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neerasrealm · 4 years

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Trick and Treating

In which Laughing Jack finds a boy crying while taking his daughters trick or treating. He decides to try and cheer the kid up and make his Halloween a little better. wdym its november 3rd halloween lasts two months because i said so

Word Count: 2869

"C'mon pops!"

"Awrigh', awrigh'! Slow down!"

"C'mon Slendra! This next neighborhood is always really good!"

The two girls, Slendra and Sally, a pair of sisters, ran as quick as they could around the block. Though it was dark out, the night was full of life and laughter. Kids, younger and older than them, made their way from house to house, picking up candy from strangers. Everyone around them was dressed in a costume of some kind. Super heroes, spiders, skeletons, you name it. Of course, the girls were dressed in costumes too. Slendra, the taller but younger of the two, was dressed as a witch. She wore a long black dress with a purple band tied around her waist, fastened with a silver buckle. Her hat was much the same, and it sat atop her head of blonde hair. Sally, on the other hand, was dressed as her favorite cartoon character. The skintaker. Her face was covered in makeup to make her look like a skeleton, and she wore a long robe that was quilted together with different coloured patches. She had a hat that was the same pattern as her robe. Both of them had been handmade by her other dad, and she adored it.

‘’C’mere ye li’le rascal!’’

‘’EEK-!’’ Slendra was grabbed by the back of her dress and yanked back into big, soft arms that hugged her tight. She shrieked and giggled, thrashing in the hug. ‘’Pops! Lemme go!’’

Of course, the girls weren’t alone on Halloween. No, they had their pops with them. Laughing Jack. Looking at him, you’d assume he’d managed to find the coolest scary clown costume one could hope for, with sharp bony hands, wispy black hair, jagged teeth and bandages wrapped around his torso, but no. He looked like that year round. In fact, Jack hadn’t even bothered with a costume. The only thing he had added to himself tonight was a white bird mask strapped to his face. It obscured the top part of his face, which really just made him scarier.

He laughed a bit and squeezed his daughter in his arms. ‘’Stop runnin’ off on me! If ye ge’ lost yer da will kill me.’’ he replied with a grin. Slendra giggled again and looked up to see her sister Sally. However, instead of standing in front of them waiting for Jack to release her sister, Sally was sitting on the sidewalk a little further up, talking to someone. ‘’Eh?’’ Jack withdrew his arms and stood up. He and Slendra walked over to Sally and stopped next to her.

She was sitting next to a young boy, dressed in a blue ripped jacket, a black and white striped shirt and black pants. The green face paint on his face was smudged, especially around his eyes. Sally pat his back and frowned. ‘’Hey, it’s okay.’’ she said gently. ‘’What’s wrong?’’

The boy sniffled and let out a breathy sob. ‘’I-I was chasing these b-boys that stole my ca-candy a-and now I’m l-lost-’’ he inhaled sharply before breaking into tears again. Sally frowned and hugged the boy. Jack crouched down beside him and pat his head.

‘’Calm down kiddo…’’ he murmured. The boy looked up and stared at him in surprise. ‘’Some’ne stole yer candy?’’

The boy nodded. ‘’I was with my friends b-but they went to another neighborhood and I wasn’t allowed go with them s-so I started walking home but then these boys on bikes came by and took my bag,’’ the boy whimpered and wiped at his eyes. He seemed to be calming down significantly, thanks to Sally. ‘’I chased them but...now I’m lost.’’ he curled up, hugging his knees. Jack looked horrified that someone would do something like that, and to a small kid no less. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a packet of tissues.

‘’Ere, kiddo,’’ he took out a tissue and gave it to the boy. He sniffled and wiped at his face. ‘’Ye’re lost?’’

‘’Mhm.’’ the boy looked around. ‘’I don’t know how to get home…’’

Jack looked from the boy to his two girls. He looked back at the boy and gave him a reassuring smile. ‘’We’ll take ye ‘ome, kiddo.’’ he said, reaching into his sleeve. He pulled out some candy and held it out to the surprised looking boy. ‘’Ere, i’s no’ a lo’, bu’ i’ should make up a bi’ fer th’ stuff ye lost.’’

The boy looked at Jack’s outstretched hand and broke into a grin. He took the candies, shyly unwrapping one of them and tossing it into his mouth. ‘’Thank you.’’ he murmured. Jack smiled and grabbed the boy, lifting him up and putting him on his shoulders. The boy blinked in surprise.

‘’Can ye see okay up there, lad?’’ Jack asked. The boy grinned.

‘’Uh-huh!’’ he glanced around. ‘’You’re real tall, mister.’’

‘’Jus’ call me Jackie, kiddo.’’

As the four of them walked the boy talked with them more. Jack learned that his name was Jeremy, and he lived with just his mother. He hadn’t gone trick or treating last year, or the year before. He’d been sick the past couple of years, and still wasn’t fully recovered, so trick or treating was a big thing for him. Which just made it worse when you considered what had happened to him. Jack knew he had to do something about it- he wasn’t going to let this poor boy have his halloween ruined for him.

‘’There’s the place!’’

‘’Ah!’’ Jack looked up to where the boy on his shoulders was pointing. The neighborhood they were in didn’t have many decorated houses. The one Jeremy was pointing to, however, was covered in decorations and bright lights. Jack smiled a bit as he walked up the garden path after Slendra and Sally. The girls knocked on the door as Jack put Jeremy down. The door was pulled open, and they were greeted by an older lady with brown hair that was starting to grey at the roots. She wore a long black dress, a big collar around her neck, and a pair of fake fangs. In her hands she held a large, flowery bowl that was filled with candy. She smiled sweetly at the girls for a moment before surprise crossed her face. Then she broke into a wider smile.

‘’Jeremy! Oh there you are, I was starting to get worried!’’ she put the bowl down on a table inside the hall as her son stepped forward and hugged her legs. She pat his head lovingly. ‘’Did you have fun?’’

‘’Mmm…’’

She frowned and looked up, finally noticing Jack. He waved a tiny bit. ‘’Heya, I’m Jack,’’ he murmured. ‘’We found ‘im a couple a blocks away...some older kids stole ‘is bag.’’

Jeremy’s mother looked horrified. ‘’They did...?’’ she asked. Jack nodded. ‘’Oh that’s terrible-!’’ she looked down at her son. ‘’Oh pet- are you okay?’’

‘’I’m okay…’’ Jeremy murmured. He pointed up at Jack. ‘’Jackie brought me home, and he gave me some candy.’’ he smiled a bit. Jack tilted his head.

‘’I was wond’rin’, miss, if maybe I could take yer lad wiv us fer th’ nigh’. ‘E can ge’ sum more candy an’ stick aroun’ wiv sum kids ‘is own age.’’

‘’Oh?’’ Jeremy’s mother looked surprised for a moment. She looked down at her son, a little worried. ‘’I don’t know…’’

‘’Please?’’ Jeremy asked. He stared up at his mother hopefully. ‘’Jackie is real nice! And he already has kids with him so we should be okay!’’

She looked up at Jack for a moment, then sighed. ‘’...okay. But don’t take him too far away from home! And I want him back before nine.’’

Jack gave a nod. ‘’Absolu’ely.’’

After cleaning and fixing up Jeremy’s makeup, Jack, Sally and Slendra wasted no time raiding every house in the surrounding neighborhood. Jeremy quickly learned that these three took Halloween very seriously. Constantly on the move, trying to get the best candy possible, they talked about what house they’d target next like it was some kind of big important mission. It was actually exhausting, especially for him, but the girls excited energy was contagious. It didn’t take long at all for Jeremy to fill up the bag LJ had given him. Then a second one. Then a third. He walked slowly, dragging the heavy bags with him as the girls ran ahead of him and LJ.

‘’Ey kiddo?’’ LJ asked above him. Jeremy looked up. ‘’Ye want me ta take yer bags fer ya? They look ‘eavy.’’ Jeremy stopped and nodded, giving LJ two of his bags. He took them, holding them like they weighed nothing. It was weird- Sally and Slendra both had five bags each yet they didn’t seem to struggle at all! Maybe Jeremy was just weaker than he thought-

‘’Pops!’’ Sally called ahead of them. Jack looked up at the girl, who was pointing ahead. In the distance, they could see a large fire. She grinned. ‘’There’s a bonfire! Can we go see it?’’

Jack smiled a bit. ‘’Sure kiddo.’’ he replied. The girls ran forward, with Jack and Jeremy sauntering calmly after them. The bonfire was surrounded by tons of teenagers who were yelling, hollering, dancing and drinking. Jeremy stuck close to Jack’s leg. Bigger kids had always scared him, and these ones looked like they were what his mother would call ‘hooligans’.

‘’Hey! Jack!’’ someone called from a bit further away from the bonfire. Jeremy looked up and over at where the voice came from. He saw Slendra and Sally run off away from the fire.

‘’Shoulda known…’’ Jack murmured above him. He turned and started walking off after the girls. Jeremy followed quickly, not wanting to be left alone around so many older kids. Jack stopped in front of a small group of kids. Four boys and one girl. They all looked to be in their mid to late teens, and were sitting in a circle with a bag of candy in between each of their legs. In the centre of the circle was a box filled with cans of beer. ‘’Evenin’, kids.’’ Jack greeted.

‘’Hey guys!’’ one of the boys, who had blonde hair and was dressed in a Luigi costume chirped. His eyes were a bright, shiny blue that looked almost like lights.

‘’Hi Ben!’’ Slendra greeted, bouncing on her heels. Sally abruptly dropped her bags and looked at the group, her hands on her hips.

‘’You guys can have anything you want from these bags in exchange for your butterfingers. Except the m&ms, sour patch kids and twixes. Those are mine.’’ she said, sounding more like a bossy older sister than a ten year old girl dressed as a cartoon character. The group all rolled their eyes and began digging through their bags.

‘’Evury year…’’ another of the boys muttered. He had ginger hair that hung over one of his eyes, and was pretty skinny. He was dressed in a Mario costume that matched the other boy’s. He also sounded like he was drunk. Or maybe it was an accent.

The boy sitting across from Ben, the boy in the Luigi costume, took a swig from his can of beer and looked at Jeremy for a long moment. He was intimidating. His skin was pure white, probably makeup, with big scars on either side of his face. His eyes were deep and sunken, but stared straight into little Jeremy. He was wearing a vampire costume, with a big collar and everything. His scary eyes flicked up to LJ. ‘’You’re stealing kids again?’’

‘’I’m no’ stealin’ ‘im, ‘is ma wuz givin’ ‘im away wiv th’ candy!’’ Jack retorted. The boy cracked a smile and barked a laugh. He looked at Jeremy and smiled.

‘’Nice costume kid.’’ he said. Jeremy blinked in surprise.

‘’Y-you too,’’ he murmured. ‘’Your makeup is great...you’re really scary.’’

The teen smile. ‘’Aw, thanks!’’ he grinned. ‘’I’m Jeff, by the way. Uhhh-’’ he turned to his friends. ‘’That’s Ben, that’s Bryce,’’ he gestured to the boys in the Mario and Luigi costumes. ‘’That’s Emily,’’ he pointed to the girl, who was dressed as Princess Peach, complete with blonde wig and everything. ‘’And that’s Ethan.’’ he pointed to the last boy. He wore a white hoodie, black shorts, and a backwards baseball cap. His skin was green, and looked rotten. His purple hair hung over one of his crimson eyes. He must’ve had contacts in or something.

Jack frowned. ‘’Wha’s yer costume supposeta be, Ethan?’’

‘’A dead teenager.’’

‘’...oh.’’

"It's nice to meet you all." Jeremy murmured. Jeff looked back at him and smiled. He held out his hand.

"You too kid." The two shook hands. When Jeremy pulled his hand away, he realised Jeff had managed to slip a small piece of candy into it. Oh! Wow- these older kids were...nice.

"So wha're you's all doin'?" Jack asked as he watched Sally raid the other kid's bags for butterfingers and reese's cups.

"Oh, the usual," Ben replied as Slendra traded him a small box of smarties for a bag of jellybeans. "A bit of trick or treating, hanging out by a bonfire, doing a little drinking…"

"A lot of drinking in Bryce's case." Ethan added as he dug through his own bag of candy. He pulled out a bag of peanuts and sighed defeatedly before reluctantly opening it.

"And after," Jeff continued with a wide smile. He reached over and grabbed a black duffel bag from beside him. "We're gonna cause a little chaos. Some tricking with our treating, if you will." He added with a wink.

Jeremy's eyes widened. Oh- he should've expected that from them honestly, but still. Trouble-making teens were something his mother always told him to avoid. Jack pursed his lips. "You's be'er be careful. You's don't 'ave fireworks, do ya?"

"Nah, nah." Ben shook his head. "just harmless stuff. Eggs, toilet paper, spray paint-"

"We go' fiirecrrackerrrsss." Bryce slurred out. Ben shot him a glare. Jack sighed.

"Be careful, awrigh'?" He murmured. The teens all nodded. Sally turned and walked back over to her bags. She deposited the results of her trading into a couple of them and gave a satisfied 'hmph!'. Jack looked down at her. "Ye finished, girlies?"

"Yep!" Slendra and Sally both chirped. Jack chuckled a bit. The teens got to their feet, slinging their candy bags over their shoulders. Jeff picked up his duffel bag and caught Jeremy's anxious stare. He smiled and winked at the boy reassuringly.

"We'd better head out," he said. "It's getting late." Jeff gestured to Jeremy. "I think you should be heading home kid. All the teens will be hitting the streets soon too. Don't want you getting hurt or picked on."

Jeremy gave a slight nod. He still wasn't sure if this older boy was nice or a troublemaker. Slendra turned and looked at the bonfire. She smirked, then pulled her hands up. She clapped them together loudly, and with a louder 'fwoosh!' the massive bonfire suddenly extinguished itself. There was a chorus of shocked gasps and general confusion from the teens that had been enjoying the fire's warmth moments prior. Jack whirled around and stared.

"Slendra!" He hissed, looking down at the girl. "Don't do tha'! No' 'ere!"

Jeremy stared at the blonde girl. "How did you do that?!" He gasped. She turned to him and gave him a wide smile.

"I'm a witch." She replied with a sly wink. Jeremy's eyes widened. He thought it was just a costume! Jack sighed above him and looked around at the group.

"Nobody tell Slender abou' this." He said, pointing a boney black finger at nobody in particular.

"We won't as long as you don't tell him we were drinking and playing with firecrackers."

"Deal." Jack replied. He reached down and picked Jeremy up, putting the boy on his shoulders again. "Now make yerselves scarce, ya 'ear me?"

The teens smiled and nodded. As they began to walk away Jeff turned back one last time and gave the four of them a wave before turning around and jogging over to catch up with the others. Jack looked down at his two girls.

"C'mon you's two. I fink we've done good t'nigh', eh?"

"Awwwe- but it's only eight thirty!" Sally protested. Jack shook his head.

"Sorry lass, bu' ye know we go'a ge' our friend back b'fore nine. And if ye come 'ome wiv more'n five bags yer da will flip 'is lid." He replied. Sally sighed defeatedly. "C'mon." Jack turned and began walking off. Jeremy looked down at him.

"Hey Jackie?" He asked softly.

"Yeh, kiddo?"

"...are you guys monsters?" He asked. "Real ones? That come out on Halloween, like in the movies?"

Jack looked up at him for a long moment. He smiled a bit. "...ye're a smar' one, ain'tcha?" He said softly. "Yeh, we are. We usually 'ide away from you's 'umans. 'Alloween is th' nigh' we stop 'idin'." He smiled up at the boy. "You won't tell any'ne, righ'?"

Jeremy nodded. "I won't." He murmured. He rested his head in Jack's soft black hair and smiled tiredly. "Thanks for letting me spend Halloween with you."

"Anyfin' fer you, kiddo." Jack replied softly. "I'm glad ye 'ad fun."

#creepypasta #creepypasta hcs #creepypasta hc #creepypasta oc #creepypasta fanfic #creepypasta fanfiction #laughing jack #writing #slendra jackson #sally williams #jeff the killer #jeffery woods #ben drowned #lost silver #sonic.exe #tails doll #bryce bryson

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bibliophileiz · 4 years

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A (not really) Ode to bucklemming

Last bucklemming episode, and you guys, it was just such a classic example of their stale mediocrity. And yet, at the end of this post, I found myself bizarrely happy with how the episode turned out.

This is the second time I’ve watched it, and while I was planning to just liveblog my thoughts, I realized quickly that would not work, because most of the episode is boring and miserable, (especially the first third or so) and that makes for boring and miserable note-taking. I think I said in a tag of a different post that Dabb assigning this one to bucklemming is just further proof that he hasn’t cared about plot at all this season, and honestly, I don’t know there’s much they COULD have done to make this plot entertaining. Chuck even says at one point that it ... isn’t entertaining.*

The first third or so is basically Sam, Dean, and Jack being miserable with nothing around them break that misery up (except, briefly, a dog). And that makes for a miserable viewing experience. Here are a handful of notes I took that give you the gist:

- Chuck standing there talking about how loneliness and no-people is “deep” and a “page-turner” is such a gratifying little critique of shitty writers who like their gritty stories about permanently miserable protagonists. Like dude, you know there’s a reason nobody rereads “The Road,” right? - Dean slurring his words because he’s hungover is the first time anything interesting has happened with the dialogue in this whole episode. - Rob Benedict is the only one who gets to inflect his dialogue this episode. I do think his acting in that last scene is great, where he’s screaming, “Guys, wait!” as they drive off. It’s not a terrible ending scene.

