#my nose is also smitten but with the fucking dust or whatever in the air (aka im sneezing again. goodbye!)

[astrxealis]

going to go again in a bit for a bit but gepard already has a hold on me it's so funny LMFAO this guy T_T to everyone playing hsr tho hi hf ehe <3

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

So, I have this theory that JD is in love with MC in every route, and has to sit back and watch her date everyone else, wanting to tell her how they feel, but also only wanting her to be happy. Can someone write an angsty fic about this??

It only took brief glimpse of Theo's hair for JD to know it was her entering the bowling alley. Truth be told, they could quickly point her out in pretty much any setting - a fact that, if asked, they would blame solely on their keen observational skills - knowing deep down inside, that it had always been more than that. JD let out a sigh, flecks of dust spiraled through the warm air of the arcade room like specks of time. The light smell of Vanessa's perfume reaching JD's nose, making it crinkle slightly.

"Of course.." They muttered softly under their breath, idly wiping over the same spot on one of the pinball machines. It was a rare occurrence that anyone saw Theo without the Huntress these days.

"Hm? You say something?" Razi asked from behind the claw machine.

"Ah.. I said of course, that piece of shit is broken again." Jordan quickly replied, trying their best to sound convincing. "It sucks, just like everything else in this place.

'Oh, come on, JD. Not everything in Havenfall sucks."

The quick catch of a sharp blue eye as Theo passed by the door caused JD to sigh again before speaking.

"No. Not everything."

They were grateful for the silence as Razi only nodded, going back to his project at hand. A warm mid-afternoon's sun streaming through the bowling alley's windows as Jordan's thoughts began to wander. It felt like forever had passed since they had been basically dropped off on Razi's door step. The hospitable Djinn making sure they were at least as comfortable as they possibly could be, given the circumstances. Always so used to being able to roam free - JD was sure their time in Havenfall would be hell on earth. Just what could their Father have been thinking?! But then it happened - as soon as they walked their smooth-ass self into the bowling alley for their first day of work - and were immediately disarmed by a pair of bright blue eyes. JD had never been so instantly enamored with someone in all of their almost 300 years of living. They had done everything in their power to stop their feelings from progressing - to stop those relentless thoughts from spilling out across them - including wiping their own memory a time or two. JD took a deep breath - an ache so deep in their chest that some days, it was hard to breathe. How many times they had wanted to tell her, to let it all out. To allow Theo to see them in such a way, that maybe.. just maybe, she could love them back. The inherent knowledge that they just wanted her to be happy, had always stopped them, though. JD shook their head, internally rolling their eyes. What kind of devil goes and falls in love? They furrowed their brow in frustration at themselves, frowning slightly.

"Ah... JD? I think that spot is about as clean as it's going to get."

Jordan's eyes locked onto Razi's, the gentle giant of a Djinn looking at them with a soft concern. Though JD had never told Razi of their feelings for Theo, he had always known. He had seen JD watch from the sidelines with each person Theo had ever dated. It was no secret that most of the Havenfall's Finest had all fallen for the girl at one point or another, but most of those relationships were fleeting at best - yet, JD's feelings had never waivered - not even for a minute.

"Sure. Right." JD replied, quickly wiping down the pinball machine before moving onto the next one.

"Well, this claw machine should be good for a couple more weeks, at least. I'm going to check on things out front. You're.. you going to be alright?"

JD raised an eyebrow at him, leveling him with a look that just said don't.

"And when have you ever know the Jersey Devil to not be alright?" They smirked, a bit sadder than usual.

Razi only laughed before exiting the arcade room, it was the sort of laugh JD hated. Coated in pity and concern and everything JD despised people to feel for them. They knew Razi was just being polite, pretending that they had no idea of the immense hole that only seemed to grow deeper within Jordan's chest whenever Theo was around - but still, they couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of anger at the Djinn as they watched him walk away.

