#the next bus to be due while shes gone i finish sorting things she then calls asks me to book a taxi cus the rain has only gotten worse when

[nerdie-faerie]

This has got to be the worst move out yet

[fictiondetox]

Day 2

Hi. My name is... well, you can call me Cy. I'm a 2⍰ year old trans man (he/him or they/them), and... I'm addicted to sexual content. I never thought I would be in a situation where it would be less embarrassing to say I'm addicted to porn, but that's not exactly what this is. I'm addicted to reading erotic material, especially fanfiction.

I've felt for a while that this might be the case, but I never wanted to admit it to myself. But a few days ago, I discovered something that made me realize it was time to start acknowledging this. As if being addicted to fanfiction wasn't embarrassing enough, I stumbled across a TikTok - yes, a TikTok - that talked about how edging can really fuck with your mental and physical health if it's done often, and I realized that by reading erotic fiction for hours every day, that's essentially what I'm doing. I had considered this as a possibility, way in the back of my mind (I have a psych degree, and I studied the relationship between dopamine and addiction a good amount in college), but hearing some random person say it out loud forced me to face it head-on. I've been very sick lately, mentally and physically, and while I think there are a lot of contributing factors, I believe the dysregulation of dopamine in my system is one of them.

I've been reading explicit fanfiction since I was 13 years old. Fanfiction in general played a major role in helping me discover my gender and sexuality, and I'm grateful for that, but that doesn't change the fact that I was reading and writing sexual material way too young.

I've been involved in my current fandom for about 4 years and have slowly gotten into reading and writing fanfiction for it in that time. It started off harmlessly enough, but even as far back as two years ago, I noticed it taking up more of my time than I wanted it to. I was starting to read stories that paired characters that I didn't even like together just to get more content. I was lying down next to my partner after she fell asleep, secretly reading explicit fanfic on my phone. I was playing out fanfiction scenarios in my head while driving, while working, while on the bus, etc.

It's only gotten worse in the past year. I'm trapped in a job that I hate, and fanfic has been one of my primary escapes from that. But it's turned from fairly standard, vanilla fics into extreme kink/BDSM stories, things that actually feel disrespectful to the people involved in the canon content. I've even gone as far as reading it on my breaks at work, which just makes me feel like a creep.

I've been experiencing a lot of fatigue, pain, and headaches that seem to have gotten worse as I've started reading more and more hours per day. I thought that I was reading so much because I was too tired to do anything else, and while that may be true, I think it's a cycle - the reading may be what's causing my symptoms in the first place due to fluctuating, addiction-type dopamine levels.

I want to be done justifying it to myself. I don't know if I can say that I'm done reading it for good, but I'm confident that I can't justify it anymore. I'm 2 days "clean" but still have all the tabs open for the fics I never finished, and honestly, the ones with heavy plots are going to be a bitch to let go of, like abandoning a book you love and knowing you'll never finish it.

I have no idea what my plan is from here. But I'm hoping that keeping a sort of journal here will help me. No negativity will be tolerated here; this is a space for me to log my progress and setbacks and to ultimately grow into a happier and healthier version of myself.

[whaleofatjme1920]

In the Backyard Catching Fireflies (Hoodie X F!Reader X Masky)

In the Backyard Catching Fireflies

[Hoodie X F!Reader X Masky]

[Warnings: slight blood]

You honestly could have dreamed you would be in this type of situation if you were looking at this from the lens of last year's Reader. It was a mistake to even make contact with them to begin with.

As a child, your mother would often bring you into the woods to look for fun things: flowers, mushrooms, rocks, sometimes bones or pieces of trees. Other times, she brought you out there to practice her own magick, other days it was just to spend time in nature, and every other time than those reasons was just to spend time with you, her one and only beloved daughter. The correct term would be ‘witch’ but your mother never actually called herself one. Magickal practitioner, maybe, but never a ‘witch.’ You, on the other hand, absolutely took that term with pride.

You being a witch was what accidentally caused you to meet them to begin with. One evening, while out and about in the forest on the edge of town where you looked for fresh violets to eventually make violet syrup for your daughter’s ‘magical creature tea party,’ you found your favorite stretch of woods filled with the scent of blood. How strange, and it didn’t strike you as an animal’s blood. No, this was much stronger, more metallic, and carried the weight of sins past in its wake. As you looked around the forest to see what on earth was causing the terrible scent, you saw two men get spit out in between the trees. They flailed for a moment before getting tossed onto the forest floor, looking so much worse for wear.

“Oh my gods!” You exclaimed in surprise as you began to run over to the two, wondering if they were okay. You drew cautiously near them, only momentarily pausing to grab a large stick from the ground should they pounce when you finally got close enough to see their faces. How peculiar - their faces were covered. The one in the yellow hoodie had a ski-mask with a frown etched onto its surface, and the one in the tan coat was donned with a white mask with feminine features.

Your eyes flicked down to their midsections - that’s where the blood came from. They’re out cold, and you confirm that by trying to get them up. No dice. Against your better judgement, you load them onto your little wagon and bring them back to the car. It wouldn’t be right for you to just… leave them to bleed all over the forest floor.

You entered back into your house around the early evening, tired from trying to drag two grown men much bigger than you into your garage and set them up so you can work on them.

“Mommy?” Your small daughter’s voice piped in as she popped her head through the door leading to the garage where you were. “Who are they?”

“Got hurt,” you replied. “Can you get me the first aid kit?”

Your little girl smiled widely and nodded before she quickly zoomed back into the house. “Make sure to get the lavender and rosemary oil too! Can you do that for me, Magnolia?” You called out.

You heard your little girl running around as if she went back to get something. She eventually came back to the door, her arms full of things she thought you needed and the things you actually needed. “Thank you so much, baby,” you said with a small smile, petting her head as she put the things down on the table for you. “Go upstairs and watch some TV for me, okay? I don’t think I want to overwhelm our guests.”

At the sound of being able to watch more spongebob, she zoomed off and allowed you to get to work.

You mentally asked the two men before you to forgive the intrusion as you lifted their shirts to get at their wounds. You’re not sure you’ve ever seen something like this before. Is that… Are those claw marks? You dab a piece of cloth with some isopropyl alcohol and move to the white masked man and get three of the four lines cleaned when he awoke. His eyes shot open and his hand was gripping painfully tight at your wrist.

“Who the hell are you?” He asked in a panic, struggling to get you off of him in his half awake state. “Where are we?”

“Woah!” You cried out as you attempted to wriggle your hand free from his grasp. “I’m just cleaning you up-”

“Where are we?” He’s rattling off questions so fast and so loud that it wakes the second one up.

Due to you not being able to hold him down as well, he was able to pounce up and pin you to the ground, ready to end your life.

“Agh- stop!” You cried out in shock. “I just wanted to patch you two up!”

The man in the ski mask looked into your eyes for any hint of lying, or deception only to find none. Still, you were a normal person getting involved with two proxies. That in itself warrants death according to their society’s rules - and the Slender Man’s will.

“Wait,” the man in the white mask sighed. “Let her finish this up. You’re bleeding out on the floor.”

On cue at his comrade’s words, Hoodie glanced down to his midsection. He was indeed bleeding out on the garage floor and by extension, you. Realizing he was in no state to even consider inflicting damage, he relented.

An awkward silence quickly built up once you were back working on them. “So… What’re your names?”

“Hoodie.”

“Masky.”

“Interesting names,” you noted as you continued to work. “I’m Reader.”

“Interesting name,” Masky mirrors.

You laugh slightly.

That wasn’t the last you saw of the two men. They left almost immediately after being patched up much to your chagrin, but came back about a week later to properly thank you.

“We noticed some spell books in your garage before we left,” Hoodie began before nodding for Masky to go to the back of the car (they stole). “One of them being florals and it looked like you had some space in the front of your house. So, we brought you some flowers.”

You move your vision from over Hoodie’s shoulder to see Masky holding planters full of flower’s you’ve never even seen before. “Oh my gods,” you said in slight surprise as Masky places the small bushes down in front of their designated spots.

“We can plant them for you - or if you don’t like them we can-”

“No, no! They’re beautiful and the front lawn needs some color,” you beamed, looking at the array of colors dotting your front lawn. “How did… Where did you even find those?”

“We know a guy,” Masky said as he went back to the car to get a shovel.

You ended up going out there to help them plant the flower bushes and spent some more time in their company while you worked.

“So, tell me about yourself,” Masky said as he began to carefully place one of the shrubs into the dirt.

“Too broad,” you teased slightly.

Masky rolled his brown eyes. “You and magick.”

“My mother practiced, now I do,” you replied as you gently scooped back some of the dirt. “Most of it is home related work, but these plants are such a big help.” You took in their sweet scent. Come to think of it, you don’t think you’ve ever seen these types of flowers before anywhere. “What about you two?”

“Travelers, of some sort,” Hoodie piped in. “Never stay in one place for too long.” He glanced over to Masky to continue.

“That’s pretty much it,” Masky whistled slightly. “Used to be film students. Now we just… Go wherever the winds take us.”

From there, you began to hear stories from the two. Mostly little adventures they’d gone to, creepy towns they never wished to visit ever again, people they wished they stayed in contact with and everything and anything in between. It was actually rather nice to talk to other adults - and while they were relatively quiet about their past past, they seemed at ease talking with you about these things.

In return, you told them about other memories and anecdotes in your life. Small memories of climbing up the mountain with your mother, meeting your friends, your academic adventures and what brought you out to this part of the country.

“Wanted to get away from it all, I guess,” you said as the three of you sat on the front porch. “Figured it would be better to start again out here than face everything that had happened back there.”

Hoodie shared a look with Masky for but a moment. You hadn’t gone into detail about what happened back then, but they could somewhat fill in the lines with their experience of the world so far.

They came by plenty of times after that - sometimes together, sometimes not. Most of the time they stayed on your porch with you, chatting away about the day’s events and what would come next. You told them about your job, a teacher’s assistant to middle schoolers, and how you often passed your time. They eventually showed you their faces - and lord were they handsome - and still refused to tell you about their actual work.

“It’s dangerous, that’s all you need to know,” Hoodie had said one night while sipping a beer bottle.

Yet, they seemed to come by even more than usual when they met your darling little girl, Magnolia. Somehow, they’d managed to avoid her and her them throughout all their visits, but one afternoon near the beginning of the school year, that all changed.

She’s only 7, and the school bus often lets her out about a block from your home. You trust her enough to walk there and back (though another part of you wants to hold onto her forever and never let go).

“What time is it?” You hummed, sipping at your iced tea.

“About… 3:30, why?” Masky asked as he looked at his watch.

You immediately perked up. “She should be home soon,” you said eyes wandering from the two men on the steps with you towards the direction you knew your little girl was going to be coming from. And just like clockwork, there she was.

“Mommy!” She cried out, a large smile on her face as she began to run the rest of the way to the front steps.

“Mags!” You giggled as you maneuvered your way through the two men before hurriedly meeting her half way. “There’s my special little girl,” you laughed, taking her into your arms, picking her up and spinning her. “How was your day?” You ask, carrying her in your arms as you make it back to the front porch.

Masky and Hoodie move aside slightly as you sit back down with Magnolia on your lap.

“It was so fun! Today, we talked about bugs!”

“You did?” You asked as she nodded rapidly. “Tell me all about it while I get you something to drink and a snack, okay?” You said as you put her onto the steps before standing and opening the front door - and propping it open so you could still hear her and see her from the kitchen.

“We learned all about butterflies and what happens when they’re babies and become pretty,” Magnolia began to explain. “And then Miss Honey said we were gonna get caterpillar babies in our classroom and release them later. And then, she told us about bees and how bumbly they are-”

You listened to Magnolia go on about her lesson with a small smile as you fixed her some iced tea and apple slices. You could listen to her all day. When you failed to answer one of her questions, you heard Masky picking it back up for you.

“Hey Mommy? Why is the sky blue?”

A beat of silence because you honestly didn’t hear it.

“The atmosphere,” Masky began as he looked up at the perfectly azure sky. “You know what the states of matter are, don’t you?”

Magnolia nodded. “I do! Solid, liquid and gas,” she answered.

Masky smiled back and nodded. “Yeah, that’s it. Atmosphere is air and it covers the whole earth like a blanket,” he explained.

“It does?”

“Absolutely,” Hoodie chimed in.

Magnolia looked in between the two men with stars in her eyes, urging them to continue.

“The atmosphere changes the way that light from the sun reaches us,” Masky continued. “Light comes to us in wavelengths,” he moves his hand up and down like ‘waves’ to show what he means. “And those wavelengths look different depending on what they hit,” he claps his hands together, “and how long they are.”

“Do shorter wave… wavelengths show different colors?” Magnolia asks, clearly enamored in Masky’s teaching.

“Smart girl,” Masky chuckled softly as he ruffled her hair.

You finally come back from the kitchen with Magnolia’s snack and drink, more than pleased to see how well Masky and Hoodie were doing with her. Magnolia was admittedly a shy girl - she never really warmed up to people easily, especially not men given the situation with her father (who you’d rather not think about most days).

“And what about rainbows? Are those wavelengths?”

Both Hoodie and Masky laughed slightly before entertaining your daughter’s question as she sipped on her drink and bit into the apple slices. You watched with a small smile as you listened to the three talk.

After meeting Magnolia, Hoodie and Masky were more often at your house than not. And it carried on like that throughout the school year.

Masky often helped Magnolia with her science and math when you didn’t (feel like it).

“Mhm, and how many do you need to add to 5 in order to make 9?” Masky asked, eyes

glancing between your daughter and her math worksheet.

Magnolia smiled widely, “It’s 4.” She said it so confidently that you felt your heart burst from the living room.

“Good job,” Masky smiled back just as widely. “I’m sure you don’t know what you have to add to 8 to get 15, do you?”

“7!”

“Gods, you are so smart,” Masky chuckled warmly, hand once again ruffling her hair.

Hoodie was much more inclined to help with her reading and language arts skills. Seemed he had a knack for those things over math and science anyways.

“Spell bridge.”

“B-R-I-D-G-E.” Magnolia said with a grin.

Hoodie nodded. “Alright, how about… Believe?”

Magnolia furrowed her eyebrows slightly but gave a stab at it anyways. “B-E-L… I-E-V-E.” I before E, right?

“Good one. And laughter?”

“L-A-U-... F-no… G-H… T-E-R?”

“Nice job!” Hoodie complimente in an excited tone, scooping Magnolia up onto his lap making her burst into a fit of giggles. “You are seriously gonna kick everyone’s butt at the spelling bee on Friday.”

While they grew closer with your little girl, you noticed they had also grown oddly close with you as well. It came in little bouts - sometimes Masky would be cuddling with you on the couch while you watched the late night news. Hoodie would sometimes spend time with you in the garden and help when he didn’t have to - he was there just because he wanted to be with you. There were some days when they’d get you little trinkets, plants and herbs to help with your magick. Masky would even remind you of the full moon so you could put a jug out for moon water - and Hoodie would inform you of when the planets were in retrograde to potentially explain any odd behavior (remember: mundane of magickal.) They were helpful. Other times the three of you would spend the day together and eat brunch and act like your own individual family unit. And in your own unique way, you were - what with Magnolia now referring to the two men as her ‘aunt Hoodie’ and ‘uncle Masky’ much to the former’s original hesitance to accept that title.

It wasn’t just you feeling this way either, it was both of them as well. Masky was surprised to see how fast Hoodie had grown to care about you as Hoodie doesn’t really care about anything anymore. Maybe himself, definitely Masky, and definitely the other two in their group - but that’s it. To care for a human and her child… That’s admittedly out of pocket for him. They’re not sure what exactly to call it, maybe it’s love, but it’s a different kind of love. One that doesn’t have a name.

Ever since they entered your life things have been better. Life has been sweeter. Your little girl is more outgoing than ever and she’s finally coming out of her shell with not one, but two positive male role models.

And that led to now. The sun had finally dipped below the horizon and the stars were coming out to play. Magnolia was about to go on summer break - and the four of you had been planning on visiting the beach sometime soon. There were a lot of things to look forward to (another magical creature plus aunt Hoodie and uncle Masky tea party) being one of those things.

“Careful with the jar, Mags,” Hoodie said as he handed Magnolia a good sized mason jar to her awiting hands.

“I will!” Magnolia said before she zipped outside the backyard.

“Masky, you want anything to drink?” Hoodie called out from the kitchen as you got together the materials for s’mores.

“Lemonade, if we have it,” Masky replied.

“Good choice,” Hoodie mumbled before turning to the fridge.

After the two of you had everything you needed, you and Hoodie went out to the backyard and started to set everything up on the glass table Masky sat at. You settled into your seat as Hoodie got a fire going in the pit and when that was ready, he let it burn and took a seat at the other side of you. With Masky to your right and Hoodie to your left, you felt an odd sense of peace.

“It’s a nice night, yeah?” You hummed out in content as you watched your baby dance around with the fireflies.

“It sure is,” Hoodie agreed, hand lightly resting on top of yours.

“Ditto,” Masky smiled, arm now around your shoulders.

In the grass, Magnolia giggled as she caught fireflies, admiring how beautiful the flashes of green looked as they danced through the swaying leaves of grass.

[jeongjaebae]

Love Station

⇢ Jaehyun x reader | AO3

⇢ 7k of fluff, heart fluttering moments, and meme references

⇢  You never expected anything good to come out of a train delay, much less for it to play cupid on this Valentine’s Day. 

Turning 23 wasn't something you were overly excited about.

Nothing good could come out of being this age anyway—you were starting to feel old and life was starting to feel stagnant. Besides, everyone's seen the meme about checking up on your friends born in a certain year because no one likes you when you're 23. But heck, you'd already felt that way for long enough so it doesn't really matter that it's your birthday today because no one liked you at 22 either. Or at any age.

Maybe that's why you're still single on this Valentine's Day, which coincidentally happens to be the date you enter your 23rd year since birth. Whatever deity that's up there probably planned this to give you a headache every year, making you watch couples all around you broadcast their PDA everywhere while you only became one year closer to growing old and wrinkly. And dying single.

"Are you on the train yet?" Yoojin's loud voice comes through the phone. "Also what are you wearing, because I'm having an outfit dilemma again."

"Almost at the station," you reply, checking the time for the sake of it. You knew your best friend would be late regardless of the occasion, so you never had to rush. "I didn't expect it to be so cold out here. Wearing the pink blouse with the bow, that black skirt, and some thin tights. Long coat of course."

Yoojin was your best friend of seven years and happened to be the complete opposite of you. While you were generally shy, she had no qualms about talking to strangers. She'd always been bold and unabashed with her opinions, attracting quite a large group of friends and enemies alike, whereas you have always stayed within your comfort zone of invisibility. And whereas you were completely dense and unlucky when it came to boys, she had a list of them long enough for the both of you.

"Tell me you at least have some tall boots on," she replies with some rustling sounds in the background as she probably flips her entire closet upside-down. "You should've gone with a warmer outfit; there won't be any boys around for you to impress! It's only your date with boring old me."

You roll your eyes and play along. "I'm dressing to impress the cute waiter, obviously," you say, "the one with the super sweet smile who looks like NCT's Doyoung." It's all made up, of course. In reality the two of you didn't have a reservation or even a restaurant in mind yet, and of course, there's obviously nobody who could ever be as cute as Doyoung.

Your best friend was all about being spontaneous and winging it, and even letting fate decide things.

"Oh you better hope that he's not out with his girlfriend tonight then," she singsongs. "Anyway, I'll go pick out an outfit now and bring a pair of leggings for you or something. Oh and before I forget, happy birthday!"

"Thanks," you say with a smile as you approach the train station. "I'll see you soon!"

It's slightly more crowded at the station than the emptiness that usually greets you at this hour, but that's not surprising since it's Valentine's Day after all, and people would have plans in the city. And just as you would expect, there are people holding big bouquets wrapped in a special paper with hearts all over it, packs of chocolates in pink and red boxes, and delicate single roses encompassed in beautiful ribbons.

It wasn't something that you felt like you were missing out on. You've never spent Valentine's Day with someone special anyway; it was always some sort of birthday celebration with friends. Until your friends started getting into relationships and then the birthday thing got pushed to different days. Either way you didn't mind because people don't need particular days to show their love for others, so Valentine's Day was all just a big marketing scam.

Or so you tell yourself.

The February air is cold and makes it hard to pry your transit card out from your wallet with your frozen fingers. When the machine nearby is finally free, that's when you go to tap your card.

"Don't."

A hand slides right in between your card and the machine, blocking it from being detected.

"Excuse me?" you automatically respond.

The first thing you notice about this annoying stranger is that he's tall, as it takes a while for you to look up to see the face of said annoying stranger. The second thing is that he's incredibly good looking. Nice skin, large eyes, and some evidence of dimples slightly visible on each cheek. A strong jaw line and sharp gaze.

But none of that matters because he better have a good explanation for you.

"Don't waste your money tapping your card. The train's been delayed and won't come until maybe an hour later."

"What? An hour? Is this some kind of joke?"

He shakes his head. "There was an announcement a few minutes ago but they'll probably repeat it soon."

"But it's not even April Fools Day," you mutter under your breath, but proceed to put your card away anyway. "Are you serious?"

That earns you a funny look from the annoying stranger, a mixture of a smile and a grimace of sorts. "Yeah, I'm really just going to go up to strangers and prank them by telling them about a train delay."

"Well, maybe if you're one of those YouTubers who go around pranking people for reactions?"

He rolls his eyes. "No, but your reaction was terrible, by the way. A two out of ten at most."

"Hey, you're the one who had to break the news to me like that!"

The corner of his mouth twitches but before he says anything back, the blare of the announcement comes on.

"Attention all passengers! Attention all passengers. The line 1 eastbound train is experiencing delays due to a technical issue on the tracks. It may be over an hour before the track can get cleared. Once again, the eastbound train is currently experiencing delays of an hour or more. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

"And there it is. Do you believe me now?" the annoying stranger asks, raising an eyebrow at you. It's not so much of an 'I told you so', but rather a sad 'welcome to the club'.

"Yeah... sorry for not taking you seriously."

"Nah, no worries," he shrugs and gives you a quick smile. The first you'd seen from him. "We're all just stuck here now."

When he turns to look at the announcement board, that's when you take the chance to really study him. He's dressed like he's walked out of a Korean drama: turtleneck and a nice formal jacket. He looks to be about your age, maybe a university student or fresh grad. Hair gelled up and parted at the side. Perfectly dressed to go on the perfect Valentine's Day date with his perfectly stunning girlfriend.

As perfect as it can be with this whole train delay issue anyway.

You follow his gaze to the announcement board and see that it now has red words everywhere, indicating all the delays of the trains. It definitely wasn't looking good. Even if Valentine's Day was nowhere close to being one of your favourite holidays, you were looking forward to at least seeing a friend on your birthday.

"Yeah, I guess so. On the one day I had plans in the city." You sigh at the thought that seeing your best friend might not be possible anymore.

 "I know the feeling," he frowns, somehow still looking just as good as before which is entirely a mystery to you, "I'm also supposed to be in the city tonight."

You nod, then pull out your phone to shoot Yoojin a quick text about the delay. The cold wind sears your hands and you yet again regret wearing so little when you knew this train station didn't have an indoor waiting area.  

"So, what are our options for getting out of here now? Do you think the buses are still running because we could probably take one?" he suggests.

The 'we' takes you by surprise, but then you realize that he's probably talking about everyone here. All of the ten or so people that are just stuck at this station in the cold for the next hour.

You grimace at the thought of dissipating his ounce of hope. "Well, the nearest bus station is all the way across town, so by the time we get there maybe the trains will have already started working."

The handsome stranger sighs. "Maybe an Uber then?"

"It'll be rush hour soon so that only works if you want to be going during the most expensive time of day using the most expensive form of transportation."

"Ah, that's true." He looks disappointed. "Hmm, if the trains don't come by the next hour, maybe I'll just head to the bus stop."

Oh how nice it would be to have a car to get there yourself.

Buzz. The phone vibrates in your pocket and you could already imagine how Yoojin would be reacting to your news. Hopefully she hadn't already started on her crazy makeup routine yet, because who knows if your meet-up could actually happen at this rate.

"It's chill, don't worry about it! I'll head to you instead. Text you when I'm near."

Sometimes Yoojin's spontaneity was just what you needed. You message her a quick thanks and then shove the phone into your pocket before your fingers freeze off.

It's quiet for a bit and you almost forget about the handsome stranger entirely until there's a crinkling sound and you find yourself staring at the rose in the pocket of his coat, the clear foil around it blowing gently in the wind. It was on the side facing away from you earlier, which is probably how you didn't notice upon first glance.

Of course, he has a girlfriend. With a face like that, who wouldn't have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend. Maybe even multiple.

"Special occasions, right?" The corners of his lips are curled as if holding back a grin, and like this his dimples are visible.

But why was he still talking to you? You figured he was probably just trying to be friendly seeing as the two of you would be stuck here for an indefinite amount of time. Maybe you'll even become all buddy-buddy by the time this ordeal finishes. While you weren't a fan of small talk or talking to strangers, it was nice to be able to have someone by your side who was experiencing the same struggles.

And besides, he clearly has a girlfriend so there was no point in writing that "strangers to lovers" fan fiction in your head.

You clear your throat. "So... Valentine's date with your girlfriend?"

"Valentine's—" he pauses for a second and you can almost see the gears turning in his head. "Right, it's Valentine's Day today. Nah, I'm celebrating my birthday instead." Then he holds up the rose up and glances at it as if he'd also forgotten about it. "And no girlfriend. This is for my cousin. Her boyfriend's overseas so it's hard for them to meet up, so I thought I would get something nice for her and keep her company."

That actually takes you off guard and causes you to replay the words in your mind to make sure you heard correctly.

"Wait, it's your birthday today? Really?"

He gives you a strange look. "Yeah, there are actually people born on Valentine's Day, believe it or not."

"That's not what I meant—"

"I'm just kidding." His eyes twinkle in amusement. "It's also your birthday today, isn't it?"

"What—how did you know?"

He chuckles. "Your reaction said everything."

"Wow, someone is a smartie."

