#nope definitely not crying on the floor after the finale nope not me

[fridaywashere]

A sketch of the ineffable husbands because they deserve all the best and more in this world

[certifiedfreec]

i can’t stop thinking about neighbor!graves… pt. 2 🤔

thank goodness for the nextdoor app! (pt. 1)

saw this pic on pinterest and thought…yeah…that’s our man <3

🏡 you and your cuddly cat theo are finally settled into your new house! it was a much-needed change to the mundane routine, and the place is adorable. you ultimately picked this one because of its large windows- perfect for theo to sit in the sun and watch what was happening outside. it also has hardwood floor- no more cat clawing at the carpet. hooray! you thought that your sweet kitty was handling the move well, but you notice that he’s hiding under furniture more often. all the articles online said it could take time for cats to adjust to a new place, so you chalk it up to that.

🏡 one afternoon you drag your first big grocery store haul into the house, calling out for your precious theo as you close the door, but he doesn’t show. hm. he normally scampers right up to you when you’re home. you reason that he’s still hiding somewhere, so you go ahead and get started on dinner. after still no sign of him hours later that night, you resolve to checking every corner of the house, and he’s nowhere to be found!! a panic rushes through as you hurry to turn on all your house lights out front and scope your yard real quick, unable to find him in any shrubs or plants. fully planning on walking the entirety of your neighborhood and knocking on every door to make a search party, you suddenly have an idea: maybe there’s a neighborhood app i can post his picture on.

🏡 you immediately do just that, finding the nextdoor app and punching in your information. you post a picture of theo- your favorite one where he’s cuddling with his beloved bird toy- and write a brief caption saying you’re new to the area and that you’d be more than happy to give cash to whoever finds him. within minutes, you’re receiving all kinds of good luck messages and “nope, haven’t seen him”s, and they all make your stomach swirl. damn cat. he’s probably living it up while you’re sitting there terrified for his wellbeing. as you’re waiting beside your phone and watching all the messages roll in, you’re fully prepared to stay up all night and start driving the streets, until a few minutes later a new private message bubbles up onto the screen.

🏡 it’s a picture of a man, pretty fit-looking from the few features you can see, and he’s holding a cat that scarily resembles theo. do you dare feel relieved? you read the comment underneath the photo. “is this him? little guy followed me home on my jog. let me know!” you’re about to cry tears of joy as you zoom in on the picture, pinpointing the unique stripes around theo’s eyes. that was in fact your little guy. you answer in a blur, “yes, that’s him! thank you so much! can i come get him?” the man, whose nextdoor display name is “phillip g.,” answers you in seconds. “i’ll bring him over. what’s your house number?” you send it to him, and he tells you he’s actually a handful of houses down from you. you allow yourself to feel relieved as you wait those dastardly two minutes, nearly jumping when you hear a firm knock at your door.

🏡 you open the door, and you find theo cuddled up to what can only be described as pure handsomeness. look what the cat dragged in- literally. “phillip g.” has dirty blond hair and tan skin, with pale blue eyes and a rugged scar that rests on his sharp cheekbone. he’s got a perfect straight nose and the slightest blond stubble, and he’s wearing a pair of black sweats and a dark grey tee that cling temptingly to him. “there you are,” you finally say, not entirely sure if you’re directing it toward him or your cat (where has this beauty been all your life??). part of you honestly can’t blame theo for following this guy- yeah, he was definitely living it up while you were panicking.

🏡 “hey there,” he replies to you with the most delicious twinge of southern drawl, and you quickly step aside to give him room to come in- he’s pleasantly surprised that you’re even better-looking in person ;) “let’s get ya inside, bud.” phillip steps into your home, prompting theo to hop off and trot over to his food bowl like nothing happened, as if you weren’t just about to go DEFCON 1 for him. it makes you both snicker, and then you thank the gorgeous stranger profusely before trying to offer him some money. he only shoos it away with a “no problem, he’s a great lil’ man,” and he explains to you that theo started following him back to his house during his jog that afternoon. when he got home, he immediately climbed onto his lap. the traitor!! you’re in disbelief; he’s never cared for other people that deeply. you wonder if theo knows something you don’t- perhaps he’s a feline matchmaker? 🙏

🏡 while you two chat about the neighborhood, theo struts back over to the entry area where you are and brushes up against phillip, almost like he wants to make you look like the worst owner ever. “i promise he likes me,” you laugh, and phillip flashes you an unforgettable grin. “i guess i’ll take your word for it,” he teases, and then he adds sincerely, “i’m actually gonna miss him, y’know, he was my little amigo today.” he kneels down to scratch behind theo’s ears and god does his back look good in that shirt, and you don’t even think as you blurt out “well, feel free to visit him whenever you want.” he stands back up to his full height, smiling again. you barely miss the once-over he gives you. “i just might take ya up on that.”

🏡 you’re surprised to see that he actually does! phillip makes a point of stopping by during his jogs sometimes to check on theo (and you, obviously <3), and man oh man does he look fantastic all out of breath in his workout gear :’) he also fills you in on the drama at all the other houses- a wealth of knowledge, this guy is! turns out those jogs are a great way to collect information- he’s very strategic, it seems. theo acts like jesus christ himself has arrived at your doorstep every time he’s over, of course, bounding into his arms and purring uncontrollably. you feel ridiculous when you get a pang of jealousy toward your cat- if only you knew all the ways phillip wanted to handle you :))

🏡 it all feels so nice and neighborly with the way phillip’s checking up on you both, that southern charm working its way into all your thoughts late at night. he hits you with the occasional “sweetheart,” or “darlin’,” and it never fails to make your heart (and something else) pound. you end up exchanging numbers the next time he jogs by, and he uses it at the perfect opportunity to see if you wanna tag along on his next trip around the neighborhood. he totally doesn’t just want to see you in some tight leggings… you tell him you’re not the greatest runner, so he insists on walking instead :’) he’s such a sweetheart!

🏡 like clockwork he’s at your door a few evenings later, and you’ve changed into some comfy clothes that he immediately wants to tear off of you. theo’s incessantly demanding his phillip cuddles, snuggling into his toned arms with no intention of moving. that stunning neighbor of yours looks at you with a mischievous grin. “say, why don’t we bring ‘im along?”

🏡 it’s equal parts endearing and ridiculous, the sight of you and phillip taking turns holding the most spoiled cat in the world during your walk <3 part of you likes to think theo has decided your fate- and you’re not opposed to it at all. it’s a nice evening, and phillip ends up telling you while you’re gossiping about the other neighbors that his career in the military has always prevented him from having a pet of his own. he doesn’t reveal much about it, just that it demands long periods of time from him, and seeing theo has actually done lots for his war-hardened spirit. poor baby, there’s so many other ways you could help him relieve some of that stress :((

🏡 there’s something you say that must kinda insinuate that, because suddenly you’re rerouting to his house so he can get you both some water. might as well stay for dinner too, he’s quick to add ;) he’s just got such a big crush on you that he can hardly stand it! theo already knows the lay of the land when you go inside, and he proceeds to dart off somewhere in the spacious home while you admire phillip’s minimally rustic décor. no wonder theo escaped here, you think. phillip gets your glass ready, but before he hands it to you he puts down a fresh bowl of water specially for your precious boy next to the temporary litter box and food he must’ve picked up for him when he escaped that day :’) yeah, that’s a man right there- look how good he cares for your baby! he could take care of you like that too!! <33

🏡 neither of you really care about the water at this point, and phillip decides that this is the perfect time to show your own kitty some lovin’ ;)) there’s not much buildup needed for you to end up completely spread open on his soft bed, workout clothing shed immediately before his skillful fingers are pumping and curling in your soaking pussy, hitting that sweet spot scarily fast. you always thought he was a sweetie, but you learn that he’s got an ego on him, wanting to hear you beg to cum all over his hand :/ you’ll do anything he asks though, and you’re soon rewarded with that sweet, hot release that coats his digits :’) he makes you clean one of his fingers while he licks your slick off the other- you guys just make a great team <3

🏡 you thought his fingers stretched you? his thick cock practically splits you apart, and he’s cooing at you “doin’ so good for me, darlin,” “knew ya could take it, sweetheart,” “that’s it, baby,” as he watches you bounce along his entire length. your flushed face, your little moans, it’s the prettiest show he’s ever seen! :’)) he’s stopped making you beg to orgasm at this point since the tight circles he’s rubbing on your clit are producing so many, but he is making you tell him who’s getting you to feel this good. “tell me, darlin,’ use your words. who’s makin’ you cum so much, huh?”

🏡 it’s incredible- phillip fucks as good as he looks! he must have more stamina from all that jogging. he puts you on all fours, arching your back with his hand as he feverishly rocks his hips into yours. he loves to watch you suck all of him in-you’ve never felt this full! not much longer after he starts pounding into your tight cunt from this angle, he’s groaning your name along with a strained “fuuuuuck,” and you feel his warm release coat your insides. he’s so glad he got that second workout in!

🏡 you both hop into his unbelievably nice shower to clean up, and pretty soon you’re drifting off to sleep in his bed, whole body sore from getting taken care of so thoroughly :’) phillip holds you the whole night, but when you wake up the next morning he’s got theo in his arms, who is happily purring away. you realize that the little fucker is responsible for all of this, and maybe he’s just as strategic as his neighbor-slash-future-parent. phillip is ridiculously smug when he chuckles at you, scratching behind your sweet boy’s ears. “i hate to tell ya, darlin’, but i think theo likes me more.”

[mrs-barnes-rogers-writes]

The Feral Princess - Part 2

Marvel AU

Pairing: Stucky x Reader

Theme: Soulmate AU / Medieval / Fantasy / Soulmate Marks

Summary: Bucky and Steve have known they were soulmates since they were children. Fate bringing a then sickly Steve and the future King together. War takes them apart and throws them back together over and over, in and out of each other lives, arms and beds. But something is missing and throughout, they know they are missing their third and final piece. The kingdom is now Bucky's and Steve's, the latter now a leader and no longer a sickly child. Both are war heroes, with the respect of their country and those that surround it. They are a force to be reconned with, admired and respected within the other royal houses. They could have any maiden or princess they wanted, but they don't want just anyone. They want their soulmate. They want their princess. Even if she is known as The Feral Princess.

Chapter Summary: We meet the reader and a visitor witnesses her unruly behaviour.

Chapter Warning: Mentions of violence against children, physical violence against the person threatening the child, implied feeding of people to humans.

You’re already stirring when you hear the patter of little feet along the wooden floor. The voice of one of the Royal Guards comes soon after.

“Your Royal Highness where are you going? And where is your Governess?”

There was a sound of raspberries being blown.

“Princess I don’t believe your cousin has awoken yet?”

“Outta way.” Came a little voice and there was the sounds of a chair being pushed across the hall.

“Princess please be careful.”

There was a gasp and then the sounds of one of your ladies.

“What on earth are you doing child?”

“See her.”

“You can’t just let her climb up there like that.”

“My apologies Lady Dawn but to stop her would mean to place hands on her and we are under orders to avoid that after what happened.”

“Oh for goodness sake. One little bite, a nip if that, and you’re scared of a three year old. You got off lightly, Tulip was much worse, she tried to stab a guard when she was the Princess’ age.”

There was knock and the door pushed open.

“Come on little one do not loiter you will scare the guards.”

You heard the familiar sounds of your breakfast tray and Lady Dawn’s footsteps along with little ones. You shuffled down in the blankets and pretended to be sleeping. You felt them be pulled as the little princess tried to climb onto your bed.

“Do you require help your Royal Highness?”

“Nopes, I can do, seeeeee.”

“Well done, now wake Tulip for me but nicely.”

“Shhhhhhhh”

“Yes, quietly. We know how grumpy she can be when she's first woken.”

Sadly your cousin took far too much after you and although she took quiet steps to begin with she soon launched herself on top of you.

“Wakes, wakes up.”

“You Princess Lottie are a nuisance.” You exclaimed as you tickled her, her laughter bouncing around the room.

“Hmmmm, can’t think where she learned such behaviour.” Quipped Lady Dawn.

“Her father.” You quipped back.

“Daddy speak you.”

“What is that Governess teaching her?! It’s Daddy needs to speak to you.” Lady Dawn exclaimed. “She’s worse than the governess you had!”

“I may have terrorised her a little.”

“A little, every single one left either crying or running, or both. Lady Marion and I had to teach you ourselves.”

“I’m aware Lady Dawn, I was there, and what a fine lady you made me.”

Lady Dawn scowled at you.

“Sit up and eat your damn breakfast.”

"And she says I'm the grumpy one."

You made small talk with the Princess, as she stole food from your plate. You smiled softly at her, she was definitely more like you than anyone wanted to admit. She started to tell you about her lessons that morning and revealed that the Governess had raised her voice and shouted at her. You scowled and glanced at Lady Dawn, when you turned back and looked at Lottie a realisation washed over you. Her feet and legs were bare and though they often were, today the little princess was to have lessons and she should be dressed as such.

“Lottie where are your tights?”

“She took.”

“Why?”

Her eyes turned down in sadness and her bottom lip began to quiver. You pushed the tray away and pulled her into your lap.

“Stickkkk.” She said as she cried into your chest. Lady Dawn didn’t even hesitate and she pulled open the doors to your dressing room and began to ready your clothes.

You would be having words with the Governess. You pulled open the doors to your room moments later startling the guards.

They both nodded their heads to you and Lottie.

“Your Royal Highnesses.”

“Has she been here? The Governess? For Lottie?”

“No.”

“Send word she is not to leave the castle until I have dealt with her.”

You marched down through the hallways, Lottie on your hip and Lady Dawn hurrying along behind you. The strength in your silent stride, the look on your face and the fact you were striding along in your riding clothes, sword on your waist and knife on your thigh spoke volumes, and although you wished the staff good morning they moved quickly out of your way.

You made your way towards the Great Hall, hearing raised voices as you approached. Lottie’s mother, the king’s longest serving mistress yelling at the Governess was the first thing you heard, followed by the Governess’ excuses.

“I’m sorry my lady I have looked everywhere.”

“WILL YOU DO SOMETHING RICHARD!!!” The mistress again, but yelling this time.

“She can’t have gotten far Annie, have you really looked everywhere?”

“Of course your Majesty.”

The doors to the hall opened and one of Royal Guards announced you.

“Their Royal Highnesses, Princess Charlotte and Princess Y/N, accompanied by Lady Dawn your Majesty.”

There were gasps as you entered and Annie rushed to you pulling Lottie from your arms.

“Mama, mama!!!”

“Thank you Princess.”

You smiled softly. Many had issue with Anne’s presence in court, even more so at Richard’s side and especially now her child was legitimatised and in line for the throne. But you did not. She made Richard happy after he had lost his Queen and soulmate and that was enough for you.

“Of course.” You said placing a kiss on Lottie’s head. You turned to place a kiss on Lady Anne’s cheeky but whispered to her instead. “Take her from the room you won’t want her to see what comes.”

She nodded and left, Lottie still in her arms and her two ladies following behind. Once the doors had closed you marched towards the Governess and struck her hard with the back of your hand across her face, striking with such force she fell to the floor. There were gasps from some of the newer ladies of court, with the older and regular attendees not surprised by your outburst.

You pulled the knife from your thigh holster and straddled the Governess.

“Did you just lie to the King?”

“No Tulip of course….”

“No,” you stopped her, twirling the knife in your hand as you spoke “only my friends call me that and we are not and never will be friends. Now I’ll ask you again, did you just lie to your King?”

You pressed the knife against her throat.

“No Princess. I swear it.”

“Odd, I thought I heard you tell the King twice that you’d looked everywhere for the little Princess and yet you have made no enquiries near to or within my chambers. Otherwise you would know the imp had been stealing my breakfast whilst chatting away like a court gossip upon my bed. Now, tell the King why she ran from you.”

“She doesn’t like her lessons, the ones at the desk, that she must sit for.”

“And?”

“And she was being a mischief and ran from me.”

“Why would she run?”

“The lessons. The lessons.” The Governess squealed as you pressed the blade further into her neck.

“And?”

“That is all!! That is all!!”

“You must find better Governesses your Majesty, for this one is a liar.”

“I am not!!!”

“Why are the Princess’s legs bare?”

At that the Governess’ eyes went wide.

You leaned down and whispered into her ear.

“Think yourself lucky there is an audience Governess, I would kill you where you lay if there wasn’t. Now tell the truth, otherwise I will tell all of court of your nightly visits to see the Priest and we both know it’s not for prayers.”

“I sort to, I was going to…..”

You rolled your eyes and let the blade nick at her neck, causing a small cut.

“I was going to strike her, to discipline her!!! She is feral.”

“Oh Governess. All the best Princesses are.”

There was light laughter around the hall but it was stopped by the King raising his hand.

“I believe there are some dragons that require feeding Tulip.”

“Of course your Majesty.”

You rose from your straddling position and left the hall. Two of your own personal guards, hand picked from your Uncle Robin’s men, emerged silently from the crowd and roughly picked up the Governess and followed you from the hall.

You didn’t see the visiting Lord turn to one of the Knights.

“You have dragons here?”

This would be harder than they thought. Because not only were you definitely feral, and in Sam's eyes a lunatic, there was also dragons here. DRAGONS!!! Which you apparently fed with human snacks!!!

It was at that moment Sam decided it was probably best if Bucky fetched you himself.

Fancy a cuppa? My Ko-Fi.

TAGLIST

@animegirlgeeky @sebastians-love @mrsevans90 @salvatoreitmeanssaviour @forgetmenotsexy

[namorslutfanfiction]

The Second Blurb request for THIS post

@free-for-all-fics i think you're the one that requested this one

Rafa x reader

You kicked open the door of Rafa's bedroom and were immediately accosted by the smell of weed and alcohol. You swatted at the air like you would fend off the smell of despair as you strode across the room and threw open the curtains. You heard Rafa groan in protest as the sunlight hit his face. You'd let him mope after taking him to a safe house in the Caribbean at the behest of Miguel, but this was getting ridiculous.

You stomped over to the foot of his bed, grabbed the comforter with both hands and ripped it from the man in one grand tug. He instinctively flipped over and covered his head with a pillow. You stared at his completely naked form, his tanned ass centerstage in the middle of the bed.

"Moping around in bed is not the answer to your problems, pendejo. I offered to go beat that tramps ass but we got a little distracted with smuggling you out of the country," You smacked his ass hard as you walked around the bed, kicking away empty bottles.

Rafa yelped, rubbing his ass with one hand as he sat up. He put the pillow on his lap, covering his crotch, his hair a disheveled mess. "I think liquor is the answer."

He pulled a bottle out from underneath another pillow and you quickly snatched it away from him, making him pout. Now that you were closer you could smell the alcohol in his sweat and could see the pitiful look in his eyes. "It is not the answer."

Rafa reached under the pillow again and revealed another bottle that he held out of your reach, "If it's not the answer then why does it make such a satisfying noise in the bottle that sounds like answers."

Losing your patience with the heartbroken narco, you lunged across the bed grappling for the half filled bottle of liquor. Rafa shook off his surprise at your actions and tussled with you in earnest. Cursing and fighting with the naked man had definitely not been on your 'to do' list this morning. When the bottle was finally flung off the bed and shattered on the floor, you were both left panting with Rafa holding you down.

A tired grin spread across the man's face as he looked down on you, laughter bubbling over and making him shake. You tried to keep your surly expression but his giggling was contagious. You both dissolved into fits of laughter with Rafa hugging you as you found air again. Once silence fell you remembered that Rafa, who was laying in your arms and on top of you, was very much naked and from the pressure near your thigh, was turned on.

"Nope, nope," You grabbed his hair and used it to pull him off of you, "No dirty thoughts. You smell like a liquor store and who knows when the last time you showered was."

Rafa yelped as you threw him to the side and slid off the bed. He rubbed at his scalp as he turned over to look at you. It became very apparent that he was feeling a certain way with the hard on that was now pointing up into the air. "You don't have to be so rough."

"Don't say that like you don't prefer it when I am. Now go shower, and sober up. I'll help you cut your hair once you're done," You pulled a large trash bag from your back pocket and started picking up trash and tossing clothes into a pile in the corner. "It's been three weeks, it's time to get up and remind people who you are. Not some bitch crying over some girl."

Rafa didn't reply as he stumbled out of bed and headed for the bathroom door at the corner of the room. He stopped at the doorway and turned back to you, "Why did you stay? I know Miguel just told you to take me somewhere safe outside of the country. But you didn't need to stay."

You sighed and stopped your bustling around. You blew at a bit of dust on your lip before looking at him, "I've been betrayed by someone I loved before. It's not easy. I didn't want you to end up dead."

Rafa stared at you for a moment longer before stepping forward, "Thank you."

He moved to give you a hug but you stopped him with a hand to his chest. "As handsome and cute as you are, Quintero. You smell like a wet sock. Go take a bath please. You can thank me all you want later, but not until then."

Rafa chuckled then smirked, "So you'll let me thank you?"

"We'll see, stinky. If you actually look like the Quintero that everyone said was a marijuana genius, after you shower, I might consider it. But if you look anything like the pitiful puppy I found when I saved you, I'll kick your ass. Got it?" You replied, looking him up and down.

Rafa winked at you before making his way to the bathroom. Soon you heard the tell tale noise of the shower running. You took a moment to rub your temples as you felt a headache coming on. Miguel knew you would have saved the curly haired Narco no matter what the circumstances. That's the leverage he always had on you. Rafa had been yours to protect from the shadows, but now Miguel had forced your hand and made you step into the sunlight.

You sighed as you continued cleaning the room. As long as Rafa had no idea who you were and continued back on track with his weed and cultivation, that's all that mattered. If you had to make him trust you by any means necessary, you were prepared for it. It would save Rafa, but it would also save your family. It was a small price to play.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for playing!

[chrysochroma]

kept out of sight, sinister and cowardly

Rating: Teen And Up

Words: 16.4k

Fandom: Double Life, S9 HC x S2 Empires crossover

Warnings: MAIN CHARACTER DEATH, Mild Gore, Possession, Corruption, Angst, Death, Blood, Violence, Horror, Crying, Arguments, Manipulation, Trauma

this is my gift for the @mcythorrorgiftexchange for the lovely @yeaveragenerd :DD

Read on Ao3

~ A canary flies up into the wide blue sky, finally free from the darkness. His coal mine waits underneath, patient and understanding. The canary is free, but empty. For what is he without his coal mine? ~

Tango swung his pickaxe, digging it into the stone wall in front of him. He was in a cave he had found a bit away from spawn, gathering basic resources for the coming week. 

This was Tango’s third time participating in this tournament, so early game preparations were somewhat of a routine to him. He suspected that most of the other players were doing similar things, just getting geared up for later. These first few hours were usually pretty slow. Still, though, there was a bit of hesitance in the back of his mind. According to the overseers of the games, a new feature had been included for this series, and a few of the players had already found out about it. 

Impulse had found his soulmate, Bdubs, first, barely 20 minutes into the game. Tango was there when they both realized that the other had been responsible for the random sparks of pain in the back of their mind. Still, both were grateful to have found each other. 

A few minutes after that, though, Tango decided that he would really test how well the soulbonds worked, just for fun. It was a spontaneous decision, and in his defense, what else was he supposed to do with Etho standing so close to a cliff? It was barely a drop, only about 6 blocks, but it was still enough to induce a shriek from Etho and a punch to his arm from Joel, who had subsequently realized he and Etho were soulbound. 

Tango could feel the echo of another life attached to his, however faint it was. He had no idea who his soulmate was, and honestly, he was a bit scared to find out. Most of the other players had found theirs already, and at this point, there weren’t many others he could be paired with. He almost felt as if he didn’t have a soulmate at all. 

Tango sunk his pickaxe into the stone in front of him, slowly chipping out a tunnel deeper into the ground and filling his inventory with stone. About an hour had passed, and he was now comfortably kitted out with mostly iron, and even a couple diamonds, so he started to retrace his steps through the cave he was in. It was quiet underground as he walked, just the faint sounds of running water and his shoes tapping against the stone floor, but it still took him a minute to hear the other footsteps behind him. 

Tango froze. The footsteps continued. Tango turned to look back at the path he had come from, and his eyes caught the faint gleam of a torch casting light on the cave walls. Then a voice echoed through the cavern.  

“Hello?” It was Etho, presumably with Joel. 

“Yeah? Over here,” he called back. 

The torchlight got closer, lighting up what had previously been darkness due to Tango’s lack of supplies. Then Etho and Joel walked out from one of the tunnels leading into the cave, each of them decked out in iron armor. 

“Tango, there you are,” Etho said. 

“You find your soulmate yet?” Joel asked. 

Tango shook his head. “Nope. At this point I’m starting to think I don’t have one,” he joked. 

Etho shrugged. “You aren’t exactly out looking.”

“I’m sure I’ll find them eventually.” 

“You could always die,” Joel commented. “Then you would definitely know.”

Tango laughed, although a bit hesitantly. “Yeah, that would work, huh? And it would be easy, too–don’t really have any armor. I feel so naked,” Tango said. “Like I feel like anyone could just come by and murder me-” He snapped. “Like that!”

