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danses-with-dogmeat · 3 years

Note

Howdy! I got an ask/react for the Fo4 companions! How would a romanced companion react to Sole (preferably female) doing things to make them feel 'stronger' or 'protective' over her? Some random examples: Sole "can't" open something and has to ask for help/Sole conveniently forgets her overcoat when she knows it's going to be cold out, etc. the little things :) (Extra thing: you don't have to but if you could go into a bit more depth for Deacon and Hancock's response that'd be great :D )

Okay, this was so. much. fun. I took a few... creative liberties with the prompt, but I hope it’s still in the realm of what you were looking for! And, of course, thank you so much for the ask! I hope you like it!

Cait:

Sole pressed a cold cloth to Cait's cheekbone, and she hissed at the pressure of the contact on her swollen cheek.

"Shit, sorry, Cait."

"Eh, I've had worse licks than this."

"I know, but still… this one is definitely my fault."

"It's hardly yer fault, luv, I'm the one who got meself inte this."

"How? I'm the one who started the fight." Sole protested, pulling her hand back so she could look her companion in the eye.

"Maybe, but I'm the one who gave you yer drinkin’ problem, and that's what got us inte the fight in the first place." Sole chuckled at that, shaking her head. The two had had this discussion what seemed like a hundred times, both trying to take the blame for the constant slew of bar fights that they found themselves getting into.

Tonight, it had been four intoxicated men who had decided it was a neat idea to discuss the details of what they’d do to Cait if they could get her drunk enough. While the redhead hadn’t seemed to hear, Sole had briskly made her way over to the group to give her two cents on these ideas of theirs. So, Cait had a point, maybe if Sole hadn’t had quite so much whiskey, she could’ve tried to solve the problem more... verbally. But alas, her confrontation had officially started with her fist landing at the temple of the man nearest to her, effectively knocking him out. And it had ended with Cait hauling Sole to her feet after disposing of the man’s companions.

Cait picked absent-mindedly at the scabs forming on her knuckles as Sole brought the wet rag up to her face once more, dabbing at the blood next to Cait's lip.

"God, how is it that you always end up with the injuries? All I got was a bruise to the cheek, and yet, here you are, looking like a human punching bag."

"I can tell ya that. It's cus it's always me rushin' in te save your arse. Why do you always take on more than ye can handle?" Sole snickered, not knowing if Cait found her own words as amusing as she had.

"Because, I know no matter how many assholes I take on, you'll always be there to save me." Cait made a disgusted sound, rolling her eyes at that, much like Sole thought she would, before letting her emerald gaze meet Sole's eyes.

"I wish you weren't, but yer damn right." Cait said, and Sole felt a little jump in her chest at the sentiment. Cait wasn’t the most tender person in the wasteland, but somehow, she always seemed to know what to say; to Sole, anyway.

The pair sat silently for a bit as Sole finished cleaning up her defender. Wiping down her bloodied hands, and the remainder of the crusted crimson on her face.

"Are ya done fussin yet? I'm tellin’ you, I'm fine. Can we just go te sleep already?"

"One more spot left." She told her, bringing the rag up to her bruised face once more. Sole's eyes fell to Cait's swollen lips as she drew the cool fabric over them, before leaning in to press her mouth softly to Cait's. Sole pulled away, but stayed close enough for Cait to feel her warm, whiskey-tinged breath fan over her as she whispered,

"Thank you for saving me tonight. I really was way in over my head." Sole looked down, embarrassed at her admission, as Cait smiled at her.

"It was my pleasure, luv. As you said, I'll always be there te save yer arse."

Curie:

"You know, you don't have to come to me for something as small as zhis." Curie said as she examined the minor cut on Sole’s arm. “You could patch zhis up yourself easily!”

“Well…” Sole felt heat rise to her cheeks as she searched for an explanation. She knew that every time she came to Curie for something like this, she was taking up the doctor’s precious time, but she couldn’t help herself. What was she supposed to do when Curie insisted on working all day when they were at a settlement? They usually came to settlements to relax, to help make repairs and look into any problems the settlers might be having, but Curie always insisted on doing check-ups for everyone in their vicinity. Sole loved her selflessness and dedication to her work, but… When were they supposed to spend time together? This is what I get for having a workaholic for a girlfriend.

“You know, infection is a big problem out here. I just thought it would be best to seek the help of a professional.”

“Oh, of course, of course. How responsible of you.” Sole bit at her lip as Curie laughed at her. Well, she really has caught onto the whole ‘sarcasm’ thing.

“Fortunately, you do not need to worry about infection in zhis, it iz not deep. But come here, with me.” Curie urged Sole off of the cot she was seated on and brought her to a table at the back of the clinic.

“Wait here, se vous plait.” With that, Curie disappeared around the corner, and Sole stood around, twiddling her thumbs, as she tried to think of an excuse to get Curie off of work early.

“I was going to clean my supplies with zhis, but we can do your arm first.” Curie said as she came around the corner, a bucket of soapy water in-hand.

“Here.” Curie set the bucket onto the table and had Sole hold out her arm as she produced a clean rag from the pocket of her lab coat, and dunked it into the warm water. Sole watched as Curie wrung out the cloth, and brought it to the miniscule wound on her arm.

It was comical, really, the care that Curie took in cleaning the cut that couldn’t have been more than an inch long, and was almost too thin to see. Another rush of heat made its way to Sole’s cheeks as she realized how ridiculous she must seem to the doctor, but Curie made no complaints as she used the other side of the rag to dry off her arm.

“Zhere! It should be all better. I can wrap it for you too, if you’d like.”

“Thanks Curie, you’re a lifesaver. But I don’t think you really need to wrap it.” The synth laughed at her as she threw the rag into a basket and picked up the bucket again.

“Oh, mon dieu, I don’t know about zhat.” She shook her head, a pink tint coming to her pale cheeks at Sole’s flattery as she turned to go into the back of the clinic again.

“Wait!” Sole said, reaching out her “good” arm to stop Curie before she could vanish around the corner once more. Curie looked at her, a questioning expression on her face. Sole stood, her hand still wrapped around Curie’s forearm, utterly at a loss of what to say. I just don’t want you to go. It’ll be another four hours until you get off.

I think you should take a break?

Maybe you should have a half day?

Do you need some help here at the clinic? God, when did I become so damn clingy?

“Hmm.” Curie’s eyes pierced into Sole’s as a knowing look washed over her face. “I zhink I know what it is you want.” Sole just stared ahead, wondering silently if that were true. The doctor set down the bucket yet again, delicately taking a hold of Sole’s “injured” arm once more. Slowly, she brought it upwards, then lowered her head to place her lips gently over the cut. “Iz zhat better?”

Sole giggled, still embarrassed, but definitely glad she had come to interrupt Curie’s work. I guess I can wait a little longer. Maybe make us a nice dinner for tonight...

“Much. Thanks again, Curie.”

“Of course! Anytime, mon amour.”

Danse:

Sole sat at the kitchen table, draining the last of her coffee as her gaze fell to Danse, where he was seated on the steps outside the front door of her Sanctuary home. He stared ahead blankly, brows knitted together above his lusterless eyes as his hands worked to remove a spot of rust from a piece of power armor he had taken off his suit temporarily. Lately, the ex-paladin had been adept in putting on a show for Sole, making her think that he was okay, even after everything that had changed in his life over the course of a few hours. It had been over a week since he had found out about his true identity, and in that time, Sole could tell that he had tried to remain strong. For whom, she wasn’t sure. She thought she had made it clear to him that she didn’t care about his “strength” in these times, she just wanted him to get through them, whatever the means. Yet, he only seemed to don this look of despair and hopelessness whenever he thought she wasn’t looking, and if she tried to bring it up, he would always attempt to change the subject, or he would tell her not to worry and simply say that he was still working on “adjusting.”

She hated when he didn’t talk to her. The seemingly insensitive man was always happy to listen to Sole’s problems and offer what advice he could, often suggesting that she discuss her own issues as a form of therapy. But God forbid she tries to get him to do the same. Sole sighed as she mulled over what to do, and noticed Danse’s head twitch to the side, listening, before his gaze dropped down to focus on his task.

He’s been working on that same spot for almost an hour. If it’s not out yet, I don’t think it ever will be. Sole looked around the room, trying to find something that could possibly serve as a proper distraction for Danse, and her eyes fell to the wooden stereo below the window in the living room. She had left it there because she simply didn’t have the heart to scrap the old thing. Too many good memories surrounded it. Memories of her and Nate, dancing the night away as the records spun on and on playing soft love songs until the sun rose; of her rocking Shaun in her arms as she mosied around the living room, listening to the nursery rhyme vinyls that she had received as gifts at her baby shower... But those memories, they were from another life.

Sole shook her head. This is about him, she thought, not me. I can deal with my shit later. Right now, I need to focus on Danse.

She huffed another sigh, this time a bit louder, and watched as Danse ceased his hand movements and tilted his ear towards her again.

“Is everything alright?” He turned to look at where she sat, and Sole tried to look melancholic.

“It’s just… You know… nevermind, it’s not important.” Just as she assumed he would, Danse stood up and walked inside the house, setting the piece of armor and the rag on the table, and pulled out a chair so he could sit beside her. He looked down at her hands, which rested on top of the table near her empty coffee mug. She could practically see the sweat beading on his forehead as he hesitantly brought one of his large hands to rest over the top of her own. Ever since he found out what he was, he’s been afraid to touch me. So... this is a good sign, at least.

“If something’s wrong, I want to know.” He said as he looked up to meet her gaze, his worried expression matching the concern she was feeling towards him. Sole took a breath to appear as though she was steadying herself.

“It’s just… being in this house. It’s great, I mean, it’s still my home and everything, and I don’t want to go anywhere else, but…” she trailed off, her troubled expression only half-feigned at this point, given the truth behind her words. His eyes never wavered, silently encouraging her to continue.

“Some things are harder to look at than others. And that damn stereo over there just has to be staring straight at me every time I sit down at the table, it’s the hardest one for me to see. It's just, it was a house-warming present from my parents. They gave it to me and Nate after the wedding, and now… well, there are no more records to play on it. They were all ruined, and even if they weren't, I don’t think the thing would work anyway. But every time I see it, it reminds me of the people I’ve lost. My parents… Nate… even Shaun.” Sole didn’t have to fake the tears that came unbidden to her eyes as she recalled the memories of her loved ones, and she knew Danse hadn’t missed a thing when he started rubbing her hand softly with his. They sat there in silence for a moment, as Danse tried to reassure her with his gentle touch.

Then, still remaining silent, Danse stood, reaching his hand forward to brush his thumb over Sole’s cheek, wiping away the tear that had fallen. He then turned towards the living room, but instead of going straight to the stereo, as Sole thought he might, Danse opened the side door that led to the covered driveway. She watched as he doubled back, now approaching the stereo. Sole wasn’t sure what she had expected him to do when she mentioned her problem to him; maybe offer to help her take the thing apart, or try and see if it still worked, or simply give her another perspective on how she should view the piece of 200-year-old furniture. Whatever she expected, it certainly hadn’t been this.

Danse squatted down in front of the large wooden beast of a stereo, wrapped his broad arms almost all the way around it, and stood, lifting the whole damn thing up until he was standing completely upright with the stereo held firmly to his chest. Sole’s mouth hung open as she remained seated at the table, seemingly paralyzed by the shock of what she was witnessing, as Danse sauntered awkwardly towards the exit. A thick vein protruded from his neck as he twisted the piece of furniture to fit through the door, and made his way out into the driveway.

Sole heard a groan from outside, accompanied by the sound of something hard hitting concrete. She stood up, prepared to head outside and see what exactly he’d done with her “problem,” but before she reached the doorway, she heard him call from outside,

“You can’t still see it, can you?”

“Um… no. But Danse, is it-- I mean, are you okay? It took like, four people to bring that thing in when we first moved it to the house.” The brawny ex-soldier appeared in the doorway, his chest still heaving from the effort of wrestling the wooden monster outside. He nodded to her,

“I'm fine." He huffed, "You don’t need to go out there. I’ll take it apart later, if you’d like. Or we can store it somewhere for the time being.” She shook her head at him, a little smile touching her lips. Even after everything he’s been through, he's still always looking out for me. Even with something as small and insignificant as this.

“You know,” she said quietly, “you didn’t have to do that.” Danse looked down at his feet, seemingly searching for something to say in response.

“But thank you.” Sole finished, and his eyes came back up to meet hers. For a moment, she saw a spark return to Danse’s amber eyes as the smallest hint of a smile softened his expression, and Sole felt hope. Hope for him overcoming his grief in this time of crisis, and hope for herself in being able to move on from the memories that had kept her chained to her past for so long. Together, she felt like the two of them could overcome anything.

Deacon:

“Yes. Two please.” Sole said as Takahashi voiced the only question he ever seemed to ask. The robot placed two bowls of scrumptious smelling power noodles in front of her, and she reached for the bag of caps hanging from her belt. As she looked down to count her money, she heard a clatter of bottlecaps hitting the counter beside her.

“Got it covered. Come on, let’s dig in.” Deacon grabbed a bowl in each hand and headed over to a couple of empty seats at the bar.

“I thought you were still trying to stay undercover?" Sole gestured to the Diamond City guard outfit that the spy donned. "Doesn’t it kinda ruin the illusion if you’re seen in public with me?” She said as she followed him over, sealing up her cap purse once again.

“What? You’ve never seen one of these guys at the noodle stand? Cuz I sure have. Just don’t talk to me, and I’ll be good.” Sole shook her head as she took a seat beside him, instantly deciding to ignore his request.

“Hey officer, I’ve got a question.” Sole swirled her chopsticks around the steaming bowl in front of her, before taking a bite.

“Yes, citizen?”

“Hold on--” she said through a mouthful of noodles.

Deacon laughed as he looked at her full mouth,

“Why--” He tried to talk through his bout of chuckling, “Why would you say you’re going to ask me a question and then take a big bite of food? What did you think would happen?”

Deacon thought he heard her tell him to ‘shut up,’ but it was hard to tell, given the noodles that filled her mouth, and the fact that she was nearly choking in her own fit of laughter.

Eventually, she managed to swallow her food successfully, and was finally able to get some words out.

"No, okay, serious question--" Deacon interrupted her with a snap of his fingers,

"Serious answer." Her genuine curiosity forced Sole to ignore him, and continue with her question.

"Tell me, why do you always pay for everything?" She asked.

"Ma'am, I am a law-abiding security officer. I always pay for the products that I intend to consume."

"I said serious, Deacon."

"Hey, shush!" He brought a hand up to Sole's mouth at the mention of his name, "What part of undercover did you not get?" She cocked a brow at his faked panic expression, noting the grin that he was trying to hide, as he lowered his head and turned back to his noodles.

"Like, okay," she continued, expanding on her inquiry, "whenever we go anywhere, you always pay for everything, and it's really odd. I've never met anyone in the wasteland who's done that, everyone's too busy trying to keep themselves alive to worry about paying for others. So, what? Are you, like, rich or something? I mean, c'mon, what's the deal? I have caps on me all the time, you know that, right?"

"Oh?" Sole saw his eyebrows rise above the tops of his sunglasses as he turned to look at her, "you don't think I'm doing this out of the goodness of my cold, black, heart, do you? No, I'm running a tab over here, honey. You owe me, big time." Sole narrowed her eyes at him, her uncertainty keeping her lips sealed.

"You mean, you didn’t know? Look, I don't know what to tell you," Deacon continued, "I thought you knew! Man, I'm glad you found out this way. Now it won't be such a rude awakening when the invoice comes."

Deacon turned back to his noodles, shaking his head at the thought. Sole's gaze bore into him, trying to figure out his level of seriousness. I really wish I was better at this. This is why I believed he was a synth for a month and a half.

"And if I don't have the money… you're not gonna call out a hit on me or anything, are you?"

“Hmm," he brought a hand to his chin, stroking his finger over it animatedly, "surely there must be some way you could pay me back…” He turned to look at her, wiggling his eyebrows as he did so, and she rolled her eyes, looking back to her noodles as she scoffed.

"Hey! What's with the face! I was talking about community service. Y'know, helping the children, and the elderly, all that good stuff. Get your mind out of the gutter, perv. And to think, I was going to have you volunteering at the children's hospital next week."

Sole instantly regretted taking another bite, as she tried desperately to fend off a fit of giggling in an effort to keep from choking again.

"I can't keep up with you Deacon," she said as she swallowed her food. "You're gonna kill me one of these days."

"Eh, don't worry, I can pay for the funeral." Sole raised a hand and shoved him in the shoulder playfully as he grinned at her.

"Okay, really, though. You do know I can pay occasionally, right?"

"Yeah, I know, I'm your partner, remember? I'm pretty much right next to you whenever you get paid.”

"So… then, why do you do it?"

"Do what?" Sole's nostrils flared at his obnoxious question.

"No? Joke didn’t land? Okay. Serious time," he flung his hands in the air as if surrendering, "I read about something… wasn't it, like, customary before the war to pay for stuff for your… friends?" Sole scrunched her eyebrows in thought,

"Friends? Not really. Significant other? Yeah, a little more common." She looked to where Deacon stared down at his noodles.

Is that, is he... blushing?

"But hey, I don't mind if you don't." She finished, tilting her head forward, in an attempt to catch Deacon's eye. She spotted a flushed little grin spread on his face, before he leaned his head back, restoring his cool composure.

"Oopsies, sorry about that, then. But I did warn you, I'm pretty new to this whole friend thing. So… you know, that's on you."

Hancock:

The ghoul lounged comfortably on the couch in the Old State House, idly playing with his combat knife as he waited for Sole to finish readying herself for their outing.

“Ahhh!”

Hancock leapt from his place on the couch at the sound of Sole’s shriek, his combat knife instinctively falling into a position poised for violence.

He ran across the hall, crashing through the door and into the bedroom. Teeth bared and eyes wide, his head lashed from side to side in search of Sole’s assailant. He spotted her, cowering in the corner as she raised a shaky hand to point at the opposite side of the room.

Hancock’s glare followed Sole’s fear-stricken gaze, and he started towards the desk in the corner she had pointed to, but ultimately failed to see what it was causing her distress.

He turned back to her, an eyebrow cocked, as he raised the silent question of what had been the cause of her terror.

“On the desk!” She said, pointing towards it again, this time with greater intensity. Hancock slowly approached the corner of the room, knife still at the ready, as his eyes continued to search for any sign of… well, anything, really. An exasperated smile spread across his lips as his eyes fell to your attacker. A small, brown, spider picked its way through the objects littering the top of the desk, and Hancock had to hold back a laugh.

“This is what had you all riled up? Oh, sweetheart, he’s just a little spider. C��mon now, he won’t hurt ya.”

“You don't know that.” She said firmly, her round eyes still trained on the desk. It had sounded like a joke, but her expression remained serious.

“Alright, you want me to get rid of him for you?” She nodded her head vigorously, and he chuckled as he turned his attention to the unsuspecting arachnid. He watched as it delicately stepped over a series of writing utensils, and Hancock frowned. Bringing his knife up to the top of the desk, he rested the flat of his blade directly in the spider’s path,

“That’s it, up you go, little guy.” He said quietly, as it stepped onto his steel vessel. Hancock twisted the knife around in his grip as the spider crawled around it, and made his way to the balcony. Once outside, he tipped his knife to the railing, encouraging the spider to crawl off the tip of the blade. Once the spider was safely making its way along the top of the railing, Hancock turned back towards the doorway.

“There,” he said, stepping back inside, “Now he can’t hurt ya, he’s all the way out there.”

“You… you didn’t kill it?” She asked, tentatively standing up.

“Nah, we only hurt the ones who hurt somebody else first, remember?”

“You don’t know that he didn’t hurt anybody.” She mumbled as Hancock sauntered over to her.

“Aw, give him a chance, maybe he can change, y’know? He doesn't really seem like the troublemaking type to me, anyhow.” He brought his hands to your waist, a smug expression playing on his face.

“Oh yeah, just like the way you always tell people you’ve changed?” She said, sliding her hands up his chest to rest them on his shoulders. “Way I see it, you’re still just as bad an influence on me as when I met you.” She said, a playful glint dancing in her eyes.

“Hmm, maybe you’re right, sunshine. Maybe I can't change any more. Maybe it's just my nature to be a bad influence on you.” He said quietly, a wolfish grin spreading across his face as he leaned into her.

“Huh, maybe so. But bad influence or not," she pulled away from him slightly, to look up into his smoky eyes, "you really did save me back there. And, I know it seems silly... but I am grateful." His eyes softened at her little confession and, though he knew this too was silly, he couldn’t help but feel a swell in his chest at the thought of "saving" her.

“And I’ll always be here to save you... from any spiders we happen to come across.” He pecked her lips tenderly, their close proximity practically forcing his mouth to hers. He should’ve known better, once he had a taste, he couldn’t get enough of her.

“Even though,” He continued, as he pressed a kiss to her nose, “I’ve seen you,” then to her right cheek, “take down,” now her left, “deathclaws,” another to her jaw, “single handedly,” and now down to her neck, “I’ll be sure to handle all the unruly arachnids.” He whispered into the crook of her neck, before moving upwards again and pressing one more kiss to her forehead. He watched, grinning like an idiot in love, as a crimson flush crept up her cheeks. He wasn’t sure if it was from the embarrassment she felt regarding her phobia, or from the heat of his lips on her skin, but he decided it didn’t matter. Either way, he found it irresistibly adorable, and with that, he set his sights on her lips once more.

MacCready:

MacCready sat on the floor, legs crossed, as he counted his ammunition cartridges. There were four of the .308, six of the .50, ten of the 10mm, and a few of the .38. There certainly wasn’t as much as he’d hoped there’d be, but he wasn't worried. Sole always seemed to have ammo to spare, and she wasn't stingy with it like he was. It was yet another perk to being with her.

He gathered his full magazines together near the ammo bag resting beside him, so he could begin placing them inside in preparation for their next outing.

"How are you doing over there, babe?" He asked as he stored the outlying bullets in little bags.

"I think... you know what, nevermind. I'm good." MacCready ceased his action, turning to look at where Sole knelt on the carpet of her Diamond City home. A pile of bullets and empty magazines surrounded her, the stack of seemingly full cartridges was pitifully small compared to his own.

"You, ah, need some help?"

"... No.”

"Mmhm, okay.” he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, but she wouldn’t look up at him.

“Well,” he continued, “I'm going to put my full mags in the ammo bag, why don't I grab yours too." The sniper stood up, and made his way over to her, bending down to grab the cartridges that looked full.

"Wait! No, these, um, these ones aren't done yet." MacCready's eyebrows furrowed, but the shadow of a smile began to spread to his lips as he realized what was going on.

"So," he said, kneeling down so he could see her pretty little embarrassed face. "You haven't finished loading any of them?"

“No." She said quietly, refusing to meet his gaze. MacCready lowered his head so that he was looking up at her as her eyes stayed fixed on the floor. A lock of hair was draped over her forehead, obstructing his view. He reached a hand up and gently pushed it behind her ear, leaning in to give her nose a small peck with his lips.

"You want some help?" He said as Sole raised her gaze to meet his, a small blush forming on her cheeks. She didn't say anything, only nodded yes.

"Alright, you know, you could’ve just asked. I might have said ‘no’ the first time, but you know me, I eventually would’ve come around." MacCready said as he set to work with the magazines that had appeared full, but in reality, only housed half of the amount of ammunition that they could fit within them. He snickered in understanding, it really was the second half of bullets that was hard to load.

"Thank you, sweetie. You’re just so much better at it than I am." She said as she watched his practiced fingers make quick work of what probably would've taken her another hour.

"Of course... but, you are paying me for this, right?"

"Ohh, I think we might be able to work something out." She said, a sly grin playing at her lips.

He just chuckled at her words, but she could've sworn his fingers starting moving a whole lot faster at her suggestive phrasing.

Nick:

“Tell me, why is this now a regular part of my job duties?" Ellie asked as she finished sewing up yet another tear in Nick's trench coat. "You know you're just going to end up with more holes in this coat every time you leave the office, and I don't seem to recall you ever caring about this old thing's appearance before…" she trailed off.

Nick knew that Ellie was fishing for answers. One specific one in particular, but he liked the ambiguity of the situation. It was this little game he and his secretary would play. He would leave clues here and there that pointed to the nature of his and Sole's relationship and wait to see if Ellie would say anything. All while she continued to try and force the truth from him verbally. He wasn't going to lose this round.

"What? A private detective can't keep up appearances for his clients? I think it's just good for business."

"I think it's a load of bologna. You know we gave Sole her own trench coat after she saved you, right? She could just wear her own, rather than steal yours every time you two go out on a case."

"What kinda fun would that be? I don't mind it, it's not like I get cold anyway. And the poor little lady never knows how long we're going to be gone, so I don't think it's her fault when we're out after dark and she wants to wear it."

Ellie rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh as she poked the needle back through the worn, beige fabric once again.

"She's got you so tightly wound around her finger, it's a wonder she doesn't call you 'Jared'."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, it’s something I’ve read about, I guess it was a ring shop, or a jewelry company, or something before the war. I thought it sounded clever. Just humor me, won't you?"

The synth just shook his head, uttering a low chuckle as he watched Ellie tighten the thread, forcing the last hole closed.

"There." She said, tying up the last bit of string left over, before cutting off the excess. "It's done."

"Perfect, thanks a million, doll. I'll see you soon, I've just gotta head out for a--"

"Date?" She finished the sentence for him suggestively, raising her eyebrows in question.

"A case. We're going to head out on a case, Ellie."

"Uh huh, sure. Well, here," she handed him back the coat, "now she doesn't need to worry about the cold air seeping in through all those holes. Let me know if you want me to insulate the damn thing when winter rolls around."

Valentine smiled, an uncharacteristically goofy smile, at Ellie's words. He was so obvious, why didn't he just come clean already?

"Will do, I’m sure she’ll enjoy that. Thanks again, Ellie. You're the best."

"And don't you forget it." She said, turning back to the mound of paperwork still on her desk beside her sewing supplies.

“Ah well, I’ll get him to admit to it one of these days.” Ellie mumbled as she began sorting through the files in front of her.

Piper:

Piper looked up at Scarlet from the table in the corner of the Dugout Inn,

"Yes, so I think we'll both have a nuka cola to start off. Then I'll do the crispy squirrel bits, and she'll have the Salisbury steak." Piper pointed her finger to Sole, who was busy looking down at the table, before making a last-minute decision, "Aaand you'd better bring some of those snack cakes at the end, too."

"Hm, as usual." Scarlet chuckled at that as her pen scribbled across the notepad in her hand.

"But that sounds good, you two. I'll have that out in just a minute." The waitress grabbed their menus, Sole reaching up to hand it to her with a smile on her face before turning to peer at her partner from across the table. She waited for Scarlet to disappear around the corner to the kitchen before speaking.

"You really don't find it annoying?" She asked.

"What?" Piper loosened the scarf around her neck as she looked questioningly at Sole.

"I know that I ask you to order for me whenever we go out to eat, or drink, and it's gotta be getting a little old at this point, right?"

"No, not at all, Blue!" Piper said as she took her hat off and placed it on the table, mussing her hair a bit with one hand. "This reporter actually finds it to be pret-ty endearing. It's like, the one thing you can't do. You’re good at, like, everything else, but this I get to help you with. It's a welcome change." Piper's hands dropped to the top of the table as she began absent-mindedly fiddling with her silverware. But her eyes stayed on the woman across the table as Sole smiled at her, still appearing a little embarrassed.

"I don't know why I can't do it," Sole tried to explain, "I've just never been able to order for myself, even before the war. Just one of those bizarre anxiety things, I guess."

"Well, like I said, I don’t mind at all. In fact, I think it's cute."

Preston:

Sole approached her Lieutenant, shaking her head at him, and she saw him sigh.

“No, the river just keeps going until it reaches a ravine." She told him, "And it’s too steep to climb down. Any luck on your end?”

“Hmm, not really. It's a little more shallow upstream, but it’s still about ten feet wide.”

“Damn.” She said, “We need to get across.” A settlement had sent a distress call across radio freedom almost an hour ago, if Sole and Preston took any longer, they might be too late.

“I guess we’ll just have to go for it.” She said, her face painting a picture of clear disgust at the thought of wading through the murky water.

“Well, let’s at least head upstream a bit. To the shallow part.”

“Okay.” Sole said begrudgingly, her footsteps unconsciously heavy as she followed her companion to the shallow part. Not shallow enough, I bet.

And she was right. As the pair arrived, Preston turned to Sole to gauge her reaction, noticing the way her nose wrinkled at the sight of the brown, swirling water.

Preston heaved a sigh, and started forward. Before he reached the waterline, he turned to see Sole still standing back, feet seemingly glued to the muddy ground. He couldn’t help but smile sympathetically at her, eyebrows creasing upwards as he watched her eyes look longingly at the far shore.

“Come here.” He said.

“I know, I know. Just start going, I’ll follow.” Preston chuckled at the exasperation in her voice. Instead of repeating his command, he simply walked over to her as her eyes remained locked on the other side of the river, when he reached her, he slowly pressed his hand to the small of her back.

“Hey, what are you--?” Before Sole could finish her question, Preston had scooped her up into his arms, bridal style. She let out a squeak of surprise, and he couldn’t keep himself from grinning.

“Is this okay? He asked, the brim of his hat pressing against Sole’s forehead as he looked at her.

“A warning would’ve been nice.” Preston laughed, shaking his head as he adjusted his grip on her, ensuring she was secure before making his way towards the river.

“Hold onto me.” He said, and Sole wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders.

“Ready?” Sole nodded to him, and Preston took a step forward, frigid water seeping in through his boots as he waded in.

“Wait, are you sure you want to do this?” She said, her eyes trained on the river as it raised up to Preston’s knees.

“I might be wrong, General, but I think I already am.” He said, the amusement in his voice faint as he gritted his teeth against the cold.

