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adora-but-ginger · 1 year

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Incipient

incipient (adj.): the initial stage, beginning to develop, a bloom about to happen; commonly used for people when referring to the start of a new friendship, relationship; what could be.

pairing: joel miller x gn!reader

summary: you've had enough of joel putting the blame on you.

word count: ~ 2.4k(ish)

warnings: typical tlou violence and warnings, clickers, minor injury, the use of a machete and a gun, angst, fluff, swearing, a little bit of an age gap, spoliers for episode two, talk of handling grief, tbh joel deserves a warning for himself in general.

masterlist

a/n: okay so this has quite literally been haunting my drafts for the past two weeks, but i've been swamped with work, and the weather has been (not to be dramatic but) the worst it's been since i've moved here. also, you know that one edit of pedro? the one of him as agent whiskey? yeah, that one. it's been living rent free in my mind, meaning more pedro fics will be created. thank you for reading! <3

oh yeah, i almost forgot! don't repost my stories, because only people that bald early do that, and i bet you wouldn't like that too much, hmm?

credit to gif owner!!

Something had changed after Tess was gone. After sneaking out of the State House and watching it get blown to bits, something inside you had dampened. Sure, you and Tess weren't friends, but you both had helped each other out of some trouble here and there, and that's not even mentioning the problems you helped diffuse with Joel. But she was hellbent on making sure Ellie got to where she needed to be, and the least you could do would be to honour her last wish.

Ellie had tried to bring Tess up after you all escaped, but Joel quickly shut her down, turning to you before starting with his usual ways, closing up any emotions in regard to grief and shoving them away. But he didn't stop there, oh no. The only other outlet he knew of was anger, and he picked you to be on the receiving end.

You figured it was better you than Ellie, but it still didn't excuse his actions.

He was never overly kind to you, and you never expected him to be, but after Tess had gone and the weeks piled up, his fuse kept getting shorter and shorter.

You shouldn't have gone first into the abandoned building.

You should watch how much ammo you use.

If you had been thinking ahead, you would've known that there would have been infected in the area.

And though he was really getting on your nerves, you didn't speak up about it, because you figured it could be a lot worse. You were never that confrontational before the outbreak, and you were still trying to work on it. You got that he needed a way to handle his grief, but jesus christ this was becoming too much, and it was just a matter of time before you snapped.

The three of you had entered what looked to be the remnants of what used to be a garden center when you dealt it back to him. The old building had run rampant with the different plants that used to be properly contained inside, a jungle of green that grew once the roof caved in. You had all just narrowly avoided a group of runners and found solace in the building, but your guard remained up.

It was hard to maneuver through, the plants reclaiming every inch. Plus, you had no idea what could be hiding in the shadows that these photosynthesizing beings could produce.

"This is like a fucking maze." You whispered, making sure to keep your voice down.

"Did you guys ever watch that really old movie Jumanji?" Ellie said as she pushed back some leaves. Joel snorted at that, shaking his head. He was bringing up the back, everyone walking in a line to get to the other side.

You were in the front, carving a path as best as you could. You turned your head to look back at the other two with a small chuckle. "I really never know what you're going to say, El."

"Well, someone's gotta keep up the conversation, with Mr. grumpy back there always being so talkative."

Joel rolled his eyes. "We need to be careful, there's no time for--" A shriek filled everyone's ears, finishing his statement for him. A shriek that could only belong to one type of creature: a clicker.

It came from what sounded like the next room, meaning they weren't as alone as they suspected.

Eyes wide, you locked yours with Joel. He put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion before nodding to the machete in your hands that was helping you clear the path, the machete that coincidentally was caught in the middle of a thick stem. There was barely a walkway behind you all, and the runners were no doubt looming outside the entrance. You guys were caught in the middle of a real situation, one that didn't have a bright outcome at the end. Best case scenario, there was only one clicker ahead of you all, but you found that doubtful.

Joel had moved to the middle, maneuvering Ellie behind him. He put his hand over your own to help slowly remove the machete, which had more of an affect on you than you'd care to admit. Yeah, it was the end of times, but you were touch starved.

The clicker's calls knocked you out of your momentary daze, opting to instead take a deep, silent breath. Slowly you moved the weapon out of the green, and you had just relaxed your shoulders when you realized how desperate this situation really was. The machete had obscured part of your view before, but not even ten feet in front of you stood the source of your fear, moving and clicking, searching for some more to share the fungus with.

You had become used to managing your breathing tempo these days, but the haze that Joel had caused mixed with the dead slowly inching towards you had you, well, distracted to say the least. His hand hadn't left its grip around yours, if anything it had tightened around your own, which was something you were definitely going to bring up if you all made it out unscathed.

It didn't help that he was directly behind you. He was like a brick wall, not that you were complaining.

But the moment you knew that you were all toast was when he became aware of how close he was to you too. Because he straightened his back, just slightly, fixing his posture around you, and in that fraction of a second, his foot moved just little enough to kick a piece of debris.

The three of you held your breath, hoping that it wasn't enough to get the creature to turn your way.

There was a reason hope ran so little nowadays.

These sorts of situations always tended to play out in slow motion for you. It was as if every opportunity death took to look upon you, it wanted to make sure you were giving your full attention to it.

The clicker screamed and shot itself towards you, and without even realizing it you had pushed Joel back and sliced at it. "Get back!" you shouted backwards, pushing against the fungus that was trying to attack you. Its arm swiped at yours and caught skin, making you shout in pain. You pushed the machete deeper into it, the monster's force pushing you both back into the greenery. It was getting incredibly close, the smell of it invading your senses at an unpleasant rate, its jaw snapping at the air.

You closed your eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

But in the flash of an eye, the pressure was gone. The smell was gone, the creature was gone. Joel had grabbed the thing and pushed it into the open, where Ellie quickly shot it, making the dead drop to the ground once more.

Luck must have pitied you because no other shrieks followed it, meaning that there was only one around, for now at least.

"Holy shit, that was a close one." Ellie said, eyes wide. Joel rushed into the clearing, checking to make sure that there wouldn't be another one any time soon. Once he came back, he rushed over to you, looking you over for bite marks.

"I didn't get bit, Joel. Close to it though." You shook him off, bringing your injured arm up to your middle.

He heaved with what you first thought was adrenaline, but soon realized was anger. "What were you thinking?" He spit out, venom lacing his words.

Like you said earlier, you were getting tired of this. You had had enough. "What was I thinking?" You scoffed, shaking your head. "What were you thinking?" Your eyes shot daggers into his, ready for the metaphorical kettle to finally tip over. "This was not my fault! Shit, what is wrong with you?" You stepped closer to him, sizing him up. "If anything, you alarmed it of our presence, and jesus christ not everything is on me." Shoving past him into the open area, you clenched your jaw in anger. After all of that, he had the nerve--

"I'm not saying it is, but goddamnit if you had just waited to pull that giant ass knife out, we would've--" Another scoff cut him off.

"You find something every fucking time something goes wrong to pin on me, and frankly it's getting annoying. I've stood there and took it, but shit Joel, ever since Tess, you've had a stick so far up your ass that I could practically see it when you talked."

He shot a glare at you, and the ice in which he spoke with would remain with you for longer than you would like to admit. "You don't get to bring up Tess."

"Yes, I do! We should all be able to--just because you don't know how to grieve doesn't mean that we can't either." Clenching your good fist, you knew that you may have overstepped a line, but damn it he did not have to treat you two like this.

"You ain't have a single idea what I've grieved. I've--" he stopped short, his voice breaking ever so slightly. His teeth grit, jaw moving alongside it, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, one filled with the weight of the people he's lost, and eventually he looked at you with a gaze slightly softer, which you were oddly suspicious of.

"Listen, I know that I've been a little...rougher since Tess."

Ellie chuckled a good distance behind him. "That's putting it vaguely."

"I just, fuck." He mumbles to himself, looking at his feet.

"What, Joel? I'm not going to deal with this if it continues, I'm not doing that to myself."

"Fucking hell, I care about you, okay?" His voice slightly raised, and the way his irises met yours, well it took your breath away. He was staring at you with a gleam in his eye that you've almost never seen--vulnerability. "I know I'm harsh sometimes, but goddammit I..." His eyes close, and you see his chest rise and lower. "...I don't know."

"That doesn't excuse your actions though. I care about you too, the both of you, but you don't see--" You voice fades as he starts pacing the area, mumbling to himself. You raise an eyebrow at him, looking to Ellie who shrugs in response. He's never acted like this before, and your gut drops at why he could be this vulnerable right now.

And then it hits you.

Only momentarily, but you need to ask right now or you won't be able to again. Maybe you were overthinking it, but there was only one reason why he could be acting so strange.

You hold your breath as you say it.

"Are you infected?"

That makes him stop in his tracks, hearing what you just said. Striding over to you, he shakes his head. "No, I ain't infected, I'm just not good at this."

Your shoulders slack in relief, your heart able to return to a semi-normal beat. Yeah, you two butted heads a good amount of the time, but he was the closest person in decades that you would admit you trusted.

He's still looking at the ground, so you decide to take a different approach now that the frightful question is out of the way.

"Good at what? Honey, you're scaring me." You speak gentler, tilting your head to try to meet his eyes. You've never called him an endearment before, much less honey, and you try to ignore the flutters in your chest that erupt at doing so. "You can talk to me, I'm here for you. Hell, we've known each other for how long now? I won't judge you." He had always been closed off, ever since you arrived to the QZ, but that seemed to catch his attention because he flicked his eyes to your injured arm briefly before meeting your gaze.

"Tess told me that I need to tell you eventually, and I just worry about you a lot, and I--" He placed a hand over your wound, studying it. "I care about you care about you, more than you know, and I'll work on the anger issues, I just worry about you, way more than I should."

And though you could read between the lines at what he was saying, you cupped his chin and asked anyways. Maybe it was a part of you being a little selfish, but you had just nearly been put into cardio arrest at thinking he might be infected, so you asked anyway.

"Are you saying you fancy me, Miller?"

He chuckled at that, rolling his eyes in amusement. "If you want to put it that way, then yes...I fancy you. I know you're a little younger than me, and that you already probably have someone waiting back at the QZ, but you're just-" he gulped. "-real important to me is all."

You smiled, leaning in a little closer to him. "Hey, it doesn't matter that you're a little older, and you of all people know damn well that I only had you, Tess, and a couple others back there. My heart has always been yours."

It looked like a weight had been physically lifted off of his shoulders too at your response, and you saw the ghost of a smile grace his features. He leaned in close, closer than he had ever done before, and his voice sounded like sweet whiskey, the good kind served pre-outbreak.

"Can I kiss you?"

"I'd thought you'd never ask."

And when his mouth met yours, it was like a piece of you that had been missing was found. Like a flower had been waiting for the right moment to bloom. It was a little messy, but that was alright given that it had been a while since either of you had probably done this.

A cough snapped you both out of the trance you were in. "Okay, lovebirds, I'm happy that you two are getting along again and all but can this--" she waved her knife in between you two from where she stood against the doorframe by the exit, a look of disgust on her face. "Wait until after we're all out of here? This place gives me the creeps."

A small laugh left you and him, and you broke apart. "She's right, we'd better get moving before anything else that may be in here finds us."

He had a smirk on his face, another look you hadn't really seen before. "Lead the way honey'"

Oh, you could get used to this.

#joel miller #the last of us #the last of us show #the last of us hbo #the last of us spoilers #joel miller x reader #joel miller x #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfiction #pedro pascal #the last of us part one #tlou #tlou fanfiction #tlou spoilers #tlou show

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luyo-mi · 2 years

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This is what I can come up with so far with the Au rn lol @12am-motivation

//I'll start with the infection. Think of it like The Flare virus from the maze runners except with demons :D This whole au is like a survival type basically except with modern tech, given the whole techwear designs.

// Lower level demons don't have the same kind of immunity that the higher demons have, so they fully transform into these savage monsters faster. They can still use magic but don't have control over it. The lower demons who have wings can fly too. They're sensitive to light so when it becomes night that's when become more active.

//Even though they have a so-called immunity to the infection , higher demons who get infected are still eventually gonna end up like the lower levels, it's just a much slower process, that's why sometimes, in the heat of the moment, they lose control.

//Lucifer was the first to get infected while protecting Belphie. He lost control a total of 3 times due to being stressed.

//Barbatos was the second to get infected while trying to protect his special person. He's lost control once on the day he got infected

Now Ima go into the roles each character has rn

//The characters are part of a group, literally like the student council, expect idk what to name this one

// Diavolo is obviously the Commander/Leader. He's in charge of all the rules, Assigns mission to who he see fit, all that jazz.

//Barbatos is Diavolo's personal guard but also like If anything were to happen to the leader, Barbatos is the one to be put in charge next.

//Lucifer is the Enforcer of the group, idk if i'm using that right. He's the one to keep everyone in check, mainly his brothers.

For the brothers Ima sections them off instead of giving them descriptions bc I'm rad like that

Survivalist// Mammon, Satan

Lookout// Beel, Levi, Lucifer

Guard// Beel, Mammon, Lucifer

Marksmen// Levi, Belphie

Hunts/Scouts// Asmo, Belphie, Satan, Mammon, Levi

Mammon is in charge of Beel and Satan, while Levi is in charge of belphie and Asmo.

Mammon and Levi tend to venture out together to find any signs of survivors or to map out any new areas. That's how they stumbled upon Barbs.

Satan sometimes joins them as well to learn more about the virus and to maybe come up with a "cure" for Lucifer and Barbatos, though he wont admit it.

Levi, Mammon, and Beel were all out on a mission to gather some more supplies when they encountered their first Infected High ranking demon. ((these guys are a lot stronger and actually have more control over their actions unlike the lower levels)) Levi and Beel only came out unscathed because Mammon bought them time, though at the cost of his arm

That's why Levi took it upon himself to build him a Prosthetic Arm

Despite knowing the dangers, Belphie tends to sneak out during the night to go star gazing, Mammon sometimes follows him to make sure he comes back home safely. Though this would eventually be the reason how Lucifer got infected as he went off to get Belphie back home.

Belphie hates himself for that but only Beel knows.

Asmo is the one who tends to the brothers injuries// scratches, cuts, burns, etc. He taught himself after seeing how dire the situation actually is once lucifer got infected and mammon lost his arm. He says he hates getting messy when out scouting but his smile after killing something says other wise

And thats all I can come up with for now :D

#jesus this was long #but i think i did good #hopfully this makes sense #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me au #i was only meant to draw tech wear #not start a whole au omg #but its fun #so ill let it pass #also omg ur tag #made me sad #ouch #my heart #😭😭#if you want to add onto this plz do #im so here for it

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theanonymousloser · 2 years

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masterlist

Started: 1/16/22

Last Updated: 9/18/22

Total Works: 32

Requests: open! (I DON'T write smut, and I only do fem! or gn! readers and only male characters) more details here

prompt list here (just let me know what number if you want to request one)

Harry Potter

Golden Era

Harry Potter

dilemma - harry confronts one of his closest friends about a dilemma he has and she comes up with an unexpected solution

Neville Longbottom

kisses and curses - neville opens up to the reader about his parents, then finally gets revenge

Fred Weasley

knock knock - fred tells his girlfriend a joke which could change their lives forever

cinderella - while the reader tries to get ready for her date with fred, he is being less than helpful

dating him includes...

socks - the reader's love for crazy socks becomes contagious and infects fred weasley

George Weasley

3am breakfast - george finds his partner making pancakes at 3 in the morning

girlfriend - a muggleborn reader introduces her boyfriend to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend"

dating him includes...

something stupid - in which y/n helps george deal with the repercussions of a prank gone wrong, or at least that's what she thinks she's doing...

Cedric Diggory

tattoos (soulmate!au) - in which the reader finds her soulmate after a certain dumbledore's army meeting

dating him includes...

Marauders Era

Sirius Black

dating him includes...

James Potter

little brother - in which the reader's brother comes to stay with her over the break but the marauders are not used to having little kids around

dating him includes...

thanksgiving - the reader's family invites her home to america for thanksgiving and welcome her boyfriend as well

what to say - in which james helps the reader overcome some insecurities

Remus Lupin

snores - reader opens up about an insecurity but remus convinces her not to worry about it

dating him includes...

extra credit - remus notices the reader struggling on a test and gives up his bonus points

Regulus Black

idiot boys - regulus anonymously gets revenge for the reader after she has a date go wrong

The Chronicles of Narnia (movies)

Peter Pevensie

frozen in time - the reader wakes up from a deep sleep which lasted 13 centuries only to find that narnia has been overrun by telmarines

lightsaber battle - when no one shows up the the reader's younger brother's birthday party, the pevensie siblings are invited last minute to save the day

middle name - the reader, a friend of the pevensies ends up in narnia with them (i know that's kind of a shit summary but i don't want to give anything away)

Edmund Pevensie

overboard - edmund saves the reader after a mishap on her uncle's ship

swimmer - edmund rushes to the reader's aid as lucy's bedroom begins to fill up with water

summer with the scrubbs (modern!au) - edmund isn't excited about his summer plans, but when a certain someone is allowed to go with him, he is singing a different tune

perfectly decent - edmund watches as his best friend catches feelings for a guy who doesn't reciprocate them

Caspian (none yet but I'll take requests)

Maze Runner

Newt

yearbook memories (modern!au) - newt and the reader reminisce their high school years

Gally

jailbreak pt. 2 - gally accidentally scares the reader and in turn one of her biggest fears is revealed

Minho (none yet but I'll take requests)

Thomas

thursdays - thomas gets recruited to help the reader with math

#masterlist #imagines #maze runner #tmr #narnia #the chronicles of narnia #harry potter #marauders era #golden era #marauders era imagines #harry potter imagines #narnia imagines #maze runner imagines

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its-tea-time-darling · 3 years

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Why Teresa is a Gryffindor - hear me out

So a lot of people agree that Thomas is a Gryffindor. He is empathic, cares about people, is very brave (even though he is afraid a lot of the time) a little hot headed, sometimes acts rashly and before he has thought things through, and is ultimately very selfless in trying to help and save his friends - and really anyone that needs saving.

And a lot of people place Teresa in either Slytherin (the end justifies the means, ambitious in pursuing her dreams, somewhat cold, cunning and clever) or Ravenclaw (really interested in the science of it all, intensely curious, with the drawback of being idealistic and a removed from reality, not understanding the real life consequences of her actions).

But I think she is really a Gryffindor.

This is connected to my theory that Thomas and Teresa really are two sides of the same coin. She is cold where he is warmth, controlled where he is hot headed, but what defines them both in my opinion is their empathy and selflessness, and what they’re willing to sacrifice for what they think is right. Their common values just lead to diametrically opposed actions in the real world.

Thomas’ empathy is for his friends and saving them from WICKED’s torture. Other people’s suffering affects him deeply, and he feels like it’s his perogative to help them. We can see this in the books, in fever code he gets that feeling while watching Newt watch his sister, in Maze runner with Chuck who misses his family and is just a kid, in Scorch Trials with Brenda who he feels immensly sorry for and wants to save, even though he hardly knows her at all.

And Thomas does literally anything - no matter his personal cost and the riks to his safety - to help his friends. True Gryffindor.

