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saralovesyouu · 10 months

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“Come back to me, I’ll wait for you.”

Devastated and exhausted, you were still mourning losing Mitsuba a second time. You refused to get out of bed, and only did when Teru asked you to because your grades were a mess. Kou decided to show you the photos Mitsuba had took before. The incident. You tried spending most of your time with Yokoo and Satou, who didn’t really know why you were upset but still tried to comfort you. After the you did your part of helping them get rid of the hands, you thought you were done with supernaturals for the day. But when Kou dragged you off saying Yashiro had gone missing, and you needed to enter some boundary and he wanted you there. You kind of had to tag along. But unexpectedly, you find someone there.

Warnings: Cursing, reader feeling like shit (‘m sorry about that), comforting from Yokoo and Satou, Kou also sorta feeling like shit, your aunt trying to help you out of bed but still keep you safe, some angst again, etc,.

(A/N) : Last chapter of Act I!! Hope you enjoy it. I’ve been feeling like absolute shit these past few days so writing this to distract myself has made me feel so much better. I’m pretty sure this is proofread but if there’s anything wrong with it lmk!!

Prev. << Next end of Act I

You couldn’t bring yourself to get out of bed, not for anything. Not even after the countless times Yokoo and Satou begged you to come, not after Yashiro came over to try and get you up, not even after your aunt talked to you about it.

You just couldn’t.

You’d spent more nights crying than you could ever count, and kept thinking back to that moment. The squelching noise, that scream. It all haunted you like there was no tomorrow.

Your aunt had to bring you in food, and make sure you actually ate it. She sat with you while you cried about it, and she hugged you through it. She even called in sick from work to stay at home just for a day to comfort you.

“Shhh.. hey it’s okay.” She tried to reassure for the nth time this day.

You didn’t seem to be getting better.

“It’s not okay! There should’ve been something I could’ve done! Something I didn’t do.” You cried into your pillow, eyes red and puffy from all your tears.

She pursed her lips, not knowing what to do to comfort you. Nothing seemed to help. All she could do was make sure you ate and drink a little water. And of course make sure you didn’t do anything stupid, she was still a bit paranoid from what happened.

Out of no where, there was a knock on the door.

“Ah.. I’ll go get it.” She said, giving you one last pitiful glance before heading downstairs.

“Hey is (Y/N) here?” You heard someone say.

“Yeah she’s upstairs in her room.” Your aunt replied.

“Okay thank you.” They answered.

You heard footsteps, and groaned.

“Look Yokoo, I already said I don’t want to get up—“

“It’s not Yokoo.” Teru chuckled.

He walked over to your bed and sat with you.

“You doing okay? You and Kou both seem really out of it.” He asked, moving his hand to rub soothing circles in your back.

“No.” Was all you could answer, knowing how he felt about spirits you knew you probably shouldn’t tell him why.

“Listen, you need to come back to school. Your grades are plummeting so bad right now, and your friends miss you a lot.” Teru explained, making you lightly chuckle.

“Great, thanks so much for adding more stress! I thought it was impossible but somehow you did.” You answered sarcastically with a sigh.

He only playfully rolled his eyes, “Look, if it helps anything—I’ll help you with your missing work.”

“Just please come back to school? We all miss you a lot. And I think both you and Kou could use some support.” He pleaded, his pretty blue eyes sparkled with determination to get you out of bed.

You groaned, falling back onto your bed.

“I don’t know..” you mumbled.

“I won’t try to exorcise Hanako for..” he paused “a few days.”

You snorted, shaking your head with a fond smile.

“Deal.”

He smiled.

“Okay. It’s only 9:20, so you still have time to get to school. Even if it’s late, don’t worry I’ll excuse you.” He assured, “so get ready and I’ll walk you to school.”

You sighed as you got out of bed, and he went to wait downstairs for you.

You got dressed, and went into the bathroom to wash your face and do the rest of your skincare routine so you didn’t look like you’d been crying so much, and after you were satisfied that you didn’t look like a total mess as bad, you walked downstairs to find Teru.

He was sitting on the couch, just scrolling around on his phone. You went to go out on your shoes, and swung your backpack over your shoulder. He turned his phone off and stood up.

“You ready?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

Teru walked you into the middle school divison, and quickly took you with him to the student council room.

“Hang on, wait one second let me just do something real quick.” He hummed, unlocking his computer and opened what seemed to be an attendance sheet and marked your name off as ‘excused tardy’.

“Okay, ‘m gonna go drop you off at class and tell the teacher that you were late cause of my fault.” He explained, already leading you towards your second period class.

He opened the door for you and allowed you in, and went to go whisper something to the teacher. Yokoo looked at you excitedly, and Satou smiled upon seeing you. You didn’t see Kou in his seat, so you assumed he was out with Hanako and Yashiro.

“What made you feel like getting up out of bed?” Yokoo asked curiously.

“Are you hungry? I have some sweets with me.” Satou asked, digging around in his backpack to look for said sweets.

“Teru dragged me out of bed.” You exaggerated with a sigh, leaning against Yokoo dramatically.

Satou just shook his head with a smile, and Yokoo played along pretending to catch you.

“Well did you sleep good at least?” Yokoo asked.

You paused for a moment.

“..Definitely.”

“Liar.” Satou sighed “Here, have some.” He said, offering you some of his sweets.

You took a few, thanking Satou.

“You seemed pretty down enough to not come to school for a few days.. you hadn’t been that down since Mitsuba—“ Yokoo stopped himself.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry.” He winced apologetically, realizing what he just brought up.

You pursed your lips, but you couldn’t get mad at Yokoo. You knew he and Satou were only worried and meant no harm.

“It’s fine, but can someone catch me up on what we’re learning? I’m a little lost.” You chuckled nervously, trying lighten up the mood—trying to forget about Mitsuba.

“Yeah, no problem!” Yokoo chirped.

Yokoo and Satou explained the lesson for you, letting you copy down their notes so you wouldn’t fall too behind. You groaned as you leaned back in your seat, already hating how much you missed in your absence.

“Where’s Kou by the way?” You asked, sitting back up after a few more moments.

“Oh him? All he said is he’d be busy, I don’t think he’s been in class at all.” Satou hummed.

“You should probably go see him, he didn’t look too good.” Yokoo suggested, kicking his feet lightly.

“I will after class.”

The bell had long since rung, and kids rushed out to their next class. Yokoo and Satou had said their goodbyes and told you they’d see you at lunch, so you were trying to get your stuff altogether.

“Don’t think of running off with those cockroaches.” Teru sighed as he waited by the door for you.

You jumped a bit, not really expecting him to wait for you after class.

“They aren’t cockroaches..” you mumbled, slinging your backpack over your shoulder and he gave you a look that said ‘are you sure about that?’.

You sighed, “Okay, maybe some are. But they aren’t all.” you tried to explain.

You paused, biting your lip a bit “But I’m not gonna do anything having to do with the supernatural anytime soon, so I won’t run off.”

Teru gave you a satisfied smile.

“Why are you even here? Are you going to make sure I don’t skip off to Hanako and the others or?” You trailed off.

“No,” Teru denied “I was actually here to pick you up.”

“I talked to the teachers and let them know you’d be with me for the rest of the day,” he hummed.

“Working on your missing assignments.”

You groaned as you made your way towards the door, looking at Teru with pleading eyes as if it would convince him to just let you go with the others. He smiled and shook his head fondly, leading you towards the student council room.

“Oh and by the way,” he said opening the door for you “I let Kou know you’re here so I’m sure he’ll stop by soon.”

“Soon like now?” Kou asked as he entered the student council room.

“I thought you’d stop by later but yeah, soon.” Teru confirmed with a hum.

“Can I borrow (Y/N)?” Kou asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“For what?” Teru asked.

“Something.” Was all Kou managed to mutter.

“No, sorry. After she finishes at least half of this work,” Teru emphasized, referring to the small stack of packets and papers that you thought to be your missing assignments “then you can take her for a bit.”

You groaned, flopping down on the seat in front of Teri’s desk.

“So mean.” Kou mumbled with a pout, walking out.

“So,” Teru cleared his throat, dropping a small stack of papers in front of you “let’s get started.”

You pouted with a whine, letting your head fall forward and hitting the desk in frustration.

The bell had rung a fourth time since you’ve gotten there, and it was now time for lunch.

“Well, your a little bit close to halfway done.” Teru mumbled holding up a pinch of the paperwork, holding it up to examine it.

Kou burst through the door, swinging it open.

“It’s lunch time now, and I’m pretty sure (Y/N)’s hungry.” Kou said, trying to indirectly hint if it was okay to borrow you now.

“Go ahead but be back right after.” Teru instructed, and you just pouted with a nod.

“Great,” Kou mumbled, grabbing hold of your wrist “will definitely—“ he sprinted out with you “not.”

Kou laughed a bit, but when he noticed you didn’t seem to even smile his expression dropped.

He came to a stop, at the staircase leading up to the roof, sitting down on a bench nearby.

“You doing okay?” Kou asked.

“Not really.” You muttered, sitting by him.

“Well I have something to show you.” Kou smiled, bringing something from his backpack’s front pocket.

He took it out gingerly, as if it was the most fragilest of glass and would break with even the slightest wrong look.

They were Mitsuba’s developed pictures.

“I had them printed out as soon as I could..” he whispered, though he didn’t know why if it was just the two of you “I already looked at them last night, but—“ his voice cracked a bit as he chuckled lightly “I thought you might want to see them too.”

He carefully handed the small stack of photos to you, and you—just as carefully—took them.

There were many pictures.

Some were meant to be funny, and others were genuinely beautiful.

Like when Kou got attacked by the mother cat when he tried grabbing one of it’s kitten’s. Or when Mitsuba took that photo of Kou while he was standing on his shoulders.

There were also some like the birds nest, and of some he took while in the school garden. But the one that made you tear up—

Was the one he took of you and Kou.

You grit your teeth in frustration, in anger—thinking back to that moment.

“I’ll make that asshole pay one way or another.” You say through a choked out sob.

Kou looked at you with a solemn face, pursing his lips before placing a comforting hand on your shoulder “And I’ll be there to help you when you do.”

You looked at him, and he looked at you. And for the first time since you both had met, you didn’t laugh at the eye contact. Instead, your eyes welled up with regretful tears, tears of grievance at its finest.

“Oh, there you two are!” Yokoo exclaimed gleefully, practically skipping towards you both as Satou trailed behind him.

“What’re you two weirdo’s doing?” Satou joked, sitting beside you as Yokoo sat on the other side of Kou.

Yokoo shot him a glare after realizing you and Kou were on the verge of tears, and Satou immediately took the hint that now wasn’t the time for that.

“Wanna tell us what’s going on?” Satou finally said after a few moments of silence.

Yokoo pursed his lips when he got no answer from either of you, so he spoke up too.

“Look, whatever you both are going through. You can tell us, you know that right?” Yokoo asked, but continued after still the both of you didn’t answer “Just know we’re here for you. Whatever you guys are going through, we’ll get through it altogether.” he looked over at Satou “Right, Satou?”

“Yeah of course. We’re all friends, and as friends we have to look out for each other.” Satou agreed with a hum.

There was a few more seconds of silence before anyone spoke again.

“You ever know that feeling…” you finally managed to croak out after a while longer “when you thought you finally found something you lost a long while ago, someon—“ you stopped yourself before continuing “something very special to you, and then for someone to just. Snatch it out of your hands?”

Kou lightly chuckled, but it came out sadder than he intended “And when you actually got to see another side of a person you just met, and got to know them better—only for them to disappear the next second?”

Satou and Yokoo exchanged glances, as if they were trying to communicate with each other to see what you guys meant by that. But they found themselves empty minded.

“I don’t necessarily understand,” Yokoo started, already hugging Kou to provide some sort of comfort “but I know whatever it is. It’s really tough for you to be feeling like this.”

“Yeah,” Satou confirmed, hugging you too, connecting with Yokoo to form a group hug “we’re your friends. And as your friends we wanna tell you that you don’t have to go through this alone.”

And just then, you broke down in tears, babbling about how you lost someone so special to you a second time and this time you’ll never get them back. Kou followed soon after, except he just silently cried.

“Shhh.. there, there.” Yokoo whispered “Let it all out.”

The two boys hugged you both as you cried, comforting you in silence.

“God you guys are the best.” You hiccuped with a small chuckle that came out more as a sob.

Satou smiled, and Yokoo just replied “We know.”

After a while longer, the bell rang again. You, Satou, Kou, and Yokoo had been talking, the two mostly trying to distract you guys from crying—trying to get a smile out of you.

From around the corner, Teru came and you groaned.

“C’mon, it’s time to get back to your missing work.” Teru hummed, leaning against the wall as he waited for you to get up.

You pouted, but got up and said your goodbyes.

“You didn’t actually eat,” Teru began as you started walking back to the student council room “did you?”

And as if on cue, your stomach rumbled, and you flushed out of embarrassment. Teru sighed, turning in a different direction.

“Let’s get you something to eat.. I think I might have a spare lunch in the office.” Teru explained.

And he did, luckily for you. After taking one bite, you almost immediately recognized it as Kou’s cooking—and practically gobbled up the rest of it.

“Woah, slow down your going to end up choking.” Teru laughed.

“But it’s Kou’s cooking!” You pouted, taking another bite “You could never.”

“Okay that was ONE time.” Teru groaned, remembering how he nearly burnt down their kitchen.

“Yeah, that ‘ONE’ time was a near death experience for me.” You sighed dramatically, making Teru smile.

“It’s good to see your somewhat better now.” He hummed.

“What do you mean?” You asked, taking one last bite of the delicious lunch Kou prepared.

“I mean, your not as gloomy right now as you were earlier.” He smiled, ruffling your hair.

You swatted his hands away from your hair, “Must’ve been the magic of Kou’s cooking.”

“Must’ve.” Teru agreed, “Now that I know you won’t be complaining about an empty stomach,” he dropped the rest of your missing assignments in front of you “we can finish this.”

“So mean to me.”

For the next few days you tried to get over it. But I mean, you couldn’t, really. If you thought losing someone the first time was hard, imagine losing them a second time. Yokoo and Satou tried to help too, they kept you busy, and Yokoo even found out some way to let you in his soccer practice to ‘blow off some steam’ as he put it.

“God, I don’t understand how you’re able to do this for what?” You asked, taking a sip from the water bottle Yokoo had given you, to which he replied “About an hour and a half.”

“I can’t even last ten minutes.” You chuckled lightly.

“But you’re distracted, right?” He asked, gently nudging you with his shoulder.

You smiled, “I am actually.”

He smiled right back, “Then that’s all that matters.”

“Now c’mon, let’s go back to practice—“ Yokoo got up and beckoned you towards him, when Kou came along “Sorry Yokoo but I REALLY need to borrow. (Y/N) for a bit.”

“Okay, see you later then (Y/N).” Yokoo exclaimed as he ran back to the rest of his teammates.

“See ya!” You shouted after him.

“What is it?” You asked, turning around to Kou.

“There’s a bunch of hands, just popping around everywhere.” Kou explained “Hanako suggested we play with them so they’ll go away, so far it’s worked.”

“What is that have to do with me?” You sighed.

Kou gave you a playfully glare, rolling his eyes fondly.

“We could use the extra hands.” He hummed, making you chuckle a bit.

“Don’t you already have a lot?” You joked. “Need more hands to get rid of the extra hands.” You snorted.

“Well will you help?” Kou asked, he paused before adding “I know you’re trying to take a break from anything supernatural right now but we could use the help.”

You thought about it for a second, but gave in when you saw the pleading look in his eyes.

“Fine.” You sighed, making Kou cheer.

