#took the train home for spring break yesterday! just thought of them. x

[lesbaurinkos]

do you think they knew even then that it was gonna be forever

[xxwritemeastoryxx]

A life With You Chapter 1

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Mason Lockwood x Reader,  Eventual Elijah Mikaelson x Reader

Requested: Can I have an Elijah x Pregnant!Reader? Not his baby, but he loves her and is willing to be the legal father of the baby 🥺 I need fluff in my life lmao ✨👌 -Anon

Word Count: 3K

Warnings: Nothing in this one. Just setting up the story for us. 

Author’s Note: Oh look! A new series! Welcome to the first chapter of A life with you. I had an idea for a hallmarkish story and this is what came of a request that I had gotten. I do hope you guys enjoy it. While this will be an Elijah x reader endgame it will be a while before we catch a glimpse of Elijah. So bare with me okay? 🙈

Feedback gives me life and motivation for future things. ♥

<< Series Masterlist || Chapter 2 >>

“This isn’t some walk in the park!” Damon yelled at Y/N as he took a step closer to her. “This isn’t just some chance to prove that you can handle things! We’re talking about your life.”

“You don’t get to make this decision for me.” Y/N said as she shook her head. Her hand on her bag filled with her gear. She was set out to leave in just minutes. “We both knew what would happen when we signed up for this.”

Y/N moved to walk past Damon. The moment she did, Damon grabbed a hold of her arm, causing her to turn back to him. “We may have signed up for this, but I didn’t sign up to watch you agree to a suicide mission.”

A sad smile pulled at her lips as she brought her hand up to Damon’s face and placed it on his cheek. As she looked up at him, she didn’t say anything at first. She couldn’t get her thoughts out as she wanted to. “I’ll always come home to you. That isn’t going to change with this mission.”

Damon’s hand came up to place his hand on top of hers as he watched her. He opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it quickly before shaking his head and laughing a moment later. 

“Cut!” The director called out. 

Y/N chuckled as she watched Damon take a step away from her. “It’s it really that hard to tell me you love me?” She joked.

“It’s kind of hard when you’re making faces where the camera can’t see you.” He chuckled causing Y/N to laugh.

“That’s definitely payback for yesterday’s go of things.” She said with a nod and it was Damon’s turn to laugh.

“You lasted longer than I thought you would.” He said with a shake of his head. 

"I may be new to the field, but it definitely takes a lot to break me.” She said with a smirk.

“Alright, let's get our Scarlet and Jason back into their places and take it from the top.” The director called out before Y/N and Damon found themselves back on their marks at the beginning of the scene. 

After four more takes, the scene had come out flawlessly. Damon and Y/N had managed to go through the scene without any jokes or pranks in the process. The heartbreaking goodbye between Scarlett and Jason perfected before getting a break. 

"What do you plan on doing tomorrow?" Damon asked as he and Y/N began to walk off the set.  

"I'm not sure. Knowing Mason he might have something planned.” Y/N didn’t miss the way that Damon’s face dropped. 

“Well, if the two of you aren’t doing anything, Elena and I are having a barbeque at the rental since she’s coming out here for a visit.” Damon offered. 

It definitely wasn’t a secret that Damon didn’t like Mason. There were a few times where the cast and their loved ones got together on their days off. But no matter how many times Damon interacted with Mason, there was always something that gave him a bad vibe. 

Damon had grown to care for Y/N as a close friend. With the vibe that he constantly felt coming off of Mason, he was never sure if he should cross those boundaries with her. They were co-stars who were becoming friends. He’d hate to overstep his boundaries by telling Y/N the man she was with wasn’t liked by not just him but a few of the others on set as well. 

“I’ll be sure to let him know.” Y/N said with a nod of her head. “How long is she staying for this time?”

“Just for a few days.” As they passed a table with an assortment of food, he reached over and grabbed a doughnut and continued to walk. “The kids are coming since it’s spring break, they can’t stay longer.”

A smile pulled at Y/N’s lips at the mention of Damon’s kids before she chuckled at the way he eyed the doughnut before shoving half of it into his mouth. “I’m sure they are going to love coming out. I can’t wait to see them again.”

“Oh they’ll definitely love that.” He said a moment later. “They just can’t get enough of their favorite new actress.”

Y/N chuckled. “It was the princess role, wasn’t it?”

“Wait, you were a princess?” His words had caused Y/N to smack his arm, causing him to chuckle. 

Y/N only had a few titles under her belt. But with the growing success of the movies she’s starred in, the more roles she was being offered. Including one being a Princess that Damon’s kids had watched and loved. That was how he knew Y/N when she introduced herself to him. 

“Y/N!” Hearing her name had caused them both to turn and look in the direction of where they heard it. 

Seeing as someone was waving her from the hair and makeup trailer, Y/N knew it was time for her to become bloodied and bruised for the next several scenes that she needed to shoot. It made Y/N sigh before she looked over at Damon. 

“Back to the chair I go.” She said before she turned to leave. 

“Enjoy the prosthetics.” He said with a smirk pulling at his lips. “I just need a touch up.”

“Remember who the hero is in this one, Salvatore.” She called over her shoulder, causing Damon to shake his head quickly. 

“I’ll see you for the next scene together, Y/L/N.” He said before walking away. 

The sound of the door shutting had caught Mason’s attention. The moment Y/N walked through the doors, there was as if there was this relief that had washed over her. She kicked off her shoes before she walked further into the house, finding Mason lounging on the couch. 

Unlike Damon, who had a house he was renting for the time being, Y/N lived close enough to the studio that she wasn't confined to a rental or even her trailer. The last several scenes that were being filmed were no longer on location, giving her the opportunity to unwind in her own home. 

"I've got a spot with your name on it that gives a full foot massage." Mason called over his shoulder as his eyes trained on the screen before him. 

It caused Y/N to laugh, but she practically ran to the couch and plopped herself on to it. She placed her feet onto Mason's lap as a smile grew on her lips. "Massage away."

"How was your day?" He asked as he brought his hands to her foot and began applying pressure to the bottom of it. 

"A lot of retakes." She said as she rested her head on the back of the couch as she watched him. “A lot of stunt work that I tried to be a part of, but didn’t work out.” They both chuckled at the same time. “Thankfully tomorrow we get a day off and I can rest. Speaking of which, Damon invited us over for a barbeque. Elena and the kids will be in town.”

Mason’s eyebrow raised. “You would think the man would want to spend time with his family instead of having people over.”

“He loves showing his kids who he is working with.” Y/N said with a small smile pulling at her lips. “I happen to be their favorite person right now. Plus it would be nice to hang out with everyone without being on set and in make up.”

“I don’t know.” He said with a shake of his head. “I’d like to spend the one day you get off with you. Preferably doing something here or going hiking or something.”

Y/N sighed. “You of all people should know why I need to go to simple barbecues such as this one.” 

It sometimes confused her why Mason had been so stubborn about it. She and Mason had been together since she was in college. For as many parties and get togethers she dragged him to, he should have been understanding. This was how she met the friends of friends. Friends who were producers and directors. Ones that were willing to take chances and she was all for being that chance. 

“But when it’s the same people you see at work every day?” He asked. “That’s not gaining you anything.”

“Maybe all I need are friends.” She said as she sat up and pulled her feet off of his lap. “Friends are needed too. We both need them. We moved away from all of ours and I know that hasn’t been easy for both of us.”

Mason stood up from his spot and ran his hand through his hair. “Making friends out here is only a convenience once they find out who I’m dating. It’s quite fascinating how many people want to be friends with your boyfriend.”

Y/N looked down. “We talked about this once.” She said after a moment. “I asked you if you’d be able to handle this. I asked several times if you believed you could handle how things are going to change. And each time you said you could. So I’ll ask you once more. Can you handle that our lives are going to change because of the work I will be doing?”

Mason kept his eyes on her as he thought it over for a moment. “I don’t know.” 

Y/N nodded her head. She didn’t think that there would ever be a time where Mason had wanted an out. For as long as they had been together, Mason had been there by her side. He helped her run lines for auditions and was there for her through filming, press tours and even premieres.

Through all of those times, she hadn’t felt like he had changed in any way. That he was still going to be by her side and now, there was that part of her that was now worried. Worried that maybe she had been blind to the changes while she was enjoying the time she had while working on different projects. 

“Okay.” She said after a moment. “Think it over. Take the time you need to figure out if this is what you really want.” She tried to keep the tears that wanted to form at bay, but it had been hard to do so. “Tomorrow I’ll go to Damon’s for a little bit and then I’ll be home.”

Before Mason could say anything, she began to leave the room. She knew that he was going to need his space. This was something he needed to do on his own and she couldn’t influence his decision. She didn’t want to be the reason that he wasn’t happy there with her. She didn’t want them to begin to hate each other before they broke up. 

_____

“What’s your poison?” Damon asked as Y/N as he opened the ice chest filled with a variety of drinks. 

She chuckled and reached for the bottle of water that was in there. That had caused Damon to raise his brow while he watched her take it. Seeing his reaction she shrugged. “I have an earlier call time than you do tomorrow. I’d like not to be hungover while sitting in a makeup chair for three hours.”

“Don’t let him fool you.” Elena said as she walked over and grabbed a few of the juices for the kids. “He’s got an early call time too, he'll be bitching in the morning when he has to be hanging from wires and hungover.”

“Have I ever mentioned how much I love that you give me ammunition against your husband?” Y/N said with a grin on her face. 

“A time or two.” Elena said with a grin. “Is Mason stopping by later?”

Y/N tried to keep her face from falling. After Y/N left the living room last night, Mason stayed there the whole night. And when Y/N got up this morning, he had been gone. She had no doubt that he was getting a run in or just trying to find somewhere to think about things like Y/N wanted him to.

“He had a few things he needed to take care of.” It wasn’t a lie, since Mason did have things he needed to be doing at that moment. “If he manages to get things done before we call it a night, I’m sure he’ll come.” 

“Good.” Damon said with a nod. “Then I can get ammunition from him to use against you.” A smirk pulled at his lips before bringing a bottle of beer to his lips and taking a drink. 

Y/N rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I highly doubt that. He’s on my side, remember?”

“Ouch.” Damon said looking between her and Elena. “You’ve turned my wife against me and I can’t even get the same opportunity with your boyfriend.” He placed his hand on his chest, feigning hurt. 

Y/N could easily see through it, as did Elena. They both knew that Damon was definitely playing nice. He wasn’t going to overstep without actually needing to. While Elena could play it off as girl talk, Damon was hoping that Mason was a no show tonight. 

Laughter had come from the adults as they sat around eating their dinner. Several cast and crew had shown up for the evening. Damon and Elena ensuring their guests were completely comfortable.  There wasn't a single moment of awkwardness for Y/N and she loved that. 

"You missed it, Elena." Lexi said starting up the next conversation. "The prank Y/N had pulled on set was the best I've seen done."

"Please tell me it was on Damon." Elena asked, looking from Lexi to Y/N.

Y/N chuckled and nodded. "Oh it was."

"Now I have to hear this." Elena said as she got herself ready to hear the story. 

Lexi began to talk about how Y/N had managed to switch out Damon's designated clothes with another person. Most of them were already used and bloody. It was never something that made Y/N queasy in the slightest. But the way Lexi had been explaining things had made Y/N’s stomach turn. In a way that she could no longer sit there and hope that the feeling would go away. 

With a quick ‘excuse me’, Y/N took off towards the house. Her pace was hopefully slow enough that it  wouldn’t draw questions, but quick enough that she was sure that she’d make it in time. Her only thought was that was getting to the restroom that was on the first floor of the house. 

Even as she entered through the back sliding glass doors, she didn’t notice the men that were in the kitchen chatting away. Their voices blurred out as she passed them. Her mind didn’t even register that Damon had called out to her, asking if she was okay. 

She barely had time to shut the door behind her before she made it to the toilet. The contents of her stomach coming up instantly. It hadn’t been the first time today that she had to stop what she was doing and make a run from the restroom. Today wasn’t even the first day either. 

As her stomach continued to heave to remove the contents of it, her thoughts had played out the last few days. From the moment that she had taken the test, things had changed rather quickly. While she was in her last week of filming it was how the rest of her life had changed. 

She was going to tell Mason last night. She was going to show him the test before they had gone to bed. But then they had their argument and her plans changed. Her mind was racing with how things should be done now. Especially now since she was currently at a barbeque with everyone she works with and the father of her child wasn’t there. 

Once her stomach had emptied and there was nothing left to give, she flushed the toilet before making her way over to the sink to not only rinse out her mouth, but to wet her face. She was hoping that she’d be able to calm herself before she left the bathroom. So that she could hopefully play it off as something else. At least for now. 

After a few moments of taking some time to get herself in order, she opened the door to head back to everyone else. As she did, she found Damon leaning against the hall besides the entryway of the door. At first there was a look of worry on his face. That was before realization in him hit as he took in her appearance. 

His eyes moved from her to down the hallway for a moment, before looking back at her. “I’d ask a stupid question, but I think I know the answer.”

Y/N swallowed the lump in her throat that seemed to form at his words. “And what is the answer?”

Damon gave a small chuckle. “Elena has been pregnant twice. The water all day while I know for a fact, you can hold yourself when it comes to taking alcohol and an early call time. First clue there. Then it made sense as to what happened during our first take yesterday.”

He wasn’t wrong. During the first take of the day, Y/N needed to make a run for the bathroom. She had pulled it off as something not sitting right with her. It seemed to work with everyone, but it was now enough for Damon to start putting the pieces together. 

All Y/N could do was nod in that moment. Words couldn’t form as she tried to pull herself together that the thoughts she had moments before had gone out the window. But there was a part of her that felt relief that someone else knew. 

“Mason doesn’t know yet.” She said a moment later. “I was going to tell him last night, but we got into an argument and it just didn’t feel like the right time to tell him.”

“Well, he definitely knows now.” Mason’s voice carried from down the hall.

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[gryffindors-weasley]

Relighting A Flame // Part Two

Ron Weasley x Reader

Summary: After meeting with Ron, things change between you.

Warnings: mentions of death, grieving and guilt, break ups, brief anxiety, fluff, kissing

Word Count: 3.6k

A/N: This is the second and final part, I hope you enjoy! Thank you to my lovely Soph @loony-loopy-lupinn for helping me out with this one 🧡

(gif found on pinterest, credits to the maker!)

It was a perfectly sunny Thursday afternoon, almost too perfect in comparison to the way you felt in the current moment. The nerves bubbled away in your stomach as you approach Rosa Lee Teabag, and you were strongly considering turning in the other direction and high-tailing it out of there. But you didn’t, you took a deep breath and you carried on forward through the busy and winding walkway.

The little bell over the small door had rung out when you entered the little shop, and you almost winced at the attention it pulled to you. More specifically the redhead who’s eyes were now on you as a blush stains your cheeks.

“Hey,” you greet with a soft smile when you approach, spotting a steaming cup of tea already waiting at your seat. The familiar scent of lemon was immediate and so was the widening of your smile at the simple gesture. “You remembered?”

“Yeah,” he laughs, scratching the back of his neck as his cheeks stain a rosy crimson. “I did.”

You nod as you take a seat across from him, a quiet settling over you both in the crowded little cafe. It was terribly awkward and you hated it, you wanted desperately for things to go back to how they were.

“Thank—”

“I just—”

You spoke at the same time, cheeks reddening deeper as you laugh softly, gesturing for him to go on. He chuckles, taking a deep breath as if to gather himself for what he’d wanted to say. Though he’s not quite sure which to say, he’s got a million things on his mind.

“I’ve never been in here before, have you?” He asks, taking a sip of his tea.

He was skirting around what he’d really wanted to say, that much was obvious. You knew Ron Weasley well enough to know when he was avoiding something, but you let it go for the time being in favor of answering his question.

“I’ve been in here a handful of times. It’s a nice little place, especially on a rainy day. Though I have to say, I do like Madam Puddifoot a bit more,” you say, your smile returning.

“Harry said that place is horrid on Valentine’s Day, he’s quite insistent on that,” he says, meeting your gaze and matching your grin.

You laugh softly, nodding at his words as you look away for a moment. “Her choice in decorations may be a bit over the top—well they definitely are, but she can make a remarkable cup of tea. And her desserts are really good too. You’d like it.”

He nods, picking at the napkin as he fights to think of something to say next, anything to avoid the obvious that was waiting to be spoken about. But the lack of conversation was becoming increasingly apparent, and he can only busy himself by looking around the small shop for so long without looking like a fool.

When the laughter and light conversation had died down between you both, you resorted to stirring your spoon around in your drink. You tried to ignore the fact that your heart was still beating wildly, and tried focusing more on your intricate little teacup and it’s matching saucer. At the impossibly delicate and hand-painted flowers adoring it. It felt as though you were on a first date, though the more you thought about it, you were quite sure not even that could match this very moment.

“Y/n,” he started, much less humor in his voice. You look up, his smile having long since faded by now. “I’m…I’m sorry.”

Your brows furrow slightly, wordlessly telling him to continue on.

“For pushing you away, I mean,” he says, looking down at his cooling drink as the very tips of his ears burn redder than the hair that covered them. “I shouldn’t have done that to you. You were only trying to be there for me and I shut you out.”

You slumped a bit in your seat, your expression softening as you looked at him. When you opened your mouth to speak he held up his hand, a silent gesture to tell you he wasn’t quite finished.

“Losing Fred, losing my home, I—I mean…I don’t know. I almost lost you in that bloody war. It was too much to deal with everything all at once...not that I had to deal with you, that’s not what I meant,” He stammers, rubbing his hands over his face.

“I know what you mean, Ron,” you say with a soft smile, reassuring him only slightly. “It’s okay.”

He could tell by your faltering smile that it absolutely was not okay, that you were hurting regardless of his reasons. You were just about as discreet with your emotions as he was, and the pang that struck his heart hadn’t gone unnoticed by him.

You weren’t angry with him, his reasons were perfectly valid. But missing your best friend for six years, someone you deemed to be the love of your life, was one of the hardest things you could have been through. It was quite like how you missed him when he’d begun to date Lavender Brown; you couldn’t bear to be around him, for you were far too hurt and too in love to subject yourself to witness their affections. You couldn’t blame her, she was a girl love, but the very way you missed your best friend had left you miserable. So, it was a similar feeling but different all the same.

“Bloody hell, this was way easier in my head,” he chuckles humorlessly, looking out the window. Anything was easier to look at than the look on your face, he felt he might crumble if he looked at your frown a moment longer. “I didn’t want you to feel like I didn’t love you, or that I didn’t care. Because I did, I still do. I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”

You nod even though he didn’t see it and you watch the way his jaw tenses, his gaze bouncing around the scenery just outside the window as he tears another piece off his napkin. The silence was thick and all-consuming, not even the conversations and clinking of dishes and silverware around you could help it. You fumbled with a packet of sugar pinch between your fingers, a million different words sitting on the very tip of your tongue.

“I’m sorry too, you know,” you manage, swallowing thickly as his gaze returns to you in a narrowed stare while yours remains on your hands for a minute longer.

“Y/n, don’t.”

“I left, Ron. I...I feel just as guilty as you.”

You look in his eyes again, biting the inside of your cheek in a valiant attempt to keep your tears at bay. You wouldn’t go into specifics on just why you had eventually left, it wouldn’t be fair to him. It’d only make him feel worse when it had been your choice to do so in the first place. You could have stayed, he wouldn’t have isolated himself forever. But it’d hurt too much and that was something you couldn’t bring yourself to tell him.

“If I hadn’t been so distant you wouldn’t have needed to. It really is my fault,” he said, and you could see he’d started to get worked up.

“Ron.”

You offer him a pleading look in hopes he’d calm down, for any more anger towards oneself was not necessary for either of you. There had been enough of that in the past few years to last a lifetime. He settled down after a moment or two, a small yet sad smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he nods.

The following minutes were silent and almost the rest of the time spent there for that matter, and it was much less awkward though the tension was still very much there. But conversation had ceased nevertheless, and it was more so a quiet agreement to enjoy the other’s company even if neither of you would admit it. Company you found yourself needed more than you could have imagined. It certainly hadn’t gone how you had expected it to go, whether it be a good or bad kind of unexpected, you weren’t sure. But sitting there with him hadn’t felt as miserable or awkward as it may have looked from an outsiders viewpoint. It was a mutual feeling that maybe things would be okay after this, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

8 Months Later

Eight months had passed since you’d gotten that tea with Ron, and things had changed drastically since that day. There was plenty more that had gotten sorted through, and plenty more lengthier talks were had in order to clear things up and move forward. It hadn’t been remotely easy at first, but Ron Weasley wasn’t someone you could stay mad at, he never was. He may have been stubborn but he cared deeply for you, that much was certain. It had taken a good month or two for things to feel somewhat how they used to or at least as best as they could, but everything good happens in time, you suppose.

You’d spend more and more of your free time with each other, until any and all of that free time had been taken up. He’d given in to your suggestions of going to Madam Puddifoot’s, and he did in fact love her pastries just like you thought he would, even though he would never admit it. You were a month away from completing your training as a healer, and he’d graciously offered to help, though he’d helped more than intended with the handful of quidditch accidents he’d gotten himself into at home. Perhaps the most notable was the way you still missed him, the way he’d missed you. It was an adjustment being friends once more, but friends were better than strangers.

Currently, it was the long awaited spring holiday at Hogwarts for students and professors, one that delightfully coincided with your time off of work. Therefore, you’d bought up a handful of books from Flourish and Blotts, and accompanied Ron for a week at the Burrow. 

The first time you had been at the family home wasn’t unlike every other visit you’d had, much to your surprise. Despite not having seen any of the Weasley’s for a considerable amount of time, it felt as if it’d been just yesterday that you’d seen them. They welcomed you with near suffocating hugs to make up for what surely would have been millions of embraces, and they had swept you away into about ten different conversations at once. It felt as though no time at all had passed, as if you hadn’t been separated from the welcoming family for just over half a decade.

It was a relief to your relentless nerves that they hadn’t held any animosity towards you for leaving. That very guilt had been weighing you down the moment you had made that decision. But you suppose it would be rather hard for the Weasley family to think ill of most anyone; they were wonderful, more love in their hearts than anything.

You had spent the better part of the warm spring day in a spot you and Ron had declared your own the very moment you had found it as teens. It was perfect. It was nestled within a clearing of trees and foliage, a small body of water settled in the very midst of it all. This time of year, the wildflowers were in full bloom to douse the area in its colorful floral beauty. Birds chirped and sang high up in the trees, the sun’s golden rays weaving in and out of old and twisting branches. The trees were perhaps your favorite part. They were older than you could imagine, covered in winding vines and moss that swirled up their trunks, their knotted roots perfect for nestling in with a good book. That is exactly how you’d been spending your afternoon.

It was a place that housed many fond memories amongst you and the Weasley family, and you were overjoyed to be able to take in its beauty again.

“Are you going to read all day?” Ron complains, mouth nearly full with a bite of his sandwich.

“You know, I just might now that you mention it,” you jest, laughing as you watch him let his head fall forward, his hair dangling out of his face and sticking every which way.

“It’s almost sunset and you’ve spoken what, three sentences to me? Three, Y/n,” he complains, huffing out a sigh as he narrows his eyes at you playfully. 

You peer over the edge of your book to see the sky was in fact filling with orange and pink hues the more it’d dipped down into the horizon, effectively dissolving your argument against his words. You sigh softly, folding the corner of your page and tucking your book away.

“You’re a pain. Have I ever told you that?”

“Yes, Y/n, you have,” he says, his attempts to sound displeased quickly failing as a smile pulls at his lips. 

“And rightfully so.”

You rest your head back against the tree, gazing up at the expanse above you. A flock of birds had been flying high overhead, the breeze blowing gently over your face. His scoff at your words was well heard beside you as you let your eyes fall closed, a soft laugh leaving your lips at the way he’d been acting. In your moment of bliss you’d missed quite a lot, his attention settling on you once more while he had the chance to do as such.

The hair tangling with his lashes and tickling his skin was of no importance in that very moment, nor was the fact that the very tree root he’d been leaning his hand on was poking into his palm rather uncomfortably. You were too enchanting to care about much else. You always had a way of stealing his attention yet still being so blissfully unaware of it. Perhaps that was for the better that you weren’t privy to his admiring, perhaps sometimes he found himself wishing you weren’t.

He wanted to reach out and brush the stubborn strands of hair out of your face, tucking them away behind your ear. He’d done it countless times before. It was awfully hard for him to enjoy the beauteous world around him when he’s got you sitting before him, making even the most enamoring of sunsets pale in comparison to you.

He’s pulled from his thoughts when you move to stand to your feet, and he just barely manages to tear his eyes from you. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t felt him staring, you could always feel it, you had caught him gawking plenty of times and each ended with incredulous scoffs and awkward laughs. Regardless, you chose not to say anything, the pink staining his cheeks enough of an indication.

You leave his side and walk to the waters edge, dipping your feet in as you hear him sigh behind you softly. You smile to yourself, laughing quietly at the thought of him.

“What are you doing?” He calls out, and you turn to face him, finding him squinting against the evening sun as he stood to his feet.

“Enjoying the water, not reading. What’s it look like?” You quip with a raised brow and a smirk.

The water wasn’t quite as enjoyable as it may have been in the summer season, it still had a brisk coldness that nipped at your skin too much to fully swim in it. Though that didn’t mean you couldn’t have your fun. 

A smile tugged at the corner of your mouth, so much so that you had to turn away from him before it became much too evident that you had been up to something. Unfortunately for you, Ron was rather observant and had caught on to such things fairly quickly, but not quick enough.

You crouch down and stick your hand in the cool water, drawing up a considerable wave to splash him with. His mouth fell agape at the near icy shock of your antics, a laugh leaving your lips that soon turned to a squeal as you took a few steps back from him. The very same mischief had begun to dance in his eyes as he dipped both hands in the water, scooping out a much larger handful before sending it cascading over your skin.

“Ronald Weasley, that was way more than I did!” You shout, his laughter immediate at your reaction. 

“Was not!”

Your frown hadn’t lasted very long as you bit back your smile. He looked away as he continued with his soft laughter, shaking his head. It wasn’t long before you too had found yourself staring, it was hard not to with the way water droplets had been falling from his hair and rolling down the bridge of his freckled nose. More so when those very droplets had dripped over the curves of his lips in a way that was almost too irresistible. You had to look away before you got yourself in trouble, instead focusing your attention on the way the stars had begun to twinkle just above you both.

It was perhaps your favorite time of day, for it was when the sky held the most color, and when the world had started to slow down. Any cloud that hung in the sky was pigmented with the prettiest oranges and pinks, and the fireflies were starting to make their reappearance with the warmer weather. The crickets began to chirp and the breeze had blown across the overgrown grass.

Unbeknownst to you, Ron had picked up where you left off, his eyes falling to you when yours return to the setting sun. You looked radiant to him, with the way your hair glimmered in the glowing orange hues, or the way your smile had been brighter and more enamoring than the very view before you both. He found himself admiring you as a friend that was too in love for his own good once more, the same way he did when he was a teenager. He didn’t want to be your friend, he wanted to be yours. He wanted to tell you he loved you because he’s never stopped, he didn’t want to blow it this time as he’d done once before.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” You say. You pull your attention back to him after a few silent moments had passed without response.

“Yeah,” he smiles, and it was clear he’d been far too busy looking at you. “It is.”

You grin at him before shaking your head fondly, exhaling a laugh at his distracted words, unaware of the nerves fluttering around within him. He was always too caught up with you too pay attention to seemingly anything when you were around.

“Is it wrong that I want to kiss you right now?” Ron asks, swallowing thickly as he lets his hands fall to his sides.

You look up then, the look on his face filled with hope and the underlying regret of even speaking in the first place, fearing he may have messed things up by being too bold for his own good. The seconds had quickly felt like hours and he felt like he may just melt if his cheeks burned any redder. Regardless of his obvious inner turmoil, you find yourself smiling softly as you shake your head.

“No, I don’t think it is.”

