#shout out jp for being everything to me but please sit down for a second

[bluewatersfairy]

my wip are calling me like i don't have 6 assignments to do in less than a week

[harringtonstudios]

bail. (part I)

plot: your weekend was supposed to be chill, now you’re running around early morning trying to figure out what exactly went wrong. part 2!

A/N: super long and different! i hope you like this anon! please lmk ur thoughts

taglist: @iamdorka @no-shxt-sherl @bakerkells @findingmyth​ @rosegoldrichie​ @mayaslifeinabox​ @itjustkindahappenedreally​ @hnbtx​

Getting a phone call at 3:42am when you were knocked out on a hotel bed in Portland was not how you expected your weekend to go. The worst part was when you groggily reached for your cell phone, only to see a random number pop up on your screen. Shrugging it off, you pulled your head under the thick blanket, closing your eyes. 

Two minutes later, the phone went off again and you snapped open your eyes. Grabbing your phone this time, you picked up the call, bringing it to you ear before murmuring, “Who the fuck-”

“Hey Y/N. It’s Colson,” the man said on the other side and you glared at the ceiling, immediately placing his voice. Of course, he would be calling you at almost four in the morning from some random number. 

“Why are you calling me?” you muttered, pulling your covers back over you. 

“So there’s a little situation see,” he started and you scowled, knowing that this was going to require you actually getting up. 

“Where’s Rook,” you questioned, trying to figure out if your little brother was caught up in this mess. If he wasn’t, you would let someone else handle it. You weren’t Colson’s babysitter, both of you were too fiery to be put in a room together anyways. Anytime you were together, there were always bitten-back insults, glares thrown across rooms, and dumb competitions to prove you were better than each other. 

“He’s here, he called, but you didn’t pick up. I got the phone after and you’re the only person we know here with us,” he rambled and you huffed, getting up off the bed.

“Where are you?” you asked, walking over to the bathroom, trying to see if you needed to pee before you left. 

“County jail,” Colson muttered on the other end and your eyes widened. Before you could say anything, he blurted out, “Look I know, I know. Can you just bring us bail? I’ll pay you back, but we can’t stay the night here.” 

Pulling on pants, you grabbed your coat and wallet as the line suddenly started to beep. “I’m coming,” you got out before the call cut off. 

-

The empty, cold streets of Portland were not inviting. There was nobody around, the kid sitting on the main desk in the lobby, typing away on his phone. You had walked out of the hotel into total darkness, so you went back in, sitting on the couches as you called a Lyft. 

Within five minutes, the car had pulled up. Getting in the backseat, you threw a smile to the driver, praying that he wouldn’t ask why you needed to go to jail. Your prayers didn’t work, a minute into the ride, the driver glanced in the mirror before saying, “So, county jail huh? What’s that story?”

You stared at the front seat. “My brother and his stupid friends got themselves locked up for the night,” you responded, keeping it simple. Chewing on the inside of your cheek, you stole a glimpse at the GPS setup on his dashboard. Just five more minutes. 

“You going to bail them out?” he pushed, smiling when you glared at him in the mirror. “Something like that,” you murmured and he got the message, turning on the radio as you stared out the window. 

The county jail came into view and you braced yourself for the mess you were going to walk into. “Thanks dude,” you blurted, before getting out of his car. 

“Hey, good luck,” he threw your way, rolling his window to wave. You smiled awkwardly before walking into the building. The lady at the front desk was filing her nails as the man behind her sat with his head down. There was a bench, two guys sitting there, slumped on top of each other. 

Grimacing, you walked up to the desk. 

“Hi, I’m here to bail out a couple of people,” you started, and the lady gave you a look, eyebrows raised as she put her nail file down. 

“Names?” she muttered, reaching down to sort through what looked like files. 

“JP Cappelletty, Colson Baker,” you spoke, faltering at the end. “Did anyone else come in with them?” you asked, biting your lip, hoping for a no. 

“Yeah, do you know his name?” she asked, slapping three files onto her desk. 

“Um Slim,” you bit out. 

“Government name?” she questioned, flipping open a chart. 

“I don’t know that,” you responded, hand nervously tapping on the desk. 

She looked up at you, glaring for a second, before shouting, “MIKE. BRING THE THREE GUYS UP FRONT.”

You flashed her a smile, reaching into your purse for your wallet. 

“I’ll need you to sign a couple of papers. It’ll be $302 per person. You want a receipt?” she stated, reaching for her machine. 

“A receipt would be great,” you responded, trying not to freak out about dropping over $900 on bail. 

“You’ll have to call up your credit card company, let them know you’re paying a large amount,” she finished, reaching for the card in your hand. 

“Yeah, okay. First thing in the morning,” you nodded, eyes clocking on the movement behind her. 

Colson was shuffling in front, head hanging. You could see Slim at the back, nose looking slightly busted. Rook was in the middle of them and although, you couldn’t really see him, you knew he was probably scuffed up. They all were in handcuffs, clanking as they moved to the front, near the gated door. 

“Lady! I said sign here,” the woman said, snapping at you. You looked down at the six different sheets. 

“Sorry,” you mumbled, taking a pen from her. Signing off on all the documents, you pushed them back her way. 

“Mike, they’re good to go,” the woman motioned, and you heard a buzz. Walking to the gated door, you stood back as it swung open. 

Colson got uncuffed first, rubbing at his wrists. Your eyes widened at his knuckles, swollen and purple. Stepping out, he came to stand behind you, murmuring a soft, “Thanks.” 

Rook was next, and you sighed, seeing his black eye. He looked up at you, eyes watering and you quickly pulled him in for a hug. 

“You okay?” you asked, patting his back. 

“Yeah, this is so fucked,” he muttered and you let out a little laugh as he sniffed. 

“You’re lucky I won’t tell dad about this,” you responded, pushing him slightly as Slim stepped out. 

“Y/N! You’re the best,” he boomed, as he leaned down for a hug. You gave him a quick one, head turning as you smelled the alcohol wafting off of him. 

“Thanks Mike,” you said, arms shoving the three of them towards the exit. They all stumbled outside and you waited until the door of the office closed before turning to face them. 

“What the FUCK. You’re all drunk, busted up, falling on top of each other, in fucking JAIL!” you shouted, arms waving around as they stood there. 

“What’d you shitheads do?” you barked at them, eyes focusing on Colson, who was avoiding your gaze. 

“Y/N, chillll,” Slim mumbled, swaying slightly. 

“Oh fuck no,” you scoffed. 

“I’ll tell you everything. Can we just get home?” Colson quietly muttered. He spared you a glance, eyes slightly red. 

You called another Lyft, sitting down on the front steps of the station. Rook sat next to you, head falling on your shoulder. 

“Don’t blame him Y/N,” he said, hand hitting your knee. 

“J,” you started, “You wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for him.” 

“That’s not true. We both know that,” Rook responded and you looked up at the sky, hoping you had enough patience to deal with this. 

-

Sitting in the passenger seat, you stared at the driver’s mirror, watching the boys in the back. Slim had slumped against the leather, eyes closed. Rook was half on top of him, mouth open as he drooled. Colson was the only one awake, biting his lip staring out the window. 

A part of you wanted to yell at him, scold him for getting your little brother tangled up with this lifestyle, being a bad influence. But another part of you wanted to give him a hug, stroke his hair off his forehead. And then there was a teeny, tiny part of you that wanted to kiss his stupid, chapped lips, play with his broken fingers, hold ice against his purpled knuckles. 

That part of you was new. You had always thought you hated Colson, despised him for messing up Rook’s life, and that’s why you two were always biting at each other. But then this weekend, he had hurled his usual insults and you’d seen something sparkle in his eye. And then you’d both gotten fucked up off of ecstasy and he whispered your name, and all of a sudden all you could think about was him on top of you, panting out your name over and over again. You’d run off to bed then, claiming that you were tired, but really you were overthinking every single interaction you’d had with Colson since knowing him. 

-

Pulling up to the hotel, you thanked the driver. Opening the back door, you helped the three idiots, trying to keep their limbs in check as they sleepily slumped out. Colson was the last one, slamming the door closed before throwing you a weak smile. Holding up Slim, he asked, “I’ll make sure he gets back to his room. You trust me enough for that?”

You nodded, wrapping Rook’s arm around your neck so you could lift him slightly. “Can we talk before you go to bed?” you pushed, knowing that if you put this off until tomorrow, the conversation wouldn’t happen. He wasn’t sober, but this was the closest you would get to hearing the entire story of tonight without all three of the guys changing around details. 

“Yeah, come over after Rookie’s in bed,” he murmured over his shoulder. You smiled at the use of Rook’s little nickname, and then caught yourself quickly, throwing a neutral face back on. Getting into the elevator, you suddenly felt exhausted, the night taking a toll on you. 

-

Stomach grumbling as soon as you pushed Rook into bed, you looked around the floor for any snack machines. Remembering the cereal box you had stolen from breakfast back in your room, you went upstairs. Reaching your door, you stood in front, rooting around in your purse for the key card. Coming up empty, you frowned, trying again to feel the cool piece of plastic. Nothing. 

Then, it hit you. You had left the key on the table next to your hotel bed, taking it out of your purse since this was supposed to be your last night here. “Fuck,” you muttered, rushing to the elevator door. Walking out into the lobby, you went to the front desk, only to see it empty. There was nobody around to talk to and you let out another curse as your phone buzzed.

Colson Baker: you can come over. room 536.

Deciding to go up first, you got back on the elevator, praying for an easy talk. Knocking on the door, you edged it open before walking in. Colson sat on his bed, leaning against the backboard. His long legs were stretched out in front of him and he’d kicked off his shoes, socked feet crossed at the end. He was holding a jar of peanut butter in one hand and a spoon in the other, and you pushed his feet aside as you plopped on the edge of his bed. 

“Pass the peanut butter?” you asked, gesturing to the jar in his hand. He snorted before leaning off the backboard to give it over. Taking the jar, you hesitated before reaching over to take his spoon too. Dipping it in, you scooped up a nice spoonful before eating it. 

“Mmhm, I’m starving,” you murmured between thick peanut butter. 

“Me too, give it back,” he said, arm reaching out as you moved back out of reach.

“Nope. Not until you explain this shitty situation,” you said, smiling sweetly as you took another spoonful. 

He sighed before leaning back fully, hand rubbing over his face. He had a little bit of stubble, highlighted by the dim yellow of the lamp. His knuckles looked worse here, deep purple and you reached out before you could help yourself. Bringing his hand up to your eyes, you ran a finger over the bruises. 

“Colson,” you sighed out and he shifted a little, sitting upright so that he was closer to you. 

“I know,” he started, and you looked up at him. 

“What happened,” you asked, letting his hand drop in between you both. 

