#drawing group hugs really is just like “oh god there are limbs EVERYWHERE where do they GO”

[ministarfruit]

TEMPUS WEEK!!!!!!

[courtof-storms]

The End of Letra, part 7

Previously: 1  2  3  4  5  6

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“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck, this is not going as planned at all.” Alys muttered to herself, absentmindedly scratching her left forearm and drawing blood after a few seconds, making her stop and rip a piece of her cloak off to use as a makeshift bandage. She continued on for a minute before taking out her pistol and shooting a tree so she doesn’t get lost on the way back. Looking up at the sky and seeing it get a bit darker. Fuck, I gotta hurry up, She thought to herself, picking up the pace before tripping over her own feet, her head landing dangerously close to a sharp piece of debris.

“Well, at least now we’re getting somewhere, just follow the debris.” She told herself before getting back to her feet and watching her step around the mess, not wanting to trip over anything else. A couple minutes later, she drew the pistol and shot another tree to mark her way. Why did I give Red the fuckin’ flare gun? At this rate it’ll be dark before I get back to her, she thought to herself, ducking under a branch before continuing on for ten minutes, humming to herself to try and not freak out as much she wanted to until she came across the back end of a busted shuttle. Her anxiety instantly gone and replaced by a need to help any survivors she found.

Alys rushed into the cabin and dragged everyone out one at a time, starting with the white haired girl, then moving to the one that looked overdressed for this, and then going for redhead. Ok, that’s the cabin, now where’s the cockpit? Alys thought before going forward, past the cabin and walking for a minute until she came up on the remains of the cockpit.

“Oh no…” Alys said, rushing towards the cockpit and checking to see if there was anyone still alive, and upon getting a closer look she stepped back and put a hand over her mouth, taking a deep breath, and then going back into the cockpit.

The scene looked completely horrendous,wires strewn everywhere and consoles and monitors just about smashed to bits. Sparks came out of everywhere for a couple seconds before stopping as suddenly as it started. Alys saw two women in the cockpit, one of them in literal pieces and the other one bruised and bleeding, her breathing came in short and ragged breaths. Alys’ mind went into overdrive as she got the tall woman out of the chair and rushed her back to where the other people were, laying the tall girl down flat on her back before slapping the redhead a couple times before she groaned back to consciousness.

“Ugh, dad I’m getting up stop this.” The redhead muttered, slowly opening her eyes before scrambling backwards at the sight of the gods-awful abomination leaning down to look her in the eyes.

“Great, real mature, do you have any medical tools, this one probably isn’t going to survive if she doesn’t get any help soon.” Alys said, turning around to reveal the pink-haired woman who was hardly breathing. The redhead instantly woke up when she saw her and tried to get to her feet, tripping and falling on her right arm with a sharp crack and a bloodcurdling scream.

“Th-the cargo hold, it should be next to the… what the fuck!?” She replied, the weird cat/human hybrid nodding in acknowledgement and rushing off to where the cargo hold was. The redhead cradling her right arm in her left before rolling on her left side and crawling her way to the injured girl’s side.

“I’m so sorry Faye.” She said, trying to hold back tears for a few seconds before crying on the girls bicep. The white haired girl slowly started coming to as Alys came back to where they were, a dented first aid kid in tow.

“I’m sorry, I know this looks bad but I need you to move, I can’t do anything to help her out with you crying on her arm.” Alys informed, gingerly placing a hand on the redhead’s left. She looked up at Alys and nodded, sniffling before slowly inching her way back next to the white-haired girl who had just come to.

“Who are you?” She asked, hardly able to form words without slurring as her vision came in to focus as she saw her friend lying on the ground. “Where’s Aria?”

“Which one is Aria?” The hybrid asked, opening the first aid kit and rummaging around, looking for a needle large enough for what she needs to do.

“The robo...the bionic one.” Erin clarified, Alys looked up from what she was working on, the grim expression on her face telling her everything she needed to know. The hybrid pointed in the direction of the cockpit and Erin instantly got to her feet and hurried off in that direction.

Alys found the needle she needed and put an ear to mouth of the pink-haired girl, her expression getting more grim upon hearing the weak breathing.

“Is Faye gonna be ok?” The redhead asked, pointing towards the injured girl on the floor as she did so. Alys looked up at the redhead before moving her head down to Faye’s chest.

“From what I can tell, she has a collapsed lung, possibly a broken rib, and definitely a bruised ego.” Alys replied, looking up to see a distasteful glare from Bel.