Whereas Teresa has an immense empathy inside her as well - it’s just directed at different people. Her empathy is for all people infected, and she does unimaginable things to try and fight for a cure for them.

Think about what she’s sacrificing: She is betraying her friends, the only people she has in the world. She risks them being hurt or even killed for what she thinks is right. She even betrays Thomas, the person who has been closest to her throghout her life, and the person she loves most. (In my book also the love of her life, but I don’t necessarily need to play the Thomesa card for this analysis to make sense) She knows that they will probably never forgive her, and that Thomas will possibly hate her forever because of this.

And if still going through with her actions after knowing all of the above isn’t an act of extreme bravery and selflessness, then I don’t know anything in the world.

It’s a bit like Dumbledore says about Neville in book 1: "There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." And this is only for standing up to your friends. Imagine the kind of courage it must take for you to betray the people you love most. Unimaginable.

And then she watches Minho getting tortured. She doesn’t tune it out, she purposefully goes to watch him, and has to live with the guilt of being the one that is the cause for him being tortured.

I don’t believe for a second that Teresa did what she did because she is selfish, mean or detached from her friends. Not for a second. The guilt is wrecking her, and she has to live with the consequences of her choice. And with the painful knowledge that she would do it all again.

tl;dr: I'm really big on the interpretation that Teresa's betrayal (both the one in the fever code and the one in the scorch trial movie) are happening out of empathy, and selflessness. She is willing to sacrifice everything she holds dear personally to stand up for what she thinks is right. And if that’s not a true Gryffindor, then as I said, I don’t know anything in the world.

#maze runner #the maze runner #tmr #teresa agnes #maze runner teresa #tmr teresa #maze runner thomas #tmr thomas #Harry Potter #harry potter houses #gryffindor #james dashner #the fever code #the scorch trials #the death cure #teresa protection squad #also jkr is a terf and its so sad for all us potterheads #just feel i need to add this when mentioning hp

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mf-despair-queen · 4 years

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Stranded - Thomas

Author: @mf-despair-queen

Pairing: Thomas/Reader

Word Count: 11,426

Summary: You hated him. You despised him. He was arrogant for what he had done, taking down WICKED. He was the reason that your friends had died in the attack. But, when you find yourself stuck at sea, or even worse, stranded on a deserted island with Thomas, you find yourself realizing you were wrong.

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Unprotected Sex, Oral, Choking, Sex in the Water, kinda public sex I guess?, Multiple Orgasms, Dirty Talk

Notes: I guess I live??? I guess I still write. I don’t even know anymore y’all. I’m sorry I don’t post often these days. And I’m sorry this is as late as it is. It was meant for @writingsbychlo‘s Thomas month three months ago but between work and laziness, I didn’t finish on time. Because, essentially, I suck ass. And tbh, I’m not incredibly happy with the outcome of this. It could have been way better than it was because I loved the idea a lot. But at this point, it’s as good as it’s going to get and I just want it done and out there. Hope y’all enjoy it. Big thanks to @roscoeknows and @brien-odylan for always pushing me with this, and @jagked-up for being a sweetie and proofreading for me.

“Gather around everyone!” Vince yelled, his voice dictating the crowd of survivors to the beach front for the early morning discussions. You flopped to the sandy ground, wrapping your arms loosely around your knees that were tucked into your chest. Sharing a few nods with your friends as they passed by, you avoided the gaze of the ex-WICKED test subjects from maze A.

Many of the boys were kind and you got along with easily, but it was the tall, dark haired former runner that never struck you right. Upon learning that he had worked with WICKED growing up, and the downfall of the Right Arm shortly after his arrival, you decided to stay clear of the man, choosing to never forgive him for ruining the home you worked so hard for - causing the death of those who were close to you and raised you to who you are now. That, and he always seemed to be full of himself for his help in saving many people and stopping WICKED.

Well, that’s what you heard from some of your closest friends at least.

You had never truly interacted with the male for long periods of time. It was always in passing during dinner or around camp while getting work done. He would occasionally try to strike up a conversation, but you gave some excuse before running off, letting out a huff of annoyance that he would never get the hint. His aura was aggravating without reason, but you had no plans to befriend the amnesiac.

Turning your gaze towards Vince, who stood upon a rickety stage made of driftwood and fallen branches along the edge of the forest behind camp that you feared would break under his heavy, muscled stature and weighted boots, your ears perked up to hear his morning announcements.

“Good morning everyone,” he called, voice as authoritative as ever. “Based on some recent discussions and feedback from everyone for their tasks around the Safe Haven we have decided to try out a new method for jobs. Moral has been low because people have been mentioning that they have felt things have gone stale because they’ve been doing the same job every day since we situated here, free of infection, free from WICKED."

“So, in an attempt to raise the mood around here, we will be testing out a lottery draw for daily tasks. Remember, this is just a trial run to see how people like it and I think it’ll be good for everyone to be familiar with all of the jobs. And so you are all aware, there will be no job swapping. Once you choose something, that is what you’ll be doing for that day.”

You pouted at yourself, huffing in annoyance. A lottery? Seriously? There were a number of jobs you wished to avoid, namely the ones that involved tending to the pigs that were being raised and handling slimy things that made you cringe. To top it off, you would potentially have to work with people you didn’t know or get along with instead of the people you knew you could stand for more than a few hours.

“We have set up a station outside the dining commons for you to choose your job for the day. And we’ll get some feedback during dinner to see how things went. We’ll decide after a couple weeks if we want to keep it like this, try something new, or go back to how it was before. So please everyone, line up to draw your job for the day.”

You let out a heavy sigh, watching numerous people rush towards the job drawing, uttering something about wanting to be first in line or hoping that they have a better chance at a better task. You were slow to stand, regrettably joining the line of people while patting the sand off your backside. Silently praying you didn’t get struck with a case of bad luck for once, you watched people one by one choose their jobs. Some cheered while others wept, being consoled by their friends. Your own friends - or the group you typically hung with - chose their jobs, luckily ending up in the same task of harvesting the gardens.

Your eyes narrowed on the group of former test subjects that chatted happily after choosing their jobs. Minho, the hulky athletic male of the group, flexed and laughed at his choosing of forest running, gathering food and wood for the village. Newt, the timid brainiac that was lucky to have survived not only a stab wound but the Flare as well, was working the medical room, which he seemed pleased about. Whereas Thomas, your least favorite person in the Safe Haven, was silent, showing an awkward, lopsided smile that you couldn’t read. Was he happy about his job? Disappointed? Apathetic?

Who cares.

You turned from the trio as you approached the box yourself, staring one of the leaders named Mark in the eye. With a short nod at the older gentleman, you stuck your small hand through the hold in the top, feeling the dwindled number of papers inside. One last inaudible prayer later, you were pulling the slip out, eyes clenched shut and bated breath.

Your heart fell when you finally cracked your eyes open, seeing the words sloppily written on the strip. Fishing. You dreaded fishing. As much as you loved to eat the seafood that was brought back each day, you couldn’t stand the task itself. You hated the tedious task of dropping a net or sitting with a pole, waiting for something to happen while the boat that you felt would capsize with ease, swaying with the ocean waves. Add in dealing with the fish, grabbing at their slimy, scaly bodies while they wiggled aimlessly was less than appealing.

Why, of all things, did you have to draw fishing?

You let your thoughts consume you as you dragged your feet towards the beach where the small boat was waiting. With the lack of resources, and a recently lost boat from a hole in the bottom, only two people that could go fishing at the moment. There was a stockpile in the Safe Haven, luckily, but no one wanted to let the supply drop too low too fast. Your thoughts drifted to who you could be paired with. Hopefully it was someone that could manage for you both, that enjoyed fishing more than you. Maybe you would get paired with Gally, or even Aris. They were people that could manage stuff like this.

“Hey Y/N.”

With a screech, you fell forward into the sand, caught off guard at the deep voice before you. The person cursed, rushing forward to help you up. A somewhat tanned, veiny hand extended towards you, appearing in your sight to counter the grainy ground under you that your knees and hands were buried in.

“Thanks,” you mumbled, a blush spreading over your cheeks as you took their hand. But the blush disappeared, your face paling when you realized who it was. Thomas stood before you, helping you to stand to your feet. He gave a toothy smile, staring at you with chocolate hazelnut eyes. The sparkle in his orbs diminished slightly when you slid your hand from his, turning away to brush off your jeans. “Oh, hi Thomas.”

“Don’t sound so thrilled to see me,” he sarcastically bit, tilting his head. You scoffed at him, earning a frown from the man.

“What are you doing here?” you asked shortly.

Thomas rose a brow, turning and pointing at the small boat that was sitting on the shore, already filled with the various fishing supplies you would need. “I drew fishing today,” he said, turning back to you. “I assume you did too?”

“Great,” you mumbled under your breath, letting out a sigh. Holding up the small paper for him to see, you spoke up, “Yeah. I’m unfortunately fishing today.”

“Unfortunate because you hate fishing?” He asked. You were about to nod in confirmation before he continued. “Or, unfortunate because you’re with me?”

At his harsh statement, you frowned, gaping at the man. You struggled to find the right words for him, mouth opening and closing a few times before you managed to utter one word. “Thomas…”

“Come on,” he cut you off, nodding towards the small boat, giving that same awkward smile as before. “We have fishing to do and I’d rather not get bitched at by Vince later.”

That made you snicker, nodding in agreement. “Same though.”

Before long, you were rowing out into the middle of the ocean, the shoreline disappearing. You struggled to prepare the nets and rods, not wanting to watch Thomas row the boat. You hated to admit, but up close, he was handsome. And with him straining his muscles to row, you could easily see his biceps flexing through his dark blue shirt. The sleeves ended just below his elbow, so you had a clear shot of the veins that protruded along his arms.

It was a struggle not to watch him, constantly reminding yourself that you didn’t care for the man before you after everything that happened.

An uncomfortable silence settled between you both when he settled on a spot that seemed to be flourishing with fish. The net was dropped and the rods were cast. You sat in the boat away from each other, staring off into the distance with your backs together, the waiting game upon you. The sun was slowly moving overhead, taunting you with the passage of time. Despite the abundance of fish, nothing seemed to be biting.

Your heart was steadily hammering faster, yet you couldn’t tell if it was because you were sitting alone with Thomas or if it was because every jostle of the boat left you anxious. Thomas seemed to notice your skittish nature behind him, feeling your body jerk and tremble every time the boat would rock more than the last time.

“Are you ok?” he asked, turning to look at you over his shoulder. The second he asked, the boat shook, making you squeal in surprise.

“Fuck, I’m going to die,” you cried, placing the rod aside and resting your elbows on your knees. Thomas blinked, placing his own rod down so he could turn and stare at you.

“Come again?”

“Don’t you get it? I’m too young to die at sea!” you cried louder. The boat shook again, making you squeak once more. “Fuck, I swear that has got to be a shark. This is something straight out of Jaws!”

“...Jaws?”

“Yeah, you know,” you ranted, turning to face him. “That classic movie about the shark that was terrorizing Amity Beach? They had like… three sequels? It was a massive shark that would come and kill people!”

“I… don’t know.”

“Well, what about 47 Meters Down? Granted, we don’t have a diving cage, but we could basically be surrounded by sharks and we have nowhere to go. We are in the middle of the ocean, Thomas!”

“I don’t know that one either.”

“How could you not know them?” you hollered.

Thomas scoffed. “Well, excuse me for losing my memory while in the maze.”

“But I thought you got some memories back from that… that one thing.” You faintly remember hearing about that from your friends.

“I remembered stuff about WICKED. Doesn’t mean I remember your shitty movies!” he snapped.

You growled at him. “God, why are you such an asshole?”

“Why are you such a bitch?” he huffed.

“Thanks for the compliment. I know I’m a babe in total control of herself,” was your smug response, flashing him a smirk. Thomas rolled his eyes, turning away from you.

“God, why did I have to get stuck with you?” he grumbled.

“Because I’m obviously amazing,” you told him, turning to stare at the horizon.

“Fuck you.”

“You would like that.”

You expect him to retort, but he said nothing. You blinked in confusion, turning back to him. He wasn’t facing you, so you only got the backside of his head. Your face fell, a sorrowful thump in your chest making it ache. For some reason, you felt bad for his silence, afraid you had done something wrong. It felt as though his mood dropped, and you couldn’t pinpoint why.

Instead of asking though, you turned and picked up the rod, hoping something would bite soon.

“You know,” he spoke up suddenly, making you jump. “I know you don’t like me.”

Shocked, you turned to him, only to find he still wasn’t facing you. “What? Thomas, no. I don’t-”

“I understand though,” he murmured. “You were happy with the Right Arm before we came. And then within one day, everything you knew and loved was lost. You lost those who practically raised you, like Mary. And it’s all my fault.”

“Thomas…”

“I’ve been trying to make amends for what happened. I know I can’t change what happened, but I wanted to apologize. And you’re the last person I need to apologize to for what happened. I really fucked up that day and I feel bad that I caused so many problems. But you never give me the chance to apologize to you because you are always ignoring me.”

You stared down at your feet, guilt washing over you. This entire time, you had scrutinized him for what he had done and what had happened, judging him for things of his past. You never took the chance to learn who he was and understand how he was feeling. You sighed softly, shifting in your seat, letting silence befall you again.

The boat shook, making you gasp, grasping at the edges of the boat. “Oh my god. What the fuck was that?”

Thomas chuckled. “It was just the waves, Y/N. Calm down.”

“If I get eaten by a shark-” The boat shook more, making you both stumble slightly in the uneven waves. “Oh my god. It’s Jaws!”

“There is no Jaws!”

“I’m too young to die at sea! Why did I have to get ‘fishing’? If I was going to die, why couldn’t I, oh I don’t know, follow the butterflies?” you bellowed. “Fuck, I hate the ocean. Nothing good ever happens out here.”

“Y/N-”

“Is it Jaws?!”

Thomas turned quickly in his seat, just as you turned to face him, wrapping his arms around you.

“Hold on!”

Your eyes widened, feeling the boat shake and shift, being tossed around as the water around you grew aggressive. Your skin paled, barely managing to take a gulp of air before the large wave that was hurtling towards you crashed into the boat, sending you and Thomas toppling into the dark ocean. The waves pushed you around, Thomas barely able to keep his grasp on you.

Your head was spinning.

Your eyes were blurry and unfocused, burning from the salt water.

Your throat ached, wanting to breathe air that wasn’t present as you struggled to figure out which way was up.

Your vision slowly blurred, going black before long, suffocating on the water around you.

A burst of air filled your lungs, your body retching to rid itself of water. You were turned on your side as the water escaped, low heaves and coughs leaving you. When you managed to catch your breath, breathing normally, you flopped back onto your back, staring up at the blue sky. Blinking a few times, you tried to remember what happened.

“Are you ok?” Thomas spoke beside you.

That’s when it hit. You turned to him, eyes slowly widening. You jumped to your feet, stumbling around to look at your surroundings. There was a forest on one side, and the ocean on the other. Wood from the destroyed boat was still washing onto the shore, some of your belongings that managed to survive were scattered in the sand. Nothing was in sight around you - no Safe Haven close to return to.

You glanced down at Thomas, taking note of his dripping wet locks that stuck to his forehead. His shirt and pants clung to his limbs, making his chest and arms stick out more, accentuating the thick thighs you never took the time to notice. Sand stuck to his wet skin, but he didn’t seem fazed by the grainy substance. He was panting, slouched in the sand before where you form once laid.

“Be careful,” he called. “Don’t rush too fast. You just woke up from nearly drowning.”

“Where are we?” you asked.

“I don’t know,” he hummed lowly. “When I finally managed to get us to the surface, this is where we had ended up.”

“So, are you trying to say,” you choked, crouching down into a ball. “That we are stranded?”

“I think so.”

“I’m stranded here with you?” Thomas nodded. You groaned, taking a handful of sand and throwing it away from you both. “Fuck!”

“Y/N, calm down-”

You didn’t listen, rushing to the edge of the water. The waves splashed around your already wet feet, your shoes sinking into the wet sand. “Hello?” you called loudly, cupping your mouth to amplify your voice. “Can anyone hear me? Help! We are stuck out here!”

“Hey, hey. Stop that,” Thomas called, standing from his seat and making his way towards you. He took your hands as you continued to scream into the abyss, turning you to face him. “Stop screaming like that.”

“No, leave me alone! I’m not going to die here with you!”

“Y/N, stop!” he called, holding you struggling form tighter. You eased into him when he raised his voice. “That’s not going to help. You’re just going to wear yourself out faster that way.”

“But-”

“If you continue to scream, you will just make yourself tired and thirsty. And the last thing we need is for you to be dehydrated. You will die faster if that’s the case.” You swallowed thickly, tears brimming in the corners of your eyes. “We need to focus on finding food, water and shelter. Then we can figure out how to get home. We need to make sure we are safe first.”

“But, how?” you sniffled, fear finally kicking in. “I can barely fish.”

“Don’t worry about it. I will handle it,” he whispered, pushing your wet hair back. He grimaced when he felt grains of sand interlaced in your strands, but kept a smile on his face. “Just make sure to keep up, alright smallfry?”

You huffed when he turned away, moving to gather some of the supplies that survived. “I’m not a smallfry, you tree!” you called out to him, chasing after the man.

You managed to gather some emergency supplies that had been luckily sealed to keep from getting wet, giving you a blanket, flint for a fire, and a small knife. It wasn’t much, but it was all Thomas needed before he ventured into the jungle. Though, it wasn’t before you had convinced him to let you spell out an SOS in the sand with rather heavy rocks you found along the coast.

Trekking through the dense jungle, soaked from head to toe in salt water, the humidity piercing the air until your skin stuck more than before, and exhaustion beginning to set into your limbs, was the last thing you had thought would happen when you awoke that morning. Let alone you were with Thomas of all people.

On one hand, if you were going to be stuck with anyone, Thomas was a prime candidate. He had survived the Maze and the Scorch, he was fit and able to hunt for food if needed, and he'd carry you with ease if you suddenly fell flat on your face after tripping over the many tree roots that seemed to wrap themselves around your ankles, tugging at your despair. On the other hand, it was Thomas. The traitor, the ex-WICKED member, the know it all.

You frowned at the thought, glancing up to stare at the back of his head, watching the brown tuft of hair flowing in the breeze that skated by. His shirt stuck to his form with sea water and sweat, his arms effortlessly flexing whenever he pushed aside branches, leaves and bushes. Your mind raced back to the discussion on the boat and Thomas’ plea for forgiveness echoing in your ears. Our stomach clenched with the familiar sense of guilt you had before the tsunami-like wave capsized your tiny haven.

Maybe you had judged him too quickly after all. He was making advances to move on and seek retribution for everything. You were stuck in the past, unwilling to forgive what happened to friends back then.

Maybe it was time to start moving on...

Though, that thought didn’t change that you were stuck alone on this uninhabited island with him. Alone with a fairly attractive man...

Shaking your head quickly to rid yourself of the indecent thoughts, your cheeks flaring up, you hustled forward to join his side. The silence between you was unnerving, the only sound around being your rapid heartbeat that seemed to speed up when you sideways glanced at his face. Unconsciously, you found yourself counting the moles that starred his jawline.

