#haven’t drawn him with hearing aids in a while

[heresronnie21]

I spent the day in bed today. Here’s a shitty doodle, I hope everyone knows how much I like headcanoning him as a freak.

[denimbex1986]

'Scientific grunt work doesn’t render very well on the silver screen. But neither do most jobs, or for that matter, most people. When it comes to theoretical physicists and aesthetic appeal, it’s best to channel quantum mechanics and suspend your disbelief.

Enter Oppenheimer, where Brigadier General Matt Damon says things like, “This is the most important thing to ever happen in the history of the world!” And, “We’ve given them an ace. It’s up to them to play the hand.” No doubt these sentiments were actually delivered as 700-page memorandums, Pendaflex-foldered and date-stamped. But this is Hollywood we’re talking about. You’ll find little in the way of stationery here, at least not on screen. And when the occasional differential equation rolls into frame, writer/director Christopher Nolan cuts smartly away before the audience might nod off.

To Nolan’s credit, Oppenheimer is a terrifically researched film. But it’s a film nonetheless, and translating sprawling, decades-long military sagas via camera necessitates shortcuts. I’m not a vetted expert on nuclear history but I’ve dabbled, having acted as research assistant for a 2020 treatise on plutonium production. This is to say that I’m familiar with the players.

I know, for example, that Matt Damon is far too cuddly, good-looking, and agreeable to portray the irascible Leslie Groves, nicknamed “Greasy” by his fellow West Point cadets. I know that Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist with a famously soft, nigh-unintelligible voice, is misrepresented by Shakespearean enunciator Kenneth Branagh. Nolan’s rolodex runs deeper than Wes Anderson’s these days, and if there’s a gripe to be had with Oppenheimer, it’s that everyone involved is just too damned sexy.

But, again, this is Hollywood, and where Nolan leaves the beaten path of record he generally does so to sate our dopamine addiction. Come to think of it, I haven’t been inside an actual physics department in a while. Maybe the professors really are incredibly gorgeous.

Luckily for Nolan, the subject of his cinematic obsession was a high-cheeked academic anomaly. The poet Edith Jenkins, who overlapped with J. Robert Oppenheimer in leftwing circles, describes his “precocity and brilliance… his jerky walk, feet turned out, a Jewish Pan with his blue eyes and his wild Einstein hair.” Manhattan Project scientist Robert Wilson agrees, admitting that he was “caught up by the Oppenheimer charisma,” “his style, the poetic vision of what we were doing.”

No, Oppy’s jawline never approached the artful chisel of Cillian Murphy’s, but there are unmistakable parallels—a bit elfin, a bit skeletal—to be drawn. Certainly Oppenheimer availed himself of more mistresses than your average mid-century physicist. Nolan spends perhaps too much time focusing on one of them (Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh) and mentions a second in passing (Ruth Tolman, a bit part Louise Lombard), while avoiding speculation of yet others, such as when Berkeley cops found grad student Melba Phillips sleeping in Oppy’s car somewhere in the Coastal Range, the professor himself suspiciously absent.

Oppenheimer’s messy personal life makes him an ideal candidate for exposé—look no further than Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s bestselling American Prometheus, Nolan’s source material. But here I’ll return to Hollywoodization, for it’s one thing to get wind of Oppenheimer’s foibles and quite another to see Florence Pugh writhing hallucinatorily on his lap during the 1954 AEC security hearings.

If Nolan goes too far in this film, if he stretches the Oppenheimer envelope past its roomy Pendaflex accommodations, it’s in the context of Oppy outside the Manhattan Project. Despite magnificent wartime subject matter—not all of which is touched upon—Nolan can’t quit his blockbuster tropes. Monochrome senate hearings, petty political twists (how is RDJ’s aide still employed?), Oppy’s fingers gracing Emily Blunt’s as she asks for a cocktail science primer.

Maybe audiences require such touchstones to contextualize the rest of the film. Nolan seems to think so. But as the string section swelled during a trite turn in the relatively forgettable career of Lewis Strauss, I found myself wishing we could’ve stayed put in New Mexico, on the high mesa that forms this film’s heart.

Nolan’s feat comes in recreating Los Alamos, a critical American moment with more than enough narrative to forgo some of the politico-romantic schlock that drags this thing to a three-hour runtime. Fascinated by character, by gray morality, Nolan found Oppy such an attractive case study that it nearly steered his magnum opus (I do think this film qualifies) off track. Each of the factual and immensely complicated bomb-related obstacles—for example, thunderstorms the morning of the Trinity Test—holds a world-changing thrall entirely separate from the whims of one man, no matter how chiseled his jaw.

Speaking of moralistic study, there’s one character who escapes Oppenheimer scot-free: Matt Damon’s overly fit and preposterously understated Leslie Groves. “I’ve known General Groves since I was 2nd lieutenant,” said the real-world David Nichols (cast as Dane DeHaan) in a 1965 interview. “To start off with, I would say he is the biggest son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever met, bar none.”

“Impatient, brusque, intolerant,” writes Robert S. Norris in his comprehensive Groves biography Racing for the Bomb. “He had few close friends, and others generally kept their distance.”

“When you looked at Captain Groves, a little alarm bell rang ‘Caution’ in your brain,” said a colleague.

Damon bulked up, lumped up—whatever—for his role as Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro in this year’s Air. But it’s a serious leap from office park Vaccaro to Army taskmaster Groves, who even in his 1970 New York Times obituary suffered the redundant label of, “a chunky, heavyset man, with a tendency toward paunchiness.” More unfounded than Damon’s weight, however, is a good guy nature cultivated over decades of Good Will Hunting television marathons, Invictus advertisements, and so on.

Cillian Murphy’s shell-shocked victory speech presents a nice commentary on the ethical morass of atomic weaponry. But Damon/Groves makes for an even juicier moralistic target, and he’s let off the hook with that aforementioned one-liner: “We’ve given them an ace, it’s up to them to play the hand.” If anyone bore responsibility for detonating two atomic bombs over civilian populations, it was General Leslie R. Groves, the only person playing said poker game in the first place.

Racing for the Bomb explains, “Groves, sitting atop his security pyramid, was the only person who knew everything about the bomb project—more than the chief of staff, more than the secretary of war, more than the president.” He was therefore “singularly concerned with the bomb, with getting it finished, tested, and used, and his superiors deferred to him time and again to make the choices that would make this happen.”

Nolan illustrates how the bomb haunted Oppenheimer. Groves, cinematically absent after Trinity, showed no such regret. Critiquing the general’s 1962 autobiography Now It Can Be Told, the Saturday Review wrote, “Groves is motivated by a simple and all-sufficing patriotism that is untroubled by what others see in the atom. He does not probe for any new vision of national interest in the age he helped create.”

Simple and all-sufficing patriotism—sounds familiar. Make of it what you will.

The only Oppenheimer character who comes across as legitimately malevolent is Benny Safdie’s terrific Ed Teller. Maybe I fell for Teller because Safdie, a director by trade, looks more like a physicist than a cologne model. Still, I get the sense that Safdie studied his source material. When he pipes up about the “Super”—the hydrogen bomb—his eyes hold nary a flicker of regret. And he keeps doing so despite repeated disdain from his colleagues.

Look, I get it, I really do, on the attractiveness quotient. This is a movie, and if scientists and bureaucrats don’t suffice for a visual study then we’ll goddamn pretend. It’s only sensible that Ernest Lawrence— who, per physicist Jeremy Bernstein, “looked a bit like a country bumpkin”—becomes Josh Hartnett. That Lewis Strauss, a crooked-toothed self-made paper pusher, turns into silver fox Robert Downey Jr. I guess I even understand why Olivia Thirlby got thrown in out of absolutely nowhere, probably as Lilli Hornig, though I can’t recall her name being said aloud.

Nolan had to beautify this stuff because the big screen is a beautiful place. He gets most of the issues absolutely right, and I’ll be pulling for him come Oscar season. I doubt I’ll wind up remembering Emily Blunt’s Kitty Oppenheimer, Matthew Modine’s Vannevar Bush, or whoever the hell Rami Malek was supposed to be. But I’ll surely remember the Trinity Test, fingers trembling over that big red button, “10-9-8” and the towering explosion and the pressure wave—even if, no shade at Nolan, David Lynch already did it better on television.'

[arlenianchronicles]

You NEED to tell us more about your dark Maedhros AU

Alrighty then, here goes nothing! XDD Be warned, this is rather a long one loll I ended up including most of what I'd originally planned out, so you don't have to read the whole thing if you don't want to ^^;; But if you do end up reading it, many thanks! :DDD

Basically, it starts off with Maedros and Maglor wanting to send the twins to Gil-Galad. I imagine the twins are a little older here than in canon, maybe mid-teens or more? Anyways, they're not happy about it, maybe argue with the Feanorians, but the decision is already made.

They later go on a hunting trip with Maedros, but they're ambushed in the night by Orcs, and that's when the twins are sent forward in time. In the present, Maedros survives but thinks the twins have been captured or killed; he can't find them, so he goes back to Maglor with the bad news. Maglor, of course, does not take this well at all.

But he still has to meet up with Gil-Galad! He goes with his entourage while Maedros stays at Amon Ereb, but is ambushed on the way and overpowered by Orcs. I imagine Maglor wasn't really in his right mind when they attacked him, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to kill him. Maedros hears about this and goes to retrieve the body.

At the same time, Morgoth launches his attack on Amon Ereb. When Maedros returns, he finds everything in ruins. So now he wanders around, slowly going mad, and it's at this point that Sauron appears and tries to sway Maedros to the dark side. He tries to make it seem like Gil-Galad set Maglor up, because Maglor could never have been taken by surprise, right?

So this happens a few times; Maedros usually attacks/rebuffs Sauron, but he starts to doubt, and gets angry at Gil-Galad. He ends up going to Sirion and meets with Gil-Galad. Gil insists that he had nothing to do with Maglor’s death. He also demands to know where the twins are, if they’re in a safe spot, etc. but Maedros doesn’t know where they are. This makes the other Elves suspicious of him, and he’s put on their radar. But they let him go for now (I haven’t really fine-tuned this area yet loll)

So now Maedros is wandering around with nothing and nowhere to go. Sauron appears again, offers him a position with Morgoth, maybe even offers aid in searching for the twins. Because Sauron hasn’t seen them, in all honesty. He’d know if the Orcs captured them, right?? Maedros still refuses him, but he’s now finding himself drawn to Angband, and his mind is slowly but steadily slipping from all the rage and grief and loss.

Eventually, he makes a deal with Sauron: find the twins, dead or alive. In return, Maedros must kill Gil-Galad. So Maedros goes back to Sirion and discovers a lock of hair belonging to the twins (which Sauron planted there). Maedros confronts Gil about this, but Gil reveals nothing about the twins even while he’s at bladepoint. He accuses Maedros of having delusions, maybe Maedros is the one who did something to them. This triggers Maedros into a blind rage, and he kills Gil-Galad, and a bunch of other Elves who come running.

Sauron later brings news that the twins are dead, and manipulates Maedros to think that it really was Gil-Galad’s side that did it. he plays on Maedros’ desire for vengeance, not just for the twins, but for himself and Maglor, and for Earendil and Elwing who withheld the Silmaril.

Morgoth himself promises Maedros his revenge, and also presents the two other Silmarils, but says that he’ll hold onto them while Maedros does his own business. After all, if Maedros is on his side, then he’s technically already reclaimed the jewels and fulfilled his Oath, hasn’t he??

So while Maedros is in Angband, he slips deeper into madness, tortured by illusions of dead Maglor and the twins, and is also brainwashed and manipulated by Sauron. Maedros is sent on missions to ensure Morgoth’s control of Beleriand; other Free Peoples hear about this and try to stop him, but Maedros deals them. He knows he’s too far gone now, but he has nowhere else to go.

Eventually he becomes Morgoth’s army commander and leads an attack on Sirion. As a reward for his victory, Morgoth gives him Himring to use as a base against the “enemy.” During the War of Wrath, Maedros leads Morgoth’s armies alongside Sauron, and also acts as a spy during respites in the war. He assassinates Ingwion and the other commanders of the Valar’s host. Ancalagon defeats Earendil, Morgoth reclaims the third Silmaril, and the war is won.

Now Morgoth controls all of Middle-earth for certain. Maedros is known as his greatest servant, and it’s debated whether he’s greater than Sauron in that regard. Those two are rivals, kinda like enemies-with-benefits I guess? All of Maedros’ dark sides brought out and enhanced, since there’s nothing really holding him back now. He also has a whole bucket-load of issues added onto his previous ones; now that Morgoth has won, Maedros doesn’t have anything to look forward to that’ll take his mind off of his past and ghosts etc. He’s left hollow, just holding his territory, and all that.

It’s been some time since the War of Wrath now, a good chunk into the Second Age, when Elrond and Elros arrive. I could go on about how their reunion with Maedros goes, but I’m worried about making this post even longer than it already is, so I think I’ll end it here for now ^^;; Let me know if you’d like to hear more of my ideas! I haven’t fully finished this AU either, but I do have its ending in mind :DDD

Many thanks to those of y’all who read this far! Man, it’s been a while since I went on a ramble about my AUs hahaa XDDD

[heaven-s-black-box]

He was Right there- Blackmadhi & Faraskye

Return to File

Recovery date: July 31st, 2020

Description: Nahyuta is dead, and Simon and Ema aren't quite sure how to deal.

Notes: Content warning for character death. An entry from my 2020 research project into the universe of Ace Attorney. This entry was recovered with aid from Eleanorr and Yujinx from research lab designation Ao3. You can find the first entry here.

Word count: 881

Back to directory

Simon sits silently in front of his sister. There’s a bit of a glare on the glass, and it hides some of Simon’s face. Still, Aura can see his sadness from his body language. He’s slouching slightly, and playing with the feather between his lips. She knows what’s wrong, Athena told her when she sent Simon to her. Aura knows what Simon’s going through, the pain of losing  someone you love. She just hopes she can keep Simon from the path she walked. 

Eventually, she spoke up.

“The princess told me what happened,” Simon flinched slightly, “ I- I know I haven’t been the best sister, but if you want to talk, I’m here. And she’s there for you to. I’m sure Mr. Edgeworth will give you time off if you need it, the princess said the funeral is in a week, you should take time off until then I think.” What did Aura know about dealing with loss properly? There were probably plenty of other people more qualified, and yet Athena had sent him to her.

“We were on the phone when it happened,” Simon finally said. Aura’s expression turned to shock, before she felt like crying. Athena hadn’t told her that, she probably hadn’t known.

Athena had told Aura that Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, Simon’s boyfriend, was dead. She’d called Aura last night, saying Simon was flying back in from Khura’in. He’d been gone for almost a month, and Athena had stayed with him. At first, she’d followed him for moral support. He wasn’t even planning to tell her, he’d only returned to the apartment to grab a bag, and that’s when he woke Athena. Once in Khura’in he took on the investigation, and Athena stayed to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. After his murderer was caught, they’d stayed for the funeral, and Simon told her he wouldn’t be going back to L.A with her. Athena convinced him he had to at least go back to pack a proper suitcase.

What Athena didn’t know was that they had been talking when the gunshot went off. Simon had been working late, and Nahyuta was telling him to go to bed, while he and Ema made their way to a crime scene. In the background, Ema could be heard complaining about snow. Nahyuta was in the middle of telling her to dress warmer when he was cut off, and Ema screamed. The smile on Simon’s face had dropped, and he could hear Ema screaming at Nahyuta and some others. 

Simon kept calling her name, but he received no answer. All he heard was Ema yelling at Nahyuta to stay with her, and telling people to get help.

“I’m going back to Khura’in tomorrow. With-with him gone, they need more trustworthy prosecutors and… I want to help. Justice-dono has buried himself in cases, and her benevolence refuses to speak to anyone but her mother.”

“What about Ms. Skye, I can’t imagine it’s been easy on her.”

“Skye-dono has returned to the U.S temporarily. Her mercifulness insisted on it, I think she’d preferred I stay here longer as well.” Aura nodded.

“I’ll visit you, once my sentence is done. Until then, would it be too much to ask you to come by for christmas?” For the first time in the past month, Simon cracked a small smile.

“Not at all.”

____________________________________________________

Ema lays in bed, blanket wrapped tightly around her, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. She’s in Lana’s guest bedroom,while Lana’s out getting groceries. There are empty bags of snackoos all over the floor, and the lights are off with the curtains drawn. A glass of water, science textbook, and her phone sat on the bed side table.

She’d left Khura’in yesterday with Athena and Simon, Apollo hadn’t left, but she had a feeling queen Amara would make him come back. While the queen was just as distraught over losing her son, she made sure everyone else was okay. She was probably trying to calm Rayfa right now. 

“Em?” A voice came from her window, making Ema jump. Looking up, she could see a silhouette against her curtains. “Ema?” The voice called again. This time, Kay stuck her head around the curtain.

“Kay, what ar-” Before she could finish, Kay was by her side and hugging her.

“Lana called me, and… Mr.Edgeworth told me what happened. I came to check on you,” Kay said, pulling far enough away to look Ema in the eye. Ema looked tired, and she was. She hadn’t gotten any sleep on the plane ride over. She’d been having nightmares since Nahyuta’s death, for some reason, it felt like she was to blame. “When was the last time you got proper sleep?” Kay asked, snapping Ema out of her thoughts.

“I don’t know. Lana asked me the same thing…”

“Here,” Kay said, shaking off her coat and pulling Ema to lay down with her. She pulled Ema into her chest and began to stroke her head, humming. “Get some sleep, I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“I’m going back you know. Not now, but they still need me,” Ema mumbled, sleep slowly over taking her.

“Mhm, maybe they could use a detective,” Kay hummed, although she didn’t expect an answer.

“Maybe.”

[psychosistr]

Snake in the Grass- Chapter 4

Summary: Steelbeak, separated from his partner, tries to find a way to reunite with Domino and get the mission back on track, but running into a certain serpent derails his plans completely.

Notes: Time for Steelbeak's perspective on what's been going on. Prepare for some pain >xD

-First Chapter-

~Twenty Minutes Earlier~

Steelbeak kept his revolver drawn while navigating the halls as silently as possible. Knowing his partner was safe on the other side of the building and had backup put him somewhat at ease, but he hadn’t forgotten that he was now the one on his own with an elusive enemy sneaking about. While he kept an ear out and eyes peeled for any signs of movement, the eerie silence of the building made him feel tense.

Everything about this mission had him on edge. He couldn’t quite place it, but something was setting off that feeling in his gut that told him something bad was coming. The chief officer had made it as far as he had in life by listening to his gut and following his instincts, so he saw no reason to stop now.

That feeling only got worse when his partner called him on his communicator. “Steelbeak? Come in, Steelbeak.”

After taking a quick look around to make sure the coast was clear, Steelbeak stopped and leaned his back against a nearby wall (best to be careful and not leave his back open to sneak attacks) then answered. “Steelbeak here. How’s it lookin’ on your end, stripes?”

Despite hearing the loon clearly, he seemed to have trouble doing the same. “Steelbeak? Hello? What’s wrong with this thing?”

“Might be a ssssignal jammer.” A voice with a slight hiss to it- the snake guy, Steelbeak assumed- was audible in the background. “Ourssss haven’t been working either.”

“Damn it..” Domino cursed under his breath before speaking to his partner again. “Steelbeak, if you can hear me, the doorway over here is blocked off, too. We’ll try to meet you on the next floor up. Domino out.”

The communicator cut off and Steelbeak was left confused and more than a little anxious. If there was a signal jammer somewhere in the building, then how could he hear his partner so clearly? He’d dealt with those things before and usually there’d be some sort of choppiness or static interference- if the calls even got through at all to begin with. That feeling in his gut was telling him that things weren’t adding up and he agreed with it.

As he searched for the nearest staircase, Steelbeak’s guard was up and his senses were hyper aware of even the tiniest sounds around him. By the time he found an unlocked stairwell, he was more than a little tense and ready to shoot something.

Luckily, fate finally seemed to be on the chief officer’s side for once when he reached the next floor- he could hear muttered curses coming from a room that's door had been left slightly ajar. The voice definitely wasn’t his boyfriend’s and didn’t sound like the guy he’d heard behind the door or the one who’d been in the background of the call earlier, so that left only one option. A voice in the back of his head told him to wait for his partner and the others to show up like they’d agreed, but another- one that came from years of solo missions and survival experience- told him he might not get another chance to pin down the elusive enemy. He HAD to take the opportunity before it slipped away.

Steelbeak approached the room as quickly & quietly as possible, noting briefly that it was a first aid station, and peeked in through the gap in the door. There wasn’t much he could make out through the tiny opening, but he could at least see a long shadow moving along the wall. Using the angle and direction of the shadow’s movement, the metal-mouthed fowl got a good estimate of where its owner was and, with his trigger-finger ready to fire at a moment’s notice, he opened the door and stormed in.

“Alright, ya slippery li’l-!” The threats, insults, and declarations that the life of the room’s inhabitant was officially over died before they even left Steelbeak’s mouth. Huddled in the far corner of the room was a green snake wearing a red shirt- one that looked exactly like the profile picture he’d been shown during his earlier impromptu mission debriefing. “Wait…you’re agent Adders, right?”

The shivering serpent looked more than a little worse for wear, covered in bruises and burns with his damaged but still attached mechanical arm frozen in its attempt at wrapping a bandage around what looked like a scorch mark on his lower body, but he was most definitely the same snake from the picture. “Uhhhh yeeeeah..? Who’re you??”

Okay, that definitely didn’t sound like the voice Steelbeak heard when Domino called him earlier. “Chief officer Steelbeak- Domino’s partner.”

Adders perked up considerably, his head craning in an attempt to peek out of the now open door. “Wait- the bossss’ss here?”

After glancing out to make sure no one else was in the hall, Steelbeak closed the door and moved closer to the serpent. “Yeah, an’ accordin’ t’ him, he’s with you an’ your partner right now, but I don’t see or hear either of ‘em.”

Whatever relief the snake felt knowing his team’s former leader was in the building turned into pure terror in an instant- the emotions easily readable on his overly expressive face. “Oh crud, he got the bossss too?!”

Dark gray eyes instantly narrowed, not liking the sound of that one bit. “Who’s got him? I need some answers, stretch. NOW.” Steelbeak’s voice held no traces of his usual snark or cocky confidence, it was all cold-hard seriousness and unspoken promises of violence.

Adders flinched slightly, but the fact that he wasn’t the target of the chief officer’s anger helped him swallow his fears and answer as expected. “I-I don’t know who he issss. Ssssome other ssssnake. He got Shootssss alone and did ssssome weird thing with hissss eyessss- they were changing colorssss and sssspinning really fast. Nexxxxt thing I know, he’ssss shooting at me and calling that creep my name!” Looking down at the burn marks- laser blaster shots, Steelbeak assumed now that he had the full story- the serpent frowned slightly and went back to wrapping the bandage around his body. “I keep trying to talk to him, but it’ssss like he can’t hear or ssssee me- he jusssst keepssss attacking. I’ve barely been able to sssstay alive...”

Steelbeak’s scowl deepened and, ever the paragon of anger management, he slammed his fist into the nearest wall. The dent and chipped paint did little to help his temper, so his next attempt was to take a breath- that only helped marginally, but it was better than nothing. “Alright. Let’s go get our partners back and take care of this creep.”

After receiving a nod from Adders- and after the other man was finished patching his wounds (as best as he could, anyway)- the two agents snuck through the halls as quietly as possible. According to Domino’s call, the three of them should be looking for him somewhere on the same floor. With any luck, they could get the loon alone and find a way to undo whatever was done to him & Shoots. If they weren’t lucky…well, thankfully both of them were good at running (slithering, in Adders’ case) away when the situation called for it.

They searched for a while before, in the distance down the small hallway the two were currently in, they heard footsteps and slithering. Steelbeak pressed himself against the wall and inched as close to the corner as he could, Adders following suit. Once they were close enough, the metal-mouthed fowl pulled a small compact out of his pocket (no one would be surprised that he was vain enough to carry a mirror with him- had to make sure he always looked good, after all) and used the mirror to see around the corner.

In the reflection, he could see his partner leading the group with the cardinal from the pictures he’d seen earlier trailing behind him. Both birds had a weird look in their eyes that reminded Steelbeak of the few times he’d been around people who’d made the dumb decision to eat the wrong mushrooms while lost in the woods then started screaming about things that weren’t there less than an hour later. Then, bringing up the rear, he saw another snake- a black one bigger than Adders who was dressed in a modified SHUSH suit (there were no arms on it and it was closer to a dress since there was a hole at the bottom instead of pants).

Seeing the shadowy serpent and the state his boyfriend was in made Steelbeak’s blood boil. The fact that he didn’t immediately go in guns blazing and shoot the manipulative snake right in the face was nothing short of a miracle, but the rational part of his mind won out (a rare occurrence when he was that angry) and convinced him that getting his partner away from the immediate threat was more important. He tried everything he could think of to get the loon’s attention without being noticed by the others- calling him on his communicator, quietly calling out to him, and even using his mirror to reflect some light in a subtle signal- but he didn’t react to any of it.

In a last ditch effort, Steelbeak searched his pockets for something he could throw to his partner. He didn’t have much that would be significant and recognizable without being noticeable right away to the intruder, so he settled for a spare bullet from his ammo stash; to make it even more distinct, the metal-mouthed fowl even used his prosthesis to bite into the bullet ever so slightly. It wasn’t as good as a paper plane with a message written on the wings, but since he wasn’t artistic or coordinated enough to pull something like that off without missing by a mile, it would have to do.

Taking aim as best he could without revealing himself, Steelbeak took his metaphorical shot and tossed the bullet at his boyfriend before ducking back behind the corner. To his relieved surprise, Domino did in fact react when the bullet bounced off of his chest before dropping down onto his leg and foot. The loon seemed confused at first, like he wasn’t sure what hit him, then looked down and noticed the bullet. It was working! Now he just needed to-

“Enemiessss!” The darker snake suddenly hissed out, rising up into a defensive stance.

“!!” Both birds followed the shady serpent’s line of sight and stared right at Steelbeak & Adders, much to the pair's shock and horror. Apparently, in their excitement to see their plan finally working, they didn’t notice they were now slightly visible around the corner of the hall.

Domino had his gun drawn, but didn’t fire right away- looking confused by the sight of his partner and former teammate (or whatever he saw them as). “How..?”

“Get ‘em!!” Shoots, however, didn’t hesitate and immediately opened fire on his allies while charging straight at them.

“Crud!” Steelbeak bolted down the hallway, Adders close behind him.

The two of them dodged as best they could in the narrow hallway, now having to avoid shots from the cardinal’s blaster as well as Domino’s own gun. Along the way, Steelbeak knocked over filing cabinets & whatever other office furniture he came across once they left the hall and entered a room full of desks and chairs in an attempt to slow their pursuers down. It became clear pretty quickly, however, that the shorter two birds were faster than the rooster & adder snake and they were gaining on them quickly.

Recognizing where they were, the chief officer got an idea. “Head for the stairs!” Steelbeak grabbed a steel chair he spotted by a desk and the two men ran for the stairwell. He reached it first and managed to get it open, but noticed something that was definitely not a bullet hitting the area around the door. By the time he saw the frost spreading around the door and his brain put two and two together, it was too late for the information to do him any good. One shot hit him in the arm and a pained shout tore itself from his beak as he felt the bone chilling sting of the freezing compound spread across his arm. “AAAAAAAH!” Fighting through the pain, he managed to get the door open. “Go!”

Adders rushed in ahead of him and, the instant his long body was clear of the door, Steelbeak hurried in after him and slammed the door shut- bracing the chair he’d grabbed against the handle and door jamb the instant it was closed. “That wassss too closssse..”

The chief officer grunted a reply, too busy pulling off his suit coat with his still-warm arm. He managed to get the fabric off, breaking the ice that had formed on his coat along the way, and was relieved both from the change in temperature as well as the fact that his shirt had far less ice on it. Steelbeak spent some time rubbing his arm, chasing away the sting of pins and needles that had settled into his muscles and wincing at the frostbite-induced bruises he could already feel forming under his feathers.

While both agents caught their breath and treated their wounds, they caught bits and pieces of their partners’ conversation through the heavy metal door. They couldn’t hear much, but Steelbeak caught the word “roof” from the SHUSH agent and what sounded like Domino agreeing to it before all three men left.

“Damn it..” Steelbeak didn’t know what exactly that sneaky snake wanted with his partner and Shoots on the roof, but he knew instantly that it couldn’t be good. Best case scenario, he’d escape; worst case, he’d push them over the edge when they weren’t paying attention. “We gotta get ‘em away from that bastard before they get up there.”

“How?” Adders frowned. “If we get too closssse, they’ll attack ussss again! They can’t ssssee or hear ussss assss long assss that guy’ssss around, and he won’t let ussss get closssse enough to try anything elsssse.”

He knew the other man was right- it wouldn’t be easy getting through to their partners as long as that SHUSH snake was near them. From what Steelbeak had witnessed, his boyfriend definitely didn’t recognize him or react to his voice whatsoever, so trying to reason with him was out of the question. The only thing he seemed to react to was-

Steelbeak was struck by an idea, feeling like a lightbulb just lit up over his head. “That’s it!” A grin spread across the metal-mouthed fowl’s beak. “Listen up, stretch, I’ve got a plan. It’s gonna be dangerous, but it’s somethin’ only guys like you an’ me can pull off.”

