#little gray birds with puffs on their heads…

[foxgloveinspace]

Me: yeah I’m not that big of a fan of birds.

*loves ravens crows and tufted titmouse’s*

Me: well…. Maybe I’m not a fan of parrots??

[wmarximoff]

devoted wife | w. maximoff

summary: you are a devoted wife who is capable of doing anything for your wife's welfare; including letting Wanda release the unhealthy nature that resides within her.

warnings (18+): dark Wanda, dark(ish) reader, brief smut, breeding kink, strap-on sex (Wanda receiving), choking (r receiving), smoking, slightly toxic relationship, explicit depiction of blood, explicit depiction of violence, explicit depiction of dead body, manipulation.

pairing: Wanda x fem!reader

word count: 3k

A/N: i literally wrote this here in one sitting so it's probably not my best work, but i was really inspired by the Love and Death teaser and this idea just wouldn't get out of my head. but hey, don't read if dark topics aren't your cup of tea. this shit is just pure madness.

anyway, enjoy!

|masterlist|

༺ᱬ༻

The smoke is like a pair of dancers dancing a waltz above your head, making love in the air. This time is no different from the last time it happened or even the second to last, although the sky is particularly cloudy and the weather tastes like conformism that is stabilized by a bitterness that consumes you within your stomach.

You inhale from the cigarette you smoke, seeking comfort in the fume, and hold and spray the tobacco through your nostrils, in almost enviable sync with the watery sound that can be found behind your shoulders, which are tucked inside a gray hooded jacket like the fur of a wild wolf; other than the circular call of a remote owl, the only sound heard is the tiny, breathy moans that Wanda lets out here and there as she grunts when she takes gulps of oxygen.

A few unconscious mutters are gasped, puffs leaking from between your wife's peachy lips, who's out of your sight because the right side of your hip is snug against the icy bodywork of your off-road car.

The night is as unsettling in your bones as the fateful sight of a car accident would be, and the song of the night birds hidden among the branches and foliage of the tall trees, with an audience of nightly eyes, brings you a certain ghostly feeling that you are a prey, and not hunter. Yet, in your simplest cognition, you are nothing more than a devoted wife.

And you remember when you first met Wanda, nearly two decades already spent in each other's company. Westview, a tiny town in upstate New Jersey, was not used to welcoming new faces into its suburban structures; and that is why the Maximoff family, made up of an immigrant couple and their two twin children born on American soil (a boy and a girl, both of your age), was an object of study adopted by all the little more than six thousand inhabitants at the time they moved into your neighborhood.

Her brother soon began to walk in the footsteps of the Westview High cool kids troupe (Pietro was a born athlete), but Wanda was like a shy shadow of her older twin, who lived holed up behind thick book pages, with an introverted presence that soon usurped your attention when your attentive gaze scanned her face, who sat at a desk placed to the right of yours during literature classes.

You asked her about five months after you met her properly, and she accepted the proposal just two days later – in college it was a little different with the proposal, because you proposed at a fine restaurant and she accepted at readiness, rewarding your with the purest of smiles gleaming at the commission of her pearly lips, an act showered with a limpid, chaste glint of love that showcased her two front teeth, which were vaguely larger than the rest and gave her a bunny appearance, because she had the habit of fortuitously scrunching a flash of skin from her nose when engendering the act of smiling.

But something withered in Wanda after the first year of marriage between the two of you, a couple still so young, with so much to do in partnership with each other. Your sweet wife was restless when you came home from work, and it was hard to say what was on her mind. Wanda, while possessing a rather emotional nature, was never the type to open up easily, and it was customary for her to bottle up her own feelings when they bothered her too much, when she didn't quite know how to deal with the will growing inside her.

Until she told you, once, after days turned into weeks all had with a certain distance between you and her that, in all your honesty, had your heart constricted inside your chest.

It was late at night, and your room was barely dipped in a haze of yellow light that emanated from a small lamp on the bedside table – you with your eyes wandering over the sentences of some novel open between the palms of your hands, holding the book close to the tip of your nose, as Wanda lied with her milky back turned to you, who assumed that your wife had long been snoring beside you, enjoying a deep night's sleep.

“Something's missing,” her voice came suddenly, prompting your chin to snap back to her, who still hadn't turned to look back at you.

“What's missing, baby?” it was a question you didn't know would prove to be a watershed for the line of normalcy that ruled your life when in a small family of two.

When Wanda shifted in bed, rustling the sheets to turn to look at you, her eyes, once green as a polished emerald stone, were made dark and deep like the moss that grows in the dampness of tree bark, untouched by the sun, away from life. It was that look you'd never seen before take over her pretty features, a numb emptiness that lacked filling, a will found in the confines of the soul that inhabited her body. She looked like a silent doll, staring at you with that verdant expanse that seemed to be able to read your thoughts.

Icy electricity ran along the length of your spine. You never thought that Wanda could give you the chills.

The need building inside her, expanding, taking shape and greater proportions, was thunderous and all-encompassing. It was an itch, a predatory addiction. A strange psychic deficiency, which you could never remedy on your own; it was out of her reach, that was not your role in her life. You were assigned the role of wife, partner, which you gladly accepted, for better or worse, just contenting yourself with a smile on the face of the one who was your muse, your obsession, your sanity and your madness.

But Wanda soon realized that you alone wouldn't be enough to satisfy the needs pulsing inside her, like preludes to a coming calamity; in her eyes was the warning of the apocalypse.

Not in the way she wanted, because when the length of her fingers pressed against the pulsing muscles and arteries of your throat, on one particularly wild night when she, with the hollow of her bare alabaster thighs snugly fitted to the red toy strapped to your waist, riding you like an animal in heat, something in her came to the edge and she allowed herself to fall, increasing the pressure, depriving your brain of the oxygen necessary for your body's full functionality.

It was as if she wanted to squeeze the life out of you. To see what your reaction would be and what would hers be too.

Your vision darkened as she came in a sharp moan, perhaps more from the lust from the power she exerted over you than from sexual the act itself, tightening her grip on the sensitive skin of your larynx. And you couldn't breathe, but you didn't need oxygen; you needed her. She would fill your lungs with life. Though she let go in time for any permanent sequel to do you irreversible damage, five hideous bruises marked you as her property in purplish-red streaks, like a galaxy dotted across your epidermis.

But when the notion dawned on you, when you had to cover your wounds with a coat of makeup, your somewhat hurt reaction to the violence calmed her nerves. Although, if she really wanted to, you'd let her steal the oxygen from your chest.

In an orgasm achieved on the day that marked your second year of marriage, a couple of months later, you offered your wife the idea of conceiving a child together. It seemed natural for a couple who'd been together as long as the two of you to dream up the idea of starting a family that would exceed two people, after all.

“I bet you'd look so hot pregnant,” it was said in a groan punctuated by a panting breath, as she rode your strap moving her body over yours the way she always liked to do, “Can you imagine that, Wands? Me putting a baby inside you?”

And she sighed a, “Fuck, Y/n!”, moving even faster with her hips, reaching for you, going for a much-needed orgasm. When her fingers bit into your neck a second time, you didn't care at all.

It didn't take more than a few tries for the twins to come; Thomas, fifteen minutes older, followed by William accordingly. Two boys who could be nothing but the embodiment of your love for her; the gift you wanted her to bestow. And the firsts of childhood witnessed by the caress of a mother's gaze did lift Wanda's spirits; for a while life was simple, the two of you too busy to allow yourself to think about anything but bottles and pacifiers. But what was spreading through Wanda's senses, until then asleep, haunted her again like an ethereal creature scraping the inside of her skull.

You saw the earnest way in which she directed furtive glances at other people who were becoming commonplace figures in her everyday life; other women who lived as secondary characters in your lives, just innocent lambs beside the wolf in disguise. But you loved her. You preyed for her good, who was the love of your life, who had been the mother of your children formed in the graces of her womb, her flesh and blood. And then, there was consent.

At some point, you gave your blessing for her to do so, because you knew it would make her happy, make her complete in a way that even your family couldn't; because she licked her lips like a thirsty person looking for water to quench her thirst – Wanda suffered from an impulse, just a lapse, a little unrestrained slip, and you were there to hold her hand every time she fell into perversities of her own temptations. You were the tightrope that kept her balanced within her own mental faculties.

The first was Agatha, there was no way you could forget; she was the boys' elementary school teacher and had a wide smile accompanied by full brown hair that made her look like an evil witch in a children's cartoon. Wanda consumed her completely, and you watched every wretched action your wife performed toward the woman older than the two of you. And then came Sharon, a friendly blonde store clerk. Darcy, a college student, and Jennifer, an aspiring lawyer. They made Wanda happy, and so were you too.

Kate came over the weekend you made it from the big city to the Westview welcomes, when your father's birthday celebration was held, sixty years or more than that.

Your parents seemed elated with yours and Wanda's presence in the small town, because it also meant the company of their only grandchildren, whom they both cherished and the feeling was mutual between the boys (Tommy was interested in asking Alexei about his time served as a low-ranking soldier in the remote Soviet Union, and Billy would ask Melina to read to him books that contained in their pages words that his scant childhood cognition, however cunning, would not be able to pronounce without the help of an adult, and it so happens that he has always been very close to his grandmother).

Natasha, your older sister, was out for military service, but Yelena, the youngest of the family, was the one who came from college, and brought along with her the company of the tall Kate Bishop, the girlfriend who she said that one day would be her wife.

Kate was a nice girl, and you were happy for your sister, who was all touching and hugging with her partner.

Over the course of dinner she engaged in an avid conversation with your father about sport archery (which she had been practicing since even younger than your children, she reported when you, across the table, asked her about it and was promptly greeted with a warm response), and she incontinently repeated a dish of stroganoff prepared by your mother, who served her with gusto.

But you can't help but notice the way Wanda looked at her from behind her glass of red wine. Thinking, scheming, studying in her brain methods of making it happen, of twisting and breaking something she wanted to crush between her hands.

Something fell into you, and you were barely able to answer the question Billy asked you as your gaze traced from your wife to the girl oblivious to her situated across the table, to near your younger sister's left shoulder. How Wanda's mouth really seemed to water in the presence of a girl young enough to be her little sister, for a meat she'd like to taste.

When Tommy called out to her, though, she looked away from the dark-haired young woman to look at you, who were standing next to your son standing between the two of you. And then, she smiled reassuringly, her lips brushed with a thin layer of red wine that did nothing to diminish the doses of sweetness in her features; and you were delivered, because she was yours and you were hers. Even if, behind that genuine smile, there was an enormous strength, a will equipped with an animalistic voracity, like a secret voluptuousness between you and your wife.

All it took was her tongue between your legs for her to have you where she wanted.

When, in the next night, your parents went to spend quality time with the boys at a nearby ice cream shop and Yelena left to go to the store to buy the missing ingredients for a homemade cookie recipe, Wanda sprang into action and, like a fool in love, you followed after her, tailing the emotional collar which she had screwed around your neck along with the wedding band on your ring finger.

You were different, you weren't disposable. You were her favorite possession.

There was no denying it. There was no way to leave her. There was no way to stop it. Even when her hand caressed the cheek of a Kate so absorbed in a banal and commonplace act between sisters-in-law, even when Wanda lured her like a treacherous viper, just waiting for the fatal pounce on the helpless little mouse.

And, well, if Wanda was the snake, you allowed yourself to taste the red apple she offered you. Your primary sin was loving her. It was to be a devoted wife.

You, therefore, take a little more and throw the rest of your cigarette on the floor, crushing it with the sole of your shoe, ending the act when the sound fades, and there are only sharp gasps to be heard through the night.

And, after fumbling with your fingers for a handful of garbage bags placed near your right ankle like an old dog, you stick your left hand inside your front trouser pocket as you bring your hips away from the bodywork of the car, wrapped in a color of red like the skin of a ripe cherry, departing in conversational strides to the front of the vehicle, where a pair of glowing headlights are like the demonic eyes of a creature in the midst of darkness, engulfed in the hollow heart of the forest that surrounds the city boundary.

A stream of yellow light reflects off the sharp edge of a metal ax that drips onto a thick viscous material that is an amalgamation of brains and entrails, and it is Wanda who has the sturdy wooden handle pressed between the fingers of both hers hands, her wedding band bathed in a splash of still-warm blood. And, well, indeed your marriage is bloody like your wife's blouse and hair, who lets the scarlet-soaked tool fall to the floor with a hollow thud, as if she's eaten too much and is too full before digestion.

She digests the moment, the atmosphere. She digests you.

Wanda no longer deals any blows against the crumbs of that shapeless, gory and mirrored thing all over the floor that was once Kate's head, now open and with all its inner contents on display – a disgusting gray mass that soils her shoes and the hem of her pants.

Wanda is happy, exultant, vibrating with a belated contentment that she can barely contain from the shots of adrenaline coursing through her veins when caught in the violent act of inflicting pain on anyone other than her or yourself. And she doesn't look any less pretty, even when she's covered in blood spatter, dirt, hair and guts. And if she's happy, you're happy. Because you are a devoted wife.

“All done here, honey?” you call out to her, brandishing the garbage bags held up by your right hand.

“All done,” she smiles as she comes towards you, pupils dilated and dark, “Thank you for doing this for me, baby.”

“I’ll always do everything I can to make you happy Wanda, you know that.”

And her answer is a kiss with the metallic taste of blood that slides between your teeth.

And for a second you try to think about Kate, who made your kids laugh until they were ready to cry and who also pleased your parents, and how Yelena's crying would break your heart once she realized her girlfriend would never come back home again. But Wanda's discomfort would shatter your soul. If her addiction was to the dismemberment of living people, yours was to her happiness.

“Baby,” she murmurs against your lips, a puff of warm air entering the gap of your mouth, fresh blood pouring in a single drop toward your chin, “I love you, you know? You're the only person I need in my life, Y/n. Only you."

And her words make your heart rumble inside your chest in an exultant pulse of joy. Because you're just a devoted wife. Or maybe just a mind as sick as Wanda's.

“I love you too, pretty girl,” you smile, “I am devoted to you.”

[darby-rowe]

remind me of the hummingbirds.

— FANFIC PREVIEW — lucy gray baird x fem!reader

˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ

The last memory you had of Lucy Gray was her dark brown hair sprawled out amongst the grass beneath the two of you. Laid on her side, cheek pressing against her hands, and her doe eyes studying how the evening sun cascaded onto your face.

This is how you wanted to remember her.

You watched her lips curl into a small smile as she carefully ran a finger down the side of your face, memorizing your contours and bone structure. And her voice was as sweet as honey as she recalled a memory from her past. It wasn’t a significant memory – you heard her tell the tale before – but how she spoke of it didn’t fail to make your chest tighten.

“When I was a babe, my momma used to always point out where the hummingbirds flew,” Lucy Gray recounted, taking a stray piece of your hair and twirling it within her delicate yet calloused fingers. The hands of a guitarist. An artist. “The mornin’ after my daddy died, my momma pointed to this little ol’ thing and told me that meant my daddy finally found his way into heaven. And when sunset hit, and the clouds opened up to let their golden rays shine, then that meant my daddy received his wings and became an angel,”

You weren’t sure why Lucy Gray was telling you this memory as you two laid in the meadow. Your face must have worn your confusion as she knitted her eyebrows together, continuing to trace patterns on your cheek with her fingernail.

“Why do you look like that, sugar?” Lucy Gray asked.

You gently took her hand and intertwined your fingers together, resting them on the grass.

“Look like what?” you replied. “‘m just wonderin’ why you’re repeating this story to me. Not that I mind, of course,”

Lucy Gray blew out a puff of air as a chuckle. “Why does it matter if I’m repeatin’ stories, darlin’?”

“It doesn’t matter. I mean, well, it does, but it doesn’t–”

“You’re cute,” Lucy Gray interrupted you, propping her head up onto her elbow. Her dark brown hair fell down in waves around her forearm as she stared down at you, and you felt the tightening in your chest intensify ever so slightly.

“Don’t call me cute unless you’re gonna kiss me, Lucy Gray,” you teased. A part of you was joking when you said that. The other part, however…

Lucy Gray clicked her tongue. “I don’t give my kisses out to just anybody,”

You dramatically placed your hand onto your heart, feigning hurt. You rolled onto your back and closed your eyes to block out the sun, gasping, mouth dropping in fake shock. “So that’s all I am to you, Lucy Gray?” you exclaimed, earning a small giggle from the girl beside you. “Just anybody? Oh my lord, I thought I was your best friend,”

The brightness of the sun suddenly dimmed a significant amount through your closed lids. When you opened your eyes, you saw the smiling face of Lucy Gray hovering above you. The ends of her hair tickled your cheeks, and under the evening sun, the heat seemed to have risen just a bit more.

And against your will, you were speechless. Especially since Lucy Gray’s lips were now on yours, injecting a new warmth throughout your previously tight chest.

You closed your eyes once more, and the only noises in your ears were the singing birds and Lucy Gray’s voice.

“You’re so much more than that to me, Y/N,”

[c-t-r-l14]

The Song A Dove Sings

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Synopsis: You sing Xanthus a beautiful song; one he won’t forget for as long as he lives.

Warning: Mentions of blood.

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As dawn made way for the morning rise, with the orange, pink and red hues rolling over into a sky blue, your eyelids fluttered open to the golden rays of sunlight poking its way through the curtains, and the gentle chirps of the birds roosting in nearby trees. The rays of sunlight that woven its way through the balcony window painted the room in an ethereal golden glow. You were enveloped in the warmness of the blankets, the strong hold of the man you loved most, and the faint, lingering smell of cologne and coca butter. You focused on the hushed sound of his breathing, and the warm air of his breath dancing on your neck. You looked at his peaceful expression, the way his blonde hair fell messily over his pale face, and those long, beautiful eyelashes that so perfectly complimented those stunning ruby red eyes you’ve adored so much. Like most people, you weren’t a fan of mornings—and it’s not for the typical reasons. Before you and Xanthus found each other, you woke up to a gaping cavity in your heart, suffocated by the air of solitude that filled the room. It didn’t matter how brightly the sun shined, how blue the sky was, or how loudly the birds sang; mundanity always hung above your head like a dark storm cloud. Seeing your partner’s face reminded you that you were not alone anymore. With every rise and fall of his chest, with every hushed breath that entered the atmosphere, you were reminded that your melancholic days were fewer and far in between. And so, with your eyelids getting heavier and heavier, yielding to the gentle call of sleep—you nestled further into the warm embrace of the one you loved most in this world.

Until you heard a familiar cooing sound. A familiar chirp—one that echoed in the air; its sound fluttering through the wind, just like the wings of the bird it belonged to.

A familiar song.

Your eyes popped open—any trace of fatigue and weariness melting away. As much as it pained you leave the serenity of Xanthus’ arms, you had to. So, with a quiet groan and a lot of caution, you slowly crept out of bed and tiptoed to the balcony window. And sure enough, there it was.

A Mourning Dove.

Your stomach swirled with nostalgia, and your chest felt heavy. It had been ages since you saw one, and even longer since you’ve heard its hauntingly beautiful call. As the bird sang, you took a moment to admire its muted colors—its little body covered in beige and light gray hues. The corners of your mouth quirked up fondly as you watched the dove’s chest and throat puff out to make each sound.

“Love?” A groggy voice groaned behind you.

You turned around to see Xanthus sitting upright, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“There’s a mourning dove outside,” you replied.

He got out of bed and walked over to the balcony window.

“Ah. So there is. I haven’t seen one in so long, which makes sense—they aren’t native to the U.K.”

You didn’t answer. You merely watched it sing some more. And although, for a time, the silence between you two was very comforting, you could practically feel Xanthus’ inquisitive gaze.

“I take it that you really like this bird?”

“Yeah. A long time ago, back when I used to live with my parents—a dove that looked just like this one would perch on a ledge outside my window, and sing— once in every blue moon. I know a lot of people think that it sings a sad song, but I never thought so. I always felt comforted, and even a little joyful when I’d hear its song.”

“Is that so?”

You hummed. “I’ve always envied them.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re free; they have peace. I didn’t have that growing up. For my entire life, I was forced to live in fear—always looking over my shoulder, always flinching at every corner. I never let myself fully trust people because I never knew what their true intentions were. It felt like I was…trapped in a cage. And since everyone was out to get me and family, I never really got a chance to actually live my life.”

The cage might’ve been spacious, filled with all the luxuries one could ever ask for—it might’ve been familiar, and full of the people you loved, but…

A cage is still a cage, nonetheless.

“Do you feel free now?” Xanthus asked.

You hummed and rested your head on his shoulder. Dontis was an absolute saint for opening up his home to you two. He’s helped you guys out in more ways in one. You certainly weren’t ungrateful for everything he’s done for you two, but at that point it’d been months since you’ve left his penthouse. Months since you’ve got to try new food, or interacted with new people. Months since you were able to live your life.

Yes, his house was full of luxuriously plush couches, beautiful paintings, and wide flat screen T.Vs, but you still weren’t free. A cage is still a cage. But even after everything you’ve been through, if there was one thing you’d gained—-it was peace. You’ve found peace with Xanthus, and that was enough for now.

“When I die, I think I wanna become a mourning dove.”

Xanthus turned his head toward you. “What?”

“I remember you telling me something about the jokes vampires make when they die. You told me that if you died, you’d come back as a bat. So, I’m telling you now that when I die, I’m gonna come back as a mourning dove. So make sure to keep your ears open;

‘Cause I’m gonna sing you a beautiful song.”

……..

No matter where he went or where he tried to hide, death followed Xanthus everywhere—but it never really bothered him until he met you. Humans lives were fleeting compared to his own, and as fragile as a porcelain tea cup, teetering dangerously on the edge of a high shelf; one nudge away from shattering into numerous irreparable pieces. He never liked thinking about your death, or what’d it be like if you were gone—so he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, and cherished your presence while you were still around.

But ever since you and him had that conversation, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He didn’t stop thinking about it when he held your broken and bloodied body in his arms—your face drained of any color, your eyes dull and lifeless.

He didn’t stop thinking about it as he tore Audric to shreds after what he did to you. He could still feel the warmth of his blood dripping from his fingers.

He didn’t stop thinking about it when he gave your eulogy, or when he and your loved ones walked to the graveyard.

And he most definitely didn’t stop thinking about it when they lowered your coffin 6 feet into the cold, dark ground.

He couldn’t bring himself to leave your grave—even after everyone left. He couldn’t bring himself to speak, or to mutter any sort of apology for getting you into this mess. For being so careless. For being so damn weak. All he could do was sit in front of your grave, with his face buried in his hands, and sob inconsolably. He’d lost the person he was supposed to protect; his lover, a piece of his soul. And now, he felt incomplete—broken, even. So, all he could do was sit there, and cry until there were no tears left to shed.

