#sorry for disappearing without any warning whatsoever

[genshinluvr]

Amphoreus Amnesia

Pairings: Various HSR Men x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: You suddenly vanish off the face of the universe with no trace for months. One day, the Astral Express receives a message from someone from another world, Amphoreus.

Note: I'm, like, still behind on HSR quests, so the newly added characters (Jiaoqiu, Moze, Mydei, Phainon, and Anaxa) will be out of character since I didn't meet some of them, nor have I interacted with them as much as I have with others. I'm going to be posting new fanfics based on the options from the poll from a while ago. The next fanfic that will be posted/updated is the LADS fanfic because it came in third place. My Discord server has been officially open for a little over a week now, but the link has expired. New Discord server links will be linked at the end of the fic. Anyway, I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr), Ko-Fi (also Genshinluvr/Aaliah_exo), and AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: Newly added characters will be ooc due to being behind on HSR quests, slight yandere Sunday?

Word Count: 8.3k

It’s been seven months. Seven months since you went missing, and no one has heard a single thing from you. No one— from the Herta Space Station to Jarilo-VI to the Xianzhou Luofu to Penacony— has given the Astral Express crew any updates on your whereabouts. There aren’t any sightings of you despite there being a search party working tirelessly to find you. Heck, even the Aeon of Destruction can’t get a hold of you, and it’s driving everyone crazy. The Astral Express remains in Penacony, assuming you’re probably lost in the Dreamscape, like how you were when you first set foot on the Planet of Festivities. But much to everyone’s dismay, there have been no sightings whatsoever.

The Astral Express crew stands before Sunday, Aventurine, Robin, Boothill, and Gallagher, all waiting to hear the possible updates on your whereabouts.

Sunday shakes his head, sighing. “I’m sorry, but there have not been any sightings of [Y/N], Mr. Yang. We have done everything we can to search for them, but it’s like they have disappeared without a trace.”

“Please tell me this isn’t like the similar incident a while back when it was [Y/N]’s first time visiting Penacony,” Aventurine sighs, rubbing his temples. “You all need to put them on a leash if that’s the case.”

Dan Heng, Caelus, and March glare at Aventurine in response to his comment. If only that were the case, because when that happened a few months prior, you were found hours later, safe and sound. But it’s been seven months. Seven. Months. 

Gallagher glares at Aventurine and elbows him in the ribs, causing the blond man to grunt. “I’m sorry, Aventurine, but are you new here? The Astral Express crew has requested us to search for [Y/N] for seven months. [Y/N]’s been missing way longer compared to the first incident.”

Before Aventurine can retort, Dr. Ratio approaches from behind and smacks him upside the head. Aventurine’s head snaps in Dr. Ratio’s direction, rubbing the back of his head while scowling at him. Dan Heng sighs, shaking his head. 

Dr. Ratio crosses his arms over his chest. “Have you tried contacting the Aeon of Destruction about [Y/N]’s whereabouts? They seem rather…” Dr. Ratio trails off, looking around Penacony as if trying to find the right word to describe your and Nanook’s relationship, “close with one another.”

Welt sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose before explaining to Dr. Ratio that your and Nanook’s bond is special. Not special in the sense that an Aeon is attached to a human from another dimension, but special to the point where you two can communicate and meet each other through dreams. Caelus furrows his eyebrows. He could’ve sworn that the relationship between you and Nanook had been explained plenty of times before. 

“The Aeon of Destruction somehow channels his power to bring someone from another fucking dimension to our world is pretty damn impressive,” Boothill mutters, stroking his chin. “Never knew that was possible, but if you really want something or someone, anything is possible.”

Everyone makes their way back to The Reverie, now standing in the lobby of the hotel. As the Astral Express crew is getting ready to return to the Astral Express, a large group of familiar faces approaches.

“General Jing Yuan, what brings you here?” Dan Heng asks, trading looks with Caelus.

Jing Yuan smiles at Dan Heng and props his hands on his hips. The General subconsciously scans the crowd, searching for a familiar face. The very same face that suddenly disappeared off the face of the universe without a trace. Much to his dismay, the General does not see the face he yearns to see again after so long. After not receiving a response from the General of the Xianzhou Luofu, Dan Heng clears his throat. 

Jing Yuan blinks and rubs the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. “I, and the others, are here to inform you all that we have yet to find [Y/N],” Jing Yuan replies, his smile slipping off. 

“And judging by the look on your faces, none of you has been successful with the search either?” Blade asks, crossing his arms over his chest while scanning the hotel lobby. 

Welt shakes his head. With the large crowd gathering where the Astral Express crew is standing, guests at The Reverie Hotel can’t help but stare with curiosity. A large crowd of people from outside the Planet of Festivities, with members of The Family among the crowd, is bound to draw mass attention. 

“Let’s talk on the Astral Express. With matters like this, we don’t want to draw unwanted attention.” Welt says, motioning everyone to follow.

On the Astral Express, everyone gathers in the Parlor Car, staring at the large hologram of the maps the Astral Express crew has visited. The same place you could have disappeared to, but failed to be traced in any of the locations.

“Have any of you tried reaching out to Nanook by chance? The Aeon of Destruction is linked to [Y/N],” Luocha mutters, never taking his eyes off the hologram map for a second.

Caelus rolls his eyes. “The only person who can get in touch with Nanook is [Y/N]. Aside from that, none of us,” Caelus gestures to him and the other Astral Express members, “has a way to reach out to the Aeon.”

Moze rolls his eyes and pinches his glabella, annoyed with the outcome of the situation. “Great, so we’re at another dead end.”

The Shadow Guard throws himself on the nearest chair and buries his face into the palm of his hands. While Moze knew you for a short period of time, your presence grew on him, and Moze grew quite fond of you (even though he doesn’t want to admit it). For you to suddenly disappear without a trace for seven, almost eight, months feels suspicious. You didn’t even bring your phone with you, which is strange because Moze could’ve sworn that your screen time is past twelve hours a day. 

“I will do everything in my power to find [Y/N] and bring them back safe,” Argenti says, placing his hand over his heart. 

Sampo huffs, plopping down on the couch. “Not if I find my gumdrop first! I’m sure [Y/N] would rather have me save them than someone in a full suit of armor. What are you? Their knight in shining armor?” Sampo mutters, looking off to the side while pouting.

Argenti raises his eyebrows at Sampo’s comment, the corner of his lips curving up with amusement. Clearly, anyone with eyes can see that Argenti is, in fact, your knight in shining armor. There’s no denying it because he is the only one in full armor while others wear some armor in other parts of their bodies as an accessory. 

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing. If we give up now, who knows what could happen to [Y/N] the longer we stall,” Gepard says, hands balled into tight fists. “I’m sure they’re somewhere out there. We can’t give up.”

Luka holds his hands up, raising his eyebrows at Gepard’s outburst. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who’s saying that we’re giving up? I've got all the time in the world to look for [Y/N]. In fact, the longer this drags out, the more motivated I feel to keep on pushing,” Luka says, jumping in one spot while stretching his shoulders. 

While the men converse with each other and plan out the next step, Jiaoqiu's ears perk up when hearing something strange. The muttering around him makes it nearly impossible for Jiaoqiu to pinpoint where this strange noise is coming from. The foxian healer closes his eyes and listens closely, drowning out the chatter around him. There’s a beeping sound coming from somewhere in the Parlor Car.

“Does anyone else hear that beeping noise, or am I going crazy?” Jiaoqiu speaks up, grabbing the other’s attention.

Everyone in the Parlor Car goes silent, trying to hear what Jiaoqiu is hearing. The longer everyone sits in silence, the louder the beeping becomes for Jiaoqiu. The foxian healer gets up from his seat and slowly walks to where the beeping is coming from, his ears perked up, twitching each time the beeping goes off. 

“You have an interstellar message. Please check it promptly,” says the system.

March peeks from Welt’s shoulders, confused. “Interstellar message? Who could it be from?” March mutters, crossing her arms over her chest as she watches the older man tap on the screen. 

Almost immediately, a hologram of the sender of the interstellar message materializes before everyone. The man, muscular with shoulder-length ombre blond and red hair, crosses his arms over his chest, staring—no, glaring—at everyone in the Astral Express. The man doesn’t say anything, but continues to glare at whoever his eyes land on.

The blond man clears his throat. “Is this the Astral Express?” He asks, his deep voice filling the silence of the Astral Express.

Welt nods. “Yes, this is the Astral Express. May I ask who I am speaking to?” Welt asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I am the Crown Prince of Kremnos, Mydeimos, but you can all call me Mydei. Several months ago, the world of Amphoreus received a distress signal about a missing person who goes by the name of [Y/N].” Mydei says, letting his arms fall to his side.

After hearing the mention of your name, everyone in the room immediately straightens up and walks over to where the hologram of Mydei stands. From the other side of the hologram stands the glorious Crown Prince of Kremnos, who tries to keep his composure while ignoring the bickering in the background. Mydei’s yellow eyes scan every person who shows up on the hologram.

“We should demand a reward for finding this missing person!” The white-haired man loudly whispers from behind Mydei.

The greenish-gray-haired man scoffs in response. “Are you an idiot? Who would demand such a thing after discovering—”

Mydei’s head snaps in the duo’s direction, shutting them up immediately. Mydei scowls at them, as if telling them to shut the hell up and let him speak to the people on the hologram. Mydei takes a deep breath and turns back to the Astral Express crew (and others), fixing his composure.

“Helloooo? What were you going to say about [Y/N] and the distress signal?” Sampo asks, waving his hands to grab the Crown Prince’s attention.

Gepard sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose while shaking his head. “Have you ever thought of keeping your mouth shut? Let Mr. Yang speak to the Crown Prince of Kremnos.” Gepard mutters, glaring at Sampo from behind his hands.

Sampo laughs and gives Gepard and the other men on the Astral Express an apologetic smile before gesturing for Welt to take over. Welt sighs, turns back to the hologram of Mydei, and nods to the Crown Prince to continue where he left off. Mydei goes into detail about finding you in Amphoreus, heavily injured and unconscious, barely hanging onto life. 

Caelus’s eyes nearly pop out of his skull. “What do you mean [Y/N] is in Amphoreus!? How did they end up over there?! We have yet to set foot in your world!” Caelus exclaims, running his hands through his hair. 

The white-haired man pops up on the hologram beside Mydei. “That’s a mystery for us, too! Imagine how confused we were when we saw an outsider, who fit the missing person’s description, in our world.”

An arm appears out of nowhere on the hologram, grabbing the white-haired man by the ears. “Dammit, Phainon. Don’t butt into conversations that has nothing to do with you,” a mysterious voice hisses, yanking Phainon out of view.

“But Anaxa!” Phainon whines, swatting at the arm while being dragged out of view.

Mydei rubs his temples, sighing and shaking his head. The Crown Prince apologizes to Welt before proceeding where he had left off before being interrupted by Phainon and Anaxa. 

“If you wish to see [Y/N], you are welcome to do so. That is why I reached out to the Astral Express, because I know you all have tirelessly searched the cosmos for them. However, there is an issue…” Mydei trails off.

Dan Heng stares at Mydei, fists clenched at his side. “What is the issue aside from [Y/N] being heavily injured?”

Phainon peeks from Mydei’s shoulders. “You’ll have to see for yourselves. It’s best to be here in person when given more information on their condition,” Phainon says before disappearing.

And with that, the communication between the Crown Prince and the Astral Express ends there. Gallagher sighs, crossing his arms. “The Aeon of Destruction is not going to like this if we ever get in touch,” Gallagher mutters, shaking his head.

Gallagher is, in fact, correct. The moment you open your eyes and find yourself in a strange place, floating before a giant being—a handsome giant being— you nearly have a panic attack. Sure, the giant white-haired being is handsome and shirtless, but seeing someone that huge is certainly a sight to behold. 

The giant person suddenly disappears and is now standing before you as a regular-sized human. What is a regular-sized? He’s over 193 cm, practically towering over you like a skyscraper. His tough demeanor crumbles as he pulls you into his arms, letting out shaky breaths.

“You’re okay, little one. I’m so glad to see that you’re okay,” the white-haired man whispers into your hair, caressing your head.

You subconsciously wrap your arms around his waist, melting into his warm embrace. You can’t find the words to describe how you feel. The stars around you glimmer, casting a gentle glow. Everything feels so familiar, and yet, you don’t remember this person standing before you. You pull away from the hug, staring up at him, wordlessly.

The man cups your face in his large hands, looking deep into your eyes. “Little one, is there something wrong? Say something,” he pleads, gently brushing your cheek with his thumb.

You continue to stare at the man, breathless. He looks and feels so familiar, and yet you don’t remember his name or the memories you two once shared before regaining your consciousness.

“Who are you?” You whisper.

Hearing your question causes the world around you and this mysterious man to shake and crumble. You look around, terrified of what’s happening. The man in front of you quickly regains his composure, trying to remain cool, calm, and collected for you. 

The man reaches for your hand and gently squeezes it. He then pulls your hand towards his face and presses a delicate kiss on your knuckles. “My name is Nanook. I am the Aeon of Destruction,” he says, his eyes never leaving your face. 

“Nanook…” you whisper, staring at him with awe.

The universe around you starts to fade along with Nanook. You look at Nanook, panicked. Nanook sighs, shaking his head. As the world around you fades, you start to hear voices around you. It’s like you’re underwater; the voices are muffled but gradually becoming louder as you regain consciousness. 

“Dear Aeons! They look horrendous!” Someone gasps in horror, startling you awake.

The room goes silent.

“Keep your voices down, dammit! Look what you did! You scared them before they could even fully regain their consciousness!” Another person, with a heavy southern accent, hisses with a smack accompanying the voice. 

You crack your eyes open, flinching and squinting when the ceiling lights blind you. You cover your eyes for a moment, trying to adjust to the brightness. Once you have adjusted to the brightness of the room you’re in, you can’t help but be startled when you’re met with multiple eyes on you, staring at you with anticipation. 

The redhead in full armor sighs, placing his hand over his chest. “Oh, thank Idrila, you’re okay,” the man says, beginning to walk towards you, only for a blond man (also in armor) to stop him by grabbing his shoulder.

“Mx. [Y/N], how are you feeling?” The man with wings for ears—wait, he does have human ears too… are the wings real?— asks, approaching your bed with a man with long blond hair.

You stare at each man in the room, not saying a word. They all trade looks, worried that the injuries you have sustained may have a greater impact than anticipated. The man with long blond hair stands over you, reassuring you that he’s going to check up on you after getting a nod of approval from the Crown Prince.

“Everything seems fine from what I’m seeing,” the blond man murmurs.

A tall man with long white hair turns to the Crown Prince, crossing his arms over his chest. “This Phainon person mentioned wanting to talk about [Y/N]’s condition in person. What is it that you want to discuss with us, Mydei?”

The Crown Prince opens his mouth to respond, only to close it before he could get a single word out. Mydei turns to you, giving you a fake smile. “We will be right back,” he says, giving the guests a look and gesturing for them to leave the room.

Confused, everyone slowly piles out of the room, muttering under their breath. The man with long blond hair soon follows the others once the majority of them have left the room. You watch the door close, now alone with your own thoughts. These men seem to know you, but you don’t know them. Or do you? You don’t have any recollection of any of these men, but this strange feeling in your chest feels unbearable. Out of all the injuries you have sustained, the one that hurts the most is your head. You subconsciously reach the back of your head, feeling the bandages wrapped around your head. The gauze feels thick and hard under your touch. You inspect your body, staring at every bandage, gauze, and cast hugging your body.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY LOST THEIR MEMORY?!” Someone bellow from the other side of the door.

You shrink back into the bed, only to hit the back of your head against the bed frame. You groan, clutching your head, closing your eyes. Gentle yet calloused hands cover your hand, making you peek from one eye while continuing to clutch your head.

“Don’t hurt yourself, now, little one,” Nanook murmurs, kneeling beside the bed.

You stare at Nanook with wide eyes, questioning how he managed to enter your room without being seen by the others outside the door. Before you can say anything, the door opens and the men file into the room, only to stop when they see Nanook beside you.

The foxian man crosses his arms over his chest, sighing. “See, I told you all that I wasn’t hallucinating.”

The blond-haired man with a fedora chuckles, propping his hands on his hips. “It’s good to see you again, Aeon of Destruction. Who knew that Mx. [Y/N] can summon you just like that?” the blond man chuckles.

Nanook glares at the group of men in front of you and proceeds to tuck your hair behind your ear, eyeing every part of you with concern. 

You clear your throat, eyes drifting over to the Crown Prince. “How long have I been out for?” You ask, your voice hoarse. 

“You’ve been unconscious for four months. You’re very fortunate that you didn’t succumb to your injuries,” Mydei says, crossing his arms over his chest. 

The gray-haired man narrows his eyes at the Crown Prince. “You’re telling me that [Y/N] has been in Amphoreus for four out of the seven months they were declared missing? And you didn’t inform us about this?” 

“Moze, I understand you’re frustrated with the situation, but it’s best to calm down—”

The man with long, dark hair shakes his head. “I agree with Moze, Dr. Ratio. The search for [Y/N] could’ve been cut short if we were informed of [Y/N]’s conditions and whereabouts three months ago.”

You press your lips into a thin line, unsure what to say, nor do you want to interfere with whatever is happening. From what you have gathered, you went missing for seven months and were in Amphoreus the entire time. You’re injured, but got lucky and didn’t die. Either you were truly lucky, or it’s a cruel fate because now you have to live to recover from these injuries, not only that, but you lost your memory.

A month later, you’re sitting in the hospital garden, still in Amphoreus. Of course, you’re not alone— these men refuse to let you be alone in another world. Within a month, you’re reintroduced to the eighteen (twenty-one if you count Anaxa, Phainon, and Mydei) men you once knew before your amnesia. They’re nothing but sweet and will spoil you with every chance they get.

Sometimes, when you’re in need of a girl friend to chat with, March and Himeko (who also had to reintroduce themselves to you) would spend time with you. They would tell you everything you have forgotten about, and what has happened within the seven months you have vanished off the face of the universe. You can’t help but feel loved after hearing how much people cared about you despite not being your family. Speaking of your family… what happened to them? You’re brought out of your thoughts when someone waves their hand in front of your face, trying to grab your attention after you have zoned out.

“I brought you lunch! I heard it’s a local specialty on Amphoreus,” Caelus says, plopping down in front of you and placing the plate on your lap. 

You smile at Caelus. “Thank you for bringing me lunch, Caelus. I feel bad for having you guys run around to bring me things while I’m sitting,” you mutter, grabbing the silver cutlery. 

Caelus smiles and kisses the side of your head without thinking, causing you to freeze momentarily before quickly regaining your composure. You peek from the corner of your eyes to see Caelus’s reaction, but he continues to dig into his food and eat like nothing happened. 

“Are you sure you’re okay, [Y/N]? You haven’t been acting like yourself,” Dan Heng says, entering the garden with his lunch in his hands. “We’re all worried about you.”

You smile at Dan Heng and nod wordlessly. Caelus’s actions threw you off, but it’s not like you didn’t like it. It felt familiar for some reason, as if he had done this plenty of times before you went missing and lost your memory. What are you to these men?

You proceed to eat the lunch Caelus brought to you, lost in your thoughts. While eating and zoning out, someone reaches towards you and wipes the corner of your lips, pulling you out of your head. You lock eyes with Sampo, who grins at you as a result. Your face heats up, and you quickly look away, unsure of how to process what has happened. Sampo snickers at your reaction before plopping down beside you, sandwiching you between him and Caelus.

“What’s keeping that pretty head of yours occupied, gumdrop?” Sampo asks, nudging your side before scarfing down his lunch.

You shake your head. “It’s nothing. I’m just zoning out as per usual. You know how I am,” you joke. “I think. I don’t even know who I am or what I’m like before this freak accident.” You mutter, shoulders slumping after realization hits you.

The men trade looks, their hearts sinking into the pits of their stomachs. It’s been a month since they have reunited with you in Amphoreus since your sudden disappearance, only to find out that you sustained life-threatening injuries along with having amnesia. It’s a long road to recovery, but thanks to Amphoreus’s technology, Luocha and Jiaoqiu’s medical knowledge and skills, your healing journey was shortened. 

Although most of your injuries have healed, your memories have yet to be restored. So, every man has decided to make it their mission to get you to fall in love with them again! While you and they aren’t exclusively dating—well, with Nanook, that’s a different story— they want to get you to fall in love with them again, little by little.

It started just fine at the beginning of the new month, but then they realized that it was taking way too long, and some people (Sampo, Caelus, Argenti, etc.) aren’t nearly as patient as the others (Mr Yang, Jing Yuan, Sunday, etc.). While that is happening, Nanook’s been feeding you small information about how you end up in another dimension. Though Nanook didn’t outright say that he brought you to his dimension because he took a liking to you, he didn’t want to scare you off and potentially break the bond you two have with each other, for who knows how long you’ve been in their dimension.

As for the men who occupy the world you and the others are currently in, they have been silently watching you from a distance. However, Phainon has been more than eager to befriend and get to know you more. He’s the sweetest and most welcoming person on Amphoreus. Despite not knowing each other much, he tries to make you feel comfortable and would banter with you at every chance he gets. Mydei, on the other hand, has been trying to keep it professional, but would sometimes let his demeanor slip and spend time with you after he forces the other men to leave your temporary room. Mydei has been telling you tales of his battles and exploration, and is incredibly proud of his achievements. 

As for Anaxa… he’s a little bit aloof in your opinion, mainly because you don’t know him well enough. On days when you don’t have visitors (incredibly rare, but there are days when the men aren’t allowed to spend time with you for over two hours), Anaxa would pop by your room and teach you about Amphoreus, going on tangents about philosophy and other things your mind cannot comprehend at the moment (because he pops by at the ass crack of dawn while you’re still sleeping, peering over you and watching you sleep until you wake up because you can feel his eyes burning holes into your head).

“What the— Anaxa!? What are you doing here? The sun’s not even up yet!” You whisper loudly, rubbing your eyes with your knuckles.

Anaxa holds up a book thick enough to knock someone out with one hit. “Would you like to hear more reasons why I challenge the prophecy?” Anaxa asks, peeking from the top of the book.

You and Anaxa stare at each other in the darkness, not saying a word. Sometimes you forget that whenever Anaxa goes on one of his tangents, you tend to fall asleep, but Anaxa doesn’t mind one bit because he gets to talk to someone. Even if they’re knocked out asleep, then again, he will catch you up to speed on what you missed out on after falling asleep. It’s kind of cute. You let out a long sigh, turning on your side and hugging the extra pillow to your chest. 

“What the hell, sure.” You shrug. 

Anaxa’s eyes light up as he pulls up a seat beside your bed before starting.

Gepard kneels before you, grabbing your unoccupied hand. “How’s your head feeling?” He asks softly, massaging your knuckles while staring at you intently.

You smile at Gepard, squeezing his hand in return. “My head’s feeling okay, I guess. It’s extremely frustrating that I lost my memories and can’t do anything about it,” you reply, smiling at Gepard ruefully. 

Boothill struts up to you and Gepard, sitting on the chair's armrest. “I think if we hit you on the back of your head just as hard as you hit your head eight months ago, maybe you can get your memories back!” Boothill smiles, crossing his arms over his chest, looking smug.

You stare at Boothill, mouth agape. Gallagher, Sunday, Mr. Yang, Blade, Mydei, Anaxa, Dan Heng, Luocha, and Jiaoqiu all sigh simultaneously, shaking their heads in disapproval. You rub the back of your head, unsure how to respond to Boothill’s suggestion. 

Luocha rubs the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “Boothill, that’s not how it works. Giving [Y/N] another head injury will not recover all of their memories,” Luocha mutters, giving the Galaxy Ranger the side eye.

Before you can say something, someone places their hands on your shoulders, startling you. You look up to see Nanook standing behind you, glaring at Boothill. Ah, he probably heard Boothill’s suggestion. Nanook grabs you by the waist and throws you over his shoulders. The men around you grumble with protests, crossing their arms over their chest while glaring at the Aeon of Destruction.

“Wait, Nanook, I’m still eating.” You protest, peeking from Nanook’s shoulders. “Put me down, I want to finish my lunch.” You pat the Aeon’s shoulders, trying to get the man to put you down. 

Nanook wordlessly hands you a cup of Immortal’s Delight. You stop what you’re doing and stare at the sweet drink in his hands before grabbing it. You take a sip and hum happily, the sweetness flooding your taste buds.

Luka looks away, his face almost as red as Argenti’s hair. “Hey, I don’t know if you’re aware of the length of the hospital gown, but…” he trails off, the redness of his face traveling up to the tip of his ears. 

Your eyes widen and your hand shoots up to cover your exposed ass. It’s not like you’re completely naked underneath the hospital gown, but you didn’t want anyone to see your underwear! You unintentionally flashed everyone in the garden, good heavens. Nanook immediately places both hands on your butt, covering your underwear from everyone’s sight while glaring at every person. 

