Tumgik
#in any way shape or form that one time with the poster was bad enough
l-carlyle · 7 months
Text
Tumblr media
48 notes · View notes
rainba · 5 months
Note
I thought of MORE (Yes, the 4th time I requested something)
What if a random woman/guy/person was flirting with Kairos or Luka and the reader just basically snatched your Kairos or Lukas arm and say something along the lines of, “Back off bitch! He’s mine!” And just drag them away back home. (Jealous much? 🙄)
Or the reader is an idol, popular streamer or basically a famous person/celebrity?
-🇰🇷 anon(Yes, again)
Hello again 🇰🇷 anon!!! :D Thank you for leaving another ask!! Sorry it took a while to respond to it!!
Tumblr media
Luka would absolutely eat it up. Like… Oh? You actually felt jealous when someone else gave him attention? You just snatched his arm and announced that he belongs to you?
I’ll be honest. He’d be incredibly horny the second it happens.
☆o(><;)○
Your jealous reactions are delicious to him… He can’t get enough of it. When you drag him back home, he’ll immediately slam the door behind you both, then he’d fuck you senseless as a reward. ^^;;;;;;;
Lula wouldn’t even make it to the bed. He’ll just push you up against the wall and will have sex with you right there.
For the second part, if darling is an idol/celebrity of some sort, Luka would basically try to be your bodyguard, somehow.
He’ll apply and sneak his way into the position, getting close to you, then having you rely on him and acknowledge him in some way, shape, or form. (#><)
He’d also have some merchandise of you hidden in his bedroom– maybe some pictures of you framed around his house and at his work desk. 
Tumblr media
If darling were to snatch Kairos' arms and say all of that, he would basically explode.
“Y-yeah! Back off…! I… I b-belong to them!”
Kairos would then proceed to tightly cling onto you. And he would also try to make out with you right there. ^^;;;;;;
Similar to Luka, he’d be painfully turned on, and he’d be wanting to fuck you the very second you get back home. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
If darling is an idol/celebrity: Kairos is your number one fan!
He would own everything with your brand on it… The rarest of merchandise, dozens of posters, shirts, hoodies, etc.
How can he afford all of it…? He makes… Sacrifices. >_<;;;;;;;;
Kairos would be the type to go absolutely insane in an online forum if anyone talks bad about you, LOL. He’ll defend you until the day that he dies!! Your adorable little keyboard warrior Ღ
Kairos would also stalk you even more than usual. After all… He needs to make sure none of your other “fans” try anything. He has to protect you at all costs!
And, uh… He’d be extremely upset any time someone tries to call themselves your ‘number one fan’, because that title belongs to him, and nobody else.
(ノωヽ)
79 notes · View notes
luveline · 3 years
Text
self preservation, part 2 | remus lupin x reader
“Just tell me,” he murmured, big hand on your face now, “tell me how much you wanted me to fuck you in my car. Tell me and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I wanted you bad,” you swallowed, words shaken, “I wanted to - to ask you to pull over again.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. And then I thought, even your fingers would’ve been enough. Anything I could get.”
summary Remus struggles to understand why he wants to kiss you so often. [5.4k]
warnings smut, fem!reader, coworkers to friends to friends with benefits to friends with benefits who kiss just to kiss and hang out together but not lovers lmao, muggle reader secret wizard werewolf Remus, anxious reader, 18+ please
read part one | two | three | four here
Remus Lupin watched you stacking bottled water and wondered how a girl like you was working in the supermarket when you should’ve been on film. Dirty, transatlantic, silent noir or indie — any film would do. A small part of him said he’d prefer dirty, but he wasn’t so sure. He could imagine you fresh-faced and smiling on the big screen, saw your face plastered on posters in street corners and across bus banners, your charming smile on the huge London billboards.
There wasn’t anything theatrical about you, the opposite; you were shy and a little quiet but you were real. In this theoretical ideal, the people loved you because of your authenticity. In his reality, he was the only one stark raving mad for you, and selfishly, that was how he liked it.
You were balancing on the shop's stacking ladder reloading sparkling litre bottles. He crossed his arms to lean on the small platform, smiling at you in what he hoped was a cool way. “Nice legs,” he said.
You huffed a small laugh where you were tucked up and put your hand out. He passed you a bottle and then a second and you didn’t say much until you’d finished. The both of you paused, empty handed. Your hair was tied back. He wanted to push the baby hairs flat to your face. You wiped your eyes and sat down at the top of the wide podium ladder. Remus looked up at you and tried to keep the admiration from his face, your legs at his eye level. They really were nice legs, and your work trousers - form-fitting, nicely shaped - were a distraction at best and an agony the rest of the time.
"What are you supposed to be doing?" you asked him.
He'd finished for the day. "Bedding. I've run away."
"Not you risking Sue's wrath to come help lil ole me," you said musically, peering down at him with your pretty movie smile.
He grabbed hold of your ankle lightly. "I can take Sue."
You laughed and he squeezed your skin, hand travelling absentmindedly up to your calf. "I don't think you can, Lupin. She's fierce."
"Just cos you're scared of her doesn't mean we all are."
"I'm not scared of her!" you protested, giggling.
"No, course not. You only hide everytime you see her."
"I can't help that. If you hadn't left me for dead last Friday I wouldn’t! She's still mad."
"What's worse," he began, rubbing your leg in apology, "Sue finds you and thinks you're bunking off or she comes round the corner and finds me with my dick in my hand?"
It was profane for him but it had the desired effect. You dissolved into a puddle of laughter that made his chest burn, folding over in the middle. If he leaned up he could reach your face, put his hand over your cheek.
"You have to stop apprehending me in silly places," you whispered, sounding like it was the last thing you wanted.
"You have to stop wearing these trousers to work."
"Remus, that's ridiculous."
He shrugged. You went to stand to climb down the ladder and he put his hands out in offering. You let him help you down the few feet to the floor and exhaled when your feet touched the floor. He kept his hands on your waist indulgently.
"I'm serious. They're awful," he flirted.
"And what would you have me wear instead?" you asked, words heavy with meaning.
"I'm afraid only one thing would discourage me."
"And what's that?"
"My grandma used to wear these billowing, dreadful skirts like she was heading a funeral procession. Just heaps of fabric, so heavy my dad would drag her-"
You pushed out of his grip, shaking your head. "You're ridiculous. Truly."
He followed after you, grinning to himself, eyes on your thighs. You really were a silver screen dream.
-
"When do you get off?"
"Same time as you, usually,” he said from across the table, both of you hidden away in the furthest reaches of the break room, enjoying the scarce privacy.
"Remus."
He looked up from his sandwich reluctantly. “How can you find error in that?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t mean it the way we both know you did.”
He grinned — god, you were sick of his smirking — and took a bite of his food instead of answering. You stole one of his crisps and sighed. “Just tell me if I’m getting the bus or not.”
“No bus,” he said, swallowing. “Stop thieving my snacks.”
“Stop bringing my favourites.”
“Where’s your lunch today?”
“I forgot it.”
“Well don’t.”
He looked legitimately cross. He had proved himself a good friend over the few months you’d known (and fucked) him, caring, kind, over-attentive. He liked to drop by with a fresh bottle of water or to help you finish your tasks when he was done, though often he was tracking you down to half-seduce you in some way. Half, because it didn’t take much effort on his part. Sometimes catching a whiff of his cologne was enough to make you dizzy for the rest of your shift, and you’d found yourself a handful of times seeking him out first. These times were usually the best times. If you took the initiative it drove him mad. Lucky for both of you that you enjoyed winding him up.
You pushed your foot onto his foot, the toe of your shoe into his ankle. He put his sandwich down in defeat and fixed his steady gaze on you, eyes intense as you travelled up the length of his leg.
The door opened. You dropped your foot and Remus returned to his sandwich, both of you trying to appear casual. He did a better job than you.
“Wassup guys?” Germ asked.
You silenced a groan. Remus cleared his throat. “Nothing, just lunch. You alright?”
“I’m great,” he said, disappearing behind the cul-de-sac of cubbies. You and Remus made eye contact, yours screaming to be saved from the oncoming assault of your senses and his full of mirth. Germ appeared with his lunch and slid smoothly into the seat beside yours, unnecessarily close. “Fucking Daniel won’t leave me alone.”
“How come?” Remus asked, eyebrows raised.
“Poultry. I asked Isabelle to front the old stock for me and she said she would. Long story short, she forgot, Daniel’s pissed and we have a ridiculous amount of turkey on discount.”
“That’s rough.”
Germ opened his container of egg salad and your stomach turned. “Fucking Isabelle.”
“Are you?” you asked. Remus laughed and pretended to cough, turning away to swig his drink.
“What?” Germ asked. You knew he hadn’t heard what you said, he never really listened to you, he was just being as polite as he could manage. “Where’s your lunch?” Then, before you could answer, nodding. “Dieting. Gotta get your summer body ready, huh?”
You spluttered. Remus rolled his eyes and pushed his crisps towards you. “We’re sharing.”
Germ missed his mouth, egg salad falling onto the table. “Right, right.” He crunched. You didn’t think egg salad was supposed to be crunchy. “You guys have any plans this weekend?”
Remus shrugged. You sighed,“Not that I-“
“Hey, we should do something tonight. Grab a drink, celebrate the Friday feeling.” He was looking at you, teeth full of salad, forehead shiny under the fluorescents.
“I can’t, I’m-“
“She’s helping me move.”
This ran off him like water off a duck's back. “Maybe next weekend.”
Remus frowned, and you realised with pleasure that Germ had finally said something that affected him. “Probably not,” he said. Germ blinked, eyes wide like maybe something had finally sunk it. Then he nodded, looked between the two of you with new eyes, and clipped his empty lunchbox shut, leaving in a hurry.
“Fucking Daniel,” you imitated.
“Fucking Isabelle,” Remus said back. You both laughed.
-
“Was that really necessary, with Germy?” you asked later, sitting in the passenger seat of Remus’ car. He was messing with the radio, a cigarette already hanging unlit between his lips. He turned the heaters up and finally turned to you, smiling around the cig.
“Yes.”
You groaned and lay back into the seat, head tipped.
“He’s gonna tell everyone.”
“I don’t care.”
“You don’t?” you asked him, too hopeful.
He lit his cigarette and breathed out the side of his mouth, careful to bat away the smoke drifting toward you as he manoeuvred into the right lane, 20 minutes out from your flat.
“Well, no. Do you?”
“You realise you won’t be able to — to fuck me in the storeroom anymore. Or the bathroom. Or the break room.”
He rolled his eyes. “Why not?”
“Cos when people realise we’re more than friends, they’ll keep a closer eye on us.”
He looked over at you with his eyebrows slowly climbing his face, then his eyes softened. “You’re getting anxious.”
“No,” you said, wiggling against the seatbelt, uncomfortable. “Alright, yes.”
“Unplug your seatbelt.”
“That’ll stress me out worse.”
“I’ll pull over,” he said. He did, and when he was in park he unclipped your belt for you. He watched your chest rise and winced apologetically. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have said anything if I knew it would upset you.”
“I’m not upset I just - I just worry. Can’t help it.”
He sat back too. “If we get in any trouble, I’ll take the blame. We likely won’t,” he added placatingly, “but if we do. So don’t worry, alright?”
You hated how seriously he took you. He never ever treated your worrying like it was childish, or melodramatic. And you hated it, because he made it seem so easy - and if it was that easy, that simple to validate your worrying, why had nobody else ever bothered?
“Okay?” he asked. Only when you said yes did he touch you, rubbing his hand roughly down your arm, up your shoulder, this way and that until you were smiling again.
“Sorry, I don’t know why I make little things so big.”
He took a drag, held it. “You can’t help it,” he repeated your words through an exhale of smoke, starting the car again. He had his left hand on the wheel, his right coming away from your side to take the cigarette from his mouth. You missed his hand. He held the cig out to you. “Finish this?”
Normally you wouldn’t.
“Might help you calm down. If you don’t want it you can put it out for me, I need my hand.”
You nodded and took it, cracking open the window to blow lines of white. He’d ‘needed’ his hand to press into your leg, thumb making firm semi-circles against your thigh. By the time you got to your flat you were feeling much better, calmed by the smoke, by his touch, by the warmth of the car and the fresh air on your face.
If he were your boyfriend you might’ve kissed him goodbye as you got out. He wasn’t. You got out, erred by the door, leaned your head back in. “Do you want to come up?”
-
“Are you hungry?” you asked him, dropping your house keys on the kitchen table.
“Are you?
“No.”
“Didn't think so,” he said. You were in the doorway to your small living room, flicking the light switch on when you felt his hand in your hair, baring your neck to him. He wasn’t gentle.
His mouth danced over your skin, spare hand at the waistband of your trousers. You gasped as he moved, figuring he’d untuck your shirt to mess with your chest, his usual move, when he pushed down, over your underwear. He was rushing, really rushing, and you had to wonder what had turned him on this badly. His fingers ghosted over your cunt, pushing down your slit to toy with the more than damp fabric.
“I fucking knew it,” he said, sounding triumphant.
“What?” you asked weakly, dizzied under his touch. He was pushing your underwear aside. You looked down to see the amorous sight of his hand in your trousers, enjoying his rough treatment too much.
“You were turned on in the car.”
And you had been, calmed down from what could’ve been a nervous cry, his hand had pushed closer and closer towards the apex of your thighs, his pinky ghosting incredibly close but never close enough.
“Not gonna defend yourself?” he asked. As if he’d let you. He pushed his middle finger past the beginning of your entrance, just once, a mere pass over, then two, burying his long, thick fingers in your slick cunt.
The fabric of your trousers restricted his movements. He didn’t care, fucking at the hilt of his fingers, curling and curling until your legs went weak. You could’ve swore he was the only thing keeping you up, hand in your hair. You covered his hand at your cunt and moaned feebly.
“How’s that, sweetheart? That what you wanted?”
You nodded fervently.
“Use your words.”
You could’ve cried. “Yes.”
“Tell me how much you wanted it?” he requested, rubbing the sweet spot inside you emphatically with the tips of his fingers.
“Remus,” you began. He pulled his fingers out, turned your face to his. He was glowingly handsome and his eyes were bright in the dim light of your living room.
“Just tell me,” he murmured, big hand on your face now, “tell me how much you wanted me to fuck you in my car. Tell me and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I wanted you bad,” you swallowed, words shaken, “I wanted to - to ask you to pull over again.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. And then I thought, even your fingers would’ve been enough. Anything I could get.”
He squeezed your face, obvious delight lighting his features. You looked between his warm brown eyes and frowned, missing his fingers in your cunt, shifting. Like he could sense it, he turned your body so you were kissing, rough and frenzied. He didn’t always try to kiss you even though you’d never deny his mouth, never say no to his open-mouthed brushes against your neck, his spiteful nips, his markings on your inner-thighs. You were more than eager to kiss him as he walked you back, footsteps fast, ‘til your calves hit the sofa cushions and he was pushing you down. He broke the kiss, breathing hard. His fingers came to your unbuttoned trousers and pulled them clean off, eyes alight at your naked legs. He had an obsession with them. They were smattered in hickeys from previous hook-ups and bruises from where he’d pushed you over a pallet of bagged fertiliser in the storeroom the last time you’d both been on nights, had fucked you so hard and so well you’d left a little puddle where you’d been standing.
It was a similar travesty now as he pulled your underwear off, slick strings and a wet patch evidencing your obvious arousal. You were cushioned high enough to see as he collected the wetness and covered his hand with it, pushing three fingertips against your entrance teasingly.
“This similar to what you were thinking?” he asked, easing to the first knuckle, then the second, other hand flat on your stomach to keep you flush to the leather of the settee.
“Yes, yes,” you admitted, trembling. “Exactly like this.”
“You like it?”
“Yes,” you repeated, word all warped in pleasure, end drawn out and high.
“Good girl,” he cooed, second hand coming up to push into your clit, listening for your hitched intakes of breath. “There you are.”
You moaned unabashedly at his words. He looked at you, gratified, adjusting so he was leaning over you and kissing you, kissing you so much your chest burned and your cunt burned hotter and everything movement he made was like a match had been lit at your skin.
You ran your hands down from his shoulders, over his chest, down to his trousers. He made a fuss about your uniform and his was worse, tight-fitting. Remus had the kind of cock that couldn’t be hidden; his uniform was a constant reminder. You ran your hand over his cock and found him hard as steel. He moaned into your mouth, hand stuttering at your stretched out pussy while he collected himself. You refused to let him, squeezing gently along his length through stiff fabric.
He moved out of your reach and pulled his fingers from your beating cunt, using both hands to pull your shirt over your head, chucking it to the side.
“Respect the uniform,” you murmured.
He answered by pulling his own shirt off and throwing it somewhere in the same direction. His chest was covered in scars, you’d see the, all before, and you never asked. He didn’t volunteer any answers, even when new ones appeared. To your relief he was completely healed and ready to be kissed, which you did. If he minded he didn’t say, pushing the hair away from your face as you went. He didn’t allow you many kisses before he was taking up your lips with his, opening your mouth wide to deepen the kiss searchingly.
You got inpatient and went looking for his zipper. He laughed like you’d told a really good joke and did it himself, falling back onto his haunches. He pushed his boxers down enough to expose his achingly hard dick, the head wet with precum, veins standing out.
You had goosebumps, the hairs on your arms standing up as he dragged his thumb down the line of your wet cunt. He grabbed you bodily by the thighs, big hands encapsulating the soft flesh to pull you down so you were on your back, cunt spread and now centimetres from his cock.
“You remember,” he said, pushing his cock up against your slit, digging the head into your slick clit cruelly pushing circles, hitting your skin, pulling away, “when we first fucked, you remeber what I said?”
“You said I was louder than you expected,” you said, naked chest heaving with the effort to constrain your excitement.
“Yes, that, but you remember the first thing. You were sat on my lap all dolled up, grinding this pretty pussy,” he slid up against you again, you gasped, “down into me all innocent. And I said-“
“How you thought I’d ruin you,” you finished, hoping to hurry him.
He nodded, pleased. His cock was at your entrance now, pressing in, slow and then not. He was halfway in when he leaned down, kissed you dead centre in the chest and then laughed again, forehead pressed to your sternum. You, despite your general cockdrunk brain, pulled his face up to study him questioningly.
“I was wrong,” he said, pulling out. “You won’t ruin me.”
He thrusted all the way in. His cock hit something soft inside you, had you crying out in pleasure. “I’m gonna ruin you,” he said firmly.
Thankful there was no one to hear you but the neighbours you found yourself not even attempting to hold in the intense expressions of pleasure you were releasing, found the keening sounds were too much work to hold back as he fucked into you hard. He must’ve appreciated the relative privacy for once as well, as his own moaning was plentiful and ruinous. His hitching breath, his gasps, they had you doing things you never would’ve done before you met him. You were whispering expletives and pleading and praises, hands fluttering over his body as he shaped you around him.
He snapped his hips forward and liked the sound you made, groaning, his hands tightening on your knees. “Fuck, fuck sweetheart. You’re so fucking tight.”
You bit your lip, eyes slipping shut as he rutted into your core. He grabbed your thighs and hugged them to his chest, splitting you up, his pelvis hitting your cunt bruisingly with each thrust. You were too fucked to mind as he bit the skin just below the back of your knee. When he’d mottled your leg he slowed, encouraging you onto your side with your legs both pushed one way, the new angle forcing you to clench down on his cock. He hissed with every thrust, the new tightness an obvious pleasure.
You played with your tits as he worked, rolling your nipples and smiling at his pinched expression. He was easier to rile up than you were, you thought, sliding the bead of your nipple between your fingers and pushing your breasts up tantalisingly.
He leaned his weight into his hand on you leg and ousted you hard into the sofa, body rocking, the sound something pornographic as he hammered into your quickly over sensitive cunt.
“What happened, sweetheart? Where’d those pretty moans go?” he asked. You were too busy catching your breath to moan, or explain. He took it as a challenge and spread your legs wide again, grabbing your hips and elevating them off of the sofa to spear you open on his cock, rolling your hips against his cock like you were a toy for him to fuck. The grip on your hips was knew leverage for his lace and he fucked into you so hard you saw stars, moans loud enough that you pressed your face into the fabric and prayed your neighbours weren’t home. He chased your pleasure with his fingers at your clit rubbed a series of quick lines that had you cumming, orgasm white hot. Your thighs clenched, your fingers tightened around his wrist hard enough to bruise and you pressed your open mouth into the fabric to muffle your shout. He didn’t stop, didn’t give you time to come down even when the sobbing started, overwhelmed by his touch and enjoying it too much.
If you’d asked him to stop he would’ve, no questions asked, but you didn’t ask him to stop and he made good on his declaration, ruining your cunt with a fierce, inescapable determination. Once your sobbing had quieted to a whimpering and your cunt was twitching around him he grabbed both hips again and finished what he started, fucking into your heat until he was cumming inside you, white cum pumping into you and leaking out in rivulets when he pulled out.
You were both breathing like you’d run a marathon. He pushed his cock back into your full cunt and fucked slow with no high to chase, plastering your chest in gentle kisses. His hands were doing damage control, running over your bruising hips soothingly.
“Pretty girl,” he said against your skin, finger catching one of your hard nipples and pinching. “Pretty, pretty girl. You’re my pretty girl, aren’t you?”
You nodded, light headed as he latched onto your nipple and sucked hard, swirling his tongue around you wetly. He pulled back after a few moments to kiss the quick-forming contusion.
His hand cupped the side of your face. “You’re a never-ending wet dream, I’m telling you. So fucking pretty, such a good girl.”
You cleared your throat, wanted to be close to him suddenly enough that it had a lump forming in your throat. You held your hands out and let him pull you into his lap, softening cock inside you, a warmth spreading through your whole body. You wrapped your arms around his chest and let him kiss your forehead, rocking you from side to side with his big arms across your back.
“You okay, lovely?” he asked quietly, lips pressed to your temple.
You kissed his chest and hoped he got the message.
-
“Jeremy told me something interesting,” Daniel said that Monday, eyeing you up in what could only be described as a look of betrayal.
“Yeah?” you asked. You and Remus had already agreed to act like Germ was way off base. Cruel, but necessary if you wanted to keep fucking at work, which you both did.
“He said Lupin’s getting territorial.”
“Like a dog?”
“Don’t play dumb!”
You held up your hands in surrender. “I’m not. I just have no idea what he means.”
Dan took the stanley knife from your hands and set about cutting the plastic wrap open himself, as you were doing a terrible job. He was sighing dramatically as he did. “I thought we were work besties, Y/N, I really did.”
“We are!” you rushed to assure him. “You’re a great friend, work or not. But I really don’t know what Germy means.” You felt bad for lying to him because it was true — you couldn’t survive this job without his comforting presence and helpful, kind soul.
His eyebrows came together. “Germy?”
You made yourself very, very busy.
-
Remus Lupin could not stop thinking about you. There was a cavernous difference between fucking in forbidden places and having his way with you in private. He felt like he’d tried black tar heroin. He searched for you everyday that week and you never once denied him, but, he thought, with his hand pressed over your mouth to stop from being discovered, nothing could calm his withdrawal.
For one, he’d been a little more gentle with you than he had been the Friday before. He knew he couldn’t get away with how rough he’d been every time. You’d both enjoyed it but it was an unrealistic standard, and he liked having his way with you slowly anyhow. You were as amorous whether you took it hard or slow, soft or hard, sight illicit and the sounds you made bordering on torturous, muffled by his hand or his chest.
You did bruise on your hips, to his horror, finger shaped contusions. You loved them, you said, kissing the corner of his mouth. He wondered if it was true or if you were shielding his feelings and found that both options were endearing.
So, you were hot, you were pretty, every fuck left him reeling and wanting more, so why did privacy matter so much? Why was he chasing a fuck like the one in your flat again?
He realised, bright and early Thursday morning when he’d come in early and found you facedown in your book, that it wasn’t the privacy that had mattered, it was the intimacy. The openness. You’d given him everything you could, had moaned and pleaded and said things that had him half-hard in recollection alone.
If anyone else ever saw you like he’d seen you that night, he thought, you’d be elevated past movie star status. You’d been pornographic, you’d been cinematic. He couldn’t believe it was his life, couldn’t believe he’d been the one fucking you into a tizzy. He resolved to be a little nicer, not that he’d ever been cruel, but at this point he was sure you were godly. He felt reverential. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from hugging you close on the settee and couldn’t stop himself now from dotting a kiss on your snoozing head before rousing you with a hand on your shoulder.
“You alright, lovely girl?” he asked. You blinked at him tiredly. He patted your shoulder. “Tired?”
You yawned behind your hand and nodded. “I was up watching… uhm…” your head started leaning to one side. He shook you as gently as he could and you snapped up. “Sorry. What did you say?”
“You should go home if you’re this tired, sweetheart.”
“I’m fine. And, you know, stupid games get stupid prizes. I shouldn’t have stayed up.” You said all this looking pretty as a peony, eyes half-lidded. He wanted to kiss each eyelid.
He nodded and turned away to shove his coat into his locker as well as his rucksack. He stood there for a moment and had to really debate his next move before reaching into his back and taking the little bar of chocolate he’d brought in for you in his hands. He was going to leave it in your locker like he always did when you were busy.
He offered it to you. “Eat this.”
You blinked at it. “They’re from you?”
“Don’t know what you mean.” He squeezed your shoulder. “Eat it, you’ll feel better.”
You nodded. He watched with a pleased eye as you nibbled at the corner. You caught his eye and smiled back. You had toothpaste in the corner of your mouth. He wanted to kiss you, kiss you and take you home and tuck you into his bed and let you sleep for days if you wanted to.
-
Remus had been fucking you silly all week, mostly bathroom romps where he could make you cum way quicker than you’d care to admit and then spend the rest of the time getting himself off at his own leisure. He liked to play with your clit and leave the rest untouched whilst he whispered how he was going to fuck you, how pretty you looked today, how tight your cunt was. You’d ruin your underwear and he didn’t care, and wouldn’t give you any relief even as you came hard from his figure-eights.
Only after you came would he fuck you, and if he could he’d have you cum again. If he couldn’t he’d kiss your cheek and beg forgiveness before tucking his shirt back in and running off to wherever he’d been radio’d.
But today he hadn’t yet. It was Friday, you’d come in early by accident and fallen asleep at the table. Remus had woken you up with his nice hands on your shoulders and you’d worried for a second you were dreaming. Then, he’d given you a bar of chocolate. You’d thought he was your secret gift giver for a moment. He’d played stupid and you’d believed him, and it had all worked out well for him until you gave in and asked Daniel if he’d been leaving you chocolates.
“No, babe, not me.” And then, as an infernal gossip. “Why, someone’s leaving you gifts? Who? It’s Lupin. It’s definitely Lupin.”
You weren’t stupid. It was definitely Remus.
He didn’t come looking for you until the end of the day. He’d been busy during lunch and you hadn’t seen him otherwise, he hadn’t sought you out for anything and you’d felt a little crushed until you’d gotten into his car at the end of the day and he’d asked you to come over to his flat. You’d agreed, grinning, excited for a second round of what you’d had together the previous week.
You woke up in his bed. Confused, you pulled back the sheets and stared down at your socked feet and uncomfortable trousers that had left lines embedded in your skin.
“Remus?” you called. It was dark out.
The man in question came barreling around the corner. “What?”
“What time is it? What happened?”
“Nothing happened, doll. You fell asleep in my car.”
“I’m sorry,” you apologised shyly, wondering if your hair looked as awful as you feared.
“Don’t worry about it. You don’t…” He hesitated, biting his cheek.
“What?”
“Well, you don’t have to come over only to fuck.” He seemed uncharacteristically shy as he said it, standing in his own doorway like the room didn’t belong to him. You thought maybe he was going to ask you out, felt the excitement in the tips of your toes, when he said, “We were friends first, weren’t we?”
“Right,” you agreed, slipping back down under his covers. “Still, you could’ve woke me up.”
“You look cute when you sleep.”
“Grow up, Lupin.”
“Be nice or you can’t have any pasta.”
You shot up again. “I meant: Thank you, Remus. I do look cute when I sleep. I totally agree, and you’re always right. What kind of pasta is it?”