No, stop. What are you doing?

“So, uh,” you cleared your throat speaking up, trying to distract yourself from the plague that kept entering your mind. “What is the plan?”

“We should find water and shelter,” he voiced, cut off by the loud growl of your stomach. Your cheeks lit up, not only due to the embarrassment caused by the protests of hunger your body let out, but also the flips your stomach did at the sound of his deep, but melodic laughter. His dark eyes darted to you, a goofy, lopsided grin inching his cheeks upright. “And food too, I guess. We need fresh water and shelter first and foremost though.”

“And how exactly are we supposed to find that?” you questioned, jumping over a rock and nearly faceplanting. Thomas caught you swiftly, adding more heat to your already warm face. Uttering a low thank you, you continued after him, afraid to speak more.

“Well, I guess we should try to listen for some water. If we can find a stream or river, we can probably follow it for a bit.”

“You mean like that?”

You spied a small stream beyond a set of trees, Thomas’ face lighting up at the sight. “Exactly! Let’s go!”

You laughed at his excitement, though you missed the soft smile Thomas gave hearing you laugh the way you did. He rushed towards the stream of water with you hot on his heel, following the water flowing down the island. A more comfortable silence fell between you this time, making your way through the jungle together.

“Eureka!” Thomas finally exclaimed, dashing away from you.

“H-hey! Don’t just leave me alone you asshole! Or I will never forgive you!”

“Story of my life,” was his snarky reply, but the joking words made your heart clench while wincing to yourself. He wasn’t wrong, but it stung to hear it so bluntly. “Now, hurry up and get over here!”

A silent sigh left your lips before rushing after him, stumbling to a stop at his side in awe. A small lake was at the end of the stream you were following, the water sparkling with the sun's rays glaring down at it. A small waterfall stood in the distance, white foam coating the base, rippling waves making the water glisten and shimmer. You stared in awe at the sight, gawking at the beauty.

“Yahoo!” Thomas screamed before diving straight into the water, belongings dropped carelessly to the ground, making you gasp in shock. Dots of cold water sprinkled along your face, causing you to shrink back in surprise and yelp loudly.

“Thomas!” You screamed at him when he resurfaced, kicking his legs to stay afloat. The man pushed back his dark tresses of hair, wiping the water away from his face. He didn’t care that he was fully clothed, fabric clinging to his muscled form. He was content laying back in the water, eyes glued to the blue sky.

“This is nice.”

“You’re an asshole,” you scowled.

His heavenly laugh resounded through the air, your stomach knotting at the noise. Your eyes followed the man as he flipped in the water, diving into the water again before swimming to the other edge near the waterfall. A tired heave escaped as you sat in the nearby grass, sliding off your wet shoes and socks and slipping your aching, waterlogged feet into the lake. The cool water felt refreshing, a sense of calm hitting you almost instantly. You leaned back on your hands, allowing yourself to unwind for the first time since you awoke on the sandy beach.

“Hey!” Thomas called, making you crack an eye in his direction. He was waving at you from afar, standing at the edge of the waterfall. He pointed towards the falling rapids, calling out, “There is a small cave back here! I think we can use this as shelter!”

“Are you sure?” You hollered back. Thomas nodded, diving into the water and swimming towards you. When he arrived, he stayed in the water, resting on the edge of the lake on his arms.

“Yeah. It’s small, but I think it'll do. It’s dry enough for us to have a fire but it’ll keep any animals out.”

“If I die tonight because you are wrong and some animal mauls me while I sleep, I am coming back to haunt you.”

Thomas grinned, lifting himself out of the water to grab the gear he dropped. The water made his pants sag, exposing the elastic of the dark boxers he had on. You blushed and turned away, listening to him rummage around in the waterproof bag of emergency goods.

“I’m going to try and gather some food from the trees. Do you think you can gather some wood for a fire? We can use the bag and tarp that was inside to keep it dry when we head in,” he suggested, tossing both in your direction.

“I guess. But let me rest for a bit longer please,” you hummed, turning to look at him. Thomas nodded at your words, pocketing a knife set. Turning was a bad decision - Thomas at that moment was stripping off his wet shirt, giving you full display of his toned upper torso, complete with check hair and happy trail dipping into his waistband. His broad shoulders and arms flexed as he stretched, folding the shirt and placing it down with the spare belongings in the bag. His long legs carried him towards some trees with mysterious fruit hiding in the tops, your eyes tracing the back muscles you didn’t know you needed until now.

The man proceeded to climb the tree carefully, trying not to slip too much from his wet pants. Watching him pull himself up, arms bulging and veins prominent along his skin even from a distance, made your body heat up, legs rubbing together slightly. The attractive man left your mind reeling. A shaky breath left your lips, your head turning away quickly.

What the fuck? You thought to yourself, staring at your reflection. Since when did I think of Thomas as attractive?

The soft thunk of fruits being cut down from the tree made your ears ring, eyes darting to stare at the man in the tree before returning to the water. You saw how red your face was.

I thought I hated him. I thought I despised him. But ever since he said he’s been trying to apologize for what happened, I can’t help but think… You groaned, ruffling your knotted hair. Have I just always found him attractive but chose to ignore it because I was irrationally angry at him?

“Aw fuck,” you heard Thomas groan when he fell on his ass while descend the tree. The man stood from the ground, rubbing his sore buttox before moving to the next tree, repeating his attempts to gather food. You giggled to yourself, tucking some loose hair away.

“Maybe I have been too harsh on him,” you sighed to yourself, feeling your heartbeat picking up. “Maybe it’s time to move on and forgive him.That fucking attractive asshole.”

“Hey, don’t get too comfortable! Help a brotha out!” he joking called before jumping onto another tree ungracefully, shimmying up the trunk slowly.

“I know, asshole!”

Hesitantly, you pulled yourself from the ground, grumbling lowly at yourself as you dragged the supplies to the small cave before heading off to find sticks. The entire time you gathered the broken twigs and branches that littered across the ground, your eyes kept lingering on the broad, muscular form in the distance. Setting your eyes on his form made your heart race, face heating up from something other than the setting sun in the distance. You ached, but not from the strenuous task of obtaining firewood for warmth that night. As you crouched for wood, your legs rubbed together to relieve the throbbing sensation that racked your lower body. Your mind was plagued with him - how you never noticed his beautiful or funny personality through your initial judgment. Deep down, you knew he was hot… but it didn’t strike until now just how much you really liked him.

And being stuck with him, seeing how much he cared, only deepened the feeling. Rapidly, at that. You were smitten in a matter of hours, putting aside your hatred to see the real side of the man.

When you walked into the cave, it was silent. Thomas said nothing, busy setting up the blanket so you had a somewhat comfortable place to rest until help, hopefully, arrived. You pouted, a sudden overwhelming sense of doubt hitting you. Though he never showed it, insecurity struck, suggesting to you that he was actually uncomfortable with the situation - that he actually was upset that you had resented him for so long. Despite his attempted apology in the smash boat, he really was unhappy that you wouldn’t accept him.

And here you were, pining over the man suddenly as a new light was making his presence glow in the darkness, giving you some hope, security and a very flushed face at the simplest thoughts. How the tables turned in your mind.

The sun was nearly gone, giving the sky a faint, blue glow, the remnants of pinks and oranges fading into black. Thomas quietly started a fire, the crackling embers flaring up after a few harsh breaths from the man to fan the flames. Both of you settled onto the blanket, nibbling on the fruits he had gathered. A decent gap was between you, your butt at the edge of the blanket just like his.

Listening to the crackle of the fire made your mind race with uneasy thoughts. Occasionally, as you bit into the mysterious, but sweet food, you would glance at the man beside you, finding his eyes glued to the fire before you. Eyes traced his side profile, heating up as you admired his sharp jawline speckled in freckles and moles, bits of scruff forming on his chin.

He hadn’t shaved recently.

Your stomach fluttered, knotting tightly with delight and discomfort. He was handsome, something you would have never admitted before today, but the cold shoulder was killing you. Your mouth was dry, tongue darting out in an attempt to relieve the crackling feeling with no result. Your heart pounded against your chest before turning away, tugging your lip between your teeth to nibble at unconsciously.

Now that you were ready to forgive him, this new feeling was taking over. You really liked him, and you wanted to get to know him more. You were tired of judging him for what happened. You had the wrong perception of him. But, you had to make things right.

“Thomas,” you croaked. The man turned his head; you could feel his chocolate colored eyes on the side of your head, trying to pierce you. The words didn’t want to come out when you opened your mouth, unsure what you wanted to say or ask. You finally managed after a handful of attempts to utter one line: “Do you hate me?”

“What?” he asked, more to himself than to you. When you glanced at him, he was shocked, gawking in your direction. The leg he had tucked into him as he ate was extended, body turned to face you better.

“I just,” you started, twiddling your fingers together. “I’ve been so hard on you since we got to the safe haven. I hated you because of what happened with the Right Arm. But I never gave you a chance to make amends for that. I know you didn’t deserve the treatment I gave you, but I did it anyway, believing that you were this cocky know-it-all for being the savior that took down WICKED. And, I’m sorry for that.

“I shouldn't have judged you so prematurely. I shouldn’t have shunned you or pushed you away when all you wanted was to be friends, to make up for what happened because I get it; you feel guilty for what happened. You blame yourself when you shouldn’t. It wasn’t even your fault when you think about it. And now… we’re stuck here and I just… I keep feeling like because of how poorly I’ve treated you that you hate me now. I’ve done you wrong and you have no reason to treat me kindly. Sure, survival is one thing but… I’m sure you hate me.”

“I could never,” he voiced without a thought, startling you.

Staring up at him, you whispered, “What?”

“I could never hate you,” he hummed, returning to hugging a knee to his chest. “Quite the opposite really.”

“I’m not following.”

Thomas chuckled, continuing, “You were the one I wanted to apologize to the most because of how much I liked you. I’ve…” he paused, taking a deep breath. “I’ve had a massive crush on you for the longest time. You’re the smartest, strongest and most beautiful woman in the safe haven to me. I couldn’t but to develop a small… well, a massive crush on you. And I wanted to ask you to give me a chance, but you would always walk away when I got the courage to talk to you. I knew I had hurt you but I wanted to try. So, yeah. I could never hate you.”

It was your turn to gawk at him. Your cheeks burned, staring at the handsome man in shock. Your mouth opened and closed, unable to say anything for the longest time. And when you finally managed to say anything, you only could say, “I’m going to take a bath!”

Thomas laughed when he watched you rush out, jumping into the shallow water just outside the cave fully clothed. Collapsing onto a rock, water coming up to your waist, you huffed, burrowing your face in your palms.

“God, I’m stupid. He fucking likes me too. He has a crush on me. And here I’m starting to crush on him. What did I fucking run?!”

Sighing, you peeled the wet shirt over your head, struggling to strip yourself of your pants. Since you were already in the water, you figured you should at least wash up the best you could, choosing to scrub your tattered clothes a bit to rid them of dirt and grime. The wet clothes, after you were done, we placed aside, allowing you to sink further into the water. A content breath left your lips, looking up at the stars that made the sky glow.

“So, you like me too?”

You jumped, turning around with arms crossed over your chest to hide your almost bare chest. The cocky male sat at the base of the cave, still shirtless from his earlier excursion.

“Can you not?!” you screamed, splashing water in his direction.

“Sorry, sorry,” he teased. “I initially came to check on you after you ran off, and you’ve been out here for a bit. Wanted to make sure something didn’t eat you.”

“I appreciate the concern, but can you not stare at my chest?” you grumbled, noticing his stare at the water, right where your hands were. “And what gave you the impression that I like you too?”

“You know I could hear you, right?” You blushed, sinking further into the water. “Listen, I’m glad you are starting to like me too. But I will leave you be. I will let you tell me when you’re ready. I’m honestly just... “ He stopped for a second. “I’m just glad you don’t hate me anymore.”

“I don’t think I ever really hated you,” you admitted to him. “I was just blind to how much I really did like you. I never took the time to notice how handsome, smart and funny you are. I lied to myself that I didn’t like you when I’m pretty sure I liked you a hell of a lot.”

“You know, being stranded on this island sucks,” he hummed playfully. “But, I’m glad I’m here with you. It really is something special.”

“Thomas.”

“I will leave you be to clean up. I shouldn’t bother you. But please give me a holler if you need me or something happens.”

He stood to leave, turning his back to retreat into your small dominion for the night. He didn’t hear the water splash as you rushed to the edge of the water, not caring to shield yourself as you called out to him again.

“Thomas!”

Slowly, he turned back to you, a red hot blush clearly appearing on his skin despite the darkness. “Yes?”

You were silent for a second before speaking up, “do you want to take a bath with me? You know, clean up and maybe wash your clothes?”

He chuckled, contemplating for a moment before letting his feelings cave over his rational thoughts. He turned around briskly, rushing to join you in the water. His jump into the shallow water, albeit not a big one, was enough to make the water splash against you, Thomas earning a squeal of surprise. He grinned, falling back into the water so he could float among the small waves so he could pull his pants off.

You blushed, moving to sink into further water, deep enough to hide yourself but to not have to tread water. You avoid his eyes, keeping your eyes on the rippling waves, listening to the patter of the waterfall behind you.

It wasn’t until you heard the wet slap of his pants on rock and felt his warm presence against your back at you became hyper aware of him standing right behind you. You could feel his hot breath fan against your neck as he pushed your wet locks aside, draping them over one shoulder.

“Is this fine?” he asked quietly. “I don’t want to go fast. I don’t want to scare you away, but I can’t keep myself away. I should have just walked away, but I can’t when you’re so close. You said you like me too and I’ve wanted this for so long. So please, if you don’t want this, tell me now.”

“Tommy,” you breathed. The name made his breath hitch - something you caught instantly. His body stiffened against yours, his breathing picking up. Your heart was beating just as fast as his was, though you couldn’t pick up on the rapid pounding in his chest.

“Please. If I’ve gone too far, tell me. Because if you don’t stop me, I don’t know what I will do. I’m a hormonal guy, Y/N. And I’m stranded on an island alone with the most beautiful girl int eh world. The girl I’ve admired for too long. I don’t want to hurt-”

You turned quickly, cupping his cheeks in your hands and pulling him into a rough, sloppy kiss to silence him. The man’s muffled grunts were lost to your lips, his body instantly reacting to yours. He pushed closer to you, his erection obvious against your leg. His hands wrapped around your waist, hugging you to his muscled chest, wet pecs flexing anxiously with the jump in his heartbeat. Your fingers curled against his cheeks before pulling away, grinning cheekily.

“You talk to much. Maybe I should have just continued hating you.”

“Nope. This is better.”

His lips crashed back onto yours after his hasty response, tilting his head to give him as much room as possible to engulf your lips with his. Your hands eagerly slid up to his wet chocolate tresses, tangling in them to scrape at his scalp. His hands ran along your waist until he found your ass, lifting you up against him so your legs could wrap around his midsection. Things escalated quickly, heat building with the sensual kiss.

And you weren’t arguing right now.

He backed you into the shallowest part of the water, placing you down to focus on the heated kiss. His tongue darted along your plump lips until they parted, automatically shoving past them to enter your wet cavern. Tongues battled for dominance, something you easily lost. His tongue ran along your mouth, tracing every inch of it before pulling away for air, a short string of saliva still connecting your lips.

Your chests rose and fell quickly for air before instantly delving in for more open mouth kisses. Lips dragged against each other, wet smacks mixing with the rushing water beside you. Noses bumped whenever your heads turned to get a better position, teeth clashing with every heated crash. His lips dragged along yours, sucking them teasingly before devouring them again and again.

Your hands slid down from his hair, landing on his broad shoulder first before running down his chest. Your fingers skimming along his skin made him shiver, pecs jumping under your sultry touch. His arms flexed, more veins emerging from his skin as he got excited. When your thumbs brushed against his nipples, he shuddered, breaking the kiss to let out a gasping moan.

“Don’t do that,” he rasped, a glint in the glare he sent you.

“Oh. Are your nipples sensitive, Tommy?” you cooed, smirking up at the man. A deeper groan left his lips, his face burrowing in your neck. Tiny nips and kisses were left on your skin, Thomas earning himself a moan.

“I hate that you started using that name so quickly,” he uttered deeply. “It’s making it really hard to control myself.”

“Who said you needed to control yourself?” you spoke without warning. Thomas groaned once more, hands fussing with the bra strap against your back.

The article was nearly ripped from your skin and tossed aside, lost to the lake as it drifted away in the water. His eyes were dark, near animalistic, like he was staring at his prey right before he pounced. You weren’t telling him no; you were encouraging the hungry tiger inside. He intended to take advantage of that, even if his mind told him not to. His body spoke louder. His hunger made him salivate, taking in the sight of your bare torso before lunging.

His head dipped down, latching onto your breast instantly. Your head fell back, unleashing a loud moan at the pleasure. His mouth wrapped around your hard bud, tongue flicking at it happily. His large, veiny hand grasped the other one, fondling it fiercely, between his long fingers. Even if you told yourself you didn’t want this, your body screamed that you did. Even if you told yourself you didn’t want to be stuck with Thomas, you were glad it was him. Even if you told yourself you didn’t like him, you knew for a fact you did.

What he was doing felt phenomenal, and you wouldn’t change that for the world right then and there.

Thomas pulled away with a pop, sucking red marks along the skin of your mounds before resuming his licking barrage on the nipple, grunting against it happily. More moans left your lips, fingers tangling in his hair to keep yourself together, giving you something to tug at while you were pleasured. Your legs rubbed together, feeling heat pooling between them the more he attacked your chest, suckling at your nipple repeatedly. When he finally switched breasts, you lost control, nearly shouting his name into the night sky.

“Oh, fuck, Thomas!” you mewled, pressing his face further into your chest. “That feels so good.”

“Shit,” he choked, prying himself from your grasp to move up to your level. His body sliding against yours allowed you to feel the obvious bulge in his boxers, your core twitching as a result. “If you keep that up, I’m going to have to fuck you senseless. You have no idea how hot that is and how fucking horny I am right now.”

“Then do it,” you let out. “Fucking fuck me already.”

“God damn.”

He didn’t ask twice. He was stripping you of your only remaining garment, tossing them with his own onto the rocks behind you. Your stare turned south to catch a glimpse of his shaft, gawking at the size. “Holy shit,” you gasped. “Is that what I was missing by hating your guts?”

His was long and hard, his hand wrapped around the girthy base to stroke it casually. The tip was swollen and red, beads of precum coming out the tip when he tugged at himself. He was much larger than any other guy you had seen - the few one night stands you managed to have were nothing compared to this. You were silently thanking the world for what had happened, giving you a chance to make things right with Thomas and to get fucked senseless by a god. You were thankful for the realization of your feelings because right now, your pussy was pleading to be filled.

“Should have talked to me sooner. We could have been fucking for a while now,” he teased. “Of course, I wanted you for more than a good lay, but I’m sure I can please you when you need it.”

“Oh? Low blow, cowboy. Sure you can stick to those guns?”

“Why don’t we find out?”

