#can you believe I've finally fucking reached square one?

[a-drabble-a-dray]

Veilsmoke, Prologue Chapter 3: A Collision.

Lake glanced over at the sign, walking down the empty sidewalk. Theater Street. 

The buildings in the old city always carried the same abandoned air, but the atmosphere only became more intense at its center, where it was nigh-impossible to even see anyone else walking past.

Lake paused, noting the large plaque between the buildings. Saint Roche Theater. The building was suitably impressive, dwarfing anything else nearby– Or it would, if it hadn’t seemingly collapsed in on itself.

They sighed. Sightseeing was just delaying the inevitable.

The streets were surprisingly intact– Though, between the tightness of the roads and the usual complications of cars in Saint Roche, perhaps it simply was the case that nobody ever drove by.

The place stood out like a bullet wound.

The building at the address on the card seemed almost brand-new in comparison with its surroundings. The dark orange paint lacked the faded quality of the brickwork it tried to mimic. The sign over the doorway identifying it as Theater Street Investigations was still polished.

The door led to a small, cramped set of stairs. The daunting, almost illicit air had Lake hesitate, before carefully taking a step ahead. Their sneakers echoed, almost as if forcing them to reconsider. 

They braved on regardless, rounding a short, winding corridor, and finally arriving at a heavy wooden door, a small “Open” sign hanging off a nail.

Here goes nothing.

“If you survive this– I’ll burn you to death.”

Lake flinched as they cracked open the door.

“You’re dying with me.”

“I can accept that.”

“Glad we’re–” The woman– Scarlet, they recalled– glanced away from her staredown with her coworker, just in time to notice Lake peeking in. “--Oh. Client.”

“H-Hello…?” Lake blinked, sheepishly slipping through the door. The two’s argument, awkward as it was, died down into an oppressive silence when they were spotted.

“Oh–” Scarlet snapped her fingers. “You’re the waiter from yesterday. The one who looked like–”

“--A pushover.” Volk– If Lake’s memory held– completed, sitting down on one of the couches near the middle of the room. “You’re… Lake. Right?”

…Three people who remember? In one day?

“Oh!” Lake blinked, realizing they spaced out for a second. “Yeah, um, that’s right. And you two are…”

They took another look at the room ahead. Atop the central wooden table, coffee-stained documents formed haphazard piles. The walls were scattered with shelves and cabinets containing a variety of inscrutable trinkets and thick books; unused space, then, was dedicated to collages of newspaper clippings and monochrome photos.

In the center of the room, the pair stood. Scarlet, tall as she was, seemed particularly awkward in an undersized t-shirt and sweatpants, a towel around her shoulders holding back her wet, black hair from falling over her back.

Volk, meanwhile, seemed a little too comfortable. The singular unoccupied corner on the table quickly became a rest as he put his bare feet up, relaxing back on the couch. The crop top he wore threatened to slip off his shoulder– Which wasn’t nearly as worrying as the height to which his pajama pants had already sunk to.

“...You’re detectives, right?”

—

A minute later, the mess on the table was half-cleaned, and Lake was offered a seat. Scarlet had retrieved a notepad, and Volk was sent to change upstairs. Likely for legal reasons.

“Right.” Scarlet punctuated her sentence by clicking her pen, offering an oddly professional aura despite her casual look. “What brought you here? Need a crime solved? Mystery dealt with? Something found?”

“W-Well…” Lake flinched. The mood had shifted, and Lake felt the rug pulled from under them. Their request, so carefully thought out overnight, crumbled under Scarlet’s firm gaze. “S-Something found, I guess?”

“Okay.” She nodded, scratching something on the paper. “What is it? Possessions? Cars? Books? Pets?” Her expression soured a little at the mention of the last option. “We’ll need a missing person report if you want to find someone.”

“It’s…” Lake stopped, and took a deep breath. The worst case scenario, certainly, would be getting laughed out of the office. They’d already mentally prepared for that, and thus completed with certainty: “...A job.”

Scarlet blinked. Her expression shifted, the firmness easing up into caution. Slowly setting her notepad down on the table, she cupped her chin with her fingers, head tilting to the side. “...Come again?”

“I-I need to find a part-time job.” They explained, fists sitting clenched on their knees.

“And you… Can’t find one?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Well… Yeah!” Lake nodded, feverishly. “I mean, no! I mean– They just automatically reject me for no reason.”

“No reason.” Scarlet picked her notepad back up, flipping through the pages.

“I’m… Pretty sure it isn’t discrimination.” They scratched the back of their head. “And being blacklisted or something… Doesn’t make sense.”

“Perhaps.” She offered an impassive look. “And you keep applying to jobs regardless?”

“I-I figure one of them will accept me sometime, but I haven’t been able to find anything myself for months.” 

“And,” she set her notes down once more, leaning forward and locking eyes with Lake, “is that the reason why you came here?”

“Y-Yes.” Lake blinked, struggling not to break eye contact as the words quickly stumbled out of their mouth.

“Can I trust you on that?” Scarlet’s eyes shifted in intensity, from “heavy” to “piercing”.

Lake hesitated, gripping the fabric of their pants. “...Yes.”

“Alright.” She leaned back on her seat, the break of eye contact almost making the whole room a pound lighter and a foot wider. Scarlet exhaled, slowly, closing her eyes as her head hung back. “Let me think.”

Lake sat in silence for a moment, before the soft thump of footsteps came through from the distance. 

“Scarlet!” Volk called out, bursting through the backroom door, now fully dressed to some extent. “When you’re done here, there’s a couple woodpeckers who…”

Scarlet, heedless of the distraction, lifted herself off the seat, taking a step towards Lake.

“...Scarlet?” He repeated, blinking.

The woman quietly offered them a handshake.

Lake raised their hand, pulling back briefly in hesitation, before grabbing Scarlet’s.

Her grip was easily stronger, but they tried their best to match her strength as she firmly shook hands.

The woman let go, offering a smile that seemed to reassure Lake somewhat.

“You’re hired.”

“...Huh?!”

[dotster001]

Hiya!!! I was wondering if I could request what would happen if Yuu accidentally ignited a Snow Ball War at NRC? It could be HCs or imagines with whoever you want!

Snowball War

Summary: Gn!reader

A/N: idk where you guys live, but for the last two weeks, I've lived IN THE FUCKING ARCTIC. Today it finally reached 30° after two weeks of 14° and lower, and snow storms, and freezing rain, so I wrote this to celebrate a liveable temperature where I could actually see road for once.

“I have an idea.”

“Ah shit, not that look. Y/N, whatever he is about to ask you, say no,” Ace warned.

You looked up from your lunch in confusion. Epel had just slid over, with a wicked look in his eye. A look that normally came from Ace. And if Ace was telling you it would be bad, then it would surely be bad.

“I've never done anything wrong in my life!”

In the seat next to you, Jack snorted, but didn't say anything.

“Listen, Y/N, my best friend, one who I'd do anything for,” he pleadingly took your hand, full charm on. “I never ask for anything.”

This time you snorted.

“I just want this one thing.”

“What is it, Epel?” You asked tiredly.

“Well, you know how it's snowing? I need you to pretend we are having a snowball fight, so that I can “accidentally” hit Vil with a snowball.”

You yanked your hand back, and went back to your lunch.

“Just listen! He's gonna be on his internship next year, so I'll never get another chance!”

“Ask Ace.”

“No way, I choose to live.”

“It has to be you!” Epel pleaded. “You're the only one who can do it and not get killed! He likes you!” 

“He sure has a funny way of showing it…”

“Look, we just need to throw a couple snowballs at each other, then when Vil walks through the courtyard, I'll accidentally miss you, and hit him. Then while I'm giving a fake apology, you're gonna hit me in the face with a snowball, and he'll see I'm telling the truth.”

“First off, he'll kill me for enabling you, because that's such bullshit that he won't believe. Second off,” you threw your hands up in frustration, “my aim is not good enough to hit you in the face. But you know who's is?”

You stared pointedly at Ace, who vehemently shook his head. “Stop trying to drag me into this!”

“Y/N,” Epel pleaded, taking your hand again, and making the saddest expression you'd ever seen. “Please.”

Jack groaned next to you. “Oh sevens.”

And you knew why he groaned. Because there was no way you were going to say no to that face.

….

Your fingers were starting to go numb from throwing snow.

“Epel, are you sure he's coming?” You whined.

“He has to come this way for film club! He's just, probably delayed or something.”

You grumbled as you leaned down to make what felt like the 300th snowball.

You heard a not so subtle cough from Epel, and knew that the devil himself had arrived. You subtly nodded, and threw a snowball at him. As planned, Epel threw one that was way over your shoulder. You heard the disgusted “ugh” as Epel began his fake apology, then aimed at Epel's face.

Unfortunately, just like you warned him, your aim was not good. It sailed past him, and hit a certain suited someone square in the back. Azul, flanked by the twins, slowly turned towards you, a cold smile on his face.

“Take care of that, please,” he said, and you stumbled backwards as you watched the twins make their way towards you.

“Shit, Epel-” you called, but he was too busy getting lectured. You watched Floyd pick up an armful of snow, and start running towards you, Jade preparing to snipe you with snowballs after the initial attack.

You ran, but slipped on an ice patch, falling straight into a body, who was just as unfortunate as you. The both of you went down, just as Floyd dropped the snow pile on the both of you.

“What in Seven’s name-” Jamil shouted from under you, and the snow pile. Only to get hit square in the face with Jade's sniper snowball.

“I've always wanted to do this!” Kalim giggled, still on his feet, and untouched with snow. He made a snowball, and threw it at the next unfortunate passerby who walked through the doorway.

Poor Idia…

He squeaked and hid behind Ortho, whispering something into the cyborg's ear. Ortho 's eyes brightened in excitement, and you watched in horror as his arm turned into a gun of sorts, and started rocketing snowballs every which way. You snatched Jamil's and Floyd's wrists, and dragged them behind a bench.

….

It hadn't taken long for some teams to form. Any poor soul who wandered into the courtyard was forced to take cover as snowballs were rained down upon them. This might have ended hours ago. Except Ortho was trigger happy, to the extent that Idia was hiding with your team, and Floyd had betrayed five different teams already. The other reason this wasn't over, was each team got "lucky" enough to have at least one person who had a vendetta against someone else.

You got lucky enough to be stuck with Leona.

Your team consisted of Leona, Jack, Idia, Jamil, and Trey. An odd mix to be sure.

“Snowball,” Leona grunted, Jack quickly handing him the requested snowball. He threw it with astounding speed and accuracy, hitting Cater square in the chest, hard enough that he released an oomph that was audible across the courtyard. Poor Cater hadn't meant to hit Leona, he was aiming for-

“Please! I won't punish any of you! Just let me go back to my dorm!” Riddle pleaded, his arms in the air in show of peace. He was knocked over by a barrage of snowballs, from Ortho and various other participants.

“Snowball,” Leona grunted.

“Oomph! Leona, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you!” Cater sobbed from across the way.

“Snowball.”

“Oomph!”

You grabbed Idia and Trey by the collar, bringing them in closer to you.

“We gotta come up with a plan,” you said barely above a whisper. Your bench was crowded, and not very safe from snowballs. Then again, it was better than the tree that Ace's team was stuck behind.

“Like what?” Jamil grumbled.

“Damn it!” You heard an unrecognizable cry, as Floyd slid back behind your bench.

“I'm back on your team!” Floyd giggled happily. “What are we doing?”

“Plotting our escape,” Trey said with a tired laugh.

Floyd pursed his lips. Then threw a snowball straight at Trey's face, bursting into laughter and rushing to join a different team.

“Wonderful,” Trey muttered, wiping his glasses off on his shirt.

“We're gonna die here,” Idia whined, burying his head in his arms.

“We could use Shroud as a shield. His baby brother wouldn't dare hit him,” Jamil offered up. 

Idia glared at Jamil. “Aren't you supposed to smart! If that was true, why would I be hiding behind a bench like you dweebs?”

“Fu fu fu, what do we have here?” Lilia's upside down face suddenly appeared in the middle of your group. You popped up in shock, and in that moment, were slammed in the back of your head by a snowball.

You turned to glare at the perpetrator. Of those who had a vendetta, Rook seemed to be out for you. He smiled pleasantly, as he aimed another one at you, before Jamil yanked you back down.

“Lilia, we need to get out of here. Can you use that big brain of yours to help us?” Idia cried, at the bargaining stage of the stages of grief.

“Hm…” Lilia tilted his head thoughtfully, then poofed out of sight in magenta smoke.

Moments later, Malleus and all of his attendants walked out into the courtyard.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” you muttered.

“Why? They're our back up, right?” Idia muttered.

“No. I very much doubt it,” you heaved out. You peaked up over the edge of the bench, where Malleus made eye contact, and gave a small smile. Lilia waved just as Malleus threw the snowball at you. You ducked at the last moment, and-

“Fuck you, lizard!” Leona leapt over the bench, threw a snowball at Malleus, then tackled him to the ground, the two of them wrestling in a snow pile. Lilia looked on as though this was the proudest moment of his life.

Floyd flopped back over to your group.

“‘m bored. I wanna break out with you guys.”

“That was fast,” Jack muttered, though you weren't sure if he was referring to Leona, or Floyd. 

“Well, there's our distraction. You're from a dorm that's all about strategy, come up with something!” You snapped at Jamil.

He glared, and sighed tiredly. “Realistically, I can't leave before Kalim is done.”

The rest of you stared at him, unimpressed. He sighed.

“But if you still want a plan, then use Jack and Shroud as a shield.”

“I already told you, Ortho is gonna-”

“Did I say shield? I meant sacrifice.”

“Fine with me!” You jumped to your feet, yanking Idia up in front of you. Trey realized you were already moving, and quickly joined you as you pulled a shouting Idia along the courtyard. Behind you, you saw Floyd trying to wrestle Jack into being his shield. It was going badly. Not your problem anymore.

You made it halfway across the courtyard, when a hand grabbed your ankle. You looked down, to see Deuce staring up at you.

“Take me with you,” he croaked.

You reached out to grab his hand, but startled as Trey started moving you and your shield with even more fervor.

“Wait, Deuce!” you cried.

“Who?” Trey said, his face the picture of innocence, even as he fought to keep back a vicious smirk. 

“Big brother!” Ortho giggled.

“Ortho, wait-” Idia cried, and you were all shocked as chunks of snow rose and fell above his shoulders from the quickly pulverized snowballs.

“Big brother! You're supposed to throw a snowball back!”

You finally reached the door, Trey reaching behind him and turning the knob. He pulled you in behind him, as Idia dove to the ground. Trey quickly slammed the door.

You were going to ask whether you should try to save Idia, but he looked at you in concern. He gently grabbed your hands in his own, rubbing them between his.

“Your hands are so cold. There's hot cocoa in my dorm.”

“Hot cocoa,” you muttered, as your fingers started to burn from the lingering frostbite.

“And I can make some warm bread…”

“Oh,” you whispered in awe, slowly following him as he walked backwards to the mirror chamber.

“The kitchen is very warm…”

“Yeah…”

You heard a snowball hit the door, and were nearly pulled out of the cozy hypnosis that Trey had put you under, but he whispered.

“Heartslaybul has very soft blankets.”

And then you were right back under.

Tag list- @eccedentesiast-sapphic @leoll

[dovithedarklord]

Age of Monsters - Chapter Thirteen

Pairing: OFC x Simon "Ghost" Riley, OFC x König

Tags: Slow Burn, Slow Build, Enemies to Lovers, Alternate Universe, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, POV First Person, Not Beta Read, Medical Inaccuracies, Military Inaccuracies, AFAB OC

Trigger Warning: The story will contain violance, blood and smut in detail. Please, keep that in mind!

⚠️MDNI⚠️

...................................

Author's Note

The small group goes on a trip and finds something completely different from what they expected.

Hello!

I'm back with Chapter 13! Now I have a couple of Trigger Warnings: Death, corpses (and their detailed description), blood, gore, and violence.

Have fun! :D

I.M.L. – Infected Mammal Lifeform I.H.L. – Infected Humanoid Lifeform

if you're interested you can find the story on AO3: Chapter Thirteen

..........................................

The wild, overgrown abundance of the forest glides by like blurred spots next to the car, and although I haven't had a positive experience with nature until now, for once it's not the potential danger behind the trees and bushes that occupies my mind the most. The wind blows in my face through the rolled-down window, and as the characteristic smell of wet plants fills my nose, the apparent calmness of the situation lulls me into a false sense of security. The orange zone is a bag full of risks in itself, but Alejandro's predictions seem to have come true so far, because not a single mutant bastard has attempted to divert our small team, which is moving unstoppably towards its destination. But the deeper we venture on the broken concrete road into the heart of the wilderness, the more convinced I am that this eerie peace and uneventfulness will eventually backfire. And it's true that I was always cautious, and I believed that it was better to be paranoid than to get my ass kicked, but the sinister suspicion that had nestled itself deep inside of me is much more than that. Because it makes me feel like we're heading toward certain chaos, even though our plan seems bulletproof and ridiculously simple. I've already seen how life can wreck a detailed, masterful concept, and I can't get rid of the thought that fucking karma would love to show me again what tricks it can do if it wants to surprise me.

And it seems that I'm not the only one who racks their brains on this ominous intuition, because my two companions traveling with me exude everything other than casual calmness. From the rear-view mirror of the car, I can clearly see the unflinching expression on MacTavish's face, and only the line of his jaw tensing for a moment tells me that he would like to get right into the thick of it and show off his unique interrogation techniques. And although Riley, sharing the back seat with me, has assumed his usual steely confidence, his dark eyes scan every square centimeter of the landscape that appears through the windshield with such intensity, as if he would expect something absolutely terrible to appear in every second. His fear is well-founded, because we could easily come into close physical contact with a mutant here, but I suspect he isn't distressed by the forest and the beasts hidden in it, but rather by the research institute resting on the mountainside. And probably the concerns I expressed during our little moment on the roof last night also helped him to become so tense now. I should be happy that my opinion has such a big influence on him, now that we have finally overcome the differences between the two of us, if possible permanently, but his grim aura only gives my nerves one more reason to strain towards snapping.

"Five minutes and we'll reach the gate." Alejandro's voice filters through the radio and I automatically turn my gaze to the vehicle in front of us, where he and his faithful right-hand man are travelling, leading the way through the maze of nature like the real hosts they are. He nobly undertook this task without allowing any objections, and although I originally had no desire to argue with him being our tour guide, but in the last hour that we have spent here in the jungle  behind god's back, I already know that we wouldn't have had a chance to reach our goal in any other line-up. Because even though the road, which has been damaged over the years and is full of potholes, indeed leads somewhere, it splits into side roads in such a confusing way that it is quite amazing. And this, as well as the fact that the environment exudes a progressively unfriendly atmosphere with each passing meter, only confirms the fact that Alviar is truly stirring up the kind of shit, that needs a dozen life-threatening and cunning diversions to cover its smell.

My two companions only acknowledge the information with a wordless nod, our driver is the one who mumbles a quick "Copy" and then fixes his eyes on our battered path with unbroken attention. And the fact that MacTavish, who is always up for a clever comment, is also silenced by the operation before us, could even be disturbing, if the seriousness that possessed him wouldn't be fully justified. Perhaps the rather complicated chain of developments and the promise of an increasingly worse outcome has entered into the mind of a man as well, therefore it's not surprising that he is buzzing with tense energy ready to jump into action, so that he can finally relieve the helpless tension that has accumulated in him until now. This pressure has been building up in him since our nice adventure in the city, and I have a feeling that he won't try to moderate his temper if he has even the smallest chance to unleash it on the modest person of the doc. And that bastard will undoubtedly deserve it if even one of my hypotheses is confirmed.

Suddenly, the car in front of us begins to slow down, and as we adjust to this, we reduce our already cautious speed, and I raise my curious eyes towards the gate slowly emerging through the windshield. And the closer we get, the clearer it becomes that the doc didn't leave the guarding of his threshold to chance, because although the wild greenery skillfully hides the line of the several-meter-high fence stretching between the trees, it would be impossible not to notice the behemoth made of solid metal that rises towards the sky at the end of the worn road. Although a venturous mutant would have no problem climbing over it based on its height alone, even though the whole shebang seems to be at least five meters high, the barbed wire on top of the monstrosity would certainly discourage the hungry beasts from being nosy. And when our vehiches halts at the end of our nice little journey, my nose is hit by the characteristic burnt metallic smell, which makes it quite obvious that my colleague really wanted to show off his sophistication with the first line of his defense, and he made sure to give a shocking experience to those who stray too close to the barrier infused with high-voltage that disappears between the trees. So fucking sly.

The movement coming from the vehicle in front of us disturbs me from my observations, and only a hand appears from behind the rolled-down window to firmly hold up the hologram of the verification document emerging from the communicator towards the camera cleverly hidden on the top of the gate. However, it seems that there may have been an error in the calculation, because when after a few minutes there is no reaction to the introduction, the car door bursts open with angry vehemence, and Alejandro jumps out, stomping closer with visible irritation to signal with his whole being that an important visitor has ventured to the doorstep of this godforsaken hole. He waves his hand towards the wretched camera with growing annoyence, but despite all his efforts and fervor, the gate remains closed with immovable calm, which makes my confusion grow stronger with ever-increasing enthusiasm. It's one thing that the doctor doesn't want to have unexpected and especially unwanted guests, but he must also know that if he doesn't work together with us, my Hunter friends have a couple of brutal ideas on how to convince him to be more cooperative. Not to mention that the head of an institution must be familiar with the intricate maze of the current regulations, especially if he wants to avoid them, so he must also know that if he doesn't let in our small team that came here because of the violation of said rules, then the law and fate will catch up with such force that he will never have a chance to get himself out from that sea of shit.

"What's the problem?" The masked Hunter sitting next to me finally gets bored with the wait, and calls out through the rolled-down window to the man who is slowly engaging in an elaborate pantomime show. And it's enough for me to take a quick glance at Riley to assess how every fiber of his being fills with the first wave of impatient temper, and how his body moves forward, like a big cat who at this very moment has lost its patience with its naughty little prey that constantly slips away. And there is no doubt that he also starts to lose his cool at the finishline, when in addition to all the infuriating details of the events so far, the unsuspecting fool now wants to stretch his self-restraint to infinity.

"Something is not right! The guards should've been here by now!" Comes the irritated reply from the unit's leader, and as he turns back, every single wrinkle of the ire on his face becomes visible. Based on the deep furrows gathering on his forehead, it becomes completely clear that although he harbors hostile feelings towards Alviar, and he is sure that the asshole wants to block our entry, he also knows that the doc is not so stupid as to oppose him so openly. Because by doing so, the good doctor would risk a much greater retort, and then he would have to say goodbye to his peaceful solitude, which he had been enjoying until now in the soft lap of undisturbed nature.

It seems that Riley doesn't need any more motivation to take action, because without any further explanation, he opens the door and gets out of our little vehicle to walk closer to his comrade with heavy steps. Every cell of his tall frame fills with the pulsation of his restrained fury, which inevitably makes my stomach flutter with excitement, for there is something unbelievably compelling about the way he charges forward with the unstoppable determination of a tank. He stops for just a moment next to Alejandro, who, although I can't hear the fierce words coming out of his mouth, I know that he is explaining in, presumably very colorful language, why this unfortunate turn of events is bad news for us. And this gives the masked Hunter enough reason to take the solution of the problem into his own hands, and I lean forward to follow what kind of tactics the man chooses to eliminate this obstacle that cannot be called small even the slightest.

