#if I just dropped all my stories and ocs for Lmk I would be actually heartbroken

[glitchyko]

Well, now that it’s confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that Flyingbark is no longer working on LMK, I gotta admit, I’m feeling pretty crushed. I adored Flyingbarks animation, the amount of little details and love and care you could feel in their work. It was so inspiring to me. It makes me want to practice and pursue my dream of being an animator.

That’s not to say I’m just going to drop Lmk and never touch it again because a different animation studio is working on the show. I love Lmk dearly, I have been so inspired by this show, it’s stories, and characters. I have made stories and ocs of my own that I love so much for this show because it inspired me. But it wasn’t just the animation that did that.

I’m going to watch season 5, and I’m going to keep an open mind going into it, I’m not going to just abandon something I love because of a change in production.

[farcicalhuman]

Deft in Spring // Eddie Gluskin x male oc

Content warning: DW n/a

There was little scarring on the tailor's face, it was astoundingly smooth. Sinclair had lived nearly half the life Eddie had, and yet his face was tousled with memories of admittedly stupid escapades. Being intimate meant to reveal those minute details, but it was if Gluskin was free of them. Eddie's face shone brightly in conversation erasing all ridges; dissolving them into that smug grin he always seemed to put on. It was so foul to Sinclair, for a man this awful, to be at peace. Despite having much preferred Eddie like this, he in no way could muster a reason that he should deserve it.

His forefingers made sure to be as delicate as possible during their descent. Even in their faltering as Sinclair grazed over from the temples down the fine stooped brow to his cheek. Keeping clear of his lips and mouth as if the man would snap at any trying movement. Getting Edward this still never mind lying before him on a Sunday morning was hard enough.

Sinclair would much rather not push his luck. He theorised over every tiny decision in the man's advances. Rationalising his lidded tired eyes as the sun's subject, Eddie's lack of vulgar comment merely a testimony to his fatigue, and even how Sinclair felt the further warmth of Eddie's face sinking into his leg. Like blood into sun-baked asphalt.

Not wanting to consider the idea, that in some roundabout fashion, Edward actually loved him. Deciding to get this involved with Eddie was already a death sentence; begining to enjoy the subdued side of a violent man would only worsen the whole situation.

Still, Eddie seemed to look much more manageable in this light. Caked not in viscus gore, but summer sunlight cushioned on grass that caressed his forearms where it could. It was beautiful. Sinclair considered he was wrong, not about Eddie's personality in anyway, but on Eddie's scars.

His hand swayed over the wrinkle caused only by a harsh scowl. Years Sinclair wasn't even cognisent for had etched in that fine crease, out of some long history of viciousness that Sinclair could've only caught a clue of right here and right now. When Eddie was lying with a neck craned open for him.

Eddie sighed quietly breaking Sinclair's concentration. Maybe Eddie knew, knew about Sinclair's microscopic discoveries. Hell, Sinclair would be embarrassed if he wasn't so strung out.

He was completely relaxed into him, they both were, no flex of muscle or bare teeth display of social confidence. Sinclair now thumbed a deep fissure in his skin a previously invisible wrinkle in his perfect features. Deciding to get a little bolder, Sinclair held his hand in place against the side of Eddie's head. It would be easy to say that Sinclair stroking and fine lining his fingers around Eddie's face seems like more of an intrusion. But frankly that just isn't true, not to Sinclair anyway, no he was taking too long.

Sinclair silently tussled with the jabbing thought that Eddie would notice any moment his lack of movement. Would Eddie view the light skirting movements less bothersome compared to this, feeling the heat accumulating betwixed their flesh.

Eddie would have to acknowledge the warmth and past that Sinclair. The man behind the gentle feeling he's been pushing to the back of his mind during this whole encounter.

JUST A SMALL PIECE FROM MY VAULT. When I say that I mean a small story rotting in my notes app...

I take it there will be some errors here I have a really weird habit of writing certain sections I think of them jumping to write others,, lolol

Still I'm glad to have it out there! I see little for outlast esp any Eddie x male fics. So, if anyone appreciates this just know I got more coming! Hopefully...

Maybe drop me a message lmk what you think!!

I have so much Sinclair lore and I try to keep it mostly canonical as possible with my Eddie portrayal,, (he's the worst)

[crownofgildedlilies]

beautiful things sneak peek (pt 1?)

so, I'm just too obsessed with my Leo x oc fic that I'm currently writing but I'm not ready to post it yet? even tho I have 45 parts written? (literally... im not ashamed to admit im a wattpad story girlie)

so! I've decided to post the first part of chapter one, because that might convince me to actually start posting it, fr.

it is an original character, not a reader insert, so be warned if it's not ur thing!

lmk what you think!

"MURPH!"

Even if Emery Murphy hadn't recognized the voice, she would have known who interrupted her solitary reading by the nickname alone. There was one person in all of Camp Half-Blood that called her Murph.

Well, only one person, since Charles had—

"You're so annoying, Jackson," Emery hummed without looking up from her book. There was a crease between her brows; a common sight as her dyslexic mind put most of her focus into sorting through the tangled mess of letters on the page. Percy liked to joke that she was a glutton for punishment, somehow finding enjoyment in reading and making complicated plans.

"What else are brothers good for?" Percy Jackson teased, dropping onto the sandy beach beside Emery's chair. 

"I told you not to make me regret saying that," Emery huffed, not yet giving up on reading, though her eyes stopped scanning across the page at their uneven pace. Percy was the son of Poseidon, Emery was the daughter of Athena. They weren't really siblings—which probably was a good thing, considering he was dating her half-sister—but only a few months back she had told him that he was her brother and she had his back, no matter what. 

Then she had thrown herself headfirst into a horde of monsters to protect him while he saved the world from the Titan king Kronos. 

"I'm pretty sure you knew what you were getting yourself into. You've known me since we were twelve." He propped his elbows on his knees, fingers expertly finding a perfect shell buried in the sand before him. Emery watched him carefully from the corner of her sunglass covered eyes, her reading momentarily paused. 

"Did you need something?" It wasn't that she didn't enjoy spending time with Percy, but it was rare that he was ever so far from Annabeth's side. Especially after he turned down godhood to be a demigod with her. "I'm pretty sure Annabeth had chores in the infirmary today."

"Nah," Percy hummed, sifting sand between his fingers. "I mean, yeah, she did. But I came to check up on you."

Emery sighed as she placed her bookmark between the pages. She should have been expecting this conversation, daughter of battle strategy, and all. But she had foolishly hoped he would have let her suffer in silence for just a little bit longer. 

"Perce, we talked about this." 

"Would you hate me if I said I didn't believe you?" He shot her a charming smile and she fired back her own flat look in return. "In all seriousness, Murph, I'm worried about you. You've been... distant. Since before Manhattan, even. And I know—"

"Listen," Emery interrupted the savior of the world. A frown tugged her lips downward, not quite a pout, the crease still between her brows. She knew Percy's concerns were valid—she had developed a habit of self-isolating herself from others, hadn't been eating as much or staying long at camp bonfires. But that didn't mean she was ready to hear what Percy had to say. "I've been at camp since, well, forever. Demigods tend to die early, and in nasty ways. That wasn't my first time watching people I care about get hurt." 

"That doesn't mean you have to cope with it alone." Concern laced his words and he sat up a little taller. Even though Emery was in a chair, it was low to the sand, so he was almost eye level with her. 

Not that she could get herself to meet his eye. 

"You seem perfectly okay. Why can't I be, too?" Emery reasoned, propping an elbow on the arm of her chair and twisting so she faced her not-quite brother. 

"I didn't know Beckendorf as well as you. No one did, except maybe Silena—"

And Silena died, too, leaving Emery alone to grieve the both of them. 

"Charles died a hero. Isn't that what we all want to do?" Her voice was hard, turned to stone in the way it always did whenever someone brought up the boy. Another one of her not-quite brothers, except Charles Beckendorf had been her best friend, too, at camp. And even so many months after his death she still couldn't deny the ache in her chest whenever she thought of him. 

"You know I'm just looking out for you, Murph." Percy's voice was quiet, working a like a wave washing over all her jagged edges and brick-wall defenses. 

Murph. Charles had given her the nickname only a few days after he had arrived. A natural consequence of living at camp everyday for as long as she could remember, Emery had made it her business to know every half-blood that ever showed up on their doorstep. And Charles Beckendorf had taken her under his wing, the eager child she was, and shown her the forges and workshops built by the sons and daughters of Hephaestus. 

And then Charles had died, in a move orchestrated by Luke Castellan, the golden boy of demigods, who was doing Kronos' bidding. 

She was still working through the tangled knot of emotions. She couldn't figure it out, and she was supposed to be able to figure everything out. The more her frustration built, the easier it became to justify lashing out at Percy for just trying to help. 

She sighed, guilt coiling low in her stomach. 

"I know," Emery sighed, slumping lower in her chair. Suddenly, the sun beating on her skin was growing a little unbearable. Usually, Emery couldn't get warm enough. "You know, I know." 

"I know you and your sister know everything," Percy taunted, and Emery huffed a pathetic, half-laugh. Maybe he had a point; what else were brothers good for, if not to annoy their sisters? "Mom still says you can come stay with us for the school year. Get out of camp for a little bit."

It wasn't enough for Percy to be savior of the world. He had to be one of the most genuine, caring guys out there. Emery hated him for it. 

"Tell your mom I said thank you, again, but," She paused, forcing herself to focus on a spot in the distance, grateful that her sunglasses kept Percy from seeing the tears pooled in her eyes. "But I'm not ready to leave this place, yet."

Even if she had been there for so long, she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle normal school. 

"Offer still stands, if you change your mind." Percy stood to his feet, her nose scrunching in distaste as he wiped the sand off his shorts and onto her. "C'mon, sis. Lunch is starting soon, and Tyson almost flooded the cabin crying last night because you've been skipping out on hanging with us."

She knew Percy meant his words as a teasing joke, a total hyperbole, but Emery couldn't help the jolt of shame at hurting her friend—however indirectly. How rare was it that Tyson came to stay at camp, lately? She shouldn't have been hiding away, moping. 

"Well," She sighed dramatically, taking Percy's outstretched hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet. "I can't disappoint my favorite son of Poseidon." 

"Hey!"

a/n: no Leo in this part, but it's only part of ch 1! plenty of Leo to be had in the rest trust trust

[writer-of-various]

An AU eh? This will be fun, tell me everything about it!

Well, I call it an AU, you guys can call it whatever, but anyways—

This is post-Cold War Zombies, the whole Season 6 Zombie Outro has me brewing up a plot line the devs should consider putting in a future game (THEY CANNOT LEAVE US ON A CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT.)

I'm adding in my Zombies OC, Lilja Alekov-Roze.

So Eddie returns home after arresting his team, only to be confronted by Lilja, who reveals that none of them died and this is another dimension they are stuck in. The Aether is collapsing and all worlds/dimensions are at risk of being affected and colliding. Lilja –forces– convince Edward to join her in a new fight and they travel (by plane) to Volgograd to get Nikolai. Nikolai senses them coming and doesn't need convincing, the strange, memoir-like dreams he has been having are enough evidence.

They then fly to Tokyo to get Takeo, who takes a little more convincing but he's immediately loyal to Edward as always. They then take a boat to the US, docking at the California Coast of San Francisco, where Tommy (Tank) Dempsey is temporarily living due to deployment. Dempsey takes a lot of convincing but Lilja gets him, and they go to Nevada, to Groom Lake to use the teleporter there.

All the COD storylines would be connected, and our zombie warriors will encounter different teams and peoples and settings as they time travel to find key items to solving the issue at hand. Samantha, trapped in the Aether, leads Lilja (this AU is open to anyone to use, so Samantha will communicate with an OC or Dempsey) to these locations to find the items. Pieces of the summoning keys, the shards of the vials broken at BOTD, personal items dropped at each previous map (Der Eisendrache, The Giant, Classified, etc.)

Important figures/teams the crew (I'm still trying to find a name for them, I feel that Inter [Latin for in between/middle since they aren't necessarily their Primis or Ultimis selves, they're in between] isn't a good name, lmk what you think and ideas are always welcomed!) will encounter are TF141/Los Vaqueros [Zombie Outbreak in Las Almas during a joint mission], Ghosts [Outbreak in the US in a different dimension], BO Campaign Storyline [Woods, Alex, David, Hudson, etc.], and more.

This is all just a continuation of where the zombie storyline ended after CW Season 6 since I personally believe Vanguard didn't cover anything or reveal much.

So that's pretty much the outline, I am working on the draft and hopefully get started on the actual story. It's a lot, and ideas are always welcomed.

Feel free to ask more questions, because I gave the outline, there is so much more. Also, feel free to ask about the crew's interactions w/each other and maybe some incorrect quotes!

[eyndr-stories]

Chester and the Jesters (FNAF SB fanfic) C8 - Ghosts

In Summary:

The new tech sure does seem a little strange. Chester (at least, that's what their name tag says) doesn't seem as concerned as they should be about the high turnover rate here at Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza-Plex, or the numerous rumors about what happens to people who take the night shift. And to make matters worse, there seems to be some kind of criminal on the loose! The cops say they think the criminal is hiding out in the woods somewhere near the pizza-plex. Stress is high at the plex these days, but Chester is stoic as ever. Say, come to think of it, no one can seem to remember where Chester's application went or who they interviewed with. Their employee file is misplaced or missing just like everything else in this place. But the new tech does a good job completing their tasks, and has their own badge and everything, so of course they must belong here. It's not like someone would sneak into the plex and go this far out of their way to impersonate a low level technician. Right??

Things To Know (always read responsibly!):

Biggest warnings are for blood, death, knives, murder, the police, violence, also the OC is at one point hit by lightning. All fun stuff

About 70,000 words in total, 9 chapters, so roughly like. 7,500 words per chapter

This is an OC story, not a reader insert or a self insert! But if you want to imagine otherwise be my guest lol

Angst, fluff

OC x Sun & Moon, there's romance but zero spice

Occasional swearing

Heavy focus on Sun and Moon but most of the rest of the gang is there too :)

Afton doesn't exist, sorry peepaw, Vanessa is here but she's very chill. She's a kickass gamer girl lmao

Moon does an attempted murder but its fine. He's just a lil guy ok

OC uses they/them and also sign language most of the time

Impersonation, lying. There's also manipulation. Yall I wasn't kidding about the angst

There's also a lot of focus on how they're all robots, very cool robots with feelings lol

That's all I can think of, as always please lmk if I should add anything!

Ao3 Link: Right here!

Start reading here: Chapter 1

Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9

C8 - Ghosts

     "Are you lost?"

     Chester jumped, nearly dropping their faz-phone. They turned to see Moon standing a ways behind them. How he'd snuck up on them with all those bells on his costume was beyond them.

     "Sort of, actually. Usually the building helps me out, but it doesn't seem to be in the mood tonight." Chester looked back down at the map. They scowled, realizing the hallways had changed around once again.

     "Want some company?" Moon asked quietly.

     "Sure." Chester smiled at Moon. "Maybe you can help me find my way to Mazercise? Apparently one of the rotating walls is acting up."

     Moon hummed. He stepped a little closer, folding his hands behind his back. "For starters. We're not even on the right floor. Mazercise is on the top level."

     "Ah. Of course. Go figure, as they say." Chester pocketed the phone and made their way back down the hall they'd just come from. They'd passed the food court a moment ago, and they knew the elevators were there. "So… I talked to mister Baxter again, since we last hung out. He said the daycare should go back to normal any day now, they're just waiting for the go-ahead from upper management. Apparently there haven't been any more issues with employee profiles going missing. I think maybe the building realized messing with the profiles was causing glitches and decided to stop. So no more glitches or errors! Everything back to normal. That's exciting, right?"

     "Yes. That's good news." Moon focused ahead as he kept pace with Chester, keeping a safe distance between them. "You should talk to Sun about that."

     "I will, I'm sure he's excited."

     "No Hawaiian shirt tonight. Not feeling the summer vibes?" Moon asked.

     Chester smiled. "I'm on the clock again tonight. Company time, not island time."

     "I like the other shirt better. This one is boring." Moon spun his faceplate at Chester.

     "At least it's better than being a full time jester." Chester flicked one of the bells at the end of Moon's little jester cape.

     Moon put a hand to his chest and gasped in mock offence. Chester laughed as they reached the elevators.

     The food court was mostly quiet, save for the very quiet hush of rainfall echoing down from above. Chester hit the call button for the elevator. The lights flickered, all at once, just for a moment.

     "…You don't think the storm will knock the power out while we're in the elevator, do you?" Chester asked.

     "Would you rather use the stairs?" Moon offered.

     Chester glanced down the walkway, where the stairs were. They imagined having to struggle up two flights of stairs, in front of Moon no less, and frowned.

     The elevator arrived a moment later. "I'll take my chances." Chester stepped inside, holding the door open for Moon.

     Moon stepped inside, leaning against the back corner. Chester hit the button for the top floor. The doors slid shut, and the elevator started to move. The speakers crackled to life overhead, but it seemed something had gone amiss during the power shortage, as they started churning out a god awful ringing noise instead of funky pop music.

     The ringing clashed horribly with the constant ringing in Chester's ears. They clapped their hands over their ears, their face screwing up in pain.

     Moon moved in a flash, reaching up and grabbing the speaker's covering. He wrenched it free from the ceiling effortlessly, sending small screws raining down to the floor, then grabbed the exposed speaker and ripped it out. The ringing noise ceased at once.

     Chester stared wide eyed at the speaker in Moon's hand. Moon stared at it as well, as if he was surprised to see it there.

     "…Sorry." Moon turned the mangled speaker over in his hands, unsure what to do with it now.

     "Why did you do that?" Chester questioned. They frowned, realizing that they would most likely be the one repairing the elevator's speaker.

     "It seemed to be hurting you," Moon said quietly. He awkwardly bent down and set the speaker on the floor.

     "Oh. Yeah, the ringing didn't seem to agree with my tinnitus." Chester touched their ear.

     "You have tinnitus?" Moon tilted his head, causing the bell at the end of his nightcap to jingle.

     "Yeah, ever since I got hit by lightning." Chester sighed, recalling that fateful night. The ringing had faded slightly after the first few minutes, but now it was a near constant. "It's not too bad, I only really notice it when it's quiet."

     "You were hit by lightning?!" Moon's hands twitched. They lifted slightly towards Chester, like he wanted to grab them and look them over for damage. Moon kept his hands at his sides, instead opting to run a scan on Chester, the blue light coming on in his eyes.

     "It was a while ago, I'm fine now." Chester waved him off.

     The elevator doors opened. Chester picked up the damaged speaker and the covering, and all the screws they could find. They piled everything onto the covering and followed Moon out of the elevator.

     Chester did their best to put that night out of mind. The storm pounding on the rooftop of the building wasn't helping. They wanted to pretend like everything was just fine, like they were meant to be here. There was guilt that came with that. Chester hated lying. But while the cops were still here, there wasn't much they could do, and so pretending seemed to be the easiest thing they could do to not feel miserable.

     A thought occurred to Chester. With the storm raging as badly as it was… they might be able to sneak out of the plex without being noticed. Using the storm as a cover, they could run. They wouldn't need to pretend anymore, if they left.

     "Are you mad about the speaker?" Moon asked.

     Chester startled from their thoughts. They looked at Moon. "Oh, no, I'm not mad. Sorry, I was just thinking."

     "About what?"

     "Nothing. Are we heading the right way?? I'm not even sure." Chester glanced at an arcade as they passed.

     "We are. It's not far, just at the end of this hall." Moon studied Chester for a moment.

     Chester kept their gaze straight ahead. They kept thinking about leaving. What would everyone think if they suddenly disappeared? They'd be leaving all the techs in the lurch, vanishing without a two weeks notice. Chester thought about how much they'd miss talking with Vanessa about video games and ghosts. They'd miss playing games with Sun and listening to him ramble about the kids, miss watching him be silly just to make them laugh. They'd miss hanging out with Moon, too. They'd miss his ever gentle consideration of them and their safety, his light teasing, and even his nosy questions.

     "Moon… what would you do if I suddenly wasn't here anymore?" Chester signed slowly.

     Moon hesitated. "…What do you mean?"

     "If I… left. Quit. Got a different job somewhere else."

