#the male species that is easy to talk to other than my dad and brothers

[sailforvalinor]

Oh in other news I think I got a passable grade in Date(?), something that is normal to want and possible to achieve

[alice-angel12x]

💔Bunny!Shouto x Bunny!Reader

Beastar/hybrid/ Fantasy AU

[In this story everyone is a hybrid with animal instincts, and major height difference depending on the animals like in beastars. And magic exists. And sorry if Shouto seems out of character for you.]

"Shouto where are you?!" Y/n called for her friend.

Sadly Shouto's mind was elsewhere, for he had fallen in love with the wolf princess Momo. Every day he would sit at the edge of cottonwood village and gaze upon The princess from afar.

"Shouto, there you are," Y/n said with a smile.

But that quickly turned into a sad frown as she saw Shouto eyeing the crescent castle. Kingdom of the wolves. Know most would wonder, why is there a rabbit village a hop skip, and a jump away from a wolf kingdom. Well, every time the village tries to move away rogue wolves would attack. Yet once they got close to the castle they would quickly run away. The king of the wolves claimed that as long as they stayed within the boundaries of the kingdom, they would protect them. Y/n never bought that. She noticed that once every year one rabbit from the village would disappear. Many believed it was from the rogue wolves, sneaking in and past the guards. So Y/n was worried about her friend falling in love with a wolf, a rabbit falling in love with a wolf.

"Oh Hi, Y/n," was all he said not even turning to look at her.

"How are you feeling, you know since spring is coming up?" Y/n asked him slowly.

"I'm fine," was all he said. "How about you,"

"I'm good still looking for my prince charming you know," Y/n said wistfully.

"You so childish," Shouto said as he finally turned to her.

"I'm 16 what's so childish about that?" Y/n asked as she turned to head back to the village.

Cottonwood Village is a quaint little town of Rabbits. In the middle of the village was a large cottage where the leader/mayor lived with his family, Shouto's family. The leader was endeavor Shouto's father, he was a part of the group of rabbits that believed the wolves were hiding something.

"Does your father know about your umm, dream girl?" Y/n asked.

"My father already has enough control of my life, I'm not about to let him control my love life," Shouto said coldly.

"You shouldn't get too close to the castle, it's dangerous," Y/n said in a worried tone.

"I know your thoughts on Wolves Y/n. But the wolves have shown use that they have other alternative foods. Like soy and bean-made meat," Shouto explained.

"It's easy to say that when it's not someone you care about goes missing," Y/n muttered bitterly, but Shouto sadly heard her.

"Y/n, it was the rogues that got your brother. And the Kingdom felt with them remember," Shouto sighed in annoyance.

"Shouto are you sure you love this wolf girl or is this just one of your I just wanna piss off my dad things?" Y/n asked bitterly.

"If You don't like it then you could always find someone else to hang out with, Y/n!" Shouto said as his left side lit up in flames.

Y/n quickly ran off, startled by Shouto's flame magic. Shouto sighed in frustration as he realized he used his father's Flames. After that Shouto avoided Y/n like the plague, and it didn't help that his father eventually found out Shouto was in love with a wolf. Endeavor did not like that, so he started setting updates for Shouto to try to take his mind off Momo.

Y/n tried to apologize and rekindle with him, but he would only give her the cold shoulder.

Y/n could see the sorrow and anger Shouto was in, so she barrier her feelings for him and braved the dark forest. She heard rumors that a powerful owl named All For One could perform miracles, even change species. She eventually found him a creepy old owl.

"E-excuse me, sir," Y/n stuttered as the owl turned his head 180° to look at her.

"I wanted to know if you had the power to change a person's species?"

"Yes indeed child, and what species would you like to be, but it will cost you," All for One chuckled.

"How much would it cost?" She asked.

"Half of your soul. Your life Will be cut in half. You'll live to about 25 for you," he answered as he towered over Y/n.

"I would like to pay for someone. If a red and white male rabbit comes and asks to change him, please take my soul," Y/n said in confidence.

"You young people always ready to throw your life away," he muttered as ripped out half of Y/n's soul.

And with that, she quickly ran back to the village, with Half of her soul in toe. She managed to track down Shouto and told him about All for One but left out the part of selling half of her soul.

Shouto did not waste time to find the owl and demand him to turn him into a wolf.

____________ [4 years later]

It has been 4 years since I changed into a wolf. When I changed, I found myself waking up in a large bed. I was found by Princess Momo herself. She helped was so sweet and kind, and was more than happy to explain wolf society. When I told her I was raised by Herbavoir animals. I was an Omega, while She was an Alpha.

Yet I enjoyed the times we spent together, I had never felt so free. She would help my heats or anything that confused me. It took a while to get used to eating soy meat, but I didn't mind all that much. All for One said he could change me and give me Wolf-like instincts, but he couldn't remove my Rabbit instincts. So it took a long time to suppress those instincts.

°° Today Momo had important meetings, so I was left to my own devices. So I decided to take a stroll through the forest. As I wandered through the forest I could hear humming coming from a nearby river. I peaked out from behind the tree, too see a rabbit bathing in the river. I recognized that rabbit, with her lovely H/c hair and beautiful snow-white rabbit ears and Tail.

"Y/n?" I called out to her.

Y/n quickly turned around to face me as she covered her chest with her arms. As my eyes took in all of her details I could feel the rest of the world fading away. It was just me and Y/n. In my new wolf body, Y/n looked so small compared to me now.

She matured a lot over these past 4 years. For some reason I couldn't see her as the childish dreamer 4 years ago, I couldn't figure out why.

"Umm hello Shouto, your taller," Y/n said as she started backing away.

"I-it's good to see you again Y/n," stuttered as I felt the heat rush to my face.

She smiled sweetly at me as she grabbed her robes as he made her way over to you. Seeing her standing In front of me was odd. I remember when I was still a rabbit I was just a few inches taller than her. But now she just barely reached my mid waist.

We sat under a tree and talked for hours about what had happened to me. And she sat there and listened very closely. Her robes v neck was very revealing and I started to feel hot.

She seemed to notice as she got and started to walk with a slight sway in her hips. A dormant instinct awakens within me as the rabbit inside me begged to go after her.

"It seems you're a bit too excited to see me. If I remember correctly I was too childish for you~," She said with a smooth seductive voice.

I had to hold back the Rabbit instincts as I watched cross to the other side of the river.

"I'm afraid I have to leave now, spring is just around the corner after all~," She cooed as she disappeared behind the trees.

I felt hot in a certain place as I felt my tail wag uncontrollably on the ground. That wasn't the last time I went out to see Y/n. Anytime Momo was busy I would meet Y/n by the river and we would talk.

One day it was a particularly hot day as I made my way to Y/n's meet site. Today she was wearing a large floppy sun hat and a cute spring dress.

"So what us Momo like?" Y/n asked curiously.

"She's wonderful, she's kind, smart, and gentle," I said to her as I started to talk about my fiance.

"Hey Shouto are you okay, you seem sluggish today and in pain?" Y/n asked worriedly.

"Oh don't worry, I'm going into heat soon. So I'll be sore for a while, the downsides to being an Omega wolf," I explained.

"That sucks, is there any way I can help you?" Y/n asked as she hugged my neck. She smelled like a field of wildflowers, I couldn't help but return her hug.  ---

As The two old friends were talking they failed to notice two figures creeping behind them. Before Y/n could react, a large hand grabbed her by the ears and lifted her off the ground. She screamed and thrashed against her captors. Shouto quickly got up and tackled the man as he pulled Y/n into his arms and ran.

"It's the rogues, we need to head back to the castle," Shouto struggled to say as he ran.

But as he ran his body began to ache and became heavy. His vision started to blur and his steps became uncertain. Shouto tripped and tumbled down the hill with Y/n in toe. As he collapsed on the ground his eyes slowly closed as his body gave out.

"SHOUTO, PLEASE WAKE UP!!'' was the last thing he heard.

------

As my eyes opened up, I found myself in my room or my nest. suddenly Momo came in with her usual sweet smile.

" Good your fully awake, it's good to see you took well to the stew," she smiled as she picked up the empty bowl next to me.

"W-what happened to me," Shouto asked as he tried to sit up.

" You're in your heat, but it is taking a larger toll on you because your body lacks certain nutrients that soy meat can't provide. So our hunters found a rabbit near you and gave her to our chiefs and made you rabbit stew," Momo explained.

Shouto felt his whole world shatter as his stomach noted and squeezed.

"Oh, my maid is coming with more stew. Today's rabbit such a delicious flavor," Momo said as she rubbed her finger in the empty bowl and licked off the stew on her finger.

Shouto began to tremble as the truth sank into him. His stomach lurched in disgust as he sat up and leaned onto a nearby wall. Soon a maid came in with a fresh bowl of ... Rabbit... Soup. Shouto tried to back away only for his back to meet another wall. The maid scooped a spoon full of Stew with a generous amount of cooked meat chunks.

"Open your mouth," the maid said using her Alpha order.

Shouto's omega body slowly opened its mouth, despite Shouto's wishes. As the maid feeds him a spoonful of rabbit stew. The maid ordered him to chew and swallow, and he did. Heavy tears ran down Shouto's face as his body betrayed him. It felt like an eternity to finish the entire bowl of Stew.

____

Soon as the maid left Shouto pushed himself onto his feet and made his way down to the kitchen.

'It couldn't be Y/n right? She must have run away to safety,' he thought to himself.

As he entered he saw the chief with a cloth sack ready to be thrown out. Shouto quickly offered to take it out for them as a thank you for the meal. And the chief happily gave the sac to Shouto.

Once he was out he ran deep into the forest and opened the bag to see a fresh skeleton of a small rabbit. But inside he pulled out a familiar sun hat and spring dress. His stomach lurched and forced up the stew into a nearby bush.

"I... I ate her!! I ate Y/n', His mind screamed in shame, disgust, and sorrow as he began to sob.

Flashes of Y/n's beautiful smile and lively eyes appeared in his mind.

He held up Y/n's dress, it looked so small. The perfect size for a Pup maybe, but he knew this dress was the size for a fully grown rabbit, a young woman. He held the dress close to his chest like he was Hugging Y/n again.

Shouto with his head low he snuck back to his nest. Laying down he slowly pushed away most of the fabric Momo scented as he held Y/n's dress close to him. He could still smell the field of wildflowers on her dress.

"I can still smell you Y/n," He whimpered to himself.

[trulivin]

Not What Everyone Thinks

A/N: Yay I got another one done! LOL. Anyways, to the nonny who requested, I hope you enjoy. I hope I did a decent job at portraying Rafe. He’s more down to earth in this one so I don’t know if I like it too much. We’ll see. I rewatched OBX and like I’m telling you he is ten times fucked up than he is in here. Pardon my language, but hopefully you all will forgive me if he isn’t really like how he is in the show. Anyways, enjoy, send feedback, like, comment, etc.

Rafe Cameron x Reader, Outer Banks

Warnings: implied sexual innuendos? uhhh language. That’s it.

*gif isn’t mine*

Upon the request of Sarah Cameron, Y/N was enlisted to help decorate her mansion for her birthday party. She tried roping the rest of the Pogues into it, and Kie was originally going to help but was needed elsewhere at the time, and the boys opted out. Even John B. 

“Sorry sweetheart,” he had said with a peck on the cheek. “Whatever,” Sarah rolled her eyes and turned back to Y/N. “Fineeeee,” Y/N sighed, earning a hug. 

So, when the day finally arrived Y/N found herself walking up to the oh-so-familiar house she had spent many days with Sarah in. 

Y/N was essentially a Kook by blood, but, much like Kie, she chose to hang out with the Pogues, much to her mother’s disappointment. Sarah Cameron, however, had been her best friend growing up and remained a very good friend even when Y/N started hanging out with John B’s crew. 

For Y/N, she stayed out of the whole Kook versus Pogue thing. It was never something she, quite frankly, wanted to be involved in and she was thankful neither sides made her pick. It was absolutely ridiculous that the boys were constantly getting into fights. And, it was especially annoying when Rafe Cameron always decided to mess with JJ, John B, or Pope all the time. 

Y/N never understood why he did it. She had known him her whole life becoming friends even, because of Sarah, and then she saw what drugs did to him. It was quite depressing to watch, so Y/N didn’t and went to hang out with the Pogues instead.

Luckily, though, that didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed on Tanneyhill anymore. Especially now that Sarah had to decorate the entire mansion. 

“You’re a lifesaver,” Sarah said, opening the door for her. “I know,” Y/N laughed. Sarah playfully rolled her eyes and shoved her friend a bit before the two started their job. 

Y/N and Sarah were in the middle of stringing lights when she heard two approaching voices arguing down the hall. “Tonight is your sister’s birthday! Do not screw this up, Rafe! I’m sick of your inability to get anything done around here. You are almost twenty years old, it’s time to get it together son,” Ward chastised. 

“I told you, I’d get it!” Rafe argued back. “When?” Ward asked, extremely annoyed. “If I recall you were supposed to get the new parts ordered last week!”

“I know, but I swear I--” Rafe started but was cut off. 

“Save it. I don’t want to hear it anymore. I have to help get everything in order tonight. Just get it done,” Ward spat, before crossing the living room. Sarah and Y/N exchanged nervous glances before Sarah’s mouth turned up into a grin. “Sorry you had to hear that,” Sarah giggled quietly before stepping down the ladder. “It’s fine,” the other girl smiled back.

“I have to go grab more lights, you good?” she asked. “Yep all good here,” Y/N said standing up on her toes a bit. 

As Y/N was focusing on trying not to fall off the ladder, she heard Sarah say, “Shouldn’t have taken that money to buy that stupid bike.” “Piss off Sarah,” Rafe snarled as Sarah laughed all the way down the hall. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Rafe snapped at Y/N. “Putting up lights. What does it look like genius?” Y/N bit back, making a face, but not turning to face the pissed-off Kook. “I don’t recall Pogues being allowed in the house,” he hissed. 

Y/N turned to face him. Rafe was glaring at her. Instead of cowering away from him, like most people do, she glared right back. “If you do recall Rafe, I was once a Kook. I practically lived here my entire childhood,” Y/N hissed. 

“Yeah well that was until you and my sister ran off with the island trash,” Rafe spat. Y/N just glared at Sarah’s brother. Truth be told, a long time ago, the two actually liked each other when they were friends. They were only two years apart in age, and yeah, Y/N was his little sister’s friend, but she was one he never minded. At least until she ran off with the Pogues. 

“Why do you have to act like this?” Y/N asked, catching Rafe off guard. “What?” Rafe replied. 

“Why do you act like such a dick? We were friends once you know,” she said. 

“I’m not a dick,” Rafe scoffed, his anger subsiding a bit. Y/N snorted, “Yeah, you are. And you’re a big baby too, oh my god.” 

“Oh shut the hell up, Y/N,” Rafe grunted, slumping in the lounge chair. Y/N giggled hopping down from the ladder and moving to the balcony that overlooked the room. Her new position also happened to be nearly right in front of the moody boy. 

Rafe glanced up from messing with his shirt as Y/N placed the ladder a few feet from him. He found his eyes wandering up her legs and to the skin that showed when she reached up to hang the lights across the railing. “You’re staring,” Y/N sing-songed, not looking away from what she was doing.

Rafe felt his face heat up. He was still of the male species after all. It didn’t matter how out of it he was or how angry he was: he still had eyes. 

Y/N let out another laugh, and glanced back down at him. Rafe was no longer staring at her but was extremely occupied messing with his sleeves. She watched his ring-clad fingers bunch the material up his toned, tanned arms, and found herself staring this time. 

His vineyard-vines button up fit perfectly across his broad shoulders and muscular arms. It was also fitted so perfectly that you could almost see the outline of his abs through the material. Y/N felt as though the room got quite hot even with the air conditioning on. 

Ever since she met Sarah, she always thought her older brother was attractive. There was something about him that caught Y/N’s eye. The best part was that she knew the real Rafe too. The one who wasn’t on drugs and acting like an idiot. Maybe that’s what always made her so intrigued by him. 

But, alas, he still acted out which stopped her from hanging around him. Yet, that still didn’t mean he wasn’t extremely hot for a Kook.

“Please stop rolling your shirt sleeves up, I am trying to focus here,” Y/N mumbled before she could even think. Rafe instantly froze and locked eyes with the girl on the ladder. He noticed how one arm was holding on to the railing while the other hung by her side. Her shirt was also still noticeably bunched up, and Y/N’s eyes were also partially blown. 

“Now who’s the one staring?” Rafe smirked, a hint of his old self in his voice. Y/N snapped out of her daze, rolling her eyes. “Hush,” she said, turning back to the last string of lights. 

Y/N finally finished and hopped down, Rafe following her every movement. “Listen,” Y/N started, standing in front of him, “You were a decent person before the drugs. This isn’t the way to get your dad’s attention.”

“You don’t know shit,” he snapped, his anger flaring again as he looked up at her. 

“Oh stop yelling at me, I don’t care what you think. I just know you weren’t like this,” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Rafe, you and I used to be friends.”

“Yeah, until you ran off with those damn Pogues!” Rafe shouted.

“God! Enough with the whole Kooks versus Pogues shit! What does it matter? My parents are Kooks! I’m a Kook! So what? It’s the person, Rafe, not their social status. Sarah gets it! But that’s not even the problem! You’re the problem,” Y/N snapped. 

“Do you really want to associate yourself with a bunch of lunatics who put guns to peoples’ heads when they feel like it?”

“Rafe, Topper was drowning John B! What the hell was JJ supposed to do? Let his best friend die? Tell me this! If it were the other way around, would you have pulled the gun?” Y/N groaned. 

Rafe didn’t answer this time, but just stared up at her. He really only thought about her question for a second before studying her face. Her pupils were still slightly dilated yet he could see her sincerity as well.  

“Exactly,” she huffed. “Look, I’ve known you for so long,” she said softly, “You aren’t the bad guy. Drugs mess people up, Rafe. And it sure as hell won’t get your father’s attention the way you want it.”

Rafe was shocked to hear what she was saying, but he pulled his gaze away from her hard one. “I--I really don’t know what else to do though,” Rafe finally spoke, refusing to look at her. Y/N closed her eyes for a second taking a breath. “You can start by being present for your sister’s birthday party tonight. And not shitfaced and present, or on crack and present. Sober,” Y/N suggested, firmly. 

“Wow, you two on speaking terms again?” Sarah’s voice cut in as she strutted in the room. Y/N turned her attention to her friend and rolled her eyes, her normal relaxed look slipping back on her face. “If you count arguing,” she laughed as she took the lights from Sarah. 

“Oh of course,” Sarah shot back with a wink. Rafe watched Y/N as she and his sister laughed and joked with each other. To say he missed the easy-going conversations with Y/N was an understatement. He always found it was so simple to talk to her. She would never judge and would always somehow say the right thing. 

But, unfortunately, as he began working with his father more, Rafe found himself trying to impress Ward in any way he could to make his father proud. In the midst of all of that, Rafe managed to push her away and go down an even darker path. 

“Well, I will see you tonight, birthday girl,” Y/N said snapping Rafe out of his thoughts. “Thank you for helping me set up,” Sarah smiled. “Oh and tell your mother she does not need to bring me any gifts tonight!”

“No promises,” Y/N said, giving her friend a hug. “You know how she is at parties.” 

“I know,” Sarah rolled her eyes. “The whole island is going to be here tonight I swear. Leave it to Rose to throw a huge party. It’s like Midsummers came early.”

“It’s your seventeenth birthday. It’s a big deal. Just enjoy the attention,” Y/N giggled as she headed for the exit. “Bye Rafe!” she called down the hall. Rafe put a lazy hand up as he heard the door slam shut. He was still lost in thought over everything Y/N had just told him. 

“Shouldn’t you be getting those parts dad wants?” Sarah asked her brother with her hand on her hip. “Mind your damn business Sarah,” Rafe snapped. 

Sarah glared at her brother before rolling her eyes. “Whatever,” she responded, turning on her heel, leaving Rafe all alone. 

At 6:30, Y/N stood in front of her mirror with a horrified expression. “Why do I have to wear this mom?” she groaned. Her mother had decided it would be a good idea to wear a light pink dress with a neckline for a prude. “This is a party, not a church service!” Y/N complained.

“The dress is gorgeous sweetheart, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Y/M/N replied. Y/N studied herself in the mirror for a moment. 

“I’m not wearing this,” Y/N concluded. 

“Yes, you are, Y/N,” her mom said strictly. “You’ve been running around with those street rats for too long. A bunch of your father’s business partners and their families will be attending Sarah’s party tonight. You need to look your best.” 

“But mom,” Y/N whined, “It’s still a seventeen year old’s birthday party. Not some business thing!” 

“Y/N, you are going to wear that and that’s final. You can wear whatever you want when Sarah throws her own party for a bunch of idiotic teenagers,” her mother said before walking out of her room. 

At least this stupid thing goes above my knees, Y/N thought to herself before following after her mother. 

“You ready?” Y/N’s dad asked as the two girls walked into the kitchen. Y/N’s father turned to his daughter and stifled a laugh. “Wow, sweetheart.” Y/N groaned and buried her face in her hands. “MOM!” she groaned. “No, let’s go.” 

When they arrived at Tanneyhill, Y/N slunk through the crowd hoping no one would notice her. She had a feeling her mother might pull something like this so she stashed other clothes in Sarah’s room. 

Y/N caught a glimpse of JJ’s blond hair and ducked behind a person. She wouldn’t hear the end of it if he saw her in a dress like this. The man she was hiding behind turned around giving her a questioning look. “Oh hi Mr. Daniels,” Y/N smiled sheepishly, straightening herself out and ducking behind another person. Fortunately for her, she made it out of the crowded room and to the steps leading upstairs. 

Just as she began her ascent a voice rang out from behind her, “Oh my god. What the hell are you wearing?” JJ cackled. Y/N closed her eyes and turned around slowly. “Har har guys,” she glared at all of her friends crowded around the steps. Both Sarah and Kie had nice casual dresses on while the boys wore what they would typically wear. Except JJ was in an actual t-shirt rather than one his tank tops. 

“Oh shut up I know I look like Peppa Pig. Blame it on my mother,” Y/N said sourly. “I’m going to change.”

“Hahahahahaha!” they all cackled. Sarah finally calmed down, pretending to wipe her eyes from her tears of laughter. “Let her go change,” she said, “c’mon.” Y/N shot her a grateful smile before they shuffled away. 

Just as Y/N was about to get into Sarah’s room, however, she heard a door close down the hall, and looked up to see Rafe approaching her with a shit-eating grin. He was still wearing what he had on that afternoon. 

“Just shut up, don’t say anything,” Y/N pinched the bridge of her nose. Rafe burst out laughing and Y/N’s face flushed. He was the last person she wanted to see while she was still wearing this damn dress. If she wasn’t so irritated right now, she would have even been happy to hear Rafe laughing so care-free. 

“Why are you wearing that? Holy shit!” he continued to laugh. “You look like Little Bo Peep just with your knees showing!” 

“Go awayyyyyy,” Y/N whined, banging her head on the door. Rafe put his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine,” he grinned walking past her. “But if I’m going to this party, you have to show back up too,” he called before disappearing down the steps.

Y/N stood there in mild shock. Rafe wasn’t angry or wasted. He was just Rafe. 

Shaking herself out of her little daze, Y/N hurried into Sarah’s room and found her ripped jeans and black tank top. “Thank the lord,” she muttered to herself before stripping. 

Downstairs, Rafe gulped nervously trying to shake that urge for cocaine. It was his safety net that took his mind off the disappointment in his father’s eyes. He had almost done it though. Almost. Right before he came downstairs actually. But something told him not to. Well, someone really. Y/N’s words echoed in his mind from earlier. He noticed when she mentioned the word ‘drug’ she almost had that same look of disappointment in her eyes. And god, she was the last person he wanted to disappoint, for some reason. 

So, he didn’t do it. 

But, he still made a beeline for the adult drink table. Y/N would still drink if she could. Not shitfaced, but still, he thought to himself. Luckily, Rafe had managed to get through, sober, the whole awkward “you’re here” conversation with his dad too, so his drink was well-deserved. 

Rafe stood there allowing his eyes to wander all over the room. He saw Topper was trying to talk to Sarah again about her dating choices. “Idiot,” he muttered into his glass. 

Kelce was flirting with one of Sarah’s friends, a lot of the men, including his father, were huddled in the corner talking about some business thing while the women were gossiping about something, the Pogues were looking wildly out of place and little uncomfortable, keeping to themselves since Sarah was busy talking with Topper, and the rest of the people were breaking off into little groups talking amongst themselves.

This is stupid why am I even here, Rafe thought before his gaze caught Y/N’s figure. She had obviously changed into something more her style. 

Rafe’s eyes followed her beautiful hair that fell over her shoulders and down her back, across the skin revealed by deep cut in the back of her top. He let his eyes linger on her butt for a moment longer, before trailing them down her toned, jean-clad legs and to the floor. 

She was far hotter than he remembered. When did she grow up? 

Sighing, Rafe brought his eyes back up to her face and frowned when he saw a scowl on hers. He liked her much better when she was laughing like this afternoon. She appeared arguing with her mom who was gesturing up and down to her outfit. 

“That neckline is cut way too low, Y/N!” her mother hissed. “So what?” Y/N flung her hands in the air, annoyed. 

“That’s too inappropriate!” 

