#but. eugh. as high as the high points are i think the low points are also WAY lower than in his other works | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

deaconusdelirium · 3 years

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So this is love

Requested: “could I please have Princess!Reader who Crosshair ‘volunteers’ to guard while he tries to not fall for her, yet he does, and he’s a total gentleman and romantic, eugh. I need some love right now”

I’m so sorry this is late. I was suppose to post this Monday and I didn’t. Sorry cyar’ika, I hope you like it though🥺

———

“Listen, all we need is someone to guard her for the day, her mother and I have some matters to discuss. We hate for her to be in our problems she shouldn’t have to be in right now” your father exclaimed, holding your mothers hand as she nodded, “listen your highness, we have our hands full right now. We have a kid we also need to take care of” “we could pay you handsomely” Hunter seemed to think about the offer, they needed the credits, especially in a trying time such as now. “Alright. Crosshair will do it” Hunter said as Crosshairs head turned towards him, he was not expecting this.

“Hunter. I’m needed on your side, not, walking along side some fake royalty” He spoke, your parents a little offended, Hunter turned and put a hand on his brothers shoulder, “the planets pretty peaceful, this is easy money. Just watch the princess until we come back, they did say they were going to pay us well. We’ll be back before nightfall, you only have a few hours” he turned back around to negotiate further terms. Crosshair groaned, he was meant for a better job, not whatever he was ‘chosen to do’. He could be serving in the military yet here he was, being a lap dog for some wanna be princess. “Very well, follow me” your father pointed his hand towards the castle, Wrecker laughed as Tech didn’t seemed fazed at all. Echo didn’t have anything to say, even he thought he could do a better job than Crosshair.

“This better be worth it” Crosshair spoke, pushing past Hunter while hitting his shoulder with his, sliding his helmet on and walking after your parents. “Why him Hunter?” Echo asked, folding his arms, “because he’s willing to do what needs to be done” Hunter said, watching his brother disappear behind the big doors until they closed. “Alright, let’s go” “uh Hunter. How long are we going to be gone for exactly?” “Long enough for him to get that attitude straight” Tech bumped in, “I believe that leaving him on a planet he’s never been on, to be a guard while we go off, will not affect his behavior on accepting and listening to you. However, it will probably only make him upset” “since when has he ever been happy?” Echo said, shaking his head since he could never think of a time Crosshair was happy. “He’ll be fine, it’s not like we’re leaving him for good”

—

“This way.. Crosshair? Correct?” “Yes.” Crosshair was a lot taller than the guards at the palace, and whenever he passed some. They’d grow a little bit intimidated, but he couldn’t do anything. After all, it is a peaceful planet, so danger wouldn’t be common, right? He stopped abruptly when your parents did, almost bumping into them, he took a step back, “now, that’s all you’re doing. Just guarding her, bring her back before sundown. If she tries anything, bring her right back here” you father ordered, “mother” you parents turned to face you, making Crosshair do the same. You were a lot different than he had expected, he’s found you almost... endearing, really. He tuned out whatever you dad was saying, nodding along. Ok, maybe this wasn’t so bad.

He watched as you approached him, “I’m uh, ready” you looked down, you’ve never really been around clones, and he looked more rugged than the original stormtroopers. He gave a quick nod, you turned to wave, signaling you were leaving. You didn’t know how to start a conversation between you two, it was awkward, a bit embarrassing. He hasn’t said one word, at least you haven’t heard him say anything, you pulled the hood over your head further, wanting to just disappear into it instead of walking around with a stranger you’ve never seen who now has to guard you. You’d rather have one of your guards, they were easy to talk to, you were about to open the door but the Clone did, letting you walk through until he closed it, standing behind you once again. “Vor entye” you thanked him

“You know Mando’a?” He started, you looked at him wide eyed, not expecting him to speak so soon. “I do, my mother taught me. My father doesn’t know any, you?” You asked, looking around the streets filled with people, kids ran across playing with a ball while the adults talked and vendors were making money. “A little” you hummed, talking the left walkway first, “I assumed as much, considering you travel around the galaxy and talk to so many other people” he turned his head, “have you ever been off world?” Oh well, he might as well get to know you if he’s going to be with you for some time. “No, unfortunately. My parents won’t allow it, they don’t even trust me to take a walk by myself” you sounded upset, “and they promised me that I could have this day to myself, but yet here you are” he stopped for a second, maybe this planet wasn’t that all peaceful

He caught up to you, who was looking at the items that littered the table in front you, “so tell me, princess” he made the word princess sound silly, you rolled your eyes and turned to meet him, his helmet still hid his face, “yes, trooper?” You teased back, he wanted to know more about what really was going on behind the fake set up, if you sounded that distraught, then who knows what happens when you’re alone. “Did you want to take a walk today? Or were you made to?” You smirked at him, “my parents wanted to test my social skills. l, I guess you could put it that way. They’re just getting me ready” you turned back around, walking to another shop.

This didn’t seem that hard, maybe he could find out before the day ended, “ready? For?” You scoffed, “are you really asking me that?” He wasn’t expecting for the snap back, he’s never been around royalty so he stood there, waiting for your explanation, “for marriage? Two planets or two cities come together?” You even motioned it to him, he only watched, nodding along when he finally pieced it all together. “And how, is this going to help?” He asked, as you paid for the item you bought and put it in the bag you carried. He offered to carry it for you, and you reluctantly gave it to him, he swung it over his shoulder, next to his rifle. “Well, I could find out what my ‘husband’ would want for dinner. Clothes, etc. etc.” you explained, “I thought royalty got whatever they wanted” “that’s probably what non royalty think. But we’re just like everyone else, we still have to pay. And the Queen, Princess, Bride whatever you want to call them, still have to have their priorities set straight. It’s not fair that my parents met off world on their own planets when I can’t. They’re finding one for me”

He nodded his head, now he understood. He watched you as grabbed something again, his eyes followed the person he seen lurking around the shop. Looking over at you every now and then, he moved closer, “and does everyone have priorities?” He asked, motioning the civilians. “Mm, no. Some yes, they do, others don’t, why?” You faced him, looking around to see what he was worried about, “just wondering” “I see, well. I don’t feel like buying anything really, come on” you pulled his hand, he was not ready for that. He followed around like a lost puppy, his face red underneath the helmet. He barely held your hand back, unsure if you wanted him to hold it or not. “Come on, I want to show you something”

You both weaved through the crowd, he wouldn’t admit that even he was excited to see what you had to show him. Once he notice you slow down, he knew what you meant, it was a small clearing with the two suns. “Tell me..” “Crosshair” “Crosshair, what’s it like out there? Is it pretty? Better than here?” He looked over at where you were looking. He sighed out, “not exactly, some planets may look nice, but they’re still bad out there” “oh... what about the planets. Are there a lot? I mean I know are, but I feel like there’s limit to them” it bothered him knowing that you were so closed in and you didn’t know much about off world. “There are many planets, some, better than others” you looked at him, his hand went up to his helmet, pulling it off. You quickly turned away, shielding your hands from his face

“What are you doing?” He asked “I thought you might like privacy” you frantically said, he almost laughed, “no, you’re fine” “a-are you sure, because most people like you don’t take their helmet off in front of other people” he pushed your hands down, “what, other people?” He questioned, you slowly faced him, taking in his features, “people like.. Mandalorians” “Mandalorians?” “Yeah, he have quite a few visit every now and then” he eyed you down while you pushed off your hood. He got an even better look at you, he couldn’t deny that you were beautiful. He looked down to see that he was still holding your wrists. He backed off, looking away and standing there. You frowned, maybe it was something you did.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have” you apologized, walking off and waiting for him back at the alley, he put his helmet back on. Following you, it was almost evening. You were quiet after that, now it was his turn to feel awkward. You both took your time, every waking moment he spent with you felt like he’s known you for eternity. Some moments he found that he just wanted to stare at you while you talked about what you loved and what you wanted to to do. The stars in your eyes shined, the way they lit up whenever he asked about something from your culture.

Is this how you felt when you first met him? His head hung low while still following your footsteps, he looked up to see another pair of shoes in front of you, he glared at the person behind his visor. What was he demanding from you? He couldn’t hear, but he didn’t want this to go on any further, he stood up straight, pushing you behind him as he shook his head in a ‘no’ manner to the person. Once they knew to stand down, they did, walking off shortly while he turned to face you. “They didn’t do anything, did they?” “No... no I’m fine. I think we should head back” you both didn’t travel far, is this as far as you wanted to go?

“That’s it?” He questioned, he could still see the palace from where he stood. “What is?” You asked, “this is as far as you want to go?” “It’s getting late Crosshair, I’m suppose to be back by nightfall” you both had plenty of time, but why would you want to go back so early? He stood there, baffled at how you were paranoid to be out late, and you were being controlled more than you even knew. Even he could see it when he first met you. The somewhat sad expression he noticed whenever you looked up at the sky and seen night creep closer, “come on” he grabbed your hand, pulling you along side him as he walked around with you. “Crosshair, I think it’s best to go back. My parents are going to send guards soon” he ignored your protest, you had more than enough time to go do more things.

An hour or so later, you both found yourselves in a nice restaurant, he told you everything you wanted to know. He’d gotten to know your past and what you did growing up, must have been boring. He answered all your questions you had about off world, even listening to his stories about the time he went Gino battle. He stood up, coming over to your side and holding a hand out. You noticed how comfortable he had gotten in the past few hours, he helped you up as you both walked out the restaurant, then away from the crowd and into a small field. He was still getting use to being squished by people, so being alone would comfort him a little. “Cross” you called out, his helmet under one arm as the other was wrapped around your shoulder. “What is it?” “I.. just wanted to thank you. For today, this probably has to be my first time ever, outside with this much freedom. I’m surprised you haven’t taken me back yet” “you haven’t tried anything yet” he teased, “But all good things come to end” you looked down, holding your hands as he pondered about what just happened.

He wasn’t sure what he wanted. He pushed your hood off and pushed your head up and bent down to your lips. Softly taking them in his as you fell into it. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, he was suppose to only be watching you. Your father said nothing about talking... or falling in love, did he? But if he didn’t say anything about that, then maybe he just did. He moved closer to you, your hands found their way to his sides, where his armor wasn’t protecting. He tensed under your movements. He moved away, only leaving him wanting more, so he dropped his helmet and cupped your face in his hands. Bringing you in for another, his hands wandered down your shoulders and to your hips. Settling for the your lower back as you both tried to come as close as possible.

You pulled back with a gasp, heaving breathing as your hand fell on his chest plate. “Cross, I love-” he listened carefully, he knew what you were going to say and he wanted to hear it. He just couldn’t make the first move until you did, the past hours spent with you were probably the best ones he’s ever had. Something grew between you when you two, he started the day not wanting to do this, and at the end, he would do anything to be with you again like this. “Crosshair, I hope you you took the princess back. We’re almost there” he almost commed Hunter back to shut up. You pulled away without finishing your sentence. He didn’t even get to hear it, the cold air blew against the warmth you provided him, he shivered a little, expecting you to come back. “He’s right Crosshair. We should head back” “Y/n” “no, it’s getting late. I don’t want you getting in trouble” you said as you picked his helmet up off the ground and pushed it towards him. Walking off as he followed behind.

“Crosshair” Hunter commed again, trying to call for his brother but Crosshair could only think about the past minute. How you were so close he could feel the beating of your heart through his armor. The warmth you brought him and your soft gentle touches along his side. Was this love? Had he actually found someone to stay with? Or was this his feelings messing with him, he’s never been so close to someone before, And he definitely did not mind you being. “Crosshair” “what. What. What?” He finally answer back, snapping at his brother for ruining something he never thought he wanted. He kept an eye on you as you walked back to the palace, “we’re talking with the King and Queen, once you bring her back is when we’ll get paid. So I suggest you hurry” “you’ve told me before, you don’t need to tell me again.” He turned off his radio, catching up to you

The people who came too close to you were shoved out of the way since it also scared him that if you did come back late, guards would come, and his brothers were at the palace, that would mean there would be many there. He wondered just how many suitors were in line for you, how you spoke about not wanting to marry any of them earlier. Why would you kiss him? All the thinking about love and his feelings were giving him a headache, particularly where his chip use to be. He shook his head trying to rid the feeling, the large doors were now in front of the both of you. You looked hesitant to knock, “Y/n” he called out, his modulator matching his hushed tone. You looked over, his gloved hands tried to hold yours, the shadows from the door blocked the view of anyone looking, “yes, Crosshair?” Your voice. So frail, so soft.

He took his helmet off as you slid your hood off as well. He rested his helmet under his arm, while he took off his glove. He pulled you closer, this was probably the only time he’ll ever get to do this again, he brought the flower he held behind his back, fixing it into your hair as he pushed it back. “Tell me you love me” he can’t believe that he actually said that, but it was true, he couldn’t love you until you said you did, and you almost did. “Cross, I love you” it didn’t sound as real as before, but he took it nonetheless. The doors started to open, “I love you too Mesh’la” he gave you one last kiss, pulling your hood up to hide the flower, then sliding his helmet on before acting like he only did what he was suppose too. Your hand left his side as he felt the snap of a button and stood up again

He let you walk through, following until you both went and met your parents. Another group of Clones just like Cross were there too, “Y/n, how was your day?” You mother asked, fixing your clothes and making you presentable. “It was fine” the others thought you spoke fine and how royalty should, but Cross knew that it was just a play. Fake. “Now, how do we thank Crosshair?” Your father asked, pushing you forward to him, you didn’t want to make it seem like you had gotten comfortable around him. “Thank you, Crosshair, for today” you didn’t look at him, the feelings would only come back. Crosshair looked around making sure his brothers weren’t listening before speaking, “You’re welcome...Cyar’ika” you only hoped your mother hadn’t heard. You turned and seen her talking to the other Clones and your father, you smiled and shook your head at Crosshair. You could see by how his armor moved he laughed a little as well. “Go on a clean up now” your mother ushered you as gave Crosshair one last smile before leaving.

He didn’t even get to tell you that he would see you again. That may have not been true, and he knows he might not ever see you again, he watched as his Hunter grabbed the boxful of credits. He was getting paid from his happiness from, love, if you will. He didn’t do or say anything when your father thanked him one last time, the Batch looked at him then left. He was quiet on the way back, even Tech tried to start a conversation with him. Back on the Marauder, everyone went their separate ways, Crosshair went to his bed, Echo not to far, while Wrecker and Omega played with Lula and Batcher. Hunter and Tech were up at the front figuring out where to go next. Crosshair put his stuff away, standing his rifle up against the wall and his Helmet on his cleaning kit. Then he remembered your bag!

He took it off, looking through it only to find a few flowers and, a teddy bear much like Lula? He stifled a laugh, he sat it up on his bed and put your bag in his locker. He reached to grab whatever was in his pocket around his belt, and it was your necklace. When did you give it to him? Was it when you first bought something? Or at the restaurant maybe? It didn’t matter, he felt bad for not giving it back. “That looks like the doll I told my friend to get” Omega pointed out, Crosshair only scoffed, and leaned forward to rest his head in his hands. “I heard she got it today, at the market” he attention piqued since he was at the market with ‘Omegas friend’ that was a ‘she’ “what’s her name?” He asked, looking over at Omega while she held Lula and pretended to play with the doll that he had. “Y/n, she lives here too, but I didn’t get a chance to see her since we were doing that mission” his eyes widen at your name. You. You were friend with Omega? He nodded, maybe you were going to see each other again soon.

———

This request was from long ago and I’m so sorry. I wanted to make it better but I have other, so part 2 will be even better. I promise!

#Crosshair the bad batch #Crosshair x reader #Hunter #tbb #Star Wars tcw #oneshot #requested

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readerinsertz · 4 years

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Omfg I love your reader inserts! Can I get an Alpha! Bokuto Kōtarō x Omega! Fem! Reader? A scenario where Reader-chan goes to Nekoma and is the male volleyball team’s manager, reader chan gets stuck in heat and Bokuto gets jealous of Kuroo trying to help reader-chan? Smut would be nice but it doesn’t have to be fam! Have fun!

Rating: Explicit, MDNI

Genre: Omegaverse AU (Alpha!Bokuto, Omega!Reader)

Word count: 7.4K

Warnings: 18+ content, MDNI, afab!reader, heat sex, fingering, bokuto being whipped for you, soft sex, biting, doggy, okay maybe not that soft, knots

AN: I made it extra smutty since this was requested a while ago!!

