#like if you wanting your kid to see you as a friend impedes your ability to parent that's one thing but. that's

[strwberri-milk]

MC and Xavier/Zayne/Rafayel have a unplanned kid (or kids, i like the idea of twins too)

They are dating for only some months now, having a unplanned kid now would be a problem?

How would she talk about it with them? Or, would them be the one to notice first that something is strange? (I mean zayne is her doctor and ask for regular exams, you doctor is always the first to know the results right?)

They are just dating and never talked about marriage, would a baby change it? (I think rafayel is the romantic one who would want to marry before the baby is born)

How would them act while mc is pregnant? (Not to mention she tecnically have health problems)

Would them be extra carefull about her health?

What about her job as a hunter?

When its birth time, how would them react? (Maybe rafayel would freak out a bit?)

Besides that, what about the fluffynes, or feelings?

.

Also already leaving this here for another post (not that i would mind if you want to do it all in the same one): what about them as dads?

Starting at birth, how would be see their kid/kids the first time?

Would they take care of mc so she can recover after birth? (My friend had a 28h birth and breastfeeding was painfull, it was nothing like the in movies yk)

How would the kids be like? And what they would have in common with their parents?

.

Thank you very much since now ♡

nothing personal against you but this is a quick reminder to anybody whos new here to please please please check out my rules before requesting! I will be doing the dad hcs section and ONLY the dad hcs - nothing about pregnancy, pregnancy recovery, etc. etc. because i do not write for pregnancy - i can see youve put a lot of energy into this ask and i appreciate it but just as a heads up for the future please check my rules first!

Zayne is a great father. He isn't able to be as active as he would like to be in the earlier years of childhood because he wants to make sure that the child has enough money to be provided for for their entire life. He doesn't throw himself fully into work but he also is just as busy now as he was before the arrival of the child.

Once things settle and he gets used to a rhythm he might start taking less odd hours at the hospital. He's been interviewing for another surgeon or three that can replace his manpower when needed, not wanting to be the absolute backbone for the hospital anymore so he can be home as often as needed.

He can't totally get rid of those odd hours or being on call because it wouldn't be fair to the other staff as he isn't the only parent that works there but the load is definitely lessened with the way that he's worked things out. He wants to be as present as possible and he always does his best to get days off for any special events in the child's life, or just for the family in general.

He will definitely broach the idea of you being an at home parent. He wants there to be someone who can be there for the child at any given time and if you refuse he'll respect your wishes without saying much. It doesn't bother him too much but it is something he wants to bring up.

Xavier is immediately concerned about your lives as hunters. He's very confident in his ability to keep himself safe and it's not to say that he isn't confident in you, but he does worry about you being reckless. It's simply a case of him not being able to be with you at all times and being nervous about it. He'll try to convince you to take a safer job or consider working in a sector that wouldn't require you to be on the field as often.

In all fairness he also stops going off by himself for missions as often and makes it easy for you to find him or know where he is in case he has to go somewhere more remote. He'll be a little picky about who he works with just because he doesn't want them to impede the way he works. He already started playing it safe when you confided in him how much you worry when he does things dangerously but now with a child in the mix he's more aware of himself.

He is very active in the child's life. Definitely loves doing tummy time with it and cuddling with it. He gives both you and the child so much love and attention - there's no way it'll grow up without knowing how in love its parents are and how much its parents love it. You definitely love watching him interact with your child, finding it so adorable to see how he coos and plays.

Xavier also loves to read to your child. He's got a small collection of space themed children's book and now his nightly routine is reading a few of them to your child as it rests on his chest, pointing out all the little pictures and constellations and teaching it all about them.

Rafayel buys the cutest little outfits for the baby. He's definitely the kind of parent who buys designer clothes that will only fit for the week but the good thing is at least he doesn't pick anything that's overtly designer. He just likes dressing your baby well and he has expensive taste and the money to pay for it.

Rafayel is a little awkward at first being a father. He's used to communal child rearing being standard practise (a headcanon I have from the way he talks about his childhood/how I read interactions during myths) so he's a little out of his element. His Aunt definitely comes over constantly to coo over the new family member and Rafayel wouldn't mind hiring additional staff to help keep the home in order and support child rearing as well. He just doesn't want the nanny becoming a primary parental figure for the child - he thinks that honour should go to you and him.

Since he basically works from home he inadvertently spends a lot of time with the baby. He tries to get you to quit your job, citing that he makes more than enough money for you to either stay at home or find safer work but also won't stop you. However, if you continue actively working as a hunter in the field his anxiety around your absence worsens tenfold. He'll ask you to keep your phone on you as much as possible and with your permission will want the ability to monitor your location. He just wants to make sure you don't get hurt and really has your safety at the forefront of his mind at any given moment.

He's also going to be watching for any signs that your child is going to have any Lemurian traits. He doesn't want anybody to find out about it in case harm befalls your little family and also wants to be able to help your child through those changes the best he can. You'll be seeing a lot of his aunt around now to help the two of you - she never minds even if the child isn't Lemurian like they are because she just finds it adorable.

[werewolf4vampire]

fellas, is it problematic for parents to be friends with their own children?

[tempvstas]

Hello! ^^ May I request some headcanons for the dorm leaders with a gn!reader who is basically the quiet kid in class and often carries a doll with them? Thank you! ^-^

Content Warnings: none

Character(s): GN!Reader(no pronouns mentioned), Riddle Rosehearts, Leona Kingscholar, Azul Ashengrotto, Kalim Al-Asim, Vil Schoenheit, Idia Shroud, Malleus Draconia

Authors Notes: Hi guys! Sorry that I haven't been posting much, tumblr mobile is kinda doodoo so i wish i had my laptop with me :(. I feel like this was kinda all over the place cause i didnt rlly know where to go with this. aha ✨ writers block ✨. but regardless, i hope you guys like this!! Oh and one more, thing, I struggled with Azul's so it probably doesnt make sense lol, and uh Vil and Idia's is probably OOC, sorry abt that

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Riddle Rosehearts

what first caught his eye was the plush in your arms as you listened in to lessons

you didn't purposefully go out of your way to raise your hand, only answering when you needed to, like when a professor called on you

and after class he would see you quickly pack up your things and scurry away

Riddle won't force you to step out of your comfort zone if you aren't comfortable with it. Once upon a time, he might have because of his tendency to stick to the rules. But now, I feel he's much more lax about you bringing your doll to class with you.

Leona Kingscholar

Leona? In class? What a rare sight to see.

the one time Ruggie forced him to go to class he passed out immediately on the desk, sleeping through the entire class.

by the time he woke up, everyone else was gone, except for you, who was staring at him trying to tug away something from his grasp

looking down, he noticed he was resting his head on what appeared to be a plush, the soft texture tickling his face.

releasing the plush toy from his grasp, he handed it back to you with a huff, going back to sleep almost immediately.

he wont openly admit it but that was probably the best nap he had all day. so now whenever he's feeling tired, he'll grab you by the waist, pull you into the botanical gardens, and force you to skip class with him

usually he'll grab the plush resting his head on it, but by the time he wakes up, it ends up with his head in your lap and you not being able to feel your legs cause they fell asleep

Azul Ashengrotto

Oh? Your favorite item? Perhaps you could strike a deal with him and in exchange he could hold onto that nice plush of yours.

Azul would be lying if he said he didnt try to gain the upper hand on you, seeing how fond you were of your plush.

After his OB, its evident Azul has a soft spot for you. He won't directly try to force you into contract anymore

He'll oftentimes ask you to swing by Mostro Lounge, looking forward to seeing you shuffle in, arms clutched around your plush.

Kalim Al-Asim

Kalim is an extrovert, so naturally I feel like he'd go out of his way to try and make friends, one of those people being you.

Like he deadass saw you at the back of the class, grabbed your hand, and was like, "you're my friend now :3"

he'll invite you to his extravagant feasts and such, making you out to be the guest of honor. However if you're not for parties, Kalim will understand, he wants to make sure that everyone is comfortable, so if you'd prefer to keep things on the down low, he'll oblige. He'll still be tempted to throw random parties in your honor though

Vil Schoenheit

You honestly never expected him to take notice of you, after all, Vil is like a shining star

What really caught Vil's eye was your work ethic. You're quiet but a hard worker, which he can respect.

It just puzzles him at times why you're reliant on the plush toy, after all, wouldn't it impede on your ability to do your work

he's moreso indifferent to the fact that you carry a doll, so long as you do your work,he doesn't rlly care

Idia Shroud

Idia has a lot of plushies and like figurines of his favorite anime characters so he can understand your attachment to carrying around something

he's also an introverted individual, so he won't outwardly approach you first, you have to be the one to initiate contact.

if you do end up talking with him at some point, he might just invite you to play games with him, and eventually he'll show off his collections to you, going into a hyperfixated state as he talks about each of his figures in detail.

Malleus Draconia

Malleus has lived for so long, so he doesn't neccessarily understand one's attachment to a material object. After all, it might end up breaking after a while so it's better to just keep memories of what once was.

but still you're his child of man, everything you do intrigues him. he practically scares off everyone with his intimidating aura so he'll hang out with whoever is willing to chill with him

though you don't say much, he finds your presence comforting to say the least.

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[freedomatwhatcosttfp]

Chapter 3: A Wonderful Awful Idea

" Optimus... what is happening with you?... "

TW: Panic Attack

It was all a blur for him, he wasn't even sure where he was going. He knew he had to get away far enough before his anger spilled over. One of the most frustrating parts about being a prime was keeping your emotions at bay. You were expected to be stoic and emotionless to keep your feelings from impeding your ability to lead. It was stupid, he knows this and most other bots know this but it doesn't change the fact that it sucks. The anger and frustration was building inside him.

He managed to make it to the other side of the silo before he couldn't take it anymore. All his rage, his anger, his EMOTIONS...escaped. He could feel the tears welling up, the stress was getting to him, he knew this but there was little he could do to stop them from spilling over. He barely masked an angry yell as he threw his fist into the silo wall. He held himself back enough that the damage wouldn't raise suspicion but it was barely enough for his anger as he punched it again. He realized the back of his servos were scraped as they dripped slightly with leaking energon but he couldn't bring himself to care. He vented heavily as he glared at the offending wall.

Optimus trudged back to his room as silently as possible for being a giant robot and locked the door. He slowly lowered himself to the ground and sat with his knees brought up and arms holding them tightly as he took a heavy shuddered vent. He thought about Arcee, her angry yet surprised look when he snapped at her. Ratchet and ... oh Primus he forgot that the kids were here today...they watched him snap at Arcee. Panic began to set in as he recalled the faces of his friends.

All of a sudden his thoughts were racing and he couldn't stop them. " O-oh Primus, what have I done?..." ' What if this is all my life will ever be? What if I am stuck living like this until I die? What if-'. He thought about his friends and the endless battles they fought, the resources they could barely gather, and the friends they lost TRYING to gather those resources. Oh, Primus... all the bots who lost their lives following him, he thought about when he traveled down to the core, the cold arms of Primus, the bloodshed, the fighting, the explosions, the screams, they called out to him and hejuststoodthereandwatchedthemdieforhimohgodwhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhwywhy-

*GASP* he took a sharp inhale as his spark caught up with his helm. He shuddered a shallow vent as the tears slowly one by one flowed down his faceplate until he couldn't even see anymore. He held his servos over his mouth as he sobbed. He closed his optics tight but it didn't stop the tears from flowing. He sat there, crying and letting the stress out for the first time in a long time. His shoulders shook with every inhale, his arms and legs trembling as his body shook with more sobs. 

"... I-I can't take this anymore, I didn't WANT this! All I wanted was to help people! To work in the Hall of Records and use that knowledge to help OUR people! I didn't ask to be made Prime! I didn't ask to start a war! Why was I chosen for this? I don't want to fragging do this anymore! " he screamed out against his sobs. His voice choking on his own words. "...I just wanted...I just wanted to help...".

He vented softly before opening his optics and staring at his servos. He hated how they didn't look like his. He hates this body, he hates his voice. "...I...I just want to be me again ". Optimus let his legs unfold and settle against the cold concrete and he wiped his servos against his faceplate to get rid of the tears. A few stray tears escaped anyway and he could feel them building up again. He stared numbly at the wall across from him, his chassis hurting from the earlier panic attack but his head was quiet now. He just sat and didn't feel a thing as he stared at nothing.

...

...

...

A memory popped into his helm. Him fighting against Unicron with his oldest/ex-friend, him using the Matrix against Unicron...and...waking up in the cavern not remembering what had happened prior... That's right, he realized as he sat up. Ratchet had explained to him what had happened when the Matrix had lost power, he lost his memories...and.........He returned to his old self...

He wished it would have lasted longer and he was surprised that Megatron had wanted him back but it still hurt that it was only for information that only He had. What Optimus couldn't figure out was why was he thinking about that time.  Why? ...

...

...

Then... he had a thought...

Something had clicked inside his helm as he quickly stood up. The Matrix losing power had meant that he had returned to his old state of mind but...if the Matrix was taken out completely..

His optics widened with realization. He slowly hovered a servo over his chassis, just above where the Matrix of Leadership lay in his spark chamber. Could he? Would removing the Matrix entirely return him to his old body?

...

Could he be himself again?...

[femmefatalevibe]

Hi! I have trouble making friends with girls but okay with guys. I wanna have a group of girl friends but idk what I'm doing wrong. It seems like I'm in a different world from them even though we're the same. But I don't want that.

Hi love! I agree with you that, as a woman, having female friends and close relationships with other women are essential for a healthy support system. Glad that you're seeking to self-reflect and grow in this area. There's always the possibility that you're more accustomed to being in male-dominated spaces (brothers, uncles, male cousins, etc.) or have more stereotypical "guy" interests. However, it is also worth considering the following because it can take some time and active self-awareness to notice when these personal limitations are impeding your ability to cultivate healthy, long-lasting female friendships. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do male friendships offer me support or easily-attainable attention? While I'm not saying opposite-sex friendships are not possible, if ALL of your friends are guys and you're a heterosexual girl/woman, chances are at least some of them are just sticking around in the hopes you'll hook up with or date them down the line. A good litmus test for this is to see how they talk about sex and relationships around you (or hookups generally – I don't know your age). If they talk about how they're seeking out a new partner or ask you questions about your dating history/hookups/sex life in any capacity (more than once in a relevant context, at least), chances are they're trying to get in your pants. Like many other women, I've unfortunately learned this the hard way.

Do I have any underlying internalized misogyny that I have not yet come to terms with? Subtle forms of internalized misogyny can come in many forms, such as slut-shaming other girls/women, believing that women have certain roles they must conform to in society (not speaking up, remaining submissive, ultimately getting married/having kids one day as an expectation, only choosing certain career fields, dressing a certain way, etc.). Our patriarchal society can have some sneaky ways of distorting our thinking and can result in us not knowing how to best advocate for ourselves/support other women until we actively deconstruct these (toxic) ideologies on our own. Sometimes, these beliefs can be as insidious as it is not "proper" to express my feelings or show excitement when discussing my passions out of a fear of being "too emotional" or "weak." Dig deep. Unpack whatever internalized misogynistic beliefs arise from this self-reflection session.

Once you've reflected on these questions, consider topics you might have in common with the other girls/women in your social orbit – whether it's school, hobbies, favorite coffee shops, shared activities, etc. Be open to different types of conversations and new connections.

Hope this helps xx

[lost-eternity]

Fandom Matchups -CLOSED-

This is a matchup trade for @fourtyfourcatss. Regular matchups are still closed. Without further ado…

•──⋅☾Cabin 6 - HECATE☽⋅──•

I won’t lie. I struggled with this one. 

I think a large part of it was the fact that I wanted to sort you into Athena’s cabin however, I had just done an Athena matchup so I was slightly biased against doing another. Oop. 

Honestly, it mostly came down to Hecate and Athena for me. After much discussion with a few of my mythology buff friends I eventually settled on Hecate and here’s why.

You see, Hecate is a very tough parent. She expects a lot out of her children. She expects them to dutifully study and hone their craft to meet her high standards. As a result, those who are more likely inclined to cabin #20 would be those who are intelligent, bookish, and most important studious. 

You may be able to see where I encountered some issues here. 

Bookish, intelligent, and studious are all core characteristics of Athena’s children as well. That, paired with your ambition made it very difficult to distinguish between the two. So with such a degree of overlap between the two goddesses and their parental strategies (and the sheer scarcity of canon information on Hecate), I had to extract from the original lore. 

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, I got the vibe that you were more intellectually inclined than athletically. At least, there were few mentions of sports or physical hobbies in your interests category. I figured that you would have included them if you found them to be an important enough characteristic of your personality or if you valued them at the same level as your intellectual pursuits. Athleticism seems to be in more of Athena’s domain than Hecate’s. 

Also, I think another key distinguishing factor is how you think. 

Athena’s children think more rigidly and tactically. They are focused on that which can be physically observed and oftentimes will outright reject the notion of things that extend metaphysically. Basically, if they cannot see, taste, touch, or smell it, it does not exist. This more close-minded albeit scientific approach to life allows them to be extremely knowledgeable but also can impede on natural creativity. 

Conversely, Hecate’s kids function with a certain degree of flexibility which ultimately promotes their creativity. As the goddess of liminal space, Hecate places heavy value on creativity, thinking outside the box, and decision-making. Hecate’s children are emotionally complex and knowledgeable individuals whose understanding of the world extends into spirituality. They are willing to embrace the unexplainable, willing to acknowledge and work with the metaphysical aspects of the world that someone from Athena’s cabin would simply refuse to acknowledge.  

Think of it like the Hermoine Granger VS Luna Lovegood style of thinking.

I think your mention of intuition is what really prompted me to consider placing you in the latter category of thinking methodology. A strong intuition and inner-directional sense is a core aspect of Hecate’s children. I’d even go so far as to call it the most important aspect shared by all of her children. 

Hecate is the goddess of crossroads after all, helping others make decisions when they come to a metaphorical crossroads in their lives is a core part of her mythos. I imagine this innate directional sense would extend to her children as well.

•──⋅☾Belief Manipulation☽⋅──•

I am going to be a bit more brief with this one as I went a bit overboard on the cabin sorting. I had a lot to say LOL. 

Okay, so this is a fun one. And probably one of the most potent powers I have dealt out so please make use of it wisely. 

I think you would have the power of belief manipulation 

Those with belief manipulation must be of unwavering conviction themselves lest they lose themselves to the potency of their own abilities. But beyond that, they must have a clever tongue and sharp wit. 

Their logical, well-disciplined minds have the ability to shake the foundations of a person’s belief, manipulating it and changing it to suit their narrative. This makes it one of the most powerful abilities one can possess. 

Belief systems are so deeply ingrained in a person’s psyche that the manipulation of it can change who that person is on a fundamental level. So much about what someone says and does is motivated by the beliefs they hold. To change that is to change them. 

Sure, you can use this ability for hijinks and scandals such as making a famous politician believe themselves to be a dog on national television- or you could use it to topple nations and shatter the foundations of societal framework. 

The choice is up to you. 

Weaknesses:

Must be in the sightline and earshot of the desired target. Earlier stages of this ability even requires physical touch. 

Difficult to undo once done. 

Certain limitations are present as a belief can be dispelled if physical, tangible evidence is presented to the target suggesting something contrary to the instilled belief. However, this depends on the target in question as some people are more susceptible to unquestioning faith than others (it is not easy to change people’s minds). 

[blacksunscorpio]

Hello, really loving your posts and wish you could share more insights on composite. Anywho, what do you think about composite moon opposite venus?

Composite Chart in Astrology

The Composite is a mid-point method and shows how the relationship between the two will be, not in theory but in actuality. How they operate in practice. It is not a synastry chart where we place two charts together side by side/ or on top of one another and see the impact two people have on each other.  Synastry is how two people’s planets get along. The composite chart is the energy of the relationship. It’s the final result of synastry. The biggest difference is that you have more control over a synastry aspect than a composite aspect. A composite chart basically becomes its own entity. The relationship itself has its own birth chart basically with a Sun, rising, moon etc. As a result, basic relationship dynamics can be seen in the composite chart.

Basics of the Composite/How to Read a Composite

Interpret planets by House and Aspect

Ascendant: How the relationship started & how others / environment see you + Degree + Ascendant ruler [=Area of focused expression]

Sun [houses and aspects]: Indicates what brought you together and what goal you have in life. [Aspects to Sun : Shows purpose of the relationship supported or not]

Moon : Emotional connection & the soul of the relationship

North node : Indicates in what direction you should grow as couple

Note Stelliums

Meaning of the Houses

1st House

Planets in 1st are directly and most immediately felt by the couple. This is how they operate with one another and how they are perceived immediately by others. How their relationship typically plays out/the energy of it.

2nd House

Deals with the possessions and values of the couple. Their ability to share with eachother and maybe even the income they make with each other. The sign this house is in van indicate how they demonstrate their values to each other.

3rd House

 Is about communication, and how the couple thinks about their environment. They way they communicate and their intellectual understanding of each other and the relationship.

4th House

 One of the core houses to observe in the composite [Davison or Midpoint]. This house can indicate whether the couple will last or whether they’ll settle down with one another. Moon here is fabulous. Uranus, which is an erratic and unstable planet is not the best.

5th House

This has has to do with the fun and creativity a couple demonstrates with one another in the relationship. Kids, etc. An occupied 5th can indicate the couple may wish to have kids together. This can also indicate whether this will be more of a fling than a long term commitment. Like the 8th, sexual activity can be seen here. Saturn here can also restrict fun and creativity in the couples relationship or lack of kids. Well performing Saturn can make it a long lasting sexual connection.

6th House  

Represents where the couple will be tested, in order to handle the outside world. It deals with the couples everyday work and routine.

7th House

 Is the house of intimate lovers or open enemies. A Venus placed in 7th can display itself as two people beginning the relationship off as lovers but also where one can hurt each others [feelings[ enough for the relationship to devolve into arguments and at worst, enemies. Venus in the 7th on the other hands, can slo be one of the primary indicators of marriage/romance.

8th House

The couples ability for commitment and ownership together. 8th is death, sex, and other people’s resource. Joint accounts and possessions. An occupied 8th shows a profound bond between two people. deep intimacy and transformation. Deep sexuality.

9th House

Shows how the couple explores and thinks with the higher mind about the world together. Their beliefs. How they expand together.

10th House

Deals with the status and prestige of the couple, How they appear to the public. As a couple, it shows how they navigate the world in an outward manner. The serious approach to life and the relationship.

11th House

 The social activities and social culture of the unit. Their peers, social circle/friends. How those in their environment see them. their relationship’s acceptance by society and also their social limitations. Pluto here can mean their relationship can be perceived as forbidden.

12th House

A full or occupied 12th house can be challenging in a composite chart, since it’s the house of the unconscious feelings and all things hidden. This can indicate mixed signals, confusion, miscommunication between the two people involved. Adversely, it can create a feeling of fatedness, soulmate binds, spiritual ties and even psychic connections.

Composite Ascendant/Sun

Type of couple, how your relationship appears to others. Ego/ Personality of couple Aries :  Active, self-sufficient, confident, bold. Careful with impatience or bullying.

Taurus :  Traditional, practical, Stable, security minded.  Careful with rigidity or bull-headedness/possessiveness.

Gemini : Mental, instinctive, restless, adaptable, social. Careful with duplicity or inability to commit. Cancer :  Emotional, Security, comfort. Careful with moodiness or neediness.

Leo : Confident, compassionate, popular, warm, dramatic Careful with arrogance or pride.

Virgo : Practical, detail-oriented, tidy/prim and proper, perfectionistic. Careful with criticism or letting anxiety overwhelm you/

Libra :  Compromising, loving, sociable. Balanced compromising. Careful with too much passivity or superficiality. 

Scorpio: Intense, transformative, sexual, probing, private. Careful with Possessiveness and jealousy.

Sagittarius :  Adventurous, independent, bold, optimistic, careful with tactlessness and drama.

Capricorn Focused, structured, perhaps an age difference is there. Careful with lack of emotional demonstration or pessimism.

Aquarius : Independent, unconventional, quirky, philanthropic, brilliant. Careful with flightiness or inability to commit.

Pisces : Dreamy, spiritual, sacrificial, silent, creative, emotional. Careful with co-dependency or martyrdom.

Asteroids to Consider

Eros : Mutual passions, erotic connection, sex & obsessions.

Psyche : Intuitive connection. Psychic bond of two people/where it will display itself [look at sign and house].

Juno : “You and I” dynamic. Nature of commitment in marriage-like sense.

Ceres : Nurturing connection

Vesta : Dedication & Commitment

Chiron : Deepest wounds. Indicative of the struggles of the couple and where healing is needed between two people to make relationship function.

North node : Purpose of the relationship. Life goal of the relationship/trajectory.

Aspects

Conjunction : Binding force, depending on the planets combined. Be mindful of too much power exuded here as a conjunction is still a hard aspect/fusion of energy

Sextile : Harmonic union, comforting, pleasing.

Square : Challenging, however with understand break-ups are not as common

Trine : Harmonic union, cooperation is organic.

Opposition : prone to push pull and make u/break up themes, strong attraction.

Favorable Aspects for Compatibility 

 Sun conjunct Venus = Love union, warm mutual feelings. Like and love each other.

 Sun conjunct Jupiter = Luck and growth. Prosperity, Optimism forgiveness and abundance. Pride of the couple.

Sun conjunct Moon = love that feels divine. People who like and love each other.

 Sun trine Moon = Natural compatibility. Nurturing. Understanding

 Sun conjunct Uranus = True unconditional love

5th ruler and 8th ruler conjunct = Very passionate, active sex life. Key to look at these houses and aspects.

 Sun in 7th = Indicate lovers or enemies.

 Moon in 4th or 7th = Excellent for a relationship or marriage

 Venus in 4th or 7th = Excellent placement for relationship and marriage

 Venus opposite ASC = Deep love.

 Venus-Mars = Sexual attraction. Natural pairing.

Stellium in 8th = Very deep, intense bond. Transformative [look for harmonious aspects or conjunctions]

 Venus-Moon = Emotional balance.

 Jupiter conjunct DSC = Mutual understanding & support

 Neptune conjunct Jupiter = Soulmates, spiritual

 Sun-ASC or ASC ruler = Chance for survival

 Juno in 1 or 7th = Fated

 Juno conjunct DSC = Fated. Karmic. Met each other before.

Stellium in the 1st = relationship will be important part of the couple’s identity. Drama may be played out at face value so out so careful if you don’t want the world involved in your business.

Difficult Aspects [long term]

Multiple squares = Challenging relationship. Misunderstandings. Tensions.

 5th ruler and 8th ruler square = Lifeless sex, strange uncomfortable vibe. 

 Planets in 12th house = Secrecy. Misunderstandings. Cheating.

 Mars conjunct Saturn = Sexual distance. One is hot while the other is cold. Unnecessary formalities. Drive is impeded.

Nessus or Sado forming many squares = Abuse/ sadism masochism. Some might like it hot like this but if there is no balance it can get outta control.

 Saturn square/opposite Mercury = Communication struggles. Restricted speech. Two people don’t express what they really want to say.

 Lilith square Chiron = Lack of depth, conflicts of past wounds, particularly in the sexual realm. Couple that wounds each other.

 Saturn square to the nodes = Bad indicator for long lasting relationship. Also an indicator of lack of support with goals [north node].

 Jupiter or Venus square/opposite Uranus = Divorce/break-up aspect

 Sun square/opposite Saturn = Something is missing. Power struggles.

 Neptune in hard aspect = Beautiful beginning, sour endings, deception or rose colored classes come off

Neptune to Mars in hard aspect = sexual idealism. Disappointments in sex. Couple that cheats on each other.

 Mars in hard aspect to Uranus = Sexual attraction, competitive & quarrelsome

Sun in hard aspect to Pluto/Mars = Power struggles. Intense and out of this world sex but can be an abusive or manipulative relationship.