     "…I would be a lot lonelier." Moon pulled at the ribbons on his wrists. "I would… miss you."

     Chester looked up at Moon. They hadn't been expecting that. "You would?"

     Moon tugged the rim of his nightcap down, half covering his eyes as he angled his faceplate away from Chester. "Why are you leaving, anyways?"

     "It was just a hypothetical thought."

     "Why would you want to leave?" Moon asked. "Hypothetically."

     "I just…" Chester's hand stalled as they reached Mazercise. Chica's likeliness was featured on the sign above the door, though she was dressed in colorful workout clothes and sweat bands. The neon lettering of the sign cast an intense green glow over Chester and Moon. Chester set the speaker and associated parts down by the doorway, then turned back to Moon. "I just feel like I shouldn't be here."

     "Why?" Moon asked.

     Chester wanted to tell him. They really wanted to tell him everything. The guilt of it all was slowly crushing them, and they weren't sure how much longer they could stay here and keep pretending. At this point, the longer they stayed the more likely it was that someone would eventually figure them out. When they finally started putting people back on the night shift, and Chester would have to worry about someone actually watching the security cameras. They couldn’t conceal sneaking off to hide in the daycare forever.

     Still… at this point, Chester had been lying to everyone here, to Sun and Moon, for almost two months now. They couldn't just drop the truth after all this time.

     Moon was looking at Chester, waiting for their reply. Chester didn't have one for him. There wasn't much they could say that would be satisfactory. They had to say something.

     Just then, the lights flickered out, neon signs dying out to total darkness. They stayed out for a long moment. The silence was heavier, now without the faint background hum of electricity. There was still the hush of rainfall, and the ringing in Chester's ears. After waiting a solid ten seconds, Chester started to fumble for their flashlight. They felt Moon's hand on theirs, stopping them. He gently turned their hand over and lightly, very lightly, signed letters against their palm.

     INTRUDER.

     Chester suddenly couldn't breathe. Moon had figured them out, he'd somehow seen right through them. But… no, he wasn't trying to detain them or anything.

     …He'd been warning them.

     There was a loud click, and all the signs powered back on. Chester looked around, eyes wide against the heavy shadows between signs and vending machines and ATMs. There was a figure at the end of the hall.

     Moon stood there, entirely still besides a constant tremble. His gaze was fixed on the figure. The figure turned and paused. They'd spotted Chester and Moon. They started walking towards them slowly, footsteps heavy.

     As they neared, Chester could see the figure was dripping wet. They must have gotten in from outside. Chester felt an uncomfortable slow dread building with every footstep that the stranger neared. The figure was familiar. Why were they familiar?

     Chester got their answer, though they didn't like it.

     "Finally." The stranger staggered closer, reaching a hand in his pocket. "Two months. For two months I've been trying to hunt you down. It was hard enough, seeing as your coward ass vanished off the face of the fucking earth, but with the cops out in the woods too?! But then, by some stroke of luck, I see your stupid face, hanging out on the roof of this place, and it all makes sense. Of course you'd hide out here, right under the cop's noses. After two months, all I had to do was wait for an opportunity to break in, and here you are." He laughed. He stepped closer, the light of a vending machine casting a cold blue glow over half of his form, drenching the rest in sharp shadows.

     "Anthony… I thought you were dead," Chester whispered. It was all they could think. They could hardly believe their eyes. "Mister Joseph, is he…?"

     Anthony scoffed. "Big boss Joe is dead as dirt. I wouldn't be so worried about him, if I were you."

     "Why are you here?? Why go through all the trouble to find me?" Chester questioned. "How are you even still alive?!"

     "You think I'm gonna let you get away with what you did? After you cost me everything?! No. I'm gonna get the revenge I deserve." Anthony pulled his hand from his pocket, taking a long knife out with it. He twirled it once and smiled. "I'm gonna gut you like a fucking fish."

     Anthony took another step forwards, now barely ten feet away. He stepped into the harsh green light of the Mazercise sign. The light illuminated his mud stained clothes, his torn jacket, ratty hair, and the long scar on his face. Anthony tapped the scar. "Turns out, this was my saving grace. Cops assumed I was dead, what with how much blood there was. I guess you did too, eh? No need to keep a close eye on a corpse. I snuck out of there and tried to find your trail, but the cops were already after you so I laid low and bid my time. Looks like it all paid off."

     "Chester… what is going on." Moon's voice startled Chester, despite how quiet he was.

     Chester paled. They couldn't imagine any of this looked good for them. They looked at Moon, who was staring at them carefully. His posture was tense, and he'd started to shy away from Chester. Chester's heart fell at the sight. This was everything they didn't want. How had everything gone so bad so quickly? "Moon, I-I'm sorry, I-"

     "What the hell is this clown? Some kinda robot?" Anthony frowned at Moon.

     Chester quickly stepped in front of Moon. "Don't worry about him. Anthony, you don't have to do this. Please, just leave. You know I can't tell the cops you were here, I'd be putting myself at risk."

     "Maybe you can't." Anthony's eyes narrowed at Moon. "But he can. Even if I was willing to let you walk away after what you did, which I'm not. I've never stabbed a robot before. I imagine it works the same." Anthony took another step forwards.

     Chester panicked. They couldn't let Moon get hurt. He wasn't a part of this, Chester wanted desperately to keep him out of this, though they knew deep down that there was no going back from any of this. Anthony had said too much. The lie was over. Everything was over. Chester's whole world was crashing down around them. The least they could do was keep Moon from getting hurt.

     Anthony looked ready to lunge. Chester moved before he could, surprising him when they charged for him. They tried to tackle him, but Anthony was much bigger than they were, and they only managed to shove him back a few stumbling steps. Anthony reared back the knife and swung. Chester had been ready for this though, and they dodged. They balled their hands into fists and started swinging, trying to move Anthony back away from Moon more than anything.

     Anthony took two hits before dodging back out of range, though he didn't seem very phased by Chester's lackluster punches. Chester advanced again, winding back for a heavier punch. Anthony kicked out as Chester stepped forwards, nailing them in the gut before they could move out of the way. Chester landed on their back, the wind entirely knocked out of them. They gasped for air and struggled to get back up, but Anthony was already over them. He had that same dead set look in his eye that he'd had the night Chester came to the plex. He brought his knife down on them without hesitation.

     Chester was ashamed to admit that they'd closed their eyes. They'd done it completely on reflex. Anthony's scarred and resolute face burned the backs of their eyelids.

     …Nothing happened.

     Anthony yelled. Chester opened their eyes.

     Moon was standing over them, his shaking hand gripping Anthony's wrist. Anthony was struggling to pull free. Moon was towering tall, no longer hunched over or trying to be small, his height surpassing Anthony's easily.

     "Transgressor. You are being detained. Do not struggle," Moon said.

     Chester sat up just in time to see Anthony drop the knife from his restrained hand, only to catch it with the other. It happened so fast, there was nothing Chester could do to stop it.

     Anthony stabbed the knife into Moon's chest once, twice, before Moon managed to grab his other hand.

     Moon wavered and groaned horribly, the sound drenched in static. Still, he held Anthony tightly.

     Chester got out their flashlight. They cracked it over the back of Anthony's head. Anthony instantly went limp in Moon's grip.

     Moon dropped Anthony, who crumpled to the ground, then turned his gaze down to inspect the damage. His hands hovered near the gashes in his casing, like he wasn't sure what to do.

     "Oh, god. Oh, god." Chester dropped their flashlight.

     "I'mmm going toooo shut dooown. Batteryyy compromiiiiised," Moon hissed out. "Chesterrr. I…" The lights in Moon's eyes went out. He tipped backwards.

     Chester leapt forwards, but they weren't strong enough to keep Moon from falling. They managed to slow his descent.

     "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Chester kept repeating, their voice hoarse. Their hands were shaking horribly. They couldn't look away from the gashes.

     "What in the world is all this racket?!"

     Chester felt the ground rumble with heavy footfalls. They looked up to see Monty approaching. He hurried forwards, once he caught sight of the scene.

     "Monty." Chester focused. "Help, please, I need to get Moon to parts and service."

     Monty nodded. "What about this guy?" He looked at Anthony's unconscious form.

     "After we get Moon to parts and service, you should get the police. They're right outside in the parking lot," Chester said.

     "Right. Okay." Monty carefully picked up Moon. He moved as fast as his heavy metal legs could carry him. Chester kept pace with him.

     They found the door to parts and service, inexplicably, on the main floor, right at the bottom of the stairs. Chester ran through, muttering breathless 'thank you's, and booted the computer up while Monty set Moon down on the table inside the repair chamber.

     "You need anything else before I take care of that intruder?" Monty asked.

     "No, thank you." Chester was already hurrying into the repair chamber. The computer listed off a small number of urgent warnings about Moon's battery, ushering Chester to remove and replace it quickly. The computer also helpfully warned of imminent total system failure, if Chester couldn't get the battery replaced in time. With the battery out of commission, there was nothing running the cooling vents. If Chester couldn't get things powered back up fast enough, the building heat would cause permanent damage to things in Moon's head that Chester couldn't fix or replace.

     Monty nodded and hurried off while Chester got to work. Chester willed their shaking hands to cooperate as they removed Moon's damaged casing. There were, both strangely and irritatingly enough, two layers of thin plastic casing. The lower layer was painted a light yellow. Chester tossed all the casing aside and winced as they spotted damaged wires along with the battery, which was not only dislodged but split open and leaking battery acid everywhere. Chester fumbled with their tools, nearly dropping them. They took a shaky breath and held it as they quickly disconnected the battery. They started to reach for the battery but paused, realizing it was covered in acid and very much not safe to touch. They needed their hands in tact and in working order. Chester swore and set their tools aside. They pulled off their work shirt, wrapping the battery with it before pulling it free. They tossed the battery in the corner and wiped up as much of the acid as they could with their shirt before tossing it with the battery. They grabbed their faz-phone, then tore off in search of the replacement battery. They ignored the other things on the list for now, since nothing else was anywhere near as pressing, things like proximity sensors and light level sensors and Moon's damaged eye.

     Chester gripped the battery tightly as they ran back to Moon. Moon's faceplate was warm to the touch. They had no idea how much time they had left. They didn't know if they were already too late.

     Chester set the battery in place. They needed to plug everything back in, but they couldn't be sure they remembered which cables plugged into which ports. If they messed this up, they'd risk damaging Moon or the battery or both. They squeezed their eyes shut, trying to remember how it had looked before they'd disconnected the old battery.

     They didn't know what they were doing. They hadn't found any diagrams of Moon's body. They'd seen ones for Sun, and they seemed pretty similar in design, but Chester hadn't even studied Sun's diagrams all that thoroughly. They hadn't gotten the chance, they'd misplaced their copy of the stupid technical book and hadn't been able to find it yet. They could grab the original copy from the employee stock room, but that wouldn't help Moon if his design differed from Sun's. They could try to work the computer, get the repair chamber to work, but they didn't know how to run anything more than hardware scans. They couldn't waste time with trial and error, plugging in commands until they got the machine to work, and they couldn't be sure they wouldn't hit the wrong option and mess something up in the process.

     Chester stared down at Moon, their vision blurring as tears threatened to fall. They looked at Moon's faceplate, his eyes dim. Chester never would have thought they'd miss those red pinprick lights, yet here they were.

     A horrible moment passed where Chester considered that Moon might actually die. He was going to die because Chester was an imposter and didn't really know how to fix him. He was going to die because Chester had come here in the first place, bringing the horrible things they were running from along with them. There was no one else here who knew how to fix him. Chester was all he had, and they weren't good enough. He was going to die because of Chester.

     "Moon, I'm so sorry…" Chester reached towards Moon's face. The metal was uncomfortably warm. Fear spiked in Chester's core. They couldn't just stand here, they had to do something. If only they had more time to think, they just needed to think, they could figure something out…

     Chester started to remove Moon's faceplate. The open air would slow down the process of overheating. Chester removed the faceplate covering. Moon's nightcap came with it, held in place by small magnets. Chester couldn't help feeling weird, holding his detached face in their hands. They quickly set it aside and focused, trying to think as they looked back to Moon.

     Chester froze, eyes landing on the inner workings of Moon's head.

     …There were seven orange triangles, currently retracted, sitting inside Moon's head.

     Chester looked back down at the casing they'd tossed aside as realization dawned over them. Two sets of casing. One blue, one yellow. Both for one animatronic.

     "I need to get to the employee stock room," they yelled. When they turned, they spotted an open door in the wall next the entrance. The light flickered on inside. Chester could see the shelf all the way at the back of the room, where all the technical books were. They ran for the books. They found the one labeled 'DAYCARE ATTENDANT' and ran back with it, already flipping through it.

     Chester's mind was buzzing with questions, but they focused. They found the diagram they were looking for, detailing the inner components of the daycare attendant's torso. They compared the battery in the picture to the one in front of them and read over everything on the page mentioning the battery. Then they took a deep breath, and got to work.

     Once the new battery was installed, Chester found a charging cord along the back wall of the chamber and plugged Moon in. they couldn't bear to sit around and just wait while the battery charged up and slowly started supplying power to everything again, so they took another look at their faz-phone and gathered up the remaining replacement parts. There were several wires to replace, as well as the mechanism that allowed the charging port covering to slide in and out of place. Chester worked slowly and carefully, referencing the technical book when they needed to. Finally, the only thing left was the tiny replacement ring for Moon's eye.

     Chester looked back to Moon's head. Moon's head… Sun's head. Their head, both of them. They focused through the mix of surrealism at seeing them without their face, and the absolutely gob-smacked feeling of realization that they'd been the same bot the whole time.

     Chester found a voice box, as well as a complex little music box, each key capable of being hit individually. There was another compact little box the diagram informed them was a smell receptor. Peeking out beneath fully retracted sun rays was a complicated and tightly packed mess of chips, thin little wires, and processors. The fans were situated just below all of this, currently kicked into high gear.

     Chester focused on the eyes. They got out their tweezers, gripping the tool with both hands as they carefully removed the tiny ring. It wasn't even damaged, it had just been jostled loose. Chester set it neatly back in place. They quickly put Moon and Sun's face back on, shaking off the weird feeling as they did so.

     With repairs completed, there wasn't much else to do but wait. Chester took all the damaged parts and tossed them down the disposal chute at the back of the room. They chucked their shirt down the chute with the old battery, barely remembering to grab their nametag off the shirt first. They stepped back into the repair chamber and looked down at… both of them. The fans were a lot quieter now. They hadn't booted back up yet, which worried Chester. They had to hope they hadn't been too late, that Sun and Moon just needed to be fully charged before they could turn back on.

     Chester grabbed the technical book and leaned back against the wall. They studied while they waited, trying to keep busy.

     They studied diagrams and descriptions detailing how, once the many light level sensors lining the daycare attendant's frame detected a drastic enough change in the lights, certain panels would pop inwards, allowing panels underneath to slide in place over them. There were compartments labeled 'costume piece storage', where Chester assumed things like Moon's night cap and Sun's scarf were stored.

     Thinking back, Chester wasn't sure how they hadn't figured it out sooner. Between Sun's panic about the lights and Moon's caginess on the topic of him knowing Sun… a lot of things clicked into place in Chester's head. They still had a hundred more questions, like why they'd both kept this from Chester, and how they could even both be inside one animatronic. Reading over the technical book, it did seem intentional that the daycare attendant would follow different sets of programming depending on what 'setting' they were in, but whether they were meant to have two different AIs was unclear.

     Chester set the book down and took a deep breath. They wondered if Monty had finished dealing with the police yet. They imagined Anthony waking up behind bars. That brought them a small bit of comfort, at least.

     More than anything, Chester wanted Moon and Sun to wake up. Chester knew they had a lot of explaining to do once they did wake up, but they didn't care. They just wanted to be sure the both of them were alright. Chester needed them to be alright. If they weren't… Chester would loose both Moon and Sun, all at once. They weren't sure how they would even begin to cope with that.

     Chester didn't have to suffer in waiting for much longer. Moon's red eyes glowed to life, and his hands went to his chest. His fingers drifted over the replaced paneling for a moment before he sat up. His eyes landed on Chester.

     "…When I said I didn't like your shirt, I didn't mean for you to get rid of it," Moon said.

     Chester felt like they were about to pass out. They were so relieved. Moon and Sun were alright, they'd woken back up, they were both okay. Chester felt the tears rushing back all at once. They started to cry before they could stop it.

     Moon slid off the table, reaching for Chester. He paused, hands hesitating before he could reach them. Chester covered the distance, pulling Moon into a hug. They held him tightly and wept with relief. Moon slowly and gently settled his arms around Chester.

     "Are you okay?" Chester asked, once they'd calmed down.

     "I'm fine. System scan reads everything running normally," Moon assured.

     "Sun's okay too?"

     Moon paused. "…He's fine."

     Chester pulled away. They took off their glasses and wiped their face. They took a few deep breaths before putting their glasses back on and facing Moon.

     "Are you both listening?" Chester asked.

     Moon nodded.

     "Will you let me explain?" Chester asked next.

     "Please do," Moon said. His tone was soft, patient.

     Chester pulled in another deep breath. With steadier hands, they started to sign. This was it. No more secrets.

     "About eight months ago now, everything changed for me when I lost my job. I couldn't find a new job anywhere. I never went to college, I don't have any connections anywhere. I sold most of my stuff, but the time eventually came when I wasn't able to pay my bills, and I lost my place. Mister Joseph found me down on my luck, not a penny to my name, and no other options. When he hired me on, I didn't dare think twice about it. I signed whatever paperwork he told me to, and when I started working for him, I did what he told me to, running errands for him and picking things up for him. But then he started telling me to do things I wasn't comfortable with. Weird things, like carrying packages from one secure location to another and taking weird out of the way routes. Delivering envelopes I wasn't allowed to look at to people I didn't know and never saw again. Eventually, mister Joseph had me start stealing things. Breaking into places. When I realized the money wasn't worth it, mister Joseph threatened me with the legal documents I'd signed. I'd signed everything away to him without a second thought, put my name on agreements for things I'd never even heard of. If I tried to leave, I'd be ruined. Mister Joseph assured me that if the cops didn't catch me, he would. Or rather, Anthony would. Anthony was mister Joseph's business partner. He did a lot of the dirtier work, from my understanding. He and I never got on well. He was always sizing me up like he was trying to decide how to best skin me and hide the evidence.

     "I decided I had to get out of there. I didn't want to be a part of it, whatever was going on, and I resented helping the two of them as much as I already had. Mister Joseph was a careful guy. He kept all his important documents and papers locked up in his apartment. Unfortunately for him, I'd learned a lot of on the job skills, and managed to break into his apartment once I figured out where he lived. I snuck in, planning to steal and destroy all the paperwork I'd signed and make a break for it. That was two months ago. The night before I started working here.

     "When I broke into the apartment, thing's didn't go quite to plan. It had become a habit, to check and be sure I was alone in a place before I made any noise. That habit probably saved my life, because I spotted Anthony waiting with a knife before he noticed I was there. He'd been waiting for mister Joseph to come home so he could kill him and be free to take all the money the two of them made for himself. When he saw that I'd seen him, we both knew that his cover had been blown, and I knew about his plans. So he tried to kill me. I put up a fight, but before I could get out of there mister Joseph came home. Seeing the commotion, he must have realized in some part what was going on. He pulled out his own knife as Anthony decided it was then or never and came for him. Everything happened so fast, I didn't have time to do anything.

     "Anthony stabbed mister Joseph in the chest, and he fell to the floor. Then Anthony turned on me, planning to not leave any witnesses. We struggled, but Anthony was very good at his job. He was about to kill me, but mister Joseph had gotten back up. He attacked Anthony, slashed his face. Anthony stabbed him again, and they both fell. They were both still, and there was so much blood everywhere, and I was covered in it. With all the noise, the neighbors had called the police, and suddenly I was standing in the middle of a crime scene, the blood of two dead people all over my hands. My involvement was incriminating enough as it was, even if I could prove to the cops I hadn't murdered anyone. At that point I'd been doing all sorts of illegal stuff for mister Joseph for months. So… I ran.