Gallagher huffs out a laugh, leans back in his seat, and crosses his arms over his chest. “Why are you looking at us like it’s our fault that we see [Y/N]’s underwear? You’re the one who lifted and tossed them over your shoulders,” Gallagher shakes his head.

Nanook rolls his eyes and turns around, walking towards the building with you draping over his shoulders, slurping down the Immortal’s Delight without a care in the world. Once you and Nanook are out of earshot, Argenti stands up and starts trailing after the two of you. 

Aventurine raises his eyebrows. “Uh, where are you going, Argenti?” Aventurine calls out to the redhead.

Argenti turns around, crossing his arms over his chest. “Following after [Y/N] and Nanook, what does it look like? I refuse to let them have some alone time while we sit to the side,” Argenti replies.

Argenti turns around before continuing to follow after you and the Aeon, making sure not to get too close or else he’ll face Nanook’s wrath for trying to cockblock. After hearing Argenti’s response, the others immediately leave their spots (with their food and drinks) and follow Argenti.

Another month goes by, and there’s finally some progress with your memories gradually recovering. As days go by, bits and pieces of your memories will hit you randomly throughout the day. Sometimes these memories from however long ago would hit you while you’re sleeping, making you assume it was just a dream, when, in fact, it was not a dream at all.

“I had a dream where I got lost in Penacony and had to be saved by Gallagher,” you passively mentioned at breakfast one day.

Mr. Yang clears his throat. “That wasn’t a dream, sweetheart. It happened nine months ago,” Mr. Yang replies, no longer eating his breakfast. 

You stare at the older man, mouth agape. Wait, huh?! The people sitting around you all nod in response to your questioning look. 

You shake your head and wave your hand in front of you, still trying to process the information that your dream was actually reality, but it happened before your disappearance. “Wait, so that wasn’t a weird nightmare?” You squeak, staring at Mr. Yang and the others in disbelief.

Himeko and March give you a sympathetic look, both patting and rubbing your shoulder with comfort. You lean back in your seat, letting the information sink in. March reaches for your Immortal’s Delight, handing it to you, hoping it’ll snap you out of your inner turmoil. You wordlessly take the sweet drink from March’s hand, taking a sip of the drink while you continue to stare at the table in front of you. The longer you stare at the table and mindlessly sip the Immortal’s Delight, you can’t help but find yourself trying really hard to recall things that happened before you magically appeared at Amphoreus. 

“What about the time I died? Is that real, too?” You mutter, looking up at the men through your lashes.

Everyone in the room was tense at your question. Out of all the things you could’ve brought up, you chose one thing no one wants to remember. Jing Yuan clears his throat, placing his cutlery down on the plate.

Jing Yuan crosses his arms over his chest. “That is something we do not bring up or talk about for very good reasons, [Y/N],” Jing Yuan states.

The mere tone and body language of the General of the Xianzhou Luofu sends chills down your spine. It’s not that you’re afraid or nervous, it’s something you’re not used to. From what you can recall, Jing Yuan has always been sweet to you and would spoil you with every chance he gets. However, this sudden shift in tone and body language when you brought up the topic of your death was something you didn’t expect. 

You hesitantly nod. “Okay, I won’t bring it up,” you mutter against the straw.

Later that day, you’re in Eternal Holy City Okhema, hanging out with the others. While the others are engrossed in their surroundings, you sit to the side, trying not to be engulfed by your inner turmoil. Blade sits beside you, occasionally glancing at you. You close your eyes, sighing.

“What’s on your mind?” Blade mutters.

You hug your legs to your chest and rest your chin on your knees. “A lot of things are occupying my thoughts, Blade. It’s been nothing but bothersome,” you whisper, pressing your lips into a thin line.

“What could be occupying your head? It’s better to let things come to you naturally, no?” Dr. Ratio mutters, now sitting beside you while ignoring the glare Blade shoots in his direction.

So much for having some alone time with you.

You puff your cheeks out in frustration and run your hands through your hair, tempted to tug at the roots. That is what you’re doing, letting all of your memories come back to you in bits and pieces without trying to force them to return to you. Dr. Ratio grabs your hand, gently pulling it away from your head, and places your hand onto his lap. Blade narrows his eyes at Dr. Ratio, as if he’s mentally plotting the man’s demise. 

“You guys already know how I am. Why can’t you guys tell me a few memories you have of me to help speed up the process?” You grumble, watching Dr. Ratio play with your hand.

“If we did tell you a memory we have of you, would that really help you regain your memory?” Sunday interjects, now standing before you with his hands propped on his hips. “I understand that it’s frustrating to walk around with little to no memory of who you and those around you are, but you cannot force yourself to regain your memories.”

You huff in response, crossing your arms over your chest. “You’re regurgitating information I already know, Sunday. At least, once we return to the Astral Express, I won’t have to deal with your calculating stares. You kind of intimidate me, Sunday.”

Sunday stares at you, unsure whether he should be offended by your comment or feel relieved that you remember that you find him intimidating. Wait, does he have a calculating stare? Sunday turns to Blade and Dr. Ratio for confirmation, only to see both of them nodding already without having to ask verbally. 

You quickly interrupt before Sunday can ask, “Don’t take it personally, Sunday. I usually find pretty people intimidating, and you happen to be one of them.” You shrug, rubbing your now throbbing temples, “You and those pretty angel wings behind your ears.” 

Sunday stares at you with amusement, the corner of his lips curving up. The halovian looks away, his cheeks turning bright red at your compliment. Oh, Aeons, if only you two were alone, then he could finally snatch you up for himself and claim you as his and his only. The mere thought of sharing you with other people, such as the Aeon of Destruction—a being that has nothing but lust for blood and destruction— disgusts Sunday. Is it too late to snatch you away for himself? This time, he will take you to the edge of the cosmos so no one can find both of you. It’ll just be you and him in another universe with no one else to interfere. He will make sure that no one can find both of you this time. 

“Hello, hello. What are we talking about over here?” Jiaoqiu asks, approaching your group with Moze by his side.

Moze crosses his arms over his chest, staring you down. “You’re not up to something, are you?” The gray-haired man asks, raising his eyebrows at you.

“What?! No! And even if I am, how would I pull it off with amnesia?” You grouse, glaring at the Shadow Guard.

Your glare doesn’t faze Moze as he and Jiaoqiu sit across from you, Dr. Ratio, and Blade. On the other hand, Sunday continues standing, deep in his thoughts, while staring at you. Dr. Ratio, Blade, Jiaoqiu, and Moze raise their eyebrows at Sunday before looking at each other, checking to see if the others around them notice Sunday’s strange behavior.

“Hey, you six! How’s it going over here? Are you guys enjoying Amphoreus after being here for two months?” Phainon asks, approaching your group with a cute smile. 

The five men don’t respond to Phainon at first, all staring at him with varying expressions. When Phainon’s cute smile morphs to an awkward one after not receiving an answer, Jiaoqiu politely answers for the group. Phainon turns to you, looking at you from head to toe, craning his head to look at every detail of you. It’s not new to you to have Phainon examine you, but for the others, it looks like he was shamelessly checking you out. Perhaps he’s doing both, who knows!

Mydei struts up to you, his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s time to return.” The Crown Prince states, not leaving room for protests.

“Huh? Already? But then I’m going to be holed up in my room doing nothing until tomorrow,” you mutter, staring at the Crown Prince in disbelief.

Anaxa stands beside the Crown Prince, holding up the same thick book he was rambling about a few days ago. “If you’d like, I can go over some things you missed out on after you fell asleep,” Anaxa suggests, flashing you that charming smile of his.

You stare at Anaxa and Mydei for a moment, conflicted. You could ask someone to get your phone for you, so you can keep yourself occupied while you’re on bed rest, but since you don’t remember your password and didn’t activate face recognition, that’s out of the options. After thinking for a few minutes, you shrug, looking at Anaxa.

“What the hell, sure,” you said, allowing Anaxa to drag you.

Even though you’ve been gaining your memories little by little, Mydei has advised you not to leave Amphoreus until you recover all of your memories. It sounds impossible because those who suffer amnesia can either regain their memories after a week, or it’ll take months. Heck, in some cases, there are people who never fully recover their memories after having amnesia. That’s one of your biggest concerns, but you’ve been quite fortunate not to have to be the third option. 

Despite being almost a hundred percent recovered, you wake up in your temporary room to a room full of red roses—not just any red roses, but the same red roses that are named after a certain Knight of Beauty. You rub your eyes, trying to process what you see. How in the world did Argenti manage to sneak over dozens of red roses into your room while you’re asleep?

Argenti stands at the edge of your bed, smiling at you. “Good morning, my beautiful red rose. What do you think? Only someone as beautiful as you deserves to wake up to being surrounded by roses.” He asks, gesturing to the wall of flowers surrounding you two.

Before you can respond to Argenti’s question, Sampo’s loud sneeze interrupts you. Everyone in the room flinches. You stare at Sampo, seeing him sniffle and rub his nose. Sampo gives you a sympathetic look, rubbing the back of his head.

“Are you okay, Sampo?” You ask, scooting close to the edge of the bed.

Sampo waves off your concern. “Oh, don’t worry about me, gumdrop! I’m just having slight allergies right now. Nothing to worry about! I can pop an allergy medication, and I should be fine,” Sampo says, giving you a thumbs up before sneezing into the crook of his arm.

Sampo turns to look at Luocha with an expectant stare, only for the blond man to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh. Luocha digs into his pocket and pulls out a medicine bottle, handing it to Sampo without question. You raise your eyebrows at Sampo and Luocha. It seems like Luocha’s prepared for this specific moment.

Luocha shakes his head. “Don’t question it. I have to be prepared somehow, unless you want him to sneeze over twenty times in one day,” Luocha mutters, crossing his arms over his chest. 

The longer you stare at the roses around you, the more you can’t help but yearn for the outdoors. You hug your legs to your chest, resting your chin on your knees with a soft exhale. The men around you stare at you worriedly, wondering if you’re not satisfied with the number of roses in your room. If you want more, they can certainly get you more! All you have to do is say the magic word, and they shall make your dreams come true. 

Mr. Yang props his hands on his hips. “Is there something wrong?” He asks, examining you closely.

You smile and shake your head. “Not really, Mr. Yang. But I do want to know one thing…” You trail off, pressing your lips into a thin line.

Would they even allow it if you asked them? They wouldn’t be against it, would they?

“And that is…?” Dan Heng asks, raising an eyebrow at you.

Oh, fuck it. It’s not like they’ll be keeping you imprisoned on Amphoreus.

“When can I return to the Astral Express? How come you guys are allowed to return to the Astral Express, but I have to stay here?” You ask, leaning against the headboard of the bed.

After regaining consciousness, everyone would stop by Amphoreus and keep you company, but when it’s bedtime for you, they board the Astral Express for the night. Heck, some of them would return to Penacony, the Xianzhou Luofu, Jarilo-VI, and the Herta Space Station to tend to their duties.

Then there’s you: stuck on Amphoreus in your hospital room with nothing to do but watch the skies change color. Sometimes you’re allowed to walk around the hospital, but only if you’re given permission. Luocha would assist the doctors with your treatment, making sure you’re healing properly, and he would keep you company during your checkups (which are every other day). As for Jiaoqiu, he makes sure you take your medications��yes, by making you eat spicy food. It works, if you have to be honest. But it does make you use the toilet more than you would like, but hey, if it works, it works.

Moze raises an eyebrow at your question. “What? Are you not enjoying your time on Amphoreus?” Moze mutters, looking at Mydei, Phainon, and Anaxa from the corner of his eye.

You rub your temples, shaking your head. “What’s there to enjoy when I’m constantly cooped up in this room?”

“Uh, that’s not true! Remember, you were chilling in the hospital garden for lunch and we were at Eternal Holy City Okhema not long ago!” Boothill interjects, only to falter. “Now that I think about it, you seem more like a prisoner than a visitor on Amphoreus.” 

You scoot to the edge of the bed and stand up, stretching your legs. “I understand that my stay in this hospital is to monitor my healing progress, but I should be allowed to stop by the Astral Express once a week to say hi to Pom-Pom. I miss the little guy.”

Gallagher shrugs, nodding his head. “I mean, they have a point. Luocha and Jiaoqiu have been helping with the healing process; they should’ve been able to stop by the Astral Express after being mostly healed from their injuries.”

Despite being cooped up in your hospital room most of the time, Nanook did find ways to keep you entertained. Whenever you fall asleep, Nanook visits you in your dreams. He would create a world for you, a world you have never seen before (it could be Amphoreus; you have never explored Amphoreus before, so how would you know?). The skies are pink and blue; it’s warm but not uncomfortably warm. Every time you fall asleep, you and Nanook meet in that very same world, spending time together until you wake up.

You snap out of your thoughts when Dr. Ratio taps your forehead, trying to grab your attention. You grab Dr. Ratio’s finger, staring at him blankly. 

“Daydreaming while we try to explain to you about your conditions? How disrespectful,” Dr. Ratio mutters, reaching to pinch your nose. 

You smack his hand away and try to mimic him, only for him to grab your wrist and pull you into his arms. You’re tempted to protest, but getting a hug from Dr. Ratio is quite rare in your case. You don’t know the man long enough to breathe the same air.

Sunday glares at Dr. Ratio from afar. “Oi, would it kill you to be careful with them!?” Sunday hisses.

Dr. Ratio raises his eyebrows at Sunday, smirking with amusement. Dr. Ratio pats your head without taking his eyes off of Sunday. If anyone stares at Sunday long enough, maybe they’ll see steam coming from his ears.

Caelus clears his throat. “You can return to the Astral Express. You’ve been cleared by your doctor this morning before we started setting up the red roses in your room,” Caelus says, shrugging his shoulders. “If we do that, I would like to volunteer to show you my bedroom renovations!” Caelus props his hands on his hips with a proud smirk. 

You stare at Caelus, mouth agape. Were you gone for that long?! Caelus walks over to you, scrolling on his phone to find pictures of his newly renovated bedroom on the Astral Express. The gray-haired man hands you his phone, letting you swipe through the photos. Caelus has a bar, bathroom, gaming area, and living space in his room. 

You look at Caelus, handing his phone back. “Are you looking for a roommate by chance?”

Caelus snickers. “As long as the Aeon of Destruction doesn’t bunk with us, yes, I am looking for a roommate.”

“Not going to happen.” The men simultaneously say, glaring at Caelus.

March glares at Caelus. “We have our own rooms on the Astral Express for a reason, Caelus! Besides, [Y/N]’s room is cute and comfortable! Your room is doing too much on the Express,” March huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.

You shrug. “I think it’s an introvert’s dream. It’s kind of like a studio apartment, but on a train.”

March suddenly gasps, marching over to where you stand and cups your face in her hands, eyes wide with wonder. “Wait, does this mean you have your memories back!?” She shrieks, shaking you back and forth.

You squeeze your eyes shut and place your hands over hers, gently squeezing them. “I mean, they’ve been coming back little by little, if that’s what you’re implying.”

Luka furrows his eyebrows at you, walking towards you and March. “Wait, does that mean you remember what happened before you vanished for months?”

You shake your head. “Not really? I don’t remember that much. I remember most things that happened before I magically appeared on Amphoreus.”

People around you groan at another (temporary) dead end on the mystery of your disappearance. After getting you checked out of the hospital, everyone returns to the Astral Express, carrying the roses back to the train. As for Sampo, he’s giving you piggyback rides to the Astral Express so he wouldn’t have to carry his allergies onto the train. While your group is ahead, Phainon, Mydei, and Anaxa fall behind.

“Are we really not going to tell them?” Phainon mutters. “They’re going to hate us for this if they ever find out themselves.”

Mydei shakes his head, clutching the roses to his chest. “There’s no point in telling them. I’m sure [Y/N] will inform them when they remember. That is, if the trauma didn’t block out the memory,” Mydei mutters. 

Anaxa shakes his head. “I’m sure they’ll be fine if they find out themselves. Besides, if I recall correctly, this isn’t the first time [Y/N] died in this dimension.”

What they don’t know won’t hurt them, right? 

Note: Again, I sincerely apologize for not updating the HSR series in so long ;v; I'm still behind on the game. I have yet completed the Xianzhou quest with the Wardance and March being on the path of Hunt. While I work on the Love&Deepspace fanfic (it won't be too long since it's about 95% completed in the drafts), I'm going to try to catch up on HSR. It's going to take some time, though. I was informed that the Amphoreus quest from the start to the current quest is about 28 hours. If you're interested in joining my Discord server, the invite to my Discord server can be found [HERE]! The Discord server invite links will be different every time I post a new fanfic, and these links have expiration dates. Anyway, to all my new and returning readers, keep in mind that I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr), Ko-Fi (Genshinluvr/Aaliah_exo), and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Taglist: No taglist for this update:) will be making a new one in the future

Read more of my works on my Grand Masterlist, which contains every masterlist I have created! | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^ I will also be posting exclusive fanfics on Ko-Fi as well very soon! I might post all of my stories there, too, but who knows? You can also tip me on Tumblr if you'd like as a way to show support! ^^

[beneathashadytree]

ROCK THE BOAT - ZAYNE LI X READER

Warnings : sex, slight possessiveness, nipple play, implied overstimulation of himself, Zayne is pretty much drunk on sex, reader is gender-neutral!

Genre : filthy smut but they’re SO in love I promise <3

Word count : 0.9K words

Additional notes : I got Zayne’s new card in the first 10 pulls, and suddenly all I could think of was Zayne fucking me freaky style in the early morning🫶🏽 This is inspired by Aaliyah’s song, Rock the Boat!

Tip jar!

Masterlist

“Mmm… slow down… Zayne,” they cried out in his lap, hands desperately seeking purchase on his shoulders, as he gasped out a shuddering breath.

Hazel eyes were glazed over, the pupils nearly completely overtaking them. He couldn’t see straight; couldn’t think straight, and couldn’t get past the haze of a lust so overpowering that it knocked all breath from his lungs. A dizzying surge of passion churned inside him, and he couldn’t help pulling them closer by the small of their back, almost scrambling to drag them higher on his lap. “I-I can’t. Can’t… stop. Sorry, I—Fuck, I need more.”

“You have me. Shit, ‘m all yours,” they whimpered out, swallowing thickly as their fingers dug into his flushed skin, the sharpness of their nails contrasting against their plush warmth and somehow bringing him even closer to that edge he yearned for now.

Zayne’s mind was swarmed with the flashing images of the sheer temptation ontop of him. So much so, he couldn’t say anything coherent, save for harsh whispers of their name tinged with desperation he would’ve failed to conceal—though his back arching to meld their bodies into one, and his fingers almost bruising against the fat of their hips, gave his needs away. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from everything about them.

The glistening skin of their chest pressed up right against his nose to breathe in their sweat-tinged scent; his cock disappearing inside them with every frenzied thrust upwards; seeing the thick ring of their combined arousal at the base of his cock everytime they raised their hips off of his… he couldn’t help the staggering moan that escaped him. “Close. You have to…” His eyes blew even wider open, an almost-crazed glint to them as their walls fluttered around his length, knowing just what he needed without him verbalizing it.

Throwing his head back as the euphoric feeling burned his skin, he could only muster a squeeze of their hips before he began sloppily fucking up into them. Like he would die if they pulled away; if their breathtaking teary eyes looked away from his. They almost began to squeeze them shut, and with just one whisper of his name in that sweet voice of theirs, he found himself burying his face into their chest again, all reason thrown out the window.

No control whatsoever remained, and his teeth grazed against their skin, tongue slowly laving at the dewdrops it caught. Zayne’s lips chased a trail only he could see, one that he’d memorized in every night he spent aching for them. He sucked blooming red marks onto their chest, marking them up as his cock pistoned in and out of them like he couldn’t bear to even pull out halfway.

Another dulcet moan left their parted lips, broken with the force of his thrusts that they tried so helplessly to meet. “You—!” A keen broke off that thought as his lips finally wrapped around their nipple, sucking with a fervor he never even knew he could possess. It was like some sort of fever had washed over him, drained him of any rationality he used to pride himself on.

But what use was rationality in the sheer intensity of a want like his? How could he even have any, when their nails almost broke the skin of his shoulders and their tight walls took inch after throbbing inch? When he was rolling their sweet bud between his teeth and moaning around them?

Their taste robbed him of his sense, and stripped him of all propriety he could’ve feigned. There was no going back after feeling their softness on his lips, knowing that he’d be the only one to ever feel their incomparable warmth like this; the one person who’d feel them clenching around his cock; the one person to hear their stuttered curses with every move he made inside them.

“Gonna cum,” they cried, a teardrop dripping down their cheek, “Mmm, fuck, Zayne, harder!” And there it was, their true desire slipping past their babbled words and pleas for more. His eyes trained on their angelic face, the intensity of his gaze pinning them down in a whirlpool of shared pleasure, mouth still worshipping their nipples with the attention they so desperately needed.

He was watching every flutter of their eyelashes as their hips ground into his, their body giving a small jerk in his firm grasp when a particularly harsh thrust tipped them over the edge and had them making a mess of him. And just feeling them tighten around him—knowing he’d so easily fucked them so good to orgasm—sent his own release crashing after them.

With a low groan as he pulled away from their swollen nipples, he couldn’t stop himself from almost instantly spilling his cum inside them, filling them to the brim until it dripped past their fluttering entrance and down their quivering thighs.

Clearly unable to hold themself up any longer after their mind-blowing half-clothed impromptu session, they collapsed onto his chest, both of their out of sync breaths heaving as they clambered to bring each other closer. It was an immediate want; a deeply-ingrained need that Zayne could feel between his ribs. He’d be damned if he had to get up any time soon.

Not when he knew he’d need at least another two rounds before the fog could clear from his head.

Taglist: @angry-and-yandere @nxx-jordiepord @honestlyjustablog @dawnbreakersgaze @tartartagliaboo @lucis-noctiana @riinari-sa @flurrina @reika-desu @randomidk-123 @tikitsune @cofijelli @roll-of-royces @lemonsupernova @loveyoutodeep @belovedof @obiwanmcprobie @hawtlineblingz @kalatipunan @eurekazz @bifedebruxa @thescribeswife @mysticangel123 @xenasolos @jvnluvr @dann-acalle @rosariymchapter @rin-sv14 @yololesgo @an-ever-angry-bi @semi-orangeapple @lavanderbliss @myturnwhen @winterlvod @carsonology @deepzombieyouth @respitable @stellisangelicus-world @kvsqkiii @bitchynightmarepost @snoozeflare @spotted-salamander @cindywasneverhere @ladyparamount @sncrly0urs @huntersmoon1 @musiclover2119 @girl-who-lives-in-delusion @milktsukii @fromdeepspace-withlove @hrhmimieucliffe @icedunderwaterroom @granddearduck @skriblobz @nadinefromwhere @imhere2dosomething @saerotonins @cantescapethevoid @teewritessmth @lovra974 (more in replies!)

Sign up for my taglist here!

[pngblog]

Sorry everybody got such a fright, haha! I would never randomly deactivate my blog, especially not without any warning whatsoever. I think Tumblr is doing something rn so if you see ppl randomly disappearing it is probably tumblr's fault. It took a few hours but now everything is back to working just fine.

[ellieluvr420]

Eye for an Eye Pt.5

MASTERLIST (and information about Palestine) Please read!

SYNOPSIS: Your body yearned for the touch of your girlfriend, the warm embrace that calmed your mind but you couldn't give in, the anger you harboured for her at disappearing with her group for three months without any warning, explanation or even a mention of when she would be back stopped you in your tracks any time you got close to giving in. You loved Abby so much but looking at her made you sick, you couldn't push the feelings down no matter how much you craved for things to go back to what they once were. You hadn't planned this but the anguish in those green eyes mirrored yours and sucked you in before you could think twice about the repercussions of your actions. You made your bed when you made the deal with the auburn-haired stranger, eventually you'd have to lie in it.

I want to quickly stress that this is a darker fic and there will be a lot of darker, possibly triggering themes to do with mental health throughout so take that as a warning. I likely won't do warnings for each part because part of this fic for me is that you don't know what's going to happen until you read it so please do not read if you find graphic descriptions of mental illness and topics surrounding that triggering (this includes suicide, be warned). But if you do read, thank you so much, this story is really important to me and I appreciate any interaction whatsoever!

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧      

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?” Her pistol jammed into your chest as she grabbed your hair and yanked it, pulling your head backwards to meet her eyes. The force of it causing you to drop the polaroid on the floor.

“Ellie, I’m sorry.” 

“You’re fucking sorry? You’re sorry you didn’t tell me you’re with the girl who bashed Joel’s head in with a golf club while they made me watch? You’re fucking sorry? Sorry’s not good enough.” She cocked the gun and you didn’t even flinch, you just stayed frozen in your place as you pictured Abby, your sweet Abby, before everything happened and suddenly a switch flipped, you wouldn’t die before she did, you had to keep going. 

“Wait! Ellie, look, I know it’ll be hard to believe me, but I still want to help you. I want her dead just as much as you do.” 