He stood there, stunned as his eyes widen a fraction. He wasn’t entirely sure if he’d heard you correctly, or if he’d just conjured up the answer he so desperately craved to hear. The very thought was one he found himself playing in his mind ever since the day you had gone your separate ways, and now that it’s here he doesn’t quite know what to do. Doesn’t quite know how to handle himself around you; it’s as if it’s his first time ever seeing you, like a bout of new love came cascading over him and became all that he had known. Except it wasn’t new. It had been the same undying love he’d felt for you for the past nine years, and that was something that would never change.

“Are you going to kiss me?” You ask with a soft smile after a few short moments, effectively pulling him from his thoughts.

His mouth opened and closed, his heart pounding in his chest as a smile tugged at the very corners of his mouth. And with all of the certainty in the world he enveloped your hand in his own and closed any remaining space, his hand settling on your cheek as the tips of his fingers tangle in your hair.

It was a kiss to rival all others, even the very first kiss he’d ever shared with you. For he’d had six years to make up for, of thinking of this very moment, of missing you. He held you as close as he could manage, his heart pounding in his chest as he began to smile.

You were just short of breathless when you part, not straying more than a few inches from his lips as a soft laugh escapes you. You look at him, at the love dancing in his eyes and drop of water that fell from the very tip of his nose, or the ones beaded on his flushed cheeks. It was only mere seconds before you found yourself kissing him again, and again, your laughter mingling with his as his lips brush over your own.

Six years had regrettably passed him by, years that equated to lifetimes without having you with him. Your hold on his heart never faltered in that time, however, not even a little bit. The truth is, you’ve entwined yourself around his very heart and soul.

Those three words didn’t need to be spoken, they were already known. And there wasn’t a single risk he’d take of losing you once more.

—

Tags: @vogueweasley @lupinsclassroom @amourtentiaa @hahee154hq @snitches-at-dawn @theweasleysredhair

[secondhand-trash]

圍爐

A/N: it’s cold and I miss being able to have people around for hot pot AND it’s the last ep of the inarizaki season so you just know I have to do it (yes all of these interactions are based on things my friends do when we hot pot lmao)

Pairing: platonic!Inarizaki x reader, even though a lot of the more minor characters only got a mention and you are only there for the sake of being there lmao

Description: Friends who hot pot together stay together.

Word count: 1394

-

Someone said that a team that never eats hot pot together will never become a true team. You did not know who said it, but whoever did must be a freaking mastermind.

The Inarizaki volleyball club was always busy, even right after the first of the two major tournaments they had to break through in the year. Second place was good, but they had no intention of stopping at what they had achieved yesterday. Winter break meant waking up at the break of dawn each morning to go back to school when all your friends were probably still sleeping soundly in their beds, the wind slicing across your face like blades as you struggled on your way back to the school gymnasium.

You had contemplated whether suggesting if mangers (as in, you, the one manager they had) should be allowed to arrive late or just not show up at all, but the guilt of walking in everyday to see the boys already in midst of preparing for practice always made you suck the bit of reluctance in you all the way down until it was resting in the depths of your lungs.

Kita brought up the idea of having the whole team over at his house for dinner at a passing, something he let slip mindlessly while packing up the nets a few days before the last training session of the holidays. His grandma wanted to go on an onsen trip with some old friends, so it would just be him at home for the night and it might be a nice get together activity for everyone to come over.

“We could have hot pot.” 

He said so casually, like it was just an idea that popped up out of nowhere and in face, it was. Kita was just bringing it up tentatively, more so talking to himself then announcing it to everyone.

But it seems like his teammates were always the most attentive when food was involved in the conversation.

“Kita san’s house? I want to go!”

“Hot pot at Kita san’s place!”

“Miya! Don’t just hand the balls to me- hey! You two-”

Ginjima’s cries were ignored as the two shoved everything they were holding onto his arms to rush to their captain’s side, letting out a huge sigh when Suna took one step further away from him when he was about to look for help. The Miya’s eyes were practically sparkling at the mention, looking like a tail was about to grow out of their backs as they towered over Kita in excitement.

So it was settled, the entire team would go over to the Kita residence for hot pot on the last day of break.

“Are you sure this is going to be a good idea?” you questioned in concern as you watched them cheer.

“Why not?” Kita shook his head gently as he smiled, “they seems happy.”

They were happy as long as they got to do the eating, you gulped down the urge to let your words loose. But you were looking forward to it yourself, there were not many chances where you got to just spend time with the rest of the club.

Next year, or maybe just after spring, it would not be the same group of people gathering around the stove anymore.

Whatever chaos you were envisioning, you thought to yourself as a loud shout from across the gym that you vaguely made out to be Ojiro’s voice and took to the presumption that it was targetted at the twins rang in your ear, it could not be that bad.

-

“Samu,” the setter hissed at his twin as he held the metal laddel in his hand, “you are not going to eat hot pot with rice.”

“What?” his twin huffed as he let the lid of the rice cooker bounced back with a hard hit on its button, “Why are you looking down on rice? Huh?”

“Osamu, I want a bowl too.”

“You too?” Atsumu yelled as you held out your bowl to the boy who was mixing up the rice with his rice spoon. 

“I said,” Osamu scooped out a large chunk of rice before angrily plopping it down in your bowl. You took the ceramic from him with a nod of thanks, elbowing the boy who was half laying on the floor and lazily scrolling through his phone as he waited for the water to boil. “what has rice ever done to you?”

“It’s not a matter about rice-”

“Then what is it then?”

“Who do you think will win this one?” you whispered, taking a small bite of your rice as Suna slowly crawled back up with the support of his palm on the table.

“Not sure,” he replied with a sigh, fixing his posture so that he was crouching on the table this time, “Osamu gets scary when food is involved.”

The answer was neither, because a large palm pressed onto the twins’ heads put the two foxes into their places. “Cut it, you two,” Ojiro sighed as he put down the plates of beef on the table before checking the pot to see if there was still much soup left, but not without giving the younger boys’ dyed hair a good rub. 

Why did those two never learn that bickering in the confines of Kita’s house was never near being a good idea?

“Keep eating rice with everything and you’re going to turn into a pig!”

“Ha? What right do you have to judge me when you are the one getting out of shape?”

“Who are you calling ‘out of shape’-”

“Do not,” a cold voice sent chills down your spine as it echoed into your ear, effectively freezing the boys who were inching closer and closer to each other before setting off a complete brawl in place as he let the plate landed on the table with a calm clink, “fight in the middle of a meal.”

Ginjima, who just sat down after finishing his vegetable-cutting duty in the kitchen, did not bother to hide his snicker as the twins reluctantly let the other person go and murmured as soft apology. Oomimi sighed, taking his chopsticks from Akagi who just laughed. 

One lift of the lid had the smoke spilling out and clouding over the light above your heads.

“Should be reheated properly,” Kita said as he nonchalantly pushed the wooden chopstick around in the broth, “I wasn’t expecting the soup to go out so quickly.” Clipping the floating piece of shiitake mushroom, he placed it in Riseki’s bowl with a flick of his wrist and the youngest boy took a quick reaction to nod.

You were still smiling at the exchange when a wave of his nimble fingers in front of your vision landed a piece of mutton in your bowl, and you immediately nodded.

“Eat more,” Kita said as he pulled his hand away, before his chopsticks dipped back into the broth to pull out some other food and put it in someone else’s bowl.

“Eat more.”

He almost said it like a ritual as he went around the circle of people at the sides of the stove, putting an especially large piece in Osamu’s bowl which gained a groan from Atsumu who only shut up when Kita also added more to his while Kosaku commented that he could have just refill his own bowl with a grin.

Kita only looked up from the boiling pot when a familiar thump landed in his own bowl.

“Don’t just keep telling us to eat,” Ojiro grinned as he tapped the rim of KIta’s bowl to make a point, pointing at the piece of tofu that he had just put in there,” you eat more too.”

Kita’s gaze flicked up from the steam rising from the tofu, to his friend who was smiling ear to ear, to the sight of you laughing at the how Osamu had to make the effort to steal food out of Atsumu’s bowl, to Suna’s phone being taken away by a very agile Akagi, to the rest of his team just there and being happy.

Yeah, they probably didn’t need him to remind them anything.

“Thank you,” he beckoned to Ojiro, before taking a bite of his own food.

It was cold outside, but around the pot where all your friends sat, it was very, very warm.

[emilycollins00]

I LOVE LOVE your headcanons and scenarios so much I can't help but make a request!! How do you think Itaru would react if a colleague (reader) from work found out that he was a gamer, the complete opposite from his work persona and what becomes of their relationship after? THANK YOU SO MUCHH!!

YOU ARE SO VERY WELCOME, DEAR!! 💕 I feel so grateful to receive comments like these, ugh. Hope you like it!

Pairing: Itaru Chigasaki x Reader

Title: Forceful revelation

-

Itaru would never say he liked his job per se. It was more like he had had to get used to it if he wanted to buy his precious games plus a place to play them. Even after all this time working in the same department, he hadn’t tried to get promoted or cared about developing relationships with his colleagues.

Never felt like he needed those things.

He was content doing his expected hours and then going back home at the end of the day. Especially if next day was his day off, like that night.

Waiting for some final copies to be made, he noticed a few colleagues passing by, their jobs already done.

“Good work today, Chigasaki-kun”

Flashing an already practiced working smile, the blond wondered if he would ever remember their names just as much as they liked to remind him of his own “Good work you too”

Just as he predicted, he could hear the faint laugh of his co-workers entering the elevator. Itaru looked at the clock- Only a little more before he could leave. The blond sighed tiredly as he sat again on his desk.

Everyone at the dorm made fun of him, but there really was no heavier burden to carry than the pressure of having to uphold your image and reputation. It wasn’t as easy as he made it look. 

“Chigasaki-san!”

You were a clear example of it.

Itaru didn’t have to lift his head to recognize your steps, but did it anyway. You were practically running and he felt even more tired just by watching you “Y/N-san” he greeted, not moving from his seat as he watched you regain your breath.

It had been a bit more than five months since you had transferred to his department at the company and he still didn’t know how to deal with your personality and your seemingly attachment to his working persona.

“Thank goodness I made it!” you smiled brightly as you regained your lost breath.

At first glance, you and Itaru weren’t that different. You both were usually congratulated for doing a good job at work and had overall good relationships with everyone.

However, Itaru knew better.

You had achieved much more than he had in all his years in such a short time. He even heard rumors that you would probably get promoted to manager by the end of the semester.

Which wasn’t surprising to him though, seeing you didn’t stop moving for a second from one project to another. What had your parent given you as a kid?

“...and so I was wondering if you knew the password for the projector they have in room 201? You know, the one with red chairs and a big plant on the corner”

Itaru hummed, looking around his desk to give you a copy of the passwords “Here you go, you can keep them”

“As expected of Chigasaki-san!” you accepted them happily.

The spring member’s smile faltered. 

Honestly, it was annoying to be put by such high standards.

He had tried to not get close to you, hoping the polite distance he always kept with others worked, but so far, you were still practically glued to him whether it was to ask him for advice or commenting how much you respected him.

…If you knew how he really was, Itaru was sure you wouldn’t be talking about him so happily. Focusing again, he noticed you waiting for something “Sorry, what did you say, Y/N-san?”

“Ah! I heard you are taking tomorrow off?”

“Yes, some personal matters happened at home” he turned around to make you understand he had things to do “I already signed and prepared everything, so there shouldn’t be a problem to send without me the first draft to our fellow company, I already talked with their administration”

“You really are amazing” he heards you whisper impressed.

He didn’t comment on your compliment “Anyway if anything happens tomorrow, I’ll be counting on you, Y/N-san”

Exactly as he thought, you gasped, beaming happily at the thought of being relied on “Of course! Good luck with your personal matter!”

                                             -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“I can’t believe you took a day off just to play games”

Izumi rested her hands on her hips when she discovered the spring member laying on the sofa, tracksuit on and shirt already filled with crumbs from the bag of chips next to him. He already had bags under his eyes.

“I did my overtime and this is how I chose my reward, director”

Rolling her eyes, she took her handbag, considering futile to argue with him “I’m going shopping and then to a meeting, make sure you don’t stay all day in that position, all right?”

Not breaking contact from his game, Itaru hummed a goodbye. Damn, thank god he had taken a day off. This event was being too competitive. He wouldn’t have been able to make the quests unless he spent last night and next 24 hours defending his rank.

At some point the doorbell started ringing “Someone is at the door” he called out loud to no one in particular.

The bell kept ringing. Where were Matsukawa or Citron supposed to be at times like this?

“Itaru, my ears! Open the door, dammit, open the door!” Kamekichi flew over him.

Groaning, he walked towards the entrance, eyes still fixed on the screen. Hadn’t he made it clear he wasn’t planning to move until tomorrow night? “Hey director, you should remember taking your keys when- Shit! How come these fuckers have so much luck? I’m gonna have to fucking sweep the floor with-”

“Chigasaki…san…?”

And for the first time since yesterday, slowly, Itaru broke contact with his controls.

No.

That couldn’t be you.

If anything, the situation happening was just the most lucid dream Itaru had ever had, because there was no way in hell that was real life.

“Itaru, who’s this jerk, want me to beat them up?” Kamekichi had landed on his shoulder, wings moving in an attempt to scare you, but neither of you reacted to it.

Gripping your bag, your face was white, looking like a scared puppy that had just encountered a scary and bigger dog “I, uh… really apologize for coming unannounced on your day off. Chief tried to contact you but, um, we couldn’t reach you and-“

“…Why are you here”

You shivered at the tone of his voice. You had never heard Itaru talk like that to anyone. Ever. You showed him an envelope “T-there’s this document chief needed that you forgot to sign for this afternoon meeting and…”

In silence, he grabbed them, scanning them with a stoic face. You could cut the mood with a knife “Pen” he opened his hand.

“A-ah, right!”

Barely exchanging looks, you took the signed papers and thanked him.

“Chigasa-“

“I hope that’s all, wouldn’t want you to come again and tire yourself out more”

You were practically shaking. Wishing him a good day, you turned and practically ran out of the place.

With the door closed, Itaru leaned his back on it, not even looking at the control resting on his hand.

Out of all the people he didn’t wish to show this side of him, somehow, unconsciously, you had become one of the firsts.

“…Well, shit”

                                            -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When you finally took notice, you had already reached the station, breathing heavily. The situation that had happened moments ago struck you as surreal.

Itaru Chigasaki, your colleague at work, was what you would describe as the epitome of what you aspired to be. His charm, professionalism… could someone be any more perfect?

“I’m gonna have to fucking sweep the floor with…”

You shook your head, still not over it. You had never expected someone you admired so much to be so… different outside work.

Oh god, work.

You mentally groaned, already cringing at what scenario could possibly happen when he came back next week. As you entered the train, your mind started running wild. Would he accuse you? Joke about it? Although he hadn’t seemed comfortable… Wait, did people know about this? Would he threaten you to not say anything? The last thing you wanted was to be on bad terms with him!

As you sat on the platform, you noticed the crumbled documents in your hand, Itaru’s sign finally on them.

So much for a quick visit.

                                               .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Neither of you talked about it when he came back next week.

Or the next one.

Time passed, and you were getting more and more anxious. Your blond colleague had never been someone who was cold to anyone, but it was more than clear that he had made a point not to interact with you under any circumstances, unless it was necessary.

Which was exactly why you understood his raised eyebrows looking at the coffee you had brought to his desk. Thankfully, he took the cup, bringing it to his lips “I believe I left all the files in your place, Y/N-san, do you need anything else?”

"Ah, well..." you had no idea what to say or how to react to him anymore. Itaru could feel it too, however, he didn’t try to alleviate the awkwardness.

It was painfully obvious how much it had shocked you seeing him at the dorm, so he didn’t understand why you kept trying to talk to him “You don’t have to force yourself, Y/N-san, people will notice things like that” he kept talking, his mouth covered by the cup

You opened your mouth to try and deny it but closed it, unable to. The awkward silence that had followed the last few days appearing again.

Pressing your lips together, you whispered an excuse and turned back to your own desk, dejected.

As he finished the coffee, Itaru couldn’t help but follow your figure. He had arrived expecting rumors about him, but no one seemed to have changed their demeanor.

So then, why did he feel like he was getting punched when you averted your eyes from his on meetings or he felt like being a dick to you when after it you tried to appease him?

Itaru leaned on his chair, sighing. Was it guilt?

You were someone who aspired to do your best with all you got, reminding him so much of people like Sakuya or director.

Maybe that’s why he felt like he had disappointed you, which made Itaru angrier and more confused. Why should he feel bad about it? It had been your fault. Leaving those thoughts aside he tried to concentrate again. It was actually better for him, now that he didn’t have to deal with you.

At least that’s what he repeated to himself.

                                         -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was almost dinner time when the doorbell at Mankai rang.

“I’ll go!” Izumi left the kitchen, opening the door and finding you there, not that the young woman knew you “Yes?”

“Hi, uh… Is Chigasaki-san inside? I’m a… colleague from work”

The young woman laughed nervously, looking inside and then back at you again “Is… Itaru-san expecting you?”

You shook your head “I can wait here if he prefers to change. I’m not in a hurry” 

“Oh! Um… all right, I’ll call him. Please wait a second”

The door closed again, and you took a deep breath, trying to calm down. A minute later, the blond came out. You took another look at his appearance. It really was miles apart from his working persona.

“I figured it wouldn’t matter anymore” he shrugged, answering as if he had just read your thoughts. His personality was on another level too “Why are you here?”

You swallowed down “I... I am lazy too, Chigasaki-san!”

Frowning, Itaru opened his mouth confused “What are you… “

“I don’t like to clean at home and get overwhelmed easily! also, I hate waking up early and I don’t like waiting for the food to get cold and end up burning myself…!”

What were you doing shouting all those things about you?

“…I also tend to leave everything until the last minute because I love spending time on the phone and have to make up for it after and, uh, what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry I made you feel uncomfortable in your own house! But..!” you clenched your fists “You are still the Chigasaki-san that I admire and respect, it doesn’t matter if you behave differently outside work. You are you!”

Itaru stared at you, not knowing how to react to your outburst.

Seeing your expectant face waiting for his reaction, his mind suddenly compared it to how the spring troupe did that cringy act to keep him from leaving the dorm.

Noticing the similarities, he found himself smiling and then laughing, under you confused stare.

‘You are you!’

A tiny smile reached his face. It was as if the burden and guilt he had been carrying these weeks about  being fake had lifted from his shoulders “…You really are something else” 

You raised your hands, moving them to reject those words “I’m sorry! I just meant it was…!” Itaru kept staring at you with a smile you had never seen before and you blushed, not knowing how to behave right now. 

“Ey, Y/N-san…”

“Y-yes?”

He looked at the dorm and then to you, smirking now “…Would you like to play some games?”

                                             -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Fuck, Itaru-san I told you to wait! You are gonna kill me too if you throw that grenade now!”

“I don’t need weak people in my party” the blond pressed the bomb, eliminating every single person surrounding him “GG, Banri”

“SHIT! Why would you-!” they kept arguing until a knock was heard on the door

“May I come in?”

“Oh, Y/N-chan-san! It’s been a while” the high school boy turned around

You smiled at him “I know! There are a lot of things to take care of as a new manager… I brought some snacks as an apology though” you lifted a bag “I’m not late, am I?”

Itaru scoffed, still looking at the screen “Hey there, Y/N, more like I thought you had gotten scared”

You frowned, making space for yourself in the couch next to them “I never back down from a challenge Itaru, and you know it! You are just too enthusiastic when it comes to these things, so I have to prepare myself to kick your ass”

“Mmm… I wonder where did that ‘I admire you the most, Chigasaki-san’ attitude go. I kind of miss it”

“I can respect you and still want to see you eating dirt, you know”

The spring member snickered, stopping the game and giving you the controls “Yeah, yeah, let's show you how to really level up to the fullest to at least entertain me”

“You bet I will!”

Itaru wouldn’t say he tried hard to achieve big things or create ties with others, that just wasn’t his thing. 

However, glancing at you talking to Banri about the best way to make him lose, he thought allowing you entering in his world hadn’t been so bad after all.

And he smiled. Guess relationships really worked like that.

_________________________________________________________

Hopefully you guys ended up liking it! Have a wonderful day! 💕

[spidxysense]

Back to You | 12

Summary: He broke your heart, but you’d always love him. Two souls that not even the universe could tear apart, even if you wanted it to at times.

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader x Timothee Chalamet

A/N: THIS TOOK SO LOOOOOOOOOOOONG TO UPDLOAD!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh, I spent the past 2 days trying to upload this from my mobile data whih is honestly so slow when I’m on tumblr, luckily our internet got fixed today. Hope all of you are well during this time and stay indoors guys! Now that I’m just at home, I’ll be sure to write more. I just finished Never Have I Ever, and I loved the series soooooooooo much!!!! Do you guys have any suggestions of shows like that?? I know it’s a bit short but I plan on making the chapters shorter so it’s easier for me to finish a chapter, lol. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING SO PATIENT! and I just want to let you guys know that this isn’t the end of Back to You yet! It’s just the end of the Italy arc of it all. I love you guys! As always, let me now what you think ! <3<3<3

Word count: 1,915

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

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

You wake up back in your room, on your bed but still in last night's clothes. You don't see your phone anywhere near you so it must be out in the living room somewhere. You get up, stretching then changed in more comfortable pajamas as you head out to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

"Armie." You grin with a sleepy daze on your face as you greet the older actor, but unlike any other time, he doesn't grin back or even call your name in greeting. Instead, he swallows whatever was in his mouth, pushing the chair in front of him forward with his foot.

"We need to talk."

You'd never heard Armie sound like this so you immediately follow his orders.

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, a classic stressed Armie movie. He must have been bothered by something, perhaps something that you did?

"Listen Y/N, I really thought we reached an understanding back at the hike…" he sighs again, "But I'm almost done with filming and will be heading back to LA for a new movie after this so I won't even have time to contact either of you two and I can only hope for the best, but I have to tell you Y/N, as much as I like you. You're being very selfish." 

You feel your mouth go slightly agape as Armie's words sink in, "Do you notnunderstand how much you've been hurting Timothee? Choosing your ex over him? Leaving him alone with an old friend of the two of you who Timothee doesn't even know? He got here at 7 PM, Y/N. He sat around doing nothing and waited for you while you were off with your ex."

"Armie, you don't understand, it's not that simple-"

"Bullshit, it's not that simple." He hits the table in frustration, "I told him yesterday to get some rest, to forget about you because there are other girls out there, but he still waited for you. How could you do that to him?"

His eyebrows were furrowed, "How could you hurt this boy who has done nothing but show you that he understands you and is willing to wait for you? How could you just let this guy who's so willing to be hurt if it's for your sake, be hurt by you?"

You feel the tears fall from your eyes as you blink, "Armie, I'm sorry, I'm such a jerk. Thimothee should hate me-"

"Yeah, yeah you are a jerk." His voice falters, "and don't tell me you're sorry. Tell that to Timothee, you owe it to him at the least. Tell him how you feel and what you've decided." He looks at you for a second as you contemplate asking him where Timothee is, "He left earlier to pick up your ex and his friend to take them to the train station. They got an earlier ticket."

You rush to your room, get dressed and bolt out the house, grabbing your phone from the coffee table, as you run out the street to hail a cab.

You sit in the cab agitated as you unlock your phone, bombarded with texts and calls from a mixture of Timothee, Haz, and Tom.

You told Tom last night you'd give him an answer, so this is what you were finally going to do. You grab a fistfull of money from your pocket and shove your hand through the middle of the cab, not caring if you paid too much and you bolt out of your seat and onto the train station.

You spot the pale blonde boy among a sea of people by the baggage dropoff and you grab hold of his shoulders, "Where's Tom!?"

Haz blinks at you in surprise, "Y/N! Thank god. He was gonna wait for you and our departure is in 30 minutes, you need to talk to him. He's by the ticket booth."

You push past people, tears in your eyes growing heavy as you see him. Eyes red and swollen probably from crying too.

"Y/N!" He calls out for you looking relieved, reaching his hand out for you to take.

You clasp on it tightly, "Tom." You wipe the tears in your eyes with the sleeve of your free arm, "I'm here to tell you."

He bites his bottom lip, noticing your lack of bags, "Y/N. Let's fix it, let's fix us." He grabs both your hands and he rests his forehead on yours, "Let's leave all this bullshit behind, let's finally start our family and live like normal people. We can travel the world."

You shut your eyes, relishing in Tom's atmosphere, "Tom, you love your job." You sigh, "And just because having a normal, quiet life is something I've always wanted, doesn't mean that's what you need to want too." You sigh, "Why did you come here?"

The tears spring to his eyes, "Because I don't want to be without you, Y/N. And this was my last chance. I was so willing to leave everything behind because having everything without you would just be nothing." He clutches your hands tight, "Because after this, I don't know if I can ever even talk to you again. Because I decided to choose you over this life that I worked so hard for, because my management team in Marvel is making me do something that means I can't talk to you anymore and you're going to end up hating me for it and I can't live with that and I can't live without you. Because, I-I want to choose you, and I'd choose you over and over and over again. Because I want to be with you…" he trails off, "But that isn't what you want, is it?" His smile is sad but understanding, a true love.

You shake your head gently, "Tom, we were perfect even in the ways we weren't but I have to see where things end up with Timothee. He was there for me. I need to live a life without you in it to live for myself." You hold his cheek in your hand, "And I love you. I always will, but now isn't the time for us. I want you to choose your dreams over me. Right now, we have to live our own lives without each other. I can't have you throwing your dreams away because of me. And I've needed you and leaned on you for so long that it took me this long to realize I have to live without you to learn to be who I am. Timothy's like me. He needs me… and I needed you. But I need to live a life where I don't any more." 

He sighs, accepting your decision, slowly bringing his face to yours as your tears mixed with his in a tender kiss. He breaks apart first, leaning his forehead against yours again, "Bye Y/N. I really hope we find our way back to each other one day." 

You embrace him tight as the sob reverbitates through your body, "Bye Tom. I love you. I always will." You kiss him on the cheek, letting him go as he boards the train, leaving you on the platform looking vulnerable with your long sleeves covering your hands as you clutched them together, you kiss you fingers lifting that same hand to say goodbye, and the train moves on, farther and farther until you couldn't see it anymore and there weren't anymore people on the platform.

You walk out the station, already recognizing the mop of brown curly hair and you sit next to him quietly.

"I saw you, running out the cab, even when you took out all your money and gave it to the guy and I thought, how the hell does this goober think she's getting home?" He chuckles.

You look at him quietly, "With you." You answer surely.

Timothee's laugh is cut short.

You turn to face him, "Because you're always there for me, and you always will be."

He tries to look at something else aside from your face but you grab his face in both of your hands and make him look at you.

"How could I not?"

You speak quietly, "You should hate me."

He sighs, "But I don't." He rolls his eyes playfully, "And I never could." 

You sigh, "But you should. Because I've treated you like crap since Tom got here and I've been so unfair to you. You should scream at the air and then at me because I've done nothing but hurt you, and you should tell me that you want nothing to do with me and tell me you hope that you don't meet anyone like me ever again. You should call me a bad person, because I am and a user because I've always taken advantage of you being nice to me. You should tell Luca how terrible of a person I am and maybe, just maybe he'll write me out of the movie so that you at least don't have to see me for the rest of filming. You should hate me for everything I've done to you." You sob.

His hand reaches out to grab your own, pulling you down so you were sitting next to him, "I don't want to scream at you. I normally wouldn't but given that look you're giving me while you're crying your eyes out, I especially don't want to. Who cares if I've gotten hurt? We're actors, we have to feel things for the sake of our art." He wipes the tears from your cheeks, smiling sadly, "And if I let you go now, then I really don't meet anyone like you ever again and I don't want that. You aren't a bad person, Y/N."

"But I am!" You cry, "You don't deserve what I've been doing to you-"

"I don't care." He shrugs, "Simple as that, I don't care if you hurt me, make me into your punching bag for all I care, all I care about is the calm look in your eyes when we're together, how your laugh sounds like bells, the way your nose crinkles when you laugh at my corny jokes, or even the way you run your hands through your hair when you're stressed. I don't feel alone when I'm with you, Y/N and you always take care of me and you didn't even shy away when I was having that panic attack a few days ago. So how could you ever expect me to hate you when all I want to do is love you and all you've ever done for me is make me feel less alone and loved? How could anyone ever expect me to hate you when I see you like how I see you?" 