Note: Aspects that appear in composite can be traced often back to the natal chart of either person. it will likely be a natal aspect and an astrologer can tell who will play out more of the theme in the relationship/or who will be more comfortable with the energy.

[thephantomcasebook]

Anatomy of a Scandal: The Most Reductive Shit I’ve ever Seen about Consent in Television History.

Disclaimer! 

None of the Actors carry any of the blame, they were all amazing - Michelle Dockery is one of the best actresses on Television ... possibly ever? 

Now on to relentlessly mocking this Childishly written shit.

You are cordially invited to:

A conversation with Mrs. Sophie Whitehouse! 

“I turned in my Husband, because he's a liar!” 

“How?” 

“He raped my friend, Holly Berry!” 

“Did he?” 

“Of Course, he told me he did!” 

“He said he might have ...” 

“See ...” 

“Might have is not an admission of guilt.” 

“But he lied!” 

“About?” 

“What happened that night?” 

“He told you the truth.” 

“Before his verdict!” 

“... So, he was still on trial?” 

“Yes!” 

“About ... Holly Berry’s rape?”

“No, he’s on trial ... because, of the rape of another woman.” 

“So - not the incident that he lied to you about but then told you in confidence - his wife - when he realized that he might have made a mistake when he was drunk twenty years ago?” 

“But if he lied about that, what else could he have lied about?!” 

“Okay ... so, you made Holly Berry do all your homework.” 

“So ...?”

“Right, important stuff, things you needed to know about your career?” 

“Yes ...?” 

“Okay, so since you lied to your professors about your homework 20 years ago, important things, yeah? What else could you have lied about?” 

“Like what?” 

“You have a nanny, despite not having a job of your own. Being a mom is important shit, you have the time, but you still have someone else watching your kids, rather than you doing it.. How is that any different than making Holly Berry do your homework? How do I know you don’t neglect your children? That you go out partying and rowing down the Thames when they need you, but you just have someone else do it for you?”

“It’s not the same!” 

“It is the same, you’re showing a pattern of behavior, by your own logic, that makes you a pretty shitty mother that only wants to spend time with her kids when it’s convenient for her. A pattern you’ve shown your entire life, a history from your own childhood about having a shitty mom that has shown up at critical moments of your life and impeded your ability to take responsibility ”

“That’s not fair.” 

“Is it not? I’m only using your own arguments that you used to  justify stealing a man’s children and life away.”

“He raped a woman!” 

“When? How do you know that? Where is your evidence? You’ve been married to him for 12 years, he confided in you the entire time. All of the sudden he’s guilty of a crime that months ago you were sure he wasn’t capable of? What changed?  If you don’t love him anymore because of the affair, than ... fair enough. But you stayed by his side the entire time ... you already said it wasn’t the affair!” 

“I was being gaslit!” 

“By who? Your Husband? Who literally told you everything? Who loved you, who offered you the world, who was going to quit his career to make up for doing something shitty that damaged your marriage? That guy?” 

“He wasn’t going to quit his career!” 

“How do you know?” 

“Because, he was reinstated once he was acquitted!” 

“So?” 

“SO, he didn’t give it up!” 

“You didn’t tell him too! Why wouldn’t he get his job back once he was found not guilty? Most people would do the same thing. It’s called getting back to normal life.”

“...”

“...”

“He raped, Holly!” 

“How do you know that?” 

“She said so!” 

“A girl you knew for six months? That you conned into doing your homework? Who rather than go to the police, she ran away, changed her name, and is in the middle of doing something incredibly unethical and fucking illegal? That woman that you have no reason to believe except that she threw a figurine at you once before she went off the grid?” 

“...” 

“Yeah, I love Michelle Dockery, but she ain’t gonna convince me that someone I loved for twenty fucking years did her dirty, based on a relationship of six months decades ago.” 

“He and the Prime Minister caused the death of a classmate and they hid the evidence!” 

“You and your fucking buddy, Kate Woodcraft, just stole a bunch of people’s lives away, broke the law, and hid the evidence! How the fuck is that any different? Oh, right, one was an accident made by a bunch of teenage fucking kids ... The other was done on purpose by GROWN ASS ADULT WOMEN!”

“You’re a man, you don’t understand ...”

“And you’re a toxic bitch who needs to go down hard and have your kids taken away from you before you infect them with that goofy ass psycho rich girl brain and they go Coo-coo for Coco Puffs and murder their classmates, because their grandfather was a philanderer, their grandma was too pussy to leave him, and their mom didn’t get enough attention so now she projects their fucked up marriage on everyone in her life. Get.Fucking.Help!”    

[akitokihojo]

Monster - Chapter 4

Hang onto your butts... This one's on the longer side!

chapter index

----------

“Who?”

“Sango.” Kagome answered as steadily as possible.

“Who are they?” Inuyasha was intentionally bouncing questions off of her quickly to see how she’d answer, to see how her body language would respond. Would she flinch? Twitch? Shift her eyes to the left, or waver in any way, shape, or form?

“M-my friend.”

There. Sure, the stammer could be written off as her anxiety, but she didn’t elaborate when it was clear that this was the opportunity to do so.

“Why are you looking for them?” He reached anyway.

Kagome cursed herself. She was a quick-thinker, but her mind felt so muddled. She was still uneasy, uncomfortable, and frightened, and it impeded any ability she had to cover her own ass. She was usually a good liar, but she was in the most unfair disposition of all right now.

She gnawed her bottom lip, playing it off as she thought up something. “She went out a few days ago and hasn’t returned yet.”

“And, they sent you to look for her?”

“I left on my own.”

Inuyasha sighed out through his nose, the breath clenched in his throat and sounding almost like the breaking waters of the sea in his own ears. He shut his eyes, tilting his head and resting his cheek on the arm he used to hold the girl’s hands above her head. He gave himself a moment before continuing on, glancing back down at her with patient eyes.

“Tell me the truth. What are you really doing out here?” He demanded, and he watched her face flush instantaneously.

He’d seen right through her the whole time. What else could she have said? The truth was out of the question, so she didn’t know what else to give him in response. Decidedly, Kagome kept her mouth shut.

Her fearful expression was pressing, brown eyes unintentionally guilting him. Why wouldn’t she just tell him? “Are you in danger?”

Still, she didn’t speak.

“Come on, kid, you gotta give me something to work with. Are you on the run?”

“No.” Kagome shook her head.

“Are you in danger?” He asked again.

“No.” She said.

Both truths.

“Do you live nearby?”

She hesitated that time, but chose to answer in the end. “No. Not really.”

“So, what are you doing out here?”

Kagome bit her bottom lip out of habit, trying to steady herself. “I really am looking for someone.”

Inuyasha gave a dry chuckle. “But, you’re not gonna tell me who.”

She didn’t respond, eyes falling to his chest.

“Gonna stick with the Sango story?”

Kagome could only nod.

“Alright.” Inuyasha accepted. He occupied his freehand, removing his sword in its sheath from the loop in his belt and dropping them to the leaf-covered earth. He moved to unlatch the buckle in the center, pushing the free end of the worn leather through the metal bracket.

“What are you doing?” Kagome asked, her nerves suddenly spiking again. She pushed herself further against the tree to shy away from him as much as she could.

“Hey, calm down. It’s not what you think.” He immediately stated, trying to fend off her discomfort. “I didn’t bring rope along with me, so this is gonna have to do until we can get back to my things.”

“Rope for what?”

“What do you think?”

“I told you there’s no bounty.” Kagome argued. “What do want with me?”

“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on, but bounty or not, you’re still acting suspicious. It’s usually a good idea to keep people like you close in case anything arises.”

“Like what?”

“Answers, first of all. Look, until I find out if money will eventually be offered for you, someone is looking for you, or if something’s wrong and you’re involved, you’re sticking with me.” He said with a sense of finality, pulling his undone belt from the loops in his pants.

“But, none of those things are the case.” Kagome said, more defeated than she’d ever sounded before. She granted him an indignant stare. “You’re wasting your time.”

Inuyasha lowered her hands in front of her, pleased that she wasn’t struggling. Her wrists were small, so it was very easy to keep them secure with just one of his palms, and he began wrapping the leather around them, fastening it tightly so she wouldn’t be able to pull her hands right out.

“I’ve got a gut feeling that I’m really not.” He shrugged his brows, giving a little tug on the belt to make sure it wasn’t too loose. “Can you still feel your fingers?”

“For now.” She replied impassively. Kagome sighed out, her shoulders dropping. As of right now, she had zero energy remaining in her to fight. She’d expended everything she had the day before, with Hiten, and then now while she attempted to escape this guy. The few hours of sleep she’d stolen were barely doing a thing for her at this point, and as her adrenaline levels trickled away, she could feel just how fatigued she truly was. This was just too much commotion in the span of twenty-four hours. So, she reluctantly gave in to her savior-turned-captor.

Honestly, with his tone having relaxed and the way he now handled her, she didn’t feel the danger she did just moments ago. And, that was more dangerous than anything. She should feel scared in this sort of situation, she should be nervous, she should be trying to get away and fight him off. Now would have been a good time to use her spiritual powers, and yet she felt it was the wrong thing to do. He was taking her captive, and she felt wrong for thinking to use her powers on him. Her exhaustion had to be getting to her more than she’d thought. He said he wasn’t going to hurt her a moment ago, and she legitimately believed him.

What sort of mess was she in for?

Inuyasha leaned down and grabbed his sword from the ground, his other hand busy holding the belt between her forearms. He gave a small pull and they were on their way, which thanks to her, was going to take much longer. Not only was he going to have to actually walk, because he wasn’t about to carry the girl all the way back to his destination and he didn’t think she could manage running several miles right now - or even a fast-paced walk at that, but they were also significantly off course. It wasn’t entirely her fault, given he’d had to pursue Hiten for quite a ways before she’d shown up, but once she took off like a bat out of hell, the trek back became even worse. His bet: they’d be in the area just before the sun set.

The girl hadn’t said a word. She kept up fairly well, didn’t give him any reason to yank her wrists so she’d go a little faster, didn’t struggle, didn’t do much of anything, really. A couple times when he’d stolen a glance back at her, she was observing the scenery, eyes half-lidded. There were a few occurrences where she’d lost her footing and slid down hills and he’d had to catch her. He didn’t criticize her. It would have been natural for him to criticize her, but something inside told him she wouldn’t be able to bite back right now. Though, when she’d apologized for her stumbling, even her whispers were barely coherent. From that point on, down any slope or hill they traveled over, he moved slowly, stabilized her properly, and supported her the whole way down.

Finally, he could see the area he’d accidentally dropped his shit in. Hiten was quick, and his bag wasn’t worth grabbing in the heat of the moment. Luckily, no one had wandered through the woods and snagged it. Even more luckily, they weren’t all that far from the family who’d initially offered him the lump sum. They were close to stopping for the night.

Inuyasha dropped his sword to the ground before turning and undoing the leather from around her wrists, allowing her a minute to shake her hands and rub out the indentations they’d left behind. Then, he gestured for her to get on her knees beside him, moving with her so she didn’t get uncomfortable with him still standing. He could understand how that could be misperceived, and he wasn’t about that whatsoever.

“I want your hand on me. Anywhere.” He said while he kneeled. The girl went ahead and rested on her butt for the moment, legs crossed in front of her. At her suspicious side-eye, he went ahead and elaborated, swallowing his chuckle at her silent judgement. “I don’t want you running off while I’m distracted. Come on, just hold my clothes or something.”

Kagome sighed, reaching over and slipping her fingers into his closest, available pocket just as he turned to rummage through his bag of belongings. If he’d been paying attention by now, he’d have been well aware that she didn’t have it in her to challenge him to a race again. Therefore, the physical contact was completely unnecessary. Kagome wasn’t going anywhere, but alternatively she didn’t have the energy to argue either.

Inuyasha couldn’t fight the humored grin that grew on his lips, and as he pulled the rope out of the pouch of his bag, he shifted around to look at the girl. “I like how you went for my back pocket.”

Realizing where her fingers were, Kagome hastily pulled her hand free, opting to grab onto the top hem of his pants, instead. There was no hiding her embarrassment but she tried anyway, turning her head off to the side to stare at the warm glow cast through the treetops, accenting the forest beautifully with golds, oranges, and pinks that were only granted for an hour or so throughout the day. His laughter made her cheeks burn hotter. She could literally feel the maddening blush on the bridge of her nose and just beneath her eyes, and she wished he’d just let it go without teasing her. She hadn’t been paying attention when she’d reached over. She hadn’t noticed she was touching his butt, and it was most definitely innocent and not meant inappropriately.

“It’s fine,” He rasped between chuckles, reaching for her wrist at the back of his hip. He shifted around to face her, enjoying her humility far too much. “Little pervert.”

“Stop it.” She whispered, scrunching her nose. He liked it.

“What? All you had to do was ask.” Inuyasha pestered, gesturing for her other hand.

“You’re a jerk.” Kagome huffed.

“I know, I know.” He smirked, shrugging his brows carelessly as he began constructing a knot around her wrists. As per usual, he tied it tight, making sure there was no room for error. Women, in general, had small hands and wrists and could weasel their way out of snares, so he was naturally inclined to avoid those mistakes. Her wince had him inadvertently pausing, glancing up to make sure she was alright and then loosening the reins a tad. For some reason, for some odd and interesting reason, he didn’t want to treat her like she was as disposable as the other people he sought out. There was no reason to. Her description wasn’t on any lists that he’d seen, and he knew, he just knew, she was mixed up in something else. Something bigger that she wasn’t yet willing to talk about. Yes, she was in his captivity. Yes, he would hand her over if someone was looking. But, the bruise around her throat had him feeling she didn’t deserve any sort of abrasive treatment at the moment. No matter how much attitude she’d presented to him a while ago.

“Too tight?” Inuyasha asked as he finished off the knot, leaving a long tail so that he could keep her close without having to hold her wrists anymore.

“What do you care?” She quietly sassed.

“Would you rather I didn’t?” He countered.

“It’s fine.” Kagome finally answered, giving her fingers a faint wiggle to make sure blood was still flowing to them.

Inuyasha nodded in a that’s-what-I-thought fashion, sticking the tail of rope beneath his boot to keep her next to him. He threaded the belt back through the loops in his trousers, then pulled a canteen of water from his bag. Removing the cap, and without a second thought, he handed it to the girl, making sure she had a proper grip on it between her closely-tied hands before releasing it completely. There was more than enough slack in the rope for her to be able to lift the bottle to her lips, and she took a quick sip, aiming to hand it back immediately after.

“Drink it.”

“What about you?”

“Don’t need it. Not as much as you. Don’t want you keeling over on me.” He said, waiting for her to raise it back to her mouth. When there was hesitation, he continued. “I’m serious, kid. Drink it. I know you’re thirsty.”

Kagome started drinking full gulps, the tepid water still soothing to her dry, irritated throat. She slowed down so she wouldn’t upset her stomach, ignoring the fact that the demon was eyeing her. She’d noticed it several times their entire trip there, and not once could she grasp why he studied her. Again, she just didn’t have the energy to ask. She also didn’t want to give him attention if that was what he was seeking, so she actively pretended she never noticed it.

“Better?” He asked, holding his hand out for the empty bottle. The girl nodded, giving it back and rubbing her lips together to spread the moisture from the water over them. He capped the canteen, tossing it back in his bag and shutting it. “What’s your name?”

Her brown eyes held steady on his for a moment, searching for something, maybe even thinking of a reason as to why she should answer him.

“What’s yours?” She asked in return.

“Inuyasha.”

“That’s right,” She nodded slowly. “I remember Hiten saying that now.”

There was another beat of silence, and Inuyasha had to give himself a mental clap on the back. Patience had never been his virtue, and though he wanted to grind his teeth every time he had to wait for an answer, he was still holding composure well.

“My name’s Kagome.”

“Alright, Kagome,” He spoke, throwing the straps of his bag over his shoulders. He stood, putting Tessaiga back in its rightful place on his hip and then stepped off of the rope, reaching down to grab her by the arms and help her stand faster than he was sure she would have on her own. “Let’s get going.”

“Where, exactly, are we going?”

“I’ve got some people I need to talk to. They’re less than a mile or so from here. Then, we’ll be finding a good place to set up for the night.”

She didn’t say anything thereafter, simply accepting his answer and following him along. He held onto the rope, and she continued to keep up well enough so there was slack. The last thing she wanted was to be yanked forward if she’d drifted behind a bit, and she really wouldn’t put it passed him to do so. Kagome could only imagine it would make her feel like a dog on a leash.

The thought had her attention shooting toward the top of his head. His pointed ears matched the shade of his hair, triangular in shape, sometimes swiveling to catch sounds in the woodlands. She was intrigued by them, watching them for several paces. She’d met a couple of humanoid demons before, aside from Naraku’s goons, but none of them quite held the physical characteristics Inuyasha did.

“Cat or dog?” The question had slipped off her tongue before she’d caught it, and even though she’d never much intended to ask, feeling like she was intruding on personal information, it also felt harmless. And, if he declined to answer, it wasn’t going to hurt her feelings.

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome from over his shoulder, brows furrowed in curiosity. The question came out of left field, and he couldn’t help but be surprised that she was feeling a little talkative now. Truthfully, he was enjoying the silence, but so long as she didn’t yap his ears off, then he was fine.

Ears. It was his ears. She was asking because of his ears.

“What’s your guess?” He queried, his tone low and casual.

Kagome made a small sound as she pondered, not immediately answering. “Cat?”

Inuyasha’s ears twitched in offense, and his lips curled in repulsion. “What?”

“Am I wrong?” She inquired innocently. “I only thought it made sense since you’re kind of feisty like a cat, too.”

Abruptly, he stopped walking. The statement stung his pride, and he couldn’t blame anybody but himself for that one. He should have just answered. Always tell them, never let them guess. Rookie mistake. Inuyasha scrunched his nose, looking back at the girl and shaking his head.

“Oh. So, dog?” Her tone still held soft.

He merely nodded in reply, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“Sorry.” Kagome whispered.

“I’m half.” Inuyasha said, after a long moment of silence, clearing his throat. They’d continued walking, and he could smell the scents of the small, homely town ahead. Dinners were being made, people were beginning to head indoors, and he didn’t sense an ounce of chaos. Meaning, Naraku’s men had chosen a good day to fuck off.

“Half?”

“You’re wondering why I’ve got dog ears, right?” He guessed. “It’s because I’m a half demon, or hanyou, so some of my features are mixed.”

It made sense now why his demonic aura wasn’t as pronounced as Hiten’s when she’d first seen him. He only had half the power. Frankly, it didn’t completely add up to her. She didn’t sense an even division. His demonic blood was there, and it demanded acknowledgment, it just wasn’t as prominent as any other demon’s she’d encountered. If he’d said he wasn’t completely demon, she’d have believed him just as well, but she was honestly surprised, with the energy she felt radiating from him, that he was only half. Whomever his bloodline originated with must have been incredibly formidable.

What had the majority of Kagome’s interest was how he so openly admitted to who or what he was. Conjurers weren’t the only ones being wiped out of existence. So were hanyou. Half demon’s had actually been ostracized since before Naraku showed face, Naraku just upped the ante. Some humans reproachably saw them as tainted, vile creatures. They looked at demons as a breed one should never mate with, and if a baby was born between the two species, it was hated from the moment of conception. The same was said about demons. To mate with a human was taboo and nearly unheard of. Demons spoke of hanyou as if they were disgusting, unworthy, and offensive to their kind. Demons refused to claim half-breeds as one of their own, and humans did the same. The only people half demons could rely on were their families.

Kagome had met one when she was around fifteen. She, Miroku, and Sango were out being reckless, their typical M.O., and Miroku had scraped his leg up pretty bad near the outskirts of a nearby village. Jinenji was the sweetest person she’d ever met. He didn’t laugh, didn’t criticize, hardly said a word, and blushed if either of the girls made eye contact with him. His mother, on the other hand, was slightly frightening, but Kagome supposed that’s where their family dynamic found balance. Her son was large, apparently malformed, and to a closed-minded person, terrifying. So, the rest of the village judged him harshly and outcasted him, never treated him fairly, and were even cruel and violent at times. Jinenji was timid and gentle. He was educated in herbal remedies, making medicines, and could even dish out basic horticulture. He was helpful, good, strong, and kind. He was a living, breathing being. Jinenji had a beating heart, a brain, and blood running through his veins just like everyone else. He deserved the same respect humans and demons expected.

It was there that Kagome had first learned of a half demon’s mistreatment. Jinenji’s mother explained how difficult it was for him growing up, how some half demons come out “pretty,” while others not so much. She explained the unjustified wrath their mere existence created, and the three teenagers felt sick to their stomachs hearing such a thing. Never could Kagome understand anyone’s logic for condemning someone or something just for living.

So, she couldn’t imagine Inuyasha’s past or the amount of trials he’s experienced. That’s why she wondered how he seemed so okay telling her he was of mixed blood. Maybe he didn’t care because he was strong and could fend for himself, so he wasn’t worried about others knowing who he was. Maybe it was because his traits were visible, and even obvious to other demons since they could easily tell a half-breed from a full blood, and he’d potentially be outed either way if they ran into one. Had he had it hard? Had he ever run into Naraku’s men? If so, had they ever succeeded in doing something horrible to him? Attempted to kill him? Kagome blinked the thoughts away, shying her gaze to the earth as they walked. She didn’t want to feel sympathy for her captor.

“I’m only gonna be a minute.” Inuyasha started as he unsuspectingly stopped directly in front of a slim tree. “If you need anything, just call for me. I’ll hear you.”

“Wait, what?” Kagome questioned. He’d started wrapping the slack of her rope around the tree trunk, fastening her to stand close to it and knotting the rope in a fashion that she wouldn’t be able to reach. She looked around, only seeing woodland, and she wondered just where the hell Inuyasha was about to head off to.

“Trust me.” He dismissed.

“You honestly expect me to trust you? After all this?” She grimaced.

“Or not.” He chuckled, shrugging dismissively. “Just don’t scream. It’ll be more annoying than anything.”

Kagome groaned, her head dropping back. “Where are you going?”

“I told you, I need to talk to someone. I’ll be back.”

“It’ll be dark soon.”

“I’ll be right back.” He repeated more firmly. When she only stared at him through furrowed brows, he took his leave, confident that he would be near enough to hear her in case she needed help. She could be grumpy all she wanted, it didn’t matter to him.

He approached the yard carefully, smelling each occupant of the home from outside, their freshly baked bread, cooking meat, and recently-burned incense. This was usually his favorite part of a job, but at this point, it was just a courtesy. He didn’t know if this would be comforting for anyone, really.

“Inuyasha.” He’d heard the voice from his right and spotted a young girl that was no more than fourteen donned in a blue dress. The remaining daughter of the household. He’d made light of her older sister’s death earlier in the day, sure, but that was never something he’d do to the family’s face. He understood that this was difficult and painful for them all, and he wouldn’t disrespect someone who felt so distraught that they were willing to pay for the revenge of their daughter’s murder. The girl perked up a little taller when he looked at her, running over his way with more brightness than he’d expected, her long, brown hair bouncing over her shoulders. “Inuyasha’s back!”

From inside, he could hear her family stumbling to race out, her father appearing first, then the mother who looked so incredibly exhausted that he was surprised her legs cooperated with her to jog over.

“Did you - did you find him? Or are you still looking?” The father asked, and his eyes weren’t subtle as they looked around for evidence of Hiten’s demise.

Kagome had rested her head against the tree, her eyes closed, the bark sort of smooth, pleasant, and cool to the touch. It made sense that he had to leave her. Couldn’t very well walk around with a hostage like it was a casual occurrence. Did it make it acceptable? Absolutely not. She was substantially more vulnerable than any reasonable person would prefer to be. Tied up, drained of all energy, and alone; she was doomed if anyone stumbled upon her.

Not too far off, Kagome could hear a girl shout happily, and she swore she’d heard Inuyasha’s name, bringing her ears to hone in and focus. Inuyasha was really that close? For some reason, despite what he’d said, she’d expected him to be further off, carelessly leaving her to fend for herself. When he said to trust him, he was giving her legitimate reason to trust. What was with this guy? He was so hot and cold, Kagome wasn’t sure how to read him.

A man spoke next, bringing Kagome back to the present, his tone excited but deep with worry. Did he find him? Who?

“Look, before I say anything, I want you to know that I don’t need nor expect anything in return. I’m just here to let you know that the job is done. Hiten’s gone, but take the money off the table.”

“Wh-what happened?” The mother breathed.

“What do you mean?” Her husband followed.

“Just what it sounds like.” Inuyasha replied.

“He’s gone, or he’s dead?”

“Both, but ultimately, he’s dead.”

“Then, where is he?”

“Unfortunately, things got a little out of hand. I had no choice but to use a powerful attack, which in turn, destroyed his body. There’s nothing left of him.” Inuyasha said.

Right. There was a bounty over Hiten’s head; Kagome remembered the whole reason their little argument had sparked, which was what got her here in the first place. It was a family who’d hired him, though? She couldn’t help but wonder what Hiten had done to make them send Inuyasha after him to begin with.

“Are you sure?” A woman asked, her voice wavering with obvious sadness.

“I swear.”

“How are we supposed to believe you without a body, Inuyasha?” A man spoke harshly. The same man as before. “What if you failed, you’re just backing out because he’s stronger than you, and the moment our guard is down is the moment Hiten will come back for my other daughter?”

“He won’t.” Inuyasha responded, his tone direct and deep.

So, Hiten had killed one of his daughters. That malicious, heartless, stone cold creep. Kagome almost hoped Inuyasha would tell them he had a witness. If he came back and grabbed her, she’d testify for him. He did kill Hiten. He carried out his mission, and the only reason he didn’t have proof to calm this family’s upset was because of her. She’d tell them that, too. He didn’t deserve this heat.

“I guarantee you Hiten is dead and won’t be coming back for anyone else.”

“How are we supposed to believe you?” The man asked again, this time more emphatically.

“You don’t have to. I understand your position, but like I said, I don’t expect the money. I failed to bring back his body, but I made sure to take care of the problem no matter what. You’ll see in due time that Hiten can’t take anything more from your family.”

“And, if he does come back, it’ll be too late to -“

“Honey, stop.” The woman spoke gently. Kagome felt horrible. Awful. Inuyasha had made it seem like he was entirely in it for the money; he’d never told her there were people actually depending on him on the other end of it all.

“Papa, he’s gotta be telling the truth.” A younger girl spoke. The first voice Kagome had heard. “He doesn’t want the payment you’d offered. Think about it, if he was backing out because he wasn’t strong enough - like you said, why would he even bother coming to see us when he could just be on his way?”

“There’s no way I’m weaker than that scrawny bastard.” Inuyasha murmured under his breath, rolling his eyes.

Finally, there was someone sensible, and Kagome breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Look,” Came Inuyasha’s voice, and even Kagome could tell he was leaning on the fed up side. “Hiten’s dead, the job’s taken care of, you got your revenge, your daughter can rest in peace or whatever you guys say nowadays, and I’m leaving.”

“Wait,” The mother spoke, and the hanyou halted mid-turn, his head dropping to his shoulder impatiently. “I believe you. W-we believe you. Please forgive my husband, this is just hard for us all. Take the money.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“We insist.” Her husband spoke, and even though there was clear reluctance in his body language, there was authenticity in his statement. “If you vouch that he’s gone for good, there’s no reason not to believe you. You deserve the payment.”

“Keep it.” Inuyasha said. It was better for them, anyway. Maybe they didn’t know the exact way their daughter died considering he found out through Hiten, himself, and if that was the case, they were better off. Nonetheless, he was aware. It was a sick way to go. Even if he brought back the thunder demon’s body for them as promised, there was a good chance he would have declined payment anyway.