“I don’t care! It’s a birthday party! Plus! I can actually breathe right now! That neckline was too high!” 

“It was perfect!” 

“No!”

“Y/N!”

“I’m not having this conversation at my friend’s birthday party,” Y/N shook her head, rolling her eyes and pushing her way past her mom. She slipped through the crowd and disappeared out the back into the night.

Rafe watched as her mother went right back to her group of ladies and began complaining about her daughter. Ah, yes, he was very familiar with that one. His father had pulled that on him so many times. 

He sighed before pushing off his spot on the wall and grabbing one of the extra bottles of wine from under the table and followed Y/N through the door she just went out. 

Y/N sat at the end of the dock furiously picking some of the wood that was splintering. “I just wanted to enjoy my friend’s birthday party but NO! Always have to be the perfect little daughter you want me to be,” she mumbled to herself. “Just so I don’t mess up the stupid little reputation on this damn island.” Y/N groaned, allowing her anger to get the best of her.

“Well guess what?” she finally shouted, “I’m going to get off this damn island one day so I don’t have to put up with this bullshit anymore! How about that?” Y/N felt better yelling into the darkness. 

“If you leave then can I come too?” a familiar voice said in the darkness. Y/N whirled around in bewilderment and found Rafe standing a little ways off with a hand in a pocket and the other gripping a bottle of alcohol. Y/N’s face softened as he sat down beside her, handing her the bottle of wine. 

“You looked like you needed this,” he said. 

“Thanks,” she responded before putting the bottle to her lips. She sighed as the wine seemed to warm her body up and already started washing her irritation away. Y/N also became hyper-aware of how close Rafe was sitting next to her. Their arms were slightly pressed against one another. 

“It’s ironic you know,” Rafe started, “You lecture me about getting my father’s attention, but here you are pouting about your mother.” He let out a laugh. “Yes, yes it’s all very funny. She just expects me to be this perfect little Kook daughter and wear pretty colors and go shopping or some shit,” Y/N ranted. 

Rafe listened patiently until she finally let out a huff. 

“Well, you know, in your mother’s defense, you still looked good in that dress,” Rafe spoke after a moment still looking out at the star-covered marsh. Y/N snorted, passing him the bottle. “Oh please. I looked like Peppa Pig.”

“Yes, you did,” Rafe laughed a bit. “But still a pretty Peppa.”

Y/N felt her face go warm again at his compliment. They hadn’t spoken like this in years. Y/N remembered how kind Rafe could really be. She was devastated when he did a 180 and lashed out at everyone he cared about. Yet, could she really blame him? She saw how hard he worked to impress Ward, but his father still dubbed him incompetent. And yes, Rafe did some stupid stuff, but don’t all teenage boys?

“Thanks,” she smiled as he handed her back the bottle. They sat in silence for a while, listening to the small lapping of water and passing the bottle back and forth. 

“I’m surprised you aren’t scolding me for drinking,” Rafe sighed after a bit. “I never said you couldn’t drink when you got to the party. Just not before,” Y/N specified. “Oh right,” Rafe said. 

“I’m glad you came,” Y/N said quietly, turning to look at him. Rafe felt her gaze on him and turned to face her too. “Why?” he asked. Y/N shrugged a bit and looked down at her hands. “I don’t know really. I guess it was just nice talking to you today,” she said.

“We argued more than talked, you know,” Rafe grinned as she looked back up at him rolling her eyes playfully. “Well of course,” she smirked. “Who would we be if we didn’t argue all the time. Remember when we argued that whole ride up to the mainland with your dad and Sarah?”

“How can I not?” Rafe laughed. “You were so mad you turned bright red.”

Y/N burst out in a fit of giggles, and Rafe couldn’t help but find himself smiling harder at the gorgeous sound. 

Eventually, their laughs died down and they both stared out into the night sky. “This is what I was talking about earlier, you know,” Y/N said, breaking the silence again. “What?” Rafe was puzzled. 

“When I said that you weren’t the bad guy,” she mumbled. 

“You’re the opposite actually,” Y/N said more firmly, looking back up at him. He watched her, thoughtfully, as she continued, “I mean look how much fun we’re having. Yes, we’re drinking, but we aren’t completely wasted, and you aren’t high right now. You’re you again.”

“I can’t shake it though,” he replied quietly. “I know it’s hard, but there are ways to fix it,” Y/N said. 

Rafe didn’t say anything as he looked into her dark eyes. Through the darkness, he saw a flash of pain dance through her eyes. He hadn’t realized their faces had gotten extremely closer. “Rafe,” she practically whispered. He felt her breath fan over his lips. “You don’t have to do drugs to get Ward’s attention. You’re better than that.” 

Y/N finished speaking as their noses brushed up against one another. She heard her friends’ voices in her head, the voice that told her Rafe couldn’t just up and quit, but she didn’t care. His arm behind her locked her in and his skin burned on her back. She knew she shouldn’t, but she did anyway. 

With a slight tilt of her head, her lips met his in the night. Y/N’s body turned more towards him as he returned the kiss immediately. It was a slow burn that started in her chest and spread throughout her body as his soft lips melted with hers. 

Y/N felt Rafe gently tug at her bottom lip, eliciting a soft moan from her. He instantly gripped her hips and pulled her on top of him allowing his tongue to explore her mouth. 

Inside, Sarah was wandering around looking for her friend. “Have you seen Y/N?” Sarah asked John B after looking around for her for the past ten minutes. “Nope,” John B shrugged and went back to trying to throw shrimp in JJ’s mouth. “Boys,” she rolled her eyes and went to the back door. 

Sarah stepped outside and squinted down the dock. It was fairly dark, but the moon granted her some light. A weird looking silhouette broke the moonlight a bit and Sarah called, “Y/N?” The dark blob split into two figures and Sarah heard a faint, “shit!” 

“Well that’s new,” she laughed when she realized the voice belonged to her brother. “Ok never mind!” Sarah called before ducking back inside. 

“Shit,” Y/N cursed, slipping the straps of her tank top and bra back up. 

“Oops,” Rafe laughed from beside her. 

“We should probably go back inside,” Y/N giggled a bit before standing up. “Or we could, y’know,” Rafe smirked, sitting up on his knees and pushing up her shirt a bit planting wet kisses on her stomach. Y/N resisted the urge to moan and tugged him up. 

“I can’t ditch your sister’s party as much as I really...really, want too…” she half moaned looking up at Rafe as he bit his lip and raked his eyes shamelessly all over her body. 

His mouth quirked up and then he burst out laughing, “Wow. How the tables have turned.” “Shut up,” she said, shoving him out of the way playfully. 

“Oh don’t be such a baby,” he shot back at her with a grin. Rafe caught up and slung an arm around Y/N as they started walking back towards the house. “Rafe,” Y/N said with a serious tone, stopping before they started up the lawn. He looked down at her nervously, afraid this moment would be ruined and it somehow would be his fault. 

Y/N took a deep breath and faced him. “I can only do this if you can promise me you’ll stop.” 

He knew what she meant. He felt the itch rise again, but easily pushed it away as he looked into her nervous eyes. He didn’t know what to do. Rafe knew he wanted her. God he wanted her so bad, but he didn’t know if it would be enough. “I-I don’t know,” he finally said. 

Y/N’s face fell slightly, but he quickly caught himself, “I don’t know if it’ll be that easy. Believe me, for you, I want to so bad. But the reality of it…” his words died in his mouth. This was the most sober Y/N had seen him yet. 

“Of course. I know how hard it would be and I’m not blaming you for that,” she said with a small smile returning to her face. “Please help me,” Rafe finally broke, bending down and wrapping his arms around her. 

Y/N stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tall frame as the wave of emotion passed over him. “Shhhh. I promise you I will,” Y/N whispered in his ear. “I want to make this right,” he said softly. 

“You will, Rafe. You will.”

__________________________________________________

Wow so proud of myself that I actually finished this tonight. Hope everyone liked it! 

[mackenzielovee]

hi! i actually sent a similar question to @lurkymurker but i was wondering if you have any tips on writing in general, and writing male characters? i rllyyyy wanna start writing and you and her are my fav writers here <3

hi there! i really appreciate the love, and Ri is fantastic. Thank you for the support! im putting in a cut bc i typed a lot lol

I'd say first and foremost, don't feel like you have to write. Let the ideas come to you, and then sit down and write until you don't feel it anymore. It's kinda hard to explain that feeling, but you'll recognize it when you start writing. Don't rush it and don't feel pressured to do it.

Rough drafts are your friend!!! I write little notes to myself like this line sucks or change this and it really helps me when i go back in later to edit and/or change things. (maybe be nicer to yourself than i am to myself lmao)

Don't feel like everything has to be perfect the first time around, or even when it's done. It's really easy on here to feel like every word has to be exactly right, because some people can be mean, but most people are going to love whatever it is you put out.

Male characters. They're tough to write, even when you have experience with the species (lol). Personally, i think flaws make them. some flaw in their life that they maybe learn to work through with the love interest, perhaps? Also, don't overthink them. men are simple creatures, and to make them believable, write them as such. i often listen to my dad and my brothers talk to each other when i need little pieces of male conversation for a story, and trust me, it's not the most intelligent (i don't mean that in a mean way, but they're not talking about classic novels and art).

Take it easy on yourself! Don't get discouraged because maybe one idea didn't pan out. It's your story, and even if you write it and don't get the attention you want, you still did something amazing. Writing is very, very challenging and you should be proud of yourself.

Please tag me (if you feel comfortable) in whatever you write if you post it on here! I'd love to read it and give you feedback. I'm sure it will be great! I'm here if you ever need anything, editing advice, to talk through an idea, formatting your stories, anything. I check in on here at least 10 times a day lol so shoot me a message if you want to. You got this!!

[carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich]

@herdeandragonpainter replied to this post I made regarding Shin’s feelings towards Carla. I hope you don’t mind me posting your reply like this but you raise some interesting points and there’s some stuff I’d like to address.

Honestly I understand why he and others would hate Carla for what he did more but I blame shin more for being stupid and forcing Carla in that position in that first place I don't think he it was just his immaturity I think was too spoiled rotten and defended by his family even by Carla to some extent he got praised for beating up his clan members I think this matter could have been avoid if they properly taught shin what it truly mean to be strong and be a leader and is Always hard no matter what instead of seeing him as a kid and if he was more sen They never truly treat him as a young adult that needs to be more responsible as the prince of the first blood clan and help lead and defended the clan they pretty more saw him as a being too immature and kept him in the dark about all the problems with the clan and his dad and protected him in a way they didn't think he could be strong enough to handle the severity of the problems giessbach was causing or truly support him as a person to be strong the only 1 who did That was yui in his route his aunt left and his mom relied more on carla And if shin was more sensible and did his responsibility as a prince and 1 of the the leaders and protector of the clan more instead of picking fights and being immature about his inferiority complex his family would have seen him in a better light and view him more as a young adult and prince able to take care of himself and protect and lead the clan instead of a immature self centered kid that Can't handle the harsh reality of life life is hard no matter what if he doesn't have what it takes to do whatever it takes to survive he would never be able to fully defend himself much less others I don't think he realised him people respected Carla more not just because of his abilities but he was doing his responsibilities as a leader well shin never did anything like that and spent his days seething in his own inferiority complex and beating founders up all day I am kind of worried about the founders I think part of their demise had to do with how prideful they are it like other than their pride as a founder their life has no meaning I don't think they have the courage to retreat when necessary and plan for a counter attack or handle being weak well if everyone thinks like shin the clan is screwed if the males are dying in their prime before they start a family I can see how they lost their power before endziet fully devoured The clan even the wise Carla and his experienced uncle did sucidail acts because they are Pround founders yui got in danger because of this philosophy it makes me worried about the all the founders wives in the past and if they were left defendless with their children because the males tried to be "proud founders" krone also died because her trash husband was crazy with this Even if they were ghouls with their experience they would have taught the next generation and other founders well but Carla uncle killed himself and his knowledge died with him

Firstly, regarding Shin, yes a lot of his problems lie in the fact that no one really addressed them while he was growing up (even if Carla tried in his own way, and was less than successful), BUT do I think he would have been treated any differently if he was more responsible? Honestly no. Carla didn’t have any time for Shin, not because of Shin’s personality, but because he was busy with a lot of other things, a change in Shin’s behavior wouldn’t have altered that. We don’t get much of a look into what Krone and Shin’s relationship was like when he was older, but ultimately she didn’t have very much power and I still think she would have relied on Carla more as the eldest. Giesbach definitely wouldn’t have done anything differently. The reason he didn’t send Shin to the front lines in the war against Karl wasn’t because he didn’t think Shin was responsible enough, it’s because, for all his faults, Gies did love Shin and in my opinion didn’t want him to get killed or injured (whereas to Gies Carla was disposable yes he was dreadful I know).

(This got super long so I have put the rest below the cut)

I also don’t think the other founders would have treated Shin particularly differently either. If you listen to what they say about Carla in the flashbacks in Shin’s DF route in terms of defeating Karl, they might have respected Carla for  his attitude but from the way they talk about defeating Karl, honestly I think they respected his raw power more, something Shin simply didn’t have (and which caused so much friction between them). 

Yes, the founder’s prideful attitudes certainly didn’t endear them other members of the demon world, although it is still important to remember that some members of the other clans did in fact support the founders (sort of enforcing this belief in a way) which we know from Carla’s DF route, and also in one of the bonus CDs, I believe Shin mentions that the Tsukinami brothers get their money from sponsors in the demon world (and we know they can’t be other founders because the other founders are all dead).

We don’t get to see very much of the other founders, but they seem to have been doing okay until Endzeit and Gies decided to pick a war with Karl, so I certainly wouldn’t have said there was an issue of them “dying in their prime”. From the little we do see, not all of them were as combative as Shin and Shin says in his monologue at the start of his DF Ectsasy Prologue that there were some founders who didn’t like conflict. 

The key thing that ultimately lead to their downfall was Giesbach taking action against Karlheinz and Burai, which wasn’t a matter of pride but was solely due to Gies going nuts (I think at the idea that he might not be the most powerful demon around).

As for the matter with founders becoming ghouls to avoid dying from Endzeit, I think it’s important to remember that, from the information we get in the games, I’m pretty sure the only one who knew that you could be cured by staying in Rotigenburg and becoming a ghoul was Felsen because it happened to him. When Kino tells Carla about this in LE, Carla’s clearly never heard of it before, and if he hadn’t I doubt any of the other founders did either. And even if they had known, after they were sealed in Bandmaden, there would have been no way for them to reach Rotigenburg anyway so they didn’t really get a choice. (And it means we don’t actually know whether all of them would have decided to die as a founder rather than live).

Admittedly, I don’t think many of them would choose to give up being a founder and while pride does play a part in it, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Firstly, we get told multiple times in DL that immortals perceive death differently to humans and that it’s something to be celebrated. As for the matter of pride, like I said, that’s going to play a part in it but, their species was part of their identity. Think for a moment about the things that make you up as a person, things you value (could be your sexuality, your gender, your religion, etc.) Now imagine having to give up one of those parts of yourself. I’m not sure how easy it is to think about but I think that’s the best way I can try to get you to visualize the sort of decision a founder would be facing when deciding to live as a ghoul or die a founder.

Finally, ghouls are significantly less powerful than founders, so in being cured of Endzeit, they’d lose most if not all of their magical abilities, which I imagine would be a pretty terrifying concept to someone who had spent their entire life as an individual with power. Yes, as you said they could potentially have tried to raise the next generation, but everyone in Banmaden (with the lone exception of Shin) eventually caught Endzeit, in which case they all would have ended up just living as ghouls (and I’m certain that if this had happened, the other demon races would have just ended up treating them as terribly as they treat the other ghouls). 

TD;LR

I don’t think Shin would have been treated any differently by his family or the other founders, even if he were the most responsible individual in the demon world.

The founders do have some major issues when it comes to pride, but ultimately that wasn’t the cause of their downfall (although it certainly didn’t help). The reason why Carla and Shin are in the position they are now is because of a combination of Endzeit and Giesbach going mad and entering into a war with Karl. 

As for the matter of founders choosing to die from Endzeit rather than living on as ghouls. We don’t get a good enough look at other founders to know if all of them would have chosen to die as a founder. While it might seem like stupid decision from our perspective as ordinary humans in a non-magical society, to them it would have been a very big deal and it’s important to try to look at it from their angle to understand why they would choose to do such a thing.

Hope you’re all having a lovely day and that this makes sense!

[imnotoverlyobsessive]

Aight my dudes here’s chapter four of Oopsie Daisies have fun. Thanks again to @edward-or-ford for editing!

Looks Like Someone Picked a Whole Bushel of Oopsie Daisies Chapter Four: Shadows

You’re all I want and I don’t know why. This new addiction is all I know, and it’s safe to say that I’ve lost control. - 2 in the Chest, 1 in the Head, New Years Day

Mabel knew a great many things. She knew how to fix rips in tights and leggings without making it noticeable (and if it was noticeable, it was fucking fabulous, okay?). She knew how to straighten and re-curl her hair in just the right way. She knew how to contour her makeup to change the way her facial structure appeared, and how to paint a mug while keeping it dishwasher safe.

Mabel was, of course, interested enough in those things to learn about them. What she was not interested in is how things work. It was far more important that they do work rather than how, as far as she was concerned. So whenever her Grunkles, dad, and Dipper got together to watch a marathon of How It’s Made on the Shack’s frankly ancient TV, both Mabel and her mom were bored out of their minds.

She was forced to learn plenty in school, thank you very much. It was winter break. She didn’t wanna learn on winter break. Gross. That’s the exact opposite of what winter break is for, and Mabel was of the opinion that doing otherwise is positively blasphemous, but under the careful tutelage of her mother, she’d long since stopped trying to understand the males of the species. Or rather, the males of her family specifically (she’d managed to obtain a vague grasp on the male minds outside of her family, or at least some of them, she thought. Perhaps the boys at her school were just easy to read, or maybe it was teenage boys in general. Not that they were strictly logical in her mind, of course; she just understood how their brains worked to some degree).

And so, an hour after they return to the Shack from the hike, Mabel found herself standing at the kitchen counter, carefully stacking the fifty-seventh (she hadn’t counted, of course, but it was indeed the fifty-seventh) mini marshmallow on top of its companions in her mug of hot chocolate while the beginnings of their silly show blared in the background.

She was humming an old BABBA song as she plucked another marshmallow from the bag, swaying her hips back and forth to the beat in her mind. She stopped when she heard the sound of footsteps, looking over her shoulder to see Dipper shuffling into the room on socked feet.

He was looking everywhere but her. Mabel found this unusual, but what was infinitely more odd was the way he walked over to her quietly, dropped a folded piece of paper at her feet, and then promptly moved to open the fridge as if nothing at all had occurred.

Dropping the marshmallow into her mug, she reached down to retrieve the paper.

“Uh… Dip, you dro-“

“What do you think I should have to drink?” Dipper cut in quickly, the words sloppy and thrown together without proper enunciation.

Mabel blinked. He didn’t want her to ask about it, that much was evident. A note for her, then, perhaps? A secret note?

“Well… I’m having hot chocolate, myself,” she suggested.

“With an obscene number of marshmallows, I see.”

Mabel gasped and put a hand to her chest. “Me? My dear brother, I am positively offended that you would even suggest such a thing!”

He grinned. “Maybe I’ll have some more cider.” He poured himself a glass and left the room before Mabel could think to ask about the paper again.

Glancing around to make sure nobody was coming, she turned back towards her mug, just so, if needed, she could shove the paper into her sweater pocket unnoticed and pretend she was still preparing her hot chocolate. She unfolded it carefully. Dipper didn’t write her handwritten notes. She was a bit excited (more than a bit, but she would never admit to such a thing). Sue her. His handwriting was messy, and she had some minor difficulties reading it, but she did manage to decipher it after a brief moment of staring at the page.

I need to talk to you in private. Once everyone’s gone to bed here, I’ll pick you up from Candy’s. I’ll text you if anything goes wrong.

In private? Mabel’s heart might very well have stopped. She’d never been alone with Dipper. This afternoon had been the closest she’d ever come to it. Even then, though, they hadn’t been actually, truly, genuinely, legitimately alone. Their parents had been right there. And then they’d been interrupted. Their parents were always there.

She was so nervous, so focused on the way her heart was pounding in her ears, that she completely forgot to put the marshmallows away.

—————

If Mabel could see how nervous Dipper was as he pulled on his jeans and shoes, she wouldn’t have believed it was in any way related to her. If it was somehow proven to her that it was related to her, however, she would have been thrilled beyond all measure.

But Mabel couldn’t see Dipper, as he was on the other end of a text message that read leaving now, and so she remained wholly unaware of the absolute terror he wasn’t bothering to keep from his facial expression, as there was none of the usual audience present.

With no one around to request an explanation, Dipper felt no need to keep his anxiety in check as he placed his shaking foot on the last stair of the Shack.

He was about to walk over to the coat rack by the front door when-

“Dipper,” rang out his father’s voice, the low tone sounding like a roar in the quiet of the house.

Dipper whirled around to face his dad, who was seated in an armchair hidden in the shadows of the living room. It was no wonder Dipper hadn’t noticed him before he spoke; he could’ve been a shadow himself.

Dipper was relieved it was too dark for Mr. Pines to see his expression clearly, the man’s face obscured by darkness. He instead concerned himself with his body language and voice. He hunched himself over as if he were barely awake and faked a yawn.

“Dad, you scared me.”

“What are you doing up this late?” Mr. Pines asked.

“Getting a glass of water. Woke up thirsty,” Dipper explained, careful to keep his voice tired-sounding.

“Mmm,” Mr. Pines nodded. “Kitchen’s that way,” he pointed in the opposite direction Dipper had been walking in, as if Dipper didn’t live there and was not fully aware of the Shack’s layout (note: Dipper was indeed fully aware of the Shack’s layout and could certainly navigate it half asleep).

“Huh?” Dipper said with false bleariness. “Oh, right.”

Shuffling into the kitchen, Dipper poured himself a glass of water and moved sluggishly back to the living room with it in hand.

“Goodnight, son.”

“Night, dad,” Dipper mumbled with more fake sleepiness.

If Mabel had seen it, she wouldn’t know what to feel. But she hadn’t seen it, because Dipper was on the other end of a dad’s awake, we’ll have to tomorrow text.

She also couldn’t see the expression he made when she replied, asking why he couldn’t just text it to her, and not to keep her in suspense, nor could Dipper see her inflamed face (and neck and ears, if we’re honest, but don’t share such observances with Mabel) or the way she was biting her lip nervously, perhaps he might not have been as nervous. Perhaps he might have even been hopeful.

But alas, neither twin had the other in their sight, and were therefore doomed to be eaten alive by their anxiety and respective insecurities.

If one knows anything about teenage girls (and perhaps even a fair percentage of women as well), one is fully cognizant of the rather unfortunate tendency many of them have to analyze, reanalyze, and overanalyze each individual word, action, and tone of voice that emerges from the object of their affection.

In Mabel’s case, she was seated on the cold tiles of Candy’s bathroom, back leaning against the locked door. It was late enough that Grenda and Candy were asleep, thankfully. Recently, Mabel had been taking forever to fall asleep. Which was strange, because she had never had any issues that could be anywhere near insomnia before. Thus, everyone else fell asleep before she did.

It wasn’t her fault. Honestly, it wasn’t! It was just that Dipper was so damn attractive and sweet and funny, and how could she sleep when she could only fight her thoughts of him while conscious? He plagued her dreams, so she couldn’t even escape him in sleep the way she used to be able to do. He had invaded her every thought, every moment, every breath. He was in her bloodstream. In her veins. She could not escape her yearning for him.

And so, as she sat on the bathroom floor staring at her phone, at Dipper’s last text of I need to tell you in person, she typed out a slow, resigned okay and leaned her head back against the door.

What was going on with him? He’d told her so many things over text before and it had never been an issue. Why was this different? Maybe he was only insisting on telling her in person because they were so close distance-wise, which wasn’t a regular occurance, of course, but maybe he’d have been perfectly fine with telling her whatever it was over text if she hadn’t been visiting Gravity Falls? Or maybe he’d want to FaceTime or Skype instead? Or maybe it was so very important he tell her in person that he’d actually been waiting since the last time they had seen each other?

But what could be so important? How was it so important he needed to tell her in person? Was it truly so different than every other thing he’d ever told her? Countless stories and anecdotes and complaints and late-night phone calls and existential discussions; how was this different?

No matter how much she thought and analyzed it (which, rest assured, was a great deal indeed), she kept coming back to one thing, one unthinkable, horrifying, terrifying, heart-wrenching, devastating scenario:

What if he’d found his soulmate?

What else would have been so important, made it so essential he told her in person? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

Dipper had never mentioned how he felt about the prospect of having a soulmate. He knew how she felt about hers, and having a soulmark, but he’d never shared his own feelings with her in return.

Which was fair, honestly, because soulmates and soulmarks were intensely personal things. She might as well have asked him to strip down and do some nude modeling for her (which, side note, that sounded positively heavenly. She never drew him or painted him where anybody could see; only in the secret sketchbook she kept in a locked drawer in her bedroom, and those drawings were primarily focused on his jawline and facial structure, although she had drawn his butt on more than a few occasions. And his arms. And his torso. What could she say? She looked at him a lot, studied the way he moved, and he inspired her to create. In any case, she’d absolutely love to see him naked, obviously, because who wouldn’t, but to draw him… get it together Mabel, you’re getting all worked up!), which… was not going to happen, tragically.