“That should be the last of them!” Hanako exclaimed, jumping around in the air excitedly.

“Whew.” You say, slumping against one of the bathroom stall doors.

Out of no where, a hand appeared from the bathroom mirror, and Yashiro approached it.

“Just one left!” Yashiro informed, looking back at it.

“That actually wore me out..” Hanako whined, making you chuckle “one of those guys hit me.”

You ‘coughed’, “Sounds like a major skill issue.” which earned you a playful glare from Hanako.

“Most of the pictures are all cleaned up too.” Kou confirmed, flipping through the yearbook.

“Wait..” Kou paused “now that I look at it.. you’re wearing a different uniform in this picture.”

“That’s from last year!” Yashiro chirped, looking over Kou’s shoulder to see better “When I was in middle school.”

“Cool!” Kou exclaimed.

“But wow,” he then continued “these are really good pictures.”

“Yeah! We had a kid from the photography club take them,” Yashiro hummed “I’m pretty sure his name should be on the last page.”

You and Kou gave each other a hesitant look, and you walked over to check too. And there it was.

Mitsuba Sousuke.

Out of no where, the hand from the mirror grabbed Yashiro’s wrist, and she hummed “What is it?”

“Have you decided what you want to pl—“ the hand cut her off, a mouth morphed onto its figure.

“Come to this side.”

It began to drag her inside the mirror.

“Yashiro!” Both Hanako and Kou panicked.

“Hanako!” Yashiro managed to yelp out.

Said ghost boy quickly got up “Grab my—“ but it was too late, his fingers just barely skimmed hers as she was sucked into the mirror like some type of portal.

“She’s…” Kou paused.

“gone.” I mumbled, and as if on cue—a droplet of water fell from the sink faucet.

Panicked, Kou got up and shouted “I’m coming Yashiro!” As he tried to force himself through the mirror.

“Kid! Stop it kid! Bad kid!” Hanako yelled, grabbing Kou from under his arms to pull him away from the mirror, making you giggle a bit at the way Hanako was referring to Kou as ‘kid’ “Don’t break the mirror!”

“That’s a boundary..” Hanako began to explain “specifically number 3’s”

“School mystery number three?” Kou asked.

“Yes.” Hanako muttered in agreement.

“I mean there’s a really only one supernatural mirror leading to this place—“ Hanako got interrupted.

“The hell of mirrors, right?” You asked “I don’t know how I know that but I do.”

“Yeah, so it has to be this one.” Hanako informed before sighing “I would like to go with her immediately but..” he paused.

“To put it simply, when you go into number 3’s boundary it attacks you.. with things you don’t want to see. Things you’re afraid of.” He looked at you both before continuing “In other words, the strength of the boundary changes based on who’s inside. If I’m not careful, I could make it stronger just by going I’m there.”

But you and Kou weren’t really paying attention, you were both looking at the yearbook Mitsuba had taken pictures for.

“Hey have you two been listening to me at all?” Hanako whined, grabbing onto your shoulders.

In a panic, Kou shut the book at faced him “You were telling us about how filthy your mind is sir!”

That alone made you burst into laughter as Hanako stared in disbelief, then muttered “Yeah well.. I won’t deny that.”

“We have to figure out what to do and fast.” Kou sighed, you felt bad seeing him look so worried for Yashiro’s safety.

“Yeah.” Hanako mumbled.

“Because number 3’s approach is most likely going to depend on what Yashiro is afraid of.” You mumbled, earning a shocked glance from Hanako which turned into a smirk.

“Hey you’re a quick learner aren’t you?” He teased “You caught on faster than Mr. Exorcist here.”

“I know you said you didn’t want anything to do with the supernatural or ghosts for a while, but I think Mr. Tsuchigomori might know something.” Hanako rambled.

“So can you please help?” They asked.

“Please?” Kou begged “For your favorite exorcist.”

“And your favorite apparition.” Hanako added with a sly grin.

“Who said you two were my favorites?” You asked sarcastically, but still smiled.

“Alright fine, but if he doesn’t know something I won’t be helping out.” You finally gave in.

Hanako and Kou both cheered, jumping around like children anxious to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Yashiro’s yelp seemed to echo aimlessly around the dimly lit room, hands began to sprout from the floor. She winced as she was met with something, something wet.

“Water!” She panicked, scrambling to her feet.

Little scale-like pieces began to emerge on her soft skin as she went on to see where she was at, or more so who’s boundary she was in.

Thump, thump, thump.

Footsteps? She thought, swiftly turning her head in panic that something dangerous might’ve been lingering in the dark.

“Hello?” she called, trying to see what she could in the dark room.

She saw a figure, one she thought was feminine, but upon closer examination she found it was a boy. More so, a middle school boy. His eyes looked a bit sunken, as the hands surrounded him. He tilted his head up, to look at her.

“Who are you?” She asked, tilting her head as well to get a better view of him.

Yashiro had a million questions running through her head, who was this boy? Was he a ghost? What’s he doing here? She was dragged out of her trance when said boy was towering over her.

Now that he was closer, Yashiro realized how he looked and a blush covered her face. His rosy eyes startled silently at her, before speaking up.

“You..” he called.

“Yes?” Yashiro panicked, standing up straight.

The boy looked left, then right, before sighing. His once innocent look was replaced with a taunting smirk.

“..have pretty fat ankles, huh?”

Yashiro froze in place, a bit dumbfounded that someone so adorable would say something so vulgar.

The boy sighed, crossing his arms.

“Aww, I thought someone was finally here to help me, but it’s just some horseradish..”

“I-I’m not a horseradish!” Yashiro retorted defensively with a pout.

“Yeah yeah whatever.” Mitsuba sighed.

Yashiro kept asking questions, and Mitsuba didn’t have any intention to answer much or any of them, so he walked to the door at the end of the corridor and opened it.

He then walked over to Yashiro and grabbed her by the little accessories on her belt. “This way.” He said.

“This is one of the boundary’s of the seven mysteries..” he explained after a while “the hell of mirrors.”

“Or..” he paused, stopping in his tracks to look at Yashiro with an unsure look “I guess that’s it’s name.”

“But that’s all I know.”

Yashiro looked around in amazement, everywhere she turned there were mirrors of different shapes, sizes, colors, and designs. But there was one thing they all had in common.

They all had an eerie feeling to it, it sent shivers down Yashiro’s spine.

“There’re mirrors.. everywhere.” She mumbled in awe.

“Yeah, I can see that Ms. Obvious.” Mitsuba sighed, playfully rolling his eyes.

But Yashiro wasn’t paying enough attention to care, she was too busy thinking.

“I’m Mitsuba.”

Yashiro made a small ‘huh?’ noise before turning to look at him.

“I’m stuck here and I have no idea to get out of this mess.” He complained, slumping down against the railings.

“Mitsuba? You’re..” she paused, eyeing him curiously “from the middle school division, right?”

“Are you a ghost? And..” she paused to look at him “have we met somewhere?”

“I..” he paused, swallowing the lump in his throat “don’t know.”

“Who cares? None of that matters now anyways.” He sighed, his rosy eyes flinched a bit, as if maybe trying to hold back tears.

“I guess we’ll have to get out of this place first! But..” she paused “why did you bring me here?”

Mitsuba didn’t say anything for a moment or two, clearing his throat and pointing at the hands still sprouting from the floor.

“Well I wanted someone who could help me,” he explained “so I asked them to find someone for me.”

The hands excitedly exclaimed a small “yeah!” popping around enthusiastically.

“Are they friends of yours, Mitsuba?” Yashiro asked sweetly, bending down to shake their hands.

Mitsuba scoffed with an offended expression.

“Are you suggesting I’m friends with my right hand??” He shouted “Would you please not be so vulgar!”

“I didn’t say they were right hands..” Yashiro mumbled, looking over at a few left hands.

“Besides..” Mitsuba sighed “the only friend I can remember, is..”

He looked at Yashiro and then away.

“Wait why am I telling you this?” Mitsuba scoffed.

“Who is it?” Yashiro asked.

“What do you mean?” Mitsuba replied, tilting his head a bit to show his confusion.

“Your friend,” she insisted “the one you could remember?”

“It’s..” he looked hesitant to tell her, but then thought she might know where to find her, so she gave in.

“Her name’s (Y/N)..” he whispered, Yashiro just managed to hear.

“(Y/N)?” Yashiro repeated.

“Yeah.. it’s kind of a weird story. I don’t know why she’s the only one I remember. I just remember waking up, no memory of anything or anyone.”

“Just her.”

Yashiro gave him a pitiful look, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Well,” she began “first let’s get out of here. And then, I think I might have an idea of where she might be.” she said with a smile.

“Really?” He asked excitedly, shooting up from his slouching position.

“Of course.” Yashiro confirmed.

“Well then..” he mumbled, looking up at Yashiro, leaning his head down on his arms and batting his pretty eyelashes at her “will you help me out of here?”

Yashiro felt a pang in her heart, to her, Mitsuba looked like an innocent puppy. And when he saw that look of awe in her eyes, he knew his charm worked.

“I can’t make any promises,” she cleared her throat “but this isn’t my first time in a place like this. So I’m sure we can find our way out somehow.”

“God..” he smiled softly “thank you, Yashiro.”

Yashiro put her hand over her chest, her eyes tearing up dramatically as she gushed over him.

“What is it?” Mitsuba asked innocently.

“O-Oh..” Yashiro stuttered “it’s nothing!”

She turned her head away with a smile, and each time she wasn’t looking, Mitsuba made a face to mock her.

They continued to walk aimlessly around the boundary, looking at all the mirrors as they passed by.

“Mitsuba,” Yashiro spoke up after a while, uncomfortable with the silence “this is your first time in a boundary, right?” she then gave him a proud smile “Not to brag or anything, but this is my fourth time in one!”

“It is my first time..” Mitsuba admited “but—“

“Then as your upper-classman, or- err.. woman? I’ll teach you all about boundaries!” She exclaimed excitedly, grabbing his sleeve-covered hand with her own.

———

After a while of Yashiro explaining the basic understanding of a boundary as they further explored the place, Mitsuba nodded and ‘okay’ed’ everything she said.

“Woah.” He mumbled in astonishment at the new information he was given.

Before Yashiro could make a proud remark, he snickered “You seem to know an awful lot about this for a living person.”

“Scary..” he said, backing away in ‘fear’ playfully.

The three of you made your way to the library where Mr. Tsuchigomori usually would be. Not giving him a chance to ask why you all are there, you begin to all try to explain at once.

“Wait, back up a few steps. One at a time.” He sighs, almost like a father telling his children to wait their turn to talk.

Before either you or Hanako get the chance to speak first, Kou beats you both to it—and explains the whole situation.

“Why are you even bothering me with this..?” Mr. Tsuchigomori groaned, rubbing his forehead as if it will soothe the annoying headache the three of you were to him.

“Because!” Hanako wailed “It’s been two hours since they took Yashiro! And I can’t get into number 3’s boundary!”

“Yeah!” You sighed with a pout, very much worried for your friend.

“The kids and I even tried begging on our hands and knees for number 3 to let us in! But it didn’t work!” Hanako cried, dramatically flapping his arms all over the place.

You smacked the back of his head “Stop that, we didn’t even go that far.” you groaned.

“But still! We would’ve if it meant number 3 would let us in!” Hanako wailed yet again, clinging to your sleeve.

“Please spider-face!” Kou finally exclaimed after seeing a moment from where he could talk.

The sudden name made you snort, clasping a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from bursting into laughter. Kou smiled, seeing as this had been the first time you’d smiled since the incident with Mistuba.

“It’s Mr...” Hanako corrected.

“Whatever! Mr. Spider Face!” Kou yet again exclaimed, clasping his hands together as if to beg, making you finally let your strained laughter flow from your lips.

“Yes! Please help us Mr. Spider Face!” You snickered, doing the same gesture as Kou, you both were now laughing maniacally at this point.

“You little..” Mr. Tsuchigomori sighed, you swore you saw his eyebrow twitching.

“I can’t let Yashiro get hurt..” Hanako spoke up, after having going silent for a while.

You and Kou both turned to him, confused by the sincerity in his voice. The Hanako you knew to be flirtatious and a pervert and sometimes even a jerk, being serious for once? It was a sight to see for sure.

“Tell me Mr. Tsuchigomori..” he uttered, finally looking up after staring at the seemingly more interesting floor for so long “won’t you help us?”

Even the disguised supernatural looked shocked to see the ghost so genuine, so with a sigh, he got up.

“Well, I do have an idea.” He hummed, walking over to a specific bookshelf.

He moved a couple of books to reveal Yako snoozing on the bookshelf. Effortlessly, he grabbed her, and tossed her over to Hanako—who luckily caught her. You, Kou, and Hanako looked down at the Nogitsune in Hanako’s arms.

“Number 2?” Hanako asked “Why?”

“Hear me out.” Mr. Tsuchigomori sighed, sitting back down at his desk “The seven mysteries boundaries each serve to oversee a certain aspect of the school.”

“My ‘book stacks’ manage records, the clock keepers manage ‘time’, and number 2 manages ‘space.” He explained “If you go through her boundary you can get pretty much anywhere in the school.”

“That includes number 3’s boundary?” You asked, looking down at Yako.

“Pretty much.” Mr. Tsuchigomori sighed.

“But I thought Yashiro busted up her boundary?” Kou asked.

“Oh Kou.. poor, sweet, dumb little Kou.” You snickered, making said boy glare at you, more like aggressively side-eyeing you.

Mr. Tsuchigomori shook his head with a fond smile, before continuing “Oh that.. all she really did was take her right to manage it. The boundary itself is still existing. But with its overseer gone.. it’s probably a mess.”

“Isn’t that right echinococcus?” He snickered, making the latter snap up with a growl.

“Shut up emo spider!” Yako retorted, making you snicker.

“Emo spider..” you snorted in an almost whisper.

“And why should I even help you! I could care less what happens to your assistant!” Yako crossed her arms, turning her head with a ‘hmph!’.

“Beecause we’re your favorites?” You asked hopefully, but she didn’t seem to budge.

“Kitsune udon.” Hanako spoke, holding up his butcher knife as if to threaten her.

“Huh?” Yako gasped offendedly “I- It’s not even my problem!”

“Udon.”

“Fine..” Yako finally huffed, knowing Hanako wouldn’t go through with it—but still wanted to help him out.

“Let’s see…” Yako hummed, walking towards the bottom of the stairs.

“This is it right?” Kou asked.

“You’re kidding right?” You asked in disbelief, giving Kou a ‘are you stupid?’ look.

“Hey I was just making sure!” Kou whined, elbowing you in the side, which resulted in you two giggling and playfully shoving each other.

“Here we go!” Yako sung, breaking your guys’s laughter “One,” one at a time you were taking steps up the stairs “two,” and another “three..”

“Four.”

The Misaki Stairs were nothing new to you, you had come here with the trio before in search for Yashiro’s friend, Aoi. And hearing that it had been all out of whack since Yashiro destroyed it’s yoshiro, you weren’t surprised to look out into the distance and for the large empty void to be staring right back at you.

Though it was filled with pretty flowers to the brim, and sunny skies something still felt off. Like something was out of place.

“It’s..” Hanako marveled, staring out in disbelief.

“Woah!” Kou grinned, looking around like a child trying to pick which ride to go on first at an amusement park “It’s so pretty now!”

“Yeah..” you murmured, not being able to shake off the eerie feeling it gave you, but seeing as the other two seemed at ease—you tried your best to forget about it.

“I’ll show you to number 3’s boundary,” Yako hummed, now in human form “just keep up.”