“How do you expect me to believe that?” 

“Because it’s the truth. Yes, I was in love with her, but she broke my heart when she left without telling me, she didn’t care about me, she left me to rot on my own and when she came back she still wouldn’t tell me where she had went, she watched me crumble, become a shell of myself, I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep and it didn’t change anything for her, she ruined me. Then you told me what she had done and that was it, she wasn’t my Abby anymore, you want to kill her and I want to help, that’s the truth Ellie.” She loosened her grip on your hair and retracted her gun as she took two steps back from you, shaking her head like she was trying to stop your words entering her ears. 

“So- so what, you help me kill her and then you just live happily ever after? You’re full of shit.” 

“No Ellie, I was going to kill her and then kill myself.” The words fell out of your lips before you even had time to process what you were thinking. There was silence between you both, she just stood and stared and you never let your eyes leave the floor as you pinched at the skin on your arm, you’re real, this is real, you’re conscious. 

“W-what, why?” You chuckled at her bewilderment like the answer to her question was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Because I’m basically dead anyway, I signed my death warrant the second I agreed to help you, they’ll figure it out sooner or later but they won’t find you before you get to them. I accepted my fate when I agreed to help you because I can’t live with her but I can’t live without her so I don’t see myself being able to live like this much longer.” 

“Like what?” 

“My mind is splintered, I keep saying things in my head but different words are coming out of my mouth and I have no idea what I said in place of what I was thinking. I keep blacking out, I’m losing time, one minute I’m walking out of the theatre with you and the next we’re in Hillcrest but I can’t find you because apparently I wandered off without a trace. I don’t even know if you were telling the truth to Jesse when you said I saved you from two clickers on the way there because I have no memory from when we left the theatre to when I found that Wolf. I don’t remember the journey from... the house by the hospital to- to here. I reached for the door handle to leave and instead I was opening the window for us to climb through. Earlier today I imagined that I strangled Abby to death and it felt so real until I snapped back to reality and she was sitting right in front of me. When I passed out as we came in, what happened in my head was that as I got through the window I turned back to see Abby following me in instead of you. She grabbed me and she- I don’t even know what the fuck she did but it felt like I was dying. I’m going fucking insane and there’s nothing I can do to stop it because Abby broke my heart and dragged my soul away from me too. I am nothing, I will never be anything again.” You sobbed, choking on the lump in your throat as you just tried to keep going. “The first time I even felt like I was attached to my body in months was in that fucking house with you Ellie and then it happened all over again and I was screaming and crying but I wasn’t because I was kissing you back and I actually felt real but in my head I was begging for you not to become a monster like me. I can’t breathe, I can’t sleep, I can’t function because the person I trusted with my life is slowly killing me. I’d rather die than keep living like this but she doesn’t get to just move on and forget about me all over again once I’m gone. She has to pay too. I know you’re not telling me everything about why she killed Joel but I don’t care, I want to die and I want to take her with me.” You suck a breath in to try and steady your voice and clear your mind. “I’m sorry for lying, I really am. I shouldn’t have been an asshole about you not telling me about Dina because I’ve done worse but I have no control anymore and I just saw red when you told me about her. I haven’t always been a monster like this I swear, I’m just- I'm too far gone to save. So I was gonna help you kill her and then kill myself. That’s the truth, I swear.” Fuck, why did you say that? Why did you actually just tell her that?

You feel dizzy, out of breath from your monologue. You don't want to look at Ellie, to see her reaction, you know it won't be good, you're surprised she hasn't shot you already, you just let the tears stream down your cheeks as you stare at the floor.

"Why didn't you say anything when I found you in Hillcrest?"

"It was the first time I properly blacked out for a long time, I was scared and I thought you'd think I was mad and shoot me there and then, I can't die until I know she'll be there waiting for me." It was grim, hearing your words, you couldn't imagine what Ellie was thinking.

"What if we kill her and you go back to n- you stop feeling all?-" She cuts herself off, unable to find a phrase to use that seemed appropriate.

"Stop feeling fucking insane?" You both chuckle quietly, it was bittersweet, more bitter than sweet.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, that's what I am, I doubt that'll change but even if it does, it won't change my mind. This is what has to happen, I know it doesn't make sense, to you anyway, but this is it for me, I don't have a future anymore because I can't have one with her. It's pathetic but she was the only thing that brought light into this shitty life and she ripped it away when she left, I'm sick of living in the dark."

"You're the most complicated person I've ever met."

"Could say the same to you."

"What?" She scoffs.

"I know you love Dina, you wouldn't call what happened between us a complication?"

"No, it's not complicated in my mind. It's about the simplest thing I've got going on up there these days." She taps her temple twice, it was your turn to scoff, she had to be joking. There's nothing simple about it, you had promised yourself you'd keep your distance because you couldn't get wrapped up in anything that might alter the course of your plan and that included Ellie... and her girlfriend.

"It won't happen again Ellie." Her face drops from the cheeky smirk that had been playing on her features, her eyes fluttering shut as she nods her head and bites the inside of her cheek.

"Please don't... you know... Come back to Jackson with us. You can start fresh." Her eyes lit up as she finished her sentence, a new sense of hope coursing through her veins that dissipates the second she meets your eyes.

"I can't do that, you know that, besides, you should want me dead for what I've done, why the fuck would you want me to come back with you?"

"I don't know but I can't just leave you here to die. I can't let you go." Quiet falls over you both, you shouldn't have asked her that, you knew the answer would only hurt more. You could never be what she needs, Dina is what she needs. You don't know Dina, but you know she's what's good for Ellie, she's the opposite of you, she's the light where you're the dark. She's the warm when you're the cold. Ellie deserved light and warmth, not cold and dark, that's all you'd ever be and that's all Ellie would ever want, it was sad, crushing but it was reality. You would always be Abby's even in death.

Why the fuck did you kiss her? You're fucking evil for doing this to her.

"When this is all done, go home with Dina and move on, forget about me and everything that happened here."

"I can't do that, you know that." She mimics your words and it stings.

"Ellie, I'm a fucking monster, I'm evil and I'll only dirty you. All I've done, you don't deserve someone like me in your life. I'll only bring you pain and suffering and I'll ruin you and your home. Leave me behind and get out while you can, before it catches up to you, don't get dragged down with me when I eventually go." Silence. She doesn't speak, only furrows her eyebrows as she steps towards you.

"It just happened again." Her reply confused you, it was obvious from your face that you hadn't caught on. "You didn't say anything just then. You just stared at me, not even at me, you stared through me."

"No." You breathed out, your voice wobbling.

"I'm sorry." She sounded sincere, she was, she watched as you disappeared behind your eyes and then reappeared like it was nothing, you were struggling to hold it together in front of her and she knew it.

"FUCK!" You curse out. "See what I mean, I'm barely alive anyway, what fucking difference does it make?"

"All the fucking difference! You're alive, you don't feel it but you're alive, you're here. Being alive in the world we live in is a fucking miracle, you can't just throw it away."

"I'm not just throwing it away Ellie. I can't see another way out of this. Just let me help you finish this and then forget about me. I'm not gonna change my mind so stop fucking trying." You snap, your voice harsh and distant as you look anywhere but her. You couldn't, you knew it would be too hard. Ellie stepped closer pleading with you in her head to just look at her like you'd hear her thoughts but you wouldn't, couldn't look at her and it sent shooting pains through her chest. She still hadn't learnt how to deal with sadness, it had always just turned to anger. The anger she could deal with, she could process to a certain extent, but sadness just lingered in her and caused her body to ache and her mind to become clouded, slightly separating her from the world. You were sad, gut-wrenchingly heartbroken, she saw herself in you and it only fed her delusions more, you would both finish this and you wouldn't feel this way anymore, that was the only possible outcome in her mind. She felt hope, the tiniest shimmer of light in a sea of darkness, almost being drowned out but still there. Though it was hard for the light to compete, her anger at your stubbornness and your lies crashing through her mind. She wanted this to work but she was still so aggrieved by your cold shoulder.

"How can I trust you now?" Her voice was sharp, covering the real feelings bubbling up. She trusted you, even after finding out about your relationship with Abby, she trusted you but she just needed to hear you speak again.

"I have patrol with Manny, I was just gonna kill him then and tell you but if you wanna see for yourself, I'll tell you where we're going to be and when. But if you get caught, it's not on me." She doesn't make a move to speak, only wincing slightly, almost unnoticeably at the coldness of your last statement. You wait and wait but she doesn't reply, she just stares, the look on her face screaming of dissatisfaction. "Look I know it's not Abby but it's only gonna be me and Manny on that patrol so when I come back alone and say he died, I'm gonna get interrogated for hours, it's protocol. I'm putting myself at risk here before I can even get to Abby because I want her to feel the pain of losing all of her friends. If I wasn't serious about all of this, why would I risk killing him in a way that could get me in serious trouble? Yes I want to end it but not until after she's gone, think about it Ellie, I'm doing this because I want to speed up the timeline. I want her dead, please believe me." Even as you beg, you still sound cold, the temperature around you both dropping to the point where there ware goosebumps prickling your skin.

"Fine. Now why don't you run off back to your little girlfriend and let me sleep." Little wasn't exactly the right word but Ellie had lost all control of her mouth, she sounded rough and hateful and she was anything but that towards you, being around you after all you had said was just too much of a reminder of the reality of what's to come and she wasn't ready to face that.

You didn't fight, you didn't have it in you. You just turned on your heel and walked away from her without another glance at the girl's defeated face. The polaroid still laying on the floor where you had been stood, abandoned by you.

tags: @emiliabby @liasxeatt @kawaiibreadbouquet-blog @tphmnv @a-little-bit-of-everybody @chrry1ovr @bready101

[alessiathepirate]

Duskwood

PAST 2 A.M.: Richy Roger x fem!reader

Summary: "Can you please talk to me til I fall asleep? I don't want to be like, alone alone you know."

Notes: English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistake I may have made while I wrote this short story.

So... Moonvale didn't really catch me - not like Duskwood did the very first time I played it. I decided to replay Duskwood once again and thought: why not give the characters some appreciation on Tumblr as well?

I hope you'll enjoy it :)

Warnings: SPOILERS! (please finish the game before reading), swearing

•••

Hey!

I can see that you're awake too.

Richy looked at the screen of his phone and frowned. Of course he was awake! All those things about the Man Without a Face were keeping him up at night, not being able to fall asleep.

His mind was going and going, the cogs in his brain turning.

But what could she want? It was late, way past 2 a.m.. At the very least she should be asleep.

Haha, you got me!

I can't really fall asleep now.

Yeah. I get it.

There's just too much on my mind right now.

Well, it wasn't surprising.

She was pulled into this mess and until a few days ago she had no idea whatsoever who they were. She was also empathetic - he liked that about her a lot. And because of that she felt useless - she was far away, unable to help.

You and me both.

But are you okay?

Dumb question, but still... he wanted to know.

He liked her. Liked her a lot.

And although it was absolutely neccessary to mess with her too, to try and keep her away, he sometimes - everytime - felt bad about doing so.

I don't know. Maybe?

Not really?

I'm worried about Jessy.

Richy swallowed, glad that they were only texting. Otherwise he would've been caught red handed.

He had to do that too. But it wasn't anything serious. He didn't want to hurt Jessy. He made sure she was okay.

I know. I am worried too. But Jessy's strong. She'll pull herself through this.

And then we can all go and kick that Man's ass.

Richy chuckled. A hint of nervousness was in his voice.

Well said.

So...

So what?

You sure you're not in love with her?

With Jessy I mean.

Richy grinned, blush painting his cheeks red.

No, of course not.

Jessy was a great friend and a nice girl, although sometimes a way too distracted employee, but still-- she was just a friend.

The question made him smile, suddenly all his worries forgotten. It was cute - the uncertainity.

Sometimes he wondered if she had someone else too.

Umm...

Yeah. I'm pretty sure.

Like very sure.

Alright then.

So...

What about you?

What about me?

Are you in love? With anyone I mean.

Richy looked at the three dots and small pencil in the left corner. He'll know. He'll know the answer soon.

No. I'm not.

Single life's great, isn't it?

Richy laughed.

Yeah it is.

Her being free of any romantic emotion for anyone gave him hope. Maybe... Maybe if he cleans this mess up, he'll have a chance.

So... I kinda wanted to ask for a favor.

Richy raised one of his eyebrows.

A favor? Past 2 a.m.? What kind?

Sure. What can I do for you?

Can I call you?

Richy felt his heartbeat quicken, his pulse jumping up and down.

Call him?

Is everything okay?

Yeah, I just...

Can you please talk to me til I fall asleep?

I don't want to be like, alone alone you know.

Richy looked at the screen in disbelief.

She trusted him that much. She liked him that much.

For a while he didn't know what to type.

Are you still here?

Shit...

Yes. Sorry I'm here. I just don't even know what to say...

Why me?

The three dots with the pencil appeared again - then disappeared. It happened once again, and then her answer finally appeared on the screen.

I like you.

I mean a lot.

It's okay if you don't want to I just don't want to be completely alone right now.

Texting is just fine too.

The messages had appeared quickly, one after the other. She must've been nervous. It wouldn't have been surprising - this call would be more... personal. More of a personal need than anything else.

Instead of answering, Richy simply just called her.

And she picked up - after swallowing down a tiny heart attack.

"Hi..." she whispered, her voice hoarse and tired.

It must've sounded hoarse. She knew she cried a lot after what had happened to Jessy, and she haven't really found her voice since then.

"Hi." Richy didn't sound nervous or stressed at all - tired, maybe. Tired a whole lot. "Is everything okay?"

"Better now." she smiled although she knew he couldn't see it. "I just needed someone to get my mind off things."

"I'm happy to help." she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Thank you, Richy. Really..." she pulled the covers up, hiding her whole body from the cold room. Even though the room was still dark and cold, it wasn't that lonely anymore.

"No problem." silence wanted to settle in, but Richy stopped it just in time. "So... this club of ours isn't too fun when we can't sleep at night, huh?"

She chuckled. She hoped he heard it.

"No, definitely not. But at the very least we are in the same boat."

"Well said."

She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again. The world seemed to finally slow down, her mind got quieter - she felt the sleepiness in her eyes.

"Tell me something. Something fun. Like when you told me about the dare-house." she asked and then got quiet as she waited for an answer.

"Well, there was this one time when Dan got a job at the florist'..." Richy began and she let out a chuckle.

"Jessy already mentioned this one." she confessed.

"Did she tell you what we did after we found out?" he asked.

She could clearly hear that he was surpressing a laugh.

"Not really..."

"We decided to order this very big bouquet, full of roses and everything. We made him write 'To my bestest friends' with a heart on it. He didn't know we were the ones who ordered it of course, so when all of us turned up there for it he was really surprised."

She giggled.

"Poor guy. Was he mad?"

"Upset is a better word for it." he laughed too.

"Upset?"

"Well he might've thrown us out of there..."

She turned to rest on her back as she giggled, imagining the whole scene play out. All of them standing there - the whole group including Hannah too...

Hannah.

They have to find Hannah. They have to make the culprit pay. Especially after what he did to Jessy.

Richy was suddenly saying her name. He must've noticed how quiet she became.

"Sorry, I just... got distracted."

"The bad kind?"

She sighed.

How does he always know?

"The bad kind." she explained. "Just... take care of yourselves, okay? Especially you and Jessy, now that she was attacked and you were marked."

"We'll look out for ourselves, don't worry."

His voice was strange. She could hear something in it. Something what wasn't like him at all. There was no joy in it, no joke in it. It was completely serious - the very bad kind of serious.

But before she had a chance to question it, Richy spoke up again.

"But you have to look out for yourself too. Jessy would want that, wouldn't she?"

Damn, he knew how to get her to do what was good for everyone.

"She'd want me to have a good night's sleep." she agreed. "But she'd want the same for you as well."

It was quiet for a while again.

Then ignoring the serious topics they began to talk about, Richy continued to talk about different things that had happened to them, long before Hannah disappeared.

He told her how Cleo messed up her pyramid cake once so almost everyone in the group got food poisoning... How Richy accidentally scratched a client's car... How Hannah once poured a whole bottle of beer onto someone at the Aurora... How Thomas once got so drunk that he forgot Hannah was his girlfriend and started to cry when she told him she wasn't single... Or how Jessy once made them have a horror movie marathon, even though Lilly wasn't the biggest fan of it.

She sometimes laughed or smiled.

And after a while she got too tired to answer.

Some time ago her eyes closed and she fell asleep, completely oblivious to the fact that Richy finished his last story and chose to not say anything else. He continued to listen to her breathing, waiting patiently.

Then after some time, after he was sure she was asleep - that she won't wake up anytime soon, he said:

"I'm so sorry, MC. But I have to finish this now."

His voice was full of guilt.

He felt guilty.

He felt every ounce of hope disappear.

He won't have a chance to make everything better.

Then the call ended...

[sweethoneyheaven]

A Light in The Darkness

Tags: Fluff, Anxiety, Possible start to panic attack?? (that's really it)

Relationship: Haze x Aurora, little Haze x Phantom

Summary:

“I was summoned only two years ago along with Phantom, he’s the one on rhythm guitar, so I’m still fairly new.” Aurora began as they walked the halls of the ministry.

“Cumulus was asked to help out the Clergy and she agreed. I took her spot on the keys-”

“And I took yours,” She interrupted, the pink ghoulette smiling at the action, nodding her head.

Haze is newly summoned and Aurora shows her around the Ministry as a semi senior ghoul among the band.

Haze stayed to her corner watching as the other ghouls worked away at practice. Pulled from the pit that morning, she was thrusted a microphone and pushed into the practice room with no warning. Haze was in a new place with new people and she couldn’t help but collapse into herself. Trying with every bit of herself to disappear and return to the pit. 

In the pit, she was left alone most of the time. Keeping to herself, not bothering any of the other ghouls down there. Not wishing trouble upon everyone. Haze had the only thing she had ever known ripped from her and she had no say in it whatsoever. Tears brimmed her eyes as she squeezed them tight, praying to Lucifer himself to bring her back. 

She wasn’t sure how long she stayed in the corner just wishing to be sent home, could have been minutes or even hours. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the practice room was empty aside from the one pink ghoulette standing over by the keyboards. Haze had a very brief meeting with the other ghouls when she was first summoned but could barely remember any of their names. Ayanna? No that wasn’t it. Aria? No her name was longer than that? Amelia? Definitely not. As Haze tried her hardest to remember the ghoulette’s name, she heard a voice.

“Your name was Haze, right?” the ghoulette called to her. All she could muster up was a nod of her head in response. 

“I’m Aurora. Sorry you were kinda thrown in here and introduced to us without warning.”

“It's already,” Haze replied in a meek tone. 

“You were in need of someone quickly, it’s completely understandable.”

“But it wasn’t right throwing you right into practice after you were summoned.” Aurora stepped off her platform and made her way over to the new ghoulette, still standing in the corner.

 “But I am glad that you’re here.”

Haze was taken aback by that. Never in her life had someone been glad of her presence. Always keeping out of ghouls' way in the pit left her rather lonely. She never would have thought that someone would be glad to have her, especially after just meeting them.

“You are?” Haze asked, doubt hanging in her voice.

“Yes of course! I love whenever new ghouls are summoned, whether it's for Clergy work or for the band. I may still be fairly new myself but getting a new band member is fun!” Aurora exclaimed as the two of them walked out of the practice room.

“You’re new to the band? I would have thought that you'd been with them for a while.” Haze replied. She seemed to relax as the two of them walked. Aurora’s energy rubbed off on her as she felt warmness fill her body and the tension wearing away.

“I was summoned only two years ago along with Phantom, he’s the one on rhythm guitar, so I’m still fairly new.” Aurora began as they walked the halls of the ministry.

 “Cumulus was asked to help out the Clergy and she agreed. I took her spot on the keys-”

“And I took yours,” She interrupted, the pink ghoulette smiling at the action, nodding her head.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about taking Aurora's spot. Even though she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Haze was sure Aurora loved having her time singing, but she was also sure that she didn’t mind giving up her spot. 

“I don’t mind either way, I’m just glad we have a new band member and glad that I get to show you everything.” Aurora grabbed onto Haze’s arm and started almost dragging her through the halls. As she was, Haze didn’t seem to mind at all. Instead feeling a smile grow across her face for the first time since her summoning. 

Aurora took her everywhere and anywhere she could. Through the library, meeting former papa Primo there. Into the gardens, seeing some of the earth ghouls tending to the plants and wildlife, including her new band member, Mountain. And to the infirmary, talking with some of the ​quintessence ghouls that worked there. 

With every stop, Haze became more and more relaxed. Feeling the tension in her shoulders finally dissipate and ease replace it. All throughout the tour, Aurora and Haze stayed hand in hand. Never speareding from each other and if they did, they returned to each other’s sides quickly. 

Even though the two of them just met, Haze enjoyed Aurora. Her bubbliness and joy seemed almost intoxicating and addicting. As she was giving the tour, the multi ghoulette couldn’t help but smile a little as she rambled on and on about the workers of the Clergy. Aurora seemed so happy telling her all the minute details every stop they took. The cheerful look in her eyes and the proud smile displaying across her face as she spoke, Haze found herself so enthralled with her words and smiling along beside her. 

That smile quickly fell however as they stood outside a large wooden door in an empty hallway. Even though she was new to Topside life, her gut knew what resided behind that door, more like who resided. Aurora noticed Haze’s expression and gripped her hand tight, offering her what little energy she could give in the small action. 

“They’re not as scary as they look,” Haze pulled her attention from the door to the ghoulette beside her.

“I promise. They’re pretty sweet when you get to know them.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” she replied, watching as Aurora pulled  open the heavy door.

As Aurora pulls over the large door, the noise and commotion erupts from the other side of it. Steamrolling its way through the hall and into Haze’s sensitive ears. Covering her ears, Haze feels the early stages of a panic attack slowly filling her body. Once the doors open, the world beyond it is finally revealed to her, the Ghoul Den. 

Haze cautiously follows Aurora as the two ghoulettes enter the den. Immediately as she enters, she sees the ghouls she met in the practice room and some ghouls she hasn’t met before as well. Aurora took her around to introduce her to every one of them. She met Cirrus, Cumulus and Sunshine over by the couch. All three of them seemingly attached at the hip as she watches Sunshine and Cumulus follow Cirrus after their conversation concludes. Next it was Aether, Dew and Rain that she met. Aether and Rain seemed very friendly, but Dew, who gave a little ‘hello’, didn’t seem in the mood to talk. Aurora noticed very quickly and moved on to the next group.

“He’ll warm up, don't worry too much about him,” Aurora said as she pulled Haze over to a younger ghoul, who sat across the room playing on his phone. 

“Bug, there’s someone I want you to meet!”

At Aurora’s voice, Phantom lifts his head slightly up, gazing at the ghoulette coming towards him, and immediately perks up when he sees Haze behind her. 

“You must be the new summon!” Phantom stands up and gives Haze a welcoming hug.

“I’m Phantom, it’s so nice to meet you. You’ve been the talk of the whole Ministry since you were summoned.”

Haze lightly pats him as he hugs her, still very cautious about everything. Phantom pulls back from her, holding onto the side of arms as he does. His smile still shone brightly on his face as he continued talking, although Haze’s mind drowned out every word that fell from his mouth. Her starlight eyes only focusing on his mitch matched one. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there staring, eyes unblinking, as Phantom continued to speak. Words falling on deaf ears. It wasn’t until Aurora nudged her slightly did she draw her attention back to the conversation.

“So what is your name?” Phantom asked. The tone of his voice makes it seem like he’s asked this question before.

“Haze,” She replied, clearing her throat.

“Haze,” Phantom’s smile seemed to get even bigger and brighter.

“That’s a lovely name. Well I’m glad you’re here with us, Haze.”

He gave the two ghoulettes one more quick hug before heading towards the kitchen. Haze’s gaze followed the ghoul until he disappeared behind the doorway. Aurora grabs onto her hand once more and takes her over to the dorms.

“Dinner won’t be for quite awhile, so you get some time to finally settle in,”  Aurora opens a door to one of the dorms. Behind it lay a barren room, only having a bed, dresser, desk and little tv in it. Haze slowly enters the room and surveys the fairly empty room, already starting to picture how she will decorate it. 

“I’ll come back later when it’s time for dinner.”

Aurora gives her a quick wave before closing the door behind her, leaving Haze finally alone for the first time since this morning. Taking a deep breath she strips off her jacket and boots, putting them away in the closet. Tension finally wears off her shoulders as she sits down on the bed, taking in everything that has happened in the last few hours. 

Some fear still lingers in her however. Fear that her new pack won’t like her. Fear that she will be sent back to the pit. Fear that she won’t be good enough at her job and be replaced. Even with all these fears surrounding her, Haze still has some hope and excitement inside of her and she can’t wait to start her new life top side.

