader

Okay let’s get this show on the road… I guess

Uhm description yeah

I cannot stand the y/n thing so sorry but we’re gonna give her a name, Victoria Tkachuk, as you could guess she’s Brady and Matt’s sister, her other sister is away at college, justice for Taryn…

Handsome ass? Sorry, we’re gonna kick it off with Victoria and Luke on the way to the lake house

Warnings: language, implied sex but nothing explicit, having each others underwear? It’s an accident I swear, I think that’s it but let me know if you catch anything else

You look over to Luke from your position in the passenger seat, he looks troubled. Although, that’s to be expected when you’re going to be spending practically the entire summer cooped up in a house with your brothers and his brothers, while still trying to manage keeping this a secret from them. It’s not like it happened on purpose, it just kinda happened. It’s been going on for 5 months pretty much smoothly, other than duker being a pain in the ass and flaunting that he’s the only one who knows. You guys didn’t even tell him, he just walked in at an inconvenient time…

“You good lukey?” You ask with a concerned smile, he glances from the road to you in one fleeting moment and returns a nice smile. “Yeah Vicky don’t worry about me, just worried about how much time I’m gonna be losing with you cuz of those dimwits” he says while keeping his focus on the road “I know honey but your just gonna have to endure it for the time being, besides we’ll be back to the dorms before you know it” you say while raising a hand to rub at his arm. As far as your brothers are concerned you and Luke barely know each other, just because it was like that before. Your parents use to own a lake house just like the Hughes down here and you would spend a lot of time together but you and Luke never really spoke despite being the closest in age. You only started talking when you both got into Umich, you didn’t really know anyone when you started so when you saw Luke at a party you ran to him as a safety net, turns out he only really knew his hockey buddies and also needed a bit of a safety net. From then on you two were inseparable, the best of friends, then after one night at a party, things got a bit heated and you became more than the best of friends. You snap out of your small flashback when Luke reaches over the dash to grab your thigh “it’s gonna be hard keeping my hands to myself all summer long baby” he says with a sly smirk on his face “oh well your just gonna have to manage now won’t you?” You say with a chuckle and grab his hand on your thigh.

You guys pull up to the house and Luke takes his hand out of yours and places it back on the dash… wow an entire summer of this. You look over at him with a small frown and check your surroundings before placing a small kiss on his lips, “for all the times I won’t be able to do that when I want to these next couple of months” you say leaning back into your own seat. “Great cuz that’ll make up for it” Luke says with a small smile and a roll of his eyes. You look to the house to see all the annoying little shits come running out… oh lord.

“Hey matty!” You say as you get out of the car, of course Matthew is the first one to get to you. “Hey little sis!!” Matthew says as he bear hugs you. As you’re struggling to breath, you feel another familiar pair of arms wrap around you further cutting off your air flow. “Hi Brady! Alrighty boys let’s loosen up a bit and remember not to strangle our sister please!” You say hitting Matthew’s chest a bit. “Right sorry” Brady says a bit flustered, you smile at the two that you haven’t seen in so long and risk a glance over at Luke who seems to be going through a similar process trying try pry Jack off of him, while Quinn is on the sidelines laughing. You chuckle at their antics and look back to your own fuck faces “alright dumb and dumber how about we start unloading the car please and thank you!” You say with a snap of your fingers. They look annoyed at the nicknames and you can definitely hear Brady mumbling about some “bossy” but don’t care. You step to the trunk and pull it open with the press of a latch, “okay so orange bags are mine, red bags are Luke’s” you say pointing to the luggage, the boys take the orange bags and begin the walk up to where you’ll be staying, you grab the last bag of yours and make your way to the front to grab your blanket.

As you open the door to the house your greeted with the familiar sight of the home you grew to be so fond of, as well as the familiar sent of candles and air fresheners Ellen must have stocked before she left a couple weeks ago with Jim, they came to visit Luke at the dorms and popped by yours to see how you were doing as well, you do truly love them. You look over to the flight of stairs and messily make your way up trying not to drop your blanket you are hanging onto by a fingernail, as you finally make it to the top you follow the sound of laughter and thuds, it’s gonna be a long two months. You push open the door to see the boys messing with your bags and throwing your clothes at each other. Children you swear “boys!” You yell starting them into dropping whatever is in their hands “put whatever you threw around back into my bags and at least let me try to unpack before messing with my things.” You say already tired of them. They have guilty looks on their faces and start putting things back, they give you a measly little smile each and scatter out of the room. You sigh and set your things on the bed before making your way back downstairs. You see Jack, Quinn, and your Luke talking and laughing, the boys spot you and Jack comes running. He hugs you and picks you up a little “hey little Tkachuk how’s it going” he says setting you down, you’re still a bit startled by the interaction and laugh with wide eyes “I’m good, how are you rowdy?” You ask and glance over to Quinn who hugs you gently and back away “hey kid” he says “hey quinny” you say with a grin, you put your attention back on Jack who looks to be vibrating with excitement “okay who gave this kid caffeine” you say with a small laugh and point to Jack looking him up and down “shutup” he says hiding a small smirk. You just roll your eyes and look over to Luke who seems to already be looking at you “bags unpacked yet?” he asks you with a slight nod of his head “nooo…” you say looking to the staircase, “well then how about you go do that” he says sounding annoyed, but he’s still sporting a small smile “finnneee” you say and make your way back upstairs.

As you make it to your small room again you head to the bed where you’ve set your bags, and unzip them one by one, you start to slowly go through them and lazily throw them in your drawers, top drawer will be bras and underwear, other top drawer will be socks and bathing suits, the drawer under that will be shirts, the drawer next will be pants, the drawer under that with be shorts and the final drawer will be hoodies, what you didn’t have a drawer for though would be Luke’s boxers… when the fuck did that get into your luggage, sure you had a few shirts and hoodies and maybe even sleep shorts but you do not remember this being in here. You ball them up in your hands and make your way across the hall to your boyfriend’s room, you don’t bother knocking and just walk in and close the door behind you. He looks behind him with an unimpressed expression until he sees it’s you, his eyes widening in surprise and his eyebrows raising “oh hey what are you doing in here, couldn’t take it, needed to be with me so soon?” He says in a mocking tone. You roll your eyes “no you little shit because of what I just found in my duffle” you say and throw the boxers at him with a surprising amount of strength for it being a thin piece of clothing. He looks down and starts laughing “what is so funny.” You say annoyed. “You packed my boxers?” He says still chuckling “oh no I did not fucker egg, or at least I didn’t mean to, stop leaving ur shit in my room” you say and start to make your way out. You stop when you hear Luke’s voice from behind you pipe up “oh you’re one to talk princess” he says pulling a pair of red lace panties from his duffel. “What!” You say making a move to grab them, he pulls them away at the last second “uh uh, finders keepers” he says with an annoying smirk on his face.

“Oh what do you even need those for give them back” you say reaching for them again “whatever I want.” He says with a smile and shoves them back into his bag. “Oh yeah what if someone sees those in your room huh, there’s only one girl in this house” you say crossing your arms. “I’m willing to take that risk, but are you willing to take the risk of being in my room with no explanation, when we aren’t even that close Victoria?” He says pushing you towards the door. You scoff and open the door “this is not over… perv” you say walking out the door and closing his harder than necessary and make your way back to your own room.

Okay we’re gonna end it here, because this is gonna be a series, sorry this is so short but it’s late and I’m tired but hey at least we started it right? … right?

[multiples-fandomswontkillme]

~Metal Family headcanons~

These are like my... general hcs)? which means I didn't include my main hc that Glam, Ches and Vicky are polyamorous, married and started dating after Glam met Vicky, and absolutely everything that implies for the kids and the relationships between each member of the fam. Maybe I'll make a separate post for that or maybe not! Who knows lkfwnlfqnf

Glam

Bisexual

Glam has constant nightmares and ocasional night terrors ever since he ran away home and is an active sleep walker. Ches helped him through the worse ones when they were younger, and learned how to deal with them, always preferring not to wake him up but being with him until the episode passed. Vicky has learned how to deal with them, though she normally asks Ches for advice with it cuz she comes out short sometimes.

He has PTSD. I bet it's diagnosed too, he takes medication and goes to therapy, it doesn't mean he still doesn't have his bad days anyway. He's trying to get better.

Glam has talked to Vicky about his past, his father and his family. This is a direct contradiction of Alina's confirmation that Glam doesn't talk about it with anyone but man FUCK THAT. We love good communication in this house, Vicky tries her best to help him, but there's only so much she can do to help.

Glam enjoys gardening, cooking and making models, he also likes doing his make up, painting his nails and dressing up in fancy, extravagant clothes even if he has nowhere important to go.

He likes taking care of everyone's hair, and constantly helps Vicky brush her hair cuz there's so much of it, Dee when he gets stressed over how tangled it can get, buys Ches hair products so he actually takes care of it, and chases Heavy so the kid actually washes, untangles and brushes his hair.

This one is kind of weird, but I refuse to think any adult in the family is unarmed at any time. Glam owns a taser and pepper spray. They're bright pink and sparkly.

This man cried his eyes out while watching Coco. He's hell to watch movies with cuz he talks and predicts what's gonna happen during the movie, judges them with scores at the end and all.

Vicky

Also bisexual!

Vicky's the one who does everyone's laundry most of the time. She prefers it that way since she's the only one that knows how to wash their black clothes so the colors stay vibrant. (This is based on my gf shaming everyone but Vicky cuz their black clothes always look so muted and almost gray, but Vicky's whole outfit is always the same vibrant black colors, so we decided that neither Glam or the kids know how to wash dark clothes)

She has anger issues, if it isn't obvious. I think she also has PTSD, mainly survivor's guilt due to her surviving the accident her brother died in. She blames herself and cannot bear to talk about it, in some sort of deep denial. If she can't remember, it can't hurt as much, right?

She has scars on the right side of her back and her hip, from the road rash she got on her brother's accident, she never treated it due to grief and it scarred badly. Apart from that, the scar of the caesarean section from Heavy's birth. She doesn't really mind both of them, they happened, nothing to do about them.

She likes watching boxing competitions, brawling matches and motorcycle repairing on TV. Loves doing BBQ's and going to the pool. Also an enjoyer of teasing her kids, kissing and loving her husband at random times, spending time drinking and bonding with Ches and bragging about her family and punching anyone who thinks they're not that cool.

Not particularly a fan of make up, skirts and dresses or any traditionally femenine-perceived stuff. But has been making exceptions due to Glam and Ches being unashamed of being seen as femenine, and actually rocking the looks. The internalized misogyny is kind of slowly dissapearing.

Apart from the guns she carries in each arm (I mean her biceps, have you looked at the size of those?? She strong) she has brass knuckles on her at all times. Glam gifts her new ones sometimes, she loves having multiple choices to punch people teeth in.

Loves horror, thrillers and action movies. Falls asleep during rom-coms and dramas. Ironically, loves gossip and talking shit about people. Enjoys hearing Ches talks about the gossip going on in the nursery home even if she doesn't know who the hell he's talking about.

Rest of the family under the cut!

Heavy

Heavy is a trans boy! He doesn't know his sexuality yet though, he's still figuring himself out. When he's older, i think he definitely dated some men but had better luck with girls.

Heavy has had innocent crushes on some girls on his class before, but they never turn into anything more cuz he's not the best at expressing himself. He follows the bother-the-girl-to-death-until-she-hates-you gimmick, and unsurprisingly, it doesn't work.

I'm sorry to break this to u but Heavy totally had an among us phase, and uses so much reddit and twitch slang... You know he does.

Likes bullying and teasing his brother to death. You know that when Dee had his first romance, Heavy was ALL up in his business being a tease and a bad attempt at a wingman. He means well tho.

He's not squeamish at all. Also has great pain resistance. This kid has picked cockroaches with his bare hands and loves cats, of course the cats have scratched him. He's tough!

Grows up to be the charming himbo he was always destined to be.

Dee

I hc him as demisexual. Kind of inherited his dad's tastes for the takes no crap, intimidating but pretty kind of people.

Can't cook. He tries but he can only do basics like rice, cereal, chicken nuggets or eggs. Complicated meals always burn or don't taste like anything at all. It drives him crazy.

Dee was a quiet and very well behaved toddler before Heavy was born. He never threw tantrums or got whims. After Heavy was born though, and despite the fact he understood his brother was small and needed special care, he started craving attention often and cried and got mad at little things. Typical jealousy of the oldest sibling.

The first time Dee fell in love with someone, he didn't recognize it was love at first. He just thought his interest on the person was born out of curiosity and aesthetic attraction, but as soon as he realized he seeked validation and companionship, that he liked seeing them smile, that he wanted to protect them, that he yearned for more time alone with them and that he wanted more than what just a simple friendship implied, it was an instant 'oh hell no'. He wanted those feelings to get the hell away, but unfortunately, they were there to stay.

Canonically likes MLP, psychological and horror anime like Death note and Hellsing, so I'm deciding he also watched Death Parade, had a FNAF phase, is very into The Walten Files. This guy enjoys any kind of specially dark ARG's and knows a ton of lore of real crime, unsolved cases, ghost appearances and other stuff. Doesn't believe in the supernatural, but sure is entertained by it.

He's a mess at romance. Flirting? His attempts at compliments are hardly flattering. Giving gifts? The best he can manage is jewelry and you can kind of tell he asked his dad for help. Dates? He's so nervous he's silent for most of it, but begins getting comfortable and having fun if his partner really knows how to get him down from his negativity cloud.

Ches

Pansexual.

He's very good with kids. He has the patience of a saint and he's laid-back, chill and fun but still is an authority figure who knows how to put limits. Sure, he's gonna let the kids light up a house on fire BUT hey, now they know everything about fire precautions, burns and how to treat them AND how to get away with arson. What an educational evening, am I right?

Due to certain info from the "Goodbye" official comic, I headcanon Ches as depressed. I don't want to elaborate a lot 'cuz of spoilers, but... God, everything related to his mom fucking hurts, man. How did he deal with all that?

Ches has been Dee and Heavy's babysitter so many times he cannot count them with all his fingers. He learned how to put those kids to sleep almost immediately (Sing Bon Jovi's "This ain't a love song" and any cheesy love song in a slow lullaby style and they're out), which movie were their favorite as kids (Heavy loved 'Monsters Inc.' and Dee never looked away during 'Meet the Robinsons'), how to console them after nightmares (Heavy needed reassurance, sweet words, and to be with someone until he fell asleep again. Dee just had to be tucked in, get his nightlight turned on and kissed in the forehead). He practically raised those kids along with Vicky and Glam.

More than once, Dee and Heavy have slipped and called Ches "Dad". Ches immediately gets his shit eating grin on and answers "Yes, son?" and does a couple of dad jokes just to mess and embarrass them. He's actually very flattered and surprised at how proud of himself he is for being a father figure to both kids.

Has a scar on the left side of his forehead due to a bottle his mom threw at him when he was younger, around the time he met Glam. He hates the scar with passion, it's a permanent reminder of the fact she never cared, that's why he always keeps it covered with his headband. Gets sad about it sometimes.

Ches likes to spend his time with a group of grannies of the nearby nursing home. He genuinely considers them his friends and gossips and hangs out with all of them on weekends. Bingo, billiards, walks in the park, soap opera marathons, you name it. I even designed them, gave them names and backstories... God, i just love the concept too much. I'll make some art about Ches and his granny gang FOR SURE, you're NOT ready for them.

Carries a pocket knife on him at all times. This man grew up on a bad neighborhood and absolutely knows how to defend himself, he can be intimidating when he wants to be and will pose a threat if needed. He's fucking terrifying when genuinely mad. Just cause he looks harmless doesn't mean he is, darling.

That would be all!

[obeiii-mee]

Hello! Can I request an hc about a shady MC who's not phase by anything in Devildom with the brothers (and Diavolo?? he deserves love!!!)? Like, when Luci's like "i CaN KiLL yOu hUmAN", MC's reaction was like "Oh... congratulations then." i need more shady mc who may or may not be planning to ruin your life😂😂 Thanks and take care!!❤❤

The Brothers + Diavolo with an MC that is not phased by DevilDom

__________________________________

Pls I need more shady MC, they would not take any shit from the brothers. Put any Gen Z-er with these guys and you’ve got yourself a suicidal and reckless human exchange student.

They wouldn’t know what to do with one of those ahaksbakanhaka you’re right, Diavolo deserves all the love >:(((((((

You better take care too >:( thanks for sending me this big brain request. I’ve been preoccupied with other projects so I took a while to get to this ask. Hope you’re doing OK💙

____________________________________

Lucifer:

-He thought having a human exchange student was going to be bad enough as it is but this…..this was so much worse than he could have ever imagined

-The moment you arrived, he already knew you were going to be a problem child and a persistent one at that

-Literally the first thing you asked him was : “Why do you look like an off-brand Levi Ackerman?”

-And he was left there, astounded, confused and offended because he had no idea who you were talking about (cuz at that point you hadn’t met the third eldest) and the tone you had was, frankly, pissing him off

-You kept wondering off on your own????? Without looking like you gave a shit even though you almost walked into a butcher’s shop that specialises in human meat???? Tf MC?

-Also really irritated that you couldn’t be intimidated and that DevilDom was like a playground to you, for some reason? Like, MC get out of the fiery pits of eternally tormented souls- this is Hell, not the McDonald’s ball pit ffs

-Things did not improve for him lmao, by the end of the first week he had already ripped out a good chunk of his hair because of you

-“MC, you should know by now provoking demons like this for no good reason is only going to make life harder for you. Keep this up and you’ll get killed in no time because of your behaviour.”

-“Great, can we have a hip-hip and a hurray?”

-In the span of one day, he’s had to come to your rescue six times (approximately) because you’re too nonchalant about your surroundings around literal creatures of hell

-He doesn’t have enough coffee or will to live for this bs

-“Lucifer, I found this dead plant and brought it here because it reminded me of you.”

-“…..sigh. Why? Why does it remind you of me?”

-“Because it’s cold and unresponsive.”

-He made the consecutive decision to ignore you

-(low-key kept the plant tho)

-Honestly, you get on his nerves a lot and he has definitely contemplated killing you in the past but at the end of the day he really can’t bring himself to do it

-We both know he tried a few times lmfao

-“I will tear you limb from limb, human-“

-“Can I finish my tea first.”

-“You…wait, what?”

-“You’re crazy if you think I’m letting this tea get cold. Try to kill time before I’m done and I’ll smash this cup against your head.”

-If you try hard enough, you might even elicit a laugh out of him, especially if your shadiness is directed at any of his brother which results in him patting your head affectionately

-Nowadays he’s just concerned because you seemed to have made an alliance of sorts with Belphagour and Satan and that’s not a good sign

-For his sake, if not yours, at least try to survive the year without getting chomped on by a random demon please

-He’s too stubborn to let you die just because you’re unbothered by everything so cut him some slack and help out damn it

Mammon:

-“Oi Lucifer, how come I’m stuck babysittin’ this stupid human?”

-“And how come I’m stuck with this asshole for a tour guide, with his fake ass designer shoes and no brand sunglasses. That’s a lot of smack talk from someone with crow shit stains covering the back of his jacket. Also, did you stick your hair in a bucket of mayonnaise?”

-……..

-He was so offended lol

-Normally, humans like you cower in fear whenever demons are as much as mentioned because of the whole “I can eat you whole” thing

-And here you are; insulting the Avatar of Greed and one of the princes of Hell himself just because you didn’t like his attitude

-Don’t worry tho, he warms up to you in less than a fucking month simply because you still come to his rescue whenever his brothers start insulting him and wow, look at that, his heart is now combusting on the floor

-“Y’all have no right to criticise Mammon when he has the most self control out of all of you.”

-“Since when does Mammon have any self control? He can’t keep himself from nicking anything that looks shiny.”

-“Motherfucker, I don’t see him trying to choke me to death, respectfully pls shut the fuck up. I don’t want to say I have favourites but if I do, it’s definitely him.”

-While Mammon’s in the background, with hearts instead of pupils in his eyes like ❤️👄❤️

-He doesn’t even mind running around after you anymore (will still complain about it though because your ass is in constant danger and he’s had enough)

-Honestly, you keep starting shit with random demons, some of which are quite powerful mind you, and you don’t back down even when he’s there to step in

-Would low key love to watch you fight one of your classmates at RAD and organise a ticket selling booth for the event but Lucifer will hang him a new one if he does

-So for now, he sticks to baring his teeth at the aggravator in question and you’re there, giving the same demon the middle finger

-The way you sometimes match his energy gets him so hyped up lmao

-“Mammon, did you steal Levi’s money again?”

-“T’s none of her business human. Now go away, shoo!”

-“Bitch, don’t ‘shoo’ me, I ain’t a bird. Now tell me, did you?”

-“…..Why do you ask?”

-“Because a new flavour of instant noodles just got announced, called ‘Super Hell-Sauce Flavour’ and I thought you might be more interested in that than wasting the money on gambling.”

-“….ok but only if you come with me to buy some.”

-This…this is true love right here

Levi:

-Oh no, now there’s two of you

-Why do I feel like his energy would match MC’s almost immediately? Maybe it’s because he spends too much time in his room on the internet like the rest of us do

-“What do you want, you stupid normie?”

-“300…..”

-“….300 what?”

-“300 mangas collected, thousands of episodes of anime watched, over 60 character figurines, plushies, body pillows, merchandise and several posters only to be called a fucking normie by a demon weeb that’s only known me for 10 minutes.”

-Boom, instant friendship

-He becomes attached to you almost immediately and now that he knows how unphased you are by DevilDom, he is seriously worried

-Hell, you’re making him consider going outside his room just to make sure you’re alive and not dead in a ditch somewhere because you decided to get on someone’s nerves that particular day

-Even during the quiz thing, when he almost kills you, you’re just sitting on the floor and awkwardly watching him as he throws a sissy fit

-Levi feels sort of conflicted with you because one one hand you’re good company and he loves having you around, you’re his Henry after all

-But on the other hand, you put yourself in so much danger it makes him paranoid so often to the point where he wants to keep you locked in his room and wrapped in bubble wrap

-Nearly had a heart attack when you almost walked right into a pit of lava like MC???? This isn’t one of his video games???? You’re not gonna respawn if you die????

-Besides all that, he gets a bit jealous of you confidence and your ability to just do whatever without fearing death or consequence

-“MC, how do you do it?”

-“Do what?”

-“How do you go about your life without a care in the world?”

-“I guess I’ll tell you my secret Levi. I’m not like other humans that’s why, I’m just so unique I do things differently.”

-“You sound like a pick me-“

-As long as you’re OK and not injured because of your carelessness, he’s indifferent about your behaviour and will even applaud you for your bravery when it comes to this sort of thing

-“lmao the human exchange student just dumped Solomon’s cooking in the trash while looking him dead in the eye 💀💀💀”

Satan:

-Your attitude towards DevilDom and demons in general kept him entertained, if nothing else

-You rarely seemed to consider how much of a threat that place really is and usually you were just running around, completely ignoring Lucifer’s rules and doing your own thing

-Which, you know, he’s all about

-I can’t say there were no incidents between the two of you

-With his short temper and your tendency to say things without caring about the consequences, there were definitely moments when he might’ve snapped on you

-“MC for goodness sake, what happened to my room?”

-“What do you mean?”

-“It’s an absolute mess! I just told you to bring me my spells and curses book, not mow through everything!”

-“It’s not my fault this place is built like a fucking labyrinth. You should be grateful I went to get it for you at all, I almost tripped and died several times on my way back. Also, you should get a new ladder for your shelves. It did the broken.”

-“MC….”

-“Yes?”

-“You are so lucky I love you.”

-Other than the fact his anger takes over him when things like these happen, he not so subtly encourages you to keep going because seeing Lucifer scowl at your antics gets him wheezing his lungs out

-I like to think Satan would be very impressed, even in the beginning, at the amount of nonchalance you can radiate at times

-I mean, you sure as hell don’t see it often and he loves how unpredictable you are more often than not

-If anything, he should probably thank you-idk how, but his patience has increased significantly every since you got here and he appreciates having some more control of his emotions

-“I’m gonna go put oil in Lucifer’s shoes.”

-“Do you have a death wish?”

-“Satan, I am old enough to make my own decisions and I concluded that this action is necessary.”

-“Necessary for what?”

-“Raising everyone’s morale! All of you seemed to feel down lately so I thought this would be fun for everybody!”

-“Except Lucifer, right?”

-“Except Lucifer. He grounded me from my D.D.D like I’m a fucking teenager who needs to be supervised-pssshht, I’m the most responsible one here.”

-“Yes clearly.”

-“Goodbye dear Satan, I may die today. But it’s for the greater good! (Dramatic exit with sound effects)”

-“WAIT MC!”

-“(pops head back in) yes?”

-“May I offer you my assistance?”

-You’re basically taking turns pranking his brothers and it’s hilarious

-Satan is not too worried about your well being simply because he knows his siblings and him are always going to be nearby to save you if you pull something stupid again

-Even so, he checks up on you throughout the day; just to make sure

-“Where were you?”

-“Running from a bunch of demons. Who wanted to go munchy crunchy on me, I assume.”

-“……”

-“Either that or people here are a lot friendlier than originally expected.”

-You can be such a handful and it really tests him, especially when he’s angry enough to begin with

-But despite your amazing talent at either getting completely lost around Hell, purposely walking into a prohibited place just because you felt like it or riling up others with how blunt you are, he still cares about you deeply

-You may be a pain the ass, but you’re his pain in the ass <3

Asmo:

-He should’ve known something was up with this particular human when you stood there, completely calm and collected, while Beel salivated at the thought of eating you on your first day

-Asmo just brushed it off for a while but it kept happening???

-The first time Lucifer ever told you off, you really went and said “Or what? Are you going to eat me? If so, you can go ahead and start with-“

-He came to your rescue and covered your mouth before you got to finish and before Lucifer unleashed his wrath on to everyone in that house

-“OOPSIE! I think MC has been spending too much time with me. Sorry Lucifer, we gotta run now! We have a party to attend, don’t we MC darling?”

-“You mean the one hosted by the guy that tried to kill me because I shoved into him on the hallway at school and then proceeded to tell him to go fuck himself right back into whatever hell hole he was born in before you came and charmed our way out of it?”

-“Yes.”

-“Ah OK. “

-You’re tiring for sure but you’re not exactly unlikeable

-You have a certain charm hanging about you that Asmo loves

-“I almost died like…30 minutes ago.”

-“WAIT WHAT?? WHY?? WHAT HAPPENED-MC ARE YOU OK???”

-“Yeah, I almost drank some poison today because someone told me it was water. It smelt off though so I didn’t.”

-“….”

-“Anyway, I got you this bracelet on my way home.”

-He really does wish you would take things a bit more seriously

-This is your life on the line, you know? What would he do if you died?

-“MC, you’re not immortal, you can die so much more easily than I can, you know that right???”

