#i am confused please advise

[svtskneecaps]

i keep hearing noise about a linked universe discord where is this. where can i find this. i wanna lurk.

[i-am-a-secret-ssshhh]

This girl I haven't seen in nearly 7 years reached out, and why does it kind of feel like she's flirting with me? Am I that bad at reading signals?

I fear as though I am having a gay panic moment, despite not knowing if she's gay or interested, or maybe I'm just lonely?!

Help

[hiyori-ii]

so like

how would one be able to determine if they're demiromantic and not just aromantic cause like ... i'm pretty sure i understand and have felt romantic love (albeit not for real people lol)

but any time i try to date someone i just like ... can't get into it ...

sexuality and feelings are complicated man ...

[prohibition-in-curls21]

Since moving, I’ve become more okay with being alone and doing stuff on my own. Then I downloaded tinder. Maybe I’m addicted to the attention? I met a guy who was wonderful and I instantly just wanted to be around him. I knew he was only in the area for business, but it was suppose to be at least a month. Then suddenly, I received a message expressing that he will no longer be in the area and they are sending a new person. This actually hurt. It was the first time I felt something with another person after my ex, but more closely to my first love. I cannot express the way he looked at me or treated me, it was as if I was the only one for him. I miss that feeling and thought I would never find that again.

Fast forward to modern times, I was hurt, but found inner peace in being alone again. My friend and I went bar hopping, and this is where I met this guy with gorgeous wavy hair. He was at the bar with his friend that literally smelled of maple syrup (non sugary kind, absolutely delicious). It turns out they were friends of the fiancé to the wedding I will be attending. They received invitations. I realized that this guy was strung up with whoever he was messaging via Snapchat, and instantly gave him a hard time about it. I guess you can say I was feisty, but in a flirtatious way. I ended up scoring his Snapchat. I honestly do not remember much of the conversation besides having a great banter. We then went our separate ways, as I Irish goodbye him.

The very next day, I was laying dead in my bed from a horrible hangover, when I received a message from the wavy hair dude. It started off with him telling me that he got stood up again. Then it switched gears to asking me over to watch a movie. I was going to decline, but I said yes. It was a really fun evening of Austin Powers and his giant puppy (Saint Bernard). We ended up having sex after the second movie. I spent the night. Then next day I had a field class, and it was horrible. I implied I wanted to go over afterward, and he invited me. We watched a movie, cuddled, vented, and had sex again.. twice.

Now, I’m unsure. I told him I do not want anything serious. And he seemed to be understanding. However, I did tell him I do want to know if he intends to have sex with anyone else to at least let me know. Now he’s chatting and seeing another girl, which we have a nickname for, and I can’t help to feel jealous. I know it’s just casual between him and I, but I honestly thought it could lasted longer. He’s still intends to see me, but I feel like the other woman. And somehow I feel incredibly unattractive. Like, what is wrong with me.

Here’s a picture from the field class on one of the two lakes we sampled.

[risuola]

▶ BRUTALLY HONEST — when Satoru asked you for a rather unusual favor.

contents: silly Satoru, college+roommates!au, suggestive, humorous (??), male anatomy in brief detail, reader discretion is advised — wc. 934

a/n: ok, this part is... a little more into 18+ territory but still keeping it light and friendly between the trio. a crack if you will, let's all appreciate the stupid boy Satoru.

𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝙈𝙀𝘿𝙇𝙀𝙔 | series masterlist

“Question!”

The moment Satoru stepped into the room, you could tell from the look on his face — the typical mischief twisting his features into a caricature of innocence — that there’s something going on his mind that you may or may not want to know.

“Yes?” You encouraged carefully, flipping your eyes back onto the stack of papers in your hands. Notes, that you wished would transfer their contents onto your brain before you fail tomorrow’s test.

“I have the most random question– a favor, actually and you have to bear with me.”

“Hit me.” You were ready for–

“How many dicks you saw in your life?” –well, not that. “Real life, real dudes, that is. Not porn.”

You blinked.

Once, twice. The air seemed a little thicker than just a moment before and you shouldn’t be surprised. Satoru is unpredictable, he’s vibrant, he’s straight to the point most of the time, but that took you a moment.

“Can you repeat the question?”

“Dicks. Penises, cocks–“

“Yeah, okay, I got that.” You cut him quickly, abandoning the idea of studying and now paying him your entire attention. “You have to give me some context, Toru.”

“I’m curious if you girls have a preference? Speaking about aesthetics. Do you, like, judge the look of a dick?”

“Has anyone made you insecure about the look of your dick or what is it about?” You asked, confused, though confusion would be an understatement to describe the state of your mind now.

“I don’t know, no one said anything but, uh–“ Satoru began, shrugging nonchalantly, but there was a subtle uneasiness hidden underneath his lighthearted tone that you could spot with no mistake. “Every time I am with someone, they look at it as if they saw a ghost and most often it gets me down before the party begins, so it made me wonder.”

You put down the notes, abandoning the hopes and dreams about a good grade tomorrow and your fingers found their way to the bridge of your nose, pinching it — a typical gesture when you tried to collect your thoughts.

“I highly doubt any part of you could not be appealing, Toru. Even your feet are pretty—”

“Irrelevant. So, I’m asking do you have enough picture storage in your head to compare or do girls even pay attention to the looks of a dick?”

“Well, yeah, I guess? I mean, I received a fair share of unwanted dick picks, I’d say I know how a cock look like… But I don’t know, I think the judgement happens automatically,” you said, exhaling. “I think I saw once a very unimpressive dick. The rest was rather similar, I suppose—”

“What do you mean by unimpressive?”

“God, that’s embarrassing. It was my first partner, you probably don’t even know him, but the guy had at max two inches, which is fine as long as you can work with it, but he lasted less than ten seconds and on top of that he was hairy like a gorilla what probably took an entire inch off his length.”

“Wait, you had a hairy gorilla boyfriend and we don’t know about it?”

“It wasn’t my boyfriend, we didn’t even end up having sex. It doesn’t matter, okay?”

“We’ll get back to this, but now, dicks.” Satoru got closer and kneeled on the bed. “So, the favor. Can you be honest? Like, brutally, 100% honest?”

“Honest about wha— Wait, you want me to judge your dick?”

“Yeah?” He looked at you with the pleading expression in his blue eyes, his voice got whiny for a moment and you really wished to flick his forehead right now. “Please? No other girl will be as honest as you and Suguru is not really the respectable source of knowledge about the issue.”

“Christ, okay.”

You agreed.

You said okay, but for some reason it still shocked you when Satoru, instead of talking like he usually does, pulled his sweats down. Looking away was your first reaction. You felt like you shouldn’t be looking, but he literally just asked you to judge, so you slowly allowed your eyes to run down his body, leaving his handsome face and landing finally on the now free manhood, and oh boy, there was a lot to analyze.

The word pretty usually wouldn’t be your first choice when talking about penises. They were usually very similar, more often than not unimpressive and overall uninteresting, but Gojo… He was just that. Pretty. Incredibly long, and girthy too, covered in light skin with the baby pink head. He looked heavy, mouthwatering, like a dessert of sorts. The set of veins spread from below his stomach and wrapped around the shaft. He was mostly clean shaven, with just the tiniest happy trail of white hairs that against his light body was just barely visible.

“And?” He reminded you why you are even taking in the view. “Brutally honest, please.”

“You know what… I really, really hate giving a head, but that dick I’d suck for hours. It actually makes me salivate, you’re fucking pretty Satoru. I don’t get your concern,” you told him, finally looking away and getting your thoughts together, forcing them together. Why was it so hot all of the sudden? “If they look oddly, that’s probably because you’re fucking huge. Christ–”

“It makes you wanna give me a head?” He grinned, obviously catching onto the words you said when you weren’t thinking clearly.

“Hold your horses and pull those pants up. You have nothing to worry about, you’re gorgeous from head to toe, you idiot.”

taglist: @kibananya, @r0ckst4rjk, @rixo-19, @soraya-daydreams, @hyun0200, @ilykii, @roscpctals99, @mushkasstuff, @siimp4youu, @juicedcherry, @themoreeviltwin, @stevenknightmarc, @ms5m1th

[requiemsystem]

ADVICE FOR NEWLY DISCOVERED OR SUSPECTED SYSTEMS

if you suspect you may be a system or have recently discovered that youre a system, things can be confusing and hard. im making this post as someone who has been aware of being a system for about 5 years and has been diagnosed for 2. these are things i wish we knew and did. i hope it will be helpful to some of you and i wish you luck on discovering things about yourself and your system keep in mind everyone is different and systems are no exception, so what i list here might be incredibly beneficial for one person but do nothing for another. find what works for you. i will try to provide a variety of advice in order for you to see what fits you best DO YOUR RESEARCH research the disorder, try to find others experiences and things you think would help you. this is especially helpful if you are suspecting and not yet sure if you have it, researching symptoms and others experiences can be very helpful in determining START SYMPTOM LOGGING this can be as simple as "i blacked out today" or "i dont feel like myself right now", you dont have to be identifying switches or putting names to alters, theres no rush to be able to do that and some systems have no desire to do that symptom logging is useful because it can help you identify potential triggers and patterns in your symptoms. for example, if you can remember what happened before a period of amnesia and remember being exposed to a stressful event or something potentially triggering, this would be worth writing down to see if its a recurring pattern REACH OUT TO OTHER ALTERS this can be done in a variety of ways, but the easiest way would be to leave a note in a place itll be seen. for example, a sticky note on a mirror (if you live with other people and cant do this, try leaving a note on your phone in a frequently checked app) i would advise saying something along the lines of "hello, i am (name) and i would like to communicate with you. i suspect we have a disorder called (DID/OSDD) and we share the same body and mind. please write back to me in (location, can be a notebook or app etc) and tell me some about yourself if you feel comfortable" but you can say whatever works for you. i just think the main points to cover are having DID/OSDD and introducing yourself as well as asking for an introduction in return START WORKING ON COMMUNICATION this takes a lot of practice, so i always say its better to build up early rather than late. we have a whole post on it that can be found here REMINDERS AND THINGS TO REMEMBER if you do not remember your trauma, do not dig for it. it isnt safe to try to remember trauma without professionals help. if you happen to remember, thats one thing, but dont intentionally seek out triggers to try to remember denial is common and not a sign of faking, if you were faking you would know and would not be in denial. being wrong about having DID/OSDD (if you are suspecting but not sure) is not the same as faking no two systems are the same. you dont have to look exactly like some other system you know or online to be real its normal to not know everything right away. you wont know all your alters immediately, you may not be able to access (and you may not have) your innerworld, you probably wont remember all of your trauma without professionals help, etc. its all normal its totally ok to keep information about your system private. there is no need to share with anyone you do not feel completely safe and comfortable with switching at any frequency is normal, there is no "correct" amount to switch. any amount of alters is normal, there is no "correct" amount of alters. any level of amnesia is normal, there is no "correct" level of amnesia apps like simply plural and bots like pluralkit can be incredibly helpful for some systems, but there is absolutely no pressure to use them if you do not feel comfortable - grey

[anemos-orca]

Zhongli's Dragon, Part 1: Geo's Call

◆Ah apologies if i get anything to do with tumblr wrong, i am very new to this platform so it will take a bit of learning qwq◆

◆cw: smut ft dom!zhongli x sub!reader, reader is half dragon, breeding kink (?), size difference, probably more qwq

◆NSFW under "keep reading" :0

series tag: #zhongli's dragon

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◆A/N: For reference, reader is a dragon girl :D you have little horns on your forehead that point up and back, long thin fluffy ears on the sides of your head, sharp teeth, clawed hands, little dragon wings, and a dramatically long fluffy tail with two rows of dorsal spikes similar to te scutes on a crocodile tail.◆

"Zhongli..?" you said almost silently, peeking your head into his office with a shy look smeared across your face. Hu Tao had informed you that your boss requested you to join him in his office for a chat, and while it wasnt an uncommon event, your nerves never ceased to tighten each time you stepped into his office.

You had been working for him as an assistant for a few months now without incident besides the occasional flirt or tease here and there- though, you had always assumed that they were nothing more than mere jokes. However, you had to admit, you found your boss quite attractive. But then again, who wouldnt? He was tall, very tall, towering over your little form as though he were Mt. Hulao itself looking down at a fragile little Qingxin flower. Not only that, but his alluring voice, his intoxicatingly good looks, his formal verbiage, his intense yet kind gaze- wait, you were here for a reason!

Zhongli looks up from his paperwork, gently settling his writing quill back into the pot of ink before crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back in his fancy leather chair, "Ah, (y/n), thank you for joining me. Please, have a seat." He said as his hand motioned to the empty seat on the other side of the desk, the same seat you found yourself in each time he summoned you to his office. You nodded, nervously clasping your clawed hands together and wrapping your flowing tail over your lap before settling down in your familiar spot.

"Thank you, Sir. How may I assist you?" You asked quietly, your silky ears perking up in quite the adorable manner. A faint smile tugged at the corners of Zhonglis lips and he opened an arm over the desk, offering for you to take the pre-poured cup of tea if you so desired.

"Please, there is no need for such formalities this evening. I have merely summoned you as your friend, not your boss." Zhongli said, his voice buttering you up as always.

"As a friend, Sir?" You asked, your head cocking to the side and your wings tightening against your back in confusion- he had never said such a thing before. You gingerly sip your tea, graceful as ever. Zhongli nods slowly, his eyes momentarily shutting.

"Yes, my dear. I could not help but to have taken notice to your stress levels recently, so i decided it would be best to ask if you would like assistance in any way to ease your mind." He explains, his fingers pressing together as his piercing eyes open once more to meet yours. "Stress can be difficult to manage, especially for dragons. Although you are only half dragon, it is advisable to manage your stressors in order to avoid the dangerous, unwanted side effects."

You cant help but to blush a bit and begin to nervously fidget with the tail of your fur. Your ears push back in anxiety and your heart skips a beat. Had your stress really been that noticeable? You considered his sentiments for a moment, shyly looking down to your lap.

"I-I mean, i guess ive... been a bit more stressed than usual as of late..." you stammered, meeting his blazing gaze, "B-but its nothing to worry about, really! I-I... guess my human side mitigates the, er... side effects." You lied, shrinking back a bit.

Zhongli sat back in his chair once more, his arms crossing over his chest as a brow knowingly raises.

"Tsk tsk, my dear (y/n), you must know that I can tell if you are lying. You might as well turn green from spewing such heedless equivocations. There is no hiding such things, especially from your own kin." He lightly scolded you, your ears further flattening against your head as your cheeks blush brighter against your will.

You had known from the day you met him that he was also a dragon- after all, a dragons sense of smell is far better than that of a humans, so picking one of your own kind out of a crowd of hundreds was a walk in the park. It was something the two of you bonded over, being the only dragons in Liyue Harbor, and it was the reason you sought him out in the first place. After having job application after job application turned down due to the dragon features that graced your body and your vehemently quiet nature, you gathered the courage to ask Morax himself if he would hire you. He did so without hesitation.

Because you were both dragons, Zhongli knew what such high levels of stress could do to you- angry outbursts, heightened hoarding instincts, feral, animal like reactions to the smallest of inconveniences- and he knew that it would soon become a serious issue that would take a long, long break from work to fix, which he couldnt have. Despite having worked as his assistany for only a few months, you were his right hand- his most valuable peer within the work force of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor- all due to the fact that you two could understand one another without so much as a word. It was common sense: dragons knew dragons best.

"(yn)." Zhongli cooed, snapping you back into reality and out of your flustered thoughts, "While I can not force you to take my advice, I highly suggest that we work together in order to find a way to manage this stress. There are several methods known to help with quick stress relief, though i believe there is a particular activity humans participate in on a regular basis to see the immediate relief of high levels of stress, and, from what i have seen and heard over the years, i can confirm that it is quite effective. In fact, I believe it to be the most effective method when dealing with such intense stress." He explained, lifting his hand to hold his chin in thought. "Though, i do realize that this activity is... something humans consider to be a sacred, private act."

Was he really saying this? Was this real? You were convinced this must be a dream or some kind of stress-induced hallucination. You knew what he was talking about, you knew what he was implying, and it made your cheeks flush a demeaningly bright red as your heart tried to escape the confines of your chest. "Sir- uh, Zhongli, I-I..." You tripped over every word, not able to get out a single coherent thought before being silenced by Zhonglis stern gaze. "It is not a requirement of you, as I do know how touchy this topic tends to be within the social conventions of humans, but if it is something you wish for, i may be able to lend a helping hand in this stress relief." He offered, his brows raising as he awaits your response.

You felt as though you were going to die right then and there. Did he know what he did to you every day? What his gentle touch and soothing voice put you through each time you interacted? He must, how could he not- he could read you like an open book considering the way your ears and tail reacted so strongly to each emotion you felt. They might as well be a string of lanterns hung up in the night sky with how well they spelled out each of your feelings.

You sheepishly looked up to him, your heart thumping as though it was on fire and your mind slightly fogged with apprehensive thoughts of both want and need, and you nodded.

"Ah, very well. I am pleased to know that you hold this level of trust with me. I shall do everything in my power to keep it that way." He gives a small smirk, lifting his head a bit as he looks you over. "Tell me, my dear (y/n), do I assume correctly that you have never been with a mate?" He asks.

You nod, fervently fidgeting with the silky fluff of your dramatically long tail. "I-I..." you stutter, gulping hard. "Ive never done this before, s-so would you mind leading the way? I-I trust that you to know what t-to do..." you quietly coo, looking up to him with doe-eyes. Zhonglis small smirk turns to a sly grin as he oh-so majestically lifts himself from his chair and walks around the desk to stand in front of you.

"Is that so, (y/n)? Are you sure of this?" He asked, wanting to confirm that letting him take control was what you wanted. You lifted your gaze to meet his, your pupils blown out in arousal, and you nod a number of times. Unsatisfied, Zhongli reaches a gloved hand down to hold your jaw and force you to truly look up at him, "I must hear a verbal agreement in order to continue. So, my dear (y/n), tell me..." He slowly leans down, his mouth hovering dangerously close to your long, fluffy ear as his hot breath caresses your neck, "What is it, exactly, that you trust me with doing?" He teases. Without even seeing it, you can feel the devious smirk on his face.

You gulp hard, your breath hitching in your chest as you feel the fog of need shroud your mind- and you liked it. You slightly squirm in your seat, the heat and tension in your core becoming far more than noticeable as your wings begin to shiver against your back. "I-I trust you with my body, I... I trust you to mate with me."

Satisfied with both your response and the way you writhe under his breath just from talking alone, he hooks his arms under your knees and lifts you against his chest, earning a surprised yelp as your arms clamber to wrap around his shoulders. He sits you down on his desk, standing between your spread knees with your legs dangling over the edge. "I can confidentley promise you that once we are finished, you will not have the slightest clue as to why you were stressed in the first place."

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◆A/N²: I hope it was not too bad to read qwq i will continue this very soon :D◆

[thehistoriccemetery]

Companions reacting to Tav sleeping completely naked!!!! Please

BG3 Companions Find Out Tav Sleeps Naked (18+)

I really thought I was just gonna start writing this one real quick (I had an idea for Karlach) and three hours later here I am.

This asker was literally the only one to request this one so this is largely self-indulgent, as I do and always have slept naked, even in this -4 degree weather.

Also I’m really trying to incorporate the drow language into Minthara’s portion, but I’m like 70% sure I failed and it just sounds mildly cringy and incredibly ill-informed.

Anyway this is all our favorite ladies (Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Karlach, Minthara, and Jaheira) finding out Tav sleeps naked.

(18+ for possible sexual themes)

Shadowheart

One morning, when she’s feeling particularly mischievous, Shadowheart decides she’s going to drop by your room and wake you up herself.

You’re certainly not the last one up, but Shadowheart, Jaheira, and Minthara have all been up making breakfast for a little while now, and she’s finding their company a little stale.

She sneaks over to your bed, grabbing the blankets and pulling them off of you in one swift move.

She’s typically a lot nicer and gentler when she wakes you up, but her aforementioned mischievousness has her feeling a little playful this morning.

“What the hell?” You groan grumpily, “put it back on I’m cold.”

She stares at you aghast. She was not expecting you to be completely naked, splayed out face down on the mattress.

“Fine, but I’m coming with it,” she says. She wraps the blanket around her shoulders and crawls on top of you.

“Much better,” you smirk, joyed to have such delightful company so early in the morning.

She kisses your bare shoulder. “I suppose I should apologize, I hadn’t expected you to be… unadorned.”

You chuckle. “You gotta problem with me sleeping in the nude?”

“Not a one,” she corrects. “I actually find it oddly… charming, I think. Plus then I can do this.”

She starts to trail slow kisses down your spine. You smirk, trying to turn around and face her, but she pins your wrists down, keeping you splayed out on the mattress.

“Be still for a moment, love,” she kisses the middle of your back before sitting up, astride your hips. “I feel like I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“My back?” You question. She’s certainly seen your bare back before. But she really seems to be enamored with it now. It was nothing special, you thought. Aside from a couple scars, it was just… a back.

She dragged her nails gently up your back. “I like the view. I’d like to see you like this more often.” She bends over until her chest is flush against you and whispers softly in your ear. “Perhaps tonight?”

You feel a rush of heat between your legs, closing your eyes and audibly exhaling.

Before you can even fully enjoy the sensation, she’s off of you, standing next to the bed with her hand out. “Come on, the others will be waiting.”

You take her hand and pull yourself out of bed. She certainly was feeling some type of playful this morning.

Lae’zel

“Hmm. This choice of sleepwear feels… inadequate,” Lae’zel spits.

You nearly jump out of bed with the scare she gives you. You were sleeping and not expecting such abrupt company.

With a simple fire spell, you light the candle on your bedside and point it towards the Githyanki.

“Lae’zel?” You ask, very confused. “What are you doing in here? What time is it? It can’t be morning already.”

You sigh. You were still so tired, you really hoped she was not here to wake you up for the day.

“No,” she growled. “The animal has been scratching at your door. It seems he has tired of Karlach’s snoring and would like to stay in here instead.”

With that, Scratch jumps onto your bed and curls up at your feet. The animals usually slept in Karlach’s room.

“But, back to your choice of sleepwear,” she says. “It seems ill-advised to be covered by do little in your most vulnerable state.”

You cock your head. You had never seen sleeping naked as a safety hazard. “Lae’zel, you’re not sleeping in your armor… are you?”

“Chk, no,” she says, gesturing to her own sleep outfit.

“What more protection does that give you than this?” You gesture at her body and then your own.

“It’s sleek, form fitting, ergonomic, and, most importantly, it covers my most intimate areas.”

You stifle a laugh. The comment sounded ridiculous to you but you would accept her clothes as superior if it meant she’d let you go back to sleep.

“Okay, Lae’zel. Goodnight.” You blow out the candle and close your eyes.

Moments later you feel Lae’zel carefully crawl into bed on top of your blankets.

“What are you doing?” You ask.

“If you insist on sleeping in such a state, I must sleep here too. To ensure your safety.”

Karlach

Lets be honest: Karlach is at most sleeping in her underwear most nights.

But she puts on some trousers at least to pad over to your room and ask for a cuddle.

You wake up in your typical sleeping position: on your stomach with your hair flying all over the place.

You swipe the hair from your eyes to see a sweet little (7ft tall) tiefling holding her teddy bear and anxiously smiling.

“Hey love,” you say, groggy but still soft and sweet. “What can I do for ya?”

“I was just wondering if I could… um… maybe have a cuddle?” She requests, anxiously shifting her weight around.

You giggle, using your arm to lift up on side of the blanket. “Of course, darling. Please it is freezing in here.”

Her eyes go wide as you expose your full chest in lifting the blanket, then she smiles and crawls under.

As she makes contact with your skin, it’s immediately apparent that you truly are wearing nothing.

“Oh so you sleep naked. Like naked naked,” she remarks.

“As the day I was born,” you quip. “Any objections?”

She giggles and twists excitedly. “None at all my darling. In fact, I think I might like to join you.”

“Get those trousers out of here!” You joke. “No trousers allowed in the bed!”She removes what’s left of her clothes and settles into bed.

Karlach sleeps on her back, leaving you sort of half stacked on top of her with her arm swung lazily around your back. Your legs are semi-intertwined, alternating between yours and hers.

You prop your chin up against her chest to look her in the eyes. “I guess it’s kinda inconvenient that neither of us sleep on our side, huh? We’re just kinda stacked chest to chest.”

“I suppose I can be on top and we can try to go back to back,” she teases. “But I’d probably suffocate you, face down into the mattress.”

You laugh at the thought and teasingly mess up her hair. “You’re hilarious. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, darling,” she says, craning up to kiss your forehead.

For as awkward and sloppy as it looks, you both actually find the position quite comfortable.

Naturally, you wake up with your ass fully on display from where you both kicked off the blankets in the middle of the night.

Minthara

Minthara is awake, as usual, when you step into her room. Her red eyes almost glow in the pitch black.

“Can I help you?” She asks passively.

“Can I sleep in here? My room is frigid,” you ask from the doorway, clearly shaking under a blanket.

She sighs, but motions for you to come join her on the bed. “As you wish, ssin.”

Minthara had attempted to teach you a small bit of her language. The words came off unfamiliar and hissy on your tongue. From what you knew, the term she occasionally used for you, “ssin”, wasn’t an actual word. You assumed it was used as a pet name derived from the drow words “ssinssrigg” (passion, lust, greed, love) and “alurissin” (a deep loving connection.)