She felt his body shutter as he continued forward, the water reaching up almost to his waist, as he held Sole up higher to ensure it wouldn’t reach her. She let out a small sigh of relief as they reached the end of the channel. The water became more shallow, and Preston quickened his pace with each step that brought him closer to their destination.

Once completely out of the water, and past the muddy shoreline, Preston finally set Sole down gently. As her feet touched the ground, Sole kept her arms wound about Preston’s neck.

“Thank you, love.” She said, her voice soft as she addressed him as her partner rather than her Lieutenant.

“It was my pleasure, m’lady.” He said, briefly removing his hat from his head as he did so. Sole smiled at him warmly, but detected the faint chattering of his teeth, and when she looked down, she couldn’t help but notice the goosebumps littering his skin.

“Oh, Preston…” Sole said as she pressed herself to him, rubbing her hands against his back and arms quickly, in an attempt to warm him with her friction. She felt hot air wash over her neck as he released a shaky breath of relief, leaning into her touch. The pair stood there for a moment, Preston syphoning off Sole’s warmth as she tried to repay him for his earlier act of kindness. Her hands slowed from her vigorous rubbing to a more tender sort of touch, before Preston’s head shot up.

“Shit, Sole, the settlement! We’ve got to move!”

X6-88:

This had become a common routine of theirs, and X6 wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it. Every time they were in Sole’s Diamond City home, she would insist on making dinner for the two of them. That, X6 didn’t mind too much; although, after consuming nothing but food supplements in the Institute for so long, it did take some getting used to. But eating the food wasn’t the issue, it was the making of it that had him perplexed.

As far as he knew, Sole had been the one to install the shelves in her kitchen; and yet, every time she was in need of a spice of some sort, or a condiment, or one of her dishes, she would ask X6 for assistance, given that the shelves were apparently too high for her to reach. Why Sole continued to store her items on the too-tall shelves, he couldn’t begin to guess. But here she went again, asking him to reach for the box of blamco mac n’ cheese on the top shelf, the highest one, one that he could barely even reach. X6 decided it was time to voice his confusion.

“Ma’am?”

“Yes?” She asked distractedly as she focused on the strength of the flame burning on her stove.

“Why do you use these shelves?”

“What else would I use, silly?” X6 scrunched up his face at that, trying to hold back a verbal scoff at her wording.

“Would you rather I just store everything on the floor?”

“Well, no. That would… hardly be sanitary.” He wasn’t sure if she was joking with him or not. Did she think he was joking with her?

“Why do you ask, X?” She grabbed the box from his hand as he extended it towards her, and began tearing at the top of it with her finger.

“Well, it seems nonsensical to me, for you to continue placing all of your items out of your reach. What happens if I’m not here?” Sole placed a saucepan filled with water over the stove and turned to look at him.

“But you are here.” she said, shrugging, “What? Don’t you like helping me out in the kitchen?”

X6 blinked. What the hell did this have to do with what he liked?

“Well… I don’t dislike it. I’m just having trouble with-- I don’t-- I just... do you want me to fix the shelves so they are the right height for you?”

“No, I like them the way they are.”

X6 felt his eye twitch from beneath his shades. Confusion built up inside him, making the courser feel as though he might explode.

“Ma’am--” His voice faltered as he realized he didn’t know what else to say.

“I know they’re not practical, X. But you can reach them, and I like that about them. Even when I’m here alone, the fact that I can’t make dinner without you makes me smile.” X6 furrowed his eyebrows. That explanation didn’t help at all.

“Don’t you get hungry?”

“I'm not completely helpless, you know, I can usually figure something out.” She attempted to look annoyed at his question, but her grin gave her away. X6 narrowed his eyes at her, still not completely satisfied with the way the conversation had gone. He was still just as confused as he was before.

“Huh.” He said, mulling over all she had said on the subject. “Perhaps... in that case, we should ensure that I am by your side for any missions near Diamond City. That way, I can be sure the future director of the Institute doesn’t go hungry.”

“Well, if you think that’s necessary, who am I to argue?” The left side of X6’s lip tilted upwards in an expression of amusement, and Sole openly smiled at him, laughing a little to herself as she turned her attention back to the boiling water on the stove.

“Can you hand me the pepper mill? Second shelf.”

“I know which shelf. But yes, I can.” He said, turning around to grab it, as Sole continued grinning to herself.

Now I just have to make sure he never looks under my bed. Sole thought. If X6 ever found the step stool she had hidden there, what would happen to her kitchen helper?

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barry-j-blupjeans · 3 years

Note

What about 70 from the dialogue prompts w Taako + one of his friends (you pick!!),,,I always love a rare Taako Sincerity Moment <3

70. "I like that about you."

((prompts here - still accepting!!))

Taako and Lup were fighting, which was never good. Granted, Merle had never seen them have a legitimate fight in the past five years he's known 'em, but the vibes they're giving out... not good. Merle had to pry the story out of Barry, who had been the only one with them when it all went down. He explained it in a quiet voice as Merle gave him a final once-over from the injuries he had gained on the mission. The healing potions seemed to have worked well.

"I think Taako, uh, Taako just wanted to leave me behind?" Barry said. "I was pretty concussed at the time, I'm not gonna lie. But, uh. But I was very low on hitpoints, Taako wanted to just head back 'cus we weren't exactly winning the fight we were in, and- and Lup didn't wanna do that."

"Hm," Merle said. "How do you feel about all that?"

"How do I feel?" Barry repeated and at Merle's confirmation, he went on. "I'm, uh. I mean, I'm a little hurt, but I get it, y'know? The cycle's almost over, I woulda been back next month. Probably."

"Probably," Merle agreed. "You glad Lup got you out?"

"Yeah," Barry said. "I mean, uhm. Only Magnus and you have really died before. I don't know if I... If I ever wanna do that. I wanna know in like... a morbid way, kinda? Like I wanna know what it feels like. But not like that."

"I getcha," Merle said. "Any consultation, poison is not the way to go! That sucked!"

Merle had been struck by a poisoned arrow with about three months left to the third cycle. It hadn't been great. Barry cracked a small smile.

"I'll take your word for it," he said. "I'm gonna go, uh. Get back to the lab. At least we got the Light, right?"

"True that!" Merle said.

The mood over dinner was killer. Merle kind of felt like the tension between Lup and Taako could power its own magic flying boat-ship. Taako stabbed into his food like a madman. Lup was just... not eating.

"So, uh," Merle said. "Good grub, good grub. Anyone seen anything interesting lately? Any cool bugs? A neat plant?"

Silence.

"Well, I saw this awesome berry bush a bit away from the ship!" Merle said. "I showed it to Lucretia so she could draw it. Wasn't it cool, Luce?"

"Uh," Lucretia said, looking very much like she didn't want to say anything about the berry bush. "It was very... green. The berries were very, uh. Berry-like."

"No offense," Merle joked, patting Barry's arm. Barry looked incredibly uncomfortable but offered Merle a smile. "Anyone else? Capt'n?"

Another silence. Davenport, awkward and glancing nervously between everyone, opened his mouth to speak, but-

"I saw my brother almost leave behind our crewmate to die," Lup put in loudly.

"Oh fuck off," Taako said, pushing his plate away. "He woulda been back anyway!"

"But you didn't even try to help him-"

"Have you met me, Lup? Have you met yourself? When did you start trying to help folks?"

"When I started fucking caring about them!" Lup said, standing up. "And when I started not being emotionally constipated like some people here-"

"Lup," Davenport said, standing up. "Taako. I think it'd be best to take a second-"

"Oh, I'm the bad guy here?" Taako snapped. "I don't dive recklessly even further into a battle to try to save someone who'd be fine anyway!"

"It wasn't reckless, dumbass, what's reckless the behavior that started the fight in the first place-"

"Who fucking cares," Taako said, standing up. He rolled his eyes so hard that Merle thought they were just gonna pop out of his head. "I'm going to my bunk, I don't wanna- I'm not gonna sit here and deal with whatever shit you've got going on."

"Yeah, sure, run away!" Lup said, despite the fact that she was going towards the kitchen to escape the conversation as well. She slammed the door behind her. A few seconds of silence passed and another door slammed as well, further away.

The tension was different now, but somehow just as uncomfortable.

Merle decided, of his own free will and without consulting anyone, that he was gonna go talk to Taako. His bunk, which he shared with Lup, was at the end of the hallway. Merle figured that he could at least get in with the pretense of needing to get some things for Lup to sleep in the common area.

He knocked.

"We're closed!" Taako called back.

"I don't think we live in a store, kid," Merle said.

"Don't care!" Taako said. "We're closed!"

"I'm coming in," Merle said. When tried to open the door, it didn't budge. Time to break out his lie. "Lup needs her shit if she's gonna sleep on the couch. At least let me get her a blanket."

Taako didn't respond. After a moment, Merle heard the creak of bedsprings and the shuffle of cloth. Then, Taako was at the door, shoving a blanket and a pillow towards Merle. He almost had gotten the door closed before Merle could even blink, but Merle managed to wedge a pillow between the door and the doorframe just in time.

"You're not here for Lup's shit," Taako accused.

"I'm not," Merle agreed, very casually walking through the gap that was left. He had to squeeze a bit, but Taako just scoffed instead of trying to shut the door on him. "Can we talk?"

"We don't have anything to talk about," Taako said, sitting on the edge of his bed. Merle deposited the blanket and pillow near the door.

He didn't come in here very often- he didn't have any reason to. The room was a mess, but Merle had an inkling that it had some sort of organization to it. Lup's bed was made. Taako's looked like a tornado had gone through. Without asking permission, Merle sat next to him and Taako made a noise of disgust.

"I wanna ask you somethin'," Merle said.

"Did Lup send you?" Taako asked drily. "Or Davenport? Like- what is this?"

"Nah, I came by myself," Merle said. "Actually, I think Dav would suggest the opposite of talking to you right now."

"Leaving me alone, great, you should listen to him."

"Nah," Merle said again. "I have a question. Wanna hear it?"

Taako groaned but seemed to understand that he probably couldn't get Merle to leave. That was good because Merle had run out of lies on why he needed to be here.

"Shoot," Taako said, putting his face in his hands.

"Who's your favorite person, besides Lup?" Taako peaked up from his hands and gave Merle a hard stare. Merle shrugged, raising his hands defensively. "Just askin', man! Doesn't have to be anyone on the crew. They don't even have to be on this plane, or alive, or anything. But tell me someone, besides Lup, who you really like."

Taako was silent, putting his head back in his hands completely. Merle kicked his legs, his feet not quite reaching the ground, as he waited. It took long enough that Merle began to worry that Taako wouldn't answer at all, but finally, he answered with,

"My auntie."

"Ooh, yeah?" Merle said. "Why d'you like her so much?"

"I don't know!" Taako said defensively, throwing his hands up. "Why did you care so much!"

"Just curious!" Merle said. "What's she like? Did she ever give you any good gifts? I had an aunt, once, but she called me a loser."

"You are a loser," Taako muttered. "She was... smart."

"A good quality," Merle said. "Was that her one personality trait? Smart?"

"No," Taako bit out. "She could cook really well. She taught Lup and me, but I'm better at it."

"I believe ya," Merle said.

"Lup can bake better, I guess," Taako said, quietly, like that had been a secret. "Auntie taught us Goblin and how to sow, even though she liked knitting better. She always had knitting needles in her hair, I think to keep it up 'cus when she was knitting, her hair was always down. And she gave us our first spellbook and she didn't get mad when I set her bed on fire by accident."

"No joke?" Merle asked. "I woulda been at least a little mad."

"She was kind," Taako said. "And so fuckin' funny. She didn't care if we swore, like some of our cousins did. And she- she got it when we told her that life was tough. She didn't make fun of us or dismiss us or say that we were too young to know."

"Really smart, then," Merle said. "What happened to her?"

Taako's posture sort of sagged- more than it already was. He sighed.

"Got really sick," he admitted. "She set us up with some shit we would need and let us know when we had to go. No bullshit or coddling or anything, just told us what was happening and that we needed to go."

"Did you want to go?" Merle asked. "That seems like it was a pretty good setup you had going."

"'Course I didn't wanna go," Taako scoffed. "We didn't, at first. But, uh. Lup and Auntie convinced me to leave. She wasn't able to do much for us anymore. Sucks to see someone you care about getting hurt, anyway."

"So you had to go," Merle said. "Not just smart, then. Wise. Knew what'd be best for ya."

"Yeah," Taako said. "It's whatever, Merle, it happened ages ago. Why do you care?"

"'Cus you care," Merle said, nudging him in the side a little too hard. Taako grunted and looked towards him finally.

"You're full of bullshit sometimes, y'know?"

"You'd rather see someone come back fresh than have to live with a lotta pain," Merle said, patting his leg. "I like that about you, Taako. It's a good thing, don't look so upset. I just wanna let you know that while some people would want you to leave them if they're suffering, some others might not. Better to ask, yeah?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, next time I'll ask Barry if he'd rather get stabbed to death before I leave," Taako said sarcastically.

"Just think about it," Merle said, hopping off the bed and heading towards the door. "Might not be the smartest thing to do, but it'd be pretty wise."

He picked up the blanket and pillow, eyes barely peeking out from the pile in his arms.

"Can ya open the door?" Merle asked and Taako sighed, crossing the room to open the door for him. However, he stopped with his hand on the door handle and said, without looking at Merle again,

"Leave Lup's stuff."

Merle shrugged and dropped them. Taako opened the door, letting him out. On his way back up to the common area, he passed Lup sitting against the wall closest to the Starblaster's entrance, tossing a few magical balls of light between her fingers.

"Hiya," Merle said, sliding down next to her. He thumped to the floor and Lup winced, one of the lights extinguishing.

"I'm not really in the mood, Merle," she said.

"That's fine, that's fine," Merle said, waving away her concern. "I just got a question for ya."

#merle highchurch #taako #lup #barry bluejeans #taz stolen century #mine #ise cube writing #asks #anon #thank u anon :D!

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grailfinders · 3 years

Text

Fate and Phantasms #158

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making the best blue dog in Chaldea since Cu Chulainn (And also the guy riding him) Avenger of Shinjuku! (If we really want to avoid spoilers, should we be calling them the Rider of Shinjuku?) As always with these servants, it’s hard to go into detail about who they are without spoiling stuff, so keep that in mind before going further.

Check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their character sheet over here!

Next up: Funny amogus reference!

Hessian Lobo are mostly a Shadow Sorcerer to summon a big scary dog and other magical nonsense we need stuffed into this spirit origin, but they also get a couple levels of Fighter, because the endgame levels of Sorcerer are bad, and you do hit things with a sharp stick from time to time.

Race and Background: You’re a Human, but you’re also a ghost that haunts a stretch of road, killing all you come across, so that makes you a Revenant as well. (I will tell you now, a lot of headaches would be solved if you just went with Halfling Revenant instead, but human’s still the most in-character.) This gives you +1 Strength, +1 Charisma, and +1 Constitution, as well as a Relentless Nature. This means you gain 1 HP each round if you’re bloodied, you can’t die permanently, and you always know the direction of your DM assigned goal. Once that goal is complete, you die instantly. Bit of a downside, but tbh D&D games take forever, you’ll barely notice.

In life you were a Soldier, and while that doesn’t fit the background of both members of your party, the Athletics and Intimidation training will come in handy.

Ability Scores: Make sure your Charisma is as high as possible, you are terrifying, and you know it. Strength is a close second, because heads are notoriously difficult to separate. After that is Constitution, not only are ghosts hard to kill, but you’re also invisible half the time, which makes things even harder Your Wisdom isn’t bad- you can tell where people are when it’s time to take heads, but you still don’t really have eyes. You don’t really get off your horse that much, so your Dexterity is pretty low, but we’re dumping Intelligence. One of you is literally brainless, and the other is an animal. You won’t be solving Sudokus any time soon.

Class Levels:

1. Fighter 1: Starting as a fighter nets you plenty of goodies, including extra HP and weapon proficiencies so you can use a real scythe. You also get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, as well as Animal Handling to keep the king of Currumpaw under control and Perception. You can see without eyes, that’s pretty skillful.

You also get a Fighting Style, and if you really want to play D&D without a head the Blind Fighting style is a must, giving you blindsense in a 10′ radius around you.

You also get a Second Wind once per short rest as a bonus action which’ll heal you a bit. I guess that’s your oblivion correction.

2. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, letting you take an extra action in a turn once per short rest. I hope you like it, because this is the only way you’ll be able to attack twice per turn for ages.

3. Sorcerer 1: While I wouldn’t call you a wizard, you do some wacky tricks that you can only really do in D&D with magic. Since these come from your being dead/unethical spirit origin mad science, I’d say a Shadow sorcerer is the closest thing in the rules books.

First level shadow sorcerers get Eyes of the Dark, giving you 120 feet of darkvision, which is really impressive for someone without eyes. You also get the Strength of the Grave, letting you make a Charisma save when you drop to 0 HP once per long rest. If you succeed, you drop to 1 HP instead. This doesn’t work on radiant damage or critical hits, but all that makes you more ghostly, so that’s probably fine.

You also get Spells that you can cast using your Charisma. Friends will help you work with your slobbery partner more easily, while True Strike and Sword Burst add a bit of flair to your weapon attacks. You also get the cantrip Mind Sliver to track down your prey.

For first level spells, Mage Armor will help out with riding around in a suit, and Expeditious Retreat makes you a bit harder to escape from. Both these spells can also be pretty useful for Lobo once he shows up.

4. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers are a Font of Magic, which lets you turn spell slots into Sorcery Points and vice versa. You can only have a number of sorcery points equal to your sorcerer level at most, and they refill on long rests.

You also learn the Jump spell to help the King of Currumpaw get around the crowded streets of Shinjuku.

5. Sorcerer 3: At third level you get two Metamagic options to alter your spells. Subtle Spell lets you cast magic without somatic or verbal components- very useful when you don’t have a mouth. Twinned Spell will let you cast spells on two targets instead of one, which is great for making both you and your ride invisible.

Enlarge/Reduce might not seem that useful, but trust me you’ll love it in a bit.

6. Sorcerer 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump your Strength up a bit for stronger melee attacks.

The cantrip Message will help you get around that whole “no mouth” thing to talk to your party members, and your first bit of Invisibility will make sneaking up on your target a breeze.

7. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get Magical Guidance, using your sorcery points to re-roll failed ability checks. I’m not saying the Hessian is magically glued to his saddle or anything, but you never see him fall off, do you?

You also get third level spells, like Hold Person, which makes taking peoples’ heads off so much easier.

8. Sorcerer 6: As a sixth level sorcerer, you finally get your Hound of Ill Omen. Using three sorcery points, you can summon a hound as a bonus action, targeting a creature within 120 feet of you. It’s mostly a Dire Wolf, with a few changes:

It’s medium, not large, and a monstrosity, not a beast.

It gets temporary HP equal to half your sorcerer level.

It can move through solid objects as if it was difficult terrain, taking 5 force damage if it ends a turn in something.

The hound automatically knows the location of the target at the start of each turn.

On top of all that, it can only move towards the target, and can only use its action to attack the target. Also, the target gets disadvantage on saves against your spell while within melee range of the hound. The hound disappears after it or the target hits 0 HP, or after 5 minutes.

The big problem here is the size; you’ll either have to use Enlarge/Reduce to ride it, or just Be a Halfling.

Either way, you can also use Haste to double a creature’s movement speed, give them an extra action each turn, and boost their AC and dexterity saves. The creature also has to take a turn to rest after the spell ends, but that’s probably fine.

9. Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells, like Dominate Beast. I know I just said Lobo technically isn’t a beast, but it’s the thought that counts.

10. Sorcerer 8: Now that you have a mount, we can get Mounted Combatant, giving you advantage on attacks against creatures smaller than your mount, and they get evasion. You can also force attacks that hit them to you instead. Don’t do that though, you’re a sorcerer, and Lobo can be rebuilt on a bonus action.

You can also Charm Monster this level, which comes with the added benefit of actually working on your wolf.

11. Sorcerer 9: Ninth level sorcerers get fourth level spells, like Greater Invisibility, which lets one target become invisible for the duration regardless of how many heads they take off.

12. Sorcerer 10: Tenth level sorcerers get another Metamagic option, like Extended Spell. A lot of your spells are buffs, and it would be awkward for that invisibility to drop when you’re halfway through a hunt.

You also learn Minor Illusion, because I couldn’t really come up with a sixth cantrip to give you but now you can make your cape look cooler, and Hold Monster. Just ask Sanson, a disappointingly small number of the things you fight are actually human.

13. Sorcerer 11: For your fifth level spell, Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise both makes you scarier and makes you a stronger fighter, making you immune to Fire and Poison damage as well as the poisoned condition. You also get +2 to your AC, gain a flying speed, and you can attack with your weapon twice per action, using your charisma instead of strength, and it counts as magical damage.

14. Sorcerer 12: Speaking of, let’s bump your Charisma up a bit for stronger Strength of the Grave saves and better magic.

15. Sorcerer 13: Lobo is now so fast you can Teleport as an action, moving you and up to eight willing creatures to a destination on your plane of existence. There’s a slight chance for failure that goes up the less familiar you are with the destination, but that’s probably fine.

16. Sorcerer 14: At fourteenth level, shadow sorcerers can Shadow Walk, letting you teleport between areas of dim light or darkness within 120 feet of each other as a bonus action.

17. Sorcerer 15: Your seventh level spell, Dominate Monster, finally lets you put Lobo fully under your control. He might not like it, but he’s only alive for five minutes at a time anyway.

18. Sorcerer 16: Use your last ASI to max out your Charisma for the toughest saves, strongest spells, and strongest attacks while using your Otherworldly Guise.

19. Sorcerer 17: Speaking of strong spells, you can now use your Blade of Disaster to cause disaster for anyone banking on an intact neck. You can create a magical blade that deals two attacks per bonus action, dealing 4d12 force damage on an attack. On a critical hit, the damage is tripled instead of doubled, and it crits on 18s or higher. Also, it can pass through anything, including a Wall of Force.

To make that even scarier, you can cast it as an Empowered Spell, letting you reroll up to five damage dice each attack.

20. Sorcerer 18: Your capstone level gives you an Umbral Form, letting you use a bonus action to become a shadow that can move through physical objects and has resistance on all damage besides force and radiant for a minute. You take 5 force damage if you end a turn inside an object.

This is especially useful given the fact that you have a ride that can only go forward, and already moves through objects itself.

Pros:

Once you lock onto a target, it’s really hard to shake you. With a hasted dire wolf, you can go 100 feet per round, you’ll always take the shortest route possible, and they literally can’t hide from you.

Two levels of fighter on any sort of caster is very useful, thanks to your action surge giving you an even better version of Quickened Casting.

Mounted Combatant is a nice enough feat, but it doesn’t do too much to help out here since a lot of your spells aren’t really attacks. That is until you realize Blade of Disaster makes melee attacks, and Mounted Combatant doesn’t specify it only works on weapon attacks. This means you can make all those attacks with advantage, further increasing your odds of getting enormous crits with each swing.

Cons:

The reason that great combo above doesn’t quite work is simple, though: You need your concentration focused on keeping your mount around at all, since without Enlarge/Reduce you’re stuck with a medium sized wolf. That also means you can’t haste the wolf and ride it. Or turn it invisible. Or even charm it.

The biggest problem here is Flavor. You can either do all the cool things Hessian Lobo does, or you can ride the wolf. These are mutually exclusive, unless you A) are a halfling, B) have a cool DM, or C) just invest in a horse.

Despite being a frontline fighter, all those levels of sorcerer make you incredibly Squishy. With a low AC and low HP, you’ll have a hard time sticking around without your invisibility. Normally this would be made up for thanks to your mount keeping you out of trouble, but your wolf only knows how to run even further into danger.

#FGO #Fate Grand Order #D&D 5e #DND #Avenger of Shinjuku #Fighter #Sorcerer

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insufferablelust · 4 years

Text

THE ARTIST AND HIS MUSE (v)

Hi lovely people! it’s me again with the fifth installment of TAAHM, hopefully y’all enjoy this, as always thank you for your support, and excuse the grammatical errors. As i said before, this story is dark themed, so it can get triggering to some people, please read the warning, and read at your own risk.

WARNINGS : BEWARE DARK FIC. SMUT, Angst to the max, Mental Illness (PTSD, with severe anxiety and depression), Some Fluff, hints/mention of Suicide (doesn’t happen), Psychological abuse (in flashbacks), over sensitivity (both sexual and non sexual), hints of Masochism, Anxiety attack, Soft raw tender moments, aaand thats it.

———————

A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.To him a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. —Pearl S. Buck.

———🍃———

Little did they know, that night is going to be the beginning of a roller coaster ride.

———//———

It was already late when she opened her eyes the next day, her soft sigh occupied the quiet room as she scanned for the one person she craved the most, biting her lips at the cold left side of the bed sheet. However, he’s kind enough to leave the only thing she could reminisce about last night in a form of a long letter note he left on her night table, written with purple ink,

“Good Morning Y/N,

I hope you’re feeling well, although knowing how anxious you can get, i know your mind would wander off and we don’t want that. If you can remember what i said, then good but if you can’t, i said that i left because it’s more convenient for the both of us, not because i don’t want to be with you. Believe me, watching you sleep right now really put an image inside my memory that i’ll never forget, you’re so beautiful.

I hope you don’t mind, but i put on Debussy on your vinyl right now. I want you to know that we’ll still talk about it, preferably today, maybe we can go have dinner unless we have a case. There are things i never got the chance to say, and i think its time i finally tell you, later.

As for your past, we’ll also talk about that too. But i want you to not worry— yes i’m disappointed still, but i know why you did what you did. We’ll figure out a way.

Lastly, please take care.

Spencer R.”

By the time she had finished reading, her internal being is overflowing with emotions, dangerous ones that she won’t be able to control and she knows this. Her eyes teared up at the sight of ‘Classical Lover Etiquettes’ cued up on her record player. Her legs were incredibly sore, as much as her thighs and arms. There was just so much that’s happening, so much to feel, and she needed to escape.

Her feet dragged her to the balcony, inhaling the scent of life, breathe in heavily as she hoped— cross her fingers hoping to die that the amount of oxygen would be able to drown her from all the confusion, even more so the horrors that started to flows back in. Spencer opened a large deep wound that she had buried a long time ago, and then he showed her the way to paradise. He confuses her as much as she probably confuses him.

She wanted to apologize for being complicated, wanted to get on her knees again and show him how much she needs a savior right now; someone to love, and cherish to get her mind off of the horrible things in the past. She wants him to know that he can help her, by guiding her like he did the night before, by owning her like he said the night before, by loving her like he promised. She needs to be devoted to him, she would do anything for him.

She knows how damaged she is on the inside, she put up a persona every day so people could believe that she’s alive. But the only time she ever felt alive was with Spencer. The only time she ever wished she’s not complicated is when she’s with Spencer, His name consumed her like the opiates she used to take. He owned her soul already and she’s not letting that go. Even if the world stands in her way. She deserves this, this pure thing for once.

So she cried, hard. Hard enough for her neighbors to hear, to check up on her, but she wasn’t listening, she stayed crouched down in her balcony, her vision was blurry and she can’t think of anything— only Spencer.

“Spencer..” was the only thing she remembered saying before she witnessed darkness and drowsiness penetrate her eyes as well as her other senses— sending her to sleep.

———————————

Y/N didn’t even flinched when her father’s screams once again filled her ears, telling her how she doesn’t belong, she isn’t supposed to be here, isn’t supposed to exists. She could smell the strong scent of alcohol from his mouth, clouding her senses, but she refused to give in and cry, in fact she doesn’t feel a thing. Moreover, she’s just bored, her father never got violent with her, never laid a hand on her, neither does her step mother— well not when he’s around anyways.

By the age of 9, Y/N already knew what kind of man her father was, the kind that doesn’t want to admit reality, he’s a violent genius who works in the dark, with barriers covering all sides of his life. He never hurt Y/N physically, like he always claimed. But 12 years of psychological torture will fuck you up, she thought. She lived in isolation, and darkness where the only things she knew.. were alcohol, math, abuse, impending death, and screams.

She doesn’t have anyone related that’s nice to her, enough to shield her from all the abuse. The only person that could bring her peace is Mr. Bones, one of her father’s men. He always looked out for her, he gave her hope ever since she was old enough to know that being told you were never meant to be alive was not okay.

“I apologize, papa. It won’t happen again, I swear it.”

Her eyes stayed on the ground as she feels the warmth of his palm so close to her cheek, she yelled in her mind— her mind telling her to scream at the old bastard to “Hit me!”

“Hit me!”

“Make it hurt!”

“HIT ME!”

——

Y/N felt a jolt, her eyes searching for signs of where she might be but she can’t seem to open her eyes, the smell— is clean like iodine, the next thing she felt was the rough yet strangely comfortable sheets that grazes against her skin, And then she heard the talk, someone’s talking.. She recognized the voice well, so well like its imprinted deep in her soul, She tried to open her eyes.. yet she keeps on missing.

“S-she— i found her pale.. she was so pale and cold.. “ Spencer! her mind screamed, that’s Spencer.

“Spencer!” She tried to yell, but still nothing,

“Spencer please!” Nothing.

“What did her neighbor said?” Hotch!

“Hotch please i’m awake!”

“She was screaming, and they found her clutching her shirt tightly, she was crying and she.. she said my name over and over again, before blacking out.. thats why they called me first after calling 911” Is that true? she has been taking her meds, hasn’t she?

“Did anyone said that she was about to jump or anything like that?”

“No! No! Spencer i’m not suicidal!”

“N-no i don’t know.. Hotch i was with her last night, i should’ve—“

“Please don’t cry! please i’m sorry i love you i won’t do it again!”

“Hey no, she looked like she was having a panic attack. Has she ever mentioned anything about being depressed? or experiencing anxiety attacks maybe?”

“no... no... don’t tell him Spencer, you promised.”

“Stop the silence, Spencer you promised you won’t tell anyone.”

“N-no.. not that i know off.. she wanted company so i stayed with her, we watched movie.”