The “click-clack” and “tut-tut” of your shoes against the stairs as you climbed was the only thing to fill the silence. You looked down from the stairs, only to be met with a void. It was empty. So empty it made you shiver, so you moved your focus elsewhere. Perhaps towards the flowers at the bottom of the stairs…

“Hey fox lady?” Kou finally spoke up, breaking the deafening silence.

“What do you want stupid brat?” Yako spat, not turning back to even glance at him as he spoke.

“You know how before your rumor changed and you went totally crazy?” Kou asked, making you widen your eyes at the insensitive comment and elbow his side, making him glare at you as he winced “and you attacked me and the other students.”

“You like bringing up unpleasant memories, don’t you?” Yako scoffed, but you didn’t miss the way she winced at the mention of the things she had done before “What’s your point?”

“Oh it’s just.. I was wondering what that felt like.” Kou mumbled, now feeling unsure if it was okay to ask, though he felt the need to.

“What? Why would you wanna know that?! Talk about poor taste!” Yako yapped, turning to glare at Kou “I knew Misaki was the only human worth answering! The rest are lower than insects!”

Feeling a bit of pity, and knowing how curious he must have been cause you were too you placed a gentle hand on Kou’s shoulder and spoke. “Hey, give him a break. I understand what he said might have been a tad insensitive but..” you paused, looking down at the ground “recently, we had a friend of ours go a bit berserk after his rumor changed. And we- I mean Kou’s just curious if when your rumor changed, was it still you?”

“They’re kinda like you, huh number 2?” Hanako chuckled, but Yako kept her back to you three.

“Well..” Yako finally murmured as you all continued up the steps “it didn’t feel good, at least when I look back at it now. But..” she paused, and she looked unsure if she should continue, but when she looked at you two who were listening so intently, she couldn’t help but continue “It was definitely me. It was just a side of me that I kept bottled up, and it was forced out of me. That’s all.”

“Okay..” Kou mumbled, clearly unsure. You didn’t miss how his eyes shifted back down to the yearbook in his hands, and you patted his shoulder, as if to tell him I know how you feel.

“So if you tried to say something to your friend, even if he didn’t understand it, it still probably reached him.” That alone gave Kou hope, maybe. Just maybe, that last encounter with Mitsuba, he was able to talk to him.

“It doesn’t matter how warped he is.” Yako continued, seeing how he seemed a bit confused “or even if he changed form or shape.”

“That boy.. is still that boy.”

Just as you were about to ask a question of your own, Yako and Hanako—who were walking in front of you, stopped walking. “We’re here.” Yako announced.

“I assume our chat is over?” She hummed in more of a question, but then added “We’ve arrived, number 3’s boundary is straight through here.”

“Is that a mirror?” Kou asked, poking the frame.

“I don’t know.. looks kind of eerie to me. Hanako mumbled, floating above it as he exclaimed it closely.

“Yeah.. I mean..” you murmured, running your finger along the glass when you felt a force pulling you in.

You let out a surprised yelp as you were engulfed by the mirror’s glass, leaving the three in disbelief.

“Just so you know.. I’m not going further than here.”

You landed in some unknown place with a “oomph”, the place was filled with mirrors. You heard a loud yelp in what you could have only recognized as Yashiro’s voice.

“Oh right, your supposed to be nice to girls.”

You turned with teary eyes from the bright light that filled the room to find the voice, and you felt yourself freeze when you realized it was Tsukasa.

The ghost, no. The vicious supernatural who tore Mitsuba from you.

You watched as Yashiro fell to ground in deep slumber, she looked awfully peaceful given the circumstances and situation they were in. When Tsukasa got up, your eyes wandered to where Mitsuba was at.

“Now, time for you to eat up Mitsu!” Tsukasa chirped, his voice was sickeningly sweet but it made shivers run down your spine, as he held what looked like to be a heart in his hands.

“No, NO! PLEASE, NO!” Mitsuba cried, trying to back away from the entity.

Mitsuba’s eyes widened in shock when he noticed you were there, and you didn’t miss that hopeful glint in his eyes when you made eye contact, hopeful that you would save him.

“(Y/N)!” He cried, trying to get Tsukasa’s bloodied hands off of him, tears streaming down his soft skin “PLEASE, HELP ME!”

You don’t know what came over you, but you found yourself rushing over in attempt to strangle Tsukasa, but he threw you off of him effortlessly.

“Get—“ you coughed “GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Tsukasa looked unfazed, his expression void of any emotion but it still made you shake with fear, not of what he would do to you, but of what he would do to Mitsuba.

“Now, eat up.” Tsukasa mumbled, his voice was low, and sounded inhumane. Distorted and horrifying. You wanted to get up, fight Tsukasa, and save Mitsuba. But this was no fairytale, so with a pounding headache—you watched as Tsukasa forcefully fed Mitsuba what you thought to be number 3’s heart, due to the entity that laid lifeless beside them with teary eyes.

You began to cry, feeling helpless. Tsukasa got up, walking towards you. You saw as Mitsuba looked distorted too, but he was still Mitsuba nonetheless.

“No-NO! PLEASE DON’T HURT HER! I’LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT JUST PLEASE—“

A loud “WHAM” shook the room and two boys you could only recognize as Hanako and Kou came crashing down screaming like little girls. Kou was the first to get up, his eyes wandered to your shaking form, but you weren’t crying out of fear of Tsukasa—who he saw standing in-front of you—but when he followed your eyes to where they wandered, he realized why.

“..Mitsuba..?”

(A/N) : Oml, Act I is finished!! My hands are cramping from all the typing and I lost lots of sleep but that’s fine! But busy with French lessons but I still had time for this. This will be proofread and (hopefully) posted as well as the other chapters in Act I, tomorrow evening. Have a good day/evening/afternoon/night, and stay hydrated!! Eat smth too if you haven’t!

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hopefulatrocity · 11 months

Text

From The Ashes- Chapter 9

Note: Thank you to my wonderful beta, @garlic-the-gnome, who also made this beautiful edit. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's Pheonyx and Daryl's first time really conversing one on one. Next chapter is a big one, twice the size of my past chapters. Also, can anyone recognize a future TWD character that Pheonyx knows? Honestly one of the first scenes I thought of for this story(way down the line canon wise) involves them.

Chapter CW/TW: past depression/anxiety, allusions to past rape/non-con, past child abuse, transphobia mentions(Shane), anxiety

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Masterlist

Pheonyx's POV

For some people, home is a house. Four walls, a roof, a nice bed. If you ask them to describe their home, they’d probably tell you about the color of paint on the siding, or the flowers planted out front, or maybe the style of the dwelling. Maggie and Beth would give a picturesque description of the farmhouse that they had grown up in. The white exterior, the black window panels, the large wrap around porch, the height marks on the kitchen doorway that go back 4 generations, even the rolling fields bordering the historic home. It was the house where they learned to walk, learned to ride horses, where they had their first loves and subsequent first heartbreaks. It was where they had a loving mother and father who supported them throughout every hardship and shaped them into the kind, strong women they were. While the farmhouse was heaven compared to the house he spent the first 8 years of his life in, Pheonyx could never truly call it home. It was a safe place, yes. He didn’t have to worry about being beaten, burned, or degraded like before, but that didn’t mean he felt like he belonged.

No, the farmhouse was simply a shelter. A place to rest his head during the night before he would escape to his real home. An acre away from the house, the rich, dense forest was where Pheonyx felt solace. When Pheonyx told Rick that he spent everyday in those woods, he hadn’t been exaggerating. Apart from the years he was in Michigan and a couple cases of the flu during his grade school years, he had spent everyday in the woods on the property. It was an escape from the stresses of bullies, school, and church. An escape from his anxiety, his depression, and his own personal demons that formed from having a monster as a father. In the woods, he was safe. In the woods, he didn’t have to pretend to be anyone but himself.

Walking side by side with Daryl Dixon though, Pheonyx had to admit that he was a bit nervous. The safety of the woods had calmed his nerves from the sudden presence of Rick’s group and of Shane’s transphobic comments. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t anxious about working with a man who made his insides turn to mush.

No words had been spoken in the first thirty minutes of their hike. Even when they went to enter the woods, Pheonyx had only held out a hand in front of Daryl, to stop him before he walked straight into the brush-covered barbed wire that lined the edges of the woods. The man had grunted at him(possibly a thank you?) before stepping over the metal wire. Pheonyx had nodded in return and picked up Kismet, all seventy lbs of wiggling hound, before stepping over himself. The dog practically leapt out of his arms to follow after the archer. Apparently, Kismet was also enamored by Daryl.

So they walked in silence, Daryl just a step in the lead with his crossbow held ready in his hands. Pheonyx couldn’t help but watch him. At the farm, Daryl’s muscles were tense, even when he was in the presence of his group, people he had probably been with since the beginning of the outbreak. His eyes were constantly flitting back and forth, looking for threats of any kind. He looked like a scared deer about to bolt back into the forest.

But there, in the woods, Daryl was calm, relaxed. His posture displayed a self-confidence that wasn’t apparent at the farm. The steady movements he made were almost majestic. Although he was walking at a normal pace, his steps were careful and silent, evidence of years of hunting and tracking. The woods around the farm had always been dangerous, but even more so now that the dead were walking around. Pheonyx felt at ease knowing he was walking with someone who knew what they were doing

Despite that ease, he was still feeling the inner butterflies that he was wholly unfamiliar with. This attraction wasn’t something Pheonyx was accustomed to. He’d felt romantic attraction to people before and sexual attraction, but not often since his 22nd birthday. He honestly felt like he had lost a part of himself that night all those years ago. That, maybe, those demons had broken him beyond repair. Had stolen not only his innocence but his ability to trust anyone enough to feel any sort of attraction to them. As part of his healing process, he tried having sex with various people. Shawna, River, and Kasey were women he’d made friends with while working at the tattoo parlor. With them, it was more of a hookup situation. He wasn’t really friends with them, but he trusted them enough to attempt a physical relationship with them. Pheonyx was up front with them about his issues, the idea of maybe leading someone on didn’t sit right with him, and they all had been okay with keeping things as a casual encounter. All three were survivors like him and were familiar with how difficult physical intimacy could be after traumatic events. The only other person Pheonyx had had sex with was Aaron. But he didn’t count that as a hookup by any means. While he wasn’t romantically or sexually attracted to him, Aaron was his friend. More than a friend really. The man had saved his life. He’d been barely clinging to life in that alley and the only reason he survived was because Aaron found him. He’d put pressure on his wound and covered him to protect his dignity while they waited for an ambulance. Unlike most strangers would have, Aaron didn’t leave him when he was taken to the hospital. No, he stuck around. Even after Hershel and his mother had arrived, he stuck at his bedside. He held Pheonyx’s hand for days when he was unconscious, and when nurses were taking evidence from his broken body. Even when he was nearly catatonic, Aaron would come in and read to him or even just talk about nothing. The fact that he had stuck with him, had created a bond that a simple word like “friendship” couldn’t even begin to cover. Aaron had even transferred his job to Michigan for a while after Pheonyx moved so that they could still be around each other. A couple years later, after getting drunk and celebrating Aaron’s upcoming trip with his NGO to Niger, inhibitions lowered by alcohol, they had ended up in bed together. It was clumsy and awkward, but it showed Pheonyx that sex–with a cis man in particular– didn’t have to hurt. It wasn’t something to fear anymore. Afterwards, they both had agreed that they were better as friends. Even Aaron, a man he trusted implicitly and who wasn’t unattractive by any means, didn’t make him feel the way Daryl did. Having barely spent an hour in the man’s presence, Pheonyx was almost willing to throw caution to the wind and try to get closer to the man walking beside him.

He had barely spoken to Daryl and yet he felt no fear or apprehension in regards to the man hurting him. The only thing he felt was the weight in his chest that one would get when in the presence of their grade school crush. And the feeling of heat in an area of his body that he had actively avoided for a long time.

Kismet was oblivious to the turmoil in his owner’s head. He ran ahead of them, sniffing trees and chasing birds, occasionally stopping to run back and make sure that Daryl and Pheonyx were still behind him. He would trot alongside them for a moment before running ahead again. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Pheonyx could see a slight upturn of Daryl’s lips whenever Kismet would trot back to them. He couldn’t blame him. The dog was adorable and his cuteness was why he got away with any trouble that his speckled paws managed to stumble into.

The only noises around them were the ambient swaying of leaves in the late-summer breeze, the crunching of debris under Kismet’s large paws, and the occasional whistling of a bird high in the trees. Combined it was one of Pheonyx’s favorite songs. But honestly, he wanted to break the silence and speak to Daryl. Break the ice. Learn everything he could about the man. But what did he say?

“Hey, so you’re probably straight and could possibly be transphobic, but I think you’re super attractive and you don’t make me feel like I’m dying of anxiety when I’m in your vicinity. So, would you maybe want to hang out sometime?”Pheonyx internally snorted. That would be too forward. So he started small.

“How long until we get to where Sophia was last seen?” he broached the waters glancing at the man out of the corner of his eye.

“Ain’t too far. Maybe ‘nother hour on foot. Rick left ‘er at the creek righ’ off the highway, tried to draw away the walkers chasin’er. She was supposta’ go back but somethin’ spooked ‘er.” Daryl responded, his husky voice licking up Pheonyx’s spine like fire. He thought that the silence of the woods was his favorite sound, but Daryl’s voice was easily pushing that out of the running.

“Not surprising. She just got chased by shadows. Her adrenaline was probably running high. Any noise could have had her running in the opposite direction.”

Daryl grunted in agreement. Pheonyx didn’t know that a single sound could have so many meanings but the archer could probably have whole conversations using that single guttural noise.

“Why dya’ call ‘em that?” Daryl asked, his eyes still roaming the woods.

“Why do you call them walkers?” Pheonyx countered, with his eyebrow raised.

He swore the corner of Daryl’s lips turned up in a brief smirk. But it was gone as fast as it came. “They walk ‘round. Ain’t too complicated.” His defined shoulders lifted up into a small shrug, making the muscles in his arms clench. Pheonyx physically gulped as he watched the movement and had to avert his eyes before he started drooling.

Pull yourself together, man. You’re acting like a dog in heat, he thought, clenching his hand on the hilt of the hunting knife at his side.

“These dead things. They used to be people. They had lives. Families, friends, hopes, fears. Now…. they’re just shells. All those things are gone, and all that’s left is the shadow of the person they once were. They look like them, but all they are are mindless killers now. The light of their lives is gone and all that’s left is the darkness,” as he spoke, Pheonyx’s voice got more somber and he had to hold back tears as his thoughts floated to his mother and younger brother. Just like at Otis’s funeral though, he took a deep breath and swallowed the pain. “That’s why I call them shadows. I guess I just don’t want to ever forget that these used to be people. I won’t let that stop me from protecting my family or myself, but I still want to remember.”

Once again, there was silence. Pheonyx wasn’t surprised. Daryl didn’t exactly seem like a man intune with his emotions and he’d just laid a whole therapy session's worth of them on the archer. Luckily, the lack of conversation didn’t last for long. Kismet stopped in his tracks ahead, his head tilted and ears perked. The white and black mottled fur on his hackles raised up and Pheonyx unsheathed the knife at his hip when the pup let out a warning growl. Following this, a low groan and hiss sounded to their left along with characteristic tinkle of windchimes. Daryl lifted his crossbow next to him, taking a step towards the sound.

“Quiet,” Pheonyx told Kismet and the dog immediately stopped growling. Kismet trotted to his owner’s side, keeping close but not close enough to interfere with his movements.