He’d never shared anything regarding his soulmate with her. That meant, of course, that he hadn’t found his yet, nor was he in the unusual soulmarked-but-not-knowing-with-whom situation that Mabel herself was in. As indicated by his insistence on telling her in person (which he had, of course, never insisted upon before, or even expressed a passing desire to tell her something in person rather than digitally), whatever it was must have been more important than anything he’d ever told her.

What was more important than him finding his soulmate? She couldn’t think of another possibility. Couldn’t even fathom it, no matter how hard she tried. Unfortunately, she couldn’t really fathom the possibility that he might’ve found his soulmate, either, but that was primarily because she didn’t want to.

What would that be like, to watch him with his soulmate? Knowing Mabel’s luck, she’d never find out who hers was (she’d clearly been around him her whole life and had yet to find him, so what were the odds she’d figure it out later? Once she left school, she’d probably start experiencing withdrawal symptoms, which would be horrible, but she had long since accepted the likelihood of that), and since she saw Dipper regularly and talked to him all the time, it wasn’t likely she’d get over him.

Family gatherings could be a real bitch.

Which meant, of course, that Mabel was doomed to suffer withdrawal symptoms for the rest of her life while watching the man she loved, who just so happened to be her twin brother, find his soulmate, fall in love, get married, and have children. It was when she considered things like that that the idea of regularly consuming Smile Dip sounded fan-freaking-tastic. At least then she’d be too out of it to suffer.

Mabel wasn’t one for wallowing in self-pity and misery. She was a fairly positive person. Whenever she found herself moping or depressed, she could usually pull herself out of it. In that respect, she was tremendously lucky, as not everyone was capable of that.

But with this, loving Dipper (or rather, being in love with Dipper, which she very much was)... there was this sadness deep inside of her that she just couldn’t seem to shake. She could tuck it away in the back of her mind, pretend it wasn’t there. At least for awhile, anyway. But it never left. Not really. It was always there, in the box she’d locked it away in. Sometimes, though, the box broke open, and it would consume her, like shadows consuming light.

When she thought of Dipper with his soulmate, smiling at a nameless, faceless stranger, beaming at his wedding (knowing Dipper, he’d insist she be a bridesmaid. What agony that would be), holding a child that wasn’t Mabel’s, could never, ever be Mabel’s (Mabel would probably be the godmother, too), the shadows never failed to consume her.

She pulled her legs to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees, and let the tears fall.

[bedbellyandbeyond]

Two Moons

(Story Post)

On wolf nights, Nathan still spent his time at APID but now Sydryn had arranged for him to have a family suite, one big enough for the twins to stay in and for Dax to sleep over. His worry about having Dax and the twins with the wolf slowly faded as Dax often recounted to him the majority of what happens when he turned, and it was mostly nothing. The wolf fed the twins regularly when they were hungry, curled up with them when they were tired. For the most part, they all shared the bed, and Dax even got to snuggle in behind his big fluffy boyfriend to get sleep for a decent amount of time. The twins were starting to get into the habit of turning at the same time as Nathan, but it wasn’t a sure thing and Dax would have to take over when they were human, as the wolf, though gentle with them in any form, could not change diapers.

At two months old, Grace and Gabriel were hitting their development milestones on time. Both could hold their heads up while on their tummies. Both showed interest in toy and noises around them, though grabbing wasn’t yet a thing except mostly by accident. As pup and cub however, they were growing differently. Grace was developing ahead of her brother in that regard. As a pup, she was already starting to figure out some crawling techniques, and could be found chewing her dad’s ear sometimes. Gabriel on the other hand, though bigger than her, wasn’t at all mobile and constantly wanted to be feeding, always curled up at the teat. They were both eating and pooping machines, and slept a lot. The majority of the time, Nathan spent inside with the kids, while Dax would go out and get food and any supplies they needed. The pregnancy group still happened on Friday’s and if Nathan couldn’t bring himself out to their meeting room for whatever reason, the group would always swing by his room to check in and hang out. It had been a few weeks since Dari and Fay had their twins, so they were missing, but up until then they’d been in group regularly. Yori was absent a couple of weeks before as his family had gone on vacation over the school break, but he was back again and eager to talk about his trip with anyone who’d listen. Despite not going outside much, it felt like Nathan’s little family was very popular. Even APID E faculty dropped by after class times to see the babies. Because of the frequency of visitors, Nathan felt like he had seen everyone still rather regularly. Apparently not. One afternoon while he was feeding the twins, there was a strong knock on the door. Dax was taking a nap and was apparently exhausted because he didn’t even budge. “Coming.” Nathan sighed and set Grace down in her bassinet since she seemed to be done. He pulled a robe over himself and Gabriel and went to the door. Opening it, he found his dear friend Wano, violet in the face (blue blooded version of red in the face) and glaring him down. “Wano, what’s going on?” Nathan said. “Are you okay?” “Two moons,” Wano said. “Two and almost another moon and you never come to the cafeteria.” “Oh. Um, I’m really sorry…” Nathan said. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been a little occupied.” Wano nodded in acknowledgment. “But you still need to eat. You should’ve come eat.” “Dax’s been bringing in food mostly,” Nathan said. “But, I’m sorry Wano. I didn’t realise our mealtimes meant that much to you. But you could’ve always stopped by.” “Am I not? I’m stopping by now,” Wano stated. “You appear healthy. Are you in good health?” “Well, that’s debatable, but mostly, yeah,” Nathan said. “Could be worse.” “Good. And you’re not likely pregnant since humans typically take time off that to raise their young for a bit, yes?” “Well, most do, sure. Maybe not Dari…” “Is that another race?” “No, it’s a friend. Never mind.” “Male?” “Yeah, why?” Wano narrowed his eyes. “What height?” “Oh, I dunno… Pretty short… Why?” Wano nodded approvingly. “Only friend sized.” “Sure?” “Good. So, being as your womb is vacant…” Wano produced a fistful of flowers from behind his back and shoved them towards Nathan. “I’d like to propose a mating partnership.” Nathan blinked and stared at the alien man. “…You want to…marry me?” Wano nodded. “Mostly, interspecies relationship is frowned upon in my culture, however humans are the originators. Your species is a precious part of the universe. To mate with you would strengthen my familial bloodline.” “Um…” Nathan couldn’t tell if it was sweet or insulting. “I’m in a relationship?” “With him?” Wano pointed to Dax still lying in bed. “I could fight him for you. I’d win. He leaves himself easily vulnerable.” “He’s napping. You’re not fighting anyone. That’s not how this works. I chose Dax,” Nathan said. “I’m happy with my choice. And it sounds like you want someone to start a family with, and frankly I’m pretty sure I don’t want to get pregnant again.” “Well, um…” Wano faltered for a moment. “It does not need to be a mating partnership… I hear your species fornicates for pleasure. Our partnership could be that.” “Wano, I’m not available for partnerships,” Nathan said. “Though your proposal has been…flattering.” “Oh.” Wano rubbed his neck. “Are you sure? I’d be a great partner.” Nathan nodded. “I’m sure. Can you accept that?” Wano lifted his chin in acceptance. “Should I go?” “No, no… Well, I mean, you should meet the kids,” Nathan suggested. “Come in.” “Oh…” Wano rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe not. I need to sleep.” “Alright. Well, we’ll catch up later, right?” Nathan said. “Maybe not.” Wano looked down and away. “Oh.” Nathan frowned, realising maybe the rejection had been harder on Wano than he thought. “Listen, I get that this isn’t easy for you, but I still want to be friends if we can be. It just takes time.” “Time is not something I have,” Wano stated. “My appeal hearing is tomorrow.” “To…Tomorrow?” Nathan blanched. “Why didn’t you tell me before? I could’ve helped you prepare!” Wano shrugged uncomfortably and motioned towards the babe in Nathan’s arms. “Right… The birth…” Nathan rubbed Gabriel’s head thinking for a moment. “I’m sure you’ll do fine though. Do you have a counsel?” “My case worker…” Wano stated, though he didn’t appear happy with that. “Well, that’s good. The case workers here are pretty good…” Wano just stayed silent, looking at his feet. Nathan placed a hand on the alien’s shoulder. “…Did you want me to be there?” Wano shook his head. “You shouldn’t want to be. You are a parent now. That is likely more important to you.” “No, well, yes… But I have Dax. He can watch the twins while I’m there. I can be a character witness, if you want that. What is the reasoning behind your removal?” “Criminal record,” Wano said. “It’s stupid… As if punching someone is a crime.” “Yes, it’s called assault,” Nathan said. “It was all the way back from when I got here. A guy looked at me weird. I punched him in the face.” “Yeah, and you don’t see a problem with that?” Nathan asked. “I know now…” Wano crossed his arms. “That kind of staring wouldn’t fly on my planet.” “Well, do you want to go back there or do you want to stay on this planet?” “Of course I want to stay,” Wano huffed. “My planet is hell.” “Then you need to win this appeal,” Nathan said. “And I’m going to help you.” “No, I—” “I know. You don’t want to ask for help. But asking for help doesn’t make you weak,” Nathan said. “In fact, I believe people only grow stronger when we work together. So, come inside.” Nathan took Wano’s arm and brought him into the suite. The alien tensed up nervously, unsure how to react to Nathan’s forceful kindness. Nathan got him to sit down at a table and went to check his calendar. “I don’t have much time since I’m still in wolf cycle, so we’ll try to cram… Dax!” The thunderbird stirred on the bed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Hm?” “I’m sorry, but I need you awake,” Nathan said. “We have company.” “Company?” Dax got himself up into a seated position, leaning tiredly on his arms. He locked eyes with Wano. “Oh. You’re the broccoli guy…” “Broccoli?” Wano scrunched his nose. “Why would you associate me with green vegetation?” “Remember, when you met, we were debating about broccoli and cauliflower,” Nathan explained, getting his laptop with one hand while he continued to nurse Gabriel. The cub just couldn’t be satisfied it seemed. “Dax, I need to help Wano with his deportation appeal tomorrow so I need you to watch the kids.” “Right… I can do that,” Dax said, leaning over and checking on Grace in her bassinet. She was sound asleep for now. “Are you going to the thing?” “Yes. Do you think you can watch them then, too?” Nathan asked. “I know you haven’t been alone with them yet…” Dax gave a thumbs up. “We got this.” “Thank you, Dax.” Dax smiled to him and got up to grab his yoga mat. “You do that teacher thing you do so well and help this guy not get deported.” At the sight of the rolled mat, Wano got defensive. “What are you doing with that?” “I figured I’d get some stretching in before Grace wakes up and Gabriel sucks the last drop out of Nathan,” Dax stated. “Stretching?” Wano frowned. “What combat are you…um…anticipating?” “The battle that is parenthood,” Dax stated. “But actually, yoga is really good for your health. You don’t need to be facing combat simply to want to stretch.” “Well, once we win this appeal, you can teach Wano all about it,” Nathan said. “Wano, I don’t know much about immigration law, but what are you most worried about in this appeal?” “…I guess, just…” Wano licked his tongue. “I don’t like being asked many questions with many eyes watching… It makes me mad.” “Okay, I can help with that,” Nathan said. “I’ve had a lot of kids in my class who are nervous speakers and don’t like getting up in front of the class. And it’s even worse when you’re not prepared for questions. But there’s some strategies we can work with.” Wano nodded. “Okay…” “Alright, let’s get started.” “Thank you…”

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [10]

masterlist

Words: 8.4k

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: past abuse; dismemberment; spoiler for final season of Game of Thrones

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: this turned out so much longer than I was anticipating. Like my poor back hurts from editing for so long lol. Anyways, ion know how I feel about this one folks, but engoy! 🥰

You groaned while walking down the stairs on your way to the back entrance of the palace. It was early. Way too fucking early. In fact, it was about two and half hours before you would usually get up for training, which you already struggled with doing. The only reason you were able to flip open your toasty covers and crawl out of bed was that it was the day you were finally leaving the palace.

Grunting as the last step jostled your cloudy head, you rubbed your eyes and adjusted the strap of the backpack hanging off your shoulder. You trudged down the empty hallways, keeping your steps as quiet as your half-asleep and stumbling body could manage.

What I would give for some caffeine right now…

When you finally reached the entrance, you mentally thanked the magic-users who constructed the doorways. You don’t think you could have opened a normal door in your drowsy state. While the wood unwound and unwove to create an open space to walk through, you gave your cheek a quick smack to wake yourself up more. Once the pathway was clear, you massaged your stinging face while breathing in the sweet, fresh air of the dark morning. You stepped out from the entrance and began making your way to the designated meeting spot. The tree with seven lanterns.

That one…? Nope that’s five lanterns. You walked some more.

That one! Shit, there’s only six. I could have sworn I counted seven. You had to admit that it was much harder to find the right tree without the help of sunlight.

You continued to walk further off the pathway and into the trees, counting the swaying lanterns and wondering who was already out here.

“Y/N!” You heard a deep voice excitedly and loudly whisper.

Brushing a bundle of leaves out of your face, you squinted in the low light until you were able to see a group of figures huddled together up ahead. The kiela.

You heard other quiet hellos as you meandered over to them, but you only grumbled and lazily saluted in return. You were way too tired to provide a livelier response.

You rubbed your eyes once more, wiping away some of the leftover sleep goop you had missed earlier.

“Good morning, little human.”

Annnnnnd just like that, you felt like a bucket of ice-cold water was dumped over your head, fully waking you up.

I could never like her.

Fuck. Him.

You weren’t even upset anymore. You were just done. Done with him and whatever dumb game he was playing. He could continue playing the fake nice guy, but you weren’t going to waste any more of yoru energy on him.

At least, that’s what you kept telling yourself.

“Hi,” you said in a disinterested, but mostly angry, tone while walking past him.

You didn’t even spare a glance his way.

“Well, someone’s grumpy this morning,” he teased, but his soft smile morphed into a frown when you never quipped back.

You leaned back against a tree while taking off your backpack and beginning to rummage through it to double-check you had everything. The act would have been normal, if not for the aggressive way you shoved things aside as you dug through the contents. Being so focused on the task, you missed the looks of concern and nervous “what the fucks” the others sent your way.

Tae, being the angel he is, gingerly approached your huffing form and placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Everything okay…?”

You jumped at his voice, darting your head up with narrowed eyes, but relaxed when you saw it was only your friend. Your actual friend.

“Yeah. I’m perfectly fine,” you replied in a tight voice as you swept your eyes over the group, only counting five Saeni and one asshole. “Where’s Slim Jim?”

“On his way… Y/N, I’m not going to push you, but I can tell you’re not fine.” He spoke gently, worried about you.

It would be so easy to tell him. To let him know that Jungkook was a liar. But you didn’t.

Instead, you looked away from Tae’s soft eyes and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Okay.” Tae hung his head and stepped back from you, understanding that you weren’t going to talk about it.

You felt horrible. You hated seeing him look glum like that, but you weren’t going to talk shit about his brother to his face. Whatever game Jungkook was playing was between the two of you. You wouldn’t drag the others into it.

As your grey-haired friend retreated, Jungkook continued frowning in your direction. You, on the other hand, did all you could to avoid looking at the burgundy-haired Saeni as you continued to rummage through your bag. Satisfied you had all your belongings, you yanked the zipper closed and shouldered the backpack before walking over to Namjoon and Jin.

“Hey, Y/N.” Namjoon welcomed you with a dimpled smile.

You sent him a half-smile back before tilting your head to the side and asking, “So, I know we’re trying to find Jimin’s dad’s tree, but how the heck are we supposed to do that when nobody knows where it is?”

Jin’s dark brown eyes regarded you quizzically. “Nobody told you she’s coming?”

“She?” It was your turn to look confused.

“Princess Jiae.”

“Huh? Why would she be coming? Isn’t that a liability to the throne?”

Namjoon took over the reins, his yellow eyes glowing bright in the lantern light. “She might be able to help up find the draeva so she’s coming too.”

“Uh… what now?”

Does she have a draeva GPS or something?

“She was born on the spring equinox, so she can channel Illain’s energy.”

“Like Yoongi,” Jin added.

“Yes,” Namjoon nodded at his brother before turning back to you, “but not exactly in the same way.”

Apparently, the lilac-haired female was able to sense the connection between a Saeni and their respective draeva as well the strength of the connection. She could even identify where the tree was located and what species it was just by touching the person. Although Jimin did not have a direct connection to his father’s tree, both the king and Namjoon believed that due to the unique qualities of Jimin’s bloodline, there might be a chance for Jiae to feel a connection. Therefore, the princess as well as three court guards would be accompanying you and the kiela.

“So you’re telling me the plan is stroll through the forest until either Jimin or Jiae feel a pull in a particular direction and we just hope for the best?”

Both Saeni grimaced, “Well, when you put it like that it sounds pretty bad… but yeah, that’s basically the plan.”

Great.

Sure enough, as soon as both boys winced under your skeptical gaze, you heard the sound of footsteps approaching. With a sigh, you turned around and saw your best friend, Jiae, and three randos walking up to the group.

You didn’t miss how close Jimin and Jiae were, their arms were pressed against each other. Though, the second Jiae locked eyes with you, she left Jimin’s side and ran up to you, grabbing your hands.

Your eyes widened as you looked into her pale blue ones up close. “Uh…”

“Y/N! You have no idea how happy I am that you’re going to be with us!” She smiled and leaned in to whisper in your ear. “This would have been such a sausage party otherwise.”

She said it with such honest enthusiasm, you couldn’t help but snort and smile back.

“Ya! I could hear that, you know!” Jin protested.

Jiae sent him a wink. “I know.”

You began to flat out laugh at her playful retort and Jin’s gaping face. Namjoon simply shook his head with a small, lopsided grin.

“I mean it though, Y/N. I’m glad you’re here. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.” Jiae gave your hands a final squeeze and rushed back to Jimin and her guards, lilac hair trailing behind her like a banner.

As you watched her talk animatedly to your best friend, you found yourself thinking optimistically.

Maybe it won’t hurt to get to know her.

It was now late morning, and you were still walking underneath the sun, shade, and trees by yourself. You had been ever since you all left the palace hours ago. But it was by choice.

You just wanted to be alone today.

Between Jungkook sending confused frowns your way, Jimin and Jiae continuously brushing hands and giggling, the court guards (whose names you learned were Suho, Mingi, and Chungha) being the most stiff and unrelaxed people you’d ever come across, and countless other reasons, you were feeling overwhelmed. You needed some space.

You didn’t feel that excited for the trip anymore. Nor mad, upset, sad, or happy. You just sort of felt empty…

Not even the sun shining through the leaves onto your face was making you smile today.

You took the time alone to process your thoughts and feelings toward everything. How you felt about Jimin and Jiae. How you felt about Jimin in general. If you should confront Jungkook. If you should continue your lessons with him. Whether or not you should have stayed back at the palace. If you should have ever come to Illain in the first place.

You sighed and rubbed your temples while stepping over a fallen tree.

Be happy for Jimin. Move on from him. Ignore the asshat. Continue the lessons so you can beat the asshat one day and rub it in his face. You should be here. On this mission and in Illain. You are not a liability or a burden. You can help.

While you were lost in your head, Tae kept glancing at you in concern as he walked with Jungkook. He so badly wanted to walk with you. He wanted to cheer you up. But you told him earlier that you were in a mood and it was best to leave you be for a while. As much as he didn’t want to leave you alone, he was going to respect your wishes. The blue-eyed Saeni had to sternly tell his youngest brother to do the same, though, because Jungkook kept wanting to go up to you and demand what was wrong.

You sighed pitiably again and looked up at the swaying trees, hoping they would reveal something that would help you sort through your shit.

“You better watch where you’re going or else you’ll stub your toe or whack your face into a tree.”

You darted your eyes back down to see a mint-haired Saeni strutting next to you.

“Yoongi…” You looked down at your feet while you grimaced internally, unsure how to tell him to politely leave.

He quickly held his hands up. “I’m not here to pry. Trust me, I know what it looks like when someone doesn’t want to talk. I’ve been there enough times myself.” He released a soft, self-deprecating chuckle before continuing. “But I also know it’s sometimes nice to have a distraction from your thoughts.”

You turned your head to stare at him, but he was facing forward, his pink eyes trained on the terrain ahead.

You hummed, mentally debating his offer before replying. “Okay, I’ll bite. Distract me then, Mr. Sparkle Hands.”

That made him shift his attention to you and you almost giggled at the withering glare his petal pink eyes directed toward you. Almost.

He suddenly brought his face forward again and you just about missed the way his eyes softened as he hesitantly spoke in a very quiet voice. “There’s… uh, there’s this person that I like. That I care about.”

Oh… OH SHIT. HE BETTER BE TALKING ABOUT MY MAN HOBI.

Contrary to how you were internally screaming, you waited patiently for him to finish. “I don’t know if they care about me in the same way I care for them. I think they only like me as a friend. But I figured you’d be the best person to ask for advice since you’re female.”

Wait… female!?

You coughed to hide your shock. “Oh, um… I’m glad you trust me to help. She’s uh… she’s going to be really lucky to have you.”

Hobi… I’m so sorry…

His mint hair swayed as his head whipped around to look at you as his eyes went wide. “She?” He laughed to himself while shaking his head and then looking down at his hands. “I don’t like girls, Y/N.”

You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. Oh, thank the gods.

Smiling at the male, you corrected your statement. “Well, he is going to extremely lucky to have you.”

He sent a closed-lipped smile to his hands as he walked around a sapling.

“But why do you want a female’s advice then?”

He stopped his feet and deadpanned at you. “You’re seriously going to ask me that when you know the only other option is these idiots?” He gestured to the group spread out around you.

“I… yeah, that’s a good point. They don’t know shit about romance.” You released a bark of laughter as you ducked underneath a tree branch. “You really did have me confused for a second there, though.”

He hummed in puzzlement, so you elaborated and described how you’ve seen the way he talks about and acts around a certain someone, causing him to blush and look away.

“I know what it looks like when you care for someone from a far.” You echoed his own words from before as you nudged his shoulder with yours. “I’ve been there enough times myself.”

The Saeni slowly nodded and tilted his head to the right… exactly in the direction where Jimin was walking. “With him, right?”

You blanched and went to open your mouth to deny it, but he cut you off with a knowing side eye. “Don’t even try. I’m not blind, and we can all see it… well, everyone but him apparently. Dumbass.”

Your shoulders sagged in defeat. “Fine. You’re right. But I’m… I’m trying to get over it. Over him.”

You didn’t bother asking him to not say anything. If he hadn’t by now, you figured he wasn’t going to.

“Enough of that, though! We are here to talk about you not me!” You abruptly threw your arms out dramatically in front of you to visually clarify the topic change.

And so you walked on with Yoongi alongside you, discussing ways for him to possibly confess to his crush. Not once did he ever name exactly who it was, and you never inquired. You were already 99% sure you knew who it was, and you didn’t want to make the magic-user uncomfortable and leave. You could tell he was already embarrassed talking about it to begin with.

Most of your ideas he immediately shot down or complained that they were too fluffy. Regardless, his distraction turned out to be just what you needed to feel better and forget your troubles for a while. He made you laugh and giggle and focus on something positive.

Once again, you found yourself thanking the one and only Mr. Sparkle Hands.

Fortunately, everyone else was too far away to hear you and Yoongi’s hushed conversation. Actually, majority of the group wasn’t even paying a lick of attention to the two of you. Everyone except for two Saeni.

As Tae watched you interact with his brother, his blue eyes brightened. He was so glad that Yoongi was able to help you feel better.

The same couldn’t be said for the Saeni next to Tae. Jungkook was glowering at Yoongi, wondering what made him so damn special. What allowed his hyung to go up to you when he couldn’t. He rolled his eyes when he saw you fold over in laughter for the umpteenth time.

Noticing Jungkook’s agitation, Tae tapped his shoulder. “What’s wrong Kookie?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” The younger Saeni spat out before huffing and quickening his pace, leaving a confused Taehyung staring after him.

“What’s going on with everyone today?”

You notched an arrow and drew back, breathing evenly as you focused on the target carved into the trunk about 20 yards ahead of you. You were almost finished with your training for the day; you probably needed to send two more arrows before Jungkook called it.

You managed to avoid interacting with him for most of the morning. Every time he asked a question, you would curtly respond, but not look at him. For every technique he demonstrated, you would gaze solely at the part of his body showcasing the move.

You could tell he wasn’t exactly happy about it.

Screw him.

Thirty minutes ago, he had instructed you to practice shooting. You hadn’t given him a verbal response but had immediately picked up your bow and silently waited while he etched a circular target into a trunk.

As you raised your elbow just a wee bit higher to steady your aim, you heard him hesitantly speak up. “Did you, um, did you sleep well last night?”

No. “Yes.”

“Oh, that’s good. So… what were you and Yoongi hyung talking about yesterday?”

“None of your business.” You replied in a short tone.

You slowly breathed out and released the bow’s string, sending the arrow flying until it thumped just left of the center of the target. You smiled to yourself. Your aim had gotten better. Much better.

Jungkook sighed, frustration leaking into his demeanor. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not.”

“You didn’t sit next to me last night during dinner.”

That was true. Recently, you had taken to sitting in between Tae and Jungkook while eating, but not anymore. Last night, you walked past your normal dinner buddies, approached the court guards, and spoke with them while eating. Well, you tried to. They were insanely boring, and the number of times they interrupted the conversation to check in with the princess made you want to rip your hair out. You understood that it was their job and all, but damn they needed to relax a little.