You could tell before you had fully sat down for Registration that it was going to be a bad day. You had only just woken up on time, having forgotten to plug your phone in last night to recharge, you’d left your lunch at home and didn’t have enough money to buy some at the cafeteria. You forced the fiercest scowl on your face, learnt from fellow Omega Yaku to ward away anyone who wanted to talk to you. You were definitely not in a talking mood.

“You okay, (Name)-chan?” A quiet voice spoke, your aggravation melting away as Kenma asked about your well-being.

“I’m as good as my current circumstances allow me to be,” you told him, pouting as you were forced to remember how horrible your week had been. Due to the harsh rain and living on the first floor, your apartment had been flooded quite badly. Thankfully, the landowner was getting it under control and wouldn’t be charging but you, and the rest of the first floor, had been forced to move out of the building. You had moved into a cheap flat but since you hadn’t had much time to pack, you’d had forgotten a lot of your things.

“Do you know when you’ll be able to move back in?” Kenma asked, golden eyes worried.

“Hmm, probably not in the next week or two, there’s going to be a lot of renovation from water damage,” you relayed what your landowner had told you when you had rung her earlier.

“What about your,” Kenma’s eyes swept across the class to make sure no one was listening in on your conversation and moved closer to you, “Suppressants?”

In your haste to pack enough clothes, toiletries and technology you didn’t want to get water damaged or stolen, you had forgotten to grab your Suppressor Pills. For pretty much any Omega living in Tokyo, they would have been one of the first things packe. You, however, had gone to a small middle school in the Miyagi Prefecture that had had a very small number of Alphas in attendance. As a result of the limited interactions with the other Designation, you hadn’t really needed Suppressants. When you had chosen to attend Nekoma High in Tokyo, which was bound to have a much greater population of Alphas than your previous school, you had decided it would be best to go onto the medication. The first year of High School had been split between managing the Nekoma Volleyball Team and testing out different types of Suppressants. It had only been at the start of the second year, after almost giving up trying to find medication that worked for you, that you’d finally found Suppressants that didn’t make you feel nauseous or had your moods constantly swinging from high to low. Unfortunately, the few months you’d been on the Suppressants hadn’t been enough for them to be given enough importance that you would remember them in your travel packing list and so you had left them in your flat. Your flat that was currently inaccessible… For the next few weeks.

“Eugh, don’t remind me about that problem! I tried to swing by to grab them but I wasn’t allowed entrance- they said that the water may have damaged the structural integrity of the first floor and it’d be too dangerous for a ‘small Omega to go in’,” your face turned into a nasty frown as you quoted to your fellow Omega what one of the construction workers had told you, “so I’ve not been able to get them. I’ve had to make do by rolling as much Scent Blocker, which I had to buy from the pharmacy ‘cuz I forgot that as well, as is physically possible on all my Scent Glands.” Your frown turned into a grimace as you recalled the chicken dance you were forced to do every morning to dry the amount of Scent Blocker applied to your body.

“Isn’t there anyway you can go buy some more Suppressors? I’m not sure how much longer you’ll remain out of Heat, especially since you’ve been on them for a few months now,” Kenma mused. You just sighed at his suggestion and rested your head on your folded arms on the desk.

Whilst Alphas and Omegas had to first go to their local doctors to discuss going on Suppressors and trailing ones that worked well for them, once they had decided on a Suppressor type they could set up a standing order for that prescription and collect it over the counter at a pharmacy of their choice. As you had had bad reactions to the most common Suppressors, you had been forced to use a type that was produced in smaller batches. A limited number of pharamices stocked those pills and only one was reasonably close. The owner of that pharmacy was an Alpha that still had archaic views on Alphas and Omegas and the roles of each Designation.

“The Suppressors I’m on aren’t ones that are made in huge quantities. If I go to her and ask for some emergency Suppressors since I’ve left my previous prescription at home, she’d probably spend an hour lecturing me on how all Omegas are unreliable, knot-driven beasts that spend most of their time thinking about Alphas instead of taking their pills. She won’t even listen to my reason!”

Kenma regarded you with sympathy. Since he was on the most common Suppressant, one you’d had reacted to with severe cramps and vomiting, he couldn’t just give you his and get another month’s worth from a pharmacy that wouldn’t judge. The male’s eyes widened as he thought of a temporary solution and moved to his bag. Struggling for a second, he untied the jumper that his alpha, Kuroo, had given him that morning.

“Here, it should cover your scent and give other Alphas second thoughts on approaching you.” You smiled your gratitude and quickly pulled it over your head. Unlike many Alpha-Omegan mates, Kuroo and Kenma didn’t mind if their scents weren’t just on their mates- the entire volleyball team were like this- so you’d often been given articles of clothing from Alphas who had mates to ward off any bothersome Alphas. Before you could discuss anything else with Kenma, the teacher walked in and your class fell silent.

Sweat beading along your hairline had you huffing and quickly swiping it away. The sun was blazing down on the gymnasium but the team you managed were dedicated to training and so you had been forced to endure the heat with them. Not that you could say, with all honesty, that you really minded since the Fukurōdani team had come to practise with your team. You looked up just in time to see the Alpha Captain spiking the ball, it bouncing on the shiny floor before Yaku could get to it. Your gaze remained on the third year, taking in how his muscles flexed as he moved around the court. Even though he was on the opposing team, you couldn’t help the smile as he scored another point- or maybe it was because of his cute celebration.

“Ho, ho, ho, what prey has caught your eyes?” Kuroo asked, sneaking up on you in your brief lapse of attention. He had wanted to sit on the sides and observe his team to locate any big weaknesses in their teamwork or form so wasn’t on the court for the friendly game. Tracing your stare back to where you had been looking at, Kuroo’s smirk widened. “Cute, our lil’ Queen has had her interest piqued. And by a bird, no less- at least it’s a bird of prey. I’m sure he’ll be able to handle your claws.” Kuroo curved his hands to resemble claws and winked at you. You scoffed and rolled your eyes at his antics.

“Just because we’re members of the Nekoma Volleyball team doesn’t mean we’re literally cats, Kuroo!” You side-eyed him. “I still don’t know why you know the term for a female cat.”

“I’m in Class 5, y’know, a college preparatory class.”

“Yeah, but you’re you! You know the full word of DHA but don’t know that sleeping without those pillows over your head will cure you of your serious bed hair.” You stood on tip-toes to pull at a strand of his black hair. The two of you both jumped apart at the louder than normal sound of a volleyball hitting the floor. Looking over you saw how Bokuto was glowering in your direction, though he seemed to be staring at Kuroo. The cold look he had on his face instantly melted when your eyes met with his and he gave you a beaming grin. You tucked a piece of hair behind your eye and shyly glanced down at the gym floor. Whilst you would have normally sent the male a smile and a wave, Kuroo standing there, no doubt observing you two, had you feeling more timid than usual.

“I’m sure, if you ever get tired of this dancing around each other, you could just go over and declare your want to Court him,” Kuroo spoke, your eyes bulging and heat blooming on your cheeks.

“Kuroo! Oh my God, why-what-would?!” You spluttered out.

“What?” Kuroo shrugged his shoulders. “I thought you were all about being a progressive Omega. It’s not a bad thing if an Omega starts a Courtship- it’s the twenty-first century after all.” The captain studied you for a few seconds. “If you’re afraid of rejection, I’m sure that won’t happen; you two have been flirting with each other since the end of your first year- how many times has he taken you out for ice cream after a joint practice? Bo is clearly into you, look he’s puffing his chest out for you.” Peeking up you saw that Bokuto was, indeed, puffing his chest up, the action of an Alpha wanting to impress an Omega.

“Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, watching your own team for errors?” You prompted him. Kuroo narrowed his eyes at you, not liking your stubbornness. He was tired of having to spend ages listening to Bokuto gush about you plus Kenma had told him that you often texted him about the owl-looking captain. It was clear that you both had a lot in common and had great chemistry but you came from a traditional family who would disprove of you, an Omega, making the first move. It also didn’t help that you both went to different schools and were on rival teams- he had barely been able to hold back the first time someone remarked on how close you were to the Fukurōdani team, especially their captain. Since you were similar to Kenma, you wouldn’t want that type of negative attention directed towards you.

“This isn’t over,” Kuroo warned, pointing a finger at you and turning to head back to the bench. You just laughed and moved to one of the open doors, intent on refilling the team’s water bottles to give to them once the set was over.

Luckily, when you returned from filling the canteens up, you were greeted with a soaring Bokuto spiking the ball down onto the floor. The sheer power behind the ball forced it through Lev’s block. When both of his feet were on the ground, Bokuto knelt down and punched the air with both fists. The whistle blew as the first set went to Fukurōdani. Bokuto stood up, arms still curled not noticing how you stood in the doorway, transfixed over how his top clung to his frame in such a way that you could see the silhouette of his back muscles.

As he walked off the court he brought up the hem of his blue shirt, using it to wipe off the sweat on his forehead, and revealed part of his six-pack. The simple action had you flustered, hand coming up to fan your face for what seemed like the fifth time in a minute. You had asked a few members sitting on the bench earlier if they had thought it was hot but all had replied with a ‘no’. The air-con and opened doors helped to keep the heat from becoming sweltering yet you still felt like you were trapped in an inferno. Before you could dwell on your sudden heated body, your team was huddling in front of Kuroo on the edge of the court and you jumped back into action.

The box filled with the drink canteens dug painfully into your hip as you shuffled to where the sweaty players were gathered. In your peripheral vision, you saw a flash of white dart forward and what sounded like the start of your name being yelled before Kuroo sauntered over and grabbed the heavy box from your grip. Normally, you would have spat at him that you could manage. Instead, you gladly handed the crate over your arms feeling both weak and heavy simultaneously.

“You okay?” The Alpha asked, worry flitting through his face as he took your flushed appearance in and how you leant on him slightly. His eyes did a quick sweep over the gym to see if there were any Alphas loitering- there had been a few occasions where a knit of brave, or dumb, Alphas had turned up during practice to flirt with the Omegas on the team- but stopped at the pouting Bokuto. Akaashi was holding the back of his shirt to stop him from doing whatever the captain wanted to do. Judging by how his body was tilted in your direction, Kuroo assumed the Alpha was jealous of how close you were standing to him. Kuroo didn’t take it to heart that Bokuto, in his obvious attraction towards you, thought of him as a rival even though Kuroo had his own mate. He was an Alpha too and occasionally found himself growling low when he saw another Alpha near Kenma.

“I…I feel a bit faint,” you muttered, bringing his attention back to you. Frowning and handing the drink box to his Beta, Kai, he brought the back of his hand to your forehead and felt your temperature.

“You’ve got a bit of a fever,” Kuroo muttered, hand sweeping to check your cheeks. There was a loud shout and the sound of heavy footsteps before Bokuto was next to you.

“Are you okay, (Name)-chan? Do you need to go to the infirmary?” The captain bombarded you with questions, fretting over your weak body. By this point, most of the team members had noticed your situation and were looking in your direction, Bokuto’s loud voice not helping. Your cheeks just burnt more at the extra attention.

“I’m f-fine, Bo-kun.” You didn’t see how he lit up at the nickname, chest puffing out instinctively. “It’s probably because I haven’t had much to eat, I left my lunch at home,” you sheepishly admitted. Immediately, you heard the chirping sounds of several Alphas, an instinctive response to situations where harm could or had occurred to an Omega- the team still teased Lev over the time he had spent five minutes chirping and cuddling Yaku when his mate had gotten a paper cut.

“(Name)-chan, that’s bad for your health,” Kuroo gently chided. Seeing that the teams were beginning to get agitated from sensing an Omega in distress, Kuroo ordered Kai to lead Nekoma’s team back onto court whilst he dealt with you, hoping that the Fukurōdani team would follow suit. Thankfully, the males fell back into place on court though Bokuto remained by your side, waving off his teammates’ questions.

Kuroo led you to the locker rooms, knowing you wouldn’t be a fan of the attention. It was an indicator as to how out of it you were when you didn’t protest as Bokuto’s arm wrapped around your waist to help support you. You leaning into the other captain’s touch had the messy haired male raising his eyebrow but not saying anything. Kuroo instead focused on rummaging through his locker to find the spare snacks he kept there. You laid on the floor, half of your body on Bokuto as he propped you up whilst leaning his back on the wall. When Kuroo turned back, brandishing the packaged food, he noticed the white with black and gold striped jacket that your lower half was sat on; he couldn’t help but smirk at how the other Alpha’s attempts to keep you as comfortable and off the cold, hard ground as possible.

“Here, (Name)-chan, I’ve got some food. You should’ve told me about your lack of lunch, I’d have happily shared my bento,” Kuroo gently scolded. Bokuto growled deep in his chest, arms flexing around you to pull your back closer to his chest at Kuroo’s words. Even in jest, it was a bad idea to insult the mate of an Alpha, or an Omega as Kuroo came to find out when Kenma jumped onto a female Beta for insulting his mate’s unruly hair.

Kuroo opened the wrapper to prevent a fight. A conflict with his friend was not going to help you at all. As his Alpha was howling at him to help an Omega in distress, one, who though not his mate, was a member of his Pack, Kuroo didn’t think before he held the dry cracker up to your lips.

Before your lips could even open to accept the food, a hiss came from Bokuto, his eyes almost glowing in the state he was.

“Bo! She needs food, calm yourself!” Kuroo snapped at his friend. He could see your body respond to the aggression that was coming from the two males. The feline captain knew that Bo wanted you to be his mate but had thought that, since you were in his Pack, the other Alpha would be respectful enough to let Kuroo help you. At the very least, he had assumed that Bokuto would swallow his instincts if only to make you feel better quicker.

A whimper left your lips, your eyes scrunching at the fire that was flooding through your body. Immediately, you had both Alphas’ attention on. You wiggled in Bokuto’s lap, the male groaning at the feeling as your weak hands tried to pull off your tracksuit jacket. A more pathetic whine fell from your lips when you were unable to pull the zip down. The Alpha you were in the arms of being to cluck to comfort you.

“Off, puh-lease,” you moaned out, just having enough function over your hands to tug on your jacket. Instantly, Bokuto was unzipping the clothing but stilled when the zipper was almost at the end.

“Are you sure, (Name)-chan?” He asked, uncertainty dancing through his eyes. Even now, he didn’t want to take advantage of you. You nodded your head violently, regretting it when the action made the room swim. With as much care as he could, Bokuto took off the offending material. The moan you let out once the air met your flushed skin had both males blushing. Deciding that just having your jacket off wasn’t enough to cool you down, you pulled your black undertop as high as possible, the edges of your bra just peeking out. Bokuto swallowed and forced his gaze away from your stunning body

The owl-like captain clenched his jaws shut, eyes scrunched closed as he tried his hardest to reign his inner Alpha in. He didn’t understand why he was responding so intensely to Kuroo or you; he had been around you many times before and had had to witness your Pack cuddle you but had learnt to restrain himself. The saccharine scent that wafted into his nose had Bokuto’s eyes flying open. From your previous year testing out Suppressants, he had become accustomed to your lavender scent, though it had become diluted from your medicine. But now, it was a lot stronger than he had ever smelt.

“I… I think she’s… she’s in Heat,” Bokuto informed Kuroo.

“That’s impossible, she’s on Suppressants,” Kuroo told him, staring only at your flushed form. You had a light sheen of sweat on the skin bared to the air and you were panting. Heat would also explain your sudden spike in temperature. “Unless…. Shit!”

“What?” Bokuto asked, cradling you as gently as he could and cooing down at you when you whimpered in pain. Without thinking, one of his large hands slid over your shirt to rest on your right side, rubbing circles into the flesh. It calmed you down, your eyes sliding closed and your body turned to lay chest to chest with Bokuto.

“Her apartment got flooded last week, she had to vacate it. (Name)-chan forgot to pack her Suppressants. She told us she was going to go back and get them yesterday but obviously she wasn’t able to,” Kuroo spoke softly, taking your appearance in. He ignored Bokuto’s warning grumble, the male stroking your head to try and ease your pain. “Stop breathing her scent in!”

“I can’t help it!” Bokuto whined, nose pressed into the crown of your head. “She smells so good.”