“Okay, then please stay the night. It’s getting late. The least we can provide is a roof over your head and a nice meal as thanks.” The woman offered.

“I appreciate it, but I can’t stay. I’ve got someone waiting for me.”

“A girl?” The young one said almost too elatedly. She must have been the type to always have her nose in romance novels.

“Something like that.” Inuyasha deliberated, bobbing his head to the side.

Kagome huffed, grimacing. That punk.

“Oh, how sweet!”

“If she only knew.” Kagome sighed.

“Well, then I insist you take some food with you! For dinner!” The woman pressed, and it seemed like her spirits had lifted minutely.

“That, I will take.” Inuyasha accepted, giving an appreciative nod.

It was another few minutes before Kagome heard Inuyasha’s footsteps approaching, and she watched the direction he was coming in. The sunset was no longer visible throughout the woodlands, a haze of blues beginning to trickle through as dusk invited itself forward. The air was beginning to get nippier, and she was worried, depending on how much further he wanted to go until he called it a night, that it would be pitch black before they stopped.

Inuyasha’s amber eyes met hers for a moment until he got close, his clawed fingers going straight for the knot he’d fastened.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Mhm.” Kagome hummed, giving a small nod.

“I didn’t hear anything, so I’m guessing no surprises popped out at you.”

She hummed a decline that time, the shake of her head minor. The knot came free, and he allowed the tail of the rope to drop from the trunk of the tree, not immediately snagging it until she took a few steps back, and even then, he was relaxed with his grip. It was like he was testing her. That’s the only explanation that could make sense. Either that, or he was really bad at taking victims alive. The killing part, he seemed to have down. Was he waiting to see if she’d jerk away and make a run for it? Maybe giving chase would be fun for him; he was a dog. Maybe he was seeing if she’d take a mile if he gave an inch. She didn’t much see the point of it. Additionally, he didn’t bother putting anything in or over her mouth before. She could have screamed. He and the family were so close, all she needed to do was scream and his cover would have been blown. Hero facade in the mud. But, she didn’t.

She didn’t.

She didn’t?

Why the hell hadn’t she screamed? Sure, it would have been hoarse as all hell, maybe even muted when her voice gave out, but other people would have been alerted to her situation. She would have had a chance to get away. Why didn’t she scream? He’d even told her not to - literally brought up the idea to her - and still, she didn’t think about doing so afterward. Kagome couldn’t help but worry about her survival instincts that had apparently washed down the drain sometime between this afternoon and now.

Or, maybe it was her survival instincts at play that had prevented her from making a noise. He’d warned her not to. He could have gotten violent if she’d disobeyed him. Maybe even killed the family for finding out his secret.

No. She knew next to nothing about this guy, but she could tell he wasn’t evil. It was in her blood to sense evil, and he wasn’t that. There was something warm about him. Something she’d noticed immediately. Something she’d picked up before he’d even appeared to help her. Something she didn’t like to admit he harbored. He had rough people skills, that’s for sure, but there wasn’t a wretched trait about his aura.

“We’ll just go a little further. I don’t like being close to towns at night.”

“Why not?” She inquired, swallowing her mistakes and trying to forget them.

“Naraku’s bitches.” Inuyasha answered. “It’s one thing if you’re staying in an inn, but if they smell you right outside the village, they like to try and sneak up on you.”

“I take it, you have experience with this?”

“Yeah. Consider yourself lucky you don’t.”

They walked for about thirty minutes, and Inuyasha had to carefully guide the girl, keeping her close as they crept through trees, nowhere near a trail. The way he preferred it. He didn’t smell anything that didn’t seem to belong in the air, no demons were around, and it was quiet as the night settled in. He had decided on a cozy, little spot, not too far off from a rushing water source.

“Here. Sit.” He said, tying her slack to a slim, dying tree beside her. “Give me five minutes to grab some wood for a fire.”

Kagome didn’t respond before he walked off, unable to see him after a certain point but still listening for his footsteps to drift away. Even after she could no longer hear anything but the chirping crickets, she waited, gently chewing on the plush of her bottom lip while she gave ample timing as cushion. As soon as Kagome felt it was sufficient enough, she quickly dove her fingers into the side of her boot, maneuvering around awkwardly as she finagled the small, hidden dagger out. Inuyasha had left just enough slack in the rope between her wrists and the tree that if she lifted her calf a bit, twisting at her hips, she could reach what she was looking for.

Survival instincts back in action!

The positioning of her knife was weird as she aimed to cut the tail of her rope away, but just as the sharp blade touched the underside of it to start slicing upward, Kagome stopped. Why did she stop? There was a cold sensation budding in her abdomen as she pictured herself running away. Was she afraid? It wasn’t like he could use his weapon on her. Last she saw, it wasn’t much of a weapon anymore. That isn’t to say there wasn’t some sort of otherworldly malfunction and it’s back to supersized mode - he hadn’t said a thing about it since, so there was no way of knowing.

The thing was, as she sat there frozen, prepped to start breaking her ties, there were no intrusive thoughts like before when she went to leave home. They were all her own; confused, jumbled, messy, and scattered. She didn’t know which way was up in her head. Why wasn’t she freeing herself yet?

Kagome twisted her face in frustration, mentally fighting with herself. She didn’t have time for this. If she was going to run for it, she needed to do it now. Now. Do it now! Why wasn’t she doing it!? That cold feeling had spread throughout her entire torso, encroaching on her heart. She was afraid, but it was of herself. What the hell was wrong with her? She had an objective, and she wasn’t going to get anything done tied up and dragged around by this dog demon.

As long as she was bound by rope, she was in danger. So, why didn’t she feel like she was in danger? The battle with herself ran so deep, Kagome felt so conflicted, aggravated, that she squeezed the handle of her dagger with excessive force until a sharp pain pierced the injury on her left palm, almost bringing her to drop her knife out of reaction. Her gasp was shuddered, and she crinkled her nose as she hissed in an attempt to will the sudden pain away. It was just another thing she didn’t have time for.

Why would she willingly stay a victim when she had an opening to save herself? Why would Kagome accept captivity? More ambiguously, what in her right mind made her want to trust Inuyasha? He was out for money. For all she knew, he would sell her off to the first person who offered him a coin. Just because he’d saved her life before, didn’t mean he was permanently on her side - the restraints were proof of that. Just because he said he wouldn’t hurt her, didn’t mean he meant it forever. It could have been an in-the-moment sort of thing, and she should know better than this. He pulled out his sword against her. The message behind it was loud and clear. His intentions meant harm. Like she said before, the guy was hot and cold. He went from arrogant teasing one moment to threatening her well-being the next, all over an insult. She should be heeding his unstable temperament, and she should feel evil in his aura.

But, she didn’t. And, that was what kept her ass on the ground. How stupid. How utterly and unforgivably stupid of her. Despite everything, she really did believe he wasn’t going to hurt her. Oh god, Kagome couldn’t take this anymore. Never in her life had she been this mad at herself, the intensity only growing bolder as she gave up and slid the knife back into her boot.

Kagome crumbled, almost wanting to cry from the frustration she felt, overwhelming and subduing the cold that had attempted to control her core, and she dropped her face into her hands. From this point on, if she got hurt, it was her own damn fault. If he sold her, that was her fault too. It turns out, as troubling and trivial as it was, she really just wanted to see where things led. No one said she was the smartest risk taker, even she was aware of the hazards of her own curiosity. If things got worse, perilous, she had the knife. She could make a run for it at any moment, and she forced herself to believe that it was a comfort.

“I’m gonna be fine,” Kagome breathed to herself, pleading her mind to rest. “I’m gonna be fine. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Hey,” The gruff voice was directly and unsuspectingly above her, and it startled Kagome. Inadvertently, still high strung from upsetting her own nerves, she shot to sit up straight. She hadn’t realized Inuyasha was standing so close, hadn’t realized he was leaned over her, and the back of her head harshly collided with the front of his, bringing the hanyou to his knees as she instantly jolted to clutch her sore spot. The ties made it impossible to reach, but the pain had brought her to curl back up anyway, folding beneath her forearms, her breath caught in her throat.

“What the fuck,” Inuyasha groaned, holding his palm to his forehead. “Why would you do that!?”

“I’m sorry! You scared me!” Kagome whined, her head throbbing. “God, is your skull made out of rock or something!?”

“I could say the same fucking thing to you!”

“When did you even get back?” She asked, finally beginning to unfurl from her ball. “Make a noise or something.

“I did! You were just too busy having a breakdown to notice!” He argued.

“I was not having a breakdown.” Kagome proclaimed, shooting him a glare.

Inuyasha’s mouth was opened to respond something snarky, but he froze. Again, his nose was offended by the smell of salt. The moonlight shining through the trees hit her skin perfectly, accentuating her fair color with cool hues. The skin beneath her eyes was wet, and tears were gliding down her cheeks.

“You’re… crying.” He mentioned, appearing more confused than anything. He was literally gone for no more than five minutes - seven minutes at the most since he filled up his canteen at the river. So, what the hell had happened? She was fine when he’d left her. If there was one thing he didn’t know how to handle more than women, it was their emotions, and he was about ready to pretend he didn’t see a damn thing.

“Yeah, I just got hurt! Of course, I’m crying!” Kagome stated matter-of-factly, playing it off well. In her own defense, she was on the brink of tears before he showed up. His skull just pushed her over the edge.

Inuyasha grunted, rolling his eyes and giving one final rub to his tender forehead before pushing himself back to a standing. “Big baby.”

“Takes one to know one.” Kagome grumbled, her upper lip curling with attitude.

The half demon rolled his eyes, intentionally ignoring her remark as he went about structuring the wood and kindling he’d collected for the fire. He got some embers sparking pretty quickly, the flames developing and growing, and Inuyasha stabilized it’s rise by adding more wood. He’d shrugged off his bag when he’d gotten back, so he sauntered over to it and pulled out the bottle of water, taking a quick swig before walking over to the girl. This time, he felt he’d done the right thing by pretending not to notice her hastily wiping her tears away with her captured wrists knotted together.

“Thirsty?”

Kagome shook her head, keeping her eyes low.

“Come on.” He groaned.

“No, thank you.” She whispered.

“Fine.” He rasped, shutting the canteen and tossing it on top of his bag as he gave her space. The hanyou took the opportunity to finally, finally, silence the burning question at the back of his mind. It had been pressing him since the moment it had occurred, and took every bit of self control he had - which wasn’t much to begin with - not to figure out the mystery sooner. With chasing the mouthy girl, swallowing his anger and calming her down so she wouldn’t hyperventilate, and then crossing several miles to get back to the family who’d hired him at a decent enough time, he had no fucking choice but to let the question remain unanswered. The sword on his hip quivered now and again throughout the journey, giving him reminders he didn’t need that it had failed him for the first time in forever. They were lucky he wasn’t solely dependent on it as a weapon and was perfectly capable of fending off anyone and anything with his bare hands.

He gave himself plenty of room between he and the pouting girl, facing the trees, the fingers of his right hand doing a slow dance over the hilt of Tessaiga. Interestingly enough, he could still feel the demonic energy soaring off of it, reacting positively to his own touch. Nothing had changed there. Then, he took a firm grasp of the handle, pulling Tessaiga out of its sheath where the demonic power strengthened. What once sat battered and weak, dull, and nonthreatening, was now strong, thick, sharp, and mighty. His abdomen tensed beneath its weight as he supported his body properly, a muddled sensation filling him as he could only wonder what the fuck had happened before. Inuyasha stuck the top portion of his sword into the earth, allowing it to stand on its own while he turned to face Kagome. She was already looking over, wide, brown eyes glued to Tessaiga before shifting over to him.

“What the hell did you do?” The hanyou asked gruffly.

“What?” Was the only response Kagome could muster. She knew exactly what he was referring to, but how in the world was this falling back on her?

“My sword didn’t transform when I pulled it out on you. What did you do?” He asked again.

“Nothing.” She said defensively, brows pinching together. The half demon merely cocked a brow at her, crossing his arms over his chest, and she knew he was waiting for a real answer, but this was as real as it could get. “I didn’t do anything, Inuyasha. I honestly thought your sword was naturally gigantic. I didn’t even know swords could transform. I mean, it’s not everyday you see a letter opener turn into an ogre killer in one swoop.”

“So then, what did you do?”

“Are you not listening?”

“Hard to understand anything you’re saying really.”

“Oh my god, is this the extent of your maturity level? You get a little aggravated and then turn to insults because that’s your first layer of defense mechanisms? The joke’s dead, buddy. My voice is messed up, I look like crap, I’m short, we get it. Now just talk to me like I’m a person, because I’m doing the same with you. I did not do anything to your precious sword.”

She watched him flex his jaw, heard the heated exhale from his nose, but his vibrant, golden eyes stayed attached to her. His arms tensed behind their black sleeves, still crossed but communicating a more obvious upset.

“What could I have possibly done?” Kagome tried again. She honestly had no idea what more she could say to make him believe her. She’d felt it’s powerful energy when first seeing it, but she truly had no understanding that it was a transformative blade. There was no time to figure out those details. It was honestly one scenario to the next, and Kagome was none the wiser to anything but her own end of circumstances.

Inuyasha didn’t say anything, angry, perplexed, and ready to throw another jab her way. He needed answers more than he needed an infuriating argument, though. He had an idea. It was farfetched, but worth a shot. In his mind, Inuyasha pictured a life or death predicament. Quickly, he painted the scene. Men were surrounding them from all sides, and he needed to defend himself and Kagome. When he was a child, his father had told him that this sword, the Tessaiga, was created to protect. It could only be wielded and mastered if you harbored respect for humans, and was specifically granted to Inuyasha upon his father’s death. His dad died when Inuyasha was still young, and he wasn’t old or strong enough to control it - given the damn thing was ironically known as the sword of destruction. Then, when he was capable, the stupid weapon refused to work for him due to his temporary phase of wanting to find a way to become full demon. No one would have been able to say a fucking thing to him if he were one. No one would have been able to lay a finger on him or his mother had he found a way to transform himself. It wasn’t that simple or doable, though, and when he finally came to his senses, realizing he was just as proficient at fighting just as he was, the Tessaiga started revealing what it could do. It took years, but he could confidently say he’d about mastered the blade. And, he knew well that the quickest way to bring life to Tessaiga was the mindset to protect.

So, he imagined the danger vividly, the helpless, damsel in distress that Kagome was hiding behind his back while bandits encroached. With that in his mind, Inuyasha reached for the hilt of his sword, plucking the head of it from the ground as he faced the trees, threatening energy radiating and encircling the blade as it powered up for a wind scar. He waited, allowing the energy to stabilize at a specific level, and when it was there, the heat of the sword’s need to demolish its target slithering up his flexed forearms, Inuyasha branded Kagome as the enemy.

In his mind, she had her bow raised to him. Innocents were dead, lifeless on the floor all around, and she was gleefully covered in their blood, smiling as she pulled the arrow back. His temper was now directed at her, the need for justice was strong as he made it his mission to prevent her from killing anyone ever again. He wasn’t only doing this to protect himself. No, fuck it. He was doing it to protect anyone he could from her.

Inuyasha raised Tessaiga above his head, the lick of his blade’s passion burning at his palms, the skin of his arms beneath his shirt, and he closed his eyes to make sure his vision didn’t falter when he saw her innocently observing him. Adjusting his footing, the hanyou was able to swivel on his heel to face Kagome’s direction, bringing the sword down to about waist level to aim at her, but then he noticed the hot sensations along his flesh were simmering. Quickly. The fire of his sword’s determination was extinguished, the demonic energy evaporating, and the weight of his weapon diminished within a matter of seconds.

Blinking his eyes open, Inuyasha looked at his sword’s original, battered condition. It wasn’t lifeless, though. The entire thing, blade and hilt, were pulsating forcefully. Tessaiga was communicating with him. It was saying, No. It was saying, You can’t use this on her.

“Why the fuck not?” He breathed, almost inaudibly, before glancing up at the girl.

Kagome had been holding her breath, eyes wide and mouth hanging agape from the moment he’d faced her. She couldn’t even begin to think of what to do to save herself, and froze like a deer who’d been spotted eating the vegetables in your garden. Even as the thing wilted away to its sad, powerless form, she couldn’t quite yet grasp herself. Her entire body was tense where she sat, and when her brain started functioning again, the only thing she could bring herself to say, tremblingly as it may have been, was, “I-I didn’t do anything.”

“Relax.” He drawled, sighing deeply before he sheathed Tessaiga. “It was just a test.”

“Please - please - get a new test dummy.” Kagome shuddered, willing her muscles to unclench. There was no comfort in finding out there was no real threat to her life when her life had already flashed before her eyes.

“Turns out, it’s not you.” He grumbled. “It’s the sword.”

“Is it broken?”

“Did it look broken?” He retorted roughly.

Kagome chose not to answer that, pursing her lips and staring down at her hands. Her sassiness had gotten her into too much trouble already, and she felt like now was not the time to take the bait.

“It’s not broken.” Inuyasha quickly snipped, noticing her coy expression. “There’s just something about - no, you know what?” He was done waiting. He wanted answers, and he was going to get them. Why the fuck would Tessaiga specifically say he couldn’t use its power on her? It had never done that before, not to anyone. Not so long as the proper intentions were enforced. He’d pulled it on the wrong people before, and still, it stayed transformed. So, what was so special about this chick?

Inuyasha marched closer, pulling his weapon out by the sheath as he sat down beside the fire and set it at his side, staring at Kagome with fierce eyes. “Who the hell are you?”

“What?” Kagome asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“Who are you?”

“Kagome.” She answered unsurely. His lips had sealed, the orange and red tints from the flames dancing over the skin of his face, neck, and the opening of his chest in his shirt. The light created a hypnotic glow in his irises, accenting his color beautifully, but also aiding his steadfast gaze. “I’m Kagome. I’m eighteen. And, to you, I’m nobody.”

He didn’t like that answer. Nobody didn’t sit right with him. Not after his sword threw its own version of a hissy fit. Still, he felt it was sort of fair that that was all she gave. He wasn’t asking for her life story, and he hadn’t clarified what he was looking for. His eyes swept over her, studying for a moment before he spoke again, this time more mellow, less demanding.

“Alright, talk. What happened?”

He was referencing her marks, and Kagome couldn’t help but feel slightly self conscious like before, brown eyes shifting to the side briefly. “Naraku’s men.” She admitted.

It was like the heat from the fire pushed through the barrier of his skin to twist like a whirlwind within his gut. The expansion of warmth rode though the veins of his torso, up his neck, down his arms. Anytime he heard a damn thing about Naraku, or even the henchmen carrying out his orders, it instantly sent his blood into a boil. He refrained from saying anything, but she’d noticed his expressive shift and he was appreciative that she took that cue to elaborate.

“Their last inspection got a little out of hand. I stepped out of line.”

That’s what she was trying to say earlier. He was too vexed to hear her out, though.

“They’re still looking for those conjurers, huh?” He asked, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

“Y-yeah.” Kagome nodded, her sight drifting downward. She stared at the ground, watching the glowing shadows bounce and dance along the dirt and sparse grass. Her stomach suddenly wrenched with guilt, with pain. She somehow hadn’t thought of this all day, and now that she was back in the moment, it hurt. It made her feel sick to think about it. It was something that couldn’t be neglected, though. These emotions, feelings, they needed to be felt, because if she pushed them aside until she was numb to them, they would only come back with a vengeance in the most self destructive manner. Kagome swallowed thickly, willing herself to appear composed. She needed to acknowledge these emotions, but she didn’t need to outwardly express them. They were hers to feel, and hers alone. “They - um - they found one. She was a little girl. Nine, I think.”

Inuyasha’s heart dropped, a lump quickly developing in the center of his throat. It had been a while since he’d heard of them actually finding one, let alone a prepubescent. Conjurers were a rarity. Those who held the powers were few and far between, and those who actually practiced their art were even rarer. But, a little girl? He knows it isn’t beyond them to do something so brutal, but that didn’t make it sit any easier. It tested his gag reflex just imagining the horrible crime, his stomach churning. Kagome had to watch it, though. She saw it all first hand. She was beaten for running out of line, and he was willing to put money down that he knew what for.

The girl wasn’t making eye contact, and he understood that this must have been traumatizing for her to witness, making the ordeal difficult to talk about. He wasn’t aggravated by waiting her out this time, nor was it pressing any limits. This was recent, and hard, and he could see her face paling even though the firelight wasn’t hitting her as well.

He focused on his olfaction, expecting to catch the scent of tears when instead he caught the hint of copper. Immediately, his eyes scanned her, looking for open wounds. Had their heads collided that hard to make her bleed? Her face was fine, her neck, her exposed chest all fine, the green of her sleeves weren’t stained, but then he stopped his trail at her bandaged hand. It was coming from there, and at the very edge, just beneath her pinky, he could see a red stain peeking through.

“Your hand.” Inuyasha mentioned instinctually. Kagome glanced at him curiously before redirecting her attention toward her restrained wrists. She opened up her palms to find the blood seeping through her bandages, and seemed just as surprised as he was, a small sound escaping her mouth. “Where’d that come from?”

“The inspection,” She explained. “It hasn’t healed yet.” Honestly, she was willing to bet she’d accidentally reopened the wound when she’d squeezed her dagger. That’s where the sharp pain had come from. How stupid. “There’s a little kit in my bag full of medical supplies. Would you mind fishing it out for me?”

“For what?”

“I need to change my bandages.”

Unenthusiastically, Inuyasha pushed himself from the ground, sauntering over toward the girl’s backside where he kneeled. He yanked the drawstring of the bag on her back loose, opening it up and reaching in for the kit, only having to shove a few things out of the way to get to it. At the side, he noticed her bottle for water and pulled that out, too. It was maybe less than half full, so he figured while he let her play around with her wrappings, he’d go fill it up for her. She didn’t need to be drinking his if she had her own.

Shutting her bag and pushing the kit a little closer for her to reach, he ignored her words of gratitude and mumbled a quick, “Be right back,” before wandering off into the woods and toward the river.

He kneeled on the rock, opening the canteen and dumping the old contents out before leaning over to fill it up with fresh water. He had a habit of closing his own bottle and shaking the water about to rinse the container, and as he fell into a deep train of thought, he allowed his habits to run their course. Honestly, he’d only seen a couple of inspections happen, and he had a reputation for not seeing them all the way through, instead breaking it up and challenging the mother fuckers to fight. The groups he’d seen were no match for him at all, and if they didn’t end up running away with their tails between their legs, they were dead on sight. He had zero tolerance for that horse shit, but because of that, in the end, he had limited insight on the ramifications of an uninterrupted inspection. Was walking away looking the way Kagome did normal? No. She’d said it had gotten out of hand, and she’d stepped out of line. Presumably, she’d stepped out of line to try and save the little girl who was being attacked. So, she was punished for that, but what about the cut on her hand? Did she try to stop a knife and grab the blade? Did they slice her? Was she concealing any other open injuries that needed treating?

Fuck, everything he’d initially thought was washed down the river. If she was running from Naraku’s henchmen, even if a bounty did appear over her head, there was no fucking way in hell Inuyasha was about to help them. There was no amount of money that would ever get him to cooperate with those fucking creeps.

She wasn’t running, she’d said. She was looking for somebody. There was a good chance she was looking for someone to help her town; maybe even find a solution to the infestation of nasty, unwashed demons trekking through like they owned the damn place. Who was he to stand in her way? Kagome was probably afraid to tell him the truth because she didn’t know whose side he was on in the first place, but after hearing him mention his preference to be further away from villages while camping due to those bastards, she most likely realized where he stood.

In truth, it was because of his notoriety that he was obligated to stay further away. He wasn’t just a half demon, but he was a well-known enemy of Naraku’s stupid ass men. They wanted him dead, and vise versa. More importantly, he wanted Naraku dead and he wasn’t shy about letting it be known. Naraku had taken so much from people, leaving nothing but needless death and destruction in his wake. Naraku was psychotic, power hungry, and insatiable. There was no one genius enough to reason with him, there was no one compassionate enough to calm him down, but there were few strong enough to kill him. Inuyasha was one of them. Naraku wanted to make life harder for a hanyou, but he couldn’t wait for the day it backfired on him. Because, a hanyou was going to be the one to bring him down.

Inuyasha stepped back into their little camp, focusing on the agitated huffs coming from the girl. She was leaned over some, her dark hair waving over the sides of her face to block his view of what was going on, but when she quickly looked over at him as he snapped a twig beneath his foot, he realized she must have been struggling to get the bandages off of her hand the entire time, opting to try and pull it loose with her teeth. He should have figured he was leaving her helpless, but he hadn’t even thought of her potential complications. Shockingly, Kagome wasn’t looking at him with any amount of blame or malice in her eyes. She was simply caught off guard, and when she realized it was only him, she went straight back to work.

The half demon stifled his laughter, crossing over to her and pushing her head back after placing the canteen at her side. “Knock it off.” He muttered. She flinched slightly as he reached over her legs, pulling out the knife in her boot and smirking.

“You knew I had that?” Kagome asked, stunned.

“Of course, I knew.” He chuckled, cutting the rope from her wrists. “I literally left everything on you without bothering to pat you down. It’s not odd for someone to have another weapon to rely on in case they lose their primary. And, I saw the butt of it sticking out when I got back from collecting fire wood.”

Inuyasha watched a slight expression of defeat cross her face where she sighed, closed her eyes, and dropped her head a little. It was easy to know what she was thinking. If she were in a more dangerous situation, that would have gotten her into a lot of trouble.

“Let me see it.” He said with a low tone, gesturing to her palm with a nod of his head. He carefully slipped the knife back into her boot and waited for her to get over her apprehension so he could take a look at the damn wound.

Kagome studied him for a moment. What game was he playing? Was he going to help her or hurt her? Now that she was untied, she could do this part herself for sure. There was no need for him to help, so why was he offering? Or, maybe he just literally wanted to see. No matter which end it was, there was no harm in allowing it. Kagome went ahead and removed her bag, bow, and arrows from her shoulders, relaxing slightly now that the weight was off of her before she gave him her hurt hand.

“Come here, closer to the light.” Inuyasha grunted, picking himself up and inching the both of them closer to the fire.

He went ahead and undid her wrappings, tossing it into the flames and taking a look at the decent knick in her skin. It was definitely still fresh, but wasn’t bleeding all that bad. Inuyasha twisted her wrist to face the fire better, spreading the cut open a little further so he could see if there was any dirt that didn’t belong, ignoring her small hiss of objection.

“When was this?” He asked, grabbing her water canteen and opening it up.

“Yesterday.” Kagome replied promptly, her nose crinkling as he poured the cold water over her palm. He paused for a moment to squeeze his hands down her fingers, sort of massaging, and she realized he was cleaning the entire area. She was surprised by his gentleness and efficiency, his calloused fingers rough but mindful, and his claws never once threatening.

“Jesus, no wonder you look like shit.” He commented. There it was. Less than twelve hours into knowing the man, and she’d already grown unfazed to any satirical retorts. It was just how he communicated, wasn’t it? He poured more water, this time opening the wounded area again and running the liquid directly through, once more ignoring her little wince. “You got anything in that kit to clean a cut?”

“Mhm.” She nodded, reaching for it and opening it up. She went ahead and pulled out the small containers, reading her cousin’s sloppy handwriting. After rustling through a few, she pulled out the disinfectant, healing ointment, and held a couple cotton balls in her free hand for him. She’d thought about offering to do it herself, but this man’s kindness came and went, and she felt she should appreciate what he had to give at the moment.

Inuyasha took the first container she’d set out along with one of the cotton balls, dousing it in the disinfectant. “Keep going. You never finished telling me what happened.”

Kagome had been braced for the sting of the disinfectant, and it took a moment for her to realign, now bracing for the impact of reliving yesterday.