"What about you? Valentine's or birthday date with your boyfriend?"

"Best friend," you correct him. "And yeah, it's a birthday dinner."

"That's nice. I've actually never met anyone else with a Valentine's Day birthday."

"Honestly, same."

His eyes curve up into crescents as he smiles with his entire body, and it's dazzling and is so bright that it makes you want to stare for just a moment longer. The two of you laugh for a while at that coincidence, still amazed.

"So, how old are you turning?"

You groan, "The age where no one likes you."

"Ah, I just passed that." He wrinkles his nose as if remembering how terrible a year it was. "But hey, can't have no one liking you at that age if no one liked you anyway."

His words immediately put an image of that roll safe meme into your head and you find yourself laughing.

"Wow, those are my thoughts exactly."

The handsome stranger only gives you an innocent shrug. His meme game was on point, and that almost makes your heart flutter for a second. Almost.

Another cold breeze whips your hair into your face and blows straight through your thin tights, making you shiver.

"Hey, um, I hope this isn't too forward... but since we're stuck here anyways for the next while, do you want to possibly go hang out in town?" He bites his lips a little, making his dimples stand out even more. "It just kind of sucks to see our birthdays go to waste like this. Only if you're comfortable with it though, but of course we'll be in public areas the entire time."

You couldn't believe your ears for the second time today.

On one hand, the logical voice in your head was screaming stranger danger because you just met him! You hadn't even exchanged more than a few sentences! On the other hand, you could already picture Yoojin telling you to never waste an opportunity, to go with the flow and live life a little recklessly. To stop waiting for a train that might never come, to stop waiting for perfectly planned moments in life that might never occur.

"So, what do you think?"

Besides, if he's not some crazy serial killer or anything along those lines, the only other danger you could possibly see was getting heartbroken. But of course there's no way you'd fall for a stranger in one day; you didn't believe in love at first sight or fate or whatever other mushy romantic cliches that movies love to portray. This would merely be a fun time between two people who happened to be stuck together because of a train delay, on a day that happened to be both of their birthdays. A simple coincidence, really.

"You know what," you smile. "Screw it. Let's go."

***

The smell of the arcade brings back memories from when you were a child—friends' birthday parties, hangouts in middle school, the occasional school trip. It had been fun as a child even though you hadn't been very good at any of the games and probably never won anything worth keeping. Looking back, you hadn't set foot in this place in years.

"We'll get the one with the most tokens," the handsome stranger—Jaehyun—says to the guy behind the counter, flashing you a smile when you raise an eyebrow at him.

Jaehyun. It had sounded so pretty when he introduced himself.

You'd been afraid that conversation would come out awkward and forced between two strangers brought together by no more than a train delay, not knowing where or when or how to start. But there was actually never a dull moment between the flow of words and laughter that made you feel as if he was someone you've known for a long time. The short walk to the arcade had been spent on reminiscing and comparing past memories of growing up in this town, brainstorming fun places and cool restaurants that you'd been to or have yet to go to, pointing at familiar buildings and telling funny stories about interesting moments spent in there.

"Come on, let's go." He leads the way into the main area where all the action is.  

The arcade still looks the same as the last time you were here, though everything seems smaller than you'd remembered it. Bright lights flashing from every machine, loud noises at every corner. So many games that you'd once thought it was impossible to play through all of them.

"Let's start with this one?" You point to the zombie shooting game. It was something that you had always wanted to try as a kid out of pure curiosity, but you'd been too scared to at the time.

"That one? Really?" He raises a brow at your suggestion. "Alright, but I bet I can beat you."

"I would also bet on you winning," you respond dully.

After choosing characters and weapons on screen, the two of you settle in your seats and finally start. It's like watching a horror movie where you expect huge jump scares at every corner except there's no music build-up or anything to warn you that a zombie might just show up. Horror was definitely not your forte but maybe he was better at handling these things than you were.

You get your answer when the first wave of zombies finally show up. Jaehyun screams. You scream.

Somehow you manage to shoot some of them by pure instinct guiding you, however your aim isn't exactly good with your eyes closed half of the time. By the time the screaming dies down and you notice that both your characters had died in the zombie battle, you finally turn to see how he's doing. The way his face is twisted in a mixture of utter shock and horror would've been something to laugh at if you hadn't been just as scared.  

"If I recall, someone said they were going to beat me at this," you tease after seeing the final score. Neither of you did particularly well, though your score somehow turned out to be much higher than his.

"You should've given me a warning that it would be this scary."

You burst out laughing at his expression. "I didn't know either!"

That's when you notice how you're clinging to each other. Your hand clutching his arm, his hand right on top of yours.

"Oops, sorry," you mutter and quickly detangle yourself from him.

"It's fine," he says with a laugh. "But yeah, those zombies were next level."

Needless to say, you guys don't go back to that game.

The arcade is quite empty on this afternoon and you're glad that most of the games are unoccupied and can be played right away. Even with everything going well so far, you still have the fear of having awkward silences and uncomfortable conversation.

It's a while later when you try again at a different shooting game, though luckily this time it isn't zombies that you're dealing with, so it isn't scary at all. It's a teamwork game this time, and what surprises you the most is just how good your teamwork turns out to be.

"To your left, in the corner."

"Phew, got him. Thanks," you reply, promptly shooting the character before he could shoot you. "Watch out—right above you."

"Got it."

It lasts a few rounds but you manage to make it to the end and finally clear the game.

Jaehyun's whole face is lit up when he turns to you. "Wow, that was awesome. Great teamwork."

He holds up both his hands for you to high-five, and just as your hands meet his, you can't help but notice the way they linger together a little longer.  

Time flies as the two of you go from game to game and you're trying your best to beat him at any game possible. While he does let you win some of the time, more often than not, he ends up winning. Though it's not like you could be upset about it at all when he looked so happy after each win, excitedly showing you his score or prize. It was definitely nice to be as carefree as kids again.

Yet there was something deeper with the adrenaline coursing through your veins and heart racing that it becomes hard to tell whether it may be from the excitement of the games, the warmth of his body right beside you as he patiently teaches you his strategies for winning, the bright smiles that seem to light up his whole face, or those damn dimples.

Why did this Valentine's boy have to be not only heartbreakingly handsome but also incredibly kind and considerate?

"Hey, you want to try one of those?" The sound of Jaehyun's voice pulls you out of your thoughts and you silently pray that you hadn't been staring at him subconsciously. And if you had been staring, hopefully he didn't notice as he's pointing to the line of game stands at the side where the games are always rigged and you can never win big prizes.

"I've never won anything from there before, so I sure hope you're good at those."

He ends up picking a dart game out of all the options, but maybe this one would be easier than the rest.

The man at the dart stand greets you and explains the rules. "Are you trying to win something for your girlfriend?"

"Oh, we're not—" you start but stop as soon as you hear what Jaehyun says instead.

"It's Valentine's Day after all," he says easily then follows with a wink at you.

He didn't deny...?

It's three shots dead center to win one of the biggest prizes or five within the smallest ring. It makes your heart pound a little faster seeing Jaehyun so focused with his nice stance, sleeves rolled up slightly, and intense eyes on the target. However, he misses on the first shot with his dart going off the board.

"Well that's no fun," the man says, frowning at where the dart landed. "I suppose I could give you another chance, since it's Valentine's Day and all. Wouldn't want to end up empty handed, right?" He laughs to himself but puts the dart back in Jaehyun's hand.

"Thank you," he says, flustered judging by the hint of a blush that sweeps his cheeks. "I'm not usually this bad."

"It's okay! You're doing great, sweetie," you joke.

He rolls his eyes at you despite the way his lips curl up at the corners, then gets ready to throw the dart again. And this time? You're sure your jaw is to the floor when he manages to get all three darts to hit the board dead center. The man congratulates him for winning and then they disappear into the back room to pick a prize. Jaehyun later comes out holding the biggest dog plushie you've ever seen.

Once you're back outside after the arcade adventure, that's when he stops and turns to you.

"I wasn't sure what you'd like but I hope this is okay," he says quietly, gingerly handing you the giant plushie.

"It's great, Jaehyun." You meet his gaze as you take the plushie and he quickly looks away. "Thank you."

"You know, I'm really glad we ended up doing this. It's even better than what I had planned originally." Then he adds more quietly, "One of the best birthdays I've had in a while."  

"Yeah," you smile. "Me too."

It's only then when you realize that Yoojin and the rest of your plans had totally slipped your mind.

***

It's chilly outside as the two of you walk around town. Valentine's Day decorations were everywhere, with the chalkboard menus of local restaurants featuring couple meal sets with tons of hearts drawn around them, various pink and red plushies lined up on the windowsills of nearby shops, and even lamp posts on the streets covered with mini heart shaped lights. The sight of those things usually would've made you roll your eyes and pretend to puke, but somehow it doesn't seem to bother you quite so much today. It's as if you're seeing everything through a new perspective—one that might find the rosy decorations pretty and one that might understand the hype of such a holiday.

"Y/N," Jaehyun suddenly says, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you to his side. Before you could even react, he's quickly switching positions with you so that you're sheltered between him and the wall of the nearby building.

Then he's turning to you. Hand on the wall behind your head, body leaning towards you.

So close that you could see the individual eyelashes framing his eyes.

But in the next instant he's looking behind him where a car drives by and splashes up a large amount of water from the melting snow on the side of the street. Which lands right where you were standing just a moment ago.

Jaehyun turns back to you, eyes filled with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you breathe. "Um, are you?"

"That's good." He glances behind him and then reassures you with a quick smile. "And yeah, all good."

"It was a close call. Thanks for saving me."

"Wouldn't want your clothes to be ruined by that." He laughs. "How are you doing though? It's pretty cold out here."

"I'm okay," you automatically reply.

That earns you a skeptical look. "Your cheeks are all red. Come on, let's go warm up somewhere."

When you resume walking, he's taking the outer edge of the sidewalk.

A couple of blocks later is when you find out that the place he had in mind turns out to be the local coffee shop. You'd never been there before but had always thought of it as a cute place when you pass by it, so when you enter, the interior definitely matches up to your expectations. It has a rustic theme with warm glow from fairy lights hanging from the ceiling and there's soft music playing in the background, a nice place to study if it's as empty as today.

Jaehyun buys you your drink. Kind of.

"I bought one, but they gave me one for free," he says, beaming when he comes back to the table with the drinks—a coffee for him and a latte with a cute little heart floating in it for you. "Maybe the barista was charmed by my smile."

"Hmm." You look behind him to see a sign at the front of the store saying, 'Buy one get one free—Valentine's Day special'. "Are you sure it wasn't because of my charming smile?"

"You're right, that could be it. You are quite cute."

"Exactly."

Wait, what did he just say?

You do a double take but he's merely staring back at you with dimples just barely visible and eyes sparkling through thick eyelashes that you could only wish yours looked like.

Suddenly it feels like the heater's on extra high in this cafe or maybe it was the way the latte burns your tongue as you take a big gulp. Whatever it was, it definitely succeeds in warming you up a little too well, especially your face.

"You okay? Don't burn yourself," he says, the amusement in his eyes betraying the concern in his voice.

You nearly spit your drink out at him. "Nah, no burn. I'm good, thanks," you say dryly.

Time seems to slow down as you relax in your seat, body finally warming up in the coziness of the cafe. The small corner you're in almost feels like a liminal space; such a transient place you'd only ever noticed while passing by, yet a whole different world on the inside where one can hide forever. Perhaps you wanted to hide here, to enjoy the fleeting moments of a strange but amazing birthday.

Conversation ebbs and flows though you're a little surprised when Jaehyun opens up about his life. His passion for music, especially, is what picks up traction as he happens to know your favourite group, NCT. From there it becomes a debate of whether Doyoung or Taeyong was the best looking member (you insist that Doyoung's Instagram was all the proof one needed, whereas he points out that Taeyong's sharp jawline could totally cut that VVS diamonds they keep singing about). You definitely don't tell Jaehyun the fact that maybe—just maybe—he's even more attractive than your NCT biases and that he could totally be an actor from a Korean drama.

Everything you hear about him makes you appreciate his vulnerability, yet you can't help but wonder if he's so open with just anybody. You were a complete stranger, after all.

Yet every time you see the twinkle in his eyes when your gaze accidentally meets his, part of you wonders if 'strangers' no longer fits the definition of where this strange relationship was going. It leaves you with wanting to avoid looking at him which is quite difficult with him seated directly across from you. Maybe you should've sat where your plushie was, taking up its own chair between the two of you, but it's too late and now you're left to deal with the audible thud of your heart every time you make eye contact with him.

And yet when you think about it, you realize that it wasn't Jaehyun's cute dimples or his deep voice or his lame jokes that had your nerves acting up.

It was probably the caffeine.

But maybe it was the small things that you hadn't even realized you'd noticed. Earlier at the arcade when he patiently taught you the games that you were unfamiliar with, letting you win games but also winning at them himself just so he could give you the prize. Saving you from a car first then from the cold with the warmth of the cafe. Opening the door for you, sitting closer to the door to block the cold wind from reaching you.

And how despite the number of reschedules and plan cancellations you both had to make due to the train delay, he hasn't pulled his phone out a single time. You admired how in the midst of all the chaos today, he was still nothing but calm and polite the entire time and seemed to have everything under control. He was a comforting presence that made you forget about the madness of the outside world for a little while.

Nah, it had to be the caffeine.

Still, you find yourself glad to be stuck here with him, even as far as dreading when you both had to leave. You're definitely appreciating Yoojin's ability to be late right about now.

A lull in the conversation has you sneaking a glance at your phone to check up on your best friend. There's no text from her as she's either still doing her extravagant makeup or still on her way here, but for some reason you let out the breath you held in relief.

"I wonder if the trains are running now." A glance out the window shows you the remnants of sunset and the quickly darkening skies. Then you cautiously throw out the question that you'd been holding onto for a while. Something that you'd been reluctant to bring up, carefully stepping around it the whole day, and something that he hasn't talked about either. "Oh right, didn't you say you would end up taking a bus? If the delay is still going on."

Maybe it's a test to see his reaction, maybe it's to end this vague relationship before you become even more attached than you already are. Because any rational person wouldn't just throw away all their birthday plans for someone they'd just met.

"Oh. Right." Jaehyun looks down and swirls the stir stick in his drink. Clockwise, counter-clockwise, back and forth. "I, uh, actually forgot that I didn't drive here today." He shoots you a sheepish grin then runs his fingers through his hair that has deflated quite a bit since you first saw him. "So can't exactly drive over to the bus stop."

You smile back weakly. "Ah, that's okay. There's probably a ton of traffic out there now anyways."

An ambiguous answer for an equally ambiguous relationship. It could definitely be a real excuse, yet somehow the thought of that makes you almost disappointed. Maybe there are no answers to the questions and uncertainties muddled in your mind.

"But did you want to get rid of me so fast?" He actually pouts at you, as if his regular face weren't already enough to break hearts.

"What? No, of course not? I—what?" you manage to get out.

"Okay, good!" The pout immediately goes back into his regular smile. "Phew. It's sad enough being single on Valentine's Day; no need to get rejected on top of that."

Then his phone buzzes and it finally pulls it out.

"As if anyone would reject you," you mutter under your breath while he's distracted.

It's true. You might've expected Jaehyun's appearance to be making up for other areas, or maybe even hoping he'd be too rude or too blunt or have a bad character. Because the cognitive dissonance in your head wants a reason or excuse to remain distant and emotionally detached from him. But the kindness and authenticity that you saw today just leaves you without a reason, which makes it that much harder to stop yourself from liking him.

"Sorry about that; what did you say?"

"Nothing!" You plaster on a cheerful smile.

"Okay, my cousin is going to be here soon."

"Oh."

Then there's the sinking of your heart, the inevitable dread that this unexpectedly enjoyable afternoon is coming to an end. Somehow it manages to crush the anticipation you had for your birthday celebration with Yoojin.

"You know, I kind of feel bad that you paid for everything today," you say. "Let me pay you back?"

"It's fine, Y/N. We had fun and that's all that matters."

"True, but you should've at least let me buy the drinks!"

That manages to make him smile but it quickly dies as he bites his lip, suddenly hesitant. "If you really want to..."

"Yes!"

"...you could just pay next time."

What.

"Next time?" you repeat, afraid to believe what you were hearing.

"I mean, if you—maybe—want to hang out again sometime?"

You open your mouth to say something, or maybe it was already open in your state of shock. Nothing comes out as if you lost your voice.

Jaehyun briefly meets your eyes before continuing. "Well, um—I just wanted to say that I had a really good time with you today. I know the train thing was probably an inconvenience to everyone else but to be honest, I'm kind of glad that happened." He laughs a little. Stops. Bites his lip. "And yeah, if you're down, we could hang out again sometime. Because I'd love to get to know you better."

Thud.

You could only stare back at him as the roaring of your pulse becomes all you can hear. The whole day you were telling yourself that it shouldn't be possible to develop feelings for someone within a day, almost trying to hold yourself back from enjoying your time with him to the fullest in the fear that you might be wrong. And it's not like you developed crushes very easily, but here in front of you was a boy so friendly and good-natured even to a stranger he'd just met, someone who really seemed to care about you.

"Jaehyun..."

He continues, "I know it's weird meeting like this, and I don't really believe in this whole fate thing where we just happened to be stuck here and we happen to have the same birthday. All I can say is that I really enjoyed talking to you and hearing your thoughts and um, youknowyou'rereallybeautiful."

The logical inner voice had been screaming stranger danger the entire time because you didn't know him at all! You'd just met him today! Yet the small fic writer voice in your head, which definitely sounded a lot like your best friend's voice, was trying to convince you that maybe fate does exist. That if it doesn't, how likely was it that you met someone with the same birthday which happened to be Valentine's Day? That you met at exactly the right time and that the train the two of you were going to take was delayed? That you managed to have one of the best birthdays that you could recall?

Maybe sometimes you need to let go of any fears and just live life to its fullest. Let yourself feel a wide range of emotions without being afraid of getting heartbroken. Stop holding back and just be true to yourself.

It suddenly feels too hot in the cafe once again.

"Yeah," your voice comes out quiet, unsteady, but his words give you the courage to reach over to hesitantly take his hand. "Today has been amazing and I'm so thankful that you're the one I was stuck with."

His eyes flicker to yours then away. "But...?"

"There is no 'but'. Jaehyun, I'd love to see you again."

"Yeah?" He lets out a long exhale before his face visibly brightens again. "That's a relief. I didn't think you would agree, but I didn't want to have you walk out of my life just like that."

Then there isn't a need for any more words as shy smiles are exchanged and fleeting gazes meet and there's a warmth bubbling in your chest. It's as if you spent the whole day worrying over nothing. That somehow, everything worked out. That maybe it was fate, and maybe it wasn't, but the connection you thought you felt wasn't just one-sided. It was something real, something tangible.

"Jeong Jaehyun!"

The booming voice jolts the two of you out of the moment and makes you immediately spring apart.

"Did you seriously make me take the train all the way here just for you? Who is this girl because she better be real nice for you to ditch me—" The loud voice from the woman walking into the cafe stops right when her eyes land on you. She smiles sheepishly, dipping her head lightly as if apologizing for her outburst. "Never mind; forget I said anything. I approve."

"Nice to see you too, Minah," Jaehyun greets as you both stand. You can see how his face is still flushed from earlier, but now he's put on a neutral expression again and what you'd seen just a moment ago has been erased. "Don't worry, I won't make you take the train back. I'll drive you home after."

"Oh, you have the car. Bless." Minah brushes her hair back, tidying it from the effects of the wind. Then she stops suddenly and narrows her eyes at him. "Wait, why didn't you just drive over if the trains stopped working?"

"You—have the car? I thought you said you got a ride," you muse out loud.

"Oh, uh. Actually I forgot I had it since I usually get a ride here and it would've taken too long to drive there in rush hour anyway... so... yeah..." He trails off and shifts his weight from one foot to another, and it's even more evident how flushed his face is, from his cheeks to the tips of his ears.

You hear a snort and see Minah practically shaking with quiet laughter.

"Y/N!" The bell at the door rings again as Yoojin steps into the cafe, bringing a rush of cold air in with her. "There you are! And oh—" she stops mid-sentence when she spots you with Jaehyun, his cousin, and the massive plushie sitting in its own chair. "Minah?"

"Yoojin?"

"You guys know each other?" you ask tentatively.

"We were friends in high school!" Yoojin replies. Then gives you a questioning look. "Minah, it's been so long. We should totally catch up."

Minah nods enthusiastically, jumping up to give Yoojin a warm hug. "Totally!" Then she briefly glances at Jaehyun. "Well, I was supposed to have dinner with my little cousin over here but if you and your friend are free, then we could all go somewhere together?"

"How about we head over to that cute little diner that was our hangout spot for the longest time?" Yoojin suggests with a glance over at you and Jaehyun.

Minah squeals. "Let's do it; it'd be just like old times!"

"Actually, if you don't mind, I wanted to borrow Y/N for a bit," Jaehyun says. "We'll let you guys catch up in peace without a third and four wheel."

"Yoojin, we can always hang out another time if you want to go with Minah."

Your best friend looks at you suspiciously with her eyes narrowed. "Hmm, yeah that works. I'll call you later and you better give me all the details though."

"Okay, deal."

And with that, they both head for the door. Yoojin turns to give you one last wink before they're gone.  

"I guess it's just us." Jaehyun's eyes are sparkling when they meet yours and he gives a gentle smile before shyly holding you hand. "We're probably too late for my reservation, but there are some good food places not too far from here."

"So..."

"Have dinner with me?"

"Hmm, I thought you didn't have your car here."

He looks pained. "Y/N!"

"I'm just kidding! I'm actually starving so let's go."

***

It's hours of delicious food, good conversation, and shy glances later that he finally drops you off at home. When your phone buzzes this time, it's not from Yoojin—it's a text from an unknown number followed by an image attachment.

"I have a feeling this is very false for you :)" it reads. And your heart skips a beat when you see the image.

It's the "no one likes you when you're 23" meme.

On the day of your 23rd birthday, you definitely weren't expecting anyone to like you, just as you haven't for the past 22 years. But with the words in Jaehyun's text that you read and reread, the light fragrance of the rose now in your vase and the giant plushie on your bed, and your mind replaying his bright smile and dimples and the sparkle in his eyes, it seemed like today was different.

Maybe today, someone just might like you when you're 23.

[papergirllife]

Chapter 3

Synopsis:

You don’t know what it’s like to be free, to make your own choices, and live your own life. For your whole life, your parents have been treating you like a puppet on strings, controlling your life to every single detail, as well as ignoring the fact that you have feelings. Other times, when you disobey their wishes, or speak up about your own opinions, they bash you down with words, in other words, psychological abuse, has led you down the long winded road of depression and anxiety. What happens when you meet a man who’s willing to be your guide out of this terrible downpour? Would you give a shot at happily ever after?

Warnings:

big age gap (kinda?)

issues on anxiety

issues on depression (mild)

issues on parental abuse

smut (maybe)

Tag List: @etherealtyjaem​ ,  @caratzennie  , @johnnysuhnflower  ,  @euphoricchannie  ,  @yeollieseo  ,  @jjhmk  , @sherzess , @wonderfulkoreanpop​

(lmk if you wanna be on the list)

You’ve been seeing Mr Suh, correction, Johnny, his first name, as per requested by Johnny himself.

“Mr Suh makes me feel older than I already am, you make me feel like a teenager all over again, so you have to call me Johnny. Let me relive my days when I was still a college kid.”

You didn’t mind, things aren’t as awkward between the two of you anymore, Johnny’s been spending time with you, although the two of you never established any sort of labelling towards what this relationship is. You and Johnny only hung out and had meals together, trying out different cuisines, watching movies, even going as far as skipping a day at work to go to the amusement park. He even bought you to an arcade when you told him you haven’t had the chance to venture to one since you were in grade school.

“Why haven’t you ever been to one for so long?” Johnny asked when he finished a round of pinball.

“They said it was a waste of time and that I should spend more time studying,” you said, wondering why Johnny would ask that, isn’t it the same for all the kids?

Whenever you mention your confining life to Johnny, he’d have a faraway look in his eyes, jaw locked in silent rebuke, he doesn’t say anything, he pulls you close, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. He would be quite for almost half an hour before he goes back to regular cheerful Johnny, telling you lame jokes that you would surprisingly find funny.

You didn’t have a phone, since your parents forbid you to have one, the only means of communicating is through your email account on your laptop, and even that you must always bear in mind to delete his mails right after, and take further precaution, you didn’t allow him to initiate the sending.

Johnny wanted to buy you one, but you rejected him promptly, you didn’t want him to spend so much money on you, he already spends lots on taking you out to eat. You gave him the excuse that it was too dangerous, and the consequences of getting caught are severe.

You often questioned your relationship with Johnny, you aren’t dumb, you’ve googled him and saw gossip news portals uploading photos of him and some model going out and about in hotels, but those headlines were months ago, the latest news about him was from his interview with Times magazine.

You never had the guts to ask him, you don’t know what you mean to him. What right do you have to question his whereabouts and what he does? He’ll probably be bored of you after he’s known all of you.

You know you shouldn’t think of Johnny that way, it is mean to assume what he’s thinking, especially how well he’s treating you, but seeing those headlines gives you a sense of insecurity, you keep telling yourself that this won’t last, but the thought of not seeing him again made your hair stand. He’s making you happy, a distraction towards the negativity you face in that house you live in, but for how long?

House. You never called it a home, unless you were telling your boss you were leaving, to prevent anyone from questioning your odd way of describing it. It was never a home to you. To you, a home is a place where you feel happy, safe, and most importantly, loved. The closest you’ve ever felt to having these feelings were your grandma and Joh... No, you don’t love him, and he doesn’t love you. What were you thinking?

You pushed those thoughts away as you opened your laptop to double check the files that you’ve typed out for your parent’s next important meeting that was supposed to be taking place first thing tomorrow. But when you went through your folders, the files were nowhere to be seen. It’s then you realised that the notification that keeps urging you to update the laptop was gone, it wasn’t the first time you updated the laptop and found out some files were missing, so you would never update the laptop at such a crucial time.