Kuroo sighed, hand brushing through his black hair as he tried thinking of something. From the brief glimpse he had got, your pupils were extremely dilated and you had stopped responding to them in anything other than monosyllabic noises or through your body.

“Did she come into school in Pre-Heat?” Bokuto’s voice was almost feral as he pictured all the Alphas leering at you. You mewled in his arms, worming your face into the crook of his neck.

“Bo, you really need to try and control yourself, she’s mainly reacting to you.” As he was already mated and your Pack Leader, your body was, at the bare minimum, not reacting to his Alpha scent. If your sudden Heat got too bad, you might start actively rejecting him since he wasn’t a viable Heat Mate.

A Heat, or Rut, Mate was typically an Alpha or Omega that stayed with another Omega or Alpha, helping them with their Heat/Rut but wasn’t their actual Mate. Heat/Rut Mates were becoming increasingly more popular, especially to the younger generations, as society changed with its civillisation’s evolving perceptions of Alphas and Omegas. This allowed Omegas and Alphas to not go through as many Heats/Ruts in as much pain without having to first find their Mate.

“Does she have a Rut Mate?” Bokuto wheezed out. The look on his face betrayed his fear that you did have someone to help you through this intimate time. Kuroo knew that, if you did, Bokuto would let you go to them even if it would pain him.

“No,” Kuroo shook his head, eyes wandering around the room. Thankfully, all the doors and windows were shut so your scent would remain locked in the changing rooms for about another half hour.

“We’re gun’ hafta…. Hafta move her to a… Heat Room,” Bokuto grunted out, losing himself to your enticing scent. Heat Rooms were rooms found in almost all buildings from schools, workplaces and even in some shops which were completely sound and scent proof with locks on either side to prevent Alphas, or Omegas if it was a Rut Room, from getting in and mating with the in-Heat Omega or in-Rut Alphas.

“There’s one on the other side of the sports field,” Kuroo told him. He stood up to peer out the window. “I can’t see any Alphas out there so I think her scent has been contained so far.” He moved towards you but halted when Bokuto growled a warning at him, eyes flashing. By now your slick had made your pants completely wet, your skirt dampening as your body continued to produce it, the short material not fully hiding the sweet smelling fluids that had stuck to the back of your thighs.

“Did you hear that, sweet ‘Mega, we’re gunna… get you to a…a Heat Room,” Bokuto whispered to you, still struggling to control himself with your scent rolling over him. He trailed a hand fervently along your cheek, heart swelling when you turned your face to nuzzle into it, eyes opening to stare up into his.

“Alpha…please,” you begged, rubbing your thighs together to try and quench the need you felt. Kuroo turned, reaching out to you in order to take you from his friend to carry you to Nekoma’s Heat Room. To his surprise, he saw you extend your arms in Bokuto’s direction.

Although it wasn’t under the best circumstances, Kuroo knew that this could be the push you two needed to get together. He forced his Alpha down, the animal inside of him ordering him to go and protect an Omega in his Pack, and turned to stare down at Bokuto. “She’s chosen you.” He hoped that Bokuto would understand what Kuroo was implying but by the grim determination that flitted through his face had Kuroo almost growling. Whilst it was admirable that Bokuto was silencing his Alpha and the black haired male knew that he could trust the other to get you safely to the Heat Room, Kuroo was sure that Bokuto would resist all your temptations and it would end with you two dancing around each other once again.

With little effort, Bokuto scooped you up, his arms also picking up his jacket that you had been sat on. Without even looking at it fully, he could tell it was sodden with your slick. Once you were securely tucked into his chest, the Alpha sending a small cluck to tell you it was all going to be okay, he strode out of the room. The feeling of the sun’s rays directly on your skin had a quiet whine falling from your lips. Bokuto hushed you, maneuvering you so that he held you with one arm, freeing his other hand so he could pull your top down and his sports jacket around your arms to protect you from the additional heat.

You don’t really pay attention to the walk to the Heat Room; there might have been a time or two where the Alpha carrying you stopped and growled at something or someone but you weren’t fully conscious of his actions. By the time he had reached the small building which would secure the Omegas and Alphas, you had begun to beg under your breath for him to take you. Him gripping the flesh of your legs and sides was the only response he gave you to your pleas.

The Beta nurse stationed at the Heat/Rut Room jumped up from the desk and took charge, ordering Bokuto to place you into one of the free rooms. He swiftly moved around your sweating figure, checking your vitals and asking questions to the Alpha that stood by your side, hand holding yours as he answered to the best of his ability. He watched on as the nurse managed to coax you to drink a full bottle of water and take a few bites of a Heat Bar- snacks packed with as much nutrients as possible to help an Omega through their Heat. When he deemed you as stable as he could get you to be, the Nurse moved to the entrance of the room, gesturing for Bokuto to follow him. The ace did so unwillingly, keeping his hand wrapped around yours for as long as possible. When you made a noise of protest, he stopped and pressed a kiss to the back of your knuckles, promising to be by your side as quickly as possible.

“You’ll have to get her to drink a full bottle of water once every thirty minutes. A Heat Bar should be consumed about once an hour. From what I’ve gathered, this is just a Flash Heat- normally when an Omega suddenly goes off their Suppressants they can get a Flash Heat. It’s not an actual Heat as it doesn’t last as long and while it does have similar symptoms, they’re not to the extremes that an actual Heat can produce.” The Nurse didn’t give Bokuto any time to respond, leaving the Alpha to stand there and nod dumbly. “I’m assuming that you’re on Rut Suppressors; you’re under twenty, so your sperm isn’t potent but use these anyways,” the Nurse thrusted a handful of condoms into Bokuto’s arms, ones specially designed to accommodate an Alpha’s knot. “I would predict her Flash-Heat should end in probably three or four hours so you won’t have to spend the night here. Just make sure she’s as hydrated as possible and also be ready to explain this when her Flash Heat does end, she’s probably going to be very disorientated.” The Nurse looked at Bokuto, an eyebrow raised when the Alpha made no move to go to the Omega in the room. “Aren’t you going to tend to your Mate?”

“Ah, no, I’m not her Mate!” Bokuto yelped. “Not that I wouldn’t want to be her mate, I’d love to be her Mate, but she’s not mine.”

“Right. Look, there’s an Omega in a Flash Heat in that room who is quite clearly calling for you. Her symptoms are pretty extreme for a Flash Heat, the only reason why this one so closely resembles an actual Heat is because her Mate must have been around her.” The Nurse nudged Bokuto towards the room, nodding at the unsure Alpha. With a final explanation on how to lock the door from the inside, the nurse closed the door.

The strong scent of the forest and mint had your eyes opening to see Bokuto at the foot of your bed. Everything the nurse had done to stabilise you had worked and you were more coherent; if you wanted to, you could just spend the entire time just wrapped in the Alpha’s arms as his scent would be enough to keep you settled. The Nurse had advised it would be best to mate with him at least once to flush the Heat completely out of your system. Recollections of him looking after you came back to you and, as your Omega preened at how such a strong Alpha had helped you when you were unable to look after yourself, you knew you couldn’t deny her any longer. Just seeing Bokuto there had slick dripping from your hole. You saw how the Alpha gulped as you opened your legs, allowing the scent of slick to spread to him.

“(N-Name)-chan,” Bokuto began, eyes never leaving the wet spot on your pants.

“Please, Alpha,” you begged. “Need you.”

In a trance, Bokuto walked over, his hand trailing softly along the skin of your leg as he climbed onto the bed and knelt over you. The skin where he had traced both cooled at his touch but was also set alight at the Alpha’s caress. Your thighs fall open to give him more room yet Bokuto’s hands remained fisted in the bed sheets on either side of your hips.

“Tell me if you want me to stop, ‘Mega,” Bokuto breathed quietly, licking his lips as he saw how his voice affected you.

“Please don’t. Never stop, my Alpha.” The words broke through his restraints and the captain closed the gap between your lips. Your lips met in a frenzied manner, lips parting to let his tongue into your mouth. Your hands moved up his chest to tangle into his hair to pull him even closer. A growl left Bokuto’s lips as he dominated the kiss, drawing back to pepper kisses down your jaw. When his lips came to where your neck met your shoulder, Bokuto began to kiss the area, dragging his sharp teeth over the skin to leave it marked and you keening. As much as he wanted to, he wasn’t going to claim you fully with a Mating Bite when you were in the middle of a Heat.

“Wish we could be d-doing this under better c-circumstances,” Bokuto told you, hands never stopping roaming your curves as if to reassure him that this was really happening.

Urgently, you tugged at the white hair at the base of his neck to guide him back up to your lips. Your tongues met in a dance of passion and when Bokuto pulled back, your teeth nipped his bottom lip to show your displeasure.

“Now, now, pretty Omega, behave,” Bokuto ordered, large hands squeezing your hips to drive his point across. You were unable to prevent your hips from bucking against him, your clothed arousal rubbing over the tent in his shorts and forcing a feral growl from him.

“You smell so fucking good,” Bokuto praised, words pouring out of his lips now that he no longer had to fight against his Alpha instincts. His hands pulled your shirt off of you, taking a few seconds to understand how your bra unhooked before it was sent flying to the floor in a similar fashion to your top. Immediately, his hands were cupping your breasts, pressing kisses to one nipple whilst his hand toyed with the other one. Bokuto’s calloused fingers had your head tossing back as he rolled your nipple between his volleyball-toughened fingers. At the sound of your gasp, Bokuto moved his head from where he was creating a hickey just below your left breast, directly over your heart, to ask you what was wrong.

“Sorry, my hands are really rough. I don’t want to hurt you,” the Alpha apologised, taking his hands off of your soft body to stare dejectedly at hands he deemed unworthy to touch you with. You grabbed them, bringing one to your breast and pushing the other one under your skirt.

“I want to feel your fingers on my clit and curling against my walls until I’m hoarse from screaming your name, Alpha,” you whispered against his lips. You were answered with an unhinged growl. Bokuto’s eyes began to glow gold as he stopped trying to control his Alpha instincts.

His face lowered to your neck and began to leave love bites from the column of your neck to your breast, heaving as you tried to regain your breath. The sharp pricks from his teeth and how his lips kissed the marks better, switching to sucking hickeys into your flesh every so often had loud moans falling from your lips. Desperately, your hands bunched the fabric of his shirt and tugged harshly on it, making it clear you want it off. Complying with your non-verbal command, Bokuto leant back long enough to rip the shirt off his chest before bending back down and placing a kiss on your right left collar bone in response to your whine at the sudden distance. Bokuto couldn’t help the slight huff of amusement as he saw how badly you needed him to be close to you.

Your breath hitched when you felt the Alpha’s finger press against the damp spot on your pants. The spike of pleasure as his hands brushed your clit had your fingers dragged down his broad back, fingernails leaving pink lines on the skin. Bokuto growled in his chest as he felt how wet you were from his ministrations.

“Fuck, you’re soaked,” Bokuto cursed as he felt your arousal.

“Please, touch me,” you begged him, fingers curling into his biceps.

“I am touching you,” Bokuto smirked, pressing a quick kiss on your lips.

“Don’t tease me, not like Kuroo-kun.” Saying the other Alpha’s name was a mistake as the Fukurōdani’s captain ripped your pants off and threw them over his shoulder. Your cry of his name turned into a moan as two of his fingers immediately went to circling your swollen clit. The pleasure had your eyes rolling back and offering your hips up for more. Bokuto pressed his fingers down, gathering your slick in his fingers then pulled his hand away; he hushed you gently when you let out a whine of displeasure but was busy staring at his fingers that were spread apart, your slick clinging to his fingers.

“Look at this, so wet, ‘Mega. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” You moaned at his promise and wrapped your legs around his waist to try and persuade him to hurry up.

“Patience, (Name)-chan,” Bokuto chided. He sighed then added, “I really want to go down on you, oh, what a sight you’d be as I eat you out- your thighs tight around my head and my arms pinning your hips down onto the bed so I can pleasure you how you deserve.” You felt even more slick gush out of your needy hole at his words. “But, more than anything, I want you to feel better so we’ll leave that ‘till after you’re out of this Heat, how about that?”

Before you could answer him, Bokuto pushed two thoroughly slick-covered fingers into your pussy. You both groaned as he began to pump his fingers in and out, curling his fingers so the pads massaged that spot that had your thighs shaking. Cautiously, he added a third finger, keeping his eyes on your face to know if you were in pain. When you only wiggled your hips to encourage him to continue, he began to move them in and out again to make sure you were properly ready for his cock.

“Alpha, p-please, need your knot,” you babbled, nails scratching from his shoulders to his elbows at the pleasure. Thankfully, Bokuto just wanted to make you happy so quickly complied. Within a few seconds he had shimmied your skirt down to your ankles and guided you to turn over onto your hands and knees into the Mating Position. After a few seconds of nothing, you swivelled your head to see him pulling his shirt over his broad shoulders and push his shorts down enough to free his erection. One of his big hands traced up your thigh, taking a second to grab one of your butt-cheeks in his hands, rumbling at how it fit perfectly in his hand. The non-verbal praise had you blushing and bending your spine to push your ass into the air more. When nothing else happened, the Alpha lost in a daze as he admired your pose, you wiggled your hips to make him move. A second later, his hand came down to softly spank your rear, though with not nearly the same power as his spikes as he didn’t want to hurt his Mate, telling you to behave.

“(Name)-chan, one last time. Do you want this to happen?”

“Yes, Bo-kun, I want you, wanted you for the longest time. Please, please give me your knot- I need it, please.” The Alpha scrambled to rip open the condom package and pulled it over his hard dick, cutting off your pleas as he pushed his length into you. Your head dipped back as you finally felt full, Bokuto pressing his forehead against your shoulder blades, similarly affected. Bokuto stayed still for a few moments, wanting for you to be fully adjusted to his size and girth before he started to really move.

“Ready?” The white-haired male asked as he brought his right hand closer to your own hand spread out on the bed sheet. Bokuto slid his fingers between yours to give you something to hold onto. Your hand latched onto his, giving it a quick squeeze.

“Yes, Alpha, I’m ready. Oh, and Bo? Don’t hold back.”

Bokuto pushed his head into the part of your neck that met your shoulder as he withdrew from your tight walls. When only the tip was still in your pussy, he slammed back in. You groaned as you felt the pleasure race through your veins at how he stretched you out perfectly. Bokuto began to speed up his pace, the animal inside of him caring little to draw it out or make it more romantic. The sounds of skin slapping against each other quickly filled the air as Bokut continued to slam into you; each time, the tip of his cock brushed against the spongy tissue that had your shaking arms soon unable to hold you up properly.

Unable to keep your top half up your stomach fell onto the bed, deepening the arch of your back.

Bokuto moved his hands to hold your waist, the two being large enough to wrap around the majority of your frame, and held you up with his muscles. Somewhere distant in your mind, you pouted at being unable to scratch your nails down his back but you didn’t dwell too much on it as Bokuto continued to fuck the Flash Heat out of you. Putting his weight on one hand, the ace moved his free hand to rub figures of eight on your neglected clit. Your hands curled into the sheet as you felt yourself rapidly approach your high, the swelling of Bokuto’s knot helping you reach your end. Your thighs spread out more, your back bowing further as you threw your head back from the pleasure coursing through your system.

“Alpha… Alpha please, g-gunna cum,” you wailed a warning.

“Cum on my dick, ‘Mega,” Bokuto panted, licking a strip of flesh from your neck to the back of your ear. Your entire neck was turning purple from the amount of marks he had pressed into the flesh, the sight making the Alpha preen and his knot swell.

When the Alpha raked his teeth down the right side of your neck, you came with a shout, your Heat having enhanced everything by a hundred. Feeling your walls clench around him had Bokuto roaring and coming undone, his knot catching on the rim of your pussy and tying him to you. The Omega in you whined at how you couldn’t feel his cum spurt deep inside of you but just the feel of his knot expanding had you purring.

You started when you felt a tongue lave over some of the bites on your necks, Bokuto beginning to groom you. A giggle left your lips as you tilted your head back into him, not used to this. The volleyballer grinned at how at ease you were, the Alpha in him also content. Bokuto wrapped his arms around you so he could gently manoeuvre the two of you into a laying position, doing his best not to tug at where the two of you were connected to not overstimulate you. Once on your sides, the captain reached to the bedside table where the Nurse had left a few bottles of water and snack bars. He twisted the lid off, your half-shut eyes greedily drinking in how his muscles flexed at the action. When he pressed the bottle to your lips, you gulped down the water, only realising then how parched your throat had become from the Mating. When it was half empty, you pulled it away and nudged it to Bokuto to drink. He finished it up and threw it into the bin near the room.

