#okay yeah I’ll go shower and I’ll come back until Rampage time

[mjfass]

Wait, so Logan Paul, Rousey, Strowman and Kross on the same SD episode?

[fandom-strumpet]

Some Help

Prompt: Y/N gets back from a fight, she hasn’t shown Klaus her wings yet so when she needs help getting shrapnel out of them she calls for Rebekah. Rebekah isn’t home so Klaus comes to answer Y/N’s cries for assistance.

Word Count: 1705

Pairing: Klaus x Reader

Warnings: Blood, Angst, Swearing, Non canon character

You had just gotten home early from Prom night. You got in a fight with a nasty witch and you managed to take the fight outside with no casualties. Unfortunately, he had one upped you and sent metal shrapnel flying at you. The wings managed to take the most of the blow so the rest of your body was relatively fine save a few cuts and deep colored bruises. Stumbling into your room, you headed for the bathroom where you stripped out of the dress clumsily. Blood spatters ruined the sea green chartruese gown. You felt weary, slipping into some pajama shorts and black crop top bra. Dragging your feet you set yourself down on the sofa in your room. Suddenly you made your wings appear as you sat up and studied them in the vanity. Blood streaked down the feathers, and you began plucking out all the pieces of metal. Wincing, the first piece came out and it gave a clank as you tossed it on the vanity counter. 20 minutes later you were starting to work in the areas closest to your shoulder blades which were near impossible. The amount of pain you were in had you sweating and feeling delirious. At this rate you were going to pass out if you didn’t have some help. 

“REBEKAAHH!” You yelled. You knew with her super hearing she would be able to hear you even in your weakened state. Silence.

“Rebekaaaaaah!” You groaned, leaning your forehead on the back of the sofa, your arms bracing you from collapse. Tears ran down your face and blurred the figure who knocked on the door.

“Rebekah?” You questioned.

“Not quite, love.” Answered a rich, honey accented voice.

Klaus. Your heart started racing, you couldn’t let him see you like this. He would think you were some kind of freak or monster. God I just need Rebekah.

“Where’s Bekah?” You rubbed your forehead.

“She’s still at the prom dance. What do you need?”

“Some help.” You sighed and Klaus went silent for a moment.

“Perhaps I could be of some assistance? Rebekah will be gone for a few more hours.”

You shook your head and groaned. I can’t last a few more hours.

“Y/N?”

Come in.”

Stepping in, Klaus gave an audible gasp at the sight. Here it comes. He’s going to say how horrific I look, what a beast I am. But no biting comments came, rather he was crossing over to you swiftly as he admired your beauty. His hands traced over your blood covered skin like he was afraid you would break any moment.

“Dear god, love. What happened to you?”

“Got in a fight with a witch and he put metal shards in my wings.” The hybrid growled hearing that.

“I need help getting the pieces out I can’t reach.”

“Alright, sit forward a bit darling.” He climbed onto the sofa behind you. His presence was a comfort, his heat and smell giving you a sense of security in the pain you were enduring. 

“Here we go,” he warned and pulled a piece out. You hissed and Klaus put one hand on your back to still you as he continued to gently pull little pieces out of the feathers. You groaned and shut your eyes tight as nausea overwhelmed you. 

“I’m sorry love, only one more to go.”

“It’s- AAAAAAAHHHGGG!”

Klaus had taken the opportunity to wrench out the largest piece near your shoulder blade where your wings joined your body. Tears streamed down your face as your scream filled the room. You made your wings vanish from sight, not able to bear another moment of Klaus’ view. Leaning back to collapse, Klaus cradled you in his arms as you sobbed. He planted a kiss on your forehead and softly apologized over and over for causing you so much pain. 

“Y/N, you need to take a shower.”

“I don’t think I have the energy to stand that long and I don’t think you’ll want to get in the shower with me.” 

Mentally Klaus countered your statement as he would like to but considering the circumstances it wouldn’t be the right time.

“Then I’ll help you to the bath.”

You nodded slightly. He was right, you needed to get all the excess blood off your body before you could fall asleep properly. Klaus went into the bathroom to start the bath while you got undressed. A few minutes later you walked into the bathroom to find a bathtub full of bubbles. The sight made you smile a bit, it was almost kid like to see all the foam. And it smelled like roses, oh heavens it looks amazing. Klaus turned and covered his eyes as you slipped out of the robe and into the sea of foam. 

“You’re good to turn around now.”

Klaus turned and smiled at you. You looked like such an angel sitting there in the tub. Your bare skin attracted him like no other but he had to stay focused on the task at hand. Getting you cleaned up. Klaus grabbed a sponge and started helping get the blood off your back.

“Love, I’m going to need you to show me your wings again.”

There was a silence as you processed his request.You didn’t like that he had to see your true form but he was right. You had to clean the wings and you couldn’t do it without some help. 

“Okay,” you said softly.

You focused your eyes on the suds as a whoosh sounded and your wings appeared. Klaus was speechless once again, his mind so wrapped up in you.

“This might hurt a bit.” Klaus warned. 

And he was right, your wings stung as the sponge made contact. Klause watched as a mixture of water and blood dripped from your feathers into the water, creating swirls. For the next half hour, Klaus remained by your side helping you wash off. Finally, once almost all the bubbles were gone, and Klaus deemed you clean, you were able to get out. Klaus gave you his arm in support so you could get out and he respectfully looked away to give you some sort of privacy, no matter how minute. 

“Do you need any help getting dressed?”

“Actually, yeah.” You blushed.

“Let me get you some pjs.”

“Middle drawer. You motioned with your head. In a flash, Klaus was back with your favorite graphic t shirt and comfy pj pants.

“I can get the bottoms, I just can’t quite get my arms high enough for the top.”

Klaus nodded in acknowledgement and turned around to let you get half dressed. He smiled a bit upon hearing the towel drop to the floor.

“Alright you can turn around now.”

Klaus turned to see your back facing him. You still felt shy about showing Klaus everything. A girl would normally dream about being stark naked with her crush but this just felt different. You felt so exposed in this weak moment. With your wings out of sight, Klaus could now see the already fading scars on your beautiful skin. He stepped forward and gently touched your back as if you would disappear if he wasn’t careful enough. He hadn’t realized how long he had stood there mesmerized by you until you cleared your throat.

“Um, Klaus?”

“Hmm?” He shook his head, his mind registering that he still held your shirt in his other hand. 

“You ok?”

“Yes, sweetheart. Apologies, I just got lost in your beauty for a moment.”

You laughed nervously and looked at the ground to hide your furious blush.

“Here,” Klaus said gently and brought the shirt over your head, sliding his hand down your arm. Goosebumps raised on your skin feeling his soft touch. He helped lift your arm and then tracing his fingers across your back he moved to the next arm. Pulling your shirt down slowly, it teased him and hid your body from him once again. You turned around to face Klaus and for a moment you stared deep into his eyes. He grinned at you, dimples appearing on his stubble covered cheeks. Leaning forward you wrapped your arms around his torso, taking in his warmth and calming scent. He hummed and you felt his chest vibrate. It made you smile and gave you butterflies rampaging around in your chest.

“Let’s get you to bed, love.” 

Stooping down he picked you up bridal style which made you gasp in surprise. Walking over and setting you down in bed, he covered you up with the soft blanket. He turned to leave before you stopped him.

“Klaus?” He turned around, his face poised in question.

“Will you stay with me?”

“Of course.” he smiled and went to sit down in a plush chair.

“No, Klaus.” you lifted the covers and patted the bed, “With me.”

Klaus’ face broke out in a beaming smile and crawled into bed with you taking the covers up with him. You sat up slightly to let Klaus slip his arm around you and you hummed in content upon feeling him against you. You both rested in quiet comfort and peace until you broke the silence.

“Do you think I’m a monster?” You asked quietly.

Klaus pulled you in closer and tilted your chin up to meet his frowning face.“Not one bit, love. And don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are.”

Your face scrunched up and you could feel a silent tear roll down. Klaus rubbed his thumb over your cheek to whisk the lone tear away. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met, you are absolutely stunning. Sweetheart, you are a shining star that out glows all the others, you are a gift from the heavens. Your mere presence is as calming as the roaring tide of the sea. Your smile brings joy to all who witness it and your laugh is the most beautiful song that everyone wants to sing along to because it is so contagious.”

Another tear fell down your cheek, but this time from peace. You scoot closer to Klaus until your head was resting on his chest. You closed your eyes as he started to play with your hair.

“I love you, Niklaus Mikaelson,” you whispered.

And with that you were asleep. Klaus felt stunned and elated at your words. He ran his fingers through your wavy hair and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead. 

“And I love you, my sweet angel. Sleep well.”

You smiled in your sleep feeling his chest vibrate against you. 

@katherinesbtch @rome5683

[thran-duils]

From All Sides (P.6)

Title: From All Sides (Part Six) Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark!Pirate Tony. Tony is obsessed with a certain barmaid at port and showers her with gifts to try to bring her to his bed. She is resistant to his advances, her eyes elsewhere, specifically on her coworker, the cook. Although, that love is unrequited and always will be. The reader is forced into close quarters with Tony unexpectedly and sailing the sea, she slowly bends to his will. And he plans to give her all the affection he can to make sure she stays. Words: 2,280 Warnings (for the whole fic): Eventual smut, violence, angst, possessive behavior

Part Five || Part Seven || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

“Where the hell is she?” Tony practically shouted.

They had made rounds around the inside of the cavern for the last fifteen minutes, looking in game rooms and cabins where she might be. Tony had ignored everything Steve was saying up until that point, on a rampage to find her. Much to Steve’s annoyance because he had an idea where she might be and even more so, annoying that Tony himself had left Y/N on the beach and was now mad she had wandered off. He had just wanted to drink and sit on the ship.

Grasping the opportunity of Tony standing still, Steve stepped into his sights.

“I’m sure she’s fine. Vanko said a dark-haired ‘boy’. It was probably Peter!” Steve blurted.

“Peter?” Tony demanded.

Steve saw the jealousy already swimming and he said, “Yeah. Who else would come swooping in to rescue her to make sure that no one took advantage of her? He knows she’s with you and he doesn’t want to piss his captain off. He did it for you! She’s probably with him!”

“Where’s his cabin?” Tony said.

<><><>

Peter walked with you down the sandy path. “And he just… left you down here? By yourself?” You nodded and Peter frowned.

“You don’t judge me?” you asked. He shook his head and a sad smile reached you. “I know many are not followers of religion here – myself included – but it seems the mere idea of… being with a woman would cause scorn. Casting me out.”

You had already spilled everything to Tony and telling someone else you felt close to felt now like nothing. You had held it inside for so long. And for how Tony reacted, you thought yourself perhaps wicked for how you had acted and you wanted to be clean with everyone. Peter was reacting far differently than Tony though. And that was not entirely shocking; Peter was not pining after you. He was objective.

Peter shrugged and said, “It does not bother me in the slightest. Eloise was nice.”

Nice. As if that was the only thing that mattered. Nothing else. It was so simple when he put it like that.

“Yes… she was.”

“Is,” Peter corrected, giving you a bump with his shoulder for reassurance.

“Right. Is.”

Peter asked, “Do you really want to go back to our home port? To see if she is still there? I mean… you said yourself that you did not think she would ever return the feelings. So… do you think it would be worth it? To go back to settle for that?”

You sighed heavily. You could read the undertone of his words. You had someone here that actually returned your feelings.

But then he cut you off at the knees of that thought about Tony.

“I mean, going back to port makes sense if you are looking to find Adam.”

Turning your head towards him, you met his gaze. And you could see he could see the remorse in your eyes.

His shoulders slumped and he asked, “Did you… were you never considering him?”

Reluctantly, you admitted, some tears coming, “I didn’t know how to let him down easily. He was so kind. I would feel guilty doing it, but I still felt guilty not doing it.”

“May I have your problem some day of having multiple people after me,” Peter said. Your face fell and he quickly said, “I did not mean for that to come off as crass. I can see it was hard. I was… just trying to make light. It was not the time. Sorry.”

The two of you walked in silence for a while. The waves lapped at the shore, coming close to your own feet. The sand was wet, and it felt good beneath your bare feet, your shoes held in your hand. The moonlight was reflecting off the sea, lighting the beach. You could stay here… truly. Just build a house up further in the rocks and always have the sea to look out at.

Peter was still quiet, waiting for you to initiate again. You cleared your throat.

“No. I know. I had multiple people. Some dropped off after a month or so, but they kept coming. Tony was constant. And… I knew. I knew this whole time if it was anyone, it was going to be Tony. And I don’t mean that in a last resort kind of way. It’s just the one that made the most sense. But like I told you, I’m afraid of being left behind.”

“Maybe he would not leave you behind? He’s already brought you on the ship.”

“Out of necessity. I’m sure that will change. And then I’ll just be left to wait for him.” You scoffed, suddenly angry again about your exchange with him earlier. “And he was so indignant that I loved anyone but him.”

“He’s a jealous man,” Peter commented.

“He is!” you agreed. “He cannot stand it knowing someone else was in my sights! Even Adam! He cornered him you know? I know he was threatening him. I didn’t heart it but I could see it in their body language. I was a prize for him, and he was making sure no one else would win me but him.” You inhaled deeply before admitting. “But what he said was true. I kept him dangling. Because I could not face the fact that Eloise and I were not to be. And I may have fueled his jealous behavior by continuing to flirt and giving him the hope he needed to be persistent.”

Peter looped arms with you and leaned in. “If he really likes you, he’ll get over it.”

You snorted, holding him tighter. “Tony? Get over a slight? I will live to see the day. He could not even handle it when men merely flirted with me at the tavern when he was at port and witnessed it.” You exhaled deeply and said, “I shouldn’t have told him about Eloise. I was pretty far deep in a bottle and thought maybe it would be okay, but I should have known then he would be envious. Even more so now that we have laid together.”

You suddenly blanched, realizing what you had divulged and shot Peter an embarrassed look.

Peter recovered quickly and ran a hand through his hair. “Are you happy though?”

“Mostly.”

“’Mostly’?”

“Yes. He will take care of me, is far too handsome for his own good, and he is kind enough to me. And is not… unskilled in the bedroom.” Peter’s lip upticked at the corner and you elbowed him with the arm looped, causing him to grunt before the two of you laughed. “I just wish he had not gotten so angry with me for telling him my feelings. He is possessive. And his anger is so easily lit. A very short fuse.”

Peter shrugged as if it was simple. “Then let’s just stay out. You and me. We have this whole ocean. And we can go lay on the grass up there when we are done and watch the stars.”

“That sounds romantic.”

“Trust me, Y/N. I’m not after you. Not to insult but I have my eyes set on the sea.”

You rolled your eyes, “Sounds like someone else I know.”

“And there had been a girl at port.”

That piqued your interest. “Who?”

“Mary Jane.”

“The florist?” He nodded and you smiled, grasping his hand. “You two would make a fine match.”

“If we ever go back to port, she’ll be the first one I will look for.”

“Why not request to go back? We both have someone to look for?”

Peter shook his head. “No… I think I was driven from port with events beyond my control. Right now, I need to follow the tide.” You frowned and he shrugged. “If we are meant to be, we will find each other again.”

“I wish I was so easily able to go with the flow as you,” you told him.

Peter snorted now. He pushed you towards the waterline, your feet dipping into the wave that lapped at the sore. “Come on now! Have some fun! You deserve it!”

“We’re both drunk.”

“That’ll make it this much more fun! Come on. Tony was an asshole to you, and you need to blow off some steam!”

He was right.

You dropped your shoes onto the sand, further up away from where the waves would touch them, and he followed your lead. Bending over one foot at a time, Peter pulled his shoes off and tossed them. You tore your gown off, leaving you in your shift. Your gown fluttered to the ground closer but far enough away to ensure it would not be swept away.

The water was up at your waist before Peter swooped at you and drug you under with him. Your scream was lost as you closed your mouth at the last second to make sure you did not swallow any salt water. The water was reprieve, a cold bath.

<><><>

“Well, there she is,” Sam commented, stopping on the grassy path outside the cavern. They had been hiking up it to check around the island.

He pointed down the cliffs and found Y/N only yards away from where her and Tony had been down on the beach. And there was a dark-haired boy with her. Peter, it looked like. And they were swimming together.

Tony rolled his eyes to high heaven before turning around and making to go back down.

“We need that boy. The food has been so much better with him the last couple weeks,” Steve hissed at Bucky and Sam. “Please don’t let him do anything rash. He’s still beyond drunk! Be on my side!”

Without waiting for them to answer, he turned and followed Tony quickly.

<><><>

Storming up to the edge of the waves, Tony shouted, “Y/N!”

She had just surfaced and had not heard him. He bellowed her name again over the waves and she turned her head towards him.

Her expression darkened as she recognized him, brushing her hair away from her forehead, and she shouted back, “What the hell do you want, Tony?”

Tony bristled at her attitude.

“Get out of the damn water!” he demanded, coming into the waves. “Come to my cabin!”

“No!” she snapped, still holding onto Peter’s arms. Peter was looking at Tony uncomfortably, nervous. “You’ve made your feelings clear! I’m just a whore, remember! I should sleep in any bed!”

Tony started coming through the waves, his legs dragging in the current until he was almost knee deep, stopping again. “I will not have you sleeping anywhere but my cabin! Get. Over. Here. Now!” She huffed disobediently, and he shouted, “Before I lose my fucking temper!”

His shout seemed to get through to her.

She shot Peter a look before pulling away from him. He followed her still all the same and Tony fought the monster clawing away inside his chest. As soon as she was within arm’s reach, he yanked her to him and she stumbled in the water.

“If anything makes you look like a whore, it’s being in your underdress with a man under the moonlight! And not to mention, kissing another merely an hour before!” She opened her mouth to argue and he spat, “Save it!”

He demanded you pick up your dress and shoes. You angrily followed his directions, and he took a tight hold of your wrist again, yanking you close once more. Over your shoulder, he told the men he had brought with him, “We’re going to my cabin. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you for your assistance. Please, grab one a bottle from the bar and put it on my tab.” They seemed to perk up that. His eyes fell on Peter and he sneered, “Get yourself dressed, boy. You’re going to be needed for breakfast sooner rather than later.”

With that, he pulled you behind him up the path towards the cavern again. But he was not taking you towards the cabins, he was taking you towards his ship. He was silent, ignoring your questioning. As soon as you were into his quarters again though, he propelled you in front of him, letting go. You stumbled, trying to catch your balance as he turned away and closed the door behind him. You threw your dress and shoes on the ground, pissed off.

He was on you in a second, a finger held up in warning. “I’ve had quite enough of your games, Y/N! I have been patient! I have given you choice and time and—FUCK! All the time in the world! You’re here with me now and that’s how it is going to stay! No more pussyfooting around!”

“I’m not pussyfooting—”

“This is where you stay,” Tony interrupted roughly, his finger pointed downwards at the hardwood of the cabin, his gaze burning into you. “You do not step foot off the ship but also, this room is where you stay!”

“I’m not a pet you can keep caged up!” you protested.

He closed the space quickly, fire burning in his eyes. “Watch me!” Tony snarled, towering over you.

You cowered back slightly, and he noticed. He was firm when he told you, “It’s just me. From now on. That’s all you get. If you really truly have feelings for me, this is your time to prove it. Stay in here! Like I just told you!” He leaned in to hiss, “Don’t test me, love! I’m done playing nice!”

He turned around furiously and strode out of his quarters, slamming the door behind him, and you jumped at the sound.

~~~

Marvel tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld @holl2712 @agustdowney  @biiskuitx @buttercupfangirl

[collecting-stories]

Initiative - Harry  Bingham

Request: 26 w harry bingham? ☺️

A/N: My first time writing The Society. I played with the wording of the prompt a little to fit the story better. 

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

“Well, aren’t you looking great.” You laughed, walking into the bedroom on the second floor. While every other room in the house felt like it was being taken over by kids you could barely remember going to school with, this room was untouched. Save for, of course, one occupant who was laying in the king sized bed, one foot sticking out from under the covers, “Kelly really did a number on you.”

The lump on the bed groaned and rolled over, revealing your best friend. He sat up, glaring at you as he combed his hair with his hands, “I don’t give two shits about Kelly.” He muttered.

“I can tell.” You replied, sitting at the end the bed, “you’re obviously coping really well. It’s applaudable.”

“What do you want?” Harry groaned, sitting up in bed. He just wanted to go back to sleep. To lay under the covers until all these people were out of his house and his parents were home. He just needed to rewind or fast forward, whatever would get him home faster.  

You turned to look at him, getting a better picture of your friend’s current state now that you could see him clearly. Mussed hair, bloodshot eyes, he looked like he hadn’t bathed in days. You couldn’t help the frown that crossed your face at the sight of him. It wasn’t that you expected Harry to be taking any of this well, he’d been on a rampage since the first night, but this was worse than you thought.  

“I wanted to make sure you were okay, I know this shit is scary.”

“Oh do you?” Harry laughed, “you know what fucking shit is going on out there? I heard you agree with Cassandra that we should all be sharing houses. Thanks, this is fucking awesome.” He shouted, startling you slightly.  

“Yeah I did agree with Cass...I think we need to be proactive about what’s happening.”  

“Great well, in the meantime my house is full of fucking people and all my friends are running around play pretend with Cass.”

“You need a serious reality check babe,” you replied, “whatever is happening to us...we need to be proactive and Cass is the only one doing anything. Now...come on, get up and get dressed, you’re making me depressed just sitting here.”

“Some friend you are.” Harry grumbled, throwing himself back down on the bed and pulling his blankets up once again.  

You’d been friends with Harry forever, your parents worked together, you had almost always ended up in the same class, it was just meant to be. Or at least, being friends seemed meant to be for him, since he jumped at the opportunity to date Kelly, and had been since freshman year. You, on the other hand, existed in some romantic cliche universe where you were totally head over heels for your best friend.  

“You can’t sulk forever.”  

“Did you only come over to bother me?” He asked, muffled slightly through the blanket but you understood him.  

“No, I came over to tell you that I cannot possibly stay in my house one more day-”

“See it’s driving you crazy too.”

“Have you ever roomed with Gwen, Olivia, and Madison?” You replied, “I’m about ready to eat a bullet.”

Harry moved the blanket away, sitting up once more and scooting himself to the end of the bed to sit beside you, “let me get this straight...you come over here, bitching to me about how I should follow Cassandra’s leadership but then you hate it too?”

“I don’t hate it. I think it’s a good idea...I just wish I had gotten better house mates. Besides, this whole thing is insane Harry, we’re all just playing it by ear.” You admitted. “Have you talked to Kelly? What’s she doing?”

“I’m over that.” He replied, getting up and walking to the mini fridge he had in the corner to grab a bottle of water, he could feel the headache setting in now that he was on his feet.  

“You’re over that? Please...this place really must be turning everything upside down if you’ve decided that you’re over Kelly.” You almost couldn’t believe your ears when he told you and you definitely didn’t want to get your hopes up. Just because he was ‘over’ Kelly didn’t mean he was ready to fall into your arms.  

“Yeah well, believe it.”  

“So what then, she breaks up with you and just like magic you’re cured?” You joked, “no more begging for her to come back and crying over her in bed? Cause I’ll say you were doing a bang up job when I came in.”

“I told you that wasn’t about her. Besides, I have feelings for someone else.” He replied, shrugging as if it was totally obvious that he was thinking about someone new so soon after he and Kelly broke up.  

“Wow, you move fast.”

“Yeah well after Kelly broke things off I kind of realized that it might not be her I was so in love with all this time.”

“Mystery crush have a name?” You asked, watching him as he came to sit down next to you again. “Or you gonna keep that a secret from your oldest and dearest friend?”

“My oldest and dearest friend who’s jumped ship to Cassandra’s side.” He replied.  

“You’re such a baby Harry, people need leadership and Cass is leading. Be mad all you want but she’s only doing what needs to be done. You all wanted her to have answers and now you crucify her for it. You better be telling me that I’m this secret love of your life cause otherwise I’m out the door for good. Until you come to your senses.” You said, crossing your arms.  

Harry nodded his head, lips pursed as if he was thinking about what you had said before he finally opened his mouth, “you are.”

“What?”

“You are...the secret love of my life.”  

“Don’t fuck with me Bingham. I'm not even in the mood for your shit today.” You replied.  You weren’t going to sit here and fall for some bored practical joke that he and all his buddies could laugh about later.  

“I’m not fucking with you, I’m serious. Kelly breaking up with me was the moment of clarity I needed.”

“You sound like your mom.” You laughed.  

“Come on, you seriously don’t believe me?”

“No.” You shook your head, there was no way you were going to believe something as outlandish as Harry liking you back. “It does fuel my theory that we’re in some kind of parallel universe though.”

“Parallel universe?” Harry laughed, “we’re not in a parallel universe, this isn’t a sci-fi novel. And I’m being serious. I like you. I’m not fucking with you...though I wouldn’t mind fucking you.”

“Oh god, you are the same Harry,” you laughed, standing when he scooted closer to you. “there’s no way I’m even kissing you after you’ve been cooped up under those covers for days. Babe, you smell like a locker room.”  

“Fine,” he replied, “I’m gonna take a shower,” he stopped at the door, looking back at you. “Since Cassandra has her new initiatives, you should probably join me. Ya know, to save water.”  

“To save water?” You laughed.

“What? You’re the one who told me that I needed to make an effort? You’re not gonna turn around and change your mind now are you?” He said, grinning at you. And damn if his smile couldn’t make you do anything he wanted. 

-

[theomengirl]

hey this may be slightly strange but could i have levi with twin boys where one of them gets constantly picked it and made fun of and the other gets into fights all the time (probably with whoever was making fun of his brother) and how levi deals with those two? thank you so much!!

Thank you anon for such a lovely request and no, it’s not strange! The scene where Eren plays hero everytime Armin gets picked on instantly crosses my mind when i read your req lol. I’m sorry this took quite a while but i hope you’d like it! ❤️

- Troublemakers -

scenario: Levi got his hands full dealing with the twins

The troublemakers are at it again.

You could tell the moment when they got home. Fynn, who has bruises on his face, made his way inside while holding his brother younger by two minutes, Albie’s hand in his tight grip. The latter’s face was flat as he let himself being dragged inside the house by his brother.

You hurriedly approached and sat them down on the sofa. Holding an ice pack you got from the fridge, you started to apply it to the older one’s cheek in hopes the swelling will reduce, he hissed as soon as the cold towel made contact with his skin. Your other free hand grabbed another wet towel and used it to clean Albie’s face off of dirt, luckily he’s not wounded.

You took a deep breath before you speak while switching your glances between the two. “Now, who wants to talk first?”

“He meddled with my fight!” Fynn immediately pointed his finger at Albie. The accused one remained unbothered, taking the towel from your hand.

“Is that true, Albie?” you asked.

“He’d be turned into a pulp if i hadn’t intervened,” he said, cleaning himself up with the towel.

Fynn irked at the answer, his eyes were shooting lasers. “What?”

He stared at his brother. “You’re weak. I had to beat those guys for you or else, you won’t survive. You can’t even throw a punch at them everytime they push  and insult you. It’s the fact, face it already.”

“I don’t need your pity,” Fynn’s blood boils.

“I wasn’t pitying you.” 

He couldn’t contain his anger as he was about to get physical with Albie, but you get between the twins and stopped him before things become messier.

“Enough, you two!” you yelled. “Fynn, go to your room and keep on applying the ice pack. Albie, watch your words and apologize to your brother.”

The twins glared at each other. Heavy tension filled the household.

“I wish you’d never been born,” Fynn said coldly. He stood up and went upstairs to his room.

Not long after, Albie also headed to his room at the second floor as he doesn’t want to bump at the idiot on the stairs. You could hear him muttered it also sucks to have you as a brother as he walked off.

You plopped yourself down on the sofa. It really is hard. You always knew there’ll be fights between them but you didn’t expect it’d occur frequently. Did you and Levi’s parenting somehow went wrong?

The twins actually share their parents’ personalities. Fynn takes after you. He’s hot-tempered and easily rattled, he says what’s on his mind and a bit melancholic. In contrary with Albie who’s more like Levi. He’s laid-back and calm, but often gets salty and sarcastic.  

Ever since they were born, they’ve always been treated equally by you and Levi. Setting up clear family rules, carefully looking after each child’s needs, coaching them how to get along well. Even both of you and Levi never get into a heated argument in front of the kids as it would set a bad example. So, what made them hostile towards each other?

You shook your head in frustration and head to your husband’s study room.

~~~~~

Levi heard someone knocking on his door.

“It’s me.”

“Come in.”

He noticed your troubled face as soon as you came in. “I bet it’s the brats again.”

You nodded hopelessly. You bent your body a little low and wrapped your hands  around Levi’s neck while he remain seated, smelling his cologne. He instructed you to sit on his lap, working on the reports for hours has surely taken its toll on his body and he needs his wife to relieve it off of him, but he must deal with the two not-so-little-anymore Ackermans first.

You told him about what just happened as he strokes your hair. He clicked his tongue as he perceived the story. 

“You go rest. I’ll call you once i finish teaching those kids some manners.”

~~~~~

First stop; Fynn’s room.

He was curled up on the bed, his back facing the door. He turned around at the sound of door creaking and frowned at his father’s visit.

“What’s with that face? Not happy to see your old man?”

He avoided Levi’s gaze. “What is it?”

Fynn offered some space on the bed for Levi to sit. Levi begins his attempt to reunite the brats twins. “Mind telling me what really happened everytime you guys bicker?” he emphasized on the word.

Now that he realized it, they never actually told their parents what was the sole reason of their fight.

Fynn was reluctant, but he finally spoke. “Those kids said i’m a failure as an Ackerman.”

Levi was about to go on rampage when he heard his kid is being insulted.

“I never got better whenever we train in combat. I didn’t agree with their statement so i challenged them, but...” he started to sniff. “b-but Albie always gets in the way and it gets worse for me. They told me i’m not cut out to be the son of Humanity’s Strongest Soldier because i’m such a wimp, only Albie does because he’s a natural like you, Dad. I hate him for that and his cockiness,” he ended his sentence and bawled his eyes out.

Levi quickly embraced his older son. He patted his bum. “Oi, those fuck- those guys are wrong on so many levels. What do they know about you? Tch. That’s fine if you can’t keep up with what i taught you. It’s all part of learning and i won’t ever get tired of teaching you until you excel by yourself. Albie, he did that to protect you. Once you become better, pay him back by protecting him too. Brothers are all about protecting each other, haven’t i told you that, brat?” Fynn looked up to face his father and nodded.

“And one more thing, Fynn Ackerman, your Mom and I are beyond proud of what you’ve become. Never underestimate yourself because you’re our biggest pride.”

He ruffled his son’s hair and he smiled widely. Now, let’s hear what the other has to say.

~~~~~

Second stop; Albie’s room. 

He glanced as soon as Levi entered the room.

“Oi, Dad.”

“Don’t oi-ed your father, you brat.”

He grinned. This kid’s legit got his traits.

Levi sat beside him and asked the same question. To his surprise, Albie was really chill, unlike Fynn.

“Well... i don’t even know myself,” he scratched the back of his head. “He always goes about how i’m such a show-off or cocky. I saved his ass-“

“Language,” Levi warned.

He flustered. “Sorry, Dad. I saved him because he couldn’t do it by himself, was that wrong? Would he prefer to be beaten up instead? He should’ve realized that it’s not about pride whatsoever. You said that we should be there for each other, i only did what you told me. Also, those kids don’t know a damn- sorry, nothing about our Dad but that idiot let it got to him. Geez,” he stopped his rants.

Albie has a point. Maybe it’s only a matter of misunderstanding between the two. Fynn was hurt by strangers’ words and feels inferior. Albie on the other hand, is somehow shows natural skills when it comes to training and he prioritizes logic over emotions, that’s why he couldn’t relate. Levi decided to just get the facts straight between them and it will all turn out good.

“Guess i don’t have to worry that much about you. You’re fine as it is,” he let out a sigh of relieve. “But hey, do something about your sarcastic tone and don’t be so hard on your brother, okay?”

Albie raised an eyebrow. “Is it wrong? Mom said i’m a carbon copy of you-“

“Yeah, you are,” he made a mess of his son’s hair. “Anyhow, don’t forget that your Mom and I are the luckiest to have you in our lives. Got that?”

“Are you acting sweet now, Dad?”

Levi looked at him in disbelief. Did he just get teased at by his own son?