Taking slow steps, Pheonyx pushed through the thick brush blocking their view of the dead. A few feet away, one shadow was stuck in his trap. At some point, the woman had probably been beautiful. Her light blonde hair was long and framed a face that had once been heartshaped. Now, her skin was gray and blood coated her hands and chest. A large gaping wound on her arm and neck let him know that she had died from being bitten. The sharpened sticks that she had impaled herself on, were keeping her in place. One was through her shoulder, having torn the small strap of the destroyed dress, and the other was straight through her heart. Black glistening blood coated the tips of the sticks that protruded from her decaying body. Luckily, she was a stranger to Pheonyx. It was always harder when he knew the dead that were caught. Not only did he have to put them down and burn them, but he had to keep silent when his family mentioned those people in passing. Often they made comments, usually at mealtimes when conversation strayed from daily chores to memories, “I wonder if Mrs. Overtan is still around?” or “Do you remember Big Jim? He used to have the cotton farm off of Wyatt Rd? He was headed to the Atlanta safe-zone when the reports started coming in. I hope he, Mary, and the kids are okay.” In those cases, he had to keep his mouth shut and focus on eating. He couldn’t tell them that Mrs. Overtan had her neck torn out and that Big Jim was missing an arm when they both had impaled themselves on the sharp sticks spread throughout the woods. He couldn’t tell them that he had taken a sharp knife to their heads, effectively ending their undead lives, and then burned their bodies in a pit. They wouldn’t be able to handle it. To his family, he would be seen as a murderer. Maybe he was. But he would continue to do it to protect them.

The walker in front of them most likely wasn’t from Senoia. Unless she had moved there while Pheonyx was living in Michigan, but he doubted it. People rarely moved to the small town. More than likely, she had died in one of the traffic snarls off the highway and the noise from woods had drawn her in once she’d reanimated. Either way, the small niggle of guilt he felt, when he knew who the shadow used to be, was absent. A low breeze made the windchimes above her tinkle louder and another hiss escaped her gaping mouth, revealing teeth coated with black ooze. Her bony, decaying arms reached above her towards the sparkling metal tubes of the chimes. Pheonyx raised the knife and took a step forward to kill it, but the woosh of Daryl’s crossbow releasing a bolt stopped him.

Black sludge, what used to be blood, sprayed from the shadow’s head, coating the side of the tree and dripping down onto the forest floor. The body went limp and the arms, that had been stretched above its head, slumped down at its sides. Pheonyx turned his head and gave Daryl a nod of thanks. He approached the corpse, sheathing his knife as he went, and pulled the bolt from between the shadows eyes. More of the sludge splattered onto his hand and the smell of rot intensified. He wiped the blood off the quarrel on the bottom hem of the shadow’s dress, dirtying the yellow fabric even further. The now-clean bolt in one hand, he used the other and began to check the small pockets on the front of the tattered dress for anything of use. It was morbid, and some might find it disgusting or appalling, but it was necessary. Resources of all kinds were in short supply. And Pheonyx had found that most people had taken to keeping important items on their person. Ammo, matches, lighters, water purification tablets, medicine. All things he had found by searching pockets of the shadows caught in his traps. Plus a boat load of now-useless change and dollar bills.

In this case, he found an unopened tube of chapstick, several pennies, 3 dollars, a fancy zippo lighter, and a crushed pack of Marlboro Ultra Lights.

“You smoke?” Pheonyx asked Daryl over his shoulder, noting the slightly disgusted and confused look on the man’s face. Rolling his eyes, he explained, “I’m not trying to cop a feel on it. People don’t take out the important stuff from their pockets when they’re dying. Morals kinda went out the door when all this shit started.”

He lifted the lighter and cigarettes up to prove his point. A look of understanding( and possible sheepishness?) overtook Daryl’s face and he cleared his throat.

“Yeah, I smoke.”

With that, he tossed the crumbled pack to the man, who caught it expertly and stuffed it into the pockets of his worn jeans. Kismet had placed himself next to Daryl, waiting patiently for Pheonyx to give him a command. Over the last couple of months, Kismet had gotten used to staying to the side while Pheonyx took care of the bodies that ended up in his traps. In the beginning, the pup had gotten underfoot a lot. He couldn’t blame him really. Kismet had always been eager to help, wanting to be included in any action that occurred. But he didn’t want his best friend to accidentally get hurt while he was distracted with cleaning up the woods. So, Pheonyx spent a good couple weeks training Kismet to sit to the side while he was working on traps. Just like teaching the dog to guard, it took a lot of treats and patience but eventually the training clicked. Now, Kismet gave him a wide berth while he was hauling and burning bodies and he didn’t have to worry about the dog getting into trouble. Chocolate eyes stared at him adoringly and the leaves under Kismet’s butt crunched as his tail wagged back and forth. Pheonyx whistled for him to come over and the dog bolted over to him without hesitation.

“Gentle,” he said while giving the crossbow bolt to the pup, making sure to offer him the clean end. While animals didn’t seem to be affected by the virus or the blood of those infected, he didn’t want his dog ingesting any of the vile fluids. Kismet’s tail began to wiggle faster in earnest, eager to please. Despite the burst of energy and excitement, he still grabbed the bolt between his sharp teeth delicately. “Take it to Daryl.”

Kismet grumbled happily at him and pranced over to Daryl. He began doing happy toe taps, proud of himself, as he dropped the bolt at the man’s feet. The archer raised an eyebrow at the dog and bent over to pick up the quarrel. He inspected the item for any damage and nodded his head approvingly when he didn’t see any cracks or dents on the fragile shaft. Kismet began to grumble at the man, whining a bit, begging for him to offer some kind of attention or praise for doing a good job. Rolling his eyes, Daryl patted Kismet’s blocky head in reward. Tongue rolling out in pleasure, Kismet melted under his affections.

Fucking hell. Never thought I’d be this jealous of my dog, Pheonyx thought before turning back to the matter at hand.

Now for the gross part, he thought sadly. Using his arms as leverage under the shadow’s armpits, he lifted the corpse off the sticks. At one point, the woman probably weighed a buck twenty five soaking wet. Now, she barely weighed anymore than Kismet. Pheonyx’s cutlass knocked against his leg as he pulled the body along. Decayed feet dragging on the floor, he hauled the body ten feet over to the burn pit that he dug next to every trap he set. Unceremoniously, he dropped it into the hole. Using the lighter he had taken from the shadow’s pockets, he lit the dollar bills that accompanied it on fire. The flames burned the tip of his fingers as the dry paper caught. But he held back the pain and stared at the glowing embers for a moment. Then he carefully tossed them into the pit, onto the body.

For some reason, shadows were incredibly flammable. Maybe it was the dried skin and hair that made the flames catch so easily. Or maybe it was some byproduct of the virus mutating a body's cells. Either way, it made Pheonyx’s job a lot easier. He didn’t have to worry about finding much kindling or fuel to get rid of the shells that ended up in the traps. The once-pretty woman was engulfed by flames in moments. The red fire licking along her limbs and burning up the destroyed dress. Soon, all that would be left of the person she was before would be a pile of ash and a memory.

Pheonyx was drawn from his haze when he felt a nudge at his bicep. He turned his head and saw Daryl holding out a red bandana to him. Glancing down at himself, he grimaced when he saw the black blood coating his hands and the splatter of it smeared on his shirt. The bandana Daryl was holding out to him, had seen better days. The red print was faded and streaks of black grease marred the crumpled fabric. But the thought was what counted.

“Thanks,” he took the rag and began to wipe off the blood from his hands. Until he took a shower, though, his hands would still have the stain of death on them, no matter how hard he rubbed with the bandana. Daryl shook his head when he tried to hand back the cloth.

“Keep it. Got more in ma’ bag.”

Stuffing the cloth in his back pocket, they continued their trek towards the highway. Kismet took the lead and began to inspect every tree they walked past. Expecting the rest of the walk to be filled with silence, Pheonyx was surprised when Daryl started the conversation again.

“Ya Pops din’t seem to know ‘bout all the traps ya got set up. Din’t seem too happy about it neither,” he commented.

A loud snort broke from Pheonyx’s nose. “That’s an understatement,” he gripped the handles of his hunting knife and cutlass, both sheathed at his sides, “Let’s just say Hershel and I have differing views on how to handle the shadows. He thinks that they’re sick. Which, I guess is technically true. But he also thinks they can be cured. He thinks that someone out there is working on a cure and that it’s just a matter of time before things go back to normal. It’s not just him. They’re all in denial.” Images of his younger brother flashed into his head. A primal hunger reflected in his milky orbs as he bit down on their mother’s arm, condemning her to the same fate. Her screams as Shawn chewed on her pale flesh and blood splashing on the white linens.

“What do ya think?” Daryl asked. His words were softer, seeming to notice the change in Pheonyx’s tone, the lilt of sadness that laced through his words.

“They’re dead. Plain and simple. My-,” Pheonyx took a deep breath to ease the ache building in his chest, “My younger brother, Shawn, was bitten early on. I was sitting next to him when he took his last breath. We didn’t really know what was happening at that time. We just knew people were getting sick and going crazy. We didn’t realize what they turned into. So, my mom was too close. She was hugging his body one minute and the next he was biting into her arm. Hershel and Otis got him off of her but it was too late. Within 12 hours she was dead. I had my fingers on her pulse when her heart stopped. And it didn’t restart when she woke up. No rhythm. No blood pumping,” he stepped over a broken tree limb, looking down to try to keep Daryl from seeing his eyes getting red. “I can understand the desire to feel like things will be okay. If they don’t, then they have to acknowledge the fact that Shawn and Mom are gone. But I’m too much of a pessimist to think that everything will go back to normal. Even if, by some miracle, someone created a vaccine or a cure, these people are dead and decaying, curing them would just put them in unimaginable pain.”

There was silence again, the only noises coming from the stomping feet of Kismet as he chased a squirrel up a tree.

“Don’ know if Rick told ya but we were at the CDC ‘fore we came here.” Daryl’s deep voice wrapped around Pheonyx in a comforting blanket. The ache of talking about his mom and Shawn was still there, but it felt like a dull throb as opposed to a fresh wound. “There was only one doc there. Jenner. All the others left or killed themselves. Doc showed us some stuff. Basically said the bite kills ya but it restarts ya brain stem to get ya walkin’ around. Ain’t nothin’ left of the person ya was before though. Ya brain’s dead. He weren’t too sure if anyone else was lookin’ fer a cure. Fucker nearly killed us. He tried ta lock us in ‘fore the whole buildin’ blew. Rick talked’im outta it though. Got out just in time.”, Blue eyes locked on Pheonyx’s green ones. “Yer right ‘bout the walkers. There ain’t no curing them. Cain’t cure death.”

Pheonyx felt a scale of emotions. On one side he felt relief at knowing his dark views on shadows were right. He wasn’t mindlessly killing sick people like Hershel would think. But he also felt sorrow. Because it meant that his mom and Shawn were truly dead. A small part of him had hoped he was wrong. That maybe the military would roll through any day and cure the sick people they had locked in the barn. But now he knew the truth. The shadows in the barn were just that. Shadows. Just the shells of the people he once loved.

Kismet seemed to sense his inner rollercoaster of emotions because he trotted over and leaned himself against Pheonyx’s leg as they walked. He tangled his fingers in the downy fur on the dog’s head, letting the warmth of Kismet’s body ease the weight on his chest. Whatever pain was left, he pushed back down. Eventually that denial and repression were going to come and bite him in the ass. Eventually he’d break down and be forced to feel the weight of the pain and sorrow that was hidden in his mind. But that was a problem for future Pheonyx. Kismet gave his hand a small lick before bounding off again after a bird.

He knew the man didn’t have to offer those words of comfort. He could even tell it made him feel a bit awkward, with the way he was avoiding eye contact and how his shoulders tensed a bit. So, he smiled at Daryl in appreciation.

“Thanks.”

Hearing the gratitude in his voice, Daryl turned his head to look at him, making eye contact. And something came over him in that moment, a bit of flirtatiousness that he’d never felt before. So, his body acted without him thinking and he winked at him. Pheonyx Greene winked at Daryl Dixon. He winked at a man, a tough looking redneck, who he wasn’t entirely sure was gay or bisexual.

Why the fuck did I just do that?, Pheonyx screamed internally and a bit of fear rose in his chest, What if he reacts badly? This is rural fucking Georgia and the man looks like a typical conservative country boy! They don’t take too kindly to other guys flirting with them and assuming they’re not straight. Oh shit, should I run? I can’t end up like that again.

Thousands of panicked thoughts ran through his mind and he waited for something, some kind of bad reaction from the man next to him. But nothing came. The only thing he noticed was the red flush that crept up Daryl’s neck and over his ears. Daryl quickly averted his eyes from Pheonyx and coughed a bit.

“We’re here,” his deep voice was a slight bit huskier and, just like Daryl, Pheonyx felt the blood rush to his face. Mostly from attraction(and a small bit of arousal, he wouldn’t lie), but also from embarrassment. He had almost forgotten why they were out there in the first place. Sophia. The lost girl.

The trickling of the creek off in the distance allowed him to orient himself. They weren’t too far from the highway and, now that he was here, he knew exactly where they were. Pheonyx whistled the three note recall and Kismet came bounding from the bushes a few feet away. He had a feather hanging from the corner of his lips so Pheonyx could only imagine what the dog had been up to.

“Ready to work, handsome?” he asked Kismet. The dog began to wiggle, happy at the prospect of having a job, but he sat and waited for Pheonyx to give him a command. He pulled the backpack off his shoulder and opened it up. Just like Maggie said, the pack contained three bottles of water, a dog bowl, and several baggies of Pheonyx’s homemade jerky. The three bigger ziploc bags had darker colored jerky. The color was from the blend of seasonings, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, and honey that he used to marinate the meat before smoking. The smaller bag had lighter colored unseasoned jerky that he used specifically for training Kismet. Pheonyx stuffed the smaller bag in one pocket and two of the bigger bags in his other pocket for him and Daryl to eat later. One of the nice things about men’s pants was that the pockets were absolutely ginormous.

Seeing the bag of jerky, Kismet’s eyes got wide and his body began to shake in anticipation. Pheonyx closed his bag and slung it back over his shoulders. He could feel Daryl’s eyes on him from the few feet that separated them. He reached for his waistband, where he had Sophia’s small shirt tucked over his belt, and pulled the thin fabric off the leather strap.

Kneeling down next to Kismet, Pheonyx used his free hand to stroke the dog’s head. Soft fur and chocolate eyes shining with happiness made his chest swell. He scratched the dog's ears and offered the shirt to Kismet to smell.

“We gotta find someone, okay boy? We’ve only tracked squirrels and ‘coons up until now but I think you’re ready,” Kismet snuffled his nose along the shirt, deeply inhaling and then snorting like a pig. Once he got a good few whiffs of the shirt, he leaned back on his haunches and waited for Pheonyx to give him his command.

Pheonyx stood up and tucked the shirt into his belt again, “Find it boy!”

Being released by the command, Kismet placed his nose to the ground and began to follow the trail. His thick paws kicked up dirt as he trotted through the foliage, snuffling and snorting against the ground the whole way.

Pheonyx turned and briefly took in the visage of the older archer. The sunlight was peaking through the trees and hitting the side of his face, making his blue eyes shine even brighter than before. Dark hair now looked golden from the sun’s rays. His crossbow was loose in his hands and angled towards the ground. The tender hold he held on the weapon was a facade for the lethality he possessed. Despite the dirt and general scruffiness, he looked almost ethereal. God-like.

With that image in mind, Pheonyx gestured to the direction that Kismet went.

“After you, Apollo,” he said with a smile. The other man snorted in response to the nickname, but he adjusted his grip on his crossbow and began to follow the hound’s lead.

He wasn’t quite proud of it, but Pheonyx took a brief moment to watch Daryl walk in front of him. Green eyes were glued to the other man’s backside and he watched as those dirty jeans hugged him in all the right places.