“How long will your knot last?” You asked, sighing as his muscular arms draped along your waist.

“Thirty minutes maybe.” You almost choked at how long it was- most knots lasted for fifteen minutes. For his to last so long showed just how strong an Alpha he was. “How are you feeling? Still feverish? Hungry?”

“I think the Flash Heat has gone, just you being near me was enough to drive most of it away,” you admitted, a hand absently trailing along the veins running along his forearm. The Alpha behind you nuzzled into the back of your neck.

“That’s good, I’m happy that you’re feeling better. Maybe after this we can go get ice cream… y’know, to replenish the lost calories.” You couldn’t help but giggle at how he was still not asking you. Replaying what Kuroo had told you earlier, you decided to just go for it.

“Bo-kun, after this is over, would you let me… Court you?”

“WHAT! NOO!” You cringed at his rejection but soon relaxed as he continued to shout. “I was supposed to be the one to ask you that! No the other way ‘round.”

“Bo-kun, do you want to Court me?” You asked with a giggle, interrupting his sulking moment. He instantly perked up, a massive grin on his face.

“I would be honoured to!” You smiled and leant in to press a chaste kiss on his lips.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell the rest of them you were the one who popped the question.”

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #omegaverse #omega!reader #alpha!bokuto #kotaro bokuto #bokuto x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu reader insert #omegaverse au #reader insert #haikyuu smut #bokuto smut #kotaro bokuto smut #tw.omegaverse #tw.smut #tw.knotting #bokuto x reader smut

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jhoudiey · 3 years

Text

Inspired by a convo in the writing server and by Mamo's salty Jade, I wrote some fluffy-ish Yoru and Floyd mountain "date" nonsense. No warnings except bad grammar.

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“Hey Fugu-chan do you wanna come fight a monster with me?” Floyd had pulled himself through Yoru’s window as usual to interrupt her studies.

“Floyd, it’s 1pm, don’t you have class?”

“Ehhh I don’t wanna go, its the same boring stuff every day anyway” He perched in her windowsill urging her to follow him.

“Where’s this monster?” She grinned and put her books down, Floyd had a point. Fighting was always more fun than studying.

“In the mines where we went camping! I wanna see if I can find another one!” he insistently waved for her to hurry up.

“Still mad you didn’t get to go all out last time, huh?” She stretched out her shoulders and joined him at the window.

“Mhmmm~ Now that I have my magical pen back I want to play some more ehe!” She laughed and hopped out the window behind him.

They landed at the mouth of the caves, Yoru letting him down from her talons before touching down on the ground beside him. He sprinted into the tunnels with a grin on his face, shouting for any monsters to show up to play. Yoru flew behind him trying to stifle her laughter, he looked like a kid on a sugar high.

“Eeeeehhhh Fugu-chan this is taking foreverrrrrrr” He whined after half an hour in the caves with no appearance of any monsters. “Can’t you use your magic and find one?” he begged. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“That's not how my magic works Floyd, I can only see through crows, not through rocks. I’m the only bird in these caves so unless there’s a hidden crows nest somewhere I can’t help”

“Huh? Then what good is your unique magic then?” he complained, crossing his arms

“Says the guy who can only deflect magic, wouldn’t stop me taking your head off-” They were interrupted by a low rumbling coming from the path behind them. They turned to the sound, another Overblot monster materializing from the darkness. Floyd cheered, happy that his foe had finally appeared.

“Awe maaaaaan, Floooooyd, you never said it was an overblot monster! I can’t fight this!” Yoru complained as the monster descended on them.

“Eeeh? Why not? This is fun!” Floyd danced out of the way of the monster, hitting it with some magic of his own to keep it away from them.

“I can’t do magic, remember? All I can do is see. My hands and feet won’t do shit to that thing” She pouted, sitting on the ground with a huff, resigned to watch Floyd fight it on his own. He was clearly enjoying himself, hitting it with spell after spell. Yoru watched on in envy, how amazing would it be to be able to do magic like that. She watched him dance around the monster, attacking with reckless abandon, his own unique magic deflecting the attacks thrown at him.

Yoru sighed resting with her head in her hands, eyes following the battle. Floyd really was incredible, so much so it pissed her off. He made it seem so effortless. Fire, grass, water, ice, wind, dark… every kind of magic she’d dreamed of having Floyd was throwing out without a care in the world, this level of effort was nothing to him, when she couldn't even change the colour of a single flower petal. After what seemed like hours the glass head on the monster cracked, it’s ink splashing to the ground. It roared and the walls around them shook.

“Hey Floyd, you should finish up, if this thing collapses the cave around us we’re screwed” she said flatly, watching small rocks fall from the ceiling.

“Okay Fugu-chaaaaan~ Let me show you my special move, just look at how amazing I am!” He unleashed his strongest attack yet, Yoru wasn’t able to conceal her admiration for him. Her jaw dropped.

“Holy shit… you’re actually incredible…” she muttered, more annoyed than ever at how talented he was. The monster crumbled before them, disappearing into ink and sinking back into the ground. Floyd cheered.

“Yaaaayyyy!! That was fun!” he looked exhausted. His hair was a mess and he drenched in sweat, but the grin he wore was one of the biggest Yoru had ever seen. It was quite cute. She nodded at him and held out her arm in case he needed to lean on her, she wasn’t sure how he was still standing after expending so much magic in such a short time. He stretched his arms behind his head, not needing her assistance.

“We should have a fire too! Come on Fugu-chan!” He grabbed her hand and ran from the cave, staggering when they got outside and saw that the sun had already begun to set. “Uwaaahhh I’m tired all of a sudden, carry me Fugu-chan” She laughed. It seemed Floyd wasn’t invincible after all.

She flew to the shore of the lake, setting him down near an old decaying log. Somewhere along their flight he’d fallen asleep. She set to work gathering firewood, setting the wood in a way that would be easy to ignite once he woke up. When that was ready she wandered over to the lake to grab some fish, no sense not eating while they were out. They didn’t have any spices, but grilled fish was simple enough and delicious on it’s own. She wasn’t as proficient as catching fish with her bare hands as Floyd, but it still didn’t take her long before she’d caught half a dozen and brought them back to their impromptu base camp. The sun had fully set by the time she’d gotten the fish onto their skewers and shook Floyd awake so he could start the fire.

“Hmmm? When did I fall asleep?” He whined, confused by his surroundings

“When we were flying over here, you went limp almost immediately after we took off, I almost dropped you” Yoru grinned at him “Now can you get the fire going, I’m starving.” He nodded, using his magic to light the fire as she arranged the fish around it to cook.

“Wait, lemme see your pen” She said suddenly, able to see the once white gem clouded over with black ink in the firelight. She grabbed at it but he snatched it out of reach and shoved it back into his pocket. “Floyd, let me see it” Yoru growled at him, he pouted and handed it to her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it from her if she fought him for it.

“Floyd… that’s a lot of blot… you need to be more careful. If you overblotted I’d have you kill you, I wouldn't be able to stop you with magic”

“Haaaah like you could, you saw how strong I am! Ahaha! What do you know about overblotting anyway, you can barely do magic!” He argued, turning the fish to roast their other sides.

“Hmmm? Didn’t I tell you? I overblotted once as a kid. It sucked”

“As a kid? Did you have magic when you were younger? What happened to it ehe~” He raised an eyebrow at her, curious at how she had lost her magic. She snorted

“No. I got my unique magic really young but I didn’t know what it was so I used it all the time since I didn’t know any better. Dad found me screaming in bed, said I had all these shadowy birds walking over and pecking at me, he still talks about it like it’s the worst thing he’s ever seen.” She rolled her eyes, thinking about Crowley's overly theatrical reactions to the lamest things.

Floyd cringed away from her, throwing his hands up. “Eugh that sounds so gross!” He sat forward again with a smile “But it’s funny knowing even without a lot of magic you can overblot”

“Yea, really funny” She glared at him. “How are you not ranked higher at school though? You’re so amazing it pisses me off”. He smirked at her

“Doing everything I’m supposed to is boring so I just do whatever I want and fail sometimes cause I don’t feel like doing it” He grabbed one of the fish, happily biting into it.

“That must be nice. I wish I could say I’m not jealous of your talent” She bit into her own fish, chewing it more fiercely than was necessary.

“Hmmmm why are you jealous though? You’re really smart too, Fugu-chan” He smiled and chowed down, very much enjoying his meal. Yoru groaned, she wasn't used to compliments.

“...Thanks. ...By the way, didn’t Jade say he wanted to come out here with you next time? Isn’t he going to be mad we came without him?” Floyd's eyes grew wide before settling back to normal

“Eeeehhhh probably, but I wanted to find that monster and Jade wouldn't come with me so it’s his fault anyway” he shrugged, carefully selecting his last fish.

“Maybe he won’t be that mad, it’s not like we really did much mountaineering up here anyway” Yoru shrugged, finishing her meal and throwing sand on the fire. “We should get back though, unlike you, I do have some homework I need to hand in because I’m not allowed to fail”

They landed back in the mirror chamber full of fish and tired from adventure.

“Hey, next time you find a monster make sure it's one I can fight too. I can’t help but want to show off what I can do without magic”

“Kaaaaay~!” Floyd sang, hopping through the mirror that would take him back to Octavinelle.

“Ahh Floyd, you’re back late, did you enjoy your date? You missed dinner, Azul was worried sick about you” Jade smirked at him from across their bedroom. Floyd flopped into his bed, exhausted. Fugu-chan was right, he’d used too much magic today and was still tired despite his earlier nap.

“Aha! Azul wouldn’t worry about something thing like that, besides he would have been mad at me for going to fight a monster and getting my uniform all dirty”

“Oya? A monster? You never mentioned there was a monster on campus” Jade chuckled

“Ehhhh? It wasn’t on campus, me and Fugu-chan went back to Mount Dwarf to fight with the overblot monster in the caves! It was really fun!” Jade slowly turned to glare at Floyd.

“Floyd… you returned to the mountains once again without me” He exhaled dramatically. “You found yourself a girlfriend and completely forgot about little old me, all alone and mountainless” He let out an exaggerated sigh “I can’t believe my own twin would discard me so carelessly, how cruel” Floyd sat up in bed, a frown painted on his face.

“haaaaaaaaahhhh you said you didn’t want to come! You can’t complain about it now”

“Perhaps it is for the best, I wouldn’t want to be a third-wheel after all... I’ll just make you come with me next time I go...” he muttered to himself under his breath

“Ehhh what are you even talking about Jade?” Floyd laid back down and stretched out into his blankets.

“While crashing a date seems like it would be a lot of fun, I don’t believe Yoru-san is very fond of me, and she does have a habit of getting violent when she’s angry. I wouldn’t care to be on the receiving end of those talons.”

“It wasn’t even a date” he complained, rolling away to face the wall. He hadn’t told Jade about his failed confession at Vargas’s weekend camp so the insinuations he and Yoru were dating stung. “...and she’s not even my girlfriend” he muttered into his pillow.

“Fufufu not yet” Jade chuckled to himself as Floyd started snoring.

#twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #yoru crowley #floyd leech #jade leech #twst #twst fic #twisted wonderland #dumb and dumber

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purplesurveys · 3 years

Text

1160

survey by pandaphant

What was your first kiss like, and who was it with? It was with my ex-girlfriend; she was spending the night and the time just came for us to kiss. It was scary, but they were very encouraging so I felt a whole lot comfortable in the end.

Do you have to be in love with someone to sleep with them? In my case, yes. I know this isn’t a prerequisite for a lot of people though, and that’s okay too.

What's your favorite kind of bear? Not too obsessed with bears but I like polar bears and pandas, heehee.

Would you rather see a movie at a theater or at home on DVD? At this point? A theater. Pre-pandemic me would’ve preferred to watch movies at home because I find the cinemas too loud and too dark – and movie tickets cost like a bitch – but now I just want that life back.

Have you ever sent a FWD because you were afraid? I have no idea what this is. I’m reading this as ‘forward,’ as in sending forwarded messages; but I’m not sure if I’m accurate.

Are you still madly in love with that *someone*? No. There’s still love in there, but it’s no longer the in-love kind of love; and the love I do have is also considerably tinged with resentment.

Have you ever waited for someone? Like...in relationships? I’ve never been in that kind of situation before.

You've been given access to a time machine. Where and when do you go? I’d love to go back to an early point in my last relationship and end it off as soon as I saw the first red flag, instead of ignoring and tolerating the next 487897839473 that followed.

Would you ever date more than one person at a time? I would never be in an open relationship. I’m cool with it and I have friends who are in one, but it’s not my preference.

Would you rather have pancakes or waffles? Waffles. We have pancakes pretty often at home already; I also find waffles a lot more versatile as well.

Do you hate any of your friend's S.O.s? No. Hans is a delight; I’m friends with both Andi and Leigh so that works out well for me; and I’ve never met Jo’s girlfriend but I bet I’ll like her anyway.

What do you eat on your waffles? Either with bacon or fried chicken. Then with maple syrup and whipped cream on top of the waffles too, yum.

Have you ever had a major crush on someone that never found out? I had a happy crush on JM that never went out within Kate, Jo, and myself. He was objectively physically attractive and it was just nice to look at him sometimes, but it never developed into anything emotional and I definitely did not have any intention to flirt or cheat, because bleck.

What is one thing that has changed your life, either good or bad? I think this pandemic has brought about a lot of changes.

What is a juggalo? A juggalo is someone who is a fan of Insane Clown Posse. I only know this because I’ve confused it for gigolo a billion times.

Do you like to cuddle? Only with the right person.

Have you ever drank alcohol? Yes.

Which is your favorite punctation mark? Semicolon and em dash. So basically I like hacks to make my sentences longer.

What is one trait you could not put up with in another person? Refusing to acknowledge their toxic habits or actions and staying the way they are because “this is who I am.” That shit makes me absolutely nauseous.

If you could have any super power, what would it be and why? I’d love to time travel just to satisfy the budding historian in me.

Have you ever worn leg warmers? No. I’m not sure what those are, either.

What's your favorite way to wear your hair? These days I style it in either a very high ponytail, almost like Ariana Grande-esque; on more relaxed days it’s in a low side ponytail.

If someone made a movie about your life, what would you want it to be named? Y’all know how much I dislike questions like this that force me to get creative, so I’m moving on.

What makes you really mad? All shapes and forms of injustice.

What do you like to do for fun? Trying out new things – I’m always down to try hiking, attending a cooking class, rock climbing, archery, etc, as long as I’m with at least one person.

What eye color do you prefer in a significant other? No preference but seeing as how most Asians have dark brown eyes anyway, I’d go with that because I doubt I’d end up with someone from a different race.

American Eagle, Hollister, or Abercrombie? Eugh, none of these.

What's your favorite ice cream topping? Hot fudge and/or chocolate chips.

Have you ever rebounded...or been someone's rebound? No.

Why is your best friend your best friend? They both understand me and my needs, and we simply click insanely well in our respective relationships.

If there was one thing you could do differently, what would it be? If the pandemic never happened, I could be driving to the office everyday, experiencing nightlife, meeting new people and expanding my circles, and overall making the most out of my 20s. That kind of life would have been nice.

Do you have commitment issues? Commitment was never an issue to me. It’s trust that’s been ruined for me.

What do you do when the lights go out in a thunderstorm? Groan out in frustration and gather with my siblings in the living room.

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today? Just buy a crap ton of food and share it with loved ones. Then spend most of the time with my dogs.

Where do you live? Philippines.

Are you scared of spiders? Not as much as most people are.

What's your favorite band? Paramore.

If you had to do one which would it be, skydiving or bungee jumping? Skydiving. I’ve already done bungee jumping so it would be cool to try something completely new.

Do you answer your phone when it's your mother? I’d say it’s 50/50. If I have nothing much going on I’ll pick it up; but if I’m busy at work I’d have to reject it.

Do you own anything with peace signs on it? I don’t think so, but maybe. Idk it’s always possible.

