#have you ever been anywhere brisk? no? i figured

[quil12]

if i may request another (and ur into the concept heh)……. souyo + role swap?

Sorry that this took so long lmao - I had to think a while about what I wanted to do for this - mostly about Yu and how his Shadow would fit into everything. It also ended up being pretty long (almost 4k words), so it took me a little while to write.

That being said, here it is!

Yosuke yawned, stretching as he woke up. He could have sworn that he just had had a really weird dream, but he couldn’t remember much about it - just the faint memory of something blue. 

He glanced out the window of the car, biting back a groan. It was just fields, and grass, and trees as far as the eye could see. He hadn’t even been out of the city for half a day and he was already missing it. 

His dad had just gotten a promotion, although was it really worth it if they had to move all the way out into the middle of nowhere? 

They looked to just be reaching the town. Inaba. It was such a tiny little place - almost anywhere else would have been better. Why couldn’t they have at least been moving to another city? If he couldn’t live in Tokyo, he would have taken Sendai or Osaka or Kagoshima. Hell, he would have even taken Sapporo, moving all the way up to Hokkaido. But no, he had to be trapped in this tiny rural town with nothing to do for the next who knew how long.

He took a deep breath.

Maybe it would be fine. Maybe he would be able to make friends and find things to do. He didn’t have any reputation here yet. Maybe he could figure out some way to give himself a positive first impression and really make the most out of his time here.

They quickly got into the town, driving through the tiny shopping district. There were a few people walking around, but not a lot of them. 

“I’m going to stop and get some gas before going the rest of the way,” his dad said from the front seat.

Great. That meant longer sitting in the shopping district. At least there was some amount of excitement in getting to see their house for the first time, but now he had to wait to even do that.

They pulled into the gas station, parking next to one of the pumps. An attendant came by quickly, greeting them.

“I’m going to get out and stretch my legs,” his mom said, opening the door. “Yosuke, sweetheart, why don’t you join me.”

“Okay.”

He unbuckled his seatbelt, opening the car door, and stepping outside. It was starting to get into fall, so the air was brisk and chilly. Even in the middle of town, it smelled so much cleaner than any place in the city ever was. 

“How are you feeling?” his mom asked as soon as they were outside the car.

He shrugged. “It’s fine.”

She laid a hand on his shoulder. “I know this isn’t what you wanted to have happen, but I know that you’ll make lots of friends here and you’ll be able to make the most of it.”

Yosuke nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. They had talked about this before, but it never got much easier. 

“I’m actually going to go walk around for a few minutes. Feel free to join me.”

“Okay.” He considered following her, but instead just leaned up against the side of the car, looking at the street beyond the gas station. So this was it, huh. The place he was living.

“So, you’re just moving here from the city?” 

Yosuke looked up to see the gas station attendant standing a few feet away from him. 

“Oh, yeah.”

“There’s really not a lot of things to do out here compared to the big city. You’ll probably either be hanging out with friends or working a part time job. Speaking of which, we’re actually hiring here if you’re looking for one.”

He gave a small laugh. “Unfortunately, I think I’ll have a job already working at the Junes that’s about to open up. My dad’s going to be the manager.”

“Ah, well, either way, it was nice to meet you.”

The attendant reached out his hand. Yosuke reached out almost instinctively, shaking his hand.

“Uh, yeah.”

Almost immediately, a flash of dizziness passed through him. He let go of his hand.

“Yosuke-kun? Are you feeling all right?” His mom was just walking back toward them.

He took a deep breath. “Yeah, I just felt kind of dizzy all of a sudden.”

She frowned. “All right. We should probably get going then. You can lay down when we get to the house.”

He nodded, getting back in the car. He was probably just tired.

- - -

Today was his first day as a second year. It was going to be a good year. He knew it.

People hadn’t been too thrilled to have him in town, and really, he couldn’t blame them too much. A lot of the shops in the shopping district were going under because of Junes, and he, by association with his dad, had become the sort of face of it. 

He tried to not let it get to him though, being as kind and pleasant to people as possible. He had even made a few friends - kind of. 

There was Chie, who had been in his class the last year. She had leant him a movie that he was going to return that day. She seemed like fun to hang out with. 

There were also Kou and Daisuke. He had hung out with them a few times after school when he had had nothing to do and one of them had been practicing. If he had more time, he would have joined one of the sports clubs, but he really couldn’t do that and work.

There was also Saki-senpai. She had really been his favorite of the friends that he had made. She was outwardly kind to him when almost no one else was. She had every right to hate him - her family’s liquor store was one of the businesses struggling to stay afloat with Junes in town - but she treated him kindly, telling him that he wasn’t responsible for what his parents did. 

Really, it was boring there, but he could feel that it was going to get better.

- - -

There was a new transfer student.

His name was Yu Narukami. 

He had helped him, pulling him out of a trash can when he had crashed into it. He wasn’t proud that that had happened, but at least he didn’t seem to be judging him for it.

“Thanks for the help, dude. I’m Yosuke Hanamura.”

“Yu Narukami.”

“Oh, yeah. I actually sit right behind you in class.”

“Right.”

The two of them started walking, heading in the direction of the school.

“So, why exactly did you move out to Inaba? There’s not exactly a lot to do around here.”

“My parents are overseas on a business trip for the next year, so I came to live with my uncle while they’re gone.”

Yosuke hummed. “I can kinda relate. I’m here because of my dad’s job.”

The two of them talked a little bit more about living in the town as they headed to the school. He seemed cool.

- - -

Yosuke stared into the turned off TV, his arms crossed. 

This was dumb. Why was he even actually trying to do this?

Earlier that day, Chie had told them about the rumor of the Midnight Channel, saying that if you looked into a turned off TV at midnight on a rainy night, you’d see your soulmate. 

There was no way that it was true, but he had promised to try it out. 

He glanced toward his clock, watching as the time ticked from 11:59 to 12:00.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of static as the TV in front of him flickered to life. He stepped back in surprise, staring with wide eyes at the screen.

There was a girl on it with long, wavy, brown hair. She looked familiar, almost like Saki-senpai. Did that mean that she was supposed to be his soulmate…?

All of a sudden, an intense flash of dizziness followed by a severe headache went through him. He groaned, holding his head in his hands. Words flickered from deep inside his head.

I am thou… Thou art I

He took a deep breath, looking back toward the TV. He had the sudden urge to lay his hand on it. What would happen if he did that?

He walked closer to the TV, reaching his hand out, touching the flat surface. 

Almost immediately, his hand slipped through the screen. He yelped, immediately pulling back as the image flickered, then disappeared. 

He scrambled back, away from the TV, watching it with wide eyes, but it had apparently turned itself off.

Had that all just been a dream?

He looked down at his hand - the one that had slipped through the screen.

A dream. That’s what it must have been.

- - -

It wasn’t a dream. 

That fact was made clear to him as soon as he had taken Chie and Yu to the electronics department at Junes, wanting someone else to be able to witness what had happened. 

Neither of them had believed him until he had stuck his hand straight through the screen. He hadn’t even quite believed it himself until he had gone tumbling through and into the almost limitless space beyond. 

Both Yu and Chie had fallen with him, all of them bearing witness to this unbelievably strange world filled with yellow fog. 

They had been looking for a way out when they had wandered into what seemed to be a bedroom. 

It seemed like it somehow belonged to the announcer, Mayumi Yamano - a woman who had just been found dead in Inaba. He wasn’t sure what to do with that information.

After a while of wandering around, they had come across this weird bear… thing, who had given them the means to get out of that world. 

He had gone home early that night, so confused, but also feeling so exhausted. 

- - -

Saki-senpai was dead.

She had been found in much the same way as the announcer - strung up upside down on a telephone pole.

He wanted to do something about it. He couldn’t just stand by and let someone get away with killing her. 

She had appeared on the Midnight Channel. Maybe that was somehow linked to that other world they had gone to. Maybe there were answers in there.

He had asked Yu to come with him, wanting someone to be there to help, before going to Junes after school, both of them heading inside. 

They met the bear thing again, who introduced himself as Teddie. He also accused them of being the one who had been throwing people in there. They had denied it, but he still seemed suspicious of them.

That being said, that meant that Saki-senpai really had come into this world. That meant someone had murdered her. He was going to find out who.

Teddie had given both of them glasses to help see through the fog. Putting them on had instantly minimized the oppressive feeling the whole place was giving off. He wasn’t sure how they worked, but he was grateful to have them.

They had asked Teddie to show them where she had been when she came in, and he had led them to a place that looked like some weird and twisted version of the shopping district. They walked until they found the liquor store.

All of a sudden, Teddie got scared, cowering. “They’re coming.”

“What’s coming?” Yosuke asked, frowning.

He looked toward the liquor store, watching as three black shapes materialized out of it, forming into monstrous shapes. They moved, coming toward them as if to attack them.

Teddie was still cowering while Yu was staring at them, fear apparent in his eyes. He needed to do something. He needed to protect them. He wasn’t going to let them die to these things. 

All of a sudden, a voice rang loud and clear in his head.

I am though. Though art I. The time has come to open thine eyes and call forth what is within.

He held his head in his hand as a headache started pounding against his skull. 

He looked down into his other hand, blinking as he saw he was now grasping tightly onto a card. He flipped it over, furrowing his brow as he saw that it was blank.

As he stared down at it, the headache slowly subsided, replacing itself with an almost tingly sensation. It filled him up, power coursing through his body. There was a blue light coming from around him, engulfing the whole area in the color.

One word entered his mind as he crushed the card in his hand.

“Persona.”

The power rushed through him, forming itself into a shape behind him. It was such an amazing feeling. He didn’t even really know what it was, but he really liked it.

The figure fully materialized. He somehow knew what it was called - Jiraiya.

A strong wind blew through the area, messing up his hair. He didn’t care though. 

The monsters - or whatever they were actually called - seemed to be struggling in the wind, backing off from where they were standing. He kept it up, continuing to batter them in it until they began melting into puddles of black goop. 

As soon as they were gone, he let the figure disappear, almost collapsing onto the ground. That had taken a lot out of him. 

Yu was immediately by his side, grabbing hold of his arm, keeping him upright. “Are you all right. What was that?”

“I’ll be fine. And… I… Persona?”

“Persona?”

“I think that’s what it’s called?”

“Oh wow, Sensei, that was so cool. I’ve never seen anyone stand up to the shadows like that before.”

Yosuke looked over to see Teddie a few feet to his other side, speaking excitedly.

“Sensei…? Are you talking about me.”

“Who else would I be talking about?”

Yosuke shrugged it off. He didn’t suppose that it mattered.

“Come on. Let’s go inside. I want to find out what happened to Saki-senpai.”

He started walking toward the door, heading inside the building. Yu and Teddie walked in behind him.

He looked around the room they had ended up in, walking over to a table off to one side, gaze locking on to a familiar picture. It was one that all of the part time employees at Junes had taken. He was standing there next to Saki, smiling widely at the camera. 

As he set the picture back down, a very familiar voice sounded from seemingly nowhere - Saki-senpai.

She started talking about how she hadn’t actually liked him and how she was just being nice to him because he was the manager’s son. Hearing those words said to him in her voice hurt, but, on some level, he had known that there had been part of her that had felt that way. 

All of a sudden, another voice started speaking.

“‘Is she Yosuke’s girlfriend?’” the voice said, as if imitating someone. “Well, very clearly not.”

That sounded like Yu. It was a little bit off though. He looked over toward him, but he was standing there, staring with wide eyes at something behind him.

He turned, blinking in surprise. It was Yu. Another Yu. He looked practically identical to the one standing beside him, except for the yellow eyes and the smirk that he had on his face.

The other Yu started speaking again. “She kind of hated him, then, didn’t she? Isn’t that great?”

“What are you…?” Yu said from beside him.

“Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Now that it’s not some tragic love story, maybe I’d have a chance.”

Yosuke frowned. What was going on? Have a chance at what?

Yu’s eyes widened. “That’s not…”

“That’s not what?” He took a few steps forward, toward them. “Yosuke. I’ve been thinking since I met you about how hot you are. About all the things that I want to do with you. About all the things that I want to do to you.”

Yosuke took a step back. He looked toward Yu, who was standing there, staring intently at the floor. He wasn’t even sure how to react to that.

“Dude, what is it saying? Are you…?”

Yu looked up, gaze locking on to the other version of him. “I don’t know why you have my face, but whatever you’re trying to imply isn’t true.”

The other version of him let out a loud laugh. “Don’t try to play dumb. I know how you really feel because I am you.”

“That’s not-”

“And you didn’t want him to find out, now, did you? You finally found someone that you thought that you could be friends with, but he’s definitely going to abandon you after this. But that’s par for the course, isn’t it? You’re always going to be abandoned by people. Why would anyone actually want to hang around with you.”

Yosuke didn’t really understand what was going on, but it seemed like whatever it was, it was putting Yu on edge. Were these his real feelings about things? He could relate on that front of feeling abandoned by people - none of his friends from the city had even once tried to text him since he moved out here. 

And then there was the other part. The part implying that he might be into him. The thought of that should have freaked him out, but for some reason, it made his heart start pounding in his chest. Yu was hot, so the fact that he, of all people, might be interested in him was insanely flattering. 

Yu’s eyes were locked on this other version of himself, his fists clenched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t… Whatever you are, you’re definitely not me.”

At those words, the atmosphere in the room seemed to shift. 

The other version of Yu began laughing - a laugh that he could never have imagined coming from his mouth, dark energy swirling all around him, electricity popping and flashing through the air.

“That’s right. I’m me now.”

Yosuke watched with wide eyes as he transformed with the energy, turning into something he could only really describe as a monster. 

Yu had fallen back, staring up at the thing, his mouth open. 

Whatever was happening, he knew that he needed to protect him. He wasn’t about to let him get hurt or die to this thing. He hadn’t been able to protect Saki-senpai and he wasn’t just about to sit back and let something happen to Yu now.

In the corner of the room, Teddie was cowering, also looking up at the monster.

“Teddie, do you know what’s going on?”

He looked up at him. “It’s his Shadow. It’s gone bearserk. If someone denies their Shadow, it becomes like this.”

His Shadow…? He would have to ask what that meant later, but for the time being, he would just have to deal with it himself.

He took a deep breath, thinking back to what he had done when he had summoned his Persona before.

He successfully summoned the card in front of him, crushing it.

“Persona.”

As soon as he summoned it, he had it batter the Shadow with wind. That had worked decently before. It seemed to be a good move as it tumbled back a little, seemingly stunned by the gale force winds that were rushing toward it.

He could only keep that up for a few seconds though, the effort exhausting him. 

As soon as the Shadow stood back up, electricity began crackling through the air, making the hair on his arms stand up. 

There was a flash of light. Completely on instinct, he jumped to the left, just barely making it out of the way as a bolt of lightning hit the ground where he had been standing mere moments before.

His heart was pounding. That had been close. He definitely didn’t want to get hit by one of those. 

That was how the rest of the fight went. He tried to hit it with wind whenever he was able, but that was broken up by him having to dodge the lightning strikes it was trying to hit him with. 

After what seemed like an eternity, he hit the Shadow with one last strong blast of wind and it collapsed to the floor, the same dark energy surrounding it, warping it back into a form that looked a lot like Yu. 

He was breathing hard, but he turned to Yu, who was still sitting on the floor, where he had apparently been watching the fight.

“Yu.” He walked over to him, crouching beside him, and laying his hand on his shoulder. “I know that you probably don’t want to admit it, but what it was saying was true, at least partially, right? I know what it’s like to feel abandoned by friends. I’m not sure I know about the other stuff.” He bit his lip. “But I’m not going to abandon you over it, okay? We’re friends.”

Yu looked down at the ground before standing up, walking over to where his Shadow was standing. He took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m scared of being abandoned. I’m scared of losing friends and making people hate me. I’m scared that people won’t like me for who I am. I’m scared that Yosuke would hate me if he found out how I was actually feeling about him. I… You are me. I see that now.”

His Shadow seemed to smile at him before disappearing in a flash of light, a new form taking its place. It slowly faded, getting replaced by a card that Yu immediately clutched in his hand.

“Izanagi,” he whispered.

Was that his Persona? It certainly seemed like something similar to what Jiraiya had been. 

Yosuke walked over to him, grasping onto his arm - it seemed like he was about ready to fall over. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ll be all right.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Yu nodded, and the two of them started heading toward the entrance, Teddie not far behind them.

He still had questions regard Saki-senpai, but he wanted to make sure that Yu was okay first. He didn’t know all of what was going to happen, but he thought that it would all work out so long as he was by his side.

[slutforelliealways]

Space Girl (chapter 1)

Ellie x femme reader

Bear with me, this is my first fanfic or really any piece of writing. I have big plans for the plot so if it seems a bit jumbled now just take a beat and know I’m gonna tweak it as I go along! If you like this please let me know, I’m still new to tumblr so give me a second whilst I figure it out! Thank you and enjoy my corny little love story!

Word count 5.3k!!

It was a rainy day and cold as balls, you rolled over in your twin sized bed hoping to see your clock say anything other than 7:15. Just to your luck it was only 5:00 AM and you had over two hours to spare, you hopped out of bed and headed over to the bathroom to start the shower. On any other day you’d just roll over and go back to sleep but today was too big a day to do that, you had to look perfect! Today was the day Abby would finally ask you to be official, you never got a hundred percent confirmation but your best friend Dina had dropped some pretty big hints. Besides, this was exactly what you needed after a couple rough weeks with Abby. Nothing horrible just a lot of small fights and bickering over nothing, this would bring you two closer and make things real finally.

Your shower was brisk and hot, you turned it off and stepped out wrapping a fluffy pink towel around your body and squeezing the water out of your hair. You stood in front of the mirror contemplating what to do with your face before deciding on something simple, a bronzy dewy look with a lipliner that was a couple shades darker than your lips. “This’ll be the best look I’ve ever done!” You exclaim to yourself, excitement beaming out of you and bouncing around in your body. The clothes you chose were simple, baggy jeans that hugged just around you hips perfectly loose. A tight light pink tank top that cut off right above your pierced belly button, and some chunky sneakers. You threw on all your chunky rings and pulled out your dainty hoops for your earlobes, a big hobby of yours was getting piercings anywhere that looked dainty but edgy. Your ears were covered in little gold and silver hoops and studs and your nose had a simple gold septum ring with a gold ring on your right nostril to compliment it. A silver smiley piercing to contrast your nose and a gold tongue piercing to contrast the smiley, it was different and some might say tacky but you loved it. You allowed your long, wavy, blonde hair to air dry and frizz up in just the right places. Your hair had been a struggle for most of your life, always keeping it pin straight or in a sleek ponytail until recently. Now you rarely did anything but brush and wash it, this new confidence oozing out of you constantly as you became more and more yourself. You smiled at yourself in the full sized mirror in your bedroom, pleased with the fact that you’d fuck you if that was at all possible. “If I saw myself walking down the street I’d ask me out”, whispering to yourself.

Right as you finished fluffing your hair and posing a couple more times in the mirror a knock came at your door, you squealed and ran out to the hallway to answer it. Before you reached it you heard the door unlock and sighed at the sight in front of you.

“What? Not even a smile for your best friend in the whole wide world? Rude”, Dina was holding a drink carrier with two coffees and two bags with what you could only safely assume were breakfast sandwiches.

“No I mean I’m glad to see you I just thought-“ your sentence cut off by Dina.

“You thought lover girl was coming over? At 7:30am? God you are whipped and a half shawty”, she chuckled as she placed the food and drinks on the coffee table and sat down on your couch. “I thought you guys had dinner plans anyway, why so dressed up so early?”

She was right, you did get ready way too early for the plans you guys had, “I just.. like to be prepared is all.” You felt your cheeks get hot in embarrassment and you scrambled for something else to talk about. “Is it the right order”, you say reaching for the coffee you knew she’d gotten right because your order hadn’t changed in three years.

“Caramel macchiato with an extra shot of espresso? Yeah, kind of hard to fuck that up babes”, she laughed genuinely thinking that was the funniest thing she’d said all morning.

“Okay asshole, just making sure you’re not getting coffee for any other bitches. I should always be your main girl”, you smack her arm as you sit next to her on the couch. “So what’s new in Dina’s world huh?” You say taking a sip of your coffee and smiling at the familiar delicious taste.

“Ugh, nothing. My life is so boring! Same boyfriend and same best friend”, she chuckled reaching for her sandwich.

“Fuck you! I am anything but boring and you know it”, you point at your sandwich for her to hand it to you and she does.

“You may not be boring but Jesse certainly can be, it’s always the same shit over and over again. Same movies and same video games, he’s lucky I’m stupid over him or I’d be riding faces like you every other weekend.” She grinned at you with her comment lingering for a second.

“Okay it’s not faces it’s one face and her face has a name, Abby. Don’t make me out to be a whore now!” You take a bite of your sandwich.

“Hey! I never slut shame! You shouldn’t either.” She sips her coffee.

“No one is slut shaming here, the more bodies the merrier! I’m just saying I’ve only sat on one face for the past four months okay?” You felt ashamed for even saying the whore thing.

“I know, I’m just saying if I was you and I wasn’t actually committed to anyone I’d be fucking anything that moved.” Dina shifted in her seat.

“I really like Abby, she’s nice and pretty and like really fucking good in bed. I just need her to commit to me before I say.. you know.” You blushed.

“What? The L word?” Dina sipped her coffee.

“Yeah I guess so.” You pushed your hair behind your ears.

“It’ll come. Just give it some time.”

“How much more time does she need? We’ve basically been committed to each other this whole time so she either wants me or she doesn’t you know?” You reach for your coffee.

“I get it.” She bunches her feet up on the couch.

“Either way if she doesn’t commit tonight then I’m done, I can’t keep pushing my feelings aside to make her comfortable. Besides, she’s not the only hot woman that’s come my way and why should I halt myself for someone who can’t decide if they want me or not.” You shrug.

“Speaking of women coming your wayyyy.” Dina screeched.

“Oh no absolutely not.” Your demeanor changed and you felt your cheeks get hot.

“Oh come on! You know you think she’s sexy, what’s stopping you babe?”

“Uhhh? Abby?” You point to the lock screen on your phone which lit up with a picture of you and Abby kissing on a Ferris wheel.

“Okay but, say you guys end it tonight instead of continuing… maybe then you’ll give Ellie a chance?” She almost whispers the last part. “Besides, you know she’s good in bed and she’s like super into you hun. You might as well give it a small chance, she’s not as full of herself as Abs and she’s always got bud on her.” Dina sipped her coffee and took a final bite of her sandwich before putting the crust back in the bag.

“All good points but, I still want to give Abby one last chance okay?”

“Fair.” She grabbed your hands and squeezed them.

The day went by quickly as you guys spent most of it playing video games, watching movies, and eating a shit ton of food. Around 5:30pm you felt your phone buzz in your pocket and you reached out to see who it was.

New message from Abs😍��: Hey baby I’m so sorry but I’ve gotta cancel tonight, my dad wants to hangout and talk about something important. Swear I’ll make it up to you soon!

You: Yeah, no problem. Have a good night and keep me updated! Mwah 💕

Your heart sank to your feet and Dina caught on immediately, “she cancelled didn’t she?”

“Yeah”, your eyes began to tear up and Dina embraced you in a tight hug.

“Fuck her! I know something that’ll make you feel better”. Dina’s face went into a full grin as she pulled away and looked at you. “Let’s get stoned and watch The Walking Dead, you can gush over Michonne and Maggie and I can cream my jeans over Rick… and Maggie.”

“I don’t have any weed D.” You sniffle as you wipe the last of your tears away with your wrist.

“I know who does!” She squeals.

“Absolutely not!” You shut her down.

“Yes absolutely yes! She’s gonna come drop it off and you’re gonna walk out there in your sexy outfit and pay half the price cause she charges me a friends and family discount in hopes I’ll get her a date with you. This is a win-win for all of us!”

“I fail to see how this is a win for Ellie.” You stand up and walk over to the kitchen to get some water.

“She gets to see you duh! Oh c’mon you know this’ll make you feel better! Pleeeeeaseee!” She begs from the floor.

“Okayokayokay fine!” You open your water bottle and chug half of it down in nervousness.

“Yay! I’ll text her now! I’m not telling her you’re meeting her, I want Ellie’s face to be shocked when she sees you.”

“Um okay.” You shrug.

“She’s got one stop before this and then she’ll be on her way, go fix your mascara and then prepare to be sexified!” Dina stood up and jumped on the couch.

“Yes ma’am!” You headed into the bathroom to do what she told you.

“She’s here!” Dina squealed and she shook her arms around in excitement.

“Alright how do I look?” You asked sheepishly.

“Hot! Now GO!” She shoved you out the door with cash in hand.

The walk to her car was the longest walk ever, your feet dragged and your heart pounded so hard you thought you might crack a rib. As you approached the vehicle you saw Ellie in the drivers side already smoking a pre roll and jamming to her tunes. You shook your head and laughed as you closed in and knocked on her window, she jumped up clearly startled by your approach. She looked up at you and her eyes widened as she rolled her window down.

“Shit Dina didn’t tell me you were picking up, no charge today then.” Her hands were shaky as she handed you the ziploc full of your favorite greens.

“Yeah she said something about wanting your face to be shocked.” You chuckled as you reached your hand in to drop the cash in her lap.

“Hey I said no charge! Pretty girls don’t pay for flower!” She handed the cash back. “I am shocked but I thought for sure you’d be with your girl tonight.” She winced as she said it.

“No she’s with her dad tonight. Something about an important conversation or something, not sure but that’s why I’m here.” You forced a chuckle to hide your disappointment.

“She’s not with her dad!”

“What?” Your jaw dropped.

“Yeah no I just sold to her and some girl at JD’s party, she didn’t seem too upset either so I don’t think whatever conversation was supposed to happen did.” Ellie ran her hands through her hair. “Hey where are you going?” She shouted as you ran to the other side of her car and yanked the passenger door open.

Your body slid in quickly and you slammed your door shut as you buckled your seat belt. “Take me there.” You gritted through your teeth.

“I’m sorry what?” She questioned before starting her car again.

“I said take me there. Now!” You shouted clearly startling her.

“Yeah sure okay.” She stared straight ahead as she screeched off and made a haste u-turn before turning left toward JD’s house.

You barely let the car come to a full stop before you unbuckled and swung the door open and jumped out.

“Hello? Door!” Ellie shouted as you marched into the house not bothering to knock on the front door. You knew you left her car door open in your haste but you didn’t much care right now. You shoved through crowds of people in your hunt to find Abby, you turned a corner into the living room and found her sitting on the couch chatting up some girl next to her. “ABBY!” You shouted causing everyone in the house to crane their necks toward the noise.

“Oh shit!” She whispered before standing up and approaching you. “H-hey babe!” She rubbed the back of her neck in awkwardness.

“Don’t fucking babe me! What are you doing here? I thought you had something going on with your dad tonight! Isn’t that why you cancelled our dinner that’s been planned for a week! Is this what you’ve been doing every time you cancel plans with me?” Your face felt hot and your fingertips and toes were tingling, you had a bad temper this you knew. Abby just really knew how to bring it to the surface.

“How the fuck did you even know where I was?” Abby’s big arms shot up in confusion.

