#which suddenly cuts to the pigs squealing and ripping

[magicalgirlsasuke]

the moment in hannibal that hits me hardest is when will’s peaceful happy piano motif (the one that plays when he kisses alana and daydreams about fly fishing) plays after he imagines himself feeding hannibal to the verger pigs

[queenshelby]

A NEW WORLD - PART SEVEN

A QUIET PLACE 2 FANFIC

Pairing: Emmett x Fem!Reader

Warning: Angst, Gore, Death, Murder, Attempted Rape, Aliens, Violence, Movie Spoilers, etc…

***

DAY 758

The journey north towards the sea over the old highway bridge took longer than expected and, when you finally arrived in the nearby seaside town, it was nightfall.

There was no breeze, no rain and everything was quiet as the sun sat over the small cove and you remembered visiting this township in the past with your stepfather and brother.

Charlotte was fast asleep wrapped around you in her carrier and Leanne was guiding the way with her torch as the streetlights in the small township were no longer operational.

It was another two or three kilometres until you would reach the marina and you didn’t quite know what to expect when you would get there.

You passed a pharmacy on the way and, since you were running low on Lucas’s medication, you decided to make a detour, possibly gathering more medical supplies before you would head to the island.

As you stepped inside, you could see that people had visited the township recently. There were fresh blood stains on the wooden floor inside the pharmacy.

You pointed them out to Leanne who indicated to you that you should leave immediately, but you shook your head and went on to search for Lucas’s medication.

Following Lucas’s transplant almost ten years ago, it was important for him to treat his immune system and the medication was important.

It didn’t take you long to locate five packets of the tablets he needed and you quickly placed them into your backpack.

Unexpectantly, when you turned around, you saw Leanne surrounded by three scary looking men carrying guns and knives.

One of the men indicated for you to drop your weapon and you complied without hesitation. Then another one of the men walked over towards you and grabbed you by the shoulder harshly.

Quietly, you tried to plead with the men but they were insistent and made you both follow them.

As you followed them out the door of the pharmacy, you could see Lucas sitting under one of the large oak trees on the street, holding his leg with both hands. He was bleeding profusely from his thigh and his jeans was covered in blood. His mouth was tied up with what appeared to be an old and dirty piece of clothing and his hands were tied together with cable tie.

You starred at him with wide eyes as the men dragged you across the road into what appeared to be an old butcher shop and slaughter house.

First, you were taken through the shop front which smelled horrendously like decomposed meat and flesh and then, at the back of the premises, there were two rooms with concrete walls.

It was obvious to you that these rooms would have been used to slaughter animals in the past and had now been converted into sleeping facilities for these men.

‘If I knew that we would have visitors as pretty as you, I would have cleaned up this pigsty’ one of the men said. ‘Pigsty…you get it?’ he joked, showing you his dirty black teeth.

Your eyes widened as the man approached you and told you that no one could hear you inside these walls. According to him, pigs were slaughtered here and, if anyone would have heard them squeal, no one would have eaten them in the end.

‘Please just let us go’ Leanne pleaded and the men laughed collectively as one of them ran his dirty hands through your hair before taking Charlotte away from you.

‘No! Get your hands of her’ you screamed all while you kicked him and tried to scratch him. But your efforts were futile and the man slapped you across the face harshly.

‘Looks like we will have you first bitch’ the man said as you hit the cold and wet concrete floor. ‘I do like my prey feisty’ he then went on to say all while one of the other men took Leanne and Charlotte outside into the other well insulated room.

‘Ya don’t mind if we take turns Love’ the man grinned while the other man shut the door behind him, leaving you to deal with two of the three predators.

***

As you were taken to the butcher shop, Lucas tried hard to reach for the knife strapped to his lower leg in order to get the cable tie cut off from around his wrists.

His efforts were futile and he stilled as, from further down the street, he noticed two men approach him with their rifles and torches.

The men came closer second by second and Lucas believed that they were with the men who took you, Leanne and Charlotte.

However, when they finally approached him, they appeared to be somewhat confused and one of them kneeled down and removed the dirty cloth from Lucas’s mouth while indicating for Lucas to stay quiet.

The man’s face was covered and Lucas didn’t recognise him. To his surprise, the stranger cut off the cable tie around his wrists and used the cloth, which earlier covered his mouth, to stop the bleeding on his leg.

The other man stood watch and Lucas indicated to the stranger that there were others in the butcher shop across the road.

The man finally pulled down his face covering as he couldn’t clearly understand what Lucas was trying to tell him.

Immediately, as he lowered the fabric covering his face, Lucas’s eyes widened. The bearded stranger was no stranger at all. It was Emmett.

Emmett realised that Lucas had ran into trouble and, without losing any time, he quickly grabbed an old piece of paper and a pencil from his pocket.

‘Y/N?’ Emmett wrote on the paper before handing the paper and pen to Lucas.

‘Men took her’ Lucas wrote quickly while pointing to the old butcher shop across the road.

Emmett immediately sighed and indicated to his friend to come with him, showing him the piece of paper as they went.

Lucas tried to follow Emmett and the stranger but Emmett shook his head, indicating for him to wait.

Not long after Emmett and the other man entered the butcher shop, they found the way out back where you, Leanne and Charlotte were kept.

Briefly and quietly, Emmett looked through the hallway only to see a little girl sit on the cold floor, tears running down her eyes. Then he heard another woman cry, but it wasn’t you. Her voice was much deeper but sounded familiar.

Emmett walked towards the room quietly and soon realised that the woman was his sister Leanne who was struggling against a tall but skinny looking man.

‘Strip or I will rip em off’ the man said harshly just before Emmett’s friend held up a piece of rope he had found in the abandoned premises.