     "I made it here, to the pizza-plex. That's when I got hit by lightning. Or rather, the tree next to me did. The tree fell onto the roof of the building and I climbed over and snuck in through the roof entrance. I'd planned to just hide out in the building for a few hours, in a mall as big as this I knew I could hide if the cops tried to search it. I found the Hawaiian shirt and these pants in lost and found. I had to ditch my old clothes because they were covered in blood. I found my nametag in a storage locker. I ended up passing out in a supply closet full of spare uniforms, and when I woke up, it was day. So I put on a uniform as a disguise, and it worked a little too well. Everyone thought I was a tech. And since employee profiles get corrupted all the time, miss Garcia just had me fill out a paper form and signed off on it. And the cops were steaked out outside, and I didn't have anywhere else to go, so… I played along.

     "This whole time, I've been lying to you both, and everyone else. I'm not a real technician. I'm just a fast learner. I've been lying this whole time, and I am so, so sorry."

     When Chester finished, they felt equal parts relieved and terrified. At long last, they'd laid absolutely everything out, they'd come clean. They weren't sure how Moon and Sun would react, if they'd even believe them. They put their face in their hands, not daring to look up at Moon.

     There was a long, dreadful moment of silence. Then, Moon gently pulled Chester's hands away from their face. His posture was open and relaxed as he held Chester's hands and looked down at them.

     "All is forgiven. We forgive you," Moon said.

     Chester stared up at him. Their eyes were threatening to tear up again. "What?"

     "You are forgiven," Moon repeated. "For the lies and deception. We do not hold it against you in the slightest."

     "Really?" Chester's voice wobbled, but they didn't pull their hands away to sign. "Aren't you guys mad at me?? I've been living a lie for months."

     "We are not mad. You had to do this. Besides, we've been lying too," Moon said.

     Chester had nearly forgotten about the revelation about Sun and Moon and all that entailed.

     Moon went on. "We were scared, at first. When Anthony was talking to you, it sounded like you'd tried to kill him and mister Joseph. We knew you'd been hiding things, keeping secrets. We weren't sure what to think. But then I saw your face, and you looked so horrified, because you could see that we were scared. And I know what that feels like, to not want people to be scared of you. And we both know you, and you're always nice even when you don't have to be. And then you tried to protect us from Anthony, when he wanted to hurt us, even though he was going to hurt you. So we both decided we trusted you. And we believed you wouldn't be cruel on purpose. You are more than forgiven. You are accepted."

     That did it. The tears started to fall again. Moon gently squeezed Chester's hands as they cried.

     Chester felt like they were floating. They could barely process any of it, but the absolute relief they felt was overwhelming. They focused on Moon's hands, holding their own so gently. They squeezed his hands and took a few deep breaths.

     "If you're ready… I believe we owe you an explanation as well," Moon said. "Sun and I agree it'd be best coming from him. I'll be turning on the lights, if that's alright."

     Chester nodded. Moon started to move, but paused. He looked down at Chester's hands in his for a moment, then slowly withdrew. He left the chamber and went to the light switch on the far wall.

     Moon raised a hand to the light switch. Chester stood just outside the repair chamber and watched, eyes wide in anticipation. Moon flipped the switch, and the overhead lights blazed to life.

     Chester winced under the harsh fluorescents, struggling to keep their eyes open. They watched the change happen in moments, panels exchanging while Moon's jester cape was pulled into its storage compartment, small bars folding the fabric in neatly. The cape was replaced by Sun's scarf, pulled up from its compartment by a small arm that usually sat flush against their neck. Seven orange rays popped out of their slots along the edge of their head. The fabric of their pants seemed to change all on their own, the material apparently light sensitive, like the darker half of Sun and Moon's face, which was now a light orange under the bright lights. In no more than three seconds, Sun was standing there, facing the wall. Slowly, he turned to face Chester.

     "Hello, dear." Sun waved awkwardly.

     "I'm not upset with you. Or Moon," Chester assured him.

     Sun stepped towards them. "Moon didn't say anything because I asked him not to. This was my secret," Sun started. His hands moved as he explained, gesturing with quick and big motions that made his bells jingle. "At first, I didn't want you to know about Moon because he wasn't allowed to be out, and Moon was… no one really understood why Moon had done those things to those other employees, not until you came along. And so I was worried Moon might hurt you, or frighten you. I didn't want you to know the truth because I thought, if you were scared of Moon, and you knew Moon and I were one and the same, then you would be scared of me too, and I can't tell you how much I didn't want that. And then you and Moon started to get closer, and then I couldn't tell you because I'd been lying to you this whole time! And so then if you knew, you might be mad at me for lying and keeping things from you, and I don't know what I'd do if you were mad at me, just the thought was scary. I even took those papers you printed out, the ones of our technical book. I didn't want you to read them and find out, and I'm really sorry about that. I know I should have told you, and I'm so sorry I didn't."

     Chester stepped forwards and took Sun's jittery hands in theirs. "All is forgiven."

     Sun raised his downcast faceplate apprehensively. "Really?"

     Chester nodded. "Of course. How could I be mad when I was keeping secrets too?"

     "Even so, just because you kept something from us doesn't mean I was allowed to keep things from you." Sun's rays slowly shrank halfway into his head.

     "Well, I'm not mad. If anything, I'm just fascinated endlessly by the two of you. I have so many questions, like how the two of you share one body together, but I don't want to pry or make either of you uncomfortable."

     "Oh?" Sun's rays popped back out. "Well, neither of us would mind answering your questions. So long as you wouldn't be bored of us after you've learned everything there is to know…"

     "Bored of you??" Chester nearly laughed. "Sun, I just like to know how things work. I can't imagine ever not wanting to spend time with you and Moon, I really like talking to you two and joking around and just… being with you. I love your company, both of you."

     Sun started to bounce from side to side. His sun rays popped in and out of his head one by one in circular fashion. "Really?? You really do? You mean it??"

     "I do." Chester couldn't help but smile, thinking Sun was as cute as a button.

     "Ohh. That’s. That makes us feel… it's like there's too much energy, like our battery can't hold it all! It's like when I'm charging and everything is so slow, but the opposite. It feels like… like everything is going to be okay. Is that silly?? Or weird?"

     Chester shook their head. "Not at all."

     "Oh, good! Well, I can tell you that Moon and I are very good at sharing. We used to be so good at sharing that it was hard to tell who was who… of course, that was back when it was hard to tell if we were anyone at all. It's still sort of complicated sometimes… We're different, and we run different code and programs, but we're also one and the same. We… we're one person, if that one person was two people. Wait, that doesn't make much sense. Maybe Moony can explain it better," Sun offered sheepishly.

     "That's alright. So… you get along alright then?" Chester asked.

     "We do! Not all the time, but we do our best." Sun hesitated, like he was debating on elaborating.

     The double doors suddenly flew open, startling both Chester and Sun. Monty rushed in, pausing when he spotted Sun and Chester standing together in the middle of the room. Chester quickly released Sun's hands, awkwardly stuffing their fists in their pockets.

     All at once, Chester remembered the events that had lead them here. That light giddy sort of feeling in their chest vanished. They still had unfinished business to attend to.

     "You're alright!! It looks like Chester fixed you up," Monty said to Sun, sounding relieved. "The cops just left with the intruder. I explained everything I could and showed them the security footage. The only camera that was working was really far away, but they could make out enough to tell that the intruder guy definitely broke in and attacked you guys. The cops wanted to take your statement, but I told them you were busy fixing up this guy." Monty pointed a thumb towards Sun. He paused and looked at Sun. "I thought you were stuck in the daycare? Not to mention, I know the nighttime guy was out earlier…"

     "Um!" Sun laughed nervously. "Well you see, the rule against letting Moony out was because of the issue with the employee forms going missing! And since Chester figured out how to fix everything, there wasn't an issue anymore, and so-"

     "Relax, fella. I wasn't gonna rat you out or anything. That wouldn't be very rock n roll of me, now would it?" Monty winked. "I was just curious is all.  I'm glad you were there to help Chester in any case. I wasn't even headed that direction before I heard all the commotion. If Chester had run into that intruder alone, I hate to think of what might have happened."

     Sun let out a little static-tinged whine. He gripped Chester's shoulder tightly.

     "But hey, now that everyone's okay," Monty turned his attention back to Chester. "You should probably get in contact with the cops and give them your statement. You probably need to talk to Rosa or Lance too, let them know what happened."

     "Right…" Chester wondered if they could get away with telling no one anything. Their heart sunk as they realized something. Even though things had worked out alright with Sun and Moon, the trouble was far from over. Their days of masquerading as a technician might just be over. Even if they could manage to keep their secrets hidden from their managers and the authorities… they weren't sure if they wanted to. They were so tired of lying, of pretending. They didn't want to end up in jail, and they didn't want to loose their ill-gotten job. If they were fired… they might not ever be able to see Sun and Moon again.

     With that realization, Chester was starting to feel a little sick. They had a lot to think about, it seemed.

     Chester turned their attention back to Monty. "Thank you for all your help tonight, Monty. I don't know what I would have done without you."

     "Anytime, rockstar." Monty flashed a grin. He pat Chester's head. "I'll see you losers around."

     Monty left the room, leaving Sun and Chester alone once more.

     "Would you like to go back to the daycare? There's a lot I want to work through and talk about," Chester offered.

     "I'd love to, dear. Moon will have to escort you back, since all the lights will be out," Sun said. He quickly wrapped Chester up in a tight hug. "But not before I get a hug!!"

     Chester smiled and hugged Sun back. They didn't want to think about whether or not this would be one of their last hugs from him.

     Sun turned the lights back off, and Chester got to watch the transformation once more. Chester noted something they'd missed the first time- Moon's nightcap popped out of a compartment on his upper back, just enough for the magnets in the rim of the cap to catch on his head as it tilted back towards the cap.

     Moon hummed as he turned to face Chester. "Perhaps we can pick up a shirt along the way."

     Chester had entirely forgotten that they were shirtless. They awkwardly hugged themself. "I used the old one to take out the damaged battery."

     "Hmm. Whatever you say." Moon spun his faceplate, red eyes whirling.

     "I did!" Chester insisted with a huff.

     Moon held the door open for them. "Just teasing you."

     Chester stuck their tongue out at Moon as they passed. They lead the way down the hall, finding the uniform closet just a few doors down. Chester paused briefly as they pulled the door open, remembering how they'd spent their first night here in this closet. That night felt like forever ago. Chester pulled on a new shirt. They took their nametag from their pocket, pausing before they pinned it in place.

     'TECHNICIAN: Chester'.

     Chester had been using this borrowed name for long enough now that it had almost started to feel normal. They'd actually come to like it, though they weren't sure if that was because they liked the name itself, or if they just liked how it sounded coming from Sun and Moon.

     Chester put on their nametag. They closed the closet door.

     "Shall we?" Moon held out a hand to Chester.

     A smile bloomed on Chester's face. They took Moon's hand. Together, the two walked hand in hand back to the daycare.

[mybiasisexo]

Entangled - Part 4

Pairing: Chanyeol x f.Reader

Chapter Warning: Language

Word Count: 5.5k

Author's Note: There's a lot that happens here lmao. Like I feel this is like 3 chapters jammed into one. I hope we can get a bit of insight on Channies thought process here, and maybe even OCs?? Also I LOVE this friend group and will add so many irrelevant scenes just to see them interact 🥺.

Also.... pls lmk if you would like to be tagged! There are a couple people who I want to but... dont wanna bother anyone haha. So, if you'd like that, just lmk 🙃

Also also.... have y'all listened to beyonces new album?!??!???????!? Was DEF listening to it HEAVY while editing this (Virgos groove was hitting a bit too hard christ she's done it again 😔 we stan forever)

Okay, I'm rambling (shocker) as always, don't be afraid to lmk how you feel about the story so far!!! I appreciate all interaction!!! Have fuuuun~

“Ah.” The calm that overtakes you as you lay back on the blanket separating you from the powdery sand is welcomed after the morning you’ve had. Just as you predicted, the sun is helping your hangover just as much as the food digesting in your belly.

It would’ve tasted a lot better without the bitter knowledge of Chanyeol’s apology, but the heat kissing your skin is enough of a distraction from that fact. “This is the life.”

“If I could, I would live a life strictly on the shore,” Seulgi agrees. She already sounds drowsy as she sprawls out like a starfish beside you.

Yerim is somewhere splashing along in the water, finally enjoying the crisp waves instead of taking pictures for her Instagram. Poor Seulgi spent the first ten minutes out as her photographer and is now finally having time for herself.

You aren’t sure how much time passes when Yerim joins you both. Cold drops of sea water drip onto your stomach alluding to her presence. You wince, eyes springing open to give the young girl a glare.

“Oops.” She shrugs innocently, her smile dazzling. You huff before rolling onto your stomach, evening out your tan. Yerim checks her phone and sucks her teeth, tossing it angrily aside before plopping onto her stomach across from you, so that your heads now huddle together.

“Still no word from Loey?” Seulgi asks. Her eyes are still closed, and she hasn’t moved an inch. Honestly, you thought she had fallen asleep.

You hate how your ears perk at the mention of your ex.

Yerim’s mouth tightens. “Nothing. We were supposed to get breakfast this morning. He had promised me that while kicking me out, to try to make up for what he was doing. But he hasn’t replied to any of my texts or calls!”

Her words trigger something in the back of your mind. Little fragments from the night before come to you in flashes, images of a pissed Yerim in front of your hotel room.

“He kicked you out?” You ask.

The sisters share a look before turning their attention back to you.

“What?” You snap. “I told you I blacked out.”

Yerim sighs dramatically and falls onto her back, blocking the sun with an arm draped over her eyes. “Yes, well, he did. Suddenly sharing a bed made him uncomfortable.”

“You two haven’t… you haven’t had sex yet?” You push out, swallowing the bile the question has rising up your throat.

She pauses and then bursts into laughter, saying your name conspiringly. “I had no idea you would be interested in my sex life.”

Oh, it isn’t hers you’re curious about.

You shrug non-committedly, glancing away.

“No, we haven’t,” she reveals. “This trip was the first time we’ve hung out outside my job, actually. Our first date. It was kind of funny. We both thought of coming here together at the same time. It sounded like the perfect idea then. Now? I’m starting to see how much it wasn’t.” 

Relief floods you, relaxing your tense muscles. You wonder briefly how you would have reacted if they had slept together. Most likely seen red.

You halt those thoughts instantly. This is not your place anymore, not your right. You have zero claim on Chanyeol and whatever you are feeling right now is unwarranted.

Pushing away all that, you focus back on the conversation. “Because he kicked you out?”

She hums as she ponders your question. “That. And he’s in the wedding. He’s a groomsman, and that’s his main focus on the trip, not necessarily me. But also….”

She sighs and shifts around, getting comfortable. “He warned me, but I didn’t think he was being serious. At least, I didn’t think it was actually going to matter.”

“What did he warn you about?” Seulgi asks, voice quiet.

Yerim is silent for a breath before huffing, laughing mirthlessly. “He was engaged once.”

Your heart drops.

“He told me that he was engaged a few years ago, and that he was a bit worried that being in a wedding might… hurt.”

Just like you.

You honestly didn’t know what to think of Chanyeol going through the same thing as you, although this new perspective made your conversation from this morning make a bit more sense, made you understand his actions and words. 

He was putting up a front, just like you. 

“I told him to not worry about it too much,” Yerim continues, unaware of the epiphany you’re having. “Because I am here now. I’ll stay by his side. I’m not going anywhere. He laughed when I said that, and said he thought it was cute. To me, that sounded like that was enough for him. But, something changed after dinner yesterday. He was different, and well, I guess he was right about being worried after all.”

“Engaged, huh?” Is all you can say.

Yerim pouts. “It’s not like he was married and got a divorce. It’s only an engagement. Like…get over it?”

Her words sting. It feels like she’s speaking to you directly.

“Yerim….” Seulgi chastises gently, probably aware of how her statement might affect you. You can’t bring yourself to feel hurt, she’s right afterall. Plus, you can hear the hurt in her voice, the disappointment.

Reaching out, you touch her hand reassuringly. “Would you like me to beat him up for you?”

That brings out a bright laugh and you grin at the sound. “Apparently, you gave him a piece of your mind last night.”

You blink. “I did?”

“You weren’t very happy with him once you found out what he did to me, so you went to his room and confronted him.”

Chanyeol’s words from earlier echo in your brain. ‘We already had this conversation last night’.

“How did that go?” You question, hoping they can’t hear the rising panic in your voice.

‘Because you missed me’.

“Not sure,” she answers.

“We heard you banging on his door for a minute,” Seulgi informs.

You came knocking on my door like the police’.

You gulp.

“It got really quiet afterwards for like ten minutes or so. Then you started banging on our door because, of course, you didn’t have the key. You were pretty incoherent, mumbling something about him being an asshole, I think. Then you stumbled right to bed. Out like a light.”

You take in this newfound information warily. “So, you aren’t sure if I actually talked to him or not?”

“No. It could’ve been Sehun’s door. Hell, it could’ve been a damn wall you were hitting, you were that fucked up,” Seulgi says, chuckling at the memory.

So, there is still a chance Chanyeol was lying. Your certainty crumbles even further when a fresh memory from last night unlocks. It isn’t an image, but a feeling. Hands–fingers–ghosting up your stomach, your cheek.

You blink. Will you remember this? A whisper.

“Either way I appreciate it.” Yerim leans her head back to smile at you upside down, pulling you out of your reverie. “I love you, Sis.”

You smile in return, hoping it reaches your eyes as you pat her round cheek. She giggles, the sound should ease your heart. Instead, it brings another wave of guilt over you, making you shiver despite the heat of the sun overhead.

She readjusts, no longer staring up at you, and starts going on about something else, missing the way Seulgi and you lock eyes, worry and apprehension shared between you both.

Oh, how the knot tangles.

You spend a few more hours at the beach. Play in the water, take a nice afternoon nap, and just lounge around until you get a text from Sehun letting you know that the rehearsal is almost over and that they will all be eating lunch in his suite.

With that, you head back to your own room to get ready.

While in the elevator, Yerim’s phone pings. She checks the text and immediately lights up and starts squealing in excitement.

“What is it?” Seulgi asks, reveling in her sister’s delight.

“Loey just texted me!”

“What did he say?” You ask, playing as nonchalant as possible.

“He said that he’s sorry for not getting back to me this morning and missing breakfast. He said he overslept and woke up right before he had to go to rehearsal. He was wondering if he could make it up to me with lunch!”

“That’s… cute.” Seulgi’s smile becomes forced, and she turns to you with widening eyes that say, ‘what the hell’. You purse your lips as an unwelcoming bout of jealousy makes you consider telling the sisters that Chanyeol was indeed awake early enough to get breakfast this morning.

Not your place.

“I’m going to invite him to Sehun’s…. If that’s okay?” Yerim checks for confirmation. You both agree reluctantly.

She bounces on the balls of her feet excitedly as she types away. The doors open and you leap out, feeling trapped in the confines of the small metal box.

“Aw man. He wants it to be just us two. I hope you don’t mind me skipping out on lunch with everyone.”

“It’s no problem,” you reassure her, meaning it completely.

“Yeah, I’m sure you both have a lot to catch up on,” Seulgi adds.

That is that. You all take turns showering and start getting ready for lunch. You’re rushing a bit, wanting to see your friends and ask about the rehearsal, plus you’re starving. Chanyeol hadn’t given you much in his apology plate.

And, you hate to admit it, but you need a break from Yerim.

When Yerim is in the shower, Seulgi enters your room, sits on the corner of the bed, and watches you put your makeup on.

When your name finally leaves her mouth, you know you’re in trouble. It holds an authority you rarely hear her use. Slowly, you put down your mascara and turn in your chair, giving her your undivided attention.

“I love you,” she starts, voice deceivingly calm. “But Yerim is my sister. I can’t keep protecting you and Chanyeol. It’s not fair to her.”

“I know,” you say.

“We have to tell her,” she proceeds.

“I agree.”

Seulgi inhales deeply. “She’s going to be furious, but she has a right to know about you two. Especially since it seems you’re the reason why he kicked her out of their room.”

Her statement shocks you. “What?”

She throws you an incredulous look. “Are you telling me you didn’t see the way he was watching you throughout dinner? Not to mention how he would, like, study you whenever he touched Yerim? Like he was trying to get a reaction? Trying to make you jealous? I don’t know. Neither one of you have ever really told anyone why you broke up. It’s been a mystery for all of us, you know. We’ve been trying to solve it for years. I was hoping that seeing you both together would solve everything. But, to be honest, it’s only making things more confusing because….”