“Ellie brought me here after so kindly letting me know you just bought from her not even 20 minutes before she came to drop off for me.” You smirked knowing the mention of Ellie would run hot and cold through Abby’s body. They had.. history? With women they both liked. Once upon a time they were best friends since kindergarten, often times crushing on the same girl and competing to see who would be able to get to her first. Usually Abby would win with her strikingly muscular body and full fletched confidence, followed by Ellie sulking for weeks and then pretending it never happened. Abby was confident and I think a lot of women fell for that, shit I mean I did so. Ellie was shy and kind of a loser, sweet and very hot and had a toned body. Her demeanor was more reserved, she liked space and video games. Abby liked working out and sports, there was an obvious personality difference.

“Ellie? Ellie! I cancel dinner plans and you make news ones with her? What a fuckin joke!” Her body towered over yours and you could feel your knees getting wobbly from the amount of eyes on you all at once.

“Well y- you canceled to go here di- didn’t you? So what difference does it really make?” Your throat felt weird and you started sweating. Oh no please I cannot throw up in front of all these people pleaseeee!

“That’s not what the fuck I asked!” She stepped closer toward you, her nostrils were flaring and her cheeks were red hot.

You were about to rebuttal with a quick punch to the nose, your arm drawn back and your fist clenched. Right as you went to take your swing you felt a firm grip around your wrist and a jolt pulling you back. “Sorry folks you know how serious these kids take drama club! Alls good here get back to your underage drinking and doing drugs! If anyone needs any green you know where to find it! Have a good night you’ve all been great.” Ellie was pulling you by your arm back out of the house as she goodbyes everyone she passes. Some people were snickering others were dabbing Ellie up as she walked backwards with you trailing closely behind.

“Would you fucking let go? I’m fine I won’t go back in there!” You yell as she’s dragging you quickly across the lawn.

“If I hadn’t stopped you then you’d have swung at her and caused an even bigger scene than you already did, nice form by the way!” She chuckled as she opened the passenger door for you to climb in.

“Thanks.” You huff back and pout as you buckle yourself in. This was not how the night was supposed to go, you were supposed to be at dinner with some good food and laughing with Abby. Not getting dragged out of a party for almost punching her.

The drivers side door opened and Ellie slid herself in and buckled, she started the car and drove a couple of feet before stopping and turning to you. “You wanna do something fun?” She smirks at you. Her emerald green eyes looking extra mischievous as she rubbed her hands together evilly.

“Uh maybe, what’s fun for you?” You question her awkwardly.

“Let’s swing by and grab Dina first and then we can go to Jesse’s. He’s got a party planned tonight it’s supposed to be awesome!” She snickered before taking off towards your apartment before waiting for your reply.

Dina was gonna skip a party Jesse was throwing for me? I need to appreciate her more Jesus Christ!

“Can I at least put some jeans on before we head over there? I’d hate to show up in sweats at another party.” She snorted at that and you smiled shyly at her.

“Yes you can change into some jeans.” She chuckled before pulling up to your apartment.

Dina was over the moon at the news of you attending the party. “Fuck yes!! She bounced around before remembering, “shit I don’t have any other clothes to wear!”

“Bitch you’re at my apartment you have more clothes here than you do at your own.” You roll your eyes and head over to your bedroom to open your closet. Dina followed and you saw Ellie standing awkwardly in the hallway. “Ellie.” She looked up and you waved her in, she did a little awkward shuffle before walking in and standing in the corner.

“Sit down on the bed and stop being so fucking weird! Roll us a joint or something, make yourself useful!” Dina scoffed and went back to looking at your clothes in the closet, all neatly hung up and next to the most complimenting piece of clothing so in case you needed a quick fit they were right there. “I fucking love how psycho you are about your clothes and their set ups! Makes my life so much easier.”

“Hey I’m not like psycho I just like my shit organized what’s wrong with that?” You exclaimed, you saw Ellie using her phone as a rolling tray and breaking up the bud. “There’s some rolling papers in my nightstand, first drawer.” You said it casually and then remembered that’s where you kept your vibrator. You watched as she opened it up and stared for a second before reaching for the rolling papers and closing the drawer.

“These ones?” She asked casually, pretending she didn’t see your.. little friend.

“Uh huh yep that’s the ones.” You choke out. Dina totally caught it as she was stifling her laughter and trying not to be obvious.

She’s being so obvious!

“I like the little cherries on them!” Ellie switched the subject going on in everyone’s heads.

“Oh yeah thank you! Ab- some friend got them for me. You gulped and went to change in the bathroom when something stopped you, you had the brilliant idea of instead changing right in the bedroom where everyone could see. Not that it wouldn’t be anything Dina hadn’t seen but Ellie, Ellie had never seen anything before.

You pulled your sweats down and exposed your cute little pink laced panties that matched the tank top you had been wearing, Ellie’s eyes shot up for a second then immediately went back to the joint. She gulped quietly but you watched as it went down her throat and couldn’t help but smirk, to bring her attention back you began speaking. “You think anyone I know other than you and Jesse will be there?”

“Oh yeah lots of people are going! Nobody you won’t wanna see though, you know who isn’t invited I already filled Jesse in on all of it.” Dina was in her own world trying on different shirt and pant combos whilst answering your question.

You plan worked and Ellie was ready to partake, anything to look at you. “Excuse me”, she raised her hand. “You know me, I’ll be there. I fuckin invited you!” She scoffed.

“I know you’ll be there!” You teased. You grabbed your jeans and started wiggling them up your legs, making sure to turn around once you began pulling them up your ass. You watched as Ellie watched it in your mirror, she caught on and looked back down at the joint. She twisted off the top and held it up proudly.

“Another beaut! You guys wanna spark or what?” She marveled at her specimen.

“Save it for the party I’m ready to dance!” Dina squealed as she showed off her outfit your outfit she spun around and marveled at the little top big pant creation you had crafted in your closet. A bright green tube top with some baggy ripped jeans, it looked better on her than it did you.

“Keep that outfit, you look too hot in it for me to ever wear it again.” You smacked her ass and waved everyone out so you could get some shots in you and dance your shitty night away with Ellie.

“You sure?” Dina looked puzzled at the offer.

“Positive!” You exclaim, “now let’s go bitches!”

“Alright let’s do this thing!” Ellie yelled and pumped her arms up.

You sat in the front seat while playing all the good hype songs on your playlist, Ellie knew every word to all your favorite songs. You would lean in and sing a lyric and she’d lean back in and sing the next one, Dina screamed at the top of her lungs at her favorite songs and you’d both giggle at her. It was the most fun you’d had in a while and you wanted to bask in it for as long as you could. The car came to a stop and you had arrived at Jesse’s house that he shared with two other roommates, Owen, and Manny. Since Dina spent most nights over there they had all agreed Jesse would get the master bedroom so they could have some privacy, Dina had never been more grateful telling you that news your sophomore year in college.

“You ready for this sweet stuff?” Ellie asked as she unbuckled herself.

“Let’s take some fuckin shots!” You yelled and Dina squealed along with you.

“Let’s do this shit!” Dina yelled and jumped out of the car and ran straight into the house.

“You ready space girl?” It was a nickname she’d well earned back in middle school, you had science together and when the subject of space came up and she knew everything there was to know you nicknamed her space girl. She seemed to like it well enough and you enjoyed having a name for her only you could call her. You had known you had a thing for girls way before you knew your space science, Ellie Williams simply confirmed your suspicions. Abby had came along early sophomore year of college, you always knew her from earlier school years but Ellie had always been the apple of your eye. She never made a proper move on you and when Abby slid in you figured it was time to move on from your crush, it wasn’t till after you’d gotten invested in Abby that Ellie was finally ready to reciprocate your feelings for her. After years of waiting you figured she could wait a bit too then, maybe this was finally the time of no more waiting.

“C’mon let’s go!” Ellie bounced out of the car and ran toward your side to open your door. She reached out a hand for you to grab and you did, you couldn’t help but blush at the gesture and hope it was dark enough for her not to notice.

“I want a shot or six! Guide me to the liquor!” You shout over the music, “don’t leave me alone please! I don’t think I know anyone else here!”

“I won’t go anywhere okay!” Her hand was on your lower back guiding you through the crowd and into the kitchen, Dina was already downing a shot when you spotted her and Jesse.

“Bitch you made it in finally! I’m already on my third come on catch up!” She shouted.

“Wait hold on I need a hug first I haven’t seen your ass in forever!” Jesse walked over and spread his arms wide for a hug.

“Come here you big teddy bear.” You squeeze each other hard before letting go and letting Ellie and him catch up. “D pour me one!” She nods and does exactly that, choosing the shot glass with big titties on the front of it just for you.

Jesse’s back is facing you and Ellie is talking to him, as you take your shot you notice she’s keeping her eyes on you the whole time. The strong liquid burns as it goes down your throat and you reach for the nearest soda to wash it down smoother before you gag, she stifles a laugh and tries to join back the conversation Jesse is having with her. Dina pours you another one and you throw it down following again with your soda, you move your eyes back to Ellie and she meets them immediately. Your thoughts were clouding your judgement and you made your way over to her, “you wanna dance or something?”

“I’ve actually gotta make my rounds, got some business to close up before I can have any fun.” She looks down at her feet.

“Can I come with you?” She perked up at the offer.

“Absolutely! Let’s go!” She puts her hand back on your lower back and guides you out of the kitchen and into the living room full of drunk and stoned young adults. You recognized some of them from your classes but most were strangers, Ellie was guiding you through the crowd keeping anyone from bumping into you. You were about to pass the dining room table when she slid her finger in your belt loop and stopped you.

“Right here princess, gotta sell to the end of the table down there. Just follow me and you’ll be good.” Her hand trailed down your waist before she stepped in front of you and made her way down the table. “Good evening ladies.” Her voice was comically business like.

“Hey Ellie Belly!” Cat squealed flirting with no shame. You knew about her, she sat behind you in your psychology class and always talked about what she’d let Ellie do to her if she gave her a shot and how she always got a discount for her bud. “So what’s this?” She pointed up and down at you without ever looking your direction.

“Oh this fine specimen?” Ellie pulled you forward and wrapped her arms around your waist, resting her head on your shoulder as she spoke. “This is my partner for the night, you’d do good to address her correctly Cat. She determines your price on flower here in a couple seconds.” You couldn’t help but blush at the gesture, as much as you wanted to be mad at the excessive PDA it was nice having someone be proud to have you around.

“Uh excuse me? Since when do you have a business partner? You’ve always just sold to me by yourself, and at a discount at that.” She snickered to her friends as they all looked you up and down.

“Yeah that was when I thought maybe I’d want in your pants, now that I’ve got what I really want on my arm though you’re gonna have to pay full price. You cool with that?” Ellie was extra confident, you’d never seen her like this. Typically she’d shy away and take the blow but since you were around she seemed to have a new confidence about her.

It was hot!

“Whatever, I need 3.5 and some wraps. You got that?” She looked at you when she said the last part and you smiled at her knowing it was simply pure jealousy she was spewing.

“Ellie.” You whispered in her ear.

“Yes lover?” She whispered back.

You spoke in a regular tone, you wanted Cat to hear this. “Give the girl the same discount, seems she could use the extra change.” You smirked at Cat and trailed off looking for the kitchen again.

“Hey where ya goin?” Ellie’s arms wrapped around your waist again and she trailed behind you whispering in your ear. “That was kind of hot the way you shut her down like that you know.”

“Couldn’t let her know I was bothered.” You smirked at her.

“Why would she bother you?” She stopped and turned you around to face her.

“I mean you said you wanted in her pants.. can’t say that didn’t bug me a little.” You said and looked down at your shoes to hide your embarrassment.

“Hey”, her fingers brushed your chin and brought your eyes back to hers, “It’s you or no one for me okay? I just knew I couldn’t have you so a distraction seemed nice, now that I’ve got your attention and know that you’re jealous over me.” She smirked, “nobody is getting between this. Got it?”

You nodded your head. “No sugar, I need to hear you say it.” She gripped your chin a bit firmer.

“I got it.” You smiled. “Now c’mon business stuff is boring, I wanna drink and dance with you!” Ellie obliged and took you back to the kitchen for more shots.

The night became more intimate, Ellie’s arms stayed wrapped around your waist or her hands were intertwined with yours. You drank and danced until 4:00 in the morning, by the time you’d even noticed the time everyone had either left or passed out on the couches. Dina was staying at Jesse’s so it was just you and Ellie on the ride back to your place, you didn’t want her to leave just yet and you knew you had to come up with a plan.

“Can I come in?” Oh! That was easier than you’d expected.

“Uh yeah! Sure I’d love that, I’ve got some clothes you can change into.” You smiled to yourself.

“No I’m good, not a huge fan of tube tops.” She chuckled.

“Fuck off!” You smacked her arm gently, “I have regular band tees and sweatpants asshole.” She laughed and nodded her head.

“Alright sounds good.” She shook her head and put the car in park as it approached your place. “You ready to get some shut eye beautiful?”

“I’m ready space girl.” You hopped out of her car and headed up to your place. Any other night you might have just ripped yours and her clothes off but you were way too drunk and tired to even think about sex, you threw her a change of clothes and took your pants off and hopped into bed. She followed closely there after and stayed close to the edge on her side. “Why are you so far away? Come and hold me would ya!”

“Sorry.” She scooted closer and wrapped her arms around your waist, “you just make me nervous.”

“You make me nervous too Els, really nervous.” You yawned and felt yourself lull away into sleep.

New Message from Abs😍💕: I wanna talk to you, call me when you get the chance. I miss you, this shouldn’t have happened and I know I fucked up. PLEASE call me!

Authors note:

Okay so what did you think?? Any notes to give me or anything you want to happen next chapter? Let a bitch know I can take it!! Okay love you thanks for reading!

[galarfiend]

deer dairy

today i saw someone complaining about how raihan is wearing a hoodie and shorts which doesnt make any sense

i dont think theyve ever seen a man in their entire life

[buckyodinson]

Relief (Mobius x f!Reader)

Summary: You and Mobius encounter a flower with an interesting side effect.

Word count: 2.6k

Warnings: 18+, smut, sex pollen

A/N: I’m still not quite sure whether I can actually do smut justice lmao (and I never thought I’d ever write a sex pollen fic), but I saw a post by @send-me-to-valhalla​ and I’m very much in my Mobius feels right now, and this just kinda happened?

When you stepped through a timedoor to a new time and place, all you could do was admire what you saw, never touching anything where possible. Even something as seemingly innocent as picking a flower could potentially cause the Sacred Timeline to collapse. On this occasion, even just being near a particular flower would prove to have significant consequences. Unbeknownst to the pair of you, this particular flower had given off a fine mist that surrounded you, seeping into your pores while you were none the wiser.

You’d pointed the flower out to Mobius, claiming the shimmering silver hue of it’s petals matched his hair. He leaned closer to the flower and turned to you with a smirk, “I’m prettier though, right?”

You tilted your head and hummed in mock thought, looking between him and the flower and raising your eyebrows, “If you say so.”

“Oof, right in the heart.” He held a hand against his chest dramatically as he stood back to full height and carried on walking.

You follow him in silence, looking for any signs of the variant you were hunting. Your TemPads were scanning for any remnants of the variant, but had yet to pick anything up.

After a few more minutes of wandering around, your TemPad beeped, and you looked down at it, sighing. 

“There’s no variant energy anywhere. This one’s another dead end.” you shut your TemPad and put it in your pocket while Mobius fiddled with his until a timedoor opened in front of you. He gave you a quick nod before walking through.

You took one last look around you, admiring the beauty of nature before stepping into the timedoor and going back to the normalcy of the TVA headquarters.

The odd feeling crept upon you slowly. The first thing you noticed was little pinpricks of heat dancing across your skin. You ignored it, figuring it was your body acclimating from the difference in temperature between the humid rainforest and the brisk air of the TVA.

As you and Mobius got back to your desks, he shucked off his blazer and put it on the back of his chair before sitting down and rolling up his sleeves. Unusual, you thought. In all your time knowing Mobius, you don’t think you’ve ever seen him without his blazer. You certainly weren’t complaining though. You’d always harboured a little bit of a crush on your silver-haired (and silver-tongued) partner.

You also find yourself taking your blazer off and draping it over your chair soon after. There must be a problem with the air conditioning, you tell yourself as you try to focus on the paperwork on your desk, and not the man in front of you.

At some point, he’d abandoned his tie and undone the first few buttons on his shirt. You couldn’t bring yourself to look away from him, and the little bit of his chest that was now exposed. You were getting increasingly hot, and before long you’d removed your own tie, unbuttoning your shirt a little and rolling your sleeves up, matching the look Mobius was sporting.

Were you really getting this hot and bothered over a glimpse of Mobius’ chest? It’s been a while, you think, trying to convince yourself that’s the reason you’re acting like this. You force yourself to look back down at your work, trying desperately to focus, shifting in your seat every now and then and clenching your thighs together as thoughts of Mobius flew through your mind. You thought you were doing an okay job at managing it, but with all your fidgeting, you’d roused your partner’s attention.

“You good?” he drawled, and you looked up at him, immediately regretting it. Mobius looked disheveled, but in that super attractive way that shouldn’t be legal. He had a glow about him, and his hair was a bit messed up, likely from him raking his hands through it. He also had a particularly adorable blush painting his cheeks, and you felt your own cheeks heat up at the sight.

“I don’t know, I just feel strange...” you sighed, wiping your forehead and noting how hot it felt.

He thought for a second before standing up, “I’m gonna go grab a Josta, you want one?”

“Yeah, sure. I might take a stroll down to medbay, check if I’ve got a fever or something?”

“Meet ya back here?” he smiled and you nodded, both going your separate ways.

You find yourself speed-walking to the medbay, and thankfully there’s nobody else waiting so you scan your card and wait for someone to come get you.

A doctor appeared in one of the doorways, motioning you into his small examination room.

“What seems to be the problem?” he asked monotonously.

“I... uh, I’ve been feeling off since coming back from a timedoor trip.”

“When and where did you go?” he asks, fingers at the ready of his computer.

“Uhhh, 2044, the Ionesc rainforest on Jaxyx 5.”

The sound of the computer keys tapping is almost deafening as you wait for him to say something.

“Did you touch any wildlife while you were there?”

“No.”

“Did you let any wildlife touch you?”

“No.”

“Do you recognise this plant?” He turns the screen and shows you the silver flower from earlier.

“Yes, we came across it.”

He hums and looks back at the screen before questioning you, “We?”

“Myself and Agent Mobius.”

“Please walk through the scanner.” He speaks abruptly and gestures to the machine over to your right.

You get up and walk through it before returning to your seat.

“It’s as I thought. The flower secreted a pollen that can have some... stimulating effects on those it comes into contact with.”

“Stimulating?”

“An increase in libido.” he says plainly.

“...okay. And how do I stop it? Is there like, a pill or a shot you can give me?”

“Unfortunately, there is no stopping it once it is in your system. It is only a matter of alleviation before it runs it’s course.”

You’re almost scared to ask, “Okay, and how do I do that?” 

“Self-gratification will aid slightly, though the presence of another will work better to alleviate the discomfort you’ll soon start to feel.” You feel your face heat up at the doctor’s suggestion. 

He doesn’t give you time to question him, “Will you fetch Agent Mobius and send him to me, please? Once you’ve done that, head home and find a way to work through it that suits you best.”

“O-okay.” you leave and head back to your desk.

You find Mobius sat at his desk, looking extremely uncomfortable, but he puts on a smile once he notices you approaching, “You doing alright?” he grimaces.

“I’ve.. uh... I’ve been sent home to rest, get over this thing. The doctor told me to get you to go get checked too, just in case you picked it up.”

“What is it?”

“Uhh, I think it’s better if the doc explains it to you.” you feel yourself blushing at the thought of what’s happening to the pair of you.

“Well, uh, okay then. I’ll catch you around?” he offers as he starts to walk away.

“Yep!” you struggle to get out once you notice the bulge in his trousers.

You scramble to sort your desk out before you go home, looking at Mobius’ desk while you consider a thought. The doctor all but said that getting fucked was gonna make you feel better than getting yourself off. And since the both of you were afflicted, it made sense to ask Mobius. Right? You told yourself yes, it made sense. But you didn’t want to embarrass yourself by asking him straight up, in case he rejected the idea. So you grabbed his notepad he’d left on his desk and scribbled a note on it before rushing off to your apartment.

Mobius was beet red as he made his way back to his desk after his visit with the doctor, deep in thought about what to do now. He noticed you’d tidied your desk, but he also clocked something was amiss with his own desk as he approached it. His notepad. You’d written in it. He’d recognise your handwriting a mile away. Why had you written in his notepad? His eyes widened as he read your note. After a brief pause to consider, he found himself grabbing his things and heading in the direction of your apartment.

Mo,

I’m sure the doc told you the best way to get through this is together.

Swing by if you’re comfortable (you know the code to my place). Ignore if not.

Y/N

You got home and immediately took a cold shower in the hopes it would do something to alleviate the pain that was starting to kick in, but it did nothing. You took some painkillers too, but still nothing. Arriving at the conclusion that Mobius wasn’t coming, you had undressed and were getting ready to get in bed and get yourself off when you heard your front door beep and open.

You heard the familiar drawl of your name echo through your apartment, and you almost moaned in relief at the thought of Mobius being here to help, “Here!” you strangled out.

You’d barely covered yourself in your sheets when Mobius appeared in the doorway of your bedroom. He looked even more discheveled than earlier, and his trousers looked even more strained than they had been earlier. You clenched your thighs together at the sight of him. You knew it was wrong, he was likely in just as much pain as you, but fuck if the sight of him wasn’t glorious. He looked like a deer in headlights, just staring at you, breathing heavily.

“I... I-uh, wh-” he stuttered.

“Just get over here Mo.” you sighed, and he didn’t have to be told twice.

He dropped his blazer and toed off his shoes before almost lunging onto the bed and crowding you.

“Are you sure you want this, sweetheart?” he drawls as he looks down at you, using all the restraint he has not to just kiss you immediately.

“Yes,” you moan in reply and pull his face down so you can kiss him. He groans and kisses you back ferociously, fumbling with a hand to undo his shirt.

He pulls back from you and sits up to unbutton it the rest of the way, and you sit up to help him with his trousers. The sheet falls away from you, exposing your chest to Mobius, and it takes everything in him not to jump right back on you. But he muscles through the need and stands up to shuck off the rest of his clothes before crawling back over you. The sight of his hardened cock has you sighing and clenching around nothing.

He slants his lips against yours again as his hands make their way to your breasts. He swallows your moans and reciprocates with equally wanton groans and grunts. He can’t help but bite down on your lip when he feels your hand wrap around his cock, and it only makes your grip around him tighten as you stroke him.

He pulls away and mumbles against your lips, “Fuck, darlin’. So good.”

Soon enough, he grabs your hand and moves it away, lining himself up with your entrance and pushing into you after one more glance up at you. He slides in easily and he almost collapses on top of you once he bottoms out. The feeling is overwhelming for the both of you. Him simply being inside you already brings a huge relief to the both of you, and you spend a minute just laying there and catching your breaths.

The pain slowly starts to creep back though, and you grasp at Mobius, pulling his face back to yours, “Please, Mo. Move.” you all but sob and he pulls almost all the way out of you before slamming back in. You grab a fistful of his hair and tug on it as you capture his lips once more. He groans into the kiss and you can’t help but smile.

He sets a relentless pace, and you can feel the pain slowly start to slip away as he pounds into you mercilessly. You’re almost delirious, and he’s mumbling incoherently against the skin of your neck, but you manage to make out an ‘sorry’ among the nonsense. You remind yourself to question that when he’s not fucking you anymore.

Mobius snakes a hand down your body, bringing his thumb to your clit and pressing it harshly, pulling a lewd moan from the back of your throat, “Oh God, Mo... please.”

“Please what, sugar?” you can feel his grin against your cheek as he presses a soft kiss there.

“Don’t stop. You feel so good.”

“Don’t plan on it, sweetheart.” Somehow he picks up his pace, and his thumb presses more insistently against your clit and it tips you over the edge. Your mouth opens in a silent scream as relief washes over you, and you clench around Mobius.

He grunts at the feeling and his pace falters as he spills inside you, capturing your lips again and kissing you with all the strength he has. He lazily pushes into you a couple more times, riding out your highs before coming to a stop and rolling you both over so he was laying on his back and you were on top of him.

The ache wasn’t completely gone, and you could feel Mobius was still hard inside you, and you wondered if you’d have to go for another round to alleviate the effects of the pollen even more. But for now, you were content to just lay there with Mobius and bask in the afterglow.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” he murmured, and you pushed yourself weakly up onto your elbows so you could look down at him.

“What for?”

“I feel like I’ve used you.” he rubs at his temple, avoiding eye contact with you.

“Mo, don’t be stupid. We both needed to do this. I don’t feel used at all. I feel great, frankly.” you chuckle and move to sit up, careful to keep him inside you.

His tone remains defeated, despite the little groan at your movement, “It’s just... I feel like I’ve ruined things. This isn’t how I wanted this to go.”

“What do you mean?” you rub his stomach softly, admiring the little bit of a belly he had.

“I love you, Y/N. And now, because I couldn’t recognise a stupid sex flower, I’ve ruined my chance to show you that properly, and I feel so stu-”

You grab his face and kiss him with all your might, only pulling away when you needed to breathe, “I love you too, Mo. Since my first day as your partner.”

“Really?” the small smile that pulled on his lips was adorable and you couldn’t help but steal another kiss from him.

“Yes, really. You haven’t ruined anything. As uncomfortable as that flower has made me, at least it finally got us together. Otherwise we’d have probably both danced around our feelings for the rest of time.” you smirk, and he chuckles.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Once we’re over this, how about you take me out for dinner?” you raise an eyebrow cheekily.

“Sounds like a date.” he replies.

“I love you, Mobius M. Mobius.” you smile down at him as you press a chaste kiss to his lips.

“For all time?” he counters, pulling you even closer.

“Always.” you beam.

You and Mobius ended up going for another few rounds that night, though you’re pretty sure the second round cleared up the effects of the pollen. But where would the fun be in stopping, right?

[lailannajacobs]

Heart of the Night

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Summary: Bucky finds you after a mission that didn’t quite go as planned. 

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: lil bit angsty 

A/N: This is my submission for @wkemeup​​ 9k challenge, it’s not quite as edited as I would have liked but the end of the school year is always super busy so here it is! Congrats Kas, you are such an incredible writer, your talent absolutely blows my mind, it’s just unbelievable and I hope one day to have a tenth of your skill! You deserve everything great and more! <3

The needle trembled, metal glinting off the fluorescent light in your bathroom as it hovered just above the skin of your abdomen. The air reeked of copper. The pristine sink was marred with the dark red streaks of failure. You tried to swallow, but it felt like you were choking on your own throat. 

The needle approached the bloody canyon made by a knife you’d been too careless to avoid, and hovered there, trying to find its mark. The world swayed. You’d lost too much blood already. The needle clattered into the sink, black thread trialing behind it like a broken tether. You were somehow conscious — delirious? — enough to think you were lucky it hadn’t gone down the drain because you didn’t have time to call a plumber. Wait no. You’d just have to get a new one from the cabinet. You tried to reach for the needle. Your body didn’t react. Instead, it swayed dangerously, only your fighting instincts keeping you from tumbling to the floor by gripping onto the edge of the sink. At least there were some things blood could wash off from.