Emmett nodded and his friend walked to the back of the hallway towards the rear entrance of the room where Leanne and Charlotte were held. At the same time, Emmett tried to get the attention of the little girl, seeing that the man inside the room was occupied with his sister.

Charlotte soon noticed Emmett who indicated to her to stay quite and crawl over towards him.

But Charlotte was reluctant and looked back at Leanne until Emmett moved his lips and fingers as if he was about to speak.

‘Look at me’ he said and, again, he caught Charlotte’s attention.

‘That’s it…look at me’ he said again while he held up a chocolate muesli bar from his bag before nodding to his friend, giving him the go ahead.

Just as he did, Emmett’s friend took the rope and pulled it over the man’s head before pulling the man back against the wall.

At the same time Emmett quickly grabbed Charlotte and indicated for her to cover her ears, ensuring that she would not see or hear what was going on behind her.

Leanne immediately ran towards Emmett and Charlotte as her attacker finally took his last breath.

‘Where is Y/N?’ Emmett asked worried and Leanne pointed to the other room. She was still in shock and couldn’t speak nor react to the fact that her brother was standing right in front of her.

Emmett nodded and handed Charlotte over to Leanne before he and his friend made their way to the other room.

***

‘Get the fuck away from me’ you screamed, trying to bite one of the men while kicking the other and, by this point, they hadn’t gotten far with you and were losing their patience.

It was at this moment that you saw a strange man enter the room, going unnoticed by your attackers.

The man was tall with dark black hair and dark skin. He indicated for you to keep doing what you are doing as he walked closer towards you and the attackers.

Then you saw another man enter the room and, despite your situation, your chin dropped as you saw that it was Emmett.

‘Shh’ he indicated with his finger as each of them approached the backs of the attackers before, suddenly, pulling out the strings of rope and going through the same motion as before.

After a struggle of less than two minutes, you watched both of the men take their last breath and you sighed with relief as their lifeless bodies fell to the ground.

With tears running down your face you immediately fell into Emmett’s arms until, suddenly, you looked around you and Charlotte wasn’t there.

‘Where is Charlotte…oh my god…Charlotte’ you panicked.

‘Mumma’ you then heard all of a sudden as both, Leanne and Lucas walked into the cold room with Charlotte clinging on to Leanne’s chest.

You ran over to her immediately and picked her up, kissing her and hugging her before strapping her back into the baby carrier.

Just as you did, you noticed her reaching for Emmett and her small hand took hold of his arm gently.

‘Chocolate’ was all that she said quietly and Emmett couldn’t help but laugh.

‘I tell you what little miss, you can have the chocolate bar when we get to our boat. But you need to be really quiet until we get there, alright?’ Emmett said.

‘Boat to Island?’ Charlotte went on to ask and Emmett nodded.

‘Boat to the island, yes’ Emmett smiled, realising that you already knew about the safe haven on the island.

***

After you covered Charlotte’s eyes you made your way to the marina with Emmett and his friend who had introduced himself as Morgan.

You learned that they were gathering supplies to take back to the island as they ran in to Lucas. Apparently, most of the outcasts in the area had been dealt with and the men who captured you must have been new arrivals to the area.

Not many people knew about the island but, the ones who do, would usually be screened upon arrival and there are always several men and women who keep watch from a tower the community had recently built.

When you finally arrived at the marina it was around 4am and Charlotte was struggling with her sleep pattern. She had been overtired and it you were keeping your fingers crossed that you would make it to the boat without further interference.

Fortunately for you, Charlotte remained quiet throughout the journey and you made it the boat without further problems.

Emmett and Morgan put the supplies into the boat first while Leanne helped Lucas to get on board quietly.

Then Emmett held out his hands and you gave Charlotte to him before you stepped on board yourself.

To your surprise, the boat was motorised and you instantly cringed as you heard the sound of the motor following by the roar of one of the creatures.

‘Boat’ Charlotte said and you quickly indicated for her to be quiet.

‘It’s alright, they can’t swim, watch’ Emmett said as he pointed to one of the creatures trying to get into the water on the side of the shore.

After the boat had turned around and the creature was no longer visible, Emmett removed Charlotte’s blind fold and she instinctively touched his beard with her tiny hands.

‘What’s this?’ she asked using her hands and lips.

‘Beard’ Emmett responded using both, sign language and spoken words.

‘Beard’ she laughed as she kept pulling his hair until, eventually, she remembered that Emmett had promised her chocolate earlier.

While Emmett was steering the boat towards the island, Leanne took Charlotte from him and finally gave her the small chocolate muesli bar she was promised.

‘I didn’t think I would ever see you again Y/N’ Emmett sighed with relief as he was standing next to you. A small tear ran down his face as his blue eyes looked into yours.

‘Me neither until I found these at the old steel factory’ you said just as you took several photographs out of your backpack and handed them to Emmett.

‘Are the boys and Nora on the island?’ you then asked and Emmett’s eyes teared up almost instantly as he took the photographs from you.

‘They didn’t make it Y/N. I couldn’t save them’ he said as he shook his head.

‘Emmett, this is not your fault. None of us could have known’ you said as you gently ran your hand over his arm.

‘What kind of father am I if I cannot protect my own children Y/N’ Emmett sighed and you instinctively kissed his cheek but not in a sensual way but rather in a way a friend or relative would.

‘Don’t Emmett, please don’t do this to yourself’ you said as you gently ran your hand over his shoulder.

‘You don’t get it Y/N. I’ve lost everything. At least you’ve got your brother and now you’ve got a child even’ he said saddened just as you were approaching the island.