“Spencer...” She tried again, believing that it won’t work, he won’t hear her, maybe she’s not even here anymore— just floating away from her body. But when she saw his head turned towards her, she sighed contently, letting go of all the burden for a second just to hear him mutter her name in silence and peace.

“Y/N... you’re awake wait let me—“ before he could exit the door, Hotch pulled him back a little, telling him that “It’s okay, let me get the doctor.” Leaving Spencer and her alone.

Her heart rate accelerated as he sat down on the chair next to her, eyes filled with worry and fear— Y/N couldn’t take it, couldn’t bare to see how broken he looks, because she was selfish and complicated, because she was damaged.

“I-i wasn’t... trying to.. jump” Her voice came out laced with fragility, all raw and quiet. She’s trying to tell Spencer that she’s alright, as long as he’s here she’ll be alright. “Don’t.. please don’t blame yourself, it was an anxiety attack, a bad one.”

“Have you been taking your meds?” There it is, the question she has been hoping she wouldn’t have to answer. She looked down at his trembling hands, reaching to grab it but unable to do so because she realized now that she was restrained to the bed.

“Why am i being restrained?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“No Spencer i haven’t! now why am i restrained? i’m not a danger to anyone.” Y/N half yelled with a cracked voice, closing her eyes tightly at the tears that’s threatening to spill out of her eyes.

“Miss Bones, i see that you’re awake now.” Her eyes never leaving the sight of her cuffed wrist, ‘did they honestly thought you were planning on killing yourself?’

“I’m not suicidal, i’m an FBI agent for god’s sake.” The tone of her newfound voice surprised everyone including Spencer.

“Then why were you unconscious on the balcony of your apartment?”

“Because i haven’t been taking my pills! look, i haven’t for years now and i was fine. It was just rush of emotions, and i got overwhelmed okay? doesn’t mean i was going to jump. Believe me thats the last thing i would’ve wanted.” The last bit was a whisper, indicating the raw pain behind it. It was the truth, moments before you passed out you were thinking of Spencer, of how he’s your savior.

“Okay, Agent. We believe you, now why don’t you get some rest, and we’ll have you prescribed for something stronger, meanwhile i’m going to take the cuffs off” The doctor replied gently, except you know he’s not a doctor well he is but he’s a psychiatrist. Great, now everyone think she’s crazy.

——————

After the incident, you rarely talked to anyone on your team not because they don’t want to but because you won’t let them. You’ve caused enough pain, so the last thing you want to see is the pity on their eyes and face, it was nice seeing how they care though— sometimes in the mornings you can hear Garcia and JJ dropping new baskets full of goodies and treats for you to try. Sliding a note underneath your door before leaving.

Hotch insisted you to take a month break, which you would’ve tried to argued but you knew you didn’t stand a single chance. You could’ve lose your job, he could’ve fired you for lying about your psychological problems and endangering yourself but he didn’t, though he wanted you to take the break, and do another psych eval, so you agreed.

The bad thing about not going to work, except the obvious fact that you miss your work family and you missed out on catching men women alike your father and his killer— is not seeing Spencer often enough. It made you anxious just thinking how he’s doing constantly, Prentiss has said in a text that ‘he seems okay, just a little off’ in which you ended the conversation quickly, not wanting to let invasive questions spring up to life.

You’ve tried to contact him multiple times, yet he never answered the calls, there was one time where he had responded your text; it was the one after you told him that you haven’t eaten and taken your meds because thats what you do now, pretending like he actually listens you, that day you heard a knock, before finding out that there was a box of pizza; the tuna, with creamy mushroom kind, your favorite. Spencer is the only one who knew about it, so it was him. You cried that night knowing that he was close... yet you didn’t see him.

After that, nothing. Nothing at all, until it was your 17th day isolated in your apartment trying to get better. A therapist from FBI was supposed to come today, checking up on you, Hotch’s order. So when you heard a knock, you opened the door without looking.

“Y/N...”

“Hi you must be the— Spencer?” You eyes went wide as you recognized the person standing at your door, you swear your knees buckled finally seeing him again after so long. His hair seemed longer, his eyes has bags under them, he doesn’t look fine.

“Spencer, you look—“

“Can i come in?” His voice startled you, it was deep, deeper than you remembered it last.

“Yes, yes please come in..” You watched him enter your house, eyes scanning through every bit of everything, probably profiling your condition. So you let out a chuckle as you close the door, “I’m fine Spencer, unless you didn’t notice, i’m doing therapy 3 times a week plus routine visits from every therapist in town it seemed like. So i’m good” the tone of your voice reflects sarcasm and you know it, but how can you help it when he wont even look at you.

“Thats good..” He mumbled, sitting down on the couch where you two talked the last time about your past, you remembered that night’s event so clearly you could’ve sworn you have an eidetic memory. “You haven’t been sleeping have you?”

“no.” you sat down next to him, deciding that you shouldn’t touch him even if you wanted to.

“Why?”

“Because i worry about you.”

“Spencer, i told you i’m—“

“No! no you can’t say that you’re fine, again. do you know what you did me? after the night we had, you basically suffered an anxiety so bad you collapsed on your balcony, while whispering my name. You don’t get to say that you’re fine, i deserve more Y/N.”

You didn’t flinched even once when you heard his voice raised, if anything you just close your eyes and not let the volume of his voice get inside your head, “Everyone who yells is the same like your father, wake the fuck up” is what your mind been telling you but you refused to listen to it, Spencer is good, he’s a good man. So you controlled your breathing for a second before opening your eyes to see Spencer’s face begging for answers.

“You’re right, you deserve answers and you’ll get your answers but can you please listen to me and don’t interrupt? Spencer, i need the space if you want me to tell you, the space to make you understand.” Your palm move on top of his to see his reaction, you expected him to swat your hands away or at least flinched but strangely he let out a pleasant sigh, like he was relieved, like every weight has been lifted off of him.

“Okay, i’m sorry for—“

You cut him off before he could say what he’s sorry for, you don’t need it— his reactions are normal, too normal that it makes you fall in love with him over and over again. “Shh, don’t. You don’t have to explain, you don’t have to respond, just.. wait here, i’ll tell you everything okay..?”

With a nod you get from him, you stand up to make two chamomile teas, bringing it to where Spencer is sitting on the couch, then after you put on Gymnopédie on your record player, you sit down next to him. To your surprise, he leaned and laid his head on top of your thighs, curling up on the couch— which sent a smile to your face, you haven’t smiled for so long and of course Spencer Reid is the one who put your first smile since.. you don’t even remember when.

————

“It’s one of my favorite, I love the serenity of it.” You whispered, as your fingers ran through his soft hair. Relaxing your back against the couch and enjoying the tune of one of your favorite classical of all time. Spencer smiled at that, you swore the smile could lit your insides like nothing else.

“I’m a beethoven guy, but i guess Satie is alright..” He laughs, his laugh sounded like heaven, his smile and laugh makes you dizzy. This is the Spencer that makes your heart pound ten times faster, and the one that makes you lost for words each time, the one that you’ll love... too fast Y/N, too fast.

“Of course you are, it’s not hard to see..”

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

Spencer looked up at you, he looked so pure like this, like he was made to justify every wrong things that has been done, like he’s an angel that protects the earth from filth. He’s pure and tender, it takes all of your willpower to not lean down and kiss him.

“Oh yes, explanation.” You laughed awkwardly, eyes refusing to meet his. “Look at me, please” You shake your head at his demand, your eyes still trailing to where the record player is going.

“Look at me, Y/N.” You did, you looked. Under any other circumstances, the authoritative tone would instantly leave you dripping wet ready to submit to him. But this time, you only whimpered and nods.

“Good girl, now tell me” He cupped your cheeks, the gentle gesture sent you to oblivion.

“I don’t know where to start..”

“I heard the beginning is a great start.” His lips tugged into a wide smile, you heart warmed at the sight before you sigh, your fingers still curling and uncurling itself on his hair.

“I opened up to you that night, it’s something strange for me, i told you something that i swore i would never tell anyone, but i told you because.. because you were right, you are right Spencer. And i guess after that we took it to a whole new different level, i want to be able to do all the things with you and cross all boundaries but it’s something new to me, so that morning when i... woke up alone, it was scary, i felt so small and sad in such a big space. I was overwhelmed, by the thought of letting another person in, i don’t wanna take it slow but then again the transition won’t be easy for me.” Spencer opened his mouth as he was about to say something, but you simply leaned in shakily and press a quick peck on his lips as a sign that you’re not done yet, to your surprise he pulled you down one more time and let the kiss linger this time before letting you pull back, whispering a small “go on.”

“I lived in isolation most of my life, the only taste of real life emotions i ever got was the moment right after my graduation. The man who saved me, he teached me social skills, and the basics of.. of having this gift of rawness emotions. But i’ve been so closed off, i realized its just not possible for me to fall in love or feel such a strong emotion towards another, the only strong emotion i’ve ever known before this was.. hatred towards my father and his killer.

I had PTSD when i was 13, consistent with severe anxiety and depression, at one point Mr.Bones insisted that i...i started talking to myself, admitted me to a psychiatrist where i got my.. antipsychotics for um the voices. But i came out well, and he promised me that if i was able to make it, he would change my identity, stripped me out of my old misery, give me a new one, my father was a very very important man where he worked, so does his men including Mr.Bones. Thats why before i was 21, there’s no record of Y/N Bones existed because.. i didn’t, i never existed.”

Y/N ended it with a smile, looking down at Spencer whose eyes brimming with tears. She shook her head, her trembling fingers wiping the traces of tears. “Hey no no, please don’t cry, please it’s hurt to see you cry..” She whimpered.

“Spencer please say something..” Her eyes pleaded with her, as he sat up, before inching closer to her and before she even processed the warmth of his body, his lips pressed themselves against hers in a gentle loving way. His thumb stroking her soft supple cheek, as his lips took its time to explore every inch of hers, imprinting how it feels so he can remember it all the time. Y/N wrapped her arms around his neck as he guided her to his lap, pulling back a little.

They stared at each other for such a long time, before Spencer move his hand downward— tugging on her shirt. “Do you want to?” His voice rise your goosebumps to wake, all the adrenaline rushing through your core as you nod eagerly. “Please”

——————

“Tchaikovsky.”

“what?”

“This is tchaikovsky.” Spencer looked up at her, seeing how needy but beautiful she is, her skin glistening under the dim lights, her lashes are wet, her eyes glassy, and her lips bitten raw. He smiled admiring her before continuing his exploration down her labia, stroking it gently— almost like he’s teasing her.

“yes Spencer this is, Oh god!” you stopped mid-sentence as you felt the warmth of his tongue exploring from her slit up to her clit, flicking the sensitive button gently— Holy mother! doesn’t he know how sensitive she is?

“I’m pretty sure Tchaikovsky isn’t god, Princess.” the doctor giggles as his fingers tracing her tummy gently, caressing every mark every curve every indent every scar so so gently to show her how much he appreciates her, appreciate her beauty— all of it.

“Shut up!” She whined and shuddered as she feels him burying his face against her sensitive pussy, tongue swiping side to side at her slit as his nose bumps against her clit sending intense pleasure throughout her body making her jolt and convulse as she tug on his hair.

“Are you sure that’s wise, princess? i’m the one in charge of your orgasm here” Her legs quivered, his tongue push inside her and explore every inch of her inside— moaning at the taste and catching every drop.

“Sorry! so sorry Spencer, just don’t stop!” Oh how sweet is that, her voice cracked at the end, meaning he’s doing a good job. And the boy wonder does seek for praises sometimes.

“Never planning on it, love.” He mumbled against her pussy before inserting two fingers in, and moving them in a brutal pace whilst her tongue and lips sucking on her clit.

“Oh! Spencer, you’re so good at this” Her eyes shut tightly, as her fingers gripping his hair— she’s practically grinding against his face which he moaned at the sight and taste of her, oh so heavenly.

“C’mon Princess, come for me then i will give you what you’ve been waiting for” oh the way she clenched around her fingers so tightly, made him groaned and shut his eyes tight as he works her over the orgasm

“Spencer! oh! thank you!” Every inch of her skin was burning and her brain was mush. So much pleasure, that she could die happily now. Her body shivers still, when he comes up to leave tiny kisses on her face. “Good girl.” Spencer then align himself at her entrance, sliding the tip up and down her pussy.

“Ready, princess?”

“Yes.. yes please?” With a smile on his face, Spencer bent Y/N’s knees before pushing the tip of his cock inside of her slowly, indulging in the velvety warm walls that welcomed his cock. The feeling is like home. Her mouth agape, as her eyes roll at the back of her head, and her fingers intertwined with his.

He stilled inside her for awhile as he let out grunts of how “so warm and tight, pet” she is. He then leaned down to press a gentle loving kiss on her lips before thrusting his cock in and out of her slowly, keeping the pace light as they both relinquish all the frustrations out, and indulging in each other’s warmth. It’s perfect.

“so— full, Spencer..” Her desperate whimpers was the one that egged him to move faster, thrusting his hips so every-time he thrusted in, the sounds were slapping of skins and their moans. But when one particular deep thrust, her cunt involuntary clenched around his cock and she screamed “Thats it! thats it fuck!”

Spencer grinned, before letting go of her hand to grip her waist, pulling her closer to him then continue to fuck her with a torturous brutal pace, hitting the spot over and over again. “I’m not going to last if you keep- fucking clenching that tight cunt Y/N” He warned, eyes glinting with a dangerous look like how he was that night. Feral.

Strings of plea left her mouth as she arched her back, he was so deep— filling her to the brim and making her feel good.

“Please cum inside me!”

“I will baby, i will. But first you gotta cum alright? can you do that? i know you can, c’mon” His breathing labored as he move even faster, her headboard banged against the wall, and her body bounced. With one final deep thrust, they reached their peak, and shuddered at the feeling. Spencer pulls out before grabbing a wet cloth from the beside table and carefully wiped her sensitive areas, causing goosebumps that were dying down to rise again.

“Swan lake” Was the first thing she muttered as her legs still quivering, Spencer looked up at her confusedly as he set throw the cloth to the dirty hamper and laid down beside her once more, cuddling her to his side.

“What?” he asked, his fingers running through her hair.

“Tchaikovsky’s, Swan lake was playing.” They both laughed at her answer, shaking their heads. It wasn’t until Y/N’s eyes flickered to his hazy ones, that they muttered it together,

“I love you—“

———————

TBC!

As always, TAGLIST is open, blurb requests are also open any genre of course, send them in along with suggestions and/or constructive criticisms! thank you. Just message me or send me an ask :) thank you for supporting. I’M SO SORRY FOR THE REUPLOAD, the TAGS DOESNT WORK TUMBLR IS MEAN TO ME AGAIN❤️

( @blancastans @spencerwaltergubler @slutforthegubes @n1ghtsh4d3-67 @babybloomer @liaabsurd @midnightsubmissives @addie5264 @maybankslut @secretpickleprofessordean )

#spencer reid angst #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid smut #dom!spencer #taahm #spencer reid blurbs #criminal minds smut

212 notes · View notes

baeklination · 4 years

Text

Ocean: the deep (2)

Pic: comma.

Date: 210114

Warnings/Contains: angst, abuse (ment./emot.), gen.explicit language

Pairing: au! Baekhyun x F. Reader

WC: 7,9k

NOTE: It’s not all angst, but describing it as fluff feels off. On sensitive/explicit topics.

Prologue Masterlist

¤¤

Alot of us tell ourselves “I’d know”, but chances are you wouldn’t. Not if they didn’t want you to. And if they did, showed you a sliver of the truth, would you be brave enough to see it instead of thinking up an excuse?

¤¤

“Are you okay?”, Beanie asks, putting the break on her stroller so you can sit down on the park bench.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine. A little tired. Still getting used to drinking wine instead of mixed drinks I guess.”

“No, not you. I mean you guys, you and Baekhyun.”

“What do you mean? You saw him last night.” Doubt finding its way to your mind - she has after all known him for longer than you. “Did...Did he say something to you?”

“No, but I noticed…”, she turns to you, stalling. “Don’t get mad, alright?”

“Why would I get mad?”

“Just… I’m gonna say something and I don’t want you to get mad at me.”

“Okay, I won’t get mad, Bean. What?”

“I’ve been married to Minnie for a while now, so I see Baekhyun alot, and I’ve heard some things - rumours I guess - that maybe, you know…”

“Don’t say it, Bean. Please don’t say it.” Heart sinking, you brace yourself and ask her.

“That he sleeps around..?”

“No, not that. More that he’s maybe...not so...kind.”

“What..?”, you burst out.

“Like I said, it’s rumours, I never really hung out with his girlfriends before, so I wouldn’t know. But I…”

Beanie’s fidgeting makes your throat tighten.

“I feel like Baekhyun used to dote on you, but lately he’s been acting more like...your dad.”

“That’s ridiculous..!”, you say, swatting your hand in the air. “Besides, don’t dads dote on their kids, hm?”

“But you’re not his daughter”, she says bluntly, fixing her eyes on you.

“Are you talking about something specific that happened last night?”

¤¤

Hearing the lock turn you breathe a sigh of relief; having a dinner party at home without the owner of said home wasn’t your plan. Baekhyun stops in the living room to greet his guests and engage in the usual banter - as if he didn’t see half of them earlier in the day - before you hear his footsteps nearing the kitchen.

“Sorry I’m late, sweetie. I just couldn’t seem to get out..!”, he huffs.

Putting on your best Suzy Homemaker air (jokingly, of course), you turn around with your arms open.

“You’re just in time, Baekhyun. Honestly, I just took the lasagna out of the oven.”

“Wow, this looks great…”, Baekhyun says, taking the sight of your carefully planned dishes in before kissing you. “But…Are you wearing that?”, he says leaning back, his eyes slightly narrowing.

“Hm? You picked this dress. Don’t you remember?”, you say puzzled.

“Of course I remember. But it’s...more for me, isn’t it? Just me. Maybe put on something more modest?”

“Modest..?”, you laugh. “This isn’t worse than any of the other girls...”

“Well, you don’t have to be like them, do you? You’re my girl, aren’t you?”, he coos.

You know he’s being overly sensitive, but it won’t cost your ego much to change - not as much as this dinner ruined would, so you lift your hands up in defeat.

“Okay, you win”, you sigh.

His smile lights up not only his face, but your entire being. His hands on your cheeks is a promise of sweet touches to be given later on; his lips one of your name being whispered in love.

“I’ll set the table, sweetie.”

“You changed your dress?”, Beanie asks.

“Serves me right for not wearing an apron”, you chuckle as you sit down.

Baekhyun takes your hand and smiles.

“Please, everyone”, you gesture to the fully laden table “enjoy.”

¤¤

“No, I mean in general.”

“Well, in general, you’ve nothing to worry about. Sure, I don’t get flowers delivered every other day like before, but that’s because I practically live with him now. You know how it is”, you say, gesturing to her stroller. “The beginning is always a fairytale, and then it becomes something else. You don’t need all the trimmings when you realise you…”

“Love each other?”, Beanie says, leaning forward with big eyes.

“Yeah…”, you say, shrugging your shoulders.

“Baekhyun said the L word to you..!”

“A month ago. And every day since. God, why am I embarrassed to say it!? Stop laughing, Bean!”

“I’m sorry. This is great!”, Beanie replies, clapping her hands. “Now I feel bad for dragging him like that...”

“I won’t tell on you.” You sit quiet for a moment, then continue. “And when you say “dad”, if you mean how he sometimes suggests things for me to do, or wear, I dunno, it’s because I’ve asked him to. You know I’m not from around here, so sometimes when we go places, say for dinner, I want to know what cutlery to use, or what those goddamn french words mean, you know. It’s embarrassing - for me - to be so obviously misplaced…”

“Shit, don’t I know it…”, Beanie shakes her head. “What? You know I grew up on the other side. First time Minnie took me to a corporate event...he called it “a party”, so you know I rolled up in my shortest sequin number and my highest glitter heels… Shit, the looks I got!”, she wheezes.

“Those stiffs must’ve thought you were the entertainment!”

“Hey! But you’re right. I tell you, Minnie didn’t get any for a week.”

After wiping her tears Beanie gets serious again:

“I’m sorry, alright? Only looking out for you. But who knows...soon I might be looking for a maid of honour attire”, she smirks.

You cross your fingers and smile back.

¤¤

“I’ll be a happy man the day I don’t have to read the name Seung Inc. again”, Baekhyun sighs and slumps down on the couch, lifting your head to rest on his thigh.

“Settlement getting the better of you?”

“Their stupidity might”, he chuckles, giving you a kiss. “I’ll take Ga’ round the block before bed.”

“No, I can do it.”

“I could use some fresh air. And your overdramatic drama starts soon, doesn’t it?”

“It’s a perfectly lifelike show, Baekhyun. What, you mean your boss doesn’t slap you cross the face?”, you giggle, remembering his disbelief at the scene.

“No, but I might slap him one of these days. Come on Ga’”, he says, getting up and patting his thigh. “Gawa, come here.”

Gawa doesn’t move, so you nudge him off of the couch:

“Go!”

“Why do I always have to call that dog three times?”, Baekhyun shakes his head.

“What that dog thinks is anyone’s guess. He probably likes the way you say his name. Don’t forget-”

“Bags. I know.”

Feeling a little antsy you busy yourself with a bit of tidying up in the kitchen, emptying the dishwasher, wiping the counters and the like. There’s really no need, as you’ve already done it, but it’s something to do while waiting for Baekhyun to come back, for him to go to bed. “Take it easy. It’s just a search, what’s gonna happen? Nothing. It’s not true, so nothing.”

When he’s finally tucked in you bring in his water bottle - which he always forgets - and put it on the nightstand.

“Thanks.”

“All set?”

“Beyond all set…”

“Mm, I can see you won’t need a bedtime story to fall asleep”, you say, running your fingers through his hair.

“Depends…”, he says, seemingly half asleep. “Depends on the story”, he smiles, guiding your hand downwards.

You pull it away. When he doesn’t even bother opening his eyes you know he wasn’t serious anyway, so you turn off the light and say goodnight, closing the door behind you.

¤¤

Finishing your show you mute the TV and sit still for a while, making sure you can’t hear any sound except Gawa’s snoozing. “Let’s just do this.” You grab your computer and start reading. You’re relieved to find you can’t relate to most of the things you read, but once in a while the text makes you stop;

Patronizing; one month:

Going through your phone Baekhyun had laughed when you suggested he wouldn’t like finding you going through his. “Go ahead. But I doubt you’d be able to discern anything.”

“What, ‘cus I’m not a corporate lawyer suddenly I’m dumb..?”

“No...But put it this way. Since I am a lawyer I know certain things. But you know things I don’t, sweetie. Like scanning barcodes, or working a cash register. That’s more your thing”, he had smiled.

You had definitely felt some kind of way about the conversation. But seeing as he’d already said he wasn’t calling you dumb you didn’t find the words to approach it without it seeming like you were picking a fight.

“Joking”: Two months:

“Baekhyun, I don’t think this is my size. Why’d you cut the label off?”

“It was huge. I knew you’d do it anyway. Maybe you’ve gained weight…”, he said, chuckling at how the fabric cut into your waist.

You knew you hadn’t, and comparing it to your other trousers, the one he bought was definitely smaller.

Monitoring your whereabouts: three months:

Stacking condiments on the shelf at work you’d seen him coming down the aisle; a lovely surprise in the middle of a long shift. “Hi..! What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t answering your phone, just wanted to see you’re okay.”

“I don’t have it on me, you know that.”

“Okay, you got me. I was gonna pretend I wanted snacks, but really I missed you.”

You had found it adorable that he’d gotten into the car just to see you. But had he maybe done it to see if your text was true - if you were really covering a shift for a sick coworker?

“Sweetie…”

Drunk with sleep you rub your eyes. Baekhyun is kneeling next to the couch, the white light from your laptop making him an angelic figure in the otherwise dark room.

“Oh”, you scrunch your face. “I must’ve fallen asleep…”

“You must have”, he says, brushing your hair behind your ear. “Who’s being abused?”

You jerk, suddenly fully awake, and look at your screen: “Signs to look out for”. You scramble to sit up and close the web browser.

“No, Beanie just-”

“Minnie’s abusing Beanie?”

“No. Someone in her mom circle...she thought maybe. I don’t know…” You know it’s impossible Baekhyun doesn’t hear the lie, but he doesn’t let on. “I just thought I’d see if there’s anything she could look...out for, you know. She’s busy with the baby and all...”, you shrug your shoulders, trying to brush it off as nothing special.

“If she’s that busy maybe she shouldn’t put her nose in other people’s business”, he says, cocking his head.

There’s an almost undetectable smile on his lips which sends a shiver through your body.

“It’s not like that, she-”

“Come to bed”, he says getting up on his feet.

“I... Come on, Gawa.”

“No, he stays. I don’t want him in the room.”

There’s something distinctly different in how his shoulders look as he walks away. Something that makes you drag out your visit to the bathroom, hoping he’ll be asleep by the time you’re done. Tiptoeing into your room you breathe a sigh of relief, until you get into bed and he immediately rolls over to hug you. Any other day this would’ve been nothing less than what you expected - and wanted - but now all you can think of is how fast your heart is beating, and whether he can feel it or not. And Beanie…“What if he asks her? I can’t tell her to lie for me, then I’d have to explain why I did it in the first place…” But your thoughts are interrupted when Baekhyun exhales loudly into your neck and pulls your body closer, easing you out of your underwear.

¤¤

Cutting the alarm at 08.15 you sit up to find the bed empty. Well, empty of Baekhyun. He’d let the door stay open for Gawa to jump into bed, as he is now halfheartedly wagging his tail, looking at you. The fact that he’s not already in your face, vying for your attention means Baekhyun has both walked and fed him. And that means he’s not angry with you about last night.

“Ay, ay”, you sigh getting out of bed, tying your robe tightly. “Maybe I should cut back even more on my hours like he wants. Whaddya say, Ga’? Staying home watching dramas all day, wouldn’t that be something?”

Shuffling out to the kitchen you see a note on the counter: “I’m meeting Seung Inc.redible ass for dinner. Home early, call me if you want take out.” Baekhyun always ends his notes with a star. Never a heart, or a smiley, but a star. Today it makes you pause, mulling last night over in your head. Not so much thinking as feeling. “Sweetie…” Nothing had happened, yet deep down you know something had. But since it is deep down you swat it away with ease, going about your day as planned.

Coming back to your apartment to find half of your plants either dead or hanging on to life by a thread was the twig that broke the back of your dubble home lifestyle. The surfaces being covered in dust and your clothes smelling stuffy was just icing on said broken back.

“...and cleaning up feels like a waste since I’ll be gone and the same thing’s gonna happen..”, you complain over the phone to Baekhyun.

“Sweetie..? Are you asking me if you can move in with me..?”, Baekhyun says at the other end. You can tell he has a smile on his face.

“Wha-no… I’m not”, you laugh, suddenly realising that’s exactly what it sounds like. “I was just venting.”

“So you don’t wanna move in with me?”

If you say yes it will really seem as if you were fishing, so you just stare at the phone.

“You there…?”

“Yeah, I just… Are you really asking?”

“Yes…”

What you want to do is swing from your lamp like it’s a merry-go-round and scream, but you keep it cool, clearing your throat.

“Well, it’s a pretty big decision. Of course I’d say yes, but I have to confer with my associate.”

“This associate of yours, does it happen to be a big furry thing who is probably lying next to you, listening in..?”

“Maybe…”

“Mr. Gawa, I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

“Baekhyun! I’ve seen that movie - it’s not a good offer..!”, you holler.

“Okay, okay”, he laughs. “My offer is love. Good enough?”

You scrunch your face and smother a yelp of delight.

“Good enough, Baekhyun…”

“Great”, he huffs. “Typical Seung, calling to rain on my happy moment… You’ll come home tonight then?”

“My first night as the lady of the manor, wouldn’t miss it. Go easy on him..! Love you.”

“Love you. Bye.”

You sit in disbelief for a moment. Did an everyday phone call with Baekhyun just end in you moving in with him? A dozen unfinished thoughts goes through your mind; giving up the apartment seems daunting somehow; what do I do with all my stuff; does he have room for what I wanna bring..? But it is mostly happy thoughts painted in pink.

“Hope this puts an end to the tiffs we’ve had lately. Brings it back to how it was before”, you sigh. “Look alive, Gawa - you’re moving up in the world..!”, you say, wrestling with him for a bit.

¤¤

“Agh!”, you huff, kicking your shoes off in the hallway and dropping your bag on the floor.

Baekhyun, for once home earlier than you, gives you a curious look from the sofa.

“Rough day?”

“My car won’t start..!”

“How’d you get home?”

“It was fine, but when I turned the ignition off my headlights wouldn’t go out, so I was gonna do it again, but it wouldn’t start. I’ve been sitting in the parking lot for fifteen minutes revving the engine like Wacky Races..! I had to cut the battery ‘cus of the lights”, you complain, slumping down next to him with your head in his lap. “I was so angry I almost forgot Ga’ in the car. Ahh, that fucking car, Baekhyun..!”, you laugh desperately.

“You gonna leave it at the shop?”

“I can’t afford it right now. Not again.”

“Don’t be silly, I’ll pay for it.”

“I don’t want you to. I’ll take the bus.”

“What’s a bus?”, Baekhyun frowns, choking a smile.

You roll your eyes at him and shake your head, as if you don’t think him playing with high class manners is funny.

“Wait, I wanna lie down”, he says, stretching out on the couch with you as his blanket.

“I’ll give you money for the cab tomorrow”, he says, kissing your hand.

“There’s no cab. I’m taking the bus. But thank you.”

“Some start to being the lady of the manor… Speaking of which, did you give your… How many months is the notice...?”

“Three. No, I…”, you pause.

Baekhyun shakes his head a little, a question.

“I thought you might wanna talk it over.”

“We already did..? You having second thoughts?”

“Of course not..! It was just in case, since I was whining about it, maybe you asked...on the spur of the moment, kinda?”

His honeyed laughter rings in your ears.

“You think I’d ask you to move in on the spur of the moment?”