He sighed, long-suffering. “The one you mentioned before, with the cherry tomatoes.”
“Yes!” You squealed and scrambled onto sleep-heavy footing to hug him briefly before pushing him back, forcing him to lead you into the kitchen.
You didn’t see how he watched the back of your head, missed his pensive sigh as you ate pasta and watched a movie. He didn’t try to do anything except kiss you quickly when he dropped you off.
You frowned as he drove away. Where did kissing lie on the friends with benefits scale? It certainly wasn’t friendly.
-
it’s been a while! lol
masterlist
tag club
marauders tag list @marimorena06 @glimmering-darling-dolly @siriuslystfu @thatblackravenclaw @thatonecomfyjumper @lupinlust @touchdeprivedwh0re @vi0letblu3s @mooncalvin @gaysnowrose @thatonecomfyjumper @set-myself-on-fire @decafcoffew
672 notes · View notes
falloutjay · 3 years
Note
Could I pretty please have the boys with a reader who’s straight up a bad person , manipulative,greedy , selfish etc? But then they realize that the reader is extremely misunderstood?
I am kinda not happy with how it turned out, so I am really hoping that it is still to your liking.
I honestly find your request so interesting, so thank you a lot! ( ͡❛ ᴗ ͡❛)
______________________
the boys x bad person!misunderstood!Reader
Cartman:
Cartman is 100% the person who spreads rumors about you.
He will be a little bitch, tease you, bully you a little, see what your made of.
Once he catches you in a moment of weakness, he’s quick to realize that maybe you aren’t all that bad.
Cartman is a good listener, listening to why you behave the way you do.
He will just sit next to you on the floor, look around and listen.
Once you’re done talking, he will think about what he could do to help you, like telling everyone who still gossips about you to shut up.
Everyone will just see you as those two mean/bad people, when in reality you two fit so well together since you can talk about anything in a really healthy way. Cartman gets you like no one else does.
Stan:
Stan isn’t a gossiper, nor does he listen to any.
Listening to Cartman talking shit about you gave him somewhat of an impression of you, but Stan knows better than to solely build an opinion on that.
So, when an opportunity arrives to get to know you a little more, like randomly meeting you at the mall, a group project or something alike, he will chat with you, checking out how you really are.
Struggling with depression himself, Stan is an expert at looking behind a façade, so he quickly learns that you’re not all that bad as the rumors make you seem.
After getting to know the real you, he will actively shut anyone down who wants to gossip about you.
Kyle:
I feel like Kyle is the type of person to hear about you, form an opinion and then go off from that.
So he really doesn’t think highly of you, since he sees himself as kind of a goody two-shoes and you like another bad kid at school.
Especially after hearing how manipulative, you are, Kyle vows to just stay away.
Once forced to socialize Kyle will maybe act a bit high and mighty before actually getting to know you and feel bad for having acted so poorly.
Kyle will get really annoyed with himself, having been so biased and will from there on not participate in any gossip.
He will apologize to you, even if you maybe don’t know why he does so.
Kenny:
Kenny knows what it’s like to be gossiped about.
He really tries to not be biased by it. And yet, when he overheard some of your conversations, in which you were clearly being a horrible person, he kinda just says “Fuck it.” And decides you're bad.
That changes when he catches you in a vulnerable moment.
He will offer you one of his cigarettes and smoke with you. He will ask if you want to talk about anything and is fine with whatever you decide.
Kenny is a people person, so he knows you’re not all that bad, and laughs about how fast he formed an opinion about you.
You two kinda like sitting in silence, sharing cigarettes sometimes and you two know that some students will probably make up some scandalous story about you two misfits.
Butters:
Believes every rumor about you.
You killed your parents in cold blood to get your inheritance for a PlayStation 5? Seems plausible to him.
So, he is super scared of you when you two get grouped up for a project.
He’s so scared of visiting you at your place to work together, fearing he will die when he rings your doorbell, but he is pleasantly surprised when you let him in and there is no crack den or corpses.
In your room, Butter will not focus on work, but rather see what you like. You got any posters from a show or band you like? Merch? Videogames? He will ask about it and strike up a conversation.
Once you two get a nice conversation on, you two quickly get close and enjoy each other’s company.
People at school think Butters is crazy for hanging out with someone like you, like you’re gonna corrupt his innocence or some other bullshit.
Clyde:
He has no idea that you’re perceived as a bad person, until someone straight up tells him, or he witnesses you doing something bad.
He would feel conflicted, even when he doesn’t know why and would be invested in finding out why you do the things you do.
Once he gets that you’re just misunderstood, his big heart can’t help but try to get you to better yourself.
He will really try to get you involved with his friends and basically tries to put you in a good light.
To him its odd that you don’t really want him to do that, but you appreciate the effort, smiling lazily most of the time
Clyde is a sweetheart much like Butters and really wants to help you get a new image around school
Token:
Like most people who don’t participate in the gossip factory he had no real idea who you are until you were grouped for a project.
He invites you over to his house to finish the work and once there he quickly catches onto your plan.
Your plan? Making him do all the work by little tricks.
Token is not stupid though, so he likes teasing you back.
You tell him you can do that task because you don’t understand it, so he must do it? He will teach you.
He quickly sees behind your façade and offers you help in any shape or form that you need, but it is up to you if you take him up on this offer.
Craig:
Craig can come off as super rude to some people when they first meet him, so he suspects that maybe there is more to you than what people see and witness.
But he is also someone who doesn’t wanna get involved in other people’s business anymore after the Peru Incident, so he won’t go out of his way to interact with you. He will only tell people close to him to just not judge you without knowing you.
Once you both land in detention together you actually talk.
He tells you about himself, you do the same and soon enough a friendship forms from that.
He gets why you behave out of the ordinary but tells you to be careful with it before you burn bridges. Craig cares about you but is super bad at admitting it.
Tweek:
He has no idea who you are.
Tweek doesn’t participate in gossip and doesn’t care all that much about other students, so he never heard about the things you do.
One day, when you go to get coffee at his parents’ shop, you two get talking and you are confused that he has no idea who you are.
Once Tweek mentions your name to his friends, they tell him who you are, and he is really surprised.
To him you’re that nice person who sometimes comes around to order coffee.
So, during your next visit, he questions why you do those things and you hesitantly tell him.
He actively listens and would really like to help you, so he offers you to help you however you want.
333 notes · View notes
Text
First Impressions and predictions based on the coven Leaders
Tumblr media Tumblr media
After a full first season their fame adorning the banners and walls, who they are being hailed, yet they themselves being kept in the shadows we now get first looks (and throughout 2a will meet) the emperors top dogs: The coven leaders. I will not lie as a group... these guys dissappoint me. Making the majority of them very human in appearance for me is a big no. Compare this group to the many colorful and fantastical creatures that are shown teaching at hexside and the hexside teachers are far more creative, unique, and fun. Maybe the artists decided to make the coven leaders look more like normal people so the audience would have an easier time understanding their expressions and body language. Maybe the more humanoid whitches are a higher class and have a easier time climbing higher than the more beast and demon like residence.? We will have to wait and see. 
Seperate this group into individuals (like how we will hopefully meet them) and most of them become far more interesting, So below lets take a look at each coven leader individually, where the artists may have taken inspriation, and what  What kind of characters they could maybe turn out to be.
The Beast keeping coven Leader: One of the only two that are not humanoids. What type of animal is he? At first I was sure he was a hedgehog, but maybe he could also be like a chipmunk or a squirrel. I get the feeling he might be partially inspired by Sonic from Sega. I was really into Sonic back in middle school. I liked the cartoons and read through the archie’s old comic series. But I kinda out grew him since then. I know from helping to take care of kids though that he is still popular with the younger generation. That’s kinda how I thin the Beast Keeping Coven leader will be: less interesting for older viewers, but a real fun charcter for kids.
The Healing coven leader: Now this guy looks like fun villain all around. Is some kind of witch docotor? a Dark Priest? The size the purple Grin, he looks like the phantom boss from those horror films where you get trapped in nightmares. Tell me he has scary theme song music and talks in a very high pitched voice. I’ve heard some people wonder if he could be Selena (oracle girl from hexside)’s dad. I don’t thinks so, the macaroni crescent shape n his head looks more like a fancy cowl than part of his actual head. Also him having a daughter in Luz’s class could be used as a reason for him to change sides, I want this guy to stay as a villian/antagonist. We all know that with this size group some will stay with the emperor and some will defect to Luz’s side (possibility a couple will die, we haven’t seen yet just how dark Dana is willing to go). Personally my view with redemption arcs and if a character “deserves them” is it depends on what it will do for the story/character afterwards? IF redeeming them opens more doors for the characters and directions the story can take, do it. IF it closes doors leave them as they are. I absolutely hate when clever and well written bad guys get “redeemed” in to boring, plot useless, weebs. The only reason I could see having this guy change sides is for him to “cure” Eda and Lilith’s curse, and I would much rather see the two of them gain control over their forms than be “cured” of them.
The Illusion coven leader: Another fun looking antagonist. My third favorite of these nine. If the healer guy is horror movie based. This guy is Disney based all around. Looks like one of those Vegas suave showmen styled character. Love it. I guarantee you he does not actually look that young or slicked back, but is using illusion magic to make himself more pretty. Not sure if he will stay with the emperor or not. Illusion is Gus’s track and I could see Dana having the leaders of Luz’s friends tracks be the ones to stand by them. If so I am fine with that (in the case of the abomination leader I will beg for it). Gaining the respect of someone as high up as a coven leader could be really great for Gus’s character. Just as long as I get plenty of laughs from Gus and this guy both along the way.
The Potion coven leader: My second favorite and in my opinion the most creative idea of the whole bunch. A mosquito that works in potions! Does he suck them up with his nose and carry them in.. whatever it is mosquitos store blood in. Also he looks angry. Like everyone else is either amused or board. This guy is fed up and ready to do something about it. Not sure if it is the Emperor, the other leaders, or the owl gang he is mad at, but it should be a worthwhile show down.
The Abomination coven leader: Yes this is my favorite design. Yes it is because he is such a beautiful man. Would never have expected someone who creates mucks (the pokemon) with legs would be so fine. Its more than that though. He looks the most kind. Their is no malice or guise in his smile and his green eyes are bright and relaxed. I wondered what the purpose of the Abomination track was and why it had “more opportunity” all last season. Well slight spoilers if you haven’t seen episode 2x02 it is the industrialist field. When you learn about Industrialization usually the idea is that it is done to help the human race reach its full potential, and it is up to each individual to decide what to do with that potential. Whether you call that the passion of a creative mind or the carelessness of a fool would also be up to you. But I really don’t want this guy to be all bad. If for no other reason that more spoilers for episode 2 * with the interest/caution the emperor is showing the blights I expect this guy to show up to their house, probably meet Amity, and we really do not need another not so nice adult in her life. She has had enough.
The Oracle coven leader: What is this? He’s got nails/caws at the ends of dread thingys like Kikimore, so is this her father? Does he have anything to do with her being in the Emporor’s coven? But this is my least favorite. Like what was the inspiration behind this guy? With so many legendary oracles in mythology and we get this guy who mostly looks saggy, washed out, tierd, and just Blah. Hope thier is more to him, but here is one who I am not holding my breath for an episode on.
The Plant coven leader: based on her banner I was expecting something like the Swamp Giant from ALTA. Instead they went in the direction of a very traditional witch desgine: An old women with a wrinkled face and really messy hair, who probably lives alone in the woods, with maybe the exception of a cat, and dances around a fire at night. Okay. She is definitely going to become an ally of the owl gang. This is the only female of the group,and it is neither in Dana’s message nor would it be popular with her target audience to make a villain or even an antagonist out of a women who managed to climb the later into a male dominated success level. I am actually looking forward to seeing her, because it will probably be in a Willow based episode, and after 2x02 (which I personally feel should not have been a luminaty episode but rather a Willow and Amity one finishing up their reconciliation arc), Willow deserves an episode with potential centered around her. An episode where she goes against the Plant track Leader would be that. This witches Grin isn’t exactly friendly, but its more mischievous than wicked. She gives off vibes as one of those people who like to test the mains, and if you pass her tests than you earn her respect. I have no doubt Willow could win at her little games, and doing so would be a huge boost the confidence she has spent the show building.
The Construction coven leader: Oh joy here’s the other one I am unimpressed with. Unlike with the Oracle guy I know where they got his design. To everyone saying that we first saw him at the convention, your not backing far enough up. If you have ever seen any cartoon ever where the main character wanders past or onto a construction sight you have seen this man. Every trio of workers sitting on a iron frame eating from a lunchbox. Every pig that makes a catcall at a disgusted women. Every exhausted worker who watches as your slapstick mains chase each other past at quitting time... they all looked EXACTLY like this guy. This is really the character leading the track Dana herself has said she would pick to join? They could have done a Golem made of brick an stone that resembles a palace. They could have done some kind of humanoid ant with super strength. They could have done a wizard with shapes and mathematics on his robe who carried a scroll everywhere that he compulsively scribbled blueprints onto. But instead we get Mr. Generic here.
The Bard coven Leader: This is R, Eda’s old friend from her hexside days. Did I save R for last because of this connection? Partially. I am also unsure what R’s pronouns are. To me R looks physically male. I have seen other posters use “she” when posting about R. One person posted that Dana had confirmed R uses “they” and if so awesome, I would really like to see that tweet. What ever R’s pronouns though their appearance in the show will be tied with Eda, er past, and what she had to give up in order to live free. I look forward to this new insight onto her character
46 notes · View notes
rukia-writes · 4 years
Text
Tumblr media
✨Bad boy! Porco x (fem) Goody two shoes! reader✨
✨Setting: modern au✨
✨Warnings: 18+, No minors 🔞✨
“Porco! Hey! its me can you open the door please?!”
after several loud knocks on Porco’s door (Name) was getting irritated with her supposed project partner who wasn’t opening the door possibly because of the loud rock music. Even though it was university dorm filled with college students, none of them said anything about the loud music.
A sigh of relief came over the straight laced college girl when the music turned off but the smell of cigarette smoke soon filled her nostrils when the door opened to see her project partner who had just blew smoke while opening the door and managed to make the smoke into an “O” shape. Holding her nose and coughing Porco leaned against the door, while eyeing from her head to her toe.
“What do you want, girl?”
Coughing a little bit (Name) tried to respond to Porco’s question about getting together for the project that was due soon but noticed that the only thing Porco had on was sweatpants, no shirt exposing some tattoos on his obliques, but mostly on his arms. Exciting as that was to see (Name) brushed it off even though she would sometimes look at his well toned muscles.
“We have a project done soon and you haven’t been returning my phone calls.”
“...Oh. That was you, I didn’t know who it was.”
“I left voicemails.”
“I don’t listen to any voicemails. Listen. Just chill, I’m doing my part. Don’t worry.”
Porco blew more smoke from his cigarette this time to the side, with one last cough (Name) managed to tell Porco another thing.
“Also, there is no smoking on campus. You do know that, right?”
“I know that princess.”
Porco huffed this time and made smoke leave both his nostrils, but that wasn’t what (Name) was now bashful about even though she played it off as though she was offended.
“I’m not your princess, Porco. From now on return my phone calls, please.”
“Whatever, I hear you. Do you want to come in and discuss the project?”
“Could you maybe open a window first?”
Porco only muttered a sure as blew cigarette smoke once more from his mouth as he opened the door for (Name) to come in his dorm room, as well as open the window so the cigarette smoke could air out his room. This was (Name)’s first time in Porco’s room and it was surprisingly clean, no trash, no clothes strung about. It impressed her to say the least. There were several rock band posters on his wall, offering (Name) a seat at his study desk (Name) gladly sat down while Porco put on a grey sweatshirt.
“So then, what all do you have done Porco-“
(Name) was interrupted by the speakers accidentally turning on and playing Meg thee Stallion’s “Body” with the same volume as the rock music that was playing, giving (Name) a scare while Porco calmly tried to find the remote control to his speakers. (Name) had heard of her music and was suprised Porco did as well. After turning the music off Porco merely pulled up a chair and sat beside (Name) while scratching his neck that had a very well done tattoo of a crown.
“Sorry about that. I’m a fan of Meg’s.”
“...I am too.”
“Oh yeah? What’s your favorite song?”
Porco smirked then leaned back in his chair waiting for (Name)’s answer to which she gave a few songs and Porco agreed that he liked those songs too. As the night went on the two had actually managed get pretty far into the project until it was late and (Name) decided to go to her own dorm. Not without telling Porco to answer her texts and phone calls, to which he seemed to agree. Even though he was looking elsewhere while (Name) was talking to him, sometimes it was the ceiling and sometimes it was her breasts. It just depended on what the bad boy wanted to look at. Regardless, the two managed to form a little bond.
However, Porco didn’t show up on presentation day but he did manage turn in his work to which the professor Erwin smith gave him half credit for, making (Name) do the presentation herself. Sure enough, the next time she would see him she was going to scold him. Although, this wouldn’t happen until later that day when she managed to catch Porco just as he was about to open the door to his dorm room.
“Caught you! Where have you been?”
“Ah, it’s you princess. What are you doing on this side of the dorms?”
“I came to tell you that our presentation was today and you missed it. Rather, you skipped it.”
The two were face to face now as (Name) scolded Porco about the project, not that he seemed phased by it as he would scratch his neck and look at (Name)’s breasts with a rather smug smirk on his face.
“Where were you, Porco?”
“Hm? Oh, I had something things to do princess.”
“Like what? And I’m not your princess.”
“I had some business with a few friends ..I also..”
At that moment Porco smirked and chuckled a bit and then slowly sticked his tongue out revealing that he had a golden tongue ring, the way Porco revealed it made the straight laced (Name) flustered beyond belief at the sight and even shriek a little bit when flicked his tongue a few times at her.
That was it for (Name) as she walked away flustered by passing other students on the way there. Porco on the other hand could help but chuckle as he closed the door behind him and decided to take a shower.
That night, tossed and turned all night thinking about Porco’s actions. Telling herself over and over that it wasn’t anything to be flustered about. Sadly, (Name) would continuously be flustered everytime the two would meet in class. Whenever Porco decided to come to class for that matter and even when (Name) seemed to get over it Porco only made the same gesture to her again in class.
Getting her heart rate up and exciting another body part of hers. Even if she denied it in her head over and over.
✨Rukia-Writes✨
85 notes · View notes
anntidote · 4 years
Text
:club room keys - sawamura daichi
Tumblr media
back to: series index || ann’s playground
pairing: sawamura daichi x fem!reader
word count: 2.6k
warnings: timestop!au, TW!!dubcon, smut, angst, pwp, blowjob, deep throating, penetration, i still don’t know if this counts as somnophilia (?), mentions of kageyama, michimiya, and oikawa
summary: rain comes down heavy after student council duties, but you still have to drop off a set of keys. luckily, daichi helps you out- and there’s only so many ways that you can repay him.
a/n: dedicated to @ceo-of-daichi simply because lydz deserves a different daichi D word than drought. so here’s some dick LOL. 
Tumblr media
the ring of the intercom and the bustling life of students. the clatter of shoes against the blue tile and chatter of passing conversation, definitely fell on deaf ears. your form slumping against the desk, and the weight of your face leaning into your palm. 
it'd been a couple days since your last run in with tobio, and the whole ordeal of the bathroom incident. the thoughts of him still living rent free in your mind-- at how his eyebrows scrunched up. pursed lips and the weeping tip of his cock, almost blushing the same shade of rose that graced his cheeks. 
wait. you shook your head. no. you told yourself you wouldn't think of him like that anymore. 
 tobio doesn't deserve to be a rebound. he deserves to be treasured, and loved correctly. your job was to keep that awkward, wobbly smile on his face when sipping on his milk straw. you were to worry about his studies, and whether he goes straight home after practice.
the last thing that should be bothering you is the voice at the back of your head. tethering your mindset elsewhere, and questioning why he was jacking off in the school bathroom in the first place. 
what made him so frustrated that he went during class?
did he like someone that much? was it someone you knew?
was that someone perhaps you?
"so will you do it?" hands slamming down on your desk, you bolt upright in shock. snapped out of a day dream, you're met with the sight of michimiya, captain of the girls' volleyball team. a crumb or two still on her face, her lopsided grin holds hope when she stares down at you. 
"h-huh?" you barely register her words to respond, still alarmed. "i asked if you were willing to drop off our gym's keys after practice. i need to hurry home to do something-- but…" she retracts her hands and props them on her hips. "... are you doing alright? you've seem out of it these couple days. it's not like you." 
"if i could turn back time and fix what i did, i would."
your nose scrunches up a bit at the impromptu flashback. "just peachy." 
"oh really?" a tinge of sarcasm sprinkled into her reply, you luckily miss the flash of pity in her eyes when you finally look up at her.
 almost as if she knew.
 "well, i hope things get better for you."
"yeah, yeah." you wave off the topic. "but you said you needed me to drop off keys or something?" 
"ah, right!" her usual go-lucky smile making an appearance. "sawamura asked if he could borrow our gym after practice for the last couple days, but i have to promised to run some errands back at home. i was hoping you could swing by the club room after student council, and drop off the keys for me?" 
you bit back a laugh, trying to keep the best poker face you could- as the pleading expression on her face looked like something out of a cartoon. "i don't know…"
"oh my goodness, please! i already promised sawamura, and it's already hard enough, trying to get all the members to get to practice and-" 
you grab her shoulders, halting the blubbering, and frantic look in her eyes. "calm down, yui! i was only joking- of course i will."
rain was something tooru despised. 
his complaints were one of a child, as it ruined his hair. it made everything sticky, and smell like wet dog. being out too long would make him sick, and if there was too much of it- it would turn into a storm. it could turn into a hurricane. or even a typhoon. 
and it's honestly ironic, even as you hold your bag over your head. your rubber sneakers hitting the mud and pavement, rushing to get under the roof of the club building. much to your luck, the reminiscent squeak of rubber isn't heard, as the gym doors were shut. letting out a huff, the sheer amount of relief that pours over you when the familiar screech of the metal door opens is a blessing. 
"hey! you made it-- oh my gosh, get inside!" he cuts off his warm greeting, as he grabs your wrist, pulling you into the room before the door slams behind you. "holy crap, you're drenched."
"thanks for stating the obvious, daichi." you snarkily remark, but still giving him a small smile. 
you knew daichi for a lot of reasons. being the karasuno boys' volleyball captain, he's been noted as one of dependability. a solid rock in a foundation, and everything the student body says about him is relatively positive. 
but even as a third year, you can still remember his shenanigans like it was yesterday. how he dashed past you whilst racing the basketball team's captain, and accidentally hitting the fire alarm. you couldn't even count how many times he'd had a run in with the principal's toupee. 
but even now, in his plain tee and black shorts-- there's this responsible look in his eyes. a quality only built up by experience, and you mentally applaud him. especially when you learn the sheer amount of siblings he had. 
"here's the keys for the other gym." you drop the keys into his open palm.
"ah, thanks." a hand moves to the back of his neck, a tell tale sign of his nervousness. "but i thought michimiya was dropping these off."
"yui had something to do today, so she asked me to. hope you don't mind it being me instead of your girlfriend." 
his eyes widen, beginning to frantically shake his hands in front of him. "n-no! that's not what i meant at all! she's not even my girlfriend, i-" he cuts himself off at the sound of your laugh, as you clutch a palm on your mouth. a grin peaks through his annoyance. "hey! why're you laughing so bad?"
"i'm sorry but what the heck is this?" you push past him to point at the poster at the far right corner of the room.
"bikini girls? really?"
the blush that comes over his face is absolutely hilarious. "t-that was-!"
"man, who knew sawamura daichi, captain of the volleyball club was a boob man! wait until yui hears about this!" you almost double over in laughter, watching steam puff out of daichi's ears in utter embarrassment. 
"don't you have somewhere to be?" he tries to divert the subject, only to hear a crack of thunder beat you to a response. the onslaught of rain beginning to hit the window panes at full force, and the lights flickering. "... nevermind." 
"i meant to ask, is it okay if i'm in here?" looking down, you fiddle with the hem of your skirt. "this is the boys' club room after all." 
unfortunately for daichi, the implication doesn't go over his head. and the fact that you're confused about why his face seems to flush a further shade of red seems to seal the deal.
that man, does daichi hates being a guy right now. 
his initial intent was to simply shield you from the rain. the simple connection that he didn't want you to get further drenched, and fall sick because of the favor he asked for. but now?
he feels guilty when his eyes draw lower, the tune of your laughter and friendly banter playing like background music. he swallows at the translucency of your uniforms while dress shirt. how the faint blue shape of your bra cups your chest, and how the damp fabric seems to cling to your skin. the jealousy of the water droplets that run down your neck and into the divet of your collarbones. 
you're in the boys' volleyball club room right now. clothes and gym bags strewn about, the smell of teenage cologne, and all alone. 
"t-the rest of the club is in the gym with the coaches." daichi stutters, before coughing to clear his throat. "we can just wait until it lightens up and make a dash for it." 
"sounds like a plan! how's tobio doing with sho-- achoo!" you start, only to sneeze mid way. 
"crap, your clothes are soaked from the rain." you hurry to wipe your nose, as daichi hands a set of spare clothes toward you. "here."
you raise an eyebrow. "why do you have another set of gym clothes?"
"after hinata puked at our seijoh game, i'm not taking any more chances-- oh shit, wait!" he explains, before his eyes widen at your fingers undoing your blouse buttons, and hurriedly turning the other direction. 
you giggle at his panic stricken face, before proceeding to peel the dampened cloth off your body, and your mind still processing the fact he had to have mentioned seijoh. but then a voice chimes in from the back of your head, crying out desperately. 
"if i could turn back time and fix what i did, i would." 
it's truly unfortunate. and you genuinely sorry for daichi, as you dig into the pocket of your soaked blazer, and pressing the lone button on the stop watch. the pattering of the droplets against the window, halting in its path. the swirl of winds silencing, and the thunder strike through the air, simply pausing at your fingertips. 
you're not stupid. you knew where daichi's eyes trailed, especially as you drop your underwear and skirt to the floor, altogether. stepping out of the clothes and bounding toward the captain, sinking to your knees, and staring up at the frozen crimson tint of his face. 
you knew the moment you were pulled into this room, that this was a bad idea. and right then and there, your entire consciousness told you that this was your chance to be a good person. 
… but was tooru ever a good person? 
you let out a small gasp as you grab at his clothed bulge, already half hard through the cloth of his shorts. feeling yourself salivate, you begin to slowly pump. pawing at his size, coaxing him into a full erection. 
and honestly, you wonder what would go through daichi's head right now. what would this man think as you pulled down his athletic wear, and how you stared at him in pure wonder. what would he do when his cock lewdly slaps against his abdomen, and falls shy of your lips? what would he do when you swirl your tongue over hips tip, lapping up the weeping cry of arousal, and savoring his taste? taking him deeper, peering back up through fogging vision, as your struggle, and choke around him. coating him in spit, saliva dripping down your chin, and making an utter mess. 
you coo at how responsive he is, even when unconscious. the frozen look of his face is one of guilt, but the tips of his ears are the same shade of his cock. you wish to tell him that it's alright, as you were definitely more of a sinner than him. popping off of his length and heaving a full breath, you stand. cupping his face by the cheek, and gently nudging his face to meet yours. 
"sorry." your whisper fans hotly against his face, as you continue. moving his limbs almost like a doll, laying him against the floor, and having your legs on either side of his hips. 
but if you were going to have fun, it's only fair you'd share it. 
the thunder strikes far from where you are, and the heavy breeze makes the windows wobble. but daichi doesn't seem to care- as everything hits him like a truck. 
the slick of your mouth, and the choke of your throat. the pumps of your soft hand against his shaft- and how you brutally sink your weeping cunt onto him. the ungiving clench and sheer heat of your pussy had his hands flying to your hips. his eyes widening at the sight of your hands against his chest. fucking yourself onto his cock, moaning his name like a mantra, and lust blown gaze staring right back at him- his eyes roll back as everything becomes too much. 
he cums. rope upon rope of milky essence spills from him, legs shaking and earth shattering. daichi almost screams, as the pleasure is borderline painful. the sight of you was too much to handle, and undoubtedly made him double over. "ah shit-!"
daichi doesn't know how you paused time once again, just to make sure he doesn't cum inside you. he doesn't know how quickly you dropped to your knees, mouth wide open, and how he releases down your throat. how you milk every single drop out of him before freezing the world at will. 
all daichi knows is confusion and the fuzziness his head pounds with. when suddenly, you're not on top of him anymore. his form is turned, facing the wall again. shaky legs, and not laid against the floor. 