You pulled another arrow out of your quiver, scoffing at the Saeni’s words before muttering, “Wow. Someone better call the police.”

“Stop ignoring me!”

“I am literally responding to you.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw his hand start to creep down toward his dagger, but he stopped halfway and instead ran a hand through his burgundy hair.

“Sweetheart, what’s been going on with you?” He almost sounded desperate now.

Anger began to bubble up inside of you, making you sheathe the arrow and finally address him directly. “Don’t call me that.”

“What?” His green eyes met yours in shock.

“You always talk about your superior hearing and shit, so I know you heard me.”

“Okay,” he looked at you with drawn eyebrows, his face half in and out of the morning sunlight, “what the fuck is up with you?”

“Stop pretending to be my friend Jungkook.” You aggravatingly tapped your fingers against your bow, appalled that he was still keeping up his stupid act.

“Um, but we are friends…?”

You laughed humorlessly and rolled your eyes. “Friends don’t say the shit you said.”

“And what might that be? Because I have no idea what you’re talking about and I’m getting tired of your attitude.” You saw his hand sneak down and, this time, fully grip the ruby hilt of his dagger.

You sneered at his action while crossing your arms defensively. “I overhead you, Jungkook. When you were talking with Jimin back at the palace.”

His green eyes widened in what appeared to be panic. “Y-you heard-”

“Yes, asshole. I heard you blatantly say you don’t like me. ‘She’s human. I could never like her,’ to be exact.” You’re anger suddenly dissolved and you looked down at your crossed arms. “It’s fine. Just… stop pretending, okay?”

“Wait… that’s all you heard?”

You snapped your head up and sent him a weak glare. “If there were other insults I missed I don’t really want to hear them.”

“No! Oh my goddess, no. You have it all wrong.” He let go of the dagger strapped to his side and began toying with the straps of his armor.

You couldn’t help your disbelieving snort at his words. “Oh, do I?”

“Jimin thought… um…” the male began to blush, and he reached up to rub the back of his neck. “He thought I liked-liked you. Like I was crushing on you.”

Huh!?

“That’s why I said that. I like you as a person, Y/N, but I could never like you, you know… romantically.” He avoided your dumbfounded gaze and focused on the tree leaves floating above his head.

So, he did like you… but just as a friend. You didn’t know how to feel about that. On one side, it was relieving to hear that he wasn’t faking his friendliness to you. But on the other, it was still kind of crappy to hear that it was apparently absurd for him to think of you as more than a friend.

But then why…

Your eyebrows furrowed as you thought back to past interactions with the male. You could have sworn he had felt at least some sort of attraction to you. If anything, you thought he had felt at least sexual attraction to you. Especially with how he’d acted after the training seminar. But what if it had all been in your head? Had you just projected your unfulfilled feelings toward Jimin onto Jungkook? Or did Jungkook act that way with every female he came across?

“I’m just not attracted to you like that. Because you’re… human.”

“O-oh… right. Of… of course!” You laughed awkwardly before dropping your head and clearing your throat. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I really shouldn’t have done that.”

Jungkook lowered his gaze back to you and sighed before making his way over and bringing a finger underneath your chin to raise your head. “That’s why we shouldn’t eavesdrop, sweetheart. I’m glad we were able to clear it up, though.”

You punched his shoulder lightly but still hard enough to make his hand fall from your chin. “I didn’t listen in on purpose!”

A smile teased at his lips. “Mhmm. Sure.”

“Ugh, whatever. But likewise, I don’t think I could ever be attracted to a coconut-headed asshat.

I’m such a liar.

His green eyes widened a fraction before narrowing and his transformed into a smirk. “Please, you’d be blessed by the mother goddess if you ever got lucky enough to have a piece of this ass.” He crossed his arms and looked at you expectantly.

You leaned to the side to get a nice eyeful of his firm, perky bubble butt. “Well, it is a nice ass…”

He raised his chin and his smirk grew even more cocky, so you decided to knock him down a peg or two. “But not as nice as mine. Don’t think I’ve forgotten how much you like my gremlin booty.”

His face instantly fell, and he grumbled out how he was delirious from dehydration when he said that.

“Sure, Coco, sure.” You released a stream of giggles and left to go retrieve your arrows from where they were embedded in the tree.

It amazed you how fast the two of you fell back into your usual banter. The complexities of your relationship were one of the most exciting, exhilarating, and exhausting things you’d ever experienced. But you were glad to be on good terms with him again. Yes, you were embarrassed and felt like shit for the way you had been treating him, but you hoped that both of you could forget about it and move on.

However, as you tugged arrow after arrow out from the wood, you found yourself thinking about his explanation. How he said he could never be attracted to you because you were human. What did that mean exactly?

And why does it hurt to hear? It’s not like I like him. I like Jimin… right?

You shook your head and placed the arrows back into your quiver. Your ego was probably just a bit bruised. You would get over it. Nodding to yourself, you made sure all the arrows were secured before turning around and heading back to a grinning Jungkook.

Amarok sat back in his chair while he lazily watched two of his wolves tear apart one of the messengers who had brought him such displeasing news. His third and final wolf was still snarling in the face of the second messenger as she shook with absolute fear. The image of her friend being gouged by teeth and claw was imprinted behind her eyelids. The sounds of his broken screams while he was mauled rang in her ears. The blood that spattered across her face when his limbs were ripped away from his body stained her skin. Her breaths were short and erratic as she tried to stay as still as possible in front of the beast before her.

She heard him clear his throat in a bored, yet expectant manner. Somehow, she managed to raise her head and look past the menacing wolf and gore and guts in front of her. A sob escaped beyond her lips as she met Amarok’s cold, disappointed eyes.

He only raised a brow in response, waiting for her to answer.

“I’m s-s-sorry s-sir. We didn’t know s-sooner because there was nobody left alive after the failed attempt.” She whimpered as the sharp teeth of the wolf shifted closer, the growling animal only mere inches from her face.

“I don’t like excuses, I like results.’ Amarok rose from his chair, slowly approached the whimpering Saeni, and crouched down before her.

The wolf stepped aside for his master and went to join his brother and sister in feeding on the fresh flesh.

Bringing a hand to the back of the female’s head, Amarok grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her to look up at him. “Uzjuk is getting impatient. He will not be pleased with this. You will have only one chance to redeem yourself in his eyes…” He yanked her head to the side so that she could clearly see the wolves engorging themselves on the crimson meat of what was once her friend, causing more tears to leak down her face. “That is what will become of you if you fail. So, tell me… where is the key heading?”

You woke up early as hell like you always did for training, though this morning it wasn’t with your usually alarm. Usually, Tae would come and simply lay down on top of you and squish you until you were awake. This time, though, it was a gentle hand shaking your shoulder. You slowly opened your eyes and saw Jungkook’s face leaning down close to yours. Seeing that it was just him, you shut your eyes and stretched your arms above your head, the action causing you to softly moan as your shirt lifted ever so slightly at the bottom. Suddenly, your hands were grabbed, and you were heaved upright into Jungkook’s arms. Your eyes widened as you took in the darkened state of the male’s green ones, but he quickly let go of you before you could question him why they were like that.

Maybe it was just the low light…

You grumbled at him, muttering about how you just wanted one more minute of peace and quiet before you got up. He didn’t offer a retort as you squatted down to dig through your backpack for your morning petals and a breakfast bar. Instead, he only observed your morning drowsiness with soft, amused eyes.

After successfully finding all three items and shoving them into your mouth, you grabbed your bow and quiver from where they laid on the ground next to your things and looked at Jungkook expectantly, waiting for him to lead the way. He just stood there, though, looking at back you, a tiny smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Ya! Coco!” You whispered and poked him with your bow, causing him to jump and blink a few times. “What are we waiting around for? Let’s go!”

He paused, listening to the forest as he looked into the distance with squinted eyes like he was Legolas or some shit.

You were just about to quip a nice “Jungkook, what do your elf eyes see?” before he finally whispered back. “Ilto is going to cry soon.”

“What? Oh, you mean rain…?” You tilted your head to the side.

“I want to try something different today. We passed a cave entrance yesterday. I want to go over how to fight with obscured vision. You good with that?”

You shrugged. “Sure.”

An angry voice floated over from the other side of sleeping figures. “For Exia’s sake, just LEAVE already! I know you worked out your shit, but yap and be friends somewhere else.”

Yoongi.

“Sorry, hyung!” With that, Jungkook began walking into the trees, not bothering to gesture to you to follow because he knew you automatically would like the good student you were.

You sent an apologetic look in Yoongi’s direction before rushing after the burgundy-haired Saeni, rolling your eyes at both yourself and him as you did so.

Lo and behold, not even seven minutes into your march toward the cave, it started pouring down rain. Torrential downpouring. You were soaked through in seconds and could barely see your hand in front of your face. After another twenty minutes or so of stumbling through the rain while the lucky son of a bitch next to you gracefully glided along, you reached the cave entrance and darted inside. You wrung out your hair clothes wherever you could, though you felt like it really didn’t help much. Then, the two of you ventured further into the cave until it was too dark to see properly.

Jungkook described how hearing and intuition was just, if not more, important in a fight as sight was. So, you began your lesson. Jungkook testing your hearing in the dark as well as reaction time. Thankfully, the exertion was enough to keep your body temperature warm enough in the cold cavern.

You had been going at it for about an hour when you heard a deep rumbling echo down the rocky hallways.

Oh shit.

Before you could do or say anything, the loud, distinctive sound of falling rocks reached your ears. Your breath hitched in your throat and your body stilled in horror as you waited for your inevitable death to arrive.

Uhhhhh. Death registration? It’s me. Again.

Can’t believe I’m going to die the same shitty way as Jamie and Cersei. We deserved better.

You held your breath and waited. And waited. And waited. And…

“Why are just standing there all stiff and weird?”

“Oh, fuck. Am I already dead? I really thought I’d feel something. I guess it’s better this way, though. Wait. Does that mean you’re dead too, Coco!?”

“We aren’t dead, dumbass. The entrance just collapsed,” he replied in a calm manner.

“Oh… Are you sure?” You were still a little skeptical that you hadn’t just been squashed.

“For Exia’s sake, do you want me to double-check for you?”

“… Yes.”

And so, he did.

And he was right.

The entrance was nada, zip, zero, no more.

“Well, this is just fucking fantastic. What are we going to do!?”

“Not freak out, for starters.”

“Oh, I’m sorry that getting TRAPPED IN A CAVE DOESN’T FUCKING BOTHER YOU!”

“It does bother me. But mainly because I’m stuck here with your ass for Illai knows how long. Also, don’t yell do loud.”

“If I could see you right now-” You started to threaten, but he spoke over you in a pitying tone.

“Hmmm. But you can’t. What a shame that is.”

You sent a glare in the direction of his voice. “Will you ever let the superior senses thing go? Like damn, honey, it’s getting a little overused.”

“The only thing overused here is your…” He trailed off and suddenly coughed. “Um, never mind. We should probably start moving to find another way out.

“No, wait. What were you going to say?” You challenged him.

“I’ve already experienced getting kicked in the balls by you once. I really am not about to go through that again for some tasteless joke.”

You crossed your arms and smirked. “Good decision.”

“Not like you would be able to hit me in the dark, anyways.”

“Wanna find out?” You raised a brow, hoping it was directed at his face.

It was completely silent for several breaths as you waited.

“… No.”

“Oh, come on!” You laughed. “You could see if your ‘sightless training’ worked out or not.”

“I’d rather not know.”

“Coward,” you muttered teasingly.

You heard him scoff before he told you that it was time to start looking for another exit deeper in the cave. Then, you heard him start to walk away from you.

You gulped and called out his name in a worried tone.

“Mhmm?”

Even though it was pitch black, you still felt shy asking but you forced yourself to say it. “Could you maybe, um, hold my hand?”

He didn’t respond right away, probably because he was too busy gaping at you with a flushed face. But since all you could see was an endless black, his silence made you flustered.

“It’s not-I don’t-I’m not afraid of the dark or anything! A-and I don’t really want to hold your hand! I just don’t want to lose you since I can’t see an-”

Your words grew quiet as his large, rough palm slide against your skin and he interlocked his fingers with yours.

“Thanks…” you timidly said.

You only got a grunt in response before he began tugging you forward.

“Hey, Coco?”

It had been approximately thirty minutes since you began holding hands and wandering further into the damp cave. The entire time, the only sounds had been you and Jungkook’s breathing, your shoes scuffing the ground as you tried not to trip, and the occasional drip of water falling from stalactites.

He squeezed your hand in response.

You waited several breaths before saying, “Um. Was that a go-ahead squeeze or a shut up before I kill you squeeze?”

“For Exia’s sake, just spit it out.”

You paused to regain your balance after stumbling over a lump on the ground. “… It’s a personal question. Is that okay?”

You heard the male leading you take a deep breath. “Oh my goddess. What is it?”

Under his breath, you heard him mumble, “And why bother getting permission? Your crazy ass would’ve still asked even if I said no.”

You smacked his arm with your free hand (though it did take you a few swipes of your hand to make contact). “I heard that, asshat.”

“Yet, you don’t deny it.” You could hear the amusement dripping from his voice.

You softly smiled at how well he’s come to know you as he continued to lead you through the dark.

Taking a deep breath, you steeled yourself to ask the question that’s toyed with you since you met him. “What’s up with you and your dagger?”

Jungkook didn’t just flinch at your question, you felt his entire body stop moving.

“Oh, shit. Okay, you seriously do not have to answer that. I can see, well not really see right now, but I can tell that it must be a sensitive topic, so I’m sorry for bringing it up, and holy fuck I’m rambling so badly, just forget I ever asked and I’m going to shut up now and I’m sorry again.”

Heat rose to your cheeks as you mentally slapped the crap out of yourself for both asking a sensitive question and for rambling on like a bumbling fool. You went to pull your hand out of his in humiliation, but he didn’t let you.

“Whoa, it’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting that to be your question. How did you even know it was important to me?”

You shrugged. “How could I not when you would grab it all the time when I annoyed you? Like you were seriously just firmly grasping the thing constantly when we first met.”

“Yeah… it’s, uh, a bit of a habit. It’s a gift from my parents.” His voice had turned tense. “You saw the inscription that day, right?”

You nodded your head, remembering when he inspected the blade to try to intimidate you the day you left Earth.

Jungkook sighed and his hand holding yours dropped until it rested against his leg. “It means ‘your death is my mercy.’”

You let that sink in for a few moments before responding. “Wow. Your parents are, um, a little hardcore.”

“You have no idea.” He spoke through his teeth, barely containing an old anger.

He explained that both his parents had been high-ranking BTS Saeni and were expecting great things from their son. Perfect things. Where most Saeni began training at seven, his parents decided to start him early and train him themselves when he turned four years old. Even at such a young age, they would beat him if he made the smallest of mistakes. Would punish him if his technique was too lazy. Would starve him if he took too long to finish an exercise. They pushed him until his bones broke and his body bled. They didn’t allow him to interact with other children, telling him that he needed to focus on training. Only training. They conditioned him to think that if things went wrong, it was all his fault. Always his fault and solely his fault. That he should have control in every situation. That he needed to be the best in all of Illain. That he should always come out victorious, and if he didn’t, then he was a failure and did not deserve to call himself their son.

“By the time I was sent to official training, I believed every word they said.”

After arriving, it was, without a doubt, obvious that he was the best in his class. Three years of prior training will do that. He relished in the awe of his fellow trainees and amazement of his teachers. He was only seven but was already making a name for himself. He was making his parents proud.

Then, he came across the one and only Min Yoongi. The older took one look at the younger Saeni and sneered at his cocky attitude. Jungkook, being the little shit he was (is), challenged Yoongi to a fight. Jungkook had already beaten older trainees before, so how could he not win against this mint-haired boy?

The difference was that Yoongi was a bloody magic-user and defeated Jungkook almost instantly.

“I laid on the ground in a daze as blood crept out of the corner of my mouth, unable to comprehend that I had lost. I never lost. I couldn’t. My parents wouldn’t allow it. Illai forbid that it would ruin their perfect fucking image.”

Terrified of what his parents would do if they found out, he had stumbled to his feet and ran after the older Saeni. His parents wouldn’t care that he had lost to an elder. They wouldn’t care that he had lost to a magic-user. They would only focus on the fact that their son did not win. Jungkook had grabbed Yoongi’s arm and begged him not to tell anyone.

“At first, Yoongi thought I was only worried about my reputation among my classmates. But the more I begged, the more he saw that there was something else to the story.”

After endlessly pleading, Yoongi finally agreed to not say a word if Jungkook told him why it was so important. And the younger did.

“That was the first time I had told anyone about my parents. It was the first time I let myself be vulnerable in front of another person.” Jungkook’s voice was drowning in sadness, so you tightened your fingers around his.

Yoongi, who knew what it was like to not be loved by your own parents, took Jungkook under his wing afterwards and introduced him to Hobi. The three of them creating a close bond like brothers. Eventually, over the years of training, the three of them met each of the other members and they all become permanently bonded together.

“The kiela… they saved me. Showed me that there was more to life than just being an emotionless soldier. They’re my real family. They’re who I fight to protect and… and I hate it when I can’t.” He was breathing heavily, the burden of painful memories weighing down on him.

“And that’s why you disliked me at first. You blamed me because you didn’t want to admit that you had no control over Jimin’s situation. You felt like it was your fault that he had to leave Illain. Like you couldn’t protect him.”

“Partly, yeah… The other reason was because I thought you were going to somehow steal my family away from me. I’m sorry.”

You raised your free hand to your linked ones before trailing it up and down his arm in what you hoped was a comforting manner. “You don’t have to apologize, Jungkook. But… but why do you carry around the dagger? Why would you want that reminder?”

His breathing slowly evened out as you continued to soothe him to the best of your abilities. “It’s… hard to forget something that’s been installed in you since birth. To always have control. To always be in control. So, I wear it to remember that when I don’t have control over a situation, I still have control over myself. Over my actions.

I never… I never use it. The inscription disgusts me. But, I can’t… I can’t seem to let it go. It’s fucked up. For Exia’s sake, I know it’s fucked up. But it’s comforting to hold on to it when I feel like I’m losing control.”

“Okay.” You replied in a gentle voice.

“That’s it? You’re not… you’re not disgusted by me?” The barest amount of hope creeped into his voice and it broke your heart to think he thought that his story would change your opinion of him.

“Of course not Jungkook. If anything, I understand you better now.” You softly smiled at the male. “Thank you.”

“For…?”

“For telling me. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m grateful you did.”

He deeply inhaled and readjusted his grip on your hand so it was tighter before turning and going back to leading you through the dark.

You swung your legs as Jungkook carried you on his back, trying to find some joy in this utterly sucky situation.

You had been tripping almost every other second over a rock or the uneven ground as Jungkook led you through the cavernous maze by hand. You had also been shaking like a leaf in the wind from how cold you were. There was essentially no heat this deep into the cave and your wet clothes were not helping you maintain your body heat. After stumbling over something for the hundredth time, Jungkook had stopped with a sigh and told you to get on his back. You resisted at first, not wanting to be an even bigger burden, but eventually, the green-eyed Saeni had gotten his way.

And you were happy he had been so adamant about it, because as soon as you pressed your front to his back, you expelled a sigh at how warm his body was.

How the hell is he warm? Maybe it’s a Saeni perk?

You snuggled closer into his delightfully toasty back, which caused him to chuckle as he secured his grip underneath your thighs and started walking again. The combination of pure darkness, warmth, and the easy sway of Jungkook’s steps quickly began to lull you to sleep.

“Coco?” You yawned.

It took him several breaths to respond in a quiet voice. “… Kookie.”

“Hmm?”

“You can call me Kookie… if you want…” He sounded timid and small, but his pace never faltered.

It was a something you had been hoping to one day have the permission to call him. That day had finally come, and a lot sooner than you expected.

Unfortunately, in your sleep-induced state, your mind couldn’t help but murmur out, “Huh. I honestly thought the next name you’d want me to call you would be ‘Daddy.’”

You heard the male choke on his spit for a second as you nuzzled further into his back. “What!? You think I have a...? Okay, nope. ‘Kookie’ privileges have already been revoked.”

“Awwww,” you whined out sadly, “but I like that name.”

“You are such a mess right now, I don’t think you even know what you’re saying.” Jungkook laughed fondly. “I can’t believe you thought I have a daddy kink. If anyone in the kiela does, it would be Joon hyung.”

You pouted and dug your forehead into the seam of his neck and shoulder, breathing deeply. Although you were who knows how far in a cave, covered in rainwater, sweat, and dirt, your mind decided that this was what it wanted to do. You didn’t even register the fact that Jungkook definitely just outed Namjoon for having a daddy kink.

He smells so good…

Jungkook, on the other hand, breathed out shakily and gripped your thighs harder.

Lips still on his hot skin, you mumbled in a sleepy tone, “You like being in control. It fits.”

“There are… other kinks for being in control, sweetheart.”

Your eyelids began drifting shut and you turned your head to rest against his shoulder. “Mmmmm. Like wha-”

Out of nowhere, an ear-splitting shriek resonated throughout the cave and echoed down the walls, causing you to jerk your head up in surprise. It sounded like a mix between a dolphin, a gorilla, and someone getting murdered. So basically, downright terrifying.

It was safe to say that your ass was now completely awake.

Jungkook, who briefly froze when the sound erupted, began moving sideways. You jumped you’re your leg touched something cold and wet, but you registered that it must be the cavern wall.

At least you really prayed it was.

You leaned forward so that your mouth was next to Jungkook’s ear, or you hoped that’s where your mouth was since you still couldn’t see, and whispered, “What was that!?”

Your eyes widened when the Saeni lowered you to the ground and pushed at your shoulders until your back hit the cold wall. You shivered once he leaned away, the sheer cold of the cave once again hitting you in full force.

Come back.

Jungkook finally whispered, “I think it’s a quigta.”

“A… a what!?” You felt an empty breeze rush past you, and you realized that he was no longer next to you, “J-jungkook?”

Your breathing started coming faster and your mind began imagining every horrible scenario that was possible. Jungkook leaving you. That thing finding you. Jungkook being eaten. You being eaten. Jungkook leaving you, you dying from starvation, and then that thing eating your shriveled corpse.

Needless to say, you were not enjoying the current predicament.

There’s nothing quite like being alone with a monster in a cold, dark cave when you couldn’t see squat.

Ah yes, sounds like my ideal vacation.

“It is a quigta!” You started to scream at Jungkook’s sudden reappearance, but he slapped a hand over your mouth to muffle the sound. “Oh my goddess, this is perfect for today’s lesson!”

You gawked at his excited tone, but his next statement left you even more befuddled.

“Alright, Y/N, go kill it.”

You clawed his hand away from your mouth and screeched at him in the dark. “What!? I can’t see!”

“That’s the point, sweetheart.”

“I don’t even know what it looks like, how the fuck do you expect me to fight it!?” You blindly reached forward until you touched his warm body and you clutched at his arm, the solid feeling helping you calm down a bit.

“Shall I describe it to you?” You could hear his eager smile.”

Rapidly shaking your head, you whimpered. “Please don’t.”

“Well, it had a long body, sort of like a worm, but with a bunch of legs and-”

“Stop!” You really, really did not want a visual.

“-it’s sort of translucent with a big mandible, but it oddly has a mouth filled with tiny teeth too-”

“Stop…”

Your head began re-imagining each horrific scenario in even more detail.

“-and the mouth shoots out from the mandible kinda like a snake, oh, and it has these sharp quills running down its back-”

You pictured yourself getting snapped up by those giant mandibles and being held in front of its nasty, horrifying, scrunched up face. Looking into its beady, black eyes as its mouth shot out and gutted you like a fucking xenomorph.

Oh FUCK. It’s just like Alien but in a cave. Fuck fuck fuck fuckity fuck FUCK.

“Jungkook, please… please stop.” You begged in a weak voice.

“-that leads to this spiky tail and… are you okay?”

You shook your head and with a jolt, he realized your entire body was trembling. You were basically hyperventilating, your eyes squeezed shut, and the hand that wasn’t clutching at him was wrapped around your middle. You looked scared, terrified even. And here he was, being an asshole and describing the creature in fucking detail. He felt a twinge in his heart. You were usually so confident and strong and ready to take on the world. He didn’t like seeing you this way.

“Hey, I’m sorry… just wait here. I’ll take care of it.”

You scrambled to maintain your hold on him. You thrust your other hand out and grabbed his shirt before using both arms to pull him closer to you. “That’s what every horror movie character says before someone dies. Please don’t go. Let’s just go around!”

“We can’t.” He gently pried your grip off him, but you simply adapted to clutch at his hand. “There’s no other route. We have to go this way.”

“But…”

“Y/N, sweetheart, just stay here. Don’t move, don’t make a sound. I’ll be right back.”

“B-but… you could get hurt.”

You couldn’t see his fond smile, but you felt him softly move some of your hair out of your face before he brushed his knuckles lightly against your cheek. “I know you’re scared, but have some trust in your teacher, would ya? I’ve fought much worse things.”

You slowly let go of him and fisted your hands to try to stop them from shaking now that they had nothing to hold. “Okay. Please just hurry. I want to get out here.”