“Well, no...when you say it like that it sounds different..!”

“ Ah, what to do with you, sweetie”, he sighs. “You wanna have a party maybe?”

“A party?”

“Not a rave, but invite a few people, you know.”

“Hm...eh, I hadn’t...hm, okay.”

“We don’t have to.”

“No, I just hadn’t thought about it. It’ll be fun, let’s do it. Wait, I don’t even know - do you have a storage room in the building? If my stuff can fit there or whether I should rent something?”

“You’re bringing your things here, aren’t you?”

“I mean the big things, my furniture and…”

“You don’t need them anymore, just throw them out? Or are you planning on leaving me..?”, Baekhyun teases.

“Nooo. But I spent money on them, I don’t wanna just chuck ‘em out.”

“It’s stupid, but do as you wish”, he sighs.

“It’s not. Humour me. For a while at least.”

In these mundane things is where your heart is, feeling Baekhyun’s breathing and warmth through his thin t-shirt while he watches the news, lightly scratching the nape of your neck, but otherwise paying no particular attention to you.

¤¤

Even though you at first hadn’t a thought of having a moving-in party, the thought really grew on you, and you decided to throw something together. It was all rather ad-hoc: drinks, ramyun, games, a few shiny balloons you’d gotten from work and a dozen guests. Most of them were from Baekhyun’s office, but that didn’t matter, you knew and liked them well enough. Oddly enough, Beanie hadn’t gotten back to you today. You knew she was coming, she’d been too excited about the news not to, but you couldn’t get a hold of her now. You’d been checking your phone so often it was borderline rude, so you’d left it in the kitchen for some peace of mind, but now hearing your ringtone you excuse yourself and dash to get it. It’s not her.

“Hey, I forgot the code to the gate..?”

“Didn’t I send you a text with it?”

“Oh… I forgot that to..! Sorry, be right up.”

Without being unappreciative of the friends that are here you can’t help missing the one who isn’t. You could probably drink and laugh away the night with anyone of these people, but with Beanie it’s different. You don’t know if it’s because both of you are from “the other side of the tracks” and somehow ended up in fancy places, but you do know your connection with her was instant, like meeting your twin from another lifetime. You know her word is her bond and that’s why her silence unnerves you.

“Problem?”

A little startled, you spin around to see Baekhyun.

“Nah, just Katy asking for the code.”

“Really..?”, he frowns. “You seem a bit…”

“I thought it might be Bean…”, you shrug your shoulders. “Can you try Minnie, please?”

“He’s out of town on business”, Baekhyun replies casually.

“What?”

“He had to go, sweetie.”

“Had to go? Don’t you decide that?”

“What’s your point?”

“Well… Why didn’t you tell me?”

Baekhyun cocks his head to the side. It makes your chest tighten.

“You want me to ask you how to do my job?”

“Of course not”, you say, deflated. “I’m just disappointed.”

“Well, you have guests in the other room. Maybe you should think more about them instead of sitting in here having a tantrum over someone who doesn’t even answer your calls. Shouldn’t you?”

You don’t want to let Baekhyun off the hook for not telling you about Min, but you know it wouldn’t make a difference if you continued.

“I just don’t get why Beanie’s not picking up… What if something’s wrong?”

“She has a kid, she’s probably busy. And at this hour”, he says, looking at his watch “...she probably has her phone on mute. Come on now. I spent a lot of money on this, you don’t wanna ruin it for everyone, do you?”

Letting his words sink in, logic and guilt alike, you come to terms with the situation and realise that you really don’t want to ruin it for everyone, or yourself. You shake your head with a crooked smile.

“That’s my girl. No more pouting”, Baekhyun says, with a light poke on your nose.

Getting into bed you look through your phone one last time; check the call log and text messages, in case you’ve somehow clicked Beanie away, but there’s nothing there. Now, with not so little alcohol in your system you don’t worry about her being okay, but about your friendship. Had you done something wrong? Or rather, did she think you had; had she misunderstood something maybe? You try to put it out of your mind, but it sits like a little pebble in your gut, only given a break by Baekhyun.

“Thank god they’re gone..!”, he exclaims, dragging you on top of him.

“You talked the most, drank the most-”

“I was trying to scare them away”, he laughs between kisses. “Every fucking time you moved on the couch I imagined it was me under there… Now be a good girl and ride me, sweetie.”

¤¤

As you hadn’t been able to get a hold of Beanie the following couple of days you had made up your mind to go to her and Minnie’s home - one of these days. Deciding to do something and having the courage to do it can be two very different things, and it fell on divine intervention to push you forward.

Waiting for Baekhyun to pick you up from the mall you spot Minnie walking across the parking lot.

“Min..!”, you shout, zig-zagging your way through the parked cars.

He smiles when he spots you, but you detect a degree of discomfort in it.

“Oh, hi. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been to lunch with my mom, just waiting for Baekhyun to pick me up.”

“Lunch date with mom, that’s nice. I haven’t seen you in a while, how are you?”, he asks, as he starts for his car again.

“I’m good. You?”

“I’m good, just came back from out of town-”

“Yeah”, you interrupt. “That’s actually what I wanted to ask you about… Is Beanie alright? She didn’t come to my party and I can’t get a hold of her.”

“Yeah, she’s fine. You know how it is, busy with the baby and all… She probably just forgot.”

Even with his face turned away as he’s putting his bags in the trunk you can tell he’s not being honest. You’re not sure if you want to know why though. You study his face as he rounds the car to the driver’s door - he’s clearly uncomfortable, trying to force a normal demeanour, so you press him on it.

“But I don’t think she’d forget about it. Or not get in touch on her own - we talk almost every day, Min.”

“Shit...”, he says, fidgeting with the keys. “I asked her not to go, okay. To keep a little distance for a while.”

“From me? Why? I thought we were-”

“No, it’s…”

They way he’s frowning and struggling with his words you know why.

“Baekhyun asked me to”, he finishes, holding his hands up in defeat.

“What, no. You must’ve misunderstood, Min”, you say, not wanting to let on what you’re really thinking. “Why would he?”

“He didn’t say, he just… Aeh, you know what? Maybe I did misunderstand him. Talk to him when you see him, it’s probably nothing”, he says, getting into the car.

“Yeah, I’ll tell him you ruined my party over nothing”, you chuckle. “Tell Bean to answer next time, alright?”

“Will do. See you around?”

“See ya”, you say, waving him off.

You spend the few minutes you have left to wait wondering - fearing - why Baekhyun would ask such a thing of Minnie. Actually, you’re not wondering at all - you know why. But if that’s the case what does it mean? Why wouldn’t he sit down with you and have a conversation about it like an adult? Why would he essentially order Min to keep her away? He must know what it looks like… And what would Beanie think it looks like? What the hell are you gonna tell her when you see her again? “If you see her, you mean? I will see her.” You promise yourself you won’t let Baekhyun get away with this, that you’re gonna have a proper talk about it. But your resolve gets a nick as soon as you get in the car, for a moment pretending that it might just be a misunderstanding…

“How’s your mom?”

“You know, same old, same old.”

“Nothing new on the westfront..?”, he smiles at you and takes your hand.

“Not much. But I saw Min. Bumped into him, I mean. Just now.”

You can’t tell if you sound casual. When Baekhyun tightens his grip on your hand you definitely feel less than casual.

“Hm. Beanie?”

“No, it was just him. He-”

“So what’d he say?”, he asks, keeping his eyes on the road.

This is your in, but you’re not as brave as you were five minutes ago. If you bring it up you can’t unsay it and everything that follows will be your doing; do you want to spend a wonderful evening with your man or do you want to walk around on glass shards?

“Beanie thinks you don’t like her…”

He spares you a quick glance with a furrowed brow.

“He said that?”

“Not exactly. He said, eh, I don’t wanna be a tattle tale...”

“What are you, ten years old?”, he scoffs. “We can talk about it when we get home”, he continues and lets go of your hand.

It’s sickening, the darkness that emanates from him. Even shifting in your seat to look out the window you feel like a bother to him. You don’t want to “talk about it”, you want to shout at him for trying to decide who your friends are, and for cutting you off. But you also wanna sweep it under the rug, beg his forgiveness with your saddest eyes and let him know he’s more important than anyone else.

¤¤

From the garage to the elevator to the hallway, every step feels like you're walking closer to springing a bear trap you set for yourself.

“You’re hovering...”, Baekhyun notes when you stand by the kitchen island, watching him scroll through his phone.

“Well, you said...we were gonna talk…”

“What’s there to talk about?”

You look at him, dumbfounded, until he puts away his phone and raises a questioning eyebrow.

“Minnie. Did you say anything to him about Beanie? I’m hoping it’s a misun-”

“That he should keep her away? Yeah.”

“Why would you do that? She’s my friend!”

“Don’t raise your voice at me.”

“Baekhyun…”

You try to find the right words as your eyes start burning, but end up throwing your hands up in defeat.

“She’s my friend…”

“Sweetie”, he says, coming up to you, looking down at you. “I’ve known her longer than you, I think I know what’s best.”

“I can take care of myself. Make my own decisions.”

“Sure you can. But I’m the one who moved you from a tiny apartment to a skyrise flat, no?”, he chuckles.

You know he sometimes has a tendency to poke fun at you, but this was different. Going from letting you know it doesn’t matter what your paycheck says to making sure you know it does - the audacity doesn’t make you angry, it hurts you.

“Why do you have to put me down? Like in the car, when you called me ten..”

“What am I supposed to do with you when you act like this then?” Pausing, seemingly drawing pleasure from your expression he continues in a softer tone, putting his arms around you “I was only kidding, you’re too sensitive, sweetie.”

“I guess I am...”, you whisper, knowing you can’t make him listen anyway. “I’m gonna take Ga’ out.”

Giving Baekhyun the silent treatment doesn’t work. He sees through it, thinks it’s childish and wants no part of it. Besides, he’s better at it than you are; making some calls, working in his home office, reading the paper while seemingly not noticing your silent rebellion. After a while the TV and Gawa can’t keep your fearful thoughts away, the ones where he decides you’re no fun anymore. The clock is creeping closer to dinner time and that’ll be make or break as you see it - making up and eating together or eating alone and making a bad situation worse. You don’t want to give up even more of your pride, but his silence won’t stop any other way. “And besides, a relationship is about diplomacy. Sometimes you have to let the other person win.. It’s normal.”

You walk past his study and the kitchen to find him lying in bed with his phone. Quiet as a mouse you sit down on your end, suddenly scared it won’t work, that he’ll brush away your attempt at reconciliation like so many bread crumbs from the mattress. “Do I beg?” A part of you is disgusted with yourself because you know he’s waiting for you to crawl back. He doesn’t look at you when you turn around to face him, but oh, he’s waiting alright. Shuffling up next to him you cautiously lower yourself down, hoping he’ll let you in. When he moves his arm for you to lay down, putting it around you when you have, the release you feel is immeasurable. Winning or losing isn’t so important. Baekhyun is. He runs his hand over your hair, eyes still fixed on the phone, you stretch your arm out, tucking your fingers beneath his shirt to feel his warm torso. That other stuff may be important, but not right now.

¤¤

“Dear Diary in my head… Why didn’t I say anything? I’m not afraid of him, so why was I afraid to? I was lazy ‘cus I didn’t wanna go on with the fight. But I’m not a fucking school girl wanting a boy’s approval, so I should’ve insisted. Now it sounds pathetic, “I should’ve insisted I be allowed to see Beanie”, like he’s my dad - shit, that’s what Beanie said… I AM allowed to see her, goddamn it, and I will, I don’t care. He’s the one being unreasonable - as if I love every single one of his friends..! If that article is what he's mad about it doesn't even make sense, ‘cus he’s not like that. But what if he is...like that rumour she was talking about… Jesus CHRIST, I’d know if he was! Now I’m just winding myself up ‘cus I’m irritated, stop it. I know how he is; hot headed in the moment, but forgets about it quickly. I mean what, he’s gonna hate on his colleagues wife forever? Ah-ah, he’ll get over it. And I need to stop being such a pushover when we argue, that’s for damn sure…”

¤¤

“How many times have you seen her?”, Baekhyun asks coldly, holding up your phone.

You hadn’t, as you first thought, forgot to take it with you to the bedroom last night - he’d taken it before you woke up. There’s no room for you to come up with a lie, white or other. Actually, this time there’s not even room for your dread as you immediately get pissed off at him for taking it.

“I didn’t opt out of having a password for you to go through my phone”, you say sternly, going to retrieve it from him. When he moves you fix your eyes on him “Baekhyun..!”

“How many times?”

“A few times. She’s my friend, and I missed her. I know y-”

“A few times?”

There’s a glint in his eye that makes you unsettled so you make like you’re starting breakfast, with him following you.

“What do you talk about?”

“Nothing. This and that…”

“For example..?”

“I don’t keep a log, do I?”, you mumble sarcastically, more to yourself than him.

Before you have time to react he's grabbed your arm, making your head bounce against the wall.

"What did you just say?", he spits in your face, but seeing how you cower, eyes locked on his hand hanging in the air, he remembers himself. "So fucking dumb", he hisses, releasing his grip on you with a shove to the side.

Toppling over, trying to compose yourself you see him snatching his blazer from his seat before leaving.

In an instant Baekhyun has made you so small you feel that the chairs, table and island are all towering up around you where you sit on the floor. Your eyes are fixed on the door, terrified you’re going to see the lock turn open. You won’t hear it through the piercing sound in your ears. “He was gonna hit me…” Understanding he’s not coming back you stand up, bracing yourself against the wall. What now? You look around aimlessly, not even realising you’re clutching your arm, until you see your phone on the counter. Like a bolt the obvious answer hits you: “You can’t stay.” Hurrying to the closet you grab one of Baekhyun’s overnight bags - he won’t miss it - and open the drawers, grabbing a handful of everything and stuffing them in it; tearing clothes off their racks, making the hangers fall to the floor with a clank and sweep toiletries in with one movement. Lacing up your shoes your heart threatens to break your chest in half. You repeatedly call Gawa, then remember your mom’s had him a few nights.

“Where’s my...” You look around for your jacket in a fever, unable to focus.

“Did he take my jacket? My keys...no...”, you think even though you’re certain you never saw him with it.

“Ah!”

Running to your room you breathe a sigh of relief when you see it hanging on a chair; putting it on you check your pockets to see everything’s there and *qo...*. You freeze. Was that the bolt sliding? Not hearing any other sounds you slide your phone open, ready to call whomever, leaving sweat marks over the screen, and inch your way out to the dining room.

“Baekhyun..?”

Your bag is right there. If he’s somehow managed to come in without you hearing it, he’s seen it, and with the open floor plan the only doors in the apartment are on the bathroom, office and walk-in closet - all situated round the entrance. You can’t lock yourself in. Your gut churns as you expect him to round the corner with his head to the side - the way it always is when he disapproves of something. Feeling like he’s toying with you, you give way to despondency, wiping your tears before you keep walking and turn the corner. But he’s not there. The door is locked. You sink down on wobbly legs, catching your breath. Grabbing your bag you hear that sound again, and realise it was just a glass bottle in the bag settling, knocking against another one.

“Fuck! Jesus Christ…”

Sitting down you start thinking about where to go. In the back of your head you’d assumed your mom’s place, but now you see there are only two ways that could go: you don’t tell her why, so she’ll invite Baekhyun in when he comes looking or you do tell her and she’ll insist you report him to the police. But what’s there to report? “He DIDN’T hit me. He grabbed your arm! Yeah, he grabbed my arm in a fight when he found out I’d been lying to him… They won’t do anything…”

“Why did I lie to him..! None of this would've happened if I’d been honest, just told him the first time I saw her. And if I hadn’t acted like that when he asked… Of course he'd be angry, anyone would. Being angry is one thing, punching someone is different. But he didn't… I mean, haven't I been so annoyed I've wanted to hit him? It's not the same thing! Why not? Because he happens to be stronger than me? It's still violence...You KNOW why it isn't… If he HAD, sure, I'd never let him near me again, but he didn’t. He wouldn’t… He wouldn’t.”

Going back and forth with yourself in your head was just a formality and a way to convince yourself you're the type of person that 1: won't tolerate being treated like shit, and 2: would give someone a second chance. “Everyone deserves a second chance. At least a chance to explain themselves.”

Putting your things back you make sure they are exactly as they had been, while ignoring the voice that asks why you’re worried he might be able to tell a difference. Now there’s nothing left to do but somehow pass the excruciatingly long hours until he gets off work...

¤¤

Not hearing from Baekhyun all day had you go from thinking he’d been wrong to fearing he’d still think you were.

If you can forgive him then surely he can forgive you, right? If he’s still angry, you’ll make an effort; if he doesn't say anything about it, neither will you. You’ll go on as usual, have a visit with your mom, be fine.

Standing in front of the mirror in your closet, trying to figure out what top to wear has a different feeling to it today; you're trying to cover up your arm. There isn't any bruising on it as far as you can tell, but you never know… When the lock turns your pulse goes up. You’ve been anxiety ridden all day, as well as longing for him to come home, so you can really put this thing past you and go back to normal.

He peeks in through the door with a gentle smile and presents a bouquet - yellow peonies.

"I think roses are the official flower of apology, but I know how you love these."

“He’s not mad, thank God, he’s not mad…”

"I don't know what came over me”, he starts, coming up to you. “It must be all the stress at work, with the buy-out and I… I would never hurt you! When I saw that look in your eyes I couldn’t believe what I was doing-”

“Why didn’t you call me all day?”, you ask, teary-eyed with relief.

“I wanted to, sweetie, but I...every time I picked up the phone I saw that look and I didn’t know what to say… I’ll never hurt you again, I swear.”

“You real...really scared me”, you manage to say through choppy breaths.

“I know. I’ll do whatever you want, give you anything you want”, he says, hugging you tightly “...just forgive me.”

You don’t take pleasure in seeing him distraught, but note that suddenly the roles are reversed - he’s the one pleading, and you have the power to lift him up.

“You have to promise me, Baekhyun.”

“I promise, sweetie. I promise..!”

He tips your head up by the chin:

“You believe me, right?"

With such sincerity in his eyes and tremble in his voice, how could you not?

“Good”, he says when you nod, giving you your long awaited kiss. “I’m so sorry…”

“Let’s...”, you exhale deeply, turning to the mirror again.“Let’s not talk about it anymore, okay?”

“Sure. What are you up to?”

“I'm just deciding what to wear. We have to be at my mum's in forty-five minutes, so if you're gonna shower before we go…”

Coming up to stand behind you in the mirror, the way he puts his hands on your shoulders makes you wince, if ever so slightly. But he doesn't notice.

"Do you really think it's a good idea for us to go over there today? I think we could really need this time for ourselves. Don't you agree?"

"But I've already told her we're coming over…"

"I know, but with everything that's been going on… Tell you what...You go put these in water and I'll give her a call, tell her I've got a migraine."

"I have to get Gawa, she's had him four days already", you say, happy to have found a good reason for going over.

"She won't mind will she?", he asks, spinning you around to look you in the eyes. "Aren't I as important as him? I've really missed you today, sweetie."

You don't want to upset him again, and you've really missed him too. So you give in.

Curled up on the sofa with your head on Baekhyun's chest, his fingers are playing with your hair.

"Sweetie? Have you thought about maybe letting your mum have Gawa?"

"Have him? Past tomorrow?"

"Keep him. For good, I mean."

"What? No, why?"

"Don't get upset", he says soothing you. "I don't mean he can't come over from time to time."

A sickening feeling creeps into your heart, but not wanting to risk another fight so soon you hold your tongue. Nonchalantly flipping through the channels on the TV he adds:

"We don't have to decide anything now. It's just...something to think about."

¤¤

Drying your hands after finishing up the dishes at your mom's you hear Baekhyun from the living room:

"... to have him full time."

Your stomach's in knots as you join them. Baekhyun smiles and grabs your hand.

"I was just telling your mom how we think she should keep Gawa - if you want to, of course", he adds thoughtfully, looking at your mom.

"But he's your everything, honey", your mom, correctly, points out. "Why would you ev-"

She cuts herself off with eyes growing wide.

"Are you pregnant..!? Oh, oh..!", she blurts out before you can stop her.

"No!"

Baekhyun bursts out laughing, pulling you to sit on his lap.

"Not yet, mother. But who knows, might not be too long before you hear the tapping of little feet around here…", he jokes.

At least you hope he is. Not feeling entirely comfortable with the turn the conversation has taken, you get up, calling Gawa to you.

"Well, I guess we should be going, mom. Come on, Baekhyun, Ga'."

There's a flicker in Baekhyun's eyes, but you know he won't make a scene in front of your mom.

"We'll give you some time to think about it", he says, hugging her goodbye.

You can feel the cold emanating from him like dry ice in the elevator.

"I'll drop you off at home before I head into the office", he says, clearing his throat.

"It's Saturday, you're off."

"I might as well get some work done if you don't want to be with me. If you choose that animal over me."

¤¤

Forty-eight hours ago you had been looking forward to the weekend; visiting your mom with your handsome, successful boyfriend and winding down with the love of your life - Gawa. But nothing had gone the way you had imagined. Even after the incident it was as if Baekhyun hadn't let go of your arm, keeping you under his eye and forcing you to prove your loyalty to him. But then again, you had just been through something big, however short it was. It was only natural he'd want a little more attention from you than normal, right? He probably didn't mean for you to give Gawa up for good, it was just bad wording. He loved seeing you happy, why else would he buy you flowers and jewellery, insist that you cut back your hours at work to be home more, call you every other hour to say hi?

Thinking about it in those terms made it simple - if not easy - for you to do what he wanted. Because he was what you wanted, wasn't he? So, not having told him you were returning Gawa to your mom the same day you were waiting for him to come back home. What had started as excitement about pleasing him had, as the hours passed, turned into a tremendously guilty conscience and now, lying in bed as he approaches, you can't even pretend to be happy.

"Why is it so dark in here?", he asks, throwing his blazer on the bed. "Where's Ga'? Gawa..!", he calls.

"He's not here", you answer him, your back still turned against him. "He's with mom…"

"Oh, sweetie", he sighs, laying down behind you, giving you a kiss on the neck. "I didn't mean for you to take him back today. Turn around, let me see that pretty face. That's better", he says, brushing the hair out of your eyes.

"My red eyes and runny nose is better?", you pout, partly fishing for a compliment.

"Mm-hm. Of course I don't like to see you sad, but I really appreciate what you've done. It shows that you respect me. That you really care about me."

Little by little his words push away your melancholy. The way he's looking at you now, with his gentle brown eyes and sweet smile, prickles your skin. This is the reaction you had wanted from him.

"And besides…", he continues, slipping his hand under your t-shirt "I've been thinking about what your mother said… About a baby."

"No. Baekhyun, that's insane. That’s…"

"Why? Too soon? Who decides that? Look...", he says, nudging your t-shirt up to show your stomach "...can't you imagine a little Baekhyun growing in here? Or my daughter? Walking in the park with the stroller, showing the baby to everyone at work… I’d show you off to everyone the minute I found out."

“Aeh..”, you swat your hand as he gets up, but when he’s out of the room you scrunch your face with delight at the thought of it. Somehow you can see it. But in your stomach isn't just the butterflies of an imagined little life - it’s the whispered knowledge that you've left the right love behind.

#baekhyun #baekhyun angst #baekhyun scenario

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rurifangirl · 3 years

Note

oc asksssss💃💃💃

i'll anwser yours a lil later tho🤡

shou🌸

😍 does your muse believe in true love? why or why not?

kayn🌸

🧸 does your muse keep anything sentimental? if so, what do they keep and why?

evelyn🌸

🐺 does your muse like solitude? do they prefer it to being around others? how easily does your muse get lonely?

eris🌸

🎵 is there a specific song or songs you associate with your muse? why is that?

rui🌸

🤷‍♀️ how does your muse approach strangers? how does this compare to how they interact with close friends or lovers?

kerei🌸

👗 what is your muse’s fashion sense like? are they able to dress the way they want to? what would they wear in an ideal world?

kida🌸

🌱 what themes are relevant to your muse?

✨ what aesthetics or symbols do you reference when writing your muse? are these backed up by canon, if your muse comes from a canon? is there any specific relevance to these choices?

syndra🌸

🏆 is your muse multitalented? what are their hobbies, and why did they pick up these hobbies? if they don’t have hobbies, why don’t they?

lyva🌸

😱 does your muse have any specific fears? where did those fears come from?

naexi🌸

💍 does your muse have a “type” of people that they prefer to enter relationships with? is their type generally compatible with them, or does the dynamic tend to be toxic?

myst🌸

🤝 how does your muse approach intimacy? are they hesitant, or do they like it? what types of intimacy do they like and dislike? (ex. physical intimacy, sexual intimacy, emotional intimacy, etc.)

Dw bout It, I took my time too😭😭

Shou🍵-

He doesn't have much of an opinion about It, as It wasn't really much of his interest. He was more deep into continuing his family's legacy than worrying about such things.

But, if asked for, he would've have mixed feelings.

Because he knows how fate can be, and It could happen sometimes, or even something similar like It happened with him and Qiran.

But overall, he isn't sure about its existence 100% either.

Kayn💜-

He has something that reminds him of his friends/past, even through some little pictures, an object, a drawing or something among these lines.

For example, remember that bear plushies on that one Ruri/Kayn comic? Yeah, that's one of the dearest things he's grown close to. Other than other gifts the PTSD gang already gave him.

He has something for everyone. And he treasures those greately. Some of them are even hidden, because he wants to keep them so dearly.

Evelyn⚙️-

She prefers a lot more being around others, both because of when they were pretty much left alone, and also because he generally prefers being around people.

Teasing them, being caring or just talking about their special interests with.

He's also the type of guy to usually start fights for stupid shit in bars so😭😭

Eris🌑-

Bestie my musical taste isn't,,, really that, so uhm, oddly I won't say im in love from the Hercules movie, but also not?? Like It ties up to em anyways regarding moons past and does It pretty well so whkdkskrf

Pls ignore my musical taste here

Rui💎-

It depends on whether they feel comfortable with them, or would rather avoid them.

In the first case, it's easy to start off with a friendship or trying to get more, as long as they have the right criteria.

Otherwise, they'd avoid them like the pest and would do anything and everything to avoid them😭😭 and sometimes ending into embarassing situations because of that.

Kerei🔮-

Anything goes well. He doesn't have a specifical dressing style in contrast to others, so anything cheaper and the first thing that can keep him warm Is well.

He does have a variety of choises on hats, which Is the only thing he cares about other than his hair.

Kida💮-

🌱-

Whkshsjdjd i had some troubles w this so I'll skip It🤡

✨-

It's mostly strong, female leads characters. Kinda like how Mai ended up being, while still having to face other kinds of issues. They're sometimes original by Canon, and sometimes they're added, since she Is stil from an au where canon does change quite a lot. There's not much to add, and I'm sorry to go so brief on her

Syndra⛩️-

She's really skilled in sword fighting, showed through its collections of swords. Of any kind. It's more than a simple hobby, since there's some cases in which she depends on those skills in order to survive.

She also Is pretty well at creating small objects, though it keeps It away from even those close to her, to not seem "weak" in their eyes.

Lyva📙-

She does have many fears, due to having a negletful family and little to no actual friends to rely on.

One of these things Is also fire, due to a traumatic incident where she got scolded purely cus of something even her couldn't control, and accidentaly got burned on the meanwhile.

The burned scar Is now all marginalized and basically almost cannot be seen, but it's still there, on her arm.

That's also part of the reason she doesn't wear much of "open" clothes.

Another one Is High places, but that more of an irrational fear of It. There's a couple of other more but id rather not make this too long either.

Naexi⚛️-

They aren't currently searching for a relationship, but if she could, she'd ask for someone "weaker" than them. To both being able to protect them, because of what happened in the past with Eris, and to have much control over them.

To be in power of something more than their dolls. A sentient being to obtain.

She still will give their s/o time for themselves, a but the power difference will remain as they want to.

She'll also search for compassion in that regard, even if they think they don't deserve much, for this point.

Myst🎸-

He's mostly fine with It! She's pretty touchy herself too, so getting hugs, pats or anything they're comfortable will goes absolutely amazing for him.

He's pretty uncomfortable with sexual intimacy, and as for emotional, she'll still struggle whether he has platonic or romantic feelings at times,

So he'd rather prefer a normal friendship. Even tho Lyva exists now so it's a big fucky

@a-chaotic-dumbass @spoopy-fish-writes @damnfoxx @dopesaladlady @nadi-117 @audre-falrose

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thepancakeboi · 4 years

Text

53. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

Divergence AU Part V

Previous | Next (coming...soon) | AU list | Prompt source

Fanfic under cut

12/10

“Do you really think the others will be okay on their own?”

My question, although probably unnecessary, is a valid one. Queen, Noir, Panther, and Fox are going to deal with the IT president, while Mona, Skull, Joker, and I are going to find the third Will Seed that Mona sensed was nearby. I know that we only have a week left to secure the infiltration route, but the idea of us splitting into two different groups is a little concerning.

“Don’t worry, Crow,” Skull replies. “They got this.”

“They aren’t weak,” Mona adds. “That letter is as good as ours!”

“My apologies,” I say, adjusting my white gloves out of habit. Even if they know who I am and what I’ve done, Joker is the only one who has seen my other outfit. I shouldn’t care what they think of me, but I’ve kept it a well-guarded secret for so long. Force of habit, I suppose. “Shall we continue?”

Joker nods, taking my hand in his as he leads the way. He’s been doing this ever since that night in Leblanc. I’ve stopped questioning it after the first fifty times. It’s...nice. The rest of the thieves haven’t commented on it yet, nor do they seem confused. Maybe they already knew of Joker’s feelings.

The fight to get into the room is all too simple, largely in part due to Joker’s damn Shiki-Ouji, a Persona that I have come to despise. It, alongside Arsène and Jack Frost, is one of his main Personas. Shiki-Ouji, though, nullifies nearly all of Robin Hood’s attacks...as I found out the hard way during our duel last month. Not even Loki would have been much more help against it. That thing has become the bane of my existence.