So there’s that. Now here are my notes not-related to how stale and boring everything is:

Beginning: -The shots of Kyoto and New York City remind me of all the shots in NYT and other major newspapers after COVID shut everything down last spring (except in this case all the traffic would still be in New York, just no people). - “I couldn’t save anybody.” Poor Sam. (must push down feelings about Sam’s leadership arc and how it always seems to end with people dying, ugh, repress, repress!) - Also, I wanted to see a shot of a sink running and one of them turning it off. Just a random thing.

Archangel stuff: - I guess it makes sense to lose Adam if you’re going to kill Michael at the end, but goddamn if Michael isn’t a way more boring character without him. - Ah, Lucifer, a.k.a bucklemming’s attempt at comic relief. I’m starting to miss the boring dialogue. - Ooh, awesome, the only female character in the episode shows up bound and gagged and immediately murdered so she can be used and then murdered again. (Also, the first time I watched this scene, I was sure she wouldn’t wake up and was gearing up to laugh at Lucifer for sucking.) - Jensen stays as far away from her as he can when he unties her, I’m sure that actress appreciates him trying not to give her COVID. Course then she immediately ruins it by head-butting him, which is NOT practicing social distancing. - Many have commented on whether Lucifer can actually kill Death by snapping his fingers. We don’t know, but the Scythe WAS right there, and if Dean can kill Death with it (twice), I’m sure Lucifer can. - On the other hand, it IS established lore that God doesn’t have power in the Empty. Presumably he could negotiate with it like Death, and possibly he just took advantage of the loud chaos of Jack exploding, Death dying, the Empty apparently being super pissed, etc. to sneak in and make off with Lucifer. - Also WHY DO ALL THE ARCHANGEL FIGHTS IN THIS SHOW SUCK ASS???? - “I haven’t been in a battle like that in several centuries,” Michael says, as if he just fought the Battle of the Blackwater in Game of Thrones, and not what appeared to be the archangel equivalent of Mario Kart.

And climax/last scene: - But the best moment of the episode is when they GET BACK UP BLOODY AND HOLDING ONTO EACH OTHER AND ABSOLUTELY BEAMING BECAUSE THEIR LITTLE BOY IS ABOUT TO BECOME GOD. - Also, I like the music in this scene. And it seems like it’s the same place they used to film the end of Season 12/beginning of Season 13, which was probably peak Dabb era, ngl. (Jensen as Michael was also great.) - I also like that Jack and Chuck are both wearing light jackets, but Jack’s is a leeeeeetle whiter. - Chuck looking at the blank book is that moment in every writer’s life, when they’re like, “NOOOOOO, the computer DELETED EVERYTHING I WROTE.” - “Dean Winchester, the ultimate killer” You guys, 10 is Chuck’s favorite season. - Of course it is sweet that Cas’s last words seem to have had an effect on Dean, how he goes from “That’s (killing) all I know how to do” to “That’s not who I am.” I’m far from the first person to point that out though. - What happened to Amara is THE WORST. - Also, I am annoyed that Jack isn’t going home with them, because I really wanted him to be God, and a hands-off one, but I also wanted him to drive the Impala and solve crimes, ya know? - Jared at least seems to understand that this ending is upsetting, because Sam has tears in his eyes, whereas Dean is just kind of like, “ah, he’s leaving.” Which is fine because DEAN AND JACK ARE NOT AS CLOSE AS SAM AND JACK, fight me. - Him disappearing into light is stupid, though. - At least Dean and Sam get to sit close to each other at the end. I wonder if that was the first scene shot after they got out of quarantine. - WHERE ARE THEY DRIVING? - Maybe to go see Jody. - WE GOT BELA AND CROWLEY AND ANNA IN THE MONTAGE HELLZ YEAH, ALSO ABBADON AND ELLEN AND RUFUS, but we also got fucking Asmodeus and Ketch and no Benny, what the fuck, Showalter?

So I have questions.

Some of them are unimportant, like how did people in restaurants at the end react when they found themselves looking at food that seems to have undergone days’ worth of rot in the blink of an eye? Also, you got a shot of a full airport at the end, but that begs the question: were there airplanes in the sky at the time Chuck snapped everyone away, and did they crash, and did the people on them get snapped back into crashed airplanes and was that not super confusing for them and did the airlines lose billions of dollars because all their planes crashed right before COVID shut them down anyway and if all that’s the case is it really any wonder they needed a bailout from the federal government?

But some of them are plot-relevant and could have helped an episode in desperate need of it.

For example, I want to know what’s going on with the Empty, and if Mark Pellegrino had talked about it for more than two seconds, I might not have hated every second he was on screen. Also, there are other things happening this episode. Like Jack walking around sucking life and “power” out of plants catches Dean and Sam’s attention immediately. We know that, because we see them noticing it and exchanging confused glances in the flashback at the end of the episode.

Here’s the thing though: Why not have that in the beginning? It’s not a Huge Reveal, and it would have given Jensen and Jared something to do in that stale boring beginning other than Make Sad Face. As pretty as Jensen and Jared are, and as good as they are at making sad faces, you cannot build an entire episode around that.

Related, there isn’t actually much of a beat in the plot where it makes sense for them to figure out Michael will betray them for God. It seems like it will happen in that conversation between Dean and Michael when Michael expresses his hurt that Chuck let Lucifer out of the Empty before even asking for help. But at that point, it seems Sam and Dean have already come up with their plan. The flashback makes it seem as if they began to suspect Michael would betray them when Lucifer called him a cuck, something I think they made a plot point purely to have the word “cuck” in the episode for the third time.**

There are a few hopeful beats that show that bucklemming understand on some level that there needed to be some flow to this episode, such as the dog and Dean thinking he may have gotten Cas back. But I don’t think those are substitutes for showing Sam and Dean come up with their plan to defeat God. Even if you don’t want to reveal that they know Michael will betray them, you can still get one scene in there of them saying something like, “You think this’ll work?” if you just cut two minutes of Michael’s boring monologue in the church and/or Lucifer’s bullshit.

It follows this weird pattern of bucklemming once again seeming to not find Sam and Dean particularly interesting, so they don’t spend any time writing them DOING anything, or at least succeeding at anything, because they’d rather write Lucifer killing women and generally being an asshole.

So ... who cares, right? It’s bucklemming, they were bound to be mediocre-to-bad anyway, it kind of makes sense for Dabb to give them this episode because nepotism definitely makes it a best case scenario. And while I take issue with Dabb as a showrunner, I do think he’s great at standalone episodes and character stuff, so I’m not too terribly worried about next episode. I just think there were things about this episode that could have sucked less.

There ARE things about it that were fine, dare I say even good. It was in my notes, but I just want to emphasize that I LOVED the shot of Sam and Dean getting up bloody and broken, holding onto each other and grinning their asses off knowing that Chuck’s about to lose to Jack, and they get to see it! They may very well have gone into that fight expecting to die -- Chuck nearly just zapped them from existence, which would have still unleashed God-power for Jack to soak up.

The ending scene is pretty good, with Sam and Dean seeming like they’re still pretty beaten down, but trying to get it together. That’s more Jensen and Jared’s acting than anything bucklemming wrote, but it’s still good. The montage is good (although I will say for like the third time, where. the fuck. was Benny?)

Jensen’s acting over the dog was SO SOFT (doesn’t he have a dog?). I half-expected the dog to run to him at the end, which would have been cute.

There are also things that were ... potentially good, if they’d been brought up correctly? I actually really like that Jack is going to be “hands-off” (although I like less that he and Sam will never see each other again, but Dabb did say it was going to be a bittersweet ending, so ....).

I also -- and God, I’m going to get hate mail for saying this -- don’t mind that he didn’t bring Cas back. That highlights the difference between him and Chuck. Chuck brings back Sam and Dean (and, in Season 5 at least, Cas) over and over again, not out of love, but just to throw them back into their exhausting existence. In contrast, Jack NOT bringing anyone back (except the people who’d been snapped out of existence, which I would argue is more about putting the world on its proper course again, as opposed to “violating the natural order,” as Billie would put it). He knows he has to let people go. You could argue that’s always been his arc -- he and Cas even talk about how hard it will be for them to one day lose Sam and Dean back in Season 14 when they think Dean is dying.

But I wish there had been dialogue exploring THAT instead of the weird vague stuff about how he would always be a part of them. It doesn’t have to be anything super analytical like what I just wrote, it just has to be him saying, “I understand that in order to be a just god, I have to let things go and be at peace.”

(However, if the reason they DIDN’T go that direction is they didn’t want Dean to be like, “You know, he’s right,” next episode and not rescue Cas from the Empty, then I’m fine with them leaving that out. Screw the natural order, Dean -- go rescue Cas from the Empty!)

I also really really really want to get some sense that Sam’s faith has been rewarded. We got a tiny glimmer of that this episode in the hushed, awed way Jared delivers the line, “Are you really ... him?” Sam has always been the one with faith in a just and loving God, and one of the things that aggravated me about the end of Season 14 was his faith being so blatantly not rewarded, in favor of promoting Dean’s more cynical take on God.

The show has always, since the very first season, raised questions about where God is, whether his will is just, and how we know we’re following it, and the main characters all have different answers to that -- Sam’s being the more faithful, optimistic view of “God is good”, Dean’s being the more critical “If God is good then why do bad things happen?”, and, most interestingly, Cas’ viewpoint largely fluctuating with his own sense of identity and self-worth. The point is, we had all three of these opinions on God, without the show ever explicitly saying which one was right.

Until very recently, I thought it should have stayed that way. But now I love the idea that Sam’s faith in God was rewarded not by Chuck, but by Jack -- the very boy he took under his wing and raised as his own son, the boy who understands that he is good and that people are good largely because SAM TAUGHT HIM THEY CAN BE. It’s just so beautiful, and I’m getting more and more happy about this ending as I write about it, actually, so maybe I don’t entirely hate Jack’s ending after all.

That was a happier note than I planned on ending this on. I guess that is how you stop worrying and tolerate bucklemming.

Goodbye, bucklemming. I hated many of your episodes, but I will miss you and your weird, inconsistent writing that was so entertaining to pick apart and analyze and make fun of. I hope you find some cop shows where you can churn out more mediocrity and make some money. And in the meantime, stop killing off women.

*Yet another example from this season of the writers intentionally writing a bad episode to highlight the fact that Chuck is a bad writer. NEWSFLASH DABB: Bad writing is still bad writing, I don’t care if the villain of the story is the writer, I still don’t want to watch it if it’s bad.

**Which is such a bizarre insult to use. Isn’t it slang for a guy who’s wife cheats on him? I swear I’m not innocent or sheltered, I have just literally never heard anyone use that insult in a real context in my entire life.

#how i learned to stop worrying and tolerate bucklemming #this is the last time i get to review one of their episodes i'm getting a little choked up #not really #supernatural spoilers #supernatural #supernatural home stretch #this episode was boring and miserable but the end was decent

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tsukikoayanosuke · 4 years

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Poor Unfortunate Souls

Summary:

Jonah came to the Monstro Lounge to find a possible way to save his friends from Azul's contract. It looks like a deal needed to be made between the tiny pirate and the benevolent sea merchant. In a musical style.

(’Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure’ 100 kudos celebration!)

(Spoiler for Episode 3!)

Jonah always enjoyed coming to the Monstro Lounge. The staff was so nice to him. He always got excited when Floyd performs his bartender skill or when Jade entertains every Friday night with his singing. Sometimes, Azul even comes out from his office just for a little chat with him.

Though, today was different.

He could see it was more packed and the staff was more uncoordinated than usual. He spotted Deuce, who was carrying a tray of drinks, nearly tripping over, while Ace tried his best to keep up with the costumers' order. No sign of Grim though…

"Welcome~" A voice familiar voice called him, followed by two pairs of footsteps. Jade put a hand on his chest and bow slightly like a butler. "Welcome to Monstro Lounge~ Table for two, I presume?" Next to him, Floyd still has his goofy smile on his face as he waved his hand at the newcomers.

Jack, who stood behind Jonah, crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You like to ask questions you already know the answer to, don't you?"

"Heeh~," Floyd said, resting his elbow at Jade's shoulder. "Don't be so grumpy, urchin~"

"Don't call me 'urchin'!" Jack growled, barring his fangs, which only made Floyd even more amused. Jonah raised his hand, blocking Jack before he could attack their senior. The wolf boy glanced at Jonah, and he glanced back. This is not the time to act rashly. Jack huffed, stepping back.

"You know why we came here," Jonah said, taking one step forward. "Where's your boss?"

"Azul is currently attending to another customer," said Jade. "Can I ask you to wait for a short while? We'll show you your table." He turned slightly, clapping his hands. "Mr. Anemone, please escort our guest to an empty table, please!"

Only a few tables from them Ace and Deuce perked up. "We're busy here!" yelled Ace in an annoyed tone and Jonah could understand him. "Can't you ask someone else?"

Jade frown slightly. "Another disobedient anemone?" He reached to his breast pocket where, Jonah noticed, he tucked his Magical Pen. He squeezed the violet crystal and suddenly Ace and Deuce started screaming.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow!" Ace grabbed his head, dropping the menus from his hands.

Deuce stopped his track before he could spill all of his drinks, trembling as the anemone on top of his head looked like it was trying to get off from his head. "Don't pull the anemone!"

"Senior Jade! Stop it!" Jonah took quick steps forward, grabbing Jade's hand and pulled it away from his Magical Pen. Slightly glancing to the side, he saw Ace and Deuce stopped screaming but still winching in pain. He turned back to Jade who watched him with an amused face.

"They're maybe under your boss' contract, but they are still my shipmate," Jonah said with a low voice, glaring at the older Leech brother. "I do not appreciate someone harming what's mine…"

But Jade didn't even look offended. "Forgive me, dear customer, but it seems that you nearly broke the rule."

Jonah just kept glaring. He didn't even look away when he felt Floyd's hand on his shoulder. He felt the other twin leaned down, lips so close to his ear. "Anyone who doesn't play fair will get some squeezing~" He was drumming his fingers, threatening to reach for is neck…

The hands were immediately gone, followed by a growl of a wolf. Glancing back, he saw Jack pulled Floyd away from him, glaring at the senior who still has that goofy smile. "Stay away from him," Jack said between his gritted teeth. "Watching you guys picking on newbies leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

Floyd, completely unafraid, tilted his head to the side. "Then why don't you help us out in their place?"

There was silence between them. Jonah watched Jack who was thinking hard. He knew he shouldn't have brought him here. This was between him and Azul. Jack has nothing to do with this, and yet he volunteered to join in this sticky situation…

"Jack, you don't have to do this," Jonah finally said to him. That seemed to bring bought Jack back from his deep thought though. He let go of his hands from Floyd's jacket. Floyd took a step back, looking so smug.

"Fine. I'll work for you," Jack grumbled. He looked at Jonah who was shaking his head at him. "I'll be fine," he reassured him. "It's just a little work. You can handle Azul."

Jonah inwardly cursed. Damn it. He couldn't stop Jack from getting roped into this trouble as well?

"Oh, goodie~" Floyd cheered, clapping his hands as he slipped behind Jack. He pushed Jack away from Jonah and Jade, joining Ace and Deuce who looked so grateful. "Let's get to work, urchin~"

Right. He had to handle Azul. He glanced back at Jade. The smile hadn't left his face, which only made Jonah even more ticked off. Weird, he usually enjoyed the Leech twin's antics, but maybe today had been a stressful day, he didn't feel like laughing with them. Or maybe because his friends were in peril!

He slowly let go of his hand. Jade rubbed his wrist. Did he grab it too hard? He bowed again. "I'll show you to your table, Sir."

Jonah sighed and followed his senior. He led him to an empty table at the corner of the room, far away from all the noise. This should be a red flag for Jonah, but he couldn't complain unless he wanted to ruin this chance. He sat on one of the sofas as Jade bow again and left him alone. Jonah sighed again, playing with the string of his eye-patch. Should he take it off? People usually take him seriously when he shows his eye. Though that usually happen during a fight, and he had his crew on his side. His practically alone now, will his eye work?

"Ah~ My favorite customer."

Jonah looked up. Azul was walking toward him in his dorm tuxedo, fedora, and purple scarf. He didn't ask for Jonah's permission when he took a seat across the table in front of him. He had that sly smile on his face. A smile that he usually wears when he knew he would win during the weekly Mario Party game at the Board Game Club.

"How are you doing?" he asked, elbows on the table and fingers intertwining with each other. "I've heard you did well in your test."

"Oh, everything is quite pleasant, Mister Ashengrotto," Jonah said in a fake cheerful tone, just to amused him. "Though my day will be better if you could just let my shipmates go. The others as well, please"

Azul chuckled, resting his chin on top of his fingers. "You know I can't do that, Mister Argentum. I can't just let go of all of those 225 clients Jade and Floyd gathered. It will be rude of me to waste all of their hard work."

Oh, is that how are you going to play? "I am a kind captain, you see," Jonah said, resting his arms on top of each other of the table as he leaned closer. He smiled dangerously. "If my crew is in trouble, I need to get their sorry ass out of there."

"I can see that." Azul didn't feel threatened at all. He looked amused. "But, Mister Argentum, I'm not making them do any work that goes against labor standards. They agreed to my terms before signing the contract. You can't just nullify a contract just because you think they're pathetic. In other words…" The senior smirked at him. "You are too late."