When he arrives in front of the metal monstrosity, which towers above him with unbroken dignity, he lets his weapon attached to its sling fall beside him, and raises his hand in the air with such noble simplicity, as if he wasn't about to slam down on a solid steel door. When one of his huge fists strikes, the metal shakes wildly from the impact, and the peace of the forest is disturbed by a thunderous crash, causing the birds resting on the trees to fly out of the foliage in alarm. And although the gate doesn't yield from this terrible force, the deep indentation created at the contact of the two-winged entrance already provides enough grip for Riley's hands to worm their way into the gap. A shudder runs along my spine reflexively, causing the little hairs to rise up, and suddenly I don't feel like fighting the feeling that overwhelms me, when I realize that he is trying to pull open the walls of the gate with his bare hands. And my mind tries to scold my body, since in the midst of a vital mission it's not the time for these dubious feelings to appear, but I can't tear my eyes away from the sight. He grounds his booted legs to exert as much force as possible, and despite the looseness of his uniform, I can see how the material strains by the work of the bulging muscles on his arms and back, and goosebumps prickle on every inch of my body, because I can almost feel the angry vibrations of his power on my skin. With a deafening screech, the metal surrenders to the Hunter's attack, and as the heavy walls slowly but surely move, the empty concrete road becomes visible. And just as Riley forces a passage wide enough for a person to pass through, he steps away and turns back to us, looking pleased with his work.

"It's open now." He announces to our small group, raising his deep voice, and I can see even from a distance, as the red glow in his eyes slowly fades, when he once again hides all the destructive power of his little Hunter abilities. Based on his makeshift weapon made from a traffic sign in the previous mission, I had no doubt that he could enhance his physical strength when he activates his skills, but this is a feat I didn't know a human could do, no matter how superhuman they are. And the fact that it awakened that fucking warm tremble in me is another proof that my sanity has completely gone.

"Steamin’ Jesus..." MacTavish's utters his rather apt reaction, and the excitement mixed with admiration creeping into his voice tells me that even though it's not the first time he's seen his partner use similar effective methods, he's still sufficiently impressed by the masked man's wide repertoire of pure power. And although I share his amazement, I quickly realize that Riley has even more self-control than I thought, because, under the influence of my little provocations, he could have messed me up even worse than I had originally assumed. And the knowledge that up until now he has held the reins of his aggression with a steady hand whenever I have directed my sly little words at him or tried to shake him up with my cunning tactics, and I'm still alive, for some reason fills me with sick joy. Now I'm pretty sure I'm not right in the head.

It seems that everyone was enchanted for a moment by the show the masked man unexpectedly put on, because it takes a few stunned seconds before Alejandro at least pulls himself together, and when he does, only a broad, proud grin spreads across his face. It's clear that he also liked this impromptu performance, and this gives him the impetus to return to the mission and wave to his men, coaxing them out of the cars in Spanish. This is the point where MacTavish also decides that he has spent just enough time in our vehicle, and opens the door of the car to jump out of it with such enthusiasm, as if someone had shown a spring up in his ass.

"Come on, lassie, let's not make our guests wait!" He turns back to me, gesturing towards the worn gate, giving a clear signal that after the impressive entrance, it's time to surprise the doc with our pleasant company, if he tried to avoid it so enthusiastically. The glint that settles in the man's blue eyes promises violence, and the wicked curve of his mouth lets me know that my Scottish friend, who has been on pins and needles since the beginning of our journey, has already formulated at least dozens of ideas in his head to welcome Alviar properly. And there is no doubt that each of his ideas is full of delicacies, each more painful than the other, with which he can make my unknown colleague sing a song where the doc will spill even his mother's name just to end the fun. And who am I to deprive him of the fun?

With a quiet, amused sigh, I pull myself together, so that I, too, can peel myself out of the comfortable tranquility of the back seat and drag my pretty little ass out into the humid embrace of the forest. And the Hunter with the mohawk, after checking that I'm ready for the excitement ahead of us, sets off with urgent steps towards the damaged gate, driven by his renewed vigor, and I follow him with similar enthusiasm, so that we can gallop towards the small group in deep discussion.

And as soon as we get closer, I have the opportunity to admire the communicator, which is still resting happily in Alejandro's hand, on which, instead of the faint blue hologram of his ID, something completely different is flashing with a bright yellow color. I don't need to know Spanish to recognize from the aggressively flashing text that we've managed to generate a neat little warning with our not-so-gentle knock. And based on this, it’s easy to assess that the institution's security system automatically signals the colony and thus probably the liquidation unit as well, if something or someone is reckless enough to venture in without authorization. Of course, this begs the question, if Alviar surrounds himself with such a line of defense to keep us out, shouldn't there be someone here to prevent us from continuing our little incursion?

"What's the matter?" MacTavish inquires, and he directs his eyes to the message flashing with increasing enthusiasm in the hands of the leader of the unit, where on the map a vivid red circle marks with definite outlines the exact location of the intrusion into the facility. And from the way the Scottish Hunter carefully peeks through the opened gap and scans the suspicious immobility waiting for us on the other side, it becomes quite obvious that I'm not the only one who finds the absence of the reception committee unusual.

"The security system is still active because we received the alarm about the intrusion." Rodolfo points to the hologram, and the deep furrows between his eyebrows reveal that there is no scenario in which this could be considered a good or lucky development. Because it might even make our job easier if we don't have to immediately fight with a couple of soldiers armed to the chin in order to get into the hospitable confines of the establishment, but silence and desolation are never a good sign if you expect to be welcomed. And we anticipated unfriendliness at least, if not outright resistance, but the fact that we are now greeted by none other but the big, stinking pile of nothing is more than strange. It's Alejandro who has enough of this hesitancy and, after pressing a few buttons, he makes the notification disappear to sink his communicator back into the deep recesses of his pocket, overcoming the unusual turn of events with the ease of a true leader, only to raise his dark eyes meaningfully at our small group and return to the execution of the mission, taking his weapon in his hand.

"We continue on foot! Don't let your guard down, we can expect that bastard to be up to something!" Alejandro gives out his orders and admonitions, and there is an undisguised hostility and anger in his tone, which leads me to conclude that, based on the events of the last few minutes, he has a strong suspicion that this won't be the only obstacle and interesting thing that we will encounter thanks to the doc. "After me!" He shouts, then pushes himself through the gap in the gate with purposeful movements, being the first to take on the noble task of checking out what awaits us on the other side. And when he has squeezed through, he points his weapon forward with lightning speed so that he can pump a bullet into anyone who feels like ambushing him. But, when the brave volunteer doesn't show up and nothing happens, he lowers the assault rifle and lets us know with just a wave that we are safe to proceed, and this gives enough motivation for his men to move behind each other in single file to follow their leader through the gaping crevice.

When the last soldier makes his way through the opening forced into the gate, my Scottish friend steps to the side, maintaining the principle of "ladies first", and with outstretched arms offers me the opportunity to be the first of our little trio to step onto the riddle-filled grounds of the facility. And I only raise one of my eyebrows and fix my eyes on the man, wondering when had he become such a gentleman, but finally accepting his sudden chivalry, I walk past him to slide through our entrance. When I cross the threshold, I'm greeted only by the emptiness, which for some reason seems even more peculiar now that I have the opportunity to take a closer look at the place. And as I divert my bright eyes, I see a small cabin resting peacefully next to the gate, where our cars waiting on the broken road greet me through a very well-functioning screen, and I immediately feel that something is very wrong. There is a single plastic bottle on the table, its wall thickly painted by the vapor of the water inside it, and I suspect that it must have been there for a long time if its contents could turn opalescent. That bottle must have been sitting in the stuffy booth for at least days, not an hour or two, to look like this. And I highly doubt that it's lying there forgotten only because of the carelessness of its owner.

But soon I'm jolted out of my contemplation, because I hear the two remaining Hunters arrive behind me, and as I break away from the strange view, I turn back and catch Riley, who, after MacTavish, is the last to press himself through the crack made by his busy hands. When he straightens up upon arrival, he checks the landscape shrouded in immobility around us with the momentum of his routine, to his eyes to then stop on the same small hole, the mystery of which I analyzed so enthusiastically not long ago. Despite the mask, it's easy to recognize the suspicious expression that appears on his face, although I only see thin but grim lines around the skin covered in black paint, as his eyes slowly narrow when he takes in the details of the scene left behind in a haste. And the fact that it also fills him with a sufficient amount of foreboding to dwell on it, only reinforces the whispering of the ominous voices in my head, warning that it's better to be careful, because this could be something other than just the doc trying to hide his ass.

"Let's go! The building is not far!" Alejandro calls out suddenly, drawing everyone's undivided attention to him again, motioning towards the road, which is hidden from prying eyes by lush green plants swaying lazily in the wind, as it meanders peacefully into the unknown. And in other cases, this sight could even be idyllic, but now it only awakens the unease that grows stronger in my skull with every passing minute. Because there is nothing normal in the fact that such a mysterious institution doesn't react to the intrusion of the official bodies into their harmonious little living space, which they have tried to protect with all their slyness until now. And I catch the worried furrows frozen on our leader's forehead and the dour downward curve of his mouth just in time, before he sets off followed by his loyal companion and his men, but even this fleeting moment is enough for me to deduce from his expression that we are walking into a party that I'm not sure we are prepared for.

"Let's not fall behind." Riley steps next to me, and although there is nothing in his voice apart from the usual deep hoarseness and his confidence, my keen senses quickly recognize the tension pulsing from him. It's no wonder that his mood is slowly becoming more and more gloomy, because anyone with a little sense knows how abnormal the suspicious smoothness of the mission so far is. But this is probably not the first time the masked man has encountered a mystery like this, because although he doesn't lose his caution, he quickly steels himself, and with only one last glance at me, he rushes forward with his friend close at his heels, so that they, too, could start sneaking carefully behind Alejandro's small team, picking up the pace dictated by the leading Hunter with the experience of the professionals. And I hesitate for just a moment to take one last peek at the cubicle frozen in unsettling silence, to then turn my back on the stillness that prevails in it, to catch up with my little buddies who are already moving forward with hasty steps. After all, no matter how fast the questions multiply in my brain, I won't find the answers here.

As soon as I reach them I fall in line with them, and for a minute I wonder what this extra precaution is for. Unquestionably, the doc doesn't like us, but I doubt he'd be so foolish as to try to attack four Hunters and six battle-hardened soldiers in the back. Not only because the sharp senses of the Hunters would recognize the danger lurking before they have the opportunity to strike, but also because it would strengthen our assumptions about his illegal activities more than any words could. After all, someone who has nothing to hide doesn't need to aggressively defend said nothing. But as my gaze wanders, taking in all the hidden little parts of the road ahead, I quickly understand that this thoughtfulness is not for Alviar's slyness. Much more to the bleak silence that follows us the deeper we drift into the recesses of the institute's territory. It's as if the gate we fought our way through was meant to keep out not only the wild beasts hiding in the wilderness, but to restrain the heavy atmosphere that settles here, which descends on us like a suffocating blanket. Although everything seems peaceful, not a single sound filters through except for the crunch of the debris drifting under our boots and the soft rustle of our clothes, and the whole thing feel as if we have entered into a fucking ghost town. An actively functioning institution buzzing with people shouldn't be so terribly quiet, especially when the boss here has tried so hard to keep visitors away.

And with every meter I walk, the grip of restlessness inside me grows harsher, causing my limbs to fill with tension, as if I should expect an ambush from behind every blade of grass or bush swaying comfortably in the warm breeze. The fact that instead we are surrounded by the same maddeningly lifeless calm stretches the sharpened attention of my nerves even more. It seems that the two Hunters marching in front of me are not much happier with the ease with which the mission has been progressing so far, because I only have to observe the muscles dancing on my Scottish friend's forearm, as he tightens his grip on the hilt of his weapon, or to take in the stiff line of the masked man's broad back to know, that I'm not the only one who is filled with concerns by the absence of the warm welcome we had anticipated. But when MacTavish, who has been diligently observing every square centimeter of the road, turns his head toward the uphill curve of our little path with the speed of a bloodhound that has caught a scent, I feel the nervous tug of foreboding in my stomach. Because even though I can only take a look at the man's profile as he looks meaningfully at Riley, who is walking in front of him, but from the way he pulls his mouth into a disgusted frown I quickly understand, that his super senses must have detected some unusual shit from the end of the footpath leading to our destination.

"Do ya feel it too, Ghost?" The Scottish Hunter mutters grimly, and there is no trace of the fun and relaxation that he managed to bring here with him until now. He doesn't explain what he found with the help of his sharpened perception, but the troubled arch of his furrowed brows is enough evidence that it may have something to do with our disturbingly smooth break-in.

"Yeah." The masked man answers curtly, and there is something inscrutable in his voice, which only crowns the dark look with which he stares ahead, as if he would already know something that no one else has figured out yet. As my gaze wanders to our two tour guides who are walking far ahead, I can see from the unsettled look they share that they also noticed the exciting little detail that made the aura of the two Hunters so terribly sinister. And even though my sharp little eyes run over the endless green blanket of vegetation stretching around us, the same tense peace greets me, but the voice in my brain assures me that I don't need to worry, and soon I too can experience what they managed to pick up on so quickly.

And although they don't share what they found so early on with the small team, the gloom emanating from the Hunters certainly lays the foundation for the watchful tension that eats itself into everyone's consciousness with the vileness of an infectious disease. And suddenly the whole group becomes a bundle of nerves, and perhaps with even more vigilance than before, they continue their troop along the wretched path, broken by the roots. The next few minutes pass with such torturous slowness, as if we had left the walls of the gate leading to the outside world at least a thousand years ago. When we finally reach the end of our trail, the building of the rather imposing research institution is revealed, which stands out at the end of the neglected courtyard with such unusual prominence, as if its creator had intended to attract attention rather than to hide from it. One would think that a private institution of this level would be able to afford to have someone keep it in order, but the area that extends to the building gives the impression that this noble task hasn't been fulfilled by anyone for a while now. And the hurriedly parked car resting untouched in the middle of everything doesn't help either. Based on its position, my guess is that whoever forgot this vehicle here, didn't intend to stay for more than a few minutes. But judging by the undisturbed layer of leaves sitting thickly on the top of the car, and the absence of any kind of wheel tracks, I can rightly conclude that the owner didn't leave the machine here for a short time, but it was probably left behind just long enough to raise a series of suspicious questions in my brain.

But this strangeness doesn't scare away the little squad, they wade forward with unceasing enthusiasm through the blanket of branches and leaves that cover the ground, and when I diligently follow them and sneak closer, then out of nowhere, like an unexpected surprise, a strange stomach-turning smell creeps into my nose, and I suddenly understand that there may be a serious reason why no one was bothered by the abandoned car. Because although I have never felt a stench like this in whole my life, every single one of my muscles is filled with sinister energy, and the instincts in my subconscious immediately convey the message to me that this can only belong to a source that I should better stay away from. And although a repulsed grimace swims to my face, still, like a puppet being pulled on a string, my legs carry me through the desolate field, and the crunch of sun-dried plants under the soles of my shoes reaches my ears as a dull noise, as I follow Riley striding with deliberate steps in front of me, who must have felt this exact delicacy together with his Scottish bosom friend before. The closer we get, the stronger the smell becomes, as if the building were spreading like a festering wound in the middle of the undisturbed calm, just waiting for someone to unravel its mystery. And morbid curiosity awakens in me, as I fix my eyes on the double-winged metal door leading inside, because although the warning voice in my skull tries to hold me back with tooth and nail from venturing too close, the unanswered riddles prove to be a much greater temptation.

However, with Alejandro in the lead, the group suddenly stops, as if trying to muster up the strength to finally cross the threshold of the godforsaken structure. And for some reason, I get the feeling that whatever is behind the elegantly crafted entrance, it must be serious, if the unit leader must find his composure to face it. If I take into consideration the multitude of ominous signs that have accumulated so far, which we have encountered in every step we took in the short journey that led us up here, then I realize that the man's sour mood could be quite well-founded. And based on my experience so far, my intuitions are rarely wrong.

"We're going in. On me." Alejandro gives out his instructions, and even though I haven't known him for a long time, yet in the the to-the-point command, I feel the unspoken harsh edge with which he prepares his men for the worst. And when he wraps one of his gloved hands on the metal bar running along the door and opens it with a decisive movement, all the troubled wrinkles and grim looks, as well as the strange, deserted emptiness that has accompanied our journey until now, gain meaning. Because, as soon as the golden light of the sun penetrates the darkness inside, I only catch the outline of the motionless bodies spread out in the large lobby for a minute, and my brain can immediately place what it was that held back the people from showing us their hospitality.

But I don't have much time to admire the interior of the institute wallowed up by darkness, because the force of the stench, which I had only mildly felt before, reaches me in a big wave, as it fills every corner of my nose. My stomach instinctively twists and shoves its rumbling contents up my throat as the repulsive smell of rotting flesh fills every single one of my senses like an inescapable slithery parasite. And as the nausea convulses my insides, I stagger in confusion, looking for support, because I feel my mouth suddenly fill with saliva with dangerous quickness by the nauseatingly sweet aroma. When my trembling hand finds the rough surface of the wall, and I finally don't have to fear that I will end the day sprawled on the ground from the dizziness entering my head, even before we could reach its peak, then my palm almost painfully clings to my mouth to try to hold back the stomach acid, that is slowly gnawing up my esophagus, before it can spill out of me. And I feel the tears start to sting my eyes when I gag violently, and I need every single nerve to convince myself not to give in to the stimulus that twists my stomach mercilessly.

Even my fast little body needs a few nerve-wracking minutes before I manage to force the contents of my upset stomach back into place while slowly breathing through my nose, and the vehemence of the onslaught of the penetrating smell of corpses eases a little. I'm suddenly disturbed from my deep concentration by a huge hand, which settles on the back of my neck, emerging from my shirt, with surprising tenderness, squeezing it gently, thus tearing me out of the exhausting work of banishing my sickness. And even despite the nausea terrorizing my body, I have the strength to be surprised, because the sight of Riley bending over me and pulling me into the protective cover of his burly figure, as if he wanted to spare my dignity, which was quite enthusiastically triggered by the surprise of my first authentic encounter with the reek of rotting remains. But perhaps what is even more unexpected is the scarf offered to me, which rests in his gloved hand with such self-evident casualness, as if this weren't the first time he had surprised me with such a selfless gesture.

"Wrap it around your face." He suggests, and although based on the hoarse edge hidden in his accent, his message sounds more like an instruction, but as my gaze intertwines with his, the restrained soft glint in the dark eyes seems quite real, with which he slowly searches through every pitiful part of my person clinging to the wall. And I get the feeling from this small thoughtfulness, which is completely foreign to him, that the peaceful little moment we spent last night on the roof truly helped him to finally soften up to me. But before I could start thinking about this at the most inconvenient time, I accept the material offered without any arguments or questions instead, to gather my composure and straighten myself up. As the comforting warmth of his palm leaves my neck, for a moment the feeling of absence hits me with a painful force, but I follow his advice and wrap my face up to the middle of my nose in the thick textile before my consciousness has time to process how ridiculously good the weight of his touch felt on my goosebump-flecked skin.

"Thank you." I squeeze the words out of myself, and I need all my will to bring determination back into my voice. Because even though at the first stray inhale, that hideous stench finally disappears from my nose, it's replaced by the man's characteristic scent, and this helps drive the nausea aways from my stomach with completely unreasonable speed, so that something entirely different moves in its place. And it's almost ridiculous how quickly my body manages to calm down from the sickness that has been tearing at me until now, as Riley's essence snakes into every cell of my being, in which I discover traces of the bitter smoke of tobacco and the spicy, salty aroma of his skin.

When he sees that I've managed to regain my presence again, and that the ash-gray color of my face has probably become several shades healthier, he gives me one last fleeting glance and wordlessly joins MacTavis, who is waiting in front of the entrance. And on the face of my Scottish friend, the curve of his lips pressed together with worry softens, as soon as he realizes that I will no longer pass out from the phenomenally nice gift that welcomed us in this miserable shithole. And my soul is completely warmed by the way, despite the not-so-bright developments so far, an encouraging half-smile appears on his stubble-framed mouth, before he disappears with his masked friend behind the open metal door, leaving me alone a little longer in my solitude. And after I finally regained control over my body, I realize that several questions that had tormented us so enthusiastically until now found a fairly simple answer. After all, why would the reception committee have rushed to meet us if every single one of its members was dead?

And from this, the confidence finds its way back into my limbs, and my feet guide me with a sense of purpose to the mouth of the building stinking of decay, and the demanding desire for knowledge igniting in my head helps to make my steps so urgent. I only hesitate for a minute, until I get used to the dull darkness that settles in after the blinding sunlight, and when my vision finally sharpens, I enter into the next scene of our investigation. My gaze glides over each and every piece of the unfolding murder, and as I cautiously wander in, the more details I manage to notice. Even though I have Riley's scarf over my face, even through the cloth the smell of death lingers in the dark foyer, which has soaked itself into every pore of the place as if the once luxurious room had turned into a gangrenous ulcer. Even before the chaos swept through here, the consequences of which we are now forced to tiptoe around, this could certainly have been a room imbued with professionalism, which would have impressed anyone who set eyes on it. Now, however, this decorative interior is disfigured by the decomposing bodies of the slain victims on the ground, around whom, mixed with dirt, the dry, dark brown stains of the liquids from their slaughtered flesh and decay have soaked into the floor's pale cream tiles. Only a female figure in a lab coat lying in the middle of the hall, dirty with coagulated blood, reveals that whoever broke in here didn't spare the unarmed researchers either. From the white of the documents spread around the remains of the woman's head, the small, torn pieces of flesh and bone fragments stand out unnaturally, bearing witness to the brutality with which the damn scums who wrecked this establishment were able to execute the staff who, even though were dealing with some illegal business, were perfectly defenseless.

"So that's why they kept quiet." Alejandro states glumily, muttering a Spanish swear word under his breath, fiercely scanning the walls, which in some places have been painted with abstract patterns by the dark drops of blood splattered on them, standing out from the pale blue plaster intended for comfort, like some grotesque frescoes. And the man's statement cleverly points out the now rather obvious reason, which can justify why Alviar and his employees turned away from their duties and the outside world in the last two weeks. There could have been a thousand and one reasons why the institution went into voluntary exile, but the fact that such a ruthless but rather simple explanation lies behind the events is not good news at all. In fact. It's downright disastrous. Because it means that whatever was hidden here was valuable enough that the senseless massacre of dozens of people was considered a fair price.

"From the condition of the corpses, their death may coincide with radio silence." Riley crouches down to one of the bodies covered in a dark uniform, around whose mouth opened to a silent scream, flies circle merrily, as if they had arrived at a real buffet reception. From the point of view of these bugs, this could be true, and based on the discovery of the masked Hunter, they have been enjoying this celebratory lunch spread with bloodshed for two weeks at least. And this complication that has arisen is the exact reason that makes it so dangerous for a private institution to stray far from the protective proximity of the colonies, because if such bad luck befalls the unsuspecting victims, the authorities will only be informed of the trouble when even its memory begins to fade.

"What the bloody hell happened here?" MacTavish asks the most important question, and his voice is filled with the hot edge of the raging fury inside him, and this is the poison that helps his facial muscles turn into a frown full of anger, and which echoes with a wild gleam in his slowly narrowing blue eyes. It's clear that although he wanted revenge on the doc for the adventure in which he got to watch his comrades being eaten alive by the wretched mutants, I don't think he had this kind of justice in his mind. And as he moves his gaze over the same female figure on whom I had previously lingered, his jaw clenches with such force that I can almost hear his teeth grind from afar.