I’m just glad Joker doesn’t see me as an enemy.

He leads the way back to the large double doors, slashing the rose vines with unerring grace before pushing the doors open. With this task done, the four of us enter the room. We’re greeted by harsh, indeterminate whispers. Their content means nothing to me-

“I trust no one but myself.”

I recognize that voice. Shido. I grit my teeth as his voice rings and echoes off the walls. The others don’t seem to notice, but it’s as clear as day to me. I tune the others’ voices out as Joker takes the Will Seed from its pedestal, straining to hear the inner thoughts of that bastard. For a few seconds, it remains incoherent whispers, until...

“The enemy is coming...in more ways than one.”

It takes nearly all of my willpower to not react to this. These are his inner thoughts, aren’t they? If that’s the case...could he know? Is Shido starting to realize the suicide-murder shtick was faked, that Ren is still alive and currently traversing his Palace? And...oh no.

In more ways than one.

That can only mean one thing...

Shido knows.

He knows I’m not on his side.

Or maybe it’s his normal paranoia? I can’t be certain. It isn’t like I can ask Shido himself. He’d lie and say he trusts me, the action almost as natural to him as breathing. If he does know, what am I supposed to do...?

“Hey, you okay?”

Mona’s query snaps me out of my thoughts. “I’m fine,” I easily lie. “Just a little nervous, I suppose.”

Skull, the dense idiot that he is sometimes, buys it. “Man, you looked like you’d just seen a ghost! Warn us next time, will ya?”

“I will,” I respond, looking at the others to gauge their reactions. Mona doesn’t seem entirely convinced, but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to probe further. And Joker...I can’t read him. All I get is the feeling that he sees through my lie. “Anyway, we have the Will Seed. What’s our next move, Joker?”

Joker thinks for a few moments before answering, “There’s nothing else here. Let’s meet up with everyone in the safe room.”

His hand slips back into mine as we leave the room behind us. This close to him, I can finally see that he wasn’t convinced in the slightest. I know he’d try to get me to open up to him if it weren’t for Mona and Skull. Despite this, his eyes plead with me under his mask, trying to get me to tell him what’s wrong. I refuse to look at him as the last statement I hear from that cursed room echoes in my ears:

“The only thing you have to do is follow my order.”

We arrive at the safe room to find the others already there. “How did it go?” Queen asks as Skull and Mona sit down. I choose to stand a little way back from the group, side-eyeing Joker as he rests his head against my shoulder. What does he think he’s doing? Judging by the cheeky smirk on his face, he’s trying to be as distracting as possible.

“Joker got the last Will Seed!” Mona replies, simultaneously answering Queen’s question and taking my attention away from the menace next to me.

“Aw yeah, and we got the fourth letter!” Oracle says. She is beaming as she holds up the envelope for everyone to see, apparently proud of her group’s accomplishments.

“Sweet!” Skull exclaims. “All that’s left is the cleaner dude! Let’s go find him and kick his ass!”

“Wait!” Panther interjects. “We don’t even know where he’d be.”

“Who cares? Can’t we just cause some trouble again?”

“We could, but...”

“Then-”

“As much as I would like to take the cleaner down now, we should wait,” I say before Skull can get another word in edgewise. “He’s stronger than any of the VIP’s we have fought so far.”

“How about tomorrow?” Noir chimes in. “It’s Sunday, so we won’t have school.”

“I agree,” Queen adds before looking at me. “Will you be joining us?”

I wish I had more time to think things through. If only we could wait a few more days. Time, however, is in short supply. “I should be able to, though if anything comes up, I’ll let Joker know,” I say while gently pushing Joker’s face away.

That smirk from before fades away, replaced with a carefully crafted neutral expression. His voice rings with authority as he says, “Sounds like a plan. We’ll meet up tomorrow afternoon.”

Tomorrow afternoon. That’s when the deed will be done. If my revenge plan is going to work, I’m going to have to kill him, for real this time. There’s no going around it. My mind is so preoccupied with planning how to accomplish this that I don’t even notice everyone else has left until I’m startled out of my thoughts by the kiss Joker plants on my cheek. He looks concerned. “Is everything okay?”

“What makes you think it isn’t?” I ask back, dodging his question.

“You seemed tense earlier. And a little scared. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Soon, this will all be over.”

Over in ways neither of us would want, yet it’s the only way this could ever end. This is how it was meant to be from the beginning: with one of us dead.

12/11

I tap my fingers idly against my leg as I wait on one of the catwalks in the engine room. Earlier, I had texted Ren saying that I would be running late and to go on without me. He must have bought it because when I had entered Shido’s Palace, the Phantom Thieves were nowhere to be found. I had told them the cleaner would likely be in the engine room. They must be farther inside.

My suspicions are confirmed a moment later when the group comes walking out, celebrating their recent victory. How delighted they must be now that they have the final letter. That happiness is about to be destroyed. Joker is the one to notice me, of course. He halts, looking up at me. “Crow?” he asks. “What are you doing up there?”

I leap down, doing a flip before landing effortlessly in front of the thieves. Damn Joker’s habits rubbing off on me. I expect to feel some level of anticipation, or maybe regret, but I feel...nothing. I don’t see Ren or Joker in front of me. All I see is another obstacle, blocking my plans from coming to fruition. “Did you really think I would let you leave this place alive?”

“Huh?”

My gun is out, pointed at him in an instant. I won’t give Joker the chance to say another word. Time to pull the trigger.

...except I don’t.

What’s stopping me from firing, from killing this menace? My hesitation wastes valuable time, time that the rest of the thieves use to prepare themselves to fight if necessary. I no longer have the advantage of surprise. Why didn’t I just kill him first? “Keeping you alive was a terrible decision.”

“What’s gotten into you, Akechi?” Queen asks. I don’t miss the dropping of codenames. “You were the one who suggested this plan.”

She’s not wrong. I had been the one to plan most of this heist, due to my knowledge of Shido’s Palace. “Nothing has changed. This camaraderie between us has all been an act.” The lies slip so easily off my tongue, and I find that I’m starting to believe myself. “When Joker started to piece things together, I knew I would have to change my plans, and in order to do that, I had to make him aware of my original plan. I’ve been planning this from the start. You all were simply so foolish as to trust me.”

“All an act...?” Joker asks, hesitant. It’s as if he’s trying to deny the words I’m saying.

I refuse to answer his question, instead deciding to say, “I’ve never shown you my true power, have I? Here, I’ll show you...while you die. Persona!”

I can feel Loki’s presence as two Shadows materialize from thin air. A Cerberus and a Cu Chulainn. Perfect. I direct Loki to use his signature Call of Chaos on the two Shadows. Their complexion turns black and red as their true destructive potential is unleashed. I can hear Cerberus growl as it paws at the ground in anticipation, waiting for my command to kill these wretched thieves.

“What was that?” Oracle asks, voicing everyone’s surprise at Loki’s brief appearance. “That wasn’t Robin Hood.”

“You’re right,” I confirm with a grin, “but that’s the least of your concern. You better not underestimate these two.” I leap back, putting the berserk Shadows between me and the Phantom Thieves. In a mad rush, the two Shadows launch themselves at their foes. I don’t expect the Shadows to win; they’re just meant to wear the enemy down.

Mona’s voice rings over the din of the fight. “Go, Joker! If anyone has a chance of getting through to him, it’s you.”

I see Joker nod, and, before I can even react, he’s using his grappling hook, sailing over the Shadows and landing a few feet away from me. The absolute fool. “You just made a grievous mistake,” I snarl. “You’ll need your teammates if you have any hopes of defeating me.”

He shakes his head. Cocky little shit- “I don’t need to defeat you.”

That catches me off guard. Just what the hell is he planning? “Then what is it? Are you going to abandon your teammates, just like you wanted before when I suggested leaving them to work with me?”

“I’m not abandoning anyone.”

“Oh, is that so? Then maybe we should put an end to our duel, striking and striking again and again until one of us is dead! Unless you’re so spineless that you’ll run away with your tail between your legs. Is that your master plan?”

“No,” he replies, his voice firm. “I love you, and I’m not leaving you.”

I laugh. He’s more foolish than I gave him credit for. “Then tell me, Joker. Will you love me for this?” His eyes widen ever so slightly as I point my gun at his face, aiming right between his eyes. It’s a pale comparison to the terror Sae’s cognition of Ren expressed. He’s too naive to be afraid. “There’s no cognitive double to save you this time.”

Joker, the absolute idiot that he is, doesn’t have the common sense to back down. Why is he just standing there? Move, damnit! It’s as if he’s deaf to my silent pleas. He refuses to move. He even has the gall to smile a little as he replies, “Hey, I’ll always love you no matter what. I’ll take a bullet for you, even if you’re shooting.”

I could do it. I could shoot him right now. But now, in this critical moment, I find myself hesitating once again.

Do it.

But he’s the only good thing in my life-

Do it! Watch as the light leaves his eyes!

I don’t...I don’t know if I can do it again...

What about your revenge? He’s in the way!

I tighten my grip on the gun...but I still can’t pull the trigger. Why...why can’t I kill him!? “How stupid are you? Would you really let your irrational feelings get in the way of your goal?” I have no idea if I’m asking him the questions...or myself.

“It seems you let your ‘irrational’ feelings get in the way of your goal. Aren’t you going to shoot?” he adds, almost sounding a little cocky at the end.

How dare he...

“Don’t lecture me!” I yell, whipping the gun away from his face. It clangs against the floor, the sound echoing in my ears. It’s clear I’m not going to shoot him point-blank anyway. “You think you know me, that you’ve got me pinned down. You don’t know anything about me! All you are is some criminal trash living in an attic who thinks he’s in love with an ace detective, a celebrity! You’ve deluded yourself and refuse to see the truth. How foolish you were to think that you meant anything to me, Joker!”

“You’re wrong!” He grabs my hand, the same hand that a few moments prior had been pointing a gun at his face. “I love you, and I’ll always love you. And...I know you love me too. We don’t have to fight-”

“I will get my revenge,” I interrupt as I pull my hand out of his grasp, refusing to listen to another word of his, “against Masayoshi Shido...my father. And you’re in my way.”

That makes him stop. The shock on his face is undeniable. “Shido’s...your father? Were you ever going to tell me?”

“What would’ve been the point?”

“Goro,” he starts; he must be taking this seriously if he’s using my first name, “we can still change his heart. Just let me hel-”

“I’m warning you. Stand. Down.”

“Please. I love y-”

Something inside me snaps. “NO! Just shut up, and die, Joker!”

There is only one way I can think of that’ll make me able to kill Joker. I welcome it with open arms. Loki’s mad power washes over me, my outfit changing in an instant. The world is tinted red, though I’m not sure whether it’s from the intense desire to murder or the lenses in the black mask. Maybe both.

But that doesn’t matter.

Nothing matters.

The only thing I want is to kill!

Destroy!

Massacre anything that stands in my way!

...starting...with...Joker.

A lopsided grin creeps on my face. Oh, this will be fun! I wonder how far I can go with this...

Let’s find out.

With little abandon, I rush straight at Joker with my serrated blade. It’ll tear him into pieces!

My sword clashes against his signature dagger. Somehow, he stands firm. How? How can he...?

Oh, so what!? He can’t possibly last for long! I go for another slash, but he yet again blocks it with that damn dagger of his. Our blades continue to strike against each other, neither of us able to land a hit on the other.

Again.

And again.

And again!

But then, as I throw all my strength into another frenzied slash, he weaves out of the way, kicking the sword right out of my hand as I start to stumble.

No way. How could this attic trash possibly be stronger than me!?

Joker lunges at me, the dagger no longer in his hand. Somehow, he manages to knock me off balance. He tries to restrain me as I thrash while screaming insults at his face.

One of my hands reaches my mask. Perfect.

I don’t even think.

I just act.

Only one thought rages in my mind.

I will kill Joker!

I command Loki to use Maragion. He won’t be able to block this attack. Screw his Shiki-Ouji!

For a brief moment, the flames surround Joker...but suddenly, they turn on me. I grit my teeth at the searing agony radiating through my body. Damnit...of all the times he wasn’t using that Persona-

My mask reforms, but is quickly pulled away from my face. Joker tosses it to the side, once again trying to hold me down. He flinches as my claws rake across his face, but he doesn’t budge.

He’s saying something to me, but I can’t hear him.

I don’t care what he’s saying! He should be dead!

I almost manage to hit him a second time, but now he’s able to use his hands to pin mine down. I try desperately to claw at his hands, but they’re just out of reach.

Damnit!

Joker’s still talking. Now I can make out his words. “...love y...please...it’ll be...”

What is he thinking!?

Even now...

As the seconds slowly tick by, the psychotic rage that overtook me starts to dissipate. Joker keeps on saying the same thing over and over: “I love you, Goro. Please, calm down. It’ll be okay.”

Over.

And over.

He sounds so distraught as I continue to fight against him. Repeating those same words. It’s no use. Joker’s determined to stop me.

Eventually, I stop struggling, panting as I try to catch my breath. I finally manage to gasp out, “What are you doing?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“I...I didn’t want this.”

“I know. You didn’t want to shoot me.”

“I-”

Our conversation is interrupted by a pained scream. We both look over as Cu Chulainn falls to the ground. Cerberus must have fallen earlier in the fight, as it’s nowhere to be seen. The rest of the thieves look a little tired but otherwise no worse for wear. I turn my attention back to Joker, frowning as I see blood dripping from the thin slashes marring his beautiful face. “It’s fine,” Joker says, noticing where my attention is. “It doesn’t hurt. But are you okay?”

My laughter is strained, forced. “That’s what you’re concerned about?”

“But you got hurt.” He moves his hand to gently caress my face. “If I had known you were going to use that move, I would’ve used a different Persona.”

“Why would you even care? I just tried to kill you, damnit!”

“Because I love you, Goro. And I always will. You could’ve shot me, and I still would have loved you just the same.” Is it just me, or did his voice crack just a little there? “Goro, no matter what happens, I just want you to know I love you dearly, and-”

“Ugh, can we save the cheesy romance for later?” Oracle butts in.

Oh. That’s right. We’re not alone here. And with how things currently look... “Joker?” I start.

“Yeah?”

“Get off me.”

“Aww, I was enjoying this,” he says with a chuckle. He waits a second before moving so that I can push myself into a sitting position. The sudden movement causes me to hiss in pain. “You didn’t answer me earlier. Are you okay?”

“I have been through worse.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I’ll be alright. Any other questions before we leave this wretched place?”

“Just one. Why did you do this? Did something happen yesterday?”

I almost tell him. My lips part, about to answer, but I realize it might take too much time. “How about we save that question for Leblanc? It...might take some time to answer.”

“Okay. We should head back to the central hall,” he adds, addressing everyone with that. He then turns back to me and, with a smirk, kneels down and puts one arm behind my back and the other under my knees. I realize what he’s doing just as he proceeds to pick me up bridal style with little regard for if he gets jabbed by the pointy parts of my true outfit. The rest of the thieves seem just as surprised and shocked as I am. Meanwhile, Joker grins at me as he says, “Hi, Akeppi.”

“Joker, what are you doing?”

“Showing you how much I love you.”

“You stupid, insufferable-” The rest of what I was going to say is cut off by the soft little kiss Joker gives me. He looks like he would love to kiss me more, but he’s not about to test his luck when I have so many ways to potentially harm him right now. It takes me a few seconds of mulling my response in my head before I begrudgingly finish, “...lovable menace.”

“I know. But I’m your menace.”

That alone gets me to smile. He’s right. It only took me trying to kill him to see it. “Yes, you’re my menace, and nothing is going to ever change that.”

#i apologize for how long this got #my writing got away from me #akeppi writes #p5 #persona 5 #goro akechi #akechi #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #akeshu #shuake #writing prompt

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cutetinyartist · 4 years

Note

tiny person sentence starters - 18, if you wanna write anything around that? :D

Thanks for the prompt! Sorry it took me so long to finish ^^’ Also because I’m a dumbass I didn’t think to put the prompt sentence at the start of the fic and not just in the middle of it?? So I might write another fic using this prompt soon so I can get it right >w<

Anyway tho, I wrote Scientist!Danny Sexbang inventing a Shrink Ray in this one cus I thought it’d be fun! Hope you like it ^^

Word Count: 2000 (I got a biiiit carried away while writing this ^^’)

It was a casual Saturday afternoon and Danny had invited you over to help out with one of his science projects. You were both excited and slightly nervous to see what he'd made this time, as his experiments were always very adventurous, to say the least...

As you entered his lab, you noticed that it was in its usual disorganized state and that Danny was trying to untangle a complete clusterfuck of wires that were connected to the huge device in the corner of the room. He glanced up from his work and his look of annoyance at the wires turned into a bright smile when he saw you.

He immediately stood up and speedily walked over, almost tripping over the wires in his enthusiasm.

Instead of his usual Spandex and cape, he was wearing the scientist outfit that you'd only seen him wear a few times in the past. His labcoat was long and swayed behind him as he approached you and, although he was wearing safety goggles, you could see the twinkle in his eyes. He was just wearing a Rush t-shirt and jeans under his labcoat, and you also noticed that he had blue vinyl gloves on. His curly hair was tightly tied up in a ponytail, however a few wild hairs were sticking out and some hung in front of his face.

"Hey, (Y/N)! I'm so glad you came! I can't wait to show you what I've been working on!"

He grabbed your hand and lead you towards the huge machine. It was shaped like a giant tube and looked like something out of a Sci-Fi movie you'd seen ages ago. The tube had glass walls and a silver metal base, and looked just about big enough to stand in. There were several wires connected to it and they lead to a panel with a few brightly coloured buttons and screens on it.

"What is this?" You asked curiously.

"It's a shrink ray! I saw one in a TV Show last week and thought it'd be fun to try making my own."

"No way!" You gasped, "Does it work?"

"Well... That's kinda why you're here. Could you help me do the final tests, please? I'm 99% sure that it'll work but Ninja Brian won't let me test it on him for some reason."

You stifled a giggle at the thought of the murderous Ninja being only a few inches tall, before answering Danny's question, "Sure, I'd love to. What exactly do you need me to do?"

You'd helped Danny quite a few times in the past with his experiments, so you weren't too hesitant about helping with this one. Plus, (although you were way too shy to admit it) you really wanted to be tiny, so him inventing a shrink-ray was like a dream come true. When he'd asked you to help test out the invention you'd almost squealed with excitement!

"I knew I could count on you, (Y/N)!"

He beamed, "Just step into the machine and I'll handle the rest. Oh, and DON'T touch the glass or look at the ray!"

You walked into the tube and your heart began beating faster. Although it was big enough to stand in it still felt slightly claustrophobic and now that you were about to have it tested on you, you couldn't stop trembling anxiously. The glass had a blue tinge to it and made everything outside of the tube look blurred.

"Are you okay in there?" Danny's muffled voice came from outside the glass.

"Yeah!" You shouted back.

"Are you ready for me to push the button?"

"Yeah, I'm ready!"

"Okay, good! I'll press it in three... two... one..."

Danny finished counting down and you were instantly engulfed by a blinding white flash. It felt like you were being tightly squeezed and spun around by an unseen force, and it was a sensation that made you dizzier than you'd ever been before.

Although the light disappeared almost as soon as it appeared, it took a moment longer for the dizziness to fade away.

The sound of the door sliding back open and booming footsteps coming towards you made you quickly open your eyes, and the first thing you saw was Danny. This normally wouldn't shock you too much, however he was now absolutely gigantic to you! He was looking at you with a huge smile on his face as he swiftly approached you.

"Holy shit! I can't believe it worked!" Were the first words out of his mouth as he crouched down. Even in that position he still completely towered over you, and the sight of his huge hand reaching towards you made you nervously stumble backwards.

Danny stopped moving his hand and softly smiled, "Relax, (Y/N), I won't hurt you. I do need to pick you up so I can take you out of the machine but don't worry, okay?"

You gulped, “Just remember that I’m a lot smaller than you. Be careful."

"Of course I'll be careful," He said with a smirk as he wrapped his fingers around you and lifted you up. Despite the fact that he was wearing vinyl gloves, you could still feel the warmth radiating from his skin. His fingers were like tree-trunks and the way that they enveloped you made you realise how tiny you truly were.

He walked over to his desk and adjusted his grip on you so that you were now sat in the palm of his hand. He reached towards you with his other hand, and although you were still slightly nervous you didn't flinch. The tip of his index finger was almost the same size as your chest now, and as he softly touched your tiny body you couldn't stop yourself from blushing. He was definitely trying to be gentle, but you could tell that he was far too excited about the fact that his device had worked. It was like nothing you'd ever experienced before and you were adoring every second of it. He stroked the top of your head before slowly rubbing the tip of his finger down your arm. When he reached your hand he gently held it between his thumb and forefinger.

"Wow..." He whispered, "How do you feel? What's it like, being so tiny?"

It took you a minute to find your voice because of how flustered you were, but after a moment you cleared your throat and spoke, "I- I don't really know how to describe it but being this tiny and seeing everything from this perspective is kind of daunting, but also really cool!"

Your answer made him smile and he continued to massage your hand between his fingers as he thought of his next question, "And how did it feel to be shrunk? Was being in the machine okay? I wanted to make it more of a portable ray-gun but I almost blew up the place when I was trying to do that..." He chuckled as he trailed off.

"It made me feel REALLY dizzy at first but- but it all happened so fast. One minute I was being spun around and surrounded by a bright light, the next I was standing there like nothing even happened."

"I'll have to try it later- provided that getting you back to your normal size works-" He mumbled before immediately bursting into laughter when he saw the shocked look on your face, "I'm kidding! I'm sure it'll work."

You began laughing with him too; his laughter was always so contagious!

"God, (Y/N), you're so adorable," He said softly, grinning when he saw how much that made you blush. The fact that his deep brown eyes were entirely focused on you made your heart flutter, and you were in love with his perfect smile.

...

After an hour or two (you always tended to lose track of time when you were with Danny) of hanging out and admiring how huge everything was to you now, you yawned sleepily.

"Shit, I didn't realise how late it was getting-" Danny mumbled to himself before saying to you, "Do you want me to get you back to your normal size now?"

You really wanted to say no, but instead you said yes because you knew that you should probably go home soon. Besides, you could always ask him to shrink you again in the future!

He steadily walked over to the machine and gently placed you inside before going back over to the buttons that controlled it. The gigantic door closed in what felt like slow-motion and you braced yourself for the blinding flash and dizziness...

The bright light did come, however it didn't feel like anything else was happening. You suddenly heard a loud crackling sound from high above you, and when the light faded away you screamed when you saw that the machine was filling with smoke! The door slid open and Danny quickly pulled you out of it, cupping his hands around you and swiftly moving away from the device.

"Oh god, (Y/N), are you okay?" His voice was laced with concern as he moved his hand and held you closer to his twinkling brown eyes. He stared intently at you, wanting to make sure that you hadn't been injured.

"I'm fine- what happened?" You asked.

Danny let out a sigh of relief, "Well I pushed the button and- and smoke started coming out of the machine... Sorry about picking you up so suddenly, I just panicked!"

"It's okay, I don't mind-" You bit your lip nervously. If the machine was broken then who knows how long you'd be stuck at such a tiny size...

Although you'd wanted to be tiny, you did want to at least be able to get back to normal size when you needed to!

Danny absentmindedly stroked the top of your head with his thumb as he tried to think of what to do, "I'm just gonna put you on the desk for a minute, I need to see if I can fix this..."

When he placed you on the vast surface of the desk, you immediately began to walk around and look at everything towering over you. A stack of books looked like an uneven wall that you could probably climb, and a simple water bottle was the size of a building. You looked over at Danny and the machine. The smoke had thankfully stopped coming out of it (and luckily the lab had a good ventilation system so it was pretty much gone) but it didn't seem like Danny knew how to fix the machine.

He turned to face you with a sheepish look on his face, "I- um- I'm not sure how to fix this- I might need Ninja Brian to do it... But I don't actually know where he is-"

Danny was interrupted by Ninja Brian literally appearing from nowhere.

"Oh, there he is-"

Ninja Brian took one look at you, then one look at the machine and immediately knew what to do. He moved so fast that you could hardly even see him and before you knew it, it looked like he'd fixed the shrink ray! Before you or Danny could say anything else, Brian had already disappeared.

Danny approached you and scooped you into his palm, "So, shall we get you back to normal now that it's fixed?"

You hesitantly fidgeted, as you actually wanted to stay tiny for a little while longer. You knew that it was fixed, but after everything that had just happened you were a bit apprehensive about going back into the tube.

After a brief awkward silence you asked, "Can I maybe stay like this for a bit longer?"

Danny smiled softly and nodded, "Of course you can," He began to stroke your back, "I'm actually kinda relieved that you asked that because I don't wanna stop holding you just yet."

His remark made your heart flutter, and the two of you relaxed together for the rest of the evening. You eventually fell asleep in his palm, and he decided that he could always return you to normal when you woke up the next day.

#danny sexbang #g/t #giant/tiny #cutetinyartist #tinyartistwrites #ninja sex party #game grumps

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ryqoshay · 4 years

Text

Tri-Arame: Neso Display

Primary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu Words: ~1.6k Rating: G Time Frame: Sometime during their second year Story Arc: Stand Alone

Author’s Note: Setsu’s reaction to the Kasumin Box was adorable and got me thinking. This is the result.

“Ayumu!” Yuu called. “Ayumu! Look! Look!”

Ayumu turned her gaze to here her friend was pointing excitedly. “Eeeeh?” She recoiled in surprise.

“They finally made merchandise for you guys!” Yuu cried joyously holding up a fan with a picture of Ayumu from a recent photoshoot. “I need to buy something! What to get? What to get?” She began searching the display.

Ayumu felt a strange mixture of embarrassment and pride as she scanned the collection. It felt odd knowing people would be buying items with her image on them, but she was learning to accept the support of her growing fanbase. And the fact that companies deemed their group popular enough to invest in creating merchandise was a testament to the effort everyone had put in, particularly for the recent School Idol Festival.

And of course, Yuu was thrilled, which didn’t come as any surprise, but it made Ayumu happy anyway.

“Ooo… Nesoberis!” Yuu suddenly reached forward to grab a plush. “Look, Ayumu! It’s you!” She held out a small, stuffed version of the redhead. “And it’s almost as cute as you, too!”

“Y-Yuu-chan…” Ayumu felt heat rise in her cheeks.

“Oh, they have Setsuna-chan as well! And Rina-chan! And… looks like everyone. I should take a picture.” Yuu fumbled for her phone. “I’ll bet Ai-chan will want one of Rina-chan.”

“And probably visa versa.” Ayumu found her voice again.

“That’s true.” Yuu agreed. “Say, do you think Kasumi-chan would want one of herself?” She grinned at her own joke.

“Perhaps.” Ayumu chuckled. “Although are you sure she wouldn’t want one of someone else?”

“Hrm…” Yuu considered. “I dunno. Maybe. But she would probably want one of Kasumi-chan.”

“It’s a shame they don’t have one of Yuu-chan.” Ayumu lamented for a moment.

“But I’m not a school idol.” Yuu laughed. “Why would they make one of me?”

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Setsuna announced as she approached the other two, holding up the bag with her newly purchased manga. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“Ne, Setsuna-chan! Look!” Yuu held out the plush still in her hand.

Immediately, grey eyes began to sparkle. “It’s so~ cu~te!” Setsuna cooed, reaching forward to touch it and practically squealing with delight as Yuu let her take it. “Almost as cute as the real Ayumu-san.” She held it close for inspection.

“I know, right!” Yuu nodded enthusiastically.

Geez, now Setsuna-chan’s doing it too. Ayumu was thankful there were no mirrors around as she no desire to see what her face looked like at that moment.

“And look, they have the whole club!” Yuu motioned dramatically to the display.

As far as Ayumu was concerned, Setsuna looked like she was about to die and go to heaven. And now that the focus seemed to be off her for the moment, she smiled as she watched her friend excitedly examine each version.

“I can’t decide.” Setsuna suddenly said as she stared at her armload of stuffed toys. “I want them all.”

Yuu laughed. “Setsuna-chan is going for a harem.”

The shorter girl shook her head. “A commemoration.” She corrected as her expression became more wistful. “You guys are all the closest friends I’ve had.” She explained. “I haven’t always had the easiest time making friends, what with hiding my hobbies at home and my identity at school.”

“What about the other members of the school council?” Yuu inquired.

“They’re more like coworkers or professional acquaintances. They only know Nana. They don’t know Setsuna, or any of this.” Setsuna motioned to the school idol merchandise.

“I see.”

“Perhaps someday I’ll let them in on the truth, but for now, I’m happy with the friends I’ve made in the club. And making a display of these would help me celebrate that fact.” Her normal smile returned as she hugged the nine nesos. “And I really can’t get over how cute they are.”

“Since you put it that way, I kinda wanna get one of each as well.” Yuu turned back to the display. “But I’m a little short this week, so I may have to collect them a few at a time. So today…” She picked up two “I think I’ll just one of Ayumu and Setsuna-chan. How about you?” She turned to the tallest girl of the three.

“Oh, uhm…” Ayumu scanned the display. “It would feel strange to get one of myself…”

“It’s fine, right?” Yuu shrugged. “Setsuna-chan is getting one of herself too.”

“No, I mean I feel like I should get at least one other…” She picked up one of her own and… Geez, they really are all as cute as Setsuna-chan said. Setsuna-chan… Her hand moved in that direction. “There, now I won’t get lonely.” She joked, holding up the two.

“Ayu-pyon needs her company after all.” Yuu chuckled.

Though that was the reference to which she herself had alluded, Ayumu still wasn’t quite used to hearing that nickname. But that was fine for now.

With new purchases to be made by all three, the girls headed to the registers.

Setsuna stood back and admired her newly set up display, the first idol themed thing she had put out in the open in her own room now that her parents had accepted her participation in the club. They were still slowly coming around to anime, so Setsuna hadn’t broken out everything from her storage places in her closet, at school and with various friends. However, a small shrine to school idols was probably alright now, especially since they represented her friends.