Do you every buy anything at Bath & Body Works? I don’t, but this question is very timely since I had just watched Safiya Nygaard’s vlog about buying every single Bath & Body Works scented candle in existence and combining them into one candle. I had no idea they had SO many candles??? And all of them have pretty names and notes??? Thanks to her I literally placed a couple of their candles in my shopping cart at like 2 AM last night hahaha.

Do you like candles? I do now. I definitely see the hype haha.

What'd all you wear this week? House/loungewear.

Do you know any hippies? No.

Do you refuse to use public bathrooms? Yeah, even before the pandemic I refused to use them unless I absolutely had to go. The idea of sharing a toilet with hundreds of other people is just so icky, even though I don’t let my butt touch the toilet seat.

Do you know anyone that had Swine Flu? I don’t think so. I now know people who’ve gotten Covid, though – both from family and my circle of friends.

How'd you get your last booboo? Cooper’s leash, when he was tugging on it.

#survey #surveys

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minyoongijjangjjangmanboongboong · 4 years

Text

Smoke and Mirrors Chapter One

Smoke and Mirrors: a magician’s trick, the art of making an entity appear to be floating through the use of smoke and mirrors. In figurative speech, something which, once examined, is proven to be an illusion. Like the moon reflected on water, or a flower reflected in a mirror. Unable to be touched.

Description: Listless idol Jeon Jungkook has lost his creative spark. Something just feels...missing. And between jet-setting across the world and constantly evading public scandals, Jungkook’s life up until now has felt like a movie. One thing Jungkook can count on, however, is video games. Y/N has been gaming forever. And when a new VR game called Arcana is released, both Y/N and Jungkook are all over it. But what will become of Jungkook’s online persona when life forces the two to work together? And will Jungkook manage to keep his identity a secret from one of his closest Internet friends?

Genre: Romance, Drama, Fluff, Angst

Pairing: Jungkook x (gender unspecified) Reader

Word Count: 12.1k

Tags: Solo Idol!Jungkook, Gamer!Jungkook, Makeup Artist!Reader, Manager!Seokjin, Florist!Hoseok

Warnings: Swearing and mentions of alcohol, although infrequently

A/N: Haha....ha....ha....um, well this is awkward isn’t it? I haven’t been active on here in a long, long time! But God does it feel nice to return. In the time I’ve been away, I’ve been working on a lot of things at once. Too many chefs in the kitchen, except the chefs are projects/responsibilities and the kitchen is me and is also on fire. I think right now more than ever, I’ve leaned into writing to help me feel a bit better about the world. So if this story can make you happy that’s honestly all I can ask for. I don’t think I’ll be keeping a posting schedule, as that feels like too much for me right now, but maybe in the future I’ll come up with a schedule that doesn’t feel overwhelming! Regardless, I’ve missed you guys and I’ve really missed posting my writing here. I hope you all still remember me! And I hope you enjoy this story. Really. As always, please feel free to send me any thoughts or concerns! Questions, critique, comments: send them all my way! I can’t wait to get chatting with you all again.

And I’m on Twitter! I’ll put the link here if you want to follow. I’m very active over there!

- Mercury

Previous Chapter – Next Chapter

Masterlist

“On God, if you don’t start healing me-!”

“I’m working on it! Christ.”

“Well work harder, damn. Tiki’s about to go down,” you say, gritting your teeth as you whip around toward the dragon staring your party down.

It circles you, never once looking away, several stories tall with glowing yellow eyes that seem to leave trails behind in the darkness of the cavern. You feel at once impossibly small and impossibly fragile in front of such a behemoth, all purple scales and saliva stringing across pointed fangs.

“Just focus on offense for now,” says Sapphire, grunting as he lunges sword-first toward the dragon.

Your brows shoot sky high as Sapphire, a DPS like you, runs straight for the enemy. His silver knight’s armor clanks in his wake. “Wait!” you call, but it’s too late. Your teammate has his sword plunging in and slicing out and slashing wild before you can even prep your next spell. “Jesus, Saph!”

You hear his laughter like bells echo through the cavern, seeming to bounce against the domed ceiling and drip like water from the clinging stalactites. “Tiki! Distract!” you call as the dragon whips wildly: first toward Sapphire and then toward you. “Shit,” you whisper, examining your mana with a hiss. “I need a second to recover!”

Tiki, a massive green orc and also your team’s tank, rushes in with his battle axe. Upon the first hit, the dragon writhes in pain and turns toward Tiki, ire in its yellow eyes. Tiki says nothing, just lets out a string of labored breaths as he swings his heavy weapon. Sapphire is quick to attack at the dragon’s heels. The dragon opens its mouth to spew flames across the charred cavern, aiming right for Tiki, but before it can Zero finally heals him with a flash of white light and a bolt straight to his broad green chest. You jump, turn to the side to see Zero is standing beside you about twenty feet from the dragon.

“Get spelling, Nova!” he shouts, long blonde hair flying in the breeze his spell created.

His voice, deep and gruff, doesn’t suit his pretty, dark-skinned elven body: particularly the well-rendered female…curvature. Every time he talks, it takes you off guard. You shake it off and nod once.

“Loli! Get punching!” you call to your resident monk as she idles near the dragon’s tail. She says nothing. You sigh, rest a hand on your hip. “Loli!”

She jumps to attention. “Sorry! My roommate needed me,” she says with a laugh, rubbing the back of her half-shaven head.

“Tell her to piss off!” calls Tiki as the dragon, halted by Zero’s healing spell, recovers and swings a mighty paw his way.

Your mana is finally restored and, shutting your eyes, you summon a bolt of ice. With a shout, you spin your staff over your head before slamming it down with a thunderous clap. Ice splinters dizzyingly fast from the ground beneath your staff and crawls like frost until it hits the dragon, stunning it still for a few seconds.

“Health’s low! Saph, go for the kill!” Lolita shouts as she lands a solid punch on the dragon’s belly that shatters your freezing spell.

Without waiting a second more, Sapphire shoves his sword into the dragon’s heaving chest as it writhes from pain. It looses a cry that sends vibrations through the cavern. A few rocks tumble from fissures in the cave walls, and a stalactite cracks and careens toward the ground where it explodes into shards.

And, with that, the massive beast falls to its stomach, its head clunking to the ground in front of Tiki’s feet. The ensuing silence rings in your ears as the five of you stand completely still, waiting. It wouldn’t be the first time an enemy has fallen only to reveal a dormant ability that results in a second battle. None of you says a thing until the massive body before you begins to dissolve into pixels, leaving you with only the skull as a prize and a bag of loot in place of a carcass.

Lolita is the first to break the silence with a loud hoot. “Wooh! Hell yeah!” she shouts, clapping her hands.

You chuckle, lean on your staff. “Loli, you can only celebrate halfway since you missed half the fight,” you tease with a fond sigh.

She rushes toward you, wipes off her blue robes and crosses her arms. “My roommate came in!”

“And you didn’t warn us,” Zero chides as he smooths a few flyaway hairs, smiling. That model of his is just too pretty…

“I-,”

“Guys!” Sapphire shouts, jumping once as he examines the loot bag. “Look at this!”

You spin your staff in your hand and jog to stand beside the knight. His red eyes are bright, digging through the bag until he produces in one gloved hand—

“Is that a Philosopher’s Stone Fragment?” asks Tiki, similarly enraptured as he comes up beside Sapphire’s flank.

Sapphire nods. “Which means—,”

“Which means we’re one step closer,” you say, and you lock eager eyes with Sapphire who only nods. “Well shit!”

“Also means we were right to come this way,” Lolita says, holding up one finger as if correcting us. “And whose idea was that?”

Zero shoves Lolita by the head and turns back toward the loot bag. “Anything else?” he asks.

Sapphire digs around before shrugging. “A shield,” he says.

“Don’t need it,” Tiki says.

“And…mm…,” he pauses, brow furrowing as he pulls out a piece of paper. He purses his lips, runs a hand through his blue-black hair, cocks his head to the side. “Schematic?”

“For what?”

“Oh!” he exclaims, turning to you as he hands you the paper. You look it over and scoff. “Superior elemental staff.”

“Cuts down the mana I need to do spells,” you say, rolling your eyes as you pocket the paper. “Coulda used that today.”

Sapphire claps your shoulder. “Next time! We’ve still got three fragments to find before anyone else does.”

You nod. “Well, with that settled…,” you begin, itching to use the bathroom.

“Ah! You gotta leave?” asks Sapphire.

You nod. “Got work in the morning.”

“Eugh,” he sighs, shoulders slumping. “Me too.”

“Me three,” says Zero.

“Ah, the working world. We’re lucky, huh Tiki?” Lolita says with a wistful sigh as water from overhead drips onto her shoulder. She jumps a little, but settles easily. “Don’t you miss your reckless college days?”

You laugh. “I only graduated last year,” you say, turning toward Sapphire. “Speaking of which, Saph did you ever go to school?”

He stiffens. “Ah, uh…,” he begins, glancing at his feet. He’s quiet for a moment. “No. Not past high school,” he says with an almost sheepish nod.

You don’t say anything, but it seems like there’s something he’s keeping to himself, something he doesn’t want to share. Sapphire is always like that, but this feels a little different.

“Hm,” you say, sensing his discomfort. “Welp, I’m gonna peace out for the night. Message me when you guys wanna go for the next fragment. I’ll keep researching where it might be.”

“Mm, sounds good,” says Tiki. “I’m starving. Loli, wanna get some food?”

Lolita glances at Tiki out the corner of her eye. “You mean, like, real food?”

Tiki sighs. “Obviously real food. I don’t wanna waste money on game food.”

She laughs and nods. “Alright. I’ll meet you at your dorm.”

“Mm.”

Without another word, both Tiki and Lolita blink out, leaving nothing behind them. You turn toward Zero and pat his back. “Sorry for getting on your case tonight,” you say. “I was worried Tiki would fall and then…well, you get it.”

Zero shrugs, examining one of his perfect fingernails. “No, I wasn’t on my game tonight. I’ll be better next time.”

“Me too,” you say, waving as Zero too blinks out.

You turn toward Sapphire and offer a smile. “Sorry for asking about college,” you say.

He stiffens, brows raised. “Hm? Oh, no it’s fine,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck with a smile. “It’s just, uh…well, you know my dad always wanted me to go to college so…”

You wave your hands, shake your head. “Forget it, alright? I won’t bring it up unless you do first.” You smirk. “You played tank tonight, didn’t you?”

He laughs. “Yeah, a little.”

“Don’t do that shit,” you say, but you can’t help your smile. “What would we do if we lost you in the middle of a battle?”

You can see his posture go a little straight. He turns to you, blinking. “You…?” he begins, but cuts himself off with a laugh. “Ah, mm, well…I’d better get going.”

“Mhm. Message me if you get any new info about fragment locations,” you say, then chuckle. “Or if you just wanna talk about The Bachelor or something.”

He laughs with you. “I don’t watch The Bachelor!”

“Well, whatever you watch!” you call as you jog a few paces away. You offer a wave which Sapphire mimics before pressing the disconnect button on your headset.

You shake your head, disoriented as you return to your bedroom, your window sitting before you, the outskirts of Bucheon spreading out in spindly arms around you. Your head throbs a little and you wince, removing your sensor gloves and setting them gently on the light wood table beside your computer. You guide one of the philodendron leaves to the side so it won’t tickle the gloves. You shuck off the sensor jacket too and leave it draped over the back of your gaming chair. Slowly, you return your attention to the window, smiling down at the sea of lights undulating in the dark. It’s a nice evening, you notice as you press the pads of your fingers to the cool glass.

Your phone, until then sitting dormant on the tabletop beside your potted jade plant, pings to life with a notification. Your eyes widen and you grab for it, stretching your torso as you do to work out your aching muscles. Tonight’s session with the group had gone long, and the fatigue on your back is severe from slumping in that gaming chair like a shrimp. And even though you have to move your upper body to activate the full range of Arcana’s sensor controls, your ass feels like you’ve just sat through back-to-back, four-hour lectures.

BeastSlayers™

SacredSapphire: miss u guys already :-(

You laugh, watch as Tiki begins writing a message in response.

TikiTikiRoom: ..

TikiTikiRoom: dont be soft bitch ill kill you

You pad down the hallway, watching your phone as you stumble through the dark apartment with one hand on the wall bracing you. You connect your phone to the TV speakers and play some lofi something or other, bop your head as you enter the kitchen and flip on a flickering yellow light. You rifle through the freezer, produce a cherry red popsicle. You press it to your lips and smile.

Lolovely: I haven’t even made it to Tik’s dorm wtf why are you being sappy already?

CodenameZer0: Looool, Saph? More like SAP.

TikiTikiRoom: press f

SuperNova: I think it’s sweet :’)

SuperNova: Wanna voice chat?

SacredSapphire: nonono

SacredSapphire: someone’s coming over lol

Lolovely: ominous…

You chuckle and take a bite of your popsicle. But as you do, the thing turns to mush and slides from the stick like slop, staining your white shirt and your lips red. “Shit!” you exclaim, then rush to the freezer.

With a sigh, you notice that a layer of ice is frosted over the back. And as you jam your hand in, you can feel that the temperature is higher than it should be. Hence, melty popsicle. You groan, take to it with a knife from the creaky drawer. You chip away at the ice and keep chipping until the back of the freezer is visible once more.

“Cheap piece of crap,” you mumble, kicking the fridge with your socked toe.

You return to the group chat to a slew of messages.

TikiTikiRoom: WAIT SAPH DO YOU HAVE A BOY/GIRL/THEYFRIEND??

TikiTikiRoom: IM GONNA HAVE AN ANEURISM

Lolovely: !!!!!!!!!

Lolovely: ??????

CodenameZer0: Hohohoh

CodenameZer0: Could it be?

SacredSapphire: NO!!

SacredSapphire: i don’t have a boy/girl/theyfriend! i’m too busy, rip

SacredSapphire: it’s just someone

SacredSapphire: don’t worry about it lol

Lolovely: sus…

Lolovely: nova’s better at this stuff

Lolovely: interrogation

Lolovely: think if i scream hard enough nova will come back?

Lolovely: NOVAAAAAA

You laugh and take a few photos. First of the old laminate floor which now resembles a crime scene in cherry popsicle red. Next of your shirt, now streaked in slush. Third, of your face, lips stained like you’ve smeared lip tint on your skin. You pull a pout before snapping the shot, then send all three together.

SuperNova: I crave death.

SuperNova: Stupid cheap fridge. Freezes over literally monthly.

SuperNova: I hate it here.

Lolovely: oooh that pic…

Lolovely: kinda….sexy hehe

SuperNova: ???

You set your phone aside and take to cleaning the floor. Last thing you need in this shithole is an ant infestation. Your music bumps gently through the sound bar beneath your TV. Sure, your apartment is decked out in tech, but the place itself?

You glance around the kitchen, a sanitary white with pretty fixtures, and suppress a sigh. It’s all for show anyway, this apartment. Like almost all the others in the area, it only looks nice. The reality, however…

Well, it’s melted popsicles and a shower that only runs lukewarm.

You check your phone with a hip against the countertop.

TikiTikiRoom: lewd lol

SuperNova: Shut up lmao nothing lewd about my shitty fridge.

SuperNova: Anyway, no I’m not gonna help you bully Saph.

SuperNova: Leave him alone or I’ll bite your ankles.

Lolovely: !!!

Lolovely: qu'est-ce que pas?

Lolovely: Nova…you’ve been defending Saph lately…

Lolovely: hold on i’m seeing something…

CodenameZer0: Don’t threaten my ankles.

SacredSapphire: nova baby ur the only loyal one here

Laughing, you type your response and make your way to the couch, falling flat on your stomach with an unpleasant thump.

Jeon Jungkook sits still, swiveling in his gaming chair with a soft smile as he watches the messages surge through the Discord group chat. Even though they’re busy teasing him, Jungkook can’t help the swell of fondness in his chest for his group mates. He leans back precariously far, the room nearly pitch black save for the shifting LEDs on his keyboard and the purple screensaver on his monitor.

SuperNova: It’s you and me, Saph.

SuperNova: Now come here and get your kith :3

Jungkook chokes a laugh with his hand, covering his mouth as his eyes squint. He tosses his head to the side, lets out a sigh. Quietly, he touches the photo you sent and lets it spread across his screen. He chuckles, examining your expression. Displeased, you eye the camera with furrowed brows and a pout. Briefly, Jungkook considers telling you it’s cute.