Until he heard a familiar coo. A familiar chirp.

A familiar song.

He took his face out of his hands, and looked up; the red, bloody tears still streaming out of his wide eyes. And sure enough, there it was, perched on your headstone:

A Mourning Dove.

Its little body was bathed in beige and light gray hues, its throat and chest puffed out as it sang. And Xanthus watched quietly in disbelief until it was over. He reached his hand out, and the dove perched on his finger. And as soon as the bird made contact, he felt it.

It was you.

You came back to say goodbye to him, one last time.

The dove cooed once more, and flew away—the faint flapping sounds of its wings fading further and further away. He watched as the dove flew toward the sky.

You were finally at peace. You were finally free.

——————————-🧡——————————————

A/N: Ever since part 8.1–when Xanthus jokes about dying and being reincarnated as a bat, I couldn’t stop thinking about what kind of animal listener would end up being. I really, really love mourning doves, and I’ve always thought that they’d be a good fit for listener.

Masterlist

[chic-a-gigot]

Le Petit écho de la mode, no. 40, vol. 18, 4 octobre 1896, Paris. Jaquette Salomé à 22 fr. Toque Tite à 5 fr. 95. Cravate écossaise de l'Oural à 20 fr. 95. Manchon assorti à 41 fr. 95. Vêtement Samson à 19 fr. 95. Canotier en feutre à 8 fr. 95. Ville de Paris / Bibliothèque Forney

Nous offrons en prime à nos charmantes lectrices deux vêtements qui, par leurs prix très avantageux, vont faire leurs délices.

We are offering as a bonus to our charming readers two items of clothing which, with their very advantageous prices, will delight them.

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(1.) Salomè jacket, the latest creation, in very warm and very soft English cloth at the price of 22 fr. 95 unlined and 28 fr 95 lined, colored or black polonaise. This magnificent dust jacket is made in tobacco, light gray and slate gray.

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(2.) Samson cape, tailor-style in leather cloth, superior quality, decorated with stitched baguettes, priced at 19 fr 95 unlined, at 23 fr. 95 lined polonaise colored or black. This cape is done in black and navy. To accompany this item we give: 1. A nice felt Tite hat decorated with velvet puffs on the bias. On the left side is a cute little black bird. The shapes are in black, navy, tobacco, beige and gray. The velvet is black, navy, garnet, tobacco, heliotrope, cream, ruby, sea green, dark green and emerald to choose from. Price: 5 fr. 95. — 2. Felt boater, decorated on the side with a large cabbage in beautiful silk satin ribbon and knife feathers. The crown, surrounded by a bias of cream satin or matching the ribbon, is lined with black velvet at the top and bottom. The ribbon is available in black, navy, garnet, tobacco, light gray, heliotrope, dark green and cream. The feathers match the shapes. Price 8 fr. 95.

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(3.) Magnificent Scottish tie in Ural marten with head and flow formed by 5 tails. Price 20 fr. 95. Matching sleeve 41 fr. 95.

—

Aucun envoi n’est fait contre remboursement; adresser mandat-poste à M. Orsoni, 3, rue de la Sablière, Paris. Les frais d’envoi en gare française sont compris dans les prix désignés ci-dessus. Pour la différence de frais de port, ajouter 0 fr. 50 pouf la Corse, l’Algérie, la Tunisie, la Suisse, la Belgique et l’Allemagne, 1 franc pour l’Espagne, le Portugal, la Hollande, l’Autriche et l’Angleterre, 1 fr. 50 pour la Roumanie et l’Egypte. Un délai de huit jours nous est nécessaire pour la bonne exécution des commandes de chapeaux et douze jours pour les vêtements. Mesures à donner: Pour la jaquette, 1. largeur du dos; 2. longueur du dos, prise du pied du col à la taille; 3. largeur du devant; 4. contour sous les bras, pris au plus fort) de la poitrine; 5. contour des hanches; 6. épaule; 7. tour de taille. Pour le collet: 1. encolure sur le col de la robe; 2. contour de poitrine en passant par dessus les bras.

No shipment is made against reimbursement; send money order to Mr. Orsoni, 3, rue de la Sablière, Paris. Shipping costs to French stations are included in the prices designated above. For the difference in shipping costs, add 0 fr. 50 pouf Corsica, Algeria, Tunisia, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany, 1 franc for Spain, Portugal, Holland, Austria and England, 1 fr. 50 for Romania and Egypt. We need eight days for the proper execution of orders for hats and twelve days for clothing. Measurements to be given: For the jacket, 1. width of the spine; 2. back length, foot take from collar to waist; 3. front width; 4. contour under the arms, taken at the fullest) of the chest; 5. hip contour; 6. shoulder; 7. waistline. For the cape: 1. neckline on the dress collar; 2. chest contour going over the arms.

[egginfroggin]

Day 5: Hobby

(In which Emmet makes a little accessory for one of his many, many Joltik)

(Can be read here on AO3)

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

The tiny Joltik crawled over the skeins of yarn, arranged in a colorful pile in a basket beside the gray armchair. It chirped, squirming under a soft bundle of blue to poke out the other side.

“Do you like that one?”

It squeaked, starting to gnaw on the yarn.

“Ah, ah – please do not bite it,” Emmet said, putting down the crochet hook in his hands and gently picking up the Joltik and yarn, prying the two apart. “It is not a battery! It will hurt your stomach if you eat it.”

It squirmed, escaping his fingers and crawling up his sleeve. He bit back a ticklish giggle as the Joltik moved up his arm, the lump under his sleeve making its way to his shoulder and poking out of his collar.

“Why don’t you look at the buttons?” he said, rubbing the top of its head with a finger and picking up the assaulted ball of blue yarn with his other hand, unwinding a few inches.

The Joltik chittered at him and hopped to the arm of the chair, crawling back onto the table and past the basket of yarn to clamber into the opened tin of loose, miscellaneous buttons. The buttons rattled noisily against the walls of the tin as all but the Joltik’s fluffy puff of a tail vanished below them like some kind of fuzzy Sharpedo under ocean waves.

Satisfied that the Joltik would be distracted, Emmet picked up the crochet hook again and started to crochet a border of blue along the edge of the silver piece of crocheted yarn.

The buttons rattled next to him, giving a particularly loud burst of noise accompanied by an excited chirp as he finished the little piece, and the Joltik popped out with a button in its mandibles.

“Did you find one you like?”

Happy chirping met his question, and he held out his hand to accept the tiny green button.

“Ah! A verrrry good choice.”

The tiny bauble shone in the lamplight, a pretty shade of emerald, and he finished tying off the end of the yarn to rummage around for a needle and thread.

The Joltik returned to its perch on his shoulder, crawling excitedly around back and forth over his collar until he was done. He held up his hand to it, and it hopped onto his palm.

“Sit still, please,” he asked the little bug.

It did so, and he set the tiny crocheted hat onto its head, smile widening as he lifted the Joltik up a little higher.

“Perfect!”

It squeaked happily, little claws coming up to play with the edge of the hat, little blue eyes squinting shut in a cheerful Joltik smile.

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

Rambling under the cut. Have a good day!

<Prev, first, next>

I wasn't sure what to do for this one, honestly, and ended up tossing this together in like twenty-something minutes. It was rather relaxing to write something that was basically just aimless fluff, honestly.

I think I ended up just rolling two hobbies and some memories into a bundle to project onto Emmet.

I crochet from time to time, and started but never finished a bag that would have been silver edged with dark blue.

I also make tiny hats on occasion, by which I mean for my birds, though they're cobbled together from cardboard, glue, and paint. It is incredibly fun.

Finally, somewhere around here, there is a big, heavy pot that is full of containers of old buttons. I remember spending ages looking through them all when I was little. It was fun. They also smelled nice.

Anyway, this was fun. I hope you enjoyed this rare sighting of pure fluff from me. It is truly an anomaly, and a continuation of my angstless streak.

[bordercolliefan]

unnamed scarian Hermit/empires Vigilante Au chapter one

Grian, or CuteGuy now that he was in his vigilante suit, dived down from the city skies to land on a tall apartment building. He scanned his surroundings wearily, looking for any sign of trouble or crime. He did find trouble, but It certainly wasn’t the kind he was looking for. “Hello pretty bird,” A familiar voice teased. Grian whipped around to face the hero behind him. His nemesis, HotGuy, stood only a few feet behind him, a grin as smug as ever plastered across his stupid face. 

“What do you want now,” CuteGuy muttered.

“Oh nothing” HotGuy said with a shrug. “I just wanted to see you.”

“Well you’ve seen me, and I’m working which, mind you, you should be too, so go away.” He turned back to the view of the city. He could hear the sound of HotGuy’s footsteps as he approached. “What would the rest of the heroes think if they found out you were flirting with the enemy instead of patrolling the city.”

“If you joined the heroes our little talks wouldn’t be so dangerous,” HotGuy pointed out. Grian grunted in response and kept scanning the city below. He could feel his pastel pink wings puff up as HotGuy got even closer.

“You know CuteGu–” The hero was cut off by another person landing on the building. The Sheriff swung himself over the small rail on the apartment roof. Tucking his grappling hook in his pocket, and adjusting the blue bandana that covered his face he looked at the two in confusion. 

“HotGuy, what are you doing?” HotGuy flushed red with embarrassment.

“Um, I was just catching this pesky bir–uh vigilante,” he stuttered. The sheriff raised a questioning eyebrow. Suddenly a row of gemstone steps appeared out of thin air and Crystalin, one of the newer heroes, landed gracefully on the building. The deer-like girl brushed a lock of wavy ginger hair out of her face.

“The vigilantes aren’t worth catching,” she said. “We should focus on the real villains. As long as the vigilantes aren’t hurting anyone, I don’t see any harm in them doing their thing.”

“Crystalin’s right,” the sheriff agreed. With one last wistful glance at him, HotGuy headed towards the other heroes and began patrolling once again.

********

Grian’s eyes fluttered open to the morning sun filtering through his apartment window. He sat up and yawned. He was utterly exhausted after last night's encounter with HotGuy and the other heroes. But he had a job to get too, so he reluctantly got up. He dug through his messy drawers until he found his signature red sweater and baggy gray pants and got dressed.

Once he was dressed he groggily opened his door and headed out to the kitchen. To his surprise his crush roommate, Scar, was standing in the kitchen cooking pancakes.

“Scar?” Grian asked. The man turned around and flashed him a big lopsided grin.

“Grian, goodmorning!” He exclaimed. “I’ve made us both breakfast, I figured it would be nice if we sat down and had a meal together this morning.” Grian’s now parrot wing because he was in his civilian form fluttered with happiness. He immediately felt embarrassed at the gesture. Boy was he glad Scar didn’t know how to read his wings. Yet. Scar was a clever man, despite being painfully oblivious at times, and Grain was sure he would figure it out eventually.

“Thanks,” Grian said with a sigh. He sat down at their round table and watched Scar serve the pancakes. Grian found it weird how someone he had only met six months ago could be so trusting and kind to him.

“Breakfast is served,” Scar said, plopping down at the chair across from him.

After the two ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence, before they both headed off to their jobs. Grian strolled down the city streets, pushing past groups of people, until eventually he reached the cafe he worked at. The cafe would be opening any minute now and Grian wasn’t near ready. He raced inside the building and quickly threw on his apron. Luckily he managed to get the cafe ready before the first customer. The first customer this morning happened to be none other than his best friend Mumbo Jumbo. Mumbo came to the cafe a lot and Grian had a sneaking suspicion it was more to visit him than get food.

“Mumbo, what can I get for you today?!” Grian asked happily.

“The usual,” Mumbo answered. Right. That meant black coffee with two sugars. “But how have you been?” He asked.

“I’ve been fine, you're acting like I haven’t seen you in ages, I saw you yesterday," Grian replied.

“Knowing you, you’ve probably caused more chaos from the last time I saw you to today than I have in my life.” Mumbo said. Grian laughed, knowing it was the truth. He then prepared Mumbo’s coffee and in a few minutes it was done.

“One coffee for none only then Mr. Mumbo Jumbo,” Grian called out. Mumbo rolled his eyes and took the coffee from him. After paying and saying goodbye, he walked out of the little cafe to begin his day. Grian sighed once Mumbo was gone, he had a long day of work ahead of him.

Also I promise I'm still doing my watcher au too, I just had to also do this.

[rosehiroto]

Hello everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful day i decided to write about vox with a long time friend mc i had that idea in mind for a while but i finally decided to write it down hope you enjoy and have a fun time reading 💙💙

Mc is non-binary pronounce is they/them

Mc is refered to as foxy throughout the story

WARNING: Please remember that I am writing about Luxiem based on their characters online and not of the people behind their vtuber avatars, thank you!

Fandom: Nijisanji EN.

Category: fluff, reminiscing about the past

Pairing: vox x mc platonically, father x child relationship.

The good past

Vox walked through the forest by his castle as the birds chirped happily flying around the forest lighting up with the soft glow of the sun.

Vox’s right hand man and most trusted companion onigiri walked next to vox  basking in the soft glow of the sun his hands resting behind his head as they walked in comfortable silnce.

The soft rustling in the grass grabbed both of the males’ attention as they both looked at the bush moving gently a black tail popping up from the bush wagging vigorously.

Vox smiled gently at the familiar black tail knowing who it beloged to as onigiri decided to scare the tail owner moving to the tail quitely as the tail owner moved up to reveal a small black fox who happily jumped toward onigiri making happy noises and running in circles around onigiri then moving towards vox rubbing it’s face against his leg the creature’s tail wagging even more.

Vox patted the fox on the head gently deciding to pick the small fox up in his arms as the fox nuzzled into his shoulder vox continued to walk through the forest onigiri following behind pouting as he wasn’t able to scare the fox.

After vox and onigiri finished their walk through the forest and started to walk back towards the castle that vox lived in as the small fox fell asleep in vox’s arms.

After vox arrived at his chambers he sat down on his throne the fox asleep on his lap their tail wagging gently as they opened their eyes gently yawning gently and rolling around in the older demon’s lap before sitting up amd jumping towards the floor a puff of gray smoke surrounding the fox as a larger figure replaced the small fox.

A small child sat in the fox’s place as they stretched their arms over their head fluffy ears on top of their head and a large poofy tail resting on the floor the small child with ears and a tail smiled brightly at vox their tail wagging.

"How was your sleep little foxy?" Vox asked an amused grin on his face as he watched the small child move around and lay down on vox’s lap again smiling happily enjoying being in vox’s presence.

"It was okay master vox ! i found berries today can you believe that master! it was soooo good and then i found you and Oni and then i took a nap because you were so comfy" the child rambled on smiling at vox and rolling around on his lap as the demon chuckled at the small child patting their head gently and listening to them ramble on about their day.

Vox places his headphones down as he finishes streaming stretching in his seat before getting up and going to the kitchen smelling a good smell as he entered the kitchen finding a short figure with fluffy ears and a long black tail wagging as the figure was cooking humming a gentle tune.

Vox smiled gently at the sight feeling proud of how much his fox has grown who turned around after hearing vox walking to the kitchen and smiling at vox who went to stand next to them patting their head gently.

"I decided to make some food for you but you finished streaming before the food was done" the fox said sighing gently they wanted to surprise vox with dinner but they didn't finish on time as usual.

Vox chuckled gently deciding to help his little fox prepare dinner as they both enjoyed each other's company.

Foxy was someone who ment alot to vox they were his fox he likes to call them his child sometimes as well they were introduced in his debut stream as his little helper.

Vox made a habit of teasing them and annoying them when he can sometimes he tries to pretend to mix them up and Mysta and will call Mysta foxy to grab their attention then tell them he was talking to Mysta which annoys them to no end.

They surprisingly get along very well Mysta they consider each other as fox siblings and bond over alot of things that make no sense to vox.

Cooking dinner for vox before he finishes stream was a habit that foxy devolved since he started streaming knowing what he liked and what he was usually in the mood for after living with him for so long.

It usually ended with vox joining in on the cooking and both of them eating together while talking and their day their plans and so on.

But today after they finished cooking dinner and sat down to eat they started to talk about the past.

'The good old days' as they say vox loved remembering how cute foxy were when they were a child and loves ranting about it to anyone really.

He's a very proud dad and has tried to make foxy call him dad but they refused preferring to call him master instead as they felt they would be disrespectful if they called him dad.

Will refuse and cry when foxy tries to tell him they're all grown up and will call them his baby fox.

It makes him feel a little old to know he raised a child that was over 100 years old at this point.

Foxy is blessed with young and youthful face that makes vox refuse them being grown up even more he will squish their cheeks and call them adorable.

Foxy gets very annoyed and complains to Nina who laughs and then talk with vox about their children growing up too fast.

They will cry together about their children and gossip about them as well great parents they are.

Foxy's last resort is Ike who they talk to the most Ike treats them as a dear friend will understand their struggles with vox and will talk to him.

But vox as usual goes back to being a father a few minutes after and will squish foxy's cheeks to no end.

Onigiri tries to comfort foxy and play video games with them while they both compliant to each other about vox being vox.

But in the end they love vox as he is their family no matter what he did he's their only family and they couldn't wish for a better one.

Thank you for reading all support is highly appreciated 💙

This is my writing please don't repost copy or claim as your own

[advernia]

WHAT IS YOUR AESTHETIC NOW?

ONE —

The crisp cut of white, the touch of cotton on his skin. A desk with papers organized to his liking, a freshly filled inkwell with a colored quill. The silence of a room, the comfort in solace come the weekend.

Schoolwork. Collating this week's notes, advanced readings on next topics. Going through assignments piece by piece, taking great care to be concise. Another look. Checking thoroughly, reading the questions one more time and evaluating his responses. The satisfaction of accomplishing a task, everything of relevance sorted neatly into his bag.

Work. A schedule to be planned, finances to be evaluated. Surveying a list of names, encircling the best prospects. Reviewing agendas. Studying current trends, predicting future ones. Stocks. Market trends and their shifts.

A beverage, warm or cold. A sip or two. Leaning back on the chair, one last look at the day's work. A walk to the bookshelf, a new grimiore in his hands. The smell of aged paper, the feel of parchment.

Back leaning on the pillows, feet covered by the sheets. Lights brought down a bit dim, eyes unobstructed by glasses.

Reading well into the afternoon.

TWO —

Stretch: start with the arms, go down to the legs. Water going down the throat. A face woken up by a splash of cold water, throwing on comfortable clothes. The comfort of socks, the security of shoes. Inhaling, exhaling. Dawn's air flowing into the nostrils.

Starting slow, going steady. Getting into a rhythm, clearing the mind. Staring ahead, moving forward. Picking up the pace, passing winds tousling hair. Body getting warmer, blood pumping to life.

A change of scenery. Moving around a new path, setting a new course. Taking in the sights. A pace still steady, breathing still kept in check. Body warmed up. Going faster.

A little faster. Testing the limits, trying a new record. One lap, another. One more lap. The rush of air, the early touches of sunlight. Coming to a stop because it just feels right, the feeling of fulfillment.

Watching the rising sun.

THREE —

A beat. Another, another, identifying a rhythm. Singing. Voices in unison, enthusiasm. The jingling of bells. People coming together, rising from their seats. Instruments coming together and playing louder and louder. Dancing.

Standing in the middle of a crowd. Swaying of hips, stomping of feet. Hands coming together, heads turning around. Smiling, laughter. The swish of hair, flurries of colorful fabric. Moving faster, faster, faster!

Another dance, a new melody. Upbeat drums, ringing tambourines. Dancing with a friend, dancing with a stranger. Learning new steps. Teaching those new steps. Mastering those steps. Movement, movement, movement!

Dance, and be merry!

FOUR —

Petrichor. Dew resting on long blades of grass, the soft feel of earth under shoes. The lazy rays of dawn, chirping of early birds. Puffs of gray clouds, peeks of the blue sky. A long trail up ahead, high slopes.

Shadows and shades of trees. Gnarled roots emerging from the earth. Rock formations, ruined. Rock formations, crumbling. Testing the footing. Getting back on the path, looking over slopes and precipes. Looking at the world from high above.

The sun touching skin. Passing through a slope, sitting down to take a rest. Looking over at the foliage, searching for herbs. Spotting mushrooms, picking strange flowers. Watching animals move about. Going back to the trail, going back to the slope. Walking up to a steady pace, time left behind.

Reaching the mountain's peak.

1: shoutout to jade for featuring thrice! here's everyone's context:

azul -> a day in the life: weekend ver.

jack -> a morning jog.

kalim -> a party!

jade -> a mountain hike.

[brantodd33-blog]

A few minutes earlier on the roof top, of the sixth level. We see Tripp standing in a cold drizzle, holding his newly found weapon, the double-edged fireman’s axe in both hands.

His head lowered, with his dripping wet dark curly hair, hanging in front of his fogged over glasses.

He pans the roof top, and finds what he is looking for. The breaker box, and sees it is mounted to some sort of small master control room, he thinks.

As he begins to move, he notices a large black horned shadow appear atop the little building, and moans. “Oh hell, here we go again!”

He looks to his left, and sees a group of large industrial heater units. Then looks back one more time to see the shadow with its back turned still looking into the frozen landscape, the snow brightly reflecting the moon light. This is when, the young man’s heart begins to pound in his chest, so hard he can feel it in his finger tips as he tightly grips the wooden axe handle.

Breathing heavily, he makes a mad dash for the units to his left.

Dropping swiftly to the slick slush covered concrete Tripp slides, his eyes widening in surprise quickly realizing he has just overshot his target.

“oh fuck!” Tripp thinks.

He scrambles back to the row of heaters. Ducking down just in time to see the gold ringed eyes of the tall thin Hollowmonger with its unusually long twisted horns. Turns blinking back in his direction.

At that same moment, a loud roaring howl comes out of the icy wilderness. Tripp thinks out, saying ‘Nightshade devil bears’.

Not understanding why, or how he knows this, but fully aware it is true.

That’s when the tall twisted shadow turns back, looking into the glowing white frozen land, and then up hissing to the moon. It rapidly flies off moving on the surface of the buildings, and lands below, in the direction of the howling devil bear.

This is when Tripp slowly stands moving out from the cover of the Observatories large industrial heating units.

He begins his slow crouch to the control building. He moves low staying in the shadows, and just behind the small building, with his back against the wall, he shuffles to the right corner, reaching the edge.

Tripp peeks around, and sees the box, and notes he is the only living being on the roof top at the moment.

This is when he moves. So with speed he runs, and slides on the frozen slush coming to a stop in front of the breaker box.

“Oh fuck there is a lock, damn it!” He exclaims.

Looking around for something, anything, but finds nothing. He raises his axe, bringing it down in a swift motion smacking the lock to the ground.