You close the door softly and crawl into her bed. You get on at the bottom and squirm your way up until your head pokes out the blankets.

She looks at you, both amused and appalled by your abnormal behavior. She supposed that was one way to “crawl” into bed. If you were taking the phrase literally.

“You are terribly odd sometimes, my dear,” she said laying her hand on your back, surprised to find no fabric under the blanket.

“Are you not wearing any clothes?” She asks. This wasn’t the first time the two of you had shared a bed, but the previous times you had fallen asleep naked after sex. She hadn’t thought you did that every night.

You shook your head against her chest.

“Straj, in that case I think I discovered the source of your temperature issue.” She rubbed her forehead, reminding herself of all the reasons she actually valued you at all.

Gods how did the sleeping races ever survive the nights? Did everyone sleep like this or was this just a you thing? She didn’t think she’d be surprised either way.

She opened her mouth to ask more questions, but you were already comfortably asleep against her chest.

She sighed and gently stroked your bare back in defeat. How in the hells had she fallen so hard for this adorable little fool.

Jaheira

After a particularly long day, you decide to skip all the extra steps of running your own bath and decide to just bathe in Jaheira’s room.

Her tub was already full, fresh with herbs and such from her own bath.

You rinse off quickly, eager to crawl into bed. “Can I just stay in here tonight?” You ask politely from the tub.

“That is fine. But don’t get disappointed if I fall asleep immediately,” Jaheira explains. “I’m no, spring chicken, as they say.”

You get out of the tub and dry yourself off. “Oh trust me, after today I could fall asleep on one of those god awful bedrolls again.”

She laughs. “Well then it sounds like we’re on the same page, yes?”

She gets in bed, careful to leave one side fully open to you. You step towards the bed, and lift the blanket to get in.

“Put on your sleeping clothes, it is too cold.” She commands.

You look around. You don’t have any sleeping clothes. You always sleep like this.

As you explain this to her she clicks her tongue. She gets out of bed and starts rooting through her wardrobe.

“This was Khalid’s. It will swallow you up, but it will keep you warm.”

You take the heavy fur robe into your hands. You didn’t know how to feel about being offered her late husband’s clothes.

She could see the weariness on your face and soothed you with a gentle hand on the cheek.

“He would be happy I have you, you know?” She says with a somber chuckle. “I think the two of you would’ve gotten on all too well.”

You rubbed your hand against the soft fur. I was jet black, like a panther. It reminded you of Jaheira. You softly thank her before putting on the robe. It was, indeed, very warm and way too big.

Jaheira made her way back to bed, and you followed shortly thereafter. She wrapped her arms around you, pressing her chest against the warm fur.

You have never felt so safe as you did in that moment: swaddled in a massive robe, wrapped in the arms of your lover.

She kisses the back of your head. “Goodnight, my cub.”

[jenchan-writingmultis]

Twst x obey me.... Where something happens that makes both worlds overlap or makes characters from both worlds meet each other،as a result, Mc and Yuu meet each other and it turns out that they were friends when they were still living in the human world.

Twisted Wonderland x Obey me Crossover

Part One ⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⊱⊰⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯

Part Two

A/n: This was requested last June 7, why am I so slow (╥﹏╥) not gonna lie this is hard to write, I kept thinking about what to put the reader’s pov on, I might write You as Yuki, and vice versa, where Yuu goes to Devildom, but that plan is still in drafts, for now, please enjoy the part 1! A few reminders: - Yuki is the default name in Obey Me! - NO pairing yet, It will be implied, but not explicitly displayed. - this will be divided into chapters, It will be considered a one-shot/non-series since I'm not doing different Points of view like how I do series. - Updates will be a bit slow - Credits: The line breakers are from Kaomoji dividers and Official Obey Me and Twisted Wonderland art. - Just enjoy! Would love to hear your responses on this fic cause I'm having fun writing it ^^ Masterlist

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“What is that?” you asked, bewildered, as a strange portal suddenly opened in front of you. Grabbing Grim protectively, you jumped back, creating a considerable distance from the portal. Grim meowed in confusion, stirring awake.

“Mrgh...” Grim stirs slightly, rubbing his eyes with his paws, “Hench human did you really need to be that rough?” he huffed yawning, rubbing his eyes he blinked away his drowsiness and stared at where you were looking at.

The reddish portal loomed ominously before you, causing sweat to bead on your forehead. "Sorry, Grim, but just look at that! It opened so suddenly," Grim's tail wagged curiously. "What is that?" he asked, his eyes reflecting your own bewilderment. It was becoming clear that the two of you were starting to mirror each other’s reactions, the same responses and all.

Uncertain of what to do, but feeling compelled to investigate the strange portal, you decided to proceed. Maybe it would offer some clues about how to return home. Cautiously, you placed Grim at the door, advising him to stay put while you approached the portal. Grim grumbled in protest, but your serious tone made him comply, his ears drooping as he huffed. "Don't do anything stupid, Henchhuman. I'll be here to protect you!" he declared, trying to mask his concern with bravado.

The moment you touched the portal, a hand slid out, grabbing yours and making you screech in surprise.You tried to pull away, but instead, you ended up dragging out another person... or rather, a sheep?

“Wha—” you squeaked, falling down with a thud as the weight of the body you pulled out slammed into you.

“I am so sorry!” a familiar voice rang out. They quickly grabbed your hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as you rubbed your head, trying to shake off the daze. As Grim hissed fiercely at the person who had just body-slammed you, you managed to groan out, "It's fine," while grabbing Grim firmly by the scuff. "Behave, Grim." When the person finally got off you, your eyes widened in surprise. "Yuki?"

"Hm?" they exclaimed, eyes widening as they pointed straight at you. "It's you!" With a squeal, they leaped at you once more, sandwiching poor Grim between you both.

“Ack! Get off me!” he squirmed managing to push himself off the crushing hug you both shared. “Where have you been?! You vanished in our world!” Yuki cried out, shaking you and making you dizzy as you grabbed their arms, trying to calm them down. “Wait! Wait!” you said, “You vanished too! You recall the time we were in a sleepover?!” You complained.

“So, both of us got taken away at the same time?” Yuki said, frowning, making them look around. “Is this where you live?” they said, eyes twinkling. “Wow this is a good place” they stood up, offering their hand to help you stand on your feet. Which you unconsciously take, a gesture you do with your long-time friend.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t even like this before- It was a mess” you admitted, scratching the back of your neck, you’re not sure if you should tell Yuki about how you’re basically broke, and you’re being exploited by a certain birdman headmaster.

“Are you not telling me something else?” Yuki’s eyes narrowed, crossing their arms. “Tell me the deets, now” " Their gaze shifted momentarily as Grim the cat perched on your shoulder steals their attention causing them to get distracted. “A flaming cat? Really?”  Yuki said, “Hey! His name is Grim, not a flaming cat,” you huffed, hugging Grim. “He’s my companion, first friend in this world.” Rubbing the base of Grim’s ear, he still glared at Yuki. Now that you think about it, Yuki looked incredibly different, sure their pink hair was normal but why do they have horns, and are those sheep legs?

“You know, forget about me, at least I look normal,” you commented, reaching out to touch Yuki’s horns. “What happened to you?” you asked, Yuki grins, grabbing your wrist and pulling it away from them as they cup both your hands. “I’m an exchange student in RAD.”

"RAD?" You interjected, acknowledging the interesting adventure both of you had after getting separated. "You know what," you continued, cutting off Yuki's babbling before it could start. "Let's discuss this in the living room. Will the portal you used close?" you asked, glancing towards the portal.

"Oh, that? Yeah, it'll probably close, but I should be able to bring the demon brothers out with me," Yuki replied casually.

“Jesus Christ Yuki!” you gasped out, what the hell do they mean by Demons. “ARE YOU IN HELL?”

“Devildom School!” Yuki corrected “But they’re nice, all I need to do is study, I don’t need to worry about expenses, unlike the time we were living in our apartment.” Yuki grins, causing you to get hit by that like a truck. “You don’t?”

Yuki nodded their head too enthusiastically, “I’m quite happy here, the demon brothers are incredibly attractive, and they keep me safe” they said which made Grim laugh, “Everyone here is ugly! Well except for Vil and me!” he huffed proudly, causing you to cover his mouth. “Maybe I can go there, Yuki.” You joked, causing Yuki to smile brightly, tugging your hand to their chest “You will!? I’ll ask Diavolo to make reservat- “

“On second thought nevermind, those names give me the shivers” You quickly retracted your hand away.

“Say,” Grim says as he looks at the portal, he floats on it, eyes blinking owlishly and you don’t like that look “This portal sends you to hell?” he questions, Yuki walks beside him “Well yes, but it’s much better if you don’t go in there, demons tend to eat tiny kitties like you” Yuki says, hands motioning to grab Grim’s chubby belly.

“Isn’t that rude to say?” a voice echoed in the portal, and before Grim could even move away a pair of hands grabbed him, causing him to squeak in surprise, you, on the other hand, got alerted as you tried to grab Grim back, but Yuki stopped you, pulling you away from the portal so that the mysterious man can come out.

A tall figure emerged, his blonde hair catching the light as he stepped outside, one hand cradling Grim the cat while he absentmindedly rubbed the feline's paws. "Aww, look at you, kitty kitty," he cooed in a tone that made Grim cringe, the cat trying to squirm free from the man's unyielding grip. "Get your filthy paws off me!" Grim spat, eyes narrowing with irritation.

But it seems like Grim’s threat fell on deaf ears as he started to eagerly pet Grim. “Such a cute kitty” he coos with a blissful smile on his face, “And, Yuki, you shouldn’t go in mysterious portals “He added, focusing suddenly on Yuki, who nervously scratched their cheek. "I'm safe now, though, and I get to see an old friend!" Yuki deftly redirected the intimidating man's attention towards you. "Who might this be?"

"Ah, a friend from the human world," Yuki introduced as you bowed politely. "Nice to meet you," you replied, perhaps a bit too formally, sensing something unsettling about the man. His demeanor rang warning bells, and you were cautious not to provoke him. "No need for formalities," he said casually, still petting Grim. "You're Yuki's friend, so you're good in my book." He glanced at Grim. "Is this your pet?"

“No! Get your-!” Grim bites his finger, causing the man to flinch, but instead of getting mad he nudges Grim gently off his bleeding finger. “You’re quite feisty, aren’t you?” the man’s demeanor suddenly shifts, Grim tears up sensing the sudden intensity of Satan's vibe as he looks at you for help, and you quickly went to them, grabbing Grim. 

"You're scaring the kitty, Satan," Yuki remarked, causing Satan to flinch when you immediately retreated behind your friend, arms around Grim. "Oh," he said, his demeanor sheepish. "I apologize." huh, you guessed he wasn’t that bad. "It's alright. So, your name is Satan?" You swiftly changed the subject, opening the door. "Let's continue this conversation somewhere else." Walking out, Yuki and Satan followed you.

"The living room isn't very tidy, and I hope you don't mind the ghosts," you murmured, noticing Yuki stiffen. "Ghosts?" they asked fearfully, making you snort.

“You literally have the Satan behind you,” you point out as Grim jumps off your arms, noticing that there was someone knocking at your door.

“Prefect! Open up!” Ace was starting to get impatient; he’s been banging at your door for 10 minutes already!

"Is that your friend?" Yuki asked while Satan stared narrowly at the door, aware of the two figures beyond. Both possessed magical abilities, though evidently not enough to subdue him if they were indeed attackers.

“Oh no,” You look at Yuki, who’s half sheep and this tall man, while he looks human enough, the outfit screams “I’m not from this world!” "Yeah, that's my friend, but Yuki, could you try to look more human right now?" you asked quietly, overhearing the two bickering outside.

"Hey, I swear, if that door breaks because of your banging, the prefect will ignore us for the rest of the week!" Deuce apprehended Ace, who glared at him, huffing. "They're not that mean."

“You guys are so noisy,” Grim said, swinging the door open.  "Grim! Where's Prefect?" Deuce hurriedly asked as he entered, coming to an abrupt halt upon spotting you and two unfamiliar guests. "Oh, uh... I didn't realize you had company," Deuce muttered, feeling embarrassed that he and Ace had barged in uninvited. Ace nudged him aside and approached where you were seated. "Who's this?" he asked bluntly, prompting a sigh of relief from you. Thankfully, Satan quickly thought to use illusion magic to make Yuki appear more human.

Deuce glared at Ace as he looks at you apologetically as well as your friends “We’re sorry for intruding,”

“It’s fine” Satan says, your two friends seemed to have taken interest in him, quite a looker Ace thought to himself, is this guy a model perhaps?

"So, uh" Ace drawls out, casually taking a seat beside you, "What’s your relationship with our prefect here? Friends? Acquaintances?" " Deuce settles in on your opposite side, while Grim comfortably finds a spot on your lap. Yuki and Satan occupy seats across from you, creating an intriguing tableau of friends gathered around.

"Yes," Satan says with a smile directed at them. "We're here visiting Yuki's friend." His gaze shifts back to Yuki, who has their arms crossed, communicating nonverbally for a moment, silently gauging whether it's alright to reveal to a group of high school kids that Satan is, well, Satan, and they came from that portal that ripped open in your room.

Before Yuki could agree to Satan's request, their eyes locked onto yours, silently seeking your approval to trust the two individuals. Feeling a pang of guilt for putting them on the spot, you nodded. "Listen, guys," you interjected, drawing the attention of the two boys, deciding to take responsibility instead.

“Yuki is my friend back in my world” you said, Ace’s eyes almost bulging out of his sockets. “What?”

"So, they're both your friends from your world?" Deuce inquired, crossing his arms and resting his hand on his cheek—a habit he fell into whenever he needed time to process new information.

“Oh no” Yuki denied, “This is Satan” she introduced him as Satan bowed his head momentarily. “I apologize for concealing our identities, we had to assess if you two were a threat, but it seems like you are friends of Yuki’s friend”

“Satan?” Ace scratches the back of his neck, “Sounds like a big shot guy, nice to meet you too” The moment Satan offered his hand, Ace hesitantly accepted it, still wary of the guy, Deuce on the other hand, shook the hand without much thought.

Satan assessed both their magic prowess, focusing on the magic he can see from them, they have potential. They were young, but promising; he hoped to see their abilities blossom soon.

"Does that mean Prefect has a way to get back home?" Ace asked, to which Satan closed his eyes in contemplation. "We're uncertain if it's safe for your Prefect to use the portal we opened,” Satan says, “My brothers have yet to come out yet, till I give the signal, since I saw Grim, I couldn’t help myself” he added with a twinkling gaze, focusing on Grim, who shivered and moved behind you. "He's trouble! I don't trust him, Henchhuman!" Grim whimpered, prompting a chuckle from you.

"Could you tell me more about your world? It seems like our timeline, yet there are many peculiarities I've noticed around this house," Satan explains. "For instance, the abundance of ghosts here; in our realm, we have ghouls for that." "Ghouls?" Deuce choked on the water he had been drinking just moments before. "What kind of world do you live in?" he said, visibly terrified. "Well, they're not aggressive; it's easy to dispatch them with a single blow." Ace and Deuce exchanged a side-eyed glance at you, clearly perplexed by your unusual circle of friends. “Ah,” Yuki says, as the two stared dumbfoundedly. “A beast person?” Ace says, eyes boring on Yuki making them flush in embarrassment. "You're not weirded out?" they asked, anxiously fiddling with their fingers.

Ace shook his head. "Nah, I was just more surprised by your friend over there," he gestured towards Satan, "he's got the qualities of a model." His attempt at a compliment seemed to backfire as Satan glared at him.  He tried to look at you for safety, but you were also glaring daggers at him.

"I mean!" Ace hurried to amend, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, "They look great! They seem to have more of those beast-like traits, you know? You're adorable! An adorable sheep!"

Deuce couldn't contain his amusement at the escalating tension, which prompted Ace to retaliate by tossing the bottle of soda he had just bought at Deuce's head. "Hey!" Deuce protested, rubbing his head indignantly. "That hurt!"

"You two, stop. You're embarrassing me," you sighed, casting a glance at both Yuki and Satan.  They both look pitifully at you, how could you handle such chaos like this daily?

What came next surprised you.  Satan calmly threatened the boys into obediently taking their seats.

"Wasn't so hard to contain your anger, huh?" Satan's smile was sly, causing Yuki to look at him incredulously. It was ironic coming from the Demon of Wrath himself, telling a group of boys to tone down their emotions.

“Speaking of, Satan?” you caught his attention, the light outside shining directly at the living room’s table. “You said that your brothers will come?” you asked, realizing you haven’t made any coffee or tea for them as you stood up bowing apologetically “Sorry! I’ll brew something up for you two,” you said hurriedly making Yuki giggle.

“Since when were you polite to me?” Yuki grabbed you, forcing you to sit down beside them instead “Seriously sit down we don’t need tea” They urged you, seeing the pang of disappointment on Satan’s face. He seemed eager to try whatever brew you were planning to create. After all this was a whole new world. He was only trying to elongate the time he had alone with Yuki.

You lean closer to Yuki, “I think Satan wants to try tea” in which they looked at Satan who seemed to look away. “Do you want to try their drinks?” Yuki asked, which Satan’s eyes softened, “Can I?”

You didn’t quite put a finger to it, but doesn’t these two seemed to be dating? Yuki who pets Satan, giving him permission like he was some kind of dog.

“Are you two dating?” you asked, making Yuki grin. “maybe” your friend had the tendency to hide stuff like this making you pinch their cheeks.

“You! Seriously!” You huffed, the trio on the opposite table watching you. Satan on the other hand stood up. “Can I brew myself some tea?” He asked you softly, making you nod and stand up “I can help, if you’d like?” “No, it’s fine” Satan waves his hand dismissing you. “The kitchen is on the left side” you told him as he walks to where you pointed the direction. The moment the most intimidating guy left the room, Deuce, Ace, and even Grim crowded you and Yuki.

“There is no way that guy isn’t crazy strong, what is he?” Ace asked first sitting beside Yuki who laughed “He may be crazy strong, but he means well” they explained.  While Satan was away, looking at the weird labels clearly not in their language, you along with your friends came to chat, telling each other’s stories and the differences of their timelines to one another.

Satan’s phone rings as new messages pop up, he opens the main group chat of him and his brothers along with Yuki.

“Where the hell are you?” The first one to chat was Mammon, who was obviously in distress.

“Is it safe to go to the portal? You didn’t die right Satan?” Levi next, who had the most outrageous ideas. “Satan answer us!”

Satan sighed, his fingers dancing across his phone's screen while the other hand toyed absentmindedly with a packet of sugar. “Yuki and I are fine, you guys are allowed to go to the portal” he sends, with his advanced hearing, he could hear the portal causing fluctuations in upstairs.

"Wait, don't go down just yet. You might scare Yuki's friends," he typed hurriedly, his brothers seening and giving him a thumbs up.

“Then come up here, isn’t it a little rude keeping us in this tiny bedroom?” Asmodeus chats, with a crying bird emoji.

Lucifer finally spoke up after minutes of just seening. "Satan, what's the situation downstairs? We hear Yuki's voice.” he really wanted to answer sarcastically but he mentally stopped himself.

“The human that Yuki has been trying to locate has been found, however our conversation was interrupted by two first years, they seem to have magic but it’s weak” he explained via text.

“Aren’t you taking too long there Satan?” a voice jolts him out of his focus, causing him to accidentally drop the sugar, instinctively he kicked it up bringing it back to his hand again. “Christ Yuki,” he glares at Yuki who laughed. “Stop with the sneak attacks” he ruffles their hair causing Yuki to apologize while smiling.

“So? What are you so focused on your D.D.D about? Are they here?” Yuki said, opening their D.D.D and rereading what happened. “Oh! They are” they chirp. “Should we have them go down now?” Satan says, not keen to having Lucifer in the same vicinity as him. He might end up dueling his brother and destroying this dormitory.

“We should inform them for it first, those two first years are really nice, I don’t want them to get incredibly scared by the brothers” Yuki suggested, which Satan nodded, agreeing.

You were idly chatting with the two till you heard some footsteps upstairs, wanting to investigate it, Satan and Yuki came back with a tray of multiple cup of tea and coffee, which was already excessive with only 5 people in there.

“What’s the occasion?” You asked while rubbing Grim’s cheek who was resting on your lap.

“My brothers are here” Satan said, as he places the tray down, giving the cup of tea and coffee to deuce, ace and you. “Oh!” you chirped, curiously, Ace raises his eyebrow. “There’s more of you?”

The hell does that mean. Satan stared at him blankly before sighing. “Was it not mentioned before?”

“Well, if they’re your brothers, we’d love to show them courtesy” Deuce says, taking the coffee and thanking Satan. "So, that's a yes? Just so you know, they're way taller than Satan here," Yuki added, prompting all three of them to look at her in disbelief as she continued chatting in the group chat.

After only a few seconds Asmodeus ran down, eyes sparkling as he scanned the first-year students. Spotting you, he pounced with exuberance, wrapping you in a tight hug. "You must be Yuki’s friend! Oh, you’re absolutely stunning!" he exclaimed, squeezing a bit too tightly, causing you to gasp for air. Weakly patting his arm, you managed to croak, "Can't... breathe..."

Lucifer grabbed Asmodeus by the collar pulling them away, saving you from the grip of hell. “They do have magical prowess,” he says amusedly distracted by the odd magic he's sensing, as Asmodeus scratches his cheek “Woops, my bad, you just looked so cute like Yuki,” he says, ready to hug you again if Grim didn’t hiss at him.

“Oh no wonder you went first in first” Leviathan murmured to Satan who went down after Asmodeus, looking down at Grim who was hissing at him as well “Hey! Why are you so close?!” he growled which Leviathan backed away, “Ah! sorry I didn’t realize I got too close, you kind of reminded me of Henry”

Grim had never looked so offended in his whole life, who the heck is Henry? He huffs, looking away from Leviathan.

“Nice to meet all of you” You said as you smiled, you didn’t take into account that this tall man who just saved you from the grips of lust looked a lot like Professor Crewel.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Lucifer” he places his hand on his chest, eyes observing you along with your friends. “I must say, I didn’t expect such a nice home to go into” he says looking around, for someone so young they seemed to have good taste when it comes to architectural design. The dormitory, while bland to others seemed to have gotten the interest of lucifer, this home reminded him of the house of lamentation, without the bizarre decorations.

“Sup” Ace says, the first guy he noticed was Mammon, who looked like he’s been staring down at him and Deuce. “Yo” he nods at Ace, and for some reason… he feels like he’d get along with this guy.

Unceremoniously the two grabbed each other’s hands as a form of friendship.

“You two are getting along” Deuce said as he looks at the others, they were all just letting the man with dark hair speak to you, is he the eldest?

“I apologize for the scare my brother gave you” he acknowledges Grim and you by bowing slightly, while you got embarrassed by it Grim seemed to huff proudly. “You should be! There ain’t that much space for big humans like you!” he jabs.

A man who seemed to yawn and fall asleep standing up was held by another who had ginger hair. “That guy seems sleepy, why don’t you let him rest on the bed?” you suggested, feeling a bit bad since he looked so tired.

“You’ll let him?” The ginger man said he looked like a big brother to Ace now that you take a closer look as you nod. “We can just wake him up once we finish talking” The man seemed to beam as he guided Belphegor back to your bedroom.

Lucifer went to sit down on the extra seat Deuce offered him while Asmodeus and Mammon sat with Ace.

“Can you tell us about this whole portal thing?” you started first, breaking the sudden dead air that happened.  “How did you find my location?”

“It’s a long story,” Lucifer’s attention goes back to Yuki who had one day, started to feel homesick and didn’t eat well. So, he had to do something about it to keep their mental well-being up. “Yuki was in a bad mental state so I went to try and find out why” Yuki who was beside you seemed to fiddle with their fingers anxiously, as if they were anticipating you to react badly, but you continued to keep a neutral expression while listening to him.

“It turns out, that they were missing you” Lucifer continued but got stopped by Yuki. “Okay! I’ll continue from here Jeez!” they sighed turning to you. “I didn’t know why I felt like I needed to come find you, despite not feeling that way for a few months” they admit, your brows knitted in confusion as the others listen to your exchange.

“I know that it’s uncalled for to come find you, so I’m sorry” Yuki frowns “What are you talking about?” you glare at them, pinching their fluffy cheek, “It’s been almost a year since I last saw you and you think that you’re bothering me for opening a portal?” you scold them, pulling them into a crushing hug “If I was mad I would have attacked you by now you idiot” you said burying your face into their shoulder as Yuki relaxes, pulling you into a deeper embrace.

While you two were in vastly different worlds, the bond you shared with your friend is nothing but solid. “I’m sorry” Yuki murmurs, feeling like they’re going to cry for this.

The brothers along with the three of your companions stared in awe, it was nice that you finally found your long-time friend.

“I’m sorry to burst your sweet reunion but” Ace interrupts, feeling terrible that he had to. “We should go,” he says, standing up as Deuce stares at him like he just committed an unforgivable sin. “Class’ going to start in 2 hours and Professor Crewel’s gonna kill us if we don’t finish this report soon”

The moment You and Yuki pulled away you checked the time, realizing that it was time for class, but you can’t leave them be! “Do you guys wanna roam around for a bit?” you blurt out, but you start to regret it as all the brothers along with Yuki seem to have gotten curious about this place. How are you going to let them roam around while looking like a bunch of models who suddenly decided to use Night Raven College’s school to promote it?