You took the laptop out to your father who was watching some news on his phone in the dining area to ask him if he had updated the software without alerting you.

“Yes, I did. What about it?” he asked, annoyance on his face due to the sudden disturbance.

“The files are missing because of the update,” you informed him.

“What files?” 

“The files for tomorrow’s meeting, they’re missing,” you told him as you mentally prepared yourself for what’s to come.

“What do you mean missing?! I bet it was because you saved it wrongly again! Your retarded brain never works does it?! Do you know how important those files are?! You always work on them late at night blurry eyed, of course you didn’t save them properly! You could’ve worked on them in the morning before work. but no... You want to ‘exercise’! What a waste of time!” You’re not pretty anyways, what are you doing them for huh?!” Your father shouted, his eyes blazing in rage, his fist slamming onto the glass.

While your father was shouting, your mother was checking the laptop as she complains about how clueless you are. It was like your brain couldn’t take the amount of hurtful words piercing into your mind like daggers, you let out a high pitched scream as tears threatened to fall, your hands covering your ears as your eyes were a blur.

When you could see properly again, you could make up words which sounded like ‘how dare you’ from your father, next thing you registered were the fury in his eyes as he advances on you, hand above his head, ready to hit you. You didn’t know what came over you, but the first thing you did was kicking him away. That’s when a full on fight broke out.

You were filled with rage, your mind wasn’t registering what you were doing. You went into a flight or fight stance and started thrashing and kicking as his hands were holding painfully tight on your wrists after you tried punching him.

Your mom urges the both of you not to fight, her voice barely registering in your head as she sits still on the high chair by the kitchen island, not bothered to even try to cease the fight.

When you finally pushed him away, you ran into your room and locked it. Your chest was heaving from the panic attack that just started, you tried your best to calm yourself down, reminding yourself to breathe, it was suffocating, controlling your breathing as more tears made its way out of your eyes.

When it all stopped, your body succumbed into mental exhaustion, passing out on your bed as the tears finally ceased.

You only woke up for dinner last night, and proceeded to sleep again. Yesterday’s events made you feel numb, other than the pain from the bruises on your arms.

There was a big ugly one on your left upper arm, its colour an ugly shade of green and purple.  A few other less serious ones scattered around your lower arms. In other words, you look like a wreck.

You wore a jacket to run even though you were sweating from your previous cardio work outs, feeling a little better after the endorphins in your body kicked in. When you got back, you quickly showered and ate a toast. When you asked for your mother’s phone to remind your boss you were going to take the day off, she told you that weren’t needed at the meeting anymore and that she finished everything last night.

“Just call to say that you’ll be going to work,” she said, not even looking in your direction when she handed you her phone.

But when you called to inform your boss, he told you that he had another part time coming in, and that it was too short of a notice. You said thank you and hung up, but said that you’ll be at work on time today before handing it back to your mother.

You really needed to escape for the day.

You opened the laptop and sent an email to Johnny.

I’m free today. Wanna go out?

You sat on your bed staring at the ceiling as you were sure it was going to be a bit before he replied, but just as you closed your eyes, you heard a distant chime from your laptop.

I’m rushing some stuff at the office today. I’m so sorry, Y/N.

Can I stay in your office? I really wanna get out of the house.

You sounded like a spoiled kid begging for attention, but you really wanted to see him today.

Sure. But you might get bored :) .

I’m leaving the house now :) .

For a 26 year old businessman, he sure loves to use emoticons.

You got changed into jeans and a jacket, you don’t usually wear one if you were going to a secluded area with Johnny, but you had to hide all the marks from last night. You just noticed that they hurt after you accidentally knocked your wrist against something.

You took the bus to the address Johnny wrote down on your diary, it was after one of your dinners together, and he jokingly said that you could always swing by if you wanted, you didn’t know you were going to actually do that.

The bus station wasn’t too far of a walk from his office, since it was just downtown Seoul where the Korea’s financial hub was located.

As you were nearing the office buildings, you stood out like a sore thumb, given the way you were dressed and your age. The people kept giving you stink eyes and sideway glances.

Suh Capital Partners. That was it.

You walked in the rotating doors, only to be greeted by masses of people walking around with smart pads, files, talking on the phone while the assistants take notes. Johnny didn’t mention his company being this big.

You admired the facade of the lobby, it displayed the latest news on a large monitor while futuristic lights hung from the high ceiling, the walls were a perfect balance of steel and wood with a wall of plants filled the wall behind the reception area. 

You realised that the people stopped what they were doing before and started looking at you curiously when one of the nicely dressed women from the reception walked up to you.

“Excuse me, miss. May I ask who are you looking for?” the woman asked, her eyes scanning you from top to toe.

You froze at your spot from how cold she sounded, like she didn’t want you around to ruin the aesthetic of the company. You reminded yourself that you weren’t going to see her anytime soon after this and that if you did make a fool of yourself then so be it.

“I’m looking for Mr Suh,” you told her.

She looked taken aback from your answer, but gave you the ugliest sneer when she recovered.

“Miss, this isn’t a school, you can’t just walk in here and demand to see someone without an appointment. Mr Suh is the head of this company, not someone you can just meet without an agreement from him. Please leave this instance,” she said, her tone high pitched enough to gather everyone’s attention, you swore you heard someone laughing a few feet away.

“But...

“That’s my guest, Ms Park.”

You whipped your head back to see Johnny standing behind you. But instead of his usual warm honey eyes, his eyes were a cold and staring daggers into the woman in front of you.

“I’m so sorry, Mr Suh. I’ll get back to my work now,” the woman bowed apologetically, going as far as doing it numerous times.

“I’m going to need a key card for her, Ms Park. Send it up to me when you’re done,” Johnny said, but his eyes were scanning the crowd, his employees immediately went back to what they were doing, the large lobby void of any sound other than people rushing to the lift lobby to escape the scene.

Johnny placed a hand behind your back and guided you to the lift lobby after most of the people have taken the ride up to their respective floors.

“I’m sorry,” you said after the coast was clear.

Johnny’s intimidating stance broke as confusion takes over his face.

“What are you sorry for?” Johnny asked, he should be the one saying sorry.

“I’m such an embarrassment, coming here in my jeans and jacket with a canvas bag, looking like a kid,” you said, fingers nervously tugging the straps of your old bag.

“Hey, hey, hey. Nothing’s wrong with being young and dressing your age. They’re just grumpy from all the work. Don’t take their words into account, and you look great. Perfection as always,” Johnny said reassuringly, hands placed on your shoulder, the warmth of his palms calming you slightly.

“No....

You buried your face into your hands as he patted your head, you sneakily glanced up to see him smiling at you with a toothy grin. But you quickly regained posture as you saw an elevator door open with many pairs of legs.

Johnny wasn’t going in even though the lift was going up, that’s when people in the lift realised it was him, and quickly came out of the lift, saying sorry and greeting Johnny.

Johnny guided you in after the lift was cleared empty. His staff looking at you curiously, you weren’t used to having so many pairs of eyes on you, their curious eyes burning holes into you.

Johnny could sense your anxiousness from the way you were hiding behind his tall figure as the two of you walked into his office, there weren’t many people at that time, given the fact that only direct reports of his business partners came up to hand in documents.

You only felt yourself loosen up a bit after you took a seat on Johnny’s armchair in his huge office, overlooking Seoul’s skyline and the cars that were buzzing about on the roads. The view made you calm down a bit from the journey coming up here.

You felt the chair dip as Johnny took a seat on its armrest, his hands coming up to give your shoulders a nice massage. Johnny smiled at the way your eyes lit up from his comforting touch as you looked back to smile at him, he felt a warm feeling deep in his belly as he takes in your beautiful features and the warmth of your shoulders on his fingertips. But as he puts more pressure onto your shoulders, you wince slightly, which didn’t go unnoticed by him.

“Did your boss at work make you lift heavy stuff again?” Johnny asked, his hands ceased all movements, fearing that he would hurt you again.

You automatically thought of your fight with your father last night, it might be because of the force exerted from when he had pushed you.

“N-no, I just didn’t sleep well last night. I watched a horror movie and had a nightmare,” you lied, not knowing how he would react if you told him the truth.

“Be careful when watching these movies, Y/N. If you went to work and your boss really made you move heavy things today, then you would’ve strain your muscles,” Johnny said, going back to massaging your shoulders, but this time gently applying pressure on that spot, rubbing it in clockwise circles to ease the pain.

“I’m fine, Johnny. Didn’t you have work to rush? I don’t want to keep you away from important matters. And my shoulders feel much better now,” you said, moving away from his hands even though you could’ve let him do that forever, it felt so comforting, borderline addictive.

“Okay, I’ll tend to your shoulders again later.” Johnny said as he lays his head on top of yours, a gesture that he had came up with whenever he wanted to show affection to you without crossing uncharted territories, your heart sped up whenever he does that.

You were just sitting on the couch reading one of your old books when you looked up and saw Johnny frowning at his laptop, you placed your book down and made your way to Johnny.

“Don’t frown like that, you’ll get frown lines when you’ll get older, it’ll spoil your handsome face,” you joked.

Your hands reach out to smooth the creases on his forehead, a smile coming back to Johnny’s face.

“Thank you,” he said, taking your busy hand into his, lightly tracing the area between your thumb and your index finger.

“What’s bothering you?” you asked, unbeknownst to you, your lips were unconsciously set in a pout.

“There’s some documents that are supposed to be sent to my office in Chicago, but the English that’s written here isn’t up to standards, I’m worried the staff there won’t understand what the document is stating. I don’t mind correcting it, but I have other things to tend to as well,” Johnny explained to you.

“Can I take a look at it? I had Cambridge classes for 8 years. Guess it’s finally coming in handy. I mean only if you think I’m capable, I don’t want you to think I’m boasting or anything, I just really wanna help...

“Y/N, sweet, I trust you. Just let me get you a laptop,” he said before dialling to his secretary.

Once Johnny sent the files to that laptop, you started correcting some grammatical errors and replaced some terms that weren’t as professional, when Johnny was done with his meeting, you were done with the documents as well.

“Here, take a look. There might be mistakes,” you said after sending him the files back.

“You were reading ‘me before you’, I think you’re fine, Y/N,” Johnny deadpanned.

“Just take a look, just in case,” you pleaded, doe eyes capturing his heart. Nodding, Johnny smiles, doing as you said.

Johnny scanned through the documents, his eyes lighting up brighter after each sentence, a proud smile making way on his face. When he was done, he pulled you close by the waist, and gave you a warm hug, his head nuzzling into your sweater.

“Thank you so much, sweetheart. I thought I needed to work overtime because of this,” he said, his voice was slightly muffled by the cotton.

“You’re welcome. You can always send me these files when I’m not here, I don’t want you to overwork yourself,” you offered.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. Wanna grab lunch? I can hear your stomach rumbling,” Johnny asked after pulling away, a cheeky glint in his eyes.

You could feel your cheeks heating up in embarrassment, as you hit Johnny’s shoulders lightly for his teasing, a smile creeping up your face.

“No, I’m not...

“Come on, I know this really nice French restaurant around the corner...

“Johnny I have the file you were...

Doyoung stops in his tracks as he sees you and Johnny being so close to each other.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a guest,” Doyoung apologises, but his eyes were still wide in disbelief.

“Doyoung. This is Y/N. Y/N, Doyoung is one of my business partners, his dad was my dad’s business partner so now it’s his turn,” Johnny introduces his friend to you, telling you a bit of his background.

You gave Doyoung a tiny bow and soft hello, nerves wrecking up at meeting someone you often see on telly whenever their company has a press conference. You could sense an air of discomfort as Doyoung gives you a questioning look.

“You can just put the files on my desk Doyoung. I’ll take a look at them after my lunch break.”

When the evening rolled in, Johnny had to drive you home before your mom questioned your whereabouts.

“I really enjoyed having you by my side today, Y/N,” Johnny said sincerely after pulling up outside the gated area.

“I should be the one thanking you, I can’t believe those snails cost so much, yet you won’t let me pay you back whenever we have meals together,” you retorted, recalling how your eyes almost flew out of their sockets when you stole a glance at the bill.

“Money is not an issue, Y/N. I told you that many times before,” Johnny reminded you.

“I’ll see you on Saturday?” you asked, changing the subject before he offers to buy you a house or something.

“Yeah,” Johnny said, chuckling at how you diverted his attention.

Johnny unlocked the doors of his car, but right before you pulled onto the handle, Johnny pulled your arm, the place where one of the bigger bruises were located at, making you wince at the unexpected pain.

“Y/N I wanted to ask, wait. Are you in pain? Are you hurt? Did I accidentally hurt you?” Johnny asked his eyes wide in worry.

Before you could protest, Johnny pushed up the sleeves of your sweater, revealing the big ugly bruise on your upper arm, and several others that went downwards until your wrist.

You looked up at Johnny, scanning his face that was frozen in shock, eyes not believing what he’s seeing. His fingers gently tracing every bruise, his other hand rotating your arm gently, to see if there’s more.

“Y/N... Who did this to you?” Johnny questioned, but deep down in his gut, he’s sure it’s who he thinks it is.

“No one, Johnny. I just fell down when I woke up,” you said, lying through your teeth, you didn’t want to, but that was your survival instinct whenever someone asks about your parents.

“Don’t lie to me Y/N, it’s them isn’t it? They hit you. Why didn’t you tell me?” Johnny demanded, he questions why you don’t trust him, was he not worthy in your eyes?

“It’s nothing, Johnny. Goodnight,” you said in a breath before turning away.

You quickly got out of his car and ran to your lift lobby, Johnny was following behind you. But before he could step into the premise, you shut the glass door which could only be opened with a security card on him, mouthing the words sorry before you made your way into a lift.

Johnny banged at the door, shouting for you to come back, before the security guards asked him to leave. He could feel a prickle in his heart as he sees the bruises in his head, the image fresh. He felt red hot anger boiling in his heart, he was going to get you out of that horrible place, no matter what it takes.

[oh-for-fic-sake]

If They Get Married I'd Be Your Uncle

Masterlist

Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex, flirting, Bruce is frustrated

A/n:So been in a dc mood today and couldn’t get this out of my head i really hope you enjoy it xx

Bruce meets you when you both get called into the school and instantly wants you to himself.

If They Get Married I'd Be Your Uncle.

You grumbled as you walked up to the pretentious school pissed that it wasn't near any bus routes, cos these type of people don't use that sort of thing. The walk was long and arduous especially after the 10 hour shift you just finished cos some stupid little twat decided he didn't feel like coming in today and called in 'sick' at the last minute even tho you heard his giggling girlfriend in the back ground. Sighing you pulled out your hair tie slapping it up into a neater messy bun as you made your way into the school reception stopping ,you raised an eyebrow at the receptionist as she gave you a side glance pretending not to notice you. You looked up to the ceiling praying for some restraint because you'd had just about as much as you could take today and didn't need the snobby attitude of these people. After a few moments you looked at her.

"Excuse me I'm here to see Mr Koleman I'm running a bit late so could you sign me in?" you said as calm as possible she rolled her eyes.

"Mr Kolman doesnt take personal meetings on the school grounds" she said snidely dismissing you , you growled at the implication.

"I'm Jack Cookes sister you phoned me earlier?"

"oh? you have an appointment?" she said. you grit your teeth.

"Trust me if I didnt I wouldnt be here" she gave you the once over then reached a perfectly manicured hand beside her screen lifiting a clip board

" and your Mrs?" you shook your head

"Miss Cooke with an e" a chuckle and whispers rippled through the office as she checked you in and handing you a visitors pass. You snatched it and made your way down to the hall to a mini reception outside the principles office. As you opened the door you spotted your little brother supporting a bloody nose ,cut cheek and eyebrow. Ignoring everyone you ran across the room stopping before him and his best friend.

"Oh for fuck sake Jack, here let me look" you said tilting his face this way and that you looked beside him swivling on your feet pulling the boys face up.

"Damien are you ok- seriously you to?" you cut yourself off seeing a dark bruise on the boys jaw you tutted rummaging through your bag pulling out a pack of ibuprofen and small bottle of water passing it to them both.

"here take these" stopping as the principles secretary snapped at you.

"Miss! you cannot give medication to other student's god knows what they are!!" you rolled your eyes giving the sleeve of tablets to Jack who then popped out two and gave them to Damien before taking his own.

"Happy?" you quipped at her with an innocent smile then turned to Jack

"Jack please please tell me you still have all your teeth" he smiled showing a full set then looked at Damien who copied. You sighed in relief smoothing both boys hairs then placed a kiss on each of their heads. You continued coddling them unaware of the man behind you watching shocked as damien sat still letting you fuss over him. Bruce didnt know you from adam but damien apparently did

"Was it them again? I told you if your gonna retaliate keep it off campus!" you said kneeling in front of them hand on either boys knee.

"We didn't start it." your brother stated and you believed him , he and Damien get themselves into trouble I mean there a couple of teenage boys there bound to act up but he doesn't just 'verbally disrespect people and attack other students' as the teacher on the phone had put it.

"Ok what happened?" you asked they both looked down Damien spoke up first

"They started calling us names again, kyle tripped and blamed Jack for it getting him told off so i called Kyle out on it then they started calling us names again we told Mrs Hatt and she laughed saying sticks and stones" . Jack continued

"So I called her a drunk fat bitch who was at best a fucking baby sitter, kyle slammed my head into the desk for it cos he's a little ass lick." you sighed as Damien took over

"SoIi punched kyle in the face knocking him on his ass and Clarence hit me and Jack headbutted him then we were pulled apart"

"yeah were did you learn to punch like that? he went down like a sack of shit" Jack asked laughing damien joined him laughing you deadpanned as they high five'd one another.

"Ok guys thats neither here nor there the point is your teacher sat back and watched?" they nodded there teacher seemed to have a problem with your brother due to your social class, he'd been accepted as part of a new law that all private schools must accept a certain number of full scholarship students to give everyone 'an equal opportunity' you'd been complaining to the school about the bullying and the teachers attitude but nothing has been one it seems.

"So you didn't hit them first?" you asked Damien shook his head at you. you believed them they were good kids.

"Good but you know fighting isn't the answer right?" they shook their heads you stood up fully taking a seat beside them.

"Damien thank you for helping him and Jack fuck sake don't you know headbutting hurts you more than the other guy. I'm sorry this is still happening guys but I'm gonna take care of it ok? trust me?" they both nodded at you still looking a little sorry for themselves you swung around in your seat only now seeing Bruce sitting opposite you.

"Bruce Wayne, you must be Jacks sister Y/n was it?" you nodded as his hand devoured your in a hand shake.

"Yep that's me. sorry your boy got dragged into this" he chuckled waving it off

"He will always find trouble at least this time its for sticking up for his friend, im glad to finally have a face to put to the name they talk about you alot" you nodded at that couldn't help your breathing hitch slightly at his smile his eyes seemed to burn into you analyzing you. You flushed slightly under his gaze

"Good things i hope" he nodded at you licking his bottom lip damien sighed you loked away before smirking at Jack.

"You really called her a drunk fat bitch?" he laughed proud of himself

"Yeah, sticks and stone and all that thought id test it" you laughed out loud

"To quick for them huh? I see where your going with it tho smart ass" he smiled sheepishly

"Well it worked for you, had to give you a leg to stand on" you laughed high fiving him . Bruce flinched as the display made you look your age. your relationship with your brother was a strange one. One moment you had to be the 'politically correct parent' the next you could return to being his 'cool older sister', there was 12 years between you but it didn't bother either of you , it wasn't that long ago that you were in school so you understood him. You struck up a conversation with the two boys, Damien had been the only one in the school to get along with Jack and you were thankful that they found each other two peas in a pod and he seemed to be coming round constantly it hadn't taken long before you started mothering him to. They were always together at your house or the manor but youd never met bruce jntill today sure damien had spoke about him, convinced that the two of you would hit it off, you just laughed him off saying it was wishfull thinking, but you couldnt help but wonder as you sat across from the handsom man well aware of his eyes watching your every move. Bruce watched fascinated as you seemed to be on the same level as the boys , if he was honest he was happy to see Damien relaxed around someone. Damien constaly gushed about you to him and he could see why as his eye scanned you up and down taking everything in , you was certainly beautiful petite and slightly heavy set you had a young carefree air about you that still held a nurturing aspect , probably what drew damien to you the boy had never had a motherly type of women around him, hell even he felt drawn to you in more ways then one, he noted as he felt,his blood rush south. It had been a while since any woman had coaxed such a strong reaction from him. He'd never been one for the young domestic type but there was something in him that wanted you. He tried reasoning that it was because of the way you had coddled his son, or maybe it was that he missed that motherly affection himself, but no there was something more then that a deep atraction pulling at him.He could see why Damien had taken a shine to you he'd be lying if he said he hasn't already been thinking of a reason to meet up with you outside of school. It was rare that someone caught him by surprise and you had defiantly caught him by surprise. Clearing his throat he re-position himself on his seat as his boxers became tighter embarrassed and admittedly a bit confused as watching you mother the two teens had begun to arouse him. You looked over to him with concern.

"Are you ok Mr Wayne?" he inwardly groaned at the name and way you looked at him so innocently ,no idea what you were doing .fuck. He forced a charming smile

"Yes just wish they'd hurry up." you sighed pouting slightly

"It seems a bit stupid calling this an emergency then making us wait this long. twats." you snipped crossing your arms across your chest huffing he chuckled hearing the barely held back irritation, imagining just how bratty you could be, and exactly how he could deal with said bratty behaviour a shiver ran down his spine, he sucked through his teeth as his cock twitched at the thought his mind racing to other tempting scenarios of you and him, shaking his head he had to snap himself out of it. The door opened and you were both called in. He watched wide eyed as you rose your demeanor changed completely, gone was a fun loving motherly young woman and there stood a less than impressed mama bear under 5ft tall but walked like a giant. He blinked and staggered in behind you thankful that he opted for a longer blazer that helped cover his 'situation' once in the office you set down in front of Mr Koleman the principle a stout balding man that was king of his own little castle and like to let everyone know it.

Mr Koleman looked at you with distaste then smiled shaking hands with Bruce.

"Ah Mr Wayne good to see you again tho I hoped it was on better terms. Miss Cooke I'm glad you could come down today I wasn't sure you'd make it this time." he said condescendingly you smirked putting on your polite 'adult' voice.

"well I've been trying to get an appointment with you about these issues that I'm sure your fully aware of, however you seem fully booked so I'm glad I finally have the opportunity to straighten a few thing out" he grimaced as he took a seat behind the desk.

" Yes well I am a very busy man." he said

"Yes I noticed that when the receptionist mistook me for a personal visitor." you hear Bruce cough covering a laugh as the principle opened and closed his mouth speechless.

"Any way what was it you wanted to discuss Mr Koleman?" he scowled not used to being shut down by a young women. He leaned forward shuffling papers

"yes well we've been having problems with Jack for a few months as your aware-"

"Yes I'm aware that he is being targeted by his teacher and bullied by other students in the class which is being over looked and in some instances encouraged by the staff at this school. but go on." you interupted him staring at him unblinkingly Bruce gapped before collecting himself sitting back to watch the show the distinct feeling that you were going to rip this man a new arsehole.

"Uh-oh i was not aware of that"

"do not lie to me" you growled 'and here we go' Bruce thought he'd been with enough women to know that all hell was going to break loose as the quiet sweetheart form out side became a little spitfire in the office and couldn't help the a quick fantasy of you being this fiesty for him in his office. You pulled out a small red diary from your bag turning to dates in it.

"On the 4th of March I phoned the school and spoke to a Mrs Hatt to discuss cases of bullying she said that it was being taken care of and that I had no reason to worry. March the 12th Jack came home with bruises on his back caused by the same students they had tied knots in there ties and whiped him with them while getting changed for p.e, I had raised concerns about it nothing was done. I phoned again and once again was fobbed off by Mrs Hatt that there was nothing happening, then Jack comemhome with a sprained wrist, then it was bruised stomach, then a cut forhead and a brokennfinger from them smashing it in a door etcetera these incidents continued and I continued to report them and it was always the same names that popped up, the same three boys. I'd had enough on May 21st I phoned and asked to speak to you instead I got through to a Mrs Hamsten? the vice principle?" you watched as his face became paler and paler as you spoke he nodded. Bruced leant back eyes blown finding himself getting hotter as he watched you tear down the man infront of you.

"Yes and she said that the boys had been put into detention for it which turned out to be a lie another student confirmed that nothing had been done. I then put my issue in writing, I wrote a letter sent by recorded post to you about the issue and received a reply, sighed by you, that you have a no tolorence policy and would look into it, nothing has been done and now you have the audacity to call me up and have me come in here because he finally had enough and stuck up for himself because this little shit split his face open on a desk whilst the teacher watched? tell me Mr Koleman do you still want to pretend you dont know what I'm talking about because I've recored all the calls I've made about this." you tore into him as he shrunk further and further into his seat not prepared for you to come at him so direct. Bruce didnt know what the fuck happened to the sweet little thing he saw outside but what he did know was that was one of the sexist things he'd seen as you asserted yourself beautifully not giving the man time to respond. If it wasn't for Mr Koleman sitting behind the desk he'd already have you spread out on it underneath him. 'Another time'he thought to himself he licked his lips tugging at his trousers again trying to ease the ache in his cock as it strained against its confines.

"Ah yes well, now that I think about it I do remeber a letter" he stumbled over his words you nodded your head

"Yes I'm sure you do. Today was the inevitale blow up." He collected himself looking at Bruce for some sort of back up instead the billionaire scowled at him.

"Be that as it may there is no excuse for calling a teacher a drunk fat bitch." you nodded

"I agree how ever it was for science. Your member of staff who has neglected her duty to keeping my brother safe on school grounds ,has brushed off his bullying useing 'stick and stones' so he decied to test that theory by calling her a drunk fat bitch, turns out names do hurt and caused her to become agitated that she allowed him to have his face smashed into a desk by another student cutting open his eyebrow, cheek and bloody his nose. I dont think she should be able to teach if she cant practice what she preaches and certainly shouldnt be left incharge of children if she is that unstable that she would allow an attack to happen because her feeling were hurt."