“Do you really think now is the time for jokes?” She asked.

“Maybe not Red 2, but shit’s gonna happen pretty soon.” Alys said, looking up from the girl to try and gage if she had enough time. The sky was now a deep purple and rapidly getting darker.

“Shit, wake up Fancypants and get the other two over here now.” She instructed before rummaging through the first aid kit again to look a tube. Bel shot the hybrid a look before gently shaking Jynx awake.

“Erin! Erin get back here, the freak looks freaked out.” Bel shouted out, Alys flinched a little at that remark before pushing the box away with the tube and suture kit in hand. There was a crash out near the cockpit, followed by Erin making her way back to the group, Aria in her arms, the bionic girl’s limbs laying on her stomach and chest.

“What do we have to do?” Erin asked, looking at Alys with the same look she had when her snake wasn’t moving for a few days.

“Right now, uh, Erin, I need you to but the bionic girl down right next to this one, then you and Red 2 to get what you can from where the cargo hold was before starting a fire around all of us.” Alys instructed before patting herself down to look for a knife, looking up after a second to see Erin standing over her, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Does someone here have a fuckin’ knife?” Alys asked to no one in particular. Erin sprang into action, getting her dagger from her right calf before handing it to the hybrid handle first. Alys took the blade, inspected it for a second before giving Erin an impatient glare and getting back to the task at hand.

“Why a fire around us?” Bel asked.

“I’ll explain it once that fire is done so please hurry up...unless you want to be food.” Alys shot back, locating Faye’s nipple before running her fingers to the side of Faye’s torso, looking for a gap in her ribs. Erin gave Bel a look, who just shrugged and kept trying to wake Jynx. Erin ran off and got everything she could from the remains of the cargo hold, bringing back armfuls of bags, weapons, and anything she could carry, dropping it off next to Bel and Jynx before hurrying back to get the last few bags and weapons. Jynx came to when Erin came back with her rapier.

“What happened?” Jynx croaked out, Bel turned to look at the noble, wincing in pain as she did so before hugging her.

“Good, you’re up, why don’t you help out the white-haired one and start a fire.” Alys instructed dismissively before finding a gap in Faye’s ribs and making a cut after saying that.

“Wha...why?” Jynx asked.

“She won’t tell us why, only that is has to be done now.” Erin replied, getting digging out a circle two meters around the pile of stuff. Jynx nodded and patted Bel on the cheek before getting up and crying out in pain.

“Oh for fuck’s sake what now?” Alys asked, annoyed and asking herself if it would be a good idea to sacrifice them to the velocitars. Bel looked at Jynx’s leg and saw what looked like a second knee halfway up her left calf.

“Her leg is messed!” Bel shouted to Alys, who groaned as she saw the sky now turn a violet/black swirl. Her eyes widened in fright as she turned to see what kind of progress Erin was making.

“Hey, how are you coming on that fire?” Alys asked, her fear present in her voice as she turned back to focus on Faye, cutting a bit deeper with every slice.

“Like maybe five more minutes.” Erin replied as she finished getting the rut dug. A low growl pierced the otherwise silence around the group, Alys’ spine stiffened at that sound as she kept working on Faye.

“Make it two, or one.” Alys instructed, Erin nodded in understanding before rushing out to get some wood to throw down into the rut. Two minutes later she had enough wood to cover the bottom of the rut before summoning a small flame in her palm and setting it down on one of the longer branches, setting alight the entire ring before she took a seat next to Aria.

“Mind telling us why your tail is stiff? Oh, or better question, why you even have a tail in the first place?” Erin asked, looking at the hybrid with annoyance and worry equally present. Alys sighed at that question, putting the syringe in the hole she made in Faye’s side, ignoring Erin’s question as she pulled the plunger out before the needle. She removed the needle, placing a finger over the hole as she pressed the plunger down before putting the needle back in the hole and repeating the process a couple more times before putting the syringe down next to her and began stitching Faye up.

“Hey, did you fuckin’ here me?” Erin asked, nudging Alys’ shoulder as she finished stitching Faye up.

“Who are you?” Alys asked, looking around at everyone, her eyes settling on the bionic girl and her limbs strewn everywhere before she took Faye’s arms and situated her upright under a tree.

“W-what do you mean?” Bel asked, looking at the weird girl as she made her way towards her.

“Who are you? What are your names, what are you doing here, who do you work for?” Alys asked.

“Uh...I’m Beliara, the girl you just patched up was Faith.” Bel started.