"Whatever.." They muttered to themselves, clenching their jaw. They knew their anger was misguided - misplaced. They knew they only had themselves to be mad to at. You'd think after roaming this desolate excuse for a planet for so many years, that they had known better than to allow themselves to have such a crush - especially on a human. JD's heart lurched again as the bright, melodic sound of Theo's laugh rang through the dense air of the bowling alley - cutting straight through to their soul. Vanessa's equally joyous laughter swirling around it like two soul mates dancing through a velvet sky. Of all the times JD had had to sit back and watch Theo be smitten by another, they knew this time was different. They saw the way her eyes lit up when Vanessa was around. The way her cheeks flushed whenever the Huntress had gotten a little too close. Oh, how badly they had wanted to be the one to bring that beautiful blush to Theo's cheeks. To kiss her - hold her - breathe her in like she was their last and final breath. JD were certain it could never be a possibility, that they had wasted any opportunity they may have ever had to make it happen. JD sighed, a sigh so deep it threatened to release every unspent tears that they harbored directly from their soul. How could I be so stupid? To think someone as big of a mess as me could ever be loved?

"Well, well.. someone sure is being awfully well behaved back here today."

The soft tones of Theo's voice swiftly broke JD from their thoughts. They took a deep breath, painting their patented smirk across their lips before turning around.

"Ah, well.. just saving my energy for a hot date I happen to have waiting for me." They lied.

"Oh? A hot date? No pun included?" Theo replied with a smirk of her own.

"Heh.. touche'."

"You know, JD... I.. I know it's not really in your nature to 'settle down', but it'd be nice to see you with someone who isn't just after your body, for once."

"That's kind of hard to do when you look like this, Theo." They gave her a small wink making her laugh, and JD could feel a slight blush immediately trying to move in.

"Touche'." Theo replied, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly as she smiled at them. "But seriously Jordan. You deserve better than that. You.. you should be with someone who treats you how you deserve.'

Fuck.. she can't just say things like that! They cleared their throat as they did their best to keep their composure.

"Pfft... someone like me deserves no such thing, Theo."

They couldn't help the slight bitter tone that coated their words. Her kindness always disarming them - making them want her even more. Some days, it was more than they could handle. To hear her - listen to her - to be completely enveloped in her incredible light.

"Jordan... that's.. How can you even say that?"

JD only shrugged in return, quickly turning back around to the old pinball machine they were so idly cleaning. Fighting back the hot tears that were threatening to spill down their flushed cheeks.

"Just speaking the truth." They replied, allowing their walls to replace the sadness they felt so deeply within themselves. They could feel Theo's eyes on them - her kind heart trying to think of the right things to say. They sighed again, slouching their shoulders slightly. "Look, Theo.. I have a lot of work to finish before I can escape from this nightmare for the day, so..."

"O-oh, of course. I'll ah... I'll let you get back to it, then."

"Thanks.."

They could hear her shoes as she pivoted on the carpet, turning herself in the opposite direction before stopping short.

"... Hey, JD?"

"... Y-yeah?"

"I'm.... fuck.. nevermind."

JD could feel their heart break a little more as she walked away, back to her Huntress. Completely unaware of the words she wanted to say. How she wanted to yell at them - ask them why they never saw her, never realized how long she had wanted them - waited for them to make their move. With each of their souls calling out for the other - only for their hearts to never hear it.

[maxe-mini]

Pretty Blue Eyes

A/N- Hey there! So this is my first ever full written fanfic, atleast one I’m going to post on tumblr. I had a lot of fun writing this, in fact, I finished it in a d a y sjgjsdb so yeah. This is gonna be an OC x Bakugou oneshot(?) Im not sure if its a oneshot bc I might make a follow up in thhe future, it depends. Anywayyyy, yeah! If you want details on who my OC is, her name is Kano Amaya(Last name, first name). I’ve posted plenty of art I’ve made of her on this blog, which can be found on my pinned post, which also happens to have the link to her wiki on Amino. Give it a read if you’d like! Now onto the fanfic! :DD 

Taglist: @deephasoceanmagic​ @kuroshin15​

Warning: Lots of cursing(I mean it has Bakugou in it), small mentions of blood and nosebleeds, overworking, passing out 

A/N- dw this is actually just soft and ‘angry pomeranian is angry bc he has feelings lmaoooo’

This wasn’t the first time it’s happened, but that didn’t mean it pissed him off any less. For the sixth time these past few days, his eyes had managed to wander right back to her. Dark blue hair tied into two low pig tails that seemed to always flow through the air just the right way as she moved. Cold yet mystical blue eyes that he could constantly feel himself drowning in. Fair skin dusted with soft freckles that he craved to touch. F u c k. He was absolutely smitten by this girl and he did not like it one bit. Those goddamn pretty blue pupils suddenly met his, and he stared back-even that was a competition to him now-forcing a scowl on his face. The girl merely raised an eyebrow before returning back to quietly eating her food, the chatter around her seeming to be uninteresting.

