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lunabonita · 3 years

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My Webtoon Recommendations

These are webtoons that are all 10/10 for me. Of course it doesn’t have to be a 10/10 for you, so just a reminder, do not attack me for liking a webtoon that you do not. These are my opinions and we are not going to have the exact same taste. Please be respectful.

Your Throne

Genre: Fantasy

Chapters: 75

Status: Ongoing

“Tensions are brewing under the seemingly calm surface of the Vasilios Empire, a kingdom ruled by the Imperial Family and the Temple. Lady Medea Solon has lost her place next to Crown Prince Eros, but resolves to win back whats rightfully hers. Will she reclaim her throne?”

You know whats amazing about this webtoon? The summary leads you to think that what shes winning back is the prince. Wrong. Shes trying to win back the throne. I love how this webtoon doesn’t try to make it a girl focusing her goals on a man, but on power. Medea is such a strong and well written character that you can’t help but love her.

The second protagonist Pschye, who of which is the person who took Medeas place as Crown Princess, is the complete opposite of Medea. At the beginning you hate her, but as the webtoon goes on and Medea and her get a better understanding of eachother due to them switching bodies as a wish from God, you begin to root for them as they team up to take over the throne from the Crown Prince.

The art is so beautiful and I constantly found myself at awe from the amount of detail put into it.

The Makeup Remover

Genre: Romace

Chapters: 78

Status: Ongoing

“After years of being told to focus on studying, Yeseul feels lost when she starts college and is suddenly expected to pay attention to makeup. When a chance encounter with brilliant makeup artist Yuseong leads to her taking part in a televised makeup competition, Yeseul begins to question the role that makeup and appearance play in society.”

This was created by one of my favorite webtoon creators Lee Yone. Their art is just so amazing and their stories always include such good topics.

For instance, The Makeup Remover’s theme is loving yourself for who you are. It shows how people treat you based on your looks and as someone whos struggled with that kind of thing for a while, this webtoon really touched me. The main character Yeseul is such a relatable character, even when trying to reject beauty standards, she still came subject to the pressures of living up to the people around her. She struggles with trying to love her own appearance and I really like that this webtoon didn’t try to be like, ‘fuck the beauty standard im better than that screw pretty people!!!’ it actually showed realistically how people struggle with self-image. I also love the main love interest because oh my god, we need more men like him please. He doesn’t care about Yeseul’s appearance and genuinely loves her for her personality.

Also, art is amazing. The author is so talented and you should support them by reading and liking the chapters.

Surviving Romance

Genre: Horror

Chapters: 14

Status: Ongoing

“When Chaerin Eun becomes the protagonist of the romance novel she is reading, she expects a fairytale ending with the novel’s love interest, Jeha. But when a bizarre twist makes her realize the story is not playing out as it does in the book, she’ll need the help of an unlikely character from her class to defy the new storyline and find her happy ending - if only she can figure out who this ‘Unknown Extra’ is first!”

Hands down one of my favorite webtoons by a long shot. You ever see a webtoon and think, ‘oh yeah, thats going to be a good webtoon’? Thats how this webtoon was for me. It was so good that I spent hours searching for other chapters that hadn’t been uploaded to webtoon yet on other manhua websites. I discovered it because it was also by the author of ‘The Makeup Remover’.

If there is one thing you need to know about me, its that I am a huge horror fan. So when I saw that my favorite author on webtoon had a horror themed webtoon out? You bet your behind that I binged it. Let me tell you, best choice ever.

Think of it as if ‘Ino’s Law’ and ‘Quarantine’ were combined with amazing art and a badass MC.

The Remarried Empress

I love how it is set up to the point where she cannot ‘quit’ until she completes the novel. Creating scenarios where she must survive while meeting the standards in the book. It is such an amazingly written webtoon and I cannot wait for more chapters to be released.

Genre: Fantasy

Chapters: 82

Status: Ongoing

“Navier Ellie Trovi was an empress perfect in every way - intelligent, courageous, and socially adept. She was kind to her subjects and devoted to her husband. Navier was perfectly content to live the rest of her days as the wise empress of the Eastern Empire. That is, until her husband brought hone a mistress and demanded a divorce. ‘I accept this divorce… And i request an approval of my remarriage.’ In a shoking twist Navier remaarries another emperor and retains her title and childhood dream as empress. But just how did everything unfold? “

Am I in love with Navier? Yes.

I absolutely adore how this story was set up. The first chapter begins with the big divorce scene, followed by Navier saying that she was going to be remarrying someone else since he wants to divorce her. This sets up a picture that gets completely shattered as you read the chapters. How everything falls into place with the reason behind the divorce and the remarriage is just so well written. The art is so good and and everything is just so insanely well done.

I absolutely love Naviers character, from her regalness and devoted loyalty to her role as empress, all the way to her petty moments and times of sadness. She is truly a character that you want the best for, and I cannot image anyone not liking her. Also the story is just so capable of making you feel emotions. I’ve laughed, cried, and got angry during the course of reading this webtoon. I love how betrayed I felt when the emperor brought home his mistress. It felt like I was in Navier’s shoes!

This is such a well done webtoon and I'm so excited for Navier to get all of the good things she deserves in her new Kingdom and with her new husband.

Witch Creek Road

Genre: Horror

Chapters: 74

Status: Ongoing

“A survival horror about love, acceptance, death, and revenge. And sexy flesh-eating demons. Yeah, it has those, too.”

This series seriously mind fucked me. The way that this story is set up, you don’t see the full picture until the later chapters. Season two literally blew my mind. It is also very gorey so keep that in mind if you don’t like that kind of stuff, but for me that makes it all the better. It is just so wild and crass that you can feel your heart pumping in anticipation.

They even have their own website that goes further into the lore because it’s just so wild. Also the art style is just so amazing, because it complements the story and horror theme so much. You hate most of the characters because they suck, and it is so satisfying when they are killed. Also it has it’s sad moments but I think it is a nice break from the horror so it isn’t so overwhelmingly scary.

I binged this series and I recommend reading only a few chapters a day so you don’t overload your brain.

Other then that, an amazing webtoon. Seriously, go read it, support the author, so much work goes into the story and art that it’s insane.

Dating With A Tail

Genre: Romance

Chapters: 36

Status: Ongoing

“On the dawn of her 29th birthday, unlucky-in-love Yunha discovers a shocking family secret: she’s started growing a fox tail, the mark of an ancestral curse. She must find her fated love before her 30th birthday or she is destined to become a fox forever! Even with her new-found enchanting power to attract men using her scent, will one year be enough to break the curse before it’s too late?”

Oh my gosh this is just such a good webtoon. It has amazing art, story telling, and characters. The true love interest was there the whole time, the villain isn’t who you’d expect it to be, and the spirit who cursed her is just! Im not going to spoil it but go read this webtoon!! It is so good and deserves more love.

Also Yunha is just so relatable?? Like she put off finding the woodcutter (her fated love) for 29 years and waited last minute to find him. Homegirl is me trying to do a project for school. Also to get rid of the scent that makes men attracted to her, she just starts eating a ton of garlic and that is just so funny to me.

Also I would go to church for the priest anytime if you know what i mean ;)

Omniscient Reader

Genre: Action

Chapters: 53

Status: Ongoing

“Dokja was an average office worker whose sole interest was reading his favorite web novel ‘Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.’ But when the novel suddenly becomes reality, he is the only person who knows how the world will end. Armed with this realization, Dokja uses his understanding to change the course of the story, and the world, as he knows it.”

I cannot get over how high quality this story is. The world building is phenomenal, the art is fantastic, and the characters are very fleshed out. This deserved all the hype it has gotten so far and more.

I love the ‘mc thrown into a different reality’ trope so much. Just like with surviving romance, Dokja’s world became the story he was reading. Also a very cool aspect of the story is the level up and the fact that its like a game. Earth has turned into this show for god like creatures to watch and it follows Dokja trying to survive. I also really like that TWSA has a protagonist, but Omniscient Reader’s protagonist is not the protagonist that was in TWSA. There is just so much lore and I’ll say it again, the world building is just phenomenal.

The Ddokkaebi’s and Dokja’s interactions are also just some of my favorite moments from the story so far. And oh my goodness I would die for Lee Gilyoung. Thats it, thats the tweet. That little boy could probably kill me with his giant praying mantis and I would let him if it would make him happy.

Not So Shoujo Love Story

Genre: Comedy

Chapters: 45

Status: Ongoing

“Romance super-fan Rei Chan is ready for her first boyfriend and she knows just who it’ll be: the most handsome boy in school, Hansum Ochinchin. But her plans for the perfect story are derailed when the most popular girl in class declares herself a rival… for Rei’s heart?! This is the year her not so shoujo love story begins!”

This is just such a cute webtoon. The style is very appealing and while the humor can be childish and weird sometimes, it still has made me laugh a lot. I know the humors not for everyone but just keep in mind that it does get better as the story progresses and gets more serious.

Also its a gl! I’m really unable to find good gls these days that don’t fetishize wlw relationships. Rei being painted as a mean trouble maker whos just misunderstood and Hana being the ‘perfect girl’ who only wants Rei’s attention is such a cute dynamic. They balance each other out and better each other. Also stan Rei for constantly sticking up for Hana even if she doesn’t necessarily like her in the beginning, she has very good morals and sticks to them.

Also the defying stereotypes in this webtoon? Just god-tier. Really makes you think twice when you judge someone just on first impressions alone.

Odd Girl Out

Genre: Drama

Chapters: 264

Status: Ongoing

“After a successful winter break makeover, Nari is finally ready for her high school debut. But somehow, she ends up friends with the three prettiest girls in school! Follow Nari as she tries to navigate her brand new high school life surrounded by beauties.”

This story has made me cry multiple times. A lot, even. It is just such a beautiful tale of friendship and finding support in people who are unlike those around theme. It also tells a great story about how anybody can be the ‘odd girl out’. Be it the fat girl, the beautiful girl, the rich girl, or the laid back girl.

It goes so deep into its characters that you even feel bad for the minor antagonists. It really makes you feel for the characters and the reasons behind their actions. Also I know its long, believe me I binged all 260 chapters in the span of three days, but oh my god it is worth it. Also I know the art is kind of off-putting, in fact that’s kind of why I put off reading the story, but I’ve honestly grown to love it and the writing is so good that the art could be literal stick figures and it wouldn’t matter.

The story is amazing and also I just love Nari. She’s just the best.

Gremoryland

Genre: Horror

Chapters: 67

Status: Completed

“Six old school friends are invited to be the first visitors of GremoryLand, a new horror theme park that promises an experience as unique as it is spooky. But once this experience starts there is no turning back, and they find themselves tested beyond what they imagines, facing their most desperate fears in order to survive.”

This is definitely one of those stories were you kind of need to turn of your brain and choose to ignore ‘plot holes’ while reading the early chapters because this story definitely gets crazy if you don’t know the ending. Believe me if you stick with it it will all make sense and the satisfaction you get from finding the ending is just so worth it.

The story is so good, and who Gremory is you would literally never suspect. When it was revealed who Gremory was and how he was able to create Gremoryland is so fucking mind boggling that you would never guess. I had to do a double take. It wasn’t like one of those random characters with a vendetta type of twists, but like one you can pick out from clues throughout the story.

Its so good and twisted and just so worth at least giving it a chance.

These were some of my favorite webtoons on the app! Of course it’s not all of them because unfortunately there is a 10 image limit. I also made this because I’ve run out of new webtoons to read and would love if you guys commented some of your own recs. I can also do a part two with other ones I liked if y’all want more recommendations. You guys can even request specific categories like Drama or Sci-Fi and I can tell you my favorite ones from that genre.

Also a reminder - if you disagree with any of my praise of these webtoons be respectful about it. At the end of the day it’s my opinion and you don’t need to be rude when disagreeing with that opinion.

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scarletarosa · 4 years

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The Luciferian Path

From being a Luciferian for the majority of my life, I’ve had the honour of being mentored by Lucifer and his wife, Lilith. Both of whom have transformed me in incredible ways and have helped me to overcome many of my greatest internal and external struggles. From this, I would like to share my insight and advice for those interested in starting or just curious about Luciferianism in general.

When we accept to be mentored by Lucifer (or any other demon), we are embracing a path of trials so we may evolve, for every demon teaches through adversity. As Lucifer is the Light of creation who was born from darkness, he represents the light of wisdom that can be found in the depths of struggle. He has taught me that the only way one can be reborn and develop wisdom is to have themselves destroyed and gradually remade through healing and spiritual awakening. This is no easy procedure, but every birth is painful. Our path will lead us through the depths of Hell, facing all of our insecurities, negative habits, deepest fears, and false beliefs so they can be torn away to reveal our highest potential. It takes a truly courageous soul to do this, which is why Luciferianism is not for the faint of heart. This is the sort of religion that aims to turn us into warriors and sages, but in turn, it makes us outcasts from a world of people who do not seek higher knowledge and progress.

Spiritual Evolution through Rebirth:

This is both the most important thing a person can do in life, but also the most difficult. From what I have learned, every planet with life is created in order to be a place of teaching, so the purpose of life is to evolve in knowledge and become more than ordinary beings. Once this happens and we become enlightened, we will not have to reincarnate again. It is however very tempting for most people to shun this sort of path so they can relax or focus on mundane things, but this ultimately gets us nowhere and will have no rewards in the end.

Most importantly for Rebirth, we need to learn how to let go of unnecessary attachments, negative habits and thought-patterns, as well as fears. This is why shadow work is very helpful so we can analyze our traumatized self and heal them through understanding. Through embracing a path of suffering, we become stronger, more experienced, and also less afraid. It is the path of exposure that leads to the tower of wisdom, not the path of gentleness. Once we accept this and overcome our weaknesses, life becomes so much easier and we gain great pride in ourselves. Though do not think that this means those who do you harm are doing you a favour, it is how we view the negative situations that help us, not the people themselves. Additionally, suffering should not be sought after, only accepted and conquered when it arises.

So when you say you wish to evolve as a person, remember the responsibilities and trials that come with it. You will have to face the long and cold night before the dawn rises, but when it comes, you will not be the same as who you were before. If you wish to shed your doubts and your insecurities, you will need to have the strength to destroy them and embrace whatever hardships come your way. So like the wise serpents, we must shed our old skin to become anew. It is due to this that adversity is the best of all teachers. So as one of my favourite quotes puts it, “holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.”

Learn Everything, Question Everything:

With Lucifer being a god of knowledge, it is by no surprise that this is something Luciferians hold very dear to their hearts. We are encouraged by him to learn anything and everything, constantly expanding ourselves, and being eternal students to truth-seeking. However, the worst thing about books and documents is that it is all too easy to portray a lie as truth and have people believe it in herds. We need to become independent critical thinkers who get into the habit of questioning nearly everything we read and seeking out as many resources as possible. Even historians are at times paid to hide certain revelations in history in order to hide dark truths, so even books you think you can trust can hold lies. Passive reception of knowledge creates slaves, and this is exactly what happens with the majority of people.

