#some subtle pride shenanigans here

[corvys-clover]

Happy pride, folks <3<3<3

Commissions open!

@corvys.clover on Instagram

[phoenixwithapencil]

In this essay I will explain how the branding scene was in no way Olrox’s character getting bungled but made his character better instead

Spoilers for s2 below the cut

Olrox’s introduction in s1e1 was about getting revenge for a murdered lover.

And Olrox is established to love Mizrak too in much the same way.

He also blatantly refuses to let Mizrak die. Twice. Once in s1e8 and once in s2e2, both of which have Mizrak trying to join a fight that Olrox states will get him killed. He will not let Mizrak die. And to him, that goal is more important than Mizrak’s complaints or the fate of innocents or the fate of the world.

With that half of the setup out of the way, I can talk about Olrox and Erzebet’s first meeting.

They are actively sizing each other up during this and determining what the other wants.

Olrox is flippant, disrespectful, and downright rude because in his eyes, this is a colonizer playing god who blindly expects him to fall in line- even when he says he will never worship her. Hell, he doesnt care when Erzebet shows off her magic tricks. What matters is when Drolta suggests that Olrox has a weakness, implying that it’s something that will be exploited if Olrox doesn’t bow down to them.

And he does bow- pissed as he is- even when he’s directly told that Erzebet and Drolta want him to help colonize the new world.

It doesn’t particularly matter if Drolta actually knew his weakness. What matters is that she’s powerful and clever enough, with enough underlings, to find it- or rather- him and leverage him against Olrox. And that. Cannot. Happen.

In s2e2 however, Olrox gets reckless. He starts lying to Drolta and Erzebet. He ‘didn’t even bother looking for the warrior-monk’ but that’s not true at all. Hell, he finds Mizrak and the whole gaggle of heroes that he ‘definitely didn’t see’.

This is not. a terribly subtle lie. Drolta’s thoroughly studying him and almost certainly picks up on his bullshit but doesn’t call him on it. Not yet.

Now we arrive at the branding scene in s2e3

Drolta points out that Olrox really hasn’t done anything to prove his loyalty and he decides to bow and play nice and tell Erzebet just how much he admires and worships her because that’s the best way forward, even if it’s a bald faced lie because Olrox said he’d *never* worship her

At this point, his bluff gets tacitly called by Drolta, who asks him what he has sacrificed- what will he die for? And Erzebet chimes in with, “or who?”

She follows this up with some *very* specific phrasing, “If you love me Olrox…” and here she pauses to put a thumb to his lips which is Very Intentionally adding the subtext of romantic or physical love. She’s stating that she knows Olrox has a person he loves. And she knows who it is.

This isn’t a vague threat anymore. Erzebet’s telling him that he’s on a much shorter leash now and that Mizrak is going to be put in harms way if he doesn’t behave. Drolta would kill him. And then it would be over. He cannot. Let Mizrak. Die.

He’s been willing to compromise on his morals before for Mizrak, been willing to bow to colonizers and let the world burn for Mizrak. What is a brand that will fade quickly enough? What is the damage to his pride in the face of losing Mizrak forever? He can compromise once more if it means Mizrak will live. He *must* live.

The whole scene is *there* because it shows that when push comes to shove, Olrox will do *anything* to keep his boyfriend alive. It’s what he values absolutely above all else and when he’s forced to choose, Olrox will pick Mizrak’s life every time.

(This does also serve as setup to the s2 finale and the Olrox/Mizrak shenanigans there)

TLDR Olrox let himself get branded to keep Mizrak safe, not because he was just being a doormat. The writers were very intentionally showing that he’d compromise every other moral and belief- including not playing nice with rich colonizer assholes- to the end of not letting Drolta get near Mizrak.

That is all, thank you for coming to my ted talk, and grab a cookie on your way out 🍪

[myers-meadow]

Fear and wonder: Jonathan Crane x reader pt. 2

Part one here

Summary: After your bad day, your boss up and quits. What a relief! Later during the week, you go to a concert and meet someone. Jonathan doesn't like that much, though.

This is a slice of life insight into life as Jonathan Crane's best friend - who he has a terrible, obsessive secret crush on.

Warnings: for this chapter, some jealousy starts setting in, some very 'protective' best friend shenanigans. Fem reader.

Divider by @saradika-graphics. Reblogs, comments and feedback are very appreciated! I'm so insane over the Jonathan x best friend reader - the intimacy of knowing each other so well, of his obsession just growing and growing, him controlling every aspect of your life, but how could you notice? He works from the shadows, he is a master manipulator. Ugh god I just love him ok

The Monday after that bad day, your boss didn't show up to work. It was weird, but it was too much of a relief for you to ask questions. Besides, you didn't know her well - and why would you? There were whispers in the break room, but you let it all pass you by, just glad to have her off your back. The intern who messed up apologised to you - they'd heard about the treatment you received on behalf of them the week before. All seemed well.

Later that week, a lot more relaxed, your friend Morgan invited you out to see her girlfriend's band play in a pub on Wednesday. She texted you the address and you went there straight after work, picking up some fries for Morgan and yourself on the way there. The band was great fun, and beside you in the crowd Morgan beamed with pride. After, you got to talking with the bass player, who bought you a drink or two, and put his number in your phone.

During work the next day, you couldn't help but think of what a great night you had, and you texted Morgan a 'thank you for inviting me, it was a great time!', before texting Georg the bass player that it was a great show and other formalities. His reply was immediate. If you would like to go out for a beer sometime? It had you smiling all day.

The only night he was available was on Friday, and he'd visit family in another state for the whole month after, so begrudingly, you called Jonathan that evening. After some small talk, you finally dared to get to the point.

"Something's come up for tomorrow, do you mind we meet another night? I'm free all weekend." It was implied the weekend would be at least partially spent with him already, as that too grew into your routine. The Friday night would often turn into a sleepover, as you'd have a glass of wine or two, or make yourself a mojito, and it was just easier to stay over, or let him sleep over. Some nights, when you missed your bed and looked forward through a relaxed morning sleeping in by yourself, it felt like maybe it had grown into too much of a routine. At least, that when you kept your drinks to non-alcoholic ones, and got up to leave at 1 am, that Jonathan's twinge of disappointment was just a hint too intense. It was too subtle to even consciously register, but here you were, treading lightly when cancelling your weekly Friday meet-up, as though you didn't meet up two times a week every week ever since meeting him.

The slight pause at the other end confirmed your suspicions. "Of course we can reschedule," he said, emotionlessly. "What's come up? Is it work?"

"No," you shook your head even though he wouldn't be able to see it. "Something social." Even through the phone, you imagined him frowning. "What would you like to do on Saturday? I saw adverts for a new horror movie in theatres, we could see that, if you're in the mood for a film," you suggested, hopeful that a subject change would work to distract him. 

"Who are you meeting?"

You hesitated before answering. Something about his tone, as impassionate as it was, felt off. "Someone new I met," you decided to go with the truth. Knowing him, he'd read you like an open book on Saturday anyway. 

"I see. Well, I'll see you Saturday then. I'll think on what I feel like, talk to you later. Goodbye." And he hung up without another word.

Even as you enjoyed your cocktail with Georg, you couldn't help but feel a bit restless. This indeed was you and Jonathan's night. But you weren't together. You've never had this kind of friendship before, this intense. It was hard to put your finger on what exactly it was, and you racked your brain on what it could be - thinking of the many times there were hints of possessiveness, of how he preferred you to see him as often as you could - instead of other friends. It made you space out a bit, but as soon as you zoned back in, you were taken with Georg's kind eyes. His gentle features, the softness of his features and his body, the strenght in his arms were all so different from Jonathan, Georg lacked the sharp edges and was all the more endearing for it. After two drinks, you reluctantly called it quits, citing having to get up early in the morning, although that wasn't necessarily true.

Georg wanted to drop you off safely, or perhaps he hoped to get invited in for a nightcap, but as you reached your door, he politely only kissed you. You looked at him for another moment, fumbling with your keys. He chuckled as he watched you, shuffling his feet. Was he as nervous as you were? God, it's been ages since you'd been with someone. Perhaps you should. Even if only because you wouldn't see him for at least another month. Live a little, you told yourself. Do what feels right. Every thought about consequence, about the morning after, all dissapeared as you wrapped your arms around his neck for a much deeper kiss. His hands groped you all over as you finally managed to get the key into the lock properly, and he was eager to get you to bed.

Jonathan didn't feel like the movies. Instead, he choose a quaint tea house. You'd been there before, just once. It was a little higher end than you'd prefer, but their tea selection was incredible and really high quality. Everything else, including the jam for the scones, was made themselves, as well. The café had no background music, so when you sat down at a table with him, the chatter of the people around you punctuated the slight discomfort you felt. A tension that was punctiated by how you still buzzed from last night. And fron this morning at the breakfast table - God was he good with his tongue.

"So," Jonathan started, leaning forward over the tiny table in between the two of you, "how was your date?"

"Date?" you echoed, stalling to buy more time.

He nodded, reaching out for the menu and flipping through casually, as though he wasn't eyeing you like a hawk, observing every microexpression. "You always dance around the subject of dating when you're with me. I wonder why."

You considered him for a moment, rubbing your lip. Of course he noticed. The downside of having a psychiatrist for a friend. How could you navigate this best? Coming off accusatory was a bad idea, as was being apologetic because that would admit some kind of guilt you didn't have. You mean, you felt a bit guilty, but only because it felt like one measly date soured Jonathan's mood to the point of ruining your day together. Honesty and vulnerability have so far proven to be the only cure for one of his moods. "I haven't noticed, I don't tend to date that much," you admitted. "Perhaps I'm private about that part of my life, even with you." The way he glanced up at you, just briefly, taken aback at your careful phrasing, you knew you had him. "My mom was very controlling while I was in uni - as you well know, so perhaps I still feel the need to 'hide' it, or pretend its something it's not."

His hand found yours, giving it a brief squeeze before returning to the menu. "You know you don't have to do that with me. Mask, I mean."

Was his use of the work 'mask' here a personal one, or professional? You gave him a smile. "Baby steps," you breathed, relieved. "Which tea are you getting? The 'orange bliss' sounds really good. It's a green tea though." You scrunched up your nose a little, not fond of how bitter green tea could sometimes get.

"The 'autumn spice' would be more your taste," he directed your gaze to a black tea further down the list. "Anise, orange as well, cinnamon, fennel, cloves..."

You pressed your finger to his suggestion. That did indeed sound wonderful. "Which will you have?"

He hummed, eyes scrutunising every option. "I choose this place for their variety, but now that I have to make a decision..."

"I can choose for you. And we can share, too, if you want."

With a look to you, eyes dancing over your face, he shut the menu suddenly. "Alright, you choose."

When the waitress arrived at your table, you ordered your autumn spice, and a peppermint-rose white tea for him. 

"No treats? No cakes?" Jonathan asked you teasingly, referencing the last time you two were here and you wanted to try everything they had.

"I'm sweet enough for two," you joked, glad it seemed he was back to his usual self. You wouldn't call him cheerful, but at least he wasn't being passive-agressive anymore. The two of you chatted idly, about your weeks and your it was still so strange your manager just disappeared like that.

"Well, not that I'm complaining," you said, wryly. The server came back and set the teas out for each of you. You thanked her and she was on her way. They let you have bigger pots of water, with smaller cups, and your own saucer of tea leaves. "God, that smells good."

Jonathan followed suit, pouring steaming water over the leaves after putting them in the sieve of his cup. He poured yours too, like the gentleman he was.

"I'm curious to taste what you choose for me," he murmured, inhaling the steam, watching the subtle colours of his white tea swirl in the glass. His glasses fogged up a little.

"You still didn't tell me how your date was," he said, gaze sharp behind his glasses. You swallowed. "You said it was someone new and special."

Some part of you sensed it, yet were too afraid to confront the thoughts surrounding such discovery: what if Jonathan's protectiveness hid... love? A crush? What would that mean for your friendship? Not to think of how much Jonathan didn't seem like the person to be relaxed about the topic of dating in the first place. He seemed to know obsession, and only that - if his work was anything to go by.

"I really like him, we had drinks at that place Vee likes to go to."

"Who is he? Anyone I know? A friend of a friend?"

You shook your head. "No, we met at a concert last week. His name is Georg, with the beautiful rolling r," you gestured as you spoke, unable to stop a smile from forming. "He plays bass guitar in Morgan's girlfriend's band. They're quite good, too. A heavier version of indie rock, with some post-punk influences."

He clicked his tongue, before leaning forward to take a first, careful sip of tea. "Do you think you can trust him?"

"You sound like my mother."

He looked at you, blinked and let the accusation slide. "I worry about you, considering your past love life. The last one ghosted you after you slept with him, it was painful." He raised an eyebrow at you. Ouch. "Will you see him again?"

"I hope so. He's in a rather different field work-wise, but I understand not having personal and professional intersect, and we had such interesting conversations about that. How's your tea?"

He decided to go along with you and let the subject rest for now, his expression softened a little. Even thought it's only been months, once you started paying attention, it was rather easy to read him. Perhaps it was around you that he felt comfortable, and didnt try to hide so much of himself anymore, you thought aimlessly. The idea of that tugged at your heartstrings as he combed a hand through his hair. He tried a good sip of tea. 

"Hot," he grimaced, but then smiled gently. "It's wonderful. The freshness and sweetness combine really well with the white tea. Here, give it a try."

The tension dissapated and you were more than glad for it. Eager, you took the tea glass from his hands, not failing to notice the way Jonathan looked at you as you tried his tea. It was warm on your tongue, indeed, the flavours were delightfully light and airy.

"It almost tastes like a floral tea. Is that lavender?"

He smiled, almost proudly. "Very perceptive."

"Here, try mine," and you let him have the first sip. He nodded after he tried it, pushing it back to you.

"Very strong flavour. It's good, you'll like it."

And you did. It was exactly the tea you'd been craving; sweet yet spicy, warming you all the way down as you drank. The smile was audible in your voice as you said: "You know me so well."

[multifandombullshitbabes]

Random Merlin Rewatch: Where a random number generator gives me a season and an episode from BBC Merlin; and then I comment on it as I go.

Today's episode: Season 1 Episode 5 - Lancelot

Before I start, I have to comment that it's quite the fucking coincidence that, even though I'm randomizing the seasons and episodes separately, I've landed an episode right before out last edition of these Random Merlin Rewatch posts. Maybe these generators just really like the early seasons BBC Merlin. Can't blame 'em.

Can't wait to see my boy Lancelot again.

Those mushrooms Merlin is picking look fucking delicious, damn.

Can you imagine you're just chilling, picking mushrooms, and then you look up and there's a huge ass 4 legged bird looking creature just straight up coming straight at you? Jesus fuck. Merlin, my son, you CANNOT catch a break, it's almost impressive.

LANCELOT SCREAMING LMAO

Colin sometimes made the funniest of faces. Merlin looked about to literally shit himself and it made me crack up.

It truly is actually so sweet and brave for Lancelot to just. Do that. Like he just wanted to save Merlin, no questions, no nothing, he's just a good man.

MUSICCCCCCC LET'S GOOOOO

What a horrifying thought that a creature that can fly and takes human might just. Come by where you live. And you just gotta be prepared. Fucking Christ that's scary.

Merlin looks so gorgeous with the light just shining on him like that. Long pretty eyelashes, bright blue eyes, red lips. Motherfucker looks fuckable I can tell you that much.

"The great Arthur" what an interesting thing for Merlin to say, to refer to Arthur like that. Is that what he hears about Arthur? Especially when it comes to his fighting?? That's so funny. Wonder how Arthur feels about that; pride or need to meet up to expectations. Knowing him, probably both.

Gotta say, I love the fashion sense of this random lady here. Simply gorgeous.

Jesus he's so dramatic.

What the fuck is this man doing, just flinging both of his swords around, what the fuck.

Merlin just immediately resorting to lying. Why does he think that resolves everything when it literally never does??

Merlin shaking his head and Lancelot's just. immediate disappointment is so funny to me for some reason. He's just "Yeah, I figured, fuck me, oh well, might as well kill myself-"

LANCELOT IS SO DORKY I LOVE HIM!!!!

Did Uther just straight up create Camelot? I think he did. The first code came because of Uther wanting knights that he could trust, those who had allegiance with him, the nobility. And that's where the first code came from. Uther straight up created Camelot? From scratch? I always assumed he'd inherit from his father, but honestly, the fact that he made Camelot as great as she is by himself makes sense: that's why he never wants it to change unless it's by his own accord, not only because he's King, but because this kingdom is purely his.

Love Lancelot's little leather bracelets: a big thick one on his right arm, and a bunch of thin ones on his left. It's really cute how humans just like to make themselves look prettier or cooler or whatever with anything they've got.

"My father, my mother" implying Lancelot's an only child, since he doesn't mention any siblings dying at the raid.

Love how attached Merlin becomes of Lancelot. I think it's because Merlin can just see, plainly, that Lancelot is a good man. No hidden bullshit about, he's a good person. He knows Lancelot would make an amazing knight, probably better than the assholes he suffers while following Arthur around. That's why he fights so hard to give him what he deserves.

"Homework." yeah, 'cause your famously enrolled in a school, aren't you Merlin?

Merlin literally cannot be fucking subtle to save his life. Everybody just knows he's up in some shenanigan or other.

It's the way that Merlin is doing this almost with the intent of them finding Lancelot out, but much later on, when he's already proven worthy of his role, etc etc. However, Lancelot is right, you can't lie like that and then be a knight, so he knows that if he's found out, they'll kick him out. You have Merlin who knows the rules have to change, not just for his friend but just in general 'cause it's unfair, and then you have Lancelot that knows that it's not a good idea, and they'll be found out, but damn it it's literally what he's been working towards his whole life and, really, Merlin isn't wrong, is he? So even though he knows it won't end well, he'd rather take this little bit than nothing at all.

OUGH GWEN'S HANDS JUST SOOOO CLOSE TO LANCELOT'S BITS MY BOY IS FLUSTERED AS FUCK

I'm not gonna lie, I would've died if I saw Gwen smiling at me on her knees. Jesus Christ, I feel flustered.

AHHHHHH THEY'RE FLIRTINGGGGGG

They're crushing HARD BRO.

"Best seamstress in Camelot." I don't even care if that's just Merlin exaggerating, this is now part of Gwen's character to me.

Lancelot is so awkward and dorky and then he has his smooth moments but it's just because he says what he means, he doesn't even know he's being smooth, please I love him.

AHAHAHAHAHAH ARTHUR SMACKING LANCELOT I FORGOT ABOUT THIS

The little sound Lancelot makes when he comes back from the stables. I'm fucking dead. That's me.

"And the truth before I lose my temper?" underrated Gaius line.

Arthur looks so slutty with that red shirt and red pendant combo.

We don't talk enough about how good the fight choreography can be in BBC Merlin. It looks so REAL, I don't know how else to describe it.

Jesus, Lancelot aimed to kill. Without a helmet, half of Arthur's head would've been cut off. Damn.

Arthur is so dramaticcccccccc

"You set him on a path of your choosing." This is so interesting. Mainly because, the point of saying that, Gaius means that Merlin played God and that he can't change destiny, he can't change everything. Well..... doesn't Kilgarrah literally tell Merlin the exact opposite? In the sense that he always tells Merlin that he's the one who needs to choose the outcome of others, like whether they live or die, which is literally playing God. Doesn't he expect Merlin to shape his own destiny but also the destiny of Arthur and of others, something that never works out and cannot be changed? Yet he always made it seem like he could change the outcome? I'm saying this just with a pit in my stomach that, unknowingly or not, Kilgarrah set Merlin up for a failed task, in the sense that, in him trying to play God and force everybody's destinies, he doomed them all. And I just don't know if Kilgarrah didn't think about that or just didn't care and just placed his bets. He put it all on Merlin, and it ruined everything. Kilgarrah really is the one who killed Arthur, not Mordred, not Morgana, not Merlin. I hope I worded this well.

Interesting that Morgana is wearing the same dress as the first episode, but also a high ponytail, which I can't remember any other time she did.

Oh jesus, it's so weird that Morgana and Arthur are looking at each other like that. I do get it, the king's ward I think would have the expectation of marrying the prince, but it's just sick that Uther just let that grow, knowing what he knows. People would talk about them two. He's hear them. And he'd just what, say "Perhaps they will marry."? Ew, bro.

Not Gwen just heavily hinting that her type is Merlin. But also, are you about that? Considering: Arthur? 'Cause girl, you love that man. (and also Morgana, but it's not canon or whateverrr). Anyways, Gwen's type is: heart of gold. Now, is that heart obscured by anything? Like some defensive and prickly walls? Maybe. But it's still there.

Merlin and Gwen having girl talkkkkkkkkkk

Merlin and Lancelot at the VERY VERY least cuddled on that tiny little bed, didn't they? (they snogged too, but shhhh)

Well, that was short lived.

Lancelot is stronger than me, I would've started sobbing. Not even to get away for the crime, I'd just be so embarrassed and distraught, bro.

Oh, the fact that Arthur called Uther "Sire", ohhhh he wants to get on his good graces so bad to maybe save Lancelot.