But he quickly clicks out of the photo, clears his throat, and catches up with the chat.

CodenameZer0: God, barf.

TikiTikiRoom: no kithes for zero

Lolovely: lolol i want a kith :(

SuperNova: Get in line then. Saph first.

SacredSapphire: i….*blushes*

SacredSapphire: N-N-Noona!

CodenameZer0: FUCKING BARF GOODBYE

Zero’s icon goes offline and Jungkook laughs in earnest now, his head lolling back. But before he can respond, the door to his studio opens with a robotic jingle. He jumps a little, turning his whole body toward the door. He nearly falls off the chair as he swivels.

In the doorway, Kim Seokjin shuffling across the threshold with two cups of coffee in a carrier. He looks a little disheveled, hair windswept and eyes scanning the room round and round. His gaze lingers here and there: resting on Jungkook’s wall of figurines, then on the futon still pulled down and covered in a messy heap of sheets, then on Jungkook’s face as he sits perfectly still, perfectly redhanded. Jungkook’s mouth agape, his fingers poised to type another message to the group chat, his computer monitor showing no lyrics, no notes, no Ableton. Just his screensaver.

Jungkook had planned to pull up his WIP song before Jin arrived, but the opportunity to do that has long since passed.

“Uh…,” Jungkook says, dumbfounded with round eyes glowing in the flashing keyboard lights. “Hey, Seokjin.”

Jin’s nostrils flare, his expression fiery. His attention flashes to the sensor gloves, the controllers sitting beneath them, the sensor jacket left astray on the ground, haphazard.

“Jeon Jungkook-,”

“I can explain!”

Seokjin glares at him, cocks one single brow. “Uh-huh?”

“I…,” Jungkook begins, flustered as he rises to his feet. He feels like he’s in school again. Seokjin’s gaze is disarming, intense, and his knuckles are white as he crushes the cardboard handle of the coffee carrier. “Uh…I was taking a small tiny little break.”

“A small,” Seokjin begins, placing the coffee on Jungkook’s work desk and resting his palm beside it, “tiny,” he continues, leveling his eyes with Jungkook’s, “little break?” Jin’s jaw is clenched.

Jungkook swallows hard. “Mhm…”

Jungkook expects Seokjin to bare his canines, to sneer at him, to scold him to kingdom come. But his manager simply eases into a sigh and leans away from Jungkook, rubbing his forehead. It’s clear the will to fight with Jungkook is slowly leaking, and before long Seokjin has fallen backwards onto the futon, crushing the blanket mountain in his descent.

“Listen,” Seokjin says, fatigue in his voice. “You’ve got…so much going on in the next few months, you know?”

“I know!” Jungkook says, quick to sit beside Seokjin, brows knitting. He feels like a kid again, and the disappointment laced through Jin’s words feels like his childhood. “Trust me, I’m not just…like, procrastinating. It’s not that.”

Jin eyes him sidelong. “Then what is it?”

Jungkook stiffens, his back straight as a board. He clears his throat, stares at the coffee. “Let me get those,” he says, rushing to his feet with a clumsy stumble and grabbing the coffees before returning to his spot beside Jin. He hands Jin a coffee, expectant and, begrudgingly, Seokjin takes it and sips.

“Don’t avoid the question,” he says, stern. “If anyone’ll understand, it’s gotta be me, right?”

Jungkook nods. “No, you’re right!”

“Like, we’ve gone through some hard shit and where have I been? Right behind you. From day one,” he says, leveling a serious look at Jungkook. The lighthearted mood has fled from the room through the cracks in the walls. “All I’m asking is for you to put in the effort.”

Jungkook sighs, rests his forearms on his knees, laces his fingers around the coffee cup. He stares at the space between his toes. “I just…,” he begins, voice choked with insecurity. He doesn’t want to say it. In fact, he’d rather do just about anything else.

Because, after all, saying it means it’s real.

And if it’s real, then it’s a real problem.

“Listen,” Jin begins, patting Jungkook’s back. “I get it. Making music…it can be really tiring, right?” he says. Jungkook can only shrug. “And sometimes you might not feel like you can do it. Like you don’t have the inspiration.”

“Mm…”

Seokjin gives another pat, stronger this time. “But that’s how life is, Jungkook. Work doesn’t just wait. You’re an adult now. You’ve got adult responsibilities. And when you make a passion into your full-time job, you kinda sacrifice the freedom. Deadlines are a thing. You can’t just…be flippant and casual about it.”

“I’m not being casual,” says Jungkook, and for the first time since Jin walked in his voice is strong and steady. He sits up straight and meets Jin’s imploring eyes.

Seokjin offers a small smile. “Good,” he says. “I trust you. And, you know, you’ve got a whole team of producers behind you who wanna see you succeed. All you’ve gotta do is call.”

“I know.”

“You’re not doing it alone, alright?” he asks, and Jungkook’s throat tightens a little. “That’s the good thing about making your passion into your full-time job, huh? Now…well, now it’s not just your responsibility. It’s divided.”

“Yeah.”

“Well…,” Seokjin says, patting his thighs as he pushes to his feet. “Just wanted to drop by and check on you.”

Jungkook offers a smile and nods, standing with his manager. “Yup.”

“You do remember what’s on deck for tomorrow, right?” asks Seokjin, cocking a brow as he takes another swig of coffee.

Jungkook nods again. “Screen test with the drama people.”

Jin smacks the side of Jungkook’s head and crosses his arms. “Not the drama people!” he says, rolling his eyes. “It’s IJBC.”

“IJBC, right,” Jungkook says as he tenderly rubs the side of his head. “I remember.”

“Do you even know the name of the drama?” The younger boy falls silent, sheepish. “It’s called Give Up Generation, Jungkook.”

“I remember,” Jungkook says, pouting a little. “I just…forgot for a minute.”

Jin can’t help chuckling. “Get to bed early then so you don’t have dark circles,” Jin says with a smile, nodding as he turns toward the door. “Ah!” Seokjin pivots around, casting a disdainful look over Jungkook’s shoulder at the foldout futon. He pulls a scowl. “Sleep at home tonight, will you?”

Jungkook chuckles. “Alright. Stop nagging now,” he says, patting Jin’s back as he guides him out the door and into the hallway. “Bye, Jin!” he calls, not awaiting a response.

Slowly and with his head down, Jungkook shuffles back inside and slumps into his gaming chair, staring at his screensaver. He heaves a deep down sigh, lets it escape through his lips nearly pinched shut. Like exhaling cigarette smoke.

His phone pings to life with an incoming message.

SuperNova: Alright, I had your back before but I don’t cosign the Noona Agenda. I don’t even know if I am your noona.

Lolovely: seconded.

Lolovely: plus it’s icky.

TikiTikiRoom: boooooo

SuperNova: Wait, I think I just heard something in the hallway. Hold on.

Lolovely: SCARY!

TikiTikiRoom: burglars lol

Lolovely: ctrl z yourself, tiki

Lolovely: what if it is though…?

TikiTikiRoom: doubt it.

SuperNova: !!!

SuperNova: Lol it was a package…?

Lolovely: so late…?

SuperNova: Yeah…Lemme open it hold on.

The next message that comes through is a photo you send. Jungkook sits up straighter, opens it quick, and grins once he realizes what it is. A cardboard box, relatively big, sitting torn open on your kitchen floor, the photo features a look inside at several pretty makeup palettes and brushes. Jungkook doesn’t know the names of everything he sees, but he knows why it’s a big deal.

SacredSapphire: !! they finally sent it!!

SuperNova: They did!!

Lolovely: wait what? what did who send?

SuperNova: Lol, sorry. Uh I guess I only told Saph. But the brand I’ve been communicating with actually sent me a PR package! I’m gonna use it on my next job.

SuperNova: This shit’s super expensive too, so I’m lucky I’ve been in contact with a rep.

SuperNova: Gotta use the best to be the best!

TikiTikiRoom: i forgot ur a makeup artist lol

TikiTikiRoom: .-.

SuperNova: …

SuperNova: We’ve been group mates for like four months jfc

SuperNova: Anyway, yeah I’m glad. I guess they sent it to the wrong apartment? So my neighbor brought it over. He just got back from work.

Lolovely: neighbor?

Lolovely: cute neighbor?

SuperNova: He’s like seventy so no, not really my type.

SacredSapphire: nova, that’s super cool. i’m sure you’re gonna get big gigs soon.

SuperNova: Well, I can hope haha.

SuperNova: No, well…all I can do is work hard.

SuperNova: >:-)

All you can do is work hard, huh?

Jungkook tosses his phone to the side and rubs his hands up and down his face. He pinches his eyes shut and relaxes into the back of his chair, feeling the lull of sleepiness finally pulling at him.

And instead of going home like Jin asked, Jungkook simply pads over to the futon and, without moving the blankets, collapses atop them and falls asleep where he falls.

“I’m very sorry.”

“No…uh, no it’s fine.”

“Of course, you can keep the fees or whatever.”

“Oh, um, I…no, I’ll refund those too.”

“Really? I’ll give you a really good review!”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m really sorry.”

You sigh, plant a hand on your forehead and heave a sigh. Forcing a smile, you shake your head and press your phone into the crook of your shoulder, bending down to give your fiddle-leaf fig a hose down with your watering can.

“It’s fine. Things come up, you know?”

The girl on the other side of the phone, a young independent model going in for headshots, had called you an hour ago and had spoken at length about why she has to cancel her appointment with you today. How the photographer did this or that, how she actually watched a few tutorials online and figured she could do it herself, how she felt so so bad. You feel bad for her, of course. Kind of.

“Listen, I’ll give you a shoutout on my page, alright? I’ll tag you in my story,” she says.

You shake your head. “No, that’s fine. Just, um…you know, take care. Remember to clean your brushes.”

At this, she laughs. “Thanks for being so cool. I was actually super nervous to call and cancel. I’ve had to cancel a few things like this before, and I’ve had bad experiences,” she says. “Anyway, I’ll recommend you!”

“Alright.”

“Thanks!”

You nod as she hangs up the phone. Gently, you rise to your feet and set your watering can aside on the kitchen table. You set the phone beside it, pausing to glare at the black screen. Well…there goes your Sunday. You turn over your shoulder, pad to the window, crack it open a little. A bracing breeze whistles through, cooling your skin. You shut your eyes against it — only for a moment — before you turn on your heel, shove your feet into your sneakers sockless, swipe your phone and house keys, and shove out the door.

The florist’s is a healthy walk away, but the weather is nice enough and you’re too tired to brave the subway even if it’s only a few stops. You pass buildings and parks as the landscape becomes more and more urban and the high rises look like they could puncture the cloud layer. Before long, you’re standing in front of Happy Garden and, stepping through the sliding doors that are always left open and all-but nonfunctioning with the lush green plants climbing all around. You breathe a sigh of relief, pat your chest a little as the fresh, grassy scent settles your heart.

You aren’t there for more than half a minute before Hoseok stumbles out from the back room, grinning wide with a bouquet of hydrangeas in his hands, wrapped in butcher paper and twine. He curves around the stumbling greenery littering every surface and encroaching on every walkway and comes to a stop in front of you. He smiles.

“Hey,” you say before he gets the chance. You hold up one limp hand in a lazy wave.

He glances up and down, from your head to your toes, and sighs. Still holding the hydrangeas, he rests a hip on the checkout counter and cocks a brow.

“That is the opposite of encouraging,” you remark with a scowl.

He chuckles, pats your arm. “What’s up?” He jerks his head toward the front of the store where bouquets are displayed and you follow behind him as he leads you there. “Unsuccessful raid?”

“Contrary to popular belief, my life doesn’t revolve around video games, actually,” you say, but his laugh wipes the grimace from your face.

His fluffy hair bounces as he bends down to add the hydrangeas to the display and when he stands upright once more he crosses his arms. “You know what I mean. You’ve been in here a lot lately.”

“Pardon me for trying to raise plants,” you say with a pout.

Again, he laughs. “Jesus, stop trying to pick a fight!” he says. “You must be in a really bad mood if you’re here acting like this.”

“Well what’s that supposed to mean?” you begin, outrage all over your face, before locking eyes with Hoseok and composing yourself. You sigh, nod your head. “Yeah, no I’m being annoying.”

He smiles, heart-shaped, and the apples of his cheeks grow rounder. What a joyful guy, you think to yourself with a wistful sigh. “Tell me about it then.”

He pulls one of the empty display boxes over and offers you a seat as he begins tending to the plants all around. You oblige, settle in, and sigh again. “It’s just…everything kinda feels like a dead end right now.”

“Hm?” he asks over his shoulder, graceful hands guiding a waxy leaf back in place.

“Like with my work,” you say, then shake your head. “No, that’s not it. Not entirely.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like…things are okay, you know? I’m getting PR gifts. I’m growing my following on Instagram. I’ve got consistent clients,” you say, nodding. “Like everything is fine, you know?”

“But something feels…missing maybe?” Hoseok offers as he moves to spraying the ferns with water.

You shake your head. “More than that, it’s…like, I feel like I’ve hit the ceiling of what I can do, you know? Like what if this is the best I’ll ever do?”

“Is that bad?” he asks.

You sigh. “Not bad, just…disappointing,” you say. “I wanna work on movies. Red carpets. Editorials.” You rest your chin in your hand and your elbow on your knee. You stare up at Hoseok, now trimming brown leaves from another plant across the store. “I don’t wanna be stuck doing birthday parties forever.”

Hoseok hums, turns toward you with his hands in his apron pocket. He offers a smile. “You sound like a brat.”

You stiffen, eyes wide. “I-,” you start, but there’s really not much you can say to retort. So, softly, you slump once more and shrug. “Yeah…”

“And if you keep that attitude, you’re never gonna be an editorial makeup artist. I can promise you that,” he says with a nod as he approaches once more and crouches before your knees, still smiling. “Everyone has to grow somehow, you know? Be grateful you’ve got opportunities to build your resume.”

You nod. “Yeah.”

“What brought all of this on?”

Shrugging, you glance away toward the big croton plant in the corner, basking in morning sunlight, leaves all stiff and red and green. It’s a pretty plant. You tilt your head to the side, stare longer.

“That model bailed,” you say, but you’ve almost forgotten the self-pity of a moment ago. You stand to your feet and wander toward the plant, hitting halfway up your thigh. You crouch before it and look it over. “Hoseok, this is a really big croton.”

He laughs. “Mhm.”

“How much?”

“With the pot and given its height, it’s going for thirty-five-thousand won.”

You raise your brows. “I expected worse.”

“We’re fair here!” he protests, wagging his finger at you as he comes to stand beside you.

You smile softly, run a finger along the edge of a leaf. “It’s really pretty.”

“Suits you,” he says.

Without noticing, your anxiety begins to subside. “I think I’ll take it.”

“I’ll give you five-thousand off since you’re having a bad day,” he says, patting your back.

You turn to him with a smile. “Thanks.”

He chuckles. “I’ll loan you the dolly so you can get that thing home. Just bring it back before two.”

You stand up, stare down at the plant, nod once. “Mhm.”

Hoseok makes his way toward the cash register, punches in a few numbers. You linger a few steps behind, still staring at the croton. You get a good feeling off that one. Hoseok would tease you if you said as much, but you know when to listen to your intuition.

“Your big break will come Y/N,” Hoseok says as he rings you up, not once glancing to meet your eyes. “Just keep going.”

Jungkook sits with his head leaning against the rattling van window, eyes half-shut. Seoul blurs past him in shades of silvery grey and it’s all he can do to keep himself from falling asleep. For all his nagging, Seokjin had been right about one thing: Jungkook was sporting purplish bags beneath his eyes from a restless night’s sleep. Jin sits beside him now, frowning at his phone as he scrolls through Twitter. He’d given Jungkook a very stern talking to once he’d seen him, and really Jungkook deserved it. He knows that.

“Your voice is in good condition, right?” asks Jin.

Jungkook sits up straight, clears his throat. He shrugs. “Yeah. Why?”

Still stewing over his phone, Seokjin waves his hand without looking up. “Don’t worry about it.”

Jungkook sighs, leans back once more, gazes out the window once more. His phone buzzes once and he grabs it quickly, eager to distract himself.