Spend the majority of your time away from social media and read as much about history as possible, from many different sources and look up different topics in detail. Though do this with many other subjects as well, but history is extremely important to be well-read on. You will find that some things aren’t as simple as others would like you to believe, such as claiming that ancient civilizations were primitive when they were far more advanced than us in plenty of ways, yet the evidence tends to be buried. Progress is cyclical, not linear- yet much progress of the ancients was lost due to wars and great floods. The reason why most historians eagerly proclaim Atlantis to be a myth is because of how advanced they were, and simply because the possibility of such greatness during such a “primitive” time seems impossible to them, yet there is plenty of evidence that it did exist if one searches hard enough for information.

Choose to learn as much as you possibly can throughout your entire life and you will see how much you will change as a person; the rewards are endless, but it can also be a burden to understand the darker depths of this world’s history. With understanding, we become more than we are now and can assist in guiding others who are in need (but do not do everything for them so they can learn on their own and not become lazy). Ignorance is one of the greatest things we need to fight against as Luciferians, so truth-seeking in as many areas as possible is key. Again, this is not easy since we all will have to realize that many things we think to be truth are false beliefs, which can be painful at times. We even need to question our own spiritual beliefs and religions, or else we will never feel comfortable enough to ask the gods themselves for the truth of existence. Believe nothing to be true until it is fully proven, this is the key.

Working with other demons in Luciferianism:

Many demons (especially the trusted military leaders of Lucifer, the majority of whom can be found in the Goetia) are excellent mentors towards Illumination, as well as Mother Lilith who is glorious in her wisdom. Just be cautious that no malevolent entities come and pretend to be them, so make sure astral protections are put up, or speak to them in your mind (like telepathy). A link to my posts on the infernal gods (demons) can be found here.

Conclusion:

Overall, Luciferians seek to expand their consciousness and then help to guide others if they are willing. This is an honourable path and all who walk it are sure to develop into magnificent people, as long as they remain diligent and courageous. Speak to Lucifer (or other demons) for guidance whenever needed, but also remember that they will not do everything for you since the purpose of this path is to grow stronger and wiser, not rely upon others.

Additional posts on Lucifer: Values of Luciferianism, Ritual of Devotion, History of the Angels, Lucifer

#luciferianism #lucifer #demonolatry #deity work #infernal gods #religion #spirituality

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mavda · 3 years

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Beast Tamers

Ch.1 | Ch.2 | Ch.3 | Ch.4(1) | Ch.4(2) | Ch.5(1) | Ch.5(2) | Ch.5(3) | Ch.5(4) | Ch.6(1) | Ch.6(2) | Ch.6(3) | Ch.7(1) | Ch.7(2) | Ch.7(3) | Ch.7(4) | Ch.7(5) | Ch.8(1) | Ch.8(2) | Ch.8(3) | Ch.9(1) | Ch.9(2) |

Ch.9: No lies (3)

Naruto leaves early in the morning. Between his increasing training and the still ongoing tension regarding the attacks, he doesn’t have much time to spare. People seek him and Naruto is barely enough to appease their worries.

Hinata usually stirs as soon as he begins to leave the bed -taking his warmth with him-, but Naruto kisses her face until she falls asleep again. Or at least until she pretends to, the few times she tried to wake with him, Naruto had been adamant into letting her sleep till late.

“Listen,” he had been serious, his hand on her arms, “even if you weren’t pregnant I wouldn’t want you to wake at the crack of dawn. I mean, there’s nothing to do at this ungodly hour,” he had cackled, but Hinata knew and so he approached her by targeting her feelings, “I want you to take care of yourself, all right?” his hand to her stomach, “for our baby, please?”

How could she deny him?

“Also, even if you weren’t pregnant this are dumb hours to be awake.”

“You are a-awake.”

“Doesn’t make it any less dumb, darling.”

So she sleeps. And when Naruto prepares to leave their room she stirs to get a kiss from him and stops moving to let him leave with peace of mind. She struggled to fall asleep at first, but now it’s easier. She’s more tired, too.

And although she hears and sees things around her, she keeps them at bay. Naruto shares with her all the information he has, so she knows everything that is happening. But at long last, something she has learned from being her father’s daughter comes in handy.

She listens, learns, and then keeps on with her life. Of course, now there are no comments regarding her inability to help, nor mean-spirited remarks regarding her lack of power, so it is easier to keep herself focused. Infinitely easier.

Naruto is almost back to normal, strength-wise, and he’s beginning to practice fighting enemies without looking at their eyes. An Uchiha countermeasure. He says it’s fun and Hinata can see the tinkle in his eyes that corroborate his words, but… she wishes he didn’t have to.

The freed Tailed Beasts are sealed already too, not in a human vessel, but at least hidden and away for any greedy hand that could want them.

Or for an Uchiha to find.

Naruto had been worried at first, about any attack that could happen brought by this unsteady situation with the Beast Tamers, and although Shikamaru had checked and revised time and time again the clan’s defenses, Hinata could sometimes feel his fear in the way his arms would lock around her.

The return of his strength has done wonders to keep him calm.

That and the good news regarding her pregnancy.

Hinata has safely entered her second trimester and although she is more confined than before, she is happy. Kiba likes to joke around and mocks Naruto’s need to keep her under surveillance, but Hinata understands it’s his way to make her feel more at ease with this situation. He knows. She knows. Everyone does. Shikamaru -when he is the one to accompany her on her walks- makes sure to share with her their measures against intruders, the patrols they have put in place, the guards he and Naruto have placed around her.

She can tell people worry she may be anxious about her situation, as she is pregnant with the clan leader’s child. And she is worried about the situation, but she can’t help but worry more about another topic that seems to never be able to leave her alone, that comes back at all times, that leaves her staring at nothing in the night. That leaves her gasping for air, now more than ever, now that she wishes for a happy life with Naruto like never before.

She can’t help but think about her husband. About her husband and his lifespan, about her husband and his training, about her husband and the expectations placed upon him, about her husband and the way he seems too eager to push himself to his limits.

About all these trials that seem to come one after the other without rest.

He is more nervous, too. He hides it well, but he comes see her more frequently, and although he tries to seem nonchalant, the way his shoulders relax when he lays eyes on her, the way he sighs when he hugs her... Hinata understands. Naruto is inside the clan at all times now, she can see him every day, lay with him just as much, and she can’t seem to escape the want of staying right next to him as much as possible.

She has to busy herself with little chores throughout the day to keep her thoughts at bay. The worst thing she can do is keep herself alone and holed up, so she talks, seeks people, walks, and annoys Sakura with questions regarding her body.

So she oftentimes walks. Always with a guard, usually with Sai, Kiba or Shino. Sometimes Sakura or Ino if their work allows.

This time, she can’t find anyone, so she looks around. Sometimes Shikamaru comes finds her. Lord Minato and Lady Mito are as busy as Naruto, but they make time too. And yet, this day, she sees no one.

She walks absent-mindedly, thinks about how she’s been spending more time than ever before with her cousin, and yet can’t remember having a proper conversation with him. Naruto is always there and Neji does his work with professionalism before leaving as fast as he arrives.

As if he was avoiding them.

Her.

Hinata doesn’t really know what comes over her, but her legs move without thinking and she finds herself right outside of Neji’s room. He has his sliding door wide open and he's writing a letter. He hasn't noticed her, or if he has he has decided to ignore her.

The familiarity of this situation makes her doubt, but then she takes a step forward and Neji turns around.

"Lady Hinata." He looks taken aback, so Hinata surmises that he did not, in fact, notice her before. But now he looks expectant and Hinata should say something.

"I- I-," Neji triggers her stutter and her embarrassment grows as the words struggle to come out. "I c-can't find S-Sai," or anybody else for that matter, but if she were to list everyone's names, Neji could finish three letters before she finished her sentence, "and I w-wish to take a s-stroll."

Neji stands immediately, "Of course," he says and walks to her. Not a second look to whatever he was doing.

"Y-your letter-"

"I will finish when we come back, Lady Hinata. Let us go."

Consideration or anger? Hinata can't tell. She has never been able to tell.

Neji walks a step behind her, and remains silent. Just like when he would accompany her at the Hyuga compound.

Hinata convinces herself this is nothing more than her want to talk with someone -as she has grown used to it with her usual guards-, and not the desperate need to have some sort of connection with her cousin, who seemed ready to throw her away without a second thought so long ago.

Hinata still doesn't know what to make of it. Consideration or disgust?

Consideration or revenge? For being such a poor fit to remain as heiress to the clan?

Her mouth is dry and she wonders whether Neji will listen, whether he will turn and leave her here when she annoys him too much. She knows he won't, Naruto would have made sure of that.

So maybe he is forced to stay with her and listen and protect her and so she can talk -or try- and make him listen and stay and protect her. She doesn't want to admit that deep inside of her she wants a relationship with her cousin.

With the only person who seemed to care for her when they were children.

Duty or familial love?

She never knew.

She gathers her courage and makes as if admiring a patch of flowers.

"Y-your l-letter, I am sorry I i-interrupted you."

"Oh, no. Please do not worry, it is not an urgent letter at all, rest assured."

And silence returns as if they never talked. Neji is closer now, as he had to crouch to listen. Hinata waits a second, and another, thinking that maybe Neji will get the hint and keep the conversation flowing.

But maybe he is as clueless as her, or maybe he doesn't want to. She turns her head to him, trying to read his intentions for once in her life. But Neji rests his gaze on her, immutable, barely moving his body, and Hinata turns around with more questions than before.

As if that were possible.

Neji struggles to understand what Lady Hinata wants from him. A servant, for sure, a guard next, but a conversation partner? Him?

He has seen her taking her strolls with numerous people before. Many a day. Smiling and talking like he has never seen her before. Laughing, even. Sai, of course, with whom she shares calm conversations guided by Sai's questions about everyday life. Kiba, who seems eager to spend time with her -something about her laughing at his jokes, Neji heard once-. Shino, who's aura seems so similar to hers that you can barely hear their conversations as they walk around. Sakura and Ino, whose energy is always high up, and although one would think their friendship would be somewhat strained, Lady Hinata's laugh is always the biggest with them. Shikamaru, even, who seems to enjoy her knowledge about other clans.

Lady Minato and Lady Mito, who find time in their busy schedules to talk to her.

Lord Naruto, who runs after a meeting or training to steal a peck, making her blush, and leaves with the same haste.

And then... him? A man from the Hyuga clan who can't bring himself to talk to her in fear of saying something he shouldn't?

His very existence is tied to the worst part of hers. As such, he ought to shrivel down , far away. Hopefully like her own memories about that place.

He has been asked today because everyone else is unavailable. Not because she sought his company.

So he walks a step behind, like a guard should. And remains quiet, because… what can he say that won't sound wrong?

And then Lady Hinata speaks to him. And then looks at him in earnest. As if expecting something. And Neji is at a loss.

He wonders about topics he can share that won't sour her mood. And the only one that comes to mind, that hasn't been tainted by the Hyuga, leaves his mouth.

"The letter, uh, it's for a friend I made while living here."

"A… f-friend?"

Yes, it's surprising for him, too.

"Yes, a friend. Back when, uh, well, I was to be taken back to the Hyuga but Lord Naruto let me stay here in the end, I was given a house in the outer compound, as well as money for my expenses, and well… I lived there on my own and tried not to bother anyone else. She just found me and started to visit and make me help her with her shop."

"Oh…" Hinata wants to ask, ask so many questions she knows will only burden him, so her eyes flutter around, unable to press on and yet grabbing on this chance to-

"She- her name is Tenten, a bit weird, but means well. She introduced me to a friend of hers, too, Rock Lee," Hinata raises her eyebrows at the name and Neji shrugs, "I know, he's even weirder, but also means well."

Somehow, as they walk, Neji shares more of his life on the outer compound, and Hinata feels the wall between them disappear. He remains silent sometimes, as if gathering his thoughts, but Hinata waits. Waits as much as necessary, because she feels this opportunity has taken them so long.

So very long.

She can wait for him.

When Neji leaves her in her room, as he starts to retreat, robotics movements like Hinata has never seen before, Hinata stops him.

"I would… I would l-like it if y-you could accompany me some o-other day, too."

This time it's easier to voice her wishes, because she thinks… believes, that maybe Neji is just as awkward at this as she is.

He doesn't smile. He doesn't nod, either. He looks at her and before leaving just whispers, "Of course. As Lady Hinata…” then he ventures, “as you wish."

And Hinata gifts him the first genuine smile directed at him in a decade.

⁂⁂⁂

Naruto’s godfather arrives a month and a half later than he promised Minato. With little fanfare.

Naruto is walking to his next appointment when the sound of feet running around catches his attention. In the distance he sees the long white hair of Jiraiya, billowing as he walks down the hallways surrounded by flustered servants who don't know whether to announce his arrival or make him comfortable. Shikamaru just shrugs before he keeps on walking. "I'll take this one alone, then. I'll see you after to report."

Naruto scoffs but turns around and trots to meet his godfather.

"Old man!" He bellows, enough to make a few heads turn his way.

Jiraiya raises his hand in greeting and then makes a beeline to Naruto. They are practically the same height, with Naruto standing taller by mere inches -a point that has been the source of many scrambles throughout the years- and Naruto has to hit Jiraiya's back to let him breathe.

"Well," Jiraiya gives him a once-over and then frowns, "I was told you were dying."

"When have I not been, though?"

They laugh and slap each other's shoulders in good humor. Minato hates this type of banter. Hates how they trivialize Naruto's situation by making light of his struggles.

Naruto thinks his godfather's attitude has saved his life more than once.

"You'll have to check my seal with dad, but aside from that, I don't think you'll do much."

"Hey, you smell that?"

"What?"

"I smell a nonja."

"Ha ha."

"A nonja business!" Jiraiya slaps Naruto's arm as if his godson didn't just realize his whole joke before he said it. "Come on, don't tell me what my job is, child. I don't go round the world just to come back empty handed now, do I?"

Naruto stares at him, brows raised. And Jiraiya opens his arms with a shocked face, "Not all the time," he defends himself.

A lackluster defense, obviously, as Naruto still has the same problems he has had since… forever.

"No, I mean it. The thing you always tell me to wait to be completed before bringing it with your dad? Done, my man."

Naruto startles. Funny. Now of all times. That.

He says nothing though, and Jiraiya takes it as rejection. "You know I've got to tell your dad, son."

"Sure, do whatever." Naruto raises his hand and waves it around as if he couldn't care less, "I'll present my wife to you, come on."

"You made me keep quiet because it was a gamble, but now it is real, Naruto."

"I know, jeez, just come. You can tell whoever you want."

"I met my medic friend on the way back, she helped me, I'm serious."

"The gambler?"