They’d only have one shot, so they’d have to get it right or go down fighting.

End Notes: For anyone who's not a long-time follower of my DWD work and OC's, the culprit behind everything is the sneaky SHUSH snake, Agent Kadin S.- AKA, "the Serpent's Shadow".

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

[feverishly-kpop]

Ateez Performance Line - Part 8

“We need to talk.”

There was no other phrase that caused Mingi quite as much anxiety as hearing a hyung say that they “needed to talk.”

Mingi swallowed thickly as he sat up against his headboard, not making eye contact with either Hongjoong or Seonghwa as they entered his room and quietly closed the door behind them. The tension in the room was palpable.

“The doctor said he wrote you a couple of prescriptions…” Seonghwa began, not sure how to break the proverbial ice with Mingi. Mingi responded with a nod, still not looking up from his hands, which felt totally unnatural resting in his lap.

After a few more seconds of tense silence, Hongjoong cut in.

“Whatever is going on you can tell us. That’s what we’re here for, Mingi” he said kindly but not without an edge of authority.

“What’s there to say?” Mingi responded with a shrug. “There was work to get done. Somebody had to do it.”

Seonghwa and Hongjoong made brief eye contact, understanding Mingi’s reluctance to confide in them. Not one member amongst them would have done anything differently. They are professionals, and sometimes professionals have to make difficult decisions. In this case, as far as Mingi was concerned, the group came first, consequences to his own health be damned.

“I’m sorry that you had to finish so much choreography alone” Seonghwa said gently as he pushed Mingi’s hair from his face. “Wooyoung and Yunho were devastated for what it’s worth.”

Mingi quickly shook his head, dismissing the very thought. “They would have done the same if the shoe was on the other foot” he added, uncomfortable with the attention being shown to him in his current condition.

“I take it that you haven’t been getting much sleep?” Hongjoong asked, pressing Mingi a bit harder for details. Mingi shook his head slowly as Hongjoong continued. “How about eating? You told me that you were eating when we were at the studio together. Was that true or…”

Seonghwa could sense Mingi’s mood shifting uncomfortably under Hongjoong’s line of questioning.

“It’s okay, Mingi,” Seonghwa interjected. “Nobody’s mad. We just need to make sure you have what you need to get better.”

Seonghwa’s encouragement was what Mingi needed to hear, finally lifting his eyes from his lap to meet his hyungs’.

“Food would probably be great…but I just got my stomach somewhat settled” he replied. Seonghwa nodded with a sad smile as Hongjoong pulled back Mingi’s covers and helped him lie back down.

“How about a nap and we can have a light meal together when you wake up?” Hongjoong’s voice sounded somewhat distant as Mingi was drawn under by sleep.

“That sounds good” Mingi managed to get out, his words slurring slightly with exhaustion and, within minutes, he was out like a light.

*~*~*~*~*~

Within the hour the medication was dropped off by a manager.

“Read all the directions. Twice,” he said over his shoulder as he walked out the door, entrusting Seonghwa and Hongjoong with administering the medication. Seonghwa immediately grabbed Yunho’s sleep aid, knocking softly on his door before letting himself inside. Jongho had fallen asleep on San’s bed while Yunho unsurprisingly remained awake, absentmindedly scrolling through his phone.

“How are you feeling?” Seonghwa asked gently as he took Yunho’s phone in one hand while resting the back of his other hand on Yunho’s forehead. He sighed at the warmth along with the vacant look in Yunho’s glassy eyes.

“I think it’s time for you to get some sleep” Seonghwa added, opening up the bottle of tablets and handing one to Yunho along with the glass of water from his bedside table. Hongjoong followed shortly after, draping a cool compress over Yunho’s forehead. It didn’t take long for Yunho’s eyes to begin to flutter closed.

“Goodnight, Yunho-ah” Hongjoong whispered as Yunho drifted off into a drug-induced rest.

*~*~*~*~*~

By dinnertime Wooyoung had barreled out of his room, frantically waving the thermometer above his head.

“My fever is gone! Yeosang, tell them it’s gone” he shouted, waiting for Yeosang to emerge from the bedroom to confirm.

“Wooyoung, please don’t yell” Hongjoong pleaded as he grabbed his dongsaeng by the shoulders, noticing that he still wasn’t looking very steady on his feet.

“I’m better now, see?” Wooyoung whispered loudly, thrusting the thermometer into Hongjoong’s face proudly.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better” Hongjoong said with a smile, guiding Wooyoung to the couch as Yeosang unfolded a blanket for him. “Let’s make sure your temperature stays down though, okay? The doctor wants you to continue to rest…”

“Hyung, please, I’ve been resting for a week…” Wooyoung interrupted before being cut off by Seonghwa.

“So one more day isn’t going to make any difference” Seonghwa added as he handed Wooyoung a glass of water.

Within a few minutes Yeosang had gotten Wooyoung subdued for the time being, reclined on the couch covered with a cozy blanket and his feet resting on Yeosang’s lap.

“What are we watching?” San inquired as he sat down at the other end of the couch.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa both smiled, relieved to see their three sickly dongsaengs on the mend.

[wuornosblog]

6-8-92

Dear Dawn, OK! Now comes in Arlene: Alright after I’m out of medical lock-up. (February 1st 91) Which occurred around 11:30 A.M. 2 hours later I am given a letter from her by a female guard. Now mail does not begin to be distributed until 4:00 or 5:00 in the evening. But I receive this around 2:00 P.M. . . . The letter does not seem to be “post marked”. But I do not recognize this untill weeks later . . . tyria’s letter was (also) handed to me early in the morning. With no stamp (or) post mark . . . Which led me to call her up on the phone that was tapped. All our 11 phone calls where recorded. As she worked as an Agent for the cops. To get me to confess. Why I actually did! Is because (over the phone) she threatened to kill herself. Although thoughts to turn myself in. Did come and go. Just to clear her anyway! I wasn’t in the market to do it then, though … So anyway the letter speaks about her being a “Royal Christian” . . . And may have wound up like me. If it hadn’t been for Christ turning her life over to him Also that she NEVER, EVER, reads (or) listens to the News. But while she was in the hospital visiting her Father who just had “open heart surgery done”, she noticed my picture in the paper and circumstances, and my eyes she said. Seemed to show innocents. And she feels God had her pick up the Newspaper. And reveal this to her. And for her to come to my aid and help if she could. She leaves me her phone number. To call collect. I DO … We talk a good three hours! I tell her all about the Bullshit that has been going on. I tell her about the contract. She asks me to send it to her. And she’ll get in touch with her “lawyer in Utah” And have him check it out and see if its Bogus or not. I still haven’t fired Cass and his evil ass gang! Its the 1st. I fire them verbally the 3rd. So about 3 weeks later I learn the contract is Bogus. But all along think it is by common sense the way its drawn. Anyway After re-reading it over and over! So that’s why I don’t fear firing Armstrong and Jackie too after I do Cass. Which is legally done the middle of February as well . . . Now heres the clincher Dawn . . . The envelope has no post mark . . . And how I figure this . . . got through is as such . . . Is that while Jackie was in Daytona at the Marriot for 4 days to see Russel Armstrong on contract, She also seen her ol’ friend Arlene . . . and lets her in on the money, as well, if she’d use her Christian ingenuity—and influence on me . . . (hoping) (I’d) spill my guts out about my life and history along the way to her. So Arlene wrote a letter and Jackie gave it to Russel, he got it through the Jail, probably small time pay off, And guard hands it to me! . . . Anyway it also seems strange a woman who owns 35 acres. 33 horses wealthy as hell would suddenly decide to come to my defense cause of Gods pushing . . . By the way! I feel Arlene knows I’m feeding you all this information and has refused to send me stamps! She doesn’t want you to know! . . . And I’ve got about 10 letters I need plus more to get out to you. So please send me a couple books of stamps if you can afford to. I want “YOU” to hear it “ALL”. Then you can tell the world! Someday and get rich. I’d love it. You deserve it. These scum balls don’t! . . . Anyways I feel that Arlene still came in for Jackie and pretended to act like she doesn’t know anything about the contract. Because cass [and the others] could loose their jobs over this. Working movie deals (while) being P.D.s. And Jackie also is scared (that I would learn) the contract is, “Bogus.” And would seek a lawsuit! . . . So Arlene excepts contract for me to send . . . So now that shes agreed to this. Shes really gets me on her side! But you must realize the pills had me messed up . . . I’m to furious to think coherent . . . Shit. More in next letter. Love ya Gal Lee SORRY DAWN 4 pgs SUCK I KNOW!

[iwishtobeastorm]

Eau froide - Chapter 1

AU - Clyde Logan/Mermaid!F!Reader

A/N: hey there! I’ve been working on this for some time now and even thought I don’t have much written, I just felt like sharing this one chapter to see if people would be interested in it at all. Let me know what you think! 💗

Warnings: mentions of nudity

Masterlist | Chapter 2

Ever since Clyde was a little boy, he felt drawn to that place, the lake on the edge of Boone County, to its dark blue waters, serene and mysterious.

He always felt like it hides something and he loved that as a child.

He and Jimmy spent hours playing by the water, pretending they were pirates or sailors, trying to catch some fish or swimming during the hot summer days. Later, when they were older, they borrowed Earl's little boat from time to time and took Mellie for a ride. Clyde took his first girlfriend there too, back when he was sixteen. He was showing her the constellations when she kissed him for the first time.

He often thought about the place while he served in the military, the calming splashing and whispering of the water bringing him peace in the roaring of war.

Once he came back, he bought a trailer and a bit of land by the lake so he could be close to that little heaven while he recovered. He needed the comfort and security only that place could bring him. Jimmy helped him with all technicalities while Mellie decorated his little house and so soon he was able to call that place home.

He's able to spend hours by the lake, just letting the cool water wash over his bare feet, while his mind wanders, sometimes to the past, sometimes to the future.

Today is no different. It's the Fourth of July, which means a day off for Clyde. He decided to spend the morning by the lake before he joins his family for a barbecue at Jimmy's place. He had his morning coffee and the last piece of peach cobbler that Mellie baked for him before he took the book he's just reading and he headed to the shore. His steps led straight to his favorite spot - a quiet place, where no families or couples that want to spend the day by the water can bother him, yet not far away from his home. He sits down there, letting the soft grass embrace him as he finds the page he ended at the last time and he opens the book. He's soon caught up in the story completely, ignoring the rest of the world as he's drowning in a new one, which might be much more exciting than the one he's living in. He doesn't look up when he hears the water splash a bit, thinking it's probably just a fish. That is until his ears catch up something, that sounds different, something very close to human trying to get out of the water. Just then his honey brown eyes drift up and what he's met with makes the air hitch in his throat. He thinks he's dreaming at first but then he realizes that it's real and his eyes quickly meet the ground, a deep blush spreading from his cheeks to his ears as he tries to push the image out of his mind.

"Are ya- are ya alright, ma'am?" He finds his voice as he kicks himself to act like a normal adult, not like some stupid teenager. This is- unusual to say at least. The time he spent here by the lake would definitely give a few years in total, but not once has he stumbled upon a naked woman. Yet here you are.

There's no response to his question from you, which makes Clyde a little worried. He's just about to make himself look up at you again when there are footsteps, probably two of them, before you collapse to the ground, the water splashing around you since you still haven't made it to the shore fully. Clyde quickly puts away his book, ignoring your nudity or the water that now soaks through his shoes as he hurries to your aid. He takes off his shirt, wrapping it around your shoulders to hide you from the world. He's about to speak up and help you get up, but then you raise your chin and glance at him and Clyde loses his ability to form words, to think, to breathe.

You- you are gorgeous. Your eyes are gazing at him with so much tenderness and innocence. It seems you're taking in his features the same way he's taking in yours. Your pretty lips part as if you wanted to say something, but nothing comes out. Clyde realizes you're still sitting in the water naked and that you might be cold.

"I- Let me take ya to the shore," he says softly and you nod, a small smile on your lips. He wraps his prosthetic around your waist carefully, while you rest yours on his other forearm. When you raise to your feet again, Clyde can feel your whole body trembling. You make a wobbly step, looking like a baby deer that's trying to walk for the first time.

"What happened to ya, ma'am?" Clyde dares to ask, his prosthetic holding you a bit tighter to not let you fall again. You turn your head his way so he gets a glimpse of your face, your eyes cast down in what might be sadness or shame before you shake your head. Clyde is so confused like he's sure he's never been before.

" 'kay. I- I can take ya to ma home if that's alright with ya?" He speaks softly, not wanting to scare you off since it seems like whatever had happened to you, it had to be a lot. You smile at him a bit and nod eagerly, your grab on his flesh hand tightening lightly, making his cheeks burn again.

He leads you to the shore step by step as if he was teaching a baby how to walk. Clyde's mind feels like it'll explode any minute with all the questions related to you and your mysterious appearance.

He takes you to where he left his book, leaning down to grab it, his other hand still wrapped around your waist to support you.

"Ma house ain't far away from here," he states and you nod, your eyes focused on the book in his hand. You take a little step to be closer to Clyde so you can examine the object he's holding. But when you do so, you step on the grass, and suddenly, you're in Clyde's arms, hands wrapped tightly around his neck and he drops the book just to catch you. He doesn't understand what happened before he notices you looking down at the ground in what might be fear and confusion. Clyde holds you close as best as he can to not drop you and not touch any intimate areas of your body, his face now red as a tomato and his mind even more puzzled. You don't know what grass is?

"What is it, ma'am?" He asks, genuinely bewildered. You just point to the ground before you hide your face in the crook of his neck as if you were scared or embarrassed. His heart hammers at that small gesture, his chest getting all warm and tingly, but he shoves those feelings away.

You are a stranger yet you act as if you knew him for years. What does this whole thing mean?

"Ya- Ya don' know what that green thing is?" He mumbles, a small smile tugging on his lips at his own words and you nod against his neck, pulling even closer as if he could shield you from all of it.

"Look," he murmurs softly, taking a step back to put you down on the little pebbles that round the whole lake. You hesitantly let him go and you watch nervously as he approaches the grass. He touches it, swiping his hand over the surface, feeling each blade tickle his palm before he turns his head to look at you over his shoulder.

"Come 'ere," he extends his hand towards you, beckoning you to join him. You take his invitation, your hand grabbing on his prosthetic as you approach him. Clyde does his best to keep his gaze fixed on your face and not let it slip down to where his shirt reveals your body.

"It ain't gonna hurt ya. It's- it's just grass," he says softly as if he was speaking to a child as he leads your hand to the ground. He watches as your eyes widen comically once your palm makes contact with the grass. When you don't pull away, his grab on you disappears, allowing you to run your hand over it freely as he did before. A grin stretches over your features, making Clyde smile unintentionally, the pure joy mirroring in your eyes when you look at him doing crazy things to him.

"How come ya don' know this?" He asks, his voice gentle because he doesn't want to offend you anyhow. You advert yourself gaze, bashful. Even though Clyde waits, there's not a single word coming from you as an explanation, so he grabs his book and straightens up.

"We should- uh- get goin'. Ya might catch a cold," he says, reaching for you, helping you get up too. You don't protest at all, letting him lead you.

Your steps are a bit shaky and hesitant at first as you walk over the grass, making Clyde smile softly, but you gain more courage with every step, so you're soon able to match Clyde's usual pace, as you head to his home together.

Clyde opens the door for you, letting you in. You hesitantly do so, crossing his doorway and heading further into the trailer, looking around curiously. Clyde closes the door behind the two of you before following you inside. He regrets he didn't clean up before he left to read by the lake.

"Sorry for the mess," he states, scratching the back of his neck nervously. You turn to him, shaking your head with a smile, dismissing his worries, before you get back to exploring his home. Your nonchalance puts Clyde at ease a bit, even though he finds your trusting nature quite odd.

"I- I'll bring ya some clean clothes," he says, his cheeks warming up again as he reminds himself of your situation. The image of you standing bare in the water, looking like some nymph from a fairytale, flashes through his mind and he pushes it away. He doesn't wait for your answer as he heads to his bedroom, mentally kicking himself for such thoughts. His mama taught him better, yet he can't help himself.

You are simply one of the most beautiful women he's ever met. Your gorgeous hair, your sweet eyes, your lips, your body. It's just as if you were cut out of every single one of Clyde's dreams. You seem to be too good to be real. Maybe he's still asleep. Maybe he's hallucinating. He rubs his eyes, sighing softly before he approaches his closet to search for some clothes. He finds a clean t-shirt and some sweatpants, knowing it might not fit you ideally, but it has to be enough for now. After he calls the police, they'll help you and soon you'll be at your home again in your own clothes.

He returns to the living room, just to find you kneeling on his couch and running your fingers over the photos on his wall above it. He clears his throat and you turn to him with a grin, pointing at the one where he's still a child, standing with Jimmy and Mel by the lake. He smiles.

"Pa took us fishin' that day," he states, approaching you to give you the clothes. You look at it a bit confused as if you didn't know what to do with it.

"Ya- ya should get dressed. Put it on, ya know?" He speaks softly, offering it to you. You stand up slowly, not caring that your body is revealed by his shirt, making Clyde's eyes travel to the ground so he can avoid staring at you, his face on fire. You take the pile from his hands, pressing it against your chest. He dares to raise his gaze just to meet your wide eyes. You're apparently waiting for something.

"What is it, darlin'?" He asks, the nickname slipping through his lips before he's able to stop it, making Clyde mentally smack himself, until he notices the bright smile that settled on your face. You- you liked it?

You start gesturing, pointing at the clothes and then shrugging your shoulders, trying to indicate that you have no idea what to do with it.

Clyde's mind is all over the place.

You don't speak, that's nothing unusual. But how come you don't know what grass is or what to do with clothes. Are you even a human? How come you don't know any of this? It's not like everyone learns that as a child, right?

"Ya- ya don' know how to get dressed?" He raises his eyebrows, not believing those words left his mouth. You nod hesitantly, apparently not sure what he means by that either. Clyde sighs softly.

"Look, I'm dressed now. I have these on," he grabs his t-shirt and tugs on it lightly, your eyes following the movement curiously.

"It's called clothes. I wear it because it keeps me warm and also because ya shouldn' be naked in front of other people," he states, nervously clearing his throat as he watches you look down at yourself. You crook your eyebrows in pure confusion before your gaze meets his.

"I- You've never had clothes on?" He asks, feeling like he's going crazy. This can't be real, right?

You nod slowly, adverting your gaze as if you were embarrassed to admit it, not giving Clyde any comfort. He feels like a mad man for what he's about to ask you, but he needs to make sure. Nothing about this whole situation is normal.

"Are ya- are ya even from this world?" He speaks softly, not wanting to hurt your feelings by being insensitive. You seem to warm up a bit at his question, smiling and nodding eagerly.

"Okay, that's good," he murmurs, taking a deep breath, bracing himself for the next question.

"Now tell me, are ya a human being?" He looks you in the eyes, even though he finds it difficult since he's only reminded of your beauty again. He feels stupid for asking that. You probably had an accident or something and you lost your memory and ability to speak and he's asking you stuff like this, making the whole situation even weirder as if having you standing half-naked in his trailer wasn't enough.

But then- then you look down at your bare feet and shake your head no. Clyde doesn't believe his eyes at first, and he rubs them, just to assure once again that he isn't dreaming. When he opens them and you're right there in front of him, glancing up at him shyly, he lets out a gasp.

This can't be real. What the hell is going on here?

"Who- who are ya then?" He frowns softly, trying to stop himself from panicking. You straighten up and pass by Clyde, heading back to his couch. He follows you like in a dream, completely puzzled. You kneel on it again, reaching for the same picture you pointed at before and you take the frame off of the wall, handing it to him. Clyde is slowly yet surely accepting the fact he might've lost his mind as he takes it from you. You stand up and approach him, looking down at the picture, before you point at something. Clyde has to bring the photo closer to his eyes to even see what you meant. Once his sight comprehends what's in the picture, his hands give out and the frame falls from his grasp, hitting the ground with a thud. You lean down and pick it up, pressing the photo to your chest as if it was something precious to you.

"This ain' possible. I- I'm dreamin'. Or I'm crazy. Ya can'- this ain'," he's stuttering, running his hand through his hair while his thoughts race. You watch him, apparently worried.

"Is that ya? The person in the water?" He asks, looking at you. You nod, a small smile on your lips as you take a step towards him, which Clyde mirrors by taking a step back, making you stop in your tracks, your eyes meeting his, hurt mirroring in them, tugging on Clyde's heart.

"Are ya- God- are ya a mermaid?" He whispers, not believing his own words at this point. You look down, nodding, clutching the frame closer to your body as if you were afraid he'll take it away from you. Clyde stares at you for a long minute, trying to get a hold of himself.

You are a mermaid. A real mermaid.

Of course, Clyde knows all the stories about what hides in the deep blue waters of the lake. He heard it all from Earl, all about the town underwater and the merpeople who reside there, taking care of the lake and it's habitants. Earl always said he saw them himself but Clyde's parents told him not to believe such stories. And now he's supposed to accept it was true all along? How come he never saw you? How come he never saw any of your kind?

"How is it possible ya are here then? Aren't mermaids unable to leave the water?" He asks but he soon regrets he did once you look up at him and there are tears in your eyes. You look so sad, so hurt. Did he do this to you because of all of his questions?

"I- I'm sorry, darlin'. I just- it's hard for me to understand this is true. I didn' mean to hurt ya," he speaks softly, taking a step towards you. You bite on your lower lip, your eyes now cast down as you wipe away your tears, sniffling and shaking your head gently as of to dismiss his words.

"Ya can't explain it to me, can ya?" He murmurs, knowing the answer before you actually give it. You nod to confirm it.

"It's okay. Just- just put on the clothes now, okay? I can help ya," he says, his cheeks flushing at the thought. You head back to the couch, trying to put the frame back, but it's obvious you don't know how so Clyde approaches you, taking the photo from you and leaning over your body to put it where it belongs, the sudden proximity making both of your hearts thrum. When the photo is back in its place, Clyde swiftly straightens up, not wanting to come off as a creep by pressing his body against yours for longer than necessary. He grabs the pile of the clothes and clears his throat as you turn to him, sitting on his couch now. Clyde tries to focus on anything else but how beautiful you look. He could get used to this so easily. If you- if you were his and he'd come home to you, sitting on his couch just in his shirt and nothing else. You'd be like a soothing balm after rough nights at the Tape. He clenches his jaw, shaking the image out of his mind, denying himself such daydreams. You're not his, you'll never be. You're a stranger, a mermaid. It's stupid to think about such things as much as it is disrespectful to you.

"Ya need to get up," he says with a small smile, reaching for you with his flesh hand and you take it without hesitation, the softness of your touch raising goosebumps on his skin. Once you are on your feet, Clyde gets really flustered.

"Uh- Ya should probably turn yer back to me," he offers, not trusting himself to stay gentlemanlike and not ogle you once you'll be bare in front of him again. You listen to him without any protests, turning your back to him.

"I'll take off the shirt, okay?" He warns you and once you nod, he peels it off of you as gently as possible, letting it pool at your ankles. He picks the t-shirt, his cheeks warmer than the air outside in the morning sun.

"Raise yer arms," he instructs and you do so. He slips the t-shirt on, tugging it down, letting your body swim in it.

"Now turn to me," he murmurs. You follow, smiling at him as you fingers play with the hem of the t-shirt that reaches your mid thighs. He hates the effect the sight of you in his clothes has on him, he hates how his eyes involuntary travel to where your breast line underneath the linen, to where your nipples peak through the material, his cock stirring in his trousers. He clenches his jaw enough to grit his teeth before he regains his cool, taking a deep breath and biting on the inner side of his cheek.

He unfolds the sweatpants and shows them to you.

"This goes on yer legs. Just like my shorts here," he points at himself and you grin, nodding in understanding.

"It must be hard havin' legs all of sudden," he states, kneeling down to help you get into them. He gently grabs your leg, admiring how small it actually is compared to his own, before he lifts it off the ground. That throws you off balance and you immediately grasp his broad shoulders for support, steadying yourself, making Clyde's blush darken.

"Sorry, darlin'. I should've warned ya," he apologizes as he slips the sweats past your ankle, leaving it there, before placing your leg down carefully and moving to the other one.

"Do ya have a name? Ya could- ya could draw it on my back with ya finger," he offers, tugging on your leg to get you to lift your feet which you do. You start writing on Clyde's back but it's nothing like the alphabet he knows and he wishes he could kick himself for thinking yours is the same as his.

"I'm sorry, darlin'. I don' understand yer letters. I should've think of that," he says softly, tugging the sweats up your body, until he reaches your waist. He keeps the t-shirt tugged in it as he ties the rope around your middle, keeping the huge pants where they are meant to be.

"There ya go," he states, finally facing you just to be met with your sweet smile before you look down at yourself, your hands still on his shoulders even though you hardly need any support from him.

"Do ya like it?" He asks and you nod, grinning at him. It makes him smile softly, watching the pure joy mirroring in your eyes. You're like a child, so pure and unspoiled. Are all mermaids and mermen like that?

"Good. It'll have to do until I call Mellie," he states, already nervous about that. You curve your eyebrows in what might be confusion, your eyes darkening just a fraction.

"Oh, she's ma younger sister. The one standin' in the middle on the photo," he explains, tilting his head towards the framed picture you had in your hands minutes ago and you smile, nodding, your features softening once again.

"The other one is Jimmy, ma older brother," he adds and you turn to him with excitement, nodding.

"Ya knew that?" Clyde asks, a bit confused. You bite on your lip as you nod once more.

"How come?" He murmurs. It now seems that it's your turn to get flustered.

You point at yourself before your fingers move to your eyes and then you tap at his chest.

"Ya were watchin' us? From the lake?" He assures he gets it right. You look down shyly and nod once. He chuckles.

"How long?" He asks and it takes a moment since you respond. You show him a height, somewhere around your bust.

"Since ya were that little?" He tries and you nod, finally glancing up at him.

"Why you've never showed yerself to me?" He asks and you sigh, trying to come up with a way to gesticulate that so he could understand.

"Ya were shy?" He offers, trying to help you. You shake your hand in a way to show him that the answer is somewhere in between.

"Is it forbidden?" He proceeds and he gets the same answer.

"Was it because of the difference?" Is another thing he can think of and this time you nod.

"I see how that could be an issue," he states, making you smile.

"What about yer family?" He looks at you. You lift three fingers to indicate three family members and then you try to imitate your mother, your father and your grandma, making Clyde laugh.

"So, it's ya, yer mama, yer papa and yer granny, right?" He guesses and you nod, placing your right hand over your heart and Clyde immediately gets the meaning of your gesture and it makes his heart shatter. You're such a sweet being, apparently very caring and gentle. Why did you ever choose him? Did you do all of this because of him? What about your family? Can you go back to them?

"Do they know about me?" He asks and you look away, apparently embarrassed. Clyde finds your reactions quite endearing. You seem so easy for him to read. He sometimes has problem with that especially with certain people but with you- he can see it all in your eyes and he likes that. The sincerity. It's a nice change.

But wait- does this mean you like him? Is this The Little Mermaid scenario?

"Are ya riskin' anythin' to be here?" He blurts out, worry lacing his tone. You look at him, a bit puzzled, before you shake your head, making him let out a relieved sigh.

"Good. I just- I was- us humans have a story about one of yer kind. She fell in love with a prince and made a deal with a sea witch so she could be a human. She lost her voice like ya did and- let's say it didn' end up well," he says and you let out something that might be a chuckle, making Clyde look at you in confusion.

You make a cross with your hands to let him know that's not how it works.

"No lake witches at yer place?" He asks and you grin, shaking your head, apparently amused by the whole thing.

"Great. Makes me calmer," he muses, making you smile. A sweet silence settles between you for a moment, both of you shyly watching the other one, taking in each other's features and expressions, marveling at the beauty of the one standing opposite you, before Clyde clears his throat lightly, breaking through it.

"Aren't ya hungry?" He asks, scratching his neck nervously. You consider his question before you nod slowly.

"I don't know what ya usually eat so maybe ya could have a look at what I got," he offers, gesturing for you to follow as he leads you to his kitchen and you trail behind him with a smile, calm that things had been explained and happy to spend more time with your human.

———————————

Tag list:

Thank you so much for your support!

@rosi3ba3z @lovelylostminds @lokigirlszendaya @Gabr-Marie @hypnoash @xoxabs88xox @janebby @zooeyglassbathroom @lmarielondon @kacctus @Lovelyleti2

[yostresswritinggirl]

and, if Albedo have his own personal botanist, what about xiao have his own personal chef, or something like that? the reader working at wangshu inn as the chef or maid 👀 (this the request... If you want to make something from this absurd idea 👀👀)

Hehe I like your thought process, anon. Albedo and Xiao really just: 😏👉👉 *finger guns* 👈👈 😑 for having reader assistants in my masterlist huh.

Making this solely a personal chef/maid thing would defo make this response hella short so I added in more info and background just like I did with Albedo's, so I hope you guys end up enjoying this one too!!

It isn't an absurd idea, but I sure as hell made an absurd answer to it kek

Xiao's Devoted "Chef"

Xiao with a Reader who is not only his Personal Chef but assistant

Background (let's gooo)

The arrival of the Adepti Yaksha in Wangshu Inn was really something I've been intrigued about for a while now, but I won't make much assumptions here because his banner is coming and more info would be given to us.