“I miss being enchanted,” Joel commented. 

“Yeah, it just makes things so much easier,” Tango agreed. 

“But the only table is in the City,” Etho reminded them.

Joel shrugged. “I mean, eventually someone will steal it, and then we won’t have to go all the way down there just to enchant.”

“How much do you wanna bet it’ll be Scar?” Tango asked. 

Etho scoffed. “It’s always Scar.”

“Exactly!”

Etho hummed in response. 

Tango continued to mine, and the other two started to venture into a different section of the cave, informally ending their conversation. Tango could still faintly hear them though, breaking blocks and talking. For a minute, they went quiet, but Tango didn’t pay much mind. He stepped back out into the larger cavern, which was still shrouded in darkness. 

From above him, he heard the swipe of a sword making contact with something, then a sizzle. Tango looked up just in time to see a creeper fall down on top of him, already flickering. A hiss filled his ears as his muscles tensed up, trying to save himself from the coming blast. He pulled up his shield, doing his best to hide behind it, to protect himself—to protect his soulmate—when an explosion rocked the cavern, roaring through his ears and flooding his vision with burning embers and a cloud of gunpowder. Fear surged through his heart, a mixture of his and his poor soulmate’s. There was fire all around him, burning white-hot, and then it was gone. 

Tango gasped. The forest was strikingly quiet, aside from some faintly chirping birds. His breathing was shaky, but whether it was from what had just happened or what was going to happen, he didn’t know. 

Another voice came from further in the trees. “Tango!” He recognized it a second after. 

“Jimmy.” Tango’s voice was much quieter, barely audible. 

He and Jimmy had only met once before, in the very first of these games, when he had died to Tango’s challenge/poorly disguised trap. And now they were soulmates. Not exactly a great first impression.

“Tango?” Jimmy yelled again, his voice getting closer. 

“I’m over here,” Tango replied, loud enough for Jimmy to actually hear him. 

Tango’s eyes caught the bright blond of Jimmy’s hair as he made it through the trees. Then they met each other’s canary yellow eyes. Tango froze. Jimmy strode towards him, closing the gap between them. 

“What happened, Tango?” His voice was forceful, demanding, and it made Tango grimace. 

“Uh- hi! Hi.” He paused for a split second. “I’m so sorry.” 

Jimmy sighed, and Tango held his breath. “Take me through it,” Jimmy said.

A rush of air escaped Tango’s lips. “Etho and Joel, man, they’re insane. I was caving, and they were with me—I think they were mad because I almost killed them at the beginning, and they just-” Tango cut himself off with another exhale, then met his soulmate’s eyes. “God, I’m so sorry.” He was frozen in painful anticipation, waiting for any reaction that Jimmy cared to give, and hoped that he could at least salvage their relationship enough to keep himself alive. 

Along with Tango, Jimmy had been a participant in every one of the past games, and every single time, he died first. First deaths were a big thing in these games, even more so when it was one person who died first consistently. To say that he garnered a reputation for it would be an understatement. It was almost expected at this point, for Jimmy to die first. He became the canary of the death games, forever fated to alert the rest of the players to the toxin that was this tournament, and whose warnings were mocked rather than heeded. And now Tango had been the one to doom him, like his own personal coal mine, with which he shared a soul. Jimmy couldn’t escape the dark, and Tango couldn’t pull him out of it, no matter how much either of them tried. 

Jimmy kept his eyes locked on Tango’s. There was a hint of a solemn smile on his face. “It’s okay.”

Tango blinked. 

“It’s okay,” Jimmy repeated. “We just need to pick ourselves up, get new gear, get some supplies, and we’ll be good.”

“Yeah.” Tango hesitated. “Yeah. We can do that. That’s a good idea. I’ll-“ He went to retrieve a pickaxe from his belt, then realized it was empty. “Right. Um…” He closed his fist, clutching the empty air, then took a breath and walked over to the nearest tree. “Guess we’ll just have to start over. I’ll go get us new stuff right away, and maybe you can get us some food?” 

“Yeah, that works. Are you sure you don’t want help with getting gear, though?”

The thought of himself back underground, in the dark, alone, almost made Tango reconsider, but he still shook his head. “I’m fine. But thank you," he added. 

Jimmy nodded. “Alright. I’ll go work on getting us stuff to eat, then.” 

“I want to enchant today, too.” Tango said. 

“Isn’t the table in the Ancient City?” His eyebrows furrowed. 

“Yeah, but I think it’s worth it. I really want us to be enchanted as quickly as possible.”

“Okay, yeah, we can do that. That is probably a good idea,” Jimmy agreed. 

Tango nodded, but didn’t say anything. 

Jimmy paused for a second, took a step away, back towards the trees, then stopped. “Y’know, I was starting to think that I didn’t have a soulmate at all or something,”

“Yeah. Me too.”

He nodded. “Nice meeting you, Tango.”

Tango felt himself relax just a bit. “You too.”

“Meet back up here?”

“Yeah. In an hour, probably.”

“Okay.” He started to turn away.

“And Jimmy?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry. Again.”

Jimmy smiled. “Don’t be. It’s just life, and we’ll get through it together.”

Tango’s heartbeat was dull in his ears as he mined through dark gray stone, making a staircase down deep into the earth. Jimmy was following behind him, staying quiet, although he didn’t really have a reason to—not yet, anyway. 

For hours before, Tango had spent his time mining similar tunnels through stone in an effort to restore at least some of the supplies he had before getting blown up, in addition to acquiring some new materials that would come in handy in about a few minutes. His inventory was filled with premade armor pieces, as well as weapons and tools to enchant, and a bit of an outlier among the rest of his items: some snowballs. He also had plenty of torches on hand, deciding that he would prefer to keep out of the dark if possible. 

He broke a section of stone out from in front of him, revealing a huge cavern, covered in so much sculk that it looked like a night sky. Their tunnel had left them suspended well above the city, glowing dimly below. Tango could see the faint gleam of blue soulfire through the ruins of whatever structures had once been there, in addition to the ever-vast sea of stars. 

Completely silently, Tango carved a staircase out of the wall, down to the city floor. Jimmy followed close behind him, not making a sound. The city was silent, too, like it was waiting for them. 

Finally, Tango set his feet on the old stone tiles that made up the city streets, and stared out into the darkness before him. It was like there was nothing there, regardless of the dim light scattered throughout. It seemed cold, empty and completely abandoned, but he supposed it being abandoned was better than not.

Almost immediately after stepping off the staircase, Tango picked a torch from his inventory and held it up, letting its light drive away some of the darkness. It was much less effective than Tango would’ve liked, only lighting up a few feet in front of him, but it was better than nothing. He considered placing torches throughout the city as they went, but kept himself from doing so in fear of drawing something else towards the light. 

He held his torch up a bit higher, then motioned for Jimmy to follow him into the depths of the city. He managed to guide the two of them towards the center, where he could see the faint shine of an enchanting table. He traced a winding path through the ruins, all of his movements silent and precise, desperate not to awaken what he knew lurked in the shadows. Then another light snagged his eyes. He turned to see where it was coming from and found it immediately after: Etho and Joel standing at the base of the staircase he had made. 

Tango let out a slightly shaky breath, then looked back at Jimmy. “We might need to hurry up,” he said, his voice barely even loud enough to be a whisper. 

Jimmy responded with a quizzical expression, and Tango gestured back to the staircase. Jimmy’s eyes darted over to where Tango had pointed and stayed there for a second, then back to him. His nod was a bit hesitant, but understanding. 

They continued through the city, still silent as ever. He could hear Joel and Etho’s footsteps across the city, seeming to Tango like gunshots in the silence. There was a sense of panic deep seated in his heart, and a barrage of thoughts were cycling through his brain. 

They’re so loud, it’ll hear them, we’re so close, can we make it, we need to be careful, it’s so dark here, we’re gonna die-

Something grabbed Tango’s shoulder from behind and he spun around, sword in hand, to see Jimmy. His soulmate jumped back, startled by the sudden movement, but his gaze was still focused on Tango. Tango could barely see Jimmy—he had traded his torch out for the sword, plunging them into darkness—but there was concern in his eyes and a hint of pity in his heart, he could feel it. Then he remembered the fear in his own mind and forced himself to relax, replacing some of the terror with a twinge of guilt. 

“Sorry.” He only mouthed the word, still too scared to put any sound behind it.

Jimmy nodded and smiled, then responded by mouthing “It’s okay.”

Tango forced out a small nod, then turned back towards the enchanter and kept moving. 

On the other side of the city, Etho and Joel were working their way towards the table, too, albeit a bit more quickly than Tango and Jimmy. They were louder, though, less careful, less protected, less mindful of the dangers that lie in the darkness. 

An iron plated boot hit the hard stone tile, sending a crack echoing through the cavern. Tango froze. A second passed. A wave of light and spine-chilling clicks gleamed across the floor of the city as sensor after sensor lit up, all triggered by that one sound. Eventually, the wave subsided, but not before sending a shriek screaming into the air and drilling deep into Tango’s bones. 

Tango’s eyes shot to where Etho and Joel were standing, giving them a wide-eyed glare, a mix of terror and fury. Joel shrugged in response, which made Tango cock his head to the side. Joel nudged Etho and whispered something, then took his bow off his back. Tango stepped back as his eyes got even bigger in disbelief. Next to him, a flicker of confusion passed through Jimmy’s face. Then the two of them watched as Joel nocked an arrow, then pulled back the string. Tango shook his head sharply and Joel let go of the string, sending it snapping back with a twang. 

“No!” Tango shouted. He clamped his jaw shut just after the sound escaped his mouth, but it was too late. 

Ripples of glowing cyan expanded from around each set of soulmates, bringing piercing shrieks and waves of midnight along with. The arrow Joel had fired landed just in front of Tango, sticking into the stone with a crack, but he barely noticed. Instead, his eyes were on the ground between the pairs, and what was climbing out of it. 

Bone white claws were stabbed into the sculk-coated tile, piercing through the deepslate like it was gold. A pair of horns were reaching up into the air, dripping in fungi and shining almost like they were wet. It brought a frigid rush of air rushing through the cavern, icy enough to make even Tango feel as though it was ripping through his skin and tearing muscle from his bones. The ground was shaking, almost like it too was shivering from the cold. Worse, though, was the heartbeat. It pounded its way into Tango’s skull, drowning out all of his other thoughts and replacing them with nothing but dread. The wind had ripped the fire from his torch, leaving them in darkness again, but it seemed even more gloomy now. The shadows were creeping up on them, surrounding them from all sides. The dim light from the soul fire was gone now, too, leaving only the glowing, pulsing souls locked in the chest of the creature in front of them, and the luminous pages of the enchanting table’s tome. 

It roared. The sound was deafening, leaving a ringing shock in Tango’s ears. He was frozen to the spot, staring at it in horror. The table was right there, but so was the creature. Jimmy grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, away from both of them. They stumbled back into the pitch black ruins, filling the halls with their frantic footsteps. 

Tango took a quick glance over his shoulder, back into the center of the city. It was still there, and it was looking right at them, staring right at Tango with the eyes it didn’t have. It opened its mouth. A growl echoed through the city. Then a sound like the ragged inhale of broken lungs came from behind, right before an ear-splitting shriek screamed through the air, driving itself like thunder into Tango’s brain.

His mind was pounding, his heart was racing, his lungs were screaming, maybe he was screaming, too. He was stuck. The boom echoed through his head, ricocheting in his mind and building in his ears. To him, there was nothing else. Nothing but the blasting roar, like an explosion. 

There was something in the air all around him. Small particles that got sucked into his lungs as he heaved for breath, taking short inhales and even shorter exhales. He coughed, driving some of it out of his throat, but most of it was still stuck. His hack was echoed by another three from behind him. Jimmy’s coughs were sharper, though, as he tried to clear his throat of the spores. 

Tango reached out into the dark, then latched onto Jimmy’s hand. He held it tight, trying to steady both of them. The fear was creeping back into his head, and he was painfully aware of the noise they were making. Jimmy was still coughing, and Tango was breathless, and it was getting closer. He squeezed Jimmy’s hand. 

How could he fix it? How could he save them? They had to make it out. They couldn’t lose another life. But how?

He reached into his inventory and grabbed a snowball. He pulled his arm back and chucked it across the city, over the creature’s head, right at Joel and Etho. It hit the ground and sent snow scattering over the sculk coated tile. The Warden stopped. Tango threw another snowball. It turned away from Tango, then faced where the snowballs had hit. He threw another. It started to walk towards them. Etho and Joel both froze as another snowball hit the stone. It charged forward, and Tango ran, towing Jimmy behind him. 

He was moving as quickly and as quietly as he could, retracing their path through the city. It was still dark, and he could feel his snare drum heartbeat on his ribcage, but he continued. His hand was still holding Jimmy’s and he could still hear him coughing. A millisecond of worry flashed across his mind but was quickly drowned out by the stress. 

Even further behind them, he could hear Etho and Joel screaming. It was roaring, and shaking the ground, the sculk around it lighting up at its movements. He could hear the clangs of swords against something much too tough to be cut, and the thwacks of arrows hitting their target but doing nothing, and the creaking of the wood of a shield as it failed to protect from the dangers around them. 

Still, they kept moving. They kept going, finally making it out of the darkness. To the tunnel. Out of the city. To the surface. 

A message in bright, sunny yellow flashed across his vision.

Smallishbeans was obliterated by a sonically-charged shriek

Then right after it:

Etho died

They kept moving, and Jimmy kept coughing, and they kept their hands intertwined. The deepslate around them shifted into stone, then dirt, and then air. They were out. The sun was on their faces, and the breeze was in their hair, and their Ranch was on the horizon. And Jimmy was still coughing. 

His mind finally clear of darkness and panic, Tango was finally able to help him. He rushed over to the nearby river, pulling his soulmate along with him, and leading his soulmate to take a drink. Jimmy cupped his hands under the water, collecting a little puddle of it before raising his hands to his mouth and taking a sip.

Tango could feel a bit of an itch in his throat, but nothing that could cause a cough like that. He figured that he could feel a bit of whatever Jimmy had through the soulbond, which worried him even more. Had he caused it? He could still feel some of those particles in the back of his throat. 

Jimmy gulped down more water, his cough finally subsiding for a moment. 

“Do you think you’re ready to get back to the Ranch?” Tango asked. “It’ll be easier to figure out what’s going on at home.”

He took another sip, then nodded. “Yeah.” He stood, and then the two started walking in the direction of their house. 

The journey didn’t take long, but about halfway through it, Jimmy’s cough returned. He stopped and brought a hand up to his mouth to try and stifle it, but was unsuccessful. Tango stood next to him, his expression made of pure concern. 

“What is this?” Tango muttered to himself. 

Jimmy choked down a cough. “I’m fine,” he said. “Let’s just keep going.”

“Okay.” He didn’t know what else to say.

After another couple minutes, they reached the walls bordering their Ranch and made their way inside. Jimmy sat down on the bed as Tango went to get more water and some food from their storage. He returned with a few loaves of bread and some bottles of water, which he handed to his soulmate before sitting down next to him. A couple minutes passed in silence as Jimmy ate and drank, until Tango asked a question. 

“Has something like this happened before?”

Jimmy hesitated for a second before shaking his head. “I mean, my lungs have always been kind of bad, but nothing like this.”

Tango nodded. 

The pair fell back into quiet, both lost in their own heads. 

At least they were alive. Whatever this was, they would figure it out together. 

At least they made it out. They didn’t get what they came for, though. 

“I’m gonna go back down.” Tango said. 

Jimmy frowned. “I don’t think we should go right now, we should rest for a bit.”

He paused. “I think it’s better if I go alone.”

“What?” Jimmy turned to Tango, his eyebrows scrunched. “No, you aren’t, we go together-“

Tango shook his head once. “Whatever you have started down there. There is no way you’re going back, okay?”

“No,” Jimmy repeated. “I am not letting you go back down there alone, we barely made it out with both of us.”

“I’ll be fine,” Tango reassured him. “We need enchantments.”

“Do we? I mean, none of the other players have them," he argued. 

“Yes, we do.” Tango’s voice was firm. “It never hurts to be prepared.”

“Yeah, I guess, but can you at least wait until there are other people?”

“I can handle it,” Tango said, ignoring his still-jittery heart.

Jimmy paused, looking at Tango. “Are you sure we need it?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Jimmy sighed. “Please be careful. Please don’t die-“

“I’m not going to get us killed again.”

“I- okay.”

There was a quick pause. 

“Can I have your armor? And any tools you want enchanted.” Tango held out his hand, and Jimmy gave him his armor, along with a sword, bow, and pickaxe, however reluctantly. “Thank you.”

Tango put all of the armor pieces away, then put his hand in Jimmy’s. “I’ll be careful,” he said, looking into his soulmate’s eyes. His gaze darted away to look out one of the windows, then back to Jimmy just as quick. “I promise.”

“Okay.” There was some kind of reluctance on his face, so subtle Tango couldn’t place it. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked. 

Jimmy frowned a bit. “I’ll be fine. Are you… Can you tell?”

“A little,” Tango admitted. “But not much. I’m feeling more… emotions.”

“Ah.”

The candlelight flame of fear in the back of Tango’s heart grew, then was snuffed out. 

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I’ll get this stuff enchanted, and then I’ll come back home, and we’ll be safe.” He squeezed Jimmy’s hand. 

He sighed, then nodded. “Yeah.”

Tango let go, and Jimmy watched as he walked back outside and started in the direction of the tunnel he had made. He was keeping his breathing steady as he descended into the earth, holding a torch out in front of him as he walked, regardless of the ones already placed on the tunnel walls. He ventured back into the darkness, into the city, so slow that he was barely moving. He crept through the ruins like the darkness itself was preying upon him. It felt as though he had to force his heart to keep beating, like it would suddenly stop just so he could be quieter. He could feel the extra weight of Jimmy’s armor in his inventory, and the extra fear from Jimmy’s mind in his heart. Both were ever-present, a reminder of what he was here for and why he needed to make it back. 

He made his way to the center of the city, then stopped. In front of him, framed by an ancient portal covered in sculk, was a red-draped altar and a gleaming book floating atop it. He stepped up to the table and set down a chunk of lapis lazuli, then turned his gaze to the tome. His eyes were scanning for Protection and Unbreaking, Efficiency, Sharpness, Mending, anything that could help. He paused for a split second after seeing the enchantment for Blast Protection, but continued. He kept his mind alert as he read through the enchantments they required, blessing each of the objects in turn. He enchanted Jimmy’s gear first, then his own, slowly burning through the lapis he had brought. 

He set his chest plate on the altar, then started to flip through the pages. Once again, his eyes caught on the enchantment for Blast Protection. It took just a second of hesitation before he read the enchantment, crushing a small chunk of lapis over the armor and imbuing it with magic. A gleam of iridescent purple slid across the iron, and something in Tango’s mind calmed. 

A drop of something wet hit his forehead. It was dark turquoise and cold, leaving a trail of its path as it rolled down his face. He looked up to see where it had come from and another drop fell, coating the surface of his eye. 

Tango gasped and stumbled back, blinking furiously. He rubbed his eye, pressing hard with his thumb—a bit too hard. The darkness spread, flooding across his other eye and blocking out his vision. His heart hammered in his chest and his movements grew panicked, frantically trying to get the substance out of his eyes so he could see again. Then he stilled. His mind calmed down, his heartbeat slowed, and he let his hands drop to his sides. Darkness still coated his eyes. He stood still for a second, before a shimmer of aqua flitted across them. 

Tango grabbed the pickaxe from his belt and watched a wave of glowing purple slide across it. Then he swung the pickaxe, digging the tip of it into the base of the table. After a couple more strikes, the base of the altar was destroyed, leaving the tome sitting atop the rubble, its light now dimmed. Tango reached down and picked up the book, snapping it shut and tucking it into one of his pockets. 

He blinked, and the darkness leaked out of his vision. He gasped and tried to steady himself, unsure of what had just happened. His eyes were darting around the city, looking for any sign of a threat, but found nothing. Then he looked back at his pickaxe, and the purple shine it had. He took a breath, then started back towards his tunnel in silence.

Tango stepped back onto grass, on the surface once again. The sun was starting to set, glowing orangey-red and painting the sky with tints of yellow and pink. The Ranch was casting a shadow on the ground in front of it, the torches mounted on its walls letting off pinpricks of light. Seeing it again made him smile, knowing that he had made it back okay. He could feel Jimmy’s mind fill with relief in response. Although Jimmy didn’t quite know what was happening, Tango smiling was enough for him to know that things were okay. 

He stepped up to the doors to their house and reached down to open one when the handle moved away from his hand and the door swung open. He was met with Jimmy’s smile, gleaming like he knew everything was okay.

“Hi!” Jimmy exclaimed. He walked towards Tango, going to wrap his arms around him in a hug, but as he did so, he pulled his hand up to his mouth and coughed into it, half stumbling into him in the process.  

“H- oh, are you okay?” Tango asked.

“Yeah, I’m just-” He coughed a couple more times. “It’s just a cough.”

“You weren’t this bad when I left,” Tango noticed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Tango led Jimmy into their house, both supporting him and pulling him towards the table in their kitchen. Jimmy pulled his arm out of Tango’s grasp and held his hand instead. 

“I’m fine, really. Hey, and you’re fine too! Did you get everything that you wanted enchanted?” “Yeah, we’re all set!” Tango pulled all of Jimmy’s tools and armor out of his inventory and set them on the table. Each one had a rippling amethyst sheen to it, imbued with power and magic. 

“Wow,” Jimmy said. He picked his sword up off the table and held it up, tilting the blade and watching a sparkle of light shine across it. Then he picked up the rest of his gear and stowed it away, admiring the luster to each of them before putting them away. “Y’know, I really do feel safer with all of these enchants.”

“Yeah, they’re definitely going to come in handy,” Tango responded, slipping his hand back into one of his pockets. Then his finger brushed against something unexpected: the leather cover of a book. 

He ran his thumb across the material, feeling the details engraved into it. They were intricate and elegant, as far as Tango could tell. He grabbed onto the book and pulled it out of the pocket just enough to catch a glimpse of it. It had a brown leather cover with gold framing the edges and filling in the carvings. There was text carved into it too, but the words didn’t seem to have any meaning to them. 

Snuff, galvanize, imbue, self, creature, fresh, ignite, free.

Tango let the book fall back into his pocket, electing to ignore it, then pulled out his own sword, its violet gleam reflecting in his eyes. “Now that we have this, we’ll be safe,” Tango said. “And we can figure out how to heal you.”

Jimmy nodded. “Yeah.” He paused for a moment. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah, me too. I mean- I’m glad that you’re okay, not that I’m okay-” Tango grimaced. “Well I’m glad that I’m okay too but what’s more important is that you’re okay, which you are, and I’m glad.” He paused, took a breath, then looked at Jimmy. “I’m glad that you’re okay.”

Jimmy laughed, poorly disguising it as a cough, then actually coughed. Tango moved closer, concerned, but Jimmy recovered before he could do anything. Jimmy recognized the fear in his heart as not his own, then pursed his lips. “It’s fine, you said it yourself, we just need to figure this out, and then we’ll be okay, right?’

The reluctance on Tango’s face was clear. “Yeah.”

“We can do it.”

“Yeah. We’ll fix it.”

-

Rays of sunshine shone into the Ranch, marking the second day of the games. Jimmy could hear birds quietly chirping outside as he blinked himself awake. Tango was still asleep next to him, his expression more calm than Jimmy had seen. Something like sadness, or pity, or guilt flashed in his heart, which he solemnly acknowledged.

The blaring sound of a goat horn’s call trumpeted through the arena, and it was subsequently answered by two others right after.

Tango groaned, woken up by the noise. “Come on,” he muttered. “It’s too early.”

“We need to get some of those,” Jimmy decided. “I cannot stand them just sounding their horns all the time, and how they all respond to each other-” He cut himself off with an exasperated scoff. “We just need to get some.”

“Can’t it wait a few minutes?” Tango asked, half mumbling into his pillow. “And you’re supposed to be the sick one, how are you so energetic?” Jimmy waved him off. “I’m fine, see? It must’ve gone away already!” Then, almost as if on cue, a cough erupted from his throat, making him double over in pain as the hacks continued.

“Woah, hey,” Tango reached out a hand and put it on Jimmy’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, his hand still up to his mouth. “Yeah.”

Tango raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He climbed out of bed and walked over to a chest on the other side of the room, picked out some steak and more bottles of water, then walked back over to the bed and sat down next to his soulmate, handing him the items. 

“Thanks,” he said, then took a long drink of water. 

Tango gave a small smile in response. “If you really want to get some horns, I think I know where we could get a couple.”

Jimmy’s eyes lit up and Tango felt a surge of happiness in his heart. “Really?” 

“Oh, yeah.” Tango smiled. 

It took them a couple hours and some much needed help from Pearl, but they finally had their horns. 

Tango was studying his, spinning it slowly in his hands, his eyes following its grooves.

“We should blow them at the same time!” Jimmy was practically jumping up and down holding his new goat horn.