"daichi? are you okay?" you call out. 
he coughs, turning toward you. "y-yeah…" his confusion etching even more as you're wearing his spare shirt, still in your skirt, and a tilted head facing him. "... i think."
you laugh, hitting his shoulder playfully. "goodness, does the lightning scare you so bad? you look like someone just sucked the soul outta ya!" 
he thinks you don't know a thing. the sight of your walls sucking him in fresh in his mind makes heat, and guilt simultaneously pool at his gut. he thinks you're the most innocent soul on earth when you lean in toward him, pressing your palm on his forehead, and giving him an eyeful that makes his breath hitch, before taking a step back. 
"don't get sick on me now, captain. you take care of everyone else, so who's going to take care of you?" you tell him off with a wink, only for him to hum an incoherent response, and his mind still buzzing. 
was that all his imagination? 
"oh look! it's lightening up!" you snap him out of his train of thought when you smile, grabbing his hand, pulling him forward. "let's make a run for it!" 
"w-wait!" he stops your other hand from turning the door knob. 
you turn toward him, eyebrows raised. "huh?"
it definitely catches you off guard as daichi leans in to look into your eyes. you feel your heart pound in your ears when you stare back. the caramel shade of his skin and the dark pupils trying to analyze you- trying to figure you out. "d-daichi?" you stutter out. 
"a-ah… sorry." he pulls back before muttering something under his breath. something about it feeling real. 
and it almost hurts as you facade innocence, letting go of his hand and racing toward karasuno's second gym. bags over your heads as you pound against the door, and laugh heartily as kageyama messes up a serve in your presence. it almost hurts as your cunt weeps arousal, and ruins your new, navy blue set of panties. 
because it's ironic at how much you told tooru how much you loved the rain. how fun it was as a child to jump into puddles, and dance. how the pattering felt like the knock on a door and a call out to play. how easily rain covered for all the moans that daichi never got to hear when you came around him, walls creaming him in your slick. how the wind howls loudly so that no one could hear you babble your gratitude, and at how thankful you were. and how rain was the best excuse for your tears. the most viable excuse of why your face was an utter mess the other day. 
and how it seemed to rain the same day tooru broke your heart in two. 
Tumblr media
195 notes · View notes
legionofpotatoes · 3 years
Note
I love your art, it is very detailed in a neat way. Was wondering how you got started making it as a source of income? How did you get your first paid work, I'd love some advice on how to get started, if that's ok
Thank you. Of course it's okay, although I doubt I have enough work experience in art to really delve into this. I only went full freelance this year, and had been juggling art as a side hobby until then. If you're still interested in my somewhat narrow perspective, and are okay with my long-winded rambles, I'll give it a shot:
So to answer your question fully, I'll describe how I started and move into personal advice and learnings later on. As a disclaimer, I am a white cishet dude in my late twenties with a moderate cocktail of mental illnesses, but overall I can pass for a functioning adult so a lot I have to say may come laced with privilege I cannot fully identify.
So uhh I began drawing in around 2012? I think? Maybe halfway through 2011? And I mostly made fanart for things I enjoyed and tried to branch out in communities that felt nourishing to my style and interests (I caught a bug for alt posters and enjoyed mainstream movies so I spent a long time on posterspy early on). There were a handful of opportunities that came from there but I could only accept a couple because of primary workplace commitments. Still, it showed that networking in a focused community was definitely a good place to start; I myself have huge trouble committing to social networks and really staying socially active, but I knew it was an essential ingredient in succeeding so I tried to make myself be involved in challenges and art support trains etc. as much as I could.
In parallel to all that I also ran a few third party online stores (redbubble, teepublic) for disposable income and would sometimes, if rarely, hit around $100-150 a month from those sources combined. It is a sort of thing that requires helper accounts on other social media sites to promote it on, because the stores themselves have a huge volume of content that translates into low organic discoverability. Obviously it was never gonna be the way towards financial independence through art, and with community projects being few and far between, I opened private commissions in around uhhh 2017 I think, focusing on offering a few styles I knew I could do well, and sometimes operating in individual fandoms (it was mostly a bioware thing to be frank). But I had to close them back down after a year or so, again because of work-life conflict and how badly it was burning me out. The reason I kept trying to monetize this hobby is because I honestly hated what I did for my main job and wanted to see a way out in some shape or form in the future.
And then in 2020 I had to quit my main job altogether because of *gestures at pandemic* and deal with a mental breakdown from all the wonderful things it did to us and me specifically. I took a short break and decided to give art a shot full-time, and that was around May this year. I was planning on opening up commissions again (and I still am), but a few sudden opportunities that fell in my lap moved that timetable down and now I'm grateful to even be doing something I am getting adequately paid for.
So, with that somewhat limited perspective, here's what I've learned that I'd tell myself if I was just starting out:
1. Being a fan of something can be a shortcut towards effective networking kickoffs. Which are important evidently. If you love something and enjoy making content for it, join communities, settle into a combination of social media websites that feel right for those interests + your body of work + your inner rhythm, and try to play to content discovery as much as your mental health allows you to. Like I said, I know that I myself am incredibly bad at self-motivating to talk to people, so I found that synergizing common interests into fanart - which I enjoyed making anyway - could be a way to give myself a gentle nudge forward and build those bridges leading to community activities, which then net experience and coverage. Sometimes even freelance projects from official avenues. Again; picking the right spaces for what you're after is key. Companies roam twitter, concept art recruiters scour artstation or linkedin etc, instagram can land you private commissions and collab opportunities, so on and so forth. Find your niche and try to kick up dust. However...
2. I do not believe that any social profile can replace a good portfolio. The thing that made an immediate difference to me this year was building a coherent, simple website with my best work front and center and a contact form on top. Every single opportunity I got came from that form (maybe via twitter or instagram initially, but always sealing the decision after going through the website), so I firmly believe that showcasing your skills and portfolio in a visually arresting and user-friendly way is a big priority. I had some reservations about tackling that task but fortunately I had help from a savvy life partner and we slapped it together via wordpress in less than a day. Twitter/whatever social media is prevalent in your target groups is definitely important to get the right eyes on your shit, yes, but those eyes will then look for a second stop where your work and rates are more clear and concise. Simplicity is key imo, I cannot overstate this. So make a cute, simple portfolio!
3. Your skills and rates will grow and change as you do. Let them. Over the years I built several lasting professional relationships from my obsession over mass effect and kept getting opportunities both from bioware and their partner companies, some small and some a bit bigger. A one-off job earlier this year opened an unexpected door to another much larger commitment, and then the work I did there brought some attention from small businesses looking for commercial commissions. These were all incredibly different projects in terms of scope and budget, and I've been tackling them all on a case-by-case basis and slowly coming into my own irt my needs, rates, and SOW thresholds. It is still a work in progress (and a LOT of literal work as well), and very much a thing I struggle with in publicly marketing, which is why I felt a tad underqualified to answer your question in the first place (obviously I did not let that stop me). But what it means for me now is that I am rapidly developing into whatever my "version" of a functioning freelance artist is, and when the conditions for that guy are met, I need to be able to confidently plant myself and operate from that space despite past precedents. Do not let anyone bully you into downpricing what you yourself perceive as legitimate products of personal growth and development. Speaking of which...
4. The shitty challenge of turning envy into inspiration, and paddling outside your comfort zones in full riot gear. it is hard, but realizing that being a miserable, self-hating artist in my early days got me nothing but more misery back was the first real step I took and what truly blew the hinges off. I was just not pleasant to be around, I would badmouth my work all the time, and it all somehow made sense in my broken mind because the validation I sought was purely external and the way I sought it was through eliciting sympathy via self-victimization (even when I made something objectively nice). It all led fucking nowhere. Except perhaps to my own narcissism that I one day managed to identify and start managing. So I started looking at things that made me seethe with envy and calmly deconstruct and figure out their inner workings instead, do studies, and find nuggets of inspiration or discover new ways to approach rendering or building up specific elements. It was an application of analytical diligence to what I wanted to be a purely emotional, esoteric workflow, but that I deep down knew wasn't. Art is a discipline and a skill, and maybe it isn't a straight line, but you gotta find some line to thread nevertheless. Being self-hating was almost an identity I had to break out of, and despite it still being like, 4-5% there? I realize its cause and effect on me, my work, and those around me, so it is with a conscious choice that I gently set it aside when I work and especially when I learn. It won't always stay quiet, but the effort is the difference. Your doors towards accepting true growth and venturing into uncharted territories, art styles, and networking will really open from there. But there's a huge caveat...
5. Toolsets, accessibility, privilege, and all the good things that enable artistic expression and profitability are not given equal to all. you might do all the mental work I mentioned to be ready to rock and roll and learn and draw your way out of anything, but digital art is a fucking money pit that asks almost too much at times. I don't got a good case study here but identifying and ensuring accessibility to the tools you need to do your best work is, like, super important. The ergonomics can improve as you make money and settle into the job, but the basics have to be made available to you. And some of that might not even be under your direct control. That can be anything from pen tablets to software subscriptions to opportunities in hiring sullied by sexism or what have you. You gotta navigate all that through careful networking and money/time management. I don't do a good job of devoting specific slices of time to work/study, and my primary clutch is iPad software which went from a good deal to a nightmare scenario over the years. So all I can say here is do what I didn't; network, invest in a PC/tablet, and pick a software you'll learn that won't burn a hole in your pocket.
6. Be nice to work with? This one is hard to articulate and has landed my own ass in hot water in my early years because of how socially inept I am, but nothing is more worthwhile than being.. like. a good person to work with. That can be anything like meeting deadlines, or sometimes missing them but eloquently articulating why, being generous in early stages, being communicable and not too wordy in your emails, having a good grasp on abstract artistic concepts and how to describe them in simple terms, having a clear, laid out framework of your working rates in commercial and non-commercial projects and sticking to those guns with grace, understanding when you need to say no and saying it well, the works. Just being nice. Sometimes that might mean going headstrong with something you believe in, or simmering down and sucking up to the big man, all relative and adaptive. Part and parcel of the service provision dance that we all have to do in order to make bank. Know your lines here, obviously, and don't like. work for nazis. or uh.. *shudders* exposure. but be nice and empathetic and communicable and word will travel eventually. Skill may be in abundance these days, but good people are most certainly not, and capitalism has a way of bubbling up scarcity. Grim, but uh, them's the breaks.
I know I'm ultimately telling you to like. Have a body of work, make a portfolio, grow, and network. But that's really how I see it for now. And being nice can be a cherry on top that sets you apart, along with the inherent irreplaceable voice of your artwork. I think I rambled on enough, but if there is something specific you need my help with, even if you want to come off anon and talk in private, please feel free.
19 notes · View notes
Text
*arrives with a cup of hot cocoa instead of coffee* oh hey, you know you guys have been waiting long enough. Here’s the captain. Just ignore the Mumbo in the background having a crisis
@petrichormeraki
Grian regretted going through the portal almost immediately as a wave of nausea hit him. “Are you okay mister grain?” he gave a weak laugh at Crumb already figuring out that nickname.
“Yeah, just didn’t expect this place to be so charged with Vault God energy. Oof, no wonder I can’t remember anything. Can you try sending a message to Tommy?”
“Ye ye ye!” Crumb replied before tapping away at her own communicator. She stopped, jumping as someone wearing a white mask with a black symbol on it landed in front of them.
“Heyyyy!” Grian pointed finger guns at the Watcher that landed in front of him.
“Xelqua. What are you doing here?”
Grian frowned, recognizing the voice. “Ugh, Lynn… Look, I’m just here for my family and a friend of Tommy’s. I didn’t know it was going to be this bad.” He fumbled as Lynn threw an identical mask to the one she was wearing to him. He put it on and felt relief as it helped stabilize him a bit, though he could feel it activating his Watcher powers further. “If you know where they are, I can be on my way.”
“Fine, try not to take too long.” She gave Grian some directions before leaving.
Grian went to pick up Crumb, but found her looking a little scared. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Well, when me and Tubbox was getting flown away by the big bird, it made a portal dat looks like dat.” She pointed at Grian’s mask.
“Oh, yeah that bird was probably me. It was very much on accident though as you can see that is not happening this time.”
Crumb stared at him, half surprised, half skeptical, but mostly confused. “Are you a shape shifter like me den?”
Grian chuckled. “Nope, just an avian. Okay maybe not just. I was born an avian and then made into a Watcher, and to show off power they get wicked cool forms that sort of reflect who they are. Since a good number of Watchers are human based in origin, they basically turn into what people think of as angels. That’s… actually probably where those came from.” Grian shrugged. “Eh, who knows, it was who knows how long ago. Let’s just go find your friends.”
When Grian walked into the building Tommy was hiding out in, he got stabbed. He knew that it made sense, but he couldn’t help but look down at the sword. “Ugh, not again.”
His voice seemed to help the others figure out who he was. “Grian?”
“Hi Tommy! Sorry if I scared you. It’s just I kinda need to wear this mask or else I’ll feel sick and drunk at the same time or something.”
“Tommy an’ Tubbox!” Crumb jumped at the pair when she saw them, shifting to a hybrid form midair and then hugging them.
“Crumb!” Tubbo hugged her first. “Are you doing okay?”
“Ye ye ye!”
“Everything should be okay here soon guys. I’ve got some friends who are definitely going to take care of Dream for you guys once and for all. At the same time, I talked and we’re really going to make a permanent connection between here and Hermitcraft so you can visit all the time. Admin duties will be shared between the servers, but X said he won’t step on any toes, it’s just as a precaution.”
Tommy crossed his arms. “And what are you doing about your boyfriend?”
Grian hesitated at the lack of Tommy using Mumbo’s name. “You mean Mumbo? I mean, he’s a disgusting mess after barely sleeping and eating taking care of me, but I’m sure he’ll get better. Unless you’re concerned about how he was after being here, because again, bit of a mess but he’ll be fine.”
“Not going to get upset at me coming back?”
That really made Grian pause. What was Tommy talking about? “What do you mean Tommy?”
Tommy didn’t respond, just getting so angry he could barely say anything, so Tubbo answered for him. “Just before Mumbo left with you, he yelled at Tommy. He sort of said he wished Tommy never showed up in your world.”
Grian frowned. “Well, you’re fine to come back. I’ll make sure he has a stern talking to. Come on, let’s go back to the portal.” Grian then looked over where Techno and Philza were playing a game of… well Grian wasn’t sure, but it looked like some kind of board game. “You can come too if you want.”
Philza shook his head. “No. Whatever Dream did turned Wilbur back into a ghost, so someone showed up and took him away to fix that. We’re going to wait here until he’s back to normal.”
“Oh, alright then. Well, don’t be a stranger or anything. C’mon kids!”
“Hey! I’m not a kid!” Tommy complained, just making Grian ruffle his hair.
“Were it not for the laws of this land, that being you’re literally my brother, I might have adopted you. Also if we maybe had a few more years between us.”
Grian dropped off the trio at Tommy’s tower before flying to Mumbo’s base. He set his mask down on a table and then walked to where Mumbo’s bedroom was, surprised to hear the shower still running as he passed the bathroom. Grian paused and knocked on the door. “Mumbo, when you’re done in there, we need to have a chat. I’ll be waiting by the counter.”
Grian sat down on the ledge in front of the life counter of Mumbo’s base after feeding it an apple. He stared out at the jungle, waiting for Mumbo to arrive. He finally heard the redstone walk up behind him and then started to address him. “Mumbo, look. Tommy told me you-” He turned to look at Mumbo who was dripping wet. It was like someone pushed him into a pool while he was wearing his suit. “Mumbo why are you all wet?”
“You said to take a shower.” Mumbo said like how he currently looked was the most normal thing in the world.
“I didn’t mean in your clothes! Oh my god, go get changed!”
“I thought you wanted to talk?”
“We can do that after you’re dry!”
Mumbo was quiet before speaking again. “You know I don’t really have another suit.”
“You have your bamboo one!”
Again, he was quiet for a worryingly long time before he just sat down next to Grian. “Can we just talk and get this over with?”
Grian was reluctant and nodded. “Tommy said you yelled at him.”
“I know… I was upset. A lot of things had just happened and with everyone with amnesia, I was really the only one who was able to do much. And Dream had messed with you so I was angry. I barely got to sleep, and we had just had a war with that guy and we were all over the place and I just sort of… lost it.” Mumbo started to lean on Grian’s shoulder, but quickly stopped himself. “Through all this, you’ve been focused a lot on Tommy and your family, and everything else, but you weren’t really…”
“Oh Mumbo. Why didn’t you say anything?” Grian realized what Mumbo meant.
“Well, I sort of knew Tommy was sort of the priority. Plus you had a lot on your plate. I didn’t want to put more on there.”
Grian nuzzled against Mumbo’s chest, not noticing how he stiffened up. “Mumbo, I’m not going to stop loving you. I’m just going to have love for my family too. You know how we hermits need to be there for each other, and Tommy is a hermit too.”
“Yeah…”
When their comms buzzed, Mumbo gave a small sigh as Grian sat up to look at the message. He saw there were actually a few he had missed and laughed a little at them. “Looks like Crumb’s dad is looking for her but he was told he’s at my mansion. I’m going to fly over there and take him to Tommy’s tower since that’s where I left them. If you want we can talk more later.”
“Go deal with them first. And can you tell Tommy what I said?”
Grian nodded and then flew off to his mansion. He quickly arrived since it wasn’t too far even on foot. “Hellooo? Crumb’s dad? You in here?” He called out before spotting an unfamiliar man. “Oh, hey there. Sorry that Crumb’s not here. She’s actually at Tommy’s tower. I can take you there if you want.” Grian stood there as the man in front of him stayed quiet with his back turned to the avian. “Uh, hello?” He then put a hand on the man’s shoulder.
Sparklez jumped slightly, shocked out of his train of thought before he whirled around and saw Grian.
“Hi! Sorry if I scared you. Crumb’s not here, but I can take you to her.”
“Is… Do you live here?”
Grian nodded. He must not have seen many of the other bases. “Yup! Built the mansion myself. Why?”
Grian’s eyes widened as the man held up a lost child poster. “Where did you get this?”
“Uh, that’s from my old world. The kid’s not mine though. Just sort of-”
Grian was cut off by Sparklez. “I know he’s not your kid. He’s mine!”
“Oh my god you’re the captain.”
“Yeah, I am. People don’t normally call me that.”
Grian just grabbed Jordan’s arm. “No, argh! I mean… Tubbo’s here! Your kid is here! They’re with Crumb and Tommy right now.”
“You mean… that kid… with the green shirt, red bandana. That’s him? The whole time that was him?”
“Oh great, looks like you’ve seen him already. That should make things less awkward. Even more of a reason to go over to the tower. Let’s go!” Grian grabbed Sparklez and pulled him over to an ender chest to hand him some spare elytra and rockets. After he had put the wings on, they both got into the air and then flew to the tower.
When they landed, Grian had to hold Jordan back because he looked like he was about to tear the tower apart. “Hey Tommy!” Grian shouted up to the tower. “Are you guys still there?” When the blond called back in affirmation, Grian shouted again. “Can you three come down here? It’s important!”
“Give me a second! I need to grab some more elytra. Hey can you remind me to change the floor 2 elevator to a down tomorrow?”
“We’ll see. Might be busy for us then.”
In a few moments, Tommy was gliding down with Tubbo, Crumb in Tommy’s arms. Crumb was the first to see Sparklez and frowned. “Aw myan… do I have to leave?”
Her dad didn’t answer as he half stumbled towards them and then held Tubbo in a bone crushing hug.
“Ah! What’s going on?” Tubbo, having no context was confused.
Sheepishly, Grian gave the answer. “So remember how you said you went missing when you were little and couldn’t find your dad? I found a missing person’s poster? Well, Crumb’s dad is the one who made that poster… making him your dad too.”
Everything was silent as everyone comprehended the news, Sparklez just holding Tubbo close and not wanting to let go, but finally Tubbo half screamed from being so surprised. “He’s whAT?!”
Mumbo sat in his room, still dripping wet. He knew he could just go sit in front of some lava or stand in the nether for a while if he felt daring, but instead he was just sitting in his room leaving a puddle behind. He wasn’t sure why he set up an ice mirror, but there it was, waiting for him to take his shirt off.
He just stared at himself, trying to will himself to move, but it just wasn’t working. So he tried talking to his mirror self. “Alright Mumbo. Stop acting like a spoon and just look. It’s going to be there. He was lying and Grian seemed fine when he left. They’re supposed to stay forever. A few years won’t do anything to it.”
Still, Mumbo didn’t move, he just kept staring. “Fine, if that’s how we’re going to do it, I’ll just go ahead!” He closed his eyes and took his tie and jacket off. His hands trembled as he got to the buttons of his dress shirt, but then he steeled himself and undid two of them, pulling his left arm out of the sleeve. There was no hiding it now. He would open his eyes and right there, on the skin just under his clavicle, Mumbo would see it.
The redstoner took a deep breath and opened his eyes, looking into the mirror. He was staring at his face and now where he should, but it was hard to look away. No, he told himself. He had to look and put this all past him. He shifted his gaze and his heart dropped. It was gone, like it had never been there at all.
56 notes · View notes
radiorenjun · 4 years
Text
 I Don't Need It
Tumblr media
• Pairing: Na Jaemin x Reader
• Genre: Angst, Comedy, Fluff
• Na Jaemin despised the idea of soulmates, he wanted to fight against fate for choosing his soulmate for him. Even if it means his stubborn childhood best friend wouldn't stop trying to make him accept about the similar tattoos on their wrists.
• Warnings: mental breakdowns, heartbreak, mentions of blood, science (ew), mentions of death, major angst, arguments, flashbacks, physical injuries, fighting.
• Wordcount : 9.4 k
• Masterlist here!
• Chapters: IX, X
• Song rec of the chapter : Start Over Again - New Hope Club
Tumblr media
“Shit, I didn’t think it would be this bad.” Hyuck exclaimed as they finally managed to drag Jaemin out of the arcade. “Why was his wrist glowing like that?!” Chenle exclaimed as Jaemin gripped his wrist tightly, trying to make the burning sensation subside. “Idiot, didn’t you pay attention to Science class?” Hyuck replied as they watched Jeno (who had ran off to the nearest  run towards them with a small packet of ice cream mochi in his hand.
“This was the only thing nearby, put this on.” Jeno handed Jaemin the cold packet, who thanked him softly and carefully placed the packet on the burning skin. “What’s happening to him?” Jisung asked, looking at his seniors as Jaemin leaned his back against the wall, slumping against it with a heavy sigh, trying to ignore the searing pain.
“I’m fine, really. It’s just a little wrist pain. It’ll go away sooner or later. I-” Jaemin muttered under his breath before Jeno cuts him off with a strict tone. “Shut up, Jaemin. You’re not okay,” he spoke sternly before running a hand through his hair in distress. “Hyung, what’s going on?” Jisung asked, in a more serious tone, truly concerned for their dear friend.
“It’s his tattoo. It’s burning his blood.” Hyuck explained, his usual teasing tone was now replaced with a serious one. His eyes staring straight at the glowing red skin as the younger boys stared at him in shock, Jaemin’s head shot up in surprise, eyes wide to see if Hyuck was messing him or not. “Hyuck, that’s not funny.” Jaemin let out a strained laugh, letting out a sharp hiss when Jeno pressed the cold pack harder onto his skin. “It’s not a joke, Jaems.” Jeno scolded softly.
“How is that even possible?” Chenle asked, baffled. Jeno rolled his eyes as he released his tight grip on Jaemin’s wrist, causing the younger boy to glare at him, pressing the ice pack against his wrist gently. “Guess someone never payed attention to Science class,” Hyuck muttered under his breath, receiving a punch on the shoulder from Jisung. “Get to the point, hyung.” he frowned.
“From what I remembered, that tattoo is connected to your emotions. It’s like the old red string soulmate theory. It’s the only thing that connects you with your soulmate. if you found your soulmate but they reject you or hurt you in any shape or form, the brain registers emotional pain of heartbreak in the same way as physical pain.” Jeno explains briefly, as Jaemin’s eyes widened at the new information. How come he’s never heard of this before?
“When the tattoo appears, it turns into some kind of blood vessel that connects to the emotional part of your body. And when you experience some form of heartbreak that’s caused by your soulmate, the tattoo somehow produces bacteria that burns your blood on your left wrist, hence the bright glow.” Jeno adds on, sighing, a hand going back to scratch the back of his neck. Hyuck nodded, “I knew this because Jeno gave me his science notes when we had that science test,” Hyuck exclaimed, putting a hand on Jeno’s shoulder who gave him a deadpanned look.
“There are some cases that the pains were so bad that they had to be removed.” Hyuck added on. “And let me tell you, it’s not a fun process to do so. It’s pretty rare, but they say if you’re not careful, removing it might mentally break them.” Hyuck unconsciously rubbed his own wrist, wincing at the mere thought of getting a part of his skin peeled off.
“So all this time. All the chest pains, all the wrist pains I’ve been enduring, was because I was feeling emotionally hurt by my own soulmate?” Jaemin asked in a rather hesitant tone, his pupils filled with disbelief. “Not hurt, per say. More like jealousy.” Hyuck concluded with soft shrug. “Jealousy?” Jaemin gaped, his mouth opened in disbelief. He didn’t know what to say. Or if he could say anything at all. It was all too much to take in.
“Yep. I don’t know if you noticed, but every time you see Renjun and Y/N together these days, you often glare at them as if you were going to have lasers shooting out of your eyeballs into Renjun’s skull.” Jisung joked, a small smile appearing on his face, trying to ease the awkward tension around them. “You need to seriously stop lying to yourself. If the world set you up together, you’re bound to develop feelings whether you like it or not, that’s how this fucked up soulmate system works.” Hyuck groaned in annoyance.
“You’re more stubborn than Jeno when his mom told him to not get a cat because he’s allergic to fur.” Jisung nodded in agreement. Jeno turned his head to the younger boy, letting out a soft, “what?” 
“Very funny, you two.” Jaemin rolled his eyes.
“Honestly, hyung, this wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so stubborn bout going against fate.” Chenle huffed, leaning his arm against Jaemin’s left shoulder, looking at the older boy with sympathy in his eyes. “Wait, does this mean,” Jaemin paused as his mind drifted back to you, his brows furrowed in confusion and a slight tint of horror.
“All this time, y/n felt this excruciating sensation for two whole years?” Jaemin gulped. By the way Jisung and Chenle gazed at their older friends curiously, he assumed they didn’t know any of this. A part of him didn’t want to talk bout this in front of them. Yet, another part of him was too curious yet nervous to find out the answer, for his friends’ reactions had said it all. The two boys looked away sadly, bowing their heads to avoid eye contact with their best friend. Jaemin felt his heart drop into his stomach, your innocent smile flashing through his mind, causing his guilt to fill him up even more.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jaemin asked, guilt filling his veins like a running tap filling up a jug with water.
“We wanted to. At first, we thought you knew. That’s why we were rather hesitant when talking to you since that day,” Hyuck exclaimed with an exhausted sigh, biting his lip nervously, referring to your birthday. “Then when you said you almost failed science back then because you didn’t bother reading the notes we shared, we were about to tell you,” Jeno continued hesitantly, his own eyes filled with guilt, remembering how Jaemin hated the ideas of soulmates so much, he didn’t even want to listen to the teachers explanations when it comes to the soulmate system that he purposely didn’t study for the soulmate part of the topic for the test.
“But then,” Hyuck cut him off.
2 years ago
“Dude, you barely passed Science, what’s up with that?” Jeno gaped, seeing Jaemin’s low score displayed on the pin board their school had set up beside every entrance to each class for event posters and test scores. Jaemin shrugged nonchalantly, his eyes filled with disinterest. “This was like the easiest topic of the whole semester, how in hell did you get a 72?” Hyuck exclaimed in disbelief.