Xiao had long since been residing in and spends a majority of his time in this Inn yet its owners, Verr Goldet and Huai'an, barely knows anything about the adepti or his lifestyle.

So on a sunny, quaint day like any other where calmness passes through the lands without worry, they expected the Adepti to resign himself to a moment of peace and rest too.

So color them surprised when they save the familiar silhouette of the adepti ascending to the top floor. Porcelain white skin and clear tank top glittered with fresh blood as a broken and bruised figure lays unconscious in his arms. The couple was thankful that there were no customers out and about that day, because it would be a disaster for an audience to witness such a thing. Also bad for business, but they'll hold that in at the back of their mind.

Skilled workers were quick to work with their seemingly extensive experience with such a protocol. As they tended to the victim, the Boss stayed behind to tend to and inquire with the Adepti. Yet such a conversation between them came out strained:

There were no visible wounds that require immediate medical attention but there was a look in his eyes that feels much more broken than anything they can fix. Verr's hands hover over him in an attempt to urge him to clean up his still bloodied form. His amber eyes that were usually sharp looks through a distance light-years away.

"Xiao," the woman started and the eyes snapped out of its reverie, subtly looking around to ground himself. "What happened? And are you okay?"

"Their- the parents died from a Hilichurl ambush, I was only able to save the child," his crossed arms gripped at his forearm in the realization of his utter mistake. "32 seconds."

"32 seconds?" The Mondstadtian offered a fresh set of hot towels he had taken, and he had flinched when he saw the carnage that stuck close to his skin.

"I was 32 seconds late."

Your parents were adventurers who brought you with them as big fans of traveling and nomadic lifestyle, no set home yet freely living by. You were in your younger teens and you'd clarified you had no other family to go to.

The death of your parents came as an obvious shock to your young self yet you grieved in silence and sobs, as the only person you trust hovers next to where you rest in silent contemplation.

Verr knows that look, and it was something she hasn't seen on the Adepti before. Of pure guilt and a sense of responsibility.

That night you rested surprisingly nightmare-free as your savior stands his ground next to where you rest.

Present Times

The couple had adopted you into the Inn family without a second's hesitance and you were thankful for them as you were to Xiao. You were no heavy expense or disadvantage and that made it all the more easier to adapt into your new lifestyle.

Despite no words or explanation, you were perfectly aware of the deeds your savior had done to save you and keep you alive, and with that you had sworn to serve him until the end of your time. A life for a life, equivalent exchange.

Coming into terms with being in Liyue and the Inn, your life choices were meddled with commerce and the importance of livelihood. You were young but your guilt of being under the care of such people forced you to take on any and every responsibility you can handle.

Despite your background you were expertly skilled with cooking. Your mother and father always taught you the importance of a meal for adventurers whenever you'd camped out. And your special touch on dishes that saves adventurers had drawn in many appetites.

Business boomed and the Inn wasn't just famous for being a temporary residence, but a sanctuary that offers tastes paired with the divine sense of Celestia. You became Wangshu Inn's Head Chef, with your sous-chef Smiley Yanxiao.

At times where Xiao is forced to make rounds to seize looming threats, he'd find himself picking fresh and healthy ingredients he'd find on the way back and present to you for new recipes to experiment on.

But you also pride yourself with a different title, or titles: The Adepti's Personal Chef, Tender of the Yaksha, Adepti's Devotee.

This title was emphasized by the Sigil of Permission sewn into an armband hanging by your right arm, something you proudly wear even beyond the walls of the Inn.

You found out the Adepti's favorite during your daily visit and breaks, usually done so by hanging out in the balcony with him with a brand new recipe you recently made and wanted to test out.

While he sat parallel to you, he eyed the transparent syrup and the gelatinous substance in the obvious curiousity he shows for all your new creations, silently awaiting your opinion by watching your expression: whenever you show even the slightest distaste, he'll pointedly ignore his curiousity and the dish altogether. And if you express such pride and achievement, his interest will get the better of him, if you haven't offered the dish quickly enough.

"What is this?" He'd finally ask after your delighted moans, indulging on your own creation.

"Mmm, Almond Tofu... do you wish to try it?" Without an answer he'd pick up the only spoon on the plate and tasted it himself. And just like that, he'd froze, eyes full blown in surprise and awe.

"Do you like it?" He can only hum in response as he scarfs down the plate by himself, chewing respectfully yet with a hint of vigor in every scoop. "It tastes... like dreams..." the way he looked at you, with eyes possessing such childlike wonder, you couldn't help but fall.

After that, Xiao had requested a daily plate/offering of it. It became a routine to the point that all workers heard of the favoritism and are encouraged to learn the recipe. But it's usually your dish that is served, unless special occasions calls for someone else.

There has been an influx of dormers and adventurers recently as citizens around Teyvat flock to the Liyue continent in hopes to watch the most extravagant celebration of the new year, the Lantern Rite Festival.

Your best efforts manning the kitchen together with Yanxiao took gruelling hours just to prepare for the dinner's first course even with hours of prep time available. Even both bosses had to lend some hands as your sous-chef can barely keep up with your stride. And after the dishes are finally distributed to the dining hall, you were already set in cleaning up the kitchen, and before you knew it-

"It has been an hour."

"It was a busy day, I'm sorry, Xiao." You could only muster a mumble in guilt as you kept your head down on the usual table, refusing to look at the disapproving expression he definitely wore, except he doesn't. His face has the slightest hints of worry and wonder at your deflated composure.

But his focus now was on the food he has been craving the whole day, already digging into his dessert. And you just tried your hardest not to fall asleep on the cold, wooden tabletop. Until your tummy rumbled through the silence.

A hum. "You haven't eaten?" You shake your head as you lift your head, gazing at the cute sight of your guardian tilting his head to the side in slight distaste for your lifestyle. You open your mouth to retort until you felt the cold utensil touch your bottom lip. "Here, I saved you the last bite. After this, get yourself a meal and retreat to your quarters, I don't want to hear any excuses." He softly urges a little push with the spoon so you get the hint, and you wrap your lips around it, chewing and gulping down cold dessert. He offered his favorite food, used the same spoon, and spoon fed you with it—

"Wha... don't- don't bite the spoon," you squeeze your eyes tight from the embarrassing thoughts in your head.

When people wish to have an audience with Xiao, most of the time they head to you for guidance after inquiring with Verr. They require a sigil of permission, and most of the times, your own sigil has been under fire a lot in their desperation.

An old merchant who desperately wants to hire the adepti to aid his caravan with personal security once tried to claw at your armband, but a split second after the tip of his fingers had touched the cloth, he was blown away to the nearest wall.

"What-," a pressure on your left shoulder pulls your other against a lean chest, protectively squeezing as a polearm materialized in front of you. You can feel the ragged vibrations of the Yaksha's unusually heavy breaths, his amber eyes sharp and dangerous, dilated like a predator.

"What gives you the idea that you had the authority to lay a hand on my assistant?" Black and teal embers conjure around you two as a dark shadow slowly creeps up from the ground. "That is their sigil of permission; I want nothing to do with you mere mortals."

If not for Verr and the other staff, things would have gone gruesome and unsightly for the business. Yes, business. Everyone disliked the guy enough to care more about the Inn than his actual well-being. When he'd come to, he was forced out of the Inn (he would have done so himself anyways as he was already traumatized).

"Sir Xiao, why did you do that?"

"He didn't have a Sigil, he was pretty much asking for it. And why have you gone formal?" You pouted at him and his only response was a quirked eyebrow. Walking over to stand behind him, you slowly wiggled your arms through the gap between his waist and slack arms, finding it easy enough with how thin his waist is as you wrapped him in a hug.

He tensed from the secretly ticklish feeling before letting down his guard in your arms. This was one of your leeway as his most devoted follower. Your constant exposure with the aid of the divine sigil has made you immune to the negative effects of Adeptal energy, enough to make him nigh worry about your safety around him anymore.

And him letting you hug him like this... let's just say it's from your mannerisms of comfort when you were still young and around him.

"Take an indefinite leave," Xiao broke the silence a few minutes after, forcing you to crane your head to the side to look at him. He meets your gaze with an amused glint. "You have no debt to pay here, you shouldn't be holed up in a place like this."

"It is true that me leaving wouldn't have majooor repercussions, but what's with the sudden idea?"

He huffs. "You're my only follower and yet you divide your attention serving temporary mortals that will pass by without remembrance. And besides," you tense at the sight of an upturn on the edge of lip, pearly whites subtly peeking, "personal does not mean sharing."

You were an adventurer at heart and it's time you indulge in that glorified life of excitement, with your guardian by your side. It was the only gift he can come up with for your undying devotion.

Holy - I had to cut this thing A LOT because I wrotE A HECKIN LOT WTF?! It's not even done in my mind, my goodness, there should be an adventuring unit here too but hhhh I got too conscious of the length sksksks I'm so sorry! P-Part 2-?

I enjoyed writing this a tad bit too much sksksks but now that the second to the last installation of this even is published, the next request should be the last one! And that means I'll have to stop the poll and start working on the requests for the 100 followers one! So if you haven't voted there, you should before it's too late!!

[nejibaby]

Afterglow

Pairing: Portgas D. Ace x Y/N

Summary: Without Ace, your nights are back to being long, dark, and empty. But when you finally reunite, Ace refuses to just be your Daylight.

Daylight - Part 1 | Afterglow - Part 2

Word Count: 4.3k (my hands slipped, I’m so sorry)

Loosely based on: Taylor Swift’s Lover album (but mostly about the songs Daylight and Afterglow)

A/N: I really think Whitebeard is a great father, yk? So I see him as someone who you can always seek and rely on. He looks tough (and he’s actually tough), but he’s soft too! And Ace too, in that respect is similar to WB. I really believe he’ll be such a good boyfriend 🥺 Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this so much! Thank you to everyone who read this, I love yall 🥰

<Teach doesn’t exist to me, I hate him, so I guess this is noncanon? Also, there’s this tiny spoiler, just a warning.>

Sailing by yourself in a boat for one reminds you how vast the sea actually is. With the rowdy Whitebeard pirates, sometimes the sea, no, the world, seems a lot smaller, a lot more manageable, but alone, it feels so massive it’s almost frightening.

It’s easy to get lost, except there’s no such concept like that for someone like you who doesn’t have a destination to go to in mind. Quite simply, you’re wandering, but not lost.

You drift from one island to another. Your initial intention is to get as far away as possible from the crew. Now that that’s achieved, you’re unsure of what to do next.

You allow yourself to observe and to experience some sort of normalcy at the islands you dock at. It’s a good thing that you don’t really stand out so no one suspects you’re a wanted pirate.

Walking down the streets of random towns, you’re reminded of how lonely being a Celestial Dragon was. No one wants to interact with a World Noble, afraid of the consequences if they’re angered. Things changed drastically when you became a pirate though. People don’t shy away that much with pirates in certain places. They interact with you, albeit hesitantly sometimes. Nevertheless, you felt so free and happy.

Now, you’re still a pirate, as marked by Whitebeard’s infamous tattoo. But with the unsuspecting townspeople and the lack of the presence of a crew, you don’t feel like one. Somehow it makes you feel empty.

The void is immeasurable. Despite it being unbounded, you’re sure that a single person can fill that emptiness: Portgas D. Ace.

But there are oceans separating you from Ace— a distance that you put. With the space between you, there’s silence in your voyage, however, it’s quite mystifying how every island you reach seems to scream his name.

There’s an island where you’ve docked at that’s snowing all year long. It brought back memories of when you were fairly new to the Whitebeard Pirates and had landed on a similar island. Back then you’ve worn a coat as you disembarked Moby Dick, however, the cold continued to seep through your layers of clothing. You couldn’t handle extreme temperatures that well but you didn’t want to make a big deal out of it so you continued to walk alongside the crew to scout the area. The thing was you may have been terrible at hiding it because Ace noticed the way your body was shivering and your teeth chattering. You were only acquaintances back then but he went to your side and striked a conversation with you. You didn’t understand why you became comfortable when he approached you all of a sudden, but then later that night you realized that he used his devil fruit abilities to warm you up.

At one island with a bustling town, there’s this restaurant that serves a variety of meat. You’re reminded of Ace and his bottomless pit of a stomach, and of his narcoleptic episodes while eating. He has a tendency of eating and then running, and the first few times he did it with you had you reeling. When you’ve finally realized that he’s never going to change, you start to keep a pouch of gold coins with you, reserved for paying for the food he eats. You leave it on the table just as Ace pulls you to run, and he has no idea about it. Owners or servers at the restaurants would still follow you out, but not to berate the both of you for not paying but to return the extra gold coins because you pay too much. Like usual though, Ace pretends not to hear them and they never got to catch up with you and Ace.

On another island, there’s a huge wild boar thrice the size of a human. It reminded you of the time you got so excited to explore an island that you speedily ran towards the forest alone, only to be met by a wild boar. The size of the boar stunned you and its glare kept you frozen in fear. A loud scream escaped your lips when it lunged at you, except the impact never came. When you’ve gathered your bearings, the wild boar was dead and… cooked, courtesy of Ace’s devil fruit abilities. He saved you, but he played it off as if he had his eyes on the wild boar since the beginning “to hunt it down.”

The current island you’re at is in famine. As soon as you docked at their port, a group of men has drawn their swords at you. For a moment, you thought they were bounty hunters so you grabbed your daggers and took a defensive stance. However, from the way they keep looking back and forth to you and your boat, and from hearing the faint sound of their stomach grumbling, you can tell they aren’t. Behind some trees, you can see the heads of some children peeking with worried yet hopeful looks on their faces.

Slowly, you raise your hands up in surrender, dropping your daggers in the process. You can’t turn your back on them — figuratively and literally — so you walk backwards towards your boat. The men look at you curiously but they don’t ever lower their swords.

In a quick motion, you grab a bag containing all of your food supply and throw it at them. One of the men catches it. “You can have them. It isn’t much, but that’s all I have.”

The man who was able to catch the bag carefully opens it and sees food. He almost cries at the sight of it. The rest of the men lowers the sword after you offer no sign of aggression. They start calling the other citizens of the area afterwards.

The children are the first to come running towards the men — all of them conveying excitement. You couldn’t tell how long they haven’t eaten but judging from how thin they are, it has got to be quite some time.

A small girl stumbles and falls near you and you quickly come to her aid. There isn’t much damage, just a scraped knee so you carefully patched her up.

“Thank you,” she gives you a toothy smile and then starts heading to the men who are distributing the food.

She comes back a moment later, arms outstretched to hand an apple to you. “For you,” she says.

Something blossoms in your heart because of her sweetness. “Thank you, but it’s fine, you can have it,”

She doesn’t object but then she hugs you tightly. “Thank you so much.”

Surprisingly, even on an island like this, you’re reminded of Ace. You remember his story about coming to Wano and meeting a child named “Tama” who seemed to be as charming as the child you helped and is under the same fortune.

Now that your mind has drifted to thoughts of Ace, you didn’t want to think of anything else. Even as the people gather around you to offer their thanks, and even as they usher you to a bonfire to celebrate for the food to eat, the thoughts of him linger in your head.

And just like in all the previous islands you came to, you wish he’s here with you too.

There’s longing in your heart, but there’s also something else— something pleasant that you can’t quite describe— and you attribute it to the gratitude of the people.

The mother of the child you helped, Sito, offers their spare room for you to take and you graciously accept. Soft snores almost immediately fill your ears after a few minutes of them bidding you good night.

The longer you stay awake, however, the pleasant feeling you felt a while ago starts to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

You’ve always criticized yourself for not being able to do more when you were still a Celestial Dragon but now that you did something good, you start to feel selfish for doing it because it makes you feel better about yourself.

It’s at times like this that you seek Pops. There’s a sudden urge to hear his voice and his thoughts. So you grab your Den Den Mushi, but you hesitate.

You’ve lost track of the days since you left Moby Dick. And in that time frame, you never once called Pops. Although you didn’t really promise to call, maybe he was expecting you to, especially since you know he wouldn’t do it first.

You sigh. Maybe this call is long overdue after all.

You step outside the house and start to contact Pops using the Den Den Mushi. It only rings once and then it’s answered, almost as if Pops was waiting by the Den Den Mushi. The thought brings a smile to your face. “Pops—”

“Why on earth are you only calling now?!” His angry tone welcomes you.

“I’m so—”

“Is that Y/N?!” Marco interrupts. Ah, how could you have forgotten? It’s at this time that Marco reports to Pops. “We’re so worried about you -yoi!”

You can hear sounds of struggling on the line and then there’s a loud smack followed by an even louder crash. There’s a moment of silence which makes you wonder what’s going on in the ship.

“Why didn’t you call earlier?!” Pops’ voice booms. “If you’re going to leave a Den Den Mushi, I’m going to expect your reports but I received none of that.”

“I’m sorry Pops. I have no excuse,” you sheepishly say.

“Everyone’s worried about you,” he pauses but then his voice rings louder once again, “Some are even outside my room trying to listen in on our conversation. But if they know better, they should leave us alone.” The sound of rushing footsteps could be heard in the background as Pops finishes his sentence.

You chuckle, imagining the crew eavesdropping. “How are you Pops?”

“I’m doing fine.”

“How’s everyone? How’s… uhm… Ace?”

“Everyone’s just missing you. You didn’t say goodbye after all,” he says. “I put Ace on a mission because he won’t stop pestering me about you. He won’t come back in a couple of days.”

“Oh.”

“He misses you a lot,” he sighs. “He strides to me everyday to demand your whereabouts. Each time I wouldn’t tell him but he never learns. Vista says he’s on his 56th attempt the other day.”

The brief image of Ace that your mind comes up with brings a small smile to your face.

“When are you coming back?” Whitebeard breaks your reverie.

“Ah, I’m not sure yet… It might take a while.”

He hums. “So how are you? Have you been eating well?”

“I’m doing fine, Pops. No one’s been coming after me yet so everything’s going well,” you respond. “But… Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“There’s this island with people who haven’t eaten in so long so I gave them everything I have.” There’s a loud growl coming from Pops so you immediately continue your speech before he could scold you for doing such a thing. “I feel really good about what I did as they thanked me. But then the longer I thought about it, I started feeling ashamed because... wasn’t it selfish since I did it to make me feel better about myself? Then I started to wonder if it was wrong to do good things just because I wanted to be absolved of my parents’ sins. Was I wrong in doing this, Pops?”

“No, you did the right thing.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you’re not an inherently bad person for getting paid in gratitude.”

“But…”

“Making yourself happy by making other people happy is how it’s meant to work. If one of your key motives to doing good things is to feel good, then you’re still doing something good and there’s nothing shameful about that.”

Hearing his words puts you at ease. You’re glad you called him. “Thank you, Pops. I’m sorry for worrying everyone there and for disrupting Marco’s report. I promise I’ll call more often from now on.”

“It’s fine. Just don’t forget to take care of yourself too. Where will you be headed next?”

“I’m not sure. I’m just going where the sea leads me.”

“Be careful.”

“You too, Pops,” and with that, you bid your goodbye and hang up.

By morning, you start preparing your things to leave. You didn’t want to stay for too long because you didn’t want to consume even a portion of the small amount of food they have.

Sito offers you to stay another night, worried that it would be uncomfortable to sleep on a boat. “You can stay one more day. There’s still enough food for us to share.”

“Oh no, I don’t want to impose,” you decline. “But do you mind if I ask what happened here?”

There’s sadness in her eyes, it was easy to tell the memory pained her, but she tells you everything anyway. “This island is one of the few lawless areas in the world, hence, it’s a place where pirates would dock at. A group of men once docked here and kidnapped the leaders of our town. They were sold off to be slaves, because apparently the Nobles like to enslave people of power…” Her words start to fade on you upon the mention of the World Nobles.

Anger flares up in your system immediately. How low can the Celestial Dragons go? It’s sickening to think that you share the same blood as them. It’s because of this revelation that something becomes clear in your mind.

Ever since leaving Moby Dick, you’re just wandering aimlessly. But after hearing Sito talk about this island, you’re finally sure of what your destination should be.

Sabaody Archipelago.

Specifically, the Human Auctioning House.

From the sudden fury that overwhelms you, not even the fear of being within arm’s reach of the Marines, and possibly dying, could stop you from going there.

It’s reckless and foolish, but isn’t this the reason you left Moby Dick that night— to face your nightmares instead of running away from them?

You listen politely as Sito explains everything else but her words enter and leave your ears without you having to comprehend them. Fortunately, she doesn’t notice your inattentiveness, probably because she wants to pour her frustrations out to a stranger.

You offer your sympathies to her and promise her you’d come back with your crew and help them some more. It’s a simple promise yet for someone who hasn’t been offered help for so long, it means a lot, enough to even bring tears to her eyes. And just like that, you leave.

There are two more islands to stop at before you reach Sabaody Archipelago. You gather provisions on one island and buy explosives on the other.

The only thing you’re sure you can actually do alone is to blow up the Human Auctioning House. Facing the World Nobles is for another time, unfortunately. As for the Marines, well… You’d worry about that if they indeed come. You know you’d be able to handle them as long as they don’t send an Admiral after you.

The thing that worries you the most, however, is Pops’ reaction once you let him know of your plan. While you can always just not tell him, it feels wrong, and you promised you’d report to him, after all. And it’s hard for you to admit, but you secretly want to be saved in case your plan goes askew. That, and well, you still want to make up with Ace, may it be just strictly as friends, but preferably as lovers.

You decide to call once you’re about to set sail towards Sabaody Archipelago. You’re sitting in the middle of your boat, still anchored at the port when you told Pops your plan. And as expected, he’s mad.

He demands you to go back to the crew immediately. “Captain’s orders,” he says. But after a few moments, he retracts his words and says, “Your father’s orders.” You feel the weight of his words when he said that and you almost concede. But the faces of the slaves your family had flashes into your mind and it solidifies your decision.

Interestingly, despite the weeks you have spent away from the crew, their ship is nearer to you than anticipated. As confirmed by Pops himself when he angrily said, “Enough! I’m sending Ace to get you! Two or three days is enough for him to catch up with you.”

But quite frankly, that’s also enough time to execute your plan. And if the odds are in your favor, then Ace might just come in time for your escape.

Arriving at Sabaody Archipelago, you keep your face hidden underneath the hood of your cloak. It’s normal for pirates to walk around the place without having to hide their identities, but it’s a luxury you can’t afford. If someone catches wind that you’re here and reports it, the Cipher Pol just might come and capture you before you can even execute your plan. That just won’t do. So on the first day of your arrival, you only scout the area of the Human Auctioning House and retreat back to the inn you stay at.

You carry out your plan on the next day. You place a bomb where the side of the stage is supposed to be. It’s a distraction so people inside would leave the premises. The plan is to find the keys and free the slaves while the people are panicking from the explosion. Then eliminate the head of the place, Mr. Disco, and finally blow the place apart. It sounds simple but with you having to do all the work, you know it isn’t.

Now that you’re here, your nerves are spiking up. Arriving at the entrance of the building, you take a deep breath, your hand automatically reaching for the bracelet that Ace made you. It instantly calms you down.

It baffles you how fate works because on the very day you decide to free the slaves that are being sold off at the Human Auctioning House, Ace’s brother, Luffy — along with his crew — is at the same place to rescue their friend who was kidnapped.

Somehow even on a dangerous mission like this, there’s still something or someone who’d remind you of Ace. It makes you wonder: has he really embedded himself too deep into your life that there’s no escaping the thoughts of him? Not that you mind; the thoughts of him bring you peace, after all. But still, it’s fascinating that even in both mundane and dangerous settings, he makes himself known to you.

Upon entering the Human Auctioning House, everything happens so fast and unexpected. And quite frankly, a lot happened that wasn’t part of the plan.

Aside from finding the Straw Hat Pirates, you got yourself injured when you used your body to shield their fish man friend, Hatchi, from Saint Charlos’ gunshot. Then you confronted Saint Shalria personally despite you not planning to get involved with the Celestial Dragons. As for the slaves, it was the Dark King, Silvers Rayleigh, who actually freed them. The only things that you personally executed from your plan were Mr. Disco’s elimination and the bombing of the Human Auctioning House.

Escape is easy once the building starts to explode because the Marines would have to lessen the forces who're chasing after the pirates in order for them to successfully put out the fire. Without any Admiral on the scene yet, it’s not hard to slip away from them and/or fight them.

Even with the gunshot wound on your arm, you’re able to take down each and every one of the Marines who are chasing you. But halfway through your journey back to the grove where you left your boat at, you lose your adrenaline.

You start to feel the sharp and stinging sensation on your arm once again, yet, you couldn’t help but smile. You have gotten out alive. The slaves have been freed. With both Mr. Disco and the building gone, the Human Auctioning House will no longer be operational, or at least not yet until someone steps up. But that won’t be after a long time.

It’s a wonderful day.

You look up at the afterglow of the sunset with a serene smile. You have a feeling your nights are going to feel shorter now and less frightening than they were before.

Your peaceful moment is cut off by someone rather abruptly. You jump in surprise as someone wraps their arms around you from behind all of a sudden. “I finally caught up with you.”

Your breath hitches at the sound of the voice. “Ace? What are you doing here?”

He doesn’t answer your question, but he mumbles, “I’m sorry if I only came now. Pops wouldn’t tell me where you were, but I came as soon as I could.” Then he tightens his hug. “I was so scared, I thought I’d lose you…”

“Ace, I’m sorry about—”

“Hey, it’s on me, okay?” He interrupts. “I blew things out of proportion, and now you’re blue.”

You pull away from his hug to face him.

“Y-your arm! You’re bl-bleeding,” he stutters after seeing your injury.

But you pay no mind to that. “Ace… I’m really sorry about us—”

“Ssshhh, baby…” he rubs his hand on your back.

He looks at your figure carefully, focused on looking for any more bruises or wounds. When he doesn’t find anything more, he gently holds you by your waist. “Don’t blame yourself, I’m the one who burned us down, but… it’s not what I meant.

“It was all in my head, okay? It’s just that the Celestial Dragons are all grouped in my head as scums and that they’re inexcusable because… my brother was killed by a Celestial Dragon.”

A wave of guilt flows through your body, enough to weaken your knees. Before you could fall, however, Ace catches you and brings you to his chest. But this doesn’t stop you from sobbing on his chest. “I didn’t know, Ace. I’m so sorry.”

“No, that’s the thing, baby. It isn’t your fault. It wasn’t you who pulled the trigger. And… I have to admit I failed to see that at first,” he says as he hugs you tighter. “I shouldn’t have stood there frozen after you told me your story. I’m supposed to be the one who understands you...

“I’m not trying to make excuses and I’m not trying to make this about me but it’s just that… for so long I thought that I inherited the bad blood of my father, and I spent my lifetime failing to see that his sins aren’t my sins,” his voice cracks as he cries. “So when I found out about you… My mind automatically held you liable for the sins of the Nobles…

“But I talked to Pops and he straightened me up. I understand now. Our parents’ sins aren’t ours. It never was ours to begin with. So I’m sorry for blaming you for something you didn’t do…”

Ace stares at your crying form. He cups your face and sincerely says, “It’s so excruciating to see you low,” as he wipes the tears on your eyes. “I’m sorry if I hurt you…”

“It’s fine Ace, I forgive you. But…” You look directly into his eyes. “I’m at fault too,” you confess. “I was the one who left... I was so used to living like an island and isolating myself that it didn’t occur to me that I was punishing you with silence… I should’ve waited patiently for you but I ran away…”

Ace rubs your back gently and presses his forehead against yours, “I forgive you too.”

You smile in relief.

After a couple of minutes in silence, Ace tilts his head. “Y/N?”

“Hm?”

“Remember when you said that you saw daylight after sleeping in a long, dark night?”

You give him a curious look but nodded anyway.

“Beside wishing that I was there for you sooner, it had me thinking...”

“What?”

“Uhm… The world is terrible and cruel, and no one can ever really stop the dark nights from coming.”

You frown. You don’t really understand what Ace is trying to say.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is,” he rubs his neck while his cheeks starts to blush, “if you ever have to go through those dark nights, I wouldn’t want you to wait for daylight.

“I want to be there with you on those nights until they’re over. I don’t want to leave you when things get rough and only show up when you’re better. I know you see me as your daylight but I don’t want to be just that.”

His words warm your heart, and makes it skip a beat. “You know, Ace, there are remnants of light that linger in the sky even when the sun has long gone down and the night starts. It’s the afterglow,” you mumble.

“Yeah, but that goes away too after a while,” he frowns.

“Well, lucky for you the moon reflects the sun’s light during the night, huh?”

He grins. “Yeah, yeah. I like that. I want to be your source of light, may it be the daylight, moonlight, or the afterglow.”

A moment of silence engulfs the both of you. Under the soft afterglow of the sunset with your arms wrapped around each other, you feel at peace.

Once upon a time, you used to believe love is black and white— that it’s straightforward. It was either you love Ace or you don’t, there were no gray areas. No matter what he feels, says, or does, your love for him never ceases.

But then some other days you believed that love is burning red— that it’s full of passion, lust, and romance, much like the nights you spent entangled in the sheets with Ace.