“YN!” that familiar voice burst into your apartment, “pool table. Five minutes. I swore to Sam that this was the day we finically beat Vision and his perfect calculations.”

You swore at the joyful ness in his voice. You couldn’t match that tone right now if you tried. But you had to. The mission had gone well. You’d done what you’d set out to do. Only you, the ever-present failure, had gotten yourself stabbed along the way. The only mercy was that no one else had noticed and you’d disappeared to your apartment without drawing suspicion. That was, until now if you couldn’t pull yourself together. You willed your body to close the bathroom door, but it wouldn’t move. If anything, everything only spun even more.

“Where the hell are...”

You felt his presence in your doorway. Felt his gaze like a physical thing. You were always aware of him. Even now was no exception. Maybe if you pretended he wasn’t there, he’d go away. Right. And the three-inch gash in your stomach would stitch itself up. You turned your head, not realizing how many abdominal muscles it took to look over your shoulder. Your pride and the death grip your slick fingers held on the porcelain were the only reasons the spinning didn't send you tumbling to the ground.

When your bathroom came into focus again, the only thing you really saw was Bucky taking up most of the doorway. And he was seething. His normally cool eyes were raging hurricanes, framed between hard lines of frustration on his face. They scanned you from top to bottom with deathly calm, from the sports bar you had on that exposed all your skin and the bruises you garnered during the mission to the sweatpants you’d changed into. An X-ray would have been less intrusive. You shivered. It was probably the blood loss.

You wanted to make up some excuse for your failure, but his anger was justified. You were a liability on the field. They were bound to have figured it out eventually.

He said nothing as he stalked over in a few brisk strides, fury emanating from him in waves. He stopped beside you, the pleasant smell of his freshly showered body chasing away the tang in the air. You closed your eyes. It was a coward’s move, but you’d take any peace you could get before everything you’d worked so hard to keep got taken away from you.

“Sit,” he ordered in a low, almost growly voice, “now.”

You went to sit on the toilet but tipped backward before you could make it. His arms gathered around you, easing you onto the closed seat. Your head lolled back and you squeezed your eyes shut.

“No.” He decided, “I need an explanation. Talk to me.”

It seemed like too much work. All you wanted to do was go to sleep.

“No,” he ordered as if you’d spoken the words aloud. Maybe you had.

You opened your eyes, caught in the crossfire of his icy stare, “Hydra agent during the extraction.”

“Shit,” he muttered.

The extraction of the French Prime Minister had been more than an hour ago. You should have been stitched up a long time ago. You should not have been dripping on the pale bathroom tiles.

“Surface wound,” you continued as professionally as your body would allow, knowing that even though you’d live, your failure was the reason for his fury, “came here. Was in the process of fixing it.”

“We have medics,” he growled, “what were you thinking?”

You didn’t answer. You weren’t about to tell him how your presence was a poison that would likely get them all killed eventually. Or that your constant mistakes were your own consequences to deal with — to fix. He probably knew that all ready. His question had to be rhetorical.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if he were trying to steady his anger. You stared at him, the winter soldier kneeling before you, his calloused hands still resting on your hips. He let out a sigh, his breath warm on your stomach.

“I should call for a medic,” he still hadn’t opened his eyes.

“Please don’t,” you whispered, “I can take care of my own mistakes.”

His lids snapped open, piercing blue eyes pinning you to the spot with their ice cold intensity. He was obviously still pissed. But he didn’t call for a medic. Instead, he got up, warm hands leaving behind nothing more than goosebumps and shivers — from the blood loss, of course— and picked up the needle.

“This is going to hurt,” he murmured once he was kneeling in front of you again.

You tried to nod, but the motion sent your vision spinning again and you gripped onto his shoulder for support, the metal sturdy beneath your grip.

He looked up into your eyes, “are you sure you want me to do this? It’ll leave a scar and it won’t be pretty.”

“It’s only fitting,” you coughed a laugh, “at least the outside will start looking like the inside.”

His brows furrowed but he didn’t say anything. He knew what you were. You were a mutant who somehow got the ‘gift’ of being able to make anything stop functioning. You could make plans fall apart. Kill a software program. Stop a body’s functioning. Even ruin a functioning team like the Avengers. With skill, you should have been one of their greatest assets, ruining everything that threatened the world. But your ‘gift’ extended to yourself as well. You ruined everything you touched. Even the good. Especially, it always seemed, the good.

He pierced your skin without warning, but you were glad for the pain. It gave you something else to focus on than the echoing thoughts of your failure. But Bucky was gentle. Despite the anger you knew must still be there, his movements were delicate and focused, hesitating whenever you winced or sucked in a breath.

By the time he tied the knot, you were surprised you were still upright. He might have been efficient, but you couldn’t tell if it had taken seconds, minutes or even hours. His hands cupped your face and eyes you hadn’t realized you’d closed fluttered open. He was so close now, his expression pinched with worry. You couldn’t help but wonder how it could be for you.

“I’m almost done,” he said softly, “but you’ll probably need a transfusion.”

Adrenaline kicked in. You couldn’t. He couldn’t. Not when you could barely keep your eyes open.

“Please don’t take me there,” you begged, “I can’t hurt anyone else.”

Your abilities rarely activated while you were asleep, but you wouldn’t risk the lives of the other patients or the doctors by going down to the medical wing. Years ago, when you’d realized what your abilities were, you’d stopped sleeping anywhere near anyone else. Now, hurt, there was an even greater chance you might lose control.

If you hadn’t been working so hard for consciousness, you would have also told Bucky to leave. But it wouldn’t have mattered. For some reason, he always stayed. Even when he was within the radius of your power. Even when you told him to go. Especially then. He always stayed.

“I won’t hurt anyone else,” you choked out, “I always hurt someone else.”

His thumb brushed across your cheek, “and yet you saved me today.”

You looked away from his burning gaze, your tears threatening to spill.

He continued, mercifully ignoring your watery eyes, “even though you were hurt you dropped that Hydra agent before he could shoot me in the back. We didn’t lose a single agent today, YN. That’s because you were there.”

“No,” you tried to shake your head, but his hands held on tightly, “they — you — saved yourselves. I got stabbed.”

“You got stabbed because you were busy watching everyone else’s back,” he growled, that earlier anger returning.

“I ruin things,” you repeated for what felt like the millionth time.

But it didn’t matter. He never seemed to believe you. But he needed to. You desperately needed him to before you ruined him too.

“Please leave,” you whimpered.

His answer was simple, “No.”

He took his hands back, but it was only to find some gauze to place over your cut. Once he was done, he scooped you up so gently the movement only hurt a lot instead of blinding pain and brought you to bed.

You gripped his shirt, fist balling up at the hem with all the strength you had left, “you need to leave, Bucky. Now.”

For some reason, the bastard smirked, “Someone has to make sure you don’t die in your sleep.”

“I’ll be fine,” you snapped, though it lacked any kind of force.

He didn’t look impressed, “If you were fine you wouldn’t be begging me to leave. You’d be downstairs with me and we’d be getting our asses handed to us by Vision and Sam like every other Thursday night.”

You wanted to protest. You wanted to protect him, but you had no fight left in you. And with the plush mattress calling you to sleep, the world went dark before you could figure out a way to get him to leave.

“All right Destructo, show me what you’ve got.”

You weren’t a fan of the nickname, but you weren’t about to tell the Tony Stark to shut up and use your real name. And anyways, as much as you hated using your abilities, and how you were always overcome by the tidal wave of fear that sent fear rolling like waves throughout your body, you always felt better — healthier even — after using them. And he was giving you free range now.

Eight suits surrounded you in a perfect octagon, hands out like they were ready to strike. Tony had somehow altered his suits so that they’d shoot bubbles — of all things — instead of small blasts and said you’d only be alive if you managed to take them all down before a single bubble came out.

A small grin unwittingly made its way onto your face.

“Glad to see you’re having fun,” Tony remarked, “it’ll come in handy for future testing. Ready?”

You nodded and ignored the bit about future testing. They might have thought they wanted you now but after they saw how much of a curse you really were, they weren’t going to keep you around long enough for future testing. You prayed that day wasn’t any time soon.

But you were ready now. That was until Tony’s voice crackled through the intercoms once more, “just make sure you don’t kill anyone of us in the process. I’d hate to miss Taco Tuesday.

You lifted your chin, “Give me thirty seconds with the enemies and you’ll have your taco.”

“Such confidence,” he remarked with a chuckle.

It was false bravado but you wanted this. You wanted out of your hell hole. So you weren’t about to let him see any of the very real fear that you actually might kill him. in the process.

You let out your power in a giant blast.

You bolted upright, gasping for breath. Black spots clouded your vision but you forced through the waves of dizziness, looking for the one person you couldn’t bear to hurt. He was supposed to have left. Your next breath never came. Bucky’s long limbs spilled over the edges of the chair in the opposite corner of the room, his phone resting on his chest. His eyes were closed, a peaceful look on his face but that didn’t mean anything. The dead often looked at peace.

Then his phone rose and fell with his chest. You held back a sob. Your relief would have sent you tumbling if you hadn’t been sitting. He was alive.

Without your blinding panic, the rest of your room came into focus. He’d left all the clothes you’d strewn over the chair in a neat, folded pile on your dresser. You glanced over at your alarm clock for the time, which was…off. Your dread clenched it’s fist around your stomach. It had been on. So had your air conditioning unit. And where was the constant hum of your ancient refrigerator?

“They’re all fried,” Bucky’s gruff voice came through the silence as if he’d actually been sleeping, “the phone gave a nice little shock when it died. Snapped me out of my sleep that’s for sure.”

Your heart was still trying to hammer its way out of your chest when you said, “You could have gotten hurt. I don’t know how you’re not.”

“I do,” he replied simply, eyes finding yours.

“No, you don’t,.” you shook your head more than you had to, “No, you can’t.”

“I can because I’ve trained with you almost every day since you got here. I know that your gift,” you scoffed at the word but he kept going, “your gift works differently depending on who and what you’re targeting. And I know you don’t target people. Not unless you have to and even then I see that it kills you to do it.”

You looked down at your sheets, hating the way his words resonated through your body, refusing to go away. But you could still ignore it.

“That might be true, but Tony has been making his suits to withstand me. In case I can’t control my powers and they hurt anyone on our side. He might say it’s in case we meet another mutant with powers like mine, but we all know that’s not true.”

“Why can’t it be both?” he huffed then took in a slow breath. It did nothing to hide the growl in his voice when he asked, “None of us are perfect, why do you have to be?”

Because, even as a full grown adult, you were afraid you’d somehow end up back in that orphanage, unloved and unwanted because all you did was ruin things. And you didn’t know what you’d do if you ruined the closest thing you’d ever had to family. Perfect kept you here. Perfect kept you safe.

He stood from the chair, and came to kneel beside your bed. He brushed aside the hair that had stuck to your forehead with sweat, calloused fingers resting gently on your cheek when he was done.

“You’re one of us now” he whispered as if he could read your mind, “and I — we — won’t let you go that easily not matter what you think of your abilities. Even if that means I have to inspect you for cuts and bruises myself after every mission. You are good, YN.”

You could only nod, taken aback by the ferocity in his voice. Still, it didn’t stop you from looking him over head to toe once more just to make sure he was okay. Then you noticed something off with him.

“Where’s your arm?”

He ran his hand through his hair, a sheepish look on his face, “it might have fallen off a few seconds before you woke up.”

Your heart dropped into your stomach, “I hurt you.”

He shook his head fiercely, “you didn’t. I’m fine.”

“But I could have,” you protested.

“But you didn’t,” he said, “you never do. Because despite what you might think, you control this thing inside you and we all trust you with it.”

You were about to object but he stopped you by pressing a light kiss to your forehead, and when he pulled back there was that lopsided little grin on his face that made you realize how light headed you were feeling, “one day we’ll get to a place where you’ll find this funny. I promise.”

And somehow, you believed him.

[justjuiceyboy]

new beginnings

in which Happy is the readers tattoo artist

word count: 1,637

warnings: swearing 

(a/n: I’m basically becoming a blog for Happy, will get back to writing Juice soon, just got this idea and knew I had to run with it. Hope you all enjoy and if you ever want to request my asks are open! Love you all, thanks for supporting!)

———————————

7:45 p.m. The sun was setting, causing an array of colours over the buildings of Charming, lighting up the place like a movie. The air was fresh, warm as it was the middle of July. You strolled along the footpath and kicked a small rock as you walked, to calm your nerves. You had made the quick decision with your friend to get tattoos together on this day. But you were walking alone, friendless.

You were not ever going to get a tattoo alongside your ’friend’ who you had caught sleeping with your boyfriend of two years. Two years and he threw it down the drain. With your best friend nonetheless. You just packed your things as he tried to claim his innocence, even though you caught him in bed with her. You were lucky to find an apartment that day that someone was trying to get rid of. At least you had somewhere to stay, even if the entire situation wasn’t ideal.

You still decided to go through with the tattoo, wanting to use this as an opportunity for new beginnings. 

You were brought out of your daydream by the pinging of your phone, google maps telling you that you’ve reached your destination. You looked around, wide-eyed, not really knowing what to expect. But here you were, standing outside a small shop adorned with a sign stating “Mallen Tattoos”. This was the place you were looking for.

Pushing open the door, you were instantly met with the smell of cigarette smoke and disinfectant. At least they use disinfectant, you thought to yourself, trying not to show any emotion. 

You walked promptly up to the front counter and coughed to get the man's attention. He looked up at you from where he was sitting and gave you a warm smile, accompanied by “You alright Darling?” 

You were insanely put at ease by his kind demeanour and you smiled back at him, “Hi, I have an appointment for a tattoo at 8, booked it a few weeks ago?” He started flipping through a book that was on the desk and stopped, raising a brow, “says here that there’s gonna be two of you?” 

You sighed, having forgotten that obviously, your best friend was in on the booking too. You told that man that it was just you and handed over some ID, hoping he’d still allow you to be tattooed even though it was only one client. You handed over the money for the tattoo in hopes that that may persuade him further. But once again he smiled and got up from his seat, bringing you through a small hallway to a spacious room with four big leather chairs for tattooing. He gestured to one of them and you sat down.

He brought over a clipboard full of waivers for you to sign and then spoke once again. “Oh, I forgot to tell you Miss, but the artist you wanted, well, he’s sick today. Real bad infection! But anyways, we have a different guy here who gets tattooed all the time, very talented too, if you’ll take him instead?” You could tell he was nervous as to how you’d react. You’d spoken to the other artist on the phone and he’d done practice drawings of the tattoo and sent them to you so you were pretty nervous to let a new artist just take over but before you could weigh up the pros and cons you just nodded. New beginnings, right?

He let out a sigh of relief that he had been holding in and apologised for all this which made you laugh. But you stopped laughing as soon as you saw your new tattoo artist.

A tall figure entered the room, walking over to the man who had led you here. They seemed friendly with each other as they talked. Your nervousness was now back in full force as you surveyed the man who was about to ink your body. He was bald and you could see the tattoos going up his arms. He had an extensive collection which you assumed went much further than just his arms but your view was covered by the plain white T-Shirt he was wearing. He was quite scary, never creating a smile the entire time the other man was talking to him. Your tattoo artist was handed a few pages and he nodded after looking through them, finally making his way over to you who was sweating in the leather chair.

“This is Happy! He’ll take great care of you don’t worry! If you need anything you know where I am” the overly jolly man as he waved goodbye to you both and returned down the hall. Happy. The man in front of you was anything but Happy, with his scary look and overly built body. You knew he was a part of the Sons Of Anarchy biker gang.

You finally made eye contact with Happy and your nervousness increased once again. He was a good-looking man and you knew this tattoo could take some time. Being trapped in close contact with a man like this would terrify anyone. Also, he has some menacing eyes that you felt nearly bore holes into you when he looked.

“Do you know where you want it?” He questioned suddenly, you hearing his voice for the first time. Your mind instantly went to the wrong idea of what you want where and you choked out an exclamation of “what?!”

“The tattoo, where do you want it?” He stated not changing his expression. You mentally hit yourself in the face for going to the dirty side of things and once again was only barely able to speak when you said “ribs.”

He nodded and set up with the pre-made stencil as you lifted your shirt over one shoulder, half your body on display now. He focused on the task at hand and lay the stencil whilst you tried to look anywhere else but at him, knowing that he’d make your knees go weak and you’d say something stupid again. 

Once you agreed to the positioning, he began the process of the needlework. This was the first time you’d been tattooed and you didn’t know what to expect in regards to pain. The second he hit the skin, you jumped. He looked up at you and raised an eyebrow and you smile sheepishly so he continued on again. There was no small talk which you were thankful for. You were trying not to make a big deal of it but you could feel every touch, especially when he brushed off your boob whilst doing the linework.

He began filling the shape and shading and you let out a quiet ‘fuck’ and a breath. The man finally broke the silence as he stopped tattooing for a quick minute and rustled around in the pocket of his leather kutte. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes and held it one out to you. Talk about a hygienic practice, but you couldn’t judge right now, anything to take your mind off the pain.

“It helps, especially first time,” he concluded, lighting the cigarette and bringing it up to your lips. You took a drag and felt more relaxed now so he continued on again, placing the cigarette in between his own lips. But this time he kept talking, probably to distract you.

“Why the tattoo?” He asked, without looking at you of course, as he was busy staring at the skin beside your breast. You decided to give in to the small talk, mainly because you wanted to see what you could find out about the man who held a needle to your ribs and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“I booked it with a friend but I found out she was sleeping with my boyfriend so I’m not really sure why I still came if I’m being honest,” you told him, not being wary that you were spilling the truth to a stranger.

“Sounds like a dick” he stated point-blank, making you laugh quietly. “Yeah, she was.”

“Meant the boyfriend. He was obviously stupid,” he mumbles, one eye flicking up to you as he pulled away again. He took the cigarette from his mouth and reached up to you again to let you have a puff. You weren’t sure if it was the air or the cigarette smoke clouding your judgment but the entire scene felt slightly erotic to you now. Hot man, feathery touched on your body and sharing a cigarette between both of your mouths. 

Happy seemed to have unwavering confidence as he watched you take a long drag as he spoke again, “You need a real man.” Now it was your turn to mumble, “beats me when I’ll find one of those.” It only took him another five or so minutes to finish on the tattoo and he then wrapped the area for you in silence.

He wrote a few things on a piece of printed paper and handed it to you, telling you it was just the care instructions and told you how to wash the area. You thanked him and he nodded again, signaling that you can go. You left the room and walked out the door of the shop, waving to the friendly man at the front desk.

The air was now brisk as you turned on your heel, ready to walk home. You were about to stuff the paper into your pocket as you noticed what he wrote at the bottom.

‘If you’re still looking for that real man, call me’

It was accompanied by his phone number and a small smiley face, which in turn made you smile. Looks like you’ll be seeing him again soon and not just for another tattoo. As you said, new beginnings, right?

[alpacaparkaseok]

The Pact - Date #3

Pairing/Genre: OT7 BTS x reader (not poly), idol!BTS, best friend BTS

Word Count: 7.7k

Premise: The truth about the pact the boys have about you has been revealed. What happens when you agree to go on a single date with each of them?

Warnings: none, BUT THE FLUFF IS COMING DOWN FULL FORCE YA’LL

a/n: don’t forget, I taking your guys’ comments/reactions into account for this series, so please let me know what your thoughts are! of course, at the end we’ll really take a deeper look at all of the dates and what stood out the most, but I would love to hear from you about this one!! love you all, enjoy!

Date #3

series masterlist ∆∆∆ join the taglist

The more time has passed, the more you fully come to realize that if you have been that affected by two dates, you are in no way prepared for the five that remain.

Nope. Not one bit.

It was Thursday when Jungkook finally texted to check that you were free around eleven. Your heart leapt, finally. A date that you wouldn’t have to spend all day moping around waiting for.

So obviously, you were ready by 9. You know, just in case.

You’d been instructed to wear casual clothes, something that you rejoiced in. Donning your sweater with the word Harvard in thick blue letters spanning the front and a pair of skinny jeans, you felt right at home.

The boys never missed a chance to tease you about your Harvard sweatshirt, and for some reason they never believed your lie that you actually went there. Of course, that might be due to the fact that they were very much aware of your current schooling situation and it was most definitely not Harvard.

But hey...attending one of the top universities in South Korea wasn’t bad, either.

Currently you were perched on the end of your bed, partly due to the fact that if you went anywhere else you would most certainly just end up staring out the window at every car that passed by. Not wanting to look like a nosy neighbor, you’d confined yourself to your room to wait out the morning.

In the hours that pass, your thoughts are completely occupied by the two boys you shared the last couple of Saturdays with.

It would be a lie to say that you don’t replay the image of Taehyung standing in your doorway every night as you tried to sleep, his hair a fluffy mess and that cable knit sweater proving to be your doom.

Your thoughts were usually interrupted as you took your bracelet off and stared at it, imagining Hobi delicately placing each individual bead it it’s place. It’s when your hand burns with the memory of his gentle kiss on your palm that you finally set the bracelet down and let out a frustrated sigh.

Yeah...Jimin was wrong when he invited you to just think of these as nice, friendly dates.

He probably knew it, too.

“Ok,” you breathe out, closing your eyes and focusing on the rise and fall of your chest. “Just...enjoy it.”

Enjoy it you shall.

That’s the thing that carries you through the waiting, still just breathing in and out and mentally preparing yourself for all that awaits you today.

You get so carried away in your attempts to calm down that the knock on your front door comes before you realize how much time has passed. Taking one more steadying breath, you get up from your bed and amble down the hallway to the door.

Pausing for a moment, you realize that you truly have no idea who might be on the other side of that door. The thought makes you smile. You’ve always loved a good mystery.

Cracking open the door, you can’t help but smile as the figure before you has their back turned to you. At the sound of your quiet giggle, they turn around, eyes a little wide.

A nervous smile in place, Namjoon leans forward ever so slightly. Almost as though he’s being pulled in by your personal gravity. “Morning,” he says almost as an afterthought, his voice low.

“Good morning,” you respond, throwing the door open the rest of the way. “So you’re lucky number three?”

“Well, you know what they say.”

You busy yourself with grabbing your bag and double checking that you have everything. “What do they say?”

Namjoon shrugs, his nervous smile growing until it’s bordering on giddiness. “Third time’s a charm.”

Indeed.

Once you’ve ascertained that you have everything you’ll need (you made sure to replenish your mint stash earlier this week), you’re stepping out into the slightly brisk air and locking the door behind you.

The sound of keys jingling near your ear has you turning to face Namjoon, who wears an oversized, dark plaid shirt that’s open to reveal his black t-shirt beneath it. The picture of casual coolness, paired with his dark wash jeans and sneakers, the look is complete with the way his dimples poke out as he holds up the keys to your eye level.

“Guess who’s driving?” He teases in a sing-song voice, making you laugh as you swipe the keys from him. As the two of you descend the stairs toward the car, you tilt your head to the side.

“How did you get here?” Then, turning to him with wide eyes, “You didn’t drive yourself, right?”

He’s quick to shake his head, pointing out a car that’s turning around at the end of your street and slowly making its way back toward you two. “The guys dropped me off.”

The thought of Namjoon in a car with some of the boys and the rest trailing after them in a separate vehicle is endearing, while also hilarious. “All of them?”

“Yep,” he confirms. “Every last one of them.”

As the car draws nearer, you see the windows roll down and someone with familiar black, fluffy hair sticks their head out. Like a dog pile, another head hovers beside them.

Taehyung and Jimin.

Oh, and there’s Jungkook somehow managing to wiggle in between them.

“We apologize in advance, jagiya,” Jimin croons loudly with a teasing smirk. “At least try to enjoy yourself.”

You snort, clicking the button to unlock the car and laughing even harder when Hobi jumps at the sound of the horn. He sits in the passenger seat beside Jin, who drives. The two merely wave before mumbling something to each other that makes them laugh.

“Where’s Yoongi?” You ask, frowning as you do a head count and not finding him anywhere. In response, a pale hand coming from what must be the very back row of the car worms its way forward to the open window. You swear you can almost hear his disgruntled greeting, but it’s drowned out as Taehyung excitedly speaks up.

“Good luck trying to beat me, hyung,” he teases, shooting Namjoon a sweet smile that’s at odds with his teasing comment.

Namjoon just shrugs, utterly unphased as he follows you around the car and opens the drivers side with smooth precision. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

This encourages a round of ooh-ing that only serves to make you laugh even as you tuck away the momentary competitive side of Namjoon. Calm, calculated, and - if you’re reading that steely look in his eyes correctly - utterly in the zone.

Oh, you’re definitely enjoying this way more than you should.

“Drive safe!” The boys shout out amidst jeering comments directed toward Namjoon and his lack of driving abilities. With a final wave, they’re speeding off down the street. Once they’ve disappeared from sight, you notice the way Namjoon’s shoulders relax. He hurries over to the passenger side, hopping in and buckling up before fiddling with his phone.

“So...where to?” You ask, buckled up and ready to go. You tap the steering wheel excitedly, already feeling hyped up from the short interaction with everyone.

You miss seeing them all together. There’s a reason why you’re friends with the entire group.

“I put the address into the car,” Namjoon explains. “It should give you directions as we go.”

Arching a brow at him, you don’t shift into drive just yet. “So I’m driving us there, but I don’t get to know what the end location is?”

Smiling softly, Namjoon nods. “Exactly. You’re so smart, have I ever told you that?”

Scowling, you press the green button that appears on the screen and a warm female voice instructs you to drive to the stop sign and turn left.

You hum, pondering the slightly sarcastic question. “I’m not sure. But that’s definitely a sign that you should tell me more often.”

“I’ll make note of that.”

With a glance at the screen, you see the estimated driving time. “We’re leaving Seoul?”

From your peripheral, you notice Namjoon’s worried expression. “Is that alright? We can find something to do around here, it’s just-”

“No,” you rush to reassure him. “I was just surprised, that’s all.” It won’t be a particularly long drive, just over an hour, but you certainly weren’t expecting that.

Something tells you that there are plenty more surprises waiting for you today.

It doesn’t take long before the two of you slip into an easy conversation, Namjoon relating his latest experiences in his efforts to add something eye-catching to his studio.

“Like what?” You ask. “I love your studio the way it is.”

Namjoon looks over at you, smiling softly. “Really? I don’t know...I just feel like something’s missing.”

“Well, we’ll keep an eye out for something today,” you promise, relaxing now that you’re on the freeway and in the flow of traffic. “Like, do you want something to hang up? Or something to go on your desk?”

He shrugs, taking a moment to roll his window down and close his eyes as it runs through his hair. “I already have a bunch of stuff on the wall, and if I put anything on my desk-”

“Right, you’ll spill on it.”

“Exactly.” You keep your eyes on the road, entirely missing the fond look he gives you.

“So basically, you don’t need anything.”

He huffs a sigh, rolling the window back up and sinking down into the seat. “No, I do, I just don’t know what.”

“Mmm.”

“Hey,” Namjoon cuts, giving you a dramatic glare. “Don’t mock me.”

Feigning innocence, you peek over at him. “I’m not!”

“Yah, just drive.”

“I am!”