“I didn’t bother to study with this one,” Jaemin shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Dude, it’s about the soulmate system. The only interesting topic in the whole school year, it’s all basic knowledge.” Hyuck deadpanned, nudging Jaemin’s arm with his elbow. Jaemin rolled his eyes, groaning in annoyance. “So? I don’t want to know shit bout that lousy system.” Jaemin replied with pursed lips.
“Shit, man. That’s kind of mean. I bet you didn’t even know that if you hurt your soulmate you’ll-” 
“Haechan! Jeno!” 
The three boys turned to see you smiling widely at them, though the smile didn’t reach your eyes. You quickly jogged up to the two boys, grabbing the, by the elbows in each hand, gripping onto them tightly. “Hey Nana!” you greeted, giving your soulmate a loving smile who just sent you a small friendly smile and a small wave. “Sorry, do you mind if I borrow your friends for a bit? I got something to say to them,” you giggled nervously, tugging them backwards to say it’s urgent so that Jaemin couldn’t catch on.
“Where did you come from?” Jeno asked, raising a brow at you. You frowned slightly, “through the wall.” You replied in a sarcastic tone, causing Hyuck to let out a soft chuckle. “It’s really urgent. I really need to talk to you guys,” you spoke seriously, tugging them back as Jaemin raised his brow at you suspiciously. “What’s so urgent that you got to take my friends away from me, huh?” Jaemin teased, causing you to let out a soft laugh.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” you winked, giggling. “But we have class in less than-” Jeno was immediately cut off by your desperate tone as you tugged them back quite roughly. “It’ll just take a second!” you said nervously, eyes pleading at them to go with the flow. Hyuck and Jeno shared perplexed looks before letting you tug them away from Jaemin.
“See you in Chemistry, Jaemin!” Jeno waved at his friend, who waved back with a soft smile before turning to the other direction to get to his locker. You pulled Hyuck and Jeno around the corner, looking back to see if you were far enough from Jaemin. “What’s up with you Y/N? You look like my little sister when she told her teacher that I ate her homework.” Hyuck asked in a concerned tone.
Your smile from before dissipated into a rather exhausted expression, sighing as you leaned back against some random student’s locker. “You guys have to promise me to not talk to Jaemin anything related to the soulmate system.” you frowned, eyes boring onto theirs seriously. Jeno frowned, confused. “Okay. Why though?” he asked questioningly.
You looked back, making sure Jaemin was nowhere to be seen before hesitantly speaking. “He doesn’t know anything bout the soulmate system. Like, literally nothing.” you started, rubbing the back of your neck in distress, letting out a pained sigh. “He’s been that way ever since we were kids, you know that, Jeno. And it’s best if we keep it that way,” you explained.
“Y/n, no. You know full well what’s going to happen. You’re gonna get hurt, like physically hurt, y/n. We need to tell him,” Jeno shook his head, refusing boldly with Hyuck nodding in agreement. You sighed, smiling softly. “I knew you were going to say that. But really, I’m going to be fine. It’s nothing I can’t handle.” you waved it off with a light smile.
Hyuck and Jeno gave you uncertain looks. “I’m serious.” you huffed with a slight pout, “I appreciate you two caring bout my well being but I’m really going to be okay. Trust me,” you held up two crossed fingers from your left hand, grinning sheepishly. Hyuck and Jeno eyed the sore mark around the tattoo on your wrist, identical to Jaemin’s which was red as if it had been gripped tightly by someone. 
“Y/n, you’re gonna get even more hurt. You need to tell Jaemin, what if he stops being stubborn if you just tell him?” Hyuck tried to reason, feeling his own wrist sting by the sight of yours, wondering how painful it could be to feel such an awful sensation. You let out a soft shrug, “I don’t want to see him sad like that. I am his soulmate after all, soulmates are suppose to keep each other happy.” you smiled, though Jeno and Hyuck could see the sadness through your pupils.
“What’s the point in that? You’re just gonna keep him in the dark so he can be happy while you suffer in pain every day? That isn’t fair, y/n. It isn’t fair to you nor to Jaemin,” Jeno furrowed his brows, feeling frustrated with his stubborn friend. Why couldn’t he just get over the whole ‘I’m going against fate because this whole soulmate system sucks’ bullshit?
You gigged softly, looking down at the sore mark around your tattoo, caressing the balloon doodle with your thumb. “You two don’t fully understand. I want him to love me, but I don’t want him to love me just because he’s forced to.” you sighed, taking your two friends aback slightly. “Maybe one day-” you shook your head profusely, trying to shake the negativity out of your head.
“No, I know one day, he’ll love me back the way I love him. I just need to be patient with his stubborn ass. I’ll never stop trying until that happens. And when that happens, maybe none of us will be sad anymore.” the sad yet hopeful smile you plastered across your lips was enough to break Jeno and Hyuck’s heart. They wished you and Jaemin could have an easier plot to your story, wishing that you wouldn’t have to go through such a painful process just to make your soulmate happy. But love makes you do crazy things, and they knew they should respect your decision.
“How are you so sure? It’s been months, y/n.” Jeno asked rather hesitantly. But he needed an answer why you couldn’t just tell him. Hyuck nodded, he couldn’t find the courage to speak. Hell, Hyuck didn’t even know what to say to you, not when you were looking at him as if you were clinging on to your last hope of life. You gave him those sad smiles you only see in movies when a main character knows they’re in for a long painful ride through life.
“I’m actually not.” you replied shortly, putting your hands into the pockets of your jacket, “But this is what love does to me. It makes me feel as if I gave up on this, I’m going to have the whole world turned upside down. I guess I’m just that whipped.” you shrugged simply, kicking a crumpled ball of paper someone dropped earlier. “Love? What is love, really?” Hyuck asked in a rather bitter tone, recalling the hurt expressions you would always have whenever Jaemin wasn’t looking.
You paused to think bout it for a moment before looking at the two boys with a knowing look, “I don’t know myself. But it feels amazing to be in love, I want it to last as long as possible. Even if it might not work out for me in the end, I just want to at least cherish it while I can,” you grinned, giving them enthusiastic jazz hands.
“So, can you promise me that you’ll both keep this between the three of us?” 
“So you both actually kept it from me all these years?” Jaemin exclaimed, feeling anger overwhelm his whole body. Hyuck’s head shot up, “she looked tired enough, we couldn’t say no, you asshole!” he shot back defensively, jaw clenching tightly. “Telling you would be like taking her last bit of hope, she didn’t want to burden you with the thought, so she kept it to herself, you ungrateful douchebag!” he spat, his face red with anger as he stared back at his friend in disbelief.
“Oh, so you decided to let her suffer internally so I can feel like shit about it later on? Sure, Donghyuck!” Jaemin shot back, pulling the frozen pack to clench his fists by his sides. “Oh, so it’s y/n’s fault now, is it? That’s what you’re implying?!” Hyuck growled, letting out a groan of annoyance at his best friend’s stubborn self.
“You ass, you really can’t see how fucking stupid you’re being? She’s your fucking soulmate, for fucks sakes! Get your head out of your ass and wake up, if you just showed a bit of interest with the whole soulmate system then this wouldn’t have happened in the first place!” 
At this point, things were getting a bit too intense for the two boys, Jisung had to step forward and grip his senior’s shoulder, in case Hyuck tried to do something to Jaemin. “Shut up, Hyuck. You don’t even know what you’re talking about! You’re just one of those people who follows this fucked up soulmate system, you just don’t get it!” Jaemin took a step forward towards the older boy, jaw clenched tightly in anger.
“Yeah, sure, if this system is so fucked up, then what bout you, huh? What about you, Na Jaemin?” 
“What about me?”
“If this whole system is fucked up, like you say it is. Then what about you? Don’t you think it’s fucked up that you keep hurting your own childhood best friend for your own selfish purposes, you prick?”
“Hyung, I think thats-” Jisung attempted to coax Hyuck to stop before he did some permanent damage to their whole friendship, only for the older boy to shrug his hand away with a harsh scowl on his lips. “Shut up, Jisung. I’ve had it with this bullshit, it’s time he opens his fucking eyes and stop acting like a fucking brat.” Hyuck spat back at the younger, causing the poor boy to sigh in defeat.
“What the fuck is that suppose to mean?” Jaemin felt his heart ache, not in the way whenever he would see you or Renjun. It was a different kind of ache, it felt as if tiny sharp objects were slowly piercing through his heart. And Jaemin was afraid that he didn’t know how to make it stop.
“It’s funny how you just tossed away her feelings for your own for two whole years. You didn’t even know that she was hurting, right? You treated her like shit for two years: throwing away her cookies, her gifts. Taking her kindness for granted, rolling your eyes at her whenever she was in the room. Not to mention talking shit bout her behind her back.”
“I do not talk shit about her behind her back-”
“Oh, really? What about those times you complained how clingy she was? How she was suffocating you with her presence? How she was getting annoying day by day, huh? What do you call that?”
“I was just-”
“You were just what, Jaemin? You were just pissed off? Or was it because you didn’t think she was right behind you listening? Or is it gonna be another of your petty excuses?”
Jaemin couldn’t respond, he didn’t know want to say. He admits that what he’s done in the past wasn’t the nicest things, but he was just upset whenever he said those things. He froze in his place, unable to find the right words to respond. Or rather, he couldn’t respond at all.
“Oh, so now you have nothing to say? Just admit that you’re being irrational about this whole situation, Jaemin. It’s not that hard to admit that you’re wrong, you bastard. No wonder Y/n replaced yo-”
Before Donghyuck could finish his sentence, Jaemin pushed Donghyuck by the chest harshly in anger. Hyuck took a few steps back at the harsh impact, his scowl turning into a smug grin. “Shut up, Donghyuck.” Jaemin growled, shrugging off Jeno’s hand when Jeno stepped forward to gently coax Jaemin to let it go before they both do something that’ll get them in trouble.
“Did I hit a nerve? You know it’s true, Na. You just won’t admit it!” Hyuck growled, causing Jaemin’s blood to boil under his skin. Both of his fists were clenched tightly, ready to punch something. Or rather, someone.
“Stop it, Hyuck.” Jeno barked, his tone getting an octave lower. At this point, Jisung and Chenle were eyeing their elders cautiously, ready to drop their snacks to the floor in case a fight breaks out. “What? I’m not lying, aren’t I? It wouldn’t take a genius to know that Y/n basically replaced him with someone clearly better for her. I mean, Renjun’s would be a way better soulmate than your selfish ass, anyways.” Hyuck taunted with a proud glint in his pupils.
“Hyuck, stop it before you’re gonna regret something,” Jeno barked once again as Jaemin clicked his tongue, his jaw clenching tightly as the atmosphere thickens between the three boys. “If only Y/n wasn’t cursed to be soulmate with an asshole like you, then she didn’t have to put up with your ungrateful ass for all these years!” Hyuck exclaimed, raising his hands up dramatically to rile Jaemin up even more.
It all happened so fast.
In a split second, Jaemin launched himself onto Hyuck, grabbing the younger boy by the collar. “Take it back,” Jaemin spat in his face, tone laced with anger. Hyuck still had a proud smirk on his face, provoking the boy even more by his smug expression. “I’m happy she didn’t have to get stuck with you for the rest of her life despite being cursed for having the same tat-” 
Hyuck didn’t get to finish his sentence when Jaemin’s fist collided against the side of his face. “Jaemin! Hyuck!” Jeno ripped the two boys apart, holding Jaemin back before he causes a ruckus. Jisung and Chenle held Hyuck back as Jeno began to scold the younger boys, “Fuck off, Jeno!” Jaemin tried to shove Jeno off of him, but Jeno tightened his grip on Jaemin’s shoulder, holding him back tightly.
“Jaemin, stop it you’re making a scene.” Jeno hissed as Hyuck let out a cocky “Ha!”, getting out of Jisung and Chenle’s grip. “No, Jen. Let him go, maybe if he beats me up, he’s gonna realize how shitty of a human being he’s been.” Hyuck taunted with a sinister laugh, causing Jaemin to let out a harsh growl at his friend. “You little-”
“Hyuck, stop provoking him. Jaemin, calm down before someone calls security!” Jeno struggled to keep Jaemin at arms length from Hyuck, Jaemin’s pupils darted at the people around them staring, whispering and crying out for someone to get security. He felt anxiety crawl up his skin at the countless of eyes glaring at them, but one that truly caught his eye was your own figure walking out of the arcade.
You had a skip in your step with an enthusiastic smile on your face as you stared back at your friends, pointing at the nearest food court as you looked back at your friends. His eyes widened slightly when he saw one of your friends pointing towards the crowd around them, anger soon being replaced with a strong surge of panic.
Jaemin masked his panic with an incredulous scoff, shoving Jeno’s hand off of him with an annoyed huff before bumping his shoulder against Donghyuck who gave him a death glare as he stomped off to the parking lot as fast as he could, ignoring the eyes of strangers as he leaves his friends behind. 
“Son of a bitch!”
Tumblr media
Jaemin couldn’t be anymore thankful that his parents were away on a business trip for two weeks, they didn’t have to see their son experiencing a mental breakdown right before their eyes. Jaemin slammed the door shut as hard as he could, hitting his fist against the door in anger, swearing loudly as he vents his anger out on the white wooden door.
His fists were red with pain, but at that moment he couldn’t find it in himself to care. All he wanted was to block out the pain he was feeling deep down inside of him and let it out before it exploded inside him. Before the pressure broke him inside and outside.  
Eventually, the sound of his fists hitting the wooden door stopped. Jaemin took a step back, panting, his hair messy, his blood boiling, his heart racing in his chest, exhaustion filling his entire body. He collapsed onto the mattress of his bed, sighing out. Jaemin felt exhausted, mentally and physically. He felt like being stuck in his room for the rest of his life. He felt like he wanted to just disappear.
Jaemin turned over to his stomach, burying his face against the soft fabric of his pillows. His heart ached even more, his wrist wasn’t burning anymore but it still left a dull ache in it’s wake. And for once in his life he wasn’t covering his soulmate tattoo with his watch or wristbands. Jaemin’s glassy eyes stared at the small tattoo that got him into this big of a mess in the first place as his mind keeps spinning in his head.
The tattoo that was once a bright doodle of a small red balloon floating in the middle of two clouds had now transitioned into  a dim crimson red, the white color in the clouds and the bright red color in the balloon were barely visible. Jaemin assumed that was probably the side effects of either the pain killers he took or the tattoo releasing bacteria from the emotional pain in his chest.
Jaemin chuckled to himself, turning his head to see the half empty bottle of pain killers standing innocently on his desk. Laughing lightly to himself at how frustrated he gets whenever the pain wouldn’t stop despite taking the maximum dosage. “I’m so stupid.” he mumbled to himself, rubbing his face with his palms in frustration.
On second thought, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw your tattoo. Jaemin’s brows furrowed, at the thought. Come to think of it, you had been covering your own tattoo up these past couple months. Either with the matching friendship bracelet he got you for your 16th birthday, joking how you should cover your tattoo with it, hours prior to when your tattoo appeared. 
You wore it all the time since then. The charms on the bracelet were large enough to cover the small tattoo on your wrist. Were you using the bracelet as an excuse to cover the marks your tattoo left on your skin from everyone else? Was your cheerful demeanor a facade all this time to cover your pain from Jaemin so that Jaemin wouldn’t feel guilty for hurting you?
Everything was a mess.
Jaemin wanted this whole problem to just disappear.
He groaned as he sat up from his bed, eyes examining his bedroom. The distant nostalgic sound of both of your laughter echoing in his mind as he recalled the times when you two used to joke around and make each other laugh so hard you had to hold your stomachs. The memory of him flicking your forehead whenever you do something annoying to make him laugh. Pupils staring at the small pebble that sat at the corner of his desk, his mind fluttering back to the time when you were 15.
 “So I have a present for you.” you giggled, barging into his room and dropping your bag carelessly in the middle of the room. Jaemin looks up from his phone, raising his brow as a smile stretched across his face. “Is it food?” he asked, an eager smile stretching across his face as he watched you pounce on his bed with your arms stretched out like a starfish. 
You turned to your best friend, giving him a bittersweet smile before letting out an evil, loud, maniac laugh, leaning you head back for a dramatic effect, abruptly turning to Jaemin with a deadpanned expression before letting out a cold emotionless, “no.” 
Jaemin frowned, his bottom lip jutting out as he whined. “And here I thought you’d finally pay me back for all the peanut butter sandwiches I sacrificed every recess.” he complained under his breath, smacking your backside with one of the pillows behind him. You giggled, sitting up as you watched your best friend pursed his lips at you.
“You wish, Na Jaemin. That’s never going to happen, that I can assure.” you giggled, shaking your head as you snatched the pillow from his hands to lay it on top of your lap. “Then what did you get me?” he asked, a confused frown forming on his lips, leaning his head to the side in curiosity. You smiled simply at him, “close your eyes, first.”
“Why?” he eyed you suspiciously, watching as your right arm reached for something inside the pocket of the peach coloured hoodie you were wearing. “I swear if you get me one of those strawberry infused tea that the 6 year old girl from across the street constantly forces innocent bystanders to buy, I’m going to-”
You let out an incredulous scoff, putting your hand on your chest with an offended frown. “Preposterous!” You gasped dramatically. “I would never make my best friend suffer by buying him a disgusting drink made by a 6 year old who eats play doh for a living!” you exclaimed with an offended tone.
Jaemin gave you an incredulous look, leaning back on the bed with his arms supporting him as he raised a brow a you. “You literally made me try her special oreo, milo, peanut butter and jam, ‘expresso’ a few weeks ago.” he said, wiggling his index and middle fingers when he said ‘expresso’. 
You gave him an innocent dorky grin in response, “no regrets.” You hissed with a smug smile. Jaemin rolled his eyes at you, “I’m serious, I’m actually concerned. Knowing you, you probably hired some weird psychic witch to make a voodoo doll of me.” he frowned jokingly. Actually, he was half joking considering you were weird enough to convince him that you were secretly a witch from another dimension.
You giggled, putting the back of your hand on the top of your head as you wailed out dramatically like those people in theaters and soap operas. “Oh dear God, Na Jaemin has no faith in his oh-so-amazing best friend! What have their friendship become!” you cried out, scrunching your face as you pretended to cry in front of him, causing Jaemin to reach his hand out to pinch your cheek gingerly.
“I don’t think ‘amazing’ is a word I would use to describe this whole experience of being your friend since diapers.”
Now it was your turn to purse your lips, causing Jaemin to send you a charming wink, rolling your eyes in response. “Is that so? I think it’s time to finally terminate our friendship.” you sniffled, wiping an invisible tear as Jaemin let out a laugh your statement. “I’m kidding, Y/n.” he cooed in a high pitched voice, putting both his palms against you cheek and squishing them together to pucker your lips.
He snickered as you smacked his hands away from your face, “get your hands off of my face, you peasant.” you giggled before sitting up straight and giving him a serious look. “Now. Close your eyes!” you frowned, booping his nose jokingly. Jaemin raised his brow at you, pushing your finger away from the tip of his nose. “Fine,” he sighed, closing his eyes slowly.
He felt you tug down the hood of the jacket he was wearing over his head, feeling your palm pat against the fabric against his eyelids .”No peeking, Jaemin!” you exclaimed eagerly, your hands moving to pull his hands out from behind him. He rolled his eyes with a small chuckle when he felt your fingers pry his own open to spread out his palms. 
“Did you get me those old squishy stress balls you keep gazing at whenever we go to the mall?” he asked with a soft giggle when he feels you place something small and smooth in his palm. “I’m too broke for that, you know that, Jaemin. Now, open your eyes!” you giggled, he felt the bed sink, signalling you probably moved to lay down.
Jaemin placed the object in his hands in his left hand, his right moving to pull the hood over to the back of his head as he slowly opened his eyes and looks down at what you have placed in his palm. His brows furrowed in confusion at the grey object you had placed in his palm, his head shooting up to look at the cheeky grin displayed on your face. 
In his palms was a small pebble.
A fucking pebble.
He squinted his eyes at you to see if you were joking, but you just kept giving him the same cheeky grin. You weren’t joking in the slightest. You two stared at each other for the next 15 seconds. Your eyes wide as if daring him to speak and complain while his dared yours to explain what level of degeneracy your weirdness has come to. 
Jaemin clicked his tongue at you. 
“You got me a rock?” he deadpanned after a pregnant pause. You were on your stomach, gazing up at him with your face in your palms with a chesire grin spread across your face. “First of all, it’s a pebble. Second, it’s not just a pebble, it’s a pebble with-” Jaemin watched you lean over to flip the pebble in his hands around. 
“A picture of Doraemon!” you exclaimed cheerfully. Jaemin stared at the small cheap sticker of Doraemon winking at him, then stared back at you with a blank expression. He bit his lip to keep himself from bursting out laughing, watching you bite back your own laughs. “You got to be joking me. Please tell me you’re joking,” Jaemin threw his head back laughing, placing the pebble on his bedsheets in front of him as he applauded and laughed at the same time.
You shook your head as you wheezed, laughing loudly as you smacked your fists against the pillow you were laying on. “Oh you WISH I was joking. Hell no, dude, you’re gonna keep a rock as a momento of my iconic existence.” you shook your head, wiping the tears from your eyes as Jaemin stared at you incredulously.
“What the hell am I suppose to do with a rock? Also what’s with the sticker? It looks like some weird omen.” Jaemin snickered, he really couldn’t stop laughing at how stupid this situation looks. You shrugged innocently, giving him a teasing grin. “The sticker adds flavor to the pebble. I couldn’t find any permanent markers to decorate it with.” you shrugged, causing Jaemin to bawl out laughing, throwing his head back.
“Remind me why I’m still friends with you?” he chuckled. You puckered up your lips gingerly, “because you just married me.” you winked, causing Jaemin to furrow his brows in confusion. “Have you been eating to many candies again, y/n?” he asked, placing the back of his palm against your forehead. You huffed, slapping his hand away, eliciting soft giggles from your best friend.
“You accepted my gift, that means we’re married!”
“How so? What kind of weird nonsense have you discovered this time?”
“Hush, this is actually a really cute fact.”
Jaemin sighed, nodding his head as he gestured you to continue on. You grinned gingerly, “Did you know that when penguins propose to their mates, they give their mates a pebble? Like some sort of wedding ring!” 
There was a pregnant pause. Jaemin just giving you an incredulous smile, his cheeks flushed pink as he wonders how adorable this moment could possibly get. “Is this your way of saying you want to marry me or is this your way of calling me short?” Jaemin teased, his sweet wide smile never leaving his face as he leaned over towards you.
You raised your brows in surprise, a bright pink tint appearing on the soft skin of your cheeks. “Welp, this clearly backfired.” you muttered under your breath, causing Jaemin to let out an amused laugh. “What were you even trying to do here?” he exclaimed, stretching his arm out to gingerly pinch both of your pink cheeks as you whined out in embarrassment.
“I just want to pull a little harmless prank to make you blush. I clearly didn’t think this through.” you said, gripping his wrist as you try to pry his hands off of your cheeks. Jaemin giggled, his heart fluttering. “You’re getting weirder day by day.” He mumbled to himself, shaking his head profusely at you.
“Shut up, I thought it was cute and funny at the same time.” 
“Would you marry me though?”
“What?”
Jaemin gulped, shaking his head when he realised he said that out loud. “Would you marry me though if we had the chance?” he asked shyly, rubbing the back of his neck shyly with a bashful smile. You leaned your head to the side, pondering for a small moment, attempting to ignore the heat rushing through your cheeks. “Would you?” you mused, chuckling at your best friend who just gave you a dopey grin.
Jaemin shrugged, “I don’t see why not. It’s better than marrying someone you met because of a stupid birthmark.” he smiled innocently. You rolled your eyes at this. “Your resentment towards the soulmate system will always be an unattractive point. I hate to be the person who blows a candle, only to have the same lame soulmate mark as you.” you joked, causing Jaemin to smack you with the pillow beside him.
“Rude!” he exclaimed with a laugh. “What if you were that unfortunate soul?” he asked with a giggle, causing you to frown. “Well screw that, I’ll peel the damn mark off of my skin.” you shot back, giggling in between words as Jaemin pouted at your words, pursing his lips in response. “Wouldn’t that be ironic, though? We’ve been friends since diapers, I’d be damned if I have to spend the rest of my life with you.” you commented.
Jaemin stopped laughing, leaning back on his arms as he took a moment to think about it. “But wouldn’t it be better that way though? Like, you wouldn’t have to go through that awkward introduction phase when we could just move on to the honeymoon phase.”
You scoffed. “I’d rather barf in my cereal.”
You let out a loud ‘oof’ when Jaemin tackled you against the sheets to smack you with his pillow repeatedly.
Jaemin chuckled to himself at the memory, smiling sadly at how ironic yet cliche this whole ordeal was. He walked over to his desk, picking up the pebble from the space in between his books and stationary. He tossed the pebble in the air, catching it in his other hand. His eyes pausing at the old Doraemon sticker on the pebble, half of Doraemon’s face had disappeared. (Jaemin’s weird desires to peel things off had kicked it when he was tossing around the pebble in boredom)
His thumb glazed over the sticker, causing it to fall off of the pebble and to the carpet floor. “Shit!” Jaemin cursed, kneeling down to find the Doraemon sticker. ‘Y/N’s gonna kill me,’ he thought to himself with a chuckle as he picked up the sticker, it took him a few seconds for him to realize that you two weren’t friends anymore. ‘Right, she probably doesn’t care about some stupid sticker anymore.’ he frowned, sighing heavily.
He gently placed the sticker back on the pebble despite the fact that it couldn’t stick anymore, placing the pebble back on his desk as he stood back up on his feet, He looks back down when he felt his wallet slip out of the pocket of his jacket when he stood up. His heavy heart weighing down on him when he looks down at his wallet.
His wallet had fallen open, revealing the photo of you two when you were still kids slipped into the transparent pocket of his wallet. Jaemin picked up his wallet in between his fingers, his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach as he collapsed back on the mattress of his bed. He tucked his arm under his head as he turned over to his side, never keeping his eyes off of the picture in his wallet.
The picture was slightly blurry. Baby Jaemin was attacking you with his latest transformers action figure, his lips puckered to make dramatic sound effects. Baby you had your face scrunched in laughter, a hand outstretched to shove him away by his shoulder. You had a barbie doll in your free hand, protecting your barbie from his transformers figure.
Baby Jaemin’s cap was floating in mid air, having been knocked off of his head when you threw your doll’s hairbrush at the perfect moment. The one who took the picture was your grandmother, who truly believed that you two were soulmates since the dawn of time. Jaemin’s frown deepened at the thought of your beloved grandma. How she would use any given time to take at least one picture of the two of you together. How she would walk in the middle of your play time to five you two some cookies or treats she made.
 “Grandma, what’s a soulmate?” you asked in the middle of your play date with Jaemin. Your grandma smiled simply, sighing as she leaned her cheek against her palm. “Soulmate, huh?” she repeated as Jaemin sat beside you in front of her with a cookie in his between hands. “A soulmate is like..” your grandmother paused, eyeing the two of you as you sat side by side with cookies in your hands as you obediently listened to your grandmother’s words.
“To me, a soulmate is like a best friend. It’s the one person who knows you better than anyone else.” she explained briefly. “More than your own family?” Jaemin asked, chewing in between words, causing your grandma to chuckle. “Almost more than your own family,” she winked, grabbing a cookie of her own out of the container filled with chocolate chip cookies.
“It’s also someone who makes you a better person in life, because most of the times, they inspire you to be a better person. A soulmate is someone you can carry with you forever.” 
“Forever? Wouldn’t they get bored?” You asked with an innocent tilt of your head. Your grandmother smiled briefly, “well, would you get bored of playing with Jaemin, Y/n?” she asked, causing the both of you to look at each other. You shook your head with a bright smile, “never! Jaemin is my best friend!” you exclaimed, causing Jaemin to let out a loud cheer. “And y/n is mine!” he exclaimed, wrapping his tiny arms around your figure as he gingerly pressed his cheek against yours, causing you to giggle. 
“That’s good. Though, a soulmate will always support you and believe in you. They will stay by your side no matter what. They’ll always be there to make you smile.” your grandmother explained. “Does that mean a soulmate is someone who can make you happy all the time?” y/n asked, eliciting a soft chuckle from your grandma who just nodded simply. 