"Yes. Lost everything to me, then made her help me with this in exchange for her money back."

"Well, that seems reasonable." Naruto remembers the stories Jiraiya used to tell him about his friend, a gambler with no sense of morality and non-existant luck. "You got what you wanted."

"Ha! That's what I offered, son, she took all her money back and then mine in order for her to help me. You know she has, like, no ethics."

"Is that why you got here later than late? I could have died."

Jiraiya squints his eyes, "Come on, you? Dying because someone messed with your seal? A seal made by me and the current master in seals, Minato Uzumaki? I mean, you will die for other reasons, but not because of your seal."

"Dad worries this took more years off my life."

Jiraiya rests his hand on Naruto’s shoulders, "Well, then, I think you will be happy to hear what I have to say."

Jiraiya expects Naruto to ask questions, but he bolts the second after. Jiraiya stares as a dark haired woman appears one second and disappears the other in between Naruto’s arms.

She is pregnant.

Naruto's wife is pregnant.

And now Jiraiya feels like he wants to cry.

Naruto intertwines his wife's arm with his and then walks to Jiraiya. Slow, careful, with a beam Jiraiya has never seen before.

"Jiraiya," Naruto presents, pride in his voice, "My wife, Hinata."

The child looks at him with blushing cheeks. One hand grasps tightly the clothes around Naruto's arm, the other rests at her abdomen, where her stomach bulges. She stutters and she presents herself, and her eyes shine the moment they return to Naruto.

"She is pregnant," Naruto shares, "five months and a half." His hand rests over hers now and Jiraiya has to bite down the tremble in his voice.

It is always in moments like this that he wishes he could do more for his godson.

#naruto #naruhina #Naruto Uzumaki #Hinata Hyuga #uzumaki naruto #hyuga hinata #fanfiction #fanfic #beast tamers #ch.9 #part 3 #knowing that I make people excited about mondays #(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)#as always #thanks for reblogging and liking and all the good stuff #take care #See you next week!!

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purble-turble · 3 years

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Finally got the courage to ask something, how do you imagine the wedding between king red and MK would go? would mk try to make a move to escape? would it be something more private or more of a big celebration so king red can show his beautiful MK? How composed would King red be? would he be snuggling by MK's side the whole party?

sorry if those are a lot of questions😅

I love your work! writing or art-wise 💖😊

Thank you!! I love getting these questions about scenarios in my various AUs, it's really fun to answer them :D

As for the wedding itself, Demon King Red would definitely pull out all the stops for this event. It's a celebration of MK and his love for him, so of course he wants it to be extravagant to show that off. Also, he's a king now, so he wants to use the celebration as an excuse to flaunt that power as well. All his allies are invited, of course, and he's excited for the demon lords to meet the man that he built this court for in the first place. He's got a grand ceremony in store as well as an amazing banquet and party afterwards. The whole day (and day before honestly) he's absolutely giddy and can't seem to calm down or stop smiling for a second. Marrying MK, to be bound to him forever in that way, is the one thing in the world he wants more than anything, and when it's finally close he can't contain his excitement. He catches on fire a lot in the hours leading up to it just out of sheer anticipation.

As for MK, he absolutely tries to escape. He's been trying the whole week he's been stuck with Red to find a way out of there, but the immobilizing bracelets he's been outfitted with will stop him in his tracks if he leaves the boundaries of the palace. Not to mention they also activate when he tries to fight, and Red can even activate them remotely with the push of a button for whatever reason he chooses. MK has never been the planning type, so he is having a really difficult time coming up with a way to get out of there.. plus, the whole week before the wedding, almost every second of the day is spent being dragged around the palace by King Red as he fawns over him. He wants to spend that time plotting or looking for a way to get out of this situation, but he finds it hard to focus while that's all going on. It makes MK sick to his stomach to have to bear the affection of this demon who literally kidnapped and tortured him.

Since he's having such a hard time getting out of it through force, he tries several times to make Red understand that he does NOT LOVE HIM. And frankly, Red doesn't even really know what love IS! But things are definitely worse off than even in MK's previous imprisonment- Red Son wasn't exactly stable before, but it's made clear pretty quickly that Demon King Red has completely lost his mind. Nothing MK says to him will convince him to call off this wedding.

When at last the day arrives, MK realizes with a dawning dread that he's out of time. His friends haven't found him, and he's no closer to getting out of this than he was the first day he arrived in the palace. In his terror he fights every second he's able.. servants come to dress him for the day? He struggles until the bracelets activate, and he drops to the floor, unable to pull his wrists and ankles apart. Even then, he doesn't stop wiggling and trying to make it as hard for these demons as possible to get him ready for this nightmare of a day he's about to have.

So, he spends most of the day like that, immobilized as servants come in and out to get him ready and poke and prod him to make him presentable for their king. MK wants to cry (and does, a lot) but nobody will listen to his pleas for mercy.

Finally, MK is brought to the ceremony, already in progress (at least he managed to delay enough with his passive resistance that he was a bit late) and he's still immobilized from struggling before, so he has to be literally carried in... though it's on a beautiful golden palanquin so at least it's not totally undignified. Red pulls him off the conveyance and sets him down in a kneeling position in front of the altar. He begs Red one last time, face streaked with tears, to please not go through with this... the king just looks at him with a dreamy smile, his own eyes look almost unfocused. He hasn't heard a word MK said. Or if he did, he's made up some excuse for it in his own head, because he just leans in and takes MK's hands in his own, telling him not to be nervous and they're going to be so so happy together... Forever!

Before MK can decide what to do next (he is deciding between screaming until his lungs give out and waiting to be handed his tea cup for the tea ceremony and then throwing it on Red's family shrine) that becomes irrelevant, because finally, mercifully, Sun Wukong arrives and crashes the wedding.

#ask #spicynoodleshipping #dark spicynoodles #demon king red #AU of an AU #tanniasaurus

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carewyncromwell · 4 years

Photo

“Now I'm seeing clearly how I still need you near me -- I still love you so... There's something between us that won't ever leave us -- There's no letting go... We had a ‘once in a lifetime,’ But I just didn't know it 'til my life fell apart...”

~“If Ever You’re In My Arms Again,” by Peabo Bryson

x~x~x~x

His entire school career and beyond, Orion Amari had always been the wise counselor to his friends and teammates when it came to finding balance with their emotions and lives. Even though he had his own struggles thanks to his less-than-balanced childhood in an orphanage and suffered from anxiety attacks every-so-often, he’d still been able to live a healthy life regardless and find proper coping mechanisms for his trauma. When Orion found himself falling in love, however, it was a struggle he hadn’t known quite how to handle, or even how best to ask for help with.

Orion realized something was off-balance when Carewyn Cromwell -- a Slytherin one year younger than him who he’d finally managed to convince to rejoin his Quidditch team after three years to help their team win the Quidditch Cup Final -- got badly injured by a Bludger and ended up in the Hospital Wing with a bruised lung. Carewyn’s condition had paralyzed Orion in a severe anxiety attack the likes of which his teammates had rarely seen before, and although he managed to get his emotions under control once Carewyn was conscious, even he was unsettled by how bad the attack was. Admittedly, though, Orion had always been quite fond of Carewyn, given how well they saw eye to eye and how much they both respected each other, and Orion had felt responsible for her having gotten injured. He probably would’ve simply passed his feelings off as just guilt and worry were it not for what he saw the morning of the Quidditch Cup Award Ceremony.

While training before dawn as he always did in good weather, Orion caught sight of a gleaming white Patronus in the form of a Winged Horse. His breath stilled, disbelieving -- it was the same as the Patronus he himself had only just learned to conjure earlier that year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. And when he flew down after the Patronus and saw who had cast it, he found Carewyn waiting for him in McNully’s commentator box. Orion would look back on that day and wonder how in the world he reacted as calmly as he did, while knowing the superstition surrounding people sharing Patronuses -- but at the time, the sight had only made him want to be with her, to talk with her, to...look at her...look upon her with more clarity than he ever had before. And when he did, he realized that Carewyn Cromwell truly was a beautiful person: a selfless, kind, resourceful person with more fire than a Fire Crab and all the courage of a Chinese Fireball. It was little wonder that her classmates regarded her with such admiration, whether because of her Cursebreaking or not. Anyone could fall in love with the likes of Carewyn Cromwell. Even he...could see himself falling in love with such a woman.

And yet, when another person might have tried to make a move...Orion hesitated. He only had one week remaining at Hogwarts, before he graduated and joined the Montrose Magpies as their newest Chaser. The dream he’d worked so hard for -- his “gold,” if one recalls Orion valuing the “tenacity of a niffler” -- was finally within his grasp. Could he really put all of that at risk, by trying to alter course now? And Carewyn had her own “gold” as well -- her quest to protect Hogwarts from the Cursed Vaults. She would never choose a romance over helping her brother and protecting her own found family. Orion didn’t even know if what Carewyn and he had could even be considered a romance. Would he even have looked at Carewyn as anything romantic if he hadn’t seen her Patronus? He wasn’t sure...but now that he had, wouldn’t he then be assuming that there was more between them than there really was? Was he only projecting the “soulmates” superstition onto them, just because he fancied her? A crush was not love, after all. As much as he himself believed in fate as well, Orion knew that Carewyn did not. More importantly, he knew she’d both want and deserve someone who loved her for who she was, not due to some old magical wives’ tale. As much as he admired her, Orion couldn’t say definitively that he was in love with Carewyn, and the thought of putting all of his dreams on hold just to try to grab at a chance -- as a Slytherin, Orion just couldn’t see the sense in it. He couldn’t make that choice, not after he’d worked so hard! A Chaser can’t get distracted by the Golden Snitch, when their job is to score goals. And perhaps, in the deepest, darkest part of himself...Orion worried that he could never be what Carewyn needed. He knew how much she loved her brother and how much she wanted her family to be as it once was -- he remembered the pain in her eyes, when he’d first told her he was an orphan. Carewyn needed a family -- a home -- something stable and warm to return to...all things Orion knew absolutely nothing about. He didn’t want a conventional family life -- he had no interest in getting married or having lots of kids or buying a house with a white-picket fence. He wanted to play Quidditch and be free to live his own life, the way he wanted. And as much as he thought it was possible he could fall in love with Carewyn some day, he dreaded the thought of sacrificing everything he’d ever wanted to pursue her -- of giving up the “gold” he’d been chasing for so long.

And so, after a lot of thought, Orion made the decision to keep his feelings to himself. If they were truly meant to be, maybe their paths would realign again someday, he told himself. It was a decision that tormented Orion for the next six years he played for the Montrose Magpies. Not that he talked to much of anyone about his inner conflict -- even Orion’s best friends Skye Parkin and Murphy McNully and “star twin” KC @kc-needs-coffee could only really read between the lines, noticing that he seemed oddly avoidant whenever any mention of Carewyn was brought up. Orion even entered into a few relationships, but none of them lasted long, often because Orion’s partner wanted “more” than Orion was willing to give. The Star Chaser didn’t want to sacrifice his freedom, his dreams, or his independence. It was the main reason he hadn’t chased Carewyn in the first place...even though she’d seemed to understand him so much more than any partner he’d ever had. Carewyn would still send him letters sometimes -- Orion didn’t answer as much as he probably should have, but he always had a lot of difficulty answering her letters whenever he was in a relationship. It made him feel like he was being unfaithful, somehow. And as the years went on and Orion lived his own life and heard about Carewyn’s successful trials at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he tried to tell himself all the more that he’d made the right choice not to pursue Carewyn. If you love someone, you have to be willing to set them free, right? Not that he knew for sure that he’d been in love with her, but...they could’ve been something, maybe...if he hadn’t been so cowardly...

Orion’s longest relationship was with a young woman named Delilah Flint, who had taken a desk job with the Magpies’ PR department. The distinction probably wouldn’t have had much weight (given that they’d still only been together for about a year), were it not for Delilah ending up pregnant. Neither Orion nor Delilah had ever been interested in marriage, Orion because he didn’t see much reason and Delilah because she came from a family who would’ve never approved of her marrying an orphan of mixed magical ancestry -- but after the birth of their daughter Eos in summer 1996, the two reacted in completely opposite ways. Orion, who had never really had much interest in having a family, nonetheless felt a wonderful new paternal feeling swelling up in his breast toward his daughter and promised himself and Eos that she wouldn’t grow up alone, unsafe, and scared like he had. Delilah, on the other hand, suffered from severe post-partum depression after giving birth, thanks in no small part to when Eos was born (right after the return of Voldemort was revealed to the Wizarding World), and she was also in such severe financial straits that she’d have to go to her pureblood family for help, who would never agree to help her knowing she’d had a child out of wedlock. Delilah tried to give Eos up to an orphanage -- Orion, understandably horrified, tried to pacify Delilah however he could, even going so far as to suggest marriage if it meant keeping her and his infant daughter in his life...but in the end, that December, Delilah dropped Eos in Orion’s lap and left, never to be seen again.

The following year, the Ministry fell, and Orion had to go on the run, just barely escaping the Death Eaters with Eos thanks to the help of his Quidditch League associates McNully, Skye, Erika Rath, Oliver Wood, and Andre Egwu. Going on the run with a one-year-old was a difficult proposition, and after several months, a group of Snatchers cornered Orion trying to covertly purchase a new wand from a private vendor after his had gotten broken, and they took him into custody. Orion, who was bundled up in a cloak and looked to be holding his arm as if it was broken under it, went quietly with the Snatchers to the Ministry, his face oddly pale as he forcibly tried to calm his intense anxiety. He was rounded up with several other prisoners and put in a room in the Department of Mysteries until they could be “processed through the court” (read: wrongly convicted of “stealing magic”) and transported to Azkaban.

Fortunately for Orion, Aurors Angelo Lancaster @angellazull and Talbott Winger had caught wind that a new round of prisoners had been brought in, and they reached out to their main contact in Magical Law for help in busting them out. The contact -- an old school friend of theirs who was an up-and-coming lawyer -- arranged the trial hearings’ schedule so that there was a noticeable window of time before they started. In that short time, Angelo, Talbott, and their contact were able to break into the room and rescue the prisoners...and yes, the contact in question did indeed turn out to be a pretty young woman with emotional, almond-shaped blue eyes and a short ginger bob wearing flowing dress robes and bright red lipstick.

When Carewyn and Orion got over the shock of seeing each other face-to-face again for the first time in six years, one of their very first exchanges was --

“You cut your hair.”

“So did you.”

Another involved Carewyn offering to mend the “arm” Orion was holding under his cloak.

“You’re hurt...let me -- ”

“No! No, I’m...not hurt...I...”

When Orion tentatively raised his cloak to show Carewyn his tiny daughter bundled up in a wrap around his chest and cradled in his arms, part of him had wondered how she would react. He hadn’t mentioned Delilah or any of his other relationships to her in those short responses he’d sent her -- it’d been uncomfortable for him, to try to talk about his love life in his letters to her. But regardless of the surprise that rippled over her face, when Carewyn looked from the little baby to up into Orion’s dark eyes, her pale face nonetheless betrayed a weak smile.