"These are members of the security staff." Rodolfo points to another corpse wrapped in a black uniform with the barrel of his machine gun, whose ID card resting on its chest clearly testifies to the truth of the Hunter's claim. "But there are also researchers among the dead." He adds, gesturing with his hand towards one of the figures who once probably wore sterile clothes, whose body, frozen in an unnatural pose, had been mutilated beyond recognition by the dozens of bullets, which left gaping bloody holes on the battered textile. Whoever paid a friendly visit here didn't leave the success up to chance, did a fairly thorough job, and they didn't spare the ammo, if they could surely help the victims to the afterlife with it. The whole sad situation shows the kind of cruelty that only a real, calculating, and totally sadistic bastard can do. Because there was no need to kill these unsuspecting people in the midst of such merciless carnage, yet someone most certainly found pleasure in executing these mostly defenseless poor souls. And I only have to observe the direction of the corpses in which they are lying on the ground, with their backs staring up at the ceiling, and it becomes completely clear that most of them were killed during their desperate escape towards the exit. As if someone wanted to give them the false hope of survival, only to slaughter them a few hopeful meters before the finish line. And that's fucking cruel even for me.

"Someone has turned the place upside down bloody well. They made sure that no one was left who could spit out what had happened." My Scottish friend remarks darkly, and as his gaze continues to wander from victim to victim, the poison flowing from him in restrained waves becomes more and more menacing, which makes him look like a wild animal enraged to the extreme, just waiting to finally snap the neck of the one who provoked him. I suspect that this enthusiasm is shared by all the members of our small team, who stopped in the hall in shock, because the trash who did this, even with the greatest kindness, would deserve someone to make a seat cover from their flayed skin. I'm not a saint either, and I've caused a painful death for others, but even I'm not as psychopathic as to give someone such an inhumane and dishonorable end. Because these people were butchered like animals. For a purpose, no doubt, but mostly for fun. And it occurs to me again that this circumstance is another piece of evidence that points to the fact that there is some very disturbing connection between the dear doc and the I.H.L.s, which someone sniffed out much earlier than we did.

"Now it’s certain that Alviar was involved in something serious." I divert everyone's attention from the revealed horrors back to the original goal of our mission, and although the situation is becoming more and more complicated, it doesn't change the fact that we came here because of our new mutant friend. And current developments only slightly modify the questions to which we are looking for answers. Because now it's quite certain that the mystery of the mutant-riding I.H.L. comes from here, we just have to find out what could be so maddeningly interesting about it to make someone go through such a blood bath. "Whoever did this came for the same reason we did. We need to know what lured them here." I declare firmly, and as all eyes are fixed on me, I know from the seriousness hidden in them that everyone has come to this rather dire conclusion in light of the sad discoveries that awaited us. And I don't need to add the fact to my brief warning that whatever the perpetrators have found, they have a two-week head start on their side, and that's just enough for them to concoct and carry out the clever plan they stumbled here as a part of. Because this isn't the work of chance, someone wandered here for a good reason, and we have no idea why. We only know from the cruel reminders scattered around the hall that they are not afraid to resort to drastic solutions if it’s in their interest. Fuck.

But the heavy silence that settles over the group only lasts for a few seconds, and then it's Alejandro who takes control again, and his dark eyes sweep over the room with the thoroughness of a hawk searching for prey, before settling on the counter opposite the entrance. He seems to have found what he's been looking for, as he dashes across the chaos-filled stage and rushes to the small table that must be serving as a reception desk, as if he's stumbled upon some critical detail. When he arrives, he walks around the tasteful furniture with nimble steps, and then lifts the framed drawing resting on the wall with a few light movements. And when he lays the picture frame down on the surface of the polished wood, he only waves towards us with his hand, inviting us closer with a few quick Spanish words, so that we can admire together the work he snatched from the wall. And he doesn't even have to coax anyone to cooperate, because the soldiers scattered in different corners of the room set off without question at the command of their leader. My two companions break out from the further study of the traces of the massacre to rush closer, and I, following their example, carefully dodging the disintegrating remains stretching out on the ground, head towards the assembly. And when I stand between the Scottish man and his masked friend, I finally have a chance to look at the wonder that the other Hunter has discovered. And he got his hands on a really useful little thing, because behind the glass, the floor plan of the research institute unfolds with precise care, revealing all the exciting nooks and crannies hidden in the depths of the building.

"We're separating into groups up." Alejandro begins to outline his plan and points to a room which, based on the drawing, opens from the front hall and stretches to the entire length of the ground floor. And even though every classic horror movie that I watched secretly in the archives at school when I was a young teenager begins with this kind of trick, I don't panic now, because I have the right to assume that we will be in for a completely different kind of surprises than in those unique works of art. "Rudy and I check the security office to see if there are any traces left. The security system is still active, there must be something." The Hunter explains, and based on how his brows knot together, I know he's just hoping that they'll find something useful. Because, indeed, the security system didn't go kaput despite the chaos, but the rational little voice in my head warns that this could have been a very deliberate move on the part of the bastards who broke in. After all, after a bloodshed of such a caliber, there is no single-minded fool who wants to lead the righteous hands of the authorities to themself, and I highly doubt they forgot about the cameras that watch every corner of the building with prying eyes. It’s more likely that this inconvenience was circumvented by a sly trick.

"I check Alviar's office." MacTavish announces, tapping at the sizeable room on the first floor on the map, on which the precious name of the head of the institution is outlined in fine letters, announcing that the ridiculously large office has been placed in such a central position to serve his ego, even on this wretched paper. And I have a feeling that, as a poetic twist of fate, death probably caught him in that neat hole, and his deteriorating remains are now waiting to be found there. It's quite certain that they didn't let him live, because the one who came here didn't care about the doc's knowledge and influence, but the goods. And for that, it was probably much more beneficial if no one was left alive to hinder the process.

My bright eyes run inquisitively over the side-by-side sketches that reveal the floors of the building, and although all the inscriptions inform me in Spanish about the names of the structure's parts, I don't need to be a particular genius to recognize the heart of the research institute in a huge room that occupies an entire floor, well hidden from the world. Based on its size, it's also clear that they spared no expense when creating it, which wouldn't be a particularly unusual fact, but based on the increasingly complicated series of twists and turns so far, I can rightly conclude that it was some shady research that made it necessary to pack the basement full with tiny rooms, a gigantic laboratory, and that slightly suspicious chamber that isn't marked even on this ridiculously detailed map. It's as if the doctor didn't want to risk putting even the mildest-sounding name on it, just in case someone becomes involuntarily curious as to what they might have hidden there. Bingo, here we go.

"The central lab is in the basement. We might find there what we originally came for." I select the next destination, where the reason why we crossed the zones teeming with beasts and dragged ourselves all the way here can lie. And my thirst for knowledge is hungrily straining my consciousness, especially now that I know that we probably weren't the only ones who felt so terribly interested in what the doctor so enthusiastically hid from the world and curious eyes.

"We're goin’ to go down there." Riley declares firmly, clearly aiming at the two of us with this stray sentence, and I just turn to him curiously, as I tear my gaze away from the examination of the floor plan. And although I find it interesting that now he chooses my company instead of his bestie to hang out in the institution that has become a deserted haunted house, despite his emphasis that doesn't leave any room for arguing, I don't feel like rejecting his offer. Now I'm not afraid to admit even to myself that I'm much more glad that this rather dangerous man will follow me as my scary shadow, and hopefully protect me from what will most certainly lie in wait for us in the unknown. Although I doubt that bloodthirsty beasts would ambush us, one can never be too careful, and who would be better suited to effectively neutralize unexpected and quite life-threatening threats than him? And it's also dead certain that whatever awaits us down there, the Hunter will be the most dangerous thing I'll find myself in the same airspace with, in this cursed place turned into a graveyard.

"Be on alert." Alejandro gives us his last advice for the trip, moving his eyes meaningfully over the people gathered. And after everyone lets him know with a curt nod that they got the message, he pushes himself away from the counter without further hesitation, pats Rodolfo on the shoulder, and sets sail towards the showy door resting at the far end of the room, with some of the busy little soldiers behind him, who follow their leader towards new excitements like ducklings.

"Be careful, who knows what kind of boogeyman is down there!" MacTavish steps back, despite the suffocating atmosphere, trying to infuse us with some enthusiasm before we all head off toward our ominous destinations. But despite the tiny little half-smile on his face, the doubt in his eyes doesn't escape my attention, letting me know quite clearly that he feels anything but calm about our current action. Although he wears the mask of professionalism he has acquired over the years, he cannot hide from my searching eyes the grim tension that settles in his entire being, which makes his steps more hurried than necessary, as he turns his back on us and heads towards the glass door leading to the stairway. He understands as well that the disturbed state of the institution doesn't bode well, even if we find clues. Because even if we find answers, there will be some more important detail that someone else already got their vile hands on.

"Let's go." Riley gives the jump-start, and I take one last look at our map and nod in agreement, memorizing the small details that my brain calls my attention to check later. And when I also leave the place of our impromptu meeting at the counter, I take my gun from my belt and turn to the man, who, after making sure that I'm ready for our little adventure together, searches for the metal door leading to the basement and starts out towards it with firm steps. I quickly follow him, staying closely behind his tall figure, nobly letting him have the task of clearing the way in front of our pair. Fixing my eyes on his back, I almost instinctively pick up the pace with which he marches across the lobby, once again shrouded in stillness, as if my body would automatically switch to the cold sense of purpose that fills every fiber of his body as he leads us through the scattered sea of chaos and the dead. And the sudden harmony between us seems so natural that even my overworked brain doesn't stop to question why.

When we reach the entrance leading to our destination, the man only stops for a moment, just long enough to prepare for the attack, should a surprise await us on the other side. But as he pushes the metal in with one of his large palms, despite pointing the barrel of his rifle forward at lightning speed, nothing awaits us but the silent darkness, which calls us closer. This development doesn't surprise me, but it calls for a fair amount of caution, because the voices of suspicion lurking in my head tell me that although the quietness that greets us seems uninhabited and harmless, this feeling has already skillfully misled us upon our arrival.

"Stay behind me." The Hunter orders, looking down at me behind his back, but there is something quite soft hidden in his deep voice, which makes this small sentence far from seeming like an command, but more like a request with which he wants to ensure my physical safety. And with all my strength, I suppress the ferocious warmth in my stomach before it can bubble up unreasonably at the worst moment, because now we have to focus on the task, which, based on the man's wariness, could potentially hide more risks than the lifeless emptiness waiting for us behind the threshold with open arms shows.

With a quick nod, I signal that I have taken note of his brief wish, and as the red light in his eyes flares up, he wordlessly enters the dark room, and I remain obediently close to him. Accompanied by the dull light filtering in behind us, we venture inside, creeping with steady movements, and then after a few wandering meters, we find the steep stairs that, according to the floor plan, lead to the lab. The masked Hunter raises his weapon in front of him with unwavering enthusiasm and slowly moves to the steps covered in light tiles, scanning the pitch darkness in front of us with his smoldering eyes. Even I'm surprised by the unity with which we penetrate deeper and deeper into the narrow passageway leading underground, and the further we get down the stairs, the more the atmosphere around us turns into a sinister silence, where nothing else makes any noise but the soles of our boots creaking on the tiled surface. And I suspect that none of us becomes tense because of poor vision, because each of our clever little eyes quickly adapts to it in its own way. Rather, it's the steps leading to infinity that plant the first sparks of stress in my head, because after our welcome dotted with corpses, I don't expect anything good now either. And to an outside observer, it may be comical how two armed people stealthily sneak down a fucking staircase, but this uneventfulness cannot deceive the menacing foreboding that grips my stomach.

But as endless as it seemed, the steps suddenly run out, leading us to a short corridor, at the end of which another lonely door stands in our way. And as we stalk closer, it becomes clear that we are not the first to venture down here, because the control panel resting next to the entrance is destroyed beyond recognition, testifying that someone got the urge to sniff around down here before us. And this rightfully raises the unpleasant question of who and how could have found out that it's worth researching here. If the authorities of the colony didn't know what the doc was busying himself with, then it could be only an insider who became stupidly chatty, because the attack and the burglars' path seems too purposeful and organized for it to be just random looting. Someone let the cat out of the bag at the wrong time and in the wrong place, and the juicy info reached certain ears, whose owner wasn't afraid to get their hands dirty in order to get something valuable.

"They got ahead of us here as well." I state quietly, highlighting what has now become painfully obvious to both of us. And I can only hope that they left a few small crumbs that could be of use to us, because otherwise we would have traveled here for nothing, and that would mean turning back to fucking square one. And something tells me that we can't afford to sit around waiting for Laswell to find another deep drawer from which she can conjure up another clue of dubious origin. We need the info now. And quickly.

"Let's see if they left anythin' behind." Riley suggests, and with a confident movement, opens the door leading to the lab, which squeals under the man's palm as it glides across the ground, probably fallen apart from the violent entrance of the previous enthusiastic wanderer, getting stuck in the flagstone protruding from the floor. And as the entry to the lab opens in front of us, we are welcomed by the same unflinching, nerve-wrackingly peaceful stillness that has accompanied us until now, and which has caused us nothing but unpleasant moments. And now I have ingrained it in my consciousness that this deceptively monotonous nothingness is synonymous with trouble and deeply buried, sneaky little mysteries.

The Hunter crosses the doorway of the lab first, and I follow him into the small room, which could have functioned as a kind of vestibule, based on the cabinets lined up against the wall and the control panel that rests unharmed in one of the narrow corners. From the monitors shrouded in lifeless darkness above the many buttons, only our dim figure and the Hunter's gaze burning in crimson are reflected, as if we were the ghosts that returned to haunt among the remains of murder and destruction. However, my attention is soon caught by the faint, greenish light flickering from one of the machines on the table, which is the only proof that whatever is being operated down here is still very much working, and is just waiting to be turned on by someone. And it seems that Riley also noticed this small detail, because after scanning through the area, he turns around and heads towards the multitude of gadgets.

"It still works."  Riley observes, and judging by his tone, he also finds it a little interesting that the intruders were willing to harm everything else, but they left this little corner so untouched and intact, as if it had performed some very insignificant task. Or on the contrary. They didn't touch it because those machines are responsible for something very damn important. And as the Hunter settles next to the control panel, he slips his gun onto its sling and starts to work with rutin movements, presumably to breathe life into the devices.

I let the man play with his newly found toys, and I divert my scrutinizing gaze to see if I can still find something that might be of interest to us. I head towards the new door opening from the small room, and at this point, I seriously start cursing the doc, who turned this wretched building into such a complicated maze. It's as if he wanted to hide more and more excitement for those interested behind each entrance, although I suspect that there is a much more practical reason behind why he wanted to make his humble abode so bombproof. And interest immediately flares up in my brain, which leads my pretty little body to the doorstep of the battered entrance, next to which a broken fingerprint reader panel lets me know that this thick steel plate is meant to hide something very important from the outside world. This fills me with demanding sparks of curiosity, which makes me sneak closer with soft steps like a cat spying on a small mouse, and then, straining against the large door, I open a gap for myself to venture into the hidden recesses of the foreign place. As soon as I cross the threshold, I arrive at a long corridor, on the sides of which glass walls reach up high, located at an unusually regular distance from each other, and they are easily recognized by my clever little eyes, as the flickering lights of the security cameras resting on the ceiling are refracted on their surface. And this is such a strange detail that my body moves almost by itself to creep closer to the glass closest to me, and the fact that all the security cameras stand guard facing the walls of the corridor doesn't escape my attention. Because it makes it quite clear that whatever lurks on the other side is important enough to require a dozen artificial eyes to watch over.

And in spite of my sharp eyes, when I get to the very first glass wall, even I can't make out what might be hiding behind it. That's why I slowly stalk closer, and every fiber of me slowly fills with an instinctive tension full of anticipation, which reminds me again of the horror movies that I secretly watched in the privacy of my room under the cover of the night. And although I wanted to seem like a tough girl, when I was waiting for the danger hiding in the terrible silence to appear on the screen, all my nerves were on edge in exact the same way as they are now. As if my body wanted to prepare me for something terrible to occur, and the restless tension gripping my stomach infuses me with stress well in advance, so that when the worst happens, I can take flight immediately. I hear the steady rhythm of my pulse pounding in my ears as I slowly stop just a step away from the wall. However, the unsettling emptiness that lies on the other side doesn't become more visible, and smoothing my palm on the cold, flat surface, I lean closer to narrow my eyes and try to peek in, but I find nothing but a pitch-black, uninhabited room.

And for a fleeting moment, a shapeless spot seems to move in the back of the room, but before I can make out what it is, the shadow takes over the task of greeting me, and a huge body crashes against the glass wall so unexpectedly that I don't have time to comprehend it. The scream that breaks out of me is instinctive, as I stumble back in alarm, and I feel my heart begin to thump in my chest, and I'm afraid it might burst out of my ribs at any moment. The hard metal of my pistol presses painfully into my palm, but my shocked body cannot force my hand to move, so I just stare with wide eyes at the mouth full of needle-sharp teeth slowly appearing in front of me, which is desperately trying to press its jaws against the smooth surface of the glass. And when a hand grabs my shoulder out of nowhere, I only shriek pathetically, helplessly obeying the hasty force that is pulling me behind the sturdy figure that steps in front of me. Although it takes a few fleeting seconds, I understand that Riley is the one who rushed to my rescue and dragged me behind him, and a shaky sigh leaves my lips as my body slowly calms down after the goddamn surprise. And when I have recollected my composure enough to assess the way the man is standing between the  I.M.L. on the other side of the glass and me, then the icy fingers closing around my stomach release their grasp, so that my belly can flutter with a completely different kind of sensation, as I take in how protectively he towers above me.

"You okay?" Comes the question from the Hunter, and his glowing red eyes look at me for a moment as he glances back, and I don't think I'm imagining the wrathful gleam in them. But when his shoulders slowly let go of the tension in them, as he lowers his gun, when he assesses that I have no major problems other than a heart attack, then I know that the aggression with which he stormed in here is much more for a mutant imprisoned in a dark hole than me. And the knowledge that I was able to instill worry in the soul of this gruff man suppresses the shame that scratches my insides, because I screamed to the world with the enthusiasm of a young schoolgirl, that I fell into an amateur mistake and allowed myself to be spooked.

"Yeah. I think." I breathe, and my voice sounds miserably weak even to my own ears, and with the power of the combined work of every single nerve fiber, I finally manage to pull myself together and drive away the last grain of terror that has settled in my body. "This asshole surprised me." I clear my throat, pointing my pistol towards the glass wall, where, upon seeing the two luscious snacks, the deformed creature, perhaps resembling a combination of a wolf and a bobcat, starts a desperate struggle with its huge paws, and strikes again and again with dull thuds on the probably unbreakable glass. At least the doc had enough sense not to be cheap on this, even if he didn't have two connecting brain cells to realize that it wasn't the best idea to throw live beasts where dozens of people spend their daily lives.

"What an I.M.L. is doin' here?" The masked man asks as he steps back from the cell to take a closer look at the captive beast. And from the fact that its grotesque body, swollen with muscles, looks more like an experiment made up of several predators than a well-definable late mammal, I can conclude that this monster can be at least a fourth-generation specimen. This swine wasn't created by the virus through a bite, but by a long line of reproduction between mutants, and it could have a very remarkable family tree if such a behemoth could have been put together by its deformed ancestors. Why did Alviar need such a dangerous bastard?

"It might have something to do with what Alviar was working with." I come to the logical conclusion, because I doubt that he wanted to admire the reproduction of mutants with this monster. He could have done that with the help of a dead individual which a Hunter had previously made safe by depriving the wretch of his life. But my colleague needed the test subject alive, and this raises a series of disturbing assumptions in my head, which immediately encourages me to dig deeper. I hurriedly move my eyes along the corridor, and when I see the double door at the end, it becomes quite obvious where our path leads next. "That's where the lab might be, maybe we'll find out what the hell is going on here." I direct the Hunter's attention to my discovery, and without any further prompting, he turns to spy on what my clever little eyes have come across.

"Then we'd better take a look at it." Riley gives his blessing to our next target, glancing down at me expectantly, and I take one last look at the mutant who presses its foaming mouth to the glass trying to overcome the obstacle in front of it in its frenzied hunger, and for a minute I almost feel sorry for the scum. But I quickly get rid of my sympathy, because I know that if this heavy-duty surface were not standing between us, then without further ado, it would taste the delicacy that has slipped here in my pretty person. However, one thing becomes quite obvious as I turn away to walk down the dim corridor with the Hunter following me closely on our journey like a watchful shadow. In the dozens of glass cages spread out next to us, impressively developed I.M.L.s found a lonely little home, who, following the hysteria of their little friend, bravely ventured out of the hidden corners of their cells to see with their own eyes what caused such an uproar. Although outwardly they all display a wide repertoire of deformities, and no two deformed beasts are the same, but every one of them strains against the glass walls in peak condition, with a tangible aggression in their milky white eyes, and it's probably their two weeks of fasting that makes them so wildly enthusiastic. Alviar collected a whole zoo of mutants for himself, which required the help of trained Hunters at best. And if Alejandro and his small team had no idea what was going on, he got help from someone else. However, tracking down and killing these bastards is by no means an easy task, but it's even more complicated to not be caught where the liquidation units of the colony conduct regular patrols. And this is just one more reason for the fact to be reinforced in my little head, which echoes, that this wouldn't have been possible without the cooperation of a much higher authority.

When we reach the entrance of the main lab, Riley steps in front of me with ease and pushes the double door with his foot with perhaps more momentum than necessary, then he enters with his assault rifle pointed forward in search of enemies. And even though I know that, being an experienced professional, he probably instinctively takes on the role, fearlessly throwing himself into the unknown to eliminate risks before they have a chance to cause harm, I can't suppress the tingle that stirs inside me. Because the delusional voice in my head tells me that in addition to the routine, maybe my charming person helped him become a protective tank. And the idea that I'm influencing the man's behavior sounds so tempting in my head that I allow this dangerous train of thought to start in my mind for a stray moment. Because maybe I want to be the reason why he scans the deserted room in front of us with such intense attention, promising a cruel death in his crimson eyes to anyone brave enough to try to strike him. And when he doesn't find a single courageous candidate in the void who would like to meet him, he just turns and walks to the wall next to the door, to after a short search, conjure blinding brightness in the room.

As the neon light flashes, I cover my eyes with my hand because the light burning my retinas blinds me for a moment, and it takes a few seconds before the white spots dancing behind my eyelids disappear, and my vision, accustomed to the darkness until now, adapt to the new conditions. And when I'm finally not in danger of going blind, I have the opportunity to admire the rampage left in the luxurious lab. The intruders didn't even try to remain unnoticed here either, and they were certainly looking for something quite important, because dozens of files are lying crumpled on the floor in front of the wide-open doors of the cabinets, and the large footprints on them reveal that whoever broke in didn't come for the documents. Shards of broken vials and flasks and the unknown liquids leaked out from them litter the spotless white surfaces on the tables that stretch throughout the lab, and drawers hang out of the furniture with hasty violence, as if someone had just enough patience to tear them open and mess up the documents resting in them. A wide array of modern equipment, the likes of which a mere mortal like me didn't have the chance to see up close within the walls of the colonies, rest somewhat unscathed in the middle of the vandalism, the only reminder that some really interesting work could have been going on in the research institution.

"They were clearly lookin' for somethin'." Riley remarks, breaking the sinister silence that has set in, as he strolls into the upheaval of the room with heavy steps, curiously separating a couple of smudged notes with his gloved hand, which are lying on one of the counters and stick to each other, soaked in the unknown spilled chemical. And the Hunter is not wrong indeed, because only those who want to find something can turn every fucking inch upside down, and the vile little voice in my head tells me that they probably succeeded.

"They probably found it." I answer gloomily, and the shards of glass strewn on the floor slide squealing under the soles of my boots, as I wander inside and carry my eyes around the lab searching for something that has at least remained a little more intact to be of use to us. And as my gaze settles on the computer resting in a hidden corner of the room, a small triumphant smile crosses my face, because it seems that fate will finally spare me and throw me a bone that might be enough to find another clue. "But maybe we have something left for us too." I grin, and with nimble steps, I set off towards my discovered prey in the crossfire of the man's intrigued gaze, with such haste as if the unfortunate electronic device were a mirage that could disappear at any moment in the cold glow of the neon lights.

