#twisted wonder land x reader angst

[nyx-v1]

Hey! I dont know if you do requests/suggestions or not but once you're done w/ your twst boys reacting to your funeral series (fantastic btw makes me wanna roll over and cry everytime) do you think you could write whatever twst boys are your favorite to write for's reaction to finding Yuu/Y/n's ghost? If you don't feel like it feel free to delete this!

TWST Boys reacting to finding your ghost

Here you go Anon! <3

TWST boys reactions to your death:[Heartslabyul],[Savanaclaw], [Octavinelle][Scarabia]

Heartslabyul 

Riddle

The first time he sees you is in Heartslabyul's rose garden. It was late at night and he had forgotten his notebook in the garden, knowing he would need it for the next day Riddle had gone out to get it. 

When he gets there he finds you sitting at the table where he left his notebook. Riddle stands frozen unsure if his mind is just playing tricks on him or not . He slowly approaches you, the closer he gets the colder the air becomes. When he is a foot or two from your ghost you vanish. Slightly disturbed Riddle grabs his notebook and heads back to his room.

The second time he sees you is a few days later. Just as Riddle is about to get into bed, out of the conner of his eye he sees a figure. Alarmed he quickly whips his head around, this time he is sure he's not just seeing things, and you are in fact in his room. Riddle doesn't move from his spot instead he calls out to you, and much to his surprise you turn around at the sound of your name.

Riddle stands still as your ghost approaches him, what keeps him frozen in places is when you give him a hug he can't feel.

He tries to return your embrace on you only to find  that he can't feel you, as the sudden contact  made you vanish.

Riddle spends days waiting for you to show up again, staying up into the late hours of the night, messing up his once perfect sleep schedule.

The third time you appear Riddle is at his desk studying, waiting for you. This time he's ready to not mess up,  he wants to make sure he can at least get the words he had for you off his chest.

When you appear on his bed he walks over to it and sits down next to you, leaving enough space so you wouldn't touch. He let's out a shaky breath before speaking," Prefect, do you know how many rules you've broken by dying?" He isn't surprised you lack of response, from what he's seen it only seems you just watch, so he continues his  monologue, "As upset as I am, I'll forgive you this once, so please don't leave me."

After riddle finishes his speech, he feels a warm feeling wrapping around him, like someone's hugging him as he hears a soft whisper," I won't ever leave you, take care of yourself, Riddle ."

That was the last time he saw your ghost.

Trey

Trey was baking for an unbirthday party when an open bag of flour got knocked over. At first he thinks nothing of if, believing  he has placed the bag to close to the edge. By the fourth time he's starting to get suspicious. When the bag gets knocked off for the fifth time, he places the bag in front of him so he can watch. When he swears he sees something push the bag off the counter, and in a moment of delusion he ask "who's there?". Much to his dismay what ever was messing with him decides to communicate by writing in the flour.

He watches as you struggle to write in the flour. Trey goes from amused to horrified when he sees what was spelt out in front of  him, a very poorly spelt and written "I'm watching you". Slightly scared for his life, trey quickly cleans up the mess and continues on with his day.

When Trey is about to go to sleep he feels very paranoid, as common as ghost are whatever tried to talk to him today seemed slightly different from Twisted Wonderland's normal ghosts. Deciding to put his mind to ease Trey googles easy ways to talk to spirits. He goes through a few articles, before picking something that seemed easy and like it would work.

Trey goes through his room and finds and old piece of chalk that he uses to copy the symbol off of the website, After he says a  small chant, much to his surprise the little chant works, he knows because your blurry and (very) vague ghost appears in front of him.

He adjusts his glasses before giving an awkward smile, "Hey there.. do you need something?" trey tries to sound polite and clam but deep down he's freaking out, he would like to live past 18.

Trey watches in anticipation waiting for something to happen.

Doing your best to communicate with Trey you take the chalk he used earlier, to write a short message," It's me" unfortunately for you you're ghost powers aren't all that good yet, so shortly after writing you disappear. 

This leaves Trey freaked out yet again, he convinced he's upset some sort of spirt, or maybe after death you've sent a  evil spirt after him.

A few days pass as you realize that you've messed up and have started tormenting poor Trey.So you deiced to use you strength to appear to him, in hopefully a more friendly manner.

It's early in the morning and trey is up cooking breakfast, when you decide to pay him a visit.

Trey was in the middle baking when you showed up, causing him drop the his bowl onto the floor. When he takes a good look at what is in fount of him he is sure it's you coming for a visit.

"[name]?" trey asks a pretty obvious question.

"Nooooo, it's another ghost." You let a sarcastic response, to which Trey laughs in response too.

"My bad prefect, I hope you'll forgive me?" 

You nodded your head in response to trey. You move closer to him , Trey stays still in response, having seen his fair share of horror movies he knows that sudden movement could cause you to leave at any second. Trey has small bit of flour on his face, he watches as you spread it all over his face, as you let out a small laugh, " You know Trey, I didn't expect you to be so clam about seeing a  ghost."

Trey lets out a small laugh," Ah well I didn't ever think I would really meet one." with a small pause trey continues," But you know, everyone misses you, and they would love to see you too. But if I'm being honest right now I want to be a little selfish, and think you just came to see me..." His voice trail off at the last part, looking at your face for a reaction, and to his surprise he sees a small smile on your face.

" You can be selfish trey.... and just so you know your the only person I've come to see."

you give trey a small kiss on the check before disappearing.

After that trey hasn't seen or heard your ghost in a while, but he knows you're there when he catches a glimpse of your ghost fallowing him around, true to your word you haven't visited anyone else.

Cater

The first time Cater catches a glimpse of your ghost is in the background of one his recent photos. At first he thinks it was a bad shot, but when in then next couple of photos he sees the same mysterious blob thing in the background moving he know it must be a ghost! Cater really hopes that the ghost in his photos is you. Why does he hope that? It may or may not come from all the super natural romance he's watched thanks to his sisters.(and the part of him that is a hopeless romantic)

Being the smart person he is, he decides to get a Ouija board and try to contact the ghost in his photos, you.

It's a dark and rainy Saturday when Cater sits down to contact your spirt. He sits in his room curtains drawn with a bunch of candles lit, all scented of course.

Cater puts his hands on the planchette, asking "Is anyone there?"

To his surprise the planchette moves towards yes. Being honest Cater didn't think the Ouija board would work.

Despite his horror he continues asking questions, "Who are you?"

He's genuinely happy when he sees the start of your name being spelt and even more happy when your name is fully spelt out.

Cater continues to ask questions, to your ghost, until he ends up falling asleep.

The next morning Cater wakes up to all the candles in his room being blown out, and he is slightly surprised because the last thing he remembers is talking to you.

Later that day when cater comes back to his room he absolutely ecstatic to see sitting by the  Ouija board.

"You know you forgot to say goodbye."

Cater lets out a small chuckle as he rushes to your side, getting close but not close enough to touch your ghost.

He starts taking a selfies from all different angles while telling you to make different poses and faces.

When he's finshed taking photos he sits down next to your ghost, letting out a little sigh as he closes his eyes," You know prefect I've missed you, it's no fair you get to go dying like that? tots not cool to just ghost me like that!"

"Cater did you just make a ghost pun?"

"You've must have heard something."

you let out a small giggle scooting closer to Cater.

Cater stays frozen in place, as you move closer towards him," Don't miss me to much, Cater." You brush the hair away from his face, before vanishing.

For a while you show up in Caters photos in someway, but as the more time passes the less frequent your appearance become, until one day they just stop.

Cater takes all the photos that you showed up and prints them out, putting them into a special little photo book.

Ace  and Deuce  (let's face it they're never apart)

Ever science your un-timely death Ace and Deuce haven't spent much time apart, now they're practically attached at the hip.  As much as they fight they won't spend more that 20 minutes apart.

So of course the first time they meet your ghost  they're together.

The first time they had  contact with your ghost was when the two of them where at Ramshackle, going through your stuff, taking things that Grim might need or want (not their idea it was Trey's).While going through your stuff they hear a faint whisper that sounds like gibberish.

 This freaks the two out so bad  that they run out of the dorm, and don't sleep that night.

The next incident is during a test, Deuce was stuck on one question and couldn't think of the answer, when his pencil rolled onto on of the answers and didn't get off untill he chose it, he tells Ace abut this but Ace tells him he's crazy.

Ace first encounter was after basketball practice, he was staying behind alone in the locker room.

While he was just  waiting in the locker room, something fell out of his basketball locker, he wouldn't have paid much attention to it if it wasn't for what fell. The key chain you had bought for him had fallen off his bag, this freaks him out but not enough to tell Deuce.

The first time they see your ghost is when they are visiting your grave, there they see you  sitting on top of your grave stone.

Ace starts by gently pushing Deuce towards you ,but neither want to approach so Deuce calls out, "Prefect?"

 To their surprise, you turn your head, calling out the them "Deuce!Ace! You know I was trying to get your attention right?"

The two of the quickly turn around, and whisper to each other about whether what they where seeing was real or not. When your ghost approaches them from behind, leading to Ace and Deuce screaming.

Ace was the first to break the silence,"You're real right?Like this isn't some joke?"

You gently flick both of their heads,in demonstration that you where indeed real,"Of course I am."

Much to your surprise the two tackle you into a hug,somehow.

The three of you stand in a tight group hug.

Much to there dismay after a few minute you disappear .

Determined to see your ghost one last time the two try a lot of dumb rituals to contact your spirt, none work.

That's until two days later when they go back to their shared room. When they open the door to their room your sitting on Aces bed, while deuce tries to rush to you ace stop him, telling him the contact could have been what caused to to vanish the first time.

Understanding this the two sit down on the floor in front of you.

You spend hours talking to ace and deuce telling them how much you care for them and how grateful you where for them. Deuce also spills his heart to you, telling you how much he missed you and how he wants you back. what surprises you the most is when ace returns the feelings.

After one last heart filled hug you disappear, this time for good.

[skzstannie]

Hii it’s okay if you can’t but I was wondering if you could do a skz x 9th member reader where she was in a car crash as well as the others? But she was badly injured as well and had to be looked after by chan because she wasn’t in good condition? Totally okay if you can’t thanks❤️

"You're awake!"

SKZ-> ot8 x 9th member!reader (Chan-centric)

genre: angst, hurt/comfort wc: ~3,200 cw: some cussing, car accident, reader and skz get hurt

summary: ^^ see request

A/N: Hello! Not super happy with how this came out, but I hope you still like it anon! Started a new semester, so updates will be less frequent, but I'll still be lurking in everyone's feed through likes and reblogs 👀

Masterlist | Happy Scrolling!

"I'm just saying, if penguin's could fly, I think they'd take over the world."

"Felix, literally what are you talking about?" you give him a strange look from where you're seated diagonal from him in the car.

"If penguins ever learned to fly, I think they'd try to overthrow the government in a vengeful fury."

You all sit in silence for a moment, trying to preserve the last of your braincells from deteriorating.

"Okay..." Seungmin responds, quirking his eyebrow at him.

"I am so excited for tonight!" you break the silence that settles, practically vibrating in your seat from the excitement.

"We know, you haven't stopped talking about it," Minho boredly comments, his phone lighting up his face from the shadowy back seat.

Jeongin throws an elbow in his side from where he's seated beside him, earning himself a nasty glare from the man. "Don't be mean to Ynnie, she's just excited to perform."

"I'm so sorry. Let me rephrase that," he clears his throat, setting his phone down in his lap, "Oh my gosh, I know! It's all you've talked about since this morning!" he squeaks, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," you mumble, rolling your eyes at your grumpy member.

Before Minho has the chance to respond, your entire world is shaken when another car T-bones you from the right.

Time seems to slow down as the car is flipped, sending you out of your seat towards the ceiling of the car. Your seatbelt manages to control some of the damage to your head, but it slices into your neck from the pressure. Blood starts to drip out of your wound, but you don't even feel it as your hazy gaze travels over to your members.

Your breath hitches in your throat as your eyes land on Felix's still body in the back seat, his eyelids draped shut. He doesn't appear to have any other injuries, but you're immediately ripped away from the sight of Felix when you hear Minho groan in pain. You Jeongin a quick once over, and upon seeing no visible injuries, keep your eyes moving. You don't miss the way Jeongin's hands are firmly grasped around Felix's forearm as he shakes the older man, trying to wake him.

It's painful to twist in your seat, but you do so anyway. Catching a glimpse of Minho, you see a jagged piece of glass protruding out of his forearm. It appears small, but you know it must still hurt like a bitch. Other than that he looks okay, so you continue to look over your remaining members. His eyes are panicked as he frantically looks over the four of you. "You guys ok?" his voice shakes with fear, and his teeth are clenched from the pain radiating from the glass in his arm.

The ringing in your ears starts to subside a bit, and the grunts coming from your right get louder. Seungmin's arm is twisted at an unnatural angle, and there's blood dripping from his left eyebrow. You can't bring yourself to answer Minho, the shock still clouding your mind.

As the rest of your senses start to come back to you, your focus remains on Seungmin as he huffs in pain. You feel a stinging sensation in your thigh, but as you slowly start to drop your head to look, you feel a shaky finger reach under your chin.

Seungmin's reached his hand out, gently pulling your chin until your eyes meet his again.

"Just keep looking at me, Yn," he whispers. You do as you're told, but the pain is worsening by the second, and your breathing starts to quicken.

All else is tuned out as your eyes remain on Seungmin's unwavering gaze.

Seconds feel like hours as you sit there in the car. Your eyelids start to become heavy, and you fuzzily catch Seungmin's eyes turn frantic as your blinks become slower and more frequent.

"Just keep your eyes open, don't fall asleep," he repeats. His word are gentle at first, but as your mind turns to mud, his voice becomes louder and urgent, almost screaming at you. You feel a rough hand grab your shoulder from behind, shaking you. Their attempts to keep you awake are futile, though, as everything becomes too much for you to handle.

"No, don't close your eyes! Stay with me!" and that's the last thing you hear before you drift off into the darkness.

~ ~ ~

You're awoken to the sound of quiet repetitive beeping.

Opening your eyes is a task all in itself, your eyelids feeling impossibly heavy.

After a moment of struggle, you're met with the bright light from a window to your right. You slowly turn your head to the side, and you see Hyunjin, Chan, and Changbin all perched on the couch. It looks uncomfortable, the way all three of them are scrunched up on the little loveseat.

You let your gaze linger on them for a moment, their presence providing a calming sensation for your jumbled mind.

Suddenly, your surroundings overwhelm you. You become terribly aware of all the wires connected to you. The ECG stickers become your biggest enemy, and the IV sticking out of your hand makes you angry.

Really angry.

You groan when you try to lift your arm, a sharp, shooting pain radiating down from your shoulder. You push through the pain though, urgent to remove all these wires from your body. The bandages littering your body feel as if they're burning your skin, and you've never needed to get something off of you faster.

You begin to peel the bandages from your arms, the pain from the adhesive no match for the pain you had been feeling previous to their removal.

Your agonistic groans manage to wake Changbin, and he panics when he sees you frantically tearing at your ECG stickers.

He jumps up from the couch, earning a yelp from Hyunjin as he was using Changbin as a pillow.

You're too overwhelmed to care about their actions as you continue to tear at your skin, even the blankets covering your body feeling like burning coals on your skin.

"Woah, what are you doing? You can't take those off yet," Changbin tells you, rushing to your side to try and restrain your arms.

"They're hurting me," you mumble, wretching your arms out of Changbin's grip to continue to pull at everything that touches you.

"Yn," Hyunjin gasps, quickly standing to his feet, running over to help Changbin.

Chan awakens from the commotion, alarm bells immediately sounding in his head when he sees your panicked movements.

You become more frantic when Hyunjin grabs one of your arms from Changbin, rendering you immobile.

"Get off!" you screech, yanking on your arms as hard as you can. Chan quickly runs out of the room in search of any healthcare professional he can find.

"You're gonna hurt yourself," Hyunjin struggles against you, holding tightly onto your hand.

"Let me go!" you continue to scream like a banshee, "You're hurting me!"

Neither do as you say, fearing for what you'll do to yourself if they listen.

"You're ok," Changbin pleads, bringing one of his hands away from your arm to rest it gently on your forehead. "Please calm down, everything will be ok."

You're too panicked to notice Chan re-enter the room, a nurse trailing in behind him.

She has a shot in her hand, and she hurriedly comes up beside Changbin to administer the drug. She hastily inserts the needle into your upper arm, and it only takes seconds for your demeanor to soften. Your thrashing becomes weaker, and your shouts become quieter, turning into soft mumbles.

The guys let out a sigh upon seeing your eyes close, your stature finally relaxing into the hospital bed once again.

"What the hell was that?" Hyunjin huffs, slightly out of breath from the physical altercation.

"Sometimes patients can be violent when they wake up out of a coma. It can happen to anyone," the nurse explains, taking the chart off the wall beside the bed. "We'll get some soft restraints to put on her arms before she wakes up again. It's unlikely for her to panic again, but it's just a precaution."

The guys nod, all three of them staring at your now peaceful face.

~ ~ ~

The next time you wake up, you feel as if you're experiencing deja vu. Your eyes open slowly, and you wince at the feeling of them being crusted over from sleep.

You also become strikingly aware of the aching pain radiating from your thigh. Your leg remains immobile, and you feel the constricting cast running from your mid thigh down to your ankle.

You go to bring your hand up to rub your face, but your movements are restricted. Your attention is brought to your hands, now laying limply by your side. There are restraints covering your wrists. Your face contorts into an expression of confusion, and you glance at the couch to your right.

Seated there are Chan, Hyunjin, and Changbin. Your deja vu hits you harder when you see them resting against one another, sleeping soundly.

"Chan," you call out to him, your voice surprisingly hoarse, your throat scratchy and raw.

He immediately jolts up, waking the other two in the process.

"Hey, you're awake," he says, getting up from the couch.

He's cautious as he walks over to you, taking slow steps to get to your bed. Changbin and Hyunjin watch from the couch, keeping their distance. Their expressions rival Chan's, somehow looking even more timid.

"Hi," you suddenly feel shy under their gazes, "Why are you looking at me like that? I can't even move; can we get these things off of me."

"Yea, sorry, the nurse said it was just precautionary. I'll go get someone to take them off of you," Hyunjin gets up from the couch, hurrying out into the hallway.

Realization dawns on you, and you bring your eyes to meet Chan's again. "Did I hurt someone? What happened?"

"You were trying to hurt yourself," a nurse enters the room, answering the question for Chan. "You were in a coma for a couple days. Sometimes, when patients wake, they can turn aggressive. Which you did, but nobody was hurt, the boys stopped you before you could do any damage."

You just nod, not entirely sure how to respond. She explains in more detail what had happened as she takes the restraints off your wrists.

"We had to sedate you, so you were out for an additional day. On the bright side, your coma allowed for your body to do some of the tough healing while you were unconscious. You had a surgery on your thigh the night you were brought in due to a compound fracture in your femur. The surgery was successful. It seems to be doing well for now, of course we'll have to bring you back in for some check-ups, but you should be good to go for now."

Your eyes widen as she goes on and on. Chan sits beside you, rubbing a hand up and down your back to help comfort you. The nurse continues about the paperwork, and leaves to gather it so you can leave.

"How are you feeling?" Changbin asks from the end of your bed.

"Overwhelmed," you answer curtly. The thought of not being able to perform for a while hurts your heart. Not only that, but you can't even walk!

Your suddenly hit with a wave of memories from the night of the accident, and your eyes water at the thought of the rest of your members who were in the car with you.

"Are the other guys alright? Where are they?" your voice is panicked as you ramble off questions.

"They're ok, we promise," Chan reassures you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. "They went home a couple days ago to rest. None of them got hurt as badly as you did. They all got some stitches, Seungmin's got a broken arm, and Felix has a pretty nasty concussion, but they're ok."

You sigh in relief, allowing your head to rest on Chan's shoulder.

The nurse comes back in, a folder filled with paperwork in hand. "As soon as you fill these out, you'll be good to go! Your medications and dosages are in this little baggy. You had some lacerations on your side, but we just covered them with butterfly bandages. The stitches on your neck can be taken out at your next appointment. Just be weary of them as you go about your day, try not to turn your head too quickly," she instructs, handing over the paperwork.

Within a few minutes, everything is filled out and you've been put in a wheelchair. Chan stands behind you, wheeling you out towards the van. Hyunjin carries your crutches from beside you, and Changbin holds your medicine and the paperwork.

Getting in the car was a hassle all in itself, as your leg felt like a million pounds with the cast on it. Your hip was so sore from laying in bed for so long, so you opted to have Chan lift you into the car.

Once finally settled, you lean back against the seat and close your eyes. You don't want to admit it, but you know these next few months are going to be difficult.

~ ~ ~

It's been a few weeks now, and things have started to go back to how they were before the accident. This is the first regularly scheduled week since then, and you're grateful for the normalcy.

Your managers had put everything on hold for a while, allowing you and the rest of your members to recover some. They knew it was a difficult time for all of you, and you were thankful for their leniency.

You have been spending most of your time on the downstairs couch, lounging around in front of the T.V. Various members would join you throughout the day, helping you with whatever you needed. Chan has certainly been the most doting, running at your every beck and call.

Today was no different; Chan decided to stay home with you while the rest of the members went to dance practice. He knew it'd probably put him behind, but they weren't set to perform for a good while, so he'll just catch up a different day. Plus, he knows Minho can handle them all just fine without him there.

The two of you are lounging on the couch, watching one of your favorite T.V shows, when Chan gets up to use the bathroom.

You hear the door close, and realize now's your chance. Your stomach's been growling for the past hour, but you didn't want to make Chan make you something.

However, you are done being the world's longest lounging couch potato, so you rise to your feet, grabbing your crutches from beside you, and make your way into the kitchen.

You know you don't have long before Chan finds you, so you ravage through the fridge quickly to try and find something to eat. You see your leftovers from the other night neatly packed away, so you grab those.

You carefully set your crutches down, leaning them on the counter next to you before hopping, leftovers in hand, to the microwave.

Unfortunately, the rug in front of the sink slips beneath you, and you fall onto the ground, your leftovers opening and spilling out onto you.

"Oh for fuck's sake," you sigh. Thankfully, you're not hurt, your butt just a little sore, but some of the sauce now decorates your cast.

You hear the door fling open from down the hall, and a frantic Chan bursts into the kitchen a mere second later. "What are you doing?" he's panicked as he rushes over to you, his arms looping under yours to pull you up.

"I was just going to heat these up because I was hungry, but then I slipped. I'm fine," you lightly push Chan away from you, knowing fully well that you can stand on your own.

He looks slightly taken back by your attitude, but nevertheless moves towards you again. He wraps his arms around you in an attempt to pick you up, no doubt to carry you back into your permanent spot on the living room couch, but you give him a firmer shove this time. "Did I hurt you?" he worries, his eyebrows scrunching.

"No, I just want to walk to the bathroom myself and get cleaned up," you explain, doing your best to keep your composure.

"I can help, let me grab you a wash rag for your cast," he bends down next to you, rummaging through the cupboard.

"Chan, please," you sigh. As much as you loved being babied at first, enough is enough. "I need some time by myself. I love you guys, but I'm not sure I've had a moment alone since the accident." Your arms are crossed as he stands, a pout forming on his face.

"But we just want to help you," he says, puppy-dog eyes on full display.

"And I thank you for all you guys have done the past month, but I really need to start doing things for myself again," you reach past him, grabbing your crutches and head down the hall to your bathroom. "Now to get this sauce off me," you mumble as you push the door open with the end of your crutch.

~ ~ ~

You're laying on your bed later in the day, knee propped up on a plump pillow to help alleviate some of the pain from your aching leg, when you hear a knock on door.

You tell them to come in, and the door opens to reveal Chan. "Hi," he's timid as he walks in. He takes a seat on the edge of your bed, a guilty look on his face.

"What's up?" you ask, sliding your bookmark into the crease of your novel.

"I wanted to apologize on behalf of all of us. We've been really clingy since the accident, and we didn't realize we were overstepping."

"Chan," you sigh, adjusting yourself to sit next to him. "Please don't beat yourself up about this. Honestly, I was just a little frustrated earlier and took it out on you. You guys have helped me more than you know these last few weeks. I really don't mind all the doting."

His eyes light up at that. "Really?" his voice is giddy, and you regret that you were the cause of his sadness before.

While the overprotectiveness really did get on your nerves a bit, if it brings them that much happiness to take care of you, you suppose you can get past your grumpiness and let them do it.

"Really."

"Guys, she changed her mind!" he yells, and not even a second later, your door swings open, seven smiling faces staring back at you.

They hurry into your room, clumsily fighting each other to sit on your bed. They're still cautious of your leg, but they all manage to fit, even if a little squished.

"Don't make me regret this," you joke, ruffling Seungmin's hair from where he's laid out on your lap.

"You know you love us," Chan comments, smirking at you.

"I certainly do."

[jksoftii]

☆♡ JUNGKOOK FIC RECS ♡☆

this is a list of my favorite jungkook fics! most of these contain smut so no minors allowed. please show your love to all these amazing authors :) !!

a - angst f - fluff s - smut

SERIES

Birds by @missbickerbocker a f s strangers to lovers au (Doctor!Jungkook x TravelBlogger!Reader)

Summary - In Jungkook's world stability is key. He knows what exactly is expected of him as head doctor of Seoul's ER Unit. But when an unfortunate collision lands him at your bedside in his own ER unit, his stable world starts to shift. — the angst, the sexual tension, everything about this is just perfect!! doctor jk 😭🙌🏻

Gradation by @shina913 a f s bestfriend to lovers au fwb slow burn (Bestfriend!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - On your wedding day your fiancé leaves you at the altar. While reeling from embarrassment and heartbreak, your bestfriend, Jungkook, wants to do everything that he can to help you heal. — i remember coming back to this fic again and again because the entire storyline in itself was so comforting, everyone around oc was so caring and jungkook especially made my heart burst in this one!

Friday nights and takeout by @ahundredtimesover a f s strangers to friends to lovers (Idol!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - You meet pop star/idol Jeon Jungkook at the café, you get close, and as Hyejin says, you’re like friends with benefits without the sex. But you’re bad at feelings and so is he — i love love love cute happy endings. there was a lot of scolding eachother but their dynamic itself was just endearing 🤧💖 @ahundredtimesover 's other works are also wonderful! you won't be disappointed checking them out!

Lost Stars by @yoongiofmine a f s strangers to friends to lovers au slow burn (Idol!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - Jungkook was lost. He didn’t know who he was anymore, so he decided to leave and find himself. But he wasn’t expecting to find you along the way, an island girl who has no idea who he is. Jungkook has a secret. But so do you. — i read this in one sitting because it was so interesting! the twists in this story kept me engaged, i felt like i was in a movie.

Coquet by @shina913 a f s fake dating au strangers to lovers (Escort!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - On your brother's wedding, you dread traveling to see your family–whom you have successfully avoided for over a year after moving across the country for work. In an effort to save face, you hire an escort to get them off your back and perhaps even make your ex–who happens to be the best man–a little jealous. — another one by @shina913 because i can't get enough of their writing! the angst, fluff, smut everything was balanced so well. top notch literally. sexy escort jungkook made me get on my knees no joke 🙌🏻🤧

Once You Realize by @kooala a f s friends to lovers idol au (Idol!Jungkook x Idol!Reader)

Summary - Seeing your friend regularly turned out to be difficult because of your colliding schedules, but seeing him again after a couple of months something about the way you thought about Jungkook seemed to have shifted. If only you wouldn’t have started getting close with someone else before you had realized how you felt about your best friend — this indeed is the cutest falling in love story! it's a slowburn but not overwhelming. sjdhjsjs it's just adorable 🥲

ONESHOTS

In which drabble series by @onlyswan a f s established relationship au (Idol!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - this is the cutest collection drabbles of boyfriend jungkook!! i recommend all of the installments, the writing is perfect, it's packed with perfectly illustrated details and vivid emotions and you can feel the love radiate from them 🥹 Art is by far my favorite writer on here 🙌🏻 these are a few of my personal favs from the installments -

in which jungkook comes home drunk but bam can’t speak f wc: 2.6k

— no because drunk jk is a menace and we all know it. this was so chaotic and fluffy it made me want to scream!!!

in which jungkook stumbles with his new pair of eyes f wc: 2.8k

— jungkook with glasses. my weakness. but this was so cute and fluffy! it's his little journey figuring out how to handle his glasses with oc!

in which jungkook is giving up on you but you have so much love left to give a f s wc: 8.3k

— this is actually a angsty one but it shows their ups and downs as a couple and gives more insight into their relationship!

The Boy with Galaxies in his Eyes by @oddinary4bts a f s wc: 52.9k strangers to fwb to lovers au (Idol!Jungkook x TattooArtist!Reader)

Summary - you had never thought the night sky could be found in someone’s eyes. That is, until you met Jeon Jungkook and his gravity pulled you in. Will he crush you with the galaxies in his eyes, or will you learn to explore his worlds and make them yours? — this has a LOT of angst, i won't lie i cried a few times reading this too. the character growth in this was just so phenomenonal. i go back a lot to this and read it again and again just to re-live the story. and ofc the smut is an amazing add on toooo 😭🙌🏻

My babysitters a quarterback by @ohpretty-baby a f wc: 30k enemies to lovers high-school au (Quarterback/Babysitter!Jungkook x Cheerleader!Reader)

Summary - after getting cheated on by the star of the hockey team, park jimin, your life (as expected) goes downhill. what you don’t expect is your parents being skeptical of whether or not you’re a good older sibling for your sister. you also don’t expect them to call jeon jungkook—the person you hate most—to babysit the two of you.

or, alternatively: jungkook babysits you even though the two of you are the same age. — i love this so much oh my goshhhhh this is one of the fics which will make you laugh and cry at the same time. it's fluffy and their dynamic is absolutely adorable. it's sooooo beautifully written!! :))

Spring will come again by @baepsaesbae a f s wc: 10.9k strangers to lovers au (Photographer!Jungkook x Baker!Reader)

Summary - Springtime generally brings new beginnings, but being stuck in a small town all your life means nothing ever changes. Finally, something, or rather, someone, stumbles into your life. Can this shy boy manage to change your life forever? — everything in this just feels so warm and comforting and jk is so sweet and so precious in here. there's angst but a very cute happy ending. the writing was so well done and so well articulated!! <333

Safety Net by @pradaksj (TWO-SHOT) a f s enemies to friends to lovers roommates au (Boxer!Jungkook x Reader)

Summary - On new year’s eve, you and jungkook reflect on each other’s entire year together. — this is one of my favorite fics ever. it's hilarious and emotional at the same time. both are literally the definition of dumb and dumber 😭 @pradaksj did a lovely job at illustrating their relationship progression. boxer jk just has my entire heart 😵‍💫🙌🏻

Be-Ghoul-Ment by @dokyeomin f wc: 10.1k idiots to lovers university au (Blonde!Jungkook × Reader)

Summary - [beguilement (noun): an entertainment that provokes pleased interest and distracts you from worries and vexations] --- You hate haunted houses more than you’ve ever hated anything. You don’t understand the appeal. But this Halloween, you decide you might hate Kim Taehyung even more. — the cutest fic ever! jk and oc both being a nervous wreck in this was so relatable 😭, and I loved the side friendships with Taehyung and Hobi. It was so sweetly crafted and left me feeling happy inside.

[pellucid-constellations]

If It All Fell (7)

Pairing: Azriel x Reader

Summary: If it all fell apart—if you forgot who you were—would you love him again? Would the bond guide you back? Azriel doesn't know if that uncertainty is one he can bear.

Word count: 3k

Warnings: Angst, PINING, Azriel's POV and he is incredibly sad

a/n: Yay here's more <3 I promise it gets happy and there's a little teaser of what that'll look like in this part. Let me know what you think pleaseee :)

Series Masterlist (all parts ♡)

~~

Azriel 

Azriel’s heart came to a thudding halt.

“What was that?” he asked softly, trying to play it off. Trying to pretend as if you hadn’t just asked him the one question he had hoped would never come. Because you were supposed to get better before it came to this. 

He had begged the Mother for any kind of reprieve.

She hadn’t listened, as Azriel had expected. 

“Mates,” you slurred, your head bobbing on his shoulder. The High Lords had exhausted you. “Helion said you… he said something about a mate. I can’t remember exactly… but no one’s told me what that is.” 

Pure adoration tore at Azriel’s chest. Your words blurred together as you sunk deeper into his arms, and Gods, did he love you. He let himself imagine that you were drunk—just for a moment. You were drunk and still his and he was carrying you home after a night at Rita’s. 

“Azriel?” 

The moment ended and panic replaced the temporary comfort that had consumed him. 

“Yes, my love?” It had slipped, a mistake fueled by his clouded mind. Azriel counted his footsteps and held his breath, but you only hummed in response, too drained to notice the endearment that had fallen with such desperation from his lips. 

“You were telling m’about mates,” you reminded him. Your arm slipped from his neck and landed in your lap. Azriel held you closer, feeling your body begin to lose its grip. 

“Of course,” he dutifully replied. “A mate is… it is a gift from the cauldron. An equal to share a bond with.”

“Like a lover?”

Azriel could hardly piece your words together with the way they tumbled out. 

That, and his stomach was twisting, reminding him of the very bond that was crying out within him. This was wrong. It was all so terribly wrong. He didn’t have to have this conversation with you last time; it had hurt you too much to even hint at the topic. 

Back then, Azriel had been so deep in anguish he couldn't keep food down, so desperate to just speak to you that his body rejected all else. 

This was somehow worse.

“Much stronger,” he whispered, pressing his nose to your temple in an act of weakness. You didn’t notice. “Our souls are linked—mates I mean. A mating bond doesn’t always lead to the pair being lovers, but if they choose to do so, it’s enhanced. It’s unexplainable, truly, having someone connected to you that you love so deeply.” 

“That sounds nice,” you mused, a melodic flow of syllables starkly contrasting the effort with which Azriel was trying to string his sentences together. 

“It is.” He gave in to his urges and looked down at you in his arms, your hair flushed against his leathers, your face soft and drowsy. “It is wonderful.” 

You cracked an eye open. Azriel had stopped walking. “Do you have one?” 

“What?” he choked out. 

“You speak as if you know the feeling well. Do you have a mate, Azriel?” 

“I—” There were no thoughts in his head, nothing but the sound of your voice and your question repeating itself like a bell tolling in a vicious pattern. “Yes,” he sputtered out. “I do, yes.” 

You smiled softly, but it was paired with a furrowed brow and a light sigh. “Good,” you nodded to yourself. “You deserve a mate.” 

Too much talking, too much thinking; your head lulled into his arm, face against his chest, and you were asleep. 

Yes, this was much worse than the last time. 

Azriel adjusted his grip and carried you back to the room you didn’t know belonged to the both of you. 

~~

The pounding in your head was your first indication that you were awake. You moved your hand to your hairline before opening your eyes, applying pressure in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure there. 

Useless. 

A small groan made its way up your throat. The night before, or whenever it was—you had no idea how long you’d been sleeping—was a jumbled mess in your mind. You remembered meeting Helion, being told you were in love with him, being told that you actually weren’t in love with him, and then he and Rhysand had entered your mind and left you as nothing more than a vegetable. 

There were other pieces too, like Azriel carrying you back to your room and talking about… mates? Yes, that sounded right—the larger-than-life, effervescent partners bestowed upon fae by the cauldron. 

And he had told you that he had one. 

That was good. Great, even. Something stirred within you, an uncomfortable feeling, but you ignored it in favor of the pain radiating across your head. Gods, why did it hurt so much? 

Helion and Rhysand had been in your mind. They were going to discuss things with you. 

You shot up far too quickly, the motion sending shooting pains up your neck. 

“What?” you heard a voice panic. “What is it? Are you hurt?” 

Another jarring look to the side and you just about passed out from the pain. You caught a glimpse of Azriel before you squeezed your eyes shut to try and manage it, his large form folded into a chair by the door that was certainly not made to accommodate wings. You lowered your head into your hands and heard the chair screech against the floor. 

“What is it, y/n?” Azriel asked, voice closer now. 

You let out a shaky sigh. “Sorry, just—it’s my head, give me a moment.” 

He didn’t speak, but the room became dark. That seemed like an impossible feat, with the floor-to-ceiling windows lining the walls and letting in the rays of the day court sun. But the pounding in your head receded a fraction, and you could tell it was dimmer even from behind your eyelids. 

“Does that help?” he asked, so low you could barely hear him. 

You felt his breath at your arm. 

“Yes,” you whispered back, and when you opened your eyes, Azriel was there. His wings had circled you, encasing you in a darkness that blocked out the world, his knees at the side of your bed. 

“You got up too quickly,” Azriel offered.

“I know, but I wanted to hear what the High Lords had to say about the witch and my memories and what I need to do to fix everything. Have you heard anything?”

“Very little. I’ve been here.” 

“For how long?” 

“You slept for a day and a half.” 

“And you stayed the entire time?” 

“You requested I stay by your side. You’ve been here.” 

You bit into your lip, the heavy weight of guilt loading onto your chest. Azriel flinched as if he felt it himself. “I wanted to stay,” he comforted. “It puts me at ease to… see you while we’re in this court. To know exactly where you are and who’s around you.” 

“Because of last time,” you stated, but it was a question that hung in the air. 

Azriel’s eyes tracked along the planes of your face. His hand twitched. “Yes, because of last time.” 

He looked so serious, bordering on forlorn. Despite the pain in your head and the conflicting emotions rising within you, you attempted to lessen some of the load that seemed to bogg the shadowsinger down. 

“You could have taken shifts with Cassian, you know. Or even, I don’t know, laid on the bed that’s the size of a small apartment. I was out cold the entire time—didn’t wake up once. I wouldn’t have noticed if you did,” you offered with a hint of a smirk playing at your lips. 

Azriel’s gaze dropped to your mouth, his own expression lightening. “Cassian would fall asleep immediately. And, just to let you know, you did wake up. Several times.” 

You gave him a doubtful look. “I think I would remember that.” 

The shadowsinger bit back a smile and something within you shone at the playful look in his eye. “Right, so you don’t remember waking up and practically ripping that from my body?” 

His eyes shot down to your chest, an action which you followed to find a large, unfamiliar sweater swathing your body in warmth. You looked further down at your hands, only to find the sleeves of the garment covering your palms and fingers as well. 

An incredulous laugh bubbled in your chest. “I wouldn’t—I didn’t actually rip this off of you, did I?” 

Azriel shifted his knees into a kneeling position beside you, his wings shuffling and creating a sound you had begun to find comfort in. “Well, you didn’t exactly ask politely.” 

You groaned and shoved your face back into your hands. “Gods, that’s embarrassing. It’s because I was delirious, I swear. Those damn High Lords scrambled my brain.” 

“Y/n, you have a penchant for demanding things in your sleep. Food, water, clothing, more blankets. Once you woke up to ask me for an entire roast duck and in the morning you had no recollection. You were quite aggravated that night.” 

“No, stop, I can’t take this. I am melting into a puddle of mortification and you are making it worse.” 

Azriel chuckled. “It’s alright. I’ve grown used to it over the years. It’s almost charming, really.” 

You peeked through your sweater-clad fingers. “You can’t mean that.” 

“I mean it very sincerely. When you are sick or unwell, you sleep through the entire night. When you wake up and grab the neck of my sweater like you’re robbing me, I know things are okay.” 

You groaned again, this time tilting your head back and immediately regretting the action when a pulse of pain permeated along your temples. But it wasn’t so bad anymore; Azriel and his wings made it better. 

You took a moment to gaze upon his face in the proximity. He was smiling slightly, some humor still shining in his hazel eyes. The occasional shadow made a pass along his cheeks and by his ear, whispering secrets you weren’t privy to and then coming to wind around your body as well. His hair was mused and untamed, landing in soft patterns across his forehead. 

Azriel was so beautiful it hurt. 

“Does your mate ever get upset that we are so close?” you asked, the question not even fully formed in your head before it entered the space.

The smile slipped from Azriel’s lips and you regretted your impulsivity almost instantly. 

“No,” he answered, a slight shake of his head. “I wouldn’t worry about that.” 

“Has something happened? Between the two of you?” 

“Y/n, please don’t worry yourself over—” 

“It’s just—Azriel, I know how hard all of this has been on you. When you spoke of your mate it was the first time I saw you look at peace. That’s why I’m asking.” 

“You remember what I said?” 

“All of it,” you smiled, but Azriel only looked grave. “Az—"

The shadowsinger jutted back as the familiarity left your lips. He sent his shadows out, their configuring forms covering the windows and the cracks in the doors until it was dark enough for him to remove his wings from around you. With him went the comfort of night-kissed air and warmth and all of the things that made sense in this life you had been dropped into. 