Her friends…

She stepped over to her desk and picked up her phone. She then aligned a shot of the collection, took it and sent it to the other members of the club through their group chat. Almost immediately, responses started to come in from the other girls and Setsuna smiled as she read the positive comments.

Idly, Setsuna picked up the Ayumu neso. It was a shame there wasn’t a Yuu to go with it, but Yuu wasn’t an idol. Still, Setsuna thought it would be a cute one. Cute… They were all cute. However, despite someone like Kasumi proudly proclaiming her cuteness, Setsuna found she much preferred the pure and unassuming cuteness of someone like Ayumu. She touched the tiny bun on the side of the Ayumu’s head and smiled.

Ayumu had shown Setsuna how to make the stylized bun surrounded by braids a while back. Setsuna had managed to do it on her own, not once but twice, to give herself twin buns during the club’s summer camp. However, in doing so, she had realized she preferred letting someone else do it for her. Someone more skilled and who seemed to enjoy working with hair. Someone like Ayumu.

Wait, what am I doing? Setsuna blinked back to reality as she realized she had been hugging the nesoberi tightly to her chest while lost in her thoughts. But… was that actually wrong? Hugging cute plushies was a normal thing to do, right? Even when they looked like…

Blushing, Setsuna put the nesoberi back in its place and went to her desk to study for a while. However, every now and again, she found herself glancing back over at her new display of idol merchandise. And each time she couldn’t help smiling as she recalled why she wanted all of them.

She was glad she hadn’t decided to wait to collect all of them like Yuu and Ayumu were doing. Sure, she would have to put off getting a couple new books immediately upon their release for the next month or two, but it had been worth it.

Her attention kept returning to the nesoberis even as she closed her books and started getting ready to turn in for the night. Part of her wanted to take one down again and bring it to bed with her, but another part of her was hesitant, stuck on trying to decipher the details of the desire.

Her phone vibrated.

TakasakiYuu: Sorry for the late reply

TakasakiYuu: I lost track of time working on new songs for you guys

TakasakiYuu: Hope you havent already gone to bed

TakasakiYuu: If so sorry if I woke you up

ScarletStorm: I’m still awake

TakasakiYuu: Oh good

TakasakiYuu: I wanted to show you my display

TakasakiYuu: Ayumu already got to see it in person

TakasakiYuu: She even helped me figure out where to put them

A picture arrived showing the Ayumu and Setsuna nesoberis on the bookshelf beside Yuu’s keyboard, turned such that it looked like they were watching.

TakasakiYuu: Normally Id have them facing out into the room

TakasakiYuu: But when I turn them like this its kinda like you two are here with me to help me when I get stuck on something

TakasakiYuu: Its already helped me twice tonight

TakasakiYuu: I dont think Ill have room for all seven like this

TakasakiYuu: Well I mean I can fit them all here on the shelf when I get them

TakasakiYuu: But theres really only room to turn two like this

TakasakiYuu: But thats alright

TakasakiYuu: Im happy its at least you two

ScarletStorm: That’s a cute idea

ScarletStorm: I love it

ScarletStorm: Thanks for showing it to me

TakasakiYuu: Anyway I hope you guys like what Ive written

TakasakiYuu: Ill have something to listen to before practice tomorrow

ScarletStorm: I’m sure it will be good

ScarletStorm: I’ll look forward to it

TakasakiYuu: Have a good night!

TakasakiYuu: Sleep well!

ScarletStorm: You as well

Setsuna turned off the screen of her phone and set it next to her clock in her headboard.

Sleep well… She would sleep well while snuggling something soft and cute…

With that thought in mind, she grabbed her Ayumu nesoberi again and lay down. It was fine just for one night, right? She had a test coming up the next day and needed a good night of rest. And if Yuu had new material to work on, practice would be intense as well, so she would also need to sleep well for that.

Setsuna hugged the plush to her chest and closed her eyes.

Author’s Note Continued in Followup Post

#YuuAyuSetsu #Takasaki Yuu #Yuki Setsuna #Uehara Ayumu #Tri-Arame #Love Live Nijigasaki #fanfic

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starrspice · 5 years

Text

Rose Quartz isn't a villain

Unpopular opinion. But here we go

This is My personal two cents. This isn't ordered well its kind of all over the place.

WARNING. ITS REALLY LONG

A lot of people (especially since the movie) have been acting and bashing Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond and acting as though she's the cruelest villain in the universe.

And here's why I don't think she is the ANTAGONIST (a person who actively opposes someone or something)

And furthermore why she falls in line as a VILLAIN ( a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot.)

As well as a HERO (a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities)

Let's start with her thought process and behavior.

A big thing I see is people saying "HER ABUSE DOESNT JUSTIFY WHAT SHE DID SHES STILL A MONSTER" and it's true. Abuse doesn't justify terrible behavior but it does to some degree explain it. Pink diamond was abused by the other diamonds.

She was constantly punished for acting out, which she did not only for attention from the other diamonds (as she seemed to be left alone quite often ) but also to make them happy (which indicates that they usually are not) and bring the family together. Not only did she act out, but when punished, she was forced to say she's sorry and that she was wrong, for simply trying to make her family happy and feel less miserable herself.

Pink was basically trained to follow homeworlds rules and not to question anything. And was forced to live a life she hated.

Yes. A lot of what Pink did and HOW she acted is due to how she was raised by the diamonds.

Diamonds are taught that THEY are the leaders. All gems and other life forms are lower than they are. And while Pink did, in fact, realize that killing the planets was wrong that may very well be all she realized. Gems weren't made to fuse with other gems, or to rebel, or to find their own path in life. All of those were things introduced by the rebels. The only reason the diamonds are getting closer to behaving and thinking better than they used to is that they had GUIDANCE. Steven helped show them a better right and wrong. He's helped them work to become better people for 2 years. And one may argue that pink/rose had thousands of years AWAY from. her abusers to become better. But the big thing she didn't have was guidance. She didn't have anyone tell her that those things weren't ok. The gems couldn't tell her that because everything they were doing is new to them. They grew and developed as people but couldn't possibly understand a stronger sense of right and wrong since it had never been questioned before and they'd never been told anything except for "Diamonds know best so we never question them" if you listen to Rose's song love like you she REALIZES SHE WAS TERRIBLE but only because she finally had someone to show her how her way thinking was resulting in terrible behavior and causing problems. "I always thought I might be bad now I'm sure that it's true, 'cus I think you're so good and I'm nothing like you. " GREG WAS HER GUIDANCE but she realized that even if she tried to be a better person. Shell always has a bit of her old self. And she may very well think That's holding her back. But she knew that steven, someone surrounded by people better than she ever could be. And by a strong loving father to guide him and make him kind and considerate and the amazing steven we know and love.

I know a lot of friends who have dealt with abuse. And they go on to behave all kinds if different ways. But this show depicts 2 very different ways people can behave after a childhood of abuse. Pink ran off and made her own life, but didn't necessarily become better. She continued living as she had, not knowing her behavior was wrong because she had never seen anything else or been told that it was wrong. She acted how she was taught to act by homeworld, and as for the rebels, no one recognized how bad it was because they lived the exact same way. They were stuck and had trouble growing as people because they didn't know how to grow. Steven taught them. That's why pearl lives for herself now instead of rose. How Amethyst takes pride and lives with the support of her friends and family boosting her up. He taught garnet that it's ok to not know everything, and sometimes you just have to focus on what you can change rather than what you cant. He taught them that fighting doesn't always fix the problem. Pink didn't have a steven until she realized how much she truly loved Greg. How he was different from other humans because he taught her and was willing to overlook the mistakes of her past so he could help her future. Only at the end of her life did she learn that she was wrong, and selfish, and not a good person. The diamonds acted JUST like this. They all dealt with Whites abuse. And realized. They behaved wrongly. Steven showed them that. They had guidance. Yes. Some people can realize the fault in their behavior on their own. But some cant. The diamonds needed guidance to take steps towards being better. And they're still struggling to learn. But they have someone to help them. So they're trying to fix their mistakes. So yes. Pink diamond was a bad person. And she did a lot of what she did not only because of the abuse. But because of how she was taught to think. This is not to void her of fault or to excuse the things she did. But I feel like it's unfair to call her evil and cruel and heartless. EVERY SINGLE VILLAIN in steven universe has had some layer of depth of deeper reasoning for what they did. And even if you consider pink to be the real villain. The same goes for her. Evil is not inherent, just like all terrible thoughts and behavior patterns. Like racism isn't inherent, or bias or prejudice. These are behavioral traits that are TAUGHT. If a killer raises a child. That child may not think killing is wrong. Pink was raised where she was an important person who had a right to everything she wanted and her desires took priority. Once something didn't serve a purpose she was expected to get rid of it. And gems were treated like objects. They were used for walls, decorative statues. Even aquamarine said topaz was of no use to her. And was prepared to get rid of her. we know this is wrong but they don't. Not all of them anyway. Even the off colors thought they were in the wrong for being themselves. It's not as if she did all of this because she wanted to hurt those around her. She did everything how she did because she was taught to think that way or behave that way. We become the people we are through nature AND nurture. But one can have more sway on someone depending on their upbringing. Abd abusive upbringing like pink endured is bound to drill homeworlds ideals into her head that much more. Especially since she tried to go against the grain and was punished constantly for trying to save things and be better.

And a lot of complaints I see is that "if she tried to explain her feelings to the diamonds none of this would happen" but everyone seems to forget. SHE DID TRY. In the episode where ruby and sapphire split and pearl explains everything she shows that pink diamond DID try. But was scolded for it. And was ignored. Just like how white ignored blue and yellow. She used all her authority but it meant nothing. She felt trapped and took an out. She tried to make a change. It started a spark that leads to a rebellion. Gems thinking for themselves. Being themselves. She did do good things. She tried to leave as much good as she had. But she didn't really know good and bad. She is still responsible for her failures and actions. But it's so so SO wrong to just slap a label on her calling her pure evil like she WANTED to do all that damage. Its the same as calling someone a hero despite any terrible things in their past that may have lead up to that. It's fine to classify her as an antagonist because yes. She caused problems for the main character and everyone around them. But it's not ok to ignore the meanings and cause behind it. We all knew pink/rose wasn’t A good person. But it's not ok to belittle her and act like her suffering and upbringing played no part.

It just upsets me when people ignore the history of someone. And I repeat THAT DOESN’T EXCUSE HER ACTIONS but that doesn't mean its ok to label someone based on their mistakes. No. Rose isn't a good person. She didn't know how to be. But that doesn't mean shes a cruel villainess. It means she was hurt early on and never fully recovered.

People who come from abuse can rise higher than their oast and tey to be better. And sometimes they can get stuck in their past and never learn from it. But that doesn't mean it's from a lack of wanting to be better. They may just not know-how.

This explains pinks behavior. And why she isn't an ANTAGONIST. She wasn't ACTIVELY trying to harm anyone or ruin anything. She even REFUSED TO SHATTER GEMS. She had a semblance of right and wrong and what was too far, but that's as far as it went. Additionally, by the time the show takes place, Pink is gone and can no longer actively do anything against steven or the crystal gems.

So. My thoughts on Pink/Rose

Not a good person and not justified in her actions, but came off the bedside of an abusive childhood and was never taught better. Just because she's done a lot of bad things doesn't mean bashing her is ok. Try and think of it like real life. Not everyone becomes better after abuse. And not everyone has the influences and tools needed to become better after abuse. We learn right and wrong from the people around us, so what if no one around us knows proper right and wrong?

Not looking to argue and you can reply with your thoughts if you want. But that doesn't really mean ill respond (im sure ill be flooded with people telling me why I'm wrong lol)

I would go on but I feel like this is too long already

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gaamagirl565 · 5 years

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Matters of the heart ep 9

Matters of the heart

Episode 9

Crying wolf {OPENING CREDITS} {open to sunset in old Corona and the festival of the harvest is occurring; pan to dancing in the village along with people serving drinks; cut to Isaiah sitting by a keg with Draki; cut to Zapada dancing with Varian and start the song “Dance with me”} {Zapada} Come my friends and hit the floor Don’t you worry if you’re rich or poor Raise your mugs and pour the wine Come now darling, dansezi cu mine. As the sky turns crimson gold and is painted with jewels Let us party like fools paying no mind to the rules Let the rhythm take you, as only the music can make you Feel as if you’re on cloud nine Come now darling, dansezi cu mine. Come now darling (x3} Come now darling, dansezi cu mine. {Varian dip kisses her and looks over at Isaiah; he makes his way over to him} Varian: Hey buddy! Isaiah: hey… Varian: don’t you wanna dance? Eat some food?...talk? Isaiah: Nah, I’m good right here… Varian: buddy c’mon you love festivals… Isaiah yeah but I’m...ya know...tired… Varian: Sun’s barely gone down….you feeling okay? You don’t have a fever do ya? {He goes to feel his forehead but Isaiah stops his hand; Varian jumps} Varian: Okay...Okay...hmm..I know what’ll cheer you up Isaiah: oh? Varian: why not join your Grandfather in telling stories to the younger children? Isaiah: ew...kids… Varian: Isaiah you’re a kid… Isaiah: But I’m a better kid...I’m on a level they will never reach… Varian: Please Isaiah? Isaiah: ughhhh...finnnneeee…. {Varian hugs him and smooches his cheek a few times} Isaiah: Ack! Dad! Varian: and Isaiah be nice! Isaiah: i’ll see how I feel… Varian: Isaiah…. Isaiah: finnnee...ruin my fun… {he walks over to a fire pit where Quirin, Nathaniel, and several other children sit} Quirin: Ah, there he is! Nathaniel: I was wondering if you’d show your face here. I mean after the last festival… Isaiah: Aw, well I wanted to be sure you didn’t get frightened. Nathaniel: grr! Quirin: alright, boys settle down… Kid 1: Quirin was gonna tell us the legend of the guardian! Quirin: now I never said- Isaiah: the guardian? Grandpa, you never told me that one. Quirin: I haven’t? Nathaniel: probably cause daddy asked him not to...afraid you’d get too scared hehe Isaiah: Seriously Nathaniel we are sitting in front of a fire, you wanna try your luck? Quirin: Okay! Alright! If I tell you the story will you all settle? Isaiah: Yes, Grandpa… {Isaiah quickly glares at Nathaniel making him jump} Quirin: back before you all were born there was a time when the future of Corona was uncertain...surely you all know the story of the queen’s golden hair? Isaiah: Of course grandpa! Nathaniel: *mockingly* Of course grandpa! Isaiah: Nathaniel I have a Cobra don’t test me! Quirin: Boys, please… Both: Sorry, Sir… Quirin: Back in those days Corona was considered a dangerous place... rocks filled with magic littered the ground and a very dangerous threat. because the kingdom was dealing with so much as it was crime escalated. but then one day something changed. a shadow in the night began lurking. at first, we were frightened. But the queen protected us. the Beast was a werewolf. at first untamable and filled with rage. but somehow in some way the queen managed to tame the Beast. now as if saying thank you the Beast will lay waste to anyone that threatens Corona. some say during the night of a full moon you can still hear the Beast howl. Isaiah: nice story Grandpa... but how do we know Queen Rapunzel really saw a beast? for all we know it was just an ordinary wolf. Nathaniel: the story about the Queen's golden his hair was true! everyone in the Kingdom saw it! Isaiah: so what does that have to do with the Beast? Nathaniel: well how can you say that this Legend is false when that one is so much harder to believe and has been proven true!? Isaiah: look I might believe in certain things that are magical. and sure there are probably some things out there that are unexplainable. but a human transforming into a wolf at night? really? first of all, the science behind it is naturally impossible you'd have to break your own bones into a canine skeletal structure. I doubt the human body could handle that all the time. Nathaniel: so are you saying the story is false then? Isaiah: You know what Nathaniel yeah I am! Nathaniel: did I dare you to go out into the woods! it's a full moon tonight why not prove it? prove it false. Quirin: all right that's enough to both of you…. first of all nobody is going to be going into those woods tonight. Beast or no Beast it was Woods are dangerous at night. and children shouldn't be out past dark anyway. Understood? { Nathaniel and Isaiah both glare at each other as if having an understanding} Isaiah: yes Grandpa…. { cut to late at night; Isaiah opens the window to his bedroom and lowers a rope; he climbs down wearing a cloak; he turns around coming face to face with Nathaniel} Isaiah: AH-! {Nathaniel covers his mouth} Nathaniel: Shut up! do you want to wake up the entire Village!? Isaiah: don't do that and I won't scream! what are you doing here? Nathaniel: I'm obviously coming along. I want to prove to you that the Legends are real… Isaiah: and I'm going to prove to you that there is nothing in those woods but a bunch of trees and little Woodland creatures. Nathaniel: oh whatever… Isaiah: but just in case…. { he takes out some alchemical goo bombs and Nathaniel jumps and backs away} Nathaniel: okay ummm...Did you... make those? Isaiah: oh for the love of... no!... I stole these from my dad's lab they were made by him... relax. Nathaniel: oh good... wait if you don't believe in the legend why are you taking those with us? Isaiah: are you always this stupid or is today a special occasion? you heard my grandpa... there are other things in those woods besides a fictional legend. actual Danger... Bandits, actual wolves…. Nathaniel: fine you've made your point...So are we going or not? Isaiah: yeah we're going... and you're going to see there's nothing in those woods… { pan upwards to the Moon; then cut down as they enter the forest} Isaiah: so here we go….*gulp* Nathaniel: yeah...welp, ladies first… Isaiah: you're right! where are my manners!? go ahead, m’lady! {Nathaniel glares at him and walks in with Isaiah following; The atmosphere is almost dark and oppressive as they slowly make their way through the forest; Nathaniel hears a small boom and jumps} Nathaniel: Isaiah, what the heck!? Isaiah: Relax they're just small firecrackers. Nathaniel: my question is why you have them in the first place! Isaiah: because you heard the legend... the Beast only attacks things it thinks to be a threat...Well what's more threatening to an animal than something walking around the woods making strange loud noises Nathaniel: are you daft!? do you want it to attack us!? Isaiah: you forget I have the Goo bombs... even if this thing is real and tried to attack us there is no way it could make its way out of a goo trap… Nathaniel:... Sweet Lord I'm going to die today… {cut to Nathaniel cutting branches away; he hears rustling} Nathaniel: very funny Isaiah... you do realize this can cut people right? Isaiah: what on Earth are you talking about? Nathaniel: wasn't that you just now? rustling in the bushes? Isaiah: no that wasn't me….aw are we getting tired? getting a little sleepy? starting to hear things? Nathaniel: no I'm serious I heard rustling… Isaiah: it was probably just a squirrel or something we are in the woods… { a loud howl is heard and they both jump} Nathaniel: Hey loser, last time I checked squirrels don't howl… Isaiah: you realize there are actual wolves in the woods right? {Loud and heavy footsteps begin to approach them} Nathaniel: what is that? { Isaiah takes out a goo bomb and looks into the trees; a large black figure is seen walking towards them and then gets up on two legs; growling is heard} Isaiah:... run...RUN! GO! { they both start running with whatever it is chasing them} Nathaniel: so do you believe it now!? Isaiah: oh, would you shut up!? focus on living, please! { as there running Nathaniel trips and tumbles hurting himself} Nathaniel: Isaiah! { he looks back to see the Beast coming closer} Nathaniel: Isaiah, help! { Isaiah pauses for a second looking towards the exit to the forest and Nathaniel; he groans and runs back to Nathaniel slinging his arm around his shoulder} Isaiah: come on we got to move! { they move as fast as they can towards the exit before the Beast jumps in front of it growling; they both look up whimpering And sink to the ground} Nathaniel:.... Isaiah... I'm sorry… {He grabs his hand} Isaiah: Yeah… me too… { they both huddle together and shut their eyes away from the Beast waiting for the inevitable; the werewolf bends down and sniffs them both and suddenly looks confused; making a low grumble the wolf picks up Nathaniel and he screams; The scream Echoes from the forest waking up the people in the village} Zapada: what on Earth was that!? Varian: I don't know… { Varian gets up and runs towards Isaiah's room swinging open the door; he sees Isaiah's bedroom window open with the Rope still hanging out of it} Varian: I-Isaiah…? { another scream echoes} Varian: MY BABY! {he runs out of the room and down the stairs; Zapada runs in and gasps at the realization; Cut to Isaiah covering his eyes with his hands and hanging from the wolf's mouth, Nathaniel rides on its back} Nathaniel: what do we do? Isaiah:...i... I don't know... it might be taking us back to its Lair or something.. Nathaniel: its Lair must be really close to the Village… Isaiah:... why do you say that? Nathaniel: because we're getting closer to the main road Isaiah: what!? { he uncovers his eyes to realize they’re only a block away from the village; once they get to the main road the wolf sets Isaiah and Nathaniel down; Isaiah looks up at the wolf it makes eye contact with it; he reaches up a hand to pet it but hesitates at first the wolf moves its muzzle into his hand} Isaiah: huh...would you look at that... the queen really did tame you… {The wolf backs away and then begins to run back towards the forest} Nathaniel: what on Earth was any of that!? Isaiah: I have no clue... it's as if.. it knew we weren't a threat... it doesn't make any sense… {Nathaniel groans in pain} Isaiah: are you okay? that was quite the tumble you took back there. I'd almost say that was a new record Nathaniel: Yeah I'm good…. just...it hurts. Isaiah: It looks like you sprained your ankle... come on… ya big baby… { Isaiah slings his arm over his shoulder once again} Nathaniel: thanks loser… { as they get close to the Village they see a group of adults traveling outside of it} Isaiah: DAD! OVER HERE! Varian: huh? ISAIAH! Joseph: NATHANIEL! MY BOY! { they all run over to the children} Quirin: thank God they're okay… Varian: Where on Earth were you!? Isaiah:... we uhhh…. we were... in the forest… Varian: the forest!? what on Earth were you doing in the forest at this time of night!? and alone! Nathaniel: it's not all his fault sir... Joseph: what!? Nathaniel: we heard Quirin tell a legend earlier tonight... the one about the beast in the forest...I wanted to prove the Beast was real... I went by myself. Isaiah tried to stop me... he saved my life… { Isaiah looks over at Nathaniel shocked} Joseph: you see how much of a danger your kid is!? Varian: excuse me? did you not just hear him? my kid saved your kid’s life! Joseph: my kid would never go into the forest by himself! Isaiah must have dared him to do it earlier tonight! Quirin: enough the both of you. the boys were arguing earlier tonight about whether or not the legend was real and I did tell them to let it go.. {the boys chuckle sheepishly} Quirin: how this happened doesn't matter... what does matter is that they're okay and unharmed… Joseph: easy for you to say! look at my son! look at his ankle! Nathaniel: Dad it's just a sprain- Joseph: shush! I'll deal with you later! Quirin, when will you learn that your family is a danger to this Village! Quirin: That is ENOUGH! I am sick and tired of you talking about my family as if were lower than you! my son may have made horrible mistakes in the past but he has been making up for them! and as for my grandson, he is a child! And trust me he will be dealt with. but I swear Joseph if I hear one more word out of you there will be hell to pay. { Joseph and Quirin glare each other down before Joseph takes the arm of his son and pulls him away} Joseph: fine... but I'm not having my son be around that.. that... freak that you call a son... mark my words, Quirin... it's only a matter of time before something happens that can't be repaired! {Joseph walks away with his son in tow} Nathaniel:...bye… Isaiah:....bye… Varian: Isaiah what were you thinking... if you knew Nathaniel was doing something you should have told an adult not gone off by yourself… Isaiah:... Varian: Isaiah? did you hear me? Quirin: Isaiah answer your father! Isaiah: Nathaniel lied… Quirin: what? Isaiah: it was my fault too... we both made the Dare.. we both went out there together... and we were both almost killed... I lured the Beast out of hiding... it was going to kill us.. I'm sure of it. but for some reason, it didn't. it took us to the main road and left us there. I don't understand. Quirin: Isaiah you shouldn't go looking for trouble like that. the reason the Beast didn't kill you is because you're children. You're no threat. and you shouldn't walk around trying to be one either. Isaiah: I'm sorry… Varian: I'm just glad you're okay.. don't ever scare me like that again. Promise? Isaiah: yeah…. {Pan off towards the trees and Cass looking out from them} Isaiah: promise…. {END CREDITS}

#Tangled #TTS #RTA #tts oc #Varian #Quirin #Zapada #Isaiah #rta oc

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vanaera · 6 years

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The Sprout

Synopsis | It's Valentines Day and Jeon Jungkook, for the very first time, attempts to go beyond his pseudonym 'Little Prince' who's sending you love letters anonymously, to spend the day of the hearts with you a little more than what bestfriends usually do (OR a series of events where Jungkook oddly fails and succeeds at the same time in making your heart flutter and it looks like this day might end up to something more than he initially planned). Genre | Fluff Pairing | Jungkook x reader (football player!jk + writer!you / College!AU) Wordcount | 5.4k

Read more of football!jk drabbles in The Prince and His Rose

There will always be an uncanny way how past events can catch up to you. A sliver of early morning light, a resemblance of a familiar face from a faded poster, a sudden storm of blurred smiles in the tornado of thoughts–everything a dizzying state of déjà vu. It’s the kind of thought that stays in the back of one’s mind; not at all stale but so fresh that it was nearly a feeling, with all a feeling’s overwhelming power to kill other thoughts.

Jungkook feels this when his eyes met yours across the corridor.

Your eyes have always been familiar. Warm brown and homey, Jungkook always feels the calm whenever he looks at them. It’s probably the familiarity they offer, the result of more than ten years of knowing you and memorizing the small details of you on the back of his palm, enough for him to trace the constellations of your face under his lids when you happen to appear in his dream. However, it’s not just the familiarity. Now, the palpitations of his heart, the heat that rises to his cheeks, and the songs from the birds in his rib-caged heart are enough to tell him it’s more than just knowing you too well.

��He’s in love with you–probably even more than that.

Your name weighs so much more on his tongue than the countless people who gravitated around him through the years, and your smile is enough for him to get him through the whole day as the image of you always stay imprinted in his mind, a memory fresh enough for him to bring back before his eyes even if he didn’t intend to. It doesn’t even leave him a choice; he always sees you.

He’s been stubborn for the past two years to acknowledge that his heart is bearing feelings more than what friendship demands and now that the knowledge of being in love with you has finally sunk in, it’s only then that he realized that everything about you comes in full force. What were trivial things before in the back of his mind are now a magnitude of-of everything! A smile, a laughter, a contact of your skin against his–everything is overwhelming and he’s relishing in every bit of it.

“Hey, Kook,” you said, lips pulled into semi-smile as you raise your knuckles aligned to his.

Jungkook quirks a smile in return and bumps his fist with yours. The past ten years with you are not enough to erase the things you’ve made tradition with him, promises from juvenile pinky swears of a “special greeting just between the two of us” solidified in the years you’ve grown with him. And damn, he likes every bit of it but it’s not like he’d admit it to you aloud.

Everything he’s feeling right now are yet for you to know. He needs more time and courage to make you fully understand how much you mean to him.

Jungkook could already feel the heat cupping the expanse of his cheeks, so he cracks a grin, grabs your backpack, and turns his back to head to the lecture room before you can even glimpse at the reds that may have already bloomed on his face.

“Hey! Give my bag to me!” you huff as you catch up to his walking figure.

“I’ll carry it,” Jungkook says, “it looks like you needed help doing it.”

“I do not!”

Jungkook laughs. You’ve been complaining about the ache on your back for the past week and you have the nerve to deny it with a straight face as if he hasn’t been giving you some back massage in between your breaks for the past days. Anyway, he won’t say it out loud. He knows you hate it when you appear weak and vulnerable to the people around you.

Jungkook glances at you. “What’s your first class?”

You grumble behind him, “Physics.”

“Then I’ll drop you there.”

“You sound like my dad, but whatever. You liked carrying my bag all the way to the next building? Be free to do so.”

Jungkook could feel a small, lithe hand make its way to hold his much larger one and before he can choke on his own breath, he mutters a rushed “I’ll be happy to do so, Y/N.” before falling into silence with you.

It’s four o’clock and his classes are finished and Jungkook feels like throwing up. It’s true that feelings do have this sickeningly delicious power to kill thoughts because for the past hour, one single thing is being stirred in his heart and mind: he’s about to fuck up.

Jungkook blames it on his damn friend and roommate, Park Jimin.

“So…whaddya gonna do on the day of the hearts?”

Jungkook looks up from the code he’s typing on his laptop to give his friend a raised brow. “Day of the hearts?”

Jimin scrunches his forehead. “Duh, Valentines. It’s five days from now and everyone’s been quipping about it since last week. Hell, I even saw some girl slip in a pink envelope in your locker for the third time this day.”

Jungkook clicks his tongue. “Ugh, why do they keep on sending their confessions when it’s clear I already have set my eyes on someone.”

Jimin looks at him funny. “’Cus no one actually knows that you already have a special lady. Even Y/N doesn’t even know she’s the reason of your gooey heart eyes.”

“I do not have gooey heart eyes.”

“Yeah, you do. Alllll the time.”

“Fine,” Jungkook tears the headphones from his ears and sets it on his neck, “okay, I get it. I’m dumb and a big ass coward to admit to my bestfriend I’m fucking in love with her. But I already got things covered, man. Got the letter, the pink envelope, and the golden crown already prepared. I’ll drop it on the 14th in her locker.”

Jimin hums, totally unsatisfied. But before Jungkook goes back to his homework, his friend’s words stuck word per word on the back of his mind that prevented him to have an ounce of sleep for the next few days:

“Don’t you want to do something more than just sending her love letters in the guise of the ‘Little Prince’?”