BeastSlayers™

SuperNova: [image attached]

SuperNova: check him out OJO

Jungkook clicks the image you sent and chuckles as it loads up. The photo features nothing of you save for one hand, reaching out from behind the camera, throwing up a peace sign. Behind your hand, a houseplant. A pretty big one at that.

Jungkook smiles and drafts his reply, but the others are quicker.

CodenameZer0: Another plant? Lol isn’t your apartment overflowing with them by now?

SuperNova: Hush. Look at him.

LoLovely: cute!

LoLovely: does he have a name?

SuperNova: I don’t name my plants.

TikiTikiRoom: lol

TikiTikiRoom: because THAT would be weird

CodenameZer0: At least Nova can care care for a plant in the first place.

CodenameZer0: Let’s be honest here, Nova’s probably the only one among us who is even remotely responsible enough.

SacredSapphire: Nova it’s cute!

SacredSapphire: name him after me ;3

SuperNova: Sapphire?

SacredSapphire: hmmm say my name hehe

CodenameZer0: STOP IT FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST

CodenameZer0: IF THE FLIRTING DOESN’T STOP I’M GETTING YOU A TWO-WEEK BAN ON ARCANA

SacredSapphire: SHIT okay okay, let’s just take it easy

SacredSapphire: talk this out like adults…

SuperNova: Once I’ve finished setting up my new plant, I’m gonna play Animal Crossing. Anyone free to join? I’ve got oranges and mums.

SuperNova: Also had a meteor shower last night and have leftover star fragments first come first served.

The offer is tempting, to be sure. Not only would he receive star fragments, he’d be able to wander your island with the others. It might feel like you guys are side-by-side for real. Jungkook reaches into his backpack, slumped between his knees, and rifles around for his Switch. But as he produces the case, Seokjin shoots him the evil eye.

“If you’ve got time to play games, you’ve got time to review your lines,” he says, cocking a brow.

Jungkook sighs a little, slides the Switch back inside his bag. “I’ll look them over again.”

“Good.”

He takes one last look at his cell phone, checking the group chat with a frown that pinches the sides of his lips.

TikiTikiRoom: MEMEMEME

TikiTikiRoom: if any of you fakes get there before me ill go apeshit

TikiTikiRoom: i need so many

LoLovely: don’t need fragments, just wanna see ur cute face hehe

SuperNova: /blushes

SuperNova: I’ll open the gates once Sapphire Junior is nice and settled.

CodenameZer0: I’ll come too. I wanna shop.

SuperNova: Can’t you be cute like Lolita?

CodenameZer0: /gags

SuperNova: You coming, Saph? I’ll save a few fragments for you.

TikiTikiRoom: FAVORITISM

SuperNova: I am transparent about my favoritism toward Sapphire.

SuperNova: Because he is indeed my favorite.

LoLovely: *shocked pikachu face*

SacredSapphire: soz :-( i can’t

SacredSapphire: working

SuperNova: :-(

SuperNova: Next time we’ll all come to your island.

Jungkook tries not to feel that twinge of melancholy that tugs at his chest. That one he always gets when his friends go out for barbecue or grab drinks and hit the karaoke rooms. The one that feels like he’s really, deeply, fundamentally missing out on something important.

No, he doesn’t feel it. Instead, he focuses his attention on the printout Seokjin had given him three days ago. He scans the lines over and over, committing them to memory.

“No! That’s the thing, she didn’t even tell me!” says the girl below your brush.

You attempt to guide the highlighter across her cheekbones, but before you can make contact with her skin she’s jerked away once more, talking so animatedly that you can’t even tell if you’ve made her eyebrows even.

“That’s shitty,” says her friend beside her, likewise preoccupied as Jieun struggles to match her skintone.

The two of you lock eyes, both hovering over the two women as they chat over matching cups of coffee. Jieun puffs out her cheeks, raises her brows, and goes back to work, smoothing foundation on to the client’s chin with a brush.

You stand in a nice apartment — all marble floors and high ceilings and windowed walls overlooking Seoul. When you’d gotten the offer for a Seoul gig with Jieun, you’d been hesitant. The subway ride is long and you prefer to stay relatively local. But something made you agree. You don’t know exactly what. Call it divine intervention or epiphany or Jung Hoseok, but the words just keep going had been replaying in your brain since you last saw your friend. The pair of women — likely in their thirties — had booked both you and Jieun to do their makeup for a Sunday luncheon.

“And you know she’s looking out for him,” says Hyejin with a scoff. “As if I’m gonna bite the kid’s head off.”

“Maybe you will,” jokes the other woman, laughing just as Jieun reaches in to apply some liquid blush to her cheeks. “You know she’s got a soft spot for him.”

“Yeah well it’s a soft spot in all of our wallets if he doesn’t get his shit together,” says Hyejin, sighing. There is real woe in her expression and you can feel from the shift in atmosphere that things have turned serious. “He’s talented, you know? But…sometimes I think she goes too easy on him,” she continues, and this time her tone is decidedly softer, the movement of her face less pronounced.

You use the opportunity to work some powder beneath her eyes with a sponge. “Well, that’s motherhood for you,” says the other, flippant.

“Have you seen what the folks are saying on Twitter?” asks Hyejin as you apply shadow to her eyelids. “About his voice.”

“Hm?”

“Well some of his bigger hate communities have been compiling all the footage of his stage mistakes and they’re spreading it around,” Hyejin says with a huff. “Stupid, honestly. They’re making it out like he makes those mistakes all the time.”

“Netizens are like that, Hyejin,” says the other woman, now easing into her chair with her eyes shut as Jieun can finally get to work setting her base.

“Still…”

“Now you’re the one defending him,” she remarks with a laugh.

“It’s not that,” Hyejin says, scoffing. “It’s just…like if he doesn’t prove himself soon, all those commenters are gonna have more ammunition, you know? Which is annoying for all of us.”

“Sounds like you care a little bit.”

“I dont.”

“Hm.”

You focus on Hyejin’s full lashes, applying mascara with delicate, steady strokes. She hums a little as you use the pad of your fingertips to tame stubborn eyeshadow into blending more seamlessly. It seems, at least, that the conversation has died down. For that, you are very grateful.

“Say, do you two know anything about k-pop?” asks Jieun’s client.

The two of you lock eyes once more. It’s true that you are well-versed in pop culture: video games, TV shows, YouTube drama. But you’d be lying if you said you tune in to Inkigayo every week. And despite Jieun’s age and her trendy look, you know she’s not the type to keep updated on current idols. And you see in her brown eyes your own shock mirrored.

“Um…no, not particularly,” you answer for the both of you. Jieun releases a breath she’d been holding and smiles her thanks. “Do you two work in the field?”

Hyejin waves her hand and sighs. “Don’t go bothering them with those sorts of questions,” she says, and you notice for the first time the easy poshness that this woman has. Even with her head tilted back and her eyes shut tight, she seems sure of herself.

You envy her just a little for that.

“What? They’re young,” says the other woman, grinning with her eyes shut as Jieun works on her eyeliner. “You ever heard of RTE?”

“Hey now,” says Hyejin, warning in her voice.

“I’m just curious,” the woman continues with a sigh. “Look us up if you haven’t.” The woman chuckles, reaching out blind to smack Hyejin’s upper arm. “Hey, maybe even tweet something nice about our artists!”

“Knock it off and let them work,” Hyejin says, prying open one eye to meet yours. She offers a smile, apologetic, and sighs. “She’s just playing around. You can ignore her. It’s what I do.” She nods her head and leans it back once more.

Quietly, you get back to work. But you can’t help but feel like this woman’s incredible presence makes you paler somehow.

“What’s the point if it makes me unhappy?” Jungkook shouts, brows knitting, eyes growing watery. “The money, the lifestyle…what good is it?” his voice settles into a bare whisper, cracked.

“You only say that because you’re young! You’re stupid! You’re naive! You think things work out just because you want them bad enough?” says his costar, glancing down at the script every now and again as the two stand across from one another.

The set bustles on behind them, crew carrying tall lights and fixtures as they scuttle by. But Jungkook and his costar — a man named Namjoon acting as his older brother — continue their scene under the watchful eye of the cameras, trained right on them. Less of a screen test and more of a chemistry check between actors, Director Lim watches the monitor closely with his scrabbly chin in his palm.

“So what if I fail?” Jungkook asks with a quiver, referencing his script once to make sure he got the line right. “What’re you gonna do? Tattle on me to Dad?”

“I won’t have to,” Namjoon says, sighing as he grips the bridge of his nose. “He’s got his watchdogs trained right on you.”

Jungkook stiffens. “He’s been…following me?”

“I told you you’re too naive for the real world, Jiwon.”

Director Lim claps his hands and in an instant the tension and the scene are broken. Jungkook takes a respectful step back from his costar, and Namjoon offers him a bow of the head. Jungkook returns it, fighting off a nervous grin, and turns to the director as he circles around the equipment to stand in front of them. He’s a middle-aged man, handsome in a way with salt-and-pepper hair and eyes that seem to grab you and hold on like a snare. Jungkook is pinned in place like a bug in a shadowbox.

But Director Lim’s face splits in a crooked smile and Jungkook feels himself ease, exhaling long and slow. “Great job, boys!” he says, clapping both of their shoulders. “You were selling it well.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Jungkook replies too quick, like an eager child.

Director Lim chuckles, pats him again. “I’m praising you, kid. Don’t look so scared.”

He swallows hard. “I…I know. Um…thank you, Sir.”

Behind the trio, a group of stylists cart a rack of costumes quickly to the other side of the set, snagging the back of Jungkook’s shoe as they do. Jungkook stumbles to his knees, caught off guard, and the girls jerk to a stop as they catch themselves on the clothing rack. The two stare down at Jungkook, wide-eyed, and each of them covers their mouths. Immediately, they bow their heads in apology, both muttering sorry, so sorry almost too quietly to hear. Jungkook shakes his head and stands to his feet.

He too bows his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been standing there,” he says gently, hoping to assuage their concerns.

But the girls remain bowed, as if too afraid to even lift their heads. Jungkook, puzzled, leans down slightly to meet their eyes, but they glance away so quickly that he can’t even get a proper look at either of their faces.

“Um…it’s really not a problem,” he says, but before he can say more Director Lim approaches with a grim severity in his eyes. Jungkook, quick to stand up straight and face the director, stutters a little as he settles himself in front of the stylists. “It’s no big deal,” he says to Director Lim, but it’s like the man can’t even hear him.

“We were distracted, Sir,” says one of the girls, raising her head slightly to meet Director Lim’s gaze. “We are very, very sorry.”

“It really isn’t-,” Jungkook begins.

“You think it’s appropriate to crash into my actors? In the middle of a conversation about their performance?” Lim asks, but it’s clear the question isn’t meant to be answered. His tone has shifted into something cold. “You could have very well injured Jungkook.”

“I’m fine-,”

“But what if you weren’t?”

Jungkook shuts his mouth, staring helpless at the girls as they both stand up straight once more, eyes on the floor and hands knitted in front of them. He feels a hand on his back between his shoulder blades and jumps a little, turning quick to find Namjoon standing close.

“Don’t,” is all he says, voice terse and so quiet Jungkook almost doesn’t hear it, before dropping his hand and taking a half step back.

Jungkook’s jaw clenches, his hands work into balls as he stares. The lighting is low, dramatic as if a scene composed by Lim himself. The two girls lift only their eyes to gaze up at him.

“We’re very, very sorry, Sir,” says one of the stylists, guiding a lock of dark hair behind her ear.

“Mhm,” he says, looming. “Make sure it doesn’t happen again. Can’t afford to replace two stylists and a makeup artist in the same week.”

Jungkook simply stares, Namjoon’s warning freezing through him like ice. His limbs feel leaden. And as the two girls rush off, dragging their rack behind them, Jungkook focuses again on Director Lim.

He swivels back around to the two actors with a bright, fatherly smile. “Pardon me,” he says, waving his hand with a warm laugh. “Gotta keep the crew in check otherwise they’ll slack off.”

“Ha,” Jungkook puffs out in response, smiling in turn.

Namjoon hums a little. “Why don’t we try the reconciliation scene?”

“What in the world do you mean?” Hyejin yells into her phone just as she ushers you into her apartment. You eye her as her face grows red, her brows coming together. “He’s not quitting!”

Hyejin pauses to offer you an apologetic smile. She’s dressed in a modest pajama dress, padding barefoot along the cool marble floors. She leans against the arm of a nice black leather sofa, raises a hand to her flushed cheek, looks at her toes with vexation. Carefully, you set your makeup kit on her kitchen island, meeting her eyes with raised brows as if asking permission. She waves her hand, nods once before pinching the bridge of her nose between her index finger and her thumb.

“Listen, we knew Lim was difficult. But this is a huge opportunity for his career.” Hyejin rubs her kneecap, massaging. Her short hair falls along the line of her jaw as she dips her head in a deep sigh. “I know you know that, Seokjin. But you’re his manager. You’ve gotta keep convincing him.”

You begin unpacking your things, setting them neatly along the edge of the countertop, and try not to eavesdrop as Hyejin continues letting out chopped sighs. You can hear her fidget around the apartment behind you. She’d called you again, only a few days later, to secure you for another important event. A meeting, she’d said. You didn’t want to agree. Wanted to say you were too busy, that the commute was too much.

“Hey,” she whispers behind you. You jump, but turn nonetheless to find her cupping one hand over the phone’s receiver. Her eyes are severe, jaw clenched. “How long can you stay? This call might take a while.”

You raise your brows, think back over your schedule. “Hm…,” you respond, then shake your head. “I’m free all day. But…when’s your meeting?”

She stiffens, eyes flashing to the clock on the oven. “Shit,” she mutters. She approaches you with a frown. “I’ve only got two hours to get everything ready—Yes! Yes, I’m still here Seokjin. Stop panicking, for Christ’s sake—,” she says, her shoulders pinching. She glances at you again. “Um…”

You glance around the apartment. It’s spotless, as usual. But you spy in the corner beside a massive potted umbrella tree a taupe pantsuit, hanging beside a steamer. You’d have thought someone in her position would have sent it to the cleaners to be properly steamed, but perhaps it had slipped her mind. With the way she’s pacing around the apartment, still dressed in her pajamas, you wonder if perhaps she’s not as put together as you thought.

“I’ll steam that,” you say with a nod, pointing to the suit.

She stares at you, wide-eyed. “Oh, no. You don’t have to do something like that-,”

You shake your head. “No problem. What else do you need done here?” you ask, consulting your wristwatch with a hum. “If we keep it light, I can have your makeup done in forty-five minutes.”

She blinks at you. “Uh…well…,” she begins, then jumps a little as a voice in the phone shouts loud enough for you to hear. “No! No! Can you relax? I’ll talk you through it in just a minute! I’ve gotta sort some things out,” she shouts back at the phone. She turns her attention back to you with a sheepish smile. “Um, I need to steam the suit, wrap the fruits — they’re a gift for the client —, call the restaurant to confirm the reservation, shine my shoes, organize our documents chronologically and set them up in a binder,” she says.

You have to admit that the sheer volume of busywork has you taken aback. But you steel yourself with a bracing sigh, nod once, and offer her a smile. “Consider it taken care of,” you say.

“Ah! I…I really feel bad dumping all of this on you,” she says, crossing her arms with knit brows. “Normally I’d have my assistant doing all of this, but she’s ill.”

“Not a problem,” you say, smiling once more. “Just take care of your phone call and leave the rest to me! As long as we’ve got forty-five minutes for makeup, we’ll be fine.”

She lets out a sigh that seems to deflate her, shoulders slumping as if in profound relief. She nods once, smiling, and turns on her heel. “I’ll be in my office, alright? I promise I’ll be out in time!”

You give one wave as she rushes through a clouded glass door and shuts it behind her. You roll up the sleeves of your sweater and get to work on the suit.

Two hours later, and you’re accompanying Hyejin out into the apartment hallway. She pauses as the door clicks shut, waiting for it to give a chime, and turns to you with a sigh. She looks pretty. You had to rush a bit once she emerged from her office, and after taking care of the other chores you found it difficult to focus on her makeup, but you’re proud enough of your work given the circumstances. You’ve managed to match her eyeshadow to her pantsuit with gentle oranges and reds.