Kagome felt her face scrunch uncontrollably as he cleaned out her wound. “The - um -“ She was trying not to stammer, trying to concentrate on giving him the story he wanted as straight as possible, but she felt nervous, a lump beginning to develop in her throat. She had to be careful not to let anything slip. She should be more than accustomed to this routine by now, but there was something undeniable about Inuyasha that made her want to trust him. That was the hazardous part of all of this, and she had to remind herself not to get carried away.

“The demons - Naraku’s demons - had been coming more often than usual lately. They were positive that a conjurer was in our village, but I don’t know what made them so sure. They tried something new this time, though. I don’t know if you’re familiar with an inspection, but they typically go for wrecking things and intimidation. Sometimes, it gets physical, and the elderly are more at risk when that happens.”

“Yeah, I know that much.” He quietly mentioned, hiding his anger, grabbing the ointment and softly applying a generous amount.

“This time, they narrowed the demographic. Called out girls between the ages of five and twenty and had us all line up. They cut our hands with a knife and then held on to see if we’d have a conjurer’s reaction to their demonic energy.” She explained.

“A conjurer’s reaction?” He inquired, brows furrowing as he reached into her kit for the roll of bandages.

“I don’t know too much about it.” Kagome shook her head, shrugging slightly. “But, they got one.” She said sadly.

There was a small pause in his wrapping as Inuyasha was struck again by that information. He would have ripped their fucking heads off if he were there. A part of him wishes he had been. He didn’t seek these things out; he strictly only stepped in if it crossed his path. But, if he had been in that area, wherever it was, the little girl may have survived and the woman before him wouldn’t be so harmed.

“Did you know her?” Inuyasha asked, promptly returning to what he was doing.

Kagome gave another shake of her head. “I know my neighbors, and the shop keepers, but otherwise, the people in my town tend to keep to themselves. Always sort of have, I guess. The less anyone knows nowadays, the better, anyway. Or, worse. Maybe more people would have stepped in if things were more personal. They stabbed her. Everyone just watched.” She could hear the mother’s scream ringing in her ears, and Kagome’s face twisted painfully. “I ran out of line to try and help the little girl, but there was nothing I could do. The bleeding wouldn’t stop.”

Inuyasha could see the anguish vividly on her brow. She was unconsciously staring down, looking at his thigh but not actually looking at it. She was engulfed by the events of the day before, and he could guess that if she stayed on this track, she’d get trapped and spiral. He did the first thing that came to mind to prevent that, yanking on the bandages he was still working on wrapping. He’d just passed her wound, so the bandages pressed firmly into it, applying a physical pain that had her irises shooting up to him as she gasped slightly.

“Ow.” Came her barely audible whimper.

“So, you got your ass handed to you for running to help?” He asked, averting her mind from the dead girl.

“Mhm, pretty much.” Kagome nodded. “You think I look bad, you should see my cousin.”

“What happened to them?”

“He got double teamed for trying to help me. His ribs might be broken, but I’m not sure.”

“It’s pretty easy to tell. How are you not sure?” Inuyasha inquired skeptically, cutting off the end of the bandages and tying it securely. Her hand was wrapped just as it was before; from wrist to the base of her fingers, properly protecting the wound from dirt or infection slipping through any openings.

“The doctor was away, and I left before his return. I left that night.” Kagome said, appreciating his skilled work on her hand as she looked it over. It was definitely less sloppy than what she would have done on her own. “Thank you.”

“Why’d you leave?” He pressed, feeling like they’d come full circle.

“I’m looking for someone.” She repeated.

“Someone to help?”

“Yes and no.” Really, she should have just said yes, but it wasn’t that simple. She didn’t want to make it seem like she wanted to target the superficial issue when the only way to truly take care of it was to annihilate it at the root. Because, if he were to say he knew a person, she wouldn’t be able to accept the help, turn around, and go home.

“Kagome -“

“I can’t tell you.” And, she hoped he’d let it go. She hoped giving him every other detail he wanted to know was enough for him to respect that there was one thing he wanted that she couldn’t give him. “Please, Inuyasha. I can’t tell you.”

Though she seemed stable, he could tell there was desperation that he wouldn’t keep pestering her about the issue. She wasn’t going to crack. No, her eyes were telling him she couldn’t crack. It was detrimental that she held her ground, and truthfully, that only made him want to know more. What the hell was this girl up to? What was going on? Inuyasha had to remind himself that he wasn’t involved, and if this was as much as she was willing to share, then so be it. As much as he wanted to pry, he’d already gotten enough to know that keeping her around wouldn’t be beneficial to him. He should have just listened to her in the first place. As mouthy as she was, as irritating as she was, she was right. He’d only wasted his time. And, rope.

Begrudgingly, the hanyou tried to push the issue to the back of his mind - though, currently, the furthest he could force it was midway. He sighed heatedly, leaning back onto his hands. “Any other battle wounds you’re hiding, or is this it?”

A small weight lifted from her shoulders at his subject change. Kagome breathed a little lighter, inwardly thanking him for dropping it, and shook her head. “No, it was just my hand.”

“Alright. Look, stay here tonight and then in the morning you can carry on with your grand quest.”

“You’re - you’re letting me go?” She asked, slightly cocking her head to the side. “Just like that?”

No, it couldn’t be that easy. Could it? He literally held her prisoner just to release her at the end of the day? It was no more than twenty minutes ago that she was borderline freaking out because she wasn’t willing to make a break for it, and here she was untied and set free by a guy who thoughtfully helped clean her wound first. She couldn’t help but be glad he hadn’t heard the clashing argument she’d had with herself in her head back there. Even so, she was still mildly embarrassed, while also incredibly confused. Instead of trying to make sense of it all though, Kagome deliberately let it go. At this point, it was just too much energy that she didn’t have to solve the ever bewildering riddle that was her situation.

“What, did you want me to tie you up again?” Inuyasha questioned, arching a brow.

“No, of course not.”

“Keeping you would only slow me down. You’re not a paycheck, you’ve been through your own hell in the last twenty-four hours, so yes. I’m letting you go. Jesus, you’re probably the only idiot I’ve met who would question that and not just be grateful.”

“In my defense, you’re hard to read.” Kagome defended.

“Right back at ya.”

“But, just so we’re clear, I’m good to go?”

“Yes.” Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

“Thank god!” Kagome hopped to her feet, dusting off her butt real quick as she went to jog away.

“Hey! What the f- what did I just say!? Get your ass back here!” The half demon jolted slightly, caught off guard by her quick motions. “You’re gonna get killed out there, and I’m not chasing after you again!”

“I have to pee!” Kagome frantically stated, bouncing from one foot to the other. “I’m leaving all my stuff with you! I’m not going anywhere, I swear! Please, just - I’ve gotta go!”

Inuyasha barely hid his amused smirk as his exasperation quickly faded. The absolute urgency in her tone was enough to bring anyone to laugh, and she was lucky that all he released was a small snort. Now that he thought about it, he recalled her leg bobbing every now and again while she sat in front of him. He’d figured it was because she was anxious. No wonder she wouldn’t drink any more water. He waved her off to go relieve herself, and the woman was hasty to about face and run into the woods.

“Don’t go far!” He reflexively called after her. His sensitive ears caught her small, raspy grunt of agreement before she disappeared through the darkness of the trees.

He took the moment to inspect the area surrounding them, tuning into his senses. He didn’t feel any presences around, didn’t smell any demons, and the only human was Kagome. There were nocturnal animals about, but none that would harm her in her vulnerable state. She was safe.

Inuyasha took the opportunity to get up and cross over to his bag, pulling out the wrapped meat that was gifted to him. Thankfully, it was fully cooked so he wouldn’t have to wait for it to be heated through over the fire. It was too late for that shit, it would take too long, and he was hungry.

Footsteps steadily approaching from behind told him Kagome had returned. Inuyasha peeked over his shoulder at her, noticing her small smile as she took a seat in front of the fire on the far side, her knees cradled to her chest as she rested her chin against them. He got up, striding over with a portion for her to eat, picking up her canteen along the way. “Here.”

“What’s this?” She asked, her tone small as she took the contents he offered.

“Food. Eat. You haven’t had anything all day, have you?” He guessed, walking back over to the opposite side of the fire. Inuyasha sat in front of a tree, leaning back to rest against it as he ate his own portion. “And, drink your fucking water.”

“When did you even fill this up?” She asked, noticing for the first time that it was her own bottle she was holding.

“Geez, you’re oblivious. I grabbed it when I pulled out your medical box, kid.”

“Oh, that’s what you went back into the forest for.” Kagome clued in. “Thank you.”

Inuyasha didn’t respond, eating his food and no longer minding her. She set the bottle to the side of her thigh, allowing her legs to fall into a crossed position so she could sit more comfortably as she ate. With her first bite came the first, huge grumble her stomach spoke that day, shouting it’s demand for sustenance. She froze, feeling the hanyou’s amber eyes land on her. Things had been so crazy, so stressful, that she hadn’t even thought about food, her body more focused on everything else than her hunger.

“What the fuck was that?” Inuyasha snickered.

“Shut up.” She murmured, embarrassed, chewing through and taking another bite.

“Good lord, woman.”

“Shut up.”

“You sounded like a boar in heat.”

Kagome nearly choked on her food, coughing slightly as she shot Inuyasha an incredulous glare. He carelessly laughed, taking another bite of his food and winking at her. As much as she wanted to toss him a sarcastic remark, none came to mind, more focused on filling her stomach than having another argument with the jerk. It was his fault she hadn’t eaten in the first place. If she hadn’t been taken into custody by the prideful punk, she was positive she would have consumed food much sooner.

Moments passed after she’d finished, her belly happy and full, and she once more cradled her thighs to her chest, always finding comfort and warmth in this position. The half demon sat silently, eyes scouring the trees, and she wondered what he could see. Thanks to her supernatural abilities, Kagome was capable of sensing evil, demonic presences, and things that didn’t necessarily belong. But, Inuyasha, harboring demonic blood, had much more going for him. With the way the ears atop his head twitched, she assumed he could hear things very well from a distance. His eyesight had to be impeccable, and much more well-attuned to the night than her human eyes could ever be. He may not be able to sense malicious intent, but he could probably pick up demonic presences much better than she could, as well. This was his nature. He not only had the gifts of sensitive receptors, but was probably trained well since he seemed so acclimated to camping out.

“So, you’re a bounty hunter?” She asked, breaking the silence.

“Not necessarily.” He replied, glancing her way. “I go where the money is. Sometimes, it’s just to catch stupid asses and bring them back. Sometimes, it’s something specific like finding a lost child that needs help. I hate those jobs more than anything. It’s usually a sob fest and I’m caught in the middle until I’m paid. More often than not, though, I’m hired to kill evil beings.”

“Oh, like a demon slayer.” Kagome perked.

“Again, not necessarily. Humans can be evil, too.”

“Oh, right.” She felt a little presumptuous. “Sorry.”

“How do you even know what a demon slayer is? Isn’t that profession dead?” He inquired. At one point in time, years ago, demon slayers were a threat to be reckoned with. They held power, kept the peace, and had the numbers to kill off mass swarms of belligerent demons. As far as he was aware, it seemed they’d fallen off the face of the planet. They had been overpowered, their villages practically wiped out from targeted attack after targeted attack. At this point, with the odds against them, it was more than unlikely that they’d come back from that.

“We actually have a small group in our town.” Kagome mentioned. “My friend is the daughter of their leader.”

“You know demon slayers? Actual demon slayers?”

“Mhm.” She nodded.

“They must keep a low profile.” He assumed. That had to be the case. He’d been all over and hadn’t seen or heard of any demon slayers around.

“Kind of. They don’t travel off too far; they just take care of troublesome demons within a specific radius. And, they only take on cases they know they can handle with their numbers. They’re very picky on how old people need to be to join, and their training is rigorous and not for the weak.”

“I’m a little confused. You have these given protectors in your own village, but you walked out looking like that?”

“They can’t stop inspections, they can only make sure they don’t get out of control. And, they’d actually left on a job, so we were on our own. No one knew there was a conjurer in the village to protect. If Sango’s dad was aware of her, I’m sure he would have taken steps to help her.” Kagome was speaking from experience. He was there when she found out she was a conjurer, herself. After her father died, he always checked in to make sure things were okay. He constantly reassured her that if anything happened or she needed help, he was there. After Naraku came to rise and demons began looking for people of her kind, killing them off, he was very clear that she needed to know how to properly subdue her powers. He wasn’t aware that she was way ahead of him. Sango’s father was protective, a guardian, and Kagome was forever grateful. She was certain he would have offered the same blanket of protection to that little girl.

“Oh, so that’s who Sango is.” Inuyasha smirked.

Kagome giggled, nodding. She’d almost forgotten she’d used her friend’s name before. “Yeah. I’m no good at coming up with fake names on the spot, so I had to take one from someone I knew.”

“Does she know you’re out here?”

“By now, I’m sure she does.”

“Wait, you didn’t tell her?”

“No.”

“Did anyone know you were leaving? You got a family, kid? You said you have a cousin, right? He know?”

“Like I said, by now, I’m sure everyone is aware that I’m missing. The only one who knew I was leaving was my younger brother, and he kept it a secret because my cousin would have tried to stop me. Mom, too.”

“As they should. You said your friend is the daughter of the head demon slayer, right? I’m assuming she’s skilled. You’d have been smart to at least bring her. Alone, you’re nothing but an easy target.”

“Well, I didn’t really have a choice, Inuyasha.” She stated, tucking herself a little closer into her thighs. “Everything happened so fast yesterday, it was hard to get a grip. I made my decision and left. Miroku would have only hurt himself more by trying to stop me, and Sango had to take care of her own brother since their dad was out on a job. I did what I had to do.”

“What is so goddamn important?”

“Ah, we’re heading into dangerous territory again.” Kagome lightly warned, raising her brows as she grinned.

Inuyasha groaned, rolling his golden eyes. “You’re so stubborn.”

“I am. I really am.” She proudly agreed.

“Not a flex.”

“You’re stubborn, too. You’ve asked me the same question like eight hundred times.” Kagome rebutted.

“See, now you’re just dramatic.” Inuyasha shrugged.

“Sorry, seven hundred and ninety-nine.”

“Shut up and go to sleep.” He said, abruptly ending all conversation.

Kagome eyed him, a little unsettled. She looked around the area, worried her bottom lip, then glanced back at him. With everything that had happened, he couldn’t really expect her to feel comfortable sleeping right now, right? Sure, she was utterly exhausted, and if she rested her head against anything, she would have fallen asleep instantly, but that involved letting her guard down. He’d proven, so far, not to be as harmful as she’d half expected. That didn’t mean she trusted him well enough to be completely vulnerable in an unconscious state with him, though. She wanted to trust him, but this was like a leap of faith. With his expression falling into slight frustration, the man rolled his eyes for the nth time.

“Oh, relax. I’m not gonna do a damn thing to you. If I were you, I’d take the offer. Tomorrow, you’re on your own and you won’t be able to get a full night’s sleep again.”

He was right. She didn’t like admitting it, but he was right. She would only be able to afford a couple of hours at a time, and even that would be risky. She hadn’t fully recovered from yesterday’s stress, and given what she went through today, if she didn’t take the opportunity, she’d be a hopeless, wandering, mess tomorrow.

Kagome regarded him with a nod, then sighed as she got up and grabbed her bag. There was nothing too hard in it at the moment so she could happily use it as a pillow. She pulled it a little closer to the fire so she wouldn’t get too cold in the night, curling up and resting her head down.

“Can you do me a favor?” Kagome asked, her voice small.

“What?”

“Don’t leave without waking me up, please.”

“Shut up.” Inuyasha wouldn’t leave her completely defenseless. He’d told her to go to sleep because he was there to watch over her. He’d be able to sense danger from a mile away, unlike a helpless human. She was wise to take his advice. She looked like hell and she’d been sluggish for the majority of the day, even making him feel bad for her for a while. Letting her go off on her own tomorrow the way she was now felt cruel.

Apparently, she was learning to read his tone. She was even surprised she could understand the underlying message in his comment. Kagome took a moment to inwardly thank him, sighing out as much tension as she could as she closed her eyes, quickly falling asleep.

—

The sky was dark, the deep blue of night tinted with a poisonous shade of violet. Smoke and fire surrounded her, but Kagome’s lungs inhaled and exhaled just fine, unaffected by the tainted air. She circled around, scanning the area slowly. Was this a dream? Was it real? She felt neither hot nor cold, but she did feel conscious and scared. What had happened? Where was she?

“Inuyasha?” Kagome called, stepping backward in her panic. Where did he go? Was he okay? Did he leave her?

“You’re a fool, Kagome.”

She spun around quickly to face Kikyo, her fair skin sprinkled with sweat and hair sticking to her dampened neck. She wore a condemning look, brown eyes boring through her, her hand gripping her own bow tightly while she stood just feet away.

“You.” Kagome breathed.

“Your first day, and this is what happens to you? You’re taken into captivity by a half demon?” Kikyo scolded.

“What?” Kagome was confused, now more than ever. “How did you even know that?”

“That is irrelevant.”

“No, it isn’t. How did you know that, Kikyo?”

“I have insight on you, Kagome. Shouldn’t you know that by now?”

“How?”

“Because, I am the conjurer you’re supposed to be!” Kikyo shouted, her voice deep and angry. “You have so much potential, you are strong, you learn quicker than even myself, and yet you’re living up to nothing! Less than twenty-four hours after leaving, you get yourself into needless trouble. I am disappointed in you.”

“Gee thanks, mom.” Kagome slighted, her temper swelling. “Glad you called me here to put me down. You seem to forget that you have no right, though. None of what you just said explains anything. You’ve given me no path to follow, no direction to go in -“

“You aren’t meant to follow mine, you’re meant to follow your own, Kagome! Use your powers! Your intuition is stronger than anyone’s; you can figure it out!”

“Aren’t I supposed to find you?”

“We will find each other soon enough.”

“How do you have insight?” Just as Kagome asked, a thin, white, serpent-like creature floated down. It had six legs in the front of its long body resembling that of insects, perching on Kikyo’s shoulder as its long tail curled around her frame. “What is that?”

“Shinidamachu; a soul collector. To aid in my power, I will sometimes take the souls of deceased women.”

“How - what!?” Kagome’s face twisted bewilderingly. “You steal the souls from dead women!?”

Kikyo released an exacerbated exhale from her nose, the sound deep and clenched. Kagome could tell they were heading down a road the conjurer had never counted on going down, but Kagome didn’t care. You can’t just throw that information at her and expect her to brush it off like this is a normal occurrence.

“The souls help aid in longevity and health. If I am wounded or exhausted, putting up a barrier and collecting a soul or two will increase the rate of my recovery. My soul collector has also helped me understand you better.”

“Do you use it to spy on me?”

“I use it to make sure you aren’t misusing your abilities or getting yourself killed. You are still young and inexperienced. There is much you have yet to learn before you can take on Naraku.”

“Have you ever considered, instead of doing that, maybe just teaching me yourself? I feel like things would move along a lot faster that way.” There was a bit of snarky attitude in Kagome’s tone, her jaw tensing as she listened to Kikyo talk down to her.

“I cannot teach you.” Kikyo stated plainly.

“Why not?”

“I am not meant to.”

“Why?”

“Because, I am the distraction while you are the weapon. I know you think other conjurers may be coming, but they aren’t. You are the only one who is meant to do this. I cannot teach you, because we desperately need to stay separated. You and I together are nothing but sitting ducks. If Naraku catches wind that I am helping another conjurer, which he would, he would bring down nothing but hell. I cannot help you.”

Kagome stood there, mouth hanging agape, her eyes focusing on the sweat drop that glided down Kikyo’s temple. That was a lot to unpack, and these were things she would have definitely benefitted from learning earlier. Why was Kikyo only telling her this now? Why was this the most in-depth conversation they’d ever managed to have? She was finally receiving clear answers, but it felt like her mind was unraveling. While she’d had a small hunch that she may have been the only conjurer Kikyo was reaching out to, it was still a shock to have it definitively confirmed.

“Why - why didn’t you tell me any of this sooner?” Kagome inquired unsteadily.

“I couldn’t. You wouldn’t have been able to handle it. I wanted to slowly ease you into things as you matured. I still don’t think now was the right time to tell you the entire truth, but I seem to have had no choice. You’re stubborn; you would have only kept asking questions.”

“So I’ve heard.” Kagome shrugged her brows, eyes falling to the charred grass beneath her boots.

“I collect the souls to keep up my strength. To keep me going until you’re ready. That is my purpose. Yours is to save everyone.”

“No pressure.” She sarcastically and quietly remarked.

“You need to make wiser decisions starting immediately, Kagome. Do you hear me? Trust your intuition.”

“I do!” Kagome quickly defended.

“Then you should know better than to put any amount of trust in a demon right now.” She hastily countered. “We’re at war with demons, what in the world would make you trust them?”

“Inuyasha’s already released me, what are you talking about?”

“Then get up and leave!”

“He hasn’t hurt me, Kikyo! If anything, even while I was in his captivity, he kept me safe! I mean, hell, he saved my life to begin with! He made a mistake, but he’s not a bad person!”

“He has demon blood, does he not!?”

“That is neither here nor there!” Kagome yelled, infuriated. “You sound pretty prejudiced for a conjurer. A little ironic, don’t you think?”

“You do not know what you are talking about, and if you keep this up, I’m afraid you are going to have to learn things the hard way. I’ve had kinder demons betray me, Kagome. Never let him find out the truth about you.”

“He isn’t bad.”

“You are naive.”

“No, you are.��

“I know what I’m -“

“You’re ignorant, too.” She interrupted, her face feeling hot, but it was of her own anger and not due to the dying flames around them. “If your only argument for me not to trust him is the blood running through his veins, then it’s falling on deaf ears.”

“You defend him as if you know him.”

“I defend him as if he deserves a chance to prove himself! Just like us! My friend has a twin-tailed cat demon in her family, you got something to say about her, too?”

“Kagome, enough. You’re a fool.”

“Yeah, you said that already.” Kagome stated bluntly.

“Heed my warning.” Kikyo all but ordered. “Stay away from him.”

Kagome could only shake her head in disbelief. “You can’t be serious. You would actually judge him -“

“Please, do not mistake me. I just want you to be cautious. Overtly cautious. You’re alone, you can’t afford many mistakes like this. It’s not that I believe all demons are evil; I’m saying you will never know off the bat which ones will turn on you. Make your friends after the war. For now, you cannot give your trust to any demon; half breed or what have you.” Kikyo took a deep breath in the time where things seemingly sunk into Kagome’s head. Her plush lips were parted, and her brown eyes fell to the ground, almost in disappointment. The girl was still immature, and though Kikyo was fully aware of the hardships that came with being a conjurer, she could still see so much hope radiating from Kagome. So much hope and heart. The thing was, the heart was the most important part of their kind. It was what made up their strength; their passion drove their power. But, so easily could it break them as well. Being a conjurer was like holding a double-edged sword. If you had that fire within you, you could thwart evil, but if your heart is crushed, you could lose it all in an instant. Kagome seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve, wanted to trust easily, believed everyone deserved a chance, but she - being who she was - could not afford that way of living.

“What did you mean?” Kagome finally spoke, picking her eyes from the ground and slowly drifting them upwards to meet Kikyo’s. “You said I’m a weapon. What did you mean by that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You are the one capable of bringing Naraku to his knees.”

She shook her head, half in denial and half in disbelief. “You said this was our responsibility. The responsibility is ours, remember? You gave me that spiel over and over again for, like, the past year.”

“And, it is.”

“‘Our’ is a very broad term, Kikyo.”

“You and I.”

“That’s it? We have this maniacal tyrant, and the world apparently only has the two of us to depend on?”

“Don’t push your lack of confidence on me, Kagome. I know it’s a lot of responsibility when you think about it, but destiny has this written in stone?”

“Oh yeah?” Kagome questioned exasperatedly. “I’d like to see the terms and conditions. Where’s the plaque?”

“Kagome -“

“You say all of this too lightly, Kikyo! This may be common sense to you, but this is breaking news to me!”

“All you need to focus on for now is yourself! You have the room to practice more! You don’t have to hold back for the sake of your home, and I know you have been! I can see what you’re capable of, and it’s monumental! You will surpass me if you just dedicate yourself, so do it! Stop holding yourself back, and stop being so goddamned scared! Pick yourself up, protect yourself, trust no one, adapt, and I’ll meet you at the finish line. Together, we will be unstoppable.”

The conjurer seemed so sure, so stable. She truly believed in what she said, and Kagome couldn’t help but swallow any uneasiness she was currently feeling. Kikyo’s confidence was contagious, but there was one thing wrong with what she was preaching. She treated her intuition as the end-all, but Kagome had a gut of her own. It was telling her something different. Kagome’s intuition was telling her Kikyo was jaded, and it would be smart of her to trust any alliance she could form. She was alone for now, and she didn’t particularly know what her next move was, but something told Kagome she wasn’t going to be able to beat this battle on her own. Even getting to the so-called finish line, as Kikyo put it, was going to require some help, and there was nothing wrong with that. She could understand why Kikyo was insisting Kagome put her guard up. The mistake she’d made with Inuyasha could have been detrimental. If it were anyone else, she didn’t know what would have happened to her, and for that, despite it all, she was thankful her circumstances were what they were. In a twisted sense, she’d gotten lucky.

Honestly, Kagome didn’t know where Kikyo was getting her information from. If she was prophetic, she’d give her kudos, because as far as she was aware, that wasn’t in the job description of being a conjurer. Maybe she was having secret dream rendezvous with actual clairvoyants. Either way, Kagome was dying to hear this all herself, because no matter how much Kikyo’s statements repeated in her head, not all of it was adding up. She could tell that arguing was a waste of time, though. She felt like she’d get nowhere with Kikyo. Kikyo was set in her ways and convinced of future events playing out in specific patterns, but Kagome truly, truly, felt like things were immediately about to shift.

She’d take Kikyo’s advice. She’d be careful, and she’d use her powers with less restraint. She’d be cautious about her surroundings, she’d screen anyone she came across, and she’d increase her power. What she wouldn’t do was isolate herself or stay away from those who have no control over the blood beneath their flesh. Kagome couldn’t bring herself to look at things that way. Maybe it was naive, but it didn’t matter. The open-mindedness sat right with her.

“Kagome, do you trust me?”

“I want to.” Kagome admitted. “You’ve been a mystery up until now.”

“I’ve been told I’m not as direct as I could be.” Kikyo laughed quietly. “I want to trust you, too.”

“Does Naraku know about me?”

“I have a feeling he will soon enough. It’s inevitable. That’s why it’s imperative for us to stay apart until we can’t anymore.”

“Got it.” Kagome acknowledged. There was a beat of silence where it seemed they were both processing their encounter. She wondered how long Kikyo had been on her own, fighting this battle. She said she was the distraction. Kagome felt sympathetic for her situation. It must have been terrifying at times, hard, and exhausting. She must have tried to form alliances only to be stomped on multiple times to explain the mentality she was harboring. Kagome wondered if her gaze lacked vibrancy because of how drained she was. She wondered if she had no choice but to rely on collecting souls so she could stay on her feet until the day was done. Was there no rest for this conjurer, playing the distraction until Kagome was ready?

This fueled her, a heightened sense of determination shooting through her veins. If she needed to expand her strength, then she’d do it as quickly as possible. She’d get stronger, more powerful, and become the fierce conjurer Kikyo was so that she wasn’t alone in this fight anymore. She expected Kikyo not to always agree with the way she went about things, but what mattered was the endgame. With this, Kagome was one step closer.

“Remember what I said. Follow your intuition.”

“I will.” Kagome agreed. “Mind if I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Where are we?”

“Nowhere.”

Kagome grimaced, looking around at the fire that she couldn’t feel the heat from but Kikyo obviously could as sweat continued to dot her face. It definitely didn’t look like nowhere to her.

