#u know that feeling when ur heart drops and feels terribly heavy. yeah | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

milkybonya · 3 years

Text

awkward confession

Warnings: food mentions

Pairing: college senior!Jinhwan x shy (gender neutral) reader

Summary: over reading week, you invite Jinhwan to your home and as he looks around your childhood room, he stumbles across a journal of yours.

Word count: idk but i think it’s over 1k? it’s a longer one :o

[a/n]: after playing superstar yg, i’ve been feeling soft for Jinhwan? i know, even i’m surprised by the correlation LOL but enjoy this~

- prologue

You first met Jinhwan in your freshman year at a party, dragged there by your newfound friends who claimed that it would be fun, but you just wanted to go home.

After an hour, you decided you couldn’t take it anymore. Saying goodbye to your friends, you grabbed your jacket and stepped outside, clueless about how to get back to campus and to your dorm.

Opening google maps on your phone, you tapped your foot impatiently, waiting for it to load. Your phone was at 1%, but maybe if you could just get a glimpse-

It died.

Throwing it into your pocket, you sighed and stared up at the black sky.

“Heading home?” someone asked you.

You turned your head to the side and saw Jinhwan standing next to you, with his hands in the pockets of his jean jacket.

“Yeah, but my phone just died,” you said, pressing your lips together to contain your anger.

“Want me to drive you?” he asked, waving his car keys around. “My car is new but I’ve had my license for a long time, so no need to worry.”

You laughed at his comment and decided to accept the offer, since you knew he was your senior and you could trust him. The week before classes started, you had been told about a few of the seniors in your program at orientation, and Jinhwan had been one of them. Apparently, he was very kind and laid-back.

Before you entered his car, he formally introduced himself and you did the same. When you were inside, he passed you the aux cord but then stopped.

“Right! Your phone is dead. Here, take mine! Just search through Spotify and play whatever you like.”

“I’m not sure if you’ll like it, though..” you said, hesitating. Sharing your music with someone else was always a bit embarrassing for you.

“As long as it’s not Kids Bop, then I’m sure I won’t mind,” he said, starting to drive.

“What if I play death metal?” you said.

“Fine by me,” he said.

You found an artist that you liked and started playing their songs. Jinhwan smiled and nodded his head along to the beat, making you feel more comfortable.

“Oh, you might as well save your number in there while you’re at it, or save my number. If you ever need help with anything, you can contact me!”

You added yourself to his contacts and sent yourself a message from his phone so you would also have his number. In his phone, you saved your name as ‘[y/n] :)’.

“Which dorm are you in?” he asked.

“The one behind the library,” you said.

“Ah, that’s the worst spot. Hey, we actually have a free spot in our student home if you ever want to join us. Although I don’t want to make you live with your scary seniors if it makes you uncomfortable,” Jinhwan said, jokingly.

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t want to intrude.”

“It wouldn’t be intruding, don’t worry! But just do whatever is most comfortable for you. You can always crash at our place when you get tired of your dorm.”

As you passed an ice cream shop that was near campus, you found yourself sighing. Some late night ice cream would really hit the spot right now...

When Jinhwan asked why you were sighing, you confided your thoughts and without any hesitation, he turned the car around and stopped right in front of the ice cream place.

“I’ll get you whatever you like, my treat!” he said, hopping out.

When you chose the ice cream you wanted, Jinhwan also chose one for himself and paid for both of you. You grabbed a seat by the window right next to the glass door. There was arcade music echoing throughout the tiny place, since there were a few arcade machines behind you.

“This is so good!” you said, eating your ice cream.

“Have you never been here before?” Jinhwan asked you, smiling. This whole time he had not stopped smiling at you, and it made you feel warm inside.

“I’ve always wanted to, but this first month of classes has been super stressful.”

“I hear you, but it’s important to take breaks! If you’re ever stressed, you can let me know and we can come back here,” he said.

Jinhwan had been nothing but unusually nice to you, but you didn’t think much of it. A lot of the seniors were nice to the freshman and juniors anyway.

After you finished your ice cream, Jinhwan dropped you off at your dorm. Even though he watched you walk in, he still texted you right as you reached your room.

hello ‘[y/n] :)’ did you get in safely?

yes, thank u! you literally watched me walk in lol

that’s right, but who knows what can happen on your way to your room from the front doors of the dorm

i appreciate you :)

do you like smiley faces? u even saved ur name as ‘[y/n] :)’

ah, i guess i do like them ><

that’s cute~

Your heart fluttered seeing this message, and you had to take a few deep breaths to calm down. He’s just my senior, you told yourself. He’s just being nice.

A few days later, you saw Jinhwan in the library, studying. You thought that you should say hello out of courtesy, but you didn’t want to bother him, so you continued to walk along the shelves in search of the book you needed.

Getting distracted, you ended up with five big textbooks in your arms. You couldn’t help it, they were all so interesting...

Trying to reach for a book while your hands were still full, suddenly everything fell. The sound of the books falling to the ground echoed throughout the library, and you apologized under your breath as you struggled to pick everything up. You felt so embarrassed that you wanted to disappear.

Looking up amidst your struggle, you saw Jinhwan looking at you from his spot. When he recognized you, he immediately rushed over.

Did this happen to me because I didn’t say hi to him, you thought. Is this karma?

“[y/n], it’s you? Are you okay? Let me help you,” he said, taking some of the books from your arms.

“These are really heavy, you should get a cart for them.” Jinhwan moved his head around to search for one.

“No, it’s fine! I grabbed too many anyway! I’ll just put them back-” you said, not wanting to bother Jinhwan anymore. But he firmly held onto your books until he found a cart.

“I know where some better books on this topic are. Do you want me to show them to you?” Jinhwan asked you, placing the books on the cart.

“No, really, it’s fine! You’re busy studying-”

“I need a break anyway~” he quietly sang, walking towards the spot that he told you about. Forced to follow him, you trailed along. He had a skip in his step, and it made you smile.

“I’m really sorry, I know midterms must be starting for you-”

He stopped and turned around.

“[y/n], it’s really fine! I wouldn’t help you if I didn’t want to,” he said.

After he showed you the books that he was talking about, he invited you to join him at his spot to study.

“Ah, right! You treated me for ice cream last time. Do you want anything to drink? I can buy you something!” you said.

Jinhwan chuckled.

“There’s no need for that! I already have a coffee here,” he said, pointing to the coffee next to him.

“What about a muffin! A cookie?” you asked.

He laughed, again.

“Okay, you can get me something if you really want to. But the muffins here are terrible, so go for a cookie instead!” he told you.

When you returned with some chocolate chip cookies, he took them from you with a wink. He let you have some too, claiming that you needed fuel to study.

While you were deep into one of the books you were reading and taking notes on a sticky note, you finally looked down to write something and found a smiley face on the corner of your sticky note. Not remembering drawing that, you looked up at Jinhwan, but he was also busy studying. It had to be him, you thought.

You picked up your pen and finding a free spot in the margin of his notebook, doodled a fox carefully.

A few minutes after you returned to your own work, he asked, “well I wonder where this fox came from?”

“Well I wonder where this smiley face came from?” you asked him, pointing to the smiley face on your sticky note. The two of you laughed quietly.

Some time after that, your roommate declared that they wanted to start getting fit.

“You’re literally saying that as you’re finishing a whole tub of ice cream,” you said, laughing.

Your roommate dropped the tub and stood up with their fist raised.

“We are going to the gym, right now!”

With no escape, you followed your friend to the campus gym and signed up for a membership. As you were doing so, you heard a familiar voice.

“I don’t want to! Why do we all have to sign up? This is so annoying.”

Jinhwan?

As you turned around, your suspicions were confirmed. He was being pushed by his roommates, your other program seniors, towards the front desk which you were stood at, and he was whining loudly like a baby.

“Oh, it’s [y/n]!” one of the seniors, named Junhoe, who was pushing him said. Upon hearing your name, Jinhwan stood up straight and laughed awkwardly, waving hello.

“[y/n], we all promised we would sign up for the gym since our program’s marathon is coming up and this fool,” Hanbin, another senior, said while pointing to Jinhwan, “signed us up for it. But now he doesn’t want to work out with us!”

You laughed. How cute, you thought.

Jinhwan stood there, scratching the back of his head.

“Actually, my roommate is making me sign up, too. So I guess we’re in the same boat!”

“See, if [y/n] can do it then so can you!” Bobby, another senior, said.

With both of you being forced to sign up, you made your way into the gym. Your roommate dragged you aside for a second.

“Who’s Jinhwan and how do you know him and-”

“He’s my senior,” you said, cutting your roommate off before they asked too many questions.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Your roommate analyzed your face.

“Are you sure?” they asked, narrowing their eyes.

“Yes!” you screamed. Jinhwan and his friends all looked at you and you pressed your lips together out of embarrassment.

“Look what you made me do!” you said to your roommate, who was walking ahead while laughing loudly.

When the marathon that only the upper years were supposed to participate in finally rolled around, you stood at the finish line, handing out water to everyone who finished. The marathon was to raise money for your program, since it was not funded so well.

You cheered all of your seniors on under the hot sun, fanning yourself to try to cool down. I could just... take one water bottle... no! It’s for the seniors and we don’t have enough!

As you struggled to decide between drinking one of the waters secretly or leaving them for your seniors, a sweaty Jinhwan finally crossed the finish line.

He looked extremely tired, so you grabbed a bottle of water and a towel before running up to him.

“You did it! Good job!” you said, handing him the supplies that you had grabbed.

He was bent over with his hands on his knees, but straightened up to take the water from your hands. But he hesitated before handing it back to you.

“It’s fine, you should drink it,” he panted. He reached for a hat that he had managed to tie to his waist, and handed that to you, too.

“You should wear a hat in this weather! Be careful,” he said, placing the cap on your head before walking away. Confused, you trailed back to the water station that you were stood at.

“Didn’t he give you the water? Drink it then! And give me some too!” your friend, who was also manning the water station with you, said.

You watched Jinhwan as he lay sprawled out in the grass.

This won’t do.

Handing the bottle to your friend, you ran towards the closest building in search of a vending machine. Finding one, you bought a water and ran back to hand it to Jinhwan, who was still sprawled out in the grass.

Panting, you crashed on the grass next to him and handed him the bottle. He sat up, eyeing it,

“But I just gave my water to you-”

“Drink it!” you said breathlessly before lying down in the grass next to him.

You heard him taking big gulps before he also laid down next to you and right then in that moment, you asked yourself why you ran for ten minutes just to buy bottled water for Jinhwan.

When you looked up at him and watched the sun light up his face, showing his skin sticky with sweat and his hair a mess, you felt like something was welling up inside you.

You liked Jinhwan.

During finals week, you vowed that you were going to sit in the same library cubicle for the entire week to study. No leaving. No getting distracted. You would only leave to use the washroom, wash your face, take a shower, eat or brush your teeth. Otherwise, you were sleeping in there.

Intense, but you needed to do what you had to do to study.

Your exams were later than everyone else’s, so while everyone else was enjoying their Winter break, you were still studying.

Thud.

You looked up after you had buried your head in your books to find your favourite vending machine drink sitting next to your laptop. Confused and wondering if this was a hallucination, you looked around for who might have left it there.

“Boo!” Jinhwan said from the cubicle next to you.

You jumped up in fright, yelling at him for scaring you.

Then you got scolded by a librarian and Jinhwan laughed.

“Seriously, I’m doing some major studying right now! No distractions!” you told Jinhwan.

“Is that your way of saying thanks?”

“Thank you,” you groaned.

“You’re really something. I’ve never studied this hard for my exams,” Jinhwan said.

“Well that’s your problem, not mine!” you said, sticking out your tongue at him.

Since your first encounter, you had been seeing Jinhwan more often around campus and felt a lot more comfortable around him.

“What? Is that how you treat your senior?” Jinhwan joked. “Anyway, I’m here to wish you good luck! And remind you to take breaks. Speaking of which, do you wanna go grab ice cream? Go for a walk?”

“Go for a walk? Am I your dog?” you scoffed.

Jinhwan sighed.

“You know what I mean!”

You ended up leaving your cubicle for an hour to walk through campus with Jinhwan. The night air was cold but refreshing, and there was something calming about the empty campus with the few streetlights lighting the way. You almost tripped and fell onto Jinhwan a few times because it was so dark, but each time he caught you and giggled softly in a way that made you want to squeal because he was so. damn. cute.

A year later

“IT’S READING WEEK!” your roommate yelled as they packed their suit case.

“Yay,” you said, quietly.

“Yay? We’re going home! What is this sad reaction?”

“Going home means a week without Jinhwan...”

Your roommate groaned.

“Are you kidding me? You went a whole summer break without him, what is this?

“Yeah, and it was terrible!” you said.

“You two need to stop beating around the bush and start dating already.”

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?” you yelled.

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? It’s been two years of you liking each other! Just kiss, jeez!”

“This is a sad unrequited love and you cannot convince me otherwise.”

“[y/n]... I’m not even gonna bother. I’m done. I’m not gonna say anything!” your roommate said, walking to the bathroom.

Two seconds later, they walked back in.

“DO YOU NOT SEE the way this man looks at you? He’s always so nice to you and for what? You’re not a freshman anymore!”

“We’re friends!”

“This is pathetic! I’m gonna have to get the ball rolling myself,” your friend said, grabbing your phone.

Their grip was too strong, so you only got a hold of your phone after they let go. Your messages app was open. Your chat with Jinhwan was open. Oh no.

Jinhwan! do u want to stay at my house for reading week? :)

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” you yelled, throwing a pillow at your roommate who laughed in response.

“I’m doing God’s work!”

Your phone vibrated and your heart raced.

really? i’d love to! my family wanted me to help out with home renovations T.T and i’d rather spend reading week with u~

“He agreed,” you said, surprised. “HE AGREED!”

“And this is my house,” you said, opening the door and letting Jinhwan enter first.

“Woah,” he said, looking around.

“There isn’t much, really...”

“I wanna see your room,” Jinhwan said, kicking off his shoes and immediately walking upstairs.

“Wait!” you said, running after him.

“I can really tell which one is yours,” he said, chuckling as he found your room.

As he looked around, you felt super embarrassed, so you told him that you would be downstairs unpacking.

A few minutes later, Jinhwan walked up to you downstairs, holding something in his hand. His face was red and there was a smile on his face.

“[y/n], please explain this,” he said, handing you what he was holding.

It was your journal.

And it was opened to a page where you had written about your feeling for Jinhwan.

You had forgotten all about this.

Oh no.

You had written all about your first encounter and the late night ice cream, the time he helped you find books at the library, the time you awkwardly met at the gym, the time you ran for 10 minutes just to buy water for him from a vending machine and how you realized your feelings for him then, and the time he came to visit while you were studying.

The last sentence was: He’s literally the most perfect human alive and honestly I’m so glad I’ve even met him; I like him a lot.

When you finished reading it, you closed it and walked away from where you had been standing in the living room to the kitchen, trying to process everything.

With your back turned, you said, “Jinhwan, just forget you ever read that, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Let’s just be friends still, okay? Please just forget about that...”

You were close to crying with how embarrassed you felt. You didn’t want your friendship to be ruined because of this.

“Are you sure you want me to forget about it?” Jinhwan asked you.

“Yes, please.”

“Even when I feel the same way?”

Now there was something that you did not expect. You could not have predicted this.

“What?” you asked, turning around to face him out of shock.

“I like you too, [y/n]. Do you want to forget about it?” he said, smiling the same smile he did on that first day when you were eating ice cream together at midnight.

“No, I... need time to process this...”

“Am I allowed to hug you, though?” Jinhwan asked, opening his arms. When you nodded, he moved towards you and wrapped his arms around you, placing his head into your shoulder. It was a hug that was so full of love, you felt like you were melting on the spot.

“You know I did all of those things because I like you, right? Helping you at the library and checking on you when you studied.. I didn’t know at the time, but I found out later... that I like you.”

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kimetsu-no-reader · 5 years

Note

AAAAA I just discovered ur blog and im in love, ur writing is AMAZING 🥺 could i please request giyuu x reader where giyuu sees reader for the first time after 4 years (basically since sabito's death as they were best friends before?) saving tanjiro squad from a demon (using whichever breath style you like!) And hes like, in shock bc its been so long and its just like a cutesy emotional reunion?? Maybe they hug eachother like crazy? Thank you SOSOSO much if u do this! 💖💗💕

AaAAAaAAa THANK YOU SO MUCH ;; That means so much to me!! 💖🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍 I’m so happy you enjoy my work, and I hope you enjoy this one!!

Giyuu Tomioka

You’d heard a faint scream in the distance as you were taking your usual stroll around the outskirts of the small village you resided in. You knew the scream all too well at this point; one that radiated the need for help.

You clenched the blade on your side and proceeded to run towards the aforementioned noise, making quick work of the ground as you all but glided across it.

The faint sounds of what seemed to be a bird talking also came across your ears.

“...demon! ...Tanjirou... trouble!” Those were all the words you could make out from where you currently were, but whoever this Tanjirou person was seemed to be in trouble. You were also well aware now that you were probably about to intervene with the Demon Slayer Corps, which made you feel slightly uneasy.

After a bit of sprinting, you finally came across a huge, relatively vile looking demon; along with it, a boy with a checkered haori, and another... boy (you assumed, given the lack of shirt) wearing a boar mask. Both were heavily wounded, the boar-wearing one more severely than checkerboard.

You feel like you’d hidden your presence well enough to land an attack on the demon in question, so you drew your sword; with one swift motion, you muttered, your breathing as steady as possible:

“Total Concentration: Breath of Water... Twelfth Form: White Water Riptide!”

Your sword sliced through the demon’s neck effortlessly, two thin streams of water following your sword, encircling the demon’s neck to deliver the killing cut.

As you landed softly onto the ground, you sheathed your sword, taking a deep breath as the demon’s head flopped on the ground with a heavy thud beside your feet; the ribbon you had tied in your hair had accidentally flown off when you killed the demon, landing in front of you as well.