“Rhys has requested that we meet in the study to discuss findings,” Azriel relayed, clearing his throat and standing from his place on the bed. “I laid out some of your things and a servant ran a bath when you started to stir. Do you need help—” 

“I’ve got it,” you interrupted, eyes downcast, feeling as though you’d ruined something that was already painfully delicate. 

“I’ll be here if you need me. Just outside the door.” 

You believed him—you did—but something was missing. Something you couldn’t keep up with. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he was in love with someone. Mor, maybe? Or one of the sisters Cassian talked about on occasion? 

The thought of him with his mate made you nauseous. 

You shouldn’t have asked. 

~~

“A replication?” you asked, running a hand along the side of your head in an attempt to look casual about the throbbing taking place there. “So… it is like last time?” 

“Partially, but because the witch’s powers aren’t pure, she was unable to mimic what a full daemati can do. So, same outcome, fewer side effects,” Rhys offered, a calming presence across the table. “Witches often find sources to draw from because they don’t have access to their natural abilities any longer. Your source was—” 

“An opening in her mind,” Azriel concluded, expression guarded as he sat stiffly beside you. “There were remaining injuries in her mind. The witch found her weak points and used them against her.” 

Helion nodded, rounding one of the more ornate chairs and basking in the light streaming through the window. “Very astute. We thought there were no remnants of—” 

“Don’t say his name,” Azriel warned. 

“—of the attack,” Helion quickly corrected, obviously not in the mind to start an argument with the keyed-up spymaster. “But they must have been miniscule. We think she must have been an old witch, very practiced.” 

“So what do we do now?” Cassian gruffly asked, arms crossed as he leaned against the windowsill. You turned to look at him, but the sunlight casting his shadow sent your head ablaze. You quickly righted your gaze and squeezed your eyes shut to compensate. 

You felt shadows stalk beneath your feet and across the floor until they consumed the light of the window. If anyone had any comments on the shadowsinger’s act, they didn’t voice them. 

“Now,” Helion breathed out, dropping into a chair and interlacing his fingers atop the oak table. “We wait. Just like the last time, this kind of power is not something we can simply undo. We need a witch, and witches are incredibly elusive.” 

Trepidation gripped your heart, sending your lungs into a fiery descent. You were just supposed to wait? Wait and hope that maybe, possibly, they would find a witch and fix this before your life moved on without you in it?

Your breath came out in quick, uneven puffs, exacerbating the ache in your head. 

Azriel sat up in his seat, high alert and on the defensive. 

But Rhysand was quicker than his spymaster’s anger. “There is the possibility that this wears off on its own.” 

Your eyes snapped up. “Was that a possibility last time?” 

“No,” Cassian remarked, brows shot up to his hairline. “That’s why you were missing for so long and in so much pain after. You both made it clear that there was no moving whatever the daemati put in her head.” 

Helion and Rhysand shared a look, but your High Lord was the one to speak. “It was weaker this time, more permeable. We think, with time, the wall the witch attempted to replicate will break down and you’ll have everything back. She did only do this to you to flee from attack. It wasn't personal.” 

“How much time?” Azriel strained. 

Helion replied this time. “There is no way to know, shadowsinger.” 

“What about the pain? You said fewer side effects but I couldn’t even have light in my room this morning.” 

Rhysand looked sheepish, eyes darting over to the window still opaque with shadows. “Yes, well—we may have pushed you a bit too far during our assessment.” 

Cassian let out a disbelieving huff from the corner of the room. Azriel gripped the arms of his chair until they groaned. 

“So it’ll go away?” you asked, desperation trickling into your tone. 

The wood beneath Azriel’s hands splintered. 

“Yes, very soon. We can give you some tonics before you leave as well. They will help speed up the process,” Helion promised, eyeing his chair being slowly destroyed. 

In a motion that felt almost second nature, you covered the spymaster’s hand with your own, shadows wrapping around the press of your skin. It was then that you noticed the ring. Silver and unassuming, it took up residence on the ring finger of his left hand and looked like it belonged no place else. 

Our souls are linked, he had said, talking about his mate with such passion. 

You removed your hand from his. 

Azriel flexed his fingers upon your departure. 

“We were thinking,” Rhysand began after a pregnant pause that seemed to blanket the room. “With your pain, we might want to stay a few more days. Winnowing can add extra pressure to the body and flying would—” 

“No,” you were quick to dispute. “No, I want to go home. It’s lovely here, Helion, and I thank you for all you’ve done and are doing, but I want to go back to the Night Court. I want to try and live the life I’ve made for myself, even if I have no idea what I’m doing.” Another pause. “If that’s okay.” 

“Of course that’s okay,” Azriel spoke from beside you. His words sounded dull, his fingers remaining outstretched on the chair. 

“We will continue looking for the witch on our side,” Helion nodded, pushing out of his chair. He came before you then, meeting your gaze. “I cannot apologize enough for what your time in my court has cost you. I only hope that all will return to you. I have missed you, y/n.” 

And then the High Lord of Day was gone, and you had no recollection as to why he would miss you in the first place. Everyone was saying they missed you, even as you stood before them unharmed and intact. 

A harsh reality slammed into you with the departure of the High Lord. 

If you didn’t get your memories back—if there were no witches or deteriorating walls in your mind—they would continue to miss you. You would forever be a husk of your former self, never understanding the full picture of who you were. 

But that wasn’t okay with you—not at all. 

[loveshotzz]

I guess it’s never really over

mechanic!steve harrington x fem!reader exes to lovers

chapter three -

This has got to be the longest crush ever

Robin’s bad date, and a late night that changes everything.

warnings: 18+ A little bit of queer and mid twenties crisis angst for Robin, with comfort obvi. Tension, but are we surprised at this point?, and a secret third thing, wonder what it could be? 😚

wc: 6.3k

authors note: Hi babies! I am taking just a week off from my posting schedule for this week long work trip I’m taking on Monday. There’s lots of conferences and I won’t have much down time. We will resume our normal posting schedule for chapter four starting 3/20 🌻🧡

series masterlist | series playlist

June -

Would you believe me if I said I’m in love? 

                            Baby, I want you to want me.

You can’t believe you landed yourself in detention.

All your late night study sessions for the SAT’s that led to oversleeping and missed alarms finally catching up to you just like Robin warned you it would. Miss O’Donnell is the one who makes your best friend's predictions come true, handing you that notorious pink slip for walking into her class ten minutes late for the third time this week. 

When you arrive at exactly 3:15, the classroom is mostly empty. Your eyes scan the bored faces of the few students joining you, hoping to at least see Eddie’s familiar head of curls. But of course, today of all days, he’s managed to be on his best behavior or just didn’t get caught. 

Sighing defeated, you give Mr. Clark a tight lipped smile, ignoring the shocked look on his face seeing you in here. Picking an empty desk in the middle away from anyone, you decide to busy yourself with the Algebra homework you’ve been avoiding for the better half of a week. It’s when you lean over to unzip your backpack that you catch the sounds of sneakers squeaking against the ceramic floors.

”Ahh, Mr. Harrington. Even fashionably late to detention, I see. Your hair looks good enough to sit in silence for an hour and a half to me.” Mr. Clark announces the king of Hawkins's grand entrance with the kind of sarcasm that makes you smirk as you start arranging your things on your desk.

“That’s good to know 'cause I was doing it for you Mr. C.”

Steve Harrington always thinks he’s so charming

Snorting as you click your pen, you dare to look up only to catch ‘the hair’ looking right back at you with that golden smile that you’ve seen take even the strongest soldiers out. 

Oh no. 

Eyes going big, you quickly bring your attention back down to your homework, silently hoping he doesn’t take the seat next to you and land you in here next week too. 

“So thoughtful of you. Now why don’t you take a seat and do some studying for that test on Monday. And maybe this semester you won’t have to worry about relying on extra credit to keep playing basketball.” Mr. Clark dismisses him, earning a low whistle from the boy who holds his hands up in surrender, Nike covered feet coming down your row.

No, no, no, NO.

You still don’t look up, rereading the same question over and over again because no matter how many times you try, you’re too distracted by the cedar and clove that invades your senses kicking them into overdrive. The whites of his sneakers catch in your peripherals when he does the unimaginable and sits next to you.

Staring at the equation with the kind of concentration that’ll be sure to give you a migraine later, it takes him a good thirty seconds before he temporarily gives up trying to get your attention to grab something that gives the illusion of studying out of his backpack. 

Trying to play it cool, your stomach twists in nervous knots worse than the ones you get when Robin forces you on the janky rides at the summer fair every year. Sure, you’ve been hit on by a guy here and there, but no one can prepare you for what it’s like to catch Steve Harrington’s attention—especially for someone in your Hawkins hierarchy who would never be on the receiving end of it.

He flips through the pages of his textbook loudly, earning his first warning glare from Mr. Clark, and you decide to write your name on the top of the page so at least it looks like you’re doing something. After a couple bounces of your knee, you can feel the heat of his gaze back on you.

”Psst, hey.” 

The last letter of your name comes out illegible, and you jump at the hushed sound of his voice. Taking a deep breath, you work up the courage to meet his flirtatious smirk and golden brown eyes. The sun leaking through the windows gives you a glimpse of the green that hides inside them from this close. You hate to admit that he’s just as pretty as everyone says he is.

”Hi,” you smile a little shy, offering a small wave of your pen and it lights up his whole face, making your body buzz.

”You have a highlighter I can use or something?” He keeps up his ruse, the whites of his teeth showing in a grin.

You arch an eyebrow at him, something sarcastic reminiscent of Mr. Clark flashing behind your eyes. 

“What? You don’t think I’m actually going to study?” He acts shocked, slapping his giant hand across his chest and it earns the kind of giggle from you that pushes him full steam ahead.

”It’s blue, is that okay?” Giving into the bait, you try and hide the way your face warms, ducking down to dig in the bottom of your backpack.

”Are you kidding? I love blue. Favorite color actually.” Laying it on thick, you can see the way he scoots to the edge of his seat, the spice of his cologne making you bite at your bottom lip as your fingers wrap around what you’re looking for.

Sitting up in your seat, you aren’t expecting him to be so close and it threatens to steal the air right out of your lungs.

”H-here,” you manage, holding the blue writing utensil in the small space that's left between you.

Steve's eyes roam your face freely, pink tongue coming out to wet his full bottom lip before they settle back on your gaze, lids a little heavy, voice low and somehow sticky sweet.

”Thanks, honey.” He leans forward more, purposely brushing his fingers with yours when he takes it out of your grasp, “but now, I’m afraid the only way you’re gonna get it back is to let me drive you home after this.”

“I’ve got plenty, you can keep that one,” you try to stay strong, but when that second giggle slips out, you seal your fate.

”I can’t do that, this is your favorite one.” He tisks like it’s the craziest thing he’s ever heard, with a crooked grin that makes you bite the inside of your cheek.

”Is it?”

”Absolutely.”

“Are you two done? Or should we schedule a second date for next week?” Mr. Clark interrupts.

”That would actually be date number three. We’re going on two after this is over.” Steve smirks, throwing you a wink ignoring the harsh way you whisper of his name. 

Yeah… you were fucked.

“I’ve got a date tonight!” 

Robin sings excitedly, bursting through the front door in a wild ball of energy, successfully waking you up from your nap on the couch. Blinking slowly, as you start to recognize your surroundings, rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you force yourself to sit up, wincing at your stiff neck and the fact that you dreamed about Steve Harrington again. 

“A date with who?” You grumble, still a little grouchy, yawning with a stretch that pops in your back.

”This girl that I met at the record store this morning, we talked about Tracy Chapman and Tori Amos for what felt like hours. She’s just, wow, she’s so cool. Almost too cool for me, you know? She’s a senior in college-“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up.” Cutting her off before she can ramble any longer, you wave your hands for her to stop: “First of all, no one is too cool for you, okay? If anything, it’s always going to be the other way around.”

“Yeah, okay, Steve.”

It takes a minute for her words to sink in about the man you haven’t seen in almost a week and a half, but when they do, the glare that settles on your face makes her laugh. 

“Ha ha, very funny.” You deadpan with a tight-lipped smirk, before clearing your throat, “Well where are you guys going? Do you want me to go undercover in case you need saving? I’m fully prepared for a stakeout.”

Robin rolls her eyes, but her smile, which spreads wide enough to see all her teeth, gives away her love for your dramatics. 

“No, I don’t need you to go undercover or anything. I mean, it is going to be nice knowing you’ll be here waiting for me to tell you all about it instead of having to call you and hope the city girl answers.” She teases, earning the scoff from you that she was looking for.

“I’m choosing to ignore that, and if at any point you change your mind, you know your own number.”

Earning a genuine laugh from Robin always makes your soul feel lighter, so when your joke lands and you get one, the heaviness of Steve that’s been weighing down on your shoulders eases up just a little bit.

”I’ve just never been approached in public before like that, you know? It’s not just the other girl you know is gay on campus. I don’t know, it feels good.” Your best friend’s confession makes you want to wrap her up in a hug, keeping the urge to remind her of your offer to move to the city with you to yourself for right now, letting her bask in the moment.

”Well, you're hot. Can you blame her? If you weren’t basically like a sister to me, I’d be all over it.” Wiggling your eyebrows, she flips you off, but you still catch the tinge of pink that paints her cheeks rosy.

”Please, Steve would have my head on a stake.” She snorts, purposely trying to get under your skin now.

”Robin.”

”What? I thought he was going to pop a blood vessel in his eye when I mentioned your little ‘adventure’ last week” She giggles, heading towards her bedroom.

If only she knew just how much those words were true. Your thighs meet like in the memory you can’t stop playing on a loop, palms turning sweaty, remembering the velvet of his lips so close to your neck.

”Wait! Did you ask that on purpose?!” You gasp, jumping to your feet to follow her.

”Maybe.”

”Maybe?!”

”You know what I do need help with?” She ignores you, spinning on her heel to meet your narrowed eyes.

”What?”

”Help me pick any outfit?” Pushing out her bottom lip, she gives you the kind of puppy dog eyes that no one in their right mind could say no to.

Sighing heavily, your feet drag on the carpet before flopping yourself onto her bed huffing out a “Fine” as the box springs squeak.

The rest of the day is spent going through what feels like every outfit in Robin’s possession, even getting desperate enough to try on some of your clothes despite your clashing styles. Settling on a pair of boot cut jeans, a black half crop top with a flannel shirt that you’re pretty sure she stole from Steve and the Dr. Martin’s you got her for her birthday last year, she was ready to break hearts. Blue eyes roll in the back of her head when you make her say ‘I’m the prize’ until you feel like she halfway believes it before handing over her I.D. that you’d found stuffed between the cushions of the couch in a frenzied panic to search for it only ten minutes prior.

The sun starts to set on Robin’s small apartment after she finally heads out the door, and the shadows that bounce off the white walls bring back the thoughts of Steve you’d successfully gotten rid of for a few fleeting hours. 

Huffing to yourself with crossed arms, you watch the flat bag of popcorn spin around in the microwave. You can still hear the beginning Moonstruck playing on the TV in the living room, over the loud hum of the machine. Comfortable in an oversized shirt that lands just at the bottoms of your cotton sleep shorts, goosebump dot across your legs from the cool of the A/C. Your skin still tingles everywhere he touched and the week of radio silence feels worse the second time around. 

The shrill sound of Robin’s phone and the first kernel of popcorn exploding in the bag overpower your ears all at once, making you jump. Mumbling cuss words under the now constant sound of popping, you try to calm your heart rate down, wandering to the living room. Your hand hovers over the phone, the realization about who might be on the other line making your stomach drop. He hadn’t called Robin yet. There’s a moment of hesitation, but you take a deep breath, letting the air expand in your lungs, silently counting to three before you grab the phone off its hook.

”Buckley residen-“

”I need you to come get me, I- I’ve made a huge mistake and I’m just so fuck - “ Robin cuts you off, the rasp in her voice cracking like she’s trying not to cry, “I’m just really embarrassed, please come get me.”

“What happened? Where are you? I’m coming, just - just tell me where you are.” Running to her bedroom to grab your sneakers with the phone pressed to your ear, you can hear her sniffle.

”Benningans, it’s the next town over. I’ll be outside -“

”Are you safe?” You panic, slipping your foot into your shoe as quickly as you can.

”I’m safe, I’m just, I’m embar- I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m safe, I’ll be outside.” She mutters.

”I’ll get there as fast as I can, okay?” Feeling a little helpless, you try to ease the hurt that’s evident in her tone with soft reassurance. 

”I’m just, I’m really glad you're here. I’ll see you soon.” She manages to get out before the line clicks dead.

Slipping your second shoe on, the realization that you don’t actually have a car to save her with, hits you like a ton of bricks. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Stomping back to the living room, your eyes find the mustard yellow address book next to the phone’s dock. Your fingers fumble through its pages, eyes squinting as you try to read Robin’s messy writing, searching for a familiar name. You find two:

Eddie and Steve.

You stare at the page, your moral compass going haywire. Despite the way he’s rented a space in your mind, the thought of seeing him alone again makes your stomach twist. Eddie would be simple. Eddie would be easy. Your thumb hovers over the first number in the one she has scribbled down for him, but no matter how hard you try, you can’t bring yourself to press it. She needs Steve.

You groan loudly, stomping your foot for good measure, before letting out a long breath through your nose, dialing his number that you knew you should have all along. 

It only rings twice.

“Whatever it is, the answer is no,” Steve deadpans.

”Is that really how you answer your phone?” You scoff, doing your best to ignore the butterflies you’ve managed to stifle as they start to come alive at the sound of his voice.

“I thought this was - shit, I thought this was Henderson - erm I mean Dustin, you remember Dustin?” He stammers and you know that hand of his is running through his hair right now.

“Yeah, the middle schooler.”

“Well, he’s like nineteen now -“

“I didn’t call you to talk about Dustin, Steve,” You sigh heavily, rubbing the bridge of your nose, “Robin called me really upset from Bennigans, and I don’t have a car or any way to go get her-” 

“I’m on my way.” He cuts you off without any hesitation,“Be outside in five minutes for me?”

”My shoes are already on.”  

After a click, you’re left with the sound of the dial tone in your ear. You hang up the phone as warmth floods your body, easing some of your temporary worries. 

Steve Harrington is making it hard to hate him.

The short walk to Steve’s BMW from Robin’s front door feels like stepping through a time machine.

One that takes you back to late nights sneaking out your bedroom window, always being extra careful not to wake your parents up so you could go make out with your secret kind of boyfriend under the stars. Those were always your favorite nights with him. The nights he’d put away the king Steve armor, those nights he’d just be Steve. A boy who just wanted to make his father proud, thinking maybe he’d stay home more if he was.

You can feel the way his eyes roam your body, the heat of his stare lingering on your exposed legs, setting your skin on fire. Suddenly more than aware of your lack of pants, only part of you regrets not changing into some leggings, but you try not to think about that too hard right now.

He clears his throat when you open the passenger door, the smell of leather and the dark woody sweet scent of oil surrounding you as you slide into your seat. The spice of his cologne tickles your nose when you close yourself in, clicking your seatbelt in place before daring to meet his eyes. The golden brown inside them shimmers with something you’d missed in the orange glow of the street light and the nerves still feel the same way they did five years ago. The only thing that hasn’t changed.

”Thanks for doing this,” you offer with a weak smile.

When he realizes you’ve put your weapons down for the night, his face softens with a crooked grin, subtle pink dusting the apples of his cheeks.

”I meant it when I said I can’t say no to you,” he starts, selfishly letting his eyes roam the smooth lines of your face that are finally not twisted up into a glare before realizing his slip up, “and Robin, my best friend obviously.”

”Our best friend, Steve.” You tease trying to ignore the tension that crackles in the empty space between you even worse than before.

”Whatever you have to tell yourself,” he winks, forearm flexing as he puts the car in drive.

Scoffing a ‘whatever’ with a playful roll of your eyes, you let your muscles relax into the familiar seat. The Police’s Every Breath You Take spills through the speakers just loud enough to be heard over the low rumble of the engine, and you become hyper aware of his hand resting on the stick shift, the tips of his fingers just close enough to brush against your thigh every time you hit a bump. 

There’s a silence that falls between you once the street lights run out and his full focus shifts to the pitch black road ahead. The quiet is filled with what almost happened in his room, unspoken words that don’t dare to roll off of sober tongues. You wait until he’s too distracted looking for surprises that might run out from the woods on either side of you to let your eyes wander over and really take him in.

A white drawstring hangs low on his heather gray sweatpants that fit tight over his thighs spread wide. Your throat goes dry at the white tank top that hugs his broad chest, the gold chain that wraps around his neck getting lost in the thick patch of curls on display. You’re finally able to really make out more of his tattoo for the first time, thin, precise lines that look like feathers attached to a set of sparrow wings.

”Did she tell you what happened? I mean, is she safe?” He interrupts your greedy stare, eyes lighting up when he catches you, tucking it away for another time.

”Uhh, yeah,” you answer with a shake of your head, teeth biting down on your bottom lip with hot cheeks, “she’s safe, she kept saying she’s embarrassed but wouldn’t tell me why, just kept begging me to come get her.”

He just hums, lost deep in thought of all the things it could be, and his grip on the steering wheel tightens with worry. 

“We’re only ten minutes away, so it won’t be too much longer now.” 

He reassures you, but it feels like he needs it too, especially when his hand leaves the stick shift to run through his hair that looks more tousled than usual, making you wonder if he was lying in bed before this. A worried breath exhales through his nose, with a tight jaw, and you hate the way your stomach drops when both his hands find the steering wheel after he tugs on his roots a little bit. 

Nervous fingers play with the bottoms of your sleep shorts, trying your best not to stare while you keep your gaze out the passenger window. Stolen glances are followed by tight lipped smiles when you’d always find him staring back. Honey and chestnut make your stomach flutter, and you think maybe some things never change. 

It takes less than the ten minutes that Steve promised for the back roads to turn busy, and bright with the kind of lights a small town on a Saturday night has. A slouched frame sitting on the side of the road catches in his headlights, getting closer you see that Robin’s waves have lost all the bounce she left the house with, along with the rosy tint in her cheeks. The flashing Bennigans sign spins a block behind her, and the orange bulbs match the burning ember on the end of her cigarette that dangles from her full lips. 

“Shit, it’s bad if she’s smoking,” Steve mutters, turning on his hazards as he pulls up next to her, the wheels of his car coming to a stop. 

She hollows her cheeks out, taking one last drag, waving at you to stop unbuckling your seat belt as she gets to her feet. Blowing the smoke from her lungs into the wind, she flicks the half smoked butt into the street before opening the back door, sliding into the leather seats with an exasperated huff.

“Just, don’t – I’m okay,” she starts, closing the door and shutting out the whir of the traffic outside. “Turns out her boyfriend’s best friend really likes Tracy Chapman and Tori Amos too. She really thought me and him might hit it off after our talk at the record store today. I don’t want to talk about it, I just want to go home with my two favorite people and feel sorry for myself.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” Steve doesn’t miss a beat. Turning around in his seat, he flashes her his million-dollar Harrington smile. “I’m the king of feeling sorry for myself.”

Her lips twitch, but when she sees the natural roll of your eyes at the boy next to you, it turns into a full blown smile. A little shimmer came through in the dulled-out color of her eyes.

Got me up all night

            all I’m singing is love songs.

“Honestly, now that I’m thinking about it, this girl sounds like a scammer, Rob. I mean, come on.” Steve snorts, rifling through her cupboards in the kitchen. Tracy Chapman and Tori Amos, what kind of game was she playing at anyway?”

Robin giggles from her place next to you on the couch, her head resting on your shoulder, the green apple of her shampoo still lingering on her curls that tickle your cheek. 

“Plenty of people like those artists, Steve.” She sighs, but you can still hear her smile, “It’s fine, I’ll just stay the lonely Hawkins lesbian for the rest of my life, no big deal.”

”Shut up!”

”Will you stop?!”

You and Steve chide her at the same time, hard eyes meeting from across the living room and softening. He doesn’t even try to stop the lopsided grin that pushes up your favorite cheek and you hope Robin doesn’t feel the way it makes your skin warm. 

“Whatever, I already warned you I’m going to be miserable. Gimmie a break, and you’re actually taking forever in there, by the way.” Whining, she sits up, sending a rush of fruit and leftover tobacco to your nose.

“Yeah, well, I can’t find your peanut butter,” he mutters, opening up the cabinet above the sink, the bottom of his tank top rising enough to see a sliver of sun kissed skin and a few more freckles. Why does it feel like there's always more?

”What are you even making anyway?” you ask, ignoring the way Robin’s head whips around. A smirk spreads wide across her face because you’re actually trying to make conversation with Steve.

“Just a little something that’s going to cure my best friend’s heartbreak,” he winks, the jar of JIF extra crunchy looking extra small in his grasp, twisting the cap off. “We came up with it together, actually.o biggie.”

Your gaze narrows, but he doesn’t miss the way the corners of your mouth twitch, something sparkling inside the dark gold in his eyes.

”Interesting, considering I ran to the store earlier to grab my best friend’s favorite ice cream, just in case.” You counter, something mischievous twisting up your lips. “You didn’t even think to stop and get it on our way home. Some friend.”

Robin’s smile lights up the room, very obviously enjoying the show, maybe even a little too much. Clapping her hands together, she lets out a content sigh before leaning back into the couch cushions.

”I really could get used to this,” she beams, “maybe we should have a contest, see which one of you can do the nicest things for me.”

You can’t stop the snort or the roll of your eyes that has Steve throwing his head back in a fully-bellied laugh, giving you the perfect view of his neck, and only Robin clocks the way your giggles are cut short and the secret way your eyes glaze over.

”I’m not gonna lie as much as I love crunchy peanut butter banana s’mores, I have to say Steve, the fact that she actually called you makes her the winner for the night.” She smirks, chuckling harder when you shove her with a hushed ‘Robin!’

His smile doesn’t fade as he starts to cut banana slices. Big eyes meet yours with the kind of look that threatens to melt you into the couch.

”That’s alright, I’ll be a gracious loser tonight, but just know, honey, I’m very competitive.” He warns, long fingers spreading the fruit evenly throughout the peanut butter that messily coats graham crackers.  

“I don’t like to lose, so it’s fine.” Your quick reply deepens the smile lines in his cheeks, putting the finishing touches on your snacks.

“Yeah, this is definitely the life I was meant to live,” Robin gloats, nudging you, “I’m the prize, right?”

It’s your turn to throw your head back in the kind of laugh that rattles in your rib cage, too distracted to see the lovesick way Steve bites his bottom lip watching you from across the room.

But Robin does.

With a heart so full it might burst, tears threaten to spill from the ocean in her eyes, daydreaming about moments like this, only ever thinking they would be something that stayed trapped in the confines of her mind. The warming feeling of happiness wraps around Robin like a blanket when she gets to sit between you both on the couch. A distant friend she hasn’t seen in a long time, a secret she’s kept mostly to herself. 

With a messy plate of half eaten treats and sticky fingers, she’s content watching Cher and Nicholas Cage fight over how much they love each other. Fully knowing that Steve is sneaking looks at you from over her head, smiling to herself at the nervous way you fiddle with your hands in your lap because of it.

Robin doesn’t fight the exhaustion that starts to make her eyelids heavy just a little halfway through the movie. It’s easy to give in when your body weight relaxes deeper into her side, and how Steve drapes his arm over the back of the couch, tucking you both into his chest with evening breaths.

You’re warm, cozier than normal, and it surrounds every part of you.

Cheek pressed against something that’s not firm enough to be the couch, you nuzzle yourself deeper, chasing the heat and the sleep that’s threatening to evade you. Your cushion starts to move, making eyes shift behind lids that aren’t ready to open yet. Lashes flutter, feeling the way your leg is slotted between someone else’s, and the warmth of a palm finds the small of your back, pulling you closer.

A deep sigh rumbles in your ear before fingertips lazily trace up and down the dip of your spine. Stubble tickles your forehead, and as coherency starts to come back to you, a softer patch of hair rubs against your cheek. The kind of spice and lingering sunshine that could only come from one person hits your senses, and the white cotton of Steve’s tank top finally becomes visible. 

The shift in your breathing brings his soft touches to a halt, the muscles you’re pressed on your side against stiffening. Realizing your hands are sprawled across his chest, just under your chin, you can feel the way his heart races under your palm. He’s everywhere, and despite the way you’ve told yourself you hate him, your fingers curl into the cotton of his shirt because it feels like home. Toes pressing into his calf, you wind your leg around his tighter, and it turns timid fingertips sure of themselves, tracing patterns between your shoulder blades. You don’t dare look up at him yet, or it would make the way your own hand starts to explore his abs that twitch under your red nails real. 

He feels different than you remember, there's more of him now, harder in spots that used to be soft. Your fingers get greedy, the blunt ends of your nails scratching along the outline of his happy trail, earning a low groan from him that vibrates deep in your core. Those butterflies that have made a permanent home out of you start to stretch their wings, and when they feel the soft velvet of his lips against your forehead, they tickle at your ribcage and kick up your heart rate. You wonder if he can feel it.

It’s the faintest kiss, one that you’re not sure you would’ve even felt if you were asleep, but it makes you lean in closer. Inhaling deeply, tears sting at the corner of your eyes when the familiar scent only makes you crave him more. After years spent denying the existence of his touch from your memory, it’s almost overwhelming to feel it again. 

The muscles in his arm underneath your neck twitch, and the fingers that have been drawing lazy circles on your back move slowly up your shoulder. The backs of them run down your arm before they finally connect with your skin, goosebumps exploding underneath his touch in a ball of electricity that you can feel on the pads of them that start a new path up the loose sleeve of your shirt.

You fiddle with the bottom hem of his tank top, the heat of his body radiating against already flushed skin. Brave fingers dare to dip underneath only to get stopped by a large palm wrapping around your wrist 

“Baby,” there's a hint of a smile and a little bit of grogginess in his voice that gives away that he hasn’t been awake that much longer than you, “I think you should at least look at me before I let you get under my shirt.”

Biting at your bottom lip, you push yourself deeper into his chest, embarrassed, feeling the gentle shake of his body when he laughs. 

“Come on pretty, let me see your face.”

His affection makes your heart swell, and you know what it means if you look him in the eyes. Your nails dig into the cotton, tugging at the fabric a little while you pull yourself together, lashes fluttering against your cheeks, shaking the rest of the sleep. Lifting your head up from its hiding place, you cross the line you promised yourself you wouldn’t, but when you meet the green that shimmers in the darkness of his eyes, and the crooked grin that twists up his full pink lips, it feels good to give in.

Releasing the hold on your wrist, he’s gentle, almost hesitant, when his warm palm cups your cheek. The rough pad of his thumb traces the line of your cheekbone feather light, and you can’t help but lean into his touch. No more armor, fleeting glances, or stolen looks, not when he’s this close and even more handsome in the glow of the moonlight. 

“Beautiful.” He murmurs just loud enough for you to hear, and your legs somehow wrap around his tighter.

”Yeah?” you whisper, your fingers coming up to the play with the gold chain dangling from his neck. “Why didn’t you kiss me then?”

”What?”

”Last week,” 

”That wasn’t the right time,” he sighs, eyes tracing every line of your face like he’s committing it to memory, “It would have ruined it.”

“Ruined what?” You press, twisting the metal between your fingertips, heartbeat ringing in your ears.

“My chance at trying to do this the right way, the way you deserve.” He doesn’t hesitate to say it, like it’s something he’s thought about for years, and it makes your head spin.

“What about now?” 

“That depends,” he hums, the pad of his thumb dragging across the slight pout of your bottom lip, threatening to steal the air from your lungs.

”On?” Your voice comes out just above a whisper. Tilting your chin up, you can still smell the peanut butter on his breath.

”If you want me to.”  He breathes, the tip of his nose running along the length of yours. 

Your hold on his gold chain tightens, pulling him even closer. His eyebrows pinch together when he feels the slightest brush of your lips against his, and he can still taste the sweetness of the banana.

”Please tell me you want me to.” 

The desperation in his voice is enough for you to tug him down, closing what’s left of the small gap, your top lip catching against his full bottom one. Just enough to feel the familiar silk that could leave a wildfire in their wake before you finally speak.

“Kiss me, Steve.”

A groan rattles deep in his chest, and he doesn’t hesitate to do what he’s wanted to since he saw you. Applying just enough pressure to wake up every last butterfly, the tip of his nose pushes into your cheek when he slots his lips with yours. It’s soft at first like he’s testing the waters, taking it slow so he can savor it, just in case you never let him do it again.

He pulls away enough to look at you, chestnut eyes blown out wide, and you hate that you already miss his kiss. Giving into everything you’ve fought for so long, it’s your turn to capture his lips. It stuns him at first, but when you open your mouth, his body melts easily into yours, and that big hand of his moves from your cheek to hold the back of your neck. Tongue swiping boldly across your lower lip, he begs you to let him in.

Moans get hidden, muffled inside each other's mouths after you grant him access, your fingers tangle themselves inside the thick forest of his hair that’s still just as soft as you remember. Nipping at his bottom lip, the grip on the back of your neck tightens and you can feel the way he kicks up in his sweats because of it. Your own thighs threatening close when you’re reminded of what’s between his legs.

“Baby,” he warns in between kisses, feeling the roll of your hips, but you don’t miss the subtle way he tries to meet them with his own.

It’s too easy to get lost in him, and the years it took to move past him make even more sense when your tongue finds his again. Fighting for dominance, you try not to think about the irreversible damage tonight might do to you as you tug at his roots, teeth scraping together, the kiss turns more heated by the second. Years of anger and longing come out in desperate touches. His hand finds its way to your hip, the pads of his fingers brushing against the skin under your shirt, sending a shiver up your spine, letting you roll them one, two, three times before tightening his hold.

He pulls you closer, letting you win before his nose nudges against your cheek, his lips finding the corner of your mouth. Catching his breath, he trails them along your jaw before making his way down your neck. Your chest heaves, fingers turning soft and slowly running through his hair. He hums against your skin, his hand staying under your shirt, the warmth of his palm covering the small of your back, leaving wet kisses on the sensitive spot behind your ear.

”Let me take you on a date,” he whispers, leaving one more under his jaw before pulling back to look at you.

”Steve -“

”Just one,” he begs, bumping his nose with yours, smirking when it makes you smile.

”Let me sleep on it,” you sigh, ducking your head under his chin to hide. Too many thoughts trying to occupy space in your mind with a head still dizzy from his lips.

”I’ll take what I can get,” he laughs, the tips of his fingers starting up the familiar patterns that started all of this, quickly make your eyelids heavy, nuzzling deeper into his chest. You weren’t ready to think about tomorrow yet.

🌻 chapter four

[pedros-mustache]

good thing

word count: ~4k

warnings: smut (18+ only). also: established relationship, angst, non-planned pregnancy, implied sex-for-pay, age gap, language, x fem!reader

a/n: idk you guys. he is—as my middle schoolers would say—Him. it was bound to happen that i would write a pregnancy fic about this man. i will admit that i am weirdly nervous about sharing this fic so please be kind, friends✨🤗

“How long have you known?”

“Long enough.”

“Whose?”

“Not yours.”

The room falls quiet, swollen with the ugly reality of your revelation. Your heart hangs in your chest. A clock on the shelf ticks each miserable second he does not respond.

Joel drums his fingers on the faded arm of the couch, his face blanketed by an unreadable shroud. He stares out the window, and you know he is thinking—wondering—calculating—when this happened. You cannot tell if he is hurt or angry or merely confused, but you can tell he is running the numbers. Running the myriad of possibilities of how you got knocked up under his watch. You could tell him—spill your slimy secrets on the creaking apartment floor like a parishioner at confession—but what good would that do? What would that change? Truth revealed or not, the fact remains:

You are pregnant, and whatever is blossoming between you and Joel, whatever tender flower has broken through cracked soil to find the light of day, the baby is not his. More than that, this development, this situation, marks the end of your budding connection. That glittering future you once saw with him, the future of safety and security at his side? Snipped at the bud, crushed beneath the heel of practicality. You can go no further. Not with him. 

Across the apartment, the girl—Ellie—shuffles side to side. You glance at her over your shoulder and watch a wave of discomfort twist her smooth features. You sigh, dropping your arms from their position crossed over your chest.

“Come on, Joel. Now isn’t the time to ask questions. When Tess gets back with the guns, you and her have got to get Ellie out of here.”

Maybe it is something in your resolute tone of voice, or maybe it is reality crashing landing at his feet, but your comment breaks Joel’s attention from the window. He stands, his jaw tight, his brow furrowed. He faces you, and that unreadable shroud falls from his face. He is angry, that much is clear.

He points to the apartment door. “Out.”

The blood in your veins slows, turned sluggish with the weight of your sudden anxiety. “What?” you breathe.

Shaking his head, his free hand comes to rest on his hip. You know the stance: he does it every time you insist on sharing tea in the morning or rubbing the tension from his sore muscles. He’s irritated, but not outraged. That alone is a reassuring sign. 

“Not you. Her.” He gestures to Ellie. “Go wait in the hall.”

You start to protest. FEDRA on the move, Fireflies dispersed, night coming quickly—time is wasting. There’s no time for you and him and figuring this out, if that is what he wants. That ship has sailed and sunk beneath a bitter ocean of what-could-have-beens. There is only time for here and now and getting the fuck out of Dodge. 

“Joel, I don’t—”

But his face softens as it so rarely ever does. He pulls his stare from the girl and turns his brown eyes—those damn puppy dog eyes—on you, and you are helpless. “Please,” he whispers.

The clock on the shelf ticks louder. Maybe you can steal a few minutes...

Without turning to face Ellie, you cock your head at the door in a silent dismissal. She releases an annoyed huff, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She rolls her eyes and mutters under her breath about fucking adults before slamming the door behind her. 

“Delightful child,” you murmur.

“She could save us all.”

Scoffing, you press your palms to the chipped table in the center of the apartment. The wood veneer is smooth, cool to the touch. It soothes your racing heart, even if only for a moment. “You’re starting to sound like Tess.”

Joel remains quiet—perhaps thoughtful, maybe biding his time—but his fixed stare carves gaping holes in the side of your head. You can feel him rooting through your mind like a scavenger. He is wondering when you slipped away long enough, when you found the time. He is replaying the moments in the market when you spoke to any other man and held his gaze for too long. He sifts through your shared memories with frantic fingers, and you can feel him—you know him well enough—to sense the panic swirling in his chest. 

But for the first time in the three years you have known him, you do not have it in you to quiet the storm in his mind. You have your own tempest to battle.

Finally, he speaks. “You gonna look at me?”

The slow, deep timbre of Joel’s voice catches you off guard. You expected anger, shouting, frustration that boils over into rage. But Joel has always been gentle with you. Beneath the brusk of necessity, he is a true Southern gentleman. Just like his mama raised him. And even now, standing on the edge of the crumbling cliff where you have placed yourself, he treats you with nothing but respect.

God, you could love him. You really could. If only things were different.

You look away from the table and find him a step closer. Not close enough to touch. He is too angry for that; it is written in the shadow on his brow. But he is close enough that you can see the concern etched in the lines on his face. His frown is not at you, it is for you, and that makes looking at him all the harder. 

“When did this happen?” 

You shrug, eyes skittering to the floor. “I told you. It doesn’t matter. The details don’t matter.”

“Don’t they?” He has both hands on his hips now, his head tilted as he tries to catch your wandering gaze. “Come on, girl. Answer me. You owe me that.”

He’s right: you do owe him. You owe him so many times over it is impossible to count. Still, if he knew—if he truly knew... There would be no hope of repairing the damage you would cause. You would only split the torn earth on which you stand wider. The crumbling cliff would give way, and you would fall to your doom.

He reaches out. His fingers skim the rough hem of your flannel, his flannel. “Tell me, baby.” Those three words, choked out and brittle with desperation, snap your resolve in two. 

You will lay your cards on the table, spread yourself across the sacrificial altar, bear your soul. For him—always for him.

Inhaling, you stand straight, bracing your socked-feet on the floor. You meet his eyes. If you’re going to go down for the decisions of your past, you’ll do it with your chin held high. Your father didn’t raise a quitter.

“Remember that battery, the one for the radio? The boots, the jacket?”

Joel nods. “For my birthday.”

You nod. “For your birthday.”

He holds your unwavering stare. The clock ticks: tick, tick, tick. Understanding rises like a slow tide over his face. You can’t bear to watch it. You look away. Shame gnaws at your stomach like a hungry wolf, and you press a hand to your belly.

“You didn’t—” He shakes his head, the corner of his mouth curling. “You didn’t have to...”