-“I don’t care.”

-“Well I do! And you should too….”

-A lot of people don’t see past his vanity tbh, because he can be such a caring person towards the people he loves

-The amount of videos he has of you appearing to be completely calm while pure chaos is descending in the background is pretty impressive

-Every time he uses his charm on you to try and get you to commit his sin, it just doesn’t work???? For some reason???? And even if it’s just with simple, innocent affection for now, he is determined to tempt you into it

-“MC~gimme a hug!”

-“But that’s social interaction and I don’t support it- do you have a charger for my D.D.D by any chance?

-Or at least die trying to ig

-Asmo loves having you around but you’re giving him wrinkles and that’s not okay >:(

Beel:

-The moment he realised how carefree you actually were, he sort of started checking up with you quite frequently throughout the day

-It’s his way of protecting you but if he could, he would follow you around all the time

-Becomes your body guard because you may not care enough about your safety but he certainly does so get ready to be carried everywhere

-You will not get hurt nor will anyone mess with you if he has a say in it and let me tell you, he does

-Thing is, his brothers mostly know him for being slightly dense in some aspects of day to day life

-He’s not perceptive of things that don’t involve food or his loved ones

-And because you most definitely are a loved one of his, he does notice how careless you are really often

-And it scares, rather worries, him because DevilDom is an incredibly dangerous place-even with all the precautions they had taken when you came

-“MC get down, you could fall.”

-“But Beel, look-I’m finally taller than everyone else! Taller than you even! Hey, should I do a backflip?”

-He has no idea why you thought jumping from 60 meter high cliff into a small river of squashed demon blood was a good idea but he wasn’t going to risk anything just because you felt like showing off your diving skills

-Proceeds to carry you away, completely unfazed

-In this case, I feel like Beel is not someone who gets bothered by the horrible things happening around there either

-As long as he has food and his family is safe and happy then he’s also happy, as mentioned above

-But he knows he’s alright with DevilDom because he’s been living here for centuries now

-A bit curious as to why you’re so unbothered

-And even more curious as to why you weren’t terrified of him transforming in his demon form after he lost control when he found out you ate his pudding

-Or more like Mammon did and pushed the blame on you

-“YOU. ATE. MY. PUDDING!”

-“Beel I love you but if you did not just see Mammon shoving the damn container in my mouth two seconds prior to this, then you might need glasses.”

-He apologised to you later for it but even so, you didn’t seem to mind like at all and he didn’t really understand why

-Unless you end up explaining why exactly you feel so indifferent about your life being in potential danger, he won’t really pry

-But now he has even more reason to follow you around like a lost puppy

-Since it’s clear you don’t really care about protecting yourself

-So now it’s his job to do it

-MC protection squad? Mostly Beel and Mammon

-ahhh he cute

Belphie:

-Oh

-You piss him off so much

-He’s trying to have his moment, you know?

-Finally getting that glimmer of satisfaction after killing a human as a way to avenge his sister’s death

-Trying his hardest to make it as miserable as possible because he has so much rage in him, he needs you to suffer

-“Harder Daddy-“

-“Oh fuck off.”

-Nah but for real, what the fuck MC

-Why does he even bother, he feels like he should be sleeping instead of dealing with your bullshit

-Even afterwards, when your future self shows up and he tries to kill you again, you look more thoughtful than irritated???

-Lucifer and Beel are literally holding him back from doing another Chocky on you and you’re standing there, looking at him with your eyebrows raised

-“Hey Belphie, I have a quick question. I know you’re trying to kill me and everything but do you like the colour blue?”

-“HUH??!?!”

-“It’s a simple yes or no question Belphie. Do. You. Like. Blue?”

-“WHAT DOES IT MATTER???!!!”

-“BELPHAGOUR, AVATAR OF SLOTH-YES OR NO, JUST FUCKING ANSWER!”

-“YES! FUCK YOU!”

-“Ah ok thanks. I like blue too :)”

-????????????

-Pls he felt like sticking his foot down your throat

-As of late, he’s kind of glad he didn’t manage to scare you away that day and that he didn’t traumatise you or something

-At the time, he was mad because he didn’t understand why you weren’t scared but now he just wants to make it up to you

-“You didn’t deserve any of that. I’m sorry MC, I won’t blame you if you decide to stay away from me now.”

-“Stfu dipshit, what’s gotten you so depressed? Did you have another fight with Beel? I told you not to eat the last slice of cake.”

-“Rude ass, I was trying to apologise for my past mistakes-let me repent will you?”

-“Said no demon ever. Now let’s go hang out you emo bitch.”

-Y’all vibe together on a spiritual level once that shit gets sorted out

-But he’s kinda scared you might pull out a knife on him ngl

-Obviously, you’re still annoying as fuck with that indifferent attitude of yours but he can live with it

-He appreciates the fact that you’re not scared of him, even after what he’s done

Diavolo:

-Ah yes, the future King of DevilDom himself

-He’s very enthusiastic about the idea of you having fun this year…..and to keep you alive….

-He, of course, expected a range of reactions from you when he first summoned you here

-None of which were “Ok but could you not have given me a heads up? Before the whole teleportation thing? I face-planted your onto marvellously polished the floor and now I think I lost even more brain cells than before.”

-He felt so bad gagajajahahwgehhsb

-He apologised for bringing you out here without any warning like that and then proceeded to introduce you to everyone

-Diavolo is actually kind of relieved to see you’re handling everything pretty well

-He thought that maybe DevilDom was too much for a human to deal with

-Meeting Barbatos also went incredibly smooth

-“Barbatos? The one that cleans the floors right? Big fan of your work, I could eat off the floor of the main hall.”

-He’s so glad to see you getting along with everyone and not getting intimidated by the brothers

-It gets him excited thinking about how the exchange program is gonna work and all three realms will be united

-But he’s not stupid so don’t think he’ll allow you to stumble around, getting up to all sorts of mischief

-He always has someone watching you because he would hate to see you die, despite being pretty fond of your carefree attitude

-“MC, please be careful. Most demons here aren’t all that nice.”

-“Aye aye Captain.”

-He fears that many demons would take your indifference as a challenge and try to assert dominance or something by kidnapping you

-As far as creatures of hell go, they love installing fear in people

-So he always keeps an extra eye open for you

-And he’ll be there to help you if something goes wrong

-But other than that, he’s pretty chill as well and he finds you so hilarious, it’s been a while since he’s seen someone as eccentric and dramatic as Mammon and Asmo

-Idk what else to add here, Diavolo is very accepting and as long as you don’t get hurt, he’s glad you can get used to your new surroundings so easily

———————————-

Al~

[not-alien-girl-v]

The Evans as Nicole Dollanganger Songs

not a request because i am a silly little person who procrastinates by making silly little lists

Tate

Rampage - It’s a song about Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris (the Columbine shooters) who are who Tate’s character was based off of. Song talks about school shooters and mentions the phrase ‘the noble war’????

Creek Blues - Same type of thing, about being in love with a guy who’s like a killer and into guns or whatever, also says ‘handcuffed to the bed like you’re an animal’ which made me think of Beau and made me sad

Kit

Sleepy Towns and Cemeteries - I’m just thinking about how like it’s about a guy who kind of lights up the bad situations you know like ‘he reminds me beautiful things can come from something ugly’ that is so him with how he was able to live after he got out of the asylum

Kyle

Alligator Blood - Every time I think of Kyle I get really sad and I think this song just fits his story. ‘all survivor, no guilt’ is him with how all his frat brothers died and stuff. Also the song itself is giving his time with Misty in her cabin.

Please Just Stay Dead - Pet sematary song. No further questions

White Trashing - ‘history repeats our whole damn lives’. The shit with his mother. I am so sad.

Dog Teeth - I feel this one for the sake of he does bad things and has uncontrollable violent urges and how he explains to Zoe that he doesn’t want to be this way but he is anyway, that’s dog teeth to me. Also he killed a dog. So.

Jimmy

Heart Shaped Bed - Hard to explain because nothing in the song directly correlates with his story but this song is just like what I imagine being with him is like, you know like its a him and you song, not just a him song.

James

Uncle - This song is SO him, minus the incest part. ‘I will always come to you when I’m weak and empty with my wedding night blues when I need you to fill me’. Try to convince me this song wasn’t made for him. It’s also so grand yet generally not morally good. Him.

Chapel - Same kind of thing. I don’t know why all these wedding type songs are so James March to me but ‘kiss me with forever where only death remains’ and ‘I know I’m not good, I’ve never been true but you know that I love him and I don’t love you’. Come on.

Lacrymaria Olor - This song is very him and the countess. ‘isn’t it strange how you and I spend the best part of our time just saying goodbye’. ‘Like a silent-era star, I'm all eyes, I can't find the words, I just cry as he holds me in his arms, One last time’. Them when she tried to kill herself. HE LITERALLY WAS BORN WHEN THE SILENT ERA STARTED AND DIED WHEN IT ENDED.

In the Land - Just serial killer shit. You know how it is, the blood, the torture of women, ‘god as his witness, he’ll smile’.

Rory 

My Pug - I feel like they could have replaced Evan Peters in this season with a large dog and nothing would chance. Personal opinion, don’t hate if you can’t relate. 

Kai

Executioner - ‘For as long as we’ve known each other, you’ve been playing this game with death.’ ‘One day you will be tried on the execution line, he’ll strap you in and you will fry like fireworks on the 4th of July’.

You’re So Cool - ‘When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better, I’m yours forever.’ That is so Kai. Nicole wrote this for her boyfriend who was in prison at the time so he’d hear it on the radio. ‘And I see the future and there’s no death cuz you and I we’re angels.’

700 Club -  'Cause I never believed there was a Heaven 'til I found you, And I never prayed like the church always told me to, But now you can count on me to get on my knees for you’ You see this shit? That’s Kai Anderson right there.

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss) - Do I need to explain more than the title?

Mr Gallant 

Cute Aggression - When he said “I am yours, body and fucking soul” and Nicole said ‘come on, tell me that you want me, make me beg for more.

Austin

Lemonade - He’s giving ‘the other woman’ but a dude. An extravagant, hot song about cheating on your husband. I cannot do justice to this song or character in words so I hope you feel the vibes here.

[katsukisbimbo]

Kuroo x Volleyball Player! Reader

Kuroo Tetsurou x Volleyball Player! Reader

wordcount: 3,087

genre: strangers-to-lovers au with fluff, crack and a little bit of smut :)))

summary: meeting kuroo tetsurou might be the best thing that has ever happened to you

first of all

kuroo pissed you off to no end

absolutely pissed you off

the first time you met him was when you were a first year

your brother keishin has asked you to come with them for the practice match they had with nekoma

the moment you got to school you had to DASH to go to the washroom because you had to pEee

gosh

curse your tiny bladder

when you went out everyone was already on the bus

sigh

you were gonna have to sit with someone you don’t know

because FOR SURE

your stupid brother keishin would be sitting next to takeda-sensei

the moment you hopped on the bus

everyone suddenly became quiet

0.0

everyone was jus like

uh

who’s this cutie

is she lost

she’s from shiratorizawa what’s she doing here

huh

and noya and tanaka are just screaming at this point

“wHO IS THIS GODDESS WHO DECIDED TO BLESS US WITH HER PRESENCE?!?!? I LOVE YOU PLEASE SIT NEXT TO ME RYU GET OUT NO I DONT CARE GET OUT”

cue tanaka landing on the floor

“nOYA-SAN WHY”

and you’re just like

lmao what

and literally all the seats are taken except for the guy who literally yeeted his bald friend into the next dimension

sigh

i guess you had to sit next to the cutie huh

you look at your brother pleading for help

but he just ignores you and talks to sensei

sIGH

your brother was so thirsty that he didn’t even CARE if these boys ate you alive

gosh

it’s okay

it be like that

f in the chat for y/n

oKAY enough self pitying

you reluctantly sit beside the really loud guy

“hi my names ukai y/n! what’s your name?”

“m-my name is n-nishinoya yuu”

cue noya looking like a literal tomato

“nice to meet you!! i’m excited to work with you nishinoya-san! if i may ask, what year are you in?”

“iM in sEcond yEar”

gosh noya’s so proud

“oH you’re my senpai then!! it’s really nice to meet you senpai!! i hope we have a good trip”

GAHSJDJSHS

you called him senpai

without him asking you to

GOSH

could you be any more perfect

“agHjsjdhsjajszjJAK”

“those aren’t words...”

“...”

“...”

and at that point noya was brain fried so you just put on your earphones and chilled

...

...

*gagging*

“hINATAAGAHAJSKSHS”

what

what was going on

you turned your head

and you saw this orange haired babie throwing up on the bald guy who got yeeted

and suddenly

chaos ensued

everyone was screaming because of the stench

you were gagging so hard that you felt your breakfast coming back up

but your seat buddy was having the time of his life laughing at his two friends who were having a dilemma

gosh

today was gonna be crazy

finally you guys had finally arrived at nekoma and honestly that’s as the most chaotic car ride you’ve ever experienced

but luckily on the way you’ve made yourself familiar with everyone on the team

especially the third year cuties

and no you did not say that to their faces because you’re shy :((

you guys finally get out of the bus and you see

a god

with crazy looking hair

“well if it isn’t the crows” “did you have a good ride here you country bumpkins?”

and daichi’s bout to lose it

“kuroo-san nice to see you again”

and you can definitely feel the tension in the air

was it just you or is it hot in here

kuroo suddenly turned to look at you and honestly you’ve never been more intimidated in your life because wow

he’s beautiful

“who’s the pretty girl daichi-san? is she your girlfriend?”

“no no she’s our couch’s sister”

“hi i’m ukai y/n, nice to meet you”

and you shake his hand and you’re SHOCKED

“kuroo tetsurou, likewise”

his hand is so warm n rough oh god

you suddenly wonder what it would feel like to have his hands slowly wrap around your throat as he starts to thru-

NO

nO DIrtY ThOuGhTs

bad

bad y/n

you’ve been so caught up in your day dream that you didn’t realize that you were still hold kuroos hand

and you look up to see kuroo looking like a smug little shit as if he was saying

‘are you ever gonna let go or?’

and it really made you wanna hit him

really badly

you wanted to punch his mouth

with your mouth

GAHSJDGA

stOp

okay anyways

you snatch your hands away from kuroo and he just smirks at you like a smug little bastard

“what’s wrong kitten? didn’t wanna let go of my hand?”

at this point you’re too flustered to even talk so you take it as the time to back off and just let kuroo be a little fuckhead

but suddenly you’re snatched by tanaka and noya

you somehow end up bumping into kiyoko and you’re just like “omg i’m so sorry kiyoko-san i didn’t mea-“

“don’t worry about it y/n-chan, accidents happen”

and wow

wow

a goddess

now you see what tanaka and noya see

she’s beautiful

maybe you do want the best of both worlds.....

...

...

ANYWAYS

tanaka and noya end up showing you off to their equally as weird friend taketora and of course like the normal person you are you greet him and introduce yourself

but before he even gets the chance to talk kiyoko’s already pulling you away telling you that she needed some help with setting up some of their gear

and of course like the puppy you are you follow her because yes you’re in love with her

i mean

who isn’t

lesbi honest

everyone’s a simp for kiyoko

moving on

finally they’ve started to play a match

and you’re very impressed

especially by hinata and kageyama because wow their skill was amazing

and hinata’s jumps were crazy

obviously you played volleyball yourself being ukai’s grand daughter

and you weren’t that bad

considering the fact that you play for japan’s u19 team with ushijima

who was a very close senpai to you

so close to the point where you’d call him your older brother

rip keishin

back to the game

everyone in karasuno was very promising and you were getting excited with the ideas that were flooding into your head

but nekomas not too bad either

they were pretty solid with their defence and some people might think that it’s all about the attacks but

your attack doesn’t mean anything if the ball doesn’t touch the floor in the court

you were very impressed with the bedhead’s receives a n d blocking

every time he managed a good save or blocked anyone he would always glance in your direction

and it may or may not have made you feel nervous because who doesn’t get nervous when an attractive person looks at you

sadly

the game finished rather quickly

at this point everyone was already cleaning up and of course you decided to help

you thought that you would be able to play just a little bit but your brother just wanted you to familiarize yourself with the teams before you went on the week long training camp with them

which was in two weeks

:)

you were trying to take the volleyball net down until a tall figure comes up behind you and takes the net from you

you turn around and guess who it is

kuroo frocking tetsurou

what a surprise

“don’t worry about it peaches i got it”

wha

did this man just call you PEACHES

peaches as in the scary girl who goes to famous peoples houses?

i think NOT sir

“pEACHES? what is that supposed to mean??! huh?!?”

“woah woah calm down babe, it’s just a nickname. i call you peaches cuz you smell like peaches”

ohhh

okay

that’s fine

“i’ve been wondering though, if you smell like peaches then would you taste like peaches??”

wHAT

wHATSGFSZHSJ

rip y/n’s remaining brain cells

“how about it doll? are you gonna give little old me a taste?”

and he’s suddenly pushing himself closer to you

and you close your eyes because it really looks like he’s about to kiss you and omg it’s like your first kiss hELP

but instead of a kiss

he just laughs at you

this man is literally bent over and CACKLING his lungs out

“you’re so cute doll, i wouldn’t kiss you without your permission. plus i gotta take you out first. wanna go on a date with me some time?”

and you’re just so caught off guard

that you can’t even manage a verbal response

like you just nod your head and then he’s ruffling you’re hair and walking away with the volleyball net

what the hell just happened

did you just score yourself a date

yes

yes you did

you go girl

sadly

it’s time for you and your babies to go

and kuroo being the good person he is

walks you guys out

but before you can get on the bus

kuroo pulls you to the side and bends down to your height to whisper in your ear

“text me sometime peaches”

and you suddenly feel him putting a piece of paper in your back pocket

then he’s pushing you onto the bus and you’re just dumbfounded

did he just touch your bum

could he not just hand it to you

not that you were complaining,,, but now you just wanna know what it would feel like if he just grabbed your bum with both of his hands while you sit on his la-

nO

BAD

BAD

BAD

gosh you have it bad for this boy

the moment you got him you debated whether to text him or not

i mean

you didn’t even look at the piece of paper yet

so you go into you back pocket and open the paper

‘xxx-xxx-xxxx text me when you get home peaches, i already miss your pretty face -kuroo’

WHY IS HE SO CUTE

you get up and start looking for your phone

and you spend like 6 minutes trying to think of what to say

but you finally settled with

hi :)

hopefully that was normal enough

and not even 1 minute later you already got a reply

hey cutie :) did you get home safe

wHY IS HE SO DARN CUTE

and your conversation goes from there

you guys literally talk about everything

from his favourite colour to the time when your leg fell in a hole and you slammed your whole body on the ground causing your ribs to shift and now whenever somebody touches the top of your chest they can feel the top of your ribs

(that was actually a true story and yes it happened to me and yes my ribs are very very fucked up but i’m still alive soooo)

by the time you were back in tokyo

you and kuroo were basically best friends

you guys texted, called, and facetimed every day

you stepped out of the bus and low and behold

it was kuroo waiting for you

“tETSUU”

you run to him and jump in his arms

and he catches you and swings you around a few times

everyone was just like

o.o

‘when did they get so close’

and your older brothers just like

>:(

this is n o t good shaggy

and kuroo introduces you to everyone

especially his buddies bokutou, akaashi, and kenma

and bokutou’s bombarding you with questions

and he asks why you’re wearing a shiratorizawa sweater

and you’re just like ‘i go to school there..’

and he’s just like

“oH YOU KNOW USHIJIMA? IM IN THE TOP 5 ACES RANKING WITH HIM IM SO COOL RIGHT”

“bokuto-san i think you’re scaring her”

“aKAAASHGHSI YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SAY ‘bokuto-san you’re so cool’”

and you and kuroo are just laughing your asses off

while kenma’s playing with his psp

pspspspspsppss

“bokuto-san you’re so cool”

“aKAAASHUDID YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAY IT EARLIER”

at that point you and kuroo have already walked away

and he brings you to your room

and helps you settle down your things

gosh he’s such a gentleman

y/n was ready to risk it all for this man

“peaches you okay?”

“oH i’m fine yes yes i’m fine tetsu”

“okaaaayyyy if you say so peaches” and kuroos just going through your bag checking if you have snacks

“tetsu i don’t have any snacks in there for you”

“really? what do you mean? you do have a snack for me tho”

and you’re jus like lol no i don’t

and he’s slowly walking towards you and you highkey feel intimidated but fuck that you’re not a bussy

at this point kuroo’s sitting on your legs while his arms are slowly creeping up your sides

and in your head

you’re just like

‘ahh this is it i’m gonna have a heart attack’

and suddenly

kuroo’s tickling you and you’re crying on the floor because HSJDJH

TICKLES

“tETSU PLEASE I CANT BREATHEEHHHD”

“what’s that peach? i cant hear you”

“tETSU YOU DIPSHIT PLEASE STOPFDISHS”

“hmm i don’t know, i think i’ll stop if you say ‘nya’ for me”

“gO TO HELLSKDIS”

“come on pretty, say it for me”

you’re blushing sO HARD

“n-nya”

and kuroo just freezes up because he didn’t think that you’d actually do it

“tetsu? u ok?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“tetsu”

“o-oH yeah i’m fine silly i was just thinking”

“what were you thinking about neko-chan?”

“you.”

GAHSJDJSHSGS

he was going to be the death of you

you, kuroo, bokutou, akaashi, hinata, and tsukishima suddenly ended up at an empty gym

and you guys wanted to play a match so

why not

it was you, kuroo, and tsukki

versus bokutou, hinata, and akaashi

it was a very intense but fun game

akaashi set to bokutou and bokutou did a cross shot

which wasn’t properly blocked by tsukishima

but luckily you were there to pick it up

and kuroo set to you and you slammed it down before they could even block you

the whole gym was silent

wha

how did-

hUH

“peach what”

“what tetsu”

“since when were you so good at volleyball”

“tetsu i play for japan’s u19 team, why did you think i was here in the first place? i’m here to help you guys”

and hinata’s just yelling

“y/n-cHAN I DIDNT KNOW YOU PLAYED NO WONDER WHY YOU LOOKED SO FAMILLIAR OMGJDSI”

after you got exposed

it was only you and tetsu left in the gym

after everything was cleaned up

kuroo pulled you aside before you could leave the gym

“t-tetsu what’re you doing? the gym lights are already of-“

“shut up for one second”

o.o

ogey then

“peaches i really like you. i know that we haven’t known each other long but it feels like i’ve known you since forever. will please let me take you out”

what

...

did he just

yes he did

“t-tetsu,,, i really like you too, and i would love it if we could go out on a date sometime”

and at that moment tetsu just

“HELL YEAHHH”

and he’s getting close to you again

to the point where he’s pressing you against the wall

he cups your cheek and leans closer to your face

“peaches,, can i please kiss you right now”

“yeah”

you close your eyes as you feel tetsu’s hot breath hovering other your soft lips

gosh

this was it

your were gonna kiss tetsu

your crush

until

...

...

...

...

“gET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SISTER BRAT”

and kuroos just like

wHAT THE FUCK

it’s your brother

keishin

“nII-SAN WHY”

“gET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW Y/N”

and you sadly look up at tetsu

and he just smiles at you and gestures for you to go

until you get up on your tippy toes and kiss tetsu full on the mouth

you catch him by surprise but he quickly kisses you back

you wrap your arms around his neck and slowly work your way up into his hair until you’ve got a good grip on him

kuroos hands weren’t staying still either

his hands were slowly creeping down your sides until he grabs the back of your thighs and pulls you up and holds you against him

his hands end up on your bum

and then

he squeezes

“THAT IS IT Y/N STOP SUCKING FACE AND GET OVER HERE”

oops

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [24]

masterlist

Words: 25.5k 🤡

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut

Warnings: angst, mentions of violence, blood, trauma, guilt

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: pls accept this long update as apology for making y’all wait 6 months 😭 also brace yourselves cuz whew this one is a doozy. ENGOY! 💙

The forest was a blur of green and brown in the Saeni’s eyes. Their feet pounded against the ground in controlled yet rushed footfalls. The air was filled with sounds of rustling leaves and creaking trees. Bird calls and trickling water. Ragged breaths and suppressed groans.

Wincing at his burning thighs, Tae slowed his pace ever so slightly to allow Jungkook to have the lead. The blue-eyed Saeni glanced to the side and took in the blood on his brother’s back. The crimson flower was getting bigger. Red flowed from the maknae’s back, trailed down his leg, and stained the earth behind him in small marks. Yet, Jungkook continued to press on.

Just as Tae went to open his mouth to try to reason with his brother again, to try to get Jungkook to stop and stay put while he went on and looked for Jimin and Y/N, a putrid smell floated over with the breeze.

The distinct smell of death and decay.

“Hyung,” Jungkook whispered in a raspy voice as he came to a stop and turned in the direction of the stench.

“I know, I know,” Tae said back quietly while also slowing down.

Both male’s chests heaved rapidly and their bodies felt heavy and sluggish from exhaustion. Tae rolled his shoulder and retrieved an arrow from his quiver before silently notching it. Then, they began to creep through the trees and shrubbery with soft steps. Neither of them could hear anyone or anything besides the forest… but they still went slowly.

Once the putrid smell was strong enough to make his eyes water, Jungkook grit his teeth and reached over his shoulder to unsheathe one of his short blades.

The metal flashed in the sunlight and Jungkook held it firmly, but Tae placed a hand on his arm and warned, “Don’t do anything stupid. You’re in no shape to charge in full force.”

Jungkook shook his head. “If it’s for her… for her and hyung… I can do it.”

Tae fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Shut up. We go in slow and see what we’re dealing with. Got it?”

The other male huffed, but after a few seconds he nodded.

About a minute later, when the smell almost made them want to gag, the two Saeni brushed through a collection of leaves and thin branches. And then they saw them. The bodies.

A quick count revealed there were thirteen in total. All dead. Some were riddled with arrows, others with stab wounds and slash marks. One of them was even speared to a tree.

But what made Tae and Jungkook freeze was that they recognized some of them.

Three of them, to be exact.

The female speared to the tree trunk, the male with an arrow impaled through his throat, and the male slumped against the base of a tree.

Jungkook released a shaky, uneven breath and whispered, “Hyung, they were the ones… the ones selected to go with-”

“Chim and Mingi. I know,” Tae answered in a quiet voice as his body started to tremble with both fatigue and fear.

As the burgundy head released a weak “fuck fuck fuck!” and stumbled to the side to brace himself on a low-hanging branch, Tae lowered his bow and stepped forward to silently walk through the gruesome scene. He inspected the other bodies strewn across the forest floor. All draikensu. No sign of Chim, Y/N, or Mingi. Exhaling, he went to walk back to Jungkook, but a disturbance on the ground caught his attention. Crouching down, the blue-eyed Saeni lightly trailed his fingertips over the overturned dead leaves and lifted his gaze slightly.