“Technically, this is the spot of a recent demon attack. But, we are in an in between space. No one can see us; we’re talking in my mind.”

“Your mind?”

“Correct. I am here, and you are not.”

“How are you doing this?”

“We have a connection, Kagome.” Kikyo grinned, though it seemed lackluster and Kagome noted the dark circles beneath her eyes. “We are two connected by fate.”

“So, can I do this? I mean, can I connect with your subconscience and talk to you?”

“No. My mind is too guarded. You wouldn’t be able to reach me, even if you knew how. Even so, I only partially brought you here. I am too far from you for a more physical aspect. Though, I’m sure you don’t mind.” Kikyo said, sort of laughing at herself.

Kagome wasn’t sure if that was something Kikyo should be proud of. It sounded slightly depressing to be so guarded. Though, alternatively speaking, it could be seen as a weakness on Kagome’s behalf that Kikyo was able to jump on through to her whenever she so pleased. That still didn’t much answer how she was doing this, but Kagome was willing to let it go. This wasn’t necessarily anything Kagome desired to do, anyway. Telepathy always sort of creeped her out.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Kagome couldn’t help but ask, taking Kikyo’s current state into consideration.

“You have nothing to worry about. Please, focus on yourself. You must get stronger.”

“I will. I swear.”

“Be careful, Kagome.”

She blinked her eyes open, brows furrowing as the brightness of the campfire momentarily blinded her. The night was quiet and peaceful, and as Kagome came to, slowly turning away from the light, she realized she was covered by something thick and warm. It was crimson, and as she moved her legs to readjust herself so her hip would stop digging into the earth, she noticed it only covered her up until her mid-thigh. It smelled so good, the scent inexplicably comforting her as she pulled it further over her shoulder and closer to her nose. She’d always appreciated the aroma of the woodlands, that of campfires, but there was an additional spice that sent a warmth fluttering through her abdomen. Did it belong to Inuyasha?

Inuyasha.

Sluggishly, she picked herself up on her elbow, looking over to the tree where she’d last seen him. The hanyou wasn’t there, and while an unsettling thud came from her chest, she could still feel his presence nearby. Kagome turned her head, observing their little area of the forest before her eyes came right back to the very same tree. Glancing upward, she spotted him sitting on a high branch, his back against the trunk and a leg hanging over the side, staring off into the night.

From where he sat, the moonlight was hitting him perfectly. His silver hair shined with dimmed hues of blue and white, and his skin glowed as if he were a descendent of Luna, herself. He was handsome. It was moments before Kagome could bring herself to look away, only finding her eyes drifting right back to her guardian above. His jawline was sharp, the shadows of the night where the moon couldn’t reach him complimenting his features just as well. A sudden, thin feeling of jealousy prickled at Kagome’s chest. She envied the moon, and the night, itself. They got to touch him.

She felt safe. Nothing inside of Kagome told her to run, or leave, or to tread carefully. Instead, she was heavy and solid where she lay. For the first time in two days, everything felt okay. In the morning, she would head her own way. Kikyo had no reason to be concerned. Inuyasha and Kagome would say goodbye and never see each other again. In the morning.

Kagome rested her head back against her makeshift pillow, tucking herself further into Inuyasha’s crimson garment. The scent of him washed over her once more, and she held onto it, memorizing it. She allowed herself to be comfortable, to feel serene. She allowed herself to rest under his safety.

| previous chapter | <- -> | next chapter |

[mostlycompetentwriter]

Awaken

F/M Pairing: Y/N x Hwang Hyunjin (some mentions of Y/N x Seo Changbin)

Word Count: 7.5K

Warnings: Explicit smut and language, use of vibrators, Hyunjin is kinda obsessed in this one

Genre: College AU; Professor AU

Summary: When Y/N transferred into a prestigious all-girls university, she never expected to be on the receiving end of a very handsome professor’s near-constant attention.

It had been a difficult decision - transferring from my previous school into one of the most Elite universities in the world. I understand that it might seem contradictory, but there were several uncertainties that impeded my ability to make a decision. The first being an existential dread surrounding the idea of leaving behind my best friends, including my off-and-on again boyfriend, Changbin. The second reason involved my new university’s strict mandate that it would only accept female applicants.

Yes, the school only admitted women, and as someone who maintained a diligent sex life with previous boyfriends, I was not excited by the prospect of being forced into celibacy.

But the pressure from my parents and close academic advisors eventually forced my hand, and I found myself dragging most of my belongings out of my dorm room with a few friends helping me along. “What the hell is in this suitcase, Y/N?” Jisung asked, grunting with the effort of dragging my bag along the sidewalk.

“Probably just clothes,” I said, shrugging because I was trying to remain perfectly nonchalant about my transfer, even though I was having a total meltdown on the inside.

“I think that’s all of it,” Changbin said, and he was giving me that same somber look that I was starting to hate - the one that told me he wasn’t very happy about my transfer. “You know,” he continued, bracing himself against the side of my car. “If you ever need me, I’m only a phone call away.”

“Quit trying to get your dick wet, Changbin, and grab something!” Chan snapped. “Or, are those arms just for show?”

Changbin rolled his eyes, but he leaned down to grab my laundry basket before bringing it to the trunk. “Are you gonna miss us, Y/N?” Jisung asked. 

“Not as much as you’ll miss me,” I said. “Who else will edit your essays, Han?”

Jisung frowned as if he was actually thinking deeply about my question. “Maybe I could just email them-”

“Jisung,” Chan interrupted, knocking against his shoulder with an affectionate smile. “There’s still one more box inside.”

“I’m on it!” Jisung shouted, and I grinned at the sight of the younger boy pumping his arms as he jogged back up the staircase.

“He doesn’t really get the severity of the situation,” Chan said, leaning next to me to against my car.

“It’s okay,” I said, looking down at my shoes. “I’ll miss all of you.”

“Y/N,” Chan said, “I thought we weren’t gonna cry until after you left.”

I sniffled around the rising urge to do exactly that before tossing my arms around his neck for a long embrace. “You’ll come see me, right?”

“Of course,” Chan agreed, pulling back to meet my gaze. “Ya! Don’t cry over this, Y/N. It’s supposed to be your big opportunity.”

“Yeah,” I murmured, but it didn’t really feel like it anymore, and when my eyes connected with Changbin’s, I couldn’t help but feel a terrible weight pressing down on my chest.

Maybe this was the worst idea ever, but I was already enrolled for the upcoming academic semester. I would do my best, of course, but I desperately hoped that my parents might reconsider another transfer. Because these were my friends  (and my sometimes boyfriend), and I belonged with them.

“Don’t think too much about it,” Chan instructed me firmly. “Call us if you ever want to hangout.”

“I will,” I promised him, and he brushed a friendly kiss across my forehead. It was the ultimate sign that I had truly signed my life away on the enrollment papers for the school in the next town. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad once I made new friends, but at this moment, everything hurt and I was doing my best to hold myself together as I drove away with my old life waving goodbye from the rear-view mirror.

Upon the start of the Spring semester, I was officially moved into my new dorm room which I was sharing with an very enthusiastic young woman named Claire. Her optimism was unmatched, and she had spent most of the day dragging me around campus while pointing out anything that seemed remotely interesting. “You’ll love it here, Y/N!” she promised, and I feigned a smile mostly for her benefit.

“It seems nice,” I told her later on after we returned to our shared dorm room.

“Oh, yeah, the teachers are great!” she said. “What’s your schedule like?”

I shrugged with vacant dismissal, reaching into my bag to hand her the folded piece of paper I had received earlier that week. “You got in Mr. Hwang’s class!” Claire abruptly squealed. “You lucky bitch!”

“What’s the big deal?” I grumbled, snatching my schedule back out of her hands.

“The big deal!” Claire shrieked like I had just committed an unforgivable crime. “He’s only the hottest teacher on campus!”

I rolled my eyes because I should’ve anticipated something superficial. But I was beginning to understand that most of these poor girls were thirsty for anything remotely attractive, and I had even witnessed one girl lusting over a much-older professor just because he still had all of his hair. It was everything I feared about an all-girls institution, and I was beginning to experience the same mania as the rest of them.

But my thoughts usually went to Changbin, and there was no way I would ever fantasize about one of my teachers. “How old is he?” I asked.

“He’s only 27!” Claire giggled. “I’m not kidding, Y/N, it looks like he was literally sculpted by the gods!”

“That’s original,” I muttered. “Well, I hope he’s good at poetry.”

“Oh, he’s the best,” Claire assured me, but I didn’t think I could take her word for it because she was certainly biased when it concerned his looks. “He’s been published all around the world!”

“He must be decent,” I said because the school’s academic reputation wouldn’t allow anything less than acceptable.

“My friend had a class with him last semester,” Claire continued, and I regretted not changing the topic earlier. “Apparently, she could hardly concentrate on the lesson because she couldn’t stop staring at his ass.”

“Your friend sounds dedicated.”

“There’s also a rumor going around campus that he only got his position because he seduced our admissions advisor!”

I snorted at the idea. “I doubt I’ll be that interested in him.”

“Whatever you say, Y/N,” Claire sing-songed. “You’ll change your mind when you see him.”

“I highly doubt it,” I muttered, and I glanced over at the side table where my phone was waiting. “I’ll be back,” I said, and I left the dorm room and found myself in an isolated study room which I ensured was locked before dialing Changbin’s number.

Then, I settled down against the couch and closed my eyes, shoving my hand underneath the waistband of my sleeping shorts to gently graze my fingers against my clitoris. 

Graciously, Changbin picked up after the fourth ring: “Y/N?” he said. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”

Changbin chuckled, and the static from the phone made it sound far more guttural. I bit my lower lip as I dipped one finger inside my tight heat. “How’s your new roommate?” he asked. “Chan told me that she was unbearable.”

“She’s chatty,” I said, taking a deep breath before asking him: “Changbin, I miss you.”

He was silent from the other end, and I could only pray that Changbin had read the situation correctly, especially when I offered a quiet moan into the receiver. “Are you touching yourself, Y/N?” he asked, and I nodded even though he couldn’t see me.

“I wish you were here,” I told him, and I smiled at the familiar sound of Changbin’s zipper as he tugged his pants down those thick thighs that I loved. 

“I’m here, babe,” he said, and there was a slight desperation to his tone. “What are you thinking about?”

“You,” I said, hissing around a stuttered exhale when I grazed a sensitive spot. “I’m thinking about your cock, Changbin.”

He moaned from the other end, and the slick sound of Changbin lubing up his erection was particularly raunchy. “I want you here with me, Y/N,” Changbin said, and I could easily imagine him jerking off his cock from behind my eyelids. “I’d have you on your hands and knees, fingering that little pussy of yours.”

I gasped at his words, arching my back against the couch as I shoved my fingers even further inside. Changbin had an uncanny gift for dirty talk that I attributed in large part to his irresistible baritone voice. “Tell me more,” I begged him.

“Are you wet?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” Changbin growled. “I could just slide right in.”

“Oh, fuck,” I cursed, and I imagined everything as he continued to describe it to me - moving my fingers even faster at the phantom sensation of his cock filling me up so well like he always did whenever we had sex together. “I want to come so bad for you.”

“Then do it,” Changbin said, grunting from his end as he undoubtedly brought himself to completion.

And I eventually came with a loud moan - shameless despite the thin walls of the surrounding dorms. But I was on cloud nine, savoring the necessary heat of my well-deserved orgasm. “Call me tomorrow,” Changbin said after a while, and I had almost forgotten that we were still talking.

“Yeah,” I panted around a sigh. “I will.”

The bell-tower struck noon when I entered Hwang Hyunjin’s poetry class for the very first time. I had already anticipated a large class, but I was still surprised by the sheer number of students who were crowding the front rows of the classroom. I rolled my eyes because I was forced to sit at the back, and it certainly did no favors for my poor vision.

Regardless, I was also frustrated because there was a small part of myself which remained curious about this mysterious teacher. I could tell that all the other students were practically gushing with excitement, but I schooled my expression and slumped down in my seat as I pulled out a fresh notebook. What the hell were they expecting? A striptease in the middle of our lecture?

However, the most frustrating part of all was the grand entrance of the elusive teacher who had enraptured most of the population. And I couldn’t be any less impressed with him as I rolled my eyes over his tall, lean form. Yeah, he was pretty to look at, but he certainly wasn’t my type. I sighed as my mind instantly reminded me of an image of Changbin; specifically, a sweaty Changbin who had just finished up in the gym - wearing nothing around his waist except for a towel.

“Good morning, everyone,” Mr Hwang finally spoke, and there was a deeper aspect to his voice that I wasn’t expecting. “My name is Mr. Hwang, and this is our poetry 278 lecture.”

There was a collective sigh over his words, and I held back my laughter at the pathetic way everyone was swooning over him. “Let’s start with introductions,” Mr. Hwang suggested, and I groaned because I loathed ice-breakers. “When I call your name, you can give me your year and intended major.”

God, was this Elementary school?

Nevertheless, I waited for my turn, listening as the other students went above and beyond the call of duty to provide Mr. Hwang with as much unnecessary additional information as they could. “I study political science,” one girl said. “I was the leader of my high school’s debate club, and I won an award at the state convention.”

“Impressive,” Mr. Hwang said, and I briefly entertained the idea of the girl fainting on the spot. “Y/N?”

I glanced up to meet Mr. Hwang’s gaze. “Third year,” I replied. “I just transferred, and I’m studying English.”

“Oh, really?” Mr. Hwang inquired. “Do you have any interest in writing an honor’s thesis?”

I blinked twice at the question because he hadn’t bothered to push anyone else for something more. “I’d like to in the future,” I told him, and I squirmed around uncomfortably in my chair when his gaze lingered for several beats too long.

Thankfully, he quietly moved on, and I was able to relax in my seat once again. The lecture proceeded from there, and I sighed when I realized that we would be talking about Emily Dickinson who I had already studied numerous times in my other classes. But I guess that left me the rare opportunity to doodle nonsensical images on my notebook while thinking about my friends, wondering what Jisung, Chan, and Changbin might be doing at that moment.

In another universe, we could be sharing this class together, and I felt a pang of homesickness for my previous school as I listened to Mr. Hwang’s voice at the back of my head. But after another hour, our class concluded and I breathed a sigh of relief as I packed up my belongings. I wasn’t able to finish my picture of Munchlax, but maybe I could work out the details later on. In the meantime, I hoisted my bag over my shoulder as I tried to fight my way around the crowd of students who were all waiting around Mr. Hwang’s desk.

And I was almost at the exit when his voice suddenly stopped me. “Y/N,” Hyunjin said, and I paused mid-step because I wasn’t expecting to hear him call my name. “Can you stay behind for a moment?”

“Sure,” I said, even as I bristled at the thought of having to wait for those other girls to leave first.

They all insisted that they had so many questions to ask Mr. Hwang, and I was left to stew in the corner while crossing my arms over my chest. I had another class in half an hour, and I couldn’t afford to stand around all day while I waited at the behest of a teacher who had somehow won the affections of every student in this stupid school simply by being the prettiest in the room.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mr. Hwang said with a bright smile to the last girl who scampered out of the room with a breathless giggle.

Finally, it was just me and Mr. Hwang, and I hesitantly walked over to his desk. “You needed to see me?”

“Yes,” Mr. Hwang said as he looked up at me from his grade-book. “Is there something wrong with the way I teach?” Mr. Hwang asked, and I was surprised to see him pouting at me with his lower lip sticking out.

“Uh, I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Hwang,” I said, adjusting the strap of my bag.

“Well, it didn’t seem like you were too invested in my lecture,” Hyunjin explained.

Oh, great, he caught me daydreaming about Changbin. 

“I’m sorry, sir,” I said, searching for an excuse. “I’ve been having a hard time adjusting.”

“Ah, that’s right!” Mr. Hwang nodded. “You transferred here for the new semester.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, and I chanced a step back towards the doorway. “I’ll do better in the future.”

“Well, hold on for just a minute, Y/N,” Mr. Hwang said. “I’m here to help my students when they’re struggling.”

“It’s not really a struggle,” I said, but I held my tongue when he pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something at the top.

“Here,” he said, holding out the paper for me to take. “It’s my personal phone number,” Mr. Hwang added with a wink. 

Personal number? “Oh, thank you, sir,” I offered in return because I wasn’t sure what the appropriate response might be in that situation.

“Call me anytime,” Mr. Hwang insisted, and I couldn’t help but notice the mischievous gleam in his gaze like we were playing some kind of game and I was the one who was losing. “I’ll see you on Thursday.”

One Week Later

Despite my new school’s formidable reputation, I was doing exceedingly well in all of my classes. Most of my instructors were greatly impressed, and a few English teachers had already brought up the prospect of mentoring me for the honor’s thesis. Yet, there was one class that I couldn’t quite get a handle on, and I was shocked to see another giant C- written across the top of my latest essay. 

I swallowed hard when Mr. Hwang returned to the front of the room to conclude his lecture. What the hell was I doing wrong? I had even sent this paper to a former TA at my previous school who offered to look at it before I submitted the damn thing.

But instead of feeling disappointed about my failure, I sensed a rising anger directed at the man standing in front of the room. Everyone else around me celebrated their A’s while I was left with a nasty letter grade that would hardly reflect well on my GPA. What could the rest of my classmates be doing differently?

“That’s it for today!” Mr. Hwang announced. “We’ll pick up on this again next time!”

I frowned as I stuffed the essay at the bottom of my bag. It still wasn’t too late to switch out of this stupid class, and then I could finally re-orient my focus. “Y/N!” Mr. Hwang called out when I passed by his desk. “Can I have a moment of your time, dear?”

Dear?! “Sure,” I grumbled, once again waiting for the masses of Mr. Hwang’s admirers to leave the room before I confronted my teacher.

“Well,” Mr. Hwang began with an exaggerated sigh. “What will we do about these poor grades of yours?”

I bristled at the comment because it sounded strangely hostile - perhaps even threatening. “Don’t worry, sir,” I said. “I’m transferring out your class. You don’t have to concern yourself with me.”

I turned my back on Mr. Hwang as I started for the exit. “Don’t be silly, Y/N,” Mr. Hwang said. “I’ve spoken to your other teachers, and they tell me that this a requirement for your major. And I’m the only person who teaches the subject.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I hissed under my breath, but I did my best to retain a neutral expression as I returned to his desk. “What’s the problem, sir?” I asked. “I had the last essay peer-checked by a former instructor.”

“Our grading standards are much higher, Y/N,” Mr. Hwang informed me haughtily. “I think the real issue is your attitude.”

“My attitude?” I repeated - completely dumbfounded by the accusation.

“You don’t really show any engagement with the material,” Mr. Hwang elaborated. “You always come to class, but I can tell that your attention is elsewhere. And you don’t even bother to come to my office hours to talk about the topics we cover.”

“I didn’t realize, sir,” I said, and I was shocked that he considered me disinterested in my studies.

“It’s okay to ask for help, Y/N,” Mr. Hwang explained. “You’re the only student who never stays behind to talk to me.”

Because I have better things to compliment your face! “I have another lecture after this one,” I offered as a response.

“Then it seems to me like I should make an effort to meet you outside of designated hours,” Mr. Hwang said. “I have an apartment off-campus. Maybe you can come over this weekend?”

For a moment, I was completely stunned by his proposal. “I don’t think that’s appropriate, Mr. Hwang,” I said, taking a step back away from him.

“Why not?” Mr. Hwang asked. “It’ll just be me and you.”

“Uh, I don’t know...”

“Oh, Y/N, I have to insist,” Mr. Hwang said, and I watched him open his grade-book. “You won’t even muster a C in this class if you keep going at this rate.”

It seemed preposterous that I could make straight A’s in every other class but still fail this one at the same time. “I’ll think about it,” I said while doing my best to ignore his pleased smile.

It was late that night when my phone lit up with an incoming notification. I groaned in response because I wasn’t expecting anything from the boys, but then again, maybe Changbin needed fresh jerk-off material, and I could always send him a picture of my tits. But I was surprised to realize that I was wrong on all accounts, and my heart started beating faster when I read the message:

From Unknown:

Y/N, it’s Hyunjin from your poetry class.

Hyunjin? Oh, right, that was Mr. Hwang’s first name.

To Unknown:

Me: How did you get this number?

From Unknown:

H: The student profiles.

“It’s still an invasion of my privacy,” I grumbled.

H: We can be very casual with one another outside of class. Wouldn’t you agree?

I narrowed my eyes at the informal suggestion. 

To Unknown:

Me: If that’s okay with you, sir.

I waited for several moments, but it seemed like Mr. Hwang was finally done texting me. I shrugged at the unusual conversation, but before I could place my phone back on my nightstand, it vibrated with another incoming message. This one had a picture attached....

“Holy shit!” I gasped, dropping my phone onto the bed as my heart started to thud violently inside my chest.

From Unknown:

H: Do you like it, princess?

“Is he crazy?” I decried, and my hands were trembling when I brought my phone screen closer. Because the attachment contained a very obscene picture of a dick, and I didn’t need more than two guesses to assume that it was Mr. Hwang’s. 

My fingers were shaking as I stared at the image - zooming in closer to observe the delicate bead of precum glistening at the tip. There was also a hand wrapped around the base, and even though I didn’t have much experience with sex, I could still acknowledge that it was a very nice cock. But did I really just get a dick pic from my poetry teacher?

To Unknown:

Me: I’m not sure what you expect me to say.

I sent the message before attempting to fan my flushed skin - feeling overheated because this was not what I had been expecting when Mr. Hwang sent me the first message.

From Unknown:

H: It’s alright, princess. I’m not much for talking either. Why don’t you come over this weekend so you can show me your reaction instead?

Oh, god, I was definitely teetering on the precipice of very dangerous ground. I’m talking the same kind of inappropriate that could get him fired and me expelled. What the hell was he even thinking? Was Mr. Hwang trying to hit on me?!!

I shook my head because it was suddenly very difficult to concentrate, but I was also feeling the vestiges of panic creeping around the edges of my vision. My hands could barely hold the screen long enough for me to type out a quick response:

To Unknown:

Me: Maybe some other time.

The next morning, I was still shaken from my unexpected text conversation with Mr. Hwang. For most of the night, I simply stared at the ceiling while my phone continued to vibrate with incoming messages. Eventually, I was forced to mute his number, and I still couldn’t fall asleep.

I was barely functional the next morning, but I was also strangely horny, which is why I didn’t hesitate to encourage Changbin when he sent me a message asking if he could come visit. I waited and chose a time when my roommate would be gone - sighing in relief when I heard him knocking on the door. I threw it open quickly, and he was clearly caught off-guard by my eagerness. “I’m so glad to see you,” I said, and I didn’t hesitate to lock my lips with his, kissing Changbin with all the nervous energy that I had tried to keep to myself all weekend. 

“Wow,” Changbin managed when we both pulled apart for air. “The no dick policy at this shithole has fucked you up.”

“Yeah? I need you to fuck me, Changbin,” I said, and he must’ve saw something in my eyes that changed his mind. 

He pushed us both into my room, turning around to lock the door before reaching down for the hem of his t-shirt. “Bend over for me, baby,” he said, and his voice was husky as I took off my clothes and braced myself against the desk.

“I really need this,” I told him from over my shoulder - shameless as I explored every inch of his toned form.

“I got you, baby,” Changbin said, and he moved behind me to spread my legs, taking a few moments to finger me with his long digits, stretching out my opening while stimulating my clitoris with his thumb. “You definitely need to be fucked,” Changbin remarked. “Your pussy is so tight.”

“Please,” I whispered, and Changbin was quick to replace his fingers with the same cock that I often drooled over when I masturbated late at night. He set an urgent pace from the start, grabbing my hips between his hands to hold me in place as he filled me with his cock over and over again. “Changbin,” I whined, burying my face in my forearms and trying to ignore the pain in my stomach from where he knocked me into the wood on every thrust. 

It wasn’t equivocal to one of our more passionate rounds of lovemaking, but it was everything that I needed. Enough to wipe all consideration of Hwang Hyunjin clear out of my head as I enjoyed the delightful friction of Changbin’s cock rolling against the constricting walls of my cunt. “It feels so good,” I whispered, and I closed my eyes in pleasure.

“Tell me when you’re close,” Changbin said. “I wouldn’t want your roommate to come back.”

However, the inherent risk of being caught by my roommate was also a factor in my rapid ascent to orgasm. “Coming!” I shouted while feeling myself unravel around his cock as he rammed himself inside. 

Thereafter, I settled on top of my bed while Changbin tied off his condom and tossed it into the trash. I smiled when he crawled in next to me, reaching for his jeans hanging from the edge and pulling out a package of cigarettes. “Open the window,” I instructed him. “I can’t have you polluting my room.”

Changbin chuckled, but obeyed nonetheless. He also drug the ashtray on the windowsill closer before lighting the cigarette and bringing it to his swollen lips for a long inhale. “I really missed you, Y/N,” Changbin said, taking another drag from his cigarette before placing it in the ash tray next to the open window. 

“I missed you too,” I told him, closing my eyes for a moment as I relaxed against the pillows - savoring the warmth of Changbin from next to me.

“I had a nice time with you,” Changbin added. “Maybe we could...try dating again?”

I froze at the words I had been dreading to hear. You see, Changbin and I had been dating off-and-on for many years at this point, and we both knew that we didn’t work well as a couple. Yet, that never stopped him from encouraging us to try again, and as much as I loved the sex, I couldn’t tolerate the complicated feelings involved.

“I don’t think so, Changbin,” I said, wincing when I heard him sigh. “You know that never ends well for us.”

“Yeah,” Changbin agreed, although it hurt my heart to see him look so sad. “I can’t help it, Y/N.”

“We can still keep doing this,” I said, reaching over to place a tender kiss on his bicep. 

“Maybe,” Changbin agreed, but something in his tone told me that this might be the last time I ever enjoyed Changbin’s company in bed.

“Could I at least show you around campus?” I asked him. “I’ll even treat you to lunch?”

Thankfully, Changbin managed a smile at my offer. 

By the time Changbin had left campus, I was feeling strangely alone when I settled at a cafe in the student union to work on some homework. I couldn’t help but feel like I had disappointed Changbin, and I prayed to anyone who was listening that we might still be friends. Because we had been close well before the sexting and late-night phone conversations that always ended up with an orgasm or two.

Changbin was the epitome of the type of guy I usually lusted after: strong, handsome, and intimidating. But we always argued too much whenever we tried the whole couple thing, and that was enough to ruin any preconceived notions I held about a relationship with the object of my most intimate fantasies. “You always manage to ruin everything, Y/N,” I muttered to myself, and it was suddenly way too difficult to focus on homework.

But I was still distracted enough that I almost failed to recognize the man who had just walked into the cafe...until he was standing right next to my table. “I always enjoy seeing my students outside of our lectures,” Mr. Hwang said with a smirk. “Do you mind if I join you?”

It took me a while to respond to his simple inquiry because my mind instantly returned to the picture of his cock that still sat in my messages. “Sure,” I eventually mustered, willing my stomach to settle down while ignoring the harsh smell of his cologne. 

“Is that my assignment you’re working on?” Mr. Hwang inquired as he took another sip of his coffee.

Is he just going to pretend like everything is okay? “Yeah,” I said, sliding my laptop screen closer. “For the author essay.”

“Do you mind if I take a look?” Mr. Hwang asked, and I shivered at the dark look in his gaze.

“I guess so,” I said, and I passed off my computer screen, observing the way he read over the words before sighing.

“You just don’t seem to understand, Y/N,” Mr. Hwang said, and I could feel myself almost snapping.

“What don’t I understand, Mr. Hwang?” I asked with barely constrained frustration.

“Oh, please call me Hyunjin,” he replied. “Mr. Hwang makes me sound so old.”

“Fine,” I huffed. “But the essay?”