“We were at a bar. I was fucked up already. Slim and Rook had smoked a little, but then they drank and got crossed. There was a group of girls and we danced around a little, but they didn’t want to do anything so we backed off. Then, these guys started getting all up on them and they weren’t listening, so I threw a punch. Things get kinda hazy after that,” he ended, eyes staring straight at you. 

You didn’t say anything, processing the information. Of fucking course they had started a bar fight. Biting your cheek, you asked, “And then you got arrested?”

“I guess. Next thing I know, I’m in fucking handcuffs and we’re getting pulled out of the bar. Rookie freaked out, tried to call you once we got there. And then they let me go, so I tried again and you picked up,” he mumbled, pressing down on his own knuckles. 

“Okay,” you breathed out, “I’m not going to yell at you.” 

He snorted at that, leaning back, putting both his arms above his head. 

“But the next time I get a fucking call from jail, I’m leaving you all to rot there,” you finished, putting the peanut butter jar on the bed, towards him. 

“Noted,” he nodded, closing his eyes. 

Taking in his appearance, you grimaced at the state of his hands. Picking up his key card from the nightstand, you got up. You left the room with an ice bucket before he could even realize, walking to the machine on the floor. Gathering a few ice cubes, you unlocked his door, walking back in. 

“Where’d you go,” he mustered out, sounding a little hoarse. 

“Ice,” you responded, before taking a few tissues from the desk. Making a makeshift ice pack, you sat back on the bed. 

Carefully reaching for his arms, you pulled one down. He extended his fingers, looking down at them himself. 

“Yeah, I guess I fucked myself over bad,” he said, moving his fingers slowly. 

“You’re an asshole who can’t stop himself,” you responded, gingerly laying the ice across his knuckles. He winced a little and you lifted it up. 

“Keep it there, feels good,” he mumbled, using his other hand to guide yours back to his bruises. 

Looking up, you made eye contact and the world softened its edges for a second. 

Kicking into a panic, you quickly moved back, pulling your hand out. He gripped on the tissue ice pack, confused. You let out a breath before getting up, walking over to the desk where the hotel phone sat. Finding the reception number, you picked up the phone, dialing in the numbers. Crossing your fingers, you were on the line for a second before the message started up,” We’re sorry. No one is available at this time.” 

“Fuck,” you muttered, slamming down the phone. 

“What,” Colson asked, and you looked over at the bed. His eyes were closed, the ice pack sitting on the nightstand, creating a little puddle. 

“I locked myself out of my room, no one’s downstairs,” you explained, reaching for your cell phone. His eyes opened at that, and you saw him looking as you called Rook. 

“Of course he isn’t picking up,” you muttered to yourself. It would be so easy to just fall asleep in your brother’s bed, living like you were kids again. 

“Rook’s dead to the world,” Colson mumbled out as he slowly got up. You saw him moving and you paused, mid-pace. 

“Just stay here. I’ll sleep on the floor or something,” he said, reaching up to stretch. His shirt rode up a little and you saw the triple X tattoo peeking out his waistband, tempting you.

“You can’t sleep on the floor, you just got beat up dude. Take the bed, I’ll sleep in the bathtub or something. Throw me a pillow,” you stated, shrugging off your jacket. 

He gave you a look before shaking his head. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Just stay on the bed,” he said, pulling one of the sheets off. 

“No. I wanna sleep in the bathtub,” you threw back, reaching for the sheet from him.

“You’re gonna fight me on this too?” he asked, letting go of the sheet as you stumbled a little. 

“It’s not that serious Colson. Go the fuck to sleep,” you spat out, turning around to the bathroom.  

Walking in, you paused a little as your socked feet hit the cold tiles. The bathtub wasn’t really big, covered in a layer of grime. Trying to figure out a way to clean it up, you searched around, eyes only finding the little complimentary bottles of shampoo. 

Stepping back out of the bathroom, you saw Colson already in the bed. The covers were pulled up to his head, blonde tuft sticking out. You knew he wasn’t asleep, hearing the sounds of his phone under the blanket.

 There were two options here: you could either lay on the dirty floor, covered in stickiness from everyone’s bar-laced Converses or you could get in bed with him. The right choice was evident, and you reminded yourself exactly why you couldn’t stand him before moving over to the other side of the bed. 

Placing the pillow you had taken back down on the bed, you laid the sheet down. You couldn’t really see Colson, he had taken over one side of the bed and you knew that he probably wasn’t sure that you were there. Nudging his shoulder, you lifted the covers from his head. 

He looked up at you once, then saw the pillow right next to him. Shifting so that he was fully facing you, he grinned before saying, “Sleeping with me tonight?” 

“God, could you be any more fucking annoying,” you muttered, sitting on the side of the bed. 

“I’m just stating the facts,” he said, hands rubbing over his bare chest. You glared at him, before getting up and grabbing his white shirt from the desk. 

Throwing it to him, you barked, “Put it back on.” 

He gave you an incredulous look, before shrugging it on. 

“Happy now? Thin cotton makes a great barrier,” he scoffed. 

You looked at him once before grinning, muttering, “Just peachy.”

Getting into bed, you brought your knees close up to your chest. This was a comfortable position for you, and you wrapped an arm around yourself before mumbling out, “Stay on your side or I’ll cut your balls off.” 

Not even waiting for a response, you let your eyes close. You had tired yourself out with this adventure, and within seconds you were sleeping. 

Waking up an hour later, you blinked your eyes at the harsh light coming through the opened curtains. You had a pounding headache, letting out a little groan as you shifted. Moving just a little, you felt something slump over your waist. Lifting the covers, you saw Colson’s hand, leaning against your hip, heat radiating off of it. Your heart stuttered a little, before you slightly moved it off of yourself. 

A minute later, you decided to get up for the day. You wanted to check with the receptionist to see if you could get back into your own hotel room. Pushing yourself up, you turned just a little to look at Colson’s sleeping form. 

His head was smashed into the pillow, hair flopping over his forehead. One of his hands was outstretched, reaching towards you while the other was wrapped around his own torso. He looked peaceful, eyes closed, mouth slightly open. Taking in the sight of a quiet, angelic Colson Baker, you smiled before getting off the bed. 

Walking over to the phone, you called the number again, twirling the cord as you looked through the window at the vacant parking lot.

“Portland’s Finest. How can we help you Mr.Baker?” a voice spoke, tinny through the phone. 

“Oh hi, I um- I’m Y/N. I locked myself out of my room,” you mumbled into the line. 

“Oh, sorry about that Ms. Y/N. Why don’t you come down here and we can figure this out,” the receptionist spoke and you responded quickly, hanging up the line. 

Grabbing your purse, you pulled on your shoes. Picking up your coat, you passed Colson sleeping as you stood at the door. Waiting for a second, you shuffled back to the bed, leaning down. Kissing his forehead quickly, you sighed before walking out the door. It was going to be a long day.

[hornsbeforehalos]

Waste Love: Part Five

Pairing: Colson Baker|Machine Gun Kelly x OFC Warnings: Alcohol and Drug Use, Language, Violence, Future Smut, Slow Burn, ANGST OUT THE ASS.

“Colson! I swear to fucking God you get on my fuckin’ nerves!” Tiffany screeched from the kitchen. The sound of her footsteps stomping down the hall brought a guilty smile to Colson’s face until suddenly the back of his head was stinging and a loud crack was heard through the room.

“Ah! What the fuck, bitch!?” He barked back with a hiss, jumping up and rubbing the spot of impact to sooth the sting, “The fuck is your problem?”

“Did you eat my last avocado?!” She questioned, gesturing to him with a rather large kitchen knife, “I swear to god I’m going to fucking stab you.” 

Slim snickered from his spot on the loveseat, his hand covering his mouth, “You done fucked up, boyyy.”

“Man I don’t even like avocado!” Colson argued as he backed away, his hands up in surrender, “It was fucking Rook, babe, I swear!” 

Seething, Tiffany spun around on her heels and headed back down the hallway to her brother’s room. “I’m going to fucking kill you, John!” 

Colson couldn’t help the snorting giggle that shot out of him as he busted out laughing. He and Slim followed behind her as she burst through JP’s bedroom door, the knife still clutched tightly in her hand.

“I can’t have anything in this fuckin’ house my own!” She bitched as she jerked the covers off of Rook’s sleeping form and lunged at him, the man instantly jumping up and defending himself.

“The fuck is wrong with you, you crazy bitch!?” Her brother shouted, holding Tiffany off of him with the knife dangerously close to his chest.

“You ate my avocado!” She repeated, grunting as the hand not holding the knife tangled in his hair with a sharp tug, “Piece of shit!” 

“Kels fucking ate it, bitch, get the fuck off me!” He yelled as he finally got his feet up to her stomach, kicking her off of him with so much force the she stumbled back into the wall. 

Colson had about a three second head start while she got her bearings to run for his life. 

“I’m going to fucking gut you!” She shrieked, picking up the fallen weapon and exiting the room. Slim attempted to stand in her way, but with just one look from the pissed off woman, he held his hands up in surrender and stepped away. He’d seen her fight the guys before, and it never worked out to their advantage. 

She flung the knife towards Colson’s head just as he’d ducked down on the other side of the sofa, the pointed tip of the blade whizzing past his shoulder and landing in the drywall behind him.

“You almost fucking stabbed me, you psycho!” Colson yelled, shocked but still laughing as he raised his head up, only to be tackled by the woman. He fell back onto the floor as she straddled him, her tiny hands wrapping around his neck and squeezing.

“That was my last avocado, you prick,” She snarled as she cut off his oxygen level. Colson obviously wasn’t going to let himself get choked out, especially by her, and he quickly wrapped his own hand around her throat, a smirk playing on his face as he licked his lips.

“You wanna play like that, huh?” He asked sadistically, effortlessly pushing her off of him before choke-slamming her into the tile beneath them. Her fingers released his throat immediately, but only to ball up into fists and fall onto the back of his head. She moved to knee him in the stomach, but her leg slipped as her vision started darkening. 

“Say your sorry.” Colson demanded, bright smile flashing at her as he watched her face turn red.

“Fuck you.” She hissed back, her nails still attempting to dig into his shoulders and push him off of her. 

“Later, princess. Now tell Daddy you’re sorry.” 

The smugness in his voice was enough to give her the strength to pull her knee up just so, the quick contact with his groin making Colson recoil away from her instantly with a pain filled groan.

“Awh, bitch, what the fuck,” Colson choked, rolling on to his side as he curled into the fetal position. She kicked him again in the back, huffing as she stood up. 

“That’s what you get when you eat my fuckin’ food!” 

“Gahhhhd damn, Tuff Ass Tiff strikes again, huh?” Andre asked as he entered the house through the garage, grocery bags loaded up his arms. He chuckled at the sight of Colson curled up on the ground, “What he do this time?”