Her hands rub together, as though she’s putting on lotion. Her eyebrows furrow and her eyes are far away as she thinks about what she has seen. When she refocuses on you, you gulp, hating the distrust in her gaze. “I think Chanyeol is still in love with you.”

“Seulgi.” You don’t–no, can’t hear this right now, not when everything has become so much more complicated.

Her eyes pool with sorrow, for who you weren’t sure. “If Yerim is going to get her heart broken during this trip, I would rather it be from Yeol alone. I don’t want to hurt her, and I know you don’t want to either.”

You didn’t. Yerim is like a little sister to you. Damn Chanyeol for putting you in such a predicament.

“So, when do we tell her?” You ask, filled with a new resolve. You wanted to be done with all this unnecessary drama. “Right now? After lunch? Tomorrow before the wedding? When is the right time?”

“I think now is better than later. I can’t keep lying to her face.”

“I don’t want to lie anymore either. This is Chanyeol’s mess. Let’s tell her, and have him deal with explaining everything while they’re out.”

A couple knocks at your door cuts your conversation short. You both share a glance, not expecting guests.

“Maybe it’s Sehun?” You guess before getting to your feet to answer. “Lord knows he’s always so damn impatient.”

You trudge over and tear the door open.

“Dude, I swear we’re on our way….”

The height is expected. Chanyeol’s face? Not so much.

Speak of the devil….

He is wearing a cocky grin on his face, that swiftly falls the moment you grace his presence. 

“Oh,” slips out of your mouth, expressing all the disappointment you feel at seeing him instead of your best friend. Although your heart begins racing, you find it a bit easier to be confronted with him this time around. Actually, the conversation you just had comes back to you, and you realize that you’re annoyed with him. “What are you doing here?” 

He jerks back from your tone, probably shocked by how bored you sound. “I was just, um, I’m here to, uh, pick up–”

“Yerim,” You finish for him, nodding in confirmation. Right. Of course. His girlfriend.

With her name hovering between you, the atmosphere thickens awkwardly. You’re still mad at him, but it’s overwhelmed by a different disappointment than you felt prior. It takes a second, and then it clicks as to why you feel this. Wow, you really are stupid, huh? A foolish part of you had hoped that he was here to see you. But at the reminder that he has someone else, you are embarrassed to think something so delusional. You don’t know where to look–eyes jumping around randomly, only passing his face every few seconds. Your hands dangle uselessly at your sides, and all you can think is ‘abort, abort, ABORT’. 

“I–right. Let me go get her.” Your voice betrays your disappointment. 

You turn stiffly to do just that, but get pulled to a stop before you can even take a step into the room. Chanyeol’s strong hand curls posessively around the pit of your elbow, thumb resting on the sharp bone. You gasp and hold your breath, still as a statue as you anticipate his next move. Once he senses your attention, he lets his hand slither down the soft skin of your arm to wrap around your wrist. 

“Wait.” Your name leaves his mouth in a gravelly whisper, causing your stomach to roll nauseatingly. Hesitantly, you turn your body back around to face him, and once your eyes lock, they hold on steadfast, as if that is where they are always meant to be. 

“I….” His sentence gets caught in his throat as he continues staring at you. It’s as though your face is distracting him, rendering him the ability to even speak. There’s a question in his glittery orbs, but you can’t decipher what it is he’s asking.

“What is it?” You ask gently.

That seems to draw him out of his trance. He shakes his head in an attempt to clear it. 

“Did you get my gift?” The way he asks makes your conversation feel more intimate, a private thing between only you.

You know instantly what he’s referencing: the food from earlier. Confirming your suspicions that it was indeed him, although you never had a doubt. 

“I did,” you admit, albeit reluctantly.

His eyes narrow suspiciously. “Did you eat any of it?”

Even more reluctantly, “I did.”

“Good. That’s good.” And he does appear very relieved, knowing you accepted his ‘gift’. “I was worried.”

“Worried about what?” You push.

His eyes cut to you and you almost recoil from the intensity burning within them. “That you wouldn’t eat it, even though you were starving, because you knew it was from me.”

Ah, he still knows you well.

“I’m not that petty,” you mutter.

“Yes you are.” He grins before a thought occurs to him, causing the smile to fall just as quickly as it formed. “At least, you were.”

That kills the peace you two had created.

“Anyways,” he starts, scratching the back of his neck. “I wanted to apologize for the way I acted earlier. It was wrong for me to say all of that. I just, I don’t know, wanted to try to be normal, for Junmyeon’s sake, but….”

He shrugs helplessly, and you feel that–the helplessness. Despite digging this hole, Chanyeol is just as stuck as you are.

“What about this morning was ‘normal’?” You ask, feeling the anguish from earlier take over your body. “You were trying to upset me. Is that what all of this is? One big ploy to make me feel like shit?”

“That’s not….” He lets out a heavy sigh and runs a hand over his face. “I’m really bad at this. I don’t want to fight, I want us to start over. To be friends.”

You give him an incredulous look that he meets earnestly. Looking at him, at that angelic face that was once your whole world, you realize that what he is asking is impossible. There’s too much history here, too many unresolved issues for you both to move forward on friendly terms.

“I don’t know, Chanyeol,” you say quietly. “I think we’re far from becoming friends, and I don’t really want to be. We only have a few more days here, so let’s just keep pretending we don’t know each other. Hell, we don’t even have to pretend. I don’t know you anymore.” 

“And who’s fault is that?” He asks, voice rising in a sudden anger that makes you flinch. “I wasn’t the one who called off the wedding, remember? That was you. You were the one who decided I wasn’t worth forever anymore, not the other way around!”

“Is that what you think?” You hiss, just as upset. “That’s never what I meant! And why would you even care anymore? You’ve moved on, haven’t you? Do I have to keep reminding you that you have a girlfriend?” Who isn’t me, you want to add.

“Why do you keep calling her that?” He asks, exasperated. You’re sure that if he wasn’t still holding onto your wrist like a leash, he’d be pacing the hall. “She’s just my date! We aren’t serious!”

“Does she know that?” You question. “I have a feeling that if I asked, she’d say differently.”

His eyes bounce back and forth between yours, searching for the right answer. He deflates, knowing what it is. “I already told you, I don’t want to fight. I didn’t come here for that.”

“No, because you came here for her.”

You both hear it, the pain that rips from your chest. It causes you both to pause. You’re mortified, and it skyrockets when he seems to soften. He stares down at you fondly, and his stance straightens. 

“I came here to make things right,” he reveals, voice just as tender as his expression. 

“And how are you going to do that?”

“I’m going to take her to lunch as promised.”

You slowly nod at that. “As you should. It’s for the best.”

“Is it?” He questions.

Seulgi’s words echo in your head, “I think Chanyeol is still in love with you.”

And with the way he is admiring you, you can see it. Your heart quickens at the idea of him still wanting you. You want to relish in it, in his affection, his touch. Your attraction for him never completely ceased, no matter how many times you have told yourself otherwise. If you are around him for much longer, you are going to give into the temptation that is his mouth, his big hands, his unbreaking steady gaze.

You want to believe what he just insinuated. He came here to make things right, he said. Not just with Yerim, but maybe with you too. You want to believe that the girl getting ready, oblivious to what’s happening only a few feet away, isn’t the only reason why he is standing before you right now, that you still have a claim on him.

“It has to be.” You tell the both of you, drawing the line in the sand for both not to cross.

And yet he still pushes. “And why is that?”

Because I’m terrified of what will happen if we keep meeting like this.

“Because she’s your date.”

He nods in agreement just as you had before. 

“You want to know the real reason why I brought her,” he asks suddenly.

You should say no. You should walk away and forget the man before you. To keep pretending he means nothing to you. But, the most selfish part of you wins. You need to know. So you nod, allowing him to destroy all pretenses between you both.

“As an excuse,” he whispers, gauging your reaction. “To stay away from you.”

You think you should probably feel angry by his confession, but you don’t. Maybe you’re reading a bit more into it, but you find it has you swooning.

He takes a step forward, causing your head to fall back to keep looking at him. His hand finally falls from your wrist, lifting to cup your jaw, making sure you can’t see anything but him. 

Still in a whisper, he continues. “But since last night, the excuse has changed.”

His thumb caresses your cheek. “Now I’m using her as a way to see you. To talk to you. Because that’s the only way you will.”

“That’s not fair.” 

He smiles ruefully. “It really isn’t, is it?”

You can’t help but scoff. “You’re such an–”

“Asshole?” He finishes with a smug grin. “I know.”

A silence falls over you, and you’re observing him so closely, admiring him in a way that feels so familiar it’s nearly effortless, that you catch the shift. His eyes darken with intent as they latch onto your slightly open mouth with laser focus.

You stiffen in his grip, holding your breath as you wait for him to close the distance. So much for that line in the sand.

His head tilts slightly, hair tickles your forehead, nose brushes against yours.

You can’t.

“I’ll tell Yerim you stopped by,” you let out in a shaky breath, lips nearly brushing against his.

His eyes have fallen shut, and he keeps them closed as he briefly rests his forehead against yours, catching his barings. 

“Right.” Reluctantly, he pulls away, taking steps back so that he’s in the middle of the hallway, and you get a bout of deja vu. You were in a similar situation before, were you not? Only now the roles have reversed.

“Tell her to come to my room when she’s ready.” His tone is professional, no ounce of emotion can be heard, as if he weren’t seconds away from kissing you. 

It makes you cold.

With that, he swiftly turns and heads the two doors down to his own suite.

You stand there for a moment, collecting yourself. You can’t seem to shake off the frigidness that chills you with the lack of his warmth. Your hands go to your jaw, fingers touching  the parts Chanyeol had cradled, fighting the overwhelming need to scream.

You need to tell Yerim her date is ready for her. Right. You slip back into your suite to do just that.

Only to be stopped by Seulgi standing a few feet away, expression hard to read.

A staring match commences. It feels like she’s your parent having caught you red handed trying to creep back into the house after sneaking out.

Yerim comes out of their room, ready to go.

“I thought I heard knocking. Was someone here?” She asks, unaware of the silent battle going on in front of her.

“Chanyeol,” you answer, attention never leaving her sister.

“Who?”

You grit your teeth, growing more agitated with her. How can she not know the name of the man she claims to be falling for?

“Loey stopped by,” Seulgi speaks, voice steel, eyes unwavering. “But you were still getting ready. He asked us to tell you to head over to his room when you were finished. Right?”

The question is aimed at you. She lifts her eyebrow, challenging you to correct her.

“...Right.” You lose the staring contest as you agree, guilt casting your eyes down.

“Oh shit! I need to hurry then!” Yerim runs off.

Your wrist and jaw still burn from the ghost of Chanyeol’s touch.

“The food got here before you did,” are Sehun’s first words when you trudge into his room fifteen minutes later. Seulgi hasn’t spoken a word to you since Yerim left your suite, and you can’t blame her. Although, you wish she’d actually communicate her feelings towards you right now.

You can’t stand her being angry with you.

This is not your first disagreement. You’ve argued numerous times. That doesn’t make it any easier though, especially since you can’t really defend yourself.

“Sorry,” you say distractedly as you search the room for someone in particular. There he is! You march right over to Jongin and throw your arms around his slender torso, burying your head into the crook of his neck.

He freezes only for a second, surprised, and then he’s returning the hug, swaying you back and forth comfortingly. 

“God, you give the best hugs,” you mumble against his warm skin.

He chuckles into your hair. “You seem like you really need one.”

“You have no idea.” Satisfied, you pull back, stewing in your bad mood. He clips your chin fondly and then leads you over to the counter that’s pouring over with food.

You all huddle in the living room, sitting in a circle on the floor. All the groom’s men are present except Chanyeol.

“Oh! I have important news!” Jongdae begins excitedly, gaining everyone’s attention. “Eunhee is pregnant.”

“WHAT?!” You all yell. Eunhee is Jongdae’s longtime girlfriend.

He’s glowing from joy. “I know. I should have told you all yesterday, but there was already a lot going on and Junmyeon was the main event. I didn’t want to take away from him. But, yeah, I’m going to be a father!”

“Is that why she’s not here?” Sehun asks.

Jongdae nods. “She’s not that far along, but we didn’t want to take any risks.”

“Oh, gosh,” Seulgi coos. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m going to be an uncle!” Jongin cheers.

“You already are an uncle!” Jongdae points out, reminding Jongin of the fact he has sisters with children.

“Okay, but this is different!”

“So, we have one friend getting married, and now another having a kid.” Baekhyun says, shaking his head in disbelief. “Boy, are we getting old.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” you mutter bitterly. Your comment causes the others to chuckle.

“It was bound to happen eventually,” Sehun says, reaching over to pat your back. “But hey, we’re not doing too bad on this life thing. I’m proud of all of us.”

“Do you have any secret lovers or children we should know about?” You ask the proud best man with narrowed eyes.

Sehun rolls his eyes. “As much as I love Busan, I haven’t found anyone that I feel particularly connected to yet. The restaurant keeps me busy. As for children, I have Vivi, and I enjoy spoiling that boy too much. I don’t think I’m ready to have another one.”

“Vivi?” Seulgi asks skeptically. He merely shrugs.

Vivi is his dog.

“I know it’s a rather touchy subject,” Jongdae begins. “But you haven’t been with anyone since Chanyeol, have you?”

Just hearing his name causes your palms to sweat. You have to actively avoid glancing at Seulgi to gauge her reaction.

“I mean,” you start carefully. “I have needs. But, no. I haven’t been with anyone seriously since. To be honest, I think it’s been a year since I last humored anyone.”

“It’s the same for him too, you know?” Baekhyun reveals.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Seulgi abruptly asks Sehun, who shows her. She excuses herself and it’s silent as you all watch her disappear. Once she’s gone, all eyes are on you.

“Chanyeol told me about bringing a date,” Baekhyun admits in a hurry, sensing that you’re on borrowed time. “He told me it was because he couldn’t face you alone. I told him that was the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. But you know Yeol, once he’s made up his mind about something, there’s no talking him out of it.”

“I know,” you answer quietly. He couldn’t face you alone? Well, it does line up to what he revealed earlier, that he brought Yerim as a way to avoid you. God, what an idiot.

“He’s an asshole,” Jongin speaks up. You lift an eyebrow at that, Jongin isn’t one to be so… vulgar. “And just so you know, we’re all on your side.”

“Hell yeah, we are.” Jongdae agrees, holding up a fist. “Fighting.”

“He shouldn’t have pretended to not know us,” Baekhyun frowns. He must still be hurting over his best friend’s rejection.

“It wasn’t smart.” Sehun turns to you. “Did you talk to Yerim?”

“I was going to,” you start and he groans. “Sehun, really! I was! But then Chanyeol showed up and whisked her away. That’s why she’s not here right now.”

“He really has a lot of balls, bringing another girl knowing you were going to be here,” Jongdae seethes. 

“Guys,” you’re quick to defend. “It’s been years. He’s allowed to bring whoever he wants. Allowed to date whoever he wants. We’re no longer together.”

They all scoff.

“I know it’s not my place,” Baekhyun, king instigator, begins. “But you and Yeol were perfect together. You complete each other, and neither one of you have been the same since the breakup. I genuinely hope that the two of you can work it out.”

“As soon as he gets rid of that high schooler,” Jongin adds.

“She’s in college,” you correct weakly.

Conversation finally turns to something else, and it’s perfect timing because Seulgi rejoins right after.

You spend the next hour chatting and goofing off. It feels so good to be back with your closest friends. You can’t help but get nostalgic, comparing the people you all are today to the carefree group of kids you were when you all first got together.

Unfortunately, time flies by while having fun, and the boys have a bachelor’s party to throw.

“I wish I were a boy. That way I could tag along,” you say forlornly.

“Junmyeon wants you both there!” Jongin says, swinging your hands in his. “Just come.”

“We can’t,” Seulgi declines. “It wouldn’t look good. Watch over our boy though. Show him a good time.”

“I told him we should’ve gone to the states,” Baekhyun sighs dramatically. “We could’ve gone to Las Vegas, gone to a strip club!”

At the mention of a strip club, both Baekhyun and Jongin start doing body rolls. Jongdae pretends to make money rain on them.

“Don’t get him fucked up!” You threaten, pointing at the kinky troublemakers. “Tomorrow is going to be the most important day of his life, and he cannot be hungover through it!”

“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am,” Jongdae and Baekhyun salute before giggling to each other.

Yeah, that didn’t look good.

“I’m not drinking,” Sehun reassures, throwing an arm around your shoulders. “As best man, I have to make sure everyone makes it back to the hotel in one piece.”

“You sure it’s not because Junmyeon punished you for this morning?” You tease.

He shoves you away. “Just for that, you’re not coming.”

You stick your tongue out at him. “I wasn’t going anyway, Nerd.”

You all head out of Sehun’s suite. Seulgi and you wave them farewell as they make their way to the elevators.

Seulgi sighs once it’s just the two of you. “I’m jealous.”

“Same. They’re our friends too.”

You both share a watery pout and then Seulgi is pulling out her key to enter the room.

“Wait.” You rest your hand over hers. She lifts her eyebrows expectantly at you. “I’m sorry.”

She takes a deep breath and rubs her temples. “This is so fucked. I hate lying to Yerim like this.”

“I know,” you say. “You’re now caught in the middle of something that has nothing to do with you. I’m going to fix this. Yerim should be back now. I’ll tell her everything. I promise.”

She gives you a weak smile before pulling you in for a hug. “Thank you.”

“You’re my best friend,” you answer simply. “My sister. Both of you are. It’ll be easier on everyone once Yerim knows.”

“I love you too,” she replies. That brings a goofy grin out of you, knowing that you’re forgiven.

Visibly in a better mood, she enters the hotel room in a flourish.

Only for you both to stop dead in your tracks when you see Yerim sobbing in the living room.

“Yerim!” Seulgi rushes over to her sister. You join a bit later, apprehension slowing your limbs as you hover over the bawling girl. “What is it? What happened?”

“Loey!” She wails. You share a nervous look with Seulgi. “Loey broke up with me!”

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[jaeminscoffee]

Apologize | L. Hc

Pairing- Lee Haechan x reader

Genre- Initial angst, smut

Word count- 5.54k

Warning(s)- thick skinned oc, ego problems, argument, Hyuck almost hit's Y/n, angry/rough yet slow sex, riding, orgasm control, stern and slight brat tamer!hyuck, overstimulation. Lmk if i missed out any.

Synopsis- Why do you have to apologize when clearly Lee Haechan is to be blamed too?

Awkward. 

That's how you'd coin the atmosphere around you and your boyfriend the past dating weeks.

Guilty.

That's how you'd felt ever since the day you'd decided to act out. For being a hypocrite and for being a pain in the ass. 

Embarrassed. 

That's how you'd felt after realising that you'd lashed out on him for no rational reason. For losing your temper at him hanging out with a female who'd coincidentally been your rival. She loved him, and god knows if she still does. 

Worried. 

You're anxious that your pettiness would drive him away from you to someone better, possibly the said rival and so you're worried. 

But would you want to play the saint's role and go apologize? No. 

You can't, not while knowing what his reaction would be. Knowing Lee Donghyuck, he'd get cocky. He'll do anything and everything in his power to indulge you in embarrassment. Guilt trip you a while later and demand you'd be a good girl from then forth. Why would you want to do that? Come to think of it, he's one to be in fault too. 

Knowing full well that you'd have a distaste towards Lena, Donghyuck should've known better than publicise the fact that he'd openly hung out with his girlfriend's rival. 

He owes you an apology too when you word it that way. 

Haechan's mood can be summarized in three words, confused, frustrated and disappointed. 

You are the only one glowing in his eyes and he made sure you'd know that. And for someone like him being treated with such disrespect, he was fuming. 

It's not that he intentionally went ahead and planned a hangout with Lena, it just so coincidentally happened that one of his groupmate's her boyfriend, so meeting her was inevitable and Haechan was more than ready to explain it to you, in a calm, civil manner. 

But you just won't listen. 

Not to mention the holiday you'd planned all over last week for a road trip with the gang now seems to be the last thing on his mind now when that was the same thing he'd been so hyped up about. 