Swinging open the lid to find dozens of switches going down each row reading aloud; “Cafeterias, research labs, warehousing, elevators, ICU; and bingo! The emergency systems.” Tripp notices the switch as been ‘tripped’ to the ‘on’ position he takes hold of the handle quickly flipping it back to ‘off’ with a clicking snap.

Sparks pop from the box, and a small spiral of gray smoke. Tripp, shakes his head letting out a puff of cold breath, blowing his frozen bangs out of his eyes, and pinching the bridge of his nose, in frustration. When the box makes a fizzled popping, and with a humming ping all the roof top security lamps spring on, flooding the area with yellow light. At the same time the power is restored. Tripp hears several low screeching growls coming from behind him, and before he turns, he whispers to himself.

“Shit, a Tower of Snallygasters!” He thinks how do I know that? As he turns slowly to the strange, almost bird like growls.

Tripp now stands face to face with ten creatures. Each easily the size of large ponies. With the body, and tail of a massive crocodile, long raptor legs, and enormous taloned feet. Large bald head of a vulture with the narrow snout of a crocodile, lined with large conical teeth at least six to even seven inches long. Tripp noted, in the back of his mind.

“OK boys, lets just be cool, and stay calm. Please oh man. Good birds!” He said, and the boss Snally of the Tower stepped forward letting out a loud thunderous grunting roar. Almost pushing Tripp back against the outer wall of the control room.

“Huh, sorry I mean lizard?” Tripp guessed, shrugging his shoulders in a I don’t know gesture.

Still holding his axe the Boss Snally steps closer. Stretching out his long feathered neck, he twists his head in an optokinetic movement. Peering at Tripp with just the one yellow, brown eye. Looking first down to the axe, and back up to Tripp.

“Oh, by the light of Selene please help me, get out of this.” Tripp said out loud, not fully aware what it even meant.

That’s when the Boss Snally , plucks the weapon from Tripp’s hands, with it’s powerful snout, flipping it over the others. The axe lands in a mound of slushy gray snow, just to the roofs edge, with a splashing thud, and the axe head sticking up.

The amazing creature rears back on it’s powerful hind legs spreading it’s long span of huge feathered wings. Tripp was about to speak, but could only stare unblinking, with his mouth hung open. When the cryptid reached its head over, and around him snatching the Voyager up by the collar of his flannel shirt. It launched itself straight up into the frigid cold Antarctic air, sending Tripp into mad bellowing screams of shock, and fright. “Oh my God, oh my God please make this thing drop!” and before he could finish boss Snally flung him further up, and out over the hard packed snow above the Observatories courtyard.

Tripp is in hysterics with his eyes closed hard, tears start beading up in the corners turning to tiny ice chips. He starts yelling. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m fucking falling.” He opens his lids to see the ground is coming up fast to meet him. His face tightens into a cringe expecting to hit the hard frozen earth, when he feels strong talons snatch the back of his shirt. Praying out loud, screaming to any, and every God.

He is thrown again flying through the cold night chill. A third Snallygaster grabs him in mid-air, activating his Bluetooth again, screaming fills his ears with.

“Well, I've heard about the joyrides, and I want in. It's fair to say it's in the past, if you're kidding.” He calls out “Joyride” by "Chevelle”, and then tells himself. “I need to remember to take these out if I live through this.”

This is when all his prayers turn to, “Thank you so fucking much, Levi Strauss, and Company for making this strong, durable flannel!!” Tripp proclaims.

Still in terror he starts to come to the conclusion these creatures, these forgotten children of the Cryptids, are toying with me. “This is just one big game of cryptid quidditch, and I’m the quaffle.” Tripp muttered to himself.

And at that, he his tossed to boss Snally once more, catching him in his strong talons, and all of the Snallygasters rear up in mid-flight, letting out another birdlike grunt, but in unison this time.

When one golden fleck appeared over the roof top. Tripp begins getting worried, remembering the eyes of the Hollowmonger. Then the one gold fleck turns into two, and both began spiraling out turning into four, six, eight, and ten before Tripp loses count. Boss Snally threw Ryder Chronos aka “Tripp the Voyager” low onto the roof. He hit hard, and slides on his back in the snowy slush and mud.

Tripp slams his feet down coming to a stop, braking himself with his van sneakers. He sits in the freezing night air, just under the massive gold spiraling light. Breathing out puffs of moisture, with steam rolling off his cold damp clothes, and soaked curly head. He looks up noticing it is about fifteen feet above the building. And he now knows it is becoming a doorway of some kind. He starts to see a dark shape beginning to appear. As the doorway gets larger, so does the behemoth shadowy figure. “It is some kind of giant!” Tripp says out loud. His air pods blaring Chevelle in his ears still, he doesn’t realize he is speaking only to the Snallygasters as they float beating their wings just beside the research, and medical facility.

The spiraling portal completely opens with a bright beam of gold flares, and a loud trumpeted blast. Tripp stands, backing up now not taking his eyes off the massive luminescent portal. He thinks “God, it is at least twenty to thirty feet around, and the giant silhouette is growing taller.”

As it walks closer its hard footsteps becoming heavy thunderous stomps, rattling the roof top security lights. Tripp still backing up, unblinking in shocked astonishment. He bumps the mound of dirty frozen slush, where his axe is still planted, looking like a comical axe in the stone.

A drizzle of ice starts to fall, quickly gaining intensity turning into a flurry of thick snow, the Tower of Snallygasters start to grunt snorts of freezing breaths. Slowly gliding back onto the rooftops edge, all watching the large silhouette stopping right at the opening of the enormous entrance it places it’s gargantuan hands on it’s hips.

Tripp still in a trance, and breathing heavy, taking the air pods from his ears. He hears the figure speak. Its voice is a roaring stern Old Norse accent.

“By the fires of Helios, ‘Ramsey The Great Defender’ is it really you?” The huge Viking giant leaps from the gold portal, with a loud booming slam on the rooftop rattling everything, and shattering the windows of the master control room. Tripp falls back splashing in the mound of slush. Freeing the fireman’s axe, it lands in Tripp’s lap, and the Tower of Snallygasters leap up in a flutter. The Giant Viking stands fully up right, and begins walking over to Tripp, still in darkness. Tripp thinks “This man, or giant is easily twelve foot tall.” The creature steps up to Tripp with only his lower half showing in the lamp light.

Tripp looks down to see a pair of massive boots. Made from goatskin or cow hide, woolen wraps under chainmail running up to leather suede pants bound with suede lacing, a thick wide bronze, and bear skin belt over the top of the pants with a hatchet hanging on each side. Four worn cracking leather bags laced closed through brass eyelets, a row of daggers, and one very large skinning knife.

The giant bends down placing his enormous, and irregularly hairy hands on his knees, Tripp notices leather strapped gauntlets embossed with what look like two Phoenixes rolled into a circle of fire, on each wrist.

Then the face of this giant hairy Viking lowers into the light; saying well,

“Ramsey it seems you’re no longer “The Defender”, are you?” bellowing gruff laughter.

“No that’s right you’re “The Voyager” on this go around aren’t you?”

Tripp looks into the giant’s dark green eyes.

Seeing for the first time, the face of a being with the features of a man mixed with the features of an ape.

Low prominent brow, a short nose, thin cracking lips, weathered tough tanned skin.

With a long single braided beard.

Blonde brown ombre hair pulled back with woven beads, stone, and large red feathers showing two Norse tribal tattoos on either side of his massive head.

Tripp has a sudden mind-blowing realization.

“Holy shit you’re a Sasquatch, oh damn you are some kind of giant Viking Bigfoot! “Tripp yells.

“Hey, boy you watch that, God pounding mouth!” “Do you hear me?” The giant said.

“We prefer ‘Wendigo.”

“The Wendigo find Sasquatch or Bigfoot to be offensive, and a derogatory slur. Those are the names given to us by the outer Eden dwellers or humans, as their called.” Ragnar informed Tripp with stern, but good humor.

“Consider this, your first warning ‘Voyager’. Here let me help you up.”

Reaching out his big right hand, he grabs Tripp. Picking him straight up, and off the cold concrete. He places him onto the top of the control room.

“My name is, Ragnar the Rugaru, Of the Rising Phoenix tribe, and what is your given Samsararian name, ‘Voyager’?” Ragnar asked.

“Huh, I’m Tripp. Well I mean Ryder is my real name, but everyone just calls me Tripp.” He exclaimed.

More gruff laughter, and a huge pad on the back. “Well Tripp nice to finally meet you, “Heil og seal”. Oh sorry, nice to meet you healthy, and happy.” Ragnar exclaimed.

As Tripp is about to same the same. The last bit of charge ran down in the apple air pods, letting out “Sinister Kid” by The Black Keys.

Turned up to max volume. It sends the Tower of the Snallygasters into a panic. Causing Boss Snally to react with his most basic, and primal instinct, to protect his Tower!

Lowering to the rooftop. The Vulture croc begins Bucking, and kicking. Rearing back on his hind taloned feet, blowing cold snorts of breath as he brays loud grunting roars. He lunges forward. Taking off fast, leaping in an arch. The pony sized cryptid spreads his wings. Beating them so furiously it sends up clouds of snow drifts.

“By the light of Selene turn that, God pounding thing off Tripp!” Ragnar yelled!

With no time to react Tripp plunges his shaken hands in to his pockets. Feeling for the phone, and pulling it out. At the same time seeing Ragnar from the corner of his eyes. The Giant Wendigo is pulling something from one of his leather bags. Before Tripp can process what is happening he pulls the phone out, it fumbles in his cold wet hands. He loses his hold on it sending it over the edge of the control room roof. It dives into the cold slush below. Tripp hears.

“Jump, and take cover Voyager, NOW!” Ragnar howled

[seokahwrites]

NUISANCE | chapter 1 (or, human walls and steak fungi)

5.8k

back to nuisance masterlist

pairing.

| lawyer! jeon jungkook x lawyer! reader (feat. ex! kim taehyung)

summary.

| all you wished for was a relaxing two weeks in a big ass boat eating some big ass shrimps, away from the real world. but instead you’re stuck with your arch rival with no means of escape — and goddamit why does the bastard smell so good

tags.

| the spice has commenced; POUTY JUNGKOOK???; hunky jungkook?; jungkook?; jungkook in a suit; a LOT of jungkook; pouty reader; stressed out reader; use of the words dick and cooch; use of the word satan (to refer to kim seokjin ofc); KIM SEOKJIN IS THE REAL MAIN CHAR; poor joon is a victim; JUNGKOOK WEARING EARRINGS AND BRACELETS; taehyung is nice (?) (¿question mark?)

a/n.

| this writing was sponsored by red bull, alcohol and fantasies of casual jungkook as well as jungkook in a suit. also, jungkook’s smile is described as tight lipped bc his signature smile appearing is important to the story. also i wanna know y’all’s thoughts on tae. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY THANK U FOR THE COTINUOUS SUPPORT AND LOVE, I WILL CONTINUE TO GIVE MY BEST AND THANK U FOR READING MY STORY <333

Having once spent a sleepless night reading Dante’s inferno, you were well aware of the fact that there are 9 layers of hell.

Though, it seemed the old man had forgotten about the tenth circle: Anywhere with Jeon Jungkook.

Since the first time you met him, you never had any reason to believe that he was a humble character. He had always looked at you from the top of his high horse and he took much pride in trotting on it.

As you, Jungkook and the receptionist wait for the elevator, the air thick with discomfort, you look at the man in front of you and remember that first time.

Your head is invaded with the memory of you in your Hello Kitty pajamas, adorned with grease and all, as you worked on a divorce case that causes you migraines to this day — love is a bitter bitch. It must’ve been past midnight when you and Jin were chewing away pizza slice after pizza slice at the office.

Then, there’s a knock at the door.

“If that’s Namjoon I’m literally going to fire you,” you bark at Jin as you hold his leftover crust on one hand and a document on the other.

And Jin, being the smart ass he is and knowing you wouldn’t survive a day without him, gets up from your leather couch without a word and opens the door, launching himself at none other than Kim Namjoon.

You roll your eyes at the love birds while wondering when the fuck their honeymoon phase was gonna end. You were so sick of them.

“Y/N,” Jin calls you from your desk, urging you to come to the door and once you’re beside him, this time with a cup of coke in your hands, “Can you keep them entertained for a bit? I just gotta grab Namjoon’s meds.”

Before you could say no, the little devil was already running off to his own cubicle, leaving you alone with the all familiar Namjoon and a very much not familiar stranger.

You lean on the doorframe without uttering a single word, sipping on your drink as well as the stranger — Sure, looking back at the moment you kinda just wanna punch yourself in the cooch and tell yourself to get a grip, but you weren’t blinded with hatred at the time, and also not blind — because it isn’t every night that a man clad in a charcoal suit and an unbuttoned shirt, comes knocking at your door; not to mention his watch dazzled under the artificial light and he held the blue tie in his hand with just the right grip.

You’re snapped out of your daze when the man goes from checking the time to whispering something in Namjoon’s ear, covering it the same way eight year olds cover their own secrets, and he laughs. This would all be good and well if he hadn’t looked at you with such appall in his eyes the moment before, the look still clear as day in your mind.

You're reminded that your makeup was probably smudged from all the times you had rubbed your eyes, your skin oily from the tiresome day and you were wearing Hello Kitty pajamas.

Maybe you shouldn’t have taken the insult so personally, but you did.

“I’m here,” Jin is back, a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder as the other one passes him a lunchbox of cold medicines, “What did I miss?”

At this you look up from the pitiful ground, pulling Jin back to your office, and accidentally spill (or throw) your coke at the stranger. You watch in delight as he looks at his very expensive looking suit drenched in a sticky brown, utter terror in his eyes, inhaling the wonderful moment for a second before shutting the door in his face.

The consequences of your actions: an almost two-year long rivalry with the stranger, revealed to be Jeon Jungkook moments after the incident when Jin asked, “Did you just throw your drink at Namjoon’s boss, you crazy bitch?”

And that wave has rippled to this day, in the form of insults and high-school level teasing (if his brain had even evolved to that age). The words “I’ll have you all to myself’ comes to mind; it makes you puff with exasperation. Sure it comes off a little flirty to unknowing ears, but it was just another reminder of Jungkook’s dismay — and that he had an all new access to torture you.

You attempt to shake the ick from your body, but in a trice you found yourself in front of the suite, the four floors you travelled to get there seemingly a glitch in time.

Isabelle scans the room card in front of the handle, handing it over to Jungkook after the green beep. “This is your room!”

You shove Jungkook aside, pulling your trolley as you enter. You had seen the pictures before, but seeing the grand room before your eyes in all of its shades of brown and gray dispersed throughout the walls and furniture, the intricate branch of lights in the ceiling and the panoramic ocean view that gave it its name; it made you forgot who you were sharing it with for a moment.

When you turn around, Jungkook is as wide eyed as you, and it makes the corners of your mouth lift ever so slightly because he looks like a fucking dork.

“Well,” Isabelle is smiling and you could sense her relief of not having to deal with the two of you anymore, “If you need anything, me and the rest of the Royal Sunrise team are available at all times, have fun!”

And just like that, she made her escape, leaving you and Jungkook standing in the middle of the room, alone.

For a moment you shut your eyes as hard as you can, scrunching your face with your fists up, in hopes that a miracle happens and Jungkook disappears. You have been having some odd dreams lately, maybe this was just—

Nope. He’s still there.

Since his eyes seem to have wandered too far, you call out his name to bring him back to earth, crossing your arms when his gaze lands on you, “We should probably talk about a few things.”

He drops the backpack from his back as he nods.

“First of all, the sleeping situation—“

“Yeah, I already thought of that,” he walks to the (very cramped) couch on the other side of the room and pats the armrest, “I’ll take this wonderful bed.”

You look at him with quizzical eyes, wondering how the hell was he of all people going to fit there. But it wasn’t really of your concern if he wanted to get scoliosis, he had made his decision.

“Plus, you need beauty sleep much more than me.”

What a waste of oxygen.

You shrug off his words, immune to his childish remarks at this point, “Okay, then. Next on the list, eating arrangements.”

At this point he’s picking up his things and placing them in his territory, “Why is that on the list?”

You move closer to the windows, a little excited when you see the balcony — you would use it to either push your roommate into the cold ocean or catch up on a few books, tough choice. “Because the tables are arranged by rooms.”

You felt the confusion in his eyes poking at your back, so you turn, “That means that we need to share a table for the next few days, dipshit.”

Jungkook shakes his body in agony, throwing a tiny tantrum, “Why is that even a thing?” He whined.

When you feel a headache coming, you grab your own luggage and place it on top of the bed, opening it up and digging in the pockets for a little bit of liquid luck. God knew you needed it.

You down the sample of Jack Daniels in one go with a bitter face and a blow of air.

“Really?”

You start picking out your pajamas for the night, “I was saving it for when I’d find a hot stranger by the pool but—,” when you look up and see the mess on Jungkook’s couch, you’re taken aback, “What in the world is that?”

Jungkook’s hands are rummaging through the jungle that were his things, and it’s obvious that he just shoved as many clothes as he could find lying around the house. He grabs hold of a white tee, “What?”

Again, a waste of—

“WOAH, WOAH, WOAH.”

In the roll of an eye Jungkook’s torso is fully exposed, his back turned towards you with all of its bumps and mumps looking right at you. And you only become aware that you are staring when Jungkook notices the lack of a comeback, pointing it out with a smug tone.

“Y/N,” he doesn’t turn but he snaps you out of your stunned state all the same, “I can practically hear you drooling.”

At the very next instant you cover your eyes, just as little kids do when an inappropriate scene comes on the TV. “You wish, jackass,” and it comes off a little shoutier than you expected, as if the lack of visual correlated with the volume of your voice. Blindly, you grab your shirt and shorts from the bed and run to the bathroom, which just had to be on Jungkook’s side of the room.

And things take a turn for the worse when you run into something, and that something is warm and firm and breathing.

“Uh—.”

Pain.

You convince yourself it was just an invisible, Jungkook shaped wall they failed to mention on the website and fling yourself to the bathroom door, finding the handle rather quickly from all the adrenaline.

Once you’ve slammed the door shut, you let your back slide against the wooden slab and your ass hit the marble floor.

The clothes are still in your grip, your left hand feeling your overheating cheeks and for a tick you think that maybe, just maybe, you should throw yourself into the water and let the sharks take you so you could be buried at the very depths of the ocean. It seemed like a better fate than whatever the fuck was awaiting you the next two weeks.

You take a deep breath in, letting your mind focus on something else.

You look around and, oh, wow. Even the bathroom was charming — if you could ignore the absurd amount of windows, any sea creature passing by would surely see more than they should — glass making up all of the walls, including the shower’s.

The exposure that surrounds you, in its own weird way, cleared up your head the tiniest bit and for the first time since you’ve arrived, you were able to think, only the ocean and its blue around you now.

And what would be your first course of action after a glimpse of clarity?

Calling that rat bastard assistant of yours, of course.

You stand up and place your phone atop the hazel counter after clicking contact name ‘Twinky’, out of fear you’d smash the damn thing when you hear his voice, smoke was bursting at the seams of your chest. Prepare to meet your end, Kim Seokjin—

“Good evening, Ms. Y/N. For what reason are you contacting me in the midst of your vacation?”

Breathe in, breathe out. “Don’t get all formal with me, Kim,” you’re wagging your finger to no one, “I know you did something. Confess.”

The obnoxious twirling of Jin’s chair could be heard through the speaker, “I’ve no idea of what you could possibly be talking about, Madam—“

“Confess.”

“Fine, fine,” you could picture Jin putting his hands up at your murderous tone, “Me and Joon just thought it was about time you two kids got together.”

You take a pause from your pacing around. Motherfucker.

“Okay! I thought it was time and convinced Namjoon to go along with it,” your fist meets the counter with an audible thump, and you were seethed at the probability of Jin smiling at your behaviour. “Speaking of it, how’s it going?”

“Well, Jin,” you place the microphone as near to your mouth as possible, “JEON JUNGKOOK IS TAKING OFF HIS CLOTHES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING ROOM,” you put on a docile face and naturally assume that Jin could see you telepathically, “So you tell me how it’s going.”

For the first time since you hired him, you had left Jin speechless. Or so you thought.

“I didn’t know you would move this fast—“

“Jin.”

“I apologise, I apologise,” the witch cackles, “But you didn’t give me any context, I only assumed the best.”

“Spare me from your taunts, you hag,” you huff and roll your eyes, “And, as I’ve told you many times before, Jeon Jungkook is literally the worst. I hate—.”

“—him. Yes, Y/N, I’ve been hearing the same speech every single day for two years,” you could hear Jin walking back and forth before an abrupt pause, “Listen to yourself, Y/N, you brought this upon yourself. Whenever you saw or just remembered Jungkook existed you wouldn’t stop talking about him. So, being the good friend I am, I handed you his—,” you rush in a failed attempt to muffle his next words with your hand, “—dick on a silver platter.”

Oh, dear lord.

“You’re out of your mind if you think I wanna be anywhere near Jungkook’s—,” you speak in a hushed tone, “—thing.”

“See, you can’t even say it,” and you give up, because no matter how many times you denied it, Jin never let up. “Anyway, I gotta go and… take a call. Have fun!”

And he hangs up.

All you can do is groan, making a mental note that you oughta kick Jin in the balls one of these days, and you look at yourself in the mirror — you couldn’t even enjoy your tacky shirt because of him. Was a normal vacation really too much to ask for?

You remember that the universe had already answered your question with a big yes, and you can’t help but pout.

Still, ever the changing mind, were you really going to let the universe win?

Your pout turns into a smirk. Of course, you weren’t. All you needed to do was avoid Jungkook as much as possible, that would be easy for sure, you were on a gigantic cruise ship after all.

Yeah, this can still be great.

And so, quick to think as always, you grab your phone and scroll through the Royal Sunrise website.

To your luck, the cruise offered classes and activities of all types with a different theme each day — tomorrow is cooking. Not only was it going to be actually entertaining, you could avoid Jungkook without having to look behind you every other minute.

Genius.

With this new mindset and plan, you change into your oversized navy shirt and banana-printed shorts, a newfound excitement in your step. You even bang your chest with each of your fists, a gorilla-esque fighting technique if you shall, as a way to pump you up.

The door doesn’t seem as intimidating when you push it open, your arms swinging at your side as if you were one of the seven dwarves. This was good.

Immediately you're met with the vexing view of Jungkook, and you quirk your eyes when you notice that all he was wearing was a pair of gray shorts and that white tee, the oddity of it all iffy in your head since you’ve only ever seen him in suits and shirts. There’s a familiar tingling of (what you always assumed was) contempt in your fingertips and toes, one that would only ever occur with Jungkook. Hatred finds a way, huh.

He looks at you, back to his phone and back to you all in one second, and once his brain processes that you’re back and present, he ditches his phone and props himself up on one elbow. “You know the walls aren’t that thick, right?”