“He ate my fuckin’ avacado! Please tell me you got more!” She begged, her breathing labored.

Andre’s laugh intensified as he entered the kitchen, setting the bags down on the counter before wiping his face with his hands, “Ohh, girl. You’re gonna kill that man one day.” 

She sat down on one of the bar stools near the counter and began going through the bags of assorted snacks, digging through everything until she found what she was looking for. She spun around to go looking for another knife, only to be met with the one she’d thrown at Colson being pointed at her by the man himself. 

Tiffany snatched it from his hand and turned back around to begin cutting up the fruit. Colson draped his arms around her shoulders lazily, bending down to kiss her cheek, “Feel better now, bitch?”

“Fuck you.” She retorted before popping a piece in her mouth, happiness and contentment spreading across her face. 

“Like I said, later.” Colson teased, stealing a large piece from the plate while leaning against the counter next to her with a wink. Tiffany jabbed the knife towards him again, her eyes narrowing at him with the threat as she continued to chew.

“Is the coast clear?” Rook questioned cautiously as he ducked his head into the kitchen, eyes scanning the room to make sure there were no flying objects, “I’m not gonna get stabbed for something I didn’t do, am I?”

“Can’t believe you fucking ratted on me, bro. She almost fucking killed me,” Colson exclaimed, eyes wide as he pointed towards the living room, “She put a fucking hole in the wall.” 

“You know better than to eat that girl’s food, Kels,” Andre replied, shaking his head in amusement, “I seen her put Slim in a chokehold over a Klondike bar.” 

“Facts,” Slim confirmed, shooting finger guns at Dre as he found his way in the room and sat on the other side of Colson, “I still say she fucked something up in my throat.”

“Yeah, well, I’mma be fuckin’ up her throat later if she don’t say she’s sorry.” Colson snarked, cocking an eyebrow at Tiffany, who flipped him off with a snort.

“Dude.” Rook barked, throwing his arms up in disgust, “Really?”

“Sorry, dog.” Colson chuckled as he looked back down to Tiff, scrunching his nose at her playfully as she rolled her eyes at him. 

“So who all supposed to be there tonight?” Rook asked, wanting to change the subject to avoid hearing anything perverted about his sister, “Is it gonna be lit?”

“Litty like a titty,” Colson replied, turning to look at him as he drummed his fingers against the counter, “I was about to go on the run for all the party favors, y'all wanna ride or just meet me there?”

“I’ll ride,” Slim and Rook said in unison. 

“I’ll meet you there later, babe. I still gotta take a shower and get ready.” Tiffany answered when Colson's questioning eyes met hers. He nodded his head and pushed himself from the counter, bending down to slip his fingers into her hair and kiss her. His tongue snaked into her mouth as the guys left the room, swirling with hers for a minute before he pulled away. 

“Wear something sexy for Daddy.” He winked before kissing her forehead, skipping away from her hand that popped out to smack his ass as he exited the room. 

Tiffany giggled before finishing her precious avocado and getting up to start getting ready. 

She took a shower and curled her hair, making sure every piece was in the perfect spot after applying her makeup. She made sure to do it up a little, her honey colored eyes shining bright with the smokey eyeshadow and long false lashes. She painted her favorite matte black lipstick across her lips, smiling at herself in the mirror. 

“God damn, Tiff,” Andre barked when she finally appeared from her room when she was finished, eyeing her outfit “You tryna make the nigga marry you or somethin’?”

“Shut the fuck up,” She snorted, taking the blunt he was holding out to her as she adjusted the high waisted leather skirt so she could sit down on the couch to slip her heels on. She hit the Dutch and let the smoke fill her lungs before standing back up, passing it back to him before pulling on the sleeve of the off the shoulder cropped Metallica shirt she was wearing. “I’m ready if you’re ready.” 

Colson’s house was already filled with people when they arrived, loud music pounding as they walked through the door. They found Colson in the living room with Rook and some others that she’d recognized, two girls sitting on either side of him with their arms wrapped around him. 

His eyes were only on her though as she approached him, giant beaming smile plastered on his face as he stood up, pulling himself out of the groupies’ embrace, “Fuckin’ finally. Holy shit, look how fuckin’ fine my bitch is.” 

Colson snatched her hand and pulled her to the other side of the coffee table, squeezing her ass tightly before dragging her into his lap as he sat back down. The girls who had been occupying the space with him scooted over barely, and Colson couldn’t stop himself from snapping at them, “Move, hoe, damn. The fuck?”

Huffing, they both got up and left, mumbling under their breath about how they didn’t see how She was so special. She cocked an eyebrow at Colson who just shrugged in response before attaching his lips to hers. They made out for a moment, ignoring the catcalls and wolf whistles from everyone around them. Tiffany pulled away first, smirking at him while wiping around her mouth, making sure her lipstick was still intact. 

“I'm thirsty.” She pouted, watching Colson lift a plastic cup to his lips for a drink. 

He chuckled at her baby voice, scrunching his nose before shifting her so he could reach between his legs, pulling out a bottle of Crown and another of Ciroc, “What would you like, my love?”

“Whiskey, please,” She smiled, clapping her hands before reaching for it. She cracked the bottle and brought it to her mouth, the amber liquid flowing down her throat with a comforting burn. 

“Mmm, that’s hot,” He mumbled, slipping the shoulder of her shirt down to graze his lips against her skin, “Do it again.” 

She snorted at him before raising the bottle, taking another drink from it before putting it down. 

“So fuckin’ sexy.” He praised, his fingers kneading into the flesh of her thighs while bucking up into her, “Can’t wait to fuck the shit out of you later.” 

“Dude! I’m right here,” Rook piped in, throwing an empty cup at the side of Colson’s head. The group all laughed, Tiffany and Colson both sticking their tongues out at the drummer. 

“You want summa that?” Colson asked, nodding his head to the coffee table, where a plate filled with white powder rested, “We got tabs and shit too somewhere.” 

“I’ll take a bump, but I don’t wanna go full scarface just yet. How many tabs have you taken?” She replied, reaching for the plate as Slim handed it to her.

“I took two about an hour ago.” Colson smiled, licking his lips as he watched her cut herself a small amount of cocaine from the pile. 

“That explains a lot,” She chuckled, handing him the plate so he could hold it for her while she brought the rolled hundred to one nostril. Closing the other with her finger, she took a deep inhale, the drug instantly shooting to the back of her throat. 

“Gah, that shits so fucking nasty.” She hissed, shaking her head as she exhaled. Rubbing the residue from the bottom of her nose, she took the plate from Colson so he could do a line, his way bigger than hers. 

He passed the plate back to Slim as JP tossed a joint to Tiffany, the woman humming in satisfaction as she brought it to her lips to light. Colson flicked the lighter for her and brought it to the tip, the cherry burning bright as she took a deep toke.

“Who got them X-O’s, Dubb?” Colson hollered, leaning back and cocking his head to see where his friend was. 

“They right here,” the man replied, handing the baggie filled with candy shaped pills to Colson as he walked up behind the couch. Tiff handed Dubb the blunt as she held her hand out for the bag, examining the contents to pick out which ones she wanted. 

“How many you gonna take?” Colson asked, wrapping his arms around her stomach to give her a squeeze, “I’m tryna get you fucked up.” 

Rolling her eyes, she pulled two pink pills out and popped them into her mouth, her face displaying disgust as she let them sizzle on her tongue, “Let’s see what these do and go from there, yeah?”

At some point in the night, once their highs had taken hold and had them feeling euphoric, the two ended up separated. Tiffany had changed into her bathing suit and was lounging by the pool, enjoying the fresh air and the feeling of the cool water dancing over her toes. She was smoking a blunt with her brother when a group of girls walked outside, their voices instantly hushing when they saw her. 

“Uh, hey, Kels is looking for you,” One of them said, an impish grin tugging on her lips, “He looks pretty fucked up.” 

“Yeah, well, so am I,” Tiffany returned, giggling as she passed the blunt back to Rook. 

“He’s a big boy, ladies. He can handle himself” Rook snickered, bringing the blunt to his lips. 

“I dunno, Rook,” another girl said, her lips twisting in uncertainty, “Someone should probably check on him.”

Sighing with annoyance, Rook rolled his head towards Tiffany as he stubbed out the roache. “You gonna go or you want me to?” 

“He was asking for her specifically.” The first girl interrupted, her eyes bouncing between faces before she looked back to Tiffany, “wanted to show you something or somethin’.”

“God damn it.” Tiffany complained, hanging her head back towards the sky as she grimaced, “Why does he do this shit to me.”

“I think it’s sweet.” The other girl squeaked out, covering her grin with her hand. 

Tiffany shrugged but stood up, adjusting her swimsuit bottoms before slipping on her flip flops and heading inside. 

She followed the sound of hollering and cheers into the kitchen, where she found Colson leaned over the island counter, snorting a giant line off the very naked girl who was currently laying on it. Another girl was behind him, her arms wrapped around him and her hand half way down his pants. 

When the line was successfully in his brain cavity, he twisted around with a goofy smile on his face as everyone yelled for him. His face brightened even more when he saw Tiffany standing there, eyebrow cocked and she laughed at him. “Havin’ fun there, Kels?”

The woman behind him with her hand below Colson’s belt threw a devious smirk in Tiffany’s direction, not even attempting to conceal what she was doing. Colson’s gaze trailed to where Tiffany’s eyes were locked into, the man finally registering what was happening. He shoved her away from him, hard, snarling at the little bitch, “The fuck is wrong with you?”

Tiffany chuckled as the girl took off after shooting daggers in her direction. Colson’s smile returned as his eyes raked over Tiffany’s frame. The tight little black bikini was a favorite of his and left very little to the imagination. He bit his lip as he approached her, his huge hands immediately finding purchase on her ass and giving it a squeeze. He pulled her into his bare chest, shoving his tongue into her mouth while one hand wrapped around her throat. She laughed into the kiss and wrapped her arms around him, stepping up onto her tiptoes to get closer. Another round of cat calls was heard behind them, and they broke apart to flip everybody off. 

“So is that one mine?” Tiffany asked innocently, gesturing with her hand to a line still resting on the naked woman in front of them, “I like cocaine and titties too.”

“God damn I love this bitch” Colson laughed, rutting his face into her hair as he handed her the straw. He watched in amazement as she snorted the four inch rail by herself.

She rolled her eyes at him as she sniffled the remnants up her nose, her fingernail poking him in the gut playfully. He winked at her before someone handed them both shots, the two downing them with their arms wrapped around each other. Colsons hands snaked down to her ass again as he lead her out of the kitchen, hoisting her up his body as they walked. She wrapped her thighs around his narrow waist as he carried her through the backyard. 

“Where are we going?” Tiffany asked, curious expression on her face as she met his eyes.