The tip ran along your folds a few times before he pushed in quickly, bottoming out in seconds. A loud, prolonged moan left your mouth, the noise drawn out and making your throat vibrate. Thomas grunted at the feeling of your tight cunt around him, your walls grasping at his hard cock eagerly. His eyes closed, trying to not cum instantly. You were wet and warm, clinging to him intermittently, hugging him tightly. The subtlest shift made you clench, another loud noise filling the air.

Before he started to move, he lifted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. He gave you a chaste kiss before groaning, shifting you against him. “If it gets to be too much, stop me.”

“Alright.”

It started slow, your body bouncing against his. His hands sat on your backside, using your ass as leverage to guide your body against his. His long shaft slid in and out of you slowly, rubbing against your walls and poking at the sensitive spots. Whenever he was nearly freed, you were brought back down onto him, fully sheathing him inside your warmth.

The speed picked up gradually until you were being slammed onto his thick cock repeatedly, enhancing the pleasure you were feeling. Your moans grew in volume, filling the night air around you. The water splashed against your sides with every diligent thrust into your tight core, aiding Thomas’ thick cock in sliding in and out of you. Nails clawed at his skin, diggin crescent-shaped moons into his shoulders while being bounced, keeping you steady and upright.

Thomas groaned loudly, the sound of your seductive moans in his ears making him harder than he thought was possible. His chocolate pupils, darkened by lust, traveled south, traveling the features of your face the entire time. Your lips were rosy from the intense kisses you shared, your bright orbs were half-lidded with ecstasy, your cheeks were flushed under the moon that was rearing it face over the trees slowly. When his eyes befell your chest, watching your breasts bounce up and down against his moist chest, the former runner was floored. He had never seen something so wonderful - so attractive. His stomach tightened, hips thrusting faster into you, unleashing a more animalistic nature that had you screaming.

“Oh, god!” you let out, throwing your head back. Your entire body shook, your knotting stomach flipping a million times a second. Thomas grunted out at your echoed speech, leaning forward to latch onto your breast, after a bit of trouble to keep a steady pace and attack the mound as it jostled aimlessly. One hand found its way to his wet locks, tugging at them harshly. The suckling to your peaked buds made your eyes flash white, the shaking increasing significantly as your high hit. “Oh fuck, Thomas!”

With your walls clenching, your warm cunt hugging him tightly and his cock growing slick with your arousal, his head began to spin. Maybe it was the lack of air; he wasn’t breathing while he bucked into you, nibbling at your breast with all of his might. His thrusts grew sloppy, fighting to control himself while you had your orgasm. When he finally felt your body going limp, he moved forward, resting you on a shallow rock and pulling himself free.

You blinked your eyes opened, glancing at the dark haired man that no longer occupied your used core. Your pussy throbbed, trying to clench around nothing but air, screaming at its sudden emptiness. Thomas’ eyes were glued on you - all of you - taking in your fucked-out expression, round breasts that were littered with red love marks, and your chest heaving with uneven breaths. His large hand, covered in veins, wrapped around his cock, stroking himself quickly and harshly, pulling the skin of his length over the tip slightly. The man hunched forward slightly, refusing to give in until he was grunting loudly, utter a few curses before releasing himself onto your form.

Thick ropes of his hot seed shot from the tip, dotting up your stomach to your chest, covering your breasts in his white, steamy essence. Bits of water washed the droplets away when it splashed across your body, but he licked his lips at the sight of you covered in his cum, looking hot with the white strings as your form. His unruly noises got louder when you ran your fingers along the few drops that remained, particularly on your breasts, rubbing the thick substance around your taut buds slowly.

“Shit,” he huffed, kneeling on the rock beside you. His lips connected to yours in a searing kiss, your lips instantly parting to allow his tongue to invade your cheeks. Your tongues tangled together messily, noisy open-mouth kisses smacking against each other in haste. Thomas’ hand slithered between your legs, shamelessly shoving two fingers into your sensitive core. The moan that he ripped from your was lost to his throat. His fingers shoved into your pussy quickly, making you writhe under him.

The kiss broke, allowing your shaking words to escape. “Don’t go so rough.”

“Are you a bit sensitive after you took me?” he asked cheekily, making you laugh slightly.

“I guess you could say that. I think I’m a little overstimulated. I haven’t had sex in a while.”

Thomas blinked, hand stilling. “You’re had sex before?”

Your eyes met, confusion in your eyes. “I mean, of course. I tried dating a guy once after we came to the safe haven, but he was only good for a single lay to relieve some stress from everything,” you revealed. With a giggle, you continued, “Don’t tell me you haven’t had some action since we got here.”

“Oh. I-I mean.. Well, yeah. Who hasn’t?” You didn’t seem convinced, earning a deep sigh from Thomas. His fingers removed themselves from your core, the man sitting on the rock beside you. You sat up yourself, hugging your chest slightly. “I guess if you count the one night stand I had after getting really drunk on Gally’s drink.”

“No way. With who?”

Thomas chuckled at your enthusiasm. “I can’t really remember. She was gone before I woke up in the chicken coop. I think her name was Mandy because after that night, she never talked to me again.”

Your laughter grew louder, leaning on the frowning male. “That’s fucking great.”

“Laugh it up, bitch.”

“I will,” you teased. “But, how come you never tried for more?”

“I mean,” he sighed, looking down at you. “I had my eyes on someone I really liked. But, she didn’t like me back. Wouldn’t talk to me, wouldn’t look at me. She hated my guts.”

“Well,” you sighed, looking up at him with a joking smile, “she’s lost out. You should forget about her.”

Thomas laughed, leaning down to kiss you softly. His hand, wet and dripping with water, moved up to caress your cheek as his lips dragged against yours slowly. “I think I already am because I have someone amazing with me now.”

Together you sat under the moonlight in the water for a while, cuddling until you felt your feet wrinkling and your body shiver from the cold that was setting in. Thomas exited the water first, lending a hand to help you out afterwards. Gathering your discarded clothes, you hobbled back into the warmth of the cave. While you laid out the clothes to dry, Thomas added more wood to the dying fire, letting it flare back up before you both snuggled together on the blanket, seeking warmth with each other.

You faced him, staring up at his sharp features, fingers dancing along his muscled arms and speckled cheeks. His biceps flexed under your touch, cheeks curling upwards with a smile at the gentle skim of your touch. His own arm was draped over your waist, drawing imaginary shapes to the small of your back. You had never been so comfortable or content in your life, having spent so long running from Cranks or escaping from WICKED in hopes of finding a safe place to live in peace, praying to harmony in your unpredictable life. You frowned at the thought; you had misses so much because of your judgments.

“I’m still sorry,” you whispered lowly. Thomas hummed, waiting for you to continue. “I’m sorry for everything, Tommy. For shunning you, judging you, mistreating you. You didn’t deserve it.”

“It’s fine, babe,” he mused, kissing your forehead. “I get it. You don’t need to beat yourself up about it.”

“But-”

“No buts,” he laughed. His eyes met yours, giving you a soft smile before leaning in and kissing you on your lips softly. “We just need to move on from here.”

“I guess so.”

“Just give me a chance to show you that I’m a good guy,” he teased, making you laugh.

“Yeah, if we ever get off this island,” you said. “But, being stranded with you isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

“Are you saying that shipwrecking with me here was going to suck?” he gasped.

“Tommy, I didn’t even want to fish with your ass!”

“But I have a fine ass.”

“Yeah, I know,” you teased, daring to roll onto him, straddling his waist with ease. Your lips connected in a fiery kiss, earning a deep grunt from the former runner. “I watched you climb a tree today. You have a nice behind.”

“So do you,” he rasped lowly, cupping your backside tightly in his palms. The action made you mewl, grinding your hips against his sharply. Your lips connected once more, letting your tongues tease each other. Thomas’ cock was growing hard under you, sliding between your moist pussy lips. The man murmured against your lips after breaking your kiss, “I’m getting horny again.”

“I can’t say I disagree,” you uttered, grinding on him harder, two moans filling your small hideaway. His cock was twitching against your wet core, the hands that remained on your ass helping you rock against him faster. “Fuck, I just want you inside me again.”

“If we do, I can’t promise I will last long… or pull out in time to not cum inside you.”

“That’s fine,” you let out.

Thomas grinned seductively, teeth twinkling mischievously. “You know, if that happens, there will be a chance you could get pregnant.”

“I know, but I trust you.”

The words made his heart jump slightly. “So, are you saying that you want me to fill you with my cum? You want me to fuck you silly and maybe put a baby inside you?”

“I mean, I will take the fucking me silly, but if a baby comes with it, you’re helping to raise it.”

“Deal,” he gasped.

Within much thought, he was aligning with your core, sliding into you. You moaned at the feeling of him filling you up once more, your pussy full with his giant cock. The tip of his cock brushed against your g-spot, as well as new spots he hadn’t hit before. The new position came with a new angle, and the new angle let him reach deeper inside you. He stayed still for a moment before guiding you along his length, rocking you back and forth along his shaft.

You laid against his as you moved along his cock, breasts pressed against his chest. Your lips danced together occasionally, dragging against each other slowly before parting to let our low moans. The subtle smack from the kisses made your heart race and core clench, squeezing around him tightly. They were such loving kisses, but they made your walls tight and wet.

Pushing up on his chest, separating from the multitude of kisses you shared, you picked up speed, riding him quickly. His cock slid in and out of you quickly, your body rising up and slamming back onto him before he could escape your grasp. Your speed gradually built until you were slapping your hips together loudly, sweaty skin sticking together and pulling apart with slick noises.

Thomas licked his lips, eying your bouncing breasts for a bit before turning to watch his cock slip in and out of you. He was familiar with your breasts moving when he was inside you, but he thoroughly enjoyed the way his cock would emerge covered in your sweet arousal, making his length glisten in the firelight, before it disappeared back inside your tight cunt, throbbing with the need to explode. He wanted to fill you up, spilling every last ounce he had into your hole. He wanted to watch the white seed drip from your lips, oozing out because you were so full of him.

The desire to do so was overwhelming, so much that the man lifted you off of him with a short whine, and flipped you over onto your hands and knees. He found himself ramming back into you from behind, hearing a short scream rip from your throat when he wasted no time in slamming himself into you. He bucked wildly, his speed nearly godly, thrusting himself deep into you. His new speed and position made you scream his name loudly, clawing at the bunched up blankets under you. Your body shifted with every thrust, only kept steady from a firm hand he kept on your hip. The other hand planted firmly to your backside, a reddening handprint pressed into your skin.

“You feel so good, baby,” he growled, pushing harder. His hips snapped into your ass, balls slapping against your folds. The sounds of slapping skin mixed with the uncontrollable noises that left your mouth in panted breaths, making Thomas grin widely. “You like this, Y/N? You like when I fill you up with my giant fucking cock?”

“Tommy-”

“You love when I fuck you into the ground like this? You just can’t get enough, can you?”

“No,” you managed to utter. “I need more.”

“What was that?” he asked, the hand that had been slapping at your ass occasionally sliding up your back to your neck. He gave it a firm squeeze, hearing a choked breath leave. He didn’t want to hurt you, but you made no effort to remove it, so he figured you were fine. Maybe, you were even enjoying the restriction. “Speak up, baby. I can’t hear you.”

“Fuck, Thomas. Fill me up already! Please!”

“God, you just love being filled up. Such a dirty girl, wanting to be filled up with my cum. You want all of my cum inside you? You want me to fill you up with all of my cum?”

“Yes!” You hollered weakly. Dots were blinking in your vision, your body tightening with your inevitable release. “Please fill me up Tommy. I want to cum with you. I love the feeling of your cock so much, but i want to feel you inside me.”

“Fuck, thats hot,” he muttered, shoving into you faster than before. He pushed up onto his feet, releasing your neck so he could steady you against him. His entire body was used to push into you, every part of his body leveraged to excite you over the top. He wanted to make your next orgasm one to remember. He wanted to have you releasing on his cock more than you thought was possible. He wanted to explode every drop into you. “Cum with me, Y/N. Please baby, cum all over my fucking cock.”

You moaned in response, body nearly going limp from your orgasm. Your stomach hurt from trying to hold back, so you didn’t keep it in. The knot was burned away, and you were spilling everything you had onto his length, making it slick enough to still slide in and out of you as he thrust sloppily. Your walls were clinging to him desperately, convulsing with every droplet you released that stuck to his length.

Your tight, wet cunt made Thomas’ head spin like before, his own high nearly. Your core was hugging him close, squeezing him lifeless. The warmth was making him throb and twitch, finally exploding his load into you with one loud grunting groan. His thick seed shot from the tip, painting along your inner walls like white paint. The former runner let out a prolonged mewl of approval, thrusts slowing, letting your walls milk him of every last bit he had built up.

Your bodies finally collapsed from exhaustion, Thomas remaining inside you until he had softened to a tiny chub. His fascination led him to watch his arousal slip from your pussy lips, the man licking his lips slowly.

“That’s something to remember…” he whispered to himself before moving to kiss your shoulder blades. “We should get some rest. Then tomorrow, we can try to find a way off this island and back home.”

He didn’t receive a response.

“Y/N?”

He turned you over, finding you sound asleep, chest rising and falling steadily. You had a gentle smile ebbed onto your lips, resting peacefully. The man chuckled, pushing back some of the hair that stuck to your sweaty forward, placing a sweet, loving kiss to your temple. Laying beside you, he curled you into his chest, struggling to pull the blanket over you to keep you warm in case the fire died out while you slept. His head rested on his sore arm, but he didn’t mind the pain; his comfort came from you beside him, in his arms - finally.

“Sleep well. And thank you for giving me a chance. I didn’t think getting stranded would be such a good thing...”

His eyes fluttered open, finding a small stream of sunlight filling the cave. It took a moment to process his surroundings. The fire had died, he was in a cave, and you were nuzzled into his side, bare naked and sound asleep. Thomas thought he was dreaming before recalling the wave and the boat crash, finding you stranded on an unknown island without a way home. He also remember the heated evening of confessions, apologies and sex that blew his mind.

Not in any rush to move, he pulled you into him, nestling his face in the rats nest atop your head. He could feel your lips curling up against his skin at this, the man chuckling. “Good morning,” he let out, voice raspy and deep with sleep.

“Good morning,” you muttered lowly. “Can we not move for a while? I hurt.”

“I’d figure,” he laughed. “I fucked you a lot last night.”

“And honestly?” you hummed. “I regret nothing.”

“That’s relieving actually. I’m glad I won’t have to be punched later to forcing you to have sex with me.”

“Never,” you laughed, struggling to look up at him. Thomas glanced down at your sleepy face, placing a soft peck to your lips.

“So, you are going to give me a chance later right? Like, when we can finally get home?”

“I thought I made that clear when I apologized for how I’ve been treating you,” you scowled playfully, punching his chest weakly. “And you kind of fucked me a lot. You’re not leaving me dry for a while.”

“I can handle that,” he smirked, pulling you into a deeper kiss.

The steamy kiss would ahve led to a heated round of unruly morning sex if your ears hadn’t perked at the sounds outside the cave. You pulled away from a disappointed Thomas, sitting up abruptly.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” he asked.

Listening carefully, you heard the faint call.

“-Mas!”

“-/N!”

“Someone is calling our names?” you asked, glancing at the man who shrugged.

“Did someone manage to find us?” he thought aloud.

“Thomas!”

“Y/N!”

“Oh my god,” Thomas gasped, jumping to his feet and rushing to the cave entrance. “That’s Minho!”

“What?!” You exclaimed back, running after the man.

In your excitement, you both ran from the cave in search of the voices calling your names. Thomas’ hand clasped around yours to keep from getting separated, keeping you from falling over any trees or rocks. The voices grew louder as you rushed through the sea of green trees, pushing through bushes and in the mud.

In the distance, you locked eyes with the boy calling your name - Thomas friend from the maze and the former leader of the runners. Minho’s eyes grew when he saw you both run from the bushed, calling his name. You halted in the middle of a small clearing, panting for breath.

“Thomas, Y/N,” Minho uttered softly before his eyebrows scrunched up. “Why are you guys naked?”

“Eh?” you let out, looking down at yourself. Realizing what had happened, you shrieked loudly, hugging yourself. Thomas turned to hug you, glaring back at Minho.

“Look away!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Minho called, turning around. “I don’t want to stare at your bare ass anyway!”

“Fuck you,” Thomas growled. “How did you find us anyway?”

“We’ve been searching all night. When you didn’t come back, we pulled out the small motorboat to search for you. Someone mentioned the waves had picked up, so we thought something might have happened. We found the boat wrecked on the island-”

“Wait,” you called, stopping him. “There was a motorboat?”

“Yeah,” Minho said. “It’s always in the boat we used to get here. It’s not used very often to conserve fuel and all, but it’s pretty decently sized and everything.”

“We had a motorboat, and you set us out to go fishing on a wooden rowboat?!”

Minho blinked “Ummmm…”

“I’m going to kill you, Minho!”

The former runner took off with you hot on his tail, uncaring that you were still barren to the world. Thomas sighed as he watched you chase the man around the clearing, weaving through trees before tackling the man to the ground, scarring him as you beat him up.

“I guess I should be thankful,” Thomas told himself. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have ended up stranded here and had the night we did.”

“Thomas, help! Get her off me!”

“Can’t help, sorry,” Thomas called, turning away. “I need to go get our stuff from the cave. Plus, she hates me, remember?”

“Bullshit!”

“Take it easy on him, babe. He’s our way home!” Thomas teased, walking away.

“He dies tonight! I’m roasting Minho alive!”

“Good talk!”

“Thomas, don’t leave me with this monster! Something obviously happened and you can’t leave me like this!” Minho called, but Thomas was gone. “THOMAS!”

I’m not gonna tag anyone right now because my tag list is far too outdated and needs to be refreshed. I will figure that out... later.