‘You didn’t, you’ve got…’ you said but, just before you could finish your sentence, two people from the island jumped on board of the boat, one of which was a rather attractive brunette in her late thirties.

‘Hi Stranger’ she said as she gave Emmett a deep kiss before grabbing some of the supplies and introducing herself to you and the others.

‘I am Nancy…welcome’ she said with a big smile before waving at Charlotte.

  Tag List (Cillian):

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[ateezmakemeweep]

richboy!seonghwa (part 11)

word count: 6k

angst, fluff

(part 10) (series masterlist)

"okay, now, which one, y/n?" wooyoung whines, holding up a fuzzy yellow sweater and a blue knitted one. you purse your lips to the side as you sit on his bed, examining the expensive fabrics.

"the yellow one."

"ugh but it's kind of itchy," he groans. your eyebrow raises and you desperately hold back a huff of your own because this is how the last hour's been going. shirts and sweaters getting tossed and complaints left and right and perhaps you should've put more thought into your own outfit.

"weren't we supposed to go at 9?" you whine back, looking at your phone that reads 9:52, "you'll look good in anything!"

he squints his eyes at your small smile as you wiggle your feet on his bed. you've been antsy all day and now just waiting around for your impending doom is making it so much worse.

because the second you stepped into the lobby for breakfast this morning, talk of a party being held tonight was the only topic of conversation between the bustling group of teens sprawled out across the couches and bar stools.

three of the boys in your grade had completely rented out one of the local restaurant bars, then promptly proceeded to sneak in all of their own alcohol and send out a mass text to everyone on the trip.

and of course you were hesitant from the start, seeing as what happened the last time you attended a party.

you listened to the boys talk over breakfast, yeosang only looking your way with a tense, barely-there smile. like he hadn't broke down to you and hugged you or delivered that (delicious) food to your door last night.

but then a part of you thinks he probably doesn't want to acknowledge it in a public setting, around all of his friends on top of the fact that you'd be able to cut the tension between him and seonghwa with a knife.

"so we're all in agreement then, we're gonna get shitfaced?" san confirms, clapping his hands together in excitement.

"the fuck, yes!" wooyoung says as if the question itself was absurd.

"i very much plan to," hongjoong concurs, mouth stuffed with a waffle.

"agreed," yeosang mumbles.

just the sound of his voice has the boy next to you tensing, your eyes peaking up to see seonghwa rolling his eyes at his friend and it makes you swallow nervously, not liking the tension or the way you feel like it's your fault. like how all of their little tiffs lately seem to be your fault.

he must feel you looking at him because his head turns to face you, cold eyes softening and the duality of his intense glares will never not shock you. how he could go from burning a hole in someone's face to having you fully mesmerized under his gaze.  

his eyes move further down, brows knitting as his stomach sinks because just the mention of this party has you nervous, has your hands folded into one another and fingers fiddling nervously; he feels the familiar feeling of guilt start to creep in his veins at that moment.

"come with me?" he mumbles suddenly, placing his warm hand over the both of yours and rubbing them calmingly before taking one in his grasp.

you nod quietly, feeling the boy's gaze on you before the familiar sound of wooyoung's squeals.

"hands, hands, look at their hands!"

"oh, my gosh, cuuuuute," san whines happily, smacking the side of wooyoung's arm.

"do you two ever stop talking," yeosang growls, ripping his gaze away from your retreating figures moving to the breakfast table.

"are you still hungry?" you ask seonghwa, "i don't know how you guys eat like pigs but still stay so skinny."

a little laugh leaves his mouth as he takes more fruit and another bagel, piling it on silently before putting his plate down.

"are you gonna be okay tonight?" he asks quietly, taking a step closer to you and causing you to bite the inside of your cheek nervously, "i...we can do something else if you want."

a shy smile makes its way on your face, you heart warming at the gesture and the sincerity in his eyes. because it's so thoughtful and sweet and your heart continually melts when he shows time and time again how considerate he is.

but you don't wanna ruin the fun nor do you want that event to taint any other experience you might and will have. it appears though that even with your positive and strong thoughts, it doesn't translate to your body's natural nervous reaction. doesn't stop your stomach from feeling queasy or your mind start to race with the hazy memories.

you're suddenly very interested in the pictures on the wall behind him, eyes darting to take in the drawings and snapshots of the ski lodge throughout the years. the picturesque town, an overview shot from the ski lift at sunset, snow-covered tree, the-

his warm hand on your jaw moves your face ever so slightly so your eyes immediately fall back on him, your tongue darting out to lick your lips nervously and you don't miss the way his eyes follow it.

"y/n?" he hums, head cocked to the side as he looks at you, his gaze gentle and patient.

"no, i can...we can go, i'll be okay," you stutter out, your head turning to look at the table of excited boys throwing crumbs at each other.

"are you sure?" he asks, noticing where your gaze shifts and letting out a sigh, "they won't mind, you know."

"thank you," you say softly, turning back to him face, "but i promise it's okay, i...i think it'll be fun. we can dance."

a soft smile makes its way on his face and he has to suppress a laugh thinking about the kind of dancing you think is appropriate at a party.

"you're two left feet say otherwise," he quips, letting out a laugh when you smack his chest lightly.

"shut up!"

he bites his lip to stop his grin from widening, licking over the slightly red skin as his eyes glaze over with a seriousness. his hand falls to your waist a few moments later, pulls you a little closer and you look up at him breathlessly.

"what?" you squeak because he can go from playful to serious in the blink of an eye.

"i'll be with you the whole time, you know that, yeah?" his deep voice murmurs lowly and he thinks he's confirming this more for his own benefit than yours.

your cheeks warm as your eyes give him all the answers he needs and and you don't even bother to lower your face to hide your blush. "i told you to stop saying stuff like that," you whine and a laugh bursts out of his mouth when he pulls back to see your pink-tinted face.