The same disturbance continued into the trees, leading away from the bodies.

A dull, thumping sound broke Tae’s attention and the noise made him quickly turn his head to the side. The Saeni saw Jungkook pull his arm back from the tree he was leaning against and pound his fist into the trunk again.

“What happened to them? Where are they? Where are they!?” The younger male squeezed his peridot eyes shut and ground his fist into the rough bark.

“Kook? Hey, calm down!” Tae shot to his feet and ran to his brother. Before the younger male could punch the tree a third time, Tae grabbed his wrist. “Jungkook! I checked the bodies. They’re not here… they’re not here.”

Jungkook whipped around to face his brother and pulled his arm free. “Then where are they?”

Tae had no answer. The male just opened his mouth and almost instantly closed it again.

“Hyung, where are they!?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” The older male shouted back in a stressed tone, his crimson-stained feather earring swaying erratically from the outburst. “I don’t know, okay? But I saw some tracks leading away from here, so I’m going to keep going.  You should stay here an-”

“I’m not fucking staying here.” Jungkook’s jaw ticked and he returned his short sword to its sheath with a grimace. “Let’s go.”

You tightly gripped the buckle on Jimin’s armor as you both limped forward over the stones and vegetation scattered on the creek bank. You were supporting each other as you took slow, heavy steps, and Jimin was clutching the strap of your quiver just as desperately as you were holding on to him. Neither of you were willing to let go of the other. It was almost like you both needed the physical reassurance that the other person was truly there and breathing.

That you both were.

Water splashed around your ankles and onto your legs as you both stumbled into the creek. The water was so cold it made you sharply inhale through your teeth and pause your explanation of why you’d left the field and how you’d arrived at the rift. Before you could return to your story, the stone you had begun to step on tilted dangerously to the side under the water and almost made you twist your ankle.

“Ah! Stupid fucking rock,” you muttered under your breath while defiantly kicking at the stone with your heel, causing water to spray into the air.

Jimin tugged on your quiver strap to get you moving again while asking if you were okay.

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine. I’m just…” You let out a lethargic sigh and looked up at the sky. “I’m really over today.”

Water sloshed over the sand, pebbles, and weeds on the bank as you both reached the other side of the creek and exited the stream. Resisting the urge to just drop your ass down on the sun-warmed rocks and never move again, you squeezed Jimin’s buckle and begrudgingly heaved yourself up and over a large tree root. As you looked down to see where you were stepping, you saw the wooden tendril was speckled with droplets of red. It was just a mere piece of the dotted trail you were forced to follow as you left the rift’s location, and although it was your umpteenth time catching sight of it, it still made your chest tighten painfully. You tore your gaze away from the blood, not wanting to think about who’s it was. Or how he was no longer with you.

You sniffed, cleared your throat, and raised your eyes in front of you. Through the sunlight filtering in between the leaves, you recognized a dark lump wedged between two rocks.

Remembering you were supposed to be sharing how you had found Jimin, you pointed your chin at the body of the wolf. “Anyway, I heard the howls an-”

“Jungkook, you need to slow down!”

Your body flinched at the sudden sound breaking the peaceful chirping and buzzing of the forest then stilled with one foot left raised in the air.

“Jungkook?” You whispered in disbelief and placed your foot down gently while Jimin asked, “Was that… Tae?”

Jungkook…? And… Tae…?

Apprehensive hope surged in your heart at the thought of the two Saeni being near, but… why would they be out here? Why weren’t they at the field? Or were you simply so tired that you’d imagined the voice? You slowly blinked then turned your head to look at Jimin in confusion. Your gaze met his brown eyes but he looked just as unsure as you felt.

Neither of you moved. You barely breathed. With your heart beating wildly in your chest, you waited to hear the voice again.

One… two… three seconds passed…

But you heard nothing besides the trickling of water, shifting of leaves, singing of birds and bugs, and light, anxious breathing coming from yourself and the half-Saeni next to you.

It was probably just the wind and my mind making shit up. There’s no way Kookie and TaeTae are actually here.

But…

Jimin heard it too.

Tentatively, you lifted your free hand and wrapped your fingers around the hilt of the dagger at your side as the wind picked up and blew strays wisps of hair in your face.

“For Exia’s sake, you’re going to pass out!”

Your eyes widened at the voice and you involuntarily tightened your grip on the dagger. At the same time, Jimin sharply inhaled and lifted his head in the direction it had come from, making his sweaty apricot hair shift over his forehead.

He nodded once to himself. “That-holy fuck-that’s definitely Tae.”

You had also verified the owner of the voice that time and before you knew it, you were hoarsely screaming the Saeni’s name into the dense trees. Jimin joined in moments later, your scratchy voices mixing and resounding into the air together. After your screams faded into dry coughs, you and Jimin gulped air back into your lungs while you let go of the dagger and adjusted your hold on the half-Saeni’s buckle. Then, you both surged forward. As fast as your wobbly legs could manage, you and your best friend limp-ran past the remainder of the blood trail, the dead wolf, and a couple of scattered, stray arrows to where the earth began to incline.

As you stepped over a large rock on the ground and started to climb out of the gully, the familiar deep voice shouted back in surprise, “Chim!? Little scorja!?”

Tae’s voice made you close your eyes for a second; you were just so happy to hear him, to know that he was alive. A tiny, relieved smile tugged at the corner of your lips and after sucking in a breath, you quickly yelled back that you were coming. Your voice echoed into the expanse of the forest as you grabbed on to thin tree trunk with your free hand. Using the tree to pull yourself up a few more steps, a hiss escaped past your lips in between your ragged inhales due to how much your thighs were burning and shaking. You were honestly shocked they were even still working, but you kept telling yourself you were minutes or possibly even seconds away from seeing Tae and Jungkook. You would be damned if your legs gave out before then. Likewise, Jimin was mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like “I think I can, I think I can” over and over again to keep himself motivated and moving through his own pain.

Less than a minute later, you were nearing the top of the gully. Impatience swelled inside you, and you somehow forced your aching body to move just a little faster and pulled Jimin with you. Though in your haste, you slipped on a clump of loose dirt and fell forward to your knee with a sharp curse.

“Come on. Come on.” Jimin reached over to grip your arm and heaved you back up with a subdued groan in his throat.

The two of you staggered the rest of the way up until the ground finally leveled out. Breathing heavily, you both paused and sagged against each other in exhaustion. But only a couple heartbeats later, you were tugging on each other to move again. Leaves and twigs crunched under your feet, thin branches whacked against your legs and hips, and the low shrubbery violently shook in your wake as you hurried through the trees.

While you shivered in the cool shade cast by the leaves and branches high above your head, you darted your eyes around to desperately search for signs of the Saeni. Your gaze flickered over the endless tree trunks, moss-covered boulders, thorny vines…

And then you saw it through the blur of leaves. The smallest splash of pinkish burgundy among the greens and browns of the forest.

Jungkook.

You whispered his name gently, feeling your eyes begin to sting as you fully made out his figure. In your peripherals, you saw Jimin look at you then follow your line of sight.

He let out a soft, breathy laugh and released his hold on your quiver strap. “Go on. I’ll catch up.”

Tearing your gaze away from the Saeni in the distance, you glanced at your best friend to see him smiling at you. The half-Saeni kept his warm brown eyes on you but tilted his head toward his younger brother, silently telling you to go on ahead. You pressed your lips together and peeked back at the burgundy-haired Saeni before returning your attention to Jimin. You stared at him for a split-second then nodded, your stiff hand falling away from his buckle.

After lightly squeezing Jimin’s arm, you turned back to Jungkook and took a step forward.

Then another.

And another.

And another and another and another until you were nearly running. You barely registered the throbbing pain in your legs. All you cared about was reaching him.

“JEON JUNGKOOK!” You screamed with a big, dumb smile on your face.

Immediately, his burgundy head was facing your direction and it almost looked like a shudder ran through his body. Not even a second later, though, he was sprinting toward you.

Somewhere to the right, you heard Tae’s deep voice call out. “Little scorja? Where is…? Chim? Chim! Oh, thank goddess.”

You didn’t even look to the side to see where your blue-eyed friend was. You were entirely too focused on who was in front of you. Who was almost to you.

Closer. Closer. Closer.

So close that when he ran through a ray of sunlight, you could see the gold flecks in his eyes flash brightly. You also noticed the dried blood coating his skin and armor but it didn’t faze you. You too were stained with crimson. It was just a nasty aftereffect of fighting for your life and taking others.

Lengthening your stride to avoid tripping over a bundle of roots in your path, you felt the stinging in your eyes turn into a waterier sensation as your tears threatened to spill over.

Closer. Closer. You got closer closer closer…

And then you collided with each other, the thudding impact nearly forcing you to lose your breath. The male stumbled back from your momentum and you both teetered on the uneven ground before he firmly planted his feet and wrapped his strong arms around you.

As you closed your eyes and leaned into him, a small voice in your head said it was strange how Jungkook had stumbled back. You’d launched yourself at him countless of times yet he’d never done that before. It was unusual, but you mentally told the small voice to fuck off. He’d just fought in a damn battle, for Exia’s sake. He was probably exhausted just like you were.

“Y/N, f-fuck. Fuck. I was so worried,” he murmured in your ear while holding you as close as possible. Like he though you would slip through his hands and disappear if he didn’t. “Y-You weren’t on the cliff anymore… you… you weren’t there. I thought you-goddess-I thought you died.”

The end of his sentence came out choked and he shakily breathed in. Your heart panged at the grief filling his voice, and a single tear slipped down your cheek and cut through the dirt and dust on your face. Once the lone tear met the crease of your lips and you tasted its salt, several more tears followed suit. As they trailed down your skin, his fingers moved up your spine until they found the back of your neck and lightly grazed over your mark.

“I’m sorry-I didn’t mean-Jimin needed help.”

Chuckling lowly at your stammering, Jungkook slightly pulled back to cup your face in his hands. While holding your gaze, he traced his thumb over your cheek to wipe away your tears before they could drip off your chin. Your lips parted slowly and you looked into those bright peridot eyes, finally feeling safe for the first time since the sun had peeked over the horizon. Finally feeling like you could let your guard down. Finally feeling like you could breathe easily. With a content sigh, you unwound your hands from Jungkook’s neck and went to gently hold his wrists.

But right as you touched his forearms, his legs suddenly buckled and he collapsed to a knee. With your face still caught in his hands, you involuntarily followed him by bending at the waist and your eyes widened in confusion. Lowering his head, Jungkook released a pained moan while you heard Tae and Jimin call out in concern. Worried, you opened your mouth to ask what was wrong, but it was then that you finally registered how pale his skin was. How colorless it looked compared to the deep red spattered across it.

Wha-?

Jungkook raised his peridot eyes to yours and gave you a strained smile while his grip on your face weakened. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Just a… a little tired, but I’m the best, remem-…rememb-” His words were cut off as his eyes rolled back into his head and he limply crumpled to the ground with a solid, dull thump.

A series of curses rose into the air from the other males while you frantically said Jungkook’s name and dropped to your knees. He was on his side, limbs loosely splayed out. Your breathing got faster as you placed one of your hands on his shoulder and the other near his hip. Tenderly but firmly, you shook Jungkook to get him to open his eyes. To move. To say something. To do anything. But nothing happened. He was utterly silent and still except for the smallest rise and fall of his chest. You swore, shifted your gaze to his face, and was wondering what the fuck you should do when realized one of your hands felt strangely warm… and wet. Body going rigid, you slowly drew your eyes down to your hand resting on Jungkook’s hip… and then you lifted it. Your palm and fingers were smeared with red. Blood. Fresh blood. And it was coming from Jungkook. Flinching at the sight, you felt your stomach drop and body go cold as full-fledged panic instantly rushed through your veins. Yet you couldn’t do anything but stare at the blood for a few seconds, completely frozen and scared. You watched as the crimson liquid gradually ran down your wrist in small, thin rivulets, and your hands began to tremble. Everything else in the world faded to some distant, fuzzy background. You couldn’t see anything but red. Couldn’t hear anything but your own pounding heartbeat. Couldn’t smell anything but the now familiar reek of iron. No trace of peridot or burgundy or florals mixed with hard steel. It almost felt like you weren’t even in your own body anymore. You were just in a suspended state of bloody shock and disbelief. It lasted for one… two… three… four seconds and then you were slammed back into reality. After gasping and pushing the unconscious male onto his back, you leaned over him to grab his ghastly face in your hands, causing his cheek to be painted with even more red.

“Jungkook? Jungkook!? Hey hey hey, come on. Come on, wake up.” Distress and fear laced your words. “You gotta wake up Kookie.”

“Shit, I told him not to push himself so hard!” You heard Tae’s frustrated voice carry over with the wind and it sounded closer than before.

Pressing your lips together to hold in a sob, your throat grew tight and your vision went blurry as tears started to drip onto Jungkook’s face. The droplets rolled off his cheeks and you shook your head while a whimper came from your lips.

Letting go of his face, you fisted your hands on top of his chest. “You need to hear what I wanted to say earlier. You said I could tell you later, right?”

But he still didn’t move. He didn’t even stir.

You couldn’t hold back anymore. After a single shuddering inhale, cries began to wrack your body and you collapsed forward until your forehead weakly laid against Jungkook’s armored chest.

Not even a second later, you heard Tae skid to a stop beside you and then felt him tugging at your arm. “Stab wound on his back. On his back. On his back.”

His words seeped into your brain and it threw your already overwhelmed mind into a daze. Your eyes grew unfocused and you blinked as you let the Saeni pull you away. Then you started replaying those words over and over again like a broken reel. Stab wound. Stab wound. Stab wound. On his back. Stab wound on his back.

“Fucking Exia! Why didn’t you stop when I told you to!?” The blue-eyed male shouted at Jungkook before rolling his unconscious brother back to his side and applying pressure to the wound.

You squeezed your eyes shut for a moment, forcing more tears to quickly stream down your cheeks, then crawled a few feet so you could gently lift Jungkook’s head into your lap.

After brushing his hair out of his face and tucking it behind his long ear, you quietly said, “You… You said I could tell you later.” You traced the edge of his ear to the tip as your voice cracked. “Well, it’s later so you gotta wake up, okay? You need to wake up so I can tell you.”

No response.

Your muscles tensed and your bottom lip quivered, but your body suddenly felt hot and your cheeks burned. “Don’t be a coconut-headed asshat and go back on your word! Wake up so I can tell you, dammit!”

Tell you that I love you. That I’m in love with you.

Please.

The snap of a breaking twig made you shoot your head up and you saw Jimin hurrying over with a handful of big leaves. He dropped to the ground between you and Tae and wordlessly shoved the leaves at the blue-eyed Saeni. After grabbing them with one hand, Tae hastily shoved them under his other palm that was pressing against Jungkook’s wound.

He was using them to help control the bleeding.

The apricot head then turned to you and abruptly requested that you give him Jungkook’s dagger. Too caught up in your mind-numbing hysteria and not understanding why he needed a blade right then, you slowly looked from your best friend to the ruby gemstone glittering at your hip in bewilderment.

“Dagger. Dagger now, Y/N!”

His sharp tone cut through the fog in your brain and you sniffled while shifting your hand over the dagger. Your fingers briefly hesitated; knowing how important the weapon was to Jungkook, you didn’t like the idea of someone using it without his permission. Even if it was his brother. But Jimin was also aware of the dagger’s history and you knew he wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, so you curled your fingers around the hilt and pulled the blade from its scabbard. Flipping it in your hand, you held it out to Jimin, who snatched it from your grasp and leaned over his legs. As blood continued to leak out around the leaves and Tae’s fingers, the half-Saeni yanked the hem of his pants out of one of his boots and maneuvered the blade underneath. Then, a ripping sound came from the fabric. A few more seconds and rips later, Jimin was holding a decently-sized chunk of the durable fabric and was giving the blade back to you. Quietly, you took it from him while steadying Jungkook’s head in your lap with your other hand. As you tightly squeezed the hilt, Jimin nudged Tae and told him to move aside. Somehow, they managed to smoothly transfer jobs and Jimin was now using the patch of fabric to try to staunch the bleeding as Tae stood up unsteadily. The male’s now blood-covered hands hung at his sides while his blood-soaked feather earring swayed in the breeze.

His blue eyes solemnly gazed down at Jungkook’s face before they suddenly sharpened with resolve. “I’m going back for help. Don’t let him die.” Then, after taking a deep breath and a final look at his brother, he pivoted on his heel and ran into the trees.

His soft footsteps swiftly melted into the symphony of the forest, and you prayed that he would come back quickly. Returning your attention to Jungkook, you gripped the dagger in your hand until your knuckles strained against your skin while hoping the familiarity of the action would bring you some sort of comfort. It made you think of glittering peridot eyes and cocky smirks. Nervous stammering and provoking comments. You tried to hold onto those memories as firmly as you could. Both the good and the bad ones. Memories filled with tender touches and shy words. Memories made of angry glares and heated emotions. Memories of him. Memories with him. But as you listened to Jimin try to coax Jungkook back to consciousness, you looked down at the unresponsive male and could only think of how you were on the verge of losing him.

Losing the person you loved.

While your breath stuttered as you tried to inhale deeply, you brushed your thumb up and down Jungkook’s strong jaw and silently pleaded with him to open his eyes.

Wake up… wake up… please please please, wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Please wake up.

Your eyes shot open and your body flinched as you recoiled from the painful dream. But the attempt to get away was stopped short as you realized you were laying down and had nowhere to go. Then it hit you that it was completely dark. Head spinning and breathing rate rapidly increasing, you squinted into the blackness. It took you a few seconds for your eyes to come into focus, and you let out a relieved exhale when you registered the familiar room. Slowly unfurling your curled-up body, you pushed yourself into a sitting position on the bed and gazed out the window. The faint glow of the moon and distant tree lanterns came in through the open spaces where the branches were woven together, and a gentle yet warm breeze was floating into the room. But despite the warm air, you still had to hug yourself as you shivered from the dream.

No, not a dream. You reminded yourself and squeezed your arms around yourself more tightly. It actually happened.

It had been nearly two weeks since that day, or Draikiltho – The Dark Morning – as it was now being called. Two weeks since Amarok and the rift. Two weeks since Mingi sacrificed himself. Two weeks since you last saw Jungkook.

The dream was your memory of that day, and as much as you didn’t want to remember it… your brain began to recall what had happened next.

“You’re not allowed to die until I’ve made you watch all of ‘Ablatar,’ Spongebob, and Game of Thrones, you idiot,” you faintly whispered to the unconscious male while pressing down hard against the wound on his back.

Red stained your palms and wrists, and continued to slowly seep out around your hands and the patch of fabric beneath them. Jungkook was still breathing… but it seemed like his inhales were gradually getting weaker and further apart. Biting your lip, you looked over to Jimin, who now had his brother’s head in his lap and was running his hand through the male’s burgundy locks.

“It’s going to be fine, Kook. Tae will be back soon and he’s bringing help.” Brown eyes lifted to meet yours and he tried to smile reassuringly. “He’ll be back soon. It’s gonna be fine. Totally fine.”

A broken laugh that sounded more like a weak sob came from your lips. “Don’t make it sound like that damn meme.”

“It’s… It’s gonna be fine.” His eyes went back down to Jungkook’s face. “It’s gonna be fine.”

You pulled your knees up toward your chest and took long, deep breaths as the memory continued to play in your head.

You weren’t sure how long you had both been sitting there in uneasy silence. You were too focused, too worried, too scared to really have any insight into how much time was passing. It could have been five minutes, thirty minutes, over an hour since Tae had left. You had no idea.

Despite your arms trembling from applying constant pressure and your body shivering from the cool shade, you continued to press down against Jungkook’s back. Your tears had finally stopped some time ago, but you didn’t dare wipe at the dried tracks they had left on your cheeks. You were terrified that if you shifted even the barest amount, if you let up just the slightest amount of pressure on the wound, then Jungkook would be gone.

“Y/N, you’re shaking like crazy. Let me take over,” Jimin offered in a soft voice but you shook your head.

You were about to reply that you didn’t want to risk switching positions again when you heard a faint rhythmic sound rise up through the rustling leaves and creaking trees. It steadily grew louder and you stiffened while Jimin carefully lifted Jungkook’s head so he could stand. Out of the corner of your eye, you watched the half-Saeni limp forward a few steps until he was beside you.

“I hate to ask this, but I think I’m gonna need Kook’s dagger again.”

Slowly taking in a breath to try to ease your mind, you nodded. The sound was so close now that you could make out that they were footfalls. Someone or many someones were coming your way. Jimin muttered a curse and braced a hand on his knee to bend down and reach for the blade at your waist.

Please don’t be more trouble. You closed your eyes. Please be you, Tae.

The apricot head had just closed his fingers around the hilt when your prayer was answered.

The familiar grey-haired, blue-eyed Saeni burst through the dense thicket followed by three other Saeni you didn’t know.

Tae’s eyes widened in utter relief when he saw you. “Thank goddess,” he gasped out before collapsing to his knees and harshly sucking air into his lungs.

While Tae leaned over to support his body on his hands, the other Saeni kept moving forward. Blinking, you noticed one of them was carrying two long, thick branches and there was something that looked like cloth hanging between them.

They were next to you in the next second, and you did your best to keep up with the sudden barrage of movement and sound. The Saeni with the branches and cloth, which you realized was a makeshift stretcher now that it was up close, went to the side and laid the stretcher flat on the ground. The second roughly told Jimin to step aside while the third crouched beside you. The Saeni looked at you expectantly, but when you didn’t do anything, he nudged you with his arm. You didn’t move. You looked down at Jungkook’s pale face and shook your head. You were still too scared to move away. Even though the small part of your mind that was still coherent and not overwhelmed knew that you should, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

I can’t. I can’t just leave him. They’re going to take him away. I know they need to. I know they have to. But I… I…

You felt a light hand on your shoulder interrupt your mental discourse and your best friend quietly said your name. Pressing your lips together while you silently took in Jungkook’s face, you thought of his peridot eyes and crooked smiles. A gentle ache filled your heart. After hanging your head for a moment, you then scooted over an inch or so to let the Saeni know they could take over. In a flash, his hands replaced yours and you held your breath as the other two Saeni situated themselves at Jungkook’s head and feet, counted to three, picked him up, and transferred him onto the stretcher.

You didn’t want to leave him. You didn’t want him to leave you.

The Saeni lifted the stretcher.

I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. I would just slow them down.

The Saeni that had nudged you looked your way and gave you a sharp nod but your eyes never left Jungkook’s figure.

He needs to get help as soon as possible. That’s what’s important.

The Saeni at the head of the stretcher barked out an order to move out.

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you last night. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry. Please stay alive. I need you.

A final brief glimmer of pinkish burgundy hair through the leaves and shadows…

I love you.

Then they were gone.

Jimin’s hand tightened on your shoulder and you clenched your own blood-coated hands into fists where they rested against your thighs. Breathing heavily, you tried to reign in your swarm of emotions but you felt like your heart was made of cracked glass that was ready to shatter at any moment.

“Oh, you’re going to shatter?” It was too easy for your mind to imagine Jungkook’s teasing voice and arrogant chuckle. “Is it too much for the little human to handle?”

Narrowing your eyes, you deeply inhaled through your nose then slapped a mental Band-Aid over the cracks. No… no, asshat, it’s fucking not.

Reaching up to cover Jimin’s hand on your shoulder, you let your eyes linger on where you had last seen Jungkook for only a few more seconds.

I’ll see you soon.

Then you shifted your gaze to Tae, who was struggling to catch his breath as he braced himself against the earth. Patting Jimin’s hand, you let out a long puff of air and pushed yourself up to your feet with a groan.

Hooking arms with Jimin, you both stumbled over the rocks, roots, and low shrubs until you made it Tae.

The male flicked his blue eyes up as you unsteadily approached. “The fighting is over… but no magic users… could come. Too many… injured… at the field… and many of them… are drained.”

Weakly smiling at the male, you ignored your shaking legs to bend down and offer him your hand. “Thank you for getting help TaeTae.”

Jimin did the same and you both helped the spent Saeni stand.

“He’s… He’s going to okay, right?” Tae asked in a small voice as his chest continued to heave rapidly.

Your teeth tugged on your bottom lip. His words made another fracture appear on your fragile heart and paralyzing worry started to seep into your mind again…

“Come on sweetheart, I thought you were tougher than that.”

Steeling yourself, you slapped yet another mental Band-Aid over the new crack before sniffing and raising your chin to look Tae in the eyes. “Kook’s a big boy, right? If anyone can survive getting stabbed, running around like crazy, and losing a shit-ton of blood, it’s that annoying, stubborn asshat.”

The boys stared at you in shock for a minute, thrown off by your sudden change in attitude, until Tae broke out in his signature boxy grin. The sight made you smile again, this time more brightly, and the corner of Jimin’s mouth pulled up too. The three of you looked at each other, grins slowly growing and growing and growing. And then you were all laughing. It was absurd and crazy and you didn’t even know why or how you were actually laughing, but there you were. The three of you wrapped your arms around each other as your sore bodies shook and your eyes got teary. You laughed until your stomach muscles hurt even more than they already did and kept laughing until your giggles transformed into hiccups and cries. You buried your head into Jimin’s chest and he muffled his sobs against your hair while Tae clung on to your arm and wept on his brother’s shoulder. Eventually, you all quieted down but you stayed in each other’s arms.

As you were sniveling and clearing your throats, Tae suddenly looked around the area then furrowed his brows and tilted his head. “I didn’t have time to ask earlier but where’s… where’s Mingi?”

You clutched at the bedsheets and pressed your lips together, telling yourself not to cry. After slowly counting to ten in your head, you looked over at the small table in the corner of the room. Even without sunlight, the ruby gemstone of Jungkook’s dagger seemed to shine brightly in your eyes from where it rested on the table. Your hand twitched, aching to hold the weapon, but you just sighed heavily instead and reached up to touched the silver feather and chain at your neck.

The sun was beginning to lower behind the treetops when the three of you finally made it back to camp a few hours later. It had been a slow, painful journey, and your nerves had only increased with every sluggish step you took. Your legs were cramping, your stomach was churning, and your eyelids wouldn’t stop drooping but you couldn’t let yourself rest. You needed to find Jungkook and the rest of the kiela.

Jungkook first. You told yourself while limping through the trees, Saeni, and campfires with Tae and Jimin. Make sure Jungkook is okay then go find the others.

You weren’t exactly sure where the medical area was set up but it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the direction it was in. The agonized screams and cries echoing through the forest sadly made it easy to know where to go.

You let out a tired exhale and lifted your eyes from the ground to take in the gloomy atmosphere of the camp. All around you, Saeni were in different states. Some were frantic and crying, some were staring blankly into the trees, and others were talking in hushed voices.