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ultraintrovertedgryffindor · 3 years

Text

Sweet Pandemonium - Gally (The Maze Runner) Part 9 of 16

ahhhhhhhhh

~~~~~~~~~~

( not my gif :) )

Teresa tried to keep a blank face as she heard you screaming in agony, your face twisting and contorting in absolute fear as you were being pumped full of chemicals that made you see and live through horrible things in your mind.

Being put back in the Maze, being eaten alive by Grievers, crushed to death by the changing Maze walls.

All for a cure...

Though Teresa never told the doctors the one thing that would absolutely break you, shatter your mind into a million pieces, never to be sane again. She couldn’t. Even if she wanted the cure, and the terrifying fear that you went through could be the thing that makes a cure, she couldn’t do it. She loved you as if you were her own sister. It was easier with Minho, not being a relative of his, but it was still hard to watch.

With Ava Paige and Jensen looming over her shoulder, Teresa had to look strong, even if she never felt that way.

She watched as the enzyme was drained from your body, the possible key to end all the suffering in the world.

You slowly came to consciousness, seeing the same darkness you always saw whenever you were delivered back to your cell after being tortured. Of course, the people at W.C.K.D. never called it torture. It was all for a cure. It was a great privilege doing something so honorable to save the world. Yeah, right...you never had a choice in the first place.

“You look like shit.”

You sat up with a groan. “You should see how you look after your tests, Minho.”

“Oh, I don’t have to, I can feel how bad I must look.” He huffed.

The good people at W.C.K.D. were so kind enough to place you in a cell with your fellow captured friend. So fucking kind...

“To think being Teresa’s cousin they’d give me special treatment...no offense.”

Minho rolled his eyes, laying back down against his small bed. “None taken. I’d die for just an unsupervised bathroom break so I could take a klunk in peace.”

“Nice image, Minho...” You sighed, trying to keep your hands from shaking from the repeated trauma you had to endure. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Minho knew he was going to be taken to get those same tests run on him soon. It had been that way ever since you two arrived at the tower. They’d test you first, then him right after. For evil people, they were always on time. “Yeah,” Minho finally answered, “I always am.”

“We’re gonna get out of here, Minho. I promise. We just have to come up with some sort of feasible plan.”

Minho laughed bitterly. “Feasible? What about escaping from here would be feasible?”

You huffed, leaning up against the cold wall. “We have to get out of here...”

And just like clockwork, a few soldiers and doctors came into the cell to grab Minho, and like always, they had to sedate him so he wouldn’t fight. But what you didn’t expect, they brought you out of your cell too.

“What’s going on?”

You got no answer, and you couldn’t fight. You were too weak to fight. So, you had no choice but to allow them to bring you to wherever they were taking you. You weren’t walking down the halls that led to the testing room, so that was good at least.

They walked you into a small room, sitting you down and handcuffing you to the table you were sat at. Quickly, they left you in the room by yourself. You fiddled around with the handcuffs, but you were no locksmith, and you ultimately gave up trying to brute strength your way out of the steel.

Eventually, you heard the doorknob rattle and you sat up, trying to prepare yourself for whatever was coming through that door.

“Hey, Y/N...” You scowled when you saw Teresa walk through the doorframe, taking a seat across from you. “How are you feeling?” She asked softly.

“Just peachy, no thanks to you, traitor.” You spat.

Teresa sighed. “Please don’t speak to me like that. I’m your family.”

You shook your head. “No, you’re no family of mine. My family was left out in the desert after you betrayed them. No, family wouldn’t betray each other.”

“Y/N...finding a cure is the most important thing right now. No matter the cost. I’m gonna give you something to make you understand that.”

Teresa approached you with a syringe, and you tried to squirm away, but unable due to your cuffs to the table. “What is that?” You shouted.

“It’ll help you remember. It won’t kill you. It’s the same serum they gave me to remember...although, we made a few changes have been made to make it work faster.”

You thrashed about, not liking the idea of getting poked. “No! No, I don’t need to remember! I don’t want to remember you!” You hissed at her, making her sigh and turn to the door.

She knocked twice, and with that, a couple guards come into the room and forcibly held you down. “No! No!” You fought, but it was no use.

You hissed in pain as you felt the needle entering your skin, the burning of whatever mixed chemicals entering your bloodstream. “It’ll take a minute, you might get a migraine.” She informed.

And just like she said, a migraine hit you. Like a cinder block was just dropped on your head over and over again. Every time a pulse of pain hit, a wave of memories came flooding back like a tsunami.

You remembered.

The Flare taking everyone you loved. Your parents. Your baby sister, who was just born into the world, she didn’t even have a name yet. Having to deal with survivor’s guilt. Your aunt taking you in, her having a daughter of her own. Your cousin. Having to share a room with her due to the small two bedroom apartment they lived in at the time.

All the late night talks about each other. Comforting each other after vicious nightmares. Becoming so close you referred to each other as sister. Helping take care of each other after her mother got sick, and being all each other had left after her mom killed herself, and being taken by W.C.K.D.

Meeting Thomas, and hating him with a fiery passion. You hated that he quickly became Teresa’s best friend. You were jealous. But after seeing the way her eyes lit up every time she talked about him was really why you started to like Thomas, and eventually called him a friend.

You remembered being so lonely after Teresa and Thomas became W.C.K.D. favorites, and you were left alone altogether. Only rarely were you able to see your only kin.

And you remembered being so scared when you were chosen to go into a Maze trial.

“Y/N?” Teresa’s voice snapped you out of your trance.

“I remember now...”

Teresa smiled softly. “Good. Now do you understand why this is so important?”

You teared up. “...yes...”

Teresa grinned hopefully. “I knew you would.”

“We need to find a cure...but this isn’t the way, Teresa.” Her smile quickly turned into a frown. “You can’t keep testing these kids, traumatizing them. It’s not right, you must know that.”

“This is the only way.”

“You haven’t tried other ways!”

“You have no idea how much we tried avoiding testing on kids!” Teresa raised her voice, which she rarely ever did. “We hate hurting these kids! I hate hurting Minho! But we have no other choice. I have no choice. This method is the only way to get what we need to make a cure.”

“Even if it kills all of us? Even if it kills Minho...kills me?”

Teresa stayed silent. “I thought you’d understand...you were so smart, Y/N. They almost chose you to be with Thomas and I. But they thought you could be more useful in the Maze.” Teresa chuckled tearfully. “You weren’t even supposed to go into that Maze, you were scheduled to go to the all girl Maze. But since I knew I was going there, I made it so that you went into the Maze before Thomas.”

“...you did?”

“Yes...I knew you’d be in good hands with Thomas, even if he couldn’t remember who you were.” She paused. “I never wanted you to get hurt. I pulled some strings...you won’t have to share a cell with Minho anymore. You’ll be staying with me.”

Your heart felt like it dropped. “But...what about Minho?”

“It’s different with you since you’re my cousin. I can’t do anything for him, I’m sorry.”

You chuckled bitterly. “No, you’re not. If you were, you wouldn’t be torturing him.”

“It’s not-” She sighed. “Please, don’t make this any harder than it has to be. I’m getting you out of that cell, you should be thanking me.”

“Am I still going to be tested?” Teresa didn’t give you an answer, that alone told you all you needed to know. “Wow...so the only difference is that I get to suffer in luxury...thanks a lot...”

“Just don’t fight, okay?”

“Whatever...”

Upon entering Teresa’s apartment, instead of being in awe of how nice and fancy everything was to accommodate you two, your anger just intensified more. Minho was trapped in a cold dark cell while you were here...you definitely didn’t deserve to get special treatment, even though you were still going to be tested on everyday...

You walked to the large window in the living room and gasped softly, you had never seen the city before. You didn’t know how incredible the whole place looked...

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Teresa smiled.

You quickly wiped the look of awe and shock off your face. “It’s alright...”

“Are you really going to keep acting this way? To me?”

“I already told you, just because I have my memories back doesn’t mean I automatically agree with everything you do.” You looked back out to the city. “It would look a lot nicer without the wall...”

Teresa sighed, taking a seat on her couch. “We can’t let the infected inside.”

“And all the people deemed unworthy...right?”

Teresa scowled. “If you went down there, see all the innocent people that are down there, children, you’d agree with having the walls.”

“Oh really? Well, I haven’t been around the city. And I probably won’t. I’ll probably die here before I even step foot outside this place.”

Teresa got up and stormed back over to you. “You’re not going to die, Y/N. I won’t let that happen.”

“But what happens if that’s the only way to make a cure? For one of your little lab rats to suffer a painful death to create the enzyme you need for a cure.”

“Then I’ll make sure it’s not you.” Teresa said, turning back around. “Your room’s this way.”

You sighed, following after her down a small hallway of her home. “A bit different from our previous house, eh?” You said when you saw your own queen sized bed.

“We had to share a twin back then.”

“The things we take for granted...”

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but...we’re gonna start testing all day from now on.” You snapped your head to look at her with wide eyes. “I’m sorry...just get some rest.”

And unfortunately, Teresa was right.

W.C.K.D. started to test you all day, and it was excruciating. Days starting blurring together again, the pain and exhaustion you felt was unexplainable. But the worse part of it was how little you could differentiate what was real and what was a simulation. Even the nights that you went back to Teresa’s apartment was hard to tell for sure if it was real life.

It was frightening.

Even if you hated Teresa for what she did to the Right Arm, she was one of the only reasons why you weren’t completely insane. When the days got particularly bad, she’d order you to have breaks. She’d have you repeat a set of five numbers, didn’t matter which numbers, forwards and backwards. It helped keep you grounded when things got tough.

Like the situation you were in now.

You screamed for it all to stop, for all the pain and fear to stop. It was too much to handle.

“Okay, okay, stop!” Teresa shouted, entering through the door. “She needs a break.”

Ava sighed. “Teresa...if you need to remove yourself from here, you should. You can’t let her being your family get in the way of progress.”

Thankfully, Teresa was quick on her toes. “It’s not getting in the way. I’m saying she needs a break because she might run out of the strength that’s keeping her alive. We won’t find a cure if she’s dead.”

Dr. Paige looked to your exhausted and almost dead looking face and sighed. “Alright...let’s wrap it up, give her the day off.”

Teresa nodded gratefully, soon helping the rest of the doctors unhook all the wires and machines attached to you. She noticed how dead inside you looked, and it worried her. You didn’t just need a break, you needed for the experiments to stop, but that wasn’t possible.

Teresa had an idea, most likely the worst idea she’s had and will ever have, but she truly thought it would be somewhat beneficial to your mental state and overall health. Maybe a walk around the city would reignite that strength she saw in you in the beginning of the trials.

Yeah...maybe it wasn’t a bad idea.

~~~~~~~~~~

#sweet pandemonium series #the maze runner #tmr gally #gally x reader #gally

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rai-wick · 3 years

Text

Gally x Reader Chapter 13: Infected

Y/N's P.O.V.

"Morning sunshine" I smirked at Minho who groaned at me.

"I swear I just had 2 bottles"

"Or seven"

"Slim it" I chuckled as Ben came.

"Hey Ben"

"Hey guys"He turned to me while adjusting his harness"So ____it's your first run with me, has Minho told you about my thunder speed?"He ran a hand through his hair as I rolled my eyes"You ready for your first team run?"

"Are you guys ready for me?"I grinned and flicked my hair as they chuckled. We jogged into the Maze as the Gates opened. I closed my eyes, enjoying the wind flying past me. I looked back to see Minho and Ben staring at me.

"What's wrong fellas? Can't keep up?"I raised an eyebrow at them as they blushed and ran faster.We ran for quite a while before slowing down as we approached a split. I let out a deep breath as they caught up.

"Alright so ____ and I'll take the right and Ben you can take the left, Ok?" We nodded, heading our ways.

"See guys later"Ben smiled, staring at me slightly before running off. Minho and I began to run into the right lane. I saw Minho look at me, grinning.

"What?"

"Nothing"

"Minho...."

"If you don't know, I'm not telling you"He looked back at me as I rolled my eyes.We turned into a dead end and began to turn back.

"Don't be such a shank"I stopped to drink some water as Minho did the same.

"It's not my fault you can't see it"

"Just tell me"

"Ben likes you"

"What?!"I spat out my water as Minho stepped back with a grin"No!"

"Yeah, he's been so excited to run with you, It's kind of annoying how he went on and on about your luscious hair, gorgeous figure and badass nature but he's not the only one"I hid my face in my hands as Minho scratched the back of his neck" Most of the gladers have liked you since that fight with Gally"

"I'm so embarrassed"

"Do you like him?"

"No" I stood up and dusted myself off"You guys are all my friends"

"All of us?"Minho raised an eyebrow at me as I instantly thought of Gally.

"All of you"I sighed,looking at him"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"How do you feel.....about me?"

"That you're an annoying shank"

"Hey!"

"But isn't that what all family is like?" He smiled making me roll my eyes and give him a quick hug before beginning to run back to the split lane.

"Just go easy on breaking his heart"

"Thanks for making me feel so much better"I groaned as we made it back to the split. We took our lunch break as we waited for Ben to come back.

"He's taking his sweet time, we have to get back soon"

"Maybe he went back before us"

"Should w-"I was interrupted by Ben wheezing as he came back.

"Ben!"

"Sorry, I got held up by...ivy and a chasm"He was quite pale and sweaty.

"You alright mate?"

"I'm fine, let's go"I glanced at Minho and we began to run back. Ben fell behind and I slowed down to him.

"You sure you're okay Ben?" I bit my lip worriedly as he weakly smiled.

"Really I'm fine"

"Okay"We made it back with Ben breathing really hard.

"Ben go to Clint and Jeff, get yourself checked out at least"He didn't reply but walked away.

"____ keep an eye on Ben "I nodded as Minho ran towards the Runner cabin. I sighed and headed to the Gardens.

"What if-"

"Tried it"Newt sighed as I approached"Hey ____"

"What's going on?"

"Thomas here thinks he's being helpful by suggesting ways to get out of here"Zart rolled his eyes.

"The only way out of here is through the maze and we've got Ben, Minho and ___ working on that"Newt leaned down and grabbed a bucket"You wanna be helpful? Here"He threw Thomas the bucket"Go dig us up some fertilizer"Thomas sighed and began making his way to the woods as I leaned against the vines.

"How was the run?"Zart asked as he pulled weeds.

"It was alright, Ben is acting a bit odd. I think he's running a fever" They nodded as I took off my harness"So Thomas is permanently working in the Gardens?"

"Yeah, we got stuck with him"

"Fun"I grinned. We talked for a while until we heard a shout.

"Help!"We saw Thomas running out of the woods with Ben hot on his heels.We dropped everything and ran towards them.

"I'll kill you"Ben screamed. Newt whacked him in the head with a shovel and I held his arm down along with Newt and Gally.

"What happened?"I asked Thomas.

"He just attacked me"

"Are you okay?"Chuck put a hand on Thomas' back.

"Calm down Ben"I pushed back his hair as Alby approached.Ben began to pale and struggle as Alby stared at him.

"No! No!"

"Lift his shirt"I grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up revealing a hole in his stomach with black veins spreading out all around it making us all gasp.

"No! Please. Please"Alby leaned down as everyone took a step back.

"He's been stung? In the middle of the day?"Gally questioned.

"Help me please. Please. Please just help"I patted his head, wiping the sweat from his face, my eyes pricking.Alby stood up and wiped his mouth.

"Put him in the pit"

"No!"

"C'mon. Everybody help. Take him to the pit"Ben growled as I grabbed his arm and helped Newt lift him up. Clint ran to Gally and helped him.

"No!"He started yelling as Winston and Zart grabbed his legs and we lifted up.

"Back down Ben!"

"Listen to me! Please!"I furrowed my eyebrows as we threw him down in the pit.Newt slipped his hand into mine and squeezed hard. We made our way back in silence.

"Hey __-"I walked away from Newt towards my cabin. I shut the door behind me. I let out a shaky breath as I collapsed on my mattress.

"____? Can I come in?"I heard Gally's voice along with a knock on the door.I groaned in reply and he opened the door.I felt the mattress next to me dip as Gally laid down next to me.I rolled over and faced him.

"Gally?"

"Yeah?" He leaned on his side and looked at me.

"What's going to happen to Ben?"Gally sighed, staring at me before answering.

"We have to leave him in the Maze whether he wants to or not. He's infected, dangerous"

I sighed, moving closer to him, his arms wrapped tightly around me. I looked up at him, his green eyes pouring into my soul.

"I love you Gally"I told him the words that made my heart clench. He looked at me, his mouth agape before breaking into a big smile.

"I love you ____" He kissed me before we went back to the comfortable silence, laying there until Gally sighed and got up"It's time"I nodded slowly"Maybe you should stay back"

"No, I can do it"I took a deep breath and headed to the Gate entrance.

"You alright ___?"Newt handed me a pole as I took a place next to him.

"I'm fine"I gripped my pole as Minho brought Ben.

"Please Minho!"He said through the gag"Alby!"We opened a way for Minho as he brought Ben to the entrance. We closed up as Minho cut the restraints on Ben.Ben wheezed, sobbing as Minho threw a small bag into the Maze.

"Please don't do it"A deep wind blew as Ben backed away from the entrance.

"Poles!"Alby yelled"Move in!"We began to close in on Ben.

"No, please! Please don't!"He pushed against us as the Gates began to close"I can get better! Please, just listen to me"He caught my eye and thrust himself against my pole"____ please help me! Don't let them do this"

I felt Alby look at me before yelling"Push him in!"I took a deep breath and shoved him closer to the entrance.He fought against us as we pushed him into the Maze.The doors closed, Ben's screaming shut off.I felt someone behind me, it was Thomas. He looked at me, shocked and breathing hard. Seeing how pale he was, I slipped my hand into his. He squeezed our entwined hands as I swallowed hard.

"He belongs to the Maze now"Alby sighed softly before turning away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#the maze runner #gally imagine #gally x reader #gally imagines #maze runner gally #gally masterlist #newt maze runner #thomas maze runner #maze runner minho

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bruh--wtf · 3 years

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A Message

Thomas x Reader

The Death Cure - I am writing for all three movies I suggest reading the first two parts of the series first. I know, it's long, but I'm having fun writing these.

Summary: The gladers need to get Minho back. And they're going through with Thomas's plan to take down WCKD. Things aren't at all simple.

Part 18

Main Masterlist

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Maze Runner Masterlist

Thomas puts a map on the table pointing to a circle drawn. "There. It's a few hundred miles." You look at the map. "This has gotta be where they're headed." He was trying to convince Vince. "We take everyone who can fight. Follow the roads where we can. We can make it back within a week."

"A week?" Vince asks incredulously. You were sitting next to Newt and you looked at him. "It took us six months to get here!" He says to Thomas. "We've got over a hundred kids here now. We can't just hangout here forever. After what we just pulled? You wanna wander off to some random point in a map? You don't even know what's there," Vince says.

"I do," Jorge says, coming into the room. You all look over at him. "It's been a few years but... I've been there. The last city. That's what WCKD called it. It was our homebase of operations. If that place is still standing... that's the last place you wanna go, hermano," Jorge says to Thomas. "That's the lion's den."

"It's nothing we haven't done before," Thomas says.

"Yeah, but it's months of planning. Reliable information. The element of surprise. None of which we have anymore."

"Yes, I've thought this through-"

"Hey! Last time we went off, I lost everything!You remember that?" Vince says. Thomas looks away from him for a second, glancing at you. "Look, I know it's Minho. But you can't ask me to put those kids on the line for one man. I won't do it."

Then the radio starts going off. "Shit. Hit the lights," Thomas says. You all get up, Jorge running over to the lever. You run outside to see the search lights.

"They're getting close," Vince says.

"You're right. We can't stay here," Thomas says. You look over at him. Vince puts a hand on his shoulder, then walks away. You go to walk over to Thomas, but he sees you, and walks off. You let out a breath.

"Thomas-" he just keeps walking off. That night, you and Newt knew what would go through Thomas's head.

You saw him walk out as everyone fell asleep.

"Where do you think you're going, then?" Newt asks. Thomas freezes and. Newt turns on a light, revealing himself.

"Newt..."

"Don't be a twat about it. We're all here. Come on," he says. He still couldn't see you or Frypan. But Newt starts walking towards the car. Thomas shakes his head.

"No, no. Not this time. Look even if we find Minho, there's no guarantee we'll make it back to the safe haven," Thomas says.

"You need all the help you can get then," he says. Newt opens the car door, revealing Frypan at the wheel. You lean forward, resting an arm on Frypan's shoulder. Thomas lets out a breath. "Look we started this together. May as well end it that way too."

Thomas looks at the three of you for a second. "Okay. Lets go get him back." You smile, tapping Frypan's shoulder and sitting back, in the backseat.