The two boys in front of you just stared at you, the dark red haired one’s jaw was slightly agape. You couldn’t get a read on the other, though. But you were pretty sure his face was the same way.

“What?” You glanced at them, blowing a few stray strands of your hair out of your face as you addressed them.

“Who the hell are you?!” Yelled the brutish boar, who had way too much energy for looking like he’d been slung to hell and back.

“Inosuke!” Yelled the other, scolding him. “I’m terribly sorry, ma’am!” He bowed his head, grabbing the back of Inosuke’s head and making him bow along with.

“We’re forever in your debt! Thank you for saving us!”

“Kamaboko Gonpachiro! Fight me!” Inosuke yelled in protest as the other’s hand gripped the back of his neck, still forcing him to be in a bowed position.

You leaned over to grab the ribbon from the ground, tying your hair back up as you stood straight again.

“Don’t mention it-” You said curtly, pausing mid-sentence and furrowing your brow. “Say, are you two part of the Demon Slayer Corps?”

“Yes ma’am!” Responded checkboard haori. He’s so polite. You thought to yourself.

“My name is Tanjirou Kamado, and this is Inosuke Hashibira!” He added, removing his hand from Inosuke and walking up to you. You were still incredibly puzzled as to how he was walking considering how damaged they looked.

“Why did the pig called you Konosuba Gazpacho?” You tilted your head, looking at Tanjirou. “Did he get hit in the head during your fight?”

Tanjirou stifled a laugh, but the other boy was definitely not pleased.

“LISTEN!” The half-naked one yelled, “Just because you saved us doesn’t mean you’re strong! Don’t go thinking you can talk to me like that!”

You snorted, rolling your eyes a little bit. “Yeah, okay.” was all you responded with.

Meanwhile, in the midst of squabbling with Inosuke, you hadn’t noticed the familiar presence behind you.

“You.” Came a familiar voice, and you froze. For the first time in years, your total concentration breathing had ceased momentarily; heart leaping into your throat. Your head turned slowly to look behind you, eyes widened as you gazed upon the raven haired man behind you.

He had dropped his sword, something that shocked the two boys in front of you.

“Giyuu-san!” Tanjirou yelled, his eyes lighting up as he addressed the water hashira. “Do you know this girl? She just saved our lives!”

You took a sharp breath of air, completely numb to all of the sound around you.

“Is that? Is that really Giyuu?” Is all you could think. Your hands were clammy, but you turned your body towards the taller man. You looked at his face, and noticed two glimmering lines of tears streaming down his face as he spoke your name.

Almost immediately, you were also crying. Your chest felt like it was on fire as you ran towards Giyuu, hugging him with enough force to make him stumble backwards, landing on his back as you lay on top of him, practically sobbing.

“Oh my god, it’s you! It’s really you!” You repeated over and over, pressing your face into Giyuu’s chest, his arms were wrapped around your small frame, pressing you closely against him.

“I never thought I’d see you again!” You cried, gripping his mismatched haori.

“I thought you were dead,” Tomioka mumbled, sitting himself and you up, his hands firmly grasping your shoulders as he looked at your face “I really thought you were dead. I-”

You cut him off by pressing your lips against his, making Inosuke and Tanjirou turn around in embarrassment.

“Get a room, you animals!” Inosuke yelled.

You could feel Giyuu take in a sharp inhale of breath, his body growing warm with your sudden action. His face was stained a light shade of pink as well.

“I’m not dead,” You mumbled against his lips, breath quivering slightly as you spoke. “I just, I couldn’t deal with what happened to Sabito and Makomo and I-”

“Left?” The water hashira cut you off, the slightest hint of pain in his voice as he did.

You looked down, placing your hands in your lap, nodding slightly in acknowledgement.

Tomioka placed his hands on either side of your face, lightly cupping your cheeks and pulling your head up to look at him. His face had gone back to his usual calm demeanor, but a slight smile was present.

“Just don’t disappear again, alright?” His thumb trailed across your cheek, making you giggle a little at the touch.

“Fine.” You smiled, placing your hands on top of his.

Meanwhile, Tanjirou and Inosuke were whispering back and forth to each other about whether or not you two were an item, both wondering where the hell you came from.

⋆ටᆼට⋆

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chloelucia13 · 5 years

Note

can u write headcanons about being a ghost at the camp with xavier ??

Being a Ghost at Camp Redwood with Xavier: Headcanons

Warnings: angst, fluff, language, violence

Before going to Camp Redwood, you and Xavier weren’t very close. Sure, you attended his aerobics classes, but only because Montana dragged you along.

You stuck out like a sore thumb among the group, a quiet and timid girl who stuck to herself and her books. (Montana always whined about your reserved nature, claiming that “it was a total boner killer.”)

Maybe that’s why Xavier constantly stuck to your side during that terrible night, wanting to protect you from any danger that could’ve come to you. (Or maybe because he really liked you, but you were too scared to accept that.)

And that’s what led to the two of you cowering under one of the long mess hall tables, Mister Jingles mere feet from you both. Bertie was trying to appease him (and doing quite well at it) when the flashlight slipped from Xavier’s hand.

The two of you were completely paralyzed with fear, eyes wide as dinner plates as your mind raced with thoughts of what was going to happen to the two of you.

The moment Jingles shifted, the two of you split off in different directions. You scrambled on your hands and feet as fast as you could, trying to gain as much distance from the killer as possible.

You turned back for a split second, only to see Xavier get yanked up by his jacket collar and be knocked out.

You let out a scream of horror before you could stop yourself, watching his body crumple to the ground.

Jingles whipped his head around, eyes locking with your tear-filled ones. You tried to push yourself to your feet, but you were too slow.

He grabbed you by the hair, pulling your body off the floor. Your feet dangled off the ground, trying to kick and scratch at him, but to no avail. He plunged his knife deep into your stomach before dropping your body to the floor.

You could only watch in horror as he stabbed Bertie multiple times and tossed Xavier’s limp body into the oven, before your vision slowly slipped away.

You woke up after God knows how long, shooting up from the floor with a heavy gasp. You scrambled to your feet and placed your hands on your stomach, eyebrows furrowing with confusion when you felt no wound.

You were drawn from your thoughts when you heard harsh sobs sounding from behind you. You turned on your heel to see Xavier clutching a body, your body, in his arms.

“Xavier?” you whispered, slowly stepping towards him.“Y/N?” he choked out, looking up at you with tear-soaked eyes. “H-How?”

You shook your head, crouching down beside him. “I-I don’t know.” The sight of your dead body in his arms made your stomach churn. Then you noticed his hands, his face, all of his skin, covers in blisters and burns. “Oh my god...” You extended your fingers out towards him, gently skimming along his skin.

“I look like a monster."

You shook your head, moving to cup his face in your hands. “No you don’t. Besides, that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that you get the hell out of here.”

But he didn’t listen, which you found out about when he stumbled back into the mess hall the next morning, all of his burns gone.

The first year of adapting to being dead was tough, an empty void filling everyone’s chests as they all longed to be alive (Though you often joked that you felt the same as you felt when you were alive).

Then the killing kicked back up, but instead of Mister Jingles, it was your best friend and her new boyfriend, Xavier.

You and Ray tried your hardest to save whoever came to the camp, but you never succeeded.

Time and time again, you watched in horror as the blonde couple hacked and slashed every living thing they came across, no remorse felt whatsoever.

And, after years and years of watching visitors come but never go, you finally confronted Xavier.

“Why are you doing this?” you screamed at him, trying to apply pressure to a woman’s neck, where blood was violently spurting from.

“There’s no consequences, Y/N! And besides, they came trespassing onto our property,” he defended himself, a sick smirk on his face.

Once you felt the woman’s pulse finally still, you rose to your feet and advanced towards him. “How are you any different from Jingles, or Margaret, or Ramirez? Huh? Oh, that’s right, you’re not.” Tears welled in your eyes, so close to him you could feel his breath fanning across your face. “You’ve killed so many innocent people for no reason other than because you can.”

He clenched his jaw, gripping onto your arm. “It’s the only thing that makes me feel alive.”

“Taking a life from someone else makes you feel like you’re living?” You yanked your arm away from his grasp. “You’re disgusting.” With a huff, you turned on your heel and stomped away, tears streaming down your face.

For the next few weeks, you avoided him at all costs, usually spending time with Chet and Ray to try and distract yourself. You were so used to feeling empty, so this new feeling of anger and sadness and guilt in the pit of your stomach was quite a lot to handle.

You were sitting at the dock, feet dangling off the edge of the platform. It had only been days since Jingles and Ramirez and Margaret came and that entire concert had became a shit show. Jingles had disappeared, and now Ramirez was held prisoner in the abandoned shack for, what you knew, the rest of his life.

Footsteps sounded behind you, followed by a presence sitting to the right of you.

“You reek of blood,” you grumbled, scooting away slightly.He let out a chuckle, shaking his head slightly.

“Guess we have a lot of that to look forward to,” Xavier teased, shucking off his jacket.

You just let out a quiet huff in response. “What’d you use this time?”

“Chainsaw.”

“That’ll do it.”

The two of you sat in silence for a moment. “So, you’re talking to me now? What changed?”

“Nothing changed. I’m just being polite and courteous. Just because I’m talking to you doesn’t mean I want to.”

“But what if I want to talk to you?”“Bring all those tourists back to life, then maybe I’ll think about it.”

He rolled his eyes and let out a sigh, kicking off his sneakers. “I thought about what you told me.”

“Oh yeah? How long did it take for you to understand the words that came out of my mouth?”

He shook his head, leaning back on his hands. “You’re an asshole sometimes, you know that?”

“Well, I have a right to be.”He pursed his lips, taking off his socks and glancing over at you before hopping into the lake. With a devious smirk, he swam over to you and grabbed your ankle, tugging you into the water with him.

You let out a scream before being submerged in water, immediately swimming back up to the surface and shoving him. “You’re an asshole sometimes, you know that?” you spat his words back at him. “Why the fuck did you do that?”

“Because I needed to get this blood off me, and I also need to talk to you.” He grabbed both of your hands, holding them in his and keeping you close to him. “Can I please talk to you?”

You huffed, but nodded. “Fine. What do you want to talk about?”

“I thought about what you told me, and you’re right.”

“Wow, Mr. Xavier Plympton admitting that he was wrong? I thought I’d never see the day.”

“Can you please just listen to me?” You nodded, pursing your lips. “You’re right, okay? Killing all those people, it wasn’t right. I thought it made me alive, but it just... It made me feel more empty with each person I killed. It was like a drug, at the time it felt amazing, but then I kept needing more and more. I was addicted to it, and I hate it.”

As he was talking, you slowly began to make eye contact with him.

“A-And having Ramirez now, it takes that need that I have and gets rid of it, but it doesn’t make me feel guilty or empty. I can get my fix, and I’m doing something good in the process.” He squeezed your hands, flashing you a kind smile. “I-I want to promise you something.”

You tilted your head slightly, curious. “Promise me what?”

“I want to promise you that I will never kill another innocent person. Ever. The only person I’ll ever hurt is Ramirez.”

You nodded. “That’s really good. I’m proud of you.” You smiled softly at him, but let out a sigh afterward. “But... Why are you promising this for me? What do I have to do with all of this?”

“Because seeing how hurt you were when you confronted me about that, it broke my heart. A-And I couldn’t stand not being with you, not seeing you happy. Seeing you upset because of me. I hated it. I don’t want that to ever happen again. I-I really care about you, Y/N. I like you, a lot.”

“You like me?”

“Of course I do. How could I not? You’re so kind and beautiful a-and... And you helped me.” He let out a deep breath, taking your hands and pressing his lips to your palms. “Can you forgive me for what I’ve done?”

You smiled softly, slipping your hands from his so you could cup his cheeks. “If you keep your promise, then I absolutely can.”

His face broke out into a bright smile, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you into a tight hug.

“I’m still pissed at you for pulling me into the lake, though.”

#xavier plympton #xavier x reader #xavier plympton headcanons #michael langdon #jim mason #duncan shepherd #cody fern #ahs 1984 #american horror story 1984 #xavier plympton angst #xavier plympton fluff #xavier plympton smut #headcanons #asks #prompt #writing prompts

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dreamsafterhours · 4 years

Text

college boyfriend!markhyuk au series: III (mark’s pathway)

a universe in which roommates!markhyuk meet each other's s/o in class

markhyuk are roommates, my/n and dy/n are roommates, mark and dy/n take classes together and so do donghyuk and my/n — how will their fates intertwine?

genre: fluff pairings: mark+my/n (fem), donghyuk+dy/n (fem), platonic!mark+dy/n, platonic!donghyuk+my/n format: dotpoint AU universe: non idol, college bf warning: some swearing

masterlist

or click here to meet your soulmate, paediatrics!donghyuk!

II ⇤ | III | ⇥ IV

III: 별빛이 내린다 샤라랄라랄라라 (2+2=4)

the meeting of two souls: mark & my/n

hi hello good day how are you? i hope you're well today/tonight this is like 3 weeks late isn't it :D pls don't come after me i lost some motivation to write for a while but here i am now so let's get to it!!

aight so you met donghyuk's roommate for the first time yesterday and,,

you honestly had NO IDEA someone could be that cute

highkey regretting not asking for his name but you were so caught up in lingering on the fact that he implied you were pretty , like wHO DOES THAT ASDFKJL

you highkey shouted the verbal equivalent of a keyboard smash with ur roommate and she was all !! oh so this guy cute cute

you were contemplating whether or not to sneakily ask donghyuk for his name but you were worried bc hyuk has,, crazy sense when it comes to reading people and seeing through their words

and honestly you didn’t want to have to deal with hyuk potentially teasing the shit out of u for having a maybe crush on his roommate whom u’d just met

so you just beat your pillow sleep on it after your roommate reminds you it’s getting late and no life decisions should be made after 12am!! live by it

you wake up craving jjajangmyeon but alas if you were to get any satisfaction of that kind of hunger, it was going to have to wait because

~~ we love ~~ packed schedules ~~ in this house ~~

i hopes the sarcasm was noted in that previous sentence bc now u wish for life to cease

4 weeks into the semester and you were drowning in the midst of reports and lab pracs and content and revision

you were ready to ascend to the next life with only regret and an ability to vaguely explain the properties of a prokaryotic cell and endosymbiosis

but honestly donghyuk’s been a big help throughout the past month

your only friend in classes

official study buddy

2am revision session consultant

personal older brother bc he claimed you as his adoptive sister

another reason your roommate told you to go to bed was bc you literally have

a tutorial class + 2 consecutive 1.5 hour lectures + a 3 hour lab class to finish your day off

with no break for lunch in between :’((

looks like you’ll be starving through your library study session with dy/n

but oop

you find that dy/n had stayed up long after you’d fallen asleep writing her essay

leaving your dorm feeling a twinge of guilt that u might have distracted her from focusing on her work to listen to your rambles and kept her up later than she should have been

but a text from her in the afternoon reassures u that honestly she wasn’t even planning to write that essay and The Feels™ had just hit her last night and that she made it to class

you: oh PHEW that’s good

you: sorry i didn’t wake you up on my way out, u looked so peaceful i couldn’t bear to disturb

dy/n 🦁: dw dw it’s all g i made it n e way

dy/n 🦁: also is it cool if my friend and his friend comes to the study sesh as well we have to go through some lecture content

you: ah yes don’t see why not :)) i’ll probs have my earphones in the entire time anyways lmao won’t affect me

but will it

“who u texting in the middle of diffusion” cue hyuk peering over at the phone you’re hiding in your lap

you click your tongue at him and lock your phone, “someone twice the man you’ll ever be”

he gasps in mock horror like he’d just witnessed a murder as quietly as he can ,,

“you’re texting a guy? in the middle of diffusion?”

“no. my roommate lmao”

“and what? is it me or your roomma—”

“—my roommate” you glance back up at the prof without looking at him

“ouch”

“you dare?”

“if i don’t dare, who will”

and due to this exchange, you miss the osmosis slide

“ah shit what was osmosis again”

“lmfao what makes u think i know that”

(pause)

“isn't it just.. net movement of free water molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration”

sorry my bio neural pathways are being excited again after being revisited for the first time in two years

/stares at him/ “why was that infuriating to hear from u”

after class you prepare to head to your dreaded 3-hour lab class you have with donghyuk but he stands up and stares into the void blankly

“where am i going”

“where do u think”

“oh, hell, most likely”

you scoff at the accuracy and drag him out of the lecture hall

you look at donghyuk and he’s visibly resisting the urge to poke your cheek when he first puts on his gloves

“what’s with you today”

he stares at his hands forlornly, “idk ask that to my timetable”

“week 4 got u dead huh”

he glances at you with a frown, “don’t act like u’re not dying too”

“damn. touché”

to your dismay, the lab class runs later than scheduled and you get out of it 20 minutes after it was meant to finish but luckily it’s your last class

with a quick goodbye to donghyuk and a text letting dy/n know you were going to be a lil late, u stop by ur dorm to pick up ur textbook before rushing to the library

you were highkey exhausted and just. famished by that point

but a promise is a promise and you weren’t going to back out of one now

especially when you felt like you owed your roommate one and it was you who originally suggested a library session

so you get to the library, bag strap slung over your shoulder, checking the photo of the seats dy/n had saved for you in the library

highkey getting lost once or twice but you manage

you get to the general area and spot dy/n sitting at a four-seater (wow how’d they get that) but you

freeze when you see who’s sitting next to her

it’s ??

????????

????????????????

/error 404/

????????????????

????????

ur heart goes into panic mode bc

it’s not even kidding it’s donghyuk’s roommate

and despite ur brain short-circuiting

you manage to remember that dy/n had said that mentioned her friend’s.. roommate.. also coming along..

and if her friend was donghyuk’s.. roommate..

you: : )

you: oh my god they were roommates

and speak of the devil

“oh hey fancy seeing u here”

you turn around and it’s donghyuk legit chills right there

you barely reply a “hi”

“i thought u were going to ur dorm for dinner”

“ah yeah—no i’m.. gonna go over some.. diffusion”

“oii! over here dude” his roommate whisper-yells out at donghyuk

dy/n waves at you “heYY my/n”

donghyuk waves and turns back to you “welp i’m gonna join a study group.. you could join if you came alone? i’m sure they won’t mind”

“about that”

“u waiting for someone?”