“Let’s talk it out between you two brothers and you’re not going anywhere until you two made up. After that, let’s do something to cheer your Mom up.”

~~~~~

You woke up to someone showers you with kisses all over your face, maybe not just one person?

You opened your eyes, slowly adjusting to the lights after your nap. There, you saw them. The twins and Levi -who was holding a tray, hovering around you. You noticed the tray was full with food.

“What’s this? Dinner in bed?” you chuckled.

“Sorry for making a scene, Mom,” Fynn said, glued to your left arm.

“Me too, Mom,” Albie was on your right arm.

Your mouth formed an ‘O’. “Is this your way of saying sorry, then? By spoiling me?”

“It was Dad’s idea, but he made us do the work.”

“Oi, how dare you guys take credits,” Levi complained.

You giggled at the sight happening before you. Maybe you would ask Levi later about how he tamed the twins, but for now you just want to enjoy some quality time with your family. You reached out your arms to hug Fynn and Albie, your two sweethearts, realizing that they’ve gotten quite big. 

“You’re forgetting someone.”

Levi put down the tray and snuggled his body to your arms, not wanting to lose to his kids.

Again, Levi Ackerman got A+ for parenting.

[cg29]

Because of link issues with this site I’ve decided to paste my WIPS onto here as well as AO3 & FFNet. Starting with the 1st 3 chapters of the fic I’m currently working on, and have also most recently updated.

Reflections

Set after Virgil's crash during the original series episode of 'Terror in New York City.' (Season 1 episode 4) Short reflections from each of the family on nearly losing a brother and son.

Thank you to @janetm74 for the Beta on C3.

Chapter 1: Scott.

Italic/Bold speech is not mine and comes from the original episode.

“The wheels have gone; I can’t hold her… I’m… I’m going to crash!”

Scott’s heart lurched at the pure panic emanating from Virgil’s voice, but there was nothing he could do as he watched Thunderbird Two squeal across the runway with dark heavy flames springing forth. Finally, and thankfully she came to a stop and the pure white foam rained down on her distinguishing the blaze… But his little Brother was still inside… “What’s going on,” he yelled over his communicator, “why is no one getting him out?”

‘T…They’re on their way Scott,’ Brains replied, ‘I’m h…here to a…assist you with l…landing.’

‘I don’t need any damn assistance, get the med bay prepped for my brother!’

‘FAB!’

Okay, a bit harsh maybe, but Virg was in there… He’d attended too many fire related incidents, he knew the consequences if someone wasn’t rescued quickly… God damn it, they had to get him out… Finally, bringing Thunderbird One into the hangar, Scott unbuckled and shot out of his chair. The further procedures he was required to run through could wait… Virgil needed him more.

…

“How is he?” He puffed out, racing over to his father just as his two brothers were bringing Virgil out of his singed bird.

“Unresponsive… Head injury, smoke inhalation, possible broken ribs,” Gordon reeled off.

“Let’s get him to the infirmary,” Jeff said, allowing his two youngest to go ahead with Virgil before looking back to Scott, “are you coming?”

Scott heaved out a breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’m coming!”

…

A few days later…

He stared down at his sleeping brother, it could have been so much worse, and the words from that moment still danced in his mind…

“Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird One, come in Virgil... Virgil are you okay? Virgil, pull her up… Can you hear me? Come in Thunderbird Two... Virgil, you’re crashing… Pull her up… Virgil, get a grip on yourself, you’ve got to pull out of that dive!”

If his brother hadn’t dragged himself out of that dive at the last second, he wouldn’t be here… And to be honest, he didn’t know if he would be either. He would have dived Thunderbird One in after her sister ship, and tried everything within his power to pull Virgil out, but it wouldn’t have worked, and both of them would have gone down…

“You did good son.”

“Ha?” Scott mumbled, looking to his father who was standing beside him.

“You did a good job. You talked your brother through a very severe situation, and you got him home. You saved his life Scott, and because of that he will be back to himself before we know it. Now, stop thinking about the alternatives.”

“How did you know?”

“I know you,” Jeff nodded towards Virgil who was shifting in his bed, “looks like he’s waking.”

Virgil groggily forced his eyes open.

“How, are you Virgil?” Jeff questioned.

“Welcome back to the land of the living!” Scott added.

Virgil sat himself up. “What happened to Thunderbird Two?”

‘TYPICAL!’ Scott inwardly chuckled while his father went on to answer. If his brother was already worrying about his bird, then his dad was definitely right… Virgil would get better, and soon they would both be out there together again.

Chapters 2 & 3 featuring John & Gordon below the cut.

Chapter 2: John

“Thunderbird 5. My home away from home. I love being here, the solitude suits me and because of that I’m the one who is up here the most. Don’t get me wrong I adore my family and I enjoy spending time with each of them when I’m on leave but being here amongst the stars that I’ve gazed up at in wonder since I was a small boy makes me feel so peaceful. Four days ago, that tranquillity was shattered, and for the first time ever I am finding myself wishing that someone could replace me, someone could come here and take me home.

You see my first younger brother, the one who holds us altogether with his natural calming and added creative abilities was nearly killed while I was sleeping. I know, I know, me sleeping didn’t cause his crash, but if I had been awake then maybe I could have done something to help him, like hacking the Sentinel and stopping them from firing on his bird. Instead, I was on ordered downtime after two back-to-back missions which had kept me awake for over forty-eight hours. The first required Thunderbird fours assistance, the second was in space with Alan. After I called in the third requiring just Scott and Virgil my dad, believing it was a rescue that wouldn’t require my expertise, ordered me to communicate any vital information I had to my brothers, then relay Thunderbird Five’s communications to Tracy Island so I could spend the next ten to twelve hours asleep. I managed the full twelve and after a shower and food I was ready to return to work. Except, the reply I received when contacting base wasn’t the one that I was expecting.

Ten minutes it took for me to make contact, I can’t begin to explain the thoughts that had rampaged through my mind when no one was responding, Alan finally answered looking slightly pale and very tired. Immediately I demanded to know what was going on, the answer drained me completely. The Sentinel had fired missiles at Virgil, thankfully dad had been able to reach Washington and stop the meaningless attack, but the damage that had already been received was great and my little brother was extremely lucky to make it back to the island. Well, I say lucky… Head injury, smoke inhalation, broken ribs, several cuts, and bruises. Yet, it wasn’t until the following day that he regained consciousness… But he was still alive, and that’s what mattered.

After a long chat with the youngest to make sure he was coping I signed off and instantly logged into our islands security feeds so I could see the crash. Yes, I know it sounds a little morbid, but the reality was probably not as dramatic as what was playing through my mind. Thankfully, although extreme, it wasn’t. However, what seeing that crash didn’t do was alleviate the need that I still have now to see and talk to Virgil.  What it did do was produce another need, one that I could do something about, and that was to make sure that the man who recklessly fired at the kindest person you could ever wish to meet receives some sort of justice. Nothing too malicious of course, we are in the business of saving lives and not taking them, but maybe I’ll put my hacking prowess to use and make sure he gets discharged from his position. Whatever I choose though won’t be pretty but will be fully deserved…

…Oh, one moment, I seem to have a call coming through from home - - - - It’s Virgil… Sorry, but I have to go, he still looks really groggy and probably won’t be able to talk for too long, but I’ve desperately been needing this chat… Catch you guys later, Thunderbird Five out.”

Chapter 3: Gordon.

The ocean before him was calm, the turbulent thoughts raging inside his heart were not. All caused by his current location. The Sentinel… Gordon had arrived two hours before and introductions had immediately been made between himself, the crew, and the Captain. The same Captain who had given the damn order to shoot Thunderbird Two down. Yes, they had presumed that an attack was possibly imminent. Nonetheless, they should have done a comprehensive check before going all gung-ho. Then they would have realised that it wasn’t a strike vessel, it was an International Rescue aircraft, and a person was on board. A person who was loved. Loved by a family who had already been torn apart by the loss of a mother and wife. A family that didn’t deserve to lose anyone else.

They had been reckless, and even though most on board had asked after the wellbeing of his teammate, the Captain, the idiot who had ordered them to fire had not made any queries. He had approached him, introduced himself, and then begun immediately filling him in on their trajectory and any further details he might need. After he had contacted Scott, the Captain had ordered one of his officers to assist, then sheepishly made his excuses and left, guilt plastered all over his face. Five minutes later Gordon was being shown to the sleeping quarters where he could get some shut eye in between any updates he needed to make.

He would probably take some downtime soon. For now, he just wanted to gaze at the ocean. The sea made everything better. Here he could switch his attention from the surface to air missile launchers that had taunted him with their sickening capabilities upon arrival, and instead concentrate on his mission. A mission that would normally be routine. Instead, two men who were trapped and injured had to wait just over twenty-four hours. Two lives might be lost because they shot his big brother down. Gordon gripped the rail and slowly breathed out while focussing on the rhythmic pulse from the ocean waves, and the fact that Virgil, although severely injured and definitely needing some time to recuperate, had survived the atrocious crash.

However, it had come so close to being a different outcome and the gut-wrenching, mind-swirling sickness at the thought of ‘what could have been’ had buried itself deeper and deeper into his heart and refused to release its grasp. Needing to go inside to retrieve Virgil had made those feelings more horrific. Sure, he had saved countless lives from fires, but to have to rescue a brother, a member of his own family, ‘that’ he wasn’t used to. His brother had been crumpled over, a deep cut on his head was bleeding, and his eyes were tightly closed. For a horrible moment, both himself and Alan had stood there before moving forwards. He thought he had lost Virgil, that his big brother was already dead. Thankfully, upon reaching him a pulse was discovered. Virgil was alive. Professionalism immediately kicked in, and he and Alan worked together to get him on a stretcher and out of there as quickly as possible.

Since then, Alan had avoided Virgil. Obviously, the kid was still in shock and processing what had happened. Hopefully, by the time he returned his little brother would have gone to see Virgil, otherwise he would need to drag him in there. Of course, he had done the complete opposite and had not wanted to leave his brother’s side. He needed to ease up though. Virgil knew what his game was and had tried to reassure him several times that he wasn’t going to disappear on him. Yes, he would need to step back a little when he returned, after he had once again checked that his kind-hearted, generous brother was still alive and well.

His ever-forgiving brother, who never held a grudge, had even suggested that they use the Sentinel to save lives. Okay, that made sense, the two men were trapped; their lives were what mattered, not how he felt about the Sentinel. Unfortunately, Gordon wasn’t that big of a person, and boy was he stewing over his feelings right now. A yawn emitted from him, and he looked at his watch. There was still just over two hours to go before he needed to check-in with Scott. Plenty of time for a power nap in the quarters. He certainly needed one. During the past week he’d either been helping out with two, doing his usual maintenance checks or sitting by his brothers’ side and he hadn’t managed a lot of downtime.

Tomorrow would bring a tough rescue and he needed his full alertness to save the two men, especially with the lack of time they would have left. There was also Virgil’s ‘big brother’ voice inside his head yelling at him to get some down time. He breathed in the fresh air, allowing the knowledge that he would continue hearing his brother’s nagging to engulf him. A smile formed. That’s what mattered, not his infuriation towards the Captain, or his current location. Virgil was alive. Thunderbird Two would be restored to her former glory. His eyes switched from the azure sea to the vastness overhead. Then, one day soon she would be soaring with her pilot, his best big brother, through those illustrious oceanic blue skies.

chapter 4 Here...

[firemblem-fics]

parents? PT. 1 | claude

firstly this is the longest thing ive ever written yay

secondly, this is only a part one. this is kind of introducing it! the good stuff will happen in part two i promise just give me a bit! thank u 

Warnings: cursing, death, angst, claudes an asshole but also so are you at times, Claude makes a jab at single parenting just for the sake of the story I’m sorry

— — —

The village was in ruins. Nobody was spared in the fire as three demonic beasts rampaged through the rubble. The Golden Deer house fought valiantly to save everybody, but oftentimes such a thing simply could not happen. The beasts were too strong, knocking out four of the team’s own fighters before they finally defeated them. 

Many people, like Marianne, were visibly distraught at such a tremendous loss. She was being comforted by Lysithea, who only held a rather troubled look in her eyes. Ignatz seemed crestfallen as well, as did some others. You, on the other hand, were rather angry. You were furious at the destruction around you. The fires, the destroyed homes, the lost lives. 

It was under Claude’s leadership that these people weren’t saved. The professor was dealing with other matters, so she couldn’t be there to lead. Mistakes were made and they cost people their lives. You’d never truly cared for the boy, finding his “schemes” and his cocky and nosy personality rather annoying, but this was the icing on the cake for you.

Bristling in anger, you marched over to said boy, pointing a harsh finger into his chest. “This is YOUR fault.”

“My fault?” Claude nearly laughed. “Yeah, sure, some things happened, but that's what happens in battle, Y/N. This was a collective failure.” 

“Those things cost people their lives, Claude. I can’t believe you’re so inconsiderate.”

Claude’s eyes lit up a little in frustration. “I'm inconsiderate? As if I didn’t try my hardest to save everyone? I’m new at leading. I’m only 17, if you don’t fucking remember. It’s not like I knew this was going to happen-“

A loud wail interrupted him. You furrowed your brows, looking at Claude before turning and looking around. 

“What’s that?” 

Claude shrugged, ��A survivor, I hope.” 

You ignored him and ran in the direction of the noise, stopping at a charred house. The fire had stopped, but the crying hadn’t. As you walked inside the burnt skeleton of the house, you hoped that the fire didn’t seriously hurt someone. They’d have trouble making it back to the monastery to be healed. 

Another cry sounded as you moved into another room of the house. There, underneath a small, wooden-framed bed, laid a child. He was no older than 6, tears making trails down his ash-covered face. You kneeled down, trying to make yourself less intimidating to coax him out. 

“Hey buddy,” You reached a hand out, internally grimacing as the little boy flinched away, “We’re not here to hurt you. We need to get you somewhere safe.” 

The little boy looked around. “Wh-where is everybody?” 

Your heart broke and you looked back at Claude, who had followed you, your eyes pleading for help. He sighed and knelt down beside you. “They all had to leave. It was really, really dangerous so they had to keep you safe. We’re here now to keep you even safer.”

That seemed to have calmed the little boy down at least a little. He slowly and shakily walked towards you. You held out both arms, silently asking to pick him up. He obliged and nearly crawled into you and you wrapped yourself tightly around him, whispering reassurances as he sat on your hip. You looked at Claude next, your face asking, “What the hell do we do?” 

Claude only shrugged and walked back to the rest of the team, leaving you to trail slowly behind. You’d take him back to the monastery and go from there. The orphanage was rather full- there was no way they’d be able to care for another one. 

--- --- ---

“We can’t help him in the way that you’re asking, Y/N. I apologize.” 

Your heart dropped. Rhea had asked you to talk to the lady at the orphanage anyways, hoping that she would be able to accept him. Unfortunately, she couldn’t. 

“Then what’s the purpose of an orphanage?” You didn’t want to yell seeing as the boy- August, you’d learned- was sleeping on your hip. “Aren’t you supposed to take in kids? Help them? Raise them? He’s lost everything. And now he can’t even get a home?” 

The lady only sighed. “I’m really sorry. He wouldn’t be getting the attention that you’re asking me to provide. I’ve got other children to tend to.” She went to walk away, but then stopped. “Just keep him to yourself if you’re that worried about him.” She huffed, slamming the door closed behind her.

Keeping him? You thought. I wouldn’t be opposed, but I’ve got class. And fighting. And I’m seventeen. Ah, fuck it. My parents would love him. 

You walked away, careful not to wake August, and made your way to the audience chambers where Rhea was. You’d only hoped she’d let you take responsibility. But you’d never given her a reason not to trust you, right?

“Absolutely not.” 

Wrong. 

“What? Seteth, why not? I’m responsible.I can do it- August’s well behaved. And- and I’ve got my friends too. They can help a little. He’s not a helpless baby and he can do things on his own, he just trusts me a little more to help him.” You pleaded. At this point, you knew that nobody would take care of him. You couldn’t just leave him. 

“You’re just a child yourself, Y/N. You know nothing about raising a child.” He argued back. 

“Neither do new parents! What are you gonna do next, tell new parents that they can’t keep their first child? Please, I’m responsible. Lady Rhea, tell him I’m responsible.” You turned to the Archbishop, who was simply standing there.

“I believe this will be a good experience. Y/N has never given me any reason to distrust her.”

“Lady Rhea, this is absurd-”

“However, she has to find someone to assist her if the workload becomes too much to handle. I, on the other hand, will take a look into the orphanage to see what we can do. The only absurdity here is how they have turned away children.” 

“Thank you, Lady Rhea. I won’t disappoint you.” With that, you left the chambers and walked through the yards, ignoring the strange looks that people gave you as you headed back to the Golden Deer Classroom. August stayed on your hip with his head resting against your shoulders, his small fingers twirling your hair around. 

You stopped outside of the classroom and called the little boy’s name, waiting until he looked at you to continue. “We’re gonna go learn now, but you’ve gotta stay quiet. If you need to talk, whisper to me, okay?”

August nodded. “Yes ma’am.” 

Hm, he has manners. That’s perfect. 

You quietly opened the door, hoping that nobody would notice. Your hopes were in vain. Everyone turned around at the sound of the giant doors, their eyes moving from you to the little blonde boy on your hip. Reactions varied- Hilda practically cooed at him while Lorenz could only watch you take the only open seat with disgust. You were disgusted too, but it was because the only open seat was next to Claude. As Byleth resumed teaching, Claude slid a note over to you. 

‘Was single parenting on your bucket list?’ 

You rolled your eyes, looking over at August to make sure he wasn’t watching you write before replying. 

‘Fuck you. Rhea said that I need to have someone help me if I have trouble, and just for that comment I’ll ask for it to be you.’ 

Claude read the note and chuckled quietly, crumpling it up and putting it in his pocket. You assumed that the conversation was over, so you allowed August to crawl into your lap and lay against you to have a small nap. The poor kid had a long day, after all. This didn’t stop Claude from leaning over to you and whispering. 

“So, does that mean you’ll call me daddy?” 

You choked on your own spit suddenly, waking up August and making your other classmates look at you. Byleth turned around and gave you a look, but you could only wave them off as you kept coughing. You glared at Claude, who had a grin on his face. God, he loved watching you suffer, didn’t he?

He kept smirking at you, but lost it when you grew your own. If he was going to tease you about helping a kid, you were going to make sure he’d pay the price. As his eyebrows furrowed a little with worry, you asked, “Can you walk with me to see Lady Rhea after class?” 

--- --- ---

“Lady Rhea, I told you she wasn’t responsible enough. Look, she comes back two hours later and already requests for assistance.” 

First of all, Fuck you Seteth. Second of all, this was just revenge. 

“Okay, listen, I don’t know why I’m here either-”

“I’d like to request assistance just in case. Say I have to take a shower or do something and August can’t be with me? I’d like to be able to have someone else help care for him when I might not be able to for a bit.” You interrupted Claude. 

“What makes you think that Claude is a good candidate to help you? Why are you choosing him?” Seteth retorted. 

Spite, you wanted to say. “He’s the leader of the Golden Deer. Heir to the Alliance. He’s been able to take care of us through battles and such, how much harder could it be to help take care of one child? Even then, I’ll only need his help for a few minutes at a time.” You said. Damn, you were good at acting like you actually tolerated him. 

“Lady Rhea, Seteth, please, I don’t want-”

“Plus, would you really trust anyone else in the Golden Deer to help me?” You cut him off again. 

Claude could only glare at you as Rhea weighed her decision. You smirked before turning to check on August, who had occupied himself by spinning in circles around a column. You whispered August’s name to get his attention, holding out your hand as he came towards you. He placed his smaller hand in yours and stood patiently in between you and Claude

Rhea’s face soon bloomed into a soft smile. “Whenever you need assistance, Claude will be there.”

You thanked her and bowed, following behind the Alliance heir as he nearly stormed out of the chambers. When you got outside, he whipped around to face you. 

“What the hell was that?” He growled, “Revenge? For what, one simple comment? A little joke? And now I’m stuck waiting on you if you ‘ever need my assistance’, whatever that bullshit means.” 

You furrowed your eyebrows, pulling August close to you. “First of all, watch your language. He’s only six. Secondly, I think your comment was insensitive. You were making fun of single parents and my bucket list- which you know is a big deal for me.”

“Alright, whatever. I’m sorry for saying something about single parenting, I shouldn’t have, but I think I have the right to have an opinion about your dumb little list.”

“Claude, you don’t even know why it’s important to me, you just want a reason to make me upset-” 

“Well? You deserve to be upset. I’m upset too, because now I have to help a brat take care of a little brat. I didn’t ask for this shit.” Claude rolled his eyes and walked away. 

You stood still for a bit, watching him leave with angry tears in your eyes. You snapped out of it when a tiny hand pulled at your shirt. You looked at August. 

“Can we go ‘M sleepy.” He yawned. 

“Of course. We can go to my room and you can sleep for the rest of the night.” 

You made a mental note to grab dinner for the both of you once he was asleep and scooped him up, letting him doze off again against your shoulder as you walked back to your dorm room. The poor boy had a very rough day- and so did you. A nap sounded very nice. 

[sinkix]

Bakugou Imagines │ With Calm & Indifferent S/O

I thought this dynamic would be hella interesting and fun to write about in a lil piece. I may make it into an entire fic?? Who knows, my ass is literally numb from sitting in one spot through the entirety of typing this - Anyway, enjoy this 2AM shitpost of mine!  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I feel like this GIF would sum up the dynamic perfectly.

Bakugou: Angrily yelling during a porcupine rampage

S/O: Continues sipping their tea and minding their business while riding through their inner turmoil “Do fish get thirsty?” “I wonder what I should have for breakfast tomorrow.” “Do spiders pee? Have I ever sat in spider pee?” “I should really check my mail.”

This initially frustrated Bakugou to no end, he felt as though you were treating him as some insignificant extra. Yet the more he observed you, the more he found himself grossly fascinated by your existence. It seemed as though you were that way with everyone, but why? 

Surely there was more to you than that unreadable persona, right? Did you feel more than you let on? Think more than you spoke?

The more he found himself thinking about you, the more frustrated he became.

Until one day he slammed you against a wall in the hallway, Izuku stumbling upon the scene and debating whether to step in and diffuse the situation, but he was shocked to find that judging by the look on your face, you literally could not give a rats ass about the close proximity with his snarling face inches from yours, staring at him as though he was chatting about the weather.

“Yeah?” You spoke, gazing up at him with typical aloof glaze over your eyes that made him almost short circuit as badly as Denki.

“The hell do you mean YEAH? Why you always looking at me with that damn face, don’t I scare you?”

Bakugou was used to people cowering in fear or becoming prickly with edge from his volatile nature, tip toeing around him in hopes he wouldn’t blow a gasket, so why the hell weren’t they? He was inches from your face and towering over you in the corner of an empty hallway, yet you didn’t even bat an eye. Was he that unintimidating? THAT insignificant to the point you didn’t even register his presence? Was he--

“No, you don’t. Why would you? You have a temper, but you mean well.”

Bakugou stood there stunned, scanning your face for a hint of expression along the deadpan painting your features. 

“Plus, you’re cute, even when you’re in a fit of rage like a toddler.”

Bakugou could have sworn he choked on his own saliva in that moment, cheeks burning ablaze as he tries to register what had come out of your mouth. Hold on... toddler?!

“The HELL DID YOU SAY TO ME?”

“Look Bakugou I gotta go, I have assignments to do. Join me if you want, I’ll be in the library. You usually study alone, right?”

He tsk’s and kicks his feet idly against the ground, just how much attention did you pay toward him? The thought of it left a disgustingly giddy feeling in his chest that he attempted to shove into the sand.

“...fine.” He mutters, sauntering alongside like a petulant child, unable to get the word out of his brain.

...Cute. She thinks I’m cute.

2 months pass by and you notice Bakugou becoming increasingly more docile in your presence, what was once a heated and one sided clash, arose a peaceful atmosphere in it’s place. Where normally he’d be in a fit of rage, Bakugou was acting far more tamed, dare I say rational, and unusually quiet whenever he was around you.

The other 1-A classmates suspected it has something to do with you, also becoming aware at how he seems to hover around you after class until you were ready to walk back to the dorms together, hell he even started to mumble a “Good morning” In the dormitory kitchen to you.

You didn’t mind Bakugou’s company, you enjoyed it even.  And the feeling seemed to be mutual.

It was as though you balanced one another out. Bakugou encouraged you to be more passionate and fiery with your opinions and feelings, which everyone began to pick up on at your recent abnormally out-spoken nature. 

And you encouraged Bakugou to reign in his temper, seeing things from a point of view that he wouldn’t even normally give a second glance to, teaching him to think before he makes decisions and the consequences of such.

One thing that you both had in common was your blunt honesty and disdain for sugar-coating, it meant that while Bakugou is normally a pain in the ass to talk to, let alone understand emotionally, you did with relative ease. You didn’t see the point in lying about how you felt toward something or someone, and this effect benefited you two greatly.

Bakugou gradually became more accepting of his feelings, thanks to you.

After around 5 months of this dynamic gradually bringing out the best in each other, Bakugou finally decided to acknowledge the one feeling he couldn’t seem to accept.

It happened when you were in the common room chatting to Todoroki, and Bakugou just happened to pass by after his training session toward the showers. He paused for a moment, observing you and smiling idly to himself like an idiot. 

However, something didn’t sit quite right.

No, not right at all.

Todoroki was WAY too close for comfort. 

It made Bakugou seethe with rage, reeling it in at the reminder of you and your example. 

Gritting his teeth, he observed your interaction with you two being none the wiser. 

What Bakugou didn’t expect was for Todoroki to lean forward, hand extended as though he was about to cup your cheek.

That was it.

Bakugou marched over and barked at the pair of you, demanding what it was all about.

Secretly he had always felt jealous of you and Todoroki. While you spent most of your time in his company, he had always felt that maybe Todoroki was better company for you instead, since his personality was much similar to yours in comparison. As if he felt inferior.

Whipping your head around to face him, he noticed the specks of chocolate cake dusting the outskirts of your lips haphazardly, lowering his eyes down to the now cleaned plate. Looking up and glaring daggers at Todoroki, he also clocks the napkin folded neatly into his hand. The gears turning in his head finally clicking as he looks well and truly embarrassed for misreading the situation. Tutting to himself and wordlessly stomping toward his room.

10 minutes pass of him slumped onto the crumpled bed covers feeling like a total fool. A single question running rampant in his mind that he simply can’t ignore.

Why did he react that way back there? Surely it’s none of his business, right?

Bakugou dwells, then dwells some more. Until once again, the dots finally connect.

He wasn’t in love with you, was he?

Surely not.

There was no way-

Knock knock.

He hauls himself up and grumbles, moping toward the door and swinging it open.

The sight nearly sends his knees buckling then and there.

You were stood, wide-eyed and flooding full of concern, head cocked to the side in a manner of question. Only Bakugou saw this level of expression from you, and it made him feel special. You were his.

Wait what.

“Are you okay?” Your voice was even, but you couldn’t help faltering at the end.

“Yeah.” Bakugou rubbed the back of his head in annoyance.

“...Well, No. But that doesn’t matter dumbass.”

“It matters to me.” You stand your ground, folding your arms in protest and narrowing your eyes in a refusal to break contact. 

So damn stubborn. He thought, grinning internally.

“Fine, come in.” He mutters, extending his arm out toward his room as you nonchalantly walk inside.

“I was going to anyway.” You state, Bakugou scoffing at your ‘matter of fact’ tone, it was something he couldn’t get enough of.

Stop.

You plop yourself down on the edge of his bed in a lackadaisical fashion, patting the seat beside you, coaxing him to sit.

He complies, parking himself beside you but finds his body beginning to sweat from the minuscule proximity between you two.

Since when the hell was he ever bothered by that?

Keep it together, Katsuki.

It felt as though the entire world as he knew it was crumbling beneath his feet. 

But little did he know, you felt the exact same way, thoroughly shaken with the level of anxiety and anticipation that flooded your body at the realisation your shoulders were brushing.

Since when did he have this effect on you?

“So, mind telling me what that was about?” Surprisingly, you were able to retain a level of composure, though Bakugou now looked well and truly distraught, not that he would admit it, not over his dead body.

Bakugou stayed silent for a moment, before shifting himself to meet your gaze, something shining in his eyes that you couldn’t quite pinpoint, his body language suggested he was fighting some serious conflict right now. About what? You didn’t know.

You stared at each other once again, either of you in total refusal to look the other way. The air was hot, thick, and dense - it sent the nerves in your body standing on alert, but not for the reason it should.

What you didn’t expect was for him to press his palm against the comforter, leaning forward with that same glint of battle in his eyes.

“You know I’m not good with words, right?”

“You’ve improved a lot Bakug--”

“Katsuki.”

“What?” You stare at him dumbfounded, as though he had sprouted horns and learned to fly, which wouldn’t be far fetched in this society in all honesty. 

“I said call me Katsuki.” He huffed, biting the inner corner of his mouth in an act of unknown self restraint. No one called him Katsuki except his parents.

“...Katsuki.” The name rolled off your tongue like music to his ears, and it was in that moment Katsuki knew he couldn’t control himself anymore.

Using his extended palm to push you down on to the bed, your lips connect before you could even utter a yelp, his hand snaking round to the back of your head in offer of gentle support. Despite the aggression in his kiss and expressions he wore moments earlier, his touch was surprisingly gentle.

He parts away before you can even register the current events sprung on you seconds earlier, a small string of saliva connecting the two of you as proof that you did in fact just kiss.

Your heart flutters and thuds rapidly against your rib cage, cheeks flushed and mind whirring with questions. But before you can get a single one out he speaks again.

“I’m gonna take a leaf from your book this time.” Bakugou states, his tone now firm and serious

“I love you, so fucking much that it hurt me to see you so close to him. Your mine-- I mean I want you to be mine. I know we aren’t even technically friends yet but--

Before he can finish you cut him off with an equally impassioned kiss, threading your fingers through his spiked and dishevelled locks, earning a low grunt of approval, pulling away as reluctantly as he had.

“I love you too Katsuki... I- uh... I want you to be mine too.”

“Wow, now look who’s the one finding it hard to communicate.”

“Shut up you dork.” Punching his arm playfully, he bears the shit-eating grin you’d grown accustomed to loving, pulling him in for another kiss as if it would be your last, intending to prolong this moment as long as possible. “You really are cute.”

Who knew such opposites would attract?

[gingerwritess]

predating silliness where loki joins reader on her lunch break or something and experiences midgard for the first time?? well for the first time in a normal manner at least instead of rampaging around with an alien army lmao

let the tension s l o w l y commence

part 11 of loki’s happy ending!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Loki hasn’t slept that well in nearly two centuries.

He hasn’t woken up to the sight of someone else in a hot minute either, but he groggily rubs his eyes to find your legs right in front of his face.

You’re tapping your toes, talking to someone on the other side of the desk.

Loki stifles a yawn, gingerly pressing his fingers to the knot in his neck from sleeping on the ground, catching bits and pieces of your conversation as he tries to pull himself from his sleepy daze.

Good, they’re just stopping by to say hi.

Losing interest in your gossiping, he sits up under your desk, long legs crossing underneath him and head slumping into his hands with another yawn. Gods, a shower, a bath sounds heavenly.

That’ll be next, he promises himself. I’ll have to find some way to ask.

A slight scent of something probably fried catches his attention as he patiently waits for you, and Loki’s stomach churns.

It’s been too long. Too long.

His stomach growls so loudly, he claps a hand over his mouth and prays to all the gods that your visitor didn’t hear that.

A few moments of continued chatter tell him he’s still safe.

That was extremely thoughtful of you, letting him do this. Just the chance to spend a couple hours as himself, no fake identities, no illusions, it’s rejuvenating to levels he couldn’t have imagined. He kind of forgot what it was like to not live in constant pain.

His gaze travels the length of your leg, almost cracking a smile at your fingers tapping away on your knee. You don’t seem to be completely enjoying this conversation.

You cross your ankles, uncross them, cross them again, and Loki watches. He’d like to touch you, he decides, just to let you know he’s awake, speed up your conversation. Perhaps on the knee, or the bare skin of your ankle, as taking hold of your calf may surprise you to the point of revealing him.

He settles for three quick taps of his finger against your ankle.

Your voice clips and he grins to himself as you cover it with a cough.

“So Friday, then?”

That’s a man, Loki realises. You’re talking to a man, your ankles crossing and knee bouncing and fingers tapping.

Maybe he misinterpreted your body language.

“Let me double check, I’ll let you know,” you reply, and Loki can hear your smile.

“You’ve got my number, sweetheart, just call if you need me.”

“Sounds good!”

Sweetheart.

The door clicks shut before Loki’s had a chance to decide if he’s just hungry or something about that man makes him uneasy.

“G’morning, sleepyhead.” You roll your chair away from the desk with a bright smile, getting out of the way so he can crawl out from his little cave.

Okay, it’s not the most glamorous thing he’s ever done, but…but…

Nah. It’s humiliating, one way or the other.

He should thank you, he knows he should. But you’re beaming at him as he flops into a chair, rubbing sleep from his eyes with the heel of his palm, and Loki can’t help but hate the sheer idiocy he succumbed to, letting himself do that.

So he stares at you. Slumped in his seat, lips a thin, grave line, breathing shallow as it has been for the past few months, he watches you from across the desk, waiting for you to speak first.

You don’t. You just smile.

He heaves a tired sigh. “Did you get food?”

“Well, someone’s just a little ray of sunshine today,” you hum, leaning back in your chair. “I did.”

“And? May I have it?”

Your lips quirk in the most suspicious way.

“Sure.”

You bring the bags of food to your desk, taking out paper-wrapped burgers and orders of fries amidst an array of other…things, plopping a giant cup of some dark liquid in front of him along with two other glasses of something.

“Norns.” He blinks at the spread, stomach somersaulting again. “Now what if I told you I only eat fruit?”

“That’d be very rude of you,” you frown, snagging a french fry. “Not that I’d be surprised.”

A small smile cracks over his face.

“I suppose I’ll be adventurous today.” He cautiously picks up a burger, turning it over in his fingers with narrowed eyes. “What is this?”

“A burger. It’s meat, cheese, lettuce, stuff like that, between two pieces of bread.” You reach over and unwrap it from the paper—he looks about ready to eat it, paper and all. “I didn’t know what to get you, so I just kinda…got a mix of everything.”

Loki just quirks an eyebrow in acknowledgment. That’s awfully…generous, he can’t deny, but the way you watch him, that small smile on your face as you eat your fries, kills any expression of gratitude before it’s even reached his throat.

Eyes locking with yours, daring you to laugh at his state of wreck, he takes a tentative bite.

It only lasts about five seconds.

He gags, grabbing the trashcan and spitting out his entire mouthful with a cough, resurfacing to glare at you with a murderous gaze.

“That was disgusting.”

“Well I’m not exactly rolling in cash,” you huff, throwing a fry at him, “so sorry I couldn’t get you a gourmet burger, fast food is gonna have to do, okay??”

He’s still coughing, definitely over exaggerating, and he fumbles for the drink you set in front of him—anything to get that taste of pure grease out of his mouth.

The spit take that follows might be the last straw.

“LOKI, WHAT THE F—”

“What in all Hel is that??” He cries, dropping the cup back on your desk and clutching a hand to his throat. “Poison—that’s low, mortal, just turn me in—”

“It’s fucking soda!” Scrambling for napkins, you swipe furiously at your chest and laptop, now nicely sprinkled with soda from his spitting. “You’re disgusting, god, you spit all over me!”