“It lacks passion,” Mr. Hwang explained. “Your writing is decent, but it’s very by the books, you know? I’m looking for my students to play around with their words and have fun! We read enough academia as it stands.”

“Passion?” I repeated. “And how do you suggest that I learn passion?”

Mr. Hwang smiled, and I felt like I had just walked right into a trap. “You’re a very young and attractive woman, Y/N,” he said. “Have you ever been in a relationship before?”

“Several,” I said, keeping my responses short and vague on purpose. Because i couldn’t figure out where he was going with this strange conversation.

“Several?” Mr. Hwang repeated. “Well, that’s a shame then.”

“What do you mean?”

“The sex must be very boring,” Mr. Hwang said. “If you’re still writing this way.”

I didn’t even bother trying to stop my mouth from falling open. “I really don’t think it’s any of your business!”

“I have to make it my business when your grades are this atrocious,” Mr. Hwang insisted, and his eyes rolled over my form. “I find myself quite attracted to you, Y/N. Perhaps I can help solve this little dilemma of yours.”

Fuck it! I thought to myself as I leaned in closer - ready to risk it all because I wouldn’t tolerate his attitude for another moment! “To tell you the truth, Mr. Hwang,” I said, feeling triumphant when his eyes flashed in annoyance at my blatant dismissal of his earlier request. “You’re just not my type.”

“And what is your type?” Mr. Hwang snapped. “Certainly not that little jock you were walking around with on campus?”

“Changbin?” I said without really thinking, but then I found myself wondering how he even knew about that in the first place. “How did you know?”

“I saw the two of you,” Mr. Hwang said like it wasn’t a big deal. “I couldn’t help but notice, Y/N, and that poor boy was following you around like a lost puppy.”

“This is crossing a line,” I said, slamming my laptop closed. “I can see anyone I want.” 

“You’re not interested in doing better?” Mr. Hwang asked. “Trust me, Y/N. I was there once, and most college boys like him are only interested in sticking their dicks into something warm. I think you need someone mature who isn’t only interested in their own satisfaction.”

“Changbin’s sweet to me,” I insisted, and Mr. Hwang scoffed.

“I bet he is, especially if you’re always willing to spread your legs for him.”

“Like you could do any better!” 

“Wouldn’t you like to find out?”

I fell back into my seat as I slowly processed his words. “Sir, I-”

“You can’t possibly know if I’m your type, Y/N,” Mr. Hwang continued. “I think I deserve a fair chance to prove you wrong.”

I could scarcely believe how casual he was acting - like this wasn’t completely against thousands of school rules. It was entirely scandalous, and there were so many inherent risks if we were to ever get caught....but, yet, somewhere deep down inside of me, I felt the familiar heat of arousal.

“You’re thinking about it.” Mr. Hwang smiled. “Come over this Friday, Y/N, and I’ll show you what a real man looks like.”

I had never been this nervous before in my entire life, wiping my sweaty palms against my jeans as I walked up to Hyunjin’s apartment. There was a far more rational part of myself that was screaming at me to run in the opposite direction, but the incessant desire to knock on the door far outweighed the consequences. And my breath hitched in my throat when I saw him standing in the doorway dressed to the nines in tight skinny jeans and a white, button-up shirt while I looked like I had just woken up,

“There you are,” Hyunjin said with a sultry tone, and he reached for my hand to pull me inside. “Sit down for a moment,” he encouraged me, smirking at the look on my face as I took in his lavishly decorated apartment. Still, I managed to obey him as I sat down on the leather futon in the center of the room.

“Your apartment is nice,” I commented, and I held my breath when Hyunjin sat down next to me - stretching out his long legs while he studied me with an impenetrable gaze.

“I have a few rules tonight, Y/N,” he said, and I forced myself to nod. “Are you aware of the color-light system?”

“Color-light system?” I repeated.

“How adorable,” Hyunjin said with a mocking tone. “You’ve made it seem like you know your way around a cock, but you’re clearly more innocent than I assumed.”

My eyes widened at his filthy language. “Sir?”

“That’s a good start,” Hyunjin said. “You will refer to me as sir tonight, do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, and Hyunjin smiled at my easy compliance.

“As for the color system,” Hyunjin said. “I want to make sure that you’re comfortable, Y/N. Green means that you can handle whatever we’re doing, yellow means that I need to slow down, and red implies that we’ll stop completely. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good,” Hyunjin purred. “Would you feel more at ease in the bedroom?”

I offered him a timid nod, and Hyunjin held out his hand which I accepted - hoping that he wouldn’t notice the evidence of my nerves. But I was half-way expecting something truly horrible, which meant that I was also genuinely surprised to discover a normal bedroom - sparsely furnished with a king-sized bed with a beautiful silk comforter. “Why don’t you take your clothes off for me, princess?” Hyunjin asked, and I shivered at the familiar pet name. “Lay down on the bed, and I’ll grab a few things before we start.”

I waited until Hyunjin turned his back to me before undressing and leaving my clothes in a neat pile on a nearby chair. Then, I hesitantly lowered my body onto the mattress while resisting the urge to cover myself. Especially when Hyunjin returned with a bundle of interesting items, placing them aside while he looked me over from head to toe. “Oh, princess,” he said. “What a beautiful body.”

I could feel myself flushing at his words and Hyunjin laughed. “Where’s that feisty attitude from before, princess? Or was it all for show?”

“Mr. Hwang-”

“Sir,” he quickly corrected me, and I stiffened when he presented a bright red blindfold. “We’ll put this on first,” Hyunjin said, and he ordered me to sit up long enough for him to secure the tie in the back - taking away my sight and leaving me anxious for his next move. “This will make everything feel so much better,” he said, and I jumped when his fingers started to trail down the smooth skin of my stomach. “Oh, you must be very sensitive,” Hyunjin remarked, and I didn't quite know what to do with my hands when he parted the delicate folds of my pussy. “Y/N, are you already wet?” he asked, and I tried to hold back a moan when he inserted one finger, moving it around before leaving me feeling empty once again. 

“Let’s try this,” Hyunjin said, and I gasped when I heard the familiar sounds of a vibrator. “You’ve probably used this plenty of times,” Hyunjin continued. “When you had to finish yourself off after those little boys tried to please you.”

He started with my nipples - moving in small circles around the hardened peaks. It wasn’t anything overwhelming, and I enjoyed the pleasant sensation. However, the soothing action didn’t last for long, and I gripped the silken sheets between my fingers, spreading my legs wider on instinct when Hyunjin trailed the vibrations down to my sensitive pussy lips. “Oh, shit,” I said, nearly exploding when the vibrator made contact with my clitoris. Especially when he increased the power - turning the damn thing up to its highest setting as he held it there in the same spot.

I was gone before it had even started, convulsing around nothing as I came hard against the sheets. And I fully expected him to stop since he had gotten his way, but Hyunjin only surprised me when he continued to move the vibrator against my throbbing clit, refusing to relinquish the stimulating vibrations as everything started to burn with the threat of yet another orgasm slowly building.

“Fuck, you’re leaking everywhere,” Hyunjin said, but there was only awe in his tone, and I could practically feel the weight of his gaze. “Such a good girl,” Hyunjin added, and he started moving the vibrator in faster circles while he refused to take it away from my poor, aching sex.

I moaned around my second orgasm - coming hard again, but there was also an undeniable sensitivity that had me trying to escape the cursed vibrator, but Hyunjin only used a firm grip on my hips to hold me in place.

“Please stop!” I cried.

“Color,” Hyunjin growled, and he continued to press down even harder.

“Y-yellow,” I stuttered, and the vibrations slowed down to a more acceptable level as Hyunjin circled the head around my clit.

“I want one more from you, Y/N,” he said. “Then, I think you might be ready for my cock.”

I almost fell apart at his words, and I found myself unable to deny that everything was so good with him. There was also a strange and foreign part of me that desperately wanted to please him, and I started rolling my hips in time with his circles, chasing another high as I nearly screamed from the intensity. “Look at you,” Hyunjin sneered when he turned off the vibrator, and I could feel the bed dip beneath his weight. He snatched away my blindfold, and I blinked rapidly at the returning light before focusing on the obscene image of Hyunjin jerking himself off in front of me. “You have to be honest with me, princess,” he growled. “Is my cock better than his?”

“S-sir?” I questioned, having trouble focusing because of the thick haze surrounding my frazzled brain. 

“That little prick you were with,” Hyunjin said. “Is his cock better than mine?”

I was smart enough to know the right answer, and I shook my head from side to side. “Your cock is better, sir,” I said, and Hyunjin brightened with a grin. 

“It’s big, isn’t it?” Hyunjin asked, and he was shuffling over me with a sardonic grin. “Why don’t you touch it?”

I swallowed hard, but quickly acquiesced, wrapping my hand around his impressive girth before allowing myself to give him several strokes - making sure to give some attention to the head. “Oh,” Hyunjin moaned, looking down at me with sultry eyes. “That feels good, princess, but would you rather have my cock somewhere else?”

I whimpered at his words. “Yes, sir.”

“Tell me where,” Hyunjin demanded. “I want to know exactly what you want me to do, princess.”

“I want your cock in my pussy,” I said. “I need you to fuck me, sir.”

“Shit,” Hyunjin snarled, and he moved my legs apart to expose my cunt. “How can I possibly say no when you asked me so nicely?”

But I was a complete mess at this point - debauched and overcome with pleasure. Yet, when I felt the tip of Hyunjin’s cock penetrate my weeping sex, I could already feel myself growing excited all over again. He wasn’t gentle either - spearing me with one harsh plunge of his erection against the resisting walls of my pussy. 

“Oh, fuck,” Hyunjin said. “Are you sure you’re not a virgin, princess?”

There were tears in my eyes when I reached out for his shoulders, holding on for dear life as he started moving himself around inside of me. Pulling back to leave just the tip of his cock at my entrance, before thrusting forward with unrelenting strength. In spite of his skinnier stature, Hyunjin wasn’t to be underestimated. He knew exactly how to use his hips, and he continued to breach my constricting cunt with everything that he had. 

“You’re taking me so well, princess,” he said, forcing my legs even further apart, and finding a better angle to attack the delicate g-spot that rapidly sent me hurtling for my fourth orgasm of the night.

I was completely spent, barely holding on to consciousness while Hyunjin finally came with a hoarse cry of my name - dragging his cock in and out of my pussy as he milked himself for every last bit of cum. Then, he pulled himself out with a far more gentle touch, leaning down for the first time that night to connect our lips in a surprisingly warm kiss.

“Is that what you were expecting, Y/N?” he asked with a playful smile. “Am I still not your type?”

I shook my head because words were the last thing on my mind. But Hyunjin simply chuckled at my speechless state, and I watched him move around the room completely naked as he cleaned up the mess we had made. Meanwhile, I held up my hands to make sure that my vision had returned to normal.

Eventually, Hyunjin settled back down behind me, and I was somewhat surprised that he hadn’t kicked me out of his apartment. Even more so when he started to run his fingers down my waist. “I think you finally learned passion, Y/N,” he said, and I couldn’t help but agree with him.

“Can I start writing acceptable essays?” I asked him with a more confident tone.

“Of course,” he agreed. “But Y/N,” Hyunjin added, and I groaned when he cupped the heat between my legs. “You better call me Hyunjin from now on.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, grinning when I heard him growl in warning.

“You’re asking for it, aren’t you?”

I gave him a coy smile in return, watching as he rolled over top of me to spread my thighs again.

The next day in class, I smiled when I saw an A+ written at the top of my latest essay assignment. One that I had stayed up late to complete while sitting at Hyunjin’s desk with his cock buried inside my wet heat. Apparently, my first lesson was complete, but I couldn’t help but think that there was still a lot more left to learn.

“Everyone did well,” Hyunjin said as he paced at the front of the room. “I’ll see you all again soon.”

The dismissal was met with the beginnings of several conversations throughout the lecture room, and I simply organized my things before tossing my bag over my shoulder. Yet, on the way out the door, I couldn’t help but smile when I heard Hyunjin’s voice from behind me. “Y/N?” Hyunjin called out, and I could already feel the arousal gathering between my legs. “Why don’t you stay after class?”

[supermarvelgirl15]

Home- Chapter 5 (The Reckoning)

Summary: An old contact extends an invitation to the Mandalorian and Jesla to make peace with their enemies. Jesla learns something new about what the Jedi are capable of.

Pairing: Eventual Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) × OC!Jesla Gavdo

Word Count: 4,020

Warnings: None really

A/N: So the reason this took forever was because I wrote half of it, and my laptop crashed and didn't save, so I had to rewrite it. Anyway, I'm actually excited about writing the next chapter. Enjoy!

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

××××××

    “My friend, if you are receiving this transmission that means you are alive. You might be surprised to hear this but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even. A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-Imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city, which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out. If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while. You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters. But they will not stop until they have their prize. So here is my proposition: Return to Nevarro, bring the Child as bait. I will arrange an exchange and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near the client, you kill him, and we both get what we want. If you succeed, you keep the Child and I will have your name cleared with the Guild, for a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile. I await your arrival with optimism.”

   Jesla and Din both watched the older man's- whose name Jesla came to find out was Greef Karga- hologram message. Jesla looks back at the Child who was asleep, contemplating what their course of action should be. She knew that they couldn't run away forever.

   “I think we should go,” Mando speaks up, turning his chair to face her. 

   “We don't exactly have a choice,” Jesla scoffs, crossing her arms. “We're going to need to recruit some help,” she adds.

   Mando tilts his head, the incredulous look he's currently giving Jesla hidden by his helmet. “Wouldn't that be overkill? We're enough,” he shares, recalling the incidents with both Toro and Xi'an. 

   Jesla she shakes her head. “I can't use my abilities around the Empire. It'll just make our situation worse than what it already is,” she tells him as her fingers start to tap the side of her leg once again. Din realized that she would do that whenever she felt uneasy about something.

   Din sighs, turning back to face the control panel. He spares a look at the sleeping Child before setting a course that Jesla and him were familiar with, and the Razor Crest jumps into hyperspace.

                                            ∞∞∞

   The duo walk into a common house on Sorgan, seeing Cara Dune win a laser tethered boxing match with a male Zabrak. As the patrons hand Cara her winnings, she notices them approaching her. 

   “Looking for some work?”

   They all sit at a table, Cara and Jesla helping their selves to some spotchka as Mando starts explaining their situation to Dune. It seemed like a straightforward operation since Karga and his men were providing the plan and the firepower. Mando and the kid were the snares while Jesla and Cara would be their backup in case anything went south.

  Cara shook her head as she took a sip from her glass of spotchka. “I don't know. I've been advised to lay low. If anybody runs my chain code, I'll rot in a cell for the rest of my life,” she tells them.

   “I thought you were a veteran,” Mando queries with a tilt of his helmet.

   “I've been a lot things since, most of them carry a life sentence. If I so much as book passage on a ship registered to the New Republic I'm...” Cara starts before Mando interrupts her.

   “I have a ship. We can bring you there and back with a handsome reward. You can live free of worry,” Din bargains.

   “I'm already free of worry. And I'm not in the mood to play soldier anymore. Especially fighting some local warlord,” Cara shrugs, placing her now empty cup on the table.

   Jesla takes a swig of her drink before looking up at the dropper. “He's not a local warlord. He's Imperial,” she informs her.

   Dune makes direct eye contact with the ex-sharpshooter, a smirk working its way on her face. “I'm in.”

                                            ∞∞∞

   The Razor Crest flies through space as the group of outlaws prepare for their upcoming mission. Jesla was nervous about going up against the New Empire. As far as everyone knew, she had blew up with the second Death Star. If they found out that she was still alive... Well, she didn't want to think about those consequences. She just had to make sure that no one recognized her.

   Karga didn't even know that her and Cara would be accompanying the Mandalorian and the Child. Hopefully, that wouldn't be a problem. At first, Cara was confused as of why they were going to help someone that neither of them trusted in the first place, but once she realized that they didn't exactly have a choice, she understood.

   And after a little incident with the Child trying to fly the ship, they realized that they needed someone to watch him. Luckily, Mando knew someone that he trusted enough with such a task. 

   Jesla watched from the cockpit window as they landed near a moisture farm on Arvala-7, an Ugnaught trying to tame his blurrgs. Mando had told her that this was the planet where he had found the Child. 

   The Ugnaught gladly invites them all inside his residence, all of them having to bend down to get through the doorway. They all take a seat in the hut, Jesla promptly observing the inside of the house. In her subconscious, she noted her exits and anything that could be used as a weapon. She couldn't help it.

   “It hasn't grown much,” the Ugnaught comments as he looks over the Child. 

  “I think it might be a strand-cast,” Din suggests as he too looks over the kid.

   “I don't think it was engineered. I've worked in the gene farms. This one looks evolved. Too ugly. This one on the other hand,” the Ugnaught points at Cara, “looks like she was farmed in the Cytocaves of Nora.”

   “This is Cara Dune. She was a shock-trooper,” Mando introduces her. Din makes eye contact with Jesla through his visor. “And this is Jesla Gavdo. She was an Imperial sharpshooter.”

   The Ugnaught looks Jesla up and down, as if accessing her. “I too served on the other side, I'm afraid. But I'm proud to say that I paid out my clan's debt and now I serve no one but myself,” he tells her. Jesla nods in understanding, not missing the look Cara gives them both out of the corner of her eye.

   Then an IG unit enters the building with a tray. Cara, Din, and Jesla all jump up and draw their blasters on the droid. “Would anyone care for some tea?” It asks them nonchalantly.

   “Please lower your blasters. He will not harm you,” the Ugnaught informs them.

   “That thing is programmed to kill the baby,” Mando says bitterly, not taking his blaster off the IG unit. 

   “Not anymore.”

   IG-11 continues to pour a glass of tea as the Ugnaught tells them all about how he found the IG unit left behind by the Mandalorian and how he reprogrammed it. He told them about the slow and difficult process that he endured to reconstruct the droid. Jesla carefully watched Mando during the Ugnaught's explanation. She knew he would always have his doubts about the droid. Who could blame him?

   They all simultaneously lower their blasters and sit back down around the table. Jesla gladly accepts the droid's offered cup of tea, taking a small sip of it. She didn't really know this Ugnaught long enough to trust him, but she did trust Mando. And his judgement was good enough for her.

                                              ∞∞∞

   Jesla, Cara, and Mando sit in the Razor Crest's cockpit on the way to Nevarro while the Ugnaught, Kuiil, works on a new crib for the Child down in the hangar. Jesla cleans her blaster, making sure it was in working order. She doubted that she would need her MK, but she was going to bring it anyway. Her blaster was her main focus at the moment though.

   “Do you know what station the Imperial officer is?” Cara asks Jesla, making her stop her movements on the blaster.

   “No, I didn't lay eyes on him before we ditched Nevarro. Mando took out his safe house when he snatched the kid. They've definitely reinforced their troops since then,” Jesla answers her. 

   IG-11 then appears in the entryway of the cockpit. “I have prepared second meal. Would you care to be served here or below?” He questions everyone.

   Before Jesla could respond, Mando beats her to it. “I'm not hungry,” he says shortly. Cara and Jesla share a look as the IG unit leaves without another word. “Under no circumstances does that thing leave the ship,” he states.

   “You got a real thing for droids, don't you,” Cara observes. Jesla sits quietly as she waits for Mando's response. She wondered if he would tell Cara why he hates them.

   “I got a real thing for that droid,” Mando replies, gesturing to where IG-11 had walked out. 

   Cara side-eyes Jesla as her brows knit together. “The Ugnaught said he rewired it,” she reminds him.

   “That droid was designed to kill things. I don't care how much wiring he replaced, it goes against its nature,” Din spits out angrily. Jesla's eyes soften as she continues to watch him, knowing exactly how he felt about the topic. 

   Shooting Jesla another look, Cara stands up. “Well, shouldn't be a long job anyway. You take out the head Imp, the rest will run like rats,” she says before she leaves the cockpit.

   A sigh escapes Mando's modulator as he turns to look at Jesla from over his shoulder. “You should go eat. We still have a while left until we get to Nevarro,” he tells her, pressing some buttons on the control panel.

   Jesla nods as she stands up, placing her weapons in her seat. “I'll bring you up something,” she says before she too descends down the stairs into the hangar. 

  Din turns to look after her, another sigh leaving his lips. He wasn't sure how he felt about his new friend. She was a lot like him in some ways, but there was still something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. 

                                             ∞∞∞

   After what felt like forever to Jesla, Mando finally lands the Razor Crest on the deserted surface of Nevarro. Everyone, except for IG-11, mount on the blurrgs and exit the ship, meeting Greef Karga and his three associates outside.

   “Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando. But things have gotten complicated since you were last here. It appears that introductions are in order. It seems we've both provided a security detail,” Greef Karga observes as his eyes scan over Jesla, Cara, and Kuiil. His eyes land on Jesla's MK-modified rifle strapped over her shoulder. “I guess you were the sniper that took out some of my men that night,” he puts together, his hands going to rest on his hips. Jesla just gives him a once over as she proceeds to not respond to him. 

   Karga realizes that he isn't going to get anything out of her and turns his attention back to Mando. “Now, where's the little one?” He questions as he looks around for it. 

   Mando moves the floating crib towards him. Greef opens it and his eyes widen as they land on the Child. “So... this little bogwing is what all the fuss was about,” he takes the Child out of the crib, “what a precious little creature. I can see why you didn't wanna harm a hair on its wrinkled little head.” He gives him a once over before placing him back in the crib. “Well, I'm glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all.”

   Din calls the crib back to him. “The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell and camp out on the river bank, then make our way into town at first light,” Karga informs them before turning to lead the way. Din looks back at his new friends, following Karga with them right behind him.

   Once night fell, they all decided to set up a makeshift camp for the rest of the night. One of Karga's bounty hunters had put a piece of meat over the fire to cook. Jesla watches as Kuiil feeds the Child, the members of Karga's group eyeing each other suspiciously.

   “I guess the little bugger's a carnivore. Never seen anything like it. They were ready to pay a king's ransom for that thing. Must be for some kind of highfalutin menagerie,” Greef comments, looking at Mando.

   “Let's go over the plan again,” Mando says, stirring the conversation back to business. That was, as always, Mando for you.

   “We both enter the common house. We show the client the bait. We join him at the table, and you kill him,” Karga explains simply with a shrug.

   Jesla turns to face both Greef and Mando. “What about his reinforcements? Surely he's upped his security since last time,” she points out. She knew how these Imperial officers worked.

   A look of surprise briefly flashes across Karga's features. “No more than four. He travels with, at most, a fire team. Trust me, nothing could go wrong,” he tells her as he gets up and grabs the piece of meat that was over the fire. Jesla shook her head. That didn't sound right.

   Suddenly, a winged creature swoops in and grabs the meat out of Greef's hands. Everyone goes into a frenzy after that. They all start shooting at the dragon creatures, Mando closing the crib to protect the Child. Dragons start grabbing blurrgs, even one of Karga's bounty hunters. 

   Another dragon attacks the Mandalorian, both Jesla and Cara shooting it to get it off of him. He luckily fights it off by blasting it with fire. After that, the remaining dragons disappear. It's not until then when Jesla and the others notice that Greef was badly injured.

   Cara immediately springs into action, checking Karga's arm where the dragon ripped it open. “This is bad. The poison is spreading fast,” she informs them as she spills out the contents of her med-pack. She gives him a shot, but it doesn't seem to help.

   Jesla watches as the Child walks up to them as Cara frantically tries to help Karga. Everyone watches as the Child places his hand over his wound, Jesla tilting her head in curiosity. The Child's face relaxes as Greef's wound closes, immediately falling asleep right after. 

   Din looks up at Jesla, watching as emotion after emotion flashes through her eyes. He wasn't sure what was going through her head. It was obvious that she didn't know that the kid was capable of doing such a thing, let alone herself. 

                                             ∞∞∞

   The next morning, they all set out to continue their trek to the town. Jesla walks behind the group, the events of last night still fresh in her mind. She absentmindedly watches Mando and Cara converse with one another in front of her, but she didn't hear anything that they were saying. 

   Her eyes drift to the crib that was floating beside Mando, the Child hidden in it. She wondered how he did it, if she could do it. Did she have the ability to save so many people that were dear to her and she didn't even know? 

   The Mandalorian looks back over his shoulder, seeing Jesla lost in her thoughts. With a nod to Cara, he falls back to walk beside Jesla. She didn't even notice his presence until he spoke to her.

   “Did you... know that he could do... whatever that was?” He asks her, looking straight ahead. He himself was still surprised at the new information.

   “No,” she answers shortly. She didn't mean to be short with him, but her emotions were starting to get the best of her.  Jesla knew that she was overreacting, but she couldn't stop the guilt that was slowly taking over her.

   You could have saved your brothers. You could have saved your master.

   Din sees the internal conflict going on inside his partner. He wasn't sure what he could say to make her feel better. He didn't know how to talk about these things, wasn't trained to do it. His mind drifts back to the time of his life before the droids attacked. His mother would probably know what to say in this situation, so would his father.

   He opens his mouth to say something, but is stopped when Karga and his men halt ahead of them. “I guess this is it,” Karga announces to the group.

   Before either Din or Jesla could register what was going on, Greef suddenly spins around with his two blasters and shoots his two bounty hunters. He then immediately raises his blasters in capitulation as the others train their own blasters on him.

   “There's something you should know. The plan was to kill you and take the kid. But after what happened last night I couldn't go through with it. Go on, you can gun me down here and now, and it wouldn't violate the Code. But if you do, this child will never be safe,” Karga quickly explains to them. 

   “We'll take our chances,” Cara tells him, her finger on the trigger.

   Karga's eyes widen slightly as he tries to save himself. “The Imperial client is obsessed with obtaining this asset. You tried to run, but where did it get you? Listen. We both need the client to be eliminated. Let me take the Child to him, and then you three--”

  “No.”

   “Let's just kill him and get outta here.”

   “He's right.”

   Both Cara and Jesla shoot Mando an incredulous look. As he lowers his blaster, Jesla sighs before reluctantly following suit. What was going through his head? 

   “As long as the Imp lives he'll send hunters after the Child,” Mando points out. Jesla knew that he was right, but she also knew that this whole thing could be a trap. 

   “Bring me. Tell him you captured me. Get me close to him, and I'll kill him,” Mando tells Karga. Now he was being insane, especially when he handed Karga his blaster.

    However, Jesla knew how stubborn this beskar cladded man could be, so she knew that there was no way he was going to change his mind. “Well, I'm coming with you,” she states, Cara also jumping in.

   “No, no, no. That would make them suspicious,” Karga opposes as he shakes his head in disagreement. Both Jesla and Cara shrug, not caring less.

   “Tell ’em they caught me. I have a plan. Kuiil, ride back to the Razor Crest with the Child and seal yourself in. When you're inside, engage ground security protocols, and nothing on this planet will breach those doors,” Mando orders, turning to face Kuiil.

   Kuiil nods as he walks up to him. “Here's a comlink. I will keep the Child safe,” he turns to Cara, “don't forget to cover your stripes,” he reminds her. He then takes the Child out of the crib and hops on the remaining blurrg, heading in the direction of the Razor Crest.

   Mando hands Karga his handcuffs, Karga placing them on him as Cara covers her tattoo with a piece of fabric. Jesla made sure to take off her hood and mask, anything to hide her real identity from the Empire. They didn't know her face, only her name.

   “Let's go.”

                                          ∞∞∞

   The group walk up to the entrance of town, greeted by Stormtroopers standing guard. Jesla tenses up once she sees them, subconsciously trying to hide as she stands on the other side of the Mandalorian. 

   Greef produces his ID card for the Stormtrooper to scan his chain code and they continue on their way. More Stormtroopers march pass them and Cara comments on how Karga said there was only supposed to be four. 