“Exactly my dear!” she exclaimed. “Gross,” Jaemin teased, scrunching his face in disgust at the thought. Your grandma chuckled, leaning down to fondly ruffle Jaemin’s hair. “Jae, you shouldn’t say things like that. I’m sure you’ll understand and change your mind when you’re older and more mature.” she spoke gently, making Jaemin scoff lightly, crossing his arms stubbornly.
“No I won’t! Just you watch, Grandma! I’m not going to have a soulmate when I grow up!” he exclaimed with a huff. You giggled as you hugged your barbie doll to your chest, “well I do! It sounds like a forever friend!” 
Jaemin raised a brow at you, tilting his head in confusion. “A forever friend?” he asked. You nodded eagerly, pulling your barbie doll away from your chest to play with it’s bendable arms as you continued to explain. “A friend that’s going to be with you forever and ever like Mr. Snuggles!” you exclaimed, pointing at the big teddy bear leaning against Jaemin’s power ranger action figure.
“I wish I could meet my soulmate now!” you exclaimed with a bright giggle. “I’m sure they’ll be the nicest person ever!”
At this point, Jaemin couldn’t hold back his tears. His heart aching like never before, but this time he didn’t bother grabbing the bottle of pain killers near him. He puts his wallet on his nightstand as he sniffled, his heart overwhelmed with different emotions all at one. Guilt. Anger. Regret.
Jaemin furiously wiped the tears from his face, his frustration growing by the second. “Fuck!” he cried out, sobs coming out of his throat as tears continuously cascade down his cheeks. He turned over to his stomach, burying his face in the soft fabric to muffle his cries and sobs.
They say karma hits back at the best of times. It was no different with Na Jaemin. Like what your grandma had said, he’d change his mind of his perception of this whole soulmate system. There was no point in fighting against fate. How could he be so selfish as to let the people he cared about get hurt? How could he be so foolish to take your kindness for granted?
Jaemin’s eyes screw shut tightly, trying to stop the flashbacks going through his head. He knew he couldn’t stop the nostalgic memories from flooding through his mind. After all, you two shared every moment of your lives with each other that it would be preposterous for the world to not make you two soulmates. This is what he wanted right? He wanted you to go away.
Now, he just wanted his best friend back. He wanted you to give him cookies again every week. He wanted you to sit next to him during every class you had together and make weird jokes or express abstract opinions of a certain topic. He missed those times when you two would go to the arcade to get the biggest stuffed animal in all the crane games you could find and play some Mario Kart afterwards.
He missed how you would sneakily wear his hoodie in the middle of class because you ‘were cold’ or ‘forgot to bring yours’. He missed blasting music loudly from his car radio as he drives you both to school, headbanging aggressively to the beat of whatever song was playing on the radio. The way you would comfort him by buying him desserts or cookies from the nearest bakery whenever he received a scolding from Coach or the former Team Captain.
Jaemin paused, remembering your bright smile when you stood in front of Renjun. That genuine smile you always used whenever he was in your line of vision. He sighed at the vivid memory, He moved so he was laying on his back, sniffling back his tears as his mind spun even more as he couldn’t help but think that maybe Donghyuck was right.
Whenever he was a jerk, Renjun was always there to comfort you. He was always there to help you whenever you were on the brink of failing a certain subject while Jaemin would always ditch you for practice or to hang out with Jeno and Haechan. Maybe it would be better if Renjun was your soulmate instead of Jaemin.
He’ll make you way more happier than he ever could. Jaemin’s heart clenched against his chest at the thought of you being in a romantic relationship with someone else. Though, who was he to complain if you and Renjun were secretly into each other? He knew it was very unlikely for a someone to fall for someone else that’s not their soulmate, but it wasn’t completely impossible for one to do so.
All that you ever wanted was to have someone by your side for the rest of your life to make you smile when you’re at your worst. Jaemin couldn’t even do that back when he broke your music box. What was the point in asking you to forgive him now if you wouldn’t even look him in the eyes without giving him an expression equivalent to what an injured puppy would at their owner?
You deserved someone like Renjun. 
Maybe Hyuck was right. You were cursed to be born with a soulmate like him. You were cursed to have the same stupid tattoo as he did on your wrist. You didn’t deserve to suffer that much emotional pain for such a long time for his sake. You didn’t deserve all the pain he put you through. And he knew he didn’t deserve to have you in his life.
Jaemin spent the rest of his day crying his eyes out. Finally letting out the pent up emotions that his actions had caused him, letting his heart scream out in pain as it tries to release the tension that came with longing for the feeling of holding your delicate heart in the palms of his hands. At that single moment, he never wished for anything so bad as he did when he wished he could start this whole soulmate ordeal over again.  
Tumblr media
T A G L I S T : @candiednickles​ @itlittlefangirl​ @cherrym4rk​ @gotoartistprofile @d-nghyck​ @kingjvngins​ @aconeptun​ @chaeshii @lixseu​ @morks-watermelon​ @12am-musings​ @cherrystay​ @lowkeyviv​ @btm-taeyong​ @gothmingguk​ @luvlyjaemin​ @cowward​ @smileyyuta​ @cakelyn @uncovermenow666 @comically-sleep-deprived​ @wtfhaechan​ 
Taglist is  o p e n e d !
Do please inform me if you changed your username. Send me an ask, dm me or comment if you wanted to be added to the taglist! 
208 notes · View notes
stillebesat · 4 years
Text
Wanted
Sanders Sides: Remus, Roman, Logan, Janus  Blurb: Remus knew one thing for sure. No one would ever want to Want him.  Inspiration: from This Post by @recipe-for-thomathy  Fic Type: Hurt/Comfort, Medieval!AU  Warnings: Fire (mention), Throwing things, Breaking things, Captivity/Slavery, Weapons Taglist in reblog. 
The door slammed open with far more force than even Remus was willing to use on it. Mostly because he knew from past experience how difficult it was to rehang that door after striping out the screws in the wood and snapping the hinges more than once.
“What did you do?!” Roman demanded, striding into his work space in his full regalia of King’s Guard. 
Huh. Come straight from the palace? That was different. Remus smirked, keeping his attention on the furnace in front of him, slowly spinning the rod and its molten glass load within to keep it from dripping. “Do?” He shifted his feet to get a better angle, the iron chain around his ankle that kept him from wandering away from the shop clinking softly as he moved. “Plenty I suppose.” 
It was him they were talking about, but to his credit he’d actually been pretty productive today instead of destructive. “Made six vases just this morn--”
Roman took out a scroll, letting it fall open. “You’re on a WANTED poster!” 
His heart skipped a beat at that, though thankfully, Remus didn’t drop the rod. He actually liked the neon green glow the glass was giving off this time. Maybe he could use it to create something far more interesting than a boring stagnant flower holder. Maybe he could make another pair of---no. It would be best to stay with creating the same old same old for a few more days at least. No need to draw any attention to himself.  
Remus drew in a shaky breath he hoped his twin didn’t notice as he glanced to the poster held in his brother’s hands.  
It would be best to not think about what he’d done last night. 
A once in a lifetime opportunity. 
A breath of freedom. 
A dream come true. 
His one and only Cinderella moment where it had felt so right to do what he did. 
Like he’d finally found his calling in life.
And if Remus had any dignity or common sense left he’d stomp down on that siren call and wouldn’t seek to draw any further attention or be anything more than a boring humble glassblower’s apprentice from here on out or he was sure his heart would actually shatter if he ever saw that particular smile again. That particular spark in the eye. That-.  
Remus pasted a smirk on his face, forcing the memory away. 
A dream should remain a dream. 
He raised an eyebrow at the figure on the paper as he pulled the rod out of the furnace. “Ehhhh. That’s not me.” He said, moving to the bench so that he could grab a block to continue shaping the glass. 
If it weren’t for the moustache -drawn a little larger than the little bit of hair he currently had on his upper lip thanks to a small accident with fire earlier in the week, Remus would have thought it was a portrait of Roman since the figure’s hair lacked the tell tale silver streak that marked him as an evil twin.  
No. Roman was the one with the muscles. The one with the handsome smile. With the knighthood. With his star rising insomuch that even foreign dignitaries were falling over themselves to stay in his good graces.
Remus...was just…himself. Stringy hair, crooked smile, multiple scars criss-crossing his entire body from previous beatings and accidents in the forge. Who only had enough strength in his limbs to work glass instead of far more durable, sturdy, and useful materials like wood or iron. 
After all, Glasswork was quite the useless skill when they were in the middle of a war with the neighboring country and needed blacksmiths to create more weapons rather than glassblowers to make pretty cups for parties.
No. Remus let out a slow breath, placing the block back as he returned to the furnace to ensure his current project didn’t harden before he was finished. 
There was a reason why the silver streak had marked him instead of his twin as the evil one. The bad guy. The one who could do no good despite the very obvious proof that Remus could accomplish some good or else no one would be buying the glass objects he created. 
No one seemed to mind that he’d been marked as evil so long as he didn’t go too crazy in front of the patrons when they came to get their stupid little paperweights, flower vases, dinnerware, and sun orbs.
Of course the cursed chain around his foot did a lot to assuage any of their fears of him running rampant. 
If only they knew just what he had done last night. Just where he’d gone. How he’d freed himself from the stupid chain for a few hours to bring--to bring---a gift….to---
“Not--” Roman took a step forward, armor clanking. “It looks JUST LIKE YOU!” 
“Looks just like you too, or did your big fat egotistical head forget we’re identical?” Remus shot back.
Mostly identical. Even if he didn’t have the moustache, Remus was certain people wouldn’t ever mistake them for each other. As kids...probably, but he’d never know for sure since his--their mother chose to leave him out in the woods to die and be found by slavers instead of doing the sensible thing and dropping him off at the orphanage with all the other rejected evil halfs. 
Roman had only been a thorn in his life for the past six months or so after stumbling into the shop while breaking up a brawl that had started at the pub up the street. That was hardly enough time for them to even begin to get to know each other, let alone their quirks. 
Even then, with their on and off brief interactions, Remus knew that Roman only kept coming to see him more out of a morbid fascination of how his life could have been different if he’d been the one born with the silver in his hair rather than wanting to form a genuine familial connection with his long lost twin.
Roman scoffed, resting a hand on his sword. “You know it can’t be of me! I know better than to risk interrupting the peace talks going on at the palace!” 
Remus rolled his eyes, returning to the bench. Peace talks. A freaking ball was now considered a part of those never ending peace talks? They might as well parade the visiting Prince and his entourage around the streets again every day for a month instead for all the good those peace talks were doing. 
At least the foreign Prince was someone different to look at when he did come through town.
And…despite the rather accurate portrayal...Remus couldn’t see why a Wanted poster would be created for him. It wasn’t like he’d hurt anyone. It wasn’t like anyone knew who he was. Not when he’d come in disguise! He hadn’t even talked to anyone beyond---and that was only to explain his--the...gift. 
Unless showing someone how they could see far more clearly was now a crime. No. Remus had had his moment to shine and then he’d returned to the forge like a good obedient mutt to his hovel and destroyed the evidence--most of the evidence--without anyone being the wiser.
“Remus. I know--”
 “No you don’t!” He snapped. “For all you know, maybe we have a third twin brother running around because why would you think it would be me on that Wanted poster, Oh Highly Favored of the King, when I obviously can’t go anywhere?” Remus purposely kicked his foot so the chain trapping him in this place rattled, the sound echoing through the air as he picked up his second favorite tweezers in a shaking hand. 
Not that he intended to use it. No. Not now.
Wanted. 
His brother had managed to...emotionally compromise him and that wasn’t good for working with glass. No it was only for destroying it. A pity. He truly had liked the color on this one.
Remus kept his head down, acting like he was still working as he rolled the pipe back and forth to keep the shape intact. “When, unlike a certain free born goody-two-shoes, I’ve never been wanted in my entire life?”
The Master Glassblower didn’t even want him. Remus had only ever been considered a tool to be used until it wore out. A slave brought in to be worked to death and only taught glass blowing because the greedy old miser wanted more product on his shelves and had to admit as he aged that he couldn’t keep up with demand nor stay near the heat of the forge for as long anymore.
Lucky him, Remus had actually shown a talent for the craft. He could only imagine the sloppy blobs that would be on the shelves now if the Glassblower had bought any of the other slaves on the auction block. 
So long as it meant more gold in his coffers the Master hardly cared whose work was selling. And when the war happened, he’d allowed Remus to keep the shop open while he was off aiding the war effort in the forges nearer the front lines. 
And with him left in charge of the shop...it meant that Remus had finally been able to create what he wanted to create. To experiment. No one was there to stop him. To tell him what to do. To care. 
“What do you mean you’re not wanted?” Roman took a step forward rolling up the poster. “I--”
Remus snarled, hurling the molten glass like a spear in his twin’s direction, watching as the glass on the pole shattered upon impact with the wall, before focusing on the way Roman had stilled, hand flashing to his sword, eyes wide.
Give him a break. He knew better than to throw something directly at his twin, not if he didn’t want to die on the spot for attacking the King’s own personal guard. 
He turned away, tossing the tweezers onto the bench. “If YOU wanted anything to do with me brother you wouldn’t have left me chained here when you first found me!” He clenched his hands as he crossed his arms, resisting the urge to continue destroying things. “You wouldn’t keep coming back to stare at me like I’m a freaking circus act while you pretend you want to get to know me. You. Don’t. You Never Did. So DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT I’M WANTED.” 
No one had truly wanted to see him. Not even with that particular unbelievable encounter last night. It didn’t mean a thing and would never happen again. A shooting star only ever shown for a blink of an eye before going out. 
“Remus.”
Roman had no right to sound so--soo pitying!! If he’d wanted to change things he could have. But he hadn’t. 
“No need to rub it in Mr. Perfect. I know I’m not wanted. How could I ever forget when Evil Twin has been my label my entire life?! So take your stupid Wanted poster and Get. OUT.”  
Get out before he lost the remaining shreds of his self control and actually hurt him. 
The door behind him creaked as it slowly opened. 
“Remus, please. You have to know that wasn’t--”
So Roman did want to see the forge destroyed today. Fine. FINE. He snatched up another rod with a snarl and whirled only to drop to his knees, rod clattering to the ground as he pressed his face into the dirt, heart pounding harder than a hammer to an anvil in his chest upon seeing just who was standing behind his brother.
In retrospect the uniform should have clued him in that his twin hadn’t come for a social visit. Or alone. 
“Ah.” Roman cleared his throat. “My High King Janus. Visiting Prince Logan.” He said formally. “May I present to you...my twin brother, Remus, apprentice glassblower to Apollos, a Master Glassblower who has gone to the front lines to assist the other Smiths there.”  
Remus closed his eyes, pressing his lips tightly together. He was so screwed. No wonder the portrait in the poster had been so accurate despite his disguise. The High King could see deceptions around him as easily as a bird could fly. Of course he’d see an evil twin in disguise and keep an eye on him. Especially after what he’d done--but Remus had been sure he’d escaped notice right after---after----
And to have the Prince--Prince Logan...right here...in his shop---he hadn’t expected to ever see those glorious green eyes again, let alone see the Prince still wearing the glasses that Remus had created and gone to the palace to give him last night.
“So.” 
Remus flinched as footsteps approached him, the silky voice of the High King ringing in his ears. 
“This is our little forge rat who disrupted the ball last night?” 
Disrupted?! Remus fought back the protest rising in his throat, fingers digging into the dirt. Sure he’d stolen the Prince away for a moment to ensure the glasses properly fit. That the Prince could see through them. But he hadn’t disr--He’d been very careful to be good! Even created a fashionable enough garment with colored glass in order to blend in with all the nobles decked out in gemstones so large and heavy it was a wonder the richies could move at all. 
He jumped as warm fingers trailed down his cheek. 
“I would hardly say he was disruptive.” Prince Logan remarked as he lifted up his chin, the corner of his mouth twitching when he met Remus’s eyes, his own no longer narrowed in a squint but wide open with wonder as he traced the lines of his jaw. “Nor would I say that you’re not wanted either, Remus.”  
Remus gulped, heart pounding even harder in his chest. It wasn’t fair how his name on the Prince’s lips made fuzzy embers spark in his chest.  
Logan gently tilted his head back, his thumb running along Remus’s moustache. “There was a reason why I stayed up all night with the royal painter to ensure that your portrait was accurate. And that was so I could find you as soon as possible. But I see,” His green eyes sparked with delight, his other hand raising to adjust the thin wire frames sitting on his nose. “That I was not quite as accurate as I wanted to be, but I suppose that can be forgiven considering my distraction at how clear the world has now become for me thanks to you.”
“You are certain.” High King Janus asked, hands hidden in his gold silk robes, head tilting to study Remus like a hawk studies a mouse as Roman came to stand beside him. “That he is the one you seek, Prince Logan? That he is the one who gave you...sight?” 
“He is.” The Prince confirmed without hesitation. 
The High King raised an eyebrow. “I find it hard to...believe that one born with silver in their hair could be--”
“Remus is the best glassblower I’ve ever encountered, my King.” Roman said, raising his chin as the High King turned to him, unafraid to look him in the eye. “If anyone were to create the ability to see from blown glass, it would be him.”
More fuzzy embers fizzled around Remus’s stomach as he side eyed his brother. Roman...actually thought he was good? At glassblowing? He’d never said anything before--
High King Janus hummed, waiting until Roman broke eye contact before again returning his eagle stare on Remus, golden eyes glinting in the light of the forge. “Considering your own skills, Sir Roman, I would be unsurprised that your other half would be just as creative in his own right. Even more so if he is to be the bridge that finally brings peace to our kingdoms.” 
Remus blinked, fidgeting in place, his fingers digging into the dirt so he wouldn’t try and touch the Prince because he liked his hands too much to lose them. “Bridge?” He asked before he could also tell his tongue that talking was a very good way to get it removed with a hot poker. “What bridge? I can’t--” Surely they didn’t expect him to build a bridge from glass! How would that even work to bring peace? The thing would shatter with one wrong strike of a horse’s hooves! 
Logan smiled. “You can, Remus.” He said before gesturing for Roman to come forward. “Free him.” He commanded.
Surprisingly, his twin didn’t hesitate, quickly moving forward with his sword drawn as he focused on the chain around Remus’s ankle. 
It really wasn’t fair to hear his name spoken like that! Like he--like the Prince actually cared about him. 
Remus fought to hold still, to not look away from Prince Logan’s forest filled eyes to see what his twin was doing with the lock and if it was the same method he himself had used last night to free himself.
“I want you to come with me.” Prince Logan said softly, stroking Remus’s cheek as he maintained eye contact. “To my kingdom. Let me show you how much we want you there. Need you. Your gift with glass, there are so many of us, so many who would fall to your feet to see as you’ve shown me to see. Come with me, Remus.” He dropped his hands again to Remus’s dirty ones, squeezing them gently. “And I will guarantee that you will not regret it.”
Remus made a noise of disbelief, frozen in place, unable to comprehend that these...that the Prince---No one wanted to be around an evil twin!
And yet.
Prince Logan had yet to draw away or show disgust or revulsion upon discovering that he was the evil half.
“If you go with him, the war will stop.” High King Janus intoned. “Both sides will withdraw. Peace will finally be reestablished in both lands.” 
The war would stop? Over him? It didn’t--
Remus drew in a shaky breath as the chain around his ankle that had been his constant companion the last four years fell away with a soft clank for the second time in the past twenty-four hours as Roman took a step back with a faint smile his eyes shimmering with--was his twin actually about to cry? Over him?!  
“But you--you don’t even know me.” Remus whispered as the Prince pulled him to his feet, guiding him outside to the waiting royal carriage. To--to dare he say it? To freedom if he so chose to take it.
“No.” Prince Logan agreed, giving him another smile as he once more adjusted his glasses, the lens flashing in the sunlight. “But I want to.”
461 notes · View notes
Text
Romanced!Companions React: It’s All A Dream (Part 2)
Note: Almost done! I’m going to post a short hc request before the third part just to break things up a bit, but the last part of It’s All A Dream will be up within a couple days. Thank you for reading!
Gage:
Gage wakes with a start to a chilly breeze skimming across his skin. He’s in a garage, head resting on his arms folded over a desk, papers scattered around the floor from the wind. The rust on a nearby vehicle is familiar to the wasteland, however the similarities have stopped there. Lush trees dance outside the open door, highlighted by bright blue skies. This wasn’t the Commonwealth.
The last thing he remembered was falling asleep next to Sole with his cheek pressed against their shoulder, the rhythm of their breathing soothing him to sleep. Had he managed to black out a whole day? That didn't feel right. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he remembered getting up that morning, making coffee to go, and leaving his house. His house... Right. He headed to the garage where he worked in Concord and made a quick stop by a local bakery. He'd fallen asleep after a lack of customers left him bored and exhaustion set in.
The Commonwealth began to feel less familiar and more fuzzy in concept the longer he had time to wake up. Was it a lucid dream? His neck throbbed at the awkward angle he had been laying at, and Gage quickly tilted it to crack it. What time was it? He leaned over and checked the nearby clock; it was five. Thank God, he could leave.
He stood and began to gather his things, leaving memories that didn’t belong to him at the desk to keep the piles of customer files company. The sound of his footsteps echoed against the garage walls as he made his way to the door. He reached up to grasp the handle and bring it down when he heard a voice call out, "Wait! Could you help me?" 
The memories he'd tried to file away suddenly came scurrying back, whispering familiarity. Gage turned to face the owner of the voice and nearly stumbled at the sight of Sole jogging towards him. After a pause, he hefted the door back up. “Sure, whatcha need?”
“Oh, my tire blew just down the road and I don’t have a spare. I was wondering if you had any that would work until I can get a proper fit.”
It didn’t take long for Gage to warm up to them, despite the battling simultaneous lack-of and complete familiarity of Sole. An hour passed as they fell into discussion, small talk bleeding into deeper conversation about their lives, and they got to know each other all over again. Sole teasingly asked him if he’d walk them back to their car, and he was rewarded with a delighted, surprised expression when he accepted the offer.
They walked together down the road to where Sole’s car waited for them, their shadows and Gage’s memories of his dream floating closely behind. Gage leaned against the passenger door as he watched them change their tire, overshirt tied around their waist, the sun dipping low on the horizon behind them. When all was said and done they stood and grinned at him. “That should do it. Thank you. For everything.” 
“Don’t mention it. If you think you’ll be needing anything else, well, you know where to find me.”
“A coffee?”
“Huh?”
“A coffee… sometime. If that’s okay with you.”
“Yeah, uh, I’d like that.”
What was visible of the sun lit up behind them, but it was nothing compared to the smile that spread across their face. They nodded, more to themself than anything, and moved to the drivers side of their vehicle, swinging themself in and starting the engine. “See you soon.”
Hancock:
The first thing Hancock notices when he wakes up is how much easier it is to breathe. Fresh air is filtering into the room, bringing with it the light scent of recent rain. The second thing he notices is that it’s way too clean smelling for him to be in the middle of Goodneighbor, where the air is consistently tinted with dust and smoke. It wasn’t uncommon for him to lose track of what he had done and where he had been, but this felt different. Mildly alarmed, his eyes shot open.
The blankets resting over his chest were spotlessly clean, and the room around him lacked a clear layer of grime that couldn’t be scrubbed out. This wasn’t Goodneighbor, and this certainly wasn’t the Commonwealth he knew. Despite his alarm it was difficult for him to force himself to sit up in bed; he hadn’t experienced that level of comfort… well, ever.
A sudden knock on the door startled him into sitting up. The door cracked open and Sole poked their head in. “Hey, you have that interview today, right?” They asked softly, as if trying not to disturb the sleep he had just woken from.
Interview? Right. He had an interview for an insurance company today and he’d asked Sole to wake him up if he wasn’t out of bed by ten. “Are you alright?” He guessed his confusion was obvious.
Hancock nodded. Sole saw right through it, as usual, and moved to sit on the bed beside him, their head resting on his shoulder. “You nervous?”
“Just… a weird dream, that’s all.”
Sole hummed and brushed their hand over his arm. Briefly, his vision flashed back to his building in Goodneighbor, Sole sat beside him on the couch instead of his bed. He sucked in a deep breath and shut his eyes, trying to block out memories that didn’t belong to him. “John just how bad was that dream?” They looked up at him, their eyes widened in concern.
“Not that big of a deal, just jarring, that’s all. Don’t you worry about me.”
Sole pressed their lips together in contemplation. “Let’s go make breakfast, okay? Get your mind off things?”
“That sounds great.”
MacCready:
With a heavy breath, MacCready sat up straight in bed, throwing the blankets off of himself and standing in a panic. The world tilted around him as he stood, whirling in a circle to examine his surroundings, groping at his hip for a gun that wasn’t there. Two forms were huddled under the blankets, just beside where he had been laying. Two? He had fallen asleep next to Sole in the Dugout Inn, hadn’t he? They had sprained their ankle while they were out and about and they’d taken refuge in Diamond City. Didn’t they?
Adrenaline pumping, he moved to look out the window. Everything was shockingly clean, the sky too bright as the sun rose, the plant life too healthy and vibrant. He took a small step backwards, recoiling from the sight. Then, a sleepy voice piped up. “Robert? What are you doing up? It’s only six.”
Sole had pushed the blankets away from their face, peering out at him with squinted eyes. “Close the curtains and come back to bed.” They requested softly.
Slowly, almost defensively, MacCready stepped away from the window and walked back towards the bed, his footsteps light and muted. Sole’s eyes widened slightly at this, examining his posture and the hesitancy in his expression. “RJ, what’s going on? What’s got you so upset?” They sat up further in bed and attempted to rub the sleep away from their eyes.
“Are you hurt?” His own voice startled him.
“What?”
“Your ankle. You hurt it.”
“No, I didn’t. What’s going on with you?”
He remained silent and instead stopped, disoriented. Memories of travelling to a hotel near Nuka-World flooded back to him. Flashes of the car ride combined with the struggle of hefting Sole’s weight beside him as they made their way through the ruins of the Commonwealth towards Diamond City. He rubbed his fingertips across his forehead and looked at them in desperation, searching for an explanation. “Come here.” They requested softly.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and barely stopped himself from flinching as they reached for him. They moved the blankets away from their legs, shivering slightly at the shock of cool air, and shifted their feet. “My ankles are fine. Nothing’s wrong with me. You had a really convincing bad dream, I think.” The sincerity in their expression made his racing mind slow.
“Duncan.” He said abruptly, his eyebrows creasing. He was… where was he? He’d been in the car, but he’d also been so far away. Sick. Dying.
Sole moved the covers further back and revealed a sleeping Duncan, curled into Sole’s side, a small hand gripping their pajama shirt. The hand they hadn’t moved was pressed against his back, rising and falling with his sleeping breaths. “He’s just fine, I promise.”
MacCready nodded slowly, forcing himself to relax slowly back into the bed. Sole shifted their free hand and wound their fingers between his. “You’re okay. Everything’s okay.”
Nick:
When Nick came to it was in the chair of his office, feet propped up on a stool, a newspaper resting in his lap. There’s a cigarette in the ashtray on the table beside him and several files filled with papers he didn’t recognize scattered across the floor. Most of all, his legs were sore. His legs simply didn’t get sore, it was impossible, and that’s what clued him in that something was definitely wrong.
He picked his head up off the back of the cushioned chair and looked around the room. It wasn’t his office in Diamond City, but it had a shockingly similar layout. Nearly identical, other than the shape of the room. Wanted posters were tacked up on the wall, bearing names he vaguely recognized, along with photos of him, Sole, and Ellie. A him he didn’t recognize, a face of a man who’s memories he’d stolen.
With a start, he abruptly shifted his feet to the floor and sat up straight in the arm chair. The change wasn’t alarmingly different, more like someone had taken his reality and shifted it to the left. Slightly off in a way that was noticeable, but not enough for him to be able to immediately put a finger on it. Smoke curled through the room lazily.
The steps he took were careful as he made his way over to the wall of photographs. Sole looked quite similar, though a little less rough and worn. Their eyes were brighter with a liveliness that he didn’t often see. Ellie’s dark circles weren’t nearly as prominent, and everything was so much neater. Nick couldn’t stand to assess his own appearance, considering it was one he barely even recognized. “Knock knock.” Ellie’s voice rang out before she stepped through the doorway into the office. “Feeling sentimental, Nick?”