You two sit there for a while, just staring at each other, "Did you talk to him?"

You nod, "I did. And I told him what I wanted to do with the situation we were in."

His face drops slightly, "Oh."

You nod, "I told him I wanted to be with you."

His face brightens in surprise, "Oh."

You nod along, "Yeah."

"Then, can I-?"

You scoff, "I'd be insulted if you didn't" you laugh as he pulls you in for a kiss.

He breaks apart first, firehead resting against yours, "What happens after Italy?"

You sigh, eyes still closed, "We'll get there when we get there."

[xmagicxshopx]

Spring Cleaning - Chapter 4

Genre: Fluff, Romance, Comedy Rating: PG - M ( future smut ) Warnings: None in this chapter Pairing: personal assistant!jungkook x ceo!reader Notes: AU fic. Not idol!jungkook. Single quote marks ‘ ‘ are for thoughts and double “ “ are for talking. Additional Notes: This chapter may seem like a filler but I think it’s important for character development since Kook and reader are spending time together and getting to know each other~

Tagging: @deolly​ @katebacks​

Summary: Your mother built you to be a thriving business machine. However, in her old age, she’s growing soft and wants grand kids to spoil. Your home and yard are a mess due to your busy schedule. So your mother attempts to kill two birds with one stone.

MASTERLIST || CH 1 || CH 2 || CH 3 

“Good night, Mr. Jeon.”

“Good night, Miss. Kwon.”

Last night had ended just as the night before. Only......it hadn’t? As he laid there in bed staring at the ceiling but not really seeing it, he let the events of last night play back in his mind’s eyes. You had told him that you were going to call off work tomorrow.....which would mean today. You----The workaholic who literally worked till she dropped, was going to take a day off??? It almost seemed too good to be true. Yet here he was, another morning rolling around and this time.....he wouldn’t have to watch you leave for work at the ass crack of dawn. It was Monday so normally you’d be getting up and getting ready for work.

“She seemed to really like breakfast yesterday. Perhaps I’ll see if she’s up and I can make more for her.”

Changing into a simple over sized t-shirt and some sweats, he made his way out of his room and instantly noticed the smell of coffee filling the house. Hmm......Well he knew that could have only came from one person. You. So it would seem you were already up. Not surprising but hopefully you’d still be somewhere around here and not having lied to him. Now that he had time to process everything, he was genuinely looking forward to you staying home today.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he reached the bottom in nothing flat. Subconsciously ruffling and fluffing his shaggy long locks, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw not only you sitting at the dining table sipping on coffee, but your mother too. Well dang.

“Jungkookieeee! Darling! It’s so good to see you! Come! Have some coffee with us!”

While he had managed to keep professional eye contact with your mother, he was pretty sure he could see you visibly cringe out of the corner of his eye and he couldn’t help but internally snicker. Your mother was quite......obvious with her intentions still despite everything. However, he offered a warm and friendly smile before saying casually in a light and happy tone,

“I’d love to, Mrs. Kwon. Thank you.”

Of course she motioned for him to sit next to you and who was he to defy your mother??? Trying to keep a straight face and not grin like a moron, he took the seat next to you and decided to sneak a glance your way. You seemed to be texting someone at a rate that not even he could keep up with. If the look of deep concentration was anything to go by, he decided it was best not to say anything to you till you were done.

“How do you like your coffee, my dear?”

“Oh just black is fine, Mrs. Kwon.”

“Ugh. Gross. You’re just like my daughter. You two need more sweetness in your lives. Some sugar and cream. Lots of cream.”

Thank god he hadn’t actually took a drink from his mug yet or else he would have choked just as he nearly had on the noodle from his soup last night. What was it with these Kwon women??? Always full of surprises it would seem. After cautiously taking a sip of his coffee, he glanced over to see what your reaction had been but you simply kept typing furiously away on your phone.

“So what brings you over so early in the morning, Mrs. Kwon? Is everything alright?”

“Oh I just happened to get a frantic text from my poor Jiminnie this morning. Something about how my daughter might be in trouble because she was calling off work today. So I rushed right over.”

However, the tone that your mother spoke in was anything but worried. In fact, her voice just happened to be dripping in amusement. Something that the male instantly caught on to. Taking another sip of his coffee, he noticed you grumbling as you finally put your phone down. Goodness. Weren’t your thumbs about to fall off?

“I still don’t think it’s that big of a shock. I’m taking a day away from the office. So what???”

The table grew silent while you huffed and took a sip of your now stone cold coffee. Oh well. That was okay. It would be cold like your soul as you thought to yourself. Even though your mother liked to pick on you, even she knew now wasn’t a good moment to poke fun at your statement. While Jungkook hadn’t known you for very long, less than a week in fact, he knew enough not to comment either. It was then that your mother decided to break the tense silence as she cleared her throat and asked casually,

“So what are the plans for today, my darlings?”

That was a good question. What were your plans??? Now that you weren’t sitting there texting Jimin an entire playbook on how to run a company for just. one. day., you finally had some time to think about what you wanted to do with this time away from the office. The growling of your stomach gave you the first idea.

Grocery shopping. Ah yes. You were supposed to do that with Jungkook sometime soon. So that way he could fix food he knew you would actually like instead of just guessing. Hearing a soft chuckle over next to you, you glanced over to see Jungkook smiling to himself in amusement and delight as he silently got up from his chair before padding over to the kitchen and announcing happily,

“Mrs. Kwon, you should stay for breakfast. My treat.”

“Why thank you, dear! Mr. Jeon has quite the manners. Doesn’t he, sweetheart?”

“Absolutely selfless, he is.”

Your tone was one of a deadpanned as you silently grumbled while sipping on your ice cold coffee. You could practically feel the male snickering behind you while he shared a look of amusement with your mother. Two against one. How unfair. While Jungkook went about fixing breakfast for the three of you, your mother pipped up about how it would be a good idea to start making a list of all the groceries you’d need.

It kind of reminded you of the days where she was training you to be her successor. The one to take her place in the company that she had held so dearly once upon a time. But now it was almost like your mother was teaching you how to be a normal human being again. Honestly, it wasn’t far from the truth. You didn’t know it, but your mother felt incredibly guilty for having turned you into such a workaholic. A soul who was alive but not actually living.

As he stood there in the adjoining kitchen cutting up peppers to put in the fried potatoes, he couldn’t help but watch you and your mother at the dining table. It all felt so.......domestic? The real question was.....how did that make him feel? The initial feeling was that he liked it. But should he? This was supposed to be a job and a job only for him. Cooking, cleaning, being your personal assistant so that you could focus on your company and not have to worry about life at home so much.

So then why did it feel like he was fixing breakfast for his girlfriend and his potential mother-in-law???

Shaking his head a bit to clear it, he continued working on breakfast and decided to listen in on your conversation. Perhaps focusing on tasks such as grocery shopping would help distract him from these odd thoughts and feelings that were bubbling inside his chest and confusing his brain.

It seemed like in no time at all, a western omelet fit for royalty had been placed on three plates as well as Jungkook coming up with his own little healthy touch of fruit salad as a small side dish for each of them as they all three sat at the dining table. But not before the male had kindly offered to refill their coffee mugs. Needless to say, your mother was glowing while you were brooding.

“My my my. I’m going to have to come over for breakfast more often! I could get used to this!”

“You want him? You can have him.”

Having quickly become used to your sour humor, your words didn’t phase Jungkook a bit. As for your mother, however, she still lightly scolded you for being so rude to someone who had just slaved over a hot stove to make you breakfast. If your mother only knew. Jungkook thrived in the kitchen and being a slave was the last thing he felt like right now.

“It’s quite alright, Mrs. Kwon. I take no offense to it. Please do enjoy your breakfast before it gets cold.”

Wow. When your mother was all feather ruffled and huffy and puffy......it made the two of you look so much alike. There was no denying that you two were blood related. In that moment, Jungkook learned that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. It was actually kind of cute, really. Thankfully, your mother took his encouraging words and ran with it as she finally took the first bite of the best omelet she had ever had.

Aside from the occasional bickering between you and your mother, breakfast was actually quite lovely. If it hadn’t been for looking over the grocery list the two of you had made up, Jungkook would have started feeling all domestic again and that wasn’t what he needed right now. He needed to stay focused on his job and be just your personal assistant. Nothing more and nothing less.

‘Stay focused, Jeon.’

Once breakfast was over and Mrs. Kwon insisted on helping load the dishwasher, you had made the announcement that you’d be heading upstairs to shower before accompanying your assistant to the grocery store. Both your mother and said assistant simply nodded with smiles that were nearly identical in mischief. This only caused you to narrow your eyes suspiciously at them before huffing and heading upstairs. Still not fair.

“You know, Jungkookie, there’s a carnival in town this week. Perhaps you and my daughter might wish to go?”

Dang. Your mother wasn’t going to make his latest internal struggle any easier, was she? At first, he really hadn’t minded her obvious attempts at match making. However, now that he was starting to feel these odd domestic type feelings, it was becoming much more difficult to shrug them off as just all-in-good-fun teasing.

“A carnival sounds like a lot of fun, Mrs. Kwon. Would you like to join in if we go?”

There. Maybe if he could try to turn the tables a bit, it might make him feel a little less self-conscious. While he appreciated your mother’s enthusiasm and confidence in his ability to please you, Jungkook was in no shape to be someone’s love interest. For several reasons. Reasons that he really didn’t care to think about right now.

“Oh my no. I wouldn’t want to intrude. But I think my daughter needs to get out more and she seems to listen to you better than she does me. So perhaps you could convince her to go, hmm?”

Well that didn’t work. At all. He should have known better, honestly, but it had been worth a shot. After assuring the woman that he would at least try to run the idea by you, that seemed to be enough to satisfy her and she proceeded to insist that she could handle the dishes if he too wanted to wash up before heading to the grocery store.

With that, he nodded and headed up the stairs to take a quick shower and make himself decent for the task at hand. While in the shower, it felt anything but quick as he got lost in thoughts. Thoughts of you and your mother and how he felt about having breakfast with the two of you. It was nice. Really nice. But he was probably just overthinking it. He had a tendency to do that with things that confused him.

After getting all washed up and towel drying his shaggy mop of hair, he then proceeded to comb and dry said mop. Honestly, he felt he looked more mature with long hair but dang was it a hassle to take care of. Once his dark locks were perfectly quaffed, he dressed in a light yellow button up shirt tucked into a pair of ripped skinny jeans.

There we go. Not too dressy but not too casual. Spritzing on some cologne his father got him for his birthday last year, he checked himself in the mirror one more time before determining he looked good and professional. He could only imagine how his best friend from Busan Jimin felt. Having to wear a monkey suit day in and day out being your real assistant.

If only you knew that him and Jimin knew each other. That your personal assistant and company assistant were childhood best friends from Busan. For some reason, he just didn’t have the desire to tell you yet. That was something else he couldn’t quite explain. Why exactly did he want to keep it a secret? What did he have to gain by keeping the information from you? There he goes again, thinking way too much.

‘Get your butt out there, Jeon. They’re probably waiting on you.’

After giving himself a small pep talk in the bathroom mirror to just act natural and that he’s on business as your personal assistant, he took one last deep breath and exhaled slowly before bracing himself and heading out of his room to truck downstairs. He could do this. He could do this. This is a business trip to stock your home with food that he will eventually cook for you. Just business. Just busin----

Wow.

He was beginning to think he was going to be the next poor sap stuck in a monkey suit if this was how you always dressed to go grocery shopping.

Pointed toed heels that looked more like weapons rather than footwear. And dang did you look dangerous in that pantsuit. Keeping it classic. Black. Pitch black. Not to mention how it hugged your body in all the right ways. For a woman who either didn’t eat at all or ate nothing but take-out, you still had a gorgeous figure. Or maybe he was just biased???

Your hair was pulled back in what appeared to be the most tight knit bun he had ever seen. In fact, just looking at it was giving him a headache. Maybe if you didn’t have your hair up so tightly all the time, you wouldn’t be so grumpy. But he wasn’t about to tell you that. He’d like to keep all his body parts attached, thanks. Seriously......those heels could poke someone’s eye out.

“You ready to head out, Mr. Jeon? Mother has offered to watch the place while we’re out.”

“Absolutely, Miss. Kwon.”

“You two enjoy the shopping trip and I’ll just be here monitoring the dishwasher and maybe dust here and there a bit. I’ll make sure Jimin holds down the fort at the company as well. Just go and enjoy yourselves!”

Well.....as enjoyable as grocery shopping could be, anyhow. With an obvious eye roll, you simply snapped your fingers and started moving to the door, heels making clacking sounds loud enough to wake the dead. Given the fact that your floors switched back and forth between hardwood and marble. God didn’t your feet hurt in those things??? Weren’t your toes squished???

It was when the two of you finally got outside and was swinging by the garage that he realized it had never been discussed who’s vehicle they’d be taking. But judging from your confident steps towards your sleek black Hyundai Palisade, it would appear that you were driving. He shouldn’t have been surprised, honestly. It made perfect sense. With his truck, he didn’t have much space in the backseats and he highly doubted the bed of a truck was sanitary for food to be packed into.

You had already climbed into the driver’s seat by the time he got to the passenger side. He was no psychologist, but from the short amount of time he had spent with you thus far, he could tell one thing.......You liked being in control. Of everything. Wordlessly climbing into the passenger seat, he got himself buckled in and watched you start the vehicle before the two of you were finally out of the garage and on your way to the grocery store.

“Okay. The job is simple. We get the list out, buy everything on the list, pay for it, and get out of here.”

Jungkook expected nothing less from you so he simply smiled and gave you a thumbs up before climbing out of the car. The ride to the store had been silent as the grave and he wasn’t about to ruin that. It was an odd peaceful kind of silence even if he could feel your mild agitation radiating from you in the driver’s seat. If this had truly been your first day off from the company in---like---ever, then he could understand how tense you might be feeling. You probably felt like a new mother letting go of her new born baby for the first time since giving birth.

Walking into the store, you immediately pulled your phone out to bring up your electronic list. While you did that, Jungkook took it upon himself to be your assistant and took a disinfectant wipe from the public dispenser and cleaned down the bar handle of one of the carts from the docking area. With list ready and a cart set to go, the two of you made your way to the first section of the store. The fruits and vegetables.

So far so good. You were being very cooperative and well-behaved during the whole trip. A nice change from the first time the two of you went to the store together. Perhaps because you were working. You actually had a task that you needed to complete. Again, Jungkook was no psychologist, but he was pretty sure if you weren’t working, you just simply didn’t know how to act. Which was kind of, sort of, really sad.

“Okay so we’ve taken care of the fruits, vegetables, meats. Now what?”

“Well if we’re going to have stir fry one night this week, we’re going to need some rice. Let’s head there next.”

There he goes again. That feeling bubbling up in his chest again and filling his stomach with butterflies. Dang it. He had been doing so good too. But watching you retrieve items here and there, sometimes needing his help because the items were too high up, it all felt so.......domestic. That word just kept floating around in his head. It felt like the two of you had decided to go to the grocery store after work. Discussing dinners ahead of time and all that. Gah he was going to go insane!

You, on the other hand, were having a hard time focusing but for other reasons. Your assistant was dressed quite nicely today despite the lack of professionalism. While you approved of the yellow button up, the skinny jeans were a bit too casual for your liking. Or maybe you just didn’t like how well they hugged his thighs? Nah. It was just too casual for you. Yeah. That was it. That had to be the reason. Maybe next time you’d make a comment about dressing more appropriately for the job. But today you’d let it slide.

He smelled really nice too. You briefly wondered what cologne he uses when you realized that you couldn’t reach a box of pasta for Italian Nights. Without even having to ask, you could feel a huge warm body coming up behind you that smelled just like your assistant. Sure enough, Jungkook extended his long arm and easily plucked the box of pasta from the shelf before flashing you a bright bunny-like smile and handing it over to you.

“Here you are, Miss. Kwon.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jeon. I appreciate it. Now you know one of the reasons why I don’t go grocery shopping in the first place.”

Wow. Did you just crack a joke??? He was pretty sure you did. Or at least tried to. Smiling and feeling more at ease knowing that you were starting to ease up a bit, he continued to push the cart that only kept getting heavier and heavier as the two of you walked down the aisles. The rest of the trip went mostly in silence aside from the small discussion of price comparing here and the task of picking out the least beaten up box there.

It seemed like in no time at all, the two of you were heading up to the register and placing the items down for scanning and payment. This process too went mostly in silence but, again, it was peaceful. An unspoken agreement that there didn’t need to be words exchanged in order to check out their groceries. This was a job, after all. He needed to stay professional.

Thank goodness you had brought your vehicle instead of his because he wasn’t sure if even the bed of his truck would have held all these groceries. After Jungkook insisting that he do all the packing and storing into the vehicle, being that he was your assistant and all, you took this opportunity to send a quick text to Jimin asking him how things were going before shooting your mother a text informing her that the two of you were on your way home now.

“I think that was a very successful trip, don’t you think, Miss. Kwon?”

“It wasn’t as bad as I had initially thought it would be. Although I don’t remember groceries being so pricey. Then again.....it has been awhile.”

While you spoke in your professional tone, it still made him smile to hear you yet again trying to poke fun at your own self. You were lightening up. Even if only just a little. Progress was progress no matter how small. That’s how he looked at it. With the both of you in the vehicle once more with the back plum full of food, you put it in gear and started the trip back home.

“Thank you for helping me with the groceries, Mr. Jeon. I feel our next task should be shopping for items such as cleaning supplies and toiletries. Not just for myself, but for you as well. My home is your home now.”

Dang. Maybe there was something in that chicken soup he made last night that he didn’t know about. Or maybe all you needed was some real sleep and rest in order to feel a little bit better and a little less moody. Not only did you just thank him, but you said your home was his home. You were certainly giving him whiplash with your crazy mood swings.

“And after that, we should focus on the grounds of the estate. Compile that list of tools and equipment you’ll need and we will make another trip out.”

“Will that trip be today, Miss. Kwon? Don’t forget, we need to eat lunch soon.”

“Probably not today. We’ll run out of time. Because this afternoon, after lunch, we’ll make a run to the store for items such as the cleaning supplies and any toiletries I’ve failed to stock up on. But again, we’re shopping for you too. So purchase anything you need while we’re there. It won’t come out of your paycheck so don’t worry about that.”

“Thank you for your kindness and generosity, Miss. Kwon. I greatly appreciate it. I will do my very best to make this arrangement worth your time and money.”

While you knew what the poor man was referring to, it still sent your mind straight to the gutter. Trying not to snicker or, rather, trying not to snicker too noticeably, you found yourself finally pulling into the driveway of your huge estate and pressing the button that would open the garage door. Once the car was parked, you turned it off and sported a smug smile while taking your seat belt off as you said casually yet teasingly,

“Be careful, Mr. Jeon. Anyone who didn’t know any better might think your intentions are anything but pure.”

At first he didn’t get it. Those doe eyes of his blinking at you in confusion as you smirked and got out of the vehicle, but not before popping the trunk and unlocking all the doors and heading inside the house. Anything but pure??? Why would you say that? It almost sounded like you were trying to say he was.......OH!! Instantly, he could feel the heat sprout all over his face and down his neck and even to the tips of his ears. It spread like a wildfire as he quickly climbed out of the passenger seat.

He would never do that to you! Never ever! He was a good man! Suddenly needing to pop the top button of his yellow dress shirt, the poor boy managed to resist as he tried his very best to focus on the task at hand which was to pack the groceries into the house. Oh god! Your mother was in there!

‘Heavenly Father, please give me the strength to deal with these Kwon women!’

After saying the quick prayer and doing his very best to calm himself down, he cleared his throat and began taking bags into both of his arms. Given his muscular physique, it was super easy for him to pack several bags on both arms. Unbeknownst to him, he was getting payback as you came back around the corner of the garage to help him.

Muscles. Lots and lots of muscles. Bulging muscles. You had to stop yourself right on the spot as you had just came from informing your mother that the two of you were back from the shopping trip and would need some help packing the groceries in. First of all, you weren’t quite sure why you felt the need to help since it was Jungkook’s job as your assistant to do this stuff and he would normally be doing all of this by himself anyway while you were at work.

Secondly, why were you still standing there eyeing him up like a piece of meat??? Perhaps it was because of the.......dry spell.....you had found yourself in recently. Yeah. That was probably it. You were just horny. Sexually frustrated. Yeah. That was it. Pulling yourself together just in time for Jungkook to turn around, you managed to plaster that confident smirk from earlier back on your face as you gave him a curt nod only to watch his face flush pink all over again.

“Oh my, Jungkookie! You look flushed! And no wonder from packing all those bags. Here. Let me help you.”

“It’s quite alright, Mrs. Kwon. I got this. But if it wouldn’t be too much to ask, may I have a bottle of water?”

“Absolutely, my dear boy! Anything for you!”

The male was grateful that your mother was so easily distracted. Not to mention he could really use that bottle of water right now. He needed something to cool himself down. That smirk you had worn was just a little too much for him right now. He was still rather flustered over your teasing words from earlier.

It wasn’t that Jungkook was innocent. He wasn’t a virgin, that’s for sure. But......that topic was just......different for him? He was the type of guy who wanted to find his beautiful princess and turn her into a queen. He wanted to love her and cherish her. Settle down and start a family with her. It wasn’t sex to him. It was making love. So perhaps that’s why he was so taken aback by your crude words. Because that’s not who he was. Again----He was a good man.

“Here you go, my dear. Take a moment and just relax. Sip on some water and I’ll take these into the kitchen.”

“No no, Mrs. Kwon. This is my job as your daughter’s assistant. I just needed something to help with the spring heat is all.”

“Nonsense. I may be up there in years but I’m not crippled yet.”

Knowing it was no use to fight with a Kwon woman, he simply uncapped the bottle of water and let the ice cold liquid run down his throat. There. That was better. He just needed to cool off a bit and it would help him focus a bit better. With the cold water running through his heated bloodstream, he set the bottle down on the foyer table and went back out to help pack in more groceries.

With the three of you working together, all the groceries were now packed into the kitchen and all that needed to be done was putting them away in appropriate cabinets and such. Jungkook insisted he be the one to do that while you and your mother decide on what you want for lunch. This way you were stuck with your mother and couldn’t tease him any further. At least for a little bit.

After deciding on barbecued pulled pork and a side salad, Jungkook quickly went to work in his favorite habitat. The kitchen. While he allowed the pork to cook, he had taken time to make a fresh pitcher of lemonade. Fresh as in fresh fresh. No powdery packets or any of that imitation stuff you can buy in the store in the water enhancement aisle. No. He was taking real lemons and squeezing them into a pitcher of heaven.

Filling three cups up full of ice and lemonade, he set two of them for you and your mother on the dining table where you were currently trying to calm down a frantic Jimin as he practically screeched in panic through your cell phone. He might as well have been on speaker, honestly. Sighing heavily, you excused yourself from the dining and connecting kitchen area to go up to your office where you could have a proper conference call with your frazzled assistant. Seriously. It was one day! One day!

“Jungkookie, darling, could you have a seat with me, please?”

Oh boy....

How did this keep happening to him???

“Sure thing, Mrs. Kwon. Let me just check on the pork really quick.”

Trying to buy himself all of an extra few seconds to brace himself, the male actually did check the meat and it was coming along nicely. With nothing else to help him worm his way out of this conversation, he tried to act cool and calm on the outside as he took a seat at the table next to your mother.

“First of all, the lemonade is wonderful.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Kwon. I felt it was appropriate for spring time.”

“Indeed indeed. However, that’s not what I wish to talk to you about.”

He figured as much. And rather than saying it out loud, he remained silent as he waited for the older woman to speak once more. Although Jungkook couldn’t help but notice how her face was suddenly etched with lines of sadness and guilt. She turned in her seat so that she could face him more and he did the same out of respect. Clearly something was bothering your mother.

“I know I don’t make my intentions very secretive. But you have to understand, Kookie. I’ve destroyed my own daughter and I need to put her back together. It’s my fault she’s like this and I need to right this wrong I’ve done.”

“Mrs. Kwon, with all due respect, your daughter is her own person who makes her own decisions. You didn’t do anything to her. She’s chosen to be this way.”

His heart was hammering in his chest as he realized this conversation was taking quite the deep turn. This definitely wasn’t the conversation he was expecting to have given his previous exchanges with your mother. The woman in front of him now was torn with sadness and misery. It broke his heart to see someone as sweet as your mother feeling so sad like this.

“But it is my fault, Kookie. I trained her to be this way because that’s how I was back in the day. But now that I’m getting older and I’ve slowed down.....I realize now how important it is to stop and smell the roses. That life isn’t entirely about work. I did that to her. I treated her like a robot to be programmed a certain way and now my little girl is gone.”

Oh boy. Now your mother was starting to cry. Oh boy. Okay. He could do this. He could handle this. Trying to stay calm for her on the outside, he got up from his seat and briskly went into the living room where he found a box of tissues and came back only to offer one and set the box on the table while he took his seat once more. Gently rubbing the woman’s back, he spoke softly,

“Mrs. Kwon. You were only doing what you thought was best for your company at the time. But things change. People change. Perhaps your daughter enjoys being busy with the company?”

“But she’s not living, Kookie. She’s alive but she’s not living. She just goes through the motions like the robot I turned her into. She doesn’t get out and socialize. She doesn’t treat herself to anything nice. She’s breathing but that’s all she’s doing.”

Suddenly, the woman took both of his hands in hers and she sniffled a little before putting her full attention back on the male. Good lord he hated to see women cry. Especially women as sweet as your mother. He could feel a lump forming in his throat as he gently gripped her hands while he waited for her to say something.

“I need you to help her, Jungkook. I know it’s selfish of me but I need your help. When Jimin reached out to me and told me about you, I knew you were the one who was going to bring my daughter back to me. And maybe......”

He felt his eyebrows knit together in confusion as he listened to this new round of information. Jimin had been behind this??? Wait.......oh.......Okay. Now it made sense. Your mother was looking out for you......while his best friend was looking out for him.

“And just maybe.......you can heal too.”

Meanwhile, you stood there at the bottom of the stairs with your back against the wall listening in. But all you got to hear was that your assistant needed healing. What did that mean? Was he sick? Did he need this job to help pay medical bills?

‘What’s your story, Mr. Jeon Jungkook?’

[btswrckd]

Hunting a Hybrid V

Black Panther!Hybrid Jungkook x Fem!Reader

Summary: Four years after it’s made illegal to acquire hybrids as pets, you’re approached by the daughter of your former employer to hunt down one that had been gifted to her

Warnings: slight violence, mentions of past abuse, poorly written smut

A/N: A lot is happening this chapter and it’s not as clean as I hoped it would be but tomorrow is Christmas and I really wanted it to be up. As you guys know, I’ve been busy with a new job and didn’t have much time to work on this fic but I’m hoping you guys will enjoy anyways. Also if you’re like me and love to listen to music while reading, I was listening to Can You Hold Me by NF and Dynasty by Miia. Much love!

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The red and blue lights flickered against the beige house, illuminating it and many others around. People, neighbors, stood along the street in a crowd and a few women breaking off into their own little cliques to whisper amongst themselves. Hands covered their mouths as if they weren’t so obviously speaking of the swarm of cop cars parked outside your home, their husbands off to the side and speculating just what the hell was going on. 

Sangchul stood gruff with crossed arms, nodding his head at the information being passed on to him by one of the few officers on the scene. His shoulders stiff at the sound of your voice, scream piercing through the crowd and footsteps heavy as they pounded against the asphalt behind him.

You were late coming home, 15 year old you grumbling and kicking rocks along the path you walked, Yoongi at your side and teasing you for losing track of time. Pouting as he ruffled your hair and said to be careful gathering your things, you shook your head and gave his shoulder a light punch. You noticed him wince slightly and dropped your head in apology; ever since training with your grandfather, both you and Yoongi noticed how strong you came to be, but this is what Sangchul had taught you to be and Yoongi never questioned it aloud. Not that you’d tell him the truth anyways.

“What the hell is that?” You asked, noticing the red and blue flashing lights just up the street. You noticed the mob of people as they turned to look at you with sympathy, anxiety creeping your spine and your stomach dropping to your feet. Bile rose in your throat with each step you took, the chatter and people fading into the back as you neared the house surrounded by police officers and an ambulance. The door looked as if it had been kicked in, the wood splintered from the force, and covered in yellow ‘caution’ tape. Your breath shuttered as you stepped off the curb, taking note of your mother’s car in the driveway. “Mom?”