“Ya comin’, Firebird?” Daryl called over his shoulder, breaking Pheonyx from his less than innocent thoughts.

I wish, he thought, Wait….

“Firebird?” Pheonyx asked in confusion, jogging to catch up with him.

Taglist: @yoongibaybee @edgyboi10000 @loganlostitall @dixonsboy19

#daryl dixon #daryl x oc #twd daryl #twd fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x oc #daryl dixon x omc #daryl x ftm oc #daryl dixon x ftm oc #daryl x male oc #daryl dixon x trans!oc #daryl x omc #daryl x trans!oc #from the ashes twd #the walking dead #daryl dixon x male oc

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zoropookie · 24 days

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OKAY BARK ANON LORE!!!

my first fight was when i was in fourth/fifth grade (around 9-11 years old) with this soccer girl because she was talking shit about my friend and i didn't take no bullshit back then 🤫🧏‍♂️🔥‼️(we were also arguing about who got the swing...) i think i punched her eye.... NO ON SNITCHED THO 🙏🙏 snitches DID get stitches back then

10-11 years old — SECOND FIGHT was with this guy (prev crush, current bully) who slapped my ass so i slapped him 😒 AND HE GOT FOLDED 😂 he got suspended for only three days and he started spreading rumors that i was a lesbian (i was dating his crush so THAT'S WHAT YOU GET TTP JR.)

10-11 years old — third fight was with my school counselor 🤒 .... i won but my mom got called and erhm... mightve moved!! 😊😐

14-15 years old — i fought my ex 😕 i almost lost but our friends slpit us up 🙏

(IM A GOOD STUDENT NOW, I DOT FIGHT ANYMORE AND IM GAY NOW!!!)

— bark anon

the lore is crazy!! you were boxing people as early as ten bro!! we gotta put you in jiu jitsu i feel like you’d thrive there. we love a backstory!!! i’m glad that you grew from those experiences though 😭😭😭 i would have been scared of you if i were in your classes bark anon

#zoropookie #bark anon

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tsustuff · 29 days

Text

tmagp episode 14 thoughts. no or not a lot of context but still read at your own peril

index of these posts

3:30 god this episode is so bad for my auditory processing issues lmfao

4:00 "OH, THE DATE"

4:20 "oh, sam." such disappointment sldjgdlg i get it

4:40 the 'dog with a toffee' is a perfect analogy holy shit. they're gumming it and it's sticky and funny but fuck i guess they could choke huh better take it away. but here's the thing with that is that it's *sticky* and it is *hard to get it out of the dog's mouth*. : ) i'm sure this extended metaphor doesn't have anything to do with how often we watch sam go 'yeah i guess i should give it up -- unless?'

5:15 alice has some Baggage here. god i want to know what her and sam's relationship was like. and i want to know how it ENDED.

6:00 god

6:25 did she just bust in and start talking to him

6:40 OH DEAR LMAO

7:10 1995 huh

8:45 "received slight scratch" watch this space

9:15 as a former independent pet store worker i am Concerned about how this is going to go

10:40 i love that even in an audio medium you can tell they were writing notes and got interrupted

10:50 i love that this has become intensely more personal instantly

12:00 this is far above this narrator's pay grade lmfao

13:25 i tend to listen to these while reading along with the transcript and this is one of the ones i started accidentally reading ahead in. it's real good

14:00 these snakes were lucky the floor was linoleum and likely not recently waxed because lmao can you imagine if it was smooth and they couldn't go anywhere

14:20 SOME INSTITUTE. but *rejection* letters, so he sent them a statement and they didn't like it?? fascinating

14:30 chekhov's scratch

15:50 "you wouldn't understand" : )

16:00 sam : ( it's got to be fucking disheartening, hasn't it? no one else here seems to share his curiosity about this and meanwhile it's just *eating* him

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i have a kofi with a singular $1 tier if you like this and want to help me keep doing it

#tmagp #tmagp spoilers #the magnus protocol #the magnus protocol spoilers

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sanddusted-wisteria · 11 months

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A Builder, a Researcher, and a Rooftop, Ch. 9: Vega and Altair

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Also on AO3

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

The builder’s eyes trailed across the sky, trying to keep up with Qi’s arm and words as he pointed out and explained some of the brighter stars in the sky that night.

“...And that is Deneb,” Qi said, pointing at Cygnus’s bright head. “It’s a supergiant right about in the middle of its lifespan.”

The builder frowned. “Lifespan? Massive balls of gas have lives?”

Qi shrugged. “You and I have the same question. They are inanimate, and therefore not living. I believe we use terms like ‘life’ and ‘death’ as an analogous description of how stars progress from start to finish. There isn’t really a better set of terms.”

“What’ll happen when it ‘dies,’ then?”

“Well, for a star as big as Deneb, it will eventually start fusing heavier and heavier elements as its fuel runs out. Eventually, its core might become so massive that the energy it produces can no longer counter its own gravity. So it violently collapses and implodes, which then causes a massive explosion.”

“Ohhh, so that’s a supernova.”

Qi nodded. “Precisely! And after all of that, with enough stellar mass, what remains is the imploded matter, compressed into such a small space that it becomes the densest thing in the universe, and therefore has the most gravity in the universe. So much that not even light can escape it. So much that it even warps time.”

“A black hole,” they muttered together.

“Black holes are pretty crazy,” the builder said. “And kinda scary. Imagine getting sucked into one of those.” They shuddered.

“Indeed. I imagine having your body completely crushed from all directions while time stretches out infinitely is rather unpleasant.”

“They can’t…move, right? They can’t travel anywhere?”

“Motion is relative. Could they move in relation to what?”

“Earth. A black hole isn’t gonna pose a threat to us, is it?”

Qi shook his head. “Impossible. The closest one is thought to be around 1560 light years away. Even if it was heading in a straight line directly towards us, which is incredibly unlikely, it would take a very, very long time to get here.”

“Hm. Thought so. When I was in 4th grade, a kid in my class tried to scare us by saying that a black hole was coming to suck up the Earth in a hundred years or something.”

“That child was a simpleton,” Qi said flatly, causing the builder to burst out laughing. “I hope they grew up to be an adult with more sense.”

“Well, last I heard, he didn’t become a scientist, so at least there’s that.”

“I wouldn’t assume so. …You didn’t believe him, did you?”

“Well…” the builder let out a nervous chuckle. “I did, but only for like 30 seconds.”

“At least you realized the mistake. I could at least expect that much of you.”

“And I didn’t grow up to be a scientist either. Take that as you will.”

“Even so… Are you sure you’ve never had any serious experience with astronomy? You at least seem to have an aptitude for the high-level, conceptual aspects of the field.”

“Nope. I’ve done a little stargazing here and there. I know some of the big constellations and stars and stuff. Oh, and I had an old friend back in high school who was super into astrology and would give me full birth charts and readings and everything.” Qi’s lip curled in disgust. “But uh…that’s not astronomy, is it?”

“If you even dare utter that word again in my presence…” Qi muttered with a steely glare. “…I will never speak to you again.”

The builder laughed again, waving a hand. “Okay, okay.”

“Even those myths from the days before the formal development of science are better than whatever metaphorical snake-oil that pitiful excuse of a ‘discipline’ shills.”

“Well, at least I know one or two of those… If I tell you one, would you forgive me about the whole astrology thing?” they said with a cheeky grin and a tilt of the head.

“Ugh, yes please. Anything to distract myself from that.”

“Oh.” They were just joking. “Okay, well uh, since we’re talking about Cygnus, this one’s a little bit about Cygnus. Mostly about Vega and Altair, though. Let me see…” they hummed, trying to dredge the story out of their memory. The scowl on Qi’s face eased into his usual flat expression, but with a faint light of curiosity in his eyes.

The builder took a deep breath and began.

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

The Weaver and the Cowherd

Once upon a time, long, long ago, the King and Queen of Heaven had 7 beautiful daughters. The youngest was a talented weaver, spinning silky, wispy threads to make her family’s royal garb and all the clouds in the sky.

One night, the royal sisters descended to their favorite spring on Earth to bathe and relax. They shed their soft gowns and splashed gleefully in the pure waters.

Just then, a simple cowherd from the nearby village happened by, traveling home late from the big city after trading his wares. He heard the bubbly laughter coming from the direction of the spring. Who could be there so late? Carefully, he crept towards the spring under the cover of the brush, and laid eyes upon the most beautiful maidens he’d ever seen. They had to be divine beings. In particular, he was drawn to the youngest, watching two of her other sisters try to soak each other with amusement. She giggled at the sight, and as soon as the cowherd heard the tinkly sound, he knew he was in love.

How could he get her attention? There was no way he could just walk out like this. Then he noticed the maidens’ gowns left off to the side. If he took them, they would have to come find them and run into him, too. So he sneakily gathered all the gowns and made off a short distance away into the trees to wait.

Soon enough, the maidens soon noticed the missing gowns. Knowing they couldn’t possibly return to Heaven like this, the youngest offered to look for them. She searched carefully through the woods, and eventually stumbled upon the cowherd sitting next to the pile of gowns, startling him. Averting his eyes, he sheepishly explained why he wanted to steal their clothes, and offered to give them back right away. Even though she was stark naked in front of someone she had just met, she couldn’t help but feel drawn to his shy smile and innocently kind heart. And so the weaver fell in love with the cowherd.

Returning to her sisters, gowns in hand, the weaver explained what had just happened, and that she was going to stay on Earth to wed and live with her new beloved. Her sisters grew worried. What would their parents think? Did she even know how to live on Earth? Who even was this man? But the weaver was adamant, and waved her sisters goodbye as they reluctantly ascended back to the heavens.

And so the weaver and the cowherd lived their new lives together. He continued raising his cattle, while she started mending and selling clothes for the village. They bore two healthy and virtuous sons, whom they loved dearly. For a time, they were as happy as can be.

But one day, the Queen of Heaven noticed her missing daughter. Upon questioning her other daughters, she found out about her predicament. She was most displeased with the secret marriage, and to a mortal, no less. One night, she appeared before the weaver and demanded that she return to Heaven. This was less an order from her mother, and more an order from the Queen.

Helpless, the weaver had no choice but to leave her family behind. She gave her sleeping husband and children one last kiss, and left for the Heavens with misty eyes, never to return.

Upon waking up, the cowherd and his children were devastated at the weaver’s sudden disappearance. They wept, not knowing what they could do to find her. It was then, to their collective shock, that the cowherd’s finest ox began speaking to them. It told them about what had happened last night. There was hope, however. The ox told the cowherd and sons how to make a special boat, one that could sail to the highest Heavens.

When they had finished the boat, the cowherd and his sons set sail right away. Up and up they went, above the trees, the houses, and even the tallest mountains. Soon, they could see the Heavenly Palace, where the weaver sat on her balcony, glumly weaving clouds while keeping watch on the village from high above. The cowherd and their sons cried out to her, overjoyed to see her safe. She heard them, and called back to them with delight. They were so close. Soon they could reunite as a family…

But the commotion caught the ear of the Queen of Heaven. Furious, she took the hairpin out of her hair and used it to slice a massive gash across the sky. Out of the gash came floods of silvery starlight, forming a turbulent, impassable river between the lovers. Forever separated.

The weaver begged her mother to relent. Every day, she pleaded on her knees, wailing, tears spilling from her eyes. The Queen was adamant. But eventually, she gave in. Once every year, she decreed, the cowherd and the weaver could meet.

And she held true to her promise. On the seventh day of the seventh month, as the weaver, the cowherd, and their children waited anxiously on the shores of the silver river of stars, a flock of magpies flew down and gathered right above the starlight, forming a bridge. Carefully, they all stepped on, surprised to see the magpies able to support them. Then they ran into each other’s arms, finally reunited, even for a short while.

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

“Vega’s the weaver,” the builder said, pointing to the bright star above the Milky Way. “Altair and those other two stars next to it are the cowherd and their sons.” They pointed to the bright cluster of stars underneath the Milky Way. “And Cygnus is the magpie bridge crossing the river of the Milky Way.” They traced their finger along Cygnus’s cross shape.

Qi’s eyes followed their hand, bright with interest. “I see…”

They dropped their arm. “So, what do you think? Distracted enough?”

“Huh? Oh, right. That. Well, I suppose that’s a solid ‘yes,’ then.”

“Damn, looks like I’m just that good,” they chuckled.

“Indeed. I am obviously not an expert in literature, but you tell stories in an engaging way. Better than some of the books I have in my library, even.”

Their brow raised. Once again, they were joking, but the genuine praise threw them off guard. “High praise, honestly, coming from you. I’ve seen how many books you have.”

“Usually I avoid stories like these. Non-scientific accounts of things perfectly explainable by science. Although…I suppose they can still be enjoyed with a skilled storyteller and some suspension of disbelief.”

The builder felt a smidge lighter at his words, and a smile tugged at the corner of their lips. “If you’re ever in the mood for another, I know a couple more. Just say the word.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Qi hummed.

Silence fell, and they both looked out towards the sky again.

“...Perhaps engaging with something non-scientific every once in a while isn’t as bad as I’d thought…” Qi muttered under his breath.

The builder said nothing, but the smile on their face grew.

Far above their heads, Vega and Altair and Cygnus shone bright, twinkling against the great cosmic river and the vast, inky-black sky.

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

A/N: The Weaver and the Cowherd is an actual ancient Chinese myth (Japan and Korea also have their versions of the same story). In fact, the Chinese names for Vega and Altair are literally "Weaver Girl Star" (织女星, Zhī Nǚ Xīng) and "Cowherd Star" (牛郎星, Niú Láng Xīng) respectively. So it's fitting that the first two spacecraft in the My Time verse we've been introduced to are the Vega 5 and Altair One.

The original story had the weaver's parents be the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West, but I decided to change their names for this telling, since they're figures from Chinese folk religion. Given the game's setting, I think it's unlikely that they would be passed down through the scattered populace of the Age of Darkness in exactly the same form, especially with the establishment of new religions like the Church of the Light. Just some interesting lil tidbits.

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#shady's fics #brr #my time at sandrock #mtas fanfic

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edupunkn00b · 1 year

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It Could Always Be Worse, Ch. 9: Ships at a Distance

Butterfly universe version of Happily Ever After, Ships at a Distance.

Prev - Ships at a Distance - All - [ AO3 ]

WC: 751 - Rating: T - CW: angst, closeted

"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board." - Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

Logan looked up from his laptop. It was dark outside. He leaned back and stretched, reaching his arms over his head and bending his shoulders back until he felt a few joints pop. He took a deep breath and checked to see how much coffee he had left in the mug in front of him. Empty.

He shrugged and stood, walking over to the coffee maker. He poured another cup and leaned back against the counter, sipping at the hot, bitter liquid. He had the house completely to himself tonight, even Remy was out at an ex-girlriend's graduation party. Logan shook his head. At least I did something right with him. Remy's managed to stay friends with every single one of his ex-girlfriends.

Logan checked the time. Not quite nine o'clock. Topping off his coffee, Logan brought his mug back to the table, re-reading his notes. He'd wrap this up and then think about bed.

Logan picked up the first case file, re-opening it and scanning the opening motion. At least Janus' cases were engaging. As Attorney in Charge at the firm, Janus tended to take on the thorniest issues and, while Logan knew was likely selected merely because he was one of the few attorneys at his level who Janus had not invited to his anniversary party, he also knew his boss wouldn't have entrusted him with the work if he had believed him to be inadequate.

For the tiniest fraction of a second, Logan closed his eyes and reached out to touch the sharp pang that had been poking at his heart ever since Janus asked him to cover his cases. He felt the edges of it, the cutting, stinging knowledge that the rest of his team was at Janus' anniversary party at that moment. Logan gulped at his coffee, pushing away the thought and focused on the work in front of him. It was fine.