“I wanted to. For you.” Something catches in your throat. You circle the table, placing the furniture between his growing emotion and your growing regret. Fuck, you should have just stayed quiet. “So you could have one good thing.” 

“But now you’re—”

“Pregnant.”

Tearing a hand through his hair, Joel twists. He faces the door, and you wonder if he is dreaming of escape just like you. You wonder if he is dreaming of a world where doves still fly and babies live past six months and men and women can afford to build a life together.

He presses a closed fist to his mouth. Light bounces off the cracked face of his wrist watch. “What are you going to do?”

You answer without hesitation. “Keep it.”

His neck turns so fast you swear you hear it crack. You would joke about his age if the situation weren’t so dire. Two nights ago you joked that he is old enough to be your uncle, maybe even your dad; he fucked you good when you said that, just to prove you wrong. That levity feels far away now, impossible to grasp should you even dare try.

“The likelihood of survival—”

“Is slim. For me and the baby, I know. But I’ve thought about it. Hell, I’ve even prayed about it. And I—” You blink away the warm tears rising to blur your vision. “I want this.”

“Why?”

Why? What a simple question. What a loaded answer. You don’t know where to begin. But he looks at you with such earnestness, such a craving to understand, that you have to at least try.

“I want a husband,” you say. When he frowns in confusion, you push onward, the words rising to your tongue like a sermon. “I want a child and a home. A life I can build and call my own. I may never have a husband or a true home, but with this child, no matter how it came to be…” You give a pitiful shrug of your shoulders. “I need something more, Joel. Something more than simply living to die.”

After a moment, when your words have settled like dust on a crowded roadway, Joel motions to your stomach. He clears his throat, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Can—can I?” 

“Yes.” You release the word on a stolen breath.

Rounding the table, Joel keeps his focus glued to your abdomen. His chest rises and falls, deep inhale after shallow exhale. He stands before you, a giant amongst men, his fingers shaking as he unbuttons the three lower buttons of his flannel. He brushes the fabric aside, and when your stomach is bare before him, he swallows. His Adam’s apple bobs as though he, too, feels a lump lodged in his throat. He smooths the palm of his hand over the slight bump at your womb. Barely there, blink and you miss it, but unmistakable once noticed.

“I don’t know how I didn’t see,” he murmurs. His thumb massages your ever-stretching skin, back and forth, back and forth. His warm breath fans your face as his forehead comes to rest against yours.

“Because you didn’t want to.”

You pass your fingers through the graying hair at his temples and study the way his eyelashes fan his cheekbones. Little moments, you think, to be tucked away in your heart once this is all over and he is gone. 

“When Kate was pregnant, I knew. Sarah... I could feel her...”

Your chin trembles, your fingers curling in the hair at the nape of his neck. “I know... I know...”

“A baby. In this world. I can’t remember the last time I—”

Without warning, he cuts his own thought short and slowly lowers himself to his knees. He presses one hand to the small of your back, the other still massaging the bump of your stomach. You hold your breath as he leans forward and touches your bump with his forehead. He whispers something, something you cannot hear and you suspect is not for you, and then he is standing. He catches your chin between his thumb and forefinger, and when you meet his eyes, you see the world. 

“Sugar, you are my good thing.”

I wanted to. For you. So you could have one good thing.

His words—your words—ring loud in your ear, and you choke on a sob as he lowers his mouth to yours. He kisses you like the rain kisses dry land. You are parched, cracked and withered from the fear of this moment, but with his touch, he waters your aching heart. He is eager, holding you close, cradling your jaw with the wide expanse of his hand. Never before, not in the year of sharing his bed, has he kissed you with such devotion coating his lips. You could drown in it.

You tear your mouth away long enough to look over your shoulder. The door to the apartment remains shut, a measly separation between you and the outside world. “The girl—”

Joel shakes his head, already working on the remaining buttons of your flannel. “She doesn’t matter.” He kisses your neck, once, twice, creating a wet trail to your earlobe. “Not right now.”

“Okay.” You turn back to him, your face softening as you catch his dark eyes. 

He nudges your nose with the end of his own. “Okay.”

Words dissipate. Like fresh dew beneath the morning sun, the need for talking disappears under the weight of all that is and was and could be. There is nothing more to say—not aloud, not right now—but there is much, oh so much, your body can say for you. 

You kiss Joel with a fierceness you have not felt since the first time he laid his hands upon you. You are desperate for him, desperate to tell him just why you did what you did, and how much you need him, want him, fuck—maybe even love him. You part your lips to allow him access, and you cling to his arms, your nails biting the flesh beneath his denim shirt. He hisses when you bite his lower lip, the hand still resting in the small of your back pushing you closer to his warmth. You tangle your arms around his shoulders, holding him closer, closer, as close as he can get without forcing him to merge into your own skin. 

With a quiet grunt, he fists his hand in the hair at the back of your head and wrenches to the side. You gasp, eyes widening as he flattens his tongue against your pulse point. He sucks your skin, biting gently, before releasing your neck with a wet pop. You whimper—even as he takes your chin in his fingers again and seals his mouth to yours. 

For a moment, you allow yourself to sink fully into the kiss. You do not know what the future holds or what will become of you and the child within. All you know is that here, in the now, in the present, Joel kisses you, and sweeps his tongue across your tongue, and runs his hand down the inside of your jeans to cup your ass. And for right now, in the here and the present, you are okay and you are safe and the risk of being with him is worth the reward.

He squeezes the flesh of your ass again, and you shake yourself free of any wayward thinking. Just him—just you—just now.

“Pretty girl,” he whispers against your lips. “Mine.”

You nod, and through laboring breaths, you confirm what has always been the truth. “Yours.”

It is a backwards, lopsided dance to the only bed in the apartment. He collapses to the edge, and you straddle his thigh as you kiss him. His broad hands run the course of your body, up and down, front and back. He massages your breasts through the paltry fabric you call a bra, pausing long enough to tweak a nipple hard enough you whine. He chuckles, leans forward, sucks the offended nub through the covering. You go to shrug off his flannel, but Joel stops you with a hand to your arm. 

“No.” His eyes roam from your face to your shoulders to your peaked nipples and finally, the swollen womb above your center. “Keep it on.” 

He leans back on his palms as you unclasp your bra and toss it to the floor. The zipper of his jeans strains against his growing erection. You peel your underwear off and face him with a smirk. 

“You’re overdressed.”

He tilts his head in acknowledgment. “Maybe.”

“We should fix that.”

He waves his hand in invitation. “Be my guest.”

Biting your lower lip to conceal a grin, you pounce, zealous for him as much as he is for you. His clothes come off in quick succession until you are both naked save for his flannel hanging loose around your shoulders. He pauses then, a second, maybe two, his hand poised against the side of your neck. His eyes dart between yours, his lips parted, words he dare not say resting on the tip of his tongue.

“I know, baby.” You put one hand on his shoulder, his warm, tan skin a comfort against the chill in the room. You reach out and grip his hard cock with your opposite hand, and when he winces in pleasure, you brush your knuckles over the hair on his jaw. “I know.”

Joel allows you to stroke him, a rare occurrence in your repertoire of fucks. What is normally a frenzied connection in the dark, moments stolen before the light of day brings reality crashing back, is turned slow by the knowledge that things are different now. Things cannot be as they once were, no matter what the future may bring. So you stroke his cock, spit in your hand, and stroke it faster. Up and down, until he is pulsing in your hand and weeping from the tip. He drops to his back on the bed, his face buried in his hands as you touch him.

But then you pull away.

Joel removes his hands from his face. He stares at you, a flash of annoyance brightening his eyes. “What—” 

“Shh.” You plant both hands on his sturdy chest as you swing your leg over his hips. “Walls are thin.”

Gripping the base of his cock, you run your dripping warmth over his tip. You hover above him, eyes rolling back in your head as you tease yourself. Sparks of pleasure radiate through your body, and you grit your teeth to keep from moaning. Joel grabs your hips, but he does not force you down. No, he waits until you are ready. He waits until you position his cock at your entrance and begin the slow descent to heavenly madness. 

You suck in a deep breath as his cock stretches you open. He fits snug in your core, like he was crafted just for you. When you have adjusted to his girth, you move your hands to grip his arms. You shift your knees, lifting your hips up before descending again. Over and over, a smooth, unchanging rhythm. 

You are in no hurry to find release. For once this fuck is more than finding a shot of pleasure amidst the cruel darkness of the world. You want this to last and you want this to feel good. You need this imprinted upon your mind, locked in the secret place of your heart. 

But you and he both can only take the slowness for so long.

Joel soon resumes his position of dominance, as is custom when his need builds. You allow it because you crave it. His breadth and strength and command shields you from danger in the outside world, but you crave it in bed too, when you can allow that breadth and strength and command to slam the fear from your mind. 

He slides an arm around your waist and flips you to your back, keeping you snug beneath him. He gives a few experimental thrusts before he kisses you—softly, a tender hello before the war that is sure to come. He leans back and exposes your body to the yellow light of the room. He trails his hand down your sweaty chest. His fingers dance over your bump, hovering there as if in prayer, before finding your swollen clit. You gasp, hips lifting upward, as he rubs you in circle after circle. He brings you to the edge before pulling away and gripping your shins with his hands. He pushes forward, and you are bent in half, completely at his mercy.

Holding your knees to your chest, he picks up the pace. He plows into you, teeth gritted, lips pulled back in a snarl. He watches his rigid length split you apart, thrust after thrust. On some level, you know he is staking his claim. He drives into you with such force, with such feral carnality, you know there is some part of him that just wants to mark his territory. Reclaim what is rightfully his. You let him because it is true. You belong to him, Joel Miller, not the man who planted his seed in you and walked away. Always and forever—his—your purpose.

You slap your hand over your mouth to keep from crying out in delicious agony. You feel stretched and full and electric all at once. 

“That’s it.” Joel releases your shins but presses his chest to your legs. Your hips lift, swallowing him to the hilt. “Take me—fuckin’—good.” 

The pressure in your core builds. Light dances at the fringes of your touch. You close your eyes, latching on to the feeling.

Leaning back, Joel swats your hip. “Open your eyes.” He withdraws his cock far enough to slam into you with more force, his tip angled against your most sensitive spot. “Look at me.” He swats your ass again.

Dutifully, you peel your eyes open. You look at him—into his eyes, his soul—as he fucks you. 

You burst like the skin of a ripe grape. It is violent, sudden, earth-shattering. You convulse beneath him, and the tremors wracking your frame are enough to send him over the edge. He grabs the curve of your waist with one hand, lurching forward to catch himself on his forearm above your head. He swallows his groan of pleasure, managing to barely release a muffled whimper. His warmth oozes from your core and stains the bed sheets beneath. 

He remains tucked inside of you until you are forced to push him away. A cramp in your leg demands attention, and you rub the blasted muscle until the pain has subsided. You return to his side, to his sweaty body, to his arm that slips beneath his flannel and lays beneath your back. He rolls to his side to face you.

The truth of your situation looms like a storm cloud at the edge of the room. He can see it; you can see it. You must acknowledge it before the here and now is upon you and you have no plan with which to fight it.

“What are we gonna do?” You hold his forearm, thumb brushing the bone of his wrist. His hand is warm and heavy on your cheek, his eyes married to yours.

He does not hesitate. “I’ll keep you safe. Both of you. All of you.” He smooths the sweat-plastered hair away from your face. “I promise.”

You nod because Joel Miller always keeps his promises. Whatever he says is true.

He relaxes his hold on your face as he shifts onto his back. His eyes flutter shut, his breathing even. You glance at him and the evening light that cuts his face in angular shadows. 

“Hey, Joel?”

He opens one eye, peers at you in expectation.

You smile—softly, a tender hello before the war that is sure to come. “You’re my good thing, too.”

[wheeboo]

eyes don't lie | jeon wonwoo

SYNOPSIS. in which you and wonwoo have a late night conversation. PAIRING. jeon wonwoo x gn!reader GENRE. fluff, comfort, lil angst if you think about it, best friends to lovers WARNINGS. conversations abt death, just 2 'besties' having deep talks :') WORD COUNT. 1.5k

notes: idk rlly know what this is and idk where i was going with it but i hope you enjoy lmao

"Do you think that when we die, we see black forever?"

You hear Wonwoo's phone shut off immediately at your question, and the silence that follows right after is almost suffocating, like you're holding your breath. You feel the bed dip right next to you𑁋probably from Wonwoo adjusting himself𑁋and then you feel the momentary contact of his arm against yours. He feels warm, like he always does.

Your brain is doing its runs, Wonwoo presumes, eyes gazing around your dimly-lit room before landing on you sprawled on the bed next to him, legs straight and eyes piercing up at the ceiling above. The only sounds he can hear is your synchronized breathing, the ticking of your clock on the wall, and the distant blare of car horns from the city outside.

You steal a glance at him, his silhouette barely visible in the moonlight filtering through the window. His forehead is creased, eyes shadowed in thought, nose crinkling for a brief second to rid of an itch. He's thinking about the question, and you swear you can visibly see the gears and cogs turning in his mind.

"Maybe," he finally says, voice barely a whisper. "Or maybe it's like that dreamless sleep we have at times. Nothingness, but not in a bad way. Just... a pause, I guess."

"A pause?" You lift a brow. "But wouldn't that be like... ceasing to exist?"

Wonwoo just shrugs, the movement barely discernible in the darkness. He shifts his body slightly, and maybe there's just a bit more space between you two because a sudden chill seems to course through you.

"Not exactly," he murmurs. "Think of it like a comma. It's not a full stop; it's a moment of quiet before the next chapter starts."

"The next chapter?"

He hesitates, then speaks cautiously, "It's... you know, like another life. We shed this skin, and become something else, somewhere else."

A hum leaves your lips, then a wave of silence washes over the room. It stretches for what feels like an eternity, and Wonwoo can't tell if you're lost in thought or waiting for him to elaborate. The moonlight pouring in from your bedroom window dances on the edges of the room, casting shadows that flicker like the thoughts swirling around you two.

"But... but don't get me wrong," Wonwoo adds, breaking the silence before it grows even longer. "It's not something to be scared of, I think. It's like... coming home. Finally understanding the story you've been living without even knowing the plot."

A quiet chuckle leaves your lips, soft as the rustle of leaves in a night breeze. It's a sound laced with both amusement and wonder, and it catches Wonwoo off-guard, sending a shiver down his spine, and maybe his heart to race a little faster too.

"What?" he asks, voice coming out a bit hoarse and deep.

"Just..." Your voice trails off, tracing patterns on your bedsheets below your fingers. "The way you put it. Coming home. It's comforting... somehow."

"Comforting?" he repeats, surprised. "Death usually doesn't get that label."

You snort, letting your body fully face him now. "I know. I just... I guess I'm a little scared. So I like to think that it's, um, different for everyone, you know? Like maybe... it's your favourite dream, or the most beautiful sunset you've ever seen, or a room with everyone you've ever loved. Or maybe..." You pause, unable to voice the thought twisting your gut. "...it's just nothing. Just darkness."

You watch as Wonwoo turns his body to face you fully, a soft, understanding smile playing on his lips. Your eyes drop down to his mouth for a second, a breath catching in your throat, before meeting his gaze. You've always admired how his eyes look, but there's something about it right now𑁋the way the lights catches them, like flecks of stardust scattered across the night sky𑁋that makes you feel so small.

Yet you also hate how it's so beautiful, like something you think you can look at forever, even though 'forever' is simply just a concept, isn't it?

So you really wish he can he can just freakin' close them𑁋

"Please don't look at me like that," You mutter aloud as you break the eye contact, feeling a sudden vulnerability run through you.

Wonwoo blinks, puzzled. "Huh? I'm just looking𑁋"

"You look at me like... like every𑁋actually, just forget about it." You suddenly sit up in bed, taking in a deep breath to calm your racing heart. "Forget everything I just said."

Your abrupt shift hangs heavy in the air, the unspoken words louder than any you'd spoken. Wonwoo's brows furrow as he sits himself up on your bed as well, a frown now etching across his features, his hand hovering in mid-air as if reaching out to you but unsure where to land.

"I... Did I say something wrong?" he asks, quietly and cautiously. Seriously, why does he have to exist? He's just looking at you, he's right, but the way he does it feels like he's seeing right through you, straight to the raw, exposed core of your fears and feelings. "I'm sorry if I did."

You shake your head. "No, you didn't. I-I'm sorry. I ruined the moment."

The air around you is thick with something unspoken, a lingering tension that hints at a conversation left unfinished. You can practically feel Wonwoo's gaze burning into the back of your neck, even though you can't bring yourself to look back at him. Your fingers play absentmindedly with the edge of your bedsheets, lips pursing together into a tight, straight line. You don't know where to go from here.

And then, Wonwoo takes a leap of faith. "Can you... tell me how I look at you?"

You feel yourself hesitate, the question catching you slightly off-guard, an unexpected flip of the script that leaves you momentarily speechless. It was like he'd plucked the very thought you wished he wouldn't voice: the one that made your throat constrict and your stomach flip. When you turn back to him, he's already looking at you, and you feel that vulnerable feeling again.

"It's like... I-I don't know. You just..." You begin, searching for the right words to say. "You look at me like you're telling me that everything's okay."

There's a dance of emotions that flicker on his face at your words, like he's trying to process everything and nothing at once.

"Oh," is all he mutters out, the single word hanging heavy in the air between you.

"Yeah, and I really hate you for that," You say heartedly, attempting to lighten the mood.

Wonwoo giggles nervously. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"For... um, looking at you like𑁋"

"No, I'm sorry for falling for you," You confess, a half-smile playing on your lips. "I tried not to, but... I did."

For a moment, the only sound is the rhythmic click of the clock on your wall. You watch him closely, heart hammering against your ribs, waiting for some reaction, any reaction. You almost wish you could take it back, swallow it whole and pretend it never happened.

"And I guess that's why I'm scared," You continue on, knowing there's no going back now. "scared to lose this, to lose you, that something as inevitable as... you know, death, will take it all away."

"You're not going to lose me," Wonwoo reassures. "I'm right here."

A small, appreciative smile tugs at the corners of your lips. "You say that like you can control everything."

"I know I can't," he admits with a gentle chuckle. "but I can promise to be here for as long as possible."

A heartbeat passes, then another. Wonwoo swallows, his throat suddenly feeling dry from your locked gazes. There's that look in his eyes again, the one that sends butterflies to your stomach and makes your heart flutter so clumsily. You feel the heat crawling up your cheeks, because dammit you really could push him off the bed right now.

You let out a cough, face feeling hot. "Anyway, can you reject me so I can move on?"

A playful grin stretches across his face. It starts small, perhaps a hesitant curve at the corner of his lips, but it blossoms quickly like a sunrise chasing away the night.

"Reject you?" he questions in disbelief, peering at you as if you were crazy. "Why on earth would I do that?"

"Well," You start. "because it's the only way for me to get over you, obviously. Oh, and so I can stop tripping over my own feet every time you're around and move on."

Wonwoo throws his head back and laughs, the sounds coming deep within his chest. You would never get tired of his laugh. "And who said I wanted to reject you?"

It's your turn for the smile to your face to fade just slightly, mouth agape as if you're about to say something, but nothing comes out.

Wonwoo scoffs. "I like you too, you know. I was just waiting for you to figure it out."

Now it's your turn to blink in disbelief.

"You... like me?"

He just shrugs, but the curve to his lips remains.

"Maybe that's why I look at you the way I do," he tells you, the tips of his fingers brushing against yours on the bed. "because you make everything feel okay."

taglist (open) ʚɞ @enhazen @haowrld @icyminghao @slytherinshua @jeonride @lockburn-castle @vrnism @weird-bookworm @mhlsymlysn @ryuwonieebae @yeonjuns-redhair @wonwooz1 @woohaeyo @mark-geolli @caramyisabitchforsvtandbts @aaniag @wootify @carlesscat-thinklogic23 @phenomenalgirl9

[bitchlessdino]

mood rings, drive thru theaters, and the latest issue of tiger beat (m)

Pairing: chan x college student!reader (afab) Genre: angst, smut, fluff Word count: 6.9k tags: SVTHUB COLLAB, set in the 70s, plot twist with dark ending (possibly triggering to some), pwithplot, tutor!reader, busty!reader, pining, brief mention of religion, mention of recreational drugs, mention of death, mention of medicine and medical practice, mention of tragedy (car crash), breeding kink, daddy kink, unprotected sex, couch sex, handjob cream pies, dirty talk. Summary: when you fall in love, it can feel like you’ll be with that person forever, that there isn’t another being in the world you rather be with. This case is just as heavy in your youth, tutoring a boy you’ve only ever walked circles around, while you wear a mood ring from his parents souvenir shop so you could feel closer to him. When it happens, you don’t expect things to crash harder than the way they do. author note: she's here!!! i might reedit later but i wanted to get this out before i changed my mind about the plot again so enjoy and check out the rest of the collab!!!!

Tag: @shiningstar-byulxx @misssugarlips @tommolex @hoeforhao @homerunhansol @dkakapizzaboy @junhui-recs @svtup @buffhoshi @meowmeowminnie @caratochan @lovebot4han @6969lilithcat @wonuhour @camisun93 @emmmui @toruro @jeonride @novalpha @nvmrljk @feat-sun

Falling in love in the seventies wasn’t easy. You didn’t have mobile phones or text messaging, hell, you were lucky if you had email. Most people didn’t. That’s what made it so much harder to be a person stricken in love. All you had was paper, a pen, and the possibility of hearing something through your home landline.

Every day you would wait for the confirmation call he’d be coming. He was one of the polite ones. You were grateful to have formally met him through the tutoring program held in college and you look forward to that phone call and the weekly meetings every Tuesday and Wednesday to go over organic chemistry. Somewhere in that mix, you had hoped to find your own chemistry with him despite knowing how selfish that’d be.

You’d never admit it loud but you had the classic high school pining back when you attended the same classes in the same town. He was a sweetheart then just like he was a sweetheart now and you longed for him like any other teenager. He had you doodling combinations of your names together in a worn out notebook and cherishing an item you secretly associated with only him. Yours was a mood ring.

In the summer of 74’, a new souvenir shop had just opened around the block after countless failed businesses by previous owners. This shop was owned by the Lees, a cute mom-and-dad duo that was sweeter than any cream-filled Twinkee. There was not a thing intimidating about them. They seemed like good people. What you weren’t ready for was their son working the register that day.

What was it about a man in wide leg jeans and a tight fitted shirt that made you want to physically fall to your knees?

At the time, he was wiping a glass candy tray rather meticulously. He has only greeted whoever came in without looking, too focused on getting every dust particle out of every crevice, so he didn’t notice how you found him to be the most interesting sight you’ve seen.

His smile when seeing the swell job he’s done was priceless compared to every piece of merchandise in the store. If there was a chance you could bottle up and take it away for keeps, you would. You would tell the local newspaper this store would be a new world wonder just from this boy alone. 

You had to pinch yourself to finally pull your eyes away from him, scanning for something, anything, interesting enough to purchase and ring it up with him. Finally, your eyes land on something colorful, ever-changing, and wearable.

“Will that be all for today?”

You nodded, holding back a wide grin as you watched him run through your purchase. His smile never faltered in front of you, and for some reason, it made you feel special, despite the assumption he probably smiled in front of anyone who came in. Still, it made an impression.

“That’ll be a dollar please and since you’re a new customer,” he picked something from a box behind the counter, “a pack of now and laters for the road. You can have one now and another later. They’re great.”

God, he’s cute.

You mused at him, accepting the ring and freebie after paying him up front. “Thank you.”

“Have a great day. Catch you on the flip side!”

You waved back at him on your exit, immediately regretting not staying longer to chat. As expected, your mind went blank the second he spoke to you, and the moment you were alone, you slid on the mood ring on your ring finger and focused all of your energy on thinking about the questions you could’ve asked. For him, that was like any interaction, but for you, it’ll be a core memory. 

It was throughout the years you realized that you’d be attending the same high school, sharing the same senior year, experiencing the same last year festivities, but despite the many opportunities, you never had an encounter like that with him again. You’d pass by that souvenir shop countless times, glancing at him while he worked every shift, but cowardly never approached him again. Not with the lack of trying, of course, your adolescent self was too busy to find a way to make him fall in love with you according to whatever you read in Tiger Beat.

You remember flipping through it, back and forth, momentarily distracted by the boyish charm of David Cassidy, and then going back to reread it in case you missed something. This had been your adolescent bible to understand whatever was on trend because only God knew you needed it. Somedays, you’d pretend you were talking with him through your magazine posters. Now that was a face deserving to be in magazines.

“You’re still thinking about that boy? Just talk to him already.”

Even your closest friend, Stacey, couldn't get your head out of the clouds. 

You adamantly shook your head, the magazine clung to your chest. “No, absolutely not. Me talking to him wouldn’t even happen in my dreams. In fact, I’d probably have to pay admission to see him in my dreams.”

She rolled her eyes, letting you get back to whatever exactly you were doing. “Okay, drama queen. We get it. You like a boy.”

She was used to this at that point and it’d be all the same. You never outgrew it entering colleges either, the same one he happened to attend, which you couldn’t have been more stoked to find out. “He’s not just any boy, Stacey. he’s the boy. He’s so far out. I can’t even fathom his existence.”

You were in fact exaggerating, but at the ripe age of 18 all of it felt sincere and you truly did believe it was all true.

And to think you hadn’t formally met him yet until you started participating as a tutor in a peer help program at your University. You didn’t expect much of it, only thinking of collecting some community hours and hopefully maintaining a good reputation with your professors and there he was, like fate. There he should, hair coifed in intentional pristine, a loosely buttoned vibrant green shirt, and familiar tightly fitted pants that flared from the bottom. 

Your breathing seized, stunned by the sheer fact you have stood this close to him since the first time your eyes laid on him. When he turned to you, he didn’t seem to notice your reluctance to walk closer as he strode confidently in your direction. 

“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Lee Chan. You're my tutor, right?”

Your heart sounded like a metronome at the highest speed at this point, taking your breathing in little by little, timidly returning him with your own introduction. Safe to say, you were both scared out of your mind, yet excited about this turn of events. Though, if you thought about it too hard, you had the chance of rendering tutorship useless and then it’s farewell to Chan.

That’s when you made the executive decision to omit him from your head during these sessions and treat him like any other peer needing help, as you initially intended with anyone you were assigned. If you wanted to continue these sessions and help out Chan, you needed to do more than think about what your future looked like together with 2.5 kids and a big picket fence.

You picked up a polite smile and settled in at a table, flipping a textbook to the first chapter of the course. Fortunately, he followed just as any other person struggling in chemistry and attempted to keep up with the lesson plan. As expected, you’d stumble over many of your teachings, forgetting some of the information yourself and having to refer to the book due to the blinding glow of your student, but as time passed, things eventually were more tolerable.

It was a few months later found an easier medium of being infatuated with the young man but helpful enough to pass the assignments in the above-average percentage. He just happened to be a good student that required more patience. Somewhat, it made you warm to learn that about him, including the fact he was good at listening, or how his eyes lit up picking up a lesson and recalling from memory. However, you kept this situation mostly professional, avoiding social interactions that would take away from your role. That was until Chan found comfort in spending time with you, having a sense of gratitude much grander than anyone teaching him Aldol reactions or valence electrons.

You could feel his soft gaze as you outlined something on his study sheet, emphasizing its importance since it’s appearing in the final he’d be taking eventually. If this were you back in the days of learning his name for the first time and thinking about him every waking second, you’d faint right about now. You’d be lying right now if you said you didn’t feel dizzy from the heat of his presence, but as you have been for the time spent together in the library, you’ve trained yourself to ignore it while mastering to subdue your intrusive thoughts.

Chan somehow found a way around that.

“Oh, your ring. Looks like the one in my parents' shop.”

You momentarily glanced back at the trinket before zone backing into today’s lesson, awkwardly chuckling to yourself. “Oh. Ha ha, that’s because it is.”

His eyes lit up the way they do, a cartoonish gleam in his eyes. “Really? I think I’d remember seeing you.”

“It was once a really long time ago.”

“Well, you should visit again. I can give you a good discount. We just got a big shipment of pop rocks.”

“Okay, sure.” You smiled, internally giggling at the thought of Chan entertaining himself with explosive candy and sharing it with you like the coolest treasure. “Alright. Organic compounds—“

“We really met before?” He interrupted.

“It really was so long ago. I’d be surprised if you did remember.”

“Well, I feel bad. I feel like there’s time it should be making up.”

You waved it off, not minding the now teary expression of guilt on his face. “It’s fine, Chan.”

“How about we go and watch a movie? I think the drive thru is replaying ‘The Godfather’. You should come with me.”

“Really? I don’t know.”

“Come on, consider it a thanks. You don’t even get paid for all the time you’ve spent teaching me.”

“No, but I get community hours. Speaking of teaching.” He placed his hand over yours, cuffing off the words caught in your throat. You find yourself helpless at the sweat pleas of Chan who works the cute angle all too well as he scooted closer to you. “I don’t think I can rest knowing I haven’t found a way to thank you. You’ve been tutoring me for 4 months. The least I can do is take you out.”

You’re a bit stunned, your leg already shaking in nerves as you never expected such a proposal to easily leave his lips and for you nonetheless. You exhaled, mustering the courage to meet his eyes before nothing, pressing your lips to discourage an all too gleeful smile. “Fine. We’ll watch ‘The Godfather’.”

He let you go, beaming, and tracking his pencil tracking over his notebook filled with chicken scratch that was comprehensible to him. “Good, I can pick you up.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” he repeated before gluing his eyes back on the textbook, a noticeable hue of peak creeping up the back of his neck. “So, organic compounds...”

This arrangement was all you could think about until the day of, reading and rereading your magazines for possible outfit ideas, dating tips, and anything with the potential of making the best of this nerve-wracking situation.

On the day of, you got in your best get up just in time for the meetup. Anxiously, you turned your mood ring around your finger as you waited by the door, contemplating to yourself if what you chose was the right course of action. When the knock came, you came swinging the door open and pinched yourself from swooning seeing him in casual attire, including jeans that hugged his hips just right.

Chan, on the other hand, didn’t hide his emotions. Bright and animated, you grew hot under his watch, fiddling with the mood ring now on your middle finger and seeing it glare back a yellowish orange, indicating how nervous you really were. He took cautious steps towards you, mouth falling in awe, and he tugged at his band tee, which now felt lackluster compared to what his eyes were now seeing. “You look really good. I feel underdressed.”

“No, no,” you said, shaking your head and stepping down from the porch. “I just threw something on.”

“Well,” he offered an elbow, “shall we?”

You accepted his offer and hooked it through, hiding your elation. “Of course.”

He escorted you to the car and guided you to the passenger seat before closing the door, allowing you a moment to swallow the spaciousness of his station wagon before heading off to the theater. 

Cars beside cars, people neither mingling, making out, or taking advantage of the concession stands with 25-cent popcorn and pop. The sun was in the process of setting before it became a violet hue and eventually pitch black, perfect for movies. You got out of the car and smoothed out the wrinkles of your outfit, taking another deep breath.

You only had a fleeting second seeing him come out from the driver's seat, a smile settling on his face for what felt like you and only you.

Then came the hoard. Voices calling out Chan’s name, boys and girls his age gathered around him, offering his gregarious greetings and rowdy conversation. They hounded him with hugs, not minding you who stood off from the side behind the cat. Your expression dropped, starting from your smile before spreading over your body language. Chan, remembering your existence, tugged you from the hood and brought you to his side. He briefly introduced you as his tutor, and you did your best to greet them back just as politely.

They nodded at you, sly faces towards Chan as if you wouldn’t notice, and then came their bombarding again, only this time in your presence. You kept up the calm facade, only laughing when necessary before turning to the person who brought you here. “Nice to meet you all. Hey, Chan. I’m gonna get some snacks.”

“Okay. I’ll be here.”

You didn’t let the disappointment show on your face as you walked away but let it fall free as your back was towards the group. You hear their teasing and playful banter, questioning if you’re really just his tutor and Chan confirming, leaving no implication for anything else. You crossed your arms in embarrassment, already regretting letting this situation occur, imagining the worst scenarios to come.

You quietly asked for popcorn and a grape pop, greeted with your refreshments a few moments later, along with a box of raisinets. Your lips parted in confusion. “Oh, I didn’t order these.”

“On the house,” the guy winked, leaning over the counter a little too close for comfort, “a secret promotion for cuties like yourself.”

“Ah,” you gave him a tight-lipped grin, visibly distancing yourself, “thanks.”

“You know, I can always sneak away from my post for little liplock in—“

“Hey, you doing alright? I was worried about you.” You didn’t have to look to know. His body came crashing into yours. An arm slung over your shoulder, an action almost as natural as breathing. “Do you have enough?”

Your eyes flickered toward Chan who came to your rescue, nodding curtly. “Huh? Y-yeah.”

Chan met the seller's eyes before accepting your purchase for you, handing you over only the popcorn. You stared at the box of raisinets before he tugged you away from the stand.

“I did good, right? I’ve been told that guy’s a creep. I didn’t know he worked here.” His whisper sent chills through your body, yet burned your ears. You could feel the fanning of his breath, tickling your skin and raising every hair in your body.

“Me neither.”

“He’s not a good guy. You see him around, walk in the other direction ok?”

You nodded, taking his advice into serious thought. “Thanks, Chan.”

When it’s clear you’re out of sight, he parted from you, keeping his hands down his pockets, visibly apologetic. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable with that. He just won’t let it go unless he finds out you have a boyfriend or something.”

“Mmh-hmm.”

“Let’s get back to the others, hmm?”

You spent most of the night with Chan and his friends. Some laughed at how cheesy the movie was or actually scared of what was actually occurring (Chan was a mix between the two). You’d enjoy it more if you weren’t a bit bothered by the circumstances. All you could was glance in Chan's direction while he smiled and laughed along with his friends. Even though you were sitting next to him in the same car hood, you never felt further away. Every direction tonight felt like a punch in the gut, having only spoken to him before the movie started. At this point, you felt as if you had no place here, blinking away the humiliation tears threatening to fall.

“I’m a little cold. so I’m gonna finish the movie in the car.”

Finally, his eyes landed on you, “What?”

You slid off the hood and dusted yourself. Chan followed behind you confused before seating himself inside the car with you, a worried expression on his face. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course not.” You splayed a less genuine smile, raising your cheekbones for good measure, but seeing its failure to convince otherwise.

“That means I did do something wrong,” he said, smiling bitterly. “Sorry. I’m not the best at picking up cues.”

“I told you, Chan. I just got cold.”

He sighed and turned to reach for something behind, pulling over something thick and warm over your body, covering your torso and legs. “Here. So you won’t catch anything.”

There’s that familiar clang to your heart you should be used to by now, following the marching band that typically arrives after inside your chest. “Thank you.”

You both sat in silence for a bit, continuing to watch the rest of the movie. He makes so attempt to communicate with his friends outside and he doesn’t smile, only focusing on the movie, insistent on being in your presence. You aren’t sure how to behave, fingers inching at lingering awkwardness.

“If I’m being honest,” You started saying, filling the charged air with something other than tension, “I didn’t expect to see that many people with us.”

“You didn’t?”

You shook your head. “I misunderstood all on my own. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just finish the movie.”

“Hey—“

“I’m feeling warmer already,” You said, grinning as yourself deeper into the blanket.

Your eyes were ready to train back in the movie before he spoke again, hearing a tone in his voice you weren’t all that familiar with. “I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable alone with me. I guess I did anyway.”

Guilt festered in the out of your stomach, regretting making a big scene out of nothing. “That’s not—“

“I got scared,” he admitted, the corner of his lips quirking up in a self-loathing grin. “They already saw my tickets so they thought they would get some too. Make it a group thing. I didn’t want it initially, but I thought, maybe it’d make things easier…I should’ve run it by you.”

You met his eyes, earnest yet soft. You didn’t know how to respond to any of this, processing his confession slowly. A fit of emotions wash over him and you see now the inner conflict that he had dealt with, somehow washing you over with relief. The final deep exhale you let out was solace, thinking to yourself how situations like this only happen in movies and books. You’re warm all over, an overwhelming urge to reach over and hug him, a fellow rambling mess.

“You didn’t misunderstand anything. I did want to go to the movies with you, but I wasn’t sure if you felt pressure or—“

You grabbed his hand, lacing your fingers through his. He stiffened under your touch, blinking back at you like a lost child. You smiled back at him from ear to ear and body leaned over on his side. “Just hold my hand. We’re not going to cause any more misunderstandings. Okay?”

He matched you, his pearly whites staring back at you as pretty as ever. “Okay.” His thumb caressed over your fingers, noticing something interesting as he did so. “It’s purple.”

“Hmm,” You looked down at your clasped hands, noticing that same thing he did: your mood ring in a solid rich purple. “It is.”

“Do you remember what purple means?”

You avoid edhis eyes, quietly laughing to yourself. “You know better than anyone.”

“I do.” He tightened his grip, head leaning against your shoulder and it felt as if time had stopped. You don’t doubt that he can hear your heart racing right or your uneven breathing. He turned the ring around your digit, watching how the colors periodically shift. “I won’t let there be any more misunderstandings.”

Since that incident, you went about your tutoring sessions as normal, with the additional intimacy that didn’t exist before. You both gradually developed these sessions into more study dates and then they became real dates. Things only became official when the semester finally ended and he continued wanting to see you, visiting your place whenever you got the chance using any possible excuse.

You could remember how happy you felt at the time. The relief there was to know he liked you back. It was almost as if you were living a dream. A damn perfect dream.

Then your first kiss came around. You were as nervous as anyone anticipating the first. Every doubt in the past didn’t matter, only now did. Everything all led up to this point. It just happened in the way you least expected it to.

You didn’t know why he insisted on teaching you how to play arcade games when he was just as bad. Still, it was cute seeing him try so hard. The firmness of his back followed your movement, guiding you to the right combos, shifting the joystick to move in the right direction, and although it was all wrong, you appreciated the back hug you were getting in return. Even the claw machine had to be a teaching lesson, insisting he had something to teach you. 

“I did it. Chan, I did it!” You saw the stuffed dinosaur grabbed by the metal prongs, dropping right into the winner’s slot. You bounced on your feet cheering and took Chan along with you, hugging him tightly as your inner child healed and squealed at your achievement.

“I knew you could! You’re amazing.” His strong arms came around you firmly, pressing you against the glass of the machine.

Your breath was seized, replaced with weightlessness and tension in your chest that doesn’t seem to want to leave and perhaps you didn’t want it to. Although he didn’t pull away from the embrace, he parted far enough to meet your eyes and the longing in them. He knew what it was because that’s what was in his eyes, falling into their trance like a lucid dream that had him higher than any recreational drug. Neither one of you was willing to let it go, so all you do is stare. Stare at each other like you’re in your own world and no one else’s. As if life as you know it ceased to exist except for you and Chan. Nothing else matters.

When it felt as if you could imagine a more perfect moment, he leaned in with closed eyes, finding your lips like they were a second home and stealing your breath. You thought to lean in to kiss him deeper, but he already had found his grasp and pressed into you closer against the glass, feeling every ounce of muscle and shape of his body beneath his clothes. His shallow breath against yours, his hug of lips pulling at your bottom lip, and he emitted a soft grunt.

He pulled away from you with his arms still wrapped around your sides, shocked by his impulsivity. He stroked the side of your head, scanning for any fear in your eyes, slightly relieved to see any in sight. “I’m sorry. That was…a lot, huh?”

You shook your head reassuringly. “No.”

“Then I can kiss you again?”

The corners of your lips turned up, gripping his jean jacket to pull him closer. “Yes.”

You were kissing for hours that day and the next day, and then again the day after. Since then, something has shifted and these teenage dreams turned reality into something less family friendly. Your nights in his dorm became more frequent, more intimate, and always backed by a melody thanks to a record player gifted to him by his dad when he moved out. His prized possession, besides you anyway, as he claimed.

“What do you want to be when you’re older,” he asked, dragging his digits in and out between yours. He smiled, noticing your mood ring turning a mix of pink and purple before kissing your knuckles. “You know I want to be a nurse. What’s your dream?”

In the background was Led Zeppelin, their intoxically addictive tune spinning on the table. You thought to yourself a bit before turning your head back up at him, nuzzling closer into his warm touch before answering. “I want…to be surrounded by the people I love.”

He laughed like he heard the sweetest thing on planet Earth before his fingers threaded through your hair. “Baby, that’s sweet but not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant, but it’s what I want. It doesn’t matter much what I do, as long as I’m with my loved ones.”

“Am I one of these loved ones? Do you love me?” 

“Yeah. I love you.” You didn’t even hesitate, the words were always on the tip of your tongue until that final push. You lifted alight above him to repeat yourself louder. You let him heed your words. “I think I really love you.”