“I’m ‘bout to piss everyone off and fuck you in this hot tub.” Colson explained, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously at her before dropping her in the water.

Masterlist

Tags: @coffee-obsessed-writer @through-thesilver-lining@daryldixonandfrogs @buckyscrystalqueen @mgkobsessed@iamdorka @creatureofthen1ght-v3 @xxencagedxx@xxkellsvixen19xx @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk

[asterism-of-the-sun]

Title: Safflower Author: fenren (aka jp-omegaverse-hcs, via my asterism-of-the-sun sideblog for this verse) Rating: T Warnings: Some angst. Implied sexual content, death, messed up family dynamics, etc. Partially set in the middle of a war, so all that implies. Pairings: M/M (Alpha/Beta), mentions of Alpha/Omega & poly Word Count: 8,002 Summary: Affection is as pale as a bolt of cloth passed just once through safflower dye. Everyone expected Kihada’s alpha brother to someday leave him behind, but Kihada never once entertained the thought–until the day Sohi walked away from the righteous path to stand by a murderer and traitor to the country. Notes: I did not intend for this to get so long, but here we are. Written for Beta Day hosted by the omegaverse-council.

The setting is a fantasy land based off ancient Japan. The poem about safflower dye, based off one found in The Tale of Genji.

“Pay that new brother of yours no heed,” Kihada’s mother tells him as she holds his head still and runs a glossy black comb through his dark hair. The soothing press of fingers against his scalp do not calm his nerves as they usually would, each of his mother’s words igniting curiosity in his mind. He’d seen the four-year-old bounce around a nursemaid’s heels in the courtyard, very nearly pulling them both into the pond. He’d heard, in the halls, that the newest addition to the estate is not the child of a servant, but Kihada’s very own brother.

“Why didn’t I know about him?” Kihada asks, completely ignoring his mother. She sighs, but continues to comb his hair into a ponytail. Her cold, sweet scent of peaches and spring blossoms tickles his nose, but he holds back the need to sneeze, which would ruin all of her hard work. Times like these are rare, but special. He knows that his mother sets aside time just for him and he should perhaps not ask something that bothers her so much, but he needs to know. The servants just smiled when he asked earlier.

“You had no need to know about him,” his mother says. She finishes tying his hair up and turns him around to pluck at his fringe. “He will be living here from now on, but it is for your own good that you stay away. Understand? I only want what is best for you. You know that.”

“I know, Mother,” Kihada recites.

“Do you?” She stares him in the eyes and holds his shoulders firmly when he tries to look away.

His mother is a tall and beautiful omega. His father often says that there is no omega prettier than her, no mate he would rather have at his side. Unlike Kihada, she never cries when she is upset and never screams when she is angry. She just stares.

“I do, Mother, I do!” Kihada says, clasping his hands together. He does understand, really he does, but he cannot help but think about that boy. Sitting down again, he lets her finish fixing his hair. He understands, but he had also been excited when he heard that he has a brother. He had wanted to at least know his name.

“You don’t need to concern yourself with the child of a second mate,” his mother explains a few minutes later. Kihada glances up at her. It’s as if she can read his thoughts. He shrinks guiltily under her steady brown eyes. Her lips turn into a frown and she guides him to his feet, straightening his back and tilting his chin up like she has done so many times before. “Do not mope. Only by standing tall and proud, as confident as the mountain against the wind and rain, will you be able to grow into an alpha as strong and powerful as your father. Kiha. We could not be prouder to have you as a son. Remember that.”

“Yes, Mother,” Kihada says despite not understanding everything she said. Things are often like this between them. If he wants to find out that boy’s name, he will have to listen to the servants in the halls for a hint. That’s fine. The last thing he wants is to upset his mother.

Two weeks later, Kihada finally learns his brother’s name. It’s hard not to learn it with the servants shouting it as they chase the four-year-old through the gardens and even under the house. Kihada’s brush stops above the paper he was practicing on to stare at the dirty child crawling out from beneath the veranda, smiling like a fox as he starts to run again. The omega servants chasing him are trying very hard not to be too loud, but Kihada can hear them clearly.

“Sohi! Sohi! Please, come back here! You need to stop running! The garden is not your playground!”

“Don’t you want any sweets after this? You won’t get them if you keep being bad!”

Kihada turns back to his calligraphy practice for a few minutes, remembering his mother’s words. Maybe she was right. No, she was right. Of course. She always is.

If Kihada itches to join in the chase under the warm spring sun, it’s fine. Because, unlike his new brother, he knows better than to actually do it. It’s more important to practice and learn, even if the lessons are a little boring.

However, the noises in the garden do not stop even after the teacher yells at them.

“What useless servants! Can’t even discipline one kid. Honestly, don’t they even think about how they’re making others’ lives harder?” The teacher huffs under her breath as she shuts the doors and window. The entire room immediately falls under a shadow, making Kihada frown. How can he see to make sure he doesn’t drip ink all over the place now? Just as he puts the brush to paper again, he hears a rattling noise.

The door slams open, stopping with a clatter that startles Kihada. His hand moves with him, smearing ink across the entire page and the desk. Kihada’s eyes widen and he lifts his hand, but it’s too late. He turns around in time to see the teacher reach out to whack the kid–his brother–on the head, but he’s too fast and moves out of the way in time. As if the teacher isn’t even here, the kid dashes past him and runs right up to Kihada’s desk. He can’t help but look up at the kid. He’s tiny, covered in dirt, and if his clothes were nice this morning, now they look like commoners’ rags.

“What’re you doin’?” the boy asks.

Kihada frowns. He isn’t sure what the boy said, for a second. In the next, he blurts out, “Why do you talk funny?”

“Kihada!” his teacher gasps, rushing forward to pull the four-year-old away. He squirms out of her grip, trips on the straw mats, and crashes right into Kihada’s desk.

Kihada scrambles out of the way, wincing as the ink well is pushed off the desk and papers go flying. But he ignores it, crawling over as quickly as possible, leaning over his younger brother who hasn’t moved since falling face-first on the table. The teacher is screaming out the door. Kihada’s hands grip the back of his clothes at the collar.

“Are you okay?” he asks, shaking him a bit. “S-Sohi, right? Are you okay?”

Hearing his name, the boy shifts and rolls to the side, showing off a wide grin and a face smeared in ink. Kihada can’t help it–he sees the bit of blood coming from his nose–but he starts to laugh. Spots of ink dot his forehead and his cheeks have vertical lines on them from where he was trying to write the character for ‘river’.

“I-I’m sorry, it’s not funny,” Kihada tries to apologize, though he is still laughing and doesn’t sound it at all. The boy slowly straightens up, smiling up at him. It’s not a fox’s smile at all, Kihada thinks.

“I’m okay!” the boy, Sohi, says. He wobbles to his feet and beams, as if he has just scored the highest on a test only he even knows the questions to. “I’m really, really okay! Okay?”

He knows his mother said not to talk to his new brother, but in this case, it would be even worse to be rude to him. He has to answer, right?

“Okay,” Kihada smiles.

Looking back on it, it’s sort of obvious that Sohi would have ended up an alpha. Kihada was the only one who noticed the first signs that even Sohi waved off as an incoming cold.

“It’s karma like they all say,” he’d laughed a week ago, just after delving into a shivering fit followed by the itchy sort of hot that was infuriating. Even though Kihada was piling blankets on top of him, he was still laughing when he said, “I had it coming, right? After all those trips to the river or running in the rain or, what else, what else?”

“Or playing with well water, or thinking it’s a good idea to bury each other in the snow,” Kihada had snapped as he shoved Sohi back into the mass of blankets. It wasn’t a nest or anything, just a temporary mountain to keep him warm until the hot fits struck again and he kicked everything off. It really did seem like a fever. The servants all ran around fretting like he was going to die or something, trying to pull Kihada away as if he could catch it, too.

“Yes! Well, it’s gotta be karma, right? Otherwise you’d be sick, too!” Sohi wriggled around a bit, freeing an arm that shot out to grip the edge of Kihada’s sleeve and yank him off balance.

He scowled and pushed himself away, swatting at Sohi’s hand. “Only because you drag me into it! Now, behave and stop moving around! I don’t want to get sick and you shouldn’t want to get any sicker!”

He should have known that Sohi wasn’t actually sick. He’d even said it himself: “Sick people shouldn’t be running their mouths nonstop. Will you shut it and act like a normal person for once?”

In the years since their first meeting, Kihada had been very bad about listening to his mother’s warnings. He still shrinks away from her accusing eyes every time she hears about his antics and stops by to scold him into behaving–though it generally only lasts for a few days before Sohi drags them off to the next adventure.

Honestly, there really is no helping it. By the time Kihada forms a sound argument why they shouldn’t take a boat down the Sai River by themselves in the middle of the lantern festival, they’re already halfway there. And Sohi will end up doing it anyway, with or without Kihada. It was either let his half-brother drown or join him and hopefully make sure the boat didn’t capsize in the first place.

It did capsize, but that’s besides the point. He wouldn’t be his father’s son if he didn’t at least try to keep the damage to a minimum. His mother has always harped on and on about doing things the righteous, proper way even if it proves the more difficult path to embark upon. Theirs is a small family of nobility not even large enough to form a clan, but that is no reason to throw away their pride. His mother has always said that.

Which is why, when Kihada walked up to her the other day and told her that he suspects Sohi is an alpha, she actually picked the inkwell off her desk and threw it at the far wall. He heard it land in the garden with a thud, along with the shouts of alarm from the servants in the hall.

Kihada has been avoiding her. Everyone who can possibly avoid contact with her has been doing so with a scary amount of persistence and dedication. Still, half of the household can hear her ranting in her room at any given hour of the day. The servants even shuffled Sohi and his belongings to the very far side of the house to avoid any mishaps.

It does bother him a bit that his younger brother is presenting before him and it’s the reason why he hasn’t gone to visit him at all after that day. Though, Kihada is annoyed for a different reason than his mother, who seems under the impression that he is ‘doomed to be an omega’ now that he is going to end up presenting after Sohi. He doesn’t really understand what her issue is, being an omega herself. “Would that really so bad?” he’d asked under his breath. She hadn’t heard him, which he is thankful for. The last thing he needs is another scolding.

Still, three days into Sohi’s first rut and Kihada figures that he should at least make an appearance. The guilt has been clawing at his stomach for the same amount of time, and this is the first day that his mother hasn’t talked his ear off all morning.

The room where they secluded Sohi is part of a separate building on the far side of the estate. It smells heavily of the dark, aromatic mix of agarwood and star anise. It stings his nose as he slides the door open, which releases an even thicker concentration of the incense into the air. Kihada chokes as he enters the room, his eyes watering a bit as he seeks out the lump in the middle of the room that is his brother.

“How are you feeling?” Kihada asks.