The tingle turns into a twitch and you almost hit yourself. Breathe, Y/N.

Jungkook sits up, crossing his arms, his eyes wandering once again, “I knew that Namjoon was planning something. He was sweating so much, I thought it was just the heat,” and they land back on you, “Turns out, it was betrayal.”

You head to your own king-sized resting place and a chuckle slips out of you at Jungkook’s little remark. “You did hear that Jin was the one who dragged him into this, right?”

You’re both pulling your covers over your bodies with silent grins due to the dumbassery of your assistants, “I assumed as much.” At this, your smiles become full-out laughs and your heads must have been too exhausted to dwell on the out of character situation.

It fades after a few seconds and you take one final look at Jungkook before turning off the lights, only to make sure he was already laid down.

Your anxiety comes back to the surface, your eyes staring blankly ahead at the ceiling.

“What a mess,” you don’t even notice you had blurted it out loud.

The rustling of sheets sounds through the otherwise cricket-silent room, “Tell me about it.”

Another chuckle.

“Jungkook,” you call him, the words coming out with no warning, “Can we just promise, no monkey business? I just really wanna relax and—.”

“Y/N,” he stops you before you could yap any further, “No monkey business.”

His interruption makes you sheepish, that tingle coming back as you fiddle with the sheets.

All of the sudden, “Good night, Y/N.”

Silence.

“Don’t be a killjoy.”

Groan. There really isn’t any reason for you to answer the prick. Still, you roll your eyes, “Good night, you troll.”

You hear his pleased sigh.

“Kinda bummed you don’t want my thing, though.”

Damn you, Kim Seokjin.

Your eyes flutter open, not with the calming sound of the dancing waves or the rustling of the sheets beside you from a happy hour mistake, no. You wake up with the sound of the shower running, the drip drop of the water meeting the glass floor of the bathroom.

The walls are very thin.

The image of a very naked Jungkook just next door is forced into your head, and you try to get rid of it by putting a pillow over your face, in hopes that it would put an end to your misery, but the world only gives a hundred problems and zero solutions.

Sat up, you remind yourself of the fresh-new mindset you had implemented yesterday, and this motivates you to restart your morning right and get dressed for the busy day ahead.

You squat down to your bag, grabbing the first jumpsuit and shoes in front of you, surprisingly not too shabby. The black off-shoulder fabric was adorned with pale pink flowers and your basic white sneakers didn’t add much but they were still a welcome fit — you’d only brought three pairs of shoes, so you didn’t really have much of a choice.

The background noise of the shower running disappears.

Shit.

You stumble around the room, trying to switch out of your clothes as fast as you possibly could to avoid any of yesterday’s incidents repeating, the need of any sort of grooming forgotten along the way. Still, you succeeded, and just as Jungkook unlocked the bathroom door, you were out of the room.

The joy in your step was back as you took the few steps needed to the elevators, pressing that little button of victory. Though you’ve been to countless luxury premises, the details of each place still managed to leave you awestruck, and the black railing and golden walls of the ship with decoration clearly inspired by the Romans, weren’t an exception.

The elevator was going from the sixth floor to the fifth when you heard a door open, the hairs of your back standing up out of instinct.

“Wait up!”

Fuck me.

You turn to the left, met with the, once again, odd view of Jeon Jungkook wearing casual clothes, this time in a charcoal shirt a few sizes too big, black cargo pants and signature chunky shoes. But, there’s something even more strange and you can’t quite put a finger to it, it isn’t the fact his lavish watch was replaced with leather braids on his wrist or that his hairs strayed a bit more wildly, it’s—

“Holy shit,” your eyes shoot wide open, “Are those hoops?”

Your hands almost go to touch the silver in his ears, but you remind yourself you’d probably turn to stone.

An unfamiliar red paints Jungkook’s face as his own fingers prod at the earrings, his eyes not meeting yours, “Maybe.”

A gasp. “How did I never notice,” you state more than ask, but Jungkook answers all the same.

“I mean, I never wear them to anything work-related because keeping a professional image and all of that,” he looks at you, his bashfulness fading into an all-knowing smile, “And those are the only times I see your bitter face.”

You scoff, “Wow, actually we talked like normal people for a whole thirty seconds.”

The imp has the audacity to laugh at your face, the way he stops to scan you up and down going unnoticed by your sight. “I gotta say, Y/N, you actually know how to dress—“

Ding.

The black tinted doors open to the glass elevator, a panorama of all the ship’s floors in full display, blue and purple lights reflecting on the gilded ornaments. Your hands rest on the black railing and you don’t even notice there’s another person in the elevator.

“Y/N?” The deep timbre of the voice is all too easy on your ears.

A slight turn to the right is all it takes to see him, fluffy ash hair (that was rough between your fingers from all the times he had dyed it), a shirt that flowed like the clouds and beige slacks that matched with the sepia of his sandals (an ensemble that contrasted the vibrant version of him in your memory). But that square grin was still the same.

“Tae?” You laugh in utter disbelief, “Kim Taehyung?”

“Come here!” His long arms bring you into a hug and with your head nuzzled against his chest, his heartbeat echoed good times, easier times that weren’t filled with paperwork and suits.

It’s interrupted by your forgotten acquaintance clearing his throat.

You pull away, recomposing yourself as you stand beside Taehyung, “Jungkook, this is Kim Taehyung,” you feel Taehyung’s eyes on you, “He was kind of my college boyfriend.”

They shake hands and look back at you, as if waiting for something.

“Uh— Right. Tae, this is Jungkook, my—,” you glance at the brunet to find the right words, “—co-worker, of sorts.”

Your embarrassment only deepens when you remember that the Jeon Jungkook was a first-hand witness to the mess you were melting into in front of your ex-boyfriend.

Who needed caffeine when shit like this kept happening to you.

“Oh,” Taehyung’s voice drops an octave as he shoves his hands in his pockets, “So you two came together?”

And you wave your arms around to signal a ‘no’, but it comes off as ‘that-one-crackhead-at-the-corner-of-the-street-ish” instead. “God, no,” you snort, much to your chagrin.

Taehyung sticks his tongue between his teeth, staring down at Jungkook who was chewing on his own bottom lip, “That’s good to hear.”

It seems you’ve regressed to your college-self, tucking your hair behind your ear with blushed cheeks at your senior.

Ding.

The elevator had arrived at the first floor, Jungkook’s cue to leave.

But he doesn’t make a straight itinerary, instead standing in front of the elevator, “Aren’t you gonna catch breakfast, chump?”

Ah, right. Your genius plan could finally come out in the open, “No, actually. I have an all-day cooking class on the 5th floor.”

“No kidding,” Taehyung turns to you and places a hand on your bare shoulder with a wide smile, “Me too!”

At this, Jungkook’s shoulders slump and his expression falls flat, but you couldn’t get a word in as the elevator doors closed and he swiveled away to his own day.

Eh, it’s not like it was your affair anyways. Plus, 9AM wasn’t the hour to deal with his bullshit.

You and Taehyung made your way up, speaking of all the things you’ve been up to for the past three years.

“So, Jimin’s dancing in Europe,” you gasp, a swell of pride in your chest, your old friend would talk about it every free night he spent in yours and Taehyung’s flat.

“Yeah, now I don’t know who’s keeping an eye on all the dumb shit he does.”

The weight on your shoulders only got lighter with every laugh you shared with Taehyung, sweet nostalgia.

“We’re here,” you point at the chalk sign, the words ‘Bon Appetit’ scribbled on it.

Out of sheer intuition, you pull Taehyung by the wrist until you reach the entrance, a Royal Sunrise worker awaiting with a list of, what could only be, the names of the participants.

You let go of Taehyung when the man’s eyes travel to your holding hands. Oh, God.

He smiles, “Good morning, Mr. and Ms. What would your names be?”

“Good morning, I’m Y/N Y/LN,” your smile hadn’t left your face, “I signed up yesterday.”

He nods and you walk inside, Taehyung following you before the worker puts up a hand to stop him.

“Your name, sir,” his tone changes..

You look back, wondering what the fuss was about.

“Uh— Kim Taehyung.”

The man reads over the clipboard, even flipping to the previous pages. “Excuse me, Mr. Kim. But your name doesn’t seem to be in the—.”

Taehyung’s calm demeanour becomes a bitter scowl as he pats a fifty dollar note down the man’s pocket before he could continue his speech. “Just let this one slide, buddy.”

The sight is a bit rough on the eyes and the corners of your lips turn downwards, something itching at your throat, but you hadn’t seen him in a long time and he most likely had good intentions with the man, you could let it slide, right?

“So,” Taehyung rubs his hands with a smile that reaches the pillows of his eyes, a 360° from the him you saw a few seconds ago, “Where were we?”

The blue of the sky had faded into a deep lilac once you and Taehyung were finished with your last batch of food.

You stood outside with smiles plastered on your faces and flour sprinkled on your hair, reminders of a day well-spent.

“This was great,” you held boxes of chocolate crepes and mushroom pasta, “Except for the fact I was forced to eat and deal with mushrooms.”

Taehyung’s eyebrows pull together, “So many years together, and I didn’t know you hated mushrooms,” you remember telling him countless times, but he never had the best memory — you don’t bother to bring up your hatred for crepes. “But, yeah… I think it was the company that sealed the deal, though.”

A beat of silence. The boy was smooth as ever.

You’re the first to break it. “I guess I’ll go get dinner then.”

“Right, right,” he purses his lips, “I’m gonna catch a nightcap, too full for food anyways. See you, Y/N.”

And you only mumble a small goodbye before you and Taehyung are going different directions.

A day well spent indeed.

Grumble.

You couldn’t keep it in anymore.

Holy Moses, were you hungry as shit. Who knew that barely eating breakfast and lunch could do this to a person.

Once the coast is clear, you run to the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly because why is this thing so fucking slow.

The time taken to go down to the first floor is even more agonising, but you just imagined the wonderful meals that actually tasted like food waiting for you downstairs. You could feel the pork melting in your mouth already.

Ding.

Since the first floor is more packed, you pace yourself as you power-walk to the dining area but you arrive in no time, walking through the tables and scanning each marker for the number 83, until you finally find your salvation — and the mop of brown hair sitting there with its unmistakable silver.

You park your ass on the wooden chair and place the white boxes of gag-worthy food on the table.

“Fancy meeting you here, Y/N,” Jungkook shoves a fork of rare steak and potatoes in his big mouth.

“Don’t antagonise me, Jungkook,” you leap to grab his wrist before he can get another scoop, “Where’s the food?”

You feel him tense under your grip, “Okay, let go of me, hungry hungry hippo,” you loosen your fist and lean back on your chair with crossed arms, “And the restaurant is out of steaks for the night, your only other option is some fried fish or something,” he continues munching.

“No—,” your head meets the table with a bang, “—I’ve been dreaming of red meat all day.”

“Didn’t you cook at— you know, cooking class?”

“Yes, we did,” you sit up and shove the boxes of trash to Jungkook as he examines them.

“But, you hate mushrooms and crepes,” he turns his head in a robotic motion when he opens the lids.

Your hunger fades for a bit as that tingle in your fingertips pushes you to sit straight, leaning your head like a curious puppy.

“How do you know that?”

Jungkook bites his bottom lip as he seems to think of a response. “Well, you mentioned it at the Law & Practice Awards a few months ago,” he rubs his fingers on his chin with a feign look of concentration, “I believe your exact words were: ‘Why does the stake have fungus on it’ and ‘Everybody knows that crepes are just a—.”

“—a cheap version of pancakes,” you finish his sentence with surprise painted on your face. Still, you question him, “But, how do you even remember that?”

Jungkook’s flush is back on his cheeks, “As they say, keep your friends close,” he flashes that tight lipped smile of his, “And your enemies closer.”

Just as you were about to flip the fucker off, your stomach grumbles. Out of all of the moments it could’ve complained, it decided to do so in the only second of silence.

Jungkook mumbled something along the lines of “That’s it,” under his breath and let out a sharp exhale, cutting up his steak and taters and pushing them into a smaller plate, adding a few greens in the mix. He snaps his fingers at the nearest waiter and grabs a glass of wine from his tray. The act finishes off with him pushing the food in your direction.

You stare at the food, at Jungkook and back at the plate again. Dumbfounded, once again.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Eat,” he continues on with his dinner as if he hadn’t just done— Well, what he just did.

You bite your lip and bow your head slightly, though you’re sure he doesn’t see it, before vacuuming the food directly into your belly.

The rest of the evening is spent in comfortable silence, no daggers threatened to be thrown or scorn weighing in the air. This lasts all the way to the door of the room; you were fine with communicating with only ‘hums’ and nods but Jungkook, as always, had to ruin things.

He leans his back against the white door, arms crossed and a smirk as he looks down at you. “How lucky of you to have your mortal enemy and—,” he puts up air quotes, “‘kind of college boyfriend’ in the same boat as you, huh?”

You palm your face and hide a sheepish smile, “I was hoping you’d forget about that.”

“How could I when I was your special guest to first hand embarrassment in the elevator,” he waves the white flag of peace as he puts his hands up, “But, hey—“

“Hi, Jungkook,” someone behind you purrs, heels clacking.

You turn around and see a woman of jet-black hair in a stunning red silk dress, the pony-tail on her head swinging a delicate left to right as she waved her manicured hand at none other than Jungkook — who brushes a hand through his hair before complimenting her greeting.

It takes you by surprise, though you laughed at Jungkook’s gnarly stance at the beautiful woman, the tingle comes back, this time prickling at the pit of your stomach.

As soon as she had walked away, you rubbed your hands at the sides of your arms, “Wow, Jungkook. Moving fast are we?” you squint your eyes, “I think it’s the earring.”

“First of all, screw you,” he unlocks the door, “Second, that’s nothing, trust me.”

He holds the door open for you and you catch a whiff of his black vanilla scent. You stop in your tracks and place a hand on his shoulder with a grimace on your face, “Just don’t do anything on my bed, okay?”

You don’t bother to wait for an answer as you head to the bathroom with your comfy tee in your hands.

This time, the counter was embellished with skincare and cologne galore, all thanks to your dear roommate.

“He wouldn’t notice if I used some of this, right?” You say to Jungkook’s bottle of cleanser, too lazy to go back and grab your own toiletries.

“If you use that I’m drowning myself,” you hear him shout from the other room.

Sorry, face. You’ll have to wait for tomorrow.

Once you were snug in your tee, you were off to bed — Jungkook in the same attire as yesterday as well.

You leave the lamp on as you checked your phone for the first time since yesterday. Of course, Jin was your only notification, a plethora of obscenities and questions that would, unfortunately, be permanently ingrained in your mind forever. You turn off your phone and throw it on top of the night stand.

Not today, satan.

“You mind?” You ask Jungkook who seemed to be scrolling away, too engrossed in his phone to look at your finger pointing at the light, only a grunt on his behalf.

You turn it off and shut your eyes, your body tense, not that you weren’t used to it, the decaying muscles of your back have been like that since you graduated high-school. And, it was a bit more intense from all the mixing and pot handling — thank the heavens that tomorrow’s activities involved massaging. Though, today was a win.

Jungkook’s phone turns off and his body sloshes around, the sounds he makes the only ones reverberating in the room.

“Good night, Y/N,” you try to ignore him, but he comes forward with a good case, “Come on, I gave you my food.”

Guilt tripper.

“Fine, but only because you’re annoying as shit,” he lets out a satisfied breath, “Good night, Jungkook.”

You arrive at dreamland in no time.

taglist. (open)

| @fangirl125reader / @vantxx95 / @jinpanman / @ggukkieland / @miniiimee / @paizthemaiz

[undead-merman]

🦚Maitho, Peacock Harpy

Decided to make some new content, No idea what to call it. Headcanons will be posted still every Saturday and Sunday and requests are always open.

Appearance

Maitho is a twenty five year old male harpy and stands proudly at a perfect ten feet. His long folded black and white tail trails behind him at an extra five feet. 

Besides his eyes and the freckle-like iridescent black Semiplume feathers on his cheeks, Maitho is completely black-white monochromatic. His hair is a mix of feathers and hair but it’s colored a dark, glossy onyx black. His skin is stark and sterile white. 

His face and torso are that of a normal human male although his arms are connected to his long black and water smooth wings, at the bend of his wings he has three fingered hands which are tipped with large two inch long talons.

Maitho’s gray colored legs are thick and extremely powerful looking, almost like a raptor’s: four large talon tipped toes but also possessing a large curved spur on each foot. They’re pure muscle and make up a good portion of his body weight. 

He has natural markings and colorings that make it look like he wears a simple dark makeup look, black lips with sharp black lines which are shaped with three points. 

Daily Life as a Harpy

His life is a simple one and he enjoys it that way. He wants to keep the trouble of humans and other harpies away from him; the only one he could tolerate is a mate. He keeps his nest high in a moss covered, giant red cedar tree and adds to it every day to make it perfect. He has a hard wired primal instinct to keep his nest perfect and if a stick or piece of fur is out of place his only thoughts are to yap and bicker with whatever ruined it as he fixes it. 

Hunting for food is one of his favorite parts of his day. He prays on larger predators he likes the fight they put up and it fills him with a rush. He loves the chase. He eats everything including the bones cracking them into pieces with his sharp teeth and powerful jaw. 

He’s very territorial of his nest, if he smells or senses any creatures in his territory he actively seeks them out and attacks them, if they are able to communicate which he’s able to converse with humans and some speaking monsters, with those he threaten them out. Most harpies tend to try and pick them off as a group; he's upfront and willing to face them in a brawl with heavy kicks and claws. But as he’s patrolling he’s curious of the other’s who don’t intrude and watch them from a distance and may approach them if he finds them interesting. 

Every night before he goes to bed he sings, normally they’re just songs he’s thought of in his bed but if he’s heard passing music then he’s singing what he last listened to. But as spring rolls around he finds himself singing for a mate which embarrasses him since he doesn't sing it consciously.    

First Introduction 

Traveling would be the one of only two ways you could meet him, second if you lived in a distant town and strayed from home. Either way with his sharp senses he’s most likely to be aware of you before you get close to his nest. Watching you as you travel and every so often gliding from one treetop to another watching you go. 

It’s when you're attacked by a beast is when he discovers that he likes you. No matter how you may or may not fight it off, it’s your will to live and your tenacity is what draws him to you. Should you be fighting, with magic or with a weapon he’ll happily swoop in after you struggled a bit and step in to steal your kill. Should you run he’ll dart it with deadly force and kill it with one blow from his massive talons. 

After the deed is done he introduces himself. He’s calm and even jokes a bit about your situation but assures you he doesn’t mean to hurt you, he thinks you're a small funny little thing. The power difference between you two is staggering, you can clearly tell if he wanted to he could have already killed you without much of a fight.

He’ll follow you around for a bit longer just speaking with you, or at you if you refuse to answer him. He doesn’t mind, he just wants company. After a bit he feels a desire to take you. Carry you away like a little prize, you couldn’t have met him at a worse time, with spring hormones making him feel more sociable and more lonely he decides to take you and make you his mate.

He suddenly snatches you up, minding how hard he holds you with his claws he takes you to his nest and plops you in it. It’s big enough for several people to lay in and he sits on the lip and watches as you discover the tree is so impossibly tall and slick with moss and rain there’s no way you’d make it down without falling to your death. He’ll pick off any weapons you may have and toss them away, he coolly states you don’t need them if he’s your husband.   

Courting and Dating

In his mind as soon as your ass plopped down in his nest you were now paired for life. But he knew he had to get you warmed up to him, show you his love so you can calm down and get used to your new life. Normally he would have to try courting you but he skipped a few steps, so he figured might as well try it now, he has nothing to lose since he already has you. 

He spends most of his time now trying to find you interesting gifts. Good and hard to find meat, dropped loot from travelers, he’s not above robbing passerby for a nice gift for you. He’s running trial and error seeing which gifts you like best. When you spend a nice bit of time examining a gift he brings his face towards it and frills his feathers asking if you like it with a coy and playful smile. 

If you let him, he constantly tries to groom you. Nibbling at your hair trying to preen your featherless head, and carrying you down to bathe in a nearby stream. He’ll try dunking you in playfully but after a bit of rough housing he’ll help you properly wash.

His spring songs come flying out a lot more now that you're around. Singing as he watches you in the morning get up, watching you eat, or when he’s trying to playfight with you. When he notices he turns a pink which stands out broadly on his skin. He gets his revenge if you make fun of them though whapping your ass with a wing leaving your bottom stinging. 

He shows off a lot, swooping into the nest quickly and letting the wind smack you as he grins at your tossed hair and shocked face. He’ll spread his tail feathers and scoot closer to you and play footsie with his large talons ever watchful to make sure he doesn’t nick you.

For the rest of that spring season, he spends a lot staring at you with big blown out pupils and constantly flashing his tail feathers at you, being extremely overprotective of you even shooing the song birds and bugs away from you. Any affection you give him even if it’s just glancing at him he puffs up and coos at you. After spring though, he refuses to talk about his embarrassing habits.  

Current Relationship

It’s fully up to you if the relationship gets deeper and you both bond together more. Even if you don't, he just sees you as his stubborn little spouse. But if you do allow him to grow closer with you, not much changes. He’s much more loving and somehow more touchy than before. He’ll yank you into his lap and nip your ears and casually chat with you as he teases you.

As he gets to know you he starts bringing you more items that you actually enjoy instead of just random items, it doesn’t matter if it’s rare or hard to find he’ll get it one way or another. Once he does he brings it back to you, he teases you saying you have to work for it but in the end he always gives it to you grinning as he watches your reactions. 

He playfully bats you more frequently, slapping your hip or shoulder to get a reaction; he finds it cute if you get embarrassed or yell at him. He can’t get enough of those funny little faces you make and the more flustered the funnier they are.

If you had pet him before, he’s commanding you to run your fingers through his hair and scratch his scalp. It’s his favorite thing in the world and sends shivers down his spine when you do it. He won’t beg for it but he damn loves it.

Should you two get closer he gets less embarrassed when those soft songs come from him as he watches you. Of course he still does, and teasing him about it is a good way to shut him up. Of course he’s learned your weakness too so always be ready for some combative teasing of trying to embarrass each other. He always ends up laughing afterwards though.

Being good, or really just accepting your new fate he’ll begin to offer to move his nest to a ground based location. You get the honors of picking and he’ll be willing to move wherever, even outside of his forest. He’ll have to be heavily persuaded to even think about moving to a town, he is a monster after all. 

In the mornings he chirps along with song birds that end up in his tree, He tells you they never came around before you came. He lounges in the swaying branches as tons of birds the size of mice compared to him. 