[self-shippy]

Runaway Driver (Carmen x Lupin III)

Yaaaaaay another carlup fic ^_^ I love writing for these bozos. This one is about their first meeting! Features implications of Lupin’s reputation for sexual assault (nothing happens dw) and also my complete lack of knowledge surrounding car models besides the humble yellow fiat 500.

There was nothing better than the thrill of a heist. Lupin and his crew knew that well, and were getting ready for another one: a pricey diamond being kept in a museum. Lupin had the plan down to a tee. The four broke in with ease, making their way to where the diamond was being kept, only to be met with an unexpected obstacle:

Another thief.

Lupin froze. This thief had short, ginger hair, fair skin, and green eyes. Their clothes were all black, but it seemed more of a fashion choice than a good color for blending in. It seemed that Lupin and his crew took the other thief aback, as well, because they stood frozen in place like him. They didn’t stay frozen for long, though, as they donned a mischievous smile and swiped the diamond before Lupin came to his senses.

“Hey!” he exclaimed. “Get back here!”

The thief didn’t listen as they dashed off, squeezing through corridors that Lupin didn’t even know existed.

Lupin’s teeth gritted together. “Back to the car!” he shouted. “All we have to do is outrun this guy and we can steal the treasure back!”

The four ran back the way they came, hopping into their car every which way, before taking off and following the car in front of them. Unfortunately, outrunning the thief was harder than Lupin thought. He pressed down on the gas until he couldn’t press any more, but the car in front was still outrunning him.

“Jigen, shoot at the tires,” Lupin said. His knuckles were white as he hunched forward in the driver’s seat.

Jigen nodded, sticking his head out of the window. One hand held onto his hat, the other his gun. A gunshot rang out, and the car in front swerved out of the way.

“What the hell?” Jigen shouted. He shot another bullet, aiming for the other side, and the car swerved again. He shot twice the next time, once at the wheel, once where the car would swerve, only for it to swerve even harder, having the second bullet ding the bumper.

“Damn it!” Jigen said. “This guy’s good.”

Lupin clicked his tongue. “It feels dangerous using the second engine in a cramped area like this, but I’m not letting my diamond get away like that!” He pulled a lever, and the trunk popped open as the car boosted in speed. It seemed like the Fiat was catching up to the other car, and Lupin’s lips curled into a smile.

That is, until the other car made a sharp turn.

Without warning, without slowing down, without any damage to it whatsoever, the car veered into a small alley. Lupin slammed on the brakes, following the car that had successfully opened the distance between the two again. He wasn’t as lucky, though, as he heard a horrible scraping sound from the side.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Fujiko screamed.

Lupin turned around with a blush. “Sorry ‘bout that, Fujicakes, but I have to drive a bit rough or I can’t nab our treasure.”

Despite the twists and turns, Lupin persisted. When the other car turned, he would turn as well, albeit slightly slower. The distance between them only furthered, until Lupin turned and the car had disappeared.

“Damn it,” Jigen said. “They got away.”

Lupin gripped the steering wheel as his body trembled.

“Something wrong, Lupin?” Goemon asked.

Lupin made a small chuckle. Another one. He kept laughing and laughing until it was a boisterous howl.

“Whoever that is, I’ve got to have them on my team!” he exclaimed.

The team drove back to their hotel, and Jigen looked over the car as soon as he got out. Everyone else headed inside, while Lupin strutted out into the streets.

“Where are you going?” Fujiko asked. “The hotel is this way.”

Lupin turned back. “You guys get some rest,” he said. “I need to find that runaway driver!”

Into the city Lupin went, asking around about an androgynous person with ginger hair. He was met with a lot of accusations of being a cop, and many people refused to help. The ones who did made him swear up and down that he wasn’t gonna hurt them. Finally, he caught sight of a familiar figure.

“There you are!”

The figure turned around, and sure enough, it was the thief that had gotten away. “Shit!” they cried, and darted off.

“I’m not letting you get away this time,” Lupin said to himself, and chased after the thief.

In stark contrast to their driving, this thief wasn’t very quick on their feet. Lupin caught up to them easily, but he didn’t want the game to end so quickly. He slowed his pace so that he was a few feet away from them, following wherever they went.

It didn’t take long for the thief’s pace to slow even more. From his distance, Lupin heard heavy breathing, and a few coughs. He slowed his pace to a light jog, then a fast walk, and then a slow walk. Finally, the thief stopped, hands on their knees, and turned around.

“Are you… mocking me?” they asked between breaths.

“Not at all,” Lupin said. He threw his hands up half-heartedly with a grin. “I just wanted to give you an offer.”

“I’m not giving you that diamond,” the thief said. “I earned it. I don’t care if you’re Lupin the Third, you can’t have…”

The thief stumbled, and Lupin ran up to catch them before they collapsed in the street. “I’m honored you know me,” he said. “Let’s get you somewhere else, shall we?” He lifted the thief up into his arms, then carried them out of the streets.

“Wha- hey! Let me go!” The thief flailed around in Lupin’s arms. “You can’t just kidnap me!”

Lupin rocked back and forth trying to keep the thief from falling. “Calm down, would you?” he said. “I’m not kidnapping you. You’re exhausted and I’m trying to get you somewhere better to pass out than the streets.”

The thief stopped struggling without a word.

“Much better,” Lupin said. “I don’t think I ever got your name, by the way.”

Silence. Lupin looked down at the thief, and saw that they had gone completely limp, eyes closed.

“Can’t answer, huh?” Lupin asked. “Well, I guess I should name you then. Let’s see, let’s see… the way you fled from the crime scene almost seemed like you were flying… I think I’ll call you Birdie!” He flashed a toothy grin. “And what a cute little Birdie you are!”

Lupin went back the way he came, making his way to the hotel. When he opened the door to his room, the others turned their heads.

“You found the stray, huh?” Jigen said.

Lupin nodded. “Poor little Birdie can’t run very fast.” He gently set the thief down on the couch. “So much potential, squandered just like that. I can’t let those driving skills go to waste.”

“What about the diamond?” Fujiko asked.

“I think you’ll have to give that one up,” Lupin said. He sat down in a chair next to the couch. “If we want to get on Birdie’s good side, we should probably let this one go.”

“Is that their name?” Goemon asked. “Birdie?”

“Well, that’s what I’m gonna call them!” Lupin said with a giggle in his voice.

From the couch, the thief grunted. Their eyes slowly opened and their arms started to lift them up.

“Ah, and it looks like our Birdie’s awake!” Lupin said.

The thief groaned. “Birdie?” they repeated, then gasped. “Lupin! You… where did you take me?” They shot up from their seat, but flopped right back down.

“Relax, would you?” Lupin lifted the thief’s head up and readjusted their pillow. “You’re in no condition to run away, anyway.”

“Why did you kidnap me?” they asked. “If you want the diamond that badly, you can have it. I’m not that attached to it.”

“Oh, I couldn’t care less about the diamond,” Lupin said, “I just care about you.”

The thief’s eyes widened and their brows turned upward. They shot up again, keeping their arms to their sides for better balance. “B… back off!” they shouted, scooting away from Lupin. “I… I know how to defend myself!”

“Oh, Birdie, I didn’t mean it like that.” Lupin waved his hand. “I want you to join my team!”

The thief sighed as they flopped onto the couch again. “I appreciate the hospitality, but hell no,” they said. “I won’t work for some hotshot playboy who won’t even ask for my name.”

“I did ask, but you didn’t answer,” Lupin said, “so your name is Birdie now.”

“My name is Carmen,” they said. “Carmen Rose. Now you can stop using that stupid pet name.”

“Carmen, huh?” Jigen walked up from behind. “You have the attitude of a boy, but Carmen’s a girl’s name.”

“I’m both,” Carmen replied. “I’m a boy, and I’m a girl, and I’m something else.”

Lupin’s smile widened. “What else?”

“Why do you need to know?” Carmen looked back to Lupin with a glare. “I’m not working for you, anyway.” He lifted himself up again, leaning on the couch cushions.

“Oh, come on, little Birdie,” Lupin pouted, “won’t you at least think about it?” He moved over to the couch, and Carmen scooted away. “Just one heist with us? Hmm? Please? You have such wonderful driving talents, Birdie, won’t you share them with us?” He scooted closer and closer until Carmen was pressed against the arm of the couch.

“Get away!” Carmen pushed Lupin off of her and stood up, staggering a little bit. “At least give me time to think about it!”

Lupin’s eyes lit up. “So you’ll do it?”

“I said I’d think about it.” Carmen walked towards the hotel room door. “Where can I find you when I have my answer?”

Lupin stood up, swaying romantically. “You can find us wherever the wind blows,” he said. “And when the time is right, we’ll find you.”

Carmen rolled their eyes. “Sure, whatever. I’ll give it a week of thought. If I can’t find you after I’ve made up my mind, I’m giving up and continuing solo. Deal?”

“But of course.” Lupin bowed as Carmen closed the door. “I look forward to seeing you again, my Birdie!” he yelled out.

“Ten bucks that guy never comes back,” Jigen said as he sat on the couch, kicking his feet on the table.

“She has quite the mouth,” Goemon said. “It’s probably the wake-up call that Lupin’s constant flirting needed.”

“I don’t think it deterred Lupin at all, actually.” Fujiko put a hand to her forehead. “He looks like he’s on cloud nine.”

Sure enough, the other two looked to Lupin, whose smile was the widest it had been in a while.

“I think it’s about time we plan our next heist!” he exclaimed. “And for this one, we rest Birdie’s capabilities!”

The three shook their heads and sighed.

[sstormyskyess]

about your vent -- i started uploading fics in 2021. it took over a year for me to get any kind of traction whatsoever, and that was back when i was only on wattpad. i was so close to giving up, but then decided to persevere. i've never regretted pushing through it, and now i'm so extremely happy with my community and ''''popularity'''''.

it's so exhausting and, at the start, unrewarding to produce content online without much feedback or reward. i get it because i'm the exact same lmaoo. if it's not getting a fanbase or popular i'll likely drop it. kinda like network tv

i know i'm hardly active and barely post anymore, but jsut know, i get it. the whole thing. when you need a break, have a break. i disappeared for nearly 6 months without a warning, and yet i'm here still, typing out this ramble.

i believe in you !! as long as you're doing what feels right, and it's not driving you completely mad, you got this. even when the times get tough.

sorry for this min-rant, and i do hope you feel better soon. <3

i appreciate the kind words, thank you so so much

i might just log off this account for a little while and take some time to myself over this summer because i am in this hopeless mindset about this blog. like i really want to keep writing and posting because i have a lot of fun making all these stories that i'm passionate about but it's gotten really hard to convince myself it's even worth it

i guess we'll just have to see, but thank you again for your support 💜 i'm glad to have mutuals like you

[snufkinshat]

"hey, man, sorry for disappearing like that without any warning whatsoever, do you want to keep being my thesis advisor next year? yea, i might disappear again, but hopefully it won't happen." actually, what if i killed myself.

i need to send an email to my thesis advisor once i'm back to apologize for being probably the worst student he's ever had and ghosting him since like march because i failed one exam and my mental health did not survive that and locked me in a constant state of ignoring and running away from my problems. maybe i should just fake my own death and become a lighthouse keeper on the other side of the world.

[serviant]

so um....  👀

[skittles-reblogs]

hi :D. could u write (if possible pls dont feel pressured aha) iida and a reader who really loves the library. like the reader goes there randomly without telling iida and he looses his mind thinking reader has disappeared so he goes to look for them and when he gets back all worried and stuff about them but the reader is just sat there reading a library book. basically Iida is very much mother hen to them afterwards :)

warnings:

notes: sorry this took so long!! this one kind of sucks so I'm super sorry about that. it was a great request, but I think it has something to do with the execution of it

you and iida would always go to the library together

that's why he would've had no clue where you'd gone

because you go with him :(

but you like the library so much that you could go twice in a day without getting bored (honestly same)

either way, he'll get all panicky and tries to ask everyone else if they've seen you around, and they say no and brush it off

while they're busy not caring, he starts a one-man search party with himself

he texts you almost a hundred times, but you didn't answer it because your phone was silenced so you wouldn't disturb anyone in the library

he checks your location on Snapchat, which he normally doesn't do because he feels like it's an invasion of privacy

that was how he found you and he was so happy about it that he almost forgot the library rules were to not talk

so he was all like "Y/N!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT RUNNING AWAY WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING!" and then he'd get quiet and apologize for yelling

he isn't really mad in all honesty

he's just super happy that he was able to find you and that you were okay

after this, he'll be checking where you are if you aren't with him

he loves having the security that you'll still be there when he wants to see you again (and that for any reason, you were not in any physical pain whatsoever)

he also just loves you in general

he'll say "tell me where you're going before you go somewhere so I know you're safe" right to your face even if it would be embarrassing for others to say so unbashfully.

he says a lot of things like that because he doesn't see the point in covering up the fact that he cares about you

everything aside, he just loves you so much that he will call the police if he doesn't know where you are (before remembers that he is an aspiring hero and he should probably be looking for you on his own.)

[badkarma-a]

Lost

Farmer! Jean Kirstein x Fem! Reader

Summary: Stuck on the side of the road, you feel hopeless at this point. Until your knight and shining armor comes in the form of a farmer with a mullet.

Warnings: 18+, swearing, explicit sex (oral + couch sex!), a bit of angst, Reader gets stranded lmao, Jean is super sweet </3

wc: 5.3k

“Do you need help over there?” An out of breath deep voice yells out to you, despite the heavy patter of the rain, the voice was clear. 

You turn around quickly, wet hair hitting you in the face. Your car right behind you, stuck in the thick mud, hazards flashing in the gray sky. The clouds covered the sky, making the five in the afternoon weather look more like eight at night.

“I’m okay!” You cup your mouth, in hopes of vocalizing yourself over the rain. Your dress suctioned to your body, hugging every curve and crease. Your heels are covered in mud, probably not fixable at this rate. You hop back into the driver seat of your car, twisting the key in your car, hoping for it to turn on. As you twist the key, there’s no sound indicating it’s turning on, or that it’s going to turn on anytime soon. You groan and hastily grab your keys, throwing them on the passenger seat in frustration. 

A sudden knock is heard, you look over seeing a man standing with his fist on your window. You quickly grab your keys once again, at least turning your car on, rolling down your window just an inch. 

“Do you need any help, you look pretty stuck,” the nameless man chuckles, his clothing soaked and long hair wet against his shoulders. His voice is deep and breathy, even a little gruff. 

“I’m just gonna call a tow service, don’t worry,” you pick up your phone from the passenger seat, seeing the low percentage, swearing under your breath. 

“He wouldn’t be here for another three-ish hours, Porco is on a date tonight,” you're puzzled at the sound of new names, you just need a tow truck, but three hours?

“Huh?” You question, now getting a better look at the man. His hair is long, pale brown, along with similarly colored almond eyes. He’s adorned in a flannel button down, folded up to his elbows, also tucked into his dark wash jeans. His hand on top of my car, muscular forearm in my line of vision. 

“This is a small town, there’s only one man who would get to you if you called, and he’s on a date. If you want, I can try and look at it for you,” he hums. It’s either sleeping in the car for the whole night, or accepting help.

“I’d appreciate it, is there anything I can do to help you?” Your nerves eat at you, legs shaking, your fingers fidgeting with each other in your lap.

“It’s okay, I’ll just be a second,” he smiles, trudging through the mud to get to the hood of your car. You attempted to look under the hood earlier to see any issues, but to your eyes it just looked like a bunch of metal parts. You even even looked up videos, but alas nothing seemed to fix it. 

As the man popped the hood of your car, now disappearing behind it. You use the last percentage of your phone to send a text to your friend notifying her of your location, four hours away. Now going to see family didn’t seem worth it whatsoever. 

A sudden knock on the window took you out of your daze.

“You have some faulty spark plugs,” — he takes a deep breath — “I can fix it, but I need to get some parts for the auto shop,” he states, gesturing with his hands.

“I’m sensing there’s gonna be a ‘but’ here,” you chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

“But the shop is closed.” He finishes, your face immediately falls. Fucking perfect. You let out a groan in frustration, laying your head on the steering wheel, leaving your back slouched.

“‘M sorry, I really can’t fix it without the part,” he sympathizes, quickly moving to close the hood. You have no idea what you’re going to do at this rate, four hours away. 

“‘M cookin' up dinner right now, if you want to have a meal, we could figure out a solution for you?” He suggest, placing both his hands on the roof of your car, leaning down looking at you through the window.

“I don’t even know your name,” you cry, frustration fills your body. You're shivering at the cold air coming through your window, hitting your bare arms and chest. 

“My name is Jean, it’s getting pretty cold, I don’t think the rain is gonna die down either,” he hums, taking his hands off your car and crossing them over his chest, his shirt drenched in rain. You look over at the man saturated with water, he seems nice enough. Besides, you’re just having dinner and then maybe you can find someone to drive you. 

“I’ll come with you,” you grumble, grabbing your bag and all your belongings, also rolling up your window. Slinging it over your shoulder, preparing for the blaring rain you’re gonna face. Jean steps back a few steps letting you swing your car door open, unfolding his arms. 

You quickly get out of your car, locking your car behind you. Jean puts his forearms horizontally over his face, attempting to prevent any rain from obstructing his vision. He holds out his hand, gesturing for you to follow him. You attempt your best to walk without your heels getting lodged in mud, the attempt failing. 

As Jean treks along, until he turns, seeing you slowly lifting your legs trying to walk. Seeing the mud lodged between the bottom of your shoe and your heel. Without taking a second thought, he walks back to where you are. Once he sees you get your heel out of the mud, he swiftly lifts you up. Placing his large hands on the middle of your back, the other under your knees, you now lodged in the fold of his arms. 

“Sorry, you’re just bein’ slow,” he lightly laughs, the heat of his cheeks barely visible. Using his boots, taking big strides through the mud, carrying you with ease. With such an action, usually you’d be furious, but with the rain you gave him some slack. Besides, you didn’t really want to trudge through the mud again.

Jeans boots trumped through the mud, hearing the sound of the mud suctioning onto them every time he put his foot down. Once he finally gets to the sidewalk surrounding his house, he keeps you snuggly in his arms. He finally gets to the part of his roof covering a few feet around his door, then gently setting you down on the cement. He finally sets you down, your heels clacking with the cement. 

“I’d take off your shoes out here,” Jean says, crouching down and wiggling his boot off of his foot. As he does, you follow standing, slipping your heels off your feet. 

“C’mon in,” Jean opens the door, walking in, standing besides letting you follow. You hum a quick ‘thank you’, feeling the cold hardwood floor on your cold feet. A shiver runs up your spine at the cold floor, contrasting the warm cozy house. His house seems comforting and quite home-y, having a nice rug in the entrance, warm lights, and smelt like cedarwood and bergamot. Even small hints of vegetables, and chicken, waft the air.

“Want some clothes? The chicken and rice soup is done, I can get you a portion while you change?” He asks, as he walks further into his house, you follow close by.

“Uhm— yeah, sure,” you stutter out.

“Stay right here, I’ll go grab your clothes,” he says, walking around the corner, disappearing from your field of vision. 

You stayed standing in the hallway, not feeling comfortable walking around Jean’s house yet. Yet, you looked at what you could in your position. Seeing the light gray walls, with some photos framed down the hall. Seeing a photo of Jean with whom you can presume to be with some friends, maybe a girlfriend. They’re all beaming at the camera, the brunette’s arms around him and the other male snuggly. It seems as if they’re at some fair, the girl having some crumbs around her mouth, the other male laughing. 

“Sorry if I took too long, I gotcha the clothes,” he comes out from around the corner, seeing you observe the pictures on the wall closely. You whip your head around, seeing Jean no longer in soaking wet clothes, rather in a pair of sweatpants. Just sweatpants. His chest and torso bare, right where your eyes land. He’s sculpted to the god.

“Thank you,” you smile, walking up and grabbing the clothes from his hands. Jean began walking to the kitchen, as you looked around confused. As Jean walks to the kitchen, he doesn’t hear you moving so he turns back to you. You stand awkwardly in the wall way, gently rubbing the clothes in your hands. 

“Sorry, the bathroom is the first door on the right,” he states, pointing to the hallway to the right.

You begin walking down the hallway, the cotton soft against your hands, as you reach the door. You turn the golden circular knob to the right, pushing forward, opening the door. Seeing the modestly sized bathroom, the same color as the rest of the house adorns the walls. You walk until you reach the shower mat, rubbing your feet dry on the fuzzy material. Once your feet felt dry, feeling much more comfortable, you began to take off your dress. Once adorn in just your undergarments, you take off your bra, deeming it not worth the gross feeling. Taking a second to think if you should take off your underwear, but what if your wet underwear gave you some sort of infection? After the thought crossed your head you quickly stripped the underwear from your body, unfolding the clothes. There laid a plain pair of gray sweatpants, similar to the ones he's wearing, also seeing the plain white t-shirt. 

You quickly put the clothes on, picking up your sopping wet clothes, holding them away from your body to not get your new clothes wet. Without taking another look, you exit the bathroom, shutting the bathroom door behind you. 

You turn the corner to the kitchen, seeing Jean, still shirtless, placing bowls on the table. 

“Hey, want me to put ‘cha clothes in the dryer?” his country accent coming through, you smile at it, you quip a ‘sure’ before handing him the clothes. He takes the wet fabric all in one hand, turning around going to the laundry room. His sculpted back on display, not even flexing, looking strong and toned. 

Jean came back quickly, the sound of his dryer running in the distance. “Wanna eat?” He gestures to the bowls with steam seeping from it, you nod quickly, wanting to delve into the hot liquid.

You both sit down in front of the bowls, sitting on the wooden chairs. Seeing the chicken and rice soup in the bowl, mouth salivating at the sight.

“So, what brings ‘ya all the way out here,” picking up your spoon, he blows on the liquid. You take a deep breath before explaining your reason for being out here.

“Seeing family, my grandparents live out here, I just haven’t had time to get out here in awhile.” You put simply, not going into detail. You follow Jean, blowing on the soup, before putting the spoonful into your mouth. Jean hums at your response, putting the spoon in his mouth, tasting every detail of his soup. “What about you, I mean I’m in your house, what’s some stuff I could know about you?”

He takes a deep breath, setting his spoon in his bowl. “I live here, I work at a farm just down the road, I’ve lived here my whole life. I easily know everyone in the town, it’s close knit.” You continue to eat while nodding, you couldn’t imagine staying in one town your whole life. Your lifes consists of moving so often, you never know how long you’ll be living in a house for.

“So where are ‘ya from then,” he asks, picking his spoon back up and eating. “Four hours away, in Paradis.” Short and to the point, that’s all you needed to say. 

“Big city huh,” He smirks looking at you across the table. You quickly nod, before Jean begins to speak again. “So what do ya do for work then?” He attempts to make conversation, even though you’ve barely talked to him. 

“I’m a Lawyer,” you simply put it, as if it’s the most mundane job. Jeans eyes widen a bit, a lawyer? This town doesn’t even have a doctor, let alone a lawyer. “Wow, what a career,” he chuckles.

I hum in response, it’s the usual response you got from telling your occupation. Ooo’s and Ahh’s and ‘you must make so much money!’, receiving a small smile from you. 

“You okay? You seem like the question threw you off— sorry I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine, I just don’t really enjoy my job. Everyone else thinks it's the coolest thing ever, to some it is, but the question can just aggravate me sometimes.” You cut Jean off, beginning to feel bad. It was a harmless question, lots of people ask you the question, but it doesn’t subside the feeling in your chest.

“Hmm, well then what do you want to be?” He questions. Nobody ever asks that, they always say ‘what but that’s such a cool job!’, ‘what kind of people have you defended?’, or even ‘everybody hates their job, you just live with it.’. Nobody ever asks what you truly wanted deep down as a job. You take a second to ponder the question, never really thinking of the question on your off time. 

“As a kid I really wanted to be a dancer, sometimes a firefighter.” A chuckle leaves your lips as you ramble off jobs you dreamed of as a kid, as your spoon swirled in the minimal soup left in your bowl.

“What about you? Do you enjoy your job?”

“Yeah I really do. I get to do something I love, and still be close to my friends, it’s all I could ask for.” At that moment Jean looked idyllic, his small smile, his broad shoulders, everything. 

You smile at him, the memory of the photo on the wall pops in your head. Even if you wanted to talk to him in a different way, he seems to already have a girlfriend. Your smile turns into a bleak straight line, as you finish off your soup.

“Has the rain stopped at all?” You question, knowing full well the answer, just by the pelts hitting the glass window.

“Doesn’t seem like it, I think it may be best you just stay here,” he grabs your bowl, putting it inside his, and walking to the sink, setting it down.

“You can take my bed if you want,” you immediately shake your head. You’d feel the guilt hanging over your head for the rest of your life if you took his bed, after bombarding his night.

“I can sleep on the couch, if that’s okay with you?” Jean nods his head, walking back to where you are.

“Let me go grab some bedding, and I can tell you how the tv works and everything.” Jean wanders back towards the bathroom, entering the bathroom at the very end of the hall, probably his bedroom.