Bakugou scoffed, finally returning his own crimson eyes to his curry, practically stabbing a piece of meat with his fork as if it had personally wronged him, earning a few concerned glances from his- he did NOT want to call them friends- classmates. Only the sound of utensils clattering with plates could be heard around their table, which surprisingly only served to piss off the ash-blonde haired boy even more. “What?” He spat out, looking up to see Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari staring at him, their eyes practically answering his question.

“You doing alright man? You seem… more angry than usual.” Kirishima was the first one to speak up, his small eyebrows furrowing up in worry. “Did Kano do something?” Sero followed. Turns out that was a big mistake. Just hearing her name sent a jolt of electricity through his spine, and for a second he thought Kaminari had a death wish.

Bakugou growled. “That’s none of your fucking business.” He didn’t shout, he didn’t scream, he didn’t even let a single small explosion go off on his palm like he usually did as a threat. The ash-blonde boy only returned to his food, and it seemed his words were enough to stop any more questions from his peers. Good. Atleast they knew what was good for them.

 It hadn’t always been like this.

Bakugou stared at the ground, the angriest, most frustrated frown anyone had ever seen on his face. His classmates stared at him in concern, knowing exactly why he was so full of rage, yet none of them knew how to help. He’s always been difficult to deal with. None of them wanted to risk trying to comfort him, knowing that would possibly make him even more upset.

He was silent, his hands shoved into his pockets and his posture slouched. He had failed the Provisional Licensing Exams, and he was feeling no less than pissed about it. He knew it was because of his ‘harsh language’  towards the victims- if you could even call them that, they were all actors after all. Just thinking about it made him grit his teeth in frustration.

Before he could mope around even more, a delicate, dainty hand suddenly wrapped around his arm and forced him away from his thoughts as they pulled him to the back of the bus. People were apparently still collecting their things and everyone had time to chat with each other before having to eventually get back to school- not that he himself was interested in doing that. His frown faded away to surprise before he noticed who it was. Kano. 

The scowl edged itself back onto Bakugou’s face as he stared at her, yet for some reason, he didn’t move. He let her bring himself here, and for some god forsaken reason, he wanted to hear what she had to say. 

Those blue eyes pierced through his soul, as if analyzing every bit and piece of who he was. It took a fair amount of his will power not to back away, only staring back, hoping his gaze was as intense as hers. 

“Bakugou.” Her voice was firm. It always was, whenever she talked, which was a rare occasion. The boy in question didn’t answer, only raising his eyebrow in response. 

“I know you’re upset about the Licensing Exam.” She continued, her expression unchanging, staring at him in stoic honesty, and he could not-for the life of him- pinpoint what she was feeling at the moment. 

“No shit. I don’t want your pity.” Bakugou spat back, his words laced with venom. If anything made him angry, it was pity from other people. He didn’t need anyone’s fucking help. He wasn’t weak. 

“I don’t pity you. In fact, I look up to you, and I whole heartedly believe that you will receive your Hero License after the training course with ease.” Kano wasn’t startled at all by his profanity. She only stared at him through those unreadable eyes which he always managed to get lost in. 

Bakugou’s own crimson eyes widened slightly in surprise. That wasn’t what he expected. He didn’t answer. He didn’t know HOW to answer. This was not something he expected from someone like her, especially when he considered her competition, along with Half and Half and Ponytail. 

“So stop moping around. You know you’re strong. You know you’ll be fine, so go kick some ass at that training course.” For the first time since he’d seen her in the entrance exam, she sweared. Not only that, the corners of her lips curled up into a soft, confident smile, her faintly freckled cheeks glowing an equally soft pink along with it. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her with any other expression except for the one she always wore, unchanging and unreadable. She had her hands to her hips and looked so uncharacteristically bold. 

Bakugou could only stare. He’s been doing that way too much now, but he had nothing to say. He didn’t expect ANY of this from Kano. The ash-blonde haired boy was thoroughly taken by surprise. 