He knew Azul would say that. Azul is many things, but going against his word is not one of them. Then… Let's play that game…

"Then how about I strike you a deal?" Jonah said. Azul raised an eyebrow at him. He took the bait. Jonah continued with an overdramatic voice. "I'm desperate, can't you see? I need… Ah, a miracle, if it's possible." He paused, giving time for Azul to think before he ended with a low voice. "Can you do that?"

Azul was silent for a moment before chuckling. He leaned back at the back of his chair. "My dear, sweet child~ That's what I do," he said as he crossed his legs and put his folded fingers on his thighs. "It's what I live for: to help unfortunate people like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to…"

Acutely, Jonah was aware that the light suddenly dimmed down. Or was it just him. The glow from the window made the atmosphere even more mysterious. He heard footsteps and saw the Leech brothers walked up to behind Azul's sofa. "I admit that in the past I've been a nasty," the silvernette sang as he put a hand on his chest. "They weren't kidding when they called me kinda strange."

The leech brother laughed and Azul gave them a playful glance before waving his hand, signaling for them to go away for a while. "But you'll find that nowadays, I've mended all my ways. Repented, seen the light, and made a change." He tiled his head to the side and smiled. "True, yes~”

Jonah raised an eyebrow at him but Azul just kept ongoing. "And I fortunately know a little secret. It's a talent that I always have possessed." He clapped his hands and Jonah looked up when he saw two students walking toward them, each carrying a tray.

"And, young captain, please don't laugh~" Jonah turned his head back to Azul. "I use it on behalf. Of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed…" In the last part, the two students put two cups of tea on their table and a plate of garlic bread.

Azul suddenly stood up, fixing his jacket as he muttered, "Pathetic."

He started to walk toward him, while still singing, "Poor unfortunate souls… In pain…" He sat on the table, still looking at Jonah. "In need…" He then pointed at one of the waiters. "This one wanted to get taller." And pointed at the other. "That one wants to get good grades. And do I help them?" He snapped his fingers and smoke puffed out from them. When it disappeared, the first waiter is as tall as Jack while the other is wearing a graduation cap. "Yes, indeed!"

Jonah watched the two waiters bowed down at Azul, like a king he was, who glanced at him with a smirk as if he was showing off what he could do. "Those poor unfortunate souls… So sad… So true…

Not far from them, Jack just finished delivering the last order of the night. He looked up as he saw Jonah and Azul. The negotiation could end up terrible. He needed to find those three idiots and show them what they had done.

"They come flocking to me crying, 'Will you help us, pretty please?' And I help them! Yes I do." Azul then sighed, resting his chin on the palm of his hand and his elbow on his thigh.

"Now it's happened once or twice. Someone couldn't pay the price…" A smile formed on his face. A terrible smile. He waved his fingers and one again smoke covered the two waiters. When the smoke disappeared, the familiar anemones appeared on their head. They looked at Azul in panic, but the prefect just kept smiling. "And I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals~" He snapped his fingers and the anemones pulled them away, screaming but couldn't deny.

"Yes I've had the odd complaint." Azul jumped off the table. "But on the whole I've been a saint~" He glanced behind him before spinning in a circle for dramatic effect. "To those poor unfortunate souls!"

Azul ended his spinning, facing Jonah, with a chuckle. "I think I have a perfect deal for you, Mister Argentum."

Jonah nodded. "Please, do tell."

Azul sat back on his sofa across Jonah. "I'll be giving you three days to retrieve a certain photo from the Atlantica Museum. The photo of Prince Rielle's visit to the museum about ten years ago. If you can bring the photo back to me, I will let go of all my new employees, including your little crew."

Around this time, Jack had already gathered Ace, Deuce, and Grim with him. They stood not far from the negotiation table. "I need to remind you that he's doing this for you," Jack whispered to them. The trio winched. Damn it, they got their captain in trouble again…

Jonah frowned. Something's not right… "And if I don't?"

"Then you have to pay the price…" Azul smiled dangerously again. "You must give the right to use the Ramshackle Dorm you look after."

Ace eyes widened. "You've been aiming for that dorm all along, haven't you?!" he screamed, pointing his finger accusingly at Azul. "Why I oughta-"

"Ace, stop!" Deuce immediately grabbed Ace. "We can't interfere!" Both Jack and Grim stood back, unable to do anything. They noticed the Leech twins are standing not far from them with a dangerous glint in their eyes and sadistic smiles.

Jonah ignored the others and focused only on Azul. "Why you want the dorm?"

Azul sighed, pulling his fedora down. "Well, Mister Argentum, you don't have any power you could offer to me, right?"

Jonah's hands curled up into a fist. So, Azul didn't know anything about his eye? Or he purposely ignores it? Either reason, Jonah was glad he didn't need to plug his eye out.

"And you’re not the sole heir of a kingdom," Azul continued. "And I'm sure you wouldn't give up your meddling crew." Behind him, Ace was trying to get away from Deuce grip and Jack grabbed Grim before he could fly toward the table. None of them took being called 'meddling crew' lightly.

Azul smiled again. "I'm giving you a generous offer here."

Jonah kept frowning. "Are you trying to make me homeless? And how am I supposed to swim to the museum-"

Azul cut him off by standing up from his seat. He leaned forward and poke Jonah's forehead. "You have your brain!" Then he pinched his cheek. "Your cutesy face!" Jonah slapped the hand away. Azul walked out of his seat and stood in front of the smaller boy. "And don't underestimate the importance of-" He pulled out his scarf and put it around Jonah's body, pulling it as if he was drying his back. "BODY LANGUAGE, HA!"

He glanced toward the group of junior. "Your small crew there sure like a lot of blabbers," he said, giving Jonah a sideways glance which Jonah respond with a glare and hissed, "Don't you dare touch them!" Azul laughed. He pinched Jonah's cheek again and pulled back before the boy could bite him. "I think a boy who shut up is a bore~" He pulled his scarf, forcing Jonah to stand up. "Yet down here it's much preferred for captains to say lots of words~ And after all dear, isn't that idle prattle for?"

And all of a sudden, Azul dropped his scarf and pulled Jonah's hand. The boy nearly tumbled in surprised but he managed to get his footing back. The smaller boy was being pulled again as Azul took him in a spin. "Azul, let me go! This is serious!"

But Azul just laughed. "Come on, we're here for those impressive conversations~ True gentlemen embrace it in their band~"

He pulled Jonah closer. Deathly close… Jack was fuming behind them. "Azul!" He let go of Grim and ran toward the duo. Jonah's head turned toward him, eyes widened. Nononono! Jack stay away!

But all it took was just Azul glancing at him and all of a sudden Floyd appeared between the duo and the wolf boy. Jack didn't get enough time to react when Floyd, sadistic smile plastered on his face, kick him on the stomach, sending him flying back to the floor. Before the boy could get up, Jade appeared from behind him, stomping his back, keeping him on the ground.

The others were shocked how the Leech twin could take down Jack so very easily. On one hand, they wanted to be free from this cursed anemone. But on the other hand, seeing their captain in the hand of their enemy…

"Let him go, Azul!" Ace screamed as he, Deuce, and Grim ran toward Azul but before they could even touch him, their anemone was being pulled again. "DAMN IT!"

Deuce grabbed his head. The pain was unbearable. He fell to his knees. "OW! STOP IT!"

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" Grim cried, falling to the ground.

"Guys!" Jonah was terrified, seeing his friend keeling on the grounds. He glared at Azul. "Azul, stop this!"

But Azul just laughed. "Why should, captain~?" He grabbed Jonah's chin as his smile widened. "'Cause I'll dote and swoon and fawn, on a boy who's not withdrawn~ It's he who lets his tongue loose gets my hand!"

Jonah was being pulled again, Azul led him into a dance, circling their fallen friends in a very mocking manner. "Come on you poor unfortunate soul! Go ahead! Choose your form! I'm a very busy person and I haven't got all day! It won't cost much!" Azul suddenly dipped him and Jonah wished he was dropped instead. "Just your dorm!"

Azul pulled him again, taking him into another dance. "You poor unfortunate soul! It's sad but true~" Azul suddenly pulled himself away and Jonah took that opportunity to step back. He glanced worriedly at his friend. Ace and Deuce was still kneeling on the ground, being watched over by Jade, while Grim was curled up in pain between them. Jack was still trying to get up, but Floyd was sitting on his back so he couldn't escape. This has gone way too far…

Azul took out his Magical Pen and waved it. "If you want to cross the bridge, my sweet, you've got the pay the toll. Take a gulp and take a breath, and go ahead and sign the scroll!"

Suddenly a golden scroll appeared in front of Jonah. I hereby grant unto Azul Ashengrotto the rights to the Ramshackle Dorm… This was their deal. This is it! Jonah re-read the contract, making sure it was correct. There was no way he would mess this up. His friends are counting on him!

Azul started to walk toward Jonah He threw the pathetic crew a sideways glance. "Pay attention, 'cause I've got him, boys…" he said toward them, his smirk became wider and wider. "The boss is on a ROLL!"

He stopped in front of Jonah who looked up at him, still glaring. Azul flicked his Magical Pen, turning it into a white feather. "Well…?"

Without any further delaying, Jonah grabbed the feather, and with no hesitation, wrote his name at the bottom of the scroll. Azul couldn't stop smiling as a violet magic circle appeared behind Jonah's signature, sealing the deal. It shone one last time before it folded itself and flew toward Azul's hand.

"THIS POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL!"

With one last bright light, the contract as sealed. The light suddenly went off but everyone could still hear Azul's voice echoing in the dark.

"It was nice doing business with you, Captain Argentum…”

33 notes · View notes

bangtanfancamp · 5 years

Text

S.U.G.A

-yoongi x reader

-10k pieces of fluff

-your flaky best friend forgets you,yet again, leaving you to spend the day with the oddest boy you’ve ever met. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

College had been the best experience so far. After growing up so sheltered and in such a small town, this new world of experiences was such an exhilarating adventure. There were so many people, so many new stories. You loved it.

You had never been in the center of things like this before. Always observed but never joined in. But you felt alive here. One of your favorite things you’d found so far was the theater department. People there had so much life, so much wild exuberance and this abundance of passion- it was infectious. Every second you were there you felt yourself coming alive, and you were beyond enamored with it.

It was also how you’d met one of your best friends here, Taehyung. Goofy, handsome, extraordinary Kim Taehyung. Every day he’d be a different character- different hairstyles, hair colors, piercings, clothes. He was constantly reinventing himself. You never knew what to expect, but the thing that never changed was his gigantic heart and his contagious laughter.

Taehyung made everything bright and impossibly joyful. He was hilarious and could turn the mood of an entire group when he walked into a room. He was kind to everyone and loyal to a fault to the people he loved, especially his best friend Jimin. He was incredibly talented in so many ways. You were constantly in awe of him. To be honest, you were battling a massive crush on him that was quickly going nowhere, but you couldn’t help it. He was … him. He was so effortlessly himself and absolutely wonderful. He was Taehyung…But, truth be told, in spite of all these wonderful things, that boy was flaky as heck.

Which is exactly how you wound up here- standing on the threshold of his house for the past fifteen minutes with no answer. The two of you were supposed to rehearse a scene for one of your classes. It had been Taehyung’s idea for you to come over to his house in the first place. But 15 minutes, 5 texts and 3 calls later, he was nowhere to be found while you froze your legs off in the chilly spring air. You were not dressed for this… this outfit had been chosen for aesthetics, not practicality.

Finally, something began to buzz in your pocket. You snatched out your phone to be greeted with the contact photo he’d been so proud of- his handsome face smashed behind glass like he was trapped in your phone. Normally, it made you smile, but right now the best you could muster was snorting in annoyance as you answered the call, bringing it to your ear without bothering to say hello. You didn’t really have to. Taehyung started in immediately with-

“OH MY GOSH, ______, I am SO SORRY!!! I totally, completely forgot we had plans today! I am so sorry. I’m the worst!! the absolute worst! Do you hate me? I’d hate me. I’m so sorry,____. Ugh. I met for breakfast with Jimin and Mina and inspiration struck and well, we’re in the middle of dying Jimin’s hair.”

Huh. That was a new one. You certainly hadn’t gotten that excuse from anyone before.

“I’m so sorry,_____. I’ll make it up to you! I will. I promise I will. You know I’m good for it. Food later? On me? We can get your favorite- chipotle? Extra chips and everything.”

“And guac?” You added softly after a moment’s hesitation.

“YES! Oh my god YES! She still loves me guys!” He yelled back to the room.

“Yes! You can have all the guac in the world. You can have an entire swimming pool full of avocados if you forgive me!”

You rolled your eyes at him. Why did he have to be so cute all the time. How were you supposed to stay mad at that?

“Calm down,” you laughed. “You’re so Stupid. But what do I do now? While you’re still busy dying jimin’s hair…?”

“Silver! We’re dying it silver. It’s gonna look so good, ____, my piece de resistance. And maybe once he looks like a Greek god, he’ll finally have the nerve to ask that girl from economics out so we can STOP HEARING ABOUT IT EVERY- ow! Hey! that hurt! Show some respect. I hold your good looks in my hands!!” Tae shouted. Jimin must have smacked him for his comment. You couldn’t help but laugh.

“Tae,” you interrupted, attempting to grab his attention. “Tae!”

“Sorry, love. That heathen almost bruised me. What is it?”

A soft blush illuminated your cheeks at his casual endearment. You made a mental note to process the glory of his lips calling you “love” at another time- you know, when it wasn’t his fault that you were freezing your extremities off.

“I live across campus, Tae. I biked all the way over here to see you, and I really am in no mood or that kind of shape to just turn around and go back already. Plus, I’m freezing. It’s like the second coming of Jack Frost out here. I thought it was supposed to be warming up.”

“You’re totally right. The jacket I had to throw on completely ruined my look this morning. Tragic rockstar chic will have to wait for better weather,” he lamented. “Hey, why don’t you just crash at my place until I get back there? I don’t think any of my roommates are home. There’s free tv and you know where all the good snacks are. There’s a key in the mailbox.”

“Your mailbox? Isn’t that incredibly unsafe?” you scrutinized.

“Someone’s always losing one so we stuffed an extra in there. I will not be dragged out of bed at 2am to let someone and their hookup in when I have an audition the next day just because they can’t be bothered to keep up with their keys in the throes of passion,” he said disgustedly. Clearly this hypothetical had actually happened. Probably pretty recently gauging the fleeting irritation in his usually chipper tone. “Anyway, I’ll be home in two hours- tops! Promise! In the meantime, my home is your home.”

“Fine. But if you’re not here in two hours, you owe me ice cream after chipotle, and I intend to collect, good sir.”

“MUAH!” Tae blew kisses at you through the phone. “Of course, princess! Muah! love you! You’re the best!”

“Yes, I am,” you sassed, attempting to cover the spike in your heartbeat. “Now go, before you fry jimin’s hair off. He won’t know what to do with himself if there’s nothing to run his fingers through.”

“Yah! Could that happen?” Jimin’s clear voice piped up in the background. “You said this was foolproof!”

“It is! Don’t worry! I got this. I’m basically a pro” Tae hushed him. “___, bye my love! Don’t burn anything down cuz you’re mad at me.”

“No promises,” you smiled into the phone as Tae rushed to quip back before you ended the call with a click. “Well all right then, this isn’t weird at all.”

You fumbled around the mailbox until you found the key they’d taped on the inside. You debated whether you should bring the massive stack of mail in it inside with you. Clearly no one had checked it in a while but wasn’t it a crime to tamper with someone else’s mail? Did this count? Whatever. It needed to be done, and you knew Tae certainly wasn’t gonna do it so you gathered up the armful and let yourself inside.

This felt so strange, walking into someone else’s home. You’d been here before for parties and to watch movies- epic marathons of whatever Tae was currently immersing himself in or terrible foreign films you had to dissect and critique for class- and for Tae’s award show watch parties (the oscars were his film critic super bowl), but this was different. This was another animal entirely. Being in the silence of someone else’s home when they weren’t there felt vaguely like trespassing even though you had permission to be there. Tae was alright with it, but you weren’t sure if you were.

You dropped your massive canvas bag by the front door and made your way to the kitchen. He was right- at least you knew where the good food was. You’d been responsible for helping refill enough snack bowls at Tae’s parties.

Tae split the massive house with four other guys, but you’d only met a couple of them. Everyone’s schedule was so all over the place that you’d only met Namjoon and Jungkook- the first double majoring in philosophy and business so you hardly ever saw him but he seemed cool, and the latter was busy giving Jimin a run for his money in the dance department. The other two you had yet to meet.

Helping yourself to a bag of barbecue potato chips and a cold can of root beer, you made your way toward the living room when you suddenly realized how stupidly wrong Tae had been- You weren’t alone at all. There was a boy on the couch. An incredibly cute boy at that.

He was fully dressed in an over the top black and white outfit. Sleeves cut off the too long shirt, black shorts, striped socks and black high tops. He had on way too much chunky jewelry and a backwards black and white snapback. Hardly the sort of things someone wore to bum around in at home. He had a thick shock of maroon hair, and it looked like- was he wearing eyeliner? Yes…yes, he was. A thick band of it too. He was stretched across the sofa, eye closed, with a chunky set of headphones over his ears, and you could hear the bass in the music from here. That must be why he hadn’t heard you banging on the door half the morning.