“You’re trying to poison me!”

“It’s a drink!!”

Nails scratching at his throat, he lifts his chin and points a furious finger. “It’s stabbing my throat,” he rasps, “ripping my throat, it-it hurts—”

“It’s called carbonation, you idiot.” Your forehead falls to your palm. “Just drink some water, you’ll be fine.”

You hand him a bottle of water which he promptly rips from your hand and gulps, head back and throat moving furiously until the entire bottle is gone. In a matter of seconds.

“Good lord.” You shake your head with a frown, going back to your fries. “Didn’t realise you were this uncultured. Considering you wanted to rule us ‘n everything.”

“I didn’t exactly come here for the food.” He coughs a couple more times and tosses the burger back on your desk. “I’m not eating that. And if the rest of what you brought me compares in the slightest, I suppose I’ll starve.”

“You’re so, so fucking rude.” Flopping back in your chair, you swallow your mouthful of fries and cross your arms. “I actually went out of my way to get you all this, get you things you could try, get you enough—”

“Ah, you changed your shirt.”

Mouth still half-open after being so rudely interrupted, you glance down and nod. “Yeah? And?? I wasn’t finished—”

“So you left me in here, asleep and unmonitored?” He’s paused, eyebrow raised as he stares at you. “That’s incredibly stupid of you.”

“You were asleep for nearly three days. I wasn’t gonna wait around for you, you’re not that special.”

He blinks.

“Excuse me?”

“All-knowing gods, my ass,” you mutter sarcastically. “Yeah, you’ve been asleep under my desk for three days. I thought you died, honestly. But then you were still breathing so I figured if you were sleeping that much, you’d probably need just as much food, y’know?”

Loki blinks again, mind racing to catch up. It’d only been a few hours, hadn’t it?

You’re not lying—he checked.

“…you turned me in, I presume? Just let me finish my nap, is that some form of sympathy?”

“I actually didn’t,” you scowl. “But now I’m reconsidering.”

Silent again, he stares at the crowded desk.

That is a lot of food.

His stomach churns again, grumbling loudly at the neglect it’s been shown, and this time you hear it—and you can’t help but give a loud snort of laughter.

“Would it appease his royal highness if I didn’t watch you eat food of this revolting class?”

His staring continues—or maybe it’s more of a wistful gaze, considering the obvious struggle at play between his hunger and sense of morality.

“Just eat the fucking burger,” you groan, grabbing the burger with a bite taken out of it, leaning over your desk, and shoving the burger to his mouth.

His eyes go wider than saucers.

“HOW DARE Y—mmph—”

Taking advantage of his open and raging mouth, you shove as much of the burger into his mouth before he has a chance to protest.

Isn’t he just so charming, trying to yell at you through a mouthful of burger?

The mess of hair, ripped shirt, and tiny bit of mustard that smeared on his cheek aren’t doing much to help his godly image, either.

Surprisingly enough, he actually swallows the giant bite, immediately holding up a finger and glaring at you:

“As I was saying, HOW DARE Y—what are you doing??”

“You’ve got a little…y’know.” Biting back your laughter, you brush your thumb along your cheek again. “Right here. You’ve got some mustard.”

His voice falters and he angrily swipes at his face. “Once again—”

“Missed it.” You point, the mustard still stubbornly to the left of his lips. “No—no, other side.”

He wipes his face again, cheeks consistently reddening—and misses it again.

“For the love of god—” you give a quiet huff of annoyance and lean over the desk, grabbing his chin in one hand and wiping off the mustard with your thumb.

You can hear the record scratching.

Loki freezes, eyes shooting wide as you freeze, halfway over your desk with your hand hovering between the two of you.

What the HELL did you do that for?

Loki doesn’t move, just stares at you, probably imagining the exact way he is going to strangle you and make it look like an accident.

“I’m…so sorry,” you whisper, slowly backing away. “I-I don’t know why I did that, I forgot no touching, I’m so sorry…”

He carefully nods, finally breaking eye contact and scooting forward in his seat.

“It wasn’t as bad that time around,” he says icily, clearly deciding to pretend that didn’t just happen. “Did you get more of those meat sandwiches?”

“Burgers,” you breathe, shoving the bag of them towards him. “Yeah, have them all, um, anything else I can get you?”

“Water would be wonderful.”

You push one of the other cups you got towards him. “In here. The other one’s coffee, I thought you might want some caffeine…”

He flashes you a tight, anything-but-friendly smile as he unwraps his next burger. “I prefer tea.”

“How was I supposed to know that—”

“But thank you,” he interrupts, gaze dropping to his food. “Thank…you. A lot.”

That was eloquent.

And sounded ridiculously, painfully forced, which only takes away from the almost-sentiment of it all.

You just nod.

“Yup.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

feel free to send me ideas!!

if you enjoyed…what if i linked my venmo…haha no i jest…no obligations….just in case….u don’t have to ha ha…….unless… ??

~ masterlist link in my bio ~

loki tags: @bluediamond007 @himitoshi @drakesfiance @destiel1597 @dangertoozmanykids101 @archy3001 @jcalpha1 @yzssie @skullvieplu @forthesnakeofdragons @skulliebythesea @wegingerangelica @storiesfrommirkwood @agarwaeneth @adaliamalfoy @laurfangirl424 @paradisaicsam @fitzsimmons-is-forever @ladylokimischief @katelinwrites @tarynkauai @polaristrange @loavesofmeat @canadian-ravenpuff-multishipper @lou-makes-me-strong @holyn0vak @chocolatealmondmillk @swtnrholland @kenzieam @jessiejunebug  @catticas @the-republic-and-face-of-texas @doralupin01 @whitewitchdown @atomiccharmer @falconfeather23435 @babygirlicecream @avengrcs @vethrvolnir2 @bookgirlunicorn @wabisabigrl @myhealingstar @khaleesi-marvel @ei77777 @spacecrumbs @scarlettghost13 @rocks-are-pretty-odd @confessionsofastrugglingteen @easilydistractedwriter @arttasticgreatnessoftheawesome77 @fluffyllamaswearinghats @milktearose @lcyouinhell @h0tshotholland @dontmesswithmemundane @southsidesarcasticwriter @helnik-s @lilith-akemi @fire-in-her-veinz @unlikelysamwinchesteronahunt @mischievousbellerina @kcd15 @mellowgirl01 @lokislilcaribbeanprincess @allthingzhiddleston @scorpionchild81 @lokixme @blue-automne @galaxycharmed @devilbat @kangaroobunny @end-up-well @planetariumx @sarcsep @mrfandomtastic @amaru163 @im-way-too-many-fandoms @caswinchester2000 @kybaeza @wester-than-west @vintagesunshinebitch @adefectivedetective @poetic-nikolai @moonduhsted @kerri-masson @iamverity @innaminitus @spnbarnes @narcissxblack @woohoney @anxiousamandapanda @padmeisgay @authordreaming13 @lokisironthrone @theunknowinglys @highfuncti0ningfangirl @epicfallenismine @stubby-toe-589331 @fandomnerdsarecool @retrofantasyland @arch-venus25 @forever-trapped-in-my-dreams @littleredstarfish @marshyrebelcloud @okie–loki @atterodominatus @stfxlou @pandacookieowo @tonakings @shinisenko @tinchentitri @nildespirandum

[write-like-you-mean-it]

A Hunter’s Prey: Flowing Out like a Current

While lying on the too empty bed, a groan escaped my lips. Calling Milluki is a hell that I didn’t want to experience. Out of everyone else, he’d have the information that I needed. I took out the phone and dialed the home number. 

A butler’s voice answered from the other end of the line. This time it was a woman. Usually it was a man who answered the phone. “Hello, Zoldyck residence speaking.”

“Hi, this is Illumi’s fiance,” I said. “I was wondering if you would be able to put me through to Milluki. I’m on a mission and need some guidance.”

There was a short pause before the response, “yes, one second.” The phone clicked over to another line. 

“Who is bothering me this late into the night?” shouted Milluki. “You should know this is time for me and my woman.”

“Milluki,” I sigh while my head rests firmly into my hands. On the other side of the screen, I could hear a woman’s voice talking. It was so high pitched and fake that the sound almost made me gag. “This is Y/N. I need your help with something.”

A muffled gasp came across the line which was followed shortly by keystrokes being pounded into the computer. “I’m so sorry M’lady. I hadn’t meant anything by my statements. The butler told me it was my brother on the line. Not your beautiful voice.”

I massaged my temples as the feeling of the throbbing headache started to take over my body. “It's alright. I need you to tell me everything you know about Gon Freecss.”

There were a few more clicks of the keyboard before the girl's voice shut off. “Anything for you. It will only take a second, princess.” A cold shiver ran down my body with the pet name. If I weren’t desperate, I would’ve hung up right then and there; however, he was the only Zoldyck in my arsenal. 

“Gon Freecss,” said the voice from the other end. Somehow, it sounded more out of breath than before. Maybe this was the first time actually talking to a girl that wasn’t related to him. “He’s the son of Ging Freecss who has an impeccable track record for a Hunter; terrible record for being a good father. Gon is Killua’s friend. He passed the Hunter exam a few years ago. Him and Kill fought at Heaven Arena recently. His talent is called Jajanken which seems to be like rock, paper, scissors. He was recently part of the Chimera Ant Extermination Team. He was injured while fighting and was in the hospital for awhile. Now he resides at Whale Island with his aunt and grandma. That is all that I could find, princess.”

A small gag couldn’t have been helped. “Thank you Milluki,” I sighed. “Is there anything else that you could tell me? Are you sure that’s it?”

“I can look for more. Why do you need to know this? Is Illumi pushing you too hard? YOu can always come back to me. I’ll treat you well.”

The longer I was on the phone, the more bile rose in my throat. As much as I wanted to scream misogyny against this perverted soon-to-be brother-in-law, I had to keep him on my side. It’s a disgusting balance between morals and obligation. “Thank you, Milluki,” I repeated. “If you find anything else, please call me. Only call me for those details. I’m undercover so answering things will be hard.”

“Be safe, my love,” purred Milluki. “Come back to me whenever Illumi betrays you. I’ll be-” Click. If I’d listen to any more of his dribble, I was going to be sick. My arm cascaded back to the bed as a sign of defeat. There must be more about this boy if Illumi would tell me to see him specifically. A nice sleep will become my only solace in this mind game of my life. 

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

I awoke later than expected. Sleeping had felt like a chore before. It was an end to a mean. Last night, it was hard to fall asleep. I’d been surrounded by someone else for the past few months so that the lack of people made me anxious. 

My mind was still groggy from tossing and turning throughout the night. A cup of coffee and a warm shower should ease the throbbing head and aching muscles. Water cascading down my spine felt like a dip into my peace. A calming sensation washed over me with every inch of water. Once I got out, I felt refreshed and new. Only the cup of coffee and I’d be like myself again. 

I changed into a different pair of clothes before meeting the small boy from before. He said to go to the marketplace so that is where I will be until he returns. A single step outside the hotel showed the marketplace. The courtyard turned from a desolate wasteland to a thriving, bustling town. People shouted and called their wares for sale. A lot of fishermen’s wives were selling fish caught in the morning tides while their husbands stayed out late. 

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the little boy running around the shops. He seemed to be looking for something. His eyes fell onto a small candy stall where he bought a piece. 

“Gon,” I called while waving my hand in the air. The boy turned to look at me as his eyes narrowed. 

“Hi,” she says while walking up to me. 

“Follow me. We’re gonna get away from people.” I cocked my head before following the small boy away from the group of people. He led me to a ridge of the mountain top that overlooked the ocean. 

The ocean was a beautiful shade of deep blue in the cascading sunlight. Only a glimpse of the lighter shades would appear when the current washed over the sides. The pushing and pull of the current was transfixing. 

“Why do you want to meet Killua?” asked Gon. He was getting straight to the point. He was intimidating for as young as he was. I could see deep within his eyes that there was a caution to his tone that was not there for long. 

“To be honest,” I sigh while taking a seat on the cliff edge. “I don't know. Actually, Illumi told me to stay far away from Killua. I was only to find you.”

“Huh?” he asked while sitting next to me. “Why were you looking for me?”

“To see where Killua is.”

“I’m not going to tell you. He’s too important to me. Plus you’re with Illumi.”

“Well I’m with him but not physically. He’s gone for awhile and I have no way to contact him.” The crashing sound of waves became the intermediate sound between our voices. “He’s gone on a mission.”

“Killua doesn’t want to be like Illumi,” said Gon. “He doesn’t want to be like his family at all.”

I turn to look at Gon’s stoic face as he stares across the ocean. But if he is to be the heir of the household, how can he not want to be an assassin? “Interesting,” I sigh while kicking a small rock off the cliff side. “Gon, what happened? I heard you were involved in an accident. Are you alright now?”

A brief pause filled the hot air. This pause was different than when with Illumi. Gon’s pause held more desperation and sadness than Illumi’s. 

“I got hurt because I was too strong. If it wasn’t for Killua, I wouldn't be here. That is why I have to protect him.”

“So, Killua means the world to you?”

“Yes.”

“He sounds like a good friend. I recently almost saw my best friend die. A few of my other ones did. It changes a person. If it wasn’t for Illumi, I would’ve been dead.”

“Illumi?” 

“Yeah. Hisoka would’ve killed me.”

Gon’s face turned to look at me. His stoic demour paused for a second to see the child-like wonder held deep within his eyes. “You almost died by Hisoka? Why didn’t he kill you?”

“Long story, kid,” I sigh while watching the water once again. “Did you hear what happened in Heaven’s Arena the other night?”

“No. Aunt Mito told me that I have to finish my homework instead. I’m lucky that she let me meet you. Normally I’d be doing my chores about now.”

“If you need help with them, I’d gladly help. I have to make up with you missing part of your day talking with me.”

“Thanks! That’d be really nice of you.” For the first time, I saw him smile. “But what happened at Heaven’s Arena?”

“Oh. Hisoka versus Chrollo battle. Hisoka lost and went on a rampage against the troupe. Which is why I’m worried for Illumi and Machi. He’s already killed-” Tears filled my eyes but I refused to let them drop. “He killed Shalnark and Kortopi. His goal is to kill the rest.”

“Wow. Hisoka lost a battle. I’ve never even seen him get close to losing. I was only able to punch him in the face.”

“You battled that lunatic?” I questioned. 

“Only because he challenged me,” said the hyper boy. “I could only become a Hunter if I was able to hit him in the face. 

“Was that one of the rules? Truly, I’m new to all this stuff. Being a Hunter was never my top priority so I never took the test.”

“This was after the test. We had to learn Nen to get to the 200th floor. We were able to train while fighting. It was so cool. I was able to-”

My thoughts shifted to the battle once again. All the chaotic elements mixed together. It must’ve been a different battle than the one I witnessed. I doubt he would have battled this child to death. Why would Illumi want to be friends with a monster that would hurt a child? 

“-So do you know Nen?” I realized that Gon was still talking as I finally came back to reality. 

“Yes I do. I’m not that great at it yet. How about you?”

Sadness filled his eyes once again. “Yeah. I learned about it. But because of the accident, I can’t use it at the moment. That doesn’t mean I won’t try. I just have to figure out how to get it flowing again.”

A thought popped into my head. “Gon, you know Nen well, right?”

“I wouldn’t say well. I still get confused with the harder stuff.”

“How about I show that I’m trustful while you train me? That way you can practice Nen even when you don’t have it and I can learn more.”

“Okay! I haven’t had a student before!” With that, I could see excitement once again fill his eyes.

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

Full Masterlist

[djarinispunk]

Chapter Four - Morning Inquisition

Waking up next to Javier for the second time was much less tranquil than the last. First it was his blaring alarm clock that happened to be situated right next to your head. When you asked why he chose to deafen you at six in the morning he just claimed that having to reach over to turn it off made him wake up.

Next it was his insistent need to sing for the whole time it took him to get ready. In the shower it was fine, maybe even cute. But by the time he was pulling on his belt and had finished singing what must have been a whole album with bonus tracks — you wanted to strangle him.

When you finally decided you'd had enough of lounging about listening to Javier's butchering of popular songs, you stumbled less than gracefully into the kitchen, where the smug bastard was sat smirking at you with a coffee in hand.

"I hate you" you grumbled, reaching for his coffee. Apparently not fast enough in your sleepy state as before you knew it Javier had you by the arm and positioned you on his thigh.

"Hey, now you weren't saying that last night" he mumbled into your neck, planting light pecks on the bruised skin.

"Funny" you narrowed your eyes at him, he ignored your warning glare instead sending you a cheesy grin.

"You're mean in the morning" he shot you an overexaggerated pout.

"Hm, very cute" you took another sip of his coffee, "When do you have to go to work?"

"Depends. What's the time now" he tapped your leg with he arm that was wrapped around your waist, urging you to check his watch.

"Nearly nine"

"I'll leave soon" he nodded to himself, reaching for his coffee nestled in your arms, to which you shooed him away.

"So...speaking of work" you began, "Wanna tell me who you work for? Or maybe why you were there last night? Or how about-"

Javier cut off your questions with a calloused finger to your lips, "Too early." he groaned into your ear. To this you rolled your eyes, pulling his finger away from your mouth.

"Too early my ass, if anything, you've been annoyingly joyful all morning." you huffed in frustration, "I mean this is the second time I've been here and I've only just learnt your second name. I think I'm entitled to ask a few questions, Javier."

He reluctantly pulled away from where he'd situated himself in the crook of your neck, "I work for the DEA." was all he said, as if that answered all of your questions. You looked at him expectantly until you gathered he wasn't going to elaborate.

"Drugs?" you asked with a raised eyebrow, to which he nodded. "Okay, but that doesn't explain why you were there last night."

"The men in the bar were suspects, I thought Murphy would've told you." you shook your head, urging him to continue, "They had ties to the drug trade, that's what we — me and Murphy deal with."

You nodded at the new information, you narrowed your eyes as a thought came to your head. You were nervous to vocalise it, for fear Javier would laugh at you, But the way he was looking at you told you he was curious as to what was going on inside your head.

"Did what happened last night have anything to do with Pablo Escobar?"

Javier's head jolted back at your words, eyes scanning the expanse of your features, "What do you know about Escobar?" his tone was slightly harsher than before, but not enough to intimidate you.

His tone alone though, was enough to confirm your suspicions. This did had something to do with Pablo Escobar. That complicated things. Massively. How could you tell the DEA agent who you had hooked up several times with, that Pablo had been a regular member at the club you worked at. You had served him, hell you'd even go as far as to say, you befriended him. Sure, you had known he was involved in shady stuff but he had always gone out of his way to look out for you, whether it be generous tips, protection or ahem — party favours, so you'd never payed it any attention.

Javier said your name, snapping you out of your rampaging thoughts. "Nothing." Javier wasn't convinced by you, and you couldn't blame him. Still, you scrambled to cover your tracks, "Just that" you sighed, "I've overheard conspiracies involving him and the Narcos in the club, that's all." you gave him a tight smile, one that you were sure he'd question. And he probably would've, if not for the phone ringing and interrupting the borderline interrogation he was giving you.

He lifted you up from his lap, making his way to the phone. "Yeah?" he asked down the receiver, distracted by the way you were curled up on his chair, flicking through the paper and drinking his coffee. He seemed to be getting distracted by you an awful lot recently.

"I don't even get a Hello?" he recognised the voice straight away.

"Murphy, what's up?"

"Oh nothing, just that I need a little favour," his sarcasm was not lost on Javier who was rolling his eyes at Murphy's tone, "And, that little favour happens to probably be tucked away in your bed as we speak."

Oh, so that's what this was. Javier had to admit, he hadn't acted the most professional last night upon seeing you flirt with Murphy, but he had to give kudos to the guy for picking up on it. Or Murphy could've not payed attention to any of that and just saw the way you and him looked at each other and put two and two together.

"Wrong" was all Javier said.

"Oh?" he could basically see the smirk on Murphy's face.

Turning away slightly from where you were absorbed in the pages of a newspaper, Javier lowered his tone, as if that would help the fact you were only a few feet away from him.

"Reading the paper at my table as we speak, actually" Javier corrected, his words reduced to whispers.

"So I wasn't wrong to have my suspicions?" Murphy teased, aware of how far he could push his luck before Javier hung up on him.

"Get to the point, Murphy" Javier sniped, turning back towards you now.

"We need you to bring her in, routine check up after last night."

Javier nodded, although he couldn't help his mind from reminding him of your shaky answers to his questions about Escobar. No, you wouldn't be mixed up with that. You couldn't be.

"Are you sure its just a check up? She doesn't have to be questioned or anything, right?" Javier was aware of how suspicious he sounded, but couldn't help himself.

"Why would we need to question her Peña?" Murphy asked, his tone slightly curious.

Javier shook his head, "You're right, she doesn't need to." he paused for a second before carrying on, "I'll bring her in now."

With that, Javier hung the phone up. He took his time striding over to you, sat at the table still swaddled in his dress shirt from the night before. He took his time appreciating you, pulling your hair to one side before bending down to plant soft kisses onto the bruised skin. You sighed into the warmth, finally distracted from your reading.

"What did I do to deserve this?" you joked, eyes closing in bliss as Javier sucked a particularly tender spot.

"You have to do me a favour." at his words you turned to face him better, raising a playful eyebrow. He only grinned before continuing, "Not those kind of favours, you've done enough of those."

"I beg to differ." you smirked, reaching down to palm him through his jeans, unknowingly proving his early thought process.

You were a distraction to him; albeit a beautiful one, but a distraction nonetheless. He couldn't even remember what he needed to ask you with the way you were touching him.

"Later." he bit back a groan, nudging your hand away, "I need you to get changed, you're coming down to the station."

You furrowed your brows slightly, but understood why you would need to. With all the attention Javier was giving you, it made it pretty easy to forget that last night you were involved in a crime scene and had subsequently become temporarily unemployed because of it. You made a mental note to call Sebastian and ask about what his plan was for the future.

"How long do I have?" you asked, taking in your appearance in his kitchen mirror. You looked like you had been dragged through a hedge backwards.

You could thank Javier and his little hair pulling bit for that.

Javier checked his watch, "Ten minutes."

Taking another once over in the mirror, you sighed. You sure did have your work cut out for you. "I hate you Javier Peña." you jokingly chided, sticking your tongue out at him as you made your way to his bedroom.

Javier only gave you a shit-eating grin in return, rushing over to quickly swarm you with ravenous kisses, ignoring your protests.

Great, make that eight minutes.

[chaoticneutralwriter]

The Extent of Happiness

Jimin thinks he’s a perfect demon, given the centuries of work he’s done and now he dare say he makes for a pretty decent temp-guardian too — he even has the papers to prove it. So with a good clean record, he’s well on his way to getting into the good graces of heaven again to pardon his mischief, only he never realized in his long years of living until now that there is one short-coming he had — as both a demon and a guardian.

guardian demon!Jimin x reader

word count: 18.6k (lord)

genre: slow-burn, supernatural, comedy, fluff, romance, a little angst, slice of life

warning: brief talk of some ill-intentions towards another character

Related works: see masterlist under guardian demon! Jimin

A/N: THIS TOOK FOREVERR.... ;_; tfw the chapter is pretty straight forward but didn’t realize the scenes would take so much planning XD Lots of time skips-ish but it at least takes over the course of two days. Hope you enjoy it, thank you so much for all the patience and love once again! 😚😚💖💖

It’s over.

It’s finally over.

You collapse onto your bed, exhausted but victorious in a way. You’ve just finished your last exam, gone in with a fuck-all attitude that made it go by in a blur and now that it’s out of your hands, you’re finally allowed to be numb to it all. The stress of it is over and though you would be elated if you passed with a pretty good grade, you honestly don’t care if you scraped by or even fail one (you’ve done the math, that's how much you've given up). All you want to do now is to sleep for three years….and maybe have a glass of wine, or a whole bottle you’re not sure.

You’ll have to think on that. But right now, you just want to do nothing for a while.

Unfortunately, your body interpreted ‘do nothing’ as straight up passing out. You’re disoriented by the time you wake up, having not realized you fell into a coma-like sleep in the first place. Jaehee’s the one who knocks on your door to come check on you.

“Fam, you good?” She asks, half-jokingly but you can still hear the tinge of worry slipping through her tone.

You only let out a low, half-dying groan, shifting so that your face is not entirely smushed into your mattress.

“I don’t even remember falling asleep….”

If you had turned over more, you would’ve seen Jaehee giving you a wry smile. “Yeah…. You were out cold when I got home and I didn’t have the heart to wake you, but then I got really worried because you were seriously like out.”

That got a snort out of you, however groggy you might feel as your mind takes its time to become more alert.

“But congrats on finishing your last exam today!” Jaehee cheers, coming over to sit at the end of your bed where your body is draped over in a horizontal fashion. “We should celebrate.”

You let out a whining noise of protest because although you do want to go celebrate (read: drink yourself into an oblivion while stuffing your face with the fattiest, greasiest foods you could find), you also really don’t feel like moving yet. Jaehee laughs, patting your head in a very motherly way that has you nearly dozing off again.

“Okay, okay how about we order pizza and we crack open some cold ones over Netflix?”

That gets a short bark of laughter from you and that’s all that Jaehee needs before she’s getting up again to place the order. During that time, you roll around on your bed some more, scroll through your social media for a while before finally mustering up the strength to get up with a stretch. You loudly let out a drawn out groan as your joints pop and your muscles unwind from being in the same position for so long before you stand, grabbing a new set of PJs as you head to the bathroom.

After a refreshing shower that leaves you more awake now and ready to devour some serious carbs, you saunter into the living room where Jaehee is setting up the extra large pizza box on the coffee table. Your mouth instantly waters at the smell of melted cheese, pepperoni, bacon and mushrooms. Beside the box is a case of Somersby cider, the cans still chilled with condensation so when you crack it open to take a sip, it sends a pleasant chill down your throat.

Taking a seat next to Jaehee on the couch, you reach for a slice of pizza and the first bite has you moaning loudly. “Let me stay like this forever.”

Your friend giggles at your overdramatic comment but nevertheless starts scrolling through the Netflix account to find a series to watch.

“Well, you can now that you’re done for the semester.”

“Thank God for that.”

As Jaehee settles on a show, she reaches for her own can of alcohol, bringing it up towards you and you instantly respond by grabbing yours.

“Cheers to finishing that semester.”

You clink cans, grinning as you take a hefty sip, sighing out contently as you already feel your nerves dissipate with the sweet promise of long restful days of sleeping, eating, and lounging.

-

Yeah right.

It’s like the universe had decided for you that you’ve had your fill of living out your best life as a human sloth and now you need to get back to being a useful member of society. And since you’re always in need for those few extra dollars, it’s no surprise you find yourself taking on more work shifts, no matter how soul draining it all is.

Do it for the money, you tell yourself, just do it for the money.

Besides, you further reason, you need a distraction or you’ll just find yourself perusing your social media threads which would lead to you being caught up in the hype for BTS’ first day of their North American leg of the tour. It’s fast approaching but at this point, you feel like you’ve gone through your stages of grief and had reached the inevitable acceptance — you’re not going to any of the stops and your only hope rests in the four small words at the very bottom of the official touring website.

You cash out the last of the customer standing in line, grateful to have a moment of peace where you can do something other than force a smile on your face and be overly polite and friendly. You walk over to the end of the cash counter where off to the side is a cart full of items that needed to be ticketed for clearance. It’s not the most exciting job, but after spending majority of your shifts on cash and nothing but cash you’re willing to take any job. So with a label gun in hand, you set to work on scanning the items and adjusting the numbers appropriately to make the correct price tags.

You’re halfway through the cart when you feel a sudden chill, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand and automatically you already know who this is. Your gaze whips around, trying to be subtle about it until a voice calls out to you from above.

“Right over here poppet.”

Your eyes land on the shelves behind you and situated at the very top on a sewing machine box, you find Jungkook peering down at you with his signature bunny grin. His mop of brown hair is a little unruly, leaving his front bangs to sweep over his forehead and he’s still dressed like one of the international students at your college — comfy but bougie as hell. Sighing, you continue with the task at hand, pretending he’s not there just so you won’t look crazy on camera.

“Don’t you have better things to do?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He rebuttals, jumping down gracefully next to you despite those clumpy looking Balenciaga shoes he’s wearing (you swear you could kill someone if you threw it at them hard enough). You roll your eyes, already knowing what he’s insinuating when he says that.

“For the billionth time I’m not going; I thought we had this conversation already.”

“Well you can’t blame me for thinking you’ve got such a weak will.”

That causes you to shoot a glare his way and all he does is raise an eyebrow back at you, almost challengingly. It makes you let out a huff of frustration, going back to slapping the items with their pricing stickers a little too aggressively.

“Then what do you suggest I do? Summon another demon so they could be my doppleganger?”

“What? Oh no, that won’t do. Your soul is bound to Jimin so there’s possibly nothing you could offer in exchange for another demon’s service.” Jungkook brushes off your sarcastic rhetorical as if you had seriously asked. “Although you possibly could ask an incubus in exchange for sex….but I don’t think Jimin would be too happy with that…”

Jungkook successfully makes you blush at his offhanded comment, mind reeling and going off in places that they most definitely shouldn’t be going. You have to shake your head to rid of those thoughts, but that doesn’t stop your cheeks from burning still. Forcefully, you think about puppies and kittens and BT— No, no, the one time to not think of them.

Your hand pauses briefly and you turn to pin the brunette sitting on the counter beside you a hard stare. He’s lost in thought, actually considering all the ways that can possibly help you play hooky with your job. You’re a slight bit touched that he seems to care so much but at the same time, you think this is all completely unnecessary. Finally, after a few more minutes of pondering, he sighs out in a defeated manner.

“The only other option I can think of is finding a witch to clone you. But I heard their methods are highly unstable, usually a fifty-fifty chance in death or your clone going on a rampage to actually steal your identity so I don’t know if you’d be down with those odds.” Turning to you, he nods in serious affirmation. “I think the sex demon is your best bet, even if it’ll make Jimin a little mad.”

You choke on the air you harshly inhale, hand coming up to try and smother your coughing fit. By the time you’re able to breathe again without losing a lung, you have tears in your eyes from the exertion but that doesn’t stop you from throwing a narrowed eyed glare at Jungkook who’s watching on with an obviously amused smile.

“I am not doing that.” You wheeze.

“Why not? If it’s because of Jimin, then I’ll handle him for you.”

“No Jungkook, it’s not— “ You pause to kiss your teeth, agitated. “I’m not that desperate. Besides, I’ve already put my money on them adding additional dates after their first leg is over.”

It’s true, you’re not about to resort to shadier means to get what you want; point proven when you turned down even Jimin when he offered (and his method had way less strings attached than the one Jungkook is suggesting). Furthermore, what logic would that be if you refuse help from your own guardian demon only to turn around and accept help from someone else, much less another demon? He’s insufferable, the bane of your existence at times sure, but you can never imagine doing something like that to him, especially after all he’s done. The very suggestion makes your stomach churn unpleasantly — he doesn’t deserve that.

The young demon doesn’t say anything afterwards, just quietly stares at you in utter disbelief for what you think is an uncomfortably long amount of time before —

“You seriously would rather subject yourself to this capitalist slavery than take the chance of getting good demon di—“

The package you’re holding goes flying out of your hand before you can think about it (you think it’s a Disney Princess pink foam crown from the kids section). Jungkook narrowly dodges it with a swift lean of his head, impeccably wide eyes indicating that even he was caught off guard from your sudden display of speed. The item merely smacks against the edge of the computer monitor of the register, lightweight enough that you didn’t need to worry about getting fired for property damage but it didn’t go unnoticed by your manager on duty as not even a minute passes before your headset crackles with her concerned voice.

“Woah what happened there, Y/N? You okay?”

You fumble with your mic, face a raging inferno as you press down on the button to laugh nervously into. “Y-Yeah, no I just saw a spider and it freaked me out. That’s all!”

You get a laugh in return, “Oh yikes. Okay, understandable. Carry on!”

Jungkook’s snickering brings your attention back to him and you could only petulantly glare at him. Luckily, you didn’t have to continue bickering uselessly with him as over his shoulder, you see a few customers begin to stream into the queue line. With one last pointed look, you mutter quickly through gritted teeth.

“I am not going to the concert and I don’t need any of your scheming ways to make it happen otherwise.”

You see him roll his eyes before swiftly, you turn on your heels and scurry back over to your designated register to wave down the approaching customer to ring them up.

-

It’s just past three o’clock and noticeably the cafe starts to pick up with an influx of patrons. Evidently, being situated near the downtown area didn’t help either as every which street, the establishment is surrounded by towering office buildings. Whether it be just a single elevator trip down or just a walk across the street, everyone flocked to this cafe to get their caffeine fix or a quick bite to eat. The place drew in all sorts of people, which made for a very interesting place to people watch.

Now normally, Jimin wouldn’t be out so early in the day, preferring to wander the streets at night. That’s when all the greatest likes of people come out — well, ‘great’ in demon standards; the perfect hunting ground to secure more poor souls doomed to hell with all their scheming, ill-intent, self-destructive ways.

But, he thinks, a slow smile barely contained behind the rim of his coffee cup, it doesn’t take much to spot a potential victim, even with the rose-tinted glasses of daylight on. All you had to do was stop and look.

His dark eyes lock onto the figure seated in the far corner of the cafe, hunched over the laptop in front of her. From his vantage point, he could make out her features clearly — long dark hair falling in loose curls around her shoulders, framing a heart-shaped face, straight nose, full lips with a dainty cupid’s bow, and porcelain skin all make up this young face. She looked to be mid-twenties if Jimin had to guess and by the way she dressed so casually amongst the sea of business suits and blazers suggests she might possibly be a student or someone who just got out of school. At first glance, this girl was like any other face in the crowd — unassuming and made an effort to sticking to themselves, just like everybody else in this cafe.

Except Jimin can spot something shady going on a mile away, and this one was only a few tables.

Now as to exactly what, he’ll have to get a closer look to find out. So with one last sip from his cup, he uncrosses his legs and gets up to make his way over to the young lady’s table. He approaches with just a few long strides and though it takes her a moment to notice his presence, she still had to do a double take once her wide eyes landed on his face. It makes him smile, eyes creasing and when he sees her face flush pink, he knows he’s got her.

“I’m sorry,” Jimin starts, coming off bashful as he brings a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. “This might seem really creepy but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around this cafe before and I’m a regular here.”

The girl barely recovers from her flustered state, shaky hands also coming up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She’s having a hard time maintaining eye contact with him and it only goads him on further, keeping his eyes on her and the ever sweet smile still present in an almost purposefully teasing way.

“O-Oh, uh, um yeah. I usually like to hang out in this other place but, I had errands to do around here so I just stopped here for a bit….” Her voice wavers with nerves but she clears her throat, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“Ah, I see.” Jimin replies, feigning interest as he idly runs a hand through his new ash brown hair. “I’m glad you did, it’s a really nice place to come by — amazing coffee and in-house pastry. Have you tried them?”

The small talk continues with Jimin effortlessly getting her to let her guard down more and more until after an empty pastry plate and a latte later, he’s managed to settle himself comfortably in the seat in front of her sharing chuckles and names (Kim), her laptop long forgotten. Here, Jimin can really take in the details of her person; the Chanel t-shirt peeking out from underneath her windbreaker that’s definitely not a knockoff, the Cartier necklace with it’s dainty charm sitting at the base of her throat, the Hermes bangle that gives off a lustrous shine whenever she brings her slender hand up to cover her mouth as she laughs along with the rose gold diamond Rolex watch.

Either she’s got a nice honest paying job, or she’s getting her funds by….other means.

“That’s a really nice watch you have there; Rolex?” Jimin asks, smoothly taking Kim’s hand into his to inspect the watch clasped onto her wrist. He pretends to admire it, completely ignoring the way she blushes.