And when I arrive, I start the machine in a hurry, praying to each and every entity for a few seconds and chanting mantras for it to work, and as the starting screen flashes, a relieved sigh breaks out of me, which had been stuck in my lungs until now due to stress. I hear a soft hum as the computer warms up, and as the desktop slowly loads, it occurs to me that after the labyrinth leading up to this place and the complicated security system, a device that is presumably loaded with research data is left stupidly unprotected, without even a password. Instead, I thank karma for finally deigning to smile at me, because, after the excitement of the last couple of hours, I probably would have smashed this shit to pieces if I had to engage in a long hacking attempt. And as soon as the monotonous blue background comes up, and dozens of folders cheerfully lined up next to each other appear on the screen, it becomes quite certain that we haven’t needlessly wasted our time by going on exploration in this godawful building. My hand hastily dives into my pocket, searching for my communicator, and after fishing it out, I quickly pull out the connector, and finding one of the many inputs on the computer case, I plug it into the machine. And when the small window showing the communicator's storage space pops up, I select everything I discover to copy, because it seems that I have found a real gold mine, which I will probably be able to study with a calmer nervous system within the peaceful walls of the unit's base. And while the little device is working, I immerse myself completely in decoding the sonorous Spanish names of the folders, and I only faintly perceive the sound of footsteps and then a door opening, because, in the middle of my little research, something quite interesting catches my attention, as my sharp little eyes settle on the on one of the yellow icons.

Because even with my poor language skills, I can decipher from the "I.H.L."  phrase in the title that something quite juicy may be lurking there. Without delay, I click on the folder, and dozens of files appear in the pop-up window, under each of which lies a seemingly unordered series of numbers and letters. And it doesn't take much logic to figure out that random numbers might mark dates, which makes me assume that I might have found the carefully arranged notes of an examination log. But, when I scroll further down and names appear, I'm overcome with confusion, because the uncomfortable question arises in me, that what could human names be doing among the carefully recorded documentation of observations. And because of this, I start opening the files with frenzied speed, and the more windows that appear, the more the puzzlement that settles inside me deepens, because to my disappointment, each and every document contains nothing interesting except the profile pictures and personal data. However, when I see a photo of a man wearing a uniform similar to the guards here, I freeze in shock in the midst of my busy search. For a moment, I fear that my eyes are playing a cruel game with me, but when, leaning closer, I identify with full confidence the eerily familiar tattoo that begins on the line of the guy's neck emerging from his clothes, then the realization hits me with such speed that my brain doesn't get a spark for a second. Because the exact same tattoo is staring back at me, this time from the unknown guard, as what I so cleverly discovered in Laswell's report on the capture of the F.H.L.. And the wild assumption that Alviar hid in the middle of fucking nowhere in order to breed a new kind of humanoid mutant with his own hands, makes my stomach drop nervously and causes terror to enter my every cell with an elemental force. But why?

"Woods! You need to see this!" Riley's shout tears me out from the thousands of ominous explanations swirling in his head, and I wake up from my shock startled, to turn to look for the source of his urgent, deep voice. And when I discover the silhouette of the man through the door opening from the other end of the lab, then, guided by the stress hormones creeping into my limbs, I turn my back on the dubious data and  the communicator which is still working diligently, to rush through the chaos of the lab, driven by the momentum of the nervousness moving into my body.

When I step into the unknown room, the cool air that resides there hits me, and I quickly realize that I must have stumbled into that chamber, which was hidden in sinister anonymity on the floor plan. Both walls of the room are covered with a shiny metal surface up to the ceiling, and its continuity is interrupted by a multitude of square doors with handles on them, which gives me the feeling that I have fallen into the middle of a morgue. And when I find Riley standing in front of one of the open doors, I already know that I wasn't wrong, because in front of him on a long metal tray is a naked body lying as lifeless as a grotesque wax figure. And as I take a few cautious steps closer and more and more details are revealed to me, I realize that the unnatural paleness that runs along the unknown human form is much more familiar than I feel comfortable admitting. I stand next to my masked companion in silent astonishment, and with ever-increasing shock, I measure the almost translucent skin, under which, even in the state of rigor mortis, the muscles that used to swell with strength stretch clearly. But it worries me much more when I discover that I'm not looking at the corpse of a deceased Hunter preserved in an amazing condition, because although it's not nearly as deformed as many of its friends, it would be impossible to mistake the sharp teeth in the mouth opened in an eternal roar, or the worldless white eyes, which are characteristic of only one species according to our current knowledge. And my brain gets short-circuited for a minute, as I realize that the humanoid mutant, that we have just come across and the like of which I have never seen before, is a more advanced lifeform than our mutant-riding friend we met in the city, even solely based on its physical characteristics. When I break away from the unsettling sight to look around the room again, I realize that judging by the dozens of doors, this newcomer is probably not the only one hiding within the institution's walls.

And as my gaze connects with the Riley's, I discover the same dark foreboding in the now chocolate-colored eyes, which also sit in my skull like a slimy parasite. Alviar tried to play god, and whatever he used to create these monstrosities, whoever turned the institution into a slaughterhouse, in order to find it, took it and is long gone. Fuck.

[igotanidea]

Relapse :Jason Todd x plus-size fem! reader

Warnings: this is probably the heaviest thing I've ever written, so proceed with caution since might be triggering. I'm deadly serious! Here we go: eating disorders, mentions of anorexia, body shaming, insecurities, mentions of self-harm, bad relationships, self-hatred, self-depreciating thoughts, possible heart-break, past trauma, emotional damage.

Remember: no matter what you are struggling with, it will get better. You are not alone, don't be afraid to reach for help.

***

It’s pretty funny how one single memory can be carved into your brain, just waiting to emerge. A smell or taste can bring back good things, your favorite song, connected to some happy times can make you smile instantly. But, on the other, darker side, there are whole lot of bad associations. A word, a feeling, a single shot through your heart and you end up falling back into the same pattern of thinking and spinning, unable to get out of the cycle. All the energy spend on building yourself up, all the effort and one reckless behavior sends you back to square one.

And that was what was happening to Y/N at the moment. It was a nice day, spend with her family, talking, joking, laughing and enjoying the sun. And she was good for the most of it. Only when she get back to her apartment and started thinking, she could feel the lump growing in her throat, not sure of the reason of it. Her mind just started spinning, emotions taking over her, being too much, too fast, all at once. She simple could not handle them. And to think that all this was sparked by one single bad thought about herself.

You are not like your family. You are so big, how can you even compare yourself to them? Take a look at your mother, your sister, your friends… How can you even look at yourself in the mirror and feel good? That’s just pathetic. You are pathetic. Pathetic and fat. Do you really believe someone can love you? You? with your big ass and round belly? The worst lie is the one you tell to yourself.

And then there was more:

Summer is coming. How are you going to show yourself out? Do you really think you can wear shorts? Or short-sleeved T-shirt?

The truth was she did not wear any of the summer clothes in like 6 or 7 years. Last time was probably when she was anorectic and due to some twisted image of herself believed she looked good while being severely underweight.  At times like this, she truly wished she was a skeleton rather than a meatloaf.

All she knew was that she just had to get those feelings out of her system. And unfortunately, she did in the only way she knew – binge eating. Escaping the emotions by literally stuffing them inside. Feeling sick of herself, of this eating disorder she was dealing with for like 10 years on and off, constantly. Once it got better, then it started all over again. High one minute and then down the other.  

She hated herself. She hated her body. She hated the empty promises, all of them starting tomorrow. She hated controlling every calorie during the day, refusing to have even the tiniest piece of chocolate and then getting hungry, frustrated, overwhelmed at night. And starting this all over again.

 And all that guilt and rage finally bend her to the ground and she found herself sobbing desperately on the kitchen floor, surrounded by the evidence of her guilt in the form of empty pocket of cookies, an XXL size bar of chocolate, a carton of milk, half-eaten cheese-strings and a jar of apple mousse. She did it again, fuck, she did this again!

Sudden steps In the corridor startled her beyond recognition and in the utter terror she tried to hide all those empty papers and wraps, but it was no use. Her boyfriend, Jason Todd, was simply too fast, he was a vigilante after all and that trait came in a package.

“Hey baby, how was your…..?” he stopped in the middle of the sentence, eyes widening a bit upon seeing her crouched figure on the floor, surrounded by the trash. He instantly knew, the question was however, what caused her panic attack and the aftermath in the form of overeating “What happened?”

“Nothing.” She looked onto the floor, trying to keep her voice calm and collected while trembling inside. I am worthless, I am pathetic, why are you even with me?

“Don’t lie to me. Please.” He crouched next to her and put one hand on her shoulder, reassuringly but it only made her tremble more. He knew her well enough to  notice that fear, shame and guilt in her eyes and realize that only too many emotions triggered her eating disorder again. She’s been clean for a while now, but sometimes life was just too much to handle and that was the result.

To be completely honest, sometimes he blamed himself for her relapses. If he was home, like a normal boyfriend should she would at least have someone to rant to and let all those worries out. She might have been one of the strongest person he knew, always, always getting up and moving forward, but he experienced first-handed that situations like this could leave some long-lasting scars on mentality.

 “Talk to me.” He practically begged, eyes focused on her face, searching her orbs, gently asking for explanation. “Please, baby, I can’t stand to see you like this. Let me help you. Let me make you better. I’m here.” He tried to cup her cheek but she flinched and moved out of his reach probably breaking his heart in the process.

“Please, just leave me alone, Jay.  It’s enough that I despise myself for what happened. You …. I don’t want you to look at me with that pity in your eyes. I’m a fuckup. I wish I could go back to the times when I actually had anorexia, at least then I didn’t have to look at my chubby face in the mirror and fell all that…... I didn’t have to judge my thick thighs, those stupid fat ass and those fucking round belly.” She sobbed, barely containing the shaking of her body, grabbing the skin and pinching at it angrily until it became red and started to hurt. That was all she deserved.

“Can I hug you?” he whispered softly, his voice breaking, wanting nothing more than to embrace her, to make her feel safe and loved. To take all that pain away. Both mental and physical since she was really hurting herself at the moment.  He knew the mechanisms all too well. When he died, he was afraid of Joker coming after him again, he had panic attacks and multiple nightmares that made him jolt in the middle of the night, and this, this was her equivalent of all that living hell.

No matter what she was saying or thinking about herself, he’s been thought it too.

He hated his body, his scars and injuries, she hated the way she looked and how it made her feel. It took him years to open up to people enough to let them in and trust them in the slightest and she was still feeling judged. Her pain was his pain and he could feel his stomach do flips upon watching her so broken and scared on the floor. He wanted to be her shelter, her save haven. If only she let him, he would just engulf her in his warmth, keep her there, taking all the tears, all the shivers, all the fear and worry.

God, he loved her so much.

He would gladly spend eternity with her in his arms, just proving his love and loyalty but at this state she would never believe him. He’d been there and had done that. The only thing he could do was help her calm down, give her a bit of space and just be with her until she feels ready to talk.

“No….” she shook her head frantically “I don’t want you to feel all my curves. It’s too much. And I’m so ashamed of them. But it’s all on me. I made this. I made myself look like a freaking balloon.”

“Princess. Please…. Don’t do this to yourself. Don’t hurt yourself.” He begged again, his throat clenched by the pain he felt for her.  

“You know, today I got a perfect reminder of why I hate summer. It’s because of the sun and warmth and nice weather.” She said in a robot-like voice, staring at the space, reliving the memory from few hours before.

“Why?” he asked, talking the moment of her distraction to move a bit closer, sitting next to her,  leaning head on the wall, inch by inch his hand was moving towards hers. ‘I'm here baby, let it out." he thought.

“Because I never believed I could wear any summer clothes, you know. Never. It just didn’t feel right. I mean, my sister, she’s got perfect figure, no rolls or fat on her body, so she’s the one to feel confident in those. I do not. I spend the day in long, black pants, overheating, just because I look like a freaking head cheese. And the worst part, I’m the biggest in my family and it always makes me compare myself. I do not match with them. Never felt like I did in the appearance area. And maybe I just don't fit with anyone and will always be the D.U.F.F. It hurts, Jason. It freaking hurts.” A few tears flew down her cheeks “It’s just too painful when I see all those women just feeling good in their bodies."

“I know. “ he sighed deeply

“I wish I just could go back in time when I was skinny.”

“Babe, you were severely malnourished back then. On the verge of life and death.”

“At least I could look at myself in the mirror.” She sobbed. ”And now I can’t. Sometimes it just feels like no matter where I go I’m always the biggest and ugliest.”

“You are neither of those.”

“Stop it. Just…. just stop it. I know how I look all right? And I’m not ok with this. Some days just hit worse than others.”

“I’m sorry, baby. But you need to know no one is judging you…..”

“I don’t care! Out of all the people in the world you should understand it the best, Jay. I judge myself! I compare myself! I torture myself with thinking than I’m not worthy of love, of care, of affection. Of your love and care and attention. Not when I see my former school friends looking like a fucking supermodels.  And that makes me ashamed. And …. And this is what happens then….” She waved her hands around pointing toward the empty wrappers around “I’m not good enough…..” he voice broke a bit and she trembled again, bursting into the waterfall of tears. "  

“Y/N, princess, please don’t do this. It will damage you…..”

“Please, go away Jason. I want to be alone.”

“You know I can’t leave you like this. I just…. I can’t . Not until you calm down. ”

“It may take hours. “ she raised her teary eyes to look at him.

“So be it. You are my priority, not going anywhere till you stop spinning. I’m here.” He whispered, entwining their fingers “we don’t need to talk, not yet, but you just need to remember I love you.  You are not alone. And I don’t care how long it takes, I will put you back on your feet.”

“Why? Why are you trying to fix me?”

“Baby, you are not broken, you don’t need fixing. And I will remind you. Just let me take care of you.”

“I think I really want to be alone. I might take a nap. It will probably get better after that.”

“All right. I’ll tuck you in if….”

“No.” she shook her head “I need to think. I need to distance myself. Just…. leave Jace, I promise I won’t do anything stupid. Besides, it’s late. You should be getting ready for your night work. You know the team needs you.”

“You need me more right now.”

“I’ll be fine. I promise, Jay.” She lifted corners of her mouth, but this fake smile did not reach her eyes and did little to convince him. “It’s not like it happened the first time and I’m still here, right?”

“Right.” He could pretend not to notice the scars and traces serving as recollections of what she used to do herself in the past.  That though always made Jason shiver. He could have lost her so many times before if it wasn’t for Bruce help and the medical care he got for her. And it made it a bit harder for him to hate his father.

“I trust you.” he simply said “If anything happens, I mean anything you call me, right away, you hear me, babygirl? I’ll get rid of whatever scumbag may come onto the streets tonight in a second and will be right with you in a heartbeat.”

“I know, Jace.” She would never call him during patrol and put him in danger even if she was dying on the floor in a pool of blood. Never.

“I love you.” he muttered kissing the top of her head lightly and getting up. Something was telling him this was going to be a rough night for both of them.

***

When he got back she was already asleep in her favorite position. Seemingly, finally at peace, but he knew better than to look at the appearances and masks she knew how to wear. She was crying herself to sleep for god knows how long. Most probably she only passed out because of exhaustion and her mind playing trick on her. It was like a brain power cut off before it went overload. She was curled up, legs up to her chest exposing a bit of her lower back, hugging herself. Fuck! He should have stayed with her!

Slowly, carefully he discarder his jacket and body armor, approaching the bed. Only then he noticed tossed away blanket and goosebumps all over her skin – to top the pain, fear, and tears she was also so cold. He needed to hold her. He just had to give her the comfort, no matter what she said about that.

The bed dipped when he laid down beside her, wrapping arms around her, pulling her close, not caring about her rolls and surpluses. She hated them, he barely noticed.

“Jace….” She whined, squirming, still feeling uncomfortable when he was touching her.

“It’s me baby. I’m here.  Everything is all right. I’m back to you.”

“Please don’t leave me” she sobbed turning around and pulling herself close to him, face hidden in his chest “Please, don’t leave me just because I don’t look like a model. And because I’m an eating disorder freak. Please, Jace…”

“How…. How could you even think I will leave you?” he held her tighter. God! If she ever had thoughts like this what was this saying about him as a boyfriend? “I’m not. I won’t. I promise. I got you, baby.” He cooed rubbing her hair and shoulders. “I’m with you. It will pass, just let it out and I’ll help you heal the same way you did for me.”

"Ok...." she managed to gasp in the tiniest, barely audible voice, finally leaning onto him and letting him care for her. Just that one word was enough for him. She trusted him and he was not going to let her down.

[steddie-thirst]

My Girl | Casino!Steve X Showgirl!Reader | 100 Follower Special!

"The Royale?"

"Yes, The Royale." You sighed plopping down onto the small ottoman in the room, chest tightening, "I can't believe it either. I'm ecstatic and I can't breathe -"

"Relax, babes. You totally got this." Bethany Jones, the one friend you've had since high school, and the only one still supporting this "unrealistic" dream you had.

"You think so?"

"I know so!" Beth reaffirmed.

"Thanks, Beth." You sigh into the receiver albeit relieved of the nerves, but the dread of meeting - Steve Harington more commonly known as King Steve - did not sit so well with you. "Still not to sure about meeting him." Unlike most woman you were not the smoothest with the opposite sex, clumsy and totally unsophisticated.

"Oh, babes. Don't you dare worry about all that. If I know anything about Steve, is that he is a respectable man."

Steve had been dragged away from yet another important meeting - over and over again; it was starting to dwindle his business rapport and it was positively infuriating. Lowlife's who think they'd could easily sneak their way in and get away with anything, including money. However, it was not just him, but from his customers as well, not to mention the partners of The Royale Casino.

When he waltzed into the room he was not to surprised to find his guards with one of the many sleaze-balls that occupied the casino in their free time. One he had grown fond of until he fucked it up - "You know I really hate the fact that you fucking lied to me, Bill. I was going to give your more credit, but now-" Steve shakes his head eyes narrowed and brows raised in disbelief, shoulders slumping. Now pacing back and forth in front of the cowering figure kneeled on the ground. He stopped abruptly turning to face him, shrugging his shoulders and reaching for the gun offered to him by his right-hand guard and waving it around, before pressing the barrel to his forehead. "- I'm going to have to kill you."

"Wait- I can get the money! I-I can.. Please." Bill blubbered whole body shaking at the mere mention of death.

"Hmm." He hummed and eyed over the man's form, completely shaken at the aforementioned death. Steve sighed pulling the gun back, feigning a change of heart. "Guess I could give you another chance." Bill lets out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived when he saw the twitch of Steve's lips. He knew he was fucked.

"Goodbye, Bill." He fired the weapon without a second thought, not a single muscle tensed, the sound echoing in the small room going unheard by casino-goers. Overruled by the commotion of laughter, slot-machines and cheering. He was used to it by now - the killing. Steve's feelings were numbed due to these frequent occurrences. After all it was all part of the job. Those emotions sat lost in the back of his mind.

"Here-" He shoves the gun into the guards hands, earning a huff in response, but ignored it. "-Get rid of that and the deadbeat." Without another word they did as instructed. Not a soul dared to argue and the few who did were lucky - Nobody lived to see the day where they told 'King Steve' no.

"I've got more important things to handle tonight besides thief's. We have some new talent joining us." Steve turns to the office mirror hung neatly on the opposing wall. Hands going to adjust the stray hairs, "So, I expect no interruptions."

In many ways he was a perfectionist from his hair, to business deals, and his entertainment. Everything needed to go his way. Exiting the office making the final necessary adjustments to his look as he padded down the steps of the main central staircase, and headed towards the showroom.

You had Beth's words of encouragement but your stomach felt uneasy and legs numb almost like jelly. God, you were on edge. Couldn't help but wonder what he would be like. Brooding? Serious maybe? No- Maybe he was all mister tough guy?

Choosing to focus on the small squared napkin which sat beneath your untouched glass of champagne. Finding it really hard to drink when your stomach was doing summersaults. The droplets of condensation dripped down onto the table, and you unaware of the approaching figure.

"Ahem."

When your gaze drifted up, there he was - King Steve.

Damn was he attractive.

Beautiful hazel eyes dipped in a ring of brown, the expertly styled hair -- and not a strand out of place. The way his dark grey polo hugged his collarbone and the way his sleeves albeit rolled up revealed the toned muscle beneath. It made you squirm on the spot.

"Miss?"

"Hmm?" You hum knowing full well you were anything less than focused on what he was saying.

He chuckles, "You're not the only distracted." Voice gentle and low as he straightens the lapels of his suit-jacket, before taking his seat. "I've read about you, Miss (L/N). I am thoroughly impressed."

He was impressed with you? No, couldn't be! You had to be dreaming right now, but here you were face to face a man many had feared.

"You are?" You couldn't believe it.

"Oh yes. I would love to add you on as one of my entertainers, but for our more personal clientele." He offers leaning forward, the intoxicating scent of his fancy cologne filling your senses, it rolled off of him and waves and you were almost drunk off the smell alone. "You'll be my own personal star. What do you say?"

You bit your lip and looked up into his eyes, "I-I'm flattered but I am not sure I won't to ruin your reputation."

"Impossible. Now, will you take my offer?" He teased and you giggled.

It was all so much, the offer was more than generous on Steve's part - Should you take it?

When was another opportunity like this going to present itself?

Never!

"Yes, Sir. I'll take the offer." You smile giving him a copy of your card. Labeled with your name, e-mail, and phone number.

"Perfect!" He cheers voice enthusiastic as he stands up, "I'll have my guards set you up with a permanent room here in the casino on the top floor." He reached over and brushing his knuckles against your cheek.

"You'll be the most beautiful star in my casino." He praises moving his hand away and you feel your cheeks heat up. He was so close and Steve could tell how he affected you. Perfect - you were putty in his hands to play and mold to perfection.

His star. His girl.

"My girl." Steve's whispers and you whined as he pulled away.

TAGLIST:

@st-ls @munsonloverblog @off-phelia @strangerthingsstories5255 @fujiihime @shyposttree @damon-loves-pie @fanficfanatic204 @positivevibesnlif3 @beebslebobs @seratoninsickness @1-800-prostitutes

[besidesitstoowarm]

"Silence in the Library" thoughts

okay this is going to be kind of incoherent bc i was eating nachos for half the episode also moffat never misses. thanks

so i totally forgot the framing device was this girl who was imagining the library (as initially presented). "i know it's inside my mind but something's got inside" i really like how many of moffat's stories involve essentially believing children if that makes sense? validating the fears and stories of children. the fairy tales are all real

so they get to the library planet and the doctor insists "i never land on sundays" bc nothing happens on sundays. he tells donna not to look at any of the books bc they're spoilers for her time. the automaton w a human face relays a warning to "count the shadows" and the doctor shows off the message he got on his psychic paper that reads "the library. come as soon as you can x"

we reiterate that the sonic doesn't do wood and has this ever come up outside of moffat episodes? it's in "empty child" and "girl in the fireplace" is that it?? this man has such intense beliefs on the limitations of the sonic screwdriver. extreme respect for caring that much. there's a shadow caused by nothing that disappears and the doctor says that "it isn't gone, it moved"

we enter WIFE CITY population RIVER SONG!!!! she introduces herself as an archaeologist and the doctor immediately beefs. "i'm a time traveler, i point and laugh at archaeologists" okay rude. she questions his decisions once and he asks "bet your life?" and she replies "always" and he lowkey checks her out bc she has piqqqqqqued that interest. we learn that the library has been silent for 100yrs

river says "pretty boy, come with me" and it takes him a sec. "oh I'M pretty boy???" yeah dude fucking look at you. river doesn't realize yet they haven't met and starts trying to place their timelines using her journal before finally getting it. "you're younger than i've ever seen you" she sounds so sad

the doctor tries to reach the library core and instead appears on the girl's tv and she's like ???? he loses contact. he eyes river's journal, clearly tempted. we learn that 100yrs ago there were "4022 saved. no survivors" and miss evangelista wanders away cause she sees a panel in the wall open and no one listens to her when she says they should check it out. she is skeletonized in moments and they hear her "data ghost" echoing her last bits of consciousness. all she wants is donna who was the only person to be kind to her. i teared up

they try to find an exit and donna says "they always make you go through a little shop" this is a reference to "new earth". one of the guys has two shadows so the doctor wants to shore everything up and sonic everyone's suits for extra protection and whoops river has a sonic too! he tries to teleport donna to the tardis but she glitches out and never lands. river says the doctor can't peak in her journal because "spoilers" and he's visibly upset

mr two shadows is a data ghost and keeps saying "hey! who turned out the lights?" so they all make a break for it. river has a "squareness gun" so she can cut through walls i think? it looks cool. donna is now a face on an automaton and echoes "donna noble has left the library. donna noble has been saved" on repeat

part two!