“i’m going over there too”

“what?”

he glances over at the table and then back to you

“that’s my roommate. right there next to your roommate”

you point her out and then donghyuk’s jaw drops

“what the fUC—” and you both. burst iinto laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation

like ?? how???

“wOW r u KIDDING”

“HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN”

“talk about a coincidence.. oh my god my cheekbones hurt” he says as he clutches his side

so you get to the table and dy/n tries to introduce u to donghyuk’s roommate

“mark, this is my/n, my/n this is mark”

ah yes so mark is his name, you think

cute name for a cute boi

“nice to meet you again, mark”

dy/n: “?? again?”

mark gives u a rlly wide smile “yeah we’ve met. hi my/n”

you swear you’ve never had your heart flutter like this

fdksoafjadgioarigilf

then mark introduces dy/n to donghyuk and they start talking about how they’re your legal guardian and telling the other to “get in line”

leaving you in middle like “ok mum and dad” but also thinking back to when donghyuk was highkey flirting with you,, and now how he’s flirting with dy/n ,, oh dude he’s flirting

and highkey ,,, you don’t have any hard feelings about it ,, you know she’s also got this kind of humour code and she’s far more comfortable with meeting new people

until dy/n jokes about custody rules and donghyuk replies with “who says we’re split”

ok mum and dad

n e ways you came to study and study you will

so you settle down and go through your notes for the day

albeit being a lil distracted by mark who sits right across from you somehow, somewhy,,

somewhy should be a word you can’t tell me how to english

you keep wanting to steal glances at him but you have to physically restrain yourself from doing so

and also donghyuk who keeps poking u under the table and texting u even though he’s right next to you

💩hyuk: bro

you: wHAT

💩hyuk: nvm lol

you: im boutta slap u. give me my pen back i saw that

💩hyuk: damn

💩hyuk: also r u hungry

you: terribly

you: why

💩hyuk: does ur roommate have any allergies

you: not that i know of

you: again

you: why

you: u buyin?

💩hyuk: 🤡<- you

💩hyuk: 🤡, how do you feel about dinner

you: invalid question. no variable answer

💩hyuk: alright, 🤡. im not buying for u

you glower at him but he isn’t looking at u,, he leans back and laments about how he’s craving chinese food

did he read your damn mind how did he know

and apparently he’s read dy/n’s mind too at how she jumps up at the mention of chinese and agrees profusely

so you find yourself abandoning your studies for the rest of the night and in a restaurant lmfao

“chill,, guys,,, jjajang is fine”

rock paper scissors for the cheque ends in mark’s tears

“no it’s ok. i’m ok it’s our first meeting as a fateful group and it makes sense! for me to pay”

after you satisfy your cravings the boys walk dy/n and you back to your dorm

mark tells dy/n to give him her bag for him to carry and while she practically gives it up to him, he has to insist that he’ll carry yours too

to which you’re like omg no it’s fine i can carry it it’s not that heavy i swear—

until donghyuk takes ur bag off ur shoulder and passes it to mark

because of the narrow path, you’re forced to walk in pairs and you end up walking next to donghyuk who makes happy sounds about how good that food was and how priceless mark’s face was when he lost rock paper scissors

then dy/n takes the initiative to make a group chat for you four,, asking for donghyuk’s number to add

you give her a look like damn gurl but you have no idea if she saw or if she just ignored you on purpose lmfao

also donghyuk looked way too happy afterwards

either way you slapped her when you got back to the dorm like “SINCE WHEN WERE YOU SO ?? BRAVE?”

dy/n: um

dy/n: honey

dy/n: have you met me

and thus the chaos of a group chat was born and just like a real child, you spent hours on it

dy/n 🦁: ok we inside

you: thanks for dinner again mark!

💩hyuk: he says you’re welcome

💩hyuk: i say we “accidentally” lose our purses next time we go out

you: nah you’re paying next

💩hyuk: y

💩hyuk: y, 🤡

dy/n 🦁: yes y, 🤡

dy/n 🦁: HAHAH WHY IS SHE 🤡

💩hyuk: i thought you of all people would know

dy/n 🦁: why is she just as dumb in class as she is in the dorm?

💩hyuk: i knew it

dy/n 🦁: she poured too much hot water into her tea the other day it overflowed and spilt onto her foot

mark: oh no were u okay

💩hyuk: looks like you’re gonna have to study osomsis

💩hyuk: osmoiss

💩hyuk: fuck

you: yes i’m okay it wasn’t that hot i had socks on too

💩hyuk: osmosis

dy/n 🦁: avoided tragedy luckily

💩hyuk: finally

you: there is a reason you’re saved as 💩hyuk on my phone

dy/n 🦁: HAAHAHAHAHHAHAH

seriously you just don’t know just how much this group was going to mean to you yet

click here to meet your soulmate, paediatrics!donghyuk!

II ⇤ | III | ⇥ IV

shoot me an ask if you’d like to be tagged in future parts!

#dreamwritersnet #kwritersworldnet #neowriters #nct au #nct 127 au #nct dream au #markhyuck #markhyuck au #markhyuck x reader #mark x reader #haechan x reader #donghyuck x reader #mark au #haechan au #donghyuck au #nct college #nct college au #eng lit mark #paediatrics haechan

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jincherie · 6 years

Text

vulpine | yoongi [m]

↼pairing: yoongi x reader ↼genre: gumiho!yoongi, supernatural creatures!au, smut ↼words: 12.7k+ ↼rating: nsfw ↼warnings: smut: explicit sexual content, oral (recieving), fingering, lots of cum, she fucks the fox, also he consumes her life force a bit its no biggie, slight dirty talk ↼notes: happy belated yoongi day y’all!! ah, it feels good to write again

Life as a supernatural exterminator is never boring, but when you get called to a case at a large home in the woods you think its nothing more than just the usual haunting. It didn’t take you long after arriving, however, to realise that it wasn’t a ghost or poltergeist plaguing this house, but something different, something dangerous.... something alive.

↼posted; 11.03.2018

masterlist

A soft sigh left you as you pulled the handbrake up, twisting the key in the ignition to turn the engine off. Honestly, your small little compact car didn’t do a very good job of making a professional first impression. It was nothing like the strong, bulky black four-wheel drive that you usually drove when on the job, but your business partner was using it right now. Namjoon had terrible timing— he was mostly in charge of the logistics and office aspects of your business, while you went out on the field and took the jobs. He almost never had reason to use the car, but of course he happened to need it when you were going to meet and assess a job for a new, well-paying client.

On the topic of the client… you peered up through your windscreen at the large, looming house before you. It was honestly only a couple of feet short of being a mansion, a curious blend of modern and traditional styles evident in its architecture and surrounded by reasonably dense forestry on all sides. Although, if you were remembering correctly, you’d also passed a large lake on the way in as well. It had been a beautiful scenic drive, and you would have enjoyed it more if your mind wasn’t preoccupied with thoughts of this new job and what exactly you were going to encounter in the house at the end of the winding road.

As a supernatural exterminator, it was your job to help people out when they encountered problems of the more paranormal kind. You’d seen it all— ghosts, spirits, sprites, disgruntled fae. Hell, you were pretty sure that from what you’d heard over the phone, the people in this house were dealing with a poltergeist, or a haunting. Flickering lights and power surges, missing objects, levitating items— whatever was in this house was strong, but it didn’t seem particularly malevolent. You were going in today to do a more formal assessment and see if your suspicions were correct.

Staring up at the house for a moment longer, you caught sight of a curious face peaking out through the blinds, a face that immediately paled and lurched back a second later when they caught your gaze and realised you’d seen them peeping. Unable to contain your grin, you grasped your duffel bag and swung your door open, easing out of the small car and locking it behind you once the door was safely shut. It mightn’t be your first choice to take on a job, but this car had a special place in your heart and you didn’t ever want anything to happen to it.

Adjusting the strap of the bag on your shoulder, you turned and began towards the front door of the house, your footsteps light but boots crunching loudly on the golden leaves beneath nonetheless. It didn’t take you long to reach the porch, and it wasn’t even three seconds after you knocked that the large, white door was swinging inwards and you were greeted by three nervous, youthful faces.

“U-um, can we help you?” spoke a crimson-haired male, whose cheeks were slightly pink, ears burning. You guessed he was the one that you’d caught peeking out the window. You were surprised, however, at their question.

“Excuse me?” you queried, head tilting slightly. Perhaps you’d gotten the wrong address. “Did you not call for a supernatural exterminator?”

You watched as all three of their faces simultaneously lit in realisation.

“Uh, yes— yes we did. Sorry. We just spoke to a guy named Namjoon on the phone, and assumed he’d be the one coming out…” one of the other males spoke, silver hair falling over his forehead as his cheeks flushed slightly. “I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have—”

You laughed, “No, that’s fair. Although I don’t know how much help Namjoon would be. He’s really good at his job, but also a scaredy cat, and a klutz. I keep him on officework.”

They all nodded in understanding, mouths dropping open slightly. It was silent for a few moments as you peered into the house, trying to get a feeling of the place. Strangely enough, it felt… off. Different, very unlike all the other poltergeist or haunting cases you’d taken. There was something in the air you couldn’t put your finger on, and the hair at the back of your neck strained to raise, as though it wanted to but didn’t quite have sufficient reason yet.

You returned your gaze to the three males that were staring at you blankly. You blinked, a smile beginning to creep onto your face. “Are you going to let me in…? I mean, I can work from out here, but it might be a bit difficult.”

Immediately and once more in synch, they all flinched back into the present moment and jumped back, clearing the way for you and bumping into each other in the process as they fumbled apologies. You tried not to laugh as you stepped into their house, politely keeping your eyes averted as they whispered angrily at each other to ‘get off my toe, Jungkook! You’re too heavy!’.

“This is quite a large house you have, must be a lot of rooms,” you observed, partly for your own benefit and partly to make conversation. “Is it just you three living here?”

All three of them followed behind you as you moved further into the house, inspecting portraits and walls. It was surprisingly modern inside, although you didn’t really know what you’d expected since it hadn’t been particularly ancient on the outside.

“Uh, yeah— I mean, Hobi used to live here too but when all the freaky things started happening he booked it. He’s not very good with scary things,” the final of the three males spoke this time, seeming slightly nervous as he laughed lightly and brushed raven hair from his eyes.

At the mention of a name, you suddenly realised you’d completely forgotten to give yours and instantly cursed yourself for being so rude and unprofessional. You turned, facing the three of them, and they stopped in turn, startled.

“Right, I never introduced myself,” you said, before offering a smile and holding out your hand. “I’m y/n, and I’ll be taking care of your case. It’s nice to meet you.”

The one with silver hair immediately grasped your hand and opened his mouth to respond, but you stopped him quickly when you realised what he was probably about to do.

“Don’t say your full name,” you instructed, offering a soft smile to lessen how weird it sounded. “There is power in a name and it’s not good for certain entities to have that over you.”

The male paled, before gulping and recovering, a shaky smile that still shone brighter than you expected stretching his lips. “I see. I’m Jimin, this is Jungkook and this is Taehyung. It’s nice to meet you, y/n.”

You smiled, shaking the hands of the other two before you returned your gaze to the room you’d found yourselves in. A lounge room, complete with well-worn couches and a large flatscreen that seemed to be used largely for gaming, if the consoles and controllers were anything to go by. A large doorway to your right revealed a kitchen and dining area, and another to your left revealed the hallway and a large staircase that presumably led to the upper floors.

A breeze seemed to pass through the room, cool against your skin, but most notably causing the hairs at the back of your neck to raise. You turned your gaze to the three males.

“So, I know you told Namjoon what’s been going on, but would you mind repeating it for me?” you asked, placing your duffel bag down when it started to hurt your shoulder. “It will help me piece together what we’re dealing with here.”

“Of course!” the crimson-haired male, Taehyung, seemed to have gotten over his initial embarrassment at having been caught peeking out the window and was now eager to talk. “Well, first of all, our things have been going missing. I haven’t been able to find a matching pair of socks for weeks, Jungkook’s keys keep going missing and turning up on the opposite side of the house, where he hasn’t been for them to get there, and Jimin’s lube keeps disa—”

Jimin, face and ears burning bright pink, delivered a solid punch to Taehyungs arm that had him shutting up instantly and emitting a pained grunt. Jungkook snickered, continuing for his friends since Taehyung didn’t want to risk death and Jimin currently looked like he’d literally rather be anywhere else but here.

“We’ve noticed lights flickering, sometimes our alarms will go off at weird times that we haven’t set them to, and sometimes we walk into a room and there’s something floating in the air,” the raven-haired male supplied, hands wringing nervously as he held your gaze. “What do you think it is?”

You hummed, comparing the information you’d just received to what you’d heard from Namjoon. It matched, and you pinned them with a slightly concerned gaze. “Have any of you been hurt? Slapped, scratched or hit by something you can’t see?”

They seemed alarmed, but all shook their heads ‘no’, and you let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good,” you said, offering a reassuring smile. “It doesn’t seem to be as serious as it could be. I think this is either a haunting, or a poltergeist.”

Jungkook sputtered. “Poltergeist? What’s the difference?”

You turned, gazing about as you decided how to word what you wanted to say. You’d said you thought it could be those things, but honestly… something still felt off. It didn’t feel like it should if it were a poltergeist, or even a haunting. Your skin didn’t crawl, and you weren’t filled with the immediate urge to run, to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible. You didn’t feel like you were in danger, you felt…

A shudder rolled down your spine as your skin prickled and a chill brushed over the back of your neck. You felt like you were being watched.

The feeling was faint, almost barely there, and you decided to ignore it for a moment to answer the concerns of the three boys before you.

“Both share similar signs, but a haunting is more like a… recording, you could say, of an event on an environment. Nothing living is the cause. But with poltergeists, its usually caused by the psychic energy from the unconscious mind of a living person, who is usually under some sort of stress.”

Understanding dawned on their faces, and you moved over to trace a finger over the worn material of the couch, observing the faint scratch marks in the leather. “Do you guys have a cat?” you queried absentmindedly, turning to meet their eyes.

When they shook their heads you hummed and filed the information away for later. You then proceeded as you usually would, inspecting the house and even taking out some technology to rule out certain possibilities. By the end of it you weren’t too much closer to finding out what is was that was inhabiting this house with them, and the feeling of being watched never truly faded.

At last, after a good half hour or so, you made your way back to the front door, duffel bag over your shoulder, and began to bid them farewell.

“Thank you for having me,” you said politely, smiling when they muttered responses with grins of their own. You suspected your presence had eased them greatly. “I’ve done a couple of tests, and I’ve ruled out a couple of things, but I still need to go and put all the information together and figure out what to do next. I…”

Your voice halted suddenly as your eyes strayed from the three males to the right where the staircase lay. In the harsh shadows beneath the stairs, something glimmered with an indecipherable source of light, and you squinted to make it out before your heart suddenly stopped. A pair of slitted golden eyes pierced through the black and bore straight into your soul, igniting a sharp and sudden fear within you that you hadn’t had time to prepare yourself for. All at once the feeling of being watched intensified, a chill freezing your back as a shudder rolled down the length of your spine under the sudden, crushing weight of a stare you hadn’t noticed until just now. Your breath stuttered, and you just barely managed to recover as the eyes retreated, fading back into the deep shadows, and the weight lifted just enough for you to talk once more. You whipped your gaze back to your clients.

“I… I’ll be back soon, and we’ll see where to take it from there. Until then, I’m just a call away. You can reach me on this number,” your fingers trembled slightly from the adrenalin now coursing through your veins as you handed Jimin your personal business card. They didn’t seem to notice what had just happened, and if they did then they didn’t show it. Jimin offered you a grateful smile.

“Thank you so much, y/n,” he said, sincerity seeping into his tone and warming some of the blood frozen in your veins. “We look forward to seeing you again.”

You smiled, barely managing to keep it natural, and bid them farewell. The entire walk back to your car, your back burned with the weight of a gaze that was most certainly not meant to be there, and your heart didn’t stop racing until you were well on your way home.

It wasn’t a haunting, or a poltergeist that was inhabiting that house. Another unwitting shudder rolled down your spine. No, it was something alive, something supernatural that you hadn’t ever encountered before.

And the swirling feeling in your gut told you it wasn’t going to be something that was easy to get rid of.

x x x x x x x

It wasn’t even a week later that you found yourself back at the house that Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung shared. You’d been planning on coming back a bit later; in the four days you’d had since you were last here you’d been loaded up with work from other cases and had barely had time to research into what was causing such a ruckus at their home. However, this morning you’d received a somewhat panicked call from Taehyung, wherein he almost begged you to come back because something else ‘freaky’ had happened and they were all alarmed. So here you were, stepping out of your car and walking up towards the front door once more. Funnily enough, Namjoon had needed the work car today as well. You were going to have to arrange a roster and tell him to do all his business on those days so he didn’t keep stealing it from you.

You didn’t even have a chance to knock, let alone steel yourself, before the door was swinging open and you were being ushered into the house once more by the wired-looking trio with wild hair and frantic looks. You were somewhat bewildered as they ushered you into the kitchen, stopping by the large window that allowed a generous amount of sunlight to filter through.

“Um, rough night?” you asked, shocked when Taehyung grasped your hands desperately and almost sobbed.

“y/n, we heard noises. All night. I-It was like footsteps, and then banging and- and shuffling, and then whenever one of us walked down the hallway upstairs there was growling— there was growling, y/n!” he blurted in a frantic, hushed whisper, the other two nodding along with each word that left his mouth.

Your eyebrows shot up. That was definitely a development, and one that didn’t sound too great. You cursed mentally, wishing you’d had more time to research what could possibly be going on here before you’d returned. The image from when you’d departed last time suddenly welled fresh in your mind, and a light dose of fear began to seep into your system. You took a deep breath.