You thought he’d react differently, more scared and unsure but—“I love you too.”

“Chan,” you smile, warm filling your inside as you let your breath chase away the race in your chest.

“I mean it.” He bent his head down to meet your lips, cupping your cheek with the warmth of his palm. “I really, really love you.”

Chan toppled over you, lips meeting yours repeatedly in a heated frenzy, caressing your body and holding you desperately against him as you did the same to him. He kept you between his legs, whispering it over and over, ‘I love you, I love you,’ blistering and marking your skin. How was it that made you feel as if you weren’t allowed to breathe? 

Before you realize it, clothes started coming off. Piece by piece. As ‘Babe I’m gonna leave you’ replayed, shirts, belt, pants, and everything underneath fell to the ground. You saw him. You saw all of him. And he saw all of you. Your instinct was to shield away, be conscious of your then and there but in his own way, he reassures you, speaking to you as though all his words were nothing but the earnest truth. “I’m here. You’ll never have to worry about me not being here. I love you so much.”

Your flesh spilled through his fingers, imprinting his hands through your nude. Sounds of worship leaving his lips between every kiss, not even the worry of lack of condoms could stop him. Your thighs were glued to his hips, and you felt the warmth of his length titter to your fresh heat. You moaned every time you met lips, every bite he gave to your skin, and every full twist his fingers made with your sensitive buds before filling the inside of his oral cavity of your full breast.

You ached to have him in you, hand barely reaching his girth before wrapping a tight wrist around him. He shuddered at your touch, thrusting through the circle of your palm. You felt the need in his movement as he grinded down on his couch, not minding the wool burn inevitable to be left behind. Weak chuckles escaped his lips and he flashed you a smile, seconds away from melting into helpless groans. “You know just how to handle me…”

“Only because you treat me so well.”

Kissing one breast and then the other, he reached your lips as he held your thighs against the sides of his torso. “And I’ll do it for as long as I’m alive.”

You looped your arms around his neck and pulled yourself against him, his warm breath tickling the tip of your nose. “Make love to me. I wanna feel you inside me.”

“Then I won’t wait a second longer.”

The moment you felt him inside you, you felt higher than anything you could find in a blunt offered by the shady next-door neighbor. You buckled into him, lifting your hips off the couch for a fully bloomed taste. The stretch he left had your jaw falling, clutching to his shoulder, and letting out exasperated breaths. You nearly choked on your own spit that had only forced it down when he picked up the pace.

You molten walls only sucked him in deeper, calling his name in blurred whines. Each thrust and each kiss was fueled by an undying passion. He carried you, palm to your back and your legs around his waist, and pulled you on top of him. From beneath you, he drilled your insides, meeting your longing expression. 

Your fingers draped over his face, and you held on to his blissful expression that occasionally dropped in anguish when chasing after his rhythm. You whined his name desperately, clinging to him as you dug down your hips down his lap. He moaned louder than before, gingerly cupping your breasts and finding your stiff nipples between his fingers.

“You feel so good taking me…and your tits are so soft and warm.” He pushed himself to thrust hard, pleased with how easily you easily bounced against him, watching your flesh moving loud and fluidly like water. “You’re so perfect to hold, and love, and fuck my dick into—shit.”

Your chest rose and fell catching up with his efforts. “Chan, I love you so much.”

“I love you too. So, so, so—fuck!”

You felt his grip grow tighter and saw his jaw drop lower. His legs clenched to your sides impulsively, unwilling to let go. Soon enough, he couldn’t take it anymore and came inside you. He looked as if everything in his brain told him not to, but it seemed that nothing could stop the geyser within him from coating your insides with hot ivory. He snapped into you in an erratic rhythm, cum spilled in you and out of him until it stained the wool underneath.

Chan was red in the face, both in embarrassment and heat. He looked up at you in panic at the direness of circumstance considering neither one of you thought to stay protected. “Shit, fuck,” he exclaimed still pumping inside you, “you feel so good. I’m so sorry.”

You shook your head, bending down to kiss him. “It’s okay, just don’t stop…please…”

His stressed expression melted, as did his fingers into your skin. He caressed over your sides with love in his eyes, swallowing nervously. “Really, baby? That ok?”

Perspiration coated his skin, beading down his adam’s apple as it bobbed. You felt like mush in his touch, letting your hips make use of the natural lubricant. Your boyfriend groaned at the sound of the slick moisture sliding over his skin. You cupped his face in your hands, working your jaw in a needy liplock. “Yes, please. Fuck your cum in me, please.”

His fingers tensed, dragging your lips to slap down on his. He exhaled slowly, your walls hugging his cock erect. He asked in a breathy voice, “Fuck my cum in you…my pretty girlfriend wants something so dirty done to her?”

“Yes, yes, please…” You whined.

He slammed up into you, feeling how he’s already bottoming out inside you. Hearing you moan his name lit a fire beneath him and he rolled you on your back to rut in you like a merciless animal. 

“You want my cum in you, hmm? Fill you up with my cum and put my fat load in you?”

You jerked in the opposite direction, your skin smacking against each other causing the tenderness of your skin. “Yes, please,” You choked out, “I want it all with you.”

His lips picked up from the corner in a smirk, turning you back over to plant you against the couch while his feet finally touched the ground. “You want it all? Like a life? A family? You want me to build a family with me…have me fuck my babies into you?”

“Yes, baby, please. I want you to fill me up so I can make you a daddy.”

“You love me that much?” He slammed into you with a proud smile. “You love me so much you see your future with daddy?”

You batted your lashes back at him. “I see every day either full of joy or full of your cum inside me.”

He snickered before biting his lips in a filthy moan, “Such a dirty mouth on the mother of my kids.”

You’re spent by the time your legs gave out, and you and your boyfriend exhausted your bodies to the point you couldn’t move even an inch off the couch. Cum seeped out of your holes like sap, only halted as you pressed your legs together to get comfortable. Chan had barely enough energy to tug a blanket off from behind him and throw it over your bodies. You smiled into his warmth, nuzzling into his chest, and inhaling his lusty musk. 

You moaned in satisfaction. “Mmh, I like this…”

“Me too.” He hummed.

“I never want this to end.”

“And it won’t,” he said, kissing the temple of your forehead.

“Are you hungry?”

You moaned. “Starving.”

He chuckled, holding you closer to him as his voice dropped an octave. “Let’s fill you up with something, hmm?”

You rolled your eyes, smiling as you lightly shoved him. “Chan…”

“Food, babe,” he said with a cheeky smile, “get your mind out of the gutter.”

After a quick shower, and a few wet kisses in between, you’re set to refresh yourselves with some fast food and can’t help but be filled with elation. You cozied into the passenger seat accepting the hand he’s offered as the other steadied the wheel. You can’t help but notice how he glanced every now and then when he shouldn’t, making you nudge him to fix his gaze.

It was always a loving one, one that you’d forever burn in your memory. You don’t even know why, but you shed a tear looking at it. That smile of his seems to go on for miles and brightens your day like the morning sun. You felt it in your heart. Something suffocating that you couldn’t describe but all you think in your head is that this was love and that loving Chan would be the easiest thing you could do.

He sent you another glance before making a turn, one a little longer than the few before, then all you heard was a loud blaring honk, your voice screaming his name, and then your vision went pitch black. You stared into darkness. Emptiness. Nothing was in sight. 

That was until your eyes were open again. You woke in a place of all white, smelling of antiseptic and a hint of febreeze. You slowly blinked, scanning the room, unmoving. Still, in fact.

“Good afternoon, Sunshine. Sleep well?”

You only could see who entered when they walked in your field of vision. Your eyes stared in shock at the sight of your boyfriend, smiling back at you in scrubs as he wrote away in his clipboard and looking as if he hadn’t aged a day. You internally screamed at your body to move, crying from within the inside at the inability, and then soon growing tired, realizing it’d never be possible. As he put away documents in a file holder pinned to the high wall, you stressed your throat to speak, hoping for the least a sound to follow, but instead, it was your silence.

“I’ll just open the blinds a bit, make sure they’re not too much light in your eyes. Too bad your nap was a little long. The weather was so good. I thought we could roll you out into the garden.”

You are losing your mind. The last thing you could remember was a car accident that felt like mere seconds ago and staring into the eyes of the man before you, who matched the love in your eyes. Now you’re imprisoned in your own immobile body, with no clue why and how the love of your life survived when you barely did.

“Your heart is pounding. Wait a second.”

Chan strode over to the monitor just out of view, forcing yourself to rely on your peripheral to watch him. His side profile and his body were all within reach but unassessable. You felt the sweat of your palm through the sheer determination alone, but to no avail, he stayed away from your grasp.

“Hmm, we’ll have to figure that out.”

Finishing up, he stood in front of you like a figure of light radiating brightness unfathomable to man. A light bright enough to fully grasp your reality. Your true reality.

That’s right. He’s not your boyfriend. You were never together.

You’ve been the way you were for two years, by a car accident nonetheless. This was Nurse Lee–your caretaker and nurse–who insisted you call him by name and talked to you as if you could talk right back. 

And this wasn’t the 1970s. It was the 2070s. 

Your gaze quickly turned to “Three's a Company” playing on the highly advanced TV plastered on the wall, momentarily surprised that they still had the show on cable, before snapping right back to your nurse, now going on about the daily work gossip. You couldn’t help but stare again, watching his handsome face turn up in a smile every time something delightful popped into his pretty little head as he spoke. Your eyes fluttered in remorse, a familiar sinking feeling in your chest as you inhaled and exhaled through your breathing tubes.

It all made so much sense. Too much in fact. Here you were in dreamland living in disbelief that someone as sweet and kind and Charming as Lee Chan—nurse Lee Chan—would ever be someone so madly in love with you. You lived a happy and healthy and normal life in your dreams, shutting off from the dark truth of your world is, as if you’ve never been in this accident. You dreamt of life before it was taken away before you narrowly escaped death.

If you could call this escaping death anyway. You were practically dead.

And perhaps the worst part—

“Vivian liked the flowers you suggested. I think she’ll finally stop being mad at me thanks to you.” 

He gently moved your head to fluff the pillow behind you and placed you back on top. He brushed away a hair that strayed over your face, and you felt a sensation pulse through your fingers. “I wish you could meet her. You’ve always been there to listen to me talk about the wedding planning, the bridal stuff, and then the actual wedding. I hope you liked the photos, the guy we hired was—phew—a pretty penny.”

You started to blink rapidly, seeing your reality crumbling before you, and all he could do was look as devastatingly beautiful as always, even with the dark circle under his eyes from long hours of work. 

“I talk a lot, huh? That’s what you’re thinking. Sorry, you’ve always been a listener, not that you can help it.” He chuckled to himself. “Sorry, dark joke. I’m sure if you could move now, you’d laugh.”

No, you wouldn’t.

“I’ll be out of your hair in a second. Don’t worry.” 

He did the last round of his thorough check-up of your room before standing by the door with his clipboard in hand. Clicking his pen, he turned back to you one last time with a smile now turned bittersweet.

“Any day now. Your heart pulses a little faster every day. Your family is waiting for you. And because I’ve grown attached to you I’m waiting for you too. Maybe after all this, we could be friends, then you can tell me how much you love or hate when I talk to you. Just as long as you’re up and running again.”

The moment the door closed, you were alone again. The fluid built in your tear ducts finally found their escape and streamed down your still face, facing their discomforting warmth. Your chest heaved, your grew breaths shallow, your throat went dry, and suddenly your lips quivered. In solitude and sheer desperation, you said your first words in years.

“Chan…come…back…”

But it didn’t matter.

[stargirlrchive]

folklore: hoax ✩ jake sully

masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ folklore masterlist

summary: widowed!jake sully x female!reader, no use of y/n, angst, marriage of convenience, smut :o, oral fem!receiving, slightest corruption kink, ANGST, TW!! eluded to death due to child birth

word count: 5,795

tiyawn (n) - love

comments: hi bbys <3 i swear i had rewritten this chapter like five times, complete scrapped it twice bc i was so unhappy w it, but i love this chapter sm. i feel like it is finally at a place where i am super proud of it, so i hope u all enjoy it. ALSOOO my first time writing smut so be nice or i WILL cry, but ok byeeee mwahhh ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

previous ✩ next

- pandora, awa’tula, 2169 -

What would normally take three days' travel had taken five. Your legs ached as you had been flying for several hours, keeping Tuk tucked into you as sleep began to settle into her again. Your food supply was low, same with your drinkable water and you weren’t sure how much more any of you would last. “Jake-we are tired. Let us rest please.”

The kids hummed in agreement but he shook his head, “We are only a few miles out. We should be there within half an hour's time.”

You felt like crying, every part of your body was sore but you said nothing more. Flying close to everyone and you missed the normally loud chatter. Everyone had been so quiet since the departure from the Hallelujah mountains. You didn't blame them, you were saddened but you knew it was for the best, for the safety of everyone you loved. But it did not stop the ache in your heart.

And just as Jake said the reefs of Awa’tula came into view not long after. You might have been able to admire how beautiful the island was had you not been in such a horrid mood. You were tired, hungry, overall just irritable and the blaring horns did nothing but increase your frustration as all of you landed on the beach. The Metkayina were so different from all of you.

Their skin was a teal blue, light blue eyes, and tails so much thicker than yours. You all stood out like a sore thumb.

Tonowari, the chief and Olo’eyktan of the Metkayina tribe came towards all of you, he was tall with broad shoulders, there was so much power radiating off of the man and it made you cower a little. You wondered if that was how the Omatikayan’s saw Jake. But as they looked at you with caution it dawned upon you that they may reject you and send all of you away again, or worse, see you as a threat and try harming all of you. You felt the familiar need to protect settle into your bones and it put you on edge as the Olo’eyktan’s mate came before all of you, Ronal.

She ignored your greetings as her eyes scanned all six of you up and down, a look of disdain evident on her face. “Why do you come to us, JakeSully?”

“We seek Uturu.”

Ronal's face twisted up, “Uturu?”

“Yes-sanctuary for my family.”

Your tail swooshed in annoyance as the Tsahik began circling all of you, prodding and tugging at different parts of you as she inspected whatever she deemed unfit.

“We are reef people. You are sky people-your skills will mean nothing here.”

Tonowari did not mean to be harsh, at least you did not think, just stating the facts he saw. You ripped your tail away from the grip Ronal had, anger settling deep in your chest as you followed her movement. “We will learn your ways.” Jake turned to look at you and he noticed the anger swirling in your eyes, “Right?”

You gave a curt nod, fearing you'd scream out of pure frustration if you spoke. ”Their arms are thin.” Ronal gripped Tuk’s arm and you felt your fangs beginning to dig into your bottom lip, forcing down a snarl as Tuk whined out and ran closer to you. “Their tails are weak.”

She gripped Kiri’s tail just as she had done with yours moments ago and you felt the growl that was threatening to rip out of your throat at any given moment.

She gripped Kiri’s and Lo’aks hands, lifting them for all the Metkayina to see, “These children are not even true Na’vi! They have demon blood!”

You hissed out angrily, tail swishing erratically as you tugged the kids behind you. Ronal’s eyes drifted to yours, fangs barring and hissing back at you. Jake had never seen you so angry, his hand landed on your forearm to pull you back, but it didn't dimmer your angry gaze.

“Please forgive my mate, she is tired and we have come a long way.”

You were about to protest but Jake pulled you in closer as he picked his hand up for Ronal to see, matching those of his two middle children, ”Look-look. I was born of the sky people and now I am Na’vi. You can adapt.”

Ronal’s eyes shifted to your face again and you felt yourself resigning as you grumbled out quietly, “We will adapt.”

“We cannot let you bring your war here. Us Metkayina are not at war.”

“I’m done with war, okay? I just want to keep my family safe.”

You moved from Jake’s grasp, picking Tuk up as she nuzzled into you. “Uturu has been asked.”

Everyone's eyes jumped to you, tears had pooled at your eyes as you realized just how helpless you felt. If they rejected you, you were not sure what would happen to your family. Ronal and Tonowari shared a look, staying quiet for a few seconds before the Tsahik nodded her head towards her mate.

“Toruk Makto and his family will stay with us. Treat them as our brothers and sisters.”

Your shoulders sagged in relief, “They do not know the sea, so they will be like babies. Teach them our ways so they do not suffer the shame of being useless.”

You refrained from rolling your eyes, you were still so irritable. “Thank you.”

There were more words exchanged but you blocked them out, just going through the motions as Tonowari’s daughter, Tsireya, began to lead you to the Mauri that would now be your home. Tuk had wiggled out of your arms as she noticed the bouncy floors that connected the mauri’s. She was happily jumping and it began to melt the ice that had started to form around your heart.

“Thank you.”

Tsireya sent you a final smile, “I will leave you all to rest now.”

-

Weeks had passed and you felt that everyone was adjusting well to the life near the sea, except for you. The children were constantly hard at work, learning new skills and it warmed your heart to see them trying so hard. Jake was always out with Tonowari and the men of the clan, and you found yourself alone during the majority of the day.

It was nice at first, having time for yourself, not having to watch over a clan, you weren’t worried about the needs of so many people. But then the loneliness webbed around every part of your heart, all while you tried to fight the yearning you had started to feel once again for Jake.

He had asked you to apologize to Ronal, with much reluctance you did and even if you wanted to you could not deny that it was the right thing to do. After that the Metkayina women had started to warm up to you as well, inviting you to communal gatherings and picking of fruits or other supplies needed for the clan. But those were not often enough.

Ronal and you grew a nice friendship as well. You understood all the stress she dealt with on a daily basis and she had begun to come to you for words of encouragement or advice as you were the only other Na’vi around her age that understood the burden she carried. Still, it was not the same.

You missed the forest, your parents and siblings, you missed your people. “You are in your head again.”

You met Ronal’s clear blue eyes, you huffed quietly as you placed the basket you had been weaving down, “I am not.”

She gave you a look, one that reminded you too much of your mother or Mo’at, as if she was about to scold you. “You cannot lie to the Tsahik, we know all.”

She was teasing you, you shook your head and your ears pinned back, “I just miss the forest. It sounds so-stupid but the children are always so busy now. I feel lost, as if I have nothing to do.”

“Maybe Eywa is encouraging more kids between you and JakeSully.”

Your face flamed a deep purple, the topic of kids had always made you so nervous. “No-Jake and I are very happy with four.”

She pursed her lips, contemplating if she should say the next few words, “Is that what it is? Or is it that the two of you are not even really mated?.”

Your ears pinned back in shock, feeling something rush up your throat. You felt like you were going to throw up, “What are you talking about, Ronal?”

She rolled her eyes, stopping her movements, “Since the six of you have arrived I had such an uneasy feeling. At first I thought it was due to you all just being new-foreign to the reefs. I felt unsafe, I knew something was wrong because Eywa’s signs felt erratic, desperate.”

You couldn’t even look at her anymore, fear and guilt settling its way into your chest, “Then we became friends, and I thought it would go away. But the feeling was so persistent I prayed to the Great Mother for answers. She delivered.”

You couldn’t even speak as you felt a lump form at your throat, just listening to her like a child being scolded.

“It was such a vivid dream, I knew it was not fake. I felt your pain, he denied you what is rightfully yours. Still you went forward with the union.”

You felt so raw, so exposed as you responded to her, “No one will ever understand why we went about it the way we did, except for us and that is all that matters, Ronal.”

Your voice was so weak, there was no fight in you. “It matters when Eywa has felt betrayed. Have you ever thought that maybe things are turning out so horribly because you both keep fighting what is only right? What has been right in front of you for the last seven years?”

“He does not love me!”

She had never heard you sound so defeated, sadness filling her as she realized just how much you were hurting. “How can you be sure? If you have never told him.”

“Because I know him, I have known him since Neytiri and I were eighteen. I watched them fall in love and in all the past years he has never looked at me that way. Why should I hurt myself more if I know the outcome?”

Your eyes watered, you felt so helpless, like you were drowning under the weight of all of your emotions and no one was coming to save you. “Ronal-please do not say this to anyone. The kids do not need to know, it will just confuse them.”

She sighed quietly, you could tell she pitied you. You felt pathetic as she changed the subject, “You will be joining us today, correct?”

She was talking about the celebration the clan was having later in the evening. It was due to the Tulkun returning back to their brothers and sisters. “I do not know, I did not bring with me any festive clothing. I would feel out of place.”

Ronal tsked quietly, “Tsireya and I had a feeling you would say that.” Your brows furrowed in confusion as she stood up, even with her ever growing bump she did not waddle.

She picked up a beaded top that had small shells wrapped in it, the top was beautiful. Your mouth gaped as she handed it to you, “I cannot take this.”

She rolled her eyes, “You can and you will, Tsireya made it just for you. She will be hurt.”

Your ears twitched are the kind gesture, “She really shouldn’t have. It is so beautiful, this must have taken her hours.”

The embarrasment you we’re feeling melted into something warm, you felt cared for. Appreciated. “She also made you a loincloth.”

It was black, and had the same beads and shells running down one side, the fabric was also longer on the opposite side, not even back at home had you used something so pretty. “I fear I will outshine you, Ronal.”

You were teasing her hoping to cut through the tension that filled the space. She laughed as she shook her head, “Do not get so ahead of yourself. No one outshines the Tsahik.”

You felt a smile tug on your lips, “Thank you, for everything.”

She patted your hand to let you know she heard you, “Now, let’s finish up these baskets.”

-

The whole day you had not seen any of the kids, nor Jake. It was late in the evening and you had finally retreated from Ronal’s mauri to begin getting yourself ready. However when you entered your family home, you were surprised to find it empty. It was very late, the celebration had already started but still you were hoping to find someone here.

You felt a bit disappointed, if you were being honest. Jake would normally wait for you, or come for you but it seemed as though he had already made his way towards the party. You readied yourself quickly, admiring how beautiful the beaded top sat on your form.

You felt a bit out of place, far more exposed than normal as the conversation with Ronal continued replaying in your mind. You pushed past the uncomfortable feeling and began making the small track to the largest clearing of the beach.

Jake had been scanning the Na’vi that made their way to the beach, he was looking for you. He had felt bad after making his way to the celebration without you, but when he entered the mauri and saw it was empty he figured you had already made your way over. He was wrong though, as he had made his way to Tonowari you were nowhere in sight.

He felt a bit worried, if he was being honest. Not that either of you spoke of your deep feelings to each other but everyday he had been seeing you less and less, he hated it. He missed you.

He spotted the dark blue of your skin amongst all the teal and felt his throat instantly dry up as he took in all of you. His ears twitched and tail thumped behind him gently as you smiled and signed your hellos to the Metkayina that you passed. He instantly felt his face grow hot as Tonowari laughed quietly beside him, Jake turned to him slightly embarrassed at being caught gawking over you, “What?”

“I said nothing, JakeSully.” Tonowari was trying his hardest not to laugh.

Jake turned away from him, still flustered. He continued to watch you make your way through the crowd, it looked as though people were parting just so he could stare at you. His heart was thumping hard in his chest.

You made your way towards Ronal and the light of the bonfire hit you perfectly, and he was able to see just how good you looked. “Go to her.”

Jake shook his head no, you looked so happy and a part of him feared he’d ruin it. “She’s busy with Ronal, I will let her be.”

But he found it so hard to look away from you.

You had made it to Ronal and greeted her properly, she smiled at you knowingly as Tsireya gasped, “You wore it!”

The young girl was beaming at you, smiling so big you were sure her face hurt. You laughed as you pulled her into you, “Yes, thank you Reya, it is so beautiful.”

She flushed under your compliment. You knew the girl was pinning over your youngest son, she was trying to win you over and it was working. Not that it was ever a question in how much you liked the girl, she was one of the few Metkayina who had treated the kids kindly from the beginning.

“Go grab food before it runs out.”

Ronal was ushering you away, she was always so worried over you. She reminded you of Zewlay.

You shook your head as you laughed, making your way towards the long wooden tables that were covered from corner to corner with food, there was no way it would’ve run out. It caused another quiet laugh to ripple from your mouth, “What is so funny?”

You looked up and were met with one of the Metkayina warriors, “Tsu’ltan!”

His face lit up as his name fell from your lips, enjoying the attention you were giving him. It was silly, he knew you were mated but it did not stop the budding attraction he had for you.

He had only really spoken to you in passing and his intentions were innocent, truly. But any opportunity he had to talk your ear off-he was going to take it.

“It is nice to finally see you out.”

Your ears twitched lightly, “Finally?”

He sent you a smile that made your insides churn, it was way too friendly and it caused heat to run up to your face. “Yes, it seems that Toruk Makto likes to keep you hidden.”

You didn’t know why but his teasing comment made you feel defensive, like you need to protect Jake’s honor. “No-it is just a big adjustment. I am still trying to get used to being here.”

He noticed how you tensed up, awkwardly shifting between your feet, “I was only teasing, it is just that the clan rarely sees you around.”

Your shoulders eased up a bit, he was only

meaning to be funny. “No need to apologize, I have been told by Ronal I seem like a hermit.”

Your nose scrunched up and he laughed, causing a small smile on your face, “Well you should change that. There are Na’vi who like to see you around.”

You weren’t sure what it was but his comment made you light up, a small laugh fell from your lips as you shook your head, “That is debatable.”

Jake had been watching the interaction closely, ears pinned roughly against his head anytime the Metkayina Na’vi smiled at you. His calm facade wore thin as you continued to speak with him. His throat clamped up as he saw you laugh, he could only see the side of your face but your smile had not faltered once in the Na’vi’s presence.

He excused himself from Tonowari, slowly making his way towards the two of you. He needed to calm himself, the anger and possessiveness that was consuming his body felt so foreign. He was barely within hearing distance, and a low growl emitted from his throat as his ears picked up on bits and pieces.

“I for one want to see you around.”

Jake felt like his heart was going to rip out of his chest from how hard it was beating. He felt threatened. Like he was losing his grip on you. He was not thinking straight, at all. You looked so pretty and he was a fool to think no one else noticed. Back in the forest he never had to stake a claim because everyone knew you were his. Here it was different, here the two of you were just Na’vi’s seeking refuge. He held no real power, no real respect. Everything he felt for you rising to the surface, a cup overflowing and it was going to spill out, messily. All his insecurities taunting him as the thought of losing you began to swirl his mind.

You hummed softly, enjoying the innocent flirting. You felt giddy, desirable. But that was as far as it would go, you had duties and even if you didn’t want to, someone else has already consumed your heart. Tsu’ltan was about to say something else but you saw him tense up as he looked behind you. You were about to turn but felt arms wrap around your waist. They were strong, and as you looked down they were a dark blue. They pulled you in tightly. “Who is this, Tiyawn?”

Jake.

You tensed in his arms at the name, responding dumbly, “Tsu’ltan.”

Your brain felt like it was on fire, trying so hard not to melt against his hold. He hummed quietly, but did not even bother to look at the man. You could tell he was upset, his heart was hammering so hard against his chest you felt it pound against your back.

Tsu’ltan cleared his throat, sending you an awkward smile as he bid you goodbye. You felt so embarrassed. Still tense in Jake’s arms as Tsu’ltan walked past you both.

The embarrassment was leaving your system quickly, being replaced by anger. Frustration began to consume you as your ears started ringing. Who did he think he was?

“You are unbelievable!”

“Thank you?” Jake laughed by your ear, intensifying your fury.

“I did not mean that nicely.” You hissed quietly, “Let go of me.”

His arms loosened but they stayed in place as he quietly called your name. He wasn’t sure what he expected to happen but it was certainly not for you to be angry with him. Jake felt an uncomfortable knot form at his throat as he realized you might have been enjoying your time with Tsu’ltan. God he even hated his name.

Your hands shoved at his arms and you stalked off, your anger felt even as you walked away from him. He followed after you, he felt so idiotic, helpless as you stomped away deep into the small forest on the beach.

“Leave me alone, Sully.”

He ignored your request as he trailed behind you, “No.”

You grumbled out angrily and he grabbed at your forearm, forcing you to turn to him. You were so angry as you fought against his hold, “I told you to let go of me.”

You hissed at him but it did not deter him, he held you close as he stared at you. Your lip began to quiver as you looked up at him. You wondered if Jake knew how mean he was being. All your stupid emotions forcing their way up and hot angry tears slipped past your eyes.

He had completely iced you out of his heart but then did things like this. And it confused you beyond belief, your heart couldn’t take it. He eased up on his hold as he saw the tears flowing down your face, “Why are you crying?” His voice was soft, he let the hand that was not holding your arm gently cup your face, using his thumb to try and wipe at your tears. “You! You are the reason I cry!”

Jake’s face furrowed in confusion, concern filled his body as you began to shake. Were you really that angry he had pulled you away from that man?

“You confuse me, you-you took so much from me!”

All the years of pent up feelings were coming up, you were sure it was an ugly sight to see. A sob ripped from your throat as you pushed at his chest. “And I hate myself for letting you consume my heart-it hurts! I want it to stop!”

Jake felt himself shake as he continued to hold on to you. “You love me?”

Your body went limp against his hold, as if all the fight was ripped out of you. “Unfortunately.”

Jake didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know how to get the words out of his mouth as he looked at you, your face was dipped down, refusing to look at him. “Look at me.”

“You have already made me feel horrible, now you wish to humiliate me even more by making me look at you. You are cruel.”

You squirmed in his arms as he wrapped you up in his, “Stop talking.”

Your head snapped up, anger once again swirling in the pit of your stomach, “Do not tell me what to do-“

Jake groaned and cupped at the back of your neck, pulling your face into his as he let his mouth cover yours. A quiet noise left your throat as your mouth moved with his, it was not sweet. It was hungry, and rough as if he was trying to take the breath from your lungs.

Maybe that was what he intended to do, finally get rid of you. Now that he was no longer Olo’eyktan he had no reason to keep up this hoax. The sob that was threatening to fall from your lips was stalled as his fangs lightly bit down on the plump of your bottom lip. Your own parted instantly, eyes fluttering shut as his tongue fought along yours. You weren’t sure how long he was kissing you for but when you pulled away your lips felt numb, swollen as you looked up at him, “Wha-why did you do that?”

He didn���t say anything, just looked into your eyes as his arms lowered to your back, pulling you closer as his head dipped down to the base of your neck. He tilted your head gently with his own as he began to feather kisses all along your neck, sucking gently and it caused a low moan to emit from your throat, you felt something low in your belly. Like a small fire that was begging to consume your whole body.

He bit down into the skin of your neck, soothing it gently with a swipe of his tongue. You whined his name quietly, his tail began to swish behind you. His fingers were gripping at your hips, pulling you so close you felt all of him. From his strong chest and thighs to the very evident bulge that was pressing right against your lower belly.

You felt so dizzy, so overwhelmed by everything he was making you feel. You felt such a primal hunger take over you and you could feel the want pooling between your legs, you squeezed them together to relieve the tension building up.

He pulled away and an ugly feeling swarmed your chest, wondering if he was already regretting what the two of you were doing. Your ears pinned back as you felt his fingers trace up the length of your back causing a shiver to run through you. He didn’t stop until he reached the knot from the beaded top, he tugged on it gently before he looked at your face again. He tilted his eyebrows up, asking you for permission. You nodded your head and in the next second it was off you, falling down in between the two of you and your face burned. Jake’s eyes dropped down to your chest and he looked as though he was going to devour you. “Pretty.”

You felt your heart flutter, swallowing thickly as he reached out towards your loincloth, rubbing gentle circles on your skin before he slowly began to pull it open. He was watching you with a careful eye, making sure you were okay with what was happening. You were.

You let the fabric fall and pool at your feet, your whole body felt warm under his gaze, shying away from his eyes as you refrained from wrapping your arms around yourself.

He gently pushed you against the tree that was behind you, your head felt so fuzzy. “Need you to tell me if it’s too much.”

You nodded your head, not trusting your voice. “No, Tiyawn. I need you to use your words.”

His voice was so soft but you felt it everywhere, shivering from the breeze that had settled over this late in the night, “Okay.”

Jake knelt down before you, gripping the soft plush of your thighs as he picked one of your legs up, throwing it over his shoulder and you tried not to squirm. Even in the close circle of your friends, when you spoke of your experience with the Na’vi men, none of you had ever mentioned this. Jake let his tongue fall flat against your most sensitive bundle of nerves, your body jolted lightly at the attention. You whined his name and Jake loved that you were already so responsive to him. He had only just begun to touch you.

He could not think of another way to show you how much he wanted you, at least not right now. So he swirled his tongue along your puffy folds, pushing deeper against you as mewled out. You felt so sensitive, already so overwhelmed by the use of his tongue. He moaned against you and it caused a quiet whimper to leave your lips, legs quaking lightly against his head. He removed his mouth for you, using his middle finger to gently prod at your entrance. If he was being honest, he wasn't even sure if you had ever experienced anything like this before. The thought caused blood to instantly rush towards his throbbing cock. His finger slipped in easily, your hips bucked at the intrusion, “You okay?”

“Mhm.” Your eyes were screwed shut tightly, body slumped against the large tree, you had never looked prettier. He began to move his finger softly, gaining momentum with each thrust of his finger. You felt a coil begin to build up in your lower stomach, the pressure threatening to snap as Jake set a brutal pace. He pressed kisses along your thigh, sucking gently as he marked you with lips. He mumbled gently against your thigh, “Gonna add another, kay?”

“Yes-please!” Another moan was ripped from your throat as he stretched you out, you felt so full. You clenched tightly around his fingers and a deep laugh left Jake, “Making you feel good baby?”

All you could do was whine, you were so close and mumbling incoherently, begging Jake not to stop. He leaned forward again, pressing his tongue flat against your slit before he sucked gently. You yelped out, hands instinctively tangling in his hair as your hips stuttered, the coil in your stomach feeling like it finally snapped under all the pressure. Your eyes screwed closed so tightly little spots of light appeared in your vision. Your chest was heaving roughly, moving your hips from Jake's mouth as he continued to lap at your release. “Jake-s’too much!”

He slipped his fingers out quickly, pressing a kiss against your hip before he stood up in front of you. Your gaze was hazy, fucked out and felt himself twitch under his loin cloth, “You still angry at me?”

“I think it is impossible for me to be mad at you after that.”

Your breathing was still evening out, legs shaky as you stood before him. Jake's hand fell to your bare hips, rubbing gently as he nuzzled his face against yours. You didn't want him to be soft on you, not right now. “Don’t be nice to me right now, it will make it harder when this is over.”

Jake stiffened before you, felt his heart ache as he watched your body pull away from him. You didn't see it, didn't see just how much you consumed his heart too. It was so clear to him that he had loved you for so long, had seen you for so many years already but was too much of a coward to admit it.

“When this is over?”

“Yes-when you go back to ignoring me and putting distance between us. Just make me feel good, please.”

You knew it was going to hurt, but you were so tired of holding back on what you wanted. If this was the only way you could have him then you would take it. Jake shook his head, he looked hurt, as if you had physically wounded him. “I do not ignore you.”

“Yeah sure, hurry.”

“No-look I don’t want this to end. This is not just a one time thing for me.”

You finally looked up into Jake’s eyes, they were so bright compared to the darkness you were both in, pupils slightly dilated as he stared at you. He looked so honest, like all he saw was you. It made you so uncomfortable, “You do not need to lie to me, Jake. It is fine to just let out our pent up emotions.”

Jake knew what he wanted to do, he was so ready to give all of himself to you. An ugly feeling settled high in his chest out of fear you would reject him just as he had so many years ago. But still he reached behind him, grabbing his thickest braid and bringing it toward you, his other hand grabbing your wrist and placing your palm flat on his chest. “What are you doing?”

“I see you. I have for so long and I have been so scared, but I can’t keep doing this anymore. I hate knowing you think I do not care for you. That you think I do not love you.”

You paused for a moment as his words swirled in your mind, you pushed him away from you gently, bending down to pick up your discarded pieces of clothing. You weren't sure why but his confession angered you, a million thoughts running through your head as you dressed yourself up again. “I do not believe you.”

Jake felt as though you had ripped his heart out of his chest and stomped on it, nerves wracking through his body as you continued to put more distance between the two of you. Desperation clawing at his chest as your eyes glazed over, a look of indifference as you tried to protect yourself from him. “No-Tiyawn, oel ngati kameie.”

He was reaching for you once more but your arms swatted him away, “Stop calling me that!”

Your breathing was ragged, deep and long like you were trying to catch your breath, “Do you think I do not know why you behaved that way in front of Tsu’ltan?”

Jake didn’t respond, ears pinned back as he tried to swallow the lump that was forming at his throat, “It is because you felt threatened. You didn’t feel man enough.”

Jake’s ears were ringing uncomfortably, “I know you so much better than you think, Jake. Eywa I have spent seven years by your side, for the better half of that time trying not to love you. But it is not my responsibility to make you feel secure, and you will not get that satisfaction from claiming me.”

“That is not what I am trying to do, I want us to be together, I want to make up for all this lost time.” His voice was wobbly, eyes threatening to leak rivers of tears as he realized how adamant you were in keeping yourself from him. Despite knowing how much you wanted him, you would not let yourself be someone he settled for. Some other challenge he finally won over.

“It is too late for that.”

[doumadono]

When the stars align - Urogi x Reader

Warnings: some angst Synopsis: while searching the forest for your missing father, you come across a demonic entity Requested by: @crystalwolfblog - I hope you'll enjoy it 💛

MASTERLIST

Urogi hovered above the forest, his wings spread wide as he scanned the area for any potential prey. As an Upper Rank Four demon, he was used to the thrill of the hunt, but something about this particular night had him feeling restless. He had been sent on a mission to search for any humans who might be wandering too close to demon territory. As he flew, his keen senses picked up on a faint scent, and he followed it to the source. Suddenly, his sharp senses picked up on a presence nearby. Urogi swooped down, his powerful muscles propelling him towards his target. And there you were - a human girl, wandering alone in the woods. He saw you from a distance - you were young, with a small lamp in your shaking hand, your face twisted in confusion and fear. Urogi could see that you were lost and alone. He swooped down silently, landing a few feet away from you.

Urogi's eyes locked onto you, taking in every detail of your delicate form: your hair was a Y/H/C, cascading in waves down your back, you wore a simple dress and a dark haori on top of it.

After looking arund, you screamed when you saw him, and Urogi could see the fear in your eyes. He thought about devouring you right there, but as he drew closer, he noticed the way you trembled and shook in his presence. He realized that he was feeling something else entirely - a desire to keep you as his own.

He moved closer to you, and you stumbled back, tripping over a tree root and falling to the ground. Urogi stepped forward, looming over you, his wings unfurled to their full length. You cowered before him, but he could smell the sweet, intoxicating scent of your fear.

"Why are you out here, little one?" Urogi asked in a deep, rumbling voice.

"I… I was looking for my father," you stammered, your voice barely above a whisper.

Urogi chuckled, the sound sending shivers down the your spine. "Well, you won't find him out here. This is demon territory. He's most likely long gone already."

You whimpered, and Urogi felt a rush of pleasure at your fear. He reached out and took you by the arm, pulling you to your feet.

"Let me go!" you cried, struggling against him. "Please, I don't want to die!"

Urogi chuckled, his voice low and menacing. "I'm not going to kill you, little one," he uttered. "But you do belong to me now."

You didn't resist as Urogi pulled you into his arms; you were so small and fragile against him, and he felt a strange protectiveness rising within him. Your eyes widened in fear, but Urogi could sense your curiosity as well. "You… You're a demon… Is this even possible?"

Urogi's face wore a grin. "Very astute of you, my dear," he cooed.

As he took off into the sky, you clung to him, your small frame pressed tightly against his muscular chest. Urogi was acutely aware of the rapid pounding of your heart, like a tiny, wild creature desperately trying to escape its cage, and he wondered if you could feel the heat of his own heart pounding in his chest. As you soared through the night sky, Urogi held you tightly, his golden eyes glittering with amusement.

You flew for what felt like hours, you growing quieter and more still in his arms. Finally, Urogi landed in a clearing deep in the forest. He set you down gently and watched as you looked around in wonder.

"Why did you bring me here?" you asked, rubbing your arms, your voice soft and timid.

"I want to keep you," he said simply, his vice a little raspy. "You'll be mine from now on."

You looked up at him, your eyes wide with fear and confusion. "You… You can't just keep me like that…"

Urogi's deep voice rumbled as he spoke, "I can keep you because I am a demon. My kind has no boundaries, no rules - we take what we want, and we keep it for as long as we desire." His golden eyes gleamed with a dangerous intensity as he looked down at you, his powerful arms wrapped around your trembling form. "You belong to me now, and I will never let you go."