“I will, I promise.” And then you felt his warmth leave you and all you were left to do was wait in anxious darkness.

previous [9] — next [11]

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Storm of Ice pt 2 “Family Ties”

So, I am going to be doing a bit of a mini-series on Krill’s adventures on earth, and this is part 2 to the beginning story. If you are here without reading that story you should probably read that one first. Usually I don’t do it this way, but today I will be. 

I finally decided to Give Captain Vir a first name, so that will be included in this story.

In the next few days I will be looking for suggestions on what to do while Krill is on earth, so please message me and comment if your ideas. You are much more likely to read what you want to read if you suggest an idea :)

He was trapped on a death world

He was trapped on a death world and the old human was staring at him.

He had never met an old human face to face before. He had seen them from a distance or seen them in pictures, but he had never actually met one before…… he was beginning to think that was a good thing. Captain Vir’s sire was tall and well-muscled with steel grey hair and matching eyes. His hands were thickly calloused and bent from years of work, and that expression of his could have melted iron.

The man tapped his fingers on the tabletop keeping Krill locked in his gaze.

“Where did you say you were from?” The man demanded as the storm raged outside snow and ice pounding against the house’s siding threatening to rip the house from its foundation and throw it into the sky.

He was trapped on a death world with its death species.

He stammered out a response, and instead of appearing pleased, the human’s eyes narrowed further, “And what is it you do on my son’s ship?”

More stammering.

“A surgeon. And where did you learn, what makes you qualified to treat humans.”

Captain Vir came to his rescue then placing a hand on his father’s shoulder, “Dad, give him a break. He’s one of the most experienced, and best members of my crew. I have and will trust him with my life….” He paused, “Don’t tell mom, but he was the one who performed the surgery when I…. you know lost my eye.”

The man leaned back in his chair arms crossed, “Fine.”

In comparison to her mate, the human female was almost opposite in her personality, and it didn’t really seem to matter what Captain Vir did or did not say. Not a few minutes after they had gotten inside, she sat him down aggressively crooning over his missing eye.

“My poor boy….. why do you have to be so reckless. I told your father that you joining the army was a bad idea. And now here you are, missing your leg AND your eye.” She hugged him to her chest as he squirmed, “I have half a mind to call someone about this.”

“Agh…. Mom, I’m fine, really.”

Krill looked on in uncomfortable interest shifting at the glower the old human shot at him, but interested in the protective and smothering aggression the female human was showing. As far as he understood Captain Vir was not a child, so there was really no reason for her to be acting like this. He was just now beginning to realize he knew absolutely nothing about human social structures.

He was about to get an even bigger shock when a booming voice roared from the top of the stairs followed by a chorus of three other voices.

“BABY BROTHER!”

Krill looked up just in time to see the three large, human men charged down the stairs to tackle his friend.

The three of them went to the ground hard, and Krill squealed ducking under the table as the three of them began to struggle yelling and squirming.

“HOLD HIM STILL!” One of them yelled

“HE WON’T STOP SQUIRMING!”

“GOT IT!”

And just like that, the three humans rolled away leaping to their feet, one of them triumphantly holding his bionic leg aloft.

Vir stumbled, with difficulty to his foot, “Come on guys give it back.” He lurched towards the brother with the leg, but the man tossed it to the shorter brother.

“Sorry, I don’t have it, Jeremy does.”

Vir turned holding out his hand. The leg was tossed over his head to the third human.

Vir sighed, “You know, I need that to walk.”

“Oh come on, stumpy, it’s much more fun to watch you hop.”

Krill watched from the safety of the table as the gang of humans continued their game of keep-away. The sudden change in dynamic had him in a tailspin. He was just so used to the captain in charge of everything, and here he was helpless against a gang of three humans in his own home. Was it normal for human families to aggressively tease a disabled sibling? It seemed sort of barbaric to Krill.

Vir lunged for one of his brothers, but caught his foot on the outstretched foot of another and came down hard.

His brothers laughed, “DAVID JOSUPH VIR, give him his leg back this instant.” Krill looked over to find the female human marching over to swipe the leg from the tallest human, “Honestly, he’s your brother and you three act like a couple of wild animals. It must have been hard enough for him to lose his leg much less have his own brothers teasing him so.”

She handed the leg back to Vir planting a kiss on the top of his head, “There you go.”

With a sigh and a grumble he accepted the leg, “Thanks.”

Behind her back the other two boys were making kissy faces. One whispering, “Here comes mommy to the rescue of her little boy.”

“Don’t sass me Thomas.” The woman said turning to glower at the two.

Krill looked on in confusion. He had sort of assumed that the old human would be the Alpha in the human pack, but no, the female seemed to have the greatest amount of pull. At her scolding the three boys had wilted and began shuffling their feet heads down. The alpha female nodded smugly and turned back to her work bustling away leaving the four brothers to glare at each other. Vir had reattached his leg and was watching the oldest brother, a sudden grin split his face and that was the only warning as the man leaped from his sitting position tackling his brother to the floor quickly dominating him one on one and with all his limbs attached.

Krill was forced to duck under the table once more as the wrestling turned to knocking over chairs with flailing feet and fists.

The wrestling grew so violent that they nearly toppled a shelf holding a couple of picture frames.

“ADAM, JEREMY, I swear to the dear LORD, that if you two break my pictures, I will put you over my knee!”

As the two pulled away from each other climbing back to their feet, Krill emerged from under the table. Interesting, it seemed if you were going to discipline a human you had to call them by their full name…. they appeared to have three. A new development since he had always just assumed the captain’s name was Vir.

It seemed that was actually a family name.

“GAH the HELL is that!”

Krill nearly tripped over himself as the three humans surrounded him eyes wide with curiosity poking and prodding at him. He squealed and tried to hide under the table again, but they wouldn’t let him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The shortest human asked bending down to examine his antennae.

Thank goodness Captain Vir came to his rescue stepping in between him and the three humans, “Hey, go easy, he isn’t used to humans. And he especially isn’t used to your ugly mugs.”

One of the humans peered over his shoulder, “He? Can it talk?”

“Of course he can talk jackass.”

“ADAM! Don’t make your father get the soap.”

Captain Vir cleared his throat, “Uh sorry, mom.”

Krill quickly hid behind Vir’s leg staring up at the three curious, and intimidating humans. He waved an arm, “Hi…”

The human’s eyes widened and they stepped back before rushing back in again with exclamations of wonder.

***

Turned out the captain had only brought him here because the crew was due for some leave, and he hadn’t wanted to leave Krill alone on a human colony. Krill honestly wasn’t sure how he felt about all of this. The weather made it pretty clear why everyone called it a death planet. If he were to step outside he would die within minutes, though the humans seemed far less worried. A few of them even admitted to enjoying the weather…. Crazy

Still it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about the human social structure.

From wat he had learned, humans were usually born only one at a time with years between them. The oldest tended to claim seniority over the younger though all of the brothers complained that the youngest received special treatment by the mother.

The mother was the human female that seemed to the alpha of the household, she took care of most everything including the making and preparing of food. She had power over the male alpha who only really stepped in when his offspring were out of line. Additionally he doted on the human female and was often sent out to perform tasks in the cold. He was responsible for discipline when one of the offspring did something that the human female really did not like.

All of the offspring were old enough to be out of the house, but they had returned to their den for a “Holiday” And to see their younger brother who rarely had time to make it home when everyone else did. They had a sister too, but she was married with a toddler and another on the way, so she would only be able to visit once.

They all seemed very interested in krill, where he came from, what he did, and how he did it. They very much scared him. These humans had never been off-world and so were not used to interacting with species that weren’t used to humans. Compared to Captain vir, they were aggressive, emotional, and quite volatile. Captain Vir constantly had to remind them that humans were considered dangerous toth rest of the universe, and that it might be best for them to tone themselves down.

They had trouble with that.

Turns out the blizzard outside wasn’t even that intense for this time of year, and they expected a worse one within the week.

Krill very much felt that he was about to die, or that he would die on this visit.

If it wasn’t from exposure to the elements than it would definitely be exposure to the untamed humans.

The mother was very nice, upon asking him what he ate and him responding with photosynthesis, she had ordered one of her children to bring a specific type of lamp up from the basement. It was sweet in the way that humans are, or the way that this human was. She was aggressively worried about his health, wellbeing and needs, and made sure that her boys didn’t bother him too much. He found himself hiding behind her legs…. A lot.

He was about 95% sure he was going to die here.

[heroesmusings]

FULL NAME: Thor Odinson

MEANING: Thunder

NICKNAME: Pointbreak

MEANING: It’s what Tony calls him

AGE APPEARANCE: Appears 36, actually over 1000

BIRTHDAY: Unknown

ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Unknown

SPECIES: Asgardian God

GENDER: Cis male

ALLERGIES: None

SEXUAL PREFERENCE: Pansexual 

THEME SONG(S): Thunder by Imagine Dragons, Sunlight by Hozier, Lover of the Light by Mumford and Sons, Young Volcanoes by Fall Out Boy

APPEARANCE

HAIR COLOR:  Dark Blonde

HAIR STYLE AND LENGTH: At times it can be long to shoulder length but also can be buzzed on the side with a little more on top 

EYES COLOR: Blue

EYESIGHT: 20/20 he’s a gOD

HEIGHT: 6″6′

WEIGHT: 235 lbs

OUTFIT/CLOTHING STYLE: Usually he wears his Asgardian get up but when he dresses down he wears jeans and a hoodie

ABNORMALITIES: Missing an eye

DISTINGUISHING MARKS(SCARS,MOLES): Many battle scars cover his body

SELF CARE(MAKE UP): Sometimes sports a beard

FIRST IMPRESSION ON PEOPLE: He looks big and intimidating but he’s actually super friendly once spoken to  

SKIN COLOR: White to tan

BODY TYPE/BUILD: He’s built like a goddamn GOD, there is no way to explain it.. He’s big and made of pure muscle 

DEFAULT EXPRESSION: He tends to look serious just because he was raised a prince 

POSTURE: Thor has perfect posture he was PRINCE OKAY 

PIERCINGS: None 

DESCRIBE THEIR VOICE: Thor’s voice is deep, with a bit of a forgien accent and when angry his voice carries like thunder 

RELATIONS:

MOM: Frigga

HOW WELL DO THEY GET ALONG: Thor was so close to his mother, he adored her with all his heart and misses her every day

DAD: Odin

HOW WELL DO THEY GET ALONG: Thor has mixed feelings when it comes to his father. He used to think of him as a good man but as things came to light and realized some things Thor has slowly come to realize that Odin was never a good father 

SIBLINGS: Hela, Loki

HOW WELL DO THEY GET ALONG: Thor loves his brother, sees the good in him but Loki doesn’t like him and neither did Hela…. So not well. 

CHILDREN: N/A

HOW WELL DO THEY GET ALONG: N/A

OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS: N/A

PAST LOVER(S): Many one night stands, Jane Foster (ex-girlfriend)

CURRENT LOVER: Bruce Banner

REACTION TO MEETING SOMEONE NEW: He likes making friends he’s really a sweet guy

ABILITY TO WORK WITH OTHERS: Thor is very easy to work with and loves to work with people 

HOW SOCIABLE(LONER,ETC): Thor is vERY sociable he loves going out and being around people 

FRIENDS: Hemidall, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Carol Danvers, Bucky Barnes, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton and literally anyone else

PETS: None

LEAST FAVORITE TYPE OF PERSON: Anyone who thinks they can take advantage of meeker people 

PARENTAL TYPE(PROTECTIVE,ETC): Playful and Protective 

FAVORITE PEOPLE: Bruce, Steve, Bucky and Hemidall 

LEAST FAVORITE PEOPLE: The Dark Elves, Thaons, 

PERSONALITY:

..WHEN YOU FIRST MEET THEM: He looks regal from a distance but he’s very warm and friendly 

..AS YOU KNOW THEM BETTER(AND THEY LIKE YOU): Teasing, Excitable, Gentle

..AS YOU KNOW THEM BETTER(AND THEY DISLIKE YOU): Gruff, Cold, Confrontational 

FAVORITE COLOR: Silver 

FAVORITE FOOD: a stew his mother would make

FAVORITE ANIMAL: ALL ANIMALS, but he’s partial to snakes

FAVORITE INSTRUMENT: ALL OF THEM?

FAVORITE ELEMENT: Fire

LEAST FAVORITE COLOR: White

LEAST FAVORITE FOOD: Weird midgard foods

LEAST FAVORITE ANIMAL: NONE HE LOVES THEM ALL 

LEAST FAVORITE INSTRUMENT: None?

LEAST FAVORITE ELEMENT: Water

HOBBIES: training, video games, learning anything he can about earth

USUAL MOOD: Usually in a good mood

DRINK/SMOKE/DRUGS: Drinks socially

DARK VERSION OF SELF: Thor would be the perfect weapon, powerful and unforgiving, the realms would tremble at his feet

LIGHT VERSION OF SELF: close to what he is now, happy and unworried 

HOW SERIOUS ARE THEY: IF the situation is a tense one he’s very serious but other than that he’s rather joyful

BELIEVE IN GHOSTS: Yes and no?? He can connect to the allfather but that’s it

(IN)DEPENDANT: Thor thinks himself rather independent but he’s not. He’s very connected to everyone he loves

SOFT SPOT/VULNERABILITY: Talking about any of his family, when people try to threaten the avengers, people hating Hulk

OPINION ON SWEARING: He’s rather clean spoken just because he's a prince

DAREDEVIL VS CAUTIOUS: oooh daredevil

MUSIC TYPE: he leans towards what Steve tends to play, he also loves classical music and typical asgardian music 

MOVIE TYPE: Anything ANYTHING 

BOOK TYPE: Again Thor loves to learn so anything 

GAME TYPE: If it’s Asgardian games, it’s anything that has to do with brute strength or drinking -- human ones he doesn’t really care about

COMFORTABLE TEMPERATURE: Thor likes it a little on the cooler side

SLEEPING PATTERN: When Thor is out HE’S FUCKING OUT, he’s a rock its impossible to move him. 

CLEANLINESS/NEATNESS: Thor is used to being cleaned up after but he is polite so he keeps it as clean as he can

DESIRED PET: ALL PETS EVER

HOW DO THEY PASS TIME: Helping rebuild Asgard

BIGGEST SECRET: I don’t know if Thor really has any secrets? He’s an open book anyone can ask him anything

HERO/WHO THEY LOOK UP TO: His mother, Frigga

WHAT ANIMAL WOULD THEY BE: the biggest puppy dog on eaRTH

FEARS: Bruce getting hurt, anything happening to the avengers, and losing Asgard again

COMFORTS: Being around the avengers, spending alone time with Bruce and training

HOW DO THEY ACT WHEN THEY ARE:

SAD: Thor is a prince, he has always been told to hide negative emotions, so Thor bottles it up, he puts on a brave face because he is a warrior and royal. So for a long time no one knows he’s sad until he starts pulling away and secluding himself 

HAPPY: Thor is like a ray of sunshine, he talks fast, and tends to just want to touch and laugh

ANGRY: ……………………...AN ANGRY GOD IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT. It’s pure rage, the sky turns black -- a storm swirls above him and he’s lit up with lightning. He’s brutal and will not show mercy 

AFRAID: Thor doesn’t really fear? He’s never been allowed to fear. He’s a god and he knows his powers but when he is he tries to face it head on, take it by the horns and conquer it. 

LOVE SOMEONE: Gentle, and understanding -- he cares deeply about them and checks up on them often. He’s always around and is expressing his admiration for them 

HATE SOMEONE: He’s cold, which is a VERY rare thing for thor. He doesn’t hate many but its an angry hate, so if he hates you, then you’ve done something so wrong

WANT SOMETHING: He asks permission.. That is what he was taught to do, so he’s polite as he requests whatever it is.

CONFUSED: He wants it explained to him he loves learning okay 

HOW DO THEY REACT TO:

DANGER: THOR LOVES DANGER, but he’s protective if it involves people he loves

SOMEONE THEY HATE WHO HAS A CRUSH ON THEM: I’m sorry if but Thor hate you you are dead no way around it so YOU CANT HAVE A CRUSH 

PROPOSAL TO MARRY: Thor would be ????? so confused. He would have not expected such a thing but he’d of course say yes and would want a human and an asgardian wedding 

DEATH OF LOVED ONE: He interlizes it, he hasn’t ever had a proper way to express his mourning.. He’s still recovering from the death of his family. 

DIFFICULT GAME/MATH/ETC: He’d try the best he can, and usually he figures it out

INJURY: ...he’s a god so he’d just take it as a badge of honor

SOMETHING IRRESISTABLY CUTE: He would want to squish thank you

LOSS OF HOURS OF WORK: Thor doesn’t LOSE hours of work okay he’s always wanted on missions 

KNOWLEDGE:

LANGUAGES: Thor has allspeak so literally everything

SCHOOLING LEVEL: Graduated from formal Asgardian education and warrior school 

FAVORITE SUBJECT (S): Ya know… fighting 

INTERESTED CAREERS: Valkyrie until he realized it was for women only 

EXPERTISE: asgardian physiology, weather manipulation, flight, electric manipulation, combat

PUZZLES: Thor would rather hand them off to someone else so he can do other things

CHEMISTRY: for human, not so great at that because he’s not from earth but asgardian chemistry he excelled in it

MATH: Again, human math? Not so great but Asgard? Expert 

ENGLISH: HE didn’t HAVE ENGLISH 

GEOGRAPHY: he knows how to get to realm to realm 

POLITICS/LAW: Given he’s a prince he had to be very involved in all of it

ECONOMY/ACCOUNTING: Again a prince so its his job

COOKING: Nope not at all, he’s always had things cooked for him

SEWING: Medical sewing he’s okay at

MECHANICS: This is just way over Thor’s head all of it

BOTANY (FLOWERS): Not really interested in all of that 

MYTHOLOGY: HE IS THE MYTH

DRAMATICS(ACTING,SINGING): Not for him, for Loki maybe

READING LEVEL: Proficient in all languages 

HOW GOOD ARE THEY AT PLANNING AHEAD: somewhat? He did have to do battle strategies 

ROMANCE:

DO THEY TAKE INITIATIVE: Yes ALL THE TIME, he’s so touch

HOW DO THEY ACT(SHY,ETC): He’s fairly forward honestly 

GENTLEMAN/LADYLIKE VS KLUTZY: A GENTLEMAN HE’S PRINCE

GO SLOW VS JUMP INTO: With people before Bruce? He usually just jumped right in but he likes taking it slow with Bruce 

PROTECTIVE: uh hell yeah

ACT LIKE FRIENDS OR LOVERS: Both 

WHAT KIND OF PRESENTS DO THEY BUY: Thor likes bringing Bruce all sorts of things from Asgard honestly, anything that he thinks Bruce will like he brings

TYPE OF KISSER: Surprisingly, Thor is a very soft and gentle lover. So his kisses are the same, gentle but VERY through

DO THEY WANT KIDS: i don’t…. Know. i actually don’t think it’s crossed his mind?

DO THEY WANT TO MARRY: YES YES 

MAKE GOOD OR BAD DECISIONS: Uh both, but he likes to think he’s got good intentions 

ARE THEY ROMANTIC: yes OF COURSE

HOW ARE THEY IN BED: Thor’s a god.. And he’s very well versed so sleeping with Thor is truly otherworldly

GET JEALOUS EASY: Actually no, not really

WIFE/HUBBY BEATER: NEVER

MARRY FOR MONEY: LMAO NO NOT AT ALL

FAVORITE POSITION: oh my god.. he for sure likes to top.. Really any position he just likes intimacy 

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN ON THEIR DREAM DATE: DATE ON ASGARD, he wants to treat Bruce to a perfect evening on asgard filled with food and magic and science and watch the sunset over the water

OPINION ON SEX: Sex is almost a ritual to him? It’s a very important and meaningful thing..  He never takes having sex lightly. Its meant to be a celebration of intimacy.

[johnandrasjaqobis]

Murphy please! ^u^

good I don’t talk about the poor tired team dad enough

Full Name: Murphy LockeGender and Sexuality: Male, bisexualPronouns: He/himEthnicity/Species: Natholese (not that most people would guess it, his skin is much darker than most people there)Birthplace and Birthdate: Bankot, in the Cusapin Cluster on Nathos. His actual birthday is CSD .//.241.738. Since that doesn’t mean much without a very lengthy and unnecessary explanation of their time keeping, I say July 26th.Guilty Pleasures: He has a surprising sweet tooth. Not much easy access to such things, but he’ll go a little out of his way when they end up on a planet and aren’t in a ridiculous hurry.Phobias: Nothing that could really be counted as a phobia, per se? But he’s got this Thing about always needing to be able to fix things, and it scares him when he realizes he can’t.What They Would Be Famous For: Local Man Has Patience of Literal Saint, sources sayHis name itself is kind of famous, but he’s glad a good number of people recognize him more for the terrorists they’ve caught than the really arbitrary naming tradition.What They Would Get Arrested For: Making his ex-husband(s)’ life miserable with the Powers of Government Bureaucracy.Or possibly just murder if Troy 2 mentions that Murphy’s “been skipping leg day” one more timeOC You Ship Them With: tbh he and Marie get along surprisingly well, they have a very fond exasperation for each otherOC Most Likely To Murder Them: I mean. robert is kind of trying to murder all of the main characters so I’m not positive he counts.Favorite Movie/Book Genre: He really likes dumb heist movies. Working in law enforcement makes them much more fun.Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Ironically, the crime procedurals that try to be realistic grate on him, especially the court dramas. He gets enough court drama with Troy 1.Talents and/or Powers: Ultimate Dad Friend. Murphy is a seasoned agent, so he’s really good at his job. He can talk down bureaucrats pretty easily and knows how to pinpoint strengths in his team to utilize them properly. He also plays violin.Why Someone Might Love Them: He’s the epitome of the deadpan snarker, and though he’s definitely the leader of the team, he can joke around with them easily off the clock. It literally takes a subpoena to get him in court, because his ex is a defense attorney.Why Someone Might Hate Them: I ??? genuinely don’t know ???? murphy’s a good egg okayHow They Change: He helps fight in a Literal War, so that’s just a fun time all around. There’s a lot of realizing that things get out of his control very easily, and some things he’s just not capable of fixing himself. Probably gets a few cool scars.Why You Love Them: He’s the straight man to so much of the others’ antics, and I love my long-suffering (but not really) tired dad friend. He managed to claw his way out of the economic pit that is Nathos and now has an actual high-ranking job with the Bureau, and he’s still super close to his brother and sister and keeps in touch with both of them regularly. (though not regularly enough to realize that one of his nephews is dating one of his employees.)

[i-kin-fiona]

The Wars of Our Colors, Chapter 1- The Calm Before The Storm

Life had always been a facade, sometimes if you didn’t look too closely you wouldn’t see the cracks that twisted and twirled in the seams. If you’d close your eyes you wouldn’t see the tensions building between the two sides, the colors Red and Blue defined every species.

Red and Blue would always clash, their natures seeming far apart, any act of peace would break before too long.

No matter how beautiful the two colors were together, neither side could see beyond their own pride.

The witch species, tried their best to be above their colors. Although, it seemed as if that philosophy only lasted in word, not in truth.

For only one family on the great witch council really stood by the rules, they preached the same things everyone else had, yet they were the only ones who truly stood by it.

The Schmidt family were the current reigning family, in their ranks were the two rulers both purple.

A former Red, the queen Rosa Schmidt was a powerful ruler but yet a kind one, yet even still as a purple, she found sometimes that her emotions overwhelmed her. Her husband was quite the opposite, king James Schmidt had the uncanny ability to always keep his cool, it must’ve been the blue shining in him.

The two while happy in marriage could only conceive two children, these two were twins.

The eldest twin, was a son of red, his eyes scarlet and his smile smug, although he was a very caring young man like his mother.

The younger twin, the girl born of blue, was a shyer girl who could be the balance of any situation.

The family lived in peace, for many years. However one might say that was only the calm before the storm. For all the goodness their hearts contained, they couldn’t spread it to the others in their land.

“Alex, you need to get ready, the Johnson girl can’t wait forever,” King James chided, making his son sigh.

“Dad she’s a Blue, she’s a lot more patient than you apparently.”

“She’s a Blue in love, Alex, whatever you think about Blues do know that they can feel emotions, they just choose not to act on them.”

“I’m not saying that Blues can’t feel emotions, I’m just saying that they know how to be patient, I guess since you’re a purple, you completely loss that trait.” Alex shot back at his father, although he didn’t really mean the petty insult. The father and son would constantly bicker back and forth, as if they were both complete opposites. In truth, they were close to each other and although neither of them would admit it out loud, they were each other’s favorites.

On the other side of the castle laid a similar scene, but instead of two males were two females in their place.

“Mother, I never really doubt your instinct, but what if he thinks I’m thinks I’m too Blue?” Alyssa asked nervously as her mother braided her hair.

“Alyssa, no one in this family is too much of a color, you’re only you. You’re only unique,” Rosa responded lovingly, for once she had thought the same things as well.

“I want to believe that to be true, but this man, he’s only been with Reds his whole life it’d be easy to confuse me with a pure Blue.”

“Then prove him wrong, Alyssa. You’re more than a Blue, you’re yourself. If he can’t see that don’t try to change yourself for him, never lose sight of who you truly are.” Alyssa tried to smile at her mothers encouraging words, yet she felt nervous still.

“I just don’t want to let anyone down, the whole crown rests on Alex’s and my hands.” Alyssa confessed nervously.

“As it laid on your father and my hands years ago, Alyssa you’ll be fine, as long as you’re truly yourself and happy.”