'That smile looks nice on her.' 

The thought made him blink rapidly, startled by his own mind. What the fuck? What the fuck was he thinking about? 

After a few seconds of silence, possibly as Kano patiently waited for his response, he formulated a reply. 

“You’re goddamn right I will.” He grinned. The same confident grin that brought terror onto those who were up against him. 

Seeing him back to his normal state seemed to have made Kano much more glad, as her smile only widened. F u c k. That smile could kill people. Bakugou barely managed to hold back incoming heat that was threatening to expose itself on his face, and he hoped to god that the girl in question couldn’t hear his rapid heartbeat. 

Before any of the two could say something, a voice pulled both of them right out of their thoughts. “Hey, where’s Kano and Bakugou?” It was Shitty Hair. Of course it would be Shitty Hair. 

The ash-blonde haired boy walked away, not waiting for whatever Kano was going to say next, assuming she had any. The glimmer of wild confidence had intensified in his eyes, and he was feeling pumped up. He would never admit it, but what she said helped. 

The ride back home was a blur after that. Thoughts of the upcoming training course flashed through his mind, interrupted by a few images of Kano’s smile. It irritated him to the core.

Bakugou grimaced at the memory, knowing that that was the start of when he started thinking of Kano as more than just a rival, and let himself scream a battle cry as he released a massive explosion onto an equally massive boulder, resulting in it having a big gaping hole in the middle, the little bits and pieces of rubble all but strewn about behind it. 

The ash-blonde haired boy huffed. Class 1-A had been given time to train in Gym Gamma, and he’d been releasing all his frustrations on these rocks. It was working atleast, but now he was tired and his wrists has a dull ache in them. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been destroying these stones, but he assumed it must’ve been a little over an hour. A few of his classmates had already gone back to the dorms, presumably to rest. He scoffed at the thought. 

One of the students who hadn’t gone back though, was one of the sources of his frustrations. Kano was currently heaving up an ungodly amount of water, her expression visibly strained, yet it was still stoic. It reminded him of Half-and-Half in a way, but he shook away the thought before he angered himself even more.

He jumped off the concrete platforms to get himself a bottle of water, panting as he noticed he was a little out of breathe. His crimson eyes followed her dark blue figure as her wrists flicked the other way and the liquid which she was floating in the air instantly formed into large icicles. Bakugou’s vision narrowed. 'She’s gotten faster at doing that.' 

A part of him was threatened and annoyed at her rapid improvement, but he couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride for his classmate. He shoved the thought away, continuing to watch her movements closely. Her back was to him, so he didn’t notice the blood that was flowing down her nose. 

Kano threw her torso forward, following her arms, causing the large icicles to pierce through the boulder infront of her, the force of her control and the amount of ice she had enough to absolutely decimate the huge rock. As soon as the icicles went through, they melted back into water, and the girl immediately put the liquid right back into its containers which were from god knows where- Bakugou assumed it had been provided to her earlier before they all started training. 

Suddenly, Kano’s knees buckled, and soon she was on the ground. The ash-blonde boy blinked in shock, not quite registering what had happened yet before his legs led him right to her. Her eyes were closed, and he saw the blood that was coming from her nose slowly pool down onto the concrete. Once again, for the first time, Bakugou saw her with different expression on her face. She was in pain. 

Before he could think about what he was doing, he wrapped his toned arms around her body, carrying her bridal style. She didn’t move or resist, and Bakugou concluded she had passed out. What the fuck happened? One moment she was destroying rocks left and right, her strength shining through even when she was just training, the next she was unconscious and experiencing a nosebleed? Did the dumbass overwork herself?

 Aizawa had been watching from a distance, his tired eyes twitching in irritation. He had heard about how Kano’s bad habit of overtaxing herself in her training, but he didn’t expect her to do it now, not in UA of all places. The teacher pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out an annoyed sigh, walking over to his students- he’d have to talk to her about this later- before he noticed the Bakugou had already gotten to her. Huh. That’s unusual. 

“Bakugou. Bring Kano to Recovery Girl. That’s enough for the day for all of you. It’s getting late.” He instructed, his hands in his pockets as he looked around at the few others who were still training. His voice was loud enough to hear for the ones nearby, and the ones from afar seemed to get the message as they saw their peers suddenly stop what they were doing. Good. They’d gotten better at listening. 