“Yeah, got it not too long ago.”

“Lovely taste.” He lets go, making sure to linger in his touch. Kim appreciates the gesture, smiling coyly as she slowly takes her hand back. Amidst the chatter of the cafe, a chime followed by a buzz draws the girl’s attention to her phone placed off on the side. Kim takes it into her hand, unlocking before scrolling through it with hasty fingers. She looks up after a few moments later, regret reflecting in her brown irises.

“Hey, I gotta get going. Maybe we could grab coffee again some other time….?”

Jimin hears the way she lets the question hang and it only makes him grin. Regardless, he takes out his phone and Kim eagerly exchanges numbers with him (even sending him a text to make sure it goes through correctly). Once she’s satisfied, she packs her laptop into a sleeve and puts on her Gucci crossbody over her shoulder.

“I’ll see you around Julien.” Kim beams, walking off with a noticeable pep in her step. He watches her go with an easy smile and to onlookers, they might’ve pinned him for a poor sap who’s become infatuated by the girl he’s just met in his favourite coffee shop — a plot straight out of a romance novel. Oh, if only they knew; how funny would it be when they realize that this angelic smile hid a demon who’s just found his next prey.

Glancing down at his phone, his eyes read over the name of the poor girl who’s about to have karma bite her in the ass. Kim, he thinks with a dark chuckle, just what kind of dark secret are you hiding behind your own innocent smile?

He’ll look forward to finding out.

-

“Hey, are you working tomorrow?”

You’re in the break room, pulled out from your reveries (what you actually mean is dissociating) by the small chime of your phone signalling a text message. It’s Jaehee and you take a pause on reading her question to think of your answer, mentally going through your work schedule that you’ve gleaned over earlier today before coming into your shift. You don’t remember much but you do know you are working, just not sure whether it would be a short early shift or a closing one again. You hope that it’s not the latter. The very thought makes you shudder.

“Yeah I am. Why what’s up?” You shoot back and no sooner had the message been sent, you get one in return.

“Uhh? Your birthday….??”

Oh shit really? You think to yourself, shocked. You pull up the calendar on your phone and see that yes, your birthday is indeed tomorrow. The revelation has you dazed for a second, wondering where the time went.

“Oh wow, LOL. I didn’t even realize….”

“Girl…. We need to do something for your birthday!

We could do something like head out for dinner and a couple of drinks.”

“That sounds good, but I can’t remember if I’m closing or not :|

I’ll have to double check to make sure.”

“Okay, either way, let me know what the plan is and we work something out!”

“Yeah, will do :)”


You say that but honestly, planning something for your birthday was the last thing on your mind. You would even go as far as to say that you don’t really care anymore. It sounds a lot more depressing than it really is because you think that most people reach that point about certain ages don’t they? When all of your friends’ schedules match up only once in a blue moon, too busy with the grind or other commitments that meeting up at all, let alone for someone’s birthday, is good enough.

Ugh.

You unconsciously frown, wanting to shake your thoughts off on the topic by pulling up your social media apps. Out of instincts, your thumb taps onto Twitter and you’re only greeted by your feed being filled up by huge banners and pictures of the BTS tour and how tickets for their next stop will promptly go on sale tomorrow at 3PM.

Wow.

It’s like the universe just said ‘fuck you’ to your face; tickets are going on sale on your birthday and you can’t even go. You must be the most unluckiest fan alive right now. What’s worse is that it’s for the next neighbouring city to you, and theoretically, your last chance to cave in.

No, no, you shake your head. You need to stop doing that — you’ve made your peace with this already, and the wanting feeling just resurfaced because you’ve been smacked in the face with it. You exit out of the app quickly and stand, shoving your mobile into your back pocket as you start to head back out of the break room to continue your shift. You dread every step of the way because today, you’re part of the closing team and with the warming weekend weather, people tend to want to hang out longer.

Which is, much to you and your co-workers chagrin, what ends up happening. You spend the next five to ten precious minutes past closing urging straggler shoppers to get the fuck out in the most politest way so that you could all finally start cleaning. So of course by the time you’re done and with no mischievous demon by the name of Jungkook around this time to cause any excuse to leaving early otherwise, you all get out way past the appointed end shift time.

You hurry to the bus stop after a hasty goodnight, eager to get home. Thankfully, you only wait around five minutes before the bus shows up and you get on, not bothering to take a seat for the short three stop ride even though there were plenty of empty seats for your picking. You can’t deny that you’re a little bit antsy, commuting at night alone always manages to do that for you even when you make it to your stop without any incident.

It’s okay, you think as you hastily make your way down the street, you’re nearly there and it’ll be fine the rest of the way.

You don’t stop to think about the logic of your thought just now because by no means are you anywhere near your house yet, let alone your street. You still had about a block left before you meet —

Oh.

You slow your power walking down to let out a huff of disbelief at yourself. You did not just seriously….

You sigh deeply, too tired to mentally battle it out with yourself about denying the fact that you find Jimin’s routine meet up on your night shifts gave you comfort and security on the trip home — that extra peace of mind. Not saying that you’d be completely crippled if he wasn’t there but… It's nice to have him walking beside you like a shadow that shielded you from any creeps way scarier than any demon you’ve met so far and… he makes the night a lot more enjoyable to be in.

Holy shit, you must be tired as hell because you did not just think that into existence. Your cheeks are heating up on their own and you had to give yourself a light smack to dispel any further thoughts of that nature from developing. At least there was one saving grace about it all; no one was around to witness any of this.

With that, you focus back on trucking along, heart hammering from your exertion or your anticipation, you’re not quite sure. Either way, your pace picks up when you see the beginnings of your street corner come into view. Usually, Jimin would be there just before you make the turn and from there, you’d both walk back the rest of the way, past the convenience store with the dumpster and flickering street light.

So when you round the corner —

Your feet falter, finding no one.

You slow until you stop completely, more concentrated on trying to spot his familiar lean figure that’s always dressed to the nines but somehow always look effortless but after double checking (triple checking, in case your eyes are really that bad) you find no one; not a single soul.

A weight suddenly drops into the pit of your stomach and for a moment, you’re at a loss of what to do. Should you wait around to see if he shows up with the off chance that he's late today? Or should you just power on through? Your gaze shifts to the street ahead of you and it’s like the darkness and the scattering of lights elongate to an endless pathway leading into an inky abyss. You lick your lips that had gone dry, taking in a shaky breath in an attempts to gather yourself but with one glance around your surroundings, you decide firmly that there was no way you were gonna hang around here longer than you need to, not when you know how notorious the store corner could get with its less-than-savoury visitors. You feel a bubble of irritation begin to swell inside you but you crush it in favour of wanting to get home as fast as you can.

So with a swallow, you take off in a power walk, shoulders hunched and legs burning with the strain you put with how quick of a pace you’ve set for yourself. Your hammering heart only accelerates once you come upon the twenty-four hour convenience store, the same one you got harassed by before Jimin showed up in the nick of time. The grip you have on your bag strap tightens as with a quick flit of your eyes, you find that the corner with the dumpster just behind the store is not occupied for once by anyone, at least from what you can see. You don’t bother to confirm if it’s true or not, taking full advantage of this bit of luck as you practically barrel past it, almost breaking out into a run just to get by. Once you do, you race the rest of the way up your front door steps and with a few fumbles of the keys in shaky, adrenaline-filled hands you fall through the doorway, the breath you didn’t realize you were holding comes out in one big whoosh.

You take a moment to stand there, breathing in deeply to calm yourself before eventually, move away from your threshold, locking the door and slipping off your shoes. Trudging to your bedroom, you don’t bother to flick the lights on as you blindly move about to grab your pyjamas, flinging your bag and heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

You hit the bed with a thump, thankful to be in its warm sheets but still feeling slightly miffed, mind racing to try and come up with some logical reason as to why Jimin wasn’t there tonight. You toss and turn for a bit but then come to a screeching halt halfway through it; he never explicitly said he would walk you home whenever you had a night shift, he sort of…started doing it on his own and you just never questioned it. Then somewhere along the way, you assumed it became an unspoken promise between you two — something that didn’t need an explanation and something that you grew to look forward to so to have it come to an abrupt stop…

You sigh out, flipping to your side and curling up on yourself, feeling ridiculous and still very much restless; guess you’re not going to sleep tonight and you hate how it’s because of how fixated you are on your guardian demon. Since when did you become someone who got so hung up on stupid small things like this? He’s his own being, a demon who roams the night freely and without fear doing what he does best; get people to make stupid decisions.

But he could’ve at least sent you a text.

You actually grab your own mobile, the light blinding you for a second as you pull up his message thread. The last text you sent each other was during your house viewing with Jaehee. Confronted with the option now, your fingers itch to send off a passive-aggressive text to him, letting him know that you made it home safely without his help thanks for asking—

You blink and suddenly the message is typed out in the box, ready for you to hit send. It takes you a second to register what you had done and it makes you backspace immediately in horror. No, you won’t be like this, can’t be like this, because does it even make sense for you to?

You grab the calico plushie with more strength than you mean to and smash your face against its soft body to drown a groan and the sinking feeling in your chest. That’s it, you’re stopping right there and you are going to sleep and forget about this all because if you don’t you’ll just give yourself a headache and lose out on sleep needlessly. You fling your phone to the ends of your bed for good measures.

Who cares about Jimin, you certainly don’t.

-

The girl in front of him throws her head back to laugh, hand covering her mouth to retain some modesty and keep up her appearances as being a ‘proper lady’. He doesn’t entirely care in that, nor the high spun tale he’s conjured up that caused her to laugh; it’s all pretences to him. Still, he plays his part, smiling behind the rim of his whiskey glass as he watches her with twinkling eyes full of mischief until she calms down, fanning herself lightly.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that happened to you — on your first trip to Bali too.”

Jimin could only offer her a bemused shrug, placing his glass down on the table to cross his legs. “Guess that’s what you call life huh?”

Kim giggles, taking a sip of her own drink as well too before reclining back into the plush black leather booth seat. When she had suggested that they grab coffee again some time, this wasn’t exactly the first thing that Jimin had in mind. Though to be fair, he should’ve figured with the text she sent him, asking if he was free two days later from their initial meeting to come out at a time that’s way too late to be having coffee and at an establishment he swears didn’t exactly serve coffee. A ritzy place, dimly lit by warm lights from the crystal chandeliers hanging above each round table with a colour scheme of black, white and dark cherry wood. Not exactly a place your average Joe would pick for a date, not unless he wanted his wallet to bleed dry but luckily neither of them need to bother looking at the menu in the first place.

She makes show of that by refilling her glass of expensive wine, not caring how her dulled senses manhandles the bottle slightly, putting it down with a little too much added force. It makes her giggle sheepishly, ducking her head because the noise seems to rattle the entirety of the upscale bar, the soft jazz music no way helping to mask it. Jimin chortles and Kim flushes pinker than she already is under her foundation.

“So,” Jimin starts coolly, “How about yourself? Got any juicy stories you wanna share?”

Kim places her glass after sip down gently this time, licking her painted lips that had the slightest tinge of the darker berry colour to them now. She tilts her head to ponder, pouting but then smiles with a shrug.

“I don’t think any of mine would top yours to be honest.”

“Oh really? Nothing at all?”

“I’m positive.” She laughs, “I feel like all I do on trips is lay around, sun bathe, and eat and drink expensive wine.”

Jimin nods in understanding, reaching out to take a swig of his whiskey again. Throughout the night, he and Kim had talked about things that one typical does during a ‘date’ — work, hobbies, friends, families, the likes. Very mundane and nothing to be too concerned about, only what Kim doesn’t know is that the more she talks about herself, the more Jimin is beginning to get a good idea as to what sort of secret life she’s hiding. From what he gathered, she’s a recent college graduate majoring in marketing, lived alone in an apartment, and worked for a company that was getting their big break-through in expanding.

Doesn’t seem at all suspicious but considering the state of the economy, either Kim is one lucky girl or she’s obviously getting her funds somewhere else. No student straight out of college would be able to afford the luxury items Kim seems to so whole-heartedly indulge in, even with a decent paying job. Perhaps a sugar daddy? No, she’s out here seeing him isn’t she? A wealthy family then who funds everything for her?

There are still pieces missing to this puzzle and Jimin needs to find out more. Unfortunately for him, Kim downs the rest of her wine with a sense of finality and he already knows before she opens her mouth that she was planning on calling it a night.

“I think I’m done with my fill of merlot. Any more and I feel like you would have to carry me out and that’s not exactly how I want to end my night with you.”

“I wouldn’t mind.” Jimin grins wolfishly and that causes a bout of giggles to bubble from Kim’s lips. As she’s distracted, Jimin waves down the waiter to pay the bill, swiping his card and signing off the receipt before getting up from his seat. He waits patiently as Kim gathers her things but as she gets up, she tips a little too heavily to one side that Jimin had to steady her by the shoulder. The brunette laughs breathlessly, leaning into him as Jimin smiles while guiding her out of the upscale bar with a hand on the small of her back.

The night is a lot warmer compared to the last few, but of course that doesn’t stop Kim from clinging to Jimin’s arms like there was a biting breeze nipping at her skin, heeled footsteps echoing loudly against the asphalt. She also takes the liberty to direct him to round the side of the building where a small space reserved for parking was. Jimin’s quick to catch on as he glances down at Kim’s still flushed and smiley face with a quirked eyebrow.

“Do you intend to drive home like this?”

Immediately, she whips her glazed eyes upwards, widened in shock and pouts petulantly at him, seemingly offended by his assumptions. “Julien! I’m not that stupid. I just wanna make sure I didn’t leave anything important in there before I call an Uber.”

Jimin chuckles good-heartedly, bringing up a hand in a placating manner. “Sorry, sorry. People tend to be a poor of judge under the influence but it’s good to see that you’re one of the smarter ones.”

Unfortunately.

It would be so easy for Jimin to just whisper into her ear and convince her that she’s totally fine to drive home. Then, all he had to do was watch her drive off and not even a block down, she’d run a red light, get T-boned and he can dust his hands off with another job well done. The idea is tantalizing but no, he’s long since been tired of a successful hunt that lacked any thrill. Which is why when they both reach Kim’s car (a sleek black BMW M5), Jimin turns to her with a well-placed charming smile.

“How about I make it up to you on that last comment? I’ll drive you home.”

Kim pauses mid-push of unlocking her car, throwing a rather dubious look over her shoulder at him. Jimin holds his ground, steadfast in keeping up the non-threatening facade, posture relaxed even as she turns to face him squarely, leaning back heavily against her ride with an impressive piercing gaze. He senses the cogs in her head working, no doubt weighing the pros and cons of accepting his offer. Before he could let the doubts fester, Jimin speaks, voice lilting with an irresistibly smooth velvet finish.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to say yes. I just wanted to make sure you got home safe is all.”

His eyes flare a deep crimson so quickly that to Kim’s slightly muddled mind, it appeared to only be the trick of the light. Jimin sees the effects of his words take hold of her, and after a few minutes, Kim loses the tenseness of her shoulders, looking at him in a new light.

“I mean, if it won’t be too much trouble for you…”

And like that, she’s entangled herself more into his spider’s web. Jimin smiles, eyes creasing up in a very pleased way. It makes Kim smile in return for all the wrong reasons as she her keys off to him. He strides towards her, taking it from her grasp before unlocking the doors and opening the passenger one for her. She ducks into her seat and Jimin shuts it firmly once she’s settled in before rounding around the car to get into the driver’s seat.

As expected, the interior of the car was black, crisp leather interlaid with dark burgundy polished wood for the dashboard and for a second, he could pick up the faintest whiff of the new car smell still lingering around. The smile widens on Jimin’s lips as he glances over at the owner who’s buckling in her seatbelt. She feels his eyes on her and when she turns, she grins coquettishly.

“What?”

“It’s a very nice car.”

Kim preens at the compliment, leaning over to whisper, “I know.”

It makes Jimin chuckle, adjusting his seat and the steering wheel before fastening his own seatbelt. Once he’s comfortable, he hits the start-push button and the car hums to life.

The drive to Kim’s place was filled with more small talk about the passing neighbourhoods and other fancy eating places she hints at for potential future ‘dates’ — none of which interests Jimin. What does however, is the directions she’s giving him albeit in her now drunken sleepy state. She leads him out of the upscale part of the city where all the new high-rises and penthouse suite condos were gathered in favour of an older looking neighbourhood. The apartment buildings begin to look visibly aged, the colour scheme falling into the more rustic ash brown and not as lustrous or modern as the others they had just passed. It reminds him of where you live; modest, not-as-flashy but still well kept neighbourhood. They’re still in way better shape than some of the neighbourhoods Jimin has seen that’s for sure but in this case, it was not a place Jimin had pictured a someone like Kim who seems to live and breathe luxury to be living in.

But Kim only confirms her residencies here when she directs Jimin to an underground parking garage that was connected to one of these bricked apartment buildings. He can’t help quirking an eyebrow at her as he pulls up to the yellow plastic gate right next to the security speaker box.

“We’re at the right place right?” The teasing overtone of his question hides the backhandedness of it (but he thinks Kim wouldn’t notice anyways, given her state).

“Hm?” Kim turns from staring out her window, dazed for a moment at his remark before she seems to realize where she is. She flushes pink, clearly flustered as she stutters. “O-Oh! It’s just temporary….I’m actually moving soon.”

Jimin hums noncommittally, rolling down the window in order to speak to the building security to let them through the gate with Kim telling him that all he needs to say is that he’s a visitor, her full name and floor she’s living on. It works because the yellow gate lifts and he’s allowed to drive the rest of the way in, entering the garage as it opens and after more instructions, finds her designated parking spot. Jimin parks the car, shutting the engine off as he unfastens himself to exit, making quick work of rounding to Kim’s side to open her door. He even offers her his hand.

She smiles at the gesture, gladly taking it to haul herself up and out of her seat.

“And here I thought chivalry was dead.”

Jimin shrugs, “Guess I’m pretty old-fashioned.”

Kim tilts back with a bubbly laugh, swaying too much to where Jimin had to hold her hand a little more firmly to keep her from tipping back and falling over. In doing so though, Kim laces her fingers through his and brings herself closer, pressing up against his chest and forcing him to tilt his head down in order to look her in the face.

“I had a really great time tonight Julien.” Her voice rasps, the proximity lets her lips brush slightly against his own whenever she speaks. “And thank you so much for driving me home when you didn’t have to….”

Ah, here it comes.

“Is there anything I can do? Get you an Uber or maybe….?”

Jimin can’t stifle the smirk that creeps up on his lips, amusement dancing in his dark eyes as he slowly turns the tables on Kim. He brings up their joined hands, only to release himself from her grip to press her back against her car, letting his freed hand cage her instead. She doesn’t resist, so pliant under Jimin’s manipulation that he swears she’s enjoying the attention she’s getting from him. Does she think that she’s got him right where she wanted?

Cute….but not quite.

No, right now, Jimin’s motives are far from aligning with Kim’s despite her thinking otherwise. His plan is simple; get her to invite him up to her apartment, maybe let her have her way for a bit before he puts her out, snoop around to his heart’s content and when he’s found what he needs, disappear like a shadow in the night and let a demon’s karma do its part.

So he takes the bait.

“I think that whiskey is starting to get into my head a little….”

And that’s all Kim needs.

In a fitting whirlwind romance (Jimin uses that term very ironically), the steps of his plans were enacted and Kim is out like a light before she could even finish unbuttoning his shirt — using pressure points is one way to spice things up in the bedroom he supposes. A lot of other demons would give Jimin flak for not indulging in some added bonus fun while on a ‘hunt’ but he’s a demon of taste, and there’s something else hot and steamy that he’s after.

With Kim knocked out into a deep sleep, it makes for rifling through her stuff easy as pie. In the darkness of her room, he spies numerous amounts of name brand clothing strewn about on her dresser and floor. On the handle of her door and even by the foot of her bed, there were bags of different sizes, shapes and colour. Everything seems so disorganized and just thrown about that Jimin thinks the only clean space is her queen size bed and to a certain degree, vanity table which is where he heads towards as he spots her MacBook. It sits asleep on the counter surrounded by various bottles of perfume and lipsticks, organized by colour and brand.

He wastes no time opening the laptop, bypassing her password with ease, immediately diving into the most recent folders. It doesn’t take long for Jimin to start finding some….interesting things. First off was a folder, simply named ‘E-Pics’ that was dedicated to, of all things, concert e-tickets. There were around five of them, all from two shows that had played recently in the city. Jimin doesn’t recognize the names of the artist but he thinks it’s rather strange for someone to have saved pictures of e-tickets when there’s an app for that. Was Kim a secretly sentimental type of person….?

Highly unlikely, Jimin thinks so he continues digging, clicking away until….

A slow smile hooks at the corner of his mouth as his eyes scan over these newly discovered files. At a glance, they look exactly like the tickets in the previous folder but when Jimin fiddles around with the image a bit more, he spots the alterations in them, hidden in plain sight.

Forgery, and good enough that Jimin’s mildly impressed. If they had a course in college for that, he would’ve believed Kim would graduate at the top of her class.

This new information sends a newfound thrum of giddiness running through him and he wonders gleefully what other incriminating things Kim is hiding in other places. Perhaps her phone? Without a second thought, he closes the laptop and then heads out of her room.

He slinks out into Kim’s open space apartment with soundless footsteps. It’s on the small side and not much goes into these spaces other than her bedroom. There was an attempt though, hints of times Jimin could imagine the young woman would spontaneously have in trying to decorate her home from the colour coordinated throw cushions. It’s like she tried to go for a colour scheme but then quickly realized that she’d rather invest in her money in name brand handbags and shoes.

He picks one of them up on the couch; her clutch from tonight tossed aside carelessly in favour of trying to ravish him as soon as they made it through the doorway. Pretty thing, but the worth of the clutch doesn’t interest him so much as what’s inside it and reaching in, he easily pulls out her mobile phone. It lights up as soon as he hits the home button but when he goes to bypass her lock, he hesitates.

Blaring in his face is the time — 2:43AM.

Was it really that late already? The phone lays momentarily forgotten in his hand as he wonders how he hadn’t noticed the time flying by so fast. Unconsciously, he furrows his brows as another thought crosses his mind.

You should be home by now….right? Wait, you had a closing shift today didn’t you?

Shit.

Jimin reaches a hand into his pocket to pull out his own phone, bringing up your message thread to not find a single peep from you since your open house visit with Jaehee. Of course you wouldn’t, he knows you — stubborn as a mule and he swears if you had gotten stabbed, you would convince yourself that it’s not that serious only because you wouldn’t want to trouble anyone.

….Shit.

His hand travels to linger over his chest as if it had a mind of its own as his becomes completely lost in thought. Jimin didn’t feel any disturbances or distress that usually comes when your emotions flare, so it should mean that you were okay. But what are the possibilities that you simply didn’t have the time to react, too caught off guard to call out to him if you needed help?

Jimin exhales heavily through his nose in frustration, a hand combing through his hair as he glances down at Kim’s phone to see a few more minutes have passed and that now he had a choice to make; continue his search here for more information to blackmail Kim or abandon that possibility altogether. Fingers tap idly as the demon weighs his options and the more he stares at the phone, the more his mind screams at him to take just one peek, she’s fine.

….

Damn it.

He shoves Kim’s phone and all it’s garish pink glittery case glory back into her clutch before flinging it back onto the couch as if it were a dollar store pencil case. With long strides, he heads to the door but instead of going through it, he feels the familiar tug of apparating to another location and he finds himself at the head of your street. It’s relatively quiet when his senses readjust to his surroundings, the only sounds he picks up are the faint chirps of crickets and the occasional passing of a car way down at the other end of the road. He doesn’t see you nor anyone for that matter and he’s not sure whether that’s a good sign or a bad one. Still, he holds out on the belief that you’ve made it home all right.

So methodically, Jimin stalks forward, dark eyes narrowed to scan even the darkest corners for anything that might seem amiss, things that ordinary human beings don’t see. When he doesn’t pick up anything that raises any concerns, he makes another leap in location and this time, he ends up directly in your bedroom. The soft carpeted floor helps muffle his black Chelsea boots as he lands, but his attention immediately goes to your bed and without meaning to, he sighs, a tenseness he wasn’t even aware of dissipating from within him.

He sees the clear outline of your form under the covers, the rhythmic rise and fall of your breathing as you slumber and as he steps closer, almost feels the warmth of your body. The tops of your head just pokes out from where its rests on your pillow, hair spilling over messily but overall, you do not appear hurt. But as he continues to assess you, he notices the way you’ve curled in on yourself in spite of not having any shortage of room on your mattress, making you appear small and clutched to your chest was your beloved plush cat. Its face is squished by how hard you hold it against yourself but nevertheless, its cartoonish cat smile still peeked through its distorted face.

There’s a twinge that erupts in his chest, so sudden that he exhales sharply out of surprise. He reaches a hand up to his chest again, brows furrowed, where his heart beats and wonders in mild disbelief if something was wrong with it. Its never done something like that before, the only thing coming close was when you felt intense fear or anger. But you’re sound asleep, as quiet as a mouse. He stands there for a good minute trying to decipher this anomaly before he huffs, tearing his gaze away from you as he runs a hand through his hair frustrated.

Maybe he’d just imagined it, or there’s a glitch with this vessel. Either way, he pushes it to the back of his mind, focusing his attention to your discarded phone at the ends of your bed. He chortles under his breath, shaking his head — what is he going to do with you? Grabbing the phone, he gently places it on your bedside table (where it belongs) and settles himself into your desk chair, eyes sliding shut in a semi-meditative state. He’s lost out on one curiosity for the night, but at least the satisfaction of this one has made up for it.

-

You wake with an ache in your lower back that leaves you taking an extra fifteen minutes just to get out of bed without groaning or joints cracking. Doesn’t help that your phone goes off incessantly with messages from your friends wishing you a happy birthday. You smile to yourself though, thanking them each and even commenting how you woke up with a sore back, really feeling the aging kick in already.

Eventually, you drag yourself to the bathroom in a half daze and even after washing up you feel like you want to lie back down again, the comforter looks so invitingly warm still. But you resist the urge, knowing well that if you do give in, you’ll not get back up and that’s not something you want to do before going to your shift later on in the day.

What you didn’t know when you stepped into the kitchen is that it was already occupied by a certain demon that you had expected to see last night but didn’t. You visibly jerk at his appearance, taken aback at how casual he looks leaning against the counter, a mug of black coffee resting in his hand as he scrolls through his phone, the natural light of the afternoon sun highlighting the strands of hair falling in messy coordination over his forehead in a newly dyed ashen brown colour. The level of nonchalant coolness that he so effortlessly exudes is infuriating the more you stare at him because it’s so not fair for him to look this good, in fact, the only reason why he’s able to look this good is because he’s wearing another attractive person’s face but what’s really bullshit is that he’s still able to make your heart trip over itself when he’s only just pretending!

“You know you’ll see yourself to an early grave if you wake up already stressed like that darling.”

And the nerve!

You scoff, brushing past him to grab your own mug for a morning (technically afternoon now) tea. You move about to get your teabag, sugar and cream, all the while something starts to fester inside of you, instantly souring whatever good mood you had earlier. It leaves you slowly feeling irritated, restless and its not because of your earlier grievances with the demon. No, you know it’s that old wound you’re trying to stubbornly ignore from last night until the early hours of morning and it seems like now, in the presence of its cause, it's begun to itch again. Doesn’t help that when you glance over at your guardian demon, he’s busy once again with his phone, typing away and just the barest hint of a smile on his face. You scowl before you can help yourself, turning away to angrily sip on your tea in hopes of letting the warm liquid calm you down — it doesn’t. So you resort to placing down your mug, deciding on making peanut butter toast in order to distract yourself, even if you weren’t particularly hungry for it.

“Why so quiet cherub?”

You shoot him a look but brush off your underlying annoyance with an indifferent shrug, going back to opening the fridge to grab bread. “Just tired.” He shifts his weight from one hip to the other when you pull out a slice to pop into the toaster and you fight your hardest to ignore his eyes on you.

“Got home late from your shift…?”

The mention of last night pricks a nerve in you and you nearly throw the bag of bread back into the fridge with an unnecessary amount of force, only holding back by opting to grip the handle of the fridge until your hands are straining instead. You draw in a heaving breath under your nose as you slam the fridge door shut, not trusting yourself in speaking because you won’t be able to keep the seething out of your words. So you choose to hum — a short and clipped sound.

You hear the toaster spring up and you’re bustling about again in order to ignore him. In doing so, you miss the way he’s still watching you and the faint curl of his lips. Oh how tempting you look to tease, his natural instincts threatening to overtake him and he actually gives in to some experimental prodding. Jimin sidles up to your side as you’re scraping generous amounts of peanut butter onto your toast and his proximity catches your attention briefly, eyes flitting to him before they stubbornly fixate back onto your task. He cocks his head at you but you refuse to acknowledge him and it makes his smile creep wider. Then, he decides to lean in, past your comfort zone until you’re hunching your shoulders up, no longer able to keep him bay with how he’s literally breathing down your neck.

“What do you want?” You snap, stepping back to distance yourself. He only gives you a Cheshire grin in return, making you bristle.

“Just say you missed me darling and I’ll make it up to you I promise.” His teasing lilt drifts through the small kitchen and you blanche, screwing the lid of the peanut butter jar violently back on.

“I think you need to get your head out of your ass.” You retort through gritted teeth. He throws his head back to laugh, clearly amused and unfazed by your sour mood. When you swiftly turn on your heels away from him to toss the butter knife into the sink, toast shoved into your mouth, he steps in front of you, almost causing you to bump into him. You glower, a passing thought of wanting to smear the excess peanut butter into his stupidly expensive Saint Laurent t-shirt but he’s caught your hand in his like he’s read your mind.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss cherub, you could’ve called me if you wanted to see me that badly.”

Your cheeks redden traitorously at the suggestion, that infuriating smirk still plastered on his pillowy lips and you have no choice but to tear your toast from your mouth with your free hand to chew on a piece unless you wanted to choke, mumbling incoherently and refusing to make eye contact. As you try to pull your other hand away from him, his grip tightens a fraction to hold you in place but at this point, you’re quickly growing tired of this mental game. You honestly don’t know yourself why you’re choosing to be so petty when Jimin didn’t even violate the contract of keeping you out of harms way because there was no harm to begin with. God, what are you doing….

Your shoulders slump, drained as you deflate and your sudden withdrawal takes even Jimin by surprise.

“It’s fine Jimin; I got home alright so just forget it.” This time, your hand slips away from his easily and he lets you slink by him after depositing the dirtied knife into the sink. Even after you’ve pattered off into your room again, Jimin remains in the kitchen, silently watching you go, that peculiar twinge coming back again.

-

“Julien?….Julien?”

He blinks, knocked out of his stupor but he recovers so seamlessly that it’s as if he hadn’t been spacing out at all. Jimin turns his gaze back to the girl in front of him then, a benign smile gracing his handsome features.

“Sorry, I just had a thought…. You were saying Kim?”

The pretty brunette giggles breathlessly. “I was just saying how you have an impressive….recovery rate but I feel like I might’ve spoken too soon. Anyways,” She places her coffee cup back down on the saucer, “who am I to talk when I passed out on you last night — again, I’m so sorry about that.”

Subtly, Jimin’s jaw ticks though he conceals it with another smile and a carefully placed hand. “Not at all Kim, though at the time it was worrisome…. Like you just died on me.”

That pulls another bout of giggles from Kim, “Oh, it’ll take more than that. I’ll make it up to you I promise.” She throws in a playful wink to which Jimin accepts in feigned interest.

“I look forward to it.”

The rest of the ‘date’ is too boring for Jimin to recall as he spends most of his time drowning Kim’s ramblings and more focused on how he’s going to get her drunk again so he could rifle through her phone, get what he needs and then let karma do its thing. But more over, his thoughts keep straying back to you. You’re probably at work right now, an afternoon shift that had started maybe an hour or so after he’d left the house although he knows for sure you don’t close today which means he doesn’t have to worry about getting too carried away with this little project of his but at this rate, he doesn’t think he can bear a moment longer with this bland, materialistic woman any—

“Oh my God, is it already that time?”

His monotonous hum comes out automatically in response before the words can register but as soon as they do, his eyes finally focus on Kim for the first time in an hour. She’s scrolling through her phone, brows furrowed in concentration and then furiously typing away on it. Jimin’s curiosity piques with a raised eyebrow and he leans over the table in between them.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh no, it’s just…” Kim’s struggles with focusing on Jimin while still trying to do whatever it is on her phone that’s got her so frantic. Her body rises as if to get up and it makes Jimin follow suit. She shoots him an apologetic look, glancing down one last time at her phone and Jimin barely catches a glimpse of a countdown. “There’s something really important I have to do.”

“Oh, what is it if I may ask?”

“There’s a concert happening soon and I really want to get tickets for.”

Oh?

A serpentine smile pulls at the corners of his lips and Jimin’s eyes seem to come to life — now she’s speaking his language. He draws his face in to play the part; concerned and eager to help.

“Oh really? Are they hard to get?”

She takes the bait beautifully, rolling her eyes with a ragged sigh as she settles back into her chair. “Oh my God, you have no idea. It’s like winning the lottery I swear.”

“Wow, sounds impossible….” Jimin comments offhandedly, lowering himself back into his seat again. “Maybe I could…help?”

Kim perks up at the idea, the hopeful gleam in her eyes palpable that it nearly makes Jimin snort. She chews on her bottom lip, conflicted and right when Jimin’s about to sway her into temptation, her eyes meet the ticking timer on her phone browser reaching to t-minus three minutes. It’s enough to make her hasty decision and Kim wastes no time instructing Jimin to take his phone out, download the appropriate app and search for the show that she so desperately wants to get tickets for — enough to seal her fate with a demon out of her own volition at that!

So you could only imagine the surprise Jimin had when her directed search lands on—

“Love Yourself Tour? By BTS?”

“Yes that one.”

Seven hells there was no way.