There was a second of silence before Tango responded. His eyes darted away from the horn and up to Jimmy’s. “Huh?”

“Hey, you knew what I meant,” he complained, giving Tango a playful smack on the arm. 

“Oh, right,” Tango forced out a quick laugh. “Yeah, let’s do it together. Ready?”

Jimmy nodded, and then the two of them each brought their horn up to their lips. 

A pair of four quick notes sounded through the arena, ringing through the air like chiming bells. Jimmy squealed and Tango laughed, both followed by those same four notes once again.

Jimmy was grinning ear-to-ear. “Oh, I love it!” 

“It’s amazing!” Tango agreed.

“And now, we can-” He cut himself off with another call of his horn, which was followed by a different call from across the map, answering his. “Yes! They’re answering!”

“And ours match, too, so we’ll always know that it’s us!” Tango beamed. “Oh, I am so glad we did this.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Hey, Scar,” Joel called. “Where are you?”

“Just over here,” he replied, coming from somewhere behind a wall of bamboo. “Would you like to come see the pandas?”

“Sure,” he replied, following Etho towards the Sanctuary.

The pair let themselves in through the gate and walked up to Scar, who was feeding one of the animals. 

Scar turned to look at them, then smiled. “What can I do for you two gentlemen? There’s some bamboo in that chest over there if you’d like to feed the Jellies, no cost although donations are very much appreciated-”

“We came to ask about the enchanter,” Etho interjected.

Scar gave a quizzical expression. “Well what about it?” “Where is it?” Joel demanded, his voice blunt.

“It should be in the Deep Dark, is it not?”

“No. We went down there to enchant yesterday and got killed by the blummin’ Warden, and when we tried to go back today, the table was gone. So where is it?” He asked again.

“I don’t have it. I haven’t even been in the Deep Dark yet, Grian banned me from going,” he frowned. 

“Are you sure about that?” Joel pressed. 

Meanwhile, Etho had started to drift away from the other two and was studying the base of the Sanctuary’s walls, searching for any seemingly out of place dirt.

“Why, yes, I’m sure,” Scar huffed. “Does it look like I have the enchanter? If I did, I would be all shiny, which I am not. Sadly.”

Joel scowled. “Do you know who would have it, then?”

“No idea. Do you?” He paused for a second. “Well we did follow Tango and Jimmy down there, but they didn’t even get to enchant. And there’s no way they would steal the enchanter.”

Scar shrugged. “You never know. Maybe one of them decided to be a bit rebellious.”

“Yeah, no way,” Joel scoffed. “Not the Tango and Jim I know.”

“Hey, Jimmy?” Tango called from across the house.

“Yeah?”

“I have an idea of something I think we should do.”

“Alright,” Jimmy responded, walking towards the source of Tango’s voice. “What is it?”

Tango was leaning against their table, holding his pickaxe. “I think we should move underground, at least for a little bit.”

“What?” He looked a bit confused, caught off-guard by Tango’s idea.

“Just for a little,” he repeated. “I hate to leave our beautiful Ranch, but I think this is safest right now. I found a cave that we could use.”

Jimmy’s eyebrows scrunched up. “I thought you didn’t like caves.”

“Well it’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t like when they’re not safe,” Tango said. “Besides, this will be better in the long run. As much as I love the Ranch, it’s a bit flammable.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I mean, I guess if you think that’s best, then sure. You are sure though, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tango nodded.

“Alrighty, then.” Jimmy sighed. “It’s a shame we’re leaving the Ranch, though.”

“Yeah, it is. I’m gonna miss it.”

“Me too. But it’s just for a little while, we’ll be back,” Jimmy figured.

“Yes, we will,” Tango smiled. 

Jimmy let the blade of his scythe rest on the ground among the wheat he had harvested and lifted his hand to wipe the sweat off his brow. The midday sun was beating down hard on him, but it seemed less harsh than normal. 

He had been outside farming and tending to the animals for a few hours now, to Tango’s reluctance. According to him, it was a much better idea to stay inside and underground, but Jimmy would’ve been lying to his face if he’d said that he agreed. The darkness and the cold seemed so suffocating to him, he could barely stand being down there for long. He knew that he agreed to hide out more, but his lungs were aching just thinking about being underground. He hadn’t even coughed that much as he was outside, in the warmth of the sun’s rays. It was calm, and there was a light breeze. It was nice, which made him even more adverse to spending all his time in a cave. 

Tango seemed to be doing the opposite, though. The last time they had even seen each other was when he said they should stay underground more. Since then, he had been dutifully sticking to his own direction. Jimmy doubted that Tango had seen the sun since it rose. He had no idea how he could tolerate the cold for so long. 

Technically, Jimmy was only supposed to be “preparing” to stay in the cave Tango found, stocking up on bread and meat so they didn’t have to go outside as much. He knew that he promised Tango he would stay safe, but he could never bear to part with the sky above him. 

A voice jolted him out of his thoughts. “Hey, Jim.”

Jimmy looked up to see Joel and Etho crossing through the gates into the Ranch, both holding swords. He instinctively stepped back, tightening his grip around the scythe. “What do you want?” Something scratched at the back of his throat and he coughed to try and stop it. Shortly after, though, the feeling returned. 

“Woah, no need to be so aggressive,” Joel joked.

“We came to ask about the enchanter.” Etho said.

Jimmy hesitated. “Okay?”

“Where is it?”

He looked confused. “I don’t have it.”

“Well then who does?” Etho questioned.

“Isn’t it still in the Ancient City?”

“Nope. Someone stole it, and we’re trying to figure out who.”

“And you’re asking me?” Jimmy raised his eyebrows. “You really think I stole the enchanter?”

“You two are the only players with enchants,” Joel said, gesturing at his and Etho’s dull armor. “So, yeah.”

“Well, I don’t have it, so you’re gonna have to look elsewhere, mister.”

“What about Tango?” Etho interjected.

“Yeah, where is he, anyway?” Joel glanced around the Ranch. “You two are soulmates, shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, together?”

“He’s mining,” Jimmy shot back. “And he doesn’t have the enchanter, either.”

Joel just squinted at him.

“Oh, come on, do you really think either of us would steal it? That’s Scar’s job.”

The three of them stared at each other in suspenseful silence for a minute, before Joel finally spoke.

“I know when you’re lying, Jim, and you’re not.”

“See? I told you we don’t have it,” he smiled. “Now go away, I have some farming to do.” 

-

The next day, Jimmy still found himself outside, farming wheat in silence. The afternoon sun was once again showering him with its warmth, and he found himself giving up on keeping the sweat off his brow as he swung the scythe back and forth, cutting down swaths of wheat in an arc. The day was different, though. It seemed a little bit darker and a little bit colder than the previous two, like the sun was trapped behind an ever-growing cloud, regardless of the fact that the sky was completely clear.

A chill ran down Jimmy’s spine. He paused for a second, still comprehending what he had just felt. He was cold. Not in the sense of a passing breeze that was stronger than you’d expect, moreso like the constant throbbing of frostbite on your hands and feet. But he was never cold, or at least Tango wasn’t. Usually, Tango had more than enough heat to keep both of them warm, but recently that hadn’t been happening. It almost felt as though he hadn’t felt warm in a while. 

Jimmy was standing in front of a row of chests, stowing all of the wheat he had harvested when he heard footsteps coming up from underground. Tango joined him at the chests, putting away various stones and ores. Neither acknowledged the other for a second, until Jimmy paused. 

“Hey, Tango?” He asked. “Are you... cold?”

Tango raised an eyebrow and repeated his question. “Am I cold?” 

“I mean like when you’re mining.” Jimmy added. 

“I mean, sometimes. Why?”

“Well, when I was farming earlier today,” he ignored Tango’s slight frown. “I felt this.. I don’t know, shiver, through our soulbond. And I know you don’t really get cold or anything, but I was just wondering if something was going on.”

“What? No, I’m fine, it just-” There was a split second of hesitation. “-gets a bit cold down there sometimes.”

Jimmy nodded, even though he didn’t understand. “I see. So everything’s alright, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tango said.

“That’s.. good.”

Tango nodded, then disappeared back down the tunnel into the mines. 

Jimmy sat on their bed, still awake, lit only by the glow of a lantern. The moon was out, shining a subtle glow through the windows. As much as it was beautiful, though, Jimmy’s mind was in other places. 

Tango never took this long to come back. Usually he would be back in the house by now, preferring to avoid any mob that spawned rather than fight them.

Then a blood red message flashed across his vision, disrupting his train of thought.

Smallishbeans died because of Enderman

Followed by:

Etho died

They died again. Jimmy nearly gasped at it, even before he realized. They were reds now, the first pair in the game, meaning they could kill whoever they wanted, and that was not good for the two of them.

Jimmy tried to see if he could feel any reaction to the death through the soulbond, but came up with nothing, surprising him a bit. He expected Tango to be a bit more panicked about it—or at least excited. Instead, their soulbond felt empty, with almost another tinge of that same cold. 

Jimmy frowned, and he blinked. His eyelids were getting heavier as the moon made its way into the sky. There were dozens of questions in his mind, none of which he could answer.

He blinked again, then closed his eyes. 

-

Jimmy groaned as he slowly woke and stretched out of the awkward position he fell asleep in. His muscles were aching, as if punishing him for his lack of caring, and the air was scratching at his lungs, making him cough a couple times. He looked around, but saw no sign that Tango had even been out of mines since he last saw him. He sighed, then laid back down and tried to make himself comfortable. 

Something had to be going on, he thought. He started to search back through his memories, trying to identify anything that could’ve caused this. He remembered when they had first met, and the creeper explosion that caused it, and then the pair of them going into the Ancient City, and- 

The shriek. It was dark when it happened, but he remembered feeling those particles in the air and in his throat, like dust kicked up from the explosion. It was probably the reason for his own cough, he realized. But whatever Tango had was worse somehow. He didn’t know why, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t figure it out. He was digging through his mind, seeking out every speck of information on the substance he could remember. 

It was called sculk, and it was like a fungus, and it spread when things died around it. It thrived in places like the Ancient City—dark, cold, and far underground. There were shriekers, and sensors, and Wardens, all made of the stuff. And it could hear you. It was dangerous, and not good to be around. 

Then something else popped into his mind. A while ago, outside of the games, someone he knew got… infected. Cub. Jimmy didn’t know exactly what happened, but he knew that, while he was infected, Cub was different, changed, like he was possessed. He was distant, and obsessive, and almost manipulative. 

Then Jimmy started to get worried. He was pretty sure Tango had been infected, too. He could still feel the ever-present chill in their soulbond and the absence of his soulmate in the rest of his heart. As soon as he had thought of the idea, it was like a fuse had been lit in his brain, making it blow up into a million questions. 

If that’s what happened to Tango, how would he fix it? What would he do? Could he ask anyone about it? Who could he ask? Who would know? Who would help him? 

His mind was frantically searching through every possibility, and crossing each name off the list a second after he thought of them. Then he hesitated, caught on a name bright in his mind among hesitance, fear, and desperation: Scar. 

Scar was Cub’s old business partner, and he was there when Cub was infected. Out of all of the players, he would be the best one to ask by far. Still, though, there was no way he would actually help him. He would want something in return, that something being the enchanter, which he didn’t have, and there wasn’t much else he could offer. So, practically all options were off the table. Unless… 

“Scar?” Jimmy called. 

“Yes?”

“I have to ask you about something.”

“I see.” Scar set something in a chest and closed it, then turned to Jimmy. “Well, I’m happy to answer any question you have to the best of my abilities, but I’m afraid I’ll need something in exchange.”

“Yeah. See, I know you want the enchanter, but I don’t have it. I swear. I…” Jimmy hesitated, and his eyes darted to the side for a second. “I do know where it is. And I’ll tell you, if you can help me.”

Scar smiled. “Fantastic, I am very glad to hear that. Now, good sir, what can I help you with?”

“You know Cub, right? And you were there when he got infected with that stuff a while ago? Out of the games,” Jimmy asked. 

“Ah.” Scar paused. “Yes, why do you ask?”

“I-“ He started, then cut himself off. “That’s not important. What can you- What happened?”

“Enchanter first.”

Jimmy frowned, then exhaled. He grabbed a piece of paper, jotted a series of random numbers down on it and handed it to Scar. “There’s the first coordinate, I’ll give you the other after.”

Scar tucked the paper in his pocket, then thought for a second before starting to speak. “Honestly, I don’t really know,” Scar shrugged. “I think he went to help Shubble with something at her swamp and got infected there. The infection itself only lasted a few days, but a lot happened. He went around spreading sculk everywhere, and got, like, possessed and stuff. Eventually, Shelby and a few others were able to get rid of it, though.”

“How did they cure him?” Jimmy spat out the question like it was freezing on his tongue. 

“Potions, I think?”

Jimmy’s heart sank into his stomach. Potions, of course. The one thing he couldn’t make. “Are you sure?” He pressed. 

“Yes, I am. Now, if that’s all you wanted, I believe I’m missing a coordinate,” he reminded.

Jimmy huffed impatiently and looked for another piece of paper to write on. When he couldn’t find one, let out a short groan and held out his hand. “Give me it back.”

Scar hesitated for a moment before complying. Jimmy snatched the paper out of Scar’s hand, scribbled the other coordinate next to the first, then shoved it back at him. He opened his mouth to give a quick ‘thank you,’ but was cut off by another voice. 

“Hey there, Jim.”

Joel and Etho were walking out from under the cover of the forest towards them, their eyes shining blood red. 

“Ah, gentlemen, nice to see you again,” Scar smiled. 

Immediately after, Jimmy spun on his heel, his boots digging into the soft ground as he sprinted away, bushing through branches and leaves. He could hear the pair give chase, their footsteps pounding. The creak of a bowstring cut through the monotony, followed by the thwack of an arrow burying itself in the trunk of a tree next to him. Two more arrows followed it, each getting closer and closer to him, but never quite hitting their target. Then the forest gave way to the desert, open and plain. He kept running, pushing himself through the sand as arrows whizzed past him on either side. 

“C’mon, Jim, die already!” Joel yelled. 

Etho stopped and drew his bow back once more, carefully took aim, then let the arrow fly. This time, it sailed through the air in a perfect arc and landed in the meat of Jimmy’s shoulder. Jimmy gasped as he felt piercing metal dig deep into his muscle, the arrowhead planting itself right next to his bone. He stumbled but kept running, slowly making his way across the field of sand. He could feel Etho’s eyes following him as he ran, watching him before lining up a second shot, but another never came. Their footsteps faded from view as he finally left the desert, clinging onto the life that remained. 

Jimmy pushed through the front door into the Ranch, breathing quickly. There was blood soaking his shirt now, draining out of the puncture wound left by the arrow, which was still stuck in his shoulder. He could feel his heart shaking and his shoulder throbbing as he pulled the arrow out. After he got it unstuck, he set it on the table next to him and began to clean the wound. As he did, he searched through the deeper parts in his heart, looking for anything through the soulbond, but found nothing. No panic, no worry, not even pain. There was no evidence of Tango even noticing he had been shot.

For a split second, Jimmy wondered if something had broken, if the game had glitched or something. Because what else would it be? There’s no way Tango wouldn’t at least be able to feel the arrow. He had lost nearly 5 hearts after all, and that was hard to ignore. Still, though, there was nothing. 

Jimmy tied the ends of the bandage around his shoulder, then stood. He walked over towards the bank of chests on the wall, but paused at the entrance to the mine. What was he doing down there? There was no way he was still actually mining. If he was, he would’ve gone through dozens of pickaxes at this point, and for what? It’s not like they needed that much. Gods, it seemed like forever since he had last seen him. He could barely feel him, either. Another couple of coughs escaped his lungs. 

He was staring down the tunnel into Tango’s mineshaft, blood now soaking through his bandages, nothing but confusion in his eyes and a lump in his throat. 

Jimmy was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, almost completely unmoving. He was seated right next to the entrance to the strip mine, just sitting there, thinking. Originally, it had been a decision of whether he should be worried, but now it was more along the lines of whether he should go look for Tango or just leave him alone. He was worried, there was no debate about that, but deciding what he would do about it was what troubled him. 

He was thinking about what Scar had said, too. They used potions to cure him, which was impossible here. So that wasn’t it. Whatever Tango had was different, he told himself. Something else. Maybe he didn’t even have anything at all, who knows? Besides, Scar said that Cub got sick from Shubble’s swamp, which Tango definitely didn’t go into. So that wasn’t it. Maybe it was just the games. They changed people, he knew that. After all, it’s kind of hard to kill your friends in cold blood for sport one day, then go back to being buddies the next. To avoid that, most players acted differently in the games, like they were playing a character instead of being themselves. For all he knew, that was all that was going on. Everyone was fine, including Tango, and so was he. 

Something hard struck the wood of their front door–the pommel of a sword. The sound it made was sharp and deliberate, with an air of impatience to it. It was a knock, but not a question: a demand. 

Jimmy pushed himself off the floor, grabbed his sword from his belt and walked over to the door. One hand clenched the grip of his sword and the other reached out for the doorknob, the rest of his muscles tense. 

He opened the door. Standing behind it, as he expected, was Scar, Etho and Joel on either side of him. 

“Hi,” Jimmy started. 

“Hi Jimmy,” Etho replied, his face blank. 

“I assume you know why we’re here,” Scar said, holding the piece of paper Jimmy gave him between his fingertips. 

“Okay, yeah, look, I don’t know where it is. I just needed some info, that’s all. And it didn’t even affect you!” Jimmy defended. 

“Well, you did lie to me. And after I placed my trust in you, Jimmy,” Scar tutted. “I can’t believe it.” He closed his fist around the paper, crushing it into a tight ball before dropping it. 

“Hey-!” Jimmy took a step back and scowled at Scar. “Okay, I might’ve lied to you then, but I’m not lying when I say that I don’t have it. Neither of us do.”

“Then I guess it’s magically disappeared, huh, Jimmy?” Joel interjected. “You’re the only people that could have it.”

“No-“

“Speaking of, where is your soulmate?”

“He’s mining.” Jimmy said sharply. 

“Still?” Etho laughed. 

Joel smiled. “Trouble in paradise, huh, Jim?” 

“No, hey-“ Jimmy stopped himself, then sighed. “Look, how do you know someone else doesn’t have it?”

“You’re the only players with enchanted gear.” Scar shrugged, tapping his knuckle against Jimmy’s chestplate. “It’s simple, Jimmy.”

“Yeah, look at you, all shiny,” Etho added. 

“Well they could be framing us!”

Scar raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think that, Jimmy?” His voice was full of venom, so much so that it almost surprised him. 

“Yeah, well,” He trailed off. 

“Just tell us where it is and we’ll leave you alone,” Etho offered.

Joel grinned unsympathetically. “Yeah, and we won’t even kill you.”

“Great, thanks.” Jimmy replied dryly. In his head, though, sirens were blaring loud and clear. 

Gods, where was Tango? He needed someone to back him up on this, there was no way he could just get them to leave by himself. If Tango were there, maybe he could convince them that they didn’t have the enchanter, because they didn’t! The situation was infuriating, but that didn’t stop him from being terrified. 

“Hey guys, how about we settle this later, alright?” He started to pull the door closed when Scar stepped forward and braced his arm against the door, keeping it open. 

“Well, actually, my friend, I think I’m gonna need something in exchange for my troubles. How about that shiny armor of yours?” Keeping one hand on the door, he held out his other expectantly. 

Jimmy shook his head and stepped back. “Uh, yeah, no, you can go get your own armor.”

Scar paused, silent. Jimmy could tell that the gears in his mind were turning, but he couldn’t tell why. 

“Okay, fine.” He stepped back and took his hand off the door, which Jimmy immediately slammed in his face. 

His heart was racing, pounding against his chest as he retreated back, farther into his home. They left. Never in a million years did he think they would actually leave. But they did, and it was going to be okay. He felt as though the sun was actually warm again, beaming in through the windows and freeing him from that cold in his heart. It was finally warmer, he could feel it. Everything was back to normal, and it would be okay.

Then the scent of smoke caught his nose. He heard laughing from outside. Jimmy froze. He looked out one of the windows. The light seemed… red. Then the first plank gave away. Flames were burning bright, licking along the edge of the wood, and smoke poured in through the hole as more and more of the wood gave away to the blaze. 

The Ranch was on fire. 

Jimmy was breathing quickly, inhaling what seemed like equal parts smoke and air as he rushed to the mineshaft entrance and screamed for Tango to come up, both for help and to make sure he was okay. He waited, but there was no response. He started to call out again but was overcome with a fit of coughs as pain wracked his lungs. The room was filled with dark gray smoke now, making it impossible to even see how bad the damage was getting. He choked out another cough, then inhaled more smoke, then coughed again. He shut his watering eyes tight and turned back to where the door had been, then stumbled towards it. He pushed himself through the doorway and onto the grass, into open air. He fell to his knees on the still dewy grass and forced himself to breathe, pumping oxygen into his lungs and pushing the smoke out. His mouth was dry like it was coated in sand and his throat was raw like he had swallowed those same particles.

As his lungs were still recovering, he turned back to the Ranch—or what remained. The fire had traveled fast, completely coating the entire structure and engulfing it in flame until there was nothing left to burn. Now, charred wooden boards were scattered across the ground among shattered glass and cracked fence posts, leaving the stone entrance to the tunnel that led deep down below almost completely unharmed. 

Jimmy just stared at that arch, unmoving as wisps of smoke continued to rise. His throat was dry, and his lungs were dry, but his cheeks were wet. He hacked out another quick cough then pushed himself off the ground, staggering for a couple steps before he caught his balance. He strode through the broken framework of their house and stormed down the stairs. His boots were catching on loose stone, but he continued unbothered. It got colder and colder as he descended into the earth, and the walls around him changed from stone to deepslate, driving the world into shadow. There were much less torches on the walls as he went further down, so much so that when he reached the bottom, he could barely see. He could tell Tango was there, though. 

“Tango!” His voice was cracked and hoarse, and it hurt, but he yelled a second time anyway. “Tango!”

He stepped out of the darkness, holding a pickaxe in one hand and a sword in the other. “Ye-“

Jimmy grabbed Tango’s arm and pulled, ignoring his protests, and dragged him up through the tunnel. His grip was unrelenting, forcing Tango to follow him. Finally, they made their way all the way out of the mines and into the sunlight.

It seemed to take him a second to notice the absence of their house. “Um.” Tango said. 

“Um? That’s it? Our house has been burned to the ground, and that’s all you have to say?” Jimmy’s voice cracked. 

“What else do you want me to say?”

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe be a little sad about it? C’mon, we made this house together, and now it’s burned to ash, and you’re not even sad? What’s happened to you?”

There was a shift in Tango’s tone. “What happened to me?”

“Yeah- back when we first met, the Tango I knew would’ve killed anyone who did this, and now, all you say is um.” He put an emphasis on the final word, distaste in his voice. 

Tango sneered. “Yeah, well, it’s not like you haven’t changed too.”

“Yeah? How have I changed, huh?”

“You don’t trust me.”

“I don’t-“ Jimmy gaped. “I don’t trust you? When have I ever not trusted you? This whole time, I’ve been willing to follow what you say, I’ve agreed, I’ve helped you- I forgave you, and you’re saying I don’t trust you?” He gestured wildly as he defended himself, red-hot anger flaring up in his heart. 

Tango stared at him, his face set. “Yeah. You have agreed, but you haven’t actually followed through. Every time I say we should do something, you go along with it at the start, then leave and ignore me.”

“I- yeah, okay, fine, maybe I do, but that’s not because I don’t trust you.”

“Are you sure about that?” He tilted his head to the side. “We’re supposed to be soulmates, Jimmy, and you act like I don’t exist.”

“No. I look out for you, I defend you, I’m trying to help you, and where were you when Scar burnt our house down?” Jimmy threw his arms out to his sides like he was reveling in the ruins around him. 

“I was mining,” Tango shot back. “Gathering resources for us, so we don’t die.”

He scoffed. “Oh yeah? And what do you have to show for it?”

Still holding eye contact with Jimmy, Tango reached out to a chest next to him, grabbed its latch and pulled. The chest tipped from its shelf and fell open, scattering its contents on the floor. A wave of diamonds and iron and gold swept over the tiles, surrounding the two of them in a puddle of riches. The sunlight from above reflected off the shining metals and gems, covering both of them in specks of light. 

Jimmy froze, staring down at the sparkling gemstones covering the floor. Tango stayed silent, too, in satisfaction. 

Then Jimmy looked up at him, into his dark eyes. “Fine. If you wanna keep mining, do it. Just don’t expect anything out of me.”

“Sounds fantastic.”

Jimmy barely spared him a second glance before spinning on his heel, sending a few of the gems skittering across the floor, and walking out through the remains of the doorway. 

Jimmy’s jaw was clenched as he swung his scythe through the new growth of his fields, accidentally clawing a gash in the dirt and uprooting some of the plants. He stopped himself from taking another swing and frowned at the exposed roots, then squatted down, sighing. He let his scythe rest on the ground next to him as he pushed the roots of the crop back into the ground and patted some dirt into place on top of it, then worked on filling in the rest of the divot. 