You get up from your seat, walking just a few feet to the hallway, looking back at the photos on the wall. Seeing one you must have missed earlier, one of Jean with what you assume is his large friend group. Everyone’s arms entangled together, his over the familiar brunettes still.

“Hey, want me to show you the tv?” Jean asks, seeing you look at the photos on the wall. Not really thinking much of the action. 

You nod your head, feet moving fast in his direction. You see him gently laying blankets on top of blankets on his couch. A fluffy looking one under a quilt that looks handmade.

“That quilt is really pretty,” you mumble watching him place pillows on the end of the couch, right by the blankets. 

“Thanks, my mom made it for me,” his cheeks tint red. You smile at him, seeing how he’s so connected with his family and obviously caring. “That’s sweet,” you mumble. 

“So wanna sit down and I'll tell ya how the tv works?” Jean sits, just beside where he set up your sleeping space. You sit down on the blanket he set up for you, laying your back against the plush back.

You let out a hum as Jean turns on the tv, seeing Netflix still on with “continue watching Lovely Complex?”. Jean quickly taps the buttons on the remote, trying to make the image leave, the tips of his ears turning red. 

“Jean, have you been watching Lovely Complex?” You shout smiling at him, seeing one of your favorite shows on the screen. 

“No! Someone just turned it one, and forgot to turn it off!” He defends himself, as you smile at him grasping for the remote. 

Maybe his girlfriend was the one watching it, how would she feel about this?

You finally get the remote, turning the show on, smiling at the sound of the theme song. 

“Let me guess, your girlfriend?” You laugh, nodding your head to the song blaring from the tv. Not even realizing what you just said could lead to unavoidable questions.

“Huh? What girlfriend?” He looks at you puzzled, as your eyes still narrow in on the show. Your smile slowly subsides.

“C’mon Jean, I know I’m like a stranger, but that’s something dumb to lie about.” All your senses now start to overwhelm you, the blanket now feeling extra scratchy, the air feeling hot.

“What are you even talking about,” Jean now turns so his whole body is facing you. You keep your eyes glued to the tv, knowing you’d cry of embarrassment if you faced Jean.

“The girl in the picture Jean, dear fucking lord,” you groan, watching Otani and Risa’s antics on the staticky tv. 

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Jean says slowly, trying to think of where this is coming from. Looking around his house for any clues to what may have led up to this, or given you that impression.

You smash your face into the pillow Jean laid out for you and let out a deep groan. Moving your legs, so now they’re also on the couch, you laying in a straight line. You feel as if you could die of embarrassment, your face is hot, your heart is racing.

“Are you talking about Sasha?” You scoff at the question. “Jean I don’t know who the fuck Sasha is,” your words muffled by the pillow. You feel as if you could cry, the embarrassment eating you up. 

“Sasha, the brunette in the photo in the hall, the photos you were starin’ at?” You squirm at the depiction of the girl, your knees coming in on your stomach as your face stays in the pillow. You slowly nod your head on the pillow, guilt and shame eating you up. Now knowing why you got so defensive over the photo in the first place. 

“Sasha is just my friend, she’s engaged to the chef in town, his name is Niccolo. Trust me, I see her as more of a sister then I ever could a girlfriend.” You feel a dip by your head, suddenly feeling Jeans hands rubbing your scalp in a soothing motion. You turn your head on the side, looking at Jean’s eyes glued on you, his face unreadable. 

You let out a hum hoping he’ll just leave the situation alone, you take your knee’s out from under you, now laying flat on your stomach. You turn your eye’s back to the show, diverting your focus. Jean begin’s to remove his hand from your scalp, but you quickly grasp his wrist without a word and put it back on your head. 

“Why’d you assume she was my girlfriend,” Jean mumbles, looking at you, the colors from the tv reflecting against your face. You don’t change anything, you keep your eyes on the tv, not wanting to answer such an embarrassing question. 

“Were ‘ya jealous?” He smirks, as you let out a whine. “No Jean,” you state.

“Then why were ‘ya so defensive?” Jean asks, taking his hand off your head and folding his arms over his bare chest. You whine at the loss of touch and try to grab his hand, but he doesn't budge.

“No head massages until you tell me,” he says looking at your sad face. “But Jean—” you drag out his name, shaking his wrist.

“Not gonna change my mind hun, confess.” You let out a huff, “I don’t know! I was just disappointed I guess, you're very comforting and the thought of not being able to talk to you anymore made me sad.” 

Your confession rings in Jean’s ears, did that mean what he thinks it means?

“I was watching the show earlier-“ your head whips around to Jean. “Wanna watch it with me?” He asks, putting his hand back on your head, gently massaging the crown of your head.

You nod your head, Jean moving his eyes to the tv. You look over at Jean, at the sight of his face glued to the tv, you wiggle upwards, placing your head on Jean’s thigh. Rubbing your head slightly on the soft material covering his thigh. 

Jean’s eyes gravite to your head on his thigh, seeing your focus on the tv, and your alluring side profile. 

You keep your eyes on the tv, laughing at the funny bits. Suddenly feeling Jeans hand stopping it’s motion, still residing on your head. Now feeling Jean's presence even closer than before.

“Can I kiss you?” Jean whispers against the shell of your ear, just a hair away from his lips touching your ear. 

You turn on your back, looking into Jean's eyes. Quickly nodding, putting your hands on the sides of his face, pulling him down to you.

Jean immediately captures you, his lips a bit chapted, but nothing his tongue couldn’t fix. You bite down onto his bottom lip ever so slightly, his tongue hitting yours. You hum and moan into the kiss, Jean lifting his body from the couch. You begin to whine as Jean breaks away from the kiss standing up, leaving you on the couch still. 

Until he kneels on the couch, one leg on your side, the other in between your legs. Your whine gets muffled by Jean’s lips back on yours, with the same heat as before. 

“Can I take this off of you,” you hum into the kiss, as Jean’s hands dance along the lace bottom of your dress. He begins to tug on the fabric, as you arch your back trying to make the action easier. He gets your dress off with ease, balling the dress up in his hands and throwing it besides the couch. 

He breaks the kiss, halting his movements for a moment to take you in. Lacey bra and underwear adorn your skin, his eyes linger, savoring your beauty. Seeing you panting from the kiss, your hands grabbing at the top of his sweatpants.

“You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” and you suddenly feel as if your heart is melting. 

Jean leans back in to kiss you, first kissing the corner of your mouth, beginning to trail down your jaw. You hastily grab the top of his sweats tugging at them a bit, as if to ask if it’s alright to take them off. Jean grabs them quickly, pulling them off, putting them besides your dress. Leaving him in his black boxers, the print off his cock evident in them. 

You groan at the sight, as Jeans mouth now sits on the top of your breast. His hands graze your stomach, resting just under your bra, before he grabs the cups pulling them down. His light kisses now on your nipple, before he wraps around it gently. Pleasure shoots through your body like fireworks, from your chest all the way to your core, making you throb. By instinct your thighs attempt to close, only to meet Jean's leg preventing it. 

At the feeling of your thighs Jean drags his arms down your body, resting on your hips. Followed by his lips leaving your nipple, and his whole body moving down. Jean is now at the end of the couch, which would be uncomfortable in most situations, but with you it feels like heaven. 

“Can I take these off?” Jean asks, toying with the sides of your underwear, before letting it snap onto your hips. 

With a light yelp, you quickly nod your head, trying to lift your hips. Only to have Jean put his hand under your lower back, using his other hand to quickly take the underwear off. Your eyes fall on Jean as he places a light kiss on your mound, his hands rubbing up and down the plush of your thighs. His eyes suddenly lift up to you, low-lidded, your face feels hot and the rush in your body is unexplainable. 

Both of your hands instinctively go to the back of Jean’s light brown locks, gripping his hair like your life depended on it. You let out a high pitched moan, trying your best to not crush Jean with your thighs.

Your thighs shake as you draw in a deep breath. “Jean.”

At the sound of his name and the movement on your body, Jean places his forearm on your lower stomach, pressing you down. His touch is electrifying as you feel him lightly massage your stomach, and his tongue dances along your clit. The knot in your stomach gets tighter and tighter as he keeps his pace. His tongue flicked quickly, and his pressure stays perfect and consistent. As you feel the gradual knot in your stomach, begin to break by a threat, suddenly unraveling all at once. Your neck arching, your stomach coming in on itself, your hand letting go of Jean’s hair. 

You're breathing deep, as you stare deliriously at the ceiling, taking in everything. 

“You okay there?” Jean asks, massaging your thighs, looking up at your flushed fucked out face. 

“Mmm, if your oral is that good I can only imagine how good you are at sex,” you hum, grabbing the band of his boxers, pulling them down. You now face him with his hardened cock, as you feel your mouth go dry. 

“Do you have a condom?” You say, looking up at Jean through lidded eyes. Jean quickly nods, escaping to his room for a brief moment, before coming back to the couch where you lay with your thighs still spread. 

You sit up, watching Jean ripping the foil, sliding the condom on with ease. When his eyes see that you’re staring at his action, his lips morph into a smirk as he strokes his condom covered shaft, setting a knee on the couch. You slide up the couch a bit, making more room for Jean, as he sits eyes on you. 

“How ‘bout this?” Jean asks, as he turns you on your side, lifting one of your legs up, pushing it into your side. You look down at his throbbing cock before quickly nodding at the position, biting your lip at the thought of what’s about to happen.

“You sure?” you smile at Jean, being smitten with how sweet he is. “Yes Jean, I promise.”

Jean lines himself up with your entrance, pushing your leg up, using his other hand to grip your jaw, bringing you into a kiss. Your fingers twist the quilt under you as you feel his cock sink into you, stretching you, only stopping when your hips are flushed with his. Jean keeps his lips encapsulated with yours, as you moan into his kiss. 

Jean breaks the kiss, a string of saliva connecting you two still. His fingertips pressing on your thighs as he draws his hips back. His thrust are fairly slow, still managing to make you feel whipped as you watch his cock enter and leave your body.

“Harder,” you groan, his pace too slow, making you desperate beyond belief. It feels so good, but you crave more. His hips snap back into you, the thrust almost driving you up the couch. 

“This what ‘ya want?” He questions cockily, panting, as his hips snap at a fast pace, hitting you deeper. You know he only asked to prove a point, but you nod your head lazily. He moves his grip on your jaw, now having his hand on your chin, pulling himself down to your lips. The kiss was brief, as he now puts his thumb inside your mouth, as he keeps his eyes narrowed in on you. Your lips closing on Jean’s thumb, sucking on it ever so slightly, a sultry look on your face.

Jean bites his lip at the look on your face, his hips getting to an insatiable pace. Your lips suddenly release his thumb as you gasp, a subtle sting shot straight to your core. Jean’s hips suddenly come to a halt for a second, before lazily going in and out a few times, taking his cock now leaving your body. A wordless gasp spilling from your mouth, as Jean pants, sweat drips down his temples, and sweat gathers on your hairline.

You look up at Jean, seeing the intense look painted on his face, making your heart squeeze. Jean’s chest burns, as he looks at your hazy eyes. Jean removes the condom, quickly going off to his bedroom. Still in your daze, your legs feeling numb, your thighs come together, beginning to feel sticky. 

Jean comes back, the condom now gone. “Jean do you have something I could use to clean myself up,” you ask, your face going neon as you look down at your fingers laying on the quilt. You get no response, as you suddenly feel a hand wiggling its way under your back, the other going under your knees. You suddenly whip your head up, to see Jean carrying you.

“Jean what are you—”

“You really think I’d have sex with you, then leave you to sleep on the couch,” Jean asks, suddenly feeling Jean’s forearm twist, hearing the sound of a creaking door. “Here, let me go get a rag real quick.”

He lays you on the middle of his bed, you lay on his bed on your elbows, with your legs slightly spread, to avoid your thighs sticking. As Jean comes back with a damp rag, kneeling on his bed, rubbing along your fold. Once he finishes, he goes and sets the rag in the hamper in the corner of his bathroom. Coming back to seeing you moving to the top of the bed.

“Make yourself comfy,” Jean says, flipping up his bedding, leaving his naked self against the soft bedding. You follow in suit, making yourself comfortable under the bedding, turning to face Jean. 

“I think your car was meant to break down,” your face contorts into a puzzled look. As you see, panic suddenly starts to come on Jean’s face. “No! I mean, I think meeting you was fate? I don’t really know how fate works, but you're the first thing I think of.”

You stare at Jean, a wide grin, and tears begin to blur your vision. “Wait! Don’t cry ‘m sorry I didn’t—” you wipe your eyes, “No Jean, you’re just super sweet, and I just really appreciate it.”

Jean smiles at your reaction, seeing your eyes no longer being clouded with tears. He opens up his arms, as you wiggle yourself into his grip, grabbing his hands, trapping yourself inside. “Thank you Jean,” you mumble against his chest, as he rubs his hands up your back, you doing the same for him. As you both lull yourself to sleep, feeling the warm embrace and lush blankets under you.

a/n: This idea has been fresh in my head for SO LONG AND IT’S FINALLY DONE AHHHH. FARMER JEAN IS JUST UGGHHSHXIS

[live-from-flaturn]

French Inhale

This absolutely wild ficlet was brought to you in part by @foxandfall, whose convo led me to the conclusion that not only can Porchay do a French Inhale, he uses this Secret Bad Boy Skill to tease Kim beyond the point of fairness.

stoner lingo: roach = tiny bit of remaining weed at the tip of the joint (where your lips go), toke = hit/pull/drag, you gotta cough to get off = you have to take big hits and cough to get really high, 

tws: adults using legal mind-altering substances (smoking weed), horny vibes

---

Kim found Chay on the balcony of their new apartment, leaning his elbows back against the smooth metal railing. A lit joint hung precariously in the space between his pointer and middle fingers and a thin tail of blue-white smoke curled up through the air. Kim’s eyes followed its shifting column until they were inevitably drawn to the dangerously exposed length of his boyfriend’s neck, which tensed and relaxed appealingly as he opened his mouth to exhale.

“Long day?” Kim asked, voice miraculously normal. 

Chay offered a throaty, tired hum in lieu of a reply. Long didn’t begin to cover the kind of day he’d suffered through, but everything was fine right now. Kim was moving steadily closer, the weed was good – nothing less than the best for Wik’s secretive muse/boyfriend, and a buffet's worth of food was on its way from Porsche and Kinn as a ‘thank you’ for handling their shit all afternoon.

“Brothers?”

“Mhm.”

“Was it that stupid fucking wedding I warned them about?”

“Mhm.”

“I’m sorry, angel.”

Chay didn’t want Kim to be sorry at the moment, however. Not like that. 

Determined to turn the entire evening (and this conversation) around, Chay straightened his posture and took another slow drag of the joint before offering it to Kim. Once the mafia heir had taken a nice lungful, Chay parted his glossy lips. He coquettishly revealed the rolling white cloud of spicy marijuana smoke that sat hovering within the curved bowl of his tongue. 

With the kind of precision that only came with lots of practice, he inhaled through his nose and felt the smoke start trickling upward from his mouth in a smooth, impressive wave. Kim swallowed, which was a huge mistake because he still hadn’t released the last hit he’d taken. 

Coughing uncontrollably but also desperate not to lose sight of his boyfriend’s confusingly hot display, Kim planted both hands on his knees and stared Chay down. Chay shrugged nonchalantly and shot him a wink, “You gotta cough to get off, babe.”

When he could breathe properly again, Kim pointed accusingly up at him and wheezed, “You know that’s not what that means.”

“So?”

Chay took the joint back and used his free hand to pull Kim close, tucking the shorter man into his side. He took an enormous toke and buried his face in Kim’s unstyled hair. When the burn grew too painful for him to hold another second, he lifted his chin, sighed, and watched any remaining grey wisps disappear in the breeze. Kim plucked the roach away with a look that said ‘you’re finished’, so Chay chose to occupy his hands by fitting them over his boyfriend’s hips instead. 

He squeezed without any shame whatsoever, having openly professed his feelings about Kim’s delicate waist a long while ago. Held flat to his chest as Kim now was, he felt the idol tense in a distinctly excited way. Kim shoved the depleted roach into their novelty bootlegged-Hello Kitty ashtray and twisted around in one smooth go. 

The movement temporarily broke Chay’s hold on him, but once he’d gotten situated with his face to Chay, Kim put them right back where they belonged. He tilted his head up to look at Chay, “Wanna go inside?” 

“Yeah.” 

“You tired, or about ready for a snack?” Kim teased. “I think the foo-”

He was interrupted by Chay’s decision to lift him up and throw him over one annoyingly broad shoulder. 

“Hey! Put me down! Chay!” 

“Why should I put you down, P’Kim?” Chay laughed. He moved inside and closed the sliding balcony door behind them, Kim flopping back and forth with each half-turn of his torso. He planted a firm smack to Kim’s ass and laughed at the surprised yelp it got him in response. “Didn’t you just ask me if I wanted a snack?”

“That’s not what-”

“Then you should have been more specific.”

And if their awkwardly delivered dinner was a little cold by the time they got around to eating it? Oh well. You wouldn’t hear either of them complaining.

[wastelandmoony]

Déjà Vécu: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: Alright

Characters: Remus Lupin/Reader, Sirius Black/Reader (no use of y/n), James Potter, Petter Pettigrew

Warnings: Minors DNI, 18+ only!, angst, anxiety/overwhelming feelings, language, mentions of death and self harm, allusion to bad home life/families

Read on AO3

Companion Playlist

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

December 25th, 1971

Dear Remus,

Happy Christmas! I hope you’re having a good holiday so far, mines been alright at best. It’s been great to see my parents, I’ve missed them, but I can’t wait to get back to school. We’re having a Christmas party tomorrow, and I can’t wait to hide in my room and pretend I’m in the library at school (specifically that one spot by the far windows, the one with the extra comfy chairs, you know which one I’m talking about). Anyway, I miss everyone, I even miss Sirius’ annoying look that he gives whenever I poor my tea at breakfast (I still don’t think taking it without sugar is that weird?) Speaking of Sirius, my parents gave me a new record for Christmas. It’s T-Rex’s Electric Warrior, have you heard it? I’m bringing it back with me to school, Sirius is going to flip when he hears it. Please write back as soon as you can!

———

The week leading up to the full moon on the 31st was full of anxiety, exacerbated by the fact that she had yet to receive a response from Remus. The other three had written, wishing a Happy Christmas and talking about their various holiday activities, save for Sirius who completely omitted any mention of his family whatsoever. She responded to them all, asking the same question at the end: have you heard from Remus?

—I wrote to him the other day, haven’t heard back yet. He’s probably just busy with family, y’know?, James wrote in his barely legible handwriting, immediately following a long-winded description of the new broom he received for Christmas.

—Haven’t heard from him, sorry. Maybe he just forgot?, Peter added to the end of his letter, almost as an afterthought.

Sirius responded rather quickly, something she was surprised about due to how strict his mother seemed back at the train station; she assumed the woman would have been controlling over the owl post as well. 

Yellowjacket—

I haven’t spoken to Lupin, I wrote him a few days ago though. I know you’re worried, you do that too much. Relax, I’m sure he’s fine. I hope your holiday is going well.

Can’t wait to be back at school.

—Sirius 

Shesent another letter to Remus on the 31st, not able to stop thinking about his transformation that night, knowing that he was probably already reeling from the soreness in his muscles. 

Rem,

I hope you’re okay. None of us have heard from you, and I’m worried. I hope this reaches you before tonight, but I doubt it will, and for that I’m sorry. Please remember, you’re wonderful and very loved. 

Be well, I’ll see you at King’s Cross this weekend.

———-

January 2nd, 1972

The platform was packed just like during the start of term back in September, the vast crowd of families sending their students off for the semester was overwhelming, but this time around she wasn’t nervous…at least about going to school anyway. 

James and Peter were the first to arrive, escorted by Mrs. Potter after Pete’s mom was called away on an urgent matter for work. The two of them waited outside one of the train doors, Peter waving frantically as they noticed her come through the platform entrance. Her parents didn’t follow this time, something she reassured them that they didn’t have to do. They had walked her to Platform 9, hugged a tearful goodbye, and watched as she disappeared without looking back.

She embraced Peter first, face beginning to hurt from her smile being so wide. James was next, squeezing her a little too forcefully before letting go with a laugh. The three of them filled each other in on their holidays, and she quite enjoyed hearing all about the wizarding Christmas traditions. James was animatedly recounting a wild party game his family had played on New Years Eve when his face fell mid-sentence, eyes trained on something behind her. She turned to see Sirius standing on the platform just past the entrance, staring absentmindedly at the train.

“Black!” James called over, snapping the boy out of whatever daze he was in. When his gaze panned over to them, her heart fell. His eyes were dull, the consistent spark of mischief and joy extinguished. 

He slowly made his way over, and she noticed the ghost of a bruise on his cheekbone, the yellow hue contrasting with the dark circles under his eyes. 

“…Alright, mate?” James asked cautiously, while Peter shuffled nervously beside him.

Sirius nodded, seeming to reassure not just James, but also himself. 

“Yeah, m’alright. How ‘bout you lot?” He looked between their faces, and she watched his hard exterior reform as he straightened his spine. 

James continued his story from earlier, and she zoned out a little trying to scan the crowd for the last piece of the puzzle. 

Finally she saw a mousy head bobbing through the crowd of students and well-wishers. She removed herself completely from the rest of the conversation and ran toward Remus. His face brightened as he saw her barreling towards him, pulling her in tight as she grabbed onto his jumper. He buried his face in her hair instinctively, breathing in as she whispered into his chest, “You’re okay—“

“—I’m okay…” he murmured, pulling back after a few short moments, noticing her pained expression as she inspected every centimeter of his face. In his mind he mapped out the new scars, knowing they weren’t anywhere visible. He wasn’t ready to have her see them—to see the reality of it all.

“Where’ve you been? Why didn’t you write me…” the sadness in her voice broke his heart. 

“I’m sorry, I just…couldn’t…” he trailed off as James walked up. 

“Hiya!” He clapped Remus on the back, and his sharp intake of breath wasn’t lost on her, “We should try and find a compartment before it gets too full.” 

Remus shot her a reassuring glance before grabbing his trunk and walking onto the train with his friends. 

———

June 16th, 1972

Spring term was more hectic than the Fall. End of year exams were held at the end of May, all of which she passed with flying colors, same with Remus. Peter slipped by on average marks, while James and Sirius were barely allowed to complete their first year at Hogwarts, purely due to their lack of completing any schoolwork in lieu of wreaking havoc. The two had become even more inseparable after the Christmas holiday, Sirius latching onto James tightly and throwing all of his energy into galavanting around the castle causing mayhem with his chosen brother. She had stopped counting the detentions both of them had received, and after the 10th one, her and Remus ceased making bets about which one would be caught first because it had become too exhausting. 

Every full moon was a struggle, one that was never easier no matter how much she prepared. Each month she would walk with Remus down to the hospital wing, never letting go of his hand until the very last moment. Before they said goodbye, she would slip a chocolate into his pocket, along with a note. The week prior to each transformation, she would make it a point to find a poem about the beauty of the moon, attaching it to the chocolate in the hopes that maybe one day he would see not only the moon but in turn also himself, as something worthy of admiration and love. Afterwards she would join the rest of her friends at dinner, putting on a happy face and keeping up appearances. When she went to bed those nights, she cried in solitude, an act that made her strangely feel closer to Remus, who was also suffering alone somewhere. 

The following morning, she’d run down to the infirmary after dawn where Madam Pomfrey would greet her with a smile and an update on that month’s damage. She found that whenever Remus was particularly stressed, the transformations seemed to be worse, so May was rather devastating. The end of year exams weighed heavily on both of their shoulders, but Remus’ strain manifested in deep gouges across his back and legs. He didn’t wake up until past noon the following day. She watched as Madam Pomfrey changed his bandages while he slept, applying a healing salve to the gaping wounds stretching across his ribs. He had never shown her his scars, she’d only ever seen the small ones on his hands. These were something else; these were gruesome tears through the muscle down to the bone. She never told him that she’d seen them. When he would wake the mornings after a transformation, she noticed that he would always pull the blankets up higher on his torso immediately, an instinctual habit of hiding the evidence. Patience was key with Remus, and she would never ask too much or push him to speak about anything having to do with his affliction; when he was ready to open up, he’d do so. All she knew was that they were now in this together. 

During breakfast on the morning they were set to depart Hogwarts to go home for the summer, Sirius had reverted back to the scared little boy she saw at Christmas. He didn’t eat that morning, and avoided contributing to most of the conversation. Collectively, they knew why, they had all seen his mother Walburga that day on the platform, what they didn’t know was the extent to which the abuse reached.

James tried to keep the day light and fun as usual, always the optimist. The only time he faltered slightly was when he saw Lily depart the Great Hall for the train, and his face fell as she passed by without a word. He had tried all year to get her to speak to him, something that seemed almost impossible at this point, a feat that was made more difficult by the fact that she was almost always seen around Severus. The greasy haired Slytherin was in a perpetual war with James and Sirius; their fights being the cause of almost half of the latter boy’s detentions throughout the year. 