Those words Alyssa kept repeating as she followed Alex to meet their future spouses, it seemed so easy for her mother to say that she’d be fine, but when applying it to a real situation it felt so scary. Alyssa knew it wasn’t logical to care about what her future husband thought about her, they might not even get married if they didn’t like each other, but being judged was horrifying.

“So are you ready to meet the mister?” Alex asked as he teased his little sister.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, how about you?” Alyssa responded.

“I’m pretty stoked myself, imagine me married to Cynthia Johnson, that’ll be in the history books.” Alex joked.

“History books? The only thing interesting about that is how she’ll survive married to you.” Alyssa rebutted

“Alyssa, how you wound me so!” Alex joked as he put his hand to his heart.

“Oh, get over it, we’re almost there.” Alyssa said, although when she admitted it out loud she felt her anxiety come back again.

Before long, the two twins found themselves face to face with their future lovers, Alex found himself facing a pale girl with a pair of grayish eyes staring back at him, although those eyes tried to hide what she felt, he could see she was nervous.

Alyssa found herself facing a young man with crimson eyes and chocolate skin, and although he tried to keep his face neutral, he seemed happy that she was there with him.

Alyssa forced herself to swallow as she walked up to him, her breath was soft and cutting out as she forced a nervous smile on her lips.

“You are Jack, I presume?” Alyssa asked nervously, although on the inside she knew that it was a stupid question to ask.

Jack smiled slightly, seeming amused by her question, “Yeah I’m Jack, I’m guessing you’re Alyssa?” Alyssa only nodded, the words she had practiced earlier seemingly melted on her tongue before she could put them into action. Alyssa knew that it was stupid, but she almost felt vulnerable in front of Jack. She could only hope that it was normal to feel this way in front of your future husband, either that or she was truly hopeless.

Alex, for all his charms and pride was in the same boat as his sister. He’d always swear that he was good at small talk, but now he supposed that he was slightly wrong.

“You know, for a Red I assumed that you would have an endless conversation list, may I presume that I was wrong?” Cynthia teased.

“I usually have an endless conversation list, I actually left it in my other pocket.” Alex sighed.

“Oh, what a shame. Luckily for you I’ve endured the classes of small talk and I have quite the reservoir of information, call it an investment well spent.” Cynthia said with a slight chuckle, taking Alex by the hand and pulling him to a more private location.

By the time the twins came back, one could call them love struck, either that or they were in shock. Neither twin said anything about their experience, it seemed that even recalling it caused their cheeks to flare and burn.

Maybe things should’ve stayed that way, it was a happier peace for all the kingdom. Yet jealousy knows no bound, and once someone starts seeing green, they cannot stop themselves.

Or maybe that’s just an excuse people use, they say they lose control of themselves, yet they never truly regret their actions. Whatever, the case may be. Jealousy popped its head in and burned more bridges than it should’ve.

The twins, found out the victim from their parents, the king and queen fell awfully silent during their usual happy dinner, even the dumbest person would have been able to pick up that something was wrong.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Rosa began, her heart already feeling heavy in her chest. “Alex, Alyssa, please sit down.”

“What is it mother?” Alyssa asked, concern flooding her features, but Rosa only gestured to the sofa, so both twins complied.

“We’ve learned of awful news, the Johnson girl, Cynthia-” James begun,

“What about Cynthia?!” Alex shouted, his cool swiftly fading.

“-we’ve learned that she was attacked and killed last night, on her way home. The culprit is still at large and it’s suggested that we stay in the castle, until they are caught.” James mumbled. Alex felt his heart beating out of control as the world around him started to blur and heat up. Alyssa even in her shock could feel the heat and almost smell the flames, her brother was losing control.

“Alex, listen you can’t lose control now… we’ll find the culprit, and we’ll make sure they pay.” Rosa said as she tried to soothe her son. It seemed to work for the moment, as Alex began to scream and sob. Alyssa felt a similar pain, she was friends with Cynthia, the Johnson family in general.

“What do we do in the time being?” Alyssa asked, worried for Jack and everyone else.

“We wait, there’s nothing more we can do, hopefully the culprit will be caught before long.” James replied, his tone firm and final, Alyssa knew she couldn’t argue with him if she had it in her, so she just put her head down and felt the tears begin to drop.

Little did she know, this was only the beginning.

[beckmorchaud-blog]

Huntress, Chapter One: Even as I Wander

4,600 words

Characters: Dean X Female Hunter

Warnings: Some Violence, Profanity, Blasphemy, Angst, self-doubt, a little self-loathing, Sex (mentioned, implied)

Future Warnings: I don’t know where this is going yet. so be prepared. 

AN: Please excuse any grammatical errors- grammarly is new to me and still learning how to navigate it. Also, please excuse any Tumblr faux pas.. I’m a newbie to this format (tumblr that is)

#1: Even as I Wander

   I had driven nearly 22 straight hours south to New Orleans for this job, falling fast first into the first hotel mattress $60 could buy in the big easy. The mattress was cheap, the sheets a bit threadbare, but it was a bed more substantial than most toddlers’ and that was better than what was in the back of my 15-year-old station wagon most nights. I slept hard, despite the massive metal springs pressing into my sides and the loud sounds of sex through the thin hotel room walls, and woke up at 9 in the morning, a full twelve hours after I had arrived.

   I staggered across the rough brown and beige carpet, my feet dragging in my caffeine-free state of mind as I moved to the bathroom to take care of my morning. I caught a sideways glance at myself in the cracked bathroom mirror and found my jaw-length black hair sticking out in every possible direction.  my face skewed disgusted, and I flicked the light back off for the time being and took care of my business.

   Outside of the room, the coffee pot stood waiting. I set it to brew and sat down on the edge of the stiff mattress. I pulled my phone from my bag and checked it. Four missed calls and three text messages.

   'You in town yet?’

       'Where are you?’

   'I’m in room 129-’

       'Dammit, Badger, the hell are you?’

   I groaned and glanced at the coffee pot. The last text was only 20 minutes old, and very likely the last one that would be sent before Dean Winchester raised the alarm, and my phone was blown to kingdom come with calls and texts from every hunter this side of Poughkeepsie

.  I leaned over and picked up my room key and texted Winchester the number on the tag. I grabbed a loose hair tie from the front pocket of my duffle and pulled up the crown of my hair, hiding the mess, just in time for three sharp knocks to roll across the door.

“Goddamnit, Winchester,” I mumbled under my breath,  standing and crossing to the door. I was still wearing the black sabbath tee shirt and black basketball shorts I had fallen into bed wearing the previous evening when I slung the door open to Dean Winchester. I had to admit, though as sometimes adversarial our relationship had been since our first meeting, he was a particularly beautiful specimen of the male of the species. Standing at just over 6 feet tall, he brooded in my general direction now, his eyebrows heavy over surprisingly soft green eyes.

I had known the Winchesters, Dean and his father John, for about three years. I had started hunting things when I was only 16 after my parents and two younger brothers had been murdered by demons.  By the time I had met John, and Dean four years after that, I was neck deep in the shit like any worthwhile hunter. John had gotten on my case more times than I could count on hunting alone. Solo female hunters were rare- rarer still were ones my age who hadn’t grown up in the life.  John had pulled me out of the fire a few times since then, and Dean a few more, most recently a Werewolf hunt in Omaha I’d gotten sucked too deep into the previous May. I’d returned the favor usually, lending a hand or a few hours of research when needed but I hadn’t seen either of them until the phone call I’d received three days ago.

I had been wrapping up a hunt in Augusta, Maine when Dean had called me. Despite what the Winchesters seemed to think, I was more often than not, just fine on my own. Dean had explained his Dad was on his own hunt and not answering his calls at the moment, but he needed a hand in Louisiana. I had asked for three days, but managed it in two. I had a debt to repay.

“Where the hell have you been?” he asked gruffly.

“Sleeping, the fuck does it look like I’ve been doing?” I asked, returning his tone and gesturing a hand down my body.

“You said you’d call when you got into town-” he says, pushing his way past me into the room. It’s evident from the disarray within the four walls that I did nothing but change into my pajamas, sleep, and since waking, turn on the coffee pot. Winchester helped himself to a chair by the large curtained front window, spinning it on one leg to straddle the back. He didn’t continue his thought.

“Slept instead,” I said, shrugging. “22 hours, straight through. Think I deserved it.” I told him, pouring myself a cup of coffee. I held the pot up in offering. He nodded.

“Sure-” he said. I handed him the cup I had intended for myself and poured another, not pausing to let it cool before taking a long slow sip, “but it pisses me off.”

“Because you care or because I’m a chick?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He stared back at me as if insulted, and I ignored what I saw in his eyes. “That’s what I thought,” I said when he didn’t respond.

“Bullshit,” he snorted. I rolled my eyes and took another long sip of my coffee.

   “How’s your dad?” I asked, changing the subject with less finesse than I would have liked.

“Fine. On a hunt for about two weeks now…What have you been up to?”

   “Hunting,” I said, staring lovingly at my mug.

   “Anything else?” he pressed. I didn’t get him.

   “Can I have a goddamn cup of coffee?” I snapped, raising an eyebrow. He held up his hands as if warding me off.

90 minutes later, my hair combed and jeans replacing my basketball shorts, Dean, and I sat across from each other in a corner booth at a greasy spoon diner about a mile down the road from the motel. Dean was chewing a cheeseburger, not dissimilarly to how a cow eats it’s cud. I had one myself, but my bites were smaller, and I was more focused on the newspaper clippings he had laid out in front of me.

The first article detailed the grisly freak accident death of a young woman three weeks prior. According to the report, it had occurred in the basement of the county courthouse. Dean had backed up this article with five more, all detailing similar deaths on the same block.

“Vengeful spirit?” I asked him.

“Spirit of some kind, I’m thinking, yeah,” he said over a mouthful of masticated beef. I wrinkled my nose.

“Attractive, Winchester.”

“Eat me, Badger.”

I raised my eyebrows at him and plowed on, completely unphased.

“Any chance of catching one of them at the morgue?” I asked, before taking the next bite of my burger.

“Probably- the latest one was only three days ago- which is when I decided to call you for a hand.”

“History?” I asked.

“Haven’t looked too hard into it yet- the addition on the courthouse used to be the pauper’s lot for the county, and before that, was the gallows.”

“Great…” I muttered, looking at the articles again, “So the likelihood of finding whatever it is tying this bastard to the courthouse is highly unlikely… but I’m curious why the son of a bitch only started in recently- I’ll have to look into the records and see if there’s been anything particularly nasty before the first.”

“So how have you been?” he asked, returning to his line of questioning from earlier that morning.

“Fine. Hunting.” I said as I had before, taking a huge bite of my own cheeseburger. He raised one eyebrow at me.

“What?” I asked shortly- I was now the one talking with my mouth full. He snorted.

“That’s all?” he asked, chuckling lightly and leaning back in the booth. I shrugged.

“What else do you want me to say?”

“Seeing anybody?” he asked. He wiggled his eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes in return.

“When exactly do we have time to ‘see’ anybody?” I asked, throwing up air quotes and wiping my mouth with my napkin. He laughed, his head tipping back in a way that made something stir in my belly. I damped it down quickly. Dean Winchester was, in a word, a slut, and while I could absolutely see why he thought this was funny as I had never worked a job with him and not had him take off with some chick from a bar at one point or another, I didn’t really want any part of that action myself.

“Can we concentrate on the job?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. He held up his hands in surrender. He motioned to the waitress who had served us before, and despite the fact that it was breakfast, asked what kinds of pie they had. I picked up one of the articles again and began to pretend to read.

Once upon a time, I had held a large torch for Dean. a dozen or so hunts later, however, during each of which Dean had managed to pick up some chick in a bar, I was pretty over it. He was a flirt, but I saw through him. He was just as dark and twisted most days as I was- the life had taken his mother, and his brother, who it seemed just couldn’t hack it, and had returned to civilian life before I’d met him.

Dean buried his angst in booze like most of us, women like some. He tended to flirt with me, but I’d been burned enough times by him to brush him off. The very first hunt I had joined Dean and John on, Dean had nearly gotten me into bed- only to be distracted by a red-lipped and busty brunette while I was in the bathroom and taking her back to his room instead. I had been heartbroken, truth be told, and had been much more careful with what I let him get away with since then. I made every effort to squash my feelings anytime they rose up.

As much as that was true, watching that man dig into a mixed berry pie was borderline pornographic. I couldn’t help watching as he closed his eyes, thick lashes against his cheeks as he raised the fork to his mouth and wrapped his lips around the juicy deep red morsel. A small, dense noise, escaped his throat. I tried not to drool and looked away, chastising myself internally.

Scouring the fragments in front of me, I looked for anything particularly odd that might stand out and found nothing of note. I pulled my laptop from my bag as the pie show continued across the booth and booted it up. I checked Myspace for new messages as Dean ordered a second piece of the pie and then moved on to a bit of research into the history of the courthouse.

“So it looks like the current courthouse was build in 1914, to replace one that had burned down two years before,” I told him, “14 prisoners of the jail, also located where the new addition is, were killed in the fire when deputies failed to unlock their cells when flames broke out.”

“Classic,” he said, around a mouthful of pie. I continued.

“I’d have to find out if the library has microfiche to find out anything about the prisoners and if this goes back further than we realized.” he swallowed.

“I’m thinking flashing some badge down at the courthouse might work.”

“Press probably,” I agreed, “Puff piece on the new addition for some bullshit architectural rag?”

“Works for me,” he said. He flagged down the waitress, and before he could stop me, I snapped my laptop shut and paid.

“I can buy my own breakfast-” he said, a bit indignant.

“Can you also wipe your own mouth?” I shot back. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth as I slipped the laptop into my messenger bag and got up.

“We should change,” I said, considering the hunter-uniform we were both wearing…

“What’s wrong with this?” he asked. Dean had on a black tee-shirt and gray chambray work shirt under his jacket, with jeans.

“A little hunter-casual don’t you think?” I said, raising an eyebrow. He considered.

“Maybe,” he said, considering.

“You look like shit, Winchester,” I told him and turned to go to the door.

“Wish I could say ditto on that, Browning,” he said, returning my manner. But his eyes weren’t hard like I was attempting to make mine. They remained the usual placid green they always were, and I was confused. I stared at him for a moment, my brow furrowed as I tried to discern his tone.I didn’t want to admit I knew precisely why I was giving him such a hard time this time. It had been four months since I’d seen him last, and I hadn’t been nearly half as standoffish as I was now. Even with his whoring, Dean and I had settled into a kind of uneasy ribbing sort of friendship over the last three years. But I knew precisely why this time was different.  I turned and walked out the door.

.

FOUR MONTHS EARLIER

I could feel the werewolf’s breath on my neck, hot and smelling sour as it sniffed me. My knife was yards away, and I was pinned three feet off the ground. I cursed myself internally- I should have called for help the moment I had realized this was the work of more than one wolf, two days ago- instead, I hadn’t made the call until I realized there were more than five. I’d left a voicemail for John Winchester, another for Bobby Singer but hadn’t gotten a callback.

Motherfucker! I thought as the werewolf leaned it’s head back and bared its teeth. I pressed my eyes shut and braced for the sensation of tearing skin and ripping flesh. Instead, a crack split my eardrums, and I felt hot liquid and slime splash onto my face. The werewolf released his grip and collapsed, and I fell on top of him, my head cracking against the floor.

“Son of a Bitch,” a voice said casually as I blinked away the stars in my eyes. A hand was held out in front of me, and I took it, pulling myself out of the blood and viscera to come face to chest with my savior.

“Fuck, Dean, thanks,” I said earnestly, wiping my bloodied hands on my jeans, “I thought I was hosed.”

“You were,” he replied gruffly. He slipped the gun back into the holster hidden inside the waistband of his jeans, shed his coat and the button up he wore over a faded green tee-shirt and started wiping at my face. “Waited long enough to call in the cavalry, by the looks of it.”

“Yeah, definitely fucked up on that count.” I took the shirt from him with a nod of thanks and began wiping away the fragments of werewolf head from my face and torso. “Speaking of, I thought I called your Dad?”

“You did. Dad was busy,” he said with a shrug.

“Well, I appreciate the heroic rescue,” I said, once again with earnest.

“Would be better if I didn’t have to,” he replied. The words had a bit of sting, but they were said teasingly.

“Hey, I’ve saved your ass a few times,” I said, wapping him on the arm with his own bloody shirt.

“Name Five,” he said, taking it from me and balling it up. He surveyed the bodies around him. I had dropped six of the werewolves in the pack, but I’d run out of ammo, and the seventh had gotten the drop on me. He pushed out his chin appreciatively.

I chuckled.

“Colombus, for starters,” I said, rubbing the back of my head.

“That’s One.” he nodded, “Want a drink?”

“I’d love one.”

We ended up in a dive bar on some random side street. I’d cleaned up the rest of the apparent gore in the bathroom with rough brown paper towels. The water that had come out of the tap had almost matched. When I returned, two tumblers sat on the bar in front of Dean. I climbed, literally, on top of the bar stool and he slid one of them to me.

“So you took on seven… by yourself,” he said. He made the same slightly impressed face and took a sip of his drink.

“Nah, I purposefully took on six. The seventh was the prize in that particular box of crackerjacks.” I took a long haul from my own glass and motioned the bartender over with a small smile and a nod. Dean snorted.

“Well that’s impressive, Badger, gotta say.” I shrugged.

“Isn’t that why people call me ‘Badger’ in the first place?”

“Too goddamn small to be that fearless,” Dean agreed, raising his glass to me in a toast. I lifted my own and tapped it to the side of his and nodded with a small smile before downing it. “Holy shit, take it easy-” he said, putting a hand on my arm. I shuddered and then chuckled.

“At what number of werewolves solo do I get to drink three jacks up without you pulling that face?” I said, motioning for my third. He raised a single eyebrow.

“Nine. min.”

“What’s your record?”

“Eight.”

“And how many jacks did you down after that one?”

He paused. “Point taken. Five.”

“There you have it,” I laughed. The alcohol was beginning to take hold, and I cracked my neck as my muscles loosened. I pulled the bartender over, and slapped a fifty on the bar, “Keep ‘em comin’ for me and my friend?” I said, tilting my head in Dean’s direction. The bartender nodded, and I spun on my seat to face Dean as my glass refilled.

“Well here’s four.” I raised the glass and took a long sip.

Dean flashed me a lopsided smile and something inside me melted just the tiniest bit.

I don’t know how much later it was when Dean literally picked me up off the sticky floor of that bar room.

“Pummee down-” I whined.

“You’re drunk,” he grumbled. I struggled but not much. It made the spins worse. “Hold still,” he grumbled. I whined in reply.

He slid me gently into the backseat of his Impala.

“Throw up, and I’ll kill you,” he said, and I waved a hand at him.

“Jussa spins,” I told him, laying a hand over my eyes.

“Yea, sure,” he replied with a chuckle and climbed into the driver’s seat.

The next thing I knew, Dean was rifling through the pockets of my jacket as I laid in the backseat.

“Quit feelin’ me up-” I said with a giggle, “Or don’t. Yeah, don’t. Like it.” he snorted a bit of laughter.

“I’m looking for your room key.” I patted the breast pocket on my coat and grinned, bleary-eyed, back at him, propping myself up on my elbows.

“Comman geddit,” I said with an exaggerated wink. He shook his head and then fished it nimbly out of my pocket with two fingers. He pulled on the ankles of my boots and swept me up, carrying me toward the room I’d rented for less than fifty dollars. I swept my arms around his neck, nuzzling him and kissing at him, too drunk to stop myself. He smelled like leather, whiskey, and gunpowder, but under that was something cleaner, like salt water, and I was intoxicated on that alone.

“Stop, Badge,” he mumbled, lifting a knee to support me as he used one hand to unlock the door and push it open.

“You know you want me,” I soothed. He didn’t respond. He laid me down on the bed and pulled my boots off my feet, “That’s more like it,” I smiled, and licked my lips.

Dean pulled back the covers on the bed, then pulled my jacket from my arms.

“C’mon, baby, I’ve wanted this for three years..” I cooed. He picked me up again and then slid me between the sheets, and pulled them up to my chin.

“Sleep it off, Badge,” he said. He leaned down, and I reached for his neck again but got caught in the blankets. He kissed my forehead softly, and a small sound escaped my lips, “We’ll see how you feel in the morning.”

In the morning, I had been embarrassed enough not to want to see him at all, but, with a pounding head, I opened the door to my room at ten the next morning when he knocked.

“Morning sunshine,” he said, setting a fast food bag down on the small table near the window.

“Mmm-” I responded, closing the door firmly behind him, shutting out the light. I went for the bag as quickly as my hungover legs would carry me and ripped it open along the side. I grabbed two breakfast sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil and plopped down on the floor next to the table to unwrap them.

“How much of last night do you remember?” he asked, leaning against the table, taking the third and fourth sandwich out for himself.

“Whiskey- lots of whiskey.” I moaned through a mouth full of English muffin, egg, and bacon.

“And then?” he pressed. I glanced at him, and he was looking at me intently. I looked back at my sandwich.

“Fell off my bar stool. You carried me out. I got nothin’ after that.”

“Huh,” he said. I glanced at him, seeing how much he believed. The truth was, I remembered every godforsaken word I’d uttered, and the only thing worse than the embarrassment was the idea he was going to give me holy ol’ hell for it- tease me about it. As good of a job as I generally did at squashing any Dean Winchester cravings, I didn’t think I could stand for him to give me shit about it.

But he didn’t. I didn’t think he believed me one bit, especially as I could feel a heat rising in my face that had to be evident even in the darkened motel room. I could see suspicious boiling under the surface of his eyes, and something else- something I couldn’t quite place.

Dean didn’t bring it up again, and while we hung out, and watched a few cheesy movies on cable in my room, neither did I. I left the next morning, told him I would be in touch.

“Good, Don’t be a stranger.” he’d told me. He’d kissed my forehead again before I’d climbed back into the driver’s seat of my old station wagon.

But I hadn’t called. I didn’t have the balls.

PRESENT

“Well that was pointless,” he said as we exited the courthouse, trotting down the white front steps and

“No EMF, No sulfur, and as far as I can tell, no signs of anything amiss at all- I think the courthouse might only be a connection the victims shared, rather than the source,” I stated, more for myself than for him. I knew he knew this already.

“I say, we take a break, relax for a while back at the hotel, and start off with some FBI family and friend interviews in the morning,”

“Dean, it’s 2:30 in the afternoon,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. He shrugged.

   “Eh. It’s been a while, I want to catch up with you,” he said smoothly. My eyes narrowed further as I climbed into the passenger seat of his Impala.

   “Why?” I asked flatly.

   “Haven’t heard from you since Omaha. Don’t know many chick hunters,” he told me, turning the engine over.

I was immediately suspicious. I became even more so when he followed me to the door of my motel room rather than going to his when we arrived back at the motel.

   “I take it you’re serious?” I asked, a bit rhetorically, slipping the key into the lock and pushing the door open. I entered the room and flipped on the light, tossing my sportcoat across the bed and forcefully kicking the heels off my feet.

   “About what?” he asked, taking off his own jacket and laying on the back of a chair before sitting in it.

   “Catching up?” I said. I pulled the pins from the nape of my neck, holding the shortest bits of my hair up and keeping my professional disguise intact. I turned my head over and shook out my hair. I heard Dean sigh behind me, and flipped my head up, glaring at him. “What is WITH you?” I asked suspiciously.

   “With me? What’s with you?” he fired back, a bit defensive, “ I’ve been nothing but nice, and you can’t stop being a raging bitch.”

   I opened my mouth to fire back and paused. He was right. From the moment I’d woken up that morning I had been nasty to him. I blew out a long breath and considered for a moment how I wanted to proceed.

   “Fine, Ok, you’re right,” I said. I thought that would be sufficient, but Dean didn’t seem satisfied.

   “So what is it?” he asked again, pressing.

   “What is what?” I asked, legitimately confused.

   “The thing that crawled up your ass and died.”

   “Eat shit, Winchester.” I told him, stripping off my pantyhose, putting runs in them as I pulled on the nylon too hard, “Now who’s being a bitch?”

   “You admitted you were a bitch; I just want to know why” he demanded.

   “I-” I groaned and threw my hosiery in the trash can next to the bed. I stared at him for a long moment. I couldn’t tell him the truth, which it was my way of keeping him at arm’s length. I didn’t think accusing him of sexism- “if a guy were giving you this much shit would you be as pissed?” type of thing was an excellent bet either. I was stuck.

   “Fuck you.” I finished, mumbling.

   “Don’t mind if I do,” he said, and with a single fluid motion, he was out of the chair and across the room. I backed up, my posture defensive. The words hadn’t sunken in, only the actions. Dean grabbed me around the waist and pulled my body tight against his, pressing his mouth firmly to mine.

   I stiffened against him, eyes open. The move had stunned me, but not quite as much as how soft those lips felt against mine despite the fierceness of the pressure. My eyes closed and I felt myself kissing him back, my lips parted as his tongue pressed gently against them. I lost myself for what felt like hours, and then an image popped into my head. A busty brunette with red lipstick in a dive bar outside of Chicago.

   That’s when I hit him.