“If you’d let us sweetie!” Asmodeus chirps, he wants to check if there are other gorgeous beings around here, just so he can have a chance with them, exchange make-up routines, and recommend good products! That’s a sweet way to broaden his horizon of self-care.

Mammon on the other hand seemed to have twitched thinking about what items he could find, what he could do with them and if they’re valuable if he sells it back home, and that little faint smile he  has made Lucifer’s alert system tingle, he looks back at Mammon who jolted as he places both his hands on his head acting chill about it like he wasn’t planning to steal something from this Dormitory.

“Mammon…” Lucifer calls his name out with a warning. “Don’t even think about it”

“I wasn’t!” he whines, “Plus! Not like I can get anything from this Shabby dormitory” he crosses his arms which Grim glares at him “Shabby? I’ll have you know that this place could may as well be a hotel! Be grateful!”

“Hah? This?” he said and Grim floated off your lap almost getting into a verbal fight with Mammon himself, if Lucifer didn’t emit an ominous aura that is.

“Che!” he huffs causing Ace to stare at him dumbfoundedly “Dude… I was gonna praise you for looking like another model but never mind” he says, Mammon flinching at his words “Hey!  I AM a model!”

“Whatever you say, Prefect do you wanna go to class by now?” Ace asks as he grabs his bag. “We can’t miss the quiz too” Deuce adds. You were starting to feel the stress, thinking whether you should leave them be for now or call Crowley just to inform him that you got literal demon brothers at your house and your friend who meticulously became half sheep! You already know that in one way or another Crowley might not even like it or kick them out! You don’t want that yet! You want to get to know your friend’s friends! And it’s been so long since you last saw your friend!

[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

I’ve been waiting for someone to write for both Carmilla and Velvette x reader! I like the idea of reader being the mediator between their girlfriends, given how vastly opposite Carmilla and Velvette are. They’re just a very relaxed and calm person, until something pushes them over the edge and suddenly they’re hella deadly. I like to image how they’d react to that.

Devil in a Calm Sea

|| Carmilla Carmine x Velvette x fem!reader

(i myself am poly)

|| Warnings: Valentino flirting with reader, swearing because it's Hazbin Hotel, fight between Valentino and reader (sort of?) more like reader is just defending herself (with a chair)

|| Summary: reader is in an Overlord meeting, keeping Velvette and Carmilla in check. Valentino keeps flirting with reader and reader loses it.