Yoongi tried to snag your elbow before you went any further but his own father had clapped a hand to his shoulder, shaking his head in response to Yoongi’s glare. His head whipped back around at your shrill scream, the word ‘Mom’ being screeched so loud it made a few cops jump and try their best to stop you from going into the house. 

Stumbling as your knees gave in, you allowed yourself to be caught by the officer standing with your grandfather, hot tears streaming down your face when the paramedics stepped out the front door with a gurney and what you prayed was not your mother in a body bag. “Mom!” 

The officer winced when you clawed at his arms to break free from his embrace, nails digging into his skin but his hold was strong, tears springing to his eyes at hearing you cry out to your mother like a lost child. His bottom lip trembled at your tear stained face, throat raw from screaming and body going limp with exhaustion, he whispered his apologies into your hair. He knew better than to become emotionally involved but you were still just a kid whose own grandfather wasn’t doing much to comfort you. As he turned to shoot a glare in Sangchul’s direction, his grip faltered and you broke away from him to sprint into the house.

Other officers tried to restrain you, but you were quicker than them, more agile in your movements to dodge their hands. Finally reaching the front door, the bile in your throat came out full force at the sight of blood, too much blood to be just your mother’s. The red splattered across the walls painted a very gory image of what could have happened, your father’s body finally catching your eye and giving you a glimpse of what looked like claw marks.

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You sat up quickly, short of breath and feeling as though someone had been trying to smother you in your sleep. Sweat clung to your still naked body and soaked your sheets making you grimace and throw them from your body. Leaning over the bed, you slipped on a bra, panties, and a tank top. The rustling of sheets alerted you to Jungkook also coming to and jumping up in panic when he couldn’t feel your body beside his. 

“Hey,” His voice was soft and comforting as he felt your nerves on overdrive, your anxiety seeping out in waves. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” You lied, trying your best to calm the rapid beating of your heart and rising from the bed to cross the room, “Just a nightmare.”

“Another one?” Jungkook was understandably concerned, he himself waking with night terrors, but none leaving him as shaken. Even before his parents’ deaths, he had always been treated badly because he was a hybrid so he learned to adapt. But something about your nightmares made him uneasy, the need to protect you from them greater than anything he’s ever felt. 

“Kook,” Your voice broke through his thoughts as you faced the dresser and braced your palms against it, “Do you want to know why I became a hunter?”

He held his breath and stared at your back, watching your shoulders tense and arms tremble, signs that you were crying. It left an ache in his chest.

You took in a huge breath before turning to face him, leaning back against the dresser, and closing your eyes to recall that very night so long ago. “The night my parents died, I had been out with Yoongi because I was going to stay the weekend at his house. My dad had business out of town and was forcing my mom to go with him. When I got home that night, there was all kinds of cop cars up and down our block, and our neighbors were standing around outside. They crowded our house...” You couldn’t finish your sentence, the words dying on your tongue and the memories so vivid it was as if it all happened yesterday.

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“Y/N,” Sangchul’s voice caused a shiver to run down your spine, blood running ice cold at the lack of emotion in his tone. Of course he didn’t care that his only son and daughter-in-law were just murdered. Why would he?

You were on your knees, hands braced on the floor as you heaved, the acidic taste of vomit still present in your mouth. Eyes shut tight and the pain squeezing your chest, you shook your head as if it were going to erase the images.

“Y/N,” Sangchul’s tone was harsh as he tried to get your attention by gripping your elbow tight and tugging you to your feet, turning your body to face him. “Calm yourself.”

You looked at him as if he’d grown two heads, disgusted and confused by what he meant.  Hot tears streamed down your face while you scoffed, “Calm myself? Do you see what’s happened here? Are you blind?!”

“Do not,” He hissed and brought your face close to his, “speak to me that way. Of course I see what’s happened. Your parents were attacked by a beast.”

“A beast that looks both man and animal,” Sangchul clarified when your brows drew together, not yet processing what he was saying, “A hybrid, Y/N. One of those things did this to my son and your mother.”

“No,” You shook your head, refusing to believe any of it, “No, one would never. Hybrids...they’re not like this.”

“Yes they are. They’re savages whose violent nature cannot be tamed. Hybrid’s are unnatural and have no place in this world. And one did this to your home.”

“No!” You pushed at your grandfather’s chest hard, bringing your hands to your hair to tug at the strands as if trying to pull them all out. “No, it’s not true!”

Sangchul quickly engulfed you in a hug if only to keep you from causing more of a scene, “Of course it is, Y/N. They did this and we will find it. You will make it pay for what it has done.”

“The p-police will handle it, grandpa,” You pulled back, bringing your hand to your face to wipe away the tears, “can we please just go?”

“The police?” Sangchul growled and placed his large hands on your shoulders, comforting to an outsider but a warning to you, “You think any of these imbeciles will be able to find that hybrid? You think they’ll hold it accountable for what its done? No, Y/N, only you can make it pay. You deserve that much.”

“I don’t want to make him pay.”

“An eye for an eye, Y/N,” He insisted, grip tightening on your shoulders, “blood for blood, you know this. That’s the cardinal rule for hunters and you must uphold that.”

“I don’t want this.” You shook your head with fresh tears leaking down your cheeks and buried your face in your hands. “Please don’t make me.”

Sangchul was becoming frustrated, pulling you close once more to whisper, “You know what happened to your grandmother. You know a hybrid murdered her before you were even born and I never got the chance to see it hurt the same way I did. But you can. You can make it hurt just as bad and you’ll feel so much better once you do. I promise you, Y/N, that when it’s done and over with, you won’t even remember that hybrid. You’ll sleep peacefully knowing you avenged your parents.”

You never wanted to be that way, never wanted to hate the hybrid race because they were different and your grandfather despised them. You always believed hybrids were beautiful and misjudged simply because their appearance wasn’t of the normal standard. A chance encounter when you were a mere 5 years old convincing you that they meant no harm to anyone. You’d become lost in a crowd during your family’s weekly grocery shopping, becoming frightened of all the many strangers passing by without offering help to a little girl. Scurrying up and down aisles, panic began to settle in until you bumped into a friendly stranger with an even friendlier hybrid. The two helped you find your mother and the hybrid had playfully tapped your nose, making you giggle through the hiccups that developed while crying.

There was a raging hate your grandfather always carried for them and you never thought you could feel the same way...until now. You spared a glance at your father’s body being zipped into a black body bag just like your mother’s and decided...

Hybrids were not beautiful and they were not your friends, they were animals. Beasts that fooled you into believing they could be anything but what they were; feral and dangerous. You were wrong about them and you weren’t going to allow yourself to be blinded any longer.

Sangchul watched what little sliver of light you held die out. A smirk spread across his lips at the darkness swirling in your eyes, your jaw setting and nostrils flaring in rage. It was done; you were finally broken enough to train properly, to track and kill without remorse. You were finally ready to become the hunter Sangchul could never teach Donghoon to be.

“Everything okay over here?” The previous officer asked as Sangchul led you to his waiting car. His hands rested on his belt, studying you for any more signs of distress.

“Everything is fine, officer,” Your grandfather leaned in to read his name badge, “Kim. Ah, a fine name. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must take my granddaughter somewhere safe.”

“Of course,” Officer Kim nodded but never took his eyes off you, wanting so badly to prevent that from happening. He waited until your eyes finally met his to say, “I’m very sorry, sweetheart. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call and ask for me, okay?”

He had known your mother for quite some time now after he answered a domestic abuse call some months back. Officer Kim approached her discreetly and asked for the real story, and once the truth was out, he began to help build a case against your father. He was the only one convinced that a hybrid couldn’t do any of this but the evidence suggested otherwise. Something about all of it, including Sangchul’s odd behavior didn’t sit well with him.

“And we thank you for the offer,” Sangchul answered before you could, “But that’s what I’m here for. Come now,” He gathered your hand in his and led you away from what was no longer your home. Glancing back at you, he stopped a long time acquaintance on the force that was on the scene and leaned in close to whisper something into the detective’s ear, slipping a rather hefty roll of money into the man’s hand. 

“Where are we going?” You asked when he joined you in the car, eyes peering suspiciously at that same detective stopping officer Kim from getting any closer to the car. “Why did you just slip that detective money?”

“We have to leave town,” Sangchul sighed heavily, “and we won’t be able to return for a very long time. That detective is doing me a favor by making sure we’ll never be found.”

“Why aren’t we staying here to catch the hybrid?”

“You’re not ready,” He explained through grit teeth, frustrated at your series of questions. “Training every once in a while after school isn’t enough anymore. You need more time.”

“And exactly how do you suppose we find it if we don’t stick around?”

“You will,” Your grandfather promised eerily, “once you’re training is over, you’ll find it.”

Twisting around in your seat, you searched for Yoongi, finding him trying to chase the car down with no luck, his legs nearly giving out as your grandfather pressed harder on the gas pedal. You could see him cup his hands around his mouth to shout something, but you never heard what it was, instead lifting your hand to wave goodbye.

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“My parents,” You continued, “weren’t a happy couple. My dad would beat my mother every night. Just because he could. He liked making my mother feel inferior, making her feel as if she was nothing. Donghoon was a man that strived on the fear of others, especially her.”

Jungkook waited with bated breath, the realization that you were about to bare all for him, your past, finally sinking in.

Pushing away from the dresser, you faced him and caught the pity in his eyes and you almost laughed; Jungkook had very obviously endured more than you ever have and yet he still felt sorry for you. You never shared your story with anyone, not even Taehyung, and a small part of you was ashamed that you’d kept it from him. You trusted Taehyung with your life but why you chose to keep your past a secret was still a mystery to you. You supposed it was more that you never had anyone to share it with until Tae, but could never bring yourself to do so after seeing the fear in his eyes from one of the many jobs you pulled.

“He abused alcohol, my mother, drugs,” You tugged on the end of your hair, a nervous habit Jungkook picked up on, and let out a mocking laugh, “Never me though. No, I...I was too precious to hurt. But my mom, the woman who birthed me, she was okay to toss around like a ragdoll.”

“Did you ever,” Jungkook wasn’t sure what he was trying to ask, just that he needed to speak, “tell anyone?”

“No,” Finally settling on the bed, your hair fell in your face to hide the feeling of shame at keeping it a secret. “You see, just because my dad never hit me didn’t mean I wasn’t scared of him. He had so much power because was so successful in everything he did. Accusing him of something like that...it would have never worked in mine and my mother’s favors. No one would have believed us but I guess that never stopped my mom from trying.”

“Somewhere along the many, many years of abuse, she finally had enough courage to tell someone and started gathering evidence against him. I never found out who helped her, but my dad caught wind of it because my grandfather had ears everywhere. A detective found the file on my father and told him all about it. That night Donghoon went home...he killed my mom. I guess after his rage induced outburst he saw what he had done and for a split second, felt remorse. But then, panic set in and he didn’t want to have to face what he’d done or the kind of questions to come if he were to call the police. So, like a coward, he called my grandfather to cover it up and make plans for us to disappear.”

Jungkook felt sick to his stomach, he’d seen plenty of humans do some disgraceful and vile things but none quite like your father.

“My grandfather said he wouldn’t clean up my father’s mess for him.” Your eyes glossed over with tears, gaze still on the floor and it was like you were in a trance as you told Jungkook everything. “He took that same hammer Donghoon used on my mom and killed his own son. If you thought my dad was awful, Sangchul...he was a different kind of evil. He took a knife and slashed up their bodies to look like claw marks. Any untrained eye would believe the story he told about a hybrid breaking into the house. That night, he was able to convince me that hybrid’s were just things. That they deserved to be hunted just like any other animal.”

“If you knew,” Jungkook tried to process what he’d just heard, tried to understand why you never said anything and feeling a lump forming in the back of his throat, “why didn’t you tell the cops?”

“Sangchul was a master manipulator,” You explained, finally turning to him and bringing your legs onto the bed to rest your chin on your knees, “he always knew just what to say when he felt like I was slipping through his fingers. He was able to cloud my mind enough to hide what he was; a monster. It wasn’t until just after my 18th birthday that he told me what happened that night and what he’d done. He was really delusional enough to think that I would actually thank him. That I was enough like him to believe what he did was a favor. He was right to think I’m just as cruel because really, in a lot of ways I was. Am.”

Jungkook’s ears twitched when your voice dropped to a whisper, “I’ve only ever been taught to be one thing, Jungkook. And that’s never changed. The person I became is the person I will always be.”

His whole body stiffened, tail whipping back and forth and anger building in him. Anger at your father, your grandfather, and even you. Hunters tore his family apart and he thought it would be easy to forgive them, but your confession at being unable to change your habits made him sick. He moved away from you, hair covering his eyes and the way they glowed bright green.

“You have to understand something, Kook,” Your breath hitched at the distance he quickly created, watching his chest rise and fall in uneven breaths. “I kept hunting because Sangchul taught me that I could never trust anyone. Even after I learned the truth, that stayed with me. Those hybrids that I tracked down for people like Hyungsik, I never forgot them, not for one day. But I did what I thought I had to and I regret it all of the time. I know that trying to save them now won’t make up for what I’ve done.”

“Then why even bother trying?” He sneered, canines elongating and becoming visible at his irritation as he began to dress himself. “Most of them are dead already. You won’t be saving many from the prison you put them in. I understand that hunting them was a part of your past, but it doesn’t have to be now. You’re choosing to let it be because you’re scared that this might actually work and you don’t know how to handle being happy.”

Your gaze stayed on the bed sheets as Jungkook strode to the door and stormed out, choosing to stay put in the room and keep your distance. You understood why he was angry and took his harsh words without interruption because he was right. If everything worked and you were actually able to free the hybrids in Nam’s home, you’d no longer have a purpose. Hunting was your everything and without it, you didn’t know what to do with yourself, it’s why you agreed to hunt down Jungkook in the first place.

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“Oh, you’re up.” Taehyung blinked at Jungkook stewing on the couch, tail bristled and ears flat against his head. He peered down the hall to your closed door as Seokjin came up behind him.

“Are you alright, Jungkook?” Seokjin questioned and shuffled to the panther carefully. “You seem agitated. What happened?”

“We got into an argument.” The younger boy explained simply and felt Taehyung’s defenses rise at the possibility of you being hurt again. “She’s okay. Physically, at least.”

“The fuck does that mean?” Taehyung took a step towards Jungkook but Seokjin put his hand up to stop him. 

“Not now, Taehyung,” He kept his voice level so as not to rile either boy up any further, “go check on Y/N and Jungkook and I will head back upstairs for a few days.”

Taehyung didn’t hesitate to turn on his heel and stalk down to your room, not even bothering to knock and instead let himself in.

“She said,” Jungkook began to tell Seokjin, “that she’ll always be a hunter. And that it won’t ever change.”

“Do you expect it to?” His senior asked seriously as he sat on the coffee table across from him, “Y/N has hunted for a very long time. Just as you’re a predator, in her own way, so is she. That nature isn’t easy to forget.”

“She’s not even going to try!” Jungkook huffed and ran his fingers through his long hair and hanging his head in defeat. 

“She’s willing to risk her life to free the hybrids in Hyungsik’s home, isn’t she?”

“But will it really be over?” He whispered more to himself than Seokjin, “Will she really just stop hunting because Hyungsik is in jail? If her nature can’t be forgotten...then was I wrong to trust her?”

“Jungkook,” Seokjin frowned and reached to pat the younger on his shoulder, “trusting Y/N will have been the best decision you made in the end. At least for me, it will be. Don’t forget that I too chose to work for Mr. Nam because I was desperate. You still trust me, don’t you?”

“I…” Jungkook struggled to find his answer; he did trust Seokjin, but his feelings for his senior weren’t exactly the same as his feelings for you. He even went so far as to claim you even after you expressly said he needed to be sure, and he was. Is. Isn’t he?

“Come on,” Seokjin rose to his feet and led him to the door, watching Jungkook’s ears twitch at your voice coming from the room and his lips curl into a growl. Opening the door, he made room for Jungkook to stompy by.

Jungkook’s fists curled into balls as they hung at his sides, Taehyung’s voice carrying down the hall explaining that the panther has chosen to stay in the apartment above and your response being ‘it’s what he wants’ causing a harsh pain in his chest. You really weren’t going to fight him on the need for space.

Seokjin pulled a note from his pocket to leave on the kitchen counter with the words ‘I called detective Kim and he said he’s free for most of the week’ scribbled on them before following Jungkook to the elevator that seemed to be taking forever. As he rode in awkward silence next to a pissed off hybrid, he could only hope Taehyung had better luck finding out what happened from you.

Once on the floor above, Jungkook swiftly stormed to one of the empty rooms and flopped down on the bed. Head buried in the pillows, he ignored Seokjin’s questioning knock and the concern in his senior’s voice. He could already feel the pull of his mark coming from Taehyung’s apartment, the desperate need to be at your side burning a hole in his chest. But he wouldn’t go, not yet, not until he had enough time to sort out his thoughts.

Hybrid hunters were notorious for being ignorant about the hybrid race, believing humans were superior in every way and showing it in the way they chose to treat hybrids. Even now after the laws were passed, people still looked down on him and his race, disgust written all over their face. Jungkook was sensible enough to acknowledge that not all humans hated hybrids, some viewing them not as pets but as friends, sometimes even more. Seokjin was one of those people. Hoseok and Taehyung were those people. You, on the other hand, were in between; not hating hybrids but not seeing them as more than animals either, despite your many claims of regret.

Jungkook hissed as his chest burned; you were in pain, upset and possibly crying. There was nothing that he wanted more than to comfort you, hold you in his arms and soothe the pain inside. Tears sprung to his eyes as he resisted the urge to do so, claws sinking into the mattress beneath him as he gasped out his own agony.

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“How is she?” Yoongi questioned from his side of the phone, the chattering of his bar patrons nearly drowning out Taehyung’s response.

“She says she’s okay,” Taehyung sighed and picked up the paper Seokjin had left, “But I’m pretty sure she kicked me out of the room so she could just cry to herself. You know better than I do that she’s not really going to tell me what the hell happened.”

On his end, Yoongi scrubbed his hand down his face, pushing Hoseok away when his friend all but squished his own cheek to Yoongi’s in hopes of hearing the conversation. 

“And Jungkook?” Hoseok blurted out and Yoongi winced at the volume of his question.

“He went back to the apartment upstairs. Seokjin hyung promised to stay with him until this blows over, if it blows over at all.” Taehyung stalked around the kitchen, opening his cabinets to pull out two glasses and set them on the table. He pulled a pitcher of water from the fridge as he heard the door to your room open and close. Trying to hide the frown on his face, Taehyung noted the red that brimmed your eyes, “The detective he talked to said he was going to be free this week so we’ll meet up with him.”

“We won’t be doing anything,” You slumped in the chair at the kitchen table and fiddled with the glass, “I’m going to see if he’s actually trustworthy. You’re going to stay here and out of my way.”

“Why?” Taehyung demanded and set his phone on the table after placing the call on speaker, not expecting Yoongi to chime in and agree with him that you needed backup. 

“Because I said so.”

“We’re not teenagers anymore, I’m not as afraid of you as I used to be.”

You rose a brow over the glass brought to your lips, “Tae, if this goes south, I don’t want you or anyone else near it. That’s the deal.”

“No way.” Taehyung shook his head and crossed his arms sternly, “I’m not letting you meet with him alone. It’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, I think out of the two of us,” You waved a hand between you and your best friend, “I’m better at handling dangerous situations. Look, Tae, I’m tired of arguing with everyone, just do what I say and stay here.”

The table shook with the amount of force you put into slamming your hand on the table as you stood up, grumbling under your breath the entire way back to your room.

Taehyung jumped at the sound of Yoongi screaming ‘yah!’ from his side of the phone, trying to get your attention but failing. He sighed heavily and propped his elbows on the table, folding his hands in front of him. “This whole thing with Jungkook is concerning.”

“I’ve been saying that since the beginning.”

“Anymore fighting with him is just going to cause Y/N to distance herself from us more.” Taehyung ignored Yoongi, thinking out loud and wanting to bang his head against the table. He really thought he’d seen a change in you after meeting the panther but now he’s not sure what he should do. Removing Jungkook from the situation wouldn’t help, not with his mark very clearly embedded in your clavicle. Any further distance would only make it harder now that Jungkook had claimed you.

He tugged at his hair, the strands sticking out in every direction before he dropped his forehead to the wood of his kitchen table, groaning in frustration.

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

“The hell do you mean there was no evidence left behind?” Kim Namjoon scolded the forensics team. “You’re telling me this whole scene was wiped clean of everything?”

He stood in the middle of an abandoned house, a lioness hybrid’s dead body separating him from the team. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took another look around what used to be a family room but was now covered in dust and mold. “Find me something.”

“What’s the big deal?” One of the crew scoffed, “it’s just an animal, detective, it’s not like it was anything important.”

“Watch yourself.” Namjoon growled, advancing on the much shorter man and towering over him, “Just because they’ve got animal DNA doesn’t mean they’re to be written off, understood? She may not have been important to you, but somebody out there is missing her, so if you’re done being a fucking prick, get back to work.”

The man shied away from Namjoon’s glare to comb the room once more despite having found absolutely nothing the first time around. Namjoon glanced down at his watch and cursed; they’d already been there too long for his liking, especially given that the whole place had been wiped clean to keep anyone from finding out what happened. He also had another case he was working on, one no one else knew about so he couldn’t exactly just leave the scene without a proper investigation.

“Yo,” His partner and long time friend Jackson clapped his shoulder, “look man, why don’t you head back to the precinct before one of these guys loses his teeth? I’ll handle things here.”

Namjoon smiled at Jackson’s joke and shook his head, “You sure? They don’t seem to be trying very hard and I just want to make sure---.”

“I’ll make sure everything gets done, bro.” Jackson assured him, “I promise we’ll go over this place all day if we have to. Just get out of here before Jay pisses his pants, okay? Dude’s scared of you, so give him a little peace and quiet and he might actually find something.”

“Fine,” Namjoon conceded and let Jackson steer him towards his car where he hopped in and watched his friend march back to the house and basically cling to Jay in order to make sure they were being thorough. He let out a small chuckle at his friend’s silliness and pulled away from the street they’d blocked off. 

It was the first body he’d seen in weeks and couldn’t help but wonder if this was a stashed hybrid that the owner could no longer risk being found. She had no form of identification on her and she didn’t come up in missing persons, so he could only assume that she wasn’t a registered citizen, which meant she was being kept away from the public. There was bruising around her ribcage and signs of sexual abuse and he shuddered at the thought of what this poor girl went through.

The drive back to the precinct was quiet except for the occasional chime of the dispatcher coming in through his scanner. Namjoon rubbed at his tired eyes, squeezing them shut as he sat at a red light and felt the obvious signs of a migraine beginning to form at his temples. He needed sleep but the file he’d been gifted from his father lingered in his mind, opting instead to spend his nights under the dim glow of his bedside lamp reading over the death of Y/L/N Iseul. A 40 year old woman whose body was found along with her husband’s in their home, allegedly attacked by a hybrid but Namjoon’s father never believed it. 

The case haunted his father and Namjoon remembered the many nights his parents would argue over the obsession his father carried over it. When he was a child, Namjoon didn’t understand the big deal about the case when it had already been closed. As a teenager, he remembered berating his father for being forced to retire much too soon because he couldn’t let it go. Now as a detective himself, the case was indeed strange to Namjoon, especially after it was coupled with another file on the woman’s husband accusing him of long term domestic abuse. The file had never been seen by anyone other than himself and his father and Namjoon found himself thinking about it non-stop.

The loud honk coming from the car behind him startled Namjoon as he jumped in his seat, pressing down on the gas pedal rather harshly after finally spotting the green light.

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

You watched as Namjoon sighed heavily and stalked through the precinct to his office, the distraction of one of the officers needing his signature giving you the opportunity to slip inside. 

Closing the door, he felt a slight change in the atmosphere that alerted him to your presence. Namjoon quickly drew his gun, twisting around to aim it smack dab in the middle of your forehead. His mouth parted in surprise at the stoic look on your face, his forefinger curling around the trigger as your hand came up to gently push the barrel of his gun away from you. 

“Not very friendly of you, is it, detective Kim?” You smirked as you leaned back against his desk, crossing both arms and legs.

“Not very friendly of you to sneak up on me, is it?” He was cautious, keeping his gun tight in his grip but aiming it at the ground rather than you. “How did you get in here?”

“The door,” You nodded towards the aged wooden door as if the answer was that simple when in reality his question was how the hell you ended up in his office. “Just walked right by desk after desk. Not a very observant precinct you guys got here.”

Namjoon set his jaw, bringing his gun up to you once more, clearly tired of your games and quite rattled by your calm exterior. Anyone able to slip past dozens of armed officers and trained detectives was not to be taken lightly. He watched your tongue poke out against your lips in an attempt to hide your smile; you were amused by something and it chilled him to the bone.

“Relax,” You chuckled lowly, uncrossing your arms to prop them back on his desk, “I don’t think your Captain would be too happy if you shot an unarmed civilian in your office, would he?”

“If you’re who I think you are,” He pulled his finger from the trigger, switching on the safety to his gun and pushing it back in his holster, “then you’re not unarmed.”

“You’re more than welcome to draw your gun again and find out,” Pushing yourself from his desk, you turned and plopped into the chair, listening and using the reflection from the silver picture frames on his desk to watch as he rounded it and sat opposite of you.

Namjoon ran his hands through his already messy hair, smoothing it back before opening the file that had been sitting there long before you arrived. “I didn’t think you’d come to me. From what Jin hyung told me, I didn’t think you’d ever set foot in a police precinct.”

“What Seokjin told you,” Your hardened voice caught him off guard, any hint of playfulness long gone, “Or what you hoped? You know how dangerous I am and it won’t be easy to pass off as simply defending yourself if anything goes wrong. After all, who’s going to believe someone like me could overpower you?”

His hands froze in the middle of turning over a page in the case he was looking over, his eyes locking with yours and he wondered just how long you’d been lying in wait for him to come back. He was surprised to find how cold your stare was compared to a minute ago, the stiffness in your posture suggesting you were done being friendly. “Did you look at this before I got here?”

“No.” You chuckled at his shoulders slumping in ease. “You’re not very prepared, Kim, that’s not a good look for you. Maybe you weren’t expecting me so soon, but you were expecting to run in to me at some point this week.” Resting your elbow on the arm rest of the chair, you propped your chin in the palm of your hand, pursing your lips. 

Namjoon let out a frustrated huff of breath, “The file I have here has a missing persons report from when you were 15, but there’s another that says your grandfather took guardianship of you after your parents’ death.”

“My grandfather had powerful friends everywhere,” You offered this bit of information to clear up his confusion, “He didn’t want us to be found so he called in some favors.”

“Until his body was found three years later in the forest of your hometown, allegedly mauled by a wild animal.” He had dug deeper than he first let on, his tone implying there was more to the story. 

“Why do you care?” You countered, lips curling into a devious smile once more, “My grandfather had quite the reputation, he was no stranger to criminal activity and if you’ve looked into me, then I’ve no doubt you’ve already gone through his records. You’ve already made up your mind about me, detective Kim, because you believe I’m just like him. And judging by the way you’re yet to look down at the paper in your hands, you’ve committed my file to memory, which means you’ve combed over it for hours. Am I wrong?”

Namjoon was at a loss for words, not expecting you to have been as hyper aware of him as he was of you. He swallowed audibly, truly shaken by your quick assessment, and dropped his gaze to the paper in his hands because he had studied it from the second he obtained it to now. He poured over your grandfather’s activities because his father had left the file to him, comparing them to Donghoon’s file until the night of his death. Not long after Sangchul’s death, his father began building a file on you, but there was no record of your existence after the age of 15 so not much was there. Both he and his father had gone restless nights staring at the investigation report of Sangchul’s death and the autopsy report that was suspicious but not enough to truly be bothered with since his supposed only next of kin was also dead.