Since you were rushing to finish everything in time, the two of you hadn’t had a chance to exchange words. Perhaps you are curious — just a little — about the emergency she had to quell over the phone. Or maybe you just want a proper thank you. So you linger beside her in the well-lit hallway, you let your eyes wander to a potted fern in the corner by the elevator, wait for Hyejin to say something.

“I’m sorry,” she says, sighing. She glances at you through her lashes.

Your eyes go wide. “Hm? What for?”

“For having you do all of that,” she says, flitting one manicured hand. “I feel guilty.”

You shake your head. “No,” you say with a smile. “It’s no problem at all, honestly. You had me booked for an hour and a half anyway.”

She sighs again. “I really feel bad.”

“Don’t worry about it…,” you say, eyeing her. She crosses her arms, vexed, and purses her lips a little. “Um…was that call about an artist?” you ask.

She snaps back to herself, glancing at you. “Oh? Yes. That was about our biggest artist actually,” she says. “I think I’ve got it taken care of though, thanks to you.” She guides the two of you to the elevator. “I’ll pay you extra, alright?”

You laugh. “No, no. It’s fine! I’m just glad it all worked out.”

She stares at you, scanning you for a very long moment as the elevator rises to your floor. You try not to fidget, not to shrink under her scrutiny, but you feel yourself recoiling just a little. Her gaze is intense, knowing, as if she can see right through you and she’s looking for something. And as the elevator arrives, she gives a hum that sounds contented and you wonder if she’s found it.

Jungkook glances around the empty pavilion, scanning the cobbled streets for any sign of escape. From above, a dark mage is laying waste to the small shanty town. Not a single player has ventured out this way, all following a lead in the Elysian Forest to the west. But after you had mentioned a tip you got from researching at the Library of Arcana, you’d suggested visiting the seaside nook on the far south of the map. A legendary evil slumbers hidden, you’d recited over voice chat with a laugh, Sounds about right.

Only now, Jungkook’s alone. His hands are sweaty around the controllers in his palms and the realistic graphics are serving only to make him more nervous as the mage swings low near the central fountain and sets off a spray of fire just in front of him. Jungkook can almost feel the heat.

Jungkook had set out to do some scouting. Nothing extreme. Just a simple peek about, seeing if he could find any clues. He sent a message to the group chat, but he hadn’t waited on a response before he signed in. He’d had no idea that the Big Bad herself would come flying from the fountain the moment he touched the water with his sword. And now she’s circling him like some sort of hawk. Quickly, Jungkook calls up his inventory menu and searches through his items. A few extra swords he picked up, some ritual herbs, his old chainmail armor, some healing potions and…

The fragment…

If this mage takes him out, he’ll end up dropping his entire inventory. Including the fragment.

And by the time he can make his way back over here, other players will have come running from the commotion.

And the fragment will be gone.

“Shit,” he hisses out, dismissing the menu and focusing back on the mage as she releases a chilling cackle.

The quaint village is smoking, with thatched roofs catching fire and whole storefronts crumbling into piles of simmering stone. The sky is nearly blotted out with ash, and all he can see is that mage, swirling around up there in billowing black robes and shiny white teeth exposed in a wicked grin.

Jungkook glances over his shoulder toward the street he’d taken in to the village, but it’s too smokey to see anything more than the outlines of ruined buildings. There’s no way he’ll be able to navigate his way out of here without a lantern. And if it’s this smokey, he’s absolutely positive that nearby players have noticed. Which means more competition.

And more people to snatch his fragment when he falls.

The mage gives a cry, shouts her line, “Not enough yet?!”, and swoops down at a dizzying pace. Jungkook stumbles back, but he’s not fast enough. She’s approaching in a dark blur, too quickly for him to counter. A flash of regret washes through him as he squeezes his eyes shut inside his VR headset. He doesn’t want to see this.

He waits for a tense moment that way, anticipating the melancholy piano chords that accompany in-game death, but none come. Instead, he hears very keenly the sound of the mage grunting as if in pain. And, in an instant, he opens his eyes wide to see standing on the other side of the fountain, a small, white-haired mage, staff searing with frost and ice as the dark mage clutches her chest.

His heart kicks up. “Nova!” he calls to you.

You turn toward him and, to the extent that you’re able in a video game, square him with a sour look. “You moron!” you shout back.

But he can’t help his grin as he stares at your character. “How’d you get here so fast?”

You launch another ball of ice toward the dark mage, sending her hovering just above the cobblestone in front of the fountain. “I saw your message and figured you’d already gone ahead like an idiot so I logged on right away.”

He laughs, but you’re too focused on dealing ice damage to reciprocate. It seems of all his allies, you’re the best equipped to deal with a dark fire mage. He notices in your hand the staff you wield has changed. Where before you used a gnarled tree root with a rune, now you’re swinging a cool white metal staff with a glowing blue gem.

“New staff!” he calls, pointing.

You nod. “Mhm. The schematic from last time,” you say, dealing another blast. The dark mage falls to the ground, groaning. Jungkook is too excited to see you to notice his cue to act, but your head is very much in the game and you jerk your staff toward the fallen mage. “Well? You gonna slash her or what?”

Jungkook stiffens, jumping back into action. He hoists his sword and lunges, giving the mage a few good hits before recoiling back as she rises into the sky once more. The dark mage sends out a barrage of wild, uncontrolled fire that manages to miss Jungkook and hit you.

“Shit!” you call, pausing to glance through your inventory like Jungkook had before. “Dammit! I’m out of health potions,” you say. He notices your health bar is looking low.

“Why are you so hurt?” he asks as you rush toward him.

You sigh. “I ran into some boars in the woods on the way over here and they drained my health a little.”

“Shit,” Jungkook repeats.

“Yeah,” you say, watching as the dark mage readies another spell. “This is why I wanted all of us to go here together.”

“I know,” Jungkook says, his cheeks flaring hot. “I’m sorry.”

You sigh again. “Don’t worry,” you say, flitting your hand. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to start the battle.”

Jungkook is quiet, thinking. You’d always been this way. From the first time the party played together, you’d been generous with him. With everyone. When Tiki fell in the party’s first battle against some goblins, you’d been the one to retrieve his stuff and give up your armor for him. When Zero — the richest player by far — forgot about your scheduled meeting to gather supplies, you’d paid for everyone’s health potions and weapon repairs in his stead.

He shook his head. “No, I shouldn’t have gone off on my own.”

“No you shouldn’t have,” you say, humming. “You need to remember you’ve got a whole team of people who have your back.” He can hear a smile in your voice.

“I-,” he begins, but you cut him off.

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do for now. She’s at half health, so I’ll just wail on her with my ice until she’s within melee range and then you slash her,” you say with a nod. “And if I fall, I fall. Hopefully by then she’ll be low enough health that you can finish her off alone.”

“No, no. If it comes down to it, I’ll take the hit. I’ve got more HP and you’re the one who can do ranged attacks anyway,” Jungkook replies.

There’s no more time to argue, however, because the dark mage turns her fiery eyes toward the two of you and screams before pointing her staff right at Jungkook. Startled, Jungkook glances over at you to see you’re watching too. Neither of you has a chance to say anything before the blast hits, sending the two of you flying back against the fronts of buildings turned to ashy rubble. You let out a shocked gasp through Jungkook’s headset and, as the dust settles, he turns to see your health bar is dangerously low.

“Oh!” he shouts, pulling up his inventory. “Let me grab a health potion! You can have it—,”

“Alright, now I’m pissed,” you interrupt, sidling up to the fountain with measured steps. You consult your inventory and heave a sigh. It seems like you’re mulling something over, but it’s impossible for Jungkook to know what exactly is on your mind. “Use your health potion, Saph!”

He stares at the back of your character’s head, at the capable set of its shoulders. And he feels somehow like he’s really looking at you. The real you. Silhouetted against grey smoke, with a dark mage glowing black and orange in the air above you, he can’t help but think you seem…really cool.

He recalls what you said before. That he has a team of people who have his back.

You grumble something under your breath before deftly swinging your staff around a few times and launching a powerful icy blast toward the mage. She cries out and before she can ready another spell, you’re hurling another ball her way.

“Whoa! Nova, how’re you doing that so fast?” he asks.

“Shut up and heal now!” you shout, and he’s quick to oblige.

You send another blast toward the mage’s chest, and it’s just enough to get her in melee range. But as you do, the staff you’re holding shatters and breaks into shards. The force of the break seems to have some kickback, and you take a few points of damage as you stumble back half a step. You’re down to your very last HP.

“Oh my God! Did it break?” Jungkook asks, stunned.

“Go hit her!” you bark.

Jungkook sends his character rushing the mage once more and gets in a few heavy hits with his sword, pressing furiously on the controllers and moving his arms about wildly in his chair.

He expects her to fly back into the air. Rinse and repeat until she’s finally dead. But this time, perhaps since she’s so low on health, the dark mage simply hovers in front of him. Quickly, she swings her staff back and rears it forward once more, the black orb embedded in the top glowing red.

“She’s gonna hit you!” you shout, and in his shock Jungkook can only turn to look at your character.

Before he can blink, however, you’ve blurred in front of him in a flash of white hair and when the dark mage deals a mighty, close-ranged fire attack, you take it straight to the stomach.

And just like that, your character blinks out of existence, spilling your entire unequipped inventory on the steaming cobblestones in front of Jungkook’s steel shoes.

“Nova?” he calls out, but of course you can’t answer. You’ve warped back to the nearest infirmary somewhere past the woods.

He curses underneath his breath and swings his sword a little wild once, twice, three times until, at last, the dark mage lay prone on the ground, wailing ghostly. She lets out one final scream before withering into pixels. And there, beside your lost inventory, is a canvas loot bag. Jungkook grabs it and pulls from inside a multi chrome shard, glinting in the light refracted through smoke. He examines it. There’s no doubt. It’s a Philosopher’s Stone fragment. Which means your hunch was right.

It also means your party it one step closer to completing the legendary stone, receiving more gold than any of you could ever spend, maxed out HP, and a permanent plaque in Central Square with all of your usernames.

Jungkook sighs as he puts it away in his inventory. He scans through the other loot. A crossbow, some alchemical herbs, and an Imperial Knight’s sword. He pockets everything and, pausing to save, immediately logs off and yanks the headset from his eyes. He drops his controllers, removes his gloves, and sets the sensor jacket aside as he reaches for his phone on his studio desk.

He types in your name in his contact list and calls you right away. Lucky for him, you answer on the second ring.

“Did you get her?” you ask, not sparing even a moment for hellos.

Jungkook stutters a little like an old engine firing up before replying, “Dude what the hell did you do that for?”

You sigh. “I figured you’d have a better shot killing her since I broke my staff.”

“Yeah, but why'd you break your staff?”

“How else were we gonna get her down?”

Jungkook is quiet for a moment. “You spent a long time crafting that, didn’t you?”

You hum. “Not too long.”

“Liar,” he says, but you don’t reply. After a few moments of silence, Jungkook sighs. “I got her.”

He hears you laugh through the phone, followed by a satisfied exhale. “Hell yeah! Then it was worth it.”

“I got the fragment too.”

“She had it!”

Jungkook can’t help but smile a little, staring at his computer screensaver. “Mhm,” he says. “Thanks for taking the hit. I would’ve dropped the first fragment if she’d gotten me.”

You pause. “Oh, you had the first fragment on you?” you ask.

And Jungkook realizes something crucial as the words come crackly through his phone. You didn’t know he was holding it. You didn’t know he could have lost it. You’d jumped in front of that mage not to save the fragment in Jungkook’s inventory, but to save him. He swallows hard, because the silly, stupid sentiment of it makes his eyes a little misty.

“Um…yeah, I did,” Jungkook says slowly, as if testing cold waters.

You sigh. “Why’d you go on your own anyway?”

Jungkook’s shoulders pinch like he’s been struck. Truthfully, he’d logged on after a particularly frustrating call with Seokjin. After begging his manager to let him out of his contract with IJBC, Jungkook had been forced not only to continue working with Director Lim, but to keep good behavior lest the company seize their promotions of his previous album. But after chatting with you, Jungkook’s work is the furthest thing from his mind.

“Um…some issues with my work were getting to me so I figured I’d scout around a little,” he says. “Sorry I didn’t wait for you guys to tell me not to go.”

You laugh. “Turned out okay in the end,” you say easily. “But…your work?”

“Yeah…”

You’re quiet for a moment. While the silence isn’t awkward, it certainly feels thoughtful. “You don’t talk much about your job, so…I guess I was just curious. Like…what sort of issues…,” you continue, voice trailing off.

Jungkook thinks for a moment. What can he safely share without divulging too much? “Um, it’s…like this guy I’m working for is just kind of a dick,” he says, nodding once. “He’s awful to the employees and he’s been firing staff who piss him off. Just the other day he almost fired two people because they ran into me.”

“Oh?” you say, pensive. “So you’re pretty high up then?” you start, then let out a soft grunt and a laugh. “Sorry, I’m prying. Um…he sounds awful. It’s been bothering you working for him?”

Jungkook nods and picks at the skin around his thumb. “Yeah,” he says. “It’s only for a few months, but if it’s this bad after only a few days I don’t really know what to expect. I’m thinking about quitting somehow.”

“Well,” you begin, and Jungkook can hear the sound of things shuffling on the other side of the phone. “Here’s how I see it. If you quit, that’s one less person looking out for the people below you, you know?”

“Hm?”

“Like…if you’re there, maybe you can do some good and prevent other people from getting fired. But if you’re gone, you can’t really help anyone,” you say, then sigh. “I dunno. Just…if you’re forced to work with the guy, I figure you can try to find a way to turn it around. Maybe make things better for the people under you.”

Jungkook is quiet for a long, pregnant moment. He lets your words seep into his skin like a plant photosynthesizing. He really chews on them. “I…I guess I hadn’t thought about that.”

You hum. “It’s okay. I can understand how working with someone like that would be really hard,” you say. “But…imagine how hard it is for the people who can’t just up and leave? The folks who have to sit there and take it and don’t have the option to quit, you know?”

“Yeah,” Jungkook says, brows furrowing. He crosses his arms. “That’s true.”

“I mean, obviously you’re an adult and can do whatever you want, but…I dunno, I guess it would be pretty cool of you to stick around and try to help where you can,” you say. Before Jungkook can respond, however, you gasp. “Oh! I got a text from a client.”

“Oh? Who?” he asks.

“Ah, a woman named Kim Hyejin. She works for some entertainment company or something,” you say, and Jungkook’s blood runs cold.

Kim Hyejin. As in Rooftop Entertainment’s Kim Hyejin? As in Jungkook’s manager’s boss? The reason Jungkook can’t quit? He shakes his head, swallows the lump that’s growing in his throat, tries to silence the incessant thumping in his heart. It can’t be her, right? Surely not. But…really, how many Kim Hyejin’s work for ‘some entertainment company’ and require personal makeup artists? Even if the name is common, that’s just too sensational.

“O-Oh…um…is she the client you saw this morning?” Jungkook asks, but his mouth feels cottony. If you, of all people, were to somehow find out about him…

He shakes his head to clear it.

“Mhm, hold on a sec I’m trying to read it,” you say.

Jungkook doesn’t want to hold on. He doesn’t want to sit and wait for you to answer. He wants to end the call and throw his phone on the futon. He wants to take a long walk around the company building. He wants to delete his Arcana account.

But something keeps him on the line, like a string wrapped around his chest. He’s captive to your every word, desperate to know what Kim Hyejin has to say to you. Has she perhaps found out about Jungkook’s online friends? About the Beast Slayers? About you? Is she reaching out to make you sign an NDA? Did she approach you under the pretense of getting her makeup done only to lure you into accepting some sort of bribe to keep his identity secret?

Is she going to force you to stop contacting him…?

“Holy shit,” you say under your breath.

“What? What is it?” Jungkook says, too quick, too breathless.

You scoff. “Holy shit.”

“Please tell me,” he begs, voice frail. His hands are shaking.

Just when he’s found a group of people who he can connect with, who he can play with, who he can feel comfortable with, something has to come in and ruin it. Jungkook’s heart aches with the dread of anticipation.

“Dude,” you begin, but he can tell you’re smiling. “She just offered me a job on a TV show.”

Jungkook feels that same chill from before creeping up his spine like frost across a windowpane. “What show?” he asks.

If not a premeditated approach, then this has to be…

“Give Up Generation.”

Some sort of divine joke.

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