Oh this was just too good.

The laughter starts bubbling rapidly in his chest, so much so that when he tries to lower his head to quell it it doesn’t work. It ruptures into a chuckle, shoulders shaking and before he knew it, he’s sinking back into his chair, head thrown back and a poor attempt to cover up the sounds of his cackling with his hand over his mouth. No doubt the entire cafe has eyes on their table but Jimin doesn’t care because his sides are killing him and he’s about to cry literal tears from trying to reel himself in — he only succeeds in folding in on himself and emitting occasional squeaks.

When he rights himself finally, wiping away at the corners of his eyes he catches sight of Kim who’s giving him a look that nearly sends him into another fit again. He barely manages by clearing his throat and glancing away, breathing deeply before answering her unspoken question.

“Sorry, just— I’ve actually heard of them before so it explains why it’s so hard to get tickets for their show.”

Kim’s face breaks into a smile, still nonplussed by his outburst but nodding in solidarity. “Yeah, so if you manage to get tickets — good ones — I might just think you’re a God.”

Satan, this girl might actually kill him instead.

He waves her off, cheeks aching and Jimin is actually thankful when the countdown on his phone reaches zero and Kim reverts back into a rather serious demeanour, eyes lasering in on her phone as she furiously taps away at it. She lets out a loud gasp within the next few minutes, causing Jimin to look up.

“I’m behind 105 people! I think I might be able to do this! What about you?”

With a quick glance, Jimin reads, “100.”

The brunette’s eyes alight instantly, mouth falling open. “Oh my God, you might actually get in!”

He shrugs in return, feigning indifference. Secretly, however, Jimin knows very well that his chances of getting these golden tickets were high — way higher than Kim’s and not just because he’s ahead of her by five people but more importantly…..

As the agonizing wait of watching the little man run at a glacier pace, Jimin takes the opportunity to strike up a conversation.

“So, I didn’t think you were a fan of BTS.”

Kim tears her away from her phone momentarily, the wrinkle in her nose is all the answer Jimin needs. “Oh no, I don’t even know them like that — I just heard they were a huge deal, like really popular right now.”

Jimin already figures because Kim would’ve at least recognized him or remarked on how eerily similar he looks to one of the band members but this is just a segue to what Jimin really wants to get at from her. “Oh, then why are you trying to get tickets for their show?”

He catches the way she swallows nervously, eyes flitting to him briefly and there’s that bout of hesitation again. The smile is back on his face, disarming and with just enough sincerity that it convinces Kim that he won't judge. She glances around as if to make sure they weren’t being heard in their little booth corner before leaning towards him, voice coming out in a hush.

“Okay so, me and a friend have been doing this thing on the side where we buy tickets to really high demand shows and reselling them for higher prices. It’s honestly such good money when you come across big name artists that have crazy huge fanbases — like BTS.” She pauses to look down at her phone, keeping track of her little running man. “My friend got two P1 tickets to their show last year for $250 each and she resold them for $1,110, each!”

Jimin leans back as if impressed, throwing in a low whistle for effect. “Wow — that’s…pretty good.”

“I know right? The only problem is is that they’re so hard to get. Even though the average seats will still bring in good money, you get way better profit with GA or P1 seats.”

He nods along, looking contemplative but Kim’s gone back to her phone once again, this time, looking rather excited. It makes Jimin turn back to his own as well too and lo and behold, they’re finally in.

“Okay Julien just pick two tickets and do a run search for best seating until you find a pair. When you do, buy them because literally trying to find anything better would just mean you won’t get tickets at all. I'll owe you back the money afterwards.” Kim says it all in one breath, too into her own operation to notice the way the demon smirks and leisurely taps away as she had instructed him to do.

After what felt like hours of nail-biting suspense (on Kim’s end, Jimin had ordered himself a cappuccino in between that time), she finally pulls away with an exasperated groan.

“Damn it, I only managed to snag P3 tickets. Did you have any luck?”

He takes the time to uncross his legs, showing her the screen of his phone and grins boyishly when her eyes balks at what she reads.

“Two GA tickets?!” Kim almost screams it before she catches herself, slapping a hand over her mouth and ducking her head. When she’s sure no ones comes over to kick them out of the cafe for being a disturbance, she practically rounds on Jimin with unbidden elation. “Oh my God Julien! You’re amazing!” Her hands moves faster than her own words as she hastily pulls up her email. “You can send them over to me through my email. Honestly thank you so much for your help Julien, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”

When he makes no move to do as she says, Kim finally focuses on Jimin and her smile falters slightly. Jimin tilts his head almost too innocently, withdrawing his phone to blink wide, dark eyes at the brunette.

“What, did you think I was really going to hand these tickets over so easily after telling me all of that?”

He sees the way his words were not something Kim expected but she tries to play it off with a forced laugh. “You’re so funny Julien. Okay, how much?”

“$1,120.” A pause. “Each.”

She laughs again, the sound shrill and her face contorts into a mask of hollow mirth. Jimin watches on, only the barest of smiles ghosting his lips but he doesn’t join in on the joke. Well, not like there is one to begin with and Kim quickly realizes that as she calms down, all traces of a smile however fake, gone. Disbelief takes over her and that’s what almost makes Jimin laugh — he can literally see all the preconceptions she had of him disappear from her eyes. But he’s ever so charming; an amalgamation of soft and sharp, boyish and manly, chivalrous and a cunning wickedness underneath it all.

So it’s no surprise that he hasn’t completely lost her yet.

Kim takes the time to regard him, trying to gauge him and what’s going on in that pretty head of his only to come away, stumped. She’s contemplative, arms crossed before suddenly she cocks her head a little to one side, mouth tugging upwards into a half scoff, half smirk like she can’t believe Jimin’s about to try and play her at her own game.

“I’m gonna be honest — I never would’ve thought you would have the guts to do that.” She admits after a while, leaning back into her seat. “Usually all the guys I date would do whatever I ask them because they want to try and impress me.”

Figures.

Jimin didn’t need her to tell him that to know.

“But then again, I don't think you’re not quite like the other guys I’ve ever dated before.” Kim adds, voice dropping into a huskier tone right at the end. He goads her on, his expression darkens with the slightest hints of a promise she can’t refuse.

“Then how about I show what you’re missing out on?”

The sultry way in which he says it sends shivers down her spine, no doubt this new side she’s not aware of that could come from a face like his has her wanting more. With one last bite of her lip, she bites the bullet too.

“$1,000 each.”

“$1,115.”

“$1,100 each — And I’ll pay it in cash, only,” Jimin’s parted mouth stops halfway, his words falling short as Kim stops him with a coy smile. “We split it on some good dinner and Moet to celebrate tonight.”

Slowly, plush lips quirk upwards as an incredulous exhale escapes the demon; he hates to admit it, but Kim’s got spunk and unwittingly she’s been doing a good job at entertaining him. For a second, he considers, toys with the idea — she’s the perfect type to fuck around with, to string along on a wild and impulsive ride that would’ve involved a lot of money, sex, perhaps drugs until it left her breathless, addicted and drained to the very last penny. He would wrap her around his fingers so tightly, she would think it’s him that was under her spell. And right at the peak of it all, he would leave, disappear from her life as if he were nothing more than a self-indulgent dream she’d dreamt up, only for reality to come crashing down on her hard and the rest would’ve been history.

Tempting….

But…

He’s already been down that road, had more than his fair share of leaving women broken in more than one ways, tires of this game because no matter the centuries he’s lived in —

“Alright, how about we meet at The Red Muse later in the evening? You can take the time to go doll yourself up for me and we’ll go to town with this, yes?”

Kim grins, absolutely vibrating from his proposal as she bites her lower lip in an attempt to quell the salacious smile stretching her lips.

“Deal.”

They never learn.

Soon after, Jimin leaves to go off his separate ways with no particular plan in mind. He’s got a lot of time to kill before meeting Kim and he’s not particularly interested in seeking out another easy target to influence — he doesn’t get paid nearly enough to be working overtime. Jimin eventually settles on heading to his favourite upscale bar (one that even with Kim’s caliber couldn’t dream of affording) to do a bit of pregaming. As he was nursing a glass of single malt whiskey, the demon is interrupted by probably the only other thorn on his side.

“I suppose some things don’t end up changing after all.”

“I’m offended you would ever think there’s a time where I’ve lost an ounce of class at all.”

Silence.

Jimin’s gaze whips to the younger demon who’s thin lips are slightly downturned in disagreement, eyes rolled to the far corner with the recalling of some fabricated memory.

“Well there was that one time — “

“Shut it if you don’t want me to singe off that face you’re so proud of.”

Jungkook snickers, eyes crinkling up as if Jimin had just made a joke instead of a threat. The older demon rolls his eyes, waving down the bartender for another refill of his drink in hopes of numbing the headache he feels creeping up on him, only to have the younger obnoxiously steal his glass for a sip once he does.

“Still, I would’ve thought you’d be off lurking around poppet like a shadow right about now.” Jungkook comments offhandedly, wrinkling his nose when the hard liquor rolls down his throat. His momentary distraction lets Jimin swipe his drink back.

“I’m not her personal caretaker, and as long as she’s looking both ways before crossing the street, she’ll be fine.”

“Really?” Jungkook’s skepticism bleeds through. “Last I checked, poppet was pretty down in the dumps about the concert thing — swear she could conjure a cloud above her head at the rate she’s going.”

His statement causes Jimin to straighten up a bit, thoughts spinning for a few seconds before coming to a conclusion. A slow smirk makes its way onto his lips, barely contained over the rim of his glass. Jimin doesn’t need to look over to know that Jungkook’s probably blinking big doe eyes at him, gauging his reaction but Jimin’s onto him, already knows what he’s after, so he’s going to drag this out until the younger is losing his mind.

“She’ll be fine.” He replies indifferently and that already leaves Jungkook feeling miffed.

“Wow…that’s….” The younger starts, struggling to find words for this unexpected blasé attitude. “Surprisingly cold of you.”

Jimin shrugs, unconcerned about it all and as he continues to sip on his whiskey, leaving Jungkook to become visibly more and more antsy. He shifts in his seat, like a little kid who can’t keep still.

“So, you’re just gonna….leave her like that?”

“She’s already accepted that she’s not going so what’s there to do?”

“Well — !” Jungkook doesn’t know how to proceed, face pinched into one of utter confusion and it’s difficult to keep a straight face on when Jimin can literally see him questioning everything he believed up until this point. He continues to flounder for words, on the cusp of saying something but then stopping himself. It goes on for a few more minutes before Jungkook gives up with an exasperated huff. “So much for being a guardian…”

“Exactly; I’m a guardian, not a miracle worker.”

The words slip so easily past his lips and he’s so thankful for Jungkook finally leaving him alone so that he can let out the loud, snorting laugh he’s been keeping in the entire time. He probably looks crazy but he really could care less, muttering under his breath about how he can’t believe the irony of it all. This entire ordeal with Kim turned out to be a way better investment than he had initially thought; it almost made him feel sorry for the poor girl he’s about to drop off at hell’s doorsteps.

Almost.

He downs the rest of his drink in one go, savouring the smokey whiskey taste as it leaves a pleasant burn when he swallows. He wonders idly what the sensation of being drunk is like, trying to compare it to any other feelings he must’ve felt in his lifetime….

Jimin’s thoughts continue to wander for quite some time, thinking about this and that until belatedly, he realizes that the appointed time to meet Kim had passed nearly more than two hours. When he checks his phone, there is no trace of a text from the girl in question, not even one berating him for being stood up. At this point, any sensible person would be rather concerned, alarmed even. They would immediately call to see if everything was alright but for Jimin, the thought never crosses his mind. He merely humphs, like this is all an inconvenience to him, downs the rest of his drink and gets up after paying.

It’s late when he steps out of the bar, the sun having long since set and the city is alight, teeming with people enjoying dinner on patios, heading out for events or just strolling the streets. Instead of joining in on the hubbub, he strides off with the intention of heading to a more…peaceful place. But first, he thinks, he might pay you a visit. After all, he’s got a pair of BTS tickets on hand and now with Kim going MIA, he figured they could be put to better use, like making you admit that you miss him when he’s gone.

Either way, he can’t wait to see the look on your face.

He makes it back to your place faster than he expected, body thrumming with a feeling that he swears can’t be from the alcohol he’s consumed but nonetheless welcomes anyways. He’s in such a good mood that he almost rings your doorbell, catching himself last minute. Jimin laughs to himself, maybe it really is the alcohol after all? He shrugs if off and apparates to your room, only to find that it’s empty of you. He double takes, making sure he hasn’t accidentally overlooked you in the darkness but nope, there’s no signs of you anywhere.

Maybe you were in the living room or kitchen?

Jimin pads on over to your door, carefully listening in case any one other than you might be out there as well. When he hears nothing, he phases through the walls. He’s a bit caught off guard for a moment at how dark everything is, as if no one was home. It wasn’t until he catches sight of the faint warm glow of the living room lamp does he spot you, sitting alone on the couch.

You lock eyes, dazed and blinking in surprise from clearly not expecting him. You think it’s all in your head, an illusion thought up in your inebriated state but then he steps forward into the light and suddenly, you’re overwhelmed by his sheer presence, breath catching in your throat as you swallow. The black jeans he’s wearing hugs the shape of his legs so well and with his shirt tucked in, the silver YSL buckle glinting in the light, it looks as if his legs just go on for days. He’s dressed so simply and you’re appraising him like you’re seeing him for the first time until now instead of earlier today, yet your initial thought doesn’t change at all — it’s not fair that he looks this good.

He stops just short of the couch, head cocking to one side with a subtle shift of the hips to lean his weight on one foot, dainty earrings twinkling as well as his dark eyes as they gaze at you. The mere gesture makes you huff out, agitated.

“Someone’s home early.” Your voice comes out more nasally sounding than Jimin remembers it and he chokes back a snort.

“Someone’s been drinking.” He teases back, nodding to the wine glass in your hand before shifting his sight to the coffee table in front of you, taking in the two bottles and the little 6-inch, half eaten cake. Another tilt of his head, this time he raises one shapely eyebrow too. “That, or you’ve had a really rough day.”

“Har. Har.” You say sarcastically, swirling your wine before taking another hardy sip. “I’m not that bougie or impulsive to get a whole cake to binge on myself — not yet at least.”

“Then….” Jimin stops to think, trying to come up with answers for the sudden appearance of the confectionery treat, only to come up with, “A celebration? Someone’s birthday? Jaehee’s?”

You giggle half-heartedly, downing the rest of your glass and Jimin is quick to pick up your lack of confirmation. Now he’s blinking owlishly in astonishment, stunned into brief silence until the words slip out in an uncharacteristically soft murmur, “It’s your birthday…”

“Ding ding ding.” You sing-song, leaning over to refill your glass. The effort of it makes you nearly tip over but you hold out, retrieving your drink and anchoring yourself back onto the couch again. You should probably stop right about now since the pounding in your head is making you both simultaneously nauseous and sleepy. Or at the very least, go back to pacing yourself better but that would mean risking getting into your feelings and you’d rather die of alcohol poisoning than get in your feelings. So you drink.

“Well,” You hear Jimin huff, “I’m rather hurt you didn’t invite me to the party cherub.”

You snort, letting your head loll onto the back of the couch and shutting your eyes, cradling your glass to your chest like it’s a lifeline. “Don’t worry, you didn’t miss out much — just me and Jaehee, t’s all. Well, Jaehee’s sleeping now….work tomorrow…”

You trail off, the sound of your heartbeat ringing loudly in your ears that it might as well be beating inside your head than in your chest right now. You’re trying really hard to steady it but it only seems to make your breathing sound more laboured and doing no help to subside the killer wine buzz you have. Maybe you really should stop drinking after all, put down the glass you’re holding and call it a night before you do something mortifying, like throw up all the birthday cake you ate in front of Jimin. No, no, that is absolutely not happening. It would be disgusting and totally not cute. But then what are you going to do with the wine you just poured?

So caught up in your own inner ramblings, you failed to notice the quiet, pensive look marring Jimin’s face; eyebrows furrowed and the slightest downturn of his lips as he too becomes lost in his own thoughts. Clearly, he didn’t prepare himself for any of this — not like it would matter because he didn’t think anything would happen when he waltzed into your living room anyways. The most he had expected was to poke his head in, tease you about how obviously mopey you are about not going to the concert even when you had already decided not to go before dramatically brandishing the tickets with the promise of giving it to you after you dance a little for him. Instead, he’s caught in a conundrum of his own emotions, a jumbled mess that of course, only you could cause because you seem to be doing that a lot lately.

You’ve just about made up your mind, convinced to siphon the poured wine back into the bottle and then take your ass to bed when you nearly vault out of your own skin as soon as your eyes open.

“Jesus Jimin! What’re you—“

“Let’s go.”

You sputter, taken aback from the declaration before you blurt out, “Wha- Now? W-Where?” Your voice cracking as you lean away from Jimin’s imposing figure suddenly hovering over you to the point where you’re practically at a ninety-degree angle to the couch. He inhales deeply, one hand tousling through his hair while the other rests on his hip. He turns away from you briefly, allowing you the time to watch him go at war with himself, utterly confused and wondering what brought on such a spontaneous suggestion because, now that you think about it, you don’t think Jimin has ever invited you to go out anywhere before….

He rounds on you again and you’re forced back out of your thoughts to stare wide eyed up at him as he gathers himself.

“It’s just— just somewhere nice….As a…birthday present.”

Your eyebrows shoot up, bewildered at what you hear. If you were any more sober, you’d swear that that was the most you’ve heard Jimin fumble with his words. It’s….cute. Your heart’s still beating too loudly in your ear for your liking, you’ve still got a pulsing headache and your eyes are slowly becoming a little blurred, yet you still had the inkling thought of agreeing to go along with Jimin’s plan because how can you say no when he looks like that?

Well…. He might have to carry you but if he doesn’t mind then why the hell not?

You must’ve been staring for too long because Jimin starts to fidget in his spot, hand scratching the back of his neck. Oh, right; you gotta say yes you’re cool with it but might need some mobility assistance (this could get awkward).

“Uh…Well, that’s….cool. So like….where though?”

“That would ruin the surprise of it.” He laughs breathlessly and the sound itches to pull a smile on your own face.

“Do we gotta drive?”

“No driving cherub, you don’t even have a license.”

“Hey…I resent that.” You huff, limply pointing an accusatory finger at him before dropping your arm with a heavy thump. “So we walkin’? Cuz I’m telling ya now I can’t walk.”

“Clearly.” Jimin gracefully moves over towards your prone form again and with a dramatic sigh, he offers a hand to you. “C’mon get up, I’ll carry you.”

You blink hard, not believing your ears or luck. Here you thought you were gonna have to prostrate yourself to get him to carry you but he’s offering it willingly. Your heart squeezes inappropriately because this is touching you way more than it should and it’s probably showing on your face because Jimin gives you a weird look.

“Don’t make this weird, let’s just go before I change my mind.”

You only respond by holding out both your arms in the same manner a toddler wants to be picked up by their mother. Jimin exhales loudly through his nose, biting his bottom lip in order to school his face. When he’s composed himself again, he grabs onto you and hauls you up with effortless strength. Without meaning to, you fall against his broad chest with a yelp, clutching his biceps for dear life and trying very hard to stop your vision from swimming.

“You good cherub?” You hear him ask and even through your mantra of ‘don’t throw up’, you can still hear the restrained amusement seeping through.

“Just…Give me a sec.”

He gives you that courtesy, patiently waiting while holding you up from your unsteady legs, inhaling and exhaling until you think you’ve got most of your bearings back. You finally straighten, pulling back enough to be able to look up at him but when you do, you start to feel self-conscious. You probably look like a mess as much as you feel like one, or at least standing so close to Jimin you do. You’re still wearing your bare minimum ‘work clothes’ from earlier today that consists of a t-shirt you’ve had since high school and a pair of black yoga pants that has more or less faded to a dark grey from all the washes its been through.

“Ready?” Jimin asks, voice low that it gives off a slightly gravelly tone and pleasantly washes over you. You always liked the sound of his voice, could listen to him talk forever but it’s so soothing that it never fails to lull to sleep every time. When you swallow, mustering a nod of your head, he shifts you in his arms to have you looping yours around his neck and shoulder, startling you and igniting a heat that travels from the ends of your toes all the way up to your face. You immediately avert your gaze to your sock clad feet.

“Just hold onto me and,” He pauses, shooting you a roguish smirk. “You might want to close your eyes.”

That’s all the warning you get before you feel a pull so strong the air gets knocked out of you. All at once, you feel weightless with no sense of what’s up or down and instinctively, you huddle closer to the only other body mass that will indefinitely ensure you won’t fly away but before you can even emit a single shout, the powerful force vanishes and you feel solid ground.

“You can open your eyes now.” You feel Jimin’s chuckle rather than hear it and it takes you a whole hot second to realize you’ve actually had your eyes shut the entire time; when that happened you have no idea. Slowly, your eyes peel open as you release a shuddering breath, your senses having yet to fully catch up with you. They start to when you finally realize you’ve got a faceful of Jimin’s shirt, having practically squished into his chest, so much so that when you inhale you get a whiff of his cologne. It’s so subtle and almost undetectable but with you being this close, it overtakes you with ease. Next, your skin prickles as you feel a gentle breeze pass by, caressing the loose strands of your hair and tickling your cheeks and nose before finally you hear…. The humming of cars driving through the city with the occasional honks and sirens echoing off into the distant.

Wait, why do they sound so far away? Like…you’re above it all?

You flinch, alarmed and when you turn your head to look around you, your legs nearly give out. It’s only thanks to Jimin, who you’re still clutching onto with a vice grip that keeps you upright as you gaze out at the city horizon, illuminated by the multitudes of lights coming from the windows of buildings in front of you that stretch out as far as you can see. You double take, not believing if what you’re seeing is actually real until you feel Jimin move which makes you snap your bleary gaze up to him, searching for answers. He lets out a melodic laugh when he sees your expression.

“Never seen the city at night like this before huh?”

You could only open and close your mouth, gaping like a fish out of water as you look from him to the skyscrapers in front of you. Eventually, you gather enough courage to tentatively step away from Jimin since you’ve stepped foot onto this roof, but at the the first wave of vertigo, you instinctively sink down on your knees and remain fixed there. You must look ridiculous but like hell do you trust yourself right now to walk around on the flat roof of 6-story building with a system full of alcohol. Still, it doesn’t stop you from taking in the sights before you. It’s a clear night, not a single cloud lining the sky which leaves it so much more clear and vast, and with the glow from the lights below, you see the rich deep blues that peek through, reminding you of the depths of the open ocean. The view is beautiful and mesmerizing, like something you’d only see on the back of a postcard or in movies. You hadn’t noticed you’ve been swivelling around in your spot, head craned upwards in an attempt to take everything in until your world tilts once you’ve stopped long enough. You catch yourself on time from tipping over completely, hands shooting out as your heart leaps into your throat and you let out a shaky giggle.

“Slow down cherub, you’ll lose your head that way.” Jimin chides playfully, coming down to sit beside you. “If you think this is a view, wait till you get closer to the edge.”

“Oh ho ho, no, no, no.” You laugh, holding up a finger. “I refuse to go anywhere near it. Here is just fine.”

A snort, “I’ll catch you if that’s what you’re so worried about.”

You smile, “I had expect you to anyways.” And after a brief pause, you add quietly with your eyes fixated onto the city. “It’s still pretty — real pretty.”

You don’t catch the way he smiles softly in turn, the both of you lapsing into a companionable silence as you watch the city life continue to flow along. The ambient noise lets your mind drift freely, almost in a meditative state.

“This is nice.” You think aloud though your voice barely comes above a murmur, “Just watching the world go by like this, not having much to think on. Is this where you usually go off to when you’re not causing trouble?”

You side eye Jimin and hear him release air through his nose. “I’m much less of a menace than you think you know, but yes, I do come out here when I want to get away for a bit.”

You nod in understanding, letting your gaze wander over the landscape in front of you once more. You’re not sure what part of the city you’re in right now but you could imagine it being downtown, the faint bustling of traffic if you listen closely enough carrying over the gentle breeze and it doesn’t take much to picture the people down below, enjoying their night out in town with friends or families over dinner, a drink, or just by themselves, heading out or heading home. From the buildings, sometimes you catch the flicker of a light going out only for another one to come on in a different spot and you begin to wonder the lives these people might have.

“I wish I could stay up here.” You say, suddenly feeling melancholy. “Get away from it all too….”

Tired, you lean back until you’re lying down with your arms behind your head, facing towards the sky. Even from this high up and the sky as clear as it is, you don’t see a single star glimmering and you think it’s a pity; this would’ve been a perfect night to see them.

“It must be nice to be someone like you.” You continue to muse, “Not having to worry about insignificant mortal problems, like time or money…..”

You don’t hear a response from him and for a moment, you think he’s not even listening. It’s only when you think about backtracking do you hear his reply.

“Yeah, it’s kinda great when you start off but when you’ve been doing it for as long as I have….” He sighs, “It’s not what it’s cooked up to be….”

“Is it because it gets lonely?”

“More like boring…”

You laugh quietly under your breath, thinking to yourself that it’s so like him to think that; it’s evidence enough with him being here. Then another thought crosses your mind and you ask, “Do you think God judges you on the time you spend on earth?”

“….What makes you think that?” Jimin asks, sounding genuinely confused but also curious. You shrug, examining your nails listlessly.

“I saw it in a movie once. Apparently, when you die you go through seven levels of hell and each one has a trial you have to pass if you want to get reincarnated. If you fail one of the trials, you spend the rest of eternity getting punished there — one of them being called the Hell of Indolence, where they judge you on how well you’ve spent your time on earth and if they deem you’ve whiled away your life in laziness and inaction, you’ll be punished by running on a spinning disk while a spinning stone windmill chases you.”

“Sounds like a weekend on spring break.”

The wheeze comes out without you meaning to and you throw your hand out to the side to give him a reprimanding smack, trying to subdue your laughter. As usual, it hits his thigh but you’re too caught up in his punchline to care.

“I’m serious Jimin.” You say after collecting yourself. “It might’ve been fiction….Or maybe it really is real at this point who knows, but it really made me think — what if I had to go through those trials, like,” You take a moment, picturing the scene you’ve seen in the movie, imagining yourself before those trials, “how awful would it be to get told by a deity that you’ve basically failed at your life and you don’t deserve to get a second chance? Because you’ve done nothing with it….”

“….Do you think you would be told that?”

He knows it’s a loaded question, could hear the morose way in which you speak about life, death and the beyond, things he’s most familiar with. To him, it all means nothing but to you, it’s something that hangs above your head as a constant reminder that your time here is limited and it’s so precarious that it could end before you know it. He watches you shrug, too caught up in staring at the starless sky to notice.

“….Maybe….A small part of me does, and that’s what scares me.” You admit in a small voice. “Every year I feel like I haven’t moved forward at all with my life, just stuck doing the same thing while everyone else is getting that job they always wanted, traveling the world, getting engaged, doing what they love….” A humourless laugh expels along with the breath you exhale. “I don’t even know what I want to do beyond tomorrow, much less in two years… ten years from now? And it’s like any day, I’ll be left behind….”

The confession spills from you with unadulterated honesty, the most honest you’ve ever been in forever, it surprises even yourself. You think it’s the alcohol talking but you also think it’s mixed in conjunction with the coming of your birthday; another year tacked onto your life and along with it, the painstaking realization that time is passing by you way faster than you had fooled yourself to think otherwise. It’s something you’re not prepared to face.

Or ever will be.

So that’s why you choose to run, push it back to the farthest corners of your mind and even as it festers and grows, you vehemently ignore it. You drown yourself in school and work, meaningless distractions that lead to no self-satisfaction. It’s something to fill your time, nothing more or less. In those time, you yearned for an escape and that’s how you found your way through music, had found voices that called out to you with comforting words and made the uncertainties of the future seem less daunting.

“You won’t be left behind.”

His voice pierces above the white noise of the city below, clear as day even when it comes out no more than a quiet rasp. It rips you out from wallowing in the thoughts that you keep in the darker parts of your mind, almost startling you. Jimin’s eyes are locked on the horizon in front of him, even as you crane your neck up, you can’t discern any expression on his face but it seems you don’t need to as his words were more than enough to make up for it.

“If God judges you on your time spent on earth, then it is time where you’ve truly done nothing in the face of being able to do something.” Jimin says, unwavering. “And you’ve done something — have been doing something, because you’re somewhere different than where you were two years….ten years ago.

Life is many things darling, and everyone is too caught up with other people’s versions of it half the time. So even if you don’t know where you’re going, I think you owe it to yourself to at least make yours about you because no one else will.”

He finally turns his head to face you and if you thought you had trouble suppressing the swell of emotions in your chest before, you sure are screwed now. The lights of the buildings around you cast a warm glow to his profile, letting you see the slope of his nose, the fullness of his lips, the curve of his cheek that has you itching to stroke just to see if they’re as soft as they look, and the wispy way the strands of hair falls over his forehead, shorter than you had remembered; you wonder idly if he had it cut (it looks good). He’s beautiful — heartbreakingly so, like a statue carved in the finest of ivory but in that moment, it’s his eyes that makes your heart ache.

Endless pools of the deepest amber that hold so much history, seen so much history, perhaps the worst of mankind. They know of suffering, of loss, of betrayals and deceit, had even been the cause of them. You see the many emotions that had been reflected in those eyes, like gazing at an iridescent gem — pain, hatred, sadness, regret and at times, simply nothing at all. Time has both wisened and jaded them, but it is not a hardened glare that meets your own.

It’s tenderness.

“I know it may not seem like it, but if it’s worth anything,” Though it is only the two of you on this rooftop, he speaks in a way where he’s about to tell you the secrets to the world, something that only he wants you to hear and no one else. He takes a breath, never breaking your gaze as he says, “I think you’re doing just fine cherub, I really mean it.”

It’s so self-assured, so sincere, like he truly does believe in what he says that you think you don’t deserve this kind of faith, but perhaps it’s because he’s the one who said it that you find yourself believing it too.

A small smile breaks out onto your lips for the first time in a while. “You’re not saying that just because it’s my birthday right?” You tease in hopes to swallow past the lump that’s formed in your throat but your voice comes out sounding tight regardless. If Jimin notices, he doesn’t comment, instead shoots his own smile back at you, lips stretched until the tiniest hints of teeth are showing and eyes crinkling at the corners.

“I don’t think I need to tell you that I’ve seen some shit as a demon who’s lived way longer than you’ve been on earth. Besides,” He turns back to the city view before him, leisurely reclining back so that he leans his weight on his hands placed behind him. “No place worth going has any shortcuts and those that do would most likely lead to hell.”

You chuff a laugh with a shake of your head, turning your gaze back towards the dark sky that is still void of any stars. This time, you don’t mind that there aren’t because if not tonight, then maybe another night you’ll be able to see one.

And a part of you hopes it’ll be with him too.

“Thank you.” You say softly. “For everything until now…”

“….Don’t mention it cherub.”

It’s a heartfelt thanks that echoes in the quiet night, a rare display of vulnerability from you and shockingly, from himself. Even if your confession was acted upon by liquid courage, he knows that it had been something that weighed heavily on your mind for who knows how long but now, you’ve finally calmed that turmoil that threatens to break you and however temporary it may be, you’re genuinely grateful to have confided in him and walk away with a lighter heart.

It’s gratitude that he’s more than happy to revel in, if only it didn’t sound like this would be the first and last time.

“What time is it?” You ask, voice breaking through Jimin’s troubling thoughts and he belatedly reaches into his pocket to check his phone. You don’t see the way he raises an eyebrow at all the missed calls he’s got.

“Almost four.” He says, swiping away the notifications to clear the screen before his fingers tap away to pull up an app.

“Oh wow,” You breathe, getting up with a stretch. “Think we should head back? I’m definitely ready for bed.”

“When are you not?” Jimin snorts, “Is the age catching up to you already?”

“Stop, my back was killing me when I woke up today too.” You retort through a smile. You give your neck a roll and another stretch of your arms from having laid on a hard surface for a long period. Just when you’re about to muster up the strength to finally stand, Jimin stops you.

“There’s one more thing I have to show you.”

That catches your attention, whipping your eyes to him in mild surprise. He doesn’t have to — whatever it is that he has planned because this was more than enough. And you’re about to express that much when he suddenly shoves his phone into your face, startling you. You have to blink a couple of times in order to adjust to the brightness of the screen but when you do —

“What is this?” You dare to ask, heart beating quicker without meaning to as your eyes scan over the words, reading and then re-reading them but failing to register them all the same. Your eyes dart to Jimin who watches in quiet amusement from beside you, searching for any sort of answers for what you’re seeing.

“What does it look like?”

You’re left speechless and the only thing you could do is glance back and forth between the phone and Jimin, shaking your head in disbelief while trying to formulate words to your mess of thoughts.

“I — I don’t understand. How…?”

“….Guess you can call it a little demonic miracle of my own…” He says it as a light-hearted joke but unconsciously he brings a hand up to run through his hair, suddenly feeling bashful. Well, not like he could help it when you’re staring at him with wide, sparkly eyes. When he can’t handle your Bambi eyes any longer, he hurriedly blurts out the words you dare not speak yourself into existence for fear that it’s all just one hell of a good dream. “I got you tickets to go see BTS in the next city over alright?”

“But what about—?”

“I’ll take care of it all, don't worry about it.”

“Jimin that’s—!”

“Cherub, do you want to go or not?”

“I-I do! It’s just—“

“Then you’re going, no ifs, ands, or buts.” Jimin says it with finality, stern and in a way where you know he’ll ship you in a box if he has to. With no room left for arguing, you’re reduced to an overwhelming mess of emotion that has you struggling to contain it, leaving your hands to shake instead. Your quietness concerns Jimin for a minute before he lets out a grunt in surprise as he abruptly finds himself at the other end of your body slamming hug. He goes rigid, not knowing what to do with his hands as he lets you wrap yourself around him in a rather snug embrace that he thinks he can actually feel how fast your heart is beating against his chest. Or is that perhaps…his own?

“Thank you.” Your voice comes out as a hush warble against his ears. Two words and yet the amount of happiness Jimin hears coming from it is palpable, it makes him think that this is the happiest he’s ever seen you. He softens at that, tentatively wrapping his own arms around your waist to hold you steady and he thinks it’s nice to hold you for once without the context of having escaped a rather sticky situation beforehand.

And there it is again, that wretched twinge in his chest only this time it’s so obtrusive that he can no longer brush it off or ignore it. It comes with a realization of many things, but among them was something that he never would’ve expected to ever come into terms with, shocking him like an ice cold plunge in the middle of winter.