"now why i would do that when you look so cute," he hums, his hand back on your jaw and moving your face gently.

you let out a huff, the pout on your face quickly replaced by your parting mouth letting out a tiny gasp when you feel his his warm, wet lips are on your cheek. it was a soft and sudden peck, warm and sweet and so juvenile it shouldn't have your heart pounding; you pull back and you don't even wanna know how wide your eyes look right now

"seonghwa," you whine, your hand covering the cheek he just kissed but a soft smile you have no control over stretching across your face.

another chuckle leaves him, his eyebrow raising teasingly as he covers your hand with his own. "what," he muses lowly, "you didn't say i couldn't do anything." and then with that, he winks, really winks, before taking his plate and leaving you shell shocked.

"okay, you know what, i'm going with the itchy yellow. but i'm just telling you now i'm gonna need you to scratch my back," wooyoung says, ripping you from the memory of this morning; the boy smirks at you when he sees your flustered expression.

"were you just reliving your dreamy kiss?" the boy asks sarcastically, fanning himself with one hand as he adjusts the neck of his shirt.

"ugh, stop," you whine, falling backwards on to the bed while wooyoung's chuckle rings in the background. "i still can't believe he did that," you mumble under your breath but apparently loud enough for a certain (self-proclaimed) nosy loudmouth to hear.

"you can't? he's literally obsessed with you," wooyoung says, walking over to his dresser where he has vodka and shot glasses lined up, "i don't know if i've ever seen him act like this," he says absentmindedly, such casual words sending you into a frenzy.

"what are you doing?" you ask warily when you pick your head up, trying to ignore the excited warmness spreading in your chest.

"these are for us, baby girl, c'mon," he says, calling you over with two fingers before throwing one back. he hisses before shaking his head and letting out a loud, dramatic "wooo!" that you thought for sure was only something frat boys did in movies.

"i don't think that's a good-"

he's over to you in seconds, both hands holding the neon glasses and you swallow nervously looking at them.

"both of them?" you squeak and he only nods, a smile that's much too large on his face. you both have a stare down, your eyes pleading but his relentless and you take them with a sigh.

"this is peer pressure, you know," you grumble as you take a whiff before scrunching your nose and gagging.

"oh, stop your shit," he yells from the dresser, pouring two more for him before walking back over. he clinks his glass with yours before counting down.

you take one shot on the count of three and promptly gag, nearly spitting it all up as you desperately look around for any other beverage. but he only shakes his head, holding a bottle of orange juice tauntingly.

"one more, y/n, come on," he urges and you suppress another gag as you take down the shot with a sneer. he hands you the bottle of juice with a little pat on the head and you squint your eyes at him as you gulp down the much better tasting liquid.

"that was so bad," you whine causing wooyoung to laugh and roll his eyes. "we're ready to go now!"

"okay, that actually wasn't toooo bad," you say only two short hours, leaning on san who just gave you your 4th shot of the night, "it tastes like peach."

"didn't i tell you," he says victoriously, grabbing on to your arm as you both stumble back to your friend group.

the restaurant is spacious and lit with fake candles, probably far too fancy an establishment to be littered with rowdy drunk teens grinding and drinking and screaming over the loud music playing from the dj speakers.

"oh no, here they are," yeosang says with a smile and you noticed he's much happier when he's drunk.

"here we areee!" you say as saunter up to him and stumble between his legs. "you," your finger coming out to bop him on the nose, "are a whole lot happier with a few in you. you should drink more often."

"you think?" he hums, tongue darting out to lick the top row of his teeth and your hazy eyes watch the slow stroke.

"i do," you squeak out before looking at seonghwa across the table who's gaze is boring into your body, or more so how close it is to yeosang. you furrow your eyebrows at him before moving to the other side of the bench, squeezing in next to him and he smiles at you.

"how many shots you have?" he asks lowly and you splay four fingers across your lips as a lousy attempt at 'sh.'

"and what about you?" you whine, looking up at him with wide eyes, "why aren't you drinking."

"i am," he says, holding up his beer bottle and shaking it. you furrow your eyebrows before leaning tiredly on his shoulder, hazy eyes moving to yeosang whose eyes are boring into seonghwa.

sober you would never so boldly call out the obvious tension and sneers between the two boys. but put a few shots in you and:

"stop looking at him like that," you whine before moving your head up to see seonghwa is doing the same. "and you too! you guys are-are best friends!"

"he's a dick," they both say in unison and you can't help but giggle.

"but you're each other's dicks."

"no, y/n, we are definitely not," seonghwa grumbles just as yeosang starts to fake gag. the both of them look at each other in disgust and you let out a sigh before shouting for wooyoung at the dj booth; he quickly turns and runs over, extending his hand.

"are you finally gonna dance with me!" he says excitedly and you nod your head, scrambling off the booth and taking the boy's sweaty hand in yours.

"be each other's dicks aga-again! you better have made out-wait no aha," you giggle to yourself, fuzzy brain searching for the word, "made UP, when i'm back!"

you attempt to pull wooyoung away when seonghwa quickly catches him by the arm. you let out an impatient huff as you watch him whisper something into wooyoung's ear. the boy face dims for the slightest of seconds before he nods enthusiastically and tightens his grip on your hand.

"i will not fail you this time sir," he says and the boy can only squint his eyes at the boy's playfulness causing wooyoung to grimace. "alright, let's gooo, y/n," he says, holding your combined hands up and running towards san and hongjoong on the dance floor.

"she can take care of herself," yeosang says after a few moments of silence and seonghwa's head snaps to him, his eyes squinting at the boy.