“You’re right, you know?” You broke his train of thought, watching as he nearly jumped out of his skin after forgetting you were even there, his head whipping up to observe your face and brows furrowed. “I’m very much like Sangchul, and you’re right to assume how dangerous I am. My grandfather’s death was a godsend, detective. He was an evil and vicious man, and you should really be grateful that he doesn’t still walk this Earth.”

“You killed him,” He breathed out, hands trembling as he debated whether he should draw his weapon again or hear out the rest of what you had to say. 

“His son killed my mother so I simply returned the favor,” Rising slowly from your seat, you stuffed your hands into the pockets of the oversized jacket you borrowed from Taehyung. “You can arrest me if you’d like, though I don’t think you’d get very far without concrete proof. The cameras in your office have been disconnected so my confession wasn’t caught.”

“What?” Namjoon glanced around to check the security cameras hidden in the corners of the room to find they had in fact been tampered with. His eyes fell back on you, jaw clenching at having been bested in his own damn office. It suddenly dawned on him that he couldn’t feel the weight of his phone in his back pocket anymore, panic rising as you produced said phone from your jacket, dropping it to the ground and taking care to stomp on it violently. “Fuck.”

“Seokjin said he trusted you,” You kicked the phone across the floor, listening to it glide across the tile underneath his desk until he stopped it with his own foot, “and I’d like to think I can trust you too since we have a common enemy.”

He rose his brow, hands fisting on his desk and shaking with rage, but he stayed silent to allow you to go on. He was tempted to arrest you for destroying his property but he was actually impressed with how you managed to swipe the phone from his person without notice. He always had a sinking suspicion Sangchul had been murdered, not attacked. Sangchul’s case went cold and though it had truly looked as if he’d been attacked by an animal, Namjoon never bought it. Given your particular set of skills, it was quite clear what had really happened. Namjoon wasn’t all that surprised to hear you say your father killed your mother since the file his dad kept hidden documented what kind of person Donghoon really was.

“Nam Hyungsik,” You dropped the piece of paper Seokjin had given you on Namjoon’s desk, “has at least a dozen hybrids still in his home and I’d like to help you get them out.”

“What’s in it for you?”

“I want a specific hybrid to be protected until this is over,” You didn’t hesitate to mention Jungkook, your hand unconsciously coming up to rest on the twin holes in the juncture of your neck. His mark almost burning under your touch, the need to be close to Jungkook becoming desperate. “Dr. Kim and the people you’re about to meet...I don’t want them to be a part of this.”

“What does this hybrid have to do with Hyungsik?” Namjoon skimmed through the list of names on the paper you provided.

“Hyungsik’s daughter hired a few hunters to find him for a pretty hefty reward and I’ve been keeping him safe.”

“Where?”

“Out of sight.” 

“Right,” Namjoon sighed and figured he shouldn’t have even bothered to ask given the lengths you were willing to go through to keep this particular hybrid safe. “Are you one of the hunters that was hired?”

You scratched the back of your neck, palm resting against it afterward to massage the tension building there. “Will you help or not? You weren’t exactly my first choice when it came to handling this situation but Seokjin insisted.”

“Taking down someone like Hyungsik won’t be easy, it’ll take time.” He scrubbed his hand down his face, wincing at the bold lettering of deceased next to most of the names on the list. 

You nodded in understanding, taking his answer as proof that he’s willing to help. “Hyungsik is under the impression that I’m still looking for this hybrid so we have a window of maybe a week or two until he wants to meet up again if I haven’t delivered before then.”

“Good,” Namjoon nodded and pulled out one of his desk drawers to tuck the papers in it and slamming it shut. He watched your shoulders tense at his not so secret hiding place, “I’m not keeping these here, only while I’m in the office and then they go everywhere with me.”

Turning on your heel, you made for the door, hand on the knob and ready to turn but his voice stopped you, the low timbre making you hesitate as he asked-

“Why didn’t you tell anybody?” He wondered, “If you knew your father killed your mother, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Nobody would have believed me,” You didn’t face him, the memories of that day flooding back and you refused to show him how affected you still were. The image of 15 year old you, desperate and pleading flashed before you, your grandfather’s stone face as you became hysterical burned in your mind, “My father was a pinnacle of society, loving and doting out in public but behind closed doors…”

Namjoon’s features softened as he pitied you for having a rough childhood, something he didn’t quite understand because he’d come from a loving home with supportive parents. He knew that not everyone was as lucky, but he didn’t know how hard it could be for someone else either. 

“There was never any record of abuse against my father,” You weren’t sure why you continued, but chalked it up to needing to tell someone the truth after hiding it for so many years, “An accomplished man like him? No one would take my mother’s side if she tried to accuse Donghoon of abuse. He was a drunk, Detective Kim, and one night he simply snapped and couldn’t stand the sight of her, so he killed her. And like a coward, he chose to call his father for help only to have his own life taken by the very man who raised him.”

You still faced the door, body practically vibrating with rage at the memories, grip on the door handle so tight that your hand shook, “My grandfather manipulated every cop on the scene that night and convinced them that a hybrid attacked my parents. His hatred for their race was no secret, so he did everything he could to make sure I hated them too. It wasn’t until Sangchul thought I’d been brainwashed enough that he told me the truth about what happened that night.”

Namjoon caught your eye as you looked over your shoulder, door knob rattling in your grip, “An eye for an eye, Kim. Maybe not for people like you but for monsters like me, that’s how a score is settled.”

His mouth went dry and his stare bore into your back as you pulled open his office door and walked out like you hadn’t just resembled a cold hearted murderer. His fellow detectives and officers all glanced back into his now open office and he waved his hand dismissively to signal that he was okay.

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

“You sure you don’t want anything a little heavier?” Hoseok offered as he set down a glass of water in front of you; he and Yoongi had inventory to go over before opening for the night so they’d spent their day at the bar.

“Didn’t you hear?” You snorted as you lifted the glass to your lips and took a long gulp, “Tae put me on an alcohol ban after a messy assignment a few years ago.”

“He’s just looking out for you.” Yoongi grunted over a couple of cases of liquor he carried in from the back. “You know, since you didn’t allow us to do it.”

You rolled your eyes playfully as Hoseok snickered and made his way to the back room to carry in more boxes. “That wasn’t my choice.”

“You still could have found me after your grandfather died.” Yoongi braced his hands against the bar top, his eyes flicking down to the mark on your shoulder. “How are things with the panther?”

“It is what it is,” You tried to play off your argument with Jungkook but he knew enough about you to call bullshit. He also knew it wasn’t a good idea to push any further because you’d only shut him out if he did.

Yoongi watched your elbow come up to rest on the bar, your chin propped on the palm of your hand. He reached out to tuck a stray piece of hair behind your ear, “You’re so stubborn, little one. The kid’s hurt that you said you won’t give up hunting. Why aren’t you giving it up?”

“Hunting’s all I know,” You swallowed the lump in your throat, leaning into his touch as the back of his hand skimmed down your cheek. “After this is over, what purpose would I have, Yoongs? It’s not like I can just get a normal job.”

“Why don’t you become a bounty hunter?” He suggested, smiling softly at the way your eyes closed in content at his touch. “You’d definitely be the most successful with your tracking skills.”

“I’d have to out myself as a hybrid hunter,” Moving away from his hand, you took another drink from the glass in front of you, “not many people respect us these days, you know?”

“Your knowledge on hybrids is what will make you the best.” Yoongi picked up the bar rag Hoseok had left to wipe down the counter, “As much as those people don’t want to believe it, hybrids are capable of committing crimes. Some of them have chosen to live up to the stereotype that they’re just wild animals.”

Your head lolled from side to side, the tension from earlier becoming too much to hide anymore. A lot of it was because of the separation from Jungkook, but he was yet to speak to you and you weren’t one to give in either. It wasn’t in your nature to surrender and the throbbing pain of his mark should have been enough to send you running towards him but you wouldn’t allow it to control you.

A low whistle coming from the doorway caught your attention, the deep chuckle was familiar as your back straightened and glanced to Yoongi. His jaw was clenched and grip tight on the rag in his hand.

“We’re closed.” He growled as you pulled on Taehyung’s jacket and zipped it up to keep your new company from seeing Jungkook’s mark. “Get out.”

“I’ve been looking for you, Y/N,” Suho’s voice was smooth, relaxed in the way he greeted you. He was always good at keeping his composure and you found it admirable whenever you met on the street. Truthfully, he was the only hunter who was able to stand tall before you without being intimidated as much lately.

As you peered up from the glass in front of you to the mirror behind the shelves filled with liquor, you counted two more people flanking either side of Suho. Tipping the glass to your lips, you gulped down whatever water was left and twisted all the way around on the stool you occupied.

“I haven’t been hiding,” You matched his sinister smile with one of your own, “Your tracking skills were always shit. No wonder you can’t find the panther.”

“You haven’t found it either,” Suho hissed and balled his hands into fists, taking a step closer as his men did the same. “The bounty’s still out for it and believe me when I say I’m going to collect that money.”

“Yeah?” You tilted your head playfully, both mocking and riling him up at the same time. “Good luck with that.”

“I said we’re closed,” Yoongi interrupted before things got out of hand, “Leave, Suho. Xiumin and Kai not tell you about my warning the other night?”

Suho nodded while kissing the back of his teeth in a small ‘tsk’, “With their busted lips and swollen faces it was a little hard to understand so it might have gotten lost in translation.”

“Wanna hear it for yourself?” You stood from the bar stool before Yoongi could grip your shoulder to keep you in place. Tensing as his two goons stepped in front of him, you smirked; of course he wouldn’t go head to head with you. Suho never physically fought with you if it could be avoided, his hand to hand combat skills were nothing compared to yours.

“Damn it,” Yoongi muttered under his breath, listening for Hoseok stumble around in the back and praying he didn’t come out any time soon. He turned to make his way to the back room, trusting that you can handle the situation since getting involved and helping you out wouldn’t be welcomed. “Y/N, don’t make a mess.”

The tall man to Suho’s left you recognized as Chanyeol came at you first, rushing forward and throwing his fist out. You stepped back, gripping his forearm in the process and turning to smash his head into the bar top. He groaned, knees wobbling as he fell to the ground with his hand pressed to his now broken nose.

Suho pushed Kyungsoo forward, cursing Chanyeol’s failed attempt at landing a solid hit. Kyungsoo swung violently, his hands heavier than they look, narrowly missing your face as he threw punch after punch. His footwork was quick and he was able to keep up with you much better than Chanyeol could. Unfortunately for him, his footing became misplaced and you were able to catch him off guard by ducking to swipe at his feet. Kyungsoo grunted as he fell to the ground and quickly tried to scramble up but you were already atop him, knee pressed down on his shoulder with one hand fisting the front of his shirt. 

Raising your fist high, you brought your knuckles across Kyungsoo’s face in five solid hits, blood smeared across your hand and all around his mouth and nose. You looked up to his boss, jumping back before Suho could get his hands on you and kicking your foot out to hit him square in the gut and send him stumbling to his knees. You made a mental note to thank Taehyung for insisting you wear your steel toe boots instead of regular sneakers. Chest heaving unevenly, you stepped around Suho and slid one hand up the back of his head while the other cupped his chin.

Suho began to panic after falling to his knees and feeling you take your position, clawing at your arms but your grip was strong. He looked to his members frantically, a silent plea passing between them but they were injured too badly to even move. He felt your breath at his ear and winced when you jerked on his chin slightly.

“You were no match for me when you first got in the game, Suho,” You seethed and looked two his men sprawled on the floor before him, writhing in pain, “and you’re no match for me now. Stay the hell out of my way.” Releasing him, you stepped back to plant your feet and give yourself enough momentum to thrust your knee forward, sending Suho to his hands. 

“Bitch,” He spat as if he hadn’t been struggling against you a moment ago. “You think you’re so fucking great, Y/N, but the truth is that you’re worn out. A hunter with your magnitude of skill quitting after the laws were announced? You’re a coward that couldn’t take the heat.”

Rage shot through you like never before as you kneeled in front of him, gripping his chin tight in your hand and bringing his face close, “You used to be so scared of me, Suho.” A wicked grin took over your face before you could stop it, feeling his body stiffen as your free hand trailed underneath his shirt and up to his rib cage. His skin burned underneath your touch, muscles tensing as your finger traced a rather nasty scar along his midriff. The amount of fear you incited in him now that he was on all fours and at your mercy was unmatched when he met with other hunters.

Tears gathered in his eyes, his body shook in your hold, and a single tear slid down his face as you leaned in to whisper against his lips, “Don’t forget who gave you this scar. I was much too nice that day and today. Take your men and leave before I reopen this old wound and gift you a few fresh ones.”

You rose to your feet with your fingers still wrapped around Suho’s chin and heard the sound of the back door swinging open as Yoongi and Hoseok stepped out to see what happened. You caught his eyes flicker to the two men behind you and sunk your nails into his skin, hissing as he grunted, “Don’t make me regret letting you live.”

Suho gasped when you threw his head to the side, hearing Chanyeol scramble to his feet and attempt to wake Kyungsoo. He kept his gaze on the floor and waited for the taller man to gather his friend, turning on his heel to storm out of Yoongi’s bar with trembling hands. Outside, his hand drifted up to his torso where he felt for the scar over his t-shirt; he remembered that night quite well.

“I’m sorry. You’re asking me to what?” You snorted at Choi, hearing the rustling of Taehyung on your right and knowing he was equally amused.

Choi Sungil sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose; he had somehow made the mistake of hiring on both you and Suho for a job and suggested you partnered up instead of rampaging through the city in competition with each other. “Just work together. I can’t afford to pay you both separately.”

You tsked and shook your head, eyeing Suho standing to your left, “He’s a rookie, Choi. You really think he’ll do me any good? He’ll only slow us down.”

“Suho’s reputation is established well enough now. Besides,” Sungil gave Taehyung a once over and sneered, “I heard you were taking strays now.”

“Watch yourself.” You warned through grit teeth and took a step in front of Taehyung as if to shield him from the man’s view before turning to Suho. “I’ll take the newbie but his blood is on your hands if he doesn’t come back alive.”

Sungil nodded in understanding and waved his hand dismissively; he really couldn’t be bothered with what did or didn’t happen to Suho so long as you delivered on your end of the deal. “I want that lion, Y/N, don’t disappoint me.”

Taehyung took your cue to leave but heard your footsteps slow the closer you got to Suho and he turned to see you whisper something into his ear. Most likely a warning for him not to screw up or it was his head.

That night Suho was in charge of staking out the home, making sure the perimeter was clear and there would be no interruptions. You and Taehyung managed to slip inside to secure the lion hybrid for Choi and were close to getting away cleanly but Suho had managed to miss one little detail; the fucking idiot didn’t warn you that the hybrid’s family returned early.

You and Taehyung had been caught and had to fight your way through the hybrids but Taehyung had been injured in the process. Because Taehyung had gotten hurt, you spent the remainder of the night alternating between taking care of him and beating the shit out of Suho for screwing up. 

He remembered trying to fight back, remembered the sting of your blade as it pierced his skin, all the while promising that he wasn’t the only going to be paying for what happened to Taehyung.

“Boss?” Came Chanyeol’s nasally question, snapping Suho from his memories and causing the older man to scramble for their car. 

“Let’s get the fuck out of here and regroup,” Suho snapped at him and peeled away from the curb.

[alwayschoosechocolate]

One-night stands and one-shot chances (viii)

University AU

Pairing: Jin x reader

Who says sex has to mean anything? Who says you can’t just screw around without all the heartache? Who says only guys get this privilege? What happens when the biggest playboy on campus suddenly meets his match and gets a taste of his own medicine?

Genre: casual sex, mentions of sex, bestfriend!Hoseok, onenightstand!Jin

Word count: 3800

Taglist: @esplosionedicoloriintesta @jeonjunggoodgod @rjsmochii @spookidema @pariz-lover @mymochimchimmy @seokjinnieismine @cloudyelizabeth @livesmileandstaystrong @thisistoooooomuch @okaysoplshelpme @secondstanza @eanielsen07

Masterpost with the other parts of the story can be found here and my masterlist is here

A/N: Ah, it’s been a while, lovelies. Thanks for waiting for me! As promised after last chapter, the parts are going to be longer now, giving me more space to explore the characters and the story line, and you more time to enjoy the story - hopefully!  Enjoy! And please share your thoughts and reactions with me! I love hearing what you think! 

Story starts under the cut

As the last papers got handed in before the spring holiday and campus became close to deserted, you packed your weekend bag and made your way to Hoseok’s house. All the guys were going home during the break, and Hoseok had suggested you stayed at the house while they were gone to catch up on your sleep. After the sleepover in the living room the previous weekend, you had spent most nights with Hoseok, opting for sharing his bed instead of lying awake in your own, so when he suggested you stayed in the house over the break, you quickly accepted, rambling on about how you would clean the common areas as a thank you.

“Hobi,” you shouted as you walked through the door, hoping to catch him before he left. “I’m here!”

“In here!”

Following his voice to his room, you found him packing his bags, clothes neatly folded on the bed and the bags on the floor. You tossed your bag against the wall and giggled in excitement of getting the house to yourself for a week, as you walked up to give him a back hug, clinging to him like a koala as he continued packing.

“You’re in a good mood today,” he hummed absentmindedly as he held two shirts out in front of him. “Which one should I bring for my mom’s birthday dinner?” Twisting his torso so you could see the shirts, you hooked your chin on his shoulder as you took in the options.

“That one,” you stated, pointing at the simple white shirt. “But pair it with one of your more casual pants.”

Accepting your advice, he folded the shirt neatly again and placed it in the half-packed bag on the floor.

“You know, you’re still more than welcome to come home with me, right? My mom asked for you again just last night, when I was on the phone with her.”

“I know,” you hummed, giving his mid one last squeeze before jumping on the bed and making yourself comfortable. “But I’m fine with staying here. It just doesn’t feel right anymore. It feels…”

“Like something’s missing?”, he ended your sentence, cocking his head and looking at you with a soft expression. You nodded silently, letting out a deep sigh and rolling over on your back. “Yeah, I know. But it feels even more empty without either of you there.”

Musing a bit at his words, you stayed quiet and focused on the wooden panels on the ceiling, tracing the wood grains with your eyes. You stayed in comfortable silence as Hoseok packed the rest of his stuff and zipped up his back.

“Alright, babe. I’m leaving now. Try not to burn the house down, while we’re gone,” he grinned at you, before ducking away from the pillow flying at his head.

“There is nothing to burn down, Seokie,” you laughed, getting off the bed and walking over to give him a hug.

“’Seokie’, huh? You okay? You only call me that, when you’re feeling down,” he asked against your hair, as he fitted you perfectly under his chin.

“I’m fine, Hobi. Just looking forward to some days alone and some more sleep.”

“Alright. I left the key on the desk, and there is a bottle of your favorite wine in the kitchen. I also bought some of that god-awful coconut ice cream you love so much. Oh, and some of your favorite snacks…”

“Hobi, stop,” you giggled, making him halt in the middle of his rambles. “I can take care of myself for a week. I’m not an infant. But I do love that ice cream, so thank you.”

“… and a few packs of the ramen you always eat,” he ended his sentence after your interruption, making both of you burst out laughing. “I know you can take care of yourself. I just want to help you take care of yourself. And please call me if you need someone to talk to. Or call my mom! If you want. She would love to talk to you as well! And my sister as well!”

“Oh my god, Hoseok! Stop! Just go! You’ll be late for the extravagant dinner, that we both know your mom has prepared for her golden son’s return,” you laughed, pushing him towards the door.

“Alright. Alright, I’ll leave,” he grinned, putting his hands up in surrender. “But please promise to call me, if you change your mind? The drive is only two hours, and I could easily come pick you up.”

“Sure, I promise. Just please leave. You’re crowding my personal space, which has just expanded to the entire house, and I’m not happy about it,” you scolded him with a wicked grin, as you gave him one last push out of the front door.

“But I love you! How can you throw me out like this?”, he screeched dramatically from the front lawn, catching the attention of some of the neighbors. “I promise, I’ll remember to take out the trash from now on! Please just give me another chance!”

“Jesus, Hoseok. Really?”, you groaned in embarrassment at the puzzled looks being thrown your way. “You’re such a drama king! Just go already and say hi to your mom from me!”

“Oh, but mother will be heartbroken at your departure from my life. Please, my flower! Don’t throw me out!”

“Please, do throw him out. He’s way too dramatic for this house anyway,” Yoongi drawled as he walked up next to you, bag slung over his shoulder. “Hoseok, could you drop me off at the train station?”

“You insult my honor and then you ask for a favor?”, Hoseok gasped in feigned outrage, before dropping the act and laughing at his own joke. “Sure, but I’m leaving now.”

Giving you a quick side-hug, Yoongi scurried to the car and they drove away, but of course not without Hoseok screaming his love for you out the car window all the way down the block.

Grinning at his theatricalities, you walked back into the house and pulled the door closed. Looking around the living room, you let the quiet sink into your bones. There was no Jungkook yelling at some game he was playing. No Taehyung running around rambling about the latest class he had had about German romanticism. No Hoseok screaming at… well, just screaming in general. The entire house was dead quiet, and something told you not to disrupt it as you tiptoed through the living room, down the hall and into Hoseok’s room. Closing the door softly, you buried yourself under the covers, breathing in that familiar sent of Hoseok, that always reminded you of home.

Just a short nap, you thought to yourself, before drifting off to sleep.

-

Drawing a heavy sigh, Jin leaned back in his chair keeping an eye on the half-written assignment on his laptop. It was due yesterday, but he had managed to get it pushed to tomorrow morning. Which was great. Except he still had no fucking clue how to finish it. It was for that one class, he already had failed twice, and he really needed to pass this time. Reaching out for the papers scattered all over his bed, he skimmed through Jimin’s notes again, trying to make sense of the keywords he had scribbled down, when he took the class last semester. Turning the page, he read through your comments in the margin of the page, which added clarification to some of the statements. At least on the first few pages. On page 7, you and Jimin had had an entire conversation going on in the margins about where to go to lunch afterwards. And on page 12, you had complained about your roommate almost burning down the apartment in an attempt to cook dinner for her date. The next few pages were only class related, discussing possible subjects to write your rapport on. But on one of the last pages, you had written something about a cute guy, you had been seeing, and even though Jin knew the notes were from last semester, he couldn’t shake the irritation scratching in his chest at the thought of you dating another guy. And it wasn’t like he had read your comments specifically. He was using Jimins notes to write his assignment, and he needed to reread the notes for that. He hadn’t even read your comments the first few times. Or reread them a 1000-times more than the actual class notes. Of course not.

Groaning at himself he straightened back up, glancing at the clock. 6 pm. Pushing back from the table, he stood up from the desk and stretched his aching back. Maybe a walk would help him concentrate a bit. Slipping on his shoes and grabbing his phone and headset off the bed, he walked through the empty house to get to the front door.

All the guys had gone home, so he had the house to himself. Not that they knew though. They all thought he was home with his parents as well. He still hadn’t had the guts to tell them. That he couldn’t go home anymore. It was embarrassing to say the least. Shaking his head to clear it of the memories, he pulled the front door closed behind him and plugged in his in-ears, before starting off down the street.

-

Blinking lazily awake, you relished in the drowsy feeling in your limbs still weighing you down between the blankets. Briefly wondering what had awoken you, you suddenly felt your stomach growl, making you let out a light chuckle. Of course. You hadn’t had time for lunch today, and you were starving. Rolling over in a stretch, you let out a soundless yawn as you reached for your phone. A little past 6pm. Alright, it might be an early dinner, but you had nowhere to be and no schedule for the next few days, you reminded yourself, as you dragged your body out of bed and pulled on one of Hoseok’s sweatshirt before padding to the kitchen.

Passing the door to Jins room in the hall, your thoughts flickered to him and how little you had seen him lately. He hadn’t approached you on campus at all and when you had seen him around the house, he always excused himself and disappeared. Maybe it had been unfair of you to camp out at the house the entire week, but Hoseok had asked him and Jin had said it was okay. Continuing to the kitchen, you pushed the thoughts out of your head.

As promised, there was your bottle of wine on the counter against the fridge. Grinning to yourself, you grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured yourself a glass. Taking the first sip, you closed your eyes and let the taste dance on your tongue. Humming in appreciation, you took another sip as you lazily floated to the kettle to boil some water for the ramen. Well, floated might be the wrong word to use, but it really felt like that. Humming to yourself as you prepared the ramen, you took another sip of wine waiting for the ramen to be ready to eat. Once it was ready, you ate it in silence standing over the counter, taking a sip of your wine every now and then. Quietly cleaning up after yourself afterwards, you poured another glass of wine before walking back to Hoseok’s room and pulling out your laptop.

Scrolling through Netflix for a while, you finally settled on ‘Princess Diaries’. Grinning in excitement, you quickly pulled out your headset, since the speakers on your computer didn’t work. Settling under the covers with your wine and the computer, you took a sip of your glass before starting the movie.

-

Walking through the door an hour later, Jin felt a little more at ease. The walk had cleared his head a bit and actually given him a few ideas on how to approach the rest of the assignment. He had bought some food from a grill on the way home and eaten it on the way, so he was ready to go back to work. Walking straight to his room, he kept his headset on, switching to his study playlist and readied himself for a study bubble marathon, meaning he wouldn’t stop until he was done with the assignment. Casting a glance at Jimins notes, he quickly gathered them and deposited them on the other side of the room so he wouldn’t be distracted (by you), before he settled at his desk and pulled up the document once more.

-

When the end credits to ‘Princess Diaries 2’ rolled over the screen, you decided to call it a night. Despite your long nap earlier, a few glasses of wine and two movies was a sure recipe for a good night’s sleep in your book.  

Hoseok had called a few hours earlier to check if you were still alive and after pleading for you to come join him a few more times, you wished each other good night and ended the call.

Searching through your bag, you pulled out your toothbrush and toothpaste and ventured across the hall to the bathroom.

-

Clicking save one last time, Jin drew a relieved sigh as he triple-checked the word-count to make sure he met the acquired words. He was done. He even had 200 words more than the minimum, which was a first for him. All he needed now was to proofread it, but first he needed to energize a bit. Standing up in a stretch, he gave a satisfied nod at his laptop, before walking out of his room to the kitchen to get a red bull.

-

Drying your face on a towel, you pulled your hair up in a high bun before turning off the lights in the bathroom and walking back to Hoseok’s room, where you turned off the lights and snuggled down under the covers.

-

Snatching the can from the fridge and taking a big gulp right there, Jin noticed the unmistakable smell of ramen in the kitchen. One of the guys must have grabbed a bite to eat before leaving to go home. Feeling a little sad at the prospect of being without any of the guys for an entire week, Jin’s thoughts wandered to his different housemates and what they might be doing now. Yoongi might still be underway as he had to take both a train and two buses before reaching home. Jungkook was definitely already home. His brother had picked him up on the way home himself, and they had probably spent the time on the road singing along to the radio, like Jungkook and Jin usually did when no one was around to see them. Jimin never had classes on Fridays, so he left yesterday. His brother’s birthday was today, so he was probably out celebrating with him. Tae and Namjoon had rented a car together, as their parents lived in the same city and they should be home by now, Jin calculated in his head as he emptied the can and threw it out.

And Hoseok. Well, Hoseok left this afternoon with you. You always spent the spring holiday with Hoseok. It was his mom’s birthday and you were part of the family, as Jin had heard Hoseok remind you of several times. Despite the amount of times you had turned down Hoseok’s invitation, Jin was certain that you had gone with him anyway. Saying no to your best friend wasn’t one of your strong suits. Unlike saying no to Jin, which seemed to be a secret talent of yours, Jin thought with an annoyed huff as he walked back to his room to finish the assignment and mail it to the professor.

-

Waking up the next morning, you felt relaxed and comfortable as the light fell in through the curtains, you had forgotten to close last night. Smiling lazily to yourself, you reached over for your phone on the nightstand to check the time. It was only 7 in the morning, but your body was restless, and you suddenly felt like going for a run.

Getting up to change into your running gear, you did a few stretches to warm up your muscles before tying your running shoes and leaving the house.

-

Startled awake, Jin sat up abruptly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Listening for what awoke him, he was only met by the quiet of the empty house.

“Must have been a bad dream,” he mumbled to himself, as he sank back against the pillow with a yawn, dozing off again.