As they boarded the train to leave, she stood on the platform and took one last look at Hogwarts, something to remember for the next two months—something beautiful. Storm clouds were rolling in across the lake, an early summer rain that would paint the Forbidden Forest a darker green, the smell of the damp woods permeating over the grounds as the rumbling thunder would echo off of the stone turrets. The thought of missing it caused a lump to form in her throat.

The boys found a compartment, and they all piled in and stowed their bags. James and Sirius got to work planning their opening prank for the following school year, once again setting their sights on the Slytherins.

“—it’s got to be bigger! We’re not first years anymore, it’s time to think more mature,” Sirius gestured while pouring over a notebook filled with scribbles and diagrams of what she could only imagine was pure trouble. 

“I find it a little concerning that you two are still planning on putting all of your energy into pranks and not schoolwork,” she deadpanned without looking up from her sketchbook, “even after the both of you barely passed first year exams.”

Sirius scoffed, “Listen little bee, our talents lie outside of the confines of the classroom. Why shouldn’t we practice them as much as possible?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him, to which he smirked. 

———

She dozed off midway through the journey, head leaning on Remus’ shoulder and feet in Peter’s lap, too full of sweets and the happiness of being surrounded by her favorite people to fight off sleep. When the train arrived at King’s Cross, James, Sirius and Peter whispered their goodbyes to Remus, who was trying his best to not startle her awake. Once the three boys left the compartment, Remus squeezed her hand a few times as she stirred, opening her eyes to discover everyone else had gone.

“Oh god, I fell asleep! I didn’t get to say goodbye!” Her eyes were wide as she got up to look out the window. James and Peter were on the opposite end of the platform laughing together while their mother’s talked animatedly about something. Sirius was nowhere to be seen. She scanned the crowd of students and families, searching for any glimpse of him. 

Nothing.

“All of them said goodbye, if it’s any consolation,” Remus said, pulling her attention away from the window. 

She looked back at him sadly, picking up a bag and swinging it over her shoulder. 

“I dunno how I’ll survive the summer without you…” she murmured as they stepped onto the platform.

Remus scanned the crowd, locking eyes with his father towards the back of the station. 

He swallowed dryly, turning his attention back to her, “Me either, but I’ll write you as much as I can, and before you know it…we’ll be right back here, dealing with James’ incessant whinging about Lily, and Sirius’ unrelenting assault on the entire Slytherin House.”

The images of her friends floated through her mind: the way James’ hair always looked like he stepped out of a wind tunnel; how Peter always asked for her opinion on something first before the others; play-fighting with Sirius at the table in the Great Hall; and Remus—her other half. 

“—Remus, are you going to be okay?” She said abruptly, concern and sadness written in her eyes as they searched his. 

He swallowed and glanced back at his parents, “…Yeah. I’ll be alright.”

She launched herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. Remus stiffened, knowing that his parents were watching right behind them. Coincidentally, those were the two her eyes were trained on as she stared over his shoulder, tightening her arms as she watched his father clench his jaw at the sight, his mother quietly resigned to studying the ground beneath her feet. 

Remus pulled away first, something he only seemed to do when his parents were around. He’d never spoken at length about his family, nor did she ever ask; she’d already seen their disdain for their son, there was nothing that could change her feelings towards them. 

“Do not forget to write me, Remus Lupin!” She swatted him playfully in the arm before he walked away. He smiled sheepishly as he gave one last look back at her, trying to memorize every detail of her face.

[revenant-dumpster-fire]

Quiet Before (Revenant x Reader)

Theme: No longer a volunteer, but what are you now?

Warnings: Pain, bodily trauma, medical trauma, PTSD, bipolar disorder, mania, depression.

Reader's Notes: I tried to write this so you don't have to have read "Just A Volunteer" first. It means there's a bit of review for returning readers, but hopefully it's worth it. Sorry I got depressed after book 1 and needed a long break. It's a miracle you guys are still here, thank you for waiting patiently for my dumb ass to survive trauma, tragedy, and total emotional decimation to come back and give you this.

Writing Notes: Clean yo damn room and stop making fanfic

Navigation:

(This is the first chapter) | Next Chapter

"Just A Volunteer" (Book 1) | "The Lost Files" (Book 1.5) | "Of Feathers And Venom" (Book 2)

You grab around the giant alpha prowler's muzzle with your whole body, hugging it completely. Six nuzzles into you and whimpers lightly, extremely happy with your increased trust over the last few weeks.

Fall has passed quickly. Revenant has doubled down on his efforts to keep you locked up in this apartment and away from any criminal element that might want revenge, spending all of his season off to spend in the room beside yours. Otherwise, he has been aloof and quick to disappear during the day and sometimes into the evenings, insisting he is still working on leads and "important business". He has insisted on your continued efforts to care for his massive pack of prowlers, raise the stray white kitten you found and named Royce, and decorate your room as you please. You've been able to keep the animals entertained, but Revenant still remains unsatisfied with your room decorations, insisting it requires more than a bathroom rug and a new pillow.

His intent seems to be to keep you busy enough to not sneak out, but the temptation has been gnawing away at you as your surgical wounds have healed up completely. Finally you are well enough to jump around and roughhouse with the dog-like prowlers, and you want nothing more than to get out of here. Although, some part of that might be your manic state, which has started up again as of late. The only thing that holds you back a meager amount is your new synthetic lung, which continues to feel heavier and duller than its counterpart. You simply can't exert yourself as much as you used to, which all in all is not a bad price to pay.

Six pushes his muzzle into you, causing you no pain whatsoever. You can feel the raised scars on your skin rub against your shirt though: now a physical memory of being kidnapped, drugged, shot, and rescued in a night that still feels like a blur. The scars are also a reminder of Revenant's odd protectiveness of you, as he offered up his old Hammond prototype organs from his chassis to keep you alive. You literally can't ever be separated from him now. At least not without being gutted again, which you'd rather not.

Instinctively, you swing your body around Six's muscular neck and manage to grapple onto his back. He winces a bit at your sudden movement, but ultimately allows you to get on his back like he's not opposed to being ridden like a horse. To be fair, your surgery has left you lighter than normal, as you've struggled to keep your diet in check. Although you don't feel too worried about it, you've noticed Revenant insisting the MRVN assistant make richer and richer foods for you to try to get you back to where you were. Six lightly prances around, humored by your giggly nature all of a sudden. He likes the sound you emit and with each chuckle he speeds up a little more, trying to keep the ride entertaining for you.

Six has never seen you manic. In fact, for the most part, Six has only ever seen you in a state of fear and despair. Life is like that: changes can happen at any time and for any reason, lasting days to months at a time. At least Six seems to be very accepting of your changing nature. He adores the excessive affection you bestow on him as well as your apparent happiness when he interacts with Royce now. He was quite concerned when you didn't trust him initially, as far as you could see. He really is a smart creature. It's so odd how much personality Six has. If only the rest of the Outlands knew how wonderful these creatures can be if only given a chance.

"I'm going out, I have a job to—" Revenant announces loudly as he steps out of his room, stopping dead in his tracks as he happens upon you giggling while sliding off of Six's back and onto the hardwood floor of the living area. He goes completely still for a moment, letting his condescending stare follow you as you melt into a puddle on the floor, unable to contain how happy you feel for the first time in ages. He shuffles over to you, seeming a bit concerned. You cannot collect yourself enough to address him looming over you. Six watches you with amusement. Revenant shoots a glare towards the MRVN in the kitchen.

"Hey, what the hell did you give her?" Revenant's wrath is apparent immediately.

"Nothing yet, medication-wise!" The MRVN chirps happily, not picking up on Revenant's underlying accusation tonally, only logically. 

"What are the counts, then?!" He barks angrily at the MRVN.

"The remaining pill counts for the anti-anxiety and pain killers are as expected!" The MRVN remains happily unfazed. Of course Revenant would have the MRVN keep track of the remaining pills. He's been excessively controlling and very thorough about it lately.

Revenant looks back at you, now with a level of bewilderment in his body language. He kneels down over your body, finally reaching out and grabbing you by the wrist, lifting it up to see how you react. As he tries to check your pulse, your wrist tremors against his grip uncontrollably. You see a flicker of realization come over him.

"Ah, it's this fidgeting of yours again. And here I almost forgot how you so haphazardly met me." He almost purrs as he relaxes himself a bit while tightening his grip on your wrist to force it into stillness. The touch helps you focus for a moment and collect yourself.

"Sorry, I'm just—"

"Clearly feeling better. If you can now be this reckless with yourself, I guess you're finally healed." He interrupts you, refusing to allow you time to apologize. His grip on your wrist slips as he stands up, causing you to quickly hug on to his leg from the floor. He reels back a little, not expecting that.

"Please don't leave, just one day. Just stay today!" you beg. He's left every single day this autumn. He's gone the whole time the sun's up, and if he ever spends any time here it's when you're passed out. You've even tried modifying your sleep schedule, but somehow he always manages to be gone while you're awake. It almost feels planned, and you're not sure why. He's kept to himself heavily, staying in the depressingly plain bedroom opposite to yours. On the rare occasion a nightmare has woken you up, you've made a point to knock on his door and let yourself in, always finding him there on the bed, reading an ancient book or periodical alone in the dim light of an old lamp. He'll let you rest next to him, but if you wake up, it's always back in your own room, alone.

"I can't. I have a job to do." He states plainly as he lifts his leg and gently shakes you off of it. You grab the other leg before he can get away.

"Why?! Why must you keep leaving?" You know the answer he's going to give, but it's never satisfying.

"I'm just keeping you safe, idiot." He lifts this leg and shakes you off again, prompting you to grab the other again. "Stop that!"

"No! You have to tell me the truth, or you have to stay! Just one day!" You grapple on as tight as you can, pressing your cheek into his cool, metal shin. If he tries to shake you off this time, he's going to run the risk of kicking you in the face.

"While watching you beg is—" He pauses upon lifting his leg, realizing he can't shake you off this time. He lowers it in a huff, allowing you to stay attached. "While watching you beg is very entertaining, I actually have things to do." He grunts, now starting to drag his leg and you attached to it across the floor as he attempts to limp to the elevator that leads to the exit. "Also, I told you the truth, and no, I cannot stay here today." He reaches the elevator, pushing a button to request it to your apartment.

You really don't want him to leave. You're attached to this simulacrum now, even if he has a mean streak and a terrifyingly foreboding power. Even if you didn't like him before—which you did—the moment you woke up from surgery after he rescued you, you have felt an indescribable bond to him. Maybe it's the organ replacements? Maybe it's the psychological need to attach yourself to your savior? Maybe it was the trauma of the whole event? Or maybe it is something else entirely. You don't know, but your heart races around him more than ever. All you want to do is be in his presence. You shudder into his leg as your psychomotor agitation reacts to your own stress.

"Skinsuit." His voice isn't so aggressive now, perhaps sensing your genuine distress from your unintended tremor. "Trust me."

There it is again. Those two words you've come to dejectedly accept every time he utters them. You groan as your grip relaxes from his leg, allowing him to step out of your grapple and into the elevator car. He turns to look back at you, lying there on the floor to the apartment entryway. His expression reads blank, as his mask remains stoic and his body language is silent in his stillness.

"Finish your room" is the only command you hear as the elevator doors close and the hum of its machinery comes to life.

Dammit.

You're alone, manic, mentally a bit blurry, bored, and unwilling to stay put for any longer. Is it safe to go out? No. Are you concerned about that? Also no. Should you be? Probably.

You jump to your feet a little too excitedly, already knowing you're going to go see Sherry, come hell or high water. Maybe she can help you finish your room too, in some way. Then you have an excuse to leave, right? If it's to finish your room, surely Revenant will understand.

Somewhere deep down you know better, but you choose to ignore that inkling.

Sherry has practically been your sister since you met her while looking to volunteer for the Apex Games. She put her neck out there for you without question when your starting date was delayed due to being the victim of an attack and the subsequent hospital recovery, and she has continually advocated for you since. She's even faced down Revenant for you, although unnecessarily and much to Revenant's condescending amusement. Even Rev has adopted calling her your "girlfriend," making fun of how inseparable you seem and feigning some kind of jealousy. In reality, though, Sherry and Rev's sassy and demanding attitudes make them more of a team against your bashful self than anything else. Revenant has started to show her some level of respect lately too, although it was inevitable with how much they both do to keep you safe.

You know Sherry hasn't left her post at the Apex facility even though it's the off-season. Both you and her used to work off seasons together before your untimely run-in with a trafficking ring; now you've been imprisoned in the fanciest apartment in the surrounding city. Revenant hasn't allowed you to leave without him, instead paying for delivery services and a MRVN butler to take care of everything that might normally require you to leave. Even the prowlers get to come and go with the MRVN, likely using the back alleyways and abandoned underground tunnels to meander undetected. Revenant rescued you when you were abducted, but his current effort to protect you by keeping you hunkered down feels like an emotional prison sentence at this point.

Revenant left you with the key card to get back in the apartment on the off-chance you needed to leave. You slip into your room, finding Royce—the little white kitten you rescued from an adjacent alleyway early in the Fall—curled up and purring happily right where you placed your keycard. You slip your fingers underneath the sentient puff and slip the card out from under her. She stirs a little bit, annoyed that you would take it from her. Undoubtedly she will be ignoring you in favor of Revenant later, but you've gotten a bit used to it at this point. She loves curling up in his scarf and almost seems to know she's kissing up to the one in charge of this whole operation. Revenant indulges her while teasing you that your cat loves him more, feeding her love for his attention further. She will also snuggle up to Six when Revenant isn't around, seeming to understand the hierarchy better than you would have assumed otherwise. Royce still comes to you for attention, food, treats, and toys, but she absolutely appeals to power first and foremost. She is strangely smart, just like the prowlers.

"I'll be back later, you'll have to hang out with Six." You say as you pet her on the head, using your thumb to caress her fur from the bridge of her eyes to the back of her head. She purrs happily as she pushes into your hand, squinting her heterochromatic eyes in relaxation.

Six, hearing his name, perks up from outside your bedroom, looking in your direction. You turn to address him as you twirl your card to freedom in your fingers.

"Six, take care of things while I'm gone! You're in charge!" You chirp as if you have the authority to give to him. He's always in charge when Revenant isn't around, even above you in the hierarchy.

"Wait, what about me?" The confused little helper MRVN calls out from the kitchen, still cleaning up from the morning prowler feeding. The MRVN does a lot of work, but he's not all there logically. Pathfinder is much more human-like, although they share a strange, aloof optimism.

"Six first, then you're in charge." You quickly answer him, not putting much thought into your words as you slip on your shoes. Six leaps up at the thought you might be leaving, swirling around you with nervous energy, desperate to bring attention to your flagrant disregard for the rule against leaving.

"Oh! Well, wait, what about you?" The MRVN asks.

"I'm leaving! So while I'm gone—"

"You're leaving?! You're not allowed to leave! I'm supposed to call Mister Cross if you attempt to—" The MRVN starts to pull out a communication device from a pocket on his little utility belt. Revenant must have given a fake name while signing for the apartment, so everyone around here knows him as "Mister Cross". You jump up from putting on your shoes to try to stop him from making the call.

"Wait! Who is in charge?!" You shout out to the MRVN with your hand outstretched to balance and get his attention. He cocks his head a little at the question.

"Six…? Since Mister Cross is gone..." He answers slowly in confusion.

"Exactly!" You turn to Six, who is nervously circling you and trying to understand where you think you're going. "Can I leave, Six?"

Six whines loudly, clearly upset and disapproving of the idea. The MRVN pauses.

"I am sorry, I do not have the ability to understand prowlers." He chirps sorrowfully towards you, clearly feeling as if he has failed somehow.

"Oh, I do though! Six says I can leave!" You lie, causing the MRVN to perk up again.

"Oh good! I guess you can leave, then! Have fun!" He falls right into your trap.

Perfect. You are truly a tactical genius beyond compare. Only a supercomputer like Pathfinder or a simulacrum like Revenant could have escaped the perfect logical snare you set, so this naïve MRVN had no chance. You brush yourself off a little, double checking your shoelaces as you secure your shoes to your feet.

Six whines as loudly as he possibly can, nervously dancing around in front of you. He circles clockwise, then counterclockwise, then nips at your shoelaces, whines loudly as he tries to catch eye contact, and repeats. You ignore him. You'll be fine. It's the middle of the day, the streets are bright and filled with people, and you have your newly acquired phone on you. The last one was lost on the night of your abduction, but this shiny new device can easily reach help with a couple button presses. Not that anything will happen, anyway.

You slip into the elevator that Revenant left in only a couple minutes before. He's far quicker than his massive frame would ever let anyone know, so you're pretty certain you won't bump into him in the lobby. In fact, you're pretty certain he didn't even take the elevator to the lobby, given that a quick glance upwards reveals the emergency escape door on the ceiling may have been opened recently from the scratches near the latch. The latch is back in its place—the elevator isn't supposed to operate with the emergency hatch open—but it's definitely in Revenant's modus operandi to prefer crawling through the elevator shaft himself than take the elevator car. It's possible that he crawls to the roof instead, choosing to lurk around with his uncanny gecko-like abilities at the top of the skyline rather than meander amongst the common folk on the ground.

You sigh. You're probably right. He had talked about using the roof access as an entrance and exit to "obscure your location" and keep you safe in the past. He's really going above and beyond, and it's annoying. It's like he has clinical paranoia or something, but you can't fault him too much. You did almost die, and he did almost have to deal with that reality. You're just quite certain it was a random act of violence and not really something that's going to be followed up on, but if Revenant has any humanity in him then he's perfectly capable of being traumatized and developing a paranoid outlook. Deep down, you were secretly hoping to bump into him in the lobby: see that look of surprise for a moment, get chided for leaving, then hear more about how your lack of self-preservation is somehow his favorite and least favorite thing about you simultaneously. You just want some kind of reaction from him, just some acknowledgement that he still sees you as a person and not an inanimate treasure to hoard as a dragon does. It's been so damn lonely since you arrived in this pristine condominium prison, and there's no reason for it to be. Revenant is just being flippant and withdrawn for no good reason. At least no reason that's a good enough excuse in your book.

The chime of the elevator snaps you out of your internal ranting. You've crossed your arms in a huff without realizing. Your manic self can be a lot more emotive than normal, so as you step into the lobby you emanate an aura of determination. Enough to where the receptionist doesn't try to address or greet you as you stomp out the front doors.

The end-of-autumn bustle of the city hits you with a crisp and cool breeze and the scent of mulling spices wafting in the air. Every shop on the street is offering some kind of spiced cider, coffee, tea, or pastry for the season, just as they have been for a couple months. However, winter approaches rapidly, and many of the drinks are transforming into something a bit more warming with the addition of peppermints, orange peel, and cranberry. Even better are the pastries, which are beginning to sport a thin powdering of confectioner's sugar to represent snow. The people walk around all bundled up in light coats, carrying lots of shopping bags inevitably filled with gifts for the many holidays contained in the winter season. Many walk around in groups, chatting loudly. Other solo-fliers keep themselves occupied on their phones, either talking to someone loudly or tacking away at their screens. Most of the seedier crowd is nowhere to be found, since the cold drives the loiterers back into their dens. Not to even mention the massive crowds of witnesses comprised of both locals and visitors—it's simply too risky to conduct nefarious business in the open now. Suffice to say, you expect to be fine under these conditions.

The streets are bustling and noisy. The scent is welcoming. The sun is warm and bright while the breeze is chilly. You wish you had a light jacket or winter coat to wear, but you haven't exactly had the thought to buy one, even after the little kerfuffle regarding your visit to Talos, or when you were staring right at them in the department store the night of—actually though, why haven't you gotten any warm clothing? Regardless, it is tolerable enough for now.

You power walk in the direction of the Apex facility, reaching into your pocket to touch your Revenant-branded and endorsed ID in your pocket. It's all you need to get back into the building, although you're a little concerned that the rules might be different for Legend VIPs than for volunteers. After all, volunteers are needed during the off season to keep the facility clean, but Legends and any employees or guests they may have don't have any reason to stick around during the off season. There's a chance your ID won't get you into the building while everyone is on break, but you can always call Sherry to let you in if you need to. Still, the tiny bit of anxiety nibbles at you as you tap the card in your pocket.

Perhaps it's a bit chillier than you thought. The cool air and breeze is nipping away at your ears and fingers, which is just purely uncomfortable. You're a good part of the way there, but there's no reason you can't slip into a nearby shop for a warm beverage and a break. After all, you have money now, thanks to Revenant's excessive repayment for every little favor you've done for him, plus your so-called salary, plus random deposits to your account with weird amounts and even weirder messages and labels. He's as strange, mysterious, and creepy as ever, but he's certainly generous with you at least. Now if only you could convince him to let you leave the apartment freely—without you needing to break out, specifically. You scan the stores along the sidewalk you're taking, finding a store that appears to be a coffee shop. You can slip in there and grab a cider for a few minutes to warm up.

As you turn to enter the shop, a large body bumps into you, snapping you out of your internal musing and back into reality. His arm manages to hit you in the stomach, causing you to reel forward and clutch your abdomen. Your surgical wounds are doing much better, but not well enough to take a hit like that.

"Ah, my apologies. Are you alright?" His voice is airy and strangely calm. You feel his hand touch your back as you stare down at the ground, observing the threshold of the coffee shop and hoping not to cough up anything on the nice, hardwood floor. The hand on your back feels like a prosthetic, not exactly comfy. "Do I need to call a medic for you? If you don't or can't answer, I'll take that as a yes."

You carefully brace yourself against the figure, touching a large metal body rather than the fleshy one you were expecting. A MRVN, perhaps? No, but what are the chances that—

"I deeply apologize, I see you're in pain. It's very difficult to recognize the power gap of being a simulacrum until moments like these. I hope you'll excuse me." His voice doesn't sound very modulated at all; it completely fooled you. Revenant sounds so severely inhuman, whereas this one almost sounds… beautiful?

You manage to slowly bend yourself upright, still holding your abdomen as you do so. Moving slowly isn't too bad, you're pretty sure you'll be fine, it was just a very unfortunate set of circumstances. As you look up, you meet eyes with an unusual looking simulacrum. He has a completely custom build with a uniquely angled head and oddly alluring golden-yellow eyes. His chassis is mainly pearly white with sky blue accents. Despite his metallic form, he is wearing a heavy jacket with fur lining and thick winter pants, but his unusual sabaton-looking feet are exposed. He reminds you of some kind of science fiction mecha in a way, but almost knightly and angelic in tone. He appears to be made of a much more balanced mix of plastics to metals than Revenant's normal chassis, meaning he's lightweight and probably very fast if Revenant's previous lectures hold true. He's a bit akin to Revenant's beast chassis in terms of the metal to plastic ratio, although he is also notably shorter than Revenant. He's still much taller than you, though. You give him a smile to hopefully ebb his fears that he's injured you, but instead of letting you go he begins to lead you into the shop a little forcefully.

"Here, let me get you something to drink. Anything you want. It's the least I could do. Please, sit." He leads you to a chair near the window facing the street, towards a small table intended for two. You don't try to argue and sit, feeling a bit bashful but ultimately okay with the idea of a free drink. "What would you like?"

"Just a warm cider would do me wonders, honestly." You answer through a groaning tone, still nursing your pounding abdomen. He pauses, tilting his head a little as he looks down towards you.

"Juice? You strike me as more of a coffee person. Are you sure? You don't need to worry about the price, I can afford whatever you like, even if it's the fanciest coffee they make."

You actually would prefer a coffee, but caffeine is a no-go after a major surgery like yours. You've already tested that theory once and regretted it. Considering the hit you just took to your abdomen and the pain it's in, you'd rather not test it again. You give him a little thumbs up and a smile to confirm your choice. He hesitates, but moves away to order the drinks.

He soon returns, bringing you the largest spiced cider they sell and placing it in front of you. He also is holding a drink for himself, placing it across from you and sitting down.

"I hope that is sufficient. I'm very sorry about that. I had no idea I bumped into you so hard." He still sounds slightly concerned for you. You finally feel up to talking since the adrenaline has moved past the fight or flight stage.

"You didn't hit me that hard, it just happened to be coincidentally perfect that you bumped me right where I had surgery a few weeks ago." You admit. The horror on his face is somehow apparent in his eyes and body language alone as he reels back in his seat, leaning his head back. "That's why I can't have caffeine, either."

He immediately hangs his head, shaking it back and forth as he brings his hands away from his cup to cradle his makeshift face in very clear embarrassment.

"I am so sorry. I feel horrible." He really does sound mortified. "Are you absolutely sure you're not injured? I will do whatever it takes to make this right."

"I'll be okay. Don't worry so much over it. I have another simulacrum friend, so I'm not too unfamiliar with the overwhelming power." You say, desperate to calm him down. You notice that he lights up a little more at the mention of another simulacrum, immediately perking up in interest.