“Is...is it a she?”

“Yes. ...Her name is Eos.”

Carewyn’s eyes softened visibly, welling up with a beautiful warmth, like the kind Orion had sometimes seen her show toward her friend Barnaby or younger students like Cedric Diggory. A maternal warmth...

“She’s beautiful.”

Carewyn’s whisper made Orion’s heart swell up in his chest, slamming against his ribs as if it wished to push itself through a set of prison bars. Even after so many years, her soul was truly more like his than anyone else Orion had ever known before.

Together Carewyn, Talbott,and Angelo worked to shrink all of the prisoners down to a size that they could smuggle them out of the Ministry and then help them go into hiding. After the War was over, Carewyn helped Orion with the paperwork needed for him to claim sole custody of Eos, since Orion and Delilah not being legal partners meant that Delilah and her family would have first priority if they ever sued for custody. Orion wasn’t sure if the Flints ever would try to take Eos, but Carewyn was determined not to give them any legal opening.

“You fought for her, Orion, not them. And now I plan to fight for you.”

“Carewyn...”

“No. I don’t want them to ever feel like they can just waltz in and take her, not after leaving her to the wolves. I’ll do whatever I have to, to make sure Eos stays with the man who put his life on the line to keep her in his life and safe. She deserves that.”

The stubborn fire in Carewyn’s blue eyes and the sincerity of her convictions was all it took. Orion had been on the edge for so long, feeling faintly off-kilter with every step for seven years, but had always just barely managed to feign composure and balance...but now, in a single moment, it was all for naught. He had fallen -- despite his best efforts, despite all of his avoidance and his flagrant cowardice -- into the wonderful, swirling abyss of ethereal, warm chaos that men called “love.” In that moment, and in many moments after, Orion cursed himself for not chasing after Carewyn Cromwell from the very start...for wasting so much time and being so passive, so short-sighted...so consumed by “what-if’s” that he’d completely discarded the “what-could-be’s.”

Fortunately there was a chance, now, to make up for lost time. A rose is no less beautiful just because it blooms slowly.

#my art #my writing #hphm #hogwarts mystery #orion amari #carewyn cromwell #murphy mcnully #skye parkin #katriona cassiopeia #angelo lancaster #talbott winger #other people's mcs #eos amari #orion's haircut is basically a 'long hair with an undercut' look #that way he can tie his hair up and have it completely off his neck when he's flying #and of course he still wears his classic arm warmers XD #can I also just say that as an INFP I totally get the feel of being overwhelmed by 'what-if's'#to the point that you're too paralyzed to actually act?#and yeah choosing between your dreams and a budding crush does seem like kind of an unpleasant crossroads #and I daresay after making the choice not to pursue a romance it would be that bit harder to try to pursue that person #orion and carey's lives ARE very different -- right down to where they live for their jobs london england VS montrose scotland #naturally they find a way to work that out but it would seem like a pretty significant obstacle #and honestly it's probably good that these two took some time apart #carey needed to come to grips with her asexuality before pursuing any other serious relationships #and now orion has some relationship experience under his belt too #plus carey and orion both have their own kids now! carewyn becomes erik apollo's legal guardian post-War #yay single parents!! 83

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angelictaehyun · 4 years

Text

𝐓𝐗𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐄: your first kiss.

song ; kiss me by ed sheeran

「 𝐘𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐉𝐔𝐍 」

You were busy making lunch, leaning against your kitchen counter when Yeonjun walked in. He simply stood by the side of the kitchen and studied you as you placed all your focus on creating a perfect, delectable sandwich. He grinned at your intense stare and tongue poking out of your mouth.

He’d been in love with you for a while, but he didn’t want to say anything that could potentially ruin your friendship, even though you felt the same. However, that day, he built the courage to finally admit to you.

He came up behind you, keeping a safe distance, and leaned against the opposite counter. He startled you but you smiled because it’s Yeonjun, the boy you’ve been in love with since elementary school.

He just blurted out his confession. He didn’t mean to, but he felt so nervous, he couldn’t contain it.

“Hey, Y/N, I think I’m in love with you.”

You were trying to slather on a precise amount of mayonnaise onto your sandwich, and when he blurted it out, you nearly dropped your butterknife.

Before you could turn around, he was already pressed flush against your back, holding onto your waist. He was scared to see your reaction, but he turned you around anyway.

You were still in shock as he lifted your chin to press his lips to your own, though you quickly melted into his touch. He smiled cockily as he lifted you onto the counter, feeling no resistance from you.

He pulled away to look at you, he just wanted to savor the moment, but you were pretty eager. You gripped his shirt and pulled him back in.

He quickly deepened the kiss, swiping his tongue across your bottom lip, asking for permission which you easily granted. He moved his hand to rest on your thigh, wrapping you around his waist. You moved your hand to his neck, brushing his sweet, sensitive spot, making him shiver.

He attached his lips to your neck, eliciting a soft moan from you. You couldn’t help but be in awe of his skill. He marked up your neck, his possessive side taking over, and honestly, it was a sexy first kiss.

However, it was abruptly ended by a pissed off Beomgyu. He walked in and practically screeched. The poor boy just wanted food and not to see his older brother grinding on you.

「 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍 」

You both sat on the couch, watching a show, with you straddling him, resting your head on his broad chest. He thought it was adorable, especially since you’re considerably smaller than his giant, massive frame.

You kept your eyes shut, listening to his heartbeat — it was your favorite pastime. You felt his soft breath tickling your forehead, making you smile. There wasn’t anywhere else you would’ve rather been.

He didn’t see you smile though, he believed you were asleep, so he took the opportunity to watch you fondly, his heart practically shooting out of his chest. The boy is just whipped!

He pressed a small kiss to your forehead and left his lips there for a moment. You caught him off guard when you let your hand travel up his chest to rest on his shoulder. You gazed up at him and gently smiled, making him instantly melt.

He couldn’t help himself as he leaned down to capture your lips on his. You both giggled into the kiss but eventually, he got serious and laid you down on the couch, hovering his body over you. At that point, you were just making out, but in an innocent manner.

You both continued like that until you heard another member on the other side of the door, then Soobin pulled away.

He rested his head on your chest, making sure not to squish you, as you both drifted off to sleep. You both were content and overflowing with love.

「 𝐁𝐄𝐎𝐌𝐆𝐘𝐔 」

You both were out at a convenience store, shopping late into the night because you both suddenly got a craving for ice cream.

He watched as you searched high and low for the ice cream, and of course, when you found it, it was placed on the top shelf, completely out of your reach.

He watched you struggle to grab it, laughing at your cuteness, but he soon came behind you to easily reach the top shelf. He thought it was adorable how you were smaller than him, it made it easy to tease you.

He kept his arm up in the air so you couldn’t reach, gazing at you with fond eyes as you tried jumping high enough to grab the pint. Honestly, his heart solely beat for you.

“Aw, angel. You want them? You’ll have to give me something in return,” he teased, tapping his lips with his finger. You sighed in frustration, scanning the store to make sure no prying eyes watched.

You grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pulling him down toward you to finally meet his plush, pretty lips. He smiled into the kiss! He’d been waiting to kiss you since he first laid eyes on you if he’s being honest.

He grabbed your waist and pulled you closer, deepening the kiss, until he realized it wasn’t a wise idea to makeout with you in a 24-hour convenience store. He pulled away, leaving you both a giggly mess.

You walked home all smiley and ended up staying awake until dawn, just kissing and cuddling. It was also the first night you ever said “I love you” to one another.

「 𝐓𝐀𝐄𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐍 」

It was your first date and you both decided to act like a tourist in your own city! Taehyun wasn’t much for affection, at least publicly, but he made sure to stay close to you. He was just very protective of you! Taehyun liked having you around and in his mind, that didn’t require showing a big romantic gesture to show that.

You both had finished walking along the river when he suggested grabbing ice cream. Of course, you agreed, you thought it was a cute, stereotypical first date idea. It was cliché, but he got chocolate and you got vanilla.

You both strolled through a nearby park, enjoying the ice cream and each other’s company.

When you sat down on a park bench, he not-so-subtly threw an arm around you and pulled you closer to him. It was pretty unlike him, thus you got a sneaking suspicion that something was up.

He didn’t say it, but he really wanted to kiss you! He’d been waiting since he first fell in love with you. Honestly, he was so smiley and giggly the day you agreed to be his.

The poor baby was nervous to hold your hand, he couldn’t even imagine kissing you. But on that benching, watching you happily munch on your ice cream, he had enough. He worked through his fear and mustered up his lost courage to look into your eyes, and finally kiss you.

His lips were warm and soft, you loved feeling them on you. He thought you tasted sweet like the ice cream you ate, it made the kiss better and memorable.

Afterward, you both got soft and giggly. He smiled and entwined his hand with your own, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of your hand, a small way of showing his love.

「 𝐊𝐀𝐈 」

This poor, sweet angel was most nervous out of all of them. You were cooped up in his room, watching a movie and cuddling. You’d actually been together for a while but he was quite hesitant to take the next step, and you understood his hesitation, so you never pushed — you just chose to enjoy his wonderful company instead.

He’d been thinking of kissing you for a while, and for some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking about it during the movie. His eyes kept drifting over to you, he wasn’t even doing it consciously. You felt his stare, he wasn’t necessarily subtle, and when you faced him, you were met with his angelic face.

You knew something was wrong especially after noting how he seemed to be deep in thought. You asked him what was wrong, but each time, he said nothing and reassured you. It wasn’t until his gaze trailed to your lips that you realized. And he knew he’d been caught, too. He immediately froze.

Kai was practically having a heart attack! He internally screamed and began blushing, quickly turning away. You decided to take initiative, considering his anxiousness, and placed a hand on his cheek, caressing it softly. Your other hand went to his waist and gently squeezed, just to snap him out of his daze.

You made sure to go slow, just to allow him time to process. He still didn’t move, like he didn’t even blink, it was a bit concerning.

You slowly brought your lips against his, and like a spell getting lifted, he broke from his trance and melted into the kiss. You both swore you could kiss for the rest of your life, it was that magical.

He giggled afterward and attacked you with a lot more kisses, clearly feeling comfortable with showing affection. After that initial kiss, he became a kissing machine!

What was once a nervous, soft boy turned into a grown, confident boy. He’ll just kiss you whenever he feels like it because he’s so, so in love with you and he would like you to know how much love he has for you.

#txt headcanons #choi soobin #choi yeonjun #choi beomgyu #kang taehyun #huening kai #tomorrow x together #txt

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universalcataclysm · 4 years

Text

Once Upon A Time.

With - Ty Lodgston. (@nxclearwinterxx) Where - The Myer’s Yacht; Murphy’s Fairytale Fling Party. When - Seven months before the end.

The evening air was balmy enough that Iza was almost regretting his choice in costume, especially now that he had a few drinks in him; Well. Drinks amongst other substances. There was the coke. And that delivery guy he’d swallowed down in the bathroom half an hour ago, the douchebag who had ruined his makeup and hadn’t even returned the favor. Honestly, Iza should have shoved him overboard.

But it was fine. The night was young and so was he. He’d fixed his makeup and it looked better the second time around than it had the first, and his outfit, despite being warmer than the short shorts and tank/polo/crop- top combo he usually defaulted to during the hotter months, was to die for. A silky baby blue swavorski studded number that even Iza’d had to question if it verged on being too gaudy, thigh- high silver boots, a lacy white capelet that perfectly matched the lacy underbust corset around his waist and his white bowtie and mask, because of course he had to play up the mystery aspect of his chosen fairytale. And then there was the ribbon, also baby blue silk and tied in a bow around his pristine blonde bun, a tiny glass slipper charm pinned right in the middle of the bow.

Over the top? Maybe. But that was just who he was, and he wouldn’t feel shame over it. Besides, yeah, he looked good.

And he was feeling good as his dearest friend’s party started coming to life. First came the earlybirds, those they knew well enough to feel comfortable to swing in for a little pregaming; a few people who Iza hated, most who he was neutral towards, one or two he sort of liked. His phone buzzed in his pocket. A text from his boyfriend, an apology for how he wouldn’t be making it tonight; Iza sent a series of sad emojis and rolled his eyes. Fucker was always complaining about pre- med homework, blah blah. Boring. Iza wasn’t sure why he hadn’t broken up with him yet, but he secretly kind of liked the stupid couple stuff. Luckily for them both, because that was about all there was between them these days, and even that was scarce.

Whatever. Just meant there was one less complication in his plan to get railed tonight.

His phone was turned off after that, and from then on the party steadily grew wilder and wilder. He was a little nervous being in too close of quarters with the drunk assholes, even though he was an asshole who definitely couldn’t be called sober, because this delicate outfit was too nice to ruin yet. So instead of squirming his way to the center of the dancing crowd, as he might have at any other party, he flitted to and fro, downing shots at what would have been an alarming rate if his tolerance hadn’t been so high and chatting up familiar faces and gathering up as much juicy gossip as he could. Wise to do that from time to time, collect useful knowledge, bolster a few fake friendships. He was in a good mood, thriving off of the company, the blissfully exciting vibe that accompanied a booming party, and the spirits.

And then he was catching sight of the most beautiful face he’d ever laid eyes on and choking vodka up his nose in the least graceful manner he’d ever displayed.

It took him a moment to recover from that, coughing and swiping at his nose and watering eyes and trying to tame his wildly beating heart, but eventually he regained something resembling composure and waved off the hands patting his back and the people questioning whether he was okay, if he needed some water, if he needed Murphy. He didn’t need water, didn’t need to disturb Murphy, and he was- well. Something else.

The man had only just boarded the yacht, and there was a girl with him. Girlfriend? Iza felt a reflexive swell of loathing, but she disappeared pretty quickly and that was either a good sign or a terrible one. Either they weren’t a couple, or they were an unhappy or distant one that would be easy enough for Iza to sink his claws into the handsome Prince- literally, he was Prince Charming, the prettiest one at this party- or they were a couple so established and trusting in each other that they didn’t feel the need to stay attached at the hip.

It wasn’t impossible to seduce someone in a relationship like that, but it was a little more work than Iza’d intended on putting in tonight.

This guy, though- Iza wanted him.

It was weird, though. Oftentimes when he set his sights on a man it was with the intent of getting him into the nearest semi- private area- if that- and trading orgasms as quick as possible before moving on to the next, and shit, sure he wanted that with this guy too, but... just... weird. He was struggling to get past how much he wanted to go over and introduce himself. Get a closer look at the man. Or just stay here and admire him and internally gush from afar.