Requests open! (won't be done quickly, im only writing when i have motivation and that doesn't seem to be happening a lot rn so it might take a while. just be mindful and patient with that)

~~~

Your girlfriends were on different ends of extreme. Especially when it came to each other. You? You were the calm one. Tended to not react or cause a whole lot of drama. You were their voice of reason. A saving grace that kept the whole relationship together. Carmilla often showed her appreciation for you, taking you on special romantic dates. Velvette would be more subtle with her appreciation. She didn't want you going and getting the wrong idea that she has a soft spot for you or something. That would be ridiculous. She absolutely does have a soft spot for you and you damn well know it, shh. Dont let her find out.

You leaned against the wall of the meeting room where Carmilla was holding a meeting with the other Overlords. Much to your disliking, Vox and Valentino were there. You yourself weren't an Overlord but you were there to support your girlfriends. Your task was to make sure they didn't get into a fight. Easier said than done. Especially with Valentino getting on your nerves the whole meeting.

He kept sending you all these flirtatious looks, winking at you, licking his lips with that stupidly long tongue of his whenever Velvette and Carmilla weren't watching. It was clear he wanted you under contract with him and it was beginning to really piss you off. He was always like this. It was disgusting. No, disgusting wasn't right. It was too light of a description for the way he acts.

You try to ignore his antics, focusing on either Velvette or Carmilla. Watching your girlfriends instead of him. Anyone but him. As the meeting ends, you're about to walk over to your girls when Valentino blocks your path. He was much taller than you, so it wasn't difficult.

"My, you're just gorgeous aren't you~" He leans down to get a good look at you, you take a step back. Carmilla notices what's happening first but before she can react...

You pull your arm back and slap Valentino hard. The room goes silent as everyone stares in your direction. What just happened?

Valentino blinks a couple of times, he was shocked. Did you really just dare to do that to him? You? A pathetic sinner? Please.

He grabs your wrist but (before your girlfriends could intervene, they really wanted to) you grabbed one of the chairs with your free hand and slammed it into his body as hard as you possibly could. Making him stumble back.

"Don't fucking touch me!" You shout. You shouted. You never do that. Velvette and Carmilla were stunned to see how easily you were defending yourself. Carmilla was the first to recover and rushed to your side, holding a protective hand in front of you as she glares at Valentino.

"Get out. I would advise you not to come to any meetings for the foreseeable future." Carmilla says, her tone a scary level of calm.

Valentino gets off the floor and stares past Carmilla, looking at you in pure confusion and shock. Your audacity was disgusting. To him, your girlfriends were quite amused.

You wanted to keep fighting. You were going to kick his ass. You lunged forwards but Carmilla grabbed you and set you on her shoulder to keep you from doing anything. She held you there with ease despite your efforts at escape. They were pointless. Which you soon realized.

Before Valentino could get the chance to say or do anything else, Carmilla left the room with you. Velvette didn't immediately follow. But you knew why. You could hear her screaming at Valentino with Vox's voice following, trying to settle Velvette with very little success. At this point, the only one that could calm her was you. But Carmilla had her grip on you as she brought you to her office and seated you down in her chair.

She scans over your body, making sure you weren't hurt in any way before she speaks in a soft tone. Vastly different from the one she had used on Valentino just moments before.

"Are you alright? I don't believe I have ever seen you so..." She tries to find the right word. Violent? No, violent was too harsh of a description. Pissed? Pissed was too light. There was nothing that quite fit the way you had lashed out.

You folded your arms across your chest, a glare in your eyes that wasn't directed at Carmilla. She knew that though it still startled her to see it.

"He fucking deserved that. He'd been flirting with me the whole fucking meeting. Should've hit him harder." You muttered the last bit under your breath, Carmilla raised an eyebrow.

How did she not realize Valentino was flirting with you? Usually she was much more observant than that. Especially when it came to you. She was going to say something before her office door opened. Revealing Vox, who was holding Velvette in stretched out arms to keep her away from him as she thrashed around in his hold.

"Let me go you fucking mutated TV!" Velvette shouted, biting Vox's hand. You can't tell me she wouldn't.

"Shit! Okay, fuck." Vox drops her and Velvette lands on her ass, making her glare at Vox who ignores her and looks at Carmilla and you.

"She's your problem now." Is all he says before he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Carmilla sighs and glances at Velvette, who was grumbling complaints under her breath as she stood and walked over to the two of you. Fixing her outfit.

"Fucking bastard." Velvette grumbled, sticking the middle finger at the door before looking at you." Val's a bitch. Hit him harder next time."

"Velvette!" Carmilla scolds, you smirk and gesture to Velvette while looking at Carmilla.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do."

Carmilla narrows her eyes at you. God, the two of you were going to drive her insane one of these days.

[just-zy]

Mi Pesadilla

pairing: Wednesday Addams! x Fem Reader!

summary: Wednesday's regretting pushing you away.

A/N: hello! Zy here, I have no idea why I'm entertaining this fascination of mine but alas, here I am. First actual post on my tumblr btw! This is a third pov, but the bold italics are wednesdays pov/thoughts! This is just a drabble! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this tho! (dunno if someone's done this already, this was just a thought of mine, also, I cannot believe I forgot a summary ab this..)

Warnings!: Angsty, implied suic*de/de*th, and my writing skills.

Masterlist

Wednesday felt as though she was in a nightmare. A bad nightmare, perhaps? She felt conflicted, confused and in denial. Where have you gone? She wasn't losing her mind, was she? Maybe because she felt numb. Maybe because of the suffocation she's embracing around her. Too isolated. Too misunderstood.

"Miss Addams. I'd advise you to head to your shared room, now please."

Why was Weems sending me away? Does she not trust I wouldn't faint? I live for the pain of others, she should know better than that already.

"Miss Y/L/N will be assisted to the infirmary. Don't worry further, she'll be alright, go on Miss Addams."

Or, she could feel how Wednesday would act when she had seen you on that death bed, that might be the case she's sending her away. Too vulnerable to even comprehend. She needed to talk to you, so badly. She needed to apologize, to talk it out with you, to tell you.. She had ached for you all these weeks. She didn't mean to push you away, no. She was a coward. A wimp, was what she was. Her never ending pride, her untouchable ego, led her to this.

★

It's been four days, 14 hours and 16 seconds. She doesn't know why she counted, perhaps she had only ached for you more with every passing second. She'd lie through her teeth that she didn't, that she doesn't. But, every night she sprawled on her bed, thinking about you.

Possibly, it could've been your foolish smile keeping her up, keeping her on her toes to the very least. Your complete senseless brain, it could've been your playful banter together, it could've been anything. It just had to lead to you.

Why are you such a complete idiot.

Continuous beeps of the monitor go off. Every beat of those beeps sends a bolt of relief to Wednesday, at least she knows you're breathing. Even so, she'd keep track of how long the beeping goes off. She yearns for your touch, she yearns for you.

"Wake up, you baboon. I'll kill you a second time if you don't... I- ".

I miss you..

Hands well kept on top of her thighs, she made no move to have held your cold, wrinkling hands, what once looked so lively and warm. She needed you back into her life. Her exhales, her rigid breathing, she felt as if she was hyperventilating. Maybe she was meant to be here, with you. As long as it was with you, she made no complaints, no backhanded comments, nothing that would've hurt you. Not anymore. She'll make sure of it.

"W- ..Wednesday?"

She couldn't feel how her eyebrows knitted together, almost as if she couldn't believe you were.. Calling for her, with what seemed to be a cry for help, a cry for her attention, a cry for her touch. Oh, how she caved from the way you called her name like that. Every time you did, she'd curse upon such a feeling you had caused her. Gosh, she loathed loved you.

"I'll kill you if you decide to leave like that again."

"Never again, Mi Pesadilla."

★

A/N: omgg this was pretty rushed. And again, my first ever post in this account. I apologise for the mistakes! 'Mi Pesadilla - My Nightmare'

[devilevlls]

May I request a #2 barbatos and mc? Also take care of yourself!

Heey! Thank you for the request 💚 Hope you like the quick drabble!

Please tell me, this is not why you woke me up 🍨

Barbatos is caught off guard when MC unexpectedly wakes him up in the dead of night with a surprising request.

"Barbatos…" The soft murmur was the first thing the demon heard before being jolted awake by a sudden weight on his chest, followed by a flurry of movement.

Before he could fully process what was happening, MC had thrown themselves on top of him, wrapping their arms around his waist in a tight hug and nuzzling against his neck with an eagerness that was both endearing and perplexing. Barbatos, still groggy from sleep and not fully awake for all this commotion, blinked in confusion.

"You know… I'm craving some sweets…" MC's voice was a mixture of playfulness and longing as they pouted, shaking his body gently to keep him alert. "Please make one of those hellish Parfaits for me…"

Barbatos let out a soft sigh, his voice low, raspy, and still heavy with sleep. "Please tell me, this is not why you woke me up,"he murmured, his brow furrowing slightly as he struggled to fully wake up.

The demon butler looked at MC for a long moment, trying to discern whether their request was a joke, but the excitement in their eyes told him otherwise. With a resigned sigh, he reached for his DDD to check the time, his eyes widening when he saw that it was 3 AM.

"MC, you shouldn't be awake at this late hour. Humans need their rest," Barbatos advised gently, concern lacing his words as he shifted to sit up in bed.

"Pretty please…" MC's voice was soft and pleading as they continued to nuzzle against his neck, their warmth seeping into his skin.

With a reluctant smile, Barbatos relented. "Alright, alright. But you must promise me that you won't be too loud. We wouldn't want to wake the young lord," he said, reaching for a warm robe and slipping it on before extending his hand to help MC up.

Taking his hand eagerly, MC nodded with excitement, their eyes shining with anticipation as they walked hand in hand through the dark corridors of the demon lord's castle, guided by the soft glow of torches lining the walls.

As they made their way to the kitchen, Barbatos couldn't help but feel a warmth bloom in his chest at the sight of MC's infectious enthusiasm. Despite the late hour and the impending task of preparing a devilishly decadent dessert, there was nowhere else he would rather be than by their side, indulging in their sweet cravings and savoring the moments of quiet intimacy that bound them together in the depths of the night.

Drabble prompts you can use in your requests!

[straykids-97]

Soft?

“Soft? I’m too soft?”

Warnings: Reader confides in Felix, relationship woes, mentions of drinking and parties, soft!dom Chan, sub!reader, dirty texting, slight exhibitionism, pet names (goddess, baby etc.), unprotected sex, LMK IF I FORGOT ANYTHING

Word Count: 5.2k

AN: This was only read through once, so please bear with me. It probably has errors and as I am half awake, the end seems a little rushed to me. Anyway, enjoy you filthy sluts :) I also don't put a warning for minors on my stuff bc I feel like it's obvious that minors should not be reading this stuff, but I cannot do anything about that... HOWEVER I am for this one. Reader's discretion is advised and encouraged. There are mature themes in this fic so please, do not read if you a triggered by rough things!

You shift and lay your chin on your forearm as you stare out the window covered in raindrops. You heave a sigh as you watch traffic drive past, waiting for your dear friend Felix to come back with his drink. The Cafe wasn’t very full, but then again, it was the afternoon, and it was normally full in the morning or early evening. You two always hung out at the Cafe- Felix always joked that this was the only place where he could talk to you without one of his bandmates interrupting or eavesdropping. He could tell that something was weighing on you heavily, so he decided to take you to the one place that could be just for the two of you. 

“Ah,” he announces his arrival with a satisfied sigh, sliding into the booth in front of you. You sit up slightly, adjusting your posture when he settles. “This is the best place for an americano.” He snorts and takes a sip, “Are you sure you don’t want a coffee?” You shake your head, “Felix, you know I hate coffee.” He smiles, nodding his head, “Yeah. I know, but I thought I would try one more time.” Felix offers you a soft, lopsided smile as he leans forward, “Are you gonna come clean, or am I gonna have to torture you?” You grin at him, waving your hand at him. “No.” You lament, leaning back in the booth seat. “You don’t have to go to that length. I’ll just come clean.” He offers you a teasing smile, “Good, cuz I sorta forgot them at home.” He shrugs, “I thought you would come clean anyway…” He trails off for a moment, before dropping the question, “So… What’s wrong with you? You’ve been kinda acting-” 

“Distant?” You give him a sheepish smile before shrugging one of your shoulders. “Yeah, I know… I just… I don’t know if Chris… Likes me… Ya know?” You pick at your fingernail polish, fidgeting to try and distract you from the lump in your throat. Felix didn’t speak for a while, probably unsure of what to say. Of course, Chris liked you- he loved you. Worshiped the ground you walked on. Felix was more confused as to the why, more than anything. 

He cleared his throat, “Well… What makes you say that?” He shifts awkwardly in his seat, unsure of how to navigate this very unfamiliar territory. Chris was like the brother he never had, and you the sister he always wanted, so the fact that you were presenting a possible relationship problem, something he didn’t have much knowledge in, was something he didn’t know if he could steer accurately. 

“Well, for starters, he’s super against PDA, ya know. And I understand that-” you hold your hand up in defense before going on, “I do. He doesn’t want someone to capture a picture of me before the company is ready for us to come out as a couple officially and all that.” You sigh, “But… He just acts…” You puff out your cheeks, unsure of how to explain your frustrations to Felix. “So… Nice?” Felix frowns at your words, “Nice? Isn’t that a good thing?” You sigh, holding your head in your hands, feeling your skin turning bright red. “Oh my goodness, I don’t even know how to explain this to you- I shouldn’t. It feels like I’m confessing a filthy sin to a pure nun.” He laughs at your analogy, “What are you talking about? Y/n, I’m your friend. I knew you before Chris, if anything, you owe me an explanation for him making you feel this way. Cuz I’ll talk to him if I have to-” Your head snaps up and Felix stops talking when he sees your beat red face. His mouth parted slightly, “Y/n, what- why are you so red?” He chuckled at your face and reached across the table to pinch your cheek teasingly. You bat his hand away, “He doesn’t like… Ask for anything… I feel like if I initiate it… It’ll feel like I’m begging or something…” You trail off and it suddenly hits Felix like a tsunami, “You haven’t had sex yet?” His voice drops to barely a whisper. Your face turns even redder, “Felix!” You hiss at him, “Lower your voice!” He tosses a quick look over his shoulder, “You and I both know, the barista should be retired right now. We’re lucky if he wore his hearing aid’s today.” You slap his forearm, “Lee Felix!” He beamed at you, “What? I had to repeat my order a million times.” He rolled his dark orbs before leaning back into the conversation, “How have you guys gone almost a year and not fucked?” You want to cover your ears but you can’t. This was the conversation you had planned to have anyway, but you just weren’t mentally prepared to hear someone so sweet and kind like Felix talk like that. 

“Well, you guys were gone for the tour, and then you had to travel to promote the album so Chris and I spent the beginning of our relationship over the phone.” Felix bobbed his head, “Yeah… But that leaves like, five months unaccounted for.” You sigh, “Yeah… I know… I figured, ya know, the distance and time spent away would spark something…” Felix has completely forgotten about his coffee and is utterly consumed by this new information. “But, he just acts so sweet, like usual, so kind and caring… The second I want to do something, then he’s on it. No dragging his feet, offering to do things like going on dates and stuff but…” 

“He’s leaving you hanging?” You groan, “Sorta? I hate to be like, ‘All this stuff is great but when do we start banging?’ Cuz then I feel like that’s all I see him as and I don’t ya know? I feel like if he wants to, he’d tell me or try to ya know, at least grope me.” You whisper the word like God would come down to smite you if anyone heard it. Felix looks perplexed, that much was clear by the look of confusion on his face. “What?” Felix does another scope of the Cafe before leaning to speak, “Are we talking about the same Christopher Bang?” I snort, “Of course we are-”

“That man is always…” He raises his eyebrows, suggesting something. “Frustrated?” You snort at him trying to be coy, “Yeah, sure you can say that… Maybe you’re the reason it seems to be worse these days.” He grabs his coffee, taking a few sips before going on. “He doesn’t even try to pat your bum?” You blush slightly, “No.” You shake your head and peek over your shoulder at the middle-aged man who is staring at his computer very intently, a pair of headphones humming with the beat of a tune you didn’t know. 

“He just acts so… cautious. Like I’m a piece of paper or glass he doesn’t want to break.” Felix bobs his head. “Have you tried to ya know-” 

“Yes!” You hiss, your cheeks burning red. Felix blushes slightly at your frustration, the conversation you two were having wasn’t one to be talked over coffee in a cafe either. “Ok… Well, why don’t you talk to him?” You groan, holding your head in your hands, “And make him feel ashamed? No thanks, I’d rather dig myself a whole and cover up for eternity.”  You huff, “I’m hoping that maybe he brings it up.” You watch Felix shrug, “If he doesn’t, we’ll be having this conversation again next time.” 

***

The black off-the-shoulder dress you chose to wear tonight hugged your curves just right. It exposed just enough but covered equally just as much. The small diamond necklace on your neck was a gift from Chris, a random one, which you were used to. But, since you were too nervous to wear it every day like he wanted you to, you decided to wear it for the occasion. They were celebrating a very big award win with staff and friends. Chris guides you through the throng of people to an area designated for the boys and close friends. Chris pauses slightly, his fingertips on your elbow, “Are you alright? I know how you feel about crowds.” His sweetness never seems to melt you, even now. You smile up at him and you can feel heat crawl up the back of your neck, your heart squeezing in your chest. “Yes. I’m ok. This was part of the deal, remember?” He smiles down at you, giving you one of those earth-shattering, blindingly sweet smiles of his that he’s known for. “And what would that be?” He asks, pulling you in by the waist. You feel your pulse throb in your veins as a small gasp escapes your lips and you bounce off his chest. Chris didn’t do PDA. “Uh- um, the parties, the cameras, all that stuff.” You wave your hand and lightly tap his chest, unsure of what to do with your hands. He smiles at you, “All that stuff?” He leans in, placing a soft kiss on your forehead, “What would I be without you?” He murmured, making you giggle and pull away slightly, “Perfectly fine.” You remind him, causing him to roll his eyes, “Fine. But dull.” He admits with a shrug, pulling away and offering his palm to you as you walk toward where Felix and the boys are sitting playing what looks like a card game with jax and random little balls. 

You settle beside Minho, who gives you a playful nudge. Chris sits by Felix and Hyunjin, who look to be in a heated debate about something, which is why you decided to sit by Minho. Seungmin, Minho, Changbin, and I.N., were all in the midst of the game when you settled into the couch. You watch them for a while, trying to follow the game but getting confused by all the complicated rules that it has. You sigh and lean back into the couch, tossing a look to see that Hyunjin had left to sit by Changbin, watching the game as well. Felix and Chris seemed to be deep in conversation, but Chris’s eyes were on you. You watch as the muscle in his jaw flexes for a millisecond, and you know what that means, he is annoyed by something. You reach into your bag and pull out your phone, typing a message to him really quickly. 

Are you ok?

You know he gets the message, but he ignores it. Instead, he turned his attention back to Felix who looked as if he may have had one too many to drink. You take a breath in and it catches in your throat when you realize that Felix gets a little too chatty when he gets drunk. And that it had been almost two weeks since you had talked to him about the lack of sex in your relationship. Panic sets in as you slowly turn your face to Felix and Chris. Felix was still talking, sipping on water now; Chris probably made him start drinking water out of fear of what else he would say. You watch as Felix leans forward to eat what looks like pretzels, and Chris takes that moment to pull his phone out of his slacks to see what you have sent him. You watch with mixed emotions as Chris’s jaw flexes and unflexes, his eyes and face illuminated by the darkened screen of his phone. You knew that Chris didn’t like having his phone out while at a function but he couldn’t seem to help himself this time. You watch as his fingers dance across the screen and you immediately stare at your screen, waiting for his reply. Your heart nearly falls out of your colon when it does. 

Felix has loose lips when he consumes alcohol… Care to share?

As soon as you look back up to him, you pray that the couch will open up and swallow you whole. Anything to escape the way that Chris glares at you. You do a double take, unsure if you should look at your phone or at Chris. Finally, your brain synapses start working once again enough for you to form a reply. 

What did he tell you?

He doesn’t offer you the same courtesy of delaying a reply. And you watch with bated breath as he messages you back so fast that it might as well have been said. 

What do you think he told me, goddess? 

Your breath almost comes out in a squeal. Chris called you Goddess when he was teasing you once. A name that he has mentioned in passing a few times because of the topic of him heckling you about being a muse to him. You told him it made you feel like you were in a Greek story about heroes and villains. So then came the nickname Goddess, because in his words, “Goddess are cooler than muses.” 

You try not to shake as you stare at your phone, trying to keep your mouth closed but failing as your eyes gawk at the screen. Before your brain can form another coherent thought, he sends another reply. 

Do you think I’m too soft?

You feel your soul leave your body, and heat rushes through your body. But not the embarrassed kind. You squeeze your legs together and toss a quick glance around to the boys who were all oblivious to what was going on between you and Chris only a few feet away. 

As your eyes land on Changbin you are talking a little too loud, and slurring so much that he is about to start drooling if he doesn’t slow down. Han hands him a tissue from beside Minho, “Rapper down!” You can’t help but smile as Changbin snags the tissue from Han, fluttering it in the wind. None of the boys waste a second to mimic a damsel in distress, I.N. holds his cheek, fluttering his eyes, “Oh no, I’m drooling! Someone save me!” Changbin puffs out his chest and starts to say something, but the buzzing of your phone causes you to become distracted by the boys teasing Changbin. 

Eyes on me baby. I’m not done talking to you. 

Your eyes almost fall out of their sockets. What has gotten into him? He never talks to you like this. Not even when you guys get into a heated makeout session. You slowly raise your gaze back to Chris, who smirks at you. Smirks. Fucking smirks. You watch as his eyes lower to his screen for just a moment to type out another reply. 

I’ll show you what you’ve been missing then, baby.

You gulp, your stomach doing somersaults as you watch him shift slightly. Chris swipes his dark beverage off the table in front of him, swirling it a few times before looking at you over the rim. His forefinger rubs the rim, and you can’t help but think that he’s trying to work you up. It was working. A heated pulse thrums through your body to your core, causing you to cross your legs for friction. You feel a faint sheen of sweat start to form, and the room seems a little too loud and the people all seem to disappear as he focuses his dark irises back on your face. You watch as he swipes his tongue over this bottom lip before taking a swig of his dark alcohol. With one hand, he types a reply. 

Take your panties off. Bring them to me. 

You blink a few times; rereading those two sentences over and over again. Your brain didn’t seem to process what it was reading. That or it was short-circuiting. Either way, your brain was not functioning properly. You glance around, before typing a quick reply. 

Here? With everyone around? 

You glance up to see Chris looking down at his phone. His forefinger was playing with his bottom lip, the rest of his fingers holding the small bourbon glass as he messages you back. The phone vibrates and your eyes read the message before your brain can process what it's reading. Once it sets in, you swear you’re about to faint. Ever since you met Chris all those months ago, nothing could have prepared you for this moment. To read the text that flickered across your screen… 

You heard me. Don’t make me repeat myself. 

You sit there, dumbfounded and you aren’t sure what to do. You were surrounded by a mixture of friends and strangers, and what he was demanding of you… Was something straight of an E.L. James novel. 

You heard me. Don’t make me repeat myself. 

You huff out a sigh, flopping back onto the couch. How the hell were you going to somehow, manage to shimmy out of your panties in front of 7 other men? They might be drinking and some close to drunk, but they weren’t stupid. They’d know what you were doing by the time your dark silk panties hit your knees. You glance at the phone in your palm, shaking your head. You don’t have to do this- Chris was just drinking and feeling frisky. But, you can’t help but bite your lip slightly at the thought of what you would do if you somehow managed to get them off. What would you do once they were off? Your face pales and you turn to look at Chris a few feet away. 

Chris’s dark eyes seemed to be ignited with something you hadn’t seen in them before. 

Power. Authority. Desire. Dominance. 

You can’t conceal the shudder that runs down your spine as he tilts his chin up at you, gesturing to your phone with his eyes. You were so lost in thought that you didn’t even realize that he had messaged you again. 

You have five minutes to have them in the palm of my hand.

Your eyes bulge and you choke slightly on your spit. Five minutes? Only Five minutes? It was going to take at least that to get them passed your hips. Your brain was kicking into high gear for the first time since you had sat down, “Fuck.” You hiss to yourself. Time was ticking, and you had to get moving because you didn’t want to find out what was going to happen if you didn’t do as he said. You put your phone into your purse and begin to shift your silk panties, which were hard to feel through your dress, down to your thighs. It was surprisingly easier than expected but now came that part that you were unsure of. 

How to get them over your bare thighs, knees, and to your ankles without anyone noticing. You take a brief look around, looking twice, three times before taking a deep breath and shoving your dark silk panties to your ankles and swiping them off your ankles. You managed to get them into a wad in your left fist before Minho leaned over to see what you were doing. “Y/n-ssi, what’s wrong?” You giggle, “Oh, I think there’s a hair or something on my leg.” You have your empty hand at him. “I think I got it.” You watch as he smiles at you softly, “Ok.” He turns part way, before turning back, “On your leg?” Your face falls for a split second. He wasn’t as drunk as the others, and you didn’t calculate that. “Well, I’m not sure what it was. I honestly felt like a bug.” You come up with a lie on the spot, kicking yourself for not thinking that Minho hadn’t really drunk at all since you had arrived. He nods his head, “I hope not. I hate bugs.” You nod, “Me too…” You trail off, glancing over to Chris who looked amused by the interaction. You feel a blush creep up your neck when you see that he watched Minho catch you with your panties around your ankles. 

Damn him.

“I think I’m gonna go sit by Chan.” You smile and collect your bag before crossing over to the boys’s game, earning a few groans and slaps on the arm as you pass. You wave them all off and make your way to Chris, who sets his glass aside as you approach him. You almost, almost sneakily slide him into your panties. But instead, you stand there, knees almost touching his as he stares up at you expectingly. “Do you have something for me, Y/n?” He asks, his voice dripping with false sweetness. As if this man wasn’t trying to make you melt from the inside out. You clasp your hands in front of you, “I might…” you trail off, meeting his gaze. You watch as he raises a single arched eyebrow and you remind yourself to find out who did his makeup because damn them. 

It takes everything in your every molecule to not shift under his stare. But still, he waits. After a few moments, he picks up on what you’re meaning and slowly raises his hand to you, palm up. It was high enough for the boys to see if they were watching close enough, for anyone who was looking your way to see that you were putting something in his hand. It didn’t take much of a rocket scientist to put two and two together and figure out what was happening. 

You stretch out your hand and put your black satin panties in his large hand before sinking to the seat next to him. 

“Happy?” You grumble, eyes on the boys who were all too focused on the second round of their game. “Elated.” He replied back, crossing his leg and spreading out your panties on his thigh. You gasp, “Chris-” You start to hiss but stop when you realize his OCD ass was really folding your panties in a small square. You watch as he replaces his breast pocket handkerchief with your panties. He smoothes a hand over his chest as he twists his body to you, dangling his handkerchief by your face, “I think we’ll be needing this.” You frown at his words, “Why?” 

He grins, face falling for a moment as he wads it up in his fist. What was he about to do- “Are you ok, y/n?” He puts a hand on your forearm. “Is it getting too loud?” You don’t have to look at the boys to know that they’re all watching you now. The boys all knew what crowds did to your tiny little introverted soul. “Y/n? Are you ok?” Felix finally started to sober up a little enough to not be slurring. You gulp, shrugging, “It’s getting a little warm.” You admit, truthfully. “I think I might be getting a headache.” 

“I’ll take you outside, yeah? Maybe some quiet and fresh air would help?” You ruefully nod. Chris helps you to your feet like the dutiful boyfriend he is, holding your hand as he guides you skillfully outside of the small gathering. You started to shiver and you weren’t sure if it was excitement or what it was really but adrenaline was coursing through your veins regardless. 

You were panting as Chris pulled you into a small alcove right outside the party. It was dark and hidden and no one would see either of you unless they got within a few feet of you. Chris pushed you flat against the wall, his breath on your face as you stared up at him with wide eyes, “Too soft?” He growled, wrapping a hand around your jaw. “Baby, I am greedy when it comes to you.” His voice is so low that it feels like it’s rattling your soul. “I want everything you give me- I want more than you give me.” His lips crush on yours. It wasn’t the usual sweet kiss, no. This was hot, heavy and fuck it felt amazing. You mewl and wrap your arms around his shoulders as you feel his hands grip your thighs. He pauses only for a moment, pulling that light-colored handkerchief out that was in his pocket. 

“If this come back wet,” he leans in, his tongue dancing on the bottom of your lip, “then we’re leaving.” Your breathing was ragged and your mind was already fuzzy. “Holy shit-” You gasp, gripping his forearm as he chuckled. It sounded like thick molasses. 

This Chris was someone you had never met before. And fuck, no wonder he kept him hidden. If he was out running around you probably wouldn’t be walking or a functioning member of society. 

You feel his fingers delve into your folds and a heavy shudder rips through your body. “Oh my god-” You hiccup, eyes rolling back into your head as Chris rubs soft, quick circles around your clit. He doesn’t go any further, the teasing bastard. And to no one's shock, when he stepped back into the hallway, the fingertips that were covered by the fabric were darkened by your slick. You gulp as his eyes slowly raise to you, “I suppose we have our answer then.” 