You trembled in Urogi's grasp, your voice shaking as you begged him to let you go. "Please, I can't stay with you," you pleaded. "I have a little sibling to take care of, and I went into the forest to look for my father. He didn't return from the hunt, and I had to find him."

Urogi's grip tightened, his expression hardening as he heard your words. "Your father is likely dead," he growled, being blunt with his statement. "You should forget about him and stay with me. I will take care of you, you will never have to worry about anything again."

But you refused to give up. "I can't abandon my family," you insisted, your voice becoming firmer. "Please, let me go. I promise I won't tell anyone about you. I'll keep your secret safe." You looked up at the demon with a glimmer of hope in your eyes, asking him if he would let you go. But his response was a firm no, leaving you crestfallen.

"My desires are not subject to the whims of mortals," he declared, letting go of your waist and turning around. "You will stay with me, and you will learn to love it. Resistance is futile."

You felt a shiver run down your spine at his words, realizing that there was no arguing with him. For better or for worse, you were now at the mercy of this powerful demon, and there was nothing you could do to change that. You slowly sank to your knees, feeling the weight of your situation crushing down on you. Tears welled up in your eyes, and before you knew it, you were sobbing uncontrollably.

Urogi watched you with an impassive expression, seemingly unmoved by your tears. But as your sobs grew louder, he let out a sigh and crouched down beside you, placing a hand on your shoulder. "Crying is just for weak mortals," he exclaimed, his tone cold and unfeeling. "And you, my dear, are too pretty to be crying like a baby."

His words did little to console you, and you continued to cry into your hands. But as the minutes ticked by, your sobs slowly began to subside.

"How can you say that?" you asked, your voice trembling with emotion. "I have a right to feel upset. You've taken me away from everything I know and love, and you're refusing to let me go."

As Urogi watched you, he couldn't help but notice the way your body trembled with fear and sadness. Your chin quivered as you tried to hold back your tears, and your scent had shifted from sweet to sour due to the extreme stress you were under. For the first time since he had captured you, Urogi felt a pang of guilt. He had never considered the impact his actions would have on you, seeing you so vulnerable and frightened made him realize the gravity of what he had done. He stood up, stepping away from you for a moment, deep in thought. He had never felt empathy towards humans before, let alone guilt, but something about you was different. Maybe it was the way you refused to give up, or the way you stood up to him despite his cruel words. Either way, he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Urogi paced back and forth, his thoughts whirling. He had always believed that humans were weak and inferior, but looking at you now, he was beginning to see things differently. Finally, he stopped pacing and turned to you, his expression softening a little. "I'm sorry."

You looked up at him, surprise and disbelief written on your face. You never expected a demon to show any kind of remorse, let alone apologize. But as you studied his expression, you could see a glimmer of sincerity in his eyes. As you stood up and dusted off your dress, you looked at him with a mix of surprise and suspicion. "Why are you apologizing to me? You're a demon…"

"I can't explain it," he declared, his tone sincere. "You have a fire in your soul, a determination to keep going no matter what. I admire that." After saying these words, the demon simply left.

A heavy silence descended upon the forest. You could hear the rustling of leaves, the chirping of crickets, and the occasional hoot of an owl. The air was cool and crisp, and you shivered slightly, pulling your haori tighter around your shoulders.

Urogi made his way through the forest, his mind consumed with thoughts of the encounter he had just had with you. Eventually, he came to a small stream that flowed through the forest. He sat down at the edge, his thoughts still racing through his mind. He stared into the water, watching as it flowed past him, lost in his own thoughts. Urogi's feelings of guilt and remorse were a new experience for him. As a demon, he had always been taught that emotions were a weakness and that he should embrace his demonic nature to the fullest. However, his encounter with you had stirred something within him, something he had never felt before. He was so lost in his own world that he didn't even notice that you had followed him to the stream.

As you watched him from a distance, you couldn't help but feel a sense of curiosity and intrigue towards the demon. Despite everything that had happened, there was something fascinating about him.

As you approached him, Urogi finally looked up and noticed your presence. At first, he was surprised to see you, but then he quickly regained his composure. "You followed me," he commented, his voice calm and measured.

You nodded silently, not sure what to say.

"Why did you follow me?"

"I don't know," you admitted. "I guess I was curious. And you left me alone in the middle of the forest."

The demon gestured for you to come closer and sit beside him.

For a while, the two of you sat there in silence, watching the stream flow past.

You could feel demon's eyes on you, studying you carefully. It was a strange feeling, but you couldn't deny that there was something comforting about his presence. "How long were you a demon?" You broke the silence with a question.

Urogi hesitated for a moment before answering your question. He had always been a demon for as long as he could remember, and the concept of time was different for him than it was for mortals like you. "Long enough to have seen countless mortals come and go, to have witnessed the rise and fall of empires, and to have experienced things that would be beyond your imagination." He looked at you with his piercing golden eyes, as if he were trying to convey the weight of his experience through his gaze alone. "But despite all that, I have never encountered someone like you before. You are different from all the mortals I have encountered, and I cannot explain why."

"It must have been difficult for you. Living as a demon, you must have felt isolated and alone at times."

Urogi turned to you with a hint of disbelief in his eyes as he heard your words. He scoffed, a low rumble emanating from his chest, as he shook his head. "You do not understand, woman," he grunted, his voice heavy with frustration. "I am a demon. My nature is to feed on the flesh of humans! Compassion and empathy have no place in my world, and I don't feel alone. I like it the way it is, woman!"

"But you didn't devour me yet," you whispered softly, trying to catch his attention. You could have easily done it when you caught me, but you didn't. And you even apologized for it. That must mean something, right?"

Urogi turned around to face you, his eyes narrowing slightly as he considered your words. He leant towards you, his wings slightly unfurled as he grabbed your shoulder, yanking you closer to him. "That is none of your concern!"

Without thinking, you lifted your hand and pressed it gently against his cheek. Despite his fearsome appearance, his skin was surprisingly smooth and soft to the touch, almost like silk. You could feel the coolness of his skin against your warm fingertips, sending a shiver down your spine. You had expected his skin to be rough or even scaly, given his demonic nature, but instead it was almost delicate. You wondered how it could be so soft and yet so cold at the same time, and you couldn't help but be fascinated by the sensation.

Urogi blinked in surprise at your touch, and you felt a thrill of excitement run through you. For a moment, you forgot about your fear and your uncertainty, lost in the sensation of touching a demon.

But then Urogi's hand shot out and caught yours, his grip tight and unyielding. "Do not touch me," he hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "You do not know what you are dealing with."

For a long moment, the two of you stared at each other, locked in a tense and dangerous embrace.

You could feel the weight of demon's presence bearing down on you. "I'm not afraid of you. You had plenty of time to attack and kill me, but you didn't. I just know that you won't hurt me."

Urogi's expression hardened for a moment, but then softened again as he looked away from you. "You shouldn't be so sure, woman."

"My name is Y/N."

"I don't care about your name!"

There was a moment of silence between the two of you.

"I go by Urogi," the demon replied finally.

You repeated Urogi's name out loud, savouring the sound of it on your lips. "Urogi," you whispered, looking up at him with a small smile. "I like the way it sounds. It's unique."

Urogi looked at you for a moment before averting his gaze, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention. "That's not important."

You hesitated before finally mustering up the courage to ask him something that had been on your mind for a while. "Urogi, can I ask you something?"

Urogi raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What is it, Y/N?"

You took a deep breath before speaking again. "Can I… touch your wings?" you asked, feeling a bit embarrassed at the request.

After long moment of thinking, he gave you a brief nod. "I guess you can."

You shifted closer to Urogi, and gently ran your fingers over the feathers of his wings. They were surprisingly soft to the touch, and you couldn't help but marvel at their size and beauty.

Urogi watched you with a hint of amusement in his eyes, his lips parted slightly at the pleasurable feeling spreading all over his form.

"They're beautiful," you whispered quietly, slowly raising your gaze to meet his golden eyes. "You are beautiful…"

Urogi blinked again, taken aback by your sudden statement. He couldn't believe that you weren't afraid of him, despite knowing that he was a powerful demon. It was rare for him to encounter a human who would willingly touch him, let alone compliment his appearance. He slowly lay down on the grass, looking up at the stars in the dark night sky.

You couldn't help but feel a sense of peace as you lay next to Urogi, watching the stars twinkle in the night sky. The soft sound of the stream nearby and the rustling of the leaves in the wind created a soothing atmosphere. You turned your head to look at Urogi, who seemed lost in thought as he stared up at the sky.

You and Urogi were watching the stars aligning, marveling at the beauty of the night sky. The twinkling stars formed patterns and constellations that seemed to hold secrets and stories of their own. The soft breeze brushed against your skin, carrying with it a sweet fragrance of night. The stars glimmered brightly in the dark night sky, painting the heavens with their twinkling light. The moon was also visible, casting a pale glow over the forest and illuminating Urogi's face.

You wondered what was going through his mind, what kind of thoughts and memories demons had. Did they have families and loved ones like humans did? Or were they solitary creatures that only cared about satisfying their own desires? You didn't want to break the silence, afraid that it would ruin the peaceful moment. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the cool night air fill your lungs. You could feel Urogi's warmth radiating next to you, and it was comforting. You took a deep breath, mustering up the courage to speak. "Maybe we can be friends?"

Urogi turned his head to look at you, his expression unreadable. He seemed to be considering your words carefully before he spoke. "Why would you want to be friends with a demon like me?" his tone cautious.

"I don't believe that being a demon automatically makes you a bad soul. I think there's more to you than just your intimidating appearance or your powers."

Urogi didn't respond for a few moments, and you began to worry that you had overstepped your boundaries. But then he let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes again. "Alright, Y/N. We can give it a try."

As you shared the story of your father's disappearance and your family's situation, Urogi listened intently, his expression softening slightly. You could sense that he was trying to understand your perspective, despite being a demon. You explained to him about your responsibilities as an older sibling and the various activities that you and your family do as humans. You talked about how you help your mother with chores and look after your younger siblings. You also shared your love for music and the joy it brings to your life.

Urogi listened attentively, but with a hint of skepticism in his expression. When you mentioned taking care of your younger siblings and helping around the house, Urogi scoffed. To him, these seemed like weak and mundane tasks. He noticed something peculiar: your eyes sparkled with passion and determination, and your heart poured out with every word you spoke. Despite the mundaneness of your everyday life, you carried yourself with an unwavering sense of purpose and duty. Deep down, Urogi knew that he would do anything to protect you from harm. It was a feeling he couldn't quite explain, but he couldn't deny it either. He found himself wanting to be near you, to keep you safe, and to learn more about the human world that you came from.

After noticing you shiver from the coldness of the night, Urogi sat up and gestured for you to get closer to him.

You happily obliged, getting closer until you were nestled up against his side.

Urogi's wings enveloped you, shielding you from the chill, and you felt a warm tingle spread throughout your body as his body heat seeped into yours.

You couldn't believe how comfortable you felt, snuggled up against a demon who had only moments ago kidnapped you. But as you sat there, listening to the sound of his steady breaths and feeling the warmth of his embrace, you couldn't help but feel a strange sense of safety and security that you had never experienced before. As his wings wrapped tightly around you, you could feel the soft feathers brushing against your skin, and you couldn't help but let out a contented sigh. It was a strange comfort, being held by a demon, but you found yourself trusting him more and more as the night went on.

You began to rub the insides of his wings gently, feeling the texture of the feathers under your fingertips. Urogi let out a soft purring noise, and you couldn't help but smile at the sound. It was a strange sight, a demon with wings being comforted by a human, but in that moment, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

As the sky started to brighten, you realized that the dawn was approaching. "You know, Urogi, even though you're a demon, your embrace and comfort make me feel happy… I'm grateful that you didn't leave me alone in the woods."

Urogi reluctantly unwrapped his wings from around you, signaling that it was time for you to part ways.

You stood up and brushed the dirt off your clothes, turning to face the demon.

Urogi rose to his feet, his wings rustling as he shook off the dirt that clung to them. "I shall take you back to your abode," he announced, his deep voice rumbling through the air. As he gathered you into his arms, you felt the powerful beat of his wings lift you both off the ground, soaring into the sky.

Curiosity piqued, you couldn't help but inquire how Urogi would navigate his way to your home since you had neglected to provide directions.

"Fear not," he reassured you, a wry smile playing across his lips. "I shall simply follow your unique scent trail. You smell so sweet. It's hard to miss. I can follow it from a mile away."

At his words, a warmth crept into your cheeks, the implication of his words not lost on you. The way he described your scent as sweet and alluring made your heart skip a beat. You tried to compose yourself, but it was difficult with his arms wrapped around you and his wings fluttering against your skin.

As you and Urogi soared through the crisp, cool air, the landscape below transformed before your eyes. The vibrant green of the forest below was now visible, and you could make out the distant shape of a small wooden hut nestled on the edge of the trees. With a gentle descent, Urogi landed softly on the ground, and you felt the grass brush against your feet as you were placed to the ground by him.

Suddenly, your gaze caught sight of a lone figure making his way out of the thicket nearby. Your heart skipped a beat as you recognized the familiar silhouette of your father. Relief and joy flooded your senses as you realized he was safe and unharmed. Your eyes welled up with tears. "Urogi! It's my dad! He's alive!"

Urogi's keen eyes captured the profound joy that suffused your being, and a gentle smile graced his lips. "It's time for you to return to your family, who I'm sure must be concerned about your well-being as well as your father's. And I must ask you to promise me one thing: that you will never venture into these woods after nightfall again."

You turned to Urogi and gave him a nod. Overwhelmed with happiness, you wrapped your arms around his neck and planted a tender kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Urogi. I don't know what I would have actually done without you," you whispered, feeling tears of gratitude prick at the corners of your eyes.

Urogi was taken aback; he felt a rush of warmth flood his chest as he closed his eyes, savoring the moment. Urogi's heart swelled with emotion as his wings wrapped tightly around you again. Urogi gave you one last hug, brushing a strand of your hair off your cheek, his piercing gaze meeting yours. "I hope you don't mind my impertinence, but I was wondering if you would object to my presence tomorrow evening," he inquired, his voice smooth as silk.

You could feel your heart race at his proximity, but you tried to maintain your composure. "No, I don't mind at all."

Urogi's lips curved into a faint smile, and he leaned in closer to you, his arms encircling you in a gentle embrace. You could feel the warmth of his body against yours, and you couldn't help but lean into him.

"Keep a watchful eye after the sunset tonight."

You nodded, silently observing Urogi's silhouette taking off and disappearing into the obscurity of the passing night.

Was it a beginning of an unlikely friendship? Only time would tell, but in that moment, it felt like a spark of connection had been made between you and Urogi. And perhaps, just maybe, he could be more than just a monster in the eyes of human.

[azlrse]

nah bc i NEED to know what happens to mc after their wakes up from their thousand-year slumber w malleus

they just wake up to realize that everyone they loved passed away centuries ago and that they’re living in an entirely different era, and that they need to haul their ass outta that castle

➳ once upon a dream part ii (a yandere malleus draconia x gn!reader oneshot)

cw: yandere themes, angst, implied forced marriage, isolation, using magic against one's will, implied minor character death & manipulation.

a/n: man I suck at creating dialogues lmfaoo

read the last fic here !!

"Please I beg of you, Tsunotarou!" You desperately gasp for air as you spoke those lines, clinging against his chest. You can feel your eyes glowing a dark green from the fae's magic to put you in a induced sleep, not to mention on how painful your body felt from this sudden transformation. "Don't put me to sleep, I still have a family waiting for me on the other side of that mirror."

On the other hand, Malleus consoles you, rubbing your back while both of his hands are glowing the same shades of green from your eyes. The prince felt really bad as guilt and desperation surges through his mind, repeating like a mantra that it's your destiny to stay here in Twisted Wonderland and forget those people you call your family. The mirror from his school proves it too! That the mirror calls for you despite someone who is powerless and didn't possess any kind of magic of your own.

"Shhh shhh." He whispered softly, now laying you by his side while your body's about to give out, signaling that his spell is working it's magic on you. "It's okay, my child of man. Do not fight it, let my magic lead you into a slumber that you will never forget. After all," He hugged your delicate body, his arm is wrapped around your torso while his other arm is pressed against your head, placing it against the nape of his neck. "A thousand years of sleep would feel like a dream and when you wake up, I'll be by your side." You felt a pair of lips pressed against your own cold ones while he caresses your cheeks.

"Sweet dreams, my love. I'll see you soon."

You felt your eyes fluttering for the first time, letting out a yawn and attempting to get up from the soft cushions of the bed you're laying in. In an attempt to get up, your head bumped into something what appears to be a glass. It surprises you that your bed has a glass cover on top, not to mention the absurd amount of flowers surrounding your room. You opened the glass coffin and for the first time, you are in awe the way the entire room looked like; it's gloomy yes, but the way the flowers added to the room's atmosphere makes you feel...at ease strangely.

You wondered to yourself how on earth did you ended up in this marvelous room. You tried tracing your memories on how you ended here in this strange place and yet, no luck. Your eyes landed on the sole exit of the room, trying to unlock it by nudging the door knob. No one answered. You tried speaking towards the door, in hopes that someone could hear you, no one responded. You are about to give up, returning to the bed coffin you once laid in when all of the sudden, the sound of locks and deadbolts are unlocked, revealing a small, petite maid carrying various flowers and her gardening tools.

Judging on how she looked, she is indeed a fae from the ears and the shade of dark olive green hair. She seems friendly enough for a fae so you spoke her meekly. "Um hello there.." From the shock alone, the maid dropped both the gardening tools and the bouquet of flowers that Malleus ordered her to be planted on your room. Stuttering, she bowed down before you, making you surprised in return. "Y-y-your majesty! I d-didn't expect you to be awake! It's an honor be by your presence, my king/queen!" Not only you are confused on why that woman called you by such rank you didn't even recall gaining it. You remembered that you aren't someone who is deemed as royalty but also you weren't from a royal blood line.

Unless someone who is royalty married you–

"I'm so sorry but this is a misunderstanding." The maid looked up at you in confusion. "What do you mean, your highness?" You quickly shooked your head as you picked up the various tools and flowers she dropped minutes ago.

"I am not used to be called by such endearment and I am not from a royal blood line–" The maid cut you off. "B-but, you are (y/n) Draconia! The crowned ruler of the Valley of Thorns and his majesty's love." She felt like you didn't by her words, which confuses her even more. As a last attempt, she pointed her finger to the portrait right above your bed which turns out to be a coffin. From the picture, you can see on how happy Malleus is alongside you. But, what makes it even more creepy is that you didn't recalled being married to him as your portrait portrays you as someone who is equally as happy as he is, the only difference is that your eyes glowed a bright green along with the black and green garment as your wedding attire.

"Y-your majesty? Are you okay?" You felt like you are about to pass out, stumbling upon the overgrown grass and vines on the floor below. With the adrenaline pumping by your veins, you ran away, pushing the guards and dropping your crown in the process. You ignored all of the sounds that rang around the place, ranging from the guards pleading you to stop from the bells above ringing, signaling that someone of royalty is in distress.

Which in fact, caught Malleus's attention as he saw the guards running and heard the bell ringing above.

Turning around the corner, you see a huge door which could lead to your forgotten freedom when suddenly, your body jolted backwards from the sudden force as the tip of your cape was caught by a sharp stone. In desperation to escape, you pulled your cape so hard that the expensive fabric was ripped and once again you sprinted against the tall door right around the corner. Your entire body was covered entirely with sweat and you never felt this good since the day you've slept and the adrenaline you have felt, it felt so accelerating yet weird at the same time.

You are about to open the door and to your surprise, Malleus appeared alongside with several guards and Lilia by his side. "My beloved!" He spoke, his voice is laced with a series of emotions ranging from disappoinment to sadness upon seeing your distressed state. Seeing his eyes alone, your precious memories from the past reminded you of what you once had. From your heartslabyul friends to your own family back in your world, it was those happy moments you want to cherish for the rest of your life.

However, you also remembered how that man you saw not only is your captor but also your husband and king. It was dawned upon you that Malleus himself took you away in fear that you will leave this world that called you in the first place and out of greed and desperation, he married you against your will. Seeing him for the first time made you sacred to the core, ignoring his attempts on coercing you to leave that door alone. Not listening to him, you opened the tall doors which turns out to the door that leads to the balcony.

This made Malleus worried for you even more as he shouted your name once more in fear. With nowhere else to go, you climbed on the stone fence of the balcony and felt the cold wind hit your face for the first time. "I knew that this day would come." Lilia murmured as he held Malleus's shaking hand as an attempt to console the once young prince. "(y/n)!" Lilia shouted, successfully getting your attention. "Malleus has something to say! Please let him explain to you!"

In return, you shook your head side to side, tears seeping through your face as you held the stone pillar for support. "How can I believe his explanation if that man before me casted me that wicked spell that cause me to have that slumber?!" You shouted fearlessly despite being scared towards him. The man that was once your friend walk towards the open doors of the balcony, with your crown by his hands. "I'm doing what's best for you, for us and seeing you leaving me is indeed torture and I won't spend thousands of years ruling alone without someone to call both my love and spouse."

"Then why did you choose me out of all those people? Why not someone's who's the same species as you?" Now, Malleus was right below you, with a sad smile on his face. "Because you didn't fear me even after you knew my name. You are the first and last human to whom my heart yearned for and the one I call the love of my life." He spoke. "I indeed apologize for casting that spell against your will but as I've stated before, I'm doing this for the sake of your love."

You didn't trust his words but asked another question. "How long I was asleep?" You asked, in which the king of faes gladly answered. "About a millennia, my dear. Just like the tale of the sleeping princess I've read to you when we are still in NRC." You almost lost your grip against the pillar upon hearing his words. Sleeping for a thousand years? For you it felt like you've been sleeping for at least a day or two. Then, another realization dawned upon you, making you nauseous. "Does this mean that-"

You look at Malleus's green pair of eyes and the fae said nothing but a sad nod. Everyone you loved in NRC, even your friends and family on the other side of the mirror are dead and you didn't have the chance to say good to them face to face. You failed to realize that while you are in deep thoughts, Malleus pulled you down from the pillar as you knees gave out once more. Tears begin to stream down your face once again, hitting Malleus's chest as a way to protest and as a way to wake up, hoping that this moment is nothing but a nightmare you couldn't wake up. You didn't believe that it's been thousands of years since you last saw your friends and everyone you knew in NRC.

If it weren't for you visiting that cursed dorm where he once resided, you could have the chance to go home, to be with your friends and family and to die as a human. You continuously hit his chest and it didn't bothered him, not even once as he cradles your tired body against his body. "No no no..." Your murmured, slapping his body. "This must be a dream- no a nightmare. This isn't real, I'll just wake up and everything's back to normal." You sobbed, now giving up on hurting the man before you.

You know that there's no one to take you in if you ever ran away from the castle since everyone you knew is now dead. No blood relatives nor friends to be by your side except for Malleus. For he and he alone could take care of you and he gladly accepted that offer. "This isn't a dream, my child of man." He replied, caressing your messy locks and placing the crown on your head. "You don't have anyone else but me to turn to. For I, Malleus Draconia, your husband and king, will love and cherish you for as long as I've lived." Kissing your head once more, he carried you back the room that was once his sleeping quarters, is now a shared room of both you and him.

He stared at you in awe as you kept on clinging close towards him. "Please don't leave me, my love. I will promise you that no harm will go through you, even from me." He replied, to which you kept on sobbing against his chest, now covered with tears and snot but the king didn't mind at all.

After all, he would like to thank his grandmother for the spell she taught him since he was a child. You are indeed this fae's sleeping beauty, now in his arms and forever be his.

Do not republish, edit, or repost to other websites.

Reblogs and likes are appreciated! 💕

[blossiewossie]

— An Angel's Kiss

pairing : itadori yuji x reader genre : best friends to lovers, angst rating : pg word count : 1.8k

— contents : kissing. angst. death mentioned.

You thought the hardest thing to confess was your love for him. How do you confess to the love of your life that you might not make it to tomorrow?

"How are you today?" asked a voice.

Turning your gaze from the window overlooking the streets below to your left, a small smile graces your lips as you see who came to visit you.

"I was starting to wonder when you'd get here," you say. Groaning lowly, you place your hands on the rails on each side of your bed and attempt to pull yourself up a little.

Without missing a beat, your best friend races from the door and carefully grabs your shoulders before gently lowering you back down to the bed, making you let out a soft "oomph" as your head hit the pillow once more.

"C'mon, ____! You know you're not supposed to do that!", Yuji says in a panic.

His hand frantically searches the side of your bed until it lands on the little remote. He steps back while pressing a button, which in turn raises the top half of your bed. As it comes to a stop, you huff and cross your arms indignantly.

"I could've just sat up, y'know", you chastise him, sticking your tongue out to make your point. He chuckles as he returns the remote to your bedside while you thank him quietly.

"I'm sure you were here when the doctor said you weren't supposed to do exactly that," he said, now resting his hand atop yours with a squeeze.

Huffing, you turn your gaze away from his and look down at where your hands meet, his warmth encasing your coldness. You felt your heart skip a beat as you looked back to his eyes once more, wondering if he somehow knew what you were thinking.

Yuji glanced at your heart rate monitor quizzically, before asking out loud why it was beating so fast and if he should contact your nurse about it.

Blushing, you slip your hand out from under his to pull the blanket down a bit and inform him that you were just a bit warm.

Looking back at you, Yuji tilted his head before nodding and waltzing over to the window you were just looking at. He starts twisting the knobs while telling you about his day, recounting everything he did before coming to see you. Sliding the window open just a crack, he nods to himself and comes back to your bedside before settling into the chair to your left.

"...and then I told grandpa that I was coming to see you and here I am!" he ends his sentence with wide grin.

Your eyes take in his bright smile and you swear you could hear your heart swoon from within your chest. As he delves into another topic, you half-listen to him speak as you revel in your feelings, wondering when you should bite the bullet and tell him.

You don't even know when you fell for him, but what you do know is that you fell hard.

Maybe it was back when you first met him, when you were adjusting to the family's big move and a new school. You had found yourself sitting alone at a lunch table, glancing around anxiously at your peers as they sat with their friend groups. You were on the verge of tears when someone slammed their lunch tray next to yours with a plop! and a hand was basically shoved into yours.

"My name's Yuji! What's yours?", he had said, eyes sparkling with joy and big smile on his lips. You had reciprocated the hand shake with wide eyes, before letting him know your name. Thus your friendship had blossomed from that day forth.

You couldn't understand why he had done it. Maybe he took pity on you. Maybe he knew how you felt that day. Maybe he was just being kind. But whatever that reason, you were glad you had met him.

Maybe you started falling for him when you went to your high school prom. Back then, you were an awkward teenager, too shy to approach anyone to be your date. He had encouraged you to follow your heart, but you didn't know how.

In the end, you were ready to skip prom altogether, until he showed up to your door with the same big smile and a small poster with the words Be My Date? scribbled messily on it. You had thrown your head back with a laugh before agreeing, linking arms and skipping back to his car to take on prom together.

Maybe you had fallen for him the night you came down with a fever again. Your parents had gone out to celebrate their anniversary and you had insisted that you were fine. Little did you know that they had contacted Yuji and told him you were at home ill once more, and while they had expected him to just call and keep you company, he decided he had to do more than that.

You had heard the doors downstairs open and close, calling out to your parents and asking if they had forgotten something. The door had opened to reveal him there, standing with his hands barely hanging onto the stuff he was holding.

He had a basket full of your favorite snacks and electrolyte-filled juices, a stuffed cow, a grocery bag full of medicine, and two balloons — the latter making you cough with laughter as they read Its a Boy! and Congratulations!. He had whined to you that they didn't have any Get Better Soon! ones while you continued laughing, ignoring the heavy pounding on your skull.

That same night was when you found out that it wasn't just a fever. It was something much worse, and you had ended up in the hospital throwing up blood with a worried Yuji by your side.

He was always by your side. And now here he was, once more.

Somehow, deep down, you knew it. You couldn't pinpoint the feeling but it was there. You just knew you didn't have much time left.

You had made peace with the idea of death. You heard the cries of anguish every day at the hospital, feeling your heart grieve for the families losing their loved ones.

You had intrusive thoughts about who would grieve your passing the most and how many people your loss would affect. The afterlife had never intrigued you because you didn't like the idea of being somewhere where your loved ones weren't. You liked it here, in this world. You liked being here... with Yuji.

"Hey. Where'd you go just then?" you heard him ask.

Blinking your eyes slowly at him, you feel something wet trail down your cheeks. Yuji looked at you with concern, bringing his hand up to your face and wiping the tears.

Seeing him act so gently, so kindly, made your tears stream down faster.

"Hey, hey," he cooed softly, moving now to sit on the bed by your side. Wrapping his arms around you, his hand nestled the back of your head and gently put your head into the crook of his neck as he rocked you both slowly. "What's wrong, angel?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just thinking" you had sniffled back.

"What you thinking about that's got you crying?" he asked tenderly, holding onto you tightly.

"I have a confession."

Hearing that, he stopped rocking and slowly pulled you both apart, looking down at you intently. His eyes stared back at your teary ones, determined to listen to what you had to say.

Licking your dry lips, you held his gaze as you opened your mouth and spilled your heart out to him.

"I love you. I-I love you more than a friend. I understand if you don't feel the same way, but please let me finish."

He nodded at you to continue, his hold tightening just a little bit.

"I don't know when I started feeling this way, but I did. I do. I-I've loved you for so long and I can't help but fall deeper every time I see you. I want to hold onto you forever and never let go. Every time it's time to say goodbye, my heart hurts. It calls for you."

Inhaling a deep breath, you let out a sigh of relief, feeling a burden lift off your shoulders. His eyes never left yours once, not even when you slowly took his hands off your form and laid back down on your raised bed.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, having trouble with finding the right words.

You gave him a sad smile in understanding. You knew it was a shot in the dark that he'd feel the same way about you. You couldn't possibly expect him to-

"My heart calls for you too," he says finally, with a small smile.

Your eyes widened as your heart rate shot up once more, making you both glance at the monitor again. With a short laugh, Yuji turned back to you, his left arm reaching up to scratch the back of his head, a nervous quirk of his that you've come to adore.

"I didn't know how to tell you how I feel. I was going to wait until you got out of here, at least," he said earnestly, making you smile sadly.

You thought the hardest thing to confess was your love for him. How do you confess to the love of your life that you might not make it to tomorrow?

As your lips parted to say something, you suddenly feel his smooth ones on yours, silencing you. Closing your eyes and gently holding his face, you move your lips with his, as your heart is engulfed with pure bliss. One of his hands rested behind your head as he deepened the kiss, while his other one held you close, almost as if he was afraid to let you go.

All too soon, you both pull apart, softly panting at intensity of the kiss.

Yuji smiles once more at you, his eyes closing with glee as he says, "I can finally say I've been kissed by an angel!"

Returning his infectious smile, you open your mouth to say something when suddenly, you felt a wave of extreme fatigue slowly overcome you. Your lips slowly close shut as you attempt to move your limbs and realize it was near impossible.

Keeping your eyes solely on Yuji, you take in his handsome face, his kind eyes, his bright smile. You notice him ask you something, a quizzical look on his face as you don't respond. Glancing towards the monitor near you, his radiant smile turned from one of glee to a look of horror as he yelled for something at someone.

Not a sound reaches your ears as you look on, the shapes and colors around you morphing into bleak versions of themselves. You try to keep your eyes on him, on your best friend, who you've poured your heart to, but you could not recognize him from the twisting shapes prancing around.

Your breaths come out slower and slower. Soft sensations around you let you know that multiple people were now in the room, some may even be touching you but you don't seem to feel them. Your eyes slowly close as you breathe out one last time. Peace. This is what peace felt like.

[narnian-neverlander]

In Whatever Way [Adam Warlock x GN!Reader]

Plot Summary: When he unknowingly tests your patience, you snap at Adam and say something you immediately regret.

Word Count: 5,1k

Warnings: Guardians 3 spoilers, talk about canon typical violence, cursing, slight injury & mention of blood, bit of angst, hurt & comfort, idiots in love, author being a sucker for the ‘oh. oh.’ moment of realization trope

A/N: Kind of a follow up to this one, but can absolutely be read as a stand alone

I have exactly one complaint and that’s Adam not having Will’s freckles (for obvious bodypaint reasons), so I went ahead and fixed that 💁

If someone had told you a year ago that a Sovereign would become your favorite person in the galaxy, you would’ve laughed in their face and then put a bullet in between their eyes for good measure. But life’s got a twisted sense of humor sometimes.

That first night after the defeat of the High Evolutionary, it’d been way too messy and hectic to find Adam a place of his own, so you’d dropped him off at your tiny apartment, very specifically told him to stay put and to not touch anything, and then headed out again in search of food and some clothes. You’d found those, but alongside them, you’d also found the furry F’Saki Adam had basically adopted. He’d looked about as lost as his owner, so you’d tucked the little guy under your arm and had taken him with you. Arriving back at your home, you’d discovered Adam curled up on your bed, fast asleep. The F’Saki had immediately scurried out from your grasp, made himself comfortable at Adam’s legs and had started snoring almost right after. You’d stood in the middle of your room, still in your dirty, torn uniform and bone tired, a young Sovereign and his pet passed out on your bed and had actually stopped to wonder how on earth your life had gotten to that point.

Not seeing a reason for staying any longer, you’d decided you might as well go out and get blissfully blackout drunk with your friends. Leaving a note with the change of clothes and food, you’d turned towards the entrance to find Nebula standing in your doorway. She’d scanned the situation she’d walked in on very carefully and then had simply raised slender, judgmental brows at you. You’d shooed her out, gently closing the door behind you, and had reminded her that ‘Adopting strays that’ve tried to kill us is kinda our thing; didn’t think I’d need to tell you of all people.’

Ever since that night, Adam had been virtually glued to your side. It’d been a bit strange and uncomfortable at first; you weren’t used to always having company, much less that of a Sovereign. There’d most definitely been an adjustment period with quite a few mishaps, one of which had ended with him in the med-bay with a bloody nose after he’d scared the ever living daylights out of you while you’d been testing the upgrades Rocket had made to your gauntlets - you’d apologized profusely for the rest of that day. Over time though, it had become apparent that he meant you no harm, nor did he have any ill will, he simply wished to repay the kindness you’d shown him when he’d felt he had no one looking out for him anymore.

And despite the fact that his golden skin and hair, his engineered-to-be-perfect face and body and his manner of speaking reminded you of his heritage everyday, you’d found it increasingly easy to ignore the fact that he was part of the species responsible for so much pain in your life. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to hold him accountable for actions committed by his people long before he was even born. But it wasn’t just that, Adam was simply… different from the rest of the Sovereign. He might’ve been created to be perfect, but he was far from it: He was only just understanding his own limits, landing him in situations that had him in over his head more often than not. He could be arrogant and quick to anger over the smallest details. He only liked learning things if they came to him easy, but grumpily and quickly dropped the ones that didn’t. But there was always an underlying innocent curiosity and kindness in his actions; in the way he’d so effortlessly bonded with the rescued animals he was now taking care of. In the way he always immediately offered assistance, no matter how menial the task. In the way he’d taken such an interest in any and all earth things, simply because they held special meaning to you. In the few months since he’d come into your life, he’d captivated you so completely, had gotten you to care for him so deeply and truly, it even shocked yourself at times still. But you wouldn’t have it any other way.

There is however still one topic of conversation that never seems to get easier and that’s his late mother, Ayesha. High priestess and figurehead of the crusade against your kind; all because of shapeshifting abilities you never even asked for. You’re very well aware of the fact that, before he became a part of the Guardians, she was the only family Adam had. That he’d cared for her very much, he still does, it’s obvious in the way he talks about her. And usually you let him talk, for his sake; to let him grieve by sharing stories about the loved one he lost. But today’s been exhausting, to say the least. You’ve been up since the crack of dawn and nothing seems to work out the way it’s supposed to. At the moment, you’re down somewhere in the bowels of Knowhere, courtesy of a broken filtration system. And since your resident genius raccoon mechanic is off world with Groot and you aren’t half bad with machines, the honor of trying to fix it had gone to you. You’d been down there for hours now, though, and aren’t making any real progress. Adam had joined you a little while back, and while you usually welcome his company, he’s picked a particularly bad day to select his mother as a topic of conversation. Your nerves are frayed, your patience running thin, but you hold your tongue, choosing to only answer in occasional hums of acknowledgement to confirm that you’re listening. That works out just fine right up until the moment he says “You remind of her, actually.”

The wrench you’re currently using almost slips from your sweaty palms as you bristle and hiss “Don’t ever say that again.” His answer is immediate and while you’re not looking at him, you can hear the genuine confusion in his voice. “Why not? It’s the truth.” The more rational part of you knows he means it as a compliment - but that part seems to have taken the day off. You swallow the rising bile in your throat before you reply with “I am nothing like that vile woman. Don’t compare me to her again, do you understand?” You’ve quite obviously hit a nerve, as you hear him rise from his seated position on some debris and when he speaks again the confusion in his voice has given way to anger. “My mother was not vile, take that back!”

You mumble “Maybe not to you…” more to yourself than anything else as you busy yourself with the repairs, absolutely not in the mood for this conversation, but he hears anyways. “I don’t care what you might think of her; she loved me!” A bark of laughter escapes you before you can stop it, bitter and cruel. “Please, maybe she loved what you were supposed to be; the ultimate weapon, the next step in their precious perfect evolution, but you failed that spectacularly. And even that’s pushing it!” The bolt you’ve been trying to loosen seems to have gotten stuck even worse as you aggressively throw your whole weight down on the wrench’s handle, any and all social courtesies you’ve kept up around Adam in regards to this particular topic going right out the window. “But don’t take that personally; Sovereign just aren’t capable of love, it’s as simple as - FUCK!!” The bolt finally gives way, sending you face first into one of the pipes of the machinery. Pulling back with a pained hiss, you bring a hand to your throbbing forehead and let out a few more curses when it comes away bloody.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Two deep, slow breaths it takes for you to calm down. It takes two more for realization to hit and the regret that comes with it threatens to choke you on the spot. Adam’s gone deathly quiet and you’d honestly prefer if he lost his temper with you; that you could handle at least. You’re terrified of what you’ll find when you turn around, so you do so slowly and immediately wish you hadn’t at all.

Adam’s an awful liar; he wears his heart on his sleeve and his emotions always plain on his face for everyone to read. And right now? Even on that first night, when he’d been injured, scared and all alone, you don’t think he’d looked so completely and utterly heartbroken. His name has barely left your lips in a desperate plea when he turns and takes off, the golden glow of his powers vanishing around a corner and completely out of sight not a second later. There’s no point in going after him right now, you know that, he’s stubborn, especially when he’s upset - not that that helps you feel better about yourself in any capacity; you well and truly want to throw yourself out of the nearest airlock. With a heavy sigh, you pick up the discarded wrench from the floor, deciding to give the young Sovereign some space and quickly, haphazardly finish with your work instead.

By the time you leave the med-bay, a bandaid now covering the wound on your forehead, it’s been a good hour or two, so you make your way to Adam’s apartment, hesitantly knocking on the door. When there’s no answer, you peek through one of the small windows, but the room is empty except for Blurp curled up on the bed, snoring contently. You check the cantina next, then the complex where the animals had been set up. You check in with Kraglin and Cosmo, Drax and Phyla, and basically any residents of Knowhere that you come across - no one has seen the golden man since he went off to help you. Your search eventually brings you to the spaceport, where you find the Bowie freshly docked, Groot carrying crates down the loading ramp, Rocket on his shoulders. Considering you were running out of places to check that were actually on Knowhere and Adam didn’t need oxygen like the rest of you, you figure you might as well ask if they’d seen him somewhere in the general vicinity of the giant head while coming back.

“Rocket, have you seen Adam?” the question’s out of your mouth before you’ve even properly reached them and your furry friend doesn’t bother to look up from the data pad he’s studying as he scoffs “Nice to see you, too, (y/n). Yeah, me and Groot are fine, mission went great, thanks for asking; always touching to come home to such a warm welcome.” Mumbling out an apology you only half mean, you cross your arms over your chest and look at him expectantly. When he realizes you’re not gonna go away, he hooks the pad to his belt with a groan and looks at you, one elbow propped up against Groot’s head. “How the flarg would I know? Goldie’s attached to your hip, not mine.” You don’t wanna have to get into details right now, so you settle for “Usually, sure. But I messed up, he ran off and now I can’t find him.” Rocket snorts, clearly not buying it. “The guy looks at you like you hung the friggin’ stars in the sky, what could you of all people have possibly done to piss him off that bad?” Drawing your bottom lip between your teeth, you avoid eye contact with him and busy yourself with a loose thread on your shirt instead. Details it is after all. “I… might’ve insulted his mother and told him I don’t believe Sovereign are capable of love.” The quiet lasts for all of half a second before Rocket starts cackling so hard, he goes tumbling off of Groot’s shoulders and ends up on the ground; clutching his stomach he’s almost howling in laughter and it makes heat shoot up to your face in both embarrassment and anger as you stomp your foot like a child throwing a tantrum. “Rocket this isn’t funny!!”