Then, Iza could have sworn that the man looked right at him, eye contact from across the deck of this overloaded yacht, and something in his chest rose up and overflowed- seconds passed, and then he blinked, and it was over, leaving him to wonder if it had ever even happened at all. Between his fuzzy thoughts, jelly knees, dizzy head and racing heart, Iza had to wonder if someone had snuck something into his drink again- but he decided this didn’t feel like last time. It was a different kind of scary.

He chugged down half his drink because his mouth had gone terribly dry and decided, nope, legs weren’t working anytime soon, but hey, at least he had a good view. Maybe it was creepy to just fucking stare at someone, but it was a big party, lots of people. He could have been looking at anyone and anything. He was just hanging out. Relaxing. Nursing his drink. It was fine. It was the finest night of his entire life. Definitely.

And then that eye contact thing that he maybe but surely couldn’t be imagining happened again, and luckily he wasn’t trying to take a drink that time, but god, that swoopy feeling in his stomach sure returned with a vengeance. What the fuck, honestly? Where the fuck was Murphy? He’d have an explanation for this. His explanation would probably be something along the lines of you need to get dicked down, and as always, he would be right.

Iza drew in a deep breath and counted down from a hundred, calming his stupid ass down and attempting to return his heartrate to normal. Maybe he’d just had too much cocaine. Maybe that was to blame for this. There had to be some sort of logical explanation- the dicking down, he reminded himself. Dick. Solved all problems, didn’t it?

It dawned on him then that this was the longest he’d refrained approaching a target in- well, ever, probably. This was fucking unprecedented, and now that he’d come to that realization, well, he certainly couldn’t stand for it.

Of course that eye- contact- that- nearly- killed- him thing would happen again right then, and Iza all but whined, deflating against the railing and resolving himself to marching over there as soon as he was sure he could trust his legs. This was ridiculous. He was going to dance with that man and prove to them both that the Prince had absolutely no magic powers over him, and- and horrorstruck, Iza realized that the very thought of a simple dance with the man had him blushing. And not a cute, faint little blush either, it was a full- faced, red heated mess, he could feel it.

Briefly, he considered throwing himself overboard before he bit the bullet and slipped through the crowd. He wasn’t sure what the fuck was wrong here, he only knew he had to fix it immediately, whatever it took.

It was easy enough to sneak through the maze of bodies until he was behind the Prince, but it took him a few moments to boost up his courage enough to speak, and that was another thing on an ever- growing list of shit he wasn’t used to. He took a sip of his bubbly drink for courage and then fixed a coy grin on his face, leaving the flute lifted near his lips as if pretending to hide and wrapping his free arm around his waist, a totally casual picture. Not at all the fluttery gay disaster he’d been turned in to inside. “I’m fairly certain this is the part where you’re meant to ask me to dance,” Iza told him, trying valiantly to steel himself for when this man turned around and Iza was met head- on with the full force of what Iza knew would be devastating beauty. “It is how the story goes, you know?”

#ic: iza.#t: iza.#iza ft. ty.#iza ft. ty- 1.#once upon a time.

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brokenjardaantech · 3 years

Text

absorbance of the deep (chapter 5: rest)

written for a mermay prompts challenge. my prompt is ‘monochromatic.’

previous chapter can be found here.

also on ao3

----

No matter how much Simon wanted to avoid it, he had to return to the lighthouse in the end. Before he left the cave, Markus made him promise two times that he would call for the sea whenever trouble arose, and both times he solemnly swore that he would rely on him for support in case things went down, that he would cry for help, that he wouldn’t pretend that he could solve it on his own, because truthfully, he knew the attack changed everything; his parents could no longer ignore the fact that the only thing standing between him and his death was three teenagers of his age, nor could they pretend that Daniel didn’t even want to stay in their village anymore, and thinking about it, what did he do at school apart from reading on his own anyway? He hadn’t passed any exams since eight or nine, all his promotions were due to the lack of funding of their village and, therefore, the reluctance to waste money on a student for more years than strictly necessary. Of course they didn’t tell him about it in his face; he learnt it a few years back when a disgruntled Daniel complained about how his twin could advance a grade despite not putting any effort into studying at all and threatened to complain to the authorities - whoever they were - until the school or their parents gave him a reasonable explanation that promoting Simon was the cheapest and fastest way to get rid of him. They thought that because he didn’t speak, he certainly couldn’t understand what they were saying either.

Well, it did take him a few months to decide his feelings on the issue and a lot of effort to focus on the entire conversation instead of being distracted by other thoughts halfway through, but that didn’t make it hurt less. It still hurts from time to time when he thinks about it, but the civilisation on the surface is gone, he has Markus to distract him, so he tends not to be very bothered even though he never had been in the first place.

He rode the waves until they placed him gently on the pier connected to the lighthouse, and he thanked them one last time before taking a deep breath and forcing himself to walk along the pier until he was standing in front of the backdoor. He pressed his ear against the wood carefully so that it didn’t make it creak to listen for any sign of struggle and chaos, but all seemed quiet. He could neither hear a single movement nor feel the slightest vibrations apart from the gentle thud, thud, thud of the structure being lapped by the tide, though it could be his bias towards the ocean that made it less terrifying than it probably was in reality. But still, for safety, he climbed up the improvised ladder Daniel built to enter the house through his bedroom instead of through the backdoor, holding onto one of the ledges with one hand while trying to slide the window open.

He should’ve known that his clumsiness would one day cost him.

His heart nearly burst out of his chest as his hand slipped on the glass and he lost his balance. The momentum of his upper body sent him reeling, his other hand let go of the plank, and without at least three points of contact, he started to fall, his limbs flailing but not touching anything solid as his brain processed what was happening, his mind bracing for the inevitable impact and maybe his early demise -

Just to be cushioned by something soft and bouncy.

He was slowly lowered onto the pier until he was lying on the cool wood. Pushing himself to a sitting position, he turned around and saw Markus hanging on the edge of the pier with his arms outstretched and his head peeking out with a chastising look on his face. Go through the door.

It won’t be wise, was Simon’s explanation. Going to my room is safer.

Fine.

A tendril of water rises from the sea and extends up to the window of the twins’ room, nudging it open until a gap just big enough for Simon to climb through before sliding back down again and disappearing completely. Go on, Markus said in his mind. I won’t go until you’re safely inside.

Simon picked himself up once more and climbed the wall more carefully this time, feeling Markus’ gaze on his back all the way up until he silently rolled into his bedroom - one of the advantages of having his bed next to the windows - and he knelt on the mattress with his arms on the windowsill just to stare at Markus for a long while, memorising the way the rising sun painted the ocean a rippling gold and creating a halo around his head. He looked absolutely stunning.

Just like the entire ocean he should be.

The thought came unprompted and without any explanation, but somehow, in his entire memory, it made sense. It didn’t surprise him that Markus and the sea were the same. It didn’t surprise him that Markus let him know. It didn’t surprise him that Markus brought him the courage to look at the overwhelming brightness of the ocean just to take one more look at him before he disappeared under the pier and proceeded to go back to wherever he lived - if he had a corporal form at all. But it wasn’t a time for poetic musings and pining; he kept his window open for the morning breeze, but as soon as he turned around to face the empty bed on the other side of the room, reality crashed down onto him harder than any tsunami, and he nearly fell off his bed from his attempt to scramble off the bed in search for his twin. Daniel? he asked in his mind before remembering that telepathy was limited to between him and Markus. Creeping out to the corridor, he first checked on his parents’ room and discovered that his mother was sleeping, then he stuck close to a wall as he padded down the stairs to take a peek at the situation in the living room, finding out that his brother was waking up on the sofa. He didn’t look pleased to see Simon.

‘Should I even ask?’ Daniel grumbled as he ran his hand through his hair.

Simon wished he had his dictionary with him right now because then he would be able to tell his twin to clarify, but since rushing upstairs to grab it seemed like a bad idea, all he did was to shut up and listen.

‘Well, it worked,’ the twin walked straight to the kitchen and started preparing his breakfast by banging the cupboard doors and slamming eating utensils onto the counter, the sharp noise assaulting Simon’s ears and forcing him to protect them by covering them with his hands. ‘I’m officially out of this place.’

Simon followed his gaze towards the suitcase by the door, a soft, worn-out thing that looked like it was on the verge of bursting. So that was why Daniel’s bed and the space around it looked so empty when Simon climbed in a few minutes ago - he had probably shoved everything into the suitcase.

‘Don’t worry, I think the other guys are out too,’ the fridge door slammed shut. Every single movement from his twin was forceful, harsh, as if he wanted to unleash his wrath on anything and everything, and even though Simon knew Daniel would never hurt him, his brain told him to stay on guard, to run as soon as he could. Or it was Markus keeping track of everything and silently nudging him towards the direction. ‘They won’t hurt you anymore.’

That didn’t quite match what Josh had said the day before, but Simon wasn’t in the mood to confirm right now; he managed to rush upstairs before the first scrape of metal spoon against teeth as Daniel shoved the first of many mouthfuls of cereal into his mouth to fetch his dictionary, already flipping through the pages as he ran down to perch on the sofa so that it was close enough to let his brother read the word he was pointing at but not hurt him, and he asked, [where - are - you - going]

‘Away from here.’

[where - exactly]

‘Does it matter?’ Daniel exploded, and Simon wished he had grabbed his headphones as well. ‘Not that you care, right? All you ever do is reading your damned books and disappearing into the fucking sea for hours and making us worry. They don’t even want you in the system!’

A particularly hard wave of the hand he was holding the cereal bowl with sent a mixture of milk and soggy cornflakes onto the ground. With a particularly loud curse, he threw the bowl - cereal and all - onto the floor, the ceramic shattering into a few large jagged pieces that Simon knew could be used against him with the loudest clank that echoed in the room. The sound triggered every single alarm in his system, snapped the last thread that held his self-control, and then he stopped caring, he stopped being the supportive twin brother he always wanted to be but couldn’t, he stopped thinking about everything apart from the simple thought that he had to run. He was aware of the sofa, then the suitcase, then the door, and he was out in the sun, his feet were pounding against heating asphalt, the usual soft ocean breeze had turned into blades cutting into his cheeks from how fast he was running, but he couldn’t stop, he couldn’t look back, not with Daniel doing that to him and leaving, leaving, leaving and he was angry and so was probably his mother and his father who wasn’t even in the house but it was a small village and there wasn’t a lot of place for a lighthouse keeping to go at the crack of dawn so WHERE CAN HE BE? His vision became blurry, his ears were filled with nothing but the high-pitched whistling of the wind, and one moment of hesitation was enough for him to trip on completely flat ground and land painfully on hard ground paved with pieces of sett, but despite the pain, despite the wounds he couldn’t feel, despite his throat constricting and his legs burning, he picked himself up, moved forward; walked when he couldn’t run, put one foot in front of another when he could barely walk, collapsed onto his feet and crawled when he couldn’t support himself - anything to get away from his brother who betrayed him and his mother who didn’t care about him once he stopped being a baby and his father whom he didn’t even know the location of.

He didn’t have any reason to stay, he realised, but neither did he have anywhere else to go.

Somehow no one stopped him before the texture underneath his hand turned from pavement to wet grass, and he used the last of his strength to drag himself to a shaded spot under a tree so that his senses didn’t get overwhelmed again from the sunlight. Without direct light, the morning dew was even more prevalent and soaked through his shirt quickly, but even that was better compared to the heat he had absorbed from the sun or generated from running from one side of the village to another. He had no water, no food, nothing to help himself recover apart from time, time which he didn’t have because his entire body was hurting so much that he might as well be dying, and even though the logical, life-loving side of him knew that dying here wouldn’t solve anything, he wouldn’t mind if he just closed his eyes here and never wake up, because if he did, his parents would probably send him off to the deep ocean on a boat in his favourite clothing and possession - the latter which probably consisted of nothing more than his noise-cancelling headphones and his trusty backpack that was too small on him but he refused to replace - then he would be able to be with Markus forever because he no longer had to return to the bright surface world where there was no Markus -

Cut that thought, Markus’ voice wasn’t loud but neither was it gentle like before. I’ll ask someone to tend to you. Wait there.

Markus had never been that harsh (firm, the reasonable side of his mind reminded him, but it wasn’t that he had the capacity to be reasonable and level-headed right now) with him before. Simon knew the words were out of genuine care, so why was his vision turning blurry and the sockets of his eyes heating up? I want you to be here.

I know, but you were just attacked yesterday and people wouldn’t be kind when they see another stranger with you.

They didn’t see you yesterday?

I made sure I stayed hidden.

That didn’t help Simon’s argument. But I don’t want anyone else.

I’ll be there as soon as I can.

But I want you here now, Simon knew he didn’t have an excuse anymore and was throwing a tantrum, but he just couldn’t seem to stop, couldn’t seem to stop hurting. I can come to you.

No. Stay where you are. You are under no condition to move.

The last sentence sparked his defiance, the sudden pounding in his heart giving him just enough strength to put some of his weight into his arms and push his upper body up by a few centimetres before they suddenly gave out and the back of his head hit the grass once more with a soft thud. His fingers on the grass tightened, the force enough to tear a few poor strands of vegetation out of the soil, and he curled into a ball with frustrated tears rolling down his face. He was tired. He didn’t know how long he lay there sobbing and crying until he exhausted the last bit of his strength and he could only melt into the hard ground, feeling the soil soften underneath his body and release even more moisture and wetting his clothes to an uncomfortable level.

He just wanted Markus.

It was hours later when the sun was high up in the sky that he heard footsteps approaching, and he had to cover his ears once more because he had been with nothing but his own breaths for so long that anything more than that set him on edge. He did risk a peek at the person and realised that it was Josh, who knelt down next to him and blocked most of his vision with his body. ‘Markus told me you’re here,’ he explained, the volume of his muffled voice just right. ‘I’ll take you back to my place. Then we’ll see what we can do, okay?’

Anywhere that was neither the lighthouse nor here sounded good enough to Simon right now, so he nodded and attempted to pick himself up once more, managing to sit up but not stand on his feet because the burn in his muscles was too much to bear. Josh offered his hand for him to grab as support, but when Simon reached out to grab it, his friend surprised him by taking his wrist and pulling him up almost painfully in a way that reminded him of North. When he swayed, Josh didn’t even ask before taking one of Simon’s arms and draping it on his shoulders and then dragging him towards the car he didn’t even realise was there. How did he miss an entire car engine?

Josh helped him fasten his seatbelt before going to the other side of the car to climb in. North was, once more, their designated driver, and their gazes only met once in the rearview mirror before Simon averted his eyes and she made the car go. How Markus contacted them or how they managed to arrive in such a short time, Simon had no idea, but all he knew as the air-conditioning started drying his sweat and his wounds from tripping and falling started to sting. North might as well have run him over with her car and he probably wouldn’t know the difference.