“Go away,” Sohi snaps. It’s not a half-feral snarl, which is a good thing, but the aggressive tone makes Kihada pause. Sohi glares at him from the mound of blankets which he can still smell faintly through the incense.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kihada says, taking a seat next to the futon. Sohi’s lip curls into a silent snarl, but he doesn’t protest any further. “How does it feel?”

“Like I’m dying.” Sohi gives a half-shrug. “Your mom must be pissed.”

“Don’t remind me.” Kihada frowns when Sohi isn’t looking. He’s never this grumpy. Kihada can’t remember a time in which Sohi was ever angry, disgruntled, or even irritated before. Not to the point of being hostile like this. “You’re lucky.”

Sohi glares at him, though it’s more out of surprise than anything. So, there still is something left of him in the haze of his rut.

“How? I feel like I’m burning to death and–and if we weren’t brothers, I swear, I’d probably jump you. You’re the lucky one.”

It’s Kihada’s turn to be surprised. He wonders if this isn’t just one of Sohi’s dramatic examples at work, just a lot less playful than usual.

“What dynamic do you think I’ll present as?” Kihada asks out of the blue. The answer is a bit obvious, but he asks anyway. Alphas tend to present early. If he hasn’t presented as one yet, he probably won’t in the future. Betas can go either way. And omegas usually present much later, at fifteen or sixteen. He’s either a beta or an omega.

Sohi doesn’t answer him. He thinks that maybe he is ignoring him, as Sohi is known to do when he doesn’t want to think about something, or that he really doesn’t know.

“Beta,” Sohi says, certainty clearly displayed on his face and in his voice. Kihada blinks once.

“Then I’ll have your back. I’ll always have your back,” Kihada says, and he isn’t being sarcastic or wry. He doesn’t know why he trusts what Sohi says when he’s been wrong about so many things before, but somehow, he doesn’t doubt his prediction. “But don’t think that means you can leave me to clean up all your messes! I’m not your maid! If you’re going to be the head of this family, you can’t just run off having fun and letting others take the blame. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve had to cover for you?”

In the midst of his ranting, Sohi began to laugh.

“I never asked you to!”

“If I don’t bail you out, who will!?”

When Kihada presented as a beta a year later, people began to whisper loud enough for him to hear, “It’s a pity. Kihada had a lot of promise. Way more than that delinquent brother of his.”

“Well, it’s not like he’s walking with one foot in the grave, you know.”

“But you do have to wonder what’ll become of the Saikawa family now.”

“I heard that Sohi is going to get kicked out soon! If he causes just one more incident…This is Kikuenji! You can’t just fool around here.”

“Aren’t they already doomed? Even if it’s against tradition, maybe it’s best to let the older brother take the reins…”

Kihada hated listening to their drivel.

“Do you have something to say?” Kihada said angrily when he rounded the corner to face the students gossiping about them. Gossip is common in the halls and no one usually says anything or even takes it seriously, but Kihada can’t help it. “Why don’t you say it to our faces if you have an issue with us? Or are you cowards who just run their mouths without having the guts to back it up? What sort of divine incarnations are you? Can you really protect the country with such half-assed attitudes?”

The others stuttered and wore appeasing smiles, saying things like, “No, of course not! We were just–”

“Well!?” Kihada said, not quite a snarl. He knew better than to do that. The others scattered, each muttering half-hearted apologies.

“You really should have been an alpha,” Sohi joked from around the corner. Kihada rolled his eyes and stomped up to him, jabbing angrily at his chest.

“And you! Stop getting into trouble! Did you really think it was okay to sleep on the roof instead of going to class? Again? Or tricking a teacher into eating chicken? This is a temple! You’re lucky you’re a divine incarnation, otherwise the heavens would strike you dead!”

Sohi only smiled, like he did every single time he got into trouble since he was at least four-years-old.

Kihada didn’t mention anything about covering for him or the fact that Sohi had been doing things that Kihada couldn’t possibly make excuses for. No amount of glaring at his brother did anything except elicit another silly smile.

“Hard-headed, stubborn alphas, all of you!” Kihada fumed. “Do you have no sense of responsibility?”

Sohi laughed. Responsibility. It’s a funny word to him, for some reason.

It’s the last archery competition of the year and Kihada knows that it’s going to go very, very wrong the second Sohi volunteers to participate. Kihada was going to pass on the event altogether, but the second he saw his brother walk up to sign his name on that damn roll of paper, he knew that he couldn’t possibly sit on the sidelines and watch this painful turn of events unfold. So, he signed his name, too. ‘Sohi of Saikawa’ and right underneath it, ‘Kihada of Saikawa’.

“I’m going to beat you,” he grumbled to Sohi right before the competition started.

“Are you still angry at those omegas who said you couldn’t beat me even though I don’t ever practice at all?”

“No!”

He is, admittedly, still annoyed. He doesn’t chase after the omegas’ tails like the alphas do, including Sohi, yet he can’t even hold a conversation without one of them comparing him to his delinquent brother.

The competition goes as well as any competition between young boys and girls can ever go. Someone’s arrow flies into the crowd at some point and a string snaps in someone’s face, sending them to a healer while the rest of the participants take turns slinging insults at one each other and suggesting that they postpone the competition because it’s about to rain.

The instructors scold–more like threaten them with extra chores and writing lines–and eventually, the last three competitors are shooting under a steady veil of fine, misty rain.

Sohi opens his mouth, but shuts it when one of the instructors threatens to disqualify anyone who speaks for the rest of the round. It’s Sohi, Kihada, and an alpha from Kihada’s year, a boy called Tokiwa.

Kihada is so preoccupied trying to hit more targets than his brother that he never notices how steady Tokiwa’s aim is, nor how he hits the target dead-center every time, until they announce the results. Sohi shrugs and claps a hand over Kihada’s shoulder, congratulating him at the same time he calls out for Tokiwa to join them. Kihada is still silent and consumed with berating himself for focusing only on his brother. He looks up briefly to see Tokiwa smile shakily and run off a second later after giving a hasty bow.

“Is it a natural talent or a curse that has you scare off every damn person you meet?” Kihada mumbles as he shakes off Sohi’s hand.

“Hasn’t worked with you yet!”

“Because we’re family!”

There is an old poem from the pages of a story so popular that even the servants know several retellings of it.

It laments of a love so tenuous that it is like a bolt of cloth run through safflower dye just one time.

Once, his mother recited it to him and warned him that people’s affections often run no deeper that. It is ‘but a pale imitation of the sun’. And, once she found out that he had presented as a beta, she again warned him of this poem.

“Mother, his love for me as a brother is real. What are you going on about now?” he’d asked, angry, but restraining himself and the pain that twisted in his chest.

“It may in fact be real, but that does not mean it will not fade. For just once in your life, please listen to your mother.”

“If this is because he’s an alpha–” Everyone knows how his father’s relationship with her had become strained in recent years. The number of half-siblings he has–four in addition to Sohi–probably have something to do with it.

“It does not matter whether he is an alpha, beta, or omega,” his mother argued, eyes narrowed dangerously. “You have seen him disrespect your father, even though he never treated that boy any different than he does you. You have seen him wreak havoc across this estate and even in school, which is a privilege in and of itself to attend. And I’ve seen him lead you around by the nose ever since you were children, making you do things you would never have done otherwise just because he was there. I simply do not want you to get hurt by him one day. Why don’t you understand that?”

“I do, Mother, I do,” Kihada promised.

He lied. He really didn’t understand.

At least, not at that moment.

Kihada stumbles into a certain room on an estate blanketed in snow already ankle-deep. The chilling winds are nothing like the warm, sweet breezes of his childhood home. It’s been years since he last walked the paths winding through the fields on either side of the Sai River. Nowadays, it’s the cold and distant mountains of the north that he sees from the window every morning. The mountains are beautiful in their own ways, but to Kihada, the winters are nothing but cold and cruel.

“Kihada,” says a voice from the alpha sitting in the room. It’s a searching voice, but Kihada doesn’t have the energy to protest it. He closes the door behind him and drags his feet inside to collapse at the table across from his friend and former classmate. “Kihada.”

“Are omegas really that alluring?” Kihada asks tiredly, leaning heavily on the table. The world feels thick and warm, a little hazy at the edges.

“What?” Bewilderment. It lights a fire anew in Kihada’s heart, but he snuffs it out quickly. Who has the time to deal with such fickle things when they’re in the middle of a war? Still, he can’t help but continue, clenching his fists, staring into the lanterns glowing gold in the corners of the room.

“Can alphas really not help themselves against their charms?”

“What? No. Not at all. And I do not like what you are insinuating.” There is no growl, but the displeasure in the other’s voice is loud and clear. It’s almost venomous. “Kihada.”

“Tokiwa.” Kihada sounds petulant. He can’t bring himself to care. He doesn’t even look the alpha in the eye, afraid that he will see the same uncaring look in his eyes as he did when he watched his brother walk away from him. From them. From the country he’d sworn his sword to, from the life that had been granted to him.

Tokiwa stands up and moves around the table, positioning himself at Kihada’s side.

“What happened?” he asks patiently. “It isn’t like you to listen to gossip. In fact, I really thought you were going to bite our heads off that one time.”

Despite himself, Kihada laughs, even if it sounds like a dead and bitter thing. He remembers. He hadn’t realized that Tokiwa was among the group he heard gossiping about the ‘downfall of the Saikawa family’ that night long ago. Not until his brother brought it up when he learned that Kihada had kissed him on impulse one night when everyone in their section went out for drinks.

“You were right about that, though.”

“About what?”

“That my brother would bring our family to ruin.”

Tokiwa falls silent.

“Was it not enough? Was it not enough that he was born an alpha and was going to inherit everything despite being the son of my father’s second mate? Despite never taking life seriously, we ended up with the same status in the same army, serving the same general. My father never even pressured him to find a mate. I promised that I’d stand by him no matter what. And what does he do? He goes off chasing an omega’s tail, a murderer who wants to destroy this country! My mother was right. He’s an ungrateful, disloyal wretch. How can he even be a divine incarnation?”

Upon finishing, Kihada is out of breath. His chest is tight and everything burns with pain. No matter how many times he asked ‘why’, he never received a response. His brother had just walked away, telling him that ‘this is the way it has to be’.

A soft touch from calloused fingers draws his attention back to the waking world. Tokiwa is short for an alpha, but his grip is strong. Even after training with every weapon standard for a soldier of this country to wield, Tokiwa has always gone back to the bow. Unable to accept that he could never beat him in a competition, Kihada had chosen to focus on other aspects of onmyou. Because of it, he isn’t as physically strong as Tokiwa, but he doesn’t really need it with an arsenal of spirit familiars at his disposal.

“You don’t mean any of that,” Tokiwa says.