"yes well he dragged Mr Waynes son into this-"

"Damien and Jack are friends Damien saw Kyle attack Jack and defended him which is more I can say for the staff at this school. I'm warning you Mr Koleman sort it out before I go to the press. How do you think that would look? when your school board find out that Mr Wanyes son was injured defending his friend when the teacher didn't lift a fucking finger. You wanna go there? cos I fucking will I've had enough." he sat up straighter alarmed, Bruce moaned deep in his chest but watching you was really doing it for him he didnt know why or care in all honesty he just wanted more of you.

"No, no theres no need for that. We can sort this out between us no need for the governors or press. Mr Wayne is there anything you'd like to add." he said trying hard to wrap up this meeting. You looked at Bruce who frankly you forgot was even there he shook his head looking strange, shifting in his chair uncomfortably.

"I think Miss Cooke summed everything up wounderfully, and she has my full support sort out these kids, I know that they have been causing Damien problems name calling getting him in trouble such and he has said the teacher dosn't do anything about it. I wont stand for it any more , if its not sorted out by the end of the week I will bring Miss Cooke with me and we will speak to the school bored in person." You let out a breath you didnt know you was holding relief flooded you as he said this slightly worried that he'd throw you under the bus. He locked eyes with you his pupils were blown wide and he was breathing heavy he winked subtly, you flushed looking back to the man behind the desk as he cleared his throat.

"Right well I will see to it personally and it will be sorted by the end of the week, you both seem to have concerns with Jack and Damien's teacher so as of tomorrow I will have them moved into another class whilst I investigate. I will phone you both up to check in with the boys I'm terribly sorry that it has been left this long." he stood motioning for you both to do the same ending with.

"The boys can leave early today while I deal with this." Bruce opened the door letting you through growling as the principle made a point to oogle your ass as you left, quickly standing between you blocking his veiw of you he glared at the fat prick his message was clear. That hot little spitfire is mine so back off. He stared down at him chest puffed out standing taller and broarder intimidating the little weasel until he looked away. Bruce smirked then left the office slamming the door behind him finding you explaining to the boys what was happening, joining you as they stood up getting there bags .

"you boys go out and wait by the car while we sign out at the front." Bruce instructed they nodded running ahead to the school enterance.

"The car?" you asked looked up at him shyly

"Yes i will give you both a lift" he said leaving no room for argument. You thanked him then spoke quietly looking down trying not to freak out as he stood closer then you thought was neccasary.

"Thank you for sticking up for me in there, I dont usually get like that but you know I get a bit protective." he chuckled at you showing off a brilliant smile

"Its no problem, to be honest I found the whole mama bear thing very sexy your lucky we we'rnt alone" he said winking you blushed

"Wh-what? sh-shut up" you squeeked out he shook his head at you as he put an arm out over you holding the doors to main reception you thanked him queitly skipping through feeling small catching yourself breathing deeper to smell more of his fresh scented cologne.

"No I'm serious any where else and well" he wiggled his brows at you making you giggle

"and the way you are with damien?ive never seen him like that" he asked trailing off

"Yes well he is a sweet kid, he comes over quiet a bit as you know Alfred drops him off and the boys go off doing their thing, just sort of started to mother him a bit sorry" he smirked at you

"Well if I'd known how stunning you were it'd be me dropping him off. And dont apologize I'm not mad just a bit jealous. Tho not for long" he said handing his pass to the snooty receptionist who gave him bedroom eyes before glaring at you for keeping his attention.

"J-jealous? of Damien why?" you stuttered then bit your lip blushing. He groaned the site of it as he throbbed agin nearly cumming as his cock rubbed harshly agains the soft cotton of his boxers, he just couldnt control it. oh he was definatly gonna have you for himself, somehow you turned him into a horny teenager all over again.

"Well he got to have all your attention earlier, hurts a mans pride when his son can capture a beautiful woman's attention and he cant." you looked away from him giving your pass to the secatary who snatched it with a snarl.

"Im hoping you'd show some mercy and come out for lunch with me?" you gasped snapping your gaze at him.

"Wh-what you mean to talk about the school?"

"No as in a date" he explained you froze feeling butterflies in your tummy looking at the gorgeous man.

"Date? now? like right now?" he nodded smirking thoroughly enjoying you being so flustered.

"yes now I dont have anything else planned for today." you gulped when he gave you a heated look you felt like a meal taking a step back

" I'd love to but I have to clean up Jack and-." you began your excuse only for him to cut you short.

"Nonsense he can come to the manor and spend the day with Damien, Alfred is a good nurse he will patch them up." you blinked trying to think of another reason as he stood staring you down at you waiting to for to decide feeling like a deer in the head lights you realized this alpha of a man wasn't going to give you much of a choice.

"O-ok if your sure alfred wouldn't mind watching him." you nodded shyly Bruce gave a triumphant smirk and threw an arm across your shoulders tucking you against him walking to the main doors.

"Alfred wont mind watching the boys." you both walked outside to the boys Damien sighed at his dad before Jack spoke up.

"Told you he was looking at her ass"

"JACK! He was not!" you screeched at him damien laughed and bruce unlocked the range rover

"I thought I was being subtle about it" you gaped at him speechless as he opened the passenger door the boys gagged getting in the back. You got in the car pouting to yourselfand Bruce climbed in.

"Fucking hell I've never seen her speechless, how'd you do that?" Jack said Damien scoffed

"Dad just keep your boner in your pants until were out of the way."

"Yer shes my sister dont need to see her sucking face." You blushed trying to shush the boys

"DAMIEN! He does not have a boner!"

"Uh yer he does look."You tired not to look you really did but it just sort of happend you squeeked covering your mouth faceing forward and jumped as bruce leant over buckling your seat belt whispering in your ear.

"I did tell you the mama bear was sexy" puljng away he spoke to the boys

"Dont worry boys, we will behave until your out of ear shot" You gapped as they cringed with cries of 'ew dad no' and 'come on thats my sister' he laughed at them patting your thigh before pulling out of the school

"So you asked her on a date yet Dad?" Bruce raised and eye brom looking at him in the rear view mirror pulling out onto the main road.

"Well we are dropping you both off at the manor does that answer your question?"

Jack groaned not sure if he likes the idea of his sister dating his best friends dad.

"dont you hurt her Mr Wayne I know where you live" you smiled at that finding it cute him trying to be the protective little man. The drive was quiet for a while before jack piped up.

"Holy shit if they get married I'd be your uncle" you groaned holding you face in your hands bruce only laughed

"Jack its one lunch date jesus"

".....Can I walk you down the isle?"

"JACK?!"

"What she means is well cross that bridge when we come to it" you stared at Bruce as he smirked enjoying teasing you the boys snickered in the back. You sat back wondering just what you'd gotten youself into.

[chaoticpuff17]

A Dangerous Game

part 25

masterlist

Hello darlings! guess who finished her paper! This bitch! This one’s a little short again, my apologies, but we are inching ever closer to the inevitable for Y/N and Namjoon. Again, please take a look at the teasers for the hyung line. I would love to know opinions on who you all think I should write for next! Comment, ask, send me a message! I’d love to hear from you!-- chaotic puff

The next few weeks were oddly reminiscent of her first weeks at the estate. She was never alone. It was a though everyone around her thought she was going to break, and maybe she had. Her world had been turned on its head, and suddenly she felt every bit the fragile lady that Namjoon had made her out to be. Jackson’s betrayal had hit her hard leaving her far more listless than normal. It was as though all the fight had gone out of her. But just because she was listless, this did not mean that the estate was as well.

Everything around her was bustling in preparation for the upcoming wedding. Due to her “fragile” condition, Namjoon had taken all the planning in hand. There were a constant stream of his people going in and out of the estate. Cake tasting and floral arrangements, tuxedo fittings, and anything else you could think of. It was as though Namjoon was determined to have everything arranged as quickly as possible, before either she or GOT7 could change their minds. She doubted though that anyone changing their minds would stop him. He was a formidable man in more than one way she was finding. She didn’t think that she had ever seen a man take wedding preparations quite so seriously.

She didn’t know how he had the energy to do it all. He was running his criminal empire, planning a wedding, and he still found time to spend doting on her. She swore there was something new every day, flowers, deserts, jewelry, books. All the affection was a little smothering, and when Namjoon wasn’t with her one of his goons was. She had hoped Jungkook’s return would mean a return to his being her babysitter, but that was unfortunately not the case. She had a stream of different babysitters, the most daunting of whom was Hoseok.

While she had a preexisting dislike of Taehyung based on his being the one to place the anklet on her, and Yoongi was a decided grump, something about Hoseok unnerved her. The man was a ball of sunshine, most of the time. But there were moments where the sunshine faded away, and in its place was a darkness very much akin to Namjoon’s. At least Namjoon wore his darker nature like a second skin. He was a predator through and through. Hoseok’s darkness was hidden under a carefully cultivated layer of sunshine. If Namjoon was the wolf, then Hoseok was the snake hiding in the grass, and in this game she was only prey. With Namjoon she knew what to expect, but Hoseok was like a pipe bomb without a timer. You never knew when he was going to go off. Her discomfort didn’t seem to dissuade him from following Namjoon’s orders though. On days he was assigned to her, where she went, he followed to every fitting, cake tasting, and walk through the garden.

She was sitting in the garden basking in the autumn sun taking a break from the constant stream of wedding plans, completely exhausted. Luckily her guard for the day had to be the most laid back out of all of them. Yoongi was just as content as she was to bask in the sunshine doing nothing. If someone had told her that he was secretly a cat, she probably would have believed them. The man had a very feline quality to him, but she found him to be a very calming presence despite his grumpy demeanor. He spent the least time of all her minders treating her like a doll that would break if not handled with care.

“You’re getting married next week.” He pointed out as she waved off one of the maids telling her that her dress had arrived. “Shouldn’t you be more excited?”

“I would be, if I actually wanted to marry the man.”  She scoffed taking a sip of her tea.

“You agreed to this.” He deadpanned.

She rolled her eyes leveling him a look that was just as deadpan as the one he was giving her. “That was before I found out Jackson was still in the mafia, and that sacrificing myself for him was useless, before his friends sold me off like it was the 1400s.”

“Want me to shoot him?” He asked taking a drink from his coffee. She could swear the man survived on coffee alone.

She laughed though it held no joy. It a bittersweet sort of sound. “Do you think it would help? Would it magically send me home or send me back in time to before I met Namjoon?”

“No.” He shrugged. “But I’m a really good shot.”

And he was. Yoongi was an excellent shot. She’d found out from Taehyung and Jungkook that Yoongi was a sniper, an assassin, a fixer. He took care of problems for Namjoon. If someone got on Namjoon’s bad side, Yoongi was the one that paid them a visit.

“You wanna marry Namjoon then? That would make me feel better.” He snorted shooting her an unimpressed look. “Yeah, didn’t think so.”

She shivered as a stiff autumn breeze went through her. Almost immediately a maid was there offering her a shawl. She took it only because she knew that the maid was only trying to help. Namjoon had given everyone strict orders to take care of her which translated to the hovering she had been living with for the past few weeks.

“You could have all this. People waiting on you hand and foot.” She tried to convince him as she wrapped the shawl loosely around her shoulders only slightly annoyed that Namjoon had given one the maids a shawl to hover over her with that perfectly matched the dress that she had chosen to wear that day. He was annoyingly meticulous like that.

“They already do that.”

“Only ‘cause they’re scared you’ll break their kneecaps.”

“Too much effort.” He shrugged slouching down in his seat. “You should go try on your dress though. Namjoon will throw a hissy fit if it doesn’t fit, and I don’t want to deal with that.”

“You and I both know that Jin or Hoseok would be dealing with that tantrum.” She reminded him. Jin and Hoseok were the poor souls to deal with the brunt of what could only be described as Namjoon’s pre-wedding jitters. She wasn’t supposed to know about them, but Jin, Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jungkook had no qualms about complaining about their perfectionist boss and friend to her so she heard every detail of his almost manic pursuit of perfection for their wedding day.

“Think of Jin hyung.”

“Jin can give him a sedative and do us all a favor.”  She hummed gently pushing herself out of her seat and moving over to examine the flowers that were in bloom. “Besides we both know that he wouldn’t allow the dress to be anything less than perfect. I’m pretty sure he threatened the poor seamstress with a bullet through her skull if she didn’t make sure everything was perfect.”

“If you took more interest in your wedding, maybe he wouldn’t be so stressed.”

“If I took more interest in this sham of a wedding, it would give him far too much pleasure.”

Yoongi chuckled finishing off his cup of coffee. “He’s excited to have a legal claim to you, can’t say that I blame him.”

“You want to marry me too, Yoongi?” She asked throwing him a coquettish look over her shoulder.

“No. You’re far too much trouble. But you’re good for him.”

“I’d stab him in a heartbeat given the chance, and you know it.”

“You already have.” He pointed out. “You weren’t aiming for him though. Planning to try again?” He inquired quirking a brow at her.

She was going to answer him, but a different maid made her presence known carrying in a bouquet of pink and white peonies. “Bu-in, the sajangnim sent these for you. Where would you like them?”

She sighed giving Yoongi a long suffering look before turning a tired smile on the poor maid. “Put them in the piano room please. I don’t think the bedroom has any more room for flowers.”

“Yes, bu-in.” She bowed scurrying away to place the flowers where she was directed to.

“You can tell your friend to stop sending gifts. I don’t have any need for diamonds, and if he doesn’t stop soon, we’ll be drowning in flowers.”

“Wait till the wedding. We’ll really be drowning in flowers then. Who knew Namjoon was such a romantic.”

“Romantic, psychotic, same thing.” She shrugged watching as yet another maid come out to tell her something. “Sajangnim has arrived. Would you like me to prepare a fresh pot of tea?”

“No. If he wants something he’ll ask for it. I’ll be in the piano room.” She sighed suddenly feeling more tired than before. “Would you like to come Yoongi? We can practice that sonata, and you can yell at me for messing up the notes.” She offered.

She’d found over the past few weeks that while Yoongi was a grump and Namjoon’s fixer, he was also an excellent pianist. They’d played a few songs together, but his skill far outweighed her own. More often than not he ended up scolding her for missing the rhythm or the notes or not placing her fingers correctly.

“That piano is wasted on you.” He grumbled.

“I’m aware, Yoongi. I’m aware.” 

She headed towards the door knowing that Yoongi would follow shortly as Namjoon had yet to steal her away, and she wasn’t to be without a minder when Namjoon wasn’t present. The man had become more paranoid than normal ever since the incident, as he liked to call it. Before, her minders could give her a bit of space, but now space was a thing of the past.

Namjoon found them in the piano room playing the same duet that they had been practicing for the past two weeks. He didn’t even mind the sharp reprimands that Yoongi would snap at her, something he normally wouldn’t allow, because Yoongi had gotten her to play the piano again. She hadn’t touched the instrument since the incident, but Yoongi had gotten her to play again, unsurprising given the man’s talent for piano and the beautiful instrument that was at his disposal at the manor.  

“Schubert again?” He asked remaining just outside the door. This was her space, and he was hesitant to invade it without her permission given the incident. He didn’t want anything to set her off again. He didn’t think he could handle another incident.

“Sonata for four hands ‘Grand duo’. It’s only the first movement though.” She responded with a slight smile while Yoongi grumbled at the interruption.

“She can finally play part of the first movement without it sounding like a toddler.”

She didn’t seem to mind the insult though choosing instead to lean her head on the man’s shoulder with a gentle smile. She never seemed to mind Yoongi’s more abrasive comments, and Yoongi never seemed to mind her more affectionate gestures. They all knew he was secretly a softy. She’d known that from the first time she’d seen him with Moni. The man was a sucker for dogs.

Yoongi shrugged her off and got up leaving without another word, leaving her alone with Namjoon who came to sit next to her on the piano bench.

“I see you got my flowers.” He mused while she hummed in agreement. “Play for me?” He asked, and she did.  

part 26

[adarlingwrites]

Dormouse

Summary:

After playing a game with two of The Beach's most dangerous members, the dormouse gets her tail caught by a tiger's paw.

He’ll make a wildcat out of her.

Author’s Notes: A character study for my AiB OC, Minami Yamane. The story takes place months before the main events of the series.

Edit 4/27/2021: I edited the chapter and added a few more paragraphs to highlight how desperate Yamane's living conditions were before the Borderlands. Some of the changes include more scenes of her happily pillaging stores because she never had plenty of groceries before, and changing her apartment into a 1R apartment.

I

everybody's looking for something / some of them want to use you / some of them want to get used by you

Mice and rats are vermin.

They are filthy, scurrying little creatures that will take anything they can lay their little paws on. In an urban city such as Tokyo, they thrive outside the human view, in the dank, dark underbelly of the bustling city.

They have no place in polite society, and neither does the girl running from an accessory shop in the populated streets of Harajuku.

It was just supposed to be a simple swipe. She had been shoplifting for quite a while now, ever since her parents threw her out and cut all her access to their money.

Yes, this little mouse wasn’t always one.

This happened all because she no longer wanted their control on her life anymore.

“You’re going to take Business Administration and take over the family business,” they would always remind her, drilling it into her thick skull since she can remember. But screw that, she’s not about to let them decide what she will be any further.

Now, look where that got her.

Scurrying, panting, and her feet skidding against the sidewalk, she ran into a busy boutique, blending in with the crowd. She almost ran into a baby carriage, muttering a quick apology to the annoyed mother pushing it. Eyes alert, she spotted an open storage closet an employee had left open. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, she slipped inside, and shut the door.

Outside, the police are asking around if they had seen a girl with her description. Heart in her throat and pulse rapid, the mouse bit back a curse when the woman with the baby carriage pointed at the storage closet she’s in. Their footsteps approaching, she was bracing herself to slam the doors open once they’re within range.

But the lights flickered, and the officers never came.

Dark, damp, and musty, she’s a rat in a cage. Her only source of light was the faint sunlight that streamed through the glass storefront, seeping into the corners of the door. It was so quiet; too quiet. She swore she can hear her own heartbeat and the sweat rolling off of her skin.

With caution, she slowly opens the door, and the previously populated boutique is deserted. Not a single soul was in sight. Anxiety and bewilderment made her pulse quicken even more.

“Where the hell is everyone,” she mumbles to no one.

Confused, she runs out of the store, to the streets. The city is bustling no more. Everyone vanished.

If this was some kind of sick joke, this little mouse was not having it. She takes out her cell phone from her bag, only to see that it’s dead. Cursing, she runs back to the store to find an outlet, and plugs her flip phone in, to no avail. It’s still dead. She looks around and sees that all the displays are powered down.

Electricity is gone, and so is the water, she found out when she went to the bathroom in plans of dousing herself awake. All utilities had been cut. Taking a moment to compose herself, the mouse left the store once more to walk around. The streets are deserted, cars lining up in the desolate roads. Some of the windows are rolled down, and the mouse reaches in to unlock the door.

Turning the keys, she tried to get it to run, but to no avail. With a baffled look, she looks around in the car. Beside her was a plastic bag, still warm to the touch. A fried chicken sandwich is nestled inside, along with the receipt, a half-eaten bag of fries, and a few packets of ketchup.

She takes that, steps out of the vehicle, and begins eating while making her way back to her apartment, occasionally checking inside cars to see if anyone’s inside.

Everyone is gone, and no one is watching.

Relief replaces the little mouse’s horror upon realizing that among those gone are her landlady. “If she’s gone, I don’t have to pay rent anymore,” she gasps to no one in particular, and a smile slowly spreads on her lips.

“I don’t even have to pay bills anymore. I don’t have to watch out for security guards and cops.” The mouse starts laughing at that point, palming at her forehead. 

“Ha! I can finally do what I want now.” Her laughter was equal parts bitter, and cathartic.

Upon arriving to her apartment, she realizes that the chicken sandwich would probably stave off her hunger for the afternoon. She still had her bike and her delivery bag with her from work, and an idea forms in her head. She doesn’t know what the hell is going on, but if no one is around to watch her… she might as well do the thing she’s best at: take.

She will need to survive while waiting this out, after all.

Riding her way to the nearest convenience store, the mouse stuffed her bag with canned and non-perishable goods, filling it to the brim with groceries she normally couldn’t afford. From behind the counter, she takes several plastic bags and fills it with frozen goods, and dumps that in the front basket of her bike. The food probably needed to be heated up, so she made it a point to check for a butane stove. Luckily for her, there was one in the back, along with a few canisters of fuel.

Giddy, she bikes her way back to her apartment, unloads her haul, and comes back for more.

She targeted the water next, but found it too heavy for the bike. Not willing to leave the goods behind, she grabbed a shopping cart and filled it to her heart’s desire, until it was almost too heavy for her to push. The mouse carted the goods back to her apartment, exhausted, but genuinely relieved for the first time in months.

By the time that the sun is down, the mouse is sitting happily in her apartment, sorting through groceries that would last her weeks, if she’s careful with them. The mini fridge was still cold despite the lack of electricity, so she stuffed the frozen goods inside, the door barely closing due to the amount of content inside. Once littered with cobwebs, her pantry is now full with various dry goods and snacks. Some of them couldn’t even fit in the shelves, so she put them in the bedroom instead, which doubles as her living space, separated by a divider from the kitchen.

A contented grin on her face, she takes a breather and opens one of the snack cakes she took, and a box of coated biscuits.

The mouse finished her snacks blissfully, not one care in the world as she devoured them.

When she was walking back to fetch her bike from the convenience store, a billboard lights up, catching her attention.

She was in for a world of danger.

Two weeks later, the mouse stays in her apartment, her nest in this strange new world, tending a shoulder she bruised days ago. She quietly thanked herself for scouring the pharmacy after her first game.

The last one she participated in was a Three of Diamonds, and she almost didn’t make it out. It was good to see other people, but she had witnessed them die right before her eyes because of a wrong answer, and plain selfishness.

It was a game held in an abandoned variety show set. Get the answer right, you get to live to answer the next. Get it wrong, you have to work with the other contestants to survive a game of hole in the wall... or fall in a pool of acid. Contestants will take turns answering questions, and they weren’t allowed to coach each other.

The contestants were Mugi Nakamura, a high school girl in a swim team, Taro Kobayashi, a salaryman and father of two, and the mouse herself, Minami Yamane, a part-time seamstress in a factory by day, food courier by sundown, and a full-time troublemaker.

It was going so well. Yamane had gotten all of the questions right, and so did Nakamura, but Kobayashi made a mistake. The curtains drew back, and the wall revealed a single, round hole near the bottom. Time was running out.

Eyes haunted, Yamane looked at her reflection in the mirror as she pressed the compress against her shoulder, the dark circles under her eyes deepening, and so did her frown. There are some things she wished she could scour from her memory.

Kobayashi was willing to throw the two girls under the bus, despite Yamane insisting that they can all survive it if they formed a straight line and curled into a deep bow. Disgusted by his selfishness, Yamane shoves the salaryman aside and dives through the circle. She turned around to see if Nakamura followed suit, but the only thing she saw was her body dissolving in the pool.

Their pained, agonized cries filled the room, and Yamane couldn’t tear her eyes away. The last thing she saw before she got a “game clear'' was Nakamura’s faux fingernail floating to the surface before getting eaten away by the acid.

Around her, makeup and trinkets that she couldn’t afford on her salary littered the desk, her small sources of comfort and joy. Empty packages of frozen foods lined neatly up in her trash can, and so did the empty cans and bottles. Yamane was beginning to run low on her supplies. She will have to scavenge farther from home. That wouldn’t be a problem. On days that she isn’t risking her life on a game, she started working out to improve her stamina, and improve her odds of surviving these games. Spade games were the most physically demanding ones.

The little mouse is starting to get used to this life. There are no parents to tell her what to do, and no expectations from society, but in return, she will have to risk her life playing these treacherous games.

After tending to her shoulder, it was time for Yamane’s nightly routine. With make up wipes, she’d wipe off the makeup off of her face. She undoes her twin buns, and brushes her hair down; thankfully, it wasn’t time to wash them yet, and her shoulder hurts. Cleaning herself off with a towel and a little water, Yamane changed into cleaner clothes and went to bed, nestled in pillows and sheets she snatched from a nearby mall’s home section on the way home from the Diamond game.

There were other people loitering about when she made her haul. The initial relief she had upon meeting people in the games were replaced by paranoia after that game with the salaryman. Purging the mental image of their dissolving bodies off of her mind, she pulls the covers over her head and curls into a fetal position.

Her ears perked up when she heard footsteps in the kitchen.

“Shit, did I forget to lock the door?” Yamane thought to herself. 

Listening intently, she approximated the size of the person intruding her home through their footsteps, something she learned to do while living under the scrutiny of her family. They were light.

Like a child’s.

Carefully getting out of bed, Yamane tiptoes her way to the kitchen, and clamps her hand over the intruder’s mouth.

“Don’t make a sound,” she hissed, and she can sense the fear coming from the small body. Yamane spins the intruder around only to see a young girl. Judging from her height and prepubescent looks, she might be in early middle school. “What the hell are you doing in my house?”

“Oneesan, I’m so sorry for trespassing, but please, I’m starving. I saw you walking away from the grocery store with a huge haul a few days ago-”

“Great,” she thought.  People are starting to notice her hauls.

“Out. Get out now.”

“B-but please! I don’t know what else to do. I’m not a thief, but I’m so desperate… I’m so hungry.”

Taking a deep inhale, Yamane eyes the girl. She’s rail-thin, her uniform is soiled, and her hair is a tangled mess. Her lips are dry from the lack of water, and her hair is dull from the lack of proper nutrition. Groaning and rubbing her face, Yamane relents.

“Fine, take what you need and go.”

“Can I please stay with you?”

Yamane scoffs. “What? I don’t have time to look after a kid.”

“I can’t find my parents. I have no friends to talk to. It gets scary at night without all the lights too. Please, let me stay.”

Yamane should be kicking this girl out. Instead, she’s now handing her a pillow over as the kid ate dinner on the floor couch in her room. It was nothing special, but Yamane went through the trouble of preparing something somewhat healthy for the girl, despite her reluctance in letting her stay. Begrudgingly, Yamane tosses her a blanket too.