“Fuck that, who are you and can you do anything for Aria?” Erin spat out. Alys looked over at where Aria and Erin were.

“She’s still alive, my guess is she’s resting. Also I’m good with patching up humans, not androids, she’ll help you out.” Alys replied. Aria’s eyes stayed closed for a couple seconds before slowly opening and turning her head towards Alys.

“How’d you know I wasn’t dead?” The cyborg asked, her voice staticky and fading in and out.

“Faint mechanical whirring, I’m guessing your heart ain’t the one you were born with. It was goin’ but faintly when I first saw you. You need to recharge or anythin’?” Alys asked, walking over to the noble the one named Bel had her arms wrapped around.

“How’d you pick up on the noise?” Aria asked, her voice slowly going.

“Don’t talk Ari, let me patch you up before you talk anymore.” Erin said, looking over the mess that Aria was before getting to work on her voice module.

“The ears. They hurt like hells comin’ in but they’re useful.” Alys replied, kneeling down to take a look at the noble’s leg.

“What’s your name, noble?” The hybrid asked, brushing a lock of hair out of the girl’s eye.

“J-Jessica.” She replied, trying not to hold back tears from the pain.

“What are you going to do to her?” Erin spat.

“I’m gonna fix her leg, can’t go anywhere with a fucked up leg. After that, feel free to ask me whatever you wish, that sound good?” Alys asked, her ears perked up at the sound of something far off in the distance. “Can someone get a gun and watch out over that way?” She asked, pointing off to her right and slightly behind. Erin groaned and took the pistol from her hip and went to where Alys pointed,squinting as she tried to get a better view of something she didn’t know.

“Ok Jessica, I take it blue is your favorite color?” Alys asked the noble, getting a better look at her leg.

“N-no it’s reAUGH MOTHER FUCKING WHORE HOUSE CUNT BASKET!” She started replying before spitting out a blue streak as Alys reset the girl’s leg, grabbing her calf when Alys was done and crying as she did so.

“What the fuck was that for?!” Jynx shouted, trying to keep a steady tone of voice.

“You’re leg was broken, what would you have wanted me to do, cut it off?” Alys asked, getting up as she went for the discarded first aid kit to wrap Jynx’s leg up, returning a few seconds later and wrapping it up as deftly as her fingers could. Once she was done, she went to Erin and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll take watch, go fix your robot.” Erin scoffed at the robot remark and pushed the pistol into Alys’ chest before going back to Aria’s side to start fixing her up. Awave of silenced washed over the group for a few minutes before Bel finally broke it.

“How do you know how to fix her?” She asked, attempting to get on her feet, wincing in pain as she put pressure on her right arm.

 “When you’ve been alive for around 700 years you pick up some skills, especially if you spent more time than you’d like to admit as a test subject. Come here Bel, let me fix your arm.” Alys replied, instinctively going to rub the scars on her shoulders as Bel made her way towards her.

“I’m sorry, when you’ve been alive for how long?” Erin asked, looking up from Aria’s mess of parts to study the stranger.

“700 years, give or take a few decades.” Alys replied, putting the pistol down as she gingerly inspected Bel’s arm and got a better look at the girl, Her tights were in tatters and her skirt was about at her mid thigh and flowy, her blouse was an odd button up where her sleeves went down to her mid forearm, leading Alys to wonder if it was too small or if it was deliberately made that way. Her boots were practically spotless save for some dirt and scuff marks from the crash.

“Yeah and I’m the queen of Libreet, be serious.” Erin snapped at her. Alys shot a look Erin’s way before resetting Bel’s arm. Bel took the pain better than Jynx did, wincing in pain before smiling at Alys and going for one of the bags in the middle, tearing off a piece of it and making a sling for her arm.

“Oh, I’m sorry your highness, do you want another bottle of piss to drink or just a viltrub to shove in your ass?” Alys shot back, picking the pistol up again and keeping an eye out for danger.

“Erin shut up. Mind if you tell us your name?” Bel asked, going back next to Jynx and gently running her fingers through the girl’s hair.

“The name’s Alyson Nicole Kyle, pleased to meet you.” Alys replied, turning around to give a slight bow before turning her back to everyone and keeping watch again. Erin made a mocking face at Alys’ reply as she finished up fixing Aria’s voice module.

“I thought the Kyle family vanished 500 years ago.” Aria said, her voice now back to her deep tone that it was at before. “Erin, I can take care of the rest, go check on Faye.” She instructed, the white-haired woman nodded as she got up and went to Faye’s side.