[hinatastinygiant]

12 | Alan Grant

Pairing: Daichi x Fem!Reader

Only in Whispers

TSUKISHIMA'S P.O.V.

Great. Just great. Of course, I get stuck with the two love birds. This sucks.

"I can find my friend on my own," I tell him. However, unfortunately for me, they insist on tagging along.

"Trust me, there's no other groups for us to go to. Not unless we want to get berated by the others or ignored by 'Tsumu," Osamu sighs. "I'm sure we can get along for a little while, Tsukishima."

"What about Ushijima? Couldn't you have gone with him?" I ask him.

"You know how he is. He probably wants to go off on his own. Plus, he was with Oikawa. You know how he is. He'll start drama," Osamu continues.

"But you caused the drama..." I grumble. They don't answer. "Whatever. If you want to stick along then follow me. I'm going to Yamaguchi's room."

"Okay, we'll follow you," Sakusa says, nodding.

"So, Tsukki, how long have you known Yams?" Osamu asks as we walk down the hallway.

"A little too long," I mumble.

"Why are you friends with him?"

"I don't know. Why the hell do you care?" I reply, annoyed. "If I had to guess, it would probably be because we have more in common than we don't. But what do I know?"

"You don't need to be so standoffish, Tsukki," Osamu tells me. "We're just trying to make conversation with you."

"Then make conversation with your boyfriend," I shrug. "I already said it before. I just want to find my friend."

After that, they stop talking to me. Finally. But, I can hear them talking about their Atsumu situation. You know what, good for Atsumu hitting him square in the face. I would have done the same thing.

The three of us are silent all the way back to Yamaguchi's room. When we arrive, I don't bother knocking. Instead, I walk right inside. That's when my whole body freezes and my jaw drops.

"T-Tsukki," Yamaguchi greets me with a nervous smile, looking up from his desk. I don't reply. I'm too busy staring at what's on his desk. It's littered with white powder and different colored pills. He looks pale. "W-What's wrong?"

Suddenly, Hinata begins stuffing the pills into a large plastic bag and stuffing it under Yamaguchi's pillow. Kageyama, on the other hand, just stands up and stares the three of us down.

"What's going on in here?" I ask no one in particular. I'm too confused to be particular.

"It's not what it looks like!" Hinata cries, jumping up and down. "I swear it isn't! We, uh, broke a bottle of protein powder and-"

"That's not protein powder," Osamu interrupts, not buying the worst lie ever.

"Looks like cocaine," Sakusa nods in agreement. "And a lot of other shit, too."

"Obviously it's exactly what it looks like," Kageyama retorts, rolling his eyes. "They've caught us red-handed."

"Is it yours?" I ask Hinata as I eye the white still on Yamaguchi's nose before he wipes it off with his sleeve.

"Yeah, it's mine," Hinata nods.

"What are you doing with that kind of stuff? Are you selling it?" I demand, glaring at him.

"No! I'm using it!" Yamaguchi quickly explains.

"Why? All three of you seem perfectly healthy," I point out. "Don't tell me you're addicted."

"It's not a big deal," Kageyama says, crossing his arms. "It helps us cope with life. And if you say anything, we'll make sure you won't get away with murder."

"Yeah, but I didn't-" I begin before I realize what they're saying. I stare at them. I can't believe this. "Tadashi..."

"I-I'm sorry! I just couldn't get the creative juices flowing otherwise! A-and now I'm hooked on it!" he whines.

"You idiot! You could lose your job over this?! You think schools want to hire a piano teacher who's addicted to cocaine and whatever the fuck else is there?!" I shout at him.

"I'm sorry! I've been buying from Hinata and Kageyama who get it from their teammates!" Yamaguchi tells me. I don't know why, though. It won't make me feel any better.

"How cliche," Sakusa shakes his head.

"I'm going to tell Daichi about this," I mutter as I reach over to him and grab his arm. "I can't believe you did this, Tadashi."

"No, don't! Please!"

"Sakusa, Osamu, I guess it is a good thing you're both here. Tell the others to meet us in the main room. If they don't go quickly, we might have a second murder on our hands," I grumble before tugging my friend out of the room.

"I don't want to go back to the main room," Yamaguchi says as we walk.

"Well, it's your own fault, Tadashi. You brought this upon yourself," I respond coldly.

"I'm sorry, Tsukki," he mumbles.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" I ask him. "And don't tell me it's to help you play the piano better. That's bullshit."

"I don't know," he sighs. "I just am."

"This is so unlike you. You're ruining your life. And for what? A new song? Do you need to be reminded of our friend who was just murdered?" I continue.

"No, I'm aware of it, Tsukki. I'm not stupid."

"Oh yeah? Well, you sure are acting like you are."

"Look, I was really freaked out about the whole Kiyoko thing. I admit I am addicted on the stuff, but I also really just wanted to forget that all of this was happening. I mean... she's really dead..."

"So you decided to get high off your ass instead? Great coping mechanism," I snap.

"I know you're upset, but please don't say anything," he tells me.

"I'm sorry," I sigh, stopping and turning to face him for a brief moment. "But it's too late. You need to be scared straight. Maybe then you'll get some help. I mean, if you ever want to get your life back on track..."

Only in Whispers

[sweetmonsooncos]

tw; mental health talk, mentions of unaliving attempts and depression

So I've been dealing with the fact I relapsed last year and it's been 112 days since it happened

As part of me recovering, I've been having therapy every week to try and work through what happened to me and get me in a place where I feel confident enough to come back online fully

Many of you won't know this, but I was very active on other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, tiktok and twitter but just before my attempt, I wiped myself off everything

I've kept Tumblr up because it's been a place for me to show off my cosplays without feeling judged and because I miss having a tumblr and engaging in fandom the way that I can on here

I haven't cosplayed properly since my nervous breakdown in July because I am so terrified of being rejected by people

(I did some costests which I've posted and after all the photos I've taken, I've gotten out of cosplay immediately and started crying bc I feel so ashamed and I had to fight off urges to kill myself for a long time afterwards)

I've lost all confidence in cosplaying because of my stupid anxious ass misreading situations and blowing things out of proportion and it is so fucking hard trying to get that spark back

I want to come back and share cosplays the way I used to, but I'm so scared that people are going to turn me away and that I'll get rejected in a space that I thought was safe for someone like me

I feel like everything I do isn't good enough and when I finally find a space that I feel I can be myself in, people don't want to know me and are completely indifferent to me

This isn't me saying anybody has done anything wrong, these are just the things my anxiety has made me believe but my god its so difficult to break from the cycle

I've spent weeks looking at fabric to buy to start making cosplays again but I get too scared and don't bother

I've even had nightmares about people rejecting me again in the space so I've decided when I actually come back fully online, I'm not going to bother interacting with people the way I used to because there's no fucking point when they'll turn me away sooner or later

I'm going to make cosplays, post them online and just leave it at that. No cons, no shares, no comments, just keep myself at a distance because I can't handle being rejected again and going back to square one

Which sucks because I got so much enjoyment interacting with people and making friends, but I don't want to relapse again and nobody will care enough to reach out to me because why the fuck would anybody bother interacting with me?

I'm nobody

I don't mean anything to anyone

Nobody considers me a friend in that community

I do often wonder if there is even any point in doing cosplay altogether and just taking my life offline completely because I can't let myself be hurt again

The only reasons I'm not is because I already have a platform for my author work and bc this is something I am working on fixing

But I'm learning to unpack it all in therapy and I hope that I'll be in a better place by the time I'm done and I'll be looking at this differently

If anybody read this, thank you, I am alright, I just needed to vent about things because it really eats away at me

Recovery is so fucking hard.

[m111nho]

What was the conversation between Jean and Eren in the paths during chapter 139?This is my take<3

warnings:swearing,kinda angsty,spoilers of snk chapter 139

About 900 words,,,Ik it's small leave me be😌

"Now I remember...you conscientious piece of shit."

Jean woke up back in the training corps' canteen.He felt different,he subconsciously reached up to his chin to feel his precious beard and almost groaned when instead of a thin layer of facial hair he touched smooth teenage skin.Looking around he saw someone vaguely familiar making his eyes gulp,no it can't be.There it was,a more young,scrawny version of Eren.Then he realised that he couldn't feel his hair prickling his nape anymore,it was almost as if he's traveled back in time,back in his first night as a trainee.Turning to the green eyed teen he felt his anger rise up,what is this?

"Jean,hey."Eren said and made his away from behind the table,now infront of his foe.It might have been the anger,it might have been the overwhelming oblivion and confusion but Jean found himself sending a punch on Eren, scoring a hit square on the jaw.

Eren couldn't say he was completely surprised by Jean's actions but it sure as hell caught him of guard.Holding his jaw he looked up to a very angry looking Jean,reaching for the collar of his shirt.

"Not you too Jean,fuck."he spit out.

"Eren what the fuck is this?Where are we?Is this all a twisted game of yours?Am I dead?Is that why we're back in the training corps?And if I am then why the hell am I with you?"he yelled on his face,making Eren flinch.

"Calm down you're not dead,at least not yet."Eren shrug off Jean's hands off his shirt."I just wanted to talk before we head to war.This is a kind of throw back, you'll see in a while."Jean raised his eyebrows,no longer angry just completely confused.Then his brain dinged when Eren said the word <<talk>> and his anger came back in an instant.

"What the fuck did you say to Mikasa?"his mouth speaking before his mind could process his words.Eren stiffed up.

"Ah I see you know then."his gaze fell on the ground,mood shifted.

"No,when you and your army of fascist suicidal blockheads locked us up I saw her,and she looked like her heart had been ripped off from her chest.She took the fucking scarf off! I'd never seen her without it so I assumed it was you who'd done something.Armin just informed us that you said hurtful things to her so please tell me Eren what the fuck did you say to her."he almost growled and Eren sighed.

"Well I practically told her that she only follows me around because of her Ackerman blood,that she's a slave with no free will, blindly following orders.Then I told her that I've always hated her,ever since we were kids."Jean gapped,hands snatching Eren's collar once again.

"Are you serious Eren?You had her love and you just threw all that without even thinking how lucky you are for being the one receiving her affections.You're so fucking stupid."his screech rarely affected Eren whose gaze was now dropped to the ground."Look at me you ungrateful bastard."Jean started to scream once again but stopped the moment he saw Eren's eyes filled with tears.The shorter teenager shrug off Jean's hands off his collar once again.

"You think I don't know that?You think that I haven't been hating myself for this?Fuck you don't understand what I went through to get those words,those utterly ridiculous words out,much less seem believable!"he screamed,the person that Jean had almost forgot existed was once again in the surface;an angry,loud and passionate kid.Eren.

"Wait,you didn't mean any of it?I knew it."he said looking back at his former comrade,who was wiping his tears.

"Of course I didn't mean it,how can I?Mikasa is the person I imagined spending my whole life with."

Realisation flashed across Jean's face.Spending his whole life with her? Surely that can't be platonic! Does he mean-

"You love her don't you."his words laced with heartbreak.Of course he did,how could anyone not love her.

"Now that buddy,is something we have in common." a bitter laugh escaped his lips saying these words."Everything I ever did was for you guys,for you to become heroes,to live freely.That's why I need you to fight me,kill me.The rumbling will wipe out about 80% of the world's population,after that I leave it all to you."he continued and Jean finally understood.

"You played the devil so that we could..."he trailed off and Eren nodded.

"There will no longer be Titan powers in this world by the way.After I die,all eldians will no longer be able to shift into titans."

"Fuck Eren you really are a suicidal blockhead."he smiled and the other laughed.

"Since day one...for now you will forget everything we said but you will probably remember it after everything's over."Eren finished and Jean pulled him in a tight embrace.

"Take care of her for me horseface."he felt him whisper on his neck and nodded frantically.

-

The next thing he remembers is waking up feeling his skin boiling,around him Reiner,Connie,Annie... everyone was alive.

"Now I remember...you conscientious piece of shit."

-

After seeing Sasha smiling at him and Connie he turned himself around and saw her.She was holding something in her hands lovingly,it was Eren's head,a blonde now running towards her.She really did it huh.

Don't worry Eren,I'll keep her safe for you.

ok don't hate me I hurt myself writing it too.

[nakamoto-aesthetics]

Noona | k.jw

synopsis: a typical story about a girl who has a crush on jungwoo but this time... you are his noona

pairing: crush!jungwoo x female!reader

genre: very sexual, with some fluff

warning: hard dom!jungwoo, sir!kink, some teasing, a speck of degradation

word count: 3.9k

a/n: yes the background of the banner says aquarius because the reader in this story is an aquarius😊 (btw: im a scorpio🙃♏️)

“jungwoo” you shout throughout the house. he was supposed to help you set up your iPhone because switching from android to iPhone was a little difficult for you.

the only reason why you switched was that you wanted to FaceTime the other members and do group calls. it was a good way to keep an eye on them in case they were doing things they had no business doing. yeah, you were the mom taking care of all her children. you were the second oldest of the bunch. even though taeil was older, you still treated him like your child.

you were born on February 5th, 1995; you teased johnny all the time about being older since you guys were only 4 days apart. he would play along with you by rolling his eyes or lightly shoving you as a joke. you and he always had a ball when you were with each other, both of you making the group laugh and smile. overall, the members loved you wholeheartedly, it was like you were one of them. you were all family.

footsteps were heard on the hardwood floor and soon the blond head of hair popped up. he was wearing a white hoodie with black baggy pants, the hood was up, the blond hair splayed on his forehead. he looked so damn sexy at that moment. you had to keep yourself from biting your lip.

oh yeah, what you forgot to mention was that you liked jungwoo. yeah, you still treated him like he was your kid but on the side, nobody knew you liked him, except for johnny. he saw the way you looked at jungwoo one time and immediately figured it out. he pulled you to the side after that and you confirmed it to be true. to this day johnny subtly teases you whenever you with jungwoo and you hated it.

“did you get it?” he walks up to you and looks at the phone in your hands. “wow… noona with an iPhone?” he says dramatically.

“shut the fuck up woo” you playfully smack his shoulder and he grins.

“it’s true!” he says loudly and laughs.

“whatever” you roll your eyes playfully, smiling. “can you be quiet and help me now?” you say in a lighthearted manner.

“yes, my lady” he bows and holds out his hand. you try not to break out into a smile but it doesn’t work. a wide grin fills your face as you place the phone in his hand. he then walks over to the table and sits down and you do the same.

the next minutes are spent with you hovering over his shoulder, watching what he does, you putting in emails and passwords as he turns away from the screen, and him asking you security questions.

“okay now enter a pin so nobody can get into your phone” he directs your phone toward you and turns the other way so he can’t see.

‘xxxx’ and then you put it in again. “there,” you say. he looks at the phone again.

“okay now you need face id” he says and taps on it.

“face id?”

“yes you can unlock your phone like that and it just makes everything so much easier. here. just follow the instructions” he hands you the phone and you do exactly that until the end.

“there were done. you know how to do the rest right? download apps, add contacts, change the wallpaper?” jungwoo looks at you.

“yes and if I don’t then I‘ll just ask you” you grin widely, teasing him.

“mm” he hums pressing his lips together as if he didn’t want to help you but in reality, he didn’t mind it one bit.

“you love me woo, there’s no need to hide it” you reach up to brush the pieces of hair that fell in front of his eyes.

“I never hid it,” he says almost too low for you to hear. his eyes were serious, there was no hint of playfulness in his face or tone.

“what are you talking about?” you tense up but continue to brush the other side of his hair out of his eyes.

“I mean that... I like you noona, I like you a lot and I've felt this way since I met you,” you take your hands away from his hair and place them in your lap trying to take in the information. you could’ve been with him this whole time and instead of speaking up as you should have; you waited because you didn’t know if he would feel the same way. right now you were internally punching yourself for being a scaredy-cat. jungwoo notices your actions and there’s a hurt look in his eyes for a second.

“it's okay if you don’t feel the same way, I thought I should just tell you since there was an opportunity. I don’t want it to be awkward just act like I never told you-“

you plant your lips on his, wrapping your arms around his neck. he freezes for a second before kissing you back and wrapping his arms around your waist. fireworks lighting up in both your stomachs; your hearts were pounding rhythmically as your lips were chasing each other’s wanting more of the other's lips.

‘his lips are so soft and pretty’ you thought.

‘her lips are so soft and pretty’ he thought.

neither of you wanted to pull apart but both of you were losing your breath. jungwoo took your bottom lip in between his lips and tugged it as he pulled away. you gasped softly at his action and opened your eyes looking at him.

“wow,” you whisper.

“what?”

“that was so much better than I imagined”

“how so?” he tried to hide his grin.

“because your lips…” you touch your lips with one hand and then touch his with the other hand. your fingers brush over his lips, still mesmerized by the kiss.

“what about them?” he kisses the pads of your fingers that were placed on his lips, making you let out a small breath.

“they’re so soft and plush” he chuckles at your words. you could feel the vibrations of his laugh on your fingertips. you bit lip and stroke his bottom lip.

“and so are yours so come here” he grips your waist and shifts you onto his lap. you let out an ‘oh’ and he places his hand on your cheek, pulling you in for another kiss, you sighed into it and moved your lips at the same pace. it felt so magical and dreamy. you never wanted this feeling to end. your heated bodies pressed together wanting to feel every inch of the other. his hands traveled down to your ass and he squeezed it, making you moan softly. he took this as an opportunity to slip his tongue inside.

“jungwoo” you moaned softly but you were muffled by his tongue in your mouth. he continued to feel around your mouth with his tongue, ignoring you.

“well well well,” a voice says making you two pull apart immediately and look at who the voice belonged to. it was johnny. “I see you finally told him y/n” he adds on.

“jungwoo confessed first” you look at him and smile.

“oh wow I’m surprised, I thought you would be the first to say something,” johnny asks and walks to the counter to get something.

“ehh I don’t know. I just can’t believe me and he could’ve been together the first month I met him. I’ve been waiting so long for this moment.” you say and pecks his lips. he smiles and pecks your cheek.

“well now you finally have him, gosh that was so annoying. I knew jungwoo had a crush on you but I couldn’t say anything, it was so frustrating. I’m just glad you guys know now. anyways, I’ll be back later,” johnny puts on his shoes and coat, opening the door. “oh, and jungwoo?”

“yeah?”

“don’t forget to wrap up, if you don’t have any there’s some in my top dresser drawer.” johnny winks at you two before walking out the door.

you laugh loudly and rest your head on jungwoo’s shoulder. he laughs aloud with you and shakes his head. “johnny hyung is something else” he utters.

“that he is” you agree with him. the atmosphere soon grows quiet, only filled with your shared breaths.

“woo?” you say softly, still with your head on his shoulder. you trace circles on the bare skin of his neck.

“mhm,” he rubs your lower back softly.

“what are we?”

“whatever you wanna be” he answers.

“what do you want us to be?”

“I want us to be… together,” he says and it makes you pause for a second. you wanted to be with jungwoo no doubt about that but was it too early? you’ve known jungwoo for 8 months, you practically knew him inside and out at this point he wasn’t that hard to read. most of all though, you loved him wholeheartedly and you loved him too much to take it slow. you were ready.

“me too,” you say against his neck.

“good.” he smiled like an idiot. “you're my baby now and nobody else's” he pulls your face up to his and plants kisses on your neck. you moan softly feeling heat pool to your core. his lips were so plump against your skin you wondered what they would feel like on your-

“you wanna go in the room?” he kisses along your jaw. you persistently nod your head. he grabs your phone off the table and picks you up, walking towards his room.

“do you have condoms?” you ask.

“nope ill have to get some but for now jaehyun has some” he opens the door and shuts it after he walks in.

“who is jaehyun fucking?” you breathily laugh.

“don’t know, don’t care, all im worried about is who I’m fucking” he lays you on his bed and strokes your cheek. your heart skips a beat right then and there. that felt so good to hear, you’d been waiting way too long for this day to come.

he puts your phone on the desk next to his bed and goes to jaehyuns drawer, looking for the condoms. you watched jungwoo attentively, watching the way his eyebrows knitted together and the way he bit his lip as he looked through the drawer. you guided your eyes down his body. you could see the prominent bulge forming under his thin black pants, making you bite your lip. jungwoo was incredibly sexy.

“found them,” he says and soon closes the drawer coming back with a gold square package. he lowers himself so he’s hovering over you. “are you sure you want to do this? we don’t have to if you don’t want to” he caresses your cheek.

“no, I want to do this jungwoo” you hold his cheek in your palm. he smiles softly and kisses your forehead.

“okay noona” he smiles softly and stands up, pulling off his shirt.

“damn...” you breathily whisper and run your hands down his torso, feeling on his abs.

“like what you see?” he chuckles, mocking you but you don’t mind it; much too distracted by his figure.

“like is such an understatement,” you say in a hushed tone.

“what do you mean?” he tilts his head and swiftly looks your figure up and down.

“I love what I see...” you sit up and grip his waist, looking up at him through your eyelashes.

“don’t fucking looking at me like that,” he says calmly but there’s aggression under his statement.

“why?” you challenged, continuing to look at him.

“babygirl, you aren’t gonna be able to walk after I’m done with you” he caresses your cheek.

“are you sure your big enough to accomplish that?” you say, making jungwoo cock his eyebrow.

you already could tell jungwoo was big enough to ruin but you wanted to play around and tease him a bit.

“positive” he simply says.

“I don’t think so”

“you’ve never even seen it and a bulge does not count,” he says and you shrug trying to tease him further, he shakes his head at you and scoffs before looking at you again.

“my dick is big enough- you know what why don’t you take a look for yourself” he gestures to his pants. “I mean you're already in the right position” he was right. your face lined up perfectly with the waistband of his pants.

you nod and grip the waistband of his black pants, you gulp and pull them down leaving him in his underwear. his bulge was still prominent, that alone was big so you could only imagine what the full thing looked like. you grip the waistband of them and look up at him; his eyes are staring right back into yours. your breath hitches before you look back down to his waistband. you pull it down slowly and are first met with the base of his dick.

inches on inches.

you couldn’t believe how long and thick he was. it felt like you were pulling the thin fabric down for an eternity.

once he stepped out of the underwear you leaned back so you could see his length completely. your eyebrows raise and your jaw drops.

“am I still not big enough?” he chuckles at your expression. you gulp and shake your head no. you were speechless, you knew he was big but not this big. how could somebody be so long and thick. ‘will it fit?’ you widen your eyes.

“are you done?” he crosses his arms. you look up at him and nod. “good now I want you to strip” he grabs your hands, stands you up and he sits on the bed.

“you want me to give you a show?” you turn around to face him.