The raccoon struggles to his feet, one paw still on his knee as the other wipes at his eyes. “You’re right; it’s not. It’s hysterical! I mean… if that’s how you talk to a guy you’re actually into, I’d hate to see how you treat the ones you don’t like.” Brows furrowing in bewilderment, the complete change of topic makes you fumble for a moment as you ask “What… what the hell is that supposed to mean?” All traces of amusement vanish from Rocket’s face, jaw going slack as he stares at you and realizes you’re serious. He lets out a low whistle before he states “Wow. And here I thought the golden boy was clueless. At least he’s got some excuse, he ain’t been around the galaxy for all that long, but you? You can’t be for real.” You’re very quickly growing very tired of this conversation, so with a huff, you throw your hands up in exasperation. “Rocket, are you gonna stand here and give me riddles for the rest of the day or are you gonna help me?” Said help comes from the tree that’s been busy unloading the ship up until now. “I am Groot.” Your head snaps towards your teammate at the insinuation. “What tracker?” Now it’s Rocket’s turn to look embarrassed, a disappointed sigh and a long, drawn out version of his name leaving your lips. “I thought we talked about this ages ago; you can’t go putting trackers on people without their consent!” He doesn’t seem all that bothered by your outburst as he mocks “Oh boo hoo, y’all constantly whine about that right up until the moment it benefits you - like right now!” But he goes digging through one of the pockets on his belt anyway and holds out the small device he finds to you. Your anger more or less evaporates as you are yet again reminded that Rocket does care, in his own way. You kneel down to his level, take the tracker and give him a hug as you thank him - and just for good measure, press a long, disgusting kiss to his furry cheek as payback for laughing at your predicament. He scrambles out of your hold in obvious discomfort, gagging noises accompanying you as you take your leave, but as usual, he needs to have the last word, shouting “Save the smooches for Goldilocks!!” at your retreating figure.

Not even ten minutes later, you’re looking up at one of the tallest buildings in Knowhere. It’s an old, dilapidated communications tower that is long overdue for demolition; it’s all rusted metal and broken off, jagged edges, entirely impossible to climb without flight capabilities. Out of options, you helplessly check the tracker once more just to make sure that, yes, unfortunately he’s really up there, Rocket’s tech could be trusted on that and squinting up at the top you’re almost sure you see a glimmer of gold. You pocket the device with a shaky inhale and cup your hands around your mouth. “Adam!” you shout, even though you don’t really need to; he’s got enhanced senses, you’re certain he’d be able to hear you even if you whispered. “Adam, I know you’re up there, can you please come down?” Five seconds pass. Then ten. Then thirty. Nothing. “Listen, I know I messed up and I know you’re upset, but this isn’t gonna just go away, we need to talk about it!” A full minute of silence passes this time, dread and anxiety weighing down your shoulders more and more with each second that ticks by. When you speak again, you’re worried about your voice breaking, so it does come out as a whisper this time. “Adam, please. At least give me a chance to fix this.” Head hung low, you run both hands through your hair and over your face with an annoyed groan, upset with both his stubbornness and with yourself for having caused this mess in the first place. Thinking your attempt at a conciliation lost, you turn to leave and almost fall flat on your ass in shock when you find Adam standing there, arms crossed over his chest and glaring at you. “I do not wish to speak with you.”

“And you don’t have to, you just… have to listen for a moment, alright?” It takes him a few long, agonizing seconds to begrudgingly nod and you let out a relieved breath. Despite the hours you’d just spent searching for him, carefully laying out what you wanted to say, you’re drawing a blank at this very moment, but you try anyways. “Okay, look… I’m sorry about what I said earlier, I truly am.” When he scoffs in disbelief you reach for his hand, only to have him pull away, making your heart sink. Ever since he’d started experiencing things for himself and figuring out his likes and dislikes, it’d become clear quite quickly that Adam enjoyed physical affection, especially when you were the one to initiate it. He’d never turned it down - until now. How badly had you messed up?

“I mean that, Adam. It’s just that… I know Ayesha was your family and you miss her, but the person you knew her to be and the person I knew her to be are… quite contrasting. And I honestly don’t think there’s a way for me to reconcile both views with each other. I’ve let you talk about her because it seemed to make you happy, but you have to understand that it’s hard for me to hear praises about a person who was directly responsible for so much suffering and pain in my life. However, I also know that my experiences and rage… blind me, to a certain degree; lumping together all Sovereign isn’t fair, cause everybody’s their own person and can make their own choices, you’ve proven that.”

You can see the gears turning in his head, but he stays quiet and avoids looking at you all the same. You swallow hard around the lump that’s formed in your throat before you continue speaking. “Be that as it may, I also want you to know that you don’t have to accept my apology if you don’t want to.” His eyes are on you in a second and the hopeful tone in his voice when he says ‘I don’t?’ threatens to split your heart in two. “No, you don’t. I’m apologizing because it’s the right thing to do and because I feel absolutely awful about having hurt someone I care so much about. But if you feel that I’ve crossed a line, then…” Clearing your throat to keep your voice from breaking, you feel tears burning behind your eyes. “Then you’re under no obligation to accept it for my sake and I’ll have to live with that. I’ll give you some time to think about it.” Brushing past him, calls of your name fall on deaf ears as you leave, considering that’s just about all the emotional toll you’ll be able to take today.

A pillow tightly clutched to your chest, you’re curled up in bed not much later, tears still fresh on your cheeks. Honestly, you’re not sure why exactly you’re even crying. Because you’re sad at the prospect of having lost a friend? Because, despite of what you said, you wish he’d been less stubborn and just accepted your apology? Because you’re frustrated with yourself over how close you’d allowed the two of you to grow in the first place? It really doesn’t make sense to you. It had taken years for the rest of the Guardians to chip away at the walls you’d built around yourself so that they could squeeze inside, but Adam? A few months was all it had taken for him to get under your skin. For you to look forward to spending time with him everyday. For his laugh to become your favorite sound. For —

Your train of thought gets stopped dead in it’s tracks by a soft knock on your door, immediately followed by the scratching of tiny claws and an all too familiar whine. Wiping your palms over your eyes to get rid of the rest of the wetness staining your face, you scramble out of bed and make your way towards the entrance of your apartment. As expected, you find Adam and Blurp on the other side, the F’Saki slipping inside like he owns the place as soon as he’s able. He makes himself comfortable on the foot of your bed and looks at both of you expectantly, all bright eyes and perked ears. A setup like this normally means movie night, a little tradition you’d started to help Adam get a hold on as many customs as possible while still having fun and not actually throwing him into social interactions that would make everybody involved uncomfortable. For all intents and purposes, with the dim lighting in your room, the messy bed and Adam on your doorstep in his usual sleeping getup of sweatpants and a tank top, it does look like that’s what’s about to happen, you can’t blame the little guy for misinterpreting. Dragging your gaze back to the golden man at your doorstep, you’re surprised to find he doesn’t look half as exhausted as you feel. Matter of fact, this is the calmest and most determined you’ve seen him all day.

“May I come in?” You step aside to let him, gently closing the door behind you both with a quiet click. “I’ve thought about what you told me earlier and I think I’ve come to a conclusion on what I must do.” Dreading what comes out of his mouth next, you can’t seem to muster up the strength to look at him and keep your eyes downcast, only for his hands to enter your field of view and grab hold of your own. “I need to apologize to you.” Your head snaps up to find that he’s completely serious and barely manage to stutter out an incredibly intelligent ‘Huh?’

Adam lightly squeezes your hands when he continues. “Up until you pointed it out, it never occurred to me how the topic of my mother, my people might make you feel. Unintentional or not, my actions hurt someone I care about and I don’t like how it makes me feel. Apologizing is what I should do in that case, correct?” You wrangle with yourself for a second, but then squeeze back gratefully. “Yes, that’s right, and I’m thankful that’s the conclusion you came to, but… Adam, you couldn’t have known. I never said anything about it, instead I let my negative emotions fester and grow until I couldn’t take it anymore and it all came out in the worst way possible. If anything, we’re both a little to blame for this.” Pausing to take a deep breath, you continue with the question you really want answered, even though you’ve got a pretty good idea already. “So… does that mean we’re okay? You’re not upset with me and want me out of your life?” You watch his eyes grow wide in shock and his hands move up to your shoulders to settle there with a firm grip. “Is that what you were afraid of? Why you’ve been crying?” Shrugging as best as you can, you mumble “Kind of? You seemed so angry with me, I just thought I’d crossed a line there was no coming back from and it made me sad, so—“ The sentence stays unfinished as Adam envelops you in a bone crushing hug, even lifting you off the ground a little.

“(y/n), you’re the best thing that’s happened to me since I came into this world and I don’t even want to think about what my life would be like without you in it.” he says, face buried in the crook of your neck and you’re glad for it as you feel heat rising all the way to the top of your ears. Hugging him back just as tight, you reply “I don’t want to think about my life without you in it anymore, either.” Content just being in each other’s arms, you stay like that for a bit, until he breaks the comfortable silence with a quiet call of your name as he carefully puts you back on your feet, to which you respond with a hum of acknowledgment. “Do you really think me incapable of love?” And just like that, the feeling of wanting to throw yourself out an airlock returns; frantically stringing together the word ‘No!’ about ten times as you pull back to properly look at him. “No, of course I don’t, that was just… When people are angry, they’ll sometimes say and do things they don’t actually mean. But I swear I don’t think that about you, how could I? You’re proving the opposite every day.”

“I am?” he questions, brows furrowed, confusion and doubt clear as day and you can’t help but laugh softly as you go to cup his handsome face between your palms. “Oh my sweet Adam, do you really not see it?” Bringing his own hands to lightly hold your wrists, he sighs. “I wasn’t created to love. I was created to kill. To destroy. To bring pain and misery. So when you said that, I was… I am scared you might be right.” Gently running your thumbs over his cheeks, you simply look at your golden boy for a mere moment. The last rays of the artificial sunlight filtering in through your blinds cast him in a beautiful glow; eyes warm like honey, skin glittering like stars and the pattern of slightly darker golden, coppery spots over his nose and cheeks, an imperfection akin to freckles you’re still surprised they let him keep, all the more prominent. Of course he’s capable of love, he has to be. Surely, you wouldn’t fall for someone who wouldn’t be able to—

Oh.

Oh.

So that’s what that prick of a raccoon had been talking about. With the benefit of hindsight, it honestly baffles you it had taken this long for the other shoe to drop. Adam calling your name is what kicks your brain back into functioning after that epiphany; you blink and shake your head a little before responding. “Sorry, I was just… never mind. Do you… do you really not see how your everyday actions show love?” His eyes flick between yours as he considers your words and then settles on “I’m… not entirely certain what love is supposed to look or feel like.”

“Oh dear, uhm…” you’re unsure if you’ll be able to explain that to him properly, but you’ll be damned if you don’t at least try. “Well… there’s many different forms of love. All similar, but slightly different in some ways. But overall it’s… to deeply care for another being, I guess? When being with them brings you joy? When you want to see them safe and happy? And even though you might wish for that happiness to be with you, it’ll be fine if it’s not cause they matter more to you than yourself.” Your hands have wandered to the base of his neck, fingers buried in the short hair as he cocks his head to the side in thought. “Like you and the rest of the Guardians let Peter Quill and Mantis go on their own paths even though it made you sad to see them go?” Grinning, you nod in confirmation. “Exactly. And the way you took it upon yourself to take care of the animals we saved? The way you adopted Blurp, in spite of what your mother wanted, cause you felt he was sad and lonely? How you went out of your way to make sure I felt comfortable around you? All of that means you care. All of that are ways of showing love.” It’s obvious he’s trying real hard to comprehend everything you’ve just explained to him, but it a lot, so you continue with “Love is one of the most simple and basic emotions in most beings. But navigating it and differentiating between it’s different forms can be difficult - for everyone. There’s no rush though, you can take all the time in the world to figure it all out for yourself. I promise you have nothing to worry about, you’re perfectly fine, okay?”

Adam brings one of his hands from your waist up to cup your cheek and smiles when you lean into his touch. This is what he’d been trying to tell you earlier, when he’d compared you to his mother: He trusts you completely, your judgement, too. You make him feel at peace like no one else in the universe. “Okay.” he replies and you return his smile, just barely containing the urge to pepper kisses over his pretty face and -

Yeah you’re gonna have to deal with this particular mess of emotions sooner rather than later.

The tender moment gets interrupted by Blurp whining at you two, impatiently hopping from one paw to another on the foot of your bed. “It would appear Blurp insists on a movie night. If you feel like it?” you chuckle and Adam happily agrees. So you set up everything as usual and settle on a lighthearted family comedy to watch. But the day’s been long, exhausting and emotionally draining; try as you might your eyes keep drifting shut and you’re out cold ten minutes into the movie.

The golden man jumps a bit when there’s a slight thump against his shoulder, only to find you fast asleep. His focus now on you instead of the movie, tender fingers ghosting over the bandaid on your forehead in concern, he thinks about what you’ve just told him. About what love was supposed to feel like and it dawns on him that yes, the warmth that spreads through his chest all the way down to his feet when you do as little as smile at him must be love. And yet when he’s with you it’s… different from what it felt like to be with his mother or to be with Blurp or the rest of the Guardians. It irks him to not be able to properly discern what makes you special; you’d said there were different forms of love, but how was he supposed to understand the difference?

As you curl into his side more, one arm coming across his chest to hug him and his name subconsciously falling from your lips in a barely audible, sleepy mumble, he realizes it doesn’t matter, nor does he really care, at least not right this moment. For now, it’s enough for him to be certain of the fact that he loves you and you love him - in whatever way.

[koenigami]

Just a little longer Nanami Kento x fem!reader synopsis : In which you have to save him from his own altruistic self. wc : 1,1k tags : angst, hopeful ending, mentions of injuries, spoilers for upcoming episodes

Breathless pants fill the quiet void of the restroom that you and Nanami have retreated to. Your heart is racing at a speed that makes you wonder whether it is even supposed to beat that rapidly. There is a light shake in your hands as you fist the loose material of your trousers, a poor attempt to ground yourself after all the vicious things that you have witnessed in the last hours.

A low grunt pulls your attention away from the flashbacks that keep playing in front of your eyes in repeat. He was so close to-

"Where do you think you're going?" you hiss and tug at Nanami's pants, his body so weak it almost knocks him off balance. His weapon clatters to the floor while he leans against the wall, refusing to sit back down on the cold tiled floor with you.

"Where I'm going?" he breathes through the pain, a deep frown etched on the unharmed side of his face as he shoots you a deathly glare. "Itadori is still out there, all alone with that goddamn curse."

He groans again as he leans down to pick up his sword, the polka dotted cloth in which it is wrapped is stained with mud and blood. You don't dare to think about how much of it was his own. Before his hand can even reach it, you kick it with your foot, the weapon clinking as it slides and lands somewhere in the far corner of one of the many restroom stalls. He stares at you dumbfoundedly. But you can't. You can't look at him because another look of his damaged body would make you break even further.

"Y/n, what do you think you're doing? Have you gone insane?" his words echo in the dark humid room, sounds of dripping water fill the silence that follows afterwards.

"Probably." the dry answer makes Nanami's fist clench, his veins bulge, yet you interrupt his attempted scolding. Your eyes are glazed with unshed tears when you finally look at him. "But how could I not? Kento, look where we are. Look at you!"

Your mind briefly wanders to moments prior when you found Nanami face to face with a patch faced curse.

You remember its wicked grin, you remember the approximate distance its hand had left for it to touch Nanami's torso. You remember Nanami's serene expression. As if he had accepted his fate. As if beyond that moment everything would get better, more beautiful. A fleeting thought passed your mind that made you consider whether saving him would be selfish.

Even though it was not you who was on the brink of death, your life flashed before your eyes. Shared moments between you and Kento; the first time you met him at Jujutsu High, the first time he offered you a genuine yet shy smile, all the times that he bought you flowers, all the time you spent together in his bed. You could smell the fresh scent of his sheets, feel his gentle and warm hands trace the curves of your body, hear his soft voice as he whispered sweet nothings in your ear.

A curse as twisted as love could indeed be selfish.

You hadn't even realised that you had sliced through the curse's arm before you saw it crumple to the floor, its bodily fluid oozing out of the injury.

"There's a child out there fighting for his life!"

Your legs had carried you here to this restroom as if they had a mind of their own. As you look at the man in front of you, who's still spewing reproaches at you, you wonder how he even complied to follow you, or why he didn't simply tear his wrist out of your hold while you dragged him to this place. He must have been in shock himself. Shock that he was still breathing. That he still got to see you one last time.

"If you-" your voice is by far quieter than his. Yet he hears you, he wants to hear you and wants to let you speak because, fuck, even fighting with you feels like heaven amidst this hell. "If you want to hate me for looking out for you, then go on. Please, do."

Your footing is unstable as you get up from the floor, and only then does he notice the stain of blood on your thigh. Despite the lack of his own strength, his arms reflexively shoot out to steady you.

"But I won't let you die, Kento." the familiar feeling of his hands on your waist break the dam inside your chest. You nuzzle your face in the crook of his neck, still being mindful and making sure to not put any pressure on the burns of his injured side. "You can't fight like this, y-you just can't. That would be suicidal. I don't want you to leave me, because if you do I'll follow you., no matter where you go."

Nanami tightens his hold on you and pulls you further against him, ignoring the searing pain in his face and the uncomfortably tight feeling of his burned skin. "Just let me get you out of here, please. I-If we get you to Shoko soon enough, she might be able to fix your eye-"

The sight on his right eye is getting blurry. He blinks and feels something wet trickle down his cheek. The sound of your desperate voice is killing him, and he swears dying by Mahito's hand would have been more bearable than seeing you like this. Like a little girl imploring her parents to get her out of a scary and overwhelming place, crying for safety and peace.

"Kento, please, I'm begging you." you weep as you carefully place your hands on his cheeks, letting him feel how violently they are shaking. "We have to let your wounds get treated, otherwise-"

You don't have it in you to say it out loud. All these years of working as a sorcerer, of witnessing deaths and bloodshed day by day, and yet you don't dare to think about a life without your Kento. Such a coward, you think of yourself.

"Okay." you barely hear him speak between your ragged breaths and sobs, and once you take a proper glance at him and his pale skin, you realise that it is also due to his deteriorating state that he simply can't speak any louder even if he wanted to. "Okay, just-"

You wince at the sudden heavy cough that emanates from him, a small trickle of blood slipping down his lips that you carefully wipe away with your thumb. His hand on your cheek makes you nuzzle into his palm and you really have to pull yourself together to not let yourself fall to your knees and full on sob like a toddler. "Let's go, just don't- don't cry, okay? I don't like seeing those tears."

And you smile and nod, and unfortunately, keep on crying because you're thanking whatever almighty power that's watching over you for allowing you to keep your dear Kento for a little while longer.

[lovemyavatar]

Temptation

| Neteyam x F!Avatar!Reader |

Summary: when you aren’t busy getting into trouble with the oldest Sully, his brother is more than happy to provide some entertainment

Warnings: angst, broody/mean Neteyam, drunk shenanigans, long af, brief smut-ish

dialogue in Italics is Na'vi translated to English

chapter one

Chapter Two

“Put your hands here.” Neteyam's voice is low, focused as he firmly guides the boy's fingers around the string of his bow.

He gives a slight nod of approval, motioning for him to hold the position. He's barely taken a step back, poised to move onto the next Avatar waiting patiently for instruction, when a distinct thwap catches his attention.

His head jerks to the side, eyes instantly narrowed in warning. He acts before his brain has time to catch up, strong legs closing the short distance to the end of the line in only a few long strides. His heated gaze flicks over your taunt form, where you've clearly just shot an arrow without permission.

To his dismay, a sick sense of pride wells in his chest as his eyes flick toward the target, lingering on the arrow that’s landed dead center. He shoves the feeling deep down, welcoming poignant frustration as it creeps into the hallow space left behind.

When close enough, he doesn't hesitate to harshly rip the bow from your hands, lips pulling into a frown at the sight of your pleased smirk. Wide, mischievous eyes glimmer up at him, and he seethes.

“Tiftang si (stop it). I told you to wait.” He glowers at you, chin dropping in a way that should be intimidating.

Instead, it ignites the fire raging in your lower belly, fanning the flame of desire that's been brewing for weeks. You blink up at him, feigning innocence despite the fact that you're clearly trying to rile him up. It's become a game of yours, to see how far you can push before he snaps.

It doesn't take much these days. Early on, you decided to use the way your eyes seem magnetically attracted to him to your advantage. You watch him. Study the most minute of reactions, the almost imperceptible ways his face pinches when he's nearing the end of seemingly endless patience.

After nearly two weeks of constant training, he's been...different. Still the picture of a flawless rising leader, with his stoic and firm nature. But the tiny moments between you have increased. The lingering glances, roaming hands...you suspect he thinks you haven't noticed, but how could you not?

“We're not children, Neteyam. It wouldn't kill you to move a little faster.” One of your hands extends forward, aimed for the bow, and he's quick to place it behind his back, out of your reach.

His ears flatten, the sound of his name on your lips making his stomach twist with an uncomfortable feeling. His tail swishes from side to side, and your gaze drops to the irritated movement before finding his again.

Warmth blooms under the skin of his cheeks, so he dips his head, letting a few stray braids cover his face.

“From now on, you go last.” He mutters, quickly averting his eyes as he moves back to the next Avatar in line.

A satisfied smirk tugs at your lips, arms crossing to appear unaffected as the lesson continues.

The following days go on much like this, with you ruthlessly digging your way under Neteyam's skin while he does everything in his power to retain what's left of a crumbling resolve.

A rough sigh falls from his lips as he stalks toward the base of Home Tree. The muscles between his shoulders ache from coiling so tightly, but he hasn’t been able to relax for days. Truthfully, he hasn’t so much as taken a deep breath since the Sky People landed on Pandora two weeks ago.

He’s worried, scared, even. For his people. For his family.

It's a foreign feeling, one he hasn't confronted before. Not to this magnitude. He's never laid awake at night, wondering if, along with the emerging sun, the next day will bring unimaginable loss. The thought alone tears him up inside, makes him weary and anxious beyond belief.

Everyday begins with a debriefing with his father. And everyday he desperately tries convincing him that he’s capable of more than standing by the sidelines. He aches to be a part of the conflict, to help his clan in their path to victory.

He’s a warrior just like the rest of them, having completed his Uniltaron (dream hunt) before the enemy’s arrival. He’s a warrior, and a skilled one at that, so the fact that his father won’t even entertain the idea of him fighting alongside his people is infuriating.

Something dark and twisted curls in his stomach, the whisper of newfound petulance nagging at him. He’s never questioned his father’s orders, never faltered in his practiced role of the perfect oldest son.

But lately…it’s been weighing heavily on his shoulders. The expectation, the responsibility, it’s all too much. There aren’t enough hours in a day to watch over his siblings, The People, and adequately prepare for upcoming battles.

The threat of full out war grows closer with each passing moment, and there’s only so much space for the pressure to build within him before something has to snap.

He doesn’t feel like himself, not accustomed to being so on edge all the time. He’s been irritable, snapping at anyone and anything at the slightest inconvenience. He isn’t sleeping, partially because of his brother but mostly because his mind never stops racing.

The days are no better because then there’s…you.

He can’t escape you. Can’t avoid your persistent nature. He's never dealt with someone like you before. There's Lo'ak, of course, with his mischievous tendencies. But you...it's like you do it on purpose. Like you get a kick out of his frustrated reactions.

It's impossible to miss the satisfied twinkle in your eye every time he snaps or prods at you. And it confuses the hell out of him. You confuse him because despite it all, despite the fact that he doesn't like you his traitorous heart skips a beat when your challenging gaze meets his.

Every. Single. Time.

He should hate you on principle alone. You're everything he isn't. Loud, boisterous, overly confident. Though he would never admit it, he's grown fond of your dynamic. His entire life, he's been revered and respected by the clan, treated with the utmost respect that the son of Toruk Makto deserves.

It's stifling.

No one has ever challenged him. Never spoken out of turn or questioned his teachings. So, despite the spark of anger your actions cause, a deeply repressed part of him likes it. Appreciates the defiance because it means you don't view him as some unobtainable leader-in-training, but as an equal.

It's something he's never had before, a strong presence at his side. Arguing and bickering with him like they aren't afraid to offend the future Olo'eyktan. With it, comes an unfamiliar warmth that settles in his lower belly, the beginnings of an affection he's nowhere near ready to accept or acknowledge.

He was doing well, clinging onto what's left of his restraint, until one early morning caught him by surprise.

He found himself wandering through the upper levels of Home Tree during a rare few hours of peace. To his great relief, Kiri had been tasked with giving the Avatars a tour of the village that morning.

His father wanted them to get accustomed with all aspects of Omatikayan life in these brief moments of calm between training and battles with the Sky People. An order he found himself grateful for as he savored the unusual quiet.

A long-forgotten ease worked its way back into his muscles, stiff shoulders finally uncoiling as he climbed, clutching onto these fleeting moments of solitude. That is, until a quiet grunt sounded from above, making his ears twitch with recognition.

His brow pinched in confusion at the sight of you, dangling from a thick tree branch near the sea of swaying hammocks. His head tilted back, curious gaze trailing over your wobbly form. He was momentarily stuck in place, reduced to simply watching as you slowly made your way down the length of the branch.

Your expression was tight with determination, shaky limbs losing their inexperienced grip with every other movement. His legs moved before he knew what was happening, a strange tightness strangling his heart.

“What the hell are you doing?” He barked, narrowed eyes boring into you pointedly as he easily hoisted himself up one level.

Your head swiveled to the side, eyes widening briefly before a soft smile pulled at your lips, face relaxing as if you weren't hanging a hundred feet from the ground.

“Oh, hey Neteyam.” His name was a breathy sound from your tongue, and he cursed his weak stomach as it flipped.

“You're supposed to be with the other Avatars.” His eyes scanned your body, lingering on the loose hold your legs had around the branch.

His fingers curled into fists in an effort to keep them at his sides. For some reason, he ached to reach out, to grab you firmly and pull you from the precarious position. He settled for watching every twitch and sway of your muscles, tensely poised to bring you back to solid ground if necessary.

“I got bored.” Your shoulders raised in a casual shrug, nearly throwing you off balance.

A tiny gasp lodged in your throat, arms tightening around the tree limb. Rough bark scratched at your skin, heart racing at the possible danger. It didn’t spark fear within you, but rather excitement.

You’d been craving more since arriving in the village, and decided to make your own fun when training became too monotonous. Neteyam's jaw clenched, unable to stop himself as he closed a bit of the distance, taking a small step toward you.

“Learning the ways of my clan is boring?” There was a teasing lilt to his voice, though he still watched you closely.

Your eyes found his in a pointed stare. “You know that's not what I meant. I'm just picking up on things faster than they are, so...”

“So you abandon training when it doesn't interest you. How very humble.” He murmured, head cocking to the side in a show of mock interest.

Your hands and feet called out in protest, tired muscles quaking more with each passing moment. Your nose wrinkled, tiny huffs leaving your parted lips as you tried pulling yourself up, to no avail.

“Oh, yes. That means a lot coming from you. Neteyam Sully, the picture of humility.” A breathy chuckle rumbled your chest, despite the twinge of panic curling in your stomach.

From there, everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. You tried a different approach, one arm lifting to hook around the branch. Your other arm almost instantly gave out under the increased weight, muscles too spent to hold you up for even a moment longer.

Your legs quickly followed suit, releasing their weak hold. It was only a split second, only a fleeting moment that your body spent plummeting toward the ground. But your stomach still churned, bile rising to your throat when nothing separated you from the hard, unforgiving earth.

In a flash, a firm pressure wrapped around your waist, hauling you up harshly. You stumbled, feet barely catching on rough bark before losing grip, sending you flying forward. Breath caught in your lungs, arms blindly grabbing onto the closest thing available to right yourself.

Neteyam stepped back, guiding you away from the edge, arm tightening around your middle as you fell into him. Your fingers dug into his shoulders, feet finally finding stability beneath you. The two of you settled, muscles pulling taunt as your close proximity became apparent.

Only a few inches existed between you, heaving chests nearly touching with each ragged breath. Your eyes slowly trailed up, following the pattern of deep blue stripes along his collar bone, up the column of his throat, until they locked with molten yellow.

“My hero.” The quip was shaky, less confident than you hoped as your skin burned in each place he touched.

Long fingers twitched against your side as his hold tightened almost unconsciously. His lips pulled into a frown, eyes narrowing in warning. The fact that you were still making jokes, still unable to be serious for one single moment—even after nearly falling to your death—irritated him to no end.

“You are reckless.” He hissed, heated gaze scanning your body, as if making sure you were really okay.

Heat washed over your skin under the weight of his stare, stomach turning with anticipation. You couldn’t help but inch closer, body moving on its own volition as you pressed your hips into his. He stiffened against you, but made no move to pull back.

“But it’s charming, isn’t it?” You murmured, blinking up at him innocently, a small smile curving the corner of your lips.

A low growl rumbled his chest, fingers of his free hand balling into a fist at his side. His gaze snapped up to meet yours, pinning you in place with the intensity raging behind bright yellow. Heaving breaths mingled, melding within the minuscule space that remained between you.

You admired his tight expression, having never been this close before. Your eyes grazed over each stripe, counting the glittering freckles that dotted smooth skin. Meanwhile, his gaze dropped to your mouth, unable to look away as his heart thumped harshly in his chest.

He was burning up, a sensation so hot and unfamiliar igniting in his belly that it urged him forward, head jutting toward yours minutely. His breath hitched at his own actions, the tip of his nose brushing along yours as he swayed, suddenly feeling lightheaded.

His mind went hazy, thoughts jumbling in a conflicting mix of desires. To push you away, to bring you closer. But he was frozen in this torturous limbo, unable to do either. His heart constricted in his chest, air leaving him in short pants.

You couldn’t take it for a second longer, hands moving to sink into the braids at the base of his skull, lips claiming his in a searing kiss. You swallowed his strangled sound of surprise, mouth slanting over his. After only a beat of frozen tension, he responded with equal passion, free hand cupping the side of your neck firmly.

Your lips fought for dominance, his claiming yours with bruising force while you nipped at his skin, fingers tugging lightly at his hair. He couldn’t help the groan that escaped him, arm unconsciously tightening around your waist to pull you flush against his front.

He spun you quickly, pressing your back into rough bark. At your sudden gasp, his tongue dove into your mouth, clumsily exploring. His heart thrummed so violently in his chest he feared it may break through the skin. His stomach burned with a tightness, a mix of emotion he had yet to experience.

Of course, he’s found other Na’vi attractive. He’s had fleeting crushes here and there throughout his life, but he’s never acted on it. Never had the time or interest to give any women his attention. He’s never explored this aspect of life, never allowed himself the pleasure of feeling another’s skin on his in such an intimate way.

And now, within only weeks of knowing you, he’s lost all resolve. Years of restraint crumbled in only days—mere moments under your tempting presence enough to make him lose his mind.

As your lips continued battling for the upper hand, his mind raced, warring thoughts making him feel woozy. The fact that you’re the one that’d broken him, the one to shatter the plan he made to wait, to save these kind of experiences for his mate…it makes him burn.

“Neteyam?” At the rough call of his name, the two of you instantly lurched apart.

His palms shoved against you, and you stumbled back, nearly losing balance for the second time that morning. Wide eyes caught pointedly, chests heaving, labored breath the only sound other than quickly approaching footsteps.

“You up there, boy?” Jake’s deep voice echoed through the trees, an ice cold shock of reality to both of your systems.

“Yeah—yes, sir.” Neteyam cleared his throat, averting his eyes as you watched his every move, frozen in place only a foot away. “Coming!”

He hastily jumped down, not sparing you a single glance as he raced to meet his father. You were left standing there, heart racing, fingertips ghosting over your lips as they pulled into a small, victorious smile.

“Ow! Ow!” Lo’ak squirms, hissing lowly as his mate smears a handful of yalnabark over a deep gash in his chest.

She grumbles under her breath, brow pinched with an emotion Neteyam can’t quite decipher. His lips purse, jaw grinding under the pointed sting of his sisters hands as she works on the few scrapes marring the skin of his back.

The day wasn’t entirely a loss, but it didn’t exactly go well, either. Sky People hit the forest, closer than ever before. Neteyam, along with the other warriors, were hastily rounded up before flying toward the danger, not to be seen again for several hours.

Neteyam and Lo’ak were supposed to be spotters. They had direct orders from their father to stay far away from the conflict, something that did little to calm Neteyam’s already raging frustration after his morning with you.

He was distracted. Utterly and completely unfocused, the only thing on his mind the way you made him crumble. The way a simple touch of your lips on his set him ablaze, shredded every fiber of control he’d spent nearly twenty-one years carefully weaving.

So, when Lo’ak raced toward the ground, straight to the one place they weren’t supposed to be, he instantly followed, mind already too clouded to think of a better plan.

Another pained grunt echoes from across the room, causing Lo’ak’s mate to growl, a sound that has Neteyam’s ears twitching with interest. His eyes flick toward the pair, secretly watching the lovers quarrel unfold.

“You should have been more careful. You really couldn’t wait until after the first mission to get hurt?” She roughly scoops up another glob of the healing ointment, eyes narrowing at his brother.

“Tahni (star)—Eywa!” He curses when her fingertips press into his skin firmly, jerking away from her touch.

Her face pinches with a scowl, and she suddenly drops the bowl harboring her supplies, letting it clatter onto her work station loudly. With a final pointed huff, she storms from the tent. Lo’ak is quick to follow, instantly uncurling from his seated position.

“Baby, wait!” He rushes after her, a few seconds of amused silence following their absence.

(see extended Star Girl scene here)

“Skxawngs (idiots).” Kiri mutters, a quiet laugh rumbling her chest as she continues tending to the wounds on Neteyam’s back.

He doesn’t fight the smirk that tugs at his lips, finding their dynamic endlessly entertaining. He’s become used to it, the way they seem to deal with everything so passionately. Whether they’re bickering or keeping him awake with their lovesick mumbling, it’s clear that their connection is strong.

He watches them disappear through the entrance, spine straightening when his eyes land on his father through the newly opened gap in the woven door. It's not Jake that's gotten his attention, but the small group trailing behind him as he nearly runs through the gathering area.

Neyeyam is on his feet in an instant, ignoring Kiri's confused calls as he bats her hands away and races from the tent. His head swivels from side to side, eyes scanning the area until he finds you, almost to the tree line already.

“Dad!” He shouts, jogging to catch up.

For some unknown reason, his heart is pounding, stomach in knots as he takes in his father's worn expression and the large gun held tightly in his hands. His tail flicks to attention, standing tall at his back.

“What's going on?” His gaze moves to you briefly, skimming over the bow slung across your chest.

His chest tightens, something unknown squeezing his heart. His eyes linger for a second too long, meeting yours for only a split second before quickly falling to the ground. Jake turns to face him with a rough sigh, the sound drawing Neteyam’s eyes reluctantly from the dirt.

“We need help transporting the rest of the wounded. And picking up the supplies we couldn't get to.” His voice is rough, clipped with obvious irritation.

Neteyam's chin drops, ears flattening, knowing his mistake—his carelessness—left the clan unable to finish the mission. He forces his eyes up despite the unease in his stomach, meeting his father's disappointed gaze.

“And you’re bringing her? I will come.” He can't even begin to explain why, but the thought of you going anywhere near the battlefield has his stomach turning with anxiety.

“No. You'll stay with your brother and sisters.” The statement in final, leaving no room for argument.

“Out there is no place for her kind.” Neteyam's jaw clenches, the words coming out much harsher than he intended.

His gaze remains locked on his father, but he still notices the way your ears tuck against your head, lips pursing at his words. One of the warriors at your side snickers, until another clan member elbows him pointedly. Neteyam's hands clench into fists at his sides, an unexplainable anger washing over him.

“I need all the hands I can get and—you know what, I don’t have time for this. Go finish getting patched up.”

“Dad—” He’s suddenly desperate, the need to make Jake understand overwhelming.

“Son, you've done enough. Go.” He walks away, shoulders tight, the small group following close behind.

You’re frozen for a long moment, watching Neteyam curl inward at the admonishment. His ears fall, jaw clenching as his chin tucks into his chest. His tail swishes from side to side roughly, an obvious sign of his distress.

You ache to reach out, to comfort him, but the sharp call of your name has your arm returning to your side swiftly. With one last long glance, you scurry away, legs moving quickly to close the growing distance between you and the Olo’eyktan.

The moon has long eclipsed the sun, blanketing the base of Home Tree in darkness.

A small, awe-struck smile pulls at your lips, eyes locked on the earth as it bursts to life beneath each of your careful steps. Your toes press into the dirt experimentally, and it instantly responds, vibrant colors shining through low twilight.

In the last two weeks that the village has become your Avatar’s home, this has been your favorite time on the moon. You find comfort in the quiet stillness of nighttime, often exploring while the rest of the clan sleeps.

The beauty of the moon amazes you, leaves you breathless as glittering bioluminescence seems to beckon you closer, urging you to discover every treasure Pandora has to offer.

The sound of laughter and shouting echoes through the forest, guiding you forward. You’re a bit hesitant as you break through the tree line, unsure if you’re welcome at the celebration.

Despite the day’s earlier conflict not going perfectly, a few of the warriors were able to convince Jake that the clan needed a chance to let off some steam. They’d been fighting for weeks without rest, without more than a few moments of reprieve. He agreed to a small, quiet celebration, but it’s clear that didn’t last long.

A large fire rages in the center of the gathering area, Na’vi dancing and singing happily around it. Small groups sit around, chatting and drinking casually. A soft laugh bubbles in your chest as your eyes scan the crowd, watching Na’vi who’ve been so composed and fearsome until this point let their inhibitions go.

“Y/N!” Your head turns at the call of your name, curious gaze landing on Lo’ak’s mate.

A soft smile pulls at your lips, a warm sense of comfort washing over you at the familiar presence. Her free arm waves you over happily, while the other is slung over Lo’ak’s shoulders. She’s perched on his lap, both of his arms resting loosely around her hips.

“I heard you saw some action today.” She beams as you grow near. Your eyes flick over her swaying frame, noticing that her pupils are dilated, her cheeks tinged with a deep shade of purple.

“Barely.” One of your shoulders lifts in a dismissive shrug, attention shifting to Lo’ak who seems to be just as tipsy as his mate.

By the time you’d arrived at the battlefield, all humans were long gone. The only thing left to do was sort through the rubble, ensuring no one was left behind. A few clan members were recovered, thankfully all still alive, though some were badly injured. Jake ordered you to help move discarded weapons, which you gladly did.

All in all, it wasn’t a very exciting scene.

“Want some?” Lo’ak’s voice rips you from your wandering thoughts.

He raises one arm, a dark liquid sloshing inside a hand-carved wooden cup as he holds it out toward you. You lean forward, eyes dropping to the mystery drink, inspecting it for a few seconds. One smell has you recoiling, nose burning from the strength of the alcohol.

“Oh, god, no. I think that would actually kill me.” You laugh, moving back to cover your nose.

“Come on, don’t be a wuss.” A big, teasing grin splits his lips, and he pushes it closer to you.

“Lo’ak!” His mate hisses, palm slapping against his chest in warning.

He grunts lowly, but otherwise ignores her chastising. Your eyes flick to his, finding him already watching you with raised brows. A grimace tightens your face, regret already twisting your stomach at what you’re about to do.

But you can’t deny the challenge, your competitive nature demanding that you accept his offer to prove yourself. Your fingers close around the cup, taking it from him and lifting it to your lips in one quick motion.

The pungent smell fills your nose, making it wrinkle with hesitation. You force a slow breath through pursed lips, head tilting back to drain the remaining liquid from the cup in one swig.

“Lo’ak, I don’t think this is a good idea…” His mate giggles, unsteady on her feet as her head tilts back, wide eyes following your careful movements closely.

“It's fine, baby.” He waves her off dismissively, watching you just as attentively. “We'll catch her if she falls.”

“We?” She emphasizes, another inebriated laugh echoing through the trees.

Your lips purse, fuzzy brain doing it's best to ignore them as you slowly walk across a low hanging branch. Both of your arms are extended outward, helping you maintain shaky balance, feet moving with purpose along rough bark.