That as both a powerful demon and as a decent but temporary guardian, this is the extent of happiness that he'll ever be able to give you.

[musedblues]

Hello Again

Part 1 of (maybe 2?)

W/C: 8k

Summary: Gwilym has always been around, somewhere in the background of your fast-moving life. But when summer comes along, you finally slow down enough to take a closer look.

Warnings: Allusion to/ Mentions of alcoholism? Nothing too horrific! 

A/N: I’m writing again! Rather, finally getting around to uploading things I’ve had written for ages. There will be a second part to this in the very near future! Please enjoy my hopeless fantasizing, gang! (and don’t be afraid to let me know if you do!) _

You had nearly forgotten all about your past twenty-three years of living, on your rampage through the American desert: and that was your mission...  To focus on nothing besides soaking up every the last ray of the blistering hot sun before summer vacation was over, and you had to start senior year of college. You were a history major and initially had big dreams of becoming a librarian or a museum director, so that you could enjoy immense hushed quiet all day before going out with your best girlfriends at night.

You loved to take it easy, especially after a night of partying so hard. You and your friends had established yourselves as the college's most wild group up until earlier this year when you nearly KO'd after staying in the hospital for a month due to alcohol poisoning. You took the school year slow, and when summer came, you piled your three closest friends and took off on a stereotypical road trip. Good, clean fun.  

When you weren't driving, your trip was mainly spent poolside, humming along to the static radio Francine toted along with her everywhere. The battery-powered thing would even work in the car sometimes, which came in handy as your vintage mustang wasn't equipped with a port for an aux cord or a radio that worked any longer.

Francine spread her gangly legs across Emma's lap in the back while Tilly sat in your passenger seat, flexing her map reading muscle on a mission to be totally directionally literate by the end of the road trip across the southwest. But then your car broke down forty miles deep into death valley and you all had to cram your belongings and yourselves into the back of a cab. Other friends might not have survived being squished together like sardines. But you made it to the Vegas airport without a foul word between the bunch of you.

Granted, Emma started to cry because the cab smelt of ham and Tilly's beloved map blew across the sandy horizon as you sat on the roadside, waiting to be rescued. You all relied on each other to keep a cool head, like always.

Your three roommates were sometimes too much to handle at once, but over the past three years of college and dates and sickness and flunked classes, you'd be lost without your best friends.

Once you all got back home to California with a bundle of stories to tell and a lot of left over time to fill up, the only thing to do was crash. 

Luckily, your brother's fancy new home was the closest and coolest stop. So you decided to take over his pool house like you were still on some kind of adventure.

"How's your brother so well off? And is he well off.. in other areas?" Francine pipped up. She blew away some of her frizzy strands of hair that made her seem like the coolest hippie alive, with a name to match. Her boldness never faltered in style or speak.

"Hm, strange I've suddenly lost my hearing." You quipped, grossed out by the thought of your brother being lusted after.

"Just don't bother him, okay? I'm welcome in the pool house without question so none of you are allowed to mess this up for us!" You informed. Your brother, Daniel, bought the house earlier in the year sometime when a film project he was apart of paid off pretty well. You'd forgotten anything to do with his big winnings in your previously alcoholic state.

"Oh, just go shower! We're gonna search through the movie cabinet and bask in the glow of this projector." Emma beamed.

The pool house was a studio with a tiny square marble kitchen, a living room complete with a bunch over oversized beanbags, and two twin beds hidden in the sunken pit lounge area. The space was designed in the '70s and the golden shag carpet still remained to prove it. This was the faux frat house your brother escaped to when the fancy chandelier in his adjacent home shone a little too brightly for his liking.   The best part of the pool house was the film projector and the massive pull-down screen, like a tiny personal movie theater. Though your brother was a bigger fan of dated television series', a few classic films found their way into his collection on the wall-length shelf.

You left the hip space to take a breather in the grey tiled bathroom, taking your time washing off the sheen of dust and sweat your road trip disaster left you in. When you returned to the living room to take Emma's place on the sofa while she scampered to the shower, the girls had popped in some movie of their liking.

"Top End Wedding. I've never heard of it." Tilly called from the floor, crawling around to put the disc in the player. She had already placed the cover back into its rightful spot on the shelf.

"What's that even mean?" Francine wondered, snuggling under a furry blanket.

"Shut up and find out like the rest of us." Tilly offered, plopping back against a florescent bean bag.

You chuckled as the movie started, but turned your attention your cell phone after it started too buzz. There was an email from the death valley mechanic addressing the problems he had to fix in order to get your car running again. You typed back a response in a hurry. When your friend's giggles cut through your focus, you clicked your phone off and turned your attention back to the film.

You'd completely missed the first scene, catching only glimpses of lush green islands and a lady with a broken high heeled shoe. But then a familiar voice spoke up.

"I have to take her to court?" Gwilym Lee was on the screen. Of course, he was. He appeared unmistakably himself... but much different from the last time you recalled seeing the man.

You silently chuckled to yourself, wondering whatever became of your brother's best friend. After Daniel and Gwilym finished grad school together, Gwilym was apparently apart of a few major British productions and a well off guy. But between your focus on college and some extra wild nights out, you'd barely seen your brother outside of holiday celebrations. So Gwyilm was hardly ever brought up in conversation. Or maybe he was, and you were just too maxed out to register. Be that as it may, the blue-eyed man was on the screen now... looking rather grown-up.

"My God he's a catch am I right?" Tilly pipped up, sipping vodka she'd found in the mini-fridge. Did she really think so? Dear old Gwilym?

"Look at him! That actress is so tiny next to him, God. Imagine being pinned between him and a wall." Francine swooned, in her usual lovestruck wonder.

And the intrusive thought was frightening to you. Because it seemed almost appealing. Gwilym hugged you goodbye once, some odd years ago. His strong arms were certainly brought a comfort you could still recollect.

"Confirmation that we're all hot for this Ned character?" Tilly turned her pretty feathery head of hair to you. You were busy bitting your thumbnail and wondering when Gwilym had gotten so buff.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Ned's cool." You nodded emptily.

"Pfft!" Francine spat, sitting up and leaning across a pillow toward you. "Get your head out of your car troubles and look at this fine British hunk!"

"I thought this was an Austrian film?" Tilly wondered.

"He's clearly British! Listen up! Haven't you paid attention during the world's fair week?" Francine rang, lifting her own glass of vodka toward the screen.

Your phone buzzed again and you desperately hoped it was the man who would assure your car was liable and you could pick it up and drive it through the desert some more before summer vacation ended. But instead, your brother's name blinked across your dim screen.

Daniel: Are you in the pool house? Come inside for a second. Leave the sorority behind. (No offense)

"I'll be right back. Pools open! Just don't come in the house!" You called out the rules your brother gave you the first time you stayed here. Your friends groaned. You scurried out the window paneled door and across the stone packed pathway to Daniel's deck. The back porch light was on and its reflection glistened off the pool. Was he going to be pissed that you remembered where he hid the spare key and tell your gang to leave? Did he just want to say hello? If he did, why wouldn't he just come out to greet you?

You knocked a couple of times to warn of your requested intrusion. The kitchen was empty and dark but there was a chatter coming from the living room. Your brother must have had company. Why did you need to come in here?

That's when Vinny and Violet came bounding up the basement staircase toward you in a fluffy flurry. They were sibling Burmese Mountain dogs whose nails were clicking against the cherry wood floor as they pranced below your feet; a very excitable greeting.

"Y/N? Come in here!" Daniel's low timbre was heard in from the living room and the sound of clinking glasses followed. Your brother Daniel was standing from his luxurious leather sofa, smiling and gesturing you into the room. On the other side of the sofa was a man you hadn't seen in years, but had just been reminded of only moments ago.

"Gwil is in town! I thought I heard you outside and we were just talking about you."

Oh my God. He was hot. You tried to stifle your shock at the stone-carved beauty of a brother's best friend that rose to his feet before you.

"Hello, again Y/N! Looking very comfortable." Gwil's voice was silky and wonderfully British. The accent would always catch you off guard. But his enchanting voice only reminded you how silly you must have looked in your sad excuse for pajamas. You wore tattered sweat pants and a torn-up tshirt that bared too much of your collar bone to be deemed appropriate.

And the angelic Gwilym was in well-fitted slacks and a dress shirt, blue eyes glimmering, muscles rippling past his perfect clothes.

"Hi, Gwil!" You chimed, really mustering the strength to sound normal. But what was normal between the pair of you? You'd met him a total of three times.

"Why are you all the way over in this part of town?" Daniel wondered, shifting his weight and glancing at you.

"My car broke down in death valley and your place was closest. Hope it's alright if we crash for the night?"

"I left the pool house key out for a reason! It's never a bother. I like that you're comfortable enough to stay. Roxanne never even comes over." Daniel complained about your middle sister. Roxanne was an unassuming girl with an interest in botany that left her camped out in national parks for weeks at a time. Your sister would talk about plants little to nothing else, besides her terrible crush on Gwilym Lee. A shameless attraction you'd all too suddenly understood.

"How's she?" Gwilym asked with a knowing smile. She could never hide the way she melted in Gwil's presence.

"She's been the movies this year, if that's what you're asking."  Daniel chortled. You wondered for a moment if the film your friends had found in the cabinet was one that made it to theaters. Was Gwilym finally featured on the big screen? And did Roxanne really still have that girlish crush?

"She's been seeing a lot of that Max guy, actually. I know because she does, in fact, call me every weekend." You chided, looking to Daniel with a smile.

"Yeah to make sure you're not dead." Daniel retorted. He was never a fan of your wild streak. Bless him. "She's always up to something crazy. Practically Instagram famous." Daniel buffed your confidence, gushing over his very own kid sister.

"I have a few thousand followers, it's really not uncommon." You assured your brother, who'd never gotten more than twelve likes on his own posts.

"Cute." Gwilym smiled. He looked you up and down and if you weren't sporting the world's nastiest pajamas. You'd dare to wonder if he liked what he saw.

"Well I better get back were-" You caught your breath and tore your curious gaze away from your brother's best friend. "...having quite the girls night."

Daniel nodded in response.

"You staying for a while? See you around?" You asked Gwilym. You were a naturally curious girl, and Gwilym Lee was extremely easy on the eyes. Why wouldn't you want to look a little longer?

"Yeah, I'll be in town. See ya around, kid." Gwilym's perfect smile was photograph worthy. But that remark stung. You were just Daniel's littlest sister, to Gwilym.

Later that evening you excused your bout of absence with some white lie about your brother needing help with his dogs after a bath.

The death valley mechanic eventually emailed you with good news, so you text your brother and asked if he could take you through the desert on a mission to get your car back. He happily agreed to take you and to let the girls take over the pool house for the day.

///

Your eyes fluttered open, blinded by the sharp white rays of sun boomeranging off the pool and into the window by your bed. Emma was passed out on the adjacent bed, snoring peacefully. There were more shuffles and chatter from the level above you and you knew the other girls were awake. You heard muted squeals and high pitched whispers floating through the pool house, and among them, a lower voice grumbled.

"Y/N! Ned's here!" Francine's unmistakably excited voice rang out.

"Oh, lovely!" You heard Gwilym let out a far off chortle.

Shit. What! Why? You bolted out of the twin bed and up the couple of steps, feet flying over the inexplicable shag carpet toward the double doors.

Gwilym was dressed for the day, in khaki shorts, a white short-sleeved button-up, and turtle framed glasses hiding the sparkle of his sea-blue eyes. And he was standing in the doorway with that stupid smirk, looking right at you.

"Gwil! Hi?" You reasoned, shouldering past Francine who was clutching the open door frame with her jaw hovering just above the floor.

"I texted you a bunch- but I see you were still asleep." Gwilym grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Is everything alright?" You wondered suddenly. You didn't even care that your hair was sticking in different directions, and the man had already seen your atrocious excuse for pajamas.

"Well, Dan got called into work. Left in a big hurry and asked if I'd help you out today. Fancy a lift? He took his SUV. Left the Buick." Gwil actually smirked, like he was making a sweet deal.

That's when Emma let out a gasp from somewhere behind you. She'd spent the first half of Top End Wedding in the shower, but quickly joined your friends to gush over the main character upon her joining the film

Gwilym's eyes left yours for a moment to glance over your shoulder to the house full of girls.

"Uh... alright." You gave a nervous grin, realizing you didn't really have another option. Daniel trusted Gwilym with his vehicle. If he caught one of your college friends behind the wheel of his car, he'd blow a gasket for certain.

"Uh, give me a minute to get my self together?" You nodded to Gwilym. The pair of you had never really spent any kind of quality time with each other. Only sat beside each other during dinners out with your brother's friends and across the living room sharing jokes. This was very different. Did you trust Gwil?

"Sure. I'll wait here if you lot don't mind." Gwil turned his bright gaze to Francine who's chipped nails were still digging into the open door. The girl gave a subtle nod, watching Gwil creep toward the kitchen counter.

"What the hell is going on?" Tilly laughed as you gestured past her.

"Secrets out! Gwil is a family friend. Please don't freak him out." You groaned, scooting to the bathroom. Tilly gapped at you as you spun into the bathroom to pull yourself together.

After finding an old Sargent Pepper tshirt in your bag and managing your hair into a suitable fashion, you hurried back out of the bathroom to hit the road; praying that your friends hadn't corned Gwilym.

The girls were scattered around the kitchen, leaning against counters with their eyes plastered on Gwil. He was like a wonder of the world. An uncovered treasure splayed out in the open.

You had spotted your sandals by the counter and were stepping into them as Tilly asked daft questions to Gwilym about how he knew me, and just exactly how rich he was. The man answered Tilly with grace and caution. Was he really so easy-going? After apologizing profusely and shooting daggers to your girlfriends it was time to go.

"You can use the pool and the dogs will probably hang out. Francine, you're in charge of disaster prevention!" You pointed your way out of the door, as Gwilym followed with a chuckle. Funnily enough, the brash girl was the clearest head in times of trouble.

Gwilym shuffled toward the garage and as you passed into the musty room, feeling a little sick to your stomach.

"Gwil, are you sure this is how you want to spend your day? I don't want to ask too much of you."

"Oh get in the car. I haven't got a thing to do until Dan gets back tonight. There's no harm in a little road trip, is there?"

"Three hours one way. This is your last chance to back out."

Gwilym was already behind the wheel, buckling his seat belt with a smile. You had no choice but to shrug and scramble in the passenger. At least this ride had a radio.

Five minutes in.

"Where's my turn?" Gwilym panicked, steering the wheel sharply to swerve out of the way of roadkill.

"Next exit. When did you learn to drive in the States? Yesterday?" He was almost too quick to react.

"Ha. Ha." Gwilym produced a dry laugh, speeding up ever so slightly. "Last year. A couple of mates and I spent the summer driving around this very desert, I'll have you know."

"Hmm, I see." You smiled as you tried to picture Gwilym going on some great adventure. As far as you knew, his work was his life. Must be some pretty important pals to have tricked the tall man into having a little long-lasting fun. Was he always so cute when he smiled like that?

20 minutes later.

"It's too late now Gwilym. We're already on the freeway and the next exit is only a private ranch."

"But I want a soda so bad." The Englishman whined. For some reason, that surprised you. You realized you really didn't know this guy at all. But you really wanted too. So you promised Gwilym you'd track down the closest fast-food spot and started into an easy-going conversation.

"What would you be doing today if I wasn't in such desperate need?" You teased but you really wanted to know more about the man. The pretty, pretty man.

"Back home? Probably spending the day at a sports game. Having a few drinks at night. Maybe a film to wrap up the evening? That or working I'm sure."

"Yeah, I'm sure." These were things you already knew about Gwil. But you could have listened to him drone on in that delicatessen accent forever and a day.

"What about you? Still out till the odd hours? Still dating that Rodney fellow?"

You couldn't help but let a snort escape you as you turned your head toward Gwil. Had it really been so long since you'd seen him?

"I broke Rodney's heart three years ago, Gwil. I dated around for a while but it's been a busy time. I've not even had time to drink myself sick all year." You smirked. Gwil let out a shocked chuckle. He was right to do so. You used to have a little too much fun.

"No time to do anything but cram. I've not even been to the movies. What do you know about those?" You grinned. It was his dream to act. You felt a little bad for not keeping better track of the local theater. Surely Gwilym had made it to the big screen by now.

"I heard you saw a certain one last night." Gwil pipped up gently. Ah yes, Francine introduced the man at the door as 'Ned.'

"Yeah, that... We found the tape in the cupboard. Your character was a total catch by the way. Any others I've missed out on?"

Your conversation was flowing, and you felt real true ease between your brother's best friend and yourself. Whether it was circumstantial or genuine, you let yourself sink into an appreciation for the magnetic moment.

"Uh... a few," Gwilym spoke. "Do you like the Beatles?"

"Why were you cast as Mr. Harrison or something?" You giggled at Gwil's change of subject.

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't a fraud." Gwilym smiled, gesturing to your Sargent Pepper shirt.

"I'm no fraud!" You assured. "I love all that old rock and roll stuff." You'd scored tickets to see Ringo Starr before college kicked off. It was the best damn day of your life.

"Good. Let's have at it then, aye?" Gwil managed to uncover an aux chord from bellow the counsel and plugged it into his phone. The man reached out and cranked the radio up to the tune of Do You Want To Know A Secret. And for just a moment as you sang along, you pretended that Gwilym knew you were singing to him.

2 hours in

You stopped at the In-n-Out one hundred miles inward. Gwyilm finally got his soda and a whole lot more. The pair of you split a giant order of fries and traded burgers when you discovered you liked each other's orders better. You both thought about splitting a shake but you convinced Gwilym to get his own. He downed the sweet treat in minutes, but yours sat beading with sweat in the cup holder now. A couple of inches of the frozen drink rippled in a melted puddle as the Buick crept toward a gas station.

Gwilym stood in the heat to fill the car as you disposed of the collection of fast-food trash.

"Should I get more snacks?" You called out to Gwil from across the otherwise empty lot.

"Why don't we just agree to a nice dinner on the way home?" He shouted back. It sounded like a joke but you knew it wasn't. You went on to purchase some sunflower seeds anyway because you'd want to stash some in your car.

"Don't act like you don't want some of these." You prodded Gwils ribs as you both settled back into your brother's car. He shook his head with a grin as you tore open the packet of sunflower seeds.

"You're unbelievable. I guess I'll have a few." Gwil reached a hand out after revving the engine.

"Alright. How much was gas, while we're at it?" You gave the bag of seeds to Gwilym as you reached into your purse for your wallet.

"It's none of your business. My treat, really. Thank you for sharing." Gwil laid the bag of seeds to rest in your lap as he turned the wheel out of the gas station.

"I'll let you have that one but I'll get you back when you least expect it." You grumbled, snatching the seeds for your own again.

"Let's get back to your opinion on American football. We've got a lot to dissect here." Gwilym smirked, hands lose on the wheel, tires steady on the road. He was getting the hang of this yet!

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." It was the unsexiest innuendo of all time, but with gentle prodding, Gwil had begun to easily open up to you.

///

The car dealership was just outside Vegas and your beloved mustang was roasting in the hot sun, ready to be driven back to safer grounds.

You practically fell to your knees before the mechanic who ordered special parts and offered you a discount for all your troubles.

"Just follow behind, I know the way back." You smiled to Gwilym, admiring the way the soft breeze tousled his hair. "Thanks again for this." He was really a good sport.

You had settled into your old mustang, fingers fitting into the worn-out divots in the steering wheel. But you cursed when you reached for the radio. You had really been pampered all day, in your brothers Buick, with groovy tunes and a whole lot of eye candy.

That's when your phone rang. It was Gwilym.

The desert road was wide open, but you still decided to put the call on speaker and rest the phone on your dash.

"Hello?" You laughed, checking your rearview mirror. Gwil drove your brothers Buick a safe distance behind. You swore you could see Gwilym's bright white teeth as he responded.

"Hello! I've just realized that I promised to take to dinner, but I can't very well do that with you leading the way."

"Oh, that's what this is about?" You snorted, eyeing the mountains across the horizon.

"Where shall we go?" His voice crackled from your dashboard.

"There's an exit in about forty minutes with a few suitable options. Nothing movie star worthy though." You clicked your tongue, wondering if this was all some fever dream brought on by the ninety-degree day.

"Oh stop it. Is there an IHop? I love IHop."

"You do?" You chuckled. Gwilym hummed with certainty.

"Alright." You spoke up, glancing in the rearview once more. Was he looking? "I'm sure we can track one down."

"Thanks, kid." There it was again, that pesky pet name. You didn't like it at all.

"Am I liable to call you old man?" You jabbed, making your feelings known in a light-hearted manner.

"Whoa now, I'll hang up and leave you alone with your broken radio." Gwil threatened. He remembered your telling him your radio was broken? You glanced in the rearview once more and noticed Gwilym holding up his middle finger.

"Hey!" You laughed.

"Eyes on the road!" Gwilym challenged. There were, in fact, shiny cars popcorning over the horizon.

"Alright, alright! Can you Google and drive? I'll be your eyes." You offered, driving ahead of the man.

"Hang on," Gwilym spoke. You smiled and bit your lip to withhold the burst of joy you wanted to scream out. "I've got one. I'm gonna pass you and take this adventure into my own hands if you don't mind."

You could hear Gwilym smile as his car sped up past yours in an instant.

"See ya at IHop old man!" You shouted, swiping the phone call to end before Gwilym could shout back.

Your brothers Buick zoomed past you and began to blend in with the waves of heat on the horizon. You prayed under your breath that the man leading your way wasn't just a mirage.

///

You sat across from your brother's best friend in a sticky old IHop booth while a family of six and an old married couple filled out the other corners of the restaurant. One waitress floated through the otherwise empty diner to cater to all of you as the sun set.

Gwilym ordered a tea and you warned he was going to be disappointed in the Americanized beverage. He shooed off your comment and relaxed in the booth while you sipped your coffee. You wondered how you ended up here, then you wondered how Gwilym ended up here.

"Have you really just come to town for my brother's silly party?" You suddenly quizzed. Dan threw what he called a "mixer" once every year, where all the friends he'd ever known were invited to drink bourbon and pretend it was fun being an adult. This year was a bit of a house warming party, and your whole family was invited.

"Sort of. I wanted to see him anyway and some other friends around LA." Gwilym offered, resting his head on the heel of his hand while he gazed at you.

"I see, I forgot you were a big rom-com star now." You chuckled. Of course, he was in Hollywood to mingle with other bright eyed up and comers.

But Gwilym just rolled his eyes and smiled as the waitress floated by to fill up your coffee cup.

"The last time I saw you was Easter in 2015, do you remember that?" Gwilym sat up a little, twirling his finger around the rim of his mug of tea. You tried really hard not to notice.

"I'm surprised you do. I was late to brunch and you left not long after I showed up." You recalled. That was when he hugged you goodbye, as he was leaving and you were just joining the rest of your family. He lingered around the dining table to finish some conversation with your father, but you don't remember him leaving.

"'Course I remember. You poured something from a flask into your coffee when your mum wasn't looking." Gwil gestured toward your warm cup and you winced in remembrance.

"Those were the days, huh?" You furrowed your brow even though you smiled, a little sick at the thought of drinking anything.

"They aren't anymore?" Gwil seemed to gently pry, and you weren't about to lie to him.

"No, I learned my lesson in the hospital." You shrugged, hoping to never stay that long on an IV drip ever again.

"What?" Gwilym asked. He seemed genuinely concerned and you hadn't realized he didn't know. Dan would usually warn anyone to keep an eye out on you in case you keeled over like you always used to morning noon and night.

"Yeah, I drank myself silly." You laughed, but it wasn't silly at all. That month was shit. "I haven't drank since January."

"Christ." Gwil shot his wide eyes toward you.

"It's a good thing! I like coffee much more, anyway."

"Than this," Gwil gestured around the eatery, "was the perfect choice."

Gwilym's smile was ultraviolet. You admired him in a way you might have anyone else, but the longer you took in his features, they became prettier by the second. You caught yourself staring, but that was usually the case. What caught you further off guard was the way Gwilym seemed to be just as in tune to your conversation as you were. LIke he really wanted to right here, in the middle of nowhere, with his best friend's kid sister.

He was too good to be true. Why had it taken you so long to realize?

///

That same night, you drove your friends back to your flat to the tune of their incessant teasing. You guessed you'd be shocked if Colin Firth showed up to crash your spontaneous slumber party, after watching Love Actually. So, you couldn't blame them, but you could block them out. You found your mind wandering to the weekend. You found yourself thinking of Gwilym.

Your brother's annual gala was three days later. Your parents swung by your flat and gave you a lift all the way across one town to the next so you could all attend your brother's first party in his new home.

You wore torn up mom jeans and a decent blouse, unbothered by most of the guests sporting their finest black-tie looks, like this was the waiting block for Mad Men auditions or something. Everyone was drinking and the smell alone made your blood curdle. You slinked through plastic Hollywood types and decided you didn't need to drink to have fun, or waste your time mingling.

You wound up in the posh den, in a leather recliner, directing your brother's dogs to do tricks. You got Vinny to start barking at his reflection in the flat screen tv , much to the annoyance of the passing guests. But someone was charmed by your antics. Gwyilm leaned against the door frame with a now-familiar smile.

"Vinny, look!" You pointed to the flatscreen while the giant dog spun around to start whining. Gwilym laughed at you, and you whipped your head to find him watching on, drink in hand.

"Are you having a good time?" Gwilym comically quizzed, scooting further into the room. He sat on the arm of the chair you occupied, holding his glass between his legs. You looked up at the British hunk and smiled.

"We are. Violet just learned to shake hands!" You quipped. The dog bounced over at the sound of her name and sat in front of you, ready to show off her new skills.

"Nice to meet you, lady." You teased, holding your palm in front of your brother's dog. Violet raised her paw into your hand and you smiled as you shook it.

"Well before we call the circus and send you off, you better say goodbye to your family. Your mum's been looking for you." Gwilym laughed, shaking his head as he sipped something dark.

God, how embarrassing. Did she send him to find you? Did she think you were passed out in the bushes or worse? With a pursed smile you stood and left the den to find your mother lounging in the living room with a few other, older guests.

"Oh, this is my youngest, Y/N. A very bright girl." Your mother gushed, grabbing on to your writs and pulling you toward the sofa as some middle-aged blonde lady smiled widely at you. Her name was Dawn and she was busy trying to one-up your mother in housewife points. You just gave a fake grin and spun around to find your father asking about your car troubles.

"It's all fixed and fine now." You assured. Dan appeared on the scene, boasting about how his friend Gwilym was kind enough to take you on that trip. Gwil was sitting back on the sofa, smiling at your father as Dan boosted his ego. But he deserved the praise.

"Gwil practically saved my life!" You pointed, spinning toward where the man was settled onto the love seat. In your classic dramatic flare, you flung yourself into Gwilym's lap without thinking. The time you'd spent with the man had stripped away the layer if unfamiliarity between the two of you. And you would have plopped into anyone of your friend's laps. You made sure to bring your hand to your forehead to ensure your swooning was just for show. Even if you happened to feel a swoop of endearment at the prospect of being so close to Gwil. He was stunning. And his fingers were cautiously hovering around you, as if he wanted to hold you but knew better. And as you scooted out of the man's lap toward the cushion beside him, you swore you saw a hunger in his sea-blue eyes.

"Alright, leave the acting to him, you're no good." Daniel batted your hair on his way across the room at the sound of his name being called.

Moments after you peeled yourself off of Gwilym Lee's lap, your sister showed up. You hadn't seen Roxanne in what felt like ages. On her arm, an unassuming botanist called Max, who seemed to be totally head over heels for your older sister. Boy was he in for a treat.

"Hello, Roxy." Gwilym smiled, resting his glass on the coffee table as he stood to greet your sister. And just like that, the usually demure girl practically melted. You couldn't blame her, not anymore. Not after you caught a glimpse at how warm Gwil's smile really was.

"This, uh, this is Max." Roxanne shoved her boyfriend between herself and Gwilym, a human shield. The equally as meek fellow seemed to look up to Gwilym with wonder in his eye. You realized that no one was safe from doing a double-take. Gwilym was just that great.

The party fizzled out. Before the last guests even left, Roxanne kissed her beau and skipped out to the pool house with you, deciding to spend the night for some much-needed one on one time. You stole some of Daniel's sweatshirts and snacks from your brother's home and locked yourselves into the private little hut in his back yard.

After nearly a full hour of listening to your sister gush over how much she liked Max and how their relationship was taking off, Roxanne got quiet.

"I didn't realize Gwil was in town." Roxanne sheepishly admitted, reaching to the bowl of popcorn between the two of you.

"Yeah, I was surprised too." You realized. "I can't believe you still have a thing for him."

Roxanne laughed and shook her head as if that was all behind her now. But then she bit her lip and looked at you to tell her secret.

"No harm in looking, right?" She shrugged. Roxanne really did seem happy with her new boyfriend. But anyone with eyes could see Gwilym's glow and would probably long to bask in it all the same. You weren't blind to that any longer.

///

Emma and Francine were busy sitting around your apartment doing nothing, terribly bored of it all. Tilly had gone back to visit her family while the summer raged on, leaving the three of you to your own usual devices. Your brother had asked you to stay a little while longer, but he and Gwil took the dogs to a hiking trail and you got bored alone in the pool house after your sister went home. So you drove back to your flat where your roommates decided to waste away together.

"There's nothing good on tv. And I don't wanna go out. Why is nothing fun anymore?" You complained. The days of dancing the night away seemed like a waste of time to you now. There had been lots of fun last year, and the ones before. Maybe too much fun. When you weren't drinking you were asleep in someone else's bed. Casual dating turned into some kind of game. And it all started when Francine challenged you to get with as many people as you could take a shot for. And naturally, you were down to take the drinking challenge, but you took way too many shots that night. And you started zipping through one night stands like it was your job and you needed extra rent. You felt nothing, numbed by so many drinks. And near the end of your manic episode, you thought that maybe the more people you shagged, you'd eventually feel for one of them. But that never happened. Even when you brought some of them home and tried to mold them into a little perfect box.

You had a lot of time to reevaluate in the hospital. You hoped with your new lease on life that meaning would seep back through your cracks. But sitting around your old dusty apartment bored you. Wasn't there any balance anymore? Your phone buzzed you out of deep thought.

Gwil: How'd you get Violet to shake your hand? She won't listen to me or Dan!

You: I'm a dog whisperer. ;)

"We could do arts and crafts!" Emma chirped like a hopeful preschooler.

"It's too hot to think of having fun." Francine moaned, sprawled across the sofa with her upper half sliding down toward the floor.

Your phone buzzed again. Gwilym responded with the meme of the angry-looking cat sitting at the dinner table. You let out a breathy laugh that fanned through your nose. Before you could think of responding Gwilym had sent another text.

Gwil: I'll find out your secret one day.

You: Take a hike!

He should have been trekking through scenic California mountains instead of sending you memes.

"Earth to Y/N! Why are you smiling at your phone like that when we're in the middle of a boredom crisis meeting?"

"What?" You blanched. Had you really been lost in the short-lived conversation between Gwilym and yourself? He was just too good to be true. Of course, you were transfixed by the lad.

"Yeah, who are you talking to? Is Stu back from Ibiza? Are you two hooking up again?" Francine challenged, sitting up on the sofa with a knowing grin.

"God no, not Stu. He stole my underwear. That fucking creep." You shivered at the memory of your very last and longest hookup. Emma grimaced in response, but Francine, like always, wasn't satisfied.

"So who is it then?" The girl's honey-brown eyes filled with mischief as she reached for your phone.

"Why do you think it has to be anybody?" You whined, trying to lean further back before Francine could launch her self toward you. But it was too late, she latched onto your cell like a falcon, and scanned the screen. Her lips turned into a wild smile while Emma turned her head in anticipation.

"It's Ned!" Francine let out a burst of laughter as you dove back toward her to rescue your stolen device.

"Ned from the movie?" Emma questioned.

"What other Ned's do you know, Emma?" Francine rang, allowing you to take back your phone.

"The dad from the Try Guys." Emma shrugged. You would have laughed if you didn't feel your stomach fall away. What was there to be so nervous about?

"Why is movie star Ned sending you memes? How do you even know him, again?" Francine sat straight up against some throw pillows to begin her interrogation.

"When Daniel moved to London for college, he and Gwilym became the best of friends." You sighed, reminding Francine of the name of the man she kept referring to.

"He sent you a meme, Y/N." Francine rose her brows like she was alluding to something more.

"After he drove you across the desert and back," Emma added, pointing your way.

"Yeah, I guess he's my friend too." You gapped. Well he was, wasn't he? Your phone buzzed again and everyone's eyes filled with curiosity as you kept your phone clutched to your chest.

"He's also a movie star!" Francine rang.

"Just because he was in some Australian rom-com doesn't mean anything-"

"What other movies has he been in? Maybe he's loaded and you guys can be Hollywoods new it couple." Emma cooed like she was dreaming for herself.

"I don't know- the last time I saw Gwil was years ago I hardly think-"

"Babe. I can tell you're into him so do away with excuses!" Francine leaned over the sofa to rest a hand on your knee.

"Guys, I'm just now really getting to know him..." You reasoned, trying like mad to pretend his gloriously pretty face wasn't always on your mind.

"He's hot. I'm talking mega beautiful. I don't blame you. And he basically already took you on a date." Francine remained trying to get you to crack.

"Uh, guys..." Emma was fixated on her phone screen when you and Francine whipped your heads toward the girl. She began to squeal through her teeth as she bolted from the pull out bed and skipped toward the coffee table to snatch the remote.

"What are you doing, Emma?" You asked but it sounded more like a warning. She only giggled as the tv buzzed to life. After a quick search on your shared Amazon account, a film from last year started to play.

"Are you trying to tell us that Gwilym is in Bohemian Rhapsody? Wasn't that nominated for a bunch of awards?" Francine focused on Emma who was staring at the screen in anticipation.

"Oh my God." You sighed. Not only did were you turned off by the thrill of seeing Gwil on screen, you felt horrible for not knowing your brother's best friend was in a damn blockbuster. Had you really been so far gone in party land that you were that blinded to the world around you? Francine picked up on your unease and tried to talk you into the spirit.

"He's probably just in the background for a second. But we have to watch it, so, Let's just get it over with."

Emma let out a nervous giggle as an actor opened his eyes on the screen. You literally held your breath while the film crept through the introduction. And then you saw him. Dawning a curly black wig and a smile that belonged to someone else.

"Oh no." You groaned at the exact moment Francine let out an excitable laugh.