“This help’s not for free. You’re going to have to make yourself useful if you want to stay with me. And if you try to steal from me, I won’t hesitate to hurt you,” Yamane says, sitting on her mattress right across the couch.

“I promise I’ll be good.”

“What’s your name? How old are you?”

“Fumiko Sato. I’m twelve years old.”

The mouse’s expression softens against her will. Yamane thought someone that young shouldn’t be in a world such as this. Sure, it suited her, but it didn’t suit the preteen sitting on her couch. A girl her age’s problems should be about school, crushes, and which accessories she should wear tomorrow, not a brutal survival game.

“I’m Minami Yamane. Twenty three. How many days do you have left on your visa?”

“Two.”

“Shit”, Yamane thought. “I’ll have to bring her to a game soon.”

“Go to sleep. You’ll help me scavenge tomorrow, then we’ll go to a game.”

“Thank you. I’ll do my best!”

Without uttering another word, Yamane goes to bed, pulling the covers over her head. It’s been a long time since she looked after someone else. Exhaling slowly, her mind wanders back to home.

“I wonder how Mai and Riku are doing”, she thought.

A photograph of her and Mai, her little sister, sits on a desk, with a picture of an infant boy attached to it. Mai would have been nineteen now, and Riku would have been three. Such a huge age difference between the siblings, a result of her father remarrying after her and Mai’s mother died.

Yamane didn’t even visit her funeral.

Not wanting to waste precious minutes she could’ve used to rest on thinking about the life she left behind, Yamane got back in bed and closed her eyes.

The next morning, she woke up to the smell of food.

“Good morning, oneesan,” Sato greeted, setting rice balls and two cups of instant miso soup on the table. Yamane checks out the stove, and the butane is almost out. They’ll have to look for more. Without electricity, it’s a precious commodity, especially if they want to continue having hot meals.

Sato says her grace, and without saying a word, Yamane sits and eats the food prepared for her. The middle schooler was looking at her with expectant eyes as she chewed on her rice ball.

“These are good. Thanks. I hope you rested well. We’re going to the train station to get you a bike, then we’ll go to a grocery store father from here for goods.”

Sato nodded and they spent the rest of the meal in peace. After freshening up and getting dressed, Yamane tosses Sato her thermal bag. “Be alert around strangers and stay close to me.” Yamane instructed her as Sato strapped the bag on. “For now, you’ll be riding on the backseat.”

Nodding, Sato follows her down the apartment complex’s stairs, feeling secure for the first time in days. She gets on the bike, and wraps her arms around Yamane’s waist as they ride to the train station.

Meanwhile, Yamane’s mind wanders back to her little sister. They used to ride like this when she was a little younger, before her parents forced her to go to university for Business Administration. Five years ago, on her eighteenth birthday, she and Mai snuck out of the house to celebrate with her friends. They ate shabu shabu together and Yamane had her first taste of liquor.

They never heard the end of it when they got back, and Yamane got a few bruises from the beating she had to endure, but it was a precious memory.

Yamane and Sato arrived at the train station, and took a bike from the rental booth. This one had a child’s seat at the back, which was decent for groceries too. The bike is Sato’s bike now.

Today’s haul was bountiful. Aside from necessities, Yamane even managed to score some box dye. Her highlights were fading out. Sato also found clothes her size, and a mild, fruity cologne for teenagers, then she placed those in the front basket of her bike, along with some sweets she was previously wasn’t allowed to eat too much of.

After sorting the groceries and having dinner, Yamane and Sato sat in the older girl’s room, where the younger girl helped the older one dye the fading red streaks of hair, just like her friends did.

“Maybe having this kid around isn’t so bad”, Yamane thought to herself. She’ll have an extra pair of eyes to watch her back now. Sato helped her rinse her hair in the bathroom sink and they laughed together.

“Alright. Time for some rest,” Yamane says, running a towel through her hair, sitting on her mattress. “We need to participate in a game tomorrow to extend your visa.”

“Okay. Thanks again for everything, Minami-neesan.”

Secretly, Yamane’s heart leapt from being called older sister again. But she would never admit it. She convinced herself that she’s only using her as a pack mule.

The next night, they arrived at a game venue. An arcade. A laser tag arena, to be precise.

The two of them took phones from the table, and waited for other participants. There was a rowdy group of four boys, all high school age, and judging from their appearances, they must be delinquents. Or perhaps, in this world, they have the freedom to act tough now. Sato stepped a little closer to Yamane, feeling uneasy.

Then, two men arrived.

The group of boys fell into a hush at their arrival. Yamane kept her head straight on, but she was looking at them from the corner of her eyes, her field of vision obscured by her shades. Sato, on the other hand, was trembling beside her.

One of the men was wearing a black patterned shirt, part of his shoulder-length hair tied, and on his face were various piercings. He was toting a gun, and he shoved one of the highschool boys aside, brusquely telling them to get out of his way.

The other was the quiet type. He was taller than the other man, shoulders broad despite his wiry build and bad posture. This one had tattoos on his face, wearing a sleeveless cloak with the hood up, and he carries a katana.

“Where did he find a fucking katana,” Yamane thought to herself. If there’s one thing she couldn’t find on her hauls, it was decent weapons to defend herself with.

Yamane pretends not to notice them, but Sato is staring at the two men outright. The younger girl pulls at Yamane’s sleeve urgently.

“Oneesan, they’re scary.”

“Don’t give them any attention. Focus on the game.”

Sato keeps quiet, fidgeting and sweating. The preteen made the mistake of looking at them again, and she tugs on Yamane’s sleeves once more.

“Oh God, they’re looking at you!” Sato whispers urgently, wrapping an arm around Yamane’s.

Yamane tilts her head, and sees that they are indeed looking at her. The one with piercings is openly leering, his tongue slipping out of his mouth, revealing another piercing. The one with the tattooed face was harder to read. His mouth was slightly open, twitching on one side.

“Let them stare,” she tells the younger girl.

“Just what I needed,” Yamane muttered, a wave of discomfort washing over her. “They look dangerous. I hope they’re not perverts,” she adds, shielding the younger girl, and Sato couldn’t help but take another peek.

“Ew, they do kind of look like perverts, oneesan. Especially that one with the piercings.”

“Then let’s not attract their attention.”

Yamane pulls her jacket’s hood over her head, then she folds her arms and looks away. She knew better than to provoke them.

A third man catches up with the two. Then, Yamane notices it; the tag on their wrists with numbers. The other two had them too. Were they a team?

Yamane had no time to think when the final contestant arrived, a balding middle-aged man. He took the last phone, and the synthetic voice flooded the room.

“Please proceed further into the arena.”

Instead of the usual laser tag equipment, they were met with real firearms, along with some melee weapons. The sight of them made Sato squirm, and Yamane herself was disturbed. There are written instructions to take as many weapons as they desire.

The delinquent boys eagerly reached for the guns, leaving Yamane and Sato with none. The two intimidating men and their third companion didn’t need them, and stayed in their spots, watching the two girls pick a weapon. Sato sheepishly opted for a pocket knife, while Yamane quickly reached for the daggers. They came with leg holsters which she strapped on her thighs.

She can feel the two’s gaze burning her back as she bent over to adjust the straps.

“Great. They are perverts,” she thinks to herself, straightening and looking over her shoulder to give them a chastising look.

The monitor comes to life, and the synthetic voice crackles through the speakers. The participants’ faces were on the screen, where they are divided into two teams. Team A consisted of the four delinquent boys, and the middle-aged man. Team B consisted of Yamane, Sato, and the three men with the bracelets.

“Please sort yourselves accordingly and proceed to your team’s base.”

Yamane didn’t know if she should be relieved or concerned that she got sorted with those two. She stands next to the one with tattoos. Her shades obscured her eyes, which trailed on his arms, observing the ink. A muscle flexes as he unsheaths his katana; he looks like he possesses a wiry strength. Then, he turns to her, slowly, and Sato squirms beside her. Yamane only pulled her shades down slightly and stared back, raising an eyebrow.

The tense moment was shattered by the synthetic voice once more.

“Registration closed. There are currently ten players. Difficulty: Seven of Clubs.”

“Seven? That’s difficult, isn’t it?” Sato asks Yamane, and she hushes her.

“Game: Elimination. Rules: Work with your team to eliminate the opposing team. Clear condition: Team with the most number of members left by the end of the time limit wins. If there are equal numbers of participants from each team, everyone loses. Time limit: thirty minutes.”

“Wait, wait! Elimination? We’re supposed to kill the other team? Minami-neesan this is bad!” Sato exclaims, pulling on Yamane’s sleeve again.

“Calm down, calm down! We just need to survive until the thirty minutes is up,” Yamane hushes her, pulling her closer.

“That’s right little mice, you two better hide,” the man with the pierced face interrupts them. “Don’t get in our way.”

“We have no intentions to,” Yamane replied sharply, before whisking Sato away to look for a hiding spot.

Yamane looks over her shoulder one last time, and the tattooed man gives her one last curious look before walking towards the arena.

“These thirty minutes are going to be hell.”

[orphanedshadow]

Okay guys so I'm probably going to be scattered for the next few months as I'm just not going to be getting a break from doing things. Vent below cut, no need to read, I just tired.

Anyway, take care of yourselves okay, and remember, saying no is sometimes the better option.

Now first of all I'm house sitting six cats and a dog (kiddo's) and my cats are here.

First class, paper due the 30th that I've only just started. Lab the day before that on the 29th, and all work due the 6th.

9th: get all my fish tanks and stuff back to my place, and clean house. People coming to steam clean furniture. Day 1 of constant vacuuming and lint rollering.

11th: people coming to set up and take pictures of house for real estate

12th-23rd: potential house showings. Means I have to fit 8 cats, a dog, and a baby axolotl into the vehicle and take them... somewhere. Also make sure house is literally spotless.

23rd: get my cats and Rosie back to my place, make sure roommates can take care of them while I'm gone.

24th-28th: pick up house entirely for the 24th, wash all fabric stuff, lint roller everything. Then all the family's critters go in the car. Then the odessy. 8hrs driving a day, which one day includes a 4hr ferry trip.

29th - 2nd: back in St John's. (I thought I was getting out of there as soon as I dropped the critters off, but apparently not. Mum planned for me to stay for a little bit, and since she booked the flight and paid for it I'm SOL)

2nd - 8th : finally finishing unpacking at the apartment (2.5 months after moving in), finding a job, sorting out some paperwork for college/uni, figuring out walking and bussing distances to uni and to potential job places, setting up an appointment to pick up my student ID so I can use the included bus pass, figuring out why my museum association card hasn't arrived yet, coordinating with previous roommates to check mail, changing residence info with various government things...

Oh also as I'm doing all this I'm trying to get a transfer credit sorted out with uni for my second to last credit (current class is my last) figuring out health insurance because I just aged out, getting my second Covid shot (when most of the shots are now walk-in and they've shut down some of the big vaccination centres due to decreased demand) and generally dealing with a shite ton of nonsense.

You guys just take care of yourselves okay, I mostly just had to vent tbh.

[trash-writes]

hey darl, since you opened the requests i'd love to make one! a little fic where jon is just constantly bumping into this one gal in the library to the point they worked up a routine and basically come there every week, same hour, both of them really not coming to read anymore but just to meet up and talk, and jonathan working up the courage to finally ask her on a real date? i'm so sorry if this doesn't make sense, i seem to have lost the ability to form coherent sentences lmao

It’s totally fine and thank you so much for being my first request! I hope you like it and don’t mind that I didn’t do reader insert since I’m not good at those. Enjoy!

It’s well known that the Gotham City library is home to thousands of books on thousands of subjects, so it isn’t unusual for a gothamite to come across a rogue or two while browsing for a new book to read. Of course nobody ever really does anything out of fear of being attacked or pursued by said rogue, and so the library at some point became a sort of neutral ground between the civilians and the villains (cops not included).

----

It started with a book.

All Jonathan wanted to do was find something new to read since his collection at the hideout was getting boring. While it was normal for his acquaintances to be approached in one way or another by civilians, people tended to steer clear of him, and he honestly couldn’t have it any other way. Of course, all good things have to come to an end at some point or another, and for him, it consisted of a four hundred page copy of Rebecca to be dropped just inches away from hitting him.

“I’m so sorry! Oh my god, are you alright? Did I hit you?” A female voice came from the other side of the bookshelf as a hazel eye peered at him through the small gap between two books before vanishing. He could hear said person scrambling to get down from whatever they were standing on as they obviously began to rush over to his side of the bookshelf, presumably to apologize once more and retrieve the book that they had just almost dropped on him. Within moments he was staring down at the woman’s curly mop of hair while she picked up the book, still apologizing. “I’m so so so sorry! I swear, being short is a curse considering the fact that they seem to put all of the good books on the top of the shelf! Are you alright? Did I hit you? Wait I already asked that-” She cut herself off when she stood back up and looked up at Jonathan with crooked glasses, “oh, you’re Dr. Crane!”

He gave a small smile (that he quickly got rid of) when she addressed him by his title instead of his villain name, and upon noticing what book she had picked up he decided to respond instead of just walking away like how he originally intended. “Yes, I am. Might I ask who you are?” 

This seemed to make her somewhat happy considering the fact that she smiled while fixing her glasses. “I go by Kat, with a ‘k’ of course because apparently everything has to be spelled weirdly for some reason, it actually started as just a nickname from one of my friends. I don’t really know why they began calling me that seeing how my name had no ‘kat’ in it and I honestly think that they just started calling me that to see how long it would take for me to correct them, which I obviously haven’t done yet considering the fact that I actually changed my name to...Oh sorry! I’m rambling aren’t I?” The woman who he now knew went by ‘Kat’ glanced up at the clock on the wall before looking around and grabbing a book off of the shelf, thrusting it into his hands before rushing off. “Sorry, If I don’t hurry I might miss my bus! I recommend this though! Most people think that it’s just for kids but it’s still really good. Have a nice day!” 

With that, she was gone and Jonathan Crane was left with a copy of Coraline in his hands. Raising an eyebrow, he read the flap copy before shrugging and continuing his search for more books, keeping the one that she gave to him as he went to leave.

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

It didn’t take long for Jonathan to finish his stack of books, and so he returned to the library the following week to get more. He would never admit to anyone that he read the book that the woman from last week (Kat, he remembered) gave him, and he would also never admit that he found it interesting. 

That promise to himself went out the window the moment he bumped into her, well, more like almost tripped over her considering the fact that she was seated on the floor while looking at the books on the very bottom of the shelf.

“I’m so sorry! Are you alri-Oh it’s you! How are you? Did you like the book? I know a lot of people say that it’s just for kids but I think it’s really good and I thought that maybe you might like it, of course everyone has different tastes when it comes to books so may-Sorry, I’m rambling again.”

To be honest, Jonathan didn’t mind the rambling, in fact, he found it a little cute, but that was something that he would never tell anybody. “No no, it’s fine. The book was good and I really liked the ide-are those….pumpkins on your glasses chain?” He asked, leaning forward a tad bit to get a closer look and he was in fact correct. Kat had little jack-o-lanterns on her glasses chain. How cute.

“Oh....well….yes. My other chain broke last week after it got caught on something on the bus. I don’t really wear this one unless it’s September or October but I couldn’t find any of my other chains and so I decided to just go ahead and use this one. Besides, who doesn’t like Halloween?” Her eyes widened once she remembered who she was talking to and she began to fiddle with the book that she had in her hands, opening and closing it nervously.

Chuckling at her nervous behavior, Jonathan held a book out to her. “Relax. I don’t intend to cause any trouble today, and yes, Halloween is nice. By the way, I recommend this to read.” 

With a smile, Kat took the book and thanked him before gesturing to a small and slightly hidden reading area. “Care to join me Dr. Crane? It’s fine if you don’t want to, I just thought that maybe since I don’t actually have anywhere to be this time that mayb-”

“I’d love to.”

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

This went on for a while, the two of them meeting up at the library to exchange book recommendations and sometimes read together, and as time went on they began to read less and talk more. Over time Jonathan began to learn small things about Kat, like how she was a student at Gotham University (“You know I used to teach there.”), how she was currently getting her masters in professional writing, and her love for rats (which he only found out about when she brought a small bag that she revealed to have her pet rat in).

It didn’t take long for Jonathan to realize that he was slowly falling in love with Kat. He couldn’t ignore the way his heart sped up whenever she suggested that they go sit, or how it jumped whenever her hand brushed against his when she pointed to something that she found exciting. Eventually, he found himself talking about her to Edward, who would just get annoyed and say that he should just ask her out. 

The idea of asking Kat out was one of the few things that made him worry. What if she rejected him or only thought of him as a friend? He couldn’t possibly live with just being her friend. She was his Mistress of Fear! He needed her! It took a lot of convincing from Edward, but he eventually decided that he would ask her out the next time that they meet up.

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

Sitting in his usual seat at the library, Jonathan looked at the clock on the wall every so often while he waited for Kat to show up. 

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, and eventually thirty as he waited nervously. What if she decided that she didn’t want to associate with him anymore due to his status as a villain? It hadn’t been an issue before but maybe something happened that changed her mind? Thankfully his worries were put to rest when he noticed her walk up and sit in her usual seat next to him.

“I’m so sorry I’m late Jonathan! I had to go to the bank to straighten some things out with my account and I got caught up in a robbery because apparently everyone thinks that they can rob a bank, then my bus got stuck in a traffic jam because Poison Ivy apparently escaped today and so the GCPD were checking every vehicle to make sure that she wasn’t hiding in one, which honestly I think is kind of stupid because why would she hide in some random person's car or on the bus when she hates people so much? It’s much more logical that she would immediat-Oh I’m rambling again, aren’t I?” Kat stopped talking and reached into her bag to pull out the book that Jonathan had earlier lent her from his personal collection and held it out to him, “thank you for letting me borrow this!”

With a smile he took the book and sat it on the small table between him, “it’s no problem Kat, I was honestly surprised that you had never read this one before considering the fact that it’s so popular with fans of the horror genre. By the way, I have a quick question for you.” This was it, this was the moment where he would ask her out. There was no backing out of this now.

“Would you want to go to dinner sometime?”

“Do you want to go out for coffee?”

Jonathan looked at Kat with wide eyes, who in turn was looking at him with equally wide eyes.

“Did you just-”

“Are you-”

Kat covered her mouth and nodded eagerly before lowering her hand and grinning. “We both had the same idea, didn’t we?”

“More or less.”

[victorusolano]

FYD Series

by Victor Ubanos Solano 

The old lady said that the pup was born in the province of Cavite from an unidentified breed of canines. Although it looked like a Labrador or a half-breed Saint Bernard or if mistakenly recognized from refined breeds of dogs, it was just a dog of some ordinary sort or I do not know. She said, “My friend had to put the pup inside a rugged sack so we can travel the way from south to north.” It was Friday morning when I met them at the tail coach of the PUV going to Antipolo. “They're not letting us to onboard because they do not allow pets inside” The Madame exclaimed. She was talking to me like a newly found friend. But only with a calm smile, I rewarded her back from her exasperation. 

The other commuters reverted in silence while we were all comfortably tucked into our seats. “So, I gave its brother to the kind and gentle bus driver then he let us in.” She said while still a bit annoyed. Again, another moment of delay before she spoke another word. “Don’t tell them!” She shrugged with a hush. The car moved on, the furry creature sneaked out from the sack bag where he was kept out of sight and raised his little paws to my feet. “Cute creature,” I said and put him on my lap. “You want? You can adopt him too!” Calmly she said. The little beast gave me a gaze of glassy eyes as if telling me, Please! He bowed his head and folded his feet, pushed his body closer to my arms; I looked at him and told myself, a furry friend – and I named him Maximus.

The truth is, I never had a pet that I raised on my own. The feeding and caring for a pet to live was never handed to me directly as an opportunity. My attempts from the past were some experience of a disaster, I can name a few: Boomer was the first, she was a family dog and died while giving birth to Dugan which I named after an anime series Cedie in the ninety’s. Unfortunately, Dugan died a miserable death due to an unknown disease. The last was Chuchay. I would say Chuchay is a lesbian bitch but that was only my guess and died a virgin dog. There was one animal that lived a long life and expired old, It was a rooster. Needless to say, the reasons for these animals being gone, the sad and happy moments had been revered and marked happy memories. 

Now as for Maximus, the first nourishment I gave was all dog milk that I bought from the pet shop the next morning. I can say that he liked it and enjoyed it till the last drop of the serving. The routine began like that, milk in the morning and afternoon.

One day, there was an inevitable change in my work schedule. I left Maximus wandering outside around a fenced structure. I decided to let Maximus claim the outside surroundings. A territory, my strong belief was that; going out of the fence is far from his ability. 

I went home early the next day. I expected that Maximus would be so excited to see me wagging its tail in joy. But no shadow of Max at the entrance, I wondered and tried to look for him. I called him Max for a nickname. “Where is that rascal?” Sweat on my brow dropped. I've looked at all corners of the surroundings and I am sure he cannot be inside the house. It would be impossible, I locked all the doors and checked them twice before I went to work last night. The only recollection I had was; I left Max at the gate; Max watched me leaving, and wagged his tail like sending me the message, Goodbye. It could be a snake swallowing him whole for dinner? That was my suspicion. In fear of that indescribable scene, which I considered could be possibly true, I grabbed a metal rod which I used to push coals in the hearth and poked it under the hearth stand, but only pots and old ceramics clanged under and no Maximus or a snake moved to be visible.

There, I turned my survey to the other part of the premises, to a meter square of foliage near the dead mango tree, I grubbed the metal rod to the soil and the newly grown shrubs, but there was no reptile of some sort to be recognized. If Maximus is not inside the house. And a dog can't break the fences. That Maximus may have been stolen? Yes and no! What would be so interesting for a small dog? Maximus is not even an expensive breed, so what to steal it for? I went on curiously.

I went outside and looked. Maybe a charitable neighbor allowed him a free sleepover. “Nanay Auring! Have you seen my dog?” I yelled out from the gate. She opened the door and stepped out onto the porch wearing a billowy duster dyed in Okir patterns, and said “No! I didn’t even know that you have one!” I resigned my curiosity and walked a little more and searched. Disappointed I was, with no Maximus found. I began to lose yearning. I felt tired and it has been an exhausting day – my mind whirled of many thoughts. If Max happened to know where to go back, I'd make sure he could not escape anymore, or if someone brings my dog home, I would be grateful to thank the good samaritan then. I retired to look for that dog; I have gone for the next street and the next street further. And to the tall rusty arch gate of the village, now I can see the highway from a distance. I imagined a scene, a plausible one, did Max walk this far last night? tried to follow me, and was hit by ten-wheelers careless of their speed. I prayed without words “May good heaven forbid.” While trudging, I decided to go back and will continue my search tomorrow. I have agreed to myself to take my usual drill at home, boil water for coffee, take a bath, continue reading the pages of the novel I left last night, take note of ideas and write more chapters to a story I have been developing for the past two months, then go to sleep.

I entered the gate of my house and pushed the door open. Alas! Almost all things inside were scattered. Shoes were randomly thrown everywhere, and the tattered fleece of the sofa and paper bills were torn in pieces. I looked at all these things and quickly I thought they were not made by a human. “Maximus!” I yelled out with all the energy. Max came out from my room, little pink tongue out as if smiling, wagging the small tail, and with all speed, I ran to my room and found a disaster. All pillow covers raged in an inordinate piece, my room slippers are all twisted. Max barked a screeching note trying to divert my attention. “Little rascal! How did you get in?” but in no time before I finished what I just said, a book fell from the shelf inside my room near the window. “Aha!” Little did I know that there was a stack of old things outside of my room window. Max managed to climb and entered through a missing jalousie blind near the beam. He quickly felt from my sharp stare that Max committed something wrong. Maximus curved his hind half, bowed his head, and tried to kiss my feet. “Little beast! I thought I lost you.” A sudden surge of feeling not to punish him is a remarkable thing I felt, I pity and realized Maximus was just a pup.

A few months passed, the acquaintance with him went on with ease, Max and I shared my favorite nook in the house, He and I went out together. Max, I can say, is almost a member of the dance club organized by the village sports enthusiasts. All afternoon we went there and he waited patiently till I was all perspiring for the afternoon workout and then he slipped out and explored all nearby places. There were other gangs of dogs, high breed dogs, toy dogs, and all sorts of unidentified colors. Maximus, a snobbish dog I observed, had been in too many dog fights before he could learn to go places he liked. 

After my workout at the village sports center, I usually attend some readings and writings before going to bed. Maximus never missed an opportunity to read what I type on the computer. He sat beside the writing table and climbed on a little space left on the bench. “Hey, is that beautiful?” Max's responses are few, he would just look at me, a big mouth of a yawn, and look away. Max didn't know any tricks that time so I taught him the basics; shake the hand, sit in place, roll over and poop training, the only difficult one was to play dead. Surprisingly, he exhibited that skill by ignoring my presence when I am deeply immersed in reading or writing. 

In the totality of his existence, Maximus was very happy and satisfied with all that comprises a dog life, nearly those eight months of being my chum, I could not say that Maximus was of a selfish temperament. But Maximus hated to be acquainted with other dogs. At some point I tried to understand that animal behavior is multifaceted. In the case of Maximus, it was curious that he had skipped some of the processes. Maximus would walk away when being ignored or would stay in his cabin for a couple of days and almost a week or many days. He sulks and this is what he meant by his isolation or maybe I was wrong. After all, I don’t know all the details of the dog's affair.

Two years have passed. I can say Max is now a fully grown-up dog, so many physical changes have happened. I am correct to assume that he is a big dog with big paws and short folded ears. But one afternoon Maximus ran away. I went on my search and imagined that he wandered all over the residential area and went to town in search of food or shelter, or maybe he went to the market and tried his luck there; why would a dog just leave like that? Max’s life inside the house was all working fine, with all this theorizing, I almost forgot that maybe I am overthinking, but since he cannot talk, it makes sense that all was and in between were only mere suggestions of his gestures, or perhaps Max is just a dog.