"Wait, you're friends with a simulacrum? There's not that many walking around here, that's very surprising. Are they ex-military?" He's asking questions weirdly quickly now, gripping his drink again with concerning force but not crushing the cup.

You hesitate, unsure how to answer his questions. You need to hide the fact that your simulacrum is the Revenant, but for once you can't even answer a basic background question honestly if you wanted to. You have no idea who or what Revenant used to be. Maybe that's for the best.

"I'm not sure, actually. He doesn't talk about it." You hush yourself a little as you speak, the white simulacrum in front of you leaning in to listen closer.

"Oh, certainly he was then. Most veterans don't like to talk about what they've been through." He cusps his hands more gently around his cup. He pulls away from you, learning back in his chair. "I don't like to either, so I understand it completely. You fight, you watch your friends die, you give everything… Yet in the end society will cast you aside when your traumas echo through you too loudly to be bothered with. It is truly injustice at its peak."

The somber silence falls for a moment. Are all simulacra like this: somber and tragic? You don't know much about Revenant, but he's right: you can feel the pain of a lifetime in their very being. It's undeniable. The simulacrum takes a moment and begins again, only giving the silence a short stay.

"Sorry, I just don't often get to hear about other simulacra. I always wonder if there are any others out there like me. It's been a weird experience so far. Most simulacra don't even know they're..." He trails off, making a sound that is reminiscent of someone clearing their throat. "So, uh, what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

Oh. Well. You don't have one. Not a real one, anyway. You never knew your parents, you've lived your whole life free from any legal name. As you understand it, legally you don't exist, just as much of the homeless or formerly homeless population does not. You've picked up a few names here and there, tried them on, but for the most part you live by nicknames that others give you. Revenant's 'little skinsuit' pet name probably won't work in this situation, so you rummage through your brain for any option to throw out. You're sure you look ridiculous trying to figure out your own name as you pause indefinitely.

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to." He relents. You take a deep breath, deciding to admit the reality of the situation.

"I've never had a name, so I don't know how to answer. I'm sorry."

He pauses for a moment, a look of surprise but heavy interest crosses him. He leans forward a little again, his optics focused on you.

"My name is Samael. Nice to meet you." His hand leaves the cup to meet halfway across the table, palm open and inviting despite the metallic gauntlets' expressed power. You reach halfway, shaking his very warm metal hand—inevitably heated by the drink he's grasped on to so insistently this whole time. "If you haven't any name, is there something you'd like to be called, then?"

His sudden change in demeanor from an awkward simulacrum to one with an oddly charming level of clarity and determination is concerning, but you can imagine that being a simulacra is a tough gig no matter the circumstances. Revenant always seems conflicted and a little depressed at all times, and he claims to be centuries old. This one seems younger to you, so it's quite possible that he's not fully settled into his new life. It's a little disconcerting still, but you can forgive it.

"No ideas, huh? I guess I'd also be unable to come up with a name for myself on the spot too." He chuckles a bit, releasing your hand and returning it to the cup. "I'm going to call you Cider. Hope that's not too obtuse."

Actually, that rolls off the tongue better than you would have expected.

"So, Cider, please accept my sincerest apologies for bumping into you earlier." He continues, no longer waiting for prompts from you to continue the conversation.

"It's okay, I appreciate the drink, really." You say while lightly waving your hand in front of your face. The pain is subsiding quickly, you just needed the rest and warmth. You sip lightly at the drink while gauging if your stomach approves or disapproves. It seems okay.

"So, what kind of work do you do? I mean, I presume you must work in some kind of robotics or military outfitting to have a simulacra friend." He asks plainly. You aren't sure how honestly you should answer. Probably better to play it safe and tell an obfuscated truth.

"I don't actually have a job, to be honest. I just do my best moment by moment." You say in hushed tones while staring down at your cup, not wanting to lock eyes with the machination inevitably worth more than all your savings multiplied by tenfold in front of you.

"Oh, I am deeply sorry to hear that. I didn't mean to hit a sore spot with that question. That's an honest shame, you're quite well spoken and mild mannered, you would do great in most industries with your attitude." One of his fingers taps his drink in a rhythm for a moment while he thinks. "You'd honestly work out great in the organization that owns me."

You sit for a moment in silence. Is that an offer? Obviously you have to decline, but it's truly strange for someone who claims to have no work or income to decline the opportunity for both. Or is it? You're actually not sure anymore. You're panicking internally. Your thoughts aren't quite straight anymore. Your reckless mania is bound to get the best of you if you don't reel back right now.

"Are you quite alright?" Samael asks, perking up and waving his hand in front of your line of sight.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry, I was just not sure what to say to that." You blurt out a little quickly.

"I apologize, I guess I just sort of hoisted that on you." Samael says as he reaches into his jacket, pulling out a phone. "Do you have a phone? I can share my contact information in case you're interested." He tilts his phone in your general direction.

You shift to your side and pull yours out of your pocket, after all, it's not like you have any obligation to call him. You can just accept his contact info and let it be forgotten. You move to hold your phone close to his so the contact info can be wirelessly transmitted.

"Wait, how'd you get a phone like that?" Samael exclaims lightly as he sees your shiny new phone. He seems a little taken aback. It must be a nice model or something, but you never bothered to keep track of those kinds of things. You pause. If it's a nice phone, then it must be expensive, and if it's expensive, it makes no sense that your jobless self would own one. If his simulacra eyes could narrow, you're sure they would. You avert your eyes for a moment, deciding if you should just come clean a little.

"Sorry, my simulacrum friend gave it to me." You stop short of admitting anything more. Samael pauses, but nabs your attention when he taps his phone to yours physically.

"No need to be ashamed, I think I get the picture." He suddenly comes off a little flippantly, shrugging a little as his contact info is added to your device. "Please tell me they treat you well, at least. If they don't, you should really consider my offer. It would spare a lot of grief."

"Wait, what do you think I do?" You ask as your face burns a little. Damn blush.

"Listen. Clearly you do something worth quite a bit of income for your 'friend'. Which I understand, it's not necessarily a job where you get paid over the table, but it's definitely better than sinking into the dredges of this hellish city." He accentuates each euphemism strongly, leaving you grimacing internally as you gather his meaning.

"Wait, I'm not a—"

"Whatever it is, you don't get an old fashioned paycheck, now do you?" He shrugs and shakes his head before putting his phone away in his jacket, then carefully sliding his still full cup towards you. "No shame in it, Cider, honestly. I'm in a similar boat myself. Simulacra are bought and sold like property. I serve who I have to, and give unto Caesar what is Caesar's. It takes a while to get to the Brutus moments in life, but the eventual justice is well worth the wait."

You don't quite catch where he's going with that last part, but he seems weirdly at peace with this whole conversation. You look curiously at his cup—now in front of you—realizing just in this moment that he has no mouth to drink it with.

"It's also apple cider. I just wanted to hold it while it was hot. It's a drinkable temperature now, if you want it. You wouldn't believe how much I miss being warm." He scoffs a little to himself, as if he's realizing something. He quickly lets you in on it. "Any simulacrum with the means to do so would want that warmth at their beck and call. I get it."

You sigh, hanging your head for a moment as you realize he probably can't be convinced otherwise without you spilling the whole truth. That's not worth it. You might as well give a summary and move on.

"Well, if it makes you think any better of me, I'm not really running any kind of hustle. I just met a simulacrum who took a liking to me, and he takes care of me like I'm more special than I actually am." You take the cup. At this point there's no reason to avoid accepting his gift.

"I never thought less of you, and I wouldn't even if it was a simple hustle. The Outlands aren't fair and it's filled to the brim with people who play dirty: robbing the hungry just to feed their gluttony. I can hardly blame anyone who is just trying to survive. Honestly, it's a relief to know you've lucked out. Little things like you are always at risk, if we're being honest." His folded hands rest against the table as you drink the second cup. He quiets his voice for a moment, tilting his head, and locking eyes with yours. "I just hope you aren't familiar with the simulacra strength because of something unsavory. If you need an out, just say so."

The cider catches in your throat for a moment, causing you to lurch and begin to cough into your arm. Samael stands up from his chair and comes to your side to pat you on the back gently while you regain your composure. You're a bit teary eyed from the coughing fit, but you manage to look up and address him.

"Thank you, but I promise he's just clumsy, not malicious." You wipe the tears away as your surgical wounds pound a little from the sudden fit.

"I'm glad, but you have my info just in case." He looks down at you for a few moments, gauging your expression before he stands completely upright. "I'm sorry about the accidental bump, but I must be going now. Please give me a ring if something changes, but otherwise, I hope you have a good rest of your day. It was nice to meet you, Cider."

He nods one last time at you before vanishing behind the chime of the swinging door, too rapidly for you to conjure a response more complex than a lazy wave.

What an odd simulacrum. He seems fairly kind, but strangely interested. You take another sip of the cooled cider, trying to clear the tickle in your throat before continuing on your way. He looks so unique compared to others you've seen on television and in the news, but then again so is Revenant. You feel strange about the whole encounter, but you can't find a reason to dislike him. He's just a bit forward, just like the other simulacrum in your life.

You sigh and shrug to yourself. It's not like you'll run into him again unless you call him. Maybe if you're bored, getting a job wouldn't be a bad idea. Data entry jobs are easy to snag since the Syndicate passed a bill giving tax breaks to companies that replace MRVNs with real people in an attempt to get the economy improving, and such jobs can be performed from even your gilded prison of an apartment.

You feel your throat knot. That's mean of you. Revenant clearly pays a lot for that place, and it's all in an attempt to keep you safe. Sure, maybe he's paranoid to a fault and a bit possessive, but it's coming from a benign place. Running away is bad enough, but you don't want to keep thinking of your expensive home as a prison. He clearly has done a lot of work to make you comfortable and has consistently insisted you spend his money to decorate the room you've picked. Heck, he's even given you your own space. Why does it all feel so bad though?

You stand up. You don't want to waste your runaway time regretting running away. That's dumb. You take your cooling cup of cider with you as you resume your journey to the Apex facility. The streets are now filled to the brim with a wide variety of people. As it nears noon, every single person within driving or flying distance of the city is out and about. Every restaurant can be smelled for blocks away as their fryers, stovetops, and ovens roar to life to keep up with demand. Every boutique, gift shop, and major department store has a branded bag in a pedestrian's hands, advertising their business as they carouse the sidewalks. The various electronic billboards are roaring with advertisements for all sorts of products, but all universally featuring attractive celebrities as the bearers of their message.

You let your eyes wander up to the screens as you pass them, watching as some of the Legends you recognize appear as brand representatives. You try to count how many celebrities you recognize and how often they appear, but you find yourself unable to track anyone else as Loba quickly makes a dozen appearances on your walk. She really is beautiful when she's not mercilessly fighting in the Games or standing toe to toe with Revenant. She's really the whole package, huh? She's not a pushover, doesn't take sass from anyone, she's famous and rich, and on top of it all she's got the looks of a goddess. Even though she seems to have everything lined up for herself, Revenant really seems to hate her. Even worse is that those feelings seem to be mutual.

You stop walking for a moment, even though you're across the street from your destination. It hits you like a train. You have no idea how you didn't realize it before. No two people ever hate each other that much without there being some scandalous backstory. You've seen enough television to know where such visceral, ruthless, and conniving levels of malice stem from. It's never as simple as a mere rivalry, nor is it in any way an act they put on for the cameras. It's always far deeper than that, and so utterly obvious to you now: Revenant and Loba must be exes.

Why else would they hate each other that much? Why else would Bangalore absolutely refuse to get involved with their ruthless spats? What else makes sense? And why else would Loba have a mix of concern and distaste for your apparent closeness to Revenant?

You space out for a moment before snapping back to the busy streets. You're kinda glad, since you really do like him. Although, you wonder for a moment... why you? If he could literally have anyone, what makes you so special?

You shrug to yourself and keep walking. You will never have a good answer to that question. You can ask Revenant, but you already know his answer is going to be something about your bold and reckless disregard for your own life. He's been quite consistent in answering that way, but you still don't fully accept it as the reason. He might not even know either. Attraction is weird and varied. You understand that logically, but you can't quite grasp how someone like you would ever mean more to anyone than someone like Loba would.

Maybe you're just lucky? Hard to say. You start walking again, crossing the last street to the Apex facility.

Your manic brain can't be bothered to focus on that thought long enough for it to be catastrophic. If they aren't together anymore, it's a win for you. You get Revenant, she gets Bangalore. You're both happier this way, as long as her and Revenant never come in contact.

You check in with your identification at the gate. Security is halved during the off season, since most of the Legends don't spend the fall and spring at the facility. They have their own places, friends, and family to catch up with—presumably—so it's rare if a Legend ever spends unexpected time in the facility during this period. Even so: on a rare occasion it happens, and keeping the place clean and in check is always necessary. That's why Sherry and a handful of other volunteers stay year-round. Even if there's no end to the work and upkeep required, at least the fall and spring are considerably less busy.

As you walk up the drive to the set of double doors on the side of the building, you pull out your phone and begin texting Sherry.

"Hey, I'm at the facility. Wyd?"

"UR WAT?! Ur not supposed to leave the apt!"

You sigh and roll your eyes to yourself as you scan your ID to enter. It works.

"I'm already here, wanna get food or smth?"

"Fine. Meet in Rev's room."

"GG EZ"

You slip down a couple empty hallways and let yourself into the familiar, unremodeled room that Revenant claimed as his own after Wraith broke the door to his previous room. You actually missed it. You made some memories here already, and it still feels like home in a strange way. You plop yourself down on the red couch.

For a mere moment, you feel sad.

You're going to be allowed to come back here, right? Revenant isn't just going to keep you in that apartment forever, right? You miss him. Things haven't been alright since you woke up from surgery. Some part of you wonders if you were fated to die that night and some part of your soul never came back from that nightmare. Maybe your story was to be just a short fling, a tiny tragedy to end in Revenant's arms, yet you kept going after the story ended. Maybe you weren't meant to make it this far.

You bolt out of your thoughts and to your feet as Sherry's badge causes the lock to click open moments before she enters. She slips behind the door quickly, shutting it behind her before she lets loose a little.

"What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be laying low at that apartment! Revenant is gonna go crazy if he notices you're gone!" She chides you in hushed tones.

"Eh, he won't notice. He's gone all day most days anyway." You gesture as if to wave her fears away before proceeding. "I missed you!" 

Sherry pauses for a moment, staring into your eyes for a couple more moments before shedding a few tears. She doesn't move except to wipe them away.

"Idiot... We were all so worried about you... How can you just stand here and pretend like nothing happened? You almost died! And now you're just—" She waves her arms around a little frantically, trying to come up with the words. "—you're just going to walk around like there's nothing going on?! Like no one is trying to find you and finish the job?! Like nothing can touch you?!" She sniffs, using her sleeve to wipe her nose. "I missed you too. I almost had to miss you forever, you know that, right?" She cries a little more openly now.

You finally move to hug her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry anyone, I just got so sick and tired of being cooped up in that apartment, I decided I was going to leave and go somewhere for just a bit." You confess, hoping she'll understand your perspective without letting it invalidate her feelings.

She takes a little bit, but she pulls herself together faster than you'd expect her to.

"It's fine, you're just frustrating as hell when you're manic." She manages to get out.

"How did you know I was manic?"

"Because you're only this level of reckless when you're manic. Yet you always have the best luck with it. Just don't push it too far." She says as she messes up your hair to try to cheer herself up. "Please keep in mind that people who care about you also would rather keep you around for as long as your body will hold up."

She takes a deep breath and she's completely pulled herself together.

"Speaking of, I'm going to order some of that greasy pizza for us. I have so many gift cards for it now! But we're staying here and you're definitely not leaving the safety of the facility!" She prods into your chest gently, careful not to hurt you but making sure her point gets across.

"You ate that whole thing?!" You exclaim as you huddle over the empty pizza box, still completely dumbfounded at the disappearance of the entire large pie.

"Are you not gonna finish yours?" Sherry asks innocently enough.

"No! That was the largest size! I ate a fourth and I already feel stuffed. How did you manage to eat the whole thing by yourself?!" You motion over the box, still at a complete loss.

The television drones on in the background. While you ate, you watched some show about Silva Pharmaceuticals and how their stim revolutionized the simulacra program during the war, allowing them to go further beyond human limitations. You know Octane is of the Silva family, although he never talked about his connections in the Games or with the volunteers that you can recall. His nearly endless access to stims would stand to confirm his network is pretty strong though, in your opinion. You're still not entirely sure how his dialysis machine keeps up with the amount and magnitude of the drugs he shoves in his body on a regular basis, though. It just seems unreal. You secretly wonder if Revenant has ever tried a stim before, and if so, what happened when he did.

"So... can I have what's left of yours, then?" Sherry lackadaisically asks. You slap your palm to your face without hesitation, unsure of why you're surprised by this development. Of course she's still hungry. She's made of a black hole surrounded by a human body.

"Yeah, sure." You sigh as you shrug, watching her immediately inhale a slice in mere seconds. Her voracity and speed never ceases to surprise you. She finishes her current slice before turning back to you for a moment.

"You'd forgive me for almost anything, right?" She suddenly asks.

You hesitate for a moment, before chalking it up to Sherry's usual teasing.

"Hey, if I let you get away with all the sass over all the years and inhaling ‘the Outland's best pizza’ without even having time to taste it, then I'm pretty sure I can forgive you for just about anything." You chuckle for a moment, standing up to take her empty box to the trashcan in the kitchenette. You toss it in, turning back and slamming into a giant, looming metal figure.

"Good, if it's any condolence... he paid me off." Sherry snickers a little from the background.

You've locked eyes with a set of bright and burning yellow LEDs. They stare down at you with an oppressive silence and harsh judgment for your blatant disobedience for his only rule. You're paralyzed for a few moments, unable to move. He’s managed to make his way into the room completely silently, now standing tall over you with his arms crossed and an aura of pure frustration emanating from him. He is truly terrifying. Then you hear him.

"Skinsuit..." His voice is deeper than usual, and far more angry than you've heard it in a long time. Your adrenaline peaks and without a moment more of hesitation, you bolt on a high of pure instinct, leaving a stunned silence in your wake from the audience.

You burst out of his room, making your way down the hallway as quickly as your legs can take you. You don't even know where you plan to go or why you're running. You're just gone. You start to head towards his old room, the one with the previously broken door. If you can get in there, perhaps you can hide? Your thoughts race illogically, not caring to even question why you're attempting to escape or if it's worthwhile to stop and turn around.

It's only a few moments before you hear the unquestionable sound of Revenant's metal feet hitting the tile floors in a rhythm that implies he's moving at mach speeds down the hallways in your general direction. Thankfully there are enough turns, corners, and even some dead ends to keep you out of his line of sight. You have no clue where he is in relation to you, only that he's going to see you if you don't keep trying to lose his trail. You intentionally round an extra corner to take a longer route to the room, ensuring he won't get a sight on you before you make it there.

You can hear him slow at intersections to thoroughly check all directions for you as your much quieter running brings you to the door in question. You carefully slow to a stop and fumble for your ID card, begging internally for it to work on the door. As you hold it, lifting it up, your vision tunnels and you fumble it to the ground.

Suddenly it catches up to you. Fear. Anxiety. Stress. Pain. It's hard to breathe. Your synthetic lung is heavy and your chest feels like it's splitting. Fear grips you harder than you expected. With what little control you feel left, you carefully work your way down to the tile floors, curling into a ball on your side, and gripping your chest. You hear yourself whimper as your lungs struggle against the strain. The synthetic side is so much heavier and weaker than the other, causing both lungs to feel like they're suffocating you as they desynchronize from one another. The scar on your chest feels like it could tear open on its own. The adrenaline builds into a second burst of energy as your head swims and your senses fog. Your vision is blurred so heavily that everything appears as a smudge now. Why did you run?

A shadow is cast over you as you feel cold, smooth, fingers begin to grab at you. They move swifter than you expect, pulling you out of your fetal position and bracing your chest as you ragdoll for him. He's talking to you, but he sounds so far away that you can't make out what he's saying. The inflections of his pitch makes it sound like he's asking questions, but you can't answer.

It doesn't take long to see his blurred frame start to sharpen as he presses on your chest gently, allowing your breathing to steady as your lungs begin to work in synchrony. You lightly grab on to his wrists as he pushes in, digging your fingers into the wraps and feeling for the metal underneath.

"Just stop freaking out. You're so damn flighty, how am I supposed to stop you from dying like this...?" He's mumbling to himself as his fingers start to inspect the rest of you with his free hand, looking for injuries before finally grabbing your face to jostle it. "Can you hear me? Respond."

You hum in affirmation, still woozy.

"Good, now... breathe calmly. Your lung is rattling a little still." He pushes your chin up and places his palm around your throat as you breathe, pulling your hands with it. His touch is so cold compared to your warm neck, making you instinctively try to push his hand away with your grip, your fingers now utterly tangled in his wrist wraps. He's immovable—per usual—so you have to accept the icy grip on your throat for the moment. You dig your fingers further under the wraps, eventually finding and touching the metal chassis beneath. As you brush your fingers against the volar side of his wrist, his arm shudders happily just a little before he sighs openly, concealing his enjoyment.

"Don't resist. You've done enough of that for a day." He murmurs as you continue to lightly caress where his ulnar veins would be, if he had them. He shudders just a little more with each stroke of your soft fingers, convincing you to continue despite his warning. He likes it. You know that shudder. It's pleasure. Hesitant pleasure, but pleasure nonetheless. His spare hand presses into your heart, presumably feeling for the rattle he mentioned.

You aren't really breathing calmly for him. You're in fearful awe of him, yet so excited to see him, and still so tired from running. Your vision is clearing up slowly but surely, giving you an opportunity to study his masked visage yet again. His facial expressions are non-existent, but his eyes give away a lot of his emotions as his pupils wax and wane with his thoughts. His eyes are sharp at the moment: meaning he is determined and focused, possibly frustrated as well. You'll know you're in the clear when his eyes relax and widen, even if only a little.

"Calm your breathing. You're hyperventilating." His fingers lightly squeeze on your throat, trying to snap you to attention.

"Sorry, you're just so pretty..." You lightly whisper to him. He seems taken aback, leaning away from you for a moment. His eyes widen and his mask pinkens as he registers what you said. You release his wrists, letting your arms fall to your sides. His eyes tighten again as he grunts a bit angrily.

"You're still in trouble with me, little skinsuit." He audibly huffs, returning to your breathing. "Now…" He moves the hand from your chest and covers your eyes with his palm instead, blocking you from seeing his pretty visage. "...calm, steady breathing. I don't need you to hurt yourself because I was too attractive for your weird little heart to take." His fingers are cold on your eyelids. How did he make this more exciting for you? You feel yourself start to naturally breathe even faster, but you force it to steady to try to appease him.

After what feels like half a minute, Revenant pulls both his hands away, clearly satisfied with your breathing rhythm. He doesn't leave your side yet, instead crossing his arms as he stares you down for a few moments longer. He's definitely frustrated, but you can't help but smile seeing him pout with his body language.

"Explain yourself." He demands, staring you down. You don't bother to sit up. You just stay on the floor, still focusing on your breathing before you realize that you'll have to break it in order to speak.

"I needed to run away." You mumble lightly, not really sure how to explain your undeniably manic obligation to leave comfort and safety behind at every turn, careening towards random locations with no goals or intentions in mind. It's a weird place to be mentally, but it comes with a dose of euphoria that makes it infinitely better than depression in your opinion. You enjoyed the run, even if it hurt at the end. You kinda want to do it again. You don't want to stay still. You feel a twitch in your legs as you want to go... somewhere... ideally at high speeds.

"No, you really didn't." He is clearly miffed, potentially unimpressed with your explanation. You barely remember the question he asked at this point, but you feel a tiny, uncontrollable snap in your psyche at his disbelief. Has he really noticed nothing different between you these past few weeks?

"Yes I did! Aren't you paying attention?! I haven't been able to go anywhere or do anything in so long...!" You feel your lungs empty completely and you're forced to brace your chest to prevent a pang of pain. You're unable to go on the long tyraid you wanted to, but you got the point across. Yelling at him can't hurt at this point; he's already mad at you. Plus you genuinely have felt uncared for a number of weeks now. It feels good to get it out, if nothing else.

"I know. You almost died. I remember. I was there." Revenant's angry demeanor falters a little as his arms unfold. He adjusts himself from his hunched crouch to a much more relaxed sitting position. He folds his legs across one another, letting his arms fold at the elbows so his wrists can rest on each knee joint. He curls his spine to lean forward and watch you carefully. You watch him equally carefully back, knowing full well he won't end his chiding there. He sighs, perhaps wishing you would talk more before he continues, but ultimately relents. "I know you didn't ask to be rescued... but you could at least respect my efforts by not throwing yourself into danger for no good reason."