Around him, night was falling. The sun had dipped behind the treeline minutes ago, so there was no point to him still standing amongst the wheat, but that didn’t stop him. He might as well—what else would he do?

He closed his eyes and bowed his head like he was praying to the dirt, silent and thinking. The argument still rang in his mind, even as he tried to push it out. He couldn’t tell if he regretted anything, though. He could still barely feel their soulbond, which was now just a faint echo of what it had been at the start of the game. 

He didn’t regret anything. He was right to be mad. When nothing was left, when they were supposed to still have each other, Tango left. Well, they had both left. 

Jimmy stood, grabbing his scythe, and walked over to the oak tree towering over what would’ve been their front lawn. He leaned the tool against the trunk of the tree, then sat down beneath it, tipping his head back until it rested on the tree’s bark. The air still stunk of smoke, and it reeked on Jimmy’s clothes and in his hair. He did his best to ignore it. Jimmy folded his hands in his lap, intertwining his fingers together and holding on tight, then closed his eyes as the moon rose high into the sky. 

-

The shining white sun peeked through the trees once more, bringing about the fifth day of the games. The players were starting to get tired now, which pushed them further into desperation. The games were starting to weigh down on them as their lives were ripped away one by one.

Etho and Joel, of course, were red—the first to turn. Ren and BigB had died to an enderman first, then a creeper, both mistakes but they were on their final life nonetheless. Scott and Pearl were the other two reds, their demise brought about by their own disagreement. Grian and Scar, and Martyn and Cleo were both yellow, in addition to Tango and Jimmy. Most of them had died to mobs of some kind, bringing them into the danger zone between safety and freedom. Bdubs and Impulse were the only two who hadn’t lost any of their lives, the bright, healthy green still shining in their eyes. And unfortunately for them, the reds wanted nothing more for that life to be gone. 

Between the reds, there was talk of a hunt to knock Bdubs and Impulse down to their second life. It was supposed to be a secret, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the pair of them knew already. That meant time for them to prepare, which meant a more entertaining fight, which was always welcomed. 

The battle cry of a chorus of horns rang through the arena, announcing that the hunt for the greens’ heads had begun. Jimmy winced sympathetically. He did not envy the position the two of them were in. It wasn’t his business, though, so he continued about his day, preparing for when he and Tango would be the target of their swords. 

He still couldn’t tell if he regretted what he’d said. If he was honest, it didn’t even matter to him anymore. If they couldn’t agree on anything, there’s no way they would make it in these games. He tried to see if their soulbond held any hints of what Tango was feeling, but there wasn’t much. Not like yesterday, when both of their hearts were teeming with anger. Now, there was much more… nothing. But nothingness was better than anger, right? He had been less cold throughout the morning too, he realized. And he was coughing less. Both good signs. It was like, as Tango calmed, Jimmy got better. He hoped that’s what was happening. 

So they were okay—or at least better—and that was good enough. 

The two of them met, once again, at the rows of chests against their wall. They were starting to run out of space to store things. 

As Jimmy was filling yet another chest with bundles of wheat, a string of yellow text appeared in his eyes. 

Bdubs fell from a high place

Followed by:

Impulse died

Jimmy took a pause as he acknowledged what he had just seen. “They got them,” he muttered. He closed the chest and turned his head towards Tango. “You know they’re gonna go for the yellows next, right? And Etho and Joel already don’t like us. They and Scar think we have the enchanter for some reason, and they think I’m lying to them, so-“

“Oh, yeah, the enchanter? About that…” Tango’s sentence trailed off as he stopped what he was doing and reached into one of his pockets, then pulled the book out for Jimmy to see. 

“You- what?” He shouted in disbelief, snatching the book out of Tango’s hands to inspect it. He ran his fingertips over the gilded detailing, tracing the engraved lines and text. He ripped it open, then flipped through the blank pages, his mouth still hanging open in shock. “It’s real. You really-” He looked back up at Tango, a glower on his face. “You actually stole it, and you never thought to tell me?” He paused for a second, as if waiting for him to say something, but continued before he could. 

“Y’know, to know that everyone was actually right to harass me all the time would’ve been great to know,” He seethed, then snapped the book shut and thrust it back at Tango. Before he was able to grab it, though, Jimmy let go and it fell to the floor with a smack. Jimmy took a second’s glance at it before scoffing and walking in the other direction. Tango stared at him for a second, then at the book before bending down and picking it up. He tucked it back into his pocket, then returned his gaze to Jimmy, expressionless. 

“Right, we’re gonna need to deal with them at some point,” Jimmy huffed.

“Don’t worry about that. I have the perfect idea.” Tango promised. The shadow of a smile spread across his face. 

A shiver ran through Jimmy’s bones. He was perched up high on a ledge, watching all that happened below. 

Tango was sneaking through the ruins of the City much faster than Jimmy could have ever bared to imagine. He could barely spot him moving so quickly in the dark, like a predator on the hunt. It was like he belonged there. 

He was working his way towards the City’s center, occasionally pausing to set something on the ground behind him, sometimes even chipping into the stone tiles to hide it. 

When Jimmy first saw the shiny purple glint of his pickaxe swinging through the air, his heart seized up. He was going to die, there was no doubt about it. Then he watched the tip of Tango’s pickaxe crack the stone. An audible, heart-wrenching snap sounded throughout the city. Nothing happened. Tango placed a small red bundle in the hole, then placed a fragment of stone on top to conceal it. 

Jimmy let out a shaky exhale, equal parts confused and relieved. How? As much as he was afraid to admit it, Tango shouldn’t be alive right now. And yet, he continued through the city, completely unbothered. 

When he finally reached the center, Tango took a quick pause to look out on the City, his face solemn like he was the one who built it and was now regrettably putting it to waste. Then he pulled out his communicator. 

<TangoTek> scar, etho, joel, i think theres something you’re gonna want to see

He looked up at Jimmy and nodded. Jimmy nodded back, then turned around. 

Behind him was an incomplete altar, missing just one thing. He took the book out of his pocket, along with a chunk of lapis, and set both on the table. He pulled his scythe off his belt, flipping through the book’s pages and eventually landing on the incantation for Efficiency. He gave a little shrug to no one but himself, then whispered the enchantment and crushed the lapis over the blade, his hands shaking. 

SolidarityGaming has made the advancement [Enchanter]

<GoodTimeWithScar> I KNEW IT

<Smallishbeans> jim you dirty little liar

<Etho> hey jimmy where are you?

<SolidarityGaming> nowhere

<Smallishbeans> yeah uhuh

Now all they had to do was wait. 

Soon enough, Jimmy spotted a light at the base of the staircase, signaling that someone was here. He looked at Tango, who had noticed the same thing as him and was pulling out his sword. 

Even though Jimmy was safe high above the City, well out of blast range and almost completely hidden, he couldn’t stop a bit of fear from bubbling up in his heart. He trusted Tango, enough anyway, but this was still going to be a three-on-one if everything went to plan, and Tango had never prided himself on his fighting skills. He’d known that since the very first day. 

Maybe he had been practicing or something. A bit unusual for him, but he figured that Tango hadn’t been usual at all recently. Did he even know what ‘usual’ for him was? They had never really gotten to know each other since the games started, with him farming and Tango in the mines all day. Not like all the other soulmates, who relied on each other, and knew each other, and helped each other. Maybe Tango was right about staying underground more. He’d hate it, but he and Tango would be working together much more. He decided that, if they made it out of this, that’s what he would do. 

An explosion rang through the cavern. An explosion? Had they brought firework rockets or something? 

Another explosion. He paid more attention this time. A cloud of white smoke and dust covered one of the paths, but there was no sign of any firework stars in the air. So what was it? Had they- no, Tango did. That’s what he was doing. Planting TNT. 

Jimmy’s eyes widened. There was no way. He would never. He never wanted to do anything with TNT or explosions, and now here he was, laying dozens of TNT powered traps, in an Ancient City, no less? He was out of his mind. 

Tango cocked his head to the side, watching the events in front of him unfold. Explosions continued to rock the City from below, blowing craters into the paths that led to the center. He still simply stood inside the portal frame, sword in hand but completely at ease. Around him, the sculk was screaming, singing, calling forth a Warden to solve the problems the City faced. Shrieker after shrieker went off and waves of darkness pounded across the ruins, which made Tango do little more than change his stance. 

Joel and Etho and Scar were scared, Tango could tell. They were panicking, a completely reasonable reaction to the events taking place, but nonetheless entertaining. And he could use it to his advantage. 

Tango stepped off the platform in the center of the City, heading straight towards the unlucky three. He moved effortlessly through the cratered ruins, not at all acknowledging the darkness all around them. Waves of aqua light from the sculk rolled past him as he walked, almost like they were showing him the way towards his prize. A Warden was on the surface now, several actually. He didn’t know exactly where, but he could hear their screams echo through the City towards him. He continued, paying them no mind. 

A bolt of lightning struck the ground, shooting through the layers upon layers of stone between them and the surface, bright white light flaring across the area. 

Etho blew up

Smallishbeans died

They were out. Gone completely. Finally. One less problem he had to deal with. He continued, though, still on the hunt for his final target. 

He could hear Scar’s frantic breathing as he rushed back towards the exit as fast as he could, fumbling in the dark. He wasn’t moving fast, though, and he couldn’t tell Tango was behind him. Tango doubted that was one of Scars priorities at the moment. Oh well. 

The heartbeat booming strongly in Tango’s ears was like a war drum pushing him forwards and the chittering of the sculk was like the snare that accompanied it, together making a battlefield’s symphony. 

He was right behind him now. Tango raised his sword without even a second of pause, then brought it swinging down. 

GoodTimeWithScar was slain by TangoTek

Grian died

Jimmy breathed out a shaky sigh, partly of relief and partly of morbid amazement. He did it, and he managed to not die. Not like Jimmy didn’t have any faith in him. Just slightly unexpected, that’s all. 

Jimmy slowly climbed down from his little cutout high in the cave wall to meet Tango, who was making his way towards the exit. He kept his head on a swivel, constantly looking out for the Wardens that had spawned during the fight, but there didn’t seem to be any around. Weird. 

“Tango!” Jimmy whispered as enthusiastically as he could. “You did it!”

“Yeah,” Tango smiled, talking at a normal volume.

A speck of concern passed through Jimmy’s mind. “Hey, quiet down a bit, we’re still in the Deep Dark.”

Tango waved him off. “We’ll be fine. Can I have the book back?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Jimmy nodded, speaking slightly louder. He retrieved the book and handed it back to Tango, who quickly stowed it away. 

“Hey, you know he’s gonna come after us again, right?” Jimmy asked.

“Who, Scar?”

He nodded. “And now that he’s red and knows we have the enchanter, there’s no way he’ll stop.”

Tango tilted his head to the side. “Not unless we kill him first.”

Jimmy scrunched his eyebrows in surprise. “Woah, hey, we might want to lay low for a bit first.” 

“Why? What’s the point? We know that he wants the enchanter and that he’s not gonna stop trying to get it, which will be a pain, so might as well get rid of the problem.”

“I mean, yeah, but don’t you want to relax a bit or something. Killing a guy two times in a row seems a bit hard,” he laughed awkwardly. 

“Does it, though?”

“Uh, yeah. C’mon man, we aren’t even red yet,” Jimmy reminded him. He was a bit concerned about Tango killing someone else as a yellow, but Tango didn’t seem to notice the issue at all. “Let’s get back up to the surface, it’s cold down here.”

A couple seconds passed before Tango responded. “Alright.”

Jimmy gave a small smile, then started up the staircase out of the City.

Now comfortably in the sunlight once again, Jimmy was free to simply watch as more and more deaths happened. 

After the double kill down in the City, the rest of the players had been understandably confused about what had taken place, but neither him nor Tango offered any explanations. Eventually, people stopped asking. Now, it was almost like they were avoiding him. Still, though, the games continued. 

Following what she said was a betrayal on Martyn’s part, Pearl decided that she was due her revenge. 

ZombieCleo was doomed to fall by PearlescentMoon

InTheLittleWood died

Just hours later, a second bolt of white-hot fire struck as Ren and BigB were ripped out of the games by Grian.

Rendog was skewered by a falling stalactite

Bigbst4tz2 died

And apparently Martyn also felt as though Pearl’s killing Cleo was somewhat of a betrayal. A third bolt of lightning crashed towards the ground.

PearlescentMoon blew up

Smajor1995 died

Too bad he got caught in the blast. Lightning strike number four. 

InTheLittleWood blew up

ZombieCleo died

There were just three pairs of soulmates left now: Jimmy and Tango, Impulse and Bdubs, and Grian and Scar. Grian and Scar were the only reds left in the game, and unfortunately for the yellows, they were out for blood. Unfortunately for Grian and Scar, Tango was, too. 

-

“Timmy!” A voice yelled. 

Jimmy wasn’t at all surprised to hear it. Both he and Tango knew that this would happen the moment Tango had said anything about his idea. Still, though, that didn’t mean he was entirely prepared. 

“Yes?” He called back.

He turned and Tango did the same, both now looking towards Grian and Scar. They stood in front of the others, their gleaming armor somehow giving them an air of power. 

“We know you know why we’re here, so let’s just make this quick, yeah?” Grian stepped forward. “Give us the enchanter.”

This was going exactly how the two of them thought it would. They had expected this, and had planned for it, so Jimmy knew what would happen next.

“No.” Tango said.

“What?” Jimmy’s eyes widened. That wasn’t a part of the plan. What was he doing?

Scar took a quick step forward, too fast for either of them to react, and brought his sword up to Jimmy’s throat. “What about now?”

Jimmy’s muscles tensed up, his mind filling with fear. “Tango, what are you doing? Just give it to them!”

“Why should I?” He shot back. 

“Because this is what we agreed on!”

“Since when do you follow agreements? Why should I have to?”

“Because my life, and therefore your life, is at stake here,” Jimmy gestured at Scar, who was sharing a quizzical look with Grian. 

Tango barely acknowledged Jimmy’s words before looking back at Grian. “I’m not giving it to you.”

“Tango, just do it! Please!” The edge of the blade was cutting into his throat now, drawing blood. 

“No.”

“Fine,” Grian said, and Scar swung his sword clean through Jimmy’s neck. Almost ten seconds later, Tango dropped to the ground beside him. 

Jimmy gasped. His heart was racing in his chest, and his neck was aching sharply. He was in the center of where their house used to be, sitting on the ground.

“Tango-” he started, then looked to the side of him. Tango wasn’t there. “Tango? Where-”

Tango shot awake next to him, breathing quickly. He was clutching his chest like he was scared, or missing something. He turned and saw Jimmy next to him, a weird expression on his face.

“What happened?” Tango asked.

“What do you mean ‘what happened,’ you got me killed! Again.” He added, spite in his voice.

“Wait, I what?” Dread filled Tango’s eyes.

Jimmy scoffed in disbelief. “I can’t believe you. After all of that crap that happened earlier, and you literally not caring whether I died or not, and you’re trying to act like it never happened? What’s wrong with you?”

“No, wait, what?” Tango was fumbling through his words, overwhelmed by Jimmy’s reaction. 

“I cannot believe I ever trusted you.” Jimmy sneered. “Something’s always been going on, hasn’t it? What is it?” 

“I- I don’t know. I’m sorry,” Tango tried. He was confused and he was hurting but he tried.

Jimmy paused, looking at him. “No you aren’t. I’ve learned that well enough already.”

He pushed himself up and walked through the still standing doorway into their garden. A message popped up, written in red.

BdoubleO100 was killed by Grian

ImpulseSV died 

Jimmy didn’t even flinch at the words, but Tango made an audible gasp as he followed Jimmy.

“Bdubs died! And they’re red, too? Already?”

“What do you mean ‘already’? The game’s nearly over,” Jimmy responded, annoyance in his voice. “It’s just us, Bdubs and Impulse, and Grian and Scar left.”

“What? What do you mean it’s only the six of us? Did something happen?” Tango sounded genuinely concerned, and that only made Jimmy more irritated.

Jimmy spun on his heel to face Tango. “Right, cut it out with this not remembering crap, will you? It’s getting annoying.”

“Wha- oh, I, uh, I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I just-“

“What is going on with you?” Jimmy pressed. “Did you hit your head or something?” He let out a dry laugh. 

“I don’t… know.”

Jimmy scoffed. 

“Did something happen?” He asked.

“You tell me,” he replied in mock confusion.

Another message, this time gray. 

ImpulseSV tried to swim in lava

BdoubleO100 died

“And there goes those two,” Jimmy commented absentmindedly.

Tango blinked at the words in shock, gaping at Jimmy. “How are you being so casual about this? They just died- like died died, and you don’t even care!”

“You get used to it.”

“No, you don’t,” Tango argued. “It’s only been a day and you’re saying that us, Grian and Scar are the only people left alive?”

“Are you joking?” The fire in Jimmy’s eyes and the anger in his voice shocked Tango into silence. “You must be joking. Because we both know you aren’t telling the truth.”

“I am,” Tango protested. 

“And you think I’m gonna believe you? Now? After you betrayed my trust I don’t even know how many times?”

“Look, I’m sorry for whatever I did, but I really don’t know what’s going on.”

Jimmy just rolled his eyes pointedly, his nostrils slightly flared. “Very funny.”

“Jimmy, humor me. Tell me what I did, or at least what happened to everyone.”

“They died,” He deadpanned. “What else could it have been?”

“Okay, yeah, I guess, that would make sense, but how?”

Jimmy let out a sharp exhale. “Look, if you’re gonna be a pain, at least be helpful for once.”

“I-“ he started, then stopped. “For once?”

“Yeah. Make us some new armor or something. Use some of those diamonds. I’m sure there’s plenty, seeing as you never touched them after you put them away.”

“Some of those…?” His eyebrows furrowed as he walked over to the chests and opened one. Piles of sparkling ores and gems filled the chest to the brim so much so that it was almost overflowing. “Wha…” Tango stuck his arm into the chest, digging through the pile of minerals. “I found all these?” He seemed amazed at himself. 

“Yeah, and it was all for nothing since but we died anyway. They have the enchanter now, too. And our armor, and our tools, because you just couldn’t bear to give up your precious book.” He turned to Tango. “It was all a waste. All of your paranoia, all of your mining, even the enchanter was pretty much useless, you know that right?”

“Wh- I, uh…” Tango stammered, caught completely off guard by his soulmate’s bluntness. He could feel a lump forming inside his throat, clawing at his flesh. “I-” Something was welling up in his eyes, and before he could notice, a drop of it rolled down his cheek and fell onto his arm. It was dark turquoise, almost black, and it seemed to dry out instantly, leaving behind small black particles. He stared down at it, confused. Then memories came rushing back to him. Not all of them, but just enough. 

“No.” He said, but he wasn’t talking to Jimmy. “No, no, no no no-“

“What?” He snapped. “What is that?” Jimmy strode back into the ruins of the Ranch, towards Tango.

Tango held his hands up defensively, gesturing for Jimmy to stay away. “Hold on, just wait a second, okay?”

“And why should I?” He stepped forward again. “Tango, what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what caused it, but I am so sorry.” There was something in his eyes that Jimmy had seen before, the very first time they’d met. That same expectant, apprehensive guilt as the first time he had gotten the two of them killed. He was breathing quickly, too, his hands still held out as if he was trying to protect Jimmy from himself.

Jimmy stepped back. 

An arrow stuck into the ground between them. Jimmy’s head shot to where it had come from, his eyes scanning the trees for signs of the only other two players left alive: Grian and Scar. Reflexively, he pulled up his arm to take cover behind a shield, only to realize that he didn’t have one. No sword, ethier. He rushed over to a chest and fished out one of his old, chipped swords from the beginning, as well as an equally beat up shield. He raised the shield just in time for another arrow to pierce the wood, the tip of the arrowhead making its way completely through before getting stuck. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tango rifling through chests too, presumably looking for more old weaponry that he could grab. 

Scar and Grian moved in closer, out of the cover of the forest towards their targets. Their armor was shining purple, the same sets Tango and Jimmy had been wearing earlier that same day. Jimmy scowled at the sight, holding his sword up higher. Behind him, Tango was also holding a sword and shield, both rather damaged. His hands were shaking, though, and those spore-laden tear tracks still coated his cheeks. 

A flash of violet swung through Jimmy’s vision as Grian closed in on him. The sound of iron clashing rang through their ears as swipes and cuts were exchanged between the pair. 

Next to him, Tango was backing up, out of their house as Scar pursued. A crossbow appeared in Scar’s hand just a split second before it fired, shooting a rocket straight at Tango. He froze when he saw it but managed to duck out of the way just in time. It hit a tree behind him, exploding on impact and showering him with burning yellow sparkles. 

Tango’s muscles seized up. The boom from the rocket still echoed in his ears. He was breathing hard again, and his sword was loose in his grip. 

Grian’s eyes locked onto Tango and a hungry smile passed across his face. He dove towards Tango, eager to take him out of the game for good. Jimmy followed Grian, launching himself through the air and just managing to block Grian’s strike before it hit Tango. He hit the ground hard, open and vulnerable, almost ready for a final blow to finish him off. 

Tango’s eyes shot to Grian as he pushed himself forward and thrust his sword forward into Grian’s chest. Lightning seared through the air right in front of him, burning a mark in the grass. 

Grian was slain by TangoTek

GoodTimeWithScar died

Jimmy still lay on the ground, breathless. A smile was creeping across his face as he stood, slowly but surely. Tango had stumbled over to the tree that remained on their property and was leaning against it before he sunk down to the ground. His hand was on his stomach, clutching it. It took Jimmy a few seconds to realize that something was wrong, though.

“We actually did it,” he laughed, the quarrels of their past forgotten. “We- Tango?”

Jimmy moved closer to the other, kneeling down in front of him. He dropped his sword next to him and leaned forward to inspect the wound. 

Tango’s blood was flowing out onto his hands, which were wrapped around a small dagger embedded in his stomach. 

“No,” he whispered, staring at the blood coated blade. Then he looked back at his soulmate. “Hey, we did it. We made it. We can die now, it’s okay,” he promised. 

Jimmy reached up to Tango’s shoulders, his hands resting there for a second. The sculk still covered his cheeks. Jimmy cupped Tango’s face in his hands, then brushed some of the particles off. 

Darkness flooded Tango’s eyes and a ripple of bright aqua pulsed through them, flowing out from the center like a bullseye. Jimmy flinched back, snatching up his sword and holding it at the ready, even though there was no intention behind it. He backed further away as the shadows seemed to leak into Tango’s blood, the red covering his stomach turning a deep, star-speckled turquoise. The substance seemed to eat away at his blood and flesh, transforming it into something new. 

Tango seemed frozen in place for a second, his muscles clenched like he was trying to restrain himself. Then, unblinking, unflinching, unmoving, Tango pulled the dagger from his stomach with a squelch. The blade dripped with sculk instead of the blood that should’ve coated it, forming a small puddle on the ground before he dropped it, uninterested. Tango stood, the sculk now completely coating his hands and stomach, creeping its way up his neck and down his arms. Behind him, the ground where he stood turned almost black as well, like he had coated it with ink, and the pulsing stars were climbing up through the bark of the tree he had been leaning on.

“Tango?” Jimmy called. He got no response, not even a blink or a mere twitch to signal that Tango had heard what he said. “Tango, buddy, are you alright?” He tried again. The tip of his sword was slowly falling from a defensive guard—Jimmy was letting it. 

Tango was simply standing in front of him. Around him, pure black night started to fill the air, blocking out the sun. 

Jimmy kept backing away, his face filled with concern. After a second’s thought, he tossed his sword and shield away, not wanting to seem like a threat. “Tango?” He repeated, a bit more forcefully this time. 

The darkness flashed into full opacity around the pair, enveloping them in a blank void. It held steady, unwilling to let him leave. Jimmy stumbled back, but the blackness was unrelenting. 

His mind froze. So much darkness. An inescapable void where he could do nothing but hide in vain as his flesh, and his mind, and the world around him were ripped away into nothingness. Endless seas of sparkling stars blinked at him like glowing eyes in a forever dark forest. They creeped up onto his arms and legs, dragging him down deeper and deeper. It had stolen his voice from his throat, but he wasn't going to use it anyway. The nothingness was all around him, in the distance yet so close, leaving him waiting in the darkness, in the decay, in cold and clammy suspense, in silent, petrifying fear. Alone. 

Tango locked eyes with him—or what used to be Tango, with what used to be his eyes. There was nothing there, the space where they were now barely existent. Jimmy’s mind was frozen, by his eyes or his lack thereof he couldn’t tell. 

“Tango.” He shouted once again, running out of ideas. His thoughts were racing through his brain but none of them helped, instead just proving to be a distraction. What could he do? How could he help him? 

In a last-ditch effort, he darted forward and brushed the fungus on Tango’s arm, hoping that it could change something like earlier, but to no avail. Tango swiped at him, a newly formed claw tearing through Jimmy’s arm. He let out a cry of pain, which only made the sculk light up aqua once more.