You froze in the doorway, unsure of what to do with yourself. No one was supposed to be here. This was weird enough when you thought you were alone. Now this poor guy was gonna think someone had broken into his house, and he wouldn’t be entirely wrong. “God dang it, Taehyung. How do you always get me into crap like this when you’re not even here?” You groaned under your breath, about to turn around and slip out as quietly as you’d come in, when your company finally noticed you.

“Um, hello?” A low voice croaked out. It wasn’t as deep as Taehyung’s, but it had a certain kind of authority to it that made you still immediately.

“Oh…. h-hi there,” you waved meekly.

“Are you- did Namjoon- are you a guest of his?” The boy queried, squinting his inscrutable eyes at you and pushing one ear of his headphones back to hear your answer. God, he was even cuter than you’d thought.

“What? No, i’m…oh! You mean??? No! Dear god, no, I’m not one of Namjoon’s booty calls.” You balked.

He seemed to realize that he’d alarmed you and immediately sat up. “Hey, it’s okay if you were. We’re all adults here. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He puts his hands out, palms toward you- God they were pretty hands though- like he was trying not to startle an animal. You probably did look pretty jumpy at this point. What was in the water at this place that all the boys looked so unreal?

“There’s just… not usually pretty girls just wandering around the house in the middle of the day when I think I’m here alone. Just… trying to figure it out.” He explained.

“Oh,” you sighed. “That’s fair. I’m sorry there’s a…uh, stranger … in your house. I’m a friend of Taehyung’s. We were supposed to rehearse for a project today, and he totally forgot and bailed on me. I live over in the Hillman dorm so he said I could crash inside until he got here. I’m sorry. He said no one was home.”

Quietly, he nodded, taking your explanation in.

“I-I can go,” you began to drift backwards. “It’s not that big a deal. I can wait for Tae somewhere else.”

“Hey. No, it’s okay. Hillman’s clear across campus. That’s too far if you’re trying to get a hold of him. You can stay. On one condition.”

Quirking your eyebrow, you stilled at this. “Okayyy….what is it?

“You have to share those chips with me.” Simple enough. He leaned forward, elbows to knees, to whisper the next part conspiratorially,

“And you can’t tell anyone I let you steal one of my sodas and survive. It’ll ruin my credibility around here.” For the first time, he smiled. And boy, what a smile. The intensity of his demeanor dissolved instantly, replaced by this sweet, innocent smile that warmed his entire face. Something about it clutched at your chest in a way you hadn’t expected.

“Oh God, I stole your soda?” You groaned. “I’m really battin a thousand today, huh?”

Sighing, you trudged toward the couch as he pulled his feet back to make room for you. You flopped down on the far end of it and kicked your head back to look at the ceiling. “I’m really sorry about that…?” You rolled your neck over to look at him, voice lilting up at the end in a question.

“Yoongi,” he smirked.

“______,” you huffed back, annoyed with yourself for how this entire day had gone so far. You extended your hand toward his. “Nice to officially meet you.”

He hesitated, only for a second, his feline features sizing you up. Nobody had ever looked at you with this kind of scrutiny before. You couldn’t quite describe it. He wasn’t objectifying you. Honestly, it looked like he was just trying to figure you out. Like you might be the only person who knew the answer to a puzzle he’d been trying to solve for decades, and he’d gotten bored waiting for you to show up. You didn’t know what to do with that.

Slowly, he took your hand in his to shake it back. His hands were larger than you expected, strong with intricate veins running across the back of his palm. They were impossibly warm. You wondered what you’d gotten yourself in to.

“Likewise. I’m guessing I’m the last one to meet you?” He asked.

“Not quite.There’s still one other roommate I don’t think I’ve met yet. Tae told me his name. I think it was….is his name José..?”

“Hoseok.” Yoongi grunted, rolling his eyes absurdly far back in his head. “And no, you must not have. Trust me. You’d remember him.”

“Do you guys not get along? Sensing some tension here.” You also noticed Yoongi hadn’t seemed to let go of your hand yet. You cleared your throat, only to be met with a questioning look. You darted your eyes to where your hands were still joined as yoongi’s eyebrows shot up to hide beneath his shaggy bangs. He dropped your hand immediately like it was cursed. Geeze, He didn’t have to throw it like that. His contact had been kind of…nice.

“Sorry.. on a major sleep deficit over here. Must have spaced out.” He buried a hand in the hair at the nape of his neck .You wondered in passing if his hair felt soft.

“S’fine. So, what’s the deal with hoseok? What’s the hostility there?”

“There’s not. He’s my best friend. He just drives me nuts sometimes. He’s also the reason I’ve been up since 5am today.” He shook his head disgustedly.

“Good grief, why?” You were intrigued.

He pulled his headphones down to settle around his neck and straightened the backwards cap he had on.

“Isn’t that awful? I was having such a good night’s sleep too…Hobi is in the dance department. He has this assignment to create a visual project with students from another complimentary major so he pulled me and Namjoon in on it. Something about learning how to network…”

“I thought Joonie was a philosophy major?” your brow crinkled in confusion.

“He is. But little known fact- he’s also one of the best rappers on campus.”

You felt your eyes go wide before you could stop them. “Seriously?! I mean, I guess he’s got the voice for it.”

“Does the name RM mean anything to you?l

“Half the girls in my dorm want to throw their panties at him. They talk about him all the time- they never shut up about him actually. But I’ve never made it to one of his shows. Why?”

Yoongi’s eye sparkled, chuckling to himself. “That’s Namjoon.”

“SHUT. UP!” Stunned, you clapped your hand over your mouth. “you’ve GOT to be kidding!”

“No, he is. Scouts honor. So now that you know, are you gonna be one of those girls throwing your panties at him too?” Yoongi’s dark eyes glowed with mischief.

“I’ve known you 20 whole minutes and that’s already the second time you’ve insinuated that I want to be in Joon’s bed. Should I be offended by that?” You pressed your hand to your chest in mock disgrace, a challenge in your eyes.

Laughing, Yoongi ducked his head sheepishly.

“Dang,you’re right, aren’t you? My bad. I guess I’m just kind of used to that sort of traffic around here. But you seem like a nice girl. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Hmm, it’s fine.” You smiled. And it was…You had much bigger concerns- like did Tae ever bring other girls around? You weren’t sure why the thought of that bothered you so much. A boy as flirty and outgoing as him must take girls home all the time, but you couldn’t help the sharp pang of whatever this was that stung your chest. Strangely, you then wondered if yoongi ever did, a thought you quickly brushed aside as your stomach twisted. You didn’t much like that idea either.

“Honestly, I’m just waiting to find out if there’s an explanation for this get up of yours.” You gestured toward his body.

“Hey! This is a look.” His brows crumpled in defiance.

“Oh it’s quite a look all right. Very 2013.” You teased.

He huffed at you and readjusted his hat as he soundlessly mimicked you. You couldn’t help but laugh.

“Anyway! Namjoon, hobi and I are all rappers actually. We’ve messed around with some song writing, played a few gigs. They’ve gone pretty well so hobi took this project as an excuse to make a music video for us. Jungkook’s been thinking about switching to the film department so he roped him into being our cameraman.”

“Is that why you were up before God and the sun?”

“Yeah, hobi showed up banging on the door at the butt crack of dawn and brought these God awful outfits. He insisted that we wear them and smeared this ridiculous makeup all over us. Told us to stop complaining- that he always has to wear stage makeup for performances and to stop acting like we were above it,” he gestured annoyed at his face.

“I kinda like it….” you offered softly. You caught him curiously dart his eyes at you. “What? I think it looks good …on you. Makes your eyes look-intense. I certainly wouldn’t mess with you.”

He playfully snarled, baring his teeth at you.

“Well, at least that makes one of us. I think it looks ridiculous. I just don’t know how to take it off. Every time I try to, I just spread it around. Makes it worse”

“I see that,” You giggled. “ I can help you, if you want. After I find out the rest of the story.”

“Deal.” He arched a sinister eyebrow at you.

“So. Where was I ? Oh. 5am call time, ridiculous outfits, stupid makeup. He drags me, Namjoon and jungkook to the middle of a rooftop downtown and then hoseok decides he wants us all to learn this stupid choreography he’s come up with. For him that’s fine, it’s what he does. But I hate it- I can do it, don’t get me wrong - but I hate it. I just wanted to do what I came there for- rap- But he wouldn’t back down, he insisted on it since it was for his grade and his vision, whatever that means.

“So we spent the next 5 hours going over and over it all. I got it down too. At least I thought I did, until we started shooting and hobi became the worst director ever. I finally gave up and told him he could film my scenes tomorrow but I was done for the day. So I bounced. And here we are.” He spread his arms and crashed back against the couch, drawing a laugh from you.

“So hoseok is a dance nazi?” You asked, leaning forward to assess how to get all this makeup off Yoongi.

“Yep… i was too tired to change so I just crashed on the couch, ready to finally get some peace and quiet without him squawking at me every five seconds.” He scrunched his face in annoyance, shaking his head like he was reliving it again. He actually looked pretty adorable when he was frustrated.

“Sounds like you barely made it out alive,” you teased.

“You have no idea. I had to leave my dignity behind as a distraction.”

“Well, let’s see if we can help get you some of it back. I think I have some of those wipe thingies that get makeup off in my bag. Let me grab it.” You hopped off the sofa, sundress swinging around your hips, and bounded toward the door. You returned moments later with your giant canvas tote.

“Dang.. You sure taehyung stood you up? I think you lost him somewhere in that bag. I can hear him crying for help,” Yoongi snickered, shoving a chip in his mouth.

Blushing, you clutched it closer to your body.

“Ha ha. I just never know what I’m gonna need- so I bring everything.”

“I can see that,” he teased.

“And if I didn’t, then you wouldn’t be one step closer to not looking like the joker anymore, so hush will you?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Yoongi smirked, raising his hands in surrender. It made your pulse quicken for some reason. Taking a calming breath, you sat back down beside him, much closer this time.

“May I ?” You asked, reaching for his hat.

“Sure.” He smiled warmly at you.

You gently moved the cap back and his thick hair flopped forward into his eyes. He attempted to blow his fringe out of his eyes, trying to sit still for you, but with no luck. You gingerly reached out to push his hair back for him and couldn’t help but notice how his chest stilled at your touch.

Gosh, you barely knew this guy. What were you doing? You’d help put on and take off makeup a million times for shows and parties. Why did this feel so different?

“Don’t let this be weird. This is gonna have to come off somehow right? So just um, close your eyes for me okay?”

“You got it, boss.” He mumbled, lashes fluttering shut over his cheeks.

“Do you- are those fake eyelashes Yoongi?” You tried to stifle your laughter.

“Did he -are you serious ? God I don’t know what he was doing. I was half asleep when he did this to me.”

“And foundation?”

“Yeahhhhh, that I know. Again, not my idea.”

“You poor thing,” a giggle spilling from your lips that you tried to pull back. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you. Just relax for me okay?.”

“This is as relaxed as I get.” He quipped, but you couldn’t help but notice the smile tugging on the ends of his lips.

Lifting his chin with your forefinger and thumb,

You went to work carefully removing the terribly applied lash strip clinging desperately to one eye. His eyeliner had been so thick you hadn’t caught it all this time. His eyelids fluttered with relief after the sticky thing was removed, his face twisting and stretching like he was trying to feel if he was himself again.

Once free of it, you carefully followed the curves of face to help him get the rest of the eye makeup off. It wasn’t until you were this close that you could take in just how beautiful he was. With his eyes closed, you took a moment to really savor his features. They were so delicate but so perfect. The ridge of his jaw was so smooth, his skin beneath the makeup perfectly polished marble.

He noticed your stillness and smiled.

“Everything all right out there?”

Startled out of your day dream, you scrambled back to work. “Of course. Just assessing the damage.”

“Whatever you say,” he smirked. He seemed to be warming up around you. He so was easy to talk to despite his pensive aura. You liked talking to him.

“What’s yours by the way?”

“My what?”

“Your major. What’s your story?”

“Nothing particularly interesting I’m afraid. I’m undeclared right now. Every person I meet here seems so incredibly talented. Even if you just look at the people who live in this house- painters, philosophers, actors, filmmakers, dancers, poets….rappers. I had no idea a person could be so many things. Every time I think I know what I want to pursue, I find out five more options and I’m back to square one.” You dabbed at a particularly stubborn spot along the corner of his eye.

“i guess I’m still trying to find where I fit. Growing up I thought you had to find one thing, stick to it, perfect it and that became your future. Became who you were. But… I don’t think it’s that simple anymore.”

“People are more complex than we give them credit for. They evolve so much over time. It’s hard to ever really know someone.” Yoongi mused.

“What about you?” You asked softly.

“Oh, uh-Music production,” he responds quietly, almost a whisper.

Impressive. That was one of the hardest programs to get into here.

“That’s… dang. You any good?” You nudged his ribs with your elbow. Despite his thin frame, he actually felt quite solid.

“Who knows” he shrugged. “ but I love it.” He mumbled the last part almost as an afterthought. Like he wasn’t sure he wanted to share it. You tucked your feet beneath you as you got comfortable on the couch, increasingly intrigued by the boy before you.

“That’s really cool. But I meant does anybody really know you?” it felt like a strange question, but you were so intrigued by him- you were honestly just trying to figure out if there was anyone he’d let close enough to crack his algorithm.

“people know as much as I let them know.” He said thoughtfully.

“But..doesn’t that get lonely?” You brushed along his cheekbone, noting how quickly the conversation had veered in a heavy direction.

Yoongi was quiet for a beat. Slowly, he exhaled before simply answering “yes.”

Softly, your hands fell away from his face and folded in your lap. Yoongi cleared his throat, but you remained silent. You hadn’t expected him to share something like that with you so easily. What could you possibly say now?

He reached up run his fingers over his face as his eyes fluttered open.

“Are we finished? Am I myself again?”

You nodded gently. “All clear,” a smile ghosting across your lips.

“Ya! Finally!!” He stretched his arms out wide, shaking his head dramatically. “I can breathe again! Aaagh!! I could kiss you.” Yoongi didn’t seem to notice the impact of his words on you, too busy enjoying his freedom.

“comments like that and you’re busy worried about girls wandering out from Namjoon’s bed….” you mumbled to yourself.

“What was that?” He asked, neck twisting over his shoulder to look back at you. You blushed and dropped your eyes.

“Oh! Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” You tried to cover for yourself, how well you didn’t know. He shrugged, unbothered and lifted himself from the couch.

“Hey, i’m gonna change out of the rest of this.” He slipped his thumb beneath one of his chunky gold chains. “Finally got some momentum now that my face is back in order.” His smile was a bit lopsided and it made you want to kiss the corner of it.

“Glad to have inspired you. Maybe I should head out…”

“Why?” He grunted. “You just got here. Sit tight. We can watch a movie.” With that, he left. Off and down the hallway, he disappeared with a click.

Welp, this was an interesting turn of events. You crossed your legs, feet tucked beneath you as you spread the skirt of your dress over them. You felt strangely nervous now, despite his invitation. You barely knew him so why were so glad he had asked you to stay? You took a sip of your soda and glanced around the room, fidgety and restless, eventually pulling out your phone hoping that scrolling through it would distract you from waiting for your unexpected company.

Soon enough, yoongi returned, plopping on the sofa, albeit much closer than he’d been before. You were still wedged against the left arm of it but he’d planted himself mid sofa this time, not on the other end. There was still distance but not enough to calm your pulse. He’d changed into a long black sweater. The sleeves were too long and spilled over his knuckles, while his legs were adorned in fitted black jeans with a rip in the knee that stretched as he shifted to find a comfortable position. You could tell he felt more like himself this way, his demeanor had shifted. It was easier, lighter, more open. It suited him.

“So,” he broke the silence,” what kind of movies do you like to watch? And Please don’t tell me you’re as much of a snob as taehyung.” He turned his face to look at you.

“No,” you laughed. “I’m not. He is a bit hard to please in that department, isn’t he?”

“You have no idea. Last week, jungkook was watching transformers in here and Tae practically gave him an entire dissertation on how much he hated Michael Bay’s cinematography.” Yoongi shook his head, disgruntledly.

“Yeah, that sounds like him. Though transformers is hardly a masterpiece. Is that your kind of film?”

His face scrunched,” I don’t think it’s anyone’s kind of film. That movie is mindless- just bombs, butts and boobs. It’s just something to have on in the background. I’m not invested enough to care that much.”

“So, what do you like then?”

His crooked smile was back. “Ah, ah, you never answered my question,” he tutted at you. “I have seniority here and I asked you first. So spill.” There was a challenge in his eyes, but a whimsy in them too. Like if you answered, correctly he might have a prize for you.

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“Okay, you’re gonna think this is silly but….” you drew in a breath.

“Ilikemusicals” you blurted out all at once and Yoongi laughed- truly deeply big belly laughed. Shocked at his reaction, you fought back the urge to pop him in the shoulder.

“What’s so bad about that!? Gosh you said it like you were confessing your had leprosy..or herpes. Everybody likes musicals.” He said flippantly.

“Hardly. Nobody in my town growing up liked musicals. The theater kids were weirdos.” You frowned, arms wrapped protectively to your body. eyes suddenly occupying themselves with a particularly fascinating stain on the carpet as you avoided yoongi’s gaze.