Thank God he recognized his own laugh when it emerged. “You could say that.” He was a professional at covering his own disorientation when he needed to.
“Hmm. I like the photo in the park the best, you and Sole look so cute there.”
He detected a teasing lilt in her tone. Whispers of those memories came back. They’d gone after solving a particularly difficult case and had a picnic, complete with fresh fruit and champagne. They didn’t get to do things like that often, as they didn’t really have free time with all the work, but he’d made sure they got a break that time. “I come bearing gifts!” Speak of the devil.
Nick turned and couldn’t help the grin he sported at their sudden appearance. Piled in the arms were a couple paper bags that they couldn’t see over the tops of. “If it’s not lottery winnings I don’t want it.” Ellie announced, still teasing.
“I’m leaving with my gifts!” Sole turned on their heels and began to leave.
He rolled his eyes and reached out, catching them by the arm and leading them further into the office, taking a few of the bags from their arms. Once their face was visible and they caught sight of him, they broke out into a wide smile. “Hi Nicky! I picked up some office supplies and dinner.”
Their cheer was contagious enough to distract him from the conflict he was fighting. Patiently, he was waiting for his reality to shift back to the right, but it simply wasn’t happening how he’d like. Instead, more memories of Sole and the office flooded back, struggling to take place of the ones he’d woken up with. 
Sole began unpacking what they’d picked up for dinner, spreading the different cartons across their neat desk, the delicious smell wafting through the office. It grounded Nick a bit and gratefulness flooded through him. With a decisive expression he settled into the chair opposite their’s, waiting for his own brain to stop fighting itself and figure out who he was and where they were. “Wow. Usually I have to fight to get you away from your work and come eat.” Sole commented, pressing a hand against his shoulder as they passed to get to their chair.
Nick chuckled, shoving back the mild concern and alarm that had been threatening to rise and get the better of him at the dream he’d had. “What can I say? It’s hard to resist fantastic company.” 
Ellie fake gagged behind him, drawing a loud laugh out of Sole.
77 notes · View notes
yungidreamer · 4 years
Text
Claimed
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Summary: An intruder enters the territory of Chan and his pack, attacking people and causing havoc. Seemingly by chance he saves a victim that turns out to be his mate, but as fate would have it, he happens to be a wolf at the time. How will he protect her, come clean, and claim his mate?
Word count: 8.2k
Content warnings: slightly dark themes, a werewolf serial killer who is a vindictive asshole, impregnation kink, marking, minor descriptions of violence, sort of stalking, sort of possessive behavior. Some cursing.
Music: Come Out by Lenise Morales and War of Hearts by Ruelle
Tumblr media
“Come on, boy,” she said, patting her leg and holding out the leash. “Let’s go on a walk before it gets too late.” Chan hopped up off his round dog bed near the couch, wagging his tail as he came to her. He sat patiently, turning his head to let her reach the leather collar she had put on his neck. Jesus, his pack mates would be in hysterics if they saw him like this, he thought to himself. But he could have endured the embarrassment for her.
How had he ended up like this? Really, it was a mix of destiny and bad luck on  both of their parts. He honestly never thought he would meet his mate when he was in his wolf form and hurt on top of it. Fights weren’t something he got into that often and something he avoided when he could, but that night three months ago he had caught that piece of shit lone wolf stalking her.
Why the loner had picked her, he had no idea, but Chan had to be grateful in some ways. How long would it have been before he ran across her if not for that? Jesus, what if he had gotten there too late? He didn’t want to think about it.
That night he had been sent to track the interloper that had been causing havoc in their territory. He was the first of the pack to actually find him, which must have been luck since Minho was generally the best tracker and Changbin a close second. They had taken the two days before and barely missed catching him at the no-tell motel he had been staying at and at some restaurant where he had mauled some poor woman heading home after her shift. Changbin had been furious with himself for not tracking him fast enough and had been the one to find her bloodied and crying near the back door of the restaurant. He had shifted back to human and called 911, telling them he had been passing by when he heard her crying, a plausible enough story not to raise any suspicion. Besides as far as anyone involved knew, it was a rabid dog attack… a massive rabid dog.
Tracking was exhausting work and got shared amongst all the members of the pack. The third night had been his job and he had taken a neighborhood near the one he had been stalking, suspecting he had moved his hunting grounds but not that far. His hunch had been right, but it was pure luck that he had come across the scent of the intruder as he patrolled, just hoping to catch some hint, some clue.
That whiff had pulled him down an alley and into the strip mall parking lot of the craft store. For the life of him, he could not figure out why on earth he would pick this sort of place. The parking lot was half empty since most of the stores were already closed… except the big hobby shop. The sodium orange lights of the parking lot had flickered and buzzed, bothering his sensitive senses and it must have done the same for the lone wolf… so why on earth would he choose to hunt here.
Chan had spotted him, in human form, leaning casually on a planter half a dozen meters from the entrance to the store taking a drag on a hand rolled cigarette. He had let out an involuntary huffing sneeze, hating the smell as it drifted to him. That had given him away. Even if he hadn’t been able to sense that he was a fellow werewolf, no dog would have been wandering around alone in a parking lot here, like this, at this hour.
“I’m surprised you found me, rover,” the loner had chuckled, self-satisfied and amused. “I would have let you guys be, but you couldn’t just let me hunt a little.” Chan had growled as he watched him stand up, letting the shadows and flickering lights obscure his face as he pulled himself into a standing position. He had moved fast, charging at Chan and drawing a knife just before he got within an arm's length of him. Chan dodged but not fast enough, and the knife caught him in the ribs, grazing over a couple of them before he could dig his teeth into the man’s arm.
“Fuck,” the man yelled, punching Chan in the jaw to force him to let go. Stars sparkled in his vision and pain sliced through him as the knife slid along his collarbone and upper leg. He had gotten one last swipe in before retreating, leaving Chan bloodied and limping.
A safe place to shift was what he had needed, there surely would have been someplace nearby, a little alcove or alley between a couple of the shops, but before he could get very far, she had stepped out of the store, locking up and leaving for the night.  Chan froze. He had been slinking away, slowly trying to get out of view, but was still very clearly in view when she had stepped out. His pain had blinded him to other sensations at first, but even before she turned and saw him, it hit him like a freight train.
Mine the sensation said with a ferocity he had never felt before. Why he had to find his mate like this, he had no idea. He wasn’t particularly unlucky. He didn’t spend tons of time as a wolf either. His pack was pretty chill and was pretty careful to stay below the radar. Their territory was safe and they were known for not being overly territorial, letting people pass through without a problem so long as they left and didn’t make problems. So how he ran across her while he was shifted and injured was just stupidly bad luck.
She had gasped when she finally turned around and saw him, but who wouldn’t when they turned around to see a massive dog behind them limping and bleeding. A moment’s fear had shot through her at the sight until Chan had whimpered, flattening himself on the pavement to look as unthreatening as possible.
“Hey puppy,” she said softly, putting out her hand for him to sniff as she leaned down, slowly coming closer. “Can I take a look at you?”
Yes please, he thought, rolling gently onto his uninjured side.
“What on earth happened to you… boy?” She asked, catching sight of his belly. “I don’t suppose you are going to make this easy on me and would just get in my car if I brought it around?” She sighed and patted his head. Rubbing his head into her hand, he rolled back over and pulled himself up to stand again. “Maybe you can just come with me, hmmm?” Standing up, she started to move towards her car, keeping an eye on him as he slowly limped behind her. She opened the back door to her car and patted the seat, inviting him to hop in, which he did quite happily. “Well at least that was easy.” She observed, closing the door behind him as he laid down on the back seat. “Now we just have to go spend my whole paycheck at the emergency vets.”
Sorry, he said to her in his head. I’ll pay you back when I can. Pain pulsed through him as the city lights swished over him in the back seat. The emergency vet clinic was only a half an hour away but that was way longer than he would have ever wanted to have to lay bleeding in the backseat of a car. In fact, he really was sure he could have gone his whole damn life without knowing what that felt like.
He was tough, he was the alpha of the group, though he didn’t enforce a hard hierarchy like some did. They were more family than anything else. They looked out for each other, did their part, contributed in any way that they could. It worked well for them and everyone was pretty happy with the arrangement. It was just his job to be the final voice when decisions needed to be made or to speak for the group when dealing with outsiders.
“Can you get up, pup?” She asked when she opened the door in the parking lot of the vet’s office. Chan nodded, though it probably didn’t look like it, what with being a dog and all, and stood up on slightly shaky limbs. Thank god they were close, he thought to himself as he stepped out the door and onto the pavement.
“I need some help please,” she said as they stepped through the automatic sliding door of the clinic.
“Oh my god,” the woman behind the counter said when she caught sight of him, picking up the phone on the desk and hitting a couple of buttons. “Doctor West we need you in reception now please, and bring whoever is back there to help.” She hung up the phone and dashed out from behind the desk. “What on earth happened?”
“I don’t know,” she said looking down at Chan as she kept a hand on his head. “I was just coming out of work and found him like this in the parking lot. Maybe he got cut getting out of a yard or went through a window or something?”
The receptionist had shrugged, it seemed like as good an explanation as any. They had taken him back, stitched him up and scanned him for an ID chip, which, shocker, he didn’t have. With no one else seemingly accountable for him, she had decided to take him home, saying she would try and find his owners. For now, she would pay for the vet bills and she just had to hope whoever owned him would pay her back. Though honestly, given the shape he was in, she wasn’t holding out hope there was someone, or at least someone responsible.
That was how he had ended up here and stuck in his canine form way more than he was used to. The one upside was that he was with her. She had spent a couple of weeks hanging up posters with his picture, but eventually just decided to adopt him herself, leaving him in the weirdest bind he could imagine.
The first few days he had stayed just because everything hurt too much to do anything else. I’ll change back soon, he told himself, I just need the stitches to heal a little first. Then one evening when she came home he could smell him and cigarettes on her and his heart had clenched. The loner had been there for her? For his mate? At that moment, that realization he had a feeling he never would have thought possible. Thank god I was the one that got stabbed. That had settled it. He had to be there, he had to stay and protect her, at least until the intruder was caught.
Not long after that he had shifted when she was off at work, finally getting in touch with his pack. After the understandable chewing out he let Jisung give him since he had basically disappeared without a word for DAYS, he explained what had happened and told him to pick someone to shadow her while she was out or at work. Jisung agreed, letting out a low whistle at the story and the news that he had found his mate. Chan left the details to him and the others, still not feeling even 50% if he had to be honest. He trusted them and for now, he was stuck.
Now it had been three months and the loner was still on the loose and still in their territory. They had no idea why and he had only attacked one person since that night. Now and again, when she came home from work, he would smell him on her, and still other times, he would catch the smell of the loner when they walked through the neighborhood. But it was never enough, never that fresh, and he had no idea how he was flitting around so close yet so far.
Jisung had the brilliant idea of getting one of them hired to work with her at the craft store. Chan had to admit, it had been a good idea, it kept someone close, but it probably wouldn’t have been the solution he would have wanted. Smelling Changbin on her every night when she came home from work rankled him an unbelievable amount, despite the fact that he knew nothing was happening with them. But between smelling his pack mate and the loner on her, and being unable to do anything with her aside from pretending to be her pet was going to drive him mad.
How on earth was he supposed to tell her who he really was? Buck also couldn’t just disappear. And yes, she had named him after the dog in Call of the Wild which was both adorable and painful. She was attached to him...just the wrong him. He needed to come clean but, aside from breaking to her that werewolves existed at all, something that would most likely freak her out, saying, surprise (!) you know that dog you’ve been letting sleep in your bed and changing in front of… well, he’s actually a guy. Because, you know, that would go over really well.
So that was how he ended up on the end of her leash, heading out for a walk. If he didn’t have to do this as a dog and have to make a show of going to the bathroom on these walks, he would be far happier. It was nice being out with her, he just wanted to be able to do it as a person, maybe holding her hand, though he might have tolerated a collar and leash if she really liked it for some reason.
Chan walked ahead of her, scenting the air as they made their evening loop of the neighborhood. All seemed well and normal for the most part, at least for the first half of the walk. But as they made the turn that would head them back towards home the scent of the loner drifted across their path. Chan stopped, causing her to bump into him and make a little sound of surprise as she accidentally stepped on one of his back feet.
“What’s the matter, Buck?” She asked, looking in the direction he was looking. “Did you see something?” Unsurprisingly, he didn’t answer and, after pausing for a few seconds, she moved past him, trying to snap him into moving again. Chan stepped in front of her, preventing her from going as he tried to place where the scent was coming from. “Come on, boy, I want to go home.”
I know, he said mentally, willing for her to understand him. Trust me, me too. Suddenly he saw it, the shape of another of his kind skulking on the other side of a cinder block wall. It’s dark chestnut fur moved slightly in the breeze as the animal stayed stock still. In a split second, it dashed back behind the wall and Chan gave chase. He pulled his leash out of her hand, sending a mental apology to her, and immediately gave chase. He couldn’t let this just keep going on. She called out his name, well the name she had given him, as he disappeared behind the wall, giving chase.
Quick as a flash, he saw the tail disappear around the back of the house on the other side of the block wall. He skidded around the corner, keeping the scent trail of the intruder under his nose. The chase led him through alleys and back yards as they ran and dodged. Finally he saw him disappear over a high fence and Chan lept after him, feeling like he was finally gaining on him.
When he landed he heard a snap and knew immediately that he had made a mistake. A sharp pain shot through his front leg. It had all been a plan, been a trap to get him here, to get him trapped… and to leave her alone. He had never really felt as stupid as he did right now. He finally gathered the will to look down at his leg to see it clasped in a leg hold trap, cut and bleeding, but thankfully not broken, probably by sheer luck. He couldn’t run like this and he had to get back to her.
With a gulp, he changed back, needing the dexterity of human hands to get out of the contraption. It pinched harder, stinging his nerves as his leg turned into an arm, thickening in the vice like grip. It took him a moment to stop seeing stars and then another to figure out how to press down the sides of the trap to open it. When he was finally free, he looked around. He had to get out but running around naked and bleeding was a great way to get the cops called on him.
Making his way to the edge of the neighboring yard, he looked over the wall to see laundry hanging on a line outside. He hopped over the wall and took a t-shirt and some pants, promising to try to remember to bring them back when he could. Once he was dressed, he ran. He ran towards where he had left her; ran like his life depended on it. Ran because hers probably did. His feet barely touched the ground as he rushed back to where he had left her.
Suddenly he heard a scream rend the air and he felt his whole body go cold. So stupid, he berated himself as he willed his body to move faster. Turning the corner a couple of blocks from where he had left her alone, he saw her… and him. The loner had cornered her against a fence in the front yard of some house, a hand around her throat and a knife pressed against her ribs. Without a second thought, Chan rushed forward with a guttural growl. The loner heard him and turned. Momentarily distracted from her, he didn’t notice when she jerked herself down, loosening his grip enough on her neck to fall in the direction opposite the knife he held on her. With his attention torn between two people now, Chan had the upper hand and wrestled him away from her.
“Run,” Chan commanded her as he tackled the loner to the ground. They rolled and grappled like gladiators, vying for dominance, both ignoring her. Something that turned out to be a mistake on the part of the loner. Just as he rolled on top, pinning Chan by gripping his injured arm, she rushed toward them, picking up the dropped knife and driving it into his back. The loner let out a rage filled scream and rolled away from them both as he changed back into his wolf form. Running away as quickly as he could manage and disappearing into the neighborhood.
“Are you okay,” Chan asked, getting up and grasping her upper arms. Her face was a mask of shock, eyes wide and not really seeing anything. “Look at me. Tell me that you are okay.”
“I have to find my dog,” she said, her eyes flashing around them, yet she didn’t pull away. “I think he tried to chase that thing away. He ran off and I need to make sure he’s okay… he was already hurt and…”
“I’m okay,” Chan said to her, giving her a little shake to get her attention. “I’m Buck. You found me in a parking lot and saved me. It’s me.” Her eyes snapped to his face and she went white. “I was following him that night, trying to figure why he was here. That’s how I got hurt, but that’s how I found you.”
“You were looking for me, too?” She shrank back, her eyes searching for something in his face.
“No, but,” Chan sighed. He needed to come clean but this wasn’t the place. Not in the open, not in someone else’s yard. “Let’s go home. Please. Can we talk there?”
“Home?” She asked, looking at him suspiciously.
“Your home,” he corrected. “Just, let me explain. Give me a chance.”
She looked down at the arms that were holding her, finally noticing his cut arm. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s not that bad,” he let go of her arms, trying to hide his injury a little.
“Let me take care of it,” she offered timidly. “Then we can talk.” Chan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. With a nod he led them both back to the house, keeping a gentle hand on her wrist as they walked. He needed the assurance that she was there, that she was safe.
She followed, letting him take the lead, slightly unsettled by how well he knew the way to her house. Part of her still didn’t believe him. But then again, she had just seen a man change into a dog or… wolf maybe, and she couldn’t explain that. She had never seen him before and yet he knew her dog, he knew where she lived, he had saved her. She wasn’t 100% sure, but something told her to trust him.
When they got to her house, she let them in and Chan pulled her inside, locking the door behind them before tucking her behind him as he scanned the room and tested the air inside the house for anything amiss. When he was satisfied that it was safe, he stepped further into the living room and headed towards the bathroom to care for his arm. He really knows where everything is, she thought as she watched him head there without hesitation. Stepping up to the sink he started running warm water, dipping his arm under the spigot to rinse it. He hissed as the water hit the wound, a tingling pain shooting outwards from it.
“Here,” she stepped up beside him, dampening her hands and lathering them so she could gently wash his wound. Chan sucked in a breath between his teeth at the sting. “Sorry,” she said softly.
“No, it’s okay,” he assured her. “I appreciate you helping me. I owe you my life twice over now.”
“Seems like both times it was because of me anyway so…” she didn’t meet his eyes, focusing on what her hands were doing.
“It’s not your fault,” Chan soothed. “We should have gotten him out of here long ago. He just… he keeps slipping away.”
“So what are you?” She asked as she patted his skin dry with a towel. 
“Werewolf,” he replied softly. “But I won’t hurt you.”
She nodded and pulled some gauze and tape out of the cabinet behind her. Kneeling down in front of him as he sat on the toilet, she spread some anti-infection cream over one of the wounds before putting gauze over it and taping it down. She did the same with the other side, then wrapped both with a sports wrap to keep it secure on his arm.
“What’s your name?” She asked, finally looking up at him.
“Chan,” he replied gently, reaching out to cup her cheek. “My name is Chan.”
“That fits better than Buck,” she gave him a nervous smile and laugh.
“God I love hearing my name on your lips,” he admitted. He leaned forward hesitantly, giving her a chance to pull away, taking her lips with a gentle firmness. She tasted like heaven, even better than he had dreamed those nights when he lay beside her in bed pretending to be her pet.
What am I doing, she asked herself, feeling a fuzzy, intoxication filling her brain as his lips pressed against hers. His tongue darted out against her bottom lip, begging her to open to him. Why did he taste so good, she wondered as she shivered under his touch. He was hardly the first guy she had kissed but he felt different and she didn’t understand it. She didn’t know him at all, despite the fact he seemed to have been living in her house for months.
“Love, I… I need,” Chan pulled back and stepped away from her. “We need to talk.”
“Sorry,” she leaned back, not meeting his eyes, wiping her lips to try and erase the distracting sensations.
“No, don’t apologize,” he soothed, reaching out to her. “I just need—” he broke off. “I need you to understand.”
“What do I need to understand?” she asked him, frustration coursing through her.
“You’re mine,” he said, taking her face in his hands. “I knew it the moment I saw you that you were supposed to be mine. I protect what’s mine. But I need you to choose me. I can wait. I can send someone else to stay here and protect you. Just… I need it to be your choice because once I have you. I’m not letting you go.”
She should have been afraid, she should have made him leave and run as far as she could as fast as she could. But something in her trusted him. No that wasn’t strong enough. Something said he was right, they were a part of each other.
“Okay,” she nodded as much as she could, still restricted by his hands on her face.
“What?” He asked, his eyes searching hers, trying to divine what she was saying.
“I understand,” Her hands came up to loosely grip his wrists, guiding his hands down from her face. She leaned forward, bringing her lips to his.
“Wait,” Chan took a step back, having to use all his willpower to do so. “You’re sure?” She nodded and his will broke. It had taken so much of him to pull away, to do the right thing. He hadn’t expected her to accept him and what he was. With a desperate hunger, he smashed his lips into hers as he lifted her and carried her to the bedroom. He already knew the place well enough he didn’t have to take his lips from hers as he took them both to her room. He tossed her onto the bed and crawled in over her, pressing her into the mattress with his body. He was pure muscle as he pressed himself against her, she could feel it even through the odd mismatched clothing he was still wearing.
“Chan,” she breathed when he shifted to kiss along her cheek.
“Say it again,” he groaned, grinding himself against her. “Say my name.”
“Chan,” her hand tangled in his hair, holding him close. He pulled back, only long enough to strip off the shirt and to slip the borrowed jeans off his hips. He covered her still clothed body with his, drawing her arms around his neck. She moaned underneath him, parting her thighs to let him settle between them.
“I think I’m a little overdressed,” she pointed out.
“I can fix that,” he grinned, rolling them both over. With hurried hands he pulled off her shirt and unhooked her bra before sliding it off her arms and tossing it across the room. His pupils widened as he took in her bare breasts. They looked soft and inviting and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to cup them. She giggled and covered his hands with hers. Sliding backwards off him, she unfastened her jeans and stepped out of them.
“God, you’re beautiful,” Chan propped himself up on his elbows and took all of her in with his gaze. Her hands lifted to cover herself and he sat up, grabbing her wrists to stop her. “Don’t hide…” he blushed slightly as he admitted it, “You’re so beautiful.” He pulled her down to straddle him, running his hand over her waist and thighs.
She leaned down, bringing her lips to his as his hands wandered over her body. He had thought about this moment for months. Being so near her and having her not notice him, not see him had been killing him. So close, yet so far. Every night when she changed for bed, he had done his best not to stare as she stripped and put on her pajamas, only peeking a few times. Everytime she wrapped her arms around him and cuddled into his fur as she went to sleep. He had wanted to change, to confess, to throw himself on her.
Now he had her holding him as his human hands wandered over her soft curves and it was even better than he had dreamed. She smelled like heaven. Like the forest in summer and fields of wildflowers. He wanted to take her in every way possible. Kissing along the side of her neck, he buried his face in her shoulder, pressing her body against his tightly. He wanted to taste her, to feel her flesh in his mouth, to see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled.
He knew why. It wasn’t that he wanted to eat her. The bite would mark her as his to any other wolf that might cross her path. It would meld them together according to their customs and the rules of the pack. The mark would claim her as his alone and give her the protection of the pack.
Breathing deeply, he fought the urge. He needed to do this right. I’m not an animal, he reminded himself, rolling over and moving them both to the center of the bed. Her pleasure had to come first.
“Close your eyes,” he commanded softly. “I just want you to feel me.” She looked into his eyes for a second before nodding and closing her eyes as she laid on the bed beside him. Kissing her lips, he tasted her with a slow and lazy sense of leisure, reminding them both they had all night. He licked and nibbled at her lower lip, letting out an involuntary whine as he asked her to open to him. She parted her lips and let him in, still allowing him to set the pace, to guide her. His tongue thrust into her mouth with a hungry confidence. He devoured her like a sweet dessert, enjoying her taste with a slow deliberation. As he did, one hand played lightly over her chest and collarbone. His touch was as light a feather, teasing her with the contrast of sensations.
Leaving her lips, he slid himself down her body, dragging his lips and tongue over her neck to the center of her chest. He could hear her heart beating under her delicate rib cage, fluttering like a wounded bird. The sound stirred the animal inside him. Was she afraid? Her scent tickled his nose telling him that she was mostly aroused but underneath it was a faint sliver of fear. It wasn’t a fear of him, or at least not a real fear of him. It was the type of fear that makes a rollercoaster fun or that tickles your stomach when you stand near the precipice of a mountain and take in the wonder of the view. That frisson of a potential danger that was entirely unlikely, but not impossible. Looking up her body, he saw her bite her lip in anticipation of… something, of him.
He slid between her legs and moved lower on her body. He kissed and nipped at the flesh of her belly; so soft and vulnerable. The wolf in him loved that she trusted his teeth there. His wolf could have ripped that flesh with such ease and the fact that she trusted him like this made pleasure rippled through him. Moving lower, he settled himself between her thighs, lifting her legs to rest on his shoulders.
“Can I taste you?” He asked, nuzzling against her inner thigh.
“Yes,” she nodded, squeezing her eyes tightly as her hands fisted around the blanket beneath her.
“Show me what you like,” he instructed, licking a line up the slit of her body. “Let me know how to please you.” She nodded, her hands fidgeting with anticipation. “Baby girl, you can look at me now.”
Opening her eyes, she looked down the line of her body to see his hungry eyes fixed on her. Chan’s hand reached up to take hers as he held her hips down with the other, keeping eye contact as he made a testing thrust of his tongue into her. She gasped and squeezed his hand. Satisfaction settled in his chest and he threw himself into pleasing her as he read her body. He licked and nipped and sucked at her until she came apart underneath him with a strangled cry. She was beautiful and he had never felt as powerful as he did in that moment.
He needed to take her, to fill her with his seed until he was sure she would bare his child. An image of her, round with child, floated through his mind. Yes, the wolf inside him growled, take her. Chan slid up her body and positioned himself at her entrance as he pulled her into a kiss. She could taste herself on him as he stole her breath.
“Are you ready for me, baby girl?” He asked, brushing hair off her face.
“Yes,” she nodded, eyes hazy as she looked up at him. “Please, I want you in me.”
“I would give you anything you asked for,” He admitted, coaxing her thighs around his hips. “Have you… done this before?”
“Yeah,” she assured him. “Don’t worry.”
“Okay,” he nodded, a little relieved he wouldn’t have to hold back. Holding her face in his hands, he looked into her eyes as he curled his hips into hers with a slow deliberation. He watched as her face filled with wonder at the feel of his invasion. When he was finally seated fully inside her, he paused, taking a moment to enjoy the way her body stretched to accommodate him. It was like she was built to hold him.
“Can I move?” He asked softly, running the pad of his thumb over her cheek.
“God, yes, please,” she nodded, digging her nails into the skin and muscles of his back. Smiling down at her and keeping eye contact, he pulled himself half way out before thrusting back inside her. She sighed at the delicious friction. His body felt so good inside her, felt like it belonged, or perhaps that they were becoming a part of each other. Chan moved slowly, relishing this moment. She shivered, her hands grasping at his wide shoulders as he moved.
“Please,” she said again. “I need more.”
“Anything for you,” he soothed, placing a few kisses across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. He pulled his hips back and plunged inside her, going as deeply as he could. Setting a steady rhythm, Chan buried his face in her neck as he began to let go and lose himself in the feeling. She filled every sense of his. Her smell, her feel, and the taste of her skin under his lips. Even her pants and moans filled him as they teased his ears in the quiet of the room. Her limbs held him close, gripping him like he was the only thing keeping her from falling. 
Pleasure rose inside him and he knew there was only so long he would last like this. He wanted to feel her come around him, feel her body milk him as she came beneath his touch again. Her heels hooked around the back of his thighs as she arched against him. The slight change in angle let him brush the sensitive spot inside her, making her quiver and gasp.
“Harder, there,” she begged, a desperation growing inside her.
“Are you close,” he questioned, his face tucked in against her neck.
“So close,” she whimpered, her nails raking his spine.
“Cum for me, baby girl,” Chan panted. “I need to hear you cum.” She whined and moved restlessly against him as the warm pleasure pooled in her stomach. He put his lips to the thrumming pulse of her throat.
“Chan,” her voice was barely a whisper when the knot of delight finally snapped inside her. As her body gripped him, he bit the flesh where her neck and shoulders met marking her as his. The shock of pain melded with her orgasm sending a cascade of sensations through her. With a final thrust he came inside her, filling her body with his emissions. He stayed like that until he felt her move restlessly beneath him and only then, reluctantly pulled out and moved to curl up beside her on the bed.