“mhm,” he leans back. his hands are behind him, holding him up.

if there’s one thing your good at, it’s giving someone a show. you turn around so your back is facing him. you cross your arms and grip the hem of your shirt, pulling it up over your head. you let it fall to the floor and reach behind your back undoing your bra. you hold it in place so it doesn't fall and look at him over your shoulder. he’s biting his lip in anticipation. you smirk and let the bra drop to the floor. you run your hands down your sides and over your curves to tease him, this works because you can see the way his dick twitches once you do that.

you decide to stop teasing him and pull down your pants, leaving you in the white lace panties. you can hear his muffled groans and you bite your lip. you loved the way he reacted to you. the smallest things turned him on, you couldn’t wait to tease him soon. you could already see it; you teasing him every chance you get and then you get punished for your actions. oh, how you couldn’t wait.

you slip your panties off slowly and throw it at him over your shoulder.

“good luck getting these back,” he says and puts them under his pillow.

“hey!” you protest, still not turned around.

“I’ll buy you more now turn around please”

“why? just so you can take them?” you say in an irritated voice. those were some of your favorite pairs.

“I’ll get you another pair of those, and I’ll buy two pairs of every underwear, how’s that?” he tries to compromise.

“okay...” you try to hide your smile but it doesn’t work.

“okay now kindly turn the fuck around so I could see that sexy-ass body,” he says impatiently, making you chuckle. you finally turn around and drop your arms to your sides so he can see everything.

his jaw hangs open and he looks your body up and down multiple times, trying to take it all in. his mind was so fuzzy at this moment in time. he’s been waiting to see your body. he’s dreamt of it so many times, often waking up to a little surprise sticking up from under his pants. your body was so much better in real life, it was amazing in the dream but it was so so much better in real life. words couldn’t describe it nor the way jungwoo was feeling at the moment.

“you like what you see?” you mock him. he nods his head quickly, biting his lip.

you chuckle and walk over to him. both of you staring at the other's naked body. his hand goes to your bare waist, moving down to your hips and then ass but he doesn’t squeeze it he just... holds it.

“woo are you-”

“you're so beautiful noona,” he says like he was put under a spell. you chuckle and grab his hands, holding them so then you could sit on his lap. your throbbing pussy brushes his hard dick for a second, making his and your breath hitch. you lay your head on his shoulder and peck his neck.

“I think you beautiful too jungwoo” you already knew he was smiling before you looked up. the smile filled up his face, making his eyes shine brightly. you smile in return and leave soft kisses on his shoulder.

“alright, alright stop before I end up cuddling you instead. I still have to ruin you and make you not walk” his hands go down to your ass and grip it harshly, you breathily gasp, and before you know it you on your back and he's hovering over you.

“you're my little slut tonight noona,” he says in your ear and kisses under your jaw. you moan his name in return, he immediately stops his actions and tilts your chin down so you can see him.

“uh uh what’s my name baby girl” his eyes are dark and his tone is low. he wasn’t playing around this time.

“daddy?” you ask uncertainly.

“wrong” he pulls one of your legs apart from the other so your spread out. he raises his hand and strikes your inner thigh. the loud sound filling the room.

“what the fuck?” you hiss and reach to rub it but before you can he grips your wrist and pins it above your head.

“every time you answer wrong, I hit that same spot. your safeword is y/n and my safeword is jungwoo because it would be weird if one of us just starts shouting our own name. it would catch the attention of the other” he says and you nod.

“is it.. baby boy?” you furrow your eyebrows.

“definitely not” he slaps the spot again and you clench your jaw out of pain.

“what about sir?” you ask and he raises his hand, making you squeeze your eyes shut in anticipation.

“correct” he rubs the red area. you release a breath you didn’t know you were holding. he kisses your lips, increasingly getting rougher. you moan against his lips, the sound of heavy breaths now filling the room before he makes his way down your body.

“sir huh, who would’ve thought? honestly, I thought of you more like a daddy kind of guy” you look down at him, he looks up at you with the darkest, most passionate eyes, his lips were red and slightly swollen from the kisses while his hair was slightly messy. it was a sight to see.

“shut the hell up” his hot breath hit the skin of your lower stomach. you bit your lip and nodded, wanting him to continue desperately.

he makes his way down until he’s hovering over your glistening pussy. he spreads you open with two fingers and you throw your head back.

“sir” you cry out, after all, that waiting and anticipation all you wanted was to be touched, licked, and ruined.

“you little slut, so wet for me” he glides his finger down you, making your body convulse. he barely did anything and you were already a mess. you attempted to move your hips closer to his fingers but he was one step ahead of you; his hand gripped your hip tightly.

“if you want to end up getting touched then you better stay still” he warned you.

needless to say, it was a long night.

the morning after, just like jungwoo said you could barely walk.

when you woke up you could already feel the pain down there when you moved your legs slightly. jungwoo did a number on you last night. you wouldn’t be surprised if you find out he had accidentally ripped you open.

nonetheless, you had to use the bathroom but jungwoo was still asleep. you tried to wait it out but scrolling through instagram and tiktok but it came to a point where you just couldn’t hold it anymore. you slowly got out of bed trying not to wake the boy and you successfully did just that.

when your two feet hit the ground, your legs almost gave out on you. you had to hold onto the bed for support. you caught a glimpse of your body and realized you were naked. you looked around for a shirt and saw jungwoos, you stable yourself and walk over, grabbing it and slipping it over your head. it looked like a dress on you, jungwoo was so tall. you then limped to the door and opened it ever-so-slightly, slipping out in-between the small crack.

you limped your way to the bathroom and closed the door shut. you were so proud of yourself because that was not an easy task. he messed you up.

once you used the toilet and washed your hands, after you struggled to sit down on the toilet for a minute or two, you walked out. you headed to the kitchen, hungry from the loss of energy last night. you grabbed leftovers out of the fridge, heating it up on a plate, and then eating it. once you were finished, you put your dish in the sink and were on your way back to jungwoos room but not before seeing johnny.

“woah what happened to you?” he looks at you before he comes to a realization. he smirks. “you and jungwoo must’ve had a ball last night huh?”

“shut the fuck up johnny” you roll your eyes.

“what’s with the attitude?” he drops his smirk.

“nothing- I’m sorry okay everything just hurts right now. he fucked me up huh?” you breathily chuckle.

“yeah he did... so how was it?”

“it was... really fun to be honest. he knows how to work his hips. god, that boy has a lot of stamina” you bit your lip thinking about what happened last night leading up to this point.

johnny cringes at the thought. “nevermind stop I don’t want to know anything else” he waves his hands. you chuckle and hit his shoulder.

“you’ll be fine but if you’ll excuse me. I do have to return to him.” johnny nodded and walked past you. you limped back to jungwoos room, slipping through the crack. you shut the softly and quietly limp your way to the bed, situating yourself back into the spot you were once in. you let out a breath of relief once you realize jungwoo was still asleep. you pick up your phone once more and scroll through twitter.

“told you, you wouldn’t be able to walk after I was done with you,” a deep voice says.

“damn it!” you shout and all you hear is airy laughs from beside you.

[hubbytaeil]

hello! i've been into taeil lately, so i was thinking about requesting him with prompts 46, 55, and 93, if possible. thank you in advance! 🌝💛

Taeil + #46 What’s this between us?, #55 Ruin me, #93 Don’t tell your parents

genre: angst, friends to lovers to strangers(?)

word count: 1k7 (this is taeil’s fault I swear)

warnings: smoking, slightly suggestive

a/n: now im s a d lol, this is what happens after bing watching sex and the city

-ˏˋ⋆ ̥  prompts ( send in your requests if you want <3)

This could be a dream, and yet it feels more like a nightmare. When you walked into your go-to bar, like you always do every other Friday, Taeil was the last person on Earth you thought you’d run into. The place is packed and certainly there isn’t enough space for you to run away and hide so you decide to just stand next to the counter with your friends, hoping he doesn’t come up to you.  

“Well, look who it is.” your blood freezes in your veins. You turn around in your heels slowly, preparing yourself for what you should say. “Hi, it’s been a long time.” You had broken up with him years ago and you hadn’t seen him after that. You knew that he was working for some corporate in the city but that was it. You had never run into him, not even once. To be fair, you had pictured how your eventual meeting would’ve turned out many times before, however all your fantasies can’t exceed this exact moment. Talking to him feels unreal, like being teleported back in time, a time before responsibilities, anxieties and fears. “You’ve grown taller, I see.” Taeil looks up at you pointing at your shoes. You hear your friends giggling behind you. “And you haven’t lost your sense of humour.” “That’s my only charm, you know that.” He swings his gin tonic in a circle before taking a sip. “C’mon, we both know that’s not true.” You reply gently tapping your fingers on your glass of Chardonnay. It’s definitely hard to keep eye contact, something is keeping your eyes glued to the counter. Taeil can feel it too, as he adjusts his tie.  

Fifteen years ago

“What do you mean you broke my mother’s favourite vase?!” “Exactly what it means, y/n. Oh God, please don’t tell your parents.” “Well, I’m not taking the blame again! Why the hell did you bring your football inside the house?!” “I’m sorry-” “That’s it, I’m never inviting you to my birthday party ever again.”

Those were the kind of fights you would have; you were only thirteen, life had only just begun.  

The days were filled with stupid notes passed during Math class, making fun of each other at lunchtime, eating ice scream at the park. If anyone could’ve ever been your first love, it would’ve been Taeil. You joined the music club just to spend more time with him, but you never said a word on the matter. You have such a clear memory of sitting through hours of rehearsals just to hear him play the piano. It was just a mere crush, you thought, it would fade away eventually. Yet, even now, every time you hear someone playing the piano you are taken back to that sweaty auditorium, you are taken back to the first time ever you had ever felt anything for someone. You are taken back to him.

“Do you still play?” you ask after letting your friends exchange pleasantries with Taeil, introducing him as an ‘old friend’. Inevitably, when one of the tables was cleared, they asked him to join in along with his friends.  

“Sometimes, not as much as I used to. Do you still sing?” Taeil mocks you and you cover your eyes in embarrassment. “Oh God, no.” Your conversation reaches the ears of everyone at the table. “Y/n, you didn’t tell you could sing!” “It was a school thing, I was awful.” An echo of disapproval invades your ears. “Don’t believe her!” Taeil shouts slapping a hand on the hard wood as if to prove his point. You go on saying how Taeil plays the piano magnificently to shift the centre of attention.  

The night goes on between a few drinking games and ridiculous anecdotes about college. Suddenly you ask Taeil if he’d like to accompany you outside to smoke a cigarette. “Since when do you smoke?” he questions, his tone is not judgmental in any way. “I don’t really smoke...” you begin to answer as you try to light up the cigarette. A gentle wind is blowing so Taeil helps by cupping the lighter, you thank him with a nod. “...only when I drink.” you finish after inhaling. Taeil raises an eyebrow in disbelief before pulling out a pack from his pocket. “I guess that makes two of us.” You start to grin and you find yourself unable to stop. “What it is?” “Nothing.” you respond as your grin transform into a full-on laughter. Taeil glances at you and finally gets on the same track as you and joins you. “Man, we’re old.” he exclaims taking a deep draw. “I guess.” “But you haven’t changed much since I last saw you.” You mean when I dumped you. You shut down the little voice of guilt. “Really? I don’t think so...” “You’re still gorgeous.” all of a sudden, the atmosphere is heavier.  

Ten years ago

“I think I’m love with you, y/n.” Taeil told you after making love for the first time. You stared at him in disbelief, unable to wrap your head around the concept of someone loving you back, more than anything your middle school friend who you had known for so long. Even after confessing to him your feelings, him saying he felt the same, all your friends congratulating you because they knew you two would’ve ended up together, you still couldn't believe you were holding the boy of your dreams right in your arms. But when you’re eighteen it’s hard to accept love, even if we long for it with such ache. For a while, you two had your share of fairy tale. For instance, when he kissed you on the first New Year’s Eve you spent as a couple in a square full of people. The fireworks reflected in his eyes but you ardently affirmed how those were in fact stars.  

So where did you go wrong? Why did what you had grow cold one day? During college you realised something was off. You thought the distance between you and your boyfriend Taeil couldn't jeopardise your relationship. However, as time went by, the physical distance slowly became emotional as well, you two being so invested in your lives.There lied the problem, you were starting to lead different lives. The few times you two could meet it didn’t feel genuine, you were trying to act like the people you once were. But those two were mere ghosts at that point.  

“Taeil, what’s this between us? "During the Christmas break of your senior year, you finally sat down with him to have the so dreaded discussion. It went on for hours, but Taeil wouldn't hear any of that. “No, I don’t believe this.” “Taeil, we’ve changed. Everything’s changed and I don’t know if we can go on like this. I don’t want to ruin your life by chaining you up to me.” “Ruin me, I don’t care.” It was like running in circles. The fight burned out eventually, leaving you two exhausted. You both looked up and you knew. “So, it’s over?” you nodded, unable to come up with an answer. He asked you if he could walk you up to your car one last time and you let him. “You know I’m going to win you back one day, right?” Taeil had tears in his eyes but he managed to smile at you. “We’ll see.”

It’s getting late and the bar is slowly emptying. Your friends begin to take off as well, leaving you and Taeil alone. “Do you want to share a cab, y/n?” “Oh, no thanks. I live just five minutes away.” “Oh.” Taeil hesitates before speaking out again. “If you want, I can walk with you. Only if you want.” “That would be nice.” your answer is sincere, not only because you’re kind of scared of walking alone at night, but because you want to keep talking to Taeil. You want to hear about everything you’ve missed, anything at all.  

You start walking side by side into the night, two pair of hands in your respective pockets. Taeil makes fun of the weird noise your heels make when hitting the sidewalk. “Oh, shut up! You’re just jealous!” “Yeah, you’re right. Do you have an extra pair? I could use the few inches.” It definitely doesn’t feel like chasing ghosts anymore. No, you’re just two childhood friends picking up where you’ve left off.

“Okay, I’m going to pop out the big question.” “Shoot.” “Are you seeing anyone?” you knew it was coming, sooner or later. You run through your possible answers and decide that there’s no point in lying. “Absolutely not.” Taeil assumes a shocked expression. “Why so categorical?” he chuckles. “It’s just... I haven’t had much luck.” You go on, counting down mentally how much time you have before you reach your door. “Good.” Taeil says point-blank. You glare at him not expecting him to call you out like that. “Excuse me?” “That means karma is real.” You both burst out laughing yet again. “What about you, mister Karma? Are you dating anyone?” Taeil stays silence for a bit before looking at you dead in the eye. “Absolutely fucking not.”  

“Well, this is it.” You point at your door with you finger. Now you’re both facing each other in front of the stairs. You’ve reached the endgame, and you’re dying to see how all of this will end. “This was nice, y/n.” “It really was.” another break of silence and you feel your heart giving in. You know you both want to say something, yet it feels impossible to make the first step. “Is it okay if-” Taeil stops mid-sentence which sticks a dagger in your chest. “Yes?” you barely whisper, anticipating whatever he’s going to say. “Is it okay if we see each other again? I mean, not as... but as friends. Is that alright?” Those words bring you a kind of happiness you never thought could be felt again. You take a good look at your old friend. His eyes still sparkle and you thank whoever it is that brought him back to you. “I think we can arrange that.” You don’t what’ll happen next, but it doesn’t scare you. In the air there’s a feeling of expectation which you breath in as you walk up the stairs to your door. “Y/n!” you turn around immediately, Taeil is about to get inside a cab. “Remember what I told you!” and just like that you watch him disappear into the night. This scene somehow looks familiar.

Can it be that It was all so simple then? Or has time re-written every line? If we had the chance to do it all again Tell me, would we? Could we?

[allegra-writes]

"Lights up" part II

Peter Parker x SHIELD Agent! Reader

NSFW

WARNINGS: SMUT

Series Masterlist

He froze. No. Oh god, please no ...

He lowered his gaze to you, and watched in horror as your eyes went from his left hand above his crotch, your own position on top of him, then finally, to his face.

He was dead. If you didn't kill him for molesting you in your sleep, the shame would probably finish him. Although he firmly believed it was going to be the former. He could actually see it, the storm brewing in your eyes, the adrenaline dilating your pupils, getting you ready to fight.

"I'm sorry. I am so so-" You muffled his apologies with your lips. Ok, maybe not to fight.

Peter had never been kissed before, not like that. And, as your lips continued to move against his, sensual yet firm, demanding, he felt like he hadn't at all. Nothing he had ever felt before compared to this, to the taste of your tongue on his, to the smell of your hair, falling on his face, to the touch of your hands, splayed on his chest, fingers tracing the hard planes hungrily.

He spun you over, so it was you with your back on the mattress, and him hovering above you. He didn't recognize the sound leaving his throat as you opened your legs and he fell between them, as you buried your fingers on his curls and tugged, as his mouth left yours to explore your jaw, your neck, your collarbone. He watched in awe as your own hand lowered a strap of your tank top down your shoulder, until one gorgeous, perfect breast was bared to him, for him . He wasted no time imitating your movements with your other strap, maybe a little too enthusiastically, snapping it.

You giggled.

"So-sorry" he mumbled, "I've never… done this before"

You bit your lip.

"Do you want to?"

He met your eyes, a feverish, almost crazed look in his own.

"Yes. God, yes!"

You tugged him to you again, and this time, it was him crashing his mouth on yours, nibbling at your lips, forcing his tongue inside. He started rolling his hips against yours on instinct, the movement rubbing his delicious pecs against your hard nipples with every drag of his hips. The feeling of skin on skin was driving you wild. You needed more.

"Rip it off" you panted into his mouth

"Wha-?"

"My top," you broke the kiss to command, "rip it off me. I know you can do it" he was certainly strong enough. He fisted his hand on the fabric and tugged. It tore as easily as if it were paper. He sat back to admire his work.

"Wow…" 

You smiled. Whatever self-consciousness you could have felt, disintegrating at the wonderstruck look on his face. You brought your hands to your breast, massaging, tugging, rolling your nipples between your fingers, eyes never leaving his. 

"You are so beautiful" He marveled under his breath and you weren't sure you were supposed to hear that, but you were glad that you did. You were a spy, beauty wasn't much of a virtue to you. It was a tool, a weapon, a disguise. You knew how to fake it or hide it, depending on what the mission required. But here there was nowhere to hide. Peter was seeing you exactly for who and what you were, and he still wanted you. 

"Lose the pants" You demanded, trying to regain control, "and sit against the headboard"

His hands were shaking as he took both his pants and his boxers off in one go. This time it was your time to marvel, not only at his size (although it was considerable) but also at his shape. He was perfect: thicker than your biggest toy, but not that long. That was better anyway, since you were going to be able to ride him hard, with no fear of stabbing your cervix on it. He was cut, too, but considering his religion that wasn't surprising.

"Fuck! Even your cock is pretty"

Peter blushed but said nothing as he sat exactly like you had ordered. You made quick work of your shorts but kept your underwear. His eyes went wide as he saw the lace and you knew you had made the right call. You straddled his thighs, wrapping your hand around his cock, and his head fell back.

"Fuck!" He cursed. He was so responsive and obedient, there was definitely a submissive streak in him and you were dying to explore it. Maybe later.

His hands slid up the back of your thighs until they reached your butt, where they slipped under the lace. 

You pumped his cock once, twice, three times, tearing as many moans out of him. The fourth one was muffled by your lips on his.

You only broke the kiss when you were light headed, and he chased after your lips, whining softly when you stayed away. Peter finally opened his eyes, resting his forehead against yours, warm brown eyes boring into you even in the dark.

"Pete, are you sure?"

"Yes. God, yes! I wanted this," he confessed, "I wanted you, for so long…"

You averted his eyes. 

"What about…" You trailed off. You weren't sure that you wanted to know the answer to what you were about to ask. But you had to, it would annihilate you if Peter regretted this later. "What about MJ?"

You sounded so unsure, so vulnerable, so unlike the badass secret agent persona he had met that afternoon… Peter realized you weren't only letting him see your body, you were letting him see more, something more intimate: you were letting him see you. 

He kissed you again, softer, slower, cradling your face in his hands, lips moving against yours until he felt you sigh and relax into his embrace. He broke the kiss but his lips never left your skin, placing delicate butterfly kisses on your cheeks, on your jaw.

"It's you. It's always been you" Besides, he had kind of broke up with her when he left her in that alley. Even if he hadn't realized he was in love with someone else, he would have done it, for her own safety. But you knew how to take care of yourself, he didn't need to protect you from his love. He only needed you to accept it. 

And you seemed to do it. Or at least, you had accepted his answer, reaching down between your bodies, finding his cock again. You slid the head up and down your slit, and his hands left your face to grab onto the iron rail of the headboard above his head. You leaned back to look into his eyes, one hand braced on his shoulder, the other guiding him inside you, inch by delicious inch

Peter looked down. Your lacy panties where completely ruined, tugged to the side, trim patch of curls visible just above where his thick shaft disappeared inside you. It was dirty, and obscene and perfect. 

You were perfect. All tight, wet heat around him. Burning him, lighting him up inside, so hot he could feel you browning his skin so right. You were the sun, sparking up what should have been his darkest night. 

By the time you had taken him all the way in, you were as breathless as him. 

"You ok?" 

"More than" Peter gasped. You noticed his hands around the headboard and lifted an eyebrow. "Do-don't… don't wanna hurt you" he explained and you nodded your understanding, before lifting yourself up a few inches, eyes never leaving his as you sank right back down. 

He was beautiful like that, eyes glossy with desire, mouth agape, muscles straining with the effort to keep his hands off you. You had a vision of his hands tied to that very same bed as you screwed yourself hard on his cock, and you vow to yourself to make it a reality before your time on the island was over. You started to build a rhythm, wave after wave of pleasure hitting you as you jumped on the most incredible cock, filling you up so good, so completely, it seemed made just for you. 

"God, you feel so good!"

"Tell me" he begged, sounding desperate, wrecked, as you rode him mercilessly, "please"

"So hard" you moaned, your own hands trailing your tits, your neck, pulling at your hair, "so deep… Fuck, I love this cock!" 

"Fu-fuck!" Peter's hips started bucking up, trying to meet yours. It didn't take long for him to succeed, thrusting up every time you came down, going deeper, hitting your clit just so with his pubic bone.

"Yes! Just like that… you're doing so well, baby boy"

Your praise ignited something inside him, hands letting go of the headboard to wrap around your waist, helping you move. 

You cried out, feeling the heat starting to build 

"Like that, yes, Peter… just like that… keep going"

"I- I can't!.. 'm sorry, I'm gonna… I'm…"

Then you felt it. The little contractions, the warm -warmer than human's- liquid painting your insides. You stopped moving.

"Oh god! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Peter hid his face with his hands, ashamed, humiliated. You didn't know what to say, too stunned to even get up from his lap. 

"I'm so so sorry!" He kept on babbling, "It's just… you're really hot and… I'd never-"

"Felt something like that?" You spoke at last, trying to pry his hands away from his face to look at him, "Yeah, I know. It was your first time, it was bound to happen. It's completely normal…"

Right. Of course that was the one way he had to be normal. You started to get up, but his hands flew from his face to your hips to stop you.

"No!" He pleaded, eyes full of tears of shame, of frustration. "You didn't…"

You shook your head,

"Peter, it's ok, I enjoyed it, trust me" 

"But it doesn't have to be over" his grip on your hips tightened, "I can keep on, see?"

He bucked his hips and you felt him start to harden again inside you.

"Pete, I like you" maybe a little too much, "You don't have to prove anything to me" 

Peter squared his jaw, a new determination igniting within his eyes, making you gulp. He was going to be damned if he didn't make you come your first time together.

He rolled on top of you, trapping you under his body, still connected to you.

"Tell me you don't want it" He defied, thrusting into you, making you gasp despite yourself.