"How can you trust a man who's lied to you?" by understanding any layers of his decision. By understanding why he did it. And only then can you make a true and complete judgement of his lie.

Lancelot is just. A good person. To a fault, I imagine, I personally think he's not truly always present, like in the moment, always either thinking of the past or future or just living day by day, unaware of really anything. It makes him a bit idealistic, but also quick to be realistic/pessimistic once he's brought back down to earth. He hasn't had a home since childhood so he never feels like he belongs anywhere. It's why it's so easy for him to leave. And while he never expects anything from anyone, he craves it so much; but once he receives it, he'll take any indication he doesn't deserve it and accept without question and just move on to the next. He doesn't think he's worth fighting for, so he doesn't advocate for himself. But he'll always advocate for others, if he has them. It's what he would want other's to do for him.

The fact that things only recorded in myth or legend are just. Walking about. Chilling.

I wonder how Bradley trained for the "ON ME!" screams he does. They're immaculate, but I bet training for it must be so fucking goofy.

It's a stunning creature, though, ngl.

It's the way that Arthur is, canonically, only 20 years old right now. He turns 21 in ep 9. He's literally my age. Jesus fucking Christ.

Well finally the guards are good for something.

One thing I'll always appreciate about Bradley's acting? He WILL look like he's exerting himself. His cheeks will be puffed out, he is inhaling and exhaling, he is pursing his lips in concentration, he is doing the WORK.

Uther is so fucking stubborn. How terrifying it must be for Arthur to know that in an hour or two, him and his knights are marching to what is, most likely, their deaths? He KNOWS they're weapons are useless. And yet he can't defy his king, his father. How fucking scary it must be to be the prince and to just have to maybe die for your father, the king? What the fuck??

Oh the things Gaius says about Merlin :((( they care about each other so much.

Oh yes, Arthur, we know YOU need Lancelot, you've looked down at his exposed hair chest twice now.

What a homoerotic charged scene. They need to bang at least once. Don't know if it would resolve anything, but at least it'd get them off.

Gaius trying to be so supportive, ough.

Gwen's father is still alive, do they not live together? Lancelot just barged in and there's no Tom in sight. Does he sleep at the forge? Actually. He just might.

Oh the music is GORGEOUS, hello???

Love how Gwen went straight to Merlin, she knows he'll do something about it. She doesn't know what to do, but she knows Merlin will at least try something. I feel like it's moments like these where it shows thar Gwen just always knew that somehow Merlin would solve things, and where she starts to suspect Merlin is truly very special. Maybe not "he has magic", not right away, but that there's just something about him.

Lancelot literally looks like the coolest knight ever bro. Most knight knight to ever knight.

Props to Lancelot for not freaking the fuck out when his lance just starts fucking glowing out of nowhere. I guess he's busy looking eye to eye with the griffin.

OUGHHH THE BOYS ARE SO CUTE, THEY'RE SO HAPPY IT ALL WORKED OUT!!! LOOK AT MERLIN GEEKING OUT I LOVE IT!! AND LANCELOT JUST LOOKS SO STARSTRUCK

AHHHHH ARTHUR JUST SO EXCITED FOR LANCELOT!!! The way he said his name so softly, ough...... He's not gonna stop thinking about Lancelot for a LONG time, huh.

Oh, I love when the episode has so many happy moments like these :))) tugs at my heartstrings in the best way.

"I see you feel strongly about this Arthur." I just know Uther knows about Arthur's bisexuality bro, ain't no way.

It's the way that Merlin and Arthur just. share so many views in common. Makes me bonkers. I wonder how many amazing discussion they could've had if they ever felt truly comfortable in talking about such sensitive topics, and with Merlin hiding so much of who he is.

Uther watching Lancelot leave knowing he's literally all a knight is supposed to be. But then, it's not as easy to command them when they have such set morals. He knows Lancelot stands for what is right and THAT is a problem: he needs knights that stand for Uther, not for what is right. But he can recognize that Lancelot is a worthy man of it.

Also Arthur's heartbroken face. Yeah, Lancelot is gonna live rent free in his mind for a while. He'll never admit it though. Duh.

Oh Morgana speaks to Gwen so softly. The way she says her name??? Jesus fuck.

It's the way that they let him have a Pendragon red cloak at also armor? Hello???? That's a full knight riding out of Camelot bro. Now I'm thinking of the hilarious concept that Gwen was looking at the wrong guy-

Not Morgana doing an Arthur when she gets jealous: make Gwen take her mind off of things with work. She says it much kinder because that's just what Gwen deserves, but it's the same technique. Don't think about that other person, go do something for me instead.

And done!!! Fuck yeah brother

[lothcatthree]

my darling<3<3 i have very much enjoyed everything you've told me about the coffee/pastry shop au so feel free to feed me more (pun intended) but i am also very intrigued by this ballerina au 👀👀

hi babe!!! sorry this took so long, but i got my ass in gear and made a snippet.

(psst, @brokenphoenix99 @violentcheese @forloveofcodywan @halfwaytoknowhere this one is for y'all too)

here, obi-wan is a professional ballerina and cody is an ex-marine who decided to be a sports medicine physical therapist at a clinic owned by kix. waxer is a kindergarten teacher, which isn't important to the plot but i thought you'd like that info <3

this would be another long-ish fic where obi-wan starts out as cody's patient and ends up pursuing him. cody is very confused because he's trying to stay professional, but obi-wan is so handsome and nice and funny and goddammit he's making cody fall in love with him, ethics be damned.

hilarity and shenanigans ensue.

here's a snippet for their first meeting (obi-wan gets to be a little slutty, as a treat)

Cody is a professional, you see.

He’s never had an issue separating work from his personal life, which really hasn’t been difficult, seeing as most of his patients have been teenaged athletes or huge burly football players that speak a grand total of five words to Cody and prefer to communicate through grunts and pointing at where it hurts.

And then there’s Obi-Wan.

When Cody heard he was being referred to a new client, a professional ballerina, Cody expected something like a tiny, rail-thin person to walk through his door with shitty ankles and a shittier attitude. Not that Cody has anything against ballerinas, specifically, but his only experience has been movies and TV shows and sue him for never meeting one in person.

And then…

There’s Obi-Wan.

Cody is not expecting the man that does walk through the door of the clinic with bright blue eyes, a kind smile, and soft auburn hair that falls just above his shoulders. Where Cody expected all ballerinas to be sharp edges, this man just looks so… soft.

And then he speaks.

“Hi, my name is Obi-Wan. I’m here to see…” Obi-Wan trails off and checks his phone, “Dr. Cody Fett?”

Cody springs into action from where he was more or less creepily lurking in the clinic, watching from a spot that gives him a view of the front desk. It’s his favorite spot to throw things at Jesse, their receptionist, when he’s not looking.

Cody strides into the lobby, attempting to act casual and if he wasn’t just gawking over the man that walked in. The man’s (Obi-Wan, Cody reminds himself) eyes dart to him and Cody tries to keep a straight face, but it feels like he’s burning under the gaze for some reason.

“Hi, that’s me,” Cody curves around the desk and stands a few feet in front of Obi-Wan, extending a hand.

Obi-Wan offers him another smile; a flash of white teeth and a small dimple on his chin. Cody watches his eyes assess Cody and dip down his body, but Cody brushes it off. It’s not the first time a patient has checked him out, though usually they’re more subtle.

He quickly sets the water bottle he’s carrying (it’s covered in stickers, and Cody registers a pride flag sticker, but decides to shove that information away) onto the desk to shake Cody’s hand.

“Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for getting me into your schedule so quickly. I have a recital coming up in a few weeks and I really need to get this bum knee figured out,” Obi-Wan says, taking his hand away and gesturing to his right knee, which is covered in a brace that fits underneath the hem of his biker shorts.

Cody returns his hand to his side, sliding it into the pocket of his black scrub joggers and politely laughs. He has the urge to ask where Obi-Wan’s (wonderfully smooth) accent is from, but that’s got nothing to do with his care and Cody internally chastises himself.

Focus.

“It’s no problem. Why don’t you go ahead and come back with me and we can figure out what’s going on? You can put your stuff on that table at the back” Cody says, gesturing to some cubbies they got for free when Waxer emptied out his old classroom.

Obi-Wan shoots him a grateful smile and begins walking into the clinic just ahead of Cody. After a step, though, Obi-Wan drops his phone, which would be fine, except he abruptly bends at the waist to pick it up. His back arches probably a little more than necessary, and the biker shorts don’t leave a lot of his body to the imagination.

Cody, thanking every possible deity that he still has quick reflexes from his Marine days, stops and flies a hand out to grip the desk to prevent himself from tripping and promptly running his pelvis into what is, unfortunately, a fantastic ass.

Obi-Wan grabs his phone and stands back up fluidly, turning over his shoulder to shoot Cody a smile that, well… It's been a while since Cody’s gotten around, but he could swear it’s flirtatious.

“Sorry. Can’t bend at the knees,” Obi-Wan explains, but he doesn’t sound sorry at all.

In fact, he quickly drags his eyes down Cody’s body and Cody could swear he bites his lip before turning on his heel and walking to the cubbies.

Cody doesn’t respond and he feels his face has heated up, so he turns to Jesse to make sure that all of that actually just happened. Jesse turns from where he was watching Obi-Wan and looks to Cody with slightly raised brows before he gets a look at Cody’s blush and bites his lip to hide a smile.

“Did you se-” Cody begins to whisper.

“I saw it,” Jesse nods and snickers.

Cody blinks dumbly at Jesse, his systems still a little offline as he tries to process that a patient (a beautiful one, but that’s entirely besides the point) just openly flirted with him and tried to get him to look at his ass (it worked, but that’s entirely besides the point).

Jesse looks over at Obi-Wan again and breaks out into an amused grin, his hand coming up to rub at his mouth. He turns to look at Cody again and Cody is a little scared of what he just saw.

Jesse jerks his head over to Obi-Wan and Cody gulps before looking over there. Obi-Wan is working on re-tying his shoes, which is innocent enough, but…

That motherfucker is bending at the knee.

[odoraful]

𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

zayne catches you being a little unfocused because of his hands...

content: zayne x gn!reader; established relationship; zayne being an absolute tease but it lowkey backfires on him; ~1k words a/n: the spirit of the 2005 pride and prejudice mr darcy hand flex scene possessed me when i wrote the ending of this fic. i hope you enjoy zayne's shenanigans hehe

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Although Zayne is an expert at controlling his reactions, he can’t help but smirk when he notices your gaze flick between the page of your book and his hands. You thought you were being subtle. Sitting beside each other on the couch, him absorbed in note taking and you feigning focus in reading, should have given you enough cover to allow for your sneaky glances. However, the surgeon trained in detecting even the most minute abnormalities can sense your eyes lingering for a second longer every time. 

One, two, three, four seconds. Zayne counts in his head. 

From his periphery, it’s obvious how your head slightly turns to the left. He finds it cute how determined you are to hide it. Untucking the hair behind your ear to cover your eyes, flipping the page every now and again to shift suspicion away. He considers whether he should say something. 

One, two, three, four, five seconds. 

“How is your reading going?” he asks. 

He puts his pen down and uses his thumb to massage the heel of his opposite palm, alternating between hands. He wraps his left hand around his right wrist, holding it in place so he can rotate it to release a few cracks. Every movement is slow and methodical. Nothing more than a well-calculated display just for you. 

It was an innocent question, yet you feel like you’ve been caught. 

“Oh! It’s going well, you know, some interesting things are happening right now.” 

Zayne closes his notebook and turns to give you his full attention. He rests an arm on the back of the sofa, slowly drumming against the plush surface with his fingers. 

“Really? Like what?”

You frantically lift your book up, eyes darting back to the page.

“Well, the main character has just entered the foreseer’s palace and uhm...” your voice trails off. 

“I know, you told me that before we sat here.” He shifts closer to you, your bodies now touching. He wraps his arm around your shoulder, plucking the book from your grasp. Your body freezes at his unexpected closeness. 

Head leaning forward to inspect the words, he flicks back a few pages. His breath is near your ear as he speaks, 

“That was about… three pages ago? And yet, you can’t recall what you’ve just read.”

He hums in thought. Goosebumps form on your skin at the low timbre of his voice. He moves the bookmark back to its original location and places the book on the table. 

“Has there been something else occupying your mind?” 

Your heart leaps to your throat as you face him. He isn’t wearing his glasses, and his hair is slightly tousled from being recently dried. Unmistakably, amusement glitters in his eyes. 

You huff, “You’re teasing me now, aren’t you?”

Your flat stare at him makes the corners of his lips lift. He breathes a laugh, never getting over how much he loves seeing your expressions. 

“Your reactions are too fun to not at least try. Although, I’m not satisfied just yet.”

You feel Zayne’s hand drift down from your shoulder to rest at your waist, electrifying the skin under your clothes. 

“I’d still like you to make your intentions clear to me.” 

You shy away from his boldness. “Okay, okay, I just thought your hands looked pretty, that’s all,” you mumble, playing it off as nonchalantly as possible, embarrassment bubbling inside you. His touch disappears as he withdraws his arm from your side. Puzzled, you watch him examine his hands in front of you. 

“Pretty? Hm…that’s a new one.”

There’s a faint sadness in his tone. He absentmindedly rubs the scarring on his forearms, a consequence of his evol powers. “I can’t imagine why something so unremarkable would be so interesting to you.”

The opportunity presents itself and you take both his hands in yours. 

His skin is cool to the touch as you glide a thumb over his knuckles. He briefly tenses. You pat his knuckles in reassurance, a signal that he can relax. His fingers are slender, with prominent veins trailing along the backs of his hands. 

Hands that are a testament to his skill and dexterity as a surgeon. Hands capable of playful touches and soft embraces that you feel lucky enough to experience everyday. 

Zayne has trouble steadying his heart rate. He tries to recall the slow breathing exercises he instructs patients to use, but his thoughts get muddled when you connect palms and interlock your fingers with his. Despite it being his own orchestration that led to this, he’s become putty in your hands. Your touch is delicate, treating him like he’s fragile ice. He admits to himself how nice it feels for you to give him this kind of attention. 

“I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but they’re not unremarkable to me, Zayne. I think they’re beautiful.”

You squeeze his hands in emphasis. A moment passes.

There is such sincerity in your eyes, he can’t help but begin to believe those words, believe practically anything you say right now. 

“Well,” his voice comes out more uneven than he expected, “I do think highly of your opinion.” 

He releases your hands. The surprise on your face reminds him of a child whose toy is packed away before they can finish playing. Another expression of yours to log in his head. 

“You should get back to your reading. I’ve distracted you for long enough.”

He collects his items from the table and stands, handing your book back. Before he leaves, he kisses you on the forehead and you happily lean into it. You feel quite accomplished. Perhaps this means he’ll let you hold his hands like that more often. You become quickly engrossed in your novel as he walks past. 

He’s grateful you don’t look up at that moment to see him flex his hands, an unfamiliar heat pulsing through them. The sensation of your touch lingers with him for the rest of the night.

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[romeoverga]

kadirosman​:

While easily distracted Kadir’s train of thought always had a way of coming back to the station, they’d moved on though so the vampire let his gratitude fall off. Distracted once again by their proximity, it was nice, he could feel the warmth that came off of the lycan even from the distance between them. Sometimes the vampire forgot how cold he was. “Brandy started in France, you know.” Kadir said, spouting off some facts to compensate for the fact that he wasn’t particularly good in social situations. Sometimes it got him in trouble, most often, in fact: like the time he’d explained gelato to a Roman. “Physicians used it originally for medicine, it had such amazing sanitizing capabilities that they dubbed it the water of life, l’eau de vie.” He hoped Romeo appreciated the lesson.

“I’m not a very good dancer.” Kadir admitted, which wasn’t a no so much as it was a disclaimer. “Brave? No, maybe more foolish than anything,” sheepishly the vampire tilted his head slightly into the other’s touch, habitual in a way though the movement was anything but familiar for the two of them. “I can never tell when I’m in danger until it’s too late.” Whatever fight or flight response that most people had seemed to be lacking from Kadir, he was always just interested: curious. That curiosity had brought him to Romeo, afterall. A lycan that was suddenly making him nervous, though the vampire couldn’t really figure out why because as of late Romeo hadn’t been anything more than kind and helpful. Maybe it was the touch, or the eye contact. Yes, that had to be it because Kadir wasn’t very good with either. Blood came to the vampire’s lips as he finished what remained in the goblet before he set it down between them. “I think you’ll have to lead.” 

The intimacy of tonight's festivities didn't go unnoticed. He fully believed tonight would be special, exciting, especially because tonight involved loads of Satyrs and their shenanigans. Romeo's mind completely revolved around nothing but Kadir and his pack, celebrating what he had, what he'd built after having escaped his old life. "It did? Damn, I know I should probably drink Campari or Limoncello but," he shrugged, "The French do know how to make liquor and how to start revolutions." This was his pathetic attempt of looking just as knowledgeable, hoping it would impress Kadir. He was about to make a stupid comment about the water of life, but didn't.

"Doesn't matter," as Kadir leaned into the touch, Romeo could feel his claws extend, though he hid them as best as possible. Only his breathing increased slightly once the vampire mentioned being in danger. How right he was and oh how wrong. Romeo wouldn't dare hurt him, not for anything in the world. Only the orders of Alek himself would force him into a position of pure anguish and submission, of being incapable of stopping. He never had to know.

"Bet," he pushed the other off the wall, towards a more open area which would allow for them to even attempt to dance. Not many were around and nobody really seemed to care. Satyrs were eager to fulfill every wish, but Romeo didn't pay too much attention to anyone but the vampire in front of him. His large hand reached to the other man's back, gently placing it flush against his cold body. The other one, almost aggressively, picked Kadir's hand, holding it close between the two of them. Here goes nothing. He only knew formal dances, had no idea how to really dance at less traditional parties let alone clubs. The mob had prided itself with being lead by a bunch of gentlemen, not some wannabe gangsters you'd find anywhere else. "I mean you've got all the time in the world now, to learn new things, like dances and such," he commented, his voice bittersweet. His movements were subtle, sometimes a little bit too rough and steps too big to really turn their dance into a smooth transition. Losing himself in his eyes, Romeo looked at him like he was capable of answering every question he'd ever been tempted to ask, as if he didn't want for nothing any longer, nothing but him. "Uh, just let me know when I'm being too rough, you know? I don't dance, I don't...," whatever that is. "but I'm glad I am."

[pinkyjulien]

🌈 Queerness in CyberPunk 2077

I wanted to make this post earlier this month but got caught up in modding shenanigans, as per usual~

BUT! It's still June, still pride, so here it is :>

▶ DISCLAIMER

All of this is my analyses, headcanons, of different characters, some of them not confirmed at all in anyway or form! I'm a queer man myself, but I do not claim to know everything about queerness and being queer, everyone experience the game and interpret the characters differently 🤲 This is only my opinions, based off canon game events, clues, hints, as well as developpers's tweets, streams, files datamining etc etc Please do not see this thread as an attack, or as something invalidating! I'm more than curious to heard what you think about my personal analyses, if you agree, if you don't, and why! If you think other characters also display hints of queerness I'd love to hear it too! 💙

This picture is an update I did in 2022 of lil collage I did back in 2021~

I posted the first version on Reddit back in 2021 and it created this whole "what do mean JOHNNY is GAY?" (because a rainbow behind a man automatically means he's Gay and nothing else right) and a lot of biphobia over his character in particular (gasp- THE rockerboy?! Biseggsual?? In my viddy game??)

▶ You can look at the thread here and have a lil laugh

SO, NATURALLY, after doing the 2022 collage, I went and uploaded it to reddit once again! Because triggering bigots and seeing them stumble over their own tongues trying to debunk everything is really funny ✨

However, I instantly muted the thread and let it rot in its own sauce for some days, weeks, only coming back to it later and Oh Boy 👀

I did a thread on Twitter last year exploring everything that was said on the thread and explaining why I put certain characters on it

Thought it'd be cool and fun to re-explore that and share my thoughts with y'all here SO LETS GET BACK TO IT 😌🤙

▶▶▶

I'll mainly paste screenshots of what I already said on my twitter thread, but I might add some things there and there!

Damn I was kinda pissed off back then HGHFHGF but yeah, this is also the reason I won't ever make any straight or super straight flags I do not headcanon Delamain as Asexual, as there isn't any confirmation anywhere that he's interest in that kind of interaction or not, but I'll come back to him later!