Her hand went to the bite on her neck. It still stung slightly but not nearly as much as she thought it should. Chan splayed a hand over her stomach, rubbing it in small circles.
“Are… are you okay,” he asked, looking at her lovingly as he laid beside her.
“Yes,” she nodded, taking her hand from her neck. “I didn’t expect you to bite me.”
“Just this once,” he promised, pulling himself closer to her. “It marks you as mine, gives you the protection of my pack. You’ll carry a little of my scent now.”
“Oh,” she blushed and looked at him. “Am I supposed to feel different? I don’t feel any different.”
“No,” he chuckled and smiled at her. “It’s something only my kind would notice.” She nodded and laced her fingers with his where they laid on her stomach.
“Did you do it so that he, whoever he is, would know?” She questioned. “Was this all just to, I don’t know, put him off?”
“No, although I would be happy if it did,” He gave her an adoring look. “This was because you were meant to be mine. Meant to be the mother of my babies; to be by my side for as long as we live.”
“So you want children,” she laughed.
“I want to see you filled with my child,” he admitted, his eyes going to where his hand lay on her. “I want to see it grow inside you. I want to raise it with you, watch it grow into someone as beautiful as you are.”
“Someday,” she nodded. “But I’ve been on birth control, so I don’t think we could just yet.”
“The bond,” he explained. “When I claimed you with my mark, it sort of…” he paused, searching for the right wording. “It opens you to me.”
“Oh,” she blinked at him a few times, trying to process what he was saying. “Even if we just… this one time?”
“Maybe,” he furrowed his brow slightly. “If  you don’t want, at least not yet,” sitting up, he moved to help her walk to the bathroom. “We can try to clean you out, maybe prevent it.”
“No, it’s just a lot to adjust to,”  she explained. “A lot has sort of happened since this morning.”
“I know, baby girl,” he laid down again and pulled her into a spooning position against him. “Let’s go to sleep for now and figure out the rest in the morning.”
Tumblr media
Over the next few days neither of them left the house. She called in sick to work, not wanting to put either of them in danger by going out to a place he could so easily find and potentially corner her. Even with Changbin there, with so many people and such a big space, it would be possible to miss him, or at the very least, to not notice him until it was too late. Instead his pack mates came over to plan their next move. Chan spent most of his time planning with Minho and Changbin, setting patrol schedules and scout missions for everyone. Hyunjin was assigned the duty to investigate at the hotel and talk to the woman who had been mauled. Maybe it wasn’t a random coincidence that he had picked her, Felix had suggested after their second meeting. After all, if he was just looking to hurt people and just stir up trouble here, why target her? Sure it could have been a coincidence if he had just been foiled and chosen another target, but he hadn’t.
The suggestion had made Chan go cold. It made sense, but what had made him target her? There wasn’t something particularly special about her, except that she was his mate, but even he hadn’t known that yet. Was it possible the loner had some way of knowing even before Chan did? As far as they knew, it wasn’t possible to know but, still the thought lingered.
As the meeting was drawing to a close, Chan’s phone rang. Hyunjin was calling him from the hospital where he had gone to talk to the other victim.
“Chan?” There was a slight edge of panic to Hyunjin’s voice as he spoke.
“What’s the matter?” Chan asked the other boy, worried immediately by his tone.
“She’s… she’s my mate,” Hyunjin whispered into the phone.
“What?” Chan had a sudden sinking feeling in his chest. He stood up, needing to see his mate, to touch her and know that she was there and fine. He found her sitting at the table in the kitchen, snacking on something as she read.
“I’ve never met her before,” Hyunjin started to explain. “But I felt it the moment I walked into her room. She was just lying there, still sleeping, so hurt, and it just hit me. Her scent and just her presence; I know she’s mine.”
“How did he know?” Chan asked, pulling his own mate against him as he spoke.
“I don’t know, but this can’t be a coincidence,” Hyunjin insisted.
“I know,” Chan agreed.
“Look,” Hyunjin sighed. “I can’t leave her alone here. I have to stay for now.” Chan understood, letting him stay with the promise to send someone else to keep watch over her tomorrow so he could get some rest and come back to discuss what to do next.
Tumblr media
“I hate this,” Chan said, as he sat at the cafe a block away from the craft store.
“We can hear everything that is happening,” Jisung assured him. “She’ll be fine, but we need him to come out.”
“I know,” He shifted in his seat. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
They spent the afternoon waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Over an open line, Chan, Jisung, Changbin and Jeongin listened as she went about her day like everything was fine and normal. She helped customers, stocked shelves, and worked at the register, all while Chan was on the edge of his chair, waiting for something to happen. But, it seemed, it was all for nothing. The sun set and the store closed and seemingly all was well. She locked the front door and set about closing everything down by herself.
Chan relaxed a little, hearing her calm humming as she closed down the register and counted out the money in the back of the store. After the money was counted and locked in the safe, she just had to make one last pass through of the store to make sure no one had left something behind or left a mess and then she could head home. Over the radio, Changbin and Jeongin started joking around, getting playful after a tense day. Everyone was relaxing, at least until a loud crack broke over the mic followed by her surprised squeal. The jokes stopped and everyone froze.
“I know you all are out there,” the loner’s self-satisfied voice cut through the silence. “Don’t worry. I won’t make her suffer, but sadly, you will.”
Before the words were even finished coming out of the loner’s mouth, Chan was up, running as fast as he could to the store. He had to get in, he had to protect her. Jisung was on his heels as they ran across the street and into the strip mall parking lot.
“Why?” She asked, her voice slightly strained.
“Why should he have you when my mate was stolen from me?” He growled.
“What did they have to do with that?” She asked, keeping him busy for as long as possible. If he was explaining things, he wasn’t killing her.
“Nothing,” he admitted, dragging her towards the back door. “But neither did anyone in the last three territories I went through. This one was the first one that figured out it was me though.”
“What the hell is the matter with you,” she spat. “You think you can take something from others just because it happened to you?”
“Why should I be the only one who has to be alone?” He demanded, pushing her against the wall by her neck.
“The only one,” she scoffed, realizing this was probably not the ideal way to handle this, but she couldn’t help it. “You know most people don’t have some beacon to tell them who they are supposed to be with. Even those who do, people lose the people they love all the time. Car accidents, illness, crime, no one needs your help suffering, you selfish, shitty person.”
“What do you know,” he hissed back. 
“I know that your mate was lucky not to have had to spend a lifetime with someone who would do this,” she challenged. “No one deserves that.”
Shock and rage vied for dominance in his expression as he stared at her. He made a sound of pure rage and pulled back a hand to strike her. Never having been the sort to just lay down and give up, she kicked out catching the side of his knee. It didn’t really hurt him, but it was enough to unbalance him and make him catch himself, giving her the chance to break out of his grip. She knew she wouldn’t get far, he was faster and stronger, so she just tried to get as close as she could to where Chan and the others were. They would come, she had faith.
The loner came up, grabbing her from behind. “I’m glad, even if this is the last thing I do, I’m not just denying him his mate, but I’ll take his child, too.”
On the other side of the glass door, Chan felt half a second of numbing terror. He had to get inside, for both of them. Changbin picked up a part of a broken concrete curb stop and smashed it against the window, cracking the safety glass into a million little pieces, still stuck together by the coating, but weakened. He hit it again, opening a hole the size of a fist, and again, until the tear in the inner plastic layer got bigger. Impatiently, and perhaps a little recklessly, Chan covered his hand with his jacket sleeve and tore at the shattered glass. Finally the hole was big enough and he crawled through onto the display on the other side of the glass. He had to find her.
Their scuffling was audible and he found them quickly, rolling on the floor a few aisles into the store. She had curled into a ball, only moving to thwart his attempts to move her or drag her further to the back of the store. They all leapt on him, pulling him off her and dragging him away before they made sure he could never hurt another person. Chan stayed with her, trying to get her off the floor where she lay. He needed to hold her, make sure she was okay, make sure the loner hadn’t done anything to her that needed an ambulance.
She peeked out from under her arm, checking who it was before throwing herself into his arms. Relief coursed through her like she had never felt before. She breathed his name and threw her hands around his neck. Pulling her to his chest, he held her close for a moment before pulling her back to get a better look at her. Bruises were blooming on her neck and wrists, but that seemed to be the most serious injuries inflicted upon her.
“Baby girl,” he looked into her eyes, trying to find the words to express how sorry he was he hadn’t been there.
“I knew you would come,” she assured him.
“I will always come for you,” he promised, his hand dropping to her stomach. “For both of you. I will always protect my loves with everything I have.” Over the past few days he had been so preoccupied with their hunt and their planning that he hadn’t noticed the subtle change in her scent.
“How do you know,” she shook her head. “I don’t feel any different.”
“Nothing much, just a little change in your scent… hormones and all that,” He smiled and shrugged. It wasn’t really something a person could sense themselves. “Are you happy? I know this has been… too much.”
“I am,” she nodded. “I may not have chosen this way to meet you and fall into your world, but I don’t think I can imagine ending up anywhere else.”
“You’re mine,” he assured her. “And there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do just to see you smile.”
Masterlist
106 notes · View notes
greekbros · 4 years
Text
"greek-Bros: Phallic Judgement"
*Surprisingly, Dionysus had gone back to Rome to cause more mischief with Hermes, this time they've brought Ares along*
Dionysus: *again disguised as a wine seller* ok gentlemen, behold. The foulest creatures to crawl on the face of the earth. *Shows just random Roman citizens*
Ares: *who for some reason decided he wanted to disguise himself as the world's most intimidating slave* ......ugh....the goats? *Sees a goat*
Hermes: *cleverly disgusted as farmer* haha no. You see, these guys are absolutely weird. They insist of "rationing" Sapa, they have taxes for literally existing and above all.....their wine is watered down! But they have the best bread I've ever tasted though.
Ares: ... really?
Dionysus: don't be fooled by their baked goods my dudes. These are cruel and unrelenting scum folk. Uncultured, ignorant, and above all....they've inslaved every single country they've conquered.
Hermes: .....it's mostly about the wine isn't it?
Dionysus: ....*turns dramatically* their most unforgiving sin.
Ares: *has wondered off to see a statue of himself*.....my dick isn't THAT small.......*looks at the name plate saying "Mars"* ......I can't believe these guys misspelled my name....*takes some charcoal, scratches out Mars and writes Ares*
Centurion Gaurd: Excuse me slave! Where is your master! Slaves are not allowed near the devine statue of the gods.*sees that Ares has wrote his name on the statue's nameplate* What the?
Ares: *doesn't know the centurion was referring to him considering he's in disguise* .........*turns to the see the back of the statue* ....at least they got the ass right.
Centurion Gaurd: EXCUSE ME! Please stop making remarks about the sacred statue! You've defaced sacred property!
Ares: *slowly peaks over to the centurion* ....hey ugh there's a thing on your helmet*
Centurion Gaurd: oh really? *Pats around his helmet* where?
Ares: *points to the centurion's face* There's a shit attitude a little all over your FuCkInG ugly mug.
Centurion Gaurd: *realising what he meant* YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!
Dionysus: *walks into the situation* Oh there you are Skippy! Bad boy I thought I told you to stay close to me and not open your mouth! *takes a little stick and weakly whips Ares's shoulder with a single thing of wheat*
Ares: *confused* ...wut?
Centurion Gaurd: Is there YOUR disrespectful slave?
Ares: wait you said I was going to be a noblem-*gets a loaf of bread in his mouth by Hermes*
Hermes: please shut up or we'll leave you here to fend for yourself.
Ares: *kinda just enjoying the bread* hmfhmf.
Dionysus: You see my good sir, my slave is extremely stupid, dumb and has testicles the size of grapeseeds. He was used as a human kickball when he was an infant and was raised by goats. He can't help himself sometimes. *Tries to clean the charcoal off the statue*
Ares: *angry noises* ?!?
Centurion Gaurd: .....Ok...you have the pay the "Disrespectful Slave" tax fine.
Dionysus: .....*grumbles and takes a bag filled with gold coins* ....*gives it begrudgingly* .....*grits his teeth* have....a...good day.
Centurion Gaurd: *takes the gold and sees that it's drachma* .....hmm.....*takes out a piece of paper with a semi-crude wanted poster of Dionysus, Apollo and Hermes* ......hmm.....I watching you....sir. *leaves to find Mortus*
Dionysus: *turns to Ares and glares at him* ....you owe me 20 drachma.
Ares: *has finished eat the bread* Why? Don't these mortals know we're gods?
Dionysus: No! We're here in disguise so that was can destroy the city again. You are here to make sure the country doesn't get a chance to get back up.
Ares: Fuck yah. *Literally has no idea what he agreed to*
Hermes: *saw the wanted poster in the centurion's hand* ugh...guys we REALLY need to finish what we came here for because they're definitely on to us.
Dionysus: yeah yeah I know....come on let's go. I want to destroy the coliseum again.
Ares: what's a coliseum?
Dionysus: *suddenly a huge grin forms across his face* Hermes .....is the coliseum....open?
Hermes: let me check. *Literally speeds next to the coliseum and saw a Roman sign that says "Grand Re-Opening" and zips back to Dionysus* yeah. It's open.
Dionysus: perfect. *Pops a waterskin filled with wine, and chugs it* oh gods I'm FuCkInG dry. It's like this place sucks your very essence or something.
Hermes: hmm....yeah, shame really. *as he was following Dionysus and Ares, he accidentally dumbs into a familiar face* oops sorry miss.
Octavia: *turns around with a baby in her arms that looks suspiciously familiar* Oh pardon me sir. I didn't mean to bump into, the market seems rather busy today doesn't it?
Hermes: It's ok, I was just heading to-*knotices the baby* .....ugh...
Caius the baby: *smiles at Hermes as if he knew Hermes was his dad* ba-ba :D
Octavia: Oh sweetie, daddy is working. Oh children are so wonderous, even at a few months old, they have such an imagination. By the way, have we met before? You look so familiar....are you from the countryside?
Hermes: uuggggh *trying his best to not look Octavia in the eye* yeah, I get that all the time. Trust me I have some of my own, I mean children that is. Also no I don't think I have? *Literally hoping she doesn't recognize him even though he shape shifted into her husband a year ago*
Caius: *still happily cooing over his real dad*
Dionysus: come on buddy le-*put two and two together and scowls at Hermes* ......you didn't.
Hermes: ugh....
Dionysus: nevermind we're off! *He pulls Hermes to the direction of the coliseum*
Octavia: hmmm what a strange young man. He's handsome though.
Caius: *coos in disappointment* :(
*later*
Dionysus: *rubs his hands* hehehehehe....
Hermes: this better be worth it. I thought we would write our names on the temple walls here or something.
A Roman Announcer: Ladies and Gentlemen! This grand reopening of the Coliseum shall be in honor of our Lord and Emperor Caeser!
Caeser: *does the Royal British wave*
Dionysus: peeeeerfect.
Hermes: ......hey I got to ask...why did you bring Ares?
Dionysus: some bulky bastard is currently the head champion gladiator here, he use to live on Crete before the Romans decided to kidnap a few warriors there....let's just say my pettiness will come with effort.
Hermes: ......ok seriously man what are talking about?
Dionysus: look no one says that their dick is bigger than mine and actually gets away with it.
Hermes: ....you know....you could just smite someone. I mean it's not graceful....but it's effective.
Dionysus: hoho, I'm going to make this extra dramatic.
The Roman Announcer: And now! You're great champion, Maximus the Well-Endowed!
Maximus: *a huge, hulking man came out, roars out* HAIL CAESAR! *Leans to the announcer* I am going to get my 20 hot virgin women after this right?
Announcer: *whispers* yes yes. AND HIS CHALLENGER *looks at a note which was scribbled on his hand* ..... "Skippy the Not-Well-Endowed"! *Looks back his hand still not believing what he had read*
Ares: *is just happy to get into a fight, however was oddly enough only was only wearing a loin cloth and a helmet, armed with a shield and spear* ......oh boy, a whole stadium just for killing? These people rock!
Hermes: ........you didn't....
Dionysus: yep.
Ares: *steps side to side like an exited kid* comeoncomeoncomeonstartthefighting.
Maximus: Alright Skippy, time to end your tiny dicked existence. *Raised his sword on to Ares but Ares was able to break it with his helmet* !?
Ares: ....that's it?
Maximum: *confused* ugh....*waves to order in more weapons, all of which fail to hurt Ares*
Ares: .......aw come on...you guys have some shitty ass weapons. Bet YOUR weapon is just as shit.
Maximus: grrrrr.....YOU PUNY SLAVE! *Rips off his armored skirt* See! You're fucking wrong!
Roman crowd: *gasps*
Dionysus: .....
Hermes: *whistles* holyshit....dude this guy is hung.
Dionysus: If there's one god who can contest me....the only god who's dick is so epic, so powerful, so irresistible, so near perfect......that Aphrodite can't FuCkInG resist it on a daily basis.
Hermes: Heracles?
Dionysus: No buddy, Ares. Ares is the guy who's dick is better than mine I mean come on a guy who shags the goddess of love more times than any living thing HAS to have something going on down there
Some Roman Karen: EXCUSE me is pronounced Venus! We don't use greek words here.
Dionysus: Please leave me alone lady.
Some Roman Karen: *rhees in anger*
Dionysus and Hermes: *both are struggling to ignore her*
Ares: ....ok...that dick of your isn't that great.....*rips off his loin cloth* .....THIS....is a dick.
Crowd: *the women and gay men swoons over the perfect of Ares's bare body, men quake and cringe at their own feeble members and put to shame*
Caesar: *completely unimpressed and decided to leave* hmf. Pathetic.
Maximus: *wriggles in shame* HOW c-C-C-could this be?! The most PERFECT COCK? Oh my gods why is it fucking glowing?!
Ares: ....what you don't shave yourself weekly? I mean come on man that's how you keep the ladies coming back?
Maximus: *starts crying a little*
Dionysus: *cackling uncontrollably* SO THATS HIS SECRET! *writes on a piece of paper saying "shave, dick, weekly"*
Hermes: *still not fully understanding why all of this* ........you brought Ares here JUST to emasculate some gladiator?
Dionysus: Oh much more than that Herms.....much much m-
Roman Karen: EXCUSE YOU SIR ITS MERCURY!
Dionysus: *has had enough and turned her into a chicken* there much better.
Hermes: .....are you ok? Did you have your wine today?
Dionysus: I RAN OUT OF WINE LONG AGO!
Hermes: *deep sigh* not again.
Ares: *now in full naked display* ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!? *The crowd roared and cheered*
Dionysus: well....yah want to set the animals free from their cages?
Hermes: fuk ye-*feels a tough and strong hand practically crushing his shoulder* .....*turns to see an old man who clearly was Zeus* .....
Zeus: .....boys.....
Dionysus and Hermes: .....Uh Oh.
Zeus: *took each of them by their ears like a discontented mother* you're BOTH grounded for bothering these mortals and above all abusing the dark, unholy power of the sacred male member ....if I had a third arm it would be reserved for Ares. *Looks down at Ares now just doing some naked dance for the crowd*........*deep and disappointed sigh*
Dionysus: but dad, I do that like everyday.
Zeus: I don't care if I don't discipline you or Hermes right the now, Hera will have MY male member nailed to the wall.
(Later that day)
Mortus: *inner noir detective monologue* after several months, nothing. Absolutely nothing. The suspects disappeared from the face of the empire. Likely their crimes have caught up with them. My only consolation to solving this case....is the mysterious birth of my son and my faithful wife. .... speaking of which...why does Caius have blue eyes? Me and Octavia have brown.....did ...she?....nah that's impossible.
The Centurion from earlier: MY LORD! I FOUND THE SUSPECTS!
Mortus: *dramatically turns around* This better be the right ones this time.
*much later after apparently an orgy broke out at the coliseum*
Mortus: .... Absolutely disgusting. Practicing Sexual Festivities without a license is punishable by crucifixion, Mark.
The Announcer (Mark): B-b-but sir! It wasn't my fault! Some slave was to challenge Maximus and they just decided to remove their clothing and everyone went wild! ....to be fair the slave did look a little attractive BUT the fornicating ceased once the slave disappeared.
Mortus:....was he accompanied by a portly, dark haired ..... individual?......an extremely attractive blonde slave and a thinner more athletic young man with brown hair?
The Announcer: ...hmm...well yes minus the other slave.
Mortus: Hmmm.....the plot thickens.....are these the mysterious criminals that destroyed the coliseum last year?....What is the motivated behind these depraved individuals?.....
The Announcer: ugh...why are you talking to yourself?
26 notes · View notes
Text
For A Greater Good 16/18
Tumblr media
Not my gif. Before It’s Too Late
Summary: Kate Williams, young healer and member of the Order,  joins Durmstrang’s staff at Dumbledore’s request. Her mission? Find a Death Eater and survive long enough to tell the story. Set in 1996.
Pairing: Charlie Weasley x ofc/mc
Masterlist
[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]
[Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10]
[Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13] [Part 14]
[Part 15]
--
Warnings: mentions of blood and wounds
Classes were over, grades had been hung in the corridor, and Durmstrang celebrated that another year was over. 
Kate was forcing a comb through her brown waves when she heard laughter and hasty footsteps outside her dorm. Returning her attention to her hair, she pressed more insistently on the knot that was refusing to untangle and contemplated the day ahead of her; the Annual Exposition of Dark Arts had arrived and with it, the crushing fear of not leaving Durmstrang anytime soon.
She had told Dumbledore and Rhode she was no auror; she didn’t have training in catching criminals, if that’s what one of these people were.
“Well, it’s not like someone will raise their hand and say ‘it’s me, Kate, take me to Azkaban.’” She murmured to her reflection in the rusty mirror next to the door.
Why? Why had Dumbledore put her there? What was she supposed to do? Almost six months had passed; she had heard from Dumbledore only once, and Rhode was so busy with the school’s events that had practically forgotten why she was there.
But Kate still remembered. She still remembered what happened to Flavia Hodges.
Having abused her locks enough, she attempted to shape them into curls, twirling some hairs around her finger. When she finished, she traced her dragon necklace before securing it under her robes.
Who would be willing to join a Dark Wizard? And why? For a greater good, as Corentin had said? Or maybe for more personal reasons? No one was exempt from guilt, no one was good or bad; Cassandra Steiner was rude and disagreeable, but she was a mediwizard and cared for others; Flavia Hodges was almost murdered and Kent Jorgensen would have protected the man he thought was guilty, but he wasn’t ill-intended and seemed to be a clever man; Leron Angelov was sick and violent with his son, but he had enough problems to be a criminal; Libor Marek was intolerant and prejudiced, adequate characteristics for a Death Eater, but that didn’t make him one; and the only thing that Kate knew about Mer Yankelevich was that she was a liar.
She let out a heavy sigh and made her way to the desk. After grabbing her cloak from her chair and fastening it around her neck, she grabbed the several items she intended to carry with her at all times: her wand, her diary, the list and the trick wand that the Weasley twins had sent her.
The night before, tidying up her belongings, she had found the box that Fred and George had sent her and thought it could be a good farewell gift to Vivien, in case she wanted to give a lesson to Jon Hopkins.
She felt uncomfortable with everything she was carrying on her. The list and her notebook were inside her improvised pockets, and both wands were safely tucked in each sleeve. Impractical for the occasion, but with everyone distracted with the AEDA, it was very easy for someone to slip out of there unseen, and she had no intention of anyone walking into her room and finding those items. After fastening her ankle boots, she headed outside.
 Rhode had not been exaggerating when she described the AEDA as the biggest event of the year; the corridors were ostentatiously decorated with garlands and lights; countless carriages arrived on the castle grounds one after another and the doors to the dining hall were open all day, held up by pillars from which people could grab pamphlets describing the event’s activities.
Tables had been rearranged to form the various displays, and the students were dressed in their finest robes to honour the occasion.
The hustle and bustle of the day made the place unrecognisable, characterised by its usual gloom and darkness.
She advanced through the hall, pausing from time to time to watch project demonstrations and congratulate those taking part in the competition. Her eyes fell on a familiar face next to her; Leron Angelov sat behind a table where a seventh-grade girl explained her work to three wizards who, judging by their golden robes, were the judges.
“The potion lets you transfigure into whatever animal or object at will, only for a few minutes…” she exposed. Kate approached Angelov and leaned in to whisper, “Don’t do that.” Leron stared at her and stopped scratching his arms.
After wandering around for a while, she finally reached her own table, greeted her students and settled wizards and witches filed in and out of the room, delighting in the students’ magnificent works.
She wished with all her might that she could share their enthusiasm.
She gave several forced smiles, for Rhode’s sake, as the organiser of the event she wanted everything to go smoothly, but deep inside she was overwhelmed by a deep worry that she didn’t know how much longer she could bear.
“It’s really ugly.” She overheard one of her students, Greta, referring to her umbrella flower. Several of her children were standing behind a table, presenting their work to the audience.
A single umbrella flower, magically modified to remain a medium size, floated above the table; its vibrant red colour stood out among the sober tones of the place. The top of the plant, usually hollow to do justice to its name, now was decorated with thirty-seven fangs all around the base, giving it the appearance of a weird-looking lamp.
“You should be proud,” she reminded them, “You’ve managed to do something wonderful.”
“It’s still horrendous.” Jon Hopkins commented, wrinkling his nose.
“We’ve done next to nothing...” lamented Micael. Kate raised her eyebrows.
“What do you mean, you haven’t? We needed every single one of your plants, remember they didn’t all germinate, and only one of them got these results. And these posters explaining the whole process? They are priceless...”
They were still not convinced, so she kept insisting “In a few years, someone will want to do the same as you and they will be grateful to have your work as a reference”.
A man and a woman approached their table and after reading a few paragraphs of their report, left without comment. Everyone visibly deflated.
“By the way, where is Vivien? I have something for her...” asked Kate. Micael shrugged.
She looked around, but it was impossible to find anyone among the crowd. She saw a few familiar faces; like Jorgensen chatting animatedly with some seventh year students or Sheyi Mawut, who was making his way through the wizards towards her. There was no sign of any other teacher.
“Well, well! This is the first time in a long time I’ve seen first-year students exhibiting. What have we got here?” Mawut looked at Kate with a smile and she touched two fingers to Micael’s elbow. The boy looked at her and Kate nodded.
“We have created the first umbrella flower with teeth, Professor! It’s one of a kind because the species itself is unique. It floats like an umbrella flower and has teeth like a fanged geranium...”
Kate watched proudly as Micael’s other classmates came up to support him in his rehearsed explanation, some interrupting the speech out of excitement at being able to contribute something.
“And you did this on your own?” Suddenly the children fell silent and looked at the ground or anywhere but Mawut’s face.
“They’ve done all the hard work,” Kate interjected, “Finding the plant, germinating it, growing the geraniums, crossing the two species...”
“How wonderful... can I read your notes?” Mawut let out a laugh as a mountain of notebooks were at his disposal in a matter of seconds. “Maybe just one will be enough.”
The teacher’s kindness managed to relax Kate just a little.
“I’ve got better at my flying practice, Coach Mawut!” Greta commented, “Do you think I’ll ever be as good as Lena?” Kate raised her head at the familiar name.
“I’m sure you will.”
“Who?” she asked to extend that conversation.
“Lena?” Mawut pointed to some drawings and nodded, smiling, “Lena Yankelevich, she was an impressive seeker. Several top teams like the Vratsa Vultures or Heidelberg Harriers wanted to make contracts with her.”
“What happened?” Mawut closed the notebook and thanked Micael for his explanation. Greta tugged at Kate’s sleeve, causing the fake wand to brush against her skin.
“She died, Professor Williams...” she lamented.
“In the middle of a match… She disappeared into the mountains and never came back. Some Muggle climbers were in the area and saw her, and we found her surrounded by three men who had stolen her broom. But we shouldn’t have gone...” He paused and in a quieter voice added, “The climbers got scared when they saw us. There was a lot of commotion and they pushed Lena... down the cliff. No one knew how Lena had come to that situation.”
A witch casually approached the table and wrote something down on a piece of paper. Everyone around her watched in silence as she looked at the plant and then nodded before turning away.