You just had to spoil it all for him. 

That explains why Haechan's furiously throwing his clothes into the baggage in order to calm down before whatsoever he's about to face while planning out a strategy to talk things out with you before the trip. 

Surely, his ego's too big to apologize that quick but at the same time, he wasn't petty enough to spoil the atmosphere during the trip, the gang didn't deserve that.

And so with one last cloth thrown into his luggage, he seals the zip and grabs his car keys from the side table with a new-found determination to resolve the conflict before the traveling that's going to take place in three hours to four from now. 

Haechan's going to make it right and he'd make sure of it.

You weren't expecting Haechan's visit at the same time you aren't shocked that he's entered your private space with no prior notice, you'd given him the spare keys afterall. 

"Y/n, we need to talk" 

You hear him close behind you but you pay no mind, continuing to walk back and forth from your wardrobe to your bed, where your package lay spread out, folded in a neat manner and ready to be put inside the luggage you'd get along for your vacation later that evening. 

"Y/n, I said we need to talk." Haechan says with a lot more sternness than before, his voice octaves lower than his usual bubbly voice. 

"I think the talking can wait until later, Donghyuck." you reply with a flat tone, calling out his governmental name in order to irk him up.

"No it can't. Speak it out, love. Let's resolve this now" He reached out to hold your forearm to turn you around so that you're facing him, the look of distaste on your face adding up to his rotten mood. 

"What's there to talk about, Hyuck? I'd told you time and time again that i don't like you around her and what do you do? Go hang out with her! Oh to have a boyfriend who actually listens to you" you peel yourself away from him as though his touch disgusts you. 

It didn't. 

It's just the courage that you'd gathered up to make sure you'd ask for forgiveness on call before the trip was all thrown out of the window due to Haechan's surprise visit. With him in front of you right now, you could do nothing but blurt out the words coming up first without censoring it and you were aware of that. 

That Haechan's ready to put up a fight. 

"She just so happened to be in the group, Y/n i told you that a hundred times already" 

"And she just so happened to be the same person who'd been nothing but rude to me because you chose me over her, totally understandable" you reply in sarcasm. 

"What do you expect me to do then? Ask Sungchan not to bring her along?" He replied with the same venomous tone you carried, slowly growing tired of this pointless argument. 

"No, Haechan. I would've appreciated it if you'd come and told me yourself that she was there! I hate that I had to find it out from Jaemin who didn't even know I was kept in the dark from that information! That made me feel like I knew little to nothing about you!"

"You know that's not true, princess.." Haechan answered with a softer tone, feeling guilty at the fact that your voice had grown smaller and smaller with each passing word. 

"I do not know what's true at this point, Hyuck. I don't even know if you love me enough to let me what's going on in your life at this point."

"Don't cross the line, Y/n."

His voice goes back to the sternness it first carried as a warning. Getting mad at him for not informing you things is one but questioning his love was another. That's not a topic up for speaking. 

No one can question his feelings, which is so genuine that if a stranger were to walk past the couple you two make they'd know from the first look that Haechan's head over heels for you. He'd kill anyone for you, that's how much he loves you. 

"I'm crossing the line? Me? Are you sure, Donghyuck? Because from how I remember it, you did it the first time by hanging out with your girlfriend's enemy without her knowing! Do you even know what would've been my possible thought process at that time?" You ask furiously, 

Haechan was dubious to pose out an answer, so he just let you continue your rant. 

"Do you know how i felt when i saw the story you'd put up with her right next to you being all clingy? How I felt when you didn't pick up my calls or reply back to my texts when I tried reaching out for some sort of assurance that whatever you have with her is platonic and that you're still mine? How i felt when Jaemin was going on about how much she'd been laughing at all you were doing and how you'd enjoyed the reaction?" Your voice quivers the more you continue.

"The answer is no. You don't know anything so just, stop trying to spoil this trip for me and let's take a break. We need it." 

"Break?" Haechan inquires with extreme shock evident in his voice.

"Yes, a break. Maybe that'll help you realise who you actually have feelings for." 

"Y/n that is so uncalled for, you're making a mountain out of a molehill! Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" You flinch at the sudden raise in his voice which had your knees buckle due to the loudness, which, for that matter, you'd heard only once before when you were being careless with dangerous kitchen tools. 

"This is a whole load of bullshit, doll. Do you not trust me enough?" Haechan nears you, his voice dropping low due to frustration, hurt, and disbelief. He'd never seen you be this petty before. 

You back away with each of his step forward, "Maybe I don't! Which is why i think i deserve a bre-"

"Come again?" He strides closer, his gaze growing darker, more stern, angry, with each step. In an utter furious state as you for starters, were questioning his feelings. And now had been questioning your trust for him. 

"I said I don't know if I trust you enough now, Haechan! I'm telling you i need a brea-" 

"Enough!" He took one last step and you'd had no space between you and him, with the wall behind you acting as a barrier to block you from escaping. 

The sudden act of force posed to your body by Haechan practically slamming you onto the wall made your back and the back of your head hurt from the impact, and a groan escapes your lips, but all the softness was long gone from Haechan's features as he didn't show any signs of inquiring if you're okay or not. 

No.

He seemed like he would murder you if you'd dare speak up now. You'd successfully pushed his last button. 

"You're being over dramatic, darling. One, don't act as though you've never hung out with the guys I'd specifically asked you not to. Two, yes, i hung out with her and so what? Was it a date? Was I the only one there alongside her? No. It was a group meeting that, for a matter of fact, I'd invited you to join but what did you do? You said you didn't want to tag along." 

"What's gotten into you, doll. You've never reacted this way before" Haechan reaches out to caress your cheeks, which made you flinch at the contrast of his actions, his words and his expression at that point of time. 

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." You don't. Which resulted in him harshly grabbing your chin, tilting it up to see a slight quiver on your lips. 

"And speak up. You seemed to have a lot to question just a moment ago, what happened now?" See, this is exactly what you hated. That one way or the other, he'd have you cornered, feeling small with him clearly making it evident who has the upper hand. 

"Nothing, Haechan. Nothing happened. I did have a lot to question and i still do, don't think i'd get scared of you by you acting all barks and no bites. I still need a fucking break why don't you understa-!" 

The grip he had on your chin tightened, his other hand raised in reflex, hovering in the air as though it's ready to strike you any minute.

"Know your limits, Y/n. This is pointless and if you're still sane enough to be considered the Y/n i started dating then you'd know you're being irrational and it's starting to fuck me up." 

"And? You're going to hit me for that? You think i'm not the Y/n you started dating? You're no less than me, Donghyuck!" You try pushing at his shoulders in order to create space, that only makes Haechan drop his hands from your chin to your hands, pinning it to the walls, hard enough to prevent any movement. 

"I'm not going to hit you, doll. You know that." Haechan sighs.

"Do i? Do I really?" You're practically shaking part from fear, part from anxiousness and part from the fact that you know you're making things harder to settle down. 

"I'm telling you, it was nothing but a harmless hangout and I'm sorry for not letting you know, but..can we just move on? Forget this? This is so pointless." 

"Must be pointless enough for you, Hyuck. Not for me. I mean it when i say i need a fucking break or else I'll make shit even worse. I'm heading over to Jeno's, meet you at the campsite." You jerk yourself away from Haechan's vice grip. Giving him one last look with those broken eyes of yours, you head over to your luggage and grab it, before heading out of the door in a quick movement, preventing Haechan from even blurting out the first syllable of your name. 

When he hears the door slam all the way from the living room, he loses it. 

"Goddammit, why did you decide to act up now of all times."

You're actually happy the group is big enough to take two travel vehicles because you didn't bump into Haechan after that heated argument you had back at the apartment. 

You, Jeno, Jaemin, Mark and Jisung went out in one car while Renjun, Chenle, Shotaro Haechan and Sungchan followed close behind in the second vehicle. 

You'd almost completely forgotten about all that took place with the guys constantly cracking out jokes, lame one considering Jeno, Mark and Jisung's dynamic had been put together to make this really chaotic, pointless yet hilarious conversations. 

"No, dude literally. Sung has a point! Waffles literally are just pancakes with abs-Y/n stop giving me that look" Mark tries justifying. 

"Mark, you're making my head hurt please stop." Jeno lets out a sneer from the driver's seat while Jaemin, who's seated beside you, pats your head in pity. "I go through this all day every day, love. You'll get used to it eventually. If you don't, though, we'll plan a strategy to just lock Mark up in a freezer or something." 

"Seems like a plan to me" you shrug at Jaemin, leaning down to rest your head on his shoulder as your neck had started to cramp from the funny positions you'd craned it in to get into a comfortable position. 

Jaemin welcomed you with a gleeful squeak, pulling you closer by snaking his hands between your body and the seat to wrap it around your waist which only made things more comfortable for you. 

A tiny nap before the actual escapade wouldn't hurt now, would it? 

"Guys! Chenle's on facetime! Say hiiii!" you hear Jisung say in a sing-song voice, but you did nothing to get up to greet the lad, instead snuggling closer to Jaemin when you felt his other hand come up to your head and thread through the tresses. You let out a sound of appreciation which made Jaemin's chest rumble from the chuckle he'd let out. 

"Oh man! I wanted to show Y/n this cool beetle we caught." 

Haechan, already sour from the incidents prior, had been uncharacteristically quiet. When inquired about he'd say "Ah, i didn't sleep at all last night so I'm feeling a little blue". The boys had granted him permission to just recharge and sit back while they made the road trip spicy. 

Obviously, Chenle wanted to show off to his best friend that he could still be the life of the party with or without Jisung's presence and so decided to facetime the guy. 

Curiosity strikes Haechan at the sound of the younger's idea and sits up straight in order to look into Chenle's screen while still making sure he is out of the frame. 

"Y/n's asleep?" Renjun inquires from Chenle's other side, peeping into whatever's being displayed on the screen. The image of you all cuddled up with Jaemin filling it up. 

Haechan could do nothing about it, other than fume silently in anger while the guys coo at your cuteness, "You need to wake her up soon though, we're 5 minutes away from the cabins," Sungchan says from the driver's seat. 

"I'll just carry her out, I'm pretty sure I'll be sent to the depths of tartarus if I woke up this sleeping beauty. " Jaemin hushes with a lopsided grin and Haechan well, seemed like he'd rupture any moment. 

Hypocrite. 

You'd woken up minutes before reaching the destination due to the rocky ride. 

Jeno had decided to derail at the last minute, exclaiming he'd found a shortcut to the place when in all reality, it was a longer route. You weren't complaining though.

The view change definitely helped you calm your wits, almost as though you never were in a bad mood so you'd decided to leave that behind for your city life and just decided to go with the flow of nature from this point forward.

And you'd only silently hoped your boyfriend would've been doing the same.

"You okay, princess?" you snap your head to look at Jaemin who'd broken you out of your trance. "Yeah, why'd you ask?" you reply, smiling at him. 

"You seemed a little lost..?" he states almost as though questioning himself whether they're the right choice of words. "Oh? I guess I'm just in awe of the view, it's ethereal" you look out of the window once again, Jaemin following you suit. 

"You're in awe of the view when you get to see yourself in the mirror everyday? Wow." Jaemin smiles at you with a teasing glint evident on his face. 

"Yo if Haechan would've been here you'd be spitting out your death rights" Jeno voices out with a chuckle. "Nah, Y/n would stop him from murdering me, I've got free will" Jaemin replies, shooting you a wink. 

You smile at their tactics with a shake of your head and just hope to spread this same joy to Haechan, and apologize, and get it over with, just like how he'd wanted. You're thankful to have this time off from him, the boys helping you unknowing of your fight with Haechan.

You're going to make this right. 

Sungchan and team reached first a few minutes away from the campsite near to where the cabins were located, oblivious to the fact that you guys had derailed. 

Haechan hadn't spoken a word ever since he saw his girlfriend all over his best friend, much to Renjun's dismay. 

Renjun didn't bother inquiring though, no matter how enthralled he'd been, he kept quiet to himself because from the looks of Haechan's face, there is a high chance that his neck would be snapped if he tried talking to the lad. 

Haechan still didn't utter a word even while helping unload the trunk as he'd not want to come of as a useless ticking time bomb so he decided to power work and lend an extra hand, also being the first to stomp his way towards the cabin he'd be sharing with you, mindful to not lock it incase you'd arrive. 

Oh now you owe him an apology, alright. 

You'd reached not that long after the first group of guys. 

You were a little disappointed that the pretty motions of the trees flying past you had come to a static. But nevertheless, content at the sight of nature all surrounding you.

You make your way towards the cabin you'd be residing in after the guys constantly insisting that they do not need your help and that you deserve to rest up. 

You open the door without thinking much, a smile of bliss apparent on your face only for it to morph into a petrified look at the sudden moment of you being pulled into the room and the door aggressively being slammed shut. "Ah!" 

"Did you have fun?" You open your eyes to see Haechan, a little too intimidating for you to keep an eye contact, talk to you with a smirk on his face. 

"I asked did you have fun, doll face, i need my answer to that" his other hand comes up to your cheeks, caressing it just like how he'd done this morning, this time, with much more softness that before which had a sick feeling boil up at the pit of your stomach. 

"H-huh?" you question, genuinely confused on what he's talking about. 

"Was it fun having full attention of your boyfriend's best friend? Was it fun throwing yourself completely at him? Hm?" His gaze darkens, scaring you a little, "Haechan what are you on-"

"Save it. Strip." 

Haechan orders while walking away towards the bed after making sure he'd shut the bolt tight to prevent anyone from barging in. 

He seats himself down dead in the middle of the bed, waiting for you to comply with a raise of his eyebrows. "Hyuck, let's talk this-" 

"Talking things out with you had never been an option, love. I need to show you who's in charge here all over again. So, be quick, strip before i do it myself." His voice carried a threatening tone to it, which stopped from rebelling against his words, knowing you'd just be digging your own grave then. 

You slowly reach out to the buttons of your shirt with trembling hands, unbuttoning them one after the other at your own pace which seemed to slow for Haechan. "Faster. Leave the skirt on." 

Haechan puts out his next order, leaning forward to rest his elbows over his knees, his eyes following the moment of your hands which were now tugging your shirt away from your body. 

"Oh, Y/n..You were all over Jaemin, your body flush against his when you'd worn no fucking bra inside the shirt?" oh no.. 

"Drop to your knees."

"Hyuck, listen to-"

"I'd not talk if i were you, darling. Do not fucking speak unless spoken to or you're just going to make things worse for yourself. Drop." He said with a lot more sternness and venom, the tone in his voice almost making it seem like he's disgusted with your entire being. 

Oh how the tables have turned. 

You do as he said and drop to your knees, not caring of the fact of how your knees scrape against the wooden tiles. "Crawl up to me." 

You don't fight it, your entire being wanting to shrink and just disintegrate into dust from all the embarrassment you're being put through which, weirdly, only added to the growing arousal between your legs. 

You slowly crawl up to him, not too slowly, being mindful not to piss him off any further. The uncomfortable feeling on your knees and the stickiness gathering on your panties were given a blind eye as your main goal remained to not tick Haechan off anymore. 

"Good girl.. So you can follow orders when asked to, huh?" you somehow managed to make out that he wasn't really posing the question at you so you decide to stay silent, eyes on his shoes and your hands on your knees. 

If you were to describe the look Haechan carried the exact moment with you kneeled down in front of him, you'd describe it as one that the hunter carries while his prey falls right into his trap. You felt small. 

"Look at me, doll" He leans forward further as you silently look up at him. 

A fond smile makes its way onto Haechan's features at your subtle innocence. He reaches out to grip your chin in a firm yet soft grip, tilting your head further up. "How pretty.." 

His palm engulfs your entire face as you lean into his warmth, forgetting ever so slightly about the grave trouble you'd gotten yourself in. His fingers trail up the side of your face, the thumb soothing your lips. A firm press following right after in a silent order, you comply. 

You open your mouth a little wide for Haechan to slip his digits in, which he does. You raise your gaze higher to look at him before wrapping your lips around his fingers, sucking it as though your life depends on it. 

"It's a pity I have to ruin you so that you'd know just how bad you've been." he growls, pulling you up with a sharp tug of your chin as you lift yourself off the ground and onto Haechan's lap while he crashes his lips on yours. 

You let out a whimper as the rushed kiss you two share, your hands finding home at Haechan's shoulder to keep yourself anchored, only for him to grab both your hands and lock it behind your back with his own. 

The kiss is messy, very sloppy, rushed and anyone crazy enough to be watching it would know who has the upper hand as Haechan lowers his lips to your jaw, scattering red-purple marks all over. His free hand goes up to your hair, brushing the strands out of the way in a very contrasting manber from his roughness at your jaw. 

He makes a makeshift ponytail out of your hair and yanks it back hard enough to expose more of the neck as you let out a sound of pain. "Haechan, slow down p-.. Please" you whine out 

"Don't fucking tell me what to do, love." He bites particularly hard at your soft spot, making you bite down hard on your lips to stop any extremely loud, pornographic sounds from escaping your throat.

Haechan wasn't having any of that bullshit. 

With a swift move, you're under him. Your panties are long thrown somewhere behind your boyfriend, your skirt still in place but lifted up to your torso to expose your glistening flower to him. 

You felt helpless. 

All exposed to him, all worked up from just a short make out, eyes blown out from pleasure and neediness. You must've looked pathetic in his eyes.

"Please.." you beg for nothing in particular, just getting the sudden feeling to be Haechan's good little girl else he would snatch away all your source of pleasure with just a blink of his eyes. 

"Hm? Please what, darling?" His fingers graze over your wetness, letting out a smug 'tsk' as your essence spread all over his fingers. 

"Pl-please!" you choke out and the feeling of his warmness touching you where you needed him the most, slightly embarrassed at how sensitive you'd gotten just from a little manhandling from his end. 

"Go further than just a mere please, Y/n. Or is it that you're already too far gone to say shit that's coherent?" he thumbs at your clit with all the wetness that's collected. 

"Good. I like you just like that. Dumb, needy and an obedient little girl. Will you be nice throughout your punishment and not make it harder for the both of us, love?" 

You moan out in reply when you feel a slender finger of his slip into your hole with ease. "Yes! Yes, I'll be good, just please.." you whine in submission. "Please don't stop.." you become breathless pretty quick. 

"Oh I won't, doll face. Don't worry about that." Haechan states as though he has something planned for you, which is part true. But he also wouldn't dare stop as he watches your expressions morph into a state of bliss. 

"Haechan..!" you jolt when he inserts a second finger, picking up speed, which pulled you dangerously close to your first high. 

"Oh my? Cumming already? I thought you were better than this, babe" He talks as though he isn't just drilling his digits into your wetness. 

The adding of pressure on your clit was the last string to topple you over to the edge, your hips lifting high off the bed, eyes screwed shut as you indulge yourself in pleasure, only for you to choke out a cry when you feel Haechan throw a hand over your hip, pinning to the bed, his head now between your legs, lapping out the last bits of your orgasm. 

"Hyuck, wait! I'm sensitive!" you reach out to place your hand on top of his head, not sure whether you want to pull him closed or tug his head away. 

You feel his lips form a smirk, his free hands moving down to insert digits in you while his tongue worked magic on your clit.

"That's the point, darling. Now stay put or I'll make sure you come more than just twice."

You pull yourself out of your dilemma and tug him closer, hearing him mumble out a "good girl" against your clit. 

There's something so sinful about the squelching sounds of his fingers driving in and out of you, the way he laps at your clit, making sure to slurp all your essence up which had the knot tighten at the bottom of your stomach once again. "Close again?"

"Uh-huh!" you let out in a screechy voice that would've had you cringing if you weren't so far gone into pleasure. You hear a growl from below you, the last anchor being left off the hook. 

"Good, let go for me." 

And you oblige. You twitch in overstimulation as Haechan slurps up your essence all over again, leaving you drained, tired and twitching beneath him. 

Haechan pulls himself up once he's satisfied enough, his chin glistening, a lopsided grin present on his face, "Taste yourself for me" He mutters quickly before clashing his lips onto yours while he keeps himself hoisted with one hand, the other working on removing his jeans. 

He shifts your position again after quickly making a move of discarding his shirt across the room, leaving him to be as bare as you.