When spring rolls around he’s actively trying to get your attention and refusing to leave your side. He presses his face into you constantly and gets a bit bitey, though never too much to hurt you. He actively bites and smacks at any tiny creature approaching you, even snapping his teeth at a fly buzzing around. The song birds avoid the area for a time.      

Dark Tendencies

There’s not much he’s not willing to do for his cute small mate. Ever since you became mates he’s been willing to murder and steal for your gifts, other humans don’t mean anything to him. It doesn't matter who it is. Dressed in riches or rags it doesn’t mean anything as long as you're taken care of. 

He doesn’t mind if you see him hunt down a passerby or anyone that comes to rescue you. You belong to each other and he doesn’t want any bothersome people getting in the way of your time. Though it's not like they could climb up to his nest anyway. He plans to keep it just the two of you forever, and nothing will stand in the way of that. He has many ways of dealing with threats, but his favorite is stepping on their skulls with his massive and powerful feet. He can’t help but snicker at each person’s attempt.

If you first try to escape, he’ll find it amusing, often making fun of the attempts but picks you up and takes you back to the nest. He never punishes you, he simply chuckles and pulls you into a sweet embrace.

Trying to deny his feelings and saying that he’s not your husband does get him upset. He frowns and just keeps correcting you, saying you both are mates and there’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll learn to warm up to the idea in time. He has no doubt in his mind about that and he doesn’t mind waiting. One day you’ll understand.

After he takes care of any threats he makes sure to chew on their bones as he holds you in his arms. A perfect trophy for his devotion to you it fills him with euphoria knowing he has protected his mate he’ll hum a small song as he chews.      

Misc Stuff

His tail is sensitive so a lot of the time he forces it to stay down even if he’s happy or upset since it’s easy for him to brush up on things and he hates it even though the wind is a bit much to him when his tail is unfurled. 

When it rains Maitho loves to fly you down to the ground and dance. He moves with a lot of grace for something so big but the rain makes his feathers glisten and his iridescent cheeks sparkle. He’s extremely flirty during these dances, and always playfully batting at you and asking you to dance with him. Passionately swaying around in the dripping rain and never looking away from you.

His songs can almost sound like two or more different people singing them at once creating harmonies so sweet that it causes goosebumps. He says it sounds better when you sing with him though. 

Take Care-Stay Spooky

[the-crows-typist]

Here’s part 2 of the Valentines Even featuring Floyd with the word ‘Cards’. Thank you to @myuminn for requesting this and enjoy.

Previous works: Chocolate feat. Jade

CW: OOC, Slow burn and Slight Angst

Word count: 4961 

A Heart from Me to You

“Floyd Leech, to the principal’s office immediately.”

Ah, Floyd got into trouble again. You grimace, wondering what bad thing he had done this time. Getting up to your desk, you scurry on over to the principal’s office just as your tall friend was pulled in by the wrist and the door shut behind them. You come in closer, planting your ear against the wooden door and hearing the murmurs of both child and teacher.

You could hear Floyd’s deep voice, he only gets like that when he’s angry. There were screams of play behind you and you could see a child crying with a circle of his classmates surrounding him. Jade, Floyd’s twin brother, knelt before him to pat at the sore cheek with some wet wipes.

“Bring him to the clinic, I’ll have a talk with the other one.”

You hear the principal’s words and the sudden fiddling of the door. You run to the bench away from the Principal’s office and hid, watching the teacher escort Floyd out of the office. He was pouting, close to tears, and sporting a small bruise on his cheek. Just as you wanted to follow him, the principal opened the door to see the two off.

“I know you’re back there.” He says, turning his head towards you. “Come on out.”

The principal was a tall man, his hair a mix of white and black, his clothes a very dark but very rich red. There was a small meow behind him, his beloved pet Lucius brushed against his long legs. “You know it’s not good to hide, you’ll get caught immediately.” He knelt, brushing some stray hairs behind your ear.

“Principal Trein. Floyd never does anything bad, he wasn’t the one who started it.”

He sighed, Lucius coming up to greet you by bumping his head against your palm. “Is that so?” Trein asked suddenly. “I’ll take note of that. For now, why don’t you go back to the playground and play with the others?” You pursed your lips and pulled at his red robe just as he was about to push himself up “But—!”

“Floyd will be patched up in the clinic.” He reassured you. “But because he is hurt, he needs to get some rest in the dorms. He’ll be okay.” Your small hands let go of his robe but the expression on your face never left, you were worried and rightfully upset.

Trein’s hand put itself on your head. “He’ll be alright. Now, run along.” He nudged you from behind and you walked off but not to the playground, to the dorms where all the children stayed. Trein sighs, watching you purposefully going the wrong way. He picks up his cat who meows into his arms. “Those two.” He whispers yet his smile betrays his apparent negative mood.

Floyd had locked the door by the time you arrived at the student dorms. It was currently empty with only a few students opting to stay inside and play amongst themselves. In your hands was a board game you, Floyd and Jade played not too long ago.

You knock on his door, three times softly. “Floyd?” You called out.

There was no answer but you knew he was awake otherwise the door wouldn’t be locked. “I brought some games with me. You wanna play?” There was a thump then a long slide down against the door and you knelt close. “Does this mean you don’t wanna play?” You ask.

From beneath the door, a small card was slid through the gap. A ten of clubs. Turning the card over, you saw Floyd’s angry handwriting. “I don’t wanna play right now. I got grounded.” It said and you couldn’t help but grimace. He can be so overdramatic sometimes, “You’re not being grounded, Floyd. Principal Trein just said you need to rest cuz’ you got hurt.”

You hear the pop of a marker and a scribble. The next card that came out was a 5 of clubs. “That’s still the same thing!”

“Then…Do you want to just stay like this?”

The next card came to a little while later. A King of Clubs. “Yes.”

You sat by the closed door, speaking to Floyd through his cards. Your games were largely ignored for the small stack of cards you’ve collected as you talked. “Okay, just open the door when you’re ready.” You didn’t hear any scribbling after that but you certainly were in for a surprise when Floyd suddenly unlocked and opened the door making you fall on your back.

Smiling down at you, he held an Ace of Clubs in his hands. “I’m ready.” He said and you puff your cheek, ready to pounce on his and pinch his cheeks. The Clubs cards you have collected lay on the floor in a mess.

The special card messages extended out until your middle school and even appearing in a place you were never expecting but that’s Floyd for you! He relished the idea of suddenness just like his brother and he loved seeing the surprised expression on your face when you discover a card fluttering out of your locker or slipped into your textbook.

“Turn your books to page 38.” Said your teacher and you could only widen your eyes when you found a ten of spades pressed between the pages. You looked beside you and at Floyd whose eyes were glued to his book. Seems like no indication can be given to you at the moment, Floyd was in his study mood. A rare mood to see.

Flipping the ten of spades card over, you began to read. “Class is boring.” Yup, that was true and you couldn’t help the small giggle that left your lips. Your teacher stared at you for a moment and continued teaching the lesson. With the best sleight of the hand you could muster, you produced your own set of cards and pulling out an eight of spades, and using the back to write. “That’s because Mrs. Beedy has a boring voice.”

It was Floyd’s turn to laugh, his shoulders bobbing and smile very evident. A five of spades was passed to you with the message. “If she were the teacher for sleeping in class 101, I’d be passing with flying colors.”

You felt your insides jump and you hunched over trying to stop yourself from laughing. It was only when your teacher tapped the board with a sharp slap of a stick against the chalkboard making all of you in your class flinch.

“Mister Leech, you and your friend seem to be having a nice conversation. Care to share what you were discussing with the entire class?” You felt your stomach dropped and you wished you could shrink into your seat while Floyd was silent but only for a little while.

“Your class is boring.”

There was a collective gasp and your teacher fuming. “The both of you are not allowed to have recess outside.” Floyd huffed and pouted. “And I thought being honest was a class virtue.” There was thunder overhead, the rumbling only ever heard at the quietest of times.

Just as you thought that the day couldn’t get any more chaotic, Floyd passed to you another card. This time a king of spades. “Let’s head out later. Playground will be empty.” You looked at him and he catches your gaze with his chin resting on his palm. You two share a smile when you nod your head, tucking the card into your pocket.

Though staying inside the classroom during breaks was as boring as it was, having Floyd next to you did ease the mind-numbing silence of the classroom. You had brought all the message cards with you and tried to make a tower out of it while Floyd was busy writing on the board.

“D’you ever think about what you wanna do when you get older?”

You let out a small sound and your tower collapses on your desk with some cards falling to the floor. There was a groan and you got down on your knees to pick up the fallen cards. “Not really. Maybe go to that really nice theme park near the sea? I’ve always wanted to go there.”

The squeaking of the chalk stopped suddenly, your eyes wide when a drawing of a large building stood before Floyd. “I wanna go to lots of big buildings. My dad goes to one every day and everything looks so cool and shiny!” he thought of it for a second then nodded his head. “But the theme park near the sea is super cool too. Their cakes are yummy but I don’t eat a lot. Usually Jade finishes my food.”

“Wha?! Did you go there already? I’m so jealous.” You pout, putting the cards back on your desk. “It got pretty boring after the rollercoaster ride.” He says and takes the eraser to quickly hide his work. “But when you’re in those really shiny buildings, you could see lots of things you didn’t think you’d see. Lots of cars, all the people moving wherever, even birds!”

Floyd sets down the eraser, patting his hands of chalk dust. “I wanna see it again soon. Probably when Jade and I are much older.”

“Can I go with you?” You ask.

“Mmn.” Floyd places a finger on his cheek in thought. “If my dad says yes, then you can! If no…Can you fit in a luggage bag?”

The day came to a close, the students going up to their respective dorms. Jade looks around as he went up the stairs, seeing his brother and you hunched over the bushes. He shakes his head with a good-hearted laugh on his lips and went on with his business, keeping your small trouble a secret.

The clouds overhead were gray and the wind was cool but that didn’t stop you from having your own fun on the swing sets that are often taken by children bigger than you or the bars that the teachers never allowed you to climb to the highest point. You sit against the bar, looking over the trees.

“Floyd, look!”

You pointed at the large shiny building that towered over the cityscape. “A shiny building!” Floyd moved next to you and smiled in wonder. “I wonder if my dad is in there. I bet he is.” The first drops of rain began to fall. Floyd’s eyes face forward despite the chilling wind and the hiss of oncoming rain. “He’s not always around, mom usually tells us how he’s doing while we’re away.”

Floyd began climbing down, the both of you running to the nearby tree for safety. “My mom tells Jade and me that he’s always in shiny buildings.” You sit with him on the stone covering. “One day, I wanna go with him too.”

You stare at him for a moment, seeing his eyes stare to the building beyond. As you opened your mouth to say something the loud voice of Principal Trein hammered through. “Floyd Leech, get out of the rain this instant!” He took your hand and pulled you with him, walking towards Trein with a huff.

It was then that the cold had gotten to you and you let out a sudden sneeze.

“To your rooms. Both of you.”

In your room, you were bundled with blankets and a heating pack on your head. Your body was never good with handling the cold and your runny nose and slightly warm fever was evidence of that. The wind rattled your window and wetting the playground you and Floyd just played in.

You remember his look when talking about his dad. You remembered feeling something deep hit your stomach when he looked like that. A knock on the door brought you out of your thoughts, a single card slid under your door.

Getting out of bed, you crawled towards it. An Ace of Spades, a message from Floyd. “Jade brought monopoly. Wanna play?”

You open the door and the twins stood before you with Floyd looking like he just came out of the shower. Jade held the board game in his hands with a polite smile. “I want to be the cat this time.” He said and Floyd giggled. “Then I’ll be the tophat!”

You let the twins into your room and you get into bed. “I’ll be the thimble.”

While Jade and Floyd destroyed you in the board game, you couldn’t help but think back to the time on the high bars. Floyd’s expression looks so sad when talking about his dad. You pat his back suddenly, his eyes looking at you in confusion yet making no move to ask.

You had no idea how Floyd got through high school, especially with his mood changes, and yet, here you are sitting with him at lunch while Jade and Azul discuss notes. “Today’s math test was tough,” Jade said, holding his arms in a stretch. “I didn’t expect our teacher to just add in more information.”

“I think I blanked out halfway through.” You admitted, taking a bite of your lunch. “So many numbers…”

Jade looked to his brother, smile knowing. “What about you, Floyd?

“Hm?” Floyd looked up from his half-finished plate. “I got bored and didn’t finish it.”

A collective sigh passed through the table, Azul’s brows furrowing in annoyance while Jade did not hide his amusement. “Well, I can hope that you’ve answered enough to at least pass.” Your fingers and Floyd’s brush against each other, a card slipped into your palm. Looking down, you pulled the card close to read.

“I don’t want to go to class. Let’s hang out somewhere.”

The Queen of diamonds was stored in your pocket and you only sighed and shook your head. While the next class was boring, you knew the repercussions of not attending a class. “Lunch is almost over, let’s go back to our classrooms.”  

Floyd’s hand grabbed your wrist just as you were about to stand up and Jade looked at you with an inquisitive look. “You two go ahead.” You tell them quickly. “I’ll wait for Floyd to finish his meal.”

You have no idea how and why you were roped into Floyd’s scheme even after years of you two being at each other’s side. Jade and Azul would surely have Floyd’s head and give you a stern talking to when they find out you and he had skipped school.

The beach’s salty breeze cleared your head, the foamy water hitting your bare feet made you sigh in comfort. Floyd sat closer, letting the water hit his body and wet his uniform. “Any reason why you wanted to come here?” You ask and he only remains silent.

“I felt like it.”

Humming, you stared at the looming sun and blue sea. “Y’know, this kind of takes me back to when we were kids. We had the playground all to ourselves.” You put your hands on his shoulders and pushed down slightly on him. “We climbed the high bars when we weren’t supposed to…And we stared at a big shiny object in the distance.”

Floyd looked up at you, your eyes locking with his. Your smile was opposite his bored grin. “Do you still remember that?” It wasn’t long until Floyd mimicked your smile and he leaned back against your knees. “Yeah, I wanted to go to those big shiny buildings the city has cuz’ I thought my dad was in one of them.”

The waves crashed to shore, wetting Floyd’s bottoms and your feet. He looked into the distance, the yellow of the sun turning orange. “I still wanna go there, y’know? One of those shiny buildings. Even if my dad isn’t in there.”

“I’m sure you’ll get there.” You pat his back. “You’re smart, just incredibly lazy.”

Floyd’s hold on your wrists was sudden and you found yourself being carried into the sea and crashing into the cold seawater. You hear Floyd’s laugh between the waves as he pulls you up, he’s equally as soaked as you. “And you’re wet and cold, guess that makes us the same.”

You splashed water at his face, your laugh only fueling your mock battle on the beach. His splashed water at your back, the two of you giggling as the sun began to set. You missed moments like this, just being able to play around with Floyd. You missed seeing the smile he always had when he was around you.

Your heart had a nice heaviness when he finally grappled you into a bear hug, holding you close to him and keeping you down. That heaviness made your heart beat fast, your cheeks begin to redden at the realization.

You had liked Floyd all this time. It had always been him.

Jade set a heavy towel over your shoulders while Azul was as chastising as ever sermons Floyd at the sidelines. “I don’t want to be the broken record here,” Jade began, his hands wiping your cheek of dripping water. “But what you did was pretty stupid.” Though you and Jade were not particularly close, there was a level of casual energy between you. So while you could call Jade out for his personality, nothing was stopping him from doing the same in return.

“Skipping class or going into the cold water?”

“Yes,” Jade answered simply. “You never got used to cold weather. Even after all these years.”

You pulled the heavy towel over yourself with a pout and Jade saw his work fit. Azul’s voice soon died down and Floyd was in a bit of a sour mood. “Be sure to take a warm bath, both of you. We couldn’t want anyone getting sick at such a busy time.”

You had just gotten out of your shower, your skin slightly wet and towel catching the water that dripped against down your hair. Your mind continued to play the memories of Floyd playing with you on the beach to the biggest revelation of your life so far.

You liked Floyd. And for a long time now.

You had originally thought that this feeling of content, the jumpiness of your heart was because he had been your friend since childhood. And now that your feelings were apparent, what will you do with it? Floyd was precious to you and it surely showed that you were special to him…But did he feel the same way?

You rubbed your cheeks, sighing your jittering feelings away. Ah, this won’t do. Panicking like this won’t get you anywhere. You approached your desk, reaching for the hairdryer but only for your hand to stop when you see a familiar card. An ace of diamonds.

“Today was fun. Thanks.”

The heat in your cheeks worsened and you squealed, covering your face with the towel. This wasn’t a good time for that at all!!! You burrowed yourself into your bed and willing your heart to relax and get some sleep.

Floyd’s room was dark, save for the small lamp that lit the room. Jade held a paper to him, lip tight and eyes sharp. “You’ve been sitting on this for a while now.” He said and Floyd, sitting on his bed with a towel covering his head and face only grimaced. “They’re waiting for your decision, I’ve already passed mine.”

“Tell them to give me more time.”

Jade’s sharp inhale gave away his temperance. “Floyd, they gave you the entire year.” He knew the reason why his brother hesitated to choose. “Just…Settle this by the end of the week, alright?” He set the paper down on his desk and turned to leave his brother’s room and give him privacy. “Goodnight, Floyd.”

When the door closed, Floyd slipped off his towel and unfolded his legs; his hands reached over to his desk, and ignoring the piece of paper Jade left for him, a few cards were left in his worn box all of which were hearts. He let out a laugh, a bitter laugh while his grip on the box shook. He set the box down and switched off the lamp, lying in bed but not ready to sleep.

Floyd was quiet, it was a mood you’ve never seen a whole lot. He didn’t eat all the much and he didn’t make much of a fuss during PE class, either. “You okay? You’re looking a lil’ wobbly.” You touched his arm when you were waiting for your turn to fly around the field.

“I’m fine. Just wasn’t able to sleep last night.”

You searched his face yet found nothing to pin your doubts on. “You can try sleeping in the clinic? An hour’s nap can do wonders.”

“Leech, you’re up,” Vargas yelled and Floyd moved away from your side. “Yeah, I’ll think about it.” He zoomed to the sky at almost breakneck speak, soaring through the familiar skies he came to love and looking down at the students below. You blinked up at him, holding your broom close to your chest, there was a tinge of worry in your heart and sickening churning in your stomach.

The end of the week came to a close when Floyd set a heart playing card on your stack of books while you weren’t looking. Meet me at Gazebo. 8 PM. You set the King of hearts down on your book and looking at the clock, hoping it would go faster so you can get to the bottom of this.

The night was cool and the fireflies flew about as you ran towards the meeting place with Floyd already waiting for you. He was gazing up at the stars, eyes unblinking until you called out his name. He turns to you, a smile now on his face. “You’re here.”

“I came as fast as I could.” You tell him between pants and you wrap your jacket tighter around yourself.

“Remember the wish I made? Back when we were kids?? The one about the shiny buildings.”

You nod your head. “Yeah, we were in elementary school when you said it.”

From his back, he produced a paper, the emblem a shining gold and blue against the night time lamps. The letterhead reading the name of a well-known song. “Floyd, you—!” He chuckled at your surprised expression, bringing his paper back to him. “I got accepted, Jade and I. I’ll finally get to see the buildings as I wished.”

“That’s amazing! Congratulations, Floyd.”

You clap your hands together made him melt. “It wasn’t much. The questions weren’t that hard, to begin with.”

“But it’s all the waaaayyy over the sea. So it’ll be a pain for me to go home every day.” He pointed to a place you couldn’t see and something in you froze, your chest going heavy. Just as you realized that you liked Floyd, he was going to be whisked away…But that would mean he’d get his wish to see the buildings, right? Wasn’t that what he wanted??

“W-we have to celebrate, then! This is such big news!! Oh, m-maybe we can order something in the cafeteria o-or…Maybe make a special request for Takoyaki and—!”

“I’m not going.”

“What?” All the excitement in you quickly vanished and soon overtook you when Floyd brought both of his hands to the paper, pulling at opposite ends. “Floyd, what are you doing?!” You run towards him, futilely grabbing his hands just as he was about to tear them. “Stop it! Floyd, stop it!!”

You wrestled with him for the paper, grappling at his wrists and using all your strength. “Stop making this harder than it has to be.” He growls at you, his pupils thin as slits and causing you to freeze in place but instead of submitting, you only held his wrists tighter and fought even harder.

“Then stop trying to stop me.” You tell him back with a shaking voice and that’s what sets him off giving you a window to snatch the paper away.

“Give it back!!” He roared.  

“No!” He grabbed you by the shoulder roughly and you kept your eyes closed and paper secure against your chest, waiting for the next round of grappling and grabs. A gentle weight settled on your other shoulder and you felt Floyd sigh against your ear, one so shakey and tired.

“Please. Just…Please give it to me.” He whispered.

“Promise me that you won’t tear it apart.”

There was silence, a moment where he weighs the consequences. You knew that he knew how bad it was when one of them lied to the other. “…I promise.”

You made the exchange and Floyd let you go. “Floyd…” You reached for his arm and he only closed his eyes. “I don’t want to go.” He said to you, letting out a shaking sigh. “We have to get out of our shell sometime. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“It’s not that.”

He looked at you, brows furrowed and lips tight. “It’s not the same if we’re not complete.”

You remember the conversation you had as children, the joy he expressed you asked if you could go with him. You tried to say something but you couldn’t think of anything to say. Floyd stayed in his position and holding the paper tightly in his fist.

“You can enjoy the buildings without me. I honestly prefer that theme park by the sea more.”

The wind blew casting a rain of leaves and nighttime flowers. You smile at Floyd, shoulder bopping. “To me, theme parks are more fun than shining buildings. That’s why…” You hold his tense fist. “Don’t worry about me.”

His movement was sudden, your body colliding with his in an embrace and a very tight one. You reciprocated this gesture with your own hug, hands stroking his spine. “I’ll be okay, Floyd. And I know you will be too. It’s okay.”

The howling wind blew again and all the words you wanted to say all the while Floyd held you quietly, tightly against his body.

The sun shined over the airport and twins were dressed to the nines in travel gear. Azul and you standing next to each other with some warm coffee warming in your hands. “I never understood why airports are so cold…” You whispered, bringing the cup to your lips.

“We did come here quite early,” Azul says, biting into a warm piece of toast. “Perhaps when the sun rises we’ll get to bask in it for as long as we like.”

You sipped at your coffee while Floyd and Jade readied their things. The two discussing and looking for their IDs and booklets, pens and papers they might need, checking and re-checking their things. Under the table, Floyd held your hand and intertwined his fingers with yours. The time you had together was growing shorter and shorter.

“That should be everything,” Jade says and leans back on his chair. “All our IDs are here and we have enough snacks to last the trip.” You scoffed, one brow raised. “Snacks are very important knowing you, Jade.”