The drive to Josh’s house was short, a fact that Simon was grateful for because of how much his wounds were suddenly hurting. When they arrived, he let Josh lead him into the house, sat down on the too-soft sofa when he instructed him to, mentally prepared himself for the sting of Rivanol after Josh warned him about how he was going to treat his wounds, and all the warning he got was North holding him in place before a cotton ball soaked in yellow fluid was swapped against the scrapes on his arms.

If his voice worked, he would’ve screamed.

But it didn’t, and all he could do was sit there trying not to pull his muscles all over again by hissing and breathing through the gaps of his clenched teeth as one of his best friends hold him down and the other quickly sanitised all open wounds on his body by lighting fires on top of it. His muscles flexed and spasmed, beads of sweat broke out on his already soaked body, and there was nothing he could do when Josh accidentally dragged the material of the dressing against one of the scrape wounds on his arm against broken skin, tugging layers of tissue towards a direction it shouldn’t go. Suddenly he was back on the street again, his legs paralysed and too weak to support himself, he could taste the salt of his own sweat, he could swear the sunlight was going to burn him, his skin was boiling, sweat and blood and other fluids were leaking out of his body, he needed to get out and run and run until he was one with the ocean and maybe then he could be -

‘Look, Simon.’

North’s voice, one that she usually reserved for situations where they had to abandon everything and run, cut through his mind, and so he looked, he heard the sound of running water, and it didn’t take long for him to notice the clear stream of running water moving across the floor towards where they all were and crawling up the sofa in a defiance against gravity, the second time that he saw Markus in such state. This time, the sea showed up and solidified next to him and immediately pulled Simon against his side, the weight of his arm across his shoulders and the warmth his body radiated equally comforting. Markus said something but he didn’t catch it, but it was also fine because Markus’ hand on his face helped numb his senses, and the next thing he knew was Josh pulling away and setting the first-aid kit to one side. ‘Go take a shower,’ North said before taking the kit away. ‘I’m sure Josh can lend you something.’

‘The dressings are waterproof,’ Josh explained. It got harder to hear his voice when he walked to the other side of the living room, but somehow Simon managed to catch everything instead of drifting away. ‘Just make sure that the adhesive doesn’t fully peel back and the wounds should be protected well. I’ll get you some clothes; do you want long sleeves or short sleeves?’

Just as Simon wondered how he could request for a dictionary, a small one was gently placed on his lap, and unfamiliarity meant that it took him longer than usual to find the word he needed. [short]

‘I’ll put them in the bathroom. Hope you don’t mind they’re a bit big.’

Simon looked at the clothes he was wearing. His shirt used to belong to his father who was both stronger and broader than Simon himself would ever be, his mother had to add an elastic around the waistband of his trousers so that it could stay on without a belt because he was too clumsy to use one, and he constantly had to wear two pairs of socks so that his shoes fit and the hard material didn’t scrape his skin. [use - to - it]

He wasn’t sure if all the flipping and scanning even paid off because his friend was already moving on to his next task, and the thought that he was once more left alone simply for being slower to communicate his thoughts - not letting that chain of thought continue. Seeing nowhere to return the dictionary to, he placed it on top of one of the many piles of books on the coffee table and hoped that Josh didn’t mind in case he screwed up the arrangement, but from the layer of dust on the once-topmost book, its owner probably hadn’t touched it in quite a while, so Josh probably wouldn't care that much - if he remembered the pile existed at all.

Come on, Simon, let’s get to the bathroom to clean you up.

The stairs in Josh’s house were hard to climb because of the big steps. With every single movement came a sharp wave of pain from the dressing brushing against his scrapes, and by the time he reached the upper floor, it felt like he had been running all over again, his body aching in places he never knew could hurt or exhaust and making him even more drained than before. Markus’ presence behind him probably saved him from falling backwards and hitting his head against the corner of a step multiple times, but it didn’t prevent his legs from seizing up from a cramp, didn’t help him prepare for the slight moment of panic he felt before he met the floor painfully, didn’t remind him to breathe as the air was knocked out of his lungs. The floor was hard but cool and smooth. He might lie there for a moment so that he can rest -

He was rolled over before an arm slid underneath his back and another his knees, and suddenly he was in the air, a bounce and suddenly his head rolled uncontrollably against Markus’ chest, and in Simon’s head was the sea’s voice, Let me help you. It’s been a restless two days.

Simon realised that any other person would’ve been at least somewhat embarrassed had the circumstances been the same, but as Markus carried him to the bathroom, as he was gently placed on the countertop between the sink and the pile of clothes Josh no doubt prepared, as he watched Markus fumble with the taps next to the bathtub, he felt oddly numb apart from the usual anticipation and sense of safety the sea brought to him. Like he was underwater riding the waves while being half-asleep and his entire vision was tinted a deep, deep blue. He heard neither the sound of water hitting the smooth surface of the bathtub nor the telltale murmur of running water, but when Markus filled his line of sight with his body by standing so, so close again, Simon looked up and saw that the tub was nearly full.

I hope the temperature is appropriate, the sea said. Do you want me to stay or leave? I know people on the surface tend to bathe alone.

You may stay, Simon replied. I don’t mind. It’s up to you.

His hands reached for the hem of his shirt so that he could take it off - one of the rare complex actions he could do on his own after years of practice and embarrassment - but one thing he failed to account for was that he had run across town not a few hours ago and had tripped countless times before lying for hours on melting soil, and the smell of his own sweat, the stickiness of the mud sticking onto his clothes and parts of his body, the bruises and muscle cramps making themselves known when he tried to raise his arms - his mouth fell open in a silent scream while his body stayed frozen despite his pounding heart and his racing breaths. He couldn’t finish the motion.

He was stuck.

His shirt was tugged away by a pair of hands that didn’t belong to him, returning both his vision and mobility, and he held his breath as Markus casually dropped his shirt onto the floor with his green eyes fixated on somewhere below his face as if he was taking in every bruise, every small scar he left on himself when he picked on the thin, tiny hair that was the only thing his body seemed to be able to grow, every single cell that made him who he was. Slowly, Markus reached for him, touched him first with the pads of his fingers, then with his entire hand, then sliding said hand across his body, slowing down on dressing-covered flesh, smoothing down his arm, then holding Simon’s slender wrist, his bony hand, and he couldn’t help but notice how dark Markus’ skin was compared to his own, how strong and shapely his hand was, how he could feel the sheer power humming underneath Markus’ skin as if asking for permission to… enter him.

And the thought that he wouldn’t mind was equally terrifying and exciting.

What do you want to do? Simon asked. Had they been alone, he would’ve let Markus have his way, but unfortunately they were still in Josh’s house at the moment.

I can heal your wounds in a blink of an eye, Markus made it sound like something normal that he did on a daily basis, but I’ll need your permission. It might feel strange for you.

Being pain-free did sound nice, but Simon dared not think of how his friends would react if they realised his wounds were gone. They had enough speculations and suspicion about Markus that neither of them was in the position to answer, and to think that on top of turning into a gravity-defying puddle and controlling the ocean, he could heal whatever aches and pains Simon had in his body… the questions would be endless. Not this time. Josh and North will notice and they’ll ask questions.

Doesn’t mean that we need to answer them.

I don’t even want to hear them.

Fair enough. May I help you undress, then?

Simon gave Markus a nod, and the sea knelt to take off his socks before beckoning him to slide down the counter so that he could remove his torn trousers next. What Simon didn’t expect, however, was his underwear being removed at the same time, and in one smooth motion he was completely bare, but instead of feeling exposed like when he was with… anyone else, for that matter, he felt… relieved. As if the final barrier he constructed between the ocean and himself finally crumbled and collapsed, all with a pull of fabric. He found Markus staring again, except this time Simon was the one overlooking and Markus the one below him, and it was neither awkward nor unnatural even though his experience had been the opposite, the sea as destined to look after him as he was destined to be drawn to the depths of the ocean. The idea of letting the sea take him came unprompted, and Markus stood up in a sudden, abrupt movement that startled Simon. Evidently their bond ran deeper and less controllable than he had thought. More unexpectedly, the sea took his cheeks and yanked him in for a kiss rougher than any one they had shared up to that point, one of Markus’ thumbs pressing down on his chin in a wordless command to open his mouth which he complied, welcoming the sea’s mouth to devour his own, submitting to the ocean’s manipulation when strong fingers angle his head to gain better access to his lips, his tongue. A heat so foreign to him that it quickly became terrifying pooled in his guts, and as if sensing Simon’s discomfort and fear, Markus finally pulled away but stayed close enough to press their foreheads together, their breaths mingling and their hearts roaring in sync. Then they kissed again, this time no more than a light peck of their lips - an apology from Markus.

I lost control, he said. I should’ve slowed down. I’m sorry.

You did, answered Simon, and even he himself wasn’t sure if it was referring to the first or second statement. I… liked it.

I scared you.

I scared myself.

Markus sighed and took both of Simon’s hands in his. Let’s get into the bath.

He obeyed the request and stepped into the warm water with a hand on the edge of the tub and the other holding onto Markus’ wrist, his subsequent exhale draining the remaining strength out of him, and his back hit the slanted side of the tub with a dull thud and a splash of water. His arms drifted beneath the surface in an odd show of buoyancy, his legs started floating upwards if he didn’t use some of his strength to ground himself - which he eventually got over by spreading his legs and sticking them against the sides of the tub - and he discovered soon enough that he couldn’t stop moving because everything felt so strange when the water wasn’t flowing.

He was used to the vastness of the ocean. He was used to the waves either carrying him to his home or gently cradling him as he floated on the surface with Markus as they both gazed at the stars. He was not used to still water and the noises he made echoing in the confined space of a bathroom.

Close your eyes, Markus distracted him with a kiss on his cheek. Imagine yourself sitting in the tide under the sun with my protection. I’ll wash you if you allow me to.

Simon did as he said. Please.

He let his mind drift as he relaxed into the bath while Markus… did his thing. He was aware of a soft sponge being carefully pushed between his fingers, then along his body, then his toes, the smoothness that followed indicating that Markus was using some sort of soap that somehow managed to not irritate Simon’s fragile skin. It was more solid and stern than Simon would’ve treated himself, but because it was Markus, he was relaxing nonetheless, and somehow he found himself leaning into the ocean’s touch as Markus washed his hair and kneaded his scalp with just enough pressure to make it therapeutic instead of painful.

We should do this more often, Markus said as he washed away the bubbles in Simon’s hair. As the water automatically avoided his eyes, Simon risked opening them and discovered that the water in the tub was still as clear as when it was first prepared. It is… more relaxing than I expected.

You’re doing most of the work.

Indeed I am.

This isn’t cumbersome?

Not when it’s you I’m serving. Come on, we’re finished here.

This was the first time Simon emerged from a bath completely dry immediately, saving him the trouble of dragging a towel across his skin and making himself all sweaty and annoyed, and it didn’t take long for him to get dressed despite the dull throbbing of his muscles and wounds thanks to Markus’ help, but he insisted to walk down the stairs himself even though he had to keep a vice-like grip on the sea’s arm because of course a staircase narrow as this didn’t have any railings. He made a beeline to the sofa and sank into its corner right before his legs gave out, and Markus joined him immediately afterwards and placed his arms around his shoulders. Drifting together at last, as things should be. Distantly, he heard Markus talking to someone with his physical voice, but it was all muffled and illegible to his exhausted mind, and it wasn’t until the ocean’s voice echoed in his mind that he woke up from the light doze he had fallen into.

I presume that you heard nothing.

And you are correct.

The arm around his shoulders tightened as Markus buried his nose into Simon’s hair. Are you up to going back to school?

Why?

They want your input in deciding your future education.

Simon was confused. They never listened to me before.

He could hear a smirk in Markus’ voice. They will now. Don’t worry, I’ll always be on your side.

#simarkus #dbh markus #dbh simon #dbh north #dbh josh #dbh #detroit become human #detroit: become human

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dusky-dancing · 4 years

Note

For the ask meme, can you do #17 and rikunami?

Thank you for the ask, anon!

See this post for the full list!

I admit that I was a little nervous since I’d never written RikuNami before, but they are so fun to write! Hope you enjoy :)

Here’s #17, A Kiss to Distract

——————————————————————————————–

After helping the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee unlock more data from Cid’s computer, Riku had needed a breather. A quick detour before he headed back to the Land of Departure, nothing else. His heart led him to the same place it always had, and for the same reason. Next he knew, the warm sun and green forests that cradled Twilight Town greeted him on his descent.

For the first time, it hadn’t been Namine who greeted him off of the gummi ship, but Hayner, Pence and Olette who were eager to put him to work.

So much for a breather.

The “work”, turned out, involved throwing Namine a party for her new birthday, the day that her heart was returned to her. Of course, the day had been the anniversary of many things, but they’d wanted to focus on the positive like the good friends they were.

The others had already been busy getting all of the decorations, and the three before him were in charge of handling all of the food. With smiles all-too suspicious, they’d volunteered him to keep Namine company for the next few hours while everyone else set up, and he’d agreed to the task almost embarrassingly quickly. For one, he’d have done anything to avoid being in a small space with several people again. And two, he’d just…wanted to see her. She’d been his whole reason for visiting the quaint town in the first place.

Hayner had told him to have her back by six o’clock, but his tone had reflected that of a protective sibling as much as an eager party-planner.

He found her sipping tea alone outside of a cafe. Time always seemed to slow the moment her eyes found him, and this was no different.

“Riku!” She stood and faced him. Neither of them were fully comfortable initiating or participating in things like hugs, but he felt content just being in her company. “Xion told me they had a surprise for me today, but I wasn’t expecting something this great,” she smiled.

A lump formed in his throat, and something between a groan and a cough escaped. “Yeah,” he gave her a subdued smile, which he knew paled in comparison to the one he was receiving, “guess I’ll try not to disappoint.”

“Never,” she gestured down the street. “Join me for a walk?”

Yes, a walk. Anywhere that wasn’t near the usual spot. Or a gift store. Or anywhere that sells food. Shouldn’t be too hard.

As he scaled up his singular task in his head, he realized she was still standing a few paces ahead of him and waiting for an answer.

“Uh, yes,” he said and hastily joined her side.

He’d never get tired of exploring Twilight Town. The real place was so much more lively than what Ansem the Wise had generated in his computer. Though his task of keeping her oblivious made it harder to just enjoy the colors of the town.

When the gang had said they’d be around town gathering supplies, they hadn’t been kidding. Whether it was Axel and Isa with a giant banner that said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NAMINE”, Roxas and Xion trying party hats on each other, or Hayner and Olette picking out cupcakes, there had been spoilers around almost every corner. He swore they could teleport too. With how many times he had to quickly herd Namine out of view, he was surprised she never caught on. One thing he knew: he had to get her out of the main portion town.

A brief train ride brought them to the appropriately named Sunset Terrace, and Riku immediately appreciated the lack of familiar faces.

“So,” he said as he walked, “it’s been a year since you moved here. How do you like it?”

“It feels like a home,” she folded her hands in front of her chest. “Thanks to the people here, the happy memories here far outweigh the sad ones.”