Haechan pulls you up, making you sit up as he watches you basically drool over his shaft, his smirk only growing wider with pride. "Hungry for more, babe?"

You nod enthusiastically, not trusting your voice. And you thank the lords as Haechan didn't force you to speak up this time, "Then you have to work for it, darling. Go ahead, ride me." 

You waste no time and get to work, shocking both yourself and the lad at your tireless nature as you pump him a few times before aligning his member along your entrance, you don't plan on going slow as you just sit yourself down, engulfing him completely inside you, earning a satisfied groan from Haechan. 

Haechan brings his hands to rest them upon your hips as you slowly lift yourself up once again, reaching out to hold his shoulder for support before easing down, you feel his thighs twitch underneath you. 

"Oh love, you're amazing" Haechan praises you as you bounce to keep the motion going, picking up the pace to make him feel better as his fingers dig into your sides. 

"Hyuck.."

You soon grow tired though, your legs giving out from tiredness, causing you to slow down, "Hyuck, i can't.. I-i'm tired" you almost let out a sob. 

"Aw my, my poor baby.. Too bad, i can't help you here, love. Work for the pleasure, work to please me, come on, don't disappoint me all over again, doll" 

You let out an actual cry out of desperation, using the last bit of strength you could muster up to keep the action going, gasps and breaths of exasperation leaving you with each bounce. 

The look of complete submission, wanting to please him and determination made Haechan growl as he feels you clenching around his members, making him unintentionally buck his hips up to meet your hips in the middle, earning a yelp from you. 

"Haechan, I'm close..pl-please" you cry out louder with each of yours and Haechan's hip moment, the melanin of his skin covered in sweat, glistening in the dimly lit cabin, his face morphed into that of utter bliss and the sinful sounds he let out makes you grow frantic.

"I can feel it, darling. I can feel it. I'm close too. Let go for me" 

You cum with a loud cry, as your actions seize up completely to help you calm down. You jump when you feel his palm come in contact with your ass, 

"I asked you to cum, baby. Not to stop. Keep moving just a little bit more, I'm almost there" He growls at you, both his hands finding refuge on your ass. 

"I can't, I really can't! Hyuck,-" You cry out real cries, fresh tears falling out, 

"Move." Haechan commands paying no attention to your pleas. After all, this is your punishment. 

You bounce up slowly again, your entire lower body protesting in pain, as you sob, working up the heat beneath once again. 

The sight Haechan got pulled him ridiculously close to his high, your hair disheveled, tears running down your face, sobs leaving your throat as you try your hardest to keep moving. 

Haechan wanted you to come one last time.. 

So the moment he felt himself twitch inside you, he removes one hand from your bottom and brings it to rub your clit in rapid motions. You're sensitivity getting the best of you as you drop down on him completely with a cry loud enough you're pretty sure the others heard you. 

You both end together, with a loud growl escaping Haechans throat as he lazily thrusts up to ride his high out, immediately stomping when he hears your cries and how you've shut your legs tightly close

"It's okay, it's over, baby, you did so well.." he's quick to pull you into a warming embrace, cooing at you, wiping your tears away. 

He doesn't speak up for a while, humming soft tunes to calm you down. 

"Hyuck.. Listen I'm sorry-" you start with a hoarse voice.

"Shh, no. You don't have to apologize for anything, just rest up, hm? I'll wake you up before dinner"

[bratkook]

eleven months. (m) myg. two.

masterlist.

pairing: min yoongi x reader genre: fluff, slow burn!!!, eventual smut, warnings: brief non-descriptive mention of death, otherwise none word count: 7k author’s note: here’s some more backstory on both of them as well as more interaction beyond yoongi hunting down an album by the cure lmao. like i said before, i’m really soft for yoongi in this story so lmk what you think! (also..because i hate myself and love piling up wips, theres mention of oc having a previous love interest that’s actually part of another story that takes place in this universe that’s a prequel soooo...coming soon lol) taglist (open): @min-yus​ summary: it’s been years of yoongi living his routine life, accustomed to his pace of living, going with the flow and simply existing. until you come along. yoongi absolutely can not see the logic in the way you live, but he weirdly craves it. craves the feeling of not being afraid of not knowing what’s coming, being able to just let the cards fall wherever they land. and maybe you can help with that.

In the next coming weeks it becomes obvious that Yoongi is in fact a regular. His routine visits allow you to remember the usual days and times he’d pop in, so you knew if you’d be working on his chosen days. 

Somewhere in between his casual drop ins, the two of you had formed somewhat of a friendship— or the beginning stages of one at least. Yoongi liked your sense of humor, how open and friendly you were to anyone you encountered, always having something to say about anything. Conversation came easy to you, never running out of stories. It left Yoongi thinking you’ve definitely lived about ten lifetimes compared to him.

In turn, you liked how he let you steer the conversation any way you chose. Most people would probably watch on in horror at the way you’d go from talking about a specific song or band, and then switching to a story about how you chased a pickpocketer during your travels before moving on to talking about your roommate’s cat. None of it gave him whiplash though, seamlessly flowing into the next topic with a grin on his face, never feeling like he had to think too hard to keep it going. It worked best this way. Yoongi was observant by nature, a great listener above it all, so if you were the one doing most of the talking it was fine by him. 

Everyone at Rkive360 had taken notice that Yoongi’s usual five minute visits had turned into ten, and then twenty, until it became very clear he was lingering inside the store. No one told him anything, besides the fact that he was bestfriends with the owner and had immunity, all of you were fond of him. Taehyung enjoyed the sly remarks Yoongi would make, Sana just enjoyed ogling at him, Namjoon would never mind seeing him, and you would take any chance you could to attempt to wow him with your small knowledge of music. 

It was a nice distraction whenever he stopped by, always heading straight to the back where the vinyl was kept. Sometimes he had a specific album in mind, other times he was simply browsing, but he only ever bought one at a time. It was routine, maybe even a weird ritual of sorts if he really thought about it. 

On the days you knew he’d be coming you would spend a little extra time in the beginning of your shift picking out a few records to suggest to him if he didn’t have one in mind. Because of this, he had stopped his usual path to the bins and now came directly to you, the first stray off his usual routine. 

Today you’re standing behind the counter, ringing up a customer when he walks in, a smile on your face as you chat away. He patiently waits at the far corner, leaning back against it as his eyes roamed the interior of the store, taking note of the way Sana and Taehyung were trying and failing to build a giant display. It looks like a mess of parts, scattered around with no instruction manual in sight— definitely Taehyung’s idea to toss it judging by Sana’s look of frustration. 

He tears his gaze away from them beginning to argue when he hears you wish the customer a good day as they leave, pushing away from the counter and shuffling your way with a grin on his face. You smile back at the way his doughy cheeks push out, high points of them reflecting the light from above. 

“Any shirt facts of the day?”

That had also become another common occurrence. Whenever you decided to wear a band shirt, he somehow always had random facts about whoever it was. It didn’t matter if it was some obscure french band or a 90’s rapper, Yoongi knew something about everyone, like some walking encyclopedia of musical artists. So when you take a step away and spread your arms out, he sees your shirt of choice today is The Doors, and he scoffs. Too easy.

“The Doors were the first band to ever advertise a new album on a billboard.” He nods his head slowly, almost as if he’s telling you yes I know, amazing right?

A hum leaves your lips at his fun fact, slightly impressed by it. “Interesting. Like always, I did not know that.” You peek under the counter top at the selection of records you kept stowed away for him, safe from any undeserving customers. “Now, do you want to see my daily, hand picked selection just for you.”

This was his new favorite pastime, getting to see the random albums you’d group together for him, wanting to know what you thought was worthy for him to listen to. When he nods, rubbing his hands together in excitement, you haul up the stack and carefully spread them out across the top.

The genre of the day was R&B, he can tell that much as he sorts through the albums. You’re familiar with the way he clumps together certain records, marking them down as albums he already owns, until he gets to an orange colored cover. The words The Internet fill the top right corner along with Ego Death on the bottom left. This he had never heard before. He picks it up and flips it over, scanning the song names with interest.

His eyes raise up to yours with curiosity, the same sharp gaze that somehow still makes you nervous holds the obvious question being passed between you with no need for words: are they any good? And the way you nod your head immediately convinces him enough. “Alright, I’ll give them a shot.”

A small sense of pride fills your chest, a tiny victory whenever he decides to pick something from your stack, trusting whatever music knowledge you had somehow convinced him you have. “I promise you’ll love them.”

When you hand him his change and the brown paper bag, you immediately check the time and clock out, dipping back under the counter and grabbing your bag from its hidden spot.

“Are you off?” Yoongi finds himself asking, no longer used to leaving immediately after he purchased something. The usual fifteen minute conversation you two had was missing today, and he’s not too sure how he feels about that. 

“Yes I am, you were my last customer. The store will now be run by those two heathens. Here’s to hoping they don’t bite each others heads off while they finish building whatever the fuck that is.” Taehyung is now standing up, lazily holding up a part of the display as Sana tries to screw something together, angrily giving Taehyung commands but he only mimics her with a ridiculous face. And when she socks his thigh, her fist aiming a little too close to home, you let out a laugh.

Yoongi highly doubts that’s going to be possible, Namjoon would probably have to be the one left to finish building the display while also putting them on opposite sides of the store whenever he came in for the day. It was truly a shock that they had gone this long working together without an actual fist fight breaking out. If it came down to it, Yoongi had his money on Sana being able to whoop Tae’s ass. 

“Do you know any good take out spots nearby? I’m starving and I’m still new to the area so I’ll take any recommendations.” Your voice snaps him back, his eyes looking at you briefly as the question registers within him.

“Oh, yeah. There’s a place not too far from here that has pretty good jajangmyeon.”

“Hell yeah.” Your hands pat your belly softly, coming up to readjust your bag as you walk around the counter and head for the door, shouting out a goodbye to Taehyung and Sana as you leave the store. When you exit the shop, your hand holding the door open behind you, you glance back inside in confusion when you spot Yoongi still standing by the counter with wide eyes. “Well, aren’t you coming?”

Truth be told, he had been wanting to talk to you outside of work for a while but he was scared to ask, not wanting to make you feel obligated to say yes just because he was a regular at your place of employment. Something about you seemed familiar to him, and to be quite honest he just craved social intimacy. His job consumed him and coming into this record shop was the small escape he needed, you being there was just a newly added plus.

You’re on the same page he is, wanting to hang out with him just as much as he had, something about the way he seemed like a half open book interested you. Throughout all of your adventures you had forced yourself to come out of your shell, no longer afraid or bashful when it came to initiating friendships. If you wanted to get to know someone better, then you’d bite first. And you definitely wanted to get to know Yoongi better.

It takes him a moment to react, his gaze switching from you to look back over at your coworkers, seeing Sana sending you a curious glance. Yoongi was about to attempt to muster up the courage to ask you to hang out and you beat him to the punch, but after a second he grins at you with a nod. Of course he was coming.

The weather in Seoul is forgiving today, the usual cold of autumn being prevalent in the air without the need to bundle up, the slight wind not stinging your skin as it blows around you. This was probably your favorite season, comfortable enough for you to do whatever you want without feeling restricted by heavy layers or sticky from the heat. 

A soft smile is on your lips, hands shoved into the pockets of your baggy cardigan, and a small pep in your step as your eyes take in the world around you. That feeling you get when you visit a new town on vacation, how you’re just passing through for a brief moment in a place so many call home, it makes you realize how small you actually are. 

It’s a feeling you always longed for, to experience a new place and make it home, it's the main reason you always bounced around so much. Staring at all the shops around you, taking in all the people just going about their daily life, you’re content with your new choice of scenery. 

Too lost in your own head as you take in the shops and people around you, you snap out of it when Yoongi reaches out and clasps a hand on your shoulder, steering you to turn right when you keep walking straight. “Get your head out of the clouds.” 

He hears the snort you let out, allowing him to guide you the correct way. Slowly trailing away from the main road, the amount of people lessens, only a handful of stores line up around the alley you had turned into. When you spare a glance at Yoongi you can see the excitement on his face, speeding up his pace until he’s standing in front of the restaurant. It’s a small hole in the wall shop that didn’t even look like it served food from the outside, all black exterior with a red sign hung up on top showcasing their name, Ipum.

It’s charming, and the way Yoongi spreads his arm out puts a similar smile on your face. Only then does he pull open the door, allowing you to step in first before he follows. 

Once Yoongi steps inside he’s immediately greeted by the workers calling out his name in glee, bowing in response with a bashful smile as he approaches the small counter set up for take out orders, not needing to read the menu. You don’t realize he’s waiting for you as you take in the interior of the restaurant, the red dining tables surprisingly packed despite their lack of advertising outside. This place really must be as good as Yoongi promised.

“Anything specific you want?” he asks, finger pointing to the small menu in his hand in case you needed it. When you shake your head, letting him know he can order anything he wants, he does exactly that, placing two orders of jajangmyeon, along with fried dumplings and sweet and sour pork to complete it. It was his go to choices whenever he came, so he hopes you’ll enjoy it as much as he does. 

As you step to the side, backs pressed against the wall closest to the counter in order to keep the space open for the workers and patrons to walk comfortably in the small shop, you turn your head to glance at Yoongi again. “You come here often?”

The way the workers had spoken to him had made that glaringly obvious, but you wanted to hear it from him, wanted to know if he came here for comfort food or some other weird tradition like his ‘one-vinyl-a-day’ way of life. 

It was sort of a habit he had fallen into years ago. Having grown up in this city his whole life, he had stumbled upon this place his last year of high school. It had become a staple soon after, a place he would come to directly after classes were done to come stuff his face before heading home. Then it became a place his girlfriend and him frequented when the apartment they moved into turned out to be a mere block away. 

In a way, the owners of this shop had become like a second family. The amount of times they’ve seen Yoongi at his best and worst throughout the years, never once throwing judgment his way even if he came in beyond plastered back in the years he used to drink, never turning him away even if he cried into his noodles. 

He decides that’s a little too much to unpack right now, so he just nods in confirmation. “Yeah, I’ve been coming here for years. One taste of their noodles and you’ll be hooked too, trust me.”

Oh you trusted him, the amount of plates you’ve seen so far just made your mouth water once they passed by you and the smell of the food reached your nose. “We should’ve just sat down, I’m not gonna be able to wait until I get home to eat this.”

As you say this one of the workers approaches you two with a tied up plastic bag in his hand, the inside stuffed with takeout boxes and utensils for you to take. Yoongi grasps the bag with a smile and thanks him as he walks away. “Don’t worry, I live like a block away.”

He realizes how his words could be taken immediately, how he had assumed you two would innocently go back to his place to share a meal. You had invited him to eat but the location of where you would be doing so had not been discussed and the last thing he wanted was to come across as a sleaze.

His mouth was ready to back track completely, until he sees the way you dramatically place your hand over your chest, and he knows it's too late, “Oh damn, your place? Saucy, but I’m starving so I’ll do almost anything.”

You can see the way he relaxes when he notices you aren’t being serious, taking his words lightly the way he intended them. His eyes roll behind his lids, a lazy smile gracing his lips as he shoves your shoulder lightly to get you to start walking. 

“Is jajangmyeon all it takes?”

“Slow your roll, good jajangmyeon is all it takes. I’ve yet to have a taste.”

Yoongi smiles at your words, taking the lead when you step out of the shop and turn back down towards the main street. His apartment was on the next block over, a short walk that you didn’t mind, especially since he took it upon himself to point at random stores you passed to let you know the best places to get what.

He has a lot of love for this city, the memories it possesses spread out through his entire childhood and early adult years, lingering in each crack on the sidewalk. He often sits and wonders how different his life would be if his parents had decided to move to Busan instead of Seoul, or stayed in Daegu altogether. The thought of the timeline of his life being altered so drastically to the point of possibly not being able to be living this moment sends his mind into a flurry, so he's grateful you’ve reached his front door now as his mind settles.

“Oh my god who’s this?” You coo as you step into his apartment, crouching down towards the white stone floors to pet the fluffy gray cat that greeted you, enjoying the way it purred and rubbed against your knee.

“That's Yuri, the queen of the house.” He steps away from you, setting the plastic bag on top of the kitchen counter a few feet away, his hands pulling out the containers and setting them down. “Don’t give her too much attention or she’ll never let you leave.”

Yuri glances up at you, her bright green eyes peering up innocently at Yoongi’s words, almost as if she was pleading for you to keep petting her. It doesn’t take much convincing for you to scoop your hands under her and press her against your chest as you stand up, your fingers gently scratching the top of her head. Yoongi lets out a sigh when he sees his cat has succeeded in wrapping you around her finger.

“Sorry, she’s too cute to not cuddle with.”

She nuzzles into your chest, purring in appreciation when your fingers trail down onto her spine. Yoongi watches you as he pops open the lid of the container that holds the noodles. Yuri is his baby, yet every time a new person comes into his place she acts like he doesn’t exist— well not until he pops open the container holding the sweet and sour pork. That's when her head pops up, her green eyes sharpening when she spots the food, and Yoongi glares back at the fluffy traitor.

When Yuri's fluffy body shakes slightly as you laugh Yoongi glances back at you, breaking up the staring contest he had going with his cat. “She’s gonna betray your love right now for some pork.” 

You don’t doubt him, not with the way her paws start to push at your arms, attempting to stand up in your embrace until she’s hopping off from your arms and slowly walking towards Yoongi. She’s absolutely shameless as she rubs her body against his legs, and Yoongi can only look down at her before staring back up at you, gesturing out with his hands. “You see?”

The act of betrayal doesn’t sting, not when she’s as cute as she is. Instead you just chuckle, walking towards the stools Yoongi has by the oversized kitchen island, a breakfast bar set up at the end, the food spread out on top of it. He ignores Yuri for the time being, pulling out the stool beside yours and sliding into it. The both of you pull your chopsticks apart and get to eating instantly, swirling the noodles until they’re evenly coated in the sauce.

You try to ignore the way Yoongi blatantly stares at you as you bring up the first clump of noodles, waiting to see what your initial reaction would be to the food he held so near and dear to his heart. Yoongi knows this could go south so quickly, there is nothing worse than trying something new when you’re starving and having it absolutely suck. Sensing his nerves, you slurp the noodles up, and when the salty taste hits your tongue you hum, chewing them thoughtfully to make a show for Yoongi.

“Verdict?”

He waits patiently for you to swallow, sharp eyes analyzing your expression, seeing you lick your lips and grin at him. “You weren’t lying, definitely some of the best jajangmyeon I’ve had.”

In pure dramatics, he practically sags in his seat and raises a fist into the air in success, being able to properly enjoy his food now that he knew you approved of it. The two of you begin to eat in relative silence, the sound of munching and slurping filling up his kitchen space. 

As the minutes go by, the back and forth of your chopsticks plucking out a dumpling after he did, lands with you snatching the last one. An evil cackle leaving you as you pop it into your mouth and grin at him, cheeks puffed out slightly and he can’t find it in himself to be irked at you snatching the last dumpling when you looked like that.

The compromise of that is you leaving the remaining pieces of pork for him to enjoy, and when Yuri gracefully hops onto the counter you see why he had suggested that. He grasps a tiny piece of pork on his chopsticks and feeds her like a parent would a toddler, airplane noise and all until Yuri opens wide and gently clamps down on the meat.

“She’s spoiled because of you.”

He merely shrugs, a giant smile spreading across his face as he watches her with adoration as she chews the food. “I refuse to confirm or deny that.”

As you finish up the last of your food you just watch on as Yoongi alternates between feeding himself and Yuri until no more pork remains. Seeing the soft way he acts with his cat just warms you up, Yoongi had always seemed like a blunt person from the times you’ve seen him at the store, his sense of humor is one that could easily be taken as harsh or cold if you didn’t match it, but you’d never expect to see him this way. The tops of his cheeks push out as he smiles at his cat, cupping her face between his hands and rocking it back and forth before planting a kiss on her forehead.

She seems to understand that that's her cue to hop off the counter, knowing that snack time is now over as Yoongi starts to clean up the empty containers. When you reach to clean your own mess up he’s quick to slap your hands away, smirking when you retract them with a small wince, your fingers rubbing the back of your palm that he had swatted with a pair of chopsticks.