“Well that doesn’t sound good,” you said, ignoring the dismayed looks on their faces in favour of turning and rifling through the kitchen drawer to your side. Fortunately, they had the item you were looking for, and you pulled out the piece of silverware you’d thought to grab. Jungkook gave the silver butterknife in your hand a dubious look but otherwise just seemed like he was trying to hold it together.

“Why are you whispering, by the way? Are the noises still happening?” you asked, placing your bag on the bench and digging around for your phone. You wanted to make sure it was easily available in case you needed to call Namjoon. “Also, where did they happen exactly?”

“No, they stopped around five-thirty, when the sun began to rise,” Jungkook answered, watching as you set your phone on the bench. “They happened upstairs, in the hallway between our bedrooms… why?”

“Do all of the things you reported to me happen at night, before the sun rises?” you asked, curious but also trying to piece together more of the puzzle before you. They all took a moment to think before nodding, realisation lighting in their eyes as they made the connection you just did. Whatever was in this house was predominantly active at night.

“Okay,” you said, straightening and pulling a smile on your face that you hoped reassured them. “Take me to the hallway between your bedrooms.”

They all looked understandably horrified by the idea, and you guessed they’d all probably been camping down here in fear ever since they heard the noises. It took them a moment to realise you were serious, at which point they grumbled slightly before begrudgingly turning to lead you up the stairs. A chill of fear slid down your spine like ice as you passed the staircase where you’d seen the eyes, but to your surprise there was nothing lurking in the shadows this time around— the shadows didn’t even seem deep enough to hide anything. There was still the faint feeling of being watched as you climbed the staircase, but nowhere near as intense as last time. It simply felt as though the walls had eyes, rather than an intense stare from one known source.

You followed the boys up the stairs and down a couple of hallways before they rounded a corner and abruptly halted. You peered around them to see what the hold up was, and hummed in understanding when you saw nothing but an empty hallway. Ah, they were just too afraid to go back in. That was understandable— in all honesty you’d rather not. But, bravery was a requirement in your line of work, and part of the reason you’d made it this far, so you gripped your butterknife tighter for a moment before stepping around them and moving into the hallway.

The floorboards, an indecipherable age, creaked slightly with the weight of your careful steps. You peered around, trying to see if there was, first of all, a logical source of the sounds. The walls were plain, and besides the doorways into their bedrooms, there was nothing else that really gave the opportunity for creaking and groaning, let alone growling. Perplexed, you walked down to the end of the hall and back, turning around in a full circle once you reached the middle. You looked to the three males huddled in the corner and fought the inappropriate urge to laugh at their distressed expressions. This was where they’d said they heard the growling, and the other noises, but you were struggling to see how…

In your sweep of the hallway, your eyes caught on something that glimmered peculiarly on the floor against the wall to your right. Blinking, you bent to inspect it further, surprise filling you as you took it between your fingers and realised what it was. Straightening, you held the pearl before your eyes and turned to the other three people in the hall.

“Does this belong to any of you?” you asked, expression neutral despite how quickly your mind was whirling. All three of them shook their heads, Jungkook’s lips pursing.

“Is that a pearl?” he queried, daring to step one foot closer and have a better look. You returned your own gaze to the object in question. You believed it was a pearl, although much bigger and much more perfectly formed than you had ever seen one before. It seemed to almost swirl before your eyes, a glimmering opalescent colour that seemed out of place against your thinly gloved hand.

“I think so,” you said, grasping the pearl loosely and turning around to see if there was anywhere it could have come from that you didn’t see before. Once more, there was nothing out of place, and you almost gave up before you got the sudden urge to look up. Realisation washed over you instantly.

Lo and behold, there was a door to the attic on the ceiling.

You let out a soft ‘huh’, before turning back to the boys and offering a reassuring smile. You were beginning to piece together a suspicion as to what exactly was plaguing them, although it wasn’t a haunting, or a poltergeist, it wasn’t exactly better. You walked over, beginning to travel back the way you’d come. They trailed after you like lost ducklings, muttering amongst themselves, and halted when you did at the bottom of the stairs, near the front door.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly out of the ordinary up there,” you began, watching as their expressions fell in confusion. “But I don’t doubt what you’re telling me. I’m still not sure what’s going on here, but… I have a much better idea than I did before.”

They nodded along to what you were saying, and you took a breath before continuing, a small smile on your lips. You didn’t know whether you were going to get a helpful answer with this question. “By any chance… have you ever had any fox problems? In the forest, or around the house…?”

To your surprise, all three of their faces lit in recognition.

“Actually, yes,” Jimin started, eyes wide in surprise at the fact you’d asked something like that. “There’s always been a lot of foxes in the area, but there was this one fox…”

Taehyung picked up where his friend left off, “We used to eat outside a lot more, but there was this one fox that always used to hang around and steal our food the second we weren’t looking. It always stole our meat. It always looked like it was laughing at us, too.”

There was a pout evident on his face by the time he stopped speaking, and you had to fight another grin as you spoke, “Sounds like this fox caused you a lot of grief, huh.”

They all nodded solemnly, completely serious, and you hummed, putting the information together. You thought you finally had an idea of what it was that was plaguing them, but you wanted to go home and research it further before you did anything further.

“Okay, well. I think I know what’s causing your problems,” you said as you started towards the door, opening it and preparing to leave. You subconsciously rolled the pearl in your grasp, marvelling at the strange energy that seemed to emit from it. “I’m going to go back and do some research so I’m better equipped, and when I come back I’ll have a plan on how to get your house back to the way it was.”

All three males looked at you like you’d personally saved them one by one from the fiery clutches of the devil himself.

“Thank you so much, y/n!” it was Jimin that was gushing his thanks to you once more, the others nodding along fervently.

“You’re welcome,” you said, offering one last smile before you departed with a wave, allowing the door to swing shut behind you. Your pulse calmed the second you were back in your car, the absence of the fear you’d felt last time helping greatly to soothe you. Right, now you were off home— you had some research to do before you visited this house once again.

x x x x x x x x x

“’Gumiho’? That’s not something I thought I’d ever see you searching. What brought this up?”

You started at the sudden presence behind you, the voice in your ear breaking you from your deep spell of concentration. Your ass nearly left your seat and met the floor with how badly you jumped. “Holy fuck Namjoon, don’t do that to me.”

The tall male snickered, coming around to the side of the desk where you could see him. His head tilted as he regarded the way you placed a hand over your chest to calm your racing heart. “Wow, you’re really wound up. Is this for a case?”

You let out a sigh, pulse sufficiently slowed for now, and nodded as your hand went back to the mouse and you clicked another link open. You had far too many tabs at this point, but there was a certain comfort in the chaos. Information on what you were looking for was so sparse that having so many tabs open made you feel like you were actually getting somewhere.

“Yeah,” you said, fighting a yawn that tried to climb its way up your throat. “I think this might be what’s bothering those three kids in the big mansion.”

Understanding dawned in Namjoon’s eyes. He blinked from behind his squared glasses. “You think a gumiho is bothering them?”

You nodded, abandoning the computer for a moment and leaning back in your squishy office chair to face him properly. Your fingers fiddled mindlessly with the thin, silken material of your pyjama shorts, your eyes drawn to the mug of what smelled like hot chocolate in Namjoon’s grasp. God, you wanted some of that action. You hadn’t had a hot chocolate in so long—

“Yeah,” you said, moving your gaze back to his face instead of fantasising about cocoa flavoured drinks. “I found this when I went over today— I think its one of the pearls gumiho’s are known to possess. They reported things that sounded like a haunting or a poltergeist, but they called me today and said that last night they heard sounds too, which I’d usually just add to the haunting signs but they said they heard growling.”

Namjoon nodded along and you continued, “They said they heard it every time they walked through the hallway between their bedrooms. So I went up and had a look, and I found this on the floor, and above it, on the ceiling, a door to the attic.”

Namjoon’s eyebrows rose as he pieced together what you were saying. “You think there’s a gumiho living in their attic and causing them trouble?”

You nodded with a slight shrug. “It’s all I’ve got so far, nothing else seems to fit quite as well. I mean, I’m actually a bit confused since from what I’m reading, the gumiho is very different from similar creatures in Japan and China. While they’re regarded to have a more ambiguous moral compass and often take the role of trickster, all I’m seeing on the gumiho is that it tends to be more malevolent, and usually takes a human form to lure other humans and eat their hearts.”

Namjoon made a face, looking down at his hot chocolate in slight distaste. “That is… problematic.”

You hummed in agreement. “That’s why I’m slightly confused. I haven’t been getting a malevolent feeling from that place, and so far none of them have been hurt, just scared. It seems like its playing with them, but that doesn’t fit the lore for gumihos. But at the same time, I haven’t heard of the other two fox creatures possessing pearls. So I’m not sure what to think.”

The tall male offered a shrug, placing his mug on the desk and gesturing towards it wordlessly to indicate you could have it— apparently he’d lost his appetite. You beamed, lurching forward to take the cup as he spoke. “Perhaps this gumiho has different preferences. You can’t expect them all to have the same personality, right?” he paused, tilting his head. “Have we ever dealt with a gumiho before?”

The trickle of nerves and apprehension that you’d been denying for most of the evening suddenly welled up, capturing your attention once more. You took a sip of your new hot chocolate to distract yourself from the feeling. “No, I don’t think we have. We’ve dealt with a couple of other creatures that weren’t the usual ghost or pixie infestation, but never one like this… never one that was intelligent and not bound by laws or rules.”

Namjoon hummed, resting his pyjama-clad hip against the desk. “I see. Don’t worry too much, whatever happens, I know you’ll be able to handle it. I wouldn’t start a business with someone that was incapable.”

You smiled, heart warming at his words. “And here I was thinking you started a business with me because I was your best friend. Would you have left me for someone better, Joonie? I’m hurt.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes at your playful jabs, and straightened up from the desk. “If only it were that easy to get rid of you,” he chortled, smiling when it elicited a laugh from you. His expression grew softer after a moment. “You should sleep soon, though. It’s nearly twelve, and you’re not going to be much good to someone if you’re tired and can’t think straight on the job.”

You nodded, since he had a point after all. You’d been rereading the same sentence over and over like a sleepy fool before he’d come and scared the living daylights out of you. You’d do a bit more reading, then you’d go to bed and finally rest your eyes.

“Yes sir,” you smarted, saluting and relishing in the exasperated eyeroll Namjoon gave you.

“Go to bed, brat,” he chuckled, turning to make his way up the stairs to his floor. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” you bid him farewell, already turning back to your laptop for your final bit of reading.

You spent a bit longer than you intended, going through quite a few of the tabs you’d pulled up, and by the time you were closing the lid and preparing for bed you thought you might have fried the last remaining brain cells you had. Although despite the painfully restricted amount of information and lore on gumihos, you had learnt a fair amount, so it wasn’t in vain.

They were similar enough to their Chinese and Japanese counterparts, but what set them apart was their perceived moral compass, their usual intentions, and their pearls. Gumiho, from what you had gathered, fed off the energy of others, and when doing this they used their pearls— which were apparently very precious to them and also tied to their life force, as some lore stated. Other sources stated that they also fed on the hearts of humans, but you didn’t know how accurate either was. Longevity was how they came to be, and could shapeshift into a number of forms. All that you’d read informed you that unlike the kitsune, when the gumiho shapeshifted into a human it was not to play or trick the humans, but to lure them closer so they may eat their hearts. It was a disturbing snippet of information, you would admit, and it was particularly unsettling in your current tired state.

Now that you knew more about what you believed was likely in that house, you could sleep a bit easier, and tomorrow you would make a plan on how to best deal with it. No matter whether the gumiho intended to harm them or not, the way it was acting now meant that it couldn’t stay— it had to leave, and you had to figure out a way to make it.

You grumbled softly to yourself as you climbed into bed, something niggling at the back of your mind but your brain too tired to process what it was. You’d probably remember when you woke up. Letting out a soft, contented sigh as you sank into the plush mattress and your soft blankets embraced you, your eyes fell upon the large pearl you’d placed upon your bedside table before they finally closed and you slipped off easily into sleep.

x x x x x x x x

It was dark. Nothingness caressed your skin, your hairs raising and the flesh of your arms giving way to goosebumps as you strained to pick up something, anything, with your senses. You should have been panicking at the lack of stimulation, but instead the only feeling that greeted you was a small ball of apprehension and anticipation mixed into one in the pit of your stomach, like you were waiting for something despite not even knowing what.

A sensation brushed the skin of your hip, sharp as it scratched over your shivering flesh, before it tilted and suddenly changed. Fingertips and hands pressed against your body now, and your mind struggled to keep up with the new feelings.. You couldn’t see, but an image flashed behind your eyelids, one you couldn’t forget if you tried.

The golden eyes you’d seen in the shadows of the staircase so many days ago burned themselves into the forefront of your mind, slitted pupils drilling into your soul once more and stripping you bare before their gaze. A peculiar mix of fear and exhilaration swirled within you, your heartrate accelerating greatly.

The air shifted, nothingness still present before your eyes, and the hands on your body stilled, nails digging into your sensitive skin and holding you very firmly in place. A voice, low and deep and rumbling against your ear, greeted your senses from the inky depths.

“Where is my pearl, little human?”

You jerked awake with a loud gasp, lurching into a seated position and flitting your gaze about as your vision returned and the remnants of the dream released you from their clutches. Chest heaving with your rapid breaths, your eyes fell upon the pearl on your bedside table and you suddenly realised what your mind had been trying to tell you before you fell asleep.

You pushed yourself from your bed, snatching the pearl and your phone as you went and booking it to the door. You slipped on a pair of shoes and grasped your keys, and then you were sprinting to your car. You barely registered the time, 2:43AM, as you threw your belongings on the passenger seat and turned the car on. You were only a few minutes down the road when you got the call.

“y/n!” it was Jungkook’s panicked voice that rang through your car’s stereo, your phone connected via Bluetooth. Distress was evident in his tone, and there were other sounds echoing in the background that set off alarm bells in your mind. “y/n, please come quick! Everything is happening at once— the noises, th-the levitating objects— y/n I think whatever is in the house is angry!”

Your teeth found your lip as your foot pressed further on the pedal, the car beginning to travel down the highway at speeds that were most definitely illegal.

“I know, I’m on my way,” you said, hurrying to instruct him on what to do from now. “I’ll be there soon, but in the meantime you and the other two need to get out of the house. Get in your car, and get out of there for a while. I’ll deal with everything, okay?”

Jungkook seemed to hesitate before he spoke, “…Okay. We’ll leave now. Thank you, y/n. Please be safe.”

You had to smile at the sincerity in his tone, heart warming despite your distress. “Of course I will. Make sure you get out of there, okay?”

Jungkook muttered an affirmative before he left the phone, and you just heard him calling for the other two before the call hung up completely. You chewed your lip, guilt eating at your insides. You were at least seventy-five percent sure that the reason things at the house had gotten so bad— that the gumiho had become angry— was because you’d taken the pearl. Granted, you hadn’t known what it would do at the time, but as soon as you read information on gumiho and their pearls you should have taken it straight back. You’d been so tired… but that wasn’t an excuse when other people’s lives were possibly on the line.

By the time you reach the house in question, the car that usually sat to the left of the driveway was long gone, and only some of the windows across the side of the house were illuminated. A fresh spike of fear grasped your heart as you realised you were about to go in there, half-cocked and alone, and there was a very high possibility that you would not come out again. Why had nothing about this case gone to plan? You were constantly coming back here, caught off guard and unsure of yourself or what step to take next. This wasn’t good for your health.

Gulping, you grasped the pearl and exited your car, remembering suddenly that besides your boots you were clad only in your silken singlet and sleep shorts. Cursing your lack of forethought about, well, everything¸ you slammed the door shut and started towards the house. You decided that the less you thought about it, the easier it would be.

Contrary to what you thought, the house was eerily silent as you stepped over the threshold and into the foyer, floorboards creaking slightly under your weight. You held your breath, waiting for something to come flying off the wall or levitate in the air. When nothing happened, you let the air go and stepped further inside, allowing the door to click gently shut behind you. There were some things scattered off the floor that had clearly fallen victim to the gumiho’s earlier tantrum, but aside from that the house was just as it had been the other times you had visited.

You shook your head, realising that you were just stalling the inevitable, and took another deep breath to steel yourself before you moved towards the stairs and began your ascent. The usual feeling you got in this house washed over your skin, but this time it was joined by something else— you could feel the presence of another being in this house, and you wondered how you could have possibly missed it each other time you came.

Your hand found the railing as you ascended, approaching the hallway where you knew the creature to be faster than you’d like. The pearl was gripped loosely in your other hand, and with each step you took it seemed to throb and pulse with more and more energy, alive against the skin of your palm. It wasn’t long before you reached the second floor, and you paused for a second, gulping, before you swallowed your fear and pushed on.

The hall was dark, the boys having abandoned their bedrooms before they thought to turn the lights on, and there was much more cluttered over the floor here. Evidence of the gumiho’s wrath. Your nerves were set alight— the creature did not seem pleased at all that its precious pearl had gone missing.

Your eyes strained to see in the dark, catching sight of the door to the attic hanging open and a staircase extended down. Either it had been left open in the creature’s haste and it was still up there, or it was somewhere else in the house— the skin on the back of your neck immediately prickled at the thought that it could even be standing behind you, were that the case. You resisted the urge to turn around like an amateur and instead started towards the staircase. You had a pearl to return, and in the event that you didn’t get eaten, you also had a gumiho to convince and evict.

The closer you grew to the doorway in the ceiling, the more you were able to see. There seemed to be a small light lit up there, and it was casting the slightest glow over the doorway. Heart racing in your chest, you steeled yourself and gripped the flimsy metal of the staircase railing, beginning to climb up. You had no idea what you were going to encounter once you reached the top, and you were too terrified to entertain the thought sooner than you really had to. One step, another. A bead of sweat began to form on your temple.