He expected his ill-tempered student to put up atleast a little bit of a fight. Tell him it wasn’t his responsibility if his dumbass classmate worked themselves past the point of consciousness, but he got none of that. Bakugou merely nodded- although the teacher caught that his mouth was stretched into a thin line and his eyebrows were formed into a near v-shape- and ran to the front door. 

Aizawa was a bit surprised, although he didn’t let it show on his face. It seemed this problem child had changed much more than he thought he had. 

Bakugou’s arms were stiff against Kano’s body, effortlessly carrying her to the infirmary, which was a good distance away. He should never have decided to carry her when he saw she passed out. If he hadn’t, Aizawa wouldn’t have told him to bring her to Recovery Girl.

He was thoroughly annoyed, his teeth grating against each other as he forced himself not to pop a few small explosions on his palms, not wanting to harm his classmate accidentally.

The ash-blonde boy wasn’t angry because he had to bring his classmate to the infirmary. No. He was angry because of the goddamn heat in his cheeks that just won’t go away. He was angry because of the annoying ass beating in his heart that was pumping at a rate that couldn’t be explained by adrenaline. It was far too fast for that. Bakugou bit back a growl caused by his own frustrations, afraid he’d wake up the girl that was unconscious in his arms. Turns out he didn’t have to do that.

“…Bakugou?” That wasn’t firm. This was, again, the first time he’s heard her voice sound so… vulnerable. The ash-blonde boy met his gaze with hers, and he saw that her eyes were cloudy. Unfocused.

“Yeah, it’s me. You passed out while you were training.” He wasn’t sure why he was answering. The words just left his mouth on their own.

“Mm.” She only hummed in response, nuzzling her face onto his chest. She obviously wasn’t thinking clearly now. Bakugou felt his heart beating at higher speeds than he’d ever thought possible, and he was sure she’d definitely heard it by now. Yet, she didn’t say anything, and he presumed she must’ve passed out again.

After a few minutes more of running, they arrived at Recovery Girl’s. Bakugou let himself catch his breath before he opened the door with his knee, and he was met by the old nurse’s startled gaze.

“Oh dear. What happened?” Recovery Girl shuffled over to them, wordlessly gesturing towards a hospital bed for Bakugou to lay Kano on.

“She passed out while training. Aizawa told me to bring her here.” He watched as his school nurse got to work, checking her temperature and observing her complexion. Now that he could look at her properly, she was a lot paler. What the fuck had this dumbass doing?

A soft whimper pulled him away from his thoughts, and he watched as the girl in question slowly fluttered her eyes open, looking around in a haze. Her hand instantly went to her head, and she groaned in pain. A headache?

Recovery Girl looked worried, but only silently reached for a few pills and a glass of water. “Here, drink this. It should help with the headache for a while.” He was right.

Kano didn’t say anything more, only drinking her medicine. The pain in her expression dulled, and she looked a lot more relaxed. Bakugou wasn’t sure if it was that obvious, or if he’d been observing her long enough to notice these things. He hoped the latter was wrong. That would be extremely embarrassing, maybe even creepy, on his part.

A few beats of silence passed through the mostly empty infirmary, and was only interrupted by the soft tap of glass against wood as Kano set down her glass of water on the small table next to her bed.

“I’ll have you rest here for a while. I apologize for this, but I can’t trust you to go back to the dorms yet, not after what Aizawa told me.” Recovery Girl spoke first, her tone edging on strict. “What?” Her voice wasn’t firm again, and Bakugou felt his chest constrict at its softness. What was wrong with him?

“You’ve had multiple records of passing out from overworking from your previous schools. Kano, I know you want to be the best hero you can be, but this type of behaviour will not be tolerated in UA. You have to let yourself rest every once in a while. Everyone has their own limits, and you need to know yours.” The nurse scolded, which was met by visible surprise on the girl’s face, before she nodded slowly. “I understand.” Kano answered, her pitch soft, yet somehow strong. She was back.

“Good. Now rest, or do I have to tell Bakugou to hold you like earlier so you can do that?” Recovery Girl teased, her tone once again upbeat. Bakugou’s eyes widened slightly as he almost choked, shoving back down the heat that was threatening to expose itself on his cheeks. He did not miss the way Kano did the same, except she wasn’t as successful at hiding her blush, her cheeks flushing a soft pink.