When his phone rang a little later, he lazily rolled over to grab it off the nightstand.

“What?”, he growled, voice muffled against the pillow.

“Morning, Jin,” Namjoon’s upbeat voice greeted him. “Sorry, if I woke you. I just wanted to remind you to pack that book I borrowed you last time you went back to your parents. I promised Jimin he could read it.”

Fuck. The book.

Suddenly very awake, Jin swung his legs out of bed and sat up.  

“Yeah, sure. Don’t worry about Joon. I’m looking at it right now. I’ll bring it back next weekend.”

“Alright, great. Thanks! How are your parents? Are yours as curious about your love life as mine are?”, Namjoon chuckled into the phone, making Jin's palms break out in cold sweat, as he let out a very poor imitation of a laugh.

“Sure are. I gotta go though. Promised I would help with breakfast. Talk to you soon,” Jin rambled, hanging up the phone with a pounding heart.

Goddammit. The fucking book. He had completely forgotten all about it. How was he supposed to get a new one before Namjoon got back?

Sighing in annoyance at himself, he ran a hand through his hair before getting up and walking to the bathroom to shower.

One problem at a time.

Maybe he would do a facemask afterwards and relax with a movie, he thought to himself as he stepped under the warm water, trying to ignore his fathers scolding tone in the back of his mind.

-

Gasping for air as you almost fell through the door after your run, you cursed yourself for not exercising more often. Heaving for air you walked to the kitchen to get some water with the music still blasting through your in-ears. Standing by the counter, you gulped down two glasses of water as you let your body cool down a bit, before walking to Hoseok’s room to get a towel so you could shower.

-

Jin stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips. Reaching for the face mask in the cabinet, he stepped up to mirror and applied the sheet mask, smoothing in down on his cheeks and under his chin.

-

Discarding your shirt, sports bra and pants in the room, you grabbed a towel and walked across the hall to the bathroom. Humming along to the song from your in-ears, you reached for the doorknob.

-

Throwing one last look in the mirror, Jin grabbed the doorknob and pulled open the door, walking straight into a person.

A naked person.

The person let out a surprised shriek, that sounded vaguely familiar, but in the same second she lost her balance and Jin reached out to help her by instinct only to lose his own balance and before he knew it, he was on the floor with the woman on top of him.

“What the fuck?!” She screamed, scrambling off him and covering herself with a towel. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

“What I’m doing here?! I live here! What the hell are you doing here?”, Jin roared at the women, who was currently too occupied in securing the towel around her to look at him. But it only took Jin a few seconds to place her. “Y/n?!”

Startled by your own name, your eyes shot up to the man’s face, which was still covered by a sheet mask. But the broad shoulders paired with that voice was unmistakable.

“Jin!? What the hell? I thought you were by your parents?”, you groaned, still stuck in outrage of being caught naked.

Quickly tearing the mask from his face, he rolled his eyes at your words.

“And I didn’t think I had to inform you about me being in my own house! What are you even doing here?”, he asked in annoyance.

“Hoseok said, I could stay here during the break, since you were all at home anyway. I didn’t know, you were here.” As the anger left your voice, you took in Jin’s irritated state. “I’m sorry. I get it if you don’t want me here. Let me just pack my bags and I’ll go home.”

“Wait,” Jin exclaimed, suddenly a bit panicky. “You can stay. Under one condition,” he stated, making you roll your eyes.

“If it’s sex, I would rather go home, Jin,” you huffed in annoyance.

“It’s not sex, you idiot,” he spat at you, making your eyes widen in surprise. “Not everything in this world is about sex.”

“Sorry. What is it then?”

He suddenly seemed… hesitant. Nervous. His eyes were shifty, and you could see the strain in his shoulders. If you hadn’t known better, you would say he was scared. But that couldn’t be. What could he be afraid of?

“You can stay here,” he repeated, swallowing visibly under your gaze. “As long as you don’t tell the rest of the guys, that I was here as well.”

Blinking at him in surprise, you tried to figure out what was going through his head. This was definitely not a side of Jin, you were used to seeing, and you didn’t know him well enough to anticipate his next words either.

“Just… We can stay here, both of us. If you feel more comfortable with it, we can just act like we don’t know each other. Like we just share a kitchen. Or I can make sure to not get in your way and stay quiet. Or I can cook for you and we can eat together? Only if you want of course. Just. Whatever you feel most comfortable with. Just please don’t tell the others I’m here as well.”

His words were pleading, and his eyes widened in fright. Not of you. You were quite sure about that. But he was definitely afraid of something. He should be the one in control here. The one with the power to throw you out on your ass. And yet he was asking you for a favor.

“Okay. I won’t tell them. But I have a condition as well?”, you half stated, half asked, looking at him hesitantly, only to get an eager nod back. “No sexist comments. No flirting. No cheesy lines. No commenting on my body. This house will be a genderless, sexless, non-flirty safe-zone for the first time in it’s life,” you stated in a declarative tone, earning a snort of laughter from Jin.

“Whatever you say,” he laughed at you, and you found yourself grinning back at him.

Oh, this could be interesting.

A/N: Ah, one last comment! The scene with Jin and Y/n running into each other half-naked was shamelessly stolen from the movie The Proposal, which is coincidentally one of my favorite movies! 

// Part ix //

[crescentdream24]

Chance Encounters

Fandom: Star Trek Alternate Original Series

Word Count: 7k

Pairing: Dr. Mccoy x Reader.

Prompt: Literally just a random little fluff piece. How reader and Dr. Mccoy meet and get together aboard the Enterprise

Rating: T+

Warning(s): mild injuries, nothing major

Chance Encounters

You fell in love with the Enterprise the minute you stepped foot aboard her with the rest of the new recruits. The sleek lines of the ship were breathtaking as it was from the outside, but on the inside it was even more than you could have ever imagined. The bowels of the ship literally hummed with life—instruments gleaming and the crew bustling about in a way that resembled some sort of uniform chaos. For everything going on through every ship deck, it all had a purpose, everyone had a duty to perform. And now you were there to carry out a duty of your own.

The first few weeks were the hardest, as you’d expected. Everything was new and very real---no more simulations like you were used to back at the learning academy. It felt like you were introduced to a hundred new faces with a hundred new names in a matter of hours, and you were terrible with names. You were given a quick ship’s tour that glossed over many important areas which left you scrambling to find your own personal quarters at the end of the day. The food on board was hit or miss--- the food replicator could only do so much, and its version of chicken noodle soup left much to be desired.

But you quickly found solace in your work, living out most of your hours in one of the many laboratories aboard the ship. You delighted in wearing your science- blue uniform, and felt a sort of humble pride bubble up within you for all you had accomplished.

Even more exciting than finally being on the Enterprise in person, was the fact that you were now working on the Enterprise. You got to dive head-first into categorizing all the fresh samples of flora and fauna sent down to your lab from various away missions, testing soil samples and blasting open several rocks with a high-powered laser. Everyone you worked with was just as enthusiastic about their work as you were, and you made many fast friends with the crewmates that you shared your shifts with.

A few months into your first year on the ship, you made your way down to the science lab you were scheduled for that evening, trying to stifle back a yawn half- heartedly as you strode down the deserted hallway. Evening shifts were your least favorite. You’d always considered yourself a night owl back on Earth, but these last few months in space had been proving you wrong. You thought it was funny that even though there was no natural sunlight to queue your brain into when it was morning or night, it still took its cues from the brightness of the interior ship lighting, which dimmed noticeably in the evening hours to help keep the appearance of a day and night cycle.

Rounding the corner, you stood in front of the entrance to the science lab, pausing for a few seconds to punch in your keycode and letting the doors pull back automatically to admit you. You entered and stood there a moment, taking in the sight of the lab, the polished instruments glimmering under the overhead lights like jewels. You would never tire of working here, not in a million years.

You nodded your hello to the only other crewmate in the lab, a slim brunette about your age whom you’ve worked with a few times before. Her name was Rochelle, and she was timid but quite clever once you got talking to her. It was a person you didn’t mind having on the night shift with you----you weren’t especially talkative in the evenings, anyway.

Making your way over to the far wall of the lab, you awakened the touch screen panel that was mounted to it, calling up your shift schedule for the next week. It was the duty of each crewmate to double-check their work assignments for the following week in case there were any errors. Your eyes took in the schedule, expecting it to show you stationed at your regular post here in the lab as usual, and you were----except for one day in the middle. Away mission.

Your eyes widened as you re-read it. Away mission? But the captain of a starship usually didn’t bring anyone planet-side until at least their second year of active duty if they could help it. A ball of tangled nerves settles in your stomach, and you turn away from the screen, looking out into the lab but not fully registering it.

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Rochelle is looking up at you from her microscope, sensing your mood change.

“Oh....yeah. I just, uhm. I saw that I'm slated for an away mission next week.” You swallow down some bitter saliva, trying to wrap your head around it.

Rochelle puts down the glass slide she was inspecting and nods in understanding. “I heard Mr. Spock discussing it in the hallway briefly when I passed by him and the Captain yesterday. They decided to choose you because of your past history with the planet.....I think it’s called Vater Epsilon V?”

Your heart begins to pound as the pieces finally fall together in your head. Your father had done considerable mining on the planet for several years and you had accompanied him in your youth. The trip was actually what you credit for sparking your interest in intergalactic space travel as a career path. It had been a wonderful trip that you look back on fondly; so many new things to experience. It hadn’t been without its danger though---most of the vegetation on the planet was extremely poisonous to humans if ingested or even with contact to the skin for a short period of time. You and your father had been in the mines for most of the trip, so there had been little danger. But, the locals have given you both a detailed tour of the area and you had read up on the planet even more on your return home. You assume your expertise of the planet is the reason you were being chosen. But it didn’t do anything to calm your racing heart.

“Right, that must be it. I’ve been there before, actually.”

Rochelle’s eyes light up with enthusiasm. “Really? That’s so exciting.” You make your way over to the station beside her, washing your hands and donning your work goggles, trying to put your nerves behind you. You tell Rochelle all about your trip as you remember it, and you two work away the hours quickly until your shift is almost over.

“Wow, I can’t believe we’re almost done for the night.” Rochelle says as she checks the time read-out on the console beside her. “It hasn’t even felt like.......” Her voice trails off and you look up at her, seeing that her skin is now startlingly pale.

“Rochelle?” She doesn’t answer you and wobbles unsteadily. Your instincts take over and you spring into action, taking a large step towards her as her knees buckle under her and she falls to the ground, steadily guiding her to the floor with your arms as she faints. You remember your training about falling with the person that’s fainting instead of trying to catch them. Guiding them to the floor instead of trying to stop the fall altogether and potentially hurting you both.

You lay her on her back, and her head lolls to the side, eyes closed. Trying to shake her awake gently yields no response. You shout her name as your fingers urgently such for a pulse against her neck, finally covering over one of her carotid arteries. The pulse beat feels steady underneath your fingertips, and you relax slightly although not enough to calm your own frantic heartbeat, backing away towards the comm unit on the wall to hail a medical team to come assist you.

They arrive a few moments later with a stretcher in tow, and you recount what happened to one of the nurses on the team as they carefully load Rochelle and carry her to the sick bay. You follow them, not wanting to leave your friend when she’s in such distress.

The bright lights of the medical bay are startling contrast to the dim light of the hall, and you blink a few times as your eyes re-adjust. The bay is mostly empty, rows of beds lining one wall off to your left with larger cubicles surrounded by privacy curtains on the other side. The medical team transfers Rochelle to a med bed and you stand back to give them room as they work, quickly hooking her up to the vital signs monitor mounted overhead. The sound of her steady heartbeat fills the room as the team clears away, leaving only a nurse to attend to her for the moment.

“What’s going on out here, Nurse?” A rough voice breaks through the relative silence of the sickbay and you turn your head to see a dark-haired man stride into the room to stand at Rochelle’s bedside, ignoring you altogether. He’s clad in medical blues and his eyes are already assessing her, retrieving more information in one quick glance than the nurse would ever be able to tell him. The nurse gives him a run-down on her vitals----all normal except for the blood sugar levels.

He runs a quick scan with his handheld tricorder, hovering it just above Rochelle’s body in a slow, steady motion. His eyes are intent and laser-focused, and you sense he’s taking in every minute detail of her condition in a way only achieved by years of experience. You listen to the low beeps of the tricorder and swallow, wanting to add something to the conversation but feeling strangely intimidated at the moment.

“I...I was working with her when she fainted,” you start as the doctor continues scanning. “I noticed she’s wearing a medical bracelet. I believe she’s a diabetic.”

The doctor’s eyes flicked up at you then, and you’re startled by them. You’ve seen hundreds of people with dark eyes like his before, but none of them had ever seemed so....brilliant.

“Did she hit her head when she fell?” He asks you as he sets down the tricorder, walking over to a medicine cabinet a few feet away as the nurse prepares a hypo needle.

“No, I got to her in enough time to ease her fall. And her pulse seemed steady when I checked for it. She just wasn’t responsive.”

He grabs a vial out of the cabinet, handing it to the nurse as he turns to face you again. “Are you medically trained?” He asks offhandedly, raising an eyebrow. You swallow again, wondering if you did something wrong. Shifting on your feet you shake your head. “No, just the basic Starfleet training.”

He doesn’t acknowledge you as he makes his way back to Rochelle and the nurse passes him the hypo, injecting it swiftly into her upper arm. You watch with worry in your stomach, hoping that her condition would be easily remedied. Diabetes nowadays was easily controlled with a simple daily pill and a strict diet, but you had read during your studies at the Academy about how serious a condition it had been in the past. People used to need constant insulin injections and daily blood tests centuries ago to remain stable. It still wasn’t anything to mess with today, either.

The nurse leaves to tend to the other few patients in the medical bay, and the doctor finally looks up at you again, his hard expression softening somewhat. “You did great. She is diabetic, her sugars were just out of wack there. That hypo should set her right again, but she’ll probably sleep for a few hours now.”

“So, she’s going to be okay?” you add hopefully.

“Most definitely.” He had a pleasant Southern twang to his voice, one that inexplicably put you at ease. “You did exactly the right thing.” He went to leave but paused, turning back on his heel. “I didn’t catch your name?”

“Oh,” you put a hand on the bedrail in front of you. “It’s Y/N.” You inspect the insignia on his blue medical uniform. “And I’m assuming you’re the CMO?”

He flashes a tight-lipped grin, only for a moment. “Unless there’s someone else here claiming to be chief medical officer. If there is, you send ‘em to me. Name’s Mccoy.”

Your mouth twists up into a smile as he continues. “I better get back. No rest for the weary.” He nods his head towards you once, looking down to pick up the tricorder and inclining it towards Rochelle. “And your friend there is damn lucky you were workin with her tonight.” He adds as he leaves, making his way into one of the exam rooms on the other side of the med bay. You realize you’re still smiling awhile after he’s gone, and you shake your head abruptly. Time for bed.

OOOOOO

You quickly slung the slim utility belt across your hips as you stood just outside the transporter room, preparing for the away mission you were about to embark on in a few minutes. Mentally, your brain did one last run-through of checklist-- your phaser was set to stun, you had all your scientific supplies safely tucked away along with your scientific recorder, and you had brushed up on your knowledge of the planet in the days prior so you would feel prepared. You’d checked all the boxes and anticipated every scenario. So why were you standing there shaking like a leaf?

Taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to steady yourself, you finally bite the bullet and step into the transporter room, Captain Kirk and Commander Spock already standing on their respective transporter pads. You give a quick nod to both of them. “Captain. Commander.” Spock returns your nod.

“Ensign Y/N.” The captain regards you carefully. “I’m betting your knowledge of this planet will come in handy. Initially, it was supposed to be a quick stop for some supplies from the mines, but there’s a group of villagers that have come down with what looks to be Andronesian encephalitis that we need to check out first.” He flips on his communicator, testing its signal strength. “And Starfleet would love to get its hands on some more information about what makes those poisonous plants so potent.”

You nod, trying to will away the unsettled fluttering in your stomach. “I’m quite familiar with the area we’ll be transporting to. I’ll try my best to collect some worthwhile environmental samples.” You step up to the transporter, standing just to the left of the captain and a security officer, who offers you a tight smile. You assume this is the entire landing party when you hear the doors open again in front of you. Dr. Mccoy rushes in, a look of annoyance clearly written across his face. You feel your heart skip unexpectedly.

“Do you really need me for every god-damned planet-side escapade, Jim?” He quickly slung his tricorder across his shoulder, hopping up on the transporter pad near the other side of the Captain.

“I believe the chief medical officer is a vital member of the landing party when the natives of such planet are afflicted with ailments they are otherwise unfamiliar with.” Spock’s statement of fact was met with an eyeroll from the doctor.

“It wouldn’t be any fun without you, Bones.” Kirk smirked, clearly enjoying the frustration of the CMO.

The transporter energized then, and you experience the familiar odd, fuzzy sensation spread throughout your body along with a split-second of darkness to your vision that always puts you on edge. Suddenly, you find yourself standing on a patch of grass in the middle of a heavily-treed area, feeling the sunlight pour in from the sky above and relishing in its warmth. You’ve missed being outside on solid ground.

“Could they have picked a deadlier place for us to beam in?” Mccoy looked around warily, and you immediately recognized his concern. On Earth, a place like this would be harmless, even sought-after. But here, most every tree and bush held some amount of venom, and your group would have to tread very carefully.

“Alright, crew.” Kirk began, completely ignoring Mccoy’s disdain. “Y/N will lead us through until we hit the village which should only be a half-hour walk to the east.” Kirk glances over at you from over his shoulder. “Ready?”

You press your lips together, taking in a big inhale. “Yes, sir.” Carefully, you step ahead of the group and slowly begin to pick your way through the trail flanked with dense foliage on either side, avoiding all contact with the more lethal plants. Your mind is honed in on the path in front of you, eyes taking in every new area of greenery you encounter and analyzing their respective dangers in your head. Soon, you make it to another clearing and the group decides to take a short break to cool off from the mid-morning heat.

You take a small handheld recording device off your belt and decide that this would be a good time to try and collect a few environmental samples to analyze later. As you cautiously kneel down next to a gathering of particularly lethal shrubs, a shadow falls over you and you tilt your head up, seeing Dr. Mccoy duplicate your posture beside you.

“I guess saving your co-workers on nightshift isn’t the only thing on your resume.” His lips cock up to one side as he regards the plants in front of you warily.

You give a light chuckle as you slowly pass the recorder over top a thick violet-colored shrub. “Yeah, that wasn’t exactly an everyday thing. I’m trained in the sciences, not medicine. Although I do have an interest in it. My mother was a nurse.” A question suddenly pops into your head and you blurt it out. “What made you get into medicine??”

He snorted, resting a hand on his knee. “I guess certain people would say it was a “calling.” After you see the world kick people down enough times, a part of you gets fed up and wants to help.” You take in his answer as you quickly skim over the readout on your recorder. His character was so gruff and off-putting on the outside, but you sensed that his inner workings held a deep sense of duty and rigid moral character that you wanted to learn more about. You’d been told in the past that you were a good judge of character, and you had a nagging suspicion that this doctor held one as solid as any other.

“Hm, so that explains the doctor part.” You shift slightly, reaching out to hover the recorder over a small outcropping of rock. “What about the Starfleet part?”

He smirked again. “I feel like I’m in a courtroom here with all this questioning. Anyone ever tell you you’d make a damn good detective?”

“I’m just curious, is all,”you intone innocently.

“Well, I’d about had it with being on Earth. Living in space seemed new and exciting. Don’t really have much tying me to the ground, I figured I might as well be tending to aliens and saving Kirk and Spock from themselves. That’s practically a full-time job right there.”

You laugh out loud and your eyes meet, briefly pulling your mind away from your work. “You must have the patience of a jungle cat to deal with that every day.”

You start to feel a tickle on your hand and look down, seeing some sort of insect crawling across your knuckles, about the size of a horsefly. You recognize it as a pill beetle, nothing to be too alarmed about, although you remember from your research that it does pack quite a painful bite. You slowly shake your hand up and down, hoping to shoo it away. Your grasp on your recorder slips, and on instinct you try to catch it. The sudden movement startles the beetle and a strong pinch drills into the top of your hand.

“Ugh!” You drop the recorder in the bushes as the beetle flees into the sky, feeling the sting of the bite quickly grow in intensity. You sink onto both knees, holding your injured hand as a few drops of blood escape between your fingers.

Dr. Mccoy reaches out for your hand instantly, pulling it towards him to inspect. “What was that? Do you know what bit you?”

“Yesss...it was a---” You suck in your breath as the sting of the bite rises exponentially with each passing second. The literature you read about this bite greatly underestimated its intensity. “It’s a pill beetle.....it’s not....lethal.” You hiss through your teeth, trying to keep your composure but the pain is racing through you like fire along a tightrope.

Mccoy gently turns your hand over in his grasp and bends over to the side, quickly flipping open his small medi-kit and cleaning the wound with an antiseptic wipe. The sting of the alcohol amplifies your pain and you feel tears spring up, gritting your teeth and cursing your stupidity. You were supposed to be the expert around here, and in your first ever away mission you managed to get bitten by a worthless beetle that now had you almost sobbing on the ground.

“I know, it hurts, I know,” he tries to soothe you as he applies a slim medicated bandage across the bite. “This is infused with a numbing agent, it should help with the pain a little bit. Just give it a second to work.” He presses his thumb on top of the bandage, then slowly rubs it back and forth with light pressure, trying to aide the release of the medication from the bandage.

You try to hold it together, but the fire in your veins is only ramping up and you feel a sweat coming on, wondering if the beetle had injected some sort of venom along with its bite. “I---ughhh! This isn’t going away.” You bow your head and try to focus on something else, anything else. He draws your other hand into his and grips it tightly, trying to draw your focus away from the burning sensation of your wound and you bite your lip.

“I know it hurts, darlin’. You’ll be okay.” The drawl of his voice calms you slightly as he grabs out a small travel hypo, hurriedly loading it with a clear liquid. “Here, give me your arm.” You slide closer to him and he injects you with it so swiftly you’re barely even aware of the pinch. You instantly notice the drug kick in as it works to dull the sharpness of the pain. Slowly, your body relaxes until the burning fire is nothing more than a dull throbbing. Still quite noticeable, but much improved.

You let out a big sigh of relief and look up at him with gratitude as the tension begins to leave your body. “Thank you....so much. That was...unpleasant.”

He gives you a soft smile. “All in a day’s work. You let me know if it starts to feel any worse, alright?” He still has your hand in his grasp, and you stay in that position for a few moments longer, letting the relief flow through your veins like cold water on a hot summer’s day. The warmth of his thumb radiates into the top of your hand as it continues to firmly trace over the bandage. You watch as he strokes your hand, marveling at how someone so rough around the edges could be so gentle. You would willingly stay like this for a few hours but soon you reluctantly pull your hand away, nodding at his instruction wordlessly.

You both stand together to go meet up with the others, and you have a hunch that the medication isn’t altogether responsible for your sudden good mood.

OOOOOOO

The long streams of distorted starlight streak across the blackness of space as you idly watch from a small circular viewing port, worshipping the sight of the ship in warp drive. It always amazed you that you and all the other crew aboard felt exactly the same no matter how fast the Enterprise travelled, and could only begin to imagine what the crew of the first ship to enter warp would have felt. Enraptured? Terrified? Probably a mix of both.

The cozy seating area off the mess hall was empty, as it usually was at this late hour. You had found this little haven tucked away from it all a few weeks into your first month of duty, and ever since you sought it out quite often, especially when you felt particularly reflective as you did now.

With your arms crossed lightly, you leaned a shoulder against the space-grade glass of the viewport, looking out into the stars that were especially illuminated tonight in the dim interior lighting of the ship. Your mind wandered, thinking of your family and wondering how everyone back home was doing—there were quite a few friends you had left behind, but only a few you actually missed. You would give anything for one of your father’s hugs or a bite of your mom’s homemade casserole right about now.

“I see you’ve found one of the hidden gems of the ship.” A male voice breaks the silence behind you and you turn to face the dark brooding eyes of the doctor. You sense your pulse excite as if on cue, giving him a slightly startled look.

“Oh, I didn’t.....yeah, well. S--sometimes I come here...just to think and look out at the stars.” You stutter as you lean against the wall again, facing him this time. He comes nearer to the viewing port, looking out into the abyss of starlight. He’s quiet for a moment, as if marveling at the wonders of space himself.

“No matter how many times you look at it, it never gets any less breathtaking.” His eyes flick over to you then, and you feel a slight flush wash over you, as if his words are meant for you and you alone. He always had a way of making everything sound so intimate, with that warm southern drawl.

You clear your throat softly, trying to dispel some of the butterflies in your stomach. "It's easy to forget where we are, easy to get caught up with other things while we’re busy working. So, I like to come here to remind myself.” You turn your head to look out again, sliding a bit closer to his side. He nods at your comment and you both stand in silence for a moment as you take in the view from the viewport, relishing in a shared appreciation for where you both are.

“Hurtling through space in nothing more than a tin can,” he says with his voice low, almost to himself. Finally, he looks down at you. “How’s that hand treatin’ you?”

Before you can answer, he reaches out and takes your hand gently, pulling it toward him to examine as he runs a thumb over the ridge of raised skin where the small scab has formed over the imprint of the insect bite.

“It’s good. Finally starting to heal.” Your mouth goes dry at his touch and you swallow as your pulse races to life again. It has a funny little habit of developing a mind of its own whenever you and the doctor are alone like this. You can feel the tremor of your heart’s increased pace against your ribcage, as if fighting to break free.

You expect him to let go of your hand but he continues to drag his thumb back and forth across it and you perceive yourself inching closer to him—almost unconsciously, drawn in by the gentleness and warmth of his touch.

His hazel eyes flick from your mending wound back up to your face, holding your stare intently. “You know, space is a pretty dangerous place,” he utters slowly. “I better keep my eye on you.”

You suck in a small breath, sensing your heart about to ram itself clear across the room. “I’d like that.”

His other hand lightly presses to the small of your back and you step in closer to him, tilting your head up as he bends down slightly to meet you. You feel your eyes begin to flutter closed as you place a hand on his chest, and the drumming of your heart in your ears so loud you’re almost certain he can hear it.

The piercing wail of the klaxon suddenly screeches out through the halls of the ship, and the bright red alert lights flash to life. You open your eyes abruptly and Mccoy drops your hand.

“Damn,” he curses softly as your face falls in disappointment, your other hand dropping away from his chest. The red flashes of the alert bounce across his uniform and a few crewmen quickly dash past you both.

“Go.” You urge him, fighting against the strong desire to stay exactly where you are together for the full entirety of the alert. “Be safe,” you manage to add, trying to fight down a wave of uneasiness.

You go to turn away and make a run for your emergency posting, but his grip at your arm stops you, facing you back to him.

“We’ll finish this....later.” His voice is full of meaning and promise, and you feel your heart skip yet again as you afford him a soft smile of hope in return. You sense the grip he has on your arm gradually slip away and both of you reluctantly turn in opposite directions to answer the insistent wailing of the klaxon.

You dash down the hallway, careful to avoid colliding with other crewmates as everyone rushes to their posts as orderly as possible. You had to respond to a red alert only one other time before, and it hadn’t lasted very long. It had been scary at first, the sheer suddenness of it, but after the initial shock and boost of adrenaline faded away, everything had kind of calmed down, and you expected it to go that way again. Captain Kirk was one of the best captains in all of Starfleet, and you had complete and utter faith in him.

Racing around a corner, you make your way toward the other side of the ship, trying to calm yourself a bit in the process. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary yet, but you can’t quite shake the imposing heaviness of dread that was now settling in your stomach. You silently will your feet to keep up their pace as you pass a few more crewmen heading for the turbolift behind you, both in security red. Are they going to the bridge? Maybe something’s happening up there....

Without warning, the Enterprise forcefully pitches to one side and you tumble into the wall, jamming your shoulder harshly. The hum of the warp engines intensifies over the cry of the red alert as they work overtime to compensate, and the rattling of the hull echoes around you. You try and continue your way down the hall but it’s increasingly difficult to fight against the force of an unbalanced ship. After a few seconds, you feel everything begin to steady back out and slowly take a breath, not realizing you’ve been holding it in this entire time.