Despite the bickering, you can’t fight the smile edging its way onto your features. A glance over at Namjoon shows that he’s having the same issue, his face turned away from you but failing to hide the silly grin he’s attempting to hide as his fingers curl at his lips. It’s a habit he’s had for as long as you’ve known him, one that often makes its way into many photos.

“Prepare to take exit 14,” the voice instructs, and you make your way over to the far lane, eyeing the looming sign that will announce what exit it’s for. Once the sign comes into view, you give Namjoon a puzzled look.

“We’re going to Anyang?”

It’s not that you have anything against the city, it’s just that...well, what is there in Anyang that isn’t in Seoul?

“See? Super intelligent.” It’s the only response you get from Namjoon, but it has you rolling your eyes in an effort to counter the butterflies that erupt in your stomach at the way he’s looking at you.

In a couple of minutes you’re turning onto a relatively quiet street, only a few random people mulling about, enjoying their weekend. Namjoon points out an entrance to a parking lot that you would have completely missed due to its hidden nature. Once you’re parked and dwarfed between the buildings surrounding the little lot, you jump out of the car and make a show of stretching your legs.

Namjoon mimics you, a loud yet satisfying yawn coming from him. “Hey, are you hungry now or are you good to wait a little while?”

You pause, internally wondering. “I think I’m good for a while.”

“Great.” Rubbing his hands together, he comes to stand beside you. “Let’s go, then.”

You fall into step beside him. “Woah, you still haven’t told me where- oh.”

The two of you have rounded a corner and now stand in front of a nondescript building. Its sage green paint is chipping a bit, giving it a rustic feel that is only accentuated by the gold lettering above the door.

Wanderers & Travelers

However, it’s not the homey feel or the tasteful name that has you stopping in your tracks. It’s what you see inside, through the large windows.

Without a single word, you step forward as though in a daze. The little bell above the door chimes as you walk in, announcing your arrival. And, as though the entire thing couldn’t get better, the scent hits you.

The smell of old and new books, some leather bound and some hard backed, dives into your senses and leaves you whirling.

The walls in here are painted some shade of sky blue, complementing the deep wood shelves. It’s quiet in here, the only sound being that of shuffling feet.

If you blink, you’re afraid it might all vanish.

“Oh! You’re here!”

Turning to your left, you see a woman with flecks of white in her hair, smiling warmly at you and Namjoon. If you’re being completely, honest, you’d nearly forgotten that Namjoon was there.

The woman descends the final few steps of the creaky staircase, keeping a friendly distance as she nods at the two of you. “You were right,” she remarks to Namjoon. Then, to you with a teasing smirk, “You look like you’ve never seen a bookstore before.”

You sputter for the right words. “I- yeah, but this-”

“Is no ordinary bookstore,” Namjoon finishes for you, a hand at your elbow. You can’t help but lean into his touch, momentarily forgetting the rows and rows of shelves just a few steps away as Namjoon involuntarily steps a little closer.

“Ah, right. Well, first thing’s first: I’m Choi Min-jee. And this is my bookstore,” she gestures to the endless rows of bookshelves, and you wonder for a moment how all of these can fit in the building. It looks so much smaller from the outside.

Min-jee motions for you to follow her, and she leads the two of you to the nearest bookshelf. “These books range in languages and age, you never know what you might find. This shop has been in my family for five generations now - we’ve collected our fair share of books and other antique items.” With a little wink, she steps back. “Take your time, and let me know if you have any questions. Oh, and the upstairs is open now.”

Namjoon perks up at this, looking over from where he’d pulled a book off the shelf. “Really? We’ll have to look up there!”

“Please do! I’m off to practice piano.” With that, she whisks away, leaving you to your own devices.

You stare after her in awe, mouth slightly ajar. It makes Namjoon chuckle quietly, he must know the feeling.

“I wanna be her when I grow up,” you whisper, earning a louder chuckle from the man.

“Same.” Namjoon heads deeper into the shelves, and you follow after him. He glances back at you over his shoulder. “This is my favorite place.”

“I take it you’re a regular?” You ask, eyes catching on a bright blue book with frayed binding. Pausing, you ease it from its spot. “Hm… ‘The Cottage by the Sea’.” You run my hand over the shiny inlay, a seashell glinting up at you. “Why do I feel like I just entered the world of ‘Little Women’?”

Namjoon snorts, wandering back over to you and gazing down at the book. He grabs the one that occupied the spot next to it on the shelf, the deep red absorbing in all the surrounding light. “You’re definitely Jo.”

“Really?” You ask, gently flipping through the first few pages and trying to find a publish date. “I always thought that I was more of an Amy.”

Namjoon looks appalled, tearing his eyes away from his book. “What? No. In what world are you Amy?”

“Hey! Don’t act like she’s a bad person,” You whine, bringing the book close to your chest. “She was just...trying to survive.”

Huffing loudly and obnoxiously, Namjoon heads over to the other aisle, peeking at you through the gaps in the shelf. “She got everything she ever wanted, without hardly having to ask for it. Are you telling me that you have everything you ever wanted?”

There’s a skylight above you, allowing the lazy afternoon sun to filter in and play with the lighter tones in Namjoon’s hair. He looks at you with his ferociously focused gaze, something that you had never squirmed under before but now find your cheeks burning as he doesn’t look away.

You sigh contentedly. “More or less. Look at me, I’m surrounded by books.”

Namjoon gets closer to the shelves, leaning down to be eye-level with you through the shelves. “So what’s missing?”

“Hmm?” You hum, getting a little lost as music starts up somewhere. You realize with a start that this must be what Min-jee meant by practicing piano, as the soft sound comes from somewhere hidden.

There’s a little smile on Namjoon’s face, just enough for a dimple to appear. “You said more or less. What are you missing still?”

Edging a little closer and nearly closing your eyes at the smell of leather, you’re tempted to reach through the shelf and poke at the little indent in his cheek. “Just your glasses, I think. I love it when you wear your glasses.”

The statement takes him by surprise, Namjoon’s dragon-like gaze dropping and a flush taking over his features before he steps back. “Hmph.” With that, he continues down the aisle, the red book still in his hands and the blue in yours. “I still think you would be Jo, though.”

“Why?”

The two of you match footsteps, languidly walking along the seemingly endless rows. You catch glimpses of him through the books, a soft dimpled smile on his face as he looks down at his feet. It’s enough to make your coy smile grow, and you clutch the book tighter to your chest.

Finally, Namjoon comes to a stop as another book catches his eye. You take the opportunity to round the corner and enter the aisle he stands in, feet carrying you closer to him. Just as you’re about to reach his side, he speaks.

“Jo is...well, for one, she’s a dreamer. And we both know you’ve got a lot of dreams in that head of yours.” He taps your forehead for emphasis, side-smile growing when you scowl. “But she’s a realistic dreamer. You’ve given up a lot for your dreams, but I believe that you’d leave it all behind if someone you loved was in need of you.”

You blink, unprepared for the genuine compliment.

“And,” Namjoon says breathily, sliding the book back into its place and turning on his heel to walk away. “You two share a tendency to be oblivious to others feelings for you.”

He keeps walking, leaving you to become a sputtering mess before launching yourself after him. “I- we what?!” You all but screech, wincing as you sound twice as loud in the empty shop. “I am not oblivious-”

With a triumphant smirk, Namjoon heads down a little slope that leads toward a sitting area. “Be honest with yourself. You wouldn’t have had any idea about the pact or anything if Jungkook hadn’t spilled it.”

“But that’s not my fault!” You defend, glaring defiantly at his back. “You guys had that under lock and key!”

Diving into another row, Namjoon looks contemplative. “Ok, that may be true. But tell me the truth: did you ever once suspect that...I don’t know, there might be something more going on? Even just once?”

You stand out in the main walkway still, frozen by his question. “Er…” Pausing to think, you squint down at the book still in your hands.

Of course there were moments that had your heart pumping a little faster and a blush rising to your cheeks. Movie nights always meant some form of cuddling, but you quickly just assumed that it was all part of the friendship. Good morning texts that made you sink back into your pillows with a lazy smile, or the little facts that one of the boys would remember about you always made you stop and wonder.

But you never actually entertained the idea. It all seemed too…

“Unrealistic,” you mumble aloud. When Namjoon looks at you quizzically, you walk down a few rows until something catches your eye. You delight in the fact that now he’s following you. “I guess I had little moments where I wondered, but it just seemed like wishful thinking.”

Stopping near the end of the row and looking up at the top shelf, you wiggle on your tip-toes trying to grab a book. Your fingers barely graze the spine of the book before a warm presence overshadows you and Namjoon’s fingers ghost over your own before tugging the brown book from its spot. Still pressed against your back, his light breathing makes the hair on the back of your neck tingle as he lowers the book into your waiting hands.

“Moments like this?” He whispers, hands coming to rest just above your hips.

Suddenly, you recall a moment from months before, when you’d been in a similar situation. The boys had invited you over for some breakfast on one of their rare morning’s off. You’d wanted some cereal, only to find the bowls on the very top shelf. Namjoon had come to your rescue, pulling the exact same move before awkwardly pausing and looking as though he’d wanted to say something. He hadn’t, and instead rushed out of the kitchen before you could even utter a ‘thank you’.

Turning around in his grasp, you can see that he wears a similar expression as before. This time, however, he looks determined to say whatever comes to mind.

With a quiet voice you whisper, “Who in their right mind puts bowls on the top shelf?”

Namjoon’s grip on your hips tightens as he throws his head back and laughs, the kind of laugh that sinks right into your bones. All you can do is watch him, feeling like it’s the first time you’ve ever seen him. Perhaps it’s the first time you’ve ever allowed yourself to look freely.

“Ah, so you did notice,” he whispers back. “You acted like nothing happened, so I figured I was in the clear.”

With a roll of your eyes, you’re stepping out of his grasp and taking a look down at the new book in your hand. “With you, Mr. Kim, we’re never in the clear.”

He lets out a low hiss, but lets you walk away. Not like you realize he’s not following you anymore, you’re idly wandering around while thumbing through the mystery novel. It looks like it might be an original copy from one of your favorite authors. One that passed away in the 1950’s, but still stands out among the countless authors that have come after them.

You’ve made it down to the small sitting area, where a large fireplace is crackling.

“Huh,” you smile. As if this place couldn’t get any better. Plopping down on the couch, you let out a sigh at how the cushions sink and welcome you into their warm embrace. Setting the blue book off to the side, you open up the brown one and begin to read.

You’ve nearly completed the first chapter - knees tucked to your chest as you lean against the arm of the couch - when you hear footsteps approaching.

Expecting it to be Namjoon, you glance over your shoulder with a smile. It’s Min-jee, who returns the smile with a knowing look. You listen closely and realize that her piano practice must be over. Classical music plays over the speakers in the shop instead.

“Namjoon’s gone upstairs,” she explains, coming to adjust something in the fireplace. “He said something about finding an item for his studio.”

You close the book softly, stretching before sitting up straight. “What’s upstairs? More books?”

“No, we’ve expanded our antique selection, there’s an assortment of desks and chairs up there, among other things.”

Making an ‘o’ with your mouth, you get up. “This place is amazing, by the way.” You hold up the brown book with an excited expression. “I found this - I think it’s an original! How much is it?”

Min-jee makes her way over to you, smiling softly as she recognizes the book. “You’re a fan of this author too, huh? My grandad used to read these to me back before I had to start running the shop.” She offers you a fond look. “Oh, and Namjoon told me to put whatever you like on his tab. So don’t worry about it. Take the book.”

She must notice your shock, because she places a comforting hand on your shoulder and squeezes it gently. “He also told me that you might be hesitant to get anything because of that. But honestly, get it. And ‘The Cottage by the Sea’. That’s one of my favorites, actually.” Min-jee nods at the blue book with its golden seashell.

“Ah, he knows me too well,” you sigh. “This might be silly to ask, but...do you think it’s alright? You know, to just get them?”

Min-jee, to your eternal gratitude, doesn’t laugh at your question. Instead, she sees right through you, to the worry in your heart.  The last thing you want is to take advantage of any of the boys. “It would make him happy,” she responds, watching your reaction carefully. You immediately let out a sigh of relief, nodding and picking up the books.

“Alright,” you concede. “I’ll get them, then.”

“Great! I’ll take them up front and hold them for you, if you’d like.”

“That’s perfect.”

While she whisks away your books, you follow after her until you reach the staircase. She nods encouragingly, and you head up.

Clearing the stairs, it doesn’t take long to locate Namjoon. He’s standing in front of a large wardrobe, inspecting every inch of it. The sight makes you smile, enjoying the way he’s chewing on the inside of the cheek.

“Don’t tell me that’s what you’re getting for the studio,” you drawl, making your way toward him. He looks back at you, a wide smile interrupting his cheek chewing.

“I mean...no, but look at it!” He exclaims. “It’s beautiful, isn't it? Honestly, if I moved some things around, I could probably make it fit.”

You reach the wardrobe, marveling at the expert craftsmanship. “It’s gorgeous. But what would you even put in it? It’s not like you take all of your coats to the studio. And you want your trophies to be visible, don’t you?”

This thing must weigh a ton, the wood is thick and the hinges smooth. “Hmm...no, but I can think of something else I could hide away in here.” The way Namjoon glances over at you with a sly grin makes you stumble back, red rushing to your cheeks as you suddenly become preoccupied with a very old typewriter.

“What would that be?” You venture, running your fingers over the keyboard. You’re waiting for his answer, which you’re sure will be a single word - you. However, just as he’s opening his mouth and looking like he’s garnering the courage to say it, the creaky staircase announces someone’s arrival.

At first you think nothing of it, but Min-jee’s voice is loud. Loud enough that you know she’s trying to be heard.

“I told you, we don’t sell anything BTS related in this store.” She says, and you and Namjoon share a puzzled look.

A couple of voices respond, but one in particular stands out as she raises her voice. “I swear, I saw Kim Namjoon walking around in here just a few minutes ago!”

Their footsteps are growing closer, and you suddenly realize that this is Min-jee’s way of warning you two.

Rushing over to Namjoon’s side, you look around frantically. “Is there another way out?” You whisper. Clearly the staircase is blocked at the moment. When he shakes his head, you’re about ready to suggest causing a distraction but he suddenly gasps.

Quickly and quietly, he’s swinging open the wardrobe and nudging you inside, quickly following. You raise your eyebrows, mouth opening to ask him just how this is going to help anything, but he allows the door to swing shut and presses a hand against your mouth.

Back pressed against the back of the wardrobe and Namjoon looming over you, the two of you hardly dare to breathe as you strain to listen to what’s going on outside.

“I’m pretty sure I would know if he was in my shop,” Min-jee is saying, sounding much closer now. “And right now the upstairs is off-limits, so please-”

“Look, I know I must sound crazy, but I’m absolutely positive that I saw him in here. I was just outside and he went up the stairs! And now you expect me to believe what you’re saying?”

You keep your eyes trained on the thin opening where light is streaming in, trying to see what’s going on. Namjoon, however, shuffles a little closer, hand slipping from your mouth and staring down at you. He braces his hands on either side of your head, needing to bend over a little bit due to the small space.

“For the last time,” Min-jee defends, “the upstairs portion of this shop is closed. As you can tell, nobody is up here besides us. If you wish to continue this conversation, I would simply ask that we do it downstairs.”

You bite your lip, looking up at Namjoon and about to whisper something about how Min-jee deserves a raise. The words die on your tongue, however, when you finally catch sight of him.

Namjoon is slouching a bit, and you realize that his hands are on either side of your head. His hair is slightly mussed, from what you’re unsure. However, that’s not what has your breath catching in your throat.

He’s looking down at you in a way that suddenly makes you aware of just how small the wardrobe is, and has you mentally cursing yourself for coming up here in the first place. Namjoon is looking at you, looking at you in a way that you immediately recognize.

Like it’s the first time he’s allowed himself to.

You watch the way his eyes follow the way your throat constricts as you swallow, the way they trace the slope of your nose and the dip above your lip.

The voices fade away as Namjoon’s fingers feather through your hair, light enough to make your heart melt. He does so slowly, eyes reading your own in order to see if he’s somehow crossed a line that he shouldn’t have.

You, however, are sick of all these dumb lines and boundaries that have been set. Somehow, Namjoon must see that, because he’s opening his mouth and whispering out what he’s been thinking this entire time.

“You,” he mumbles as he watches the strand of hair he tucks behind your ear. Almost as though to verify that this is real, that it’s actually happening. “I’d tuck you away in here, and nobody would find us.”

Breathing has become impossible at this point.

“No prying eyes, no invisible lines to make sure I don’t cross,” he’s tracing the line of your jaw now, and you don’t miss the slight tremor in his hand. “Would you like that as much as I would?”

His eyes land on yours, eyebrows coming together as he awaits your answer. You would smile if you could, but you find that you’ve turned to putty at his touch. Instead, you slowly nod before breathing out, “Yes.”

That’s when you realize that Namjoon is just as tired of rules as you are. Namjoon, the dedicated leader that always makes sure everything is in order. Namjoon, who constantly forgets things like his phone and wallet, but never forgets to say please and thank you.

Namjoon, who leans impossibly closer until you’re closing your eyes for fear of going cross-eyed. His breath fans across your nose, acting as your only warning before his lips find yours.

Light as a feather against your mouth, Namjoon kisses you.

As you sigh against his lips, you suddenly understand why kissing was prohibited. Because right now, all that you can think of - every breath, every heartbeat - it’s all saying the same thing.

Namjoon.

Just as your hands find their way to his chest and bunching up the fabric, he’s jumping back with a gasp and stumbling through the door of the wardrobe. You see his wide eyes, but you’re too busy standing there completely frozen and praying that nobody is up here still.

He looks around frantically, but looks at you with utter horror as the same voice as before pipes up from downstairs.

“See! I’m telling you that someone is up there-”

“Oh! Did you see that? I think I just saw him taking the emergency exit!” Min-jee retorts, and you can picture her frantically pointing out the window in an effort to distract the girls. “Hurry! He looked like he was running!”

The bell above the door chimes, excited voices fading as the group exits the shop. However, their timely exit does little to soothe the raging heartbeat pounding against your ribs.

“I- I’m not supposed to do that,” Namjoon reminds himself aloud. “Please, I’m so sorry-”

“They’re gone!” Min-jee calls out, poking her head up as she ascends the stairs. She spots you still standing in the wardrobe. “Oh, so that’s where you were hiding. Anyway, I’ve locked up the front, so we shouldn’t be having any more trouble with that.”

You can only offer her a weak smile, Namjoon still staring at you with that horrible, guilt-ridden expression, which you’re dying to erase.

“Thank you,” you say when Min-jee begins to notice the odd silence. “We’ll be down in a second, I think.”

Namjoon nods along, finally looking away to check the time. “Actually, we’ve got a reservation,” your stomach flips at the thought of sitting through an entire meal with his guilty apologies, “is there a way we can sneak out of here without being seen?”

Min-jee blinks, looking between the two of you but not saying anything. “Ok...um, yeah. The back alleyway should be clear, it’ll lead to the parking lot.”

Finally stepping out of the wardrobe, you look back at it with a glare.

“So much for Narnia,” you mumble, closing the door.

ˆˆˆˆ

Min-jee quickly places your books in a bag - Namjoon ends up getting the red one as well - and offers it to you with a smile. Automatically you reach out for it, but so does Namjoon. The second your hands meet you can’t help but jump, and the bag falls to the floor.

“Oh no,” you whimper out, feeling sorry for the old books. Before you can lean down to get them, Namjoon’s swooping them up and keeping a firm grip on the bag. He mumbles out a soft, “sorry” before following Min-jee toward the back exit.

The two of you thank her profusely for the day, and you promise that you’ll return soon. There’s no way you can leave a place like that alone for very long. Namjoon smiles for a moment, looking pleased that he picked a good place. However, once he catches your eye, he’s back to chewing on the inside of his cheek.

Slyly sneaking down down the alleyway, it’s quiet between the two of you. No matter how hard you pinch yourself, your thoughts keep zoning in on the way Namjoon’s lips felt on yours...the way he looked at you just before he leaned in...how perfect everything had been until he’d come to his senses-

You’ve made it to the car, and you click the unlock button, jumping back as it honks. Man, you’ve got to get out of your head.

Namjoon hurries to set the bag in the backseat before rushing to the driver’s side, opening the door up for you with significantly less flourish than before.

Knowing Namjoon, it’s eating him up alive. And there’s no way you’re about to let a kiss - something to celebrate, in your opinion - ruin the rest of this date.

Especially when it may very well be the only one you get.

“Namjoon,” you say, walking slowly toward him. His eyes jump up to yours, and you can already see that he’s hard at work trying to pretend like everything is fine.

“We’re going to be about an hour early for our reservation,” Namjoon admits, running a hand through his hair and immediately trying to fix it after. “I’m sorry for rushing you out of there, I wasn’t thinking straight. You can go back in, if you want. I’ll wait out here until you’re ready-”

“Namjoon.” He quits his rambling, red cheeks somehow turning redder as you stop before him. “I wanted you to kiss me.”

At this, he lets the door fall shut. “You...did?”

Wanting nothing more than to dispel the awkward tension, you laugh. “Of course I did! I’d be an idiot if I didn’t! So please...it’s nobody’s fault. So what, you broke a stupid rule-”

“And I’ve hurt the guys in the process of breaking that rule,” Namjoon explains, looking at you with clear, pained eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me regretting kissing you because- w-well, that’s not the point!” Leaning back against the car, you follow suit just as a large stormcloud blocks out the sun. It’s going to rain soon.

“Namjoon, you’ve all found ways to skirt around the rules in some way,” you confess, remember Hobi’s sweet hand kiss and Taehyung’s forehead kiss. “Sure, you actually broke the rule, but nobody is going to hate you for it. Nobody. Least of all me.”

He leans his head back, closing his eyes as he lets out a long breath. “It’s just, we all agreed to give you enough space to make a clear decision if you felt like you wanted to make one at the end of all this,” he confesses, not seeing the way your eyes widen. Oh. “And I’ve completely screwed that up.”

Sighing, you squint as a fat raindrop lands on your nose. “Well, we’re on a date, aren’t we? People sometimes kiss- I mean, honestly, we could have done a lot worse-” Namjoon chokes on his spit at that. “But if you need something to blame, please don’t blame yourself. Because I love this date, and as far as I can tell, the kiss only made it better.”

He peeks one eye open at you. “Really?”

“Really.” You shrug. “And see? I really am Amy! I always get what I want!” You don’t add the fact that that wasn’t quite true with Hoseok or Taehyung. “If anything, blame the wardrobe. Wardrobes are wacky, anyways.”

Namjoon snorts, rolling his eyes. “Blame the wardrobe? Really?”

“Yeah! Sometimes they transport you to Narnia, sometimes they mess with your common sense,” you give him a pointed look, which he avoids. “So if the boys get all upset about it, just tell them it was the wardrobe. I’ll back you up on it.”

Finally, Namjoon laughs. Like, the annoying little hyena laugh that he hates but you secretly love. And when he looks back down at you and opens up the door, he doesn’t look so upset about it.

“Be honest, would you have rather gone to Narnia or been stuck in there with me?”

You feign annoyance. “Ugh, just get in the car.”

From the way your stomachs were rumbling and the rain was pouring, the two of you decided to bag the reservation. It was for some posh outdoor restaurant in Seoul that Namjoon pretended to be excited about.

Which is exactly how you ended up going through the McDonald’s drive thru and bringing it back to your place.

“Aren’t you on a diet or something?” You ask around your fries, eyes not leaving the television screen. The two of you had decided on Gone With the Wind, completely forgetting just how long it was.

Namjoon makes a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, taking a swig of his drink. “Yeah, something like that. Today’s my cheat day, though.”

“Aw, you decided to spend your cheat day with me?” You tease. Namjoon rolls his eyes, finally deciding that maybe you really are Amy from Little Women. However, he can’t fight the feeling that he’s the Laurie to your Jo.

Not that he’ll be telling you that anytime soon. He’s certainly done enough today.

“More like our date happened to fall on my cheat day,” he bites back. “And I heard that they have really good cheesecake at that restaurant we bailed on.”

You hesitate before taking another bite of your food. “Should we have gone? They probably would’ve given us our food to go if we didn’t want to sit under the umbrellas. I feel bad, you made reservations and everything.”

Namjoon shrugs. “No, this is way better.” He holds up his McFlurry for emphasis. “They even had the cheesecake McFlurry back in season! Coincidence?”

“I think not!”

You both chuckle before falling back into the companionable silence you’d been in before. Over the course of the drive back to Seoul, you’d taken your time, stopping at a handful of little parks along the way. Namjoon had imitated the ducks before realizing how silly he looked, then hiding behind his hands for a solid five minutes before he could look you in the eyes again. Overall, it had been calm and relaxing.

As you watch Scarlett O’Hara flirting it up with different suitors on the screen, you can’t help but wonder if that’s you.

Sure, Gina told you back at the haunted house to just enjoy it. Chances are it was all just a phase, anyways. There was all of this romantic tension between you and the boys that would naturally fade away as their curiosity diminished after their dates.

At least, that’s what you assumed. However you’re quickly coming to realize that you’re a little out of depth here.

“You alright over there?” Namjoon asks, pulling you from your thoughts. “You have your thinking face on.”

You blink. “I have a thinking face?”

“Of course,” Namjoon replies as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You gonna tell me what’s got you so stressed?”

“No,” you say a little too quickly. “I’m just...thinking about the movie.” Not entirely a lie.

You know he won’t push it if you don’t want to talk about it, but you take a little bit of enjoyment in the way his lip pouts out. “Alright, if you say so.”

Only a few more minutes pass before he speaks up again, sounding a little hesitant. “You know that this is a long movie…”

“Oh, should we end it here?” You ask, a little disappointed because you were just getting to one of your favorite parts. “You don’t need to feel like you have to stay-”

“No, not that. I’m gonna finish the movie. It’s just,” he wipes his fingers off on a spare napkin before scooting a little closer to you. “Long movies call for cuddling, don’t you think?”

You nearly choke on your saliva. “You- you, as in Kim Namjoon, want to cuddle? You’re into cuddling?”

He laughs, tugging on your arm until you give in and collapse against his side. You hope that your content sigh isn’t too noticeable when he drapes an arm around your shoulder. “It just depends sometimes. But yes, I am. At the appropriate times.”

“Ah, and long movies-”

“Are the epitome of the appropriate time,” he explains, lightly pinching your arm when you let out a wry laugh.

“Hey!” You cry out, only to be shushed by him.

“Shhh, I’m trying to watch this.”

You just can’t find it in you to be annoyed.

You’re asleep before the film is over, despite the fact that the sun barely went down. Something about having a full stomach and leaning your head on Namjoon’s shoulder just lulled you right to sleep.

You stir a little when Namjoon fidgets, pulling his phone out to call someone. His voice is deep and quiet, trying not to wake you.

“Hey, can you pick me up now?”

Despite your half-asleep state, you crack a smile. It’s quiet, but you can hear a familiar voice on the other side of the phone.

“Yeah, I’m close to there right now. Be there in a couple minutes. You’re at her apartment, right?”

“Thanks. Yeah, she’s conked out on the couch.”

There’s a laugh ringing through the phone. “Cute. Make sure she rests up, she’ll need it for our date next week.”