The nurse only chuckled before she went back to her desk, beginning to work on whatever documents were on there. “I’ll tell you when you can leave. You can go to sleep if you want.”

A few beats of silence, then their eyes met. The clarity finally returned back to Kano’s pretty blue pupils as she gazed at him, seeming to be searching for words to say. Bakugou silently stepped closer to the bed, waiting.

“Thank you. I wasn’t expecting you to be the one to bring me here, but it’s a welcome surprise nonetheless.” She finally said, and the ash-blonde boy was left to analyze what she meant by 'welcome surprise.’

“You better be grateful. Why’d your dumbass pass out anyway? You can’t be that weak.” Bakugou responded, and he internally winced at how harsh his words sounded, but he couldn’t help it. Thankfully she didn’t seem to mind, nodding solemnly in response. “It seems I went a bit overboard there again. Recovery Girl was right about me having records for constantly overworking. Sometimes I can’t help it.”

Bakugou grimaced. “Well, that’s stupid.” He didn’t miss Kano’s sigh before he continued. “You don’t even need to do that. You’re already strong regardless.” That caught her by surprise, her head turning to look at him so fast he was afraid her headache would come back. “What? Didn’t expect that either?”

Her eyes were wide. “No. I didn’t but-” That smile. That fucking smile again. “Thank you, again. I appreciate it.” Bakugou wasn’t sure if her cheeks were flushed because she was flustered, or if it just came with her smile. Either way, he liked it.

“You better.” The ash-blonde haired boy let his own soft smile form on his lips, and the two gazed at each other in comfortable silence.

Maybe he won’t be that angry about this after all. 

[sarah--goff]

Their Dark Materials: Chapter 6; False Alarms

Also avaliable on A03 under: Sarah_Goff works

For any suggestions/questions/ etc my email is  sarahgoffmana03@gmail.com

hope you enjoy

happy Halloween!

-Sarah G

_*_

“Ahhhh!”

your voice echoed all around you, your yelling cries scattering.

You tried to grab onto something but all you could feel was the air slipping through your fingers. You were on your back, gliding down what felt like a long slide, you snapped your head up, watching the light from the gap you had just fallen through shrink away quickly.

You could hear the wind rushing past your ears as you slid into nothingness, the speed would have exhilarated you- if you weren’t terrified of the land to come. Or where you were headed.  

You imagined hitting the ground and smashing like a china teacup.

The slid twisted and turned sharply in the darkness, causing you to hitch your breath and gasp at every unexpected movement. Your hair was streaming behind you.

You tried to stop yourself by planting your feet but it was useless you continued to glide downwards.

Your heart was pounding and your blood turned cold. You kept your arms over your face in case you suddenly smacked into something unexpected.

Without warning, you slide off the end of the slide in mid-air, landing on a deep and plush rug.

You caught your breath for a few seconds trying slow your heart and gather your bearings.

What the fuck was that?

You wanted to cry out in frustration, you had been so close! Your hands thrashed the rug either side of you! Dammit! The castle was practically in your reach!

You were sure that flipped stone wasn’t a coincidence.

You reminded yourself that you were extremely lucky to be alive right now as you dusted yourself down.

You squinted around you, standing from the rug.

You were in a tunnel  of some kind, you were sure.

You could see a light at the end of the darkness you were in, you don’t hesitate to move towards it. You were never a fan of the dark anyway.

You come to the light and blink in it. Instead of coming to the mouth of the tunnel, as you thought, you were instead surrounded by large walls, huge grotesque faces carved into them.

It’s this way or no way.

Besides for all you knew, this could lead to the castle, right?

You shuffled past them, their grey, haunting expressions. God you were hoping this lead somewhere good.

The stone walls spoke in a booming voice “DON’T GO ON” and you leapt five foot in the air with a surprised shriek “Jesus fuck!” your hand flew to your racing chest.

Did everything in here speak?! The walls too!?

“go back while you still can” they rumbled sinisterly.

You found your voice “what are you talking about? Go back where? You said breathlessly, “there is nowhere else!”