“Well, that sucks. But it just means you grew up around narrow minded people. Anyone worth their fine arts credit loves La La Land around here.” He leaned over to bump his elbow to your arm, face dipping to find your eyes. “Now will you look at me again?”

You felt yourself unfurl a little bit as you reached to tuck your hair behind your ear and found that lopsided grin you felt yourself yet again reacting to. “Fine. I accept my punishment.” You attempt to sneer but it comes out far too soft, all the ferocity of a fluffy little herbivore.

“We both know looking at me isn’t a punishment.” His eyes drift sideways at you, a high eyebrow arched as he extends his neck and lifts his chin to display his profile for you, elegant hands tracing the crook of his jawline and the length of his throat. Oh god……was it normal for your pulse to hitch like that? Time to get this back under control.

“Confident boy.” You tipped your head to the side, and Yoongi’s smile grew so wide you could see all of his teeth.

“That I am- when I wanna be, I guess. I can see why Tae likes having you around,_____. You’re a fun girl.” He stated it plainly like it was the most obvious fact in the world. Tae. You were supposed to be waiting for him.You’d gotten so wrapped up in yoongi that you’d stopped watching the clock ages ago. How strange. Tae normally occupied so much of your brain space but right now the only thing on your mind was Yoongi. Shocking how quickly your attention had been usurped by this new boy.

“Thanks. You’re bad not at all, Yoongs. That eyeliner led me astray.”

He snorted with deep throaty chuckle. “Yoongs? Is that what you just called me?”

“What if it is?” You teased. Uh oh, did he not like that?

“Then I take back my previous compliments.”

“Wow. Is that really all it takes to fall out of your good graces?” You feigned offense.

“Apparently yes. Cuz that was god awful. Never call me that again. You really think that was gonna be the winner?” He deadpanned as he looked sideways at you, hand poised on his knee flicking through the TV guide.

“I was just testing it out. I’ve already seen you barefaced, I thought maybe we were close enough for nicknames.” You attempted to shrug nonchalantly.

His feline eyes squinted over at you again. God, he was hard to read when he wanted to be. But then that whisper of a smile was back creeping up the side of his lips and you felt yourself finally exhale.

“Fair enough,” he nodded with a soft laugh. “Just not that one. There are much better names you could be calling me.” He bit his bottom lip playfully, eyebrows wiggling and disappearing behind his scarlet fringe.

“Gross. Hard pass.” You tried to make your face a mask of disinterest, but behind the veil you felt your chest collapsing. This boy. He erupted into bright laughter, almost cackling at you.

“God you’re cute when you’re uncomfortable. I can see right through you.” He reached over to pinch at your cheek. For a few dazed seconds, you let him. You were so caught off guard by his touch you didn’t know if you should stop it. Eventually you wriggled your face away, huffing at his long fingers. Was cute a good thing ? In your experience attractive boys tended to friend zone “cute” girls. It was usually a glorified step above being called their sister. But yoongi didn’t say it like that… you wondered.

“So hotshot, since my ideas out of contention, what’s yours then? What do they call you on stage?” You recrossed your arms beneath your cleavage and stared defiantly at him. His eyes flicked down just for a second before they fell away, tongue peeking out to the edges of his smile.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“You know, what name do you rap under?” Your eyes went a little round, hoping you’d asked that right.

“Ah. It’s kind of.. I don’t know. Say what you will, I guess.” He ruffled the hair at the back of his head. “Suga. I go by Suga.”

A snort flew out of you before you could stop it. “Seriously? And you gave me crap about Yoongs?”

“I know. I know. It’s a long story. But I’m kind of attached to it now.” His smile was soft, like he truly was terribly fond of the moniker.

“I don’t know. You’re gonna have to convince me on that one.” You lifted a quizzical brow at him. His eyes glistened at your challenge and suddenly you didn’t fee quite as in charge anymore.

“It makes for a great intro on my verses when I’m working with the guys.”

“Oh really? Show me.” You weren’t sure where that came from.

“Feisty. Okay.” He reached in his pocket to pull out his phone. He thumbed around looking for something on it until he smirked triumphantly. His intense gaze returned you and his lips snaked into a smile. Why was he looking at you like that? Like he was going to devour you and have fun while he did it.

“I have one condition.”

“Again with the conditions. What is it this time?” This was all a game to him. It made you feel like a rubiks cube- you weren’t if he was trying to solve you or you were trying to solve him- but he was so god dang intriguing that you were willing to play along either way.

With his gaze locked on you, he breathed, “You have to close your eyes.”

“What?” You felt your brows pinch together.

“I’m serious. Close them. You’ll thank me later.” He winked, his grin all teeth.

“Uh huh. Sure… fine.” You pivoted toward him with a bounce, settling into your new position. You tucked your hair behind both ears. “Whatever you’ve got- impress me.” You waved your fingers in the air mystically.

He chuckled. “Calm down, Scarlet witch. Just enjoy.”

In the silence, you heard him shuffle and felt the couch dip. He was right in front of you now. Carefully, you stretched your fingers out only to retract them immediately when they brushed the denim on his shin. “Oof, Sorry.”

“Can’t keep your hands to yourself all ready. I didn’t even start the verse yet.” The smile in his voice was so endearing despite his cocky words. You twisted your face into a mocking smile and stuck your tongue out at him. He could be such a smug little- Wait. Oh… was he gonna? Suddenly, a digital beat started to play from his phone. It was intricate and layered-the bass in it was addictive and rhythmic. The production was impeccable. You wondered if he’d made it.

The couch shifted again and yoongi leaned in toward your ear. You could feel his breath tickling your skin and it made you shiver. After a few seconds of an intro, you heard him inhale to begin and as promised, his verse began with a velvet smooth “Suga”- a breathy whisper that tumbled out of his lips and fell tingling down your spine. Oh god.

He began to rap fluidly over the beat in a mixture of Korean and english, his voice gravelly and deep as he played with melodies and timing. You’d never heard anyone sound like that. He played with the textures of the noises he made, sometimes sounding so aggressive it almost came across as a snarl but other times sounding so smooth and gentle that his throaty voice felt altogether too intimate. He got to a point in the flow of it where the melody was delivered like a spoken word- not quite singing but not quite talking- his voice dipping into an octave that rivaled taehyung’s. It was potent and sticky like dark honey. His voice was delicious .

At one point, he was so close to you that you felt the tip of his nose drag against your cheekbone, his breath ghosting in puffs over your neck between his lyrics. And His voice then- God, it was the sexiest thing you’d ever heard. The intensity of it, even at a whisper was overwhelming.

Two verses later, you could tell from the waning dynamics in the music that the song was coming to a close. Just before it ended, he held on until the very last beat before whispering a final “Suga” against your skin to close it out, the music dropping out completely. You felt him trying to catch his breath as he pulled back from your ear. You weren’t sure if you were ready to look at him again just yet.

You swallowed thickly, hands crumpling the skirt fabric in your lap. Slowly, your eyes fluttered open to see the tip of yoongi’s nose dangerously close to yours. His smile was positively wicked but there was laughter in his eyes. He was exhilarated to see how you were going to respond to him. There was a dazzling light radiating off of him as he took in your dazed reaction.

“That was… um, wow.” was all you could manage to get out. “Are all your shows like that?”

“Oh absolutely. I just weave through an entire crowd of strangers whispering in their ears for the entire night. Real abstract. Only one person hears me at a time.” He squinted dubiously at you, his smile never wavering.

“I mean you never know, it’s an odd school. Lots of artistic weirdos around here.” You felt the dissonance between your words and your own face. Your eyes were probably soft and dreamy right now- and you could feel your mouth parting open without your permission. You were trying to keep up the witty repartee but your body felt a little like it was short circuiting.

“You’re not wrong. There’s this one weirdo who’s been hanging around my house the whole day. She even ransacked my kitchen and took all the good snacks-But between you and me, she’s kind of adorable. I’d kinda like to see more of her.” His eyes sparkled with a sincerity that caught you off guard.

“Oh? Maybe if she knew why a grumpy boy calls himself Suga, she’d be inclined to stop by more often.” What were you doing? What were you even saying? It was hard to get any oxygen to your brain when he was looking at you like that.

His laugh was soft, his cheeks pinching the edges of his beautiful eyes as he smiled. “I used to love to play basketball in high school.”

“Aren’t you a little um, short for that?” You giggled at the mental picture.

“Not too short to love it. Jerk.” He scrunched his nose at you in defiance, but his crooked smile never wavered. “I was actually a really good shooter. One of the best in my school. I had just started messing around with music back then and Namjoon was pressing me to come up with a name for myself. Basketball was what I knew best so I thought it should come from there. He made a joke about the position I played, shooting guard, but mumbled it in Korean. The first part of it sounded like Sugar and he gave me crap about how ironic it was that someone as sarcastic as me should be called that. And It just kind of stuck. Over time it dropped to just Suga, and it was stupid but i kind of liked it. It was different from everyone else, that was for sure.” His smile was a little goofy- you liked it. He was proud of his names story even if he acted like he wasn’t.

“So,….Suga. I get it now. I like it.” You looked at him sweetly.

“Yeah?” That playful spark was back.

“Yeah. Suga… suga… Suga…” You tried it out in different ways, letting it tumble out of your mouth honeyed and soft. His bottom lip snagged under his teeth, something a little darker rolling over his eyes.

“Careful, Princess. I’m not beetlejuice.” Oh. You liked it when he called you that. He was moving closer somehow. Not that he had much further to go anyway, you already felt like you were practically in his lap at this point. Your reflection was clear in his dark eyes until his gaze flicked down to your lips.

“You were when I found you on the couch.” You countered, feeling unsteady. His laugh in response was so sweet. His teeth lit up his grin as he shook his head at you.

“Touché. But I told you- not my choice.” Something in his gaze shifted, his voice getting deeper, more coarse, like he didn’t want to say the next words too loud.

“Hey…. I know.. we just met but, you- I like this. A lot. You really should come around more often. But… for me this time.” He was smiling, but there was no part of him that made this feel like a joke. There was a solidness to his words, a pleasant gravity to his expression. He was looking at you like he wanted to give you the whole world. His eyes were on your lips again, and you wet them as best you could considering how dry your mouth had suddenly become. This wasn’t a game anymore.

“And… why should I do that?” The question came out more breathy than you planned.

“So we can do this again,” and just like that Yoongi’s head dipped down, his lips pressed soft as a cloud against yours. You felt yourself gasp at his boldness, before completely dissolving into the sweetness of his kiss. It was slow and gentle, like he was in no hurry at all. His breath was sweet, his lips languid as he took his time with you. He kept his hands to himself, as if that was too much to do all at once and he could only handle so much of you. The kiss became still, crawling to a smooth stop, his lips tender as you both caught your breath with each other.

When he pulled away, his smile was impossibly wide, his nose nuzzling against yours as if he needed to find a way to prolong touching you even with the kiss ended. If this was another game of his, he was incredibly proud of the play he’d just made. He searched your doe eyes with wonder,

waiting for your counter move. The excitement was killing him and he loved it.

Something like this had never happened to you before. You’d shared awkward first kisses before with boys you’d grown up with. Clunky, nervous things exchanged on your front porch or the front seat of their car when it seemed like the logical thing to do at the end of the night that swiftly went nowhere. They’d been strange and inorganic and nothing had ever come of them.

But this- this was entirely different. Yoongi’s kiss was magnificent. Falling into his touch felt like watching a flower unfurl it’s petals in the brightness of the sun- warm and fantastic and the way it was always supposed to be. You felt your fingertips reach up to brush over where his lips had been. A crackle of electricity tingled as you replayed it in your mind. How was any of this possible? How did this happen?

“Yoongi….”

“Yes, Princess?”’ he licked his lips, happily awaiting your response.

“I barely know you. I- I don’t do this.” Your wide eyes searched his.

“That’s okay. No rush. I can tell.” He smirked.

“What ? How? Oh- god, was it bad?” A panicked line creased between your brows.

“Oh god no. That was fantastic.” He brushed his nose against yours. Laughter spilling from his lips. “Ten out of ten first kiss. I’m ready to find out how the second one goes whenever you are.” He winked. “No, I can tell because you have been the cutest shade of pink ever since I let you go. You look like a strawberry.”

Embarrassed, You quickly reached up to cover the blush on your cheeks that had given you away as Yoongi’s kind laughter floated around you.

“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t hide it. Its sweet.” He softly pulled your hands back and leaned in to plant a kiss to the apple of each of your glowing cheeks. He playfully pretended to bite one of them. “You are so cute. Not gonna lie, this is the first time I’ve ever been glad Tae can’t be on time to save his life. Something good finally came out of it.”

You felt your cheeks get warmer. You actually felt a tingle of heat brush across them under Yoongi’s impossibly happy eyes. “Hey yoongi?”

“Yeah, ___?” He answered, his smile a riot of stars and sunlight.

“I think I’m ready for that second kiss now.” Your breathing was a tangled mess but you managed to get your sentence out before Yoongi’s broad hands cradled your cheeks and pulled you in again.

“Don’t have to tell me twice.”

This kiss was brighter than the first. Yoongi held back just a little less, thumbs caressing your face, fingers slipping into your hair. You swore you could feel him smiling as he kissed you, his teeth coming to nip at your bottom lip every now and then. It caused a flurry of giggles to spill out of you that only encouraged him.

“God, you have the best laugh.” Yoongi whispered into your mouth. You felt the weight of him begin to press against your chest as you leaned back against the arm of the couch. He slipped between you and the couch to lay beside you, his hand caught on your waist, thumb brushing into your stomach. His warm tongue found its way into your mouth, causing a soft sigh to melt out of you. Your arms came to wrap around his neck, hands buried in his luscious crimson hair. You both became so tangled with each other that you didn’t hear the lock on the front door until-

“_____ ? and yoongi?” It was Jimin’s crystal clear voice floating through the house. And that meant- Taehyung was finally home.

“Shut up, you’re kidding!” Came Tae’s booming baritone. Startled, you sat bolt upright on the couch, pulling away from Yoongi. You snatched a pillow into your lap as you fussed with your disheveled hair. Yoongi couldn’t stop laughing as Tae rounded the corner, wide eyed and a bit stunned.

“What is this? How did this happen?” He pressed his palm flat to his chest in shock

“You left her alone all day! Someone had to keep her company.” Yoongi’s eyes never left you. His gaze was a little wild then, triumphant as he took in the state of you- beautiful and rattled. Once again, he found your wide eyed innocence enchantingly adorable. He looked a mess-his hair was sticking up in crazy directions, his lips puffy from where you tugged on them- and he didn’t mind one bit. He loved it.

“Tae, why didn’t you text me that you were on your way?” You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, a fact that only made Yoongi giggle.

“I did! But you didn’t respond. I thought you were mad at me so I tried to get here sooner. But it seems I could have taken my time.” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully. “I can leave again, let you get back to what I interrupted.” He offered teasingly.

“Would you? We were having the best time before you ruined it.” Yoongi muttered, completely straight faced up at Taehyung. You were mortified as Taehyung cane behind you to scoop you up into a hug. He placed a smacking kiss into the top of your hair.

“Stop it. I don’t want to hear a single word about this, Tae.” You buried your face in your hands.

“Why? I love this! You two are so cute together! I honestly have no idea why I didn’t set you guys up sooner!” He rolled his eyes at himself.

“What?” You twisted to look up at him.

“Oh, I’ve wanted to find you a nice guy for ages. I thought about trying to play matchmaker with you and Jimin but then he got stuck on that girl in economics. Who he WILL ASK OUT NOW THAT WE SPENT AN ENTIRE DAY MAKING HIM LOOK LIKE A DISNEY PRINCE!!!” Taehyung shouted toward the kitchen.

“Ya! I will ask her out when I’m good and ready! Back off!!!” Jimin shot back. He sounded like his mouth was full. He was probably depleting the stash of Oreo cookies.

“You better! I’ll kill you myself if you let my hard work go to waste!… anyway. Yeah, I could tell you had a little thing for me. But I’m married to my career right now. I needed to find you a sweet boy to take care of you. But maybe I was looking at this wrong. Perhaps, you’re the sunshine our Oscar the Grouch needs around here.” Taehyung prattled off, reaching a long arm to muss with Yoongi’s wild hair. Your eyes went wide at his casual profession about the feelings you’d had for him. He knew? That brat knew? God, how embarrassing.

“Hey!” Yoongi swatted at him, pulling you back from Tae’s embrace. “Are you crazy? You can’t just say things like that, you idiot. You’re gonna hurt her feelings.” Yoongi scowled at his friend as he held you protectively.

“Woah, woah woah, wait- you knew too?” You pressed yourself away from Yoongi to look in his eyes, trying to decide how you felt about all of this.

“Not explicitly. No. I’d heard that Tae had a really cute friend he brought around all the time and it seemed like he was too clueless to do anything about it. I didn’t know he was enough of an idiot to friend zone you.” He defended.

“Then why did you keep asking me about Namjoon?” Your brows furrowed.

“ Because at first, I genuinely had no clue who were. Once I figured it out, i didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. Plus, I kept trying to figure out why Tae was being such an idiot by not pursuing you.” He answered honestly.

“Hey! I’m literally right here.” Taehyung pouted.

“And that’s where you’ll stay if you ever realize how stupid you were for missing out on her.” Yoongi stated matter of factly.