***

Chris didn’t even wait for you to get through the doorway of your apartment before his hands were on you. He didn’t move to take your clothes off, no. He just grabbed, groped, ripped at your body like a hungry man who was so starved of food that he was threatening to eat you. You wrap your hands in his locks as he picks you up by the waist, shuffling you back to the hallway, stumbling slightly. You squeal and he laughs into your lips as he digs his fingertips into your thigh skin, “Whoops.” 

He manages to get you both into your room before he puts you back on your feet. You blink up at him to see his puffy lips even more swollen from kissing so hard that your teeth were gnashing together. Chris’s white dress shirt was rumbled, but otherwise intact. He took off his jacket in the car and left it there. He wasn’t really interested in it currently. “Don’t move.” He ordered. His tone was low, full of authority. You stand there as still as a statue as he shifts to walk around you in a slow circle. 

Chris stands directly behind you, “I want you to take your dress off for me.” You inhale sharply. “Like… Strip?” You hear him chuckle before you feel his hand dance up your shoulder to your throat, “Yes.” He lightly squeezes your throat before letting you go. You turn to look over your shoulder to Chris who was moving to sit on the shoe ottoman at the foot of your bed, legs spread as he settled. You moan softly to yourself and turn to look at him. 

You slowly reach to your shoulders, tugging at the fabric of your dress. You pause for only a moment when it dawns on you that you’ve never been bare in front of Chris before. “Don’t worry goddess.” He laughs softly, “I’ve been dreaming of this day ever since we went to the park and you wore a skirt.” That was before their tour. 

“You’ve been holding off that long?” You ask, almost dropping your hands. “Baby, I don’t like to be gentle all the time… I wasn’t sure if that was what you liked, so I was testing the waters gently. I don’t want to make you do something that you don’t want.” You gulp, figuring that was a conversation for another time. 

The burning in your gut and between your thighs was what was most important right now. 

You take a deep breath and push the fabric down to your waist, exposing your bare chest to Chris before shimming the fabric the rest of the way off, leaving you completely bare to him. You slowly raise your gaze to him to find that he was staring at you so hard that you thought perhaps he was trying to catch you on fire. You almost reach down to put the dress back on but the noise Chris made almost made you fold. 

He made a strange mix of a moan and a feral growl. “Jesus fucking christ.” He groans, “Come here.” He almost barks. You don’t wait and he has you pulled into his lap. It takes no time for him to, quite literally, rip the buttons off his shirt and pants to get him bare as well. 

“I would say we should do foreplay, but you’re wet enough for the entire night.” He teases, his teeth clamping down on your bottom lip. You groan, “Chris-” you start to complain but stop as you feel his cock at your entrance. You both moan, and he pants raggedly, obviously struggling. “Baby- I’m trying so hard-” 

“I’m not glass.” You snap, digging your nails into his biceps, “Quit being a pussy and just-” Before you can get the rest out he thrust into you so hard that it knocks the wind out of you. He wastes no time wrapping a hand around your throat and squeezing it. “Do not say things that you can’t take back, y/n.” The way he spoke made a shudder rip through your body so violently that you thought it would tear you apart. 

Chris pulls out ever so slowly and then drives back into you, causing you both to moan into each other’s mouths. This was so good- fuck, better than you ever could have expected. 

Just when you thought that it couldn’t get any better, his free hand adjusts the angle of your hips and he starts to fuck you hard and fast. You both become a mixture of animalistic grunts, moans, and whimpers as he fucks you so thoroughly that you debated thanking Felix in the morning. 

You felt yourself spiraling toward a third orgasm as Chris moaned, “Fuck-baby- one more, please.” He whimpers, letting go of your throat and holding your hip along with the other hand. You could come at the sight of him whimpering for you, fucked out of his mind, drunk on you, and holding your hips as he fucks you like he hates you. Your eyes roll as your back arches off the mattress, your toes curling and your hands flying down to grip his wrists. “Chirs!” You nearly scream as he slams into you a few more times before frantically pushing away from you, coming all over your thighs and lower stomach. 

He sits there, staring at his mess and panting for a moment, before slumping into your body. “Why did I wait?” He scoffed, talking mostly to himself. “Felix and I were talking about that very same thing.” You snort sleepily as you run your fingers down his clammy spine. He sighs, “No- I mean, why didn’t I just say something? I could have been easing you into this so you won’t be so sore in the morning-” 

“If I’m sore,” you interrupt, pulling his face up to look into his eyes. “That just means that you did a good job.” He grins at you sleepily, holding himself up just enough to give you a few sweet, passionate kisses before pushing away, so that his chain necklace dangled just above your chin, “I would say let’s go have a shower. But, I’m tired. You’re tired. The shower isn’t going anywhere. And if I have my way, taking a shower would just be wasting water because we’ll need it again.” He winks, before flopping down beside you and pulling you into his side. 

Perhaps, talking to Felix was a good thing. 

Now, if only you could get it into Felix’s little thought process about the choking part…

[mothiir]

Fulgrim’s Guide to the Care and Keeping of Your New Pet Human

so this is inspired by the space marine husbandry posts floating about, but because it’s Konrad it got quite dark 😅

-

Darling Konrad, words cannot convey my delight that you have decided to welcome a human into your home. They are such wonderful companions, and so rewarding — but since it is your first time owning one I thought that I would put together a little guide for you!

Your humans first days at home:

I think it is simply wonderful that you’re adopting a rescue human — the Great Crusade has left so many of the poor dears without a home to call their own! You mentioned in your letter that you found her after the fall of Mercodia VI — am I right in assuming that she is one of the survivors of that little unpleasantness? If so, she may well be even more wary than normal, but don’t worry. Humans have quite short memories, and given enough time and care she’ll soon forget the fate of her family and friends. After all, they were awful traitors and got what they deserved for defying Father’s will — but in the meantime, don’t take anything she says personally. She’ll be upset and confused and will quite possibly lash out at you. I would advise letting her settle in on her own for a few days— maybe even a week or so. Put her in a room where your sons can’t trouble her (I’m sure the sweet little bats mean well, but they will play far too roughly for her), and give her some food and water. If you hear her crying, don’t worry — this is all very new for her, and she is probably quite overwhelmed. Eventually, she should calm down, and start exploring the room more thoroughly. Humans can be escape artists, so make sure it is well-secured. When you are ready to interact with her, I recommend skipping her morning meal so you can feed her yourself, therefore creating a positive association — you are the bringer of food! Don’t try and hand feed her; place the food on a plate and slide it towards her. Let her get used to eating with you in the room. She will probably be quite grubby, and humans are by nature fastidious creatures, so offer her a wet cloth and a bowl to clean herself, and a change of clothing. Avert your eyes if she makes use of either. Humans — especially female humans — do not like being watched while they disrobe. The key to helping your human settle in is consistency and patience! The initial adjustment period will be difficult but I promise you it will all be worth it.

Feeding:

Humans are relatively easy to feed. They require far less nutrition than your average Astartes and they will eat pretty much anything. However, in order to keep your human in the pinnacle of health I suggest a varied diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and lots of clean water. Humans enjoy sugar, but make sure you don’t give her too much — it’s bad for her teeth. If you give her a meal she does not eat, do not get angry with her: humans can be picky eaters. Ask her what sort of food she would like to be given in future. Keep a note of what food she prefers. Food is an excellent way to build trust, as I noted above, and a great conversation starter. Just please do not tell her that you consume human flesh — humans tend to be squeamish about such things.

Grooming:

I have included some soap, shampoo and conditioner with this letter — I appreciate that you might not know quite how to use them, but present them to your human and I assure you she will be most grateful. Humans enjoy keeping themselves clean — indeed, it can be very sweet to watch them cover themselves with bubbles! — and I am sure she arrived into your keeping quite disgusting with the remnants of battle.

It probably goes without saying, but just to be clear: do not let her bathe with or near your sons. They will probably get a little overexcited. When they have learned to pet her nicely, then they can interact with her — but always under your supervision.

I have also included some clothes. Part of the joy of having a human is being able to dress them up, and it can be a fantastic bonding experience for you both. However, do not force it. Present her with the options and let her pick one. If there is one you would rather her wear, introduce it slowly — let her choose between that option, and something hideous. Don’t force her — everything should be done gently, coaxing her along. And that brings us to our next point —

Training:

I was going to call this section ‘discipline’ but I thought that sent the wrong idea. You should never punish your human as you would an Astartes. She is breakable in more ways than one — not only physically frail, but mentally as well. The sort of rough treatment that your sons would shrug off could quite easily kill her.

Instead of punishing undesirable behaviours, redirect her focus. For example, as I mentioned above she may be quite upset with you for burning her planet and flaying the inhabitants. This is a natural behaviour — that is, the human pack bonding instinct — but expressed poorly (that is, through denying the supremacy of the Emperor’s will). Do not punish her for being angry at you; instead, work on healthier outlets for her pack-bonding instincts. It may be a little earlier for her to pack-bond with you, so I’d suggest getting her something she can pack-bond with instead. A puppy is always a good option, though if you do decide to do this please ask me for breed recommendations, because I have seen the dogs that are native to Nostrames and I do not think they are suitable pets for an ork, let alone a human.

She may try and escape. Once again, this is her natural behaviour to explore and colonise. Try playing hide and seek with her, or encouraging her to wander the ship under your supervision.

Naming:

Your human probably comes with her own name, but to answer your question — yes, you can change it. In order to get her to answer to the new name, inform her that this is her new title, and reward her every time she responds to it. It might be difficult, but not impossible.

Regarding the name itself: none of the names First Captain Sevetar suggested are acceptable. Most aren’t actual names. Please do not take his advice in naming your new pet.

Spaying/neutering, the physical, are you really planning to — The other stuff:

I understand that the physical side of your relationship with your human is your primary concern at present, as you mentioned in your letter. Repeatedly. And although I do appreciate the detail you went into when describing her assets, I would recommend that you do not repeat most of what you wrote to her. I understand that you think ‘your face looks better on your skull than it would on my trophy wall so you get to keep your face’ is a compliment — and it is! — but humans are not quite as au fait with the finer points of language as we are, so she will probably take it the wrong way.

I am not saying that you cannot progress to greater intimacy with your human — I have been married four times (to women, despite what Russ likes to say), and it is quite the experience. However, I really must urge that you give her time to settle in and become accustomed to your presence, so she is more likely to reciprocate your advances.

When you feel she has started to warm to you a little, write to me again and I can help guide you through the next stage of human ownership. It is a marathon, not a sprint, but all the more rewarding for it!

As an aside — whatever Captain Sevetar says regarding intimacy is wrong. Do not listen to his advice. Do not do anything he suggests. If anything, do the opposite.

Forever yours, and all the love in the galaxy,

Fulgrim

[clarionglass]

gang,,,,, gang. i am honestly still reeling from The game changer account reblogging the comic,,,, my god. my god.

for newcomers: welcome! thank you for being here!! for those who may have only seen the part of the fic linked to the comic, this is part 6 in the series (because truly i cannot stop myself). all the other parts are linked in the lil game master cinematic universe blurb i've got down the bottom of the post, and the whole thing is now on ao3!

and speaking of my lil blurby thing, if anyone else wants to play around in the game master cinematic universe, tag me so i don't miss it and i'll add whatever you make to the list!! and if you just want to chat about the crossover, hit me up! truly i am so happy to have as many people playing in this sandbox as want to be here :D

but anyway, without further ado:

a selection of correspondence (game master cinematic universe, part 6) | read on ao3

From: Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) To: Group <Dropout cast and crew> Subject: Announcements and info

Hi all,

Just a quick announcement that we have a new member of the team joining us at Dropout! Some of you have met him already, although you may not have realised it—he worked on A Game Most Changed and Escape the Greenroom in season 5, and Bingo, Deja Vu, Beat the Buzzer and Sam Says 4 in season 6, doing some of the hosting in my place.

And before you ask how that can be, this man is my exact doppelganger! He’s a time traveling alien who, for the moment, we are calling Other Sam, because we’ve agreed that the name he’s chosen is not exactly appropriate in a workplace setting. He’s here on a kind of rehabilitation program, as shows like Game Changer provide the sort of enrichment that he needs, without him having to resort to things like planetary conquest and murder. We also have him to thank for our new studio—he has kindly allowed us to use his (currently grounded) spacetime machine to record in, seeing as he did blow up our original studio. On an operational basis, nothing should have changed with the studio, but I do recommend you don’t go poking around in cupboards, just in case.

I promise on everything dear to me that this is not a joke.

I hope you’ll all make Other Sam feel welcome! So there’s minimal confusion between the two of us, he and I will be taking care to differentiate ourselves (he says he will try and look, in his words, “more evil”, although I’ll admit I’m not quite sure how that will work).

Series leads and producers, if you would like to include Other Sam in one of your shows, please let me know. He’s a lot of fun to work with, and he’s promised us his best behaviour, so I can guarantee there will be none of the aforementioned planetary conquest and murder. Of course, the wellbeing of all Dropout cast and crew is my highest priority, so if any of you are not comfortable working with him, please let me know as well, and production and I will ensure you are not cast in the same episodes. In future seasons of Game Changer, we will be sharing the hosting duties, so if you’re on an episode, it’ll be made clear which of us you’ll be working with.

On a related note, you know I hate being the bearer of bad news about mandatory seminars, but there is a training seminar next Monday on psychic defence techniques. This seminar is a requirement if you’re going to be working with him, and even if you’re not planning on that, I’d strongly advise coming along anyway.

As always, if you’ve got any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Cheers, Sam

---

[Note: many responses with the general sentiment of “what the fuck?!” have not been included in the selection of return correspondence.]

---

From: Brennan Lee Mulligan (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

I need this man in the dome immediately. 

---

From: Siobhan Thompson (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Hi Sam,

Many thanks for your email, and for letting us know about Other Sam. You don’t need to confirm or deny this, but I’m assuming he did something to us during the Deja Vu recording. I haven’t felt entirely comfortable around you since then, and until now I haven’t been able to find a logical reason why. You mentioned psychic defence techniques in your email, so I take it that there was some kind of mental fuckery involved—perhaps a memory wipe? 

I don’t know what he did, and I’m not sure I want to know, but whatever it is, I don’t think it’s good. I would very much appreciate it if I don’t have to work with him.

Best wishes, Siobhan

---

From: Grant O’Brien (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Hey Sam,

I’m already digging up info for a Breaking News segment. There’s someone on reddit called scarfytwin who says they might be able to give us some good info, but I might need to sign a few things first? Looks like it’s tangled up in some British government stuff, which is wild. Sounds juicy, whatever it is, and I reckon it would be good payback…

Best, Grant

---

From: Lou Wilson (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Man, are you telling me that Samuel Dalton was kind of a real fucking thing?? No way. If you let me punch him *hard* one time I’ll go on any show with him.

Cheers, Lou

---

From: Brian David Gilbert (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Hi Sam,

This explains a lot about the weird feelings I’ve been having since Deja Vu! I know something terrible probably happened during that recording, but I’d love to just sit down with Other Sam and have a chat. Do you recommend we just meet in a professional context, or would that be something you’re able to organize?

Thanks, Brian

---

From: Zac Oyama (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Cool.

---

From: Ally Beardsley (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Absolute freak behavior and i love this for you, sign me up for anything!

---

From: Mike Trapp (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Hi Sam,

Huh, that sure explains some things. This will probably be cool in future, but for right now, I think I need to do a bit of processing. I’ll let you know!

Cheers, Trapp

---

From: Vic Michaelis (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Hi Sam,

Intriguing! If you think he’d be up for the prosthetics, I’d love to have either of you on Very Important People next season. Both of you together would be even better!

Vic

---

From: Lily Du (@gmail.com) To: Sam Reich (@droput.tv) Subject: Re: Announcements and info

Hey Sam,

I’ve had a chat to Grant, and I would love to put this guy on Dirty Laundry. Grant says he’ll share what he finds out from the reddit person with me, and we might be able to make a good episode happen.

Cheers, Lily

---

From: Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) To: Other Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) Subject: Fwd: Announcements and info

Well, most people seem to have taken it well! Looks like we’ll be having some fun…

---

From: Other Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) To: Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) Subject: Re: Fwd: Announcements and info

“Not exactly appropriate in a workplace setting”?

---

From: Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) To: Other Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) Subject: Re: Re: Fwd: Announcements and info

We discussed this. You agreed.

---

From: Other Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) To: Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) Subject: Re: Re: Re: Fwd: Announcements and info

I most certainly did not. I said “hm”. “Hm” does not count as agreement.

---

From: Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) To: Other Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fwd: Announcements and info

You do know this is a group of people who I can guarantee, on hearing the word “Master”, would react the exact same way Grant did?

---

From: Other Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) To: Sam Reich (@dropout.tv) Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fwd: Announcements and info

Fine. “Other Sam” it is.

---

missed an installment of the game master cinematic universe?

original idea by @ace-whovian-neuroscientist: x

art by @northernfireart concept: x scissor sisters sketch: x sam and his doppelganger: x escape the death beam: x

by @bloopdydooooo drawing collection: x

writing by me (!) part one (escape the greenroom): x part two (deja vu): x part three (sam says 4): x part four (you think you know someone): x part five (point and counterpoint): x part six (a selection of correspondence): you are here!

[spookyserenades]

Trouvaille - Chapter Four

Pairing(s); BTS OT7 x Reader

Genre/Themes; Hybrid!AU, themes of the supernatural and the occult, religious themes, violence, hurt/comfort, horror, romance

Rated; 18+ for swearing, violence/gore, future sexual themes. Reader discretion is advised.

Word Count; 20.6k

Trouvaille Masterlist

Trouvaille playlist

Updates on the 7th of each month

Hello darling readers, it's Dana! Happy April, I am so excited to bring you this month's update; Chapter Four! We're picking up exactly where we left off, and there's lots going on in this chapter. Expect a bit more paranormal happenings in this chapter, particularly towards the end (nothing TOO frightening, but I figured I'd warn in advance) Of course, we have a few moments of angst, a handful of flirtatious banter, and a lot more information revealed about the hybrids themselves. As always, I love to hear from readers; comments or questions! Please know that I will answer each response in time, I am currently going through an emotional time with my family 💜 The taglist is still open, as well. Without further ado, please enjoy this update, and thank you so much for reading and supporting my work!

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Immediately, Y/N could see Namjoon recognized the relation between her and her mother– if he was taken aback, it didn’t show. However, his face completely changed like night and day as he broke out into a fond grin at her mother after a beat. 

After a split second of deduction, Y/N figured that apparently, her mother was who Namjoon knew at the library. Feeling completely out of place as her mother hurried from out behind the desk and gave Namjoon a tearful hug, Y/N was positively flabbergasted. What were the chances of Y/N adopting a hybrid her mother knew? The book club, by law of the state, could only accept adopted hybrid members, and until a few nights ago, Namjoon was very much unadopted. 

“You came by every day! I thought something bad may have happened to you,” her mother broke free from the hug slightly, wiping a tear from her eye as she assessed Namjoon, like she was searching for injuries. 

Namjoon tilted his head, her mother right about that– he had landed in Boston’s “finest” shelter after being dragged off the street in his wolf form. Unadopted, it was likely that Namjoon had found a way to put up a front about his situation and was somehow found out later on. Her mother couldn’t have been the one to report Namjoon judging by her genuine relief upon seeing him, Y/N thought, but the missing explanation on how he had gotten into the book club in the first place was piquing Y/N’s curiosity the most. 

“I’m alright,” Namjoon replied, rich voice muffled by the velvet shawl covering her mother’s shoulder. “Something… came up,” he added as he pulled away, eyes darting from Y/N to her mother, seemingly examining similarities and differences in their features. Her mother frowned sympathetically but did not pry, seemingly knowing better than to do so with Namjoon. As if just remembering Y/N was standing there gawking at the pair of them, her mother pressed a hand to her chest. 

“Oh, honey, I forgot to call your hybrid’s name over the intercom, I’m sorry, Namjoon, one moment…” her mother rushed back behind the desk, Namjoon raising his eyebrows at Y/N, who was floundering under his pointed gaze. “What was his name?”

“Uh, mom. It’s alright. Namjoon is the said hybrid,” Y/N scratched the back of her head, Namjoon clearly unimpressed she had panicked right away not being able to find him. Her mother was instantly confused, looking from her to Namjoon with suspicion. Expecting her to make an elaborate spectacle, Y/N braced herself, only to be met with her mother’s careful composure. 

“Huh. Snuck past the law, didn’t you, you smart boy,” her mother reached out to ruffle Namjoon’s hair, dimples appearing in the wolf hybrid’s cheeks, because of course he had them. Her mother then squeezed Y/N’s shoulder, adding, “This is my daughter I’ve mentioned before, which I’m assuming you’ve gathered by now. And you can return to the book club again, I need your help leading the discussions once more. They’ve been a bit uninspiring since your absence.”

Namjoon appeared to glow under her mother’s praise, but Y/N thought she may have been buttering him up a bit too much. Her mother had a knack for flattery. There was also the unspoken that hung around the atmosphere, her mother’s lack of interrogation and swift acceptance forming a pit in Y/N’s stomach. Usually, she’d be the type to pry out every detail of how Y/N had managed to become acquainted with Namjoon, but shockingly her mother refrained, seemingly occupied in rummaging around in the returns rack. She pulled out a book from behind the desk, handing it to Namjoon: Wuthering Heights. 

“This is the book we’re reading for the next two weeks. Started it yesterday, so the others don’t have too much of a head start yet,” her mother folded her arms over her chest, looking particularly smug that they were reading one of Y/N’s favorite books as she noticed the eager grin growing on her daughter’s face. “You can ask Y/N just about any question you have about that particular book and she’ll bring out all ten of the essays she’s written on it.”

“Jesus, mom. Exaggeration much?” Y/N scoffed, watching Namjoon carefully tuck the book under his arm. “I only wrote two essays on it,” she muttered under her breath, unable to deny her great obsession for everything Bronte circa her college days. 

“Excuse me, I’m scheduled to meet someone for an interview here at 10, but I’m not sure where I’m supposed to go?” A young man anxiously gripping a map interrupted the conversation by catching the attention of her mother behind the desk. 

“Oh, you must be Joseph! I’ll take you up to the office myself,” her mother exclaimed, glancing at Y/N and Namjoon. “I’ll see you two on Friday, alright? Y/N, honey, don’t put that salt on the windowsills, it’ll stain the finish,” she added, motioning for Joseph to follow her around the desk. 

With that, she was gone in an instant, leaving Y/N with a hybrid who still seemed to resent the fact that she thought he had run away. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, Y/N started to sweat under the beret she was wearing, cursing her wardrobe choices that morning already. 

“Uh… well, your introduction to my mother was less painful than it was when she stopped by to meet the others yesterday,” Y/N began thoughtfully, spinning around to face Namjoon, all imposing height and narrowed, probing eyes. Her stomach turned uncomfortably, reminding her she had yet to eat anything that morning. “Come on, Namjoon, I’ll buy you a pastry from the cafe here,” she motioned towards the small counter at the front of the library littered with small bistro tables, comfortably walled off by planter partitions.

With an arched brow, Namjoon sucked in his cheeks as he reluctantly followed Y/N to the counter, ears turned flat against his skull. The woman working by the oven was pulling out a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls, the saccharine scent of buttery confection making Y/N nearly swoon. Fishing around in her bag, she pulled out her wallet, promptly ordering a cinnamon roll and an espresso for herself. Catching Namjoon gazing at the cherry pie displayed in a glass cake stand, she thought about getting him a slice before thinking the better of it. He seemed like the type to want to order his own food. 

“Hiya, Namjoon! The usual?” The cheery woman from behind the counter gave Namjoon a kindly smile, placing a tiny cup under the espresso machine for Y/N. Brightening up a bit, Namjoon nodded, crowding behind Y/N as the woman added a hot black coffee and a slice of cherry pie to Y/N’s order. Forking over the cash, she waited silently at the end of the counter with Namjoon for his pie to be heated up in the oven. 

He hadn’t said anything to her directly since they were in the car. Namjoon must have had questions, simply because Y/N knew she had her own fair share, but he seemed to be in no hurry to voice them as he plucked a brown leaf off of the potted plant sitting at the end of the counter. Once Namjoon had his mug and pie balanced in his hands, Y/N found a little table for two vacant at the corner of the cafe. Seated across from Namjoon, taking what seemed to be a soul-satisfying sip of coffee with his eyes closed, Y/N found she had forgotten every question she was going to ask him. Shrugging, she dove into her cinnamon roll, still hot from the oven and practically melting in her mouth. 

“What’s that salt for?” Namjoon asked suddenly, using the side of his fork to collect a bite of pie on the utensil. He gave a pointed look to Y/N’s tote bag as he chewed his pie, ignoring the surprise on her face. 

“Hmm. If I said it's for witchcraft, what would be your response?” Y/N decided to answer truthfully, with the knowledge of him likely being able to sniff out a lie in the forefront of her mind. If he called her crazy, she could handle that, but a liar was something she no longer wished to be with any of the hybrids. In fact, she’d planned on coming clean with the others about the ghost sighting in the house later that afternoon when she got the chance. 

Namjoon, sipping his coffee thoughtfully as he scanned her face, seemed to consider her words carefully. Setting his mug down, he sat back in his chair with a sigh. 

“I already knew your mother was a witch, she told me– not that it was very difficult to piece together. So, it makes sense you practice too… but that doesn’t really answer my question. What, exactly, do you need black salt for? Protection from something?” Namjoon clarified, with particular emphasis on the last question. 

Opening and closing her mouth, Y/N abruptly drained her espresso cup for some kind of a lifeline, not expecting Namjoon to be so direct or even have knowledge about the uses of black salt. He nonchalantly went back to enjoying his pie, waiting patiently for her explanation. 

“Okay, sure. It’s for protection, I think the house is overdue for some cleansing and some boundaries to keep a few uninvited guests… out,” Y/N toed around the issue as honestly as possible without including the word ghosts, deciding it was a little strange to be discussing something like that in a library cafe. Returning to her cinnamon roll, she chased some icing at the edge of the plate with a crispy layer of pastry. Y/N had yet to plan out the exact ritual she was going to conduct, fleetingly wishing that she had her mother’s old spellbook at the house to consult. 

“I read a lot about modern witchcraft here. I didn’t know all too much about it before I met your mother at the book club,” Namjoon confessed, crumpling up his napkin on his empty pie plate. “If I hadn’t seen certain things myself, I’d write it all off as new-age garbage.”

Tilting her head, Y/N’s curiosity had climbed tenfold. For someone so burly and serious looking, Namjoon’s apparent interest in the occult came as a great surprise. Not to mention, she desperately wanted to ask about what “things” Namjoon had referenced seeing to make him a believer at all. It didn’t seem like the time nor place, however.

“Namjoon, not to change the subject, but how were you able to get into the book club?” Y/N blurted out the first thing that came to mind, distantly hoping he wasn’t withholding any embarrassing stories her mother had relayed to him about her daughter. 

“You mean, while I was unadopted,” Namjoon returned bluntly, holding his hand up in response to Y/N offering a piece of her cinnamon roll. “It was easy enough, I created a fake certificate on one of the computers in the lab here after seeing a flier for the book club nailed to a telephone pole.” 

“Oh,” was all Y/N could think to say, the explanation much simpler than she had anticipated, feeling silly that she had asked at all. Pushing her plate away, she again wondered how he had ended up in the shelter considering her mother knew him well enough to be so moved by his absence. Someone must have ratted him out, but who, and how did they even find out about his forged certificate? 

“Should we get going?” Namjoon interrupted her internal dialogue, his chair scraping against the floor as he collected their cups, plates, and his book. Scrambling to her feet, Y/N tried her best to keep up with Namjoon’s long strides, almost falling over upon seeing his beautiful smile directed at the woman behind the counter. 