I went home and surrendered my search mission, which made me very tired. I laid down in a daybed, and my thoughts were quickly drawn in a pensive. There, I saw Max stopped in a shop and was thrown a piece of meat from passersby eating street food. He enjoyed it very much, and some of the bystanders threw leftovers, and eventually, more came. He enjoyed a banquet, feasting on what was left. The romanticized life there, however, only lasted for a moment. And with another twinkling, the image changed and dissolved into darkness. Another scenic place looked like a highway road except that no vehicles were passing by. There on the sidewalk, I saw Max walking slowly past a pile of food scraps but he just ignored the presence of it. I reckoned his solitaire swiftly in my mind, he fasted his cravings and preferred to go without food, I thought there he longed for my company. “Maximus!” I called him loudly and beckoned him to come over but sadly he swept aside his master's order and ran away so fast. I tried to follow him but the scene warped so quickly and transcended to another beyond.  

One afternoon after many days passed. My neighbor Nanay Auring brought kalamay for a snack, I received it with warm thanks, and after her funny gossiping performance act, she left. I dashed to my small kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee. I went onto my writing table and dedicated myself to scrawl pictures in my mind. That moment of my solitude I have forgotten Max for a little while. I went on to write as much as I could, and when almost half of the page was done, I heard scratching knocks at the door. I unbolted the metal lock and opened it. “You giant scamp! Where have you been all these days?” He curved his legs, tucked in his tail, and stood before me with a bowed head. I bent over to hug him, and he pressed his cold nose onto my neck, and I patted his fur. I pulled him inside and cleaned him up. I gave him his usual favorite dog food, and not too long he consumed the last dab from the feeder bowl. He climbed up and sat beside me. He looked at the screen of my computer. I swallowed the rest of the coffee with a gulp. I looked at him and asked, “What title do you think is pretty for this piece?” He barked loudly as he approved when I typed the name Maximus.

                                                         ***

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright Statement : This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced material. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written from the author.

GLOSSARY

*Auring: a coined nickname of Aurea, Aurora or Aurelia. *Kalamay: a variety of rice cakes in the Philippines. *Nanay: (n) mother / a female parent. *Okir: a design or pattern often rendered or curved in hardwood, brass, silver and wall painting in curvilinear lines and Arabic geometric figures. *PUV:  (abbr) public utility van / vehicle.

[yeetingmyfeeling]

Dreaming Of You

Pretty Black Ears (Evan and Nogla)

Smut, smut, smut and Evan is neko.

Nogla was sitting in his local Starbucks, patiently waiting for his friend to arrive. It was spring, so the weather was starting to warm up. He wore cargo shorts and a loose green shirt. He had an iced latte in front of him, half gone. He sighed in impatience, where was he?

Nogla was waiting for his friend Evan, or more commonly known as VanossGaming. Evan had a bit of a.. Problem. He was a Neko. They aren’t rare, but also not common. They are slowly showing up more. Though, they tend to not be seen as real people. Usually they are seen as pets, sex toys, or an animal to put into a zoo. There are petting zoos for Neko’s! Regardless, as they are slowly becoming more world wide, they are starting to be seen as more human. Which they are. 

Evan was very shy about the whole Neko thing. He had only told a few of his friends, Nogla being one of the lucky ones because they live close by. No one ever revealed his secret, because no one saw a problem with it. Nogla had been talking to Evan as of late, and had convinced him to start being more comfortable with it. Evan was unsure, but he trusted his friend. This is why Nogla sat in the Starbucks waiting. 

Potato; Evan, I swear if you chickened out… I am going to skin your tail and sell the fur.

Nogla didn’t have to wait too long for a response, which he was grateful for. 

NotAPussy; I didn’t! I’m just running late, sheesh. I just got here, so calm down.

True to Evan’s word, he soon walked in a few minutes after he texted. Nogla frowned at his appearance. He was wearing jeans and a long sweater, as well as a beanie. Nogla sighed and shook his head. He was still hiding. 

Evan quickly walked in, ducking his head. He looked up only for a second to find Nogla. Once he did he quickly went and sat down opposite of him. He slowly looked up and offered a shy smile. Nogla just shook his head. Evan sighed and tugged his beanie further down. 

“Evan, buddy, come on,” Nogla frowned. “We talked about this. You said you’d let your ears and tail show today. I don’t see that happening.”

Evan just looked down at the table. His ears were pressed down against his head, and his tail curled up in his jeans. It was anything but comfortable. But, he was scared. “Nogla! You know why..” 

Nogla just shook his head. “Do you want anything to drink and eat?” Evan nodded. “Hot chocolate and blueberry muffin?” Another nod. Nogla stood up and went to the counter. He ordered the food, chatting with the waitress for a bit. She gave him a smile as he went back to the table.

At the table, Evan had not moved. Except for leaning over to steal a sip from Nogla’s iced latte, making the taller slap the Neko’s hand. “Ev, can I ask a favour?” Evan slowly looked back up as he rubbed his hand. “I just bought you your drink and muffin, the least you could do to pay me back is let them free?”

“You’re a bitch,” Evan glared with a huff. Though, it was reasonable, even if it made him uncomfortable. He slid the beanie off first, and his ears stuck up. They twitched, shaking strands of hair off of them. He sat up slightly and let his tail uncurl, sticking out from the top of his jeans waistband. He sat back down, holding the beanie in his lap.

The waitress came over, putting the drink and muffin in front of Evan. She gave the Neko a sweet smile then left. Evan grabbed his mug of hot chocolate and raised it to his lips, taking a sip. He quickly put it down and fanned his mouth.

People in the Starbucks were looking at the Neko. Their eyes tailing over the large, fluffy black ears, and the thick, fluffy black tail that just hovered over the ground. Evan knew people were staring, and his face burned bright red as he slowly lowered his hands from his mouth.

Looking up at Nogla, Evan blushed more from the smile the Irish male had. Nogla laughed lightly. “Can I touch them?” He asked, gesturing to the cute ears. Evan just nodded slowly. So, Nogla leaned over and gently started to scratch at the soft fur. He heard a light hum, and grinned when he realized Evan was starting to purr. He swiped his pinkie over the soft pink area of the ear, making it flicker.

“What’s it like being a neko?”

Evan slowly frowned. He pulled the hot chocolate closer to him and put in one of the marshmallows. He grabbed the other one, putting it in his mouth. After he swallowed, he started talking. 

“Horrible, Nogla. I have to deal with people staring at me all the time. They always want to pet me and touch my ears and tail. Always asking questions. They want my body. Some to keep, some for their children, some to sell, some for sex. Especially creepy old men, they are the worst. Not to mention I still hardly get treated like I’m a human being. I get treated like a feral cat!

“That’s just dealing with people, I have my own issues. You know how.. Fuck. So, you know how with animals, biological females will go into a heat of sorts? For female cats, it happens every few months. Well uh, due to being a Neko, sometimes that messes with stuff a bit. So, I go into heat every few months. It is the worst..”

Nogla blinked slowly, just looking at Evan. He slowly nodded his head as he listened. “So, for a few days every few months you need a good fucking?” Evan whacked his arm. “Ow! Sorry!” Nogla laughed. 

Evan huffed and went back to his hot chocolate. It had cooled down by now, so he started to drink it. Nogla kept asking questions, which Evan didn’t too much mind because, well, it was Nogla. Evan’s always had a soft spot for the guy.

They heard footsteps coming over, and looked to see a mother with her young daughter. Evan immediately panicked and looked at Nogla with wide eyes. The Irishman just offered a comforting smile. The mother smiled at them and the daughter just stared at Evan with wide eyes. 

“Could my daughter please pet your cat?” The mother asked Nogla. “Please, she’ll be gentle.”

“He-He’s not my cat..” Nogla frowned. “He’s my friend-”

The mother chuckled. “Yes dear, animals are our friends. But could she please pet your cat?”

“He’s a human being!” Nogla exclaimed, his eyes wide. “Come on Ev, let’s go.” Nogla stood up. Evan stood up quickly as well. He tugged the beanie back over his head then grabbed his muffin. Nogla stormed out of Starbucks, Evan following after.

“I didn’t get to finish my hot chocolate..” Evan mumbled as he took a bite out of his muffin. Nogla pet his head.

“Want to come over? I’ll make you a hot chocolate and we can watch a movie.”

~~~~~

The two now sat on Nogla’s couch. Nogla sat on one end, Evan snuggled up with a blanket on the other. The Avengers was playing on the TV, both boys not paying much attention. Nogla had finished his hot chocolate, but Evan was still slowly sipping at his. 

They didn’t talk about the incident in the cafe, nor talk about Evan being a Neko. He did let his ears and tail free once in the house, which made Nogla happy.

It was halfway through the movie, and Nogla noticed Evan put his empty mug down then yawn loudly. He raised an eyebrow at the Asian male who just rubbed his eye tiredly.

“Kitty want a nap?” Nogla teased with a smirk, making Evan put. Nogla just laughed. “It’s fine dude, I’ll wake you up before it gets too late.”

Evan just nodded. He slowly lay down, pulling the blanket up over his shoulders. The top of his head pressed against Nogla’s thigh, making the Irishman chuckle. Within minutes, Nogla heard gentle breathing from the Neko, telling him the boy was asleep. He couldn't help it when his own eyes closed, and his head slipped to rest on the back of the couch. 

Evan had no idea how long he slept for, all he knew was when he woke up he was warm. His skin was on fire, his heavy clothes clinging to his sweaty body. He whined, wiggling around. That’s when he felt it. There were cramps in his stomach, and he was painfully hard, as well as slick dripping down the inside of his thigh. He huffed, only to breathe in the scent of the man next to him.

Evan’s mind left him in those few seconds, completely consumed by lust. He let out a gasp as he scrambled to get up. He looked over at Nogla, the tall Irish male fast asleep. Evan paid no mind as he crawled onto the pale man's lap. He gripped his shoulder and positioned his body over one of his thighs. 

He slowly rolled his hips down, gasping loudly. He did it again, and again, until he was grinding against Nogla’s thigh like a bitch in heat. Which is exactly what he was. 

Nogla slowly woke up, his eyes fluttering open. “Ev-an?” He croaked in confusion. His eyes widened seeing the horny Neko on his lap, and he was much more awake. “Evan! What are you doing?”

“Nogla..” Evan whined, burying his face in Nogla’s neck. “It hurts so much!” He tightened his grip on the man's shoulders as his hips quickened. 

The Irishmen didn’t know what to do, so just pushed his thigh up against Evan’s crotch. This earned him a squeak, making him smirk. So he slowly started rubbing his thigh against the Neko, while Evan’s pace was much quicker. 

Heavy moans fell from the tops mouth, his eyes rolled back in his head. His thighs started to shake, and his movements somehow got even faster. “Yes… yes.. Oh go- YES!” Evan screamed out. His hips stuttered and he came in his pants. He whimpered, clinging to Nogla.

Nogla just held the boys hips, his eyes wide in confusion. He slowly slid his hands under Evan’s shirt, feeling the sweaty and shaking body. Evan seemed to be calmer now, just breathing in the youngers scent.

“So, Ev,” Nogla spoke softly, hoping not to scare the boy. “Can you tell me what just happened?”

“I’m in heat,” Evan mumbled lazily. “I’m sorry.. You should go while I have the last grips on my sanity.”

Nogla shook his head. “I’m going to stay, and help you. Okay?” Evan opened his mouth to object, but Nogla shushed him. “I’m staying.”

“Then fuck me.”

Nogla did not waste a second to pull Evan’s shirt over his head, then taking off his own. He picked up the Neko, and felt the tail wrap around his wrist. He gave it a tug, hearing a loud moan. He smirked, the knowledge will be very useful later.

He carried Evan all the way to his bedroom, placing him down on the bed. Evan spread his legs out, gazing up at Nogla, his eyes wide with lust. Nogla was quick to shove off his pants and boxers, then the same to Evan.

He started to kiss and nip up the neko’s legs, grazing his teeth along Evan’s inner thighs. The boy whined, his thighs shaking. Nogla eventually got to EVan’s crotch, starting to kiss around the area.

Evan let out a kiss. “Piss off with the foreplay!” He whined. “Just fuck me!”

Nogla barked out a laugh. He sat up and Evan wrapped his legs around the Irishman’s hips, pulling him closer. Nogla pumped himself and lined up. He raised an eyebrow at the neko, who just glared at him, so he pushed all the way in. 

Evan let out a gasp, his head tilting back. “Nog-Nogla!” He whined out. “Please.. Please..”

Slowly, Nogla started to thrust in and out, making his large cock drag along Evan’s tight walls. The neko gripped the sheets below him, his mouth hanging open. Nogla pulled out once, and then slammed back in. Evan squealed. Nogla slowly picked up his pace, now slamming into Evan. 

With every slam, Evan lets out screams and squeals, moaning in pleasure. He arched his back and moved his hand down, starting to pump himself in time with Nogla’s thrusts. Nogla was letting out his own grunts, his head hanging. 

Evan was already so wet, and there was slick splattering with every thrust. Nogla gripped Evan’s hips, moving his own merciscley. Evan moved his hand quickly, swiping his thumb over his tip. 

“Nogla! Nogla!” Evan moaned out, throwing his head back. “Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me!”

Nogla slammed his hips in, not being able to keep up with his own harsh pace. Soon, with a few more pumps, Evan was cumming all over his chest. He let out a scream of Nogla’s name. He panted, his tongue sticking out. This didn’t deter Nogla, as he kept thrusting.

Evan started to get hard again and Nogla kept thrusting. He grabbed the bottom of his knees, pulling his legs up higher. Nogla took this to his advantage so slam into Evan’s prostate, feeling his tip squish.

“Holy shit Evan..” Nogla breathed out. He was getting closer to his orgasm, causing his thrusts to start to become sloppy. He kept pushing. Evan was starting to bounce himself on Nogla’s cock.

Nogla leaned down, connecting their lips in a sloppy kiss. Evan gasped into the elders mouth, moaning loudly. They tangled their lips together, spit going everywhere. After a few more harsh thrusts, Nogla shot inside Evan with a loud moan of his name. Evan arched and let out a loud moan of his own, cumming once again.

Nogla slowly pulled out, but Evan gripped his back, pulling him back. Nogla grunted and looked at the needy neko. “Cockwarm me..” Evan whimpered.

“Let’s get comfortable first,” Nogla pulled out. The two got under the covers and got comfortable. Nogla spooned Evan and slowly slipped back in, making the neko hum in pleasure. Soon they fell asleep.

~~~~~

When Evan woke up again, he pouted as he noticed Nogla had slipped out, but whined he felt so painfully hard. He sighed and wiggled on to his stomach, starting to thrust his hips into the mattress. He would have kept going, but he suddenly felt a slap to his ass, making him gasp.

He rolled over and looked up at Nogla with a frown. “Nogla..?” He didn’t get to say much more, as two fingers were suddenly thrust inside him. He gasped and moaned. “Nogla!”

Nogla tiredly thrust his fingers in and out, rubbing along his walls, making the neko whine and whimper. He soon pulled his fingers out, making Evan meow. Nogla chuckled. “That’s adorable.”

“Come on, I’ve got a plan,” Nogla gets up and goes to his closet, starting to pull on some clothes. Evan whined from the bed.

“Nogla! I’m.. I’m still horny..” Nogla chuckled and nodded. Evan sat up slowly, wincing slightly.

“Get up, neko,” Nogla smirked. “I’m taking us out, okay? Come pick some clothes.”

Evan reluctantly got up and went to the closet. He grabbed some of Nogla’s clothes, pulling them on despite being large for his frame. He went to hide his tail and ears, only for his hand to be slapped. He pouted and rubbed the assaulted skin. 

“No hiding,” Nogla said determinedly. Evan opened his mouth to say something but the Irishmen held out a finger. “No.” Evan pouted.

They finished getting ready and walked out of the house. They got in Nogla’s car, and the tall male started driving them. He drove them through town. Evan sat there, needy and wiggling in his seat. Soon Nogla parked, making Evan lookup. His eyes widened when he saw they were at a pet store. 

Nogla turned off the car and got out. Evan got out as well and quietly followed after Nogla. Nogla moved back, grabbing Evan’s hand. The neko blushed darkly. They walked into the shop, the cashier smiling at them. 

Nogla led them through the isles. He grabbed a few things, those being some bowls and cat nip. He went to the leash and collars, grabbing a simple black leash, then a pink collar with ‘PRINCESS’ on it. Evan followed, now holding Nogla’s arm with two hands.

Nogla continued to lead them through the store. Evan suddenly stopped when in the toy section and started pointing at something. Nogla followed his finger and saw a cute little mouse, around the size of his palm. He took it off the shelf and held it up for Evan. Evan nodded quickly.

He let go of Nogla’s arm for a moment to run to the aisle over. He grabbed a pretty pink blanket that would just barely cover his body. Nogla agreed to buy it.

They went to the counter with their items, putting them down and the cashier started to scan. She looked up at the two with a smile. “Are you guys getting your first cat?” She asked sweetly. “Oh, I bet she’s going to be spoiled rotten!”

Evan blushed while Nogla smirked. “Oh no, these aren’t for that kind of cat,” He moved his hand up to flick one of Evan’s ears, making it flicker in annoyance. “They are for him,” The cashier's face turned red, and Evan hid his face in Nogla’s arm. She continued to scan the items, then put them in a bag and handed it to Nogla. Nogla smiled in thanks and walked them out. 

As they got to the car, Nogla grabbed the collar. He leaned over to latch it on to Evan. Evan blushed heavily, but allowed Nogla to do what he wanted. Nogla made sure the collar wasn’t too tight then nodded in approval. 

Nogla drove off again, and drove them to a pet friendly restaurant, it was also hybrid friendly. Once there, Nogla grabbed the bowls and got out. He went around to Evan's side and grabbed the leash, clipping it on to Evan’s collar. Evan slowly got out of the car, and they walked into the restaurant. 

A waitress there led them to a small booth, where they sat opposite of each other. She placed menus down, poured them some water, then left with promises to come back. After she left, Nogla shook his head and yanked on the leash. “Animal’s eat on the floor.”

Evan’s mouth slowly opened, and his ears dropped. “Wh-What…? You can’t be serious..”

“Oh, I am,” Nogla smirked. “Now get of the fucking floor, pussy.”

Evan whimpered but slowly lowered himself to the floor. Nogla nodded approvingly and placed the two bowls down. He poured the water from the glass into one of the bowls. “Drink,” Evan obediently lent forward, starting to lap up the water. 

The waitress walked back over, and she blushed slightly when she saw Evan. She hummed, turning to face Nogla with a smile. “WHat will you be getting today sir?”

“Could I please have the pasta carbonara,” Nogla spoke as his eyes glazed over the menu. He smiled at the waitress. “And a salmon for him, but could you make the cook put it in his bowl please?”

The waitress nodded and leaned down, picking up the empty bowl. She left with the order and the bowl, going to the kitchen. Evan sat back on his knees, putting his hands on the floor in front of him. He looked up at Nogla. 

Nogla smiled and leaned over, starting to pet the top of Evan’s head. He scratched his ears, making him purr. “Such a good kitty,” Nogla praised.

Ten minutes later, the waitress walked back. She placed the bowl of carbonara down in front of Nogla, and the salmon in front of Evan. She smiled and walked away, leaving them to eat. 

Evan glared at the bowl, only to suddenly have a foot on his head. Nogla pushed Evan’s head down, pushing him to the bowl. Evan frowned but began eating. This made Nogla click his tongue in content and start eating his own food. 

They ate in relative silence, Nogla occasionally looking down at Evan. Sometimes teasing the needy neko. Pulling on his tail, or pushing on certain spots that made him squeak. He could see the slick leaking through his pants, making him chuckle. Nogla even started fingering the youngers ear at one point. 

After awhile, Nogla stood up, needing to use the restroom. He gave Evan a pointed look. “You stay here and be good, or you’ll be in trouble.”

“Yes master!” Evan nodded his head, wanting to be a good pet for his friend. He couldn't even say that anymore, it didn’t sound right. So Nogla went to the bathroom, leaving Evan to sit and eat his food.

It didn’t take long until a creepy older man approached the vulnerable neko. Neko was too distracted by his meal to notice, assuming it was a worker for the non recognizable scent. Only, he let out a squeal when his tail was pulled, which soon turned into a moan. He looked behind his shoulder, eyes widening when he noticed the strange man. 

He went to say something, but the man had grabbed a handful of his ear, making him whimper. “Don’t..” He whined, not being able to struggle. The man pressed his crotch against Evan’s ass, making the needy boy fight the need to submit.

It didn’t last for long, as suddenly there was a bottle of water being poured over the two. Evan gasped again and managed to scramble away from the man. He looked up, seeing Nogla with a very cross expression. Nogla gripped the bottle and hit the man over the head, making Evan’s eyes widen. 

Nogla growled. The waitress from earlier rushed over and grabbed their food left. “Bags?” Nogla nodded so she rushed away.

Nogla grabbed the leash and yanked Evan up. The man had run off. Nogla pulled their faces close together, glaring at him. He snarled. “Were you getting turned on by that man?” Evan shook his head quickly, panicked. “Don’t fucking lie, feral.”

“Yes…” Evan whimpered. Nogla wrapped the leash around his wrist. He threw more than enough money on their table. The lady walked out with two containers and the bowls. Nogla grabbed them then stormed out.

He unlocked the car and Evan jumped in quickly. Nogla threw the things in the bag then got in his seat, starting to drive back to his home. 

In his anxiousness, Evan pulled out the mouse from earlier. He slowly raised it, and pressed it to Nogla’s cheek. “Mousy is kissing you..”

Nogla’s angry demeanor dropped instantly, a smile replacing his cross features. “Mousy?”

Evan nodded happily. “Mousy!”

The ride continued in relative calmness. Nogla was focusing on the roa, occasionally checking on Evan. Said neko boy was just playing around with the mouse. He kept watching Nogle check on him, and once he had done the next checkup and looked back to the road, Evan pressed the toy against his crotch. 

He swallowed away a gasp as he started to roll his hips against the toy, while also pressing it down. He started to speed up, getting more and more needy. He got closer and closer, starting to gasp and whine. Nogla glanced over, looking back to the road, but his eyes snapped back. “Evan!”

Evan jumped and pressed the toy down, snapping his legs shut. Nogla shook his head, but he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Poor mousy!”

“I couldn’t help it!” Evan whimpered. “I need to cum so bad, I need to be filled.”

Nogla sighed. “Wait, pet.”

“Yes master..” Evan whimpered. He took mousy away, now holding him on one of his knees. He did feel bad for the poor toy, but he was so needy.

It wasn’t long till they were back home, and Nogla was dragging Evan inside his house via the leash, the bag of items in his other hand. Once inside, he dragged the neko up to his bedroom. He unclipped the leash and threw that as well as the bag into the corner of the room. “Strip. On your knees.”

Evan was quick to respond. He kicked off his pants and boxers in one, after he had taken his shoes and socks off. He dropped to his knees and pulled his shirt over his head, ruffling up his hair. He sat there in patience. 

Nogla watched the neko strip in a rush. As he did, he pushed his own pants and boxers off. He didn’t bother much with his shirt, just pulling it over his head. He stood to Evan’s right and started fingering one of his ears, making it twitch violently. 

“Eyes closed,” Evan closed his eyes, making a noise of confusion. “Now, take a deep breath..” Evan did as told, wanting to listen to his master. So he took a deep breath in. As he did, Nogla started to press himself into Evan’s ear. 

Evan made a noise, and his eyes opened. “I said close!” Nogla shouted, making Evan close them again with a whimper. Nogla continued to push all the way in until he was flush. He glanced down at Evan and smirked. The boy had opened his eyes again, only to make them roll back in his head. His tongue was poking out, drool pooling down it.

Nogla slowly started to thrust, making Evan whine. Nogla didn’t care about this as he kept up his slow pace of thrusting. He eventually started to speed up, making Evan start to pant. Nogla kept going, his hands gripped the back and other side of the nekos head. 

Nogla started to groan, moaning out Evan’s name. The tightness of the ear made his eyes flutter shut and he started to move his hips faster. “Oh this is so good..” Nogla moaned out. 

Evan panted, letting out little whimpers. “Master it feels weird!”

Nogla just laughed. He moved faster, pounding into Evan’s ear. He grunted as he felt the heat build up in the pit of his stomach. Soon enough, he shot into Evan’s ear. Due to the tight canal, most of it shot back out at him, or started dripping down. 

Evan made a noise and fell forward numbly. Nogle crouched, catching the boy. He rubbed his back with a smirk. Evan just babbled, his brain too full of cum. So Nogla picked up the neko and placed him on the bed. He got behind him, wrapping his arms around him. Together, they fell asleep, with no heat to wake up to.  

[luvksj]

Mafia!BIGBANG: Finding You Months After You Had Runaway

[A/N] hello again, I quite like doing these mafia reactions and might try another group who doesn’t have much of these (Super Junior, f(x), SNSD etc) I might not be looking hard enough so send me any reactions you like! Be warned, this is going to be a long reaction/imagine... 

Backstory:

After finding out about their occupation, being the brains behind Asia’s biggest mafia gang, you had managed to successfully flee from their grasp since you couldn’t handle being around such violent doings. While they were busy with work, you managed to disappear and find freedom but like they say... nothing last forever.

TOP

You loved your former boyfriend, TOP, with all your heart but his occupation was the reason for your sudden disappearance, taking off in your car while he was dealing with his next victim. Speeding away into freedom and taking shelter in Jeju where a close friend of yours helped you restart again, feeling relieved to be away from such a dangerous criminal wanted by police across the globe. “He’s not here anymore, you are safe.” your friend whispered

The mistake you made, even if you disabled all the trackers and left your phone behind, was getting a job. TOP had connections anywhere and everywhere. He had found your exact location through a connection who spotted you waiting tables inside a local restaurant. Your entire body froze when you walked inside the shared apartment to see TOP comfortably eating a burger. He looked over at you with a blank look while chewing his food. 

Once he finished his meal, he looks over at you with a blank stare but you could see the hidden glint of anger, sadness and betrayal floating in those brown orbs. Stalking towards you, he pushes you against the apartment wall while trailing his eyes down his body and lets out a low chuckle, he runs a finger tauntingly down your face.