You pass through the end of the hallway into the open deck that runs overtop the engineering room, connecting to the rest of the ship deck farther down. It has waist-high railings on either side, and you can see the Enterprises’ inner workings in a glance as your race across the deck, hearing frantic voices shouting out orders from down below. Suddenly, the ship is pitched to the side again and your eyes widen in panic as you lose your footing and slide towards the railing. The drop from this deck would be several stories high, something you have absolutely no intention of experiencing. You see a few other crewmates scramble in front of you to keep their balance as you all slide for the railing, but fortunately everyone manages to brace themselves against it, including you. The overhead lights flicker a few times, and the engines roar in your ears as they’re brought up to their full potential.

The ship slowly begins to steady out once again, and you loosen your death- grip on the railing at your side, cautiously starting to make your way back to the middle of the deck.

A deafening crack echoes down through the hall behind you and the ship abruptly heaves. This time, you are un- prepared and you tumble back towards the railing full force, the right side of your ribcage making full-on contact with the unyielding metal as your body tries to bend in half around it. You gasp out in pain as both your hands shoot out to clamp down on the rail, stopping yourself from being tossed clear over to the other side and down into the engineering room. Another crew member isn’t so lucky and you hear his anguished scream as his body is flung off the steep drop of the deck.

You’re breathing in and out in raspy gasps, panic spreading through your veins as you try to keep your hold. Your ribcage is screaming out at you from the blow to the railing and you slowly sink down to your knees, trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of you before. You feel your legs quiver in your boots and you try to steady yourself once again, rationally reminding your brain that you have to perform your duty and get to your emergency post. The ship has steadied for the moment, but you don’t trust it this time, giving it a few more seconds before you dare to stand back up. You claw yourself across the railing, pulling yourself upright, and you realize you’re in one of the most dangerous places on the ship right now. As long as you make it to the end of the deck and back into the hallway, you’ll be in way better shape than you are now.

You decide to make a dash for it and run as fast as you can down the deck, trying to push the anguished scream of the crewman out of your head. Your ribs burn daggers through your uniform as you run, and you wouldn’t be surprised if you’d fractured a few. An image of Dr. Mccoy flashes through your mind and you wipe it away as soon as it appears, not wanting to acknowledge your mounting fear for his safety.

The wail of the klaxon abruptly ceases, and the red flashing lights turn to ones of cautionary yellow. You halt your run as you enter the hallway, a huge sigh of relief escaping you as you lightly cover over your ribs with one hand, taking a moment to calm your breathing. We did it. We survived.

OOOOOOO

You had decided to wait until the night after the red alert to make your way up to medical, knowing that Mccoy and all the rest of the med staff would have their hands full of injured and critically wounded. The ship had come under a surprise attack and one of the upper decks had received some heavy damage, and there had been a few casualties. But you knew for certain that the CMO hadn’t been one of them, and for this you were relieved beyond words. As happy as you were that disaster had been averted, the nagging tenderness across the right side of your ribcage had only gotten worse as the day passed, and you could barely lift your arms above waist level while working your day shift at the lab. Now that your shift was over, you decided that it was time to seek out some proper medical attention.

You rode the turbolift up to medical, wincing as you reached out to indicate your desired floor on the touch panel. The doors slid open and you made your way gingerly into the brightly lit med bay, cupping a hand lightly across your ribs to help contain some of the discomfort. You saw that most of the med beds were currently occupied, with several nurses making their rounds, arms full of medical supplies. Some patients looked almost fit enough to jump up and walk out, while there were a few others with privacy curtains drawn carefully around their beds.

One of the nurses spotted you and immediately recognized the look of pain written across your features. She hurriedly guided you over to an examination room and drew the privacy curtain, sitting you down on the stiff exam table to give you a quick once-over. When she was satisfied that you weren’t in any immediate danger, she straightened up. “I’ll go get a doctor for you.”

You nod in thanks and she leaves, pulling the privacy curtain closed behind her. You wonder if you would be lucky enough to have Dr. Mccoy examine you, and feel a certain level of anxiety to think that it could be someone else. Sure, your mother had been a nurse, but that didn’t mean you were completely at ease when it came to your own medical visits. You were sure that all the doctors on the Enterprise were perfectly capable to handle your situation, but you knew none of them would do it with the care and understanding of the chief medical officer. You felt a small wave of panic swell in your gut and you swallowed it down, even though you could feel your nerves getting the best of you. Especially now, when your entire right side was throbbing incessantly, seemingly getting worse with each passing hour. You didn’t want to admit it, but you were starting to fear there was more extensive internal damage than you first thought. You pressed your left hand overtop the area again, hissing out from in between your teeth.

“No, no. It’s alright, I’ll see to her. You go take a break.” You hear a muffled voice from behind the curtain, and suddenly it’s pulled back roughly, revealing hazel eyes dark with intensity as he immediately starts to size up your condition.

“Dr. Mccoy,” you breathe out in relief.

He cocks up an eyebrow at you as he walks into the room, readying the medical equipment on the table beside the exam bed you’re perched on top of.

“That’s Leonard to you.” The hint of a smile traces over your lips as he picks up his tricorder and begins to pass it across your body slowly, and you feel the tension leave your shoulders.

“What happened here?” he askes curtly, attention focused on the readout of the tricorder.

“I fell into a metal railing during that alert yesterday. Right on top of my ribs....it’s been hurting pretty bad ever since.” You drop your hand away from your ribcage, wincing again as you accidentally twist your torso a fraction.

Your pained expression doesn’t escape his notice and he puts down the tricorder, stepping close in front of you. “Why didn’t you come up sooner?” His tone is accusatory and your gaze points down toward the white tiles of the exam room floor guiltily.

“Well, I figured you’d be pretty busy....I didn’t want to make anymore work for you. It wasn’t urgent....”

He shakes his head, and takes a small amount of antibacterial soap into his palm, rubbing it briskly into his hands. “I don’t care if half the medical bay is going up in flames, you come here if you’re hurt, you hear me?” The look in his eyes is stern, agitated that you let yourself go without proper care, and your heart rate accelerates.

You nod your head and his expression softens. “I just don’t want you to do anymore damage, is all. Lord knows we’ve got enough injured as it is.” He stands in front of you again, looking you in the eyes, assessing your condition.

“I want to get a good look at it now, mind if I lift this up?” He motions to your uniform and you nod wordlessly, bracing yourself for the pain that will inevitably follow. Before he touches your uniform, he places a light hand on your knee. “I’ll be as gentle as I can, I promise you.”

“I know.” You trust him completely, but still dread the thought of getting your ribs poked at.

He carefully rolls up the edge of your blue uniform, all the way up until it hits the underarm. You move your arm forward a bit so he can look around it, and you can see the large, swollen bruising feathered along your side in the reflection of the mirror beside you. It’s a deep purple with blue hues around the edges, and you could have sworn it wasn’t that big when you’d inspected it yesterday. You hear the doctor curse under his breath softly as he examines you.

“Really, darlin’. You waited much too long.” he gently scolds you as he hovers a hand just above the afflicted skin. “May I?”

You nod again, steeling yourself as he lightly places a hand over top of your ribs. He starts up high and you can tell he is applying gradual pressure with his fingers, trying to find any weakness in the bone. The pain is uncomfortable but bearable so far, and you lean in closer to him a bit as you close your eyes, trying to think of something else to get your mind off the throbbing. His chest is directly in front of you and you wish you could lean your head against it.

“How’s this?” he asks, starting to slowly move his hand down your ribcage one rib at a time. “Here?” “It’s okay,” you answer as you feel the pain starting to intensify again.

“Here?” His warm palm encircles your bruise, just above the very middle, his fingers playing at your side with measured pressure.

“Getting worse,” you mumble, wincing again. He moves down half an inch. "Here?”

“Ah!--” You bend forward and hiss out an exhale, your left hand darting up to hold onto the blue cloth of his uniform shirt.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s okay, sweetheart,” he soothes as his fingers nimbly dart across the tender area. “Just a bit more.”

Your fist balls up the cloth of his shirt as you grit your teeth, the pain searing across your right side like a bolt of lightning. Just as quick, his hand is gone and tugs your uniform back into place, looking down at you but not moving away.

“Looks like you got a few fractured ribs there. It’ll be painful for a while so you gotta take it easy.” His eyes are warm and re-assuring, and you feel the fire of your ribcage receding back to more acceptable levels. “I’ll try to do what I can with the regenerator but unfortunately it doesn’t have the best success rate when it comes to ribs. The easiest way for them to heal is still the old-fashioned way. Get plenty of rest.....and a “light duty only” order.” He sees your face fall a bit at that, knowing that most everyone aboard hated having limitations to their work duties. “And I want you to come see me every few days so I can make sure everything is healin’ like it should.”

You perk up a bit at that, and realize that you’re still holding the fabric of his uniform sleeve hostage in your fist. “Oh...I’m sorry,” you say as you slowly let go. He places a hand gently to your waist on your un-injured side and you look up at him with wide eyes.

“I’m not.” Faster than you can think, his head dips low and his lips find yours in a light kiss. You sink into his hold like melted butter, placing a hand on his chest as you kiss him back tenderly. Your eyes close and you take in the smell of him---a unique mix of coffee, medical sanitizer, and just a hint of cologne. Its an odd mixture but fits him perfectly and you sigh into his lips which are still pressing into yours.

Eventually you pull away for want of breathing, and your eyes lock, a lop-sided grin spreading across his face as he looks down at you. “Now Y/N, you don’t have to keep getting hurt just to see me.”

You chuckle up at him, shaking your head. “You have some ego on you, you know that?”

He squeezes your hip once and steps back, purposely ignoring your last comment with a glint of humor dancing in his eyes. “I’ll go get you some painkillers.”

You’re sitting in a stupor as he leaves, your mind racing so fast it’s practically blank. He re-appears in seconds, injecting you with a hypo carefully and giving you a small bottle of pills. “Take one twice a day and you’ll be feeling a whole lot better.”

You curl your fingers around the pill bottle, looking up at him with gratitude and more affection than you’ve ever felt for anyone. “Thank you....Leonard.”

He holds out a hand to help you off the exam table and you step down gingerly, wincing again but already feeling the positive effects of the hypo flow through you. “Now, let’s go give the regenerator a whirl there, darlin’. It should help you out a bit.”

Before you both step out of the exam room, he turns back to you and you stop, looking up at him in puzzlement. A warm hand finds your cheek, fingers splayed out under your ear and he kisses you again, except much deeper than the first time. Your mind is nothing but the streaking stars of space at warp speed as you return the kiss eagerly, enjoying the closeness you’ve ached for ever since you first saw him. His lips are tender but firm, making his feelings known to you in a way that makes your body crave the taste of him even more. After a long moment, you both pull away slowly, his hand still at the side of your face.

“That’s what I wanted to do ever since that damn red alert finished my thought for me.”

You smile up at him and he takes your hand, pulling open the curtain for you and gently guiding you back out into the med bay.

END

Thanks for the read!

[medievalfangirl]

Mortals - Part I

Notes: Written for @tephi101 800 follower challenge. A massive congratulations love, your followers are a testament to your writing talent and sweet soul 💖 So now I have three WIPs - is this how I die? 

Prompt: Supernatural - Hellhound 

Summary: After a life spent dancing with death’s messenger, Halfdan is still the most fascinating thing Ylva has ever seen. 

Warnings: mentions of death, mild violence 

Words: 2891

Pairing: Halfdan the Black x OC

Ylva first saw the Helhound on a frigid winter day, nestled between her tenth autumn and eleventh spring. It had black fur, as dark as a night of wretched deeds and buried secrets. Thin lips were rolled back to form a snarling mouth, thick drool oozing over glistening teeth. It’s claws shone in defiance of the deep grey clouds that hid the sun. Yet it was the eyes of the animal that firmly named it a beast. They were blood red, and shone with the malice of another world. Those eyes were the place hope travelled to die. To look into them for too long was to know the most primal of dread, the birth of terror. A feeling that crept into your soul and blackened it beyond salvation. For less than a heartbeat she’d stared, frozen, looking deep into the chasms that led to Hel. Her own strangled scream had torn the moment in half.  

As she grew, encounters with the creature became a part of Ylva’s life. It was death given teeth, a sight no mortal should bear witness to. But she did. And each visit pushed her further towards a great precipice, terror and hopelessness gripping her heart like a vice, squeezing her tighter each time she saw it, threatening to tip her over the edge when her fear finally drove her to madness. 

She learnt it’s deadly dance, how it would appear on the edge of town and wait in the shadows. There in the darkness it chose it’s victim, stalked their steps and slept under their bed. No one survived once marked, and no one save Ylva could see it. When a stumble in the street had brushed her hand against another's, a woman recently marked by the beast, visions of the woman’s death had knocked Ylva to her knees. She understood then: the hound did not deal death - it warned of it. The lady had fallen through the ice while fishing the lake and the naive girl had tried to save her. She’d almost drowned in the attempt. Whether they met their end by sword, sickness or other means, those poor souls were caught in the clutches of fate. She couldn’t free them. She was just a woman - cursed with knowledge and bound to watch.

Word of her talents soon spread, and naturally, the great shield-maiden Lagertha wanted to benefit from this asset living in her kingdom. So the girl, now a young woman, had trained to be merciless with her shield and axes. Despite years of visits from death’s messenger, she kept it’s darkness at bay. She learnt to wield her curse like a weapon: regaling Lagertha with every glimpse, anything she saw in the blurred backdrop behind the premature demises. Anything that could sway the future in their favour. While that one death was set the rest was fluid, and sometimes, others could be warned of the circumstances, such as a sinking ship or burning home. Just as the bite of her axe helped her fell foes in battle, this weapon too helped her defend herself against her greatest enemy: her own fear. Using the visions gave her a semblance of control over the madness that thing had brought into her life. 

Yesterday she had seen the hound, blending with the shadows that hugged the docks. She could feel its anticipation to mark someone. And death was coming, there was no doubt of that. Lagertha had killed Aslaug and taken Kattegat back, but for long would she hold it? Her enemies were poised and waiting. The coming war would pit viking against viking, brother against brother. The sons of Ragnar were divided. King Harald and his brother Halfdan too found themselves on opposite sides of the gulf. Halfdan and Bjorn had returned from the Mediterranean, and a roaring feast in their honour was the root of Ylva’s drinking that night. 

Halfdan the Black was enough to pull her from her own contemplations. His presence made no sense. She simply couldn’t reconcile her memory of him with his choice to oppose his brother. 

He may have been the lighter brother in appearance but he was the darker in nature. He was a more reserved man than his brother, never one to waste words with flamboyancy. A maker of cool observations, alertness than verged on caution when around a potential threat - which he saw everywhere. For his cool manner off of the battlefield, when he fought he was wreathed in flame. As ruthless as any Viking, there was something vicious about him when he killed, something unhinged. As if he relished the chance to shake off all and any humanity. The only person she’d even seen him show any affection for was Harald. Watching them fight side by side during the Second Siege of Paris, their sibling bond looked unbreakable. Both men seemed to love sparingly, and with great intensity. And now they were ready to stare each other down across a field of blood, ready to end each other’s lives?

The man talking with Lagertha was one of two things. A different man to the one Ylva remembered, or a traitor. Curiosity piqued, concern building, she was determined to find out which. Letting ale flow across the floor like tributaries into a great lake she watched, waiting until Halfdan had drank enough to relax. Or relax as much as he seemed able to.

Only when his posture held less rigidity, one arm propped on the back of his chair, did Ylva approach. Two drinks in hand, she took the seat opposite and offered one to him. The warrior hesitated before he took the ale, watching her over it’s rim as he drank. Sharp eyes studied her from behind a tousled forelock. 

Slowly he lowered the horn, still observing her with an intensity that neared unnerving. “I know you.” 

“I fought during the Second Siege of Paris.”

Recognition dawned across his face. “You are Lagertha’s seer?”

“I am the woman you remember, yes. But I am no seer.” 

Halfdan frowned, mouth forming a straight line. “You knew what would happen that day. You warned the French had a fleet strong enough to challenge us.”

He remembered the day’s bitter loss well. But he didn’t know her, and like everyone else, he was quick to assume and slow to accept he was wrong. 

“Foresight is not limited to seers.”

“Then what are you?” 

Using the arm still draped across his chair, he pushed himself upright with the fluid grace of a cat. Ylva pulled her auburn braid over her shoulder. Fiddling with the end, she answered with a nonchalant tip of her head. 

“A mystery.”

“Tell me.” Halfdan’s eyes flashed. This man may have moved like a feline, but he was no tamed house creature. Something wild simmered beneath the surface. “I am a curious man.” 

“Your curiosity will fade,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand. 

“No it will not. And I have far less patience,.” 

As he spoke he grabbed the wrist she swung between them, long fingers curling around the joint. His grip was unyielding, not painful but too tight for comfort. Ylva wasn’t stupid. She heard the warning in the harder edge his already raspy voice had taken. Bright blue eyes flickering across his face, she saw it too in the firm set of his features. 

Quite unintentionally, she had caught this man’s interest. A man who was accustomed to having whatever he wanted. A man who never heard ‘no’, and when he did, likely took matters into his own hands to change that answer. That had not been part of her plan to find out his true motives for being in Kattegat. But perhaps she could use it? She could tend that spark of curiosity; make him yearn for her truth enough to tell her a little something in exchange. 

Slowly she spoke, choosing her words carefully. Halfdan the Black was not a man she wanted to push too far. Danger glittered in blue depths behind a messy shock of blonde. And that danger’s hand currently had a rigid hold around her pulse-point.  

“I have never told Lagertha, and I have fought for her for many years. As for you, Halfdan, I do not even know if I can trust where your loyalties lie.” 

For a moment he neither moved nor spoke, some emotion flickering too briefly across his face to be named. She’d tried to toe the line between inciting his curiosity and his ire - perhaps she’d fallen to the wrong side? 

“I will fight for Bjorn,” he responded at last. 

Ylva watched him steadily, working to keep the relief from showing across her face. She sensed her fear was a weakness he would use. Tilting her chin up, she asked, “will you? Convince me.”

“I owe your leader an explanation. Not you, seer.”

The pressure on her wrist increased enough to set off a dull throb beneath his fingers. 

“And I owe one to no one,” she snapped, eyes narrowing into a glare. A fierceness slipped into her voice, a far cry from the careful cool she had maintained so far. “My name is Ylva, you will use it.”

He’d poked a raw nerve one too many times. 

Seers could cast their mind’s eye forward and read the words of the world that hadn’t yet been written. Their gift showed them both good and ill. Her curse showed her naught but doomed souls whose destiny was already written in blood. The guilt of watching friends die not once but twice had festered in her, and soon she’d found herself stood at the edge of that great cliff. The one she’d felt the hound pushing her towards since the very first sighting. It had been a simple choice - harden her heart, or fall, and break. 

So when she declared she wasn’t a seer, she meant it. She was a woman who predicted death without feeling. A woman who wasn’t sure she had any soul left. 

“Are you threatening me?” 

A sharp tug on the limb he still held brought her hurtling back to the present. Her stomach smacked into the table rim, her upper body tilting precariously, following the path of her outstretched arm. And Ylva had thought he’d felt menacing before. She would have laughed at her naivety if the situation wasn’t so serious. 

Head tilted, lips twisted into a dark smirk, Halfdan’s expression was amused disbelief. He was watching her like she was prey. Entertained in the way a wolf would be, to see a rabbit show defiance. Oh, what a deadly game she had started by drawing him into conversation. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, icy cold trickling down her spine. He was no doubt armed, and strong enough that she could not free herself. If the mood took him he could kill her then and there. And yet, hemmed in by his intoxicating presence, she had never felt more alive. He had a hypnotic allure that set her body humming. The lethal mix of icy calm and fiery peril that seemed to wage a war in his eyes called to her. It was enough that she hesitated, considering the risk of pushing him further, just to see what he would do. Her self-preservation instincts, however, would not allow her to quench that thirst to know. 

Swallowing her pride, she shook her head. “No. I’m asking you.” 

“I name you as I see you.” 

The warrior sought an explanation - he wanted her to lay her secrets out for him, and was unaccustomed to people denying him. But he had given her nothing. He hadn’t budged an inch - and neither would she.

“And you have given me no reason to trust you with the knowledge you want.” 

The close quartered-quiet wasn’t ideal for the shield-maiden. She could not deny her attraction to the man when she was close enough to count the lashes on one eye. Lithe and tall, though not enough to tower over her as Bjorn did, his body didn’t flaunt his strength. But she had seen him hack men to pieces. She knew the power that shifted beneath his skin. His unkempt blonde hair gave him a feral look his nature did nothing to negate. This was the first time she’d been close enough to study his eyes. She found intertwining brown hues, like mighty dragons fighting in the sky. As with every part of him, body and beyond, they were captivating. 

In silence they sat, pinning each other under stubborn glares. Their obstinate dispositions had brought them to a stalemate. Each wanted to draw the information they craved from the other, without divulging anything about themselves. All Ylva’s attempts to manipulate the situation had failed. They’d spoken about her more than she’d like - Halfdan kept spinning the conversation until she was the one answering questions. Her approach had been all wrong, and had set him on the defensive. 

Dropping all pretense and veiling from her voice, she spoke plainly. “I am sorry for talking in riddles, and implying you are not to be trusted. I saw you fight at Harald’s side in Paris. I simply find it difficult to understand why you are not by his side still.” 

The warrior considered her for so long she feared he would keep her in his bruising grip indefinitely, and say nothing. But he didn’t. He released her, and the feeling rushed back into her hand like water from behind a broken dam. She eased herself back into her seat, body stiff, waiting in earnest for his answer. 

“Bjorn saved my life.” 

She’d overheard him say as much to Lagertha - she wanted more. Drawing details he didn’t want to give was like drawing blood from a stone. 

“Surely you and your brother have saved each other many times over?” 

Taking a sip of his neglected ale, he shrugged enigmatically. He held the answer over her like a bone over a dog. But his reticence begged the question: what could possibly have happened in the Mediterranean between Bjorn and Halfdan?

“I overheard you telling Lagertha about the Mediterranean. Would you tell me something?” 

Halfdan drained his horn before replying, contemplating his words.  “A wanderer named Sinric was our guide. He may have been a God, walking among men.” 

“That…” Ylva trailed off, eyes wide.. Of all the things she’d thought he would say, that was not one of them. “I hardly have the words. What made you think him a God?” 

“He has this way of appearing somewhere, without seeming to travel there. And he is always at home, wherever he is.”

“That is incredible! To be in the presence of a God… I cannot imagine it. Did he share in your adventures?”

“You could call it that,” he shook his head ruefully. “He was nearly executed alongside Bjorn and I.”   

“Executed?” Ylva echoed, enthralled. 

“By an Arab, on plains of sand that stretched as far as the eye could see.” 

When speaking about his travels he was lighter. The heavy tone, laced with warnings and implications was replaced by something natural. His eyes captured wonder, an appreciation for what the world could hold, beyond his desire to take it. A brief smile tugged at his lips, and Ylva swallowed hard, taken aback by how it transformed his face. Even his posture was different, some of the tension draining from his shoulders. 

“I would like to see this desert for myself,” she admitted, the truthful words coming with unusual ease. Pale hands gripped the worn table-edge. “But there is always another battle to fight.”  

Halfdan furrowed his brow, disagreeing quietly. “There is more to life than fighting for glory.” 

Hadn’t this man spent his life fighting alongside his brother for little reason other than power, glory, and the thrill of it? 

That was when she understood. He was no traitor; indeed it was the other, less likely option. 

Halfdan’s experiences had subtly changed him. What he’d witnessed she hardly understood - he’d surely fed her only the scraps of his escapades. But those days in a world of sand had resulted in a man who could side against his brother. 

Ylva wasn’t sure what to say, but he didn’t seem to mind. Ale may have loosened his tongue, but he had never been the most loquacious of men. Shortly after he stood. With a quiet, “seer,” he bade her farewell, inclined his head, and left. 

She watched him brazenly as he walked, people parting from his path. A few clapped his shoulders as he passed through. 

Their conversation had allayed most of her concerns over his loyalties - that should have been the end of it. But she couldn’t help but turn his words over in her mind, hearing him deliver them again in that throaty voice. He’d stolen her attention with his unexpected arrival. Now they’d spoken, her interest was heightened like the waxing of the moon. Except she already doubted this feeling would wane. From the darkness she’d anticipated to the lightness she hadn’t, he was a puzzle. Complicated in a way that made her want to figure him out.  

There was time yet before the defenders of Kattegat and her intended conquerors would meet. Halfdan would find she too had curiosity to burn.

@geekandbooknerd    @naaladareia    @notyouraveragegirl17  @xxxvalaryaxxx  @waiting4inspiration   @inforapound (I hope you don’t mind me tagging you? I thought you may have been curious about this other time-stealing project of mine. If not say so and I shan’t bother you with it 😉😂)

[itsbuckysworld]

HELLO SPRING DAY 4

Pairing: Bucky x Reader Category: fluffy meet cute ft Bucky’s dog Zeus. (which is what i wanna call one of my dogs in the future T.T the other will be Athena) Warnings: rushed, fluffy, not that great.  Word Count: 1K Guest Appearance: Steeef Rawgers, Zeus the dog

Day 4: "___ is lost! help me find it/them” for my Spring Short Story Writing Event.

“Zeus is lost!” Bucky barged into his best friend’s room, frantically trying to wake the blonde man up and succeeding. Steve opens his eyes in a frenzy, so much for his afternoon nap.

With eyes still adjusting to the brightness coming from the open door, he can see Bucky’s figure pacing up a storm, about to make a ditch on the hardwood flooring. For a second he didn’t understand what was happening, his brain still slow and rebooting like an old computer, after all he’d just returned home from a very long and non stop shift at work. Stupid overtimes.

And then the sentence his best friend and roommate had said started to seep in. Zeus…

“Wait what? How?” Steve sat up, his torso barely covered by the falling covers as he swung out his legs over the side of his mattress.

“Zeus, I… I took him for a walk and we stopped and he just took off running, which he’s done before, but he just followed this random person and was gone before I could catch him and I lost him through all the people and intersections” Bucky’s hair was pointing every which way with how much he kept running his hands through the long chocolate strands.

His dog was everything to him. Despite it not being trained to be a help dog, Steve knew how much the dog helped Bucky in many ways and getting that big ball of fur was the joy of his life. He remembers all the arguments over having the dog in the apartment at the beginning but he couldn’t deny he was so fond of the silly animal he considered it his child almost as much as Bucky.

“Well, he has his collar, someone will call…” Steve tried to reason and calm his friend down but Bucky only shook his head desperately.

“No, no. His… I… You know his leash has been getting stuck on the collar hook right?” Steve nodded “I took it off for a second to stop tugging on it too harshly and that’s when… he ran, he just ran.”

“fuck” the blonde one muttered, now rubbing his face at the new obstacle. Fuck, now what?

“You gotta help me find him Steve”

“Yes I know, I know…”

It took Steve a few minutes to come up with some sort of plan. Bucky was certain the dog wasn’t far, he was smart and ran almost in the same direction of the apartment complex, which means he couldn’t be far. Most of their neighbors knew the dog, and if there was something the pair had was plenty of photos of the pup. So quickly opening his laptop, Steve got to work on some quick lost dog posters with Zeus’ photos and their contact information. They’d plaster them all over the neighborhood and then some, the quicker they acted the better.

“Ok, you go up the street, I’ll head down towards the-“ Bucky was coming out of their apartment, Steve close behind, a stack of 50+ papers on each of their hands, when a strong, loud bark from upstairs interrupted their frenzy. Both men looked up the stair so fast it almost gave them whiplash. A quick glance back at each other to assess that it must be Zeus, no one has a dog as big as Zeus in the building, so no dog could bark so loud, and their feet took them up the flight of stairs in a second.

“Zeus!” Bucky screamed when he saw the familiar down the hall, and it came running to him, almost tumbling him back with the force of the excitement over the reunion. “Buddy you scared me!” Bucky scratched behind his ears and under his snout, the pupper adoring the attention as it whined for more scratches. Steve cleared his throat and Bucky looked up to find a girl standing outside the apartment at the end of the hall looking at the reunion with a wide smile. “Hey, you found him?”