“Oh they were, right around the same time the Boltea family rose to power, I’m the last of my lineage.” Alys replied, her hand instinctively going to her jacket pocket to take a drink from her flask before remembering what had happened to it. She sighed as she turned around to face everyone else.

“Anyone have any booze?”

“Nope, none was on the shuttle.” Bel said, Alys sighed as she hesitantly moved closer to the group.

“Mind telling us why we made a ring of fire?” Erin asked.

“Velocitars.” Alys replied, taking off what remains of her cloak and putting it over Jynx, who was now fast asleep on Bel’s shoulder.

“Huh?” Bel asked.

“Best I can say is they’re some kinda weird hybrid of man, octopus and snake who have poison breath.”

“Well great, that’s just what I need in a jungle on a supposedly abandoned moon.” Erin said, throwing her hands up in dismay. “You sure you aren’t on anything?”

“I’m a little tipsy but sober otherwise.” Alys replied, her ears perked up as she heard some branches break off in the distance. Bel’s back went rigid as she wrapped her good arm around Jynx and crawled over to Faye and Erin. Aria had finished piecing herself together and clumsily made her way closer to the group as well.

“So what’s the plan Alys?” Aria asked, Alys felt like her skeleton had jumped into space when she heard the cyborg say her name.

“H-how did you know my name?” Alys asked, her voice hardly even audible out of fear this time instead of anger.

“You told us…” Erin replied.

“She gave us a fake name, her real name Alys Jensen, she’s our target.” Aria said, Alys jumped to her feet and backed up to the edge of the fire, the tip of her tail getting singed a bit before she brought it to her side, holding it in her hands as her eyes widened looking around the group. She waited for one to attack in silence, her eyes darting from one pgirl to the next as the only sound between everyone was the fire crackling around them. A couple minutes went by in quiet unease until finally Bel broke it.

“How do you know that Aria?”

“It was a guess, her reaction tells me I was right.” Aria replied, tightening her arm back on as she made her way to her feet. “Why lie?” She asked.

“Alys Jensen is dead…” Alys replied, her voice a bit more than a whisper.

“What do you mean, she’s standing right in front of me.” Aria said, leaning back on a piece of debris, glaring at Alys, her bionic eye no longer changing color and settling on a light green.

“Alys Jensen is dead, she died 700 years ago when she was captured and kept here for 200 years. She died when TyreCorp decided she was no longer human.”

“So who are you?” Bel asked.

“I’m nothing and no one.” Alys said as she crossed her arms, her expression little more than a pout at this point. Erin scoffed at her response.

“What bullshit do you think you’re trying to give us? You really expect us to believe that you’re what, 800 cycles old?

“768 actually, I’m not that old.”

“Oh my apologies, do you need help across the street, I think the early bird special ends in half an hour-” Erin started before getting interrupted by a punch in the gut from Alys, who seemingly teleported forward to deliver the blow, taking a second to throw her cloak to the ground and getting ready to punch Erin again. Erin’s face grimaced at the impact before she dropped to the ground and kicked Alys’ legs out from under her, sending the girl falling on her face. Alys yelped in pain before grabbing the knife from Erin’s calf and driving it into Erin’s thigh before punching her in face repeatedly. Alys finally stopped punching Erin about a minute after she started, rolling onto her back as she panted, looking Aria in the eyes as she pointed the pistol at her own body.

“I’d rather die before going back to them.” Alys said before pulling the trigger, emptying the entire magazine into her midsection before pointing the barrel to her temple and trying to desperately shoot herself one last time in her head, tears streaming down her face as the gun clicked empty. She threw the gun towards Aria before crying.

Bel, Aria, and Jynx just looked on in shock as it all happened, and now as Alys lied next to a beaten and bloodied Erin, both of them close to death, the sounds of velocitars drew closer.

------

Alys’ Cave, Jolder

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“Do you think she’s coming back?” Lysander asked for the tenth time, pacing back and forth and trying hard not to let on that they were worried. Morrigan raised her head up from her hands and saw that they had changed their look. They were now in a deep red dress that went to their mid-thigh, some heels that Morrigan definitely would’ve fallen in that made them a good few inches taller than they were. They had a bright purple wig that was fairly long and done down in a braid that lay over their left shoulder and they had a deep purple lipstick on.

“When did you change?” Morrigan asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked over her companion, trying to figure out how they were walking in those heels.

“Like 20 minutes after she left, come on Mori, keep up.” They replied, still pacing back and forth.

“Are you worried?” Morrigan asked.

“About what?”