“I’m a growing boy, I need to eat.” He’d reason and you only pouted. “I’m gonna miss teasing you.”

“My line will always be open to you, don’t worry.”

Azul wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Do keep in contact with us while you’re away. You know how we are.” And the twins nodded their heads.

“Flight number AF7988, ready for boarding.”

All four of you stood before the check-in counter, Floyd’s hand never leaving yours. “This is it,” Azul said, raising his hands to pat the twins’ backs. “Keep safe and make us proud.”

“My, already talking like a father Azul?”

“I am only expressing my pride in the both of you, that’s all.”

You turned to Floyd, head downcast and hand still in yours. “Floyd, it’s time to go.” You say, touching his wrist. “It’ll be okay. I’ll be okay.” It was only then that he turned to you and raising your hand; a card was placed on your palm. An Ace of Hearts. “Read it when I leave.”

“Okay.”

All four of you exchanged hugs with Floyd’s being practically squeezing tight. And watched the twins walked to the boarding, you held the card to your chest until they disappeared from view. “Now that’s over with, I think this calls for a ‘proper’ breakfast, don’t you think?”

The two of you walked the halls and down to the walkway that overlooked the planes, you see a particular one ready to leave and you stare, suddenly remembering the card in your palm.

“Read it when I leave.”

Turning it over, the engines of the plane was on full throttle and went down the runway at high speeds. The twins closed their eyes, readying themselves for the pressure they would receive. You turned over the card just as the plane took flight, just as Floyd turned away to leave.

“I love you.”

The plane soars higher into the sky and over the clouds, the plane now leveled with the early morning sun. Your eyes do not blink but the tears were what prompted Azul to take you by your shoulders. You remembered the memories you shared with Floyd up until that point, the realization of your feelings to the revelation of his departure.

He loved you. He always had.

Floyd and Jade sat next to each other with Floyd taking the window seat to stare into the sky above. “Well, we’ll be in here for the next ten hours so might as well keep us…” Floyd’s sniffling was sudden, his fingers grappling at the armrest.

Jade placed his hand on his brother’s and squeezed. “They’ll be alright. They promised they will be.”

The plane continued to fly farther and farther away from the person he came to love.

[lostinwildflowers]

Caught Slipping

Levi Ackerman x Reader

Snow crunched under your black rubber boots as you followed Levi toward the ice-covered pond. You were already chilled to the bone, the mittens on your hands and the beanie on your head not doing much to give you any warmth. You glanced at the man in front of you, who was easily making his way through the snow, carrying his skates and yours.

“Hey Levi, maybe this wasn’t a good idea, the ice looks kinda thin from here,” you called to the ebony head in front of you. There wasn’t a response and you huffed under your breath, muttering about how you were going to catch hypothermia. Levi turns and looks at you with a bored look on his face as if to ask, Are you done yet? 

You gaze into his hardened gray eyes and shrink into your coat. Levi had gotten the two of you a weekend off to enjoy yourself this winter, Erwin about had Levi’s head but reluctantly agreed. You would be damned if you messed up this small vacation for Levi. You quickly nod and trudge through the thick snow to catch up with him. You shoot a small glance his way, taking in his sharp jawline, the soft curve of his lips, and the neutral look in his eye.

“I’m really glad we got the weekend together,” you whisper softly through the crunching snow. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in a solid month. Just the two of us.” Levi keeps his gaze forward but simply states, “I agree.” You can’t help but feel like you dampened the mood with your uneasiness to ice skate. You didn’t exactly tell Levi you couldn’t skate when he said you were leaving for a mini-vacation.

Both of you arrive at a small dock on the edge of the pond, and Levi sets your skates and a small backpack on the ground. You brush the snow from the bottom of your pants and reach to grab your skates with a shaky mitten. Levi catches a glimpse of this and hides the small smile on his lips. “Remember your laces need to be tight, otherwise you could roll your ankle if they are too loose.”

Your hand pauses as you grab them, a new fear etched into your head at Levi’s warning. You shrug it off and respond, “Oh yeah, I know that.” He rolls his eyes, then sits down and kicks his own black boots off, tugging on his gunmetal gray skates that match his eyes. You follow his movements, kicking off your warm black boots to the frigid around outside. You unconsciously shiver, and grab for your skates but realize you can’t lace them with your mitts on. You curse under your breath, pulling your mittens off and grabbing your skates as quick as you could.

The skates look like the most foreign object to you when you grab them, but you reluctantly pull them on and start to lace them. Your hands are so cold that you are struggling to lace the top, and Levi sees this. His glove-covered fingers appear in your vision as he helps pull your laces tight. You kiss him gently on the cheek as a thank you, and when you pull away his cheek is ever so pink. You couldn’t tell if it was the cold or you.

After you both have your skates on and are gloved up again, Levi helps you down from the dock onto the ice-covered pond. Looking out across the small body of water, gorgeous snow-engulfed pine trees encircle the round pond, while small bushes are totally covered, making them look like little snowmen. 

Regaining your attention, you notice Levi has already made his way out to the middle and is skating over the ice so gracefully. You try to keep this memory in your head forever, the image of Levi with a beanie on, scarf trailing behind him, a small puff of air leaving his lips to freeze on the air in front of him.

You take your first step onto the ice and immediately start to regret it as your feet slip out from under you, but you regain your balance, arms flailing at your sides. Levi watches you with a genuine smile, one you rarely get to see. In his eyes, you looked like a small fawn trying to stand up for the first time.

“How’s it going, love?”, Levi chimes as he skids to a stop beside you. Your panicked eyes meet his and you see his gaze soften. “You can’t skate,” Levi states as if he knew it all along. You try to retaliate but when you open your mouth to defend yourself, your right skate turns a little and starts to slide away from you. You find yourself flailing again, but not for long. Levi grabs your hand and skates right in front of you, grabbing both of your hands and putting them around his neck.

You close your eyes and take a deep breath before murmuring, “I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it would ruin our trip. You looked so excited to come skating so I agreed.” You open your (colored) eyes to gaze directly into his silver orbs. He is scanning over your face, taking in your beauty.

Levi reaches up to your face with a gloved hand and says, “Thank you. But there are many other things we could have done together. But since we are here, you are learning to skate.” You groan while he lets out a gentle chuckle, the quiet noise sounding like heaven amidst the sounds of a small breeze and birds chirping.

Levi pulls on your waist, skating backward as if it were the most natural thing to him. Your skates wobble as your hands clasp around his scarf-clad neck, and you try your best to not lock your knees. “There you go,” Levi chides, “You’ve got this.” You swallow shakily, “Only because you have a hold of me.” He tugs you closer as he turns to head back across the expanse of the pond. “I’ll never let you go”, Levi murmurs to you, guiding you back over to the dock. 

You both decide to take a little break, chatting about how Erwin is losing his mind, yelling at new cadets to pick up chores since two of his best officers were gone. “How long do you think it’ll take until Erwin locks himself in his room to be alone?”, you ask Levi, popping a piece of a granola bar into your mouth. Levi pauses for a second, “Give him until at least this afternoon.” You both look at each other and start to chuckle, picturing Erwin about to combust with all his duties.

Once you both have gotten a snack and some water, Levi pulls you up to your feet. “Alright, it’s all you now. You gotta show me you can do it all alone.” Your eyes widen and you start to shake your head. “No way I can do it alone! You were guiding me the whole time!” Levi replies, “I’ll be right next to you the whole time. You’ll be fine.”

Except you wouldn’t be fine. You managed to skate about a fourth of the pond by taking small steps, and Levi was pushing himself backward around you, making you dizzy with all the circles he did around you. Eyebrows narrowing, fists clenching, you decide you are going to prove to Levi that you could do it. You start to push off, and you are doing well. Your skates are gliding smoothly across the ice, and you feel pride swell in your chest.

*clink* 

You feel your right skate catch on a small chip in the ice, and the ground starts looming closer toward you. Levi has made it to the other side of the lake, and can’t get there in time to catch you. You start to wail, “FFFFFFFFUUUUUUuuuuuu-” and then you crack into the ice. The air inside your lungs bursts out through your mouth, and suddenly you can’t breathe.

Levi calls you, “Y/N!!! Are you okay?!”, as he races toward you, ice flakes kicking up behind him from the power in his strides. You groan as you feel shocks reverberating up and down your arms and legs. A soft cough leaves your pink lips, and then, “I- I... I think so?” Levi’s face is full of worry as he rolls you onto your back. “That was quite the fall there, love. I was certain you had it under control.” You wince as you sit up, groaning out, “Yeah I thought I did too.”

Levi’s hand flies to your back to support you, and then his gaze drops to the ice under you, scanning for any cracks. “Fuck my head hurts,” you moan softly as a mitten goes up to your forehead. Levi grabs a hold of your face, scanning it over and then stopping on your left cheek. “Shit y/n, you cut your cheek. Let’s get you off the ice.” 

He pulls you up slowly, careful to make sure you wouldn’t slip or faint. You grab onto his jacket tightly, letting him guide you to the dock where his pack was waiting. You sit on the edge of the dock while Levi pulls the strings off of his skates and then yours, changing your shoes back into the warmer and more comfortable black boots. He grabs your uninjured cheek gently and then dabs at the cut on the left side of your face gently with a small cloth from his pack.

You numbly sit there and let him take care of you, body aching and head throbbing. Levi finishes packing up your skates, tying them to his backpack so he can help you walk back to the cabin at the top of the pond. You stumble a few times up the hill, but Levi is ever so patient with you, catching you before you can fall again, then letting you rest when you got winded.

When you both make it up to the cabin, Levi stops you, and has you knock the snow off of your boots so you don’t trudge it inside. You grumble about how your head aches and you could care less if the water will ruin the seal on the floor, but you reluctantly agree. Levi lets you walk in first before locking the cabin door behind you two. Your eyes looked at the locked door and you cock an eyebrow. “Really? Way out here and you still lock the door?” Levi shrugs, “You can never be too sure.”

He hangs your skates in front of the now-lit fireplace to dry, and then sets his bag on the love seat before disappearing into the master bedroom. He returns with a pair of your leggings and socks, along with a soft grey sweatshirt of his that he rarely let you steal. “Get changed and I’ll heat you up some hot chocolate.”

“Thanks Levi,” you murmur as you grab the clothes from his hands, starting to pull off your wet snow pants. Once changed, you grab the hood of the sweatshirt and pull it over your head, taking a deep breath of what smells just like your handsome boyfriend in the kitchen.

He suddenly appears in your vision, a cup of hot chocolate in one hand, a cup of tea in the other. “Skootch over there love, yeah that’s it,” he says softly as he hands you your mug. You turn to face him, gazing at the strange way he drinks his tea.

“I love you,” you say after a minute or two of soft drinking sounds. He turns to face you with a confused look in his eye. “Why are you getting all mushy? I just dragged your sorry ass back up here before we both fell into that pond.” Your eyes fall to your hands, instantly guilty that you were a burden on his shoulders.

“You just always take care of me and then I’m always here ruining everything. It’s not fair to you.” Your heart feels heavy as you will the tears in your eyes to go away. Levi sets his cup of tea down before grabbing yours and doing the same. “Y/n,” he calls but you don’t look at him. “Y/n, I love you for who you are, and I love what we have together. Sure I have to clean up after you sometimes but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

You turn your eyes to his silver ones and you see the love on his hardened features. “I love what we have too,” you whisper, brushing a stray tear away from your cheek. Levi opens up his arms, inviting you in for a hug. Your arms reach around around his neck, and his hands find their place on your back and in your hair. Both of you sit their for a minute, enjoying each other’s presence.

When you pull away you press a loving kiss against he lips, and he kisses you back with just as much passion and love. You pull away and you open your (colored) orbs to see Levi looks at you intensely, suddenly serious. His gaze follows your left cheek to the cut that sits there and then he says, “Next time we go on a vacation, lets go somewhere that doesn’t have ice everywhere.”

[chaoticpuff17]

Endgame

ADG Tae fic

Masterlist

Warnings: reference to non con. yandere behavior

hello my darlings! A little later than intended. blame my computer problems. But here it is! the next ADG oneshot! love you all, I’m off to go rewrite everything I lost on the Yoongi chapter. I’ve been avoiding it.--- Chaotic puff. 

Taehyung watched the screen a vicious smirk playing across his lips as he watched her run through the alleyway. His poor little bird, always running. She had to know by now that she couldn’t escape him. How many years had they been playing this game? She had to know by now that she couldn’t win, but it was cute to see her try.

She hated him. That was okay though. She just needed a little push in the right direction. He was tired of watching from a distance. He was tired of watching her and only seeing her face to face a few times a year. They’d been playing their game for so long now, she had to be tired as well. His sweet Aerie was an excellent opponent, but she had to know that it would all come to an end eventually.

He could remember the first time he had seen her. They’d been so young then. They’d both been on the train. Taehyung had been exhausted after a night of hacking, and she had been immersed in something on her own computer. Her glasses had slipped down her nose in the most enchanting way. Her hair was piled haphazardly on top of her head with strands falling down all around her face, though she didn’t seem to notice or care, and he couldn’t help but wonder what kept her so immersed. He’d pulled out his own computer and set to work finding her among the other people doing work on the train.

He’d found her easily enough, and the cause of the little furrow between her brow became evident enough. It was a paper for school, a literary analysis for an English literature class. Her face was all scrunched up as she looked over The Picture of Dorian Gray. She was intensely focused on it, and a little digging into her files and schedule had told him that the paper was due in a few days. He found her concentration, the way she poured over each line, endearing. He loved the way she chewed on her inner cheek as she thought over paragraph. She was just adorable.

A little digging into her computer had given Taehyung access to her life. He knew exactly how to go about finding her. He knew what school she went to, her major, where she lived, and he pursued her with enthusiasm. The only hitch in his pursuit was her continued rejection, something Taehyung had not anticipated. Why would he have? No one had ever rejected him before. She couldn’t have done better. Even if she tried, Taehyung wouldn’t have allowed it. She was his from the first moment he saw her on that train.

Aerie may have looked sweet, but she was a snappish creature by nature. She rejected every bouquet, every invitation to dinner. She’d rejected his affection at every turn, rejected his every effort, until she’d taken matters into her own hands and begun their little game. He’d gone to offer her the world, only to find her gone. Her apartment was empty. A quick search revealed that she had even dropped out of school. She’d simply vanished.

Taehyung’s first instinct had been panic and rage. How could she leave him like that? How could she reject him? And then there came a new feeling. Excitement. If she wanted a chase, he would give her one. It had been no trouble at all for him to track her down. She’d changed cities and was doing her best to keep a low profile, but she had no idea who she was dealing with. The look of shock on her face when he’d appeared on her doorstep had been so satisfying, so adorable. The frying pan she’d taken to the side of his head, was less adorable.

Taehyung had become smarter after that. His little bird was so prone to flight that he had to be more careful in his approach or risk another frying pan to the head something he had no intention of repeating. She’d been easy enough to find again though. She was never really out of his reach not with all the resources he had at his fingertips. He’d cornered her just a few hours later in a bus station a few towns over, succeeding in knocking her out and taking her to a hotel to wait for her to wake up again. He wanted her calm when he made his offer again, a life by his side.

She had not been calm though. She had fought him tooth and nail to get out of that room and had laughed in his face when he’d made her the offer, and it was something he couldn’t understand. How could she refuse him? He was handsome. He was young. He was wealthy, and he had chosen her. Out of every woman that had thrown themselves at his feet, he had chosen her. None of that seemed to matter though. She looked at him as though he had a second head, as if he was the most vile being on the planet.

It had been the beginning of a longstanding game between them. He would chase, and she would run. Sometimes he would let months elapse before he took her again. He loved the look of shock and horror on her face when he showed up again. It was something he would never get tired of.

The next time he decided to take her, he brought her to what the boys had dubbed as his play house. The house was situated in the middle of nowhere. Even if she was able to make it out of the house, there was nowhere she could go. He had designed it especially for her after all.

The area surrounding the house was made up of a series of mazes designed to keep her in, and most paths led back to the house, back to him.

The games were fun, but Taehyung was craving more now. Everyone was settling down. Namjoon had Y/N even if she had engaged him in a chase of their own. Hoseok had Iyla. Jin had taken his patient as his own, and Yoongi had sired a kid with one of Jimin’s girls. It was time to settle down himself, but that required nailing down his little bird.

He’d indulged her long enough. He’d given her plenty of chances to end this on her own, plenty of chances to surrender, to come to him of her own will. He let her believe that she’d managed to escape him, but she was never truly out of his grasp. He always knew where she was, always. A few sneakily placed tracking devices on her body ensured that.

She was a smart little devil. He’d give her that. His first few attempts at trackers had been foiled by her throwing out her phone each time she came in contact with him. He had quickly learned that he couldn’t place trackers in any of her devices. So when he’d switched to placing chips on her person, he’d errored on the side of caution and placed several in assorted spots. She’d never be able to get rid of them all. Of that, he was confidant. She was smart, but not smart enough to find all five trackers, and they ensured that Taehyung had no problem tracking her down for the endgame.

Taehyung stood up from his chair with a leisurely stretch. It was time to fetch his little bird.

Aerie woke up in a house she was horribly horribly familiar with. She’d been there more times than she’d like to admit over the years. She knew that within its walls lurked the psycho that had been nipping at her heels for years. Every time he tracked her down, he brought her to this horrible place. The house was like its own circle of hell with Taehyung ruling over it. Each time she was there, there was some new horror awaiting her. There had always been a way out, but it came at the price of playing his twisted games. She’d learned early on that Taehyung never did anything out of the goodness of his heart. Nothing was free, and she’d given up more than she’d ever wanted to admit over the years. He’d slowly taken everything from her.

In the beginning, he’d only been a stalker, the creep she kept rejection. She’d thought that if she moved away, if she laid low for a while, he’d forget about her and find a new obsession, and she would be free to enroll in a new school and live her life free of him. That hadn’t been the case though. He’d followed her wherever she went.

She knew he was toying with her. She knew he was letting her escape. He’d made that clear, made it clear that she had no power in their relationship. As much as she hated to use that word to describe them, it was the best fit. Twisted and horrid as it was, it was still a relationship, and Taehyung had made his affection for her more than evident even if she had done the same with her hatred for him. That never seemed to bother him too much though. He wasn’t delusional. She knew that he understood her hatred of him, he simply didn’t care. He seemed to think that time would reverse her contempt. It had not, and as much as she hated to admit it, this was not the first time she had woken up in the house tied down and practically naked.

Her hands were bound by leather cuffs to a bed that looked more like a bird’s cage than it did a bed. It was a glaring reminder of his degrading little nickname for her, his little bird. She hated that nickname as much as she hated him. The bed didn’t just look like a cage, it functioned like one as well. If Taehyung wished he could lock her behind the elaborate bars to rot. It was degrading, but so were most of the things he did to her. This time even her legs were restrained held apart by a spreader. It was only the beginning of her humiliation. Taehyung hadn’t even made his appearance yet.

She took a moment to shake off the last vestiges of grogginess caused by whatever drug Taehyung had used to knock her out his time. His more violent methods didn’t leave her with a lingering feeling of nausea, but they did cause more bumps and bruises. It was hard to say which one was worse, but she supposed that it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t as if Taehyung gave her a choice in how he captured her.

Once she didn’t feel like her head was spinning and her stomach wasn’t about to heave its contents all over the red bedding, Aerie took a look around to see where her tormentor was. She couldn’t see him through the intricate bars of the bed, but that didn’t mean much. He could be lurking somewhere just out of sight. What she did notice was the set of skimpy lingerie that clung to her body. She should have been used to it by now, but seeing his selections still made her skin crawl. There was no such thing as modesty when it came to Taehyung.

This particular set was black, lacy, and strappy. It didn’t cover much though. Much to her annoyance it was lacking in two distinct areas. There was no material where the cups of the bra should have been, there was nothing. Strips of lace curved up around the top of her breasts, but the majority of her chest was left exposed to the room. Her panties were lacking as well in the fact that the lace was missing one vital component, the crotch. In its place were two silky straps that curved down between her thighs and back up around her ass leaving everything but the area right above her center exposed. His lingerie choices were typically risqué, but they usually covered a bit more.

As much as she hated the lace wrapped around her body, what was worse was the collar fixed around her throat. This was an item she was intimately familiar with. The collar was made of a thick leather that was wrapped in a sumptuous black lace. The front of the collar was decorated by a single silver ring that Taehyung took full advantage of in his escapades. As his “little bird”, Aerie was nothing more than a pet to him, and the collar staked his claim in a blatantly obvious way.

She was ashamed to say that Taehyung had been her first, though it hadn’t been her choice. She could still remember that horrible day vividly. It had been a little over two years ago. She’d been particularly resistant to him that night, sick of him and his games. Her sharp tongue had been her undoing. She’d pushed Taehyung too far, refused him one too many times. Granted it was bound to happen eventually, but that didn’t make the result any less traumatizing.

Aerie woke up groggy doing her best to shake off the remnants of a drug induced sleep. It was like swimming through a fog. When she finally shook it off, she wished that she hadn’t. Her hands were bound above her head by leather cuffs, and she was dressed in a set of skimpy lace lingerie that certainly wasn’t hers. She couldn’t recognize the room, but she did recognize the man pacing around the room like a caged animal even if she wished that she didn’t.

Everything came rushing back at the sight of him.

Aerie hadn’t been on a date in a long time. Her stalker had put a damper on love life. Moving around from place to place in an effort to avoid him didn’t leave much time for dating, but she was excited. She’d even taken the time to do her makeup with what little skill she had and curl her hair all in preparation of her date with Minho. She’d met him at the store she’d been working at to make ends meet while she tried to hide from the man who had been making her life a living hell. He was sweet, and she enjoyed talking with him. One date couldn’t hurt especially not with someone has lovely has Minho.

The grin that had stretched across her face had been there all day that is until she saw the man of her nightmares stalking into the restaurant practically radiating fury. She stared at him like a deer in the head lights as he paused by the first few tables. The world stopped for a moment only to start again with the sound of bullets.

Taehyung released a volley of shots into the air sending the entire restaurant into a panic, a cacophony of screams filling the air.

“Everybody out!” He growled eyes fixated on where she sat across from Minho, and the patrons scrambled to obey him.

Minho reached across the table grabbing her hand as he stood up to flee the restaurant with the rest of the customers.

“Not you.” Taehyung growled stalking towards them pulling up a seat and taking a seat beside Aerie.

“We don’t want any trouble.” Miho stuttered eyes wide and frightened eyes his gaze flitted between Taehyung and the door.

“Don’t want any trouble?” Taehyung laughed arching one perfectly manicured brow as he draped an arm across Aerie’s shoulders keeping her in place. “You should have thought of that before you took out my girl. Isn’t that right, little bird?” He purred leaning in and brushing his nose over her neck in a motion that was far too intimate for what the two of them shared.