Namjoon sighs, not quite annoyed but not exactly pleased, either. “Yah, just hurry over.” He pauses for a moment. “Do you think I should wake her up to say goodbye?”

“Your call. But I mean, it’s not like you’re gonna give her a kiss goodbye. If she’s that tired, I’d just let her sleep.”

Your cheeks involuntarily turn red, and you can only imagine the way Namjoon looks right now. It’s his silence that gives him away.

“Hyung...what-”

“Text me when you get here,” Namjoon says, and suddenly the call ends.

Oh, he’s in for it tonight.

Stretching and trying to look like you totally weren’t just eavesdropping, you crack open your eyes to see Namjoon looking down at you with an amused expression.

“I would tell you that you missed the ending, but something tells me you’ve seen it before,” he drawls.

You chuckle breathily, yawning as you stretch your arms over your head. “Yeah, a couple of times.”

“I’m about to head out,” Namjoon begins, back to chewing on the inside of his cheek. “But thank you for going out with me. I seriously...it was just the best.” He smiles softly, and you wish you could have a picture of it.

Instead, you opt for nuzzling back into his side. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one thanking you? It was great, Namjoon-ah. I’ll have to read that book you got some time.”

He hums, returning the sentiment. “Yeah, we’ll do a book swap.” His phone lights up, but before you can see who it’s from, he’s snatching it up and jumping up from the couch. “They’re here.”

It’s tempting to not resort to begging him to stay a little longer - if only for the sake of his warmth which is quickly fading as he retreats to the door. However, you only pad after him, stopping him before he reaches the door.

“Thank you,” you whisper against his chest. “Tell everyone I say hello.”

“I will.” And with a rush of cool air, he’s out the door.

Gone, leaving you to stare blankly and wonder what just happened today.

And worse yet, what’s yet to come.

main masterlist

again, I’d love to hear from you! ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THINGS ARE ESCALATING!! thoughts, what you liked, what you didn’t, what’s been your fav so far...general screaming, it’s all great. THANK YOU!!!

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[jaskiersvalley]

I just reached the bottom of your writings and felt the need to say that i appreciate you. You’re really cool and im happy I stumbled upon you.

You are far far too sweet. This has been sat in my inbox for so long because I don't think anyone has called me cool before and I wanted to bask in that. I really appreciate you too and I'm really happy you stumbled upon my blog. So I hope you're still in the fandom and enjoy this little bit of odd zombie AU.

CW: Zombies, apocalypse, Resdent Evil/Last of Us inspired AU.

Last Hope

Nobody expected the Continent to turn to shit. War had been on the horizon, Nilfgaard was advancing but not once did anyone expect them to have been experimenting with creating superior soldiers to fight for them. Allegedly the idea had been to harvest some of the Continent's monsters' attributes and imbue them into soldiers, creating a new class of warriors. It hadn't worked. But what Nilfgaard did manage to create was a virus like no other before. It turned humans and animals into mindless, violent creatures whose sole purpose was to feed, preferably on human flesh. The virus spread like no other, bringing the whole Continent to its knees.

Pockets of survivors remained, walled up in thick stone keeps. Kaer Morhen was one such sanctuary. Witchers, it turned out, weren't immune to the virus. Letho had watched Serrit and Auckes succumb to it, had put them down before setting light to where they'd been trying to stay safe and he set off to find somewhere, anywhere, that would accept him. The cold didn't impact much on the undead, they still moved just as deadly fast, unencumbered by things like fatigue, hunger or frostbite. Still, he made it up to the keep and was welcomed in. It was probably the most full Kaer Morhen had been in a long time. There were witchers, sorceresses, humans, dwarves, vampires and who knew what else, all coexisting and trying to make the best of their lives.

"I heard rumours," Letho said over dinner. "There's someone immune to this whole wretched thing down South."

"And I heard a rumour that taking a shit over the parapets cures piles," Lambert shot back with a snort. Being cooped up with so many people didn't exactly suit him, even when Aiden was there along with Eskel too.

Yennefer sat up straighter. "I've heard that rumour too. Sent word out that if it's true, we're probably best placed to try and find what makes the person so special. Maybe derive a cure from them."

Not long after, Gaetan arrived with Guxart. And with some news.

"There's a man and a girl travelling North. Allegedly with the hope of a cure."

The others exchanged looks, not wanting to believe rumours. Hope was a dangerous thing, but they could all use a dose of it. Things had been bleak to say the least.

Guxart picked up the story. "There's a lot of people gunning for them. So far they've evaded being captured, left quite a bloody trail too. We saw what remained of a tavern. Allegedly the group living there had been luring in weary travellers with the promise of safety, only to throw them into a fighting ring." Unfortunately such stories weren't unusual, humans had the most disdainful ideas of entertainment at times. Guxart pressed on, "If it was those two then I hope they're not headed here. They left no survivors, cleared out the place of humans and undead alike. It was a massacre."

There was nothing to do but wait. A week passed, then another. The hope they'd felt at the mention of a possible path to a cure dwindled and turned into bitter disappointment at the backs of their minds. It was almost three weeks later that there was a commotion on the path to the old keep. The undead who lurked in the trees were snarling and howling as two figures broke into a sprint on the last stretch of the path, pursued by quite a hoard of hungry zombies.

"Get the gate!" Vesemir bellowed and it was a mad dash to open the gates while armed. They weren't quick enough and a scuffle broke out as the two travellers were up against the gates, the undead descending upon them. A sharp scream went up from what sounded like a young girl. The gate opened and Eskel reached out, pulling her in first before Lambert gruffly yanked her protector in too. The others pushed to slam the gates shut, bolting it once more.

"Cahir! Are you okay?" The girl ignored them all in favour of checking over her guardian, wisps of blonde hair sticking to her sweaty face.

"I'm fine." A gruff answer and the so called Cahir looked up at them with an exhausted, hollow gaze. "This is Kaer Morhen, right? We were told this is where we had to come. She's Ciri, I'm Cahir."

Vesemir stepped forward with a brisk nod. "Welcome. Let's get you settled. From what I hear, you had quite the journey."

Yennefer ushered Ciri away and the others trailed after her, curious to see what someone immune to the virus looked like, acted like. The left Eskel to lead Cahir to a room of his own.

"Nilfgaard's quite a way," he said by way of conversation, ignoring the way Cahir rubbed his wrist under his cloak.

"Vicovaro is even further." The answer was a little prim and offended. "I'm not Nilfgaardian."

"My apologies. If you want to clean up, we have a communal bath in the lower levels. You're welcome to join us."

The offer seemed to go ignored as Cahir simply flopped on the bed and closed his eyes without even kicking off his worn boots. Eskel couldn't begrudge him, such a journey was long and tiring even before the world went to shit. To then have to cross the Continent while chased by who knew how many people wanting his precious charge and the unending masses of undead no doubt made the whole thing exhausting.

Dinner was bubbling away in a large cauldron over a fire and the chores for the day were done. It was quite common for most of the residents of Kaer Morhen to settle in the baths, one of the few remaining luxuries left for them. To everyone's surprise Cahir bumbled in a little while later, still sleep rumpled but without his cloak. It left his ragged and torn shirt in full view, including where one sleeve had been ripped off at the elbow. On his lower arm was a freshly applied bandage with blood that had seeped through in an all too telling pattern. Cries of alarm went up as they spotted the bite.

"You've been bitten!"

"How could you endanger us like this?"

"You idiot!"

It was a cacophony as various witchers jumped out of the baths, reaching for their swords and heedless of their nudity. There was a very real danger in their midst that needed to be taken care of. Cahir held up his hands in a placating manner, surrendering without a fight.

"If I may?" He pulled his shirt over his head and the others tried to make sense of what they were seeing. His body was littered with scars from bites. Some were healed, others still scabbed over. When the trousers slid down, Cahir's legs were no different.

"What the-?" Lambert scowled.

It was the exact moment Yennefer arrived, Ciri in tow. She gave Cahir a once over. "It would seem we made some assumptions. Cahir, when you're rested and fed, I'd like to take a sample of your blood and hair please."

Next to her, Ciri giggled and tucked a strand of hair out of her face. She walked up to Cahir and took his bandaged arm in hand, inspecting his handiwork.

"You're getting better at this," she announced. "Hopefully it's the last one you've taken for me or anyone else though."

Her words were followed by an eerie silence in the baths as the others mulled over everything.

"So-" Eskel rubbed the back of his neck with a small frown, "-is Ciri your daughter?"

A bright laugh bubbled out of Ciri at that. "If only I was so lucky. I was his escort and bodyguard. Our pursuers often assumed that me being so young looking meant I was the immune one and Cahir was protecting me. That deception worked well for us."

Guxart cleared his throat. "We saw a tavern that was a fighting ring."

Both Ciri's and Cahir's faces darkened at that. It was Cahir who answered.

"We survived. But barely." His hand rubbed over his shoulder where a large chunk had been torn out, leaving a visible dent. "Had to lay low and recover for a while after that. Ciri injured her throat."

"And you got a bitch of a fever. You're the worst patient ever, always fidgeting and poking. It's a miracle only that bite got infected so bad."

Cahir stuck his tongue out at Ciri and she poked him in the stomach. In turn Cahir ruffled her hair and danced away. Taking it as a challenge, she dashed after him and gave him a shove that sent him flying, landing with a big splash in one of the baths. Spluttering and laughing, he surfaced.

"Oh you little bitch!" He playfully splashed water in her direction but Ciri let out a scream and the water froze mid arc before dropping into a sad little puddle on the ground.

The others stared at her in awe and horror. She grinned at them with a shrug. "You didn't really think they'd send some random, helpless girl as a bodyguard, did you?"

A hand landed on Ciri's shoulder as Yennefer smiled down at her. "You and I have a lot to discuss. How would you feel about learning how to control your powers even better?"

For the first time since the news that there might be a solution to the virus, hope trickled back into the lives of the residents of Kaer Morhen. It wasn't going to be an overnight solution, they knew it wasn't going to be easy. But they were one small step closer to a safer, happier life and that was more than enough for them after years of despair.

[heliads]

Changing Perspectives

At first, Steve Rogers thinks that the new S.H.I.E.L.D. agent darkening the hallways of Avengers Tower is nothing more than a thorn in his side. Then again, there might be more to her than what meets the eye.

masterlist

Steve hurries through the halls of Avengers Towers, ducking and dodging around startled agents if he decides they’re not moving quickly enough. Steve has a debriefing in a few minutes; he had started out with good intentions and a promise to himself to be on time for once but he got sidetracked somewhere just before leaving his front door and his head start has quickly evaporated. So much for trying to be punctual.

Steve skids around one final corner, slowing his pace to pretend he hadn’t been rushing and heads purposefully into the debriefing room. He slides into a seat in the back, next to Natasha. “You might want to be careful, Rogers,” She says, turning to face him with a grin that borders on gleeful, “I don’t think it would do good things for your All American Boy reputation if you were caught arriving less than five minutes before a debriefing.”

Steve rolls his eyes, pulling out the case file on whatever mission he’s about to hear about from where it’s been wedged underneath his arm. Truth be told, he was supposed to have read it in advance, but he didn’t bother to make the time to do so, preferring to keep it propped insistently against the corner of his desk as if its proximity to him would encourage Steve to read it in any way.

Steve has just started to flip through the case file in the hopes of finding a quick summary when the lights dim and the speakers arrive. There are two or three of them, each dressed in the familiar dark and practical clothing designating them as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, primarily researchers. 

Steve finishes his quick scan of the case file while the researchers drone on, but even after his reading is completed he can’t quite bring himself to pay attention. Maybe it’s the dark of the room, or the monotonous voices of the agents, but Steve’s focus drifts away from the debriefing on hand and out the window next to him. The view of the New York skyline is breathtaking, as always. Sometimes it’s strange to be able to see the city like this, new technology practically bursting out of every street corner. Steve may have spent a lot of time in the twenty-first century by now, but some nagging part of him still doesn’t think it’s right to see such a modern city as commonplace.

Steve is rudely awakened from his thoughts by the sound of his name coming from the lips of one of the agents. Steve jolts back to reality, turning to face the agents as if he’d been paying attention all along. “..and that’s what we had planned so far. Are we in agreement, Rogers?” Steve glances from the projected display overhead to Natasha’s position in her case file, which is conveniently flopped open to the proper section.

“Well, I don’t see any problems there. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s new policies, especially, the Paper Cards Protocol, should cover the previous breaches in security. I think the question is more how quickly you’ll be able to implement them.” Steve leans back in his chair, feeling satisfied with his answer. It’s pretty easy to fake attention- just yammer on about security and throw in a couple of keywords that he had just seen in the case files. Normally, this is enough to deter any of the S.H.I.E.L.D. researchers, as they always seem too overwhelmed by the idea of contradicting a national hero to question him any further.

The agent in front of him, however, does not appear to be cut from the same cloth. She folds her arms across her chest. “Excellent answer, Rogers. Just curious- is there anything more specific you’d like to say, or are you happy to stick with the same general statement you just read out of Agent Romanoff’s booklet?”

Steve stares at her for a moment, surprised and the agent continues on without giving him a chance to speak. “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. Not to keep bashing on Rogers, but most everyone here is content with ignoring protocols and policies brought up by lesser agents in favor of sticking to what they’ve always done. Why do we need new security, and why new protocols? It’s because no one’s actually paying attention to what we already have and it makes us have to think four steps ahead instead of the regular two.”

Steve frowns up at the agent as she continues talking, unable to feel the sting of her criticism through his confusion. Steve realizes that he actually doesn’t recognize this particular agent- never seen her before, not even in passing through the halls. Yet according to the neat rows of colored insignias designating her position in the S.H.I.E.L.D. ranks, she’s actually a pretty important agent. Maybe only a few ranks below Natasha.

The agent notices his gaze. “Yes, I’m new to this area. Just returned from an international mission. Name’s Y/N L/N, but you would have known that had you been paying more attention to the debriefing at hand instead of whatever might be going on out there.” She says, waving a hand in the general direction of the window. In front of him, Natasha smirks. “Already cutting to the bone on your first day back, L/N?” Y/N’s previously cool demeanor cracks as she flashes Natasha a grin. “Maybe so.”

The two agents (and friends, apparently) share a laugh before Y/N continues on with her debriefing. Steve is left to stew in his corner of the room, biting his cheek and wishing that of all the days to not pay attention, he hadn’t chosen this one. Steve’s usually the one to be in control of the room like this, usually the one to center the conversation and prove to everyone why he’s got the reputation everyone’s so familiar with. Y/N remains aloof and in control, completely and utterly aware of the effect she’s having on him and obviously proud of it.

Steve decides that he loathes her.

Tony’s throwing some sort of party again. Honestly, Steve cannot figure out what delights the man so with wasting large sums of his money just to impress the general public, who would have followed Tony anywhere if he so much as looked at him. Yet here Steve is, uniform disregarded for some nice clothes he had to dig out of the corner of his closet designated ‘Not bloodstained, could be worn to media events.’

As he arrives at the Avengers Tower, which has been newly redecorated to reflect the festive mood, Steve begins to remember why Tony’s having this particular gala. Some new invention launched into the public, some big deal that’ll have his face splashed across the front pages for weeks. As Steve straightens his shirt collar and heads inside, he’s enveloped by the roar of noise typical of Tony’s parties.

A few hours in, the bottles are already popped and Steve wants nothing more than to leave. If you’re like him and can’t get drunk, it gets pretty hard to pass the time. Just as he’s heading to the door, though, Nat notices his escape attempt and blocks his path. She laughs at his disappointed look as she pulls him back into the fray. 

“You can’t leave, not yet. Tony’s about to set off some fireworks, and if I have to stick through his entire thing, so do you.” Steve groans, but allows Natasha to walk with him to the doors leading outside. It’s a brisk night, with a cool wind cutting the heat of the tower. There’s the sound of a countdown rolling across the dark of the night, and then the answering boom and flash of the fireworks.

Steve has to admit that they’re impressive. If there’s one thing Tony can do well, it’s another display of opulence. Steve still isn’t used to the bright colors and shapes that are typical of modern fireworks, and he finds himself standing there in awe for longer than he expected.

Then, his attention is caught by a brief flash of movement in the middle of the cheering partygoers. Everyone here is happy, celebrating, having fun, but this one figure looks panicked, and is slipping as fast as they can towards the doors to get away. Steve blinks his eyes a few times to clear them, staring at the person rushing inside. With a slight twist to his stomach, Steve realizes it’s Y/N, and she looks more upset than he’s ever seen before. It’s strange to see her usually indifferent face twisted with something that looks almost like terror.

Steve is leaving the party before he realizes, desperate to get to her. What if something is terribly wrong? He has a feeling that it’s not HYDRA or some other enemy attack, because Natasha and Tony don’t seem worried, but Y/N, Y/N is not doing very well at all.

Steve is just rounding a corner when he sees her. She’s flung herself down on the ground in a dead end of a hallway, hands clamped down over her ears and back hunched as if to protect herself. Steve hesitates where he is, just out of her sight, when he sees the tears starting to wash down her cheeks. As Steve stands there, he realizes that she’s saying something over and over again. There’s a pang in Steve’s chest as he realizes she’s repeating the same simple sentence again and again, as if by hearing it one more time she’ll snap out of whatever haze she’s trapped in.

You’re not in Kolograd anymore. You’re not in Kolograd anymore. You’re not in Kolograd anymore.

Steve recognizes the name of that city- it’s some distant town in Russia, the place where she recently completed a mission. It was supposed to be some tiny corner of the country, but it instead housed dozens of HYDRA facilities. Steve had heard rumors that the mission hadn’t exactly gone to plan, but Y/N had seemed fine and so everyone had just forgotten it. Looking at Y/N now, though, Steve realizes none of that was true. He doesn’t know what happened in Kolograd, but it was enough to scar Y/N even now, to the point where she would have to put up a front everyday and pretend she was fine.

Steve decides that he may have misjudged her.

The night is late, the curtains drawn. Most of the Avengers have finally dragged themselves away to bed, leaving behind rumpled couch cushions where they had previously sat, where the room had filled with the last dregs of conversation finally run out. Some government official had sent over a few bottles of wine and other spirits, clearly in the hopes that a few expensive gifts would spare them from checking into his history with shady business dealings. There would be no such luck for him.

However, these now empty bottles meant that the night was not as quiet as it usually was. Steve, wanting to clear his head of the drunken haze that permeated everything in the room except for himself, slipped out of the room and opened the doors to a balcony. He steps out and leans against the railing, savoring the rush of focus that the cool air brings. He barely notices the door open again behind him, and then another figure comes to stand next to him.

Steve smiles when he realizes it’s Y/N. She, of course, is just another regular agent who lacks Steve’s cursed ability to not get drunk, and Steve notes the scent of alcohol on her tongue and the slight sway in her steps that usually isn’t found among her normal balance and care. 

Y/N breathes in the cool night air, letting her shoulders sink, then turns to face Steve. “I feel like I should be envious of you and your super-fast metabolism, but to be honest it’s kind of nice to not have any worries right now.” Steve chuckles quietly at that. “I do miss it, to be honest. Every now and then, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to be able to let go of everything.”

Y/N considers this for a while, her eyes still on Steve. In this moment, he realizes that the balcony is small, and the two of them are barely a few inches apart. She’s right there, just in reach, and he supposes he isn’t exactly surprised when she leans forward and kisses him.

Her lips are warm and soft against the biting chill of the wind, and Steve’s a little disappointed when she breaks away. Steve doesn’t say anything, and maybe that’s why Y/N gets this panicked look in her eyes like she’s terrified she’s ruined everything. She forces a light giggle. “It looks like I’ve had too much to drink. I think I’m going to head in.”

Steve realizes how this looks and wraps his arm around her waist to stop her from turning away. “It’s not a mistake, and you don’t have to pretend that you’re that drunk just to get away from it.” Y/N frowns at that, pausing where she stands. “What?” Steve glances down at her. “You’re afraid to really say how you feel, so you’re blaming it on the closest thing in sight. You don’t have to hide anymore, Y/N.”

She stares at him for a second, then her confused frown turns into a laugh. “You know, I thought I was supposed to be the deciphering agent who could see through anyone, but you’ve read me far too well.” Steve smiles back at her. “Maybe I’m making it up because I want an excuse.” Y/N cocks an eyebrow at him. “An excuse for what?” “This.” Steve leans forward and kisses her again. This time, she doesn’t lean away. This time, Steve’s fairly sure he’s found the one girl he can finally rely on, to have his back and to keep him around forever.

Steve decides that he loves her.

[justthehiddleswrites]

Not Safe | Professor Hiddleston x Reader

Pairing: Professor Hiddleston x Reader

Summary:  You and your former professor, Tom Hiddleston, are carrying on a clandestine relationship under the guise of you as his TA. You are aware of Tom’s dark fantasy and today is the day you fulfill it.

Warnings: Smut, Breeding, Desk Sex, Teacher-Student Relationship, Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Vaginal Sex

-

You snuck into the back of the lecture hall and took one of the few empty seats at the back. If the lecturer up front saw you, he gave no indication. Professor Thomas Hiddleston continued on with his lecture on John Bunyan.

“Pilgrim’s Progress.” He clicked over his PowerPoint. There was a collective groan from the students. Tom smiled before adjusting his glasses, pulling his hands from his pockets.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Pilgrim’s Progress is probably one of the more boring parts of English literature.” A smattering of chuckles. You smiled, that joke never fails to hit. “But if we can get through the material with no more groaning or anyone falling asleep.” His eye caught you in his peripheral vision. “I’ll let the class out an hour earlier.”

He winked, and you squirmed in your seat. That man knew what to do to soak your panties. Not that you were wearing any that day. Tom’s voice drifted into the background, a constant hum, as your mind wandered to other things, such as how nicely the Professor’s ass looked in those pants or how his three-day stubble tickled and scratched the inside of thighs when he ate you out this morning. It wasn’t like you needed to pay attention anyway, having taken the class last year and graduated with your Bachelors in English Literature. You now attended the college as a graduate student, giving perfect cover as Professor Hiddleston’s teaching assistant for why you linger in his office at unusual hours.

You snapped out of your daydream as Tom announced, “Please bring your essays on Milton’s Paradise Lost to the front and place them on the table. And for the next time, please read pages 123-157 in your textbook.” You tugged down your skirt, short enough to show off your legs but not so short to get you into any more trouble than you wanted.

“Anything I can do for you, sir?” You sidled up to the professor, brushing against his arm.

Tom’s lips twitched at the word “sir”. It happened so fast, only you caught it. “Why don’t you take these papers back to my office?” He pushed the stack of essays into your hands. “and prepare the handouts for my ENG 104 lecture at 4:15 p.m.?”

You nodded. “Yes, sir.” His lips twitched again, and you spun on the heel of your flat and exited the lecture hall.

Tom resisted the urge to leer at your backside in your almost too tight skirt. Which was made even more difficult by the crush of students asking questions, most of them female undergrads, desperate to catch his eyes. It didn’t take a PhD, although he possessed two, to figure out these girls were attempting to fulfill some fantasy of fucking their professor. He smiled. If they only knew the truth.

Fortunately, no one did. Or else you would be expelled and Professor Hiddleston fired. Graduate student or not. “Everyone!” He held up his hands. “Any questions you have can be answered during my regular office hours tomorrow.” A few of the students groaned. “Now if you excuse me…” He gathered his leather briefcase and glasses from the table and headed out the door. “… I need to prepare for my next lesson.” His pace brisk towards his office, where you should still be.

You were hunched over Tom’s desk, collating papers. You didn’t hear the door open and closed or the lock flip shut.

“How dare you?!” Tom called out, causing you to throw the papers into the air in fright.

You clutched your chest as copies flutter to your feet. “What the hell? You scared the shit out of me!” You screeched back. “Ever heard of knocking?” You bent down to pick up the papers. Tom ran his hand up your back. You jumped again.

“It’s my office. Why would I knock?”

“I could have been naked or something.” you muttered, straightening the papers.

He sat down on the couch against one wall, legs splayed. “That’s an option?”

You smirked as you spun to face him. “It is, if you ask nicely.”

He patted his lap, and you straddled his legs. Tom squeezed your ass, pulling you into a rough kiss. Your hands combed through his curls, tugging. He bit your lower lip.

“You know what I want.” He stared into your eyes. No matter how many times you gazed into them, you always got lost in those eyes. His mind wandered as he stared at your chest to the thought of your breasts, engorged with milk. Your belly swollen, whether with child or his cum. It didn’t matter.

You leaned close to his ear. “What if I told you today was your lucky day?”

His eyes widened, and nails dug into the fabric of your skirt. “Don’t joke about that.”

“I want you to breed me, Professor. I want to fill me.” Tom panted as you purred against him. “I am fertile today. If you were to cum inside me, it would not be safe.”

Tom’s hips bucked into you. “On the desk, now.”

You rose to walk to the desk. “Yes, sir.” You swayed your hips and then leaned over the edge of the table, hands flat against the surface. You wiggled your ass as his pants leg swished along your thighs.

CRACK! Tom smacked your ass hard, you jumped forward, your hips hitting hard against the solid wood desk.

“As much as I love your ass. On your back.” He pushed the papers and books away as you spun and hopped onto the desk. Your legs fell open and Tom smirked.

“Good girl.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The tips of his fingers grazed the skin of your inner thighs, crawling up your legs toward your core, leaving a trail of goosebumps.

His eyebrow raised when his fingers teased along your folds. “No panties?”

“As you requested. Sir.” you added as Tom’s brow furrowed.

His fingers collected your arousal, swirling his thumb over your clit, earning a whimper from your lips.

“Class is still in session, my pet. I suggest unless you want someone coming to see me fucking you like the cumslut you are, you keep it down.” Tom clenched his jaw and his eyes flashed.

You bit your lip and nodded. Tom pushed into between your legs, pushing them even further apart. He plunged two fingers inside of you. You let loose a soft gasp.

“But I thought…” you questioned as Tom’s fingers scissored and curled inside of you.

Tom shushed you with pursed lips. “You need to be prepared for my seed, love. Give it the best chance to impregnate you.”

His thumb pressed onto your clit and her head hit back against the desk. Within moments, you came around Tom’s fingers, gushing and gripping.

“That’s it.” Tom urged as he continued to thrust inside of you. “Squeeze on my fingers like you will when you milk my cock.”

When you slumped against the desk, Tom removed his fingers. They dripped with your juices. Tom pressed his fingers into your mouth, while he fumbled with the fly of his pants.

“Clean up your mess, love.” You greedily sucked on his fingers. Your tongue dragged along his knuckles. Tom removed his fingers with a pop. “Now to fuck you…” The tip of his cock dragged along your slit before Tom buried himself in you. “… like the breeding slut you are.”

You moaned softly. Tom snapped his hips against you. Your mouth fell open in silent moans as Tom rutted into you. Each snap and thrust of his hips and cock deliberate. Tom’s hand slipped under your ass and lifted it up. He placed your feet on his shoulders.

“You mold around me, pet. Your body sucks up my cock. You are dying to be bred.” Tom growled. He reached down and squeezed your tits. You moaned. “Your tits will swell with milk for our child.”

Your walls fluttered around him, already sensitive from your orgasm, earlier. “I’m cumming!” you hissed. Your nails dug into the wood of the desk.