“this is not the way”

“There isn’t any other way!” you argued, spinning to face one of them “If this is another trick!” you warned.

“take heed and go no further"

" Beware. Bewarrrre"  The voices were all around you "beware of what!" you squeaked, shiver running down your spine, suddenly you wished you weren't

so alone.

“Alright, alright, show’s over!”

You turn your head towards the direction of the voice and groan. Just what you needed.

“Hipple” you say in mock-surprise, folding your arms coldly at him “boy, am I glad to see you”. The sarcastic laced comment echoes around you.

A stone wall beside you reverberates in amusement at your comment.

“It’s Hoggle!”  he snaps, then side-eyeing the laughing wall “y’ should be more grateful- you could have ended up anywhere!”

Perhaps it would be wiser to take the advice you were given this time around, not wanting anymore disappearing acts.

You shrugged, still mad at his earlier swerve to help, “well I wouldn’t be down here at all if you had helped me in the first place” you raised an eyebrow.

He scowls back throwing up his hands “even if I wanted to help y’, Jareth-“

“Yeah, yeah death penalty, I remember” you retort.

You sigh and run a hand over your face. Losing your cool wasn’t going to get you through the labyrinth. It wasn’t your style either.

“beware, beware” the walls’ voices interject your argument “soon it will be too late”

“Hoggle, what are they talking about?” you ask, turning to him throwing up your hands. You lower your tone “I just came down that path, there aren’t any others!”

Hoggle waved his hand dismissively “ah, don’t pay any attention to them, they’re false alarms, you get a lot of them in the labyrinth- especially when you’re on the right track “

“oh no you’re not”

“quiet!”

“sorry just doing my job…”

Your eyes light up at Hoggle’s words “On the right track? Am I?”

“beware-

“just forget it!”

“So have you come to help me then, or just give me more riddles?”

“No,” Hoggle says ignorantly “to help, actually. Y’ won’t last five minutes in here by y’self. I knew y’ were going to get into trouble as soon as I met y’. And it so happens that I know a shortcut” .

“Gee thanks” you murmur “but why - what changed your mind suddenly?”

Hoggle looked nervous, wringing his hands “well…nice girl, big scary Labyrinth-“

“Why , Hoggle”

“Alright, alright I ain’t supposed t’ but if I take you as far as I can, will you give me something in return?”

You glared at him, the nerve of him!

On the other hand, was right, you wouldn’t last five minutes without some inside help, as you had just found out, you wanted to leave this dismal place as soon as possible. The Goblin King never specified if you had to run the labyrinth alone.

Does this count as cheating? You hushed that voice at the back of your head.

Your shoulders slumped a little, giving in to the shorter man’s wistful look.

“Okay okay fine, what is it that you want?”

“You have a charming bracelet” he says shyly.

You look down at your wrist at the bangle and begin to take it off. It’s so beautiful…a small price to pay.

“no not that trash the other one, in your pocket”

Pocket? You slip your hand inside and take out your ring of keys, dangling on your finger, making it jangle. “You want… my keys…?” you looked at him confused.

His eyes light up and he snatches them “yes! The charms! he gushed over your tacky key rings turning them over one by one.

You look down at him, so obviously smitten with them- you have to tip up a smile. “You can have it then; do we have a deal?” Kari and Brian were going to kill you for losing them, but you reminded yourself if you didn’t get out of here there would be no angry Kari and Brian to go back to anyway- or anything else for that matter.

You shook hands. Hoggle dropped the ring of keys in a small pouch bag, slinging it back over him.

“So, you know a way out of here then?”  you said eager to leave this unsettling place.

He’s already venturing on, gesturing you to follow behind “come on”

You walk on, leaving behind the False Alarms, these walls, thankfully, didn’t have faces.  

“Are…Are you sure its safe this way?” the path seemed to stray further from the light, you had a nauseous feeling wash over you.

“Ah, its fine I told you they’re just false alarms to make y’ doubt y’self”

Hoggle hummed under his breath, apparently searching for something in particular.

“There’s always one of these around here somewhere” you hear Hoggle murmur, watching him feel along for something until …“aha!”.

“What? What is it?” your hand comes to rest against a ladder, you can loosely see the rungs leading upwards.

You let Hoggle go first, he seemed sincere in helping you and probably didn’t mean you any harm, but you couldn’t take any chances espically if he was planning to ditch you.