“He found me really” she exclaimed with a little giggle that Bucky found incredibly endrearing. Her features were soft and bright and young, deserving of a magazine photoshoot. “Followed me to the store and back. Thought I could post a photo to find his owner if he had one” She nodded and with a little bit of shyness took a few steps towards the two men. “Y/N, just moved in yesterday”

“Steve” “B-Bucky” both men shook hands with the woman, welcoming her to the neighborhood and Zeus barked, as if saying hello as well. “And this is Zeus, who scared me half to death earlier, thought I’d lost him” he concluded, still unable to tear his eyes away from the woman that had kind of indirectly got him his dog back.

“Nice to meet you too Zeus! He’s a cutie” you complimented, kneeling to pet the dog some more. “Considered stealing him if I didn’t hear from an owner in a week, you’re lucky” Zeus licked her face and her hand at her joke, almost rolling on the floor trying to get more cuddles with his new friend.

“Well, he seems to like you, so I think he’d be okay with that.” Bucky kneeled as well, ruffling Zeus’ fur and half noticing how Steve slowly exited the scene with a knowing grin. Bucky looked up at you. “Say, could I invite you for a coffee? You know as… as a thanks for finding Zeus for me” his cheeks tinted red a little and he noticed yours did as well. “Again, he found me… But I won’t turn down coffee with a cute boy” “You think I’m cute?” “I was referring to Zeus” Bucky’s smile falters for a moment before he sees your grin that lets him know you’re only half serious about that. He chuckles handing you one of the lost dog flyers with his contact, and you pull out a pen from your bag, scribbling down yours on the back of another. “See you two soon then?” with one last pet to Zeus’ head you stand up and walk into your apartment and all Bucky can do is continue staring with a dumb grin plastered on his face.

Zeus breaks the trance his in with a long lick to the side of his face. “Good boy Zeus, what a wingman” Bucky whispers, pressing a kiss between Zeus’ eyes as the dorky mutt smiles cheekily at him. Couldn’t have gone even better if they had rehearsed it. Bucky puts his collar around him again “No more running away though, scared me enough for a lifetime”

Feedback is greatly appreciated and encouraged! Thank you so much for reading! this was just something quick and fluffy!

[namjoon-koya]

Spring confessions

A/N: I didn’t get a request to do this, but since I’m on spring break I felt like doing something a bit related to that.

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Fianlly! It’s spring break and you can’t wait to spend time with Peter, Ned suggests you guys go on a get away vacation which you agree to. Peter,Ned,MJ and you will spend an entire week together as Peter and Ned share a room together you and MJ are paried up you both talk about the future after high school you tell her you see a future with Peter but does he see one with you?

Warnings: none at all boi enjoy

————

The bell finally ran everyone was getting excited especially since it was spring break which also meant summer was approaching quick you gathered your things putting them inside your backpack. You walked out the classroom and waited for Peter and Ned like you always did.

“Y/N!” You saw Peter and Ned walking towards you-you smiled giving a quick kiss to Peter “well boys it’s finally spring break!” You cheered out happily Peter smiled at your cheerful mood “Y’know I was thinking maybe we should go on vacation.”

Ned suggested at first you were hesitate about the idea but maybe he was right you guys had been working hard especially when you and Peter were at the avengers compound they never really let up on the heavy training.

“I think that’s a great idea Ned we need a vacation... let’s invite MJ.” You held Peter’s hand as you three walked out the school, later on when you arrived home you called MJ to ask her if she wanted to come along with you guys which she agreed to.

You start packing your things, you neatly fold them as you put them inside your bag, Peter sat on your bed as he watched you “this is going to be pretty exciting Y/N.. we get to spend more time together.” You felt your face heat up after he said that you always loved spending time with Peter you both always connected together.

“Y-yea.. so are we going to met up with Ned tomorrow or?...”

“Na he said he was going to met up with MJ so I guess we’ll just head to the airport.”

You nodded finally you finished packing Peter had stayed over for dinner since you asked him to finally after a while he gave you a kiss and told you he’d see you tomorrow.

What you hadn’t realized was the ENTIRE avengers were at the airport to bid you and Peter goodbye, a lot of people stopped and stared at them they’d even ask for pictures at times, “you guys didn’t have to come y’know me and Y/N will be back after a week..” Peter mumbled out.

“Aw c’mon kid we just wanted to say goodbye to our favorite kids.” Tony said ruffling up Peter’s hair “right.. well we better get going the plane is going to leave in a few minutes.” You said as you hugged Natasha and Steve.

“Alright have fun! Don’t forget to use condo-“

“SAM!!” You yelled out not letting him finish his sentence he only laughed holding onto Steve’s shoulder for support,

“I’m joking kid, but seriously protection use it.” Peter only shook his head ignoring his comment.

You both boarded the plane, it was a long 4 hours so you slept on Peter’s shoulder he kissed your forehead as he laid his head on yours.

-4 hours later-

The plane was finally landing and you were damn happy about it your legs were already numb and you needed to stretch them out, when you and Peter walked off the plane and gathered your things Peter called Ned asking him where he was.

Finally you guys saw Ned with MJ, you four walked off to the hotel you guys would stay at, Peter and Ned got a room together while you and MJ stayed together.

Since it was still daylight outside you guys decided to go out and explore a bit, you wore and tank top with shorts and some sneakers so you’d be comfortable. While you guys walked around Peter held onto your hand at times he’d glance over at you looking at you with loving eyes you couldn’t help but giggle at him.

After a while you guys headed back to the hotel room you were pretty sure Ned and Peter knocked out as soon as they laid their heads on their pillows. You and MJ stayed awake talking about things you’d ask her what she was going to do after high school and she told you what she wanted to do you could see the passion in her eyes as she did.

“But what about you Y/N? Especially since your with Peter do you see a future with him?” You stayed quiet for a bit thinking about it, you did love Peter since the first day you met him you knew you loved him but.. did he see a future with you? Did he want to stay with you after high school? Would all of that change after you guys graduate?

“Y/N?” Your mind was snapped back into reality as MJ looked at you “w-well.. I see my future with him.. but I don’t know if he does..” MJ just laughed a bit at your response “Y/N! Of course he does! I mean do you see the way he looks at you! I’m pretty sure he’s already thinking of making you his wife!”

You laughed when she said that “wife? I think we’re too young for that MJ.” You felt reassured after she said that you both talked for a while before finally deciding to sleep.

The next morning Peter,Ned,MJ, and you decided to go to a cafe for breakfast after having a full breakfast Ned suggested him and MJ go sight seeing which she agreed to leaving you and Peter alone.

“Me and Ned seriously fell asleep after we came back yesterday.” You laughed “me and MJ stayed up a bit..” you remembered the discussion from last night you’ve been wanting to ask Peter about his future, but you were too nervous to what if it wasn’t the response you were looking for or that you wanted?

“No wonder I heard a bit of mumbling at night.”

“U-um Peter?..”

“Yea Y/N?”

You took a deep breath in trying to relax your nerves.

“W-What do you see in your future?”

He hummed for a bit as he thought about it.

“Well I definitely see myself working for Mr.Stark.” Well that wasn’t a surprise he had grown attached to Tony since Tony did treat him like his own son.

“What else?”

“.... a-a future with you..” he mumbled out you couldn’t exactly hear what he just said,

“Can you repeat that again? I didn’t hear you?”

“F-future with you..”

“One more time?”

“Oh for the love of God! A future with you Y/N!” You blushed instantly at his words MJ was right he really did see a future with you.

“P-Peter.. I’m happy you said that.. i-i see a future with you too.” He beamed out a smile as he held onto your hand from across the table “well.. I’m thankful..”

MJ and Ned hid behind something hearing the conversation you and Peter had “ohhhh so now I see why you wanted to leave them alone together.” Ned said looking at MJ “those two needed a bit of a push to tell their feelings.”

[lostinfic]

Hardy x Hannah • 12

Enchantment 

#12 Storm clouds

Thank you for the prompt, I hope you like it!

Rating: all-ages

Word count: 2124

Summary: Hannah is a witch afraid to fall in love, until one of her spells backfires in the best of ways.

@tinyconfusion here’s your Practical Magic AU (although maybe not the one you dream of) (early birthday present?)

Ao3

Hannah had swam too far. The cliffs were a mere copper line in the distance. Not a soul on the beach, they’d all gone home for supper.

The water turned grey. It shivered around her, stirred, restless under the gathering clouds.

Hannah swam towards the beach but the undercurrent pulled her back. Waves sucked at the strength in her legs. Rain fell like a lead curtain. She couldn’t tell the sea from the sky, the beach from the horizon.

Panic flared in her guts, short-circuited any rational thoughts. She tried to scream for help but waves slapped her face and salty water splashed into her lungs.

*

In the conservatory of her aunts’ house on the Isle of Wight, a young Hannah— nine and a half years old to be exact— carefully chose her ingredients. A sprig of valerian, a row of foxgloves, a blackberry leaf. And she whispered to herself: “He will hear my call a mile away. He will quote my favourite books. He can see the future in his dreams.”

Jackie walked into the room and watched her sister for a moment. “What are you doing?”

“Summoning up a true love spell called ‘Amas Veritas’,” Hannah replied. She sprinkled dried lavender into her wooden bowl and added a bunch of bluebells to it. “He can flip pancakes in the air. He’ll have a big heart, as big as the world. Too big. And he’ll wear ties all the time.” She added sunflower petals. “And he’ll have golden eyes.”

“I thought you never wanted to fall in love,” Jackie said.

The Baxter women were cursed, any man who fell in love with them was doomed. Or so the family legend said. Was it fate or just an accident that had killed her father? Whatever their mother believed, she’d died of a broken heart. And thus, Hannah promised herself never to fall in love.

But today, she had witnessed a woman begging her aunts to cast a spell on a married man she loved. That woman’s desperation, bordering on madness, had shaken Hannah. There was nothing beautiful or dignified about it. Love dragged you in the mud.

As the woman pierced a dove’s heart, Hannah had decided to take concrete actions to protect herself from love.

“That’s the point,” she explained to her sister. “The bloke I dreamed of doesn’t exist. And if he doesn’t exist, I’ll never fall in love and die of a broken heart.”

She carried her bowl to the balcony on the second floor. The warm night air fluttered the petals, and when she recited the spell, they twirled and rose towards the moon.

*

Hannah coughed up water. Salt stung her throat. Sand chafed her cheek.

“You alright? Miss? Bloody hell, d’you have a death wish?”

With a great effort and a moan of pain, she turned her face towards the voice. A thin man, all scraggly hair and unkempt beard. His tie dangled above her.

The sun came out, piercing the clouds, and illuminated his face. The brown of his eyes shone almost golden.

“How…?” She didn’t have the strength to finish her question.

He helped her to her feet and supported her through the short walk to a small blue house.

As if he’d expected her, there already were towels and blankets in the living room.

“I was folding the laundry,” he explained as he arranged towels over the couch.

She shivered in her bikini, and he promptly draped a knit blanket over her shoulders. Then a second one. He peered into her face— her teeth were chattering— he scrunched up his nose, and covered her legs with a duvet, tucking it tight under her knees and feet.

“What’s your name?”

“Hannah.”

“I’m Hardy… Alec.”

“Thank you, Alec.”

“How are you feeling? You were pretty out of it.”

“I feel… tired.”

“Is there anyone you want to call?”

“I don’t know. Not really.”

Well, there were people she could call, but no one she wanted to. Actually, inexplicably, she wanted to stay right here, in this cozy, seaside shack.

“You can rest here for a while,” he said.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“I know the harbour master.”

“He came to get you?” That seemed like a strange protocol.

“I heard you calling,” Alec said.

“From here?”

He shrugged and disappeared into a bedroom.

There was something familiar about Alec Hardy that she couldn’t put her finger on.

The files spread on the coffee table told her he was a policeman.

In the full bookcase behind the sofa, she spotted a worn-out copy of Peter Pan and even her first novel. Maybe she’d met him at a book signing. He didn’t seem the type.

Underneath, there was a family portrait, outdoors, at some birthday party. Alec with his daughter and wife. “She looks more like a witch than me,” Hannah mumbled.

Alec had changed into a dark blue jumper, and he tossed another one her way. She’d stopped shivering, but put it on anyway. It smelled of Irish Spring soap.

“The books were there when I moved in,” he said.

“And the family picture?”

“I’m on it, aren’t I?” He offered no further explanation.

She tracked his movements as he prepared two cups of tea in the narrow kitchen. He opened crooked cupboards, searching for saucers, sugar and snacks.

Looking at him was as maddening as having a word on the tip of her tongue.

“Have we ever met?” she asked.

He looked up from the cups he was filling, his eyes wide, and he spilled water from the kettle all over the countertop.

“Shit.” He quickly cleaned up the mess.

He place a cup of tea with two Jammie Dodgers in front of her. “Careful, it’s hot.”

She stirred milk and sugar into it, and the spoon kept spinning much longer than it naturally would. When he noticed it, she put her hand over the mug— she was slipping.

She held the cup in two hands and brought it close to her face, she closed her eyes, basking in its warmth for a moment. The first sip soothed her.

“Are you from Broadchurch?” he asked.

They compared places they’d been to and people they knew, but nothing overlapped. He admitted uncomfortably to appearing in newspapers, but Hannah wasn’t one to keep up with the news. They were complete strangers after all.

Alec was rough around the edges with his scruffy cheeks and sharp nose and blunt questions. She thought of thistles, the floral emblem of Scotland. Still, his actions revealed a genuine concern for her well-being despite his small talk flaws.

“What were you doing out there?” he asked.

“Swimming?”

She took a long sip to dissipate her uneasiness.

“You were very far into the sea. Do you have suicidal thoughts?”

“No! No, don’t worry. Really don’t. I was, er, you know, training for… a swimming competition. Amateur competition. Obviously.”

He quirked an incredulous eyebrow at her excuse and inquired further as only a detective would. Thankfully, he relented when she rubbed her forehead in pain.

If she told him she needed to bathe in the first high tide of the summer equinox to ward off evil, he would laugh in her face.

Hannah always “scanned” her clients to keep the creepy ones away. Somehow, it hadn’t occurred to her to do the same for this handsome man she’d met at a writing workshop. She’d ignored the red flags, chalked it up to his passionate nature. When she finally listened to her fear and tried to break things off, he already knew too much about her to get rid of him easily. She’d had to resort to belladonna and magic.

That bloody spell better have worked because it almost cost her her life.

Thinking back on these events, Hannah decided she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

“Can I use the loo?”

In the tiny bathroom, she found a dusty candle that might have belonged to the previous tenants. She blew softly on the wick until a flame blossomed. Then she whispered one of the few spells she knew by heart.

The beating of Alec’s heart echoed in her head. There was something off about it. She sensed anger in the irregular beats. But he was not a bad person, on the contrary, his kindness washed over her mind like the gentlest waterfall.

Her skin goose-pimpled.

“He’s a good one.”

She smiled at her reflection in the mirror and then noticed she looked… well, she looked like someone who’d almost drowned.

She asked Alec’s permission to take a shower, and he lent her sweatpants and a police t-shirt.

The hot water and soap made her feel better in an instant.

She noticed— with some satisfaction— the lack of women’s beauty products in the bathroom.

Hannah braided her hair in loose pigtails and rolled the sweatpants’ elastic waistband low over her hips.

When she came out, he stared for a moment. “Looks better on you,” he said, rather gruffly.

*

Hannah had fallen asleep on his couch, and Hardy didn’t know what to do. He stood beside her, hands on hips, contemplating the situation. He couldn’t possibly wake her up and kick her out of his house after what she’d been through today. And to be honest, he enjoyed her presence. He welcomed it even if she snored. He’d been alone for too long.

The last sun rays descended behind the horizon and momentarily alighted her hair.

He’d heard her call for help from impossibly far away. It didn’t make any sense and yet, somehow, it did. He knew why but the explanation vanished as soon as he tried to grasp it.

He thought of Peter Pan.

“You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming…?” he whispered.

He knew the quote by heart from reading the book multiple times in his childhood and then to Daisy, but in this moment he could not finish saying it.

“For God’s sake,” he muttered as he adjusted a blanket over Hannah.

*

In the morning, sunlight bounced off the water surface, slipped through the windows and shimmered on the ceiling. Through blurred eyes, Hannah watched it dance above her for a moment.

How could something so beautiful have nearly killed her yesterday?

A healthy fear and respect of nature was what every witch needed. Perhaps it had been a reminder to not abuse her powers.

A delicious scent pulled her out of her musings. Alec, in a grey t-shirt and PJ bottoms, looked at her from the kitchen doorway.

“You hungry?” he asked.

“Famished.”

“Pancakes?”

Hannah smiled, wide and bright, and jumped to her feet. He returned her smile.

As he cooked the pancakes, she set the little table by the window.

“Let’s see if I can still do this,” he said.

He shook the pan until the pancake slid around then flicked his wrist to make it flip. But the pancake landed on the floor, and all of his good mood vanished in an instant.

“Give it another try,” she encouraged him.

This time, a few words whispered in latin made sure the pancake landed in the pan.

They wolfed down the pancakes and washed it down with coffee, between bites, they chatted some more.

Hannah had a gift to make people talk, and there was nothing magical about it. She asked the right questions and gave people time to reply rather than rush to fill the silence. And in desperate cases she had a go-to, self-deprecating, anecdote that usually put people at ease. She didn’t need it with Hardy, she didn’t want to use it, she wanted to just be herself.

She told him about her ex and coming to Broadchurch to escape.

“I suppose it’s the place to get away from exes,” he said.

He told her, in very few words, about his divorce.

“Why Broadchurch?” she asked.

He scratched his cheek and gave this some thought. “I don’t know… there were other towns where I could’ve worked.”

The question really seemed to bother him, he kept frowning as they carried dishes to the sink.

“Well, if you hadn’t been here, I would’ve been in trouble,” Hannah said.

He gripped the edge of the sink and stared as it filled with bubbles. “Aye.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No… maybe you’re right. Maybe I was here to save you.”

She leaned closer. Her arm brushed his, and he looked at her, straight at her. An earnest gaze that made her ribcage feel too small for her lungs and heart.

And she realized, she’d experienced attraction before, but never like this, never more than physical.

“Hannah,” he said softly.

She nodded as a lump rose in her throat. She didn’t understand why.

He cradled her face in his palm, his thumb stroked her cheekbone, and Hannah leaned into his touch.

“I think I know you,” he said.

She stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his heart. “Yes. Somehow.”

“I was waiting…”

“Between sleep and awake.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her closer to him like two puzzle pieces fitting together.

She was in a daze. Everything made sense even if it didn’t. In that moment, the only truth worth believing in was that they’d found each other at last.

Both turned their heads at the same time and, with a sigh, pressed their lips together. Shyly, at first, a chaste kiss, until Hannah licked the syrup off his lips. He pressed her against the counter and deepened the kiss, ravenous after a lifetime of waiting. Each caress of tongue and smack of lips brought to light hints and clues, moments, words, images.

They broke the kiss with a sudden gasp.

“My spell.”

“My dream.”

░

Full Peter Pan quote

[evanvanness]

Annotated edition for the May 31, 2020, Week in Ethereum News

Here’s the most clicked for the week:

I think the Societe Generale bond issuance paying Banque de France with a CBDC digital euro hadn’t been hyped at all, hence why it led the list.  In fact, I don’t think anyone had noticed the press release until Julien Bouteloup tweeted it a week after it had gone out.

Given France’s history protecting domestic industry, you would expect Tezos to be getting these projects due its (probably inaccurate) reputation as being a French project.  And I bet Tezos will get some involvement in the future from the French government linked projects, but it’s still notable that these things are still on Ethereum when Tezos has been live for nearly 2 years (though with very little use).

Meanwhile, alongside yesterday’s announcements of Starkware and OMG, Vitalik tweeted that “initial deployment of ethereum's layer 2 scaling strategy has *basically* succeeded.”   That’s not wrong, but it’s prone to misinterpretation.

The history of layer2 in blockchain is not a particularly successful one.  I’d argue that the question isn’t whether it works, per se, but can it work in a way that gets users over the long haul.  Sure, we’re starting to see that (loopring is live with a million trades on its rollup!) - and we appear to be on the verge of real apps running on layer2 - but there’s a long history in Bitcoin and Ethereum of unrealistic expectations for layer2.  

Here’s the high-level things for Eth holders reads:

8 things you should consider before staking

Devcon6 will be in Bogota in 2021

Liquidity mining: now you earn Balancer tokens for supplying liquidity or Compound tokens for supplying/borrowing

Lots of folks are considering whether to stake, how much to stake, whether to use a staking service, etc etc.  Cayman’s post was a pretty good primer on these questions.   Eth2 staking will lock your ETH up for awhile.  The return is likely to be quite good, though as more people lock up ETH, the return declines.  So it’s hard to say exactly what the return will be - and you won’t be liquid for a long while.

Eth2′s beacon chain is designed for decentralization, with penalties for being offline or doing something wrong (eg, double signing) going up exponentially if they are part of an attack (”correlated”).

That is to say, you should be totally fine staking at home even with mediocre residential connection - going offline usually just means you miss rewards.  And even if you go offline when AWS goes down, as long as you bring your connection back up quickly, you should be relatively ok.    

Staking services should professionalize the staking in ways that ameliorate some risks but which might provide hidden risk if they don’t make sure to think about the risks.   Do they do their staking in the cloud, especially something like AWS east?  Do they spread across different clients?  How much of a honey pot are they?  

Meanwhile, Devcon will be in Colombia but postponed until next year.

Finally, of my 3 high level articles to read: liquidity mining.  DeFi apps like Balancer and Compound are decentralizing themselves by giving tokens to their users, to bootstrap the things the network needs to be example.  By no means are these the first examples of giving away tokens to users, but these are 2 notable examples of a trend to keep an eye on.

Now for the annotations.  A few sections I don’t have anything to add: 

Eth1

Latest core devs call, discussion of EIPs for inclusion in Berlin hard fork, whether or not to include 2046 (static call to precompile gas reduction) and 2565 (modexp reprice). Working toward an ephemeral testnet for Berlin.

Latest fee market change (1559) call. Notes from the EIP1559 call

Discussion thread on meta transactions, oil, opcode repricing

Snap sync mainnet benchmarking, single peer on AWS

I basically say the same thing in this section every week.   People are implementing the EIPs and figuring out which ones will be ready to go for Berlin.  EIP1559 will not be ready until the hard fork after Berlin.  Then in the longer-term, there’s lots of work on Stateless Ethereum (or the non-preferred nomenclature: 1.x 🤮) and that’s in discussion.  

And then Peter is working on a new sync (formerly known as leaf sync) which seems to cut bandwidth way way down.

Eth2

Latest what’s new in eth2, features a Schlesi testnet postmortem

The new multi-client testnet is Witti. Here’s a guide to staking

Latest eth2 implementer call. Notes from Ben and Mamy

Cross-shard transaction simulation

8 things you should consider before staking

RocketPool is going to wrap the ETH locked up in Eth2 staking, thus giving liquidity to eth2 stakers

New multi-client testnet.  They’re basically going to spin them up, try to break them, and not worry about rescuing them if they go down, since you can spin a new one up.  This one is called Witti.

RocketPool deciding to tokenize the 32staked eth is interesting.  It’s basically inevitable - anything that can get wrapped, eventually will get wrapped.  This may end up being the decentralized way to get liquidity for your staked ETH if plans change and you decide you need liquidity for your 32 staked ETH.  There will almost certainly be centralized ways - exchanges eventually offer staking and let you trade IOUs.  Of course, that depends on how much you trust the exchange.

Layer2

Raiden v1 is live on mainnet for DAI and WETH, with some token limits

Deconstructing a state channel app and how a dev interacts with a state channel wallet

A zk-rollups to scale blockchain explainer

Understanding optimistic rollups by building one

Dharma and Interstate open source their Tiramisu optimistic rollup for token transfers

Raiden shipped with the training wheels on!  

Not much else to say around layer2 besides what I said above.  Gotta get users.

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Stuff for developers

Array slices in Solidity v0.6

Truffle v5.1.27 – debugger support for Solidity inline assembly

Upgradeable contracts using diamond standard

web3j now includes abi v2

Typescript types for Solidity AST

i18n translation strings for Defi, available as npm package

Build your first Harberger tax app tutorial

eth95: retro UI for calling contract functions

secp256k1 twist attacks

BLS12-381 pairing-friendly curve in JavaScript, now with hash-to-curve v7 and 50 pairings/sec

Ecosystem

Devcon6 will be in Bogota in 2021

All the projects from EthGlobal’s Hack Money

A surprising 120 submissions for Hack Money!

I’m not surprised Devcon got pushed to 2021, but I am disappointed.   I’d like to see a prediction market on when the next ETH event is which has more than ~400 attendees.  

We’re also getting out of the spring conference season (note for southern hemisphere readers: sorry, I know it’s fall for you), so I’m curious whether we’ll see online conferences continue to pop up for every day of the week.  I suspect not, but it is open real estate at the moment.

Enterprise

First Central Bank Digital Currency public blockchain transaction is on Ethereum: Societe General issued €40m of covered bonds as security tokens and paid with Banque de France digital euros. While the press release does not make it clear, the transaction was on Ethereum mainnet

It actually took me the better part of an hour to find the link that confirmed that this was on Eth mainnet.

DAOs and Standards

Summoning the spirit of DAO ops

ERC2680: eth2 standard wallet layout and naming format

ERC2678: EthPM v3

EIP2681: Limit account nonce to 2^64-1

EIP2677: Limit initcode size

Application layer

Enjin plugin for Minecraft to tokenize Minecraft items on your server

Umbra: stealth payments to ENS names, running on Ropsten testnet

How does NexusMutual become an efficient version of Lloyd’s of London?

Maker’s Oasis now makes it easy to leverage up with ETH

DeFi777 – wrap your erc20 tokens as erc777 tokens, then swap through ENS names

RenVM brings BTC, BCH, and ZEC to Ethereum as ERC20 tokens

Mstable basket of stablecoins live on mainnet, includes yield from Compound/Aave plus swap fees – there’s a zero slippage stablecoin trade with 30 basis points of fees

Centrifuge’s Tinlake asset factoring is on mainnet, with factoring for freight shipping and Spotify payments

4/8 arbitrarily classified as DeFi this week.

Zero slippage stablecoin trade is an interesting approach - of course, as a liquidity provider, you’re assuming those stablecoins stay stable.  As a user, you want tiny slippage and tiny fees for going between two things that are supposed to represent the same value.   As a liquidity provider you want as much fees as possible, especially since you’re assuming the risk of pegs slipping or being broken.

Also just wait until Centrifuge’s factoring gets pushed as collateral for Maker.  I’m curious what the response will be - or is it hohum since some trusted assets have already been added?

Tokens/Business/Regulation

Liquidity mining: now you earn Balancer tokens for supplying liquidity or Compound tokens for supplying/borrowing

Zap your liquidity around in one transaction

Ryan Sean Adams: Eth is doubly undervalued

Gavin Andresen: crypto markets take a long time to reflect reality

People seem to call it maximalism these days when you point out that anything is overvalued, but I thought Gavin’s post was a concise reflection of the irrationality of crypto markets.

General

LadderLeak and ECDSA explainer

Hundreds of thousands of Thai users switching to Minds, a Twitter/Facebook hybrid social network incentivized through an ERC20 token

I checked out Minds.  They did a token sale two years ago, though you can still buy it on their site now.  It’s an interesting concept, you can get paid to post, except you have to pay to be a paid member first.  I couldn’t quite work out what the incentives were for me, but social networks need to get traction in one niche and then expand, and it seems like they may be getting that in Thailand.  I’d like to see more social network attempts using tokenized incentives.

Housekeeping

Follow me on Twitter @evan_van_ness to get the annotated edition of this newsletter on Monday or Tuesday. Plus I tweet most of what makes it into the newsletter.

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Permalink: https://weekinethereumnews.com/week-in-ethereum-news-may-31-2020/

Dates of Note

Upcoming dates of note (new/changes in bold):

June 1-6 – DAO Rush Week

June 3 – BlockVigil’s free remote developer bootcamp begins

June 16 – deadline to apply for Gitcoin’s Kernel incubator

Oct 2-Oct 30 – EthOnline hackathon