Goro being canonly Queer is often missed, and this surprises me, considering he's one of the popular character! He is interested (or not) equally in both Fem and Masc V, giving he's replying to them the exact same ways! This isn't something done randomly by the devs :)

As said in the tweet, there isn't any direct and clear evidence of Mitch and Scorpion being a couple! Their relationship is heavily queer coded and queer people are more easily picking up on it than non-queer peoeple (and that's normal) Gay men have called their male partner Friend, Best friend and Brother through history maaaany many time, and that's part of my interpretation of their relationship too, especially giving they're both veterans who fought in the same war. The poem Mitch wrotes during "I'll Fly Away" (heavily implied) is romantic and gay coded, the gay novel in Mitch's tent (confirmed to be on purpose) is what we call environnemental story telling, it's subtle but adds to a character's backstory and lore! As for the datamining, I found a Mitch awkwardly explaining to V that no, Saul doesn't have any say in whatever he's doing with Scorpion stuff "because.... because... eh, that's just family stuff"

Note on Delamain here because I've heard it even caused some drama here on Tumblr that I said that? He uses He/Him to describe himself, the Main Entity, but multiples of his splites entities uses She/Her, meaning he's literally Non-Binary in how his entity is formed (I find it really cool for an AI ngl ngl) However if my headcanon offended anyone, I apologize! and I'd love to hear others interpretation :3

There isn't any open and visible MLM gay couple in Cyberpunk 2077! Bouncing off ElvenBeard's amazing analyses and thoughts on Kerry's sexuality, he can be seen as Bisexual (confirmed by RTAL themselves) and Homosexual (confirmed by the devs before and after the game released) he can be Both and Both are correct depending on how you view his character and how he grew from his past relationship (Bisexual with a masc preference, Bisexual who have to heal from his marriage, Gay man who realized his sexuality later after a wonky marriage, etc)

The whole "Responsability=Wife" Takemura take angers me to no end, taking its roots in heteronormativity- We see Goro care for his job above all else, to me that's what his "responsability" is and always was; his job

Nothing more to add here- Jackie's only relationship we see in game is with Misty, this doesn't confirm nor deny anything! (However with how he react to V pushing him, lip-bitting and all regardless of gender, I can totally see him as being queer)

AND That's about it!

It was interesting to dig into that thread last year and thought I'd share that here, as a refresher that Johnny is Bi, Takemura too, and smaller characters like Mitch and Evelynn still have clear hints of queerness to them ✨

I really like how CP77 touches on queerness, it feels realistic, it doesn't feel forced; which, sadly, create this problem of "UH?? This is pure LIES" if a character's sexuality is not splattered in your face, which then create the "Ugh why does it have to be forced down our throat" complains

Something something, lesson here is that people will always complain about queerness, be it loud, be it subtle, so fuck it! Scream it, go apeshit over small details, over-analyse everything cause chances are: this is intentional!

More Characters

I later noticed that Regina have a naked lady tattooed on her forearm, and since we know nothing is done randomly in CDPR's video games, makes me think that she might be sapphic in some way ✨

Mateo is also one of my fav "potential queer", how he could be a trans man, but there isn't anything really to support that other than that one interaction with V

▶ Link to the updated collage Reddit Thread

▶ Link to my Twitter breakdown

[moonstrider9904]

Pathway Home

Chapter 13 of Moonwalker: The Batch

{series masterlist} {next chapter} {previous chapter}

{join my taglist!} {crossposted to Wattpad} {crossposted to AO3}

Crosshair x Fem!OC, Hunter x Fem!OC

Summary: Upon discovering the Empire has set bounties on her head, Sarah takes advantage of the opportunity and sets out to find Crosshair.

Word count: 6.5k

Tags: Mature. No minors allowed. Angst, love triangles, use of weapons, lots of Crosshair-related anguish heh

A/N: Here’s another three-chapter original plot arc to enrich canon with some more angst :3 enjoy!!

Playlist: on my own, moonwalker

Sarah watched absently from the top of one of the tables in Cid’s cantina, fiddling with the Firepuncher in second plane as Echo taught Omega the basics to using her bow. The kid’s arms wobbled and her aim was considerably off, but she’d grow into it. Everyone eventually did when they were given a new weapon. Sarah had done it with Crosshair’s first rifle, and as fate would have it, she’d have to do some practicing and adapting as well.

“Eh! You give it a try!”

“What?” Sarah muttered, snapping out of her trance.

She turned around to see a Weequay male, one of Cid’s frequent customers, looking smugly at her—not only because of the species, he reminded her of Hondo.

“You talking to me?” Sarah asked him.

“Yeah, you!” He answered. “Use that fancy rifle of yours and hit the target!”

Sarah’s expression went blank. “Sir, I don’t think you understand the sheer capacity of this weapon. It’s not meant to be used in a small space like this one.”

“Go on, hit the exact same spot five times in a row, no budging. I dare ya.”

With a playful eye roll, Sarah decided to show off and oblige. She walked to the very edge of the cantina, the farthest she could possibly get from the target while staying inside, and took aim without looking through the scope—with how close the target was, looking through it would be blatantly unreasonable, and it would make the shot far harder than it should have been.

But without the rangefinder’s help, Sarah was able to hit the center of the target. The blasts didn’t go cleanly one after the other, and the blast marks on the target gave away Sarah’s difficulty to deal with the recoil of such an elaborate rifle, but she had certainly improved. It was a complex weapon, and not just anybody could master it.

Despite her not having completed the challenge she’d been ushered, Sarah grinned as she raised the rifle and rested it on her shoulder upright the way Crosshair would. Having it perched that way gave her a sense of power and pride, and it was only obvious why Crosshair was so smug over it whenever he got to show off.

“Hey, Strider!” Cid’s voice came from the back of the cantina.

Sarah prepared herself to get a scolding from Cid, unhappy to hear rifle blasts inside, but when Sarah finally saw the Trandoshan, it was clear from her features she had other things in mind.

“Put your toy away and get in my office, now,” Cid spoke with a subtle urgency. “You might wanna bring the whole defect squad with ya.”

Some looks were exchanged among Clone Force 99, but they did as Cid asked and followed her into her office while the remaining customers in the cantina were left bickering in the main saloon.

“What is it?” Hunter asked Cid. “You wouldn’t have called us in like this if it weren’t important.”

“Wow, Bandana, do your heightened senses shenanigans help you pick up on the obvious?” Cid rolled her eyes. “Of course it’s important.”

Cid got right to it. She stood beside the holoprojector in front of her desk and displayed the towering image of a wanted poster with Sarah’s picture in the middle, with a handsome reward clearly stated at the bottom.

The room fell eerily quiet, with everyone looking at Sarah while she stared at the picture.

“Someone’s put a bounty on ya, kid,” Cid said.

“Cid…” Sarah said. “Why can I sense you’re more worried than you care to admit?”

“Because it’s the Empire who put it,” she crossed her arms.

“The Empire?” Hunter said, positioning himself next to Sarah like a bodyguard. “Why would they have a bounty on her?”

“Beats me,” Cid said, defeated. “I looked into it, I really did, but they’re not offering much intel on why they want her.”

“Any ideas?” Hunter asked, alarmed.

“Do I look like I have all the answers, Bandana?” Cid complained. “Maybe they just decided she’d make a good recruit or they’re tired of ya always nagging at them.”

“Except we haven’t nagged them in a while,” Wrecker said.

“And if they were tired enough to put us out, the bounty would be for all of us, not just Sarah,” Tech added. “Remember when we were on Kamino how, after Crosshair was taken, she was next, along with Omega?”

Sarah felt a pang in her chest at the mention of Crosshair.

“Yeah…” Hunter replied. “They’re probably still intent on keeping her.”

Sarah remembered very well how Tarkin wanted to recruit her and how he was more than okay with using Crosshair to get her to do it; she had to hold on to the edge of the holoprojector if she wanted to keep her balance after suddenly feeling lightheaded.

“I’ll… uh…” Cid cleared her throat. “I gotta check no one’s trashin’ my parlor. You fellas discuss, and lemme know if you want me to do anything.”

“Thanks,” Hunter said, his tone soft and genuine, as Cid looked at him over her shoulder.

Hunter held Sarah’s shoulders, and her hands went up to cover his as he held her.

“Hey,” Hunter said.

Sarah looked up at Hunter; sweet, kind Hunter, the man who’d spent the last few days letting her know how much he loved her, whose first instinct had been to flank her, to shield her even from unseen dangers.

And given the ideas Sarah was getting, she almost felt unfaithful.

“We know what this means,” Sarah broke the silence.

Hunter’s features hardened with hints of fear and apprehension, fully understanding what she meant, merely rejecting the idea. “No…”

“It’s perfect,” she insisted.

“Sarah, how is it perfect?” Echo questioned.

“This is how we go back for Crosshair,” she stated, determined.

“It’s far too dangerous,” Hunter countered. “They’ll be watching you like hawks.”

“Look, I know it sounds crazy, but listen,” Sarah explained. “I’ll go to Kamino myself, make it look like after seeing those bounties, I realized I stood no chance against such a great Empire and decided to willingly enlist to save trouble. Tarkin saw me with Crosshair all while we were on Kamino, and he knows we’re close. If I declare that I want to be around him, he’ll buy it. I’ll only have to stay long enough for them to let their guards down and I’ll get Crosshair out of there when they do. We remove his chip, we get him back for good.”

“Sarah, he’s too far gone,” Tech said, hesitantly, not wanting to hurt her feelings.

“No, he’s not,” she answered. “Stop acting like he’s lost, he isn’t.”

“Sarah, Tech has a point—”

“Crosshair will only be lost if we abandon him there,” she frowned. “If we haven’t gone back for him it’s because, quite frankly, we’d be obliterated if we charged against the Empire. This is the opening we needed. Let me do this.”

“Even if you reach him, he won’t go with you willingly,” Hunter protested.

“Then I’ll stun him,” Sarah said. “I’ll drag him out of there myself if that’s what it takes to bring him home.”

Hunter gave her a pained look, and though Sarah didn’t notice blatant traces of jealousy, it was obvious that Hunter would be hurt by her insistence on getting Crosshair back by herself.

“Please, just contemplate how dangerous this really is,” Hunter told her. “You’re asking me to let you put yourself in danger for a mission you don’t know is going to succeed.”

“I do know how dangerous it is,” Sarah softened her tone. “I just don’t care, Hunter. And you shouldn’t either. Crosshair is your brother.”

“You did say you were angry at yourself for leaving him behind,” Omega intervened, her big eyes threatening to make Hunter shatter against the two people he could never argue with.

“And it’s what you told me on that Separatist dreadnought, that you don’t leave your own behind,” Sarah added, mentally hugging Omega. “I can’t believe I’m the only one who wants to go back for him.”

“I do want to get Crosshair back,” Hunter replied. “I just don’t want to get him at the cost of you.”

“You won’t lose me, Hunter,” Sarah comforted him, her hand gently resting on his bicep. “Tarkin wants me alive. He isn’t going to hurt me, and neither will Crosshair.”

“That could pose a problem, however,” Tech spoke up. “So long as Crosshair is under the inhibitor chip’s influence, any order against you will mean you will be in danger.”

“He’ll resist it,” Sarah said. “He’ll fight it, I’ve seen him do it. I could feel him fighting it since Kaller.”

“He didn’t fight it enough,” Hunter said warily.

“As far as I know, none of your chips activated, and none of you know what it’s like,” Sarah defended. “Fighting an organic implant telling you what to do must be pretty damn difficult.”

“Suppose things go wrong,” Echo intervened, his tone rational as he drew Sarah’s attention from Hunter to keep her from getting angry. “Suppose Tarkin sees through your plan. What will you do then?”

“I’ll figure it out,” she answered. “The way I always do.”

“Sarah, please…” Hunter caught her attention again, pleading her so sincerely he may as well have fallen to his knees.

“Hunter,” Sarah walked up to him and took his hands in hers. Despite the pain, despite everything that could be questioned in regards to her feelings, Sarah felt in her marks that she had to go to Crosshair. She felt them burn, and they wouldn’t stop until she was with him.

“You’re not changing my mind,” she continued. “And if you’re not coming with me, I will go alone. I’m drawing bounty hunters to me and putting you all in danger by staying, anyway.”

“I agree with Sarah,” Wrecker blurted out after holding in his words for too long, drawing every gaze towards him. “I just… I miss Crosshair, okay? I want my baby brother back.”

Sarah felt the tears stinging her eyes at what he said.

“There is far too much at stake,” Hunter emphasized. “What we need to do is lay low, gather all the resources we may need, and head to Idaflor like we’d planned so we can hide.”

“So that’s what we are now?” Sarah said. “We took a liking to mercenary life and now we live off of it? While we leave Cross in the Empire’s claws?”

“Sarah, I know you’re mad,” Hunter said, dropping a thick silence in the room.

She sighed and gave his hands a squeeze. “I am mad, but not at you. I’m mad because Crosshair didn’t ask for any of this. And if it had been any of you instead of him, Crosshair would have stopped at nothing to get you back. He would have carried all of you on his shoulders if it meant saving you because that’s just who he is.”

Their lack of verbal responses let her know that she was right, though Sarah felt she’d made Hunter mad at her. She’d understand if he was—they were supposed to be lovers, and yet, there she was going on about her undying loyalty to Crosshair.

But to Sarah’s surprise, Hunter squeezed her hands and looked at her softly, lovingly, even.

“I miss Crosshair too, but we have to stay together now more than ever,” he said. “I promise you, when the time is right, we’ll go back for him. All of us.”

When they all nodded in return, they began to exit the room one by one, with Hunter and Sarah being the last. Before Hunter left, Sarah gently tugged on his arm to keep him with her, and when he stayed, Sarah pulled him in for an embrace.

“What is it?” He asked her, concerned, as always, for her well-being.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Hunter let out a breath. “Don’t be.”

They hugged in silence for a while and Sarah just allowed herself to feel safe in his arms. She didn’t think so much about the fact that she’d have bounty hunters after her from then on, it just didn’t matter as much to her as the possibility of getting Crosshair back.

But maybe Hunter was right. Maybe her plan was too far-fetched, too much of a dream. Maybe she really should just lay low.

“I know you love him,” Hunter spoke quietly.

Though she was still hugging him, Sarah looked up and met his gaze. He’d caught her off guard; she expected him to be mad, even threatened, but yet again, Hunter’s kindness had gotten the better of him.

“I can feel how you vibrate when you’re with him, even now when you’re merely talking about him,” he added. “I could always feel it.”

Sarah scoffed lightly. “Well, can’t you feel that when I’m with you?”

He gave her a soft smile. “I can. I’m not saying you don’t love me.”

“Good,” she said. “Because I do love you, Hunter.”

Sarah perked her nose up, asking for a kiss, and with that same smile, Hunter bent down and kissed her softly, almost sadly. They hadn’t shared that many kisses or moments alone, but so far, every kiss they’d shared had been hot, passionate. That kiss, however, was slow. They took their time to feel each other, to exist together, a sensation they’d both felt they needed to cling to when the world seemed to shake around them.

Their kiss was cut short by the sound of someone clearing their throat loudly, not at all inconspicuous. Hunter and Sarah pulled apart and found that Cid was looking at them from the doorway like she was a teacher who’d just caught a couple of teenagers making out in a closet.

“Does my office look like a cozy bedroom to ya now?” Cid rolled her eyes. “Get outta here before you start making clones of yourselves!”

Sarah couldn’t help but blush at the thought as she and Hunter scurried out of Cid’s office with her shaking her head disapprovingly long after they’d left.

But every one of the next few missions was jeopardized, and Sarah felt it was all her fault. There was always someone who caught sight of her, someone who’d recognized her from the wanted posters, and there had been more than one occasion in which the batch had barely made it out alive from the persecutions aimed at Sarah. To further bother her, the subject of Crosshair hadn’t come up again, and she began to feel like the idea of going back for him drifted farther and farther from the minds of his brothers.

As it was, Omega and Sarah’s safety had become a priority to the squad, perhaps, as Sarah feared, too much of a priority.

Days passed like that, and Sarah’s thoughts wouldn’t cease weighing her down. It wasn’t until one day when she found herself in the cantina during leisure time when the swarm of thoughts became too much. She knew she couldn’t keep endangering the squad with her presence, and she couldn’t keep letting the days roll by while Crosshair sank further in the Empire’s restraints.

Even though she knew no one in the squad liked the idea of putting themselves in the Empire’s rangefinders, Sarah once again contemplated the idea of going on her own.

It was a harsh option that offered many risks, but at least it would be a way to get the ball rolling. If Hunter and the others continued to gather resources while she was gone, it would be easier for them to do without her constantly attracting bounty hunters, and they’d be able to make it to Idaflor soon. And if Sarah succeeded, and Crosshair was back, Idaflor would become a permanent stop where they could settle down.

Sarah knew that, dreamy as it was, all of that was one risky mission away. Her marks burned, telling her she had to do it.

As she slowly stood up from her booth, Sarah kept working out details of her plan. She couldn’t take the Marauder; the rest of the squad would need it. Perhaps Cid would know where she could borrow a ship, or steal it—Sarah was a wanted woman anyway, and with her past as a pirate, she was no stranger to questionable methods.

Avoiding eye contact with anyone, Sarah marched herself over to Cid’s office, which was luckily empty except for Cid herself sitting behind her desk. After Sarah walked in, she closed the doors behind her, catching the Trandoshan’s attention, looking up from her holopad to see the young woman with a suspicious gaze.

“What can I do for you?” Cid asked.

Sarah exhaled quietly. “I need a ship.”

Cid set the holopad down altogether and raised a brow muscle at Sarah. “And where are you going?”

“Kamino,” she decided to be honest. Sarah knew she’d get nowhere by hiding details from Cid.

Without any emotion in particular, Cid leaned back on her chair. “So you’re gonna turn yourself in after all, huh? What does Dark and Broody think of that?”

“He doesn’t know,” Sarah answered. “Neither do the others.”

“Hiding this from them won’t do you any good,” Cid shook her head.

“I pitched them in on the plan and they didn’t love it,” Sarah replied. “But it’s the only way we’ll ever move forward. I can’t be the reason they’re in more danger than they should be, and one of our own is still on Kamino. I’m going to get him back so we can finally settle down.”

Cid sighed. “Strider, if you go there, enlist, and then desert with your other friend, it’s gonna be worse. More imperials will be after ya, ever think of that?”

“Somehow, I’m willing to take that risk,” Sarah answered. “I don’t want him in the Empire’s hands, and if I have him back, I don’t care what else happens.”

Cid seemed skeptical, but her features softened in understanding to a certain extent. Cid knew she wasn’t going to change Sarah’s mind, and that was one of the many things she respected in her. With a sigh, she caved and opened up the top right drawer of her desk.

“You’re doing a noble thing, Strider, and for that, I respect ya,” Cid said. “You’re in luck. There’s an abandoned Y-Wing not very far from here which still has its astromech droid who’ll perform copilot functions—that is, if you insist on going alone.”

Sarah smiled with satisfaction. “What about the ship’s owner?”

“Dead, I’m the owner now,” Cid replied.

“What’s your price for letting me use it?”

Cid’s hard gaze softened into a snicker, fond of the ease to talk business as opposed to the army-accustomed clones she rode with. Then, Cid tossed Sarah the bolt to power up the astromech.

“Just don’t die, kid. And bring the ship back in good condition.”

Sarah nodded, her confidence fading into gratitude. “Thanks, Cid.”

“Do consider telling them about your mission,” Cid said before Sarah could leave the room. “Even if you’re saying you’ll go instead of asking for permission. They deserve to know.”

Sarah nodded once more. “Take care of them while I’m gone.”

“Maker knows they need me watchin’ their back,” Cid snickered.

With a soft laugh, Sarah made her way out of the cantina. It was easier with everyone minding their own business and getting ready to rest, and she was able to sneak out of the place unseen to head over to the landing bay to see what condition the ship was in.

The streets of Ord Mantell at that hour were lonesome, though not eerily abandoned, occupied by few people who Sarah now knew to be Cid’s allies and clients. Nobody would follow her or give her away, giving Sarah a sense of security as she entered the landing bay specified on the bolt Cid had given her.

The landing bay’s sensors caused the place to light up when Sarah walked in, and they revealed a beautiful Y-Wing in the center in perfect condition, almost new except it had been painted all white as opposed to the yellow or blue that the army had opted to coat their models with. It was like a blank canvas, a spot to put all new possibilities that filled Sarah with some desperately needed hope.

“Hey, beautiful,” she muttered as she walked up to the ship, feeling her blood boiling with the desire to fly.

It had been far too long since she’d taken to the skies.

Next to one of the ship’s stabilizers stood an astromech droid, powered off. It was an R6 class, one of the newer models, with a white chassis and yellow highlights on some of its components. Using the bolt Cid gave her, Sarah powered up the astromech, and it startled her by jumping on the spot, letting out multiple frightened beeps, but then its visor finally set on Sarah and the little mech calmed down.

After examining her, the R6 droid let out a series of happy beeps and noises, greeting who he now considered his new master.

“I’m Sarah,” she told the droid. “Cid gave me permission to use the Y-Wing?”

What for? The little droid asked her.

“I need to go to Kamino,” she replied. “Mind helping me out?”

Kamino? The clone planet?

“Yeah, that’s kind of why I have to go,” she answered. “I’m looking for a clone who’s very important to me, I have to rescue him. What do you say? Can you help me?”

Sure thing, master Sarah!

“Just call me Sarah,” she giggled. She always loved astromechs, they each had a charisma and personality unique to them that some people could just never develop. “But first, I need you to help me record a few holo messages.”

Okay!

R6 positioned himself in front of Sarah and she nodded at him when he could start recording.