Newt sat next to you, with Thomas up front next to Frypan. He had the map. You looked out the window. The land looked much greener around where you were. You loved it. Though it obvious wasn't perfect, it was still comforting. Newt gestures to your bag and raises an eyebrow. You give him a confused look and he grabs your bag, pulling out your book. You roll your eyes, shoving it back down to the bottom. Newt was really the only one that understood how much comfortable that book brought you anymore. You didn't know if Thomas really knew.

Eventually you all roll up to a tunnel. You get out, and Newt gestures to it.

"You want us to go in there?" He asks Thomas. "I don't want to come off as to negative but if I was a crank that's exactly where I would be." Thomas kept looking between the map and the tunnel.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," he says.

Newt turns back towards the car. "Alright, but I get shotgun." You smile slightly, turning back towards the car and getting in the back.

It didn't take long for Frypan to turn the lights on. "Here we go," he says. There were things all over the tunnel, making it hard to navigate.

"Take it nice and slow," Newt says. You looked out of the window, trying to see anything. You thought you saw something and shined your light behind the car.

Then Frypan hits ths brakes. "Woah, woah, woah." You put a hand out on Newt's seat to steady yourself. Then you look forward and sed a Crank standing right infront of the car.

Frypan and Newt look back at you and Thomas. "It's okay, it's just one. Take it slow. Go around him," Thomas says.

Newt rolls up his window and Frypan turns back to start driving again. You let out a breath, and then Thomas jumps back, basically landing on you. You look over and see a crank at his window. Well, she didn't look like a crank. She just looked like a woman. But she was clearly infected. She started trying to get into the car.

"Help me. Please." Then there was a knock at your winow and you turned. There was a man trying to bite at you through the window.

"Fry, go. Go now," you say. Cranks started attacking the car from all directions. "Go, Fry!" Frypan shoves his foot on the petal, and a crank manages to stick onto the hood. It roared at you all through the window. Then punched, nearly shattering the glass.

Frypan started swirving to try to get gim off.

The crank still sticks to Frypan's door.

"Hang on!" Frypan yells. You flinch as he drives the car towards the wall, knocking the crank off. You let out a breath, then look forward.

"Frypan, watch out!" You say. But not in time. Frypan drives the car over something, tipping it over and it rolls onto the roof. You, not having a seat belt, nearly land on your head. But you land on your shoulder instead. Still whacking your head pretty hard.

"Everyone okay?" Thomas asks. You heard the others groaning and you knew you had as well. You tried to push yourself up a little, but your head was spinning.

"Shit," you whisper to yourself. You feel Thomas moving next to you.

"Cover your eyes," he says. You close them, looking back as he kicks the window. He crawls out, and Frypan tries kicking the door and yelling at Thomas. You winced at the noise.

"Shut up," you whisper, it was barely audible. Thomas tries to open the door but eventually tells you all to go around. You have to crawl to the unside down passenger seat to crawl out after Newt and Frypan. But you and Frypan were still in the car.

"Newt, you okay? Fry, you good?" Thomas asks. Just then there's a roaring from out side the car. Frypan hurriedly crawls out, you nearly trip over your bag, and you grab it as you crawl out of the car. Frypan digs back into the car for something. Thomas grabs your hand, pulling you up. You felt like you were gonna pass oit and stumbled a little. Frypan comes out of the car just as the crank approached you all. And he shot it.

"Nice shot, Fry," Thomas says.

"Thanks," he says. The roaring got louder and you saw more cranks coming.

"Shuck! Go!" You say. Frypan fires a couple shots and then starts running with all of yiu. Thomas was kind of dragging you. Your whole body wanted to collapse. But you tried to run as fast as you could.

"Woah!" Thomas says, coming to a stop. You see more cranks infront of you. Eventually Frypan was out of bullets. "Shit." You look in both direction, you were trapped. Then a car comes crashing through the cranks and stops infront of you.

"Get in!" Brenda yells as she hops up, and starts shooting the cranks. You all run to get in the car. Newt and Frypan get in before you and Thomas. You let out a breath as the car started and Jorge got you out of the tunnel. You felt Thomas's hands still on your arms behind you.

"I'm impressed," Jorge says. "You guys almost lasted a whole day." Brenda turns back to all of you, shaking her head. You blinked. You felt yourself wobbling a little bit. You saw a Newt next to Thomas. You hear Thomas scoff.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to bring you guys into this," he says. Frypan pushes up from the back.

"Hey, what I think he's trying to say is, thanks for saving us," he says.

"Your welcome," Brenda says and turns back around. You squeezed your eyes shut, shaking your head, trying to get rid of the woozy feeling engulfing your body.

"Don't get your hopes up. The checkpoint back there was the city's last defense. If that was overrun, chances are the city is too."

"Yeah, unless they figured out another way to keep the cranks out," Newt says. You look over at him, and Jorge stops the car suddenly. You grab onto Thomas to stop yourself from falling over. He looked at you for a second and you quickly let go, getting out of the car with everyone else. But you lean against the hood. You look over at the city. Surrounding it was an enormous wall. You scoff.

"Spent three years trying to break out of WCKD's walls. Now were trying to break back in," you say. You roll your eyes. Bad move. You stumble back a little.

"Hilarious. Y/N, are you alright?" You hear him ask. You see your friends figures blur and you try to nod.

"Yeah, I'm good." You saw Thomas walk over to you.

"What's this?" He asks. You gave him a confused look, and he reached up to your head. You grabbed his wrist, pushing it down.

"I'm good," you say again, looking out at the walls, walking past Thomas towards Jorge.

"How do we get past them?" You ask. He shrugs.

"Beyond me. Those walls are new. I guess that's WCKD's answer for everything," he says. You scoff a little.

"We aren't gonna figure it out up here," Brenda says. You look over at her as she goes towards the car. You got in, Thomas got in next to you after a minute and Newt. When the engine roared up you closed your eyes for a second. Or two. But before you knew it your body relaxed, and you felt yourself leaning, but someone caught you. But you couldn't bring yourself to move. You could barely keep your eyes open. Thomas looks down at you and you see Frypan and Newt looking at you as well.

"Shit," Frypan says. You felt your eyes closing and Thomas shook you.

"Hey, hey, stay awake, alright?" He says. You tried to swallow, and nodded. You felt him touch where your head hit the ground. You winced, your head instinctively pulling away from his hand.

You saw Newt looking at Thomas and you saw some red on his hand. Your head was bleeding. Great. You pressed your lips together, feeling Thomas's arms shift around you. You looked over at Newt who was in a bag and grabbed some cloth. He handed it to Thomas who pressed it against your head.

You bit your tongue to keep from saying anything. You squeezed your eyes shut, your body tensed.

"She'll be alright," you hear Brenda say. "You just need to let her rest until we get there." Your head was resting on Thomas's arm. Your body relaxed again and this time he didn't stop you from falling asleep.

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feuilly-cakes · 4 years

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The Maze Runner (series) - review

Buckle up, this is going to be a long one. My thoughts on the series as a whole is that it’s an alright one, and you’ll soon see why the praise isn’t higher there. I’ll go book by book with my thoughts on each, so you can know exactly the way my feelings progressed to this point.

Book 1: The Maze Runner - 5*

I gave this book a 5 star rating, but honestly it's been nearly 2 months since then and I'm still not sure on that rating. Ideally, 5 stars for me means I got so attached to the characters I cried or had some other emotion, but that didn't happen here. Instead, I got a fantastic plot with a ton of mystery and a lot of terror, all with amazing writing but uninteresting characters. I won't say they are flat characters, because they aren't, but I didn't really feel a connection with them. There is only so much you can relate to a character who has no history.

Thomas is obviously the main character and so we see everything from his perspective, and we do see his emotions, his personality, his struggle. He spends a good portion of the book confused, angry, sad, frustrated. He's not a flat, boring character by any means, but for some reason I just didn't feel that connection I usually do with main characters. Maybe it's a side effect of the third person limited narration, or maybe he just isn't a character I can relate to, but I wasn't really interested emotionally in his character. I didn't need to be really, because the plot more than made up for it.

When it comes to the plot, I found no faults. It was fast paced and had me asking questions the whole way through, and most of them even got answered. Most of the questions pertained to how the Maze worked; How was it so high up that the box rose for half an hour? What was really around The Cliff and how were they seeing stars below them? How did the walls move? Was it actually indoors or not and how would that even work anyway? I love when I’m constantly asking questions and coming up with theories while reading, and this book was one huge question mark. Just the memories plot alone had me on the edge of my seat, and I wanted to know more.

If you only read books for the characters and their personal arcs, this might be a bit weak on that for you. If you love a good mystery mixed in with a bit of horror and sci-fi elements, plus a dash of dystopia (which I’m sure will become a big dollop in the next book) then this is absolutely the best thing to read. It’s definitely a 5 star quality, just in my personal opinion not a 5 star emotion.

Book 2: The Scorch Trials - 3*

Honestly, this was not anywhere near as enjoyable as the first book. Technically speaking it was a well written book, but personally I didn’t find it great, simply okay - average. Enjoyable to an extent but irritating to a certain degree. I kept reading because I expected something to be answered but all I got was confused. After watching all the films and powering through the first book I genuinely expected so much more from this and I was let down.

It’s darker and more gory than the first book, with some shocking scenes that kept me going. I did appreciate all the dream flashbacks from Thomas that helped put together what exactly he had to do with the Maze. Outside of these dreams I just didn’t know what was going on half the time and I felt frustrated by it all. His backstory was legit the only reason I was interested at all. I didn’t really care where they were going or their journey, l just wanted to know about his missing memories.

I understand this one was to set up the world a bit more and go into character development, but this was the most mediocre of middle book syndrome books. I can honestly say here I preferred the film.

Book 3: The Death Cure - 4*

Oh boy with this one. I have a very immediate reaction with lots of spoilers here on my goodreads if anyone wants to see that, but I'll summarise with the good spoilery bits cut out.

Well, my brain hurts.

This book honestly started out kinda meh, with some interesting tidbits thrown in. Then it got less meh, but more disturbing. Whether all of it was really that bad or whether it was bad because of the real world parallels right now I do not know, but I got a little bit messed up by everything that happened in Denver. The worldbuilding became more relevant here, we learn more about the Flare, the way people are living alongside it and/or with it, and the way Cranks are really treated. We get to find out about The Purge too, which I'll leave as a lovely surprise for those of you who haven't yet read, but what happened and my loud opinions are through that goodreads link if you want entertainment.

And on that note, let's talk Teresa. Full disclosure, I went into this trilogy already loving the films, and I still stand by that love. The treatment of Teresa in those films, however, was abysmal, and to read her actual character arc, well, I was enraged. Her arc in these books is fantastic, and the way she grows and realises the consequences of her actions is actually realistic, especially after all the trauma of the trials. We barely even see her and yet we see most of her character arc in this book. Simply getting her memories back wouldn't make her forget all the horror and go back to Wicked, and the way it was all handled was super satisfying. It does all make me wonder if perhaps she knew about the Brain thing, though. I won't know until I read that prequel story so until then I'll just have to speculate [currently reading that, still don't know]. On a similar note the Chancellor Page storyline was bizarrely different, and I had a shock when we get to interact (?) with her in the capacity we did.

Chapter 56 can choke. I knew it was coming okay, yet it still made me feel like I was punched in the chest. Especially after the previous scenes where we see things happen with a certain character in a scary way.

I can't talk about the Brain thing. It's disturbing to think about and I will be repressing the memory of that whole section of the book as soon as I can. It also kicks off a series of horrifying imagery and tragic events that hurt my emotions. All I can really say is that it's a strong ending to a trilogy, and if you're here you probably got past the travesty that was The Scorch Trials so this book will be a breeze compared to that, just be wary of the medical horror and the horror in general, since it's pretty graphic.

You may notice I haven't discussed Thomas, and that is because I'm too messed up by the Brain thing. The medical horror plus his reaction to the knowledge of what was about to happen knocked me flat emotionally and I may never get past that in terms of these books. No one has ever mentioned the Brain thing in any fan space I've been in, and that's for a good reason. Just know Thomas grew on me slowly just in time to cause me great distress. That is all.

Book 4: The Kill Order - 4*

I kind of loved this book, but as a friend. It basically shows the story of the Flare virus' bad beginnings in the world, with flashbacks to the solar flares that caused all the initial devastation. It was one hell of a page turner. It read like it was just meant to be a film, if you know what I mean. It does stand alone if you don’t read the prologue.

I honestly wasn’t expecting to get quite so many tidbits of information about the actual Flares event itself; to be honest I was expecting this to be a typical zombie kind of story that starts after the beginning and ends before the end, but it actually starts at ground zero on day 1 of the Flare (outside of the control group that is). I thought it was horrifying and fascinating to see how quickly it mutates and the effects changes, and also how the characters react knowing that they’ve probably been exposed to it from the beginning. Seeing the inside of the mind of one the earliest Cranks as they become infected was amazingly interesting after seeing how Newt acted in the Death Cure when he got sick.

The flashbacks to the Solar Flares and its aftermath were just terrifying. The imagery was horrifying and the whole concept of sun flares and then massive floods of boiling hot water put me right on edge even though obviously they were alive at the start of the book. Something that massively surprised me as I read was that the Flare virus had only been around for 13 years before the start of The Maze Runner, and it only took the government 1 year after the solar flares to decide to kill off part of the population. No other dystopian I’ve read can top that level of evilness from governmental systems.

Aside from the horror aspect, I was also mightily confused and a bit amused-but-also-horrified at the cult. If you’ve read it you know. If you haven’t yet then you’ve got a storm coming let me tell you. Although we see in Death Cure that Cranks form mobs with a common purpose and of course they they lose their minds, I wasn’t at all expecting to see an actual cult just casually thrown in. It just adds to the madness of the story and actually fit right in among the other craziness of what went down.

My one question is: is DeeDee Teresa? (She was! It was implied in the next book.)

The reason I didn't rate this higher despite my enjoyment was that it just isn't a book I would reread. It's like an action film or horror film that you really enjoyed and appreciated but won't stick around for too long.

Book 5: The Fever Code: 3* on Goodreads, 2.5* in my heart

This one was a slog to get through. It goes over Thomas' life in Wicked, from the first few days to the day he goes into the maze. I didn't like it very much at all. My biggest problem was the torture of a 4 year old only a few pages in. It ruined the rest of the book for me. My second biggest problem is that we never learn Newt’s name. The betrayal of it all is astounding.

I’ve got to be honest, I was only pushing myself to read this because I wanted to know about the purge. It doesn’t happen until pretty late in the book and nearly everything before that is terribly boring. Everything after that happens pretty quickly.

I appreciated that we get added context to some things that happened in the main trilogy, however, some things that happen take away from the story in a bad way. Dr Paige is one example of this, where in the main trilogy she only appears in a positive context to save Thomas and the other immune, while in this she does some truly evil things behind the scenes unrelated to the context of the trials (or so she tells Thomas. We don’t know how much of that was truth and how much was intended as a Variable but either way it contradicts what we know of her in the Death Cure). The huge reveal at the ending regarding Teresa is also out of nowhere and seems contradictory to the main books. How much of her actions were planned and how much were real? Why would she lead the gladers to escape if she was as this book said she was? Was it a change of mind or was this particular aspect a retcon that wasn’t intended with the original books?

This one felt like an unnecessary addition to the series and I’m disappointed by how it turned out. I expected more and got less. If it hadn’t picked up in the last 150 pages this would’ve been a 2* simply for the disappointment that equalled that of The Scorch Trials. This may be a bit harsh but I do believe the books should have ended after The Kill Order, and the rest be left to the imagination.

To end on a semi-positive note: it turns out The Brain Thing was actually mentioned to them, but it's unclear if Teresa picked up on it, as we know Thomas didn't. It all came out at a very inopportune time while they were killing a crank who knew about it. The Brain Thing isn't positive at all, but I was very excited to learn if they had any inkling and that was sort of answered!

#the maze runner #james dashner #book review #book blogger #books and literature #a salty review

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dylinski · 4 years

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apparently this must be shared with the world. here lies my ridiculous summary of the three maze runner movies. ye be warned.

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT.

the reason they’re in the maze in the movie is because the world ended and was “scorched” by the sun. then a virus appeared called the flare and it basically makes people rabid zombie-like things called cranks and wikced stands for “world in catastrophe: killzone experiment department” and their goal is to find a cure. everyone in the maze is a mix of immunes and non immunes and they’re in there to test them and find what makes them tick in order to create the cure. they escape at the end but in reality it was all part of the plan and when they’re rescued they’re just back in another facility with wicked “even though they say their not” there thomas finds out they’re taking the kids from the mazes and putting them in comas and draining them of blood and stuff to create cures.

right now they have a temporary fix for the flare from the immunes, but it has to be taken every couple months after you’ve been bitten or infected. so they need an endless supply of kids who are immune. and thomas is like yeah no i’m outie bitch and they escape or whatever and they run out into the scorch and face cranks and shit and they go to find the right arm who is the resistance against wicked and torturing the kids and when they get there they kind of explain this to thomas and everyone and brenda has gotten bit so the woman who leads the right arm is like ur immune bro gimmie ur blood and makes the cure and gives it to brenda and she’s all good but then teresa is like yah bitch yah and betrays everyone after telling thomas a sad story about her mom he’s like my heart, did you hear it shatter into a million pieces because yeah you just did that and then wicked shows up and kills almost everybody and takes minho and a bunch of others and shit

then in the next movie thomas has completely rolled out from being a dumbass bitch who is clueless af to the badass mofo who is also daddy and the whole movie is them trying to save minho right? in the last city which is controlled by wicked and we find out that the flare is airborne now so they’re desperate for a cure and it’s been six months since minho was taken but brenda is fine and hasn’t needed another dose.... hmmmm 🤔 then they go on an adventure to find the last city and they get there and gotta break in and shit and they’re helped by a familiar face who was unexpected (thomas beats the shit out of him first but ya know. mad boi) and they get in there and he stalks teresa then kidnaps her and they get in and now NEWT is infected so he wants to get some of that antiflare juice for his home boi and they in there and save all the kiddos and minho and before all that they have teresa take out their trackers and she’s like yo dudes y brenda not a crank yet and they’re like i dunno and she’s like *thinks hard* and puts some of thomas’ blood on a cloth when she takes the tracker out and shoves the cloth in her pocket

—-back to being in the last city—-

so they saved errybody but they get caught and run run run gun fight bad ass sexy mofo thomas mmmmm and then teresa is like i did this to save everyone to find the cure and thomas screams “THERE IS NO GODDAMN CURE” then they get separated and shit and she runs to her little lab and looks at his blood and is like holy fucking shit my dood. and then cut to thomas newt and minho stuck in a room and they bust out the window and jump out like 100 feet “YEET” and they run through the city but this dumass dude destroyed the walls and now people are rioting and it’s a hot mess. newt looks like death and is dying. he can’t run so minho runs to brenda since she has the cure so they can give it to newt but he’s like nah peace out and tries to kill himself cause he doesn’t want to be a crank and then thomas is like bro no i love you and then he does crank out and has a knife and they fight and then he accidently stabs newt in the mess and he dies right as brenda shows up with the serum and then dumbass teresa talks over the intercom for the whole ass city and tells thomas he need to come back to the facility because he’s the mother fucking cure HES THE FCUKING CURE GODDAMN IT HE CAN SAVE NEWT AND THE WORLD HOLY FUCK

he runs away from the body crying and runs into the facility and puts a gun up to crazy lady and is like “could i have saved him? could i have saved newt?” and she’s like bitch, you can save everyone (sorry for trying to kill you like 474747383838 times in the three movies my bad can u fix us?) and then BANG jansen pops up and kills the hoe and then knocks the shit out of thomas. he wakes up and is strapped to a chair and jansen is forcing teresa to make a dose of the cure cause ya know ya boi was secretly infected and then teresa is like no i love him so she vibe checks the bitch and they run off while the city is being destroyed and jansen tries to shoot teresa but then dumbass thomas yeets himself in front of her and gets fucking shot and they’re running around and some mofos have this tank with fucking rockets on them and shoot the fucking building so it’s falling down around them and then thomas kills jansen and they can’t get out cause ya know fire

so they go to the roof and kissy kissy cause they gon die but ayeee tommy’s friends show up in a weird hovercraft thing and he gets up there but oops, building collapses and teresa die bye and then thomas pass out cause ya know ya boi got shot (we ded ass thought he ded ded) and then he wakes up on this island and they like ayueeee paradise lol and obvi tommy is wrecked cause he just losing people left and right and for what? and they have the memorial shit for all the peeps they lost and he reads newts letter and little bitch baby tears and then he’s staring at the ocean and has the vile with “the cure” in is hand and he looks out to the sea and squints his eyes and looks like he bout to do some shit and then the end

@daisyxbuckley @parker-potter @bitch-banshee

#tmr #the maze runner #tst #the scorch trials #scorch trials #tdc #the death cure #death cure #tmr thomas #tmr teresa #tmr newt #tmr minho #tmr brenda

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scribeofmorpheus · 5 years

Text

Reflections by the Water

Paring: Newt x Plus Size Reader

For the SPOOKTOBER 2018 Competition

Requested by @gruffle1 : Could you please write 50: “ We’d make such a cute couple. ” with Newt (from The Maze Runner) x reader? Also if it’s not too much trouble could you please make them plus size? Thank you in advance.