Jimmy jumped back clutching his arm, eager to avoid another hit that he knew he couldn’t take, and as he did so, his heel hit something on the ground. He looked to see what it was, quickly realizing that it was the handle to his scythe. He paused, his foot still touching the wood, then looked back at Tango.

There was nothing. Nothing there, nothing to suggest that he was even alive. Tango was gone, he told himself. There was no getting him back. Even through all of their disagreements, Tango would never hurt him, he was sure of it. He was gone for good. 

Tango charged forward with a deep, guttural snarl. Jimmy pulled his scythe into the air with the toe of his boot, then grabbed it and swung. Shining violet glinted through the air is the iron of the scythe shot through the air with an almost unnatural efficiency. The blade cut clean through Tango’s neck. One final lightning strike.

TangoTek was slain by SolidarityGaming

[gunilslaugh]

Silly Three Day Crush

Han Hyeongjun 

Summary: You’d mostly forgotten about the silly three day crush you had on one of your brother’s friends. That was until one night you ended up telling the story about it and maybe some of those three day feelings resurfaced.

WC:~1.2k

Warning:grammar

photo not mine credits to owner.

Seungmin was your only brother, but growing up it felt like you had six. Seungmin's friends Gunil, Jungsu, Jiseok, Hyeongjun and Jooyeon were constantly at your house. Even your parents referred to them as their sons. It definitely got a bit chaotic at times and sometimes you wished they would just go back to their actual homes, but for the most part you actually enjoyed them all being around. Yes, they were very annoying at times, but what siblings aren’t?

Once they graduated highschool and started to attend college their presence in your house way cut back. At first you relished in their absence, claiming that you finally had freedom from them. The truth is after a week you found out how much you missed them, though you would never admit to it. The house felt so much emptier and like it lost its liveliness. It did teach you to cherish the moments you got to spend all together. 

A year later you started college yourself. Between classes and piles of assignments to do, you understood dwindle in your brother’s friends' presences. Thankfully the college you attend was close to your home, so you got to go home to sleep in the comfort of your own bed. Although some nights there was no sleep, just dark eye circles under your eyes the next morning from working all night. 

Now, four years later you're celebrating your college graduation. All the stress, crying and sleep deprivation paid off. You, y/f/n, Seungmin, Gunil, Jungsu, Jiseok, Hyeongjun and Jooyeon were all gathered in your living room. 

“Man you had all the luck y/n,” your friend said.

“What do you mean?” you asked them confused.

“You grew up surrounded by these good looking guys,” they stated. Gunil, Jooyeon and Jiseok pulled smug faces at your friend's compliment. Jungsu, Seungmin and Hyeongjun shyly laughed.

“But you see I knew them before they looked like this,” you say, pulling a slightly disgusted face.

“What are you saying?”

“I’ve always been handsome don’t deny it,”

“Are you saying I was ugly,”

“I thought we were friends, how could you say that?” They all started rambling out, offended by your words. 

“Oh come on! You’re saying you never once had even a tiny little crush on any one of them?” y/f/n accused you.

“Nope I never even- oh wait! I totally forgot about that until now,” you spoke, not really providing much context.

“Are you saying you did have a crush on one of my friends? When? Who?” Seungmin instantly interrogated you. You laughed at how he suddenly pulled out his protective brother card. 

“Relax, it was on Hyeongjun during finals for my freshman year of college and it only lasted for three days,” you explained.

“Three days?” Gunil chuckled “What prompted you to like him for only three days?” He continued chuckling.

“Like I said it was during finals and I was stressed out of my mind. I hadn’t slept in two days. I had a ten page paper to write and other assignments on top of that. I’m pretty sure I was high off of caffeine too. Anyway to get to the point. I was one more page away from a mental breakdown when I dropped my pencil. Now, I was ready to pick up that pencil and stab myself in the neck with it, but someone else picked it up for me. It was Hyeongjun. He handed me the pencil, patted my head and told me that I was doing well. That was it he picked up my pencil for me and suddenly I was in love for the next three days until finals were over.” you told the story. Jooyeon suddenly knocked your phone that was on your lap onto the floor. Then bent down to pick it up, handing it back to you.

“Do you have a crush on me now?” He asked teasingly.

“Very funny,” you said sarcastically. 

“Well how do you feel about that Hyeongjun,” Jiseok asks, turning everyone's attention to Hyeongjun.

“Um…it sounds really silly. Having a crush on someone because they picked up your pencil,” he laughs lightly.

“Exactly! That’s why I forgot about it. It was just a silly three day crush. It really didn’t mean anything,” you agreed with Hyeongjun.

“I’m sure it meant a lot to you at the time,” your friend poked.

“Shut up,” you reached over smacking their arm. 

Before it got too late everyone headed home, leaving you and Seungmin together. 

“So you really liked Hyeongjun?” he asked. You let out something between a laugh and a scoff. 

“Yes I liked Hyeongjun for three whole days. Weren’t you listening?” You said. 

“What did you like about him?” He questioned you.

“He’s kind, caring, cutely awkward, passionate about what he does, might not be the best with words, but you can still see how much he tries. Wait, why are you asking me this?” You stopped your rambling. 

“You said it was a silly three day crush, but it sounds like you legitimately liked him. For more than just picking up your pencil,” Seungmin notes. Did you actually like Hyeongjun? 

“I wasn’t in my right mind back then Seungmin,” you reminded him. Although you said more for yourself. To reason that your crush was just silly, not serious. 

“And you just magically stopped liking him after finals ended,” Seungmin voiced.

“Yes, I was no longer stressed out of my mind and my crush on Hyeongjun went away,” you informed. 

“Let me ask you something,” he says.

“You already have been,” you grumbled, rolling your eyes.

“When you had your crush on Hyeongjun, did you still feel stressed?” You took a moment to think before answering.

“Well yes I did, but when I would think about Hyeongjun and remembered how he told me I was doing well my stress went away for a bit,” you answered. Truthfully you only survived that exam season thanks to your crush on Hyeongjun. “Why are you asking me all this?” You questioned Seungmin.  

“Just wanted to know if it was really a silly three day crush, but honestly I don’t think it is,” he tells you.

“Ok maybe it wasn’t silly perhsay, but it was still only three days,” you defended. 

“Are you sure or was it just that you weren’t stressed anymore. You thought it was stress that made you like him, so once you weren’t stressed anymore you just convinced yourself your crush on Hyeongjun went away. Think about it, does a crush really just vanish overnight?” 

“I’m sure some peoples do,” you responded, denial beginning to set in. Certainly you didn’t have feelings for Hyeongjun. Even if you did that was years ago.

“Do they for you though?” Seungmin counter. 

“Do you want me to have a crush on Hyeongjun? Why are you pushing this so hard?” Your voice raised slightly. Seungmin sighed.

“Just figure out your feelings y/n,” he told you before walking out of the living room, presumably heading to his bedroom. You head up to your own bedroom. You laid down in an attempt to go to sleep, but now you were confused about your feelings. Stop! It was a silly three day crush that’s all, go to bed. 

“You’re doing well,” Hyeongjun told you as he patted your head. Just like that your heart skipped a beat. 

Your eyes shot open. You placed a hand on your now pounding heart. Why would you dream of that? The way your heart beated in your chest gave you the answer, because you like Hyeongjun and it's not a silly three day crush.

[jessicas-pi]

Paint Bombs and Twin Blades 😊😊

Ooh, two in one deal!!

This is a bit from Paint Bombs that I like to call "that awkward moment when your kid brother spills ALL the beans"! It's kind of long, but i couldn't decide on a good spot to cut it off.

---

And just when Ezra thought things couldn’t get any more awkward, Jacen burst into tears.

The people closest to them stopped talking, then started again, a little louder like they were trying to ignore the sound of the sobbing child.

Sabine inhaled sharply, looking concerned. “What’s wrong, vorpan’ika?”

But Jacen just shook his head, over and over, and clung to Sabine when Mother tried to take him back, sobbing the whole time.

“What’s wrong with him?” Carthage asked, nose crinkled like the sight of a crying child let off a bad odor.

Ezra shook his head. “I don’t know. He’s probably just tired.”

“Well, can’t you make it stop? It’s undignified.”

“Carthage!” she hissed, glaring. “Be nice!”

He rolled his eyes, then smiled in a way that Ezra found a little unsettling in how it almost looked real.

“What seems to be the issue, young fellow?” Carthage asked Jacen, who had his face hidden in Sabine’s shoulder as he sniffled.

“You!”

The conversation around them went dead silent at the wail, and this time, it didn’t start again.

“Jacen!” Mother gasped, flushing verdant in embarrassment, and Ezra winced, but Carthage seemed a little amused.

“I’m the issue?”

“You’re not tupposed t’ marry Bee! Bee’s tupposed t’ marry Zez!”

…what?!

For a second, the shock was so much that Ezra couldn’t find a word to say, and Sabine chuckled nervously as pink crept up her cheeks.

“Jay-jay, that was—that was just an old joke my father would make, there was nothing in it! There was never—your brother and I never had any—understanding—”

But Jacen was undeterrable. “You did! You did have an un’ner‘tanding! I know you did!”

Carthage laughed, reaching out and ruffling Jacen’s hair. “You have quite the imagination, don’t you?”

“Do not! Do not, do not, do NOT!” Jacen hollered, kicking his feet, glaring at Carthage, and just generally making A Scene.

---

And, here's a little bit from TBAB!

---

There’s a clatter of footsteps and they both hear Ezra’s voice, calling out as he moves through the Ghost.

“ ‘Scuse me! Coming through! Sorry—sorry, gotta—”

He gets closer and closer, and Sabine bites back her smile more and more. Hera definitely knows what’s going on, and Sabine gives up, grinning down at the floor.

Finally, the Ghost’s resident Mandalorian appears at the top of the bay, and she schools her expression into a calm smile. “Hey, Sabine.”

She looks up. “Ready to go?”

“Where are you two off to?” Hera asks as Sabine jumps up.

“We’re going on an artventure,” Sabine explains, grabbing her satchel from the corner of the bay as Ezra slides down the ladder with a clatter of armor.

“Is that what kids nowadays are calling dates?” Hera teases. Ezra laughs it off awkwardly, but his helmet can’t hide the little fizzles of emotion coming off of him.

“Nope, it’s where we vandalize the scenery!” Sabine retorts, moving to go out the hangar door, her cohort right behind her. “Catch you later, oh esteemed Jedi Master!”

“Have fun, stay safe, don’t get eaten by the spiders!” Hera calls after them as they rush off into the Atollon sunset.

[toads-treasures]

Fifteen questions for fifteen mutuals!

(It will probably not be fifteen I am too scared to tag too many people)

I was tagged by @galaxycunt weeks ago, and I finally got around to answering.

Tagging @hereforthehaunts @cactme @plasticdodecagon @iwanttobecomeavoid @mars-colony no pressure tho!

Also, feel free to skip any questions you don’t wanna answer.

1. Are you named after anyone?

My great grandpa Tora. But he went by Tory. He was apparently a grumpy ol sonofabitch according to my dad, but it was also his idea to name me after him so 🤷‍♀️

2. When was the last time you cried?

Prolly like two days ago but I don’t know for sure for sure. I cry all the time. I think this time I was crying in frustration at packing for my last camping trip lol

3. Do you have kids?

Nope, and I don’t know if I want any tbh. It would really cut into my time of being the Weird/Fun Aunt who lets my nieces and nephews stay up too late and helps them dye their hair

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not nearly as much as I did when I was younger. We call that Growth 😌 but sometimes I can’t help myself

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

Ha. I am so uncoordinated I don’t play any sports. I played tennis for one year in high school and hated it. I’ve gone rock climbing once and really enjoyed it even though I was scared shitless, so I’d really like to get back into that. I’ve also been kind of wanting to play tennis again just for funsies with my husband and not actually pay attention to any rules or anything and just have fun.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about other people?

I think height? Because I’m pretty tall and if someone is taller than I am I definitely notice

7. Eye color?

Hazel is the least pretentious way to describe it. Or green…ish.

8. Scary movie or happy endings?

Why not both? I will say I like things to end happily, because I need to have some semblance of hope in the world lol, but also bittersweet endings will stick with me for the rest of my life.

9. Any special talents?

I am freaky good with names and faces. I will remember people who I had one college class with but never actually personally interacted with them. I can also like, trifold my tongue so it looks like a clover.

10. Where were you born?

Ha nice try fbi. Just kidding, it’s just a small town (like, less than a thousand people) in southern Utah and I highly doubt anyone would know the name or where it was, but if perchance they do, it probably means I know them in real life and I’d rather not risk it.

11. Free space

Ummmmm I love hiking and camping, and I’d love to get into photography and videography to be like a nature photographer, I think that would be cool. But I’m also Very Bad at taking pictures. I always forget to take them, or I frame it really bad or the lighting is really bad, I’ve got a lot to learn with that hobby lol. Also I wish I could just wear my crunchy/granolaey/outfits all the time business casual my absolute beloathed

12. Do you have any pets?

No 😔 I want one, either a cat or a dog, but honestly I have so much anxiety around it because there’s this CREATURE in my HOUSE and it needs me to live! And what if it eats my plants and what if my plants are toxic and what if it chews a hole in the floor or the door and we get kicked out and and and (you get the idea).

13. How tall are you?

5’10” 😎 my husband insists I’m 5’9” but he’s wrong

14. Favorite subject in school?

I’m still recovering from the god complex that being in English class gave me so, we’ll leave it at that.

15. Dream job?

I do not dream of labor, but I have a few ideas of what would be preferable than being a receptionist for the rest of my life lol. I’d like to open an online sticker/print shop and just draw and design cute silly stationary and stickers. I’ve also always dreamed of being an author, but seeing as how I can’t finish any of my wips that will probably remain a dream lol.

[jmrothwell]

BIRTHDAY WEEK PROMPTS

"Keep me company for a bit?" Reggie x Julie

(So this one got a little longer, also available on AO3)

“Reginald.” The shrill cry from his mother made Reggie cringe nearly as much as the use of his name. 

There were very few people-and even fewer situations-he was ok using his full name. Out of the mouth of his apathetic yet overbearing mother, in the middle of this excuse to find him a ‘suitable partner’ were definitely nowhere on that list. 

Cause that’s exactly what he wanted for his birthday. For her to use it as an excuse to throw him a party that doubled as a matchmaking tool. Of course she couldn’t detect or outright ignored his sarcasm when he’d told her that. 

His only saving grace so far was that he’d managed to talk her into a costume party. Sure she interpreted that to mean fancy masquerade ball, or black tie with masks. But he was still able to use that to his favor. 

He’d worked it out with the guys to wear similar enough suits and had been swapping masks with them at random all night. Well, with Bobby, Luke, and Willie, since Alex was too tall. Although he made a great lookout and distraction as needed. 

Thankfully, it didn’t take much convincing to get his friends to understand why he needed them to do this. Especially after he explained he’d probably be forced to dance and socialize only with guests vetted and approved by his parents. What was the likelihood he’d get along with any of them?

Plus with how his mother was, all it would take was some general politeness on his part and next thing he knew he’d be swamped with more arranged dates. Which is exactly how he’d ended up with his last two ‘exes’. 

The plan had been working beautifully so far if he does say so himself. He managed to have a lovely evening with his friends so far. However-

“I think your mom’s finally caught on.” Bobby mumbled glaring over Reggie’s shoulder where his mother’s voice had come from. 

He cursed under his breath as he glanced behind him. Sure enough she was heading straight for him, another elegantly dressed woman trailing behind her. “Damn it.” He gritted through his teeth, “I think it’s time for plan b.”

“Do we have a plan b?” Bobby chuckled as the two of them wove through partygoers, purposefully sticking to the more crowded areas. 

“Nope. But I’m sure I’ll think of something.” Reggie eyed some of the other guests as he and Bobby continued to move through the throng. 

He managed to find another random guest similar to his build and after some convincing-and a bit of a bribe-swapped masks and suit jackets with him. Bobby rolled his eyes as Reggie donned the red jacket, certainly judging him. 

True black or blue would be easier to blend in with, but he’d been wearing black all night.  And hopefully the color change would throw his mom off. 

“Reginald?” His mother’s voice was way too close for comfort. All it took was a quick exchange of glances with Bobby for his friend to break off to go distract her. 

Reggie groaned as the music changed to a slower song and the crowds around him thinned. Or rather the crowds trickled to the dance floor. This wouldn’t help him hide and sticking to the crowds and dancing with himself might make him stand out a bit too much. 

“Excuse me?” A gentle dulcet voice drew Reggie’s attention away from the crowd. His breath caught at the angelic vision who stood before him. Probably a silly thing to think since half her face was concealed by her gold and lavender butterfly mask. 

However, her warm honey eyes shined and her broad gapped toothed smile was so open and earnest in a way he hadn’t seen on any of the rest of the guests tonight. Her dark curls were pulled back so they cascaded like a waterfall over the back of her neck and shoulders. Drawing his eyes to her golden choker, a series of crescent moon shapes surrounding her neck.

“Do you want to dance?” Her question drew his eyes back to hers. The gleam in her eye faltered when he hesitated to answer. 

Well, he had just been thinking it’d be easier to hide from his mother on the dance floor. With a crooked smile, he held out his hand toward her. “I’d love to.” 

Her warm hand slid into his and she quickly dragged him onto the dance floor. Which threw him off a little. He’d been dragged to enough of these in his life and couldn’t recall a time any of the ladies acted like this. Too caught up in their-and their families-image and the decorum they’d been hounded with. 

“So,” he drawled as he gently placed one hand on her waist. “You look lovely this evening.”

“Thanks,” she preened slightly as she glanced down at her lavender gown. She soon returned to smiling broadly at him, giving him a not so subtle once over. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

Before he could think of anything else to say she quickly glanced around them. Then in a harsh conspiratorial whisper, “you and your friends might want to be a little more careful if you don’t want to get caught and thrown out.”

He furrowed his brows in confusion, which caused her to scoff in disbelief.

“You guys are party crashing, right?” She continued to whisper as she leaned in closer to him. He firmly shoved to the back of his mind that she smelled of lavender and vanilla. 

“What? Why would you think-?” 

“Please, you guys have been sneaking around all night. Switching masks.” She spoke through some melodious giggling which made his heart needlessly flutter. “Plus, I just saw you pay that other guy for his mask and jacket.”

“Right.” He held out the vowel, when presented like that he could understand why they would seem suspicious. “If you think we’re crashing why didn’t you just call securi-”

He cut off his question as he caught the way she shifted nervously at his question. With a smirk he realized, “you’re party crashing? Really.”

She quickly shushed him as she looked worriedly around the two of them. He laughed more openly now because of her earlier assumption. Which earned him a short lived glare from her, before she too was laughing with him. 

Reggie was very tempted to let her know that she was actually talking to the guy whose party she was crashing. But then again, some true anonymity could be fun in its own way. 

“Sorry,” he exhaled through some of his dying laughter. “Didn’t expect that.”

“Yeah, it’s more my friends’ thing” she grimaced, he had to wonder how she interpreted what he’d said. “But I’ve always wanted to attend a fancy masquerade so I tagged along with them this time.”

“Oh,” he glanced around them, but no one seemed out of place. “Where are your friends now?”

She groaned with a fond eye roll. “Apparently, they finally realized how head over heels they are for each other, sort of leaving me alone.”

“They just abandoned you? That’s kind of shitty.” 

“Nah,” She brushed off his concerns with a small laugh. “They’ve been dancing around each other since high school. It’s nice to see them finally figure it out.”

“Well I seemed to have lost track of my own friends.” His smile broadened as their eyes met again. “Do you want to keep me company for a bit?”

“I’d love to.” She mirrored his smile, as they continued to dance. 

It was definitely one of the best times he’d had at one of these parties. The two of them spent the evening dancing and talking to each other. Admittedly he was more than happy to let her monopolize the conversation. 

It may have started out as him merely trying to remain anonymous. But it soon shifted to genuine curiosity about her and her life. He couldn't hear enough about it. 

He was fascinated by her family.

Absolutely fond of her brother and his fascination with the supernatural. Mesmerized by her father and how supportive and proud of his children he was. He could relate to the frustrations of how overbearing her Aunt sounded, but even then it seemed to stem from a place of genuine love.

Then there were all the things he learned about her. How she was attending school to try and pursue songwriting, even sharing some of her lyrics with him. He had to admit she had a real talent for it. 

He was eager to hear all about her frustrations at work on top of the school work. Briefly he wondered if he’d ever been to the café she worked for. But that seemed doubtful since he’s pretty sure he hasn’t been to one with the chalkboard doodles she described and claimed to have drawn. 

All too soon, they were being interrupted with a screeched, “Julie.” He had never asked her name, he realized as she looked up at the two women who desperately waved at them. One of which pointed at their phone.

“Oh shoot.” She exclaimed as she shot to her feet, a new wave of worry crossing her face. “We gotta go.”

“Go? Really?” he asked as he followed her-Julie, apparently-through the room towards her friends. 

“Yeah, sorry, we had a pre-scheduled ride to get home.” Julie turned back to him with a bright smile. Then pressed a quick fleeting peck to his cheek. “Thanks for a wonderful time. Maybe we can meet up again sometime?”

“Sure, that sounds great.” He breathed out and watched her run out of the room with her friends. He turned to go look for his own friends. It didn’t take long, they were all staring at him with shit eating grins beneath their masks. 

Reggie mentally braced for the verbal teasing he was sure he was about to endure. How he’d ended up half-smitten over a girl at the very party he swore it wouldn’t happen at. It’d all be worth it if he got to meet up with Julie again and spend more time with her. 

He froze in his tracks. 

How were they supposed to meet up? He only had her first name, and she didn’t even have that much. How did neither of them think to exchange any contact information or even make a solid plan?

With a whispered curse he shot out the room after her, with no luck. He couldn’t find her anywhere. With a groan and no concern over what anybody thought he leaned heavily into the wall before sliding down to the floor.. 

How could he possibly find her now?

[101flavoursofweird]

Number 18 for Raphael/the Rythm Thief from the prompt meme pretty please?

Thank you for the Rhythm Thief prompt. I’ve been needing to write more for this game!

Apologies— this isn’t narrated by Raphael— and it’s more about Marie trying to be strong for Raphael… But she and Charlie taking care of him, so hopefully that’s ok? 

This came out a little more angsty that I anticipated— something something Marie and Charlie go to save Raphael from the chevaliers something something… Raphael’s not doing too good after being imprisoned. There’s one mention of blood and maybe the chevaliers weren’t feeding him but it’s kept vague. -

“You don’t have to be strong all the time.”

Night after night, for a whole year, Marie had dreamed of how her reunion with Raphael would play out. 

Would he approach her backstage after a concert? Would he leap up onto the balcony outside her bedroom? Or would he encounter her in the street, like when they first met?

Marie’s dreams definitely hadn’t involved a gothic castle once belonging to Jean— Graf— or a cold, dark dungeon. She never would have imagined seeing Raphael, after all this time, unconscious and in chains.

Cradling Raphael’s head in her lap, Marie tried not to cry as Charlie picked the locks of his chains. Marie’s tears wouldn’t cure Raphael now— they weren’t part of some fairytale…

This felt more like a nightmare.

Fondue whimpered and nosed Raphael’s face. Up until that point, Fondue had been nothing but brave, noble and resolute; he had escaped captivity and led Marie and Charlie all the way back to Raphael. 

But, despite Fondue’s best efforts, it seemed they were too late.

They had finally found Raphael, but Marie almost wished they hadn’t. 

He had existed in her memory as an unbreakable hero, an enduring angel or (for lack of a better word) a benign phantom. 

Nothing could touch Phantom R; the artful thief who laughed in the faces of the Paris Constabulary, who could soar over Montparnasse Tower if he so desired, and who had bested (the so-called) Emperor Napoleon in a sword fight.

He had fought his way through armies, gunfire, and the Hanging Gardens to rescue Marie.

Using the Bracelet of Tiamat, he had channelled the hopes and willpowers of millions of Parisians to save their city.

Now, though… All Marie saw was Raphael. A poor, orphaned boy, one year older than her, who had set out to locate his missing father, only to be met with violence and despair.

Even in that gloomy prison, Marie could tell how pale Raphael was— paler than when he had been shot by Graf on the Eiffel Tower.

Marie smoothed Raphael’s hair and shuddered when she felt dried blood there.

Charlie frowned at her, and Marie swallowed. Marie would not— could not— lose her nerve now. 

If Raphael could survive (mon Dieu, please, let him survive) months in this prison, then Marie could last a few more minutes.

“Hurry,” Marie whispered, with a glance at the heavy dungeon door.

Charlie had knocked out the guards with a football, but they could wake up at any time, or reinforcements might come along.

There was a click and the chains finally fell  away. Fondue licked Raphael’s freed hand. 

Marie adjusted the violin case strapped to her back, before she gently pulled Raphael’s right arm over her shoulder. Charlie took his left arm. Together, they lifted Raphael off the floor. (He was so light… When had he last eaten?)

“Fondue,” Charlie grunted quietly, “you go on—“

A weak voice rasped, “No…”

“Raphael,” Marie gasped as he stirred against her.