[ourpieceoutoftime-blog]

Sam Winchester

Stats

Full Name: Samuel “Sam” William Winchester

Species: Human

D.O.B: May, 2nd, 1983

Age Range: 22 - 35 years old

Place of Birth: Lawrence, Kansas, America

Gender: Male

Sex: Male

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Hazel

Height: 6.4" (1.93 m)

Father: John Winchester †

Mother: Mary Winchester †

Siblings: Dean Winchester, and Adam Milligan

Children: None (verse dependant)

Occupation: Law Student/Hunter (unemployed)

Orientation: Pansexual

Relationship Status: Single (verse dependant)

Faceclaim: Jared Padalecki

Links

Open Starters

Tags

Headcanons

Ships

Verses

Personality

Sam was a very smart kid growing up! Although all he knew firsthand was the life of a hunter, even from a young age, he still knew enough to know that other kids didn’t have a life like his and that he and his brother deserved better. And he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind about that to his dad! 

He’s stubborn as hell and very passionate about most things and his opinions on them. He’s very selfless in that he will put others first, but unlike his brother who does the same, Sam will actually put himself next, or when he needs. At least he tries to. He’s very aware of himself, what he can and can’t do, what he will and won’t do, and what he wants and doesn’t want.

Sam’s a HUGE people person! In fact, he loves people! And he wants to help them wherever and whenever he can. He’s got a pretty big personality to go with his legitimate big physical height. He has a smile that lights up any room his in, not just because of how genuine it is but because of how contagious it is! He generally wants to see the good in people and in everything. Of course, the man is smart enough to know there isn’t good everywhere, but if you look and try you may just find it! He can be a bit too trusting of people sometimes because of it. Through the years, a shield was put up by his sub-conscious but it seemed to not be strong enough to keep some of the bad people away… Still, Sam consciously works to make sure they don’t push him to shun all people in general!

About

A.N: My versions of Sam, Dean, and Cas are canon divergent. They exist in a world where most if not all events from the Mark of Cain storyline and on did NOT happen! Cas is still and always has been an angel (except when he THOUGHT he was human coming back from Purgatory), the other angels didn’t fall, and Gabriel wasn’t really killed by Lucifer.

Sam was born into a happy home with his mom, his dad, and his big brother Dean. Things seemed to be good for the family of 4 until around the time Sam turned 6-months old. A demon from his mother’s past, Azazel, also known as Yellow-Eyes, came around to collect a debt that Mary, Sam’s mother, had promised long before either of her children were even a thought. That night, everything changed for the Winchesters; Mary was burned alive stuck to the ceiling above Sam’s crib as the house burned down. John, Sam’s dad, tried his best to save his wife passing little baby Sammy off to big brother Dean with orders to get him and himself out of the house to safety. Dean ran out of the house and waited for his dad holding Sammy safely and securely in his arms. It didn’t take John long to realize that he couldn’t save Mary but he still had his boys who still very much needed him alive at least. 

From that day forward John became obsessed with what had happened to his wife. His boys wouldn’t get the most traditional of childhoods, or even the greatest ever, but they’d know how to protect themselves and keep themselves safe. John became a hunter despite to find the being who killed his wife and kill it for himself. He trained his boys to do the same the now family of 3 moving all around America quite often; moving to wherever John found a hunt.

Sam learned to reply much more on his brother than his father. John wasn’t around as much as he probably should have and Dean understood the 2 being in the same situation and all. But still, Dean was loyal to John where Sam wanted a better life not just for himself but for his brother as well. It wasn’t fair that they’d be dragged along in their father’s crusade for revenge. It wasn’t fair that Sam had never gotten to know his mother…

Dean took care of his little brother all through their childhoods and beyond. Sam excelled at school which wasn’t the easiest thing to do when they’d move multiple times during the school year (sometimes multiple times during a single term/half year). Still, Sam was smart and took to Science, Math, and English much better and quicker than his brother. He even enjoyed school!

It was during high school that their constant moving was seriously pushing on Sam’s last nerves. He’d never overly approved of his dad’s parenting methods and although he understood deep down, it was far down enough that he could ignore it, in a way. He was able to take his own wants out of his viewing of his dad, sometimes, and see what was really happening and how bad it was for him and his brother. What John was doing wasn’t right! Dean had already dropped out of school because of how often they moved and the fact that it was just assumed that after each of the boys finished school they simply join their father in his hunting fulltime. Sam had just barely convinced his older brother to get a G.E.D at least.

The main problem was, Sam didn’t want to be a hunter. He didn’t want to continue the hunt for his mother’s killer who they probably wouldn’t even recognize when they found it anyway. If they ever did. The kids in each of the high schools he’d go to kept talking about college or university afterward and Sam wanted to go too! He’d put up with so much, gone through 14 years of John’s searching, if the demon was going to be found by them surely, they would have found it by now?

Half-way through grade 9, he’d decided he was going to college. What for and where he didn’t know, but he was getting out! It was secret he didn’t even tell Dean who he told everything.

Finally, he graduated from high school. Unbeknownst to his family, he’d already set out applications to go to school for Law. That summer, he was accepted into Stanford University.

It wasn’t an easy conversation bringing it up to his dad, hell, it hadn’t been easy bringing it up to Dean, but if anything was a sign it was the acceptance letter in his hand. He was going to go to school, on a full scholarship; he was getting out of hunting.

Of course, there were some good parts of hunting. When he was younger it’d seemed so cool to travel across America, and they really did help a lot of people! But, there were more hunters than just them 3, a fact that was proven pretty easily by his dad’s friend, Bobby, who was like a surgent father to John’s boys. Bobby helped loads of other hunters! And now? Now Sam’s mind was made up. He was going, whether he got their “blessings” or not.

Dean had been sad, and angry too, of course, but he understood and had even told his brother to go no matter what their dad said. John, on the other hand, had said point blank that, if Sam walked out the door to go to school he shouldn’t bother ever coming back. And so he didn’t.

Quite a few years into his schooling Dean popped by except not as a normal brother would visiting their sibling at University. No, Dean broke into the apartment Sam was living at with his girlfriend, Jessica, in the middle of the night.

“Dad’s on a huntin’ trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days.”

Sam knew the code well; it meant that John hadn’t checked in during his last hunt, that Dean wasn’t able to get a hold of him, and that he was assumed missing or worse. It’d been over 2 decades now; John didn’t just stop telling Dean where he was or what he was doing, he didn’t just disappear which meant that something bad had happened.

Sam was reluctant to leave and help but it was his family that was in need and Dean had traveled all the way to him to get him ‘cause he needed his help. No matter how badly he wanted and tried to walk away from the life of a hunter, he couldn’t turn away at his brother’s pleads. And so, Sam promised Dean to help him look for 1 weekend as he needed to be back that Monday for an important appointment with his school.

Their search for John turned up empty the boys doing their best to follow the elder man’s tracks and even pick up a few small hunts on the way, but eventually, Sam needed to go back to Stanford. He didn’t want to leave his brother hanging and left to search alone, but if he missed his appointment, the past 4 years would have been for nothing. It was important not just to his schooling, but to his career afterward, to his life after University, and to him. Dean let him go back, of course, he could never say no to his little brother no matter how much taller then him the kid was now, he was still his little brother, Sammy. And Dean took care of Sammy!

Sam went home to Jessica. It was a little later into the night and so, as soon as he walked through the door he went straight into the bedroom to lay down and rest from the car ride back. It was then that he’d realized that Jess wasn’t actually answering him back, and he’d been talking to her since the moment he’d walked through the front door. A split second later and Sam found her.

Although he wouldn’t remember, being too young at the time to keep a memory of it, when he looked up now at his girlfriend stuck back-flat to the ceiling, her stomach cut and bleeding, a parallel could be connected to his mother dying the same way about 22 years easier in the house fire that changed his life. Another second later and the ceiling Jessica was stuck to caught fire as well.

Dean had stayed around just to make sure his little brother got in and home safe, and stayed that way. It was a good thing too cause as Sam laid on the bed he’d shared with his girlfriend looking up at his girlfriend dying on the ceiling which was catching on fire, Dean had enough time to run up and burst through the apartment’s door. Sam was taken to safety once again by his brother as his home with a loved one trapped inside burned. From the stories of their mother’s death, both of the boys knew right away that it was the work of Azazel.

It really didn’t take much after that to convince Sam that you couldn’t just walk away from the life of a hunter, no matter how badly he wanted to or how well the last 4 years of his life had been. He agreed to go back on the road with Dean in search of their missing father and picking up hunts along the way.

Eventually, the 2 found John, which in of itself came with much more stories than they’d know prior. The family of 3 teaming up again brought a lot of old, sour memories back to the surface. It was like they’d tried to fall back into the same routine they’d had before Sam left. Except, now Sam wasn’t a kid anymore and John couldn’t just make him to do anything and everything. The 2 seemed at each other’s throats more they’d once been, the taste of freedom just too fresh to the younger son.

Just like most things for the Winchesters, it didn’t last. As Sam and John had been starting to rekindle a better relationship, John died, taking Dean’s place on a reaper’s ‘To Reap’ list instead.

The brothers kept hunting on their own ever since. Despite not having their dad by their side anymore, they weren’t ever alone for long, if at all. They still had Bobby, their surgent father, as well as all of the good people they’d meet along the way. Some of them would die as the years past, while others would come and go. It was a life of a hunter, and much sooner rather than later, the boy making their own rules now and doing it all their way, Sam accepted it.

So much had happened to the 2 of them including the fact that they’d both died and come back quite a few times and in various ways. (too many times according to some reapers!). When Dean died the first time being dragged down into Hell by Lilith herself in Sam’s place, he was brought back ‘topside’ by an angel named Castiel. Cas wouldn’t be the only angel the boy would meet, but he’d be the first to join their fight against the supernatural. Team Free Will they’d dub themselves jokingly.

Later on, Hell opened up, and they did their best to close it, the soul of their father coming through the opening to help, giving the ‘door’ that last push to seal it and all the demon inside, as well as himself. They stopped the apocalypse a quite few times as turned out Sam and Dean were destined to be the vessels of the Archangels Lucifer and Michael, respectively. Of course, they weren’t completely on board with that right away but Sam saying yes to Lucifer was their only way to stop the apocalypse. At least this first one. Sam was able to take control of his body for just a little while, long enough to throw himself and Lucifer, as well as he and Dean’s half-brother Adam who was possessed by Michael, into the pitch in Hell to trap them all. That’s how Sam was first tortured in Hell.

Somehow, Sam was able to get out of the pit, only to be back on Earth without his soul. They got it back after Dean finally found out, but it allowed Lucifer back into his mind where he’d be tortured once again for quite a while.

He’d get addicted to demon’s blood, drinking and being in a relationship with a demon named Ruby only for it to come out that she was using him fro Hell’s bidding, who would have guessed? The boys actually had a pretty big relationship with Hell through the years, mostly a love-hate sort of relationship with the 2 of them even teaming up with the new “King” of Hell, Crowley, on multiple occasions!

During a hunt back in Lawrence, Kansas, Sam and Dean met their paternal grandfather, Henry, who used to be a Man of Letters back when their father had just been a boy. It was said that he’d just gone missing one day, but, turned out he’d actually time-traveled to the 21st-century. That how was Sam and Dean found the Men of Letters bunker, where they currently reside leaving when needed to follow a hunt not close by.

[princesslov27]

Immortal Game Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Connection

Victoria kicked him in the groin hard.

“I’m NOT yours.”

He cries out and grasps her hands hard.

“Yes you are!”

“What is wrong with you? I’m not yours until we’re married and right now you’re not making me wanna marry you.”

He chuckles. “But you know you can’t turn me down.”

“Yes I can.”

“If you wanna die sure.”

“I’d rather die than spend the rest of my life with a rapist like you.”

He put a shot in her arm and it made her nearly drop off into sleep and U-Kwon returned to normal. That wasn’t that fun. Not like Suzy had been. Although Victoria was very out of it she could still see that it was U-Kwon. Her half brother. He walked back and forth. What could he do to make her open up nicely? He really didn’t want to seduce her though. Victoria tried to get up slowly. He looks over and pushed her down. She tried to kick him. He frowned. Victoria knew she had to get away, she couldn’t let this happen. He added more to her system to knock her out. It knocked her out enough to not be able to move really but she was still aware of everything around her. U-Kwon sat down and began to look over what he could do.  Victoria tried to reach into her pocket to get out Krystal’s phone. U-Kwon wasn’t paying attention. She fumbled around with it and finally got it out of her pocket. She managed to find Ken’s number and called him, putting it on speaker phone. When Ken answered he was about to ask Krystal what was wrong when he heard U-Kwon’s voice.

“That didn’t work. What is with this bitch? How come she’s so fighty? That’s not like what I’ve researched about her at all. So now what do I do if she doesn’t just accept it like Suzy just accepted me?”

“Maybe I’ve changed,” Victoria said, “Not everyone just accepts things.”

He snorts. “As if that’s true. And how the hell are you still awake? Am I gonna have to strangle you?”

“I’m a lot tougher than ya think U-Kwon.”

He stood up and returned to Gikwang and sneers. “Looks like you need to be taught a lesson, bride-to-be.”

“I’m not your bride.”

“You are. I’m Gikwang. You’re Krystal.”

“And I just decided I’m not gonna marry you.”

‘Gikwang’ laughs. “And you know what’s gonna happen then. You die.”

She smirked slightly.

“I know.”

With any luck she would still be in Krystal’s body if and when that happened.

“I guess if you’re gonna die I might as well enjoy you now.”

He reached for her again. She bat him away tiredly. Ken had heard enough. He’d had it recording the whole time so he ended the call, sent the file to his dad, and ran to try and find Krystal. His father was busy dealing with other problems so he didn’t see the file from Ken. He finally found then right as ‘Gikwang’ had her all tied down and was about to take her. He knocked him down. Victoria was just able to make out that some guy had taken U-Kwon off of her. He growls, hit Ken, angry to be seen by someone other than Krystal and managed to leave quickly after that. Victoria only heard the growling before she completely knocked out because of the drugs. Ken helped her back to her place and Leo. She was still unconscious when he arrived with her. He set her down on the bed.

“What happened?” Luna asked.

“Suzy.... we got U-Kwon. He tried to do the same to Krystal, that he did to you. As Gikwang.”

Suzy’s eyes went wide.

“It’s Victoria actually,” Victoria said as she briefly started to gain consciousness.

“Oh right. I forgot you two switched....” Ken said.

“Three times,” she mumbled.

“Anyway, he tried to get Krystal. So I sent a recording of it to Dad.”

“Your dad is finally gonna take care of this?”

“I hope so.”

“Good, it’s about time.”

Ken looks down at Victoria.

“I’m fine.”

“Thank goodness.”

“U-Kwon doesn’t scare me.”

“He should.”

“That just makes him feel more powerful.”

“Well I suppose.”

“Go home Ken.”

He sighs and left. Victoria would’ve liked to spend time with Ken but she was worried she’d get him in trouble. And right now that was not what he needed. Ken went to his father. Their dad had brought U-Kwon in and was yelling at him. Their dad looked furious and it was clear U-Kwon was not getting away with it for a second time. Ken didn’t smirk he just went to stand beside his father.

“Not only is this the second time you’ve done this but it is also from the same group!” their father yelled at U-Kwon. “You’ve disgraced our family and almost got Ken killed! As of now you are officially out. You are not my son, you will not be the heir and society will deal with you in their way. I do not want to see you ever again.”

“Like hell! You don’t even.... Do you even know how hard that fucking was? Of course I was trying to kill Ken. Don’t tell me you didn’t kill off your own sibling to be King,” he sneered.

“I NEVER killed my siblings!” their father hissed and his eyes turned blood red. “I was appointed by my father, as Ken has been. Nobody like you could ever rule a clan properly.”

U-Kwon hisses back and wanted to attack but instead gave a look at Ken and he made himself to look away so he didn’t look at U-Kwon. Their father then picked U-Kwon up by the scruff of his neck and threw him out the window. Ken sighs in relief.

“I’m glad you got that Father.”

“I’m sure you would’ve come and seen me if I hadn’t.”

“I was on my way to,” he responds sheepishly. “It was actually Victoria in Krystal’s body and was able to resist him and call me smartly. She knew it wasn’t Gikwang.”

“She’s still in Krystal’s body?”

“They’re still switching back and forth.”

He nods a little.

“I think U-Kwon was right though. If it had been Krystal, she woulda taken it. Even though she wouldn’t want to be raped.”

“Victoria did have a lot of fight in her.”

“Yeah, she’s a good girl. She even stood up to you and said no. And you know no one says no to you.”

“Yes, that is true, but sadly that also means she’ll die soon.”

"No. I don't think so."

"It is out of our hands no matter what."

He nods at that. It was true.

"You coming back now?"

"Yes Father. But I want to chose my wife. And I mean one."

“One! You are being ridiculous Ken, you need at least two so you have plenty of heirs just in case something happens.”

"Why should I have a second woman whom I don't love in my life? It's not fair for me and it's not fair for her."

“Because it’s right for the clan. Do you think I wanted a second wife? I took one because I wanted to make sure I had heirs in case anything happened.”

“Dad I already know who I want to marry. And she couldn’t handle sharing me. It would break her. And I don’t wanna be with another woman anyway. Heirs, plenty of them, will happen. If I’m with the woman I love it’s easy to be horny. I don’t get how you could be horny with the women you didn’t love. And your ideas are archaic dad. Just like the idea that females can’t lead. You can’t even see how amazing of a leader Victoria could be because she’s a girl. You don’t look at the rest of our half sisters. It’s a wonder I have any decent brothers who don’t just see girls as babymakers. It’s a wonder there are ANY decent vampire males.”

“Watch your mouth,” his father hissed at him and his eyes glowed red. “If you’d never returned and Victoria hadn’t left she would’ve been the heir. As for my wives, I love all of them and the same goes for my children.”

“Well that’s you... I still can’t see myself loving anyone else than Suzy,” he mumbles.

“SUZY! She’s not even the same species!”

“And? U-Kwon’s kids are proof enough it’s possible.”

“That is not the point. The whole clan will become outcasts in our society.”

He squeezes his fist. He had to leave before this conversation became an insane fight. “I’ll see you later.”

He turned and ran off, back to Suzy. He sometimes hated his father only thinking of vampire society instead of what’s actually right. He wasn’t even sure if he believed his father that Victoria woulda been ruler. His father sighed but sent him a text.

“You are the heir, no matter who you mate. If the clan members leave or suffer because of that choice it is on you. I’m stepping down tomorrow, I expect you to return then.”

“I’ll be there, but I need to talk.”

“Fine.”

He didn’t specify Suzy since he didn’t care if his father thought it was him. He needed to talk with Suzy about this. By the time Ken got back Victoria was physically doing much better. Ken gave her a bow and went to go talk to Suzy. There was gonna be tears. He knew that. From her. And screaming. Victoria gave him a slight nod although she had no idea why he was acting so strange. He was older and the heir so he shouldn’t be bowing to her. He closed the door to Krystal and Suzy’s room and began to talk with her. Victoria did her best not to listen in, it was clearly a private conversation. But it was hard when soon enough loud tears and screams came from Suzy’s mouth at Ken. Victoria winced a little, it was clear things weren’t going well for Ken. Ken let her get hysterical. Victoria grabbed her keys and phone and left. She needed some air.

“You bitch.”

Victoria jumped and looked around. U-Kwon was there.

“I’m taking you out.”

“You got yourself kicked out of the clan.”

“No.”

“Yes, you just refuse to admit it.”

"No."

Victoria smirked a little.

"It'll all be fine later."

“Yeah, for me.”

"For me."

“Yeah right. You’re not protected anymore. Junhyung is gonna kill ya.”

"Not before you're dead," he responds attacking her.

Victoria was ready for it. Her eyes turned a different color and the claws came out as she dodged him. He turned and scratched at her. Victoria didn’t even flinch, she had a high pain tolerance. Krystal's body was crying. Victoria fought back though. She had to deal with him, even if it killed her. But soon enough they were surrounded by both U-Kwon's guys and a bunch of Krystal's clan members. Victoria wished she was in her own body, she knew how to fight in it. She was a good fighter but it was a little awkward in Krystal’s body. The clan members surrounded her to fight for her. Victoria waved them off though.

“U-Kwon is mine.”

“Your Highness.”

“You may have a power but I was always the better fighter,” She said glaring at U-Kwon.

He laughs. A second later a knife was flying through the air and hit U-Kwon right in the heart. He coughs and fell down. She smirked and pulled out another knife and slowly walked toward him, a look in her eye that he’d never seen before but it was a terrifying look.

“W...What the hell?”

“Trying to rape me? You’ve gone off your rocker and then going and blaming your own brother for raping my friend? Did ya think you’d be able to just get away with it. That I’d let you go that easily,” Victoria said in a creepy tone as she played with the knife.

“Of course. So he could be dead.”

“Well he’s not dead now is he? He’s going to be the heir and you have been kicked to the streets. You lose.”

He hisses and struggled to get up. She used her foot and pressed the knife deeper into his heart.

“Now this knife,” she said as she twirled it around, “it’s special. It has been soaked in garlic oil. Ya can’t smell it but one little nick and it would kill you.”

He cries out.

“Unlike me, you’ve got nobody in the world to help you. And that is your weakest point.”

He tried to go back at her. Victoria pushed the dagger into his heart further and then plunged the dagger dipped in garlic oil into his head, right between his eyes. He coughed and died quickly. Victoria then took the two knives out of  him and wiped them off before she hid them back in her sleeves and then walked off without a second look. They all look at each other and left. Victoria texted Suzy and Krystal, “He’s dead,” and then pocketed her phone. No doubt one of them would inform Junhyung and it was U-Kwon’s own fault. There was no way she could’ve killed him if he’d been in the clan but since he’d gotten kicked out like she had then she could kill him.

“Damn. I wanted to kill him.”

“Guess Krystal wanted to do it more,” his second said.

“It wasn’t Krystal,” Junhyung said with a sigh.

“Huh?”

“Nevermind.”

“Okay…”

He hit the wall. His second left, it was clear Junhyung was mad and it was best to not be around when he was like this. Suzy was crying in relief. Luna gave her a little pat and wrapped her arm around her. She sniffs and looks at Luna.

“What am I gonna do? I mean I’m so relieved but.... I might have to cut my relationship with Ken.”

“Why do you think you have to cut ties with Ken?”

“Well he just talked with his dad, and while he wants to marry me, if he only marries me they’ll be outcast. And I couldn’t share my man.”

“Would you be happy with anyone else though?”

“I... had a crush on Ren?” she tried to play it off. “No,” she finally admitted.

“Then say yes.”

“To what? A half marriage? Or being an unknown mistress?”

“It wouldn’t be a half marriage. Ken’s not like that, both you and I know that.”

"I know but he can't help it cuz it's what is expected of him."

“Did he say that he would take another wife?”

"He said that we should talk it out and that was the number one thing he said."

“Then talk it out. Don’t just say no right away.”

"I can't deal with those relationship options Luna!"

Luna sighed.

“I still think you two should talk before you flat out say no.”

She sniffs and nods. Luna smiles a little and gave her a tight hug. She wipes her eyes.

“You’re gonna be fine.”

“I don’t know.”

Luna squeezed her hand.

“I hope.”

“I know.”

She sniffs.

“Whatever happens he still will love you the most.”

“Yeah I know.”

“Good.”

She sighs.

“Come on, lets go find something to eat.”

“Okay.”

Luna smiles and took Suzy’s hand. She let Luna take her somewhere. Luna took Suzy to her favorite restaurant. Meanwhile Victoria was headed back to the dorm, rather pleased with herself. And when she got to the room, a hand grabbed her from behind and put a gag in her mouth. She kicked and hit whoever it was as hard as she could. He stabbed her hard in the back. Victoria groaned and fell to her knees. At the same time Krystal felt like she’d been stabbed too, in fact she was bleeding. Krystal cried out in surprise and turned to see who it was but there was no one there.

“What’s wrong?” Eunji asked.

“I... I’m bleeding...”

“What!?”

“I.... I don’t know.... Why....”

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

She shudders.

“What if something happened.... To Victoria? To my body?”

“I’ll have Leo check it out but we should get you home.”

She slowly nods and leans into Eunji as she began to lose consciousness. Eunji picked her up and carried Krystal to her car as she called Leo. Leo answered immediately.

“What’s up?”

“Go check on Victoria right now. Krystal is bleeding but nobody has touched her.”

His eyes went wide. “On it!”

Eunji quickly drove Krystal back to Leo’s since that was were she was currently staying. Leo was texting Junhyung and knocking on JR’s door. They had a problem. Victoria, in Krystal’s body, was missing. JR opened the door half naked and a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Hey Leo what’s up?”

“Victoria... well Krystal is missing.”

“What?”

“Victoria in Krystal’s body. Plus Krystal in Victoria’s body started bleeding but she hadn’t been attacked.”

“Who would want to hurt either of them?”

“I don’t know but I’m worried.”

“Yeah...me too.”

“Will you help me?”

“Of course.”

“Just make sure you’re dressed.”

“Give me two minutes, I was at the gym.”

“Fine. It’ll be enough time for Junhyung to come anyway.”

“Okay.”

Leo went inside and sat down, not happy about it. JR went to his room to get changed. He didn’t like it either. Junhyung came soon and Leo let him in before he blew up. JR came out a few minutes later.

“Okay, lets go.”

“There was blood on Krystal’s floor and a masked scent,” Leo said.

“Who would be after Krystal? It’s not like she’s wronged anyone.”