It all started after you took Lo'ak's drink. He couldn't help but stare at you, mouth agape with shock at the way you chugged the whole thing seemingly effortlessly. He wasted no time in grabbing another, and then another, quipping that he could drink faster.

The challenges kept coming, both of you growing more intoxicated—and competitive—by the minute. Every drink hit you especially hard, since you'd never tasted the stuff before, but you were determined to hold your own.

You'd raced, climbed high up in the trees, and now, in your drunken state, the next best thing was this tightrope act. Lo'ak's mate has been watching the two of you with an amused smirk the whole time, your little group receiving many quizzical glances as you tuck further into a corner of the ongoing party.

You're not far enough off the ground to risk serious injury, a fact that convinced you it would be a good idea. You offered to go first, so here you are, barely managing to keep yourself upright several feet above the glowing earth.

Once you reach the end of the branch, shaky legs clumsily lower you into a seated position before you jump down. You sway on the landing, nearly falling over until Lo'ak's mate reaches out, fingers wrapping around your arm to steady you.

“Easy.” The word falls from your lips thickly, syllables slurring together.

Your tongue feels too heavy, sticking to the roof of your mouth uncomfortably. The ground beneath your feet is unsteady, shifting every few seconds. Bright colors blur together as your eyes blink slowly, struggling to focus through the low evening light.

“Now let me show you how it's really done.” An amused chuckle rumbles Lo'ak's chest as he strides past you, stumbling a bit as his arms reach for a higher branch.

“What the hell is going on here?” A deep, disgruntled voice suddenly cuts through the lighthearted atmosphere.

None of you heard him approach, too distracted by your current antics.

“Oh, shit.” Lo'ak's mate whispers beside you, grip on your arm tightening.

You turn too quickly, the world racing to catch up, making your stomach flip. Sharp teeth cage your lower lip, heart swelling at the sight of Neteyam, all hard edges and seriousness. You eagerly watch his brow furrow as he glares at all of you.

Your greedy eyes slowly trial down his form, following the path of glittering freckles from his broad chest, along his toned stomach, to his loincloth that conceals what must be a huge—

“Come on, bro.” Lo'ak rolls his eyes with a rough sigh, jumping down from his half-perched position in the tree. “Lighten up.”

Neteyam's frown only deepens, shoulders tightening as his eyes flick over the three of you expectantly. The skin of his face warms under your dazed attention, a shiver running down his spine. His jaw clenches, heart constricting with unwelcome emotion as he quickly averts his eyes.

Despite his best efforts, his mind has been stuck on you since your little group disappeared with his father. He searched for you once the other warriors returned. Secretly, of course. His eyes carefully trailed over the crowd, tongue clicking against his teeth to prevent himself from asking where you were.

It’s driving him crazy, the way his body won’t let you go. He wants nothing to do with you. And yet, he can’t deny this inexplicable pull, the overwhelming desire to be near you at all times.

“Curfew?” His hands lift in exasperation, gesturing to the nearly empty surrounding area.

Your brow furrows, upper body shifting to peer around his tall frame. Almost everyone is gone, only a few stragglers left behind. The fire has long been put out, glowing embers releasing a thick cloud of smoke into the night sky.

The three of you were completely unaware, too caught up in your drunken fun to notice.

“And you. What the hell are you doing?” The curt acknowledgment has your eyes snapping back toward him, spine straightening.

“Who, me? Oh, uh, I’m just…I was on my way back to the hammocks. Yep. That’s what I’m doing.” You point in a random direction clumsily, pulling your arm from the light touch still holding you upright.

You stumble without the assistance, tired muscles giving out under your own weight. A giggle falls from your lips as you barely manage to catch yourself, arms splayed outward dramatically. Behind you, Lo'ak staggers back to his mate, slinging an arm over her shoulder lazily.

He's the picture of nonchalance, one leg crossed over the other as he leans into her. Her hands move up to hold onto his, still swaying on her feet slightly. Lo'ak's brow raises in silent challenge, and a low growl breaks the steadily growing tension.

Neteyam’s glare turns lethal as his narrowed eyes snap from your clearly intoxicated state to his brother.

“Did you get her drunk?” The accusation is ground out through clenched teeth, frustration tightening his chest.

“We were just showing her a good time.” Lo'ak's arms raise in mock surrender, a huge, unapologetic grin splitting his lips.

Neteyam's jaw grinds, tail thumping against the ground in irritation. Truthfully, he'd rather be anywhere but here. He's simply following orders, locating his brother and his mate as Jake requested. He didn't expect to find you, of all people, hanging around them like a leech.

He just can't escape you. You're everywhere, consuming his thoughts, making him distracted. He's never struggled with something like this before, never met someone so vexing that he can't even complete his duties in peace.

“Hey! That's not fair.” Your head swivels, attention jumping between brothers as they speak in a language you don't understand. Finally, your bleary gaze lands on Lo'ak's mate, lips pursing in a pout. “What are they saying?”

Her only response is a tiny shake of her head, golden eyes widening in warning.

“You really enjoy making things hard, don’t you?” Neteyam hisses, hands clenching into fists at his sides.

He’s so tightly wound, muscles aching from how tense this day has made him. His mind is still reeling from the kiss he hasn’t had time to process, and his brothers careless actions that nearly got the both of them killed.

He’s a ticking bomb, frustration and anger mounting so fiercely inside him he knows he’ll explode any minute. He just can’t take it, the pressure within him needs some kind of release, or he fears what may happen next.

“Sorry I’m not the perfect son like you.” Lo’ak’s brow lowers, all amusement gone from his face in an instant.

Neteyam’s chest aches, ears flattening at the loaded insult. His shoulders drop, responsibility weighing so heavily he feels it in his bones. He knows Lo’ak will never understand, never bear the duty of being the first born.

He tries so hard not to blame him for the hand they’ve both been dealt, but in moments like these, it’s nearly impossible.

“Go home. I will clean up your mess.” His voice is low, rough with finality.

He holds Lo’ak’s fiery gaze for several long beats, until his mate gently urges him away, murmuring quietly in his ear. As they disappear toward their home, his eyes pinch closed tightly, a tired sigh falling from his lips. He inhales a long, grounding breath before spinning on his heel.

He stalks toward you, eyes locked straight ahead. Long fingers curl around one of your arms in a firm hold as he walks past, dragging you along with purposeful steps.

“Come.” He mutters, not sparing you so much as a single glance.

Your wobbly legs struggle to keep up, feet catching on the loose dirt every couple of steps. Your stomach turns at his quick pace, free hand moving to grip his wrist in a silent plea to slow down. The two of you only make it a few feet before your limbs get tangled, nearly bringing you both to the ground.

“What was that about?” You slur, heavy-lidded eyes blinking up at Neteyam as he mercifully stops.

He begrudgingly turns to you, chin dropping as his eyes bore into yours with indignation. Your lips part, breath hitching at his sudden closeness. Your gaze trails along his face, lingering on his mouth for a second too long before they flick back toward his eyes.

“Your eyes are actually kinda pretty when they aren’t glaring at me.” The words are a breathy whisper as your body sways toward his, the skin of your chest grazing his for a quick moment until he jerks back.

Warmth washes over his skin, and his gaze instantly hardens.

“Oh, you ruined it.” Your lips press into a pout, an action Neteyam's traitorous eyes jump toward eagerly.

The world suddenly shifts, knocking you off balance. Your free hand swings up, looking for the nearest source of stability. It skims his shoulder, before slowly falling to his chest where it presses into his skin firmly. You sway, forcing him to pull you closer to ensure you won't fall to the ground.

Your hazy mind struggles to catch up as something strong and warm, so warm, encircles your waist. He releases your other arm, and it instantly wraps around the back of his neck, fingers diving into his braids.

Neteyam's heart skips a beat, then thumps erratically between his ribs. He doesn't know what he's doing. His body is acting on it's own accord, disobeying his thoughts that scream to just let you fall, to leave you to find your own way home.

His skin burns where it touches yours, muscles tensing under your light caress. You feel his heart hammering beneath your hand, a fact that has a small smirk pulling at your lips.

“Let go.” His rough voice breaks the spell, makes your eyes flick up toward his.

A giggle bubbles in your chest, because he must not realize that he's the one holding onto you so tightly. Weight shifts between your feet, dragging your skin along his in a way that makes his breath hitch. It's such a small movement, barely perceptible, but you catch the subtle parting of his lips.

“I don’t think I can.” Big eyes blink up at him innocently, waiting for the inevitable tension once he realizes what he's done.

Your inebriated mind wants to take advantage of this moment, wants so badly to close the last few inches that separate you. Your stomach twists with anticipation, fingers lazily playing with the braids at the nape of his neck.

“If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were worried about me today.” You coo, watching intently as his expression hardens.

“It was stupid, bringing you to the battlefield like that.” The excuse is weak, even to his own ears, as it's ground out through clenched teeth.

“I think you’re forgetting that's the whole reason I'm here.” You can't help but inch closer, heated gaze exploring his skin.

A rough sigh falls from his lips, eyes narrowing in warning. “You’re forgetting that I don’t like you.”

“And how many times do you have to repeat that? Just to keep yourself from…” Your attention is locked firmly on his lips, unable to resist the pressure in your lower belly that begs for relief. Relief only he can provide.

“Y/N, you’re drunk.” He leans back several inches, using what's left of his quickly dwindling control.

No matter how enticing he finds the fire in your eyes, he would never act on it, not while you’re under the influence. You probably don't even mean what you're saying. This morning was a one time thing, never to be repeated. It was a mistake, plain and simple.

Even while these thoughts race through his mind, his arm tightens around your middle, keeping you upright when you nearly fall again.

“And you’re so tense.” His jaw ticks as you edge closer, hand trailing down his front. Strong muscles twitch under your light touch, ragged breaths filling the small space between you. “You know, it’s okay to want something…for yourself.”

Neteyam's eyes pinch closed tightly, heart constricting, because you couldn't be more wrong. From childhood, it's been drilled into his head that he's the oldest, that his siblings are his responsibility. Individual desires have never been encouraged, never even been a consideration in his mind.

He hasn't had the time, let alone the opportunity to want something for himself. The stark reminder makes his stomach turn, shattering what's left of the sultry haze that surrounds the two of you.

His hold drops from your waist, free hand moving to firmly peel your roaming fingers from his hair and stomach.

“What is it going to take for you to understand that I. Don’t. Want. You?” He accents each word with a harsh glare, hands circling your wrists as he finally manages to remove your hold on him.

He pushes you away lightly, dropping all contact as if you’ve burned him. He just can't take it for a moment longer. Not if he wants to maintain his tattered shreds of restraint, to prevent either of you from making another mistake.

Your breath catches at his sudden dismissal, feet tangling from the weight of his gentle shove. The ground shifts, bright colors blurring as you crumble to the ground, landing harshly in a jumbled heap of limbs.

Your hands barely manage to smack against the dirt before your face hits the unforgiving surface. A soft hiss falls from your lips, expression tightening with the painful sting along your palms as the earth cuts into your skin.

“Fuck.” Neteyam mutters, instantly crouching to your level, arms extended to help you.

He didn't mean for you to fall, never intended to push you that hard. He wasn't thinking, so blinded by the need to put some distance between you that he forgot you weren't steady on your feet.

In your drunken state, you’ve lost the ability to mask the hurt that crosses your face. It’s only a split second, a fleeting moment of vulnerability, but it pierces his heart all the same. For a long moment, you stare up at him, equal parts disbelief and anger welling in your eyes along with unwanted moisture.

“I can find my way back.” You're quick to cast your gaze toward the ground, batting his hands away.

All emotion is gone from your voice, cold acceptance left in it's wake. It feels as if you've been doused with a bucket of icy water, clarity washing over you so abruptly it constricts your heart. Embarrassment colors your cheeks, hazy mind clearing enough for regret to trickle in at your actions.

You clumsily scramble onto your feet, swaying a bit as your hands brush away lingering clumps of dirt from your skin. Neteyam is quick to stand beside you, teeth grinding, stomach flipping at the hard expression on your face. It's so different from your typical openness, the usual playful light that glitters behind your eyes long gone.

Suddenly, he's found something he hates more than the roots of affection that have cracked through his resolve.

He aches to reach out, to apologize, but his lips only purse more firmly as he watches you stagger away from him. Because if he’s learned anything in his nearly twenty-one years of life, it’s that he can’t want anything for himself.

Even so, he takes a single step forward, calling out as if there's a chance to salvage the growing connection between you.

“You won’t be able to climb in your current state. Just let me—”

You cast him a withering glare over your shoulder, the pointed anger in your eyes stopping him cold. His fingers curl into fists at his sides, restraint tightening his chest as he prevents himself from stalking toward you and making this right.

In an instant you're gone, hastily stumbling up the carved staircase in the center of Home Tree. A ragged breath rumbles from trembling lungs, ears flattening as remorse twists his stomach.

His tail swishes with displeasure, but for once, he has no one to blame but himself.

taglist:

@rainbowsocks @b-tchymoon @quest-for-pluto @neteyamwifesstuff @neteyamforlife @anxietydrogz @alexandra-001 @jdbxws @squidalapobre @iwannahaveaprettyaesthetic @daeneeryss @ihave500hubbiez @queen190 @mightyneteyam @pipopapipobear @sharkybabe9 @gretesstuff @neteyammmmmms @who-is-ej @fanboyluvr @leilaniers @daughterofthequeen @aonungsmate @ebbonic @gamerxpfighter @certifiedpussyeater @jakexneytiri @tammitammytime @tiredmamaissy @lovedbychoi @valenvl12 @minjix @moslaying @sullyswife @arcwanderer @glimmering-darling-dolly @danyxthirstae01

[alicanta77]

pairing: alien!jisung x human!reader themes: fluff, angst, alien au warnings: abduction, experimentation, imprisonment, execution (sort of?) words: 16k synopsis: waking up from the deepest sleep of your life to find out that you had actually been abducted by aliens and were on their ship was not how you had thought your tuesday morning way going to go. but when a shy alien bursts through the door asking for your help you find yourself saying yes. however, as the two of you get closer to each other, you find yourselves uncovering a twisted web of lies that threaten everything the two of you have ever known.​​​

i. good morning sunshine

Your eyes fluttered slightly, the hold that sleep had on you felt much deeper than you were used to. Normally you weren’t a seriously heavy sleeper, but somehow you felt absolutely knocked out. You rolled over onto your side, reaching for your duvet to pull it over your head and drown out the sound of your alarm. However, your hand grabbed at empty air instead of your warm covers, causing you to squeeze your eyes further shut in confusion. You must have kicked your duvet off during the night. Annoying, but it wasn’t the first time it had happened. You rolled over and buried your face into your pillow, groaning in the usual frustration that came with waking up.

You made no attempt to get up, already tired at the idea of going off to lessons. It was only then, in those seconds you weren’t moving, that you took in the silence around you. There was no high pitched repetitive beeping of your alarm, alerting you that it was time to wake up. You couldn’t hear your mother downstairs, banging pots and pans around as she made breakfast. There was no shouting from your father as he tried to reason with his business partners over the phone. Nothing. No, your room was completely silent. There was no sign of life anywhere.

Your eyes slowly peeled open, hoping to check the time on your phone by your bed. You flung an arm out, a small yelp leaving you when it hit nothing and instead the momentum of your movement caused you to roll rather ungracefully off your bed.

You landed on the hard ground, confusion and sleep clouding your mind. You must have been lying on the very edge of your bed. But you hadn’t fallen out of bed since you were a kid. Also, since when was your bed that small? And your floor somehow didn’t feel like carpet anymore?

You pushed yourself up into a sitting position slowly, rubbing the part of your forehead that still dully ached from you not so gently landing on the floor. As your eyes gradually adjusted to the light, you took in your surroundings. 

The walls and floor were a matching light grey colour. In fact, the entire room was varying shades of grey. You jumped up, practically throwing yourself to your feet, but your body felt like jelly and you stumbled backwards into your bed. You closed your eyes tight, trying to get rid of the black dots slightly clouding your vision. Your control over your body began to come back to you, just as you came to a terrifying realisation.

You had no idea where you were.

Your breath began to shorten as you tried with everything you could to keep yourself calm.

Had you been kidnapped? What kind of place is this? Are they holding you for ransom? Why did they want you? Who on earth could “they” be? How long have you been asleep? How much danger are you in?

Just as these worries began to completely consume you, you heard the door begin to click, signalling what you assumed was a lock. Your eyes shot around the room, looking for anything that could pass as a weapon if you needed. However, the room was minimalist, basically empty, and there was nothing that you would be able to pick up and defend yourself with if you needed. Your heart was pounding so hard you wondered if it would be heard by whoever was trying to get into this room. Whoever had taken you.

Dear god you hoped not.

The door suddenly opened at speed, and a tall figure burst in before shutting it again behind them just as quickly. They turned around as you finally got a look at their face.

It was a boy. He was tall and slim, and staring down at you with his eyes wide with panic. His hair lay messily on his face and you couldn’t quite tell if it was a very dark blue, black or purple. It was as if each colour changed with the movement his head made. He kept looking over his shoulder, checking behind him for something before turning back to you. When he spoke his voice was deeper than you were prepared for, the husk in it surprising you. But nothing surprised you as much as the words he spoke.

“You have no idea how many rules I’m breaking here but my human studies final is coming up and I really need help because I’m going to fail it.”

Your mouth hung open, the words that left the boy’s lips making zero sense to you. You tried to form a sentence, no words making their way out of your mouth. You wanted to ask him so much, what he meant by ‘human studies’, who he was, where you were, yet all you could get out was:

“You’re long.”

Long... not even tall. Long. Wow, well described y/n.

You shook your head, looking around you again, taking in the grey walls. Your gaze eventually came back to rest on the, according to you, long boy who stood, now with a perplexed expression on his face. He looked down at himself, as if trying to understand what you meant.

“Umm,” You muttered, brushing your hands off on your pyjama bottoms, feeling the hard material move under your fingers.

Wait... your pyjamas weren’t hard. Your head shot down, finally taking in the grey jumpsuit you were in that was definitely not what you had gone to sleep in. A scream built up in your throat, one that you tried with all your might to stifle, leaving just a squeak to get through.

“Ahhh.” The boy muttered and your panicked eyes looked up at him. “Yeah, the materials you humans use to make clothes don’t really work here, so that’s the best I could do.” He looked down, biting his lip nervously at your reaction.

You stared at your clothes again, your mouth opening and closing without any words coming out of it. The amount of questions that were swimming around your mind were suffocating you and, even though he had tried to give you an answer of some kind, all it had done was made you even more confused.

“Are- are you okay?” He stuttered, his deep voice wavering slightly.

“No.” You answered blatantly. “Of course I’m not okay! I went to sleep at home, in my own bed and now I’ve woken up in this strange grey room, in clothes that aren’t mine, and you’ve appeared telling me that you need help for a human studies final? I have no idea what the hell is going on.”

The boy swallows, his expression changing to one of guilt and sympathy.

“I’m sorry.” He mutters. “I really need to pass this exam and I panicked. I promise you can go straight home afterwards.”

“Afterwards? After what?” You asked, wanting nothing more than to get off this ship and go home now.

“Well, you’ve been asleep for longer than I expected so we moved off and we won’t be coming back to this place for a little while...” He revealed.

The realisation hit you and you stepped backwards, your legs hitting the hard bed you had been lying on. You let them give out, sitting down on the grey material, breathing out a shaky breath. You couldn’t go home. And, whatever this place was, you had no idea how long you’d be stuck here for.

You looked back up at the tall boy, tilting your head at him, and watching as he did the same thing back. The seemingly innocent action might have brought a small smile to your face if it weren’t for the dire situation you were in.

“I’m stuck here?” You whispered and he nodded in response. Your heart sank and a new kind of fear set in. “For how long?”

“I’m not sure. Time doesn’t move the same way for us as it does in your world.” He explained, yet his explanation, once again, made no sense.

“My world? What do you mean by my world? And what did you mean when you said ‘you humans’?” The way he was speaking was starting to scare you, as if he was something strange that wasn’t from Earth. He looked human, but he seemed to believe he wasn’t.

“I guess I’m what you would call an alien?” He revealed and you raised your eyebrows at him. “Really I am!” He insisted, his voice whining a bit when he realised that you didn’t believe him. 

“So what... are you like E.T. or something?” You scoffed slightly, getting a little offended that he expected you to believe something like that

“My name is Jisung and I’ve never left this ship. My planet was destroyed before I was born and we’ve been travelling around in this ship trying to find a new place to settle.”

You frowned at him disbelievingly. This has got to be some kind of prank right?

“So, you’re telling me that I’ve been abducted by an alien and I’m currently on your UFO because you need help passing a human studies exam?” You summed up, almost laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation sounded.

But Jisung just shrugged mutter a soft:

“Pretty much.”

You shook your head, looking down at the grey floor again.

“Can I just go home please?” You asked, your voice much firmer this time as you knew none of this could be real. You stood up, pacing around the room as you spoke. “Or can you at least wake me up? Oh my god, I’m dreaming! Of course I’m dreaming. Oh this is fun I’ve never had a lucid dream before, I wonder what I can do.”

“Listen!” Jisung grabbed you by the shoulders, forcing you to look at him. “You’re not dreaming, look out that window.”

You followed where Jisung was pointing, approaching the six-sided window that sheltered the view from you by a thin cover. You pulled on it, letting the cover fly up and reveal all that you had been missing.

“Wow.” You gasped, staring out at what you saw in front of you.

Jisung came up behind you, looking out of the same window. “Does that look like something you can see in a dream?”

“Kind of.” You answered honestly. “But not one of mine.”

The sky was black, stretching out for miles beyond where the eye could see. Small bright dots that you recognised at stars decorated the view. But closer, closer than that was a planet. Bright purple with white and yellow swirled through it like paint. It had a moon next to it too, the tell tale white colour with craters carved out of it.

You still couldn’t understand how people thought the moon was made of cheese.

You lifted a hand and placed it on the glass, unable to find the words to describe how you were feeling. The colours seemed to move as you went shooting through time and space. Watching the planets move away from you only reminded you of the fact that with every second that passed you were being taken further and further away from your home.

Your hand slid down, falling limply by your side. You let out a deep breath, your gaze falling down to the grey floor at your feet.

Jisung watched you from behind, a harsh guilt flooding his system at the sight of you. He truly hadn’t realised that you would be stuck here and now all he could focus on was how selfish he had been. He opened his mouth to ask if you were alright when he was stopped by the sound of you clearing your throat.

“So... um...” You started, blinking away the few tears that threatened to form on your waterline and turning around to face him. “How come everything is grey here? Is this the same for all of your rooms?”

“Oh, no,” Jisung replied. “The walls aren’t actually grey but because you’re human you wouldn’t be able to look at the colours we have.”

“Why? Would I go blind?” You joked, cracking a small smile.

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Your smile dropped as fast as it had formed, that familiar sense of fear bubbling up again as you swallowed it down. “Cool.”

You walked a bit around the bare room, running your fingers along the walls as you did.

“How far away is your exam?”

Jisung blinked a few times. “Exam?”

“Yeah? The exam you need help with?” You reminded him, holding back a smile as the realisation formed on his face.

“Oh! Yeah, well, it’s hard to explain. Time moves differently in space compared to Earth. It will feel as though it passes the same, but it’s moving at a completely different speed. One that you aren’t able to measure. Earth time is almost standing still at the moment, so when you do go home no time will have passed at all there.”

“At least my family won’t worry about me.” You sighed. Now that was one issue out of your mind. But you now really had no idea how long you would be here. How else were you going to pass the time?

“I guess... what do you need to know?”

ii. space school... about earth... but in space... sure

“Okay, what do you want to work on today?” You swung your legs off the edge of the desk you were sitting on. Jisung had adjusted some type of colour setting in your room and helped add some “human” colour to your previously grey surroundings. As well as that, in order to help you both easily identify who was talking about which species, you’d agreed amongst yourselves to refer to them as “humans” and “aliens”. Even though Jisung had pouted and insisted it was a large generalisation, he agreed eventually and promised to never call you an Earthling - not that you understood why. But you assumed it wasn’t a compliment from aliens.

Jisung opened his large folder, a load of papers falling out as he did and landing on the ground with a loud thud.

You chuckled at him. His clumsiness was a rather endearing quality of his, and one that you had grown to like first. In truth, his overall personality was very endearing, from his clumsiness, to his initially shy nature to how now that he was comfortable around you it was hard to get the boy to stop talking. He seemed to want to do anything other than focus.

You were starting to see how he was failing.

“How about... biology? Or education?” Jisung suggested, trying to find the relevant papers.

You jumped off the edge of the desk, reaching out and grabbing a paper that you saw had fallen further from the pile. You brought it up to read it, studying the information there that Jisung had yet to learn.

“Biology.” You decided. “We did education recently so there’s no point in going over it already.”

Jisung groaned, flopping face down on the bed, allowing his arms and legs to hang off the edge.

“I hate biology. Plus your education is so difficult to understand I think I need to go over it again.”

“No you don’t.” You laughed at him. “Plus we have so much to get through in so little time, your exam is getting closer everyday.”

“But we’ve started Biology!”

“So tell me what you’ve learnt! Talk to me about how to differentiate humans from aliens.” You shot back, grinning at him.

He sighed, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

“There were multiple things we’ve covered but the biggest thing, that’s also the weirdest by the way, is that you have different reactions than we do. While our emotions can come out in changing our hair colour, yours can come out in your cheeks, through... blushing?” He repeated, his face splitting into a grin as you nodded. “Can’t believe your face turns red, how weird is that...”

“Well, not everyone. It depends on skin colour and stuff. Basically the level of pigmentation in the skin depends on how visible blushing is.” You corrected him, flipping through his textbook for your next subject.

“That’s cool.” Jisung mused. “I wonder what I’d look like if I blushed... Would it show up on me?”

You looked over at him chuckling. “Well you’re on the lighter side of skin tones, so yes, I think I’d assume it would. I can’t believe this book didn’t mention anything about blushing...”

You turned another page in the book, searching for some paragraph about it but frowning as you read what was written instead.

Jisung noticed your expression, asking a quick “What’s wrong?”

‘It’s just... the information in this book... When did it come out?”

“Last year. Why?”

You shook your head. “That doesn’t make sense. It says here that aliens and humans have a long history together. And it goes into saying how, when it comes down to it, we have a very similar history. Like, we basically come from the same place.”

You looked over at Jisung who was looking back at you, looking a little lost as to what you were saying. “I don’t follow. How is this important?” He asked.

“If we started so close together, how did we drift so far apart? And what is it that actually separates you from me? What is it that makes us so different? Because it’s not from the fundamentals.”

“Oh...” Jisung murmured, shifting closer to you on the bed. “Do you think that’s why some of the books are inaccurate?”

“Possibly.” You mused. A while back, you had been flicking through the biology textbook and some of it had made you quite confused. There were details in there that you knew were wrong and inaccurate and you couldn’t figure out why. “Maybe they think that we’re still the same? And that’s why it’s wrong because they assume we work the same way as you!”

“But we don’t work like that.” Jisung shut down your idea. “Aliens don’t have to shed their skin each month either.”

You looked back at the book, flipping towards the page that held those details and began to read out loud.

“Humans have skin that covers their entire bodies. It is this skin that provides a defensive layer over them and keeps their bodies in its proper shape. To ensure the quality of their skin layer, they undergo a ‘shed’ each month, which consists of using force to lose the recent skin layer. They have tools that may help them with this, of which these tools have harsh jagged edges to encourage the shed to commence.”

You sighed to yourself at the paragraph. You couldn’t wrap your head around how it was so outlandish and wrong. 

“Technically people do exfoliate, which is where they remove dead skin off their bodies. But not like this, this is bizarre.”

“Are you sure? There’s no way these things could have gotten confused?” Jisung asked, and while you were sure he was searching for a solution, you knew that this wasn’t it.

“Absolutely not. Exfoliating is something people do in the shower to keep their skin smooth. This is an exorcism.” You giggled to yourself slightly at your own joke, but sadly it seemed to go straight over Jisung’s head. You shook it off realising he probably had no idea what an exorcism was and moved on.

“Right, well where in Biology are you least confident?”

Jisung groaned. “All of it! Especially since you say that half of it isn’t even true. What do I do then? Do I write about what you say or do I write about what’s in the book?”

“Well, I would write about what’s in the book I guess. After all, that’s what you’re being taught.” You answered.

“Can we please take a break?” He pleaded, bringing out his puppy dog eyes.

“We’ve barely started-” You began to protest but he cut you off.

“Then let’s learn but why don’t you ask me questions? What do you want to know about how I live?” He swiftly changed the topic but you completely fell for it, invested in the secrecy around who he was, even if you hadn’t said so.

You shrugged, playing it off. “Okay then. I guess, what happens if we don’t get back to Earth before you take your test? What happens to me then?”

“I’ll keep you hidden until we do.” Jisung replied as if it was that simple.

“So you’re not going to turn me in? Allow them to perform experiments on me, figure out how I work so they can update their textbooks?” You joked. And even though you were joking there was a part of you, a rather large part of you, that was terrified that that might actually happen.

Jisung just stared at you in complete confusion.

“No.” He answered slowly. “Why on earth would I do that? And why do you think we would perform experiments on you? We’re aliens not barbarians.”

You blinked a few times, confused at yourself for your reasoning.

“I- I don’t know, I just assumed that’s what aliens would do if they captured a human.”

“Okay.” Jisung pointed a finger at you, as if you were under some kind of inspection. “I haven’t abducted or captured you, just... borrowed for a short period of time. And second of all, have you ever thought that, maybe the reason you think aliens would experiment on humans is because that’s what humans would do if they discovered we exist?”

The normally shy alien raised an eyebrow at you challengingly, his eyes never left your face and you had to force yourself to look away under his intense gaze. You felt guilty at what you said as he continued to talk.

“We know that’s what you would do. And that’s why we keep ourselves so hidden. And why we don’t... borrow... humans.”

“So, why did you ‘borrow’ me?” You asked him, adding some air quotes around the word “borrow” as you did.

“I was desperate. You really don’t want to fail classes here, it decides what job you have after you graduate and I am not going to be stuck in something I hate. And, I guess I trust you now that you’re not going to say anything about me.”

You smiled to yourself slightly, looking down at your hands at his words. For some unknown reason you found it rather difficult to meet his eyes at this moment. A warm feeling spread throughout your chest as you looked back at him.

“Understood, my presence here can never be discovered from either side. So what about Area 51?” 

Jisung groaned at that, falling backwards on the bed as he did. 

“What?” You whined. “Stop doing that, you said you’d answer my questions!”

“Area 51? Really” Jisung complained. “Do you think I’d be going through all this trouble to hide you and make sure you keep our existence a secret if you had this base filled with aliens back on Earth? It’s just humans being bored, dramatic and wanting to believe there’s something more to this world than what they were told.”

“But there is.” You said softly, smiling down at him as that warm feeling spread through your chest again. He looked over at you. “There’s you.”

A shy smile broke out across his face at your words. And if you didn’t know better, you could have sworn you saw him blush.

iii. quarantine deja vu

Jisung had been right when he said that time worked differently here. You had no idea how much time had passed, you couldn’t even begin to guess really. But one thing you knew for certain, was that warm fuzzy feeling that you got whenever you were around him was not going away. In fact it was getting worse.

You weren’t sure what it was about him, but somehow almost everything he did made your stomach flip. But no matter what, you knew it wasn’t love. There was no way that you had fallen for an alien.

No matter how many textbooks told you otherwise...

But none of that mattered. You would be leaving soon apparently. Jisung’s exam was coming up and they would be close enough to Earth to drop you back home the night before.

And you would never see him again.

“Y/n?” Jisung’s voice cut through your thoughts. “Are you okay?”

Jisung had been looking out for you a lot recently, and part of it was because he felt guilty about bringing you here to help him. He knew he had turned your whole world upside down and you hadn’t ever faltered at helping him.

Jisung had always been shy. It was part of the reason he struggled so much in school. It takes him ages to open up and trust new people, but somehow you had just appeared and walked through all of those nerves without trying. There was something about you that made Jisung be his complete open and honest self. And that scared him slightly. No one had ever had that effect on him. 

And on top of that, you were human. He couldn’t afford to get this attached to you. Not when he had to send you home.

But then you looked at him, with that smile on your face that Jisung was sure made his hair turn colour and exposed him and he knew.

God he was dreading the day he had to let you go.

“Yes, of course, sorry. Your exams are nearly here, how are you feeling?”

“I think I’m okay!” Jisung grinned at you, something he’d noticed himself doing more and more these days. “Without your help I really would have failed.”

“What would happen if you failed the exam? I mean, it must be pretty bad for you to have gone so far as to bring me here to teach you.” You mused, your hand reaching up to the paper plane necklace that hung around your neck. You fiddled with the pendant, dragging it up and down the chain.

Jisung watched your movements. He’d noticed that chain from the moment you arrived. It must have been important to you if you’d slept in it, which he realised when you noticed it was missing and almost cried. He couldn’t have snuck you onto the ship in your human clothes, so he found something else for you. Luckily, since then you’d found a way for you to wear outfits that weren’t a grey jumpsuit so you were happy with that. But finding your necklace was the most important thing to you.

“If I’d failed the exam I would have been kept back a year.” Jisung said, and you nodded at that.

“That doesn’t seem like the end of the world.” You said. “I’m just wondering why it was so desperate that you needed to bring me here to help. Would your parents have gotten mad or something?”

“I don’t really know.” Jisung replied. “Our system doesn’t work that way. Parents have a very little impact on and relationship with their children. They are with them when they’re babies but after that we all just go through school.”

You were silent, not sure how to respond. You couldn’t imagine having your teachers as parental figures for your entire life.

“That sounds lonely...” You murmured, feeling sorry for the alien boy in front of you.

“It’s not when it’s the only thing you’ve ever known though.” Jisung shrugged. “I don’t know what it’s like to live in a home with parents doing whatever it is that they do for you. That seems weird to me. Instead we go through each year and when we pass the exam we move onto the next. That way, everyone is at the same level and once you finish school you get assigned a position based on your result. The faster you go through school and the better grades you get, the better position you have.”

You began to understand. “So that’s why you said it would affect your job.” You realised and Jisung nodded, smiling as he saw you grasp the concept.

“Yep. If I get held back a year, it basically rules out a bunch of good jobs and I don’t want that to happen. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a job you hate for the rest of your life. Also each level has a higher pay so... yeah I really didn’t want to be held back.”

You lay backwards, your back resting on the hard floor, looking up at the ceiling. You wondered how many stars were out there, and how many more civilisations there were.

“What’s that around your neck?” Jisung’s voice cut through your daydream.

You hummed at him while sitting up.

“On your necklace. What is it?”

Your hand instinctively came up to grab at the silver pendant. “It’s a paper plane.” You answered.

Jisung shook his head at you, signalling that he had no idea what you were on about. Your jaw dropped slightly.

“Origami!”

“Origami?” He repeated, his face a picture of confusion.

“It’s called origami.” You explained. “It’s where you take a piece of paper and fold it to make different shapes.”

Jisung tilted his head, looking intensely at your necklace. “And people can do that?”

“I can teach you.” You offered, and he nodded at you.

You stood up, walking over to the desk he was sitting at. You rummaged through some of the papers until you found a blank sheet.

“Okay, so the first thing is to fold in lengthways...” You gave him the instructions, demonstrating as you did, so that he could watch what you were doing. “And then bring in these corners... flip the paper over and fold again...”

Jisung was watching you intently. His eyes never left your hands until you held up the newly made paper plane. His eyes widened at the finished product reaching up to grab it to look it over, but he stopped before he reached it, looking up at you as if for permission. You nodded eagerly, holding it out to him to encourage him to take it.

The paper plane rested in his big hands and he turned it over multiple times, trying to make sense of what you had created. He looked at it as if you had created it out of thin air using magic.

“Throw it.” You instructed.

His head shot around, his face a picture of confusion and slight offence.

“Not out. Don’t throw it out, just throw it in the air. Use the tip as a guide and throw it in a straight line.”

Jisung looked at you questionably, but still complied. He lifted the plane up and gently threw it. The paper plane soared, travelling to the other side of the room. his jaw dropped and he spun around to look back at you with a huge smile on his face. You grinned back at him, unable to stop the surge of happiness you felt every time you saw that gummy smile appear.

“It’s streamlined. The sharp point and triangular shape allow it to easily cut through the air.” You explained, walking over to pick it back up.

Jisung looked at you in admiration and awe. He couldn’t believe that he’d got so lucky as to get to know you. You brought so much light into his life that he had no idea that he had been missing.

“Streamlined...” He repeated the unfamiliar word to himself quietly, a habit he had gotten into recently. 

In between your study sessions you and Jisung had been talking about alien and human life, where they overlapped and where they differed. Such as, how you had after-school clubs and Jisung was horrified at the idea of voluntarily staying in the school longer than you had to every week. In his words it was ‘torture disguised as a fun activity’.

He had a tendency to be a tad dramatic sometimes.

Slang had become Jisung’s favourite thing. The fact that humans had become so lazy that they didn’t even say full words anymore was hilarious to him. His current favourite word to say was lol, but he had been enjoying the use of sarcasm and was developing a big habit of saying ‘same’ anytime something goes remotely wrong.

He also had a habit of singing to himself. You’d noticed it during an intense study session early on, you had been falling asleep with a textbook over your face to block out the light when you heard him mumbling. You didn’t move, just listening to his voice, shocked at how beautiful it was. He had a deep voice with a soft tone that put you at ease anytime you heard it. Jisung was far too shy to actively sing in front of you so you had to settle for listening in when he sang to himself.

If only you had your phone you would have taken a voice recording of it. God, you wanted some piece of him to take back to Earth with you. You hated the idea that you’d have to just pretend like this whole experience never happened, like Jisung never existed. The thought made your stomach tighten.

“Do you ever wonder where aliens and humans come from?” Your thoughts were interrupted by Jisung’s question.

Honestly, you had, multiple times. But no matter how many textbooks you read, or how long you thought about it, you couldn’t seem to figure it out. All of their books seemed to say different things.

“Yeah, it’s confusing. There’s something so similar about us yet so different.” You mused, watching Jisung continually turn the paper plane over in his hands again. It was something he’d started doing often recently. He’d have something to hold onto that he could flip between his fingers, as if he had too much energy that he always needed to be doing something.

In reality, Jisung just needed something else to look at otherwise he would spend all his time staring at you.

“Maybe we’re the same. Not similar like that book said, but actually the same.” Jisung grinned, finally allowing himself to meet your eyes, and feeling that grin grow the second he did. “Maybe we’re like two descendants of the same species that have evolved in different ways.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense, you know.” You laughed, sitting yourself down in the chair that Jisung had abandoned to play with the paper plane. “Our anatomy is identical and it’s only certain things that put us apart from each other.”

“Like hair colour and blushing.” Pride was in Jisung’s voice, happy that he was bringing in his Biology studies without being prompted. “But there’s one really big one as well.”

“Oh yeah?” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yep. You can’t survive in space. We can. Our lungs can adjust to different atmospheres so we can live anywhere in the universe.” Your jaw dropped at his words.

“Really? How have you never told me this? That’s so cool!” You exclaimed excitedly. You loved when Jisung spoke about alien life, it was fascinating.

Jisung shrugged, chuckling at your reaction. “Never came up I guess. We have a setting in each room of what atmosphere we’d like to breathe in. This one is set to Earth so that you can breathe.”

You looked around for what Jisung was talking about. You weren’t too sure what exactly you were looking for but this had intrigued you.

“It’s over here.” Jisung answered the question that you hadn’t been able to ask yet, gesturing to a small white panel that hung on the wall next to the door.

You wandered over to it, analysing the object that could quite possibly kill you if it malfunctioned. Then you realised that you probably didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole of how easily you could die here and that your life was literally in Jisung’s hands, so you closed that door up and left the panel alone.

As you turned to face Jisung, you saw him already looking at you. There was a soft smile on his face, such gentleness in his gaze that you felt the urge to curl up in his arms and hug him until time ran out. You had nothing to be scared of when Jisung was around.

Jisung would never hurt you.

iv. it wasn’t fair

The paper plane necklace that usually hung heavily around your neck was on his desk, hidden inside his Biology folder. You wanted Jisung to have something to remember you by.

The unspoken sadness in the room was evident. Jisung’s exam was in two days and you were hovering over Earth at that very moment, meaning... you had run out of time. You had to go home. And you had to say goodbye.

Jisung had been especially quiet. That had been your first clue that something was wrong. He hadn’t come bounding into your room like an excited puppy, instead he’d opened the door slowly, unable to meet your eyes and you felt your stomach drop at the sight of him.