"Your boyfriend is Brian May!" She squealed. Gwilym wasn't your boyfriend, but he was nearly identical to the guitarist of Queen. You loved their music. You loved their story. But you had totally missed the posters and promotions for the film that featured Gwil's name in lights. You decided then and there that you would never drink again. You and your friends watched the rest of the film in total rapture. Emma decided the blonde playing Roger was the new love of her life. Francine started to cry when the lad playing Freddie walked out of the doctor's office. You held her hand as the band kicked off Live Aid and when the credits rolled, Emma hit mute and you three stared at each other for a beat, lost for words.

"I sort of forgot all about Ned. He's a proper actor, isn't he?" Francine looked to you like she'd just seen a ghost. You could only muster a stunned nod of exact agreement.

"I just remembered something... my sister in law saw this in theaters like four times. She's totally obsessed with it. Let's call her!" Emma reached across the pull out bed to claim her cell phone before you could stop her.

"No, Emma this is ridiculous! It's not like I don't know Gwil." You reasoned.

"You just said that you were just getting to know him. And trust me when I say that no one knows an actor better than the fandom." Francine lifted her brow as if to prove a point. The girl was still obsessed with Supernatural, and would spout off info about the actors she kept up learning online. But it was all hearsay, wasn't it?

"That's insanely untrue, just so you know." You nodded to Francine, hoping to coax her out of that toxic mindset. The phone was ringing through Emma's speaker and before anyone could day more, someone answered.

"Susan! What do you know about Gwilym Lee?" Emma giggled, resting her phone on the bed with her speaker's volume all the way up. You buried your head in your hands as Francine wrapped an encouraging arm around your shoulder.

"You mean Brian May's clone?" Susan the sister in law crackled through the cell phone. She wasn't wrong. Halfway through the film, you'd nearly forgotten the real members of Queen weren't actually there.

"Is that a compliment? I mean really tell me about this guy. Sell him to me." Emma bargained, propping herself up on her elbows and kicking her feet behind her.

"Okay..." The girl on the phone breathed and suspense built up in your stomach while you waited for a stranger to list of facts about your brother's best friend. "Gwilym is perfect for starters. He's into sports and he's totally obsessed with his castmates. They still see each other all the time. Gwil seems totally devoted and passionate. Rumor has it he's engaged. The good ones are always taken."

You suddenly felt like a ghost of your former giddy self. Why should you have felt so sick? So what if he was engaged? He was just your friend. But friends were supposed to tell each other these sorts of things, weren't they?

"Engaged?" Emma squealed, practically causing the silky pull out bed to ripple from her risen octave.

"Well, it's just a rumor. There are no pictures of a ring or a girl or anything. But where there's smoke there's fire. Anyway, can I tell you about the rest of the cast?"

Francine sat up beside you, casting fiery eyes into yours as she reached for her phone to begin investigating for herself.

"No, I've gotta go." Emma hung up with no explanation, flinging her legs over the edge of the rickety couch bed.

"She's right, there's no evidence." Francine rang, turning her phone to me with a slim Google result list.

"Not to be a downer but I feel like there's gotta be something going on, right?" Emma glanced at you with big sad eyes.

"I- I don't know. Maybe he is? He's talked for ages about his family. Never said a word about a girl."

"That's because he's into you and he's on a great American fling. If there's a girl he's not going to say so." Francine reasoned. She was right. She had to be. Gwilym was too beautiful and endearing to have been single. You were just a good flirt.

I can't get no satisfaction, I can't get no satisfaction... 'cause I try and I...

Your phone was ringing. And your friend's eyes were glued to your every move. You were only a little shocked to find Gwilym's name flickering across your dim screen now. But as you snatched the phone to answer you felt your chest tighten between a rope of anxious nerves.

"Hi, Gwil." You tried to sound nonchalant as you stood up and pointed a warning finger to your friends. But they, of course, couldn't be expected to hold back their bursts of excitable chirps.

"Hi-"

"Hang on!" You warned, making a break for your bedroom. There was little hope your friends would settle their giggles because as they chased after you to beg to eavesdrop, they were squealing far too loudly. After dramatically flinging yourself behind your locked bedroom door you answered the phone once more.

"Okay! Hi!" You sighed, trying desperately to even out your breathing.

"Is this a bad time?" Gwilym quizzed over the phone. You cast your eyes across your well-kept room with a smile.

"No! Just... what's up?" You wondered in turn. No time was a bad time for Gwilym.

"Alright." The man let out a chuckle before continuing. "Well, this might be a stretch, but here it goes. I was going to bring Dan with me to a premier tomorrow. He had to cancel last minute for work, yet again. I've already got a plus one, so, would you like to come with me?"

"I'm second best, huh?" You laughed, stepping further into the room, past a stack of books around the corner.

"Well, first if you think about it! Dan called dibs, but I... well I called you."

Oh dear. You had to remind yourself to breathe as Gwilym went on to say,

"I think you'd get on well with my mates is all, and you seemed to have a free week. Asking seemed worth a shot."

"I see." You bit your lip. Was he really being as forward as he sounded? Was he really engaged? "Well, I'd love a night out. Only if you're sure though."

"Oh, I'm sure. Come round Dan's by seven?" You could hear him smile.

"Okay." You agreed while still holding your breath. "See you soon, Gwil."

What do I wear?

[the-gedonelune-times]

The Hunt Is On

It’s been a little while since the last time I’ve actually posted a story to my blog. But I’m really happy to present this sort of long one-shot fic. I got the idea after the recently released Romance Point slot in Wizardess Heart, I’m 99.9% sure that little plush is Felix and being the absolute lovestruck idiot I am for this man I just couldn’t help myself. So here’s a small story of Felix being a plush and showing his Tsundere side towards a certain red-haired wizardess.

“Hey, did you hear the big news?”

“Huh? What news?”

Gray and I were just leaving the book club session and were walking down the hallway when he brought it up.

“I guess there’s some rumour going around about a new magical creature.”

“S-Seriously?! That’s incredible! Is there a name for it yet?”

“Nope.” Gray shook his head with a smile. “Buuut I heard that whoever catches it will get to name it.” He added happily.

“Catch it? The poor little thing..”

“Huh? Just a second ago you were so excited.”

“I-I am, believe me. It’s just...well, if there are a lot of people trying to catch it, don’t you think it might be a little scared?”

“I suppose you’re right.” Gray put his hand under his chin and looked lost in thought. 

“Gray?”

“Ah, sorry, I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“Well, what if we were to catch it, but without chasing after it? Maybe it wouldn’t get so scared?”

“Oh, I like that idea! What did you have in mind?”

“A hole!”

“Gray!”

“Hear me out, Nadia. It’ll be a nice sized hole and I’ll even add cushioning to the bottom of it so that the creature won’t get hurt. Then, when I need to get it out, I’ll use a pail attached to a fishing pole and drag it up like a well!”

“Gray...I have so many questions about this, but the most important one is what are you thinking?! The poor thing would be even more terrified!”

“What if I offer it cookies?”

“Cookies can’t fix every problem.”

“Are you sure? I thought everyone liked cookies, I mean who doesn’t like cookies?”

“Gray…” I chuckled while watching him go on a tangent about cookies. 

“But seriously, I think my plan won’t fail.”

“I’m sorry to say, but Gray, I have my doubts about it.”

“Hm? Then what would you suggest doing?”

“Well I…”

Huh...what did I have in mind? It was true that I wanted to see the magical creature for myself, but I really didn’t want to go chasing after the poor thing or make it feel like it was in danger. I had to ponder my options carefully but alas, no such idea was popping up in my head at the moment.

“To be honest, I don’t really have a plan.” I sighed.

“That’s okay, maybe on your way back to the dorms you’ll figure one out.”

“Here’s to hoping!”

“What are you two talking about?”

“Uh-oh…” Gray laughed.

“Zeus? What are you doing here?”

“I came here looking for you two.”

“What for?”

“You’ve heard the big news right?”

“I just got done filling Nadia in about it.”

“Then you know why I need you guys.”

“Sorry, but I already have my own plan.” Gray responded confidently. “It’ll be sure to succeed!”

“Tsk! Well, what about you Nadia?”

“To be honest, I have a feeling your plan will involve a lot of chasing. Plus the last time you found a magical creature, you practically scared the living daylights out of it!”

“Come on, that was one time! Besides, I heard that if you catch the thing then the Headmaster will give us extra credit.”

“That’s just a hoax.”

A new voice had entered the scene and right behind Zeus came Elias who had his arms folded on his chest.

“Oh great.” Zeus rolled his eyes.

“You don’t seriously believe you’ll get extra credit for something like this, do you?”

“I sure do. If there’s a chance I can get that, then I’m taking it, I mean, you guys want the extra credit too?”

“Hate to break it to you Zeus, but I agree with Elias here. I highly doubt Headmaster Schuyler would provide students extra credit because they caught a newly discovered magical creature. You’d be in for the biggest scolding of your life, that’s for sure.”

“No way, seriously?! Are you here to suck the fun out of Goldilocks the third over here?”

“Hey!”

“I agree with them too, Zeus. I mean, we’re bound to get a scolding for it, a big one too. But I really want to see what this creature is all about.”

“So…” Zeus stared off into space, trying to process everything Gray said. “So are you on my side or not?”

“Nah, I’m on my own side. Team Gray!”

Gray began waving his free hand around as if he had an invisible team spirit flag in his hand.

“Tsk. Fine then. I’ll just get Hiro and Lucious to help me out with this. Oh and don’t come crying to me when I bring home the creature and actually get extra credit, I won’t be sharing nothin’ with you guys.”

Zeus huffed before practically storming away, leaving just Elias, Gray and I to shake our heads and proceed walking down the hall.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask before, but what are you doing here, Elias?”

“Oh, I was in the Archives looking for something. On my way out I heard voices and, specifically Zeus’ and thought he was up to no good again.”

Gray began to laugh. “That’s totally understandable. Everyone in the Night Class usually pop their heads out of the classroom when Zeus starts going on a rampage. It’s like they know when he’s about to stir trouble. I just hope he never releases that foul beast in a classroom ever again.”

“Foul beast?”

“Which one? He has a lot at this point, him included.” Elias remarked.

“Vulcanaux.” 

The moment that word came out of Gray’s mouth, we all let out a shudder.

“I can’t believe he’s still summoning dangerous beasts like that.”

“Seriously? I can.” Elias interjected.

The three of us continued our little walk and talk session before heading our separate ways. Gray was going to go to the Night Class cafe and Elias offered to walk me back to the dorms. We discussed some prefect things, like deciding what kind of upcoming classes we were going to teach and so on and so forth. The topic of the magical creatures was brought up again too and much to my surprise, Elias admitted that he wouldn’t mind catching a glimpse of the mysterious new magical creature. It wasn’t every day that you got to see something as rare as that. 

When we reached the dorms, Elias and I said our goodbyes before splitting off. The moment I reached my room, I unceremoniously dropped my bag to the ground and lazily plopped down on my bed. I was exhausted from classes and the fact that I couldn’t get the thought of the magical creature out of my head wasn’t helping matters at all. 

I ended up lying down on my bed and staring at the ceiling for a few hours, unable to find the will to sleep. Too many thoughts were running through my head at the same time and no matter how many times and methods I tried, they just wouldn’t stop. I had even grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, thinking that in some way, all my pent up tiredness would come crashing into me, spoiler alert, it didn’t. The hours ticked by and before I knew it the sun’s early morning rays of light came pouring in through the window. I realized now that it was far too late to try and sleep now, so I decided to go ahead and get ready for classes. 

Perhaps a nice cold shower will wake me up? I thought it sounded like a good idea at first, but boy was I wrong. In the end, I just became this cold shivering mess who couldn’t stop shaking enough to even do my hair or put on any makeup to conceal my sleep heavy eyes. Screw it, I’ll just have to leave my hair down for the day and just put on a little bit of concealer under my eyes, assuming I could. I gave one more look in the mirror and gave a satisfied nod. It wasn’t the best work, but it would have to do for now.

When I stepped outside of the dorms, I noticed that the whole Academy seemed lively; well, livelier than usual that is. I saw Guy walking up ahead and quickly raced to catch up to him.

“Good morning, Guy.” I smiled.

“Oh hey, good morning Nadia!”

“Everyone seems to be in super high spirits, I wonder why?”

“Word through the grapevine is that everyone is desperate to catch some new magical creature. Everyone on the Ladilz team was talking about it and even went so far as to come up with ‘fool-proof strategies’ to catch it.”

“Wow…”

I watched as students raced around; a competitive aura was beginning to fill the air.

“I wonder what Schuyler thinks of this.”

“No one knows.” Guy shrugged. “It seems like he’s kept silent since the rumour was first introduced.”

“Strange..”

Guy nodded in agreement. “Very.”

Augustus had walked up to us a little while later and he and Guy walked to class, leaving me to walk by myself. Which was okay by me, besides, I still had a lot on my mind, so much so that I hadn’t realized someone had been screaming at me until I felt a pair of arms pull me from my thoughts and away from a rather big hole in the ground.

“Nadia? Did you not hear me screaming at you to watch out?”

I looked up to see Gray’s face hovering over mine, a look of worry clouded over and when I looked down, I noticed that I was sitting on the ground, just mere inches from the hole. Gray’s hands still wrapped around my waist and I began to feel my cheeks go warm.

“No, I-I suppose I was too far gone in my thoughts to have noticed. I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright.” He smiled. “Just please keep an eye out on your surroundings.”

“R-Right. Umm…” 

“Hm?”

“Do you mind..?”

“Huh - Oh!” 

Once Gray realized what I was getting at, he quickly released his hold on my waist and scurried back a little bit. He ran his hands through his hair and chuckled awkwardly.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright…” 

I quickly got back onto my feet and dusted off my skirt before offering my hand to help Gray back up to his feet.

“Gray...did you do this?” I asked curiously.

“The hole? Sure did!”

“What? Gray!”

“I told you I was going to make one yesterday, remember?”

“But out here near the courtyard?! Lots of students and professors walk through here.”

“Yeah…” Gray began to chuckle nervously. “I didn’t think about it until it was too late.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, I mean that Klaus, Elias and Schuyler fell through the hole, along with some other students.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Heh heh, you should have seen the look on their faces, especially Schuyler, man was that priceless. Ah… but after Schuyler fell in he gave me the scolding of a lifetime and I had to cancel my plan. I was about to fill the hole up but then I saw you walking towards it without a care in the world.”

“So much for you’re ‘fool-proof’ plan, huh?”

I received a flick to my forehead from Gray who was pouting.

“First of all rude! Second of all, I haven’t given up yet, I’ll just put a new hole somewhere away from here. I’ll even call it ‘Operation rabbit-hole’, it’ll be sure to succeed this time!”

“Gray…” I sighed.

I couldn’t change Gray’s mind, but I could help him fill up the hole before more chaos was made. Afterwards, I left for my first classes of the day, which seemed to be shorter than usual, in fact, the whole day was shorter. I guess I hadn’t realized that today was a half-day, what a relief it was to find that out.

“Maybe I can finally take a nap…”

“Miss Zaidelle? Is there something you wish to share with the class? Or perhaps you know the answer to my question?”

“Urk…could you...repeat the question by any chance?” I smiled nervously and was greeted to Schuyler’s annoyed sighs.

“Honestly, Nadia, if you’re not going to pay attention in my class, then you’ll have to make yourself useful by staying after and cleaning up the room.”

“W-What? Oh, come on!”

I heard snickers coming from the other side of the classroom, causing me to slump down even further in my chair and wait for this nightmare of a class to end already. Even though the bell rang, I still had to stay back while everyone left. Elias gave me a quick pat on the back and told me everything will be fine and that he would buy us some drinks at the Night Cafe later. I forced a smile and thanked him, and when he left I let out a sigh while I grabbed the nearby broom and began sweeping. 

A couple of hours had passed and I had the room looking spotless, everything had been wiped down, cleaned and organized. I stood there and admired my work, feeling rather proud of myself before grabbing my stuff and heading outside. The warm air and cool breeze felt so nice on my skin that I couldn’t help but yawn. The sleep that had been plaguing me all morning was finally taking over and suddenly the thought of taking a nice nap on the lush grass sounded wonderful.

In fact, that’s exactly what I was going to do. I found a nice open area with a good amount of shade. It was close to the lake so I could hear the sound of the soft ripples in the water when the Lune fish moved around. It was enough to lull me to sleep, which I was about to do had it not been for something that caught my eye. It looked like a small creature, almost like a stuffed animal. It had two small horns, ears, a fluffy tail and it was wearing such a cute little outfit!

“Oh, how adorable!”

The words came spilling out of my mouth before I knew it and that’s when I saw the creature suddenly take off in a sprint out to the courtyard.

“Oh no...was...was that the magical creature?!” I suddenly jumped to my feet, realizing the danger that poor thing was going to get into, especially if Zeus got a hold of it. “Wait, come back!”

Though I was exhausted, I somehow managed to run at full speed after the creature. I felt bad chasing after it, especially since I knew it was already scared, but I just had to make sure it was going to be alright.

“Hey, Hiro, look over there!”

Zeus’s voice suddenly rang out like a bell; clear as day. I knew that I wouldn’t have much time to get to the little creature, Zeus was awfully fast…

“Oh hey, look how small it is.”

I heard Hiro’s voice, which was sounding closer than ever before and when I looked up ahead, I saw the two of them cornering the small creature who looked absolutely terrified.

It’s now or never! I quickly rushed in, running as fast as my legs could carry me on the wavering stamina I had left. I quickly scooped the creature in my arms and ran while I held the timid creature to my chest.

“Nadia!”

“Get back here!”

Hiro and Zeus began sprinting after me, their footsteps sounding closer each second. I knew that they would outrun me, so I did the first thing that popped in my mind.

“Sorry about this!”

I cried out before tightening my grip on the creature with one hand - freeing my other hand - which I used to send an ice blast to the ground, which caused Zeus and Hiro to fall flat on their butts.

“Dammit!”

I could hear Zeus cry out from a distance while I continued running. After a short while, when I thought it was safe, I felt my legs buckle and I found myself on the ground breathing hard from exhaustion. I looked down at my arms and smiled knowing that the creature was safe and sound.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” 

I gently put the creature on the ground and went to pet it, only for it to bite my arm!

“H-Hey!” 

I began waving my arm almost wildly, trying to get the creature to release my arm, but it wasn’t working. At least it didn’t hurt…

“Come on, let go!”

But no matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn’t budge, in fact, it even growled at me when I reached for it again.

“Don’t touch me with such filthy hands human!”

Though the voice was a bit muffled, I could still make out the words.

“You can talk?!”

I looked down at the creature with shock. 

“Of course I can!”

It finally released its grip on my arm and took a few steps back with tiny little squeaks. It looked like it was glaring at me, but if that was the case then it was doing much of a good job.

“You’re…” I began to blush. “Gah, you’re so cute!”

“D-Don’t call me cute! I’m a dangerous creature I’ll have you know!”

“Not in the slightest.” 

I couldn’t take it! I ended up hugging the small creature only to have it begin hitting me while tiny little honks rang out.

“Unhand me right now heathen!”

“I-I’m sorry..”

I quickly put the creature back down and watched it sit right down in front of me. It clearly posed no threat, except through cuteness.

“I’m guessing you’re the new magical creature everyone is hyped up about.”

“What?”

“Yeah, everyone has been out to grab you and name you.”

“That’s ridiculous! Are humans all such morons, you included.”

“H-Hey!”

“Hmph. As if I’d let some human claim me like some stuffed animal. Ridiculous.”

“Then don’t wander out in big crowds.” I suggested. “Or it’ll happen.”

“Preposterous.”

“Well, you almost got snatched up by Zeus and he would have probably tossed you around like a ball.”

I watched as the creature made a derpy little face, it was like he didn’t know how to respond. I found myself laughing at the sight.

“What exactly is so funny to you?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just...the face you were making just now was pretty adorable.”

“Call me adorable again and I *will* bite your ankles, do you understand?”

“Pfft, go ahead, it won’t bother me.”

There it was again! Only this time the creature ended up falling back down on its butt after having gotten up just seconds prior.

“Truly, you’re one of the oddest I’ve met.”

“Hm?”

“Nothing. Forget it. Why did you even help me? Do you think I’m going to be grateful to you? Because I’m not!”

“No. I just felt sorry for you. You’re so tiny and you seemed so scared. I felt that saving you was the best option. Plus, at least now you’ll be safe here. The forest close by is filled with lots of other magical creatures, like the Winged Rabbits.” I smiled.

I watched as the being turned to look behind it, then it looked back at me.

“So you’re just going to let me go?”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

I watched the hesitation in its eyes as it got up. It looked back at me one last time before disappearing. I felt a strange sense of loneliness in my heart when it left. Did I happen to know that magical creature? It did feel familiar in some ways. Ah, perhaps it’s just my imagination. I began to shake the thoughts away and tried getting up to my feet, only to be hit by a wave of dizziness. 

Perhaps pulling an all-nighter was really getting to me. Maybe I should just stay here and take a quick nap, I mean there was no harm in doing so after all. Besides the grass felt like a soft cushion, mix that with the warm air and it made for the absolute perfect napping experience. With a soft yawn, I found myself giving into sleep before falling into a peaceful slumber.

As she dozed off, a certain creature had come back and now squeaked softly as it inched closer to her, careful not wake her. Particles of light surrounded its body and revealed their true form, a certain once hooded Dragonkin. 

“What a bother. This human truly is strange.” Felix let out a sigh as he scooped her sleeping body in his arms. “Yet she fascinates me. How bothersome…”

He averted his eyes and began walking in the direction of the dorms. He had a barrier of miasma that only he could see which concealed himself and Nadia from the eyes of anyone he walked past. As he got closer to the dorms he went around back and where his horns began to glow, creating a cloud of miasma which allowed him to float up to the balcony that he was sure belonged to her dorm. 

Once on the balcony, he opened the doors and slipped inside. His horns glowed again and the covers to the bed slid down, he then gently put Nadia’s body down and covered her up. When he stepped back he couldn’t help but stare at her sleeping face. How could humans be so terrifying and yet…

“Stupid human, making me feel such things…” 

Felix quickly left in a cloud of miasma, teleporting to who knows where. Meanwhile, Nadia had slept peacefully for a couple of hours before she woke up. She had woke up feeling well-rested but also confused. 

“How did I get back in my room..?”

Throwing the covers to the side, she got up out of bed and noticed that the sun was just now setting. She had woke up just in time to head down to the Night Cafe and was elated by the fact. She just couldn’t wait to go down and tell Gray and the others about the wonderful, yet strange dream she had.

[canumoveurseatup-no]

Ascension

Summary: When Chase was on his power hungry rampage, you helped him push through. Now you’re about to ascend and the boys find out. You find yourself in the same shoes as Caleb when one of your sisters come after your power

Pairing: Chase Collins x Black!Witch!Reader (The Covenant is one of my favorite movies of all time and there just aren’t enough Chase fics out there)

WC: 8.1K (this is my longest one yet and I’m proud of it)

Warnings: Mentions of witchcraft, a bit of angst, death, raising the dead, digging up a grave, blood, allusions of Hell.

-I KNOW THIS ISN’T AVENGERS! I WRITE FOR CHASE COLLINS AS WELL! I HOPE YOU ALL  ENJOY IT ANYWAY! PLEASE COMMENT AND REBLOG!!-

A/N: This was supposed to be part 2 but since almost everyone hasn’t read the first part, I started over since the first part was written like last July (2018) when I started this account. I deleted part 1 since it only had 24 notes lmao so here’s the full thing, edited and better!

Chase was a guy many knew not to mess with. Yeah, he stayed to himself but it was his mysterious demeanor that everyone didn’t want to get the ugly side of. He didn’t care about anyone really, only one person. You, his precious girlfriend.

You were there to keep him grounded, even during his power hungry rampage. You were the one that kept him from destroying himself and the lives of others. You made him realize he couldn’t lose you by doing this. He didn’t know how such a girl like you, such a homebody, quiet and shy could keep a maniacal witch like him at ease but you did it.

Just like Caleb though, you didn’t want your powers to get the best of you, which no one knew you had in the first place, not even Chase. You were in a coven of your own, but your coven knew what such power could do to just one person, and losing a previous member really made that reality set in.

You couldn’t lose another person you cared about due to their inability to keep their powers at bay.

————

Another fateful night at the Putnam barn consisted of drinks and music and just the group hanging together. Kate and Sarah were having their own conversation but you weren’t interested so you tuned into the guys.

“I think someone else like us is here” Reid brought up as he took a swig of his drink.

“And what would make you say that?” Caleb arched an eyebrow and took his arm from around Sarah, now leaning on his elbows on his knees.

“Remember when you could feel that Chase was here?” Reid questioned and that caused Chase to tense up but you were there to calm his nerves.

“Yeah” Pogue now joining in.

“It’s like that. I feel it. The dreams, the darklings, spiders. It’s like that all over again” Reid explained with his hands.

“It’s not me, I swear. I’m done with all that” Chase was nervous. He was finally beginning to feel included, was finally getting the brotherhood he missed as a kid.

“I know.” Reid was sure. So sure.

“But how?” Tyler finally spoke up and was twiddling his thumbs.

“Because... this power isn’t like ours. I-it’s different. From different roots. It’s a female coven. I see it in my dreams”

At that point everyone was quiet. Even Kate and Sarah.

“But how are you sure?” You swallowed the lump in your throat. It couldn’t be your coven. You all swore, you took an oath to not use your powers for personal gain, to not lust for it.

“Apparitions of a girl. When I was showering. Just like Sarah experienced when she was first here.”

At this point, all the guys ascended so their powers were stronger. Your birthday was coming up you hadn’t ascended yet and it scared you. What if the same thing between the boys happened to you?

“A female coven? Maybe I can get in on it” Kate joked.

“That’s not funny. This is serious. We don’t need a repeat of what happened. Whoever is doing this is strong. Not like us, but in their own way” Pogue scowled at her.

You knew what Reid was talking about. The apparitions only appeared in your dreams. Never in person like him. You just brushed it off. But maybe you shouldn’t have though.

“We have no clue though” Caleb ran a hand through his hair and Sarah comforted him.

“M-maybe it’s nothing” you shrug. Your eyes burned. The need for them to turn a blinding white and speed away to solve this itched at your conscious.

“White.” Reid whispered.

“What?” The boys were questioning is random statement.

“The female coven! Instead of black eyes like ours, theirs turn white”

“How does this help us figure it out, though?” Chase was intrigued by that statement.

“A spell. There’s a spell we can put over ourselves so that we can see their true form”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. No, Reid don’t do that.

“That just might work.” Caleb smiled and you knew you were done for.

———————

You went back to your dorm and luckily your roommate was there. Your coven sister.

“Someone in the coven is using powers”

You were both breathless as you said it at the same time.

“The Ipswich boys are gonna weed us out. They’re putting a spell on themselves to see our true form. I could lose Chase, Mariah!”

“You won’t! I’ll put a protection spell on you so they can’t see you”

“Okay and what about you?”

“I don’t care! When they see me they’ll see that I’m a part of the coven but they’ll also be able to tell I’m not the one they’re looking for” she was so nonchalant about this.

“Mariah, I ascend in a few days...” You express your fears

“No,” her eyes grew wide.

“We have to figure this out! Now!!”

——————

You were all back at the Putnam barn, it’s your hideout, a place to get peace of mind. You all were just enjoying each other’s company except Tyler wasn’t there yet. He was still at the library finishing an essay.

The boys hadn’t come up with anything throughout this whole week. They found members of your coven but they couldn’t sense the one causing all the trouble.

“I found her!!” Tyler bursts in soaking wet from the rain and panting as if he just ran all the way from the school to here, even though it was only from his car.

“The one. I found her. And I know why she’s doing it!,”

He came over to you all and you felt your stomach drop. You could sense his anxiousness on the topic.

“What? Who is it?” Caleb stands up and walks over to him.

“You know that groups of girls. Like the quiet ones who always have their noses in the romance novels? Your friends!” He points to you and you can feel your chest tightening in fear.

“Yeah, what about them?,” you cleared your throat.

“The one with the dark, kinky curly hair,” he sighs

“We.. we all have kinky curly hair, Ty,” you laugh to try and lighten the situation.

“Violet? Vi.. Vienna! Vienna transferred from Pennsylvania with you guys. Glowing dark brown skin, nice lips, cute glasses. Long legs,” he explains

“What was her reasoning, Tyler?,” Pogue walked up as well and you wanted to run away but you were frozen, fear had weighed you down, you couldn’t move.

Tyler looks at you and their eyes follow. You can feel the tension rise in the room

“Why are you looking at me? I don’t know what’s going on,” You shrug as you run your hands up and down your sweatpants. Tyler turns back to the group and you knew what was about to come out of his mouth next.

“Y/N ascends in three days time...,” he looks down at his feet and you can feel tears burn in your eyes. You wanted to fling him across the room for running his mouth. You had this handled for fucks sake.

“A-ascend? Chase stands up quickly and looks between you and the boys, “What the hell do you mean ascend?,” he gets loud, voice echoing in the empty barn.

“Y’know, that thing that happens to us on our 18th birthday?,” Reid’s sarcasm would usually lighten the mood, but not this time. 

“She’s a part of the other coven,” Caleb’s realization finally clicked and hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Why didn’t you say anything?,” Pogue asks. He looks at you with slight disdain, even though you thought of him as an older brother of sorts, this situation of you not telling him had turned everything around.

You didn’t know what the hell to say. Shit, what can you say?

“Y/N, say something! Please tell me they’re wrong,” Chase looked distressed. They were all standing a few front in front of you and you just couldn’t look them in the eyes.

“Can we trust her?,” Sarah whispers and that hit you like brick wall. You weren’t a danger to them. You hadn’t had any problems ever with your magic. You rarely even used it.

“Let her talk,” Pogue’s voice was monotone and you knew you were deep shit.

“We..,” you tried to swallow the lump in your throat but it wouldn’t go away, “We.. we swore.. we took an oath! A blood, soul-binding oath to our sisterhood that we wouldn’t lust for more power. I-I didn’t know what Vi was doing! She was the one who took me in when we were back home. We all took the opportunity to get far away from home because we had people looking for us, trying to use us for our power and they got one of us. Acacia, they made her lust for more power and she ended up dying. So.. we ran. We took the first chance to get out of there and Spenser Academy was that chance. We vowed to never let that happen to any of us. We kept it a secret. I didn’t know she was doing this, I swear!,” you pleaded

“None of us did!,”

They all just stared at you. A witch, from another coven, in their town. Someone they considered a friend, hell, family even, had lied to them.

“You lied to us, Y/N. To me!,” Chase was upset and even though you didn’t want him to be, he had ever right. It’s not like you meant to lie, was it even really a lie? Sure you said you didn’t know what they were talking about but shit, it wasn’t a topic until recently so you just never said anything.

“You ascend in three days time and didn’t think to tell anyone?!,” Pogue took a step closer and you just stared at everyone’s feet.

“I could have handled it. I can.. handle it. If she comes for me, I can do it alone!,” you stood up and started to walk away. You wouldn’t stand for them being upset at you for something you did to protect yourself.

“By doing what? Willing your powers away?,” Caleb shouted and you stopped in placed to turn back around

“If it comes down to it.. when her mother got sick, she willed Vienna her powers so she is already stronger than me,”

“So you mean to tell me, you would have gotten yourself killed and none of us would have known what the fuck happened to you? Great girlfriend you are, babe. What about me, huh? Do you know how torn I would be if something happened to you, knowing I could stop it?,” Chase comes up you.

“You can’t stop it! No one can!,” you felt your eyes burn as the realization set in that your own coven sister might literally be the death of you.

“Y/N, I thought the same thing when I was spiraling out of control. I can help!,” he tried to reason with you but you had your mind set on the outcome of this fight.

“How is this any different? How is this any different than what happened here, huh?,” You felt the hot tears running down your face as you waved your hand at the barn 

“You.. you know I’m not like that anymore,” he gritted through his teeth.

“If I can’t beat her there is no other choice,” 

“There is always a choice. You have us, you have the rest of your coven!,” Reid exclaimed. 

“The way Caleb did it on his own, I can too. There’s no point in dragging you all in this,” you wanted this conversation to end. You were feeling overwhelmed and that was never good with your powers.

“I wasn’t alone though, Y/N. You were there,” Caleb was right. Had you not been there to stop Chase, Caleb, Kate, Sarah and Pogue would be dead.

“You guys don’t know her!,” You shook your head, “She is stronger! She is faster, smarter, more cunning,” you felt your eyes burn again but it wasn’t from the tears. It was a flash of head and you knew your eyes were now a blinding, angelic white.

They all just stared in disbelief. Sure they’d seen the eyes of a witch but they were always pure black.The white was almost scarier.

“I. Can’t. Beat. Her!,” the rush of your energy had caused all the lights to blow out. Chase grabbed you in his arms as you cried and you just stood there, body trembling.

“Either way, she’s gonna kill me. Everyone else has already ascended. I’m the last in the coven,”

Everyone came up to comfort you, rubbing your back as Chase whispered in your ear

“We won’t allow that.

------

Vienna had come to you in your dream letting you know when and where she wanted you. Thirty-three minutes past ten on your birthday under the waning crescent moon. This dream had woken you up, you were gasping for air and were in a cold sweat. The commotion has caused Chase to wake up from beside you.

“Babe, what’s going on?,” His voice was laced with sleepiness as his eyes cracked open.

“She’s coming. She’s really coming for me, Chase. She’s in my dreams!,” You ran your hands over your face as you cried and he woke up completely at your state is distress. 

“Y/N, we’re gonna figure this out. I am not letting anything happen to you. You know that, none of us are going to let her hurt you,” Chase tried to soothe you but it didn’t help much as you reiterated to yourself that this was your doom.

“You know how you felt like you were out of control when you were power hungry? How you felt like you needed it. You remember how it was damn near impossible to get through to you? It’s going to be the same thing with her but worse. Our lineage is so much more different than yours. Our power dates back to the beginning of time... and she has her mother’s magic on her side. M-maybe I’m not meant to win this,”

Chase sat up in bed to hold your face in his hands, “And you have your coven sisters. Without Vienna and your late coven sister from back home, there’s still ten of you, not including yourself. Then there’s us, we’re gonna win this,” 

He gets a weird urge and climbs out of bed and grabs your phone to hand it to you, “Call your other sisters. We only have two days now, we need to figure out a plan,”

-----

“What do you mean she’s trying to take your power? Y/N, we took an oath,” Octavia spoke in disbelief

Everyone had met up in you and Mariah’s room. She was a deep sleeper so she had missed your conversation with Chase until you filled her in when the boys came over.

“Is it really that hard to believe? She’s always been secretive and always had a holier than though demeanor to her. Plus, when was the last time we’ve seen her, Tavia?,” her twin sister Ophelia countered.

“It makes sense,” Nyelah sat forward, “Frankie, the spiders, the centipedes, it all makes sense,” she turned to your coven sister, Frankie. Frankie hated conflict and she quite honestly hated the life of living the craft, but she was supportive no matter what.

“Why didn’t you guys say anything?,” Caleb folds his arms and leans against the door. 

“Well, we weren’t exactly supposed to let anyone know we were witches, to keep ourselves safe. But Tyler spilled and I guess in a way it was a good thing because we’ll need all the help we can get,” Juniper rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she pulled a grimoire out of her bag as did Frankie, knowing they wouldn’t get sleep and needed all the information they can get.

“So what do we do? She’s clearly not afraid to come to Y/N in her dreams, she’s showing her face now. So how do we stop her?,” Chase asks

“There’s no stopping her unless we kill her,” Blythe spoke gently. She was the mother of the group and the noble one. She knew the ins and outs of the craft way before any of you did. Sure your mothers taught you all, but her mother sent her away to a school of The Craft to properly prepare her past the limits of what only she was able to teach Blythe, “But Y/N, if you kill her... you will receive her and her mother’s power,”

“That’ll be too much for her to bear. Her body is pure, Blythe, it won’t hold up especially with her already ascending. There has to be another way,” Ivy came to your defense. 

“Why can’t one of us take her out? Or one of you?,” Pogue questions.