On the way back to the car, she caught Namjoon casting a look at the desk where they had met her mother, but she wasn’t there, cueing the corners of his mouth to turn down in disappointment. Clearly, she had left a lasting impression on Namjoon. 

Outside, the weather was still cool and pleasant, tourists ambling down Boylston street with great shopping bags swinging from the crooks of their elbows. The black salt in her tote bag felt like it weighed one hundred pounds, placing it in the backseat of her car as she slid in. The tinny old tape resumed, crackling to life in the speaker, Mick Jagger sounding more like Kermit than anything. Namjoon, once settled in his seat, started reading Wuthering Heights straight away, leaving Y/N to focus on the route home and planning out some kind of cleansing and banishing ritual in her mind.

“Wow. Stick Style?” Namjoon let himself through the iron gate Y/N pulled open, taking him around the front upon remembering she had put the bar lock across the sliding kitchen door the night before out of paranoia. 

“That’s right,” Y/N confirmed, carefully navigating the brick walkway to the porch in order not to trip. One of her missions for the day was to watch her clumsiness, and a stray loose brick would put a kink in that plan for sure. “This one was built in 1886 for a judge and his family.”

Namjoon was busy admiring the trees crowding the yard when Y/N noticed the packages piled up on the doorstep, squinting as she tried to see what they were. Bending to collect them, one was a thick packet from the bank, and the other was a medium sized box from her phone carrier. The hybrid’s credit cards and phones arrived far quicker than she had expected, to her delight; they’d be able to buy what they wanted that afternoon at some of the shops and even call her if they wandered off and lost her. Tucking the packages under her arm, she managed to unlock the door while her tote bag slid down her arm, pushing the door open with a loud creak. 

The house was lively. The scent of bacon nearly knocked her off her feet, a lovely song coming from the piano upstairs, and there was chatter Y/N could hear coming from far off in the kitchen. Someone had lit the candles in the sconces on the wall, making the house feel cozy compared to the cool, overcast morning. Grinning, Y/N felt glee well up inside of her, the house feeling so lived-in already that it reminded her of the holidays with her grandparents as a child. Tossing a look over her shoulder, Namjoon hesitated at the threshold of the front door, appearing to size up the scale of the home, before entering the foyer behind her and shutting the door firmly. Upon further consideration, he locked the deadbolt behind him, Y/N raising her eyebrow but saying nothing. 

“Good morning Y/N–” Seokjin bounded out of the kitchen, a strip of bacon in his hand on its way to his parted lips, freezing as he registered Namjoon behind her. Slowly, he lowered his arm, recovering pretty well once he noticed Y/N trying to juggle the packages and her tote bag threatening to crash to the ground, the jaguar hybrid promptly catching the bag and setting it carefully on the staircase. “Hello, Namjoon,” he greeted evenly, waving with his piece of bacon. Y/N snickered, Namjoon offering a short nod in response. 

“Did Yoongi make you some breakfast?” Y/N asked Seokjin, his tail flicking back and forth languidly as he shook his head. Upon mentioning the leopard hybrid’s name, the music upstairs abruptly cut short. Y/N was reminded once more of the hybrid’s incredible hearing, sending a shiver down her spine. No more late-night trips to the kitchen for some shredded cheese out of the bag. 

“No, Jimin,” was his response, nodding his head towards the kitchen. “Yoongi’s tinkering around on the piano, and hasn’t even come down yet. Nor Taehyung.”

“Mind if I take a look around?” Namjoon interjected, arms crossed over his chest as he stared straight into Y/N’s face, expression neutral. Clearing her throat, Y/N tried to make a “go ahead” motion with her arms while holding the packages. 

“Be my guest,” she side-eyed the box of things she had collected for him at the foot of the stairs, which he had yet to notice. “Find a bedroom you like, while you’re at it, and come find us after.”

“Sure,” Namjoon agreed absently, slowly taking off down the hall towards Jimin’s room. Thoughtfully munching on his bacon, Seokjin shrugged, following Y/N to the kitchen in her pursuit of a letter opener. 

At the island was Hoseok stirring cream into Y/N’s old Darth Vader mug, face puffy with sleep, and she caught a glimpse of Jimin by the stove dressed in his new jeans and the beige linen button down. Upon further examination, he had a bit of batter on his nose as he flipped a pancake expertly on the skillet. Hoseok offered her a sleepy smile, patting the bar stool next to him for her to sit while Seokjin swiped more bacon from the plate by Jimin at the stove. 

“Morning, Miss Y/N, would you like some pancakes, or bacon before Seokjin eats it all?” Jimin turned around, flinching as Seokjin attempted to collect the batter off of the coyote hybrid’s nose with an index finger. Snorting, she shook her head, feeling the cinnamon roll from the library cafe sitting in her stomach like a boulder. 

“No thanks, sweetheart, I got something to eat on the way home with Namjoon,” she answered easily, using the letter opener to hack open the packet from the bank. Hoseok, while stiffening at the sound of the wolf hybrid’s name, couldn’t help himself by nearly hooking his chin over Y/N’s shoulder to peer at the letter she was scanning, offering simple instructions for the card activations. Pulling out her phone, she followed the steps, smirking at the sound of Hoseok noisily slurping his coffee in her ear. 

As she was peeling the cards off of the papers from the packet, the glass slider behind her slid open, making her frown as she realized her and Namjoon could have entered that way after all. Peeking over her shoulder, she knew who it was before she got a good look– Jeongguk.

Dressed in every black item that Y/N had purchased for him, his complexion was a tad on the paler side, Jeongguk looked quite bewildered as he stumbled into the kitchen. Clearing his throat, he absently tossed a cigarette butt– smoked down to the filter– into the ashtray outside before shutting the door hastily. Frowning, Y/N stacked the credit cards on the table, wondering why he seemed so freaked out, but held her tongue out of stubbornness due to the previous night’s spat. 

“What’s the matter with you?” Hoseok called out, a note of disgust coloring his tone as he watched Jeongguk distractedly melt onto the booth of the breakfast bar. Jeongguk waved his hand dismissively, scribbling something down in his notebook with the pen from behind his ear. Rolling his eyes, Hoseok returned to his coffee while Y/N began to open up the box with the phones. 

“Morning,” Yoongi entered the room, a serene look on his face as he accepted a mug of coffee from Seokjin. It was nice to see some of the hybrids get along so amicably so far, and Y/N was trying to squash the small voice in her head telling her they were just putting on a front for her benefit. 

Putting the box of phones on the barstool next to her, Y/N double-checked to make sure the proper amount of devices were in there before taking her hat off to run her fingers through her hair. Eyes were on her as soon as the hat left her head, Y/N self-consciously wondering if her hair smelled sweaty or something. Jimin began to harshly wash pans immediately after, his honeyed strands of hair falling into his face as he worked. 

“Anyone seen Taehyung yet today? It’s almost noon, and he was the one most eager to go out today,” Seokjin remarked, passing a hand over his stomach as he returned uncooked bacon to the fridge. Y/N was unsurprised Taehyung had locked himself away while she was gone, considering he had even excused himself from the parlor yesterday as soon as she was unconscious. He didn’t seem to have any interest in getting to know the others. 

“He’s up. I heard his shower going while I was working on the piano,” Yoongi replied, cracking his knuckles as he went to sit across from Jeongguk at the breakfast bar. Either he was trying to bury the hatchet, or was keeping an eye on the elk hybrid; either way the latter hardly looked up from his notebook. 

“Working?” Y/N repeated with confusion, wondering if he was writing a musical or something. 

“Yeah, tuning it. You had a kit in the compartment under the piano bench, and some of the keys were a little flat,” Yoongi explained patiently, tracing a dainty pinky finger around the lip of his coffee mug while he spoke. This sparked excitement within her, thinking once again about lessons to inquire about at the music store later that afternoon, especially now that the piano was getting looked after by someone like Yoongi. 

“That song you were playing when I came home was very pretty,” Y/N complimented, hoping she, too, could play half as well as Yoongi one day. His cheeks turned pink, murmuring a thank-you, studiously staring out the window. 

Y/N passed her fingers over the glossy credit cards, the ridges of Namjoon’s name on the top card making her wonder where he had ended up. With Hoseok next to her, definitely more quiet than usual, she made a mental note to keep an eye on the fox hybrid that afternoon now that Namjoon would be joining them on their outing, or so she hoped. She still didn’t know if sad-sack Jeongguk would come with them, but leaving him alone in the house made her feel melancholy, even if he was a brat. 

“Hoseok, are you going to shower before we leave? I can smell the sweat coming off of you all the way from here,” Seokjin suddenly complained, leaning forward on the island to sniff in Hoseok’s direction dramatically. Hoseok let the comment roll off his shoulders, patronizingly stroking Seokjin’s hand from across the island with a grin. Displeasure washed over Seokjin’s lovely face comically.

“I’ll make sure to wait for you in the shower, cupcake. Maybe you should join me for a morning workout next time,” Hoseok pushed himself off of his barstool with a great heave, chuckling at Seokjin’s angry barking insults as he vanished from the room. 

“You should know by now not to try and out-fox the fox with verbal shell games, Seokjin. It’s getting embarrassing for all of us, at this point,” Yoongi called out from the breakfast bar, making Y/N chortle loudly. Seokjin frowned, his tail flicking back and forth in an agitated manner. 

“Alright, come on,” Y/N sighed, brushing away a tear of amusement from the corner of her eye, “I’ve got something for you guys. Figured you’d need these in this great age of technology,” she stood, scooping up several phone boxes from the open package to deal out like cards, sliding one each across the island to Jimin and Seokjin before delivering two more to Yoongi and Jeongguk at the breakfast bar.

The room was so quiet, a pin could drop and it would sound like a gunshot as each hybrid stared at their phone boxes, Y/N biting her lip as Jeongguk took his phone from her like a live grenade. 

“Uh, remind me to give you my number when you set the phones up, just in case anything happens and you can’t find me physically, or something,” Y/N babbled, wondering if now was a bad time to pass out the credit cards, considering the astounded looks on everyone’s faces. “Hmm. I guess I should look for Taehyung… Namjoon too. We’ll leave in about a half hour?” She continued upon further silence from the hybrids, catching Seokjin examining the box of his new cell phone like it was an exotic insect. 

Yoongi nodded robotically, Jimin whispering something to Seokjin as they both read the back of their phone boxes. Tucking the credit cards in her skirt pocket and scooping up the remaining phones, she offered the stunned hybrids a warm smile before heading towards the hallway. Jimin looked like he wanted to follow Y/N, but Seokjin caught his wrist and started to point at something on the box. 

In the hallway, Y/N took a deep breath, nearly stumbling over Namjoon’s box of items by the stairs. Cursing, she regained her balance, almost toppling over again as she heard the door to the green room from behind her creak loudly. Dread flooded through her in an instant, praying the old hag ghost wasn’t two paces from breathing down her neck. Spinning around, she was relieved to see Namjoon peeking his head out from behind the door, an eyebrow raised. 

“Sorry, you startled me,” Y/N breathed, Namjoon stepping out into the hall with a grunt of acknowledgement. 

“I think the sooner you do that protection ritual, the better you’ll feel,” Namjoon remarked, hands on hips. He wasn’t wrong about that, Y/N thought. “This room taken?” He nodded towards the green room where Seokjin had stayed. 

“No, you can have it,” Y/N tried her best not to shy away from his close proximity, the sensation of him towering over her a bit overwhelming. “This box is for you, some clothes to get you through the next couple of weeks and toiletries. Oh, this too,” Y/N nudged the box on the floor before remembering the phones in her hand, hastily handing one over to him. Eyebrows furrowed, he pocketed the phone swiftly, more interested in the contents of the box of clothes he kneeled down to take a look at. 

“Hey, we’re all going to head out into town in a bit to get some fresh air, and you’re invited as well, of course,” Y/N said, suddenly feeling shy as he leafed through some of the shirts she had chosen for him. Namjoon hummed, the sound slightly gravelly, his ear flickering. 

“I’ll go with you,” Namjoon agreed, stretching back up to his full height, his face softer than she had seen it before, at least directed towards her. “Thanks, by the way,” he added gently, lifting the box off the ground, taking one last look at her before hauling it into his room.

Reeling, Y/N absently trudged up the stairs, unable to get the look he had on his face out of her head. A ghost of the fondness he had shown for her mother reflected in Namjoon’s expression, and even if it lasted for a moment, it felt precious to her. As she reached the second floor, she heard Hoseok’s whistling from the basement. Hastening to Taehyung’s room, Y/N paused to listen for any movement, but heard nothing. Before she could knock, the door flung open, Y/N’s jaw hanging open as she dropped her hand limply. 

“Are we leaving?” Taehyung leaned against the door jamb, dressed in his blue long-sleeve and dark jeans. His hair was still wet from the shower, ringlets surrounding his face like a cherub. Tapping his foot, Taehyung seemed eager to embark on their outing as he peered out into the hallway, scanning the surroundings. 

“Shortly, yes,” Y/N replied, the scent of sandalwood coming off of him powerfully. As they started down the hall together, Y/N chatting mindlessly about the events of the morning and giving him his phone, she couldn’t help but think that Taehyung had to be one of the easiest to talk to. 

Like Jimin, Taehyung listened intently, but wasn’t so intense in his gaze as she talked, having more of a calming– as opposed to dazzling– effect on her. Out of everyone, he seemed to be the most excited about the phone, opening it immediately and passing it to Y/N to plug in her phone number. She did so blindly as they reached the kitchen, Taehyung sticking to her side closely as she created a contact for herself. 

The kitchen was in a bit of commotion as they entered, Hoseok loudly complaining about Seokjin polishing off the bacon, and Jimin trying to keep up his carefully-constructed patience as he told Seokjin how to turn on his phone. Yoongi had migrated to the coffee bar, apparently making himself a to-go cup, and Jeongguk was already typing away on his new phone at the breakfast nook. 

Y/N made her rounds putting her number in the other’s phones, Jeongguk reluctantly parting with his when she reached him. She endured the awkwardness of their interaction, the words he spat the previous night hovering in the air starkly. She could tell, by the set of his jaw, that Jeongguk was likely recalling the events, avoiding her eyes expertly. Feeling Taehyung breathing down her neck as she punched the digits into Jeongguk’s phone, Y/N hurriedly handed it back to the elk hybrid, who was huffing impatiently. At least, she thought distantly, he had the decency to look a little sheepish when she smiled at him sweetly. 

When Namjoon entered the kitchen, every head turned to look at him. Y/N only registered the disturbance when she couldn’t hear Hoseok and Seokjin bickering anymore, looking up from Jimin’s phone with interest. Namjoon, standing stiffly at the threshold of the kitchen, scanned each hybrid briefly, spending a little more time watching Taehyung linger at Y/N’s side at the sink. Returning Jimin’s phone to him, Y/N cleared her throat, nervously shooting a glance at Hoseok, who had either subconsciously or accidentally pulled Seokjin in front of him like some kind of meat-shield. Even Yoongi, wiping down the counter, seemed perturbed by the wolf hybrid’s presence, his ears turned downwards. The tension in the room was nearly suffocating, all of the ease vanishing as soon as Namjoon walked in. 

“Well, now that everyone’s here, we can head out now,” Y/N clapped once in an attempt to dissolve some of the tension, only succeeding in making Jimin jump in surprise. Patting his back gingerly in apology, she inched towards Namjoon without Taehyung following her like a shadow, to her surprise, while desperately hoping to corral everyone out to the car in one piece. “Ready?”

Y/N walked in tandem with Namjoon out the front door, counting heads like a school teacher as each hybrid exited the house. They grouped together in cliques, Yoongi and Jimin, Seokjin and Hoseok– Jeongguk, of course, was by himself but stayed close to Yoongi curiously enough. The five lingering by the Land Cruiser kept considerable distance from both Taehyung and Namjoon, who also appeared to stay clear of one another. 

Without a question, the rest of the hybrids said nothing as Namjoon slid into the passenger seat promptly, Taehyung reluctantly climbing into the seat behind Y/N. Seokjin, mumbling about Hoseok pushing him too harshly, crammed himself in the third row of the car beside Jeongguk followed by the fox hybrid. Before Namjoon could put the horrid Rolling Stones tape on again, Y/N switched on the radio, a Britney Spears song filling the car with a bit of sunshine. Once again, Yoongi found himself in the center seat of the second row with a grimace on his face, making eye contact with Y/N in the rearview. Trying to appear apologetic, she gave him a half-smile as she pulled out into the street. Hoseok began to whistle along to the tune of Gimme More. 

After finding a decent parking spot at the cluster of shops in the middle of the town and passing out the hybrid’s new credit cards, everyone flooded out into the square in a mostly orderly manner. They parked closest to the music store, which was right across from Judy’s metaphysical shop where Y/N was planning to pick up hours to pay for all future expenses. Seokjin, kindly, held the door open for everyone to enter the dusty-smelling music store, smiling politely at an elderly woman ambling in behind Y/N. 

Upon entering the store, everyone peeled off in different directions. Shiny electric guitars, polished brass trumpets, and long coiled bunches of cables hung from the pegboard walls, large drum kits and cases of vinyls were strewn in every direction. The place was sensory overload, positively crammed with inventory and unique looking people working behind the counters, unfazed by the seven hybrids running all over the place. Namjoon, of course, was by the single small bin by the front door overflowing with two dollar tapes. Passing by Taehyung at the jazz vinyl shelf, Y/N made her way to the far corner of the shop where the piano sheet music was displayed in crates, Yoongi scanning a thin booklet in his delicate hands, his spotted tail curling around his leg placidly. 

Curiously, and not without the feeling that she had no idea what she was looking at, Y/N pawed through a crate of piano music from movies, trying her best to give Yoongi enough space to move around in the tight corner. She fumbled with a book filled with the score from Grease, suddenly aware of the gold-green eyes burning a hole into her cheek while she was trying to decipher the foreign symbols evidently depicting musical notes. Glancing at Yoongi out of the corner of her eye, she sighed, putting the book down upon seeing his wry grin.

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Y/N groaned, too shy to venture up to the counter and ask the middle-aged man with a graying ponytail and scally cap about lessons. “I can’t even read sheet music– the guy giving me my lessons would probably laugh me out of the practice room. The window of learning this type of thing has probably closed for me anyways.”

Yoongi scoffed, leaning his hip against the crate he was previously leafing through, a stack of booklets tucked under his arm. With narrowed eyes, he scanned the pout shadowing Y/N face. 

“That’s all bullshit, anyone can learn to play an instrument at any age,” Yoongi started, tucking a long strand of hair behind his ear, “You know, I could just teach you piano. We can do weekly lessons, and start small. Why bother paying someone here when you have a piano and a teacher already at home?” 

Mouth opening and closing, Y/N squeaked out something like what, realization crashing down on her embarrassingly. She hadn’t even thought to ask Yoongi, and he brought up an excellent point– for what reason should she drive down to the music shop weekly for lessons when she could play the old piano at home that sparked the interest in the first place. Expectantly, Yoongi searched her face, waiting for a coherent answer to his proposition. 

“You’d do that? I mean, that would be great– I’d really love that,” Y/N managed, Yoongi nodding purposefully. Showing her a booklet from the stack under his arm, Y/N read the title: Piano Classics for Beginners. Heat blooming in her cheeks, she realized Yoongi must have hatched this plan on the ride into town. 

“We can start with this. I think Fridays would be good for lessons, that way you’ll have all week to familiarize yourself with the piano until our first one,” he tapped the cover of the book as he spoke, thinly veiled excitement showing on his expression. Glowing, Y/N agreed fervently, absolutely enthralled to have both lessons and an opportunity to bond with Yoongi on her horizon. 

Yoongi went back to sorting through the piano books, eyeing each title carefully. Still riding the high of his offer, Y/N left the leopard hybrid in search of Seokjin or Hoseok. The two were arguing by the counter, Hoseok audibly more loud than the jaguar hybrid, one of the women working behind the counter awkwardly fiddling with a roll of quarters as she witnessed the dispute. Frowning, Y/N approached, trying not to panic that Hoseok was leaning his back against a wobbly and expensive looking French horn on a stand. 

“How could you just watch him stroll right by and out the door? You were right there next to the bulletin board, Hoseok,” Seokjin pointed to the front of the shop, eyes bulging out of his skull as his tail flicked back and forth in an urgent manner. Hoseok groaned, arms crossed over his chest as he noticed Y/N standing in front of them. 

“What happened? Hoseok, please, you’re going to knock that over,” Y/N pulled him closer to her by his upper arm, away from the French horn the woman behind the counter was anxiously staring at. 

“Jeongguk left, like five minutes ago. Hoseok just told me,” Seokjin pushed a worried hand through his blue-black waves, eyebrows pulled together in distress as if he was about to be scolded. Not ideal, Y/N thought.

“It’s okay, he has a phone now, remember? He probably went out for a smoke or to check out another store. I’ll give him a call if he doesn’t turn up in the next fifteen minutes,” Y/N tried her best to soothe Seokjin, although she was worried herself that Jeongguk was already hitchhiking halfway to Vermont. 

“That’s what I tried to explain to him, but he managed to blame me for Jeongguk’s departure,” Hoseok groaned, clearly exasperated by the whole conversation. Seokjin shot him a thanks a lot look. 

Scanning the shop, Y/N realized that Jeongguk wasn’t the only one missing. Jimin, too, had vanished, and Namjoon looked ready to leave by the door with a plastic bag full of tapes as well. Taehyung and Yoongi were in line around the opposite side of the counter ready to make their own purchases. Chewing her lip, she turned back to Hoseok, knowing he had likely seen Jimin leave as well. 

“Did you happen to see Jimin leave?” Y/N asked, catching Hoseok’s attention mid-glare directed at Seokjin. 

“Yeah, he went to go look for the elk,” Hoseok rolled his eyes, finally maintaining distance from the French horn as Y/N yanked him away from it once more. Breathing a small sigh of relief that she already had someone out there searching for Jeongguk, Y/N waited patiently for Taehyung and Yoongi to check out and make their way to Namjoon by the door. 

“Find anything good?” Y/N asked both Taehyung and Namjoon as they exited the shop, trying to ignore the bickering behind her coming from Seokjin and Hoseok, even Yoongi joining in on the pettiness. 

Taehyung clutched his flat paper bag filled with his goods close to his chest, a warm smile across his lips, slightly pulling one of the vinyls out to show her a Mad Season record. Y/N recalled she never asked him what he was going to say about that band. Namjoon, swinging the bag in his fist as they walked out into the bricked courtyard, looked down at Y/N in a detached way. 

“They had folk tapes, mostly. I saved the least… grating ones from the bin,” Namjoon replied slowly, eyes going from her face to Taehyung’s, an ounce of suspicion in his voice. 

Nodding, Y/N could palpably feel ice forming between the wolf and Kodiak hybrids as they stared at one another, wondering what possibly could have happened in the short span of time spent together to warrant the hostility in their eyes. Considering the amount of the hybrids that already disliked one another; Hoseok and Namjoon, Jeongguk and everyone else, and now Namjoon and Taehyung, Y/N felt that she might have bitten off more than she could chew. She held no regrets, of course, but she definitely had the feeling that she’d need some help from her friends to get the hybrids to loosen up a bit at the cookout on Friday to prevent a bloodbath. 

Shivering at a particularly brisk breeze rolling by, Y/N searched the courtyard for any sightings of Jimin or Jeongguk, spotting Jimin’s honeyed head of hair peering into the window of the bookstore. Ditching the two hybrids in their icy stare-off, she hurried over to the coyote hybrid, his hands tucked into his jeans pockets as he strolled further away from her to the next storefront. 

“Jimin!” Y/N called after him, his ears immediately perking up as he swiveled around to look at her. His expression changed from happy surprise to guilt almost instantly, halting his movements as she made her way to his side. “Any luck finding Jeongguk?” 

“No, I’m sorry, Miss Y/N,” Jimin wrung his hands together, eyebrows pinching together in likely annoyance towards the elk hybrid. Patting his forearm gently, Y/N sighed. 

“It’s alright, Jimin, I appreciate you coming out here to look for him, though,” Y/N fumbled for her phone in her tote bag, ready to find Jeongguk’s number and call him. In the car earlier, she had each of them send her a text so she’d have all their contacts as well. Hoseok sent her a fox emoji, Seokjin and Jimin a simple “hello”, but all Jeongguk had sent was a period. 

“Y/N, I think he’s in there,” Hoseok shouted from across the courtyard, pointing dramatically at the storefront towards the exit. Squinting, Y/N barked out a laugh in disbelief, because of course Jeongguk had wandered into the metaphysical shop that happened to be her future employer. 

“Thanks, Hoseok!” Y/N panted, jogging over with Jimin to where most of the hybrids had clumped around by the metaphysical shop. “You guys can go into whatever store you like now– I have to stop in here anyways, and it’ll probably be for about a half hour. We can meet up after by the fountain over there, and get some ice cream before heading back. Okay?” 

Hoseok took one look at the sign for the metaphysical shop, frowned, before giving her a thumbs-up and dragging Seokjin towards the chocolate shop two doors down. Taehyung, still glaring at Namjoon, followed Yoongi and Jimin to the bookstore, while the wolf hybrid remained by Y/N’s side. Watching the others go made a smile grow across her face, the tension dissolving from the air as Y/N could see closer bonds already being formed– Hoseok’s arm slung around Seokjin’s shoulders, Jimin laughing at something Yoongi had uttered in his ear. 

“You coming in with me?” Y/N nodded towards the tinted glass door of Judy’s metaphysical shop upon noticing Namjoon not budging from her side. 

“I’d prefer to keep an eye on that elk hybrid. Him slipping away again might cause another fiasco,” Namjoon replied calmly, Y/N raising her eyebrows. She wouldn’t have categorized the last fifteen minutes as a fiasco, actually congratulating herself for remaining calm, however perhaps he could sense the underlying dread that had been flooding through her. Shrugging, she mumbled a “thank you” bashfully as he opened the door for her, the jingling of the witch bells fastened to the door announcing their arrival. 

It was dark in the small shop, and absolutely reeking of myrrh incense. Enya played on a CD player by the door, dim fabric colored lamplight allowing some visibility for the crowded shelves of candles, books, statues, and other oddities. In the corner of the shop, by the table of amulets, was Jeongguk, turning over a silver object between his thumb and forefinger. Not even bothering to inform him that they had formed a search party after his unannounced departure from the music store, Y/N found her way to the case in the back of the shop, which served as the checkout counter and a jewelry display. No one was behind the case– Judy must have been in the back room where tarot readings were held. Namjoon shuffled his feet behind her, running his fingers over a beautiful chunk of amethyst on the crystal table. 

Leaning on the case, Y/N admired bejeweled athames within it laying on beds of velvet. The shop was filled with so much inventory, and judging by the humongous book by the ancient register, it seemed everything was cataloged by hand. Y/N would certainly have her work cut out for her learning all of the wares, not to mention trying to recall what everything was used for or even called. 

“Oh, the wolf. How nice,” Jeongguk suddenly commented, noisily setting red candles, a stack of incense, and the silver amulet he had been holding when they came in on the checkout case. The amulet was some kind of saint medallion, but because Y/N was unfamiliar with Christianity, she had no idea who it was. Namjoon said nothing, heading over to the bookcase and pulling out leather-bound grimoires at random. 

“Hmm. These are pretty,” Y/N remained civil, examining one of the beautiful hand-dipped candles Jeongguk picked out. He grunted in response, impatiently tapping on the glass of the case and staring at the beaded curtain to the tarot reading room. 

Sighing, Y/N set her gaze on Namjoon while he was turned away, the muscles of his back flexing and relaxing as he hefted a large book off the shelf to leaf through. As if sensing that she was staring, Namjoon’s face tilted to the side, the length of his eyelashes catching lamplight as he locked eyes with her. Reddening, Y/N broke eye contact, not being able to shake the feeling that there was a certain familiarity in the color of his eyes. She could hear Namjoon approaching the case once more, Jeongguk groaning as he pulled a tattooed hand through his hair in exasperation. 

The clattering sound of wooden beads knocking together made for a good excuse to ignore the fact that Namjoon had returned to his spot behind her, once again crowding her against the glass case like he had at the library cafe. Judy, the shop owner and close friend of her mother, abruptly barrelled into the room from the back, carrying a large, old wooden chest she heaved onto the workbench behind the case the three of them were standing in front of. Pushing her rectangular spectacles up her nose distractedly, Judy’s crystal bracelets made clanging noises as she held up a single sun-weathered finger up to the three patrons waiting for her attention. 

Jeongguk shifted next to Y/N, looking aggravated as the woman began to leaf through the contents of the wooden chest. From behind her, Namjoon slid a well-worn copy of some sort of supernatural encyclopedia onto the case, his fingers accidentally brushing her forearm leaning onto the glass before yanking his hand away like he was burned. Gritting her teeth, wishing that either Hoseok or Taehyung were there to bring her a sense of ease, Y/N coiled her arms around her midsection as she tried to get space sandwiched between the elk and wolf hybrids. 

“Y/N, wonderful to see you after so long. Gentlemen,” Judy began after several moments of muttering to herself looking through the wooden chest, finally facing and greeting them standing before her. “Sorry for the wait. My assistant– er, son– recently went off to college, so it’s been difficult for me to keep track of my papers and whatnot…” 

Judy rang up Jeongguk’s items as she spoke, punching numbers into the old cash register noisily and pulling out tissue paper to wrap the candles. Glancing at her watch, Y/N made sure they still had time to meet the others without having to scramble. 

“My mother came to see you, am I right?” Y/N smiled at Judy, who was carefully tucking Namjoon’s book into a paper bag. Nodding with a chuckle, Judy pushed a curly strand of sandy hair from her face. 

“Oh, yes. Making promises without you being here– can you start next week?” Judy pulled out a packet of paper she had retrieved from the chest earlier, handing it to Y/N promptly. Snorting, Y/N flipped through the packet of inventory she was to learn, nodding sagely. Hopefully, by next week, the hybrids would be fairly settled in enough for her to leave them for a few hours. 

“How many days a week would you need me?” Y/N absently handed her credit card over to pay for Jeongguk and Namjoon’s items, forgetting that they had their own. Jeongguk made a noise of surprise, stuffing his card back into the pocket of his black jeans. 

“Only three; Monday, Wednesday, Thursday. Business has been slow ever since the colleges are back in session, and my son can come back on the weekends to help out. Sounds good?” Judy returned Y/N’s credit card to her, sliding the bag of items across the case towards Jeongguk, who she eyed in a thoughtful way. 