I wonder which one I’ll be like in thirty minutes. You thought while carefully stepping around a small scattering of white wildflowers in your path.

The wails and sobs had gotten louder, and you glanced sideways at the boys. They met your gaze and gave you weary nods, but in the process of doing so, Tae stubbed his toe on something hidden beneath the foliage and tripped. He nearly face-planted but Jimin was fast to grab his brother’s arm and steady him. The blue-eyed Saeni grumbled in annoyance before a small pout flashed across his face, which made you release an amused puff of air. As Jimin made sure Tae was alright, a fast, dark blur out of the corner of your eye suddenly caught your attention. Your brows furrowed and although you assumed it was just a bird of some sort, you turned your head to see what it was. That was when the blur raced past you and tackled Jimin and Tae in a hug. Sucking in air through your teeth, you watched as someone enveloped both the boys in their arms and your hand unthinkingly went to the dagger at your waist. You curled your fingers around the hilt without hesitation, ready to pull the blade free from its sheath, when you realized the person had simple silver hoops in his ears, dark, raven-black hair, and broad shoulders.

A smidge of tension left your weak body and your fingers fell away from the dagger as you lightly called out the male’s name in astonishment, “Jin?”

“Get in here little scorja.” The eldest of the kiela peered over Jimin’s apricot head with a smile and reached his hand out toward you.

“You scared the shit out of me,” you murmured and your body relaxed further as your brain fully registered there was no actual threat.

“At least you didn’t get slammed into without warning,” Tae tried to pointedly gripe but his voice came out muffled from being smushed against Jimin and Jin’s bodies.

“Sorry,” the raven-haired male said, but his face didn’t show any remorse. “I just got so excited when I saw you, I couldn’t stop myself.”

Rolling your eyes, you took a tiny step forward then yelped as Jin’s hand wrapped itself around your wrist and forcibly yanked you into the hug.

“You were taking too long,” he whispered as the boys shifted to accommodate you.

Sagging into the warmth of the hug, you clutched at whatever buckle or strap your unsteady fingers could find. The four of you slowly swayed back and forth with the gentle breeze, just holding each other. Blowing out a long breath, you rested your head against Tae’s back and closed your eyes. But instead of a calming darkness, you stiffened when a crimson-covered face with peridot orbs and burgundy hair appeared behind your eyelids.

“Wait. Wait.” You suddenly pushed yourself away from the embrace and your heartrate began to beat fast once again. “Jungkook. Jin, have you seen Jungkook? Do you know if he’s… um, if he’s…?” Your heart jumped into your throat and your voice got small as the unfinished question trailed off into silence.

You were too scared to finish forming the words. Too scared to hear the response you were dreading but also so desperate to know what happened.

As Jin’s dark eyes widened at your pleading tone, Jimin stepped back and searched his brother’s face for an answer while Tae quietly slipped his hand into yours. Grateful for something to hold onto, you gripped his hand like a lifeline as you waited.

Jin’s face then softened and he rested his hand on your shoulder to look straight into your eyes for a moment before moving his gaze over to his brothers as well. “He’s going to be okay.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you faintly gasped.

“What did you say?” Your best friend asked in a demanding yet bewildered tone.

“He’s going to be okay.” Jin gave you all a reassuring nod. “Jungkook’s going to live.”

He’s going to be okay. He’s going to live. I get to see him again. You slumped, the tension in your body disappearing, and you placed your palm over your racing heart. I get to see him again.

At the same time, you felt Tae give your hand a squeeze as he bowed his head and sighed. Jimin let out a shaky laugh and looked up at the sky through the leaves while muttering under his breath.

“I was just with him, actually. He’s sleeping and in a stable condition but he’ll be healing naturally, without magic.”

You listened intently as Jin explained there were simply too many Saeni with more serious and pressing injuries. The magic users couldn’t spare to use their energy to heal Jungkook completely, so they had only used a small amount to get him stabilized and sleeping. Then they had bandaged him up and were now letting him rest. The medical personnel were going to watch over him and change his bandages as his body healed itself but he probably wouldn’t be up and moving for at least a few days.

Feeling your heartbeat finally slowing down to a more normal pace, you moved your hand so your fingertips could lightly graze the ruby on the hilt of Jungkook’s dagger. “Can I see him? Please?”

Jin’s shoulders dropped and he shook his head. “I wish you could. I really, really do, but they’re only allowing in one member from a patient’s kiela at a time unless the wound is fatal.” He made an aggravated noise while removing his hand from your shoulder. “And although we view you as family, you’re not officially recognized as part of our kiela.”

“Oh…”

You looked down at your feet. I can’t see him?

“Why did they even make that rule?” The blue-eyed Saeni next to you complained, which drew your eyes back up. “It’s stupid.”

Jimin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Even Illai agrees with that.”

“Huh?” Jin leaned forward to peer at his brother’s face in curiosity. “You can still hear the mother goddess?”

“Ah, yeah. She told me that she isn’t able to…”

You tuned out their conversation, too caught up in the thought that you couldn’t see him. You couldn’t see him. You couldn’t see him. Fuck, you couldn’t see him. You trusted Jin, of course, but you still wanted, no needed to see him.

What if he gets an infection? What if he never wakes up? What if-

Two firm pumped to your hand pulled you from your thoughts and you looked over to see blue eyes worriedly gazing at you.

“…you’d think them sharing a bond would be enough reason to bend the rules,” Jimin said with an irritated expression.

“You’d think.” The raven-haired male released a dry, condescending laugh before glancing your way and clearing his throat. “Maybe we can explain the situation once things are calmer.”

With a level voice, he then promised you that Jungkook was fine and no longer in danger. In response, your head jerked down in a small nod but you didn’t say anything else.

“Alright, well for now let’s get some rest. You all look like you really fucking need it.” The eldest Saeni gestured for you all to follow him as he swiveled on his heel. “Joon’s in a meeting with General Son but Hobi and Yoongi should still be at the fire we claimed a couple hours ago.”

“They’re all okay?” Tae asked almost timidly while stepping over a fallen log with stiff movements.

“Yoongi is passed out from using so much energy but he’ll be fine after a lot of sleep. Hobi almost died but Yoongi was able to save him, hence why he’s so exhausted. Joon is okay too, besides taking a knife to his thigh.”

They’re safe. Maybe not in perfect condition, but the whole kiela is safe.

Jin looked back over his shoulder. “By the way, what happened to Mingi? Did he go meet someone when you got back to camp or…?”

You, Tae, and Jimin all paused and uneasily looked at each other until you softly said that Mingi didn’t make it. You tried to ignore the heaviness in your heart by turning to look at the setting sun through the trees. The burning orange peeking through the leaves was beautiful but it didn’t do anything to ease the dull pang in your chest, so you returned your gaze to the forest before you. Meanwhile, Jin hadn’t said anything in response but you could see that his body went rigid and his hand was closed into a tight fist.

About ten more minutes passed of quietly weaving through the forest and the scattered fires. The sounds from the medical area could still be heard but they were starting to fade into the symphonic sounds of the birds, bugs, and leaves. The Saeni were the same, though. A haunting mix of mourning wails, empty gazes, and low whispers. You involuntarily flinched when a particularly violent sob screamed into your ears, yet you forced yourself to keep your eyes on Jin’s back. You didn’t want to see the face of the male who made the tormented noise.

I just spent the day experiencing so much death but somehow, it’s the aftermath that unsettles me the most.

You rubbed your temples then dragged your fingers down your face.

I guess sometimes death is more painful for the ones left alive.

The memory of hazel eyes flashed in your mind but you hastily blinked it away while ducking below a branch.

The sky was getting darker and darker; only a thin stretch of orange sunlight was still visible on the horizon. Within a few minutes, the forest quickly became a blend of cool darkness and pockets of warm, flickering light.

Although he was only a few steps ahead of you, Jin peeked back to make sure you were all still with him before he turned left behind a thick tree. You, Jimin, and Tae followed and you had to contain a moan as you suddenly felt the soothing heat of a fire.

“This is us,” Jin said with a gesture to the small area illuminated by the flames.

The fire snapped and crackled as Jin crouched down and poked the embers with a stick, and through the flames you could see the silhouettes of two people against the base of a tree. A bloody and bruised Hobi had his back to the tree trunk with his legs stretched out in front of him. In one hand, he absentmindedly twirled a small blade in his fingers while his other hand rested on the torso of the male curled up on his thighs. Yoongi was facing away from you but you guessed the magic user was deep asleep from the slow rise and fall of his shoulder.

At your arrival, Hobi’s eyes lifted from where they had been looking down at the other male and his face lit up. A dimpled smile appeared and he cheerfully waved with his blade.

His body isn’t shiny like it usually is. You noted with a tilt of your head as you and the boys staggered around the fire.

As you moved closer and squinted through the flickering light you realized it was because most of the sheathes strapped across his body were empty. You also saw there was a large gash in his armor at his side and while the area was stained red, the skin itself was unmarred. The sight made you recall Jin’s words of how Hobi had almost died and the thought made you frown.

The male must have misunderstood your expression through because he looked down at Yoongi then back up apologetically. “Sorry, I can’t get up for a hug.”

“You’ll owe me one later, hyung!” Tae warned with a grin as he ungracefully sat down.

Meanwhile, you raised your hands. “No, no don’t worry about it, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Hobi’s light brown eyes softened. “You too, little scorja. You too.” The Saeni then transferred his gaze to the apricot head beside you. “You did good Chim. I’m proud of you.”

The kiela’s spy proceeded to shut his eyes and angle his head back to rest it against the tree trunk. He resumed flipping his blade and his thumb began to gently move up and down Yoongi’s abdomen. You didn’t miss the gesture but all you did was send the two Saeni an earnest smile.

Shuffling closer to the fire’s warmth, you then plopped down to the earth with a tight wince. Your feet cried with relief and the feeling of utter fatigue settled over your body. You tiredly began massaging your spasming leg muscles as Jimin awkwardly made his way to the ground beside you. After glancing at your best friend and releasing a drawn-out exhale, you realized you didn’t know what to do now. Your mind had been on high alert for so long it was like it couldn’t not be wary of every miniscule sight and sound. You just couldn’t let yourself fully relax. The battle was over, you knew that… but you were still scared a sudden attack would erupt out of the vast darkness of the forest.

Am I-are we really safe? You squeezed your thighs.

In the end, you just sat there and stared at the luminous embers of the fire as they ate away at the wood. Your eyes bore into the mesmerizing red-orange glow until your eyes stung and watered. Then, a sniffling sound moved your attention to your best friend and you saw him harshly wiping at his cheek with his palms.

Blinking quickly to counter the dry, stinging pain in your eyes, you quietly asked if he was crying.

“Oh, it’s, uh, ‘cuz of the smoke.” The apricot head let out an exaggerated cough and waved his hand in front of his face.

You lightly bumped his shoulder with yours. “It’s okay, you know. To cry.”

“…I know.”

After a couple of minutes, Jimin lowered his hands and placed them on the ground behind him. Wordlessly, he caught your gaze then nodded at his legs.  You pursed your lips, subtly shook your head, and adjusted your body so your forearm could rest against your knee. Jimin merely shrugged at your choice and was about to change positions when Tae made a whining noise, drowsily crawled over, and subsequently trapped the half-Saeni’s legs underneath his silver-grey head. The corner of your mouth went up as you watched Jimin squint down at the male for a few moments before letting out a stuffy snort and beginning to pat Tae’s head.

“Hey…” Hobi lightly said and you turned your head toward the spy to see his brow was furrowed. “Where’s Mingi?”

Body stiffening, you braced yourself to answer the painful question yet again but Jin gently called Hobi’s name from across the fire then sadly shook his head.

Hobi’s light brown eyes widened and he halted his movements with the knife. “Oh.”

The male sharply cursed in a whisper as you somberly looked back into the burning embers.

“Uh, Chim,” Jin hurriedly spoke up, “tell us how you closed the rift.”

Pulling your legs up toward your chest, you rested your forehead against your knees. Everyone had begun sharing their experiences from the hellish day one by one. It wasn’t pleasant hearing about what they had each gone through, and it only got worse when Jungkook was brought up. A shudder ran through your body as you remembered listening to Jin describe how he and Joon had ran into an injured and panicking Jungkook on the field. The eldest Saeni in the kiela had said he’d never seen the youngest so distraught and out of it before.

You breathed out through your nose and shut your eyes. You sometimes wondered what would have happened if you hadn’t left your position on the cliff to search for Jimin. Would Jungkook have come out of the battle unscathed? Would your best friend have been able to defeat Amarok and close the rift? Would Mingi still be alive?

You lightly banged your head on your knee twice then the vivid memory continued playing.

A branch collapsed in the fire, sending a handful of sparks into the air, as Hobi depicted the matchup between him and Yoongi versus a draikensu magic user.

“We went up against the one with purple magic,” the male shifted uncomfortably before resuming his gentle caresses on top of Yoongi’s mint-blue head.

Oh, that one. You remembered the magic user who had seemed to stare directly at you while you were on the cliff.

Hobi’s jaw clenched in the firelight as he described her magic, and you were stunned by how wicked her abilities sounded. You had reasoned she was strong from what you had seen on the cliff, but it was insane hearing how Hobi and Yoongi had struggled against her. Your brows even lifted in surprise when Hobi detailed how he had gone to deliver the final blow but was instead struck by the draikensu’s magic. A grimace appeared on the male’s face and his hand went to his side like he could feel a ghost of the pain he’d endured.

“I remember looking at hyung for a split second before I colla-”

“Fucking Exia, I thought that meeting would never fucking end.”

Immediately, all your heads swiveled over to the new yet familiar voice, and you saw Joon frozen-mid step. The leader of the kiela was staring at you, Jimin, and Tae, and he slowly brought his hand up to cover his open mouth.

“You’re okay… you’re actually oka-wait…” His yellow eyes flitted around the fire. “Where’s-”

“Medical area but he’s going to be alright,” Jin interrupted the leader with an easy smile.

At the news, Joon trailed his gaze over the group and blinked as if he was in a daze. “We all… made it?”

“Not everyone,” Tae whispered so faintly it could barely be heard over the crackling flames.

Joon’s yellow eyes narrowed then went big in realization.

You hugged yourself more securely for a minute, seeking brief comfort for the ache in your chest. Any relief you found would be temporary, though. You knew this and accepted it. There was nothing you could do to stop the memory of hazel eyes from weighing heavily on your heart, so you just let the emotions course through you.

When the dull pain finally faded, you lifted your head from your knees and opened your eyes. The morning sun was beginning to peek through the thin branches of the window and illuminate the bedroom. The pale light reminded you of Joon’s bright eyes.

You listened as the leader of the kiela explained how the surviving draikensu had been detained and were being closely watched at a separate camp nearby. They would be interviewed over the upcoming days then the king would decide what would be done with them. Originally, you would have hoped for them all to burn in hell, but the situation turned out to be more complicated than that. While some draikensu still believed in Uzjuk’s mission of chaos and death even after the god’s disappearance, there seemed to be others who had been acting against their will. Those draikensu had unknowingly fallen under Uzjuk’s influence and had become mere puppets for the god to use as he pleased.

You had no idea how the king would come to a decision for such a fucked-up situation, but you were just glad you didn’t have to worry about such things.

Cheers to not being politically important. You mentally raised an imaginary shot glass and saluted yourself.

“I also received a message from King Bang.” Joon momentarily rubbed his forehead and sighed before continuing. “He sent an order for our kiela to return to the palace.”

Jin blew out an annoyed raspberry and poked at the fire with his stick again. “Well, we can all head out in a few days once Kook is up and moving again.”

“We were told to return without delay except for Yoongi hyung who will stay to help the wounded.” The yellow-eyed Saeni lifted his tired gaze to watch the smoke whirl around in the air. “Jungkook will have to stay as well since he physically cannot go at the moment.”

You scoffed, but in the next second your jaw dropped in surprise when none of the Saeni let out similar reactions. Not even Jimin said anything against it. Your best friend just opened his mouth, hesitated, then finally conceded by hanging his head.

“You’re kidding, right?” You asked in disbelief which caused Joon to wear an apologetic expression, and you let out a cynical laugh in response. “Sweet Neptune, they can wait a few days… we just fought, for fuck’s sake!”

And Jungkook is here… I don’t want to leave him.

Hobi sleepily flipped his blade in the air then caught it. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that little scorja.”

“The king calls, you go,” Tae mumbled but his tone revealed that he obviously didn’t like the idea very much.

“Well, he’s not my damn king.”

You crossed your arms defiantly, but a small movement made you glance to the side and you saw your best friend’s shoulders weakly shaking with quiet laughter.

“How did I know you would say something like that?” he whispered to himself.

You glared at the half-Saeni before huffing and tilting your head toward the unconscious magic user on Hobi’s lap. “I can just stay here with Yoongi.”

“Ah.” Joon awkwardly coughed. “The king requested your presence as well.”

‘Requested’ my ass. You rolled your eyes while stretching out your legs and arms. More like demanded my presence for just one damn meeting.

“Stupid,” you mumbled before letting your body relax and flopping back down onto the bed.

That one, singular meeting had been exhausting. You had to explain what you’d seen, heard, and done down to the smallest detail. You were asked to repeat yourself numerous times and describe scenes you didn’t wish to recall. Then, you had to answer question after question, mostly about Amarok, Uzjuk, and the rift. It seemed like the process went on for hours. Once you’d expelled everything in your brain, you had been dismissed and were no longer “requested” to attend any meetings. The boys weren’t as lucky, though. They were being called into meetings every day since returning to the palace, which quite honestly sucked. For both them and you. You’d grown so used to being surrounded by the kiela night and day, and it was fairly jarring to suddenly be alone. It felt wrong not having them around. Simply put, you didn’t like it. On Earth, you might’ve delt with this by hunkering down on the couch and binge-watching Netflix to fill the hole, but that wasn’t exactly an option in this world. The lack of internet meant all you could do was just keep yourself as busy as possible.

The first thing you did was take up practicing with the BTS trainees every morning. Training was familiar. It was routine. Over the past couple of months, your days always began with training and you didn’t want to change that. It was also nice to see Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, and Heuning Kai again. They had all grown taller and stronger since you last saw them… but you managed to kick each of their asses every time you sparred. They never complained or sulked at the result, they were just eager and excited to train with “the disciple of the Jeon Jungkook.” The name made you snort but spending your mornings with the younger boys helped ease the loneliness you were feeling.

After exerting yourself at training, you would usually have lunch with Jiae if she was free. When she had nothing scheduled, she would wait at the edge of the training grounds with Chungha silently watching over her. Once you were finished, the lilac-haired Saeni would march over, hook her arm through yours despite your sweaty body, and drag you to the kitchen regardless of your desire to shower before eating. After arriving at the kitchen, one of the palace chefs would kindly instruct you both to sit down then inspect your appearances for a moment before grunting and starting to cook. A short wait later, edible heaven would be placed before you on a plate. Yours would always have more carbohydrates and protein than the princess’, and your sore, tired body would eagerly welcome it. As you and Jiae ate, you would talk about the boys and how annoying it was to not see them much. You also spoke of the differences between your worlds, and what you and Jimin were doing before coming to Illain. There was another topic you had been wanting to bring up. Something you wanted to apologize for. But every time you went to finally say it, you would hesitate, glance at Chungha sitting to the side, and snap your mouth closed. The guard hadn’t changed the way she interacted with you, but… how could you bring up Mingi in front of her?

You couldn’t find the courage to breach that topic just yet.

You’d also started to explore the palace grounds by yourself. There was so much you had missed out on when you first came to the palace, and you figured now was the best time to see it all. Unfortunately, you weren’t allowed to venture into the nearby village or its market due to “security reasons,” but there was still a lot within the expansive palace grounds to discover. You would blindly walk down the countless paths, hoping one of them would lead you to something captivating. So far, you’d found several courtyards with glittering streams and tiny waterfalls weaving through them, as well as a few gardens with flowers bursting with fragrance and excited little bugs buzzing around in the air. On the third day, deep in the trees, you found a collection of stalls holding some sort of unknown creature. You had been and still were curious as to what was kept inside, but the shrill hissing and reverberating growling coming from within the stalls ultimately made you keep your distance. It sounded like something that shouldn’t be fucked with, meaning you weren’t about to go poking your head in like some ditsy horror movie character. As you had warily backed away from the stalls, you saw devices similar to saddles on the walls, so you thought they might be some sort of overly aggressive horse. Whether they were only horses or not, you weren’t about to find out yourself and you reasoned you could just ask one of the kiela members if your curiosity continued.

Your favorite discovery, though, was a tiny clearing you stumbled upon while walking off the main path earlier in the week. You had been following a bubbling stream through the forest and found it ran into a small, secluded pond before spilling over in a narrow cascade and disappearing into the trees. There was a single weeping willow tree at the edge of the clear pool of water and coiled around its trunk was a vine covered in vibrant orange flowers. The area was peaceful and quiet and made you feel at ease. Somehow, you didn’t really mind being alone while you were there. It was a comfortable solitude, and you often napped curled up beneath the thin swaying branches of the weeping willow.

That was how you had been spending your days: training, eating, exploring, and relaxing. Whenever one of the boys was free from the meetings, they would join you while they could. Hobi was getting leaf messages from Yoongi about every other day, and they would usually include a small update on Jungkook’s condition. The kiela’s spy was always sure to stop by and share the news with you when he had time to spare. The two of you would talk for a while about the absent Saeni, and it commonly ended with either one or both of you showing burning cheeks and embarrassed smiles. In the mornings, Jin and Tae would sometimes join you for training. At first, it had only been your dear blue-eyed friend, but once word came that the head instructor did not survive Draikiltho, Jin began showing up too. The eldest kiela member turned out to be a great mentor, and you wondered why he never helped train you. It would’ve been a nice change of pace to be smacked with a joke rather than a glare in the wee hours of the morning on some days. With Joon, you would have pleasant conversations about what things you found around the palace grounds and he would give you suggestions of places to check out. He even promised to take you to his favorite vendor and weapon seller in the market when clearance to leave the grounds was finally given. You barely saw Jimin, but the brief moments you spent with him were remarkably normal. You would have your passionate rants about some random topic and your best friend would listen and chuckle before saying something to get you worked up even more.

The one thing you hadn’t done was tell anyone about the place you’d found with the pond and willow tree. Not even Jimin or Tae knew about it. You weren’t entirely sure why, but you kind of wanted to keep that small, calming place to yourself.

Maybe I’ll go there again today. I just have training and-SHIT! Your eyes bugged out when you noticed how much sunlight was now peeking in through the branches and you threw the covers off your body. I’m gonna be late!

An amused grin broke out on your face as you chewed on an apple slice and watched Jiae mist an orange peel in your best friend’s face. Jimin reeled back, sputtering in surprise, before trying to grab the princess. Jiae nimbly danced away from Jimin’s hands while giggling, making the half-Saeni playfully narrow his eyes.

The lilac-haired Saeni just waggled her fingers, causing Jimin to turn back to you with a sigh of defeat. “Anyways, as I was saying before I was attacked, we decided to wait until after the ceremony to make sure things are settled down.”

“It’s so weird that she’s just chilling in your head,” you quipped and went to cut off another slice from the fruit in your hand but the knife froze as you realized you had yet to greet the goddess. “Shit, um, good morning Illai!”

Jimin rubbed his temples as he listened to the voice nobody else could hear then swept his hand through his hair and grumbled out, “She says good morning to you too and she hopes you trained well today.”

“Geez, it’s even weirder that she’s watching us like a damn movie,” you whispered to yourself before flashing a quick thumbs up. “Thank you Illai, hope you have a swell day doing whatever it is you’re doing!”

Well, watching whatever it is Slim Jim is doing.

Then a thought dawned on you and your eyes flashed mischievously while you leaned closer to Jimin. “Wait, so does she watch when you and Jiae are fuc-”

“Y/NNN!” Jimin lunged forward and covered your mouth before mumbling, “It’s already uncomfortable, please don’t make it worse. And Illai please stop talking.”

You snickered and looked to the side to meet Jiae’s gaze out of curiosity, but the lilac-haired princess just shrugged.

Okay, damn girl. Maybe she’s into voyeurism.

Raising your apple and knife into the air in surrender, you waited for Jimin to move his hand, but he just blatantly ignored you while exclaiming that the atmosphere had suddenly become so quiet and peaceful. After pursing your lips for a moment, you licked the boy’s palm which caused him to pull away with a disgusted gasp. Rolling your eyes at his dramatics, you then asked when said ceremony would be.

Two nights ago, you’d spoken to Joon for a bit and he mentioned the king was planning a ceremony to honor those who’d fought and lost their lives at Draikiltho. At the time, there was no set date for the event, but you figured that must have changed.

Jimin didn’t respond to your question right away. Instead, he shared a knowing look with Jiae before beginning to smirk at you. One of your brows lifted as you scrutinized the suspicious action.

“It’ll be in a week… the same day the med facility from the field will arrive at the palace.”

Excitement pulsed through your veins and your heart pounded in anticipation as you made your way through the palace hallways with light steps and fidgeting fingers. It was quite early in the morning, but there was an unusual amount of Saeni bustling about.

You skirted to the side to avoid being run over by a very stressed-looking male and breathily laughed to yourself. It may be a magical world, but I guess they can’t escape hectic last-minute preparations either.

After a week that had lagged on and on, it was finally the day you’d been eagerly waiting for. The day you and the boys would be reunited with Jungkook and Yoongi. Although you had no clue as to when they would be arriving, a frenzy of emotions had relentlessly crashed over you throughout the entire night. The result was a fitful night’s sleep full of tossing and turning, but you somehow didn’t feel tired. Whatever weariness you would normally feel from little to no sleep was overwhelmed by the intensity of your excitation. It even made you to ignore the rare opportunity you had to sleep in since training was cancelled for the ceremony. You simply had too many thoughts to lay still in bed, and too many feelings to sit around and do nothing. So, when your internal clock had alerted you it was the usual time to get up for training, you had swiftly flipped the covers off your body to allow a surge of cool air to sharpen your senses. Your mind was wired, body itching to do something, and you had hastily racked your brain for what that something would be. Ultimately, since the training grounds were closed, you had decided eating a big breakfast was the best option.

Continuing your journey to the kitchen, you tapped your fingertips against the ruby hilt of the dagger strapped to your side.

He’s coming back today. You looked down at the blade and changed your tapping to more of a gentle pat. You only need to put up with me for a little longer.

“Little scorja!” A distant, muffled voice gasped out.

Your head lifted, and you saw Tae walking toward you while smiling around a pastry that was shoved against his lips.

“TaeTae!” You exclaimed brightly as he crammed the rest of the pastry in his mouth and skipped over.

The blue-eyed male slid to a stop beside you and gave you a light nudge accompanied by a wink. “Well, someone’s looking quite happy this morning.”