You reached the top, climbing somewhat gracefully to your feet, and halted the very second your gaze swept over the room. It was in even greater disarray than the floors below, dusty belongings scattered across the worn floorboards and deep scratch marks embedded in the old wooden beams supporting the roof. It was a small oil lamp that lit the large room dimly, but there was still an abundance of deep, dark shadows, and it was as your gaze swept over to a dim corner that your heart stopped in your chest for the second time in a week.

Those golden eyes, no longer wide in neutral curiosity but narrowed in displeasure, bore into you from the shadows in the corner to your right. You went rigid, heart beat increasing dramatically as you struggled to continue breathing normally despite the fear lighting your veins on fire. There were blankets, soft and fluffy, pushed into one big pile on the floor, working as a nest, a bed of sorts.

A low growl split the air, and the eyes rose from their low position, higher and higher until they were just above eye-level and fear clutched your heart tighter than before.

“Curious,” a low voice rumbled, the eyes blinking languidly as the deep tone reached your ears. You could sense the anger hiding deep in the curves of the word, could taste the contrasting interest coating the edges. “The human from before. I did wonder when you would be back. What brings you here, girl?”

You gulped, trying your best not to let your fear show despite the fact you were certain he could hear your thundering heartbeat.

“I’ve come to return something,” you managed to say clearly, adjusting your grasp on the pearl before you brought your hand up and held your palm out, displaying it for him to see. “I believe this belongs to you?”

The reaction was instantaneous, the eyes narrowing and pupils tuning to thin, furious slits as a sharp hiss pierced the air and melted into a dangerous growl that had the hairs on the back of your neck shooting to attention. You watched as the eyes moved, like he was shifting in the shadows, and the thought made you nervous. “My pearl,” he snarled. “Why do you have it.”

It was a demand, and you found yourself answering before you could control your tongue. “I didn’t mean to take it,” you said evenly. “I found it downstairs when I was investigating. I didn’t know it was yours, that it was important to you. I came here to give it back.”

The creature shifted, mulling your words over for a moment, and it took every ounce of your self control to stay still and resist the urge to run back the way you came. You didn’t even realise you were holding your breath until the eyes moved once more and a figure was stepping from the shadows, and the air whooshed from your lungs in a soft gasp.

He was beautiful, probably the most entrancing being you had ever seen, and he carried himself like he knew it. Platinum strands fell over his forehead, skin a light honey tone and gleaming youthfully despite the slight darkness beneath his glowing, cat-like eyes. His shoulders were broad beneath the beautifully embroidered, silky cloth that hung from his lean frame and tied around his waist, and your eyes were drawn from the smooth expanse of his chest to the nine white, fluffy tails swirling behind him, and the two large, fox-like ears atop his head. Gold and silver pierced the appendages, an ornate choker winding around his neck and rings fixed around his long fingers. Looking at him, you almost forgot how to breathe.

His tongue darted to wet soft, pink lips as he strode slowly towards you, slinking over the floor so fluidly it was almost like he was gliding. The closer he got, the harder it was to keep your heartrate from accelerating more than it already had, to stop your knees from wobbling.

He halted before you, eyeing you shrewdly, as though inspecting whether or not you were up to anything funny, before his hand whipped up and he snatched the pearl from your palm. His claws just barely brushed your skin and a shudder was rolling down your spine, the gumiho too busy inspecting his beloved pearl and cupping it in his hands to notice your reaction.

Once he deemed it the real deal, a huff of air escaping him in satisfaction, that intense gaze was on you once more and you immediately felt like you were being stripped bare before his eyes. His lips curled, eyes sweeping over the length of your frame as he stepped back once, before beginning to move and circle around you. A wave of embarrassment flooded you as you suddenly remembered once more that you were in nothing but your short, silken pyjamas and your boots.

“Why have you been coming here, girl?” he asked suddenly, catching you off guard. You tried to calm your heartbeat as you answered.

“They thought they were being haunted, so they called me to come take care of it,” you supplied honestly, meeting his gaze despite the instincts screaming within you that you shouldn’t. “Why are you here, playing with three boys and living in their attic?”

He smiled, a grin that was, in all honesty, nothing but fox-like. His gums peeked forth. “You’re very brave, for a human. Don’t you know foxes like me eat little girls like you?”

You couldn’t help the shudder that travelled down your spine, your heartrate spiking. “I have heard such things, yes.”

He smiled, teeth sharp.

“Do you know what these pearls are used for, little human?” the gumiho queried, tone rumbling lowly against your ear. You fought another shiver, your eyes following him as he circled you.

“I have an idea,” you managed to say, the words almost getting caught in your throat as fear and trepidation curled in your stomach. The fox chuckled.

“I use them when I feed. You know how creatures like me feed, don’t you?” he hummed, eyes never once leaving your form.

Your mouth shut, words unable to climb your throat despite how much your mind was willing them to. Images flooded your mind, fuelled by the information you’d read only hours ago. The creature grinned, leaning slightly closer.

“I think you do,” he breathed, and your hands balled into loose fists at your sides in an attempt to stop the rest of your body from trembling. “I am here to feed, and they’re fun to play with. I do not wish to devour their flesh, and the distress they emit… has a certain flavour of its own.”

You swallowed thickly, organising your thoughts and steeling yourself for what you were about to say. You had to remember your main goal here. “You can’t stay here,” you said softly, meeting his swirling golden eyes once more. “You know you have to leave. I can’t let you stay.”

The gumiho slowed to a stop before you, rolling the pearl in his grasp between his long, nimble fingers and mulling over your words. The glint in his eyes was sharp, nicking at the tendrils of fear around your heart and causing them to constrict tighter.

“You’re asking me to leave my home, my food source. You’re asking me to starve?” he queried, eyes widening with a sly gleam that told you he was very aware of how he was turning your words around.

“No,” you immediately responded, feet shifting on instinct. “I’m—”

“Then what are you proposing, hm?” he almost seemed to purr, a hand coming to toy with the end of the tie that cinched the material at his waist. He tilted his head, ears twitching and tails swirling behind him in a calculated manner. “It will have to be a very sweet deal if you want me to leave.”

You hesitated, unsure how to proceed since you had no idea what he could possibly want, what you could possibly give him that he would take. “What will you accept in exchange for your departure?”

You didn’t miss the way the gumiho’s eyes rolled leisurely over your form once more, drinking in each bare piece of your skin that was revealed to him. His tongue darted to lick his lips, trailing along the edge of his teeth. “I’m very hungry,” he said. “Feeding on only the little bits of fear from these boys… it’s not very fulfilling. I haven’t had a decent meal in so long…”

A part of you, deep in the recess of your mind, sensed where this was going, but still you spoke. “What do you want?” it came as a whisper, the loudness of your voice no longer something that was under your control.

The gumiho looked like he couldn’t have hoped for a better response.

“You,” the answer was immediate, his burning gaze sweeping over your form once more and eliciting a shiver that bordered the line between fear and something else you weren’t quite ready to admit yet.. “Human women are so plain nowadays, always striving for the same ideal, the same image… but you— you’re different. You smell different, look different… delectable. I could just eat you up.”

Your heart skipped maybe one too many beats at his words, kicking quickly into overdrive as your breath hitched in your throat. You felt heat wash over your face, and the fox seemed delighted at the development. He hummed, pleased, and reached his free hand to traced a finger along the heated skin of your cheek and down the side of your face.

“So pretty,” he purred, eyes swirling a deep golden that captivated you easily, ensnaring you and dragging you into their depths. His lips curved. “Truly a meal fit for a king.”

You snapped out of the trance, narrowing your eyes at him but unable to will your body to move away just yet. You were enjoying his touch too much, more than you wanted to admit, even as you realised with a sharp jolt of fear that the creature before you was renowned for consuming human flesh.

“I’m not going to let you eat me,” you said, pulse racing and fear tickling your senses. The panic must have been evident in your tone, because the gumiho barked an amused laugh.

“Silly girl, I do not wish to eat your heart,” he snickered, lips curving into a wicked grin. “I have long since abandoned such a primitive way of life. I am hungry for your life force, yes, but that is not all I wish to feast upon.”

It took a moment for his words to register in your head, and the second they did you balked. “Y-you—”

“Won’t you give me a final meal?” he queried, low baritone causing butterflies to erupt in your stomach. His eyes bore into yours without pause. “I assure you, I am much easier to convince once I am fed, little girl.”

You weighed your options, a strong sensation like time was running out fuelling you to think faster. If you didn’t do this, what else could you do? You didn’t know anything else that would tempt him from the little home he had made for himself here, and you certainly didn’t think he would be very receptive should you withdraw and come back again. You were incredibly attracted to him, drawn to him, and with each moment that passed you became less and less adverse to the idea. He just wanted to feed, right? You tried to pretend like you weren’t completely ignoring the second meaning to his earlier words. But still, attractive or not, were you really about to trust a fox?

He must have sensed the decision in your eyes, as he began to grin before you even voiced your answer. You couldn’t will your voice above a murmur, “Okay. What do I have to do?”

“Excellent,” he purred, hands coming to your waist and making you jump slightly. His tone lowered as he spoke once more, “To feed, I only need a kiss. But before that… I think I will have dessert first.”

You didn’t have time to ask what he meant before his head tilted and you were pulled forward, soft lips brushing against the sensitive skin beneath your jaw before they latched and a sharp gasp was pulled from your throat. Wetness was already beginning to seep between your thighs. The fox grinned against your neck, kissing along your skin and pulling you into an intoxicating haze as you were enveloped in the enthralling scent of him. Delicate blossoms mixed with musk invaded your senses and you fought a moan as the gumiho’s teeth scraped against the sensitive column of your throat, fingers digging into your waist and claws poking your skin through the thin material of your shirt.

You were pulled close, so close your chest was pressing against his, hardening nipples pressing through the silken material of your sleep shirt, and without a second thought you allowed yourself to fall victim to the pleasurable sensations he was eliciting within you. Your fingers clutched at his arms, bunching in the soft material of the traditional robes hanging from his form. You felt his fox ears flick against your jaw, could feel how the tails moved and swirled through the air behind him. A soft growl slipped through his lips, rumbling against your throat as your hips shifted on instinct and rolled, pressing closer against him.

You didn’t bother trying to deny your desire for him, for the beautiful gumiho you were being paid to evict from this home, but still you couldn’t manage to keep your mouth shut.

“I don’t even know your name,” you gasped as his hands slipped beneath the hem of your shirt, brushing the heated skin of your waist. The pearl was cool and almost seemed to thrum as he rolled it over your sensitive flesh.

You hardly noticed as the fox began to move the two of you back to the shadowed corner he had first appeared in. “You can call me Yoongi, little human,” he nipped your throat, relishing in the soft noise you made in response, and eagerly grasped you tighter before dipping you backwards.

You yelped as you fell, back meeting the soft, plush pile of blankets and furs. His body fit easily above yours, hips slotting perfectly between your thighs as he rolled his pelvis against you. He grinned devilishly at the moan it pulled from your throat.

“Yoongi,” you breathed, and you were surprised when the fox above you shuddered lightly in response. He dove back down to resume his previous activities, lips pressing, pulling, suckling down the column of your throat and over the soft skin of your collarbones.

A generous amount of your chest was already exposed and the gumiho made good use of that, lips laving a wet trail of pink and rose blossoms across the top of your chest before he grew sick of the barrier between you and leaned back. He clicked his fingers, and blue fire immediately enveloped the soft turquoise material of your shirt, flames licking along the hem.

You yelped, understandably alarmed, and almost went to move before you realised the fire wasn’t burning you, and dissipated into the air before you even had time to formulate a proper response, your shirt disappearing with it.

“Foxfire,” you whispered, amazed, and the gumiho grinned.

“Correct,” he rumbled, before he dove down once more to continue tasting the sweetness of your skin and the softness of your curves.

A sharp gasp fell from your lips as his own brushed over your nipple, his breath hot against your skin, a noise that melted into a moan as he enveloped the bud in the wet heat of his mouth, suckling harshly and keeping his swirling eyes on your expression the entire time. His other hand came to cup the opposite breast, thumb and fingers kneading the supple flesh and eliciting another soft noise from your throat. His fingertips trailed along the underside of your breast, and you noticed that the claws that had been there before were no longer present.

There was a hand left unaccounted for, something that completely slipped your mind until you felt something smooth press below your sternum, rolling down your abdomen and over the soft swell of your tummy, cool against the curve of your hips. You moaned when Yoongi pressed the pearl lower, rolling it over your core through your thin, silken shorts and against your clit. Your core was throbbing at this point, his ministrations more than enough to turn you on, so the slightest stimulation was making your head swim pleasantly as desire swirled in your abdomen.

“You’re so soft,” Yoongi purred, voice thick, as he released your nipple with a pop and rolled the other between his thumb and forefinger. “Are all humans as sensitive as you?”

You didn’t have a chance of forming a coherent answer, as he dipped his head once more to continue his trail down your body with his lips. It wasn’t long before he reached the hem of your silken pants, and even less time before they disappeared in a very similar fashion to your shirt. The fox’s breath seemed to catch in his throat at the sight of you laying bare before him, covered in marks and glistening in a trail left by his mouth. He could smell your arousal, you knew he could because you were soaked already and the second your pants disappeared his pupils dilated, blown wide in lust and desire for you.

He hummed, admiring the view before him for a moment longer before he slid back and lowered once more, hand leaving your nipple after a final tug that had you gasping, so that his arms could wind beneath your legs and come over your hips. Your fingers clutched the blankets beneath you, back curving slightly as you felt his breath over your dripping core. The anticipation nearly killed you, but you still weren’t ready when his tongue finally darted out and delivered a tentative, kittenish lick along your folds.

You gasped, hips straining to move but unable to beneath his iron grip. You felt his lips curve against you, heard the pleased hum sound from deep in his throat, and were almost distracted by the soft flick of his ear against your inner thigh when he went back for more. He lowered his face completely, delivering one more lick against your clit before beginning to eat you out in earnest.

Your thighs tensed, muscles quivering as your back arched and you moaned at the sudden, powerful onslaught of sensations. Pleasure shot along your limbs, hot and scorching, to pool in your abdomen. His tongue worked like magic against your core, laving over your clit as he suckled the sensitive nub into his mouth and allowed his soft lips to wrap around it. His hands kneaded the flesh of your hips and tummy as you whined and moaned, panting softly as he buried his face between your thighs and hummed, pleased, at each noise you made.

You could hardly believe how quickly he was working you up, how rapidly the knot had formed in your abdomen and how much it tightened with each movement of his tongue against you and each gentle suck of your clit. He held nothing back, each movement wild and unchecked and wrought with an intense passion you weren’t used to in every detail. It was like he knew exactly what to do to bring you to the edge, and even as he did so he was enjoying himself greatly.

He rewarded the noises that tumbled forth from your lips with hums and moans of his own, the vibrations against your core only adding to the pleasure. You hardly noticed as one of his hands moved from your hips, arm shifting back. You did notice, however, as the fingers of that hand traced along your slit, gathering your slick juices as they went. Yoongi’s teeth scraped your sensitive clit and you jolted, gasping loudly, as his fingers slipped between your folds and two pressed against your entrance.

You would normally be alarmed, but you suspected that with how absolutely aroused you were, and how close you were already to coming undone, fitting them in wasn’t going to be a problem. Yoongi continued to work his tongue masterfully against you, playing you like a musician does his favourite instrument, and he began to work his slick digits into you in time with each flick of the muscle.

They slid in easily to the knuckle, the slightest traces of a burn present for a mere split-second before he was moving his hand and you were whining lowly, hands leaving the blankets in favour of winding through his hair and grasping his ears to tug gently. He groaned instantly, sucking harshly against your core as his fingers curled within you and you cried out loudly, lurching closer and closer to the edge with each movement he made.

You knew you weren’t going to last much longer, but you still weren’t ready when you looked down on a whim and met the swirling golden eyes already staring up at you. The gumiho grinned, and you had a split-second of confusion before he returned his lips to your clit, taking it between his teeth gently at the same time as he curled his two fingers within you, pressing deliciously against your g-spot. It was so much, too much, at once, and you were easily pushed off the edge and into the throes of what had to be the most intense orgasm you’d had in months.

You whined loudly, voice cutting off into a trembling gasp as your body tensed, core clenching around his fingers and thighs quivering against his arms. Your back arched sharply, curving off the blankets, and it took you a solid while before you finally began to come back down. Through the pleasure-filled haze in your mind, you registered the gumiho between your legs still diligently lapping up every drop of your release, making your body jerk with each brush of his tongue against your sensitive nub. You wriggled, whining softly, and tugging his hair gently. He didn’t pull back until he was sure he’d gotten every last drop, licking his lips as he gazed over your already fucked-out form with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

He almost purred as he crawled back over you, hips rolling against your own as he dipped to suck and kiss your neck once more. You’d never gone this far without at least kissing someone first, and there was an alarmingly large part of you that wanted to taste his kittenish, pink lips.

Yoongi nipped the skin of your throat before he pulled back, taking in your slightly heaving chest and flushed face. He decided it was a sight he very much enjoyed.

His tongue darted out to swipe along his lips once more. “You tasted even better than I could have hoped, little human,” the devilish smile returned to his face. “But I want to hear you scream now. Dessert isn’t over quite yet.”

Your body was trembling in anticipation as he tugged the tie at his waist and in one go it came undone, the soft material covering his form slipping from his shoulders to pool as his hips. You couldn’t help but openly admire the smooth expanse of light, honey skin now exposed to your greedy eyes, and the gumiho before you relished in the attention. His lips were curved into a pleased smirk as he shifted the rest of his robes from his form and your attention was then directed to another region entirely.

Instantly, fresh heat flooded your cheeks and your mouth nearly dropped open. Fuck, he was a lot larger than you imagined, and with a girth you could almost already feel stretching you open. Embarrassingly, you had to squash a moan that wanted to rise in your throat, your lips pressing together to keep it in. You couldn’t keep your eyes from his swollen length, the tip pink and leaking precum.