However, right now in Ace’s arms, all you could ever think about is that love is golden. It was warmth and comfort, like what daylight brings. It was contentment and serenity too, much like the feeling of lightness one gets when seeing the afterglow of the sunset. Either way, it’s Ace who makes you feel those.

No matter what color love actually is though, for you it’s always embodied by Ace.

[sandwichfox]

Can you do a Hc of how the main 6 would react with a child apprentice (like one of the spells goes wrong and the apprentice is transformed temporary to a kid?)

Asra

★ Oh no. He told you that the rosehip had gone bad, remembers explicitly saying “don’t use the rosehip, I’ll bring some from the market later”. Of course, he can’t scold you for it now, since you’re currently sitting on the floor bawling your eyes out. Also, you’re approximately six years old.

★ He’s just coming through the door, but he can already tell what happened. Your knees are scraped and the stool you were sitting on is laying next to you on the floor. It’s likely you fell over when the brew exploded, and you’re now so small, it must’ve felt like a great height. There’s red potion splattered on the walls and ceiling. How much had you used? It’s supposed to only turn a light peach color. 

★ He’s by your side in a second, bags forgotten at the entrance. He closes the door quickly with a wave of his hand and kneels next to you to look at your scraped knees. You’re sniffling now, wiping at your soft cheeks with the back of your hand. “They don’t hurt too much” you hiccup “can you tell me where I am?” Your voice is so high, hilariously polite in tone. You just got scared, he realizes, finding yourself thrown off the stool and all alone in the shop all of a sudden. You’ve stopped crying altogether in favor of looking up at him with big, curious eyes. 

★ “You’re in my shop. I’ll still put some salve on them, don’t get up” he searches the cupboards for the tin, his mind elsewhere, at least he knows what went wrong, though it’ll be a hassle to fix, he starts piling ingredients for the cure in his arms. “What’s this?” You ask from behind him, face press against a jar of lacewings. He scoffs and sets the ingredients on the table. You haven’t changed, then. “Lacewings, I told you not to get up” his tone is amused, he approaches with the salve just as you skip to another corner of the shop. “They don’t hurt. What about those?” He manages to get a hold of your shirt, now a dress on your tiny form, and laughs as he applies the ointment “snail eyes” and your look of disgust makes him burst out laughing. 

★ Asra’s careful not to go into many details of your life, or what happened with the spilled potion. You don’t seem to remember being older and he wants to advert a possible crisis. Instead he answers your incessant questions as honestly and patiently as he can while he works on the cure, and finds that he doesn’t need to entertain you much otherwise. You look delighted when he asks for your help passing him ingredients. Then peeling the physalis enthusiastically when he asks you to. He doesn’t need them for the cure, but you had been putting off the task all week. Asra smirks to himself. 

Nadia

♠ Nadia calls out your name, rushing into the room, brows furrowed with worry. She had been just about to come inside when there was a flash of bright light, a sharp bang, a startled cry, and then a clatter of falling bowls. 

♠︎ “Darling?!” Her voice is tight as she approaches your writhing form, you’re slumped against the bookshelf, seeming to be tangled in a length of fabric. She quickly comes to your aid, peeling the curtain of fabric back from where she assumes your face must be. “I heard a crash and thought-… oh my” In your stead, staring right at her with unabashed wonder, is a child. You, she realizes with dawning dread, you’re the child. 

♠︎ “Who are you?” You breathe, reaching out towards her face and then, seeming to remember yourself, pull back with an embarrassed look. “Are you a princess?” Nadia can’t help her smile. “Countess, actually” Your eyes go impossibly large “oh” you look around “sorry about your bookshelf.”

♠︎ Nadia knows she should have gone to Asra immediately, but aside from your current -ahem- situation, you don’t seem to be in any pain or discomfort. On the contrary, you’re unabashedly lively. And, as she’s come to find out, you’re letting yourself be spoiled, for a change. Look, she was already on her way to the shop, alright? You were the one who pointed out the bright, colorful balloons when the carriage passed by the market.

♠︎ It was worth it, Nadia thinks, when you’re back inside the carriage. She moves the big -shiny green- stuffed beetle (a beetle, what a peculiar child) out of the way so you can rest your head on her arm. You’re sleeping, all tuckered out, you don’t even move when she wipes at your round, sticky cheeks with a wet cloth. “To the shop” she tells the driver, and maybe feels a smidge guilty about wanting you to stay like this a bit longer. She won’t though, it was just a thought. Though she’ll remember your fondness for smoked, salted almonds when you’re back to normal. 

Julian

♦︎ He swears he hadn’t meant to startle you. It’s just, you had been working on that spell for hours now, and he could see you growing increasingly frustrated every time it failed, sparks sputtering and fizzling before going out. He intended to make you take a break, calling to you from the other room and then poking his head in when you didn’t answer. He approached you gently, calling your name again. You didn’t even seem to hear him, tongue between your teeth and gaze severe with concentration. Julian sighed and tapped your shoulder.

♦︎ You jump, flailing just the slightest bit, but it’s enough. In a moment the sparks between your hands glow green then blue then white. He barely has time to gasp before he’s being thrown back, ears popping with sudden, suffocating pressure. And then it’s gone. Nothing more than a ringing in Julian’s ears and an upset inkwell left as evidence of the sudden explosion of raw power. 

♦︎ Julian rubs at the back of his head where it hurts. Then spots the pile of clothes on the floor, the very ones you were wearing. He’s rushing to you so fast that he has to blink to clear the spots from his vision. “Are you alright?! I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry I-“ he’s cut off by a long, drawn out groan from you, surprisingly high-pitched. And then he realizes you’re… you’re… -huh- the wrong size. 

♦︎ You look at him and shriek, startling him into a yelp, “oh! I won’t hurt you, I’m not a criminal, or… anything like that” even as a child (a child! he’s trying not to freak out) the expression on your face makes his stomach clench “I promise, you’re safe” you look sideways at him, unconvinced “I’m a doctor, actually. So, well quite the opposite of a criminal then, don’t you think? I heal people. Or, well, try to“ If anything, the already scared look on your face turns worse, mouth turning down at the corners into a terrified scowl. Oh no. 

♦︎ Well, he certainly can’t fix this on his own. Especially not with you keeping a very careful distance, looking at his hands with sharp suspicion, as if you expected him to be carrying a giant secret syringe that he just hadn’t revealed yet. Besides, this has to do with magic, so he wouldn’t be able to help, even supposing you’d let him. So here he is, shifting nervously after having knocked at the shop’s door. He looks behind him to check that you’re still there, only for you to squeak and hide back behind the lamppost, not hidden at all. Julian sighs. 

Muriel 

♣ Muriel knows you’re at the clearing, you’ve come more and more often to practice spells (the shop was too small and you had broken one too many jars). He can hear you shifting and muttering incantations, even through the trees. He comes into the clearing just as something goes wrong, the light between your palms glows brightly and then seems to be absorbed into your own body, pulsing under your skin once before throwing you back. 

♣︎ Muriel doesn’t even think, just throws himself between you and the trees before you can hit them, landing on his chest instead with a small oof. You look up to him, surprised. “Muriel! Sorry, that wasn’t supposed to happen, heh, but thank- oh!” Suddenly you shout, doubling over in pain and clutching at your own skin as you… shrink?

♣︎ He grabs you tighter, terror gripping him tightly as you writhe in his arms. “What’s wrong?” He asks, panic speeding up his heartbeat “what’s wrong? What hurts?” You stop suddenly, turning to look at him with confusion on your face. Your small face. Your round, child face. “Nothing hurts” you tell him, puzzled. Muriel drops you. 

♣ Strangely, you seem to trust him immediately, uncaring of his towering height or scowling face. You’re holding his hand and skipping by his side on the way to the shop like nothing’s the matter. He tries to soften his expression when he turns down to answer a question or coax you towards a less crowded path. You reward him with a small smile, it’s the same one he knows, but it’s missing a front tooth. 

♣ After a few minutes of silent walking Muriel notices you glancing up at him every few seconds, shy blush on your face, mouth open as if to ask a question, then turning forward again. “What is it?” he asks after the fifth time this happens. You start, looking down again. “You’re very tall” you mumble. Muriel’s cheeks turn pink. “Yes” he says simply. “Oh” you pause, “can I-“ you look down again “I- maybe- I bet you can see everything.” Muriel sighs and picks you up to place you on his shoulders. He can’t help the small grin at your delighted squeal. 

Portia

♥︎ “Helloooo?!” Portia looks up from her chopping board at the call, halfway through slicing the strawberries for dessert. You should be coming for dinner, but she remembers you were practicing some spell or another near the fountain, you shouldn’t arrive until much later. She furrows her eyebrows and walks over to the window. A small figure comes stumbling into her garden and then promptly gets their foot snagged by a graspgourd. Portia wipes her hands on a washcloth and hurries outside. 

♥︎ “Are you alright?” She asks gently. The child looks up and Oh, oh no. As soon as you see her you lower lip wobbles, but you bite down on it to keep from crying. “I woke up in the forest, I walked all over but I think I’m lost. Do you know where I am, miss?” She kneels down at your side to untangle the vine from your ankle, brushing gravel from your scraped knees “Oh, just Portia is fine, you’re actually not in the forest at all” she smiles kindly, “you’re in the palace gardens, specifically my own little patch. Would you like to come inside while we figure something out?” Her eyes twinkle with amusement at your look of wonder, seemingly forgetting all about the fall as you get up. “Gardens?! But they’re so big!” She extends her hand and you take it, following her inside her cottage. 

♥︎ She’s curious about what you remember, and about how you were as a child. She’s told you countless stories about her childhood in Nevivon, but you obviously can’t do the same, considering your lack of memories. She tries not to pry too much though, it’s difficult, considering how trusting you are. It honestly worries her a bit, how easily you opened up to her, what would have happened had you found someone else instead of her? No use dwelling on it though, and she wants to think it was just her amazing personality that made you trust her so easily. 

♥︎ “Are you hungry?” She asks, she notices you clutching at your rumbling stomach after finishing a particularly dramatic story, you remind her a bit of Ilya, when he was a young boy. You look up in surprise and she giggles. “Let’s see what we can find in the pantry, huh?” Should she call someone at the palace? No, what would they be able to do? Hopefully this is only temporary, but she doesn’t want to assume it will go away on its own. “Thanks, miss Portia” you say as she hands you a plate with snacks, she has given up on correcting you. 

♥︎ She knows a bit of magic, but not enough to reverse something like this. Perhaps she should call Asra, that seems like the safest bet. She can’t stop looking at you. You’re sitting at her table, nibbling at a slice of cornbread and turning a jar of jam this way and that for inspection as you eat, your legs swinging happily under the table. You’re adorable. “Miss Portia?” You ask around a mouthful of bread “when is your cat coming back?” She had sent Pepi to go get Asra while she kept an eye on you. She’s trying not to think too much about the current situation, there’ll be time to freak out after you’re back to normal. Hopefully Asra will be able to do something. Portia hums. “It shouldn’t take long.”

Lucio

▲”Can’t you go any faster?” Lucio grumps. You look up from his metal arm, incredulous. “Listen, I’m the one that’s doing you a favor here. And maybe you’re not aware that I could charm it into slapping you in the face, if you keep on like that” He turns red. “Right, sorry.” he says sheepishly, then keeps quiet for maybe a few precious seconds “but it’s taking so loooong.” “Lucio-” you start, then take a deep, calming breath. “Maybe you should try fixing an alchemical arm, infused with unfamiliar magic, see if perhaps you do any better.” you mutter, “keep still.” He twitches his finger, just to spite you. 

▲”Ugh!” You shriek, magic glowing brighter in your hands as you jump “you’re such a child!” The glowing red behind the plates of his arms sparks with a pop, blinding him. “Ow” Lucio protests, blinking furiously, he opens his eyes and turns to you. But… you’re not there. He swivels his head around for a second before he spots you, getting up from a pile of fabric and dusting yourself off casually, lifting the too-big strap of your gown back onto your shoulder with a dignified swipe of your much-smaller-than-before hand. 

▲ Air escapes him in a -very dignified and not at all shrill- scream. You trip back over the hem of your dress when you take an alarmed step back, just as the guards burst into the room. “Send for Asra!” He shouts. They don’t even say anything, just take a look at his face and step right back out, slamming the heavy wooden door and plunging the room back into silence. “Who’s Asra?” You demand, gathering up your skirt until the fabric is bunched up in your arms. You approach Lucio cautiously, seeming to size him up “and who are you?” Lucio drops his head into his hands, of course you wouldn’t remember anything. 

▲ Asra arrives maybe an hour later, interrupting your discussion. “Well?...” comes a high, inquisitive voice. “Well what?” Lucio sounds tired. Maybe this is not as urgent as the guards made it seem. “You say you’re the count, where’s your throne, then?” Lucio blinks “We’ll of course I have a throne, it’s just not he- Asra!” He doesn’t think Lucio has ever looked happy to see him until this very moment, his very gaze seems to be pleading for help. Asra looks at you, sighs “I know how to fix it, but it’ll take a while, I trust you can care for my small apprentice while I work?”

▲ “Asra” he whines “I can’t deal with this, I don’t know how to care for a child” Lucio mutters miserably, you shoot up immediately “I’m not a child!” he looks up at you and waves a vague hand in your direction “you’re like, five”. “I’m ten” you say haughtily, looking down your nose at him “and you’re old.” You add, for good measure. Lucio lets out an indignant squawk. Asra laughs and laughs.

-

Consider, mayhaps, leaving feedback?

[witcher-and-his-bard-archive]

Always a Place For You

also on ao3 

fair warning, this one is long

Initially, when they run into another Witcher on the road, Jaskier is thrilled. He’s been dying to hear more about Geralt’s adventures and hopes that having a familiar companion will make him more amenable to it. And maybe cheer him up a little. It's been a slow couple of weeks and while they've adjusted to it - and have certainly had worse periods - Geralt has been a little low lately. So when the other man walks toward them, arms stretched and a goat at his side, Jaskier is delighted.

His name is Eskel and he seems equally as enthusiastic to meet Jaskier as Jaskier is to meet him. Geralt makes a muttered comment about how it’s only because of the song and Eskel elbows him. Jaskier loves him immediately.

"Maybe I could write you your own song," he suggests and behind him, he can hear Geralt's snort of derision.

But it's fine. Geralt's never really grumpy with him about flirting - even, he suspects, with other Witchers - and how else is Jaskier supposed to learn about them? Every piece of Witcher knowledge he has, unless gleaned from his years with Geralt, is tainted with bias and fear, and he would very much like to know the truth.

Eskel is, in fact, far more forthcoming than Geralt ever has been, though this is likely a side-effect of Jaskier being Geralt's companion. He can't imagine Eskel would be so willing otherwise. And he can understand that, having overstepped with the wrong person and wound up in trouble more than his share of times.

The pair of them chat as they make their way along the road, heading toward Eskel’s camp. It’s not until they arrive that Jaskier realizes how quiet Geralt has been the whole time. It’s not as though he’s the chattiest person he's ever known, but Geralt has been talking very little today - even for him - and when Jaskier starts asking questions about their childhood, he shuts up entirely.

At the edge of Eskel’s camp, Geralt tethers Roach next to a black stallion who seems none too impressed with the company, then quietly comes to sit with them. He sits on Eskel's other side, staring intently into the fire and continuing to add nothing to the conversation. A couple of times, Eskel starts to say something, but a single look from Geralt is all it takes for him to switch tracks.

Eskel stays with them and Jaskier does his best to take a step back and not focus too hard on every interaction between the two Witchers. They spend a couple of days camping out before the weather turns wet and miserable and Geralt directs them toward town. Jaskier knows it's for his benefit mostly and he feels guilty for them having to change course, but Geralt won't take no for an answer. It's out of the way - they'd been heading toward Rinde and a sizable reward for killing a pack of ghouls - but it's the closest town to them, even if it's barely large enough to have an inn. But it does and once the horses and goat are housed for the night, that's where they head.

"We need a room for the night," Geralt says and Jaskier interjects with a hurried, "two rooms." Geralt turns to him with a confused frown, but Eskel lays a hand on Geralt's shoulder and he relents.

Jaskier tries not to think too much about what that means or why Geralt relents so quickly, but he fails. As he makes his way up to his own room, all he can think of is the way Eskel's fingers pressed into Geralt's shoulder, squeezing gently in a way that, apparently, was enough to reassure Geralt. He wants to be able to offer that kind of reassurance, for Geralt to feel that calm in his presence.

He's unpacking his things, hanging those that got wet to dry, when there's a knock on the door. Jaskier doesn't even have a chance to cross the room before the door opens and Geralt strolls into the room like it's his own.

"What's wrong?" he asks, which Jaskier supposes is polite, but he's so blunt about it that he almost sounds angry.

"Nothing," Jaskier offers, turning away to finish emptying the contents of his pack.

"Jaskier, you've barely said a word all day.”

“I composed an entire song before we reached the city walls."

"But you haven't spoken to anyone but yourself."

Jaskier opens his mouth to mention talking to the stable hand, but the look on Geralt's face tells him that won't go over well. Not that he understands why Geralt is so concerned about his silence, all of a sudden. There have been days when he's all but prayed for Jaskier to shut up. He should be happy about it.

"I'm just... not feeling well," he says, realizing the fault in his lie before he even finishes speaking it. Geralt's eyebrows knit together and he gives Jaskier a quick once-over before evidently deciding he's fine.

"You're lying to me. Jaskier you never lie to me. Why?"

"You can tell when I'm lying?"

"You smell like deceit, don't change the subject."

Jaskier doesn't know what to say because he certainly can't tell the truth. He goes with the one thing he knows Geralt won't want to talk about any further.

"I had a lover here once," he says quickly, "she dropped me quite quickly when she found out about my other lovers. I was quite hoping not to have to come back, but here we are."

It's close enough to the truth, and something realistic enough that Geralt should believe it. And he does, though he doesn't seem happy about it. He stiffens and Jaskier just sighs softly as Geralt turns back toward the door and leaves him alone again.

For four more days, Eskel travels with them. He leaves on the fifth morning, and watching him go is bittersweet, the weight of some unnamed pain sitting heavily on Jaskier's heart. Geralt shows no sign of sadness or regret, but Jaskier can feel something different about him as they turn and head in the opposite direction.

If Jaskier thought things would go back to the way before, he's sadly mistaken. And it's his own fault, really. Geralt, shockingly, returns to normal fairly quickly, falling back into their old routines, but Jaskier can't stop thinking about him and Eskel. When they're alone at night, he pretends not to be cold because he can't bear the thought of Geralt's arms around him if he's thinking of someone else.

But things do eventually get back to something like normal, aided by Geralt's silent persistence. For the first time in their relationship, Geralt is the one pushing boundaries, encouraging Jaskier to do things he doesn't necessarily want to do. But even when Geralt has wormed his way back to his proper place in Jaskier's life, Jaskier can't stop thinking about him with Eskel. So he flirts less - at least with Geralt - and he distances himself a little bit at a time because he wants Geralt to be happy.

They're up north when the weather starts to cool and out of the blue, Geralt broaches the subject of Kaer Morhen. Jaskier's sitting next to the fire, his lute case open next to him but untouched and he's prodding at the coals with a stick. Geralt comes and plops down next to him, staring directly ahead and not meeting Jaskier's eyes.

"I wonder if you would come to Kaer Morhen with me this winter." It's not a question, not really, and from Geralt's perspective, things have been good - exceptionally good - so he probably isn't expecting Jaskier to turn him down flat.

"No," Jaskier says and the look on Geralt's face tells him he's surprised about it. "I'm going to Oxenfurt."

"You'll freeze before you get there." Geralt says and he sounds a little irritated about it, so Jaskier smiles to ease the awkwardness.

"Well then," he says, "you had better come along and keep me warm."

It's supposed to be a joke, but Geralt agrees easily and Jaskier’s chest tightens. The night that follows is cold and Geralt is more distant than he has been, but he curls up around Jaskier next to the fire and pulls the extra blanket over them both.

For a little while, Jaskier almost thinks things could be okay again, but he's never felt so unsure of himself in his life. He wants Geralt, but he also wants him to be happy and there doesn't seem to be a way to have both - not if Geralt loves Eskel.

A couple of nights out, they're camped on the edge of a lake and Jaskier is struggling to get the fire lit. His fingers are so cold he fumbles with the flint and drops it into the placed sticks carefully. Geralt isn't around to help, having gone off to find something for them to eat, but Jaskier does eventually get the fire lit, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders as he sits next to it, waiting for Geralt to return.

When he doesn't, Jaskier gets worried and hauls himself to his feet. He can't see much in the dark, his eyes having adjusted to the light of the fire, so he heads off in the direction Geralt left. It doesn't take long to figure out where he went; barely two minutes from camp, Jaskier hears the sounds of a fight and hurries toward it.

Geralt has his sword drawn, surrounded on all sides by a pack of drowners. Without thinking, Jaskier rushes into the fold, tugging the dagger from his boot, and launches himself at the closest creature. He gets his blade lodged in its neck, but it stumbles as it collapses, dislodging Jaskier from its back and as he bumps into another and finds himself thrown sideways into the lake.

He's underwater before he realizes what's happening and the icy water bites into his skin. He struggles against the weight of his own body, kicking his legs and searching for anything to push off of. He's not even sure which way is up, at this point and he knows Geralt is too busy to come after him; this time, he's going to have to save himself.

But he can't. He's already losing feeling in his limbs and even with his eyes open and stinging, he can't see anything in the dark, so all he can do is kick his legs and hope for the best. And then, as if like a beacon, an arm thrusts down toward him, scrabbling around until a hand curls around his collar and hauls him upward. Jaskier is helpless as he's hauled up onto the bank and he gasps to catch his breath as warm hands, slowly cooling against his skin, grab at him.

He's tugged up into strong arms and his mind is still struggling to catch up as Geralt lifts him into his arms and starts back toward camp. Jaskier wraps his arms around his neck and rests his chin on his shoulder, he looks back behind them. The entire horde of drowners is dead on the ground, the grass dark with their blood. Jaskier shudders at the sight and Geralt holds him closer, mistaking his shock for cold.

As soon as they're back at the fire, Geralt drops to his knees next to it, shifting to cross his legs and pull Jaskier into his lap. He has both their blankets and the one Jaskier was wearing and he pulls them around him now.

"Take off your clothes," he says and Jaskier stops, his head jerking up to meet his eyes.

"I-" he starts and finds he can't form the words.

“Jaskier, your clothes.”

“But I thought- Eskel, he won't mind?"

"Jaskier, you're going to freeze to death if you don't get out of your clothes, no one is going to mind." Jaskier hesitates just for a moment and Geralt sighs in frustration, reaching for his shirt himself. Geralt gets Jaskier out of his doublet before Jaskier's mind catches up and he fumbles with his shirt.

"I've got it," Geralt says softly, and Jaskier ducks his head. He still hasn't quite managed to catch up to the severity of the situation and he shifts awkwardly as Geralt lifts his shirt up.

"Geralt you shouldn't- I can do it. I don't want things to be complicated because of me, I- I know you and Eskel- and I want you to be happy so I can do it myself." He doesn't look up until he's finished speaking and realizes Geralt hasn't moved. He's frozen in place, his hands wrapped around the hem of Jaskier's shirt. As soon as Jaskier lifts his eyes, Geralt's snap up to meet them.

"That's what's been bothering you? Jaskier, that was months ago." He curses softly under his breath and tugs Jaskier's shirt up over his head. He quickly rids him of the rest of his clothes and bundles Jaskier up against his chest.

They sit together in silence and Jaskier leans further into him than he should, soaking up Geralt's body heat. He shuts his eyes, pressing his face into Geralt's neck and a warm hand slides up his chest, wrapping him tight. It's a little weird being fully naked out in the middle of nowhere and pressed up against Geralt, but he likes the warmth of him against his back.

"Eskel and I," Geralt says suddenly, "it's not what you think."

"Dunno what else it could be," Jaskier mumbles, "you with your head between his legs and all. Though that explains why you were so weird about me meeting him." Geralt's hand makes its way up to his head, sliding into his hair.

"I didn't want to tell you," he admits and Jaskier huffs against him. "Jaskier," Geralt says softly, "I didn't want it to change things. Obviously, it did."

"How long?" Jaskier asks, though he's not totally sure he wants to know.

"Always." Geralt leans his head against Jaskier's, looking out into the fire. "We were kids the first time, cold and alone in that huge keep with no one but each other. It started as a distraction and just grew into something... else."

It feels like all the breath has been sucked from his lungs and Jaskier pulls in a shuddering breath. He had hoped that it was just a relationship born out of necessity, but that's not what it sounds like.

"You're upset," Geralt realizes, but Jaskier shakes his head.

"Just cold."

"And lying." Jaskier says nothing and Geralt tips his head forward, pressing against the back of Jaskier's head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to upset you, I want you to be happy."

After a moment of silence, Geralt sighs. "You know I care for you, Jaskier." Jaskier's heart does a weird little flip that he can't quite describe, but it doesn't feel good.

"No, actually. You do quite a good job of pretending you don't." He's feeling raw and he wants to pull away, but his hair is still dripping and there's a real chance that he could actually die if he slept out in the cold tonight.

"Jaskier..." Geralt breathes, dropping his chin so his nose bumps against Jaskier's ear. "There's no need to be jealous of Eskel. No one could ever replace you."

Jaskier hates being placated and he squirms in Geralt's arms, turning to frown at him. But Geralt's expression is soft and he almost looks like he's smiling. Jaskier's frown deepens, but Geralt holds him closer, looking at him silently for a moment before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to Jaskier's temple.

Jaskier freezes as soon as Geralt moves and Geralt doesn't draw back, not entirely. He presses back in, keeping his eyes on Jaskier's, and when their noses bump against each other, Jaskier inhales slowly. He tips his head, pressing forward again and Geralt meets him halfway.

Geralt's mouth is hot against his own and he turns Jaskier in his lap, pulling him as close as he can without letting the blankets slip away. And it takes him a minute to realize Geralt isn't going to pull away, but when he's sure, Jaskier slips his arms around his neck, risking the frigid night air to wrap himself around Geralt.

He's not sure how long they stay wrapped around each other by the fire, but at some point Jaskier drifts off, his face pressed into Geralt's neck.

They change course in the morning, turning back toward the mountains.

The following morning is frosty and Jaskier dresses as quickly as he can to avoid any more loss of heat. When he's fully clothed, he works on getting his own things together, but Geralt comes over with a large swatch of fabric draped over his arm. As he gets closer, Jaskier realizes it's his cloak but he doesn't have a chance to ask what he's doing before Geralt is wrapping it around him, fastening it around his neck.

"It'll keep you warm," he says, fastening the clasp and Jaskier's heart is beating so loudly he can barely think over it. He suspects Geralt can hear it as well and that's what the little lopsided smile is for. He presses a hand to Jaskier's shoulder and pauses for a moment before sliding the same hand up to the side of his neck and drawing him closer.

"I'm sorry you were miserable for so long, I should have realized."

"No," Jaskier insists, but Geralt is already leaning in for a kiss and Jaskier shuts his eyes. For once, he's happy to leave something in the past.

"Will it be okay?" he asks as Geralt breaks away. He's still only a breath away and Jaskier flicks his eyes up to him. "Me coming to Kaer Morhen with you, I mean."

"If you're worried about Eskel, don't be. He knows."

"What?"

"He knew before I did," Geralt grins, stroking his thumb across Jaskier's cheek before turning and returning to his task. Jaskier is left speechless again and desperately wanting to know how he came up when talking to Eskel. Maybe if things go as well as Geralt says, he can ask Eskel himself.

They're a week out from the mountain pass that Geralt keeps talking about and Jaskier can't help but wonder if he was always expecting to take him to Kaer Morhen. He certainly wasn't expecting to be told no. But none of that matters now, especially not with Jaskier in the saddle and Geralt pressed as close behind him as he can be, one arm wrapped protectively around his middle.

The cloak is sufficiently warm, but he likes when Geralt touches him and his hood keeps blowing off anyway. Despite the cold wind, Jaskier likes it because Geralt will lean in and kiss his head and press his nose into his hair. Out in the wild, Geralt is careless with his affection, has been even before Jaskier realized what it was, and he can't blame him. If Geralt has been holding everything in for even half the time he has, it can't have been easy, even for a Witcher.

But Geralt likes to touch, likes to get his hands on whatever part of Jaskier he can reach and at times it proves to be frustrating. During the day, Jaskier lets him keep an arm around him and nothing more. He'd already learned the hard way that anything more than that affects him more than it should. Too many nights alone and too long on the road doesn't lead to anything good. And he's wanted for so long that his body overreacts to even the slightest touch. And the worst part is that Geralt seems amused by it, the bastard.

It's not until evening on the fifth night that Jaskier says something about it. They're sitting on the ground next to the fire and Jaskier is in Geralt's lap, watching the flames die down. Geralt has his hands on Jaskier's hips, slowly sliding down his thighs and back up again. His nose is pressed against the back of his ear and Jaskier decides there's nothing wrong with it tonight; it's just the two of them and nothing around for miles, so what does it matter?

Only tonight Geralt doesn't stop with soft, innocent touches. He slips his hands between Jaskier's thighs, fingers sliding easily over the smooth fabric and Jaskier lets out a little gasp when he slips higher than before. His cock twitches in his trousers and he tries to stifle a groan, but it doesn't work. Geralt presses forward, letting his lips brush the curve of Jaskier's ear.