“I’m about to eat, you know how that gets me going.” You affectionately knocked your shoulder into his while reaching down to hold his hand.

He giggled and sent a sly smile your way. “I’m sure you’re just famished after last night if those red and puffy eyes are anything to go by.”

“Ah yes,” you replied dreamily while rolling your red and puffy eyes, “that’s just what every girl wants to hear in the morning.”

You weren’t entirely sure what being famished had to do with sleep deprivation but you decided it wasn’t important enough to wallow on, so you switched topics by asking what time he thought they would be arriving.

“Who?”

You gently flicked the male’s chest while rolling your eyes. “Uh, who else? Kook and Mr. Sparkle Hands.”

Slowly, Tae’s boxy grin vanished and was replaced with a look of confusion while he cocked his head to the side. “Wait, you have you not seen him?”

“Who?” You echoed the male with furrowed brows.

The Saeni nervously cleared his throat, the playfulness in his eyes evaporating into unease. “They arrived a few hours ago… Kook hasn’t gone to see you?”

You stilled, quietly absorbing the news, before withdrawing your hand from Tae’s so you could grab onto your own arm. “Oh… um, no. He hasn’t.”

The male frowned but was fast to shake his head and give you a reassuring grin. “Maybe he fell asleep! He did seem really tired at the meeting earlier.”

“Yeah… maybe.” You pressed your lips together and looked at the floor.

The bright, elated feeling in your chest began to wilt into something heavy and stinging, but before it could completely wither away, you made your brain call a timeout. Okay. Okay. Okay. He’s here… he’s been here for a few hours. And he hasn’t come to see me, but let’s not think too much into it. Tae’s right. He could be tired, still recovering, wanting to get his energy back up… Though it’s not like it takes much to do a quick check-in. Wait. He probably doesn’t even know what room I’m in… but he could’ve just asked one of the bo-

“Want me to take you to his room?” Tae’s soft voice interrupted your rambling, conflicted thoughts.

You lifted your head at the idea and parted your lips, a “yes” dancing on the edge of your tongue. Yet you couldn’t bring yourself to say it. You couldn’t remove the splinter of disappointment that was now lodged in your chest. Jungkook didn’t want to see you right now. If he did, he would have found you. The thought pushed the splinter deeper into your heart and you winced. Shaking your head at both the tiny, piercing pain and your friend, you told Tae that he was probably right and that you wouldn’t want to disturb Jungkook if he was resting.

“I… Are you sure?” The blue-eyed male tugged on his feather earring as his brows drew close together, but you didn’t say anything else. “Want to spar for a bit then? I know the training grounds are closed today, but we’re used to doing it in the forest anyway, right? Or! Or I can walk you to the garden where Yoongi hyung and Hobi hyung are!”

Sliding your hand down your arm to hold your wrist, you kept yourself from reaching for the glinting blade at your side. “Thanks TaeTae, but I’m sure Yoongi and Hobi want some alone time… and I’m actually pretty sore from training yesterday, so…” You were lying and you knew that he knew it. You could visibly see the worry plastered on the Saeni’s face, but you forced a tight smile and told him you were going to head back to your room to lay down. “It’s going to be crazy later, so I think I’m just gonna relax before getting ready for the ceremony.”

Tae’s eyes scanned your face, uncertainty consuming his features, until he gently exhaled and said he would walk you to your room.

You could easily tell Tae wanted to say something else, but he surprisingly held himself back and kept quiet. When you made it to your door, the Saeni pulled you into a hug to squish you close for several seconds. He left a light kiss to your cheek then stepped away. With a pointed look that silently told you to get him if you needed anything, the male swiveled around and strode away. You watched his receding figure until he disappeared around the corner then blew out a long puff of air and went inside your room. After the door weaved itself back together behind you, you squeezed your eyes shut and leaned against the branches. You felt somewhat empty, the hurricane of excitement from earlier now dull and washed out. A knot was also gradually forming in your stomach, the unpleasant and tight feeling reminding you that you never did make it to the kitchen and likely wouldn’t for the rest of the day. Not that you thought it would matter much. You’d lost your appetite anyway.

Pulling the fabric behind your back, you blindly formed a bow over your spine. You secured the knot while internally praying the result wasn’t too lopsided. You were never particularly good at making bows look nice and pretty. It was usually Jimin’s job to laugh at your poor attempts until he took pity and provided help. Unfortunately, the apricot head was nowhere in sight.

No Slim Jim… and no coconut-headed asshat either. You sighed and smoothed your hand over the light, gossamer-like fabric draped on your body.

The dress was long, loosely falling to your ankles, with asymmetrical bell sleeves that stopped just below your elbows. The garment was courtesy of Jiae, who had it delivered a couple days ago alongside a note specifying she had had it made for you since you didn’t have any of Illain’s custom mourning clothing. Of course, your human ass had seen “mourning” and expected black or some other dark color, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. The fabric was a pale yellow and green that was so light and soft it was reminiscent of morning sunlight peeking through tree leaves. The material was sheer but not entirely see-through, giving the dress an almost milky translucence. The neckline stopped at your collarbones, allowing your silver necklace to be displayed. You would have been feeling graceful if not for the worn boots that were laced over your feet. They roughed up the entire look, but you merely shrugged before tugging them on. They were the only footwear you had since you didn’t know what had happened to your sneakers after you’d switched shoes during your first visit to the palace.

At least they’re comfy and won’t make me suffer. You gently knocked one boot against the other.

“Unlike some people,” you mumbled as you plopped down on your bed.

You still hadn’t seen Jungkook, or rather, Jungkook still hadn’t come to see you. You had been holed up in your room since the morning, not wanting to leave in case he showed up but… he never did.

Blowing out a raspberry, you hung your head and allowed yourself exactly ten seconds of moping before slapping your hands against your thighs and standing back up. Stepping over to the table in the corner, you picked up Jungkook’s dagger and its sheath.

Thankfully the brown leather will match the boots. You slipped the belt around your waist just below the bow at your back.

Just as you were threading the strap through the buckle, a short rap came from your door. Your fingers froze while your head darted up and your breath got caught in your throat. Hastily crossing the room, you tightly gripped the leather in your hands as your heart swelled with hope. But as the door’s branches untwisted, you came face to face with a lilac-haired princess instead of your boyfriend. Your chest twinged but you swallowed down the disappointment to smile at the female.

“Hey Jiae-whoa.” You openly gawked at her dress because it was seriously fancy.

Like yours, it was a pale yellow and green, but it was more elaborate and detailed with embellishments, sparkling jewels, and an airy cape that covered her otherwise bare shoulders.

“Ah… yeah…” She followed your gaze to her dress and pulled at the fabric of her cape with a tiny roll of her eyes. “It’s excessive, I know, but it’s what comes with being a princess.”

“Sure, it’s excessive, but you look good as hell.” You nodded approvingly as you moved to finish buckling the dagger to your body. “Slim Jim’s nose is gonna bleed… if it hasn’t already, that is.”

The female’s nose scrunched. “His nose… is going to… bleed?”

“It’s a good thing, I promise.” You smirked then casually leaned against the doorframe and crossed your ankles. “So, what brings you here? I would’ve thought you’d already be in the ceremony room.”

“I’m about to head there, but I wanted to see if you would like to walk down together?” Jiae asked with kind eyes and a hopeful smile.

You blinked in surprise. “You’re actually asking and not just dragging me there?”

“Hey! Don’t make it sounds like I kidnap you for our lunch dates!”

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding.” You laughed, pushed off the frame, and took a step forward so your door would weave itself back together. “Let’s go then.”

You forced yourself to not look down at the ruby gemstone on the dagger as you shoved your desire to have Jungkook be the one to pick you up and take you to the ceremony to the far recesses of your mind. You had been wishing for Jungkook to show up all day. You had been waiting for him. But no more. You still desperately wanted to see him, hold him, kiss him… but you refused to sit around and twiddle your thumbs for another minute.

The princess beamed at you then hooked her arm through yours to begin leading you down the hallway. A few doors down, Chungha was watching you both approach with her usual serious expression. She was also wearing pale yellow and green, but in contrast to you and Jiae’s delicate and nearly sheer fabric, her outfit was thick and armored. As she started to walk beside Jiae, you pressed your lips together and gave the female guard a polite nod which she returned. Meeting Chungha’s eyes made your guilt flare up again, though, so you quickly averted your gaze and swallowed hard. Taking a shaky, deep breath, you rolled your shoulders to try to rid yourself of the tension while the three of you strolled toward the ceremony room. Minutes and corridors passed by, but none of you spoke. The event you were going to wasn’t exactly something to giggle excitedly about. Instead, the only sounds came from you and Chungha’s boots thumping against the wooden floor and Jiae’s low humming. Eventually, you found yourself in the midst of other Saeni also heading to the ceremony, and you merged into their yellow and green stream that was filled with hushed murmurs.

A short while later, you were finally entering the room hosting the ceremony. The space was like the throne room you had seen the first time you entered the palace, with spaced out trees serving as the walls and swaying leaves creating an open-air roof. The difference was this room was bigger and more spacious. Plus, there was a huge, blazing fire in the middle of the room that was sending swirling tufts of white smoke through the leaves. All around you, there was an abundance of light. Not only was the fire burning brightly, but the sun shone through the gaps between the tree trunks and full leaves, and there were also multitudes of lanterns hanging from the branches that casted a soft glow throughout the room. Altogether, it created a stunning blend of shifting lights and shadows. The room was crowded too. So many Saeni, all wearing pale yellow and green, were already packed into the space and were milling about.

A small tug on your arm made your feet come to a stop, and then Jiae was speaking into your ear about how she needed to go find her father. Before moving away, she also said she believed the boys should be toward the far side of the room if you wanted to look for them. You half-smiled in understanding and she tenderly touched your shoulder before pulling away and following Chungha into the sea of Saeni.

You stood still for a minute, just taking in the atmosphere surrounding you. Breathing deeply, you tilted your head back and stared at the treetops gently moving back and forth.

Alright. You blew out a long exhale and releveled your gaze. Let’s go find the boys.

Suddenly, your palms grew sweaty at the prospect of seeing Jungkook. You were nervous, antsy, and worried about how you would interact. Would things be normal? Would they be different? Were you completely overthinking it all? A small part of you was even tempted to hide and avoid the encounter. But you also wanted to see Yoongi. And you really did want to see Jungkook, you were just a little jittery. Chastising yourself, you told your brain to pull up its big girl panties and get itself together.

The other side of the room. You recalled Jiae’s words and went on your tippy toes to try to see over the crowed for any glimpse of the kiela, but you couldn’t make out much. It was like being at the very back of the pit during a concert and having several people shift into your line of sight. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really, but it still made you want to grit your teeth in frustration. With a huff, you brought your heels back to the floor and plunged into the throng of Saeni. Blindly, you began to work your way towards the opposite end of the very large room. While shouldering your way through the crowd as politely as you could, you kept trying to get a peek of the kiela members, but you weren’t having any luck.

You were craning your neck and standing on your toes for yet another mostly obscured scan of the room when someone bumped into your side. It wasn’t a hard hit by any means, but the angle of the contact made you stumble. You internally sighed, knowing you were either about to fall on your ass or into an unsuspecting Saeni, when hands miraculously grasped your shoulders and kept you upright. Steadying your feet and letting out a relieved breath, you looked over to thank your savior, but the words got stuck when you recognized the Saeni. You’d interacted with him only once before, and you didn’t know if you could really count exchanging punches and kicks as an interaction, but you still remembered the male’s face and how his originally shy smile had turned serious.

Narrowing your gaze at the Saeni, you cleared your throat and lifted your chin. “You.”

The male, whose name was Yoo Yong-something, stared at you then flashed you that damn shy smile. “Um, do I know you?”

“You kicked my ass at the sparring matches. The ones with Jeon Jungkook officiating. I’d like a rematch.”

Recognition finally flickered in the male’s eyes and he let go of your shoulders. “Ah! That’s why you look familiar. Sorry I didn’t remember you at first, my mind was kind of overwhelmed with the Jeon Jungkook being there that day. He’s a freaking legend.”

Yeah, a legendary pain in the ass. You rolled your eyes at the return of the asshat’s ridiculous fanclub as Saeni continued to shift and move all around you.

“But sure, we can have a rematch if you want.” The male crossed his arms over his chest and studied you briefly. “Though the outcome will be the same as last time.”

You only hummed thoughtfully and gave him a once-over in response, but the sound contained such a sharp edge that the male blinked in surprise. You smirked at his reaction then morphed your lips into a genuine grin. “Thanks for catching me by the way.”

Before he could say anything else, you pivoted on your heel and began to move away while calling over your shoulder, “Well, I’ll see you around soon then. I’m looking forward to our rematch!”

You dove back into the crowd and continued your search for the “legend” and the other boys. To your right, the fire was snapping loudly. Above you, the lanterns swayed, and the leaves rustled soothingly. All around you, conversations at respectful volumes floated into the air. And up ahead, after somehow breaking into a less populated area of the room, was what appeared to be a refreshment table. It was lined with small snacks on tiered plates and tall silver pitchers were next to stemmed glasses. The sight of food made your stomach grumble, and you were reminded that you hadn’t eaten anything all day. After a moment of contemplation, you decided it was worthwhile to give the spread a quick inspection. You approached the table and scanned its contents but unfortunately none of the dainty finger foods or fancily decorated desserts called out “Eat me! Eat me!”

Dammit. Is a singular mini corn dog too much to ask for?

While you pouted and wished for some simple fried comfort food, a Saeni passed you to snatch up one of the silver pitchers at the end of the table. You watched, mouth suddenly going dry, as they poured a clear liquid into a glass, downed the drink in three big gulps and a hiccup, then poured another glassful before shuffling away.

Water is better than nothing, I guess. Smacking your lips together, you moved down the table, selected a glass, then picked up a pitcher.

“I wouldn’t recommend the viitulx unless you want to numb yourself to reality.” A voice filled with warning came from across the table.

Your actions halted and you lifted your head to see a merlot-haired Saeni regarding you with soft eyes.

“Yugyeom!”

“Hi there, Y/N.” The male’s lips twitched at the corners before he put his hand over yours to gently guide the pitcher back to the table. “It’s one of the strongest alcohols in Illain. Believe me when I say it will put you on your ass.”

You frowned at the pitcher and its clear contents. “I thought it was water.”

Yugyeom withdrew his hand and said you wouldn’t be finding any water at the ceremony. Tilting your head, you tried to piece together why there wouldn’t be any water, but he didn’t elaborate so you ultimately just accepted the information. As you pushed the pitcher back to where you’d found it, Yugyeom trekked around the table to your side and held his arm out toward you. You blankly stared at his arm for several seconds until he thrust it toward you a little more. Finally, you got that he was wanting to do that forearm grasp greeting thing you’d seen the boys do before. Making a noise of realization, you belatedly slapped your hand against the male’s forearm while he suppressed an amused chuckle and told you how nice it was to see you again.

“You, too. I’m really glad you’re okay Yugyeom.” You looked at him sincerely and noticed the violet in his hair stood out more vibrantly against the color of the mourning clothes.

“I heard that Kook was injured…” The easy-going expression on the male’s face faltered for a moment before he let out a soft laugh. “But I’m sure he healed up fast, right? Nothing can keep that bastard down for long.”

All you did was slowly move your head in agreement, feeling somewhat awkward since you actually didn’t know how Jungkook had healed besides what Yoongi had written in his messages.

“You know, I’m actually surprised he isn’t with you.” The Saeni stepped back and his eyes dropped to your waist. “Especially since you have that damn dagger of his strapped to your side.”

Resisting the urge to tap the handle of the weapon, you instead toyed with the frabric of your dress. “I, ah, just haven’t had the chance to return it to him yet.”

I mean, that is the truth.

“Heh, have you two been that busy?” Yugyeom chortled to himself then looked at you curiously. “Tell me, did he finally choke you properly?”

Now that made you choke on your own spit, which in turn made you cough and gasp for air. “You-You think I haven’t given him back his dagger ‘cuz we’ve been too busy canoodling!?”

“Well, I’m not wrong, am I?”

“As a matter of fact, you are. I, um…” Your voice trailed off and you gripped at the fabric under your hands. “I actually haven’t seen him since that day. Since Draikiltho.”

“Didn’t he arrive at the palace this morning?”

You flashed him your best finger gun alongside a self-deprecating laugh. “That’s a bingo.”

As Yugyeom’s brows knit together, a Saeni with swollen eyes quietly excused himself past you to reach for the viitulx. You slid out of the Saeni’s way and turned back to Yugyeom, who was studying you. The male silently looked at you for a couple heartbeats, sort of making you feel fidgety, before randomly saying there were some people he wanted to introduce you to.

“We can ask if they’ve seen Kook or the other members of your kiela too.”

A warmth rapidly spread across your chest. Your kiela. The thought had the corners of your lips turning up, and Yugyeom must have seen it since his own eyes softened.

“Okay then.” You motioned for him to move while trying to calm your happy heart. “Lead the way.”

He took your wrist in his hand and pulled you back into the dense crowd. A couple minutes later, you were standing beside Yugyeom with a group of six males before you.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Y/N,” Yugyeom called out to the males to get their attention then gestured toward them as he spoke to you. “Y/N, this my kiela.”

Surprised, you jostled him with your arm. “Hey, I didn’t know you had a kiela.”

“Who you got there Yugyeom?” A male with long, icy blue hair asked with narrowed eyes but an intrigued tone.

Another Saeni with olive-colored orbs that were glinting teasingly slug his arm over the blue-haired male’s shoulders. “Wow, is it finally the day he has us meet a girlfriend? I’m not going to lie, though, it’s kind of a bad event to do it at.”

“Shit, do we need to act over-protective?” A bleach-blonde head started to panic but then he caught sight of your face and looked at you funnily.

“No way.” The male with short pink hair denied as his gaze stopped on the dagger at your side. “She seems too badass to be with him.”

The last two males didn’t say anything, just trailed both their deep red eyes over you in a way that made you feel like you were being thoroughly inspected.

“Um, hi? I’m Y/N, nice to meet you all.” You habitually raised your hand to wave but cursed and hastily placed your thumb over your chest and drew it down.

“Well, that was weird,” the pink-haired one muttered with an openly judgmental look.

“The rude one there is BamBam,” Yugyeom informed you, causing BamBam to send you a wink accompanied by a finger salute.

“My name is Mark.” The olive-eyed male used his free arm to perform the greeting gesture.

The rest of the group introduced themselves one by one. Youngjae and Jinyoung were the males with red eyes, and it was Jackson with the bleach-blonde hair. Finally, the icy-haired male stepped forward and dragged his thumb down in his chest and said his name was Jaebeom. Politely smiling, you shifted your gaze over each male while mentally matching them with their names.

Beside you, Yugeyeom cracked his knuckles. “Alright, now that that’s out of the way, have any of you see-”

“Ughhhh, I just can’t believe she doesn’t recognize us!” Jackson suddenly wailed, interrupting the merlot-haired Saeni.

You peered at the now sullen male. “I’m sorry? Am I supposed to…?”

“Yes!”

At a complete loss, you glanced at Yugyeom but he mirrored your look of confusion.

“Jackson, Youngjae, and I have briefly encountered you before,” Jinyoung offered helpfully… but it still didn’t ring any bells.

That must be why the three of them were looking at me oddly.

You squinted at the three males to try to place where you had supposedly met them before, but you kept drawing blanks, so you could only wince apologetically. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I really don’t remember.”

Jackson gasped and looked downright offended while Youngjae sighed and added, “You were with Namjoon’s kiela. We stopped you right outside the palace grounds a few months ago.”

A hazy memory came to mind. A small group of Saeni had indeed stopped you and the boys. One of them had blonde hair and Hobi said something about training with him in the past. You couldn’t remember the faces or names, but if it was a blonde then you figured it must have been Jackson.

Sheepishly, you told them that was all you recalled.

“Aha! You do remember me!”

Jinyoung slapped Jackson on the back. “Congratulations. She remembers your hair.”

“And probably only because you were the one who spoke,” Youngjae quipped dryly.

“Whatever. It counts.”

Their banter made you stifle a laugh. It reminded you of your boys and their crazy antics, yet you didn’t linger on the thought for long, instead refocusing on Yugyeom’s kiela because there was one thing you were wondering about.

“Why weren’t you with Yugyeom at the field?” You asked to none of the males in particular.

BamBam let out an annoyed exhale. “You could say we weren’t invited.”

“Er, sort of,” Jaebeom said shyly before explaining they had been told to stay back to protect the palace and village in case any draikensu showed up. Yugyeom, though, had been ordered to go with the troops because of his speed and endurance.

“Our Yugyeom is perfect for being a messenger boy.” BamBam strolled up to said male and tickled his fingers under Yugyeom’s jaw, making the Saeni squirm away in agitation.

“So, Y/N…” Mark abruptly yet coyly said, making you hum questioningly. “How’d you start dating our sprout?”

You blanched. They actually think we’re dating!?

Luckily, Yugyeom pushed BamBam away and saved you from having to clarify your mutually platonic relationship yourself.

“Oh my goddess, we are not dating! I met her right before Draikiltho, and she’s actually with Jungkook, so please don’t say that again or he will try to kill me.”

Understanding dawned on the males’ faces and some of them even had the audacity to look at you aghast, as if they couldn’t believe it. You just raised a brow, daring them to say something about you or your boyfriend.

Jackson whistled and jerked his chin toward you. “So that’s Jungkook’s dagger then? I knew I had seen it somewhere before.”

“Yeah yeah, it is,” Yugyeom answered for you in a dismissive tone. “Anyway, have any of you seen that bastard? Y/N hasn’t seen him since the field, and I would like to be the one to kickstart their beautiful reunion.”

“You haven’t seen him at all?” Jinyoung asked.

Grimacing, you told the males that Jungkook had been injured at Draikiltho so he hadn’t returned to the palace with you. Then, even though he had finally arrived at the palace this morning, you still hadn’t seen him once.

BamBam suddenly snorted, drawing your attention, and he gazed at you pitifully. “You got deciduoued.”

The other males whipped their heads in BamBam’s direction to send him warning glares. A couple of them even whispered at him to shut up.

Meanwhile, you just blinked at him and cocked your head to the side. “I got Dewey Decimal what now?”

“Deciduoued.” The pink-hiared male ignored his kiela and gave you an incredulous look when you continued to blink at him. “As is deciduous? Like the trees that shed their leaves? How have you never heard of this?” He scoffed at you in astonishment while you frowned at his attitude.

Considering I am from another world and don’t have an extensive list of horticulture terms in my chickpea brain, it’s pretty fucking reasonable I haven’t heard of this.

You were about to tell the male off when the meaning of the word registered and caused you to stiffen.

Shedding leaves? Don’t tell me this is… Saeni slang for ghosting? Is Jungkook… ghosting me?

At the same time you bit your lip at the possibility, Jaebeom strode over and smacked BamBam upside the head while Yugyeom elbowed him in the gut.

BamBam promptly whined and rubbed his side, and Yugyeom turned to you and told you to disregard the male. “He’s just an asshole sometimes.”

You released hollow chuckle and were about to reply that you could deal with BamBam. He wasn’t the only asshole you knew, after all. Yet before you could say so, a loud chime-like sound flooded the the air. You perked up as a hush fell around the room in the chime’s wake. The Saeni started to move, and you could just barely make out them leaving a wide circle open around the fire. Then, little by little, everyone’s attention turned toward the side of the room you had been trying to get to. Following suit, you also looked over. Through the heads and shoulders, you could see King Bang standing on a platform of sorts with Jiae at his side.

The king, outfitted in yellow and green armor, took a step forward. “Three weeks ago, there was a morning that was not kissed by light. Rather, it was a morning tainted by blood and death. Many lives… too many lives… were lost that morning. We are here to honor those lives.

“Tonight, we pray to our mother goddess, Illai, to tenderly watch over the Saeni from that morning. Tonight, we thank Exia for giving those Saeni the courage to fight and the will to protect who and what they love.

“Every Saeni who has met the mother goddess because of Draikiltho will be named. Those that wish to honor them may do so.” The king extended his hand toward the fire roaring in the center of the room before lowering it. “There will also be fires outside if you prefer a more private setting.”

The king then called for one, cohesive prayer to begin the ceremony. While he and Jiae bowed their heads, all the other Saeni shifted to face the fire. Yugyeom gently guided you to do the same with his fingers. You held your breath, waiting for what would come next. The entire room seemed to go stagnant. None of the Saeni moved. The breeze died down, the leaves went motionless, the lanterns stopped swaying. All was still except for the snapping flames licking at the warm air.

Then…

“To our Saeni, who lived and fought bravely and are now resting with the mother goddess!” The king’s voice loudly resonated throughout the space and drove the world back into motion.

The Saeni echoed his words with passionate shouts, many of them even throwing their heads back to scream it into the sky that was visible through the tree branches. Once the remnants of their voices were carried away by the wind, the Saeni lowered their heads and began to murmur under their breath. Inhaling deeply through your nose, you closed your eyes and repeated the king’s words as a whisper while feeling your chest pinch with emotion.

You stayed that way for some time, just emitting as much gratitude as you could, before Jiae’s light voice soothed over the room. “We will begin the individual prayers in a few minutes.”

Slowly, the Saeni lifted their heads and started to move. A large portion of the crowd dispersed, spilling out between the gaps of the tree trunks and toward what you assumed were the fires outside. Craning your neck and shifting your weight from side to side, you once again tried to spot the boys through the crisscrossing bodies.

“Yugyeom?” You heard BamBam approach and you glanced over while trying to keep your footing against all the moving Saeni.

“Yeah?” the merlot-haired Saeni replied with wary eyes and blocked his throat with his hand.

“You said you were looking for Jungkook?”

Yugyeom apprehensively dropped his hand. “Yes…?”

“To the right of the dais by maybe seventeen steps.” With that, BamBam met your gaze, gave you a small nod, and wandered back to his other members.

As the males started razzing him, your head swiveled to the right of where the king and Jiae were still standing and began to search. Filtering through the faces and modge-podge rainbow of hair colors, your eyes carefully scanned the area… and saw a glimpse of apricot-orange next to mint-blue.

In the next second, you could see the entire kiela. None of them were wearing armor and it was almost shocking to see them sans weapons, but it was them without a doubt. A small gasp came from your lips and your heart thudded and skipped when you locked onto Jungkook’s profile. Maybe you were only imagining it, but you could feel your nape tingling and growing warm too. Scouring your eyes over his figure, you exhaled a relieved sigh that he no longer looked hurt. He was back to standing in that infuriatingly cocky yet intimidating way of his. You wished you could see his stupidly cute smile and his bright, glittering eyes, but the angle didn’t allow you to see his face very well. You did, however, that his jaw was clenched in what seemed like a scowl.

I’ve been on the receiving end of his glare enough times to know when he isn’t pleased… but why is he upset?