“It could be one of U-Kwon’s guys. Victoria in Krystal’s body took him out only an hour ago,” Junhyung offered.

“That is true but the band was just on the news.”

“Yeah but she killed him. So U-Kwon couldn’t be in anymore songs even if he wanted to.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Junhyung sighs.

“I still think they’d be a good place to start.”

“Fine by me.”

Leo nods as Junhyung turns and ran off to where the guys should be. JR and Leo followed him, right on his heels. Junhyung started to stake it out and Leo gave a sniff.

“Same weird scent,” he said softly.

“Something is definitely going on,” JR said as he crept up behind them to watch.

Junhyung growls silently, nodding. The guys hid on the rooftop of the apartment complex across the street and watched the place. There were people bustling back and forth. For a while they didn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Things looked completely fine. But then they saw U-Kwon and a bloody woman.

“I thought U-Kwon was dead,” JR said in a low tone.

“She sent Krystal that she did, including a photo that Krystal forwarded to me,” Junhyung says in confusion.

“U-Kwon doesn’t have a power we don’t know about does he?”

“Um..... that would be insanity.”

“Very funny,” JR said. “But I’m being serious. Although Victoria doesn’t have any it’s not uncommon for vampire heirs or leaders to have one or two powers.”

Junhyung nods a little.

“Then it must be so.”

“Yeah but what? We should figure that out before we just go and attack.”

"How are we gonna figure it out?"

“Maybe Ken knows.”

Leo nods and contacted Ken.

"Um... I... I think it's... Body doubles?"

JR looked at Leo.

"He says he thinks it's body doubles. In other words, Victoria coulda killed a body double."

“Terrific, then we won’t know if we’ve taken him out or not.”

"No we won't."

JR sighs. Terrific, that just made their life that much more difficult.

"Yeah. This isn't good."

“So what do we do now?”

"We try to figure out how to jump them."

“Yeah, but who knows if his band members are in on it.”

“We don’t, which means we’re probably gonna be prepared to be up against all of them.”

JR nods.

“There is five and then U-Kwon and we should take the others out just in case we all have to deal with U-Kwon.”

JR nods again, “Yeah….guess that makes sense.”

He nods and Leo took a deep breath and then after a bit found a good back way in. The guys followed him, Leo was the best at this sort of stuff. He slowly walked around. The guys did their best to stay quiet. They were able to take one or two by surprise this way, slowly making their way to the room they’d seen from outside. JR was rather good, working out so much paid off really well. Leo sighs at that. It was good. JR gave him a wink as they got close to the door. Leo bit his lip. If she was dead, he was going to make sure U-Kwon felt it before he died. JR. gave a little nod to Junhyung and Leo and then kicked open the door. Junhyung was right behind and Leo was last. JR looked around, taking in the scene. Krystal’s bloodied body with Victoria in it, was tied up and bleeding still. There was no sign of U-Kwon, at first, but then they could smell him as they got closer to Krystal.

“Come out asshole,” Junhyung growls.

U-Kwon slowly became visible.

“Hello again dog.”

“You fucked up my daughter.”

“Look at it on the bright side, you got two grandkids.”

He growls more. U-Kwon chuckled.

“Now this one, well this one is just trouble. Hard to believe you’d stand for her.”

“She’s Krystal, my assistant.”

“She’s a very bad assistant.”

“No. She’s the best assistant.”

“This scrawny little thing. Please everyone knows she’s just a bitch.”

“She is like a daughter and a best friend and takes my rage and can calm me down,” he growls even more, shifts, and attacks him.

U-Kwon stepped out of the way and hit him across the back with a bat. He growls but Leo attacked him at the same time then and Junhyung turned around and attacked again. Two other U-Kwon’s appeared in the room and JR went after them. None of them were sure which one was the real deal. Junhyung and Leo were tearing into the same one and then Leo left to go help JR. JR had already ripped the head off of one of them and was working on the second one. Leo noticed and headed back to help Junhyung. JR didn’t need help. JR finished a few moments later and hurried over to Krystal. Krystal and Victoria had switched back.

“Krystal?” JR asked worried.

She looks at him and her eyes crossed.

“No, no, don’t you die on us.”

She coughs up blood but reached for him. JR picked her up. She curls up into him, tears came from her eyes, and more blood came up. JR called 911 and gave them the address of the warehouse. They came as quickly as possible but it was still 20 minutes while Junhyung, Leo, and U-Kwon were still fighting. U-Kwon was getting in some very good shots. He was a good fighter, and for good reason. Plus he’d been prepared. The paramedics took Krystal quickly. Junhyung and Leo were working hard. JR called Gikwang and Krystal’s dad and once Gikwang had arrived he hurried to go help Leo and Junhyung. The paramedics only let him in when he said he was her fiance and were finally off even though they had been working hard to keep her alive the whole time. Gikwang held her hand, she couldn’t die. No, not now. She looks at him. How did he get there? Gikwang gave her a little smile and squeezed her hand.

“Don’t die.”

She coughs up more blood, her heart getting weaker and then the paramedics helping to try and keep it strong. One of the nurses told Gikwang to step out of the room so they could work. He didn’t want to but did as he was asked. Krystal closed her eyes. She was thinking of Gikwang, wanting him. The doctors worked away, after a few minutes they rushed her to surgery. The surgery lasted at least six hours as there was a lot to do. Ravi kept calling Gikwang and texting him, asking where he was and telling him about the work he was missing. Gikwang finally answered just to get Ravi off of his back. Sending him a short text, “At hospital, fiance in surgery.”

“Oh. I keep getting freaked out by you saying fiance.”

“Well get used to it cuz I have one.”

“Fine. I’ll figure it out.”

"Thank you Ravi."

A few hours later she was being wheeled into recovery. Gikwang was waiting for her. Very worried. They didn't at first let him in but finally they did. Her chest and neck were covered in bandages and she was still slumbering. Gikwang took her hand in his and just held it while he sat down next to her bed. She had been cold but warmed up to that. Gikwang was relieved to see her out of surgery. She was breathing fine and almost conscious. He smiled a little, happy she seemed to be okay now. It looked like she would make it. She groans.

“Krystal?”

She slowly opens her eyes. Gikwang smiles at her. She saw him, and blushed.

Then she tried to ask, “What happened?”

“U-Kwon.”

“Is everyone else okay?”

“I think so. Although I think for some reason Victoria got hurt too, although I don’t know for sure.”

She felt awful over that.

“Things are going to be okay. U-Kwon is dead though.”

“He is?”

“Yes.”

She sighed in relief. Gikwang gave her a little smile. She reached for him and then lost her voice again. Gikwang took her hand again and held it in his. She coughs and closes her eyes. Gikwang smiles a little, she did need to rest. Ravi sent him a check in text.

“She’s out of surgery and in recovery.”

“So can you work tomorrow?”

"Yes, I can "

"Good cuz that's all I could put it off for."

Gikwang chuckled a little.

"If I needed it I am sure you could do more."

"I spoil you too much."

Gikwang laughed.

"Maybe."

"Tell me when something's wrong."

“I will.”

“I’ll cya tomorrow on set at 8am.”

“Okay.”

Krystal awoke again. Gikwang smiles at her. They’d moved her to a room now. She was a little frightened when the nurses started moving her. Gikwang squeezed her hand.

“It’s okay.”

She relaxed then. He smiled at her. She closed her eyes. Her throat and chest hurt.

“I can stay today but I need to work tomorrow.”

She nods, having lost her voice.

"I will come by though."

She smiles at that.

"I'll come by when I can."

She smiles more. He smiles and gave her a little kiss. She blushes brightly.

"Your phone is right next to your bed so text me if you want me to bring something."

She nods and then texted him, “Thanks.”

"Of course."

“I actually.... Need Junhyung. He’s probably overly angry already.”

"Okay."

She smiles.

"I'll let him know you're awake."

She nods. Gikwang smiled at her and then stepped out of the room to make a call. As he did, he was caught by Daehyun, a completely worried big brother instead of a stoic man. Gikwang smiled at him a little.

“She’s awake.”

“Thank God.”

“You can go in.”

“No.... I can’t.... Dad...”

“What about him?”

“He would get upset at me.”

“For what? She’s your sister.”

“Yeah but I’m supposed to not have my memories.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t see her.”

“Not without making her feel worse.”

“Sounds like things need to be fixed at home.”

“It should be.... Once you two marry.”

“We’re engaged, isn’t that enough?”

He shook his head.

“Why not? Your dad think I’m gonna break it off?”

“It’s a precaution so yes.”

“Well I’m not gonna.”

He gave a small smile.

“Promise.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

He took a deep breath and left. Gikwang sighed a little. His phone buzzed, reminding him he had a call he wanted to make. He made the call to Hoya.

“Hey bro what’s up?”

“My fiance got attacked that’s what.”

“You’re still with her? I thought our sisters... er never mind. So what are you gonna do?”

“What do you mean about our sisters?”

He sighs. “You know our sisters want to be the ones to pick out our girls and then also want to decide when we’re ready so... they one by one each told Mr. Jung that you didn’t want her.”

“WHAT!”

“Are you really that surprised?”

“They almost got her killed.”

“Eh?”

“If she doesn’t marry me her dad has to kill her.”

“That’s insane.”

“It’s the way her family is. She’s already got too many chances.”

“Well guess it’s a good thing you salvaged that then and didn’t let our sisters actually cancel the wedding.”

“Yeah.”

“So what are you planning on doing about your fiance being attacked? It wasn’t our sisters right?”

“No, it was her best friend’s brother. I think her clan leader took care of him.”

“Her dad took care of him? Wow, that’s a high strung dad.”

"Yeah well it wasn't the first time he had done something like this."

"Anyway... did you call me for no reason?"

"Just wanted to check in.”

"Okay. I'll be here for ya."

"Thanks Ravi."

Hoya laughs. "Bro, am I really Ravi now?"

Gikwang laughed.

"Just making sure you were paying attention."

"Alright. Cya soon."

"Yeah..."

“Make sure to bring her. I wanna meet her.”

"When she is doing better I will."

"Okay. Looking forward to it."

“Me too.”

Hoya ends the call and shook his head. Gikwang and their sisters were gonna be at odds for awhile over this. Gikwang sighed. He was gonna have talk to his sisters.

He got a text from Krystal. "I... like you..."

"I like you too."

He got a blush emoticon as the response. Gikwang smiled. She tried to sit up but it hurt too much. She texted Eunji to find out how Victoria was doing.

"Better than you were. But still bad."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

“I guess.”

“Victoria probably feels that she is responsible since she was in your body.”

“I’m just glad that Masquerade’s promotions are over.”

“Yes, that is good.”

“Because I have no voice.”

“And in no condition to work.”

“I have to get back to work.”

“Not now you’re not.”

“In a day.”

“You’re not gonna get well in a day.”

“As long as I can walk, I can work.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not.”

“Do ya think Leo will let ya?”

“He knows that I have things to do.”

“So.”

“So I can work.”

“We’ll see.”

“Thanks Eunji.”

“Of course.”

She lay back more. Gikwang smiles at her. She smiles a little as Junhyung finally came in, looked at her, growled under his breath, and took her hand. She took his excessive anger and felt a bit better. Gikwang stepped out so they could have some privacy. Junhyung left after awhile.

“I need you to try and get her to stay here for as long as possible.”

“I don’t think the doctors will let her go until she’s healed enough.”

“She thinks if she can walk, she can work.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean the doctors will let her out.”

Junhyung smiles a bit.

"When I am here I will make sure she stays."

Junhyung patted his back.

"Heard you took care of U-kwon."

“Yes but I almost wish I still had him. Seeing what he’s done to her.... Makes me want to kill him all over again.”

"She'll make it out of this."

"She'll make it out of this."

“She’d better. She’s my best.”

“Doctors say she has a good chance.”

“Good. And try to keep this away from her father. He’s a psycho when it comes to those who harm his family. I would know, we’re cut from the same cloth.”

“And if he finds out what am I supposed to tell him?”

“Send him my way. I did kill the man he would then want to kill.”

“Okay…”

Junhyung nods. Gikwang gave him a small smile. She texted Leo for her stuff.  Victoria slowly woke up and groaned. Leo looks at Victoria.

“What happened?”

"You killed one of U-Kwon's doubles so U-Kwon kidnapped you, tortured you, but halfway through you and Krystal switched back. As yourself, you only got a partial transfer from Krystal's body, which is why you only need a back bandage and a sling and can still talk and move."

“Krystal?”

"Hospital, had surgery for 7 hours, can't talk or move well."

“I’m sorry.”

"It's not your fault and now he's truly gone."

“Yes it is.”

"Krystal knows the dangers of switching with you."

“Still.”

"Promotions for Masquerade are over so it's fine. She has a whole 8 or 9 months until she needs to start practicing for the next comeback."

“Which is a good thing. She needs to heal.”

"She does indeed."

Victoria smiled a little.

"I've gotta go deliver her laptop or she'll get angsty. You gonna be good?"

“Yeah I’ll be fine.”

He smiles and leans down and gives her a small kiss on the cheek before he left. Victoria gave a half smile and pet Loki. He woofs. She laughed slightly. He licks her. She smiles and pulled him onto her lap. He wriggles around. She smiled at him. She hoped Krystal would be OK. He lay down. Victoria curled up to him. He grins. She gave him a little kiss and then closed her eyes to sleep. He keeps wagging his tail. Thor was by her side, keeping an eye out for trouble. Loki wriggles out of her arms to play with his dad. Thor smiles at him. He began to crawl all over and gnaw on his daddy’s ears. Thor hit him a little with his paw. He grins and paws at his daddy. Thor licked him. He rubs against him. Thor smiles at the little guy.

“P.... pl.... Play!” he stuttered over his first word.

Thor laughed and smiled at the puppy.

“Good job on your first word.”

He pants happily. Thor chuckles.

“Go get your ball.”

He jumps down and ran to get his ball. Thor chuckled a little and jumped off the bed. He pushed it closer. Thor rolled it back with his nose. He ran after it and sent it back. Thor chuckles and continued to play with Loki. He played until he lay down, worn out. Thor settled down too. He curls up to his daddy. Thor fell asleep with one eye open. Leo came back and chuckles. Victoria was fast asleep as well. He picks the dogs up and put them on the bed and sat down in his chair. Victoria curled up to them. Leo smiles. Victoria slept peacefully, holding onto the dogs.

“I.... think I love you,” he whispered mainly to himself.

“Love ya too,” she mumbled.

His eyes went wide. Victoria smiled a little in her sleep. He looks at her. She was half asleep.

“Victoria?”

“What?” she mumbled.

“Did you... register that for real?”

“It’s two in the morning Leo.”

“Sorry.”

She sighed and pushed herself up.

“What? What is it?”

“I.... I love you.”

Victoria blushed.

“I…………..I love you too.”

He smiles and walks over and kisses her lips. Victoria blushed but kissed him back. He held her gently and refused to hurt her.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For everything.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

She gave him a half smile. He lay beside her. She gave a small smile and closed her eyes again. He held her to him. Victoria snuggled up and fell asleep again. He caressed her gently. Victoria slept peacefully for the first time in a long time. He brought her breakfast in bed the next morning. Victoria blushed a little.

"Thanks....but I wanna go see Krystal after breakfast."

She gave him a small smile. Leo nods. She gave him small smile. He pat her.

"Is everyone else okay?"

"JR has a nice scar that Amber enjoys, I and Junhyung have more than one new scar but we had plenty before that so it's no big deal."

"I'm sorry. I should've stopped him sooner."

"It's no fault of your own. And you thought you killed him."

"But I should've know it was a double."

"How are you to have known that?"

“If you look close enough you can tell. If you know what to look for.”

He gave a half smile.

"I just didn't think about it when it happened," she sighed.

"It's fine."

She gave a half smile.

“Eat and I’ll take you to Krystal.”

She nods as she ate. He sat down. Half an hour later they had arrived at the hospital and as Victoria got out of the car she saw her mom exiting the hospital. Her mom noticed her too and gave her a quick sad smile and then left without any other acknowledgement. Leo helped Victoria upstairs to Krystal’s room. Victoria took it easy, at least there was no stairs to deal with. He helped her inside, just warning her. She gave him a little smile. Krystal opened her eyes and then smiles.

“Hi...I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

Krystal texted her. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is, I went after him in the first place.”

“You wanted to stop him.”

“I know.”

“So it’s not your fault,” she texted.

“It is, so don’t make it out that it isn’t.”

“Victoria, I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Victoria, stop putting yourself down.”

She didn’t say anything.

“I am okay and I will be okay and sure it’s fine to be upset but you don’t have to act this way.”

Victoria gave a half smile.

“That’s better.”

“How’s Suzy doing?”

“She’s withdrawn.”

“Why? She has Ken now doesn’t she?”

“I think they haven’t been able to reconcile.”

“Why?”

“I think he did decide to let your father chose his wife.”

“WHAT!?”

“Thinking for the clan is harder than love.”

“I know that. But after everything…”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been able to get much out of her and obviously haven’t talked to him.”

“Oh…”

She ran her hand over her throat before texting, “I think if that is true then Suzy just needs some time to herself.”

She nodded a little. Ken was an idiot if he didn’t take Suzy.

“So.... how are you?”

“Better than you.”

“But not great.”

“It’s just a bruise, I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah..”

“I’ll be better soon.”

“I hope so.”

Krystal beams at her.

“Just take it easy.”

“No, got a lot to do.”

“You can have Leo help you.”

“You’d be fine if I took him?”

“He’s your bodyguard.”

“And your mate.”

“You need rest so Leo will help.”

“You’re avoiding that aren’t you?”

“No, not at all.”

“Okay but sister, it’ll be okay.”

“I’m more worried about you.”

“If worse comes to worse I’ll just pull out of Masquerade, which people would be fine with anyway, or find a replacement.”

“Lets hope it doesn’t come to that.”

She gave a half smile. Victoria gave a little smile.

“I love you sister.”

“Ya know we’re not sisters right?”

“We are soul sisters and Leo is basically my brother so yes we are.”

Victoria gave a little laugh.

“I guess that is true.”

She smiles.

“I am sorry about everything. We should’ve stopped U-Kwon sooner.”

“I’m not angry at you.”

“You should be.”

“Why? It was him not you.”

“But I should’ve stopped him before he did something again.”

“Victoria! STOP!”

“What? It’s true. I had a standing before I left. I could’ve done something.”

“But you were even with him and your father wouldn’t have believed you because you wouldn’t have had evidence.”

Victoria nodded a little.

"So, stop saying things that aren't really true.”

Victoria thought about saying something but didn't. Krystal reaches out her arms for a hug. Victoria leaned over and gave her a little hug. She closes her eyes, enjoying the hug.

"No work though, promise."

Krystal grimaces.

"You need to rest."

"But..."

“No but’s. I’ll lock up all your work if that’s what it takes.”

She sent a groaning emoji but finally obviously relented. Victoria smiles.

“Besides, I’m sure the doctors would agree.”

"I guess."

“It’s true.”

"Alright."

“Good,” she said smiling at her.

She lay back.

“I should go, I’ll come by again.”

"Looking forward to it."

Victoria gave her a little smile and then left. Looked like all of this was over. Everything would go back to normal. Relatively, she couldn’t go back to her family. Not ever. Leo follows her, pulls her into his arms, and kisses her.

"I will make you never feel alone."

[weaselle]

I’ll try copying and pasting and see if it gets flagged, thank you for your patience folks

okay so I put together this theory, from a combination of my fascination with  early human development, and my love of zoology. Idk, I’m not really a genius, somebody else has probably written a book on it, but as I see it:

human beings rose/survived, because men help women. It is not a woman’s place to help a man… women are the ones doing the important work and the true labor, and part of why humans are so successful is because men evolved to be women’s helpers. see, alright, I don’t want to make a really long post, but basically, as brains get bigger, babies A: are more difficult/dangerous to birth, and therefore are born at an smaller/more helpless stage of development and B: have a lot more brain to develop and therefore take much longer to mature mentally, resulting in much longer childhoods. THIS MEANS: a mother’s level of care in raising a baby becomes more intense, and lasts longer, and, importantly, begins to overlap more and more. You wind up with more than one helpless child at once. Modern great apes can’t have 10 overlapping children, because they reach adulthood in about 7 years and are totally incapable of caring for five or six offspring. They do face the beginning stages of this issue and sometimes have one infant and one other child at the same time - and what we see is, (for example) chimp daughters go through a stage of wanting to hold babies and sort of play “mom” which is very convenient for a tired mother chimp who could really use the occasional baby sitter. The boys don’t help much. The boys wind up having to go live with all the other fighty young adult boys in their own group (that’s chimps - baboon boys have to go off solo to find another group that doesn’t know how shitty they’ve been, and other apes have other situations, but baboon and gorilla daughters go through the babysitter stage like chimps).

“Alpha” males (such a stupid designation) do engage in some fatherhood activities, bit it is pretty minimal compared to what the mothers do. Humans though, started having babies… while they had toddlers, while they had an eight-year old, all while their oldest two kids still required care… and at some point they needed a lot more help Now when you look at when that difficult overlap of children started happening in early humankind, it coincides with a steady decline in sexual dimorphism. (I don’t want to talk down to anyone, but sexual dimorphism is when animals of the same species are very different shapes depending on their sex, look at orangutans for an example of this)

^^^mom^^^

^^^dad^^^

See, most male mammals are sort of built to fight and fuck, and that about ends their usefulness to the species. So even in purely vegetarian gorillas we see enormous canine teeth only in the dude gorillas, and they are about twice the size of the lady gorillas; they are mostly big fighty motherfuckers who spend 90% of their lives just sort of hanging around in case anybody needs any fighting or fucking.

^^^look at the size and shape difference between mom and dad here, and mom doesn’t have the same kind of fangs - below, you can see the difference in not only teeth, but the sagittal crest, that bone mohawk that lets strong biting muscles anchor to the skull. Both eat the same exact diet of leaves, the big pointy teeth and strong biting muscles are for fighting

(Unsurprisingly the big males in apes of all kinds often sort of bully their way into getting/going/doing whatever they want, and for some reason male humans observed this and thought it was leadership. I’ll have to do a whole other post on the leadership dynamics of social mammals, because the bull does not lead the cows my friends…) ANYway as humans got bigger brains and more intense childhoods, men started getting much less comparatively fighty, and more equally sized/shaped. Humans became less sexually dimorphic. Not all the way, obviously, but a LOT, especially compared to a great many mammals. You can see a discrepancy in sexual dimorphism even between chimpanzees and the bonobo chimps whose males no longer fill the fight function (it’s easy to tell from their physiology that both male and female bonobos aren’t fighting as much, and as we all know, everybody in bonobo society is taking on the fuck role). Take a look, bonobo males and females are much more similar to each other than we see in classic chimps, being nearly the same height with much less of a weight difference.

We can see similar things happened in early-human / pre-human species like Australopithecus, a lessening of dimorphic physicality

Clearly the men weren’t doing as much fighting. What were they spending their time on? Well, as I pointed out, right at the same time they were losing their fighting adaptations, the children were needing a lot more care. I think early human men weren’t fighting as much because they were too busy being dads

So my theory is this: protohuman women started having several children a few years apart, who needed more care and supervision for longer. The helpful daughter behavior probably became even more selected for. Soon, any mother who had a son who was also interested in helping with his younger siblings had an advantage in raising successful successors.

And any boy who grew up helping to raise his younger siblings, or being partially raised by an older brother, those boys were going to be more apt and able to help raise their own children later in life, giving that family a real advantage. At the same time, if most of the men were helping raise children, it would have left previously “male” activities with less individuals to do them. I believe men being active in child rearing combined with natural human social adaptability to solve this, by raising more daughters to fulfill those “male” roles as needed.

Female gorillas cannot fight off leopards and other gorillas nearly as well as male gorillas can, the males are literally 200 pounds heavier and have serious physical adaptations for deadlier biting. Female humans, on the other hand, can pretty much do anything male humans can do, partially due to a lessening of sexual dimorphism.

(Similar forces are at play with meerkats - everybody helps with the kids, everybody fights in territory raids, and as you can see in this picture of two meerkats mating, there is very little difference in physical size or shape)

Basically, I believe that men stepping up to help women is the very thing that enabled us to become human, and that women being perfectly capable of doing whatever men can do is the human trait that allowed that to work so well. if men couldn’t fill nurturing parenting and familial roles as needed… and if women couldn’t be anything a man can be…  I don’t think humans would have become humans.

Bigger brained children with longer periods of helplessness would have died off and we never would have developed increased intelligence and evermore cooperative and complex social dynamics. So for a man to be a good father/son/brother/partner/community member… for a man to help do all of the things that women do daily, I think is one of the most truly human things a man can do. And for a woman to decide to do anything a man would do, is again, the epitome of being human. Our ability to easily fill roles other more rigidly gendered primates would struggle to fill is a quintessential aspect of our humanity. We’ve only come away from that model in the last few thousand years after more than 3 million years of sticking with it,. Men accepting their role as women’s helpers and child care providers is still the best way to bring the species back in order, imo. THAT’s “just human nature”. THAT’s “just biology” and that’s the theory that sort of presented itself to me in the course of my personal studies.

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flagged every time I reblog the original (you know, the good one with the notes and tags and stuff)

 trying this post again, this way to see if it gets flagged and because I would like to be able to put it back on my timeline whenever I want and for it to be reblog-able, that’s the whole point of this website – and so far I’m not seeing it on the pages of people when my notes tell me they reblog it