"what?"

"you told wooyoung to take care of her and to not leave her," he says, "but she can take care of herself."

seonghwa turns his head to the side challengingly, crossing his arms over his chest as his jaw starts to tighten.

"you couldn't have forgotten what happened the last time we were all at-"

"obviously not, i was the one who had to walk in on it," the boy snaps, "but this time's different."

seonghwa's leg starts bouncing nervously, his guilt and irritation from that night swarming back into him before yeosang daringly speaks again.

"it's just all the time, seonghwa," yeosang then bites, "you're always worried and on edge and ready to like ..kill for her or some crazy shit. like last night, what the fuck was that."

seonghwa lets out a huff, breaking eye contact for a second to take a swig before looking back.

"you pay for her, tell me you're not gonna fuck with her, and then go and do the shit you did. what the fuck was that."

"i told you i already explained myself to her and apologized," yeosang snaps, "so you have to stop attacking me any time she's involved."

seonghwa's jaw twitches again and yeosang rolls his eyes at his friend's obvious anger, his drunken, hazy brain so over this confrontation and tension. "now can you stop clenching your jaw, you're gonna need new implants."

his eyes roll, head turned to the side as his tongue peaks out angrily and yeosang can't help the smirk on his face. "fuck you, i still don't know how that rumor got started."

"yeah, me either," yeosang hums, "because it definitely wasn't me."

seonghwa's head snaps to his friend, eyes roaming his face because if a rumor of that caliber was started by this little shit, he's gonna have to smash this beer bottle over his head.

"tell me you're joking."

his head turns to the side challengingly, tone sharp and teasing, "quit biting my head off anytime i breathe around y/n and i'll confirm or deny if i confessed my conspiracy in a drunken stupor."

now seonghwa can't help but burst out laughing, shaking his head before throwing the cap from his beer at his friend. "you're a fucking asshole."

and just like that, the tension was gone, the two of them laughing and turning to watch their friends sloppily dance and jump around. watch with bright smiles and soaring hearts as san and wooyoung spin and twirl you dramatically, your happy squeals filling the air.

but even in his drunken daze, yeosang is his ever observant self. watching you pull your neck back slightly, hand flying to your stomach before your mouth opens oh so subtly to take in a deep breath.

"oh, no, no, no, no," he mumbles, seonghwa turning his head to the side at his friend's mantra. and before he can ask, yeosang jumps up and runs to grab you by the arm.

"hold it," he grumbles in your ear before pushing you out the closest door to outside. his eyes frantically search before they land on a garbage, leading you to it just as a gag begins to leave your mouth. you grip the cold, snowy rim of the can just as you start to puke up the bile in your stomach.

you faintly feel a hand holding back your hair, the other rubbing your back as you choke out your sudden onslaught of puke.

"you shouldn't have been spinning around," he chastises softly causing you to whip your head back at him.

"i'll puke on the rest out on your shoes," you snap before turning around and lurching forward when the last bit spews out your mouth.

"right, okay," he hums, faintly aware of the sound of the door opening and feet scuffling toward you both.

"is she good," seonghwa mumbles and you close your eyes because how embarrassing that they're both here during this.

"oh, yeah, ju-just great with my head in the trash," you snap and both of them snort despite themselves, loving how you're extra snippy even with your drunken slurs and less than stellar position in the public garbage. they watch as you take a few deep breaths before finally wiping your mouth with your arm. yeosang releases your hair, taking a step back as you turn around and look at them with a bashful (humiliated) smile.

"that....was gross," you whine and the both of them bite their lips to hide their smiles. but it doesn't stop yeosang from making a snide comment complaining about how loud your gags were.

"can you shut-shut up," you hiccup, "i should've ruined your fancy little rich boy shoes." you kick the snow under your feet at him before seonghwa cautiously comes to your side. he wraps his jacket around your shoulders gently causing you to let out a content hum because you hadn't realize how cold you were.

"mm nice, thank you," you slur and you hope your act of inhaling his scent in subtle. "are we gonna go back and dance now?"

"i think you're done, little one," seonghwa says, a chuckle threatening to bubble out of his throat, "how 'bout we go back to your room?"

your head snaps up to him and yeosang raises his eyebrow, stepping forward ever so slightly and seonghwa's cheeks redden.

"not like that!" he says immediately, "i just...you should rest."

"he's right," yeosang agrees, his body suddenly relaxed, "and you need a toothbrush."

you narrow your eyes at the boy, reaching forward to shove him lightly and he stumbles back with a laugh. "go on home, little one," he mocks, teasing eyes moving to seonghwa who flips him off.

"you're little," you stupidly say and seonghwa wraps his arm around your waist to pull you away from him.

"you're both little," he says despite yeosang's glare, "c'mon, let's start walking, okay?"

you turn in his hold, looking up at him and poking him in his chest. "you use that-that soft voice thinking it's gon-na make me do anything for you and wh-hile you're absolute correct-"

your own hiccup cuts you off again along with the door busting open, san running up to seonghwa and it's obvious something is very wrong.

"you need to get in there, now," san says, grabbing seonghwa's arm and pulling him toward the door. but the taller boy pulls his arm back, "i'm bringing y/n back."

"have yeosang do it, you need to control hongjoong. he's-he's trying to fight that guy again."

"oh, god, not apple boy," yeosang grumbles and your head snaps to san who's turning to him in a fit of outrage. "oh yes, apple boy!"

you hear seonghwa groan above you, promptly causing your neck to snap up to him. "not this shit again."

"yes, this shit again," san whines, "c'mon! he only listens to you."

seonghwa's eyes are immediately on you and if you were sober, you'd see the conflict swarming in his eyes. warm and soft and really not wanting to leave you but also darting back towards the restaurant because he can't let hongjoong get his ass beat.