“Shoo.” He waves his arm in the direction of his couch, not giving you another glance and missing the way you pout at how he had dismissed you like he would his cat.

With a huff you turn on your heel, properly taking in his living room. From the small tidbits of half truthful information that Taehyung had provided you with, you knew Yoongi was somebody in the music industry. You had always assumed that when people said that it meant struggling soundcloud rapper or something of the sort, but from the look of his apartment alone it was very evident that Yoongi was not a struggling soundcloud rapper. 

The wall of his living room was lined with floor to ceiling windows, letting you catch a glimpse of the cityscape down below, the darkening horizon and slowly flickering street lights blending together. A dark grey couch was on the wall adjacent to that, directly facing the entertainment center he had set up, complete with a massive mounted television and soundbar, a collection of DVDs organized in the storage unit below it.

You walk closer to it, catching sight of the picture frames he had displayed along the top of it. They were all simple black frames, all differing in size, all of them having photos of Yoongi and his friends on them. The one in particular that had you smiling was a photo booth picture with Yoongi and Namjoon, they were accompanied by three other people, a boy with slightly red tinged hair and a bright smile, another boy with dark brown hair and a slight pout on his face from Namjoon squishing his cheeks, and a girl with light brown hair smiling widely as Yoongi gave her bunny ears.

Namjoon was a very smiley person, never needing a reason to be, but seeing Yoongi sporting a massive gummy smile had you realizing how nicely a smile suited him. It was clear that he held this group of people near to his heart considering they all occupied the remaining photos as well.

A couple of steps right beside that was where he had his prized possession, his record player that he had fully customized to get him the desired sound he was looking for. It was a sleek black, accents of silver shining off of it, resting pretty on a dark stained wooden stand. A few of his records were stored beneath it, but what really caught your eye was the eight by eight makeshift gallery wall that showcased his current favorite LP’s, each individually shelved to show the album art in all its glory.

“Should I give this a listen with you here?”

His question has you turning your head towards him, cutting your admiration of the album covers short. He stood a few feet away, his hands holding up the orange cover of the album he had bought today with your suggestion, and a small sense of nerves bubbles up in your stomach for some reason. You had always suggested music, confident in your choices when you were in the safety of the record store, but having to witness his first impression made you a little uneasy. What if he hated the band entirely, or worse, what if he pretended he didn’t hate them just to soothe your ego.

Is this what he felt like watching you take your first bite of food earlier?

“Sure,” you choke out, taking a giant step back from his record player, hearing him chuckle at your odd behavior.

As he lifts the cover up and slides the giant record out of its sleeve you decide to go sit on the couch, sinking into the plush material and welcoming Yuri into your lap when she jumps on as well.

With a few clicks, the low whirring is heard of the turntable beginning to spin. And when he eases the needle onto the record a small crackle sounds before Get Away starts to play. He fiddles with the volume slightly until satisfied, only then does he turn back around and join you on the couch.

His face is settled in thought, bobbing his head gently to the beat as he rests back against the couch, sinking into it with a groan until he’s fully comfortable, legs spread out with one arm resting casually on his lap and the other on the arm rest, fingers tapping along.

You watch on in silence, your fingers raking through Yuri’s fur until her purring calms your nerves and you’re sagging back. Before you know it your eyes shut as you listen along to the music, your belly is full and your limbs are sore from the unpacking and rearranging that had to be done at work so being able to sit here and shut your brain off while mellow music filled the room was what you needed.

Before long the A side is finished playing, Yoongi having to get up to flip it over until the B side plays all the way through, the ending voicemail of Palace/Curse playing until it fizzles out entirely, the room falling into silence once more.

Yuri had gotten comfortable herself, sprawled out across your lap with her head by your hip, but when Yoongi gets up with a stretch her head pops up, eyes narrowing at her owner until she senses no threat and lays back down.

“Verdict?” You repeat his earlier question, seeing him hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees, his lips pursed in thought.

“Honest opinion?”

“Brutally honest.”

He hums with a sly grin as he turns his head to face you. “They’re good. Kinda makes me feel nostalgic too for some reason. But as a whole, it's great music that calms you down.”

With the way you’re laying practically boneless on his couch you can attest to that, they were definitely a band you listened to to unwind. He catches the wide smile spreading across your face as he stands back up to properly store the record, your smile only getting bigger when you see him replace one of the displayed albums on the wall with the new one. 

“It's going on the wall of favorites,” he announces, sliding the previous record back into the storage underneath.

“I’m honored.”

He steps back from the wall with his hands on his hips, admiring how the orange of the album pops out against the others. Yoongi very rarely switched these albums out, but he had a feeling this wall would eventually become full of the random albums you’d recommend to him.

“Quick question,” he starts as he turns back to face you, taking in the sight of you and his cat cuddling together. “It’s been sitting at the back of my mind, and Taehyung has given me like three different answers.”

A small laugh leaves you as you raise your eyebrow at him in question. “Sure, what is it?”

“Where did you move from?”

You stretch your legs out in front of you, your toes just barely reaching the coffee table he has set up a bit away from the couch, Yuri mimicking your actions and stretching out as well. You were definitely gonna grow as attached to her as you were to your roommate’s cat.

“Like where was I last before this, or where am I actually from?”

He walks towards his fridge, still being able to see and hear you due to the open layout of his place. “Both I guess.” The door pops open and he reaches for a bottle of water.“You thirsty?”

“You have some wine, or some beer?”

Yoongi grunts at that, shaking his head slightly, “Sorry, I don’t drink anymore but I’ve got water and juice.”

You’re sitting up straighter now, voicing out that the water was fine. “Where I’m from is classified information, you’ll have to level up on our friendship for me to tell you that.” You accept the water he hands you, smiling at him as he sits back on the couch. He was fine with your secrecy, taking whatever you feel comfortable telling him. “But I was in Madrid before I came here.”

“Oh? Did you leave where you’re from to go live there?”

Your fingers capture Yuri’s paw, squishing her toe beans as she gently swats at your hair. “No, I was in Amsterdam before that, and Berlin before that as well to name a few. I’ve been bouncing around since I was 20, so about 6 years now.”

He has a look of interest on his face as he sips the water, leaning onto the couch sideways to face you. “Do you ever want to go back to those places?”

“Like visiting the place more than once?”

He nods, his eyes focusing on Yuri’s fluffy body, seeing her sitting back up to hop onto the ledge of the couch, rubbing her body against the back of your head before settling on the backrest of it and getting comfy.

“Hm, not sure. I can’t see myself wanting to flip back the pages of my life to reread a story I already know the outcome to.” With a sigh you shrug at him, your fingers now tracing the material of the couch. “Maybe in the future, years from now, I’ll crave a specific memory and want to go back, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

The amount of new cities and countries you’ve been lucky enough to call home for any amount of time held a special place inside of you, the memories and stories you had because of those experiences helped shape you into the person you are. Sure not all of them were movie-like experiences, some close calls happening at a few places that made you question whether you made the right choice living your life the way you did. But then you’d have moments that just felt right, and right now, sitting on this couch with Yoongi, this was one of those moments.

“So you don’t plan on staying here forever?”

“Well what do you mean by forever?”

He smiles, not thinking he would have to explain what forever meant to him. “For the rest of your life. Is there another version of forever Y/N?”

“Shut up,” you laugh. “It’s not likely, but who's to say. I never move somewhere with a time frame of how long I plan on staying.”

“How do you decide? Sorry if I’m prying but I just can’t imagine that moving somewhere new would be easy. Picturing having to leave friends behind would probably wound me.” 

That was true, that was definitely the hardest part of doing this— emotionally at least. The people you met and befriended were a factor in deciding how long you’d stay somewhere. After the initial week of exploring a new place, it gets lonely. You’ve been to places where even the roommates you’d stay with weren’t friendly, and you’d have to take it a step further and search for friendships elsewhere. It was the main reason you had learned to not be timid when it came to making the first move.

“It’s kind of a gut feeling. The longest place I’ve lived in was Paris for two years.” A smile spreads across your face as you recall the two years you spent in that city, how you probably would’ve left after a few weeks if you hadn’t ran into that cute boy right before the club you were in shut down for the night. That experience alone was one of the main reasons you made it a conscious decision to not fall in love, not wanting to experience the inevitable heartbreak that came with it. 

Paris was the first place you moved to, jumping head first into adventure and taking everything that came with it, including romance. Leaving friends behind had been hard, but leaving Park Jimin behind had been a different version of painful.

“Before this I was in Madrid for a month. I found myself getting comfortable too fast and when I get comfortable I get bored. When it's no longer new and exciting I don’t see the point of staying anymore.”

Yoongi absolutely can not see the logic in the way you live, the carefree aura radiating off of you, but he weirdly craves it. He craves the feeling of not being afraid of not knowing what's coming, being able to just let the cards fall wherever they land. His entire life had changed in the last few years and was now built off routine, bullet point to-do lists and deadlines he had to meet. The only adventure he experiences anymore is thanks to his friends, luring him out of his apartment to fulfil any of their spur of the moment ideas, but nothing comes close to this. 

He’s not able to understand how you can be suspended in freefall for the majority of your life, and instead of panicking about your lack of parachute, you’re admiring the view.

“Do you plan on staying here forever?”

That question makes him freeze a little, he had been prying into your life no problem but now that a question was directed at him, he felt himself growing uneasy. “I guess I did.”

“Did...why past tense?”

You see the way he hesitates, his mind is already playing through all the scenarios that can come because of this but he decides to just bite the bullet. “Love makes you think of forever. I pictured forever with my fiance.”

At the mention of a fiance your mind thinks of the girl in the photos with Yoongi, the girl with the bright smile and wide eyes.

Was Yoongi a married man?

He can spot the way you process his vague information, knowing he should elaborate before you think anything else, before your eyes move to his ring finger only to find it bare. “When you’re with someone for almost 8 years its normal to think of forever you know.”

The flashes of his relationship play in his mind, meeting his fiance in his last year of high school. How they had pulled each other out of their shells, becoming rather chaotic in their adventures over the years, turning into adults and supporting each other in every aspect of life.

The memory of Yoongi proposing to her still feels fresh in his mind, taking her to Jeju island since it was a place she had always wanted to visit, not being able to due to caring for her family.

“We were actually planning our wedding, having invitations sent out with everything nearly ready but she uh–“ he stops to breathe slightly, his eyes moving to stare at the picture frames, proving your assumption of the girl being his fiance right. “She got into an accident.”

He hadn’t specified if she died or not, but that faraway look in his eyes spelled it out for you. Forever didn’t have any sympathy for his situation, but he just shrugs it off, forcing himself to not speak further on it. There was more that tied in to the tragic passing of his fiance but he felt he had overshared enough already, not wanting to make you uncomfortable by unloading this information on you. The last thing he needed was to turn this nice day into a pity party with him being the center of attention. 

He’s just waiting for the routine apologetic words that would fall from your mouth—maybe you’d reach over and rub his arm like some people did, tell him how sad it was as if he didn’t already know. Some half assed attempt to make him feel better even though you were clearly blind sided by the topic. 

Yoongi didn’t want that, always hating the way people would stare at him like he was some charity case. This was why he rarely chose to stray from his circle of comfort, from the people that knew the baggage that came with him and accepted him, keeping his group as tight knit as possible in order to not pick at scabbed over wounds. 

When you sigh, he braces for it, mentally accepting that this might be what ends your new formed friendship before you could really creep through the cracks in the wall he built. But instead you reach forward and grasp Yuri once more, scooping her up and bringing her to your chest like a baby. “So Yuri wasn’t the only queen of the house, is that it?”

Yuri purrs in confirmation and Yoongi turns to stare at you again, blinking the wetness away from his eyes before he could even call them tears. You had a smile on your face as you stared at him, not that typical sympathetic smile people always sent his way, it was a genuine one, letting him know he was free to talk more on the subject if he needed to.

And for the first time Yoongi acknowledges that maybe he did need to. He was so used to bottling his emotions in, shutting himself off after her passing, pushing all of his friends and family away and locking himself at home as he mourned, submerging himself in his work to numb himself from feeling anything. Even now, his friends never pried, let him handle his feelings any way he wanted to. But Yoongi can’t act like his chest aches from keeping it all in, the pressure slowly releasing even with the minimal information he had given you. 

“Yeah,” he sighs out in relief, reaching out to pet Yuri. “Hani was the queen before Yuri got promoted.”

As you coo at his cat he feels himself sagging back onto the couch. The small dam of emotions he had inside finally released, and before you know it he’s spilling everything out, telling you tidbit stories of him and Hani, and somehow easing you into sharing similar stories of you and Jimin. 

The sun fully sets through the windows, neither of you noticing as you talk well into the night, and Yoongi found himself laughing and smiling at the mention of Hani for the first time in two years. You urge him on, watching on with interest while he talks about the day they had picked up Yuri from the shelter. 

His eyes are crinkled up in that endearing way you had seen more of today than in the past weeks of knowing him, and it fills you with warmth to know he’s allowing you to know about this part of his life. It felt like sacred information, uncharted territory from the way he had hesitated in the beginning, almost like he wasn’t sure if he could trust you with the precious memories he held tightly. All he needed was a gentle nudge and a genuine smile to slowly let you flip the pages of his brain, knowing you wouldn’t judge the bleeding ink and scratched out words that came with each story. 

As he stares at the way you smile at him, he comes to the realization that your sneaky ass must have already managed to slip past the cracks of the walls he built, infiltrating the tight knit circle he had for himself. He has to hold in a laugh when he recalls the way Taehyung had seriously suggested that you might be a spy sent here from another country. Maybe he was onto something, because he was refusing to accept that his willingness to overshare and stray from his norm was due to anything but your highly trained interrogation skills. 

You clearly had his cat fooled as well. When Yuri leans up and nuzzles her face against yours he sighs, knowing she had claimed you as her favorite solely based on the attention you gave her. You were good. Yoongi guesses he would have to keep you around now, just for the sake of his cat, nothing more. 

[teyvattherapist]

you said you wrote x reader for your ocs, could you share some?

im screaming. yes??? i could?? i have SO much from full fics to drabbles to hcs. here's soulmate au with Ohm my boy. if you want smth for Sandrone lmk

tags: gn!readerxOhm, Ohm story spoilers, angst for like 2 seconds then fluff, kaeya childhood friend bless his soul, soulmate au - colour, genshin oc, reader is from somewhere other than Monstadt, implied JeanLisa

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world had always been shades of grey for him, it had been like that for his parents too, and his brother as well. Of course to others outside of his family it meant soulmates, but the Ambros clan never did particularly follow the rules of average mortals. So he was always raised to embrace this blessing, that someday somebody would give him the favour of colour.

But then his parents were murdered, his brother stolen away, his beautiful face marred, and the world was still shades of grey, black, and white, and he knew the blood on his hands was crimson but it just looked like black ooze as he slaughtered the guilty, the innocent, and the monstrous. There was no differing colour, there was only black blood and anger.

Ohm hid his crimes as he grew up, as he signed his life away with a contract and a promise to stop the slaughter. He learned who to kill and who to spare, he learned of different paths and different meanings to life. But still no colour. Life was the same for him, day in, day out. Heal people, see who were medically fit to be a knight, occasionally break into Snezhnaya and kill some Fatui.

Of course, that all changed when he ran into a charming adventurer from out of town, literally ran into.

You fell on your ass when a tall man with an odd choice of clothing ran into you. When you opened your eyes again you were surprised. Surprised to see the colour. The man stopped, stepping backwards and in front of you once more. His hair was long and a pale purple of some kind, his eyes a dull shade of pink. He was gorgeous, even with the scars and markings that littered his visible skin.

“I apologise, Ohm Ambros.” Ohm held his hand out, a bashful smile spreading on his features as he urged you to take his gloved hand. You took his hand and with an incredible show of strength he pulled you to your feet with very little effort on your part. “I’m actually late for work, meet me at the Knights of Favonius HQ whenever you’re free.” He released your hand and just like that, the man that brought colour to your world was gone in the crowds of Mondstadt.

Ohm threw open the door to Kaeya’s office, startling the cavalry captain who spilled his inkwell onto his parchment. The navy haired captain groaned as he began to clean up the mess with a rag he had within his desk. Ohm slammed the door shut and sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. “Your hair is so blue. Your skin is such a nice shade. Oh archons.” Ohm sank further down.

Kaeya’s eye went wide, hand stilling in the air, he almost dropped the inkwell again. “You met them?! What are they like?” All care out the window Kaeya threw the inkwell down, leaning forward with excitement. “I’m so happy you can finally appreciate my true beauty, aren’t I pretty?” Kaeya tossed his hair playfully.

“Very pretty, Captain Kaeya. I have no idea I ran away.”

“I know thank yo- You ran away?” Kaeya cleared his throat to try and stop his laugh but the action was in vain as Ohm’s face turned a generous shade of red. Kaeya covered his mouth as he laughed, looking away from the pitiful medical captain who was almost on the floor he had sunk so far down the chair.

“They were breathtaking,” he started as he began to describe you to the cavalry captain. Kaeya eagerly nodded along, cheeks warm from laughing, but stomach warm from seeing his friend happy, his lilac eyes darting around the room as he took in the colours. Kaeya and Ohm had spent many moons sitting in different areas with the former describing how certain colours looked, so his ability to attribute colour despite not seeing it, was incredible, to say the least.

“Kaeya have you seen- Oh there you are. Have you finished the recruit assessments?” Jean questioned, leaning into the room but still mostly blocked by the doorway.

“Oh you’re so much more beautiful in colour wow. Is everybody we work with like this?”

“For the most part, but you should see Miss Lisa.” Kaeya sat back in his chair, grin on his face as he watched Jean’s face twist into confusion before realisation. Once more his office door hit the wall with a bang as Jean threw herself into the room. She wrapped her arms around Ohm in an awkward back hug over the chair.

“Congratulations! Who are they? Do we know them? Are they nice? They aren’t Fatui are they? I’m so happy for you. When Lisa and I first touched it was the most mesmerising moment of my life.”

Ohm lifted his hands, placing them on Jean’s forearms. “I don’t know, I don’t know! I was running late so I told them to meet me here later. I finished the recruit assessments last night, they’re on my desk. Let’s go to my office.” Jean let go and stepped back so Ohm could stand up. The two left the office and Kaeya returned to cleaning his desk.

-

The guards outside eyed you suspiciously as you headed up the stairs of the headquarters, being an outsider and all. But as a member of the adventurers’ guild, your clothing at least led them to letting you pass. “Hi, can you help me find somebody?” You asked the man standing guard near the staircase of the grand entrance. “He said his name was Ohm Ambros?”

He saluted diligently before nodding his head. “Medical Captain Ambros should be in his laboratory.” Captain- Your soulmate was a captain with the Knights of Favonius? “Do you need me to show you the way?” You nodded your head. “Follow me this way please.” The knight led you up the stairs and you followed close behind him. Down a hallway with multiple doors, towards the end the doors stopped until there were only two, one on each side. The largest rooms, supposedly.

The knight left and you smoothed out your clothing before knocking on the door. “Come in!” A voice called and you opened the door. Ohm was sitting on the wooden desk against the wall halfway in the room, there was a man with ashy blond hair sitting in the chair. Ohm lit up when his eyes fell on you and he pushed himself off of the desk, rising to his full height. “Ah, that’s your cue to leave, Albedo.”

“I was not done with my questioning, though.” Albedo tilted his head upwards at Ohm, the softest of frowns tugging his lips downwards. You shifted from one foot to the other but stepped further into the room nonetheless, closing the large wooden door behind you. “So back to it, the world is just black and white until you meet your soulmate? Why?”

“I don’t know why, Albedo, go ask Kaeya he probably knows something. I seem to be apologising every time we meet but here we go again, I apologise. My fellow captain is unfortunately curious.” Ohm sent a glare at Albedo who tilted his head to the side, damn him for being socially inept. “Lock the door behind you, alchemist.” Ohm walked towards you, Albedo spun in the chair, eyes wide at the fact Ohm was just leaving.

“Well then, where are you going to be taking me, Captain?”

“Already paying for dinner and I don’t even have your name, soulmates truly are a sham.” He teased with a wink. When you gave him your name he tested it on his tongue a few times. “Pretty, let’s go before Albedo starts asking more questions.” Ohm opened the door for you and the cold that radiated off of his body as he stepped into the hall behind you was pleasant. He held his elbow out to you and you slipped your arm in his.