You watched as his hands formed fists and he walked away from his brothers to disappear into the crowd, making Yoongi throw his hands into the air in frustration. Without thinking, your foot lifted off the floor and your body readied itself to go after Jungkook, but you paused. You didn’t know where he went and had no idea where he was going. Not to mention, the other boys were right there.

Kookie’s made me wait this long to see him, so now he can wait until I’m finished seeing the other boys. You decided somewhat pettily.

“Let me know if you need me to kick his ass later.”

You tore your gaze from the kiela to side-eye Yugyeom skeptically.

“What!?” His jaw dropped in shock as if he’d been betrayed. “I could totally kick his ass!”

“Mhmm. That sparring session I witnessed says otherwise,” you deadpanned.

The Saeni grumbled then dismally told you to get going before the ceremony started back up. After thanking the male for his help, you cracked a smile when he made you promise to organize a hangout between both kielas. Peeking over Yugyeom’s shoulder, you waved to the rest of his kiela and let out a small laugh at how Jackson was shaking his fists at you in encouragement. Then, you turned around, gave the ruby gemstone on Jungkook’s dagger a light tap, and started making your way over to the boys.

You squeezed through Saeni, bumped into a handful more, and tripped over a few stray feet, but you finally found yourself closing in on the kiela. You were weaving between several more Saeni when you saw Tae’s face light up and he began pushing his way through the crowd while lightly calling your name. He moved fast, getting to you in no time to excitedly sweep you into a hug. Rocking you back and forth and not caring if he knocked into other Saeni as he did so, the male gushed about how beautiful you looked. Humming in content, you leaned back and squished his cheeks between your palms. You giggled at his smooshed face as the ends of his grey hair tickled your fingers despite his trademark headband still resting above his forehead. Wordlessly, Tae reached up to grab one of your hands and tugged you through the Saeni to the kiela. When you were a few yards out from his brothers, you pulled yourself from Tae’s grasp and rushed over to Yoongi, who was trying to act nonchalant and like he wasn’t totally watching your approach out of the corner of his eye. Hurrying over and waving at the other boys as they happily greeted you, you threw your arms around Yoongi. The male’s petal pink eyes widened in surprise and he even tried to raise his hands to ward off your sudden attack, but there was no real intent behind the movement as you easily enveloped him.

“I missed you, Mr. Sparkle Hands.”

“Well, I didn’t miss you,” he said grouchily but then wrapped his own arms tightly around you. After a couple seconds of peaceful silence, he whispered in your ear, “You’re going to need to talk to him. He’s being a fucking idiot.”

You sighed into his shoulder, not needing to ask who he was talking about.

“I will later,” you whispered back, “Once the ceremony is over, I’ll find him.”

Yoongi grunted in acknowledgement and rubbed your back twice before separating from you to let Jimin hug you from the side. As the apricot head heavily draped himself over you and dropped one of his arms to poke at your ribs, you breathed out comfortably and surveyed the kiela. It was still jarring not seeing them with their weapons or armor, but they were all here and they were safe. Instead of being prepared to fight and wreck anyone who stood in their way, they were empty-handed and dressed in casual shirts and loose-fitting pants that were tucked into their boots. It was a different but nice change to see.

Blocking Jimin’s next poke without looking, you hooked your elbow around his and grinned at everyone. “The gang’s all here… Mostly.”

“Idiot.” You heard Yoongi mumble while your best friend muttered something about running out of Spongebob references one day.

Simultaneously, Namjoon winced at the reminder of Jungkook’s absence while the other members tried to hide their grimaces. You knew exactly how they felt. It didn’t feel right without the youngest member of the kiela. It made your fingers twitch and your senses more alert. Tempted your eyes to scan your surroundings for enemies. Tricked your mind into thinking it was the night after the battle when you were emotionally and physically drained but so scared and on edge that you couldn’t rest. Fighting back a shiver, you ran your hands down your dress. It was obviously doing no good for you or the boys to dwell on the lack of the asshat’s presence, especially when it was his choice to not be here, so you decided to forcefully change the topic.

You jabbed your elbow into your best friend’s ribs. “So, did your nose bleed when you saw Jiae?”

The half-Saeni wheezed, though you weren’t sure whether it was from your hit or question. Jimin deliberately looked away as you waited for an answer, causing Tae to snicker and his blue eyes to flash naughtily. This made Jimin dart his head toward his brother and subtly shake his head.

The blue-eyed male payed no mind to the plead, instead turning to you cheerfully and declaring, “His nose didn’t bleed but something else sure made its presence known!”

Something else?

…

…

.. OH.

You gaped at the now blushing apricot head before saying his name in the most “scandalized” tone you could muster. While your willpower barely kept your laughter at bay, the announcement rippled through the kiela with varying degrees of reactions.

“I don’t want any more sprouts!” Jin cried out, earning a few looks from bystanders, and Namjoon simply pinched the bridge of his nose. The eldest of the kiela then pointed at Jimin’s crotch with a fearful expression. “I don’t care that Yoongi makes us that potion, make sure you keep that thing in your pants. Kookie alone is enough to deal with.”

Knees growing weak, you had to smack a hand over your mouth to muffle your cackle while Yoongi looked unimpressed and Hobi just coughed into his fist and casually shifted a couple inches away from the group. A whine rose into the air and Jimin begged for you all to stop with flushed ears. Lucky for him, he was saved from more teasing by the same chime sound from before softly ringing throughout the room, causing you and all the Saeni to quickly quiet down and redirect your attention to the dais.

After a few moments, King Bang’s voice once again took over the room. “Every Saeni who was lost to Draikiltho will be remembered and revered until the day our trees are uprooted from the earth and our sun goes into a permanent slumber… but because of their courage, that day will not arrive in this liftetime! We will cry their names to the setting sun! We will sing of their valor to the treetops! We will make them feel our recognition even as they rest with the mother goddess!”

The king took a moment to calm his voice and you leaned forward on your toes.

“All who were present that day were vital to our prevail over darkness. But there were a select few who’s daring actions and selfless spirits directly influenced our victory and allowed us all to continue feeling the sun’s warmth. Let us honor them first.”

A plume of sparks went up in your peripherals right as King Bang raised his chin.

“Kim ‘Suho’ Junmyeon!”

Your body jerked, muscles involuntarily spasming at the name. You scarcely registered that Jiae was stepping down from the dais and that Chungha was following as the princess strode to the fire. Hardly noticed that the kiela was also moving. Your vision was only filled with the recollection of a twisting blade and eyes becoming dull and glossy.

“Little scorja?”

Blinking, you refocused on the room and saw Namjoon looking back at you, waiting. The rest of the kiela were already heading toward the fire, but the yellow-eyed male stood still and sadly smiled in a way that said he understood and was there with you.

Then he lifted his hand out to you. “It’s okay. Come on.”

Exhaling, you took his hand and Namjoon began to lead you through the crowd. Once you finally broke through the circle of Saeni surrounding the fire, the male let go of your hand as you both joined his brothers in front of the flames. Sweltering heat thrummed out from the burning wood in constant waves, making your skin feel like it would surely be scorched if you went any closer. Peering side to side, you saw Jiae and Chungha standing before the fire as well as several other Saeni you didn’t know. Many of them were in the same guard uniform as Chungha too. Tilting your head, you followed the dense smoke whirling above you and listened to the leaves tremble in the breeze.

“To Suho, who lived and fought bravely and is now resting with the mother goddess!”

Sucking in air through your teeth, you shouted the words back alongside everyone else in your small, separated circle around the fire. Lowering your gaze to the sizzling embers, you rubbed your thumb over the ruby gemstone at your side and remembered the guard.

In a soft voice, you spoke, “I know Namjoon said that sometimes there’s nothing we can do, but I’m still sorry for not being able to save you. Thank you for fighting with us, and I hope you’ve been able to rest peacefully.”

A minute later, the group honoring the guard broke apart and you all returned to the crowd. Despite the warm air flowing through the open walls, you felt a chill go through you as you followed the boys and left the roaring fire behind.

King Bang then called two other names in succession, and while you didn’t recognize them, Jimin went to the fire with guilt and regret in his light brown eyes for each one. You reasoned they must have been Saeni who had escorted him to the rift. Your assumption was proven correct when the next name called included ‘Stem.’

You didn’t hesitate this time. Immediately, you joined Jimin and pushed through the fire with him. Standing beside your best friend, you repeated the commemorating phrase with a yell. The memory of the male’s life bleeding out as a consequence of your fingers made you flinch, but you steadied yourself and told Stem that you finished the favor he had asked of you. You had helped and saved your friend, and you had only been able to do so because of him.

“Thank you for helping me.”

Two more names came after you went back to the kiela, and you watched as Jimin honored them both. Your best friend returned with stiff limbs and languid breaths. You reached for him, ready to offer whatever comfort you could provide…

But then the name came that was like a jagged stake to your heart.

“Song Mingi.”

All your movements froze, the ache you had grown familiar with blooming once more in your chest, before you squeezed your eyes tightly shut and slowly counted to three. Opening your eyes, you then marched toward the fire with the entire kiela on your heels. A glance sideways confirmed Jiae and Chungha were both at the fire again, but you moved your gaze off them quickly. You still couldn’t bear to look at Chungha. Especially not right now. As Tae and Jimin settled on either side of you, you noticed a group of males gathered on the other side of the fire as well. Half of them were blocked from view by the dancing flames, but for some reason, your eyes locked onto those you could see and wouldn’t look away. The males held on to each other, grief overtaking their faces in the glowing, flickering light. Their eyes welling up with tears and lips quivering.

“To Mingi, who lived and fought bravely and is now resting with the mother goddess!”

Without pause, you repeated the king’s words and they erupted from your throat in a scream. It was a wild sound full of remorse but also respect and gratitude. It blended with the Saeni’s shouts and the smoke to soar past the leaves and into the sky. The aching in your chest panged as everyone’s voices scattered in the wind and your fingers automatically shifted, searching out Jungkook’s dagger. Breathing out with tensed muscles when your fingertips touched the warming gemstone, you continued watching the group across the fire. Strangely, you didn’t feel compelled to whisper to the hazel-eyed Saeni even as you could faintly hear the kiela doing so. Illai had said Mingi would only know peace now, and you didn’t want to bother him with more of your dreary apologies. Instead, an idea began to form in your mind as you stared at the unknown group of males and how they were sniffling and struggling to keep themselves together.

I don’t know who they are or who they were to you, Mingi, but you are obviously very important to them… so I’m willing to bet they are just as important to you.

The prayer for Mingi ended, yet you didn’t go back with the boys. Rather, you hurried around the blazing fire and toward the group of males. You trailed after them, trying to catch up without making a scene as the king announced the next Saeni to honor. Some of the males had their heads down and were stumbling, but they moved fast, and it took you nearly a minute to reach them.

“Um, excuse me?” You tentatively stretched your arm out to the closest one but wavered just before you touched their back.

Although you didn’t make physical contact with the male, he must have sensed your proximity because he abruptly stopped. This in turn made the others in the group come to halt one by one, and then they all turned around.

You faltered slightly at their broken expressions but stammered out, “M-Mingi saved my life. He sacrificed himself to save my life. I’m still here only because of him and-”

The tallest Saeni in the middle of the pack suddenly sobbed into his hand. His whole body shuddered, and his red eyes grew glassy before he placed the palm of his free hand over his forehead to hide his face.  He took a shaky step backwards, then spun around and hastily raced away. In a heartbeat, most of the other males went after him. All except for two. The shorter male left had strawberry-red hair, and the other was a dirty blonde with one side shaved.

What did I just do? You moved to cover your mouth, shocked by the insensitivity of your own words.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just thought you deserved to know.”

You poured all the sincerity you could into your apology, feeling so ashamed of yourself. You approached them thinking Mingi would appreciate you checking in on them… but here you were making them hurt and cry even more.

“Thank you,” the strawberry head replied somberly but there was no anger lacing his tone. “We’re all taking it hard, but Yunho… Yunho is taking it the worst.”

The male shifted, misery etched on his features, and the blonde male clenched his jaw and glared at the floor while yells rose into the air behind you.

“If you… if you ever want to talk or know more about what happened…”

I want to be there for you. For Mingi. And this is the only way I can think of doing that right now.

The shorter male sharply inhaled, and his companion was quick to place a steadying hand on his back.

Sniffling loudly, the strawberry-haired Saeni raised a knuckle and bit down on it which made his eyes clearer. “I think that might be good for us, just…”

“Not right now,” you finished for him gently, acknowledging the shit timing.

The male sent you a sad, miniscule smile, and you told them your name and to find you whenever they were ready.

“Thank you, Y/N.” The strawberry head lowered his head slightly as the other male guided him to pivot his feet.

Then they left, and all the sudden it felt like the wind was knocked out you. Your arms went around your middle and your breathing picked up and went uneven as your shoulders heaved. When your throat started to constrict, you briskly pushed through the Saeni to get back to the boys.

Just as your lungs were becoming too tight, the kiela came in sight.

Jin perked up at your arrival. “We were wondering where you we-oh shit.” The male’s dark eyes bugged out at your distraught appearance.

“Y/N?” Jimin hurried to your side and pulled you against his chest.

You were also smothered from behind and the worried noises you heard told you it was none other than Tae sandwiching you. Your head turned to the side, and you saw Hobi’s gaze narrow and flit around as his hands traveled over his front. The white-haired Saeni looked down confused before he sighed and leaned over to whisper in Yoongi’s ear. Whatever he said made the magic user’s face twist. Consequently, Yoongi called Namjoon and Jin over as Jimin and Tae continued trying to calm you down. You felt a little better being held by both of your closest friends, but the entire situation was becoming too much. The memories, the guilt, the hurt, the disappointment. They had been building and building and you felt like they were about to spray out like an over shaken soda bottle any second.

You breathed deeply, trying to screw the cap on over your emotions more securely, when Namjoon trotted over and instructed you to follow him. Both Jimin and Tae unwrapped themselves from you and while the latter switched to holding your hand, your best friend told you to grab onto the back of his shirt. The apricot head began to trail after his leader and other kiela members, safely towing you and Tae through the crowd until you exited the room between the tree trunks. You nearly stumbled at the sudden openness and gasped at how it instantly helped you breathe easier, but the spaciousness also allowed your tears to well up and begin rolling down your cheeks.

Pouting, Tae came close and wiped them away with his sleeves while you clutched at Jimin’s shirt.

I want Kookie.

Tae studied you as he dried your tears. “Does anyone see Kook?” he asked his brothers, as if he could read your mind.

The kiela did a quick three-sixty, looking around the Saei, trees, and visible fires, but nobody spotted the burgundy head. With a tired groan, Yoongi stalked over and nudged Jimin and Tae out of the way so that he could place his hands on your shoulders. The magic user swiftly turned you around and began to steer you through the trees from behind. He guided you down the first path you came across, past countless occupied fires, and under the shade and sunlight until he found an empty fire to his liking. Leading you off the path to where it was warm and out of the smoke, Yoongi pushed down so you were forced to sit. In the next second, Tae situated himself beside you. He stayed silent, just being there for you as you leaned into him and slowly settled down now that you were away from the commotion. Meanwhile, once they were satisfied you were going to be okay, the boys made a loose circle around the fire and started to honor more Saeni.

Several prayers went by and you kept hearing quiet whispering by your head, so you mumbled, “You should go and honor those you need to TaeTae.”

“Don’t you worry about me, little scorja.” His voice contained a smile and he shifted to lightly poke your cheek. “I can honor them all just fine from right here.”

After some time, you got a grip on yourself and the boys finished their prayers. The Saeni rested on the ground and you all listened to the forest and nearby fires. It was an orchestra of buzzing, creaking, snapping, and distant shouting. The symphony went on and on, never ending, until the busy silence was interrupted by someone saying your name in surprise. Jerking your gaze to the path, you saw five young Saeni waving at you.

While you were shocked at the unexpected appearance of your training buddies, Jin grinned and gestured for them to come sit.

“Are you sure?” Soobin asked in an awestruck but unsure tone. “We wouldn’t want to overstep.”

“Just get your asses over here baby BTS Saeni,” Tae called to them.

Shyly, they made their way to the fire and sat down next to each other, as if they were scared to spread out and take up too much room. Jin just laughed and asked how they were doing while Tae purposefully matched over to squat directly in the middle of their safety nest. The younger Saeni jumped at the intrusion but began to relax as Tae and Jin brought the others into the conversation.

“You all remember them, right?” The eldest member of the kiela crossed his arms and scrutinized his brothers. “Little scorja’s friends from the sparring match?”

As Hobi defended his memory, Soobin scooted over to you and flicked your knee to get your attention. “Hey, I saw Jungkook sitting by himself. Is everything okay?”

Despite your pulse spiking at the mention of the male, you whispered back that you didn’t know if everything was okay. You peered down at Jungkook’s dagger, it’s presence on your body light yet undeniable, before focusing back on the chocolate-haired Saeni and asking if he could point you in the direction he had seen the male. Once verifying the general route from his index finger, you thanked Soobin and gently rustled his hair, making the young male complain and yank his head away with a grumpy expression. Suppressing a snort, you stood as all the other males were distracted by their conversations. Observant as ever, though, Yoongi managed to catch the movement but he merely rolled his eyes and faintly shooed you away with his hand while never looking away from the speaking Taehyun.

Besides the delicate shaking of the shrubbery, you quietly made your way back to the path. You shivered in the absence of the warm fire, but you rubbed your arms up and down and set off in the direction Soobin had pointed in. Following the path, you wandered past a few careening Saeni that were slurring and babbling as well as numerous fires with bodies gathered all around the flames. Although Soobin said Jungkook was alone, you still paused long enough to make sure he wasn’t at any of the fires before moving along the path. Plunging further into the trees, the shade was cool on your skin and the breeze left goosebumps where it blew against your open arms and collarbones. You continued to meander down the winding path. You listened to the bugs click and the birds chirp… but for the last minute, all the fires you walked by were deserted and dying out. Any prayers you could hear were distant echoes. There was no one around and you started doubting you were going to find Jungkook. Clenching your hands into fists in frustration, you told yourself just a little further. Just a little more and then you would turn back.

What if he’s at the next fire and I turn back now?

What if he’s just ahead?

What if he’s right around this curve?

Then you saw a fire through the trees that was burning more brightly than any you’d passed in several minutes. Holding your breath, you approached the glowing area with quiet footfalls. Hope surged in your heart, making the muscle pound in your chest, while the shadows and rays of sunlight shifted with the swaying trees.

And through the leaves and branches you saw him.

He was in front of the flames with his back to you and one forearm resting against his propped-up knee. His body was partially covered by the low foliage, but burgundy consumed your vision. It was him. For a moment, you didn’t make any movements. For a moment, you simply looked at him. For a moment, you let your body fill with the ache how much you had missed him. As you took him in, you noticed his fist was against his hip and the hand was constantly tightening and relaxing. It was right where his dagger was usually strapped to his side. Without thinking, your fingers went straight to the sheath at your waist and undid the buckle before your feet moved on their own accord. Almost as soon as your boots were off the path, Jungkook was twisting around at the sound of crunching leaves. Your stomach fluttered as you finally saw his aggravatingly handsome face and the way his peridot eyes brightened at the sight of you.

Neither of you said anything as you walked through the vegetation, but you smiled knowingly and extended the dagger and sheath in your hand out toward him, fully expecting him to flush cutely and rub the back of his neck before reclaiming the weapon and tugging you down onto his lap.

What you didn’t expect was for his eyes to darken angrily and for him to turn to face the crackling fire.

You smile faltered, as did your steps, so you stopped and stared at Jungkook’s back with your arm still outstretched.

“It’s yours. I gave it to you,” Jungkook lowly said and you recoiled at how detached he sounded.

Your arm dropped to your side. Jungkook’s muscles tensed, but his mouth didn’t open again.

Why won’t he look at me? Why does he sound like that?

The breeze picked up, rustling the forest, and you slightly tremored along with the leaves. You felt yourself growing hot with both confusion and frustration, but in the end, you tightly gripped the dagger and marched over to the male.

This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with asshat Kook. I can handle this. It’ll be okay.

Wordlessly, you sat down next to him and placed the blade on the ground between your bodies. Schooling your face into a normal expression, you folded your hands over your lap but there was nothing you could do to fully hide the shaking of your body. You were startled by his words and actions, especially because you didn’t know why he was being like that, but you ignored it the best you could and glanced at Jungkook whose gaze bore into the blazing embers.

Sighing and spreading your skirt while you crossed your legs to sit more comfortably, you picked up a tiny twig and tossed it into the flames. “So, uh, how’s your back?”

“It’s fine,” he replied bluntly and free of any emotions.

Your brow twitched as you watched the twig warp and blacken. “You know you scared the shit out me then.”

“Yeah well, so did you.” Jungkook’s voice was abruptly soft, so much so that you almost didn’t hear him over the sounds of the forest and the snapping flames.

You looked at the burgundy head again as the already meager conversation came to a standstill. His face was shrouded in both shadows and glowing light… and his expression was completely empty and void. You could see the fire reflecting his hardened gaze, but his green orbs were dim. There was no teasing glint or cocky confidence illuminating them. It made your heart hurt. Why the hell was it like this? What had happened? What should you say?

While playing with the hem of your dress, you swallowed and gingerly spoke up again, “I… I think I’m gonna go back to Earth soon.”

It was something you had been debating over the recent weeks. No matter how much you loved this world, you still had a life back there. You had a family, who currently had no idea where you were or if you were even alive. You had bills and school and obligations and so many things you would have to take care of before you coul-

Jungkook let out a rough scoff but just continued glaring into the fire.

You looked at him with wide eyes. “That’s it?”

That’s his only reaction? A laugh?

“I’m not sure what you’re wanting from me.”

You flinched, a new splinter of pain digging into your chest to cut past your ribcage and gouge into your heart.

Your gaze lowered to your trembling hands. I want you to ask me to stay… Biting your lip, you raised your head to plead with Jungkook’s profile.

But his peridot eyes never shifted over to you and it was suddenly difficult for you to form words.

You grasped at your dress in a poor attempt to stabilize yourself. “I, um-okay.” Your voice was tight. “I’ll leave you alone then since you don’t want me around.”

He didn’t negate you.

Standing up on unsteady legs, you willed yourself not to react as you brushed the earth from your bottom and left the fire.

Don’t react. Stay calm. Don’t react. Stay calm. Don’t react. Don’t react. Don’t react.

But once you got back on the path, your pace became faster and faster and faster until you were hurrying away as fast as you could while your mind fell into disarray.

He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want me. Did his feelings change? Were they ever real in the first place? Was I just some sort of sick challenge for him?

A stray pebble ricocheted into the forest after being kicked by your foot.

It hurts.

Your hand pressed down over your heart in an attempt to relieve some of the pain.

It hurts so much more than it ever did with Jimin. Your upper body curled in on itself. Why does it hurt so much?

You hardly registered where you were going or what you were walking past. You had no clear destination in mind, you just knew you needed to get away.

But how could you get away from your own heartache?

You couldn’t wrap your head around it. You and Jungkook had been physically apart for weeks, you both had practically hated each other at first even, but this… this moment was the furthest you had ever felt from him. Even when you would be at his throat and vice versa, he would still interact with you. He would talk to you and glare at you and…

Fuck…

It felt like your body was concurrently freezing cold and burning hot, and there was a deep, throbbing pang resonating across your chest. It coiled up into your airway, making you struggle to breathe. It crawled up into your eyes, making them blur and go in and out of focus. Leaves and twigs were suddenly crunching loudly under your boots and you realized you had strayed off the path with your bleary vision. You hiccupped and just kept going. Occasionally tripping over roots and the uneven ground, you plunged deeper in the forest. A small stream eventually appeared by your side and you listened to the lull of flowing water as you followed its bends. The sun was beginning to dip below the tree line, casting a golden light on the world and causing the shadows to grow longer and darker. Your vision slowly cleared, and you sniffled while forcefully wiping at your cheeks. Then the forest opened, and you paused. You knew exactly where you were.

Good job guys. You tenderly patted your legs before walking around the small pond with heavy steps. The light of the setting sun bounced off the pond’s rippling surface, and you admired the beauty of it out of the corner of your eye as you made your way to the willow tree. Gently brushing past the thin, scratchy branches with your hands, you collapsed beneath the tree’s canopy. Your eyes traveled over the pretty floral vine twisting around the trunk before shifting to watch the tree’s elegant limbs move back and forth in the wind. The familiarity of the scene dulled some of the hurt, but you couldn’t help the broken laugh that spilled from your lips.

Weeping willow… how fitting right now.

Beyond the leaves and branches, you could see the darkening blue sky become mixed with a vivid array of colors around the setting sun. You tried to appreciate it, but… it only reminded you of a rainy night on a cliff. The night when Jungkook…

No. Stop. Fuck, I can’t sit here and wallow on memories. I should go back to the boys. Or maybe find Yugyeom and take him up on his offer. No… if anyone is kicking that asshat’s ass it’s me.

The impulse to fight briefly flared in your veins but it died out just as quickly.

I don’t want to kick his ass. I just… want him to…

You harshly pinched yourself, making you hiss through your teeth.

The thin branches lurched in the wind, the water flowed and gurgled, and the sunlight gleamed through the forest, reminding you of golden flecks in perido-

You pinched yourself again and whimpered.

I’ll just keep thinking about him if I’m alone.

What you desperately needed was a comforting distraction, and you knew exactly who could provide that. It might be a little awkward since they were Jungkook’s brothers, but Jimin was your best friend and the other boys were like family now. They would take care of you.

With your decision made, you soaked up the calm ambiance for one final minute before picking yourself up and trudging back to the tree line. Your feet moved more sluggishly; your energy sapped. As your boots practically dragged, you wondered what Yoongi was going to say when he saw you.

I hope he isn’t disappointed. I don’t know if I can handle more of that today.

You sighed and stepped around a sapling to reenter the thick forest. I just want TaeTae cuddles and some of that viitulx. And food. Maybe Jin will be willing to ma-

The loud crack of a branch snapping came from up ahead. You flinched and went on alert as you scanned your surroundings. Inhaling quietly, you reached over your shoulder but froze as you remembered you didn’t have your bow and quiver. You cursed and prayed it was just a branch falling to the ground or an animal on a casual evening stroll. That prayer was instantly revoked as you noticed a figure stumbling through the trees as they followed the stream.

Shit. You panicked, frantically looking around for something to use as a weapon when you finally came to your senses. You weren’t at the field. You weren’t in danger. It wasn’t a draikensu.

Fucking hell, it’s probably just some lost drunk.

Your shoulders slumped and you breathed deeply to try to calm your racing heart. You looked back to the person, contemplating if you should approach them or not when your body stiffened.

Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me…

It was fucking Jeon Jungkook.