“Her safety.”

“No, not at all...I mean...she is coming back, right?” Lysander asked, undoing their braid before walking over to Morrigan and sitting next to her. They got a good look at her condition at the crash site but now it seemed like she was doing better. The cuts on her face and arms had now looked like she got them a week ago, not earlier that day and the bruising on her face and midsection were now a sickly yellow and no longer black and blue. Morrigan’s clothes were a different story, her military fatigues were in tatters and the tank top underneath was ripped up as well. They gestured to her midsection and she smiled a bit before breaking the silence.

“You can have my tits if you want, I have too much anyways.” She said, pointing to Lysander’s chest as she laughed at it.

“Bitch you tell me that every time I decide to do myself up, am I really that flat?” They asked, feigning nervousness before they laughed with her.

“Like a gorramn board, Ly.” Morrigan replied, running her fingers through her hair that was a total mess now before sighing.

“I wish you were actually here, hon…” She said, laying back and crossing her arms over her midsection. Lysander put their chin in their hands and looked at her with longing for a few seconds before replying.

“I wish I was with you also, this just isn’t the same.”  They put their hand on Morrigan’s shoulder before moving over to her cheek and finally resting on her temple. They went to open their mouth but Morrigan shushed them before they could get a word out.

“No, I’m not letting my hair go back to black, you remember how bad that was in high school.”

“I remember that you looked like a goddess every day and I remember kicking myself for not asking you out sooner.” Lysander replied.

“A goddess? I looked like a wreck in high school, I was a dude pretending to be a goth girl.”

“I didn’t look much better either in high school, you remember those trashy outfits I wore.” Lysander started. “I also remember finding you in the forest one day crying your eyes out and wondering why you looked like a man.”

“You were there for that?” She asked, trying to remember if she saw them there.

“Yeah, I was. I also remember what happened after you finished crying.”

“Oh really, and what was that?” Morrigan asked, sitting up and looking into Lysander’s eyes.

“I saw a crow come up to your side and transform into a trio of ladies. After that I looked away for a bit because I was scared of them and when I decided to look back at you, you were a lot more feminine and had a crow on your shoulder. The next day at school you said you were Morrigan and still had that crow on your shoulder.” Lysander replied, recounting Morrigan’s meeting with the goddess as her cheeks went as red as her hair while she tried not to smile.

“That’s pretty much how it went. I don’t remember seeing you there though.” She said, now fully smiling and putting her hand on their cheek, taking great care to not have it pass through their face.

“Oh I ran home and buried my face in my pillow because my crush actually looked how she wanted to and you were fuckin’ goregous.”

“I remember you had trouble talking to me for like a week after that happened, I was worried you had lost your voice.” Morrigan replied, looking deep into their eyes before trying to get to her feet a minute later.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Lysander asked, jumping to their feet and trying to get in front of their ex.

“I’m gonna try to find Alys, I’m worried about her.” She said, shakily on her feet before she fell back to where she was sitting, screaming out in pain and rolling to her side, trying not to cry.

“Mori, I said you wouldn’t be able to walk for at least a day, it’s hardly been half a day.” Lysander said, going back to sit next to Morrigan as she cried, running their nails up and down her back as she wept.

Morrigan continued crying for around 10 minutes and stopped when a gunshot pierced the night air, followed by howls and a lot of frantic voices talking back and forth. Morrigan went and drew the flare gun, pointing it at the mouth of the cave, waiting for whatever or whoever was making all that sound to show themselves. Aria was the first to show herself, an unconscious Erin draped over her shoulder with the knife still in her leg and her face looking a lot worse for wear, Beliara followed close behind, pistol in tow and carrying Faith, and Jynx struggling to carry a crying Alys trailed behind everyone else.  Aria laid Erin down next to a wall before rushing out to help Jynx. Morrigan and Lysander looked on in disbelief as the six of them filed into the small cave.

Jynx and Aria practically ran into the cave carrying Alys before a loud guttural scream pierced through the uneasy silence that had formed between everyone. A large tentacle draped over the opening of the cave, dripping a gross goo and covered in scales. A short while later, the rest of its body crossed in front of the cave, its humanoid torso connected what looked like a horses body crossed with a spider's legs on the bottom and a weird tentacled lizard on top. It hissed like a snake when it left the opening before doubling back and attempting to get in. They finally got a good look at it’s face which looked like a snake, but when it opened its mouth, it revealed rows upon rows of shark teeth.