Words: 3125

Warnings: None

A/N: Writing a story for a plus size reader was very much a new endeavour for me (which I thank you for requesting because it helped me learn new things). I read a few articles and other people’s fics in order to get a feel for Do’s and Don’ts. I’m not skinny but I’m also not plus size (and simply being friends with plus size people doesn’t make me an expert so I refused to slap on an ‘Oh I know someone like xyz’ and then write something stereotypical) so that’s why this piece was late. But also, I’m still learning, so your criticism would be greatly appreciated to make sure I know what worked and what didn’t with this fic!

Prompts in Bold-Italics.

You woke up early that morning to prepare for your supply run with Minho. Supplies were getting low and he had made a subtle comment about not wanting to be stuck for hours in the wasteland with Brenda's permanent sour expression and dry sense of humour, so you took that as his unofficial way of asking you to come with. You always enjoyed Minho's humour and he always said he felt safer with you watching his back.

As you snaked your arms into your favourite leather jacket, you noticed the layers beginning to peel and the seams loosen with age. You'd have to replace it soon, a notion you weren't all too thrilled about. Finding supplies and clothes weren't easy lately. You had asked Newt to teach you how to sew so you could easily mend any tears because it was easier than trying to find new clothes that were comfortable and not tight.

As you made your way over to the beat-up vehicle you noticed Newt give something to Brenda before she headed towards a sleepy/eyed Minho. Newt ran up beside you, a big open smile on his face, his sandy blond hair ruffled by the wind. The smell of the saltwater clinging to the morning air.

"Hey, Y/N! Hold up..." He called after you as he hobbled slightly at a faster pace than his leg was comfortable with.

You turned towards him, squinting from the morning sun, "Hey Newt, what are you doing up so early?"

Newt let out a gentle laugh as he shyly rubbed the hairs on his nape, "Uh, Minho said the three of you were going on a run..."

When he didn't immediately finish his sentence, you tried to help him along, "Did you want us to keep an eye out for something?"

"Not exactly," he looked up at you a little uncertain. "I just wanted to say be careful, is all."

You found his concern sweet. It was no secret the two of you got along. In fact, you had always had a soft spot for Newt, but he was always a little shy when left alone with you for long periods of time. He’d fumble for words and always give you that charming, squinty, half-smile.

"Always," you reassuringly caressed his lithe arm, running up and down the length of his biceps.

"See you when you get back, yeah."

"For sure," you waved goodbye and then headed to join Minho and a very cranky looking Brenda.

***

While in a desolate old-world building, you, Minho and Brenda went searching for supplies.

"Okay, I'll run ahead, do a quick search of things. Meet back in ten?" Minho asked.

"Uh huh, yeah sure." Was all Brenda said after she pocketed that list from before and hauled her body on top of some fallen debris onto the second floor.

"Be careful, and remember: stay quiet," Minho nodded at you as he ran down a corner and out of sight.

You worked your way through desolate rooms that held damaged manikins and destroyed artefacts of all kinds, keeping an eye out for essentials. About a few minutes past the agreed-upon rendezvous time, you carried your haul to the vehicle, the sound of Brenda's shrill scream pumped adrenaline straight into your veins like it was an intravenous transfusion. You grabbed your trusty metal bat and ran back to the building. When you finally got there, you noticed an abundant number of infected screeching and heading towards a struggling Brenda who was pushing the dead weight of one such infected from her body.

Brenda looked over at you, relieved to see someone, anyone, that wasn't infected. After a moment of letting the ice in your veins freeze your muscles, Brenda shouted with a slight hint of agitation: "A… little… help… for fuck's sake!"

You regained your senses and looked around for a way to get up to her level quickly. You spotted the stairs on the other end of the building and made a break for it, bashing your bat against any infect body that tried to claw its way to you. When you got to Brenda you had to practically wrestle the infected off her and use as much of your strength as you could to throw it off the ledge. Its body landed with a crunching thud, missing Minho by inches as he yelped from being startled.

Brenda dusted at her jacket before her eyes went wide in horror, "Oh shit!"

"Uhh, guys," Minho looked frazzled. "Better get down here quick!"

You looked in the direction Brenda and Minho were staring and saw a hoard of infected clamouring over each other in a seething rage and practically foaming at the mouth.

"Fuck!" You swore.

"Quick, through here!" Brenda shouted after you as she slid under a crack in the wall that led to the lower levels.

"You kidding, I can't fit through there!" You said with annoyance. You rolled up your sleeves and looked back to the smaller hoard you had previously struck down to get to Brenda. "Guess, back into the killer hoard I go!"

You focused more on making a break for it than using your energy for your mean swing. As you ran, you were annoyed by how haphazardly your tits bounced about against the weak bindings of your bra. It was a bit of a hindrance, especially given the life or death situation you were in. You would have to make a note to fix the straps or maybe make a new one altogether.

When you finally met up with the others, you made your way out of the building, making sure to barricade the door shut.

As Minho held his knees and tried to catch his breath, Brenda rested against the door which rattled from the bombarding hits from the infected on the other side.

"That's the last time I do Newt any favours," she said apprehensively.

"Favours?" You asked.

She just looked at you and shook her head, "It's not important. Let's get out of here."

As you walked back to the vehicle, you noticed a tear running across the length of your arm.

"Shit!" You mourned your jacket. "No amount of needle and thread will fix this!"

"Don't be so dramatic. Anything can be patched back together!" Minho gave you a heartfelt smile.

"It's a lateral tear!" You whined.

Brenda sighed, "I'm sure you'll be able to replace it."

You closed your eyes and sighed into your hands, "Easy for you to say." You whispered too low for anyone to hear.

***

When you got back to camp, you decided to go and lay by the beach for a moment. You'd be lying if you said all this excitement hadn't left you a little winded. Hell, you could see Minho grabbing an impromptu nap on a hammock he set up with Thomas the other day. You also noticed Brenda take something to Newt's workshop by the edge of the beach strip. Newt noticed you staring at their exchanged and beamed a bright smile at you as he awkwardly gave you a quick wave before disappearing into his workshop.

A part of you wondered what exactly Newt asked her to get. Another part was irritated he asked Brenda instead of you. The two of you were closer for starters. At least he always gave you that impression.

As you lay by the ocean, hearing the waves lap, Thomas jogged to your side.

"Y/N, hey!" he said.

"Hey, Tommy. What's up?" You asked as you noticed a group of people collecting by the heart of the camp and stacking firewood.

"Hey, a few of us are gonna have a little bonfire. Trade scary stories. You in?"

You mulled his invite over for a bit, weighing your fatigue against your need to socialise. Your gaze shifted to a now snoring -and drooling- Minho swinging on the hammock. He was dangerously close to falling over. "I think I'm going to follow Minho's lead and get some shut-eye before meal time."

You stood up off the ground, dusting sand off your trousers.

"I hear you guys had quite the exciting day?" Thomas remarked.

You huffed, "A little too exciting if you ask me!" Your eyes Thomas for a moment and then asked skittishly: "Hey you mind if I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Have you noticed anything weird between Newt and Brenda lately?"

You question made Thomas shift his stance. You didn't know whether that was a tell or not. You chose to ignore it when he guffawed and slung his arm casually around your shoulders, "I have it under good authority that Newt and Brenda are strictly friends. Maybe friends is pushing it… More like friendly."

Thomas smiled at you as though he knew something you didn't.

"I'll see you later tonight?" Thomas asked as he walked back to the ever-growing fire pit.

"If I don't sleep like the dead… Or Minho!" you jested as you made your way over to your shack.

***

Everyone around the campfire was tense. Bated breath and bulging eyes all set on Gally. His eyes lingered on you for a moment before he clapped his hands and made screeching noise.

"And then, just like that, they never saw her again. Some say her haunting screams can still be heard if you wander too close," Gally muttered with a sinister edge hanging to each vowel. His eyes wild and unnerving as he finished telling his ghost story to the rest of the crowd.

Thomas's eyes were elsewhere, staring blankly at the flames. Newt held a similar expression from time to time, his attention bouncing back and forth between reminiscing and being in the present. Brenda didn't care much for the story and spent much of her time with her head to the stars. Minho was joking around with a bunch of boys who had decided Gally's storytelling skills were not to their liking.

Aris seemed particularly unhinged, his face downturned in discomfort.

"I think that's enough horror stories for one night," you spoke gently to the crowd. Aris noticed your eyes linger on him when you said that. He gave you a look of appreciation in exchange. You smiled warmly. Just then you noticed Newt come out of his stupor and look across from the fire to where you sat. His blue eyes reflecting the flames like clear mirrors. His gaze was intense, but his features soft and almost filled with a look of intimacy you'd never seen before. Or maybe you just never looked in his direction when he did.

You blood flushed hot and you were unsettled by how quickly your heart began to feel heavy and full against the butterflies manifesting within your stomach. From the heat of the flames to the heat emanating off your body, everything was becoming a little overwhelming.

You excused yourself from the group and made your way to the banks where you let the cold waves lap and splash across your bare feet. The moon was full, providing ample light for your reflection to be cast upon the water easily. Inching closer to yours was Newt's reflection, becoming larger and larger until you could all but feel his frame blocking the wind beside you.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" He asked casually, as though you'd been talking for hours before this moment.

Your eyes were glued to your reflections shimmering and distorting with the waves. The starlight appearing as speckles on the dark water. Newt's eyes were set on the horizon, glancing at another marvellous view from your own.

"The stars are unusually bright for this time of year," you agreed.

The longer you stared at your reflections, the more you began to wonder what exactly it was that made you so close. Newt had been adamant to get to know you in the beginning. To be honest, he wasn't always trusting of new people since he left the glade. At least that's the impression he gave you from all his stories and how cautious he was around new people. There was a certain irony to him being one of the few people you felt close too.

Your personalities couldn't be further from compatible. He was stoic and level headed, but there was a latent temper that simmered under his cool eyes born from the harshness of this world and what he had to endure. You could be a little hot-headed and a bit more open when it came to expressing yourself. You were like to sides to a coin. Even his small stature and deceptively slender arms contrasted to your larger build and more visibly formed muscles. And yet, the two of you couldn't have looked more normal, more fitting, standing side by side.

"On nights like tonight, I always find it calming to come out here and watch how the light casts a silver layer just where the horizon meets the sea." Newt pointed out to where his eyes were set.

You lifted your head and followed his direction.

"I've noticed." You said freely.

Newt turned to you. You simply shrugged and nudged him with your elbow.

"Just because I don't brood as you do, doesn't mean I don't notice things too."

There was a brief pause filled by the sound of the waves. Newt's left hand trailed down to his leg where he squeezed the muscles as though trying to will them to heal better. You returned your eyes to the horizon.

"When Minho told me what happened, I was worried," Newt admitted.

You glanced over at him, "Hey, you know I always make it back."

You placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to where your palm connected to his shoulder and gave a fond smile.

"I know. But it doesn't change the fact that I always worry. Not just for Minho, but…" Newt looked into your eyes this time. "For you."

"Newt," you said softly.

"I kept waiting for the right moment to say something, but I forgot that in this life the right moments are moments like these. When it's peaceful and you do get a chance to say something when the people you care for come back despite all the dangers they faced."

Newt turned to you, placing a hand over yours that was still connected to his shoulder.

You tried to speak but you were tongue-tied. This was most definitely a first.

"Y/N, I feel something for you. And whatever it is, it's more than friendship."

You cocked your head gently to the side, the breeze blowing your hair into your eyes. Newt removed his hand from yours and tucked those stray strands back behind your ear. The contact of his calloused fingers against your soft cheeks felt indescribable.

Before you knew what words were surfacing, you absentmindedly asked, "Why me?"

Newt smirked and shrugged, "Why not?"

You giggled to yourself, finding something comical in this sweet moment.

"What?" Newt asked surprised.

You shook your head, "It's nothing. It's just… Well, I always thought we’d make such a cute couple."

Newt gave a low grumble in agreement, "How does Thomas put it: Me with my stubborn broody nature and you with your warm smile."

Suddenly, it made sense why Thomas had looked at you strangely earlier.

"Thomas huh? Is he the reason for this confession?" You teased.

"He may have mentioned that you thought something was going on between me and Brenda. I didn't want you to get any wrong ideas about her and me so I figured I'd show you."

"Show me what?"

"You'll have to trust me," he held out his hand for you.

You placed your hand in his and let him lead you towards his workshop.

Once inside, Newt began moving things around as he lit a few lamps along the way.

"A while back, I heard this story about a past time from before. During the time of year when trees shed their browning leaves and it rained for days, they used to decorate their towns and streets with carvings and other frightening things." Newt mentioned as he bent down to retrieve something from a handmade box.

"That sounds… odd," You remarked.

"I thought the same thing. Apparently, they'd exchange gifts," Newt handed you something wrapped in a thin sheet.

You hadn't expected him to hand you a gift. A part of you felt a little bad for not having one to give him. "I--"

"Before you say anything, just open it," he encouraged.

You set the parcel on the table and unwrapped it. You gasped.

"Newt, it's..." You searched for the right words as you lifted the newly sewn together jacket and held it up against the light. It was pieced together with several different pieces of leather. Red, tan brown and even darker black patched gave it an authentic if not complementary colour scheme. You ran your fingers over the careful stitches made from thin thread to the slightly more noticeable ones made from what seemed to be twine.

"I noticed your old one was getting a little worse for wear and I figured it since I can't be with you on all your scavenging trips..."

"It's perfect." Your voice croaked slightly, pushing back tears as you motioned to set the jacket down and wrap your arms around Newt.

He staggered ever so slightly, not expecting you to hug him so quickly but when he regained his ground Newt returned your hug with just as much enthusiasm. A beaming smile tugging at his lips.

When you broke away, your eyes locked for a long minute and the amber light from the lamps cast a golden sheen upon the two of you. And then your lips met in a tender and novelty kiss.

"I have imagined doing this a lot of times. I have to admit, the reality is a thousand times better," Newt said.

You failed to suppress your blush, "That's one thing we have in common."

"Just wait until Thomas finds out. He's been pestering me about admitting how I feel for months now."

"And now you can shout it from rooftops."

"Our roofs aren't that high, or sturdy."

You laughed, "You're right. Bad idea."

"Besides, I'd like to keep this between us for now. See where we go from here. Save Gally from inevitable heartbreak."

You looked at him quizzically, "Gally?"

Newt scrunched his nose in disbelief, "What you didn't know? He was being quite obvious about it."

Your mouth upturned into a half moon, "Maybe I don't notice everything."

"You noticed me," Newt said before placing a kiss to your cheek.

"How could I not?" You placed your forehead to his. "Let's go back and look at the stars."

***

Note: The bra thing was something I got from my own experience being someone who gets assaulted by her own boobies if I even think of running without a sports bra. I hope it didn’t come across as crass.

#newt #the maze runner #newt x reader #next x plus size reader #plus size reader #newt imagines #newt x ps reader #the scorch trials #the death cure AU #where Newt survived the last book #thomas brodie-sangster characters #spooktober #scribescribbles #fic request

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flyswhumpcenter · 5 years

Text

Unspoken Words [Whumptober 2019 - Day 19: Broken Voice]

Summary: Five friends, their leader's missing voice, and the little signs that they all look out for each other.

Fandom: Ensemble Stars! Relationship: Trickstar boys and gal being friends

Wordcount: 1.146 words

Content Warnings: None.

Notes: Before I ramble: we're in search for characters for an Enstars Maze Runner AU RP server! Specifically, we're searching for people who could roleplay as Keito, Yuzuru and Eichi. If you're interested, or know someone who could be, please consider the offer or share it with your Enstars friendos! Here's the link to the doc explaining everything, in case you're interested!

"Hokuto lives a day like Celty Stardust: the fic" or something. Private jokes about animes I haven't really watched but can reference some stuff from aside, welcome back to "I show my personal biases and write about friendships I like: the chaotic prompt fill depository"! I really didn't see myself writing for "Asphyxiation", so I made something fluffy and kinda whumpy instead. What can I say, I really wanted to write some Trickstar goodness! I originally planned on making Hokke much more miserable with his little voice-stealing mysterious ailment, but decided against it anyway for some light-hearted banter. What can I say, a boy likes his sons and daughter being kind to each other. Not in the mood for angst, you could say, lol

Event hosted by @whumptober2019

AO3 version available here.

---------

“You can’t speak?!”

Akehoshi seemed surprised beyond his own mind as his eyes blinked furiously right in front of his nose. What, had it never happened to him? All things considered, Akehoshi seemed like the type of idiot who could never catch a cold, so that made sense, he supposed… Would have been less of a hassle if he wasn’t screaming that in the middle of the school, prompting the entire class to turn to their discussion. Nonetheless, he nodded as a reply, looking away. Something about being a leader…

“Ah, man, that sucks! I hope you’ll feel better soon, Hidaka. Sounds rough.”

Yuuki’s comment was far more considerate, his gaze full of concern and empathy. Well, not that he liked getting pitied, but the circumstances were playing against it. It didn’t help that both Akehoshi and he were making sad faces. He typed his reply on his phone.