This is the reason why he fucking spent his two-hour break rummaging through his closet for an “eyecandy” get-up–the ever plain black bomber, black shirt, and ripped jeans–instead of napping and redeeming the dark circles under his eyes. This is also the very reason why he is currently dying on the bench of the campus grounds after you just replied to his “Hey, you free today?” with “Yeah, what’s up?” Why his hands are shaking and sweaty and his chest feels like about to combust? He just fucking sent you an adrenaline-induced-self-hatred-and-anxiety-propelled reply of “Valentines, hoe.” And all of this just happened FIVE MINUTES ago and he’s not yet doing anything in his listed plan and he’s already fucking things up!

Fuck Park Jimin, fuck this goddamn stupid plan, everything’s gonna fail and–

“What’s up, Kook?”

Jungkook nearly cries out a banshee scream but luckily, a heavy hand slapping on his shoulder is enough to wake him up.

“My God, what’s up with you? Are you okay?” you plopped down beside him.

“O-oh, umm yeah, Y/N, hi!” Jungkook stammers. You’re still dressed in the same clothes this morning–rose pink oversized sweater and faded blue jeans, probably forgoing your three-hour break to finish the storyboarding of the new play for the drama club with the other writers. But still, you look as dazzling as ever and Jungkook finds it necessary for his poor heart to add just an inch of space between you two before your hand could graze his burning skin.

If you’re unsettled by the blatant weirdness he’s displaying in public, you didn’t show it. “Soo,” you look at him, “what’s with Valentines?”

“Oh-Umm. We’re single?”

Your mouth hangs open. “Yeah, well no shit, Sherlock Jungkook. What’s that got to do with you asking me if I’m free–oh wait,” you frowned at him, “are you trying to prank me? ‘Cause if you are, I’d rather spend–”

“No, this is not a prank! I-I-” Jungkook closes his eyes and breathes. “I got some tickets to an open-ground concert tonight and obviously, I could have asked anyone to come with me–because you know? The Jeon Effect is irresistible–but since you’re single and you’re ready to mingle, why not hang out with me?”

“…So…your point is?”

Jungkook smiles, shoulders and hopes raised, “Go out with me?”

“You know, you could have just said that out loud without rambling some idiotic nonsense.”

“Where’s the idiotic nonsense in what I said?”

“You rhyming ‘single’ with ‘mingle’ and that goddamn Jeon Effect.”

“But it’s true! The Jeon Effect is irresistible!”

“Say that to my fist.”

“Hi Y/N’s fist! The Jeon Effect is really irresistible, no?”

“Oh, shut up!”

Thirty minutes later, you and a jumpy Jungkook are walking by the town plaza, heading to god knows what is stored in your bestfriend's mind. The concert is scheduled not any later than eight and the two of you are just wandering around to pass the free three hours.

Despite the straight face you're currently sporting, you don't actually mind spending the rest of your afternoon with him. Valentines is an overrated event, a marketing act to get couples to go out and spend and do extra cheesy public displays of affection. However, you can't deny the beauty lying beneath of it all. The town looked like spring in pastel pink swept over it: pink and red dozens of flowers filled every space and corner of the street in wrapped bouquets or wooden baskets, romantic designs in wall arts and frosted glass panes littered every store, and varying sizes of cut-out hearts hung above the streetlamps, stringed next to each other to form lines and lines of them that it seems like they’ve corded throughout the city. You might be biased because red is your favorite color but the beauty and art surrounding you cannot go unnoticed. It's there right around you, blatantly laid out just for you to see and look at–just like the stupid face your bestfriend is pulling right in front of you.

You don't know how the hell he is now stuck literally by your side when moments ago you're walking side by side, arms-length apart.

"So...where do you wanna go?" Jungkook asks.

"I don't know, wherever you wanna go to."

"Hmm," Jungkook looks around before stopping on something and then he's grinning back at you, "Let's go there, yeah?"

Before you can take a glimpse of what he saw, he's already running to the right side of the road, taking you in tow with your hand clasped in his grip, his warmth enveloping the entirety of your hand.

You don't even know why you're complaining mentally; you actually don't mind feeling his warmth against yours nor the fact that you're just following his lead to god knows where.

"You do know you have long ass legs, Kook, and I'm barely catching up."

Jungkook slows down a bit but not enough for you to pace back into walking, and oh, your hand still in his. He looks back at you, "Well, It's because you got cute little legs so you gotta catch up."

"Are we there yet?"

Moments of breathless huffs and people staring curiously at the both of you pass before Jungkook abruptly stops and breathes "We're here." A small shop is in front of you two with huge, clear glass windows that enable you to see the decorative displays of frosted pastries and fresh sandwiches. The pastel pink and white awning is tapered with gold lines and a cursive "Lovers' Lounge" is neatly drawn on the glass with a cute heart right beside it.

Jungkook hurriedly opens the door for you and you step inside to be hit with the enticing aroma of roasted beans and baked dough. Along with the sensation is a sickening view of countless couples sitting on heart-shaped couches fawning over each other that you can hardly see anyone touching the cakes and croissants served on their tables.

You immediately whipped your head to face your bestfriend. "Jungkook, I think this isn't the place we're supposed to go–”

"Good afternoon, Sir, what would you like to have with your girlfriend?"

Girlfriend?! Your mouth drops open and before you can voice out a "No, we're just friends," your bestfriend has already pulled you to his side with his arm wound around your waist, drawing you so close that you can smell the cedarwood he probably sprayed this morning.

"Umm, we would like two caramel macchiatos and a set of glazed doughnuts," Jungkook pauses and looks at you smiling. "What else do you like, my Y/N?"

What.the.absolute.fuck. Jeon Jungkook has finally lost his mind.

Taking in your scrunched forehead and ajar mouth, Jungkook cuts right in and finishes his order with "and a platter of carbonara, thank you." He then leads you to the right corner of the shop and before everything that just happened settle down in your consciousness, you're sitting face to face with your bestfriend wearing the dumbest grin he could ever pull.

"What the fuck, Jungkook?" you hissed, "What's with the arm thingy and-and-and the ‘my Y/N’ cringey shit? What–”

"Shh!" Jungkook clamps his hand over your mouth but you slap it away and scowled at him.

Jungkook chuckles, "My god, you look so cute right now."

"I ain't being cute! What the fuck just happened on the counter?"

"This is a couples' restaurant, Y/N. Jimin told me that they'll have all foods free for couples this Valentines Day starting from twelve noon until five, and look," Jungkook peeks at his watch, “it's 4:57. Just in time.”

"Oh...that's why you didn't pay anything on the counter."

"Exactly. Now we just gotta pretend we're a couple whenever the servers near us and we're good to go." Jungkook sits back and wiggles his eyebrows. "So what do you say?"

"Hmm'kay. I'm not saying no to free food after all, but," you faced him, your lips in a straight line, "next time you have some ridiculous shit up your sleeve, it would be nice if you inform me first, you know? I don't like surprises."

"You don't like surprises?" Jungkook gawks. "Then what about the impulsive camping I dragged you to last October? Or the surprise pillow fort I made on your room for your birthday last year? You were even getting cheesy with 'oh my god, Jungkook, thank you so much, I love you–”

"That's different! And-and I didn't even say 'I love you'–I just expressed my gratitude and appreciation with 'thanks, Kook, for being a great friend and all!'"

"Same context though," Jungkook shrugs, "I know you love me, just admit it."

When you don't answer, Jungkook laughs and it wasn’t long before the waitress comes with your order on the tray. As she places each dish on your table, you took a peek at your bestfriend who’s ogling the pasta platter and you think it wouldn’t hurt if you concede to his request. It wasn’t really a request, but with the way he’s been going nonstop about it whenever you hangout, it’s likely he won’t stop soon until he hears it. It’s not like you mind doing it anyway–probably close enough to liking it because your chest don’t feel so heavy when you mutter "Fine, I love you.”

The look on Jungkook's eyes is something else, something you've never seen before. It's warm and familiar that it's easy to draw out the loud and obnoxious six-year-old you've befriended with your large story book even after the years he has grown. But the way he's looking at you is different and you don't know what the hell it means or the sudden warmth that wraps around you when it should be only felt by your right hand as he intertwines his fingers with yours.

Under the soft tangerine glow of the light, he pulls a tender smile and for the first time, it doesn't look so dumb.

Silence was both your companion for the next hour that followed. Not like the awkward emptiness, or the sudden quietness that sweeps over after a hearty conversation, it was most definitely not the comfortable calm Jungkook was seeking. It felt like a silent film–soundless but so full of momentum, the kind where a slight of a movement is enough to break things aloud. Jungkook could attest to it. He doesn’t know what the hell transpired in the café, how he suddenly gained his friend, Seokjin’s, cringey confidence to attempt to woo you with cheesy lines, but if he’s going to be honest, the ballads ringing atop the lungs of the birds in his chest is not solely caused by his courting shenanigans. The hint of pinkness on the apples of your cheeks, the sweet, fond smile you sent his way, and that goddamn soft “I love you” were all it took to set everything in him ablaze. The night blooms further, the skyline turns obsidian, and he can’t still feel his heart.

The boy takes a peek at you and the same old doubts replay in his head–what are you thinking? Do you like him planning not-so-dates like this? Do you feel a little bit better when he do stuffs like this? It may have been Jimin’s idea to get him out of his comfort zone but it wasn’t the sole reason that moved him to man up and try his hand again in trying to make you feel what you make him feel.

Jungkook isn’t blind. The half-smile you flashed at him first thing in the morning was already a sign. You’ve been…acting different for the past few days. Your eyes don’t hold the same spark they usually do when you smile, your lips won’t easily curve upward like they instantly do when you see him, and you even skipped your three-hour break you usually use for nap times with him for working again on the storyboard he knows you’ve already prepared since last week. The worst of it, you felt so far from him when you’ve always been so near and just within his reach. You haven’t sent him anything–no “hey, Jungkook, what do you think of this prose?”, no “StarKook! I’ve been running out of ideas go send me oooneee,” not even the usual “Jungkook? I’m feeling sad. Come over?” you usually send him just to let him stay at your dorm and hear you rant out about another bitch in class or a declined manuscript. No text, no chat–just plain nothing. It’s not just because of the pain in your back; there’s obviously something more and Jungkook can’t think of any other way to make you feel better than going out of his way to make you feel loved. He didn’t just get two tickets to the local band you’ve been gushing over last month; he practically spent a night fighting for them on an online sold out. He didn’t come up of going to some random heart-decor-filled place to walk around; he remembered you telling him a year ago about this town plaza that goes the extra mile on whatever event or holiday. All of them are just small details but the thing is, you always communicate with him in these minute details that over the years of reading between the lines you text him and hearing the underlying shifts of tone of your voice, Jungkook already knows the truth behind the things you say before you can even utter them out. He has always known you and if this is what he has to do to re-discover you again, Jungkook would willingly do everything.

Jungkook looks at you again and this time your gaze connects to his.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing. Just you and your sappy face.”

“As if you don’t have a dumb face,” you mumbled but Jungkook still hears them and he laughs. It didn’t take a second for you to follow, and by then the tinkling of your laughter has already surrounded the two of you in a calming haze as you head to the green field.

The concert ground looked like velvet gardens of green as the pastel-colored lights overhead drape the sea of people in soft hues of spring. Jungkook doesn’t remember much of the names of the people who sparked conversations with you as you both sat on the picnic blanket he laid out or the names the acoustic band list off to which they dedicate their songs to. But every bit of the song–the melody, the beat, and the lyrics stay embedded in his mind that he’s certainly write in his little black notebook as soon as he went back to the dorm. It was almost like a therapy; the soft strumming of guitars, the warm, soulful voices of the singers, the wonderful keys of the piano, and the unexpected upbeat interludes almost sent everyone into a different world as all sorts of feelings evaded everyone’s senses. People sang along, some moved their heads, a few couples slow danced on the grass and Jungkook can also see the effect on you. The straight face you wore when you first came in melted into a peaceful one and it was enough to tell everything; your contented smile and mirthful eyes that he’ll sure draw in the very same black notebook where he keeps all the poems and prose you have sent to him. You didn’t get to sing along with everyone but he knows you enjoyed every bit of the concert because even when the bands are gone and so is everyone else, it looks like you can’t find it in yourself to get up and leave just yet. So Jungkook just stays and waits, relishing every minute he could get with you by his side before tomorrow comes and Friday classes sets you apart from him again.

It was only a matter of minutes though before he finally gets his answers.

“Have you ever felt like…being stuck in one place and never moving at all?”

Jungkook looks at you and licks his lips before answering, “Hmm…I do but…It’s been a while though.”

“For me it is too. But it hit me full force just recently,” you pause and then you looked at him. “And it fucking sucks. It feels so terrible.”

“What is?”

“Not being able to write anything,” you put your hand before you and clenched it before spreading it out again. “My hand yearns to type again, something–a word, a phrase, whatever, and it just…can’t. I can’t. I thought having my manuscripts continuously declined again and again, again and again, is the worst I could get until this feeling of idleness starts to consume you. Fuck, it isn’t even a feeling at all–just a thought but it’s been killing other thoughts that it’s the only thing you could think of just like what feelings do. Jungkook,” you turn to him and it was only then that Jungkook sees the unshed tears brimming in your eyes, “I fe-feel like I’m not improving at all-just stuck and useless in this limbo and everyone has their eyes on me constantly supporting me and my stuff or lying in wait when I will finally fall and I just…feel so pressured too but what’s unsettling is that I, myself, is even disappointed at what I’ve become. What’s the purpose of being a writer if I can’t write?”

And everything hits Jungkook. A sliver of youth-filled days, blown dandelions, and naivety and immaturity running through his veins – the memory of the fourteen-year old you and the seventeen-year old him who were talking about much mature questions of your indefinite future, too heavy for your premature minds.

“What do you want to do in your life, Jungkook?”

“I don’t know...I’m not good in anything yet,” Jungkook murmured and he hunched his shoulders when you nudged him another dandelion for him to hold but he accepts it anyway. “What about you?”

“I’m going to be a writer! A very good one,” you beamed, giggling, your eyes resembling half moons.

Jungkook just stared at you. He’s never seen eyes so bright like yours before. When you looked at him with your forehead furrowed, he broke from his stupor and mumbled, “T-that’s great. I-I’m kinda embarrassed I still don’t know what I’m good at. I-I’m already seventeen and I have to repeat three years in school because I’m dumb and can’t get anything right–”

“Hey!” you cut him off and the frown that suddenly settled on your face made him nervous. “You’re not dumb!”

“B-but I am. I mean look, the kids of my age are already seniors and I’m still here in junior high and they probably have their lives planned ahead before them and here I am, still figuring things out and fucking things up. Even you have already your dreams! Whi-while I’m here…just unmoving and not growing.”

“You know, you can’t compare one’s growth with another.” You stood up and patted the fallen buds of the countless dandelions you’ve blown in your garden. Your mother would probably kill you but you couldn’t care less. You grabbed the pot of a marigold in the plant box on the right of your front door and bring it by your side as you sat beside your friend once again. “One’s growth is different to another, look," you point at the seemingly burning oranges and reds of the marigold. "A marigold only takes fourteen days for its sprout to grow from the seed and around two months before its flower starts to bloom, however," you point at the yellow dandelion planted before you, the only one standing tall with its flowers long before it becomes a seed head, "a dandelion takes two months just to grow the sprout yet in one month's time it can already start to flower." You look at him this time, "See? They grow at different times but look, they're both gonna reach their peak and they would all be beautiful!" You let your lips grow into a smile, "You know, you'll find your dream soon. Just do things at your own pace and try everything you might take interest in, you'll be able to find it in no time."

Laughing at his blank look, you just tapped him and said "Let's just blow the dandelions away and hope for the best, hmm?"

"Yeah." And you blew away the petals hoping it carries your dreams and hopes somewhere in the following years.

It happened to him before, and God knows how he has to die inside night by night wondering about some indefinite uncertainty in his life. You have helped him find his way before and now, Jungkook thinks it’s time to return the favor.

Jungkook inches his way closer to you and lays flat on the mat. You look at him questioning but he only chuckles and coaxes you to lie down too. Jungkook stretches his right arm open and that’s when you finally lay next to him with his arm cushioning your head. Up above you, countless of stars have already emerged on the indigo skyline. Jungkook raises his hand and points out a constellation. “Oh look, it’s Maui’s hook!”

“It’s Scorpio, Kook, and it’s not even up there, it’s fucking February. You’re actually pointing at Lepus.”

“Lepus, what’s that?” he turns to you.

You face him unfazed. “A rabbit.”

“How did you know that?”

“I studied constellations last year because of a celestial character I have to write.”

“Oh right, the star prince.”

“Yeah.”

“It still looks like Maui’s hook to me.”

“Kook, it doesn’t even look like a hook! Ugh! Did you actually just ask me to lay my head on the grass to point at some random constellation?”

“...but you’re actually laying on my arm.”

Reds start to color your cheeks again and Jungkook bites off a giggle. “S-same context though, Jeon.”

Jungkook chuckles and brushes your fringe away from your face. “You see, the constellations up there have different times they become visible to man. Gemini–I’m not gonna point it ‘cause i don’t know where it is–is up there. I know it is visible in Feb because Hobi hyung’s birthday is around the corner and he’s been into everyone’s Zodiac signs ever since I met him. Anyway, Leo comes later in five months, but it still reaches its peak up there.” Jungkook smiles, “See? They come at different times but they will still reach their peak!”

Jungkook could see recognition settle in as your eyes widen and your mouth parts. And it’s honestly so beautiful he can’t take his eyes away from you.

“Oh my god, Kook, I can’t believe you just quoted me.”

“See? Even the fourteen-year-old you already knew the answer.”

“We can’t compare growths.”

“Because everyone is growing at their own pace,” Jungkook finishes.

“Don’t you think that it’s kinda ironic that I’m the one who advised you that and here I am getting the same exact advice this time?”

“No. It really happens. It’s part of growing. Past events seem like they catch up at you but it’s just destined to make you remember something” Jungkook winks and you pretend to barf but your bestfriend immediately brings you back to his arms before you can even attempt to stand up. You fall back on his chest and when his laughter rings out in the open air, you can’t help but also let out the chuckles bubbling in your throat.

The last minutes of Valentines were then spent in counting off numerous comparisons–how Russia is ahead of one day than America yet it doesn’t mean that America is far behind the latter, how an entrepreneur becomes a CEO in his twenties while a retiree just gets to experience financial peak in his seventies, how characters in a book develop in their own pace–one not much more meaningful than the other–and so many more. But apart from it all, Jungkook only thinks of one:

You may not yet love yourself at the time everyone has already mastered every art of self-love, but you will eventually get there. And he will be with you in every step, pouring his love in many ways he could think of in hopes to help you love yourself more. It will take time, but you would surely get there.

When you look back up at the night sky, Jungkook lets his stare remain on your face. He doesn’t need to look up anymore when a bright one is already laying next to him.

In the open velvet grounds of green, Jungkook whispers “I love you too” and smiles.

When you open your locker the next day, there lay the familiar pink envelope with a golden crown that never fails to make your heart flutter. However, it’s not alone. A small plastic orange pot just the size of your palm sits next to it. One day late, and quite weird how this secret admirer of yours knows the combination of your lock to put something much larger than a letter inside but you couldn’t find it in you to be bothered when you’ve always known this Little Prince have always meant good. You know it is so because if you have to admit, his good-natured letters over the year are succeeding in earning your trust, and yeah, maybe your heart too.

“Dear princess,

Happy Valentines! I’m sorry I’m one day late. I hoped you spent yesterday feeling loved by the people around you. Also, don’t get creeped out. I happened to pass by you and see your combination but promise! I will not use it to take anything away from you. I just want to surprise you with a gift. I learned that flowers communicate meanings as well and I guessed that this plant, when it blooms, will tell you the entirety of my feelings.

Until then, I hope you take patience for this plant to bloom as I hope you would also take time to not give up on your own growth.

Lots of love from a faraway land,

The Little Prince.”

A/N: Hi hons! Happy Valentines! I’ve been inactive lately so here’s some 5k diabetes-inducing fluff for you! Sooo we got to know some new stuff for our characters here! 1) Jungkook is definitely older than the OC and 2) He repeated three years in HS. All of this is essential for the future parts until we get to The Confession™

Also, surprise, anon! I included your request in this :)

I appreciate all feedback so please don’t be shy! I would love talking with you guys! Take care and once more, Happy Valentines!

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markswoman · 6 years

Text

competition | hrj

there were three things that needed to change. first, huang renjun needed shitty vision again. two, he needed to go back to being shorter than you. three, he needed to stop trying so hard to compete.

pairing | slytherin!renjun x ravenclaw!reader | enemies to lovers!au | 5.1k

warning: profanity, sex jokes, mild violence

an: happy birthday @renjunite i hope all your wishes come true!! i love you so much and would give you the world ♡

At the age of fourteen, you met Huang Renjun as the boy tripped and fell in the aisle of the train as he accidentally got hit with the trolley. Not that it was your problem, however. You weren’t the one that had been run flat, so you minded your own business and went to show off the new magical watch your father had gotten you over the summer. The last thing on his mind was some petty boy who couldn’t see what was in front of him. An imbecile, he was, and that’s how you saw him. To your surprise, however, you found that Renjun was a transfer from another school for magical beings located in Scotland. Then, after he placed in Slytherin, he left you to wonder if the hat had caught mad cow disease or anything of the sort that might’ve caused its judgment to go awry. But then you shrugged. It wasn’t any of your business at all to even pay attention to an insignificant boy, who he later found out was a halfblood, son of two well-known professors in the magical arts. That must have also been a mistake, too. The kid didn’t seem like the type to be born into an intellectual family—according to you. – Things changed gradually over the years to a point where you were tossing and turning late at night because of him. Who the hell gave Huang Renjun permission to get praised? It was always you who were praised for your work, but now the latter was stealing it like he was stealing the eyes of everyone around them! You would sometimes mutter to yourself, cursing the bastard who fixed Renjun’s vision, ridding the boy of his thick black rimmed glasses. And then you’d curse the witch who was responsible for his polishing looks, because now, Huang Renjun looked like some super model out of a muggle mag.

Being in Ravenclaw, you took pride in being smart, top wizard in all your classes, but by the time seventh year came, your throne of glory was being threatened by the very kid who was once almost crushed by a trolley. – “You all should’ve studied harder, because it seems like Renjun was the only one who spent time doing so.” It was so tempting for you to flick your wand and have your fat eighty-nine marks gone from your sight. Almost willingly, you wished that Renjun would turn around and look back at you. For what reason? You didn't know. You just wanted a reason to hate the guy even more than you already did because that’s how the nature of things were. After class ended, you put all your things in your bag and stood behind the crowd with your arms crossed, waiting for everyone to get out. Not much to your surprise, Renjun was right behind you. “So, what’d you get?” “None of your business,” you dismissed quickly, chin raised in the air. Noticing how a few kids turned their heads towards them, you scowled, frightening them and their attention away. “I did ask if you wanted help studying,” Renjun said, shrugging off the cold attitude he was being given. “You told me no. If I remember correctly, you said, ‘Go to hell, like I’d ever want your help!’ and I don’t forget things very easily.” “Amazing! Then you’ll remember this!” You exclaimed as you finally reached the exit. Then you spun around flipping your middle finger in front of Renjun’s face before quickly merging in the busy hall. “Bye.” Admiring eyes were on you as you walked past several students. Grinning, you flipped your hair casually, running your slim fingers through it for effect. As much as you liked being above everyone in intellect, you also lathered yourself in their admiration. In fact, it was so— Then he heard the Slytherin’s name. Stopping in his track, you flipped his head around and saw the Slytherin shyly wave at the girls that were just admiring him. Oh, those wenches were never loyal anyway. Huffing, you took a left, heading to the library. – There were three things that needed to change. First, Huang Renjun needed shitty vision again. Two, he needed to go back to being shorter than you. Three, he needed to stop trying so hard to compete. At first, you didn’t think too much about it. So what if the Slytherin got a few higher marks than you? It was just luck anyways. Not everyone in Slytherin was that smart; this you knew from your experience of beating them time and time again on exams. Renjun shouldn’t have been an exception. But he was. And the minute he started appearing on your radar, it was clear to the Ravenclaw that the latter had an ulterior motive, and that was to dethrone you of your reputation. – “Baneberry Potion. Consists of ten Baneberry berries…fifteen drops of snake venom…a drop of…Fuck.” Resting your head on your book, you groaned. What time was it? It seemed like it was past midnight already, but you knew that wasn’t possible unless the librarian closed the establishment with you still inside. If that were ever the case, you could just file a claim against the woman and have the ministry fire her. Easy. Simple. Nothing like studying. Lazily lifting your head again, you flipped the page and closed your eyes, trying to recall the formulas and the history behind it all. You were almost sure you were muttering sluggishly through it. However, it was even difficult for you to hear yourself. “Drought of Living Death… Worm wood…a root of a…as…aspho—” “Asphodel.” Would you feel anything if you just inflicted the Avada Kedavra curse on yourself? Curiosity did kill the cat, but you weren’t about to die just yet. That would’ve meant letting Renjun win the silent war. Inhaling sharply to yourself, you mustered the strength to smile very coldly at the Slytherin who was leaning against the shelf with his arms crossed and head cocked at you. Having him stand in that position made you slightly irritated. What gave him the right to look like that? Or to look at you like that? It almost looked like he was staring at you with some type of admiration sparkling in his eyes… Disgusting. “Isn’t it past your bedtime, Huang?” “Maybe. Isn’t it past yours?” “Yes, but let’s just say, like my house’s mascot, I’m slightly nocturnal.” Ruffling your hair, you asked, “What’re you doing here?” “Studying. Jaemin and Jisung wouldn’t keep quiet in the common room, so I had to come here.” "Then how unfortunate of you to randomly stumble in my corner. Now, do you mind?” Frowning, Renjun made no move to take the hint and leave. Instead, he stayed as he was. “If you’re studying for the Potions exam next Friday, I can help.” “I’m fine, Slytherin. You can disappear like your snaggletooth.” Unamused, Renjun walked over and closed the book in front of the Ravenclaw, taking it into his possession and placing it aside. “I can almost feel the love from here,” he said, smiling almost sarcastically as he leaned in, bursting your comfort bubble. Rolling your eyes, you scoffed. “You don’t even have that snaggletooth. Since you fixed it with those things called…called, you know. Braces, or something. Now your mouth looks fine.” “Doesn’t it? I could’ve gotten it fixed through magic, but mother insisted I do it the muggle way so our neighbors wouldn’t be so suspicious. And for your information, braces fix teeth not mouths” For the love of all things good, why were they talking about teeth? Specifically Renjun’s? Disregarding the fact that they were perfect—as stated—and they did make him more attractive than you would’ve liked… “You’re annoying me, Huang,” you said, rising from your head and surprising the Slytherin. “I guess I’ll go study back in the Ravenclaw common room.” “Why don’t you ever accept my help?” The Slytherin said, both hands on the table.

“Simple.” Shrugging, you picked up your book. “I see you as competition, not as a friend. Why would I accept help from an enemy.” “But I’m not your enemy.” Rubbing his forehead, Renjun groaned. “Is this because I get higher marks than you?” “Did it really just hit you right now?” “Okay, I admit it that I do like beating you—” Ha! So you weren’t crazy and overly paranoid! You were internally celebrating the fact that you were right when all your friends told you that you were just an overly obsessive— “It’s really not hard to score higher than you either.” Okay. The victory celebration died a little bit. What? “And sometimes, I purposely do bad because you make that face when you think you do good and you look so cu—” Scratch everything. You were about to thrust your book out the castle, shattering historic windows while at it. You wanted to know when those times were—the times when Renjun let you score higher. Then you wanted to strangle the Slytherin for pitying so much that he’d ever do such a thing! But was it pity? Of course it was pity! What the hell were you? A charity case? For heaven's sake, someone might accuse you of cheating, and like hell you’d let that happen. You exploded, but because they were in the library, you only exploded a little bit, which meant you settled to gripping your book and smacking the Slytherin on the head. “No,” you said sternly. “The next time you let me score higher than you on purpose and I find out about it, I’ll kill you. I mean it.” “That hurt.” Touching his head, Renjun winced. “Christ, you hit hard.” “You’re lucky that wasn’t my fist.” “Oh, no. Your tiny fists. Ahhh….” Snorting, Renjun broke out into a chuckle. “Honestly, you’re very funny and cute even when you don’t try.” The only time when you wanted to burst into flames was when someone you liked when you were twelve rejected you in front of your friends. But here was Renjun saying weird things, and oddly enough, you wanted to be engulfed in flames again. “If this is some ploy to get me off track for my exams, you’re wasting your time,” you said confidently, tucking your book under your arm again, still warm with the heat of Renjun’s head. “I’m leaving. Go entertain Jaemin or something.”