“Look man, I didn’t know she was taken!” Minho gulped raising his hands in a motion of surrender.

“Didn’t know?” Taehyung laughed moving his hand so that it was curled around the back of her neck one finger twirling a strand of her curled hair. “That makes it all better then.”

Without any warning, Taehyung drew his gun again and fired three shots directly into the other man’s head as Aerie screamed in horror beside him. His hand fisted cruelly in her hair dragging her back against her seat stopping her from running as she so wanted to do.

“Aerie, Aerie, Aerie.” He cooed his grin vicious as he gazed down at her. “You’ve been a very bad girl, little bird.”

There was a sharp prick, and then everything went dark.

That brought her back to the present where Taehyung had only just noticed that her eyes were open.

“You’re awake.” He grinned coming to take a seat on the edge of the bed. “I thought that I’d given you too much of the sedative for a minute there. How are you feeling, little bird?” He cooed moving up the bed so that he was sitting next to her hips, trailing a finger across her clavicle.

“Fuck off.” She growled trying to squirm away from him without much luck as the cuffs dug into her wrists keeping her in place.

“None of that, little bird.” He growled pressing down to keep her from wiggling away. “If you wanted my attention, you could have said something. I would have been by your side in a heartbeat.”

“Fuck off.” She repeated kicking wildly in the hope of landing a hit. She was almost successful, landing a hit to his upper thigh, but it was just shy of where she need it to land, and only served to piss him off.

Taehyung was quick to straddle her hips keeping her pinned down as he wrapped a long fingered hand around her throat.

“If you’re going to act like a whore, little bird, I’ll have to treat you like a whore.” He growled grinding his hips against hers.

“Get off!” She shrieked trying to buck him off without much success.

“If you’re going to be a whore,” He snarled moving down the bed and binding her legs so that they were spread apart. “You should at least by my whore, don’t you think?”

“Get off of me!” She shrieked again tears brimming in her eyes as the panic began to settle in.

“Such a shrill voice.” He hissed moving off the bed to grab something. He returned much to quickly. “If you can’t be sweet for me, you should remain silent.”

There wasn’t anything she could do as he wrenched her jaw open shoving a ball gag between her teeth and fastening it behind her head with practiced ease. “There.” He purred moving back so that he was settled between her spread legs. “Much better.”

She thrashed against her bindings as the monster tore off the skimpy underwear. Tears burned her eyes as he shoved a finger into her cunt. She wasn’t ready for the intrusion, but Taehyung didn’t seem to care as he pushed forward. He only paused as he was met with a resistance he hadn’t expected.

He pulled back a slow smile spreading across his features. “Little bird.” He cooed gently brushing the tears from her eyes. “Such a good girl, saving herself for daddy.” He pressed kisses down against her throat trailing them down towards the lace that covered her breasts before he savagely tore that from her body just as he had the panties.

“Don’t worry, baby. Daddy can be gentle.” He promised pressing a kiss to her nipple that had pebbled from the cool air. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to punish you for letting that leach put his hands all over you.” She whimpered her pleas coming out as a garbled mess against the gag.

She’d always thought her first time would be, well maybe not romantic, but at least nice and with someone she chose. Having that choice ripped away while being violated by the man who had made her life a living hell had made the blow all the worse. It had taken her a long time to recover from the trauma of being raped by her stalker, and that time had been made even longer considering that every time he came back to torment her, he had no problem with repeating the process over and over again. It was horrible, but she expected it now. It was just one more thing to get over with before he put her through whatever game he had prepared for them this time around.

“Hello, little bird.” His deep voice washed over her filling her with deep seated dread. “Did you miss me?” He cooed entering the cage like bed and perching himself on the edge of the mattress as he grinned down at her.

“Fuck off, Taehyung.” She growled pulling on the restraints that kept her arms in place. She knew better than to pull of the leg spreader. If she pulled on it, it would only make her predicament worse.

“Aerie, Aerie, Aerie.” He tutted one of his long fingers slowly trailing up her bare leg. “Why must you always be so rude, little bird? Haven’t you missed me at all? I’ve missed you.”

She grinned viciously as she jerked at her arm restraints trying to lunge at him. “What do you want, you fucking psychopath? Can’t you find another girl whose life you can ruin?”

He laughed showcasing that box shaped grin that would have been endearing on anyone else. “Why would I do that when I have you?” He cooed trailing his finger up to her thigh.

“What do you want?” She growled again.

“I have a proposition for you, little bird, but why don’t we have some fun first?” He hummed slowly crawling on top of her while she glared up at him.

“Or you could just tell me.” She grumbled wishing that any of her limbs were free so that she could smack him.

“And what would be the fun in that?” He chuckled placing a kiss on the soft skin of her belly. “I’ve missed you so much, little bird. It’s been so long.” He purred trailing kisses up towards her exposed chest.

“Get off of me!” She growled bucking her hips up in an attempts to throw him off thought he motion only seemed to encourage him.

“And if I don’t want to?” He asked smirking against her skin as before nipping at her exposed nipple eliciting a yelp from her. If there was one thing that Taehyung loved about his little bird, it was how sensitive she was. Her reactions were just as adorable as that first night.

“Fuck you.” She hissed doing her best to wiggle away from him despite her restraints.

“Oh, you will.” His grin was positively devious as he dove down to attack the sliver of her neck that was left uncovered by the collar.

He loved that collar. He loved the way the lace looked against her skin and how easy the loop made it to manhandle and restrain her. He’d more than once attached the matching lace covered leather leash to that little loop. Seeing her in that collar always got him fired up. Once he brought her home he’d have an array of collars for her, but this one would always be his favorite.

“Get off!” She shrieked wishing not for the first time that she could torment him just as much as he tormented her.

“Hush, little bird.” He cooed lifting his head so he could brush his nose against hers affectionately. “Let me make you feel good.”

It was a source of never ending shame for her that Taehyung was in fact an excellent lover. He pulled her pleasure from her by force with the persistence of a dog with a bone. Even if she resisted, he would make sure that she came for him, more than once. It was a matter of pride for him that he could make his little bird writhe with pleasure beneath him despite her protests.

“Stop!” She shrieked taking the opportunity to head butt him forcing him back much to his displeasure.

He hissed placing an elegant hand against his throbbing nose as he glared down at her. She was still feisty no matter how many times he played with her. He loved it.

“That wasn’t very nice, little bird.”

“That makes two of us.” She snarled relieved that he had backed away for the moment. “What proposition did you have?” She asked hoping to distract him.

“Eager aren’t we?” He cooed sitting back so that he was settled on top of her thighs.

“Just tell me, you sick fuck.” She huffed glaring up at him.

“This is something best discussed over dinner. Though I’d love to keep you just as you are.” He purred his eyes trailing over her form.

“Then let’s have dinner.” She’d do anything to avoid his more amorous attentions even if it meant sitting down to dinner with him.

With a sigh Taehyung set to work undoing the restraints at her ankles before unclipping the chain that kept her attached to the bed, though he left the cuffs on.

“Let’s get you dressed, little bird.”

She didn’t fight him as he pulled her up from the bed or when left her standing in the middle of the room her hands still cuffed together. He knew better than to leave her completely unrestrained. This wasn’t their first rodeo. She’d be more than happy to take off down the twisting halls of the house if he gave her the chance, but it was harder to escape from him if she was still bound, and it was better to see what he wanted before she made her escape. Taehyung would eventually start a game that would lead to her eventual freedom. He liked games.

He returned moments later with a long black dress in hand.

She didn’t argue or fight when he uncuffed her handed or when he stripped her of the strap of cloth he called a bra. Even if the dress was revealing, it had to be better than the lingerie he had provided.

She was right. The dress was revealing, but so were most of the clothes that Taehyung had forced her into over the years. This dress wasn’t the worst of them. The material was soft and silky against her skin leaving her back completely left exposed to the air. The top wrapped around her neck before diving down into a deep v ending just before her belly button. Not even her legs were left covered. There was a slit up the side leaving the entirety of her left leg exposed. But overall it was still better than the lingerie. Anything was better than the lingerie.

What surprised her was that Taehyung had removed the collar. He loved that collar almost to the point that she would call it a fixation, but she supposed that it didn’t match the aesthetic of the evening gown.

She allowed him to seat her on a long ottoman as he pulled her hair back in a sleek pony tail, and gave her a pair of earrings to match. They trailed down from her lobes in a line of stones that ended just at her jaw. She was dressed far too nicely for dinner with her worst enemy, but what choice did she have? It was always best to cooperate until he made his intentions for the evening clear.

He led her through the twisting halls of the house until they came to the overly ornate dining room. She never understood why the house was so sumptuously decorated. She’d seen it during the many times she had run through the halls in many failed attempts to get away from the psychopath that made her life hell. It wasn’t as though he lived in the house. She’d figured that out pretty quickly. The house was completely unlived in. She didn’t know where he lived, but it wasn’t here.

He seated her at the table before going out to get the meal he had had prepared for them. Taehyung wasn’t much for cooking, but he found that the staff at Namjoon’s estate were more than willing to work with him, and they did a far better job of it than he could. He would have asked Jin to do it knowing that his hyung was an excellent cook, but Jin had been busy preparing for the journey to go and retrieve Namjoon’s wife. She’d finally been located in some dingy little village in Italy. More than that, she’d been found in the final stages of a pregnancy that could only have been Namjoon’s doing. His hyung was as ecstatic as he was angry to find her. He knew that Namjoon had always wanted to be a father, but it had to hurt knowing that his wife had run off with one of his enemies and was peacefully playing house with them. It didn’t matter though. Namjoon would have her and the baby home in no time just like Taehyung would have Aerie home where she belonged at long last.

They both remained silent for the beginning of the meal as they both cut into the steaks that Namjoon’s chef had prepared, but eventually, she couldn’t take the anticipation anymore, though she hated being the first one to crack.

“Why am I here?” She asked setting aside her cutlery as she stared him down from across the table.

“Can’t I just miss you?” He teased setting aside his own utensils. He chuckled seeing the completely unamused expression on her face. “No. You wouldn’t believe that would you? I have a proposition for you.”

“So you’ve said.” She grumbled crossing her arms under her breasts.

“I’ve enjoyed our games, baby. I really have, but I’ve grown tired of them.” He drawled leaning back dramatically with a long suffering sigh. “I want to put an end to them.”

He could see her brighten up at that staring at him with interest. “You’re going to let me go?”

He laughed at that finding her suggestion amusing. “Of course not. Why would I do that?”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I want to play one last game. If you win, I’ll let you go, for good.”

“And if I lose?” She asked her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“You come with me willingly. You surrender, be mine.” As she stiffened her mouth set in a thin line of dread, Taehyung couldn’t help but smile. “No more running. No more games. As simple as that.”

“And why would I agree to that?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “You don’t really have a choice. I could always take you by force.”  

“Like you haven’t before?” She scoffed her gaze taking on a hard, bitter edge.

“One last game.” He assured her even though he didn’t have any intention of playing fair. She didn’t need to know that though.

She eyed him weighing her options. On the one hand, he could be lying, but on the slim chance that he was telling the truth, she would be free of him. She’d never have to worry about him lurking in the shadows at every moment. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had been free of him. It would be like the sun coming out of months of rain, but there was a much greater chance that Taehyung was lying. It could just be another twisted part of his games, one designed to crush her hopes.  But on the off chance that he was actually telling the truth, that the offer was genuine, she had to take it.

“Fine.” She agreed reluctantly. “What kind of game do you have in mind?” She asked even as she began to wonder if this was the right move after all. She knew better than to underestimate him. She even had a few small scars as a reminder of that. 

A feral grin spread across his face as he registered her agreement. She didn’t trust that grin. It never preceded anything good. It was too manic as was the light in his eyes. They always shone too bright whenever he got excited, but his excitement always brought her pain. Even though his eyes were shining with that disconcerting glee, they were dark. It was like two black holes staring back at her ready to suck her into his madness. 

“You remember the mazes. Don’t you, little bird?”

A grimace spread across her features, but she nodded. She had extensive experience with the mazes that surrounded the house. They were Taehyung’s favorite game. He’d set her loose in them to run like a scared rabbit. Each time they were different, and she hated them more than anything. They were as dehumanizing as they were unfair. They changed even as she was in them. The walls moved at their master’s bidding, confusing and turning her around through the endless halls of greenery. 

“I remember.” 

“You’re aware by now that there is more than one maze.” He began leaning forward gleefully. Of course she knew. She had tried more than once to slip through the gates that separated the different parts of the labyrinth. “All three sections will be available to you tonight. I’ll give you a twenty minute head start before I follow you in.” 

That caught her attention in the worst sort of way. Taehyung hardly ever entered the maze. She could only recall him doing it once before when she’d fallen and twisted her ankle rather badly after trying to scale one of the hedges. He preferred to watch and taunt from the cameras and speakers hidden throughout the infernal maze. 

Her new found hesitance didn’t seem to deter him though. He continued with just as much enthusiasm as before. “If you can make it out of the maze before dawn, you win,” His grin got even wider excitement coursing through his veins. “But if you fail to solve the maze or I catch you before your time is over, you’re mine.” 

It seemed simple enough, but nothing was ever simple when it came to Taehyung, and this would be the first time that he had actively hunted her through the maze. While she would have the whole of the labyrinth at her disposal, Taehyung still held an unfair advantage. They were his mazes. He knew them far better than she did despite the many times she had run through the mazes. He made sure to change them before she ran a particular section again. She had no idea how large the full Maze would actually be or what sort of traps he had laid for her within it. 

“As simple as that?” She asked slowly, skeptically. 

In the past, if she could complete or beat his game, she was free to go. He would even have some faceless driver take her back to the city where she would run as far as she could as fast as she could even though she knew he would find her again. She had no more desilusiones of being able to hide from him permanently. It was the whole reason she had decided to agree to this despite the unfair odds. It was a chance for complete freedom. 

“As simple as that, little bird.” He purred dark eyes boring into her. “Shall we?” 

He was more than eager to begin. The sooner they started, the sooner she would be in his arms. He had everything prepared for her. 

He’d moved into the house that Namjoon had provided in the vicinity of the main estate. With Hoseok, Jin, Yoongi, and Namjoon all starting families of their own, Namjoon had formed a sort of gated community surrounding the main estate. There was a house for each of them. Hoseok had taken Iyla from the main estate to settle her into her new home before Namjoon and Jin returned with Y/N. Yoongi and his little family had moved into their designated house as well. Sen was thrilled with the space for their son to run around in, and Taehyung could hardly wait to fill his own house with little ones. They’d have to start right away once he took her home. He wanted a big family after all. They’d have to start soon if they were going to meet his goals. 

She nodded stiffly standing up from her chair. It was better to get it over with whether she was going to win or lose. If she won, it was all the better to have her freedom sooner. If she lost, it was better not to have her hopes up for too long. It would only prolong her heartache.

She was quick to leave the heels that had been foisted on her at the door. They would do her no good in the maze. Heels never worked well on the soft ground and the grass. They would only slow her down. If she was going to fail, she preferred it be because she had failed to solve the maze than give Taehyung the added satisfaction of catching her himself.

She was about to head into the maze through the entrance Taehyung had led her to when he pulled her back by the wrist. The jolt sent her flying back into his chest much to his delight.

“I’m giving you your head start, but I’ll see you soon.” She was going to bite back with an acerbic response, but Taehyung cut her off with a searing kiss, one she wanted to immediately wipe away, but that would have only served to make him angry, and she had no time to waste.

Without a word to him, she hiked up her skirts, disappearing into the maze.  Twenty minutes wasn’t a long time, and she had to make the best of it or regret it later.

She had never had the entirety of the maze open to her, and it made her apprehensive. Even one section of the maze was hard enough to master, let alone all three of them. Trick walls and dead ends littered the halls, and Taehyung always made sure that each time she entered the hedges that she’d find them just as difficult.

She rushed through the paths cursing the dress that Taehyung had dressed her up in. The slit at least provided her with free movement, but only the demon that was Kim Taehyung would force her to run a maze in an evening gown. He was over dramatic like that.

Another thing to curse was the abundance of dead ends that thwarted her at seemingly every turn. They forced her to back track far more often than she would have liked or was prudent. No matter where she turned, it seemed like she was only going in circles. As much as she hated him, she had to admit that he had pulled out all the stops for their final game.  

Taehyung had retreated into the house to wait out the twenty minutes before he could follow his little bird into the maze. Logically, he knew it wasn’t long to wait, but the anticipation made the minutes stretch on into eternity. He passed the time watching her on his phone. The cameras gave him an unfair advantage, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was more than happy to watch her wear herself out. He had always kept the maze at least somewhat fair, but he wasn’t willing to give her that advantage this time. He had promised her that if she could escape the labyrinth before dawn, she would be free, but there was no escape. The only exits lead straight back to the house, and making it back to the house did not count as solving the maze.

He knew it was unfair, but it didn’t matter. He was tired of waiting, and she would be his whether she liked it or not. This at least gave her the illusion of a chance. There would be no escaper for her.

When the twenty minutes had past, Taehyung took to the maze, leisurely strolling down its paths as he trailed after his prize. He had the advantage of his little spies and the trick walls. He could herd her however he liked with those. He had the entire labyrinth at his fingertips, and she would never even know. Or perhaps she would. She was a clever little bird, and he wouldn’t put it past her to have figured it out. It was one of the many things he loved about his little bird.

With every step he was brought closet to her, he made sure of it. Doors were strategically closed guiding her towards dead ends and herding her back towards him. There was no need for him to strain himself. His poor Aerie was going to be exhausted before the evening was over, but that wouldn’t stop her from putting up a fight. He expected he’d have to carry her back to the house whether it was because she refused to come or from sheer exhaustion. It didn’t matter to him. She’d be in his arms either way.

It was easy to catch up to her with how much backtracking his meddling had forced her to do, but Taehyung wasn’t finished playing yet.

“Give up, little bird!” He called out knowing she was just on the other side of the hedge. “I’m going to find you!” A grin spread across his features as he heard the sound of her taking off further into the maze.

Perfect. She was headed directly to the center of the maze. He’d catch her there, and even if he didn’t, it wouldn’t be long until he caught her, not when he could see her every move.

“Come out, come out where ever you are!” He trilled out turning a corner and catching the faintest glimpse of her ankle as she ran around a different corner.

“Wouldn’t it be so much easier just to give up?” He cooed driving her further into the maze. It would be easier to subdue her when she was tired, and with the way she had been running around, she was bound to be exhausted. “I know you’re tired, little bird.” He sang catching another glimpse of her turning a corner. “You’ve done so well, but it’s time to go home. Don’t you want to go home, little bird?”

Her heart was pounding against her chest as she ran further into the maze. Taehyung’s words hounded her every step pushing her forward as panic coursed through her veins. Even if she was going to lose, she wasn’t going to go willingly. He’d have to drag her back. And with every step she was regretting her decision to run the maze. It felt less like a chance and more as if he was toying with her. He was always toying with her.

“Come on, little bird!” He called again drawing nearer excitement coursing through him as he pushed her towards the end game.

She burst through the path and into what had to be the center of the maze. There was a fountain there and two other paths leading out, but just as she made to run towards one of them, a gate slammed shut. She made for the other path only for the same thing to happen. There was only one way out, and she could hear Taehyung coming down that path calling out to her.

“No!” She shrieked pulling at the wrought iron of the gate trying to force it open, but it was no use. The door wouldn’t budge.

“Awww,” she could hear her tormenters deep voice coo, far too close by for comfort. “It looks like you’re trapped, little bird.”

She whirled around to face him eyes wide and chest heaving. “You cheated.” She hissed hands gripping the bars behind her as though to stabilize herself.

“I never said I wouldn’t.” He shrugged strolling towards her. “Game over.”

“You cheated!” She snarled again though her back was pressed against the bars in the hope that she’d somehow slip through them A foolish hope. He wouldn’t allow her to escape, not now.

He held out a hand to her smiling brightly as he beckoned her forward. “Come along, little bird. It’s time to go home.”

[98prilla]

Shifted

Thomas decides to see what all the Side’s animal forms would be. It does not go so well for Anxiety. 

This is set pre accepting anxiety, and diverges a little from the cannon of that episode, fair warning.

He is terrified. His heart is pounding as he pulls further back into the shadows, hiding under the couch. He can hear the others out there, talking, laughing, having fun. This isn’t fun.

“An owl? Really, Thomas, owls aren’t even actually smart, their eyes take up much of their cranial cavity.”

“Come on, kiddo, they are symbols of wisdom. And those wings sure must be nifty! I’m having a pawsome time myself!” A groan at the pun.

“I always thought Logan was a bit bird brained.” Roman mutters. “But seriously, a dragon? While the scales are quite flattering, it is a bit strange, considering I usually fight them.”

“I don’t know, Roman, I guess cause you’re always talking about questing I just settled on a fantasy creature. It is pretty cool." He rolls his eyes at the huff of pride he can hear as Roman no doubt puffs up his chest, flares his wings.

“Speaking of strange, where's anxiety?” his ears flatten against his head, pulse picking up again. They’re talking about him.  

“He should be here. I did summon him.” Thomas, confused. He curses his inability to sink out in this form.

“Perhaps he has taken the form of a smaller animal and is hiding.” He almost hisses, could Logic shut up for once?

“Aw, maybe we should look for him! He’ll probably be so cute!”

“Please. That weirdo is probably a venomous spider or a little parasite. Who cares, where he is?” yes, thank you Roman, for once being not a moron.

“Patton, if you’re worried perhaps you can sniff him out. You are a cat, after all.” No. Nonono. Logic, shut it!

“Good idea, Logan. Give it a try!” and he is outta here before he even knows what he’s doing.  

His terror skyrockets and he shoots out from under the couch to the startled yelps of everyone else. Everything is big, huge, compared to him, the living room seems endless.

The stairs, he just needs to get to the stairs and he'll be able to physically enter the mindscape, he’s so close-

Then there is the flap of wings, a victorious shriek, and talons are digging into his shoulders pinning him down.

“Well, what have we here?” He shoves aside his fear, proud as his voice comes out just as scathing and steady as ever.

“Get off, you overgrown lizard.” He bites out, Roman’s scaled head coming into view. He glares at Roman’s laughter.

“Anxiety, kiddo? Is that you?”

“No, its Joan, yes it’s me, Patton, now get off, Roman!” His heart is beating fast, too fast, and his words are wavering. He is afraid, afraid, afraid. He hates this, hates it, he just wants this to be over.

“Hmm. I don’t think I will. Think about it, Thomas. We have the opportunity here to get anxiety out of our way for good.” His stomach drops, his blood goes cold, he is shaking.