"I don't want it"

"Liar" he smirked, rolling his hips again, and again. And again, until he was fucking you into the mattress. Maybe he wasn't as submissive as you had first thought. He hooked your legs on his elbows, pushing them up as he pushed into you harder, deeper. 

"You sure this is your first time?" You kidded.

"Told you… wanted you… so long… thought 'bout this… so much" it was getting harder and harder to form complete thoughts, nevermind sentences, especially with you arching your back like that, eyes closing, mouth opening. 

"Really?" You said between moans, "What did you think about?"

"About tasting you" He replied, licking into your open mouth, "about… coming all over your beautiful body… About making you come, over and over, until you beg me to stop…"

He let go of one of your legs to trail his hand up and down your body, taking a detour to play with your breasts, massaging just the way he had seen you do it before, first one, then the other one. You arched your back almost impossibly, pressing yourself into his touch. Your hips started to move but he held you still, splaying his hand just between your hips. 

"If you do that I won't last much, again. And you feel too good to stop…"

You had a feeling he could still just flip you over and fuck you again. You felt his hand on your breast being replaced by his tongue, as his free arm wrapped itself around your waist, lifting you, changing the angle. 

"There" He declared, almost triumphantly as he started grinding against your g-spot with every stroke, making you see stars, every nerve ending in your body coming alight. He could actually feel the different texture of that tiny patch of skin inside you, eyes rolling back every time the head of his cock grazed it. 

Never again was he going to complain about his super senses, not when you were squeezing him so good, shaking in his arms, fingernails digging into his back deep enough to draw blood. 

"Yes, just like that babe, let me feel you come. I wanna feel it baby, I wanna…"

You came screaming his name, and he thrusted into you a couple more times, help in you ride it out. Then he slid out of you, just in time to paint your chest, your belly in white ribbons, marking you as his.

He fell, boneless on top if you, but his weight was comforting rather than suffocating. 

"We're gonna need a safe word" You commented, casually, as if you weren't trying to catch your breath after the best, most mindblowing sex you had had in your short, violent life. 

Peter raised his head from your neck to look at you, confused frown marring his lovely face. 

"If you're really planning on making me come until I beg you to stop, you're gonna need to know when I'm really asking you to stop" You explained, "Ergo, we're gonna need a safe word" 

His eyes went wide, freezing for a few seconds. And then he was kissing you with all he had.

"You, Agent 16, are amazing" He declared, peppering your face with chaste, sweet little kisses.

You laughed, batting his shoulder to get him off you.

"I know, but get off me! We need another shower, You made us all dirty!"

"Or…" He pondered, rolling off you and getting out of the bed, "We could go skinny dipping, get out and get even more dirty…"

You took the hand he offered,

"Oh, I like the way you think, Peter Parker!" 

…

"You know, if you had told me twelve hours ago that something good could come out of Beck exposing my identity and making the whole world believe I'm a murderer, I would probably had call you insane…"

You were laying on the beach, hours later, head on Peter's chest, as the golden rays of sunrise started to appear on the horizon. He had kept his promise, the both of you covered in sand from head to toe after round three… or was it four? 

"You know it doesn't matter, right? What they think, I mean" You stated, as if it was the simplest of facts, "Nick's never going to let you go to jail, and Pepper is not going to allow anyone talk shit about you. She's probably already sending lawsuits to every website and news channel that reproduced that video. They can't touch you" I won't let them.

"So yeah, the gig is up. The lights are up and they know your identity. They know your name and they are going to talk. But they don't matter. As long as you know who you are, they don't matter, the things they say don't matter." 

"No offence, Sixteen" Peter noted, never stopping caressing your back, "but… that's a little rich coming from you"

"I could tell you my name, the one my parents gave me, I mean, you could do a little background checking" You shrugged, "But I'm not that girl anymore. Hell, I think if my parents saw me on the street, they wouldn't recognize me!"

"I'm sorry" Peter could recognize the melancholy behind your nonchalance. Just a few hours, and he was already becoming an expert on you. He realized he was starting to understand what you meant.

"It's ok, I barely miss them now. Maybe I didn't die in the blip, but sometimes I think that girl did… I'm definitely more Sixteen than her, now. The whole secret identity thing is more for their protection than anything"

Peter thought of May, hiding away in the Lake House. Yeah, he could relate to that. He didn't need a name to know who you were. What was in a name after all? Romeo and Juliet had gotten it right; a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. 

And yes, it would have been easier if things stayed the same, but if they had he wouldn't have you. If stepping into the light was the price he had to pay to keep you, then so be it. As you fell asleep in his arms and the whole world woke up to #Spider-Man trending in every social media, there was no going back. 

Peter Parker was never going back into the shadows.

To be continued...

[qweeby]

Nine Lives To Short Part 9: Fools like you

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡💜💜

Shinsou arc complete ??

Paring: Shinsou x Reader 👀👀

Genre: Angst

Taglist: @bakuhoetoedoroki @foxypuppy

Plot: You only have nine days to tell him how you feel but...maybe you've been chasing the wrong guy.

"Why did you drag me out here, Bakugo."

Shisou puts one of his hands in his pockets as he stares at the surprisingly quiet Bakugo.

"You know exactly why I called you out here, Tom Cat!"

"Tom Cat? Now that's a new one"

" UGH JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN! It's about Y/n."

Shinsou gives Bakugo his full undivided attention after hearing that he wants to talk about you.

"Ever since Mr. Aizawa informed to the class about Y/n's qurik that shitty Deku been making theory about how to save her."

Shinsou eyes widen, "Wait really! What were some of his theories?"

"HIS THEORIES THEY ALL SUCKED! I BLEW UP HIS NOTEBOOK AFTER READING ALL OF THEM."

Shinsou let's out a long sigh saying, "Why am I not surprised" as he exhales.

"My theory is way better! Y/n's quirk only awakened when she fell in love right!? Well with you I mean!"

"Yeah, you're right on the money...but where are you going with this"

" Well,what if she falls out of love with you and she falls for someone else."

"Someone like me".

-Meanwhile back inside with Y/n and Momo-

"Ok ok this is fine everything is fine"

"FINE! NO EVERYTHING ISN'T FINE!" Momo says while shaking you furiously.

"MOMO STOP SHAKING ME! I JUST NEED TO LAY DOWN FOR A FEW!.

"Oh....are you sure, Y/n?".

Before you can respond to Momo you feel a tap on your shoulder, you turn around and see that it's Mei Hatsume.

"Oh Hello Hatsume-" In a instant Mei takes your hand and drags you off leaving Momo in the kitchen.

"H-huh! Umm Mei?"

"Sorry Creati, me and Y/n need to have some girl talk! I gotta introduce her to one of my babies!

Even though Mei has a huge smile on her face, you can feel her grip on her you arm tighten.

"Yeah, Momo I'll be ok just keep the party going!".

The chanting of Izuku name can be hear as you are being dragged out of sight and eventually out of mind.

Momo stares off wonder if she made the right choice because for some reason she didn't like the engery Mei was giving off.

"Umm Yoayorozu?"

"YES IM HERE AH, TODOROKI!?"

"You have a line of people asking for more cookies, it seems someone has ate them all" Todoroki glares at Uraraka that currently stuffing her face along with Mina and Kaminari.

"Oh hehe right I'll get right on it!."

...

Mei bring you into a random as she closes the door behind her.

"Soooo...what little robot did you make today Hatsume?" Y/n chuckles even though this situation feels awkward.

"I'm not here to show you anything...I just need to ask you something, it's about Shinsou." You notice that Hatsume is visible angry which makes feel uneasy.

" Oh Hitoshi? What about him?"

"Shinsou... is he your boyfriend?"

"BOYFRIEND?! PFFFTTTT NO NO NO NO! S-SHINOU IS JUST A FRIEND"

" oh so kissing is a friend thing?

(" Not right now!")

"So you won't tell the truth now...you're just like a him A BUNCH OF LAIRS"

"Huh? L-look whatever is happening between you and Shinsou has nothing to do with me"

"IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"

Hatsume starts poking you with her finger, pushing you back as she angrier and angrier.

" Because of YOU Shinsou wants nothing to do with me."

"It's YOUR FALUT that me and him aren't together!"

"WHY DOES HE CARE ABOUT YOU ANYWAY WHEN, YOU DON'T EVEN WANT HIM!"

Hatsume pushes you into a closet and blocks it with something but you can't see that it is.

"HATSUME! HEY LOOK IM SO SORRY I-I THOUGH YOU AND SHINSOU HAD SOMETHING!"

"We did until you came along! AND TOOK IT ALL AWAY"

"Yesterday I went to Shinsou's house to check on him....I-I called so many times and all he did was push me away! HE PUSHED ME AWAY FOR YOU!"

"Shinsou didn't even want to talk he used his quirk on me and walked away".

Y/n puts her head on the closet door and sighs "Hitoshi...no he couldn't have.. b-but even if he did that give you no right to put me in here!"

"You'll stay in there until someone finds you..if they do. Hatsume walks to the door, you panic as you hear her footsteps slowly fade.

" HATSUME! LET ME OUT!"

"Don't worry just sit tight and enjoy the party~ oh! I almost forgot if you're looking for your phone it's...broken"

Hatsume says after throw your phone at wall leaving a big phone sized hole.

" Bye Y/n, I'll keep Hitoshi in good hands I promise".

You kick on the door screaming for help as you voice as muffled by the loud party music right outside the room. Leaning against the wall Y/n can't help but think about how everything she feared would happened.

"GASP! Is this you finally facing reality HAHAHA! GOOD!"

"Oh pipe down you stupid cat! I already gotta deal with this closet bullshit I don't need you right now"

" Now you don't wanna face the consequences of your actions? It's because of fools like you that think they have any control of there fate! They only set themselves up for failure."

" I do have control over my fate!"

"And yet when your given the options to change you don't take it! That's why you're a fool."

"You're right...I've been doing this all wrong... after this party I swear I'll make the right choice!"

"Tch...such a foolish response but I'm not surprised."

"YOKAI, SHUT UP!".

-Y/n continues to try to break out of the closet but she fails, she gave up after what feels like 3 hours until she eventual fell asleep-

" OI KIRISHIMA! DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO MOVE YOUR FUCKING WEIGHTS!"

Kirishima yells from across the hallway "Sorry BakuBro!"

Bakugo then notices the square shape hole in his wall and proceeds scream.

" WHO THE HELL LEFT THIS HOLE IN MY WALL! WHO THE HELL WAS IN MY ROOM!"

"I KILL WHOEVER DARED STEP IN MY DOMAIN!"

Bakugo glares at his closet as he hears rustling coming from it. Bakugo moves Kirishima's huge tower of dumbells and flings opens his closet.

"TIME TO DIE YOU BASSSSssss...tard? "

"Mmh?" Y/n squints, at the blurry figure until it comes into focus and she sees Bakugo.

"Oh...hey Bakugou hehehe"

"Why are you in my closet!"

Y/n faces palms "It's a long story...and I don't think you'd be believe me".

Bakugo smiles as he picks Y/n up help her get up "Knock yourself out I'll listen and I'll believe you, as long as it sounds believable."

-Y/n tells Bakugo everything that transpired and he's rightfully pissed-

" HUHHHHHH!!!! ARE YOU SAYING THAT GADGET GIRL DID THIS ALL BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID TOM CAT!!!!!?!?!"

"Pffffttt did you just call Shinsou a tom cat and me GADGET girl!"

"Quiet you!"

" Ugh DAMMIT! We just told him to leave too we all been looking for you, I can't believe that took 3 hours!"

Y/n's fall on Bakugou's bed and screams into one of pillow.

"3 HOURS!!!!"

" Yeah"

" AND SHINSOU JUST LEFT!"

"Yeah he actually left with sparky, but if you leave you'll be able to reach them."

Y/n feels something gentle grab her hand, she moves the pillow from her face as she stares at Bakugo who is...looking away.

" That is...if I let you"

"Hey...Baku-GO!"

Katsuki lays his head on Y/n's lap "Oops" he said with a smirk

"BAKUGO COME ON YOU'RE TOO BIG FOR THIS!"

" Thanks for the pillow, alley cat"

"ALLEY CAT! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPLY YOU ANGRY POMERANIAN!"

-As you whine at Bakugo he blocks you out for a sec. He can't help but think out what happened outside with him and Shinsou-

....

"Bakugo...don't tell that you-"

" I LIKE HER OK THERE I SAID IT! At the end of the day I'm a hero and if see someone in danger DAMMIT IM GONNA HELP!"

Bakugo gets in Shinsou's face

"You're a fool to think you could ever have a future with her, you should've stuck with Hatsume."

" BAKUGO! YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER FROM ME."

"YOU DUMBASS GET OVER YOURSELF IM DOING THIS FOR HER!"

....

" HEY BAKUGO ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME"

Bakugo snap back to it...only to hear your whining which irritates him.

"OI! SHUT UP!"

" NO I REFUSE!

"OI THE OTHERS ARE GONNA HEAR YOU SCREAM SO SHUT IT ALLEY CAT!

"BAKUGO YOU SHU-Mmmh" Bakugo simply SHUT you up with a kiss.

-Meanwhile Shinsou is walking with Kaminari-

" Hey you think they found Y/n yet?"

"Why are you worried?"

" YEAH! AND YOU'RE NOT!?????"

"Kaminari, Y/n gets lost all the time she like a cat, eventually she'll come back."

Right.

"Hmmm you're no different huh"

Shinsou quickly turns around to see who said that " Hey Kaminari did you hear something?"

"No...OH GOD YOUR GOING MAD BECAUSE OF YOUR LACK OF SLEEP!"

Shinsou slaps Kaminari in the back of the head.

" Dummy your brain is just fired"

" So he can hear me now"

Suddenly Shinsou falls to his knees and grunts in pain " AHH! OW ow ow!"

" Shinsou! Hey you ok man?"

Hitoshi looks in front of him and see a purple cat with a devilish grin on it's face.

" You're truly nothing but one and the same....a fool."

♡♡♡♡♡♡🧡🧡🧡

[getitinbusan]

Only Love Can Hurt Like This -4

Im Jaebeom - Angst

Y/N doesn't want a relationship, especially not with an idol. Jaebeom only wants her.

Love after heartbreak and all the things that fall in between.

Angst, Cheating, Fluff, Smut

A new series inspired by lyrics, each chapter has a specific song that goes with it.

Chapter 1: Nice To Meet Ya

Chapter 2: Blood In The Cut

Chapter 3: Liability

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5: Only Love Can Hurt Like This

Chapter 4: That's Just The Way You Make Me Feel

You keep on asking me the same questions (why?)

And second guessing all my intentions

You've got the answers to my confessions

You know I love it, so please don't stop it

So real, so good, so fuckin' real

The way you make me feel Janel Monae. 

He knew he fucked up and he didn't know what to do about it. He'd finally made some headway and now he was back to square one. 

So, the next day he was back. Standing in front of your counter he held out a cup of Hotteok.

Before he could speak you jumped in, "See JB, the way this whole retail thing works is, you pick something you want that I'm selling, then give me money for it. Nowhere in the scenario do you bring me random shit just because."

Your eyes were red, he felt terrible, after only 2 conversations he'd already managed to hurt you. 

"It's not random shit, it's an apology. I'm sorry I drew attention to you last night." he paused, "you don't deserve to be attacked like that." 

You turned away trying to gain your composure, "The one thing I've learned through all this is to never apologize for showing your feelings. When you do, you're apologizing for the truth." 

You looked back, "I've never apologized for loving Yoongi, because it was real whether people want to believe it or not."

You sighed, "You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't put the target on my back JB it's been there a while, I'm just sad because now you've got one too." 

His heart sank when he realized that you weren't choosing loneliness to protect yourself, you were keeping your distance so he wouldn't get dragged into it. 

He placed his large hand over yours as it lay on the counter. "There's only one thing that's going to make me walk away from you." He tipped your chin so you were forced to look into his eyes, "Tell me you don't want me here." 

The door chimed, you were no longer alone.

"Like I said yesterday, it's bad business for me to chase away customers, stay as long as you want."

He smiled brightly, "That's not a no." 

Taking the Hotteok from the counter you were still unsure, but he was right, it wasn't a no. 

………………………

Standing at the bar in the exact spot you'd met him, you'd hoped he'd be here tonight. You felt like a desperate fool with a schoolgirl crush.

Three days had passed since you'd last seen him and despite your best efforts, you found yourself missing him. You hated the way your heart hurt, of course he'd given up why would this be a surprise? 

A hand reached around placing a drink on the bar in front of you. "You look like you could use this, still pining over Min Yoongi?" 

"Actually I'm waiting for a friend Minho." 

"I could be your friend tonight Y/N. I guarantee I can get you to stop thinking about him," he grabbed your ass. 

"No thanks, I don't think 5 minutes in your bed will change my world."

He grabbed the drink back, "No wonder he cheated on you, you're such a bitch." 

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb...you'd let your guard down and everything was feeling all too personal. Shooting back the last of your Soju you grabbed your jacket and made for the exit. 

"You're not leaving when I just got here?"

Your traitorous heart fluttered, "I didn't know I was supposed to be waiting." 

His grin got bigger, "Are you mad because maybe you actually missed me a little?"

Mad, sad, who could tell them apart anymore? 

"Yeah, actually I am and I'm livid with myself for it." 

He put his hand on your waist, "Hey, I'm sorry, I got called for re shoots."

His thumb rubbed over your hip soothingly, "I only have your work number...I just got back and I was hoping you'd be here" 

A voice shouted from across the bar "Don't waste your time on that one JB, come sit with us"   

You closed your eyes trying to keep the tears at bay, "You heard the man. I'm leaving anyway, I guess I'll see ya around."

Shooting a look at Minho he ran out the door to catch up with you. 

Standing at the curb waiting for a cab he reached his hand out to you. "I wanted to be with you tonight, and I'm pretty sure you wanted to be with me. It's still early, let's go somewhere okay, can we still do that?" 

Placing your hand in his, "Only if we're alone...and there's alcohol."

He smiled victorious, "I think I know a place." 

Walking up the crowded street you felt better, anonymous. He kept squeezing your hand making sure you hadn't slipped away.

"Right here," he stopped in front of a pink neon lit Karaoke Bar. 

"Karaoke? I think one of us has an extremely unfair advantage JB." 

"Don't worry I'll let you win." 

Stepping closer to him you kissed his cheek, "Why are you being so nice to me JB?" 

"Y/N, why do you keep questioning my motives?"

His hand ran up your arm, "I hate that you've been mistreated for so long that you don't realize what normal behavior is."

He held the door open for you, "How's a private room and bottle service sound?" 

................................

You consumed copious amounts of Grey Goose as you took turns performing for one another. What you lacked in vocal talent you made up for in your ability to mimic choreography.

"I think I've lost my voice," you shouted after your efforts to sing Itzy's Wannabe.

"I'm going to have to tell JYP about you, maybe with some training you can debut next year and come on tour with us," he laughed.

He queued up the next song, "Come here, I want to dance with you." 

You moved into his waiting arms and allowed yourself to surrender to his pursuits. His song came on and you laughed, "it's so cheesy Jaebeom-ah!" 

He sang anyway, 

Our love will lead the way for us

If the road ahead is not so easy

Like a guiding star

I'll be there for you if you should need me

You don't have to change a thing

I love you just the way you are

You let your head rest on his chest, his heartbeat was louder, more important than the words he was singing.

Glad he was holding you up, you felt a little drunk, a little in love and for once, you weren't going to stop yourself. 

He kissed the top of your head and held on a little tighter, "So does this mean you'll finally give me your number?"

You looked up at him nodding, locking eyes he moved slowly closer, lips almost touching ...until his phone went off.

He frowned, "Fuck, it's management. Sorry I've got to check in. Just stay in my arms ok?" 

"You're going to read texts over my shoulder? How romantic," you jibed, but you didn't break away. 

JYP: Dispatch has reached out to us for comment regarding a new dating scandal. They were tipped off that you were with Y/N at Cakeshop Night Club tonight and now they are outside of the Karaoke bar waiting for photos. We need to discuss your intentions immediately. A car will pick you up in 15 mins, wait inside for security. Do not leave the building together as it is still controllable speculation.

You could feel his body react to what he was reading, deep breaths, tensed muscles and finally pulling you in tightly. "What is it J?" 

"I've got to get you out of here, the press are outside" 

He handed you his phone, "add your number."

But JYPs text was still open and you saw every word.

You keyed in your info and switched it off before handing it back. 

You breathed deep, "You know, sneaking in and out of buildings is my specialty," You put your hand over his heart and gave a sad smile.

"Don't worry about me. I'm sure there's a back entrance, I'll just grab a cab home. If you go out the front they'll be too busy taking photos of you, they'll never notice me."

You tried to sound confident and uncaring so he'd do what was best but Jaebeom had his own plan. 

"Get your stuff, we're going out the front together." 

He pulled your hand through the bar and out the front door. Lights flashed as they took their photos for tomorrow's headlines.

Hailing a cab he leaned over and kissed your lips, "I'm going to call you as soon as I can okay?"

You weren't okay, your first kiss would be your last kiss. Your smile hid the stabbing pain in your heart, you knew it was over before it had started.

"Jaebeom," you called him back after he closed the car door behind you, "It's been a really great time."

He smiled and waved.

Getting into the companies blacked out Suburban he was happy, he was going to stand his ground.

He'd felt bad that your first kiss had been under these circumstances so he opened his phone to text you a quick apology.

Searching the contacts  he found your entry, "I'm sorry" with random numbers underneath. 

[chipoisanook]

Baby Bird [Part 2] || 2019! Stan Uris x Daughter! Reader

Word count: 3555

A/N: This was long overdue :')

Trigger Warning: Blood, suicide, death, lots of angst :)

The adrenaline was slowly fading away as you stepped foot out of the car, the fight or flight instinct was still all too real. Your dad had always been a quiet man. He had his other characteristics to him, often enough he was quite sassy, passionate about a lot of things, a loving husband and father. But right now the main thing Stan was running on was fear. The way his hands gripped the wheel as he drove, enough to cause his knuckles to turn white, the car filled with such high tension. It was either none of you wanted to break it, too focused on your own thoughts, or, that none of you could.

Stan hadn't even spoken when he left the car. Though, he did make sure you were close to him several times as he made his way into the Town House. "Dad?" Even as you called out to him, voice having an uncertain tone gathered there, Stan didn't answer back as he climbed up the stairs. You let out a small huff before following him up, not allowing the silence to take over again. "Dad?" This time you sounded more urgent, your voice didn't shake this time around, which seemed to be a good sign. Stan finally turned from the bag he had placed on the bed, brown orbs searching around the room before landing back on you. "We're going home." He said. Well, that was all Stan said before he began to quickly pack away the belongs he had taken out before heading out to meet everyone at the restaurant. You shook your head, mouth already moving before you really thought about what to say. "What was that about in the restaurant? We all saw it and you know what's going on." You waited for any kind of response to what you were saying. A head turn, a mumble of sorts, anything to have him acknowledge what you were saying.

But all you got was silence. The only real noise was the voices downstairs, who you guessed were the others who were doing the same thing as your dad. Leaving Derry again, for good.

Frustration began to build inside you more and mixing that with the fear and dread that was also there, it caused tears to well in your eyes. The feeling was too overwhelming and you were fearing something you knew nothing about. Richie said it was a clown, your dad called this thing IT. And you still couldn't shake the look of pure terror that was held in each of them when they realized why Mike had called them to Derry. "Can you please tell me what's going on!?" You finally snapped, hands closing into fists, chest slightly heaving up and down as you finally got a reaction, but not the one you wanted.