"i'll go with her," yeosang says, "i'd probably be leaving soon anyway."

seonghwa's eyes meet his for a second and yeosang sees the fleeting moment of envy in his eyes he almost thinks he made it up. because then he gives him the subtlest of nods and yeosang watches as he mumbles something in your ear. you look back at him with squinted, apprehensive eyes before turning back around to seonghwa and nodding.

"drink some water when you get back, okay?" he mumbles, lips grazing your ear and you wanna sigh at the feeling of his hot breath on you. but instead you nod up at him with a small smile and shoot him a thumbs up.

"be careful, don't get your pretty face messed up," you say, reaching up to tap his cheek twice.

"i could say the same to-"

"oh my god, i'm usually all for this, honestly, but you're gonna see her in a few hours." san whines, impatient and anxious at the prospect of hongjoong bleeding out on the floor, "let's fucking go!"

and with that, san is dragging seonghwa away and yeosang makes a show of gesturing to the sidewalk in front of you.

"i'd say ladies first but ladies don't puke in public."

"you're a mean boy," you grumble, stumbling past him and wrapping yourself further into seonghwa's coat.

"oh really," he says as he walks directly next to you, "because if it wasn't for me, you'd have puke in your hair. actually, you'd have puke in your hair after vomiting in front of everyone."

you let out a little huff because okay, correct. "wow, my hero," you sarcastically spit before whining, "i just wanted to dance." you stagger through the snowy piles on the ground, bumping into him several times before he wraps an arm around your shoulder, bringing you into him to keep you steady.

"do yo-you like to dance?" you ask him suddenly, leaning your head on his arm.

he's silent for a few moments, only surrounded by the sound of muffled music and your feet scuffling in the snow.

"no," he says and you look up at him dejectedly.

"what! how do you not like to dance," you grumble, "everyone likes to dance."

"not me," he insists, "i just like to sit around and bully people."

a little giggle leaves your mouth as you press yourself back into his arm, "okay, no-now that i can attest too."

the arm not connected to his body brushes against a snowy bush and you look at the cold, white wetness with furrowed eyebrows before an idea crosses your mind.

"hey," you say and he hums, glancing down at you when he feels you shrug off his arm. he watches with his arms out, ready to catch you if you fall as you stumble a few feet away from him and start touching the shrubs.

"what are you-"

"what about snowball fights? do you like snowball fights?"

his eyebrow raises and before he knows what happens, a giant ball of snow hits him dead in the face. a surprised gasp leaves his mouth as your laugh rings through the cold air, fog leaving your mouth and your hands already freezing off.

but the look on his face is so worth it, especially when he pushes off the snow to reveal his mouth open and eyes blazing.

"you didn't just do that."

"oh, but i did," you giggle out teasingly, "that's for you talking about my shitty aim in the-"

he's bending down and gathering a pile of snow in his hands before you can finish your sentence, promptly throwing it and now hitting you square in the face.

your squeal echoes throughout the town and you shake the snow off to see him standing there with a smirk on his face, two more snowballs already in his hands.

"you're gonna wanna think hard about your next-"

you reach behind and shove the snow off the bush, hitting his legs and waist before clumsily running away. you're wobbly and completely off balance but he doesn't think it'll be too devastating if you fall, cushioned by the fluffy snow and harsh reminder that karma is very much a thing.

he hits your back with one smack of coldness and you yelp, running further as you try to make a snowball on your escape. but you fail miserably, nearly tumbling down and luckily catching yourself last minute.

"stop!"

"you started this!" his deep voice echoes, no hint of mercy in his tone as he pelts the next snowball into your shoulder blades.

you giggle before turning around, holding out your hands defensively and he stops short to not smack right into you. "okay, i'm-i'm sorry," you say, even more breathless and dizzy from running on top of your dazed head.

"i don't think you are," he says lowly, inching toward you, "i think you're only sorry i did something back."

"that," you say, placing your finger on his chest and tracing figure eights, "is very corr-ect. you must be a smart tutor or something."

he bites his lip to hide his smile, his eyes rolling to the side in mock annoyance, so he doesn't see your hand making its way to his face. until be does, your finger on his lip, dragging down it slowly so it isn't trapped by his teeth before you sooth over the abused spot gently.

the fog of your cold rapid breaths from running and maybe something else, nerves you'll say, mingle together as he watches you trace his mouth slowly. 

you pull your finger back before meeting his gaze and it's a moment filled with a sudden buzzing thats making you both unable to pull your eyes away, only slightly aware of your hand still on his chest.

but in the long run, you'd grateful for it. because it's able to create some distance between you in a moment where there'd hardly be any.

your glossy eyes roam his face, smiling softly at his red cheeks from the cold and his usual cold gaze no where in sight. instead, his eyes are warm and a light brown and looking at you with such wonder and intensity it's making you feel queasy again.

you really really hope it's that, at least, because you'd die if you puked again. especially after you drunkenly mumble, "are you gonna kiss my cheek, too."

that snaps him out of the moment almost instantly, eyes widening and heart beginning to pound ever so slightly and he knows he shouldn't even respond. should just roll his eyes and walk you to your room and never think about you saying that again.

because he saw seonghwa do that this morning, saw the warm way you both looked at each other and how light and happy his best friend's eyes were. he can't even remember a time he saw seonghwa as happy as he is around you sometimes.

but even with that, he doesn't. and he can't. and he's gonna blame it on all the beers he had tonight and admit to his hungover self tomorrow that he's a shitty person and friend.