“I do,” Kihada argues weakly. He shakes his head. “Just…forget it. Why am I telling you this? I don’t want to talk about–think about–him anymore.”

“You’ll have to eventually. He’s your brother, after all.”

“Half-brother.”

Kihada breathes an angry, shaky sigh. He feels a bit nauseous, but that’s probably from drinking so much on an empty stomach. The lanterns in the room hold a steady flame despite the winds howling outside. He stares at them to steady himself, wondering exactly how he expected Tokiwa to help. Or understand. Tokiwa is an alpha, and his parents’ only child. His family can hardly be called nobility, even though they officially have that rank.

It must be nice.

Kihada finally takes a breath deep enough to allow him the courage to face him. Tokiwa is gazing at him with steady eyes two shades lighter than anyone Kihada knows from the east. “Mixed blood,” Tokiwa said the first time he’d caught Kihada staring. “Don’t worry, I can’t suck out your soul.”

His brother had made some quip about that being a shame because if it was true, Kihada could call upon him any time like one of his familiars. He had whacked him over the head for that while Tokiwa excused himself to go hide his embarrassment.

“I don’t want to think about him anymore,” Kihada announces again, firmer this time. He really means it. Between the searing pain and burning anger, he can’t take it anymore. After a beat, he turns to Tokiwa and reaches up to grab the sides of his head, dragging him into a harsh, sloppy kiss that knocks their noses against each other painfully. Tokiwa jerks and grabs his wrists, but Kihada doesn’t want to stop just because of a sore nose.

“Stop,” Tokiwa says when they separate for a breath of air. He forces Kihada’s hands down and backs off with a stern gaze. Come to think of it, Kihada has never heard him growl before. Not even a small one. He’s certainly displeased enough to warn him off with one now, but he sounds as if the thought never even crossed his mind.

“Let go.” Kihada wrestles control away from him. Tokiwa releases him, but refuses to be pulled into another kiss. “Tokiwa.”

“Not if you’re going to be like this,” Tokiwa says, narrowing his eyes. Those light, nearly golden, eyes. They look darker in this room, but under the sun, they remind him of that color his mother warned him about so many times. If they are a few shades darker, doesn’t that just mean he won’t leave as quickly?

Kihada gets up. He doesn’t want to be here if that’s all it means.

“Kihada,” Tokiwa calls out.

They make up over sex one night a few weeks later. It started because the northern lands are trapped in the coldest days of the year and neither of them are particularly fond of the snow, ice, and frost that invades this part of the country every year. It continued because Kihada has missed the warmth of Tokiwa’s arms wrapped loosely around him, and because Tokiwa would rather spend the night with him than being teased for being a ‘soul-stealing ghoul’ by the others.

“Were we fighting in the first place?” Tokiwa asks when he brings it up with a laugh. Kihada pauses. Tokiwa is astute in some things–he has never failed to notice anything as tiny as a crooked belt or slightly dulled blade–but not in others. Or, maybe it was all in Kihada’s head. Misora, his actual second-in-command whose summons give everyone a massive headache, did mention something like that a few days ago when she urged him to just go talk to Tokiwa instead of moping and taking it out on the newbies.

“I made some unfair accusations,” Kihada sighs, shifting out of his embrace to sit upright. He winces, a little stiff and sore, but otherwise lethargic and happy despite the topic of the conversation. Tokiwa follows him, frowning slightly. “I would’ve been pissed if I were you.”

“If I were you, I would’ve probably already smacked me in the head for saying it.” Tokiwa pauses. “I’m not angry. I never was.”

Without any clothes on, Kihada can see the lines marking his shoulder and upper left arm where arrows had dug into his flesh during one battle or another. Kihada, annoyingly enough, only has a ragged scar on his thigh from where he and his brother nearly drowned in the river when they were twelve. All of his current work is from the backlines. In other words, if the enemy ever gets far enough to injure him, then Yamatai will be in its twilight days.

“What’re you thinking about?” Tokiwa asks as he leans forward with a small searching smile on his face. Kihada doesn’t really remember how this thing between them started, only that he’d really liked that smile for the few times he had a chance to speak to him face-to-face before he darted off again.

Tokiwa has stopped doing that. Kihada can’t help but smile at the thought.

“What is it? Come on. Don’t tease me.” This time, it’s Tokiwa who half-crawls into his arms. Invading his space, at least. Kihada doesn’t mind, especially since the cold is creeping up on them again.

“Nothing,” Kihada says.

“Liar.”

Kihada pauses. If his mother knew that his brother not only betrayed their country but Kihada also has an alpha for a lover, she’d never recover from the shock. Sure, she’d be happy that he would inherit the family by default. But for him to be involved with an alpha…In a grim sort of way, it’s good that she might never have to know. No one knows where a war like this will take them, after all.

“If we get out of this alive, I want to introduce you to my family,” Kihada says, wrapping his arms over Tokiwa’s shoulders and resting his head against him. He inhales his warm, slightly earthy scent, like pines mingled with the creamy scent of sandalwood. Not for the first time in his life, he wonders what he would smell like to an omega, or another alpha. Would it be the same? Omegas go on and on about intoxicating alpha scents, describing them as a type of madness.

Because he used the same words one would say in regards to bringing a new mate home, Tokiwa laughs warmly, eyes probably alight with mirth. Kihada stares down his back at the pale scar that skids up his shoulder from the pointed bone back there.

“Would that be alright? Won’t it give them a shock?” Tokiwa says, voice trembling a little as he tries to recover from his laughter.

“Look,” Kihada says, pulling away so he can see the last of the laughter fade from his eyes. “They should be used to it. Bringing home an alpha lover isn’t nearly as bad as half the stuff I did as a kid. Did I tell you about the time we tried to bury a deer in the garden? Or when we tried to ‘save’ the fish we were supposed to have for dinner by tossing them in the well…”

He doesn’t know what to think anymore.

What is real, or not real.

What is right, or wrong.

The reason for this war, for his younger sister disappearing after going ‘mad’ all those years ago.

The only thing he is really, truly sure of is the man standing at his side, his hand brushing against Kihada’s knuckles. And his warm scent drifting over as a damp summer breeze swims across the land.

“You don’t have to forgive me, but I want you to know that I’m sorry,” says his brother, who has limped all the way here just to speak to him. Kihada bristles, not calming down even after Tokiwa grasps his clenched fist. “I didn’t want to fight you. But I had to.”

“Did you–did you really, truly think you were saving me? You, my younger brother? And from what? Huh? Tell me, what were you saving me from by abandoning us!?”

Kihada is screaming. He’s losing it entirely. He knows this. But he doesn’t care that his voice carries, that Tokiwa is trying to soothe him with familiar croons. No. Kihada is a beta. He might like those croons, finding them endearing and enjoying the vibrations as he leans his head against Tokiwa’s chest, but he won’t be manipulated by them. No. He doesn’t move away, but he doesn’t stop, either. His brother is lucky that he isn’t sending his inugami over to take another bite out of him. He deserves it.

It’s evident by the way he doesn’t respond to Kihada no matter how much of the truth he slings at him.

“I knew you wouldn’t let someone who backed a murderer go, even if it was your own brother. I used that. I’m sorry.” It’s all that his brother can say ever since the truth came out. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ It sounds wrong. This alpha standing across from him doesn’t resemble his brother in the slightest. Sohi never sounded sincere when apologizing for anything. Never.

“I won’t forgive you, no matter how many times you say it,” Kihada spits. “If you dare show your face around the estate again, I’ll kick you out with a, ‘come the day before yesterday’ no matter what you say. Got it?”

“Kihada…” Tokiwa says hesitantly. It isn’t his place to speak and he knows it. Kihada ignores him.

His brother nods, though, no longer smiling even a painfully transparent smile.

“Have a safe trip home,” he says, mostly addressing Tokiwa. So, he really will be staying here. Kihada frowns. The Sakurazawa omega that he originally thought his brother had betrayed the country for already had a mate and was apparently returning to the Tensou Asterism after all is said and done with the legalities of it. But his brother is implying that he will remain here, in the east, where he has never visited before this leg of the war.

He shouldn’t be bothered by the knowledge, but it doesn’t leave his mind as he walks away.

“Kihada,” Tokiwa says in a low voice. It’s not quite a whisper.

“This is fine,” Kihada says. “I’m the next head of the family, right? I can’t think just for myself anymore. Taking him back in…personal reasons aside, he’s already proved once that he’ll betray us if he thinks it’s ‘for our own good’. We don’t need that sort of person on our side. It’s better he stays here, where that sort of thing is apparently normal.”

He spits the last word like it’s a curse.

“He’s your younger brother,” Tokiwa says. Then, “He may have turned his back you. He might not have trusted you. But he does still love you. I know you see that.”

Kihada flinches. Tokiwa misses a lot of things, but when it comes to tiny details, there is no one more observant than him.

“I also know you don’t want to see it,” Tokiwa says, wrapping  an arm around his waist and pulling him closer. It makes it difficult to walk, but it’s fine. Kihada has missed his warmth in the weeks they were apart. “You don’t have to forgive him.”

“Then what, exactly, are you implying?” Kihada says, harsher than intended.

“Let him make it up to you, if that’s really what he wants.” Tokiwa doesn’t have siblings, so he’s only thinking in hypotheticals. Still, Kihada wants to listen to him. To have his steady advice to lean on–only, this time, he really doesn’t know if he’s only falling into another pitfall.

“I’ll think about it,” Kihada says at last.

Affection is fleeting, like morning dew on blades of grass, like a flower that blossoms once every thousand years. Like the resonating chime of the massive bell in Renkouji, the one that was nearly scrapped for metal during the war.

“But, if the dew never faded and the flowers were always blossoming and falling, or the bell never stopped ringing, they’d all stop being beautiful. Instead, they would all be considered annoying by everyone.”

“You’re the first person I’ve ever heard put it that way.”

The flowers in the garden withered while everyone was away. The estate is just starting to recover its life thanks to his younger siblings returning to help patch it up, each bringing their own mates or lovers, or even children. There isn’t much to play with anymore, but like all children, they don’t seem to particularly care.

“Do you want any?”

“Yes. No. Not right now. We don’t really have the time.”

“You should join them every now and again. They’d like to hear your stories.”

“Yeah, and their parents would very much like to kill me if I dare put any ideas into their heads. My stories are only good to tell a mature audience who won’t go off padding a damn boat down the river, in the dark, on one of the the busiest nights of the year.”

He sees his nieces chasing after his inugami, which for all intents and purposes is their babysitter for now. He wouldn’t trust anyone else, really. The dog can’t change diapers or feed them, but she’s great at everything else.

“Do you want any?”

“Hm? One day.”