"Jask," he breathes, "we can't do this here." Jaskier groans and arches his back against him.

"Why not? You’re the one who started it."

"You'll freeze."

"You can keep me warm," Jaskier hums, already pressing up into the touch.

He turns his head to kiss Geralt's mouth and Geralt hums against him, still doubtful even as his fingers slide over his crotch. Strong fingers curve around him, stroking him quickly to full hardness and Jaskier whimpers as he bucks up into Geralt's palm. It's a tease and nothing more, but when he pushes back between Geralt's legs, it doesn't feel like he needs any encouragement.

In fact, he doesn't even have to say anything more before Geralt's fingers are tugging his trousers open. Jaskier gasps as the cold air hits his skin, but Geralt's hand is hot and quick to wrap around him, stroking slowly down to the base and squeezing his way back up. He's smooth and precise, his motions speaking to years of practice - a thought which makes Jaskier's skin prickle and his heart beat faster.

"Touch me how you like it," he whispers and he can feel Geralt's breath stutter against his skin.

"Okay," he breathes and his fingers spread along the underside of Jaskier's cock, his thumb and forefinger circling the head.

Geralt continues, his speed increasing just slightly as he works over Jaskier's cock. Jaskier whines, panting against Geralt's neck. The thought that this is how Geralt touches himself is overwhelming and he kisses his neck, running his tongue along the underside of his jaw.

Already, Jaskier's getting close. He's denied himself too long and he's wanted this for so much longer than that. Geralt's hand is hot and quick and Jaskier breathes in his scent, shutting his eyes against the pulsing need of his cock. His hips jerk forward unbidden and he mumbles into Geralt's skin.

Geralt's palm slips up his chest and neck, turning Jaskier's head so he can kiss him properly and then he's pulling off of Jaskier's cock and lifting him in his lap. He turns him around so Jaskier's straddling his thighs and before Jaskier can even adjust to the new position, Geralt is fumbling with his own trousers.

He strokes himself quickly, tugging Jaskier against him and his hand closes around both of them, holding as tight as he can as he thrusts up against Jaskier's cock.

"Oh. Gods, Geralt, yes." Jaskier snaps his hips in quick sharp bursts, pressing himself as close against Geralt's cock as he can. Geralt's hand slips from their cocks, both arms curling around his waist and he ruts against Jaskier rolling his hips in short, sharp thrusts.

"Fuck, Jask," he huffs. His hands slip down, fingers pressing into Jaskier's ass and forcing the roll of his hips. Geralt's strong and enthusiastic and Jaskier shudders and groans as his own arousal burns through him.

He pushes up against him, so hard it's almost uncomfortable, but this position and their location aren't exactly conducive to comfort, not that Jaskier cares. Or Geralt, by the way his hand slips up, tangling itself in Jaskier's hair and tugging gently. Jaskier lifts his head obediently and as Geralt's eyes meet his, he feels his body release and before he can even warn Geralt, he's coming hard, spilling between them.

His hips stutter and his thighs shake and Geralt holds him, grunting softly in his ear as he continues the increasingly uneven roll of his hips. Jaskier's body feels heavy where it's sprawled over Geralt's chest, but his head is floating, empty and airy, the only thing still tying him to reality is Geralt's body wrapped around him. Geralt's cock digs into his hip and Jaskier's body shudders above him.

It's too much, but it's so good and Jaskier just goes limp, pressing his mouth against Geralt's neck and kissing him lazily. Geralt mumbles against him, breathing his praise into Jaskier's shoulder and he's never been so talkative. Jaskier can only hope he's always like this when he gets off.

When Geralt comes, it's with a low, rumbling growl that could almost get Jaskier hard again. His arms slip a little but stay firmly wrapped around him, and when he nudges Jaskier's cheek with his nose, Jaskier tips his head, meeting his mouth in a soft kiss.

"You're incredible, darling."

Geralt huffs his amusement and tips his head back to kiss Jaskier's forehead. He doesn't speak, and Jaskier shuts his eyes, listening to Geralt's heartbeat as it gradually slows to normal. He's not sure what the rest of the winter has in store for them, but he's thankful for this one moment alone, even rushed and cold in the forest.

After a little while, he peels himself from Geralt with a significant amount of effort and flops onto his back, staring up into the dark sky. Next to him, Geralt sits up, smiles down at him softly.

"We have to get cleaned up," he says lightly, "get changed before we sleep. We'll have washing to do when we get to the keep."

Jaskier groans dramatically, but he pushes himself up and leans in to kiss Geralt. He strips and changes his clothes as quickly as he can, careful not to take too much off at once because now that his mind is clear again, the air is bitterly cold.

When he's dressed again and wrapped in a blanket, he lays down on his bedroll, watching as Geralt goes through the same motions, changing out of his soiled clothing. It was rough and it was messy and Jaskier wouldn't change it for anything. He pulls Geralt close to him, breathing softly against his ear. In the morning, they have to get up and go, but for now, Jaskier is content to let Geralt wrap around him and kiss his neck as he drifts off into a pleasant slumber.

The rest of his night doesn't go nearly so well. After waking up three times and still shivering despite having the extra blanket wrapped around him and pressing in as close to Geralt as he can, he gives up trying to sleep at all. So, hours before dawn, Geralt packs their entire camp up and hoists Jaskier up onto Roach's back, setting back out along the road.

Jaskier has no notion of time as they travel, drifting in and out of consciousness up until the moment they arrive at the gates. Geralt helps him down as they approach the stables and Jaskier resists the urge to lean into him and fall asleep. He helps remove Roach's tack, though Geralt takes it from him so he can guide Roach into the empty stall next to Eskel's horse. Geralt leads the way up through the courtyard and into the mess hall and Jaskier follows quietly, taking in very little of it.

Kaer Morhen isn't what he expected it to be. Not that he's had much of a chance to see it; as soon as Geralt got him inside, he ran through introductions and got him upstairs into a hot bath. In which, Jaskier promptly fell asleep against Geralt's chest. Since he's woken up, he's found the keep to be surprisingly warm and comfortable and nothing like the cold, dark dungeon Geralt has described to him time and time again. Then again, he thinks, living here as a young boy in training to be a Witcher must have been a very different environment. But he seems happy enough now.

That night, the pair of them head down for supper and Jaskier finds himself sitting across from Eskel. He feels bad about all the things he thought about him before, but now isn't the time to bring all of that up so he just smiles cheerfully at him. There will be time to talk later.

Later, they make their way up to bed together and there's a moment of quiet hesitation once they're alone before Jaskier takes Geralt's hands and leads him toward the bed.

Waking up next to Geralt, warm and safe in bed, is the greatest thing Jaskier has experienced thus far in his life. By the end of the evening, all hesitancy is gone and after a meal and drinks with the rest of their companions, Jaskier finds himself hauled upstairs and pressed into cold sheets. He's fairly certain the entire keep hears how easily Geralt pulls pleasure from his body, but it doesn't matter. The only person who matters is Eskel, and apparently, he already knows.

For the next couple of days Geralt shares his bed and then, on their fifth night in the keep, he pauses when Jasikier suggests heading to bed.

"Go to bed," he says gently, "but don't wait for me."

Jaskier smiles relieved that Geralt is comfortable enough not to lie about where he's going or what he's doing. "You don't have to come to bed tonight if you'd rather stay with Eskel."

Geralt's lips twitch up in a soft grin and he leans in, pressing a soft kiss to Jaskier's mouth. Jaskier sighs and as he opens to him, Geralt presses closer, slipping his hand into Jaskier's hair. He hums softly and Jaskier can feel the restless energy in him and for the first time since the first time tonight, he's a little bit jealous that he's not the one accompanying him. He breaks away first, leaning back in for just a second to press a final kiss to Geralt's lips.

"Have a good night," he whispers.

"Goodnight, Jaskier."

Sleeping alone in a big, unfamiliar room is odd, but Jaskier wraps himself up in the blankets and burrows in. He tries not to think too much about what's happening just down the hall, but it's not jealousy that has him trying to divert his thoughts.

Jaskier adjusts to sleeping alone and he adjusts to Eskel's soft closeness with Geralt during the days, appreciates it even. Geralt doesn't get enough affection in his life, as hard as Jaskier tries, so it's good to know someone else is there when he isn't. And he likes Eskel. More than he ever expected to, especially considering the circumstances. But Jaskier isn't a greedy person and if Geralt's happy, so is he. And considering what Geralt has told him of Eskel, maybe he should have expected him to be as welcoming as he is.

He never makes any attempt to draw Geralt away and any time Jaskier comes across the two of them alone, he's easily integrated into the conversation. They get along well and Geralt seems happiest when he's between them or when everyone's together in the mess hall, so even if Jaskier didn't like Eskel, he'd be willing to put up with him for Geralt's sake. But he does like him, though it isn't until midnight a week later that he really starts to appreciate him.

It's a warmer night than it has been, so Jaskier isn't missing Geralt's presence so much tonight. He's perfectly comfortable on his own and while he would be happier with someone to keep him company, he's not lonely. And all through the evening, it had been oh so clear how Geralt and Eskel were just waiting to slip away from the group and be alone. As he lies in the dark, he wonders if that's how he comes across when he slips into Geralt's lap and whispers in his ear. Maybe, but he doesn't mind and he's sure at least Eskel understands.

Jaskier shuts his eyes, wiggling deeper into the mattress as he tugs the blanket up to his chin. He could get used to spending the winters here if Geralt is willing to bring him.

When he wakes, gasping for breath and drenched in sweat, Jaskier doesn't remember crying out, but the knock on his door makes him think he must have. No one would be checking on him, otherwise.

"I'm fine," he calls, but he finds his voice hoarse and too quiet. It's been a long time since he's had nightmares this frequently and he doesn't know what's brought them on again, but he'd like it to stop.

He swings his legs over the side of the bed and pushes himself up, starting toward the door. Whoever knocked hasn't responded, so he pulls the door open, not expecting to see Eskel standing in the doorway.

"You alright?" he asks and Jaskier nods. "You cried out and I didn't want to wake Geralt, but I know he'd want to make sure you were okay."

"I am. Thank you."

"Geralt used to have terrible nightmares, too. Do you want to talk about it?"

Immediately, he wants to say no because Geralt's lover is the last person he wants to go complaining to. Especially a Witcher who has led a much harder life than he has. But as he's contemplating, he realizes Eskel's hand has found its way to his shoulder, warm and comforting and he doesn't want to be alone right now.

He tells Eskel about his dreams, though he doesn't go into detail. No one who cares about him wants to hear about all the gruesome ways Jaskier watches Geralt die in his dreams. But Eskel seems to get the gist of it. They head out onto the balcony where they're less likely to wake anyone and Eskel doesn't move when Jaskier leans into his body to keep warm.

"We've all been through it," he says, wrapping an arm around Jaskier's shoulders, "even Lambert, though you'd never get him to admit it. What do you dream about?"

"Geralt, mostly," he admits. "Sometimes I dream about dying, but mostly it's him."

"Understandable. Geralt lives a dangerous life, I'm still surprised he lets you follow along."

"I wouldn't say he lets me," Jaskier huffs, quirking his lips just slightly as he looks up at Eskel, "but he's never tried very hard to stop me."

Eskel huffs a soft laugh. "No, I can't imagine he did."

They talk for a while longer, but when Jaskier gets too cold, Eskel ushers him back into the keep and back to his room. When they reach the door, he offers his own bed that it might be more comfortable if he wasn't alone, but as much as Jaskier is happy to let Geralt and Eskel do their thing, he's not sure he wants to be that close to it. He declines the offer politely, ensuring that Eskel knows how much he appreciates it, and retreats into the room alone.

Now, at least, when he settles into bed, he falls asleep without any trouble.

It becomes a ritual, of sorts. Jaskier's dreams don't come every night and some nights Geralt is there to curl around him and ground him in the present, but when he's not, there's Eskel. And after a while, it's not just about the nightmares. If Jaskier is having a down day and Geralt is busy, Eskel is the one he turns to for comfort (gods know Lambert won't give in without a fight). Things are good between them and Jaskier regrets the way he acted the first time they met, but love can make people do stupid things and jealousy is worse.

Geralt spends most of his nights with Jaskier, even if they're just curled up together in the dark. The rest of the time, Geralt is with Eskel and as the weeks pass, Jaskier starts to feel the still-lingering discomfort shift. He's not jealous because admitting he's jealous would mean he has a problem with the way things are between them, or admitting that maybe Geralt isn't the only one he has feelings for. Which is absurd.

But he is closer to Eskel than he is with the others and more and more often he finds himself seeking him out, looking to bask in Eskel's warmth and understanding. But it's just because he's kind and understanding and willing to listen. Because Geralt has so few good things in his life. How could Jaskier even consider taking one of them away?

They're all drinking together one night and Geralt and Lambert are playing Gwent. Geralt gets too far into it every time he plays, so Jaskier keeps his distance, watching from his perch on the table, lute in his lap. When Lambert turns in for the night, Geralt frowns at the empty space across from him before glancing down the table at Jaskier.

"Do you want to play?" he asks and Jaskier scoffs.

"Maybe if you get me another drink?" he asks, smiling brightly down at Geralt. He gets a soft, bemused smile in response, but Geralt pushes himself up from the table and Jaskier watches as he leaves the room.

Jaskier is just drunk enough to feel pleasantly warm all over, the very few inhibitions he possesses lowered. Which is probably why, when Eskel slides down the bench to sit between his knees, he doesn't move. His heart beats a little quicker, but it's probably just the wine. Eskel lifts his arms, resting his elbows on Jaskier's knees and he tips his head to one side. Already, Jaskier is struggling against the swell of emotion that fills his chest, and the soft, lopsided smile Eskel gives him doesn't help.

"I hope Geralt realizes how lucky he is," he says and for a second, Jaskier is sure his heart stops. When Eskel's eyes flick up to his, curious, almost surprised, he's sure of it. Considering the amount of stuff Geralt overhears that he's not supposed to, Jaskier's just settled on the assumption that Witchers can hear everything. Including his heartbeat.

"You have a beautiful voice," Eskel continues and Jaskier fights a losing battle to get his body under control so he doesn't give himself away. If it's not too late already.

"Thank you," he chokes out, amazed that his voice is still working properly.

He doesn't remember the last time he felt like this. With Geralt it was simple; do nothing because it won't be well-received - or so he thought - but with Eskel he's sure he could just... lean in a little, press a little closer. But where does Geralt stand in that situation? Would he be upset, worried that maybe they'd go off together and leave him? Nevermind that Jaskier's been desperately in love with him for a couple of decades now. So once again, he does nothing and he shoves the feelings down and pretends like it's fine.

But he wants to kiss him and he can feel Eskel's body heat. And Eskel doesn't seem to share any of his concerns, letting his fingers slip over the side of Jaskier's thigh and tracing invisible patterns in the silk of his trousers. Jaskier startles when Eskel rises to his feet. He plants his hands on either side of Jaskier's hips and like this, they're barely a couple of inches apart and Jaskier can feel Eskel's breath on his face and he wants. But he can't, so he shuts his eyes.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" Eskel asks and Jaskier has a witty remark right on the tip of his tongue, but then Eskel's mouth is against his own, kissing it away.

After kissing Geralt for the first time, he didn’t think anything as simple as a kiss would affect him this way, but as Eskel's lips part against his own, Jaskier can feel it all the way down to his toes. He lets out a soft sound as Eskel's arm slips around his waist, pulling him closer. Eskel breaks the kiss a moment later, only pulling back far enough to look at Jaskier.

"Come to bed with us tonight," he breathes.

"Will Geralt be okay with that?"

"I hope so," Eskel chuckles, leaning back in and pressing his lips against Jaskier's jaw. "It was his idea." Oh. "I didn't think you'd want to."

"How could I not? Who wouldn't gladly climb into bed with two handsome men like you?" Eskel snorts and pulls back to look at him, but Jaskier just smiles.

The clink of bottles against each other signals Geralt's return and Jaskier instinctively leans back a little but Eskel leans in close, breathing against his ear. "Don't worry," he whispers, "he likes it."

And Jaskier knows they can both tell the way his heart beats a little quicker, but he can't help it. He leans back further as Geralt comes to kneel behind him on the bench.

"Do you?" Jaskier asks, offering his most charming smile, "like seeing me with him?"

"Mmm," Geralt hums, cupping a hand under Jaskier's head and turning him just slightly to kiss him. When he draws back, he looks up to Eskel. "I do."

It takes Jaskier a moment to realize Geralt is playing with his shirt and it's not until he shifts that he realizes he's got it untucked from his trousers. One warm hand slips up under the fabric, fingers brushing over the bare skin beneath it and Jaskier shuts his eyes with a hum, shifting to lean back against him. As far as he's concerned, they could stay right here all night and he'd be perfectly happy with it.

Eskel's hands find his thighs, pressing down as he leans forward and catches Jaskier's lips in a heated kiss. Jaskier makes a soft noise of surprise but leans into it, and once Geralt gets him out of his doublet, he slips his arms around Eskel's neck. But the kiss doesn't last long and Eskel ducks his head, dragging his mouth down Jaskier's throat and down to press kisses into his chest.

Jaskier lets himself be moved and shifted into position, hips pulled forward so his body is flush against Eskel's. And Geralt climbs up behind him, knees on either side of his hips so Jaskier is pinned perfectly between them. His fingers slip into Eskel's hair, sliding through the strands as Eskel continues his exploration down Jaskier's stomach, undoing the buttons of his shirt as he goes. And if the sounds from behind him are anything to go by, Geralt does very much enjoy watching them together.

When Jaskier's shirt is entirely undone and Eskel has moved on to removing his boots, Geralt tugs the fabric from his shoulders. And Jaskier's pulse spikes as two sets of hands slide over his skin, then Eskel's settle on his waist, teasing the hem of his trousers. Jaskier is hardly ashamed to be half-hard already - anyone would be in his position - but his breath catches as Eskel's thumb brushes over the bulge of his cock. He tips his head back, intent on finding Geralt's mouth with his own, but when he looks up at him, he pauses.

Geralt is transfixed, paused mid-motion. His teeth pressed into his bottom lip, eyes focused on Eskel's hands where they tease at Jaskier's growing erection. Oh. He really does like to watch. Well, if that's what he wants, Jaskier isn't going to disappoint him.

He wiggles his hips enticingly and Eskel makes quick work of removing his trousers. With the last obstacle out of his way, Eskel presses in close, near enough that Jaskier's cock slips against his own - close but maddeningly separated by Eskel's clothes. Jaskier groans his disappointment, but in one surprisingly smooth motion, Eskel drops back to his seat, his fingers slipping over Jaskier's bare thighs and gripping around him. Jaskier tips his head down to watch as Eskel nuzzles between his thighs, thick stubble grazing against skin.

It's rough and a little bit ticklish, but the closeness and the way Eskel presses his face against him makes Jaskier's breath catch. He's been transfixed by Eskel for weeks now, his arms, his thighs, his lips, but now he's facing the very real possibility of having those lips wrapped around his cock and he doesn't know what to do with himself. Geralt presses against him, kisses the back of his neck, and slides a hand down his stomach.

He curves a hand around his cock, only vaguely touching him as he slips up the length of him. It's maddening in its teasing and Jaskier drops his head back against Geralt's chest with a groan, but then Eskel's lips press against his heated cock, following the path of Geralt's hand and Jaskier goes limp between them.

Geralt runs his hands up Jaskier's sides, steadying him as Eskel's lips slide over him and Jaskier leans into his warmth. Eskel's hands join Geralt's, fitting around Jaskier's hips and softly rubbing against his skin as he sinks down on him. It's never been a mystery why Geralt got involved with Eskel, but if this is what he's always like when they're alone, Jaskier can certainly see why he would keep coming back for more.

He groans as his cock bumps against the back of his throat, but Eskel doesn't let that stop him, pressing his nose into the curls at the base of his cock and swallowing around him. Jaskier is sure he's going to pass out when Eskel just stays like that and he wonders vaguely if the mutations took away his gag reflex because that could prove interesting. He bites his lip with a groan, failing miserably at an attempt to keep his hips steady. But Eskel doesn't seem to mind, guiding his hips with every little thrust. And Jaskier isn't sure he'll survive being treated this way.

He slips one arm back around Geralt's neck, steadying himself as the other slips into Eskel's hair. It takes all his concentration not to roll his hips up, slide his cock down Eskel's throat. His whole body shudders and he lets out a shuddering moan, mumbling softly as Eskel shifts and bobs in his lap.

One warm hand presses against his cheek and when he turns, Geralt catches his lips in a heated kiss. It's hot and possessive and Eskel groans at the way Jaskier’s cock throbs in response. The angle is a little off but Geralt nips at his lips and kisses him so deeply that Jaskier nearly forgets about the mouth around his cock until Eskel pulls off.

The little whine of disappointment is lost to Geralt's lips and when Jaskier eventually breaks free to look back down at Eskel, he has to remind himself not to be greedy. But it's hard when Eskel's looking up at him with those beautiful golden eyes and a faint smirk on his lips.

He rises to his feet again, pushing a hand through Jaskier's hair and cupping his jaw. For a split second, he looks like he wants to say something, but he presses forward instead, catching Jaskier's lips in a soft kiss.

"Don't start without me," he mumbles and then he's pulling away, stepping over the bench and crossing toward the door.

Despite the fire, the room feels suddenly cold without Eskel pressed against him and Jaskier cuddles back against Geralt, tugging his arms around him and shifting to kiss his neck. Geralt grabs his hips, holding him firmly and turning him in his lap. He pulls Jaskier against him, brushing his hair out of his eyes and drawing his head back to look at him.

"You look good with Eskel," he breathes, "very good. But I have to know you want this. I don't want you to do it for our sake."

"Our sake?" Jaskier asks and Geralt's hand slides to the back of his head.

"Eskel's become... fond of you."

"And you're alright with that?" Jaskier asks, hopeful.

"Why wouldn't I be? I... care deeply for both of you, why wouldn't I want him to want you, too?" He presses his lips to Jaskier's just briefly and when he pulls back, he's smiling softly. "I know you want him and I want you to. He wants you, too. We both do."

Geralt ducks his head, kissing his neck and sucking at the spot right under his jaw. He slips one arm around Jaskier's waist, tugging him closer as his other hand snakes between them, wrapping around his cock. He tugs firmly, pulling a startled gasp from Jaskier as his fingers tighten around him.

Jaskier lets him for a moment, before shifting so they're facing the opposite direction. He pushes Geralt back against the table, shifting onto his knees and he bends over him, quickly running his mouth up the Geralt's length through his trousers. He mouths at him through the fabric, taking special care when he reaches the head and Geralt's hands tangle in his hair, tugging gently as his hips rise against Jaskier's mouth.

The door creaks open but Jaskier is only distantly aware of it until he hears Geralt's muffled moan. Jaskier pushes himself up to find Eskel bent over Geralt, kissing him as Geralt's arms wind around his neck, fingers pushing through his hair. In that moment, he knows exactly why Geralt likes to watch.

Heat sears through him and he barely resists wrapping a hand around himself and getting off just like this. But he catches a glint of a vial in Eskel's hand and his heart thuds a little heavier in his chest. As Eskel pulls away, Geralt's hands fall to his sides and Jaskier can't help but smile at the soft expression on his face.

When Eskel steps away from him, Jaskier realizes he's hard, his cock straining hard against the front of his trousers. Fuck. And that fucking codpiece isn't doing anything to help matters. Jaskier climbs up, straddling Geralt's hips and rocking gently against him as he reaches out for Eskel, drawing him close with two fingers in the collar of his shirt. Eskel grins as Jaskier pulls him into a firm kiss, but he doesn't linger, even as one hand slides down to settle on the swell of Jaskier's ass.

"I think it's time we made our way upstairs," Eskel rumbles and Jaskier grumbles as Geralt asks,

"Vesemir?"

"Mm," Eskel confirms, "I don't think we need another lecture about bodily fluids." Geralt just huffs a laugh and pushes himself up, slipping a hand behind Eskel's head to guide his mouth to his own.

Eskel squeezes Jaskier's ass and dips to kiss him before pulling away to collect his clothes. Jaskier reluctantly slips from Geralt's lap and the three of them make their way upstairs toward Geralt's room.

As soon as they're in the room with the door shut, Jaskier finds himself pressed against it, a hot mouth against his own. The only way he knows it's Eskel is the scent of him. In time, he's sure he'll learn the differences in their touch, but right now he's already overwhelmed and not at all bothered with who is touching him.

He's lifted off his feet, legs snaking around Eskel's waist as one arm slips under his ass. Eskel's tongue slides between his lips and Jaskier groans, shifting his hips against him. He gets a little huff of a laugh from Eskel and is promptly deposited on the bed with Eskel on top of him. He never once breaks the kiss and Jaskier reaches up, encouraged by the press of Eskel's cock against his thigh. He tugs at Eskel's shirt, loosening it from his trousers and tugging it up over his head as Geralt joins them on the bed.

With Eskel free of his shirt, Jaskier reaches down, toying with the ties on his trousers. He gets a hum of approval and it takes a moment to realize it's coming from Geralt. He shifts above Jaskier's Jaskier, then, once he's settled, gently lifts Jaskier's head into his lap as Eskel moves back down his body. He gets his mouth around Jaskier's cock again, sucking him down as Jaskier whimpers under him.

It's not the first time Jaskier's gone to bed with more than one partner - far from it - but Jaskier more often than not finds himself in control in those situations. Tonight, though, Eskel has taken charge right from the start and Jaskier has never been happier to let himself be led. He writhes as Eskel's lips seal around him, squirms as his hands slip up over his thighs. Geralt's fingers wind through his hair and when Jaskier tips his head back he realizes Geralt is watching, his eyes focused on Eskel's mouth around him. And he's hard.

Jaskier lifts his head as well as he can, curling a hand around Geralt's neck to pull him into a kiss. It's a bit of an odd angle, but Geralt kisses him deeply, rumbles low against his lips and Jaskier arches off the bed. He feels Eskel chuckle around him before pulling off and climbing up over him. He kisses his way from Jaskier's chest up to his jaw and Geralt withdraws, letting Eskel claim Jaskier's mouth in a bruising kiss. He rocks his hips and Jaskier groans into his mouth. Eskel is thick and hard where he ruts against him and Jaskier desperately wants to get his mouth on him. Or Geralt. He isn't picky, but he is very impatient.

He's not sure if he'll get this opportunity again, so he pulls away regrettably sliding out from under Eskel's weight and leaving him with Geralt. And Eskel busies himself getting Geralt out of his shirt, something Jaskier finds difficult to tear his eyes from.

Geralt lets himself be manhandled much in the same way he does with Jaskier, but while it feels incredibly intimate and important when it's happening to him, there's something thrilling about seeing it from an outside point of view. The way Geralt lets himself be pushed and pulled into position, lets Eskel climb up over him and slot their bodies together perfectly.

Geralt reaches an arm out to him and Jaskier lies down next to him, kissing him when he turns his head toward him. Eskel hums, shifting so he and Jaskier bracket Geralt in, both pressed against his sides. And Jaskier takes his chance while he can, slipping a hand up the length of Geralt's cock through his trousers. He gets a soft groan in response, muffled against his lips, and squeezes a little firmer as Eskel's hand comes up below his.

Geralt bucks against them, rolling his head back and Jaskier takes advantage of the position to press his lips to Geralt's neck, sucking lightly as his fingers slip to his trousers, picking at the buttons. Eskel's strokes speed up a little, his hand bumping against Jaskier's every few seconds, but Jaskier still manages to undo the buttons and slip Geralt's cock free of its confines. Geralt groans as bare fingers wrap around him and Jaskier pulls from his mouth, kissing his way down to the head of his cock before licking a stripe up the side of him.

There's a muffled sound of pleasure from above him but Jaskier is focused on his task now, wrapped up in the taste of Geralt on his tongue to worry about anything else. He sinks down on him, sliding up and down his length with ease as Geralt moans above him, each sound muffled by Eskel's mouth against him. The thought of them together spurs him on and he slides one hand up Geralt's thigh, and up his chest as he flattens his tongue against him.

He's been paying attention to what Geralt likes, committing it to memory every time they're together, taking notes on what makes Geralt moan and what makes him writhe and arch off the bed. He's learning quickly. Geralt likes to be teased, even if he would never admit it; likes when Jaskier sucks him nice and slow, letting his tongue drag along the length of him, his lips slide delicately over the head. And Jaskier likes to take his time with Geralt, so it works out nicely.

Geralt groans and Eskel kisses the sounds from his mouth shifting against him and Jaskier flicks his eyes up to watch. He's not above admitting that watching them turns him on and if he's allowed, he may as well take advantage of it. But Eskel does something and Geralt whines against his lips, hips jumping forward to press his cock against the roof of Jaskier's mouth. He shudders as Jaskier sinks back on him and wraps an arm around Eskel's neck, pulling him closer.

Jaskier wants to watch, but he gets lost in the rock of Geralt's hips, the heady scent of him and he shuts his eyes and slides one hand up Geralt's chest. He teases at his nipple, rubbing it firmly, spurred on by the way Geralt twitches beneath him. He doesn't even realize Eskel's got his cock out until he hears a rumbling groan and looks over to find him with a hand around himself, leaning in so he's rutting against Geralt's thigh and that's certainly something.