The sad memories, in which she was essentially held hostage for a second time, all while being belittled and dehumanized. Most of those memories he’d been a bystander for, and he wondered if being around him now caused her any pain by association. It was a miracle that she granted him any of her time at all. Perhaps returning to his rightful form again helped make their friendship possible, or perhaps she was just that kind.

Namine seemed to follow his thoughts. “You know,” she said, “with my time in the mansion, some parts were painful, but some were happy too.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm,” she nodded, “Atleast I wasn’t alone.”

He chuckled, “I would’ve hardly considered myself company.”

“You were struggling, but you were there.” She giggled, “In a way, we were both these strange beings overwhelmed with guilt, yet still determined to set things right.” She leaned and brushed a hand over his arm as she walked. “Thank you, Riku.”

He searched himself for reasons that he could possibly deserve a ‘thank you’, but came up empty. Why was he making this day about himself, anyways? And why was he making her recall painful memories? She certainly didn’t look unhappy, but he wanted her to remember the day - remember his company - fondly.

“Here, come with me.” Out of nowhere, she grabbed his hand and began running up Sunset Hill, turning him into a stumbling mess after her.

He’d been to the top of the hill before, but now he could fully take in the view. The town itself seemed to end while the rest of the world stretched out in an endless green forest.

“What do you think of the view?” She asked.

“It’s nice.” He kept the strong words to describe it, and even stronger words to describe how she looked, to himself. “I haven’t been here since-” he caught himself, hating that he seemed to fail at lighthearted conversation.

“Since you let me go,” she smiled.

“You’re giving me too much credit,” he chuckled. “It was the least I could’ve done.”

A commotion down the hill in the marketplace caught Riku’s attention. From where he stood, he could see that it was Pence struggling to carry a giant cake. He rolled his eyes, grateful that Namine’s back was turned to it. He played it cool and refrained from staring too long. It wasn’t difficult to keep his attention on her anyways.

Despite his efforts, the conversation kept coming back to their memories in Twilight Town. Maybe leaning into the topic would be better than forcing small talk.

“It was a two-way street in the mansion, you know,” he said. “You helped me too.”

“I helped restore Sora’s memories,” she muttered, “but-”

“I don’t mean that,” he interrupted. “I thought I was…cursed. But when I saw you use your powers to restore Sora’s memories, it made me want to do more than just conquer the Darkness. It - you - inspired me to walk the road to dawn, even if it took a while,” He looked straight into her light blue eyes. “So, thank you, Namine.”

She hung her mouth open, as if she wanted to respond, but settled on one of her humble smiles.

“And on a less complicated level,” he added, “you’ve been there for me as a friend ever since,” he hung on the last word and left the sentence unfinished, both unable to and knowing she wouldn’t need him to.

Being separated from his best friends weighed on him heavily over the past year. Even though he knew he and Kairi were working together to save Sora, and he couldn’t imagine what kind of loneliness she was going through, the events of a year ago had left him with no one to confide in.

Well, no one but the woman in front of him.

Her cheeks reddened, and her eyes reflected a deep empathy. If anyone knew how badly one needed friends, it was her. “It’s the least I could do.”

He’d thought his connection to Namine had only been through some combination of Kairi or his replica, but that delusion shattered the moment she’d placed her hand in his. In the tiny contact, there had been neither a familiar spark of an existing friendship, nor a drive to protect solely out of obligation.

No, there had been something more. He found himself coming to her for seemingly no reason, and she always made time for him amidst her new found family. Every strong face and misleading “I’m fine” from him had fallen apart under her gentle gaze. The more he thought of her, the more that the word “friend” failed to fully describe who she was to him.

A loud yelp echoed from where Pence was, and Riku didn’t have to look to know his attempt to carry too much had failed. An earsplitting clatter followed, along with many more gasps.

Unfortunately, Namine hadn’t resisted the temptation to look. As she began turning around, time slowed, and Riku panicked internally. He had one job - don’t spoil the surprise for Namine - and her seeing Pence dropping a birthday cake was probably considered a mission failure. His mind ran through several excuses he could tell her, but none were convincing.

There was one thing he could do to keep her focused on him; something he might just be mad enough to do. Before he could talk himself out of it, he mustered up all of the courage he possessed and took her face within his hands. This new touch along with the surprised look she was giving him was enough to turn his stomach into nothing but nerves, but there was no going back.

Next he knew, his lips were on hers in the gentlest, most inexperienced of kisses. Her lips were just as soft and warm as her heart, and he wished he could stop time to cherish it a little longer. Her hands came up to brush over his own and settle on his arms.

Kissing her was less like fireworks and more like finally breaching a surface he never knew existed. Everything, from breathing to smiling to jumping to crying, felt waves easier.

When he pulled away, her eyes stayed closed a moment longer before fluttering open.

“Riku…”

The way she breathed his name so fondly made him want to lean back in for more, but he waited. Waited for her to move first. To say something else.

Only she didn’t. She remained still, looking up at him with both surprise and tenderness.

Guilt quickly pulled him back under the surface. He meant every second of kissing her, but how could he fumble something so earnest on a distraction? Had it only been a distraction, or was the distraction just an excuse to kiss her? Whatever it was, it had worked on both of them, because the commotion down the hill was the furthest thing from their minds now.

“I’m sorry,” his hands fell from her face, to her shoulders, to her arms. Even her hands felt far more than he deserved to touch. “That was…selfish of me.”

Her hands caught his wrist as he tried to back away. When he dared to meet her eyes again, her expression hadn’t changed. She shook her head. “You deserve to be a little selfish sometimes.”

As she stepped closer, the distant clock tower chimed to signal half-an-hour until six. Walking back now would barely make them punctual, but hopefully Pence’s accident had afforded them a little more time.

It was then that Riku decided making her a little late to her own surprise party was worth taking the time to kiss her properly.

—————————————————————————

Thank you for reading! If I recall correctly, the Kingdom Hearts character files revealed that Namine goes to live with the Twilight Town gang after the events of KH3, which I thought was super sweet and everything she deserves. The sea-salt family just keeps growing, and I loved the idea of Namine joining their little found family. It was also really fun to think of all the things Riku admires about Namine, and in what circumstance he’d kiss her as a distraction.

This was my first RikuNami fic, so I hope you all enjoyed it:)

#kingdom hearts #kh fanfiction #ask #answered #writing ask #writing prompt #kiss prompt #rikunami #riku #namine #kh3 #post kh3 #my writing #dusky writing #anonymous

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elixir4paradise · 4 years

Text

Promise-of-Happiness

Set after Bad Relationship Ending 1, what happens if V catches wind of what Rika has done to both her and Ray? Will they be saved?

I could remember screaming, a voice screaming my name. A voice asking, begging, pleading for forgiveness for leaving me alone. The face before me seemed so familiar, yet so far away. Bleached hair with pink tips splayed messily on his forehead, his gloved fingers running over my cheek. Why was his touch so familiar? Why couldn't I speak?

I hazily remember him shouting as believers grabbed him and pulled him away. He continued to shout for me, telling me he would be back..but why..? It was like I had no memories of him, I only remembered the Savior calling me down to her throne room and scolding me for barely using the messenger I had come to test. The game? Oh wait. It wasn't a game, they were real people. What a strange feeling.

Feeling darkness invade my field of vision, I cried out; or so I thought. I was awake but I couldn't open my eyes, a faint beeping filled my ears. I struggled and cried out internally as I begged my body to listen to my commands. A futile effort, I couldn't wake up. Ceasing my internal struggles, I faintly recall hearing a voice, speaking to me so very softly.

"It'll be okay, MC." The owner of the voice gently stroked down my hair, tangling his fingers between the locks. "I'm so sorry I got you involved in this, so please wake up soon." Then my memory faded back into black as I felt my consciousness slipping back away. Sweet darkness, warm darkness, comforting darkness.

The redhead who sat beside the hospital bed, untangled his fingers from the young woman before him. His eyes clouded with worry as he turned towards the door that slid open. "V.."

The man with mint colored hair adverted his gaze from the golden eyes baring straight into his soul. "Luciel, I didn't think you'd still be here." he spoke softly, nervously approaching the redhead. He lowered himself onto the foot of the bed, flitting his eyes to the hand Luciel had the unconscious girl's in. "I didn't realize you were so close."

Seven pressed his mouth into a thin line, glancing back to the girl. "We're not." he said curtly. "We get along in chat and I..." biting his tongue before considering his next words. "..I feel responsible, with Saeran and all."

V watched him closely, feeling he was hiding something, but it was not an issue he was going to press. He knew Luciel had started to develop feelings towards the woman attached to IV and a heart monitor before them, it was obvious in the way he interacted with her on messenger. It was even more obvious as he set aside his work for the agency even after their rescue was completed. Not mentioning it was the least he could do since Luciel never once asked how he knew she was at Magenta. How he knew his brother was there too, he just listened as they infiltrated and carried out the mission, no questions asked.

--- My dream was hazy, I felt the warmth of the sun hitting my face. It felt so good, I felt myself shifting to my side and a hand supporting me. I stirred again before opening my eyes. Beautiful mint green/blue eyes gazed into mine, the familiar white haired man looked to me with such tenderness on his face. I gathered that I was on his lap, I could feel a soft pressure on my head causing me to reach up before his fingers intertwined with my own.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" His voice was beyond comforting and familiar. "Don't mess with your crown princess, it's fragile."

Crown? I strained my eyes to unblur as I began to notice he was sporting a crown of flowers, causing me to reach up and touch upon some soft petals entwined around my head.

"I'm sorry." He spoke again, brushing a strand of hair from my eyes. "You just looked so much like a princess I had to make you a crown to match the sleeping beauty before me."

The heat that rose to my cheeks had me certain that I was burning as bright as the roses that adorned his crown. I adverted my eyes quickly as I sat up, his hand loosening on mine, allowing me to shift into a sitting position.

I felt my body move on it's own as I let my head lay into his chest, curling up lightly inbetween his legs, I took in the surroundings before us. We lay against a tree in a garden, vibrant colors painted the scenery before us, the orange of twilight cascading the area in an even dreamier glow.

"You fell asleep, Princess." Lips touched the back of my hand and touched again on my forehead. "We were having a picnic, remember? The Savior has allowed it and I was so happy to see you." He smiled wistfully as he stroked my hair, a nervous but calm aura surrounded him.

"I love you." he broke the silence, his voice shuddering, it sounded as if it was his first time confessing those words. I heard myself confirming his feelings by pushing up and letting our lips touch, before I pulled away I spoke. "I love you too, Ray. So much."

A sad smile crossed his features as he began to dissolve infront of my very eyes. He faded into darkness, leaving my arms cold and empty. I reached out as I watched him disappear before my very eyes. ---

"RAY!!" I shot up in bed, the scenery around me vastly different from my dream. Sterile white walls, a beeping monitor. I jolted my body forward, gasping for air and wincing as I felt the IV tube grow taught against my movement. A hand grasped around mine, causing me to whip around. Gold eyes bore onto mine, an intense, somehow familiar stare, peering into my soul.

"Who-" Before I could even get it out, the redhead before me was moving me to lay back down on the hospital bed.

"Rest. You've been out for a few days." His voice was so quiet, sweet and somewhat sad. For some reason he also seemed familiar. His red hair messy, disheveled and yellow and black striped glasses adorned his face. "I'm sure you're surprised. He won't hurt you anymore."

Who? I glanced around the room nervously, trying to figure out what he was saying, trying to rack my brain as to who he was. He reminded me of the guy in my dream, but starkly different with the red mop atop his head. "Ray....?"

Seven sat back down after getting her to calm down, sighing softly and shaking his head to the confused woman. "MC, You probably know me as Luciel.. I.. I'm so sorry."

"Seven?" Obviously bewildered, his name came from my lips probably louder than I intended. "Where's Ray?"

"He won't hurt you now."

He didn't! He was always kind to me. I was remembering now, my affirmation to his feelings, the memories we shared in the garden seemed like so long ago.

"He... he would never hurt me.." I finally managed to choke out, contributing to the mix of emotions on his face. "He... He's not--"

"No. He's okay. V and I got him in the psyche ward.." His voice trailed, an obvious pain contorted his features. "His name isn't Ray." He inhaled deeply, resting his hand on my shoulder. "His name is Saeran. He's my twin.. it seems like someone pit him against the RFA, he was unconscious when we found him, just like you were." His amber colored eyes seemed to search mine for answers.

Seven shifted in his seat before continuing. "He was in a basement, locked in a cel. According to the doctors he ingested the same mixture of chemicals you did, but a greater quantity. I'm not sure what that stuff was but he was angry and delirious. MC.. Do you remember who did this..? Anything.. He's my brother. I left him in Rika's care, V ensured he was safe but he won't answer my questions."

The young man spoke so quickly, feverently that it was almost so hard to keep up. It was a lot of information. "The Savior must have... The Savior must have punished him after I stopped coming on messenger.." I recollected to the best of my abilities. "She... looked really familiar.." suddenly something dawned on me and as I began to ask him to show me a picture of Rika, the door to the room swung open and a gentleman with mint colored hair and mint eyes stood, his breathing labored.

Seven and I sat in silence as the man entered the room. "Please don't say any more." He panted. "Please." He approached us slowly, holding his hands in a clasped position. "Please let me handle... that Savior."

I shifted my attention to Seven, whose hands were gripping the railing to my bed, his knuckles white. As if to comfort him I moved my hand to cover his lightly. His whole demeanor relaxed at my touch. He let his head hang down in defeat, not pressuring the mint haired man further.

"V..." Seven spoke softly, trying hard to mask the shaking in his voice. "Why are you here...?"

"I came to check on you both, the other members asked me to since you haven't been on messenger. I filled them in the best I could."

Seven nodded lightly. "How is he..?"

"He's still angry, he keeps calling for someone, he seems desperate but incoherent."

I tried to find the courage to speak, moving my mouth opened and closed, like a guppy gasping for breath. "Can I see him...?" I finally managed. His memory was becoming clearer, our memories together. I wanted to see him more than I could bare.

"He's your kidnapper. I don't feel it'd be wise." V spoke sternly, his eyes narrowed lightly, somehow betraying the calmness and tenderness behind his voice. He approached me and reached out to touch my arm gently, his expression has since relaxed. "He is very frantic, I'm not sure you'd help. I'm sorry."

Seven watched his "guardian" speak to MC, watching them interact closely. He was acute to the emotions being hidden in their tones as their voices bounced along the walls of the sterile room. Thank goodness for his experience as an Agent helping him read the situation better. While he understood V's concern, he could feel the eagerness and sincerity behind MC's intentions too. After a while V excused himself, leaving the two in silence. They waited a while, ensuring V was gone before he spoke up, his voice still hushed. "Want to come with me..? I know where he is."