“Admiral,” she began. “I’ve seen the bounty you’ve placed on me, and I almost want to congratulate you for knowing how to make things difficult for me. As you can tell, none of your bounty hunters have succeeded, I’ve been able to hold them off. I’m a soldier, after all, and I want to offer a truce. I’ve decided to turn myself into you and enlist in the imperial army. As a token of my seriousness, I offer you to only call off the bounty hunters once I’ve arrived on Kamino—raise the bounty on my head if you want to further prove my intentions. I’ll arrive alone on a Y-Wing with an R6 unit. Expect my arrival shortly.”

Sarah made the gesture for R6 to stop recording.

“Can you activate your long range transmitters and send it to Kamino?” She asked R6.

Yep!

It took a while, but R6 jumped up and down when it was done and proceeded to prep for the second recording. Sarah let out a deep breath, knowing this second message was going to be far more difficult.

“Okay, you can start,” she told R6.

*

She’d asked for the second recording to be on a hard drive, to which R6 had happily obliged. She snuck back inside to the cantina when the sky was already dark, drive in hand, having told her new droid she’d return soon. She still didn’t quite know who to give it to, though perhaps it would be Tech or Echo before she left.

Sarah still didn’t know how she’d face them, but she did know that her resolve to find Crosshair hadn’t wavered one bit.

For the remainder of the night, she and the others enjoyed some games, and she made sure to show Hunter some extra love, but once everyone went to sleep, Sarah gathered her weapons and supplies, including the Firepuncher, and snuck off with Tech’s holopad to program a beacon to access her comm. With the beacon set up, she put the holopad back where she found it and covered herself with a long, dark gray poncho Cid had given her, a greater gesture of luck than for the piece of fabric to actually shield her.

Cid really was fond of Sarah.

Once Sarah decided she had no strength to face Hunter or anyone before leaving, she walked across the deserted cantina, and she was just about to set foot out the door with no way back.

“Wanna tell me what you’re up to?”

Sarah turned around to see Echo, looking at her with a raised eyebrow, though his eyes were heavy. Echo knew what Sarah was doing, he just wanted to hear her say it.

“I’m doing what Fives would have done,” Sarah said.

“Cheap shot to bring Fives up in a moment like this,” Echo chuckled.

“It’s the truth,” she told him. “He and I did it for Tup, and now there’s no Republic to incorrectly accuse me of treason.”

“What about the Empire?” Echo whisper-yelled. “Sarah, I know you miss Crosshair. I know what he means to you, but think about what you’re doing.”

“I’m getting all the bounty hunters off your back,” she said. “And I’m getting Crosshair home if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Sarah—”

“At least I’m trying,” she cut him off. “At least I care enough to return for him. He’s one of us, and this has gone on way too long. I refuse to leave him there.”

Echo sighed, but his features finally softened. “You really are following Fives’ footsteps.”

“Fives would have done that for me, he would have done it for you,” Sarah walked up to Echo, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “And Cross would do the same if any of us were in danger.”

“Have you at least told the others?” Echo asked her.

Sarah showed him the hard drive. “I will.”

“You need to at least tell Hunter before you go,” Echo said. “I’ll handle the rest, but he deserves to know.”

“Echo, I can’t bear to—”

“He’ll go crazy if you don’t,” Echo finished.

Sarah sighed, defeated. She knew Echo was right, she owed Hunter at least an explanation.

“Fine,” she said as she handed him the hard drive. “Make sure he hears this too, there are important details here. You all need to see it”

“I’ll have them look at it first thing in the morning,” Echo put the drive safely in his belt. “Go talk to Hunter, I’ll wait for you here and take you to the ship.”

“I won’t take the Marauder, but I’ll explain on the way,” she told him as she walked past him.

Sarah headed down the corridors of the inside of the cantina and headed to the little area they’d adapted to become barracks. The rest of Clone Force 99 found themselves snoring softly as they all dwelled in their respective dreams, and slowly, Sarah approached Hunter, hesitant to wake him.

Hunter’s features were hard when he slept, to a point where he looked angry. It pained Sarah that he was already so conflicted, that all she’d do was add to whatever sorrow he felt.

She gently brushed a few of the strands of his hair from his face, causing his eyes to flutter open. He looked at her sleepily, allowing a dreamy smile to curve his lips at the sight of her.

“Sarah?”

“Shh,” she whispered, holding a finger up to his lips. “Hunter…”

He started to get up. “Is everything okay?”

Sarah gently pushed him down to the bed. “It’s fine, I’m just… I’m going out.”

He looked confused. “Now?”

Though she couldn’t find the words, Sarah knew that her pained eyes gave her away, and surely enough, she could almost feel his heart sinking.

He looked at her with the same sentiment. “I can’t stop you, can I?”

She gently shook her head. “No.”

She ran a hand through his hair, let loose without the bandana, a rare sight to see Hunter in, and she pulled him in for a delicate kiss which, to her surprise, Hunter returned lovingly. As she parted the kiss, Sarah looked at him with all the love she felt for him, all of the sheer adoration and gratitude and admiration she felt for that man, which only made it harder to leave him.

“I love you, Hunter,” she whispered. “But I have to do this.”

His heartbreak was evident in his eyes, though Sarah didn’t know if he was heartbroken at the danger she’d be in or because she’d resolved to return for Crosshair. Regardless, Hunter would never allow himself to chain her down. He didn’t doubt her love for him, even if she loved Crosshair too. He’d have to come to terms with that, rejoice if she chose him and respect if she didn’t.

But for now, Hunter gently squeezed Sarah’s hand and met her gaze.

“I love you too,” he stated, his final way of letting her go.

Sarah couldn’t bear to look at him much longer, and she struggled to keep the tears in as she walked outside of the room. She forced the tears inside; she could leave the crying for the trip. Now, she knew she had to keep going. She’d reached that point already, she’d gone this far, and she wouldn’t back down now.

Echo walked her to the landing bay where he had the chance to meet R6, a droid that reminded him a lot of General Skywalker’s own R2-D2. Though he was upset to see her go, Sarah could tell that a part of him was also proud, and just before she climbed the ladder to get on the ship, Echo reached out to stop her.

“You’re doing something big,” he told her. “And frankly, you’re right. We haven’t paid enough attention to saving Crosshair.”

“We haven’t exactly had or even stood a chance,” Sarah replied. “That’s why I have to take this one.”

“Let me come with you,” Echo told her.

“It’ll blow my cover, but I love you for even asking,” she got down from the ladder and hugged him. “Besides, I need a spare seat on the Y-Wing for when Crosshair is with me.”

They hugged for a while longer, both afraid to let go of their best friend after already having lost each other once, until at last Echo let go of Sarah, granting him his blessing to go on the mission. With her heart racing, Sarah climbed the ladder and got on the ship, and once she had all the systems in order, she launched it and exited the landing bay, with Echo watching as the specs of her engines flew farther away, eventually leaving Ord Mantell’s atmosphere.

*

“Hey, guys. By the time you watch this, I’ll be in hyperspace. I know this isn’t ideal and you have every right to be mad at me. I hope that with this, all the bounty hunters will leave you alone and you’ll all be safer, even though that’s not the only reason I’m not there right now.

As you may have guessed, I’ve gone to Kamino, and I don’t want you to come after me, at least not right away, or my cover will be blown. I’m going to convince the Empire I’m on their side, and once all eyes are off me, I’m removing that chip from Crosshair and getting him out. In the meantime, you guys continue running jobs for Cid. Gather as many credits as you can so that hopefully by the time we’re back, we’ll have enough money to follow up our plan to go to Idaflor.

I’m scared, but I’m confident I’ll succeed. But if anything were to go wrong, I’ve already designated a channel in my comm to trigger a beacon in Tech’s holopad. If you hear it, come get me.

It sounds insane, but I have to do this, for your sake and for Crosshair’s. I really hope this won’t take too long, so just be at ease and expect our return soon, alright?

And, Hunter… I love you. Don’t forget that.

May the Force be with you, as I’m sure it is with me.”

When the Y-Wing jumped out of hyperspace, the dreadful image of a thunderous Kamino loomed ahead of Sarah, a perfect metaphor for the storm that she was caught up in.

During the trip, Sarah had time to meditate and to tell R6 all about how she’d met and fallen in love with the two men who now held her heart, but now, it was time to focus, to be serious, to be determined to succeed.

There it is, R6 beeped, considerably less happy than when he met Sarah on Ord Mantell.

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice tense, quivering in fear. “I hope you’re waterproof.”

Entering Kamino’s stormy atmosphere always seemed way easier on the Marauder, but having learned how to fly from Anakin Skywalker himself and later observing Tech’s technique, Sarah was far more than just a decent pilot, successfully getting the Y-Wing through the violent winds of Kamino. Eventually, two V-Wings flanked and escorted her, and judging by the lack of blasts coming at her, she assumed her hologram was indeed seen by the Empire.

“Expected arrival Y-Wing-7773, code name, Strider,” said a trooper via comms, “proceed to landing bay one-tac-five.”

“Copy that,” she answered.

I guess this is it, Sarah.

“Sure is, R6,” she answered. “You’re not scared, are you?”

No… he dragged out the beep.

“Yeah, I’m terrified too.”

But she still didn’t let her determination waver. She slowed the ship down to land where she was instructed to and took a deep, grounding breath to process the fact that she was back on Kamino, by herself, after so much had happened to her there. Regardless, Sarah looked out of the cockpit and saw a squadron of dark-armored troopers heading her way.

One of them was particularly tall and lean.

She hurriedly opened the Y-Wing’s canopy and made sure to leave the Firepuncher there.

“You know what to do, R6,” she told him. “Stay with the ship.”

She got down from the Y-Wing expecting troopers to rush towards her and cuff her, but instead, she was greeted with a welcoming committee. A squadron of about ten troopers lined five and five at each of her sides awaited, and approaching her was a squadron of four troopers in black armor led by a regular looking man in an imperial uniform, his badge displaying the rank of admiral.

He seemed like a good guy, with features not at all distinctive. Pale skin, brown hair, brown eyes; Sarah recognized him immediately as the man from the chain code announcements.

And yet, he wasn’t her primary focus, as Sarah’s gaze found the one man she was looking for, the one who made sense of it all, her reason for being there. Tall, lean, and who knew how he was looking at her underneath that green visor.

And he was the only one she could look at, and it took every ounce of her might not to throw her arms around him.

“You arrived as soon as you said,” the admiral told her.

“I did,” she replied, finally acknowledging him. “Forgive me, Admiral, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Indeed we haven’t,” he nodded. “I am Admiral Rampart.”

“Pleasure,” she feigned. “Where’s Tarkin?”

“He has to personally oversee matters with the Emperor,” Rampart answered. “He’s left me in charge of military operations on Kamino.”

“I see,” Sarah felt a weight being lifted. “You sure look friendlier than him.”

“I hope this does not mean you’re underestimating me,” Rampart smiled.

“Not at all,” she appeared charismatic. “Anyone who’s distinguished enough to gain the rank of imperial admiral the way you have must be worthy of the title.”

“Much obliged,” he said. “Now, what exactly brings you to Kamino?”

“I’m here to enlist,” she said without hesitating. “Tarkin wanted to recruit me a while back.”

On the outside, Crosshair was stoic and silent, but Sarah could feel her marks getting warm and her body vibrating the way Crosshair’s was.

“And what about the rest of your squad?”

“There were complications,” she lied. “I don’t want to be on the run forever.”

“Well, I’m glad the bounty was enough to get you to decide on a better path. You’ve arrived at the very end of our operations for today, but tomorrow, first thing, you are to head to the medical bay for a physical exam. After that, you’ll be given your armor and you will train with your squad until you’re assigned a mission. You are to be under CT-9904’s command.”

“I understand,” Sarah told him.

“Very well,” Rampart appeared satisfied. “I look forward to having you on board.” He then looked collectively at the group of soldiers behind him. “At ease.”

After the whole group dismantled, only one trooper stayed behind, silently and ominously staring at her.

Sarah took a step towards him, and he did the same; they were barely inches away from one another, both in silence, his helmet still covering his face. She watched him closely, trying desperately to find the right words to tell him, grasping at every thread of reality in hopes that she wasn’t dreaming, that she was truly in Crosshair’s presence again.

Sarah felt a bump on her leg followed by R6’s happy beeping and cooing; the shove he’d given her caused her to tumble forward enough for Crosshair to have to catch her.

In his arms, she turned to face the droid. “R6, what did I just say?”

The astromech cooed as it rolled away back to the Y-Wing as if it were giggling.

“How did you come across a droid and a ship?” Crosshair spoke, his voice vocoded, moduled.

It still soothed every one of Sarah’s senses.

She looked at him again, dazed, trying to decide whether to leap in joy or cry on her knees.

“Long story…” she said. “I’ll fill you in on all of it later.”

She reached her hands up, intent on securing his helmet and lifting it off him, but Crosshair beat her to it. He removed his helmet, clutching it in his left arm, and Sarah nearly melted in all the memories and emotions that hit her when his piercing brown eyes met hers.

His gaze, as usual, was hard with glints of softness, his true core shining through his coarse exterior. Crosshair, despite the chip and the Empire, hadn’t changed a bit in Sarah’s eyes, and he was as beautiful as the day he had been taken from her.

She gave him a wide smile as tears pooled in her eyes. “Hi…”

Crosshair’s gaze turned sad with a softness he’d only ever dare to show her. “You came back.”

A tear dropped from Sarah’s eyes and she finally couldn’t resist the urge to hold him. She pulled Crosshair down, hugging her as close to her as she could, resting her head over his shoulder.

“Of course I did,” she whispered.

And when Crosshair finally wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in the crook of her neck, Sarah sank even more into him and allowed herself to feel that nothing had changed.

At that moment, the war hadn’t existed. Order 66 hadn’t happened.

Nothing else mattered in the galaxy except for Crosshair being safe in her arms where he belonged.

Taglist: @nunanuggets @zoeykallus @sageislostinspring @misogirl828 @dangerousstrawberrypie @salaminus @ladykatakuri @whore4rex @morganlefaye13 @seriowan @kimageddon @rain-on-kamino @prozacspice @eyecandyeoz

Thank you for reading!

[jisungsmochi]

favorite crime - na jaemin

favorite crime - na jaemin 

this is the second installment for my SOUR series! you can read jeno’s one here! 

a little bad boy!jaemin x troubled (?) but still a ‘goodie goodie’ reader // strangers to friends to partner in crime to strangers again :/ 

word count: 7.2k 

summary: “It's bittersweet to think about the damage that we'd do

'Cause I was goin' down, but I was doin' it with you” 

who would have ever thought that, jaemin, the quiet boy you met in detention, would become your first love? getting involved with his shenanigans was probably the worst thing you could have done in your life. you were lucky enough to love someone like him, someone who excited you, scared you, and most of all, loved you back. but what happens when his actions suddenly have consequences? 

a/n: this summary sucks but i liked writing this alot,, explains why it took me so long to write it oops. 

tagging the bestie: @skrtbabe

//

Know that I loved you so bad

I let you treat me like that

I was your willing accomplice, honey

//

as you walked into the near-empty classroom, you made a beeline for the closest seat to the window. if you were going to be stuck in detention for two hours, you might as well have a nice view. you let out a short sigh to yourself, one hour and fifty eight minutes to go. the supervising teacher was lazily marking her class’ essays, completely choosing to ignore the entrance of na jaemin. he gave her a subtle scoff before stumbling past the desk, making his way to sit behind you. you heard him roughly place his bag onto the surface of his desk. you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to look back and see what he was up to. jaemin was always a mystery to you, and to everyone else in the school. despite keeping himself away from the majority, people had quite a lot to say about the boy. you heard rumours that he got stabbed (which you didn’t believe at all) but your classmate, haechan, insists he had video evidence. if anything, you don’t think you had ever spoken to jaemin in your entire life, but that was all about to change.

thirty minutes into detention and you were beyond bored. everybody was either catching up on school work or trying their best to not be caught on their phones. you opted to staring out the window, eyes following the movements of a particular butterfly. eventually, the butterfly decided it was time to leave your line of sight, causing you to let out a short huff. you heard a soft chuckle, belonging to the previously silent boy behind you. you slowly turned to face him, his eyes immediately latching to meet yours. he had his chin perched on top of his right palm, a cunning grin on his face. you gave him a glare,

“what are you laughing at?” you faintly whisper to him. this caught him off guard, he didn’t expect you to sound so stern.

“an explosion is about to happen” you grew to be more confused, what is he talking about?

“wha-“

“i’ll be right back! s-stay where you are!” your teacher suddenly blurts out, rushing out of her room as fast as she could. the rest of the students all looked over at eachother, some even opting to leave detention entirely.

you turned back to the snickering boy, who clearly had something to do with it.

“what the hell did you do?”

“put laxatives in her coffee” your jaw dropped, how the hell did he manage to do that?

“w-what’s wrong with you?”

“what’s wrong with you? learn to live a little” he suddenly stood up, slinging his bag across his body. his eyes still stayed on you, silently asking for you to follow him. this was one hell of a first impression. you weren’t sure what took over you in that moment, but you found yourself trailing behind na jaemin like a lost puppy as he led you both out of the school gates. he didn’t speak much to you, aimlessly walking to wherever the hell he needed to be.

“so what did you get into detention for?” he suddenly asked you, causing you to stiffen. you weren’t a stranger to getting into trouble, your short temper often being the root of your issues. but you weren’t exactly the most comfortable talking to new people.

“ah you’re a bit shy? i’ll start then, i stole lee haechan’s clothes after gym practice” he smirked to himself, feeling some sense of pride.

“that was you? he was running around school butt naked because of you” you couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory of seeing two full ass cheeks after your history class.

“that’s what he gets for claiming that he has proof i got stabbed? which is ridiculous by the way” jaemin shakes his head before coming to a complete stop. you slightly bump into his right shoulder, quickly stabilising yourself before looking at the quiet cafe infront of you.

“hungry?” you nodded in response, following him into the cafe. he seemed to have known some of the workers, earning you a free croissant and hot chocolate.

“so, i told you why i got into detention, now it’s your turn” he chimed, clearly entertained by having you as company.

“i punched kim yuna in the face” you slightly cringed at your own words. you weren’t the one to be physical in your confrontations, but this girl really struck a nerve.

“sheesh, i saw her earlier, you gave her nose a good bruising, i must say” he couldn’t help but find the entire thing entertaining. this was so odd to you, every person that had witnessed it, thought you went crazy. but here jaemin was, laughing at the situation.

“you think this is funny?” you asked curiously, rather than in a judgemental manner.

“well yeah, i don’t know why you did it, but she probably deserved it” he shrugged, taking a bite of his own pastry. you felt your shoulders begin to relax, infact your entire demeanour had changed. jaemin was the only person that didn’t push you to admit your faults and apologise. he didn’t need to know the whole story, he just took your words for what they were.

the next hour consisted of you and jaemin, sharing stories on some of the mischievous things you had gotten up to in the past. from small things like setting off stink bombs during an exam, to running from the mall cops after stealing a pair of pants from a store. jaemin liked your reactions to his stories, at first your face would be full of shock, then turn into some sort of enlightenment. he found it quite endearing to watch. he wasn’t too bad on the eyes either.

“need me to walk you home?”

“i don’t need you to do anything for me” jaemin just smirked at your response,

“but i wouldn’t mind if you did”

“ah i see how it’s going to be”

“what do you mean?”

��our relationship, it’s going to be very push and pull” what on earth was he on about?

“you got that from just spending a few hours with me?” jaemin nodded, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

“i think we’ll be spending a lot of time together” was all he said back. if you had told yourself earlier that day, that you’d become na jaemin’s partner in crime, you’d punch yourself in the face. but this was only the beginning.

//

from that day onwards, you would purposely seek out jaemin’s presence. whether it be you walking to the most isolated parts of school, or simply trying to get into detention in the case he was there again. as a result of the laxative prank, jaemin had earned a two week long suspension. you had caught wind of this information from the school’s chatterbox, haechan. you’d think after being humiliated by jaemin, he’d keep his name out of his mouth.

you decided to visit the same cafe you accompanied jaemin to, incase he was hanging out there. you weren’t sure why you wanted to be around him so much. if anything, you were more at risk of getting another detention, or becoming a social outcast. but you were going to take those chances.

as you entered the cafe, your eyes scanned near and far for any sight of the black haired boy. you were about to give up, when you heard a voice,

“stalking me now?” you immediately froze, too nervous to turn back. you felt jaemin’s hand on your shoulder, slowly turning your around to face him.

“i-i no it’s not what it looks like-“

“it’s fine, you must have missed me, no?” he let a cocky grin land on his face. you just rolled your eyes, ready to walk right back out that door.

“let’s get up to some trouble today” he gripped your wrist gently, dragging you out of the cafe. he didn’t let go of you, once again, you were aimlessly following him. why did you let him do this to you?

jaemin wasn’t too much of a talker, he tended to try and speak with his eyes. you found it interesting, the way he expected you to know exactly what was on his mind. he eventually stopped walking after reaching an abandoned building. you were beginning to feel slightly anxious, noticing that the sun was slowly setting and the breeze was getting cooler. jaemin plopped his carry bag on the concrete floor, you heard clinking sounds erupt from the bag. he moved to pull out a few spray cans.