Tom’s hips snapped hard against you. He pulled your legs tight against him, giving him more leverage to plunge deeper into you. “So am I.” With a last thrust, Tom’s cock pushed deep inside you, his cum painting your walls.

Tom’s mouth fell open as you clenched around him. “That’s it, love, milk me for every drop. Let us not waste anything.”

Tom slumped forward, your bodies covered with sweat, both of your chests heaving. Your legs pressed against your body. Tom’s cock stayed inside of you.

You tried to sit up, blocked by Tom’s hips holding you fast against the desk. “Well I have class to—”

Tom pushed you back onto the desk. “You are not going anywhere. We are not done here.” His cock twitched inside of you.

“But, Tom, I was just—”

His hips rocked into you. You moaned. “You are mine and you will leave when I have filled you to my satisfaction. Until I am leaking out of you.”

Tom’s cock hardened and twitched inside of you. Your eyes shut and you gripped the sides of the desk and Tom pounded into you for Round Two.

“Whatever you say, Professor.” you moaned, wrapping your legs around his waist to pull him closer.

[floatinginwords]

Saved by the Devil (17/?) - Thomas Shelby

Summary: Father and reader are reunited, Reader faces her past and future at once. (Im getting better kind of?) 

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Fem!Reader (Romantic)

Warning: Unhealthy father and daughter relationship.

A/N: This chapter took oh so long but I’m glad that we get to see this relationship between Father and Daughter in this one. Also i named the father George so sorry if you know someone named George. Comments and feedback is always appreciated and as always have a good night and take care of yourselves. 

Italics = flashback

George (L/N), your father was a man that everyone feared. You knew this ever since you were a little girl. You saw the air he prided himself with, the way people parted like the red sea whenever he walked, the way no one would look him in his eye. You used to worship the ground he walked on. You would cry on to your mother why you couldn’t spend more time with the man, she would give you a look that you didn’t understand then. She was horrified when George did decide to take you for a tour of his ‘office.’ She could do nothing but watch you bounce happily away on your father hand. You still remember the day.

 “You can’t take her, not there.” Your mother cried to him

 “Shes gonna need to learn sooner or later.”

 “Then later!” She yelled.

 He ignores her cries as he drags you along. You had a big smile at finally getting time with your father. You didn’t understand why she was against this.

The walk was brisk, you even stopped for a treat. You ended up jumping from one place to another. Your father talking to people, shaking their hands. You noticed how they looked to him like a leader. So you asked.

 “Im a boss honey,” He answered, “You will be too one day. You’ll help me run all this.”

 “Really?” you said

 “You just gotta be tough. Can you do that?”

 You nodded pulling off your toughest face. The next place he leads you is some old train tracks that aren’t used anymore. A group of men stand around in a circle. All of them waiting for him.

 “You brought a kid to this?” One of them says.

 “You got a problem with that?” George says cocking his gun you didn’t realize he had.

 The man shakes his head no and pints where the rest of them gather, “They got him over there.”

Your father no longer holds your hand as he walks ahead of you. You follow slowly. You can see the man in the middle of the circle. Looking worn down and beaten. Your father stands ahead of him, he plays with gun in the air. He talks words you block out. You just watch the man as is eyes loosely follow your father. He cries uncontrollable begging for his life. You see his body fall before you hear the gun. You don’t cry, you don’t say a word. Your father pats you on the head and says you did good.

 Soon he took you everywhere and anywhere, spending more time with him less with your mother. You became a different person as you became used to the violence. You saw different side of your father more than once but he still treated you like a good. He wanted you prepared for anything and you just wanted to prove that you could be. So learning wasn’t an issue and neither was the perfection you set yourself up for. You became a mini version of him, you didn’t mind unlike your mother who was just horrified. She fought for you to stay in school when he would convince you to leave. She wanted to to date, have a normal job. But you wouldn’t listen to her. You father was your hero at the time you saw nothing wrong with anything that was happening.

 “Your tainting her. Its not good for her to be around this stuff.”

 You listen from atop of the stairs, now only seventeen.

 “Son or daughter, my child is gonna learn the business and learn it right!” He yelled

 “Then ill tell the police, everything I know. Ill take her away or- or”

 “Are you threatening me?”

 “I want my daughter back! You’re running her.”

 “She’s growing up, deal with it.” He turns away from her, gives her the side eye before walking out. You go to sleep, hoping for them to forgive and forget.

 You wake in the middle of night for a glass of water when you found your mother dead. You cry for the first time over a dead body. Holding your mothers hand close to her face, hoping for  a reaction. Your father walks in and pauses. You can see through your lashes that his hands were stained red. You don’t say anything. He brings  out two shovels and hands one to you. George tells you nothing more but to dig in the backyard.

 You don’t. He scolds you for not listening, for not working faster. He digs it himself. He doesn’t look you in the eye as you watch his bury dirt on top of your mother. You share a tea later in the night. You just watch the inside of your cup, the steam rising up. He drinks his greedily, eating cookies as if it’s a regular Sunday morning.

That’s when your relationship changed. You begun to bicker and challenge everything he said or did. You couldn’t understand why he would do that. Or how he even could. You didn’t know what you could do, so you held the emotions in for a long time. Growing distant with your father. He confronts you on your behavior and you no longer hokd your tounge with him.

 “You killed her. Why?”

 “You wouldn’t understand.”

 “I had to bury her, do you know what that was like?”

 “In this business you’ll have to bury a lot more like her.”

 “she had nothing to do with it.” You state.

 He looks at your small figure, your eyes welling up with tears. “Don’t cry.”

 “Why did you do it? Why did you kill my mother?” You press the issue your voice growing louder wanting , needingthe answer. Wanting all this to make sense.

 “Why does it matter? So you can tell the whole city?” He turns on you quick.

 “What if I did, does that scare you?”

 “Watch your mouth girl.”

 “Is that why you killed my mother? Cause she didn’t watch her mouth.” He gets up quickly punching a hole in the wall near your face. You stay still as tears fall from you eyes slowly.

 No longer were the two of you a pair. The father daughter duo was dead. He iced you of the business. Meeting happening without you, transactions with your knowledge. He treated you like a stranger he shared a house with. But every chance you got when you would see him. You questioned him, wanted him to feel bad. No answer at this point would satisfy you, you know that. But you hoped the guilt would eat at his soul for the rest of time. You were there to remind him. And he didn’t like that.

It was the day before you turned eighteen, when you were surprised with a knock on the door. The men claimed to be doctors as they grabbed you by the wrist, throwing you in their car, declaring you insane. You didn’t understand what was happening and that only made them laugh sealing their opinion on what state your mind was as you panicked. The doctors told you nothing but that your father had expressed concerns over your health. And that he was doing this for your own good. Being there made you feel insane but you tried your best to repeal the order to get out. But the doctors were well played off, some of the nurses being Georges goons, no one would let you out unless he said so. Until Tommy Shelby came in, of course you were finally free from that cage.

 So now you stand in front of this man, you had idolized and called father. A man who now is only a murderer, a thief, a low life, your enemy. You clench your jaw as he opens his arms to you. The wrinkles on Georges face crease as he smiles. He’s older in the face and hold a cane in his hand.

 “What? No hug?”

 “Fuck off.”

 “What a lovely choice of words. Im glad to see your okay. I meant to visit…” You glare at him, “but I’ve been busy. Its good to finally find you.”

 “You don’t have to play dumb. How long have you been following me. Ive noticed since a month ago.”

 “Hmm you’re slacking. Its been longer than that. You really think I would let my daughter be out and about, not knowing shes safe.”

 “I had hoped the rumors of your death were true. Guess I hoped too much.”

 “Ah yes your little hit on me. Didn’t go as planned did it.” He glances over at the smoke floating in the town miles from us, “Your work I assume.”

 “Did you do that to Trinity?”

 “It wasn’t anything personal. No need to throw a tantrum.”

 You huff and hold yourself back from stabbing right where he stood. “You had no right-“

 George interrupts you, “After the stunt you pulled. Asking Thomas Shelby to kill me in exchange you tell him a few locations. You know what he did when he found me. He shook my hand. The man helps me fake my death, im off to America. Can you guess where?”

 “New York.”

 “That’s right and its bigger and its booming, honey. And here you are sleeping with a man who lies to you, who is no different than me or the other men ive killed or hurt.”

 “Im not-not” You blush at the accusation your father throws to you. You had forgotten for a second how Tommy Shelby was involved in this. You remember asking him and never getting a clear answer. Especially when you were so unsure with what was going on, you should have pressed more. Not been so easy to trust him. You could have been more prepared for this, left the country sooner.

 “Listen, I’m just here to help you-“

 “By locking me up calling me crazy, or was it when you killed my mother, or had me followed or when you killed my friend.”

 “I understand your mad. But honey we are better as a team than not. Remember me and you fighting the world together.” He uses a funny light hearted voice. One that he would use only to manipulate you when you were younger.

 “What do you want from me?”

 He sighs, “I need a peace treaty. And the family’s got this son.-“

 You scoff, “Are you kidding me?”

 “its what best for our family. And honestly you have no choice in the matter. Ill drag you there myself if I have to.”

 “I’d like to see you try.” You pull put your knife and hold it out in attack position.

 “You’re gonna kill me, your old man,” He uses a mockingly sad voice before erupting into a mad laughter, “You might as well do it now cause you wouldn’t want me as your enemy.”

 “I think it might be too late for that.”  You press the knife against your own throat, pressing hard against your skin. You can feel a trickle of warm blood run down. Now George finally panics.

 “Hey, Hey! Don’t do that!” He yells.

 “Walk out of here and don’t turn back.  Now! “You command.

 Your father follows your orders because you knew it as well as he that in this game you were now an important chess piece. And he wouldn’t have no use with a dead bride.

 “I’ll be seeing you very soon.” He says as he walks further and further away. You watch until his figure is nothing more than a blur. That’s when you finally release the grip on your knife.

You sit down on the ground and quietly sob into your hands. You don’t know the time when you finally stop but its still night and still no train. You hear the sound of a lighter flicking on. You curse under your breath as you get up, ready to die tonight if it meant not being in your fathers plan.

 “You are really testing my patience tonight.” You say turning around. Only it wasn’t your father standing there.

 “Cigarette? You look like you could use one.” The deep voice says. And there you are, Face to face once again with Thomas Shelby.

[anntoldst0ries]

shinrin-yoku (Ethan x MC)

Book: Open Heart Pairing: Dr Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr Noelle Valentine) Word Count/Rating: ~1.7k, PG Summary: When life's difficulties hit, Noelle navigates her way through them by turning to the nature. Category: Hurt & Comfort Warnings: mentions of trauma

A/N: May is a Mental Health Awareness month and here in the UK the theme is nature. My MC, just like me, runs to the woods when things get tough. It helps her clear her head and reconnect with inner strength.

I struggle with mental health myself and it’s important for me to speak up and address the subject. There is nothing worse than shaming or discrediting someone’s difficult feelings. It’s fine not to be fine.

If you struggle alone, please don’t. My inbox will welcome you with open arms. Two heads are better than one, even if we just complain, at least we can complain together 💜

For @choicesmaychallenge2021 Day 13 - Mental Health

SHINRIN-YOKU - A Japanese term for ‘forest bathing’ or the sense of well-being you experience while in nature.

~~

It all starts with a seed. This tiny element which, without aid, is sentenced to certain death. But give it the right soil. Give it water, sun. And it can grow. Into something big. Powerful. Scary.

~~

She is five years old.

They live in a townhouse, a classy Victorian era building. Undistinguished, one of many merging into the background of a typical London street. The colors are also very standard,  dirty white married to ivory beige, bar for the deep green door - their rebel child.

For the random passerby, it’s nothing special. But for her, the walls of a storey house encapsulate the whole world.

The garden behind the house is neat and clean, visibly well taken care of. She doesn’t remember exact details anymore, but she remembers begging her parents to go camping in the garden with her brother. The ticklish feeling of long and slim blades of grass on her tiny feet. Looking at the stars with pure awe and delight, that only the unspoiled mind of a child is capable of.

The plot of land that the house has been built on borders a beautiful forest. A wooden fence separates the two.

To her, it’s a passage to a magical world.

A world without any particular order, living its own life, unconstricted by rules. Not in the slightest does it resemble the garden on her side of the fence, where things grow according to the rules laid out by the adults.

There is a feeling inside her that she’s too young to name, to throw it in lingual context. It’s not until years later that she realized what it had been. Freedom. To grow however you please. To be what you want to be.

Robust, effuse trees tower over her, making her feel so small. As if she hasn’t already been feeling small enough, living in a world full of giants.

But they mean something else too. They bring a secret and a promise. Promise of a bigger world out there, far from the confines of the place she calls home.

The forest draws her, singing a melody that only her heart can understand. One day, she will be a part of it.

~~

She lives the teenage dream life.

That’s what everyone says.

She doesn’t have any real problems. She’s lucky not having to worry about money. She’s got friends. Her family is great. She just needs to stop whining. Her life is perfect.

Their words, not hers.

None of them know what happens behind closed doors.

The childhood forest is a cloudy memory. Her home is now thousands of miles away, in a city with a giant red bridge, which for some bizarre reason has ‘golden’ in its name.

But the call from nature doesn’t care about distance. It can find you about anywhere. It’s different and yet the same.

Because nature beats in one rhythm and speaks in the same language, everywhere.

The morning is chilly and humid. She’s wearing a wooly coat, carelessly threw on a pair of PJs hiding underneath.

Her steps are brisk, breathing short and heartbeat elevated. Something’s bothering her blanched face.

The voice, again.

When it first appeared, she thought it had her best interest at heart. Used to give her advice and like a good friend, ream her out when she did something bad.

Over time, things took a turn for the worse.

Snarky comments. Casually mentioned wrongdoings. Feedback on what she could have done better, differently.

Noelle hoped the voice would go away on its own.

It hasn’t.

Not only did the voice not go away, but it was actually growing stronger with each passing day. Became more vocal. Judgmental. Openly hostile.

It fed on her fears.

It’s your fault - it told her - that your parents are getting divorced.

You are not good enough.

Even a lie, repeated enough times, will finally become the truth. And so it did for her, to the point where she couldn’t distinguish her own voice from the voice of the tormentor. Sounds faded into one.

Whoever said words can cut like a knife was right. But those who knew thoughts could leave scars that are much deeper, were truly wise.

The young, beautiful girl who never hurt a soul, became a hostage. A prisoner locked in the jail of her own head.

A giant tear rolled down her face. Made of all the words her heart couldn’t say.

She hugged the tree tightly and inhaled the woodsy aroma, the scent filling her lungs fully.

It’s sensuous.

Just like that, she is small again.

~

She’s got all that she ever wanted.

Degree from one of the best medical schools. Graduating with honors and glowing recommendations from even the strictest professors, who kept assuring her that her future in medicine is so bright it’s actually blinding. Then, a dreamy residency in one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country.

Pretty impressive, right? Even a fool could see that. But the only fool whose opinion she cared about, couldn’t. All these things were clearly not good enough for Ethan Ramsey to stay.

She wasn’t good enough for him to stay.

Not longer than a year ago he was just a concept, an ideal without a face, body and voice. To her, he was a celebrity, a hero, someone whom mortals don’t have access to.

It was preposterous to consider for even a second Dr Ramsey could actually see something in an intern.

Standing among the moss-covered trees, every fiber of her being was filled with the thought of him.

Did the Amazonian forest remind him of her, just like every forest around reminded her of him?

Just when she won the battle for her career, she lost another. Because life had to be a zero-sum game.

As painful as that would have been, she wished she had something to hold onto. A scene she could replay in her mind. An image of him walking away. Or saying goodbye.

But he left without a word.

That was the pattern. That was history repeating itself.

She took her shoes off and stepped on the soil frosted with morning dew. It’s cold and wet. It’s refreshing. She is grounding. Reconnecting with Earth.

Tunes in with the rivers of grass, towers of trees, fences of bushes.

If the trees could speak, they’d tell stories not many people would believe in.

Tales of heartbreaks. Parables of spirits.

They are all nature’s poems.

Hauntingly beautiful. Riveting. Written without a single word.

Because nature speaks its very own language that only the soul, not the mind, can understand.

Pain is ripping her apart. But it reminds her that she’s alive. And this, in itself, is a miracle.

~~

She doesn’t know who she is anymore.

Some people call her a survivor. But it doesn’t feel like the right word. So many things in her died. So much was lost.

The attack took a lot from her. Danny. Bobby. Sense of security. Identity. Direction.

Right and wrong, good and bad, righteous and vicious. These are all just words. Someone needs to come and teach her the meaning of them anew. Draw lines, mark out frontiers. Save her from herself.

The ground is soaked. Torrential rain turned the soil into soft mud, warm and easily slipping through her fingers. She falls on her knees, praying for the ground to consume her.

Fill every part of her. Silence the internal cacophony. To sink into oblivion.

Not many people knew about the panic attacks and recurring nightmares. They’re always the same.

She’s standing in the middle of a swamp. Danny and Bobby are drowning, their arms reaching out for her. She knows she can only save one of them. She runs out of time trying to figure out how to save both. As a result, they both die. Time stands still and yet everything is spinning, moving, racing. The reality is a riot of overbright colours.

Suddenly, a ring breaks the silence. A polyphonic intruder. She looks at the screen through hooded eyes and notices the caller’s name. It’s him. He’s petrified. Worried to death. Asks her to stay where she is.

Some time later, maybe 10 minutes, maybe an hour - who knows? - he emerges from the gathering of stocky oaks.

The moment he catches the sight of her, he starts running. She notices a lab coat underneath the jacket. He’s soaking wet.

Even though he is so close, he doesn’t slow down. Crashing into her, he scoops her in his arms. Catches her in the tightest of embraces.

Asks her if she’s fine. No. Not that question again. She’s tired of people fussing over her and gets angry.

Had it not been for the attack, would he even be here? The voice asks mockingly. It doesn’t matter to her. He’s there now.

Deep baritone is gentle and full of concern. It’s not like that. It’s not his intention to fuss. He’s simply worried. Because she is the most important thing to him in the whole world. Yes, he wasted so much time. That’s why he refuses to lose even one more second.

A dam breaks within her. Eliciting a quiet sob. She clutches his shirt, holds onto him for dear life. Moments later, she’s screaming at the top of her lungs. Singing her poignant birdsong.

How is she supposed to cope? Will things ever go back to normal? What is normal anyway?

In the confines of the infamous patient room she never felt more scared in her life. But here, out in the open, she feels so safe. As if she’s had a silent agreement with nature, which vouched to protect her at all costs.

And this time, nature had an ally. Because Ethan will protect her, even if it’s the last thing he does. Holding onto each other, they stand in the nothingness.

It keeps them grounded. Connected to their roots. Turning over new leaves. Bending before they break. Growing.