Mawut went to add something else, but Libor Marek joined them.
“This is an unfair competition.... and what is this? A plant?” He grimaced, and Kate glanced at Mawut before averting her eyes to the rest of the room.
Astrid Rhode had stepped on the pallet where her lectern stood. After rearranging her papers, the witch cleared her throat and drew everyone’s attention to her.
“I can’t begin to express how wonderful it is to have all of you here on this special occasion. To honour this event, let me introduce you to Lazar Berović, a former winner of the AEDA thanks to his system to identify and capture chameleon ghouls.” Kate joined the round of applause with little interest. The man in question took Astrid’s place and started his speech.
Her mind drifted to the single hair that had fallen on her sleeve, and she dully grabbed it between two fingers as slowly as she could, making an effort of not listening the ghoul-hunting narrative they were being ‘gifted’.
She had a document whose content had expanded over the last month, completing a full page and a successfully finished project. There was nothing to keep her at that school any longer. Nothing, except the original reason she was there: to find a supposed Death Eater.
But I want to leave.
Would Dumbledore be angry if she returned early? But how much longer would she have to stay?
I want to go home. I want to go to Charlie.
Then come home.
Charlie’s voice again, echoing in her head as if he were talking to her right next to her. This time she didn’t panic, it was the push she needed to make her decision. Dumbledore would have to settle for the list.
But she would be leaving a bunch of children in the hands of a murderer. No, she’d figure it out when she was safe. If anyone wanted the scroll Kate had in her possession, she’d have to flee before it was too late.
The speech was over, and the room filled with the previous murmur of happiness and excitement.
“Excuse me...” Kate stepped away from the group, leaving Micael in charge of defending the front, and made her way to the door.
She hadn’t realised how much she’d become accustomed to the noise until she’d walked a few corridors away from the dining room. With everyone partying in the middle, Kate and the silence went hand in hand all the way to the library. Or at least, that was where she was headed, had she not come face to face with Corentin.
“Ah, Katherine, I was just on my way to the exhibition...” The librarian’s smile crumbled at the sight of her expression.
“Corentin...” she whispered, “I think... I need to get out of here.” They both looked around, but they were alone.
“And how do you plan to do that? With a carriage? They don’t leave until the 20th.”
“I have to go get my trunk and apparate. I don’t know... I’ll jump to Romania and... then to England.” Corentin shook his head.
“I’d recommend three jumps at least.”
“I don’t know that many places! I don’t know where we are!”
“Keep your voice down.” They dissimulated again as two wizards passed in front of them. They greeted each other cordially, and when they were out of range, Corentin grabbed Kate’s elbow. “Everyone is in the Dining Hall. In fifteen minutes the band Rhode has brought will start playing so everyone will be paying attention. Go to your room and stay there until I let you know.”
“What are you planning?”
“We’ll apparate together. We’ll do Sweden, Germany, France and you go to England alone.”
“Corentin...”
“You go. I’ll pick you up in half an hour.” The librarian didn’t give Kate a chance to question him, and she watched him march in his bat form down the corridor.
She turned and broke into a jog towards the side staircase on the ground floor, a shortcut that would take her to her bedroom. She slowed when she felt a presence around her. She sensed desperation by legilimency, and it wasn’t her own. Anger too, even fear.
She turned a corner, but someone was waiting for her. Strong but elegant hands clamped over her mouth and grabbed her robe, pinning her against a chest.. Her pulse quickened, as did her breathing. She tried to free herself from the arm that held her, but it was too strong.
Slowly, the hand covering her mouth slid to the side and reached her neck. Kate couldn’t breathe. She felt the hand tighten around her neck and Mer Yankelevich’s needle-like nails made contact with her skin.
“Give me your wand.” Kate made a movement too sharp for the teacher’s liking and she gripped her tighter. “Slowly.” She tried to take a deep breath, but she had begun to shake in such a way she couldn’t concentrate on her breathing. “Give me your wand, now.”
With an idea half-formed in her head, she moved her left arm to release the wand. Seeing her, Mer snatched it from her hand and jabbed it into her back. “Let’s go for a walk. Don’t even think about running or screaming” They strolled to the other end of the ground floor. They passed by several wizards and in the eyes of the world everything was normal.
Just as the teacher muttered “Incarcerous” the Weasley twins’ wand trap rose into the air and began to hit Mer in the head. Taking advantage of her absent-mindedness, Kate broke free of her grip and ran off in search of the front door. She pulled her real wand out of her other sleeve, knowing Mer was very close behind her.
Just a little closer.
She ran through the sea of people in front of the door, hoping to get lost in the crowd. She glanced back as she went, but there was no sign of the teacher.
She left the castle with bated breath, and hastily pulled her diary from her pocket, muttered ‘Reducto’ turning it into a tiny, almost unrecognisable object, and continued running towards the bridge.
Maybe she could take refuge in the forest, go to the coordinates Dumbledore had given her, maybe the stranger would find her if it was an emergency. She cursed when she remembered she had burned the map.
She was about to reach the other side of the bridge when something hit her from behind, causing her to fall to the ground.
With a scream she hit the stone, and from the ground she saw Mer Yankelevich striding towards her. She looked around frantically, searching for her wand. She reached out and drew the weapon towards her before pointing it at the teacher.
Yankelevich paused, pointing her wand at Kate, and waited for her to rise from the ground. Both witches stared down at each other in a duelling stance, and the spells soon began to explode. Kate fought back as best she could, trying to remember some of Marek’s tricks, but Mer was the Charms teacher and she knew that at any moment she would tire herself out until she lost.
“You’ve got something that’s mine!” shouted Mer between curses.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Kate started to walk backwards, trying to go around Mer and turn her back on the castle, but the teacher was quicker and cornered her against the bridge wall.
“The stone! Where is it?”
“I don’t have any stone!” Kate peeled away from the bridge wall, dodging spells with little grace. One in particular made her ears pop, and she could barely hear Mer accusing her of lying repeatedly.
“How did you get in the room?” shouted Yankelevich, “The column broke!” Kate gasped as a stunning spell hit her leg and she staggered backwards. Focused on not falling to the floor, she didn’t notice the parchment flying out of her robes.
“You broke it?” Kate asked as she tried to catch her breath, “Why?”
“It wasn’t on purpose. That’s the entrance to Grindelwald’s room, and I was trying to open it.” She took a few steps towards Kate, pointing her wand at her. “So tell me; how did you get in?” her accusatory tone made the young witch flinch. Kate bit her tongue, physically, to avoid revealing how wrong she was. In case she didn’t make it out of this situation alive, the teacher must not know her way into the room.
With Charlie in mind, she lowered her wand, hoping to give Yankelevich a sense of security. Band music began to play from inside the castle, conveniently deafening those inside and isolating them from the catastrophe that may or may not be occurring on the bridge.
In only an instant, Kate noticed how the teacher got distracted by the sound of the instruments and took advantage of her glance over her head to begin a duelling offensive. Mer defended herself gracefully, dodging and occasionally returning her opponent’s attacks. Kate’s chances diminished with each spell.
Yankelevich turned her back on the castle, and it was at that moment Kate realised her previous oversight. There, at the feet of the person who might be her executioner, the list of Death Eaters’ names lay within her grasp.
“Mer,” she began cautiously, “all this is for your sister? None of this is worth it.”
“What do you know! Do you have a dead sibling? You have no idea...” It was a stab in the heart without knowing it. The internal debate in Kate’s stomach was making her dizzy, and as she considered whether to tell her story, the teacher crouched at the sight of the document. “We all lose loved ones. Angelov, Jorgensen, Marek, myself.” Mer ignored her.
“So this is how Karkarov intended to communicate with the Ministry...” The parchment flew through the air as Kate’s spell impacted against the teacher’s hand. Both witches began a dance of lights and explosions again, swirling around unknowingly gravitating towards each other.
The castle doors burst open and a third wave of spells shot towards them. Libor Marek was almost galloping in their direction furiously airing his wand.
“Mer!”
Kate let out a choked cry as Yankelevich twisted her arm backwards. She had managed to physically reach her and after pulling at her forearm, one hand with threatening nails anchored her neck against the teacher’s chest; with the other, she pointed her wand at Kate’s temple.
Both witches looked at Marek with completely opposite expressions.
“Mer... Let go of the girl.” He warned, holding up a hand.
“Look, your guardian angel has arrived. Day after day, that man has been preventing you and I from having a friendly chat, always sitting outside your classroom, hovering in the corridors without letting you out of his sight,” she turned to Marek, “tell me Libor, what has this girl done for you?”
“This is not about her. You think I don’t know you were seeing Karkarov on the sly? You think I don’t know that you threatened to turn him in to the Ministry? You think I don’t know that you’re the one who’s been trying to get to that imaginary room?”
“It’s real! She got in with the help of the bat she has as a friend. And now she’s going to tell me how.”
Kate couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You knew?” The accusation was drowned out when the grip around her neck tightened. “She tried to kill Flavia! She practically couldn’t speak!”
“And who do you think stopped her from going to the hospital wing to finish the job, huh?”
“Enough.” Mer finished. She forced Kate to walk to the bridge wall and bent her over the stone. She stared straight into the eyes of the abyss; the fog prevented her from seeing the end, if the cliff had one, and she knew that if she didn’t act soon all that would be left of her would be her memory. “I’m only going to ask you one more time. You found the resurrection stone, where is it?”
“There was no stone!”
She felt the needle stick as if it had happened in slow motion. She brought her hand to her neck as Mer released her and managed to drop to the ground just before the barrage of spells between her and Marek reached her. If she was dizzy before, now she was convinced she was going to throw up.
She slid down the stone to the ground as her vision blurred. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, trying to maintain some control over her body. Spotting her wand near her, she awkwardly crawled towards it, avoiding a violet light that flew treacherously close to her.
She tried to get to her feet, but instantly collapsed again. The nausea was increasing, her vision was blurring more and more, her pulse was throbbing. She pushed her hair out of her face as best she could and rubbed her eyes, but she couldn’t quite focus on the dancing figures circling before her.
Corentin was waiting for her somewhere, probably by the door of her room to take her to a safer place. But she couldn’t reach him, not without the list.
Kate frantically searched for the paper somewhere on the bridge, hoping with all her might that the wind wouldn’t suddenly pick up. Moving her head like that did not help her condition, and the migraines she had been experiencing made their appearance to reinforce her misfortune.
Where were the cavalry? Why was no one from the castle coming to the rescue?
A bitter taste rose in her throat, forcing her to spit out some saliva, which to her horror was whitish. 
No one would come to help her. She would have to save herself.
With what little energy she had left, she stumbled to her feet and took a few steps towards the other side of the bridge. The list was at her fingertips, but the world was spinning and twisting, and now both hands were trembling.
The moment her hand made contact with the paper, a spell exploded against the stone above her head. But she couldn’t back out now. She reached out and caught the parchment between her fingers. She pointed her wand at herself, still shaking, and felt the familiar tug in her stomach that would pull her out. Yankelevich looked with terrified eyes at what was about to happen and pointed her wand at Kate.
The green light of the unforgivable curse never grazed her.
  Kate collapsed to the floor of the grimy Grimmauld Place street with a sob. Corentin had warned her about this; I recommend at least three jumps, the librarian had said.
Lying on the floor with her arms stretched out on her sides, she looked to her right; her eyes were full of tears and her arm full of blood. 
I recommend at least three jumps.
She felt herself choked up again. This time, some foam adorned the corners of her lips, while trying to reach her wand with her left hand.
Three weary taps against the ground caused the building in front of her to awaken, revealing the door of the Black family home. Breathing was getting harder and harder, and with her ears increasingly clogged, Kate tried, to no avail, to stop her splinching from bleeding. Without dittany, it would be impossible.
She raised her wand towards the building with a groan. Unable to utter a word, she concentrated on firing several red lights into the windows. Some bounced off the walls and others off the glass, and she prayed it would be enough, for keeping her arm up was draining her strength.
As the convulsions became more violent, her hand fell to the floor with the rest of her body.
Attempting to keep her eyes open, she made out figures coming out of the house; one was a lanky, black blob she likened to a Dementor by the way his cloak moved; the other was much shorter and rounder with a hint of red hair. The rest of the people who rushed at her were indistinguishable.
Severus Snape forced her eyes open with his fingers, wearing a worried expression. Recognising him, Kate screamed, or at least she thought she did. The only sound that came out of her mouth was a painful sob.
“Darling, darling, look at me, it’s going to be alright,” Molly reassured. Kate wanted to shout that nothing was right, that she was in danger, that the man who was pouring the contents of a potion down her throat was a traitor.
The convulsions hadn’t stopped yet, but the unbearable burning in her arm did. She wanted to watch her wound heal, but Molly clutched her tear-soaked cheek preventing her from seeing the amount of blood that had gushed out from her arm.
“You’ll be fine, sweetheart, you’ll be fine.”
She choked on her saliva and Molly tilted her head to help her spit out the remnants of foam. Several conversations sprang up around her; all seemed distant, like an echo in a cavern.
When the shaking stopped, the relief was almost immediate. Snape forced her jaw open, emptying a vial into her mouth again. The commotion didn’t seem to end; several wizards and witches combed the street for any Muggle witnesses, and others were busy inspecting windows and doors.
Intense pain engulfed her head and mind. Attributing it to migraines, Kate missed the long, silver strand that shot from her temple in the direction of an unknown wand. She closed her eyes, and with one last deep breath everything went black.
--
[Part 17]
--
A/N: Oooooooooof I dont know how did you react to this I’m so nervous
Tag List: @eldritchscreech​
@meteora-fc​
@cazreadsstuff 
@the-navistar-carol​
@am-i-space​
27 notes · View notes
lexpressobean · 3 years
Text
Parent/Teacher Night
In which Shikamaru steps in as Mirai's guardian to help her complete her unofficial assignment of the night and subsequently suffers from nostalgia induced shock from unforeseen circumstances.
**Modern AU, Mild Swearing, late 20-something adults who simply care about the same 10-year-old kid lol
Edit: Now available on AO3 too!
•••
Shikamaru had gladly accepted Kurenai's request for him to attend Parent-Teacher night with Mirai in her absence. It had been his day off after all, and he hadn't planned anything anyway. Plus, it'd only take, what, half an hour at most back and forth? Maybe he could even treat Mirai to dinner, just 'cause it had been a while. Normally, Kurenai would have skipped it all together due to her schedule, just this one time, but apparently Mirai's teacher was offering extra credit to the students as an incentive for them to have their parents come. And Mirai was very adamant that she shouldn't waste such an opportunity. Not for this teacher.
Shikamaru wondered what seemed to make this teacher so special to Mirai anyway. When he asked, Mirai seemed confused.
"You don't know, Shikamaru?"
"... Well, it's not like I've met the teacher either Mirai. But this teacher must be really good at their job if you like them that much already."
Mirai gave him a gleeful grin, "Watch, you'll see!"
And see he did.
Shikamaru wasn't expecting to run into such a classicaly "tall, dark, and handsome" form in the classroom. He certainly wasn't expecting that man to BE the teacher.
"Shino-sensei!" Mirai called, running over to greet him.
And at that, something froze Shikamaru in place. Something almost urgent... Wait... Shino? Shino... Why did that name sound familiar...?
The teacher turned just in time to take her glomp's impact with a deep, "OOF!" into his abdomen, and Shikamaru got distracted by the sound of his voice. Wow, deep... but then Shikamaru noticed his glasses misaligned in the process, and Shikamaru then realized they were... sunglasses? Indoors? Ha, this guy... Shikamaru wasn't necessarily gonna dock him points for that. But the only other person Shikamaru remembers doing that unironically was-
...
... Oh wait...
Oh... Wait.
OH. OH, HOLY SHIT!?
WAIT, THAT'S SHINO!? AS IN "SHINO ABURAME" SHINO!?!?!?
...
W H A T ! ?
"Ah... Mirai, hello. I thought you and your mother weren't coming. I told you it's okay, sometimes people can't come."
"Shikamaru came with me! I didn't want to miss the extra credit!"
"Shikamaru?"
"He's technically my godfather, so it counts, right?"
Shino stayed quiet for a moment and looked over towards the doorway where Shikamaru was still standing. As he recognized Shikamaru, Shino straightened up, gave a brief wave and... a smile?
Shikamaru was dumbfounded. Just a minute ago, he would've simply held up an open hand in response as he subtley and respectfully checked him out. Seriously, how could he not? But, now the movement of Shino's wave snapped him out of his thoughts and Shikamaru probably waved more than really needed to acknowledge the teacher. And he cursed at himself inwardly as soon as Shino looked back to Mirai. Was he blushing? It was feeling kinda hot in the classroom all of a sudden...!
"Alright Mirai, thank-you for coming, but for now please wait your turn, okay?"
"Alright!" Mirai walked back to Shikamaru, smiling widely proud of herself.
From far away, he could hear Shino's voice, "Sorry for the interruption. You see-"
"Surprise, Shikamaru!"
Mirai knew. This whole time. And the more he thought about it, Shikamaru at one point knew too. He just... simply forgot... Wow, what a thing to forget. Damn it, why didn't Shikamaru ask more questions earlier? Why didn't she just tell Shikamaru? Hell, why didn't KURENAI tell Shikamaru!?
"Yeah, I guess you're right..."
As Mirai led Shikamaru around the classroom, he started to try and recall more about Shino. It was all coming to him, slowly but surely. And if what he recalled was correct, this neat and organized classroom definitely would scream Shino. It was decorated with the typical posters meant to be both fun and helpful, and colorful and eye catching. Shikamaru even recognized many of the books in the shelves, though most he never actually read any of them. But there were traces of decorations here and there that were definitely conscious choices. Namely pictures of worms in apples, ladybugs, ants and bees symbolizing teamwork, things like that. Shino was a fan of bugs afterall.
Then Shikamaru found some board games and noted shogi was among them. He was tempted for a split second to pull it out and challenge Mirai to a game, but thought better of it. But what Mirai was most eager to show Shikamaru was her seat. Or rather, what was nearly right next to her seat.
In a terrarium, no doubt from Shino's collection if Kiba told him the truth, held a black and white worm. Except the worm had these orange like eye markings all along either side if it, and black dots in each eye shape... Shikamaru thought it looked kinda goth for a bug.
"We all decided to name it Daidai! Shino-sensei says this one will turn into a moth. Before Daidai, we had a catepillar we all named Marugao, because it's head was so big! But when he became a butterfly, he was so pretty, he almost shimmered!"
As Mirai gushed about how she got to sit next to Daidai, Shikamaru stole a glance at Shino once more. He was still making rounds, and it looked like no one else had come into the classroom either. Hm, looks like they were gonna be last.
Sunglasses had always hid Shino's eyes, ever since they were kids. Shikamaru couldn't quite recall if they were actually prescription or not, but up to this point, they had always been a constant. Otherwise... his former classmate really was virtually unrecognizable. And now that he thought about it, Shikamaru recalled that Shino had graduated from university with a teaching degree some years back, but this information had only been secondhand from Kiba on social media. Shikamaru wasn't even sure if Shino had social media...
Meanwhile, Shikamaru had barely been back in town for still less than a year. It wasn't his fault if he didn't know Shino's business. Medical school was gruelling, and anesthesia was no joke.
But still... Shikamaru had been expecting something similar from Shino. Maybe not a medical doctor, but a doctorate? Hadn't he been in the Environmental Club in high school? He seemed like he would've been very interested in the natural sciences, and definitely had the means... It was just kind if odd. He was an academic star that was always competing with both Ino and Sakura for top of the class as far as he could remember. And those ladies had gone to school to become a Pediatric Psychiatrist and Pediatric Surgeon respectively too. They were all a smart bunch, no doubt about that.
Yet, Shino had always been... different too. He had looked like a troublemaker with the beanies he wore, and his messy, nearly kinky curls always managed to find a way to stick out in the back. And he always had baggy looking clothing on in layers during any kind of weather. Plus he had a bad case of RBF Syndrome too, which would alarm a few others because he was always so good at blending into the background, yet when noticed, he looked like the kind of guy that would mess you up for just breathing funny. He had always been taller than most too, that probably didn't help.
But he wasn't a bad kid at all. Not like Naruto and Kiba anyway. Acording to Kiba, Shino's loner tendencies were due to simple shyness. And he would know, as Kiba and Shino seemed to grow close after they opted to join the Environmental Club separately in high school, which happened to be run by Kurenai-sensei. And that's all Shikamaru really knew, because when Kiba would come out and about Shino hardly ever came. Kiba could be pushy, which is how Shikamaru suspected the pair became friends in the first place, but apparently not enough to enjoy a party or things like that together outside of school... Maybe once or twice? Not even at Naruto's insistence could make him a regular, as Naruto was... an "unofficial" member of the Environment Club. Meaning he'd just crash the club's outings when they did plant specific activities. Naruto had a green thumb after all.
Actually, it always seemed like Kiba and Naruto were those extroverts that had the habit of adopting introvert friends so to speak. Funnily enough, their respective adoptees had already known each other too. But Sasuke was even LESS friendlier than Shino, and even Shino seemed annoyed with him, one of those rare times he let his thoughts show in his expression...
But today, in the yellowish glow of the classroom lights... something was definitely different. From his smoothed out hair tied up into modern bun on his hatless head and his open, light duty trenchcoat that really... accentuated his very... broad, adult figure... It was most definitely different... but the most dynamic change of all had to be that Shikamaru had never seen Shino so soft in the face before. Behind those shades, he looked... relaxed, and when he spoke, it sounded so... nice? Definitely not a bad thing at all...
And suddenly there was a hand in front of Shikamaru's face.
"-kamru...Shikamaru?"
"HUH!? What?"
... Oh... Hell, he spaced out.
"... Shikamaru, are you okay? Busy day at work at the hospital maybe?"
HUH!? How did Shino know that? "Uh! Yeah, kinda..." he shook his head, "Well no, that's not it, today was actually my day off. I worked yesterday. Still a little out of it looks like," he added with a casual chuckle. At least he hoped he sounded casual.
Shino frowned, eyebrows knit into concern. Ah man, how embarrassing! Had Shikamaru been caught starting with a dopey look on his face?
"... I'm sorry, maybe extra credit was a bad idea this time around. Mirai is so dutiful, I didn't mean for anyone to be dragged here."
"What? No way, I wasn't dragged here. Mirai is my Goddaughter, Shino, so I'm perfectly ready to be informed about her progress. I agreed to come, it's no big deal."
The now teacher looked at Shikamaru with a slight head tilt to the right... And then another small smile. Wow, he really had to stop doing that!
"Well, all in all, Mirai is actually doing very well. She already excels in her studies and is easily one of our most engaged and top students at this time. She's still young, but she shows a lot of scholarly promise."
"Ah, I see. Do... do you see any areas in need of improvement?"
"Well, there's always room for improvement of course. But in Mirai's case..."
Shino looked over at Mirai who was at the snack table. She had walked over to get a couple of cookies and was seemingly cornered by a classmate into a chat.
"... I think, she could benefit from some encouragement to be more social."
"More social?"
Shikamaru followed Shino's gaze and saw Mirai talking to her classmate, her expression showing patience more than anything... It looked like the other little girl was chatting up a storm.
"Don't misunderstand, she's definitely a team player and is very respectful. However, her maturity level is above many of her classmates. As a result, she tends to prefer to study on her own..."
Well, that rang a bell. Shikamaru could've sworn that Shino was the same way back then. But Mirai didn't resemble Shino at all.
"Is she quiet?" Shikamaru asked.
"Oh, no, thankfully she's still quite engaged. If anything, sometimes she may overthink things. I've noted she's a bit of a perfectionist, and so is actually a little slower on average during tests, but she's an avid question asker too. If she just had some more confidence in her self and would... relax a little more, I think it'd be good for her. She's still a kid after all, she should feel allowed to act like one."
That was a strange thing to say... Did Mirai... not feel okay?
"... She's Kurenai-sensei's daughter, so I try not to favor her. It's kind of hard when she used to ride on my shoulders during reunions and things like that though."
Shino gives a small, warm smile in Mirai's direction. And Shikamaru is kind of touched. Despite the shades, his fondness for Mirai is so obvious. It makes Shikamaru glad to know she has Shino to come to during school time. At least that was something....
Then, Shino turned back to Shikamaru, who was TOTALLY not staring just now.
"But it's necessary. She's... too comfortable with me... If earlier didn't make that obvious."
Shikamaru did have it in his mind to scold Mirai about that, but that was a talk for later. More private.
"I had meant to bring this up with Kurenai, but Mirai also... has had a habit of staying in the classroom during lunch and recess. I've had to move to the teacher's lounge during just to get her outside..."
"What? Really?"
Shino nodded, eyebrows knitted and a smile that showed a regretful sympathy.
"... I wonder what that could be about..."
"I suppose some kids find it hard to socialize, but she needs a more... balanced perception of boundries. In no time, she'll have her own mother for a teacher too. Otherwise, she's generally doing pretty well."
Shit. Shino was thinking way ahead, Kurenai was a high school teacher. But... he was right, this couldn't be allowed to go on.
"Shikamaru?"
"Hm? Yes?"
"Did you have any more questions?"
"Uh... No, I... don't think so. But, even though I'm sure you don't have to be asked, please, continue to take care of her."
Shino perked up a little at that before smiling at Shikamaru again! It made it hard to stare him in the face, "Of course."
... Damn... Was Shino's smile... always this cute?
"Shikamaru! I brought you a cookie."
"Oh, thank-you."
"Did you want one too Buggy... I mean... Shino... sensei?"
"... Buggy?" Shikamaru repeated.
"... Ah, Sensei I'm sorry, I did it again...!"
Shino pat Mirai's head, and gave a small chuckle even. Shikamaru was all ears, "It's okay Mirai, I'm know you're trying. No offense taken."
"I really am, I promise!" she assured, "So did you want one?"
"No thank-you Mirai, it's for the guests. You go ahead."
"Okay, sensei."
Shikamaru couldn't help it. He just had to say something.
"Hey Shino."
"Yes?"
"You must be pretty suited to teaching."
"Oh? What makes you sat that?"
"I mean... It's been a while. Actually it's been a long time, but... well, I don't think I've ever seen you quite like this before..."
"Pardon?"
"I dunno, you just seem... Very much in your element here. I'm glad the whole instructor thing really worked out. You've been here for a few years already, haven't you?
"Oh... Thank-you, Shikamaru... And yes, I have. I appreciate that."
This time Shino GRINNED. And Shikamaru suddenly was very aware of his... jawline... uh...
"Y-Yeah, of course! Well, I'm sure there's other parents you need to talk to..."
"Right, that is true." A couple more stragglers had come in.
"But here, hold on a sec," Shikamaru pulled out his phone, "I don't think we've ever traded information before. Wanna trade now? I'll send you a text back."
"Oh," Shino was a bit surprised, "Um. Okay, sure."
After getting his number, Shikamaru sent a text and could hear one of Shino's pockets vibrate.
"There, all set! Thanks for talking with me, Shino."
"Thank-you for coming. And if you're not terribly busy, I trust you will be the one to come when Kurenai-sensei is unavailable?"
"Yes. Yes, that'll be the plan," Shikamaru decided right then and there.
"Alright, thank-you Shikamaru."
"No, thank-you. C'mon Mirai, let's go. Goodbye, Shino.
"Bye Shino-sensei!"
"Goodbye."
-
"Shikamaru! Can we go eat something? I'm starving!"
"What do you want?"
"Yakisoba!!"
"Haha, alright, sure."
Mirai gave Shikamaru a sudden and huge hug.
"Whoa, what's up?"
"I'm just so happy you came, Shikamaru! So thank-you!" she beamed.
It tugged on Shikamaru's heartstrings a bit. She really had missed him, huh? "You don't have to thank me, Mirai, but your welcome anyway. C'mon, let's go."
"It was nice that you and Shino-sensei got to see each other again too, don't you think?"
"Uh, yeah, it was quite the surprise. But a welcomed one."
Hmmm... It looks like Kurenai was gonna have to be unavailable for the next few parent-teacher nights....
••
I kept tweaking it and tweaking it until I decided to simply stop. So sorry for any grammar or syntax errors, but I just needed to get this out of my system haha
17 notes · View notes