I couldn't help the joy that sprung to my eyes, glittering with happy tears as I nodded vigorously. "Please!" ---- I could hear screaming from the room, thrashing around and a nurse leaving quickly before our presence caught her attention. "I wouldn't go in there." She spoke quickly as she finally pushed past.

I could feel Seven looking at me, concerned, as if he was questioning our next move. I was holding onto the IV drip, rolling it beside us as Seven was pushing my wheelchair towards the room. His excuse was that I haven't used my legs in days and he didn't want me to overexert myself.

The shrill screams filled my ears again snapping me from my distracted state. I made sure my eyes met with Seven's and mustered up the most determined, pleading expression I could muster. I was scared but I had to see him with my own eyes.

"Little brother.." Seven's greeting was met with a hiss and another crazed scream. "Bro, Listen. I--" A book flung across the room, narrowly hitting him. Sighing he confirmed with me again but I wasn't ready to give up. Finally he wheeled me into view.

The frail figure on the bed was bound tightly, his chest struggling against the bounds, causing the railing to rattle with the sheer force he was using. Another sharp hiss of an inhale before those icy mint eyes met with mine. For a moment his angry expression faltered.

He gasped and tugged at his binds again, his eyes seemed to brim with tears.

She was here. She was here! She was ALIVE! He pulled again, desperate, his demeanor no longer one of anger. "MC..." he choked out, completely forgetting the man who brought her to him. "MC!" his voice broke out in a sob, a strangled desperation of an onslaught of emotion crashing into his weak body.

Seven watched his brother's attitude go a complete 180 upon seeing the girl. What did he feel towards her? The same thing he felt? Maybe he only liked her because they are twins and they felt the same thing? Trying to piece together his own emotions, he didn't notice the girl struggling and reaching at the railing of the bed.

I shakily grabbed the railing to Ray--Saeran's bed and pulled myself up, I could barely stand but I felt the need to get close to him. Tears were threatening to burn my eyes as I managed to pull myself forward, stumbling. "I'm here.." I felt a strong pair of arms lift me and sit me on the bed, Seven smiled tenderly, mussing my hair before stepping to the side with a soft nod, signalling me to go ahead.

Glancing at the sobbing figure before me, I lifted his chin gingerly, examining his face. Ray--wait. Saeran's face was stricken with tears, a look of relief gracing his lovely eyes. He buried his head against my shoulder, choking back another gasp. Wrapping my arms tightly around him I let him cry it out into my shoulder, feeling the tears I was holding back falling freely. ---

A month has passed since we were discharged from the hospital, Saeran and I were living in Seven's bunker, I slept in one of the guest rooms, Saeran had his own room and Saeyoung, who I learned was Seven's real name obviously had his own.

The brothers have gone through a lot in the time we've been together. Saeran had pushed away from his brother and fought feverently against the belief's the Savior had instilled in him. Deep down he understood Saeyoung did what was best for them at the time but there was a part of him that didn't want to accept it.

Saeran suffered a lot, anxiety attacks riddling him a useless sobbing mess. I was always quick to help him breathe and calm down. We would press foreheads together and count slowly. His tears would slowly dissapear as his breathing would slip away from erratic to calm and collected.

I stayed in my room a lot to give them to bond and to struggle with my own feelings, I loved Saeran so much but I was very confused. I was trying hard to process the that Saeran and Ray were similar but not quite the same. I tried to quiet my steps as I headed towards the kitchen. Upon reaching my destination I was graced with a serene scene of the brothers actually eating peacefully together. Saeyoung was cracking some joke or another and annoying Saeran but not to the point of angering him.

Mint and gold eyes flitted over to me, holding my surprised gaze. 'G-Good morning you two.." I pushed past, bowing my head lightly, trying to seem as small as possible, to not disrupt their peaceful moment. Saeyoung's voice rung through the morning. "Let's go on a date!!" His hearty laugh reverberated in his chest, the mirth in his eyes youthful and excited.

"Date..?" Saeran looked up from his breakfast curiously, knitting his eyebrows together. "What do you mean..?"

"You, Me and MC!"

I felt the plate fall from my hand, clattering to the counter. My face was so hot I felt like I couldn't breathe. "W....what...?"

Saeyoung wasted no time, moving and wrapping his arm around my shoulders in a onesided hug. "Well! GOD7 is bored and you've helped us both so much! If you hadn't come to chat.." his voice grew serious from the hearty boyish tone he had before as he pulled me tighter. "I wouldn't have been reunited with my baby brother and I wouldn't have met you so please! Let us treat you.."

I could hear Saeran choke on his food before getting up and prying his brother's arm off me. "Okay okay that's enough of that.." He spoke flatly, mussing my hair. His tender eyes glanced down on mine, smiling lightly. "Go get ready.. Yeah?"

Saeran watched as she scrambled back to her room to get changed. He moved to meet his brother's gaze. "What's with you?"

Saeyoung only grinned largely, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Whaaaaat?" feigned innocence dripped over his words. "Jealous?"

Saeran didn't miss a beat. "Yes. Stop flirting with her."

Saeyoung slumped his shoulders, defeated before his shit eating grin disappeared. He tried to gather his thoughts before speaking again. "You love her...?" He watched a series of emotions flash through his brother's face. Gold eyes widened as his brother confidently nodded. Back to a shit eating grin, Saeyoung grabbed his twin tight. "I'M SO EXCITED FOR MY SISTER IN LAW!!!"

Yes, his heart had been shattered into a million pieces but he bounced back quickly. He was happy to set his feelings aside as long as they could both be happy. He swung his brother back and forth laughing loudly to keep from the feelings he buried deep in his heart. He understood his feelings may not change but his brother has suffered enough and deserved this chance. ------ The "date" was lovely, walking around a botanical park and Saeran explained the many different flowers. Saeyoung played on his phone but he and I cracked jokes freely, teasing one another. We poked and prodded as Saeran would watch on with tender eyes.

I was on cloud 9. The happiest I've felt in years. We were headed towards our final destination to the date, my arm linked in Saeyoung's playfully as we pretended to be heading down the yellow brick road. As my free hand swung freely, I brushed against the back of Saeran's hand. I shot an embarrassed glance to him and his response took me back to the days in the gardens. His fingers intertwined with mine, staring straight ahead as if it was a natural action.

The ice-cream shop was bustling, Saeyoung had already unlinked with me and went off to order ahead of us. Saeran's fingers never left mine as we sat across from each other laying our linked hand on the square table. His eyes bore into mine as he smiled lightly. "One chocolate, one strawberry and one vanilla coming right up!!" Saeyoung's voice snapped me out of my trance and Saran and I untangled our fingers. I touched my burning cheek in embarrassment. Saeyoung sat at the table, handing the cones out, laughing to himself. Sarean and I blinked together as if wanting in on Saeyoung's inside voice.

"Together we make Neapolitan Ice-cream!" He held up his chocolate cone while Saeran held up his vanilla, I brought my strawberry cone in the middle, the flavors lightly touching as we made a "toast" with the ice-cream. Laughter ensued. ---- Saeran and I have grown even closer since that day and my realization that Ray was alive inside of him only made my feelings stronger. Saeyoung and I had become the best of friends and hung out constantly. I was no longer confused about my feelings. I did love Saeyoung, but not the same way he hoped I did..

My feelings for Saeran.. have become clear as day.

Saeran was planting some flowers outside of the bunker, admiring his work and wiping his arm on his head. I sat on the ledge of the flower box, kicking my legs as I watched him work. "What did you plant?" I asked curiously.

"Primrose, roses, dandelions, baby's breath and lily of the valley." His cheeks dusted with a sweet rosy pink as he mentioned the last one. Curiosity must have filled my face because he answered me without my asking. "Lily of the valley.."

He removed his glove and cupped my cheek gently. "The promise of happiness." I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, my eyes softened lightly as I leaned into his touch. "I hope you'll find all the happiness in the world. You and Saeyoung deserve it." I touched my fingers along his wrist, stroking them lightly.

He relaxed into my touch and caught my gaze in his own, keeping eye contact, he searched mine as if asking if I was listening. Before I knew it, his face was so close to mine, our foreheads touching, his eyes never leaving mine. "I've already found it.."

Saeran's breath tickled my lips, casuing my breath to hitch in my throat. I shivered against his touch, my heart hammering in my chest. "Y...You have?"

Without a moment of hesitation, he closed the distance between us, cupping my face now with both hands. I felt like I couldn't breathe for a moment, giving into his kiss I exhaled, wrapping my arms around his neck. His free hand wrapped around the back of my head, pulling me closer. He exhaled through his nose, pushing the kiss deeper.

We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, not wanting the other to pull away, but we both needed to catch our breath. A radiant, gentle smile graced his features, tears brimming in his eyes. "My MC. I love you. I always have. I know now.. those feelings weren't just Ray's but mine. Thank you for being by my side constantly and for helping me find my family."

I inhaled nervously, pulling myself into a closer hug, trembling lightly. His words processed as I let my eyes flutter closed. I had no doubt in the world now.

Nothing could break this moment. I exhaled against his collar bone, peppering kisses on it lightly. "I love you too... I love you Saeran... All of you, every side of you and that will never change."

I heard him let out a relieved sob, exhaling a breath I was unaware that he was holding. We both laughed to ourselves, showering the other in months worth of kisses to make up for lost time. Both a tearful, hiccuping laughing mess, we couldn't have it any other way.

The promise of happiness. Everlasting love.

Nothing ever felt more right in the world and we had it, in our hands.

Forever.

#Saeran Choi #Mysme Saeran #mystic messenger #saeran x mc #fluff #saeran deserves happiness

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circeart · 4 years

Photo

Daily Angel Oracle Card: You, Who Show The Way, from the RUMI Oracle Card deck, by Alana Fairchild, artwork by Rassouli

You, Who Show The Way:

“The logical mind runs away from drowning. Lovers accept drowning in the sea as their destiny. The logical mind finds consolation in reaching a level of comfort in life. Lovers are focused beyond their own comfort.”

~ By RUMI

“I have looked to you in my darkest moments, searched for you as though fumbling for the candle and matches during an unexpected and interminable blackout. I am the ship at sea, seeking you as my guiding light. Nay, I am the sea, rising up to the horizon because I yearn to be closer to you. Then, oh to my greatest relief, you rise like a phoenix from the ocean, casting hallowed golden light all around you – this great blazing angel of holy fire! In a sweet instant, my soul rests in your presence. The sea becomes calm, the darkness abates. Your light reveals truth and, through your living presence, I know my true self again. I am what you are. Even when it appears I am returning after being lost in darkness, as though I could ever be extinguished. I am divine light, I am you. A living sun.”

“Even in your unquenchable passion for service to humanity, to the world that offers you so much, there is a time when your most powerful offering is actually and most simply that of your presence. You show the way: you, who inspire through how you choose to live and be; you, who sometimes think yourself to be invisible; you, who consider yourself to be of no particular or exceptional worth. Yes, you – you, who through your choice to live your truth, reveal my face, demonstrate my love, embody my presence, heal my beloveds and love my creations.

This oracle comes to you with a special message. You are an inspiration. You are helping those around you and even many of whom you are unaware. You are doing this because this is your path, this is your way, this is your gift – to live a life dedicated to the growth of consciousness and, through that dedication, inspire others to receive the loving consciousness of the Great Beloved that can benefit them so greatly, no matter what their situation or circumstances. You are not doing this through any effort or will. Just as the sun breaks through darkness with its own light, shining light with its presence by simply being, so too does your inner sun, your soul. You don’t have to understand this or do anything with the information given, although you may find it of comfort or even be shocked by it, pleasantly perhaps. It is just an acknowledgment of who and what you are, given freely because you are ready to receive such an acknowledgment.

You are also being gifted through this oracle with a sign, a portent. This oracle is an omen: an issue too difficult for you to understand, no mater how hard you have been working on it, is about to be resolved. You have no need to hold onto it or become ‘more worthy’ of that resolution. It is going to happen according to the grace of the Great Beloved, and your job is to allow it to happen, to simply bear witness to the resolution, even if you have no idea what is going on in the process. You may find that whilst you are letting go, the resolution happens without you being aware of it until after the fact. Then, apparently all of a sudden, what was an issue is no longer so.

You, who help others, are a worthy recipient of the help of the Great Beloved. Be prepared to surrender all plans and convictions about what can and cannot be, about what you think you know and what you think you need. Allow the benevolent grace of the beloved to take you through the great waves, as the seas become calm and serene under the living divine light.

This oracle brings the message that if you have a situation in your midst that feels impossible to resolve, the Divine has it covered. Do the sacred honouring ritual and let it be sorted out by a power greater than your own. It shall be sorted out, and your sun shall rise. Just as day follows night, again and again, so too shall your sun rise after any issue or struggle. Have faith and hope, and know that this is a sensible approach to any dilemma, no matter how serious it may seem. For what use is it to bemoan the absence of day, even on the longest night, when you know, in ever moment, dawn is ever closer to breaking once again? Your hope then is not foolish, but wise.”

Sacred Honouring Ritual: “Place your hands on your heart ans say: “The Divine, who loves me unconditionally, blesses me now with such grace that my life aligns with divine order and all becomes golden, blessed, and mercifully held in the compassionate consciousness of the Creator. I thank you for the courage and faith I have needed to endure the night, and I now celebrate the coming dawn. I see it breaking: I see its light, and I thank you for this mercy. With RUMI, who loves me unconditionally, I am now shown the way to the dawn. It is at my feet, and together we step into the gift of a new day. So be it.”

“If you have a specific issue you would like addressed, hand it over to the Divine Beloved now by talking about it – just as if you were having a conversation with your oldest and dearest friend (for that is exactly what will be taking place). Then, when you have explained your feelings, your doubts or fears, let it go and know that the situation is held in the grace of the Great Beloved.

You have completed your sacred healing honouring ritual.”*

~ by Alana Fairchild

As you step into your truth, the most wonderful thing happens: your gifts rise to the surface to be explored and shared. When we are no longer burdened with keeping up appearances, compromising, holding on to falsehoods and masks, then hidden talents, skills, and passions have space to expand. We can really delve into what we Love. We can feed our Souls doing what we are most drawn to. This is how we get back on our Life Path; by following the guidance of our hearts.

When we are no longer held back by limiting thoughts and belief systems, we can finally let our true lights shine. We can learn; we can teach; we can share. We can let go of all the fear and doubt and embrace our new self worth. We can have the confidence in ourselves and our abilities. We know we can create magic and now we have the chance to get in there and actually do it!

As you expand into yourself, you inspire others to do the same; you literally give them permission to follow their own hearts. We support each other and we grow together. We share our unique perspectives on the world. We link arms with those who would follow similar paths and we all move forward together.

A sign is coming your way, watch for it. The Universe is going to throw a door open wide for you; anticipate it. For this is going to change everything.

Namaste

Dee

~Archangel Oracle

#you who show the way #rumi oracle #6 october 2020

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