The burgundy head was looking down and shuffling through the forest with both his hands up to his head. One of them held his dagger and pressed the weapon against his temple. You gaped at the male, watching his mouth move as if he was mumbling to himself. He was straight ahead of you and coming closer with every passing second but he hadn’t noticed you yet.

It felt as if you were caught in a headlight. You couldn’t bring yourself to move and weren’t sure what you should do.

Jungkook continued nearing and he got close enough that you could hear him groan, “I’m such a fucking idiot. Why did I do that?” He tugged at his hair and lifted his head to look up at the blackening sky… but froze as his gaze locked on to you standing there.

“Y/N?” he whispered, so heartachingly soft, but you ducked your head to avoid his peridot eyes.

You thought maybe you could hide him if you pretended he wasn’t there.

You squeezed your hands into fists and took slow, measured breaths.

“Y/N…” he said your name again, this time closer and more choked up.

Yet, you still didn’t move. Neither to walk away or to look up at him.

You heard him come even closer. He was so near that you could find traces of his scent in the air, but you continued to stay still.

“I fucked up. I hurt you… again.”

You could sense his body right in front of you. Feel his warmth. See his boots almost touching the toes of yours. You didn’t move your head, but you lifted your eyes a bit. You could see his hand gripping the dagger at his side while his other went to reach for you before hesitating and dropping back down.

“I… At first, I was embarrassed,” the male said quietly, “Embarrassed that I got injured when I said nothing would happen, which is so stupid, but I was worried you would think less of me.”

You forced yourself to breathe slowly.

“And then I was healing, and I was so anxious to get back to you, to hold you, to be with you… but then I started thinking of how you only came to Illain for hyung and how you might leave me now that everything was over.”

Your chest tightened and you noticed Jungkook’s hand that was holding the dagger was starting to tremble. Against your better judgement, you steeled yourself and raised your head.

Jungkook’s face was highlighted by the glow of the setting sun, the golden light enveloping him like a halo… but his peridot eyes were burning with panic and shame. His breathing was ragged and his eyebrows were drawn close together. His entire demeanor was meek and small and so unlike him that you almost took a step back.

As you finally looked at him, Jungkook lips pressed together while he made a noise in his throat, and he momentarily flicked his gaze up to the treetops before exhaling heavily. “Every time I thought of you leaving, I could barely breathe. It hurt… it hurt so much and I fucking hated it.” Jungkook’s voice was getting increasingly weak and his eyes glistened with as they lowered to focus on your neck. “But there’s no way I could ask you to leave your entire life on Earth behind, so I thought it might hurt less if I pushed you away before you could just… vanish from my life.” The corner of his mouth twitched into a melancholic ghost of a smile. “Then you said you were going back to Earth and the exact thing I was terrified of was suddenly happening. Next thing I know, I was watching you walk away…”

Your hammering heart was barraged by a swarm of confused and conflicted feelings, and you could only stare at the male while you tried to process through them all.

The leaves rustled all around you, and Jungkook shook his head firmly as his peridot eyes suddenly brightened with determination and he looked straight at you. “I shouldn’t… I know I shouldn’t… but I’m going to be selfish. I have to be. I love you too much to just let you walk away. So please… please stay. Stay in Illain. Stay with me.”

A single sentence blew through your crazed, jumbled emotions like a rifle shot.

I love you too much to just let you walk away.

A rush of heat traveled through your body and your breath hitched. “You love me?”

You heard a gentle thud then Jungkook was cupping your face with both his hands. “I love you. I am in love with you, Y/N. Please stay.”

Your entire body tingled, your face grew warm, and you silently regarded the male for several seconds. The way the tips of his long ears were burning, the way you could feel his body shaking, the way his lips lightly parted as he nervously waited your response.

Slowly, you reached up to encircle one of his wrists in your hand. “Remember how I wanted to tell you something before the battle, but you said to wait?”

He hummed, anxious hope swimming in his eyes.

Tenderly brushing your thumb against his skin, you deeply inhaled then whispered, “I love you Jeon Jungkook.”

The trees shook, the stream burbled, and Jungkook’s hold on your face became stronger so he could pull you in closer.

“Really?” he asked in a small whisper as his eyes searched yours.

You smiled and gave him a tiny nod, making Jungkook immediately wound his arms around you to bury his face in the crook of your neck. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m an idiot for thinking I should try to protect my heart-”

“More of an asshat, actually.” You declared, still smiling as warmth swirled through you.

The male pulled back to glare at you, but it contained a playful heat. “Well, my idiotic heart is entirely yours. Break it, stab it, do whatever you desire with it.”

Shifting forward, you placed a gentle kiss on his chest right over his heart. “I desire to love it.”

“So, you’ll stay?”

You leaned back into him and gripped at his shirt while breathing in that intoxicating scent of his. Humming in content, you whispered you would stay… but that you did also need to go to Earth for a bit to settle some things before permanently moving to a different world.

The ending of your answer made the male whine loudly in your ear and sag most of his weight on you.

Staggering a step, you rolled your eyes and patted Jungkook’s back. “You’re a big boy, you can handle it.”

The Saeni chuckled against your neck before straightening and sending you a cocky smirk. “You know what I bet you can’t handle?”

“If you’re about to say your dick, I’m changing my mi-”

“My love!” he blurted out a little too quickly, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “You can’t handle my love for you.”

You raised at brow at the flushing male that was now pointedly averting his eyes, not believing for one second that “his love” was what he originally intended to say.

While you fondly looked at the male, Jungkook began shifting his gaze from behind you to your face to behind you repeatedly until he asked how you were there. “Did hyung tell you about it?”

Your brows furrowed. You had no idea what he was talking about. “Tell me about what?”

“The pond and… the willow tree.”

You pursed your lips, still not understanding his initial question. “No? I found this place last week while wandering around. It makes me feel safe and calm when I sit under the willo-wait. Why are you here? Did you follow me?... Why are you smiling like that?”

The burgundy-haired Saeni was grinning happily, as if he knew something you didn’t. “Do you remember when Tae hyung did your morning training because I said I had to check on something?”

You tilted your head to the side. How could you forget that morning? It was the day you learned about Tae’s draeva.

“I had to come here.”

“Why? So you could jack off in extremely secluded privacy?”

“I-… no.” The Saeni gave you an exasperated look which soon transformed into an enamored smile and he shifted to lightly touch the mark on your nape, making you shiver lightly. “The willow tree is my draeva.”

You jaw dropped. “Your… draeva…”

Laughing, Jungkook grasped your hand and he excitedly tugged you out of the tree line and back toward the pond and willow tree. “I’ll show you my handprint!” Stunned by the sudden knowledge, you let him pull you along as he pleased. Not that you wouldn’t have gone anyway. “Also, I guess you could say it’s our draeva now…”

You gaped at the area, in disbelief that you had inadvertently found Jungkook’s draeva. The stream continued to flow leisurely. The pond was shimmering with the fading sun and rising moonlight. The willow tree was standing tall and its thin branches were gently swaying. You were so distracted that you ran into Jungkook’s firm back. Letting out a surprised noise, you hastily grabbed his waist so you wouldn’t fall. Huffing, you went to complain to the male for stopping so suddenly, but you noticed he was fixated on the willow tree. Specifically, he was staring at the orange flowers wrapped around its trunk.

“Scorja,” he murmured.

“Hmm?”

“No, the flowers,” he said in wonder, “There are scorja flowers on my draeva, our draeva.”

He swiveled to face you, and you only got a glimpse of the lustful delight on his features before he yanked you close and pressed his lips against yours.

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[hyper-cryptic]

Nick and Hancock headcanons?

YES...YEEEEES. I am so eager to talk about these two! Especially Nick since I have been talking all day about Hancock, not that I mind of course. 😳

Starting with Nick!

He really likes animals. I have no actual explanation for this, he just looks like the guy that would take in a lot of cats and then have his house infested by stray cats. Ellie loves the cats, but they GOT TO GO.

He literally forgets he has his hat on sometimes.

I feel like he would like going on strolls around DC, for no reason, just to stretch the legs or to take a smoke. It’s calming for him to go around, seeing the city working and people interact with each other. He prefers going out at night, he likes the lights. :)!

He is actually very disorganized with stuff, forgets where he leaves his files, puts files in the wrong places, sometimes doesn't even file a report...I mean, look at his agency, it's a disaster and I adore it. If it wasn't for Ellie, who at least tries to organize when Nick is out, or busy, he would be so lost.

Okay but, he likes rain right? Imagine him just going out to his roof when it's raining and just be there. Maybe he likes it because of how it feels, the bits of pressure on his skin as the raindrops fall, and maybe the calming sound.

He totally meets up with Hancock every once in a while. Just to catch up with stuff. How is the town going? How are the cases going? Mostly casual things.

He is absolutely terrified of Piper, but in the best way. He admires her determination and how brave she is, but god, he wished she slowed down sometimes.

He likes coffee a little bit too much...Tastes good!

I honestly wonder how his vision is. A part of me wants it to be something similar to the V.A.T.S or even the power armor screen, has little colors and a lot of analysis shit. Or normal, full color vision with the analysis shit on, so he can be happier. :)

He really sweet food. He doesn’t eat much, but he likes to get some treats once in a while.

He likes children. This doesn’t mean he would like to be a father though, he thinks he wouldn’t be able to give the kid the attention he needs, and bla bla, you know him. But he sure enjoys spending time with Shaun and chatting with him, or just doing whatever activity. He is just interested in the dumb things the children do, thinks it’s funny. Imagine the feeling you have when you see a cat playing with whatever? Yeah, same feeling.

Likes to play chess...and he is real good at it. Thinks it’s a really fun pastime and enjoys watching your face as he totally beats your ass at chess, that is if you're bad at it. If not, he enjoys a challenge...if you win he’d be really impressed and give you praise, if you lose he keeps his smug face and suggests to try again if you want to.

Continuing that, he is really competitive. He's good sportsmanship, don’t get me wrong but he likes to be able to keep his ego as high as he can.

Would totally accompany Daisy to the library now that is safer, they both have a love for books. He is totally into dumb, noir novellas...You literally can’t tell me I’m wrong.

Now for my self-indulgent part of the headcanons...He has ADD! Yeah, if little habits like smoking would pass down to Nick, why not this? After all, it was a brain scan, it is totally neurological and ADD being a neurological disorder, it would make sense that it passes down to him! This would also explain how unorganized he is, and I got to say it is very interesting how a synth, a literal bot made for work has traits like “forgetting his appointments very often”, plus his impulsivity and fixation with Eddie. Besides, it makes me happy that I can find a character to relate to at that level.

He really enjoys the Silver Shroud plays. Not a super fan, but definitely enjoys the show! It’s something he would be into. (I actually don’t know if this is canon I’ve never heard him say anything about Silver Shroud, but he has some voice lines about it, PLEASE TELL ME, I WANT TO HEAR ‘EM SO BADLY.) Plus, Kent refers to him as “Synth shaped Silver Shroud”, he takes the compliment!

He is a good hugger. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. He might be a good hugger, but he isn’t too sure about them anymore ‘cuz of how his body is built.

His synthetic skin is actually quite soft! Not really soft, but more than expected.

How to break him: literally place your hand on his cheek plus some eye contact and watch him melt onto it. He is pretty much touch starved at this point so any touch will make his heart skip a beat, but do that and he will be at your mercy.

He sends letters to DiMA (obviously once he meets him, accepts him as a brother and isn’t killed) every once in a while to catch up with him! Chase is the messenger. :)!

I just realized that I’ve written lots about Nick already, so! Now Hancock. :D

If he isn’t doing drugs, he’s chewing gum, well...not at that rate, but when he can get his hands on some gum he’ll have some! He really likes it! Mint is his faV. as a funny extra, he didn’t know that swallowing it is...bad, until Sosu or Nick tells him, LMAO.

He would have a pet snake if he could have one. Like really imagine it, he would love reptiles, and know all kinds of stuff about them. He probably really likes Deathclaws.

He knows how to play the guitar. No, I do not have an explanation for this, no I do not accept no for an answer.

He likes very sour or citrus foods, his taste buds are a bit fucked up thanks to radiation, so he likes the fact that the sour taste can make his buds go off the rails. And that’s why he could eat a lemon with a straight face and even enjoy it.

He also really likes coffee, not as much as Valentine but he really likes the strong taste of it! He would drink black coffee and nothing else.

Okay, okay! Last one about food! He is a texture over taste kind of guy, that’s a big reason why he doesn’t like Mirelurk, it’s slimy and weird, no matter how cooked or uncooked it is, he absolutely hates ‘lurk meat. His only exception is boba, he loves boba.

He probably goes around the house only in boxers...because. Doesn’t he give the vibes? Like he would be either shirtless or without pants on relax days or in the mornings.

Autumn is his favorite season. He just likes the orange view of it all, even tho there isn’t much of a change, he does like the chilly breezes that are very common around this season, not cold enough to be annoying but enough to be enjoyable!

He is probably warmer than a normal human because of radiation, so his hands and overall body are warm all the time! (another reason why he likes autumn and cold weather). But yeah! Cuddling and stuff like that are so much more enjoyable with him. :)

His favorite flower might be the carrot flowers there’s around in the ‘whealth. They remind him of the sun *looks at Sole*.

And! That’s all I have for now!! :D

[mattmurdocksscars]

Just A Dream

Some Santiago angst with a hopeful ending. Might do a follow-up to this one, not too sure yet. This is based on and uses a cover of the song Just a Dream. I love this cover so much and I hope you enjoy it as well! 

Fair warning, I totally wrote this in one go so if there are grammar issues, spelling issues, etc. I’m sorry 😂

Pairing: Santiago Garcia x Reader

Word Count: 2508

It didn’t matter that it had been over 2 years since the last time you saw Santiago Garcia, you still missed him every day. He had been your everything, the one you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with… but then he’d told you he was going to Columbia. The two of you had fought bitterly. You, wondering why you weren’t enough to keep him here, and him, wondering why you wouldn’t let him do this one last mission. Words of anger had poured from both of your lips, wounding the other easier than a blade or bullet ever could. Santi had slept on the couch that night and was gone by the time you woke in the morning. You had instantly regretted the words you’d said, the feeling intensified by his refusal to answer your calls or texts. You found out from Frankie that he had left immediately for the airport and was already in the air by the time you’d found him gone. Frankie had then held you as you’d broken down, angry and broken over the fact that he hadn’t given you a chance to fix things.

So, for over two years, you missed him. You saw him in strangers on the streets or in coffee shops. You looked for him in every vaguely familiar face you passed. Yet never once was he there. Santiago would contact Frankie occasionally, but never you. You would ask Frankie to pass a message along for you whenever he spoke to Santiago, but it was never answered. Santiago would simply gloss over it. It broke you down, turned you into a shell of the woman you used to be. It took Frankie, Will, and Benny finally sitting you down and giving you tough love for you to snap out of it. You still missed him, oh did you miss him, but you started doing the things you loved again. You started spending time with the boys again and even made some new friends.

When Frankie told you that Santiago was back in town to recruit him and the other boys for some recce, you had waiting with bated breath, hoping he would reach out or swing by. He never did and the five men left to complete one more mission together. When Frankie called you on his way back into the country, you had cried in relief and in sadness. Tom and you had never really gotten along, but he was important to the other boys. You knew that Santiago would be blaming himself, knew that Frankie, Will, and Benny would be too. You met them in the airport when they came back, crying again when you saw the three boys who had become like brothers to you. Despite your joy at seeing them, your heart still didn’t feel whole. Santiago was nowhere to be found and when you had turned inquisitive eyes to Frankie, he had simply sighed and shook his head. Santiago was still not coming home.

You buried yourself in distractions. You worked, taking overtime whenever possible, spent time with the boys, started going out with your new friends. They’d convinced you to start meeting with them every Saturday night and then eventually convinced you to sing karaoke with them. You were no star, but you could carry a tune and had a decent voice and you found that singing was an incredible way to release all of your pent-up emotions. The boys had even come to see you a few times, cheering you on obnoxiously loudly. It was one such night, that your whole world flipped upside down.

Frankie had text you earlier that day to tell you that Santiago was back in town. Your hands had shaken as you texted him back, asking him the same question you always did: Will he talk to me? Frankie was honest, told you that he wasn’t sure, but he would try. When you didn’t hear anything further from him, you continued with your usual ritual of getting ready and heading to the bar with your friends. You lost yourself in the music, singing a few songs with your friends and on your own. It was as you were getting ready for a solo that you looked up and everything stopped. Entering the bar was the boys, one Santiago Garcia in tow. Your name was called, and your attention snapped over to the announcer, your heart pounding as you remembered your song choice. Wiping your sweaty hands on your jeans, you walked up and took the mic, the crowd cheering you on. You took a deep breath and smiled, determined to force the knowledge of Santi being in the same room as you for the first time to the back of your mind. The music started, a piano medley to begin, and you closed your eyes, waiting on your time to come in.

I was thinkin about you, thinkin about me

Thinkin about us, what we gonna be?

Open my eyes

It was only just a dream

Travel back, down that road

Will you come back? No one knows

I realize, it was only just a dream

Opening your eyes, the lights helped blind you to the audience, helping you forget just who was watching you. Swaying gently, you poured your heart into the performance.

I was at the top and now it’s like I'm in the basement

Number one spot and now you found your own replacement

I swear now that I can't take it, knowing somebody's got my baby

And now you ain't around, baby I can't think

You sang through the rest of the verse and the chorus with no problems, but the start of the second verse had your eyes stinging as you fought back tears.

When I be ridin, And I swear I see your face at every turn

I'm trying to get my usher on, but I can't let it burn

And I just hope you know that you're the only one I yearn for

More and more I miss him, when will I learn?

Didn't give it all my love

I guess now I got my payback

Now I'm in the club thinking all about you baby

Hey, you were so easy to love

But wait, I guess our love wasn't enough

I'm goin through it every time that I'm alone

And now I'm wishing that you'd pick up the phone

But you made a decision that you wanted to move on

Cuz I was wrong

It took every bit of strength in you to make it through the verse without crying. This part had always hit you so hard, feeling it so strongly due to what had happened in yours and Santiago’s relationship. Singing through the second chorus, you took a deep breath as you headed into the third verse, opening your eyes again to look out at the crowd. They were like shadows to you but even still, you would recognize your boys anywhere. Forcing your eyes away from them and back to the main crowd, you slowly raised one of your hands.

If you ever loved somebody put your hands up

If you ever loved somebody put your hands up

And now they're gone and you're wishing you could give them everything

Said if you ever loved somebody put your hands up

If you ever loved somebody put your hands up

Now they're gone and you're wishing you could give them everything

You drug the last word of the verse out, adding your own flair as you always did. Singing the last two chorus, you continued to adjust it and put every ounce of heartbreak and longing you had into it. As your last note faded out and the music finished, you were greeted with thunderous applause. Laughing in shock, you quickly gave the mic back to the announcer and headed back over to your friends. They were ecstatic, congratulating you and telling you about how this was the best one you’d done yet. You grinned, blushing at their praise.

“Hey! Aren’t those your other friends? Who’s the cute new guy with them?” And just like that, your good mood tanked. You looked over at their table, Benny waving enthusiastically at you as he always did, and turned back to your friends before the others could look over.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s them. Umm.. you remember me telling you about my ex?”

“Yeah, the jackass that left you after a fight and has been gone for two… years… Fuck.” Realization had dawned on the groups face and you smiled tentatively at them. Immediately, an arm was wrapped around your shoulders and you were pulled roughly, but lovingly, into one of the girls’ sides.

“Fuck him. If he thinks he can just walk back into your life after the shit he put you through, he’s dead wrong.” Ah yes. That was Zoe. Fiercely protective, she was like a sister to you. Taking a deep breath, you patted her hand that was on your shoulder.

“Relax. Let’s just enjoy the rest of the night and I’ll deal with it later.” You told her softly. She looked at you, checking to make sure you were actually alright, before nodding. With a mischievous grin, she flagged down your waitress and ordered the two of you shots, much to your amusement. When they arrived, she handed you yours and held hers aloft. You matched her action and clinked the glasses together, tapped them on the table, and tossed yours back.

“To a good rest of the night.” She told you and you grinned, nodding in agreement. For the first time ever, you never went over to the boys’ table. You stayed with your friends but despite your best efforts, you couldn’t stop your eyes wandering every now and then. The first time you caught Santi’s eye, your breath caught in your chest as you tried to figure out what to do but Santi solved it for you, tipping his head and giving you a tentative smile. You had taken a deep breath and given him a shaky smile before your friends had called your attention back to them.

The two of you spend the rest of the night like that. Sneaking glances at the other and looking away shortly after locking eyes. A part of you so desperately wanted to cross the bar and jump into Santiago’s arms, but a bigger part of you was afraid and a little angry. Your friends were right to an extent. He didn’t deserve to just waltz back into your life. You also had no idea if that was even what he wanted. For all you knew, he had moved on.

As the night came to an end, you helped your friends out and got them into their rides safe and sound. Watching the last one leave, you took a deep breath and let it out. Closing your eyes, you stood in the darkness for a few moments but jumped as a voice broke the silence.

“It’s pretty dangerous to stand outside of a bar this late at night, you know.” Every muscle in your body locked up, your spine going ramrod straight, and your breathing halting. Walking towards you was Santiago, hands shoved into his pockets. You stared at him wide-eyed for several seconds, giving him time to approach you and stand across from you. His eyes flitted over your form, seeming to drink you in. It gave you time to get your brain back online and formulate a response.

“Luckily for me, I know three knuckleheads who would kick the ass of anyone who tried to hurt me.” You told him. It was your turn to let your gaze wander over him, and you were surprised when he seemed to be hurt by what you said.

“Just three?” He asked you, voice soft and questioning. Your eyebrows shot up and you stared at him in shock before you furrowed your brows, a spark of anger igniting in your chest.

“You tell me, Santiago.” This time he actually flinched, the use of his full name causing him to look down at his boots. You watched his jaw clench, and it was so hard to keep yourself from reaching out to comfort him. You shoved your traitorous hands into your own pockets and continued to stare at him, waiting for his response. He took a deep breath and dragged his gaze to up to meet yours and you were shocked at the amount of emotion in them.

“I’m sorry. I never should have left the way I did. I regretted it the second that plane took off, but I was too much of a coward to fix my mistake.  Every time I called Frankie, I hoped he would give me an update on you-“

“So why the hell didn’t you call me?” You asked, voice wavering as you felt the past two years’ worth of hurt boil over, tears slipping down your cheeks. The pain on your face was mirrored on Santi’s as he watched you break down, his own tears welling up.

“I knew if I heard your voice, heard how much I had hurt you… nothing would have stopped me from coming back to you but I… I was afraid. How was I supposed to face you after leaving like I did?”

“So what? You think you can just come back after over two years and think all is forgiven?”

“No! I… I want you to give me a chance. I’m not asking for things to go back to the way they were. I’m asking you to let me win you over again. Let me spend every day making it up to you and proving to you that I will never leave you again.” His stare bored into yours, both of you crying now. You looked at him and you saw all of the pain you’d been through in his absence, but you also saw the potential you’d always seen. A bright future, one full of love. Taking a deep, steadying breath you stepped closer to him. Pulling your hands out of your pockets you reached for his, tugging them out of his pockets and holding them. Looking down at them, you marveled how they fit in yours like they used to.

“One chance, Garcia. One. Don’t make me regret it.” Santiago immediately tugged you into his arms, holding you close to him. You clung to him just as tight before pulling away slowly. You put one hand on his cheek, running your thumb over his skin, before stepping back. You nodded to him and smiled.

“You better come at this with your A game. I expect nothing less.” Pressing a kiss to his other cheek, you let your hand fall and turned away, walking away from him, and feeling lighter than you had since before he left.

“I will, mi alma. I swear it.” He whispered, watching you walk away and feeling like he might finally be righting his wrongs.

[jehovahhthickness]

I have a brother that feels the only way he feels loved by me is when I buy him gifts. He’s been unemployed for 1 1/2 years and refuses to get a job. He started a business which is amazing but he just doesn’t seem passionate about it like it feels he’s dragging his feet when it comes to making more moves and he always complains about not having money for anything like his business and for fun stuff and would always send me links to stuff he wants. I don’t mind buying things for my loved ones but he was becoming super entitled to my own money and would ask me permission to go to places cuz I’d be the one paying. He said me buying him things was the least I could do cuz he’d drive me everywhere (mind you, I’d chip in for gas I didn’t ride for free) and he also uses all my subscriptions services for free I never asked for him to help pay for those. There was a few instances he’d try to make me feel bad for buying things I wanted for myself too. We used to have an understanding that we’d buy each other whatever we wanted if either of us was broke after bills but then he quit his job and still expected me to back him up. He was STILL asking for money and stuff when I was unemployed but he knew I had a lot of money saved cuz I told him, I know, dumb of me but this mf was acting like I was broke just cuz I quit my job. So the past few months I’ve been picking and choosing what to spend my cash on him instead of whatever he asked and he’s incredibly difficult when confronted so a lot of the time I was passive aggressive but about 2 days ago I said that was it I wasn’t gonna buy him stuff anymore. He asked again for help buying a Funko cuz it was an online drop and I said no. My mom told him to stop asking and he got pissed saying that I have an attitude every time he asks me anything and said “she doesn’t want to help me out anymore” and the rest of the day he was rude and pissy af and yesterday and today he’s been mopey af and hasn’t been talking to me (granted I don’t feel comfortable talking to him either rn). I know me buying him stuff was enabling him to stay complacent financially so I think this decision is gonna eventually be helpful but also once I said no he suddenly had money for shit he’s been eyeing so it just made me think he’s been lying and just been using me for my money. Idk how to continue on from here.

You already know what you have to do.

I suggest you either find another mode of transportation because homie is taking advantage of you and you’re letting it slide.

That shit ain’t right, you know it and your brother knows it too.

Cut him off. He needs to boss the fuck up. Family wouldn’t do that to you.

[marumafan]

Hey, marumafan. I’ve been reading through the light novels as of late, and Yuuri’s family are all supportive of same sex relationships, but Shouri is actually making it his mission in life to fight for same sex marriage in Japan, and he reminds Yuuri of that fact a few times. We know from the light novels that Miko thought that Yuuri liked girls because she stated that Yuuri’s mind is only ever on baseball and girls. His father doesn’t really state his opinion. Shouri doesn’t seem to make assumptions about Yuuri, however, and merely seems to have been insistent on supporting gay marriage, particularly around Yuuri since before Yuuri ever even went to Shin Makoku, it seems. What’s your opinion on the idea that oniichan, loving, attentive and protective as he is, always knew, or at least had an inkling, that Yuuri was gay (or bi, depending on your opinion)?

Hello @nuttythesquirrel 

This is a packed question, let’s take it part by part.