"wasn't planning on it," he quips lowly, "why, do you want me to also?"

your head cocks to the side and your eyebrow raises, hearing the teasing tone in his voice and poking the inside of your cheek.

"i don't know. i really do-don't like you sometimes."

"agreed."

a little laugh leaves your mouth as you shake your head. "but then sometimes i..."

"you....?" he says after a few moments of silence.

you let out a sigh, shaking your fuzzy head and moving away from him.

"nothing," you mumble as you walk past him; but he surprises you and himself when he grabs your arm gently. and then he really surprises himself when he asks the next question. he doesn't even know what possessed him too, just falls from his lips and the second he says it, he silently prays that you don't remember anything tomorrow.

"if you had to kiss someone," he says lowly in your ear, "would it be me or seonghwa?"

you swallow nervously, finally turning around to look at him and it scares you that there's no longer a hint of teasing anywhere. not in his face or his tone and you wish you could puke again to rid the twisting in your stomach.

"i...i don't know," you say weakly, looking at him with anxious eyes, "why are you asking me that."

"i think you know why," he says darkly and you shakily inhale before pulling your arm out of his hold.

"i-i don't know anything," you say, the hiccup in your sentence reminding him of both your current states and he want to smack himself for doing this right now. but he couldn't help it, not with the intensity of whatever stare down happened before.

"so you're finally admitting it," he says and you calm when the teasing is back in his voice. it's a little forced but it's back and it calms your dazed, racing mind. "let's get you to bed now, huh?"

and with that, you two walk silently the rest of the way back. your arms graze every few moments, his hand reaching out to grip your wrist when you stumble up the stairs of the lodge and stagger over to the elevator. you lean your head tiredly on his arm the whole way up, nodding off until the ding brings you back to your senses.

you both walk down to your rooms, snaking the key out of the tight pocket of your jeans and tapping yeosang on the arm quickly. "watch," you stutter, bringing your hand up to the door and moving the key slowly through the slot; his heart staggers when your smile lights up after it turns green.

"see!" you say, hand on the knob as you twist it open, "like a pro."

"you're good," yeosang hums, turning to the side to lean his head against the wall. "opened the door and remembered your key," he quips, tapping you on top of the head and causing you to scrunch your nose at him.

"thank you for walking me," you say softly, just overwhelmingly confused by drowsiness, "and for holding my-my hair back."

a small chuckle leaves his mouth, shaking his head as he watches your eyes barely being able to stay open. "you're welcome, you mess," he says, "go to bed now."

"you go to bed now," you mock before turning around to enter your room, your quiet voice murmuring goodnight before you door shuts and he lets out a exhale.

"goodnight, y/n," he mumbles to himself, looking over your door before retreating into his own room and promptly passing out five minutes later.

until the sound of shrieks next door have him shooting up in his bed, looking around in confusion before registering the loud cries are coming from your room. he quickly throws on a shirt before pulling his doorstopper out and then banging on your door.

"y/n," he says, quiet but firm and he listens quietly for any sign of a response that isn't your tortured yells. but there's nothing so he waits a few moments, no longer hearing anything now and the quietness is even more eerie than your screaming.

"y/n," he says, a tad louder.

but still nothing.

his mind races for what to do, maybe getting an extra key from the lobby or calling your phone, until he realizes he doesn't have your number. so he tries one more time, with a sharp bang and a firm call of your name.

he presses his ear up against the door and settles ever so slightly when he hears the scuffling of footsteps and what sounds like a small whimper, the door suddenly fumbling until your tear-stained face pops out; his heart promptly drops in his chest.

"y/n?" he asks cautiously, eyes roaming what he can see of the room behind you. "are you okay?"

he knows more than anyone how much worse those words make anything and yet he asked them like an idiot and now your sobs are back and he's cursing himself out internally.

"shit, i'm sorry," he says, attempting to step forward and his face dropping when you lean back ever so slightly. "what happened?" he asks softly, the softest he's ever heard his own voice as he steps back to give you space.

because the grip on your door is making your veins bulge, your breathing is scarily erratic and your eyes are shooting back and forth so fast he thinks they're about to fall out of your head. he sees you trying to form a sentence, your shaky breaths and mouth opening and closing a clear indication.

"seonghwa," he hears you mumble a few seconds later and his ear leans in closer to make sure he heard you right.

"what?"

"seonghwa. i-" a strangled breath leaves your mouth and you feel more tears burning behind your eyes. "i need him."

he swallows the lump in his throat, nodding his head but not missing the way your legs are starting to wobble. it's a risk and he knows it but he moves in closer, very cautiously, and he calms when you don't move away from him.

"i'll get him, okay," he says quietly, like he's talking to an injured, abused animal, "but you're shaking really bad so why don't you go sit down okay?"

you crane your neck back to look at the bed and its what causes a fresh set of tears because you can feel that cold, hard bed underneath you and you turn back to tell yeosang you can't. but then his soft voice pierces the air again.

"i'll come in with you and call seonghwa, okay? i just...you need to sit."

you nod after a few more uncontrollable, shaky breaths leave your mouth and you nod your head hesitantly. yeosang opens the latch of your doorstopper as he follows you in, grabbing the phone in his pocket as he sees you sit stiffly on your bed.

seonghwa answers after four rings, his deep, gruff voice full of sleep.

"this better be good."

"come to y/n's room."

and just like that, just from the mention of your name, he's calm and alert.

"what happened?"

"she needs you-" he barely gets the last syllable out before the call ends.

"he's coming," he tells you and you nod your head, eyes brimming with tears and you just wanna breathe. just want seonghwa hear to talk to you and hold you and-

less than 15 seconds later does your door burst open, seonghwa's eyes wide and alert as he looks around your room frantically before they land on you. yeosang watches as his face pales and he rushes over, the sound of your small cries back and filling in the room.