“ever graffitied?” you shook your head,

“not spray painting, but i’ve drawn some not so pleasant pictures in the bathroom stalls” you shrug as he handed you a can of bright yellow spray paint. he slightly chuckled at your anecdote, which made you look down at the ground.

“well you won’t get in trouble for messing up this place”

“what is this place anyway?” you start to shake the can, watching as jaemin started spraying onto the blank wall.

“somewhere i come when i don’t feel like going home” you weren’t sure if you wanted to press him to elaborate, so you just nodded, beginning to spray a random design of your own.

jaemin found hanging around you quite amusing. you were always up for anything he wanted to do. you seemed so cheerful about the simplest things, and never pushed him to explain the questionable things about himself. you were a lot different than the people he would usually surround himself with. but like many things in na jaemin’s life, they often went sour very quickly.

//

And I watched as you fled the scene

Doe-eyed as you buried me

One heart broke, four hands bloody

//

jaemin had asked you to accompany him to the abandoned building one night. you were half asleep and freezing to death as you approached his car. it was quite beat up, making you worried,

“is this thing even safe to be driving?” you groan as you wrap yourself in your large puffer jacket. jaemin had previously insisted you bring a sleeping bag and pillow. you chose not to question it, too tired to argue back with him.

“don’t disrespect my sweet ride! be grateful i didn’t make you walk in the cold” he scoffed before starting the engine. the car ride was fairly quiet, you were drifting in and out of sleep, in which jaemin noticed. he thought you looked so peaceful, so he tried his best not to make any sharp turns or run over many speed bumps. in a matter of time, he parked the car, gently wiggling your shoulder. you woke up instantly, feeling his cold hand on your cheek. you furrowed your eyebrows before following him out of the car. he led you to the same wall you both had graffitied on before, but this time, it seemed to have become a complete picture.

“i wanted to show you this! isn’t it cool?” he gleamed, pulling you to his side, slightly rubbing your shoulder to warm you up. you quickly ignored his touch, focusing back on the wall. it was a mirage of different doodles and words that must have meant something to jaemin.

“this is amazing, you did this all by yourself?”

“yeah, i really wanted to see your reaction”

“what does it all mean?”

“it’s kind of a representation of what goes on in my mind? i’m not the best with expressing my feelings with words, so i decided to let it out on this wall” jaemin spoke with such ease, his voice filling your ears with warmth. he pulled you closer to him when he saw you shiver,

“care to share?” you slightly joked. jaemin never got too deep with you, so you assumed he would brush the comment off. but he just stares back at you, his eyes piercing into your own. you held your breath as he leaned in closer to you.

“sure thing” he slowly leads you back to the car, turning on the heater as you both wrapped yourselves in sleeping bags. you were huddled up in the back seat, your head leaning on his shoulder as he played with his fingers.

“i never had an outlet for my imagination. my parents weren’t the most warm or loving people in the world. i barely remember anything from my childhood, except for the unpleasant memories. when i started hanging out with some of the older kids, they showed me the ropes of their crew. they taught me how to graffiti, how to carve things with a pocket knife, you know, basic seventh grade stuff” he let out a soft chuckle, but you didn’t laugh. instead you placed your hand over his, feeling the coldness shoot through your body.

“i-i don’t like showing how i feel. because i think it makes me weak, or pitiful. that’s a bad way of thinking, but i can’t help it. so i let out my frustrations here, by either spray painting or smashing random things. it’s nice to get it all out” he stops speaking, his posture suddenly stiffening. you lifted your head from his shoulder, forcing him to look over at you.

“i’m here to listen to you. you don’t have to result to destroying things in order to reveal your feelings. you can just talk to me next time, okay?” you assured him, tightening your grip on his hand. jaemin just nodded, his eyes faltering from yours. why were you so considerate towards him?

“wanna know why i punched yuna in the face?” you saw jaemin crack a smile, nodding frantically.

“she said some things about my family, how they only took me in because they felt sorry for me. see, i’m actually a foster kid, my real parents weren’t in the ‘right state of mind’ to take care of me. well, in the eyes of the law atleast” jaemin didn’t know how to respond, opting to pulling your head back into his shoulder.

“i know she was just trying to rile me up, my foster parents aren’t terrible. but hearing those words just struck a nerve. how can people be so judgmental?”

“that’s just life, love. everyone will always have their own opinions, but it’s up to you, on how to respond. or you can simply choose to ignore them, it’s always worked for me” jaemin started tracing small patterns on the back of your hand, feeling his eyes become drowsy.

“but i don’t want to always ignore my problems. i want to be able to face them, how else will i grow as a person?” you sighed,

“we grow each and every day, most of the time we don’t notice. you’re doing better than you think. sure, you’ll grow up soon enough, you’ll develop your own identity, but for now, enjoy the moment. don’t care too much about what others think, this is your life to lead” jaemin looked down at you, feeling a warm sensation reach his heart.

“for someone who doesn’t like speaking his mind, you sure give some great advice. promise we’ll be there for eachother?” you pull out your pinky finger from his grip, watching as he blinks for a few seconds. you sensed some hesitation, but blamed it on him being tired. eventually, jaemin linked his pink with yours, sealing it with a gentle press of his lips. you couldn’t hide how flustered you had gotten, burying your head in his chest as he started stroking your hair.

“thankyou for being with me tonight” he mumbled as he felt himself fall asleep,

“anytime”

//

sometimes jaemin would leave you hanging for days on end. at first you would get concerned, mainly for his own safety. you were never sure what he got up to in his spare time, and to be honest, you didn’t want to know. but after a certain amount of days, he would pop back into your life that nothing happened, as if no time had passed. today was one of those days. he was sitting on your bedroom floor, flicking through your history notes. you couldn’t pry your eyes away from him, he looked so peaceful.

“you’re so much smarter than me” he huffs, scratching his head as he closed your notebook.

“no way, i’m pretty average. you’re more street smart than i am” jaemin perks up at your words,

“i guess i am huh” he smirks to himself, making you slightly smile.

“i can help you study if you want, you need a pass, right?” you scooted over to him, sitting so that your shoulders brushed against eachother.

“well yes, technically. but passing doesn’t secure i’ll get into college. not that i can even go” he shrugs, eyes focused on his rings, beginning to fiddle with them.

“what do you mean?”

“i don’t have the grades, my parents barely have any money saved for my college fund. i don’t have a job, you see the issue here?” you sensed him stiffen up next to you, this topic clearly striking a nerve within him. you placed a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it,

“you know college isn’t for everyone. i’m sure you will be able to live a good life” jaemin knew you were trying your best to cheer him up. but these were constant thoughts and struggles he had been dealing with for what seemed like a lifetime. he knew you would never fully understand, and he couldn’t be mad at you for that.

“y-yeah, i’ll be fine” he sighs, linking is fingers with yours. you worried about jaemin so much, it slowly began to take over your mind. you caught yourself thinking about him more often, how you wanted to be there for him during his dark times. but jaemin always shoved off the idea of getting too deep with his emotions. sure, he trusted you with most things, but there was always a thought in the back of his mind. you were way too good for him.

//

“what is this?” you smiled brightly at the boy standing across from you. he was leant up against your locker, gift bag in his hands, shoving it towards you.

“a token of my appreciation for our growing friendship” you chose to ignore the last word, your feelings towards jaemin still being undecided.

you slowly open the bag, your eyes landing on a small box. you furrowed your eyebrows, before opening it.

“t-this is beautiful, jaemin. how did you afford this?” you gasped, pulling out the shiny necklace from the delicate box. it was a silver chain, that sparkled under the light at just the right angle. there was a small pendent latched onto it, a butterfly.

“don’t worry about that, do you like it?” he grinned at you, taking in your ecstatic reaction,

“of course! i cant thank you enough!”

you pull him into a warm hug, arms tightening around his torso. jaemin chuckled softly, bringing his arms to wrap around your frame, slowly swaying you side to side.

“being there for me is enough, i promise”

//

The things I did

Just so I could call you mine

The things you did

Well, I hope I was your favorite crime

//

the following few days, jaemin went MIA again. you were beginning to become annoyed by his lack of communication. you wanted to believe he was gone for good reason, but something in your gut sensed something worse was happening. that’s when you decided to go to the abandoned building, remembering he often went there when he wanted to be alone. not having a car of your own caused many issues in your life. like right now, you were huffing and puffing once you hopped off your bicycle. you quickly set it aside, making your way to the building. before you turned to the main corridor that you met jaemin in many times before, you heard hushed voices, one belonging to the boy in question.

“we need this deal done asap. no excuses” a deep voice echoes through the building. you couldn’t get a good look at them without being caught, so you remained hidden behind a huge slab of concrete.

“b-but what if they think i’m scamming them because i’m new?” jaemin squeaked. you had never heard him so worried before.

“well you better think of some way to get them to buy, we can’t risk anymore losses. take this as initiation into the big boys club” what the hell was going on?

soon enough, the small group of men had left the building, walking past the concrete slab you were hiding behind. you let out a sigh of relief before rushing to jaemin. his eyes widened at the sight of you, part of him wanting to yell at you for being so stupid.

“what are you doing here?!” he was mad.

“i could ask you the same thing” you scoffed. jaemin suddenly became quiet, eyes avoiding yours.

“what’s going on? and i want the truth. the whole truth” he just sighed, dragging you back to his car. you folded your arms, in disbelief from what you had heard prior.

“i-i’m helping them with some deals okay? it’s just a side hustle to get some cash, i want to get out of this town. this is the only way”

“what are you dealing? drugs?” you gasped, watching as jaemin snapped his neck to face you.

“yes, it’s not as bad as you think-“

“not as bad? they’re literally part of a gang. do you know what happens to people who don’t seal these deals?” you couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“i know the risks. but i’m desperate. i just need enough to buy an apartment in another city and finally start my life” jaemin doesn’t know why he’s bothering trying to explain this to you. he brushed his fingers through his hair roughly, letting out a groan as he did so.

“when i said there are ways for you to live a good life, i didn’t mean deal drugs. i meant get an apprenticeship or something! literally anything but this”

“there’s nothing you can do to change my mind. i already swore i’d do this deal. i need the money. you wouldn’t understand” jaemin struck back, feeling attacked by your words.

“what the hell is that supposed to mean? i-i can’t do this. come back to me when you’ve come to your senses. this is stupid and you know it” you rush out of his car, causing jaemin to trail behind you as you stumbled to find your bike.

“come with me” you stopped in your tracks.

“pardon?”

“come with me to the deal. i-i don’t want to go alone” he says barely above a whisper,

“you’re crazy if you think i’ll follow you like a lost pup-“ jaemin pressed his lips on yours, hands stuck to your waist, gently rubbing your sides as he deepened the kiss. your words became jumbled as he continued to kiss you. as much as you wanted to argue back with him, feeling his lips on yours was only something you had experienced in your dreams.

“please” he whispered, pulling away from you momentarily.

“o-okay” you whispered back, hands now on his shoulders. jaemin smirked with pride before pulling you in once again. he led you back to his car, dragging you into the backseat. he began trailing kisses down your neck, erupting a pleased sigh from you. and just like that, you were wrapped around his silly little finger.

//

you were now seated in the passenger seat of jaemin’s busted ass car. your nerves were off the charts, and so were his. you had never seen him so anxious before, he was breathing in quick successions and couldn’t stop shaking.

“just get it over and done with...okay? get in and get out” you try your best to ease his nerves but how much could you really say? you were encouraging him to commit to a drug deal, this was not how you expected your friday night to go.

jaemin just nodded, clutching onto something in his jacket pocket. he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, gently stroking your hair as he did so.

“thankyou for coming with me” he mumbled. you just nodded, trying to ignore your intense gut feeling that something was going to go wrong. he led you by your waist into the noisy bar. you kept your head down, allowing jaemin to gain sight of the clients. he didn’t let you approach the group of men, so you tried to distract yourself with a random fruity cocktail from the bar. it wasn’t enough to push aside your worries.

after what seemed like hours, you caught sight of jaemin, who seemed like he was in a rush. he quickly scooped you away from your seat, swiftly leading you out of the bar. before you could even open your mouth, he interjects,

“no time for questions, get in the car now” he harshly shoved you into the passenger seat. now you were more worried than before.

“what the fuck is going on?!” jaemin didn’t answer you, starting the engine of the car. before you could press him any further, the same group of men rushed out of the bar, eyes scanning for the boy next to you. this wasn’t good.

“may or may not have given them the wrong amount...nothing a little hide and seek can’t fix!” jaemin tried to laugh it off, but you knew he was equally as scared. his dingy car wouldn’t start, adding to the panic in the atmosphere. the group of men were already in their own vehicle, approaching jaemin’s car rather quickly.

“fuck fuck fuck” he began shouting, slamming his foot on the accelerator as the car hurled forward. in a matter of time, he was speeding down the street. he probably ran a couple red lights and a few stop signs, but he wasn’t fazed. you on the other hand, were about to throw up. jaemin kept taking sharp turns to throw off the car chasing you, he barely looked back. you were terrified in this moment. anything could go wrong, one wrong turn, and it could all be over. soon enough, he stopped right outside the all too familiar abandoned building. he was out of breath, the adrenaline still present in his system. you were completely frozen, still in shock at what had occurred.

“wasn’t that riveting?” he smirked. he fucking smirked?

“are you kidding me? that was fucking insane. d-don’t do this again. i don’t want any part of this anymore” you began tearing up, feeling your heart pump out of your chest. jaemin’s face dropped as he tried to hold your hand, in which you pulled away immediately.

“t-take me home. please.” he didn’t say anything back to you. he respected your wishes and took you home safely. you didn’t even want to think about the punishment he would receive from the gang for messing up the deal. the only thought of your mind was your own safety. jaemin risked your safety this time around. you would have done anything for him, but in this moment, you were beginning to regret it. na jaemin was trouble. and you needed to stay away from trouble.

//

staying away from na jaemin was harder than you thought. subtle glances from across the classroom or school courtyard wasn’t doing you any good. so you sought refuge in the library. somehow he managed to find you there too.

“y/n, please, talk to me” you continued to read the novel you weren’t interested in, trying your best to remain angry. he sat across from you, pulling down the book from your face, eyes begging to meet yours.

“there’s nothing left to say” he just sighs, never seeing you be so stubborn.

“i know what i did was wrong, i shouldn’t have put you in that posit-“

“can we please not discuss this here? where anyone can hear us?” you quickly interrupt him, pulling him to the school parking lot. out of habit, jaemin led you to his car, opening the passenger side door for you. you got chills as you sat in the seat once again, the memories flooding back.

“i-i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have brought you into it. i just didn’t want to be alone...you’re the only person who doesn’t make me feel alone.” jaemin could barely look at you, too embarrassed of being vulnerable.

“you know how i’m against what you’re doing. and i know i can’t change your mind. i just can’t keep worrying about your safety. it hurts me knowing that you could get hurt one day” you began sniffling, which made jaemin’s heart ache. he pulled your face to meet his own, staring at your soft features. he slowly guided his fingers to wipe away your tears.

“don’t worry too much about me, love. i’ll be just fine” he pressed a soft kiss to your lips, and just like that, you were dragged right back into his arms.

“be careful” you whispered against his lips,

“always”

//

You used me as an alibi

I crossed my heart as you crossed the line

And I defended you to all my friends

//

jaemin wasn’t careful. not in the slightest. he showed up at your window, hands clutching to his lower torso area as he stumbled into your room. you hushed him to be as quiet as he could but you immediately knew something was wrong. he practically fell to his knees, soft whimpers and sighs leaving his mouth. you quickly moved to turn on your lights, taking a better look at the boy in pain. your eyes travelled along his face, covered in scratches and bruises.

“you good with playing medic tonight?” he joked, trying to relieve the tension. but you were not having any of it. you pulled him into your bed, allowing him to lay on his back. he had an array of cuts over his body, including a large gash on his lower lip. you swiftly rushed to the bathroom, grabbing your not so impressive first aid kit, but it would have to do for now. you tried your best to disinfect what you cold, until you reached his torso. you saw there were specks of blood leaking onto his t shirt, which made you more worried than you were initially. jaemin just sighed, lifting up his shirt slowly. your eyes were glued on the painful wound plastered on the right side of his body.

“d-did someone stab you?!” you felt tears prickle the side of your eyes. how could he be so stupid?

“n-no, its just a cut, it’s not even that deep” he tried to play it off, but the moment you pressed the cleansing wipe onto the wound, he winced.

“stop playing the tough guy. i hate when you play tough guy” you groan, trying your best to tend to his wound. jaemin watched as your expression changed from one of concern, to annoyance.

“hey, don’t be mad at me, okay?” he brought his hand to hover over your thigh, gently stroking his fingers on the surface.

“i’m sorry” he whispered, trying his best to sit up, but you immediately pushed him back down. you moved to lay next to him, allowing yourself to finally look him in the eyes.

“i can’t always be here to take care of you like this, jaemin. as much as i want to, there are going to be times where i just can’t. you have to understand that”

“of course, i didn’t expect you to be my personal nurse or anything. i just don’t want you to leave” his words sank deeply into your thoughts.

“i-i won’t leave”

“thankyou. i promise i will take you out and we will have fun. like old times. we can go on a road trip, or even that stupid homecoming dance you keep talking about. i’ll do anything to make it up to you because i ca-“ he immediately stopped himself, clutching his side.

“just get some rest, we can continue this discussion another day. goodnight jaem” you just sighed, turning on your back to face him. jaemin didn’t know why he couldn’t finish his sentence. he does care about you. more than anyone else in the world. but why couldn’t he just say it?

you on the other hand, were too busy imagining your future with jaemin. would he be there as your partner in crime for life? or was he just someone passing by to teach you a lesson? you weren’t too sure you wanted to find out.

//

“y/n, principal lee wants to see you in his office” your economics teacher informed you during class, eyes of classmates following you as you left the room. you swore you hadn’t done anything remotely mischievous lately, besides snatching a cheat sheet for the upcoming final.

“ah yes y/n, please take a seat” principal lee invited you into his office. you tried your best to stay focused on the stubby man in front of you but you couldn’t ignore the two police officers standing to the side.

“you wanted to see me, sir?”

“yes, these officers are here to ask you some questions. don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble. they just need some information for their investigation” he explains as best he could, shifting the conversation over to the two officers.

“as principal lee mentioned, we just need information. are you comfortable with us asking you a few questions?” you slowly nodded, hands beginning to clam up.

“we have reason to believe your friend, na jaemin, has been involved in an incident that occurred last thursday. he claims he was present with you that night. can you confirm this?” you immediately froze. you swore you didn’t even blink. that was the night he came to your window, all banged up a bruised. but you couldn’t tell them that part. so you went with a variation of the truth,

“yes, he was with me, we often study together and watch movies on thursdays.” you tried your best to maintain eye contact, not wanting to draw any more attention.

“have you noticed anything odd in his behaviour lately?” you knew they were just following protocol, but you weren’t prepared for any of this.

“not really. he is quite reserved naturally, but there hasn’t been anything too alarming, in my opinion” the officers just nodded, scribbling down your words.

“thankyou for your time, if we were to need any more statements from you, would you be okay with that?” you simply nodded, wanting nothing more than to get back to class.

“great, we’ll be heading off now, thankyou principal lee, and y/n” you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding in. what in god’s name happened that night?

“why were the cops coming out of the office? did you do something?” your friend, jimin asked you as she rushed to your side.

“n-no, they were asking about jaemin” you sighed. you didn’t want to tell her much, knowing she wasn’t his biggest fan.

“y/n, you have to stop hanging out with him so much. he’s bad news. i mean, he’s got the cops questioning you? is that someone you really want to be with?” you knew she had your best interest at heart, but she didn’t know jaemin like you did. no one did.

“don’t talk about him like he’s some pest in my life. he makes me happy, okay? i’d do pretty much anything for him” you huff, beginning to walk away.

“but would he do anything for you?” her words made you stop in your tracks. she was right to question that. god, even you questioned it sometimes. would he?

//

And now every time a siren sounds

I wondеr if you're around

'Cause you know that I'd do it all again

//

jaemin insisted he take you to the homecoming dance — he even pinky promised you.

“jaemin! i’m so excited for tonight, what time are you coming by?” you excitedly squeal into the phone, making jaemin slightly chuckle.

“uh love, i-i don’t think i can make it tonight” you felt your heart drop.

“what? why?”

“i have some business to take care of. i promise you i’ll take you out soo-“

“i think you should stop making promises you can’t keep. hope you have fun doing whatever you’re doing” you immediately hung up, wiping the stray tears from your face. you quickly pulled yourself together. showing up alone to the homecoming dance after you told your friends you were going with jaemin, was probably one of the most embarrassing things you had ever experienced. they all felt pity for you, dragging you to dance, trying to get you to forget about jaemin. but nothing was working. you were beyond disappointed, partially in yourself, for believing he could actually keep his promise.

the moment you got home, you saw someone sitting on the steps just outside your front door. you let out a loud sigh, hoping he heard everything. you wanted to push right past him and go to bed, but jaemin trapped you in his arms. you felt something was off about him. he was stiff as a board, he didn’t say anything to you. you finally got a glimpse of his face, his right eye was swollen and there was a slight gash on his cheek. you immediately gasped, all your anger towards him had fizzled away.