Blythe sighs and leans back in the chair shaking her head, “The one ascending has to be the one. She’ll be at her peak so she will be able to put up a good fight. There is no other way. Y/N is the one she’s after so only Y/N can stop her. We can help her fight Vienna but we can’t stop her. That’s the the way things work in our lineage,” 

Mariah gets up and starts pacing, you two were like two peas in a pod, she wouldn’t let you go down like this, especially at the hands of Vienna. 

“Frankie? Juni?,” Chase calls out for her, “You found anything interesting for Y/N to use?,”

Frankie closes the book and sighs deeply as if the information she was about to relay truly and deeply bothered her, “Yes but I don’t think any of my sisters are going to like it,” she looks around at you all. 

“Fran, whatever it is, spit it out,” Piper was the hothead and ready to bust some ass at any time.

Frankie was still stalling and Aurora snapped in her face, “Whatever it is, we will deal with it. We need to know, Fran,”

Frankie stands up and looks at you sorrowfully, “We’re gonna have to go back home..,” all your sisters gasped at the mention of their long forgotten home, neither of you spoke of it since you all got here almost two years ago, “We... we’re going to have to dig up Acacia’s remains,”

“What the fuck, why?,” Piper stands up in a flash, fists clenched, “We promised we would let her rest!,” Piper and Acacia were practically lovers. Though they were coven sisters and their parents came from the same coven, there was no blood connection.

“Pip...,” Blythe looked at her through her eyelashes, “I know what we promised. But if we don’t stop Vi, Y/N goes out just like Cacia if not worse,”

“Don’t,” Piper held out her finger, her cracked at the mention of Acacia’s death, “Don’t talk about her death. J-just-,” She tried her best to ‘forget’ Acacia and how she died, so all of this was opening a healing wound.

“I know it hurt!,” Mariah came to defense

“You don’t know shit!,” Piper yelled.

“Oh really? Because as if Acacia wasn’t important to me too? As if my best friend’s life isn’t on the line here?! Do you really want to lose another one of us, Piper?!,”

“How about we sit down and just let Frankie finish what the fuck she was trying to say?!,” Reid rolls his eyes.

“Yes! Please, guys. We already have to lose Vienna... let’s not make it Y/N too, she’s the main thing that keeps us going,” Octavia begs.

She was right. Everyone had their own purpose and personality in the coven. Octavia and Juniper were the resourceful ones, they could make anything out of nothing, Octavia was good with her hands and Juniper was good with her mind. Ophelia was the comic relief, she was the one that kept everyone laughing and constantly telling jokes. Nyelah and Aurora were quiet but they were hard asses when they needed to be, they were good at protection spells and doing anything they needed to keep you all safe. Frankie was the book worm and like stated, she hated the life of the craft but she took it seriously so she kept up on everything to make sure nothing fell out of line. Blythe, also like stated was the noble one. She was like the mother of the group, making sure everyone knew their spells, when and how to use them and the backlashes if used in vain, she kept everyone educated. Ivy was the eccentric one, she was very unconventional and kooky. Her mother taught her differently than the rest of you so she has a different outlook on the craft and offers unorthodox help if she feels like Blythe is being too hard on you all. Mariah was the sister everyone wanted and needed. If you were sick, she was there, money problems? she’s got you, need help with academics? oh she was well rounded in all subjects. Piper, clearly the hothead, liked to do her own thing and dared to be different, she was more on the darker side but she believed in the craft and what it stood for so that’s why she stayed. Her mother was more into the darker spells and what not so that’s what she grew up learning despite all of your mothers being from the same coven. Vienna was the distant one, she loved being along and though she took you in and cared for you, she liked going her own way and not asking for help. Acacia was like the little sister everyone wanted to protect, she was the innocent sweetheart that didn’t want to put up a fight to hurt anyone.

But you... you kept everyone together because of your positive attitude. You were always willing to put yourselves in harm’s way to protect the ones you love, some might call it dumb... but you called it selfless... which is why the next words came out of your mouth.

“Maybe we shouldn’t... maybe I shouldn’t fight Vi... let her win,”

“Absolutely not!,” - “Hell no!,” - “Are you fucking insane?,” was heard all around the room.

“There’s no discussion about this,” Blythe stood up, “Tyler, round up your truck, Caleb get your car and I’ll get mine. We leave in an hour,” Blythe spares Piper one last look before walking away but Piper wraps her hand around Blythe’s arm, stopping her.

“You do this and I will never forgive you,” Piper had hot tears rushing down her cheeks and you felt bad. But no one was standing for you dying, especially if it could be stopped.

“You don’t have to. I’m not looking for your forgiveness,” she snatches her arm out of Piper’s grasp, “I’m looking to keep my sister alive, no matter the cost. We all lost Acacia, this isn’t easy for any of us... But you and I knowing Acacia the most should know she’d be willing to let us do this if it meant keeping one of us alive,”

Acacia was selfless just like you that’s why you two got along so great. But Blythe knew her before anyone because they learned about the coven pretty much from birth and Piper knew her for well... obvious reasons.

“You don’t want this to happen then don’t come. But your forgiveness doesn’t have the same weight as our sister’s life right now,”

--------

The ride to Lock Haven was long but the ride to Acacia’s grave site was longer and more nerve wracking. You sat with Chase in the back of Blythe’s SUV and he was holding your hand, knowing you were scared and felt bad as Nyelah held Piper as she cried. She decided to come because sister’s don’t leave each other behind and she was trying to come to terms with the fact that this was the only way. 

Frankie was in the front reading to you all about how this would go. She had everyone else on the phone. Tyler, Reid, Pogue, and the twins were all in one car as Caleb and Mariah, Ivy, Juniper and Aurora were in his car and there was a three way call.

“You must dig up the remains of the resting sister. Though she is physically gone, her power will remain in her bones as she is now a part of the Earth. Once the resting’s bones are dug up, the ascending one must perform a summoning spell to gain the power of their resting to protect herself against the adversary,” Frankie read out loud and you gasped. You didn’t want to take another’s power.

“The resting one can consent to this summoning by willingly giving their power to the ascending one. The resting one does not offer up their power unless it is dire, meaning, power hungry savages can not take their power for the keeping,” 

Frankie turned around to look at both you and Piper to reassure you that Acacia will come alive in her form to be able to consent to this. You wouldn’t just be stealing them, she would be gifting them.

“And you said Y/N has to perform this spell at the first sight of the peaking sun?,” Caleb’s voice run through the car.

“Yes and call me crazy but I believe Acacia wanted us to find this way. She wanted Chase to make Y/N call us all so we can stop Vi. She was letting us know this was the right way,” Frankie says into the phone.

“Even in the afterlife she’s still putting others before herself,” Piper softly cried into Nyelah’s shoulder,

“It’s because she loves us, Pip. She wouldn’t want to live in the afterlife knowing she could help us stop this evil,” Ny tells her. 

You all still had a little over an hour before sun rise, so you all left at the perfect time. Octavia and Juni had their bag full of spell oils, herbs and candles to perform this correctly.

“We’re here,” Blythe puts the car in park and takes the keys out of the ignition, immediately jumping out, all of you following suit, “This way,”

This was a grave of your coven and those before you. Blythe lead you all to Acacia’s gravestone and Piper fell to her knees, “I’ve missed you so much,” she whispers, “I’m so sorry this has to happen,” 

The boys had their shovels ready and once Ivy pulled Piper away, they began digging. The closer they got to Acacia’s coffin, the more the wind picked up.

“She’s welcoming us,” Juniper assured everyone, “They all are. They know we’re in a fight for the greater good,” 

Chase hit the coffin and they all swiped the dirt away before pulling the coffin up. Pogue and Caleb pried it open and there Acacia lied, still intact and beautiful somehow, even two years later. That’s how it was with your lineage, they never became worm’s food once laid down to rest. They remain intact because you all are already a part of the Earth. Her skin remained glowing that beautiful dark brown, hair still voluminous in her natural afro. You felt tears pool in your eyes.

Piper let out a loud sob and you wanted to back out of this. 

“Please let there be another way,” she pleaded, but Blythe helped them take her body out and lie her down in the circle of sage that Octavia had put for them. Frankie lit the candles and handed you the book that you set at your feet.

“Sisters...,” You looked down at the book to read the words, “While this is my mission, I need the power of the sisterhood to help raise the resting. Do you consent to this summoning?,” You first looked at Blythe and she took your hand

“Yes,” she firmly nods her head.

“Sister Ivy, do you consent to this summoning?,” you and Blythe asked at the same time. It continued until you all got to Piper.

“Sister Piper, do you consent to this summoning?,” you all spoke in unison.

She stood there staring at Acacia’s body. At first she shook her head before you all repeated yourself. 

“Please, don’t make me do this,” 

“Piper, please!,” Chase came up and begged, “I get it. L-losing a loved one hurts. I know you would never wish that hurt one anyone else so please. You don’t owe me shit,” His eyes welled with tears at the thought of losing you, “But Y/N... Y/N is your sister and I love her, you love her. We all love her. I know this is hard but we don’t need to lose anymore people,” 

Piper stared at him and saw how hysterical he was. She saw the fear in his eyes and it reminded her of her state when she found out Acacia had passed. As much as she wanted Acacia to rest, Chase was right, she wouldn’t wish that feeling on anyone. She looked back to Acacia then to you before wiping her tears and stepping up to take your hand as well as Ophelia’s. The sister circle was complete and you were ready.

“With the bones of Acacia Brown... I ask my resting sister to rise and help me in this time of trial and tribulation,” you began as you saw the faint glow of the sun rising.

“With the bones of Acacia Brown, we as our resting sister to rise and help Y/N in this time of trial and tribulation,” The other’s chanted after you. The boys stood far enough away to be out of the way but still had a clear view of what was happening. 

The wind and leaves started to blow in circles around you and the candles around you all lifted as Acacia’s body stood up right. You all kept chanting until her eyes flew open, blinding white orbs staring back as you all and the wind stopped blowing but the candles continued floating. 

You all dropped each other’s hands as Acacia started moving on her own.

“Sisters,” she greets with a smile, “My dear Piper,” she turned to Piper and Piper could have fainted. She got Acacia back just for her to lose her again.

“It’s really you,” Piper stepped into the circle and raised her hand to touch Acacia’s cheek, “I’ve missed you so much,” she wrapped her arms around Acacia and she lightly laughed.

“How do you miss someone who has never left you?,” She took Piper by her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

“Cacia, baby. You died,” Piper stated flabbergasted. 

“My flesh has died but my conscious and spirit are very much alive. I know you feel me when you’re going through hard times. I have never left you my love and I know this is hard, but we must help our sister,” Acacia held her face and kissed her lips passionately. As gross that it might seem that she was just dead, Piper didn’t give a damn and gave Acacia that last kiss she was never able to give her.

She pulled away from Piper and pressed her forehead to hers, “I love you. I am never gone. Remember that,” 

Piper tried her best not to cry as she returns to her spot in the circle. The boys watched from the side and realized how different your sisterhood dynamic really was.

“You’ve... brought.. guests? I knew you always had a thing for a little almond milk in your tea,” 

“Ever the jokester,” you laughed at her with tears in your eyes, “They’re like my brothers. Except for that one,” you pointed to Chase, “He’s my love,” 

“I can tell by the look in his eyes. Fear, pain. He doesn’t want to lose you,” her voice was low and smooth like navy blue velvet, “But I am here to help,” 

“It’s good to see you all,” She hugs them all one by one and the water works is a commonality between you all now, “I can see our sister Vienna had betrayed the ethics of the sisterhood and broken the oath. Word travels fast in the afterlife but I couldn’t get to you all as fast as I wanted to but the timing is just right,” she sighs and looks directly into your eyes.

“You haven’t ascended yet so having my powers might overwhelm your pure spirit but it will not be tainted as these powers are being gifted. You defeat Vienna, the universe will gift you her powers too and since you have mine, your body will be able to hold up. Your spirit will remain pure as you take in her evil power, but once it’s gifted, the evil vanishes,” she informs you all and you can hear everyone sigh in relief that your body will be able to handle the power once Vienna is defeated.

“Do not be afraid. Embrace the gift, it will treat your body well as long as you accept it with open arms and not fight it,” she adds.

You step in the circle with her while Blythe and Piper join hands to close the gap. Acacia takes your hands and smiles at you, “I know you are afraid. But please do not fear. Gaining power of a resting sister will not steer you wrong, you are safe. And just because you are gaining mine, doesn’t mean my spirit won’t still remain intact. You have me and our ancestors on your side now,” she squeezes your hands in reassurance. 

“Ancestors of the sisterhood, I, Acacia Brown, gift my sister, Y/N Y/L/N, my powers to help her in this time of trial and tribulation,” she chants until both of you are floating five feet off the ground. The sun is rising and once the sun hits both of you at a certain angle, a strong bolt of power shoots through your chest and it’s almost too much to take. 

It’s a burning sensation and you want to let go of Acacia’s hands but she tightens her grip on your hands, “Do not let go. Remember, embrace it. Don’t let it overwhelm you. Think of what you’re fighting for,” though all you could see was blinding white as the power was entering you, her voice rung through it all.

You took in her words and the white that you were seeing turned into visions of your sisters, you were fighting for them because if you didn’t fight for them, Vienna would go after them next and kill them for their power. Next you saw the boys, Reid, Pogue, Tyler and Caleb, you fought for them because they were family, you couldn’t give up. Last, you saw Chase and yourself. You were fighting for him because you couldn’t hurt him by losing this. You were fighting to keep the wonderful blessing the universe has given you.

You look up at the ombreing sky and gasp violently as your body now vibrated with new power. You’re brought back the ground and fall against Acacia’s chest. 

“You have been gifted. The sisterhood sees you doing great things with this power,” she holds your face to look down at you, at first she wore a smile, then it turned into a grimace you’ve never seen before, “Now defeat Vienna. She will pay for her betrayal to the sisterhood in the afterlife... and it will be worse than what you dish out to her,” 

---------

“She wants to meet at the barn,” You all sat in your room as you paced back and forth. Sure you had Acacia’s power now as well as your own and you were about to ascend but that didn’t ease the nerves. 

“We’re all gonna be there. We can fight but like Blythe said, you have to be the one to take her out,” Juniper tells you as she puts her coat one. It was almost time for you to meet Vienna to fight for your life. 

“Me and the guys will stay outside, around the perimeter. If the fight gets outside the barn she won’t be expecting us to be there. Just you all,” Chase notified you as you started walking to the cars. He was worried but wouldn’t let it show. He knew you were strong and wouldn’t doubt you, but the whole fact that you’re literally fighting to stay alive is what’s bothering him so much. Now he’s seeing how the other guys felt when he was in Vienna’s shoes. 

“We’ve got your back. Let’s just get this over with so she can pay,” Aurora practically yanked the door open as she got in the vehicle. 

The ride was shorter than normal, probably because you didn’t want to be doing this. It was raining and that made this ordeal more eerie. 

“Everyone is here for you. Just make it back to me okay,” Chase leaned his forehead against yours and kissed your lips. You let out a shaky breath as Blythe told you that it was almost thirty three minutes past ten. Happy birthday to you, right?

The girls followed you inside the barn and it was empty, or at least it seemed that way.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear sister Y/N. Happy birthday to yooou,” Vienna’s eerie voice rung through the cold, dark barn and you felt your chest ache from how hard your heart was beating.

She came into view and you all stood in a V formation with you in the front, “I would say ’and many mooore’ but ya know how this is gonna go so that’s seem pretty redundant, don’tcha think?,” she sat on stack of hay and smiled darkly at you all. 

“Why are you doing this?,” You asked. You tried to keep your voice steady and strong but fear got the better of you.

“You’re just shaking in your boots aren’t ya?,” she teased, “Brought the whole sister brigade. Even with you all, you can’t stop me. How do you think Acacia died?,”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!,” Piper shouts. 

“Oh you really think she died at the hands of others from gaining too much power? No no noo. She was being a selfish bitch so I took care of her. Figured if she wouldn’t give me her power then she shouldn’t have them either. So... I killed her aaand framed it as if someone else did it,”

You could hear Piper seething, fists clenching,

“Piper, keep steady,” Blythe tried to calm her down but Piper was a hothead after all. There was not calming her down after this.

“You fucking bitch!,” Piper swung her fist and a fiery blast was sent toward Vienna but she was gone.

“Got a be a bit faster than that, Pip,” You all turned around to see Vienna there with black orbs floating in her hands

It started pouring harder and the crescent moon started shining through the holes in the roof. You started to feel nauseous and you knew you were about to ascend.

“Aurora, Juniper, Ophelia, Mariah, and Ivy,- Protect Y/N!,” Blythe shouts over his shoulder. She could tell the ascension was happening without even having to look at you. 

Her, Frankie, Octavia, Piper and Nyelah started to fight Vienna as you screamed out in the air as you started to ascend. The other five had to keep Vienna from getting to you as it happened.

You had to keep in mind what you for fighting for, you couldn’t fight the power, you had to welcome it with open arms.

-------

“It’s happening,” Tyler tells the boys, “She’s ascending. Look at the moon,” 

They all looked up and saw the way the moon was almost a grey blue in the night sky. They could hear the screams inside the barn over the thunder.

“Get into position. It’s getting pretty loud in there,” Chase instructs.

They got into position, ready to fight just in case it came down to it. They weren’t going to let anything happen to you.

----

“You can’t stop me!,” Vienna sang as she was sending black orbs to everyone. Piper was doing her best to at least subdue Vienna with her dark magic but Vienna had so much power, Piper didn’t come close. No one did.

You fell to the ground with another painful gasp as you fully ascended.

“Birthday girl finally fucking ascended! I’ve been waiting for forever!,” Vienna swipes her arms in the air, knocking the other girls out of the way of you. 

You stood up straight and countered her attacks as she sent black masses your way, “You won’t win!,” you shout at her. The fighting was non-stop. Just when you would think you had her, she’d get you and vice versa. 

“I always win,” she flung you through the wall of the barn and you rolled outside. You groaned in pain as you looked up to see Pogue and Reid, “Y/N!,” they shouted. 

Vienna stepped out of the hole she created in the side of the barn and smiled even wider, “You really brought the lost white boys to fight me?, I thought you were smarter than that, sweetie pie,” 

By the time the boys sent a blast of power her way, she had stopped it before it even got close to her, sending it right back to them, knocking the wind out of them as they hit the trees

Chase stands in front of you, eyes pure black and yours pure white, “You picked the wrong girl to mess with,” Chase hadn’t used his power since that night he tried to take Caleb’s and that was a year ago, but he was right up there with Vienna almost.

“You think you can stop me from getting my sister’s power?,” she asks

“Can hardly call her your sister if you’re trying to kill her!,” 

“Think of it as mercy. Better me than any other hag down the line. I took you in my dear, Y/N,”

“Chase, Chase she’s right,” you stand up. You hold your side and look down to see blood, “She’s won,” you looked up at him and watch his eyes return to normal. 

“W-what do you mean?,”

All you did was kiss him and start walking away. He tried to stop you but you sent a blast of white energy his way. 

“Y/N, STOP!,” Everyone was outside now as you limped towards Vienna’s smiling, tall figure. 

“Please, Y/N/N, please!,” Mariah cried out, “Don’t do this,” 

Reid caught her as she ran to you, “It’s not over, Riah. Y/N’s got something up her sleeve,” he whispers in her ear. Blythe knows this too. But everyone else thinks you’re about to give yourself away.

You fall to your knees in front of her and cry out in pain. She places her hand on your forehead, pushing your head back, “Say the words, sweetie pie,” she called you that nickname when she took you in. After you parents disappeared, she was there to guide you into the sisterhood properly and she gave you that nickname. It was like a bad curse now to hear her say it. 

“I know it’s your birthday and all... but tell me you gift me your power- SAY IT!,”

She was so impatient, “I.. g-gift,” 

“Y/N no!,” Piper screams. She couldn’t let you go. Especially since Acacia’s powers were within you now. But Vienna didn’t know that. That’s how you used it to your advantage.

“Fucking. say. the words,” She grits through her teeth.

“I gift you.. Vienna Woods, absolutely... fucking ...nothing,” 

The smile on her face drops before she steps back kill you with one blast of energy until you put your hands up and nothing hits you. You open your eyes and see Acacia standing in front of you, she held her arms out as she held Vienna’s face tight in her grasp. 

“Cacia?,” her voice was laced with fear. You looked around and saw all your ancestors in the same stance as you and Acacia. You were controlling their movement. 

“You have me and our ancestors on your side now,” Acacia’s words echo in your mind. 

You stand up on your feet and your eyes shine brighter than ever.

“Vienna Woods. Traitor to the sisterhood,” you, Acacia and your ancestors all speak at the same time. Your sisters and the boys stare wide eyes at the scene before them

“Holy fucking shit!,” they all quite literally say in unison. 

“I-I’m.. I’m sorry!,” Vienna cried out as you lifted her into the air. 

“It’s a bit too late to apologize, don’tcha think, sweetie pie?,” your tone was mocking.

“P-please. ancestors! I’m sorry for lusting for more power! I-I’ll do better, I’ll pay for what I’ve done. Just please forgive me!,” Vienna pleaded.

“Oh, you’ll pay alright. There is no redemption for going against the sisterhood,” you all spoke. You clench your hands in the empty air as well as your ancestors and Acacia’s hands tighten around Vienna’s head. 

“You want to talk about mercy. I bet you wish I would place some on you right now,” Your hands continue to tighten around nothing but it causes Acacia’s to tighten around Vi’s head.

Vienna was screaming in pain and everyone else couldn’t do anything but stare wide eyed with jaws dropped. Mariah helped Chase stand up as you guided those to help you defeat Vi. 

“Please!,” she was screaming bloody murder.

“It’s a bit too late to beg for your life,” Your words only came out of Acacia’s mouth this time. Vienna almost shit herself as the same words she used on Acacia have now come full circle to be used on her, “You’re weak. You don’t deserve what the Earth and Universe has gifted you...,” 

Blood from Vienna’s head started dripping down her face, “No mercy will be placed on you in this life or the afterlife,” You and all your ancestors shout and you clench harder, making Vienna scream as loud as she could before squeezing her had to a pulp. Everyone could hear the cracking of her skull and the squelch of her brains as he body fell to the ground. You on the other hand are thrown back against the ground, back arching as you receive another wave of power. Your ancestors and Acacia all flow back into your spirit and you’re brought back to the real world. Breathing heavily as you lie down on the ground. 

Chase runs back over to you and holds you tight, “Don’t scare me like that ever again, you hear me,” he holds your face and looks directly into your eyes. 

You cry as you nod, wrapping your arms around his neck, “That was a lot to handle,” You cry into his shoulder.

“I know, but I am so proud of you. We all are. You did it,” 

Everyone gathered around you and hugged you as you did what you had to do. They know it was overwhelming, defeating someone as close to you as Vienna was hard, you never in a million years would have thought this night would happen.

“Let’s burn the body and get back to campus to properly celebrate your birthday, yeah?,” Blythe cracks a smile and helps you up. She rarely smiled but she was like a proud mother in this moment.

“Please! Cause this shit was wild. I need a fucking drink,” Juniper sighs.

“I second that!,”

----------

It was dark and cold as Vienna woke up. She didn’t know where she was.

Then everything became illuminated with a red glow and the place she was in grew hot. 

“H-hello?,” she calls out and her voice echos, “Where am I?,” she holds herself and looks around.

“The realm of punishment for traitors to the sisterhood,” Acacia appears in front of her. 

“Cacia,” Vi stand up and tries to hug her but she steps away.

“I am not here for a reunion. I am here to let our ancestors know who dared lust for more power and break a soul binding oath,” 

All their ancestors appear once again.

“This is the place you will spend the rest of eternity. Torture will never end. Your screams will never be heard,” 

Vienna’s mother comes up and shakes her head before placing her hand on her forehead, forcing her back down to her knees.

“Mom, please. I’m sorry,” Vienna cried. 

“You are a disgrace to the sisterhood and for that you will pay,” 

--------

I HAVE HAD THIS IN MY DRAFTS EVER SINCE I STARTED THIS ACCOUNT BACK IN JULY! I’m glad I rewrote it and made it better omg

PLEASE COMMENT AND REBLOG!

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[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 210: Put-Downs, Poltergeists, and Plot Twists

Previously on BnHA: Bakugou’s team defeated class B in record time. Everyone praised them for their flawless performance, and All Might told Bakugou he got chills watching him and Bakugou got super embarrassed and mumbled something and walked off and it was in my Top 10 Cutest BnHA Moments and I love it. Then Deku came along to shower some more praise on him and the two of them went back and forth all “I’m gonna surpass you!” “no, I’m gonna surpass you!” for a little bit and that was really cute as well. Monoma took Tokage’s loss in stride and hashed out a strategy with his team that mostly consists of “take out Deku no matter what.” Deku, meanwhile, was all fired up after his talk with Kacchan, and confidently told his team they would definitely win, and this boy is looking more and more like a hero with each passing day, no joke. Round 5 started up, and All Might got a call from Gran Torino, and then we cut to Tartarus, where the guards were bitching about how dangerous All for One is, and the man in question was sitting in his cell grinning because apparently he can “hear [his] little brother’s voice.” Uh, what the fuck.

Today on BnHA: Gran is all “oh yeah now that you mention it, Nana totally did tell me about some freaky OFA dream bullshit a while back.” Apparently in the dream, a mysterious man shrouded in fog told Nana that it wasn’t “that time. not yet.” Meanwhile Deku full cowls his way through the stage on the lookout for Shinsou. Instead he finds Monoma, who activates his secondary quirk, Antagonize no Jutsu, presumably in hopes of getting Deku to respond so that he can ensnare him with the brainwashing quirk. But Deku is a smart cookie and keeps his mouth shut, even when he hears a scream that sounds like it might have come from Ochako. It didn’t, of course, but in fairness Ochako, Mina, and Mineta are being attacked by Yanagi, Kodai, and Shouda, who have combined their quirks to fling heavy objects at them all. But anyways, so Monoma is all “btw can we talk about how Bakugou destroyed the Symbol of Peace, though,” which, wow, and that does piss Deku off enough to fire an Air Gun attack at him! Or at least that’s what he intends to do. Instead what happens is... well. Something different. Seems like it might finally be That Time, now.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 224, so any ETAs will reflect that.) 

so we’re opening with All Might standing off to the side and trying to tell Gran to call him back later because he’s in the middle of class

but Gran is just immediately launching into conversation about how Shimura did in fact once tell him something about “a One for All dream” omg

and All Might is all “and you’re only just telling me this now!?”

and Gran says he didn’t remember until All Might asked him about it

his excuse is that he’s old. whatever, Gran!

“so listen up, but don’t expect much”

listen mister, I’ll expect as much as I damn well please. my plot-spoiled self knows full well that in this case there is a hell of a lot to expect! and I for one am fucking excited about it!

so now we’re cutting back to Team Deku and our boy is sprinting along while the flashback dialogue bubbles recount his strategy

oh shit hold up

...so it occurs to me again that that’s exactly what triggered his first One for All: Avatar State experience to begin with though, way back when. Shinsou brainwashed him and then the Ghosts of One for Alls Past appeared for the first time and activated OFA without him being aware of it -- very much like what happened the night right before this training exercise

and now here he is fresh from that weird dream and possibly about to be brainwashed for a second time. is this really a coincidence? seeing as I’m reading a fucking manga, I’m gonna go ahead and say hell no

shit now I’m even more excited

so Iida is observing that Team Deku’s formation looks similar to Team Bakugou’s, and Sero says that’s not a surprise since they’re similarly balanced. true that

but he’s pointing out that they don’t have a Jirou -- someone who can pinpoint the enemy’s location -- so they need to be more careful

yeah, especially since unlike Team Kacchan, they’re up against Shinsou who can take out their most powerful player in a second if he hits them unawares

anyways don’t mind me I’m just gonna post this part here

so Bakugou watching Deku without that characteristic over-the-top seething rage is still such a novel thing, though. him feeling threatened by Deku’s growth was really the key thing holding that relationship back. now that that’s no longer an issue, he’s observing this match with a surprisingly keen intensity

and what I love about this is that it’s exactly what he said he was gonna do back in chapter 121. he vowed that he would observe and absorb what he sees from others in the same way that Deku does in order to become stronger. he’s watching this match so intently because he wants to learn from Deku. do I even need to say how big of a deal that is and how far he’s come? just, wow

so Deku’s coming to a halt on one of the pipes and he’s silently pointing to something

okay so he’s putting his plan of “I’ll be a decoy” into action

seems like this is his way of compensating for his team not having a Jirou. if they can’t pinpoint class B’s location, they’ll just draw them out instead

now an oil drum is tumbling out from somewhere and it seems like it’s caught his attention

who’s Yanagi. lol I guess we’re about to see, what with the HERE IT COMES

OH SHIT

DEKU IF YOU THINK FOR A SECOND THAT’S HER... COME ON MAN, YOU’RE SMARTER THAN THIS

so he’s turning around and Monoma is there

don’t you dare fucking respond you little green bean. just kick him in the head and knock his ass out. this is a training exercise, you know Ochako’s not at any actual risk. and she can handle herself. these guys are gonna be banking on your heroic instincts in the same way the previous team was counting on Kacchan to be the same self-centered asshole he always was before. you guys are so fucking strong the only way they can beat you is by exploiting your mental weaknesses

oh snap Monoma’s holding up his pocketwatches. way back when his costume was first revealed I speculated that he might use them to time his quirk, so I guess we’ll see if that’s the case? I suppose they could also be support items and have some unexpected tricks to them

anyway he’s talking a lot, as usual

a clever person would also think “I’d better not respond to his baiting here since that’s obviously what he wants”

having said that, Monoma’s not wrong. that would be a good strategy for them to actually have. but I don’t think it’s their real strategy lol

ahh, good, Deku is being clever and cautious and knows better than to respond to him

lol so Deku just go KO him already! why are you keeping your distance?? you once said back at Kamino that you could make it from where you were standing to where Kacchan was in under a second with one leap using OFA. that’s fucking fast. you’re faster than the kid who basically fucking teleported in between Kamakiri and Jirou a couple chapters ago. just zoom over to Monoma and kick him in the head. come on. do it

jesus christ Monoma knows what his strengths are doesn’t he

he knows how to fuck with his opponent, I’ll give him that

so now Deku is finally leaping toward him like I said! about time

not sure if that’s actually the case, but he’s probably not too far off the mark, and I think he’s making the best possible move here given what he knows

uh oh

what is he doing

OH FUCK ME

OH FUCK NO MONOMA. YOU DID NOT JUST

WHAT THE HELL DUDE. IS YOUR SPECIALTY BELOW-THE-BELT ATTACKS OR WHAT?? COME ON OVER AND SAY THAT TO BAKUGOU’S FUCKING FACE WHY DON’T YOU. JESUS CHRIST THAT WAS LOW AS FUCK

and obviously he’s just trying to provoke Deku into responding still! but man, what a way to do it! you’ll resort to anything, huh??

do they have sound on those viewscreens, or just visual? I feel like it’s both, though I’m not gonna stop and go back and check right this second. anyways I’m just wondering if Kacchan heard that, since we know all too well he does feel personally responsible, and now here’s Monoma trying to poke at this recently-healed wound and reopen it again. and Dad Might is probably still on the phone with Gran. damn it Monoma you better not have sent him spiraling again. I will send you the therapy bills

(ETA: so yeah, they absolutely do have audio, it was confirmed in chapter 197. so Kacchan did indeed get to hear that, and everyone else heard it too, and it was probably super awkward, and probably would have been even more so had Deku’s arm not fucking exploded with his goth red vines quirk mere seconds later causing everyone to pretty much forget about anything else.

and by the way, can we just quickly touch on the fact that Hellboy later explains to Deku that “if you wield your power in anger, the power will respond accordingly”? in other words, Monoma pissed him off so much here that he went and activated a quirk he didn’t even know he had and it proceeded to go on a roaring rampage of revenge. so what have we learned today, kids? don’t insult the boyfriend, is what.)

anyway the good thing is Deku’s aiming his air gun at him and still isn’t responding, although he does look fucking furious and no wonder

now we’re cutting back to Team Float/Melt/Stick

and we’re confirming that the “kyaah” was indeed Shinsou which of course it fucking was. Ochako doesn’t KYAA, she ain’t no fucking damsel in distress

lol now I want to see it too

so Ochako’s reminding the others to look at each other’s faces when they talk

what have you been up to Mineta

holy shit a whole fucking lot got stuck to it. what the hell is this anyway

Mina’s protecting them all with a veil of acid, which is fucking badass. Mina I love you

and now we’re cutting to Shouda for a second and he’s watching them and says “they vanished”...?

ah!!!

IS THIS A TELEKINESIS QUIRK!? AT LONG LAST???

HOLY SHIT

THAT’S LIKE FUCKING COMPRESS’S QUIRK. WE’RE GOING FULL ANT-MAN UP IN THIS BITCH. HOLY SHIT CLASS B, IT’S JUST BADASS QUIRKS ALL THE WAY DOWN WITH YOU GUYS HUH

holy shit. I love both of these, but the size quirk especially. that’s so fucking good. I wish she was in class A now, ngl. so many potential applications of this

and how many quirks can Monoma handle at once? he had three pocket watches so I’m gonna go with three. so I’m assuming he took both of theirs along with Shinsou’s, since he was also floating small objects earlier

Ochako’s a good person to have against a quirk like this, though!

and now just smack them away again! take that

NOW WHAT

what the hell

sob omg

I would just like to point out that this was a WAAGH and not a KYAA though. for the record. even when they’re being attacked by rampaging thooming metal objects, class A does not KYAA. we die like men

so here are the deets!

telekinesis quirk confirmed yessssss. this is like a way upgraded version of Inko’s quirk. so glad we finally get to see a hero do this shit too

Kodai’s quirk is so badass and I love it. though it’s too bad she can’t shrink people too. lots of hijinks potential there. ah well

and Shouda’s quirk too!

ngl, I read this and I was like ‘what.’ I had to reread it several times and then go look him up in the wiki just to make sure I got it. this is one of those cases where a “for example” would have really come in handy. but anyways I think what this means is if someone hit a baseball, then he could recreate that impact in the same spot a second time, and not only that but the second impact would be stronger by several orders of magnitude. idk it’s weird and confusing

(ETA: seeing it in action later helped me understand the concept better, but I still for the life of me can’t explain it in words lol. super cool quirk though.)

anyway so even though all this crazy stuff is going on, neither team has actually come face to face with the other yet and they’re all still attacking each other from a distance, except for Deku and Monoma. so now Ochako’s wondering what happened to Deku

and now back to All Might! damn, Horikoshi, you sure know how to cut away from something just when it was getting good

so Gran says it’s probably not what All Might was looking for, but right around when Shimura first inherited One for All, he and her had a casual conversation whilst on patrol

NO, DEKU!!

WHY DID YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH DAMMIT

WHAT’S GOING ON OH MY GOD. ALL OF A SUDDEN ALL OF MY FAVES LOOK SHOCKED

oh I know this. “plaaaaay the best song in the world. or I’ll eat your souls.” so we played the first thing that came to our heads and it just so happened to be the best song in the world. it was the best song in the world

lol okay so let’s see why they all seem so shocked. IS IT THE SPOILER!?!?

IT’S NOT? OKAY? WHO ARE YOU??

(ETA: this is just the continuation of Gran’s story from the previous page, doy.)

WHAT THE FUCK

okay then! lol. well that explains the “wtf” expressions

so what exactly was Deku about to do that OFA took over and was like DEKU NO. were you going to fucking kill Monoma over insulting your boyfriend. is there some reason OFA lost its fucking shit and activated one of his secondary quirks for the very first (or second, I guess) time, right here and right now? or is the “it’s not that time” what the old man said in Shimura’s dream, and now with Deku it finally is that time?

oh my god. even knowing a little about what’s going on, I still really have no clue and I fucking love it. this is insanely cool and tbh the Joint Training arc is like #4 on my list now and will possibly be #3 by the time all is said and done. IMO this twist is cool and unexpected and will make future battles much less boring (because let’s be honest, Deku’s last couple of fights were really not all that dynamic. this is definitely going to help vary things up a bit), and I can’t wait to see how All Might and Kacchan react too omg

just. thumbs up from me