   “Four guarding the client. Many more here in town. Things got really heated once Mando crashed the safe house.”

   Once they finally get to the common house, the door opens to reveal the Imperial officer and four Stormtroopers. Jesla didn't recognize the officer, but then again, she didn't really pay attention to them.

   “Look what I brought you. As promised,” Karga greets the officer, gesturing to Mando. Cara and Jesla share a look before looking back at the client.

   The client approaches them, caressing Mando's beskar armor. “What exquisite craftmanship. It is amazing how beautiful beskar can be when forged by its ancestral artisans. Can I offer you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?” He asks, looking back at Greef. 

   Karga nods and shoves Mando to sit in the booth, Cara and Jesla standing beside the table. The officer also sits as more Stormtroopers enter the building. “It is a shame that your people suffered so. Just as in this situation, it was all avoidable. Why did Mandalore resist our expansion? The Empire improves every system it touches. Judge by any metric. Safety. Prosperity. Trade. Opportunity. Peace. Compare Imperial rule to what is happening now. Look outside. Is the world more peaceful since the revolution? I see nothing but death and chaos,” he rambles before adding, “I would like to see the baby.”

   “Uh...it is asleep,” Karga fibs, glancing over to the pod. 

   “We all will be quiet. Open the pram,” the client orders as he reaches for the pod. Luckily, a Stormtrooper comes over and whispers something to him, making him halt his movements. “Don't think me to be rude. I must take this call,” he apologizes before walking away.

   Mando takes the opportunity to loosen his cuffs under the table. “Gimme the blaster,” he whispers to Karga. Greef obliges as he sneakily hands it to him, making note of the extra Stormtroopers.

   “This is bad. You said four,” Jesla whisper yells, her eyes scanning over the multiple Stormtroopers. However, she knew they could most likely take them. It would just cause a big scene.

   “Well...there are more. What can I tell you?” Greef replies gruffly, both Jesla and Cara rolling their eyes.

   All of a sudden, the client goes down as blaster shots are fired through the window, peppering inside the common house and killing everyone inside, except for the outlaws. Once the shooting stops, they all move out of cover to both sides of the window. An Imperial firing squad sits outside, another transport of Stormtroopers arriving. 

   Cara turns to Karga with a glare. “Four Stormtroopers?”   

   Din takes out his comlink, bringing it close to where his mouth would be. “Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet? Are you there? Do you copy?” He questions frantically.

   “Yes!”

   “Are you back to the ship yet?”

   “Not yet.”

   “Get back to the ship and bail! Get the kid out of here. We're pinned down!”

   Jesla tenses up when her eyes land on a TIE fighter landing outside. Her fingers itch towards her lightsaber hidden beneath her cloak as a man exits the TIE fighter to stand in front of the common house. She knew if she used it, she would be on the New Empire's radar. Was she ready for that?

   “You have something I want,” the man states aloud to them. Jesla looks him up and down, not recognizing him. Who was this guy?

   “You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of. But you do not,” the man continues. Was he talking about the Child? 

   Looking to Mando, Jesla sees him trying to get through to Kuiil. “Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet? They're on to us. Kuiil, come in!”

   “In a few moments, it will be mine. It means more to me than you will ever know.”

   “Kuiil... Are you there?! Come in, Kuiil! Kuiil, come in! Kuiil! Are you there?! Do you copy?! Kuiil! Kuiil!”

   When Kuiil doesn't answer, Mando looks over to Jesla and she can feel his desperation. This was not going well.

××××××

@living-that-best-life

Tags are open!

[scullysexual]

*Prompt request for AU where Mulder gets Scully pregnant in high school and they are “forced” to marry but fall in love.*

Okay now we’re at the final chapter/part/instalment. Meet my longest fic ever 5k words. I have never written that many words for a one shot before let a alone a chapter but here we are. This is a fic of its own honestly, it’s just attached to this universe. I don’t really have much to say other than I’ve really enjoyed this universe and that I’m still sticking to what I say in the last part- send me prompt in this universe and I will write them, this is probably my favourite universe I’ve ever written in I’m so glad this anon sent me the prompt and I hope I did it justice. A full masterlist of this will be posted tomorrow. @today-in-fic

A Baby Is Forever: Part Six [EPILOGUE]

Part One.

Part Two.

Part Three.

Part Four.

Part Five.

AO3.

- - -

There’s a warm weight trying to squeeze against her, a head that bumps her chin, and cold feet trying to find warmth between her bare legs.

Emily’s climbed out of her crib again.

“Hey Emi,” Scully hears Mulder mumble.

She slipping back into subconsciousness when she feels a pull against her pyjama top.

“No Emily,” she says, taking her daughter’s hands in her own to prevent her from tugging at the top.

“I want milk.”

For the past three weeks Scully had been slowly weaning Emily. It was going a lot soother than she expected, morning is full of distractions, replace breastmilk and snuggles with cow’s milk and cuddles and morning goes by with no hassle. Naps were a bit harder but followed the same pattern, night feeds were still a thing for now.

The system worked nine times out of a ten. The times it didn’t work was when Emily was sleepy but couldn’t fall asleep.

“Do you want Daddy to make you some big girl milk?” Scully asks, opening her eyes just in time to see Emily pout- a trait she got from Mulder- and shake her head.

“That milk’s yucky.” She frees her hands from Scully’s grasp and begins clawing at her t-shirt again.

She’s tired and wants to give in but Emily had been doing so well that to give in now seems like a waste of three weeks.

“Mulder, will you make Emily some milk, please?” she asks.

“No! I want your milk,” Emily whines at the same time Mulder leaves the bed.

“How about we cuddle while we wait for Daddy to bring your big girl milk, yeah?” Scully tries bargaining.

Emily doesn’t look convinced but she moves towards Scully anyway, snuggling against her.

She’s almost drifting off when Emily speaks again.

“Daddy heat milk up?”

“I’m sure he will, baby.”

Mulder comes back five minutes later, bottle of milk in his hand. He climbs back into the bed, handing the bottle to Emily.

“There you go, Em.”

Emily takes it and Scully falls back asleep for another hour.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

She places Emily down on the counter.

“What do you want for breakfast, Emily?”

“Cookies,” the child says.

Scully sighs, the third day in a row Emily has asked for cookies for breakfast.

“You can’t have cookies, baby.” She roots in the fridge, pulling out a pack of eggs. “How about eggs?” she asks holding the pack towards Emily.

Emily shakes her head slowly. “Cookies.”

“You can have cookies when we’re out,” Scully tells her, putting the eggs back in the fridge.

Nearby Mulder’s bagels pop up in the toaster, startling both Scully and Emily. Mulder is over in seconds, taking them out. At least one of them knows what their eating this morning.

Seeing the bagels being placed on Mulder’s plate, Emily points towards it.

“Daddy,” she says.

“You want bagels like Daddy?”

Emily nods and Mulder is already a step ahead of her, pushing the lever of the toaster down.

.:.:.:.:.:.

She showers while Emily eats. A fifteen minute reprieve from her daughter.

She loves Emily more than she thought she could ever love anything but approaching two-years-old, Scully fears her once impeccably behaved baby girl was going to become possessed by the Terrible Twos.

With Mulder gone most days, it was just her and Emily. Occasionally her mom and Melissa would help out but Scully didn’t want to seem like she was depending on them. Since Emily was born, Scully had to need to prove to everyone that she could do it, that she wasn’t just a baby caring for a baby, she was a mother and she could live up to the responsibility of being one.

Even Mulder had proved himself capable. He was afforded more immature moments than her but he never let it impede on his ability to be a father. He helped out when he could and they fell into an easy routine. The dark early days he proved to be enough when Emily refused to suckle, refused to let Scully pick her up, refused to let her bond with her. Their daughter had just wanted Mulder and Scully had given up. She pumped rather than physically breast feed and Mulder had been left to do it all- feed the baby, change her diaper, play with her, Scully was just the sustenance provider.

Now she and Emily get along just fine, once they were over that initial hurdle, and now they were best friends.

Scully exits the shower, immediately grabbing her ring from the counter and putting it back on her finger. It still shined as brightly as it did two years ago and that’s how Scully intended on it staying.

Rumours had sparked all around the school when she returned wearing it not that it bothered Scully, rumours had been circling around the building since her baby bump became visible, questions on who the father was and Did you really expect Dana Scully to be the first one pregnant? No, I didn’t either. They could write SLUT across her locker in red capital letters as much as they liked, Scully was never going to rise to it, she had bigger things on her mind than what immature school kids thought of her.

“Scully,” Mulder calls through the door. “Em’s done with her food. Do you want me to dress her?”

Sometimes he could be amazing.

“Yes, please,” she calls back through the door. “Her clothes are already out on the bed.”

They were out today, buying paint for Emily’s new room.

The decision to give Emily her own room came when Mulder’s parents moved out a year ago, leaving them the house. Initially, they were resigned to the basement and it had worked having Emily, still a newborn at the time, right beside them, not having to go far, everything they needed could fit downstairs with them and rarely did they have to bother anyone upstairs.

But Emily had began to grow, like any child does, and the being confined to the basement just wasn’t good enough for anyone anymore.

They didn’t have many options, too young and broke to even rent a place of their own at seventeen, they intended on just making do with the basement until their options widened.

Until one dinner time when Teena announced that a house just down the street had opened up and they were thinking of moving into that, giving their current house to Mulder.

The deal was they, along with Scully’s parents, would help them out until they were done with school, then it was down to them.

Well, school had ended and it was down to them to support themselves now. Mulder worked, Scully looked after Emily. It was old-fashioned but it worked and Scully saw no issue with it, for now.

College was to be postponed for another year, too. Wait until Emily was old enough to go into pre-school or be able to stay with her grandparents for more than however long the milk lasted. They would stay in Maryland, too, and hopefully figure the rest out at a later date.

Now, though, it was about decorating Emily’s new room.

The child hadn’t been excited about the prospect of her own room no matter how much Mulder and Scully tried to big it up to her, she liked Mommy and Daddy’s room, why couldn’t she stay there?

Scully hoped that by allowing her to pick the room design Emily would grow more keen to the idea.

She exits the bathroom, walking towards her bedroom and upon opening the door, she is greeted by a partially dressed Hurricane Emily.

“Mommy! Me and Daddy saw Cookie Monster when we eat our bagels.”

Sesame Street was currently Emily’s favourite show, her favourite character was the Cookie Monster and he is the reason Emily asks for cookies every morning.

Scully bends to pick Emily up, setting her on her hip and bringing her back over to bed where Mulder sits holding a pair of socks in his hand.

“When you ate your bagels, Emily,” Scully corrects, putting her down standing on the bed. There were no worries about Emily’s speech development, she was actually a very intelligent, having been able to string sentences together for a while now.

It had been something Scully had worried about at the beginning. Emily was a premature baby- a late premature baby, but one all the same- and while the probability of the risks presented to premature babies were low for her they were still risks all the same.

But aside from running out of breath a little quicker when she got excited, Emily was functioning as any other child, developing around the same average time as other children, there were no worries in that department.

She hadn’t quite mastered grammar yet, however.

“What did you see?” Scully asks Emily as she buckles up her dungarees and Mulder puts her socks on.

Emily proceeds to tell her how Elmo stole Cookie Monster’s cookies and Cookie got sad and then Elmo apologised and gave them back to him.

She’ll test her like this sometimes, make sure that she’s paying attention, taking in what she’s seeing on the TV.

“How did you know Cookie was sad?” Scully asks, another test.

“Um…” She watches as Emily tries to find the words for what she knows. “He…he…”

“He sat on his own, didn’t he?” Mulder says, helping her out.

Emily turns towards him at the sound of his voice, nodding her head quickly and turning back to Scully.

“He sat on his own and looked like this…” She does her best impression of a sad face that makes Scully laugh and melt at how adorable she looks.

“It’s not funny, Mommy!” Emily admonishes in a voice that sounds vaguely similar to her own when she tells Emily off for doing something she shouldn’t.

“You’re right,” Scully says, correcting herself. “It’s not funny.” She strokes her hand through Emily’s bed head. She still needs to get dressed and tackle Emily’s unruly hair and they don’t have a lot of time left before they need to leave.

“Why don’t you go back downstairs with Daddy and watch more Cookie Monster and I’ll get dressed, okay?”

Emily nods, climbing down from the bed and grabbing hold of Mulder’s hand.

“Come on, Daddy,” Emily says.

“I’ll need your strong muscles to pull me up, Em,” he says, pretending to struggle to get off the bed. “I’m getting too old.”

Scully rolls her eyes but she’s warmed by it all the same. Emily uses her “muscles” and pulls Mulder up and the two leave the room leaving Scully on her own.

.:.:.:.:.:.

Within the hour they have made it to Home Depot browsing the paint section while Emily happily babbles away Quacky in the cart.

Public outings were always something of a tense situation. When Emily was younger they received a lot of disdainful tuts, shaking heads, and a lot of stares. Scully had tried to ignore it but she never went anywhere with just Emily.

Now it was easier to bare. The stares still came but Scully learned not to care about them. She was happy, her baby was baby and that was all that mattered.

“I think yellow,” Scully says, beelining for the coloured paint.

“Why yellow?” Mulder asks.

She stares at him like he’s stupid. He is stupid.

“It’s her favourite colour,” she answers pointedly.

Mulder chuckles. “It’s your favourite colour, you mean.” He looks down at Emily who is happy in her own make-belief world.

“Emi, what’s your favourite colour?”

“Yellow,” the girl says without missing a beat.

An I told you so look appears across Scully’s face.

“Only because it’s your favourite colour,” Mulder mutters yet loud enough for Scully to hear it.

She’s about to grab the yellow paint before she clocks the white shades above it. She looks towards Mulder who snacks on sunflower seeds, an idea in her mind.

She pushes the tub back onto the shelf and Mulder looks at her questioningly. She ignores him, her attention on Emily.

“Emi,” she calls and Emily looks at her. “What if, instead of painting your room yellow, I painted it white and covered it in sunflowers?”

Emily nods, seemingly excited by that prospect. Sunflowers had become Emily’s favourite flowers ever since she found out Mulder eats the seeds. That had led to some very interesting conversations with Emily believing that if she ate a seed a sunflower would grow inside her. Instead they had planted it outside in the garden and once it was “all big” (as Emily had said) it would be her responsibility to care for it.

“And who’s going to draw these sunflowers?” Mulder asks.

“I will,” Scully says, grabbing two tubs of white paint, two tubs of yellow, a medium-sized tub of brown paint, and finally a smaller tub of green.

They buy fairy lights in another store and with Emily’s toddler bed on the way, she was looking forward to decorating the room.

They had the weekend to do it, with Maggie having Emily over for a sleepover. Scully had been cautious of the idea at first. Emily had only been over at her parents’ for a few hours and never had she stayed there (without Scully also there). This was going to be a first for all of them and Scully hoped Emily was going to be okay with it.

There was another thing that an Emily-free night would open up for Mulder and Scully, and Scully was still unsure whether her thoughts should venture down that path yet.

.:.:.:.:.:.

Bathing with Mommy had become something of a treat. Emily loves water and there had been plans to take her to the swimming baths one day for now, though, Emily is just happy playing in a bubble bath. It’s easier to bathe her like this, rather than Scully kneeling and leaning over the edge. They cuddle after all the cleaning is done until their skin has pruned in the warm water or until that warm water has gone cold.

“You excited to sleep at Grandma’s, baby?” Scully asks.

Emily nods but Scully isn’t convinced. Usually her baby was as happy as a clam in the bath, even happier if Scully was joining her, but tonight she had been quiet and subdued, not playing much with the bath toys and barely laughed when Scully booped her on the nose with shampoo. They were all signs that something wasn’t right.

“Can Quacky come?” Emily asks.

“Of course. You can take whoever you like.”

“Can I take you?”

So this is what’s up with her.

“Oh Emi,” Scully coos bringing her daughter closer to her. “You like Grandma, you’ll be fine without me.”

Still, Emily isn’t convinced.

“Want me to tell you a secret?” Scully says and that gets Emily’s attention.

“Grandma’s taking you to a Jungle Gym tomorrow.”

Emily’s eyes light up. “Really?”

“Yep. But you gotta act surprise when Grandma tells you that. She can’t know that I told you, okay?”

Emily nods, “I promise, I promise.”

It’s done the trick and Emily seems a lot happier.

Maggie knocks on the door at 7:30. Scully finishes getting the last of the diaper contents together before picking up Emily who’s just spent the last 40 minutes watching Sesame Street and receiving “the best head scratches” from Mulder- Review left by Emily Scully-Mulder.

“Ready to go, baby?” Scully asks, bending to pick her up.

“Bye-bye, Emi,” says Mulder, pressing a kiss to Emily’s head. “See you Sunday.”

Emily sleepily waves back to him as Quacky’s foot finds its way into her mouth.

“She’s had milk,” Scully says upon opening the door and after the greetings. She passes the diaper bag over this. “There’s another bottle in there if she fusses. “She’s been bathed so all you need to do really is put her to bed. She hasn’t napped today so she should be tired.” Maggie nods, holding her arms out and Scully is suddenly hesitant to hand Emily over.

“Um…she has cow’s milk in the morning, it’s called her big girl milk, if you call it anything else she won’t want to drink it.”

Another nod from Maggie.

“If there are any problems, call me, I’ll be over straight away.”

Another nod. “Dana?”

“Yes?”

“Can I take Emily now?”

Right, she was still holding her.

“Bye-bye, Baby. Have fun with Grandma.” Emily’s grip tightens on Scully and Scully whispers into her ear. “Remember the Jungle Gym.” Emily’s grip loosens and Scully is able to hand her over.

She watches them go, waving to Emily before her mom and daughter go out of sight.

She closes the front door praying Emily will be alright tonight.

When she re-enters the living room the channel has been switched to some movie on mute and Mulder is scribbling into a notepad.

She eyes him coolly and walks towards the couch, sitting down upon it cross-legged. She leans into him.

“What you doing?” she asks.

“Brainstorming campaign ideas,” he answers, still engrossed in the notebook and whatever he’s scribbling down. “Thinking of getting the boys down and doing another session.” He looks towards her before turning back to the book. “You’re free to join if you want.”

She nuzzles into his bare arm, smiling. “And what do we do with Emily?”

He shrugs. “She can play, too.”

Scully hums her eyes shutting as she continues to nuzzle finding herself quite content.

“It’s quiet without her, isn’t it?” Mulder almost whispers. His pencil has stopped moving and the room has gone quiet besides the occasional noise of the pipes.

It was quiet in a presence-lacking kind of way. Emily would be in bed by now but her presence would still linger in the room, would still wander the house reminding them that she was still here. Now she was gone for the night, that presence had gone with her.

“I just hope she’s good for my mom,” Scully says remembering how she had clutched onto her.

“She will be.” He closes the book, pushing it to one side and sits back against the couch, bringing his arm around her. Scully adjusts, uncrossing her legs and curling them beneath her to lean against him more comfortably. “She’s a good kid, Scully.”

Yes, she was. A few hiccups on some days but for the most part, Emily was a good, well-behaved kid.

She smiles. “Wonder where she gets that from?”

“I always assume from you.”

Scully snorts. “I doubt it. I was a terror with a speciality in running off.”

Mulder laughs. “Well, when Emily starts I’ll know who to blame.”

Scully giggles before taking a deep breath and sighing.

“So what do we do now?”

All day she had been trying to work out how to ask him. Tell him that she’s okay now, she’s ready, and that it won’t be like the first time they tried.

“Mulder, if you want…” she starts, trying to find the words. “We can try. I…I think I’m ready now.”

She doesn’t look at him so she doesn’t see the realisation of what she’s saying- trying to say- dawn on him. She hears it, though.

Oh.

“Well if you want to, Scully. I don’t want to feel like you’ve been pressured or-“

She looks up at him then to find him staring at her as she interrupts.

“No, it’s fine.” She hops up from the couch, quickly, intending on getting this awkward asking moment over with.

“Well, if you’re sure…” Mulder says, beginning to rise from the couch himself.

Yes, she’s sure because if he keeps asking she might not be.

There’s an awkwardness as they enter the bedroom. One would think they hadn’t done with this.

“So how do you-“ She’s on him, fast, allowing no time for gentle kisses, her lips are on his, her tongue in his mouth and her hands are already working on the button of his jeans.

A mantra in her head: I want this, I want this, I want this.

And Mulder is trying to keep up. He’s that awkward fifteen year old again when Scully threw herself at him in a similar manner, unsure of what to do with his hands, where to put them.

That encounter was quick, what was supposed to be a throwaway moment of drunken recklessness between two teenagers who had a house to themselves.

He doesn’t want this moment to be like that moment, and Scully knows that but any slowness, any moment that isn’t rushed and over with before her brain can start thinking has her doubting herself. I want this turns into I don’t know if I want this even if she knows deep down she does want this.

But Mulder doesn’t know that. Mulder doesn’t know about the inner struggle she’s currently having with herself and pulls away, halting her.

“Scully, stop.”

She stops and those first blossoming thoughts of doubt come blooming in.

“We don’t have to do this now,” he says and his hands are still around her shoulders holding her away from him. “We’re gonna have loads of times in the future.”

She swallows. “You don’t want this…” she says quietly looking towards the floor. She should leave, go to her mother’s and camp out there with Emily until Sunday as well.

“No, no.” He uses the hold he has on her shoulders to bring her into his embrace. “No, I want this more than anything. The question is, do you want it?”

She’s fighting his embrace.

“Yes, of course, why do you think-“

But he stills her by holding her tighter.

“Do you really want it?”

She stops trying to fight and thinks. She does. She does want it. She nods.

He brings her away from him and smiles and she smiles back.

The air around them stops feeling awkward and his eyes fall to her lip and slowly he presses them against hers. It’s slow and gentle, everything she didn’t want it to be seconds ago until his tongue is running along her lower lip and she parts them, allowing him in.

He sets the pace, still going slow just as their tongues greet each other. A surge of heat pools below and the pace hurries, whether from her or from Mulder, Scully has no idea but he bends lower, hands wrapping around her thighs as he hoists her up, her legs wrapping around his waist.

The kiss breaks only when he places her down on the bed. She watches as he pulls off his t-shirt, throwing it off to the side, before working on his jeans, finishing the job Scully started.

She follows his lead, taking off her sweater and leaving her in an unsexy-yet-very-comfortable cotton bra. She gives him a shy smile.

Clad in only his boxers now, he kneels before her, his hand soothing up and down her leg, the action comforting.

“You can keep it on if you’re worried you’ll leak.”

That had been what happened the first time. Too much stimulation on her breast and her milk had gone everywhere, not helping the already increasingly uncomfortable experience.

But Scully shakes her head, beginning to remove the item.

“It shouldn’t be so bad this time,” she says.

Mulder smiles, rising slightly to kiss her once. “Whatever works for you.” He resumes kissing her, letting him lay her down on the bedcovers.

Their tongues play with each other for a bit, picking up where the pace left off only moments before.

He breaks the kiss, proceeding downwards, sucking at the sweet spots he had found during their second time at this.

Mulder moves away from her neck, continuing his path. He stops when he gets to her breasts and nuzzles one of them.

“I love your tits.” He said that last time, too, but this time Scully feels like he actually means it.

“Perks of having babies, I guess.” She lets out a breathy sigh, closing her eyes as his tongue circles her nipple, her hand falling to his head and combing through his hair, so grateful to be able to finally feel something there again.

But then he latches on and begins to suck and oh no.

Her eyes dart open. “Mulder, you’ll-“ But it’s too late, a tingling sensation she’d been feeling lately whenever she nursed Emily is back and she knows what that means.

Mulder does, too, as his eyes widen and he begins to suck more eagerly.

She falls back, another sigh saying, “That’s Emily’s.”

Mulder unlatches, chin resting against her ribcage as he looks up at her.

“Emily’s not here.” And presses a kiss against the nipple.

Scully hums in agreement.

“I understand now why she gets so upset when you tell her she can’t have any.” He hovers above her. “I’d be freaking out, too.”

Scully just stares at him, deciding that he’s been talking too much.

“Mulder, shut up and fuck me.”

A shit-eating grin passes across his face. He gets down close to her ear and whispers.

“Okay, Mommy.”

She knees him in the ribs for that.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, Scully, I’m curious to see these artistic skills you claim to have.”

Mulder stands in the middle of his childhood bedroom holding two tubs of white paint.

“I don’t claim to have any artistic skills.”

Scully takes one tub of paint away from him.

“You want to decorate the walls with sunflowers.”

She opens the tub up, grabbing a paint brush.

“They’re just sunflowers, Mulder,” she says beginning to dip the paint brush into the paint. “It doesn’t take an artistic genius paint them.” She starts on painting the wall.

They agreed that Emily would move into Mulder’s bedroom, it was bigger than Samantha’s and they felt that maybe Emily would be more at ease in there knowing that it had been her Daddy’s before hers.

“Are we even going to get this room painted in this weekend?” Mulder asks from across the room.

They split the walls- Scully would do the back wall and the window wall, Mulder would do the opposite wall and the wall nearest the door.

“No,” Scully answers. “I’m hoping we can get the walls finished before Em comes back but the sunflowers will have to be done another time.”

“Are you going to have the time to do them?” They had gotten Emily psyched up for the sunflowers and they both didn’t want to burst her bubble by not going ahead with them after all.

“Yeah, Emily can sit in the room while I do them or my mom can come over and watch her. It’s not like this where she’ll probably knock over the paint and get herself covered in it.”

That was the main reason why Emily had slept over at her mother’s in the first place. She couldn’t be trusted to just sit in a corner and play, she would get curious and when Emily gets curious it often leads to trouble.

Mulder chuckles, remembering something.

“Like when she was 18 months old and we let her play her in the garden and she decided she was going to take a mud bath instead?”

Scully groans at the memory which just makes Mulder laugh even harder. It had rained all day every day for a solid week and on the last day of that week the sun decided it was going to shine so they let Emily play outside (something she had wanted to do all week) What they didn’t realise was at the bottom of the garden a giant mud puddle at formed and, naturally, Emily had found it.

Mulder swore he only went inside to get some orange juice for two seconds and when he returned, Emily was covered head to toe in mud.

Scully wanted to die when she saw her whilst Mulder and Emily just laughed and Emily kept repeating pig and pointing to herself. Apparently she found out pigs take mud baths when they were too warm.

Mulder had only continued to laugh which had encouraged Emily more. She told Mulder to stay outside until he had calmed himself down and took Emily to the bathroom not knowing where to even start to clean her.

“You’re laughing but you weren’t the one who had to shower her,” Scully says, even after four months she doesn’t see the humour in it.

“I would’ve helped but you locked me outside.”

“Cause you were laughing and Emily thought that made it okay.”

Mulder shakes his head, not agreeing with her. “It was funny, though,” he mutters to himself.

As they paint they tell each other stories of Emily’s two years on with earth, reminding each other of little moments, telling each other of moments they might have missed. It’s a nice walk down memory lane, to see how far they’ve come as parents as they paint their daughter’s room and talk about their daughter.

They finally finish in the early hours of Sunday, three coats, and two empty tubs of white paint. The toddler bed was arriving later today and that meant dismantling the crib but that was a job for later, the only thing Scully wanted to do was sleep.

Emily returns around lunchtime, bursting through the front door shouting.

“Mommy! Daddy! Grandma taked me to Monkey Business!”

Scully laughs ignoring the questioning look her mother gives her and pulls Emily put onto her lap.

“Really?” she says with feign surprise. “Was it fun?”

Emily nods her head furiously. “And I cutted my finger, look.” She forces her finger in front of Scully’s face, almost taking an eye out. Scully laughs nervously, taking Emily’s little hand in her own and inspecting the band-aided finger.

“How did that happen?” Scully asks Maggie more than Emily.

“It’s just a paper cut but she insisted on me giving her a band-aid,” her mom tells her.