They get lost. Mother Nature has a reward for those who do. They have a chance to find themselves. Over and over again.

~~~

If you made it this far - thank you & you're awesome 🥰

Tag list: @genevievemd @gryffindordaughterofathena @terrm9@starrystarrytrouble @the-pale-goddess @jamespotterthefirst @lisha1valecha @writer-ish @maurine07 @drakewalkerfantasy@iemcpbchoices @liaromancewriter @lem-20 @lucy-268 @oldminniemcg @queencarb @qrkowna @mercury84choices @lsvdw-blog @utterlyinevitable @stygianflood @udishaman @romewritingshop @romereadingshop @alina-yol-ramsey @stateofgracious @xxsugarplumfluffsxx @binny1985 @tsrookie @fayeswiftie @archxxronrookie @tinkertailorsoldierspy @schnitzelbutterfingers @wingedhairstylemusicweasel @theinvisibledreamergirl @custaroonie @irisofpurple @chasingrobbie @ethandaddyramseyx @quixoticdreamer16 @coffeeheartaddict @takemyopenheart @aworldoffandoms @potionsprefect @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

[fenristheorem]

Oh, I'm sorry I didn't explain myself well, it's mostly Gardienne with a fever that makes her delirious (this mostly because it would be funny) but if you prefer one where she has difficulty moving (I love the physical contact with Lance, I apologize ) By the way I love how you write! I'm glad there are such talented people in the fandom <3

Don't worry about it! I wanted to check just in case I was reading the original ask wrong because this sounded like such a fun ask to write and I wanted to make sure it was what you were looking for lol.

Thank you so much for the compliment, it truly means a lot to me! ❤

I decided to write two headcanon topics; one for Lance taking care of Guardienne who's feverish and delirious and the second where she's too weak to move. They both sounded so tempting to write lol.

These both are a bit of a scenario-headcanon hybrid (it seems I’ve liked writing those recently), but I’m certainly not disappointed by it. I really wanted to be specific throughout for the sake of adding in moments of humor and adding depth (which made it a bit of a scenario), but they do sort of evolve into more traditional headcanons in time.

~Under the cut~

Lance with Guardienne who's feverish and delirious:

Oh by the Orcale; how did this happen?

Guardienne was feeling fine... and then she wasn't.

Ewelein wasn't very surprised - somehow she always gets hurt, or sick, or something. She tells Guardienne to isolate herself, rest, and overall not do anything. Ewelein knows there’s a risk that this advice will be ignored, but she figured Guardienne may at least have enough sense to heed her warning.

And then Guardienne starts complimenting the birds that are singing in the Infirmary...

"Get me Lance, I need to speak with him about Guardienne's condition."

Upon hearing news that his partner has fallen ill - and knowing that Ewelein wouldn't send for him about something so common and otherwise not of much worry - Lance entrusts a few last responsibilities of the day to a couple seasoned warriors and heads swiftly to the Infirmary. Upon entering, the Elven nurse immediately pulls him to a quiet corner of the room and explains that Guardienne has a very high fever that’s making her delirious. She’s been irritated, apathetic, and is even experiencing hallucinations, rambling about those hallucinations, then proceeding to forget about hallucinations that she was just rambling about, and she’s - despite having a fever - been restless and walking around, trying to chase after those hallucinations and putting herself in danger.

Lance is quiet as he looks at her like she just said that the sky was falling.

“What do you mean she has a major fever but is walking around? How is that possible, or safe? Shouldn’t she be subdued?”

“Illness is a strange thing, Lance. I can’t give a real reason aside from that’s just her way of coping with the discomfort of the fever right now, and again, she’s hallucinating so that doesn’t help either. I would give her a sedative but I’m not sure I trust the possible side effects with her current condition.”

“Eweleeeeiiiiin...” A hoarse, scratchy voice called for the nurse from an isolated bed further in the Infirmary. Ewelein looked towards where it came from before glancing back to Lance with a ‘please help me’ expression.

She led him back to the isolated bed and they found Guardienne - pale and heavily sweating, it was very clear that she was sick - sitting on the mattress, shifting through the thin blanket that was laid over her. It seemed like she was searching for something...

Ewelein did a few quick checks and let Guardienne nudge around the blankets as she explained to Lance that she needed someone to keep a consistent eye on her, as she couldn’t do that due to her other responsibilities.

Lance hesitated as his thoughts flicked to his typically busy schedule, but he couldn’t just leave his partner to suffer this without doing something. He could find someone to carry out his typical responsibilities, and Huang Hua will certainly understand when she sees Guardienne’s high-maintenance conditions herself.

“I can watch out for her. I’ll take a few days off-” “The birds - the birds are getting loud...” “-to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself by accident.”

“Thank you, I’m so sorry to ask this of you but with this illness going around-” “The birds are screaming.” “-the other nurses are too busy for us to have a constant eye on her. Fortunately she’s the only case this severe.” “Ewelein can you make the birds stop screaming? I think it’s upsetting the wall rat.”

Lance was about to reply to the nurse when Guardienne mentioned the birds and the wall rat, instead lowering himself by her side to try and look her in the eyes as alarm filled his being.

“What wall rat?”

Guardienne’s eyes flicked to his and she brightened, leaning to the side - teetering all too close to the edge of the bed - to rest against his abdomen and loll her head up to look at him as he straightened.

“Laaannce. Oh, you’re the pretty icy dragon, can you get rid of the birds? You have the big sword. The wall rat is angry at them and it keeps chewing at the rocks and the fluffy things are scuttl.... they’re around... in - trying to steal... why is it so bright, turn off the sun it’s burning.”

Lance nearly loses his breath as Guardienne just rambles and gazes dazedly around the room, shocked by how such a vibrant woman was now rendered nearly helpless. She’s making absolutely no sense.

He steels himself and decides here and now that he needs to take care of her. She has no sense of reality right now, and he needed to be here to make sure she would be alright. He gently took her chin to tilt her head back so he can look into her eyes again.

“What are the fluffy things doing? What rocks is the wall rat chewing at?” Guardienne stares at him for a moment with drifting eyes.

“What... the fluffy... no wall rat, no stones, the fluffy things... haha, how did you come up with that? You’re not usually funny, haha...”

Anxiety and distress for his partner settles heavily in his chest as he observed her continuously disturbing condition. He looks back towards Ewelein as she explains that she’s been providing Guardienne with a treatment. It’ll take a few days before it will begin to work, though - if it even does work. Lance was about to reply when Guardienne cut him off.

“The birds are loud, the birds are loud. Oww, someone please make the birds quiet.” She covered her ears with her hands and tucked her chin to her chest. Lance adjusted her gently and leaned her to lay back on the bed so she wouldn’t fall over the side.

“I’m not sure what to do about the birds... she’s kept talking about them. They seem to only be in the Infirmary because she didn’t complain about them when she wandered into the hall earlier.”

“She wandered into the hall earlier!?” Alarm shot through him again.

“Yea, Adalric seemed to argue her point though. He told her that the birds are everywhere, even inside her... Thankfully she doesn’t seem to have taken any attention to that.” Now exasperation.

“Ok, how about this; I’ll settle my plans with Huang Hua for the next few days and take Guardienne to my room so I can watch her constantly. I can stock up on a few basics from Karuto so I don’t need to leave her and set someone in charge of running meals to us from the Dinning Hall. She won’t ever be alone and she won’t need to go out anywhere. I’ll send a companion immediately if we need help of any kind.”

“May the Oracle bless you, Lance. You’re a lifesaver. Please don’t get sick, though.” She persistently thanked him more as she explained a basic routine so Guardienne can recover. Healthy food, don’t let her get too hot - not a problem, he’s an ice dragon - don’t leave her alone, and the medicine should begin to take effect in the next few days.

Lance responded by saying that it was no trouble - there was no way he was not taking care of Guardienne at this point - and quickly headed out to find Huang Hua while Ewelein could spend a bit of time watching Guardienne. Fortunately she was in the Dinning Hall, talking with a few other members of the Guard, including Karuto. He walked over with a brisk note in his step and stopped in her line of sight when he was a few feet away, signaling that he needed to talk to her.

Kindly, she stepped out of the conversation as the others kept talking - and Lance spotted a warrior within his guard that he trusts before waving them over as well. He quickly - but modestly - explained the situation and they both understood, Huang Hua even offered to persuade Karuto to share a few food items as Lance explained to his colleague what he needed to do the next few days. Once everything was set, he brought the food back to his room - storing it safely in a cabinet - and went back to retrieve the sick Guardienne. 

Many strange and bizarre things happened over those few days he spent with his delirious partner - some things he thought he would never experience in his life. Like Ewelein said, she did ramble a lot about the most odd things that she’s hallucinated; ranging from watching Musaroses fly around the room (which may have stemmed from Floppy observing her from high surfaces, if he did in fact adopt Floppy, and I believe he did), the sun and moon rolling around the room, and even yelping incoherent words as she tried to run away from light flecks. When she did manage to make a coherent sentence, she was quite crass and tactless with her tone and words - she didn’t seem to be able to comprehend the idea of emotions, but her imagination sure ran wild.

When he first brought her into his room, she wandered around for a while - chasing shadows it seemed... and then she took interest in shiny things, like his weaponry.

“Ah, pretty!”

“Guardienne don’t touch that! That’s sharp!” He quickly leapt to her side and took her wrist as she reached for an axe hanging on the wall, gently pulling her towards the bed as she giggled giddily and danced around with him. He tried his best to reign her in without being harsh - she wasn’t in her right mind - while making sure she didn’t hurt herself on any surface as she flung her limbs around before finally managing to get her on his bed. She still burned with the fever as he settled her into the light blankets, but she seemed to be tempted to fall asleep as she curled into his pillows. Relief settled into Lance for a moment as he turned to quickly glance around the room, observing everything he would need to hide for her safety until she recovered.

He glanced back to Guardienne to find her gone. He’s never felt panic invade him so quickly. 

Lance quickly scanned the room again to find her nowhere - actually it’s dread at this point, he’s definitely feeling dread - and then a feminine noise of surprise sounded from the floor before his bed. He rushed to the other side of the bed to find her laying on the floor, staring intently underneath his bed.

“I can see into realms...” She was probably staring through the gap underneath his bed to look at the other wall.

The thought of tying her to the bed to keep her still passed through his mind until he decided that that would be too inhumane for such a sickly woman.

Fortunately there were a few things that Lance felt he could do well. Occasionally he would ask if she wanted tea, or something to eat, and he definitely made sure she drank lots of cold water (being an ice dragon truly had some perks, like refreshing cold water at any time). She wouldn’t exactly respond - although on occasion she was brought back to reality enough to realize and comment that she was hungry at the mention of food - but Lance made sure to keep rigorous note of when she last ate and what anyways, so she stayed well fed. It was a bit of a struggle to get her to eat sometimes, but he found that she responded well to smell, so he tried to focus more on giving her warm (not hot) or stronger smelling foods. Once she caught the scent she seemed to snap back to reality a bit and nibble on it for a while - and when he’d sit beside her and eat a meal of his own she would catch on that it was time to eat and happily devour the food until she lost interest. He also realized quickly that her heavy sweating would mean that she’d need to shower more, so while it wasn’t always possible to wash her multiple times per day, he found that giving her a small bath with a wet cloth helped her - especially with cooling her down. He did make sure to shower her at least once a day, and he did join her for this. There was no way she’d be able to shower alone with her hallucinations...

These showers did lead to rather humorous events once in a while. The first time he showered with her, she tried to run away from the water because “the rain clouds are angry at her”, but she eventually calmed down - nearly going limp in his arms - when she realized how nice it was to feel the warm water on her skin. Surprisingly, when they’re out of the shower she seems to be brought back to her sanity a bit, being able to hold a... semi-normal conversation for a few minutes, usually remembering that emotions exist and being able to accurately describe her distress. However, Lance is perhaps most proud of the other times, late at night or early in the morning, when she’s burning hot in bed next to him and he helps relieve her of this.

He’ll lean up slightly, adjusting the pillows underneath him so he can recline back while somewhat sitting up and pull her gently into his arms, letting Guardienne rest her head on his chest or abdomen. She’ll moan in distress, dozing but not yet sleeping, and he’ll call forth his powers to help cool her. He’ll lay a cold hand on her forehead or the back of her neck, letting his body temperature drop to provide a cool presence that she can curl up with. Lance quickly found that she really enjoys this, she’ll cling to him all night as her breathing evens and her sweating calms down, and he finds that it even helps calm her during the day. Perhaps Ewelein was right; her restlessness was due partially to the fever.

Fortunately the medicine works, and within a week she’s feeling better. Guardienne woke up one morning; groggy, lethargic and overall feeling like shit, but she moves around to adjust her position anyways, rolling over to find Lance awake and watching her.

“Hey...” She greets him, her voice grating in a way that nearly makes her wince.

“Good morning. Did the wall rat wake you up?”

“...”

“Excuse me? What wall rat?” Lance looks a bit worried.

“Ok, she doesn’t remember the wall rat...” He mutters the words to himself as he glances away before meeting her gaze again. “Nothing, what about the Liclion under the bed? He’s not licking your hand again, is he? I can take care of him if you need me to. I could probably do something about those birds, too, if they’re here.” Guardienne stills mid-weak-stretch and looks at him with an off put expression, somewhat afraid of his random speaking. He blinks back with a calm expression before shock brightens him and he leans towards her a bit

“Wait, are you better!? Do you actually understand what I’m saying!?”

“Yes, Lance, but I’m not sure that you understand what you’re saying.” She looks at him in a concerned manner, but Lance is busy throwing himself over her in a desperate, gentle hug. She hugs back, still incredibly confused but thankful that he didn’t throw all of his weight on her as well - she was very weak and tired, she didn’t think she’d be able to breath if he rested his weight on her.

“Seriously, are you ok? What’s happened these past few days? I can barely remember anything.” Lance draws back to flash her a bright grin, overjoyed at the fact that he has his partner back.

“Yes, I’m just fine, but you’re not going to believe any of this...” He tells her the story anyways.

Lance with Guardienne who's sick and too weak to move:

It started slow. Guardienne was feeling a bit sluggish one day while training with Jamon, finding that she tired easier than normal and her reaction time wasn’t as fast as usual. She had to ask Jamon for a few extra breaks throughout, sparking concern from the Ogre. He asked if she was alright and she said that she was just feeling a bit tired. Jamon promptly reminded her of the time where she had the infected wound from the Warrifang, asking if she could have another bite like that that’s causing her fatigue.

“I don’t think so, I don’t recall fighting anything as of late. I suppose I should warn Lance if this gets worse, though, just so we don’t have a repeat of the market scene the first time I saw him again.” Her tone was light with humor, but she did dismiss herself from training. She didn’t want to push herself if she was getting sick.

She carried out the rest of the day with normalcy, but the following morning is where she was really hit. 

Guardienne woke up sore, tired, lethargic, and nauseous. She should have seen Ewelein sooner. To make things even worse, she woke up with a headache and a pounding noise in her ears. Wait... no, that was her door.

She hauled herself out of bed, requiring much more strength than she expected, and immediately a flood of heat washed over her. Regardless of her swimming head and heavy limbs, she stumbled to the door and cracked it open as the pounding became more persistent .

“Oh, hey, you’re late for our breakfast! Mathieu was getting really worried - such a sweetheart! And Adalric started forming conspiracy theories of why you’re late. Karenn suggested that we - hey, you don’t look so good, are you alright?” Guardienne could barely pay attention to Koori’s rambling - her headache was terrible and she was reduced to clinging to the door frame to remain standing. She sighed, closing her eyes and groaning as she rested her head next to her hand on the frame.

“I need to go to the Infirmary.” 

“Ok, come on, I’ll help you.” Fortunately Koori was a kind person - flirtatious, and bold - but caring for her friends.

Guardienne leaned her weight against the Kitsune as they headed to the Infirmary, nearly stumbling every other step as even the slightest movements took far too much energy - only to encounter Lance along the way.

Concern immediately struck him, showing clearly on his expression as he jogged to meet the two before asking what was going on. After a brief explanation, Lance offered to take Guardienne to the Infirmary. Koori put up a bit of a fight - not anything odd, she just wanted to make sure Guardienne would be alright (and she was curious of the illness) - but agreed to let Lance take her the rest of the way.

Koori gently let go of Guardienne, letting her stand on her own two feet a moment before she wobbled. Lance quickly took hold of her, gently taking her into his arms and lifting her from the floor as Koori dismissed herself from them, wishing Guardienne good health. He turned and set a brisk pace towards the Infirmary.

“You really don’t need to carry me. I know you’re a bit weird with touching in front of others.” Guardienne spoke softly - tiredly - as she rested her head against his chest, discreetly glancing around the room to see a few heads turning to look at them.

“Hush, I don’t care about that right now.” His tone said that there would be no arguing of that.

He walked through the doors, immediately calling for Ewelein - who was fortunately near the entrance. Within a few minutes Guardienne was rested on one of the many isolated beds - isolated to assure the sickness wouldn't spread if it was infectious. Ewelein began to check her over and verbally nipped at Lance to shoo him out of the room, only to be stopped as Guardienne requested that he stay with her. If he could, at least.

Lance paused, surprise written on his face as he let the knowledge that his partner wanted him around for this sunk in. He wasn't really expecting this. She's usually very independent and doesn't like to disrupt his responsibilities for the day, so her specifically requesting his presence was a bit of a shock

"It's alright if you don't want to stay, I don't want to get in the way of your job, but if I couldn't get here on my own then I don't think I'll be able to get anywhere else... so it might be helpful to have you around..." Guardienne gave him a gentle, fatigued smile before Lance softened and relaxed a bit.

“It would be a good idea. She shouldn’t risk walking around right now; she needs to rest. Fortunately this seems to only effect her energy - there’s no major fever or anything, only a faint fever, so she just needs rest - but if walking around will be a major issue then it would definitely be a good idea for you to be around to help her.”

A gentle warmth settled in Lance’s chest; his partner was asking for his help, she wanted him to lean on while she recovered from this.

How could he say no to that? How could he deny his partner who needed him right now?

“I’ll stay, I’ll take a couple days off. You’ll have my full attention.” He turns to walk towards her and sit down beside her on the mattress, taking her hand in his as Ewelein shuffles around the Infirmary. Guardienne squeezes his hand and looks gratefully at him through narrowed eyes, leaning against his shoulder slightly.

Ewelein returns after a few minutes with a vial in her hand and configures a dose for Guardienne, explaining what it is, what it should do and in how long it should start to take effect. After a few minutes - when Ewelein is still muddling around Guardienne but not saying anything particularly important - Lance excuses himself to find Huang Hua to notify her of his time off.

From there it’s the same as when Guardienne was sick with a fever and delirium; he notifies Huang Hua and sets up a replacement for himself, only excluding asking Karuto for extra food / tea as he can leave the room this time to retrieve food without worrying for her, but he does notify him that he’s taking care of Guardienne so he’ll need two meals to go. Karuto grumbles about the information, possibly not believing him, but agrees to it anyways. If anything, he can check with Ewelein later to confirm that Lance is actually taking care of her.

Eventually he returns to Guardienne - who was dozing peacefully - and gently picks her up after speaking with Ewelein before heading out of the Infirmary to settle her on his bed.

She curled immediately into the blankets and pillows on his bed, and Lance observed as she took in a deep breath, letting it out softly as though the sole reason for that was to breathe in his scent. A warm spark fluttered in his chest as he watched her - he’ll be sure to provide for her in the coming days.

And that’s exactly what he does; provides for her, in any way she needs.

He does this in a lot of similar ways as when she had the fever delirium; he’ll bring her food, help her eat if she’s too weak, will shower with her so she can lean against him (she really likes the showering with the handsome, wet, naked dragon), and watches her carefully when she insists on trying to take a few steps on her own to test how her strength is shifting - after all, his room certainly isn’t the safest with all the weaponry laying around and he promised to himself, for her sake, that he would take the greatest care of her, so he watches her without taking his eyes off her when she tries to shuffle around.

However, there are many other things that he does this time that he didn’t (sometimes couldn’t) do last time. He cuddles with her - a lot. After all, she can’t walk around on her own, so she’s bedridden most of the time, and what better way to pass the time than cuddling it out? If her minor fever acts up, he’ll use the same cooling technique on her by using his powers. Sometimes he’ll even entertain her by playing around a bit, forming delicate, glassy shapes out of his element and letting her explore his creations. He may lay a hand on her arm and let flat, snow colored tendrils drift across her skin like frost, a faint chill emanating from where they appeared as she watches with a fascinated smile when they curl elegantly around her arm.

He’ll let her sleep as much as she wants - which is a lot - and is just fine with being woken up at any hour for any reason. At first she was hesitant about this - she didn’t want to disturb his sleep when she woke up randomly in dark hours of the night with no sign of sleep threatening her consciousness again - so a few nights were spent messily nudging her body around to shift her position with the little strength she had. This woke Lance up a few times, and she was quite surprised when he decided to stay up with her and offer to occupy her time. Guardienne continuously told him that she was alright, he could go back to sleep, but he refused to do so. He was just fine with being woken up in the middle of the night - under this circumstance, of course, not on a typical day where he has responsibilities to carry out the next day - and eventually one night she found herself attempting this as she lay awake and unable to fall asleep again. She pondered over his offer to wake him up if she wanted entertainment, and after what felt like hours of trying to do anything else, she reached an arm over to brush her hand from his jaw, down his neck, and to his bare chest - eventually giving in to try and nudge herself closer to cuddle the sleeping dragon. He shifted slightly at this - waking fully as he noticed her movement - and grinned softly at her, pulling her closer to satisfy her wishes. They stayed up for many hours after that, talking quietly and nuzzling each other. Guardienne is a bit less hesitant to wake up him for company after that.

Sometimes his partner will grow a bit restless staying in one place, being moved only when she needs to use the bathroom, shower, test her strength limitations, etc. so Lance decided to take her into his arms one day and carry her around his room. Why? Well, she was tired of staying in one place, so now she’s moving around without moving around. Guardienne looks at him like he’s the greatest thing to ever exist, and then asks if he could take her to the Fountain Park. He happily complies, being sure to keep themselves a bit more distanced from others than usual for privacy and health’s sake.

A few heads turn to watch them as Lance casually carries his partner through the guard - but he doesn’t pay mind. He’s busy providing for his partner what she needs; fresh air and a change of scenery. They’ll spend a fair amount of time outside for a while before Guardienne eventually grows tired again, and he’ll carry her back inside to nest into his bed and cuddle.

Above all else, Lance is sure to remember the medical advice Ewelein gave to him - let her rest, don’t push her energy, keep her well fed with healthy food, exercise her a little bit per day so she doesn’t lose too much muscle function, and overall; be there for her. Lance is happy to provide for his partner, and he’s honored that she wanted him specifically to take care of her, so when times come where she’s sick and needs to be taken care of again, he doesn’t hesitate to offer his help. The last thing he wants to do is leave his partner to suffer alone.

Fortunately, within a week or two she’s usually feeling better, and after that they carry on their routine as normal.

She does still ask for him to carry her around his room on occasion, though.

I hope you liked these! I tried to add in a fair share of humor and fluff. The first scenario almost seemed to take on a few dark tones due to how heavily I made her hallucinate, but I tried to keep it light. That being said - if anyone is ever that sick and is hallucinating that heavily, take them to a hospital so they can have proper treatment and supervision. This is merely a story written for entertainment, so I can bend the rules of reality a bit. 

Just as I thought, these were very fun to write. Thank you for requesting such an entertaining ask!

Have a request? Ask them here!

But first, please read the rules list for asks!

[shoichee]

omg cngrts on 100!!!! <3 u deserve it!!!! hii how are you??? ahaha hows genshin going for you?? also for ur milstone event, can i request kise ryota with prompt 19 or 20, i cant decide between the two, so ill leaave it to you!! <3 i hope youre doing well 💖💖💖💖

dhfiuseyghieaugh tysm ily reeeeee <33 been playing genshin nonstop to keep my sanity from my uni papers SEND HELP

Kise x Reader

19. “I think I’m in love with you, and that scares the crap out of me”

Word Count: 2851

prompt list here

Note: we need more manga Kise, i repeat, we need more asshole Kise

»»—————　☼　—————««

How could this happen? How could he, the veteran of receiving female attention, be so careless?

He only saw you as an intrigue. A challenge. Perhaps a friend at the very most.

How did this happen?

Kise slightly grits his teeth before he quickly exhales, bringing his hand to rub out the tension in his neck. His mood had not gone unnoticed by his fans around him.

Ah, shit.

“Ryōta!” one called out, her tone dripped in saccharine. “What’s wrong?”

“Have you been pushing yourself lately?” another one chimes in.

“I can come with you to the infirmary… surely you’d have trouble!—”

“Move—I asked first!”

“H-hey! Quit being so snappy—!”

“Stop.”

He instinctively sends a glare at the mob out of irritation but then stops himself to quickly etch a sweet smile of his own for them. No matter how much he hears these words of concern, he hears nothing but empty wind. Hanging around girls was supposed to be a fun pastime. A challenge. Nowadays, his mind doesn’t bother to register any of their names, their faces. All their voices that come out of their mouth have become constantly replayed recaps; their chatters have become equivalent to those of flocking pigeons. “Don’t worry, everyone! Basketball practice has just been tough, is all. You’re all so kind to worry for my health, though! Thank you!”

Squeals rang throughout the courtyard as they hung onto his every word. Predictable.

As he firmly separates himself away from the group and leaves off with a cheerful facade, he quickly turns around to make a break with a brisk walk. Where to, exactly? He doesn’t know, but anywhere that didn’t have people around would be godsend.

His mind always returns back to you. You, who he thought would be the cure to his social life, just as Aomine and Kuroko were to his life of sports. You, who respected his personal space. You, whom he had meaningful conversations with during breaks sometimes. You, who he felt like he can drop his facades around recently and just entirely be himself.

As cruel as it was, he once challenged himself to make you fall for him. A sick, twisted game that would cure his boredom and give him something to look forward to other than practice. Something to keep him on his toes throughout the beginning of high school. You, who wasn’t honestly that special, other than the fact you treated him differently, unlike other people. Hell, even the adults are wrapped around his finger. What’s not making you fall head over heels for him? His curiosity continues to grow exponentially the more he spends time with you; never once did it get satiated.

Was it his ego that you bruised up? Was it his competitiveness kicking in at the thought of experiencing a type of “defeat?” Was it the unsaid uncertainty in his heart that is currently panicking of the thought of entering a whole new territory with new emotions and thoughts?

There is nothing special about you. You were only a challenge. There is nothing special about you. Once he figures you out, your game, you would just be like everyone els—

“Ow!”

“Ah, sorry! My bad, my bad! Are you alright? I’ve been a tad dizzy lately, here let me help you, oh…” As he rambles in a slight fluster, he immediately jumps back into his chivalrous side, immediately clasping a hand to help them up. Expecting to see another faceless individual, his eyes widened when his mind registered a pair of eyes staring inquisitively at him. Your eyes.

“Are you the same Ryōta I know?” you stifle a laugh. “Since when were you so quick to ever help me out without complaining my ear off?” When they say his first name, it has always sounded off, sickening even. He still could not comprehend why he, despite hating the sound of his first name rolling off of people’s tongues, insisted on you using his first name. Strangely, whenever you call him out so sincerely, he couldn’t help but always jerk back in genuine surprise at how… nice it felt.

He only let you use his first name to force a sense of closeness. This was only to accelerate the forming of a bond between the two of you. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing more than a challenge. Nothing more than an asset to accomplish it.

But every time he has had these thoughts lately, his heart spiked with painful palpitations.

How did this happen?

His swirling thoughts halt when he feels your hand against his forehead. “You said you were dizzy earlier, right?” you said worriedly. “You don’t seem sick… have you been eating properly?”

You were tippy-toeing to try to reach his height, one hand grasping his shoulder for support while the other was feeling his temperature. And oh, you were so close.

This was a game you were playing, too, right? You must’ve known this entanglement was all just a challenge and you wanted to play along for the fun of it, right? But these thoughts quickly cease as you separate yourself from him to give him the usual physical distance.

What sort of game were you playing? Tug-of-war? Cat-and-mouse chase? Two can play at that game.

“Hey…” he looms over your figure, leaning closer to your face. “Maybe you’re the one making me dizzy, after all?” His sharp eyes search for any subtle signs you give off: your facial expressions, body language, your reactions.

“What?” Your eyes widen at his abrupt advance, worried eyes quickly turning into one of confusion as you scan Kise’s face for any other subtle signs of his own.

There was no way you could have good intentions. There was no way you could have genuine concern for him. There was no way you would be hanging around with him, unless you had some ulterior motives of your own.

After all, he chose to get to know you for the most selfish reason. How could he ever bring himself to tell you that this precarious friendship you two shared was built on the premise of deceit on his end?

“Sorry,” he chuckles. “Just wanted to see your reaction.” And with that, he ruffles your hair playfully before he continues to walk to his intended destination of the school infirmary.

“You’re definitely sick!” you call out, rushing to catch up to him. “You’re acting really strange!...” Your voice—he wishes he could tune it out just as easily as the rest, but you were right… he was acting strange. He couldn’t believe he can distinguish your features from amidst a sea of people. Your voice amidst a clutter of noises. Your warmth amidst all the sunlight, clothing, and body heat he’s ever felt. The same warmth encapsulating his own hand.

What sort of game were you playing?

“Here! Follow me,” you said, tugging his hand forward as you take the initiative to lead him. “If you’re sick, you shouldn’t be walking around alone. What if you collapse?”

What sort of game were you playing?... Was having the most scrunched-up brows and worried eyes part of the rules? He tightens his lips into a thin line at the sensation of his heartbeats again.

As you tug along his hand and lead him down the hallway, his mind drifts to the moments you two have shared for the past few weeks. When you bumped into him and succinctly apologized before excusing yourself… when he approached you constantly every chance he got during breaks to figure you out… when he saw you efficiently defending yourself against his dedicated fans… when you first approached him after he exited the lockers to congratulate him on a home game win before you turned to Kasamatsu to talk of club affairs with the council… when he first heard you actively cheering his name on the stands… when you inopportunely saw him weeping about Kaijo’s loss at the Winter Cup and successfully comforted him…

With each progression in his thoughts, his hand suddenly feels warmer against yours, his heart rate thumping faster, his eyes growing more out of focus as he gazes at your back, and then your intertwined hands. Maybe he really is sick.

“Are you alright?” you asked, turning to face him as you both keep walking. “We’re just about here.”

He says nothing as he keeps his face straight ahead. He doesn't trust himself to keep it together after that slipup with his fans; messing up in front of you would be certainly disastrous.

“Is there anyone here?” you softly called out, tentatively sliding the doors open. There was no one, but they were probably on a lunch break before coming back soon. He hears you sigh before you tug him in completely into the room. “Sit here, and I’ll look for some ice packs, at least… I don’t know if that would work, though…”

As you let go of his hand to try to rummage through the drawers, his hand instinctively holds you tighter.

Shit.

“Ryōta?...” you said. “Do you wanna lay down instead, I’ll look for something for you to—”

“... (y/n)-cchi, stay here.”

Shit. Kasamatsu was right: he needs to learn how to shut his godamn mouth.

“Ryōta,” you shyly mumble. “That was the first time you addressed me with -cchi at the end. Don’t you only use it with your old teammates?”

Shit… shit, shit, shit.

He can’t slip up, and he’s fucking up three times in a row? He’s losing his edge. There’s no way he’ll lose now… not when he’s come so far.