Sorry for this, guys.

“No issue there, don’t apologize! We can still practice our choreographies, right?”

I suppose so.

“W-well, that’s only if you’re feeling well enough to it! You look kinda pale…”

“Ah, that’s right, you’re shinier than usual, Hokke!” (What did that mean? He didn’t know the connotation this carried, that was for sure).

I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.

“If you ever feel not up to it, please tell us, okay?”

Sure.

“Good morning guys!” Isara suddenly came into the picture, wide smile on this face, walking up to them from the neighbour room. By his side was their producer, just as smiling, waving her hand in their direction.

“Good morning!” Yuuki replied, perking up.

“Hi Producer, hi Sally! No student council work today?”

Stuck with his silence, all Hokuto could to was wave with his hand. God, that was so embarrassing…

“For once, I don’t! Not gonna lie, it does feel kinda weird…”

“That’s great!”

Isara chuckled.

“How are you, everyone?”

“I’m doing great!”

“Same here!”

Silence unfolded. Silence he should have been filling, but…

“What about you, Hokuto? You’re strangely silent today.”

He was about to type a reply on his phone yet again, but Akehoshi did the job instead.

“Ah, right! Hokke can’t speak today!”

Isara’s face instantly showed the colour of surprise, head bolting from the redhead to their leader.

“Wait, your voice’s broken or something?”

He nodded. No point bringing out his phone for that.

“I see. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask us, we’ll help you no issue. Right guys?”

The three others surrounding them nodded along. This was going to be tough, but with companions like them, it sounded less painful than it had when he had just discovered in what state his throat was.

Hokuto had a few observations to make about being the leader of an idol unit without a voice. None of them were any positive.

Singing was quite obviously out of the question, or else he’d have coughed until the end of times, so he instead playback-sang his own voice. That was pathetic at best, but it got the job done and the point across: the point was their stage occupation and choreography.

Breathing through his mouth itched. His throat was already sore from whatever he was infected with, the situation didn’t make it much better. The more they went, the more he pretended to sing, the more it hurt, to the point he hesitated between coughing every second or stopping breathing altogether. He picked the first, in the end.

Even moving around was awkward. He felt sluggish and, while that wasn’t linked to having lost his voice, it was somewhat related anyway. The day wasn’t good, but repeating the idea in his head over and over again as he tried recovering his breath wasn’t going to make things much better by the end of it.

“Guys, please stop for a moment,” Anzu interjected in the middle of their session, clapping her hands together. They stopped immediately.

“What’s wrong, Producer?” Akehoshi asked.

“Can I see you for a moment, Hokuto?” This felt like a sword of Damocles, about to fall upon him, but he nodded after finishing his coughing fit. “Subaru, Makoto, Mao, feel free to continue!”

“Roger,” Isara said as the three went back to their task.

Well, there was no point in disobeying her, so he did as he was asked.

They went to the next room, the music entirely muted by the walls, as she invited him to sit down at a table and poured him a cup of tea. Weird time to invite him to do so, but she must have known what she was doing, so whatever. Still, he had questions popping in his mind, so he got his phone out of his pocket and started typing again. He cleared his throat to catch her attention (she was focused on a couple of papers, and he immediately regretted asking his throat to put itself on fire again).

Why have you brought me here?

“Ah, right,” she giggled, “I forgot to explain myself, haven’t I?”

I don’t quite understand.

“You seemed tired, so I figured I’d help in some way. What about stopping for today?”

That sounds unreasonable.

“Hokuto… I don’t think your illness is going to go away this easily if you don’t rest a little.”

And was she wrong? Not really.

I’m still their leader.

“I know that, but I’m you guys’ producer. I can handle it just fine. Plus, it’s not like I’m asking you to go away, right? I’m just asking you to watch, I suppose…”

During a moment of silence, he figured he may as well eye the tea and discover why he had gotten served this in particular.

“That’s for your throat. Mao gave me a recipe to try, I hope it’ll work.”

Typical Isara, he figured. This man had tricks upon tricks down his sleeves. Still, he brought the cup to his mouth: it’d have been a shame to let this go to waste. It was just as sweet as he’d have expected a beverage filled to the core with honey to be like, but this was no problem as it was, in fact, a solution to the issue at hand.

Thank you.

“It’s nothing, really. Now, what about we go back to watch them?”

Let’s do that.

The moment they went back to their practice room was when he also realized the four of them had planned this all along. That was made obvious by the winks they exchanged, between themselves, between them and Anzu; and he tried, deep down, to find something to say against it, to get their routine working, to feel betrayed and fooled; yet nothing came to his mind but light-hearted gratitude. He, once again, typed his words on his phone’s keyboard.

Thank you, everyone.

For someone whose day was supposed to be filled with misery and silence, Hokuto sure was a happy and vocal fellow.

#ensemble stars #hidaka hokuto #akehoshi subaru #yuuki makoto #isara mao #anzu (enstars)#trickstar #fluff #friendship #hurt comfort #whumptober2019 #altno.2 #broken voice #brotp: shining ensemble

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kewltie · 5 years

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so i watched the maze runner series two days ago... HOLD IT STOP RIGHT THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nonononononono. no distraction. no bullshit. no starting anything new. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

;;;;;; ok but like post-apocalyptic dystopian setting is my jam esp with found family and ppl force to bond in heighten dangerous situation where they can only rely on each other for survival and emotional connection. basically: gasoline ‘verse!!!!! CRIES.

so like i have this super supeeeeeeeeeeeeer secret project (ok it’s not a secret anymore since im talking about it now BUT yea) that i been holding tight to my chest for like a nearly a year since i enter this fandom. i call it gasoline ‘verse and it’s my magnus opus. it’s a series (i think 3 books in total??) that tell of a world gone to hell and katsuki and izuku born to a dystopian wasteland world of that is slowly dying where sort of infectious “zombies” horde roam the land and katsuki and izuku are among the few scatter remnants of humanity clinging to life. except they may not even be humans bc izuku is uh ‘immune’ and katsuki is infected but still conscious thanks to izuku’s blood but he uh kinda undead and eats other infectee to survive (it’s all morally sketchy around which is GREAT AND MY FAV) and they are like super codependents and weird about each other the kind that like “i rather watch the world burn than let you go”. they had been alone for SO SOOO LONG traveling across fallen japan and then they meet other survivors who quickly realize how incredibly FUCKING WEIRD THESE TWO ARE and maybe the fate the humanity hang on these two shoulders if only would izuku and katsuki would ya know can pretend for a sec that the world and everyone else that is alive is more important that the hand that is holding his.

i... uh just really love dysfunctional relationship and end of the world scenario.

#idle rambling #ONE DAY GASOLINE 'VERSE ONE DAY

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thesffcorner · 5 years

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The Fever King

The Fever King is the first book in a YA sci-fi/dystopian duology written by Victoria Lee. I have a lot of very strong mixed feelings on this book, so buckle up; this will be a long one.

In the near distant future, the United States has been withered down to several smaller nations, courtesy of a magic virus that has wiped out most of the population. The virus in the form of a fever, burns its victims to a husk, and those who survive it are called witchings, and they develop supernatural abilities. A 100 years after the original outbreak, we follow Noam Alvarez, a 16 year old boy who lives in the only witching state of Carolina. He’s the son of undocumented migrants, and when an outbreak in a refugee camp kills his father and all of his neighbours, he survives and gains technopathy: the ability to control electronic devices. He gets recruited into Level IV to train for the military, under the direct supervision of the man who created Carolina: Calix Lehrer. I think that long intro, might have already clued you into some of this book’s problems. In case you couldn’t tell, this book is a debut, and it really feels like it. Victoria Lee is a talented author, with a good grip on style and explores interesting ideas. This book’s hook bought me, and her characters (the few that are developed at least) are genuinely intriguing. This book is also highly political, and it’s subject matter is absolutely topical and relevant for today’s issues. If you are someone young, who hasn’t read a lot of political science and wants to get a primer into stuff like communism, revolutions and migrant issues, then I think this book would serve as a great primer. However, there are issues. The plot and the themes are just all over the place; there are also significant issues with the pacing and worldbuilding, and even the characters end up confused. The writing is solid, and I think with some more time and experience, I could really love Lee’s work, but as is, this book is a very much, an ambitious mess. Writing: Let’s start with some positives. Lee has a writing style that’s quite unique, and not something I have read before. She writes in third person, but the writing is very stream of consciousness. Lot’s of scenes, especially at the start read like we are following Noam’s thought pattern; he will interrupt himself, or not explain what is happening fully, because he himself hasn’t processed it yet. Since he’s the PoV character, he ends up feeling quite unreliable, which is a rarity in YA, and his inability to be unbiased and objective, actually factors into the plot, because we flip flop on what is happening and who we trust just as he does, and we operate on faulty or partial information, because that’s what he knows, or sometimes doesn’t notice the discrepancies. Unfortunately, this has the adverse effect of making this book read extremely young. Lee explores a lot of themes here, but the main one revolves around freedom, revolution and what and how much you are willing to sacrifice to achieve your goal. Both Noam and Lehrer do unspeakable things in the name of justice and freedom, and there is a fine line between fighting for a cause and becoming a monster. I would like to say that this theme is handled with finesse, but Noam has a very black and white view of the world, and has the patience of a teenage boy; as such he ends up making a lot of really stupid decisions, and refusing to acknowledge a lot of horrible things. There’s also a lot of discussion of communism, dictatorships, and leadership, all of it feels like a middle grade school report. The absolute worst scene for me was when Noam and Lehrer discuss the phrase ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’; I was cringing so hard as the book ground to a halt to give me a history and philosophy lesson on what that phrase means. It’s so over the top and blunt, and I really didn’t care for it. Tone: If the book was written entirely like this, I think I would’ve liked it more; I am simply not the target audience. I am too old and have been through enough classes, discussions, debates and even real world protests and changes of government for a middle grade discussion on communism to appeal to me. But the book mixes these really simplistic juvenile themes, and a character who read like a 14-15 year old, with brutal realities of what revolution is actually like, and it made for such an uneven reading experience. There are numerous scenes of people dying in executions, from disease, there is discussion of rape, child abuse, assassinations and violations of the body and mind. It’s at once a very ‘baby’s first guide to revolution’, while at the same time attempting to have a very nuanced and complex villain/hero dynamic. The sexual politics of this book especially made me uncomfortable; the scenes between Noam and Lehrer especially felt like they belonged in a much more mature book than this one. Worldbuilding: This is where most of my problems with the book stem from. This is a book that has the very difficult job of setting up this world, explaining how the situation got so dire, introduce the superpowers, the characters, the status quo, and it has to do all of that for 2 separate timelines. I would like to say Lee succeeded but I am still very confused. Let’s start with the positives. I really wasn’t sure why it was necessary that the virus was magic; it could have been any kind of sci-fi virus that changes the morphology and biology of the survivors in order to give them superpowers. The fact that the virus was a form of magical fever that burns up its victims reminded me so much of Osaron from the Shades of Magic series, that I half expected the infected to have black veins and black eyes. What I enjoyed about the superpower aspect was that the powers were tied to something that the person already knew or had a connection to. For example, Noam is very good with computers and coding already, so his presenting power is technopathy, meaning he already knows exactly how computers, electricity, magnetism and algorithms work, so his power is just a physical extension of that. This was the most original and interesting aspect of the setting, and I liked all the bits we got with Noam doing math and physics and why it was necessary for him to learn all of that, before he could really master his powers. The early scenes where Lehrer teaches him and Dara on how to use their powers were great, and though the scene with the coin was lifted straight out of the X-men films, I loved it. The refugees, the refugee camps, the post apocalyptic setting and the politics were all things I have read before. There’s so many elements borrowed from Divergent, The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games and The Darkest Mind; the ending especially felt exactly like the ending of The Darkest Mind. I don’t even need to know that Lee is an avid X-men reader to tell you exactly where she got the estetic for the setting, the apocalypse, the anti-witchery suits, the suppression, the anti-witching vaccine and especially, especially Lehrer’s character. This is where the problems start. First off, the two timelines. Everything to do with the Lehrer brothers forming Carolina, the virus outbreak, the dissolution of the United States and the virus was incredibly confusing, underdeveloped, and lifted straight out of the X-men films. It’s like Lee took bits and pieces of all of them and pulled them all together: Lehrer being tortured in the mutant, I mean witching camps was a mix of X-2 and Origins, Lehrer redirecting the nuclear warhead back into the ocean was from First Class, Lehrer being questioned by the telepath was from X-2, and Carolina having closed its borders and being the only safe haven for withings was from the Genosha/San Francisco storylines in the comics. The reason I point all of this out was because it was so blatant, and so badly patched together that I didn’t feel like Lee had anything to say about these things; she just took bits and pieces of these various X-men storylines, which for better or worse were actually complete and devoted time and development to their implementation. Here, I wasn’t sure why some states were states, like Carolina, while others, like Atlanta were cities. Europe and Canada are mentioned, but no mention of Asia or Africa. Is every other place in the world unaffected? Or did they all execute every single witching and infected person? How come Carolina is supposed to be this heaven when their technology hasn’t advanced past 2019, and yet they are still somehow independent? Everything to do with Lehrer was likewise confusing. He was King, but he then abdicated and Sacha was democratically elected, and yet the state he ruled was a communist monarchy? Why did he abdicate? If everything is infected, how did the Carolina army get to Atlanta to besiege them? And then we get to the migrants. This part was the worst, because it suffered so hard from the black and white morality. The migrants come from Atlanta which is suffering horrible outbreaks of the virus. Even though the Carolinas are willing to let the refugees in, they do everything in their power to keep them secluded, undocumented and completely isolated. Look, I’m not going to pretend that migrants are treated well in most places; they are not. But usually there are bigger issues at hand, not just bigotry. A lot of refugees have problems with learning the local language, adapting to local climate, customs, food. There are cultural clashes between the local and the refugees, religious differences. That simply doesn’t translate here; if the virus isn’t genetic, and it’s detectable, than what good would expending resources to keep the refugees secluded do? They speak the language, there aren’t different customs or religion, the only difference is the city they come from. Carolina and Atlanta are not a good allegory for the current migrant crisis, and I can’t believe I’m siding with Brennan but they really are guests in someone else’s homeland. They can’t just start a revolution and overthrow the government, which is what Noam wants. The way Noam acts this whole book is a righteous rage that’s just ill conceived. Yes, he’s being manipulated, but he acts like no one other than refugees have a hard life, like Ames or Dara or any of the other characters couldn’t possibly have problems. What’s more is he’s never called out on this behavior and he’s never corrected or shown to be wrong, which is just insincere at best and blatantly untrue at worst. Pacing: Like the tone, the pacing was all-over the place. This book is at once overcrowded with information, trying to set up so much, and accomplish even more, while at the same time painfully slow and uneventful. There are pages upon pages of exposition and pontificating on irrelevant philosophical questions, while the actual action is so mediocre. The pacing reminded me of my least favorite part of The Hunger Games; the first part in Mockingjay where Katniss just spends pages upon pages training and locked inside the District 13 compound. The same is true here; once Noam is inside Level IV, almost nothing of interest happens until the very end, with the exception of his detour during the protest. We are supposed to be invested in the character development, but there really are only 2 relationships, and both are… iffy. Characters: There are literary, only 3 characters of interest in this book; none of the supporting cast was interesting in any way, and the 3 other students might as well have not been in the book. So let’s talk about Dara. Dara was the most frustrating character I have read in a while. The best way I can describe him is, he’s Rhy from Shades of Magic; he is a beautiful, deeply damaged character, who is promiscuous, seductive, and completely there to serve as a love interest/victim for Noam. Dara is the second most powerful character in this book, and yet he spends 90% of it drunk, high, locked in a room, or in some sort of peril. There is so much abuse throw his way that I wondered for a second if I accidentally skipped back to The Raven King. As a character by himself, he wasn’t particularly interesting, until the very end of the book, where we get several reveals that have no time to be digested or explored, because the book is over. His relationship with Noam was even more frustrating. He acts appropriately, like a teenager, but he’s also supposed to be older and more clever than Noam, which makes the situation they are put in even dumber. So much of this book could have been avoided if they would just TALK to each other, and even the reveal doesn’t hide how much this whole plot relies on contrivance. Like ok, I will absolutely buy that Dara would fall in love with Noam, but he still violated Noam’s trust, privacy and very core by doing what he did to him for over a year. I also don’t often comment on sex scenes in YA, but I really, really disliked the sex in this book. Like I said, Noah is so naive and reads so young, that I kept forgetting he was 16, not like 14, and even still Dara is at least 18, when they do it, so it was just immensely uncomfortable to read. That scene also had the absolute worst line I have read this year which was, I shit you not “Dara was born to lie on mussed bedsheets with wet hair spilling like an ink stain onto white pillows, flush cheeked” pg.250 I am feeling iffy just writing it down right now, knowing the context of this character! Speaking of, let’s talk about Lehrer. First, let’s all acknowledge that Lehrer IS Magneto. He is a revolutionary who has a very loose sense of morals/regard for human life, he isn’t above violent and destructive means, he is incredibly good at inspiring and manipulating people into joining him, he is Jewish, and he is powerful. I can’t say anything more about him without MAJOR SPOILERS, so if you haven’t read this, skip to the end. From the very first scene Lehrer appeared, I thought the way he acts around Noam was strange. There is a constant, underlying sense of predation in all of his scenes; the scenes are written as a type of seduction, and though he is never explicitly sexual with Noam, it is very clear that his intentions and feelings for Noam aren’t just paternal. Lehrer is praying on Noam, and Noam constantly flip flops between feeling attracted to Lehrer and considering him a mentor, father like figure. This was beyond uncomfortable to read; watching Noam be manipulated for 300 pages was hard enough, without constantly being worried that Lehrer would escalate their relationship. And then we find out that we were right all along, and Lehrer really is a predator; the bruises and marks Dara has are not from Ames, they are from Lehrer. Lehrer, who is his legal guardian, who has raised him like a son. I wanted to vomit. Not only that, but we also learn that Lehrer’s true power is persuasion: it’s similar to Alison from The Umbrella Academy’s power in that he can influence what people who are around him do, and he uses that power both on Dara and Noam. This made the ending incredibly confusing; did Noam forget what Dara told him about Lehrer releasing the virus? Does he only remember certain things but not that? Does he not remember the part where Dara told him Lehrer has been assaulting him for years? If he doesn’t, then why did Noam rescue Dara at the end? If he does, then why does he believe Lehrer when he says he never used his powers on Noam, when he clearly blatantly did? This reveal made the book incredibly fascinating to me, but also, I wanted to throw up. I still feel ill writing this review. I will give Lee all the credit; she got me hooked. I want to see what happens to Noam, I want to see what exactly his relationship with Lehrer will be now that Dara is gone, what happened to Wolf (did he turn into a dog? Fullmetal Alchemist style?) Conclusion: This is an ambitious but confusing book. It’s lead 3 characters, and the dynamics between them are the real draw, but the worldbuilding and plot leave a lot to be desired. I would recommend it, but if you are at all disturbed by abuse, implied rape, and predatory behavior… maybe read the X-men instead.

goodreads

#fever king #fever king review #moni talks #book review

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