But his head was still hanging low. His words were little more than an incoherent mumble:

“Please… Jus’… Leave me alone—“

“Nope,” Charlie huffed, taking a determined step towards the door. “We didn’t come all this way just to leave you behind.”

Marie tried to reassure him, where Charlie most likely had not. She patted his arm. “It’s us, Raphael— Marie, Charlie and Fondue. We’re taking you home—“

“Don’ know where…” Raphael shifted his head, dazed. “Fondue’s gone…” 

At this, Fondue let out a whine. Marie frowned; had Raphael been punished for letting Fondue escape?

As Charlie opened the door, Marie was left holding Raphael up on her own. She hugged him against her and promised the worst of it was over. He wasn’t alone anymore. 

This was by no means Phantom R’s last performance— He would dance again!— but for now, he could step behind the curtain and let them take over.

Marie heard Charlie sending Fondue on ahead to check for more guards. 

When Marie and Charlie emerged from the dungeon, carrying Raphael between them again, Fondue came bolting back to them. 

A stampede of clanking footsteps and angry shouts pursued Fondue.

“You were seen?” Charlie hissed— as if anyone could miss a white Alsatian Cheesehund in a grey stone castle.

Fondue pinned his ears back. “Hrrrrn,” he replied sheepishly.

The guards were fast-approaching through the corridor Marie and Charlie had used to get in.

Marie glanced past the dungeon door— down a different corridor.

Maybe there was a another way out? Wasn’t there always, in these old castles? 

How had Fondue broken out in the first place?

Fondue was quick, and Charlie could keep up with him. Charlie was strong enough to take Raphael alone. And only Charlie could fly the hang glider off the tower. (They had done it before.)

Marie kissed Raphael on the cheek, before  she removed his arm from her shoulder. She passed him over to Charlie completely.

“Y-you three go on— find another way out. I’ll hold them off—“

“What?” Charlie exclaimed, at the same time Fondue yelped, “Woeuf?!”

Marie unstrapped the case from her back. She withdrew her violin and her bow.

Charlie protested, “You can’t—“

“I will.” 

With the power of her violin, Marie had summoned the Hanging Gardens and later, she had helped Raphael bring them crashing down.

She didn’t want to destroy the castle, but maybe she could deter their enemies. (At least giving Charlie enough time to get out with Raphael and Fondue…) 

Charlie reached for Marie’s arm, but thought better of it. Charlie was already saddled with Raphael.

“For the record,” Charlie breathed, “I never doubted you. I just made a promise to your mother—“

“Promise me you’ll keep Raphael safe,” Marie said. 

Charlie nodded. “You’d better catch up with us.”

“Roeuf!” Fondue agreed, pawing at Marie’s shoe.

Marie smiled at him softly. “Go on, boy.”

Lead Raphael home. 

Fondue tore off down the corridor. Charlie followed him with Raphael.

Marie took a deep breath and prepared her stance. Then, she faced the oncoming surge of guards.

[heavyhitterheaux]

And the Award Goes To...

First Lady of Private Garden Fic

AN: All the fluff between Jack and our First Lady 😘💕

Synopsis: You and Private Garden are in attendance for the 2022 BET awards and excited doesn't even begin to describe how you're feeling. The night ends up being even more amazing when the last thing you ever expected to happen does.

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader

Requested by: the gorgeous @minkookie95 😘💕

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

You woke up tangled next to your husband who was still in a deep sleep as you heard his light snores and him breathing with your face in the crook of his neck.

The day was finally here and you couldn’t have been more excited.

You finally have the chance of attending the 2022 BET awards that would be taking place in Los Angeles, California.

You remember watching the show every single year since you were a little girl dreaming of actually getting an opportunity to go and lo and behold, here it was.

You weren’t able to go last year since you had been on tour and wouldn’t have made it back in time in order to go with your husband.

Now, you would be able to go with him right along with the rest of PG. 

This year you had been nominated for two awards, Best Female Hip-Hop Artist as well as Best New Artist. 

Brandi let Jack be the one to break the news to you knowing how much it meant to you and you were floored.

You most definitely shed a few tears that night.

Working towards something for so long and actually seeing your work pay off was a dream come true.

And you had your husband and PG to thank for that.

Jack had been nominated the year before for Best New Artist, but unfortunately lost to Giveon which he was still salty to this day about.

You made sure to never bring it up after it happened. 

You would also be performing your hit song Big Energy and was planning on surprising the crowd by bringing out Mariah Carey since she had hopped on the remix with you, while Jack had planned on performing Poison along with First Class with Lil Wayne and Brandy.

Bottom line is that the Harlows weren’t coming to play.

All of you had been in L.A. for the past few days rehearsing and making sure that everything was just right for the special night.

You peeked at the nightstand behind Jack to see that it was around 7 in the morning.

The award show didn’t take place until 5, so there was plenty of time to kill before then.

You wanted to make it a priority to spend the day with Jack since both of you had been in overdrive for the past few days and truly hadn’t had the time to spend one on one with each other.

And both of you would soon become agitated when you didn’t get that one on one time.

Not wanting to be awake just by yourself anymore, you began to place kisses along Jack’s neck.

He fluttered his eyes open and you were met with a soft smile.

“Good morning, wifey.”

“Good morning, my baby.”

“Are you excited?” He asked while bringing you in closer to him. 

“That doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’m just happy I get to spend the day with my favorite people.”

“And you deserve all of this mamas. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

“Okay, please don’t make me cry at seven in the morning.” You immediately felt the waterworks beginning to form.

“I’m serious smush. Like you haven’t let up since you released your first single and you prove time and time again that you’re just as talented as anybody else out here. And wait.. it’s only seven? Baby, why are you awake so early?”

“Thank you my baby. And because I can barely sit still. I’m like a kid in a candy store.”

“Baby, I literally just put your ass to sleep at three so you mean to tell me you only slept for four hours?”

“Hmm, maybe?”

“Mamas, come on. Go back to sleep so you’ll have energy for later. No pun intended.”

“But...”

“Nope, close your eyes and lay on my chest. Your ass is about to be out in ten minutes. Works every time.”

And no lie was told.

It was nearing 3:45 pm and it was now time for all of you to begin getting dressed to head to the venue and walk the red carpet.

The butterflies in your stomach were increasing by the second.

You and Jack had decided to coordinate your outfits and Metta along with Julissa found the perfect outfits to put the two of you in.

Well, everyone knew you were probably going to take the longest to get ready, so they made you go first.

It simply never failed, you would start to get ready and still be the last person out the door.

And no one was trying to be late.

But, of course, that’s exactly how it played out.

“Baby! How did you start getting ready before anyone else and you still not done!?”

“Don’t rush me, Jackman! Be patient!”

“She’s almost done!” All of PG heard Julissa say as she was putting the finishing touches on your makeup and making sure there wasn’t a hair out of place.

Julissa then ran into the living room to present her work to everyone which was you. She was proud of it and had done a damn good job.

“Is everyone ready?”

“Yes, Julissa, damn! We’ve been ready for like an hour!”

“Jack shut up. Once you see how pretty your wife looks, you’ll be thanking me. You’ll probably want to rip her clothes off as we speak.”

“But, I planned on doing that later anyway.”

“Yall are nasty as all hell. Do yall EVER come up for air?” 2fo asked as he rolled his eyes.

“Been tapping that since we were 15, not a chance.”

“Okay, yall shut up! Bring her out Julissa.” Metta replied while coming to sit on the couch next to Quiiso.

“Okayyyyy, I now present to you Mrs. Y/N Y/M/N Harlow better known as your first lady! Come on out Y/N!”

You had nothing but a big smile on your face as you walked into the living room so everyone could get a good look at your outfit.

“Well, got damn. Definitely worth the wait.” You heard Jack say as he was eyeing you up and down.

“Yes mamas! Work it! Give em a twirl!” Julissa was hyping you up as everyone began to laugh and take in how happy the scene in front of them was.

You did as you were told and hit a pose when you were finished.

“Damn, them earrings big as shit.” Brandi said taking in the sight of them. 

“You know what they say. The bigger the hoop, the bigger the hoe.”

“Y/N! Stop that!” Jack exclaimed while also trying not to laugh. 

“Now drop!”

“NO! My wife will NOT be dropping it for anyone but me. Y/N, you better not! If that ass hits the floor, they’ll be hell to pay. Damn mamas you look gorgeous. How’d I get so lucky?”

Jack asked while getting up and making his way towards you and taking in how amazing you looked.

“I’m the lucky one.” You replied as you lightly kissed him trying to not mess up your makeup.

“Nah, cut the shit! Don’t get these two started because we won’t make it downstairs until the show is over. Keep it moving. Jack, you know what your wife looks like. You’ve been staring at her for almost ten years.”

“Urb, you are such a fucking hater.” You replied while sticking up your middle finger in his direction with you earning the same gesture in return.

“Okay, yall we are all on a mission tonight to get Urb laid so he can stop hating on me and my wife!”

“I’m getting real tired of yall asses.”

It took less than twenty minutes in order to get to the venue and it was now go time.

The rest of PG got out first leaving only you and Jack.

“You ready, baby?”

You simply nodded as he got out first and held out his hand for you to take and you heard nothing but screams erupting from the crowd in front of the venue.

“Private Garden has arrived! Jack Harlow and the first lady, Y/N Harlow are making their way down the red carpet!”

All of you posed for several pictures and also made the time for you and Jack to do a few interviews before making your way inside. 

All of you were sitting in a row with Jack being on the end and you were in the middle of him and 2fo.

The award show was now underway and Jack had killed his performance.

You were nothing but smiles as you all made your way back to your seats since all of PG had been on stage during it. 

It was getting close to the time where the awards that you were nominated for were going to be presented and Jack could tell that you were starting to get restless.

“Baby, it’s going to be fine. If you get that award in your hand tonight or not, I for damn sure am proud of you along with the rest of PG.” Jack softly whispered in your ear before kissing your temple making you smile.

“I love you.”

“And I love you more.”

“Cut it out. Save it for later.” 2fo replied as he overheard the two of you making the both of you roll your eyes.

It was time.

“Please welcome Saweetie to the stage!”

They would have to get your best friend to present this award. You knew that she was probably behind this somehow.

After this award was presented, it would soon be time for you to hit the stage for your performance along with Mariah Carey. 

“So, I am here to present the award for Best New Artist. Now, I have to admit there is some tough competition this year and it might seem biased of me however, the real ass rich ass bitch from the south has not come off yall necks since she stepped on the scene! Hey best friend!”

You and everyone else around you immediately laughed and you knew that she was trying to do her best to ease your nervousness.

That’s why she was one of your best friends.

“I love you!” You mouthed to her as she sent you a warm smile before mouthing the words back to you.

“Now, let’s take a look at the nominees.”

“Baby Keem.”

“Benny the Butcher.”

“Bleu.”

“Y/N.”

“Muni Long.”

“Tems.”

“And the award goes to...”

You were holding onto Jack’s hand for dear life and took a deep breath.

“MY BEST FRIEND! THE FIRST LADY OF PRIVATE GARDEN, Y/N HARLOWWWWW!” Saweetie yelled as Big Energy began to play.

You were in immediate shock and your eyes began to water as you stood up and embraced your husband.

“What I tell you? Nothin but winners in this family.”

“I couldn’t have done this without you.” You replied as you kissed him.

He helped you up the steps to the stage so that you could take your award from Saweetie who screamed before giving you a hug.

Once she handed you the award, you stepped to the mic with tears threatening to fall.

“I.. am.. I’m literally speechless right now.”

“WE LOVE YOU!”

“And I love yall too, yall have no idea how much. This is my first award that I’ve won and the fact that it’s a BET award is just out of this world and makes it all the more special. I have to thank God for giving me the opportunity to do this alongside by husband and best friends. They’re the ones who were constantly pushing me to be my best self and continue to do so on a daily basis. So, Jackman, I absolutely love you and PG, it’s only up from here. Thank yall so much for this.”

You were met with applause as Saweetie led the two of you backstage and the both of you embraced once again.

“I am so fucking proud of you babe! You deserve this!”

“You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“You are the shit, baby. And first lady needs to start acting like it.”

Liked by jackharlow, bet, saweetie, urbanwyatt, druski2funny, privategarden, and 7,249,870 others

y/ninsta: it's givin BEST NEW ARTIST 🥺

jackharlow: so proud of my baby. well deserved. all hail the queen of the south!

saweetie: go best friend, that's my best friend!

sza: and we didn't expect anything less!

normani: you out here killin it bby! let them know!

mariahcarey: it was an honor to share the stage with you. keep reaching for greatness. Love, Mimi 💕

y/ninsta: mariahcarey I can't even put into words how much I appreciate you 💕🥺

urbanwyatt: maybe you should listen to us more often. we KNEW how amazing you would be

y/ninsta: love you Urby 💕

druski2funny: proud of you mamas! but why yo earrings so big? 🤔

y/ninsta: druski2funny you know what they say, the bigger the hoop the bigger the hoe 🤭

jackharlow: Y/N!! stop that!

y/ninsta: jackharlow no.

jackharlow: y/ninsta no? did my wife just tell me no?

y/ninsta: jackharlow 👀

jackharlow: y/ninsta imma teach your ass a lesson when we get back at this hotel. no my ass.

y/ninsta: jackharlow or you can do it right now 😏

urbanwyatt: PLEASE NO

jackharlow: urbanwyatt we gotta get you laid man. and soon.

y/ninsta: jackharlow urbanwyatt 🤭🤭🤭

jackharlow: y/ninsta stop laughing because you won't be after I get through with you

y/ninsta: jackharlow do your worse daddy 😏

jackharlow: y/ninsta meet me by the bathrooms. NOW.

2forwoyne: jackharlow y/ninsta can't take yall horny asses anywhere

privategarden: it's only up from here for our queen!

y/ninsta: we got room for everybody to win!

jackharlow: y/ninsta get your ass back here NOW.

y/ninsta: jackharlow cumming! I mean coming!

druski2funny: jackharlow y/ninsta yall got room for one more? 👀

jackharlow: druski2funny you got the got damn audacity to ask me that shit?

druski2funny: jackharlow look closed mouths don't get fed

jackharlow: druski2funny only mouth getting fed over here is mine. get your own girl.

druski2funny: y/ninsta tell yo man to let me watch!

y/ninsta: druski2funny you already got a free show in the past so no

saweetie: wait WHAT

normani: SPILL THE MUTHAFUCKIN TEA NEOW

sza: y/ninsta jackharlow EXPLAIN YOURSELVES

jackharlow: sza later. we busy.

jackandy/naremyparents: can't wait to hear about this one 🤭🤭

saweetie: and why do I feel urbanwyatt was somehow involved?

urbanwyatt: *sigh* because I was

theestallion: urbanwyatt SPILL IT

urbanwyatt: I think 2forwoyne is calling me

2forwoyne: urbanwyatt the hell I'm not. Spill it!

urbanwyatt: yall not about to send me 6 feet under. all imma say is the recording session of Sex Lies.... and I'm out ✌️

jackharlow: urbanwyatt one of my best performances if I do say so myself 😏

2forwoyne: jackharlow keep it down. yall loud as shit. how we in the club and I can still hear her?

jackharlow: 2forwoyne I'll do my best but no promises

saweetie: jackharlow well got damn

Taglist:

@harlowsbby

@babyharleezy

@hoodharlow

@stefansalvatoresgf

@jackiehollanderr

@primadxna-girl

@dessmxsworld

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@exoticr0ses

[jaehyunfirstlove]

🌚🌞🌝That sundress one shot was so hot it made me wish you’d do one where y/n has to deliver bad news to Jae (like nothing earth shattering but enough to make him grumpy) but to buffer the blow she for the first time in a while wears the sundress to break it to him and he takes it relatively well under the circumstances

Pairing: boyfriend!jaehyun x girlfriend!f.reader

Genre: smut (18+ only)

Warnings: oral sex (m. receiving), unprotected sex, cum play, praise kink

Word count: 1.1k

A/N: this was such a juicy request, anon, i appreciate you sending it in :)

*a follow-up to this

Bored on your day off, you wandered around your shared apartment with your boyfriend, Jaehyun, looking for something to do. You’d just recently moved in together, so you hadn’t had the chance to check out most of his stuff. What piqued your curiosity the most, was his record player, sitting on the shelf in a prime spot. It was obviously one of his most prized possessions, and you were curious to find out what was so great about it. Picking a vinyl off the shelf, you placed it on the turntable, moving the needle across like you’d seen Jaehyun do many times. Except you were clumsier than he was, and ended up dropping it onto the record accidentally.

“Ooops,” you exclaimed, and once you took the needle off you noticed a scratch in the vinyl. Panicking, you briefly thought about throwing it away and buying him a new one, but when you looked at the cover you noticed it was one of his rare ones. “He’s gonna kill me,” you cursed to yourself, but as you wracked your brain an idea came to you, a smile spreading across your face as you came up with your plan.

---

“Honey, I’m home!”

Ever since you moved in together Jaehyun would always utter this same phrase if you were home before him, always chuckling afterwards like it was the funniest joke he’d ever heard. Usually you would come running up to him, jumping into his arms like you hadn’t seen him in forever. But this time, you stayed where you were, waiting for him to come to you.

“Y/N?” he called, when you didn’t make your customary appearance.

“In here,” you responded, waiting in the bedroom.

He finally came into the room, and when he saw what you were wearing his eyes went wide. “Uh, Y/N?” his eyes raked over your body as you stood there in your sundress, the very same one you’d been wearing when he fucked you for the first time, your hands clasped behind your back innocently as you twirled slightly, making your skirt swish softly around your thighs. “Why are you wearing that?”

You just shrugged, pouting playfully. “I can’t wear something nice for my boyfriend?”

You saw him swallow, his adam’s apple bobbing. “Um, of course you can! I just mean… what’s the occasion…”

His sentence trailed off, because you moved towards him, hips swaying sensuously, and when you were standing in front of him you put a hand up to his chest, running your palm down over his pecs. He inhaled sharply as he looked at you, his eyes turning hungrier, and you knew then you had him in the palm of your hand.

“Well, there’s really no occasion,” you said sweetly, your hand moving to the waistband of his pants, “but there might just be one teeny tiny thing that I need to tell you.”

His attention was on your hands, and where they were going, and definitely not on your words, so it took him a moment to register what you had just said.

“W-what… ah…” you’d undone his pants and pulled them down, leaving him in just his boxers, already tenting with all the attention you were giving him. “... uh… um… what… was it that you needed to-”

You’d cut him off, palming his bulge over his boxers. His eyes had fluttered closed momentarily, before he came back to himself.

“-tell me…” he tried to continue, tried to keep his mind on what it was you needed to tell him, but your hand was heavenly, cupping his balls and rubbing so deliciously over his clothed erection.

“Do you promise you won’t get mad?” you asked, adding more pressure to your movements. He took another sharp intake of breath, his brain too scrambled to respond appropriately.

“Yes, yes I promise,” he breathed, and so you rewarded him, finally pulling his boxers down and getting on your knees. His eyes got darker as he watched you, lids hooded as his hands automatically went to cradle your head.

You took his cock in your hand, pumped it a few times, marveling at the velvety hardness of it, at the pinkish-reddish tip already beading with precum. You looked up at him, eyes pleading.

“I may have…” and before you continued you swiped your tongue out, licking at his tip. He hissed, clearly not paying attention to what you were saying but trying his hardest to.

“... scratched…”

Lick

“... one of…”

Lick

“... your records.”

You took his entire cock into your mouth right after you said it, in the hopes that he would be distracted enough that he wouldn’t register what you’d just said. As expected he didn’t respond, just groaned beautifully from deep within his throat as you sucked him off, fingers threading through your hair.

“Oh fuck, baby, just like that,” he moaned, his eyes never leaving your face, watching as his cock disappeared into your mouth. “So good, fuck, you look so good with your lips wrapped around my cock.”

He continued praising you as you took him deeper, the tip of his cock hitting the back of your throat, and once he felt it he started to move his hips, holding your head as he fucked into your throat.

“Fuck, baby, you’re gonna make me come,” he growled, “where do you want it? Hm? On that pretty sundress of yours?”

You moaned around his cock, his dirty talk making you wet, and that was enough for him. He picked you up off the floor, practically throwing you onto the bed. He rubbed his hands over the front of your dress, over your hardened nipples since you weren’t wearing a bra, and under the skirt, since you weren’t wearing panties.

“Oh fuck, Y/N,” he groaned again, “you’re driving me crazy in that dress.”

He couldn’t help himself then, just hiking up your skirt and plunging his cock into your sopping pussy. Your back arched off the bed as he fucked you, hard and fast because he was so close to coming. He pulled the front of your dress down to suck on your nipple, biting lightly with his teeth, while his other hand went down to play with your clit. Your orgasm came super fast, and the way your pussy was milking him made him explode into you, with a loud grunt and a hard thrust that made you cry out.

He pulled out after the first thrust, pumping the rest of his cum across the front of your dress, before he collapsed onto the bed beside you.

“So which record was it?” he asked, when he got his breath back.

You propped yourself up on your elbow to look at him, trailing a finger across his stomach. “Does it matter?” you asked, batting your eyelashes. He looked at you and laughed.

“Nope, not when you’re wearing that dress.”

[xoxo-teddybear]

He’s Lost - Bakugou Katsuki - Part 1

Bakugou x f!reader

Warnings - Angst, Physical Harm, Cursing, accused Cheating, Katsuki’s insecurities

BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST

A/N: This is my first writing piece but this has been stuck in my mind since v-day is coming up so I had to get it out. Plz enjoy!!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Summary: Y/N is so busy around Valentine’s, her lack of attention towards her Pomeranian is causing him to freak out and do the worst of the worst

Love is in the air! The birds are singing, The breeze is blowing, the setting sun is shining, and the explosive teen is.....well, bruting.

Can you blame him though? Y/N’s been a little distant ever since February started. Even right now, instead of enjoying their time together in a quiet park, she’s staring down at her phone doing who knows what.

Why? Was he not good enough? Has she gotten tired of him? They’ve only been together for a little over a year. Is she talking to someon- no. Katsuki stopped himself from thinking like that. There’s no way his precious teddy bear would ever do that. Not only that, he was the best there is. Why would she even try to go?

“You dumbass. You’re missing this.” Bakugou sighed. “Huh? What? Missing what?” Y/N looked around looking for whatever “this” was until Bakugou grabbed her chin to force her to look him in the eyes. “THIS DUMBASS! US! You’re so focused on that dumb phone. Jeez, can’t a guy just get his girl’s attention.” Bakugou said dramatically.

It wasn’t that Y/N wasn’t giving him attention, it’s that it wasn’t the same. Yea she right there snuggled into his arm. And yea she was petting his hair just the way he liked. And YES, she was peppering his face with kisses from time to time. But it all felt off? Like only half her energy was put into the love and affection.

“Suki, aren’t u being a little dramatic. I’m right here with you baby. I’m sorry if I’ve been a little distracted. Come here dummy.” And as Y/N pulls Bakugou in for a tighter hug all he can do is release a “hmph” while falling into it...until her phone went (ding!) once again. And she went to check it. Once again.

Bakugou was getting tired so he got up and suggested they’d head back to UA. Y/N only got up and began to walk beside him, hand in hand, while still checking her phone time to time. And Bakugou was getting sick of it

*Wtf is she doing on that piece of junk? What could be so important she would half ass our entire evening together? .....Could she possibly be talking to someone else?............no.* Bakugou let those negative thoughts die down as they continued their journey back.

——————————————————————————

A few days later

“COME ON!!” Bakugou screamed as he realeased a blast towards Kirishima. When Bakugou invited him to train, The red head initially thought it was to ...you know..TRAIN. But after some time, the blonde’s best friend began to see the bigger picture.

“Dude. What’s up with you man? We always go full on during training, but it’s not even like you’re trying to hit me. It feels like you’re just taking your anger out on me.” Kirishima said.

“Congrats on noticing shitty hair, I’m glad somebody’s noticing my damn mood.” Weirded out by his friend’s unusual openness, the red head continued to ask.

“So what’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“But you just-“

“NOPE!”

Bakugou exclaimed as he began to gather his stuff to leave the training area. “BAKUGOU!” Kiri shouted. “WHAT!” “.......it’s Y/N isn’t it?”

Upon hearing that, the blonde turned to look at his best friend with this sad puppy dog look. And man, if Katsuki had doggy ears, everyone would see how low they’d go. His best friend didn’t need to see it though, he could tell those ears would be 6 ft under if they were actually there bc there’s nothing hiding Katsuki’s vulnerability when it comes to Y/N. As the two best friends go to sit on the bleachers, Bakugou takes a deep breath before saying his thoughts.

“I think Y/N is cheating on me.”

“................HUH???!!!!”

Kirishima went from “caring and considerate” to “WHATDIDHESAYYY” in seconds. Y/N L/N?? Cheating?? Ok. Y/N was one fiesty girl, and she definitely had sass, power, attitude, and a little mischief, but she also had kindness, compassion, consideration, and honesty flowing though her. Not to mention extreme loyalty. There’s no way.