“We’re over Earth, but it’s our only day here because we’re moving fast so we have to get you home tonight.” His voice was wavering as he spoke, and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat but it was too difficult. It was taking everything in Jisung not to break down and cry and beg for you to stay, but that wasn’t fair and he knew it.

In fact, as far as Jisung was aware, none of this was fair.

It wasn’t fair that he’d had to get your help. It wasn’t fair that you had agreed. It wasn’t fair that you had become possibly the closest friend he’d ever had in his entire life. It wasn’t fair that he’d fallen for you. It wasn’t fair that he had to send you home. It wasn’t fair that he had no idea how he was going to continue his life without you in it. It wasn’t fair.

Maybe in another universe, there was somewhere that the two of you could have been together. And Jisung would have spent his life searching for that place if he could. But he couldn’t.

And it wasn’t fair.

You walked up to him, slowly lifting his face to look at you in the eyes and smiled sadly. You could feel the tears forming so you quickly hugged him. You wound your arms around his waist as he grabbed you pulling you closer before wrapping his around you as well. His cheek was pressed against the top of your head, with one hand stroking your hair and the other around your shoulders. You breathed in the scent of him, trying to memorise everything that you could.

This was the first time you’d ever hugged Jisung. All this time together and yet, this was your first hug.

Jisung couldn’t believe he’d never done this. You fit so perfectly in his arms it was as if he had been built for this purpose. He didn’t want to let you go. Why did your first hug have to be your last?

It wasn’t fair.

Jisung knew that he hated fair. He would scream and curse out fairness for the rest of his days if he had to. Fair took you away from him. Nothing about this is fair.

“Grant me one last favour? Can you... shut your eyes?” Jisung whispered, hoping that you couldn’t feel his tears falling onto your head as they made their way down his cheeks.

You nodded. You put your head fully into Jisung’s shoulder and cried, finally allowing the emotions to overcome you.

Then you closed your eyes.

v. sometimes things break

It had been two weeks. Well, by human time at least. You had no idea how much time had passed for Jisung. But for you, it had been two weeks since you had left Jisung.

That night you had hugged him goodbye, you had closed your eyes and when you opened them, it was to the sound of your alarm clock waking you up for school. God, you really didn’t want to go to school that day.

But you had to. You’d gotten up, gone to school, done your work, come home and lived your life as you were supposed to. But it all felt so much more empty now. Now you knew that there was so much more out there, everything felt so incomplete. And without Jisung, it was all so boring.

Your friends didn’t seem to understand you like you remembered, and none of them got you the way Jisung did. You didn’t feel as relaxed around them as you did around him, you didn’t feel as at home.

How did you feel more at home when you were in space?

Of course you knew all of this was because you loved him. That tall alien boy with the gummy smile had a hold on your heart you couldn’t break. And you were grieving him in silence as nobody else even knew he existed.

You took a sip of the glass of water you were holding. Sleep had gotten more difficult each night you had been back to the point where you had almost given up now. You had one hand resting on the sink as the other held the glass, hoping that the water would be able to settle you slightly.

You sighed, absentmindedly reaching up to your empty neck where the silver paper plane once sat.

You wondered if Jisung had found it yet. Or if he maybe wore it. And you wondered if he was thinking about you the same way you were thinking about him.

You sighed again, before refilling your now empty glass and taking it back to your room with you. You walked through your house, your feet making soft noises on the carpeted hallways as you went and you quietly shut your door behind you, knowing that your parents had long gone to sleep.

You moved towards your bedside table, going to place the glass down next to your bed. As you walked closer, you stopped to take another sip, letting out another huge sigh. It felt as though that was all you did these days.

The glass was placed on the coaster on top of your oak bedside table. Without the coaster your mum would have lost her mind at there being a water ring on the wood. You turned around, a slight flash catching your eye as you did.

That’s weird. As far as you were aware there wasn’t anything reflective on your bedside table. You turned back slowly, approaching the surface and looking down at it. You moved your glass off for a better look and gasped at what was lying there.

The glass had slipped out of your hand in shock, hitting the floor and splashing the water everywhere. But you didn’t care. You reached forward, picking up the object that you thought you would never see again.

And there, hanging from your fingers, was your silver paper plane necklace. The one you had left with Jisung before you’d left him.

You whirled around, looking for some sign of him. There was no other way that this could have come back to you. But you could see him. Your room was completely empty.

Next to your bedside table were your curtains. You rushed towards them, throwing them open and staring out into the garden, desperately looking for some sign of him between the trees and your mother’s prized rose bushes.

Where was he? He had to be here...

That was when you saw something. A flash of a shadow of something. You couldn’t tell if it was him, or a bird, or a fox, or just your eyes playing tricks on you but you didn’t care. You had to find out. 

You ran. You ran out of your bedroom, flying down the stairs and sprinting through the kitchen until you reached the back door. You grabbed the handle, but it wouldn’t turn. Your father must have locked it for the night.

Luckily, the keys were hung up next to it. So you grabbed them, fumbling to find the right one before unlocking the door and throwing yourself outside to try to find him.

You ran out into the garden, the grass soft under your bare feet.

“Oh come on.” You pleaded to yourself. “Please please please be here.”

You kept turning, your hair flicking around you as you tried to spot him. The word ‘please’ kept leaving your lips, a quiet prayer that you would get to see him again.

You ran further, going outside of the back gate and onto the fields of the local park. Then your feet came to a sudden stop.

Normally, when you came out here, you would see people walking their dogs, or sunbathing, or having a picnic with their loved ones, but none of those sights were better than seeing Jisung standing in front of you.

“You’re here.” You whispered, the words escaping you in disbelief.

Nothing could have stopped you. You ran forwards, and once you got close enough you grabbed onto him, holding him in one of the tightest hugs of your life.

Jisung had reacted instantly, his arms wrapping around your waist as soon as you were within distance. He dropped his head, burying it as close to your neck as he could get. He held onto you as if you two were the last people on the Earth. It was like the rest of the world faded away.

You couldn’t believe it. He had some back to you.

You tried to pull back, to see his face and ask him why he was here, but Jisung wouldn’t let go of you. And that was when you heard him.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry y/n. I’m so so sorry.” 

Jisung was crying. He couldn’t seem to stop apologising, the same words leaving his mouth over and over again. With each time he spoke you felt your nerves rising.

“Jisung, what’s wrong?” You asked fearfully, not knowing what could have happened to get him so upset.

Out of nowhere, a huge harsh light shone down on the two of you. It took a second for your eyes to adjust again, and when they did you finally took the time to pull yourself properly out of Jisung’s arms.

He didn’t want to let you go, still trying to grip onto you, he didn’t want to face you, he couldn’t. But you got away, stepping backwards slightly and looking at him, the constant apologies finally starting to make sense.

He looked up, meeting your eyes for the first time since he had arrived again, and the sight nearly broke him all over again.

“What have you done?” The words fell out of your mouth, each one laced with hurt, and that was all it took.

The tears streamed uncontrollably down Jisung’s face, and he saw the hurt in your face morph into the realisation that he never wanted you to have.

Jisung had betrayed you.

“Jisung?” You said in disbelief as you finally understood. “No... Jisung.”

You felt yourself beginning to lift off the ground, the sensation sending you into panic. You had no control, and you couldn’t get back down. You began to speed up, rising upwards and towards a large dark shape that you could just make out above you. 

You twisted in mid air, looking out for Jisung again. And when you saw him, he had his head down, his hands covering his eyes and you could see his body shaking as he cried. Then someone came out of the darkness. All you could tell was that they were older by quite a bit.

The last thing you saw was them putting a hand on Jisung’s shoulder and walking him into the centre of the light.

vi. i didn’t sign up for this

Jisung walked down the corridor, trapped in between two guards who stalked down either side of him. Since he’d been caught he wasn’t allowed anywhere unaccompanied. He had been living in hell since being discovered and punished. Every day had been awful, and since you had been taken, his life had dissolved into hell.

He didn’t understand why they had to take you, all of this had been his fault but they hadn’t understood that. Or if they had, they hadn’t listened. But no one had wanted to hear his side of the story. No one had been willing to listen to him talk about you, and convince them that you should be left out of what was going to happen.

But they had wanted you as well as him. And they had made him go to get you.

That might have been the worst part. Seeing you look at him with so much hurt, it was as if Jisung could see your heart breaking and it tore him to pieces. He didn’t know what part of him was left to break because having to hurt you had shattered him into so many pieces he didn’t think he could ever put himself back together again.

Then he had reached it, the cell you were being held in. Alien ships don’t have “prisons” exactly, but there is a glass solitary confinement unit, and that was where you were being held.

And there you were, sitting against the wall facing your bed, the glass wall Jisung was standing across from you so that he was looking at your side profile. Your food tray sat half touched, as if you had picked at what you could and Jisung could see the dried tear marks down your cheeks.

And another part of him broke.

“Y/n?” Jisung approached the bars, sinking to his knees to be level with you and lifting a hand to place it on the glass. “Y/n please... Please just look at me.” His voice was breaking, but he could help it. You hadn’t looked at him since that night where he betrayed you.

And Jisung didn’t blame you. He had lured you outside for his people to kidnap you, Jisung wouldn’t blame you if you never looked at him again. It was what he deserved.

“Y/n... I just- I didn’t- I...” Jisung didn’t know how to put into words what had happened after he took his exam, and how quickly everything had fallen apart. 

Instead he just leant his head against the glass, allowing the tears to fall down his cheeks. It felt as though all he did was cry nowadays, but there was nothing else for him to do. It was hopeless. All he could do was cry and beg for your forgiveness. 

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered, closing his eyes and feeling the cool glass underneath his forehead as he imagined that if glass didn’t exist, he could wrap you up in his arms and apologise that way. But he had to settle for a glass wall and broken words filled with tears.

And you sat there, still staring down at the floor, crying silently over the boy you lost and found again, and how he broke your heart.

vii. please don’t

A loud beep woke you up, startling you into a sitting position. If you thought you had no sense of time when you were last on this ship, you had a whole new definition of that now. At least with Jisung there was some element of time passing, with his exam getting closer. But here, you didn’t know what was morning and what was night. You didn’t know whether you’d been here for days, or weeks. You were completely blind to what was going on in the world around you.

With the harsh beeping noise, two guards burst into your cell. They grabbed you under one arm each and hauled you to your feet, quickly snapping on some kind of handcuffs as they did. You scrambled to get your footing, wanting to walk to wherever they were going to take you rather than be dragged.

Part of you was expecting to see Jisung with them. Whether he would be trying to stop them or walking silently next to them... well you’d rather not find out.

You were walked through the corridors, and as you went you couldn’t help but look at the surroundings. When they’d brought you here, you had been crying so much you couldn’t even see what was around you, not until you were put into your cell. The walls were the same grey as the previous room was, but, of course you’ll never know if that’s their actual colour because, if what Jisung told you was correct, you couldn’t see their colour spectrum. Flashes of light passed every few seconds, and after a while it was so intense that you were forced to look away.

Instead of watching the walls, or looking around for Jisung, you watched the floor. Seeing your hands held together by the strange glass-like material. There wasn’t a chain connecting them, instead they seemed to be held together like magnets, making it impossible for you to move your hands away from each other.

You thought about Jisung a lot. In fact, Jisung was practically all you thought about these days. But every time you thought about him, that hurt feeling spreads throughout your chest and takes up your being.

It was impossible to think of Jisung without feeling your heart break all over again.

You couldn’t understand why he had done it. Why had he sold you out? Did he get something in return for it? Maybe he’d been found and had no other choice? Maybe they had threatened his future? Maybe they’d known about you first then discovered about Jisung?

All these questions and many more had been circling around your head for ages. But the thing that really hurt you, was that Jisung had been the bait. He must have known what was going to happen to you, because he was apologising over and over again when you found him. Someone only apologises when they know they’ve done wrong.

No matter what you were threatened with, you would never have tricked Jisung the way he tricked you.

And now, you had no idea what was going to happen to you. You didn’t know if they were going to let you go, or if they were going to force you to stay with the alien community, or if you were going back to Earth, or if you were just some pawn in Jisung’s punishment.

There were so many unanswered questions you felt as though your head was about to explode.

When going over all of this, you hadn’t noticed how far you’d been taken. You only came back to reality when you were pulled to a stop. You were standing in front of these huge doors, with massive bolts going across them.

The bolts began to unlock and you were taken through. This was when your heart started to pound and the fear began to kick in. You really had no idea what was going to happen to you.

It was quite a large room, and looked a bit like a theatre, only it was all grey and incredibly foreboding. The second those doors opened goosebumps grew all the way down your arms. You were taken towards what looked like just beyond the back half of the room and placed on a small circular platform facing the front which held a semi circle of raised seating, in which were countless aliens. Of course, they looked just like humans, if not for their ever changing hair colour.

It slightly resembled an amphitheatre staging set up. Except it felt as though you were on trial more than putting on a show.

At the middle, and halfway up the seating, there was a panel of five aliens who you assumed would be the ones judging you as everyone else was sitting in the “audience”.

“We are the governing body of this community and we are brought here today to discuss the crimes committed against us by y/n l/n. Y/n, you stand here on trial for treason. We will discuss the evidence to the court then we will decide on a suitable punishment for your crime.”

The alien in the middle said all of this, and the more he spoke the more panicked you began to get. What was the point in giving you a trial when they clearly had already decided on your guilt?

“Here is the first piece of evidence of y/n’s presence on this ship.” The alien in the middle, who you now assumed to be the head of all of this, stood up. And there, dangling from his fingers, was your paper plane necklace. “This is a human piece of jewellery, found around the neck of one of our own. The alien who took her here, and hid her. Park Jisung.”

Hushed murmurs echoed around the room and heads turned in sync, all of them looking for Jisung. It was at this moment that the doors opened again, and Jisung was brought in. He wasn’t wearing the same constraints that you were, but he was held by two guards, one on each arm and was standing at the corner of the room, near the only door.

The alien continued.

“Jisung hid y/n here, unknown to all of us for quite some time and also managed to sneak her out. And if it weren’t for this necklace and Jisung’s exam, we may never have known about this crime.”

The alien to his left passed some papers to him and the head flipped through them.

“Question 4 section C of Jisung’s human biology exam. Describe one biological difference between aliens and humans. And Jisung answered saying ‘A main difference is blushing. This is where blood rushes to the human’s cheeks when struck by certain emotions, or after heavy exercise. However, it is important to note that not all humans blush depending on the pigmentation of the skin.’ We do not teach this here. It is not in any text book or database and there is no way for Jisung to have come across this information without human help.”

At this, he threw the papers back down on the desk with a loud smack. You flinched at the sound, your entire body alight with nerves. Your eyes flickered back to Jisung and you found him already looking at you.

This was the first time you had looked at Jisung since being brought back here, and the sight of your eyes nearly made his knees go out from under him. He was already terrified, worried to death about what may happen to you. He was exhausted from being so constantly scared for you. But you had to know that he was here for you and he would fight for you no matter what happened or what that meant for him.

“On top of this-” The head’s voice cut through the room like a chainsaw, destroying everything in its path. “Aliens can’t blush. Yet, Jisung somehow seems to have this ability. And his hair, it hasn’t changed colour in a long while.”

Shocked gasps rippled around the room, and your jaw dropped at that revelation. You thought you had seen it but as far as you were aware, it couldn’t have been possible.

Yells of ‘How is that possible?’ and ‘I won’t believe it until I see it!’ were heard everywhere, each shout bouncing off the walls. The head lifted up his hand for silence, and it fell immediately. He then gestured to the back wall and something began to play.

You turned around to see what it was and saw a video there, and it seemed to be of Jisung. It looked like he was on trial just like you are, the cuffs were around his wrists and people were shouting all around him. It looked like he went through hell.

Then you heard what the video said.

“She has done something to one of our own, and as a result must be punished.” You recognised the head alien’s voice.

Jisung’s head shot up at this, his eyes wide and pleading.

“No! You can’t, just leave her out of this, it was my fault. I brought her here, and I’ve changed because of it, just punish me, not her. Leave her out of this.” 

“You, Jisung, will go back down with us to bring her back. If she cares for you as much as you seem to for her, then seeing you will be an easy way to bring her out. Then we will put her on trial ourselves.”

You watched as Jisung’s eyes filled with tears on the video and he started struggling, pleading with them not to do this.

“Don’t take her, please! Do whatever you want, whatever you need to do to me, not her! You can break my soul, take my life away, beat me, hurt me, kill me even! But for the love of god, please don’t touch her.” He begged, the tears falling down his face at this point.

The video faded to black, leaving the arguments to start all over again at the evidence.

You couldn’t believe it though, all this time, they had made it seem like Jisung had betrayed you, yet he had tried as hard as he could to protect you. You turned around, searching for him, wanting to find some way to communicate to him that you trusted him and you were sorry for ever doubting him.

His eyes found yours easily, as if they were the only thing he was searching for. Even with tears clouding your vision, you could still see him as clear as day. He just sent you a sad smile, as if he was apologising, but you didn’t want him to do that.

“Y/n has infected one of our own!” The head’s voice cut through your moment once again, causing your head to snap back towards him. “She is nothing more than a parasite. Y/n L/n has turned Jisung human! And as a result she must be charged with treason. And since she is in our land, she will face the same punishment one of us would.”

The room erupted into shouts, and it seemed as though half the room agreed with it but the other half didn’t.

Jisung couldn’t believe what he just heard. At those words he felt as though everything went underwater. Treason... That was a horrible punishment even if you were an alien, but for a human like you... There was no way you would survive it.

“Take her to the ejection capsule!”

The guards moved on that final instruction from the head, grabbing you again and they started to drag you away. Even though you had been sentenced, you still had no idea what was about to happen to you, and you were terrified.

When Jisung saw them moving you, his entire body burst into action. He couldn’t let them do this. Not to the person he loved. He began to struggle, trying to break free of the guards holding him captive.

“No!” He screamed. “Y/n! No!”

But no matter how hard he found against them he couldn’t overpower them. And he was helpless as he got dragged down the ship after you. He kicked and screamed the entire way, trying to reach out for you, but to no avail. He saw you trying to do the same thing, attempting to wrestle out of their grip but it wasn’t working

They reached the ejection capsule slower than due to Jisung struggling, but once they got there, more guards helped to hold him down and before he knew it, he was pinned up against a wall, unable to do anything but watch as you faced your fate.

You were brought up to a much smaller glass door that shot open to reveal a space big enough for one person. You knew now, was that you were on the edge of the ship, and the name “ejection capsule” was starting to make a lot more sense.

They were going to send you out into space.

Jisung was still screaming for you, trying to break free to grab you, but you could see the number of people holding him back and you knew, there was no way he was going to be able to save you from this.

This was it. You were going to die. You couldn’t survive in space.

The head governor approached Jisung and grabbed his face to force it towards you.

“You will watch this.” He growled, his grip tight as iron. He held Jisung’s head towards you, and gave a nod to one of the guards.

Jisung cried out for you again, and you looked back at him.

“It’s okay.” You whispered, praying that he would understand.

Inside your stomach was turning at a million miles an hour and adrenaline was pumping through your body and you were trying with everything you had not to cry, but you couldn’t let Jisung feel guilty about this. He had tried so hard to keep you safe and it wasn’t his fault.

The guard turned back to the capsule, and pulled the level next to it. The door behind you opened and you shot out into the atmosphere.

The guards holding Jisung released him as he screamed and sank to the floor. He was on his hands and knees, crying and screaming out for you as you drifted further away from him into space.

Being weightless was a strange feeling, it was like floating on top of the water, but effortlessly. You had the urge to move your hand around, when the realisation hit you like a truck.

You were alive. And as well as that, you were breathing. You were breathing in space. But that isn’t possible, you couldn’t understand it. All you knew is that somehow, you were floating untethered in space and you were alive.

You managed to turn back to face the ship, and that’s when they saw you.

They all stared at you, none of them able to move from shock.

Jisung was the first one to react, and it gave him a chance. He ran to the door, and pulled on the level to open the glass doors. From there he could just about reach you.

Your hand drifted out, tiredness pulling at you as you tried to reach him too. God you were exhausted.

“Come on y/n, reach me.” Jisung pleaded, stretching out further. 

Eventually, he grabbed onto the ship tightly with one hand and jumped out of it to reach you. This gave him the final distance he needed to grab your hand and pull you in.

You floated towards him and he held onto your waist tight as you got back into the ship and the door closed behind you, causing gravity to take hold on you once again.

You collapsed in Jisung’s arms, and he fell to his knees holding you. Your vision went black as the world around you faded away.

Jisung frantically checked you over, but there was nothing to show you were in any distress. Even your pulse seemed strong. You were passed out in his lap, but there were a lot of unanswered questions.

Sadly, there was no time to discuss them as the guards wasted no time in grabbing you both again.

But the truth hung over everyone’s heads that day.

Not only was Jisung not alien anymore, you weren’t human.

viii. what are we?

You felt as if you were in a dream, completely dazed as you finally came to. Your memory was fuzzy, the details were a bit muddled and you couldn’t quite remember what had actually happened or what you had dreamt.

“Y/n?” You heard a muffled voice and as you struggled to force your eyes open, you saw a blurry figure above you.

Were you dead? Was this it?

“Y/n!” The voice was clearer now, and you recognised it as Jisung’s.

You tried to say something back but all that came out of you was a pained groan. You brought your arms behind you, in an attempt to pull yourself into a sitting position, but your whole body ached and they gave out immediately.

You would have smacked your head on the floor if Jisung hadn’t noticed what was happening and caught it last minute. He got his arms underneath you and pulled you up, resting you against a wall as he went to get you water.

Jisung handed you the cup, and you took a few gulps, feeling your strength come back to you as you did.

“Better?” He asked, his brow furrowing with worry and you nodded in response.

“What happened?” You croaked out, hoping that he may have some answers.

He let out a sigh, sliding down on the wall next to you, his feet planted on the floor and his knees up, close enough that your legs were touching.

“How much do you remember?” He asked quietly, and you thought for a second.

“I remember the trial, then getting pushed into this small room when...” You looked up at him with wide eyes as the memory came rushing back to you. “They pushed me out into space! I was left out there and I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t. How is that possible?”

“The same way it’s possible that I can blush and my hair doesn’t change colour anymore. We’ve changed. Somehow I’m not just an alien anymore and you’re not human.”

You weren’t sure how to react to what Jisung said.

“What does that mean ‘not human’?” You asked, but Jisung just shrugged sadly.

“I don’t know.” He turned to face you, his eyes watering. “I’m so sorry y/n. This is all my fault, if I had just let you be then none of this would have happened.”

“Hey...” You whispered comfortingly, bringing a hand up to cup the side of his face. “You have nothing to apologise for, you couldn’t have known that any of this was going to happen. This isn’t your fault, it’s theirs. I saw how you tried to protect me.”

“But I couldn’t.” He choked out, a tear tracing its way down his cheek and you shook your head.

“But you tried. That’s what mattered. I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out, I thought- well I don’t know what I thought. But I’m sorry that I blamed you.”

Jisung leaned his head forward at your apology, resting his forehead on yours. He let his eyes flutter shut, breathing out a sigh of relief. His entire world was crashing down around him and the only thing that he cared about was that you were alive. 

“I guess you were right all along. They are going to abduct us for experiments.” He joked dejectedly, and you let out a sad smile.

“I’m always right, you should know that by now.” You teased. You leaned back on the wall, Jisung watching your movements with a heavy heart. “Is there anything we can do?” You asked, and he could hear the fear in your voice no matter how much you tried to hide it.

But he shook his head. “It’s hopeless. They’ve made up their minds and even if we broke out of here, there’s nowhere to go, we’d end up wandering the stars for eternity.”

“What do they think we are?” 

“They told me some things while you were unconscious. I don’t know why exactly but I guess it was about time we got some answers.” Jisung answered you, explaining as much as he could remember from the conversation. “Apparently, aliens and humans are like two branches of the same species. For example, like how doves and penguins are both birds even though they look different and work in different ways. We share almost exactly the same make up, but it’s our brain that’s different. Now it’s been so many generations that aliens don’t associate with humans as they don’t remember how we used to be alike.”

“So you were right in the end. But, why did we both change after spending time together?” You wondered.

“They seem to think that the more aliens learn about humans, the more human they become.” He said.

“That’s why the book was so inaccurate.” You realised, and Jisung nodded. “But, that still doesn’t explain me.”

“That’s where the experiments are going to come in...” He revealed, his voice trailing off at the end.

You looked up at the ceiling, the realisation of what your life is going to become, finally dawning on you.

“This is horrible.” You whispered. “They’re going to experiment until they figure out what parts of us are human and what are alien.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “And, I know it sounds completely insane but, if I was going to be stuck in a cell for the rest of my life, I’m happy it’s you.”

“Me too.” You agreed, smiling at Jisung’s words. “You’re the only person I want by my side here.”

Jisung tilted his head to the side, watching you as you closed your eyes and took a deep breath.

“I love you y/n.”

His confession made you snap your head towards him, checking to see if you heard correctly. But he was calm. For once in his life, Jisung wasn’t scared, he wasn’t shy, he wasn’t overthinking every possible outcome, he just loved you. And if he was going to die tomorrow, he wanted you to know that.

You two were sitting so close now that your noses were almost touching. Jisung was done being scared, he brought his hand up to the side of your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb as he leant in for a tender kiss.

Finally, after all this time, all the waiting, the longing, the pining, the secret whispers, the hidden feeling, you finally kissed. The rest of the world faded away as he kissed you. It was as if nothing could touch you and for a second there it felt as though time actually stopped.

“I love you too Jisung.” You whispered to him, so quiet that not even the stars heard your confession.

Jisung wasn’t sure if he believed in soulmates but he definitely did now. There was no denying it. You were made for him and him for you. 

In that moment you both knew that no matter what happens next, you would be okay. Because you had each other.

ix. all the stories are true

“You’ve got three days. Then we begin.”

The words were still ringing in your head, even more so now that you knew you were on the final day. Tomorrow, the experiments would begin. The guards weren’t watching you 24/7 anymore, instead stationed outside in the hallway. They’d dropped off a few books each day, providing a small amount of entertainment, and your new selection had just arrived.

Selection was a generous word considering they gave you three books between the two of you, and Jisung knew them all already. Apparently, they’re recommended reading books during their school years.

‘So what’s this one?” You asked, holding up a large black book with white writing on it.

“That is a full detail of our history. It tells how our planet got destroyed and how we’ve adapted to living in ships and flying through the stars instead of settling.” Jisung explained and you flipped the book over, looking at the cover.

“Sounds interesting, I’d love to know more about your history.” You said. “Though they’re probably doing this to make me as ‘alien�� as possible before they start testing us.”

“Yeah, probably.” Jisung muttered. “Though I doubt they’re even looking at what they’re giving us. They’re probably grabbing from a pile and chucking them in here.”

The two of you both tried cracking small jokes, attempting to lighten or challenge the situation with humour, but the atmosphere was so heavy that it was almost impossible.

You grabbed the next one you saw, and held it up for Jisung. “This one?”

“Biography of our previous head of government. And probably the most boring thing I’ve ever read.” Jisung groaned at the sight of it.

You chuckled, throwing it back down into the small pile that had accumulated over the past three days. You crouched down, grabbing the final one. It was a smaller book, with a dark green leather cover on it and gold writing on the front that was partially rubbed off with age. The title read “The Forgotten Land.” You opened it, the smell of the old book gently surrounding you as the aged pages stared back at you. You handled it with care, knowing that too much force might damage it.

“What’s this?” You asked, gently closing the book and showing it to Jisung.

He looked up, but brushed off the answer with a simple “That’s just an old legend.”

You looked back at the book, your fingers tracing out the delicate lettering on the front when you heard Jisung saying something to himself.

“Wait a second... That’s- Wait a second!”

Before you knew it Jisung was looking over your shoulder, staring down at the book. You held it up, looking at him quizzically.

“Do you want to read it?”

He took your offer, taking the book and flipping through the pages, skim-reading it as he went. He finally stopped on a certain page, his finger tracing under the sentence he was reading before slamming it shut with a triumphant shout.

“Are you okay?” The question slipped out of your lips at Jisung’s erratic behaviour. 

He spun around to look at you, his face alight with excitement. Jisung’s mind was running at a million miles an hour, because if he was right about this, he might have just saved you. And for once, he wouldn’t have failed at protecting you.

“This legend, we used to read it when we were children. They would read it to us in school, and every alien child knows this story. But, I don’t think this is just a story. Because a myth is more than just a tale. It often hides the essence of a true story. This story talks about how our true form is a halfway point between alien and human, and how these will be brought out of us to help us achieve who we are truly meant to be. This isn’t just a legend. It’s the legend we’re currently living.”

You gasped at this, jogging towards him and taking the book from his out-stretched hand. You opened it, reading through as fast as you could. You came to stop on a certain page.

“This says that each of us has a fated soulmate... And only that person brings out the hidden side to us.” You looked up at Jisung, only to find him already looking at you. “Would that mean...” You trailed off, unable to finish your sentence from the way Jisung was looking at you.

It was as if you could see the love he had for you in his eyes. 

“We don’t know how much of the book is true but...” Jisung’s voice faded away as he abandoned the end of his sentence.

Enough was said from the way the two of you were looking at each other, you didn’t need to say it out loud. If this part of you the book was true, you and Jisung had been destined to find each other.

It made sense to him now, how he hadn’t been able to explain why he chose you to help him, and why he’d found himself more able to be himself around you in such a short amount of time than he had with people he’d known his entire life.

Things were adding up for you as well. You understood how it was so easy for you to say yes to staying with him, and how you’d felt so far away from home when you came back to Earth. 

You and Jisung were destined to find each other.

“So what happens now?” You asked tentatively. “I mean, this is incredible but we don’t even know if it is real, and on top of that, there’s no way to find this and we have a day until we’re taken from here.”

“I know.” Jisung said. “But I think we should try to find it.”

Now that got your attention.

“What? Did you not hear what I said? It might not be real. And where would we even start?” Question after question was thrown at him, but still a grin grew on Jisung’s lips.

“I’m not staying here for them to experiment on us. Not a chance. I’ve found the one person who I need in my life, and I’m not letting them choose what happens to us. I would rather get lost in the stars trying to find a better place for us than give up and let them take us.” Jisung had never been so sure of anything. He wouldn’t give up on this. He wouldn’t give up on you.

It wasn’t fair that these were your choices. But Jisung was done with fair, he was done with choosing between options that sucked, he wanted to take back some control, for once he wanted to be able to protect you.

“Jisung...” You breathed. “I’ll follow you anywhere. But how do we get off here? There are guards in the hallways and, I know we can survive in space but I don’t think us floating around is really a stealthy getaway.”

Jisung simply grinned even wider. “I’ve got a plan.”

x. run until we’re lost

“I don’t like this plan.” You muttered, pacing back and forth. “I really don’t like this plan.”

“I know. But it’s the only one we’ve got. Besides, we have nothing to lose.” Jisung shrugged.

If he was being honest, he had very little faith in his flimsy plan as well, but he wasn’t about to tell you that. It would take a miracle for the two of you to get off this ship with your lives, but, hey a miracle brought you into his life so he had to believe in them.

“Ready?” He asked and you nodded, sending up a silent prayer knowing it was now or never.

Jisung nodded back at you, sending you a comforting look before he suddenly collapsed to the floor. You repeatedly whacked your hands against the wall dramatically, screaming for help.

The guards came running, sluggishly stumbling into the cells. You pointed down at Jisung still yelling incoherently.

“What happened?” One of the guards asked.

“I don’t know.” You cried. The tears began to fall easily down your face from how scared you were of the whole situation. “He just collapsed and he’s not waking up and I don’t know what to do!”

“We need to get someone.” The second guard said but the first one shook his head rapidly.

“We were meant to be watching them! How will we explain that we fell asleep!” The first one snapped back, before suddenly looking back at you. “Move aside.”

You did, still hyperventilating and crying as they walked towards Jisung. You waited until they had both walked past you before shoving the smaller guard as hard as you could in the back, sending his stumbling over Jisung’s legs. Without wasting a second you deftly delivered a hard kick to the back of the left knee of the other guard.

He went flying as well, still drowsy from sleep and completely taken by surprise at your attack.

Jisung sprung up at the commotion, not hesitating a second before grabbing you and sprinting for the door. He got you there before turning around and pressing random buttons on the control panel.

“Come on.” You urged and Jisung desperately hit them trying to find the right one. He eventually opened up a new menu, clicking on the blue hexagonal shape just as the guards picked themselves up.

A beep sounded and the doors slammed shut, locking with a resounding click and the two of you looked at each other in amazement, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

“Well, that’s phase one.” Jisung said excitedly. Maybe this plan would actually work. “But we won’t have long before those two gain attention so we need to run.”

You nodded and the two of you took off down the hallways. This whole process was going faster than you thought it would. Jisung had told you that you needed to head to the navigation room to get the maps and then the escape pods. According to him there were smaller ships that you could take and escape in.

You ran down the halls, your heart beating faster than your feet were moving. The adrenaline was coursing through your veins as Jisung led you through the maze of corridors.

“Okay.” He said, skidding to a stop so suddenly that you almost ran into the back of him. “We need to cause a distraction to evacuate the navigation room.”

“Like pulling a fire alarm or something?” You asked.

“Kind of.” Jisung said. “But something that is going to keep them busy for longer... like cutting the lights. The electrical room is right next to it.”

“And we can use the vents to go to the next room.” You couldn’t help but let out a little giggle at your own joke.

“Yes we could!” Jisung grabbed your hand and took off again.

You were taken completely by surprise. Apparently Among Us was more accurate than you thought.

Jisung turned a sharp corner and burst through a door that led you into the electrical room. He pointed out a vent on the floor, telling you that if you went through there it should take you to navigation.

“How do we cut the power?” You wondered, completely overwhelmed by the huge number of wires in front of you.

“I don’t actually know.” Jisung mumbled.

“Maybe just pull the main switch.” You offered, only to be responded to with a confused look. “There. It’s like a giant switch that should shut off power to the whole place.”

“That will draw attention.” Jisung mentioned and you nodded.

“Probably. But so will the guards shouting for help in our cell. At least it may make running through the ship easier as we’d be harder to recognise in the dark.” You proposed.

Jisung went up to the switch, grabbing it with his right hand. “It’s our only option.” And with that he pulled it.

For a second nothing happened. Your heart began to beat faster again, a feeling you had become all to familiar with.

Then, everything went black.

“Wow. That’s darker than I was expecting.” He said. Jisung rubbed his eyes, trying to get them used to the new light enough for him to see you.

Once he saw an outline of your body he reached for your hand, slipping his gently into it. You jumped slightly when he made contact but the feeling of him rubbing his thumb on the back of your interlocked hands provoked a rush of calmness through your chest.

He tugged on your hand slightly. “Let’s go.”

You let Jisung lead you through the room, hearing the vent be pulled open. He climbed in first, offering you a helping hand. The vent was bigger than you were expecting, so big you could stand if you bent over slightly. 

As a second thought, you reached up and pulled it shut after you. Then you followed him down the tunnel. You tried to run as quietly as possible, but the metal clanged underneath your feet and all you could do was pray that it wasn’t heard from anywhere else.

It wasn’t long before Jisung pushed open another vent and you poured out into a small room.

“There’s normally only one or two of us in here, so I’m not surprised it’s empty.” He explained. “Grab as many maps as you can.

You wasted no time, placing multiple pieces of paper on top of each other and folding them over and over again to hold them together. You knew you didn’t have long. 

But when you reached for the last map you could see, something fell off it and onto the floor. You crouched down, grabbing the small object and held it up. You couldn’t quite make out what it was, but gradually you recognised the feeling of it. 

It was your necklace. Your eyes had adjusted a lot better by now and you could see the chain lightly hitting your hand as the paper plane sat between your fingers. You couldn’t believe it.

You looked back at the map and your jaw dropped again. It was your city. This must have been when they were trying to find you. You traced your fingers over where your home was, thinking of what your life used to be. You hoped everyone would be okay. And you wondered if you would ever make it back.

At least time moved slowly there in comparison to up here. It had probably barely been a minute since you had been taken.

After thinking about it for a second, you grabbed that map as well. You never knew when you might need it.

“Ready?” You looked up, seeing Jisung looking down at a particular map as well. You walked over to him. “Jisung?”

Jisung swallowed. This map had hit him like a sucker punch to the gut.

“This is our planet. Where I came from. I thought it was destroyed and that’s why we are travelling around but this is dated as two years ago.” He didn’t know what this meant. Was his home still intact? He was told it was hit by an asteroid and became uninhabitable due to the atmospheric changes that were caused but this map was making him question everything he ever thought he knew.

“Jisung, bring it with you. Fold it up but we have to move.” You shook him gently, trying to get through to him.

Jisung nodded, messily folding the paper and pushing it into the small pile he was holding. He grabbed your free hand with his and began to run again.

You ran through the hallways, trying not to get spotted by anyone but people were running everywhere. They were trying to reach the electrical room but there seemed to be some kind of commotion outside it.

“I blocked the door from the inside.” Jisung leaned down to you and whispered in your ear. “That should buy us some time.”

You nodded, squeezing his hand as a signal to go. If they knew the problem was in the electrical room then it wouldn’t take long for them to figure out you two were behind it.

“How far?” You asked between breaths.

“Down this hall and to the left, then down the stairs.” Jisung explained.

Thankfully, the left turn came up fast and the two of you thundered down the stairs, jumping down the last three.

Jisung let go of your hand and handed you his pile of maps as he set to work organising an escape pod.

“Thank god I actually listened in engineering class.” He muttered to himself, thankful that his teacher had found a way to get through to him. It was the only subject that he had enjoyed and the one that he had hoped to go into once graduating.

He fiddled with the controls, overriding one of the ships and instructing you to go inside. 

Just as he did that the lights came back on, blinding the two of you as they shone in your eyes

“They’ve escaped!” A voice echoed down the hallway and you and Jisung looked at each other in fear.

“Go!” He whisper-yelled at you, pushing you into the ship.

You climbed in the hatch, going down the ladder and landing on the floor. Jisung closed the hatch behind him, locking it with a twist and took off down the hallway again.

You followed him. While this ship was easily miles smaller than the previous one, it was still big for the two of you and took a solid minute of running to get to the front.

Jisung opened a door and you burst into what you assumed to be the front of the ship. There were two seats facing a large window and a maze of buttons on the control desk. Lucking Jisung seemed to know what he was doing.

“They have to know that we’re going for one of these.” Jisung said, pressing the buttons to start the ship as fast as he could. You put the maps down on the seat that Jisung wasn’t stood next to before stepping back to get out of his way. The buttons lit up in front of you and the ship hummed to life. “We’re ready.” He whispered as if he couldn’t quite believe it himself.

“Jisung!” You suddenly said and he spun back in a panic, thinking you had been caught. “Are you sure? I just want to make sure you’re one hundred percent sure you want to do this.”

“I am.” He said with such confidence that it was almost hard for you to believe it was the same awkwardly shy alien you met all that time ago. “If you’re sure as well?”

You nodded in response and he stepped forward and stroked your hair.

“There’s no going back y/n.”

“I know. You’ve gotten braver since we first met.” You told him, resting your hands on his sides.

“I’ve got something to be brave for.” He confided, leaning down to kiss you sweetly.

You didn’t think you could ever get tired of Jisung kissing you.

“As long as I’m with you, I’ll travel the stars forever.” The words came from your heart, and Jisung said the two words you’d heard multiple times today from him, but this time they caused excitement to run through you instead of fear.

“Let’s go.”

You were done being afraid.

Down you sat in the seat, staring out at the vast, never-ending space in front of you. You didn’t know what you were anymore. You were too human for outer space, but too alien for Earth. And you were going to spend your days walking through two worlds but belonging to neither.

Just as the legend intended.

Jisung pushed a level forward and the ship dropped down before taking off. He turned it to the side and you saw the huge spaceship you had been held captive in to your right. The two of you watched it for a second, but you didn’t want to stay so, once again, Jisung pushed forward and you shot off into the stars.

“We’re going to get lost.” You said breathlessly, as he nodded in agreement.

“Yep. But you have to be lost to find a place that can’t be found.”

His words brought a smile to your face, and you looked over at him to find him grinning into the sky as well. You found a notch in the ceiling and reached up to hang your necklace from it. It had meant so much to the both of you that it only made sense to have it close.

“Hey.” You called for his attention, and he looked over at you. “I love you.”

His grin grew even more into the huge gummy smile that you adored.

“I love you too.”

Together, the two of you shot off into the stars, searching for the forgotten land you were destined to find. With nothing but a few maps, and the paper plane hanging from the ceiling guiding your way.