“I was brave. I didn’t cry.” Emily looks at her finger, running her other finger over it. “Is my sunflowers ready now?”

Scully strokes her hair. “Not yet, baby. We only had time to do the background but tomorrow, when Daddy’s at work, we can start on them and you can watch, yeah?”

Emily nods her head, pleased with that idea.

“Hey Em,” says Mulder catching Emily’s attention. “Just no paint baths, okay?”

Emily giggles, remembering the mud baths. “I promise,” in a voice that sounds like she doesn’t promise at all.

- - -

Thank you to everyone who’s read this and anyone who read it on ao3, too. You are amazing and I hope you’re satisfied with this ending :)

[sonicringbond]

Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 15

And after vacation and a subsequent schedule change based on everyone's feedback, I'm finally back with the next scene of Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey. Now asides from schedule changes, such as only posting updates on Wednesdays and Saturdays now, the story has undergone some changes in presentation as well. I'll be mostly focusing on short 2-part episodic scenes for now with maybe the occasionally longer or shorter story. Prompts (I'll get to that after the story), will be one of the big determining factors in "episode" lengths and I hope everyone will be motivated by the story to send me some. For now though, let's join Rosy as she begins her solo arc of story...

     ~The Rings will always remember. It became kind of our mantra after we first heard it. Our truth and that of this world itself made of Rings which join Gaia and Chaos energy together. But the Rings can also be used to bind people and share their hearts and memories. Or at least it sounds nice that way. It’s how I gained the ability to run at the speed of sound, at least when I’m not tripping over my own feet and falling on my face. Tee-hee! Though I guess it’s funny then that I’m lying in the back of a pickup truck on my way to my destination.~

     The truck the narrator referred to was an old beat up steam truck. The bed was enclosed by wood planks not unlike a fence and was filled nigh to the brim with hay. The narrator lay within, a pink hedgehog girl clad in a white leotard and red slipper like shoes. As the truck bounced along the road of old stone slabs, she reached a white gloved hand up towards the sky and peaked between her spread fingers.

     ~Well, I suppose it’s because I got separated from everyone. My boyfriend, the world-famous Sonic the Hedgehog woke up the Rings that were sleeping like I knew he could, and everything got kind of crazy.

     ~Well, I guess he isn’t so world famous. I’ve been traveling for a while trying to find him and my friends but none of the people I’ve met have heard of him. It’s kind of lonely running around on my own, but it’s also hard to imagine what it was like running with everyone else too. I don’t know why, but the lands the Red Star Ring took us too just mess with time and memories. Ooh~! It’s so frustrating.

     ~But you know what, it’s okay. The Rings will always remember. And I know when I close my eyes and feel the bond I share with Sonic through them that we’ll never forget each other or our friends. And I’m sure Sonic will find me again too. If I don’t find him first. Tee-hee.~

     Though she laughed to herself in quiet, the narrator could not keep herself from sighing with a longing smile. Through her fingers and the tree branches the blue sky opened up adorned with clouds hung on a gentle breeze. Beyond them a small planet loomed in the sky ominously.

     ~I hope you didn’t end up there Sonic. It’d be really hard to get back together if you did.

     ~What is that little planet? I don’t know. It’s not Little Planet and everyone I’ve met is scared of it. And no matter where I go, by foot, Ring Gate, or even getting caught in a Ring Shift it is always there like the sky has an eyeball. But I only see it during the day. It’s so weird. I bet it would be fun if I could go explore it with everyone. But I can’t yet. I have to find everyone first, and before I can only remember them through the Rings. And that’s hard enough too.~

     Rolling over in the hay and propping herself up on her elbows, Rosy looked through the back window of the truck at the sapient dog who drove it. They eyed her through the rearview mirror, and she waved at them with a smile. As casually as they had checked their mirror, they returned their eyes to the forest road they drove down.

     ~I don’t know why, but everyone is just as scared of Rings as they are the planet in the sky. They consider running from those awful golems I’ve been bumping into since before I was separated from everyone more natural than collecting and using Rings. It makes me feel kind of exotic as I still vaguely remember we used Rings everyday wherever it was I came from. Ooh~! It’s so frustrating losing my memories. I know they’re still in my heart, but the words and images are all so faded now. What an awful land to steal people’s memories and time. And there are so many more types of golems now too. It makes it hard to convince people I’m just a traveling sightseer looking to catch up with her friends when I keep having to break them.

     ~The people I meet are so nervous whenever they see me fight or run. I try to cheer them up and remind them that they have guards they send out to beat the golems, but they still fuss about it. I hope they’re not dismissing me because I’m a kid. Ooh~! That would be so mean of them. But not as mean as those priests.

     ~Hee-hee. I guess I haven’t thought about them in a while. It’s almost like every town has them too. Mean priests who strike you when you arrive to take away any Rings you collected while traveling. I don’t get what they mean when they say that Rings shouldn’t be held by people. It’s so weird. But that’s part of why I’m hitching a ride right now.

     ~One of the last things I did with my friends was take a big group picture together. We didn’t have time to make the picture from the film, but someone said they saw a picture of me with a whole bunch of people so I’m hoping to find it. If I can get the current owner to let me see it, and maybe even have it, it may be enough to make finding my friends easier. I just have to be so careful though to not spook anyone. It’s so slow going though. I’m so glad the scenery is pretty. It’s kind of nice to slow down and enjoy it for a bit.

     ~I just hope none of those mean golems attack.~

     Sitting up fully, the narrator scanned the passing trees for signs of the stone constructs that had impeded her travels thus far. There were plenty of signs of ancient stone brick structures that poked out of the forest, but no sign of any stones that were animated. With a sigh of relief, she plopped back down into the hay and spread her limbs out as though to make a snow angel. In her eyes the clouds and tree branches above drifted by and the lure of sleep to stave off her boredom grew subtly powerful.

     ~I really can’t stop. It makes it harder for my friends to find me, but if they’re in trouble, I have to keep moving. Tee-hee. Rosy the Rascal can’t stop moving. I guess that’s wrong though. It’s too much trouble to be a rascal anymore. I guess I have to settle for being Rosy the Traveler. Adventurer sounds better, but the people I keep meeting are made uncomfortable by that too, so traveler it is.~

~~~~~

     “W~o~w~!” Rosy’s mouth formed a massive “O” Shape as she peered out from the truck bed at the town that erupted from the forest. More so the town that grew like fungus on the monolithic stone structure that jutted out of the woods. More than enough trees grew from it to make it look like the structure would soon be pulled back under the forest, but for now it was home to a plethora of overgrown stone buildings with tiled rooves.

     “This was your stop was it not miss?” The driver asked stepping around to lower the tailgate and provide Rosy an easier means to exit the truck bed. With a nod Rosy confirmed the driver’s suspicions.

     “It is. Jutting Rock Village. It’s so amazing, don’t you think?”

     “Maybe. I just hope you haven’t forgotten what you came here for. Nothing more awful than a traveler who lost their purpose.”

     “Don’t worry,” Rosy smiled at the driver. “I can’t possibly forget because the Rings will always remember!”

     The driver gave Rosy a suspicious frown and she laughed nervously while trying to give him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, really. The lands I’m from considered using Rings normal. No one ever even heard of Ring Craft. We were more worried about a scary man and his machines than anything else.”

     “Say what you will miss, but remember you only endanger yourself by putting faith in those things. You’d be better off if you were one of the lucky ones who can’t even see them.”

     “That’s not true,” Rosy puffed up her cheeks and thrust her balled up hands down by her sides. “Without Rings there’s no way I could have traveled as much as I have and experienced all of the wonderful things that I have.”

     “Suit yourself as I said. But what good is traveling and sightseeing when it’ll all fade in time?”

     “It’s why you have to live in the moment. It’s what Sonic taught me to do, even though I still think about the future all the time too. But even more so because this land steals our precious memories is it more important to live in the moment!”

     Perhaps it was simply Rosy’s persistence, or maybe the driver had a soft spot for children, but he finally smiled slightly at her. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the minute smile and the driver chuckled. “So be it. Who am I to tell a child who has made it on her own how to live her life? You go do what you do, and I’ll do what I do. Perhaps our paths will cross again, and we might actually remember each other.”

     “Don’t worry! The Rings will always remember.”

     “Whatever”

     With a wave and a laugh, the driver soon departed leaving Rosy to face the town of Jutting Rock Village. Energetically pumping her fists next to her shoulders, Rosy left the road and walked up the dirt path to the village. 

Scene 15 · CLEARED Rosy the Traveler, to be continued

 -----

And there we are, the opening scene of the Rosy the Traveler arc of the The Journey. Now, my first concern out of the gate is that I took a dual narrative approach for the story and hope it was not too confusing for everyone. Especially so since the detached 3rd person narrative is primarily in present tense while Rosy's first person is kind of leaning more towards past tense. For how I want to tell the story for the most part though, and the AU on a whole it is Rosy's adventures. Preferably I would love to have her adventuring alongside Sonic, but that is still something she has to earn and that the story has to make its way to naturally. I also have to consider the rest of her friends who are along for the journey and how they tie into her experience. But it is at the end of the day Rosy's experience and I hope to be able to capture that with this dual narrative approach.I hope everyone has enjoyed the story to this point and is hyped to continue this journey Rosy. Thank you for your support, it means the world for me and I hope you'll continue to be there support me. And if you can, please feel free to contribute to the story by submitting prompts to help shape the story. You can find all of the rules on my Prompt Discord Server - -, but feel free just to DM me your prompts here if you'd like. Thank you again everyone, I hope you enjoyed.

-----

Story Format by @cutegirlmayra​ Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song - Granblue Fantasy — Lumacee Archipelago Mysterious Forest

Fair Use Disclaimer

Sonic the Hedgehog and all affiliated characters and logos are the express property and Copyright© of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS used without permission under Title 17 U.S.C Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 in which allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Fair use” is use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be considered copyright infringement. The Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey alternate universe (AU) consumer written work of fiction is a non-profit transformative work primarily for personal use and can and will be taken down without warning or prior notice at the request of the copyright holder(s) should it not be recognized under “fair use”.

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

Sonic Ring Bond AU and Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey are the creation of Joshua David Tarwater/ynymbus/sonicfanj/@Joshtarwater and is to be, including all contents herein considered for all legal purposes the property of the Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property (IP) and copyright owners, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. All story contributors via prompt, suggestion, written scene, art, and all and every other contribution acknowledge that all contributed material is forfeit for legal purposes to SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS upon official request from SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.

[questionthebox]

Poets Diary

so I turn 29 years old tomorrow. 

one year shy of 30. 

and there’s a few things, I have come to understand about 

the World, which is always dictated by opportunity, from where you happen to live. 

1. coming to grips with the truth, of non opportunity, here in The United States, based upon my race, and class, how through those things, my ability to uplift myself is capped, getting used to making compromises and being trampled on, I fought my entire youth, over it, hence why I became an artist, but I cannot fight it alone, and I cannot fight it through individual bohemianism, there are limits to being on the outside, which is why many people decide to go inside this system of death. 

2. most importantly I have to conquer myself, for so long I have had unbridled energy in me, that makes me full of hatred and rage and violence, the many slides into nihilism are present, and seducing, but there's also anxiety, and being too full of energy, which has impeded my ability to write coherently, and from that fuels intense violent rage, where I will hurt someone if they say anything towards me, doesn’t matter who, 

3. understanding I have to learn further, attaining discipline, so that I don’t verge into anarchic violence, learning, how to do things the right way, what my friends tell me “adulting is hard” what’s hard is wanting to do things the right way, but once again, the lack of opportunity, well paying jobs, etc, make things feel distorted and consistency is hard to keep at. 

4. making peace with who I am, juxtaposed against the self doubt and anxiety driven from a society that tells me I'm “ugly” that I'm never going to be one of these images people “reblog” or gives likes too, that my life, isn’t defined by the world of superficial integrated images, something as a male, we don’t admit too, but something I hear from my male friends, which is interesting, I hear it from everyone, how people don’t see themselves, all they see is themself in relation to this cultures world of images, I accept myself, the person in the mirror. 

5. not being taken advantage of by people, who are either equally as desperate as I have been, or more so, the humiliation felt, when you realize someone has used you for whatever purposes they had, like telling you they want you, asking you to be with them, then changing course, and pretending like it never was, basically avoiding these sick people, who don’t realize they’ve turned life into a game, of course this recent experience of being catfished by this poetry woman, plays a role in that, those things were like the last vestiges of my youth and its blindness to how the world is, 

6. on this point, toxic relationships, relationships of imbalance, relationships where there is not much meeting, but plenty of texting, relationships where again I'm used, relationships where there is no clarity, because both people want to hold onto some sort of fantasy, I'm over with, I am over the crazy factor of others, and people, I used to think I was a great judge of character, but certain relationships proved otherwise, so I see better now, I can see who’s really going to be there, and who wants to be there, towards something healthy and progressive. 

7. I am no longer going to say, whatever the future holds, because I don’t know, I'm going to be 29 years old, and I am not married and I don’t have kids, and my life hasn’t settled down, into anything, things change rapidly, and our identity changes fast, 

8. what is home ? home isn’t here where I live, it isn’t Southern California, it isn’t this country, this isn’t my home, as much as it is where I was placed and stranded, is there a home for the modern person? what has happened to my generation, at least those of us aware of this, is that all these things that have occurred, have left us, lost essentially, and you see it when people have to live with their parents or roommates, the idea of home doesn’t exist anymore, 

9. telling phonies enough, I recently watched my hero Chris hedges on the bad faith podcast, and when Bree asked him about any solutions, he had none, and for the first time ever, I realized something, he’s either a phony himself, or he’s exhausted by not knowing what the fuck to do, but that its not ok for him or these other prominent people to keep doing that, that it reveals themselves to be phonies, either you have a plan or you don’t if you don’t sit your ass down, 

10. all these things are really about the fight towards something real in the face of a hegemonic monolith that isn’t real, Elly isn’t real, Chris Hedges and other left YouTube people aren’t real, instagram and social media, and those phonies who peddle in those images aren’t real, conversations with people on pseudo deep talks ive had isn’t real, nothing is real anymore, and from that all there is, is Madness, and I am not going to participate in it anymore. 

[bnhatrashcanons]

Hi!!! Since the ask is open can you do one with sero, where his so clearly like each other, but are too nervous to ask. So the bakusquad set them up on like a date or hang or something and it totally works. PLS also I really like your work. Please keep going!!😘

if i get a request and it says the name ‘sero hanta’ in it theres a 99.9% chance im gonna do it.

genre: this is pure fluff ok i promise

“Come ooonnnnn!!! Just tell her, ask her out!! It isn’t that hard you big dummy!!” Mina whined, pulling on Sero’s jacket sleeve, to which he just huffed a bit. 

“No!” Sero hissed, pulling his arm away from Mina, straightening out the fabric. Mina pouted, stomping her foot a bit. Kiri and Kami let out a unison sigh. “What?”

“You’re hopeless,” Kirishima huffed, placing his hands on his hips. Sero’s brows furrowed together. Nodding, Kaminari crossed his arms across his chest.

“What does that mean?” Sero inquired with an arch of the brow.

“It means you’re a fucking idiot,” Bakugou bit, not even looking up from his book. Sero jumped a little at the sudden harsh language.

“That could have been worded nicer,” Kaminari chuckled.

“Shut up. He knows it’s true,” Bakugou’s tight gaze flickered upwards towards his group of friends, which sent chills down their spines. “What the hell is the worst that could happen?”

“They say no and our friendship is ruined forever?” Sero’s voice caught in his throat at the prospect of their friendship being ruined. Bakugou just rolled his eyes. Sero looked back to where you were sitting, face buried in the book you were reading. “Besides, she’s studying right now. This isn’t an appropriate time to ask her out. And we should be studying too.” Grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, Sero turned to exit the library. “I’m headed back to my dorm room.”

Mina watched as he exited with a pout, wanting to scream out loud about how dumb her friend was. But this was a library, so she’d get in trouble. Out of the corner of her eye, you were there, sitting quietly. With a smile, Mina inched towards the table you sat at, even with Kiri whispering ‘no, Mina, bad’ while she did so. Sliding into the seat in front of you, Mina leaned into the table with a smile.

“Soooo, [Y/N],” She drawled, leaning into her hands. “What are you doing tomorrow night?” You perked up, locks of hair falling into your eyes. 

“Nothing that I know of, why?” You asked with the tilt of your head. Mina beamed. Yes. Yes. This was gonna work. She was a genius. 1/5 intelligence who? Never heard of her.

“The squad was gonna check out that new buffet that opened down the street,” Mina jutted her thumb to where Kaminari, Kirishima, and Bakugou were clustered. Your smile faltered a tad, noting that Sero wasn’t with them. 

“Is Sero gonna be there?” You asked, trying to definitely not show that you might, maybe, kind of, sort of have a crush on him. Mina knew. Once more; 1/5 intelligence who?

“Duh!” Mina grinned. “The squad ain’t complete without him!” 

“Then I’ll be there.” You smiled softly.

****

That night you wore your favorite outfit just for him. It highlighted all the favorite parts of yourself. Walking into the restaurant, you smiled at the quaint atmosphere. It was almost too quaint. Not Mina Ashido’s style. That should have been your first red flag, yet you were too distracted by Sero lazily twirling his finger on the circle of his glass. Oh goodness he was so damned cute. Walking over to the table, you smiled down at Sero. He noticed your presence almost instantly.

“Hey! You made it!” Sero beamed with that show stopping grin. You could swear you felt your heart melt as you slid into the seat in front of him.

“Yep. Of course I did, are you kidding?” You giggled, leaning forward. “Where’s the rest of the crew? Didn’t you come with them?”

“And have to walk and listen to Bakugou scream at Kaminari for ten minutes?” Sero snickered. “No thank you. They’ll show up eventually.”

****

Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

Not that you and Sero minded much of course. Your constant jokes that continued without missing a beat. You were leaning over the table, holding a spoon between your fingers and trying to get Sero to taste what was on it. 

“C’mon Sero! Just try it! It’s really good I promise, I’m not trying to trick you!” You whined as Sero held his hands up to his face, impeding your ability to shove the spoon in his mouth. Shaking his head with the slightest of smiles, Sero let out a soft groan. 

“Nooo,” He whined almost like a child. “I’m too full,” Sero crossed his arms over his chest. Snickering you leaned back into your seat, sticking your tongue out at him.

“I think you’re just being a pussy,” You taunted. Sero gasped in feigned offence, hand clasped onto his chest. You both stared at each other for a moment, then busted out into laughter. When the laughing dialed down, you fell into a comfortable silence. “You know this was a set up, right?” You asked him, voice so much quieter than usual. Sero’s smile fell, biting down onto his lower lip.

“Yeah, I figured that out a while ago.” Sero admitted, leaning back a little to relax. The silence that followed this time was awkward at best, and the tension could have been cut with a knife. So much began to flurry through your mind. God, that was the worst possible thing you could have said. What if your entire friendship was ruined? Oh God why did this happen. 

“I’m so sorry,” You whimpered. “This was going so well until I brought it up.” Sero’s expression softened, leaning in to grab the hand you left on the table. “I-I guess Mina figured out that I had a crush on you and-and, I guess she decided this was the best way.” Blinking, Sero ran his thumb over the top of your hand.

“Hey calm down, there’s no need to get worked up over this.” Sero tried to reason, but you just shook your head. “Really, I thought this set up was because Kaminari spilled my crush on you to the rest of the group.” You looked up at him, blinking, silent for a long while. 

“You like me?” You squeaked.

“Yep.” Sero breathed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“And all your friends knew?” 

“Mhm.”

There was a third silence, the grip on your hand growing tighter and butterflies began to rise in your stomach. You were back to a comfortable silence, enjoying each others company, reveling in your shared confession.

“So, is this a date then?” Sero piped up, a smirk playing on his face. You nodded. “Okay. Let me rephrase. Does it count as even if they’ve been watching from another table this entire time?” Leaning over, you looked behind Sero to see his group of friends, suddenly smacking their heads into the table. Save Bakugou, who rolled his eyes and bore an expression that read ‘I’m not a part of this.’

“How long have they been there?” You asked.

“I don’t know. I only noticed them an hour ago. Idiots.” Sero hummed with a grin. 

“But they’re our idiots.” This comment forced a loud ‘woooo!’ out of Mina, which got you both to chuckle.

[aldbooks]

Desperada

...

What the everloving hell did I just watch?

Beware the salt... also the GIF use lol

Basically... I fucking hated it. The entire time I watched it, the majority of the words coming out my mouth were some variation of “what the fuck? This is excruciating!” I honestly can’t believe I actually watched it twice 🤦🏻‍♀️

Ok so, first we start off with some quality Lukanette and even Marinette’s friends are all “Wow! Marinette and Luka are so cute together. What a good match they make. Maybe she should give him a shot instead of Adrien?!”

But then of course, Adrien shows up!... with Kagami. And Marinette, predictably, becomes Disasternette. At this point, we’re not even two minutes in and I already kinda wanna turn it off.

So then the gang goes above stairs to see what’s going on and Disasternette becomes even worse when Jagged Stone asks her to help him find a new guitarist. Everyone of course expects her to say Luka, cuz duh. But no. She picks 🥁... Adrien.

Who doesn’t even play guitar.

Then Jagged says “what about that kid wearing my face on his shirt with the guitar strapped on his back?” (Lol) and Mari’s like “oh, of course!” Cue short lived sigh of relief, cuz it’s immediately followed by “Luka can let Adrien borrow his guitar!”

At this point I’m actually kinda angry. Because not only are they once again making Marinette look like an absolute fool, they made beautiful, selfless Luka look like a complete push over because he just gives the guitar to Adrien to please Marinette. Wtf??

And still, we’re not even four minutes in. At this point, I know this is going to be a very long episode.

So, now the introduction to this episode’s akuma, Desperada. I ain’t mad it. Cool costume design, semi legit reason for akumatization, also, we now know what that random akuma from the Gamer 2.0 episode is that we were all like who the heck is that?

Fast forward a little here: Mari has a bit of an ah-ha moment with Tikki like “omg why did I give the guitar to Adrien? Why am I like this?” (Unfortunately it isn’t the development we’re hoping for though, as we find out very soon)

There are some quality Lukadrien moments as they both try to hide from Desperada and help Ladybug.

There’s a moment where Luka plays his guitar and both Ladybug and Adrien go all dreamy eyed, which I loved (Lukadrinette for the win) but my salty ass kinda wanted Adrien to see Ladybug getting goo-goo eyed over someone else and get jealous. Lmao

Anyways, so Lucky Charm gives her a gong and we all know that means it’s time for a new miraculous holder. Yay! Of course it’s obvious now this is Viperion’s episode but there’s a moment of confusion (and an epic face palm) when Marinette is all “I know the perfect person for the job! 🥁 Adrien!”

Seriously? Wtf.

Upon hearing that Ladybug wants to give the miraculous to Adrien, Chat Noir distracts Ladybug long enough to destransform so he can accept it.

Also see here how he pushes Luka back into the locker like “why don’t you just stay here 😉” so she won’t think to give it to him instead, when she can’t immediately find Adrien.

So Adrien and Plagg debate (read: Plagg tries to talk some sense into his idiot holder who completely ignores him cuz “omg ladybug needs me!” Um, yeah dipshit, she needs you to be Chat Noir) and for a hot minute I think we’re gonna get Snake Noir. But, Adrien wants Ladybug to fall in love with him as ‘himself’ 🤦🏻‍♀️ So never mind.

Also for a hot minute I think Adrien is going to actually do the right thing and refuse, but of course not, because this is ML...

Side note: Adrien’s acting when he opens the box and pretends to be surprised to see a kwami is on point.

Side side note: I don’t know what I expected Sass’s transformation phrase to be, but it def wasn’t “scales slither” 😒 and also, his transformation sequence is terrible and that costume is a travesty. (His end pose also kinda reminds of the gif of the guy from Road to El Dorado aggressively playing the mandolin😂)

Anyway, so for basically the first time ever, we actually see Ladybug explaining the miraculous rules and powers to the new holder. Adrien tells a corny joke and basically acts just like Chat, to which Ladybug giggles

Again I think Adrien is about to do the right thing when Ladybug basically tells him to his face that Chat Noir is an unnecesary part of the team; so, naturally, he doesn’t.

Basically both of these kids act like selfish little shits so they can spend time together. For once I’m actually very proud of Plagg for calling Adrien out. “You’re supposed to be saving Paris, not flirting!”

What happens next is a montage of Adrien epically failing to save Ladybug with the Second Chance (do I sense a metaphor here? Is this foreshadowing? Ha! As if). He finally gives up the miraculous and good lord, thank you!

Then we find out he failed over 25k times before he finally made the right call...

So Luka shows up and of course it’s Adrien who is all “Luka should have the miraculous” not Ladybug (because she can’t actually chose Luka herself for anything) And of course Luka just stands there while she kisses Adrien and thanks him for his help, blatantly letting Luka know he was the second choice (def a metaphor). *sigh*

Luka’s transformation of course is hella dope. I really wanted Ladybug to have an “oh no. He’s hot” moment, cuz let’s be real...

Also, why is Ladybug suddenly completely cool with civilians knowing the identity of a miraculous holder???

We’re now over 17 minutes into the episode, nearly the end, and I’m just now realizing that the episode where Luka is introduced as Viperion, isn’t even about him.

Luka then, after a couple of tries, actually is the one to figure out how to win, proving he was the right pick for the snake from the get go. He plays the damn Lyre, because of course he does, and they use Ladybug’s second Lucky Charm (a saddle btw. What the actual hell. This is some more weird, 50 shades type shit (see Reverser)) to defeat the akuma.

Back on the boat, Jagged again apologizes for being a diva and instead of getting some resolution to the Lukanette mistreatment at the beginning of the episode, we get Kagami once again being all “better step up Marinette before I steal your man” which is just the cherry on the cake really

Other notes:

- in my opinion, this entire episode was essentially Adrien/Ladrien fan service

- as another poster astutely pointed out: Adrien acted basically exactly the same while Aspik as he does when Chat Noir, essentially blowing up Tom’s whole theory about Chat being the “real” Adrien

-Master Fu: this miraculous should be given to someone who won’t abuse it

Ladybug: gives it to Adrien- who proceeds to abuse it

- all I think we learned from this episode, is that both Adrien and Marinette need to get over their obsessions with Ladybug/Adrien because it severely impedes their ability to make rational, sensible, non-selfish decisions.

Also, that knowing each other’s identities really isn’t a good idea. Yeah I hear you, “what about Oblivio?” In Oblivio, they literally knew nothing about each other, other than they cared about each other and they worked well together. There was no ‘hero worship’ ‘he/she’s so perfect’ mentality to get in the way, just good old fashioned trust. So does knowing who the other is actually work for them?

Ha! I’ve been dying for a good opportunity to use that set

I don’t think I’ve said it before on here, but def in my comments on my fic I Wanna Be Bad: I loved Adrien when this show started. Of the cast of characters, he def had the most potential. Lately though I’ve kinda given up on him.

He’s had zero growth. In fact, some times I think he’s actually gone backwards, especially as Chat Noir. He’s become increasingly petulant and childish and hasn’t learned a damn thing about respecting Ladybug’s boundaries or how to take being a hero seriously. It’s honestly killing the love square for me.

The writing on this show in general has become atrocious. For instance, this episode (according to reported production order) takes place after Silencer. Meaning Mari sat there and listened to Luka confess to her twice, and then goes and says he’s “just a friend” (yes, literally. She pulled an Adrien) and continues to humiliate herself for a guy who’s openly shown an interest in another girl.

It’s so painful to watch. Just as it’s painful to see Chat continually rip his heart out for LB even when she keeps turning him down.

Enough is enough already. We get it. Let them move on. Just because they date other people, doesn’t mean they won’t still end up together. That’s called reality.