Yoongi watched your expression for a moment before he shifted closer, nuzzling the skin of your neck briefly and then resuming his earlier onslaught of kissing and suckling. His hips rolled and shifted against yours, swollen length grinding against your clit and sending a fresh flush of pleasure over your form.

“Are you going to be good and scream for me?” his voice, low and thick with desire, had you shivering against his form. “There’s no one here but you and me. Your sweet noises are all mine to hear.”

You tried nodding, but the action was cut off with a moan as he rolled his hips once more and another wave of pleasure shot to your core. His hips shifted, his mouth becoming well-acquainted with your chest once more, and it wasn’t long before you could feel his bulbous head parting your lower lips to press against your slick entrance. A shock of excitement jolted down your spine, the thrill of the situation permeating the pleasant haze in your mind and eliciting a soft noise of encouragement from your lips.

You attempted to relax your tensed limbs, but couldn’t help the way your body shifted and writhed as he began to push into you. His girth stretched you open, a burn tingling along your spine as his head dragged along your walls and further into the velvet heat of your core. Whimpers and whines tumbled from your lips and your back arched as your fingers fought to find purchase on his shoulders and the toned planes of his back. Yoongi let out a long, low groan as your nails dug into his skin, his cock slamming the rest of the way into you until his pelvis met yours once more.

A sharp yelp broke from your lips, soft pants filling the air as he gave you a moment to adjust. You honestly didn’t think you’d ever taken someone as big as him, he stretched you further than you ever had before and the resulting cocktail of heady pleasure and slight, sparking pain was intoxicating to you. Yoongi shifted, rolling his hips and causing the angle of his cock to change within you and you moaned loudly as his thick tip pressed against your spot. Your thighs trembled against his waist, fingers digging into the giving flesh of his back, and he seemed pleased at your reactions. He rolled his hips back, pulling almost completely out of you, before snapping them back and slamming into you once more.

You cried out loudly, eyes pinching shut at the onslaught of pleasure flooding your senses. One of his hands gripped your hips and the other pinched and tugged your nipple before coming to trail his thumb along the column of your neck. He began a steady pace, each thrust into your heat causing you to clench around him, the coil in your abdomen beginning to tighten and curl. Soft groans and growls tumbled from his pretty, swollen lips to join the symphony of your own wanton cries, fingers digging in to the soft flesh of your hips and urging you to roll your hips back and meet his thrusts.

Every touch of him against your heated skin was intoxicating, the heat in his swirling golden eyes threatening to swallow you whole as he brought his thumb to brush your lips and you enveloped it in the wet heat of your mouth. Something soft brushed your legs, and the sight of those eyes dilating from slits coupled with his extra appendages was enough to remind you suddenly of who exactly you were currently fucking— what you were currently fucking. To your surprise it only served to further your arousal, a keening whine tearing from your throat as he moved and pulled his hands away to grip your thighs. His fingers dug in, a pleasant ache where they pressed into the supple, giving flesh of your thighs, and he moved them, angling your body effortlessly.

Your legs now pushed closer to your abdomen, his thrusts began to hit places even deeper inside you and you almost sobbed at how painfully good it felt, how hot you felt your skin flush with pleasure and desire. You’d never been so affected by anyone before, never felt such all-consuming desire.

“You’re taking me so well,” the gumiho marvelled, golden eyes fixed on the juncture of your thighs where your pussy greedily swallowed all of his length again, and again, and again. You’d lost control of the moans falling from your lips, hands falling from his shoulders to grip the blankets. “Are you going to swallow all of me when I cum in that greedy pussy, hm?”

A shuddering moan left your throat, your eyes barely managing to hold his gaze. You gasped his name as he shifted his hips, changing his pace and slamming into you with renewed fervour and such force you could already feel the delicious ache that would grace you come tomorrow. You were drowning in the intensity, the all-consuming depths of those swirling, flavescent eyes. He grinned down at you, sharp teeth peeking out against petal lips and gleaming in the low light, his skin bathed golden in the glow of the lamp and glistening with a light sheen of sweat. There was something wild in his eyes as he grinned down at you like a predator down at the prey caught in his claws, something feral in the curve of his mouth. Each slam of his hips against yours, each hard drag of his cock against your fluttering walls, brought you closer and closer to the edge of your second climax of the night. You watched, entranced, as bright red markings began to appear over his face, perfect in shape and colour, as though they had been painted on with the hand of only the most skilled artist. Lines over his cheeks, under his eyes, following the curve of his lid and lash line. He had never been as stunningly, hauntingly beautiful as he was in this moment, unchecked and wild and feral. He was a fox, after all.

He must have sensed you were growing closer, moans dragged from his throat as you clenched around his swollen length with each hard pump of his cock into your heat. He leaned down, closer and closer, until his lips were just barely a centimetre from yours. You were so, so close, it was hard to keep your gaze centred on him when you wanted nothing more than to tilt your head back and sob at the intensity, the pleasure.

“I’m going to kiss you now, little human,” he murmured, breath hot as it brushed your lips and tone low against your ears. You watched as his mouth curved into a devilish grin, and instantly knew this was the end for you. “But first, I want you to cum for me. Now.”

And you did, with one final slam of his hips into you your back curved and you were crying out loudly, noises that almost resembled his name falling forth but never greeting the air as his lips crashed onto yours and swallowed them down. The coil in your abdomen snapped, pleasure pressing against your limbs and sweeping through your mind, washing it clean of any and all thought process. It was so much, too much, as you felt your chest heat and warm with each movement of his lips against yours. He managed two more powerful thrusts into you before his hips were stuttering, and you were barely coherent enough to notice as his cum flooded your pussy, splashing hot against your walls and dripping out around his length when you were filled to the brim.

Your limbs tingled, quivering, but you couldn’t focus on anything but the intoxicating scent surrounding you and the heady taste of his lips and tongue. So consumed by the pleasure and sensations were you, that you hardly even noticed it when something cool passed from his mouth to yours, your tongue moulding around it instinctively. It was a peculiar flavour of ecstasy that washed over your limbs even as your high began to fade, keeping your head bathed in the softness of the clouds and mind in a delicious haze.

You didn’t know how much time passed before he was pulling back suddenly, panting heavily and body thrumming with energy. He slipped from your core, and you let out a soft noise as your combined fluids began to flow forth and trickle from your abused entrance.

“Fuck,” the gumiho cursed, eyes moving from your blissed-out expression and tired, glistening form, to the dribbles of his cum leaking from your pussy. He licked his lips, golden eyes meeting your heavy-lidded gaze once more and seeing you in a new light. “You…”

His hand trembled almost imperceptibly as he used it to gently brush the hair from your face. God, you were so tired. You blinked languidly, groaning softly as you tried to stay awake. It was a strange sense of tiredness, almost like a high of its own.

The look in the fox’s eyes bordered on tender before he steeled himself, beginning to pull back.

“Thank you, little human. A more delicious last meal than I ever could have hoped for,” he said, tone low and rough. “I will honour our deal and depart this house now.”

Something welled within you, an urge, and before you could even think to stop yourself the words were tumbling forth from your lips unchecked.

“Don’t go,” you mumbled thoughtlessly, eyelids fluttering as you stretched a little. So tired.

The gumiho was amused. “I must find a new place to stay, little human,” he spoke, tone curling around the words. “I am a fox of honour.”

If you were in your right mind, you would have definitely slapped sense into yourself for the words that escaped you next. “You can stay with me,” you mumbled, eyes closing momentarily. “’S okay, I have a spare… room.”

The fox’s eyes gleamed, a positively devilish grin curving his lips. “Oh?” he purred, returning to your side and draping something over your body. “Who would I be to refuse such a generous offer?”

You mumbled something, barely coherent, and could no longer hold your own against the powerful urge to sleep. You registered a soft touch over your cheeks, and words murmured lowly against your ear, before you finally slipped into the unconsciousness that called you so.

“Sleep now, little human. Restore the energy I took. I think you will need it later.”

And then you were gone, drifting in a sea of blackness and dreams and completely unaware of the mess you’d find yourself in come the waking hours.

Out of the frying pan, and into the fryer.

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daeneryn · 6 years

Note

ida bless me w ur writing pls!!! could you do malec + “Enough with the sass!” or if that's already been done “STOP INTERRUPTING ME!”? extra points if u do both in one but absolutely not necessary!!! thank you sm!!

aaaahhh ily saskia! thanks for sending a prompt, i hope you don’t hate it! I’m sure it’s not what you wanted but after the 3a finale I had to write a scene that was missing from the episode. Sooo spoiler alert for episodes 3x09 & 3x10!

Word count: 1.5k

85. “STOP INTERRUPTING ME!” & 83. “Enough with the sass!”

I will carry youThe night was almost over, the solace of the dawn reaching for them as they slowly made their way through the wintery city. It had all felt like a fevery dream, every moment fleeting, something you could barely even begin to grasp before it was gone. Magnus tried to remember everything that had happened, everything that had led him to this point - his fight with Lorenzo, meeting his father and losing his magic. It had all happened so fast that he hadn’t even really realized it all.

He could feel Alec leaning onto him more fully now, his strength leaving him with every heavy beat of his heart, fighting to keep him alive. More than anything, in that moment Magnus wished he still had his magic, his powers so he might save him or at least create a portal and get him to safety faster.

The sun was already rising, the fresh morning painting the city with its frail colors, melting the frosts of the night. He glanced at Alec then, not an ounce of color left in his pale features, his eyes darker than Magnus remembered them being. He stopped walking to adjust his grip on him, his jacket already covered in his blood.

“Alec, stay with me”, he whispered, nudging him a little, causing Alec to smile faintly at him, as if there was something to smile about.

“I’m fine”

“You were stabbed, you’re not fine”, Magnus said with a roll of his eyes, tightening his grip on Alec’s arm, holding him closer.

“Yeah, yeah, are we far from the institute?”, he asked then, his voice a little slurry and his eyes drooping. Magnus glanced at the arrow still sticking from his chest, now riddled with awful memories.

Will one of my arrowheads end up in that box?

Magnus shook his head, chasing the thought away. He supposed that question had been answered now - he would never want to remember Alec by his arrows, not now that he had been stabbed with one.

“Just a couple blocks, can you hold on that long?”

“Mmhmm”, Alec slurred, his eyes closed as Magnus began walking again. Magnus was strong, always had been, but this was testing every ounce of strength he had left in him, for all that he had lost, he wouldn’t survive losing his Alexander. He could give up his magic, the very core of his being, but not Alec. Never him.

He gave a silent prayer to anyone who might’ve been listening, to spare him. For if Magnus lost him now, what was there left for him then?

“Magnus, I have something I need to say, though, in case I don’t make it”

“Don’t talk like that”, Magnus exclaimed, turning to look at Alec with panic in his eyes.

“But just in case”, Alec insisted, angling his head so he might see him, “it’s important”

Magnus sighed then, leaning a little closer so Alec might whisper into his ear.

“You look really hot in that coat”, he said, more loudly than necessary for any regular conversation, causing Magnus to huff in mild disbelief at his words, all worry gone for the time being.

“Alright, enough with the sass until we fix you up”

“I wasn’t being sassy! It’s true what I said”

“Alright, but if you die here, I’m going to repeat those words at your funeral so maybe don’t speak until you’re better”

“Fine”

Magnus rolled his eyes at him, though he couldn’t help the incessant smile tugging at his lips, or the fluttering in his heart. He really did love his angel, didn’t he, even in silly moments like this. So he simply fixed his grip on him, and carried on, feeling much lighter than before, wondering if that had been Alec’s purpose all along.

The cold winds were playing with the small fire that sat in the large fireplace, decorated with rose vines, creeping up and down its stony exterior like the light coming from the small windows, dotting the grey walls with its life. He turned to look back at Alec then, his small, but steady breaths the most wonderful sound to him then, for they let him know he was alright. He was going to be alright.

The arrow was now lying on the table next to him, discarded there in haste as the doctors had rushed around Alec, pushing Magnus aside with feeble words of encouragement. But it was only then, as he saw Alec alive and breathing, that made him feel better. If he was alright, his sacrifice had been worth it.

He could feel Alec stirring, waking up and his hold on his hand tightened as he perked up, eager to see his angel awake.

“Magnus?”, Alec asked, his voice small and weak, but Magnus heard him all the same.

“I’m here, Alec, I’m here”, Magnus reassured, hovering over Alec as if his very presence was enough to keep him from any future harm.

“Good”

He opened his eyes then, focusing his attention solely on Magnus, a gentle smile tugging at his lips as he studied his face. To Magnus, that smile was the most wonderful thing he had ever seen and he was sure Alec had never smiled so beautifully before.

Alec sat up slowly as Magnus supported him, fixing his pillow and holding his hand, as if he was ever going to be able to let go. He had almost seen his greatest love die, so he wasn’t going to leave him for a long time. He knew he couldn’t even if he wanted to.

“You okay?”, he asked quietly, Alec only rolling his eyes at his concern.

“Magnus, I’m fine”

“You died! Your heart stopped beating!”

“Almost died”, Alec corrected with a pointed look, earning an exasperated sigh from Magnus.

“Glad to know your humor is as terrible as always”

“You wound me, Magnus”, Alec said, feigning hurt as he adjusted his position. Magnus only sighing as he sat back down on the chair beside his bed.

Alec turned to properly look at him then, his eyes stern and unreachable as he studied him.

“What did you say about your magic being gone?”

Magnus couldn’t claim to be surprised that Alec remembered that, but he hadn’t really thought of how to break it down for him, and not make him all the more worried.

“Asmodeus wanted it in exchange for helping me”, he said simply, not daring to meet Alec’s eyes, “I knew this when I left - he always requires a sacrifice”

“But your magic? Was there nothing else you could’ve given?”, Alec worried, sitting up more straight as he took Magnus’ hands in his.

“He did ask me to rule with him, but that would’ve meant giving up everything”, he explained, finally meeting Alec’s gaze. “And I couldn’t bear to lose you”

Alec stayed silent then, unsure how to continue or simply surprised that Magnus would rather give up his magic than not be with him. So Magnus stayed quiet too, not telling him how easy the choice had been.

“So you just, what, gave up it up? Without a fight? Magnus, you’re a warlock - your magic is a big part of you and you just-”

“Alec, it isn’t like that!”, Magnus interrupted, his mouth opening and closing as he searched for the right words.

“Don’t interrupt me!”, Alec said then, his voice rising as he turned to fully face him, wincing a little in pain at the sudden movement. “You did all that just for me?”

“What do you mean just for you? I-”

“Stop interrupting me!”, Alec shouted then, his hand on his heart to stop the wound from opening up. Magnus only closed his mouth then, not wanting to fight.

“You should’ve stood up to him, fought him or something! You can’t just give up such an integral part of you, after all you’ve already sacrificed, just to save me and Jace”

“I didn’t do it just for you, I did for everyone. I needed to free Jace, so we might have a chance at stopping Lilith and had I not, you- you would’ve died Alec”, he said, his voice getting quieter and quieter.

“I know that, but I just- I don’t want you to resent me because of this”, Alec said, his eyes dropping to look at his hands, clasped on his lap, instead of Magnus.

“Resent you? This isn’t your fault, Alec”

“But it is”, he said, worrying the inside of his cheek before continuing, “I shouldn’t have let you go”

“We didn’t have a choice”, Magnus reassured, raising his hand to hold Alec’s, smiling softly at his concern, “and we’ll get through this, like we always do”

“Okay”, he whispered, finally meeting Magnus’ eyes, “but I’m going to train you”

“What? Why?”, Magnus chuckled, his brows furrowing in surprise.

“So you’re not totally helpless”, Alec said very matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious that he needed to train Magnus now that he no longer had his magic.

“Fine, you can train me”

“Good”, Alec said with a firm nod, and Magnus couldn’t help but lean in and press a small kiss on his forehead, ruffling his dark hair as well.

#saskia tag #malec #fic #shadowhunters #tmi #alec lightwood #magnus bane #malec fic #light angst #idasfamily #camillasfamily #lizasfamily #maddysfamily

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avasilvugh · 7 years

Text

heavy wings grow lighter pt. 1

your world has no love to give

find it on: ao3

From: Troy Bolton To: Trini ?? 1:41pm hey do u want to study with me? I grabbed one of the back tables

1:57pm T

2:08pm are u here today? if u ditched it would have been polite to invite us u know

2:09pm also do u need a ride to the mine

2:14pm Trini??

From: Fearless Leader To: Kimberly Hart 2:16pm hey have u seen Trini

2:16pm she’s usually in the library during free but I haven’t seen her since before lunch. she’s not answering her phone either and I need to know if she needs a ride to training

From: Kimberly Hart To: Fearless Leader 2:16pm i havent seen her

2:17pm did she seem ok to u when u saw her? she’s been really quiet lately

From: Fearless Leader To: Kimberly Hart 2:17pm she’s always quiet

From: Kimberly Hart To: Fearless Leader 2:17pm quieter than normal. like even with me

From: Fearless Leader To: Kimberly Hart 2:18pm shit

From: Kimberly Hart To: Fearless Leader 2:18pm class lets out in a bit, i’ll skip next and look for her

2:18pm text u when i find her

From: Fighter Pilot Barbie To: T 💛 💪💥👊👭 2:19pm where are u, jason’s worried

2:20pm on that matter, im worried

2:20pm did u skip bc if so bring me donuts

2:28pm u better be lying in a ditch somewhere

2:29pm actually i take that back but im still worried please call me to let me know ur alive or something

The bell rings just as Kimberly locks her phone, and it doesn’t so much as startle her—a feat that’s become increasingly hard to accomplish thanks to freaky Ranger skills (Trini’s term, of course)—as it does spur her to shove her books into a stack and head for the door.

Someone from the other side of the classroom—Harper, maybe, or Rebecca—laughs, says something ugly that Kimberly no doubt deserves and that she is absolutely meant to hear. Kimberly’s hands curl into fists, one wrapped tight around the strap of her bag, and, in another life, she probably would turn and throw something just as terrible back. But there’s this awful, uncomfortable feeling in the very center of her chest that took hold when Jason texted her and that alone is enough to double her self-restraint.