Reviewing the notes, Logan assured himself that he had the key points memorized, and had the basic facts of the case and full supporting evidence at his fingertips. He nodded to himself. He was ready. Logan saved his work, then snapped the laptop closed. He looked up at the time on the coffee maker.

11:45 PM

His eyes involuntarily bounced up to the staircase. The icy rock in the pit of his stomach grew.

Logan's phone suddenly buzzed and he picked it up. It was a text from Remy.

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙰 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚒𝚝. 𝚑𝚝𝚝𝚙𝚜://𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚘𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗.𝚘𝚛𝚐/𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜/𝟷𝟷𝟹𝟼𝟷𝟽𝟸𝟿

Curiosity piqued, and grateful for distraction from the empty bedroom waiting for him upstairs, Logan clicked the link. After the page loaded, he stared at the screen, blinking for a moment. A Doctor Who story? Online? He took another sip of his coffee and started to read.

~~~Epilogue~~~

At the party

Jacinta read over Remy's shoulder, then gave him a little squeeze. "Your dad's gonna be cool with this. You just need to give him a chance."

”I mean, yeah, I know you're probably right." Remy stared at the unsent text on his phone screen, gnawing at his lower lip. "And... I know I shouldn't have let him think that you were my girlfriend... It was just... easier than telling him the truth."

"Doesn't your dad, like, work in an LGBTQ law firm?" Jacinta tilted her head, frowning at her best friend.

”Well, yeah, but... We never talk about it." Remy leaned his head back on Jacinta's shoulder, frowning. "We never talk about anything but grades or grocery lists or Doctor Who. I don't know what he actually thinks about anything real.”

"So here's your chance to talk to him. Send him the story. It'll raise the topic, and then when he says something positive about it and about how supportive Twelve is with Bill's sexuality," she grabbed his chin, giving it a gentle shake while she met his eyes. "Then you tell him."

Remy stared at the screen for one more minute, double-checking that he had the right link. Then he took a deep breath and hit Send.

--- This is the story Remy sent to his dad: Proud, by color of my mind. Summary: Set anytime between The Pilot and World and Enough Time. The Doctor decides to surprise Bill with a special trip to the future that honors the past. It's short and fluffy and lovely and you don't need to know anything about Doctor Who to appreciate and love it.

#It Could Always Be Worse #ts logan #ts remy #Logan Sanders #Remy Sanders #Butterfly universe story of Happily Ever After #what happened when Janus and Remus met at Jack's party and Janus never walked home alone that night #sanders sides fanfiction

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orangevtae · 2 years

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Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy [S.Harrington x Henderson!Reader]

prev - next

Chapter 9: Help!

"Alright, so let me get this straight: you kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who...who you just met?"

You couldn't believe that you were at that spot again, even if you and Dustin explained to him some hours prior.

"Alright, that's grossly over simplified things" Dustin said at Steve's statement

"Wait...so that's why you picked up Dart? To impress a girl?" You turned puzzled at Dustin after throwing a little bit more of meat, a confused expression on your face and you saw Dustin give you a embarrassed smile, you looked at Steve and he was giving you the same look and then you turned back around, a little bit more ahead of the boys and kept throwing meat.

You were on the old railroads that passed within Hawkins, making a way to get Dart on the trap on the junkyard, that that it was where you were heading and Dustin was really explaining the whole reason behind his true acts towards Dart before you guys discovered that it was a baby Demogorgon.

"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyways?" Steve kept the conversation

"An inter-dimensional slug? Cause it's awesome" Dustin sighed before adding "And i don't know, Y/N thought it was cool and i thought that this girl would find it cool too"

"Wait, you thought it was cool?" Steve asked you

"It was nothing like that, i was a bit against it and plus, i'm a biology enthusiast-" You tried to explain yourself at what Dustin said about you

"Nerd" Dustin interrupted you and turned to give him a look and turned back

"AND i thought that it was weird, nothing more than that and Dustin KNOWS that but since i wouldn't be able to make him change his mind, i left as that " You didn't saw, but Steve nodded at your statement and turned his attention back on Dustin.

"Well, even if she thought it was cool which she didn't, I-i just...i don't know, i feel like you're trying way too hard" Steve shrugged

"Well not everyone can have your perfect hair all right?" Dustin huffed and angrily throwed meat

You sighed, you really had no head on this type of conversation right now so you just simply continued to throw meat around while listening your brother vent to another male about his "girl's problems".

"It's not about the hair, man" Steve stated "The key to girls is pretending like you don't care"

"What?" you whispered at his stupid answer, you knew Steve Harrington sucked at the love area but somehow knew how to get the girls, but you didn't know it was that stupid and you shook your head "unbelievable".

"Even if you do?" Dustin asked, you could notice a tone of understandment in his voice

"Exactly, it drives them nuts" You really couldn't believe him right now, the fuck Steve Harrington truly knew about girls? He never stopped in a long-term relationship since ninth grade and now was giving dating advises to your thirteen year old brother that it's having his first crush experience, deep down, you hoped that Dustin wouldn't take Steve's advises 100% credit.

"And then what?"

"You just wait until uh..." Steve hesitated before keep going "until you feel it"

"Feel what?" You really hoped that what Steve was about to say, it wasn't what you were thinking, but you were sure to keep your hopes under 0,1%

"It's something like right before a storm, you know? You can't see it but you can feel it, it's like a uh...an eletricity, you know?" You left a giggle at that and shaked your head in disbelief, you really couldn't believe on what your ears were hearing, you were glad you kept your hopes to less than 0,1%, you heard Dustin say something about eletricity and magnet on storms but couldn't really catch on it, nerd stuff.

"No no no no, it is like a sexual eletricity" you left a loud laugh at that "What?"

"I don't get it..." Dustin trailed off

"Nothing guys, just keep on having your little boys conversation" Dustin and Steve looked at each other and observed you fully ignoring them and continuing to throw meat.

Steve felt a little lost and...hurt? He didn't know, he felt weird about how you laughed at what he said and frowned "Little boys conversation?" he thought, he didn't knew why he cared that you weren't paying attention at trying to give your little brother dating advises, deeply down he wanted to impress you at something.

"Anyways, you feel that" he throwed a meat "and then you make a move"

"So that's when you kiss her?" Dustin asked

"Wow, calm down buddy!" you said on the first time on their conversation, surprised at Dustin's statement

"Oh no no, slow down Romeo" Steve said at the same time

"Sorry"

"Sure, some girls want you to be agressive, you know? Strong, hot-heavy, like a...i don't know, like a lion. But others you gotta be slow, stealthy, like a ninja." you really couldn't believe Steve Harrington's dating advice, you thought just how he managed to get so much dates with those types of advises.

"What type is Nancy?" you sucked a breath at what Dustin asked

"Nancy is different, different from the other girls" Steve said, his voiced laced with a serious semblant

"She seems pretty special, i guess" Dustin said unsure, knowing that maybe he picked at a sensitive topic

"Yeah, she is..." Steve stated

"So what type is Y/N?" You froze at that and turned surprised at Dustin sudden ask, you really didn't care too much about their little conversation but it worried you a little at thinking of what Steve would say and that made your stomach do a little flip and turned back around and continued to throw meat and pretending that you didn't care about what Steve would say, but deep down, you wanted him to say something good.

Deciding that you really didn't want to know his answer, you walked a little more fastly, just slightly to be a little bit far to not hear his answer and started humming to some song that came into mind.

"Y/N..." Steve lowered his voice a little "I don't know yet, but she looks like...you have to be careful a-and gentle, treat her kindly, of course, she's not a porcelain doll, she can pull up a fight and take care of herself, but she's the kind of girl that deserves everything and be treated good" Steve said looking at the back of your head, a little smile playing on his lips

"Would you say she's special?" Dustin asked, his voice matching Steve's volume, already getting on what's going between you and Steve, even if you both denied it

"Yeah, yeah she is" he said and kept throwing meats

"This...this girl is special too" he cleared his throath, voice volume back to normal "You know? It's just something about her"

"Woah, woah, woah! You're not falling in love for this girl, are you?" Steve intervene Dustin

"Uh, no, no" Dustin answered unsure, he didn't expect that kind of reaction from Steve

"Okay, good, don't"

"I won't" Dustin assured him

"Good, she's only gonna break your heart and you're way too young for this shit" Steve said picking up his pace to match yours and continued throwing meat along the way.

"He's right, Dustin!" you said, making yourself truly present on their conversation

"About the dating advices?" he asked you, frown present on his face

"No, no, not about that, i mean, in parts? Yeah, cause every girl is a girl and every girl is different from another but i'm not talking about that" you sighed and throwed meat "but about falling in love. I guess that your first love it's the most strongest one, it's beautiful and eletryfying" you chuckled and turned back to him "but it's the one that it must hurts and break you heart, that's what i'm saying. You're too young to be on the hang of what is like to have a heartbreak." you smiled sadly.

"Y/N, what kind of girl are you?" Dustin asked you this time

"What do you mean?" you tried to fish back something from their conversation some minutes prior, but didn't heard what exactly he was implying at that

"How would like to be treated?" he reformuled his question, gaze on you

"You already know the answer, Dusty" you said softly, pit point feeling of heartbreak on your gut as you remembered the last relationship you were

"Yeah, but i wanna hear it again" you sighed as he almost demanded you to answer

"I don't know" you shrugged "Fairly i guess...i guess that i just want someone that treats me good and makes me feel special, safe but that at the same time knows that i can handle myself and not treat me like a porcelain doll, there, are you happy?" you turned to him, hand on your hip

"Yes, thank you" he smiled at you

"You're welcome" you smiled back at him and turned back around, not meeting Steve's glare on you, you were way too embarrassed.

But maybe, just maybe, you should have met his eyes, cause he seemed stuck at where he was at hearing your statement, it looked like you just repeated what he said but he knew that you hadn't heard his little talk with Dustin about you, he smiled softly at that, and kept walking beside Dustin and sighed, "Can't believe i'm gonna say this..."

"It's Farrah Fawcet" Steve said defeated, he could feel his ears turning red from ebarrassment

"What?" Dustin asked puzzled

"The secret of the hair" he pointed to his own hair before getting a handful of meat and throwing it

"Farrah Fawcet spray?" Dustin giggled

"What's so funny back there?" You asked smiling at your brother

"Steve's hair secret it's the Farrah Fawcet spray!" Dustin exclaimed loudly to you and your eyes doubled in size as you look to Steve

"No shit!" you said already laughing along and Steve looked at you both

"Yeah, yeah, you guys can laugh all you want but i still am the one with good hair and if you tell someone about that, you're dead Henderson's!" He tried to sound mad, he really did, but it was impossible not have a little smile plastered at his face when you were giggling hard at his hair secret and couldn't stop admiring of how cute you looked while laughing along your brother, eyes with unshed tears of pure joy, large smile on your beautiful lips and tips of ears a little bit red because of the cold and the little bit of lack of air.

And then, Steve knew that he was completly and obviously fucked when he came in terms that he liked to be the source of your laughs and had in mind that he would die to always have you laughing and smiling about something that he said or did, and that scared him a bit.

" I know that i still love Nancy, but trying to lie to myself about what is right in front of me, i would be blind if i keep on pretending" and so, he left a huge sigh leave his lips and felt the tip of his ears get red when your eyes met each other and he gave you a soft smile.

You arrived the junkyard a little bit before the sun would set, you were exhausted, feet hurting and really would like to have a nap but you know you wouldn't get one so soon, so you just sighed.

You saw Steve stop right beside you, he had put on some sunglasses and you wondered if he always walked with them and just thought that this was something very Steve Harrington to do and you chuckled, he smiled down at you before taking a look around. "Oh yeah. Yeah, this will do. This will do just fine, good call dude" he said to Dustin, that had a proud smile at the compliment and you smiled at this.

"I said medium-well! "

You put down the meat bucket you were carrying and pulled out a bottle of water, feeling your troath a little bit dry and had a large gulp on the bottle, before you heard a voice.

When you looked up at the source of the voice, you saw Lucas and a red headed girl beside him, she seemed a little bit lost and was standing awkwardly at his side, you would've asked who she is but you didn't have to since the look on your brother's face told everything, you nudged Steve's side and you looked at each other before setting eyes to Dustin, on the girl and back to Dustin and you both gave each other knowing looks.

This were THE girl Dustin told you guys about, shrugging off, you caped you bottle and put it back on the backpack and looked at the girl "Hey there!"

"Hey...i'm Max!" she waved a little at you

"Nice to meet you Max!" you answered back and put the bottle back on your backpack

"So...what are we doing here?" she asked looking at you guys

"Well, let's see of what we can use as weapon and search for things that can shield that little baby" Steve said pointing to the old bus, you and he looked around to find Lucas and Dustin have a little argument behind a old car "But before that, let me get this knuckle heads to work too! "

You chuckled and started to get things to shield the bus that you probably would use as a fort, alongside with Max "Hey, i'm Y/N, Dustin's sister" you said as you got closer to her

"No way!" she sounded surprised

"What?" you asked puzzled, smile gracing your lips

"You can't be siblings, you have nothing to do with each other" she said surprised and you laughed a little

"I know right? We took different sides of the family" you joked and kept doing your work

"...And the only ones helping are Y/N and a random girl! So come on, move and help!" you heard Steve scolding them at the back and you and Max laughed at that

"Alright we comin! Jeez! Asshole" you heard Lucas shouting back to Steve and Dustin followed him "What a jerk! "

Steve turned around after hearing you and Max laughing together, seeing you smile and knowing that he was behind it made Steve's heart flutter and the tip of his fingers to itch, he was so deeply into getting in conversation with Dustin about girls that he didn't even noticed that you were making way into his heart stealth like, and damn, was he falling hard.

Taglist: @mochminnie @marmol4d4 @starhastoomanyfandoms @ren-ni @xoxoloverb @nctma15

#steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x original character #steve harrington #dustin henderson x henderson!reader #dustin henderson x reader #dustin henderson #reader insert #stranger things fanfic #stranger things imagine #stranger things season 2 #stranger things

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beibeimei · 2 years

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Letters on time

#6 Time flies

words count: 510 Words

those two weeks were the best weeks that YN ever lived, they decided to do everything they wanted to do

like skipping school without their parents knowing or going to the lake for 3 days

they tried to spend the little time they had together as much as possible

forgetting about everything else; school, homeworks, grades and even the dance club which they absolutely love

but one thought didn't leave YN's mind:

the confession

everytime she saw some couples around the city she thought about her confession

what was she supposed to do?ignore everything and acting like nothing or just fuck it and confess right away?

her thoughts were eating her alive.

"just write a love letter" hikaru said helpinh her bestie

"before you leave, but you'll not hear his answer" she added

YN thought about it

does she wants an answer or she just wants to tell him about her feelings?