Morrigan kept calm and shot the flare gun right into its eye as Bel shot it in its chest. The creature howled in pain as it backed out of the cave and ran off. Morrigan loaded another flare and shot it on the ground where the creature once was. She repeated that twice more, once next to each wall before tossing the flare gun aside, running her fingers through her hair as she let out a sigh of relief. Lysander shook their head before finally breaking the silence that had once again fallen over the group.

“I take it that was a velocitar.” They asked, the newcomers all turned to look at the back of the cave, seemingly finally noticing that the cave was occupied.

“Yeah, more or less, who are you?” Bel asked through ragged breaths, looking the two up and down.

“I’m Morrigan and this is Lysander, who are you?”

[syubits]

redamancy

—[n. the act of loving in return.]

namjoon ∞ reader 

genre: fluff. soulmates that feel each other’s pain au.  

‘I just banged my knee on that table over there and you hissed in pain, dude I think we’re soulmates’ 

word count: 2.7K

“…Damn.”

Taehyung scoots forward, chair scraping shrilly against the floor to take a closer look at the purpling bruise on your forehead you woke up with this morning. You don’t remember bumping into anything, but you’re greeted with the large discoloured blotch just above your eyebrow the first thing you look into the mirror after washing up, much to your confusion. The chestnut-haired boy’s eyes grow rounder, more curious as they take in the bruise, a hand coming up to hover in front of your face and—

“Don’t touch it.” At your soft but stern tone, Taehyung retracts his hand reluctantly, shrinking back in his seat with a giant pout on his face.

“I wonder who he is,” Taehyung muses, pulling at an imaginary beard on his chin.

“Whoever he is, or she, I’m going to punch them in the throat for being such a klutz,” you vow, balling your hand into a fist, “do you know how many times I flinched in public and looked like an idiot just because my lovely soulmate manages to bang into just about everywhere?”

The boy just chuckles, deep and amused. “You’d just end up hurting yourself,” Taehyung points out, the simple truth in it making you bury your face into your hands with a groan. Less than a heartbeat later, you hear the slam of a door echoing down the hallway before there’s a rattle of tables and chairs, the squeak of sneakers on linoleum, and people scattering to the sides and you’ve literally never seen the cafeteria hallway so empty. Your curiosity piques just enough for you to lean over the table in time to see a group of students passing by the cafe, the well-known student committee club that can be easily mistaken for a host club of some sort. Taehyung sticks his hands out to wave excitedly, earning a brief wave from the president or what he’s been dubbed as ‘king’ Seokjin, a cool nod from the vice president Namjoon, and another from a smaller boy trailing behind them with a bunch of files in his hands that stack up to the tip of his nose —Jimin, their secretary — because Taehyung is Taehyung and Taehyung knows everyone.

“They’re so pretty,” you rest your chin in your hands as you watch the group of boys stride past the common student lounge, leaving a trail of metaphorical petals behind and swooning girls (and boys) in their path.

“I have their numbers, you know,” he pipes up, “I could introduce you to them.”

You shake your head, hands swatting at the forming thought-cloud brewing up a storm of Bad Ideas that you can feel growing over his head. 

“That’d be too obvious and weird.. besides, do you really think I would text someone first?” Just like a thumbtack popping a balloon, Taehyung deflates at your words. He rolls his eyes at that, knowing all too well how hard it takes for you to initiate a text. Or reply to one. “No.”

//

How Taehyung managed to forget his whole laptop at the library, you weren’t sure. All you knew was that Jungkook had called you while you were in the middle of formatting your essay, the rising panic in his voice highly evident as he explains how he has to leave for hockey practice really soon (’like, really really soon’) and if he could leave Taehyung’s laptop with you since you were still on campus staying back for a late lecture. Jungkook had sprinted from the library to the science building in record time, almost dashing past you if you hadn’t reached out to catch him by the sleeve. With a quick word of “thanks, noona”, he disappears in flurry of dark blue and white of his hockey uniform, the number 01 printed on the back of his jersey gone in a blink of an eye.

And this is how you find yourself trudging back from a 7PM lecture, with several thick textbooks that feel like bricks in your bag and two laptops in hand. Home never felt so close yet so far as you take a left turn instead of a right, towards the boys’ dorm instead of the girls’ in search of the owner of the extra laptop in your arms. The unnecessary amount of Pokemon stickers plastered onto it was what was probably accounting for more than half of its weight, making it more heavier than it should be, and you silently mumbled less than polite words to the huge Bulbasaur stuck smack dab in the middle of the laptop case. 