“w-what happened?” you barely whispered, bringing your hand to the side of his face. jaemin winced as he felt the touch, quickly pulling away.

“finally got what was coming” he tried to laugh it off, but he knew you weren’t going to laugh back. instead, you allowed him to follow you to your room, hoping your parents were fast sleep.

jaemin slowly made his way to sit on your bed. you felt like he had something else he was hiding from you, but your main focus was yet again, tending to his wounds.

“i’m getting some real déjà vu right now” you sighed, cleaning his face. jaemin tried his best to not move, but everything stung. he really got it bad this time.

“i’m sorry for breaking my promise. i know how much the dance meant to you” he softly muttered, eyes avoiding yours.

“i-it’s okay”

“no it’s not! you do so much for me, and i couldn’t even do this one thing for you. i feel so shitty. why do you even keep me around? i’m deadweight and that’s trouble for someone with wings” he scoffs, replaying harsh words he had heard from others in the past. you slowly plucked away the medical kit, turning to face him properly. (a/n: not me using a quote from the show ‘panic’)

“you’re not deadweight...you’re a good person, jaem. you’re good to me, that’s what matters” you gently push away the stray strands of hair that covered his forehead. he smiled at your touch, leaning into your palm as you brought it to cup his cheek.

“i love you”

you almost choked on your own saliva...he loves you?

“w-what?”

“yikes, not the response i was hoping for” he yet again, tried to relieve the tension with a joke. but you weren’t having any of it.

“can you be serious for one minute in your life? you can’t just say something like that and not expect me to freak out! i mean, do i love you too? of course i do! i would be stupid not to, but jaemin, you cant just spit that out of nowhere!” you began pacing around your room, which made jaemin smile even wider.

“well i just did. and i mean it” he stood to meet you, standing in the middle of your room as he held your shoulders in place.

“s-so what happens now?” jaemin hesitated for a moment, did he just ruin everything?

“we can’t be together”

“pardon?”

“i-i can’t do that to you. i can’t let you be with someone like me. i’m constant danger. the cops are going to get me one day, and i don’t want you to see it happen” he started rambling, you were barely understanding anything.

“this makes no sense. you’re telling me that you love me but you can’t be with me? why would you do this to me?” you started sobbing,

“i-i don’t expect you to understand. i just needed to tell you before...” he paused, pulling you closer to him. but you pushed yourself away. you didn’t want to hear anymore but forced yourself to listen. you needed answers.

“before what?” you gritted through your teeth,

“before i leave” your eyes widened, tears stopped flowing for a moment. you couldn’t make out any words, allowing jaemin to explain,

“i cant stay here, not in this town. i need to go somewhere else. somewhere they won’t find me. somewhere i can start over” he sighed, sitting back down on your bed.

“take me with you! we can go tonight, i don’t care where i am, as long as you’re with me i’ll be okay!” you begged, pulling out your duffel bag from under your bed. but jaemin quickly gripped your wrists, pulling you to sit with him on the bed.

“y-you can’t come with me. it’s not fair on you, or me. i want you to have a better life, a life with no regrets. you have so many goals, i can’t hold you back from them. i won’t” he insisted, holding your hands in his as he pleaded you with his eyes. you weren’t thinking straight, everything became so overwhelming.

“why are you doing this to me? i cant do this without you! i cant get through all of this without you. please don’t leave” your hands began to shake. jaemin brought them to his lips, placing soft pecks on each knuckle in an attempt to calm you down.

“you can. i know you can. because you’re you. an incredibly loyal, intelligent and courageous person. you don’t need me. if anything, i need you more” he smirked at the last part. you kept shaking your head, not believing anything he was saying.

“just promise me one thing?” he whispered, leaning in closer to you so that your foreheads touched.

“don’t forget me. don’t forget all the things we got up to. i had so much fun with you, more fun than i’ve had in my entire life. i can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me. i love you, okay? i’ll always love you” finally, he kissed you. his hands dragged to your waist, rubbing over the soft skin. you shined into the kiss, partially still upset with his departure.

“can we just have one last night together?” you pulled away, wiping away the rest of your tears. jaemin softly nodded, pulling you down onto the bed, wrapping his arms around you.

“thankyou for being my partner in crime. i’ll miss you” he sighed, gently scribbling random doodles on your arm with his fingers.

“i miss you already. maybe one day, we’ll meet again? i don’t know, am i being silly?” you didn’t want him to answer, afraid he’d break another promise.

“you’re not silly at all. we’ll see what life has planned for us” he responded. that was enough for you. you’ll leave it up to fate. you were just happy you were spending one last night with the boy you loved so dearly.

//

It's bittersweet to think about the damage that we'd do

'Cause I was goin' down, but I was doin' it with you

Yeah, everything we broke and all the trouble that we made

But I say that I hate you with a smile on my face

Oh, look what we became

//

you awoke the very next morning in an empty bed. your heart sunk, knowing jaemin was gone had finally hit you. your eyes drifted to where he once was, landing on a piece of paper.

‘go to the building for one last goodbye. i hope you like it.

- jaem <3 ‘

you quickly got changed and rushed there as fast as you could. would he be there to bid you farewell? you weren’t betting on it, but was still curious as to what he had to show you. you made your way into the building, your eyes cascading over all the graffiti. finally, you saw exactly what he left for you. he painted over the mural you both worked on. it had been replaced with a painting of a butterfly. its wings were all different colours, you could tell he spent ages on it. you finally reached the bottom of the artwork, a small inscription was engraved,

‘for the one with the wings, keep on soaring’

“so cheesy, i hate it” you joke to yourself, smiling at his words. this was his final gift for you. as you admired the painting once again, memories of all your little adventures came rushing back. everything you did together seemed like an eternity ago. although you wished you had confessed to him sooner, or kissed him harder, you knew that he was gone for good. jaemin wasn’t the time to keep many promises, so you’ve learnt. you started to put your faith in the universe. if you were meant to be, then you would meet again. but for now, you were content with everything you had gone through together. you were grateful to have known someone as amazing as jaemin, and you would never take that for granted. you only hoped he would do the same, no matter where you both were in life. you hoped you could both grow wings and soar through life without any regrets.

[deltawrites]

School days: Family shenanigans

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen

Pairing: Satoru Gojo x reader x Suguru Geto

Author note: Happy pride month y'all. Be gay, do crimes, and enjoy these extra headcanons I absolutely didn't have to write but did anyways.

Warnings: besides extreme fluff and shenanigans, nothing to throw up the alarm for. If I did miss anything that needs tagging, please inform me right away!

New to the series? Click here

So you all bought a house at some point. How neat! What was the process like? It was pretty fun, but also stressful as hell because it was not only a big step for the entire family, but also for the relationship itself. It's strange how signing a bunch of legal documents puts the past few years into perspective.

Regarding legal custody over Nanako and Mimiko. It was agreed that Nanako and Mimiko would be formally adopted by Suguru and you, which technically makes the two of you their fully recognized, legal guardians. All three of you would have loved to sign the official adoption papers together, but the laws aren't there just yet. Satoru was fine being left out of the adoption papers since you and Suguru have normal and sane families outside of jujutsu society, so getting the papers approved was exponentially easier this way.

He still has some degree of legal custody and authority over the girls. He's signed a power of attorney, which allows him to make any legal and financial decisions if neither you or Suguru are present or incapacitated. You all also drafted a will that grants Satoru full custody over the girls should you two kick the bucket. Neither you nor Suguru have any intentions of dying anytime soon, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Having all these legal safeguards put in place gives you all a little peace of mind.

Since being raised with three parents is all they know, Nanako and Mimiko don't get why some of their classmates or even other parents think it's weird or “wrong”. They brushed it all off at first, their young minds at the time thinking the rude comments were their classmates being jealous or mad they only had two parents while they had three. As they got older and started to better understand that their family dynamic is not only nontraditional, but somewhat controversial, they took the offhanded comments and stares much more personally. They got into a few altercations in middle school. Not at the same magnitude as Megumi (thankfully), but you three were called quite often into the principal's office to discuss their behavior.

Yes, Satoru loathes these meetings just as much as you expect him to. Yes, Suguru does as well. Yes, it's usually up to you to keep your husbands calm and not give in to their urge to strangle the principal when they make blatantly underhanded comments towards you three. Don't worry, you're so used to dealing with authority figures making sly, degrading remarks right in front of you that you make sure to tear whoever it is you’re speaking with into a new one in a subtle manner. Your daughters' actions aren't the best, but neither are the actions of the people in charge of them. It's a constant battle of trying to find a middle ground that satisfies everyone involved.

Side note: You're not allowed to go to these meetings by yourself anymore. The one time you did was because of Megumi and he made the greatest mistake anyone could ever make; he got lippy with you.

Yeah, you tore him a new one too once he got it all out of his system. After that day, Megumi came to respect you as well as fear you. Mostly respect.

People eventually learn to shut up and mind their business when it comes to your family, but only after Satoru and Suguru gave them one too many death glares and intimidating gestures. Nanako and Mimiko aren't embarrassed by this at all or beg them to stop. In fact, they happily do the same to the other students too! ("What? If they get to do it, then so should we!")

Onto more light-hearted shenanigans. The one who’s most likely to pull out a whole roll of family pictures for random people given the slightest opportunity is Suguru. Satoru is a close second, but the photos he pulls out are the more embarrassing ones.

Some of his favorites are: A photo of Suguru with glittery pink bows in his hair, courtesy of Mimiko, while Nanako crookedly applies makeup on him, disgustingly blue eyeshadow and pink lipstick included. A photo of the girls drawing on your face with a permanent marker he gave them while you took a nap. A photo of Nanako and Mimiko dressed up like him, blindfold included.

Suguru and you are usually the designated shopping bag holders whenever the three of you go out to shop because Satoru doesn't know when to stop buying shit. He even buys random things too! Examples? A retro portable cd player or a second-hand gaming console from the 90's that he doesn’t even play. He even bought a saxophone once, and you're damn sure he’s never held one in his entire life.

As everyone knows, Satoru has expensive tastes when it comes to clothing. If he's stuck between two items and can't choose, he will almost always go down the "I'll buy them both!" route even though he knows there's no space to put it once you guys head back home.

His spending habits aren't entirely cluttering. Sometimes he'll buy something for you and Suguru or even for the kids. Clothes, jewelry, accessories, anything that his mind latches onto and makes him think "Oh, they'll like this!", he'll buy it without worrying about receiving something in return. How sweet!

Just kidding lmao if he gets you or Suguru a gift he accepts taking over his weekly chores as a fair trade. He's a bit less evil with Nanako and Mimiko. All they have to do is give him half of their dessert after dinner! That's all!

Speaking of Satoru being a spoiling spouse, he definitely spoiled the girls with candy when they were younger. They suffered a few cavities later down the line because he truly doesn’t know when to stop and even went behind your back whenever you told him to stop and it was a pain having to deal with. Thankfully, as they got older they gradually turned away his sneaky offers which shattered his heart into dust. It seemed like it was just yesterday when they were tugging on his shirt and begging him for an extra piece.

When it comes to Nana and Mimi's dating when they're teenagers, you’re usually the one they go to regarding that realm. When your husbands find out you’ve been in the loop and they aren't. it’s almost laughable how they expect you to share all the details with them. They’ll push and try to appeal to you to get you to loosen your tongue, but it’s glued shut over the more juicy details. The crumbs you do give them are about potential suitors but nothing more. Don’t be surprised if you find out they staked out their school to see who exactly you’ve told them about.

So, what happens if one of them brings a love interest back home or they let it slip they’re seeing someone? Tou guys are gonna invite the lucky person over, of course! Satoru and Suguru are going to interrogate and threaten them if you take your eyes off them for too long. it's sort of inevitable at this point. They can't cope with the girls growing up so quickly. You on the other hand are a bit more welcoming and lax with whoever they bring home. The general consensus is that you all will love and support whoever they decide to be with, but if the guy or gal is clearly a piece of shit scumbag they better hope none of you catch wind of this. You’re all equally overprotective when it comes to your girls.

In the event that Nanako and Mimiko decide that they want to become Sorcerers, they’re going to be met with a lot of resistance from the three of you, especially Suguru. This life isn’t one you would wish upon your worst enemy. Yes, all three of you met through this way of life, but you all had close encounters with death far more than anyone else should have to experience. Most of the people you’ve met are either dead or disfigured beyond recognition. The ones in charge are a bunch of bullshit traditionalists and Satoru and Suguru are trying to defy them with their progressive motives, which still needs to be approached with considerable caution despite them being the strongest. Needless to say, things aren’t that great within the jujutsu world and you don’t want your kids anywhere near it while the iron is still hot and constantly being struck.

If they really push the issue and show that they are dead set to follow in their parent’s footsteps, you all will give your blessings and get them enrolled at your alma mater. While the three of you still work at Tokyo tech, going back to the dormitory is very daunting and brings back both good and bad memories. What’s even funnier is that your old room still has the large mattress you bought all those years ago. It was well worn out by the time you all graduated.

Ah, the good old days of waking up either too hot or too cold, limbs entangled and someone likely drooling on the other.

[localsharkcryptid]

So inspiration came and hit me with a frying pan so now I'm putting it here cause thats a thing people do.

This whole idea is based on the 'Depressed guy moves into a house and is now haunted by 7 demons who represent the 7 deadly sins and they end up helping him get back on his feet' Writing Prompt with some changes of course

All characters here are based on the DSMP Characters NOT the content creators - I feel like that should go without saying but anyway

With that aside:

Basic story concept is that despite several warnings and general "you sure you want to move in this place?" from several people Tommy moves into a restored up victorian home, simply because well hey it was cheep as all hell... For some reason. That reason? Well, the uh unspecified company of the supernatural kind. After a few days of some odd feelings, temperature changes, several broken cups and odd smells Tomny is on edge. One night passes and sounds are heard from a locked off room, tommy being tommy eventually manages to get into the previously locked room- only finding some old book and proceeding to remove it from it's place, like an idiot. After this he tries to go to bed before hearing... A conversation? Well another trip downstairs and Tommy is greeted with those who he had unknowingly been living with. A group of seven demons? ghosts? Who fucking knows they're all dead and oh, the child has ran out screaming. So shenanigans with supernatural roommates who represent the seven deadly sins for some reason, the discount buzzfeed unsolved duo, a man who is apparently the grim reaper and a British might as well be child ensue!

My basic idea on how the seven deadly work in this context or at least with this story idea is that very one of them was previously alive, their downfalls primarily being the sin which they now represent. So- The sin which they represent has ties to their deaths and previous lives. ALSO Lust in this is in reference to a feeling of strong desire for something specific in general [Which is different from greed which is selfish or excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved]

So no sexual shit here minus some jokes. I know it doesn't fully work in the seven deadly sins context but I am not going down that road for many many reasons.

"7 Deadly Sins"/Supernatural Roommates tm:

Quackity [Envy]- Died in the late 20's

Used to run a lot of illegal gambling rings, who knows how many times he was betrayed and well he's dead now! His presence can normally be noticed thanks to the scent of tobacco and occasionally very faint jazz music [wherethefuckisitcomingfrom-]

Schlatt [Gluttony]- Died in the early 50's

Corrupt politician man who died of a heart attack, the smell of alcohol and cigar smoke is normally his give away if he's present in a room.

Dream [Greed]- Died during the Salem Witch Trials

Man got convicted for witchcraft, and several other crimes. His presence can be noticed by a distinct scent of pine trees and occasionally sharp drops in room temperature.

Eret [Lust - Once again not in the sexual sense]- Died during the Victorian Era

This individual is a walking irony to the very gendered views of their era, they do not give a shit the gender is now their's, all of it- there's no getting it back. Presence is normally noted by a smell of roses specifically.

Wilbur [Pride]- Died during the 80's

Hard to say if he was murdered or not, he doesn't seem to remember nor care. If not visible his presence can often be noticed by the smell of cigarette smoke, occasionally humming or the sounds of a guitar being played.

George [Sloth]- Died during the Black Plague

Man literally fell asleep and woke up dead before going back to sleep. For some reason his presence gives of the smell of rain and subtle drops in room temperature, or wherever he happens to be resting.

Sapnap [Wrath]- Died during WW2 era

Most definitely an arsonist, presence can be noted normally by a burning smell and increase in room temperature. He will break your cups for fun.

-------

Other Cast:

Tommy - Main Character tm

Tubbo - Resident Supernatural Denier, big Shane Madej vibes and yes the seven are intimidated by him

Ranboo - Supernatural believer

All are roughly 18-19 in this AU

Phil - The Grim Reaper and landlord of the house which Tommy moves into.

Mumza - Death- She's just the embodiment of death, nothing to worry about, she's very nice.

Thats the list for now-

-------

I have no clue if I'll do anything with this aside from character designs but hey the entire concept is now living in my head rent free.

[lettrespromises]

la querelle des coeurs. - kuroo, atsumu, daichi.

@luveranime​ sent a letter : ❝ Me again lmao 😂 could you do one where kuroo, atsumu and daichi’s s/o has a ex best friend and they try to take their bf away from their s/o but then their s/o like angrily lashes out? Then like a cute fluffy ending :) ❞

author’s letter : ❝ aaaaa, it’s always pleasure to see you in my inbox!! thank you so much for trusting me with all your prompts, it means the world. ooooh, i love myself some angst to fluff especially with kuroo. i hope you’ll enjoy your promised letter!

sealed with a kiss. sincerely yours, nikki. ❞

genre : kinda fluff, kinda angst. warnings : cursing, toxic friendship.

Now, now, now, Kuroo like the gorgeous scorpio he is has some kind of sixth sense when it comes to lies, basically, you could consider him as a human lie detector. This talent of his extends to being able to discern people’s true nature- given that he is someone who doesn’t trust people easily, he’s even more careful around people he doesn’t deem as trustworthy.

Truth be told, he doesn’t come as a surprise to him when you tell him that you had a succession of arguments with your best friend, to the point where you felt obligated to cut ties with them. 

You can tell from miles away that the sentence “I don’t want to say I told you so, but I told you so, kitten.” is burning the tip of his tongue, begging him to be set free so he could rub his pseudo sixth sense in your face.

From now on, Kuroo morphs into ‘super protective mode’, he just wants to protect you from any emotional harm, he knows how vicious your former best friend is, after all, he always knew.

He will walk with you everywhere, cradle you into his embrace if you feel the need to shed a couple of tears- he picks up the shattered pieces of your broken self and glues them one by one and seals them with a kiss or a heartfelt compliment.

After several days, Kuroo’s efforts and dedication to make you feel better finally sets in. Your introspection sunk in and you feel the aftereffects bloom- you feel fearless, powerful, and you came to agree with yourself on stating that you are indeed better off alone.

The plot twists in the hallways of your school- your arm is wrapped around Kuroo’s, just the way you like it. His orbs never leave you frame and anyone could tell how the gleam in his eyes reflect his love and adoration for you. 

Needless to say, his favorite time of the day was when he could have lunch with you and listen to your ramblings while observing your divine traits. However, being academically smart doesn’t prevent him from being a airhead at times : “Kitten, I totally forgot to grab myself something to drink. Will you wait for me at our spot? I’ll be quick.” “You already know where to find me then, Tetsu.”

And with that, he leaves you in the middle of the hall (but not before planting a peck on your forehead.) On his way to the vending machine, he sees none other than your former best-friend, body leaning onto said vending machine, as if they were waiting for him to come out after witnessing your discussion.

The plain expression plastered upon Kuroo’s facial expression speaks louder than a thousand words revolving around the lexical field of anger. Nonetheless, he tells himself that if he ignores them, then there will be no harm done, unless...

“Hey there, Kuroo. I knew you’d miss me! Don’t worry, baby, I missed you just as much.”

The person you once called your best friend orientates their body in a strategic way so they’re closer to Kuroo, their whole body facing him. Of course, he didn’t miss the poor attempts to get him to pay attention to them. Their whole body language screamed ‘acknowledge me.’

Kuroo remained stoic and pushed the coins inside the vending machine instead. This lack of attention only emphasized their anger and in return, their level of patience diminished gradually. But they had another ace hidden in their sleeve, and this time, attitude matched their actions- your former best friend grabbed the hem of Kuroo’s collar while their other hand was planted at the back of his neck to force him to look on what they deemed as the only important person here.

“Kuroo, baby, I’m so glad you came to see me, because let’s face it : you’re only here because you know you’d see me here. Have you finally realized that Y/N was not good enough for you? You want a real significant other, don’t you?”

If hearing the sound of their voice was disgusting enough, imagine how filthy Kuroo felt when he sensed a foreign body throw themselves on him- his skin was burning under the poisoning touch of your former best friend. 

Now, now. The ‘you’ topic was quite the sensitive one to Kuroo, given that he would and could put anyone in their place if he happened to hear a ill word about you. “I’m going to say this once : don’t play a game you can’t win so don’t say another thing about Y/N.” 