even if he accepted her, how could they be together? long distance relationship?

she was thinking so much that her head started to hurt but she arrived to a conclusion

she will write a love letter and give it to him before she will take the flight but he will read it only when they'll meet in the future and give her the answer

so she started to write at 9 pm, she wrote about 12 draft but only one was the perfect one.

the 11th one

after packing the letter she looked at the time and went to sleep.

the last day was the last day was about to end, they were laying down watching the stars of that night.

it seems like they were brighter than the usual

"when we'll meet again?" Riki said

"I dont know, I just know for sure that we'll meet again" YN answer

the silence was loud but comfortable, they wanted to be like this forever

a phone rang, it was YN's calling her to go home and go prepare the suitcase that she will bring at the airport the day after.

they all get up and started to walk towards thei houses

at the airport came the nishimura family and ezaki family to say the last goodbye to YN's family

everyone were crying except Riki. he did want to cry but didn't, a voice announced the flight to korea so YN said the last goodbye and started to walk.

a feeling hit Riki, he started to ran towards YN and give her the last hug

"don't do anything stupid while im gone"

"of course I won't, Who will I blame if something happens?" Riki says laughing

Yn gave the letter to Riki

"I almost forgot to give this to you, please read it when we'll meet again in the future" she said bowing and started to walk again towards her gate

Riki looked at the letter that his Bestfriend gave him

he put it in his jacket pocket and then wiped the first tear he shed that day

"YN, I will miss you" the boy said watching the airplane leave

Summary: you and riki were best friends, you were inseparable and spent hours together, you obviously had a crush on him but he only had eyes for a girl; Hikaru, your ex-best friend. but one day your parents decided to move to korea for work reasons but before moving you decided to give a letter to riki, a love letter where you explicitly asked to read it shortly before meeting you in the future. What if the future actually arrived and you casually met on 14th of february?

taglist: [if you want to be added send an ask or dm] @agoldsunsword @miminyuu @diestheticu @moonchildaera

#enhypen #enhypen au #enhypen fluff #enhypen imagines #enhypen x reader #ni-ki #niki imagines #niki x reader #enhypen reactions #riki #riki smau #riki x you #riki imagines #nishimura riki #niki smau #enhypen smau

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juyomiao · 1 year

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Only ONE - sung hanbin x gn!reader

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PROFILES ☆ sung hanbin's presidential election team

< prev | masterlist | next >

sung hanbin sunghanbin : student council president ; the nicest guy to ever exist ; literally has no flaws ; that sometimes bites him the ass tho bc hes TOO nice ; has had the biggest fattest crush on yn since they were 9

zhang hao ZHANGHA0 : moved to korea after being offered a scholarship to wakeone ; immediately got adopted by shanbin n matthew ; people assume hes even nicer than shanbin just bc he doesn't talk much with people outside his friend group ; hes definitely not (/pos)

seok matthew seokmattchu : shanbin's childhood bff ; literally friends with everyone n everything ; if u r looking for him look for shanbin, if u r looking for shanbin look for him

kim jiwoong kjwoong : uni student ; graduated the previous year but still keeps contact with his friends ; models and is studying to be an actor ; the friend group's parasocial (he does not want to do it) father figure

yoon jongwoo jongwwoo : jiwoong's #1 fanboy (and best friend) ; people assume he's intimidating bc of his looks n then regret it when they get to know him 😭😭 ; overall an idiot (endearingly) ; used to be a soundcloud rapper but dropped his career to be jiwoong's self-appointed pr manager

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☆ note there might be some typos bc im so fucking tired rn im abt to fall asleep on my phone

☆ TAGLIST: @soobeaniee @hananovi (send an ask to be added !! 🫶🏻)

☆ SYNOPSIS: sung hanbin is everyone's dream guy: perfect grades, perfect looks, perfect personality, he has it all. he's even class AND student council president! everyone loves him, and you, as his vice-president, are no exception to that. having been in love with him since you were 12, you try to tone down your feelings "for the sake of professionalism" and claim it's simple admiration for someone who objectively has no flaws. but there is one small detail you missed, in all these years admiring him: he has an even bigger crush on you.

#boys planet #sung hanbin #boys planet x reader #boys planet scenarios #boys planet smau #boys planet fic #boys planet social media au #boys planet fluff #☆ li writes #☆only one☆

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torilovestowrite · 3 years

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GIRLS (Jean Kirstein SMAU)

Synopsis: You are Eren Yeager’s cousin, Y/N L/N, who moved in Jean Kirschtein’s apartment as a roommate. What happens if you end up spending one night with him?

content warnings: n;sfw themes, a bit of age difference (he’s 23 and you’re 19). modern au! + sm!au. friends with benefits troupe. PLEASE IGNORE THE TIMESTAMPS. MINORS, DNI.

[ALSO, JUST IN CASE YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA, JEAN’S MODERN AU APPEARANCE WILL BE BASED ON THIS TIKTOK EDIT. SO HE HAS LONG HAIR AND WRAPPED WITH TATTOOS. THANK YOU!]

[chapter warning: slightly n/sfw in the end! read responsibly.]

Masterlist || prev. || next chapter

vi. alexa, play marvin gaye

“it’s my second time winning tonight!” y/n yelled as the words ‘you win’ appeared in the other side of the screen. jean just rolled his eyes and snorted, “it’s because i let you win, stupid.”

it’s been an hour since y/n and jean were playing tekken— of course, they decided to have a drinking game. every time someone loses, they have to take a shot. and if they don’t, they have to double the shot they’ll take the next time they lose.

apparently, jean had three shots of vodka— while y/n had 2. they already had 9 games in total. jean stood up and grabbed the pack of cigarette that was laying on top of the living room table.

“fuck the game.” he lit up his cigarette while leaning on the other side of the couch. “let’s just enjoy the drinks while talking. i just noticed that we don’t exactly know each other that much.”

y/n smiled as she watched him— gosh, he looked so hot like that; his legs were lightly spread while smoking while his other hand held a glass of vodka. so cool, she thought.

“can i try?” y/n asked, referring to the cigarette that he was holding. jean’s eyes widened as he said, “are you sure? your cousin would fucking kill me if he would know about this.”

“well, he won’t.” y/n chuckled, bringing her face closer to him. “come on, just let me try it.”

jean brought the cigarette closer to his face, letting her take a hit— which immediately caused her to cough loudly for few seconds. it was her first time after all.

“geez, i thought you were about to cough your lungs out.”

two more hours later, both of them were a huge mess. jean had a bottle of vodka on his hand. his face flushed red while his button up shirts were slightly opened. y/n was seated on the other side of the couch, giggling— her cheeks felt hot too; but unlike jean, she was just tipsy— nothing too crazy.

“if you’re so funny, why are you single?” y/n asked as she slapped his shoulder playfully. he just let out a light giggle as he leaned towards y/n’s shoulder.

“no, you. why are you single?” jean asked— his words were not forming right; obviously intoxicated. “you’re really attractive and stuff... why?”

“because i don’t feel the need to have a boyfriend.” y/n took a sip from her glass of vodka.

“then i have the same reason.”

y/n let out a smile after hearing his response. it was simply light-hearted.

“but really...” jean held y/n’s hand, leaning towards her— placing his arms around her waist; like he was giving her a hug. “thanks for what you did earlier. i really appreciate it.”

y/n couldn’t move. here eyes widened as she clutched her hands on the back of his shirt. she didn’t want to let go of him anytime soon. his hug was the source of warmth upon this cold night.

“hug? what an elementary thing to do.” jean pulled away as he stared at her for a second.

y/n’s eyes widened as she felt his lips on hers’. they were kissing— his body was in between her legs; and she opened his mouth for him, playing his hair for a bit.

it didn’t take too long before he carried her away from the couch— taking her inside his room.

extra:

vodka was already present in russia in the 14th century.

vodka is one of the strongest liquor, commonly having 40% alcohol volume.

jean actually likes wine more, but he went to drink vodka for a “change”.

he wanted to play mortal kombat or mario kart but he couldn’t find the game cartridge. so he just went for whatever is in there; and it’s tekken.

jean uses devil jin as a main. the version of tekken that they were playing was tekken 7.

while he was drunk, jean mentioned that his grades in science and math were the best when he was in high school. he also had a high gpa— which y/n found to be entertaining.

TAGLIST IS OPEN [dms + ask box + replies are open]: @just-snog-already @thissilverbadger @stupidbitch28 @starlightsemi @mellisophilia @expectoscamander @rhinestxn-e @lexy9716 @mermaid-starlet @usernamehere91 @lazalee @bestgirlb @mellowbunii @kurokuroshit @alltimeluw

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gold-daegu · 3 years

Text

yellow paint | ending one

yellow paint ending one | [prev] | [next] | [masterlist]

synopsis ; Minho has been by Y/n’s side since 3rd grade, making sure she doesn’t get herself into any trouble. But it seems like someone else wants to be by Y/n’s side too. Will he bite back his worries and tell you how he feels? Or will he watch as you fall for someone else?

pairing ; minho x fem!reader, chan x fem!reader

a/n ; omggggg it's the end guys and i'm even letting you choose how it goes lmao. I had a lot of fun with this considering this is the first fic i've written for skz. anyway let's get on with it

genre ; fluff, angst,

college!au, sm!au

writing below ;

Your feet knew exactly where to go.

You've only been to the music building a handful of times and to the studio Chan uses only twice, but somehow you found yourself standing at this door once more.

Your heart pounded in your chest at the confrontation you were about to instigate. Doubt settled in your mind, finding yourself taking a step back when you considered the fact that maybe he doesn't like you as anything more than a friend. You took a deep breath, mentally dragging yourself the more you hesitated.

'Why are you being such a wimp, just knock!'

'But Chan did say to text him instead of knocking while he's recording...'

'The reason you're here is that he's not answering his texts, dumbass!'

You check the time quickly, 9:05. You had around an hour until campo came round and locked the building up. You could wait until Chan was forced out... but no. You've stalled long enough.

So with a surge of confidence flowing through you, you raise your fist and give a strong knock. The sound chipping your confidence away little by little as the silence that followed it became deafening.

The door clicked, causing your eyes to snap to the opening. The door swung open and revealed a pale face, wild blond hair shoved into a black beanie. He sighed in relief and smiled, leaning against the door jam.

"Oh, it's just you. I thought they'd come to lock up early again."

You gave a strained chuckle and averted your eyes, "Yeah... it's just me. Didn't mean to send you into cardiac arrest"

He shifted and furrowed his brows, "Hey, are you okay?"

You give a small smile, "Uh can I talk to you about something?"

You notice his shoulders tense at this, but he ushers you inside, sitting down in his usual office chair and watching you take a seat beside him in another.

"What's on your mind?"

You kick your feet absentmindedly, building up the nerve to just come out and say it.

"I texted you but..."

He picked his phone up at your words, guilt falling over his face at the sight of your unread text.

"Sorry, I put it on do not disturb when I'm recording." He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

You hummed, giving him a reassuring smile. It did put you at ease knowing he wasn't completely ignoring you.

"Chan I..." oh just come out and say it, "Chan I like you."

He pauses and you can see the bottom parts of his ears turn pink, "I like you too, we are friends after all!" He laughed nervously, fiddling with his beanie.

Your heart dropped, but despite that, you kept going.

"No stupid, I like you more than that. I want to be more than just your friend."

Chan went quiet, blinking and leaning back in his chair and letting out a laugh of disbelief. A smile eased across his lips, "Really?!" He whispered in excitement, "Me?"

You finally let your shoulders drop, a weight lifting off of you as you saw his radiant reaction. You scooched forward in your chair, your legs in between his now as you reached for his hand.

"I take it you feel the same?" You grinned, eyeing the way his hand fit in yours. So soft and strong at the same time, small callouses on the bend where his fingers meet his palm.

He stared down at your interlocked hands with a smile, tugging you closer than you already were, practically falling onto his lap. Just like he wanted.

You gasped, trying to prevent yourself from falling just a little too late. You're met with Chan's face just inches from your own, dark eyes settled on your lips that were only a breath away.

"I've been wanting to try this..."

His lips were on yours in an instant, hands finding a place on your waist and neck, angling you wordlessly as you kissed. He was so sweet and so eager at the same time, kissing you like it was his first and only chance to do so. And you didn't mind that at all.

You pulled back breathing heavily, a laugh escaping you as you watched him chase after you for another kiss, "Not bad, Channie," You hummed before capturing his lips once more.

He giggled into the kiss, wrapping his arms around you and letting his hands travel over the expanse of your back, up to your neck, and back down again.

There was no telling how long you two had been sitting there, exploring the other with newfound curiosity. You hummed when he moved from your lips and boldly traveled from your jawline down to the collar of your hoodie.

You let out a small gasp when you felt his teeth graze your collarbone, inching closer than possible to feel a little more of him.

He started massaging your hips when the door shook.

He jumped so high that he knocked you in the jaw and in turn, flung you into the floor.

Your mouth dropped in shock and pain, rubbing your jaw as the campus officer called out "Alright Chan, save what ya got and come on out, we'll be in the lobby!"

Chan blinked and glanced down at you as you sat in the floor holding your jaw, "I'm so sorry! I--"

You burst out laughing and pushed yourself into a standing position, playfully kicking Chans shin and shaking your head.

"It's okay, that was one hell of a way to end that situation though. A first for me, really."

He turned red and let out a small laugh, "Yeah... sorry I'm really sorry I won't do that every time--"

You scoffed, "Yeah I don't know if my jaw can take that many hits."

After that short exchange, you both packed up Chan's belongings and sheepishly walked past the officers who were beginning to grow impatient with the two of you.

Needless to say, there wouldn't be many escapades in the studio, but that didn't mean there weren't slip-ups now and then; and those times didn't end with a headbutt to the jaw.

#yellow paint #chan #stray kids bang chan #christopher bang #bang chan scenarios #bang chan imagines #bang chan x reader #bang chan fluff #chan x reader #skz #stray kids sm au

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medium-kat07 · 2 years

Text

Roulette

Ao3

Chapter 9: City kids, not quite kids anymore

Pairings: Quackbur (romantic)

AU: Superheroes

Wordcount ~ 3000

Tw:Rooftop, mention of being crushed, mention of a sprained ankle, cursing, electricity (Very mild chapter this week!!)

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(And before I forget, @rynzii419 made more fanart! There are links to it on the masterpost- she drew techno and a scene from the dream it's so cool omg)

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Blue light pierced the darkness when Quackity turned his phone on. He hissed at the assault to his eyes and squinted at the screen.

“I have an hour, I think,” he said aloud.

“Your loss. I’m leaving now.”

“Stop, you asshole, I’m trying to find my costume.”

“If I wait much longer, my brothers will wake up.”

“Then go sit somewhere and let me get my stuff!” Quackity turned on his bedroom light. “Prick.”

“Remind me again,” Blue said from the other side of the phone call, “Who knows your name and has all the evidence necessary to start a police search on your ass?”

“They’d find it in an instant, my ass is amazing,” Quackity mumbled, too tired to focus on the threat which probably didn’t even mean anything. “You woke me up, you know.”

“I know. You’re lazy.”

“I’m not lazy, I was watching a tv show and I got tired! Big whoop! I’ve slept a total of five hours this entire week, caffeine flows through my veins as we speak, and that fucking rhymed and I’m a-”

“-fucking god, yes, you keep saying that,”Blue laughed, “And yet a sprained ankle says otherwise.”

“You can get crushed by a robot, but I can’t get a sprained ankle? Fuck you.”