Oh, his mother had indeed rained holy hell upon them when she found out that Tokiwa wasn’t just one of his war buddies there to visit for a few weeks. She hadn’t said anything to Tokiwa’s face, but she had pulled Kihada aside and given her usual lecture about the dangers of trusting people–alphas in particular, he has figured out by now.

“Did I not tell you that that boy would bring you nothing but grief?” she’d said, switching from ranting about ‘no grandchildren’ one minute to his conspicuously absent younger brother the next. “When will you listen to me? When this family has been razed to the ground? That…Tokiwa seems to be a polite young man. I am quite sure his parents have an omega already picked out and waiting to be his mate. Just because misfortune plagues our family does not mean you should go ruining others.”

Well, that was certainly a new argument for her.

But, well, she also didn’t know the reason Tokiwa doesn’t have any prospects waiting for him at home. Kihada had wanted to avoid telling her if she didn’t notice the oddly light color of Tokiwa’s eyes when they met face-to-face.

Currently, that is the reason she refuses to emerge from her room except for meals.

“Have you thought about what I said?”

Kihada panics.

“…Yes?”

A few weeks ago, he had formally asked Tokiwa to be his mate. Or to be Tokiwa’s mate. Whichever way it went. Tokiwa had given him that rare smile of his–the scary one that looks perfectly content and lovely, except it never reaches his eyes and is always followed by a ‘suggestion’ that Kihada would be hard-pressed to disregard.

Tokiwa had accepted, slightly amused, then given him that look.

“Before we make it official, I want you to talk to your brother. You don’t have to forgive him or make up or anything. I just want you two to talk. I already wrote him a letter. He agreed.” Just to make sure that Kihada wouldn’t be able to back out of this, he waved an opened letter in front of his face.

“You’re unexpectedly mean,” Kihada said after a beat. “I’ll think about it.”

And now, he brings it up again…

“Fine,” Kihada says at last.

Tokiwa gives him a warm smile. He hates how his chest warm with affection and turns away. He makes it a point not to stare him in the eyes, especially since the bright sunny day makes them almost golden in color.

It was bound to end in an argument. A screaming match. Kihada was a quiet child, but only up until he met his younger brother. After that, he tended to lose it way too quickly and often with explosive consequences. ‘An alpha in temper,’ he was called. It baffled people how he could be a beta with that temper, but for Kihada, it was never ‘strange’ or ‘peculiar’. He didn’t intend on changing just to suit their expectations, either.

That is why the last way he expected this meeting to end is in tears.

They are his, mainly, because he still can’t accept that his brother thought he couldn’t handle keeping a secret or wouldn’t believe him when he claimed that the Yellow Emperor was a fake and imposter. That his brother thought he needed to be protected, when all these years, it was Kihada who had done the protecting.

“This wasn’t a matter of getting whacked over the knuckles or made to do laps or write lines,” Sohi had said, sounding more desperate than Kihada had ever heard him sound. “If you lied for me and got caught, it would’ve meant imprisonment. Even execution. You covered for me all my life, was I supposed to think you would suddenly stop because I told you to?”

It’s the truth, even though Kihada had wanted to argue against it. In the first place, Sohi had never asked Kihada to cover for him.

“Still,” Kihada said, weakly. “Still.”

He doesn’t know exactly how he ended up like this–crying in a corner, feeling more frustrated than upset, while Sohi is sitting still and quiet for once at the table. Tears are falling from his eyes, too, but he isn’t saying anything.

“You…Tokiwa said that he would agree to mate with you as long as we tried to talk it over, right?” Sohi says after a slight sniffle.

Kihada should say, ‘Yes, so let’s leave it at this. I’ll show you out.’

But, then again, there are a lot of things Kihada should have done throughout his life. A lot of rules he broke and a lot of things he never noticed enough to say, or could set aside his pride to utter.

Tokiwa’s smile that day wasn’t just one of satisfaction.

“You alphas really are stubborn, and stupidly annoying,” Kihada says, wiping away the tears. “Can’t you guys leave well enough alone?”

Sohi shrugs. It’s his half-shrug, the one he hasn’t seen in years.

“I. I guess not,” he says, lips twitching upwards. And Kihada had thought the day would never come when he saw Sohi struggle to smile. As his younger brother stands up, Kihada walks over and takes a deep breath.

He holds his arms open and huffs when Sohi jumps at him, rather than walk up like a normal person. It seems his leg healed up just fine, too. Though Kihada hadn’t noticed whether he still walks with a limp.

“I, uh,” Sohi mumbles as they let go of each other.

Kihada frowns. He sort of wants to laugh at the startled, wary expression on Sohi’s face. “Are you sure you’re Sohi? My younger brother? I never thought I’d see the day you, of all people, were speechless.”

Sohi smiles. It’s a bit more relaxed.

“Well. We’re not kids anymore.” The way he says this, however, doesn’t inspire confidence. It comes with a tiny tilt of his lips, a sort of half-smirk that he had whenever he was about to get into deep trouble in the past. “Speaking of which.”

“What…?” Kihada says. It’s his turn to be wary. His reaction is perfectly natural, though, given all the stuff Sohi has gotten them into. He honestly fears the worst. ‘Kids’? They did a lot of stuff as kids, almost none of it wise or appropriate.

“I want you to meet mine!” Almost as fast as the draw of a sword and Sohi’s tone of voice completely changes. It’s playful, excited. No, not any of that–just, what he remembers his brother to always sound like. And, like usual, the words coming from his mouth are downright outrageous.

“What?” Kihada chokes. Kids? “You?”

Sohi nods, a huge, silly grin on his face.

“When?”

“She’s adorable. Ah, of course I’d say that about my own kid, right? But it’s true. No, you really do have to meet her. I mean, she doesn’t understand much yet, but it’s never too early to talk to them, right?”

“Sohi!”

“Look, I don’t fool around when it comes to my own kid, okay? You can trust me, really. I’m almost positive that they see you as the ‘un-fun uncle’.”

“Sohi!”

At this point, he’s probably doing it on purpose.

“But, I bet if you just tell them a few embarrassing stories from when we were kids, they’ll warm right up to you. By the way, your mate. Well, almost-mate, told me you were thinking about kids? Adopting, right? Well–”

“SOHI!” Kihada roars.

Judging by the ensuing laugh as his brother runs out of the room with him chasing at his heels, he did indeed do all of that on purpose.

Just like old times.

[traditional-with-a-twist]

Voltron: Legendary Spirits

Merry Christmas, @noelkadoja2! I hope you enjoy your gift. I thought this would be a fun AU, since you said you liked both shows on your tumblr! It’s mostly a Takumi but I dropped a few hints about your other favorite Frontier couples, too.

Takuya Kanbara was destined to be a space explorer. He’d known that for a while, of course, but now, sitting in the flight simulator at last, he would finally get to prove it.

“All right! Kerberos, here we come! Everything prepped for landing?” Takuya asked his team.

“I hate this!” his communications officer moaned behind him. “This is the worst thing ever and I never should have come to this school. What was I thinking? I wanna get out of here right now.”

“Come on, Tommy. Just relax! We’re fine,” Takuya almost turned around, then remembered that he was supposed to be steering.

“Yeah, put a sock in it,” the engineer snapped. “I can’t concentrate on these repairs with all your wailing.”

Takuya reminded himself again to keep his eyes facing forward. “Hey, buddy? How are those repairs coming? Did you double-check the--”

“Hey, I know how to do my job! I could probably do your job, even!”

“What is that supposed to mean, JP?!” Takuya twisted around to glare at him. “I’m just trying to help out, you know!”

“Takuya! Watch out!” Tommy screamed.

Oh, right. Steering. Takuya grabbed the controls again just in time to see the surface of Kerberos collide with their view screen. He stared disbelievingly at the “SIMULATION FAILED” that replaced it.

“Well, a-at least it’s over,” Tommy mumbled.

“I knew I should have picked the pilot track,” JP grumbled under his breath. “Then I wouldn’t have to watch everybody else mess up!”

So much for destiny.

Maybe this isn’t my destiny, Takuya thought as he trudged back to his dorm at curfew. If I’d stayed home, I could have been eating birthday cake with Shinya and Mom and Dad today instead of failing. He sighed.

Just then, a notification sounded from his personal pad. Frowning, Takuya pulled it out to look at it.

If you go to the roof at 2314h, you will see your destiny arriving.

Takuya stopped walking. “But that’s after curfew!”

He went to the roof, of course. He couldn’t just ignore his destiny. Besides, only the teachers could send anonymous messages to the pads, so one of them must have sent the message and so it should be fine. Just to be safe, though, he stayed out of sight of the security guards on his way up.

Takuya was so preoccupied with rereading the message that he almost collided with JP when he opened the door and stepped onto the roof.

“Hey!” They both stumbled back, rubbing their heads.

“Are you the one who sent me this stupid message, Takuya?” JP demanded.

“What? No, I have no idea what’s going on!”

“What are you guys doing up here?”

JP and Takuya turned to find Tommy staring at them from where he was huddled on a corner of the roof.

“Tommy? Did you get the message, too?” Takuya asked. Both members of his crew were here! It had to mean something.

“What message?” Tommy asked, sounding hoarse. He rubbed hard at his eyes.

“Then why are you up here?” JP crossed his arms, eyeing Tommy.

He didn’t meet either of their gazes. “My roommates are awful,” he muttered into his knees.

Takuya was still trying to think of something comforting to say, when the meteor appeared.

Only it wasn’t a meteor. It was the crash landing of a real, honest-to-God alien spaceship. Takuya didn’t even need the next message telling him to meet whoever was in the spaceship because, come on, who wouldn’t go see a crashed alien ship? Even Tommy and JP wanted to get a closer look.

Of course, someone had to beat them there. A guy who couldn’t be much older than Takuya was already hauling an unconscious alien out of the wreck by the time they got to the site and loading him onto his white and gold hoverbike.

“Hey, he’s trying to steal my destiny!” Takuya complained. “We gotta follow him!” He ran along the edge of the mesa they were on, looking for a good place to climb down.

“But--” Tommy started.

“Hey, look! A bunch of Garrison vehicles are headed this way!” JP interrupted. “Probably to check out the crash, right?”

Tommy paled. “We’re gonna be in so much trouble.”

“Only if they catch us! I’m with Takky, let’s get out of here, and where that guy’s going seems as good a direction as any.”

“Then hurry up!” Takuya shouted, running in place. “We’re gonna lose him.”

They did lose him. And the Garrison personnel, fortunately. And also themselves, less fortunately. Tommy and JP had just decided that following Takuya had condemned them to a long, painful death in the unforgiving desert, when the mysterious message sender helpfully provided Takuya’s pad with a GPS locator. They rallied, but it was still almost morning by the time they found the hoverbike and its passengers in front of a cave.

“Who are you?” the conscious one demanded. The unconscious one didn’t look like an alien, but he did have exactly the same face as the other guy, which was super weird.