Stan had turned to you when you shouted, eyes widened as he stared at you. Yes, this was because it was rare that you both yelled, but that frightened look was still there and clear for all to see. You swallowed back the need to apologize, for now. Your stare didn't leave him when you spoke again. "I-" It was almost like the words were stuck in your throat causing you to not get out what you wanted to. Even upon trying again it was met with your mouth opening for a moment, before closing again. Stan's eyes finally soften as he watched you, a small sigh leaving him before he moved away from his bag. "I can't explain this to you without sounding like I'm insane." Stan paused again, gathering his bearings before continuing. "But I will. After we're out of Derry and you're safe, I'll explain everything I promise."

It took you a while to finally nod, letting out a small "Fine." Stan gave you a sad smile, kissing your forehead before turning back to his bag. "It'll be okay." He mumbled to himself as you waited for him to finish, which didn't take much longer. When he had his bag in hand you both made your way back downstairs, only to hear the conversation between Ben and Beverly with you, Stan and Richie listening. "I've seen all of us die."

You froze at this, Beverly looking over each and every one of you with a scared but serious look on her face, which crossed out this being some sick way of joking around with them. You didn't turn as you heard Eddie coming downstairs, the large bang of what you guessed was his suitcase dropping caused you to jump. "What did I miss?" No one answered at first, not until Richie spoke up. "Apparently Beverly saw Stanley die or something and now we've found out she's seen us all die!" He explained while throwing his hands in the air. Beverly slowly sat down as you looked over to your dad, though his eyebrows were furrowed together, he said nothing. Eddie had begun to pace at this, only stopping when he spoke. "Okay, so, what do you mean you've seen us all die?" Richie nodded at this. "Yeah because I gotta be honest, that's a fucked-up thing to just drop on somebody." You turned to the red-headed woman, who was wiping a tear away. When Beverly dropped her hand she took a shaky break. "Every night... I've been having these nightmares. P-People die, people-"

"There nightmares." Eddie interrupted. "So what, I have nightmares! People have nightmares, that doesn't mean their visions are true." You knew Eddie was trying to make this sound like it was just a coincidence, though his voice still shook as he spoke. Beverly shook her head, close to tears again. "I've watched every one of us die." At this, she seemed far away. As though she was trying to remember all of the horrible nights she had gone through. "I've seen-" You looked away upon hearing the door to the entrance of the Town House, watching as Bill and Mike walked in. Bill looked straight at Beverly, hearing what she had said on his arrival.

"Seen what?" He slowly moved over, sitting down in front of her as she opened her mouth. Beverly took a moment to actually get the words out, but she did nothing less. "The way Stanley had ended up in my nightmare... that's how we all end up." You let what Beverly had said run through your head, the words slowly piecing together as you turned to your dad. "The letters." Stan seemed to have been doing the same thing as you were, trying to fully understand what had been said. But he froze when you spoke about the letters. He knew you knew, even as you continued.

"You were writing letters to them until I came in, that's how I found you. You said something about taking yourself off the board-" At this point, you hadn't looked at the others. Just your dad. When you were home and reading the letter, you almost didn't want to believe what it was saying and honestly, you had almost forgotten about them thanks to the events leading up to this point. You were so busy trying to find him, you didn't have time to allow what you felt to show. "Y/N-" Stan began but you turned away. You looked to Beverly almost not wanting to know the truth to what would've happened, but the words left you anyway. "In your nightmare vision, he killed himself, didn't he?" She stared at you, eyes widened at the question but also something else. Almost confusion carved onto her face as she wondered how you knew.

You laughed at this. Though it came out like you were choking, you didn't need a verbal answer from her. You knew well enough. "Y/N." Shaking your head you turned back, tears welling up in your eyes quickly even when you tried hard to hold them back. "You were really going to kill yourself?" Stan stared at you with wide brown eyes, he didn't try to deny what you were saying, he didn't even shake his head. You almost begged him to do so, to tell you how wrong you had been and allow the panic that spread in your chest to subside. But he didn't. "I couldn't come back here, not after what happened."

You let out a scoff. Stan quickly reached his hand to you, until you backed away. "I couldn't put you or your mom in danger." You felt the warm tears leaving trails on your cheeks, these were the only things allowing you to know this was real. You wiped them away with your hand. "You didn't do it for us. How could you possibly think that would help us?" You tried hard not to let your voice shake or crack as you spoke, focusing on clearing the tears away more than watching your father. So when Stans's hand landed on your arm you didn't think twice about slapping it away. "Don't touch me!"

You looked around at all the shocked faces, before looking back to your dad. His hand was still out, though he began to slowly put it down when he spoke. "Babylove-" You shook your head as you backed up once more, this time your hand came up as you pointed your finger at Stan. "You would rather kill yourself then come face the problem head-on? I thought I was wrong about the letter, I came all the way down here to find you and make sure you were okay, and you were going to leave me, leave mom without a second thought? You're a coward and honestly? I don't think I know you anymore." As those last words left your lips you pushed past where Ben and Mike were standing, and out the entrance to the Town House. You heard your name being called, but that didn't stop you.

You left without even turning back.

***

You had been around the town most of the night. You sat down a couple of times, thinking maybe you should go back and apologize for blowing up on your dad, but then you would think back to it and your feelings would just bring you back to square one. You had every right to be angry at him, and your stubbornness just stopped you from going back to a warm place. So you were left with walking down the streets. It wasn't too bad, despite it being dark and your lack of company. Not many people were out which was fine considering it was the middle of the night.

At first, you were just going to ignore the alleyway that was to your left. You didn't really want to be going down a dark alleyway by yourself and would much rather stick to the main paths which were lit under the streetlights. The quiet crying is what caused you to stop. You peered down the alleyway, waiting to hear it again. Maybe it was just you hearing things, it happened all the time. But upon hearing it again you couldn't count it on you hear things. You reached for the phone in your pocket, turning the flashlight on before you took a breath, stepping forward you followed the quiet sound.

It wasn't long before you saw what the sound was coming from or better yet, who it was coming from. A boy around the same age as you. He was sat with his head tucked into his knees, you took notice of his curly mop of brown hair, it reminded you of your dads. At the thought of him, you frowned slightly but quickly smiled again as you looked at the boy wearing a light blue shirt. "Hey." You spoke softly, even if it still startled the boy as he looked up at you. His brown orbs narrowed because of the light which caused you to direct it away instead. "Do you need help?" At your question, he looked away again. He shrugged before actually answering. "My dad kicked me out." Your face completely fell at this. You used your free hand to move out to the boy, he looked up to it then back at your face. "If it's anything, me and my dad just had a fight."

This caused a sad smile to fall on his face as he took your hand. You pulled him up, letting go of his hand as he dusted himself off. "If you don't mind me asking, why did he kick you out?" Once he thought he was properly dusted off he turned back to you. "I uh, I messed up my Bar mitzvah. I wanted to make a point but he-" The boy stopped as he seemed to be getting upset again, so, you tried to change the subject from his father. "Well we have something in common, I did my Bat mitzvah so we both kinda know how stressful it is." Your smile got bigger at this, it looked like you had found someone in this strange town that you could actually get along with. "Oh." When you realized you had forgotten to introduce yourself you stuck out your hand towards the boy again. "By the way, I'm Y/N." The boy didn't hesitate to take your hand, though you didn't think the quiet male would have a strong grip. You were about to comment, hoping he would loosen his grip or let go of your hand, but then he began to speak.

"I'm Stan, but you should already know that, shouldn't you Y/N?" Your blood ran cold at how his voice changed, going slightly lower as he spoke. You tried to take your hand back, but he just kept the strong death-like grip. "I-I need to go, my dad is most likely worried. It's best I make up with-" You didn't get to finish as the boy began to laugh. It turned from sounding childlike to more demonic, something under his skin began to move, several more following. You ended up dropping your phone to use your other hand to try and claw your hand out of whatever was on you, but it was no use, not that you stopped trying.

"Sweet, sweet defenceless Y/N." You looked up at the voice, coming face to face with your father. He was different though. He wasn't your usual warm and kind dad who helped you with your maths homework, or the scared man you had followed into the Town House. The smile on his face was sinister, his other hand grabbing your arm, nails now sticking in causing you to cry out. "All you wanted to do was to see if I was okay. But you knew all along what was going on, the reason why I wanted to kill myself." You could almost hear your heartbeat in your ears, words coming out in jumbles but still creating a sentence. "Y-You were scared, you-you said it was something to do with the town."

The thing that looked like Stan laughed again, head twitching slightly as he calmed down. "And you were stupid enough to believe it." He sang out. He had finally let go of your hand and you thought you might be able to escape. But just as that thought came, it was ripped away from you as your hair was tugged, a whimper leaving your lips as you tried to move away from the laugh in your ear. "Let me show you what would've happened." You head was pushed forward, but when you fell you weren't met with the concrete in the alleyway. Instead, you were met with a familiar wooden floor.

You scrambled up searching around to be met with your room. That was your bed, and your desk, the same window you looked out of on rainy days. But the atmosphere seemed darker, duller even. You waited until your heart calmed, and your breath evened out before getting to your feet. You could hear the muffled speaking from outside your door which seemed to calm your nerves. It had all just been some weird freaky dream. A smile came to your face at this, you weren't in Derry, and you didn't have a fight with your dad. It was just you and your head.

You quickly opened your door, making your way into the living room. You froze when you saw the people gathered around your mom. They all turned when they heard you come in, all giving you the same disgusted look. Your eyes wandered over each of them, trying to figure out why they were here now, right after what you had just seen. "Mom?" She only looked at you for a moment before glancing away, a letter held close to her chest. You went to speak again but was too late. "So this is t-the reason why he did it?" Bill asked as he looked you up and down, before turning to the others. "I understand why he did it now." Mike was the next to speak, your breathing picking up again as he shook his head. "Just look at her." You were about to call out for your mom again, but Ben stood in front of her. "You've done enough already, you should've stayed in your room." You gulped as you stepped back though you ended up bumping into Beverly as she came in, she gave you a glare before pushing you away from her. "He didn't deserve this." You looked at each of them again, finally managing to get something in. "Please, I don't know what you're talking about!"

Richie let out a scoff. "Stop making this into some sick joke, you're a fucking murderer!" You looked at the ground. What Richie had said went through your head over and over again, you couldn't stop it as you finally looked over at Eddie who, like everyone else, had a glare set on you. "It would've been better if you were the one that died, not Stan." You shook your head, so preoccupied that you hadn't even noticed the tears running down your face. You tried to deny what they were saying as you backed up, but they just followed along.

"I didn't, I didn't want this to happen- I didn't." They all began to laugh at your emotional state, the same as what you had heard before getting thrown back into your room. "If you weren't such a disappointment, he would still be hear." At this point, you couldn't tell who was speaking. You stared around each of them as you backed up, and whatever they were saying just overlapped each other but you heard the taunts and insults clear as day.

When you felt the doorknob in your hand you quickly turned it, moving into the bathroom as well as slamming the door behind you. The voices stopped altogether when the door was shut, however, your sobs continued as you leaned your forehead onto the door. You coughed a couple of times while trying to calm yourself. You didn't need to have a panic attack right now cause you knew whoever was outside that door wouldn't help, instead, they'd make it worse. So you turned around, planning on splashing your face with some water and clean your face up before making a plan.

But all that left you was a deafening scream.

Stans's arm hung from the bath, blood running down from the cuts on his arm and onto the bathroom floor creating a puddle. His eyes were just lifeless, his head resting on his bloody arm as he stared down at the puddle. There was something written on his blood on the wall, and when you finally took notice through the tears you read it. 'Your fault."

Your back hit the door before you fell to the ground, sobs growing louder as you squeezed your eyes shut. You let out another scream as the door lurched forward a bit from whoever hit it, followed by another bang and then another. You moved off to the side of it, back now near the wall as you heard all the losers voices screaming from beyond the door. Your hands moved up to cover your ears, though it didn't fully stop the noises getting through to you. You finally moved, gripping at your hair as you let out another sob and you rambled about not wanting this to happen. You just wanted to go back to the Town House, back to your dad so you could just let him hold you. To tell him how sorry you were and what you didn't mean what you said.

But you would never be able to tell him that.

You closed in on yourself more as you heard the banging become more urgent, though this time, you could've sworn you heard them telling you to snap out of it, calling your name through the haze of panic. But you didn't move, you wouldn't allow yourself to be tricked again. So when the door opened, probably almost being yanked from it's hinges you didn't move an inch. As your arm was yanked you finally opened your eyes, however, the last thing you saw was a bright white light that caused a sharp pain to go through them, before darkness took over your vision.

tag list;

@eggytozier @bellero @viviandarko @creativedogs @lymerien @xbubblesworldx @eddie-losver-kaspbrak

[nervousenemychild]

hi I'm trying this for the first time ever. posting what I've written online for other people to see.

“James,” she said, entering the kitchen where he was organizing the glassware in cabinets too high for her to reach. She was surprised to find he was adequately following her instructions as to how she preferred them organized. “Please don’t be angry with me when I say this.”

He immediately put down the tea cup in his hand and turned around to face her. “Sure.” He of course was wearing his signature goofy grin.

She shook her head and smiled. “You don’t even know what it is yet.”

“Well, you’re you, so…” He trailed. “What could you have possibly done? Lily Evans, known horrible person.” He rolled his eyes in reply, still smiling.

She decided not to respond to his sarcastic remark and instead just break the news. “I think I may have misplaced the golden snitch from your Seventh Year Cup in the move,” she said, her eyebrows furrowing. 

His face fell and she cringed. “I’m really sorry.”

He shook his head and walked past her out of the kitchen.

“James—“

“No, Lily. That was irreplaceable. What do you mean, you misplaced it? Where do you think it is?” he asked, irritation evident in his tone.

“I don’t know, James. That’s what I mean,” she replied. “I thought… When I packed up our bedroom, I could’ve sworn I put everything in our dressers in different boxes, knickknacks included. All of my journals are with my clothes, so—“

“Oh, so I guess all of your stuff is neatly squared away!” he exclaimed, swirling around then to face her. His face was beet red.

“I didn’t mean to—“

“But you obviously were careless about it. Shit, Lily, what is wrong with you?” he snapped.

She folded her arms. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with me that I packed up our entire bedroom last minute last night while you ran around and started schoolchild brawls with the same stupid people?”

“Better than misplacing something of extreme personal and historical value.” He sat down on the couch. “And better yet, I was protecting you.”

“Let’s you and I make a distinction between protecting me and being an idiot, once and for all,” she retaliated, “for the umpteenth time. If someone comes up to me and begins threatening me or shoving me or stabbing or kicking or—“

“You misplaced the one thing that used to make me fucking happy!” he screamed.

Tears came to her eyes as they stared at each other in silence. “The one thing that used to make you happy?” she asked him finally. “Quidditch. Quidditch is the one thing that used to make you happy?”

James pursed his lips and folded his arms.

“You’re a literal child!” she exclaimed. “Such a fucking baby, you are. Get over it, James. It’s a stupid ball!”

“A stupid ball. A stupid ball?” he asked. “Of course you didn’t pack it, Lily. You clearly don’t care about something that means a lot to me.”

“Well, you clearly don’t care about me because I don’t make you happy,” she choked back a sob before she fled the room.

-

At around ten o’clock at night, she retreated into the living room and threw the snitch at the couch. “There. Now you can think back on all the times you were happy with this hunk of metal.”

“Lily—“

“No. I don’t want to hear you. I’ve been looking for that stupid thing for hours and you haven’t said a word to me,” she said as she made her way back into their bedroom. 

He followed her to find the room completely unpacked.

“I was unpacking the kitchen. I’m finished,” he explained.

“Well, that’s two rooms done,” she said resignedly, sitting on the bed.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally.

“You’re not sorry,” she replied. “You were so eager to yell at me. Why did you flip the switch like that?” she asked.

“Honestly…” he began, “I’ve just been really angry all day and I had no right to lose it like that.” He joined her on foot of the bed, and they both looked down at their new bedroom carpet. “You do make me happy, you know,” he said, his voice small. “You know that.”

“I guess,” she answered.

“You guess?”

“I don’t know, James. You screamed at me today,” she recalled, beginning to really be harsh towards him. “Over something of extreme personal and historical value,” she mocked, her voice adopting a childish pitch. “Something. Not someone. I said I was sorry, and I’d never lose it on—“

“I know you wouldn’t. Look at me,” he commanded.

She sighed and glanced over at him. “What?”

“I can’t believe I have to say this. You are way more important to me than anything, anyone even. Especially a snitch. Okay?” he asked.

They stared at each other in silence again before Lily broke it.

“Are you happy?” she whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her and broke out in tears. He sobbed into her shoulder for a moment before pulling away to find her face stained in tears too.

“It’s not that I’m unhappy, Lily… It’s just… All day, I’ve been thinking about how we had to move to live somewhere that I’m only somewhat confident is an area where you won’t be murdered for being who you are,” he said then. “And I can’t help it. I start thinking about how mad I am, and sometimes the only way to calm myself down is to think about our times at Hogwarts. And I know you weren’t even completely safe back there which is why when Sirius and I saw those creeps at the bar last night… Lily, I can’t see their faces without thinking about the threats they’ve made about you, how they look at you, how—“

“Okay, James. We’re away from it now. I don��t like it either, but it doesn’t mean I—“

“Sirius talked me out of it until they started bugging me, saying they knew we were moving and they were tracking us, and they…. Lily, what they said they were going to do to you,” he bawled then. “I can’t just stand by and let that happen. I physically cannot. You’ve asked me to I don’t know how many times, and if I could, I would. I promise.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “Calm down. You know they only do it to get a rise—“

“Really, Lily? Really? When we both know I’ve worked on cases where those threats happened to real Muggleborn women,” he said. “I understand it’s easier and probably healthier for you to just not take them seriously, but I won’t ever let my guard down around those scumbags. I hate them. Do you know how many cases they’ve been suspects in, how many times they’ve been taken into custody and released?” he asked.

“I know, James. I know. You’ve told me all about it,” she said, resting her hands on his shoulders then. “Calm down. It’s okay. I’m right here. I’m not hurt.”

“And I’m never, ever going to let you get hurt,” he cried, embracing her again. His sobs shook his entire body.

“Okay. Okay,” she told him. “Calm down. We’re right here together. Nothing is going to happen to us. We’ve got the place all secured, and it’s way out in the middle of nowhere. You made it that way, remember? This was finally the place you agreed to,” she reminded him. “It’s all right. This is the safest space for us to be.”

He kissed her hair. “I’m so sorry, Lily. It shouldn’t be you comforting me. You’re the one in danger, the one I treated terribly today—“

“I can tell that you were on the verge of a panic attack now,” she said softly. “You have been all day, haven’t you?”

“I’m sorry,” he gasped out. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Lily—“

“No, James. It’s okay. Just cry. It’s fine. We can talk afterwards,” she assured him.

He shook his head. “I can’t believe I yelled at you like that today.”

“I know. I was confused, too. Just cry it out,” she encouraged him, and finally, he lowered his head back onto her shoulder and cried a little more before stopping. “Okay?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Okay,” she said. She pulled away from him and kissed his forehead.

“I’m sorry, Lily,” he said then. “Really sorry. I should have never gotten that upset with you over something like that. You found it anyways, and if I was that concerned about it, I could have packed it myself,” he told her. “You make me so happy, which is why I love you so much and I never should have lost my temper with you.”

She nodded. “I understand. It’s okay.”

He kissed her on the lips. “I guess I just… In the moment you told me, I immediately thought about how if it was left in the old house, I didn’t want us to go back and look for it because it’d be unsafe. You know, with me starting a new sector at work, and being so far away form the city out here… It is kind of like starting all over. I don’t want to leave the old us behind… The us that took laps around the castle, studied in bed together, when you’d come and cheer me on at my Quidditch matches… That’s one of my favorite memories of us together, when you’d support me and scream your little head off for me. The snitch reminds me of all of those times we had back in the castle. It… It kinda sucks we have to leave everything behind in order to keep you safe. It’s ridiculous, it’s scary,” he said.

“I know,” she told him. “It’s like, all our friends think we’ll still be around, but… I don’t know. London has proved to be pretty dangerous, and now that it’s so far away… We’re just going to have to see if they want to make the trip.”

He nodded. “We have each other, though. And you make me so happy, and you have for a very long time now. I love you so much.”

She smiled. “I love you, too. You make me happy.”

He grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss it. “I’m sorry, really.”

“It’s okay, James. It honestly startled me more than anything,” she told him. “I love you, James. I know you’d never… You’d never really treat me like that.”

He kissed her cheek. “I never would want to. I’m supposed to be someone you can trust. Come sit with me.”

She rolled her eyes. “James, it’s—“

“Come here.” He held open his arms and straightened out his legs.

“I’ve gained weight since we left Hogwarts, you kn—“

“Come here to me.”

She sighed and crawled over to sit on his lap.

“There, there. It’s all right. I’m right here.” He wrapped his arms around her and began to gently rock her side to side. 

“I’m not a child,” she protested, but her voice was too soft for him to take her seriously.

“You quite enjoy this. Don’t lie,” he said back, smoothing her hair and kissing it. “There, there, Lily.”

She rested her cheek on his shoulder and shut her eyes. “I am tired.”

“Of course you are, spending all day unpacking and whatnot. Let me soothe you to sleep,” he said.

She looked up at him for a moment. 

“What?” he asked her.

“Nothing,” she replied. “Nothing. Go on.” 

He rocked her a little longer before he moved her up the bed to tuck her in beneath the covers. 

“Undress me first,” she commanded.

“Lily—“

“What? I’m going to fall asleep with my day clothes on?” 

“Your jumper and sweatpants?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Take my clothes off,” she restated.

He nodded and did just that, pulling her jumper over her head and then shimmying her pants off her. “Better?”

She nodded, grinning. “Much.” 

He kissed her and moved the comforter overtop her. “There. Let me climb in next to you.” He positioned himself to spoon her, but she almost immediately flipped over to face him. 

“You are going to be such an excellent father,” she told him.

“I am?” he asked.

She nodded. “Someday. Right?”

“Right.” He kissed her forehead. “Someday soon if you aren’t careful.”

She smiled at his honestly lame flirtation. It was strange yet pleasant how she became giddier and easier to impress the longer they stayed together. “Yeah.” She nestled her head under his chin before saying what she wanted to next. “How soon do you think we should think about it?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, Lily. We have the see what’ll happen with the war. How safe we are in this house should play a big factor, too.”

She yawned. “You’re right. I just… I guess I’m somewhat eager. We have been married for almost a year now,” she said.

“Secretly married,” he contradicted.

She rolled her eyes and emerged from under his chin, kissing him on the lips. “Same difference. James, the reason we got married is because we wanted to be together forever as soon as possible if this war was going to rage on and keep us from doing that. Isn’t it just the same with a baby?” she asked. “I want to be a mother. I’ve wanted to be a mother since I can remember.”

He shook his head. “Not at all. I’m not bringing a child… our child… into an unsafe situation,” he explained.

“Nothing’s going to happen,” she told him. “Really. I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t want that either, you know that.” She grabbed his hand. “A baby would be great for us right now. Don’t you want something else to think about other than violence and hatred?”

“Sure. I’d love that. That’s not what a baby’s for,” he replied. “I really don’t need to speak any more on it, Lily. Give it awhile. I’m not getting you pregnant until I’m supremely satisfied that we are safe.” He brought the hand he was holding to his mouth to kiss it. “Okay?”

She nodded. “Okay. I understand.”

“Goodnight, Lily. I love you so much, and… and I really do hope that one day we can have a baby for you, for me, for the sake of having a family. I just want that baby to have a long, healthy life alongside us both.”

“Of course,” she replied. “Right. I love you, too, James, so much. Too much, I think, sometimes.”

He smiled. “Never too much for me. Goodnight, okay?”

“Goodnight.” 

He shut his eyes and she immediately snuggled closer to him, her chest pressed against where he held her hand at his heart.