“... Do you know what you’re doing?” he exhales, dropping your hand to run his hands through his locks. “You’re driving me insane…”

“Me?”

“What games are you playing here, I swear to god—there’s no reason for you to care this much for me like this—”

“I do have a reason,” you replied, averting your eyes to feign looking for those ice packs. There you go again, acting coy… that’s what he chants to himself anyways.

“Wha?~ You’re keeping secrets from your friend, already?” he coos, trying to gain back the momentum. Yes, that’s right…you are only considered a friend. “It’s kind of cruel to bring it up but then decide to not divulge them, y’know?”

“It doesn’t take much human decency to worry and care for another,” you smile. “Even more so for a friend.”

You finally turn away to continue hunting for anything useful in the cabinets, while Kise silently watches you from his chair. Silence settles between the two of you.

“Y’know… I’ve been thinking,” you start, handing him a glass of water, a wet towel, and ice packs. “I don’t want for us… to be friends anymore.”

It took his entire self control to not jump from his chair to grab you and interrogate you into oblivion. But why? Did you realize his true intentions? Did you hate his guts after all? Did you accomplish your own objectives and deem this friendship no longer useful?

Why does he even care about any of this?

“You’re… joking, right?”

He really expected for you to burst into laughter and call it a prank or tease him about his unfiltered reaction at your words, but your eyes have now become determined and very serious.

You weren’t joking.

“Ryōta, I’ll just get this out of the way first things first, but I know that you only see me as some type of trophy to go after… for a while now.”

How did this happen?

“It’s just the way you look at me sometimes seems off,” you said. “It’s not obvious to others, but we’ve spent almost every day with each other for a while, so I’ve kinda noticed… Honestly, that only solidified my initial impressions of you being a complete asshole.”

Why does his heart feel like it’s going to shatter?

“But…” you continued. “Recently, you were just… different. You were still stupid, sure. But you’ve laughed so much more and supported me when I needed it most. I’ve never laughed this hard until I met you—you make me wheeze out the ugliest laughs, as I’m ashamed to admit. But I want to be able to support you too… like, it feels that this whole thing you’re trying to put up when you meet with other people… it must be exhausting, right? I know you first acted that way with me. I can understand and kind of relate to that, so you can always talk to me alone if you need an ear.”

“Why are you telling me that you don’t want to be friends anymore?” Kise flatly asks. “You’re clearly correct about everything about me. You could’ve just left a long while ago. Did you have to pretend to care, too? Go ahead, aren’t you going to gossip about this to everyone?”

“What? No! I’m not done talking yet, idiot! I wasn’t pretending anything! Can you just stop projecting yourself onto me and listen up? Even though you’re such an asshole sometimes, er—all the time, the time we spent together has grown to be genuine, and I know you felt it too!... so well, I know you’ve heard these words so many times from other people, but…

I like you. That’s why I don’t want to be just your friend anymore. But I know you don’t reciprocate these back, so I just wanna tell you to get it off my chest… that’s all.”

He is absolutely stunned.

You’ve confessed to him, didn’t you? He got what he wanted. He won his little challenge. But why doesn’t he feel the adrenaline, the excitement, of it all like he normally would? His heart beated painfully erratically like how his team suffered a bittersweet loss at the games. Especially when you turned away to leave after you gauged his silence as rejection.

“(y/n)-cchi! W-wait!” He fumbles to grab for the warmth of your hand again. “You just confessed, right? Don’t you have to hear what I say?”

You simply shrug in response, but nonetheless, you turned back around to face him and await his response.

What you didn’t expect though was for him to pull you into a tight embrace and put his head on your shoulder. He pours his innermost thoughts and his emotions out, your shoulder slightly muffling his words, but you still understand everything he had spilled. He finally apologizes for everything he’s done, reassuring you that you don’t have to forgive him, though you kept telling him that it wasn’t that big of a deal. He finally breaks away from you and hangs his head low and exhales. He finally lifts his head to make eye contact with you. His eyes burn with intensity and the usual confidence he bears, although you note the tinge of nervousness behind his pupils.

How did this happen? How did he ever grow so attached to you? And since when did he grow mature enough to concede his defeat?

“I think I’m in love with you…” His words trail off, and his confidence disintegrates away when he realizes that he is no longer the receiving end of a confession.

… and that scares… the crap out of me.”

“You think you’re in love with me?” You stare at him incredulously. Kise squirms uncomfortably under your scrutiny. He’ll admit it, it was the lamest reply anyone could’ve given. You honestly deserved better.

His thoughts were interrupted when you suddenly guffawed and slapped your hands to your mouth to try to stifle your hysteria.

“Hey! I spilled my entire heart to you, don’t just laugh… damnit, hey! It’s not that funny!...” he protests, but after unsuccessfully trying to get you to stop snickering, he sulks back into his chair and huffs with the reddest face.

“Ah… A+ for honesty, at least,” you breathed out. “I thought you were gonna be eloquent about this, since you’re used to this sorta stuff and all…”

“Shut it.”

Kise buries his head into his hands, but you gently pry them off in an attempt to see his embarrassed state.

“Were you really actually sick, though?~”

“Shut uuuup, alreadyyy.”

“I inherited this personality from you, y’know.”

Huh, it seems that you really do know how to be coy, after all.

“Can you two please see yourselves out? The infirmary is not a place to hold your secret rendezvous, especially with this inappropriate behavior.”

“(y/n)-cchi, run!”

“I’m trying, I’m trying!”

In a hurry, Kise grabs hold of your hand and makes a break out the door, dragging you behind with the school nurse trailing far behind. Even if he suffered a loss once again, he still won the complete monopoly of you and your genuine care and warmth for him.

Was it really a loss, though? He doesn’t think much of it now that his head feels clear when he shares these moments with you.

He supposes he misjudged you when you were truly special after all. Déjà vu just hits him like a truck when he fondly thinks about his ex-mentor Kuroko, and how similar you are to him.

[the-terminal-archive]

The Power Plant was quiet today.

There was the gentle clinking of movement, none of it seemed brisk to Ametrine. They have grown bored of being in the walls of this safe space, a hundred miles below surface light. It was a little warmer than it was yesterday, perhaps other garnets were forming today? They couldn’t tell. With a huff, they stood up, following the footsteps they heard. They’ve lived here long enough to tell who that was. “Tsavorite!!! You! I’m bored!” “Bored?” It was said with a warm laugh as they turned to face the sterling-plated gem, rearranging their scouter as they thought of what they wished to do. “Hm...are you going to suggest-” “I wanna go outside!” “-You want to go outside, of course.” They glanced away as they remembered the route the other would have to take. “Well, Some of the other Larimar have dug tunnels to look for tiny bits of Uranium and other radioactive bits… You’ll have to take that route up.” “Did you cause another cave-in? Again?” “It’ll be fixed soon enough, Ametrine. Do be careful traversing through there, will you? Wouldn’t want too many particles of that mineral to infest you.” “Mhm!! Mhm!!! Is it cold on the surface today?” “It always is, silly.” “Again??? Ughhhh, but your heating system isn’t enough to keep me warm! I still have to take blankets…” “Oh, come now… it’s not that bad, now is it?” “I feel like a popsicle up there!!!” “Then, would you mind checking a certain mine for me?” “Is it that one stupid place with all that Kimberlite? You know, I’ve been telling you that you could just harvest from there! I don’t see why you don’t want anything from there.” “I’m just biding time. The jewelers wouldn’t want me drilling there yet.”

Jewelers…? “What are those?” Tsavorite was in the middle of replying after the question was begged before Ametrine felt a searing pain in their head. Their hands went up to their head, clenching it violently. They...They hoped this wouldn’t scuff the metal on their scalp. They could hear faint mumbling, but it only made them close their eyes tight, looking away. It felt like their head was splitting in two, every time this happened!

“Oh, dear...is that pain getting to you again? I’m...sorry.” Words finally would get through about a minute later. “Perhaps the information was too much for you to handle. I’m sure going back to the surface would help clear it a little more…” “Then I guess I’ll just go.” They grumbled, trying to keep their mind from going haywire a second time and result in another wave of pain. “Alright. Be safe out there, will you?” “Pff- when am I not…?” “Hah, I simply must make sure. You never know what’s out there.”

“You’re really weird sometimes.”

“Right back at you.” “Hu-Hey!!! No!!! You’re weirder.” “And you’re the weirdest.” The two managed to giggle at such a remark, the smaller turning heel. “Fine! I’ll spend a whole day there, you can’t stop me…!” “If you do, at least have fun while you’re there, alright?” “That’s a promise I can keep!” And with that, they kicked up their boots and darted away.

Already, the new route carved out by all the Larimar looked stunning- clean, dark green in color- it was hard to tell it was a mine at all. Dim, blacklight illuminated shattered Fluorites, which the tiny robots were also collecting by the pound. They had to pause for a moment just to take it all in, a tiny smile brought to their face. Sure, they were gonna miss that other route with all of the masses of different rock, but this was just as interesting! Maybe they’d take this path more often if they could tell how to get to the surface...Because right now, they felt absolutely lost! Well, that is until they saw a piling mass of bluescreening Larimar crowded around a little spot. Ametrine’s visor blinked a few times, a few warning signs popping up about the radioactive particles surrounding the place. Perhaps they could just spare a peek and move on…? They did just that, looking over the small pile to see them crowding over...oh. That was a hand. A hand, glowing a ghastly green in the UV light… It might have been a bit of Uranium, but...What did that even entail?

...Maybe it was just a weird rock growth! Moving along!

It would take them hours to reach the surface, shuddering as the cold air surrounding them. Right, right, the Kimberlite mines… How far was that away again??? Mmm...mmmm… At the base of those mountains….They figured that if they went at top speed, they could get there in ten minutes! Those ten minutes did not account for that one tumble they took, but nobody else saw it! That didn’t happen! They managed to stay warm that whole time just by going as fast as they did! They nearly splatted into the post by the entrance to the abandoned mine, taking a step back and sticking their tongue out at it. “Why did you have to be there? You’re a dummy little wood!!!” Ametrine pouted playfully, glancing away. Was it even warm in these mines…? Entering the place, it was...fairly dark. Hard to see much in someplace that’s been ditched for as long as it has… If you weren’t this neat little plated gem! All they had to do was turn the brightness up a little, and- yep! Haha, there was all the rock! None of it was Kimberlite just yet, but in the gaping pitfalls this mine had, it was easier to see it further down. Sure, it was a long way, but they had all the time in the world! A whole day to spend here, trying once again to find movement that they know isn’t here! Tch, Tsavorite would never have the time of day mining in this place, and it would go to someone else. Oh- right!! The jewelers… They completely forgot to ask that scientist to repeat themself! Dammit… a day of never knowing could very easily turn into decades if they forgot about it all! Hm, perhaps others more commonly spoke of them… Why weren’t they ever spoken of to Ametrine until just now? Maybe to keep them from worrying...silly scientist! Nothing worried them! That’s why they were here! All alone! With absolutely nobody to help or save them if they cried out for help, which they wouldn’t need anywhere in the near future! Yep!!! They were doing this all on their own, like a grown-up gem! Maybe someday they’d be considered healthy enough to go back to all the other yellow or purple gems… They hoped that would be the case sooner rather than later! Hmhm, they could take on anything that was thrown at them! And, that’s when they heard clinking. That...wasn’t from them! Maybe it was from stalactites or something. The Pristine Peaks had that happen a lot, and it kind of sounded like clinking! Hehe…

They heard clinking again, a little louder this time. This got Ametrine to stop for a minute, glancing around and letting light hit wherever it could. They weren’t even that deep into the mine, what could possibly be up here?! Another clink. Another. Another. Several successive clinks, it didn’t sound like something that could walk. “Hello?” They called out into the depths, where they thought the noise was coming from. More clinks. This sure was taking forever for it to show itself, but...at some point, they stopped again. It was at that moment Ametrine sensed movement at the other side of the tunnel they were in, a terrible figure to train their eyes on, but… Once it started approaching again, their heart jumped into their throat. It was a cluster of crystalline masses in the shapes of limbs and faces all smothered together, its appearance smeared into the surreal. It was too shallow in the ground to classify it as diamond, so it must have been a cluster of quartz, but even still- what was something like that doing here?! Ametrine was too scared to do more than sputter out fragments of sentences, silenced only by the shrill cry of it as it continued moving in. Did it- did it wish to tear them apart!? And, just as they were ready to turn heel and book it out of there, Another figure dropped down from a hole in the ‘ceiling’ of this dreaded place, facing towards the beast. “Another of you?! I swear, the next time one of you appears this close to the surface without an innocent closeby, I’ll just let you terrorize the world.” It was hard to see what gem they could be when the place was so dark, let alone the fact they had never heard such a voice before. However, their attention was drawn down as the figure pulled out two sharp, curved daggers...one concealed in each heel. The mess of crystal they stood in the way bellowed again, getting this new soul to say just as sternly back,

“Back down from this fellow quartz, you fiend! I will not let you take a single soul so long as you remain in these mines!”

...Ametrine looked away from the scene, too frightened by the enemy’s appearance to dare glance back. Maybe they should have declined to come to the mines! They would have loved being bored in Tsavorite’s radioactive wasteland than being here… Yet, it was a bit late now, and...they’d have to trust whoever this was, for better or worse.

[tae-cup]

Have a Merry Christmas :) - Yoongi

For: @yoongi-sugaglider​, Eommaaaaaaa 

From: Marria

Pairing: Musician!Yoongi x Author!Reader

Summary: The littlest of gestures have the biggest impact <3

Genre: Neighbors to Lovers, Strangers to Lovers, Fluff, It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Warnings: Your heart may burst from the fluff, like a little language here and there. 

Rating: PG

Word Count: 3.8k Words

A/N: I am not Christian, but I have a lot of holiday spirit, okay? Also, Eomma I loved writing this for you. Honestly, it’s so cute and I love you and everything you do. You’re doing great and I hope this is what you were hoping for! Alexa, play All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey 

Other: Masterlist

       Moving was a long and laborious task. Your arms felt like jelly as you clutched the heavy box of dishes. You kicked open the door of your new apartment as it began to close behind the line of movers going in and out. 

“Need some help?” A low voice grumbled. Assuming it was your father, you just groaned and nodded. 

“God, I didn’t even know I had so many dishes! I’m pretty sure I just use the same ones. I should give some back to you and mom.” You complained. 

“That’s great, but I’m not your dad.” Ah, shit.

       In your defense, the box blocked a majority of your line of sight and you were a bit preoccupied. What you didn’t expect was to see a handsome man staring at you through narrowed eyes. A small smile tugged at his lips. 

       He wordlessly held open the door for you to get into the apartment and you didn’t say anything out of embarrassment. You set down the box and when you turned around to say thank you and apologize, he was already gone. The door next to yours clicked shut. 

        Great. It wasn’t the first impression you had wanted out of your next door neighbor. You pulled your hair into a ponytail and swiped at the building sweat. You needed to do something to get on better terms with your neighbor. Or maybe you were overthinking things way too much. You began to unpack the dishes while the movers brought in the couch. 

         After the dishes were put away, you went back out to help the movers. On your way out, you glanced at the heavy oak door that was close beside yours. You bit at your lip and turned back to head downstairs. You had wanted to knock, to apologize or just say something. 

      Something something something. You were always doing something. They called you quite the ‘fixer’ in your house. Being an author was not usually a great career choice, but one thing did stand out about you; when something was wrong, you fixed it. 

        Min Yoongi ended up being quite the enigma, as you were soon to find out. Ever since your first meeting, he had been cordial with you. In all honesty, though, he rarely left his apartment. You did figure out that he was a musician and studying in the music department at the local college. How did you find out? Well, you weren’t a stalker, okay, but you did overhear conversations from time to time. The walls were thin. 

       You had noticed how he rarely had any visitors, even during holidays, and a few times you had wanted to ask if he wished to join you for celebrations like New Years or Christmas, but you never did. You found out why he was alone about a year into living in the building. You didn’t speak to him, but there was some attraction to the unknown. 

       It had been Christmas. You were packing and preparing to leave your monotonous life to spend time with your family. It was your favorite time of the year. Warm fairy lights were hung all around your apartment and the smell of cinnamon candles was in the air. 

       You shoved the last of your clothing into the bag. You were decked out with ugly Christmas sweaters, beanies, and boots. Just as you were about to leave, you heard the shouting of muffled voices from next door.

       Neither of those were Yoongi. You knew because, well, he just never seemed like the type to yell in an argument. In all your interactions with him, leaving in the morning, riding the elevator, you knew him to be a quiet and introverted man. 

      The shouting grew louder and you wondered if you should go knock on the door and check in. You exited your apartment and walked the few steps to stand in front of his door. Hesitation filled your mind and you bit at your lip. After a few more moments, you decided against it. You turned and started walking down the hall to the elevator. 

      Suddenly, the door to his apartment opened and closed with a loud slam. You felt yourself jump at the loud noise and you twisted your head to look at the door. Yoongi, with his faded blonde hair, you had noticed he was into dyeing his hair a different color every month, was exiting his room. He took brisk steps, mumbling something about getting some fresh air. 

      You glanced at him as he strode into the elevator with you. He was running his hands madly through his hair in a constant rhythm. Then he took in a deep breath. The elevator already held winter’s frigid air and you could see the lightest of breaths puffing out from his mouth. 

“My parents.” He said simply. You nodded in understanding, connecting the dots. 

“I’m sorry about that.” You said softly. He finally looked at you. You remained still, watching as the numbers ticked downward. 

       After a few moments of his eyes roaming your face, he turned back to look at the metal doors. 

“It can’t be helped. Most parents wouldn’t want their child throwing away their life on trivial pursuits.”

“Trivial pursuits, hm?” Your heart thumped quietly in your chest. You remembered the look your parents gave you when you told them about your wishes to pursue writing. 

“I want to be in the music industry. You know, like those kpop producers?” 

“I see.” You hummed in acknowledgement. 

        The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors slowly creaked open. You hurried out, shouldering your duffle bag. The lobby was cold, the doors opening and letting a cold breeze in every time a resident entered or exited. Yoongi stepped out with you. This was the longest conversation you’d had with him for a year, it was oddly calming. 

       Yoongi was a listener and he took his time with his words. You reflected this in a way, but your support system was stronger. When you looked at his tired face, the way his lips pulled into a natural frown, you felt concerned. How was he holding up? 

“I think you should do what you want, Yoongi.” You said, walking to the entrance for the underground parking. He watched you go. 

“Don’t worry, Y/N, I am.” He said simply and turned on his heel, leaving for the regular entrance. 

       A few years passed like seconds. Your life was just flashing by your eyes. Schoolwork, your job, everything was the same. Each year you led a comfortable lifestyle, you even managed to get your book into the editing phase. More and more, your life and fascination with your neighbor had intertwined. 

      The words you wrote in your book became based on the intrigue of your mysterious neighbor. Who was he really? What did he do besides schoolwork? To you, it seemed he just sat inside and played piano until the early morning hours, just like he was doing now. 

       Christmas Eve was around once again and you were packing, once more, to go see your family. You wanted to leave extra early in order to spend more time with your grandma, whose health had been shaky lately.

      The sweet melody of silent night echoed through the quiet building. You glanced to your far left wall, trying to imagine him sitting at his piano, playing such a melancholic song such a happy day. 

      That’s when it really began; the notes. It started with a simple message scrawled messily on a sticky note. 

Have a Merry Christmas, yoongi. :) - Y/N

       You kept at it. Notes upon notes, everyday, 365 days. It gave you something to do and it was always a nice routine. You were sure he threw away each note and he never mentioned them when you stood in the elevator together either. It wasn’t anything bad. 

        They always just said simple things like Hope you had a good day today. Or Are you alright? Or, your personal favorite, Have you had anything to eat? The questions always ranged based on how you heard him enter his apartment. You tried your best to plan ahead, so you kept at least two in your pocket in case you forgot sticky notes. 

       You often thought over your feelings for him. He was nice, sweet, and on top of it, extremely handsome. You lazily wrote I like you one day on a sticky note and then crumpled it up, stuffing it into one of your pockets. Someday, someday. You told yourself. 

 “Whatcha got there?” You asked, eyeing the white grocery bag in his hand. 

       He stood next to you, as per usual, on the elevator. The elevator itself was old and slow. 

“Just some dried squid.” He said.

       You were quiet, which prompted him to continue.

 “They’re taking them out of stock this week and I don’t know how long until I can get them again. I don’t have time to go anywhere else. So I guess I’ve just got to stock up.” He explained quickly. You nodded, logging the information away into your brain. 

“Personally, I like Kyoho Jelly.” You said. 

“Ah, that’s good too.” 

       The next week, you went to another grocery store, and even though you weren’t a particularly big fan of dried squid, you bought several packages. For the next few weeks, you delivered your notes with a bag of dried squid. 

       Both you and Yoongi had rather...solitary ways of life. He spent his time holed up playing piano and you spent your time hiding in your room writing. In fact, you mostly had the same schedule as each other. It felt nice to have a companion on your short trips to and from school. Even if you didn’t say much, it was enough. 

         You ran into him on the elevator once more. He gave you a nod of acknowledgement and even managed a smile. You felt your cheeks heat up slightly. Who wouldn’t be flustered to speak to him? 

        Yeah, he had that nerdy, introvert, kind of look to him, but he had this mystery in his eyes, a coldness that could only be found through years of immense strength and resilience. You knew him to be dedicated. Your way of supporting him was by not knocking on his door when it was 1 A.M. and he was practicing the same piece for the hundredth time. 

       Yoongi held a folder of sheet music in his arms and you held your manuscript. The blonde looked at your arms. 

“You’re a writer?” He asked. 

“You could say that.” You shrugged and hit your floor number. You stayed still as he stepped in after you. 

“That’s...really cool.” He said awkwardly. 

        You were a bit surprised. You had expected him to be cool as a cucumber, very put together, but he seemed almost nervous as he stood beside you. He fidgeted quite a bit and averted his eyes away from you. 

“I guess.” You said softly, a warm feeling growing in your stomach. Then you bit your lip to keep from smiling.

 “I wanted to apologize about uh, the way we met.” You chuckled. “I didn’t know you weren’t, achem, my father.” 

          He looked away and you saw his shoulders shake with a silent laugh. Then he turned back to you. You saw a ghost of a smile left on his lips and he slowly let his face fall back into a neutral position. 

“It’s no problem.” He said stoically, then he broke character, “I found it quite...humorous and you’re cute so it’s no big deal.” 

        Then he flushed bright red and stumbled over his next words.

 “I mean, I-nevermind, this is awkward.” He rushed and took a deep breath. He released a sigh and you smiled at him. 

“Thanks.” You said gently. 

        The elevator dinged and you stepped out, waiting for him. Did he know about the notes? Why hadn’t he said anything? You glanced at his flustered face and decided against questioning him. He stepped out and began to walk with you in silence to your door. 

        You finally made your move. 

“Hey, I know I usually leave these on your door, but since you’re right here...I’ll just give it to you, okay?” You reached into your pocket and picked up the first crumpled piece you found. You handed it to him sheepishly and he took it, holding it carefully in his soft hands. 

“Thank you.” 

“It’s no problem.” 

He opened his door. “See you around.”

“See you-” the door shut. “-around.” You finished quietly. 

      You reached into your pocket and pulled out the other piece of paper. How’s your day? It read. Your face paled. Oh god, no. The only other paper in your pocket had been...I like you. 

         Your book had been slipping away from you. The editing process was tedious and time felt like it was getting away from you. Yoongi didn’t know about your book, he didn’t know how you wondered if he was alright, like some weird infatuation. It was normal to be worried about your neighbor, right? 

       On the subject of notes, you had gotten a rather harsh wake up call from your publisher. He had explained, in simple terms, that your book wouldn’t be successful. 

“The writing is okay, I guess, but what happened halfway through? I was sure the main character was going to end up with Brandon, so why does it so suddenly change? I think this will throw off readers looking for a cute romance novel.” He said, as if reading off a script. 

“But it’s realistic. You can’t fall in love and expect to be with the first man you lay eyes on.” You argued. 

“Look, Y/N, this is just supposed to be a ditzy romance novel. Don’t get into your head with metaphors and realism. That’s not what you’re good at and not what we signed up for. Thanks.” 

        And the call had ended just like that. Distressed was an understatement. You set your phone down on the counter and collapsed on the couch that lay next to the wall that connected Yoongi and your apartment.

          He was playing Nuvole Bianche, a rather sad song, and it pushed you to the edge. Everything was going wrong. Yoongi hadn’t even looked at you since you got the notes mixed up and you were sure he was purposefully avoiding you. 

        The tears began to stream down your face, painting your cheeks. The piano rose in intensity and a sob tore out. Years of work, and for what? 

      The disappointed looks on your parents’ faces, the raised eyebrows of your professors, all the words they had said to you in subtle jabs at your character, your career choice...were they true? Were they right? You curled in on yourself, sobbing loudly. You didn’t even notice the piano music halt. 

      The only sound were your sobs, the hopelessness that settled in your bones. Maybe you should just stop. Then, there was a melody. A soft tune that had waited for a quiet moment. You’ve got a friend in me. 

     The joyful piano contrasted that of your own despair. You lifted your head. Had he heard? Did he know? You swiped at your eyes as the tune grew louder. 

      You got troubles, and I got 'em too. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. We stick together and we see it through. 'Cause you've got a friend in me. You've got a friend in me. The melody swept you up and carried you away. 

       You could breathe again. 

       The TV was turned up loud, blaring the message that had you sitting on the couch this Christmas instead of with your parents. 

“A large avalanche occurred late last night, blocking a major roadway from Seoul to Busan. Officials say no one was injured in this disaster, however this will prevent hundreds of people from returning home this Christmas.” The reporter said.

       You watched the screen, mind blank and eyes open. The screen itself was blurred to your vision and you were currently pushing away the harsh reality that threw a wrench in the happiest day of the year for you. You had no one. Still, in your misery, you blinked and stood. You had to do the one thing you knew how to do; write. 

      So you wrote. You wrote well into the afternoon. You wrote until your fingers cramped and your stomach growled with hunger. You wrote until you could hear Yoongi slamming his apartment door at the end of the day. 

     Your misery was on display on this blank white page. Wasn’t this supposed to be a good day? You bit your lip and looked to the far wall. Yoongi was silent. No piano music was heard. 

       In a split second decision, before your inspiration vanished and your mind became numb from writing all day, you jotted a few words down onto a sticky note. You surveyed the yellow paper. It was such a small square, but the words on it meant something. It was weird how words can mean so much. 

       You left your apartment, stretching out your back which had been hunched over your computer. You swallowed thickly and stuck the note down on the ground. You knocked and waited. No response. 

      You sighed and left, opening your door and slamming it shut behind you. You felt angry tears pricking at your eyes. It was stupid, trying to understand your handsome neighbor, trying to connect to such an obviously closed off person. 

       The sound of his door opening softly and closing made you stop. You checked the time. You had three hours to midnight, three hours to Christmas. 

       Yoongi hesitated, staring down at the little note. Have a Merry Christmas :) - Y/N

       He bent down and picked it up, the note reminding him of the first note last year. Of course he noticed the notes everyday, of course he felt grateful, happy that someone cared. It had been a long time since that happened. He flipped over the note. Nothing on the backside, yet the simple words seemed to taunt him. 

        The notes had made him feel...funny inside. Yoongi wasn’t all too great at figuring out what was going on in his head, he just plowed through life as fast as possible. He spent his time lost in work, piano, or sleeping.

       Your notes felt like a time when he could calm down and stop for a bit. How are you? I hope your day was good. Little things that made the biggest of impacts on his world. 

       He needed to do something. The blonde, now mint haired, couldn’t understand how he felt about you. All he knew was that he very desperately wanted to make you happy. He had gone radio silent for a while, unsure of what to do when he discovered your note; I like you. What was he supposed to do with that information? 

Maybe you like her back? His conscience said. 

        He thought of the crumpled notes in his desk, the replies never sent. He knew what he needed to do next. 

        30 minutes to midnight. You were sprawled on your bed like you were making a snow angel. A soft rapping on your door made you sit up. You glanced at the time and then you stood. You made your way to your closet in an attempt to throw on something other than your pajamas.

        In the end, you just chose leggings and a random christmas sweater in your half packed bag. Looking at the open bag made you frown and your mood dampened. The knocking sounded again. 

“Coming!” You shouted, pulling on socks and walking to your door. 

        Upon opening the heavy wood, you saw no one. Then, on the ground, was a sticky note.

  Have a merry Christmas :) - Yoongi. 

        You picked up the note, heart thumping wildly. You turned to look at his door. It creaked open slightly and All I Want For Christmas is You began its lilting melody. 

       You folded the paper up and stepped towards his door. You gripped the note tightly, hope blooming in your chest. He sees you. The little voice in your head pushed you to continue you into the apartment. 

“Yoongi?” You called. The piano continued playing. Your heart thudded in your ears and you glanced down the short hall. 

        A board was propped up at the end, illuminated by hazy yellow Christmas lights. You stepped quietly and quickly towards it. You noted the similar layouts of your apartments.

       It was like all the pieces of an apartment (a hallway, a room, a bathroom, etc) but in a different order with the same dimensions. As you walked closer to the board, you could finally make out what was on it. Your breath caught in your throat. 

       Notes. Little sticky notes were pressed all over the board. You leaned closer and the familiar scrawl of your handwriting came into focus. All of your notes. Every. Single. Note. You had ever sent him, was on this board. 

        You felt tears spring to your eyes. He had kept them. You managed to hold back the flood as you read over each note with fascination, because beside every note, was another note in Yoongi’s handwriting. 

How are you? I’m okay, how are you?

Did you eat today? Yes, there’s no need to worry. 

        They were in various conditions. Notes, you realized, that he had intended to respond to you with. Each one was crumpled slightly, as if he’d thrown them out and then decided against it. 

        A bag of dried squid sat next to a bag of Kyoho Jelly. You smiled a little, remembering your gesture of goodwill. In the very middle, however, you caught the note you were sure he had thrown away. 

I like you. I like you too. 

       Time froze. The tears were down your cheeks in an instant, the overwhelming emotions flooding you. The note’s words played over in your brain, like his soft breath in your ear.

       I like you. I like you too. The music came to a stop and you were pulled from your thoughts, twisting around to face the mint haired man. His eyes were soft, a gummy smile on his face. 

“You didn’t think I would let you spend Christmas alone after all of this, hm?” He teased. 

       You let out a little chuckle and walked towards him. He stood from his piano and met you in the middle of the room. He took your hands in his and squeezed softly. 

“Thank you, Yoongi.”

“No, I should thank you.” He glanced at the board of notes. “You didn’t need to do all of this.” 

“It was just a silly infatuation.”

“There’s nothing silly about it, Y/N.” He pulled you closer ever so slightly. Then he looked up pointedly and you followed his line of sight. Mistletoe. 

      Without a second thought, without a doubt, which was a surprise since you had many, you tilted your head and met his lips with yours.

       He pressed into you, wrapping an arm around your waist and moving his lips in time to yours. Yoongi had an aloof and cold demeanor oftentimes, but he found he was only ever warm when he was with you. 

       You pulled away, breathing a little harder than before. His cheeks were tinged pink and yours were as well. You were flustered, captivated by his chocolate eyes. The clock on the wall chimed midnight. 

“Merry Christmas, Yoongi.” You breathed. 

“Merry Christmas, Y/N.” Then he leaned in once more and gave you a soft kiss on the lips.