“I am aware of what a catch she is, Yoongi. She is my best friend. Which is why I’ll dump all your recording equipment in the bathtub if you ever hurt her.” Taehyung crossed his arms, sticking his tongue out petulantly at Yoongi.

At some point, Jimin had silently entered the room, cheeks sure enough stuffed full with cookies as he watched the drama unfold. As promised, his hair really was a delicately coiffed silver now. The icy locks were side parted and swept off his face, making him look impossibly regal even with his mouth full of sweets. Perhaps Taehyung was in the wrong line of work altogether.

“Don’t you dare. Do you have any idea how much that equipment cost?” Yoongi’s scowl was a bit terrifying.

“It isn’t worth near as much as my best friend’s heart.” Taehyung insisted nobly.

“I thought I was your best friend?” Jimin piped up from across the room, his cheeks a bit pouty at the realization that he may have been one upped.

“And will be again once you grow a pair and talk to Sandy.” Taehyung quipped.

“Sasha.” Jimin deepened his pout.

“Whatever. Maybe I’ll remember once ive actually met her and she’s finally your girlfriend instead of just figment that you whine about all the time. Chop, chop, kid. You’ll graduate before you even take her to coffee at this point. Besides, I can have two best friends, Jiminie. There are no rules against it. But anyway! The point is that ____ and Yoongi are a great match and I ship it even if I didn’t start it.” He lifted his chin proudly.

“Thank you? I think?” You were still a bit baffled st the way this whole day had panned out. You glanced over at Yoongi again who at some point had taken your hand in his, busily brushing circles over your knuckles. His touch was grounding, and strangely pleasant on this bizarre day.

“Of course, darling. You have my blessing. Both of you.” Tae kissed you both on the forehead, an action that had Yoongi swinging at him again which only made Tae hug him tighter against his will. “You know you love it! We’ll spend even more time around each other now that you’re dating the best person I know.”

“You know me.” Jimin muttered defeatedly, popping an entire cookie in his mouth.

“It’s not the same thing, Jiminie! You know this. Insecurity is a very unattractive trait. Stella won’t give you the time of day if you keep this up,you know.” Taehyung said exasperatedly.

“Sasha. Her name is Sasha. And she likes me just fine. She said she likes sweet quiet guys.” Jimin smiled bashfully to himself. It was absolutely adorable.

“Well hey! We can work with that! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Taehyung practically leapt off the couch to congratulate his friend. “Come on, lets go regroup then. Figure out where to take it from here. ______, we still on for chipotle and rehearsal later?” He called back over his shoulder as he herded Jimin back to the kitchen, snatching the pack of cookies away from him, claiming they’d only make Jimin’s baby face more puffy.

“Of course! 4 o clock sharp this time?” You answered.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, darling.” Tae beamed back.

“Oh, but don’t worry about ice cream. Yoongi’s gonna take me to get that.” You smiled over at the boy beside you, who seemed pleasantly surprised at your words.

“Oh am I now? That’s news to me.” Yoongi’s eyes sparkled with mischief again.

“Absolutely. You owe me for saving you from that clown makeup. And for letting you survive after embarrassing me like that.” You smacked his shoulder, and he pretended to crumple into the sofa.

“God dang, woman. That upper body strength. Chill out.” He laughed warmly at you. “Fine. I’ll comply. One one condition.”

“This again?” You arched an eyebrow at him.

“Yes, this again.” He mimicked, a little too accurately. It had you biting down on your lip to keep from completely cutting him off with your laughter.

“I will take you on a proper ice cream date today- unlimited toppings, whipped cream, extra cherries, the whole nine yards- if you promise to to come to my show this Friday night.” He was poised on the couch like a cat ready to pounce, eyes meticulous as they studied your reaction.

“I don’t know if you’re prepared for how hard I go on ice cream toppings, sir. Your whole chunk of the rent is gone -pfft- that fast.” You poked him in the chest lightly.

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take….as long as you leave the show with me and not Namjoon.” His eyebrows wiggled suggestively and you smacked him again.

“OH MY GOSH! Are you serious?” You fell into a fit of giggles as a bright, smiling Yoongi pulled you close again.

“Yeah, Im absolutely serious. I’m playing from behind. Everyone else here knows you better.” The edges of his eyes crinkled as he smiled so wide they almost disappeared. He kissed the tip of your nose, leaning his forehead against yours. “Hey. Honestly though, I have a really good feeling about this.” He whispered, that sincerity flashing brilliant in his eyes again.

“You know what’s crazy?”

“What?”

“ I do too.”

This time it was you to initiate the kiss. It was little, just something quick and sweet, but Yoongi loved it.

“Aaaaawwww! SO CUTE! I could die!” Taehyung shouted from around the corner.

“Oh my god, not again.” You pulled away from Yoongi’s embrace.

“Wanna go get that ice cream now?” Yoongi stood, offering his hand to you.

“Abso-freaking-lutely.” Your eyes were wide with annoyance at Taehyung as Yoongi pulled you up from the sofa and you both headed toward the door.

“Don’t do anything too crazy, Kids!” Taehyung shouted.

“I’m going to kill you!” Yoongi deadpanned.

“But not until after you bring ____ back for rehearsal. 4 o clock sharp! Remember!” Tae tutted at him.

Smiling warmly at the two boys, you hopped over to Tae to kiss him on the cheek. “Yes, mom. We’ll be back in little while.”

“You better. I don’t know how I feel about you liking another boy better than me.I’m not used to having to share you.” He muttered, but there was a smile in his eyes.

“Hey, you’re my best friend. That’s not changing. You know that.” You bumped his hip with yours.

“I know. ____, I meant what I said about the bathtub. If he gets too handsy or becomes a total bore and ruins all your fun, just let me know and I’ve got you. Splash, splash- just like that, okay? Gotta take care of my best girl.” He whispered, winking at you.

“I know, Tae. Thank you. I’ll see you later, okay?” You squeezed his arm lovingly as he nodded kindly at you before you bounced back to Yoongi’s side, slipping your fingers between his. His entire face lit up at the contact.

“What was that about?” Yoongi asked as you both made your way through the front door.

“Nothing. Just getting Tae’s proper blessing.” You beamed at him.

“Well in that case,” Yoongi bent down and picked you up. You squealed wildly as he carried you down the sidewalk to his car, joggers and pedestrians giving you both the most unbearable side eye as they passed by.

“Yoongi! Put me down!” You giggled.

“On one condition….”

Oh dating him was going to be fun.

~fin~

#min yoongi #bangtanfancampfics #bts writing #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fanfics #min yoongi fanfic #suga fanfic #suga x reader #yoongi x reader #bts kim taehyung #kim taehyung x reader #jimin x reader #namjoon x reader #rapper!yoongi

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fanfics4all · 6 years

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The Northside Serpent: Part 1

Request: No

Don’t be shy, request things! If you request please request in my asks, it will be much easier for me to keep up with them, thank you! <3 Have a nice day/night!

Sweet Pea x Keller!Reader

Word count: 1431

Warnings: underage drinking, cursing, and cheating.

Y/N: Your name

Y/N/N: Your nickname

F/C: Favorite Color

Summary: You’re Kevin Keller’s little sister when you’re mom left to go to war and your dad started cheating (I’m making it so he’s been cheating since season 1) You started rebelling; dying your hair, getting a nose piercing, tattoo, and hanging out on the southside.

A/N: Not sure how many part this will be but I hope you enjoy it!

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

It was late at night and I was just coming home from the Whyte Wyrm. I walked in the back door where my dad was sitting at our table waiting for me. “We need to talk Y/N” “Were you waiting up for me?” “Yes, Y/N you can’t keep going to the southside!” I rolled my eyes and tried to walk away but he grabbed my arm. “Let go of me!” “No, we need to talk about your behavior!” I turned around and glared at him. “My behavior!? Are you kidding me!? I’m not the one cheating on mom while she’s out risking her life!” I shouted, my father looked at me shocked. He hadn’t told me about his and Mrs. McCoy’s relationship, I had to find out through Kevin; apparently, my dad wasn’t going to tell me anytime soon. “Who told you about that?” “Kevin because he actually cares about me and wanted to inform me of how you’re fucking up our family!” I shouted and stormed upstairs and slammed my door. I tossed my leather jacket to on the floor and face planted into my bed. I screamed into my pillow, I couldn’t take it anymore! How could he do this to our family!? There was a knock on my door, I just groaned in response not wanting to be bothered. Whoever it was walked in and sat on my bed. “Y/N, you okay?” Kevin asked rubbing my back. I groaned again. “That bad huh?” He chuckled. I flipped over and sat up to face him, tears forming in my eyes. “How could he ruin our family like its nothing? How could he not even want to tell me!” “Oh Y/N…” Kevin pulled me into him and I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. “Y/N/N, everything’s gonna be fine I promise.” “You can’t promise that Kev! Dad’s gonna leave mom and he’s not just ruining our family, what about Josie!” Kevin sighed. “I don’t agree with what dad’s doing either but he says what he and Mrs. McCoy have is real…” I scoffed and wiped my tears away. “Real, ha…” “I know… but hey, you’ll never lose me okay? You’ll always have me.” I smiled at him and hugged him. “I know Kev, I know.” Even though it was late and we had school tomorrow we stayed up and talked for a bit, that is until our dad came up and told us to go to bed.

The next day I woke up and got ready for school. I put on a pleated plaid skirt, a cute black crop top, knee-high black socks, black chunky heeled boots, and my leather jacket. For makeup I just did black eyeliner with a smokey eye and a dark red lip. I left my dyed F/C hair natural and down. Once I was ready I walked downstairs. “That’s what you’re wearing to school?” Dad asked as soon as he saw me. “Yeah?” “I think you should go change and take off that dark makeup.” He said. “I think you should stop cheating on mom but I guess we both won’t get what we want.” I said grabbing an apple, Kevin spit his juice out. “Do not talk to me that way!” I rolled my eyes and took a bite of the apple. “Come on Kev, we have to get to school.” I said walking out but not without hearing dad say something to Kevin. “Talk to your sister about her behavior.” I rolled my eyes again. Kevin and I walked to school but right before we got there Kevin grabbed me by the arm to stop me. “Look Y/N/N I love you and everything but you really shouldn’t make dad angry.” He said, I sighed. “I know but he’s ruining our family and he wasn’t even going to tell me! I have every right to be mad at him!” Now it was Kevin’s turn to sigh. “I know but just please try and not make him angry? For me?” He gave me his puppy dog eyes. “Fine, I’ll try.” Kevin smiled causing me to smile too. “Thank you sis.” He said and linked arms with me, we continued our way to school. “So did he also tell you to convince me to stay away from the serpents?” “Yeah but I know I can’t convince you of that and that you’ll just throw Joaquin in my face.” I laughed and kissed his cheek. “You know it big bro.” I unlinked our arms and went to my locker. “Y/N/N!” A high pitched voice shouted, followed by the clicking of heels. “Chery, to what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked closing my locker. “You haven’t showed up to cheer practice the past few time.” “I was actually thinking of quitting.” “You are not quitting! You are my best girl!” “Cheryl come on, you have plenty of girls you don’t need me.” I said and walk to the lounge when my brother was with Betty, Archie, Veronica, and Jug. “Of course I need you! You can’t quit!” She practically shouted which caused everyone to look at us. “You’re quitting the cheer squad?” Betty asked; I shrugged. “Why?” Veronica asked. “Yeah you love cheering!” My brother said. “Yeah but I don’t know I just rather do something else after school.” “You mean hang out with that southside scum?” Cheryl scoffed. “They’re not scum!” “Of course they are Y/N/N! You’re a northsider, you should remember that and get out of this little rebel phase you have going on.” It was my turn to scoff. “Maybe I’m just realizing I’m not a stuck up northsider bitch like most people in the damn town! Maybe I like hanging out with the serpents more than some annoying rich cheerleaders!” I just about shouted and stormed out of the lounge and to my first class.

It was the end of the day finally and I was off to the southside to meet up with my new friends. I walked into the Wyrm looking around for the familiar faces. “Quinny!” a female voice shouted. Quinny is the nickname they gave me after they saw my Harley Quinn diamonds tattoo. I turned my head to the bar and saw the one and only Toni Topaz. I walked over and sat on one of the stools. “Hey T.” I smiled as she poured a drink for me. “Hey girl, I heard from jughead you gave some northside girl a piece of your mind?” I laughed and nodded taking a sip of the soda she poured. “Nice!” “So where’s Pea and Fangs?” Toni pointed to the pool table when Sweet Pea was yet again hustling poor Fangs out of cash. “Why does he make bets with him when he knows he’s gonna lose?” I asked shaking my head. “Your guess is as good as mine hunny.” Sweet Pea and Fangs came over and sat on either side of me. “Round of drinks Topaz, on Fangs!” Sweet Pea said with a smirk plastered on his face. “You want one Quinny?” “You trying to get me drunk Pea?” “No, but if it happens it’s not my fault, it’s Fangs fault!” “Hey!” “So Quinny, what’s your poison?” Toni asked handing Pea and Fangs their drinks. “Jack and coke.” “Whisky, you’re my kind of girl.” Sweets said with a wink. I blushed, ever since I started hanging out on the southside I might have developed a crush on Sweets. “Y/N, are you seriously drinking?” I turned around coming face to face with Jughead. “Lay of Jones, let Quinny have some fun!” Fangs said. “Yeah come on Juggie, it’s just one drink.” I said giving him my best puppy dog eyes. “Yeah Jones, it’s just one drink.” Sweet Pea smirked. “You guys do realize she’s the sheriff's daughter and if she goes home drunk he’ll have your heads and if she stays the night here he’ll have a manhunt ready.” “Jug it’s a Friday night! I’ll get Betty or Veronica to cover for me, that way I can get drunk.” “Yeah, and she can stay at my place tonight.” Sweet Pea said. “No way is she staying at yours, she’ll stay at mine.” Toni said. “See, It’ll be fine!” Jug just shook his head and sat down. I texted Kevin to let him know I was staying at a friends place on the southside and Veronica said she would cover for me. Let’s just say I definitely had too much to drink and had to crash at Toni’s.

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sethdegrassemacfarlane-blog · 7 years

Text

Love In High Places Chapter 3

My throat stood poised for response, but my mind was far from ever being able to create one. I wanted to be here when he got back. I don’t think I was actually aware of how much I wanted to be there. But it was that faint, familiar little whisper in the back of my mind. It whispered, “He’ll be the same. You’ll never escape. He’ll hurt you.”

While I prayed for my inner dialogue to shut the fuck us for literally two seconds so I could spit out anything, I saw Seth’s face become dejected. His warm smile, capable of melting icecaps, was growing colder with every passing nanosecond. His eyebrows tilted up and furrowed together like a child saying goodbye to his mother the first day of preschool.

My instincts finally took over and I rudely blurted out, “Yes.”

There was a pause while Seth’s face shifted from disheartened to befuddled.

“Yes? Like you’ll say that you’ll try? Or yes like you will be here?”

I nervously sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, trying to soothe my anxiety.

“Yes like I’ll be here.”

“Whew.” He let out a relieved sigh while I was just as apprehensive as the moment I met him. “I—”

The nubile chirp of Seth’s intern’s voice whined through the night air again, this time not startling, but interrupting.

“Seth?”

“Yes, Sonya?” He tried to hide his frustration from his reply. He failed.

“I’m really sorry. I’m sure you’re conducting some really important business and this whole interjection is really disrupting you and I really do apologize again and—”

“Sonya.” Seth turned his head in her direction but not his body and raised his hand like he was about to chop a cinderblock in half.

“Y—Yes?” Her voice was noticeably shaky which made me snicker just the slightest while Seth began again.

“What do you need to tell me?”

“Right. There was about 5 minutes until you had to go on. But now after all this, its starting to look like 2.”

“I’m coming. Thank you.” He brought his cupped hand from his mouth and gazed straight at me again. He quickly stepped closer to me, his body almost touching mine. Everywhere across my body, and I mean everywhere, began to tingle. I jolted a tad when he took my hands in his and his brown eyes met with my blue. It was the most perfect pairing since peanut butter and chocolate. His gaze darted from mine to my lips a couple times signing his desire to meet.

“I’ll see you soon.” He shook my hands up and down a couple times, pressing his body into mine, but only briefly.

Our enemies connection left me in such a euphoric state, I slurred out, “K.”

He smirked at my inability to form words. Then I watched as he spirited off to the luminosity of his house above. His formal and suave persona suddenly transformed into athletic and cheerful.

Before I could process the recent events which had transpired over only about 45 minutes, I heard the booming that was my father’s voice stopped me. He was closer than I though he was as I saw his freakish figure rumble down the steps toward me.

“Hey little woodland creature of Beverly Hills. Things are about to start. Do you think you could be domesticated from you woodland ways long enough to come inside?”

I snuck up from behind him and jumped up on his back which was met with a grunt. I jokingly began hissing at him and nibbling on his head.

He laughed at my attempt at being a woodland creature and let go of my legs, letting me land lightly on the ground.

“Good God. You’ve been practicing.” He smoothed out his hair and turned around to face me. “I have been. I just had to stop when I started pulling your toupee off.” I punched him jokingly in the arm.

“Hey. My toupee doesn’t come off. That’s how good it is. Now let’s go before the Biden’s snag our seats like last time.”

He took off in a flash, his strides leaving me in the dust. I arrived at the entrance to the house almost 10 seconds later and out of breath. My father on the other hand looked as fresh as a daisy. Perhaps because, in total he had taken 5 strides to the house and I had taken 80.