“Roman, what are you suggesting?” Logan, he can’t be considering this, please no, please!

“I mean, we don’t need to vanquish him. We can keep him like this. Put him in a cage, or something.”

“I'm not a pet, you idiot, and you can’t keep me like this forever.” He hisses out.

“Oh contraire, little mouse, we can keep you weak enough you don’t have any choice.” His heart lurches as he is lifted up, Roman's wings buffeting him, they are in the air.

“Roman, put me down! I… please! Pleasepleaseplease…” he is crying now, begging, because he can’t, this can’t be happening, they can’t actually intend to keep him locked in this form, weak and powerless, in a cage.  

The floor seems so far away, and he feels sick, from the altitude shift or what is happening or both, he can’t tell. The anguished terror is filling him and he lets out a broken, choked sob.  

This is what he gets, for thinking he could ever be accepted, for thinking he could ever be tolerated, much less liked. All he’d ever done was his job, and this is his reward.

“Logan, what-" he lets out a squeak despite himself as a blur of gray rams into Roman, sending him spiraling off balance.

Then he feels the talon’s grip slip, and he screams. He is falling, flipping through the air. From this height in this form his bones will break, shatter, with his luck his neck will snap. He has time to cry for help, before he impacts.

“Gotcha!” The halt is jarring, and he is shaking, instinctively flattening himself to make as small a target as possible as he tries to get ahold of himself. He realizes it’s soft, the ground.

He looks up and nearly screams again, instead flattening further. Patton has caught him, sitting on his back haunches, he is caught in Patton's front paws.

“p-p-put me d-down. Please.” His voice is a whisper, trembles making him stutter, but Patton instantly complies, much to his relief.

He hears a shriek and looks up, just in time to see silver talons coming right at him, then they crash into him and he feels a ripping pain in his shoulder.  

He can hear Patton yelling, Logan screeching, Roman growling, and it is loud so loud and all he can think is he is about to die-

“Enough!” Thomas yells, and suddenly the ground isn’t so close, suddenly he is stumbling to his feet, lunging for his normal spot on the stairs, reaching it in two strides. He lets out a relieved sob as he clutches the bannister, looking back at the others.

Logan has landed in a heap on the couch. Patton and Roman are tangled around each other on the floor. Patton's gaze meets his, worried.

“kiddo, you’re bleeding.” He lifts his hand numbly to his shoulder, mildly surprised as it comes away sticky and red. He lets out a broken, bitter laugh.

“Gee, wonder how that happened. Not like someone was trying to kill me, or worse hold me captive and torture me for my whole existence." His voice is raw and instead of biting sarcasm, it comes out as an almost whisper, red rimmed eyes glaring at the floor as he shakes, from latent fear and pulsing anger.

“Anxiety-" he half successfully chokes back another sob, harsh laughter tearing at his lungs.

“no, know what, it’s fine. It’s fine, Thomas. I always knew I wasn’t wanted. I was an idiot to hope you might… might ever actually change, actually want me around. Hell, even care about me like I care about you and keeping you safe.” He can barely stand, he doesn’t know if it’s from the pain and blood loss or the adrenaline fading or the panic attack he can feel pressing against him, tightening his chest.

“Kiddo…” he shakes his head.

“Y'know, if you really wanted me dead, all you had to do was ask. I would’ve done it myself.” He doesn’t look up. Doesn’t see the pained shock on Patton's face, the suspicious surprise on Roman's, the horror on Logan’s. The pain on Thomas's. Instead, he flips up his hood, hugging himself as he wordlessly sinks out.

He managed to lock the door before he collapses to the floor. His chest feels like it's being squeezed by a boa constrictor, his ribs crushed and all the air shoved out of his lungs. His vision narrows to a dark pinprick, gaze unseeing as he sees Roman's talons again and again, falling and splattering against the floor, bones shattered, bars, a cage, closing in, pressing him tight, he can’t breathe, he’s choking, he’s dying, god, he’s going to die here. Why not? He laughs hysterically, that’s what they want, may as well give it to ‘em.

“virgil, no. It’s not what we all want. Come back to me, stormy. Focus on my voice. You can do it, Virgil.” Virgil. None of them know his name. Only, only…

“Dee?” he chokes out, blurry vision focusing enough to see Deceit, holding his hands in his lap, rubbing circles on his knuckles.

“There we are. Hello, dearest.” Deceit reaches up, softly wiping away his tears, brushing back his hair.

“I’m an idiot. I’m a stupid idiot.” He mutters.

“No. Virgil, you’re not. It’s ok.” He hisses in a breath of pain as Dee places a hand on his shoulder, vision going speckly at the slight contact. Dee pulls away, eyes wide, face darkening to fury.

“You’re hurt. Vee, you’re bleeding" he just shrugs, another sob clawing its way out of his throat.

“Doesn’t matter.” He whispers. Deceit hisses, and pulls him onto his lap.

“It does. Even if they don’t care, even if they don’t love you, I do. It matters to me. You will always matter to me. You’re my baby, Virg. Even if you’ve left the nest, you’re still my little rain storm. Got it?” He feels Dee's extra arms removing his hoodie, then all six are cradling him against Dee's chest, holding him tight and safe and secure, letting him relax and melt into the touch, knowing Dee will never let anything hurt him. He feels Dee press a kiss to his head.

“you’ve wiped yourself out, love. I'll take care of that nasty shoulder gash. Get some sleep, dearest.” Weakly, he clings to Dee's shirt. He doesn’t want him to let go, he doesn’t feel safe, if Dee lets go.

“I’m staying, darling. I’ll stay as long as you want.”

“remus-"

“can rain down all the hell he wants. Until you’re better, they deserve it.” He finds he can’t argue with that. He falls asleep to Dee humming softly, stroking his forehead and holding his hand, his other arms working to gently bandage his shoulder.

Deceit sighs as he hears a crash. Looking up, he sees Remus kick in the door, eyes aflame.

“who hurt him? Who’s ass do I gotta beat until it falls off?”  

“hush. I just got him settled.” Dee replies. In three strides, Remus is beside him, head cocked unnaturally far to the side, like a snapped neck.

“He’s ok?” Remus asks, neck snapping back to a normal position with an audible click.

“yes. Keep an eye on him, please?”

“What? Where're you going?” Remus asks. Deceit’s eyes flash.

“I am going to go see what exactly those half-witted buffoons did to send him spiraling. Then I am going to determine whom it is I need to beat the shit out of.” Deceit growled, stepping away from the bed.

“Boo, you never let me have any fun.” Remus pouts. He instantly stops as Virgil lets out a small sound, immediately climbing into the bed with him and spooning around him. Virgil curls against him immediately, stilling as he clings onto Remus.

“Thank you.” Deceit murmurs from the doorway. Remus nods.

“I'll take care of our little stormy night. You go teach ‘em a lesson, Dee.” Remus replies, relishing the sharp fanged smile Deceit flashes him, before sinking out. As an afterthought, he snaps, replacing the door, before turning his attention to Virgil, trying to mentally send him all of his love. Virgil is more of a brother to him  than Roman has ever been, and he hates seeing him hurt.

“hang in there, vee. Dee'll fix everything.”

“I highly doubt he wants to be called right now.”

“But he was so scared! We have to help!”

“I don’t know Pat, seeing us might make it worse.” He clears his throat. He meets three sets of surprised eyes with steel. Thomas yelps and falls backwards, catching himself on the wall.

“Who is that?!”  

“Deceit, you scurrilous snake, what are you doing here?” his eyes narrow at that.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Roman, was I not wanted here at this exact moment?” his voice is a perfect mimicry of Virgil's, and to his satisfaction it makes Roman flinch.

“Thomas. This is Deceit. He is responsible for the lies you tell not only others, but yourself. I am puzzled as to why you have appeared now. To my knowledge, no lies have been spoken.” Logan explains, and his hands ball into fists.

“Oh, truly, why ever would I be here? It'ssss not like Anxiety returned bloody and injured, in the midsssst of a panic attack, talking about how nobody wantssss him and it doessssn't matter. I’m sure that hassss nothing to do with it, Logic.” He hisses out, spitting Logan's title like it burns his tongue.

He can see Patton's guilty face out of the corner of his eye, knows whatever happened, it wasn’t him. But Roman… yes.

“So Thomas, dear, care to explain what happened?” He asks, sickly sweet, turning his gaze to Thomas, who has a slight frown on his face. As an afterthought, he notes that Thomas isn’t afraid of him, despite his scales and sharp fangs. Interesting.

“I thought it would be cool to see what everyone’s animal forms would be. Logan was an owl, Pat was a persian cat, and Roman was a dragon. But we didn’t see anxiety anywhere so we thought he was small and hiding and maybe too scared to move. Pat was gonna find him, then a mouse shot out from under the couch and Roman…” Thomas trails off, eyes shifting away, but it’s enough to confirm his suspicions.

“Roman. Care to continue?” Roman meets his ice cold gaze imperiously.  

“gladly. I captured the fiend in my claws. Hurting him was an accident. I merely meant to catch him while he was small and couldn’t hurt us and contain him. Keep him small, so he’d stop bothering Thomas. It’s not like we need him, anyways.” Roman scoffs.

Rage is filling him. Because Roman truly thinks he is in the right, truly thinks he didn’t do anything wrong, and his voice is proud as he speaks about traumatizing Virgil, who is the youngest, the smallest, the most vulnerable to start with. How dare he?

Before he can think, he has crossed the room, he rears his hand back and slaps Roman hard enough to send him reeling backwards.

“You are a heartless, soulless bastard. I told him not to come, I told him he’d get hurt but he didn’t listen. You know why? It’s certainly not because he wants to be included, he doesn’t yearn for your acceptance, it doesn’t break him a little more each time you all dismiss and send him away unwanted. He definitely doesn’t just want to be liked! He never has a hard enough time just being himself, being afraid, all the fucking time, and you have certainly helped make him feel right at home.” He hisses, ignoring the tears stinging at his eyes as he whips around, facing the rest of them.

“And you’re no better. How do you think it feels, knowing the person who conjured you doesn’t even want you? How terrified would you be, surrounded by people who have never showed you kindness, who have admitted their distaste, small and defenseless, being threatened to be put in a cage? His worst fear is something happening to Thomas and being unable to reach him, to react and help. It’s his job to protect Thomas, and you were threatening to keep him away, to put Thomas’s own safety at risk for your own stupid biases! You were threatening to make his nightmare real, and not a single fucking one of you said otherwise, did you?!” He yells, slowly looking at each of them in turn. No one will meet his eyes now, not even Roman.

“you don’t deserve him. You don’t deserve his name. No wonder he hasn’t told you. You’re a bunch of ignorant bullies. And you’d say I’m the bad guy. You all picked out the most vulnerable and pounced.” He shifts his head, turning to Thomas, a curling, empty smile on his face.

“It was a fucking pleasure, Thomas. I’ll be taking my leave.” The lie is bitter and acrid on his tongue, tasting of ash as he sinks out.

He returns to Virgil's room, immediately hurrying to his bedside, because he is crying, despite Remus's attempts to soothe him.

“Vee, what’s wrong?” he asks. Virgil glares at him through his tears.

“you said you were gonna stay!” he lets out a soft breath, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I know. I just had to check on something. But you know Remus would never let anything hurt you, right?” Virgil nods, leaning back into Remus's arms.

“That’s right, starshine. You’re safe.” Remus whispers, rocking Virgil gently, who responds by pressing his face into Remus's chest.

“You’re staying now, right?” Virgil mumbles. He smiles, slipping under the covers.

“I am. No lies this time.” He murmurs as Virgil lays down, curling into him. He reaches out with all six arms, pulling Remus closer, hugging both of them and sandwiching Virgil in warmth and safety.

“What was it?” Remus asks lowly, once Virgil is out again. He sighs.

“Shapeshifting, animal forms. He was a mouse. Roman was a dragon. Threatened to keep him locked up. It got physical.”

“You mean Roman was a bitch and attacked Virgil unprovoked.” Remus's voice is flat, and he shoots him a soft look, one of his hands slipping into Remus's.

“I’m going to kill him.” He squeezes Remus's hand.

“Later. We can work on murder plans later. Right now Vee needs us.”

“Anxiety, it’s dinner time!” Patton's voice trills. He opens his eyes with a groan, freezing instantly.

This… isn’t his room. It isn’t even the commons. He’s laying in soft bedding. He realizes he’s in a little plastic hut. His heart speeds. He looks down at himself, human, good.

He flinches as the house is lifted up, leaving him exposed. His breath catches in his lungs, Patton is looming over him, he is giant. He skitters back, realizing his back is pressing against metal wire. Cage, he is in a cage, he is tiny, in a cage.

He scrambles, trying to claw his way out, trying to bend the wire enough to wriggle out.

“hey, now. None of that kiddo.” His stomach flips as hands squeaze around his waist and he is lifted into the air. He is barely as tall as Patton's ring finger, he is so high in the air as Patton places him down on his palm.

“patton please, please, just let me go, please!” he begs, feeling tears slipping down his face.

“Aw, I know kiddo. But this is better for everyone. This way you’re still around but don’t bother Thomas.” He stumbles as Patton places him back in the cage, doubling over and choking on sobs as a small food dish is placed inside, the shadows of bars shading his face.

He is still begging, pleading, screaming, for Patton, for anyone, to let him out, let him go, but he knows no one is coming, and the bars are pressing in, and soon there won’t be any more space, any more air.  

“hush, stormy, shhh. It’s ok. It’s ok, lovely.” His eyes fly open, and he clings to Dee, feeling all of his arms cradling him tight as he sniffles into his shoulder, sobs shaking his thin frame.

“Just a dream, Vee." He feels Remus's hand on his, feels the terror and residual fear draining out of him as the nightmare is removed from his mind. The pros of dark creativity. Remus can steal other people’s bad thoughts, bad dreams, but then he experiences whatever the thoughts were. He hears Remus's sharp inhale as he sees it, feels his hand tighten it’s grip.

“thanks ree.” He manages, his voice hoarse and sore.

“Virgil, love, we should talk about it. I only got minor details from them.”

“what’s to say? They were going to keep me in a cage, they d-didn't want me.” Dee draws back a tad, looking down at Virgil's face, eyes hidden behind his bangs.

“did anyone help? Surely not all of them went along with this.” He shrugs, taking a deep breath.

“R-roman g-g-rabbed me in his talons and st-started flying. But he yelled… I think L-Logan tried to stop him. He was an o-o-owl. I think he rammed Roman and made him drop me. P-p-patton c-caught me. And… and he put me down, right away, when I asked. I… I don't think they woulda let Roman k-keep me.” He mumbles out, shaking. Dee feels his heart breaking, can feel the murder on Remus's face.

“That's good, Virge. They were trying to defend you.” Virgil shakes his head.

“but they didn’t. Only p-patton even cared I was h-hurt. Thomas… Thomas didn't say a-anything.”

“but he changed you back.” His brow creases as he looks out from Dee's arms at Remus's words. “if he agrees with Roman, he wouldn’t have changed you back.”  

“He's right, lovely. Thomas doesn’t hate you. I know that. That is fact.” He sighs.

“Doesn’t feel like it right now.” He mumbles.

“I know. And that’s ok, Virge.” Dee kisses his head softly. He startles at a knock on the door.  

“Remus, see who it is?”

“If it’s princey stab him for me.” Virgil mumbles, making Remus chuckle and ruffle his hair.

“Gladly, stormy.”  

He throws open the door, leaning in the doorway with a cocky grin, teeth sharp and eyes glinting.

“Well, well, hello there Daddy. Have I been naughty?” he teases, moving to block Patton's view of the room.

“Remus… what… what are you doing here?” Patton asks nervously.  

“Apparently playing the butler. Y'know, Patton, in the movies the butler is always guilty of murder.” He tilts his head slowly, relishing the fear that races across Patton's face. “Now, what are you doing here, daddio?” Patton fiddles with his sweater sleeves, a frown settling on his face.

“I just… I know he probably doesn’t want to see us right now, heck, maybe ever, and I don’t fault him for it. Today… today was bad. Really, really bad. I just want to make sure he's ok. And apologize. We… we chewed out Roman. His actions were unacceptable. Just… I would never let that happen. He’s not… he’s a person, and I don’t always agree with him, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to take away his voice or opinion. Can you just… pass that on, for me? Please?”  

Remus looks back at the bed, softening as he sees Virgil uncurling from Dee, sitting with his knees pulled to his chest, leaning against Dee, who has an arm around his shoulders. Virgil looks up at Dee, a silent question.  

“No lies.” Dee murmurs, and Virgil bites his lip. “You wanna let him in?” He asks softly. Virgil hesitates, but nods.  

“If he means it... yeah.” Virgil mumbles.  

“He does. Remus, stop playing. V- Anxiety says he can come in.” He calls, catching himself before using Virgil’s actual name. Remus sighs, but steps aside.  

“Well? Come in then.”  

Hesitantly, Patton steps inside the dark room, taking in the soft, dark carpet, the dark to light purple gradient painted on the walls. There are also posters for bands carefully hung in frames, and a few posters for movies that Anxiety must like. He sees fairy lights strung across the ceiling that sparkle like stars without the main lights turned on.  

He lets out a soft noise of hurt as he takes in Anxiety, knees pulled to his chest, his shoulders hunched. His eyeshadow is smeared all over his face, his eyes red and puffy. He glances at Deceit, not as surprised to see him here, tilting his head. Deceit nods minutely, and he sits down next to Anxiety, legs dangling over the edge of the bed, careful not to touch him, to give him space.  

“hey kiddo. How’s your shoulder?” He asks.  

“better. Dee helped. It still... still hurts.” His voice is quiet and unsure and hoarse.  

“Yeah. I think it would be pretty strange if it didn’t. I’m glad you’re going to be ok, though. Even if it hurts now, it’ll feel better eventually.”  

“will it?” He is surprised as Patton pulls him into a hug, startled, but after a moment he leans into it, tucking his chin against Patton’s shoulder.  

“I have never wanted you to die. I have never wanted you to leave. You’re one of my kiddos, kiddo, and that means I stand up for you when something hurts you, no matter who or what it is.”

“i’m scared. I hate... I hate being small... I hate... it’s so big, everything... I could drown, in a puddle, I could be crushed by a book, I could be stepped on, I could be crushed, I could get hurt and no one would know, no one would realize or find me. I could be caged...” He chokes out, fear flooding through him again. “I could be caged and my influence squashed, and then no one would protect Thomas, look out for dangers, keep him... keep him on task, keep him motivated to d-do better. I c-can't... trapped, and b-bars and it-it's too much... too small...” He is shaking again, on the edge of hysteria, but Patton is rocking him, holding him.  

“Oh honey... I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. We didn’t know you were gonna be that little. I’m sorry we didn’t ask permission first, we weren’t thinking. I promise, promise,” he pulled back so Anxiety could see his eyes, tears spilling down his own cheeks, “that I will physically fight anyone who suggests we do that again, who even dares to mention putting you in a cage. I nearly did fight Roman, Logan had to hold me back.” That gets a weak laugh out of Anxiety, imagining Logan holding back a kicking and spitting furious Patton. “I love you, kiddo. I really, really do, and if anyone has a problem with that, has a problem with you, they’ll have to go through me first.” Patton’s voice is fierce, and he doesn’t have to look at Dee to know that he isn’t lying.  

“T-thomas-”  

“Is worried about you, kiddo. I came to check on you cause he wanted to make sure you were gonna be ok. What you said... really, really scared us, but we didn’t wanna summon you, because we knew you probably didn’t want to be summoned. He’s sorry, too. We all are.”  

“Even Roman?” He asks, bitterness in his voice. Patton hesitates, sighing.  

“I don’t know. I think... I think he’s sorry he got yelled at, sorry he got in trouble, sorry we didn’t agree with him. But I don’t think he’s sorry for what he actually did to you, said to you. Which makes me angry, because he should be sorry, but he isn’t, and if he isn’t, I can’t change that. What I can do is make sure you are going to be alright. I can learn what else we shouldn’t do without asking your permission. I can be better at speaking up when Roman threatens or takes jabs at you, and eventually, hopefully, his attitude will change as he learns none of us are going to enable him anymore. I’m sorry it went this far.” He blinks, surprised. He didn’t expect Patton to acknowledge Roman’s inability to see his own wrongdoings. He didn’t expect Patton to admit to his own shortcomings. He didn’t expect Patton to be... honest.  

“What would you like us to do for now, Anxiety? Clearly, you have two people who love you very much helping your right now, so I feel ok leaving, if you like. I just didn’t want you to be alone, when you were so upset. Thomas... all of us, want to speak with you about what happened, to try and make ammends, but we’ll do that on your terms, so there’s no rush. Just, whenever you’re ready to talk, we’re ready to listen.  If you like, I can bring you meals, if you don’t wanna leave your room for a while. I wanna keep you healthy, and I know if I leave you to your own devices it’ll be chips and soda for every meal.” He lets out a little snort at that, because Patton is right, of course, and he’s already calmed down so much because Patton is being so nice, and he knows Dee would have told him if Patton had lied.  

“that all sounds good, yeah.” He mumbles, shifting out of Patton’s hug, pulling his knees to his chest once again.  

“ok. Is there anything else you need, or would like me to do?” He bites his lip, thinking.  

“Just... just let them know I’m ok? If they’re really that worried about me.” Patton squeezes his non injured shoulder once as he stands, smiling gently.  

“Will do, kiddo. If you ever need anything, or just want some company, don’t be afraid to call me up.”  

“I... might.” Patton smiles again, soft and warm.  

“I love you, Anxiety.” Patton turns away, but before he sinks out, Virgil steels his courage.  

“Virgil!” He shouts, and the room seems to freeze. Remus is staring at him in wide eyed surprise. Deceit has stopped rubbing his back, and Patton falters mid step, before turning to face him, something akin to awe on his face. “That’s... my name. My name is Virgil.” A huge smile blooms across Patton’s face, his eyes light up with tender joy, and he sniffles, wiping away tears.  

“Virgil. I think that’s a lovely name, Virgil. I know I'm usually a blabber mouth, but it when it counts, I can keep a secret.” Patton winks, sending a smile flashing across his own face as warmth blooms in his chest. With a wave, Patton sinks out, and he collapses back against Deceit with a long, low sigh.  

“You sure about that, Virg?” Remus asks, from where he’s leaning against the wall, having simply observed everything.  

“yeah. Yeah I... think I am.” He feels Dee press another soft kiss to the top of his head.  

“Proud of you, lovely.” He smiles, closing his eyes as he feels Remus settle on the other side of him. He is still scared and afraid and knows the nightmares won’t leave him alone for ages, now. But he also knows that at least Patton is on his side. And Patton is almost more of a mama bear than Deceit. If the two of them are looking out for him, he knows nothing will hurt him like this ever again.