His earlier comment echoed in your mind ‘Things aren’t always what they seem in here’.

You let out a “huh”, thinking aloud. You gingerly reach for the first rung, pulling yourself up behind him.

You heard him wheeze above you “what?”.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about something you said earlier”

“ah, yes…Sorry about all that” he coughed with embarrassment. “I did want to help y’ really, y’ know” he sounded genuinely regretful. “y’ve got to understand my position; I’m a coward and Jareth scares me”

“what kind of position is that?” You wrinkled your nose

“That’s my point- you wouldn’t be so brave if y’ smelt the bog of eternal stench” he said pompously

He stepped up a rung and it fell, you hear it clatter below you and wince.

“Is that all it does- smell?

Hoggle shook his head “the worse thing is, if y’ so much as put a foot in the bog of eternal stench y’ll smell bad for the rest of your life it’ll never wash off”

Yeesh, that did sound bad.

“Right…So…” you climbed up further “I guess we’re friends now huh” your voiced echoed.

“Friends…?” Hoggle sounded surprised.

You shrugged though he couldn’t see it “well, yeah I mean you’re helping me out of here aren’t you, isn’t that what friends do, help each other?”

“Friend huh, I like that…I ain’t never been no-one’s friend before”

“well…we’re friends now. My first friend in here anyway”

He gave a ‘hmmf’ followed by an awkward silence. Hoggle cleared his throat.  “Why are y’ here anyway? Let me guess, rotten sibling?”

Rotten sibling?

“uh, no, actually turns out I took something and now I owe the king, apparently… I have to win the Labyrinth to get out of it”

Your sweaty hand slapped against the wooden bar, you were about half- way and didn’t dare look down. A bead of sweat trickled down your face which you quickly wiped away. “I don’t really understand how though, I couldn’t really dispute it at the time”.

Hoggle chuckled knowingly “that sounds like Jareth alright, shady deals, glamour magic, y’ need to be careful around him, he’s fae”

Your eyes widened in surprise “Fae? Like fairy?”.  So not goblin after all.

“Try sly trickster” Hoggle scoffed “when y’ take gifts from fae, it means that you owe them back whatever they want” he explained grimly.

Upon hearing this, the bonkers conversation from your bedroom floated into your head:

‘You took the gift, you owe me whatever I wish... what I want- is you’

You shivered remembering the way the Goblin King’s eyes sparked and pierced you at that moment.

You shook off that memory “that doesn’t make sense whatsoever” you pointed out.

“Well it wouldn’t, would it? That’s why they’re known as tricksters” Hoggle grunted with more effort.

You rolled this over in your mind. So maybe this was kind of your fault after all, but you still didn’t ask for that damn book!

“what did you mean when you said rott-“

“Here we are” he cut you off, shifting something above his head. The unexpected light made you cover your face and squint but you headed upwards towards it, finally glad to be above ground and able to see properly.

You climbed out of a plant pot to see the scene had changed from what you saw earlier. The walls didn’t appear quite so tall and menacing.

“Which part are we in now?”

This area of the labyrinth was pretty and well-kept you found it hard to believe it was part of the labyrinth at all. It was a good sign that you had moved on in the maze significantly.

“Somewhere near the heart of the Labyrinth” Hoggle dusted himself down replacing the plant pot.

-*-

“Curses!” The Goblin King cried as you climb out the plant pot. The goblins come to a momentary standstill at the outburst.

"Well?" Jareth hissed at the creatures "what are you gawping at, back to work!"

The goblins resumed the mopping, dusting and polishing, quietly murmuring among themselves. Jareth was working them to the grindstone, ensuring the castle was spotless for when his guest arrived. He must admit, he much preferred it this way, being able to see out of the windows clearly was nice for one.

He had never in a million years thought you’d get this far so quickly.

Okay, he’d played dirty, flipping that stone over, he hadn’t meant you any harm, of course, you were in safe hands, but it wasn’t a real challenge if it was over already, was it? You wanted a challenge and challenge you would get.

He told himself in the long run he was actually doing you a favour, you wouldn’t be so naïve when you returned to the Above. If you returned.

It was looking very likely now and he just couldn’t have that.

"Why can't I see my face in these floors!"

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