“Look man, with all due respect, I think you’ve finally lost it.” The red head laughed. “I’m being serious shitty hair.” The blonde stated. “She’s been so distracted lately. She’s always with me but it’s like her mind is also somewhere else. And not to mention that damn phone she’s always on now. She can’t go 30 minutes without checking it at least twice. And not only that, when she does leave to do whatever, she’s gone for hours at a time! What’s a guy supposed to think with all of that?! I mean it’d make sense if she wanted to leave. I get it, I can get loud, and yell, and I get angry a lot but.. she knows I never mean it, right? I call her a dumbass like i do everyone else...ugh but she isn’t just everyone else, she’s my girlfriend and she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.....SO WHY TF IS SHE CHEATIN-“ before the blonde could continue, his best friend cut him off.

“BAKUGOU” “WHAT??!!” “....talk to her.” Kirishima said. “What?” Bakugou asked. Kirishima continued. “Cheating is a real sensitive topic in a relationship. I don’t wanna give my opinion on something that could ruin something amazing. C’mon man, we both know Y/N isn’t like that but who am I to tell you what to do. I wanna help, I do, but I think it’s best if you go to her with all this. Honestly though, if you asked me, Y/N would be the last person I’d ever think of when it came to cheating on ANYTHING. Especially the guy she cares so much about.” And with that last sentence, Kirishima stood up from his spot and pat Bakugou on his shoulder before exiting.

With Bakugou left with nothing but his thoughts and Kirishima’s advice, he left and headed straight towards your room.

——————————————————————————

“Shut up!” You excitingly screamed though the phone. “You really found the last part?”

“Yup, it only took about 6 different stores across the entire city.” Shinsou sarcastically replied. “You owe me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know and I appreciate it. Katsuki’s gonna love his gift!” You said.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, you’ve been preparing only the best Valentine’s Day surprise for the best boyfriend in the world. You’ve been so busy planning your surprise that I guess you could say you haven’t been giving Katsuki the massive amount of attention he’s used to from you, but you can definitely say it’ll all be worth it when he sees one of his presents that you’ve been working on. A silencer for his gauntlet blasts that not only decreases the volume of his attacks, but also increases his attack power. You remember how Bakugou had vented about his attacks being too loud that they scare people, but when he tried to keep them quiet, the attack isn’t as powerful so saving can be quite difficult. He only spoke about it once, but you could see the look on his face whenever he was out using his quirk around civilians. So why not give him a device that’ll help with his loud little problem. Now were you a support class student who knew how to make support items? Hell no. But were you a loving girlfriend willing to give her man the best Valentine’s Day ever? Hell yeah.

The piece of gear would’ve been easier to make IF it weren’t for a pesky piece of the project getting destroyed by Shinsou after he made Denki electrocute himself while he was right next to your prototype on the table. So to make it up to you, Shinsou went all around town looking for the piece you needed to complete your support item for Katsuki. Finally, all pieces had come together.

“He better. That damn bastard doesn’t know how amazing his girlfriend is. Instead of ignoring his ass these past few weeks, you sent ME to get all this shit for you so you could keep your precious Pomeranian happy.” Shinsou said while rolling his baggy eyes.

As Bakugou approached the outside of your dorm room’s door, he heard your voice.

“You know, you’re so right. That Pomeranian is unaware of just exactly how amazing I am. I really could’ve left whenever but I stuck around.” You snorted. “Well I’m glad I had you with me through it all Shinsou.”

*Pomeranian? SHINSOU?!? Through IT ALL?!?!? YOU WERE WITH THAT PURPLE HAIRED, SLEEP DEPRIVED ASS MIND CONTROLLING FREAK?!?? AND YOU WERE WITH HIM THE ENTIRE TIME YOU’VE BEEN DATING BAKUGOU?!?*

Oh to say Katsuki was pissed was an understatement. He felt all these emotions hitting him all at once. Anger, Disgust, Pain, Betrayal. It all became too much for him before Katsuki ran away from your down with his bed down and silent tears hitting the floor. When he let himself fall to the floor in the privacy of his room he screamed into his hands. His first love, his first real relationship, his teddy bear betraying his love, loyalty, and trust for over an entire year. After hours of crying, Katsuki was able to pull himself into bed. He couldn’t even bring himself to shower even though he spent all that time in the gym with Kirishima. He just wanted to sleep to escape reality. As he looked at his phone, he saw 1 missed call from Y/N, and 1 text saying “Goodnight love💗💥!” Bakugou scoffed at the text. Figuring u must be texting Shinsou the same thing. As Bakugou placed his phone down, an evil thought came to mind. Ruin her.

Bakugou smirked to himself as he had this pyscho and sinister look on his face. He would ruin Y/N. They haven’t officially broken up yet, so he could hurt her just as she hurt him. And Bakugou wasn’t stupid or so he thought he’s aware Valentine’s is coming up, so why not break little Y/N L/N’s heart on a day dedicated to nothing but love and happiness. It’ll be the perfect revenge on a little satin like her. Bakugou finally turned on his side with an evil, satisfied smile, and fat tears in his eyes once more.

——————————————————————————

The next morning, Katsuki got up with a broken heart, but he figured if he wanted his plan to work, he had to fake this smile. Getting up, getting ready, and getting dressed was business as usual, but meeting up with Y/N in the morning was now off the schedule. Instead of going into her room to check on her like he usually does, he just went straight to breakfast and straight to class without speaking to anyone.

With Class 1-A seated and Mr.Aizawa at the head of the classroom, the students can finally start their first lesson of the day. Until, the door slid wide open. There stood an exhausted and quite frankly dishelved Y/N. “My apologies sensei. I was up late last night and overslept. Please forgive me.” Y/N said as she bowed her head in sorry. “Just take your seat L/N.” The tired eye teacher said.

As Y/N walked to her desk, she noticed Bakugou wouldn’t even glance her way. She was a little thrown off since it would be normal for him to at least give her a judgemental look for sleeping in, but no. Nothing.

Bakugou on the other hand was writhing in agony. Oh how he wanted to check on Y/N and make sure everything was fine, but that voice in the back of his head couldn’t help but tell him to ignore her since she’s a cheater. She may have been the girl he’s loved dearest, but she was also the one causing his heart to shatter.

After a few classes, Y/N tried to approach Bakugou several times, but each time he brushed her off. And when the bell finally rang for lunch, you can bet Katsuki was the first one out the door. Y/N followed him of course, in worry and concern.

“Babe! Baby! Katsuuu!!! KATSUKII!” Y/N whined for her boyfriend to at least look at her but once again. Nothing. Bakugou wanted to hug her and hold her tight but he couldn’t. Not after what she’s done. Right before Bakugou entered the cafeteria, Y/N pulled him aside and held onto his wrists.

“Baby? Hey, what’s up with you? I’ve been calling your name and trying to talk to you but you keep brushing me off. You also didn’t stop by this morning. Is something wrong, love?” Y/N was hoping for something. ANYTHING at this point. And it was like the gods heard her prayer because she definitely got....something. “My bad.” The blonde haired boy dryly replied. “....Oh, um, ok suki.” The poor girl just thought her dear boyfriend was having a bad day, so she just left it alone and let him go. But still, even on his worse days he would at least visit her in the mornings. As they sat down with the bakusquad, the entire table noticed how Bakugou sat up and moved across from Y/N after she chose to sit next to him like usual. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and Kirishima could already feel what had gone down. He at least knew his bro didn’t talk to his girl. Not manly at all.

——————————————————————————

Valentine’s Day

During lunch, Kirishima has finally decided to speak to Bakugou about this whole thing. He hasn’t been getting any updates since their time in the gym, so when it was just him and his best friend having lunch together, he went for it.

“Man what the hell is going on with you and Y/N? I’ve noticed you’ve been avoiding her like crazy,” Kirishima said while stuffing his face, nervous about the answer. “I was right all along.” The blonde sadly spoke. “She’s been cheating on me since the start of our entire relationship. And with that baggy eyed freak from 1-B.”

Kirishima couldnt believe what he was hearing. He almost choked on his food. Y/N was actually cheating. I guess people don’t know people as well as he thought. “.....wow...I’m sorry man.” The red haired friend said. He was at a lost for words and didn’t know what else to say. *sigh* “don’t be. It all goes down tonight.” Bakugou said with a sad smile. “What do you mean?” His friend asked. The blonde looked at him right in his red eyes. “I’m breaking her heart tonight, on the one day of the year dedicated to love.”

Meanwhile

Instead of going to lunch, Y/N spent her time finishing up Katsuki’s surprise in his room. Yeah, he’s been having a bad past few days so why not bring him a smile with these amazing gifts on the day of love. Although Y/N didn’t really feel the love today (due to Katsuki again being so distant and ignoring her “good morning blasty💥💗!” And “Happy Valentine’s Day my love♥️!” Texts) she was determined to make sure Katsuki knew just exactly how much she loved him. She was almost done setting up in his room. Rose petals on the bed, Candles everywhere, 4 different gifts including his new support item made by you, his favorite meal is going to be set here on his table, and you and him together spending every loving second with each other. Y/N didn’t realize that because of her setup, she missed the entire rest of the day. “Meh, so worth it when I see the look on Suki’s face.” Tonight is going to be perfect.....or so you thought.

You didn’t expect to find Katsuki in your room, sitting on the edge of you bed waiting for you with his head hanging low and his shoulders slumped.

*maybe he has a surprise for me....? Yea that has to be it!* Y/N happily thought as she closed the door.

“Suki!! Happy Valentine’s Day!” Y/N said with all the love in her heart as she ran and jumped on the boy for a hug. But Bakugou didn’t say anything. He didn’t move. He just glanced back up at her, giving her this cold stare. Y/N was too busy professing her undying love for her boyfriend to even notice his scary silence. “Suki I’m really glad it’s you who I have in my life,” the love sicken girl bashfully spoke while looking at the ground. “You make me so happy and I feel so blessed being able to spend my life with you in it. I really hope you know just how much I care and lov-“ Bakugou couldn’t listen to this bullshit anymore. He pushed Y/N off of him just before she could say those 3 words that would get him to break.

“Hey! Suki? Why would you do that?!” Y/N exclaimed while standing back up. “I hate you.” The blonde spoke coldly. As those words left his mouth, Y/N heart and world were falling apart. Her eyes went wide open and her jaw slightly dropped. As she was about to say something else, Katsuki cut her off with “I’m breaking up with your dumbass. Right here. Right now!” Bakugou yelled. Y/N was in shock. She felt hurt, pain, she was just feeling so broken.

As tears filled her eyes, she asked “w-why?” as she tried to reach out to him. “Why? WHY?!” Bakugou screamed as he stood up above her slapping her hand away. “THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN WHY, Y/N. YOU’RE A FUCKING CHEATER, THATS WHY!” The blonde yelled in her face. Y/N couldn’t believe it. He thought she was cheating? Why would she even do that? She already has the best person in the world for her so why? “DONT EVEN GIVE ME THAT “it didn’t mean anything, Suki!” BULLSHIT. I DONT GIVE A FUCK, CUZ YOU’VE BEEN CHEATING ON ME AND PLAYING ME FOR A DAMN FOOL THIS ENTIRE FUCKING TIME!” Bakugou went on as his voice began to crack while tears flowed down his porcelain face. “YOU LIED TO ME. I GAVE YOU MY ENTIRE BEING AND YOU FUCKING LIED. YOU DUMB FUCKING BITCH, I CANT BELIEVE I EVER LOVED A SORRY EXCUSE OF A PERSON LIKE YOU. I HATE YOU SO DAMN MUCH, I DONT EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THE FUCK I SAW IN YOU!” Y/N’s heart hit the ground. No actually, it went 6 ft under because after all that he’s said, her heart is dead. Broken. In agony. “Suki I-“ “DONT FUCKING CALL ME THAT L/N.” Hearing him refer to her with her family name hit so hard. “KATSUKI PLEASE! I DIDNT DO ANYTHING I SWEA-“ as Y/N tried to reach out to him, he interrupted her again and pushed her hand away. “I SAID DONT CALL ME THAT!”

The blonde yelled, except this time....he didn’t only yell. The burning scent of smoke came into his nose and the loud explosion could be heard throughout the building. The product of what he just did came to him. He just attacked the love of his life. As much as Y/N hurt him, Katsuki still loved her with his everything. And the fact that he subconsciously attacked her broke him even more. Y/N’s screams of pain reached his ears, as he looked down and saw his precious teddy bear with a burned arm and fat tears on her face, crying in pain.

Bakugou ran down to her level to try and help her. “Y/N! Hey, hey teddy bear look I’m so-“ Y/N pushed him away before he could continue. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU BAKUGOU?!” Ouch. His family name felt like poison coming from your tongue. “Princess, I’m sorry I didn’t-“ “SHUT UP AND LET ME SPEAK FOR ONCE YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” Y/N screamed as she stood up to face him. “I DIDNT FUCKING CHEAT ON YOU. WHY THE HELL WOULD I DO THAT WHEN YOU’RE THE BEST DAMN THING THATS EVER HAPPENED TO ME?!..ah!” Y/N was cut off by the stinging of her wound, and Bakugou couldn’t do anything but stare. Y/N grabbed onto her wound before continuing. “I love you Bakugou. I wouldn’t even dream about doing wrong by you. I thought I was a good girlfriend or at least a good person-“ Bakugou quickly interrupted “No! Y/N you are, I just-“ “If I am then what the hell made you even think of me so lowly? What the hell did I do to make you question my loyalty? What the hell did I do that was worthy of you burning my fucking arm?!” Y/N cried out.

Silence fell upon the room. It felt like hours before anybody said anything. Both people had heavy tears in their face now. One crying because he realized he was an idiot and harmed the girl who did nothing wrong, and One crying because she did nothing wrong but ended up being a villain in her loved one’s life. Y/N broke the silence with a scoff.

“You know what Suki?” Y/N said looking him in the eyes. “Yes teddy bear?” Bakugou quickly replied with wide, desperate eyes upon hearing the loving nickname, thinking they would move on from this horrible incident. “Get the fuck out.” Y/N said in a low voice. Bakugou was shocked. He knew he fucked up horribly but after realizing the truth, he can’t leave you! He loves you too damn much for that! “What? Y/N please listen to me, I’m sor-“ “I DONT GIVE A FUCK! Leave..please.” The sad girl cried. Bakugou grabbed onto her shoulders begging her to not end this. “Y/N please! Please princess! I’m so fucking sorry! I’m an idiot, I know, and I definitely don’t deserve you but please I can’t lose you.” Bakugou said with tears falling down his face. “Please don’t do this to us. Please don’t do this to me, I’m BEGGING YOU.” “Bakugou-“ The sad boy cut you off, shaking his head, “ NO ITS SUKI. YOUR SUKI. YOUR KATSUKI.......please teddy bear I need you.......h-here let me help yo-”

You harshly pushed the boy off of you and as he tried to desperately go back to you, you used your quirk to keep him at bay. “Bakugou Katsuki. I’m leaving this room since you won’t, and I won’t come back until I know you’re out of my room.” Y/N began as she looked at him with cold, sad eyes. “From now on, you won’t have to worry about this bitch because I’ll stay out of your life, I swear. Don’t look at me, don’t touch me, DONT EVEN TALK TO ME. Just leave me alone....we’re done.” And with that Y/N ran out of her room, and out of the building, needing to get away from the place for a little bit. She could deal with her wound later. She just needed to get away. Bakugou just stood there in sadness and shock. As much as he wanted to run after you, he figured he’d give you a little breather. You guys could fix things in the morning...right?

Bakugou waited an hour in your room waiting for you, but you were right. You really weren’t coming back until he left your private area. So that’s what he did. With a heavy heart, he picked himself up and dragged his feet back to his dorm. He looked like a mess. He knew he did. Messy hair, red swollen eyes, dry lips. His entire body screamed heartbroken. When he open the door, instant regret and love hit him at once. His room was covered with rose petals and flowers, there were candles everywhere, heart shaped balloons all around, he had 4 different boxes of gifts, and two plates of extra spicy curry was set on his table, obviously cold now. What caught his eye was that one of the gift boxes had a note attached to it. With tears in his eyes, he read it.

Hey Suki! It’s Valentine’s Day! I love you to the moon and back and so much more. There’s no words that are able to describe the way I feel about you. You drive me insane in all the right ways and I love it! Lol. I hope you like your Valentine’s Day surprise. I’ve been working for weeks on it, so I’m sorry if I’ve been a little distracted. I know I’ve been kinda absent these past few days but I promise I’ll make it up to you love! Hopefully I can start with this gift that I’ve been working on. Enjoy your brand new grenade silencer! Made it myself just for you. There’s nothing else in the world like this. I love you Bakugou Katsuki!

(P.S. If Shinsou from 1-B gives you shit about it, it’s because I made him drag his ass everywhere to look for a missing part so I wouldn’t have to leave you so much)

XOXO, Your forever teddy bear <3

As he quickly opened the gift, he saw it. A silencer that would attach to his gauntlets to make the sound quieter and the blast even more powerful. It was incredible. You are incredible. He only ever mentioned the sound of his blasts once, and you listened and you fixed it.

Bakugou shook as tears began to fall onto the paper. He couldn’t believe it. Everything started coming together now. The reason you were so distracted was because you were setting this up for him. You were always on the phone because you were assembling pieces and ordering gifts for him. You weren’t cheating on him with Shinsou. You were making sure he could find something that you needed for him. Y/N L/N was truly the best girlfriend in the world. Scratch that, she is the best girlfriend in the world. No scratch that too, she’s just the best, period. And Bakugou’s idiotic self ruined everything for him. All because he couldn’t have a little faith in his teddy bear. As Katsuki cried and cried, he set everything aside.

He took the petals off his bed. He didn’t deserve it. He blew out the candles around his room. He didn’t deserve it. He popped the balloons, and ignored the food. He laid in bed with more tears than ever, and looked at the ceiling. He finally turned to his side to fall asleep, but not before grabbing the picture on his bedside nightstand. A picture of you and him. He remembers that picture oh so clearly. It was his birthday, and while he didn’t want to celebrate, you did everything in your power to make it the best one yet. And you did just that. Bakugou hugged that picture so tight, because he didn’t have you in his arms tonight. He didn’t think he would ever have you in his arms again. So Bakugou Katsuki continued to cry until he was asleep, escaping from the reality of him losing his love, his teddy bear, his princess, and his Y/N.

Bakugou Katsuki never lost, no. He’s always been ahead, always number one, always the best. He always won and achieved and nothing ever stopped him. Except this time, the only thing that stopped him and caused him to lose, was himself. He lost. He lost his everything. His world, his rock, his heart, his Y/N. He’s lost without her in his life, and at this point he thinks he’s lost at life. There was nothing that could fix him unless it was you coming back to him.

Bakugou Katsuki? He’s lost.

A/N: HOLY SHIT! That was my very first writing piece and it was just a Drabble of a thought I’ve been having. Sorry if it’s a little off and weird, I’m still new to writing but hopefully I’ll get better. This was NOT spell checked so my apologies for any mistakes. I hope you enjoyed reading this! Thx for the love!

[idy-ll-ique]

Breaking The Rules.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x F!Reader (sort of Winter Soldier x F!Reader too)

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Warnings: like,,, lots of murder

Requested: nope

Summary: The Winter Soldier attacks the building where Y/N works and comes face-to-face with her. Surprising her and himself, he lets her go, breaking the rules, not following his orders. Y/N is so thankful about his mercy that she is now the world's biggest Bucky Barnes stan. What happens when their paths cross again 7 years later?

Author's Note: Hiya peeps! Okay so I don't really know if I've done a good job writing this but I tried my best so,,, enjoy!

---

The Asset is not thinking.

The Asset is not made to think.

Casually stroking his gun as he walked into the plain building, he watched the people inside the room pause for a minute. Then the screaming began. He simply stood there, the scene unfolding in front of him as people ran; inside rooms, out the building as they jumped out of windows to avoid him. He let them.

Finally having had enough because HYDRA demands some kills, Soldat, he cocked his gun and started out by fighting the security guards that had an ounce of bravery in them as they approached him with their own guns. He killed them easily. Then he moved further into the building, ending the lives of anyone who tried to get in his way.

What was his purpose of doing this? There was none. He was programmed to kill, and the program had no specific targets. No targets, only kill. He walked up the stairs of the building as more people, who had not been dead, escaped. Then he ended up on the floor where she was.

Y/N was going through a stack of papers, wearing headphones, when she heard a scream. It had been so sudden and loud that she startled badly, the papers flying from her hands as she turned around, ready to give the person a piece of her mind only to be met with the prettiest blue eyes she had ever seen in her life. The breath left her lungs and fear overtook her.

The person in front of her; she had heard of him. They called him The Winter Soldier. He was covered in black leather, his silver arm shining in the sunlight that entered through the window on her right. She quickly glanced at it; she was 10 stories above ground. He had a black mask on (more like a muzzle, she thought) and a peculiar look on his face.

She looked around the room, her eyes filling with tears when she saw the bodies of her coworkers, the friends she had made at the workplace, littered on the floor. Damn you, stupid headphones. She discarded them. He had killed them all. The Winter Soldier didn't really have a say in what he did, she told herself, he had been programmed to act like that.

Nothing but a murder toy for HYDRA.

And she hated them for that.

"Don't cry." She looked back at the Soldat, her eyes wide in confusion. Huh? Why would he say that? She blinked away the tears and started raising a hand to wipe them off when he suddenly raised his gun. Her hand paused mid-air and she held her breath, waiting for him to finally put her out of her misery as her eyes unconsciously watered once more.

When he saw her hand, though, her palm was facing him. Ready to rub off the tears, he noticed, and he lowered the gun. "Don't cry," he repeated and Y/N, as absurd as she found the situation to be, did as he ordered. She wiped the tears off and rubbed her hands on the jeans she was wearing, staring at the man. He stared back at her.

When he first entered the floor, he had done what he had been told, until there was no one alive in the room. Or so he thought, until his eyes landed on Y/N. She was wearing some sort of a device over her head, completely oblivious to what was going on. Was she deaf? Did she not hear the gunshots?

As he approached her cautiously, someone screamed behind him. And he saw how the papers flew out of her hand she whirled around, her big, doe eyes blinking at him until recognition sparked in them. Then she cowered. For some reason, as he looked at her, he couldn't bring himself to harm her. She looked… adorable, almost. So he did what he did best.

Stared.

Her eyes were darting around the place, and they watered when they landed on the bodies on the floor. He gulped quietly under his mask, something inside him stirring uncomfortably as he watched her cry. And suddenly, he couldn't help himself. "Don't cry," he blurted out and she looked back at him. He stared. She blinked rapidly and started raising her hand.

Thinking she would raise a hand on him, he immediately held up his gun as a warning but realized that she was simply drying her tears, new ones in her eyes as she looked at the gun. And he suddenly felt very apologetic. "Don't cry," he repeated and allowed her to wipe her tears. But he was surprised to hear her speak.

"Please don't hurt me."

She was shaking, arms going around herself, but she wasn't crying. At least she was not crying. He didn't reply, only stared as a foreign, almost forgotten word came to mind. Pretty. She was pretty. Soldat or not, how could he bring himself to harm a pretty thing like her? He raised his gun again when he remembered his orders; kill, do not show mercy.

The pretty woman started crying again, this time her tears were much more prominent. "Please, please don't do it, please… I have done nothing to you, don't do it…" she pleaded, fingers intertwined as if in prayer. Kill her. But he ignored the order and lowered his gun again.

"Pretty," he stated and her brows furrowed. Y/N blinked at him, pretty? Did she hear that right? He called her pretty, right? "Pardon?" she blurted out and his head tilted to the side. "Go." His voice sounded strained and for a moment, Y/N wanted to embrace him, to comfort him but hurriedly dismissing the thoughts, she turned on her heels and ran out the building.

The Asset stared at her as she ran.

He had not been programmed to think.

Then why had he?

---

"Guys, I'm telling you, it was so surreal—"

"Oh my God, Y/N, will you stop—"

Steve, Sam and Bucky glanced at the group of ladies that ended up at the bar next to them. A few years had passed since the incident between Bucky and Y/N took place and he was back to normal. No longer the Winter Soldier; he was an ally of the Avengers now. Steve glanced at his friends, lips curling into an amused smile.

"What do you think they're talking about?" he whispered and Sam snickered quietly. "Why don't we listen?" Bucky simply shook his head, but was also kind of intrigued at this surreal experience that Y/N talked about. Y/N… that name sounded kind of familiar to him, but maybe it was a common one, what did he know?

"He called me pretty!"

"We know he's hot, Y/N, but seriously, the Winter Soldier did not call you pretty."

The three men froze and their eyes darted amongst each other. "He did," Y/N whined, "I'm telling you!" Bucky almost dropped his glass but managed to hold on, his jaw dropped. Thankfully the ladies were not aware of the men shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation. "Wait wait wait, what is this about you and the Winter Soldier? I've not heard that story."

"Ugh, Sam, you've done it now!"