“So tell me about yourself, I wish to know everything.” Ohm’s voice was smooth, and listening to him talk washed away any hesitation you may have had regarding soulmates. And so you started with the basics as he led you away from the headquarters and through the lovely city of Mondstadt. He listened intently, as if every word you spoke would be committed to his memory, and perhaps it would be. Occasionally he’d hum and interject with a comment or two, always related to the topic at hand.

You barely noticed the way he never spoke of himself, expertly flowing the conversation back to you or the food or how he liked things sweet, like you. He says with a charming smile and the faintest hint of a light in his eyes. His hands are cold to touch, he is cold to touch, but there is nothing more comforting than the insistent smell of mint and the chilly air and the vast amount of colours you could see because of him.

Ohm whispered the name of colours and shades, recounting the stories told to him by Kaeya, or by his parents. He says his favourite colour is the shade of your eyes and how he wants nothing more than to bask in the colour of you. Clumsy and new, Ohm is doing his best. His debt and past will catch up with him, but not now, not when he’s watching the way your eyes light up at all the colours.

[nulltune]

😳

lemme scream abt our muses!!

you: -joke abt throwing all ur muses at me-

me: bet?

childe: hakuno can be reaal chaotic too don't get me wrong (canonically likes reckless bond quests! and candy :pleading: she is a sweets luvr..) but i feel like she'd def try to prevent childe from doing anything too crazy sdfghj stop him from commiting atrocities, y'know! i feel like what would be sooo interesting to explore when it comes to them would be... family. hakuno doesn't have one! (she is so lonely actually ^_T) from what i'm reading from his character stories, he's being compared to wolves a lot (tho ngl i get more fox vibes but lmk what u think ta!) and i simply hold up bunnykuno (my hakuno is very bunnygirl coded. nodnod) because i'm basic but it's a neat trope!

gorou: i knowww i mostly talk about hakuno being a catluvr (they are her favs... along with foxes!) but she's a luvr of "fluffy-wuffy" (<- actual words she said) in general! what i'm saying is that she'd find his ears and tails super adorable :pleading: saw that he can speak to dogs too, and i think she would be so hyped about that VDNFBS sparkly-eyed stoic and all! i see that he likes sweets too so they can be sweets buddies methinks! (hakuno shares all her candies with him because she thinks his tail wagging when happy is the cutest thing-)

albedo: NONHUMAN FRENS..... ok but humanity is a really important theme for my hakuno and i think these two would be real interesting for that! really like it too because albedo's more of the logical type while hakuno's more emotional (though both of them really have that :| energy GDJFSH). albedo's line about socializing makes me really want them to have a chat about bonds and connection thooo (<- also a really important theme for my hakuno!) i know he likes desserts too so like- they can also be sweet buddies ! :pleading:

ayaka: not to say frens in all caps after i just did but leT AYAKA HAVE SOME FRIENDS!! one of which being a lovely little moon lady (who also wants friends, so it's perfect) uwu✨️ hakuno may look all elegant and ladylike but like i mentioned in the previous ask for murr-- she can be pretty damn chaotic! nothing too bad, but i think it miight help ayaka have a little more freedom in her life mayhaps? loosen up a little and enjoy the simpler things in life :,) her line about stability "I only wish life could be as leisurely as this a little more often... How greedy of me." is something that i can really imagine hakuno saying as well

aimé: HEEELLO TA OC?? 😳 seeing how he roams teyvat, i think he and hakuno could meet easily! maybe they could even wander together in a kinda adventure buddies kinda dynamic? hakuno isn't the best cook either but him liking charred food is so,,, FDJDHSHD (hakuno vc that's... really sad..) but yeah, after knowing that i think she'd definitely try to make him something, y'know, not charred! (pls drop the lore on what his favorite food is hehe-) if you wanna talk abt him :eyes: :eyes: I AM SUPER HYPED 2 LISTEN OKOK! would love to know more about him <3 LEMME LOVE HIM!

hiyori: hiyori being so bright and cheerful v hakuno's gentle radiance is a real nice contrast of vibes methinks! giving me sunshine and moonlight vibes respectively.... i also literally see him be described as overly blinding sgdjgs but that’s also interesting to me because hakuno is more of the type to fade off into the background (f for moon girl-) — not the only point of difference between them though! i kid you not, in canon hakuno was so broke she made a king cry and she’s really conscious about her spendings so-- on a comedic note, i feel like hakuno would pass out internally whenever she sees hiyori so effortlessly make a pricey purchase DVFKSBFN hopefully i've established hakuno as a fluffy-wuffy animal luvr because she would love to see his pics of bloody mary sm!!! would also love to see her okok <3

nazuna: i see nazuna places a strong value on honesty and hard work-- two very hakunocore traits i must say, i'm sorry!! they're both worrywarts that take care of others more than themselves i think, so i feel like they might nag on each other (/POS) a bit. it's because they care tho! i feel like hakuno would find nazuna so cute actually... and my hakuno is very much onee-san coded so- she’s naturally very caring but she’d extra look after him methinks! i see that nazuna does his best to encourage and support others and :pleading: hakuno def needs that kind of positivity in that life :,) she’s a tough cookie to crack though, i must warn you on that! would also just like to mention how they’re the same height (160cm) and i’m sorry but another warning: hakuno can be a gremlin and i just think she’d put on heels just to tease him about that sdfghgdh    

ritsu: I DIDN’T EXPECT TO SEE SO MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN HIM N HAKUNO ACTUALLY... okok but starting off, he likes to tease people to see their reactions and i’m so sorry because again, hakuno is literally so 😐🧍‍♂️ fdsfgdhj her cuter more expressive side shows when you get closer to her!! they’re both very intuitive which is interesting when you take into account their similar traits (i.e. ABANDONMENT ISSUES- yet distance themselves from other in a way ^_T). ritsu gives me cat vibes too so like,, can imagine her lowkey doting on him. if she finds him passed out somewhere, he won't have to worry abt a thing be stronk kuno can carry him to safety ! 💪 they both play the piano too so idk idk i think it’d be neat for them to play something together! also, i’ve mentioned hakuno’s sweet tooth a lot but!! i still have to say it: she’d love to try his sweets okok :pleading:

kaoru: if he tries to flirt with her then good luck kaoru because this girl's denser than a harem protagonist FHDSHD hakuno's 🤨 about flirts though, so i feel like there could be potential for some bit of tension there, but i don't think it'd be anything particularly bad! hakuno would definitely understand and relate to his want for validation and i feel like she'd be able to see more to him than just a "playboy" kind of image :thonk: i see that he gets along with the "eccentric" types anddd hakuno could def fit right in there lmao - she may look all cute and elegant, but she's pretty quirky chaotic! it'd be sweet for them to slowly befriend and open up to each other methinks :pleading:

[husbandograveyard]

I'm curious about number 5 from the writers ask ;)

henlo Cookie!!! UwU Thank you for the question!! <3 

5 - Do you have an idea for a story You don’t feel you can write at this current time (Whether it be because life is busy right now, you need to do more research etc.) 

*awkwardly stares at a PILE of WIPs that are just 3-4 lines roughly describing the idea of the fic*  („ಡωಡ„)

Life is busy mostly because of my thesis atm, as it’s been for the past 3 weeks, I'll get there eventually. And I definitely need more research for some. 

You know most of these cause I talk about some a lot with you, so let's mention 2 I don’t think I have mentioned, or at least not in detail! 

1 - OC fic - Because I’ve recently started fleshing out some OC’s and I really want to write something with them. Not entirely sure if it should be backstory, actual adventures, anecdotal oneshots...? I need more research and time, and a little more fleshing out of the OC’s to actually get to it, but I really want to do something like that. 

2 - Multichapter reader insert fics. I have about 3 ideas that will take some time to work out, all One Piece related fics, although one is an AU that I could still switch fandom with. It would mostly be fluffy and just slowburn, you know going through different steps of the relationship and such? I think they’re insanely cute, but I have 2 dilemmas: 1: I want to prep them out enough so I won’t discard the story halfway through. 2: the prompts and ideas so far are very generic so I am not really sure who I would write them with? 

If y’all have ideas on characters you'd read multiple chapters with and that you would actually wait around for, LMK  Ask me things for 600 followers! 

Oh and I guess I should drop some hints on the kind of fics I have in mind for the multichap? Let’s roll in with the cliche’s, sorry! Arranged marriage (maybe in AU setting, not sure), modern AU college & coffeeshop (or other kind of shop), solo adventures where you keep bumping into each other...

Anyhow, Hazel sneakily out! 

[gremlinkween]

Bad Moon Rising

Part 2: Mermen, Vampires, and Werewovles, Oh My! 

Summary: The reader finds and rescues a hurt merman who tells her that his name is Jim. She helps him without a second thought, but his presence might attract the attention of other supernatural creatures she never knew existed. This will eventually be a foursome (Jim Mason x Michael Langdon x Duncan Shepard x Reader) mythology/supernatural au.

A/N: I'm not dead! Instead of just saying that I was gonna do something, I figured my welcome back post would be the next revised chapter of BMR as an apology. I had some repressed memories come up and they were repressed for a reason so that rocked my boat real hard, but hi everyone! I'll get to the asks sitting in the inbox hopefully tonight, but it might have to be tomorrow. So for the new readers, the last one of the foursome is introduced, but we’ll get to actually see more of Michael and Duncan in the next part. There is an oc in here, Rory, that we’ll see more later. I’ve had him for awhile and he’s actually one of my fave characters ever. You can totally imagine Cillian Murphy for him. Again, if you want to be on the tag list, just hit me up and let me know what you think!

Warnings: No smut yet, sorry. There is blood, injury, mentions of mental illness, depression, crying, concern about having a total break from reality.

Word Count: 2.3k

Tagging List: @langdonsinferno, and @moonagecordelia and remember, my tag list is all sorts of messed up so please lmk if you want to be on it! either for this story or all my work! 

Previous Parts: Part 1

“I thought that vampires fed off of humans? Why did he go for you instead of me?”

“Well, yeah, vampires feed off of humans, but that’s not their only food source. Faerie blood is actually more nutritious and flavorful for vampires, just humans are more readily available and easier to hunt. He probably smelt my blood and sought me out.”

“… Wow, I mean makes sense, I guess?” It really didn’t, nothing made sense to her, but also Jim could tell her that the sky was actually purple and the ocean was orange, and she’d believe him at this point.

“You should probably take care of him.”

“Yeah, probably. Do I need something stronger than rope.”

He scoffed, “Yes, probably something more like a stake through the heart.”

She looked to the darkly angelic figure passed out on the floor. He looked helpless now, and she could see that the wounds that were on the cat adorned and tarnished his skin. He was hurt, and probably just looking for a way to heal himself. She felt bad, but on the other hand, Jim was in danger. So was she. This was fucked up. “No.”

Jim gave her a look like she might be insane.

“I said no. He’s just trying to survive like you. I’ll get like, chains or something. That should hold him?”

Jim looked at her with such bewilderment, she felt like she was the weird one in the room. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s probably going to end badly.”

She was still looking at the vampire. Probably, she was thinking, but that’s not what she said. “I think it’s going to be fine.”

“…. Okay, if you say so.” Jim was still so unsure of this. “Just move him please.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

—————————

Moving the vampire that was nearly double her size wasn’t an easy feat, but she did it. Thank god for the hauls of fish she’s been lugging around her whole life or this might actually be impossible. She had him propped up against the support beam in the living room. That was the sturdiest place in her house she could think of, but you knew you needed to move fast. There was no telling how much time you had before he woke up, and she couldn’t imagine he’d be happy when he did. Now, the next problem was finding chains and a lock that was probably heavy duty enough. She figured the boatyard, but she’d really have to move her ass.

She grabbed the keys to her dad’s old beat up pick up truck and a jacket and hurried out the door. She was humming to herself in a tense song, a habit she did out of nervousness, and fumbled with the keys.

“Hi there, Y/N, a little la-” a familiar voice called, but with the night’s events, she was already under so much pressure, and she yelped and nearly threw the keys. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Hi, Rory. Sorry, it’s been a night.” Oh Rory, the older Irish gentleman that ran the dock’s favorite bar to go to in the evening, and her next door neighbor. She had known him her whole life, a steady constant in this crazy shit show her life had been these past couple of months. She really wasn't alarmed with him being out so late. With his business, he always had been a night owl.

“I can see that,” his thick accent rang out with a chuckle, and she blanched for a second. “Dragging in buckets of sea water?”

“It’s an art project,” She answered maybe a little too fast and he cocked an eyebrow. “You know, for processing trauma. I read about it.”

“Okay then, Y/N,” he was unsure, but he was going to drop it. He knew grief made people do some strange things sometimes. 

“I’m going out for more things.” She didn’t know when to stop talking apparently.

“Well, good luck with that at 3 am. Just be careful,” he wished her well, “It’s a full moon, all the crazies are out tonight.”

She just chuckled uneasily, if she could only tell him. “Will do, you get some rest.”

“You too, dear.”

She was finally able to get the truck open and started, and she sped off to the boatyard.

————————————

The yard was desolate and particularly eerily this night. Mist from the water was creeping over the place and gave it an all too fitting gothic appearance. She really wished that the world would stop being so poetic for a change. She found herself pulling her jacket tighter as she walked in between the older and busted up boats, something making the hair on the back of her neck stand up on end. A presence was following her, but she was all too tired of the night's weirdness to give into the thought. Surely, tonight couldn't get weirder. 

She had to kick the door down to the supply shed, but she doubted anyone would really care. This was the forgotten side of town anyway. She found heavy duty chains and a padlock fairly quickly, a feeling of satisfaction filled her that was quickly overshadowed by something else. Her head whipped up to the door and then to the window. She saw nothing, but she swore she felt eyes on her. Very intent eyes. God damn it. At this point, she was just hoping for another human.

The best thing to do was just get the hell out of there regardless, she decided, and without actually breaking into a run, she moved as fast as she could.

Outside, she swore she hear footsteps of something. It was much too big to be a person, but she didn’t know what it could be. Could be anything. She didn't know, and she was getting tired of this one night getting so fucking weird. There was an idea trying to creep into her mind, one that she was trying to violently shut out. She actually might just give up if she was right.

There was a movement and then a soft growl. She blanched again, but sighed. Of course. No, of course this would be the night that even more insane shit has to happen. She turned to the boat she saw the movement coming from and her eyes widened, yet she was somehow not surprised. A giant wolf monster sat perched up on the cabin and she nodded. “Sure. Yep. This might as well happen. Let’s just get this over with.”

It glowered at her as it crept down and off the boat, but in the bright moonlight, she saw the deep wounds ruining the lay of the coat. It growled again and began to stand on this back legs, standing at it’s full eight foot height, but she held dropped the chains and held up her hands. “Don’t even think about it, buddy,” she said firmly and the wolf’s ears pitched forward, clearly curious about the lack of fear.

“I’ve got a hurt merman and a vampire I need to restrain soon or he’s going to try to eat the merman at home. I see that you’re hurt. I can take care of you, but I need you to stop being a dick.”

It looked like it was debating something it’s head before settling down on all fours and cautiously moved towards her before gently nuzzling into her neck, smelling and licking her, she figured that this was some kind of greeting that werewolves had, but he was being friendly, but she just rolled with it. It was that kind of night that was already weird enough. She scratched behind it’s ears and it practically mewled and she had to smile, that was pretty cute.

“Come on, let’s go. I have to get back before the vampire wakes up.”

He limped along with her, and she had to help the poor thing up into the bed of the truck, but he was behaving quite well. She covered him up, with one of the tarps she used for the fish, and hopped in. Hopefully, she wasn’t too late, and she felt worry pit itself in her stomach.

———————————————–

She had to make sure the lights on in Rory’s house were off before she uncovered the newest friend and boy from her truck and hurried him into the house.

The first thing she did was check to make sure that the vampire was still out and passed out where she left him. Thankfully, he was, and she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. She went back to the kitchen as the werewolf began sniffing around. “Go upstairs, it’s the room with the lights on.”

The wolf looked at her uneasily, but he relented and sulked up the stairs on all fours, looking over its’ shoulders at her.

She grabbed the chains and quickly secured the vampire to the post. There was a moment that nearly had her passing out, his nose flared a couple of times when she got closer, but luckily that was his only response to her.

She didn’t waste anymore time though, grabbed the medical box for the third time tonight, and she was running up the stairs. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she saw the large furry head pop out of the doorway. It was odd to have such a large creature in her house, but she didn’t think about that just yet. She sat the box down on the desk and she heard it growl softly.

“Come on, I know this is going to hurt a little bit, but,” the wolf cut her off with another, more aggressive growl.

“Uhhh, Y/N,” Jim called from the bathroom. “What was that?”

She turned around and went to the door. “I might have made another new friend tonight.” The wolf’s head popped into sight from the door to look at where the other voice came from out of curiosity, and Jim went white.

“That’s an alpha werewolf.”

She grunted as he pushed his way into the bathroom and began smelling and licking at Jim’s neck like he had done with her, and Jim couldn’t help the giggles that escaped his mouth and it only encouraged the wolf to tickle him more, but he eventually pushed him off gently.

Jim smiled shyly at the wolf before looking to her again. “Why was he growling at you?”

“I was just getting ready to stitch up his wounds.”

The monstrous animal’s ears pinned back at the word and Jim swatted his muzzle, startling the wolf.

“Be nice. She doesn’t know anything and you can’t talk in that form,” Jim chided with a small smile.

“You don’t need to rub it in!” She was almost defensive, but Jim was laughing.

“Werewolves don’t need stitches, particularly alphas. He’ll be fine by tomorrow night, you won’t even know that he was hurt.”

She nodded, but then stopped. “Why did he come with me then? If he didn’t need help.”

Jim’s eyes were practically shining with mischief. “He probably thinks you’re cute.”

She was bright red now and she looked at the clear amusement both of them had.

“Or he had other reasons, I’m just,” He had to think about it. He wasn’t sure about the human word for this. “Having my fun?” He had a little shy smile, and while she was scowling, her heart melted a bit at the expression.

“I didn’t realize I was opening my door to such jokesters,” but even she had to laugh.

She let out a yawn, and she realized how tired she was out. It hit like a freight train now that she didn't have a murderous vampire on the loose and she no longer had to play doctor. “Well, I think I’m going to be retiring for the night. Jim would you like a pillow or something?”

He cocked he eyebrow. Right, that makes sense that they wouldn’t have them in the ocean.

“I’ll go get one for you away.”

The wolf followed her out of the bathroom and crawled up on the bed for no regard to his weight as he circled like any dog would before settling down on the bed. She grabbed one of the extra pillows and returned to stuff it in the corner between the wall and the bathtub and Jim hesitantly rested his head against it before his eyes lit up.

“This is very comfortable. What did you call this?”

She chuckled, “A pillow. Goodnight, Jim.”

He smiled, “Goodnight, Y/N. Thank you. again.”

“It’s no problem.” With that, she left again for the bedroom.

She looked at the wolf, seemingly asleep, and she decided what the hell. She took her bra off and her pants, leaving herself in just a shirt and underwear. She crawled into bed under the blankets and tried to get comfortable, but sleep wasn’t coming to her at all. She was just replaying the events of the night.

So, at the beginning of the night, it was crippling loneliness and a solid crying session, then late night sailing on the boat …. Then she saved a merman …. Then they got attacked by a vampire ….. and then she picked up a werewolf ….. and now there’s a merman in  her bathtub, a vampire chained up in the living room, and a werewolf in bed with her. She sighed. This was…. weird. This was a weird night. This couldn’t have happened, could it? This stuff was made up. Oh god, she was having a mental breakdown. She was breaking and this wasn’t real. None of this was real.

She was starting to hyperventilate, panic gripping her, but then she felt a warm head, a very warm, very large, and very fluffy head nuzzle into her chest. A strong, furry arm ending in a hand with extremely long and sturdy claws wrapped around her abdomen and pulled her tight. An animal’s tongue licked her cheek and she had to laugh at how much it tickled. She heard the wolf make a noise deep within its throat in approval and she relaxed. This was real. It was very very real and she had the feeling that this wolf wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

Sleep soon took over, and for the first time in what felt like years, there was a smile on her face.