Oh, but would this stop them? Absolutely not. Their hand travelled from the back of their neck to the muscular reliefs on his chest, an area only you had the luxury you to touch and worship. “Don’t be like that, Kuroo. I know I can touch you, love you and at least I won’t fake it like Y/N does.” they concluded their sentence with a wink sent his way and Kuroo could already feel the taste of vomit invading his tastebud. 

In one sharp motion, he grabbed their wrist and yanked himself free of their intoxicating clutch. Just his luck, he thought, while your former best friend cursed silently under their breath as they saw you arrive.

“Tetsu, are you okay? What’s taking you so long?”

Oh and here it was, the pure grin which radiated nothing but pure mischief- your presence signed the end and what a beautiful ending it was for him. “Maybe you should ask them, kitten. They were rambling about how I should date them instead of you. Can you believe that bullshit?”

Your eyes darted onto a familiar frame, but just by glancing at them, you felt all the inner rage overwhelm you, including all the pain you had to go through. It was like facing your own nightmare, but you’ve never been alone to fight your battles- Kuroo has always been there by your side.

“You said what now?”

Your stare emanated nothing but pure and intense rage, your whole body language testified of your inner envy to make them choke on their own words.

“I said-...”

“If you think for a single second I’m going to let you talk, you’re dead wrong. You’ve been feeding me enough lies during all this time we were ‘friends’, and now, you’re throwing yourself on my man? You really have nothing for you, do you now? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go grab lunch with my boyfriend. I’m not sure you’ve ever heard of him but his name is Kuroo Testurou, you know, the man you’ll never get?”

Kuroo couldn’t help but to let a snicker break free from his lips, this scene was wonderful to watch. An immense wave of pride washed over him, and it struck him again, he realized for the umpteenth time how lucky he was to share his life with you.

He wrapped his arm around your waist, tugging you close to his side and delivered a peck full of love upon the flesh of your cheek. “I didn’t know you had all of this hidden in you, kitten. Not gonna lie, it’s kinda hot.” 

You playfully rolled your eyes and punched his arm as his words connected with your eardrums, “You’re so lucky I love you.”

“Don’t get it twisted, kitten, I’m lucky one here.”

“Are not.”

“Are too.”

“Are not.”

It’s safe to say that Atsumu does have a reputation that follows him around, he his the local heartthrob of his school and he secretly takes pride in that. But nothing fills his heart with pride more than being able to call you his.

Being Atsumu’s girlfriend, you are indirectly exposed to threats, insults and other acerbic remarks coming from his fangirls. Sometimes these attacks are direct like dirty talks behind your back when you’re holding his hand in the middle of the halls, and other times, it’s more subtle and the perfect example of that is how the person you used to call your best friend took advantage of your relationship status to get closer to Atsumu.

They made it clear and had no shame hiding behind their shameful shenanigans, “Did you really think I was talking to you for your personality? Get real, Y/N, I don’t care about you. I only care about your man.”

These subtle shenanigans hurt the most because they were the most vicious and purposefully hurtful, and the worst part was that they had somehow managed to become friends with Atsumu. Emphasis on the word ‘somehow.’

As per usual after school, both you and Atsumu could be found at the gym, and oh boy, did he love being able to see you everyday- not only at school but also at the gym as you were the manager of the volleyball team.

However, this time, you had quite the surprise when you entered the gym. Kita had asked all the players to gather up as he explained them the new change amongst the team : “Considering that the nationals are around the corner, the coach and I stated that it was necessary for us to hire a new manager in order for Y/N not to feel overwhelmed. Please welcome your new manager and take good care of them.” 

As his words echoed in the gymnasium, you felt your stomach sink to your heels, your mouth was set agape under the overwhelming feeling of pure disgust. Not them, out of all people. Hell, even Atsumu’s worst fangirl sounded like a better idea right now.

Of course you couldn’t blame Kita for choosing your former best friend as the new manager, but the glance Atsumu threw your way testified of how much he knew this situation was going to eat you up alive. 

After the captain dismissed everyone, Atsumu wasted no time and ran up to you, he felt the need to reassure you and make you feel at ease despite the venomous presence of your former best friend.

“Cheer up, baby, ya’ know I’m here, right? This pig isn’t gonna’ get a piece of me. Now, be a doll and gimme’ a kiss.” 

Classic Atsumu right here, but who were you to deny such a sweet request? So you did as told, and planted a kiss on his plump lips. And that’s when you could pinpoint the precise moment when your former best friend had fallen right into Atsumu’s trap.

“As your new manager, I have to say that it’s not very professional to kiss your significant other on the court. But, I mean, what else did I expect coming from Y/N?” 

Your boyfriend’s arm was protectively wrapped around your waist, tugging you closer. The root of each of his action was to protect you from the incoherent and toxic words dropping from their lips. But deep down, he knew better than to mess with you, especially when the whole team was looking at you.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Did you mean do this?”

There you went again, planting yet another kiss upon Atsumu’s lips who couldn’t help but grin at the taunting nature of your actions. Once you broke the kiss, you could feel the hot breaths of your boyfriend crashing upon your skin “That’s my girl.”

Your former best friend looked around in despair, her eyes scanned the room to seek for help, to back up her actions. Osamu let a small laugh fall free from his lips, Suna rolled his eyes so hard you thought they were going to get stuck at the back of his head, and Kita, out of all people, let out a desperate sigh. “As the captain of the team, I must inform you that it is my duty to let you know that you cannot dictate your way here, and you cannot display a clear lack of respect to Y/N.”

This time, it was their time to be dumbfounded and left in the middle of the gymnasium with their mouth set agape in pure surprise. The silence, although it was broken by a few playful laughs, was agonizing to them. 

“C’mon, new manager, tell ‘em why ya’ chose to come here.” Atsumu taunted, the smirk plastered upon his face as wide as ever, but he only found silence as an answer.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell the rest of the team? Alright then. Maybe you should tell them how you only joined our team to flirt with Atsumu knowing very well that we’re dating, what kind of person that makes you, mh?” Each word pronounced was embedded with venom of your own, and deep down, exposing the true nature of your former best friend brought some sense of satisfaction. And thus you began reading out loud each text they had sent you, justifying their one-sided reason to join the team, only to flirt with Atsumu.

“Yeah, ya’ ain’t slick! Sorry to break it to ya’ but I ain’t into snakes.” Atsumu continued, sticking his tongue out before the still dumbfounded personification of a snake.

Pure embarrassment consumed them, the more they were staying amongst the deafening silence of their sour loss, the more they felt vulnerable and the more they realized they lost their own game. The stares of the whole team became agonizing, so agonizing that they felt obligated to leave the gym, head hung low in defeat.

“Byeee! Ya’ won’t be missed!” Your boyfriend concluded his sentence by imitating the hissing sounds of snakes, and you wondered why you were dating a man-child. Nonetheless, knowing very well he couldn’t get his hands off of you and craved for a physical touch at all times, he pressed his lips against yours once more. “I ain’t into snakes but ya’ could s-s-s-s-slide your way into my heart, baby.” and with that, Osamu hit the back of his twin’s head with a volleyball.

Maybe he deserved that.

Being the unofficial dad of the Karasuno volleyball team came with its perks, one of them was the ability to be able to discern if the people you were hanging with genuinely cared about you or not, you liked to joke around and call this his “secret dad weapon.”

Much like Kuroo, he was not one bit surprised when you told him that you had to put your friendship to an end with your former best friend. Of course, he was not angry, but in typical dad fashion, he adorned the oh so famous disappointed dad expression on his facial structure.

He told you not to overthink it, and to focus on the other friendly presences in your life such as the volleyball team or Kiyoko and Yachi, mainly because he knew he could trust them with his eyes closed, but also because he knew he would be able to make them pay if they were to hurt you.

When you started dating Daichi, you grew the habit to join him outside the gymnasium after his training, a bottle of water in your hand in case he overworked himself, which he always did. 

This time, and much to your surprise, you found a note near the doorframe leading to the gymnasium. And if you were careful enough, the slight details and the precise calligraphy hinted that said note was in fact a love note. 

You found it rather amusing at first, perhaps it was a letter dedicated to Kiyoko because this woman was the living and breathing proof that God was indeed a woman. 

But everyday, you would find yet another letter, still carefully written and decorated leaning against the doorframe. This time, however, a calligraphic ‘D.S’ framed the front of the letter. You couldn’t help but let your stare roam over the fine print of calligraphy over and over again. 

As the saying goes ‘curiosity killed the cat’, and you were no exception to that common phrase. You meticulously took the letter and unfolded it- it was so beautifully written, the details were placed strategically. It was a proof of pure love in the form of a letter. 

Then, you began reading it :  “Dear Daichi,  Words cannot do justice of how much I love you. Everything about you fascinates me- from the way you spike the ball so roughly to the small smile on your face after scoring a point. If only I could tell you how much you mean to me. Don’t worry, Y/N won’t know a thing. Come to the gymnasium tomorrow at 5 if you wish, until then, accept all my love.”

You read the letter once, then twice, then an umpteenth time until the words were embedded in your brain. You thought it was just a prank, after all, Nishinoya and Tanaka were quite the pranksters amongst the team, but the handwriting was so delicate, too delicate to be theirs. 

You could feel salty pearls coming at the brim of your eyes until they fell onto the surface of the paper, resulting in the texture of the letter now being bloated under the wetness of your tears. 

You kept your discovery under silence, you trusted your boyfriend of course, but given the additional stress brought by the nationals, you refused to distract him from his goal.

But here you were, sharply there in front of the gym at five as indicated on the letter. However, Daichi hadn’t shown up like the anonymous lover requested, he was already stretching anyway. 

Knots started to form in your stomach as you wondered who the hell had the idea to write this love letter to him, after all, it’s not as if your relationship with Daichi was kept as a secret. 

And at 5:01 precisely, your orbs felt on the figure of your former best friend who had the most victorious grin plastered upon their face. Not only these letters were meant to be read by Daichi, but by you too, their main goal was to hurt you where it stung the most.

“What the hell are you doing here? Where you the one who wrote these letters?” You spat, waving the letters between your thumb and forefinger. 

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I know you love to make everything about yourself but I was expecting Daichi, not you.” Although they said they were sorry, there was not one ounce of genuine compassion in their voice.

Anger got the best of you resulting in the sudden apparition of veins on your neck as the volume of your voice only increased : “Who the fuck do you think you are? Are you that desperate? If you want a reply to your letter : Daichi doesn’t even know who you are.”

Your emotions controlled each one of your actions, including the severe tone of your voice. The ruckus made its way inside the walls of the gymnasium, until Daichi and Sugawara opened the door in order to find an answer as their interrogation : what was happening outside? 

Daichi’s eyes widened when he saw your frame shaking from anger, it was so unlike you, you matched him in a way because you were always so calm and collected. His mind raced as he wondered what was the cause of this sudden switch of behavior. 

He found the answer to his question pretty rapidly as his eyes darted towards your former best friend who was still wearing that victorious grin on their facial structure. “Y/N, love, what’s going on?” he asked as his hands were draped over your shoulders, forcing you to look at him.

“Oh, hey, Daichi! Have you read the letters I left for you? I bet Y/N never wrote this kind of letters for you.” It took inhuman strength for Daichi to ignore their taunt, instead, Sugawara sent a death glare their way : “Just leave, you have no business being here.”

Sugawara’s attempt at making them leave eventually succeeded after Coach Ukai’s sudden appearance before barking on your former best friend to “get the hell out of here” and “not disturb training anymore.”

Eventually, you were left alone with Daichi, your lungs felt constricted and you struggled to breathe. The aftermath of your outburst of anger made tears run down your cheeks as you sought for comfort inside of Daichi’s loving embrace. 

The pad of his thumb brushed your tears away, planting a series of kisses upon the surface of your forehead as a silent way to tell you that he was here and he was not going to let you go.

“Listen, love, I don’t know what happened and we will talk about it whenever you feel ready. But promise me one thing, never doubt of my love for you. Could you do that for me, Y/N?”

You simply nodded against his chest, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat kept the haunting thoughts in your head at bay. “I love you so much, Y/N, so, so much.” he whispered, concluding his sentence with a kiss left on your lips.

If only he knew how much you loved him. 

[enha-woodzies]

➸ CHAPTER 3 | " A NIGHT TO REENVISION "

starring: enhypen ft. i-land daniel

pairing: jungwon x fem!reader x sunghoon

genres: royal au, romance, angst, slowburn, 18th century setting

word count: 2.4k

taglist: @serendipitysung (beta reader), @angeljungwon @en-sun @affectionaterainoflove @renkiv @softforjungwoo @jislix @fluffi @gyeraniee

[ PREV. CHAPTER ] | [ M. LIST ] | [ NEXT CHAPTER ]

“Welcome! Welcome, dearlings, to the most awaited social event of the season! Behold, the Queen’s Court! The ever famous abode of our dearly beloved Queen, and home to all the grande festivities of the ton!

From the most stunning exteriors basking under the magnificent moonlit night, to the mornings of bliss overlooking the entirety of Northumberland, comes the imperial garden acclaimed for hosting luncheons and occasional fancy picnics for the ton’s paramount roster of elites.

A few walks from the garden and you’ll witness the magnificent gazebos on the Swan’s Lake that won’t be denied of such praise. Known to and open for everyone's appeasements, as the Queen herself generously gave the citizens the free will and spot to frolic about whenever they desire. These carefully embellished gazebos are not just eye-candy for most, but also a cradle of the ton’s banal scandals.

Ooh, you’ve read it right, dear. Scandals. Hmm, juicy ones at that. It’s like digging up a rare find or getting a taste of that incomparable tea after a long, jaded day; that is how clandestine scandals feel like after being unmasked to the invasive and ever attentive ton.

So, once again, may I remind you that such secrecies and mischiefs will be unearthed soon after every controversial social event. Keep your corsets steady and your boots firm for not one, but several shenanigans that will happen tonight, so much that you might barely take another breath of relief. As the day falls and the anticipated night comes, beware and be aware.

This has been the Daily Tattle, flipping the pen to rest for a one-night breather on the royal court. I will leave the rest up to you.”

Sparkling, multi-layered chandeliers hang above the finest dressed attendees of the ton. With cascading tiers of crystals shimmering against the royal walls, one would wonder if it's the mounted light fixture or the magnificent ladies strutting through the foyers.

To their right, lies a raised platform with Northumberland’s exquisite septet orchestra, and to their left, wide terraces situated two meters away from each other with a scenic view of the Queen’s bountiful, maze-like garden, huddles up the lords and ladies for a breath of fresh night’s air with glasses of champagnes in hand.

Butlers in their uptight wardrobe stand against huge pillars at every possible arched entrances surrounding the royal court, as the Queen’s top cooks attend to the abundant feast that's splendidly sprawled on the lengthy table at the end corner of the hall.

Most of the ton’s eligibles have been exchanging glances and boasting off impressive accomplishments along every corner of the room, and some were already taking the honors by dancing across the thickly, carpeted floor.

With all his might and family’s pride, Lord Jay, first-born of the Park Family, leads his clan to the hall with his elegant and stunning treasure of a sister in hand as Lord Niki has their fine-aged mother on his.

“Ah! Emily, darling, finally! So great to see you tonight!” Lady Yang quickly turned her head to their direction before slowly rushing to Lady Park’s side. “Your sons are ravishing as always, dear.” said Lady Park as she gives each gentleman an acknowledging nod.

“My, my! If it isn't the jewel of the elites. Miss Y/n, dear, you look very gorgeous. Adorned in all these lovely things, you'll surely go home tonight without missing out a single lord in sight.”

“That is, if they're a suitable match for my sister, Lady Yang.” Jay butts in with a chuckle while tapping his sister’s hand that's tightly gripping his arm.

“You don't say.” Lady Yang smirks to the man before peering over her shoulder to catch her son’s attention. “Jungwon, dear, why don't you and Miss Y/n make use of your time on the dance floor, hm? I'm actually quite parched. Lord Jay, would you do me the honor?”

Jay reluctantly obliged, as if he had any other choices for that matter. He let go of his sister and tended to Lady Yang’s request with a heavy heart.

The two clans disperse to keep themselves entertained as they have such a long night ahead of them. Niki and Daniel walk towards one of the terraces to chatter over what other sports they shall try soon, while Sunoo immediately gasps at the sight of the banquet on the corner end of the room, quickening his paces with exhilaration plastered on his face.

He peers over his shoulders, checking any threat in sight. No one wants to have their reputation sabotaged in the Daily Tattle after all, especially on a special evening. “Care to have a taste of our delicious cakes, young lord?” Sunoo bit his bottom lip with his eyes fixed on the several cakes offered in front of him. He clears his throat in a noble manner while swiftly pulling the ends of his velvety vest. “One tiny plate will do, please.” He smiles awkwardly to the cook before taking a dreamy bite on the fluffy two-layered vanilla cake.

Whereas, the two eligibles are buying themselves some time before finally having a worthwhile exchange. The lavishly looking gentleman gently bowed affront the gorgeous lady before him, handing over his open palm for consent. “May I?” Y/n stifles a giggle hoping her cheeks won't flush while in the presence of her cherished lord.

She looks at his eyes for a moment, searching for a glimmer of light, something from this night to keep for her mind’s bliss. “Miss Park?” Jungwon clears his throat. “Oh! Forgive me. I thought there was something in your eyes.” She chuckles lightly.

But Jungwon, being the ever so oblivious lad, blinks his eyes repeatedly in wonder. “Really? What do you suppose it was?” Y/n gulps down. “M… me-” She mutters under her breath but the young lad’s attention quickly shifts to another gentleman, walking his way towards the two. Y/n huffs out a sigh of relief with the comforting thought that Jungwon didn't probably heard what she mumbled.

“Lord Yang, Miss Park, a pleasant evening. Allow me to introduce myself.” Jungwon steps a few inches away from Y/n as his eyes jump from the man, to the lady in confusion.

“Lord Lee. Simply known by the ton as Lord Heeseung. Please, if you must, be my muse on the dance floor, Miss Park.” Y/n looks at Jungwon in slight worry, but the latter looks away, seemingly unbothered by the sudden intrusion.

“I… I suppose I must.” She slips her hand on the newly arrived gent’s with her gaze trailing off from the love of her life.

“I suppose I should take a gander on the uh… terrace.” Jungwon's lips curve into a small smile and though his dimples are evident, they didn't appear too transparent for Y/n's liking.

“My lady, allow me to uplift your night with my presence.” Heeseung bows to the beautiful miss before taking her hand to intertwine it with his.

To the crowd, it would seem like they were both sharing endearing looks as the lord himself was a known charmer, but on the young miss’ end, she was rather staring at his eyes imagining what it would feel like if it was Jungwon’s dreamy pair she was drowning herself into.

Y/n never muttered a single word to the charming lord. Despite his subtle boast about his indisputable achievements in the high society, Y/n just gracefully went with the flow and would let out amused chuckles here and there for the sake of being polite.

“Lord Lee.” Jay, in his most serious tone, approaches the two the instant the music came to an end.

“Ah! Lord Park. Such a pleasure to see you around. Your sister's very lovely.”

“Without a doubt. Now if you would give me the honor to dance with my sister, I would much highly appreciate the compliment.” Y/n furrows her eyebrows to her brother who just subtly scoot off the pretty lord with such dominance. Heeseung responds with an acknowledging nod, locking eyes with Jay, before handing Y/n’s hand to her almost domineering brother.

“For a moment there I thought you were being pompous again but on a positive note, I very much appreciated the save.” Y/n now has her hand tangled on her brother's arm while Jay caresses it with comfort.

“Not to worry, sister. I won't let you concern yourself with such men.”

“Such men? Confessedly, he's rather ravishing.”

“He’s rather chatty. The likes of him, tsk, tsk.” The two siblings walk around the massive court, eyeing noble lords in sight to keep the young miss heedful of her choices.

“Lord Heeseung, the ton's most favored bachelor and a very skilled gentleman.”

“Of what?” Y/n leans closer to her brother's shoulder.

“Of a lot of things. He’d actually make a fine husband, all good for properly leading a household.”

“But? Knowing you, brother, there's always a catch.”

“Do not concern yourself with him, sis.” Jay clicks his tongue.

“Care to tell me why? So far, he's the only man here whom you've extolled such virtues to me. I don't see anything wrong with him.”

“His secrets are darker than his smooth, charcoal locks. Trust me sister, such stories aren't for your ears. Let's just go after men that aren't too… known.”

“You're not making any sense at all, Jay.”

“What I'm trying to say, sister, is let us find you a man with humble roots and aspirations and the most necessary factor, a tad bit anonymous.”

“Well, I should find myself a farm boy then.”

“Good god, Y/n!” Jay hisses as he rolls his eyes. Y/n enjoys making fun of her brother. Knowing Jay’s temper, Niki and her would sometimes hide behind his bedroom door and play with the lights in his room to scare him off.

“You wouldn't want all of the ton's eyes on you now, would you? Tirelessly spying on your lives, even the tiniest details and flaws should go uncovered. The ton has a lot of matters to talk about already and making you an addition to their roster of hottest topics for gossip is no good for our family’s name." Jay whispers against Y/n’s ear. So much for handling his sister's affairs well, he couldn't handle his own temper the same way.