Steve and Bucky glanced at Sam with smirks and he rolled his eyes. "Samantha," he snarked but the super soldiers only shrugged in reply. "Okay okay, this was like… 7 years ago. I was in my office, working, when our building was attacked. By him." And Bucky, try as he might, couldn't remember shit.

"Dude, I was wearing headphones so damn strong that I didn't hear literal gunshots echoing around the room, like what?"

"Seriously, Y/N? You know we won't say anything if you tell us you're lying."

"But I'm not lying," Y/N insisted, "I heard a scream and finally took off the headphones. When I turned to see who had screamed, he was literally standing in front of me." Hazy memories slowly flashed in his mind; a plain building, those red-black headphones and the fluttering of papers. He gulped his drink down.

"And didn't kill you like he had been trained to? I still think you're lying. Or maybe you just have severe trauma and you made up a story of the handsome Bucky Barnes calling you pretty." Bucky nearly laughed when Y/N's face turned red but then guilt started weighing heavy in his stomach. He had put her in danger…

"I don't have trauma, don't joke about stuff like that! Anyway, I was like, scared shitless. I thought I was gonna die, I started crying but he told me, don't cry. Like huh?" Bucky didn't remember that part. Steve and Sam were now definitely drawn to the story, their eyes set on their glasses as they listened.

"I didn't want to anger him so I wiped my tears but he raised that goddamn gun again and I started crying again. He repeated his words and I started pleading, as we've all seen in action movies." Snorts drifted between them. "Please don't hurt me, let me go…" Y/N mimicked but Bucky's heart rate suddenly spiked. The same voice, the same tone…

He had had a nightmare the previous night.

She was the one he heard.

"Okay, so after I'm done begging, you know what he fucking says? Out of all things, he literally called me pretty. Like just— just that one word came out of his mouth. I'm literally still so confused," she spoke animatedly and the friend who had not heard the story before gasped. "Seriously? No way," she scoffed.

"Yes way!" Y/N got impatient. Why did no one ever believe her? She got that it was an outlandish story, but it was real! Y/N wished the Soldat was here; not to kill, of course, merely to confirm the fact that he had, indeed, called her pretty. But that man was long gone, replaced by someone who was stable-but-not-so-stable, undoubtedly handsome and with a new metal arm. This Bucky was much better than the dangerous Soldat.

"Then he told me to go. He sounded so fucking soft, you know? I have so much respect for Bucky Barnes, I mean, look at him. He went through so much he didn't deserve, and sometimes I just wanna—" She made a choking gesture, "—everyone who hurt him." Her friends chuckled but he could tell she wasn't lying. She really did care for him.

After all he put her through…

"I'm serious! Look at him! He looks like a lost puppy. How can you not care about him?" Y/N whined and her friends shook their heads. "You just have a big crush on the man, accept it." Bucky rolled his eyes as Steve and Sam smirked at him. He nudged them both, keeping silent. "You know what? I wish he was here right now. He probably doesn't even remember but if he did—"

"I remember it, doll, only vaguely…"

Y/N's group froze as their gazes followed the voice, landing on the three Avengers beside them. Her friends were mortified, Y/N even more so. Did he hear the story? "D-Did you… hear…" she stammered and Bucky pursed his lips. "I'm sorry." The apology fell out before he could stop himself and Y/N, ever the Bucky-apologist, instantly shook her head.

"It was not your fault. HYDRA did that to you. You didn't deserve any of it, mark my words." She sounded like Steve, he noticed and smiled gently. After all he put her through… she still stood by his side. "Thank you, doll, that really means a lot," he said sincerely and Y/N grinned at him. "You're welcome!" And before she could turn to her friends, he spoke up again.

"I meant what I said."

"Hm?" She looked at him, head tilted in confusion. "When I called you pretty, I meant it. You are pretty, very much so." She went red under his intense gaze and shied away, forcing Steve, Sam and her friends to burst into boisterous laughter. "Th-Thanks," she mumbled and Bucky craved her more.

"Join me for a drink?" he questioned and her eyes widened. He mistook it for fear and immediately lowered his head. "Sorry, I overstepped—" He froze when she took his metal hand, holding it gently, looking at him with the same eyes he had thought to be adorable 7 years ago. "Of course I'll join you." A genuine smile bloomed on his face and without a care in the world, he led her away from her friends.

She was going to be his.

Forever and always.

The only woman caring and wonderful enough to accept him, broken and everything.

---

A/N: Leave a like if you enjoyed, thanks for reading! Love you all 🖤

[amjustagirl]

Hogwarts x Haikyuu AU

pairing: Iwaizumi Hajime x f! reader 

genre: angst / fluff

warnings: a series of misunderstandings

wc: 2.3k

m.list. ~ taglist. ~

a/n: back by popular demand, another installment of the hogwarts x haikyuu fluff series featuring the Gryffindor quidditch team and one exceedingly persistent Iwaizumi Hajime. you may want to read the installment featuring one very smug Slytherin beater Kuroo Tetsuro (here) to appreciate the first scene in this story. 

“What are we doing here, Iwaizumi?” 

He’d grabbed your hand on a hogsmeade weekend, asking if you had any plans. You lied, crossing your fingers behind your back, telling him you hadn’t. So you find yourself seated opposite him in Madam Puddifoot’s, smothered by pink and white frills, surrounded by porcelain teaware.

By all appearances, it looks like a date. It should be a date. 

But it isn’t. 

Instead of chatting with you, he looks distinctly out of place amidst the swarm of happy couples with a scowl on his face, tapping his fingers so aggressively you fear for the survival of any crockery on the table. 

“I needed to check up on someone”, he tells you half apologetically. You follow his line of vision.  

Ah. 

Kuroo Tetsurou - Slytherin beater, top potions student, is seated cozily with Iwaizumi’s junior on the Gryffindor quidditch team. You heard of the infamous bet between them, you’re surprised if anyone in Hogwarts doesn’t know of it given the ruckus that followed when Kuroo swaggered up to the Gryffindor team to wager the fate of his hair for a date with their substitute chaser (the sole girl on the team).

“I see”, you murmur, twisting the lace napkin in your fingers. “I shouldn’t have assumed otherwise.”

Iwaizumi frowns, finally turning to look at you.   

“Huh? What d’you mean - I thought you wouldn’t mind since you’ve always been a good friend - ”

You catch a glimpse of a dark head of hair moving towards the door from the corner of your eye. 

“They’re leaving. You should follow them”, you interrupt his stuttering with a wide smile that hurts your cheeks. Iwaizumi halts his incoherent flurry of excuses, only sparing you a glance before grabbing the bill and dashing off in the general direction of Kuroo. 

You purse your lips to keep them from trembling. 

You should’ve known that he wouldn’t be interested in you. Not when he’s so painfully attractive (especially when Oikawa and/or the Slytherin team aren’t around to knit his brows into a frown), so much so that his bloody biceps have their own fanclub. Not when he’s so laser focused on quidditch and his studies and his teammates and his friends, running flying tutorials for the younger students, keeping Tanaka and Nishinoya and Hinata and Yaku from blowing up Gryffindor tower or running afoul of the professors.

It’s your fault for assuming, for hoping, for wishing that Iwaizumi Hajime, your housemate of 6 years, longtime charms partner and the boy you’ve harboured a huge crush on for the past year and a half - might return your feelings after all. 

You should have known. You’re not winsome. Why would you ever win him? 

Wishing otherwise only ruins the heart. 

So you trudge back to school alone in the snow, skirting past the Gryffindor team who seem to be in some sort of an uproar, only allowing yourself to cry when you’ve drawn the curtains on your four poster bed to make sure you’re alone. 

It is not terribly difficult to avoid Iwaizumi Hajime for the next couple of days, at least until charms class rolls around. You’ve sat next to him ever since you were both first years, when his voice hadn’t broken and you were still taller than him. That’s how your friendship blossomed, but you haven’t worked up the courage to face him just yet. 

So you choose to displace Daichi by stealing his usual seat next to Sugawara, pointedly ignoring the furrow in Iwaizumi’s brow and the confused looks he tosses at you until you flee back to your dorm after class. 

You’re being dramatic, you know. But you figure the best way of getting over Iwaizumi Hajime is to cut him out of your life, at least for now. 

“Yoohoo!” 

You turn to stare at Oikawa Tooru, captain of the Slytherin team, a classmate you’ve maybe exchanged less than ten words with in your entire Hogwarts career. 

He’s probably shouting at someone else. 

“Gryffindor-chan!” 

Nope. He’s definitely referring to you. 

You curse your parents for your laughably short legs when Oikawa effortlessly catches up to you in the hallway, pulling you into an empty classroom heedless to your protests. 

“I have a name, you know?” you snarl, snatching your wrist back. 

“You Gryffindors are always so fun to tease!” Oikawa lilts, head tilted to look down towards you. “Don’t be grumpy like Iwa-chan” - his eyes gleam when your lips tighten - “oh did I hit a nerve? Heard you’ve been ignoring him for a few days now.”

“It’s really none of your business”, you inform him pertly, inching towards the door. 

“No, it isn’t”, he agrees easily, with a smile you instantly distrust. “But I have a proposition for you.”

Curiosity kills Mrs Norris. It is no different for you. 

“What?” you ask, fingers already grasping your wand, ready to curse him at the first sign of trouble. “What do you want from me?”

“So prickly, just like Iwa-chan - no wonder you’re friends”, Oikawa teases, holding his hands up to placate you when you brandish your wand at him. 

“Speak or I’m leaving.”

“Okay, okay. Sheesh. You know - if you really wanted Iwa-chan’s attention, you should go on a date with me. That’ll show him.”

You stare at him. You’re not even aware that your jaw hangs open and your eyes bug out inelegantly. 

“What!” he cries, pressing a hand to his chest. “I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart to get my best friend a girl he deserves.”

You gather yourself, narrowing your eyes at him. “What’s in it for you?” 

“Well - you could sit on the Slytherin stands and cheer for my team, that’ll distract Iwa-chan to no end”

“Go to hell, Oikawa”, you tell him flatly. “Go to hell.”

You slam the door behind you. 

“Hey.” 

Iwaizumi Hajime springs to his feet the minute you step foot into the common room. You nod jerkily to acknowledge his greeting but you walk right past him, heading straight for the girls’ dorm. 

“Can we talk?” he calls after you when you’re already halfway up the flight of stairs. 

You pretend you don’t hear him. You think that should deter him, but Iwaizumi Hajime is persistence personified, so you really shouldn’t have been surprised when Akane Yamamoto comes barrelling into your room yelling that the Gryffindor quidditch team is determined to breach the centuries old magical barriers barring boys from entering the girls’ dorms. 

“What the hell is going on?” You hear Daichi thunder when you peer over the bannister. 

Yaku, Hinata, Tanaka, Yamamoto and Nishinoya are all dogpiled onto the staircase - now a steep slope, cheering Iwaizumi as he clambers on their backs, face set in determination. You giggle despite yourself as you watch Daichi flail in confusion when he notices his otherwise trustworthy vice captain in the thick of this mayhem. 

“IWAIZUMI!” 

“He’s boldly going where no man has gone before” Yaku tells Daichi approvingly from the bottom of the pile. 

“Charting new frontiers!” Hinata pipes up, though he immediately cringes when Daichi turns the full force of his glare on him. 

“To infinity and beyond!” Tanaka and Nishinoya whoop.  

“This has gone on ENOUGH!” Daichi roars, and the enchanted staircase clearly agrees with him, because with an echoing creak that eerily resembles a blech, the smooth wood of the slope ripples, rolling the entire Gryffindor quidditch team (sans Daichi, of course) into a pile on the common room floor. 

Even though the rest of his teammates are complaining laughingly and railing against the antiquated enchantments, Iwaizumi continues to stare stubbornly at you. 

It’s not over, his intense gaze promises you. 

You shake your head, heading back to the safety of your room. 

Your window rattles. The wind howls. 

You shrug it away as a particularly violent storm, burrowing deeper into your nest of blankets. 

Then you hear a loud crack. 

“We’re under attack!!!” you hear one of your roommates shriek before fleeing the room. 

The sorting hat must’ve made a mistake with her, you mutter under your breath, grabbing your wand before stomping towards the window. You yank the curtains back. 

Iwaizumi Hajime stares at you sheepishly through the glass, pebbles in hand, hanging on to his broomstick in the gale for dear life. 

“Are you crazy?” you shriek. “Have you lost your mind?” 

“You weren’t talking to me”, he mouths, forehead creased in frustration. “I want to know what’s wrong.” 

Never mind your other idiot roommates cooing in the background at how impossibly romantic the entire situation is. He’s never once looked at you with any ounce of romantic interest, which is fine, really, you’ll get over that, but he’s making it so much harder by badgering you incessantly. You want him to leave you the hell alone, so you can lick your wounds in peace and mope to your heart’s content. 

“Get lost!” 

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong!”

You’re about to rip your hair out from frustration. 

“Fine. Meet me in the common room then”, you mouth back, hands on hips, looking decidedly annoyed. Iwaizumi doesn’t even pretend to look fazed, grinning at you as he speeds off. 

You trudge down the staircase, waiting until he tumbles into the common room, broomstick still in hand. There are far too many eavesdropping ears in the common room, and you have no wish to embarrass yourself more than he has already, so you march him to his dorm. 

Daichi and Yaku watch with wide eyes as Iwaizumi meekly follows your order to strip off his wet robes and get into dry ones now - or serve him right for catching his death from a cold. Then with a sharp muffiliato, you draw the curtains, shielding yourself from any prying eyes.

“So.”

“What can I say to get you to leave. me. alone?” you ground out. 

“Why don’t you tell me why you want me to leave you alone”, Iwaizumi replies, painfully earnest as he inches closer towards you. “Cos to me it seemed to me you just got mad with me right after Hogsmeade and I really don’t know what I did wrong. And even though Shittykawa kind of told me I’m a fool for not knowing what happened - maybe you’d want to tell me yourself?” 

“You didn’t do anything wrong”, you inform the godzilla toy sitting on the bottom of the bed (courtesy of his muggle mother, he told you once). 

“Was it because I left you at Madam Puddifoot’s? I was worried about my teammate and thought Kuroo was up to no good, but it’s no excuse, I shouldn’t have left you to walk back alone.”

“It’s not that either”, you murmur, even though that memory stings. “It’s not you, Iwaizumi.” 

“Really? I’m having a hard time believing that given the lengths you’ve gone to avoid me.” 

“Really,” you emphasise, still refusing to meet his eyes. But you know he’s not convinced and you owe him an explanation, if only to get him off your back so you swallow nervously, take a deep breath and -  

“I just - I just really need to get over you.”

“Wha - What d’you mean, get over me? I don’t get it - ” 

Your temper flares up. 

Iwaizumi Hajime stares at you, open mouthed. You itch to reach out and shut his mouth for him, but you barrel on to the bitter end - 

“Do I have to spell out everything for you?” you snarl like a cornered animal, frantically gathering up the remnant shreds of your dignity to piece it together into a makeshift shield.

“I like you, okay? I like you, Iwaizumi Hajime, and I got so ridiculously excited when you asked me to Hogsmeade that I didn’t realise you were only asking me as a friend. “ 

“I’ve liked you for so long that I need time to get over you, okay? Can’t you even give me that?” 

The room is so quiet you can hear a pin drop in the room. 

This is embarrassing, you think to yourself. This is embarrassing, and you shouldn’t need to put yourself through further humiliation by waiting for him to turn you down again. 

So you reach out to tug the curtains to make a hasty escape when Iwaizumi’s arm shoots out to grab your wrist. 

“I don’t want you to get over me.”

“What?” 

“I said, I don’t want you to get over me”, Iwaizumi mutters, his ears turning so red you’re surprised his hair hasn’t caught fire yet.  

“Why not?” It’s your turn to make him squirm. 

“Because I like you too, okay? I didn’t - I didn’t really figure it out until you stopped talking to me and I missed you so much I swear on Merlin’s balls I was willing to try even the stupidest suggestions from my idiot teammates - “ 

“I could tell”, you interject dryly and he chuckles, cheeks bright pink. 

“Daichi was not pleased, let me tell you that”, he admits with a twinkle in his usually serious eyes. 

“But it’s worth it. You’re worth every bit of it.”

“Really?” you breathe. “You really, really like me?”

“Really” he says firmly, lacing his fingers with yours. “I really, really like you.”

“We’re a pair of fools then”, you say and he laughs aloud, a glorious sound you’ll never grow sick of.

“You both really, really are”, Yaku calls from the other side of the room. 

You both stiffen. You don’t even realise your conversation has stretched long enough for your hastily cast muffiliato charm to wear off. Now you can even hear Daichi trying to shush his irrepressible teammate muttering about ungodly six am practices that he’s not going to get enough sleep for if his idiot vice captain doesn’t get his love life in order soon. 

“We’ll talk more tomorrow”, he whispers, breath warm against your cheek.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow then”, you whisper back, your heart fluttering in your chest as he escorts you back to the foot of the staircase to the girls’ dorm, chivalrously refusing to turn away until you step into your room. 

You fall into bed, a giddy smile on your face. The foolish wish your heart made has come true. 

Previously: 

Miya Atsumu (Slytherin).~  Miya Osamu (Slytherin).~ Kita Shinsuke.  (Ravenclaw)~ Kuroo Tetsuro. (Slytherin) ~  Bokuto Koutarou. (Hufflepuff)~  Sakusa Kiyoomi. (Ravenclaw) ~

[qillmhi]

So I'm like... Never a fan of the 'Imma kill my bros for u' kind of scenario especially since I very much love all the turtle bros, so here's my version of an obsessive lover 2012 Mikey!

🖤🧡🐢

Dark!2012!Mikey x Reader

-Michelangelo is the youngest out of the four turtle brothers, so he was easily the most childish and energetic one, much to his older brothers' annoyance.

-He was loud yet small. Just a few inches shorter than you. A social butterfly, but can be oblivious to most things.

-Mikey may not be the smartest turtle, but he does have own way of getting what he wants.

-And he has his eyes dead set on you.

-When he first realised his crush on you, he openly welcomed it with zero resistance. It felt great being in love so why should he deny it?

-He loves expressing himself so there was little to no filter when he's showing you his love.

-"(y/n)~!!!!" Mikey threw his arms around you "I missed you so much!!!!!" He cried in excitement rubbing his cheek on yours.

-You laughed at the youngest turtle and placed your hand on his head "Mikey! I just went for a glass of water!"

-"Yeah! But you took sooooo long so I still missed you!"

-He would be all over you. Wherever you go, Mikey is expected to be following close behind.

-Sometimes without your knowledge.

-Whenever his brothers weren't looking, he would slip by to your apartment to watch you sleep.

-But he did it to make sure you're safe! Don't worry!

-He would always be the first one to tackle you as soon as your foot entered the lair. Then proceed to trap you in a cuddling session with him for hours before anyone could get to you.

-"Oof--!"

-"Dibs on (y/n)!!!!"

-"Ow--Mikey!!" You groaned in protest.

-"No time to talk dudette! Look--" He held up a glowing flower watch "--it's hug time!"

-You squinted your eyes at the familiar looking gadget "Did you force Donnie to make you that hug-watch thing from the Trolls movie?"

-"Maybe~!" Mikey avoided your eyes "So hug time...?"

-Physical contact is his love langauge! Mikey's insides would be all mushy and gushy if you respond to them even the slightest bit. And if you return the favor? This little boy will melt into your arms!

-When you do ask him to let you go, he would just simply say "Nope!" popping the 'p' then proceed to tuck himself below your chin.

-"Awwh come on!!"

-Everytime he feels your soft hands scratching his shell, he immediately starts churring in delight. You thought it was cute, so you'd pat him in the head which made him even more happy!

-He can't help it! Mikey is just obsessed with how soft and plush you feel against his skin! He would definitely glue himself on you if you'd allow him to.

-"You are so squishy~!" Mikey mumbled against your shoulder while hugs you from behind for the nth time today.

-You flicked his forehead earning yourself a small 'ow' "And you are a big baby."

-You didn't mind his clinginess thankfully. It was just Mikey being cute as always. For real how can you resist this baby?

-He's loves it when you give your full attention to him. But if you're talking to someone else, he would just simply have an arm over your shoulders. Silently brooding towards the intruder, giving them a silent warning.

-If the boy isn't hugging you or initiating some kind of physical contact with you, he would be content holding the hem of your shirt or any kind of clothing you own (he may or may not have kept a few in his room that he may or may not have been using as a pillowcase to cuddle). Something that became a norm whenever he's at your apartment and you preparing both of your meals.

-Damn he loves your food! It was then only food he worships other than pizza! He especially loves watching you cook. Like an angel preparing to give him heaven.

-Speaking of Heaven.

-This orange fluff have TONS of pictures of you saved in his phone. If you ever made the mistake of sleeping in the lair, this guy is just snapping pictures of you in every possible angle. Sideways? Upside down? Close up? Bird's eye view? They all made you look perfect!

-His wallpaper is a selfie of you and him enjoying your home made chocolate icecream pizza that you made just for him. Aren't you just the sweetest? He considers that as your first date even though you two aren't official.... yet.

-I mean you made that treat just for him so it must mean that you return his feelings right?

-As time went by, his little crush for you grew into something more.

-You were starting to see his brothers and your other friends a little less and him and little more.

-It was just Mikey. Only Mikey.

-Just the way he likes it

-Everyday you'd wake up and find him cuddled up to you. When you ask him what he's doing he would just look up at you with his innocent baby blue eyes and say "But cupcake! I'm cold and you're suuuuper comfy~!" Cue those puppy dog eyes and you're 100% powerless.

-He would bring you all sorts of goodies like food, favourite drinks, movies, videogames--anything he could carry just for you!

You couldn't say that you didn't like the attention. Mikey is just so sweet especially whenever he brings little trinkets saying "They reminded me of you!" With that adorable freckled smile of his! It just makes you blush every time.

His innocent sweet smile just melts through your heart!

His brothers thought it was weird when he's always out and about after training and patrolling. But hey! The lair is a lot more quiet and Donnie doesn't have to worry about his stuff being broken anymore. Besides they knew you, you were a great friend so they trust you.

After a while you started to miss your friends. Having Mikey around was fun but you wanted to see what the other guys are up to these days.

One day you decided to visit everyone in the lair with pizza and had a great time chatting and playing with the turtle brothers. Oddly enough Mikey wasn't there.

But he was. Mikey was there. Hidden in the dark corners of the lair. Not even his brothers noticed him. His smile was gone. His eyes were dark as he kept himself one with the shadows, silent as a ghost.

He didn't like the way you were smiling with other people. Of course he was fine with letting you talk to his brothers sometimes, but still there were some boundaries to be made.

"Mine..." Michelangelo silently growls.

Although he doesn't favor this image of you with other people, he does take pride in the way your eyes would flicker to his bedroom door every now and then. Good. Very good.

Finally it was time for you to go. He immediately left. Time to take action.

When you got home you saw your favorite orange turtle curled up on the floor sobbing. Your heartached at the sight of the big crocodile tears falling from his face.

-You dropped down on your knees and asked him what was wrong.

-"I was waiting for you here all day b-but you didn't come home... you left me.." He cried miserably "I-I understand... if you don't want to h-hang out with me anymore... no one really wants to. I p-promise won't bother you anymore.." Mikey sniffed then left before you can get a word out.

-That was three days ago and you haven't seen Mikey since. He stopped visiting, stopped replying to your calls or texts. He was just gone.

-You realized just how much you loved having the small orange ninja around. Your home became cold and lonely. You started to miss him terribly.

-You went back to the lair, ignoring the others as you went straight for Mikey's room and knocked on his door.

-Mikey opened the door for just a crack. His eyes were red from crying. He looked absolutely miserable, but you pushed the door open and pulled him into a hug.

-You apologized to Mikey. You told him that it wasn't your intention to make him sad or feel neglected. That you loved having him around you.

-Mikey hugged you back of course. He closed his bedroom door to give you both privacy while you continued to hold him tight.

-He nuzzled his snout on your chest and told you he missed you too.

-Your soul ached when his shoulders started to shake. You placed your cheek on his head with your hand on his shell to calm your crying turtle.

-Except he wasn't.

-Mikey's smile was as wide as it could ever be. His eyes held a victorious sinister glow as he felt his entire body shake from excitement when he as in your addicting scent.

-Mikey was a good liar.

-He didn't mean to make you this sad. But he had to in order to make you come to him.

-And believe me when I say those three days of not seeing you was torture to him. Sure he had a folder full of your pictures saved on his phone (and his cuddle pillow) but it just can't compare to the real thing.

-But it was worth it though.

-He already had you right where he wanted you. He just needs to give you a little more push for you to confess your love for him and you two will be happy together forever!

-He knew he couldn't keep you to himself. You would surely retaliate if he forces you.

-But that doesn't mean he can't push you into making you claim him as yours instead.

-Oh how it feels so good to be in your love and care again!

-Mikey started churring as he pulled you even closer.

-Yeah Mikey definitely wasn't the smartest.

-But he's definitely the most cunning.

-And he would do anything to have you.