“Hurry up.”

Quackity grabbed his mask and gloves. On his way out the door, the chilly night air swept over him. Fall was coming. Barely any stars watched over the city tonight, probably because Quackity couldn't see any from his neon-lit section of central L'manburg. He shivered and started walking.

“Don’t rush me. If my hacker was able to get your phone number, she can get your third-grade crush and all the embarrassing things you did as a child as well.”

“Unfortunately for you, I was homeschooled. L plus Ratio.”

“Right, I forgot you’re a rich fuck,” Roulette murmured. “Where are you?”

“Outside the tower.”

“You know there are cameras there.”

“They’re broken. They don’t tell anybody that the cameras are broken but most of the cameras on the outside of the tower are very much broken.”

“Why don’t they replace them?”

“Not enough money to the tech department. I don’t know- just get here already, I’m bored.”

Quackity rolled his eyes.

When he’d first gotten Blue’s phone number, he’d tried not to text him unless he had to. (There was nothing more difficult in life than having Blue’s phone number and notprank calling him.) The contact sat in his phone for about a week before he finally gave in and asked him to patrol again.

He dared to say he was friends with the hero. Blue was difficult sometimes, but even more difficult to leave behind, because he was constantly smiling and talking and smiling and talking about anything and everything. Quackity played along to the illusion that it was annoying, and he hated it, but secretly he was starting to think he could talk to him for days on end and never get bored.

Pathetic.

When he’d first saved Blue, it had been a split-second decision.

He saw that Pyro and Mask were at large and went to check it out. He should have known, logically, that a hero would be there too, but he’d woken up five minutes ago and Nightshade was insistent that someone go figure it out, so he said he’d do it.

Blue was getting beat into the ground. Literally. He fell over twice, and Quackity was genuinely concerned as to why the agency would send a beanpole to fend off two of the city’s biggest threats.

He couldn’t let the villains get away with it. That was his reasoning in that moment. In the end he realized he could have waited until Pyro knocked out the hero and thenstepped in, but… well, Quackity was tired and impatient and also a little empathetic towards Blue’s impending failure.

He stepped in, and Pyro was already weak, so it seemed easier than he thought it’d be. In fact, the hardest part about the whole mission was arguing with Blue afterwards, because the pompous bastard had some kind of a savior complex- further reinforcing Quackity’s hatred for heroes and their agency.

Blue wasn’t actually like that, though.

When they met again and Blue gave him the invitation, Quackity could fucking tell he was angry about being put in this position. He didn’t want to be anywhere near there, and Quackity could say the same.

But they talked. And talked.

He was funny, and sarcastic, and witty and charming. All in all, he was fun to talk to, and he didn't talk down to Quackity like some heroes would in a fight.

Quackity found that, at some point, he began to wish they could keep talking.

Pathetic.

And he saved him again. With Nuclear, and the giant robot, and texting Nightshade with the words Blue was there again. Why do you send me for these heists? Is this on purpose?? Do you enjoy my suffering??

She never replied. Nightshade, otherwise known as Minx, couldn’t give less of a shit about anyone other than herself and the city. Quackity supposes that’s what makes her a good vigilante. Widely considered to be the best vigilante, actually.

And, now, again.

A couple days after Blue’s awkward conversation where he asked to patrol with Quackity, he saw the hero again and saved him. Like usual. And Blue argued, and it was annoying, and he texted Nightshade again, and there was no response. It seemed like his life was just a game of repetition and hopeless heroes and teasing vigilantes and stupid villains asking if they’re flirting. (Which we fucking aren’t, shut the fuck up.)

And they kept patrolling together. Again and again. He was mildly annoyed by the whole situation, but he couldn’t lie- he was a little glad he met Blue. Just a little bit.

Because for some reason, Blue was different.

He didn’t really match the idea of a perfect hero that Quackity had in his head. He was loud and charming and overwhelmingly good. It made Quackity want to punch him in the face. He still had pride like a hero, though. He complained about being saved, always, every time. This also made Quackity want to punch him in the face.

Quackity isn’t going to go through life without having punched Blue at least once.

Blue was patrolling with him because it was a better way to help their city, he said. He could do it on his own. Quackity didn’t want him to, for reasons he’d never let see the light of day.

The sad part is, even though Quackity wants to be around Blue, he can't bring himself to trust him. Even though Blue hasn't arrested him, even though he has all the information and means to arrest him and still hasn't, even though he's promised to not even hurt Roulette, Quackity can't trust him. He's a hero, and old habits die hard. I can't change all my beliefs for some guy with a savior complex.

And yet here he was. Walking to a patrol with a hero.

He went over the patrol schedule in his head.

He was doing central city, Hydrogen was doing west, and Glacier was doing east. Razor was doing the outskirts. Someone was doing south. Who's doing south?

He pulled out his phone. “Just a sec, I’ve gotta send a text.”

“Mhm.”

---

Roulette: whos taking the south side tonight

Gunpowder: I’m busy

Roulette: wdym you’re busy

Gunpowder: I’m busy!

Roulette: Doing what? You spend all your time making little fuckin robots and shit

Gunpowder: I have a date

Magma: What

Roulette: of fucking course

Gunpowder: I have a date!! Can I not have a date?

Roulette: Not when you’re YOU

Glacier: You once got scared of asking a waiter for more ketchup. How did you ask someone out

Roulette: You're bald you can’t fucking talk

Glacier: You have a dumb name

Roulette: It’s better than JACK

Glacier: IT ISN’T THOUGH??

Hydrogen: Jack you have a very nice name!

Glacier: When niki says it then you know it’s right

Hydrogen: But Quackity is kinda cool tbh

Roulette: HAHAHAH SUCK MY DICK

Glacier: FUCK OFF

Nightshade: I’m trying to fucking sleep I hate all of you stfu

Magma: Put the chat on silent then???

Nightshade: Can we get back on topic then???

Roulette: Fuck right yes someone needs to take the far south city

Magma: Sam tell us abt the date

Gunpowder: Omg hold on I can’t wait to spill this hold on

Glacier: Oh my fuckign god

Gunpowder: So I met this person the other night he’s like a gardener or a florist or smth with plants idk they use all pronouns

Hydrogen: Aww cute!

Gunpowder: SHE’S SO <333 she’s black and with blonde hair and like. Really pretty brown eyes omg

Magma: Oh

Magma: Do u know his name or??

Gunpowder: PONK

Gunpowder: THEIR NAME IS PONK ISN’T THAT THE CUTEST FUKCING THING

Roulette: Sounds trans, yeah

Gunpowder: We’re gonna see a movie I’m so <33

Glacier: Don’t fuck it up

Gunpowder: I’m gonna fuck it up probably but like. A guy can dream

Hydrogen: Aww have hope! You’re a very handsome man sam <3

Gunpowder: That’s the only compliment I’ve ever gotten in this chat. Thank you niki

Magma: I think ponk will like you, sam

Roulette: Can we please get back to the goddamn topic I just left for patrol and I need a decision nowww

Nightshade: Why can’t you take the far south as well as central? Just a little extra work. coward

Roulette: I can’t

Nightshade: Why?

Roulette: I can’t

Roulette: I’m. meeting someone

Hydrogen: oooooooo

Glacier: what the fuck? I knew something was up when somebody wanted to date Sam but YOU?

Roulette: NO EW STFU NEVER

Roulette: Just uhh

Roulette: Somebody I’m talking business with. He’s gonna pay me for something

Gunpowder: Oooo what’s the job?

Roulette: idk yet

Gunpowder: wow okay

Nightshade: Wait is this the same guy you’ve been meeting with the last couple patrols??

Roulette: no

Magma: Q you aren’t subtle

Roulette: Can someone PLEASE take south side I’ll legit cry

Magma: I’m taking the night off I’ve patrolled for three days straight bc Nightshade paid me

Nightshade: You said you needed the money to take someone out

Magma: Stfu

Hydrogen: Take someone out as in kill them or fuck them?

Magma: NEITHER??? NIKI????

Hydrogen: You won’t tell us ur NAME or even your BIRTHDAY and it’s been a YEAR and it’s tearing me apart bc I HAVE TO MAKE YOU A CAKE, MAGMA! I’M GOING TO ASSUME THINGS ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE IF I DON’T KNOW THEM!

Roulette: I’m begging you assholes to make a decision I’m gonna pass away

Gunpowder: Niki can you take southside?

Hydrogen: Oh no, sorry!! I’m doing west <3

Roulette: I’m going center city

Nightshade: You always go center city.

Roulette: Why do you know things about me

Glacier: I’m taking east already

Roulette: Wait who’s doing north?

Nightshade: Me, asshole

Hydrogen: Minx :[

Nightshade: Don’t make faces at me. I can sense you doing it. Stop that

Roulette: So nobody can do it

Glacier: Why don’t you get your little friend to do it

Roulette: Everyone shut up I don’t have a little friend

Magma: You have no friends

Gunpowder: L

Roulette: I HAVE FRIEnDS FUKC OFF OKKAY

Magma: Like who?? The guy following you around all night???

Hydrogen: Can we ask ant?

Gunpowder: Ant is doing a full circle of the outskirts so he’s busy with y’know. Drug smugglers and shit

Glacier: Skeppy?

Roulette: Fucking dropped off the face of the earth. I think his phone broke. Somebody’s gotta find him eventually

Magma: Who are we missing?

Nightshade: fuck. I know who we’re missing

Hydrogen: What??

Roulette: shit. Hold on a sec

Gunpowder: ??

Roulette @Vinyl

Vinyl: what the fuck

Hydrogen: Hi tommy! <3

Gunpowder: Hi tommy o/

Vinyl: My favorite people. pog

Nightshade: ew

Vinyl: ew

Roulette: Vinyl please please pretty please can you do south side tonight

Vinyl: Not tonight, I have to pretend to sleep

Roulette: what

Vinyl: context is un-needed

Roulette: context is very much needed

Vinyl: no

Vinyl: Well boys I’d love to chat but I have ice cream to finish and my brother seems to have snuck out so I’ll be gone now

Hydrogen: You have a brother??

Vinyl: Bye

Hydrogen: TOMMY????

Roulette: nobody ever gets through to tommy innit

Gunpowder: that’s probably not even his real name. smh

Roulette: okay fine we’ll do central AND Southside smh

Nightshade: We??

Roulette: *I’ll

Roulette: don’t do th typo thing. Please

Gunpowder: we

Glacier: we

Nightshade: we

Roulette: guys please

Hydrogen: we

Magma: we

Nuclear: we

Roulette: NUCLEAR WHO ADDED YOU?? WHY ARE YOU HERE??

Vinyl: we

Roulette: YOU.

Nightshade: go patrol with your booty call, asshole

Read at 9:20

---

Quackity huffed. “We may need to take a detour on patrol tonight.”

“Why?”

“Because everyone is forcing me to do the south part of the city as well as central.”

“It’s so surreal to me that you guys have a group chat. Do you gossip about heroes?”

Quackity recalled a conversation with Niki where she’d recounted that she saw Mask and 404 making out.

“Not really. Very professional.”

Quackity scanned the horizon and found a rooftop to jump to.

“Why can't one of the other vigilante's take care of the south part of the city?”

“Gunpowder and Magma are up to something, I think. They might be hooking up. I'm unsure. Anyway, Vinyl's not leaving his house, and Diamond’s dropped off the face of the earth,” Quackity explained quickly. He jumped a roof, feeling his power run through his muscles and help him jump further.

“Wow, okay. So there's drama.”

Quackity rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Become a vigilante and you can get in on it.”

“I feel like I’m on one of those websites that shows you half the article and then wants you to pay for the rest.”

“Oh my god those things are terrible. That is exactly how I want to make you feel.”

Quackity can hear Blue's bright laugh from the other end of the phone, and can feel it halfway across the city. It still makes sparks run through his chest.

He jumps another roof.

He could see the tower from here, now. An imposing, pearly white spire that stood out against the stark black sky. It glowed, just like everything else in this city.

“I see your house,” Quackity joked.

“House. Sure. Where are you?”

He chuckled. “I'm, um,” he peered down at the building he stood on. “Tall brick building. Looking at the front of the tower.”

“Oh- hold on, I think I see you.”

Quackity grinned softly at his phone as Blue ended the call and then pocketed the device.

He sat, like he usually did while waiting for the hero to catch up to him, on the edge of the building. The tower cast a tall shadow behind him, seeing as it was as bright as a lightbulb.

He wondered, for a moment, what it must have been like to grow up there. To be the one looking down at the glowing city, and not realize you’re the one lighting it up.

It must have been nice, Quackity thought.

Quackity's own childhood wasn't anywhere close to the usual tragic backstory everyone expected a vigilante to have. He still had two parents- two moms, actually- and they were away a lot, but at least they loved him. At least they still cared, which was more than he could say for a lot of people he knew.

It didn't stop him from becoming one of those kids that stole cigarettes from liquor stores.

He heard a huff behind him. Looking around, he saw Blue having just climbed up the back of the building, sprawled out on the concrete, trying to catch his breath.

“Why are you so bad at this,” Quackity asked immediately.

“Because only vigilante's have to jump roofs, and there's no ladder on this goddamn building,” Blue grumbled, pulling himself up. “I had to use a fucking rope.”

“Wh- like a grappling hook?”

“I knew you'd be on a rooftop. I knew it.” Blue dusted himself off.

“You look like shit,” Quackity chuckled. It was a lie.

“Aw, thanks,” Blue deadpanned.

He looked tired. Faint shadows hung under his eyes, contrasting with the warm brown in his iris. The hero turned his gaze to the tower Quackity had been previously staring at.

“Blue, be honest with me.”

“Always.”

“What was it like to grow up in a place like that?”

Blue blinked. “Well, it's certainly bigger on the outside, for one.”

Quackity snorted as Blue walked over and sat down next to him. “Really?”

“Yep. The whole top floor you see there? It's all solid wall.”

“Why?”

Blue shrugged. “To look imposing? Hell if I know.”

“Why do you know nothing about the building you were literally born in?”

“Most people don't know anything about the building they were born in. Why all the questions?”

“Today has been the most boring day of my life,” Quackity complained. “I spent all day eating ramen and watching Netflix. I need to hear about interesting things.”

Blue chuckled. “If it were me, I'd have been training.”

“You heroes and your training. Do you do anything but train and look pretty on camera?”

“Aww, you think I’m pretty?”

“On camera,” Quackity clarified, rolling his eyes. “And I can't blame you. Camera lenses are magic.”

“Right?Cameras make me look the way I look in my fantasies. It's incredible.” Blue tilted his head. “It might be all the makeup, though. Or that my nervous expression is really pretty.”

“Nervous expression? Why are you so nervous?”

“Why wouldn't I be? I mean- how much time do you spend weekly in front of a camera?” Quackity shook his head- he didn't. Blue made a little circle with his fingers as he continued. “I know it's just one little black camera lens, but behind it…” He threw his arms out wide to demonstrate his point. “The whole city's watching. I have to be a smiling role model 24/7 when I’m outside the tower- and sometimes, I don't even get that luxury.”

“I never thought of it like that,” Quackity mumbled. “I guess-“ he huffed. “I guess I thought all the heroes enjoyed the attention.”

“That's mean.”

“I know. I'm a mean person. You are too, though- you thought all the vigilantes were evil and violent and scary.”

“If I thought you were scary, I wouldn't have cursed you out the first time I met you.”

“Hm. Well, am I scary now?”

Blue squinted at him. He was half lit up and half swathed in shadow from the sun-like tower, and he seemed to be evaluating Quackity with scrutiny. Why is it so bright all the time?

“Yes. You terrify me.” He turned his gaze back to the tower with a strained sigh. “But for different reasons.”

“…Can I know the reasons?”

“No.”

Quackity stared at him for a long time.

Why are we just sitting here talking? He wondered. Because it's fun. Because he talks to me like I’m a normal person, and I do the same for him.

Is that all this is? Why am I so scared of losing it?

“You scare me too. For the same reasons, probably.”

Probably.

“Probably,” Blue repeated.

They stayed like that, gazing across the city from the edge of a rooftop, silent.

Quackity didn't have a lot of silent moments. He was always talking, always calculating. Even when no one spoke, his mind churned and spun as though he always had too much to think about.

Now, even his mind was quiet. He felt serene, even when Blue seemed… a bit sad.

He sighed and moved to stand up. “We'd better start moving, pretty boy. We have a long ways to go.”

“It's so weird that I can just put on different clothes and goggles and nobody can tell I’m Blue,” The hero mumbled as he slipped on a pair of goggles that obscured his eyes from the light. He stood up as well.

They started on patrolling the city.

He still didn't trust Blue. Maybe he was a little bit closer, but… he was scared of what he'd do if it didn't last.

It was nice for now, though.

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