The two enter into a more secluded room, sufficiently away from the royal court and the people's intrusions, but giving the music enough room to enter. It was seemingly the Palace’s library, very much welcome to whomever likes to scan the lofty pages of the archaic, thickly covered books.

Jay gently removes his sister's hand on his arm. “It is my utmost duty and desire to chaperone you tonight, sister. But someone made an exclusive request to me and I very much trust them enough to uplift you for the remaining moments of the night.”

“Wait, why? Where are you off to?” Y/n looks at her brother in slight worry. “You know full well that I'm a man of my word. I gave away my consent to have you dance with this gentleman, and rest assured I will stay on the other side of this door for you.” Jay leans closer against his sister's ear. “You'll thank me later. Enjoy, sister.” And with that being said, Jay gently closes the door behind him, leaving Y/n in a room with nothing but lingering curiosity.

The room is a tad dim as the only sources of light present are the two chandeliers hanging against the ceiling, exuding a bright, orange glow and the few candelabras resting on each lengthy table.

Y/n gawks at the finest interiors and exquisite, Corinthian columns standing at every corner of the room. She happily twirls around the center of the floor when a sudden shuffling of fabric cuts in. She jerks her head to the culprit and is welcomed by a delightfully shocking sight near the open window on her right.

“My lord! Apologies.” Y/n gasps then curtsies before the man affront.

“My lady.” He retorts. The lass had to blink twice to confirm that what she just heard wasn't a mirage. “Forgive me for keeping the silence.”

“No, no! It's alright. I was just... surprised.” The lady lets out a chuckle. “What are you doing here?”

“I was waiting for my turn.” Y/n furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “The dance? That charming lord out there surely knows his way with the ladies.” The two exchange giggles but is soon replaced by an awkward silence.

“May I?” Jungwon lets out his open palm to the lady. Although he was initially against the idea, it seemingly puzzles him that he had to ask Jay this particular favor among others.

Why did he do it? Probably to keep themselves hidden from the ton. But why would he hide? No one knows for now.

Y/n softly slips her flimsy fingers on the gent’s smooth palm as Jungwon takes his time to place his hand on the lady’s waist. With the wonderful tune echoing from the dance hall, the two gladly join the music with an alluring waltz.

Light exhales, and foreheads an inch away, Y/n could've sworn she muttered something about the lord’s lips as her eyes were locked upon them almost the entire time. Jungwon, on the other hand, would unconsciously bite his bottom lip here and there to stifle his shyness, making Y/n’s stomach implode in multiple fireworks and butterflies.

With the slow motion of their bodies, Jungwon's eyes trail off from the lady’s lips, to her beautiful hazel orbs that are shimmering, thanks to the chandelier’s reflection. He fixes his gaze upon her, and so does she. Looking intently, the gent almost feels like he's floating, figuratively and literally, on the mysterious, yet captivating abyss that are her eyes.

“They're beautiful.” He mutters under his breath. Y/n’s eyes lit up at the sudden statement. “Your eyes. Has anyone ever told you that they're beautiful?” The gentleman continues.

Y/n bit her bottom lip before whispering a response. “One that I can vividly remember,” 

“I'm certain they know exactly what they're talking about.” Jungwon mutters softly. Their noses briefly touch each other and to her surprise, Jungwon doesn't even flinch. She thought it a way to continue, and she did.

“a little boy of ten named Yang Jungwon.”

*send me an ask or a message if you wish to be added on this series' taglist!

ㅡ © ENHA-WOODZIES, 2021

[genork-the-fandork]

Operation is a Go

Operation is a Go

Word Count: 860

Prompt: “Sibling Shenanigans,” Day 1 of Takari Week 2021

Featured Characters: Tai Kamiya & Matt Ishida

A/N: I love love stories. A lot. Rom coms are some of my favorite movies. But I think something I love a little more is when someone else is involved in the story. Not in a love triangle sort of way, in a “let’s get them together!” sort of way. That’s the vibe I hoped to get across here! So, although this features Tia and Matt, this is very much a Takari story. I hope you enjoy!

@takariweek​

If even Tai could see it, then it had to be obvious. Now if only Kari and T.K. could see it, too.

Matt raised an eyebrow as he peered across the table at Tai, who had his thinking face on. It was his intense thinking face, actually, his face all scrunched up as he tried to process something in that brain of his. He waited for Tai to say something, taking a sip of the soda he'd ordered to be polite.

"I think," Tai finally said, "that Kari and T.K. were meant for each other."

"What else is new?" Matt deadpanned, leaning back in his seat. "Been pretty obvious for years."

"No, I mean…" Tai sighed. "I don't think they know."

"T.K. is pretty oblivious when it comes to his own best friend," Matt mused. "Maybe I should ask him."

"Maybe I should ask Kari, too." Tai narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Is this—"

"Tai, no—"

"OPERATION: GET THE SIBLINGS TOGETHER!"

"Oh, Lord."

~ ~ ~

Considering the impulsive nature of Operation: Get the Siblings together, Tai and Matt had come up with a fairly solid plan. Not that asking their siblings how they felt about their best friend was something complicated. Still, they knew they would have to be very particular about their interrogations. Neither of their hellishly observant siblings could know what they were trying to do.

Unfortunately, plans could only work so well.

Tai was anything but subtle. He tried, he really tried, but he was buzzing with the knowledge that Kari could be happy—really, really happy—if she and T.K. just got their act together. And it was his duty as the big brother to ensure his sister's happiness, right?

"How's T.K. doing?" he asked one morning as he made some eggs for his sister. "I haven't heard from him in a while."

"Good. Got a gaggle of girls always flocking around him like geese," she said, munching on a piece of toast. Her hand absentmindedly stroked Gatomon's head while her Digimon curled up on the table. They had long since learned not to shoo her off the table, thanks to those gloves of hers.

"Girls, huh?" Tai murmured, a bolt of panic shooting through him. "How do you feel about that?"

He could feel her eyes burning into his back. His tone hadn't been nearly casual enough. She knew. She knew she knew she knew.

"I'm indifferent," Kari finally said, and Tai looked at her over his shoulder. "I can tell he doesn't really feel the same way about those girls, anyway."

"And how do you feel, Kari?" Tai asked, biting his tongue to keep from saying something even stupider and not according to the plan. He could hear Matt slapping his own face.

Kari met his eyes with a serious look on her face. "Do you have a crush on T.K., Tai?"

"NO—"

"Oh." She didn't look completely convinced, but she shrugged and looked down at her plate, which spoke volumes. "I guess… I dunno. I care about him."

"Mm-hm," Tai hummed, turning back around with a smile. Hook, line, and sinker.

~ ~ ~

"How's Kari doing?" Matt asked, his voice as flat as he could make it as he finished making breakfast for his younger brother.

"Tai hasn't told you? She's pretty much the most popular girl in school." T.K. yawned, hugging Patamon to his chest as he lazily watched Matt putter around the kitchen.

"I don't think Tai knows about that." Matt chuckled, imagining the pride on his best friend's face that would turn into sheer anger the moment anybody tried to bother his precious baby sister.

"Probably for the best," T.K. agreed, probably envisioning the carnage that would ensue as well.

"How do you feel about her being so popular?" Matt's eyes shifted over to T.K., trying to assess his brother's expression, which was, for the most part, blank.

T.K. shrugged. "She hangs out with who she likes, and that's all that matters."

"Hm." Matt couldn't really figure out another way to word his next question, so he went for it, much to his own dismay: "And how do you feel about Kari?"

Instead of answering, T.K. tilted his head and gave his older brother a crooked smile. "Do you like Kari, Matt?"

"NO—" Matt nearly burned his shirt, he spun around so fast. "Just answer the question!"

The smile softened. "She's my favorite person. Besides you, of course."

Matt reached over and ruffled his brother's hair. "You're a funny one."

"I know," T.K. said cheerfully. "Thanks for breakfast."

And thank you, Matt thought.

~ ~ ~

"So they like each other," Tai deduced, sitting in the same spot he had just a few days ago. He crossed his arm and pouted in the way that Matt knew meant he was satisfied with the outcome of this "operation."

"What do we do now? Just telling them isn't going to solve anything," Matt said, sipping yet another ordered-to-be-polite soda.

"I—" Tai frowned. "I didn't think about that."

Matt sighed. "Back to square one, then?"

Tai nodded solemnly. "Operation: Figure Out How to Get T.K. and Kari Together."

"Oh, Lord."

[cloud9in]

Driving lessons

Pairing: Mc x Poppy

Summary: It’s Senior year in high school and Bea decides to ask Poppy to teach her how to drive. Its free, convenient, and well the only thing she has to deal with is her big fat crush on her supposed enemy.

Pt 2: here

Word Count: 2.6k

Notes: These two bicker.. a lot. Driving and teenage shenanigans are up ahead.

Tags; @samanthadalton @satrinadia @kamilahsayeet2063 and some Poppy stans: @clowneryme @baexpoppy

“Are your hands clean?”

 Bea turned to Poppy, a confused look on her face. “I’m sorry what?” The blonde stared at her emotionless before huffing dramatically. “Oh don’t give me that look, I just got the interior cleaned and I will not risk your crummy hands ruining it!”

 The moon was just starting to appear as the girls stood outside in a deserted parking lot. Poppy had agreed to teach Bea the basics of driving after the brunette consistently bugged her for weeks.  She initially said no, because there was no way in hell that a Min-Sinclair like her would be caught helping the poor. The blonde questioned why Bea would even think that she’d say yes, but she did, eventually. 

The truth is, Bea has been trying to get the blonde’s attention for quite a while now. But that’s almost impossible because Poppy avoids the brunette any second she’s not throwing insults at the girl with her minions in the crowd. Was she afraid? Bea didn’t miss those subtle side glances and lingering touches when the blonde would push her in the hallway. So ultimately, Bea made it her mission to get Poppy alone and really talk...well that and she needed her license. So why not kill two birds with one stone? 

 ***

 She knew just how to push Poppy’s buttons, and being bold in public was one way of doing it. 

 Bea strided confidently up the bleachers where the cheerleaders were lounging. She stopped directly in front of Poppy and put her leg up on the step, one hand leaning on the railing. Poppy arched a perfectly trimmed eyebrow as the other girls around looked to each other in confusion.

Bea only stood there with a smirk as she eyed the blonde with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. 

 “...Farmsville what the hell are you looking at?”

 “You obviously...are you blind?”

 The cheerleaders all erupted with tiny snickers that only earned a killer sneer from Poppy. The blonde stood up abruptly, smoothing the front of her skirt and tilting her head to look up at Bea. The look in her eyes could probably dissolve the brunette whole, but she didn’t back down. They stood there for a few seconds, Bea watched Poppy’s gaze drop down to her lips, and then to her arms that were exposed by her sleeveless jersey. She grinned wolfishly before the blonde pulled her down the stairs by her elbow.

 Poppy had brought Bea to a secluded spot behind the gym, pushing her against the wall. 

“I don’t know what your game here is Hughes but-“

 “Game? What game? I just wanted to talk to you about the drivin-”

 “Talk? We don’t talk! Ever. So enough of this. You are not supposed to speak to me in front of them like you know me. You and me Bea” Poppy gestures in the open space between them, “we are not friends. I don’t know what gave you the bright idea to ask me to help you! Seriously, do I look like I give out charity?”

 Bea looked Poppy up and down. “No...but you look damn good in that uniform.”

 The blonde’s eyes widen, a scarlet blush flooding her cheeks. She falters slightly before straightening up again. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

 “I can’t drive.”

 “W-What?”

 Bea pressed her back fully against the brick wall, gesturing in the small space between them. “You asked what the hell is wrong with me so I told you-“

The blonde nearly jumps out of her suit as she smacks a hand to her forehead in frustration. “You imbecile that is not what I meant!” 

 An awkward wave of silence fills the air as the two girls stand there staring at each other. Eventually, Bea breaks into a fit of laughter which prompts Poppy to glare at her. “Why the fuck are you laughing?”

 She holds onto her stomach, wiping a tear from her eye. “Well first off you’re as red as a tomato. And secondly, we are arguing in an alleyway about driving lessons. Why’s that? I never knew you to back down from a challenge. I bet that you’re only saying no because you know you’ll fail to teach me.”

Poppy scoffs amusingly, inching towards Bea’s frame against the wall. “Are you underestimating me Hughes?” The brunette only shrugs, a neutral look on her face as she held her breath. Don’t mess this up now Bea. 

With a sigh and final once-over, Poppy turns and heads back in the direction of the gym, stopping to look back at Bea after a few steps. 

 “Meet me at the parking lot behind Kyle’s Diner. 7pm sharp.”

 Score!

 ***

 Well now Bea had got what she wanted. They were alone. But Poppy was far from letting her walls down, and their constant bickering didn’t contribute greatly to her plans. After sanitizing her hands (for the third time), Poppy finally let her sit in the driver's seat as the car was set in park. 

 “Um remind me again, why are we doing this at night and in an expensive looking car…?” 

 The blonde rolls her eyes with irritation. This was going to be a recurring theme Bea thought to herself. “Okay first off, no one is supposed to know that I’m gifting you with my presence...hence the night sky. I thought that was given.” Poppy points to the sky matter-of-factly. “...and this is a Mercedes Benz. Do you think I sit in a fucking wagon and have one of my minions push me?”

Bea smiled to herself as she tried not to crack up at the thought of Chloe pushing Poppy down a steep hill. At least the blonde has a sense of humor, and that was one of many things that made Bea adore her, even if she was a bitch. 

 “Well I just don’t want to crash something as nice as this-“

 “You aren’t going to crash it period” Poppy calmly states, a certain hidden edge to her voice. She looks over at Bea who catches her eyes, and if the brunette wasn’t intimated before, boy was she now. “If you do crash it, I’ll feed you to the wolves, it’s that simple. You got it Farmsville?”

Bea puffs out a breath of air and shrugs. This was going to be a long night.

Poppy taught her how to ease into using the brakes and accelerator, when to switch the gear shift, and most importantly, using the rear and side view mirrors. Bea drove two laps in the vacant lot and on the third one she managed to park perfectly in one the spaces. Poppy had the urge to praise her for not fucking it up so early on, in fact Bea was close to perfect. The blonde had begun to wonder if she really needed help, or was this just an excuse? Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of Bea...wanting to spend time with her. Poppy didn’t want to indulge in her feelings but she couldn’t just blatantly ignore the obvious. She’s a Min-Sinclair and is always sure of what she wants. But not when it came to Bea…Was this how it felt like to have a crush? There was no way in hell that she could fall for a girl like Bea. But then again, the blonde was sitting in the passenger seat watching her intently. She noticed how Bea’s face would scrunch with confusion when mentioning the functions on the dashboard. Poppy wanted to hold her hand and rub out the tension. She wanted to reassure and tell her how amazing she was doing, but of course pride stood in the way. Was pride worth it though? She started to believe it wasn’t when it came to Bea. 

 “Let's go for one more spin around the lot and then I’ll remove myself from your crème brûlée seats”, Bea voices sarcastically, a small grin on her face as she peered over at Poppy. The blonde rolls her eyes but nods happily. She didn’t want it to be just one more lap, and Bea sure as hell felt the same, but communication wasn’t a practiced skill of theirs. 

The brunette reversed out of the space and started accelerating around the lot.

 “Bea, make sure you always check the side view mirrors before you pull out.” 

 Bea shot a cocky sideways glance at the blonde, well this is new.

 “Did you just call me...by my name? Like my name, Bea? No Farmsville or Hughes, or dumbass-“

 “Okay! okay I think it’s pretty clear by now”

 “What? That you have so many names for me?”

 Poppy huffs with a start, pinching her eyebrows together as blood rushes to her cheeks in embarrassment. “You don’t ever shutup do you?” 

Bea just laughs brightly, increasing her speed slightly as she gets more comfortable. “Just remember what I said about the side mirrors, don’t make me repeat it.”

 “You’re so demanding you know?”

 Poppy smirks in response, her finger reaching up to twist a golden lock. “Is that really news to you?”

 “Well no...maybe I just like it when you talk to me like that.” 

 Bea knew she was pushing it, but every inch of her body felt like it was on fire. She wanted to say more,  do more, but would Poppy like that? They had made so much progress and both girls would be dumb to not see a spark between them. “...Just keep your eyes on the road.” 

Well that was something right? At least she didn’t yell at me, Bea thought. Without overthinking it, the brunette takes one hand off the steering wheel and intertwines it with Poppy’s hands. They were much smaller and incredibly soft. Bea felt like she was walking on thin ice, yet the blonde’s touch seemed to steady her. She squeezed a little tightly, rubbing a finger on Poppy’s knuckle soothingly. A burst of joy shot through Bea’s body as the blonde pulled away, only to set her hand on top of Bea’s, tracing ghostly patterns. They sat there like that for the rest of the lap until Poppy pointed in the distance. “You see those spaced out cones over there? Maneuver through them until you stop at the pole.”

 Bea didn’t complain, even if the task seemed ridiculous. She wanted to spend more time with Poppy, so whatever. “What do I get if I succeed?”

 “Satisfaction that you weren’t a complete failure today? Get a move on, we don’t have all night!” Typical Poppy.

 Bea had managed to avoid hitting the cones, glancing over to see a hidden, but impressed look on Poppy’s face. She wanted to show off just a little, pressing her foot on the accelerator with a little more force as she navigated through the obstacles. Unbeknownst to either girl, there was a pothole upcoming on the ground and Bea sunk violently into it before popping back up.

“Bea! Watch out for the-“

But she couldn’t secure her hold on the steering wheel quick enough. The car screeched loudly as Bea stomped on the brakes, steering the car to the left as they hit the pole. Poppy had jumped as far as the seat belt would let her, her hand reaching out to shield the brunette from any impact. The crash shook the whole car, and felt very very expensive. Bea sat paralyzed in her seat, her breathing quick and shallow as she surveyed the scene. She was relieved that they didn’t rip through the pole...or were impaled by it. Bea shifted abruptly, turning to scan the other girl for injuries. She clutches onto Poppy’s arm, a pained look on her face. “You’re not hurt are you?”

 Poppy waited for her heart to stop beating out of her chest, as she looked from Bea to the wreck. In one swift motion she punches the brunette in the shoulder before stepping out of the car. “Ow! What the hell…” Bea follows after her, stumbling out the car as she rubbed at the tender spot. The blonde looked at the front of her car in horror. The glass was completely shattered, the Benz symbol was dangling off the edge, and the whole fender was completely damaged. “Hughes what the fuck?! You- Look at my car! Daddy is gonna kill me…”

Bea felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. Back to square one huh? She cautiously paced towards the seething blonde, both hands in a defensive hold in front of her just in case Poppy decided to throw hands. Just in case.

Poppy snapped her head in the brunette's direction, ready to chew her out until she noticed blood dripping from her forehead. Her face fell, the anger draining out rapidly. “Bea you’re hurt…” Bea looked at her in confusion until she felt the warm liquid dripping onto her nose. She reached up quickly, wiping the blood

that wouldn’t stop pouring from the open wound. “It’s nothing! I can barely feel it-“

 “Stop it. Here let me see.”

 Bea watched as Poppy stepped closer, reaching her finger to gently prod at the now stinging wound. She blew a breath of hot air onto the area and it was almost enough to make Bea melt. She had never seen this side of Poppy, and it made her spiral deeper into the pool of feelings she had developed for the blonde. “You need to go to the hospital right now, come on I’ll take you”, Poppy hurriedly spoke.

 “But what about the car?”

 “Is the car bleeding out on the fucking sidewalk? I’ll call triple A and they’ll come get it….and I’ll deal with the consequences later.”

 Bea broke out into a grin, watching the blonde worry about her, even if she wouldn’t admit it. It was certainly refreshing. Her smile quickly faltered though. If Poppy took her to the hospital would she leave her there? Would this be the last time they talked? Poppy had a habit of avoiding her. Bea started to panic, this couldn’t be the end. Poppy had pulled her arm along as they trudged away from the wreck. But Bea stopped suddenly, yanking Poppy by her arm until they were face to face.

 “Go on a date with me.”

 “What?!”

 “You heard me. I will not go to the hospital unless you agree to go on a date with me.”

 Poppy stood there dumb-founded. Bea was full of surprises wasn’t she? “Are you saying that you’ll bleed out in the middle of this lot if I say no?”

 “Yes.”

 “You are….un-fucking-believable. A lunatic I might add. Hell even a madwoman. Let’s go, I’m taking you to a mental hospital instead.”

 Bea grabs Poppy by the waist as she attempts to walk away. She pulls her even closer against her than they were before, a smug grin settling on her face. “Only if you go out with me. You can pick the time and place.”

She looks at the blonde with doe eyes and that winning smile. Poppy sighs as her breath shakes at their close proximity. She was close enough to kiss her, and no one would know. Poppy couldn’t deny that this is exactly what she wanted. Now that she was in the same position she had constantly day dreamed about, the air seemed heavier. But it felt right. And so she said yes. Because she knew what she wanted. 

“Let's get you some medical attention first though, can’t go on a date with a corpse.”

 Bea did internal jumping jacks as she pumped a fist in the air.

 Score!