The structure and layout to both the boys’ and girls’ dorms were practically duplicates, so you wondered how on earth you could forget about the small set of stairs leading up to the double glass doors that separated the outside from the threshold of the building and tripped on it. Maybe you were just tired. Dead tired. Or just dead.

Or maybe it was just revenge from Bulbasaur for all the curses you’ve hurled at it, a fuck you in the form of you missing the step and by the time you’ve realised your mistake, your world is already turning upside down too quickly, and as any other college student who has a lot of (expensive) things on one hand (like a laptop or two) and very little time and money on the other, saving yourself wasn't an option. 

An ideal situation would be for a cute guy to coincidentally be there to save and break your fall. But alas — the cute guy comes running after you had clattered into heap on the floor, laptops hugged to your chest and a small stack of books scattered haphazardly around you— right when you decided that if in these circumstances, it might be better for a cute guy, or anyone to be out of the story so you save this embarrassing situation for yourself and no one else. A few scratches or bruises here and there seemed like a more tolerable concept as compared to hurting your pride. 

Luck, as it turns out, was more or less Bulbasaur-shaped that day — and you try not to die more inside when you see a familiar broad-shouldered, soft-smiling person rush up to your side — oh god, out of all the people, why must the student council president be the one who so happens to be walking past right when you were cued to make a fool out of yourself? He’s by your side in less than a second, concern and dismay blatantly painted in his pretty features, needing only one hand to take hold of the two laptops while he uses the other to help you up as he asks if you’re okay. Any mentions of Taehyung were shushed away before you could even elaborate as Seokjin (just call me Jin, please) insists that the bleeding wound is patched up before anything else. 

Like his eyes and smile and voice, Jin is gentle as he dabs on the wounds on both your knees, waving off your flustered mumbles of thank you’s. He’s also a little awkward, though endearingly so as he stumbles over his words trying to make polite talk to fill the silence of the otherwise empty student council room. It doesn't take quite too long for the conversation to ebb down to a more comfortable rhythm, and he even cracks a few puns (bad ones, but it’s Jin so you let it slide) here and there until something sitting on the corner of the front desk catches your eye.

“Swear jar?” you cock your head to the side. “Is that how the council makes the funds?”

Jin grins, a twinkle in his eye as he catches on to the amusement woven in your question.

“Partly,” he replies genially.  “Also because Namjoon really needs to…reduce his cussing. ‘Specially since we have important meetings with the teachers and sometimes the board of directors.” You stare at the object thoughtfully until the door slams open, and as if summoned by name, a ruffled blond Namjoon strides in.

—and walks right into the first desk in sight. 

“Fuck.”

Out in the hallways and on stage during speeches, Namjoon is confident, tall, almost intimidating. The vice president of the student council was always...cool-headed, proper, always knowing what to say and do, but as you stare at the rangy boy tripping over himself like he just slipped on some spaghetti that are his noodly limbs, you weren't sure what the truth was anymore.

From the way Jin doesn't even raise a brow watching his closest student council counterpart knocking over rows of furniture like a row of domino tiles, it was safe to say it was probably not an uncommon occurrence. He’s quick to draw his attention back to you, donning an expression of an exasperated mother before continuing to attend to your wound.

While Namjoon almost breaks a handful of furniture within a span of two seconds of being in the room, Jin applies more antiseptic cream and you try not to overly flinch at the pain that shoots up your leg. You weren’t about to start whining in front of Jin. Or Namjoon, you add, reminded of his presence when you hear yet another crash in the background. 

“Oh god. Your other knee is bleeding,” the kneeling boy gets up to his feet hurriedly, looking over towards his partner for help while you peer down to check if - yup, that's definitely blood. 

“I think you need the infirmary. Namjoon,” Jin starts, turning to Namjoon and definitely not expecting to see the boy in question staring down the length of his pants, at the dark spot blooming over the fabric right where his knees are. 

“Huh. I am,” Namjoon frowns, absently replying to Jin and mentally backtracking to the times where he’s hit the desks and chairs in school, his train of thoughts deviating to a question of the probability of knocking into the same chair more than once, and, just how many possible times that he has coincidentally offended the same set of furniture? Either way, he’s positive that he’d collectively done more damage to them (and himself) than anyone else in the school, but he’s more than sure he’s never actually bled from it before. The most that he gets out of it were blotchy bruises that he never really bothered with. 

“What the... Namjoon!” Jin looks as if he’s about to say something but decides against it, opting for exhaling heavily while rolling his shoulders back. “Forget it, let’s all go to the infirmary now.”