“That works for me,” Y/N agreed, although partly concerned that a three day work week wouldn’t garner much for a paycheck. 

“Here, honey. I think this will help you. Wrapped it up for you this morning,” Judy added suddenly, reaching behind her desk in the corner for an item. Accepting it, Y/N turned the smoke cleansing stick of cedar and rosemary over in her hands, positively amazed. She had forgotten Judy was a psychic medium, likely picking up on her need to cleanse and protect her home, and chose the perfect botanicals to assist her in that endeavor unprompted. 

“Thank you, Judy,” Y/N said sincerely, carefully tucking the herb bundle into the bag Jeongguk had in his hand. Judy waved her off, thanking her for picking up the hours at the shop, before a young woman came through the shop door for a scheduled psychic reading. Taking it as their cue to leave, Y/N corralled Jeongguk out the door, Namjoon following close behind her. 

Taking a lungful of incense-free air outside, Y/N felt hopeful about her new job. While it was likely an in-between before her next career move, it was refreshing to work someplace so vastly different. Jeongguk asked where they were meeting the others, walking very quickly to the fountain that Y/N had pointed to and away from her and Namjoon in a seemingly disturbed manner. Craning her neck up and back to look at Namjoon, she caught his narrowed eyes following Jeongguk’s form, jaw set dangerously. Clearing her throat, she managed to snag his attention, a degree of hostility slipping from his expression as their eyes met. 

“You’re going to work there?” Namjoon asked questions in the form of fact confirmation, Y/N noticed. 

“Mm-hmm. Just until I figure out what to do next,” Y/N replied, Namjoon’s half-torn ear fluttering lightly as she spoke. She wondered what had happened to it, with a feeling of melancholy flooding through her. “Gotta pay the bills in the meantime.”

“Things would be better, if the rest of us could actually get jobs,” Namjoon bit, Y/N feeling a tad awkward in his reference to the law forbidding hybrid employment. Not that it stopped certain businesses from exploiting hybrid labor illegally, which is what happened to Yoongi and likely some of the others. 

“I won’t deny the truth in that, Namjoon,” Y/N muttered lamely, not really knowing what else to add. It’s not like change in the medieval laws about hybrids would happen overnight, as much as she wished it would. All she could do was take the best possible care of her hybrids, and hope that as time passed things would change for the better. 

Namjoon was quiet after that, walking slowly by her side as they made their way to the fountain at the center of the courtyard. Everyone was waiting for them already, each with a bag or two of things that they had bought from various stores, Yoongi lazily lying on his side on the ledge of the fountain and enjoying the afternoon sun. 

“Y/N!” Hoseok sang, startling her as he skipped from around the fountain once her and Namjoon approached the meeting spot. Aggressively, Hoseok grabbed her wrist, yanking her away from Namjoon without sparing him a glance and pulling her to the opposite side of the fountain. Heart slamming up into her throat at Hoseok’s firm grip, she barely registered him straightening her out by her shoulders as he pushed her in front of Seokjin. 

“Look, Jin got these for the cookout you’re having,” Hoseok nudged Seokjin, who was holding a startlingly large bucket of toffee from the chocolate shop. Seokjin looked embarrassed, his cheeks pink and rounded as he sheepishly held out the bucket for Y/N to see. Immediately, she turned to mush at the thought of Seokjin picking out something to contribute at the cookout, and he was clearly proud of his choice, particularly when he gauged the joyful reaction on her face. 

“Wow Seokjin, everyone will love those, they look delicious! That was so kind of you, honey,” Y/N gushed, the red in Seokjin’s cheeks deepening as he lifted the lid off of the toffee so she could take a look. The slabs of toffee wafted a buttery scent, making her mouth water. Seokjin plucked a small shard of the toffee out of the bucket, suddenly grinning slyly. 

“Here, try some,” Seokjin lifted the piece of toffee to poise inches from her lips, stunning Y/N as her mouth dropped open involuntarily in shock. Absently hearing Hoseok chuckle, Y/N stood stunned as Seokjin pushed the toffee between her lips, the confection immediately beginning to melt in her mouth as he pulled his hand away. 

“Good?” Seokjin mused, tilting his head playfully. Positively burning up, Y/N carefully chewed the toffee as Seokjin smirked at her, closing up the tub. Tearing her gaze from him, her eyes regretfully landed on Hoseok, who sent her a cheeky wink. 

“Delicious,” Y/N murmured, feeling scandalized in front of the two hybrids clearly enjoying her flustered reaction. Did she really just let Seokjin feed her?

“Shall we get ice cream now, darling?” Hoseok shoved his hands in his pockets, still grinning at her smugly. Rolling her shoulders back, she agreed, casting a look over her shoulder as she felt someone approach from behind. To her relief, it was Taehyung, shooting a wary look at the peanut gallery in front of Y/N. 

Hurrying to Taehyung’s side with her cheeks still aflame, Y/N did her best to round everyone else up and usher them into the old-fashioned ice cream parlor to wrap up their afternoon outing. The parlor was filled with the scents of rich fudge and waffle cones, and the space was quite limiting with the eight of them jammed against the glass display case of gallons of ice cream. 

Y/N was pushed by Namjoon’s frame behind her into Jimin’s side by the register, patiently relaying each ice cream order as Jimin calmly repeated them to her in her ear. The teenaged boy taking the orders seemed to be overwhelmed by the amount of hybrids in the parlor at one given time, staring at Jeongguk’s antlers with shock as the elk hybrid elbowed his way towards Y/N to request some mint chocolate chip ice cream, which made Namjoon make a sound akin to gagging from behind her. 

Since there was hardly any room for everyone to sit inside the shop to enjoy their ice cream, Y/N opted to bring everyone back to the fountain to eat. She sat in between Yoongi and Taehyung, managing to keep her distance from Seokjin and Hoseok for the moment. They appeared to still be yucking it up at her expense, sitting together on the grass a little ways from her feet. Jeongguk took his ice cream to the opposite side of the fountain, playing some kind video on his phone in a foreign language; one that sounded pretty close to Latin. 

Namjoon had found a spot to enjoy his coffee ice cream on a bench not too far from the fountain, Y/N able to keep an eye on him. She regretfully realized she did nothing but fill him up on sugar and coffee since he had come into her care, as she shoveled a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, watching the wolf hybrid admire the yellowing leaves of the tree he was under. 

“Hmm. I forgot to ask… Do you have a record player back at your house?” Taehyung spoke lowly, his voice hard to hear over the babbling of the fountain behind them. He had long finished the small cup of strawberry soft-serve he held balanced between his knees, his records placed neatly by his feet. 

“Yeah, there’s a set-up somewhere in the room with the piano. It’s likely in one of those big cabinets, my uncle was a vinyl collector when he grew up there in the 70’s. His collection of records is in the garage, too, if you wanna pick through that when you get bored,” Y/N recalled, licking some cream from her lips in thought. She prayed that the record player still worked, although a new system would make an excellent Christmas present for Taehyung. 

Taehyung leaned back on his palms, gazing at her through the thick of eyelashes. His hair was dry by now, curly and wild with the wind that mussed the strands, hiding his rounded ears in the volume of it. Y/N noticed that Jimin, who was sitting beside Taehyung, had very obviously placed his shopping bag of books between them to get some space. She could tell he was listening to their conversation, with the way Jimin’s ears were angled forward and alert, twitching to the sound of Taehyung’s deep tone. 

“How was the ice cream, Taehyung?” Y/N crumpled up her napkin into her own empty cup, sighing contentedly. 

“Very good,” Taehyung murmured, suddenly dropping the eye contact he’d been maintaining. Like all of the hybrids, Y/N swore that they held some sort of spellbinding power in their gazes. “Thank you,” he added, absently clicking his heels together while staring at his sneakers. 

“Don’t mention it,” Y/N waved her hand, feeling embarrassed. 

“Ah, maybe I should have gotten the matcha ice cream…” Yoongi suddenly lamented beside her, elbows leaning on his knees. Frowning, Y/N turned to him, forgetting he was so close as her thigh pressed into his. Immediately, Yoongi stiffened, peering at her intensely through the corner of his eye. 

“Oh no, was the lemon sorbet gross?” Y/N felt her lip jutting out in a pout, disappointed Yoongi was unsatisfied with his half-melted treat. Yoongi cleared his throat awkwardly as he tore his eyes from her face, choosing to glare at Hoseok on the ground instead. 

“No–” 

“You should have gotten the matcha. It’s amazing,” Hoseok insisted, a smugness worming its way into his tone as he both cut Yoongi off and took a loud bite of the waffle cone he was eating. “Want some?” 

Hoseok extended his mostly-devoured cone towards Yoongi, who screwed up his face in disgust. Snorting softly, Y/N shook her head at Hoseok, his cheekiness seeming to get under everyone’s skin– Y/N found it endearing. 

“Get that out of my face, Foxy,” Yoongi complained, leaning closer to Y/N and firmly pressing his thigh into hers as he extended his leg to push Hoseok over with his foot. It was Y/N’s turn to go stiff, the warmth of Yoongi’s leg against the flimsiness of her tights overwhelming. She barely registered Hoseok tumbling over into Seokjin’s lap with an evil cackle, Seokjin nearly choking on a bite of his chocolate ice cream cone as he tried to fling Hoseok’s head off of his leg.

Feeling a chill wash over her despite the warmth coming from the contact with Yoongi, Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, rubbing her arms to rid herself of goosebumps. She had no idea why she was feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden, the sensation close to how she felt moments before the incident with the ghost the night before. Trying to nonchalantly take in the surroundings, praying that there wasn’t some sort of apparition following her around now, Y/N’s breath caught in her throat as she locked eyes with Namjoon from his spot on the bench. 

Oh, so that’s where the chill was coming from, she realized, the expression on Namjoon’s face icy and closed off as he glared at her. His body language was coiled and tense, jaw clenched as his eyes narrowed fractionally once they caught hers. Hair stood up on the back of her neck as she was unable to look away from him, absolutely at a loss for why he seemed so pissed off at her. She hadn’t even spoken to him in at least twenty minutes; perhaps he was feeling left out? Y/N cocked her head at him, mouthing are you okay? 

Namjoon simply sucked in his cheeks, getting up from his seat and tossing his ice cream cup in the trash by the bench. Concerned, Y/N watched him storm off in the direction of the car, torn between wanting to go after him and not wanting to rush the others who were still eating and enjoying their afternoon. After a few more moments of distractedly listening to Hoseok tease Yoongi, who had thankfully inched away from her, she got up with Jimin to gather up trash and dispose of it where Namjoon had minutes prior. Namjoon had left his bag of tapes on the bench accidentally, as Jimin pointed out keenly. 

“How are you doing, Jimin? Find some new books?” Y/N tried to stop worrying about what she had done to tick Namjoon off, scooping up his bag of tapes carefully. Jimin held his book bag behind his back in his clasped hands, grinning down at her kindly. 

“Sure did, Miss Y/N. I wanted to pick up some local interest literature, to get an idea of what this area is like,” Jimin explained as they headed to the car, quickly placing a gentle hand on her back to direct her away from a divot in the grass that would have caused her a rolled ankle. “Watch your step, there.”

“That’s right, you’re not from around here. How long have you been away from Montana?” Y/N wondered, breathing a sigh of relief that she could spot Namjoon leaning against the car from about twenty feet away. Jimin was quiet for a moment, a sort of sad look in his golden eyes while he processed her question. 

“A little over a month, now,” Jimin responded wistfully, the corner of his mouth turning upwards as he met her eyes. Y/N recalled that there was a possibility Jimin had a family back in Montana, one that had no idea where he had ended up. The thought pierced through her heart painfully. 

Jimin helped her load everyone's bags into the trunk, Y/N carefully avoiding Namjoon as she took Jeongguk’s bag from him gingerly, offering him a small smile. He was truly becoming an expert in abstaining from eye contact with her. Closing the trunk, she stretched her arms out as she waited for everyone to get into the car, Namjoon still leaning against the passenger door with a scowl. Steeling herself, she approached him. 

“I grabbed your tapes, you left them on the bench,” Y/N started, Namjoon’s eyes narrowing at the sound of her voice. He looked her up and down, seemingly analyzing the way she was nervously rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. He didn’t respond to her, increasing her anxiety while he simply stood there imposingly.

“Is everything alright, Namjoon?” Y/N managed to squeak after a beat, the impulse to squirm under his scrutinizing extremely overpowering. His ears were turned back, straightening up to his full height to grasp the handle of the car door.

“Sure,” he replied flatly, yanking the door open and heaving himself in, slamming it in her face as she flinched backwards. Even more confused than she was before trying to speak with him, Y/N numbly got into the driver’s seat, feeling the tension between her and the wolf hybrid beside her so intensely it nearly took her breath away. 

Shakily, Y/N turned the radio on as per Hoseok’s request from the back seat, somewhat relieved that the others didn’t seem to sense her discomfort from what she could tell. Before pulling away from the plaza, Y/N checked the rearview to make sure everybody was accounted for, locking eyes with Yoongi accidentally. He had a knowing look on his face, gaze flicking between her and the back of Namjoon’s head, tracing a finger over his lower lip. Grimacing, Y/N threw the car in reverse, promptly ignoring the wolf hybrid next to her for the short duration of the ride back to the house. 

After pulling into the driveway back at home, to Y/N’s surprise, everyone divided off in different directions. Yoongi had gone up to the piano with Taehyung in search of the record player, Hoseok to the basement with Seokjin, and Jeongguk had disappeared in the backyard with a cigarette and one of his new candles. Both Jimin and Namjoon had retreated to their respective bedrooms, leaving Y/N by herself standing awkwardly in the foyer. 

Kicking off her shoes, Y/N figured she could take a shower and cozy up in bed with a movie before one of them sought her out again. She tiptoed past Namjoon’s room on her way to her’s, hoping that she wouldn’t provoke him into further annoyance considering their rooms were so close together. Even with his door shut tight, Y/N felt like he could see through the wood as she went by. Shivering, she recalled the small, sweet smile he offered her just hours ago, trying to wrack her brain to come up with an explanation of his soured mood. 

Perhaps she should have articulated her thoughts better during their conversation surrounding the hybrids getting jobs, but there was not much she could do about that now that so much time had passed. Entering her room, she rubbed her eyes, feeling the chill from the drafty bathroom window enticing her to curl up in bed with sweats. To her shock, either Jeongguk or Namjoon had left the herb bundle from Judy on her nightstand, although she caught neither of them sneaking into her room when they arrived home. She was a bit distracted, however, telling Taehyung exactly where to look for the record player upstairs. Either way, her heart squeezed, fingers brushing over the herb bundle.

After a brief shower, Y/N hightailed it out of her bathroom to prevent another ghostly encounter, dressing in her softest sweatpants and crawling into bed with her laptop. Supposing that now was as good a time as any to figure out how to cleanse the house, Y/N put a Halloween movie on while she scribbled out her general plan for the ritual. Between the campy noise of the film she had on and the tinkering sound of the piano from upstairs, Y/N began to feel ease slip into her body. The fact that the house was so full of life now was hard for Y/N to believe, even if it came with some difficulties so far, it felt so right. 

Just as she had finished the steps for her ritual, which she had planned to do the following morning at dawn, her phone pinged. Thinking it was one of the hybrids, Y/N fumbled for her phone tangled somewhere in her quilt, pushing wet hair out of her face. Humming in excitement upon realizing the message was from Alice, Y/N shut her movie off, scooching down further in bed. 

Alice Santos: facetime now okay?

Without responding, Y/N clicked the icon to call her, both excited to catch up with one of her closest friends and nervous to announce her adoptions of all the hybrids. She had a feeling Alice would be a bit more dramatic than Ben had been. The phone rang twice before Alice’s face appeared on the screen, squealing upon seeing Y/N. 

“Hold on, hold on. Before you say anything, I’m adding Laura to the call,” Alice’s raspy voice filled Y/N with warmth, her nails clacking against the screen as she searched for her twin sister’s contact. Y/N could hear Alice’s cat, Heathcliff, mewing loudly at her from his spot on the couch beside her. 

Seconds later, Laura, lovely as ever, popped onto the screen as well, sitting in a rocking chair with her son Kai on her lap. Both Y/N and Alice cooed at the boy, just shy of two years old, his chubby little cheeks smeared with a bit of applesauce Laura was trying to feed him. 

“I miss you guys so much!” Y/N whined, recalling the last time she saw both of them– a little over a month ago at Alice’s poetry book release party. 

Alice worked as an editor for a local paper, which often took up most of her time, up until she published her book. Now, she was busier than ever doing pop-up readings and working on her newest book, on top of the work from the paper. Y/N was extremely proud of Alice’s accomplishments; her dreams of becoming a successful writer as a kid started to come true right before her eyes. 

Similarly, Laura had her hands full with not only her two year old son, but the vlog channel she created after Kai’s birth to document motherhood with her husband Tyler as the faithful cameraman. The channel took off, thanks to Laura’s infectious sunshine personality and creativity, her videos featuring recipes, craft tutorials, and Q&A’s. 

“I miss you more, Y/N, how did the job exit go? Are you free finally?” Alice produced a bowl of ice cream from behind the phone camera, curling into a ball on her tiny couch to tuck into it. Alice, the more forward of the two twins, never liked how much Y/N’s job at the vet clinic had drained her. 

“My last day was Friday,” Y/N confirmed, pouting slightly. She had to admit, she felt guilty that she didn’t even miss working at the clinic yet, quickly chalking it up to how busy she had been with the hybrids over the weekend. 

“Thank the Lord for that,” Laura chimed in, bouncing a babbling Kai on her knee while adjusting his tight brown curls. “That place was sucking the life out of you, honey.”

“Hey, you’re doing the cookout this Friday, right? Ben texted me… what should I bring? I was going to make a sangria or something,” Alice pondered, giving Heathcliff a scratch under his chin. 

Discussing the details of the cookout for a few moments, she and the twins decided on what they’d bring, the conversation turning towards Ben and Roy’s adoption of Daisy pretty quickly. Y/N brought up her idea for introducing Kai to Daisy, which Laura was already onboard for. 

“I’ve been meaning to introduce Kai to hybrids for some time now. Children really seem to love them, and there’s so many hybrids in Boston these days,” Laura explained, tugging on the end of one of her collarbone-length twisted braids. Y/N sucked in her cheeks, nodding. Would now be the time to tell them about her hybrids?

“Y/N, by the way, when Ben texted me… he said you had news,” Alice raised a manicured eyebrow, setting her bowl down with a mischievous smile. Heart plummeting to her ass, Y/N cursed in betrayal. 

“Ugh! He can never keep his mouth shut, I swear!” Y/N groaned, shoving her face into a pillow in dismay. Her heart began to race, knowing that if the twins began to shout at her through the phone, the hybrids would hear every word. Her headphones were missing from her nightstand, so unfortunately there was nothing she could do if that possibility came to fruition. 

“So, what is it? Are you dating again?” Laura urged gently, getting up to put a sleepy Kai in his crib. 

“God, no. I, uh…” Y/N began, sweating profusely, “I adopted hybrids. Friday.”

Silence rang out on the other ends of the lines, Y/N biting her lip hard enough to draw some blood. And then, deafening chaos. 

“You WHAT?” Alice roared, spooking Heathcliff off of the couch and out of view. Cringing, Y/N watched Laura scramble out of Kai’s room to bolt into her own, shutting the door so she could join in on the yelling. 

“I thought hybrids weirded you out?! Y/N, what happened? Are you going through a quarter-life crisis?” Laura enunciated in an intense tone, looking like a stern school teacher. 

“Guys, please! They can probably hear you,” Y/N begged desperately, pulling her quilt over her head in an attempt to muffle the sounds coming from her phone. 

“How many? Y/N, I can’t even begin to articulate how insane this is for you. I mean seriously, are they kids? Do you have men living in your house right now?” Alice began to panic, running a hand through her bouncy curls in distress. Cringing, Y/N turned the volume on her phone down to the lowest possible setting, trying to ignore her bloody lip in the reflection of the camera. 

“Y/N. How many? You know what, fuck it. I’m coming over and canceling my reading tonight,” Alice continued after Y/N’s tense silence, the window showing her frantically getting off her couch to yank her car keys from the hook by her apartment door. 

“Alice, no–” Y/N yelped, bolting upright in bed as Laura joined in on the chaos. 

“Alice, relax! You can’t cancel that reading, your publisher’s going to be there,” Laura reminded her twin, her pretty face pinched in concern as she continued to tug on her braids anxiously. With a groan, Alice dropped her keys on the phone, giving Y/N a scathing look. Taking a deep breath, Y/N decided to give all of the details to prevent any more rash ideas. 

“There’s seven of them, and yeah, they’re men…” Y/N began in a shaky voice, trying to ignore Laura’s gasps of horror. “They’re really sweet, all of them, and I think things are going very well so far.”

“Yeah, until one decides to enter your bedroom in the middle of the night!” Alice interjected, shaking her head constantly. Blanching, Y/N coughed, wondering how the hell she was going to face the hybrids later that evening, God forbid they heard the conversation. 

“No, that’s not going to happen. I… trust them. Listen, they were all going to be sold to a hybrid hunter, and I just couldn’t bear the thoughts of what would happen to them after I saw them at the shelter. No one should have to live like that, running for their lives, an object of sport,” Y/N defended the hybrids, thinking about shutting herself into her closet to lessen the chances of Namjoon hearing her just a few feet down the hall. 

“Well, that’s all very valiant of you, Y/N, but let’s be real, here. They’re still men that you just met, living in your home!” Alice spat in a more hushed tone, as all of their yelling had woken Kai up even through the phone. 

“I hate to be a bummer, too, Y/N, but Alice is right. I’m really worried for you. Hybrids are very strong, and they still have animalistic instincts. You’re not used to being around hybrids, you’ve practically avoided them your entire life, apart from Keaon when we were little,” Laura added, trying her best to soothe Kai wailing from his crib. 

“God, what’s with people bringing up Keaon lately, I swear…” Y/N huffed, so aggravated that she was thinking of asking Jeongguk for a cigarette after she hung up. “I’ll be fine! I was a vet, remember, that has to count for something. And my parents already met them. There's the cookout on Friday, too, so you guys can meet them and make an assessment then.”

“Oh, so you want us to wait four more days for the cookout to feel out whether they’re creeps or not?” Alice deadpanned, Y/N yanking her hair at her roots. 

“C-creeps,” Y/N squeaked, tearing a bigger hole into her bloodied lip. 

“They might be! For all you know,” Alice replied, though her tone began to soften when realizing how upset Y/N was becoming. “Just please be careful, Y/N. You’re known to be too trusting.”

“Yeah, honey. We just want you to be safe,” Laura grit out, hefting Kai out of his crib and trying to juggle the phone while she pat his back. Y/N sighed raggedly, grateful for her caring friends, but quite sad that she seemed to be one of the only people so far to actually believe that the hybrids were non-threatening. 

“I’m safe, I promise,” Y/N murmured, gathering up her quilt to combat the chill she felt washing over her. The drafty window in her bathroom had to be tackled this week. Alice audibly cringed at Kai’s sobs, increasing in volume steadily. 

“I gotta go, my loves. I think he needs to be changed. Be safe, Y/N, and good luck tonight, Al,” Laura shifted Kai to sit on her hip, his tear-stained cheeks wobbling as he cried. 

“Shit. I should start prepping for my reading, too,” Alice began ruffling some papers off-screen, though Y/N could tell she was still unconvinced by the whole hybrid thing. 

“Call you guys on Thursday?” Y/N asked in a small voice, guilty that she had upset her friends. 

“Of course. We need regular status updates or I will come over there,” Alice threatened, the edge in her tone gone, however. She offered Y/N a half-smile, the three women exchanging “I love you”s before hanging up. 

Groaning as her phone hit the pillow beside her, Y/N ran a palm over her face tiredly. She strained her ears for a moment, trying to locate where the hybrids were in the house, but she was met with complete silence. Frowning, she decided there was no way she was going out there so soon after the messy phone call, pulling her laptop onto her chest and fumbling blindly for the thick envelope of adoption certificates she had received at the shelter that morning resting on the nightstand. 

The papers were weighty, a gold seal stamped over each one and the thick script of both her name and the hybrid’s name printed in stark black ink. Squinting, she searched for the ID number on the certificate she was holding– Yoongi’s, spotting it with an ah-ha at the bottom left corner of the paper. Excitement surrounding learning some new things about the hybrids, taking over the discomfort she was feeling over the phone call with her friends, Y/N brought up the hybrid database on her laptop, plugging the 9-digit ID for Yoongi into the appropriate search bar. The screen took a few moments to load, before a spreadsheet flashed onto the page. 

The first thing she noticed was an outdated picture of Yoongi, from probably about three years ago. His cheeks were filled out, and he looked a lot healthier, it dawning on Y/N that he now had dark circles under his green-brown eyes. Pouting at the picture, she recognized the second as him in his leopard form, the background most definitely of the shelter she had adopted him at. The rest of the spreadsheet had information. 

Yoongi, Min; panthera pardus. DOB 03/09/93. Place of Origin: unknown. Was illegally claimed without formal adoption by Boston, MA “The Black Lodge” bar and nightclub owner **** ******, along with hybrid’s mother of same species. Performed illegal hybrid labor since childhood at the place of business. Mother now deceased. Was turned into Gerry’s Hybrids by nightclub owner’s son upon his father’s death. THREAT LEVEL: 6/10 - HYBRID PHYSICALLY RESISTED APPREHENSION ONCE REPORTED, TWO AGENTS INJURED. 

Hand over her mouth as she read, Y/N couldn’t help but feel like her heart was breaking. Even with the small amount of information on Yoongi, it was deeply personal; she didn’t even know Yoongi had a mother, as the majority of hybrids were lab created. Anger rose up in her when she thought of Yoongi being kicked out of a place he had known all his life, saving the form to her computer and reluctantly moving to the next certificate at random. 

Jimin, Park; canis latrans. DOB 10/13/95. Place of Origin: Yellowstone National Park Hybrid Lab. Worked as ranch hand in the Yellowstone National Park from birth, up until 07/22 of the current calendar year. Abandoned position, and illegally crossed-country by bus, was found wandering streets of Boston, MA in a frantic manner. THREAT LEVEL: 6/10 - HYBRID HAS BEEN TRAINED IN SEVERAL FORMS OF SELF DEFENSE AND IS EXPERT IN SELF PRESERVATION, AS PER HIS PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT TRAINING. EXHIBITS ANXIETY IN CLOSED SPACES. 

Eyebrows pulling together, Y/N examined the lovely picture of Jimin on the form, his smile just as blinding through the screen. He had on the hat that she had returned to him upon taking the hybrid’s previous belongings back from Gerry. Jimin, nor Yoongi, for that matter, seemed to strike her as a 6/10 “threat level”. Shaking her head, she figured that whoever wrote the spreadsheets were likely biased against hybrids in general, how ironic. Eagerly, she moved on – Hoseok’s sweet face filling her screen with an extremely old picture of him, perhaps during his adolescence.

Hoseok, Jung; vulpes vulpes. DOB 02/18/94. Place of Origin: Paris Hybrid Lab. Raised in labs internationally since birth. Transferred 24 times. Remained unadopted throughout, despite several possible adoptions that ultimately fell through. Has aged out of lab adoption centers by the time he had reached Boston, MA. Upon unsuccessfully meeting requirements for shelters in MA due to temperament, hybrid was brought to Gerry’s Hybrids. THREAT LEVEL: 5/10 - HYBRID KNOWN FOR DECEIT, CUNNINGNESS AND ATTEMPTED ESCAPE OF SEVERAL SHELTERS. HYBRID EXCELS IN ATHLETICS AND CAN SUCCESSFULLY OUTRUN PURSUERS. FLIGHT RISK.

Eyes bugging out at the “24 times” Hoseok had been moved around the world, from shelter to shelter, Y/N muttered a colorful cuss. It was no wonder Hoseok had been so weird when Jimin asked where he was from, Hoseok was seemingly from both everywhere and nowhere. 

Next, Y/N plugged in Taehyung’s ID number, thrumming her fingers against her laptop while the page loaded. Taehyung’s picture was extremely blurry, almost akin to a mugshot. Taehyung’s eyes looked vacant in the photo, Y/N shivering, then gasping when she saw how little information the form had. 

Taehyung, Kim; ursus arctos middendorffi. DOB 12/30/95. Place of Origin: unknown. Report called in anonymously that an unadopted hybrid had been hiding at a 24-HR cafe for several weeks in Boston, MA before the hybrid was dropped off at Gerry’s Hybrids. THREAT LEVEL: 8/10 - HYBRID EXTREMELY UNWILLING TO BE APPREHENDED, COMBATIVE. DUE TO SIZE OF THE HYBRID WHEN SHIFTED, HYBRID IS TO BE REGARDED WITH CAUTION. MULTIPLE INJURIES TO AGENTS UPON APPREHENSION. 

Frowning, Y/N was disappointed she couldn’t glean more information about the already elusive and enigmatic Taehyung. He had told her he was from Alaska, which was missing from the form. Other than that, all Y/N gained from his form was his whereabouts just before his adoption. Again, she wrote off his ‘threat level’ as an over exaggeration; Taehyung was so gentle.

Grasping Jeongguk’s certificate while twisting her mouth, Y/N waited to see his smug face show up on her laptop screen. Like Taehyung’s, Jeongguk’s picture looked like a mugshot, his serious expression making her snort a little into her palm. Part of her wished it was an older picture– she loved seeing Hoseok’s from youth. 

Jeongguk, Jeon; cervus canadensis. DOB 09/01/97. Place of Origin: Los Angeles Hybrid Suppliers. Raised with others of his species in the supplier lab, hybrid was noted as uncharacteristically aggressive compared to kin. Hybrid is known to have escaped from Los Angeles Hybrid Suppliers at age of 20 and has been at large since. Was caught by hybrid patrol in abandoned Steinert Hall (Boston, MA) with several thousand dollars worth of recording equipment and other oddities. Hybrid was promptly brought to Gerry’s Hybrids due to extremely volatile behavior during apprehension. THREAT LEVEL: 9/10 - HYBRID CONSIDERED HIGHLY DANGEROUS. WAS ARMED WITH WEAPONS AT THE TIME OF APPREHENSION, SKILLED AT FIGHTING, ERUPTIVE PERSONALITY. FLIGHT RISK. 

Y/N was rigid in her spot on her bed, not quite expecting so many brand new details into who Jeongguk was. Perhaps in her let-down of Taehyung’s report, she had expected Jeongguk’s to be similar. Biting her nails, she scanned his information again, wondering if everything she had read so far was overstated. While Jeongguk was certainly rude, he had yet to demonstrate dangerous behavior. Additionally, she had no idea what a supplier lab was.

Besides, what piqued her curiosity the most was not only his journey from Los Angeles to Boston, but how he was caught. Steinert Hall was an old piano concert hall in the heart of Boston that had been abandoned for years– he must have broken in– but why? Further, she wondered about the items he was caught with, recording equipment and “other oddities”. Was he filming a movie? The thought made her even more confused, and it was not like she could ask him yet. She had a feeling she’d be met with anger. 