- -

Miko

Although Miko used to dress Yuuri up in girl’s clothes, she used to do this for her own amusement. She wanted a girl because “boys are boring”. So she grabbed baby Yuuri and simply put him in girls clothes as often as possible. She also chose the name Yuuri, which is a girl name for him. But here’s the kick, in Walpurgis Nacht we see another side of Miko. In the story “ Change” (also known as “Convert”) where we see this scene unfold:  "But despite that, you spend all day in your room, decorated only with baseball posters and next year's CALENDAR of the Seibu Lions which you pre-purchased. You don't have a single porn book, and what I thought was a DVD for adults labeled "Seibu Lion's path to victory", didn't have any porn in it, but contained what the label actually said." "You went through my room!?" "I can't take it, there's such a big difference between you and your older brother that MAMA is worried. Could it be that the reason is 'that', Yuu-chan?" She lowered her voice."... That you only love people in UNIFORMS?" "N-no! You're wrong!" "Do you want to go to therapy?" "I don't~!" "Oh, my. It's fine Yuu-chan, you don't need to cry. There's nothing wrong with you. It's not like it's a serious illness or anything like that." It's not unthinkable that I may want to start crying. Is this what a real mother does? To simply say out loud the things that they figured out about their son? A self proclaimed progressive mother is struggling with this? ------------------------------------------- (-> uniforms = guys) And scene. So there you have it. Miko claims to be progressive but when confronted with her child not being heterosexual she’s uncomfortable, she brings it up, asks Yuuri if he wants to go to therapy. We also see here that Yuuri is very much aware that he likes guys. He’s also aware that his mom is struggling with it despite her ‘cool mom’ facade. So there you go. Progressive Miko seems not as understanding as we’d hope... 

- -

Shouma

In Gaiden Novel 12 (adapted to the manga Vol. 10 chapter 57), Shouma throws a hissy fit when he sees Yuuri dressed as a girl (by Miko, when Yuu was 3). He gets into a huge fight with Miko they start talking about divorce. Small Shouri (9) picks up his brother and they leave the apartment (they’re in NY? Boston? I don’t know much about American cities), and they’re wandering the streets. Miko and Shouma eventually realized their children are gone and go to the police. A lot of situations take place, but eventually at the police station the parents see Yuuri at the Gay Pride parade and when the police says something (jokingly), like Yuuri is coming out, Shouma loses his shit. Furthermore, there’s Shouma’s insistence on getting Yuuri into baseball (for some reason he didn’t do it, or it didn’t work with Shouri). It seems like he’s trying to ‘make Yuuri a man' by getting him interested into a manly sport... like baseball. Now of course Shouma doesn’t know this, but it kinda backfired cuz Yuuri now fantasizes about all those dudes and their muscles and legs and butts, and spends all day looking at them. (he also jacks off in a bathtub thinking about ‘baseball’ as per the information available in "WC or NPB? Yuuri and Muraken During the World Cup” ) So Shouma was trying to make sure ‘Yuuri is straight’ since he was a baby.  Yuuri used baseball as an excuse to look at hot guys. It all worked out just fine right? Now Yuuri is simply in DEEP, DEEP denial. What a life! (/s) Yes, Japan’s society and their views on homosexuality (their view that ‘being gay is just a phase, when you grow up then you get married to a girl’ -> Edit: here's a link to a recent reddit post), is also pretty shit and fucks with Yuuri’s head. All in all, I’m not sure where Shouma stands in being ‘accepting’ of Yuuri getting married to a guy. (Interesting how in the ‘NY ending’ of it happens to everyone, Yuuri’s parents were nowhere to be found)

- -

Shouri

Here’s the thing... we can see that even before Shouri understood much of anything, he loved and wanted to protect Yuuri. In that novel where the parents are fighting, this happens: (Shouri) "Don't yell in front of a toddler." (the toddler is Yuuri) (Shouma )"Ah, sorry. Papa was bad." (...) (Shouri)"I don't think it's good to judge people on what they're wearing." ----------------------------------------------- And there you go. Shouri already has a moral compass that makes him think you shouldn’t judge people by what they’re wearing at age 9 (despite of his parents ideas). On top of that, at the end of that chapter Shouri meets Bob, and it seems like Bob explains to him how important Yuuri is. Making Shouri even more protective of Yuuri than he was.  So Shouri may have issues (they call it a “brother complex”, like he loves his sibling way too much), but overall, if you ask me, Shouri is simply thinking about passing same sex marriage laws and such because he might sense that 1) Yuuri’s bi or gay and 2) that their parents are not supportive. So what is my opinion? Well yes, I think the whole family knows that Yuuri is bi or gay and they all deal with it in very different ways. 

[moral-turpitudes]

Out of All People

Trigger Warnings: Swearing, Angst, Mentions of Blood, Fluff.

Characters: Isiah Jesus x Shelby!Sister

Word Count: 1,512

Summary: Y/n is tired of being seen as the baby of the family and runs off. Her brothers are used to her antics and leave her on her own as she wished, but Isiah can’t shake the feeling that she’s in trouble.

Requested by: @niamhshell​ 

Summary of request: “I wanted to ask if I could have a oneshot if you’re not too busy. The oneshot I had in mind would be with Isiah Jesus x Shelby!Sister  and the scenario would be along the lines of the sister getting lost in a storm and Isiah finding her and looking after her.”

Isiah and Finn had been best friends ever since he could remember, running through the stone streets playing make believe games whilst his dad met with the Shelby’s at their meetings. As he and Finn grew older, he was welcomed into the Peaky Blinders, where he eventually met the infamous Y/N Shelby. She was Finn’s twin sister and older by 5 minutes. When he first saw her, she took his breath away. She had a smile that lit up the room and a laugh that sounded like the sweetest of songs. But she had one hell of a temper, just like all her siblings. 

One day, Tommy had gathered their family for a meeting and got on Y/N for going to the Garrison late at night. This normally wouldn’t have set Y/N off like it did, but earlier that day she had awoken with nightmares which always put her on edge. Throughout the day everyone would ask her if she was okay and she grew more annoyed at answering them, so being called out during the meeting with her brothers was the last straw. She was seen as the baby at times despite Finn technically being the youngest, but nevertheless they were all over-protective of her.  Isiah watched near Finn as she went off on Tommy, yelling that she doesn’t have to answer to him every second of the day. That she’s an adult and fully capable of taking care of herself and could do what she pleased. And in a final act of defiance, she threw her shot glass on the ground, the shards glistening on the polished hardwood floors of Tommy’s office. Isiah watched, a worried expression on his face as she stormed out with only her handgun in her holster and her purse.

Later that night, everyone was drinking at the Garrison when Finn invited Isiah. They both ordered drinks and watched as the older blinder boys drank their woes away, ogling at the girls who would walk in with their friends. Meanwhile, Isiah stood there silently, thinking about where Y/N was. He had only told Finn he had feelings for her a couple of weeks ago, which Finn took surprisingly well, but that was the least of his matters. Her big brothers were far more harder to get around to. Letting his mind wander, he sipped his drink ignoring the icy burn that ran down his throat. 

Not longer after finishing his drink he heard Tommy and Arthur arguing over something, and that’s when he heard Arthur yell, staggering to the bar near them. 

“Tom wants ya to find Y/N, Finn. Go. She’s being a bitch again runnin’ off like that. Probably out being an adult huh Isiah.” He mumbled, pouring himself another drink. Isiah looked at him angrily. He could tell she grew tired of them and needed an escape. “If only he could’ve been her escape at the time instead of wherever she ran off to...” He thought to himself. 

“Oi! Finn ya fuckin’ knucklehead! Are ya gonna go or not? She’s ya fookin’ twin for fucks sake!” Arthur yelled as Finn slowly put on his raincoat, he looked like he wanted to run away as well. 

“Arthur, I think you should calm down mate...” Isiah said, putting a hand on Arthur’s shoulder. 

“Arthur, Y/N probably doesn’t even want to see any of us right now. Not even Ada or Poll. I think we should let her be, she’ll come ‘round in the morning.” He said slurring a bit as he knocked back the last of his drink. Isiah grew angrier on the inside, none of them really cared where she was it seemed. Tommy went back to drinking like it would numb the ghosts in his head, yelling and joking with the other peaky boys as Arthur went off to his own drunken world, nodding as Finn spoke.

He went to leave, to find her, when Finn grabbed his shoulder stopping him.

“Where the hell are ya going Isiah?! You can’t leave your best mate man c’mon.” He said handing him another shot. Isiah put it back on the bar and turned to look at him, rage filling his eyes.

“Would you just fuck off? You lot clearly couldn’t give a shit less about where your sister is. Hell she may not want to see anyone, but I’ll be damned if she’s out there alone. I’ll go do your jobs for ya. I’ll find her.” He said, pushing past Finn, getting his coat and leaving.

The rain was coming down heavily, huge cold drops slamming onto his skin relentlessly. He had to squint into the night to see and decided to check the betting shop. When he came in, he saw Polly doing work on the reports for the previous day. 

She looked up and gasped, shocked to see him coming in so urgently. 

“What on earth! Isiah you scared me. What’s wrong?” She asked getting up from her desk. 

“It’s Y/N. She hasn’t come back. Tommy sent Finn to find her but none of them are willing to. They’re too busy getting drunk off their asses.” He said wringing his hands a bit. 

“Dear god...” Polly said looking around, a worried expression overcoming her features.

“Where would she go when she’d get upset in the past?” He asked, hoping she’d remember something from raising them all those years ago.

She paced around and thought for a moment, her eyes lit up slightly. 

“I remember she used to run to where the forested areas started near the road we went on the other day just outside town. Remember that road?” She asked.

Isiah thought a moment and then it clicked. He looked at her and nodded, grabbing his cap and putting it on. “Can-can I borrow the keys?” He said urgently. Polly nodded in response. That was all it took for him to burst out the door and to the car, starting the engine and heading toward the edge of town. 

Once he got to the road, he got out and walked reluctantly into the forest, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness as the rain hell heavily again. 

“Y/N!.....Y/N?!” he yelled as loud as he could. After waiting a couple of minutes he heard a whimper and a slight scream in the distance. He ran, following it, grabbing hold of his gun in his holster. 

The cold rain fell on his skin as he ran through the trees, twigs and bushes catching on his coat and pants. His shoes were gradually soaked through with a thick layer of mud coating them as he ran, calling out her name. Once her cries got closer, he saw her curled up under a tree holding her arms close to her, as they bled.

“Y/n? what are you doing out here?” He asked slowly walking towards her. 

“I-I wanted to get out. I wanted to leave that fucking place for a while. This is the only place I feel okay...” She said sobbing in the cold rain. He sat by her and took his raincoat off and draped it carefully around her. 

“Y/n...what happened? You can tell me.” Isiah said as she curled up to him. 

“I wanted to let off steam so i ran here, took forever-” She chuckled lightly as she shivered. “-but I got here and wanted to run to this spot. I-I always came to it when I was younger after Finn or Ada and I would get into a fight, but this time I took a wrong turn and tripped and scraped my arms to high hell cuz of the fucking mud...” She said examining her arms under his jacket. 

“I know they’ve been assholes Y/n, believe me. They told Finn to get you while everyone was at the Garrison, but they were too busy drinking so I went instead. I couldn’t spend another minute knowing you ran off somewhere. Just know you can run to me if you need to next time okay?.” He asked softly.

“Thank you.” She said nodding and looking up at him, the moonlight catching in his eyes. 

She stared at his lips and it was as if he read her mind, quickly bringing his lips to hers. When they pulled away from each other they smiled, savoring the moment. 

“Um Y/n?...” Isiah asked nervously.

“Yeah?” Y/n said raising her eyebrow at him.

“I’m surprised Finn hadn’t told you, or well, everyone. But...I like you and when we get back in town and get you cleaned up, I’d like to take you out.” He said.

“I’d like that.” She said, smiling before attempting to get up and almost falling again as Isiah steadied her. As they walked back to the car, a question plagued her mind.

“Why out of all people, did you come looking for me?” 

Isiah thought for a moment and smirked.

“Because I, out of all people actually care about you.” He said. 

She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder as they continued walking, the pale moonlight guiding their path to the car.

[obeiii-mee]

How will the bros react to MC self-doubting themselves? Like saying bad things about them or can't be serious someone give them compliment.

Supportive demon bois coming right up! Sorry I took so long to write this anon! Thank you so much for the ask! (Also, thank you all for the love on my previous posts!)

————————————

The Brothers with an MC who self doubts themselves:

Lucifer:

-As the embodiment of pride itself, Lucifer has an overwhelming amount of confidence, almost all the damn time

-So, he was flabbergasted to learn that you weren’t the same

-He always insisted that you aren’t anything but perfect, yet you always seemed to brush the compliments off with a shrug and an awkward smile

-Well, shit, we can’t have that

-Lucifer just got 10x more serious about the matter

-He pulls a really stupid concerned face whenever you insult yourself and he looks more and more like a 48 year old man/dad each time it happens

-He, as of late, increased the number of pet names he has for you and the amount of compliments he gives you each day

-He refuses to let you talk badly about yourself anywhere, at any point in time and encourages every little step you take towards bettering yourself like crazy

- Lucifer wants to prove to you that you are an absolute ray of sunshine and he will go to any lengths to do just that (do not ask)

-He’s even more affectionate than usual which confuses just about everyone in the House of Lamentation, yourself included

-His brothers are feeling a disturbance in the force and they don’t know how to feel about it

-You are possibly the best thing that’s happened to him since he fell as angel and Lucifer is ready to do whatever he can to help you realise that

Mammon:

-“You’re an idiot!”

-“*Sigh*, I know.”

-“Wha-Wait! Y-you can’t say thAT!”

-The Great Mammon is seriously worried about his human

-Being the dense motherfucker he is (i still love him tho) it took him weeks to realise you’re not all that confident in yourself

-At some point in your relationship, he jokingly called you annoying and you just went “Yeah I’ve been told. Sorry.”

-His jaw literally dropped and he almost cried

-He would have choked if he was drinking something

-Tsundere Mammon has gone bye bye and here comes the cuddling teddy bear that is your boyfriend

-He also doesn’t have as much self love for himself as he sometimes pretends to have so he’s kinda in the same boat

-Which means your boat is leaking and you’re perfectly fine with it while he’s panicking and trying to throw water overboard with his hands

-His brothers call him an idiot a lot but he’s a very sociable guy with people skills that he uses all the time in order to coax you out of your self pitiying shell

-Will whine every time you call yourself ‘useless’ or disagree with his compliments because what the hell, you’re literally the most gorgeous being ever let me love youuuu

-When it comes to you and your happiness, he ain’t fucking around. He will snarl at anyone that even looks at you in the wrong way

-Did that to Lucifer once, guess a what happened

-You’ve definitely helped him come to terms with the fact that he is loveable and not a good for nothing scum

-So now it’s your turn!

-Let him kiss your insecurities away please

-Your presence makes him feel wanted so he wants the same for you!

Levi:

-Well then

-It takes two to tango ya know?

-He is the KING of self loathing and no confidence whatsoever in anything he does so every time you put yourself down, he counters it with a self deprecating insult as well

-“I suck.”

-“Nah, you’re pretty awesome normie. I’m the shut in, disgusting otaku who can barely set foot outside his bedroom without having an anxiety attack.”

-It’s like you’re trying to outdo the other on who is worse

-Truth is, he really admires you, especially knowing you chose to date him; an anime nerd with no social life and no communication skills whatsoever

-It hurts a bit, every time he builds up the courage to actually compliment you and you not taking it seriously

-That’s because he recognises that he’s the same and just as harsh on himself as you are

-Levi knows self hatred is something that takes time to demolish

-But you are his Henry after all (also his partner but whatevs)

-He’s not gonna leave you hanging when you need him the most

-He also gradually stops calling you a normie as your relationship progresses, though it still slips through every now and again

-Basically, the first time he realised that you think negatively of yourself, his immediate reaction was: Haha lmao relatable

-But now, every time it happens, he gets all serious

-Puts his controller down and everything, it’s like witnessing a very rare phenomenon and it’s creepy as shit

-He’s also made an effort to be more physically affection though he is kinda shy about it because damn it he just wants to hug you every time you speak badly of yourself

-Probably writes a list at some point stating all the reasons why you are better than him and Ruri chan combined, it’s rlly sweet

Satan:

-He’s a bit curious as to where that mentality has come from

-What triggered you to be so self doubtful?

-He’s basically your psychotherapist and asks you a lot of questions trying to find different causes and solutions for your issues

-Honestly, he puts so much effort into trying to understand, reading books about it from the human realm and whatever he can find in order to help you

-He scrunches up his nose every time you call yourself an idiot or anything of the sort

-Satan knows that insisting you’re wonderful won’t exactly help you overcome this problem of yours

-But that doesn’t stop him from doing it

-It’s not like you can ignore his comments because he will keep complimenting you until you accept them

-He also repeats a lot of pick up lines but that’s just part of being his partner

-What do you mean you’re worthless?!! He would literally give away all of his books and his hatred for Lucifer in exchange for your well being!

-Satan is possibly the smartest out of all of his brothers, so he uses a tactical approach on this one

-Direct affectionate gestures don’t work on you so he’s gonna be more subtle

-Would slightly hint that you are amazing every time you do something for him, like fetching him a book or something

-“Ah thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you love.”

-He’s a lot smoother than he gives himself credit for

-He just appreciates your existence and that there’s someone out there that he doesn’t need to be act hostile or fake toward

-Satan is ready to sit down and listen to you talk about your insecurities for hours on end

-You would quietly say something bad about yourself and he would run through the House of Lamentation before bursting into the room you are in, shouting ‘No! That’s wrong!’ (going Danganronpa on your asses)

-“Welp, I fucked up again. I can’t do anything right.”

-And then, in the distance you hear boss music starting

Asmo:

-*Shocked Gasp*

-How could you say such things about yourself???? Is that even leGAl?

-Of course, the literally prince of Lust, with all of his narcissism, has never experienced things like ‘self doubt’ of ‘bad self esteem’

-Pfft, the fuck is that?

-He only uses the most positive of words when he describes himself

-So obviously he almost falls off the bed when he hears you insulting yourself for the first time

-But ya know, that would leave bruises on his beautiful skin

-“Oh darling, you’re not annoying or a moron! You’re not anything like Mammon!”

-That was a below belt fatal hit, press f in the chat for the second eldest

-At some point, he just genuinely believes you’ve been spending too much time with Levi and that his negativity started rubbing off on you

-But then you tell him you’ve always been like this and he almost has a crisIS

-He’s like ‘Haha, no, we’re going to get a spa day out tomorrow and a few shopping sprees so I can prove to you that you are magnificent in every way imaginable.’

-Asmo loves pampering you in general but on the days he sees you feeling extra sorry for yourself, he goes above and beyond

-Gets very hurt when you brush off his compliments because he just wants you to accept the fact that you’re beautiful

-He’s like a supportive mom lmao, whenever you’re feeling self doubtful, he goes “You’re doing great sweetie, keep it up I’m really proud of you.”

-It’s up to you to decide whether that helps or not

-He’s such a sweetheart in reality, it’s hard to remember that he’s supposed to be horny all the time

-Well he is but that’s not the point, you’re way more important

-Asmo is so much fun to write cuz I can make him so dramatic it’s hilarious

Beel:

-Oh no :(

-He gets very sad everytime you self deprecate yourself

-You can’t do it with him in the room because he’s going to start crying and give you this kicked puppy stare, it will break your heart

-Beel kinda comes over and goes “If I give you some of my food will you please stop saying bad things about yourself? Because it’s not true.”

-Well you can’t say no to that face

-He feels like it’s his fault you’re this self doubtful even though you’ve tried to explain to him you’ve always been like this

-He goes crying to his twin half the time because he doesn’t know what to do

-“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to drop it! Fucking hell, I’m such a fucking klutz.”

-“Sniffle no you’re not.”

-He’s like, giving you large portions of his food now

-Because food makes him happy so he wants you to be happy too

-🙂

-His brothers go in shock every time because the only other person Beel has ever shared his food with before was Belphie

-Physical affection goes through the roof with this guy

-Bone crushing hugs btw

-Your self worth is so immeasurable with him, you can’t even measure it

-W h o a

-I’m being serious, don’t talk badly about yourself in front of him unless you want to be hugged into next week

-You are a literal angel in his eyes, of course he thinks highly of you

-He’s just hoping his presence isn’t making your self esteem worse, that’s the thing that keeps him up at night

-Idk why but he does think that he is a bad influence on your mental well being since he’s a demon

-Beel gives you compliments all the time and it confuses him when you laugh them off uncertainly because he wasn’t joking or lying??

-He’s always supportive of your choices and encourages you to be more confident

-The same way you show your support everytime you come to his games to cheer him on

-Overall, he just wants you to feel special and appreciated

-Because you deserve it

-IneedmyselfaBeel

Belphie:

-He feels like absolute shit

-Becuase he’s well aware he‘s called you a few...not so nice words in the past

-Back then, he only thought he meant everything he said but now that he’s hearing you accept his insults and actually repeating them yourself?

-It hurts his brain and he wants to smash his head against all four walls of the room for being such a cretin

-You do tell him it’s not exactly his fault you think so badly of yourself

-But he still believes he fueled it

-So now he needs to fix it

-He’s tried everything and I mean everything

-It’s kinda working, slow progress is made which he’s really happy about but you know, it’s gonna take a while

-He finally settles on physical affection as the best way to communicate his gratefulness for you being youself

-Oh, he wasn’t hugging you before? He is now, get your ass next to him and let him cuddle you

-Handholding has increased by 69% in the last month, sorry for the loss of your right hand with how much he squeezes it

-Sometimes, he can’t help but a throw an insult at you in a playful manner, because he’s an asshole

-But he always makes sure you understand that he was just joking

-He’s such a little shit, you would be having a chat with him and you would subtly drop a insult at yourself hoping he wouldn’t notice

-But then he stops dead in his tracks, kisses you, says “Shut up, you’re stunning” and then he goes right back to the previous conversation like nothing happened

-Accept his compliments damn it otherwise he will continue to bug you about it for the rest of the day

-He’s an eboy and he’s a dickhead a times, but he just goes soft for you tbh

-If you’re feeling really bad about yourself, he won’t even say anything

-He will just big spoon you for the next 24 hours, good luck going to the bathroom or any meals during that time

-Because once you’re in his grip, you’re not getting out that easily

-He gets so pissy if anyone says something even slightly negative about you to your face

-One time, a random demon called you stupid in one of the classes at RAD and he was like ‘bïtch excuse me what?’

-Snapped his head around at him and everything

-He would have done something worse but he was lazy and feeling really petty

-So Belphie kicked him in the privates from under his desk like a damn spoiled brat

-And then he turned his head back to you, all smiles and rainbows and puppies

-I’m simping so hard for a fictional character wtf

-I had to write more protective Belphie cuz I can’t find anything of the sort anymore and I need flUFF

(Haha, I don’t know what this post is, my writing has officially taken a shit lmao. Sorry this took so long to finish, I kept going back to edit all of them)

Al~

[mettywiththenotes]

I just think we need more Quirkless au's of Tomura being Izuku's friend or brother in the background of what is happening

Izuku invites his friends from high school over to hang out and Tomura is there making food in their kitchen, remarking about "Oh so my little bro DOES have friends. Nice to know you're finally joining the world, brat" and snickers as Izuku elbows him playfully. Izuku and his friends proceed to hang out in his bedroom for the entire fic while Tomura goes and does his own thing

Izuku at 14 goes on study dates with his friends who are from a different school and they're the only friends he has. The entire fic is spent detailing goofy shenanigans and bonding moments. At the end of it, Izuku gets picked up by Older Bro Tomura in his car and when Izuku insists that he can just take the bus, Tomura replies with "shut up and be grateful, brat, this saves money" but he's just making sure Izuku gets home safe <3

In a Normal Kids Who Also Have Quirks au, some of Izuku's friends are in the mall at one point and they suddenly see Izuku in a cafe sat opposite of some older guy who looks a lil shady, chatting away freely. When they ask him, Izuku laughs and says "Oh yeah, that's Shigaraki! We met in that cafe one day and idk became friends. I dropped my quirk analysis notebook and he accidentally saw some info in it and started ranting to me about how one of the paragraphs was wrong, and we started bouncing ideas off of each other. We just kinda bonded over it and we meet up now and again to hang out. He's a good guy, really, he just has no fashion sense lol". Bonus if Tomura is there AS Izuku says this and he just shoves Izuku playfully with a huff, Izuku laughing as he teases him more - the rest of the fic is spent on Izuku trying to help Tsuyu and the others break into an aquarium and free all the frogs

Even just them in the background, with Izuku preparing for a date with (insert character), picks out his outfit then finally settles to relax and log onto his game, connecting with HandKing21 who scolds him for being late. When Izuku tells him he's got a date tonight so he was preparing, Tomura just meets him with "Yeah yeah we get it you're not single anymore now PLEASE can we get through this dungeon and defeat that damn Ogre? If I have to spend another week on this level I'm gonna scream" to which Izuku laughs and they get to work. They've been online friends for years, but they still try and play when they can, even when life gets busy. Rest of fic is spent on Izuku with (insert character) having cute blushing moments or whatever - BONUS if Izuku is nervous and having relationship trouble, his sadness reflecting onto his gameplay and Tomura straight up just sighs and asks him whats up. Izuku tells him and Tomura is like "well me and my boyfriend just communicate that shit to each other. its no big deal. we both have our share of bad shit that gets in the way, but we just talk to each other. if you talk to this boyfriend or girlfriend or whoever of yours and they laugh at you, fucking dump them cuz they're not worth your time. Anybody who laughs at their partners insecurities is a shit head who doesn't deserve their attention. Are we done? We got that sorted? Okay let's continue cuz I am NOT spending another 4 hours on this stupid quest just to fuck up again. Get your head in the game, brat" and Izuku just laughs, thanking him and they continue

Izuku and his friends decide to do some good old Teen Vigilante Justice and idk vandalise some old rich assholes house. Izuku mentions that he can borrow his brothers equipment, and when he gets concerned looks from everyone, he just smiles and says "Tomura does the same thing with his friends. I've done this before, I know what we'll need." - Tomura isn't introduced into the fic, we just read about Izuku mentioning him, listing off the advice Tomura has given him and getting to work. Also imagine Izuku casually remarking how "yeah when I was like 10, Tomura took me with him and his friends to vandalise a rich neighborhood full of assholes and showed me how to throw exploding spray paint at a house JUST right so the paint splatters over the windows and roof of the balcony. That stuff really sticks to the wood, and its hard to get out if they don't notice it straight away and leave it for ages! Some of them never even end up noticing! So let's get to work guys lmao let's do this"

Like idk I'd kill for a fic where whatever is happening (ship fics, world building fics, vigilante fics, everybody is quirkless etc) just has these two in the background with SOME kinda dynamic that shows they have a bond

And, if there is a fic like one of these, let me know I'd love to read it