Heat sears through him and Jaskier aches to get his mouth around him. He doesn't think he could, but he desperately wants to try. Eskel slips the hand from his cock to reach out, brushing his fingers against Jaskier's cheek and lifting him from Geralt's cock.

"Get him ready for me?" he breathes and Jaskier nods before he's pulled into a sloppy kiss.

It lingers longer than Jaskier's expecting and he finds himself pulled into Eskel's lap and he only just manages to snake a hand between them, wrapping around the head of Eskel's cock before Eskel's pulling away again.

He doesn't mind much when he considers the idea of watching Eskel fuck Geralt and he pulls away, running a hand up Geralt's thigh.

"Roll over for me?" he asks and Geralt is quick to comply, though he tugs Jaskier down against him. He smiles as he kisses him and Jaskier is loath to move, but he wriggles out of Geralt's grip nonetheless.

He shifts to straddle his hips, kissing a line down Geralt's spine until he reaches the swell of his ass. Jaskier squeezes the flesh, bending down to nip at him gently and he settles between Geralt's thighs. He feels when Eskel slips up behind him, but he tries to focus on Geralt, bending low to kiss him before pressing between his cheeks.

He licks a stripe over his hole and Geralt shudders under him, reaching back to grab Jaskier's hand and hold it. It's absurdly romantic when Jaskier has his face in his ass, but he loves it and he squeezes back hard. Jaskier starts off slow, with soft kisses and gentle touches, but Geralt rocks beneath him, pushing back against his mouth and it's hard to deny him exactly what he wants.

He presses his tongue against him, letting Geralt relax under him before pushing against the muscle. Geralt is surprisingly giving and Jaskier pushes into him without much effort. It's a heady feeling, the way Geralt trembles under his touch and squeezes his hand, thumb tracing circles in his skin. Jaskier fucks into him slowly, licking around his rim before pushing in again and Geralt whines as he pushes deeper, fucks him quicker.

When Jaskier gets a finger in alongside his tongue, Geralt arches off the bed and Jaskier almost thinks he could make him come just like this. And he's sorely tempted, even as Eskel presses up against his back, slipping a bottle of oil next to him.

"I want to see him come on your fingers," Eskel growls, low and rough against his ear and before Jaskier can even answer Eskel's nosing at his neck, nipping at the skin beneath his ear. Jaskier leans into the touch, withdrawing his fingers and reaching for the oil. He has every intention of following through with Eskel's command.

He slicks his fingers and presses one back between Geralt's cheeks, vividly aware of Eskel leaning over him, watching every movement. And he's as determined to please Eskel as he is Geralt. He works one finger into him, leaning low again to lick around the intrusion and Geralt mumbles into the pillows and he rolls his hips.

It's' not long before he can get a second finger into him and Jaskier crooks both fingers, pressing deep and seeking out that certain spot. When he finds it, Geralt whimpers and Eskel nuzzles against his neck. It makes it hard to concentrate, but Eskel seems unworried, wrapping one arm around his waist and slipping a hand down to wrap around his cock. Jaskier keens, jerking into the touch.

"Needy," Eskel hums. Which. It's hardly his fault. Eskel rocks against him and Jaskier is tempted to ask him to fuck him instead, prep or no.

He bends over, pushing his hips back against him and grinds back against Eskel's cock as he works into Geralt. His rhythm is a little unsteady, but he's been hard for so long he can barely help the way he rocks between his hand and his cock. It's a miracle he can even think enough to keep fingering Geralt. But he does, and when he gets a third into him, Geralt is panting and rutting against the bed.

"Jask," he groans, "please-"

"Are you gonna come for me?" Jaskier asks, his voice shaking as Eskel's cock slides against his hole. He's pushing close to the edge too and he's not sure Geralt coming won't tip him over.

Eskel's fingers tighten around him and Jaskier pushes through with a groan, thighs shaking as he shoves his fingers deep and presses against his prostate. Geralt squeezes his hand so hard Jaskier thinks he'll lose sensation in his fingers and he pushes his hips back against him, encouraging the press of Jaskier's fingers.

"Fuck, he looks good like this, doesn't he?" Eskel hums. "We're so damn lucky." He's still working at a spot on Jaskier's neck and he knows he'll have a mark in the morning and something about the fact that it's from Eskel makes it all that much more thrilling.

He tries to lean back into Eskel, but then he's being pushed forward. Eskel keeps him steady, but Jaskier's overwhelmed. He pushes Geralt's hand up, shifting to lean low over him, rutting into Eskel's fist. He rubs into Geralt and he can feel that he's close. Geralt's hips twitch shakily under him and he pulls Jaskier's hand under him, kissing his palm and pressing his nose against it.

"Jask," he breathes and that's as far as he gets before he's coming, shuddering through his orgasm.

Jaskier keeps his fingers inside him, thrusting lightly as Geralt rides through it. Geralt squirms under him, rocking back onto him even after he's come down and when Jaskier moves to pull away, Eskel intervenes. He pulls Jaskier back against him, propping him up on his lap and Jaskier is too overwhelmed to do anything but slump against his chest, head rolling on his shoulder as Eskel jerks him quick and hard.

He comes in a matter of seconds, arching off of him and crying out. Eskel stokes him through it and when a second set of hands rest on his hips, Jaskier opens his eyes to find Geralt sitting in front of him. He tips forward to kiss him and then, as he slumps back against Eskel, Geralt leans in to kiss Eskel too.

"Still wanna fuck me?" Geralt mumbles and Eskel huffs against his mouth.

"Gods, yes," he breathes. "Lie down for me."

Geralt does as he's asked, settling on his stomach, and Jaskier scoots out of the way, sprawling out next to him. He presses his nose into Geralt's side, inhaling the scent of him. He knows Geralt and Eskel will both have another couple of rounds in them, but he's already tired and quite happy to just cuddle up against Geralt's side.

Geralt's eyes drop shut and he breathes softly against Jaskier's lips, groaning as Eskel presses into him. Jaskier watches the way pleasure washes over his face and Eskel groans in time with him which is enough to have Jaskier's cock twitching again. Geralt flops against the bed, pulling Jaskier close to kiss him softly, even as he's jolted by Eskel.

Geralt is beautiful in the way he writhes against the bed and Jaskier can't keep his eyes off him. He shouldn't be getting hard again already but he's obsessed with the way Geralt moves and the sounds Eskel makes as he fucks him. Jaskier rolls onto his back, pressing against Geralt's side as he runs a hand down his own stomach. He slips down, wrapping a hand around himself and strokes slowly, feeling the way his cock swells under his touch. When he looks up, he finds Eskel watching him, a soft smirk on his face and Eskel reaches down, pushing Jaskier's hand away to jerk him off himself.

Jaskier slumps but his hips jump up. He's sensitive, but Eskel's hand feels incredible and he can't help but press into the touch. He groans as he leans into Geralt tipping his head to kiss his cheek, but Geralt shifts onto his elbows, leaning over to kiss him properly. He nips at his lips and Jaskier groans, reaching for Geralt and cupping his face.

He holds him close and Geralt kisses him hard, lips parting to deepen the kiss, shifting so he's closer, one arm draped over Jaskier's chest. Geralt's thumb brushes against his nipple and Jaskier whines against his lips, squirming against the bed. Eskel just squeezes him harder and slides his hand to the base, dipping down to suck the head of his cock into his mouth.

"Fuck," Jaskier hisses, "Fuck, Eskel please-"

Eskel flicks his tongue at him and sinks down just far enough to press his tongue against the underside of the head and Jaskier whimpers.

Eskel pulls off abruptly, running a hand up the inside of Jaskier's thigh.

"What if Geralt sucks you off?" he asks and Geralt hums as Jaskier groans.

"Would you like that?" Geralt asks, drawing away to kiss his neck. "Do you want to come again?"

"Yeah," Jaskier breathes and Geralt hums against his lips again.

"Sit up, Jask, let me see you."

Jaskier pulls himself upright, scrambling to his knees and shifts to kneel in front of Geralt. He gives himself a couple of quick strokes and catches Eskel's eye over Geralt's head.

Eskel gives him a short smack and Geralt grumbles but he presses his head into Jaskier's stomach and Jaskier is so desperately in love with him. He reaches down to brush Geralt's cheek, smiling at him as Eskel does something particularly delightful behind him and Geralt shoves his hips back.

"Fuck, Eskel," he groans and Jaskier runs a soothing hand down his spine.

He meets Eskel's eyes just for a moment, the heat in them burning straight through to his core. His cock twitches just as Geralt ducks his head, his nose brushing against him. Jaskier's mouth drops open. He's trying to be patient because Geralt has been so fucking patient with him, but it's difficult when he's rock hard and Geralt's breath is so hot against his cock.

With a groan, he slips a hand around himself, watching as Eskel's face presses between Geralt's cheeks and the way Geralt jerks and groans under his attention. Jaskier sits back on his heel and Geralt drops with him, pressing kisses against Jaskier's thighs and moving up to suck his cock into his mouth.

He swallows him down in one swift motion, propping himself up on his elbows. Jaskier drops back, knees pressing apart instinctively and he presses a soft hand to the back of Geralt's head. He pushes his fingers through his hair, dropping his head back and following the motion of Geralt's as he takes Jaskier's cock all the way down. He's quicker at it than Eskel, slipping right back up to press his tongue under the head. And fuck if he isn't good with his tongue. It's one of the few things that really surprised Jaskier when they introduced sex into their relationship and he shudders now as Geralt winds his tongue around him.

"Oh," he groans. Eskel looks up at him again and whatever he does next has Geralt pitching forward, swallowing around Jaskier's cock as he shoves his hips back hard.

Jaskier nearly doubles over and his hips give a sharp thrust forward though Geralt doesn't seem to mind. If anything, he moans deeper and Jaskier feels the vibrations of it around his cock.

"It's okay," Eskel hums, "you can fuck his mouth, he likes it."

Lust swells in Jaskier's chest as Geralt gives a grunt of assent and he runs a hand through Geralt's hair, testing his reaction as he rolls his hips. The response he gets is unequivocally positive and Geralt's hands slip under his thighs, holding him like that as Jaskier rocks his hips a little harder.

Jaskier rocks forward, pressing into the wet heat of Geralt's mouth. He's still so sensitive and the occasional graze of Geralt's teeth sends sparks up his spine. He lets his fingers slip through Geralt's hair, tugging gently and winding through it.

Jaskier can feel when Eskel thrusts into him, the way Geralt's body sways with the motion, pushing forward onto Jaskier and backward onto Eskel. It's intoxicating to see Geralt this way, giving himself up completely to the pair of them. He's always been giving as long as Jaskier's known him, and in bed, he's no different, but this feels so much bigger than his usual caring demeanour and Jaskier is a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of trust Geralt must have in them.

In a rush of emotion, Jaskier withdraws and when Geralt looks up at him, he pushes Geralt up to his knees, shuffling up close to wrap his arms around his neck. He twists the fingers of one hand in Geralt's hair, reaching down with the other to stroke him slowly. Geralt keens under the touch, rocking his hips slowly with a soft groan against Geralt's lips.

"Tell me how he feels," Jaskier breathes, pressing his face into Geralt's neck. He nips at his skin and kisses over the marks as they fade.

"Good," Geralt groans. "Really good."

Jaskier hums and flicks his eyes up to meet Eskel's. In an instant, he's tugged forward and Eskel's mouth crashes against his own, tugging his hair and biting softly at his lower lip. One of Geralt's arms slips around his waist and Jaskier presses forward, eager to be closer to both of them.

His cock aches where it's trapped against Geralt's hip and his hips shift as though of their own will, sliding through the dip of Geralt's hip. He moans softly, stuttering against Eskel's lips and then Eskel pulls away. He leans over Geralt's other side, whispering against his ear.

"On your back," is all he says as Geralt complies, Jaskier shuffles out of the way, watching the way his hair splays out around his head. Geralt truly is beautiful and when Jaskier looks up to Eskel, it's clear he's having the same thought.

Eskel gets his knees under Geralt's thighs, slipping two fingers into him and thrusting quickly. Geralt groans as he lifts his hips, pushing back onto Eskel's fingers. Jaskier watches with fascination, sitting back on his heels and absently stroking himself to the scene in front of him. He'd be happy to spend the rest of the night just like this, happy enough to have been invited to bed with them in the first place, but Geralt apparently has other ideas.

Eskel withdraws his fingers, smoothing up Geralt's side as he presses into him again and Geralt shuts his eyes and rolls his head back. He reaches out, running a hand down Jaskier's thigh before curling a hand around his wrist. He tugs him forward and Jaskier lets himself be pulled on top of him, straddling Geralt's hips.

Geralt kisses him and Jaskier drops onto his chest, winding his fingers through Geralt's hair as he deepens the kiss. A warm hand slides down his back and he arches into it, his cock slipping against Geralt's skin as he does. Eskel's hand slips over his hip, fingertips brushing along his thigh and dragging back up to his ass. Eskel's not subtle, not at all, but when his fingers press between Jaskier's cheeks, slick and probing, Jaskier whimpers.

Geralt's hand slips into his hair and he draws back, letting Jaskier bury his face in his neck. He groans softly, kissing Geralt's skin as Eskel works a finger into him. It's hot and tight and wonderful and Jaskier can't help the way he ruts against Geralt's stomach, pressing his cock into the soft flesh of his stomach. But Geralt evidently doesn't mind, cupping his ass with one hand while the other pushes through his hair.

"Feel good?" he asks and Jaskier groans a response as Eskel thrusts into him again.

"Yeah," Jaskier breathes, "gods, yes."

Eskel makes quick work of opening him up and Jaskier is disappointed when he withdraws. Eskel's fingers are thick and talented and he'd have been happy to come on them. He groans his dissatisfaction, rocking his hips back, but then Geralt's hands are on him, guiding him down onto his cock.

Geralt's hips stutter as he bumps against him, but Jaskier is hot and overstimulated and impatient. He pushes back onto him with a groan, sitting up to lean against Eskel's chest. Eskel's arm winds around his chest, holding him close as Jaskier rocks forward, adjusting to the stretch of Geralt's cock. He settles with Geralt fully sheathed and Geralt's hands come up to hold his hips down as he shifts, pushing off of Eskel's chest.

He drops his head back on Eskel's shoulder, moaning softly against his neck and reaches down to stroke himself, fingers slipping through pre-come to tease at the head of his cock. He's so close and being caught between the pair of them is doing nothing to stifle the need searing through him. And Geralt bucks under him, fingers digging into his skin as he arches off the bed. Jaskier braces himself on his chest, rubbing circles with his thumb until he's unceremoniously tugged back down.

Geralt kisses him hard, arms wound tightly around his shoulders and Jaskier just goes limp against him as he fucks him hard. When Geralt comes, he digs his fingers into Jaskier's scalp, nose pressed into his neck and Jaskier whimpers as Geralt thrusts deep.

For a moment they're still and then Eskel shifts behind them and Geralt makes a little groaning sound as Eskel pulls out. Geralt follows after him, loosening his grip and shifting to withdraw. He runs his hands up Jaskier's back and Jaskier can feel the way Eskel leans over him, kissing his neck. He's still not wholly sure how he wound up wrapped up in not one but two Witchers, but he certainly doesn't regret it. Eskel is soft and sweet and apparently, excellent at making Jaskier lose his mind and Geralt is. Well, he's Geralt. Jaskier was lost on him from the very first moment.

"You didn't come," Geralt mumbles and Jaskier is just about to tell him it's fine when Eskel bends low over him, nipping playfully at the back of his neck.

"Can I fuck you?" Eskel breathes and a whole new wave of arousal engulfs Jaskier. He whines and pushes back as Eskel's cock presses between his cheeks.

"Yeah," Jaskier gasps, "yeah, please."

Eskel doesn't waste time, draping himself over Jaskier's back and pushing into him. He's bigger than Geralt and there's some resistance, but when Eskel groans against his ear, Jaskier nearly goes limp with it. He drops onto his hands, planted on the bed on either side of Geralt's head and presses his forehead against Geralt's. Two sets of hands hold him steady as Eskel bottoms out.

He's careful, moving in shallow movements and normally Jaskier would appreciate the thought with a cock like that, but he's already slick and fucked loose and he just wants to come again. He shoves his hips back hard, prompting a deep groan from Eskel, but it seems to get his point across. Eskel holds his hips, rutting into his before withdrawing and thrusting hard.

He picks up the pace and Jaskier's skin prickles with the pleasure of it, though he goes limp, draping himself across Geralt's chest and burying his face in his hair. Geralt's legs are still wrapped around Eskel's and he pulls him closer as he kisses Jaskier's temple, brushes the hair from his face.

"Oh," Jaskier whines and Geralt kisses him so softly, a stark contrast to the way Eskel fucks him, quick and hard.

They're both drawing close. He can feel it in the way Eskel's form falters, the way his hips stutter just the slightest bit, the way he presses deep and sprawls over Jaskier's back, content to rock into him. It's constant pressure against his prostate and Jaskier whimpers. His cock drips against Geralt's stomach and he's so fucking close but he can't tip over that edge. Eskel's breath is on his neck and he kisses his neck. It's obvious that he's not going to last much longer, but he nuzzles against Jaskier's shoulders.

"Still good?" he asks and Jaskier manages a weak nod.

"Close," he mumbles and Geralt hums from under him.

He gets a hand in Jaskier's hair, pulling him down into a sloppy kiss as one hand winds around Jaskier's cock. The desperate moan is lost between Geralt's lips, but Jaskier is pushed forward with each of Eskel's thrusts and it doesn't take long before he's spilling all over Geralt's chest, forehead buried in his neck.

Eskel follows shortly, pulling out gently before flopping onto the bed next to Geralt. Jaskier tries to move, but he's held in place by a firm arm around his waist, and when Geralt kisses him, he lets himself relax.

Geralt gets an arm around Eskel's neck, drawing him closer and as Eskel shifts, he throws an arm over Jaskier's waist, fingers brushing lightly over Geralt's forearm. The last thing Jaskier knows is Eskel leaning in for a kiss before sleep overtakes him and his eyes drop shut.

It's dark when he wakes again. The middle of the night, he suspects. There's a soft moan from next to him and a heavy weight around his shoulders - Eskel - and he shuffles toward his warmth. But a sharp groan startles him to wakefulness and it only takes a second for him to realize Geralt isn't where he left him when he fell asleep.

A quick look around puts Geralt on his knees at the foot of the bed, his head between Eskel's thighs. Eskel groans again, shifting to arch off the bed and Jaskier smiles to himself. He's still exhausted, and while the thought of joining them makes his cock twitch with anticipation, he'd rather sleep for a few more hours. Let them have their fun.

These two are going to kill him one day, but at least it will be a good death.

[becomewings]

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>

    BTS Universe Story Highlights, pt. 2 / 4

« pt. 1  |  » pt. 3

Introduction

JungKook’s and YoonGi’s stories are the first of the paid content in BTS Universe Story and are substantially more detailed than the episodes covered in part 1. As this led to longer summaries (4.2k and 3k), I have added “tl;dr commentary” at the bottom of the post after a section of additional thoughts. This commentary summarizes the parenthetical asides I made throughout the summaries and may be of interest as standalone reading to those who have already played the game yet would like to review its connections to the BU texts and MVs.

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers and includes references to other BU media

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

The Boy on the Threshold

In this story, SeokJin works to uncover the motivations behind JungKook’s nightly street wandering, instigation of fights with thugs, and decision to jump from the roof of a construction site. He was aware of the “darkness” within JungKook but never thought that he would give up on himself. SeokJin is determined to find a way to make JungKook think “I want to live” on his own.

In the afternoon on 11 April Year 22, SeokJin drives by the crosswalk outside Songju Jeil High School. Spotting a grim-faced JungKook, he gets out to greet him. JungKook visibly brightens and pelts him with question after question, finally finishing with, “But how come you’re here at school?” If the player chooses the response “I came to see you” rather than “I was in the neighborhood,” JungKook seems a little disbelieving due to the coincidental timing but nevertheless pleased. SeokJin offers him a ride, thinking that JungKook will not carry out that night’s actions from previous loops if he gets home right away. In the car, SeokJin reminisces aloud about the day they all met. On 3 March Year 19, all seven boys arrived late on the first day at Songju Jeil High School and were scolded outside by the Dean. (Aside from the absence of extra students, this scene looks very similar to the BTS Begins Middle Scene VCR, including the detail of YoonGi arriving last. This VCR predates official BU content.) When the Dean spotted SeokJin in their lineup, he reduced their punishment of community service for one month to just that afternoon. After classes, the boys cleaned the annex. The old classroom-turned-storage room became their secret hideout where they enjoyed various activities like dancing, playing the piano, and spending time with one another. JungKook appears happy as they chat about their school days, although in one path, his face falls after he remembers when he and YoonGi were caught in the annex. SeokJin is concerned, but JungKook insists, “It’s nothing.”

They say goodbye outside JungKook’s house, but SeokJin watches to make sure he goes inside. JungKook hesitates before ringing the bell at the gate. His mom answers, surprised and at a loss by his unexpected arrival. She asks him to come back later because his father’s relatives stopped by, and the intercom cuts off before he can answer. (His mother remarried, so this is really his step-father and family.) SeokJin wonders if JungKook has no one to lean on at school or at home and if this is why he wanders the streets at night. He asks JungKook where he wants to go now. “The beach… the one I went to with you guys,” JungKook answers, then says he’s kidding when SeokJin hesitates, thinking about the night ahead. SeokJin invites JungKook home instead, hoping to keep an eye on him before he needs to save NamJoon at the gas station.

In his bedroom, SeokJin hastily takes down the map and notes pinned on the wall of the boys’ incidents around the city. After letting JungKook inside, he shows him a box of photos from their time together in school. While JungKook browses, a notification on SeokJin’s phone reminds him of Songho Foundation’s inaugural ceremony that evening. Songho Foundation is a scholarship foundation funded by his maternal grandmother’s estate, and his father formally introduces him on this occasion. SeokJin also receives a call from his father’s long-time aide, a man he refers to as Uncle JunHo, who instructs him not to be late to the ceremony. Claiming it won’t take him long, SeokJin asks JungKook to stay there and wait for him to return. He is worried about leaving JungKook alone but also concerned that bringing him to the gas station after the ceremony will make him late to intervening in NamJoon’s incident.

In the lobby of the hotel hosting the Songho Foundation Inauguration Ceremony, SeokJin recognizes many important faces from around the city: Song JunHo, his father’s aide; Seo HyunJung, the city’s deputy mayor; the CEO of Youngjin Engineering & Construction Company; a professor from Munhyeon University; and the Jeil High School principal, Jo JinMyung. SeokJin doesn’t want to cross paths with the principal but is drawn into a conversation with him, the mayor, and his father, Kim ChangJun. “Assemblyman! Congratulations on the launch of the scholarship foundation,” Deputy Mayor Seo says to Kim ChangJun. “I hear that your son has been accepted to Munhyeon University? You must be happy that he’s attending your alma mater.” Kim ChangJun shakes his head. “He still has a lot to learn.” She remarks that everyone knows how well SeokJin has grown up and inquires about his career plans. The player is presented with three choices: “I haven’t decided yet,” “I want to become a good person,” and “I want to become someone like my father.” SeokJin’s father continues to look grim while the others chuckle in response to the first two answers, but his expression softens at the third, which SeokJin knew would not rub him the wrong way. Deputy Mayor Seo proposes to Assemblyman Kim that they establish a regular meeting to discuss community development, mentioning that it would be better if he could invite the city’s prominent citizens and give a speech. Assemblyman Kim agrees, telling his assistant Song JunHo to make note of it. The ceremony concludes, and the guests head towards the hotel’s restaurant. SeokJin is wary of his father’s watchful gaze but impatient to carry out the rest of the night’s plans. While his father is surrounded by other people, he informs Uncle JunHo that he has to leave to work on a group project. SeokJin slips out of the hotel and heads to NamJoon’s gas station.

While SeokJin is gone, one of the photos in the box catches JungKook’s eye. It shows the seven boys sitting on a wall with the ocean behind them. (This photo resembles the shot in Euphoria at 5’32” except that they appear to be wearing school uniform shirts and slacks.) A flashback retells the afternoon of 12 June Year 19 when the boys cut school early and visited the sea, trudging over 3 kilometers under the scorching sun to find a boulder that is rumored to make your dreams come true. (The date is not specified in the game, but the memory closely follows this set of entries in The Notes 1.) Everyone collapses in disappointment when they can’t find the rock at its designated location. JungKook is tired but not as disappointed as the others—just walking there with them is enough for him, even though he often feels uncertain of his place among the group. He gets up on the pier railing, reflecting: “I’ve always liked walking on the edge of walls or on top of lines. Focusing on centering my gravity means that I don’t really think of anything else, and the boundary—not quite a part of either place—always felt like where I should be.” Balancing precariously, JungKook walks until someone grabs his arm. YoonGi scolds him not to do this. JungKook assures him that he will not fall but privately thinks: “YoonGi would often grab my arm when I walked on railings. The others would look after me, too, after seeing him do that. I liked their helping hands. It felt like they were telling me that I should go to them. That this wasn’t my place. Maybe their hands were why I walked on the railings.”

The story returns to the present in SeokJin’s perspective. He rushes back to his room after saving NamJoon and finds JungKook asleep, leaning against the bed with the photos still scattered around him. Feeling both relief and regret, SeokJin quietly coaxes JungKook to lay down and sleep more comfortably. JungKook wakes up and says he should go home after hearing that it’s past ten o’clock. The game cuts briefly to SeokJin’s father in his study with his aide. Kim ChangJun asks Song JunHo to fetch SeokJin, as he needs to know what goes on for the foundation. JunHo says that SeokJin must be entertaining a guest for the group project because he spotted an unfamiliar pair of shoes in the entryway.

Back in his bedroom, SeokJin is startled when his father knocks on the door. It’s rare for his father to visit the second floor of their home, so he let his guard down while chatting with JungKook. “F-Father.” Stammering, SeokJin flinches and gathers up the scattered photos. “Did you leave the ceremony early to waste time like this? Even lying to say you were doing a school project?” asks Kim ChangJun. His cold and reproachful stare suffocates SeokJin. When his father’s eyes scan to JungKook standing awkwardly at the side, SeokJin is plunged into a childhood memory. On 10 October Year 9, 9-year-old SeokJin hid a school friend who was being chased by scary men in his bedroom. His father arrived and asked if the boy was Mr. Choi’s son, saying people had come to take him. When Kim ChangJun ordered him to “be a good boy,” SeokJin froze and was powerless to stop his friend from being handed over. The following day, SeokJin was told his friend transferred schools. (This event is also depicted as the first entry of The Notes 1.) In the present, SeokJin struggles to think of an explanation, smothered by that memory and his father’s pressuring stare. JungKook timidly speaks up. “I was only here to visit for a short while. I was actually about to head home. Hey, I’ll go now.” SeokJin knows he can’t leave him alone yet and finally forces himself to move. “Father, I… I’m going to go out for a little while.” He runs outside, but JungKook is already gone.

The story cuts to JungKook’s perspective as he arrives in a familiar alleyway. He is thankful that SeokJin was so considerate to him but feels that he shouldn’t have gone to his home since it made things more complicated for his friend. “YoonGi even got expelled because of me… Why do I always mess things up for the people around me?” JungKook thinks. The player is presented the choice to either text SeokJin or call YoonGi. In the first path, SeokJin calls JungKook while he is mid-text and says that he’ll come pick him up, but JungKook declines, thanks him, and hangs up. In the second path, JungKook fiddles with his phone, wondering if YoonGi will be annoyed or even answer. He remembers when they crossed paths a few days earlier. On 7 April Year 22, JungKook heard a familiar tune while roaming the dark streets and saw YoonGi playing piano through a broken window of a music shop. YoonGi stopped and eventually staggered out of the shop without noticing JungKook reaching out to him. JungKook tried to play the music by memory, and suddenly YoonGi returned—just like their days at the classroom. (Note: In his 7 April Year 22 entry of The Notes 1, YoonGi is drunk and stumbling by an empty construction site when he recognizes a clumsy piano tune that he’d been playing “not long ago.” But when he runs to the music shop and finds JungKook, the text does not indicate that he remembers this is his second visit to the shop this evening. Additionally, the Wings short film First Love seems to reference some of the events of this night—or evokes YoonGi’s distorted memories of it, mingled with a representation of JungKook’s later accident.)

In the present (11 April), JungKook wonders if YoonGi is doing well. He has thought about him since their chance encounter but doesn’t have the courage to call him first. (The narrative paths rejoin here.) JungKook wonders where he should go now yet doesn’t want to think about anything. He stops in the middle of the road, and a passing car’s headlights make him dizzy. SeokJin arrives in the distance and shouts his name, but JungKook just thinks, “One more step from here. Just one more step, and everything ends.” He steps in front of the honking car. SeokJin calls him in the distance, and JungKook feels everything slip farther away. The glass shatters and the loop resets.