I panted like a mutt, hunched over with my hands on my knees as I screamed inside my head not to embarrass myself too much in front off all these all-stars.

While I began to come to and calm down, I rose from my hunched position to see that Seth was taking his place at the podium in the front of the room.

Wanting to hear every damn second of his speech, I yanked my father away from a conversation he had struck up with some senator whose name I will never know.

I drug him into the main room just as Seth clapped the bottoms of his speech papers, making them even. Before he could playfully scold me, my father saw not what, but who I was in such a rush for.

My heart thudded almost through my throat at the mere sight of Seth. The way his tux jacket hugged his shoulders, making them look as broad as they most likely were. I essentially had to lick the corner of my mouth to stop the drops of drool from falling.

My father’s assumptions snapped me out of it.

“Ah. No need to ask why, I guess.” He bellowed over the roar of the crowd and nodded in Seth’s direction.

My eyes followed the direction of his nod and met Seth just as he looked at me. Suddenly realized that I had been found out, I raised a skittish hand, waved, and grinned.

Seth dropped his head with a shy grin but just as quickly brought it back up, grid-locked in a smiling match with me. As we flirted from across the room, I saw Seth’s gaze shift to just beyond me and to my father. His smile immediately faded to a straight grimace. I looked back at my father to see that he was staring Seth down with the coldest, hardest, most brutal stare he had more than likely learned from his time in the military. It was so intense, there was no way it could have been forced. That was all natural.

I shot my eyes back to Seth who nervously broke the stare with my father and swallowed hard as he looked out over the crowd.

I turned one last time to my father and elbowed him in the gut, causing him to let out a quick breath.

“Wha—”

“Don’t even start with this one.” I hissed at him.

“This one? You already have one. Well—” He hissed back at me as his eyes kept shifting from me to Seth.

“Jesus.” I pressed the tips of my fingers into my temples.

“What?” He leaned down to me and got quieter as Seth began his speech.

“Jack and I… We… He…” I didn’t want to ruin this night. I wasn’t about to let even the topic of Jack ruin another beautiful night.

“Spit it out kid.” His clueless expression grew into worry and apprehension.

“I’m not going to talk about this now. I can’t talk about this now.”

He stood up straight, certainly obscuring all the views of all the poor souls behind us.

“Let’s just try to have fun, okay?” I patted him on the arm.

He jammed his hands in his pockets and his frustration proved to be short-lived.

“Okay, kiddo.” He forced a smile across his face and patted me on the back. “He’s really a nice guy, Dad. I—“

“Kid. I’ve known him longer than you have. I know he’s a great guy. He’s also twenty years older than you.” His eyes never left Seth standing at the podium.

I chuckled as I knew he knew he didn’t have a case against this. He just didn’t like it.

“I know Dad. He is older. But that’s about it. He’s one of the good ones. I deserve one of them, don’t I?” My voice cracked ever so slightly which, of course, my father hastily picked up on.

He didn’t say anything and embraced me from behind. It was everything I needed at that moment.

My dad held onto me a few seconds longer before releasing me. I looked back to thank him but saw that he had let go because his arms were spread wide to his sides, looking as if he were about to take flight. He mouthed, “What the fuck?” to someone in the middle of the room.

I followed his gaze and stifled laughter as I saw a snickering Vice President Joe Biden turned around in my father’s seat mouthing back to him, “Thanks for the seats, Todd”. My father just shook his head as the tiniest grin overtook his bothered complexion.

After Joe was finished teasing my father, he turned even further and his eyes lit up and he very excitedly waved to me. I beamed back at him and returned heavy fire with my wave as I recalled the numerous events and vacations we had attended with the Bidens; particularly the one where Joe brought everyone to his favorite ice cream joint, ate too much Rocky Road, and swore it off permanently. Well, turns out tentatively for he had it for dessert the next night.

“See what you did? That’s two years in a row Joe snagged our seats.” My father jokingly hissed down to me. “You better have this fella tied down by this time next year so this doesn’t happen again.”

I spun around on my heel, hope in my eyes, as Seth promptly ended his speech. I found that my father was fixated on what I should have been and was purposely ignoring me, stifling a smile.

“Did you hear a damn word of that?” My dad casually asked me.

“Not one damn word. You?”

“Hell no. But I’m a politician. I know how to pretend like I heard every single word.”

I shook my head and returned to face forward, never ceasing applause. Seth’s eyes darted from face to face until he found mine and his smile instantly became more genuine.

He broke his gaze so he could exit from the podium. He shook the mandatory hands of people he would never see again and smiled at the desiring wives of the rich and famous. It was almost as if it were happening in slow motion. The dapper and sought after older gentleman making his way through the thick of the crowd to the nubile female who for now, had his attention. His snug tuxedo, perfectly quaffed hair, and his dazzling half smile parted seas of sexually at-the-ready forty somethings. Oh the dismay when their knight stopped his trek at the daughter of Todd Adams’ daughter.

“Beautiful speech, kid. You sure know how to get an audience.” My father gruffly stated as he protectively placed his hand on my shoulder.

Seth swatted at him as if swatting his compliment away. “Ah. Its the same speech I use for these things. I just switch names and dates.”

“Spoken like a true diplomat.” My father, even more gruffly said. Fortunately, Seth and I both knew that if we didn’t laugh, that was the end.

After an excruciating mere seconds, we silenced. Seth’s eyes met mine and we exchanged nervous and uncomfortable looks with the raising of eyebrows.

Fortuitously for all parties involved, Sinatra began to blare through the speakers and we watched as couples made their way to the dance floor.

“The World We Knew.” Seth and I gasped at the same time.

“This is my favorite Sinatra song!” I grabbed his perfectly toned arm and quickly let go, remembering that my father was only a few inches from sexual tension city.

“Yes! Me too!” Seth’s voice became higher with excitement with each passing moment.

I heard my father sigh from behind me and bark, “Well jeez! Are you going to ask her to dance or what?”

Seth, taken aback and clearly flustered, had no idea what to say. So, I extended my hand to him which he reluctantly took in front of my father.

“Have her home by 10.” My father sipped his whiskey for effect.

Seth quickly glanced at his watch. “But… But its 11:15.” He choked on half the words he said.

“It was a joke, MacFarlane.” He sipped again. “Some comedian.”

“Ah. Right.” Seth slowly shook his head as I elbowed my father causing him to dribble his drink down his tux. He cocked his head and widened his eyes down at me which I took as my cue to abscond with my man candy.

I drug Seth past everyone who wanted to be him and be with him. The faster we ran, the more intertwined our hands became. The more intertwined our hands became, the less I wanted to let go.

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overweirdos · 8 years

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Soulmate!AU: Jack Morrison x Reader - Ineffable (Part 2/3)

ineffable - (adj) too great to be expressed in words

Summary: This is the second part of our small fic. You and Jack have happily been together for a while now but how long will this peaceful time last? Pairing: Jack MorrisonxReader (duh) Warning: Short mention of McCree’s pitiful attempt at flirting. Lots of angst. Word count: 6,384

A bright ray of sun softly hit your face and warmed up the parts that were not buried in your pillow. You murmured something unintelligible, having just woken up and not appreciating the outside world being so luminous all of a sudden. With a swift motion, you wanted to grab the blanket in order to hide from all the light. Well, at least you tried. It wouldn’t budge. You sighed in annoyance; of course, you wouldn’t be able to move it since your soulmate, who was currently sleeping peacefully next to you, had a death grip on it. With his back turned to you he refused to let go of the piece of fabric, leaving you with barely anything to shield yourself from the light with. ‘Hey, if the blanket won’t come to me, how about I’ll just come to the blanket?’, you mused. Slowly and carefully you climbed over Jack’s sleeping form, settling on the other side of the bed and snuggling up to his chest after finally covering your body with the blanket. Taking a look up at your soulmate’s face, you noticed how comfortable and satisfied he looked. So many things had changed and moments like these had become rare, but you were glad that you were still able to witness these short moments of peace.

Everything quickly went uphill after the fifteen minutes you shared in the storage room back then. Jack and you had spent hours talking that evening, finding out almost every little secret of the other person. Whenever he was not on a mission, in a meeting or didn’t have any paperwork to do, Jack would be by your side immediately. To be honest, you had become one of those couples you always used to complain about: the clingy one. But who could blame you? After all, Jack turned out to truly be the most loveable and gentle person in the world. Every chance he got, he would hold a door open for you, take your jacket, pull out a chair for you, and even bring you flowers. A true gentleman. All of this took some time to adapt to; you had never been treated like this so your reactions were quite awkward at first. They usually consisted of you blushing intensely, muttering a small ‘thank you’ and hiding your red face behind your hands. You got used to it at some point but definitely not any less grateful. Another thing you would have never expected was the amount of affection Jack wanted and needed. He’d always ask for hugs and small kisses on the cheek, not that you minded of course. You were more than happy to give him all the tenderness in the world. He was a busy man and would only find comfort once he was alone with you, it got especially difficult after he got his promotion. As strike commander Morrison, he had to spend almost every single minute of the day in his office, on missions, in meetings, or greeting new recruits and possible sponsors. Since you had been occupied with your job in the infirmary (Jack made sure you’d stay with Overwatch after your apprenticeship ended) as well, therefore the both of you barely got the opportunity to meet each other alone and it took quite a toll on you. You didn’t remember the last time you’d properly seen him except for the few occasions which you had managed to stay awake until he came to bed or were up before he had to leave. Any kind of profound and romantic talking had become rare too, thanks to the new recruits having a knack for disrupting you.

However, that was not the only issue worrying you these days. There was a strange tension lingering in the air. Ever since Jack had been chosen over Gabriel to be the new strike commander, the relationship between the two men had become strained. While Gabriel’s qualities were perfect for being in a leading, not to mention that fact that he was also actually a better fighter, Jack had probably been chosen because of the way he stood out during the Omnic crisis. The UN must have wanted him to be the leader of Overwatch because of his reputation as the naïve, charming poster boy. Gabriel got to lead the covert ops division, Blackwatch, which Jesse McCree soon became a part of as well. Your soulmate and Reyes got into more and more conflicts. It soon became evident that something was very, very wrong; rumors of corruption were spreading throughout the organization. You couldn’t help but worry about how bad the situation really way. Both Jack and Gabriel refused to talk to you about it, leaving you to rack your brain on your own.

A small, raspy whisper suddenly shook you out of your thoughts. “How long are you going to keep staring?”. A breath hitched in your throat. Jack had his eyes closed but a smirk was resting on his lips. “I wasn’t staring…wait, how long have you been awake already?” “Ever since you tried taking the blanket away.” “And yet you decided to keep it from me? Leaving me out in the cold?”, you asked, pretending to be completely indignant. “Well, I figured you’d come up with a solution. To be honest, I enjoy this solution a lot more than just handing over the blanket”. With that he pulled you closer to his broad chest, resting his chin on the top of your head. “You know what? Let’s just stay in bed for a little longer”, he muttered as he breathed in your scent. You looked up confused. “Are you sick?” “What? No, why would you think that?” You reached up to touch his forehead. No, he didn’t seem to have a fever. Maybe it was something else. But he had to be sick otherwise he wouldn’t ever want to stay in bed and get to work later than usual. Impossible. “I’m gonna go and get Angela”, you said worriedly and tried to get up in order to move to the door but Jack was quick enough to grab your wrist, making you fall back onto the bed. “I’m not sick, stop worrying, love. I just want to stay like this a little longer.”

Jack was so glad to have found some time with his soulmate alone, even if it was only for this morning. All he wanted to do was hold you, preferably the whole day, but he knew that he would soon have to get up for work. At least for a few minutes, he hoped to find comfort in your embrace, distracting him from the stress –mostly caused by his arguments with Gabriel- that kept eating him away. He was not going to admit that to you, though. He’d rather have you keep out of all this chaos. However, you had different plans. Jack shouldn’t be keeping this a secret anymore. Both of you always preached relationships to be based on trust. What kind of trustworthy relationship was this going to be if he wouldn’t even spill the beans about something like this?

“Will you tell me? About what’s been going on between you and Gabriel? Because I want to –no, I need to know, Jack! This is getting ridiculous!” He sighed and furrowed his eyebrows. “Can we please forget about this for just one day? I really want to enjoy the little time we have left until a new recruit is going to storm in to wake-“

“Strike commander Morrison! I have come to-“ Speaking of new recruits. There went your peaceful morning cuddles. And your answers. Jack shot a death glare towards the young boy that had just flung the door open with force. The poor guy stopped dead in his tracks and you were sure you could see beads of sweat running down his temple. Oh, now he’d done it. Jack would never let that guy hear the end of it. He’d make him run ten more rounds than usual and let him do all the unimportant, boring paperwork additionally. You honestly felt bad for him.

“I-I’m j-j-just gonna l-leave n-now!”, he shrieked, closing the door. You could hear his footsteps as he ran down the hall panicking. You chuckled. It was interesting to see how everyone seemed so terrified of Jack, while you knew exactly what he was really like. And that was far from frightening. “What are you laughing at?”, he questioned, giving you a slightly annoyed glance. He couldn’t help it, the disturbance just now bothered him to no end. “I just think it’s funny, don’t you? Meanie on the streets, softie in the sheets”. You laughed heartily at your own comment. “Well, I’d love to show you how much of a meanie I can actually be in the sheets but I take it that was our signal to get up”. He smirked, giving you a small peck on the lips which you gladly returned. However, your cheerful expression soon turned sad as you realized that your quality time with Jack had been ruined again. Of course, this did not go unnoticed. “You know what? I’ll give all of my paperwork to that recruit tonight and we’ll go to your favorite restaurant.” You beamed up at him though you kind of doubted he’d actually be able to find the time to take you out. As much as he loved you, sometimes there was just no way for him to give up work, even if barely for a few hours. “Promise?” “Promise.”

Jack had already made his way towards the practice range to supervise the rookies’ training and you were currently seated in the headquarters’ cafeteria, drowning the remaining fatigue in a cup of coffee. The room was almost empty, except for a few recruits that had overslept and tried their best to get anything into their stomachs before they were going to get their butts kicked by your soulmate and Gabriel. Surprisingly, the latter had only just entered the room and decided to take a seat right next to you. He usually got up way earlier. “Had a good night’s sleep, shorty?” “Definitely”, you smirked, but instantly remembered your discussion a few minutes ago. Maybe your friend would spill the beans since he still seemed too tired to think straight. “Hey Gabe, can I ask you something real quick?” The addressed man looked up from his plate of pancakes and gave you a nod. “What’s been going on with you and Jack lately? And don’t you act like you don’t know what I’m talking about! There is something wrong and I’m getting tired of being left in the dark!” He swallowed hard and appeared to have a difficult time trying to find the right words, let alone sort his thoughts. “Well…there are some things going on…” “Do you want me to lock you guys in a storage room? It’s a useful method, I can confirm.” A laugh escaped his throat and he almost choked on a piece of his flat breakfast cake. “It’s fine. I appreciate your offer, though. You know, there’s nothing to worry about too much, everything’s going to be okay.” You could sense that he wasn’t exactly convinced by his own words but didn’t want to push it any further. With a sigh, you stared at the dark liquid in your cup. Would you ever find out? Would they ever trust you enough to tell you?

“Oh, by the way, since you’re already here: Can I ask you to do me a favor?”, Gabriel suddenly asked. “Depends on the favor.” “You surely noticed McCree becoming more and more desperate because of his missing hat, haven’t you?” Honestly, who hadn’t? It was impossible to ignore. After all, he sometimes started searching for it in the most absurd places. You were convinced he couldn’t have lost his cowboy hat in the fridge, the dishwasher, and definitely not in Winston’s washing machine. You thought he’d give up searching, it’s been lost for over a year now, but that guy just wouldn’t dare abandon this mission of his. “Yeah, what about it?” “So, he’s been doing really well with his tasks lately and I decided to reward him. I’d like you to go into town with him and get him a new hat. I’d accompany you but we have a meeting in about an hour. And please, for the love of god, knock some fashion sense into that boy. Even I know that his taste in headwear, especially cowboy hats, is not exactly the best.” “Sure, why not.” You shrugged. The infirmary could probably do without you for a while. It was Saturday so they were mostly busy with a few check-ups and you were sure they’d be able to handle that without you. What confused you, however, was that Gabriel didn’t do it himself. He’d surely not pass the chance to show his favorite recruit (he could never deny it) how proud he was of him. He’d still have plenty of time to go into town with him after the meeting. But even though you and Gabriel had become best friends over the past year, he was still your superior and if you objected to his request, he’d make sure to turn it into an order.

No sooner said than done! An hour later you found yourself wandering the streets with Jesse McCree. He seemed excited, even though he didn’t even know why you took him into town; he hadn’t bothered asking yet either. It warmed your heart, knowing that a gesture so small had managed to lift his mood. Gabriel had informed you of the amount of effort the young man had put into his missions, how he kept going even though he had hit the floor so many times in the past weeks. You hoped that a new hat would improve his condition even more. Happiness spread through your stomach at the thought of making McCree’s day. He deserved this. After all, Blackwatch wasn’t known for its cheerful atmosphere or its low expectations. “So, where exactly are we goin’?” he finally asked. For a while you were sure he was just going to follow you around without questioning, objecting or complaining at all. “You’ll see”, was your brief response, not wanting to ruin the surprise. He pouted but decided to go along with it.