Trini’s locker is on the other side of the main building, towards the gym, but up on the second floor as opposed to Kimberly’s newly assigned one near the front entrance. Kimberly has to use a fair amount of evasive action to get there, especially once the second bell’s rung and the vice principal is prowling the halls trying to catch kids without hall passes—it’s not as if she’s not already stuck in Saturday detention, but she’d rather not add after school ones to her roster.

Because of training. Not because she has a standing donut date with Trini on Tuesdays, before they head to the mine.

When she rounds the corner of the stairwell, the girl in question is there. Back to Kimberly, standing on a stack of books and scrubbing at her locker. She freezes when Kimberly steps into the hall and Kimberly’s heart clenches at the tension held in the narrow line of her shoulders, at the way she seems to fold in on herself, making herself even smaller than she is. Some of that goes away when Kimberly calls out, “Hey, I’ve been trying to text you,” but not all of it, not enough of it for the unease to slip away from Kimberly’s sternum.

“Huh,” Trini hums, still not turning around. That’s red flag number one. “Haven’t checked my phone in a while.” Red flag number two, considering that if Trini’s not with the rest of them, she’s all but glued to her phone. And, Kimberly notes with a little pride and with growing apprehension, even if she’s avoiding other people, she never ignores Kimberly’s texts.

“Are you okay?” Kimberly steps further into the hallway, pauses when Trini visibly flinches. “Hey, T, I’m worried about—.”

Trini straightens, rolls out her shoulders like she’s squaring up even with her back still to Kimberly. “I’m fine,” she drawls, like everything isn’t completely wrong. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

Narrowing her eyes, Kimberly fires back, “You’ve missed three.” Her tone is so much sharper than she’d intended, but sometimes to cut through Trini’s bluffing, Kimberly’s found you need a knife.

“Zack’s missed the entire day.”

“Zack’s…Zack.” Kimberly steps closer, crosses the remaining space between them in a couple long strides. “You usually give me a heads up if you’re planning on skipping.”

“Can you drop it? I just forgot, okay?”

Kimberly doesn’t flinch at Trini’s tone, ignores the way her words sting, lodge in the space between her ribs. The shorter girl is actually Kimberly’s height with the help of her textbooks underfoot, but she’s still not turning to face her, keeps shifting her weight—it hits her then that Trini’s trying to block her view.

Trini’s faster than her on a normal day, smaller and lighter on her feet than Kimberly can ever dream of being, even with years of gymnastics and cheer under her belt. But Trini seems off-kilter now, doesn’t react fast enough to catch her before she can step just to the side to peer over her shoulder.

“Who—,” Kimberly starts as Trini finally turns and says, “It’s not that bad—,” reaching out with her free hand like she’s going to push Kimberly back.

Kimberly gets why she’s been avoiding the rest of the rangers now. Trini’s blotchy, red nosed, and there’s blood smeared along her hairline and her full bottom lip—not that Kimberly’s noticed her lips or anything—is split down the side, purpling and swollen. When Kimberly steps a little closer, she can see the smudge of a bruise along her cheekbone, the redness around Trini’s eyes, like she’s been rubbing at them too roughly. She probably has.

The sight of her makes Kimberly’s blood boil, the sight of it, the word behind Trini, makes her face feel hot—four ugly red letters, taking up the entirety of Trini’s locker door, top left to bottom right.

“Who the fuck did this?”

Kimberly tries to keep the fury out of her voice, she truly does, but if Trini paling is any indication, she’s failing miserably. In her defense, it’s taking every bit of Kimberly’s self-restraint to not reach around the other girl and rip the door off its hinges, crush it in one move, maybe two if she ripped it in half first—a move that she is very seriously considering. It’d be nearly poetic, maybe, she thinks.

She doesn’t though. Not when she notices how Trini’s chin is trembling, how she’s gripping the paper towels she was using to scrub at the word, white knuckled and fingertips ripping through the damp material. She pauses, softens. “Trini,” she breathes. “Did whoever write that do this,” she gestures to Trini’s face, “to you?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Trini’s free hand drops, goes back to press flat against the wall of lockers.

“Trini. It matters.” How could it not? How could Kimberly ever—jesus, how could she ever not care about this?

The metal creaks, groans beneath the smaller girl’s hand, the door of the locker kitty corner to hers crumpling under her fingers. She doesn’t seem to notice, her eyes unfocused and somewhere far away—Trini doesn’t flinch when Kimberly reaches out again, gently pulls her hand away from the lockers. She doesn’t flinch, but she stiffens at Kimberly’s touch, her eyes darting around the hallway as she shrinks back just the slightest.

Right.

Kimberly’s never—she’s been incredibly lucky. She knows this. She’s never had the same bone-deep fear that Trini has, never had the same self-doubt. When Kimberly was fourteen, she googled what it meant to want to kiss your friend, found a word for it and, quite frankly, never thought about it again. She isn’t out at school necessarily, nor to her parents, but she’s never feared what it would mean if she was, never really had a reason to. Even now, after her fall, that confidence is still held in some quiet place inside her.

But when Trini was fourteen, she told a girl she liked her and got laughed at, cut off—there’s more to the story, Kimberly knows, uglier things that Trini’s keeping close to the chest, but the bare bones are enough to put together an altogether heartbreaking picture.

“Come on,” she murmurs, hand at Trini’s wrist, not quite touching her. “You need to get cleaned up.”

“You don’t have to do this.” Trini’s frowning even as she steps off her textbook stepstool, eyes settled somewhere just past Kimberly’s shoulder. She crosses her arms—it’s the first moment that Kimberly notices the blood on her collar, dried brown against the yellow of her shirt. “You don’t have to help me.”

Kimberly stares at her openly, pressing her lips into a line. They’ve all—Kimberly knows that Trini is slower to trust than any of them, they all know that. They’ve adapted, figured out the best ways to make her feel safe, whole, cared for. But this—after as much care that Trini’s shown for them, for her, she should be able to know. Be able to trust that they all would do the same for her. That Kimberly would do the same.

She’s trying not to take this skepticism personally. This isn’t the time for her feelings—not that she has feelings for Trini, because they’re teammates and Trini’s her best friend and—yeah. Anyway.

“You’re right, I don’t have to. I want to,” Kimberly says firmly, stepping back and raising her hand to the small of Trini’s back but letting it hang in the air just a hair away from touching her. “You’re my fellow ranger and my best friend and I—.” And I’m probably in love with you. “And I care about you. Let me help.”

Trini doesn’t protest after that. She lets Kimberly half-guide her to the nearest, quietest bathroom—Kimberly’s got a fairly useful ranking system for every bathroom in the school. Which are the nicest, which are the quietest, which don’t echo if you sob, which are the least likely place any of her old crowd would be. She steers Trini towards the bathroom near the chemistry labs; someone told the incoming freshmen a couple years back that it was haunted and the rumor stuck, even if no one wanted to admit to believing it.

“Hop up.” Kimberly taps the counter space between sinks lightly, turns away to grab a few paper towels and wet them. When she turns back, Trini’s glaring down at her hands, twisted up in her lap, her legs dangling over the edge of the counter. “You’re not going to like me very much in a minute,” she tells her, wringing out the paper towels so they’re just damp enough.

“Doubtful.”

Kimberly shrugs off a little of the anger that’s still curled in her fingers, flicking off excess water as she flashes Trini a smile. “Is that a compliment?”

The corner of Trini’s mouth quirks up, the closest she can come to a smile without pulling at the split in her lip. “Take it how you want it,” she murmurs after a quiet moment. Then she lets her eyes close, tips her head back just the slightest.

Kimberly’s kind of lost for a second—she doesn’t mean to get distracted by Trini’s insane lashes or the smooth edge of her cheekbones or by how soft she looks or by the thought of how her skin would feel beneath Kimberly’s lips and the pads of her fingers. But then she blinks fast in the harsh fluorescent lights because Trini’s just knocked Kimberly’s shin with the toe of her sneaker and has her head cocked to the side, eyes open again as she studies her.

“Space case much, princesa?” Trini teases when she catches Kimberly’s eye, her brow lifting. It must pull at something, because her smirk is dropped in a flash, pain flickering in her eyes before she carefully hides it away again.

Kimberly frowns. “Sorry,” she mutters, starting to wipe at the blood on Trini’s chin. “Just wondering how someone so small could bleed so much.”

She’s aiming for a joke, but it falls flat—partly, she’s sure, because Trini’s feeling like shit right now, but also partly because all Kimberly really wants right now is to somehow ensure that Trini never, ever feels like shit again. And she’s—well. She has no fucking clue what to do with that thought.

Trini doesn’t respond, just lets her eyes close again. She winces when Kimberly nears her lip so Kimberly works faster, tries to minimize the irritation. She tackles the blood at Trini’s hairline next, startling when she discovers a gash hiding among her dark roots.

“Jesus,” she hisses, pausing because she doesn’t trust herself to be gentle in the moment. “Trini.”

“Hm?” The smaller girl blinks up at her slowly.

“I—,” Kimberly starts, stops. Exchanges the dirty towel for a clean one before she starts again. “Who did this?”

“Kimberly—.”

“Because I just need to have a chat with them, you know?”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, you can, but you don’t.” Trini glares at her then, but it’s true. Trini takes hits she can dodge if she wanted to, stays quiet when shit like this happens; Trini is fully capable of taking care of herself, Kimberly knows. But Kimberly also knows that Trini doesn’t think she’s worth the effort.

Which—maybe that’s what’s making Kimberly so angry? The idea that the girl in front of her sees some warped version of herself in the mirror, some version that doesn’t deserve basic respect. Because fuck that, honestly. This is—

fuck, this is the girl that sits up with Jason when he’s having a panic attack and doesn’t want to let anyone know, the girl that spends nights over at Zack’s when the fear of waking up alone overwhelms him, the girl that is the only one out of them that can keep up with Billy when he starts getting into specifics on his newest project. The girl that, after a handful of days of knowing her, ripped off Kimberly’s defaced locker door and landed herself in detention for it.

Jesus, Kimberly can hardly breathe from the thought of it, from the idea that Trini doesn’t see what the rest of them see. That she doesn’t know that they’re all just as worried for her, just as protective of her as she is of them.

The air between them is thicker than it was before, heavier in a way that Kimberly can’t figure out how to fix, not now, not with Trini looking at her like this, like she’s tired, like she wants to fight but can’t bring herself to. And Kimberly—she doesn’t want to drop it—knows she can’t, not really.

But she can bury it for right now.

“I’m sorry,” she says quietly. “That wasn’t fair of me.”

Trini turns her glare down to her hands and Kimberly feels the air go out of her lungs when she sees—no, she fucking feels it. Feels all the hatred that Trini’s turning inward, feels all the guilt and disgust and doubt and anger. Kimberly’s never been so equally grateful and horrified by the psychic link that holds them all together, that connects them all to the morphing grid. Because this—this peek into Trini’s head? It feels like an invasion of privacy, leaves Kimberly twisted up, twisted around because god, all she wants to do is punch every fucking tooth out of the mouth of whoever did this.

But it’s good to know. Good to be able to recognize the way ebb and flow of Trini’s self-hatred, good to be able to know how and when to step in. Like now.

Kimberly steps closer, cups Trini’s chin in her hand and gently urges her to look up, hold Kimberly’s eyes. “Hey,” she says. “What I said was uncalled for.”

“It’s not. You’re right.”

Pursing her lips, Kimberly lets out a little sigh through her nose. Tries to figure out a neat way to agree with her without feeding into Trini’s cycle.

“Maybe,” she responds finally, gaze falling to the paper towel in her hand and the little drop of water that is snaking its way down her wrist. “But you didn’t need to hear it right now.”

There’s no response from Trini. When Kimberly looks up, the other girl’s cheeks are wet.

Kimberly can count on one hand the times she’s seen Trini cry—it’s a grand total of four, not including today, and three occurred during times when they all thought they were about to die. The fourth was when Kimberly had had the dumb fucking idea to watch The Fox and the Hound, but honestly if Trini hadn’t cried, Kimberly would have been convinced she wasn’t human.

But she’s crying now, in front of Kimberly, and if her appearance was anything to go by, she’d been crying earlier, and Kimberly can’t help but wonder how long this has been going on, how long Trini’s been hiding this from the rest of them. Is this where she disappears to when she ditches out on math with Jason or history with Zack? Scrubbing her locker when the halls are empty? She’d always figured Trini bailed to go and spend time at the quarry or at home, without having to deal with the heavy, burning gaze of her mother, watching every move she made.

“I—,” Trini hiccups, leaning into Kimberly’s touch when she drops the damp towel in favor of brushing the other girl’s hair back out of her eyes. “I didn’t want anyone to see.” She sucks in a shuddering breath, forces out the rest of her words slowly, painfully. “I don’t want it getting back to my parents.”

That—god, that hurts. Hurts to hear, hurts to see; Trini looks incredibly small sitting up on this counter, even more so than normal, and her fear is a real, tangible thing that fills the space around them and between them with ease.

The rush of protectiveness that surges through Kimberly isn’t entirely new, not towards her fellow rangers, but the acuity of it is. She wants to place herself directly between Trini and anything that makes her this scared. She wants to wrap herself around the other girl and keep her warm and safe until she stops shaking like this or—hell—maybe even forever and that thought alone terrifies Kimberly.

She shoves the feeling aside for now—there’s time to unpack that and all that it means later. Right now, Trini’s still crying, her shoulders hunching as she tries to make herself even smaller, tries to take up even less space and Kimberly’s aching at the sight of it, at Trini—sardonic and kind and stubborn Trini—looking so fucking small.

“Can I—,” Kimberly starts, unsure of how to phrase her question but knowing it has to be asked. “Is it okay if I hug you?”

Trini looks up at her, her dark eyes wet and wide and then she’s leaning forward and wrapping her arms around Kimberly’s waist and sobbing into her neck. Her fingers twist in the fabric of Kimberly’s shirt, pulling her closer, so Kimberly steps between Trini’s legs and slips her arms over Trini’s shoulders, tucking the smaller girl securely underneath her chin.

She doesn’t say anything deep, anything meant to do more than soothe because—because what could she say? There’s nothing to make this all better for her, to take away the deep-seated fear that lives in Trini’s bones, born of nearly two decades of her mother’s vitriol and others’ cruelty. Kimberly can only hold her and—

well. Now that she thinks about it, there is one other thing she can do.

She fleshes the plan out a bit while Trini cries herself out on Kimberly’s shoulder. When her sobs give way to sniffles, then a few deep, shaky breaths, Kimberly figures out the right words. “You deserve so much better than this,” Kimberly tells her, because she feels like it’s something Trini’s not told enough and that’s—it fucking unbelievable, honestly, and it’s a wrong that Kimberly’s setting out to right. Trini sucks in a breath like she’s about to dispute the statement, so Kimberly doesn’t give her the chance. “You are a kind, loyal, loving person,” she whispers, “and you shouldn’t ever be made to feel ashamed over who you love.”

Trini manages a gross, mucus-y sort of laugh, her breath hot against the dip just above Kimberly’s collarbone. “Sorry I cried on you,” she mumbles sheepishly when she pulls away; she doesn’t get far, because Kimberly keeps her arms around her.

“Trini.”

“Your shirt’s kind of gross now. I got snot all over it."

She really did. Kimberly can’t be fucked over it. “Yeah,” she sighs. “But it’s worth it.”

“Kimberly—.”

“It’s worth it.” You’re worth it, she wants to say. More than.

But Trini’s got this look like she might start crying again if Kimberly says something like that and honestly? Kimberly’s maybe just reassigned making sure Trini never cries to, like, Priority Number One.

She swallows the words that are threatening to choke her now, says instead, “This one’s going to need a stitch, I think.” She smooths her thumb over the skin just below the cut behind Trini’s hairline, careful not to apply too much pressure. “I can probably manage it back at the ship,” she adds, even though she knows that by the time they make it to the ship, the gash will be long healed.

“I should change your name in my phone from Fighter Pilot Barbie to Paramedic Barbie at this rate.”

“Jesus,” Kimberly groans. “Why am I still Fighter Pilot Barbie?”

Trini flashes her a small, lopsided smile. It doesn’t reach her eyes, but it brightens her face a little and Kimberly watches with something akin to hope flaring in her chest as Trini’s shoulders relax, loosening under Kimberly’s arm. “Because you didn’t like my other nicknames for you,” she retorts.

The air feels lighter now—Kimberly feels like they’ve slipped out of the darkest timeline, or they almost have, even if Trini’s face is still bruised and Kimberly can’t forget the word written on the girl’s locker down the hall. Trini’s joking and smiling a little and so Kimberly finishes cleaning her up, moving quickly and distracting her with idle chatter about what she’s missed during the day.

When she’s done, she tucks Trini’s hair behind her ears and steps back to survey her work. “Well,” she says. “You still look like Rocky from the final act of Rocky—.”

“I should be so lucky,” Trini deadpans.

“—but you’re as patched up as I can get you at school.” Kimberly drops her hands, one resting on Trini’s knee and the other trailing down Trini’s arm to lace their fingers together. In the safety of the bathroom, out of sight, Trini doesn’t shy away from her touch, but rather tightens her hold on Kimberly’s hand and nods. “Do you want water?” Kimberly offers. “I think there’s a vending machine around the corner.”

“Water’d be good.”

“I’ll be right back.” When Trini’s grip steels and her eyes widen, Kimberly tells her, “Lock the door behind me. No one uses this bathroom, but I’ll knock when I come back, okay?”

When Trini nods and drops Kimberly’s hand, she—quite frankly, Kimberly doesn’t know what comes over her, but then she’s leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Trini’s forehead; it’s light, barely a brush of her lips over Trini’s skin, but it’s new and Kimberly’s close enough to smell Trini’s shampoo and she can’t—god. She can’t handle this.

As soon as she’s out in the hall and has heard the deadbolt slide home, Kimberly pulls out her phone.