Awakening once more on the morning of 11 April, SeokJin vows to protect JungKook until the end. The memory of arriving too late as JungKook threw himself in front of the car reminds him of how he was also unable to protect his childhood friend when he was 9. He needs to devise a new plan, since JungKook practically ran out of the house when confronted by Kim ChangJun. The story cuts to that evening, with JungKook looking at the photo in SeokJin’s bedroom. This time, SeokJin ignores his phone’s buzzing reminder about Songho Foundation’s inaugural ceremony. He asks JungKook where he’d like to get next and, when he doesn’t have any ideas, offers him a tour of the university campus.

JungKook seems happier looking around the campus, the cherry blossoms in full bloom. SeokJin uses this opportunity to ask him if anything is on his mind and if school is going well. JungKook answers nonchalantly, but SeokJin remembers how grim he looked at the school crosswalk that afternoon. He asks if JungKook still hangs out with the other guys. “HoSeok and TaeHyung are working part-time jobs. The others… I’m not sure,” JungKook answers, expression darkening. SeokJin wonders if he shouldn’t have brought it up but still presses him. “How come? You should talk to them from time to time.” “But it’s because of me,” says JungKook. “The reason why YoonGi was expelled… It was because he was trying to protect me.” 

SeokJin either responds “It’s not your fault” or “Don’t think that way.” Following the first choice, JungKook insists, “No, it’s my fault. YoonGi wouldn’t have talked back to the teacher if I wasn’t there.” SeokJin shakes his head. “No, you couldn’t really do anything given the situation.” JungKook replies that he should have at least apologized and that he never had the chance to tell YoonGi he was sorry. “That’s how you felt, huh… I should’ve done more. I’m sorry,” SeokJin apologizes. JungKook shakes his head with a smile, but SeokJin knows that he doesn’t understand what he really meant. (Per events in The Notes 1, it is technically SeokJin’s fault that the teacher found them in the classroom.) If the second dialogue choice, “Don’t think that way,” is chosen, JungKook questions, “How could I? When it was because of me.” “No…” SeokJin is not brave enough to say that he’s the one to blame. The camera (i.e. the animation) starts wobbling as though SeokJin’s vision is swimming. “SeokJin?” asks JungKook in concern. “I should’ve done more. I’m sorry.” The episode ends with the same dialogue and animation of JungKook shaking his head with a smile, except that in the second path the camera is still wobbling from SeokJin’s perspective. (This is the only episode I noted in the game that has a slight difference in endings based on the player’s final choice, although it is essentially cosmetic.)

Episode 5 opens with a more detailed memory of 11 June Year 20 from JungKook’s perspective. The high school was holding an open house for parents. Not wanting to stay in a classroom, he wandered off and heard piano music drifting from the annex. JungKook slipped into their classroom hideout and settled down to listen. YoonGi continued to play without acknowledging him. The music helped calm JungKook—it seemed as though YoonGi understood how he felt and was trying to console him. The sound cut off abruptly as the door slammed open. “You rascals! What are you doing here?!” the Dean of Students demanded. He slapped JungKook, knocking him down. A flurry of verbal abuse poured over his crumpled form. YoonGi shoved the teacher’s shoulder and stepped in front of JungKook. “Wow, look at this kid… You put your hands on a teacher? You better be prepared, Min YoonGi.” With that ominous threat, the Dean departed. JungKook spoke from the floor. “Hey, sorry for making you—” “It’s nothing,” YoonGi cut in. JungKook wondered why he helped him. It was the first time someone had protected him, and he believed that he would never forget the view of YoonGi’s back. YoonGi asked why JungKook was smiling. “I don’t know.” Still smiling, JungKook touched his throbbing cheek. YoonGi stared at him before breaking into his own smile and sitting down next to him. They sat there wordlessly for some time. The feeling of growing closer to YoonGi made JungKook feel giddy the rest of the day. But YoonGi did not come to school the following day, and two weeks later, he was formally expelled. (The encounter with the teacher and YoonGi’s subsequent expulsion are also referenced in JungKook and YoonGi’s 25 June Year 20 entries in The Notes 1.)

In a brief interlude in the present (11 April at the university campus), SeokJin reflects again that he does not have the courage to confess to JungKook the real reason why they drifted apart. He walks with his eyes trained on the ground until JungKook calls for him to look at the cherry blossoms floating in the wind. The scene cuts to 30 September Year 20 for another of JungKook’s school memories. He stood outside the school’s annex, reflecting that his friends probably didn’t know that he went there every day. Although school was a place he found awkward and unfamiliar, their hideout was a space for him that put him at ease. On that day however, only HoSeok was inside the classroom, gathering up the items they’d left behind. JungKook realized that the time they spent together was now a memory and would never return again. (This is also an entry in The Notes 1.) Back in the present, SeokJin notices that JungKook looks grim once more and tries to improve his mood by asking if they should go to the beach. JungKook privately wonders: “Do you think YoonGi would go? And no one knows what’s going on with JiMin. Will we really be able to go together like we did then?” Holding up his pink camera, SeokJin says they should take a picture to commemorate the evening. They’re both smiling in the photo, and he hopes that they’ll all smile together again one day. After their campus tour, SeokJin walks JungKook home, ignoring the many calls he receives from his father’s assistant JunHo.

At the crosswalk outside the high school the next day (12 April), SeokJin reflects that staying with JungKook instead of attending the inauguration ceremony seemed like a good choice. He prevented JungKook from jumping off the building and stopped NamJoon’s incident too. But SeokJin wants to keep an eye on JungKook for a few days. While he’s waiting, the principal Jo JinMyung approaches and greets him, asking what brings him to the school. SeokJin tries to excuse himself, but the principal brings up the ceremony. “I thought you’d be there, but you weren’t. Did something happen? Why weren’t you there?” Caught off guard, SeokJin either answers vaguely (“I had something important to do”) or honestly (“A friend had an emergency and I couldn’t attend”). JungKook joins them slowly during the exchange, and the principal seems a little suspicious regardless of the player’s choice. In the “honest” path, he adds, “Next time, think about what's truly important before acting.” The paths rejoin when the principal smiles pointedly and mentions that he should call the Assemblyman soon. SeokJin wonders if Jo JinMyung intends to tell his father that he was with JungKook. Kim ChangJun did not approve of the time SeokJin spent with his friends even in school. “Father thinks it’s useless to have human relationships that don’t help you succeed.” When he and JungKook are in his car, SeokJin notices that the principal ominously watches them pull away.

Later that day, SeokJin meets with his father in his office. Kim ChangJun looks exhausted. Though they’re similar heights, to his son he seems like a massive grey wall. “Why didn’t you attend the inauguration ceremony yesterday?” he asks. SeokJin either lies (“A professor asked me to do something last minute”) or answers honestly (“A friend had an emergency and I couldn’t attend”). The ultimate result is the same: Kim ChangJun speaks after a long moment of silence. “The one thing I want from you is for you to be a good son.” “Yes,” says SeokJin. “I don’t think it’s a difficult task. You may leave.” As he exits, SeokJin hears him call Song JunHo and worries that his flimsy excuse will fall apart. Running into the principal may have made matters worse too. Despite his uneasiness, SeokJin has no choice but to keep going and trust that everything will work out. While NamJoon and JungKook are safe for now, he wonders if he can be a person for JungKook to lean on for comfort whenever he needs it so that he will not resort to such an extreme decision again.

SeokJin visits JungKook after school every afternoon the following days. On 15 April, JungKook asks if it’s okay for him to come like this every day. SeokJin assures him, “Yeah. I come to see you because I want to.” He observes that JungKook still seems to take social cues from him rather than acting comfortably, so he encourages him to either pick what they do next or where they should go eat. On 19 April, however, JungKook does not appear at the school gates. SeokJin tries calling him, only to learn that the number isn’t in service. Someone shouts his name, and HoSeok emerges from the Twostar Burger across from the school. “I had heard you were back, but I didn’t think I’d see you here in front of the school.” HoSeok digs a piece of paper out of his pocket, explaining that JungKook stopped by earlier. “He said he’s switching schools.” SeokJin asks where, but HoSeok doesn’t know. This has never happened before in a loop, and SeokJin wonders if he caused it. HoSeok hands over the paper, which JungKook requested be given to SeokJin. It’s a drawing of the cherry blossom tree they saw together, with a thank you note written at the bottom. SeokJin hopes that his suspicions aren’t correct.

Hunting for clues to JungKook’s whereabouts, SeokJin visits Jeil High School’s administrative office the next day (20 April). He receives slightly more information if he acts like he knows the Director of Administration, but as the student records are confidential, the man only reveals that JungKook transferred to a boarding school. On 30 April, SeokJin is summoned to his father’s office. Kim ChangJun asks him to sit down and continues speaking with his aide, Song JunHo. He confirms an upcoming appointment with the Deputy Mayor before asking, “Oh, did you take care of that incident?” “Yes. Do you mean the one concerning the Jeil High student?” JunHo responds. “I’ve taken care of the issue with the student.” Heart racing, SeokJin realizes that his father was behind JungKook’s transfer and deliberately let it slip as a warning to him. On their way out, Uncle JunHo adds, “SeokJin. You do know how difficult it was because you didn’t attend the inauguration, right?” SeokJin promises that he’ll be at the next meeting. Back in his bedroom, he decides that he made the wrong choice in this loop. He wanted to be someone JungKook could always come to, but instead he pushed him farther away. HoSeok calls him at that moment. Voice wavering, he relays that JungKook has disappeared. Some of his classmates stopped by the restaurant that day, inquiring if anyone talks to him often.

The story cuts back to 25 April with JungKook in class at his new school. His mom likes the dormitory here, and he suspects that she feels more comfortable without him at home. School, home, the dorms—he doesn’t belong in any of those places. While pairing up the students, the teacher notices that they have an odd number now and asks JungKook where he wants to go. He closes his eyes and remembers a voice: “JungKook, let’s all go to the ocean.” He thinks, “I want to go…” The scene jumps to JungKook walking towards the ocean shore. The glass shatters.

SeokJin opens his eyes on the morning of 11 April. He wonders what caused the loop to reset and assumes something must have happened to JungKook after he transferred schools. Again, he could not keep his promise of getting them all to the ocean. The episode ends with SeokJin sitting atop the seaside observatory at sunset. (This is a key location on 22 May Year 22, recurring in The Notes and depicted in the HYYH On Stage: Prologue short film and Euphoria MV. It looks the same in the game.) SeokJin ruminates on what may have happened to JungKook and where events started going wrong. He thought he could be the person JungKook needed to lean on, but he failed. This arc concludes with him wondering: “Was my method wrong? Or is it not supposed to be me? Maybe… If the person who’s supposed to console JungKook’s scars and be there for him isn’t me… Then, who can save JungKook?”

The End of His Gaze

SeokJin’s main challenge in saving YoonGi is the unpredictability of his actions between loops. The opening of this story is no different. On 2 May Year 22, SeokJin chases YoonGi after he leaves his workroom with a heavy bag but loses sight of him in the streets. As soon as he picks the nearest motel, black smoke pours from one of its windows. (The sign matches the motel in YoonGi’s scenes of the I Need U MV.) YoonGi ignores the commotion outside the room’s locked door. Once again, SeokJin is too late, and the glass shatters, resetting the loop.

Waking in his bedroom on 11 April, SeokJin considers how YoonGi backs himself into a corner no matter how or when he tries to intervene. It’s different from the incident with NamJoon because no outside person or situation is involved. SeokJin realizes that if YoonGi’s struggle and variables that make his decision so unpredictable are within him, then the only way he can stop YoonGi is by truly understanding him. He takes out his old camcorder from high school, hoping its footage may reveal some clues. In the first video clip he plays, YoonGi is off in the corner of their classroom hideout drawing music staves but speaks up to tell HoSeok and TaeHyung not to play a prank on JiMin. SeokJin wonders if YoonGi still writes music and remembers the piano in his workroom. In the second video, TaeHyung quibbles with NamJoon, who is tired yet refuses to take a nap until YoonGi pushes some desks together and tells him to lie down. SeokJin focuses on YoonGi for the rest of the video, but he is either motionless or off camera. He finds a similar challenge within his photographs: he has less than ten solo photos of YoonGi, and though his face is visible in group pictures, he is never looking at the camera. Still perusing the photos, SeokJin overhears voices from the camcorder. “It being here is a secret. Okay?” TaeHyung whispers to YoonGi. “What’s a secret?” SeokJin in the recording asks. TaeHyung and YoonGi, standing by the piano, both whip around. TaeHyung dismisses it as nothing and shushes YoonGi when he asks, “Why are you hiding something like that?” In the present, SeokJin wonders what they hid in the classroom and decides that it’s worth investigating in case it can help him save YoonGi.

On 15 April, SeokJin visits their old classroom hideout at Jeil High School, which is still being used as a storage room. The player can choose from a total of four locations to explore, provided they select the piano last. SeokJin identifies his father’s name alongside the message “Everything started from here” on the graffitied wall (he first saw this note in his 25 June Year 19 entry from The Notes 1). Even after thoroughly examining the piano, he does not find YoonGi and TaeHyung’s secret or anything else useful. Uneasy at leaving YoonGi alone for so long, SeokJin leaves the school and parks in front of his friend’s workroom. YoonGi appears to be safely inside, so SeokJin browses through the old video files on his camcorder and finds one that continued recording after he thought he had pressed the stop button. Listening to his and YoonGi’s voices, he recalls a forgotten memory of the day they walked out of school together.

The majority of episode 3 plays through a memory of an afternoon that SeokJin and YoonGi walked out of school together (date unspecified; this event is also referenced in YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry from The Notes 2 and the similar Note accompanying Map of the Soul: 7). SeokJin receives a text summoning him to the principal’s office. The office is empty yet suffocating when he arrives. Principal Jo JinMyung arrives and apologizes for making SeokJin wait. SeokJin looks down, heart suddenly heavy. The scene cuts to YoonGi entering the storage classroom as he thinks about all the days he doesn’t feel like going home. It’s not a comfortable place for him, yet there’s nothing for him at the school either, except for the group’s hideout. He feels awkward in the oddly quiet room and puts some sheet music on the piano’s rack. But when he thinks about how no one is there requesting songs from him, he can’t bring his hands up to the keys. The flashback transitions back to SeokJin’s perspective following his meeting with the principal. As expected, the principal wanted him to report on YoonGi’s behavior. SeokJin spoke carefully so as not to tip him off about anything, but he hears internal whispers calling himself a hypocrite even when he’s laughing with his friends. Fretting over how much longer he can protect YoonGi, SeokJin runs into him at the classroom hideout’s door. He hopes YoonGi doesn’t notice how flustered he is, but YoonGi doesn’t say anything beyond confirming that he’s heading home. SeokJin tries to strike up a conversation as they walk out together, but the conversation awkwardly fizzles out whether he brings up food or the weather. YoonGi points out that his phone is buzzing, and SeokJin’s camcorder falls from his bag as he looks for it. YoonGi waves him off when SeokJin films him to test that it still works. He sheepishly lowers the camcorder and forgets to turn it off. YoonGi breaks the uncomfortable silence when they are almost across the field. “Is something up? You didn’t look very happy earlier.” Heart pounding, SeokJin tries to laugh off this sharp question with an excuse, but YoonGi stares straight at him. “You’re awkward too, SeokJin.” “What is?” “Your laugh.” YoonGi pauses before continuing, “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?”

The scene fades back to the present in SeokJin’s car (15 April). He can’t make out the rest of their conversation in the recording or remember what he answered. He wonders why YoonGi asked him that. SeokJin was always tense then, afraid that his friends would learn of his meetings with the principal. Did the others notice, too? While he’s lost in these thoughts, someone outside shouts, “Fire!” Flames erupt from YoonGi’s workroom. Realizing he should have focused on YoonGi and not the video, SeokJin runs into the building. As he tries to open the locked door, he hears the glass shatter.

The fourth episode opens on the night of 11 April with SeokJin watching JungKook and YoonGi walk away from the construction site and towards NamJoon’s container. A few days later, SeokJin spots JungKook on the sidewalk on his way to YoonGi’s workroom. When asked where he’s going, JungKook avoids his gaze and replies, “I was just… walking around.” SeokJin knows this is because he has nowhere to go. Not wanting JungKook to keep wandering and remembering that he was once close with YoonGi, SeokJin invites him along. The perspective switches to JungKook as they enter the workroom. It reeks of alcohol, and YoonGi is fast asleep among empty bottles. “YoonGi… will be okay, right?” he asks. SeokJin picks up the bottles without responding. A memory from their school days occurs to JungKook. TaeHyung chased him around their classroom hideout, trying to snatch his sketchbook and succeeding when JungKook found his escape unintentionally blocked by YoonGi standing in the doorway. JungKook was dismayed when YoonGi called TaeHyung over to the piano so they could look at it together, but then YoonGi deceived TaeHyung and threw the sketchbook to JungKook. In the present, SeokJin doesn’t want to waste time while YoonGi sleeps. He taps a lost-in-thought JungKook on the shoulder and says they should leave, but JungKook responds that he will stay until YoonGi wakes. 

Back again at the classroom hideout, SeokJin hunts further around the piano. He uses an old mop handle to fish out a piece of paper from underneath it. The hidden secret turns out to be TaeHyung’s abysmal math test. Dejected, SeokJin slumps to the floor. On this level, he notices a small handle on the piano’s lower panel and uses it to pop off the cover. Faded music sheets are wedged into the piano’s frame. A phrase on one of them catches SeokJin’s eye. (함께 라면 웃을 수 있다 : The Korean is not translated in game, but Google translates it as “if we are together, we can laugh.” This recurring phrase is instead translated as “we can laugh when we’re together” in The Notes 2. In YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry, he also reflects on finding the note written in the margins of the music scores he took from the classroom. The handwriting isn’t his own. Additionally, a similar sentiment is expressed in a line of You Never Walk Alone, which is the basis for one of the BU-inspired Graphic Lyrics books.)

This message reminds SeokJin of YoonGi’s question: “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?” “This moment is the answer to that question,” he thinks, initiating a flashback to 20 March Year 19. The boys gathered around HoSeok in the classroom, chattering excitedly about the new club he’s leading. TaeHyung jokingly called him “Mr. President.” HoSeok told him only members could call him that before asking YoonGi if he wanted to join. “I’ll allow you to join without an audition, but only you.” TaeHyung exclaimed that he was just trying to get YoonGi to call him president. “Oh, it was obvious?” HoSeok chuckled. “Acting up again, huh?” YoonGi spoke up from the corner. The memory fades, returning to a pensieve SeokJin. He clearly remembers YoonGi’s face as he laughed with the others. “When did we stop laughing? Did it start that day, when I ruined everything?” SeokJin wonders. “It’s my fault,” he says aloud, standing there with the sheet music in hand until the sun begins to set. (Note: the date of the memory may be a typo. On 20 March Year 20 in The Notes 1, TaeHyung overheard SeokJin in the classroom informing the principal of the trouble he and YoonGi had gotten into. SeokJin realized that NamJoon heard it but not TaeHyung, who remained hidden out of sight and then pretended not to know. It’s not impossible that this memory really occurred in March Year 19, but most of them had only met at the beginning of that month.)

On the night of 15 April, SeokJin follows YoonGi at a distance from his workroom to an alleyway bar. (It is possible but not entirely clear that this is the same day SeokJin found the sheet music at the classroom, which is why I did not specify the date earlier.) It appears that YoonGi visits this bar often since the owner asks him if he has money today. SeokJin sits at a table behind YoonGi and watches him knock back shot after shot. Deciding that he shouldn’t leave him alone any longer, SeokJin musters up the courage to join him. YoonGi doesn’t look surprised to see him. He smiles before looking down again. SeokJin attempts a natural conversation to catch up. YoonGi asks why he didn’t come along the night when everyone got together at NamJoon’s container. “It’s been awhile since we’ve all seen each other, and JungKook… Never mind. You were probably busy.” SeokJin apologizes and inquires how JungKook is doing, then turns the same question on YoonGi when he replies that he doesn’t know. “Anything new with you?” SeokJin presses when YoonGi avoids his gaze. “Well, as you can see.” YoonGi dodges a direct answer.

The restaurant owner brings them a second glass. They are quiet in a restaurant full of chatter. SeokJin brings up the past to break the awkward silence, asking if YoonGi remembers the day they walked out of high school together. “Why do you ask?” says YoonGi. SeokJin explains that he remembered what YoonGi said to him that afternoon. “I want to ask you the same thing you asked me then.” SeokJin is nervous but continues, not wanting to waste this opportunity. “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?” YoonGi is silent for a moment. “Who knows.” SeokJin encourages him to think about it. “What good is it whether I remember or not? It wouldn’t change things now, even if I remembered.” YoonGi’s refusal to express his feelings upsets SeokJin more than his indifferent tone. “I just wish he would open up to me so I could figure out… anything. If only I could tell him,” SeokJin thinks. His internal narration continues over a shot of him in high school looking at his phone: “Or maybe… If I went back further in time, mustering up the courage to protect my friends, and prevented YoonGi from being expelled. If I did, maybe now we’d be…” “What’s with that expression?” YoonGi’s voice snaps him into the present, and he stares at SeokJin the way he had when they walked home from school. “Nothing, just… I feel like it’s been a while since I last saw you and I’m wasting time with useless subjects. It’s nothing—” SeokJin tries to laugh it off, but YoonGi interrupts. “You’re the same as always… There’s something there in your expression, but you say that it’s nothing.” This remark hits hard, rendering SeokJin speechless.

YoonGi’s words echo in SeokJin’s head even after he arrives home later that night. How did YoonGi notice what SeokJin thought he kept well-hidden? He once viewed YoonGi as someone who was indifferent to the world and trying to distance himself from everything. It dawns on SeokJin that he is mistaken. He opens his camcorder, hoping to see something new with this changed perspective. A recording plays in which he, YoonGi, and JungKook are the only ones present in the classroom hideout. When YoonGi starts playing piano, JungKook gets up from the desk and carefully stands by him. YoonGi doesn’t seem bothered and continues to play. Suddenly, he stops. “You wanna try?” In the present, SeokJin wonders why he asks JungKook that out of the blue and replays the footage, feeling like he missed something. This time, he notices that JungKook begins chewing his nails before YoonGi asks him. “Can I?” says JungKook. “Why not? It’s not my piano or anything. You can play if you want to.” At YoonGi’s words, the color returns to JungKook’s face and his hands drop from his mouth. SeokJin watches a little more of the video. As the recorded YoonGi patiently corrects JungKook’s wrong notes, he realizes that YoonGi doesn’t merely ask JungKook to play on a whim but out of respect for him.

SeokJin turns his attention to his box of photos. The player can choose up to three to examine. SeokJin realizes that YoonGi is a little further behind the group and not looking at the camera not because he feels left out or is avoiding attention, but because he is always watching how they are all together. YoonGi knows us very well, he thinks. He stopped JungKook from biting his nails by asking him to play the piano rather than acknowledging it directly. He saw through SeokJin and recognized when his laughter wasn’t genuine, even after several years apart. SeokJin thought that YoonGi wanted to give up everything, would never open up to anyone, and experienced feelings that were impossible for him to understand. “But if we were the ones to make YoonGi laugh… It may be possible to save YoonGi,” SeokJin reflects. With more determination, he vows to save him. “I’ll save him no matter what, because we can laugh when we’re together.”

SeokJin visits YoonGi every day after their meeting at the bar, responding that he’s making time to see him when asked if all university students have this much free time. They grow more accustomed to each other’s company, but SeokJin’s glimmer of hope fades as alcohol and aimless wandering continues to fill YoonGi’s life. Since just visiting YoonGi’s workroom seems meaningless, on 24 April SeokJin decides to show him the sheet music he found in the hideout, hoping it will encourage him to resume songwriting. Upon seeing the music, YoonGi has a flashback to 25 June Year 20, the day he received the school expulsion notice. He ran immediately to the classroom and played the piano as though possessed. The anger refused to settle. He shoved all of his sheet music into the piano and vowed to never play the piano again. In the present, YoonGi asks, “Where’d you find this?” At his cold expression, SeokJin wonders what he’s done wrong and explains aloud that he just happened to find it in the hideout’s piano. The papers fall from YoonGi’s hand, scattering across the floor. “Leave,” he spits. “What? Min YoonGi, what’s going on?” SeokJin asks. YoonGi shoves him. “Just leave.” “Don’t do this, let’s talk for a moment,” SeokJin tries again. But YoonGi replies, “I have nothing to say to you.”

YoonGi avoids him after that. On 25 April, SeokJin calls him numerous times without any answer and finds only torn sheet music and empty bottles in his workroom. He remembers YoonGi’s last words to him and says aloud, “It can’t be. No way.” An ominous thought crosses his mind, but he forces it out to focus on recalling something from memory. The story cuts to him running down a street, trying to figure out where YoonGi went to set the fire in the last loop. (It is never clarified what SeokJin’s “ominous thought” is—it may refer to YoonGi setting a fire or possibly even a suspicion that YoonGi figured out SeokJin was involved in his expulsion.) SeokJin finds the same motel (the one with the sign like in the I Need U MV) and rushes upstairs in a cold sweat. Faced with a hallway of identical doors, he doesn’t know how to locate YoonGi’s room. Whether the player chooses for him to call out to YoonGi or “think of something else” (which results in him pulling the fire alarm), the result is ultimately the same. SeokJin forces open the last closed door with a fire extinguisher, but the room is empty. Filled with regret, SeokJin wonders what he has done wrong. “Like an idiot, I… I knew that the location and method of YoonGi’s attempt could change, and yet…”

“Fire!” someone yells. The motel across the street erupts in flames. “No! Please…” SeokJin begs, falling to his knees. “How can I stop this tragedy? … Am I not enough to stop it?” The story ends as he hears the glass shatter once again.

Additional Thoughts

For me, JungKook’s arc really draws back the curtain on SeokJin’s private life. It demonstrates SeokJin’s challenge to balance saving his friends and maintaining his own daily life, particularly fulfilling the duties that fall to him as a prominent assemblyman’s son. We see little of this side of him until The Notes 2, when his perspective has already drastically changed.

JungKook’s reflection about his habit of walking along the edges of walls is an interesting moment of self-awareness. This “tightrope-walking” is depicted frequently in the MVs.

The car accident and loop reset at the beginning of JungKook’s 4th episode suggests the possibility that the I Need U MV depicts JungKook deliberately stepping in front of the oncoming car rather than accidentally. (Maybe people have already interpreted it this way, but personally the thought had never occured to me due to how it’s shot and acted.) The car accident is a recurring theme in the loops for JungKook, particularly as he is struck the night of 22 May and comes to believe that it was SeokJin who hit him.

This internal dialogue of SeokJin’s from YoonGi’s arc gives me a lot to think about: “If I went back further in time, mustering up the courage to protect my friends, and prevented YoonGi from being expelled. If I did, maybe now we’d be…” SeokJin’s first experiences of the time loops are depicted in the Save Me Webtoon. At that time, he believes that 11 April is the date that he can begin fixing things, but it’s not clear if this ability granted by the cat-like creature truly gives him control over to which date the loop resets. (It is more obvious that he cannot control what triggers the reset itself.) Does he ever go back earlier? Only *ahem* time will tell, but if you want some more food for thought, please check out these interesting quotes that occur before 11 April Year 22.

As mentioned above, the following “tl;dr” commentary summarizes the parenthetical notes I provided in the summaries in case you want to review them on their own.

The Boy on the Threshold — tl;dr commentary

SeokJin’s flashback to 3 March Year 19, when all seven boys arrived late on the first day at Songju Jeil High School and were scolded outside by the Dean, looks very similar to the BTS Begins Middle Scene VCR (aside from the absence of extra students), including the detail of YoonGi arriving last. This VCR predates official BU content.

The photo in SeokJin’s collection that catches JungKook’s eye resembles the shot in the Euphoria MV at 5’32” (the seven boys sitting on a wall with the ocean behind them) except that they appear to be wearing school uniform shirts and slacks.

JungKook’s flashback to the night of 7 April Year 22 expands the context of his reunion with YoonGi, adding that he is drawn to the music shop by a familiar tune and through its broken window sees YoonGi playing piano. YoonGi doesn’t notice him when he staggers outside, and JungKook tries to play the music by memory. In his 7 April Year 22 entry of The Notes 1, YoonGi is drunk and stumbling by an empty construction site when he recognizes a clumsy piano tune that he’d been playing “not long ago.” But when he runs to the music shop and finds JungKook, the text does not indicate that he remembers this is his second visit to the shop this evening. Additionally, the Wings short film First Love seems to reference some of the events of this night—or evokes YoonGi’s distorted memories of it, mingled with a representation of JungKook’s later accident.

I mentioned in part 1’s introduction that every episode’s ending is identical regardless of the decisions made by the player, but the end of episode 4 is actually cosmetically different (a wobbling camera/animation effect) if the second path is selected for the last choice. The dialogue is the same.

The end of episode 7 depicts the seaside observatory. This is a key location on 22 May Year 22, recurring in The Notes and depicted in the HYYH On Stage: Prologue short film and Euphoria MV. It looks the same in the game.

The End of His Gaze — tl;dr commentary

The motel sign at the beginning and end of the story matches the one visible in YoonGi’s shots of the I Need U MV.

When searching the classroom hideout for clues on 15 April, SeokJin identifies his father's name alongside the message “Everything started from here” on the graffitied wall. He first saw this note in his 25 June Year 19 entry from The Notes 1.