“I’m Takuya and these are Tommy and JP. We’re here to find our destiny!” Takuya announced.

“Actually, what I want to find right now is some water,” JP groaned, collapsing to the ground. Tommy folded up next to him, panting too hard to speak. Their new friend scoffed and pulled a water bottle out of the hoverbike’s side compartment, tossing it to JP.

“I don’t have much, so don’t waste it,” he snapped.

“Wow, thanks!” JP took a long swig. At Tommy’s whimper, he reluctantly passed it over.

“So what’s your name?” Takuya tried to get the conversation back on track.

“Koji,” was the answer, accompanied by rolling eyes. “And I don’t have time to babysit tourists. I’m looking for something important.”

“Hey, we’re Galaxy Garrison trained cadets!” Takuya protested.

Koji paused. “Really?” His swept his gaze over their group again and raised his eyebrows. Then, he shrugged. “As long as you know what you’re getting yourselves into.” With that, he steered the hoverbike into the cave, engines set on low, his double still slung unconscious over the seat.

Takuya sprinted after him, not about to be left behind again. He could hear Tommy and JP trudging along in his wake.

The cave was pretty awesome, especially when all the markings on its walls lit up, until it dropped them down a hole. But Takuya forgave it as soon as his head stopped spinning and he saw the giant lion ship in front of them.

He could feel it calling him. The others were still picking themselves up, groaning and cursing, but Takuya heard them as if from a long way away. He walked up to the lion, not taking his eyes off it. “Is this...my destiny?” Takuya put his hand out to touch the forcefield. He barely felt it under his fingers before it vanished in a burst of light and wind. The lion’s eyes lit up and its mouth opened. He felt the force of the call pulling him in.

“Wait!” an unfamiliar voice shouted behind him. “Don’t go in there!”

“Hey!”

“Come back!”

“Don’t leave me here!”

The light from the lion overwhelmed Takuya’s senses.

Next thing he knew, he was piloting an alien spaceship out of Earth’s atmosphere with two of his classmates, some random jerk, and Koichi Kimura, the famous pilot from the doomed Kerberos mission. Takuya couldn’t figure out what was more surprising, the fact that Kimura was alive or the fact that Takuya hadn’t recognized him even though he’d followed the news about the Kerberos mission from the moment of take-off. To be fair, he did look pretty different, especially with the robot arm.

“None of you should have come,” Kimura insisted, holding onto the back of Takuya’s pilot seat. “Kanbara, take everyone back. I’m the only person on earth who can face these monsters. You don’t know what they’re capable of.”

“Sorry, buddy, but this thing is pretty much steering itself.” Takuya was actually a little sorry, since he seemed so upset and the guy had just crash landed after apparently being abducted by aliens for over a year. He was a little more sorry when he saw the alien warship waiting for them in orbit.

“Takuya, do something!” Tommy screamed.

“What are you waiting for! Take evasive maneuvers!” Koji snarled in his ear.

“Try shooting at it!” JP shouted over him.

“How am I supposed to do anything! I can’t even hear myself think!” Takuya bellowed back.

On second thought, as the lion steered itself away from the alien ship and shot off to the far reaches of the solar system before it could catch them, Takuya was really glad that the lion was driving itself. Even after it drove itself into a wormhole and they ended up on the other side of the universe. Being a space explorer was Takuya’s destiny, after all.

“The lion told me to go inside this castle, so that’s what I’m gonna do,” Takuya announced to the others.

“Oh, the lion told you, huh?” Koji snorted, crossing his arms and leaning away from Takuya like he had a contagious disease.

“Yup,” Takuya confirmed.

“Well, you have fun with that,” JP shrugged, shaking his head. “But you can count me out. Hey space cat! How about a ride home?” He turned to shout up at the unresponsive ship. “Come on! Would you take me back for a chocolate bar? Please?”

“What if we go in there, and there are more aliens?” Tommy asked, a tremor in his voice.

“Maybe they’ll be friendly!” Takuya smacked Tommy on the back reassuringly.

“I’d call you an optimist, but I think you’re just an idiot.” Kouji glanced at Kimura but didn’t seem to be able to bring himself to actually speak to his double. “Don’t we already know that there are plenty of hostile aliens?”  

“This castle doesn’t look like anything the Galra would build,” Kimura murmured. “There’s that.”

“Great! Come on, everybody!”

Takuya’s enthusiasm carried them all the way through the dark halls and down several flights of stairs before JP decided he liked being in the castle less than he liked being left alone on a strange planet and started talking about going back. Takuya waved off his complaints and forged on, keeping a friendly hand on Tommy’s shoulder to balance out JP’s negativity. Fortunately, they reached the bottom not too much later.

The staircase opened into an expansive room lined with pillars. Some kind of machine had been built into floor, with its control panel of to one side.

“Woah, what is all this weird technology?” JP finally stopped his objections at the sight of the giant machine. Takuya could hardly blame him; it was amazing.

JP ran to the console. “I wonder what this does. And how it works.” He ran his hands over the symbols on the control panel, frowning thoughtfully. They lit up. In the same moment, two human-sized capsules emerged from the floor in a rush of steam. The leftmost one came out right next to Takuya.

He started back, holding his arms up just in time for the capsule to open and drop the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen into them.

“Oh!” The girl reached out as she fell and grabbed hold of Takuya’s neck. She seemed to be coming awake slowly, looking at him with glazed eyes.  “I’m alive...I could just kiss you...” the girl murmured.

“Uhhh...” Well, Takuya could hardly object, but…

Her gaze snapped into focus. “Wait! Who are you? Who do you think you’re touching?!”

Before Takuya knew it, he was on the floor, arm twisted behind him. “Ow, ow, ow, hey!

“You stay away from me, you weird little alien! Are you here to assassinate me?”

“Geez, let go if you want me to answer all those questions!” Takuya tried to squirm free, but she had a strong grip. He felt her shift, probably looking around the room.

“Hmmm. Fine. But you better mind your manners!” The girl dropped him. “Now start talking.”

Takuya groaned and sat up. “We don’t know anything, okay? We’re looking for answers, too! We just found this place in the middle of nowhere.”

The girl eyed him. “And who is ‘we’?”

“I’m Takuya.” Scowling, he brushed the new wrinkles out of his sleeves. “Those two are my classmates, that guy I just met but his name is Koji, and that’s Koichi Kimura who everyone thought was dead but was actually imprisoned by aliens.” He indicated each of them with a jerk of the head.

She turned on Kimura. “You were a prisoner? Who captured you? Was it the Galra? Were you fighting Lucon?”

He tensed when everyone else looked at him. “I can’t... remember everything,” he protested, “but... I think my captors answered to….an Emperor Lucon.” Kimura hunched his shoulders. “I never fought them; they just came out of nowhere...”

The hiss of the second capsule opening cut off the girl’s response. “Princess Zoe!” A short, bald man with a graying goatee stumbled out. “Are you unharmed? Who are these vagabonds?”

“Bokoran!” Princess Zoe ran to embrace him. “I’m glad you’re safe! Do you know what happened? The last thing I remember is Father telling me to wait for him…” She released him and looked around the room. “These strangers seem friendly, at least, and it looks like Lucon’s forces aren’t attacking the castle anymore.” She clasped  her hands together. “Do you think Father defeated him?”

“I’m afraid all I know is that the king was planning to hide the lions of Voltron from Lucon.” Bokoran shook his head rapidly. “Let me check the records. Perhaps he’s left us a message.”

“Did he say Voltron?” Kimura asked as the man pushed past JP to get to the console.

Princess Zoe brushed her hair back from her face and smiled regally. “That’s right. I’m sure you’ve heard all the stories, and I promise you that every single one is absolutely true.”

They exchanged glances.

“Sorry.”

“I don’t think so...”

“Never heard of it.”

“So who or what even is Voltron?” Now Takuya wanted to know, even though he was a little nervous about attracting her attention again.

The princess put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean? You have to have heard of Voltron. It’s the Defender of the Universe? The greatest weapon ever made? It’s known across galaxies! You can’t possibly...everyone knows about Voltron!” She looked them over with a furrowed brow. “What kind of primitive planet do you come from that Voltron is completely unknown? How awful for you!” Her eyes went gentle with pity.

None of them knew how to respond to her outburst until Kimura spoke. “The name sounds... familiar...” His eyes widened and he whipped around to look at the rest of them “I think... that’s what the Galra were looking for on Earth! They could destroy the whole world to get to it!”

“Oh no,” Bokoran said into the sudden silence.

Takuya scrambled to his feet. “‘Oh, no’ is right! We can’t let that happen!”

“Not that!” Bokoran snapped. “Princess, we’ve been asleep for ten thousand years!”

Princess Zoe froze, the blood draining from her face.“That can’t be right,” she whispered. “What about...Altea? And the war…!”

“Our whole system has been destroyed! This couldn’t be worse; we are the only living things from Altea left!” Bokoran paused. “Well, us and that useless Neem’on that stowed away in my pod.” He gestured irritably.

They all looked in to see a weird rabbit-mouse looking animal, fast asleep and snoring on the floor of the capsule.

“That means...we’ve lost,” Princess Zoe sank to her knees, shoulders shaking. “What can we do possibly do now? Lucon probably already has Voltron.”

“Weren’t you listening?” Koji snapped. “We just said that he’s still looking for it. On our home.”

Princess Zoe’s head came up.

“And we better get back there to protect it,” Takuya jumped in. His destiny could wait. “Everybody back in the blue lion ship.”

“How are the five of us gonna protect Earth from an alien army?” JP protested.

“Maybe if we get back in time to warn everyone?” Tommy suggested timidly. Takuya grinned at him. He liked this kid after all.

“Wait.” Princess Zoe stood and marched over to Koji, staring him in the eye. “You have the blue lion?”

Takuya stiffened. “Actually, I found it first,” he interjected

“And one of you piloted it?” Princess Zoe didn’t seem to have heard him because if she was just ignoring him, that was plain rude. And princesses wouldn’t be rude, right? Especially gorgeous space princesses. Takuya remembered the way she’d twisted his arm. Gorgeous, terrifying space princesses. Oh boy. What did he get himself into?

Koji frowned. “More or less? It looked more like Takuya was just sitting in the chair.”

Princess Zoe’s face broke into a radiant smile. “Oh, you beautiful boy!” She wrapped her arms around Koji, probably just because he was closest, Takuya thought sourly. “And there are five of you! Right here! It must be a sign.” She let go of Koji and held out her hands to all of them. “You are destined to be the new Paladins of Voltron! And together, we’ll bring back the Legendary Defender.”

Takuya had always thought that he would explore space someday. He hadn’t exactly known that it needed defending … but if Princess Zoe thought it was his destiny, he wasn’t going to argue with her.