When you stopped in front of a hat store his expression grew confused but nevertheless thrilled as if he knew what was going to happen. “What are we doin’ here?” You faced him with a grin. “Gabriel told me about all your hard work and asked me to take you here. He’s very proud of what you’ve achieved so far, so you’re getting a new hat!” McCree turned away from you and you could swear you’d hear a muffled sob come from his shaking form. “Are you crying?” “I ain’t cryin’! Someone must be cuttin’ onions ‘round here!”, he muttered with an embarrassed tone. Onions, sure. A warm laugh escaped your lips at his adorable attempt to hide his emotions. The powerful, sassy McCree had let his feelings overwhelm him. Not that you’d blame him, he was still fairly young and had probably never experienced any kind of pride from his superior. You wouldn’t have been able ti hide your tears either if you were in his situation. He quickly wiped the tears away with his sleeve and looked at you with the happiest grin you had seen from him in ages. Without another word he stormed into the store, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Inside McCree had already begun looking at every single hat with extreme care. You simply decided to sit back and let him be until it came to paying for his gift. Luckily, Gabriel had remembered to give you money, he wouldn’t want to owe you anything. You watched the man roam through all kinds of hats, inspecting every single accurately, making sure to take in every detail. He was completely lost in his work until a female store clerk approached him, asking if he needed any help with his search. You wouldn’t have paid much attention to the scene if it wasn’t for McCree staring at her with his mouth wide open all of a sudden. Her expression wasn’t any different either. Could it be…? “Woah there, sweetie, do you come here often?” As soon as the shocked look had appeared on his face, it was gone already, replaced with a cheesy grin. You were confused. Was he honestly trying to flirt this way? She was working here, of course, she’d come here often… “I, uh, well obviously. I kinda work here, so…” Her words matched the reaction you would have given. Her face did not. She was blushing intensely, completely lulled by his words. His horrible pick-up line had not really worked, had it?

“Just look at you, someone must have stolen the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes”. There he went again. Your hand almost managed to hit your forehead but you contained yourself. Where was he getting those from? A book from the 2020s? The worst part was the fact that his pitiful attempt at flirting had an incredible impact on his ‘soulmate’. At least that’s what you thought she was; otherwise, you couldn’t explain why the two had just reacted like this to meeting each other for the first time. The girl was a complete giggling and blushing mess.

Two hours later you were still sitting in the same spot, almost falling asleep. McCree had spent all this time talking to the store employee, following her around, asking all kinds of questions, answering the ones she posed. You were thankful that he had at least stopped using his terrifying pick-up lines. You had to admit, you were slowly getting a little bit annoyed but who were you to complain? Jack and you had not been any better at the beginning of your relationship than these two. You were happy for Jesse; there was no way to deny that. The situation actually made you remember the first time you had met Jack and your body was engulfed in a warm feeling. Looking forward to Jack hopefully fulfilling his promise this evening, your mood improved slightly. You’d pull through this. “You with the cowboy over there?”, a voice from behind you asked suddenly. You turned around to see the store’s security guard, named Bill judging by the name tag pinned to his shirt. You gave a sigh. “Yes, sadly. Who would’ve thought he’d meet his soulmate here of all places”. “They seem cute. Perfect for each other. But they’re getting’ a tad annoying”. “Amen to that, Bill”. He gave you a grin. He seemed to be a lot older than you, probably in his 60s, and his muscly body screamed ‘I will make dog food out of you if you dare try and steal anything here’. He was incredibly nice though, so there was no need to fear him.

You spent a short time chatting with Bill until a miracle happened. “It was very nice talking to you, Jesse. But I have to leave now, my shift is over”, McCree’s soulmate said with an apologetic look on her face. “Hallelujah!”. Bill and you couldn’t help it; you screamed in unison, earning an angry glare from the young cowboy before said man gave the store clerk a small kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you around!” She practically ran out of the store, giggling happily. Young love, truly an interesting sight. “Alright. Jesse, have you decided on a hat yet after all the flirting?” “Yes, I want that one” He pointed to a dark brown cowboy hat decorated with a small, green strap. “Why that one?” You were curious. There had to be a reason he picked that one almost instantly. It wasn’t even as expensive as you’d thought it would be, there was even going to be some money left. “The strap. It’s the same beautiful green as her eyes. That’s why.” “You’re such a helpless romantic, McCree.”

After leaving the store McCree seemed to be in his own little world. He stared up into the sky dreamily and you had to pull him off the streets multiple times; he had unknowingly walked too close to the cars, being completely lost in his thoughts. Sighing loudly, an idea came to your mind. “You know what? Let’s get some ice cream to cool you down!” McCree snapped out of his fantasies, completely hooked by your suggestion. There was no way he’d object to that. Therefore a small café was your next destination. It was neat, decorated in pastel colors and furnished sweetly and brightly. It reminded you of some old cafés you’d visited in Paris a long time ago. You had each ordered a large bowl of ice cream; while McCree chose the basic flavors chocolate and vanilla, you stuck to the fruity ones. You had a little chat which mostly consisted of Jesse daydreaming of his soulmate. He kept repeating how lucky he was to meet her and how beautiful she was over and over. You didn’t mind, it was refreshing and reminded you of your own relationship a lot. He kept telling you about her alluring appearance until something caught your attention. A news report was airing on the small television in the corner of the café. Your heart stopped.

“According to our reporters in Swiss, an explosion had just occurred at the Overwatch headquarters located near the capital. We’re talking to Jennifer Müller now, who is at the scene.”

“Alright, apparently the explosion happened around thirty minutes ago. Behind me you can clearly see the destruction it has caused; the whole building is in ashes. The origin of the blast is still unknown, though witnesses claim that a fight between strike commander Jack Morrison and the leader of Blackwatch, Gabriel Reyes, had broken out shortly before, which might have caused this disaster. Around six casualties have been reported; more than eighty people are injured. However, the bodies of Morrison and Reyes, who were near the center of the explosion, have not been discovered yet. Back to the studio.”

‘Is this some kind of stupid joke? As if these two would ever manage to cause an explosion like this…no, the headquarters are almost indestructible, there has to be a mistake’ you told yourself, not fully realizing the severity of the situation at first. Some childish fight between the two men could not have possibly resulted in something like this, no way. But when you thought about it, it did make sense to you at some point. This must have been the reason why Gabriel insisted on you taking McCree out to town. He must have known something serious was about to happen. Your confusion and disbelief quickly turned into anger. You were angry at yourself for not pushing your questions towards Jack and Gabriel further. Maybe you could have helped; maybe this would not have happened. If only you had been more persistent! You knew something was seriously wrong deep in your heart; you should have just talked to someone else about it or forced the men to open up. And Gabriel, that idiot! That’s why he made sure you were out of the headquarters. Was it to prevent you two from getting hurt? Or just so that no one would stop their fight this time, so they could go all out? This could have been stopped if they hadn’t left you in the dark, like a child that couldn’t handle the truth!

You couldn’t dwell on your angered thoughts for long as you soon remembered the other person you were with. You shot a glance towards McCree and noticed him shaking slightly with a visibly panicked expression. Obviously, he was the one you had to focus on now; it was your duty as his friend and older comrade. He had just been told about the pride his superior held for him and now said superior was most likely dead. For the first time in ages, he was able to get lost in beautiful daydreams, only to be brought back to reality with a bang. “Jesse?” you asked carefully, your voice trembling. No reaction. He was staring at the television even though commercials were now being broadcasted. “Jesse!” Your now forceful voice made him snap out of it. “Listen to me now! Everything’s going to be okay”. Those were the exact same words Gabriel had used this morning. ‘Okay my ass’, you thought. “We’re going to go back to the headquarters now and we’ll see if we can lend a helping hand. We’ll see for ourselves, maybe there’s some hope, okay?” He reacted with a weak nod. That was at least something.

Hope. That’s what you told McCree about in the café. As you reached the site of destruction, every last bit of your hope was gone. As much as you didn’t want to believe any of this, judging by the extent of the explosion, there was no way Jack or Gabriel could have survived this. Especially not if they were as close to the center of the blast as the reporter had said. When you entered the closed off area, you were immediately greeted and hugged by Angela, who luckily seemed to have gotten out without any noticeable injuries. You agreed to help her with tending to the wounded, trying your best to distract yourself from the inevitable realization that was going to come. As you were patching up Reinhardt who had gotten his leg injured by some falling debris, a young recruit entered the tent, who you recognized to be the one from earlier this morning. You prepared for the worst. They must have found his body. But that was not the case, surprisingly. There was still no trace of him or Gabriel. Instead, they had found some of your and his belongings in the rubble and handed you the things that had not been completely destroyed.

You took a seat in one of the many tents that had been set up quickly. This one was completely empty, only a few things that had been saved from the storage rooms were brought in here a while ago. Good. Hopefully, no one was going to see the tears that would definitely be falling now. Your hands were shaking as you opened the cardboard box that seemed so light. Was that all they could recover?

The first thing your hands picked up was his small visor. It had a small crack but seemed perfectly fine other than that. You remembered how Jack always used to complain about it. He hated it with a passion, joking how he wouldn’t be able to see your beautiful face as clearly anymore while wearing the visor. In reality, he probably just found it uncomfortable as hell. But without it, he would have lost many battles. So, of course, he kept it. Some clothes were next. His favorite shirt was all scrunched up and dirty but his scent filled your nose. He had slept with it on last night and thrown it on the floor in a hurry while getting ready for work. You could swear it was still warm. After going through some random, unimportant things of yours that were found, you came to a halt. A small, square box came into your view. It felt soft under your, seemingly covered in dark blue velvet. Hands still trembling, you opened it slowly, careful not to drop it or its content. You were surprised to see what was inside, though you didn’t know what else you should have expected to be in a box like this. An engagement ring. A small sob hitched in your throat. The ring wasn’t too big or glamorous, it was small and beautifully simple, the way you had always dreamt it to be. You suddenly noticed a small, folded piece of paper that had been carefully tucked into the lid. A handwritten note? If that wasn’t enough, you instantly recognized who must have written it: Gabriel.

How to propose properly (since you’d most likely mess it up, poster boy):

1 Take the evening off. And I mean the whole evening. Give the paperwork to some noisy new recruit. Take shorty out to their favorite restaurant. Trust me on this one 2 Take them out for a walk after, to the park preferably (the one with the small lake next to McCree’s favorite McDonald’s) 3 Stand up straight, scout boy! You can do it! 4 Look them right in the eyes. They love your blue eyes, this has to work 5 Just ask them, can’t back down now!

PS If you don’t do this shit properly I will kick your ass to the moon and back

Jack promised to take you out to your favorite restaurant just this morning. He was going to do it today, he was going to ask you to stay by his side forever, till death do us part and everything included. Marriage seemed like such a useless concept in a world where soulmates existed. You were already destined to be with each other until forever anyways. Angela must have told Jack about the many times you fantasized about your own wedding. You couldn’t help it; it was just something you have always wanted to experience. And now you’d never get to.

Your head snapped up when someone else entered the tent. Speaking of the devil. Angela. “Hey sweetie, are you ok-“ she stopped as soon as she saw the engagement ring in your hands. That’s when the dams broke. You had tried to stay strong so far, not letting the tears fall in order to stay positive for Jesse and all the other recruits. They needed someone to look up to, to give them hope, especially after this disaster. Everyone had lost someone today. Friends. Family. You wouldn’t be able to comfort them but at least you could focus and try your best to help them. However, you felt so vulnerable and lonely all of a sudden. Realization hit you.

He was gone. Jack was dead. You would never be able to see his beautiful smile again, to get lost in his bright blue eyes. You would never feel his arms wrapped around you tenderly again. You would never wake up to him sleeping peacefully right next to you again. Your brain recalled the memory of him from this morning. The way you had joked around, the way he had embraced you like he never wanted to let go of you ever again, the way his eyes started gleaming with love when you smiled up at him. You could still feel his lips on yours.

You fell to your knees, letting out all the emotions that had been bottled up inside your hurting heart until now. You didn’t remember how long you even sat on that floor, Angela rubbing your back and whispering comforting words into your ear. As there was no way to cheer you up or distract you now, she simply stayed by your side for as long as you needed.

You cried until there were absolutely no tears left to cry. You let Angela help you up and guide you to the aircraft that was luckily unharmed. For now, Overwatch would be operating from the base in the USA, abandoning the destroyed headquarters completely. The helpers had given up the search for Jack and Gabriel a while ago, they would be presumed dead. You barely remembered anything that happened afterward. The next morning you woke up in a bed of the new headquarters’ infirmary. You weren’t harmed physically but they must have wanted to keep an eye on your considering the mental state you were in. Fluttering your eyes open, you blankly stared at the ceiling, trying to process yesterday’s events.

How were you going to continue? Would you stay with Overwatch? Difficult question since you weren’t even sure if the organization would exist much longer. After all these rumors of corruption and this accident, the UN would probably make them halt all activities until further notice. There was no way they would allow you to keep operating. It most likely wouldn’t be a good idea to stay with them anyways. Too many memories. But other than that, what now? You never really had a plan B. You had absolutely no idea what to do now that Jack was gone. He used to be the one to help you with decisions, to get you on the right path and make sure you weren’t doing anything stupid. Or anything you’d regret later on.

Maybe it would be the best decision to try and move on somehow. Try to keep smiling. Try to remember the good times you shared. That’s what Jack would have wanted you to do, right? He’d never want you to hurt this much, to feel lost and alone. So this might be the right thing to do. Keep moving forward.

That’s what you really wanted to do but it proved to be so much more difficult in the end. Everywhere you went; there was always something to remind you of Jack. Mostly beautiful memories but it would ultimately all lead back to the fact that he was gone. The more you tried shaking off the bad thoughts, the more you’d relive the day he died. It would haunt you during the day and even more prominently during the night, during the nightmares. You’d lay in your bed wide awake, still picturing him sleeping beside you. You could smell his scent, hear him breathe; feel him move slightly next to you. Everything you tried, every suggestion you took from friends to calm you down, it just wouldn’t work at all. You felt worse and worse and there were no silver linings in sight. The weather during the week after the explosion seemed to portray your emotions perfectly. Gray clouds, rain storms, heavy wind.

On the day of the funeral, the sky decided to clear up. The remaining members of Overwatch had gathered in front of the graves. Jack Morrison. Gabriel Reyes. Their resting places were right next to the one of Ana, who had been killed on a mission only last year. Well, at least she was presumed dead; just like with the two men, a body had never been found. You didn’t even bother listening to the funeral oration; no words could ever do justice to the lives they lived. To the good they had done. They were so young, full of promising ideas on how to make this world a better place, even though their opinions varied greatly. They deserved more than this measly speech, those measly tombstones on this measly graveyard. They were heroes. And even if half of the world suddenly turned against them and started throwing dirt in their faces, they would forever be YOUR heroes.

You stayed a lot longer than the rest of the attendants. You declined the offer to join the funeral meal. You weren’t sure if you could handle the pitying glances or the words of encouragement anymore. You just wanted to be alone with them. Share some last words. “How dare you, Gabriel. How dare you do such a thing? I don’t care for what reason you sent me away with McCree, you shouldn’t have. We could have worked things out. Listen I don’t know what drove you to do all of this, to let this fight happen and get out of control, but sometimes a talk can work wonders. Or fifteen minutes of being locked in a storage room” A small chuckle escaped your lips. “To be honest, I don’t even really care about your reasons anymore. I’m just…so angry that you left me. After all, I would have needed someone to lead me to the altar since my parents can’t do that anymore. Who else could have possibly taken that role? Also, thank you for taking care of Jack. Until this all went down. I don’t think either of you had meant for this to happen. I miss you.” You turned to the gravestone on the left. “Oh Jack, where do I even start? I feel lost and helpless without you. I know I pretend to be fine most of the time but it won’t work out and I don’t know what to do anymore. You always knew a solution. You’d know what to do. I-I pray that y-you’re happy” You wiped the tears from your cheek and took a deep breath before continuing. “I don’t know where you are now and I can only assume but I know you’ll be watching over me and taking care of me. somehow. Please know that there is no way I will ever forget you and the love you gave me. I am so thankful for everything you’ve done for me. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your life. For loving me. You’ll be in my heart, forever.”

You looked up into the sky. The damn sky that was still so clear, so bright and happy. Was it encouraging you? Now, it felt more as if it was making fun of you. It didn’t feel fitting. A rain storm would be fitting. But not this. “Hey.” Angela had taken a seat next to you in the grass. “How are you feeling?” “I’ve been getting better, I think. It’s just that damn sky. As blue as ever, almost mockingly bright…”, you muttered. Angela turned stiff next to you. “Blue sky?” “Well, yes. Just like Jack’s eyes, as you used to say.” She suddenly jumped up, looking at you confused. “So you can see colors?” “Obviously” Now it was your turn to be puzzled. What was she getting at? “But you know…you are supposed to stop seeing colors once your soulmate dies. The world should be gray for you again…”

The world was far from gray. You could see every single color, every single shade as clear as never before. The green grass. The red bouquet of flowers on a grave nearby. The bright blue color of the mocking sky.

Maybe Jack wasn’t dead after all.

We’d like to apologize for all the angst. Hell, writing this hurt our poor hearts quite a lot. But hey, we hope you enjoy!

- Admin Moronison

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (coming soon)

#overwatch #soldier 76 #jack morrison #jack morrison x reader #overwatch imagine

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