Episode 3 presents a memory from both SeokJin’s and YoonGi’s perspectives of the afternoon that they walked out of school together. Although the date is unspecified, this event is also referenced in YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry from The Notes 2 and the similar Note accompanying Map of the Soul: 7.

On his second attempt at searching the classroom, SeokJin finds sheet music that was hidden inside the piano. A phrase written in the corner of one paper catches his eye: 함께 라면 웃을 수 있다. The Korean is not translated in game, but Google translates it as “if we are together, we can laugh.” This recurring phrase is instead translated as “we can laugh when we’re together” in The Notes 2. In YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry, he also reflects on finding the note written in the margins of the music scores he took from the classroom. The handwriting isn’t his own. Additionally, a similar sentiment is expressed in a line of You Never Walk Alone, which is the basis for one of the BU-inspired Graphic Lyrics books.

SeokJin has a flashback of 20 March Year 19 in which the boys are excitedly chattering about HoSeok’s new club. However, given the larger context of this moment (both in the past and what prompts it in the present), the date of the memory may be a typo. On 20 March Year 20 in The Notes 1, TaeHyung overheard SeokJin in the classroom informing the principal of the trouble he and YoonGi had gotten into. SeokJin realized that NamJoon heard it but not TaeHyung, who remained hidden out of sight and then pretended not to know. It’s not impossible that this memory really occurred in March Year 19, but most of them had only met at the beginning of that month.

Did you learn anything new from these stories that I did not specifically mention? Let me know in the replies or tags! Please stay tuned for part 3, featuring JiMin and HoSeok’s stories.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LUNATIC PARADE ;; Ayato Route ー Chapter 3

ー The scene starts in the hotel room

Yui: ( Ayato-kun still hasn’t returned it seems... )

( I wonder where he went? Should I go look for him...? )

*Rustle rustle*

ー She goes down to the lobby

Yui: ( Ah, I recognize that back... )

Ayato-kun!

ー She runs up to him

Ayato: ...Chichinashi...

Yui: Where were you? I was worri...ーー

( ...Huh...? )

Hey, what’s wrong? You seem kind of tired...

Ayato: Shut up. I’m fine.

More importantly, are you well enough to be up and running again?

Yui: I’m fine, but...

Ayato: Mmh. Let’s go look for the locksmith together then.

Yui: Yeah...We have to find some sort of lead first though...

Ayato: I’ve got one. Seems like he’s hanging out in Saint Nore Park.

I found this person who spotted him there, you see...

Yui: Eh...?

( Then, could he have been looking around for the locksmith on his own this whole time...? )

Ayato: We might lose track of him again if we sit around too long. Let’s go.

Yui: Gotcha.

( ... )

ー She reaches for his hand

Ayato: ...Why did you grab my hand all of a sudden...?

Yui: S-Sorry...But...

( I was thinking of a way to say thank you and suddenly felt like doing this... )

Ayato: Hm, whatever. Anyway, let’s hurry.

Yui: Yeah!

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Saint Nore Park’s venue

Yui: It’s still as crowded as ever...

Ayato: Yeah, you’re right...

Yui: ( What to do? Even if we know he’s here, with this many people around... )

Ayato: Well then. Guess it’s time for these bad boys to make an appearance.

Yui: ...? Ayato-kun, are those...?

Ayato: Hehe. I figured out what the dude looks like while I was gatherin’ information on him.

I drew this portrait of him. Whatcha think? There’s just no way we won’t find him with this, right?

Yui: ( ...I thought it was an animal of some sorts...But it’s actually a portrait... )

( Ayato-kun seems very confident but...I’m honestly a little worried... )

Ayato: ...What? Got a problem with my drawing?

Yui: Eh? ...No, that’s not it, but...

Ayato: ...? But, what?

Yui: Well...

Selection

→ Beg the question

Yui: ...No, it’s nothing...

Ayato: ...Hmm. Well, whatever.

→ Praise him (☾)

Yui: ...No, it’s nothing. I just thought your art style is very distinctive...

Ayato: Hah, right? You’ve got a good eye!

Yui: ( Either way...I feel as if I’ve seen this face somewhere before... )

( ...Am I just imagining things...? )

Ayato: ‘Kay! Let’s go ‘round the whole park showin’ people this portrait!

*TIMESKIP*

Ayato: Che, fuck...We’re not havin’ any luck...

Yui: Yeah...You’re right...

( We’ve been walking around the park asking others for information, but we haven’t even gotten any clues... )

( I guess it’s impossible with just a single portrait... )

Ayato: Hm? ...Ah!

Yui: ...What?

Ayato: Oi, take a look over there...!

Yui: Eh...?

???: Hahaha, then afterwards...

Yui: ( For some reason...That man vaguely looks like...the portrait drawn by Ayato-kun...? )

Ayato: It’s definitely him! Oi, let’s go!

Yui: Y-Yeah...!

( Way to go, Ayato-kun! ...I guess? )

ー They run up to the man

Ayato: Hey, Old Geezer! You’re the locksmith, right?

???: ...I can’t deny I’m the one and only but... ...! You’re that guy from yesterday...!

Yui: Eh? ...Ah! You’re...!

ー A flashback ensues

Vampire gentleman: I was shocked to find you passed out here! Did you come with someon...ーー

ー Ayato runs up to them

Ayato: ...Oi! What are you doin’ to her!? Back off at once!!

*THUD*

Vampire gentleman: Uguh!?

Yui: ...! Ayato-kun!?

ー The flashback ends

Yui: ( The guy who helped me yesterday...And who was kicked by Ayato-kun...! )

( Who would have thought he was actually the locksmith...! )

Locksmith: What do you want? I didn’t think I would run into you two again here...

Just when I was enjoying the Parade too...

Take a look! My smile has been turned upside down because of you!

Yui: W-We’re so sorry...!

Ayato: Che...For real? No wonder the guy struck me as familiar when I was drawin’ his portrait...

Listen, dude. I’m sorry for what I did yesterday...I was convinced you were...

Yui: Um, we truly feel sorry. It’s just, Ayato-kun honestly didn’t mean any harm. 

He just got the wrong idea and...Well...

Locksmith: Hmhp! A little late for those excuses now. Besides, I’m enjoying my vacation right now.

I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t disturb me. Now leave.

Yui: ...But...!

Ayato: Listen up. There’s somethin’ we wanna ask of you.

Locksmith: ...Of me?

*Cling*

Ayato: ...It’s this. We have to fix this key by the end of today, no matter what...

I’m beggin’ you. Can’t you please help us out?

Locksmith: ...And give me one good reason to do that!? The answer is no.

Ayato: Didn’t I say ‘please!?’ If not, she’ll...Yui will...

Yui: ...Ayato-kun...

Locksmith: What does she have to do with it?

Ayato: ...Long story short, we need your skill to be able to save her!

So stop complainin’ and help us out!

*Thud*

Yui: ...Ayato-kun! C-Calm down...!

Locksmith: Hmph! You should probably do something about that short temper of yours.

...Anyway, if I don’t fix that key, something bad will happen to the young lady over here, correct?

...I suppose I have no other choice then. Let me make you an offer then.

Ayato: An offer?

Locksmith: Exactly. I challenge you to a game of go-cart. If you win, I will help you out.

Yui: ...! Really?

Locksmith: Yes, I mean it. Hey, you. This is how you negotiate with someone. Take mental note.

Ayato: Che, the fuck? This locksmith thinks he’s the shit...I don’t like him.

But fine. I just need to beat you in a go-cart race, right? Challenge accepted! You better brace yourself!

Oi, watch me, Chichinashi. I’m takin’ this victory home for sure.

Yui: Yeah...!

( Good luck, Ayato-kun...! )

Explanation: The player controls the go-cart of the character. Hitting the obstacles will slow you down. By touching the arrow, you can speed up. Use the D-pad to alternate lanes and reach the finish before time runs out.

You can play this game in EASY, NORMAL or HARD mode.

Ayato: Awesome, I win!

Locksmith: I didn’t think you could win against me in a go-cart race. ...As to be expected of Karlheinz’s son.

Yui: Eh? You knew...?

Locksmith: ...Guess so. That’s exactly why I wanted to beat him.

Ayato: Anyway, you’ll fix this key as you promised, right?

Locksmith: Yeah, of course. You won fair and square after all.

Ayato: I did it, Yui!

ー He scoops her up in his arms

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah!

( Gosh, Ayato-kun...! )

Ayato: Heh! Didn’t I tell you? Yours Truly never loses...

There’s nobody out there who can beat me. I’m always number one!

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the locksmith’s shop

Locksmith: Well then, come on in.

*Thud*

Yui: ( Wow. There’s many keys I’ve never seen before... )

Locksmith: ...Well then, show me the broken key.

Ayato: Yeah. It’s this bad boy.

*Cling*

Locksmith: ...Hm, this is...

...

Yui: ( ...He went quiet. He looks a little troubled... )

Ayato: Oi, what do you say? You can fix it, right?

Locksmith: ...I can. However...I will need a special mineral to do so.

Yui: A special...mineral?

Ayato: You just have to attach one side to the other, right!? Then why not use whatever you have laying ‘round to glue it together!?

Locksmith: ...No, that won’t work. Well, let me just show you. For example, if I try to use this metal...

*Cling cling*

*Thud*

Ayato: ...!?

Yui: ( ...The metal bounced off...? )

Locksmith: ...See? This key has been manufactured in a special way and can only be fixed by using an identical material.

It’ll be difficult to repair the key without the right mineral.

Yui: No way...

Ayato: Then we just gotta dig up that mineral from somewhere, right!? Where can we find it?

Locksmith: Even here in the Demon World, you can only find it in a select few locations.

The closest site would be...Right. The abandoned mine on Smaragd Volcano...

That place used to be a goldmine for all sorts of minerals. I’m sure you could still dig some up to this day.

Ayato: The volcano, right? ‘Kay, gotcha! Oi, Chichinashi! We’re leavin’ right away. Follow me!

*Rustle*

Yui: Ah! Ayato-kun!

ー The scene shifts to Diamante Fountain

Ayato: That bein’ said, how are we gonna get to this abandoned mine...?

It can’t be helped...The Four-Eyes might just know a good way.

Okay, I’m gonna send him a message through my Familiar.

*Flap flap flap*

Yui: ( ...Ayato-kun’s trying his very best... )

( He barely got any sleep last night either, did he...? I feel kind of bad... )

( For one, I wonder if this stuff we’re doing right now is really what the Count expects from us...? )

( I won’t deny that we broke into his house and broke the key, but... )

ー A flashback ensues

???: ...Exactly. While everyone else is too preoccupied with the Parade.

???: ...I will act as the decoy. ...As for the location, is Zartan’s Mouth okay?

???: Yes, I do not mind. However, there’s a few issues...

ー The flashback ends

Yui: ( They were being kind of suspicious, right...? )

( I wonder what exactly that key is for...? )

( If those guys are trying to commit a crime using that key... )

( We basically aided them in that, no...? )

( In that case, the Count will... )

Ayato: Oi, what’s wrong? You’ve got a frown on your face...

Yui: ...Ayato-kun...

Ayato: I got a response from Reiji. That bastard really knows all the weird shit, huh?

But it saved our ass this time. It seems like we’ll need some tools, so let’s go collect them right away.

Yui: Y-Yeah...But...

Ayato: ...? What?

Yui: Shouldn’t you take a little break first?

You know...You haven’t been able to rest at all since yesterday, right?

Ayato: ...That’s what you’re worried about? I’m totally fine.

Besides, it’s my fault all of this happened in the first place, right?

You really think I can sit still and rest now...?

Yui: ( Ayato-kun... )

Ayato: The quickest route to the volcano is to take a gondola and go up the canal.

I’m sure you’re tired as well, but let’s push through a lil’ longer and rest on the journey there, ‘kay?

Yui: ...I’m fine. I’m much more worried about you...

Ayato: Didn’t you hear me when I said I’m fine? You weirdo. ...Let’s go.

Yui: Yeah...

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Rubien Canal

Ayato: Accordin’ to Reiji’s message, there’s a lake at the end of this canal.

And the entrance to the mountain should be somewhere in the nearby forest.

Yui: ...

Ayato: ...? Oi, what’s wrong? You’ve been actin’ off this whole time, you know?

...You’re not feeling sick again, are you?

Yui: ...I’m not! There’s just been something on my mind...

Ayato: On your mind? What is it? Tell me.  You shouldn’t keep secrets from me.

Yui: ...It’s about that key...

Ayato: ...The key?

Yui: ...Yeah. I was just wondering what they’d use that key for...

Ayato: ...Well, it didn’t seem like they’re up to any good.

Yui: ...! You think so too?

Ayato: I mean, those dudes in the basements were obviously actin’ suspicious, no?

They were hella pissed we listened in on their conversation as well. I’m sure they’re up to something.

Yui: ...In that case, what we’re doing right now is...

Ayato: ...Hmph. But you know, what’s the point in worryin’ ‘bout that?

Anyway, it’s my fault the key broke...

If they won’t forgive me unless I get it fixed, then I have no other choice.

That’s all the Count told us. We don’t exactly have the time to worry ‘bout what comes after, right?

Yui: You’re not wrong but...

Ayato: Oh, seems like we’re here.

ー The scene shifts to Tilkeys Falls

Yui: ( Waah...What a beautiful place. )

Ayato: ‘Kay, let’s keep goin’. Here, gimme your hand.

Yui: Yeah.

*Rustle*

( Swan-shaped boats...Everyone seems to having a lot of fun... )

( I would have loved to come here on a date with Ayato-kun instead... )

( However, now’s not the time for that. )

Ayato: ...

*Rustle*

Yui: ...Kyah!

( Ayato-kun, out of nowhere...! )

Ayato: Why do you keep makin’ those gloomy expressions?

Don’t worry. Once we find the right mineral real quick and get the key repaired...

I’ll for sure retrieve your heart from the Count, okay?

Then afterwards, let’s enjoy ourselves here to the fullest before headin’ home. How does that sound?

Yui: Ayato-kun...

( Could it be, he’s trying to cheer me up...Right? )

Fufu. You’re right. We better hurry then.

Ayato: Yeah!

ー The scene shifts to the mine site

Ayato: Che, this place’s pretty slippery...Oi. Watch your step, ‘kay?

Yui: Yeah...

( It’s pretty creepy in here...It looks rather worn out as well... )

( It won’t collapse, right...? I’m a little worried... )

*Thud*

Ayato: There we go...Guess ‘round here should do. Let’s try diggin’ into the ground.

Yui: I’ll start over here then...

Ayato: No, you don’t need to help out. I’d rather not have you collapse on me again. Just sit there and watch, ‘kay?

Yui: ...But...!

Ayato: I just said it’s fine, right? Anyway, let’s get started! Heave...hoh!

*THUD*

*Rustle*

Ayato: Uwah!

Yui: Kyaah!

Ayato: Che, bats...? Don’t give me a scare...There...!

*THUD THUD*

Ayato: Reiji knew more ‘bout the mineral.

It’s some kind of magic crystal about the size of a fist which gives off a silver shine.

Yui: Silver...? 

Ayato: Yeah. That’s why the dark will work to our advantage! If it shimmers, we should be able to spot it right away!

*THUD*

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah!

( Again...! Is something lurking around...? )

Ayato: Hah, whatcha pissin’ your pants for? I bet it’s some lower class Familiar again?

*Flap flap*

Ayato: Che, it’s hella noisy though. It keeps on distractin’ me. I’ll chase it away!

*Thud*

Ayato: Imma go take a look up ahead so you stay here, ‘kay?

ー Ayato walks away

Yui: A-Ayato-kun...

( He left...Will he be okay...? )

Ayato: Hm? The fuck’s this? ...Wait. Uwah!? 

*CAW*

Ayato: Uwaahーー!!

Yui: ...!? Ayato-kun!?

( O-Oh no...! )

ー She rushes to his side

Yui: Ayato-kun, what’s wrong!?

( ...He’s gone...? )

Ayato-kunーー!?

*Flap*

Ayato: Chichinashiーー!!

*CAW*

Yui: Kyaah!!

( Ayato-kun...! He’s been caught by a giant eagle!! )

( W-What should I do...!? I have to save him...! )

Ayato-kun! I’ll be right thereーー!

Ayato: Forget that! Look! Inside its nest!

Yui: Eh?

Ayato: You can see it right!? There’s a silver light! Couldn’t that be the crystal!?

Yui: Ah...!

( He’s right...! There’s various silver crystals inside the eagle’s nest...! )

Ayato: Hurry up and take one! Make haste!!

Yui: ( B-But... )

*Chirp chirp chirp*

T-The chicks have got their wings wrapped around them...If I get close, I’m sure... 

( The Mother bird will get upset...! )

*Flap flap*

*CAW*

Ayato: Like we have the time to worry ‘bout that! Hurry up while I keep the big one busy!

Yui: O-Okay...

ー Yui runs over to the nest

*Chirp chirp chirp*

Yui: I-I’m sorry...I only need one, okay...

*Rustle*

( Those crystals seem very dear to them...Right, I’m pretty sure birds are known to like sparkly things... )

...

*Flap flap*

*CAW*

Yui: ...Kyaah!

Ayato: Fuck! Seems like she noticed you!

What are you takin’ your sweet time for!? Just snatch one already! ...Uwah!?

*THUD*

Ayato: ...Ow...

*Flap flap*

*CAW*

Ayato: You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me! Look! The eagle returned to her nest. Now it won’t be easy to get close to it.

That was our chance! What are you doin’...!? 

Yui: B-But...!

( I just can’t...! Even if it’s from an eagle, it’d still make us thieves...! )

*Flap flap*

*CAW*

Yui: ( ...She’s wary of us... )

Ayato-kun, let’s go outside for now...

Ayato: Haah? Are you givin’ up? But why...!?

ー Yui walks away

Ayato: Oi, wait! Chichinashi!

ー The scene shifts to the entrance of the mine

Ayato: ...God, what are you playin’ at!? We were so close!

Yui: I’m sorry...But listen...

Those chicks were holding the stones so very dearly...

I just couldn’t bring myself to take them away...

Ayato: Haah? They’re eagles, remember? The fuck you sayin’...!?

Yui: B-But you know...We’re going around trying to clear our name so...

So don’t you think that by stealing something valuable from those eagles, we’d just be committing another misduct? 

Ayato: ...

Yui: Besides, when dealing with a human, we can always apologize and explain the situation to them.

However, when it’s an eagle, we would never be able to get their forgiveness, right...?

Once I realized that, I just couldn’t bring myself to steal the crystal...

Ayato: ...Haah. You really love to overthink stuff, don’t you...?

But well, whatever. No point in crying over spilled milk.

Let’s look for a different way for now. We still have to get our hands on one of those crystals no matter what after all.

Yui: ( Ayato-kun...He understood... )

Want to move locations and try digging along the tunnel? I’ll help this time too...

Ayato: Mmh. Well...Guess we have no other choice...

Monologue

In what followed, the two of us went on our way,

digging around the entire mining site,

but we were unable,

to find the magic crystal.

With both of us completely exhausted,

we had no other choice but to return to the city empty-handed.

ー The scene shifts to café Tarte Tatin

*Cling*

Ayato: ...So what are we gonna do now...?

Yui: ...Yeah...

( For real, what should we do? )

( We have to get the key repaired by the end of today...Yet, we weren’t able to find the crystal in the end... )

Ayato: Say, I’ve been thinkin’. Don’t you think that Count might have one of those crystals in his possession?

He’s been goin’ ‘round stealing treasures from all ‘round the Demon World, so he’s bound to have one or two magical crystals amongst his collection...

Yui: ...I can definitely picture it...

( We had no other choice but to steal from the eagle to repair the key...I’m sure the Count watched all of that go down as well... )

( He might just be able to give us some advice at least... )

...Good point. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask

Ayato: We don’t exactly have much other choice. With that settled, let’s quickly finish our meal and get goin’.

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Rubien Canal

Ayato: Oh, oi! Check that out!

Yui: Eh?

Waah...!

Ayato: It’s the Water Parade. Seems like we got here just on time.

Yui: Yeah, you’re right. It’s really pretty...

Ayato: ...

Say, listen...

Yui: Eh?

Ayato: ‘Bout the eagle’s nest from earlier...I’m sorry.

You actually weighed your options, didn’t you? Yet I kept on givin’ you crap for it...

Yui: ...

It’s fine. I should apologize as well. 

Even though...You tried so hard to get that crystal...

Ayato: ...Hey, Yui. Lift your face.

ー He steps closer

Yui: Eh? ...Nn...

Ayato: Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: ( ...What a gentle kiss... )

( It’s always as if his kindness is being conveyed to me... )

Ayato: ...Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: ( I can tell even if he doesn’t say it out loud. That deep down... )

( He’s really thinking of what’s best for me... )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

← RETURN TO CHAPTER 2

→ PROCEED WITH MAIN STORY [CHAPTER 4]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #1 [W/ SUBARU]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #2 [W/ RUKI]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #3 [W/ KOU]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #4 [W/ YUMA]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #5 [W/ SHIN]

[lavendertales]

Imagine Oberyn meets you and he falls for you but you’re nervous because you have a young child, and you’re not sure how he’d react to the news, but he meets them and ends up LOVING them.

💕 💕 💕

gif: @malecharactergifs

Upon his arrival in Kings Landing, Oberyn would have never thought such a situation would occur. 

While he was shown to the palace, he caught your eyes glancing in his direction and immediately felt drawn to you. There was much simplicity to you, and yet so much grace and beauty that he wanted to know more of. And it worked both ways as well: you were struck by Oberyn’s presence but, in your defense, how could anyone not be? He was the infamous Red Viper, the most feared and skilled warrior in all the Seven Kingdoms and he was beyond enchanting.

However, once the two of you began spending more time together, you began contemplating whether you should share you one and only secret with him.

Well, it wasn’t much of a secret, but since most of the people at the court did not give a damn, you thought of it that way. An affair six years ago ended with a child that you birthed and now raised as best as you could, to the best of your capabilities, knowledge and resources. And you knew that sooner of later, Oberyn would find out about your son, whether from you or someone else.

That did not aid in soothing your nerves, though. 

Even as you accompanied Oberyn for a stroll through the vast gardens at the palace and laughed and spoke for minutes on end, you still felt incredibly nervous. And he could tell as much.

“Are you alright, my pretty?” he asked, examining your facial expression.

“Yes,” you smiled, gulping. “A bit... flustered, it’s all.”

“Why so?”

You stopped, standing directly in front of him. “Well, you are the Red Viper, a prince of Dorne. You reputation precedes you everywhere you go and every little thing that you do is... great.”

“Reputation makes no difference to us in Dorne. I may have told you this before, but there, everyone is treated equally. We are all people, human being, derived from the same flesh and with the same desires and intentions. Most of us, anyway.”

You giggled, and he took it as a queue to take your hand into his and stroke it gently. “I am yours, Y/N. Everything that I have is yours.”

“Before I respond the same... there is something you are ought to know, my prince.”

Oberyn frowned, watching you carefully. 

“There’s someone... you could meet, if you wish to. I haven’t told you this before because I was afraid you might not... approve or... even like him.”

“Him?”

You took a breath before letting out a shaky, “My son.”

It was a bizarre silence in between you two for a moment. Fear crawled its way back into your nervous system as you waited for a reaction from Oberyn and, eventually, his lips stretched into a marvelous smile, radiant and pure.

“That is why you are so flustered? For having a son?”

“Yes...?”

“My dear, there is nothing to disapprove of that! Don’t be silly.”

He kissed both your hands, smiling brightly at you as he took you in his arms, the one place you truly felt safe and at home.

“I have eight daughters,” he continued. “It makes no matter to me, I promise you. And besides... it would be my pleasure to meet your son.”

You smiled even wider upon hearing his declaration, and grabbed his hand to finish your walk. Excitedly, you rushed towards the palace back to your chambers, and there, playing carelessly and quietly, was a little boy.

“Prince Oberyn, meet my son, Sandor.”

Oberyn came forward to observe the boy, who stopped playing in the meantime and approached the prince as well. Oberyn kneeled before him and smiled pleasantly.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sandor.”

The boy shook his hand and looked at you for a brief second before inspecting the prince’s face again.

“Do you have horses?” he asked, much to Oberyn’s delight.

“Many. I could show them to you if you’d like.”

“Real ones?!”

“Yes. Big and strong, much like yourself.”

Sandor’s face lit up and giggled, which filled your heart with joy. The image of your son playing now with Oberyn and showing him his toys was something you hadn’t realized how much you longer for and how beautifully it seemed to fit together.

[dcbutinamrev]

"Stop flirting with me, I'm not going to fall for it." for Lams?

Of course bestie! I'll do my best! Sorry this is so short, btw. I'm somewhat exhausted and I don't want to be up until midnight working on a single ficlet if you know what I mean.

~~~

John Laurens sits in the far back of the house in which General Washington has borrowed for a few days before they travel once more. He huffs out a breath as the tip of his quill scratches against the parchment before him. He furrows his brows as he pauses his writing, wondering what to write next, what words should be phrased and which scentence should he put in next. He sets the quill down, shifting a little in his wooden chair to get into a more comfortable position, before shuffling through Washington's corrospondences and Lafayette's as well. He glances up when he hears the distant laughing coming from his fellow aide-de-camps Richard Kidder Meade from the main office. Laurens sighs through his nose as he feels the corners of his lips quirk up. Laurens doesn't mind their company, it's just he finds he's more at peace in the far back and concentrate on his work more easily.

Laurens sighs again, this time through his mouth, his sharp cheeks puffing out as he does so. He glances back down at the papers before continuing his work, occasionally dipping the tip of the quill to refeshen the ink before continuing. Laurens doesn't know how long he's been at this desk for, cramped in this small study he's been loaned too, his cheek in his palm and elbow digging into the wooden table when he hears the soft gentle knocks. He must have dozed off once, twice, as he yelps with surprise at the sudden sound, his knee knocking against the table as he stands up from his chair suddenly, nearly casuing the ink pot to topple over. But thankfully he catches it in time.

Laurens glances up as he hears the wooden door softly creak open, his bright blue eyes wide and face pale as he catches his breath, as though he were a child being caught by the parent while doing something naughty, his fingers fumbling over themselves as he frantically tries to screw the lid to the ink pot, hissing sharp curses under his breath. But his expression and tension eases when he sees his beautiful dear boy poking his head through the cracked doorframe, one hand gripping the golden doorknob while the other gripping the doorframe.

Laurens sighs again with relief as he stands straighter, clearing his throat as he sits himself back down in the chair, feeling his cheeks grow incredibly warm--either from the heat of the room or from the embarrassment, he isn't sure--and tucks strands of honey blonde hair that have fallen in front of his eyes, smoothing out his unifrom as Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton steps into view. Hamilton smiles beautifully as he closes the door behind him, a soft click followed by. Laurens arches both eyebrows high when he realizes Hamilton has locked the door.

Hamilton stands there for a moment, his body facing the door and his back facing Laurens. Laurens wishes he could see those beautiful, breathtaking eyes. That unique color. Rare. A deep blue, opal blue, almost like the color of the ocean but if you happen to look closely you could see a glimpse of violet in his irises. Laurens curls his fingers to hold back the temptation of wanting to run his fingers through Hamilton's dark red hair, red as the leaves in the autumn months.

Hamilton giggles as he shakes his head, huffing out a breath before spinning around on his heels to face Laurens. He folds both arms over his chest, a dark brown eyebrow raised.

"Why do you hide back here?" Hamilton asks.

Laurens smiles as he clears his throat, shuffling the papers around into a neat stack. "Waiting for you, my dear boy."

Hamilton tilts his head to one shoulder, his brows drawn tight, a crease of clear confusion across his forehead, yet the fond tone replaces the confusion clearly written on his face.

"Haven't you waited long enough?"

Laurens shakes his head as he stands. "No. Not long enough."

"Hm," Hamilton chuckles, shaking his head as he watches Laurens marching towards him, sauntering towards him almost with a glazed look over his eyes. Laurens sighs contently as he presses his forehead agaisnt Hamilton's after pressing a soft kiss to his brow, gripping the shorter man's waist with both hands and tugging him close so their chest are nearly touching.

"You look tired," Hamilton whispers, nudging his nose against Laurens' and stroking the light stubble across Laurens' jaw with his fingers. Laurens leans into the touch.

"Mhm," he grumbles, his eyes closed.

"Perhaps...I should carry you," Hamilton suggests, leaning up to press a kiss to the blonde's lips.

"Mhm," Laurens hums against Hamilton's soft, petal pink lips. "Stop flirting with me. I'm not going to fall for it."

Hamilton giggles. "I'm not flirting with you, John. I'm being serious."

Laurens scoffs, taking a step back from Hamilton's embrace and crosses both arms over his chest, eyebrows raised. "I'd like to see you try. You can't even lift Lady Washington's bed!"

Hamilton's mouth drops open in offense, his eyes widen. He narrows his eyes and growls low after clicking his mouth shut, punching Laurens in the shoulder, and not very roughly at that, as Laurens laughs.

"Oh, shut it!" Hamilton growls as Laurens still laughs. He humphs and crosses both arms over his chest again. "I hate you."

Laurens sighs, clicking his teeth as he leans down to steal a kiss from the stubborn redhead's lips and rests his cheek on his russet curl, his fingers combing through the tangled knots.

"I love you too, my dear boy. Love you too."