“Hello baby, I have been waiting so long to see your face again. Why did you runaway from me, huh? Pack your things, we’re leaving NOW.”

Taeyang

Taeyang had always been open to you but the amount of brutality with his job did not go well with your innocent nature, while he was working, you took off without a trace. No note, all your belongings gone and fled to a quaint little village where you started working as a gardener for one of the elderly couples who needed someone to look after their garden. Taeyang did have a lot of connections but no-one would find you here... it’s literally in the middle of nowhere.

For the past two months, you looked after the couple’s garden by weeding it daily, looking after all the produce and even doing some housework for shelter along with a little bit of income. However, your luck ran thin when you were coming back from the vegetable patch to see Taeyang leaning against the shed wearing a VERY wide smirk as his gaze remained firmly on you. How did he find you? You were absolutely certain that no-one knew him or he never knew of this place... it’s practically off the radar.

Dressed in your work clothes, hair sticking to your face from the sweat. He raised an eyebrow as he approached you slowly, watching you quiver from fear. Standing tall amongst your fragile figure, he spent every second of the day hunting for you until someone gave word that you had taken refugee at some farmer’s house and sped there instantly.

“Well, well, well... look who we have here. You have some explaining to do, jagi. Let’s not waste anymore time, go pack your things.”

G-Dragon

It honestly surprised you how you managed to escape the clutches of G-Dragon and flee to another country... for safety reason. You couldn’t go anywhere in Korea since he would have contacts everywhere and needed to be free of him since his job required taking lives and blood... lot’s of blood. During the night, you escaped using a taxi to take you to the airport and flew to Paris, ready to start a new life.

It’s almost six months since you left him and all the ‘mafia’ things back. You got a job as a chef in a famous restaurant due to your love for cooking and baking things. Like they say, nothing last forever and neither did your life in France. The boss of your restaurant said someone wanted to speak to you about your food and the worst feeling pooled in your stomach as you were directed to a hidden table reserved specifically for VIPs.

Once your boss left, the person pulled down the menu card to reveal... G-Dragon. He smiled almost sadistically making your blood run cold as he leans forward giving you a glimpse at his pale complexion, orange hair and lip that had some sort of cut. You could see the anger, betrayal and sadness hidden behind that smile as he holds your hand.

“Why did you leave me jagi? I treated you so well... never mind, at least I found you. Let’s go back home now...”

Daesung

As much as you loved Daesung, you couldn’t stand his occupation despite your many attempts at trying to get over it. The last straw was seeing him come home coated head to toe in blood before you ditched once he fell asleep, hurriedly packing a case and jumping on a late-night bus to anywhere away from him. The bus took you to the airport where you went to Japan.

Nearly three months had passed since you escaped and found a job in the anime business since your passion was drawing cartoon characters. That was your first mistake, Daesung loved anime and your second mistake was thinking Japan was a safe place. Bitch, Daesung had more contacts here than fucking Korea. He always worked with Japanese tycoons or millionaires who wanted protection or money, his contacts spotted you instantly. 

Daesung decided to let you have some alone time since he was scheduled for a meeting in Japan. Once he arrived, his contacts were informed to capture you then bring you to him since he had been keeping bars on you and once the bag came off your head to reveal Daesung, your body stopped functioning. He let out a dramatic sigh of relief pretending he had been looking for you for ages but he knew where you were this whole time.

“OH MY GOSH, BABY! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU, WHY DID YOU RUN OFF?!”

Seungri

Okay, let’s be real, it took a real miracle to escape from this sly bastard. He knew your every move since he was stalking you 25/8. But, you managed to slide from under his fingers and flee during a celebration party for his mafia gang and slipped inside a party guest’s car who was in on your escape plan. Seungri loved his job a bit too much and always throw these lavish banquets when he finally killed off his enemy or successfully stole a national treasure.

You couldn’t live with a thief/murderer so you informed a close contact of yours and she stuffed you in her car before speeding off. For seven months, you had your first taste of many things but the most rewarding thing was freedom from him. You didn’t want to risk getting a job so you became a maid: doing all the housework while she worked. However... Seungri knew something was up with one of his contacts. 

One day, you arrived back from a grocery shopping and saw Seungri standing inside the kitchen. All the bags fell from your grasp as he faintly smirked while tilting his head to the side, he had forced answers out of the contact and drove to where you currently resided. Stalking towards you like prey, he knew you had nowhere else to go.

“Did you really think you could escape me, huh? I’m impressed you hid for so long but now I found you and I ain’t letting you go anytime soon...”

[johnkrrasinski]

Coffee with Cream

Chapter 2: Dream of You

full masterlist

series masterlist

Pairings: Frank Castle x reader x Mad Sweeney

Word count: 2,693

Warnings: cussing, mentions of alcohol, street fight, men being men. 

Summary: Two men, one diner and little old you. Working at a diner had never been your dream job but, fate had a funny way of bringing two contrasted men into your life.

a/n: hey guys! as you all know my obsession over frank castle and pablo schreiber had been exploding these past couple of months. and so, me and @nellblazer decided to write a good old threesome fic involving these two bulky men. hope you like it. enjoy!

You laid in your bed that night with a romance novel that you hadn't had the chance to pick up and finish in awhile due to the weariness of working double shifts. It's the same old pattern for the last few years; you'd get up early for your morning shift at the diner, rushed back home to take a little break, and possibly enjoy your catnaps before your second alarm rings for your night shift. 

And then when the night was ending, you'd take another bus to get yourself home, take a shower and eat your takeout or heat up your frozen pizza, and went to bed. For years, life was merely a repetitive cycle of humdrum. You barely had time for yourself due to your relentless endeavour to stay afloat. 

Living in Brooklyn when you come from a middle-class family means that you really had to fight tooth and nail to pay the bills and fill your fridge. You were raised to be an independent and hardworking person by your parents and that's why it wasn't much of a challenge for you to work double shifts at a diner when you could've taken one. You taught yourself to push through your boundaries in life, and you were aware that sometimes it's not always convenient but at least you were proud of your own effort. 

That also means you didn't have time to swipe right and left on Tinder and find yourself a date. It was nearly impossible to find a decent guy in Brooklyn, let alone trusting a dating app that could possibly be utilized by creeps or murderers to find their next victim. Although your co-workers had suggested it many times to you, you refused to present yourself to the angels of death just simply you were desperate to get laid. 

But tonight was different from the others. It was comical, really, how one, well, two, actually people could walk into your life, okay that was dramatic, walk into a diner and elevated the sour mood that you had grown used to in recent years, and made a difference. A good one.

You couldn't remember the last time you had a genuine smile on your face. You also couldn't remember when was the last time you felt butterflies in your stomach. And here you are, lying in bed, replaying the scenes that took place earlier. In the daylight when the bustle was in full swing and in the nighttime when the city was placid.

You barely knew anything about them and you had only met them in less than 24 hours, but, you could still remember the way Frank Castle made you feel when his brown eyes stared intensely into yours as he shook your hand. The quiet yet magnetic force that he exuded only compelled you to learn more about him. In the brief conversation that you had earlier, you knew that he was a wanderer of a man.

He'd been hoping from one place to another, but he was thinking of staying in Brooklyn for a while and you were hoping that nothing changes his mind about that. You were really hoping that you'd see him again real soon.

And then, your thoughts drifted to the second man that you encountered with earlier. His auburn hair burned the lights in the room, causing a small fire that you didn't light up. But his amorous words had left you starstruck in a way that you didn't know was possible. You weren't one to stumble on a brazenly flirtatious man but something about him was too tempting to be overlooked. And the fact that he had this eccentric thing for coins made you wonder... What else has he got up in his sleeve?

Sweeney hadn't been able to get you off his mind all night.

The grumpy server who'd taken over had definitely not been a patch on your sunny optimism or brimming curiosity. He couldn't remember the last time a girl was so interested in his stories. Usually he got brushed off as a leering drunk or just a plain old letch but you'd entertained him, asked questions and given him a form of fresh cream to boot, all for him. A form of worship as it was.

You hadn't realised it of course, nobody ever believes in gods these days unless they're the Big Three or the Norse pantheon. Little old Sweeney with his Celtic cohort was hardly going to register on anyone's radar. I mean, fuck, nobody could even say his actual name right, let alone believe he was a god.

Even so, he felt refreshed, more refreshed than he'd been in years and when he got absolutely blasted on whiskey, the feeling was not the same as it was. The crippling existentialism was gone to be replaced by joyfulness and he sang most of the way home, thoroughly amusing everyone on his way back with his rude songs. He even danced with an old lady like they used to do in the twenties which he thought had made her night as she blushed furiously and began saying it'd been a while since she'd danced with a young man in the street.

Sweeney was having the time of his life, precisely up until he got in the alleyway and his loud singing got him into trouble.

There was a group of thugs hanging around in the middle, trying to sort something out but Sweeney didn't care to venture too close to find out what precisely.

“-Well I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me, who owns that thing in your thing where my own thing should be!” he belts out, stumbling slightly in their direction and he sees the flash of irritation on their faces.

The next thing he knew he was getting dog piled on. Bodies seemed to leap on him from every corner and all he could think about was protecting his coin at all costs so he sent it in the Hoard, the magical hiding place for his treasure and once he'd taken a few harsh licks to the gut, he tried to pull himself together to fight back.

Drunken brawling was his speciality after all.

He wasn't expecting it when a couple of the gang members were yanked off of him. He took the opportunity to jump back to his feet, delivering a haymaker to the nearest lad who's cheek splintered under his weighted punch. The kid dropped to the floor like a stone, howling about his face.

The next man behind him, he twisted and grabbed around the middle, running them backwards to the edge of a dumpster before letting go and watching his head clang noisily off the metal as they fell backwards.

Oh it had been a good long while since he'd had a fight. He missed the adrenalin, he missed the cracking of bones and the taste of blood. It spoke to his soul that was millennia old when the world was war, ale and feasting.

Sweeney finally looked up to see that another man was fighting with him, a shorter man, stockier and well built, a nose that'd been broken at least once and the buzzcut styling of an ex-military man. The newcomer shifted his position and Sweeney saw a painted skull on his chest. His first thought was that Baron Samedi was expanding his worshipper's network but it didn't make sense for the Baron to recruit a soldier when he preferred his company to be a little more love and less war.

Who the fucking hell was this guy?

“You okay?” the man asks gruffly as he sees Sweeney staring at him. “Get out. Run.”

“I ain't fuckin' runnin',” Sweeney wrinkles his face in offence. “Do I look like a pansy to you?”

“You look fuckin' drunk is what ya look,” Skull Man counters, elbowing an attacker in the mouth. “I'll handle it. Run home.”

“Callin' me a coward?” Sweeney squares up. “I don't run, boy-o.”

“Really?” Skull Man raises an eyebrow. “Ain't the time for pride, Big Red. Fight or don't fight then. I don't care. Just stay outta my way with that one.”

He points to the man who Sweeney had knocked out on the dumpster. His eyelids were fluttering as he started to regain consciousness.

“What's it worth to ya?” Sweeney shrugs.

“Are you fuckin' kidding me?!” Skull Man storms over, coming up until he was chest to chest. “I save your ass and this is what I get?”

“Didn't ask to be saved, lad.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you, right back.”

Just at the point where Sweeney is curling his fingers into a fist, ready to give a good old right hook, he's hit hard in the head from behind and goes down onto his forearms, scuffing them with pebbles and dirt. He scrambles unsteadily to his feet, feeling a little trickle of blood oozing down the path of his hair and sees Skull Man beating the living shit out of the dumpster guy before finishing him off with his bare hands.

Sweeney, meanwhile, jumps back into the fist fight, taking down every other gang member who'd dared to get back up. They make a break for it, running desperately down into the other alleyways and out of sight.

“You'd better run!” Sweeney bellows after them. “You'd all be fucked if I still had my spear. I WAS A FUCKING KING ONCE, YOU CUNTS!”

“I've heard some drunk talk in my time but you...” Skull Man shakes his head. “You're crazy, huh?”

“I'm a god, mate,” Sweeney holds out his arms proudly, swaying on the spot.

“Sure ya are.”

“And what the fuck are you, murderer?”

“Nobody you need to know about. You ain't seen me. I don't exist. I'm just taking out the trash of this city.”

“Oh aye? Are ya? And what did he do?”

“Shot up a playground.”

“Oh...” Sweeney tails off, looking at the dead man on the floor. “Well....good then. Good work. Bastard deserved it.”

He holds out his hand and Skull Man shakes it warily. Sweeney got the sense the guy didn't interact with people much because the handshake was stilted, unsure.

“Got a name?” Sweeney asks. “Or are ya hellbent on being mysterious?”

“It's Frank,” the guy replies after a pause. “But I was-

“-Never here, I got that,” Sweeney snorts. “I'm Sweeney.”

“Sweeney the God. A'ight, go on home then. I got clean up to do.”

“Nice fightin', by the way,” Sweeney calls over his shoulder. “See ya around, Frank.”

“I fuckin' hope not,” comes the quiet response.

Sweeney didn't care though. He was too elated to care. Good booze, a good fight and the promise of going back to that sweet little diner where you were.

He'd have to come in earlier just to spend more time around you. He wanted to know everything about you and more than anything, he wanted to see your smile again.

A god he may be but your smile was absolutely magical.

He sang the whole rest of the way home, already looking forward to tomorrow.

[unknown-cryptid666]

Michael Myers x Reader

May contain gore, sexual content, and kidnapping. Read at your own risk.

Chapter 15

It was time to go back to work from my slight break. The last two days of my break became slightly rough because of Kate yelling at Michael. I didn't expect him to follow what Noah created. I walked into work and seen Josh. He became a close friend since I started working here. Not as close as Kate though. "Hey, (y/n)." "Hey, Josh. How's everything?" "It's going well, you?" "Everything is fine." "Looks like you haven't slept." "Really?" He nodded. I sighed. "Just some stuff going on at home." "Boyfriend stuff?" "Sort of, it's also my bestie." "Just suck his dick, it works for me." We both laughed. "Where's your boyfriend to keep you in check?" "Home most likely. Anyways, what's going on with them." I shook my head. "That bad you can't tell me?" "Yeah, I got to get to my shift. Talk later." I waved and walked to go do what I needed to.

Back Home

"I can't believe you Michael!" Kate yelled at Michael and he stared at her. "You want to help? Follow that damn story!" He just kept staring at her which made Kate more irritated. "How does (y/n) put up with you!? After everything you've done to her and she still let you back into her life!" Michael started to get pissed. "She should have turned you away! I can't believe how stupid (y/n) was to let you back in her life! You're nothing good for her, she deserves better!" "Take that...back." He stood up from the couch. "I don't have to take shit back when it's the truth! You couldn't do anything to change your life and become better for her!" Michael grabbed Kates throat and raised her off the floor. She clawed his arm, trying to get away. His grip kept tightening. Michael didn't bother to look at the door when it opened.

"Michael!?" He looked at me and dropped Kate. "What happened while I was at work!?" Kate coughed, trying to get air back into her lungs. Michael mumbled something and went upstairs. I sighed and helped Kate up. "What happened? He doesn't do that for no reason." She shook her head. "Kate?" "Fine...I told him the truth." She looked away. "What do you mean?" She looked at me. "He doesn't deserve you. After everything he's done to you, you deserve better. He couldn't even become something better for you." I sighed. "You've got to be kidding me." I rested my head in my hand. "You expected him to follow that story? He's not going to change and I'm fine with that. He's never going to be out of my life, he'll find me wherever I go." "But ba-" "Yes, he didn't find me there, but when I came back here he did. You started something you shouldn't have. He has anger issues and just like what happened back then, you just fueled it."

"What do you mean?" "My dad hit Michael in the back of his head with a pan. Michael killed him. The cops shot at him, they died. My best friend tried to protect me, he died. You're lucky I got back when I did." "W-What's going to happen to me?" I looked at her. "Hopefully, you'll get lucky. Don't start something again because I might not be around to help you out of it." "You're siding with that psycho!?" "I'm siding with nobody. I just rather not lose my bestie." I sighed getting up. "Get some rest, you might have a bruise when you wake up." I walked upstairs to my room. Michael was laying on the bed with his back towards the door.

"Michael?" Silence. "I know you're not sleeping." He grunted and I walked over to him. "We need to do something about your anger." He looked at me, still visibly pissed off. I sat next to him. "Say something, don't just glare at me." Michael pulled me to him and sighed. "Calming down?" "Mhm.." He nuzzled his face into my neck. "Kate told me what happened." "She called you...stupid." I laughed and he looked at me. "We call each other names a lot, don't take that to the heart. We need to find a way to control your anger, Michael." I turned so I could look at him better. "You help with that." He kissed my cheek. "Yeah, but when I'm not around, your anger escalates."

Michael kissed me. "You're not getting out of this talk." He smirked and kissed me again. "Michael, stop." I pushed his face away and he grunted. "You'll live without any kisses." He gave me sad puppy eyes. "Nope, now how to control your anger when I'm not here." He sighed, seeing he wouldn't win. "If a fight happens, you can always talk it out." He looked at me. "I'm not that...good at talking." "Mmmm, true. At least not with your anger." "Talk tomorrow." He yawned. I got up, shut the light off, and tried to sleep. I had to work and was scared something would happen again.

I woke up to the smell of breakfast and went downstairs. "Good morning Kate, Michael." "Morning." They both said. I seen the slight bruise that formed on Kates throat and sat down. "Michael? Kate?" "Yes?" Kate said. "Hm?" Michael said. "How about talking things out?" They stared at me and I sighed. "Kate, out of everyone I know, you know how to talk things out." "I have nothing to say to that psycho." "You've got to be kidding me." I got up. "You didn't finish your food." "I'm fine, I got to go." I grabbed my things and left for work. When I got there, I texted Kate.

Me: When I get home, you two have better talked shit out. You started it and need to finish it in a better way. Don't even try anything else. I don't want to come home to another fight or you dead. I got to get to work now, bye.

I didn't wait for her to respond and turned my phone off. I sighed to myself, slightly irritated. Everything was going fine until she started a stupid fight. "Hey! Boss wants to see ya." "Huh? Why?" "I don't know, she didn't say." "Alright, thanks Josh." I walked to Ms. Millers office and knocked. "Come in." I walked in and closed the door. "Ah, (y/n), please, sit." "You wanted me Ms. Miller?" "Due to, some recent decisions by the board, I need to lay people off. I'm afraid I have to let you go." "What? Bu-" "I'm sorry, but please get your things together. You'll receive your last paycheck by the end of the week. If you can, ask Terry to come see me." I nodded and left her office to find Terry. I never really talked to him, nobody did. They say he's weird, but we work in different sectors. "Uh, Terry?" "Hm?" "Ms. Miller needs to see you." He nodded and walked off.

I went to gather my things. "(y/n)?" "Hey Josh. I was laid off." "What? Why?" "Something to do with the board." "I'll miss seeing you everyday." "We can always text and hang out when you're off." I smiled and waved as I left. I turned my phone back on and went home. I walked into the house. "Guys? I'm home!" Nothing. I walked to Kates room and she wasn't there. Her bed had some blood on it. "Oh fuck, please no." I ran upstairs, nothing. I ran to the basement and seen Michael with Kate. "What the fuck Michael!?" He looked at me then Kate. She was still breathing, but unconscious. "I leave for work, get fired, and come back to this. Are you fucking kidding me!" I went over to Kate and untied her. She didn't seem to have any serious cuts, just enough to knock her out. I dragged her up the stairs and Michael followed. I laid her on the couch and got the medical kit. "What the fuck happened while I was gone!?" Michael didn't answer and walked to the kitchen with his knife. I sighed, cleaning and sewing her cuts.

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Feel free to buy me an energy drink if you enjoy my content

[missjosie27]

Year 2 Part 5- Quidditch for the Ages

Hey, guys!

Welcome to my 5th chapter for Year 2. Spoiler Alert: it’s my first time writing a Quidditch match so I hope I did it justice.

As a warning, I do hope my readers who are Slytherin can forgive me xD But in all seriousness what happens in the story now is a backdrop for growth and understanding later. Especially for David. I do not intend for Slytherin to be the ‘evil’ house in this story. But it will take time.

Enjoy!

For the second Halloween in a row David found himself in the hospital wing, only this time it was for an injury suffered by someone else, notably his best friend. 

Madam Pomfrey had appeared suspicious when he gave the explanation for what happened, which was basically that Rowan wasn’t feeling well and was exhibiting ‘flu-like’ systems. This was definitely stretching his fibbing ability, as common colds and the flu could be cured readily by most trained mediwizards and staff. But though Rowan woke up, he was still shivering heavily, multiple blankets wrapped around his body, sipping hot chocolate to warm his body. Thankfully, the head of the Hospital Wing didn’t ask too many questions, allowing him to stay for a brief period.

“I’m sorry this happened, Rowan,” David apologized in a low voice, so Madam Pomfrey couldn’t hear them. “It’s my fault.”

“D-Don’t worry about it,” the Indian preteen reassured him through chattering teeth. “We both wanted to find this vault, remember? It’s important to you.”

David rubbed his hands together and looked away. Rowan would be fine, but an unpleasant guilty sensation spread through him. Losing Jacob had already been painful enough and that had been his fault too. He didn’t want to gain back a brother but lose a friend.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, honestly, trying to redirect the feelings of shame.

“Like I g-got hit with the Knight B-Bus,” Rowan responded, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. “One made out of pure ice.”

“Madam Pomfrey will have you out of here in no time. She’s never failed anyone.”

Rowan smiled to again assure his friend he was not angry nor sore over the situation.

“I t-told you, d-don’t worry about me. I should b-be back in a day or s-so. Go out and l-learn as much as you c-can in my absence.”

The talk came to an end as Madam Pomfrey gently ushered him out, saying that her patients needed rest (though most simply needed buckets after eating too many sweets). As soon as the hospital wing doors were shut, he was surprised to see Penny standing outside. Her normally bubbly features were colored with worry and even a bit of disappointment.

“David, what happened?” she asked simply. 

“Merlin’s beard, Penny, how did you know where we were?”

“You forget, I know almost everything around here. But it wasn’t exactly hard to figure out. You and Rowan didn’t show up for the feast.”

David smacked a hand in the middle of his forehead. He should have known Penny of all people would be the first to notice them gone, given that her group of friends and his were virtually synonymous. She had an eye for this sort of thing.

“I assumed you were going after the vaults again,” she continued when he didn’t respond.

“You caught me, okay?” he admitted, not bothering to lie. “Are you angry or something?”

“I’m not angry, Dave,” Penny told him, taking a few steps forward. “I was just worried and wanted to make sure two friends of mine were okay. I take it Rowan isn’t?”

“He’s fine but it’s still my fault. We found the vault door, and I became reckless. I touched it and it immediately began firing off some kind of freezing spell and one them hit Rowan. Got him here as fast as I could.”

“Well that’s good he’s okay, but wasn’t Madam Pomfrey suspicious?”

“She was, but as far as I know she didn’t alert Dumbledore or any of the other Professors. Told her he was feeling ill and left it at that.”

Penny breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s strangely fortunate. You definitely don’t want anyone else finding out, there’s enough competition out there as it is. Especially with Merula. I keep hearing rumors about her and none of them good. They say she’s recruiting her own gang to try and find the vaults and still wants you out of the way.”

“What else is new?” David groaned. “Well, anyway, thanks for letting me know about this Penny.”

But she stopped him again as she gazed into him with those sparkling, blue eyes that reminded one of an innocent doe.

“Dave, you can’t keep doing this by yourself.”

“That’s why I have Rowan with me.”

“He’s just one person and he narrowly avoided getting seriously hurt. What if you’re next?”

The twelve year old Gryffindor wasn’t really concerned with his own safety, not in the conscious sense. He had never considered he might become injured or fall victim in the quest to find this vault. Jacob was the main focus, not him.

But then again, Penny also had a point.

“You’re right. I do need to be more careful, but I promise nothing will happen to me.”

“We both know that’s a promise you can’t keep,” she told him seriously. “I’m only asking you one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t keep me out, Dave. Next time you plan on entering a cursed vault, let me know so I can help.”

The offer was so genuine, it overrode his desire to protect her. How could one turn down Penny Haywood? Moments such as these showed why she clearly was a Hufflepuff through and through.

“Okay, Penny. I will.”

An enormous hug and an even bigger smile indicated from the blonde indicated all was well. 

“Thanks, Dave! Please tell me when Rowan gets out of the hospital wing.”

Despite the warm and fuzzies from Penny, there were more questions to be asked and many more to be answered. What was inside the vault? Did it have anything to do with the vision he received when he touched the door? And what did Voldemort have to do with this?

Is this what Jacob went through when he tried to find the vaults? 

Deciding he didn’t want to know the answer, suddenly realizing he was quite famished David shoved his wand back into his pocket and went to see if there was anything left to eat at the feast. Maybe Tonks had saved him a treacle tart or two.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tension ran high within the school the next few days, but for once the reason was not due to cursed ice. The first Quidditch match of the season was coming and it featured the two biggest rivals within the interhouse competition: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.

Anyone who knew anything about Hogwarts knew that the two houses had a history going back to the infamous duel between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, which eventually led to the latter of the two leaving the school. In the modern context, students of each house generally disliked each other, and it sometimes graduated to outright hatred. Throw Quidditch into the equation and that animosity often boiled over into war. The bold, brave, athletic lions versus the cunning, calculating, underhanded serpents. 

David, being on one side of that rivalry, was not exactly unbiased but he didn’t particularly care. His experience with Slytherin was not a positive one thus far, the primary culprit being Merula Snyde and her constant antagonism towards him and his friends. Being a mere second year, he was not the main target of any of the older Slytherins’ ire but it seemed that no matter what he did, she would never cease in her relentless bullying and badgering. The afternoon potions class Friday prior to the match only served to fuel his own animosity towards the silver and green.

Rowan had still not been released from the hospital wing, so he was left on his own to complete the brew Snape gave them for the day. David was not unskilled in the subject but it was difficult to focus on your potion when there was a constant thorn in your side sitting at your table.