//

You have a lot of bruises, he observes. 

Namjoon’s always been into the details, constantly reading between words, people, with time, he’s determined to strip them down into individual frames and learn about every one of them, in search for anything more that he tends to overlook the bigger picture, or so he’s been told.

It takes an offhand remark from the nurse for everything to click in place, and he feels something akin to when the disconnected beats in his music archive finally falls into their rightful places, and the song he’s been stressing over the weeks and countless cups of coffee finally, finally happens.  

“You both injure yourselves very easily, don’t you? And in the same spots too. It’s like you both are—” 

From the bleeding knees, the scraped elbows, the bruise on his shin — what about the one on his forehead? Namjoon shoots up with a clatter, the pain in his his wounded knees momentarily forgotten as he takes less than three long strides towards you, past a startled Seokjin and the nurse and all you can do is blink up at him as deft, nimble fingers comb back the fringe falling over your forehead, and there, in the exact spot as yours, is a splotchy-inked, purplish bruise. 

“Oh...” Namjoon. “Oh, shit.”

//

Namjoon is your soulmate. It’s sudden, but it’s something that’s hard to deny though still hard to register. You’re both taking it in slowly, in small steps and over small coffee dates in an even smaller cafe that Namjoon himself had introduced you to. Other than cafe-hopping, Namjoon’s interests gravitate towards books because he likes words, the arrangement of them in poetry in which he sees the world through and translates his experiences through—

“Music? You write?” Namjoon watches you tilt your head at him, blinking. “Music?” 

“Uh – yeah...?” he says, ending it in almost a question, uncertainty colouring his tone.  “I composesome-...times,” Namjoon remembers to slow down when his words start meshing into one another, tongue twisted as a result of too many words flitting in hurried steps in his brain and also from being pinned under your curious (and adorable) gaze. Sitting across the round wooden table from you, Namjoon suddenly feels nervous, long, slender fingers curling around his mug as he tries to decode your vague expression. He feels the gears in his mind starting to work, palms getting sweaty in awaiting your response.  

“That is so cool,” you exclaim, genuinity strident in your voice, making him sigh internally, a breathy laugh escaping his lips. 

It didn’t take long for you to get comfortable with Namjoon, as with as the rest of his friends who were practically the rest of the student council, who were also Taehyung’s friends. You’re at their place for the weekly game night, slumped against Namjoon who’s scrolling down his phone while watching the younger boys (including Hoseok) bicker over the video game they were playing. Yoongi’s left to sleep in his room, not before sending a death glare in Jin’s way after the older had responded with a yeah, you look like you need it. 

“Be carefu–!” you hear a loud cry as you walk towards the fridge, turning to see Seokjin, looking alarmed with a hand on his chest. “Oh god, I thought you were going to hit the cabinet door! Thank god you–”

“Ow!” A hand instinctively comes up to your head where you feel a sudden, blunt pain. Less than second later, you hear a sharp slap of Seokjin facepalming before you turn around to see the blond tall figure of your soulmate behind you, rubbing the bump on his head sheepishly.

“Namjoon!” You scowl and whisper-yell at the boy, who just flails and does some weird flapping movements with his hands before they come to grab the sides of your face while he mumbles some apologies. “This is the third time you-”

“I’m sorry,” he cuts in, looking sincerely distressed, more than that one time when he was scheduled for two finals and two presentations back to back on the same day. Well. He’s definitely more fucked for this. 

Ice ends up being applied on the swelling on your head by a panicky Namjoon rather than in your iced (now room-temperature) tea like initially intended, and it doesn't take long until slender, careful fingers find your chin, where he hooks a thumb under to angle your face upwards in an effort to check the forming bruise if not a subtle move for getting you to finally look at him. You haven't said anything since the accident, not even sparing him a glance— sulking won’t make them disappear, but who can blame you? You had another unnecessary blue-blackish purple patch on your forehead now.

Another hand cradles your jaw, and his hand is large enough that his fingers end on the back of your neck and in some of your hair. The smile he gives you then is by far the softest, dimples curving and carving deep crescents in his cheek and for a second you think you see stars in his eyes as he searches yours. “I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, your pain is mine now, too.”

“And yours is mine,” you deadpan, wrinkling your nose and pulling away from his grasp just slightly, dramatic but not drastically; just enough to display how fake-annoyed you are. 

A slight grimace appears in place of the smile as he drops his head on your shoulder, muffled cries cushioning into the sleeve of your sweater. “I said I’m sorry.”