From: Kimberly Hart To: Fearless Leader 2:57pm found her

From: Fearless Leader To: Kimberly Hart 2:57pm is she okay??

From: Kimberly Hart To: Fearless Leader 2:57pm not really

2:57pm like she’s safe and alive

2:57pm but someone wrote on her locker and roughed her up and im going to fucking murder them

From: Fearless Leader To: Kimberly Hart 2:58pm shit can I do anything

2:58pm like does she need anything

2:58pm do you need anything

2:58pm don’t kill anyone Kimberly

From: Kimberly Hart To: Fearless Leader 2:59pm no fucking promises

2:59pm but i do need u to take her to the mine for me. i wanna get her locker cleaned before class lets out and shes not up to staying thru the day

2:59pm and can u text zack bc she’ll probably want to head to the train car

From: Fearless Leader To: Kimberly Hart 3:01pm done and done. just left class, I’ll be in the parking lot whenever she’s ready

3:02pm and seriously Kimberly, don’t kill anyone

From: Kimberly Hart To: Fearless Leader 3:02pm [image attached]

From: Fearless Leader To: Kimberly Hart 3:02pm who the fuck

3:02pm let me know if you need help burying them

3:02pm but seriously who the fuck did that

From: Kimberly Hart To: Fearless Leader 3:02pm shes not saying and im not abt to push her rn

Her phone buzzes again, but she doesn’t check it until she’s bought Trini’s drink and started walking back to the bathroom—it’s only Jason again, agreeing with her decision not to push for answers today. Kimberly knocks three times, a familiar pattern, and slips in when Trini opens the door for her.

“Jason’s going to take you to the mine,” she tells her after cracking open the bottle. Kimberly hands it over and adds at Trini’s questioning look, “I’ve got a couple things I need to handle before I can leave, but I’ll be there soon.”

“What things do you need to handle?” Trini narrows her eyes at Kimberly, peering up at her with one hand planted on her hip. She sips her water with a slightly raised eyebrow when Kimberly hesitates for a beat too long before answering.

“I’m supposed to meet with my history teacher after school today,” Kimberly lies easily. “I just need to check in with her and let her know I can’t make it.”

If Trini doesn’t believe her, she doesn’t call her on it. She drops eye contact and starts shrinking the moment they step through the door back into the open hallway. Kimberly steers Trini away from the stairs by her locker, pulls her towards the elevator by the vending machines instead so she can be sure Trini doesn’t have to see it again.

Jason’s idling in the parking lot as promised, his truck newly declared road safe even though it still bore the physical evidence of his bull escapade. He leans over to open the passenger door when he spots them, nodding in greeting.

“Zack’s going to meet us there,” he tells the girls. “And I’m picking up Billy from the field.” Jason shifts his attention to Kimberly, asking significantly, “When do you think you’ll be done here?”

“Before school lets out.” She squeezes Trini’s hand as she climbs into her seat. “Probably in twenty?”

Trini’s withdrawn again, staring blankly ahead even as Jason nods, calls out a goodbye as he pulls away from the curb. Her eyes flick to Kimberly once as she lets go of Trini’s hand before they’re trained back ahead.

Kimberly stands at the curb until Jason’s truck disappears out onto the main road and makes the turn that takes them away from town and out towards the quarry.

It’s still quiet when she heads back into the school; the halls are still empty when she raids a janitor’s closet and collects cleaning supplies.

She stinks of bleach and her fingertips are raw by the end of it, but there’s no trace of the slur anymore and that alone is a triumph. Kimberly entertains the idea of moving Trini’s stuff into her locker briefly, but Trini’s so careful with her boundaries, draws them out so clearly and Kimberly feels like moving her shit without her express permission probably kicks through every line Trini’s drawn and she refuses to do that.

What she does instead only kicks through a few lines, she thinks.

Really, it’s dumb fucking luck that she quite literally bumps into Amanda and Rebecca—she should have been expecting it, because bad things come in threes and so far, she’s only at two for today.

“Watch where you’re going, bitch,” Amanda hisses when she and Rebecca stumble back.

Kimberly fakes it, taking one large step back and pretending to be unsteady on her feet. She’s just about to duck her head and slip away quietly, to attempt the path of least resistance, but then Rebecca’s taunting, “How’s your girlfriend, Kimmy?” and everything sort of goes out the window because it’s so obvious and Kimberly can’t believe she didn’t realize it before now.

Kimberly surges forward, hauls them both up by the collars of their shirts and shoves them back against the lockers that line the hallway. “Fuck with me all you want,” Kimberly snarls. “I deserve it and I know that. But leave her out of this.”

“We were only stating the obvious, Kimmy,” Amanda spits back. “Letting the rest of the student body know that she’s a d—.”

The anger that courses through Kimberly isn’t entirely new, but normally she’s alone when she feels it this intensely. Normally, it’s self-directed. Kimberly shifts, presses up with her forearm at the base of Amanda’s neck and growls, “Don’t you fucking dare.” She presses harder, hears the fabric of Rebecca’s shirt tear in the clenched fist of her other hand as she repeats, “Leave her the fuck out of this. Got it?”

Amanda’s still glaring at Kimberly, but there’s fear in her eyes too, just enough that Kimberly feels she’s done her job. There’s no doubt in her mind that she deserves whatever Amanda throws at her—there never was and there never will be, honestly, and Kimberly will take anything and everything that the other girl decides to put her through—but her team is off limits.

Trini is off limits.

She drops the other girls, stands resolute as they glare and stalk away, throwing insults as they go and threatening to go to the principal—they won’t, Kimberly knows, but it’s a good effort on their part.

When Kimberly gets to the mine, they’ve already migrated away from Zack’s train car. She heads to the gorge, throws herself off the cliff face and tries really hard to regret throwing Amanda and Rebecca into the lockers. Because that’s—that’s fucked up, right? Not her place?

The cool water does little to help clear her mind, but what she’s greeted with when she finally wanders onto the ship centers her.

She checks every one of their favorite spots to hide out in first—Trini’s, the few Kimberly’s shown her, the ones that everyone on the team knows about, all places somewhat shielded from Alpha-5 and their alien wall dad. The term was something Zack picked early on and that had stuck, much to Zordon’s chagrin and the rest of the rangers’ unending amusement.

Kimberly finally finds them in the makeshift den, the atrium down in the living quarters that one day Billy had asked if they could build a fort in and they just never took it down afterwards, even going so far as trawling second hand shops to find a battered but incredibly comfortable couch to make the center of their Ranger Roost (again—Zack’s term).

She nearly doesn’t see Trini, she’s so smothered by their boys. Kimberly only spots her by the little bright spot of yellow that stands out next to the deep red of Jason’s sweater where he’s got her wrapped up in his arms. Her legs, she realizes, are thrown over Zack’s lap and he’s got one of her hands covered in his own. Her sneaker clad feet are tucked up on the couch beside her, Billy’s hand resting on her leg, his thumb circling the jutting bone of Trini’s ankle. He’s the first to notice Kimberly, looking up and greeting her. “Hi Kimberly,” he says, his free hand raised and his voice splitting perfectly between worry and relief.

“Hey Billy,” she responds, stepping closer. “How’s our girl?”

“She hasn’t said anything.” Billy’s thumb doesn’t still on Trini’s ankle, even as he looks between Kimberly and where Kimberly thinks Trini’s face is worriedly.

Kimberly nods, squeezes the couch by Billy’s shoulder and murmurs, “Thanks, B.”

She comes around to the front of the couch, greets Zack by nudging the back of his head. From this side, she can see more of Trini—just a little, but enough to realize that the other girl is out cold.

“She dozed on the drive,” Jason explains quietly. “Barely made it in here and then was only up long enough to yell dogpile at us before she knocked out.”

Kimberly bites back a laugh partly because Jason’s got this calm resignation in his voice, like he knows and accepts the fact that he probably won’t be getting up from his seat until Trini’s napped herself out, but also partly due to the fact that Trini voluntarily called a dogpile when normally she rolls her eyes and has to be dragged into it.

Regardless—Zack nods in agreement with Jason. “Who do we need to bury?” he asks after a beat.

For half a second, Kimberly thinks he’s joking, trying to lighten the mood, but then he turns his face just a fraction more towards her and he’s not smiling, not even a little. Kimberly should probably be worried, but honestly? She’s just so damned pleased that she’s got at least one accomplice for when she tries to convince Billy to help her blow up Amanda’s car.

“Who do you think?” Kimberly answers quietly. They fall silent then; the only sound in the room is their breathing and Trini’s occasional soft snores and each one twists Kimberly’s heart, makes her soften. “Scoot,” she demands finally, pushing at Zack’s shoulder with gentle insistence. “I want in on the dog-pile.”

He moves without protest, which surprises her less than it did at the very beginning, when they were all still learning how to handle one another. Zack’s incredibly caring, Kimberly’s found, particularly when it comes to the tiniest, angstiest ranger and he generally cools it with the jokes when Trini’s well-being is on the table. He shoves Jason and they shuffle down in tandem, shifting Trini to rest against Kimberly seamlessly when she slips onto the couch to join her friends.

In her sleep, Trini curls into Kimberly, seeking out her warmth—Kimberly’s not surprised by it anymore; they’ve had enough sleepovers at this point that she’s become well-acquainted with the smaller girl’s tendency to wrap herself around whatever proves softest, warmest, and most accepting of her weight. It left Kimberly flustered and blushing on far too many mornings, but eventually she noticed how much easier Trini seemed to sleep with human contact and learned to compartmentalize for her sake.

Right now, though, Trini’s wounds are healing already and she lets out a little sigh as she settles against Kimberly, her face relaxed and her near constant scowl nonexistent for the moment. Kimberly wraps her arms around Trini, earning another pleased sigh and causing Kimberly to flush in response. There’s no immediate shit from Zack over it, but when Kimberly looks up, he’s smirking at her like he knows something; lucky for him, Kimberly’s got a lapful of a napping Trini and can’t quite bring herself to give a shit about whatever Zack may or may not know.

Jason falls asleep next, his head falling back at such an awkward angle Kimberly’s sure he’ll wake with a crick in his neck. Billy follows him shortly, but not before snagging one of the pillows off the floor and propping Jason’s head up on it.

For a while, it’s just Zack and Kimberly still awake; Kimberly’s playing with Trini’s hair when Zack asks seriously, “So what do you want to do about them?”

It’s no mystery who he’s talking about. Kimberly takes a moment, a breath, before she answers. “Dunno,” she says honestly. “I mean, I know I want to take a baseball bat to Amanda’s BMW, but I’ll just follow her lead on it.” She dips her chin towards Trini, who’s started snoring lightly, her exhales coming in warms puffs of air against Kimberly’s collarbone. “However she wants to handle it, you know?”

Zack levels her with a look that tells Kimberly exactly how much he’s buying her answer, but nods just the same. After a minute, he says, “Didn’t peg you for property damage, princess.”

Kimberly chucks the nearest object she can lay a hand on—in this case, Jason’s phone—and grins as Zack easily dodges it. “Hey,” she warns lightly. “Only one ranger gets to call me that.”

“You’re so whipped,” Zack laughs. He laughs even harder when Kimberly blushes; she knows she deserves that quip, knows she brought it on herself, but it still makes her defensive, just a little.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am—.”

Trini shifts in Kimberly’s lap, twisting her fingers into the hem of the other girl’s shirt as she grumbles, “You’re both stupid. Let me sleep.”

Zack shoots Kimberly a shit eating grin when she immediately snaps her mouth shut, her hands busying themselves with Trini’s hair again. Shut up, she mouths at him.

Go to sleep, he throws back.

Whatever. Kimberly’s not whipped just because she does actually settle down, leaning back against the arm of the couch and bringing Trini with her, head on her chest.

She closes her eyes to avoid Zack’s raised eyebrows.

/ /

“Hey,” Kimberly greets the next day, swinging up and through Trini’s window in the early morning light. “I have a proposition for you.”

Trini snorts and throws Kimberly a surprised smile, one that makes her throat tighten, her heart turn with how bright it is. “Kimberly Hart,” she gasps, “are you literally propositioning me?"

Rolling her eyes, Kimberly rights herself and straightens. “I am, I guess,” she says. “I think you should move into my locker.”

“Little early for that, hm?”

Kimberly pretends to not notice the way Trini’s voice cracks; she also pretends not to notice the little flare of warmth, of hope that takes hold in her chest when she considers what the break in the other girl’s voice might mean. Instead, she nods. “Maybe,” she agrees, “but how many times have you had days like yesterday?”

For a second, she thinks she’s finally said the wrong thing, finally gotten Trini to shut down, shut her out completely, because Trini’s expression flattens, goes dead in the blink of an eye. She doesn’t still, though, just ducks Kimberly’s gaze as she keeps shoving things into her bag for detention.

“Trini,” Kimberly presses, desperate for some sign that she hasn’t just fucked whatever their relationship is to high hell.

“Doesn’t matter,” she says in a tight voice. “It’s not your problem.” She reaches for the beanie on the corner of her bed and Kimberly, knowing it’s the only chance to get a real answer, steps between to block her.

Trini looks up finally. Her eyes are still a little puffy, still a little red; with ranger healing, her bruises and cuts have faded and her eyes should be back to normal by now, which only confirms what Kimberly worried about through the night—that after they all went home last night (or, more aptly: after Alpha-5 and Zordon forced them all to go home), Trini spent the night crying.

“Just drop it, okay?”

Trini’s voice breaks a little on the request and she’s watching Kimberly with narrowed eyes, like she doesn’t half-trust her to be in her space right now and that sort of breaks Kimberly into a million pieces. That Trini still expects that her lot in life is to suffer alone, to deny any care before it can be denied to her has Kimberly wanting to hurt any and every person that has ever hurt the girl in front of her; she wants to track them down and demand why they would hurt a person so kind, so intensely caring.

Kimberly won’t drop it—can’t drop it, because Trini has always deserved more than this and to think that she doesn’t know that is almost too much for Kimberly to handle. She softens a little more, reaches back to grab the beanie and hand it over to Trini before she perches on the edge of the other girl’s bed. “Hey,” she says softly as Trini shoves the beanie over her hair. “I’m sorry I upset you, I didn’t—I should have phrased that better.”

“You don’t have to treat me like I’m made of glass,” Trini snaps. “I’m not going to break.” And at least—at least this is familiar? Kimberly’s used to this, used to Trini trying to provoke a response that she feels better suited to handle—annoyance or anger or teasing, anything other than heartfelt care.

“I know,” Kimberly says simply. She lets the statement rest between them for a moment. Then, she begins again. “But I also know that you shouldn’t have to deal with this at all, Trini,” she sighs, “and you really shouldn’t have to deal with this alone. I just want to be here for you.”

Trini’s scowl had been softening a little with each passing moment, and, with Kimberly’s last declaration, it disappears entirely, replaced with a carefully constructed neutral expression instead. “You’re really willing to risk shit like this happening at your locker again?” Trini asks flatly, as if expecting Kimberly to rethink her offer suddenly.

It’s as good as an agreement though, and Kimberly nods quickly. “Of course,” she hums. “I thought I made it pretty clear that you’re more than worth it.”

The statement slips out without her meaning it to, but then it’s there, settling between them and for a split second, Kimberly’s sure Trini’s about to cry again—her eyes start shining and her jaw tightens and guilt sits heavy in Kimberly’s chest. But then her expression clears, her mouth twisting into a smirk that seems to brighten the whole damn room even as her eyes still shine.

“Sap,” Trini accuses lightly. “But yeah, whatever, if you’re so desperate to deal with me twenty-four seven, I’ll move into your locker.” She moves to shoulder past Kimberly, head for the window and Kimberly can’t explain this either, can’t reason why her hand whips out to grab Trini around her wrist and pull her back, into a hug.

“Sorry,” Kimberly mutters into Trini’s hair.

She can practically feel Trini roll her eyes, but she doesn’t pull away; in fact, she leans into Kimberly a little more, brings her arms around her waist. “If you ever tell anyone about this,” Trini grumbles into Kimberly’s neck, “I’m going to throw you into a wall or something.”

“No, you won’t.”

“No, I won’t.” The shorter girl lets out a little sigh then, her breath warm against Kimberly’s collarbone. “But seriously. Zack’s gonna give me shit if he knows I went down without a fight.”

“You know he won’t,” Kimberly hums. “Not about this anyway.”

Trini huffs out something that sounds an awful lot like an agreement and pulls away slowly, like it pains her. “You’re sparring with him today if he does, though,” she tells her.

“I thought we could spar together,” Kimberly says quietly, biting back a smile at the way Trini’s cheeks redden.

“You—uh,” she stammers. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want me to get hurt and you know you’ll pull your punches.”

“Not at all. I’m gonna kick your ass, like always.”

Trini narrows her eyes, her mouth twisting up into a smirk even as her blush deepens. “You’re so full of shit,” she says, the tips of her ears turning red. “And we’re going to be late if you keep making me all sappy and whatever.”

“When have you ever been on time to detention?”

“Well, princesa,” Trini drawls. “I’m there temporarily, so my tardiness doesn’t really matter, but I’m guessing you’re also here to insist on driving me? And your tardiness does matter. Therefore, we’re going to be on time today.”

“You’re so bossy,” Kimberly whines, pulling a face and biting back laughter as Trini shoves her towards the window. There’s some grumbling behind her as Kimberly launches herself out the window, catching herself on the sill and twisting to grin at the other girl. Trini’s still red-faced and Kimberly can’t help but add with a wink, “I think I like it.”

She drops her hold on Trini’s windowsill and falls to the ground with grace, landing lightly on the still dew covered grass, but not before she hears a strangled squeak of a response above her.

#power rangers 2017 #trimberly #trini #kimberly hart #blood cw #wounds cw #wound care cw #self loathing cw #homophobia cw #bullying cw #internalized homophobia cw #its angsty but cute i promise #fun story this was originally going to be my first trimberly fic #but them prompts happened and the deleted scenes were released and i had to revamp the whole damn thing #*glares at lionsgate*

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