You're not sure if he's wrong for doing so, but that does feel like he's guilt tripping you and leaves a horrid feeling in your gut. It's similar to being verbally punched, but you genuinely question if a proper jab to the abdomen would hurt more or less than this. You choke back a knot in your throat to respond.

"It's not about that. I just want to feel like I matter, or at least to have the freedom to find meaning somewhere else if I don't matter." You speak on your exhale, making the last sentence sound like a giant, wistful sigh.

Revenant pauses for a moment before answering, shuffling a little in position.

"You won't find meaning in our old room. It's probably empty." He grumbles, clearly missing the point but simultaneously hitting a note that affirms your hopes. You reach out and grab one of his legs, pulling yourself towards it to hug it. He recoils a little in surprise at your reaction, even more so when he sees you wearing a goofy smile.

"I don't understand. What are you on about?" He almost snorts like a bull, but with an air of frustrated confusion at your apparent glee.

"You said 'our'." You giggle a little as you writhe yourself further into hugging his leg. The cold metal doesn't deter you in the slightest, nor does his exasperated wilt as he realizes what you're so giddy over. He perks back up only to speak.

"You... you've just been seeking attention this whole time, is that it?" He pinches the bridge of his would-be nose and hangs his head in some combination of disappointment and frustration. "But it's more than that too. Your leg was twitching a second ago and you're acting irrationally again… you're manic. Right. I somehow forgot… So, you need even more attention or else you'll implode in some act of wanton stupidity?" He's asking because he isn't sure enough to insist, but he still asks as aggressively as he can. He stares down at you, registering that you're simply caught in his gaze, not responding at all. As you try to understand why his LEDs have the radiant glow of polished amber under a summer sun, you feel his demeanor soften a bit. "You need my attention, don't you?" His tone is low and gentle suddenly, almost like he doesn't want to be heard by anyone else. Chills run up and down your spine but you're still caught up in the countless ways the yellow light of his eyes create a minor tinting glow on the ridges of his mask. It's scarcely visible, but if his eyes were any other color normally his mask might be washed out by the hue.

"Well?" Oh. Has he been waiting for an answer this whole time? You were too busy fawning over him internally to notice.

You're too excited to answer in speech, so you simply hum in affirmation while you rub your cheek into the metal of his knee joint, hoping he doesn't shuffle and potentially pinch your skin. You giggle mid-hum, sounding absolutely unhinged, so you complete your answer with an aggressive blep—sticking only the tip of your tongue out to rest between your lips and sneer at him. He stares you down for a few seconds longer before slouching openly.

"Yeah, you're deep in mania, and all you want is someone to tolerate you." He grumbles a little, most likely unsure how to act around you with this new information. He pauses a moment longer before reaching down and running his claws through your hair a few times. After a few pets, he gently grasps it near the scalp, making your whole head feel alight with pleasure. It finally feels like the attention you've been craving. He carefully pulls your head back until you finally unfurl from his leg, leaving your throat and belly exposed to him as you roll onto your back. It could be seen as aggressive and cruel to an onlooker, but he's being so gentle with gripping your hair and scalp that you feel no pain at all. You want him to continue, but he releases you before standing up himself. He leans over, casting a wide shadow over you, before slipping his hands under your arms and lifting you to your feet. You carefully balance yourself on your twitchy legs, staring up expectantly at Revenant. He pauses, assessing you.

"Fine. Go. Run all the way back if you must. Just don't trip and fall, and take breaks before each turn so you don't break yourself. I'm going to call a ride and—" You bolt momentarily, making it to the end of the hallway, stopping to turn and lock eyes with him. You want him to chase you again—give you attention—even if it means being a problem to get it. You've seen dogs and sometimes cats do this in the media to demand a game of tag. Surely it can work for you too. Revenant stares at you from a couple yards away, legitimately looking shocked for a few moments before shrugging it off and looking disturbingly determined. He growls in your direction, his already modulated voice echoing in a dark, methodical way.

"Idiot prey, waiting on the predator to start the chase. You should already be running." His voice is mortifying and everything you could have hoped for. His eyes have turned red and are locked on to yours. He steps forward with a fierce gait you don't even get to see in the Games. Before you get paralyzed in his eyes, you take off around the corner, making a rapid sprint for his newer room. You hear his laugh echoing behind you, as if for once he might actually be having fun with your attitude. It shakes you to your core, the adrenaline pushing you to move faster, questioning if you want to let him catch you or not.

As you turn a corner—ignoring his demands to take a break—you feel a sudden knowledge of his presence right behind you take hold of you. How did you manage to avoid him before, and now he's suddenly keeping up and unshakeable?

Before you can fully contemplate the sudden difference, you feel his fingers stretch around your frame and ensnare you. As soon as your feet can no longer touch the ground, he's braced a hand against your heart and pulled your back against his chest. His synthetic breath is silent but it washes over your bare skin as he presses his lips into your neck, as if he might bite at any moment. The motion is all so rapid that you fail to even have the breath ready to scream, but you're captured almost as quickly as you bolted.

Your breath and heart rate slow as the stillness sits. Your lung feels a little uncomfortable in response to running, but nowhere near the pain of before. Perhaps the duration wasn't long enough for it to be reeling. Maybe short bursts like this would be good for you.

"I told you to take a break." He finally growls. "When I put you down, run again… if you like being caught like prey."

You feel your excitement well up again. You can't say it out loud, but you fully plan to run to the next corner as well. You won't be taking any breaks not forced on you. A synthetic set of teeth tease the flesh of your neck causing you to squirm.

"Good. I like a nice hunt." He coos, putting you down gently with enough adrenaline to compete with a stim. "Now… Run."

"Aha, sorry again for snitching." Sherry says as she hangs her head for a moment while you step into the taxi, still a bit nervous at the yellow color and familiar checkerboard insignia on the side. After your last taxi ride turned into an abduction, and the limo ride before that was marred by sexual harassment by your soon-to-be kidnapper, who could blame you? You go to tell Sherry you're not upset with her, but you're interrupted by Revenant.

"You did great, kid. Don't worry about it." He speaks loudly to prevent you from chiding her, not that you were going to. "I'm still working on the leads I have. You didn't remember anything new, did you?"

What are they talking about? It could be about the crime ring, but why would Sherry remember anything 'new' about that? You tilt your head for a moment as you watch Sherry shake her head a little sadly. Revenant taps the top of the cab with his palm, making a loud clang echo above you. He seems a little frustrated, but he doesn't seem surprised by this news.

"Well, if you think of anything at all, let me know. You have my contact info." He pats her on the shoulder before he goes around the cab to get in on the other side. You get a chance to meet eyes with Sherry briefly.

"I'm not mad at all, I'm just glad we got to hang out a little, and tick the big guy off a bit—"

"I heard that!" You hear him interrupt you as he walks around.

"I'm glad too." Sherry sheepishly smiles. "Be safe, okay? I don't want to lose you. Just... listen to Revenant. He's smart."

"She's right you know." He says as he crawls into the seat beside you, causing the whole vehicle to be weighed down on one side. The car is so tilted you begin to slide across the leather seats towards his hulking mass. You feel comforted knowing he's with you. You never would have agreed to take another taxi without him. You immediately turn to him and shove your entire hand over the lips chiseled into his mask.

"Shush, you." You command with no fear. He snickers at your boldness. You turn back to Sherry. "Can you come visit soon?"

Sherry locks up for a moment. It's quite possible she never considered such a thing. Heck, she probably hasn't had any reason to leave the Apex facility in years anyway.

"I'll make arrangements as needed." Revenant pipes up. He's gone from mocking your closeness to Sherry to fostering it. You know that they worked together during your recovery, but you never could have predicted how much they've come to respect one another through it.

"Thanks, are you sure?" Sherry asks quietly.

"Not an issue. This one clearly needs a babysitter at all times. I'll pay you to keep her from doing anything stupid, or at least warning me when she's doing something stupid." He says, mostly directed as a chide towards you. You shove your hand into his face more, forcing his head back a little.

"I said shush!" He's initially shocked as he's pushed back, but he ends up chuckling to himself after a short pause. Sherry mirrors it, but more softly and shyly.

"Alright, I look forward to it." Sherry says as her expression relaxes. "Have a safe trip." The side of her lip curls up a little, or perhaps you merely imagined it. "Oh, and Skinsuit?" Oh no, he's got Sherry calling you that too. She pauses for your attention before lowering her voice and trying to make it sound raspy. "Behave."

Revenant busts out laughing at her impression of him. She waves a little, looking excessively proud of herself as she shuts the car door. You initially pout at her through the car door, but quickly switch over to a genuine wave goodbye as the vehicle starts up and begins to move away.

Even the movement of the taxi brings back bad memories. For some reason they're all the same make and model of vehicle, and they all rattle as they start to accelerate. You could even be convinced that they have all the same suspension oddities as they all bounce in familiar ways to one another. You glance into the rear view mirror, praying not to see a familiar face. It's not. It's just a random, unusually young guy looking fairly bashful at your gaze. He seems to be unsure if he can or should start up a conversation with a literal celebrity and his random associate, but he takes your eye contact as an accusation that he should.

"Is the temperature okay?" His voice is high pitched and airy, ladened with uncertainty and worry.

You pause for a moment, unsure of if it's your or Revenant's job to answer.

"It's fine." Revenant pipes up in your silence, not opening the air to any further conversation. The driver sinks his head a little deeper into the dash, understanding the shutdown but still clearly being emotionally affected by it. He focuses on driving, not making any further eye contact or verbal acknowledgements.

Even with everything as normal and safe as possible, you feel your fight or flight response linger anxiously on the horizon of your mind. The knot in your throat and the pit in your gut are quickly apparent, and you feel slightly nauseous at being in a simple taxi. It develops into a lightheadedness and racing thoughts before you come to the unfortunate realization that the taxi has only just now pulled off of facility grounds and onto the main roads. It's going to be a long drive. You beg yourself internally to calm down, internally chanting that 'nothing is wrong' and that 'everything will be okay'.

You feel a cold hand bury itself behind your lower back, reaching to your opposite waist and grabbing it gently but firmly under your shirt. He pulls you closer so you're sitting right beside him, but he doesn't press or pin you into himself. He's just there, grounding you. He says nothing. You say nothing. The entire ride is silent, but you're grounded now. The thoughts stop swirling, and the panic subsides. That's what really matters.

[gyusfavlibra]

THIS IS MY WORK! PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR REPOST ON OTHER SITES/APPS!!!!

Warnings: +18, smut, fingering, hand job, sex in bathroom, language, jealousy, fighting, arguing.

Y/n and Sarah sat quietly on Kie's bed as they waited for Kiara to stop degrading the lavender dress she wore while standing in her large mirror. Mrs. Carrera coming through the door to make sure the girls were all dressed. "This is disgusting."

"I know it's just horrible."

"I'm asking you guys to just relax and go to a fun party."

"I look like a bourgeoisie pig."

"I think you look beautiful," y/n said while shrugging at Kie. She just gave a smile back to her, still hating the look no matter what compliments were given.

"Will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for one night?"

"Mom, people not three miles from her have no power, no running water, and we're going to Midsummers."

"That's so tone deaf."

"Y/n," the mother scolded at her niece. "Do you know how hard we had to work to get into the Island club?"

"Yeah, mom. How could I forget? You had to grovel for, like, ten years--"

"Twelve years, and we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough-"

"To keep up with the Joneses-"

"No, so you had the same experiences that I had as a child."

"But weren't parents as teens out, like partying, getting drunk, making out in the backseats of their cars at drive in movies," the cousin listed while putting her things in its bag. "Getting pregnant."

"That doesn't sound fun," Sarah added.

"Do you girls even know what the Island club is?"

"A factory farm."

"For debutantes," Y/n raised her eyebrows.

"It's a nice place, with nice people where you can do fun stuff."

"With out-of-touch rich people, while the island sinks slowly into the ocean."

"Water filling the poor's destructive lungs while the wealthy ones get away on million dollar boats."

Sarah sat quietly laughing on the comfy blanketed mattress. Mr. Cerrera sighed, saying one last thing before walking out. "Okay, I want you to put on your party face, girls, if you want to live."

"Did your mom just threaten to kill us?"

"Maybe. I think so," she nods as she turned around to the duo, fixing the flower crown that sat on her cousin's head. "You nervous to see Rafe."

"Why did you have to bring that up?"

"I was curious. I know it's only been two days, but-"

"Hey, he broke up with me. So if he wants to talk, that's in his duty. Not mine. I did nothing wrong."

Sarah got off the bed, swinging on it's pole. "Except flirt with JJ, or so he says."

"I was not...flirting with JJ. He has a crush on Kiara. I'd never."

"But Rafe doesn't know that."

°°°°

*flashback*

"What if she doesn't like it?"

"She'll love it. She's hippie."

Y/n and JJ sat on John B's porch, smoking a blunt. The girl was trying to help him do something nice for Kiara so JJ could ask her out without feeling weird. He's liked her for the longest and he was finally ready to tell her how she feels.

"Alright, now practice what you're gonna say."

Just as Y/n finished saying the statement, her own boyfriend, Rafe Cameron showed up. Standing behind them listening in.

"Okay, uh, hey I have to tell you something...uh important," the blonde began speaking, using hand gestures because of his nerves. "I really really like you. Like not like friends like, but I have feelings, uhm, strong feelings for you. Because you're like super hot, andnyou're like a really cool chick. So I was wondering if maybe you'd wanna...go out with me."

"Yes, t-"

"What the hell!"

The manly unknown voice shocked them both, their figures jumping at the sound because they thought they were alone.

"Rafe, what're you doing here?"

Y/n asked confusedly as she stood from the steps. The Kook just scoffed and walked back out. Ignoring her question. She shared a glance with JJ before going to follow after him.

"Hey! Where you going? What's wrong?"

"A pogue!? Y/n, seriously?!"

"What're you talking about?"

"You're cheating on me with a pogue?" He shouted. Y/n scrunched her eyebrows, looking at the unnecessary upset individual.

"What do you mean cheating? I'm not cheating on you. We were just talking."

"Bullshit. That's bullshit! I heard it all."

"Rafe, it's not like that. Jj was just-"

"I should've known better. I should've known," he fumed. His right foot swung to kick the dirt near his truck that he was so very close to getting into.

"Known what?"

"I should've never trusted a pogue. I knew something like this was gonna happen. You were just gonna throw me away like Sarah did, Topper. Right? Huh?"

"You sound ridiculous. I was never throwing you away. I was helping him out."

"Yeah, while you're at it. Might as well help sleep with him too."

Y/n scoffed, taking a step back from the angered boy who's brain had just functioned what he said. Part of him regretted it very much. But the other part thought you deserved it because of his cheating accusation.

He opened his vehicle door. Stepping one foot inside. "We're done."

The girl just laughed with held tears reaching for the openess. She turned around to head back inside as Rafe just drove off.

°°°°

"Hey, no tearing up today. Go to this stupid thing and show him that his little cheating accusation act didn't hurt you at all. You're stronger than that."

"Thanks, Kie."

The girls finished up their last minute touches. That includes sweeping their dresses with roller for no hair, any makeup redos, or hair finishes. The ride to the country club was quiet. Well, y/n was quiet.

This would be her first time seeing Rafe since their break up a three days ago. They've been doing everything in their mighty to avoid each other. And it definitely worked. But like her friend told her, she wasn't gonna get worked up. Letting Rafe see her weak was like telling him he was right about everything. But he wasn't.

"Jesus, Kook land."

"I forgot how packed this thing is every year."

"Well, let's go. I gotta walk out with my family."

The Cameron family walked out with their heads high and the Kook crowd cheered for each one. Y/n kept her eyes gazed to Kiara since they were in the middle of a conversation. Not caring if that family came in or not. That excludes Sarah.

Rafe watched from his spot by his dad, as they exited to outside. Breath hitched when he saw Y/n and her dress. It was a dark toned red, had tulle, and a revealing  chest opening.

A red flower crown on her head, complimenting her beautiful down hair. She looked amazing and hot to Rafe. He had to clear his throat before excusing himself.

"Hey," the red dresses girl heard from beside her as a hand landed on her lower back. She removed it before her eyes retracted to theirs. Kie just pursed her lips before leaving to hangout with Sarah. Y/n internally screaming that she left her there.

"What do you want?"

"Uh, you look nice."

"Okay. Thanks. You don't too. What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just saying hi."

"Bye."

"Wait, wait, wait. Why are you mad at me? Shouldn't I be the mad one here?"

"Why?"

"Because of what you did," he said with furrowed eyebrows. Y/n shrugged.

"I didn't do anything."

"Do- do you not remember what happened on the cut three days ago? The fight."

"You slut shaming me and accusing me of cheating with JJ. That? Yeah, I remember that."

"Accused? I heard you."

"Heard what exactly?"

"JJ, was telling you he liked you and thought you were a cool hippie chick, which you are not. You're not hippie. And then he asked you out and you said yes. As soon as I walked in."

Y/n stared at him blankly. Before bursting out laughing. A few guests behind them staring with a look that showed they weren't used to loud talkers or laugher. "Oh my god. You thought? Jesus that's absolutely hilarious."

"What is?"

"That you think- you think that JJ was confessing feelings to me. Whew that's rich."

"I heard it, Y/n."

"He wasn't confessing anything to me you shit head. He was practicing for when he asked out Kiara."

Rafe was confused. Majorly. Inside and out. "But she-"

"He likes Kiara. And she's my cousin. You think I'd really hurt anyone like that? How low of me do you think? Have fun at this party."

Y/n walked off to go look for her disappeared friends. Not wanting to spend another second in a spot with someone who was so rude over something he knew nothing about. Just assumed. Never asked.

As she walked down the corridors of the porch that many people stood on drinking, a hand grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. Her eyes fixated on the blonde in a black tux and a bow tie.

"Holy shit, JJ. You scared me. What're you doing here?" She asked as she hugged him.

"Well, Sarah somehow convinced her dad to let me in tonight to hangout with Kie."

"Have you seen her?"

"I was just looking for her myself. C'mon. She's probably inside."

She grabbed his hand. Pulling him inside. They found Kie just minutes later with Pope. He was working the grill with his dad. Sarah was getting raided by Topper about their own stupid shit. Y/n decided to go get herself a drink and maybe find someone to dance with.

The straw rested on her lips as she stood against the porch railing. Gazing over all the people who say around laughing, probably bragging about their money, summer vacations, their older kids getting into a good college. Typical kook things.

Her eyes focused on a specific couple talking off to the side. Her eyes burning a whole in the back of Rafe's head as he tried to flirt up a storm with some Kook she didn't know whatsoever.

Her body was fuming. Was Rafe really gonna sit in front of her and flirt with a whole other girl that isn't her. Just a few days after their breakup. It's like he's trying to play victim. And she's had it.

"Hey, Sancho. Lassie."

The brunette Rafe was talking up a storm to laughed. "I'm sorry who are you?"

"Oh, you gonna introduce me to your side piece here?"

"Would you stop? We're just talking."

"Talking? Yeah, okay," Y/n laughed. The girl just looked at her dazed. "Hi, I'm his girlfriend. Y/n. And you, yeah you're excused."

Rafe was truly enjoying this scene. Internally rooting for Y/n. He wasn't gonna object to that fact that she called herself his girlfriend. Because now that he knew the truth, it changed his perspective.

"Who do you think you are?"

"I already told you. Wh- can you not hear correctly?"

"He said he was single so, why-"

"He lied. So, you can go away now- Rafe. Let's go. We need to talk."

"What're you his mother now?" The rando questioned. Y/n turned to her and gripped her face.

"If you wanna keep these teeth, then I suggest you stop talking. Go find somebody else's boyfriend to mack on."

She dragged Rafe by his hand into the upstairs private bathroom. Locking the door behind her. "What're you doing?"

"Just having a friendly conversation. There a problem?"

"You were flirting, Rafe. That was flirting," she paced. Hand against her for head.

"Like you're any better. You lied to me."

"I've never lied about anything."

"You said JJ liked Kiara."

"Yeah. He does."

"Then why is he holding your hand, hugging you, and leaving inside with you instead of the girl he supposedly likes," Rafe argued. Gripping onto the large counter.

"Rafe, I grabbed his hand and brought him inside to find Kiara. And I hugged him because I was happy for my friend. God, Rafe how many times do I have to tell you that I am not cheating on you."

"It's kind of hard to believe that shit when I keep seeing things with my own eyes."

"Then stop assuming and come ask me. Jesus, do you not trust me or something. Because I trust you. Anytime I hear that you're at a party doing lines with hot blonde's next to you, I brush it off because I know you'd never. Why can't you just do that for me."

Rafe stood from his seat. Pinching the bridge of nose. The guilty conscience grazed through his mind as he listened to her words. He had issues with trust and with others, but he knew it wasn't a reason to take it out on the only person who's loved him for him.

"I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. You're right. I should trust you. Just like you trust me. I'll work on it. I promise."

"Don't promise me that. Just show me that you love me just as much."

The words clicked. He did love her. And he cared about her. More than anyone in this world. And he wanted to show her. In the most physical way possible.

"C'mere."

"Why?"

"Just c'mere," he repeated as he grabbed her by her waist, pulling her closer to him. She stumbled, but Rafe's grip kept her in place. He moved his face closer to hers, lips almost touching as they grazed against each other.

He used the hand placed on her waist to grip the fabric of her dress. Pulling it upwards. Her breath hitched as he hand snaked under the red tulle and right onto her now soaking core. His pointy finger swept across the waistband of her panties.

Y/n wasn't expecting this as the outcome from their miniature argument but she wasn't complaining. And neither was Rafe.

He pushed her underwear down as much as he could from their position, before going back to her walls and making circular motions. Rafe finally closer the space, kissing her lips practically roughly as he continued rubbing her.

He kept a firm hand on her waist to make sure she had a gripping support if he legs gave out, which they indeed will. The motions stopped as Y/n pulled her lips away from his. Rafe stared at her daring eyes, questioning if she wanted his to continue.

"Put them inside me," she whispered. The Cameron smirked before obliging to her demand. He stuck to fingers into her wet cunt. A soft moan escaped her lips as he did so. Pumping them in and out of her. Y/n rubbed her hand against the erection in his dress pants.

"You like that, yeah?"

She nodded as the locked her lips. Not being able to speak because knowing if she did, she let out a loud moan and even at this club would hear.

She unbuckled his pants, putting her handninside to grip his penis and pump it as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. The hand he held to her waist was now gripped on her neck, gently. Y/n clenched around his fingers. Feeling her high come close. "Dont stop."

Rafe began pumping faster just as Y/n did so. The teens were so horny that they were both already reaching their extent. Rafe's shaft twitched in her hand. "I'm cumming."

"Do it for me."

That's all it took for Y/n to finish. And Rafe too. His liquids filling her hands as they both let out moans due to their intense actions. In one swift motion, Rafe snaked a hand around Y/n's waist turning then so she was against the counter. Her pulled the straps of her dress of her shoulders, leaving kisses as he did so before connecting his lips to hers.

Her pulled his tuxedo jacket off him. Snapping the bowtie off as well. Y/n moaned at the tluchnof his hands on her breast. Massaging them in his hands over the fabric of her strapless bra.

Y/n unbuttoned the spots on his shirt before pulling it off his shoulders and onto the floor. Rafe stop his gripping motions and pulled down his pants and boxers. He sat her up on the counter. Her bare ass connecting to the coldness of the marble designed setting.

Rafe rubbed his tip against her fold once or twice before pushing himself into her. Not giving a warning, but Y/n loved the suddeness. Y/n let a moan into his next as he began thrusting his hips. The girl gripping her black painted nails into his back.

Rafe's eyes rolled to the back of his head. Enjoying the feelings of Y/n's cunt wrapped around him.

"You like that?"

"Yes, god yes."

Y/n sat up, wrapping her arms around his neck. Each moan and huff she exposed in his earn make his whole body shiver. Rafe let out a grunt before answering. She clenched her walls around his dick. The dirty blonde groaned slamming into her body. "Do it again."

She did so. Clenching around around the boy as he slammed into her again. This time, hitting the spot that made her whole body go insane. "Tell me I'm yours."

"You're mine."

A moan escaped her lips after he said what she had wanted. Her hand smacked down onto the edge of the sinks counter. Grilling onto it for dear life. "Tell me it again."

The feeling of her finishing was fastly approaching. As well as for Rafe. The moans she let out made his go over the edge as he fucked her hard. "Tell me, Rafe."

"You're fucking mine, ah-"

Each of them let out a loud moan as they finished. Covering each others mouths. There shouldn't be anyone upstairs but for precautions they covered either way.

Rafe's head fell forward onto her chest. Taking large breaths as y/n did too. "Shit, y/n."

The Cameron pulled out of her. Helping her get redressed and cleaned just after he did himself.

"You're still on the pill right?" He asked as he zipped his pants.

"Yeah. It's fine," she smiled up at his 6'4 figure. Rafe reached down to kiss her passionately.

"I love you, Y/n."

"I love you, too."