The room began to get a little darker, late afternoon creeping up on her as she hurried to get through the last two hybrids. Setting the others aside carefully, she picked up Namjoon’s certificate, sliding a finger over his ID number. To her shock, barely anything showed up for Namjoon, not even a picture. 

Namjoon, Kim; canis lupus occidentalis. DOB 09/12/94. Place of Origin: unknown. Report called in that an unadopted hybrid was participating in a club illegally. Hybrid was apprehended in shifted form around the outskirts of Boston, MA, outside of a mobile home. Brought to Gerry’s Hybrids promptly due to shifted state and volitility. THREAT LEVEL: 10/10 - HIGHLY DANGEROUS. INJURED 6 AGENTS SERIOUSLY. BEHAVIOR IS EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE. SUSPECTED TO BE RAISED IN WILDERNESS DUE TO BEHAVIOR. 

Swallowing hard, Y/N cast a look over towards her bedroom door, convinced that Namjoon could hear her thoughts as she read through his information. She had only interacted with Namjoon for only a few hours, and he didn’t seem as though he had been raised in the wilderness; Y/N just assumed he was slow to hand his trust over. Though– he injured six agents? This came as quite the surprise to Y/N, as she had naively thought that agents that brought in stray hybrids were trained to be cautious; however, she had come to a strong conclusion that the agents were likely people who provoke stray hybrids into aggression. Thinking once again about Yoongi, who was one of the most gentle of the hybrids so far, she couldn’t imagine him injuring somebody unwarranted. 

Heaving a great sigh, she plugged in Seokjin’s number before tucking all of the certificates safely back inside the envelope on her nightstand. To her sudden delight, a very old picture of Seokjin was attached to the page, estimating him to be about twelve in the photo. His cheeks were cutely rounded, though his expression was quite stoic. 

Seokjin, Kim; panthera onca. DOB: 12/04/92. Place of Origin: Milwaukee Hybrid Lab. Raised in a group of over 300 exotic hybrids to be sold to circuses and zoos. Hybrid was exemplary subject at lab, was sold to Cirque ******* at age of 22. Traveled and performed with the circus up until 08/13 of the current calendar year following incident at a show in Boston, MA resulting in hybrid injury. Hybrid was left at Gerry’s Hybrids, consequently. THREAT LEVEL: 6/10 - HYBRID DOES NOT HAVE A PAST OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR PRIOR TO INJURY. SUFFERS FROM EXTREME PTSD, ANXIETY AND PHOBIAS - IF TRIGGERED, HYBRID BECOMES ALARMED AND POSSIBLY DANGEROUS. FLIGHT RISK. 

Y/N felt nauseous reading about Seokjin’s past, wanting to hurl her laptop clear across the room. Sweet Seokjin, the one who didn’t mind when she grabbed his wrist to pull him along, the one who polished off the bacon that morning, had suffered such an abrupt abandonment recently. To learn that was how hybrids were treated by a company that was entrusted with his care, with such little regard to what happens to them after they are no longer “of use”, made Y/N sick to her stomach. All she wanted was to dash into Seokjin’s room to gather him up in a hug, recalling how feverish and dismayed he was the day he had arrived in the house. He had recovered remarkably well, considering, but Y/N still felt he’d have a long way to go before he truly recovered from the experience. 

Laying back in bed, desperately trying to process everything she’d read, her brain was a jumbled mess. Echoes of her friend’s valid concerns on whether or not she could handle the seven hybrids bounced around in her skull; and guilt crept into her body as she doubted whether or not she could. Of course, she would never consider bringing them back, abandoning them again, but she wanted them to live happy lives. Y/N wasn’t entirely sure if all of them would truly ever be comfortable around her, considering their past treatments. She worried that she wouldn’t be able to hide her anxiety from them that night, Yoongi’s conversation with her the previous night coming back to her once more. They’d be able to sniff out her nervous sweat from a mile away. 

The more she thought about her conversation with Yoongi, minor details came back to her. Namely, before they were interrupted, Yoongi had begun to talk about something called scenting. She never got around to asking him about it earlier that day, as he had promptly dashed up to the piano after returning from the shopping center. Curiously, she reached for her laptop she had pushed off her legs in disgust, googling “hybrid scenting” and clicking on a wiki page at random. 

Again, Y/N’s nausea returned. According to the article, hybrids, in order to properly bond with the humans that adopt them, must “scent” the human to feel secure. Hybrids are known to be possessive over the humans in their lives, particularly their adoptive human, and will initiate their scenting ritual once comfortable enough around the human. Scenting can happen often or rarely depending on hybrid type, predators are likely to scent more frequently, but it wasn’t an exact data collection. The actual ritual included a bite, one that drew blood from the human and in a location close to arteries (where scents are apparently “concentrated” to hybrids), before saliva from the hybrid soothes and “cauterizes” the wound. Feeling her stomach flip at the thought of any of the hybrids not only biting her, but then soothing the wound with a swipe of a tongue, was so overwhelming she had to shut her laptop and bolt out of bed. 

Cursing Yoongi internally for not disclosing scenting first, Y/N fanned her face frantically while she paced about the room. Should she bring it up to them? The thought was humiliating, but the article stated the longer the hybrids wait to scent their adoptive human, the more uncomfortable it gets for them. Apart from Yoongi, none of them even mentioned it yet, which was concerning to her. She knew that the shame fell on her, for not knowing basically a thing about hybrids in general. However, she still didn’t feel ready to bring it up over dinner. 

Yelping at the sound of a large thump coming from above her, Y/N slapped her palms over her face a few times to return the color back to her cheeks, her appearance in the full-length mirror positively scandalized. The sound of Jeongguk’s heavy stomping from back and forth into his bathroom made her spring into action, wanting to bolt into the kitchen and work on dinner so Yoongi wouldn’t have to. Casting one last look at herself in the mirror, feeling like she looked calm enough to bump into one of them without raising suspicion, Y/N slowly pushed her bedroom door open and peeked her head out. The hallway was empty. 

Taking a deep breath, Y/N marched out into the hall, skipping past Namjoon’s door; unsurprisingly it swung open once she reached the end of the hall. Pausing, she looked over her shoulder, offering Namjoon a tiny smile as he poked his head out of the door. His silvery hair was damp and in his face, likely from the shower. She hadn’t even heard it turn on. Y/N waited for Namjoon to catch up with her, his expression hard to read once he was inches away. Finding it hard to look him in the eyes, Y/N resumed her route to the kitchen without a word, Namjoon hot on her heels. 

“Who was on the phone?” Namjoon demanded, a slight edge to his voice but the volume of it was not enough to frighten Y/N. Blowing hair out of her face, she knew Namjoon could hear her, but she could still pray the others hadn’t. 

“My friends from childhood, they’re twin sisters, Laura and Alice,” Y/N answered simply, not wanting to over explain. The kitchen was dim, Y/N flicking on all the lights and gesturing for Namjoon to sit on one of the barstools. Lifting a brow at her, Namjoon hesitantly sat down, Y/N trying to keep the mood light. At least he seemed to have cooled down from whatever ticked him off after getting ice cream. 

“They don’t like us. They think you’re in danger,” Namjoon leaned back on the barstool, arms crossed over his chest. Sighing, Y/N retrieved two wine glasses from the cabinet, pouring a healthy amount of Cabernet for the two of them and sliding the glass for Namjoon across the island. Eyebrow shooting up further into his hairline, Namjoon watched her take a hearty swig. 

“What do you want me to say, Namjoon? I made an uncharacteristic decision, and to be fair, you are all men. They have a right to be worried about me, no matter how unfounded it seems to you. It’s not that they don’t like you, either. I think if anything, they’re questioning my sanity,” Y/N stated calmly, finally mustering up the courage to stare at him directly in the eyes, leaning over the island. Taking another sip of wine, she waited for the wheels to turn in his head. 

“Do you think you’re in danger?” Namjoon continued to interrogate after a few moments, long fingers running up and down the stem of his wine glass. Humming, Y/N felt the red wine warm her belly, close enough to Namjoon to feel his breath fan over her face. 

“No. Should I?” Y/N countered, pushing herself off of the counter in search of something to scrounge up for dinner. She heard the scrape of glass across the granite island, peeking over her shoulder to catch Namjoon, eyes cast upwards mid-eyeroll, glass to his lips. 

Silent for a few moments, Y/N started to hum a tune suspiciously close to Smells Like Teen Spirit, rummaging through one of the lower cabinets for a rice cooker. Wondering just how much rice she’d have to make for eight people, she hefted the appliance and a 15 lb bag of sushi rice onto the counter beside the stove. Biting her lip, then wincing at the pain from the hole she had bitten into it earlier, Y/N estimated around 3.5 cups of uncooked rice in the pot, before bringing it to the sink to rinse it a few times. Pulling up the sleeves of her thermal, washed the rice until the water ran mostly clear. 

“I think you’d be a fool if you didn’t,” Namjoon suddenly pointed out, Y/N looking at him with surprise. His wine glass was empty, his eyes narrowed at her. Scoffing, she placed the pot of rice into the appliance, drying her hands on her sweatpants and switching on the rice cooker. Taking a deep breath, she painted a lopsided smile on her face, pouring Namjoon and herself a second glass. 

“Well, call me a fool then, for being optimistic,” Y/N muttered over the rim of her wine glass, Namjoon’s shoulders stiffening a fraction, his ear flickering. “Besides, the twins will be here for a cookout on Friday. If you’re still upset by then, you can talk it out with them. I think they’re scarier than you, Namjoon.”

“Please,” Namjoon snorted humorlessly, turning his head to drink from his glass. Shrugging, Y/N returned to the dinner making process, pulling vegetables, sauces, and a package of flank steak and the egg carton at random. She decided to make a bunch of things to stick in a rice bowl, and the hybrids could choose what they wanted. 

While rinsing some green onions, thankfully without any more questioning from the wolf hybrid brooding on the barstool across from her, Y/N heard footsteps approaching the kitchen. Perking up a little, perhaps hoping for someone to brighten up the mood, Y/N craned her neck towards the kitchen entrance. 

“Hey Seokjin! How are you doing?” Y/N grinned, pushing down the sadness that surfaced when she remembered the information she had just learned about him. Grinning back, Seokjin came up to her side, watching her chop the green onions, nodding once at Namjoon. “Wine?”

“Hmm, sure. I’m good, also. What are you making?” Seokjin cocked his head, putting his hand on her shoulder to reach a wine glass for himself when it was too high and far back for Y/N to get on her own. Shuddering at the sudden contact, Y/N hurriedly poured him a glass of the Cabernet, returning to the vegetable prep. 

“I’m making some vegetables, some beef, maybe a few fried eggs… figured we can just make our own rice bowls with ingredients you like,” Y/N explained, slicing through a bell pepper. Seokjin leaned his hip against the counter beside her, watching carefully. 

“What happened to your lip? Are you okay?” Seokjin asked, a strong current of concern in his voice. Absently brushing her fingers by her lip, but not touching the skin, Y/N tried to shoot him a comforting look. 

“Oh I’m fine, don’t worry about me! I just bit it too hard. Happens all the time,” Y/N waved her hand, sliding the sliced peppers into a bowl with the flat of her knife. Seokjin grunted softly, apparently unconvinced, eyeing Namjoon distrustfully. The jaguar hybrid moved to sit on a barstool as well, a few away from Namjoon, settling in to watch her cook. 

“Hoseok made me do “yoga” with him,” Seokjin informed her, his lips curling around the apparently unfamiliar word, making air quotes simultaneously. Using her elbow to wipe a stray tear from her eye chopping an onion, Y/N giggled picturing the two hybrids meditating side-by-side. 

“Really? I love yoga, though I haven’t done it in a while…” Y/N tried to subtly monitor the two hybrids sitting across from her in case of an incident, Namjoon leaning his body across the island to help himself to more wine. Finding the bottle empty, he heaved a sigh, getting to his feet. 

He was easily able to find the wine cooler, carefully reading each label before selecting the same brand the three of them had been drinking, Seokjin and Y/N exchanging surprised looks. Namjoon used a sharp thumbnail to slice open the foil covering the cork on the bottle, frowning once he realized the bottle wasn’t open completely. He began opening drawers at random, likely searching for the opener, Y/N eyeing him while she began stir-frying some of the vegetables. Each time he came up empty-handed, his ears drooped further, looking almost adorable. 

“Need some help?” Came Yoongi’s gruff voice suddenly, pretty much materializing from the entrance to the kitchen from the parlor. Already feeling the wine dizzying up her head, she was grateful for any help at all to finish dinner. Making a small noise of delight, Y/N nodded, and Yoongi immediately began to assess the marinades and flank steak she had brought out from the fridge, using a rubber band from his wrist to tie up his long locks. Y/N made a mental note to dig up her bag of scrunchies to offer him later that night. 

While Yoongi and Seokjin began to chit-chat about the jaguar hybrid’s yoga experience, Namjoon had successfully located the bottle opener in the drawer beside where Y/N was stir-frying, aggressively trying to jam the corkscrew into the cork with gritted teeth. He definitely didn’t know how to use it. Taking pity on him, and more or less wanting a fresh glass of wine for herself, Y/N set her wooden spoon down, holding her palm out for the corkscrew. 

“Here, let me, honey,” Y/N stepped to the side, taking the wine opener from the wolf hybrid’s slackened grip, his entire body locking up at the sound of the pet name. Internally, she scolded herself as heat crept up her neck, but it was hard to resist the term of endearment when he looked so cute when he was frustrated. Hopefully, he wasn’t insulted. “It’s tricky, I’ll show you how my dad taught me.”

She briefly explained the steps, pulling up the cork halfway, before stepping away once more and talking him through the last step. Y/N could have sworn his ears, the human set adorned with simple silver hoops, turned a faint shade of pink, but she also could have imagined it. Namjoon muttered a thanks, swiftly refilling her glass for her, before dashing away a bit clumsily back to his own seat. Chuckling, she took a sip of her wine and returned to the frying pan, her elbow brushing Yoongi’s as he began both cooking the steak and making what appeared to be tamagoyaki in a second rectangle pan she didn’t even know she owned. Damn, she thought, he works fast. 

“Can I try some of that?” Yoongi jutted his chin towards her wine glass while he reached for the salt pinch bowl, his tail brushing the back of her knee with the movement. Wordlessly, she passed her glass over, Yoongi grinning slyly as he took a delicate sip. A low hum of enjoyment came from the back of his throat, Y/N hurriedly cracking some pepper into her frying pan to cover up her fluster. 

“Want a glass?” Y/N cleared her throat, Yoongi taking another sip and raising his eyebrows at her. 

“No, we can just share this one,” Yoongi chuckled, setting the wine glass on his side of the counter with a clink. Eyes bugging out of her skull, Y/N squeaked out an “okay”, trying her best to focus on finishing up her part of the meal prepping. Yoongi seemed to enjoy her reaction to his words, snickering every few seconds as he rolled up the tamagoyaki with a pair of chopsticks. 

“You had an interesting phone call, huh?” Yoongi passed her the wine glass after several moments, Y/N reeling as she was snapped out of eavesdropping on Seokjin’s attempts to initiate conversation with Namjoon. 

“Shit. Did everyone hear it?” Y/N hissed, after almost choking on her mouthful of wine. “You were upstairs, for Christ’s sake, weren’t you?” 

“Yeah, we did. And yes, I was,” Yoongi answered playfully, covering his completed steak dish and moving to slice the tamagoyaki. “I mean, your friends weren’t exactly speaking softly.”

“No, they weren’t,” Y/N agreed mournfully, wondering if the remaining hybrids had their feelings hurt, due to their absences. Currently, it was the longest she had gone without seeing Taehyung, other than when she was sleeping, since she brought him home. “Next time I’ll wear headphones,” she added determinedly. 

“Mmm… that might help. Might not. Super hearing, remember?” Yoongi pointed to one of his spotted ears, a teasing lilt to his voice. Y/N rolled her eyes dramatically, abandoning him by the stove to check on the rice. Muttering to herself, Y/N turned to the island with a rice paddle, wishing Yoongi hadn’t stolen her wine glass for the time being. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a third person sitting at the island beside Seokjin, swirling a whiskey glass in his hand.

“Oh! Didn’t hear you come in, Jimin!” Y/N exclaimed, catching the coyote hybrid’s attention at once. Flashing one of his beautiful smiles, Y/N relaxed a fraction. Jimin was so polite, even if he had heard Laura and Alice over the phone, Y/N hardly expected him to say anything about it. “You guys have a knack for sneaking up on me.”

“Darling Y/N, it’s not our fault you have plain old human ears,” Hoseok’s voice suddenly came from her left, making her flinch so hard she dropped the rice paddle on the floor. Gritting her teeth, she turned to scold him for being mean, his face apologetic as he bent to get the rice paddle for her. He was dressed in a set of pajamas, with his new slippers on, freshly showered; grinning at her as he extended the rice paddle out to her. “Whoops, sorry. Forgot you were clumsy, too.”

“Hoseok!” Seokjin barked from his seat at the island, corners of his lips turned downwards in disapproval. Hoseok made that strange whistle tone Y/N was becoming increasingly familiar with, his expression becoming uneasy once his chocolatey eyes landed on Namjoon sitting at the end of the island. “Knock it off,” Seokjin ordered. 

“Relax, Jinnie, I’m only teasing,” Hoseok replied, his voice a little strained as he patted Y/N on the back. Grimacing, she went back to fluffing up the rice in the cooker, Yoongi shooing Hoseok over to the breakfast nook by handing him the platter of sliced tamagoyaki. Starting to feel a bit sweaty, the red wine coursing through her with a vengeance, Y/N polished off her shared glass of wine much to Yoongi’s dismay. 

Y/N snuck a look at Namjoon, who had turned his head to stare at Hoseok with mild interest. Namjoon’s cheeks were pink with the alcohol, and a majority of his steeliness had softened. Absently, Y/N found herself pouring him a glass of water from the fridge door dispenser, sliding it across the island to the wolf hybrid while Seokjin continued to scold Hoseok from his seat. 

Her and Yoongi worked quickly to place everything on the breakfast nook, Y/N feeling quite tipsy suddenly as she found herself giggling at everything that came out of Yoongi and Seokjin’s mouths. Vaguely, she heard Yoongi ask her if she could call upstairs for Taehyung and Jeongguk, obediently following his direction and slightly swaying her way to the foyer. The loud voices of the hybrids from the kitchen had her practically squealing like an idiot, so pleased that she wasn’t alone in that big house anymore. Upon reaching the banister of the stairs, Y/N gripped one of the carved balusters with clammy hands. 

“Jeongguk, Taehyung! Dinner is ready,” Y/N shouted up the stairs, probably more loudly than necessary. Humming to herself, she caught an image of her reflection in the hallway mirror, her cheeks flushed and eyes a bit squinted. Two sets of footsteps bounded down the wooden staircase rapidly. Without wasting a second, Jeongguk flew right by her, head turned to look at her suspiciously as he passed. Pouting at his frame retreating into the kitchen, she turned back to Taehyung, who was leaning over the banister she was gripping, staring at her curiously. 

“Were you drinking wine?” Taehyung cocked his head, a ghost of a smile across his lips as he leaned in close to her. Both overwhelmed and overjoyed to see him, Y/N nodded enthusiastically. 

“Did you find the record player, Tae?” Y/N asked eagerly, wanting to push a stray curl out of his face to see his pretty garnet-colored eyes better. She didn’t even register the nickname for him that had easily fallen from her lips, but Taehyung certainly did. 

“Tae?” His deep voice rumbled with amusement, leaning even closer to her, Y/N widened her eyes, practically able to count his eyelashes. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. 

“Y-yeah, sorry, it just sort of fell out,” Y/N spoke nervously, barely above a whisper due to his proximity. Taehyung shook his head, chuckling, his curls brushing her forehead with the moment. 

“No, I like it,” Taehyung quickly assured her, pulling away from her personal space and descending the remaining stairs. “Let’s go, Jimin is wondering where you are.”

Trying to catch her breath, Y/N turned to gaze into the kitchen, noticing Jimin heading to the foyer with his whiskey glass in his hand, a quizzical expression on his face. Hurrying after Taehyung, who kept shooting her mirthful glances, Y/N swore under her breath. Those hybrids were definitely trying to mess with her, she concluded, stumbling over her own feet to catch up with Taehyung’s long strides. 

Thankfully, when she felt herself nearly toppling over by the coffee bar, Jimin caught her by her elbow, tutting in disapproval with a touch of merriment in his eyes. Sheepishly, she let him steady her, feeling like she was being herded as he walked behind her with both hands around her upper arms to steer her towards the breakfast nook. Waving Jimin off, embarrassed, Y/N slid into the booth next to Hoseok. Jimin, snickering, returned to his barstool beside Seokjin. 

“You should take it easy with that red,” Hoseok murmured into her ear, scooching his own glass further away from her when she surreptitiously tried to sneak a sip. “One of us is going to have to scrape you off the floor.”

“No you won’t. I can drink,” Y/N insisted, slightly offended. She stuck out her lower lip at the fox hybrid, who appeared to be trying not to laugh at her. Muttering something like “mean fox”, Y/N begrudgingly took a gulp from a glass of water that had somehow appeared in front of her as if by magic. 

“Sure,” Hoseok hummed, accepting two bowls of rice from Yoongi, ferrying them back and forth to everyone in the kitchen. Hoseok set a bowl gently in front of Y/N, his arm pressing into her’s with how close she had sat next to him. 

As she was piling on some vegetables into her bowl, a couple of the hybrids leaned across the breakfast nook to add an ingredient to their own dishes before returning to a barstool. Unfortunately, not all of them could fit in the breakfast nook, Taehyung across from her, Jeongguk squeezed in between the Kodiak hybrid and Hoseok. Munching on a piece of tamagoyaki, Y/N flinched when she felt the empty space beside her fill up clumsily by Namjoon, who had inelegantly toppled into the booth with his bowl. Surprised, Y/N pressed closer to Hoseok, trying to free up more space for Namjoon’s large frame. Namjoon must have been more tipsy than she thought, barely even noticing Taehyung scowling at him from across the table. In fact, Namjoon seemed completely relaxed for once, his cheeks full of rice and meat as he ate. 

“Ugh,” Hoseok groaned lowly, blood in his face draining as he pushed food around in his bowl with his chopsticks. Y/N patted his back soothingly, hoping he’d be able to push past his fear of Namjoon enough to eat. Especially considering Namjoon had rice stuck to his face, he wasn’t exactly threatening at the moment. 

“The tamagoyaki is delicious, Yoongi!” Y/N called over to the island, the leopard hybrid’s ears immediately perking up. Looking over his shoulder, he smirked at her, holding up a stir-fried pepper with his chopsticks. 

“Good job with the vegetables, yourself,” he returned, his sharp incisors flashing as he took a bite of the pepper. 

Luckily, the meal passed by amicably. Taehyung had worked up the courage to start a conversation with Hoseok, likely due to noticing the fox hybrid’s discomfort with Namjoon’s presence. As always, Jeongguk mostly kept to himself, but very visibly enjoyed the contents of his meal, even asking Yoongi for more rice. Y/N eased off of Hoseok a bit, his skin far too warm for her to comfortably lean against for a second longer, forcing her to be pressed closer to Namjoon. Thankfully, he seemed to be running a bit cooler than the fox hybrid, the fabric of his thermal soft against Y/N’s forearms. At the contact with her body heat, Namjoon jumped a little, his hand knocking over Y/N’s empty water glass. 

“Whoops! Good thing it’s empty,” Y/N giggled, righting the glass and peering at Namjoon’s startled face. He was staring at where their arms touched, tongue peaking out to catch some steak sauce on his lower lip. Making eye contact with her, Namjoon actually chuckled over his minor blunder, to Y/N’s delight. 

“Is this your first time drinking, or something, wolf?” Jeongguk suddenly accused, eyebrows lifted as he witnessed Y/N and Namjoon drunkenly giggling at nothing. Y/N frowned, hoping that he wasn’t about to sour another evening. Namjoon stopped laughing, setting his chopsticks down in a wobbly manner. 

“Yeah, actually,” Namjoon answered, Y/N’s eyes bugging out of her skull while Jeongguk pounded on his chest, a mouthful of rice going down the wrong way at the wolf hybrid’s response. 

“Wait, seriously?” Y/N gasped, a hand over her mouth in surprise. Namjoon nodded somberly, his lips pursed. Hoseok, quietly, tugged Y/N sweatpant leg, giving her a disbelieving look and mouthing what the fuck. 

“Yes, seriously. I didn’t really have many… opportunities to drink alcohol in my life,” Namjoon explained, eyes narrowing at Taehyung from across the table. Taehyung looked unimpressed with the conversation, sipping on his own glass of wine silently. 

“Jesus. I should have asked before liquoring you up earlier,” Y/N rubbed the back of her neck, swearing to herself to try and make more healthy choices as far as food and beverages go for the hybrids. Hoseok snorted next to her, draining his wine glass less shakily than he had before. At least he was loosening up, and she counted it as progress. 

“It’s alright. I knew what it was when you poured it, I could have refused,” Namjoon sighed, a small smile across his face as he pushed his empty rice bowl away. Glancing sideways at Jeongguk, Y/N watched him try to bite back laughter, crumpling up his napkin into his bowl.

Stirring ingredients into her bowl, Y/N tried her best to finish everything in it. Yoongi was truly an amazing chef, the seasonings on the steak were perfect and paired very well with the sweetness of the tamagoyaki. She could definitely get used to his cooking, thinking that he could even help her out with some of the food for the cookout on Friday. Additionally, she had the piano lesson with him on that day, the thought making her squirm in her seat with excitement.  

At the island, upon checking on the other three hybrids from her spot at the breakfast nook, it appeared that Yoongi and Seokjin were fighting over the last bit of steak. After a few moments of bickering, Seokjin reluctantly placed the piece of meat in Yoongi’s bowl, to Y/N’s relief. Jimin had finished his meal, and was by the fridge putting ingredients back in their places. 

After asking Namjoon to scooch out of the booth so she could help with clean-up, Y/N had to resist helping him get his footing, not wanting to push her luck with him that night. He caught himself on the frame of the door to the patio, Y/N truly amazed just how friendly he got with just a few glasses of wine. She wondered if in the morning, he would go back to being steely and interrogative. Hoseok, leaping out of his seat, immediately put distance between himself and the wolf hybrid, traipsing over to Jimin to chat. 

Moving to the island, she asked Seokjin if he ate enough while he bashfully nodded, not a speck of food left in his bowl. In fact, they had no leftovers, Y/N realized as she collected serving dishes, trying to be as balanced as possible so Hoseok wouldn’t accuse her of being a lightweight again. Squeezing past Yoongi at the sink, she deposited the dirty dishes beside him, searching for the granite cleaner. However, she didn’t get very far in her pursuit to clean up. 

“Hey! You two cooked, we can clean,” Jimin suddenly complained, pulling Yoongi away from the sink. “Miss Y/N, you should sit down, before you injure yourself,” he added calmly, snapping his fingers and pointing at her while shooting Seokjin a look. 

Opening her mouth to protest, she felt herself getting dragged away by the jaguar hybrid, who promptly lifted her off of her feet and planted her on a barstool. Squeaking when Seokjin wrapped his hands around her waist to lift her, Y/N felt torn that his hands were gone as quickly as they were there. Face on fire, she watched Jimin push Yoongi onto the seat next to her, the leopard hybrid rolling his eyes and instructing the coyote hybrid to not use steel wool on the ceramics. 

Forced to watch Jimin, Hoseok, and Taehyung tidy up the kitchen, Y/N drummed her fingers against the granite of the island, craning her neck to locate Jeongguk and Namjoon. The wolf hybrid, to her surprise, was viewing a video that Jeongguk was playing on his phone over the elk hybrid’s shoulder, his eyebrows pulled together in thought. Jeongguk, very quietly, was murmuring something urgently to Namjoon. Y/N wondered if hell froze over, or if she should go to the liquor store the following morning to pick up more cases of that particular Cabernet. 

Taehyung, returning an unused bag of edamame to the freezer, pulled out a popsicle for himself, leaning on the island beside her to enjoy it while Jimin and Hoseok finished the cleaning. Seokjin, who had excused himself to the bathroom five minutes prior, returned with the ends of his bangs wet, like he had splashed water on his face. 

“Taehyung, where did you get that? I want one too,” Hoseok whined, eyes zeroing on the frozen treat in his hands. Taehyung pointed to the freezer drawer with the treat, Hoseok scoffing. “Thanks, real specific,” He mumbled, rummaging through the freezer to locate one of the mango popsicles. 

Seokjin, wiping down the breakfast nook, began humming a tune, the timbre of his voice sweet, though the song was quite melancholy. Y/N gazed at him over her shoulder, catching the bittersweet smile on his face while he hummed. Sighing, Y/N settled into the barstool, enjoying the sounds of everyone’s voices as they bantered. Her eyelids felt heavy, her palm leaning on her cheek, her brain yelling at her to stay awake to enjoy more time with her companions. 

After a few moments, her eyes snapped open, an eerie silence filling the room. She registered Jimin, across from her at the sink, his eyes trained at the threshold of the kitchen and his ears perked up in alert. Blinking, she noticed Hoseok was locked up rigidly in the same manner, opening her mouth to ask what was wrong. Swiftly, she was cut off. 

From upstairs came a large thump, Y/N’s blood running cold. Yoongi, from beside her, wrapped a hand around her wrist, putting a finger to his lips when she looked at him in panic. Silent again, for a moment, she strained her ears the best she could, her heart racing. Was there an intruder in the house? Or worse, was the paranormal situation escalating before she could tell them about it? 

Breaking the silence came the sound of the record player in the piano room crackling to life, the sounds of an old jazz record floating down the stairs hauntingly. Feeling the room grow several degrees cooler, Y/N began to hyperventilate, totally unprepared for the night to take a horror-movie turn. Squeezing her wrist in an attempt to soothe, Yoongi gave her a pleading look. In addition to the record player going off on its own, several pitchy notes on the piano began to ring out periodically. Nausea welling up inside her, Y/N began to shake, praying to the sky an apparition wouldn’t appear in front of everyone. She had not the faintest idea of how to handle the situation, let alone correct it, in her current state. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Hoseok spoke first, baring his teeth and gazing towards the stairs. Jeongguk, who had moved away from Namjoon in the commotion, ran a hand through his hair in stress. He began to chuckle humorlessly, locking eyes with Y/N. 

“There’s a fucking spirit on the grounds, and now it’s inside,” Jeongguk pulled out the silver amulet from his pocket, turning it over between his thumb and forefinger. “I’ve been trying to exorcize the house since I got here.”

“What?” Y/N breathed, feeling faint and overwhelmed. Yoongi moved to rub her back soothingly, but not much could be done to calm her down. She was already seeing spots of darkness in her vision. 

“It’s malevolent. It’s been following you around since you were a girl,” Jeongguk added distractedly, rolling up his sleeves, revealing tattoos that Y/N realized seemed to be made up of religious symbols from several cultures. With that, he squared his shoulders, exiting the kitchen and bounding up the stairs with determined confidence. 

“Jeongguk, don’t go up there!” Y/N cried, stumbling out of Yoongi’s embrace and fleeing after the elk hybrid. Between the shouts from the rest of the hybrids in the kitchen and the increased lack of oxygen she wasn’t getting, as soon as she reached the foyer, Y/N felt her body hit the marble before she felt nothing more. 

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