You walked down the aisle, heading to the main exit, but was positive the latter was following after. “Hey.” Don’t answer him. It’s not worth it— “Go out with me.” Turning around wasn’t the best idea you ever had. Renjun with his hands in his front pockets was a sight that a lot of students fell for, and it was to no surprise why. “Nice joke. Why don’t you go share it with that elf friend of yours and his stubby dwarf.” “First of all, that’s not nice,” Renjun replied, brows raised. “Sicheng and his girlfriend are a lovely pair. Second, it wasn’t a joke.” “Third, I think you must’ve been mistaken. See here, I don’t like you,” you said slowly, enunciating each word. “You’re a cocky, pity giving, insulting transfer who seems to enjoy making me mad every step of the way.” Groaning, Renjun threw his head back. “I transferred here three years ago, and ever since then, you’ve been more of a villain than what you’re trying to make me sound like. And while we’re on the subject, I wanted to ask you—” Putting a hand up in the air, you signaled him to stop. “Goodnight, Huang.” “I mean it. Will you—” “No, I will not.” However, before you could turn around, Renjun stepped quickly towards you, rendering you dazed with a kiss on the lips. Shocked, you stumbled back, almost dropping your book, but the latter followed. “I did not give you permission to do that!” God, were you stuttering? You couldn’t tell and that was a freakishly bad sign. Did you even sound like yourself? “Why do you hate me?” Focus. What’d he just say? Fuck, your head was still scrambling. “I hate you because you’re you,” you sputtered without a second thought. “You steal the spotlight from me, like what the hell! I used to be every teacher’s favorite, and you just come from…from wherever and—” “Scotland.” “Yeah, okay, Scotland and ever since then it hasn’t been the same. Then you just flaunt your scores in front of me like oh-ha-ha and all I want to do is hit you, but I can’t because I’ve already gotten like ten detentions this year and I’m tired of spending my weekends with crusty professors instead of going to Hogsmeade!” Sighing, Renjun put his hands on his hips, displacing his robes. “Well, you know what I’m tired of? I’m kind of tired of spending hours and hours just studying so I can do better than you when all I’ve been wanting lately is just you in particular, you know that?” “No, and I’d rather not, thanks.” “But it gets you to notice me.” Oh, there were a lot of other things that made you notice him, but you weren’t about to admit anything. “Let’s make a bet.” Interested, you smiled. If there was anything your father taught you, it was to how to gamble, and you were very confident in your betting skills. “I’m listening.” “Score higher than me on two out of three exams. Potions, Herbology, Alchemy. If I mark higher on two, maybe even all three, you have to take me seriously and think about dating me. If you get higher marks, then I’ll leave you alone and we can pretend I never said anything. ” “That’s not fair. You’re number one in Potions.” “But you’re pretty good at Alchemy.” Drawing your lips together, you frowned. “Change Herbology to Arithmancy. It’s unpredictable in that class between you and I. The test is two weeks from now.” “You want me to wait two weeks for you?” “You waited three years, Slytherin. You can wait for two more weeks.” Realizing what you just said, you became flustered. “Not to say that once you’re done waiting, you’ll have me! I’m just saying, you have to wait and see, but fat chance you’ll ever see at all since–” “I understood you the first time, baby.” Who the hell was he calling baby? And why the fuck did you suddenly feel hot in the face. “Okay, well, I’m done talking to you. Bye.” As you walked away, you heard Renjun call out, “No cheating.” “Like I’d ever.” –

You lied but was that really surprising? Ravenclaws were clever, but not always in the most honest way. Shrugging, you walked up the spiraling stairs and stood in front of Slytherin’s door, turning the knob, only to be surprised by a deep, rumbling voice asking you a riddle. “What lies between two planes of existence?” Blinking, you frowned at the knob. Airplanes? Geometric planes? What the fuck was the door talking about? Stepping back, you crossed your arms, looking around to see if anyone was creeping up behind you. Two planes…Two planes… Rubbing your eyes, you groaned. You had no time to think too hard or much about it. Any minute, some Slytherin could make an appearance despite the fact that it was time for their afternoon meal. Thinking hard, you bit your lip as you went through all the possible answers, then suddenly, you remembered Montague, long gone and graduated, but hadn’t he been the poor fellow shoved inside the Vanishing Cabinet and was sent to— “Nothing… There’s nothing there, but limbo. A plane between two planes is where nothing exists, so nothing lies there…At all.” To your ego and pride, you were ecstatic to see that the door opened. Grinning, you quickly let yourself in and was surprised at how airy the common room was. And, of course, there was a bookshelf. There had to be books in a wizardry school. Snorting, you decided to take a fifty-fifty chance and turn to the right, heading to what you hoped was the boys’ dormitory. – Finding Renjun’s bed seemed more of a trouble than you thought it’d be considering everyone’s space seemed to look the same with all the notes and books lying around. Quickly, you flipped through a few books on each bed, checking the names. Eventually, you found the Slytherin’s little corner after finding his books neatly stacked near a perfectly made bed. Carefully placing one book after another off to the side, you stopped when you found the Potions textbook you were looking for. Quickly turning to a bookmarked page, you were pleasantly surprised to find all the notes jotted down on the side, some even on key details you haven’t even thought of. For a moment, you felt jealous, but then decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Hastily, you scanned the page, reading over the notes a few times until you were satisfied with your memory. Then, taking a step back, you pointed your wand at the book and unmercilessly said, “Incendio.” – Renjun's notes were far more useful than you primarily thought. The Potions test was something you could've done with a hand tied behind your back. Really. And when you looked up, you smirked at the struggling Slytherin who became so frustrated that he pulled his tie to become more loose. There were people distracted by the sight, but you who didn’t look at him with attraction like the others did. You had a bet to win, despite your unfair start, but that didn’t matter. Your head needed to be in the game and eyes off the Slytherin’s collarbones. Off. When time was up and the only people who actually finished successfully were you and a few others (though you liked to think that you executed the concoction more perfectly than they), other students stared at them in awe and jealousy and you drank in all their attention, smirking at everyone, intensifying your stare when your eyes met with Renjun’s.

Not to go on without any consequences, you walked a little slower, expecting to be drawn to the side and you were right. Hand on your arm, you were pulled from behind and, without resistance, you scoffed as Renjun walked them to an isolated corner and pressed you against the harsh wall. “What happened to my textbook?” “Hell if I know whatever happened to your stupid book,” you responded, batting your eyelashes. “Maybe you lost it?” “I never lose anything.” “Never say never.” Grinning, you patted the latter on your right cheek. “Because you might just have to get used to it.” Laughing, Renjun rolled his eyes before returning the gesture all the same, patting you on the cheek as well as it being accompanied by a smirk. “We’ll see. What’s next?” Turning your head, you rejected the touch five seconds in. Renjun’s hand was warm. Ew. “Alchemy.” “Then study up.” “No, you.” It was a childish thing to say, but you couldn’t think of anything better to say. “God damn it. I’m leaving.” Pushing against Renjun (it was quite the experience touching him), you smiled before immediately dropping your lips the minute you turned around. The only thing that should be on your mind are numbers and signs, and lots of it. At least, enough to maybe, somehow, predict something in the future. But you felt a little cocky since you ultimately had a feeling on what the future was already. – You cheated the first time, felt some satisfaction, but was confident enough to take the Alchemy exam without sabotaging Renjun’s belongings. However, you soon came to the realization, that, perhaps, you should’ve burned the Slytherin’s alchemy books and other belongings as well. For the second time in two weeks, you felt your face burning with your back against yet another wall in an isolated hall. “Thanks for not burning my textbooks this time.” Renjun grinned, cocking his head. “I really appreciate that you didn’t cheat on this exam.” Letting out a shrill laugh, you put a hand on your waist. “I didn’t burn your stupid book, Huang.” “Mhm.” Wiggling his finger in front of the Ravenclaw’s face, Renjun showed him that perfect row of teeth, making you kind of angry at the fact that he didn’t need those stupid braces anymore. “One and one. Last one’s the tie breaker. Study your numbers, love. Arithmancy is mine and then, you.” Smiling platonically, you raised your brows. “I think you’re confusing your pathetic dreams with reality.” Snorting, Renjun put a hand on the wall, closing in on the unfrightened (just a little bit) Ravenclaw. “Really? We’ll see.” “Huang Renjun, your face is uncomfortable to be in front of.” “Then just close your eyes.” Unamused, you ducked under the Slytherin’s arm and sidestepped him. “I’d rather not let myself be left unguarded for any lip attack, thanks. Bye.” Then you were off, thinking about things other than lips. – There was too much riding on the Arithmancy test to leave it all up to chance and fate. Going back to the Slytherin dormitory, you answered the same riddle and strode systematically with a purpose as you entered the boys’ dormitory. It seemed, however, that Renjun had learned his lesson the first time and hid his textbooks and notes. Even when you pulled out your wand and repeatedly said, “Accio Arithmancy book” or “Accio Huang Renjun’s notes”, nothing came about and it almost made you want to snap your wand in two. Just as you gave up, you spun around on your heel only to see Renjun leaning against the dorm’s door frame. “I don’t think you’re allowed in here, baby.” “Whatever.” You weren’t in the mood. It didn’t even bother you anymore that you were caught since you didn’t have the chance to find and destroy your objectives which were the books and notes taken. Walking over, you pushed Renjun aside and started to make your way out the Slytherin house. “Nice charm. What’d you use…” From behind you, Renjun answered, “I’m surprised you don’t know. Aren't you supposed to be smart?" "I am. So I guess I'll have to beat you the old fashion way." "Hold on, angel. Stop walking." Shockingly, you did stop, surprised at the way your knees buckled. "What?" You said, turning your head. "Since you cheated the first time, don't you think we shouldn't count that particular exam?" There he went. Trying to pry yet another win from your hands, but you weren’t about to uncoil just yet. “Let’s not play stupid, Renjun. You studied off one of your friends, right?” Renjun said nothing. “So regardless, you let me have it the first time, and it still would’ve been the same result regardless of whether or not I came in here to burn a book or two.” Hands on waist, Renjun let out a sigh. “Fine. Okay, I gave you the advantage but only because I knew you’d do well in Alchemy without batting an eye, so I spent most of my time studying that. But for Arithmancy, you and I have to do this exam fair and square.” “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” you replied, grinning. “What’s sweeter than a fair victory?” “Us being together, obviously,” Renjun said without missing a beat. Before you could stutter out anything incoherent, the Slytherin stepped up and put his hand on your back, guiding you to the entrance door. “You have four days. Use them wisely.”

– “Jaemin!” Jumping, the Slytherin looked up and saw the menacing grin on your face. “Yes?” “You have access to Professor Kim’s potions supply closet, right?” Nodding, Jaemin confirmed. “I do. Why?” “I’m going to need you to get me some things.” “Why do you need these things?” As the two pressed around multiple bottles and jars, you shrugged. “I’m trying to save my ass in the most literal sense.” – There were so many books upon books that it looked like a book orgy, but you had no time to think about orgies or sex or anything in particular that had to do with the naughty things in life. You needed to focus, and you were about to go crazy after turning down an invite to roam the castle and cause some trouble with your friends. “I think you were sorted in the wrong house.” “Maybe, deep inside, you’re a Slytherin with all that ambition to beat Renjun.” They were all wrong and it made you mad as you scrawled your notes heavily in your books. If you didn’t study, then you’d have a Slytherin in you, and purely by consent because what moron wouldn’t open up their chamber of secrets if Renjun wanted to slide his Basilisk in there somewhere? Fuck.

You just scribbled nonsense about Basilisks in a book about numerology. Groaning, you flicked your wand, undoing the mistake. Then you grabbed your quill and continued jotting down notes on the theory of numerology before looking over past homework parchments. After studying for an hour, you gave yourself a break, taking the ingredients you stole from Professor Kim’s supply closet and made your way up the prefects’ bathroom, rarely used and often barren. Then, in a stall, you began mixing and stirring your backup plan to ensure that you’d win; the Befuddlement Draught. – Game day, game face. You put a defector charm on yourself so the Befuddlement Draught wouldn’t affect you. The potion made whoever took it confused and reckless, and that was exactly what you wanted to do to Huang Renjun just minutes before the test. Of course, you couldn’t offer him a tainted drink. That’d seem suspicious, but from experience, you did know that the Slytherin wasn’t so opposed to kissing, so you decided to take one for the team, which basically consisted of yourself, so you were essentially doing it for yourself. Taking a sip of the potion, you made sure to hold just enough of it on your tongue to last while you made your way over to Renjun’s desk. Looking up at you, the Slytherin raised his brow. “This is a surprise.” You held the urge to roll your eyes as you leaned down and kissed the boy on the lips. The second phase of the mission was to get the latter to open his mouth, but Renjun had done so willingly. In fact, his tongue entered the your mouth without you having to do anything. It wasn’t going as you had planned, but it wasn’t bad either. Unconsciously, however, in the midst of taking one for the “team”, you started to kiss back until you realized you were in a classroom and kids were beginning to pour in and the teacher was about to come through her office door and– Separating, you took a step back, flustered and red. Renjun, however, cocked his head, showcasing a wide and proud grin. “Anything else you got for me?” A kick in the balls? A slap on the face? You didn’t know what to do because you were so stalled that you just turned around, consoling yourself that it’d all be worth it when the potion kicked in. –

But it never did. At least, it didn’t look like it twenty minutes into the test, which made you worried that you probably kissed Renjun (and liked it) for no purpose at all. Regardless, you focused on the text in front of you. If it didn’t work, then fine. You’d have to rely on your own skill even if your lips were still tingling, which was annoying. Really annoying. God damn it. – The time of judgement came the next day when their grades were posted on the classroom wall for all to see, and you had to push your way to the front. “Are you kidding me!?” Stomping from the rest of the students, you made a beeline to Renjun, who hadn’t bothered to look at the paper because all he needed to do was look at your face and just know that he scored higher. “Okay, you cheated!” It was a fair accusation. Kind of hypocritical, but you didn’t care. “How did I cheat, baby?” Renjun challenged. You cheated when you didn’t react to the potion I gave you? Could you say that? Technically, not falling into one’s scheme of cheating doesn’t make the almost -victim a cheater… “I don’t know, but you did somehow.” “Says the person who tried giving me Befuddlement Draught through a kiss?” Laughing, Renjun stood up. “Not to say I didn’t enjoy that one.” “You’re unbelievable!” How the hell did he know that? You frowned. “Stop accusing me of things, Slytherin.” “So, what? You kissed me just to kiss me? Cause I’ll take that excuse any day.” Fuck. You crossed your arms. “It doesn’t matter. None of these exams were fair so the bet’s off.” “You can’t just call something off because it didn’t go your way, love.” Rolling your eyes, you scoffed. “Whatever. I lost. There, boohoo for me. Yay for you. Haha.” “Actually, no.” Gently, Renjun turned your face up towards him. “See, if you look at it this way, you already won me from the start.” “I don’t want you.” The frown on your face started wobbling and all you could wonder about was what the hell was wrong with your body functions. “Are you sure about that?” Renjun’s face was getting closer and gravity seemed to think it was opposite day because you felt compelled to move up instead of down to dodge him. “I’m pretty sure, Huang, now can you just–” “Absolutely positive?” Was your mouth getting super chapped? You licked your lips, but they were dry again. What the fuck. “Yes, yes, I’m positive! I swear to god, I–” How many times have they kissed before? You didn’t know. You lost count, which was ironic because they were kissing in a room that was all about numbers and had ten pairs of eyes watching them. It wasn’t as though Renjun had you gripped so you couldn’t move away, too. For one reason or another, you couldn’t move anything but your mouth, and for once, that was a good thing. – “Alright. How’d you know about the Draught.” “I saw Jaemin with you one night. Got a little jealous so I cornered him nicely somewhere and asked some questions.” “Well, for all you know, we really could’ve been doing something that night. A little action in a closet never hurt anyone.” “I’d like to test that out for myself.” “Test it? Fine. Whatever. When and where.” “Now.” And then they ditched a fifty-five minute lecture on numerology because, after discussing it over several kisses in the library, you both agreed you didn’t give a rat’s ass about numbers except that one plus one equals two, and two was a perfectly fair and even number.

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bigskydreaming · 5 years

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Hypothetically speaking, if someone were working on a Beacon Bay AU one shot where a bunch of dolphin shifters and shark shifters go to the same beachside school, would Brett work better as the former or the latter? I can see either working for him, and put off deciding because he’s just a supporting role but he has to mack on Mason now, so I kinda gotta know in order to know what kind of insults jokes to write Liam making.

I mean. Allegedly. No wait, hypothetically. THE ALLEGED AUTHOR WHOMST IS NOT ME AND PROMISING NOTHING HYPOTHETICALLY MEANS.

Is what I meant to say. Theoretically.

Anywho, the other dolphin shifters are Scott, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Liam, Corey and Nathan (the lacrosse player Malia hooks up with in Season 6.) The shark shifters are Danny, Jackson, Tracy, Josh, the twins and Hayden. Lydia’s a siren who hangs out with the sharks mostly, and Kira and her mom are a kind of trickster spirit tied to the ocean because ocean kitsune aren’t actually a thing, and Malia’s a Proteus style shapeshifter that can turn into any sea creature, because in this Corinne was just a modern guise of Circe’s. Peter’s a dolphin shifter as well, and the one who turned all the dolphin shifters, before backstory plot had Scott rally the others behind him and eventually drive Peter out of town. Mason’s a druid in training, specifically focused on ocean magic, as he and Deaton are of a sect of druids who guard lore bequeathed to their order by Manannan mac Lir, the Irish sea god, a thousand years ago.

All shifter types have specific innate magic, which is why Peter was turning teens - dolphin magic is empathy and storm summoning. They can sense emotions and also project them, and in a pod, they can summon storms/manipulate the weather in specific ways via music. A solitary dolphin shifter singing on their own could maybe whip up a wind or stir up some fog, but you need a whole group to actually get a decent storm brewing....but the local dolphins were all surfers and skaters before being lured and turned by Peter, so no one’s really all that surprised to see them hanging out on the beach at night, camped out by bonfires and playing their guitars and being wild and loud.

The rules of ‘the shape you take reflects the person you are’ still apply here, and dolphins are characterized by being playful, mischievous or chaos-loving, as well as naturally social. Shifters don’t need to bite or claw someone to change them, specifically - its about bringing a human to death’s door, the threshold between life and death ie the place where greatest transformations have the potential to occur....and then the shifter’s magic either finds a match in the shape of the human’s spirit, in which case they pull them back across the threshold, now a shifter themselves....or if the spirit doesn’t match their shifter type, the human like...dies.

So basically to change them, Peter kinda...lured them out into the waves, siren style (except dolphin shifters are NOT sirens, thank you very much, says Lydia, who is very tired of having to remind people, sirens are a type of Fae, and dolphin shifters are just the result of a bunch of pirates pissing off the Greek god of wine, madness and revels a few thousand years ago, which apparently was supposed to be a punishment, but somehow just ended up making a bunch of mystical shapeshifting party animals....whatever, Dionysus was never particularly known for thinking things through. In his defense, he was probably drunk at the time).

Anyway, so to change them, Peter lured them out into the waves at night via empathy manipulations, yes the grossness is very much implied, but all backstory only, and then dragged them down under the water until they were drowning, at which point sharing breath either changes them or doesn’t work and they drown. Course, it doesn’t have to be a gross thing, for instance after becoming the pod’s Triton (the dolphin equivalent of an Alpha, the central focus point of their magic and the only one who can actually turn people) Scott turned Liam to save his life....Liam was a surfer who got caught in an undertow and dragged far enough down that by the time Scott got to him, he wouldn’t have been able to get him to the surface in time, so he tried giving him underwater CPR instead basically, and it worked, dolphin Liam.

Anyway, one can imagine a ton of different ways Peter would be game to exploit a bunch of impressionable teenagers with the power to manipulate moods and emotions just by being near someone, but they weren’t having it and backed Scott in challenging Peter until he peaced outta town. (Derek and Cora exist here, but they’re...elsewhere, as are the Argents, because plot reasons).

Problem with kicking the only dude who actually knows how to properly use their magic the hell out of Dodge though, is the dolphins only sorta kinda know how to use their magic. They kinda mostly got the whole storm singing thing down, and they can feel emotions just fine, but when it comes to the reverse, well, they haven’t quite figured out where the off switch on that is yet. So they kinda just each have this aura about them that can’t help but spread their emotions to whomever comes in range, like...contagious emotions. Which is a big part of the reason why they’re so loud and obnoxious and like, party animals (this pod, at least) - because they figure if they can’t stop being Mother Magic’s little emotion factories, they’d rather be pumping out dopamine among their surroundings, instead of like...magic depression hour.

(Oh yeah, basically supernatural creatures have their own idea of a third kinda primal nature figure, like there’s Mother Nature and Father Sky, and in supernatural cultures, they also refer a lot to Mother Magic, who is basically like, the idea of the source point of everything supernatural in the world).

Being self-taught does have some upsides though, as some of them have figured out their own unique tricks that they probably wouldn’t have, if they’d been taught ‘properly’ by older shifters who are limited by their own ideas of what is or isn’t possible. For instance, they’ve never heard of any other dolphins who are able to pull off Corey’s trick of projecting an aura of some combination of emotions that basically lets him go virtually unnoticed, like...everyone in his vicinity is emotionally cued to just overlook him entirely, when he gets himself in the right mindset to project the effect he’s going for here. Its not true invisibility, he still shows up on camera and everything, its more like....they don’t register seeing him, even as their eyes pass by him.

Then you got the shark shifters on the other hand, who are a lot more serious...they’re not bloodthirsty like a lot of people would tend to assume, but rather their nature is that of guardians and lore keepers. Which prompts a lot of confusion as to how Jackson made the cut, and Danny just sighs and says see, obviously there’s more to him than meets the eye, which is actually just his way of covering for the fact that he doesn’t have a clue either. But shark shifters are largely born shifters, because they have strict laws among their own kind about turning humans, like....a large wolf attacks a human and bites them and they later die? Its noteworthy, but not like, as noteworthy as shark attacks, given the actual scarcity of the latter, so shark shifters are like....yeah, no biting the humans. Jackson and Hayden are actually the only bitten shifters in the local clan....Jackson was bitten by a rogue shifter years ago (luckily with shark shifters, if the Change takes, it takes hold quickly enough to like....start healing the damage from the bite before they bleed out, lmao).

Hayden was turned in her old town by a clan whose leader was not a Good Guy, and her sister was like NOPE, and got her the hell out of town and kept driving until they found a shark clan with a good reputation. The Beacon Bay clan has been around for decades and are well established (the Mahealanis are the clan leaders, and Danny’s in line to be in charge next). But yeah, other than Jackson, the others are all born into local shark shifter families - like Josh and Tracy, or else they’re like the twins, who were born into another clan that was killed by hunters, and then the Beacon Bay clan took them in. So the same thing could work for Brett and Lori, because it wouldn’t work for them to be born dolphin shifters even from out of town, since that wouldn’t fit with the local dolphins all being self-taught in their magic....if I make them dolphin shifters too, they’d be turned ones as well.

Shark magic is in the blood...born shifters have ancestral memories of previous shifters in their bloodline, and because of the ‘shape of your spirit is what matters’ rule of thumb, bloodlines in this case is kinda symbolic....so even bitten sharks like Jackson and Hayden have blood memories from the previous generations of Beacon Bay sharks by virtue of the fact that they are clan now and see themselves that way, so as far as the magic is concerned, it counts. But at the same time, they also still have trace connections to the bloodlines of the shifters who bit and turned them, so they each for example occasionally get a flash of something from a different clan’s history...just like the twins still get flashes of their old clan’s blood memories.

And this is why they’re the lorekeepers of the various shifter types, because just like sharks are ancient as fuck, compared to other animals, shark shifters are said to be the oldest of the shifter types except for the crocodiles. So some of the oldest shark clans have memories going all the way back to the earliest eras of human history. This happens to include Danny’s clan, of course, and in fact his great great great grandfather was what’s known among shifters as a throwback - basically a shifter whose specific spirit DNA/coding/whatever/lol combines with the blueprint for their animal side in such a way that like.....the shape they take is that of a much earlier prototype of their shifter species, further back the evolutionary chain. So Danny’s great great great grandfather’s shifted form was basically less great white and more...megalodon, lol. Not quite that extreme, but close enough that his descendants are still catching the tail end of that prestige wave, almost a hundred years later. But basically that goes hand in hand with the fact that their clan’s lineage traces all the way back to the earliest shark shifters, the ones said to remember when gods still walked the earth themselves.

And then sharks’ other magic, besides the blood memories (cuz all shifter types have two, like the dolphins have their empathy and their storm-singing; there’s a more passive type and an active type)....so the active type of shark magic ties into their nature as guardians. Just like sharks can smell blood in the water from miles away, shark shifters can ‘feel’ not blood in the water per se, its more like they can ‘smell’ violence from similar lengths. Like, they just have a sense for it, and can hone in on it, track it....and in the presence of spilled blood, they get a boost across the board...their strength, speed, healing, etc, all ramp up and give them a heightened edge in fighting whatever’s the source of the violence...at least until the blood stops spilling, either because they’ve successfully fought off whatever attacked someone and someone’s gotten the bleeding to stop, or because like....they died. LOL.

The catch-22 of shark blood magic is that its geared towards making them better able to guard and protect those within their territories, but people familiar with their shifter type and how their magic works know that their best chance of beating a shark shifter running to the rescue is to like.....kill the person they’re coming to protect, shut off the spigot, so to speak. Part of why the shark clans like Danny’s have become a lot more insular and reclusive in recent decades is because hunters started to get savvy about baiting traps for shark shifters....use someone as bait to lure a shark shifter close, and then soon as they’re within range of the hunters’ ambush or whatever, kill the victim and the shark shifter’s been lured out and yet now is no more powerful or formidable than any other average shifter. Which is still plenty badass, but nothing that hunters who can take down werewolves and weretigers and the like, like...can’t handle.

Anyway, that’s me rambling on.

Oh yeah, and Theo exists but probably won’t be in this one shot because like....its mostly done and he’s not here, so I mean. Yeah. Probably not gonna surprise me with a sneak appearance. If I manage to finish this and ever get around to doing a second one in the same universe, that’s where he would show up. I know what he is though, like, the Dread Doctors don’t exist here, but something/someone kinda like them does, and Theo’s the result of one of their experiments. There’s an Inuit spirit called an akhlut, who can turn into an orca in the ocean and a wolf on land....to be clear, he is NOT that, nor is it even clear in-universe whether they exist or not, but basically like....someone was trying to engineer a shifter based on that legend, via a combination of science and magic. And that’s how you get a Theo here. Anyway, he’d end up in Beacon Bay searching for an artifact that’s legendary among the shifter clans in the way Excalibur is legendary to us....no one can seem to say for sure if it even exists or not, let alone does what its rumored to do, but the stories are endless....something called Circe’s Diadem, said to belong to the enchantress herself, and imbued with the power to change the shape of a person’s spirit.

And if you can change the shape of your spirit (or someone else’s) to whatever you want, then you can also by extension guarantee the specific type of shifter they could be transformed into as well.

Anyway, I have this other later idea for a bunch of factions, Theo included, all converging on Beacon Bay because someone’s been going around whispering in various ears that Circe’s Diadem is hidden in the town somewhere.

Whether or not this has anything to do with Circe’s daughter living in that town....or how many people (such as Theo) actually know that’s who she is...well, who can say.

And yeah, Malia’s met her before, and she’s Not A Fan. She knows who Corinne really is too (Circe has a sizable reputation as Corinne, her latest in a long line of guises/personas, but while she’s well known among the supernatural world as an infamous and feared mercenary and assassin, very very few know that she is in fact Circe herself....who was rumored to have died, been killed, vanished, etc, three thousand years ago, according to an endless array of legends, with pretty much every supernatural culture having their own idea of what happened to her. Circe is about as famous as it gets in the supernatural world, but she’s specifically revered/feared by the various shifter clans, most of whom believe that she had something to do with the creation of the very first shifters. Some stories say she’s the daughter of Mother Magic herself, others say she’s a goddess, still others insist she was nothing more than a very gifted con artist with a penchant for taking credit for other peoples’ work. Even Malia doesn’t know for sure. She and Mommy Dearest don’t really talk much. And every time Corinne does show up, she seems to have some kind of agenda in mind for Malia, which Malia’s like yeah no, I object, and Corinne’s like, you haven’t even heard what it is, and Malia’s like yeah I don’t need to, oh hey, have you met my girlfriend, Kira? Its such a small world, apparently you know her mom?

And then Noshiko’s like, hello...Corinne, is it, these days?

And Circe is like....oh. Hello. Noshiko.

And Noshiko just smiles, this beautiful, serene, dangerous smile: It’s been awhile, hasn’t it.

Circe: I suppose it has. About six hundred years, give or take a decade, I think?

Noshiko: And yet I remember it like it was yesterday.

*awkward silence*

Circe: Well, I really must be going Malia, sweetheart, we’ll catch up some other time, toodles, gotta jet, murder waits on no woman, after all. Ta, darling!

So, that’s a thing. Corinne and Noshiko definitely have beef.

But Malia only knows who her mother really is because of Noshiko, who refuses to tell her or Kira any more than that, because as Noshiko puts it, she doesn’t really come off all that great in the story either, and would prefer to just wield the threat of it as a blunt instrument to keep Corinne at bay, rather than like...actually unpack it. If at all possible.

And as Peter was run out of town before Malia found out the truth of her biological parentage, she’s not actually sure whether Peter knew who she really was and just never said anything, or even if Peter actually knew who Corinne really was when he was with her. Given his obsession with the occult and ancient legends, its entirely possible Peter did know though, or even sought her out specifically because he’d deduced she was really Circe. From things he mentioned in passing now and then, Scott and his pod are fairly certain that Peter was looking for Circe’s Diadem too, and has been for a very long time. But again, whether that’s a hint towards him knowing who Corinne was, or against....they have no idea.

Deaton’s theory, when pressed, because he really doesn’t like to speculate, lmao, but he was concerned they were only considering one angle at the exclusion of all others....so he mentioned an old story passed down from the earliest days of his own sect of druids, about an ancient sea witch who might have been another one of Circe’s many names/personas....and the story said three times a man came to the sea witch in a different guise, first a lover, then a friend, then a foe, and each time he tried to steal her magic (though what precisely this means, the story didn’t say). And after the third time, the sea witch hid most of her magic in her crown, and gave it to her most loyal servant, who she then turned into an albatross and commanded to take it far away and hide it until she came for it. So taking into account that story, its possible Circe herself doesn’t actually know for sure where her Diadem is, and for whatever reason, she stored the majority of her magic in it long, long ago...and she’s been hunting for it ever since. So maybe, they speculate, it wasn’t even Peter that sought Corinne out, but rather she who sought him out, because she’d heard of his search and thought he might be on the right track.

But yeah. So Malia has no idea if Peter knew who he was sleeping with at the time, or if he even knows now, and is Theo working for Corinne, for Peter, for someone else entirely, or is he an independent agent, is Circe’s Diadem even in Beacon Bay at all, is it even real or just the longest con ever, and if so, what does she stand to gain from it? Mysteries abound!

The sea keeps its secrets well, and so does Beacon Bay.

Dun dun dun.

fshalsfhlafjal god Im such a melodramatic shit why am i so fucking amused by myself science side of tumblr i need answers but be gentle im delicate

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