“Where’s Khanna, Grant? I still see he’s noticeably absent.” Merula taunted him through the steam of the bubbling cauldron.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” David shot back, doing his best to ignore her. She was one of only a few people capable of getting underneath his skin and to do so now would be unwise with Snape watching. 

“Oh, please. It doesn’t take a genius to know you and that four eyed creatine were off searching for the vaults during the feast. He’s probably still trying to unfreeze himself in the hospital wing.”

“Well we agree one thing, Merula, you’re certainly no genius.”

The Slytherin girl ducked as Snape walked by, adding a pinch of unicorn horn to her potion before returning to her taunting.

“Full of jokes but no substance as per usual, Grant. You’ve found nothing, but I’ve been investigating the vaults myself and you wouldn’t believe what I found.”

“I’m sure it’s quite fascinating. Much like your inability to shut the hell up.”

But true to form, Merula was both stubborn and relentless.

“Khanna is gone but I’ve been working with people to locate and break the vault curse before you. Whatever is inside will belong to me, so you may as well give up now.”

So, Penny was correct in her information that Merula had her own little posse. Of course, the Hufflepuff was rarely wrong but to hear it from the Slytherin herself was more concerning. At the risk of going down the rabbit hole, David took the bait and indulged her.

“What makes you think you’re going to open the vaults before me? I bet you’re no closer than I am.”

“I’m willing to whatever it takes, Grant. That’s the difference between you and I.”

“The difference,” he said, while stirring his cauldron counterclockwise. “Is that I’m merely trying to find my brother. You on the other hand are like every other Slytherin that ever lived- selfish, deceitful, and power hungry. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.”

Merula gave him her usual nasty leer.

“You’ll be regretting those words soon enough.”

“Or what?”

“Or else,” cut in a smooth, silky, dangerous voice. “I shall have to give both of you detention for not finishing your work on time and disrupting my class.”

Their conversation had gone on far too long, evidently, as the greasy, beaked nose of Professor Snape bore down upon them, his expression far from pleased.

“Sorry, Professor,” David apologize in an attempt at damage control. Snape was not quite as passionate a Quidditch fan as McGonagall, but he never passed up any chance to humiliate or show up the other houses. Non-Slytherins were extra careful not get on his bad side leading up to a match.

“I don’t need your sniveling excuses,” he dismissed sourly. “But what I do need is an explanation. Several ingredients from my private storeroom have been stolen in the last few days and I’ve received word you are the culprit. What do you have to say for yourself?

Dave couldn’t help but deliver a tongue in cheek response.

“And what makes you think it was me of all people?”

“Perhaps it’s in connection to your search for the cursed vaults? Or because you, like your brother, insist on testing the boundaries of this school and my patience? Whatever the reason, I have no desire to know what goes on in your warped, tiny mind. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t give you detention for the rest of the year.”

The rest of the class’s eyes were on them now, Ben looking quite afraid, while Charlie looked on apprehensively (Jae was already asleep by this point). But it wasn’t their reactions David keyed in on, rather it was Merula’s that gave everything away. Her eyes were alighted with malicious glee, a knowing smirk plastered across her face. It was then and there he knew she was the one behind this.

“I don’t know. But I would ask Merula given that she looks as though Christmas came early.”

That threw the second year Slytherin in for a loop as the malicious glee quickly evaporated into a frantic denial.

“Only someone as pathetic and desperate as you would try and pin this on me, Grant! You’re just as loony as your brother!”

Snape looked over at his pupil.

“Is this true, Miss Snyde? What credence do you give this accusation?”

“None,” she said but her response did not meet her eyes. “If I want to see him expelled it’s because he’s a disgrace and a danger to Hogwarts.”

David fully expected Snape, the most blatant in expressing favoritism towards his own house, to simply take Merula at her word and be done with it. Which is why what happened next came as a shock to everyone. 

“I genuinely wish you weren’t lying.”

Merula’s eyes looked as though they might pop out of her head.

“Excuse me?!”

“As I have stated before you are an absolutely atrocious liar, especially for a Slytherin. You will stay after class to receive your punishment. The rest of you, finish up your potions, put them on my desk and get out.”

No one needed to be told twice. David, hardly believing his luck, was content to do as Snape instructed and followed the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins out of the door while Merula was forced to remain behind. But as he was about to head down the hallway, the preteen gave into temptation and placed himself at the edge of the stone wall close to the door. He needed to hear why he was not assigned the blame, and his rival faced the brunt of the potion master’s wrath.

“Professor,” he could hear Merula use a falsely innocent tone she only used to get out of trouble. “I don’t understand why I’m the one being punished. It was Grant, not me.”

“Save your pathetic explanations for whichever idiot among your posse has the time to listen.”

“But…I-”

“Do you really think I was blind to the fact that this was a scheme cooked up by you and your housemates? Or that when I was tipped off by that gigantic oaf Mr. Lee, I failed to notice traces of Boomslang skin on his hands? No, this was an ill-advised, foolhardy endeavor that was unworthy of even the lowliest of our house. And as such, you will come by every Friday evening to clean the storeroom you stole from until Christmas. Is that clear?”

Evidently, she did not, because Merula continued to argue.

“But Professor! You hate the Gryffindors and Grant! Why do I have to serve detention?”

“That is neither here nor there,” Snape growled, the anger increasing in his voice. “Our house prides itself on cunning and ambition. You possess the latter but not the former, Miss Snyde. Grant saw right through your attempt to frame him and the fact that he did means you didn’t even bother to cover your tracks. Consider today a test, a test that you failed.”

“But-”

“The next ‘but’ to come out of your mouth will ensure another Friday added to your lengthy detention sentence. Now, begin cleaning at once lest you continue to test my patience.”

That was all David needed to hear and the reaction was one of slight surprise and relief. Snape was punishing his own student not out of fairness but for being sloppy, which he supposed made sense. It also meant that he had time to visit Rowan later in the evening and with any luck, they’d be able to watch the Quidditch match tomorrow.

As he exited the dungeon, he came across an unsettling sight, however. Standing in the hallway, chewing some Drooble’s gum was the Slytherin girl known as Ismelda Murk, the one who had attacked Charlie on the train earlier in the year. She said nothing as he walked by, but carried a most wicked, frightening smile and never took her visible eye off him, her other eye shrouded by her shoulder length, black hair. 

“Creepy,” David muttered to himself, but gave it no further thought as he made his way towards dinner. There was a Quidditch game to be played tomorrow and now more than ever did he want to beat Slytherin.

The lion did not concern itself with the schemes of snakes.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At last the day came and the sunny, crisp November morning was pulsing with excitement. Gryffindors and Slytherins alike donned their colors- jackets, jumpers, scarves, gloves, hats, flags, banners- it had all the feel of a classic in the making featuring Hogwarts’ two biggest rivals.

It was all the more surreal for David, who grew up listening to Quidditch but had never seen a match even at the most rudimentary level. It was another activity his mum severely restricted growing up. But there were no parents here to tell him ‘no’ and little to contain his excitement. He was ready for this.

Adding to the general atmosphere was the fact that the Gryffindor Quidditch team had two new extraordinarily talented members in Charlie Weasley and Skye Parkin. True to his word, it was the skill not the broom that earned the second eldest Weasley the spot of seeker. So proud was Professor McGonagall, she ended up ordering him a new comet series for proper matches. David had only heard rumors, but anyone who witnessed Charlie play was floored by the speed, quickness, and precision he possessed. True to his humble nature, his friend never talked much about his own Quidditch abilities but retained quiet confidence. If half of those rumors were true, Gryffindor was in good hands.

The second name among the new arrivals was Skye Parkin and this one generated even more buzz than Charlie. Skye was also a second year and was from the famous Parkin family, a clan hailing from the high hills of Scotland legendary for their long line of successful Quidditch players. So prominent they were, they had even founded their own Quidditch team, the Wigtown Wanderers.

Unlike most of the old families, the Parkins did not belong to any particular house and were spread out evenly at Hogwarts spanning the centuries. Her brothers had been placed in Ravenclaw and Slytherin respectively, but Skye was the only child who had inherited her father Ethan Parkin’s Gryffindor courage. Every bit as talented as her brothers, she was placed as a chaser and excelled in the natural instincts required for the spot- passing, positioning, and speed. So anticipated was her debut that some were saying she was better than her father at the same age.

In David’s personal opinion, that was quite a lot to put on a single twelve-year-old girl but he had seen Skye in class and at the lunch table on numerous occasions. She was truly fearless and did not blink at a challenge, even from older students. Notorious for her poor grades, she was not an academic favorite among the staff, but McGonagall had given her enough tutoring to ensure her grades were adequate enough to join the team, so determined she was to win the cup.

In addition to this good news was that Rowan was finally well enough to leave the hospital wing. Though Quidditch was not his forte, David managed to convince him some fresh air and healthy competition would be good after being cooped up in a ward for three days. Not to mention Bill would also be there cheering on his brother so it provided an extra incentive.

Waking up that morning, David wasted no time in getting dressed and making sure Rowan did the same.

“Ironic. I’m usually the one trying to get you out of bed,” his best friend grunted. 

“Yeah but that’s for boring stuff. This is Quidditch!”

“Remind me again, why I should care?”

In a sequel of their first day at Hogwarts, it was David’s turn to throw a pillow at Rowan.

“Because we need to be there when we kick Slytherin’s arse.”

“….”

“Also, Bill’s going to be there.”

“Coming.”

It didn’t take long for the boys to get dressed, fill up on a breakfast of sausage and eggs, then head down to the pitch where the entire student body filed in. They found their seats in the Gryffindor section alongside Bill, Jae, Ben, and a few others.

“Dave, Rowan,” Bill greeted warmly. “Good to see you both. Grab a spot.”

“We’ll be standing up most of the time anyway,” Jae told them. “If this is anything like most Quidditch matches.”

“Or if you want to see,” Ben pointed out.

“Well I’ll certainly be on the edge of my seat given this is Charlie’s first match. He’s been dreaming of this moment for years, so I know how it important it is for him. Plus, I promised Fred and George full details in my letters.”

“Fred and George?” David asked, puzzled as to who he was referring to.

“My younger twin brothers,” Bill elaborated. “Tricky little devils they are, always up to no good. Constantly driving mum crazy,” he added with a laugh. “But they’re also aspiring Quidditch players themselves. They can’t see Charlie in person but it’s the next best thing.”

“Is this really such a big deal?” Ben wondered aloud. “I mean, I know we aren’t friends with the Slytherins but still.”

A half second later, one of the bigger Slytherins from the bleachers parallel to theirs shouted “Gryffindor sucks Abraxan cock!!!” while the rest of his friends laughed hysterically, pointing and jeering.

“Does that answer your question?” Bill asked rhetorically.

“Crushing Slytherin is the only thing that matters,” David affirmed. “Personally, I wouldn’t mind rubbing it in Merula’s face if only to get her to shut up.”

“You and that girl are something else,” the eldest Weasley chuckled. “But in all seriousness, we have the best chance at the cup this year since James Potter last played for Gryffindor. Skye Parkin is quite the sensation and my brother isn’t too shabby himself.”

“He’s that good?” Rowan pipped up.

“You guys don’t know Charlie like I do. Unless dragons are involved, Quidditch is his primary passion. He was zooming around the house with a toy broom from the time he was three. Trust me, he’s very good.” 

A tap on the shoulder alerted them to the presence of Penny and her group consisting of Chiara, Tonks, and Diego, all of them donning the Gryffindor red and gold for this occasion. 

“Hello you courageous Gryffindors,” Tonks quipped. For this occasion she had morphed her hair into a spiky, red and yellow mullet which was quite the sight to behold.

“Hey guys!” David said cheerfully. “Glad to see you’re supporting our side today.”

“Are you kidding? No one in their right mind would support Slytherin over Gryffindor,” Penny remarked making a sour face. 

“Most of our house is supporting you today. As are the Ravenclaws,” Chiara informed them.

Indeed, she was right. Though not all of them chose to wear red and gold, most of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were choosing to sit far from the Slytherins, who were congregating in their own little sphere. 

“The Slytherins are, shall we say, not well liked among the rest of the school,” Diego shrugged. “They tend not to play fair or with honor, so I am told.”

“You’re giving them too much credit,” Penny replied to him, her normally chipper face again turning disdainful. “Slytherins almost never play fair.”

“Be that as it may, they still usually field a decent squad year after year,” Bill spoke sagely. “And they came in second last year to Ravenclaw. Titus Hammersmith is going to go the extra mile to ensure that doesn’t happen again.”

“Yeah well Titus can sit on a pin. Personally, I’m just excited to watch Skye Parkin for the first time. I’ve heard she’s amazing!”

That caught David’s attention as he gazed over at the blonde.

“I didn’t know you were such a Quidditch fan, Penny.”

“Are you kidding? I know everything there is to know about it! And the Parkins are legends. That’s another reason I’m supporting Gryffindor today. Her dad is incredible, and I know she will be too.”

David laughed before glancing over at Rowan who looked noticeably uninspired.

“Cheer up, will ya?” he said while elbowing him playfully. “Match hasn’t even started yet and you already look as bored as I do in History of Magic.”

“I’m sorry, Dave. I guess sports just aren’t really my thing, you know? I’m more of a thinking kind of person when it comes to fun.”

“Just you wait, Rowan,” Bill encouraged. “By the end of the day you’ll have an appreciation for this. Quidditch is like nothing ever experienced before.”

Just then a loud, booming voice cut across the chatter, so loud in fact, it echoed across the pitch.

“Ladies and gentlemen I’d like to welcome you all to the beginning of the 1985-86 interhouse Quidditch season! With the first of the six matchups yet to come I can guarantee a 98.7 percent chance of excitement! Especially with these two notorious rivals, Gryffindor and Slytherin!”

Peering up into the booth, David saw a burly blond boy seated next to Professor McGonagall, megaphone in hand, the Sonorus charm in full effect. The enthusiasm espoused was only matched by the look of pure joy in his face, as though talking Quidditch was just as exciting as playing it.

“Who’s that?” Ben asked aloud.

“Murphy McNully,” Bill answered straight away. “Third year in our own house. Absolute nutter when it comes to Quidditch. Don’t get him started or he’ll never stop talking.”

“Why doesn’t he just play himself?” David joked.

“Because that chair isn’t just for kicks.”

Diego handed him the binoculars and indeed Murphy was not merely seated in a common chair, rather it appeared the chair was his main method of transportation as it was coupled with wheels on each side.

“Why does he need a wheelchair?”

“No one knows,” Jae said, tossing up his yellow hoodie to keep warm. “The way I heard it, if you ask why he clams up. Just about the only thing that gets him to shut his hole.”

“Rumor it was dark magic during the war,” Tonks whispered.

The speculation ended as a sudden whoosh alerted them to the arrival of the first team from the lockers.

“And here come the Gryffindor squad!” McNully announced with gusto. “Parkin, Barrett, Blishwick, McLaggen, Weasley, and Brown. Captained by Orion Amari!”

Cheers went up from seventy five percent of the stadium with only the hisses and boos from the Slytherins spoiling the unanimity. For David, the sight was amazing as he awed at witnessing actual Quidditch players race around the pitch. The red was quite distinctive, even in the glistening sun, the seven starters flying in an impressive V formation.

Another whoosh of wind announced the arrival of the infamous opponent which Murphy wasted no time in pointing out with almost equal gusto.

“And here are the Slytherins! Radcliffe, Rowle, Rosier, Chapman, Fernsby, and Burke. Captained by Titus Hammersmith!”

The cheers and jeers reversed this time, as the boos became louder while the screams of support were largely drowned out. 

“This Orion Amari bloke looks like he already got hit with a bludger,” Tonks snickered as she passed the binoculars to Chiara and Penny who also giggled.

David couldn’t deny that she had a point. Upon closer inspection, the Gryffindor captain had the face of someone who was ready to soak up sunshine at a beach, not an intense, grueling Quidditch match.

“Orion is a bit eccentric; I’ll give you that,” Bill laughed. “But looks can be deceiving, he knows the game and he knows how to get the best out of people.”

“So how come we only won a single game last year?” Rowan asked.

“He was only made captain halfway through his fourth year. Plus, they didn’t have my brother or Skye Parkin,” the eldest Weasley added with a confident smile.

The referee Madam Hooch approached the center of the pitch to release the bludgers and the snitch while simultaneously giving warning to each team.

“I don’t need to remind you I want a nice, clean game. Captains, shake hands.”

Orion and Titus did so, though the latter definitely looked like he was trying to crush the former’s hand. However, if Orion felt anything, he did not show it, his mellow expression unchanging. For the lanky, blond Slytherin, his face turned to a scowl indicating his displeasure and dislike. 

Without further delay, Madam Hooch threw the quaffle into the air and the match was on.

“And there goes Slytherin in their main line of attack with the three R’s, better known as Radcliffe, Rowle, and Rosier, a top of the line chaser squad from last season who nearly set the record for the most goals in a single season with fifty seven. Rowle ducks and passes it to Rosier, dodges the bludger and flips it to Radcliffe, she shoots...!”

Thankfully, for the Gryffindors, the keeper Liam Brown punched the ball away and into the hands of Orion who headed up the field. 

“Spectacular play by the Gryffindor keeper, and there was only about a 37 percent chance of a save there!” McNully continued to ramble. “And there goes Amari and my word folks, he’s broom surfing!”

Indeed, it was an impressive display of skill as Orion smoothly navigated his way past the Slytherin defense despite their attempts to knock him off his broom. But instead of taking a shot on goal, he feigned a throw, cutting back around and tossing it back to a wide open Skye Parkin, who took the quaffle and put it through the main hoop for the first points of the game. 

“And there you have it, folks! Rookie sensation Skye Parkin, daughter of the world famous Ethan Parkin, with the first points of the game and of her career here at Hogwarts!” McNully shouted excitedly. “Gryffindor leads 10-0.”

David and company cheered loudly while Penny jumped up and down screaming, “I told you she was good! I told you!”

And that wasn’t the end of the scoring. Bill had proven correct about Orion and his methods. Though he was unorthodox, the sheer unpredictability of his moves meant that the Slytherin beaters were constantly missing their mark and the chasers could move with ease. Before long, he and the other Gryffindor chaser, Ruth Barrett, had scored another goal apiece, making the score 30-0 in the Lions’ favor.

“It’s really something, isn’t it?” David yelled over the noise to Rowan.

“Orion and Skye are amazing,” came the agreement.

Indeed, the fireworks only continued from there. Slytherin did manage to put a goal past Liam Brown to get on the board, but the celebration was short lived as Skye managed to punch the quaffle out of Rowle’s hand, snag it, and race single handedly towards the goal. Dodging the attempted bumps from Deanna Radcliffe, Skye slipped underneath her resurfacing on top and scored on the right-hand hoop for her second goal.

“Did you see that?! Merlin’s beard did you see that?!” McNully exclaimed. “By George what a move that was!”

It was so crafty, no one on Slytherin had any time to react. And judging by the look on Skye’s face, David knew she was loving every second of this. She was truly in her element.

The Gryffindor defense continued to remain solid throughout the game with the beaters McLaggen and Blishwick scattering Slytherin’s three Rs time and time again. But the real story was Skye, Orion, and Ruth, who as a collective were nearly impossible to stop. Seeing a live game for the first time, David began to get a grasp of what made this unit so incredible. Orion was fluid and freelance, but always aware of where his teammates were, his passing skills exemplary. Ruth Barrett was a model of efficiency, there was no aspect of her game above the others, rather she was simply consistent at everything- passing, scoring, and flying. And then there was Skye. Just twelve years old, she was running circles around the Slytherins, too fast to catch and too agile to hit with a bludger. Together, the three were making their opponents look silly. It wasn’t until the first dirty play of the game that Skye’s one weakness was exposed.

After scoring her fourth goal to make the score 90-20 in favor of the Lions, she failed to notice Hammersmith coming straight towards her whilst she celebrated.

WHAM!

“Look out folks! The Slytherin captain has just attempted to knock Parkin off her broom and into next week! That’s an obvious foul which no doubt Madam Hooch will be quick to call!”

He was on the money as the hawk eyed referee began to berate Hammersmith for the foul while Skye attempted to stop herself from careening off the pitch. Eventually she managed to hang on and right herself, flustered, but otherwise unharmed.

Boos rained down on Hammersmith, who snarled at his detractors.

“I told you they don’t fight fair,” Diego remarked.

“Crawl back to your hole, wanker!” Penny screamed down at him, causing some of the boys to raise their eyebrows.

“She really is a fan,” Jae muttered.

But she wasn’t the only one. David was yelling insults too and even Rowan got in on the act at the blatant attempt at sabotage. Some of the Gryffindors began throwing food and other objects as Madam Hooch tried to wrest the situation back under control.

Though Skye was not hurt, her teammates did not take kindly to the insult. In retaliation, Henry McLaggen crushed a bludger at Hammersmith while the penalty shot was being set up, catching him painfully in the stomach. Rowle then flew up and punched him in the back of the head while Liam Brown rushed over and caught the Slytherin with a right hook.

At this point, things were getting out of hand and Hooch was screeching her whistle for the ruckus to cease, but it was an unlikely source who stepped in to prevent an all out brawl. Orion flew down to the commotion and put himself in the middle, separating Gryffindor and Slytherin alike. David couldn’t tell what was saying but it had the desired effect as his teammates eventually backed down, as did their opponents.

“What on earth could he have said to diffuse that?” Ben asked, shocked as everyone else.

“I have no idea, but whatever it was, he deserves a medal for special services to the school,” Bill observed, grabbing the binoculars from Diego. 

“Are the Slytherins always this dirty?” Rowan asked him.

“Not always. Sometimes they’re so good they don’t need to. But Hammersmith doesn’t fool around. If he can gain a psychological edge, he will.”

“I just hope Skye is okay,” Chiara said quietly for the first time.

“She better be,” Penny growled. “Or else I’m going to pay a personal visit to the Slytherin common room tonight.”

David, however, looked up at Skye and saw that not only was she fine, she was glowing. Far from being angry, she gave a laugh and took the quaffle for a penalty shot. Calm and collected, she easily punched the ball past the Slytherin keeper Jessica Burke to make the score 100-20.

“Seems fine to me,” he said aloud.

Nothing confirmed this more than what Skye did next. A confident smirk plastered across her face she rushed past Hammersmith, causing him to flinch which garnered a laugh from the crowd.

“She’s more than fine,” Tonks snickered. “She’s got the whole Slytherin team eating out the palm of her hand.”

Play resumed and with Madam Hooch on the lookout for any more shenanigans, both sides did not attempt any more roughhousing. However, the Slytherin defense seemed to double their efforts as Hammersmith and his counterpart Malcolm Chapman kept hitting bludgers furiously at the Gryffindor chasers to keep them at bay. This paid off in the end as Felix Rosier snuck a goal past Liam Brown putting the score at 100-30.

“We’re up by seventy but I’d feel better if this ended soon,” Rowan groaned. 

“Are you still not enjoying yourself?”

“Are you kidding? Of course! I want to win this thing!”

David and Bill shared a knowing smile, quite pleased they had converted their friend.

“Well don’t hold your breath,” the eldest Weasley told them. “Quidditch matches can last for days if need be. No one goes home until the snitch is caught and Gryffindor’s lead isn’t large enough to make up the difference if Slytherin gets to it first.”

“They’d need to be up by one hundred and fifty points,” Penny explained to Rowan. “Personally, I could watch Skye score goals all day.”

While that was true, David had a feeling that Charlie would have to come up clutch. Lost in the hoopla of the scoring and scrappy play was the fact that the snitch had not been seen once over the course of the match. The second Weasley patrolled the skies, tailing Douglas Fernsby, the Slytherin seeker now and again but there was no luck so far.

“You think he can pull it off?” he asked Bill, who was scouring the field for his brother. 

“Trust me, he can,” came the confident reply. “Once he spots that little golden ball, it’s game over.”

Suddenly, the roar of the crowd rose a few decibels as people began pointing.

“And here we go, the first attempt to end the game!” McNully boomed into the microphone. “Charlie Weasley, the promising Gryffindor seeker has gone into a full long sprint for the snitch!”

Seekers occasionally feigned going after the snitch to throw off their opponent, but this was not one of those times. From a distance, David could see that Charlie had a determined, hungry look on his face. A tiny glint of light confirmed that was indeed after the snitch and closing in fast.

“He’s going to do it! He’s going to do it!” Bill yelled over the noise, grabbing onto David in excitement. “Come on, little bro!”

The snitch was notorious quick and difficult to see, but the young Gryffindor seeker was not to be deterred. Fernsby of Slytherin was on the other side of the pitch and had no chance whatsoever. It was simply a matter of seconds.

“Look out!” someone yelled.

Out of nowhere the the Slytherin chaser, Rowle, came in like a bullet with the clear intention of knocking Charlie off his broom. But in a stunning display of broomsmanship, the Gryffindor simply slipped underneath his broom, hanging upside down as Rowle crashed into the ground. Righting himself, Charlie regained his focus, stretched out and caught the little golden ball in his right hand, ending the match.

“WE WIN!” Bill screamed to the heavens as the rest of the Gryffindors began jumping up and down like maniacs.

“And the match has ended!” McNully said hoarsely into the megaphone. “And what a stupendous display from the young Gryffindor seeker! Simply amazing I don’t think I’ve seen a move like that in all my years watching Quidditch and I’m thirteen years old! Gryffindor wins, 250-30 in the biggest route of Slytherin in fifty years!”

The commentary was soon drowned out by the increasing tidal wave of cheers and roars from the crowd. Many Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joined in the celebration, Penny chief among them, who was almost as ecstatic as the Gryffindors.

For his part, David whooped and hollered in the celebrations, being engulfed in a tidal wave of hugs and high fives, food smuggled from the Great Hall raining down on his head. The solemn faces of the Slytherins were long forgotten as the stands began to clear out and the party headed back to the Gryffindor common room.

Victory did indeed feel good, and for a short time, it was enough to overlook any complications involving Merula, the vaults, or Slytherin in general. They could hide in the grave of Salazar himself. Fortune favored the bold. 

It was time to celebrate, courtesy of two brave Gryffindors in Skye Parkin and Charlie Weasley.