"hey, hey," seonghwa says softly, bending down to put his hands on your knees. "what happened, what's wrong?"

his eyes are strictly on your face, the soft concern and adoration blind to you but extremely evident to the other person in the room.

"dream," you blurt out before shaking your head, "ni-ightmare of...i saw him and re-remembered," your voice cracks and you swallow because you feel like you're choking, "and now i can't-"

your sob breaks off your words and seonghwa quickly stands to sits next to you on the bed. your body immediately falls into his as he wraps his arm around your shoulder tightly, rubbing your exposed skin up and down slowly. yeosang watches quietly as his friend's pained expression meets his, biting his lip and quietly mouthing thank you to the boy.

he nods once, unable to take his eyes away and he doesn't know why he can't stop looking. is it because he's enthralled by the way seonghwa was so quick to comfort and soothe you? how quickly you melted into him? or because some strange part of him is hurting that you didn't-

"don't leave," you whimper and yeosang's head snaps to you to see your face buried into seonghwa, "please stay with me."

"i'm not going anywhere," he mumbles, his lips against your head before placing a kiss on your hair.

and that's about all yeosang can stand because it's getting far too intimate in here for him to be sitting here staring at you both. the boy turns to leave before catching seonghwa's gaze again, mouthing 'good luck' before making his way to the door.

he hears more cries and whimpers leave your mouth followed by seonghwa's coos and whispered mantra of "baby, i'm here"and he shuts the door with the most bizarre pit in his stomach.

but he's gonna say it's because he's still drunk, still impaired by the alcohol or maybe just envious and lonely; but it's definitely not because the mean, biting voice in his head is laughing at him for thinking he ever had a shot when he asked "would it be me or seonghwa?"

(part 12)

[bleachanimefan1]

Oblitus Part 28 Video Killed The Radio Star

37 Days Left Until Extermination...

Back at the hotel, Charlie and Vaggie were still in the hotel lobby. The two of them looked at each other. They were still confused wondering why Anna had ran out like her life was on the line. Suddenly, they heard someone approaching behind as familiar trots footsteps echoed in the room. They turned to see Alastor, however, he looked like he had been in a fight. His eyes glowed a brilliant red, completely furious. He stood in front of the two women with a strained grin on his face, looking like he wanted to murder someone.

"Al, what happened?!" Charlie demanded.

"Well, our human has stolen my staff!" Alastor said.

"Guess, that explains why she left in a hurry." Vaggie laughed. Alastor glared at the moth demon. Then Husk and Angel approached the group, wondering what was going on.

"What's with all the commotion?" Angel asked. "I was giving Husky here a private session-" He stopped when he saw the state that Alastor was in. Angel laughed. Alastor looked like he was going to murder him on the spot. Charlie got in between the two.

"Hold on a minute! Guys, we can't jump to conclusions." the princess explained. "There must be a reason why Anna did what she did. She doesn't seem like the type of person who would do such a bad thing..." 

Suddenly, the doors burst open and Niffty and Baxter ran into the lobby.

"GUYS! TROUBLE! BIG TROUBLE!!!" Niffty screamed.

"Niffty? Baxter? Guys, What's wrong?" Charlie questioned.

"AlastoryouhavetohelpAnna!She'singreatdanger!ThethreeV'skidnappedher!" Niffty quickly rambled, answering. Everyone blinked not catching a word that she said.

"I did not catch a word of that." Husk replied.

"Slow down. What do you mean trouble?" Alastor asked.

"It's Vox! And he's not alone. Valentino, Velvet and him took Anna! They're at Vox's Studio!" Niffty explained, more clearly. Everyone's eyes widened in shock, at the news. Alastor clenched his hand tightly, slightly in rage. His nails were digging into his palm, cutting it. That blasted piece of shit television!

"Then we need to help her!" Charlie said. She turned to everyone else. "Guys, what do you say? Will you help?" 

"If Val's there, who knows what torture he's planning on doing to her. From personal experience, I don't want to her to through that. I'm in!" Angel replied.

"You can count me in! Anna's already done enough for me! I have to help her!" Niffty said.

"if you're in, then I'm with you!" Baxter added.

 "Guess, I'm in..." Husk murmured. Angel stopped him.

"No, you're not. You're going to watch stay here and Nugsy for me."

The cat demon's eyes widened in anger. "I ain't watching that filthy pig!"

"Aw, that's so sweet! That you're worried for me-" Angel smirked, cupping Husk's cheek with his hand. Husk brushed it off, smacking Angel's hand away. "Get off me! Who says I'm worried for you?" Angel fluttered his eyes."You can put on the whole tough guy all you want, but that's just for show!" Then Angel gasped in realization, pressing his hands to his face, squealing with happiness. "You're in love with m-!"

"Shut your fucking mouth of I'll shut it for you!" Husk growled. "I'll watch your stupid pig!"

Charlie looked at Alastor who was standing where he was, silently, watching everyone. She walked over to him.

"Al, what do you say?"

"No, I won't help." Alastor said.

"Smiles, what the hell?!" Angel exclaimed, angrily.

"I won't help a dirty rotten thief." Alastor replied.

"After, everything Anna's done for us, you won't help her!?" Angel shouted. 

"And look at how she repayed us, by running off," Alastor argued. "And stealing my microphone! She never cared about any of us! She used us! Why can't anyone of you see that?!"

"Anna wasn't going to give your staff to Vox." Niffty added. Alastor's eyes widened. He stopped and looked at Niffty.

"What do you mean?" Alastor questioned.

"Before, Vox took her, Anna refused to give it to him. She was going to return your staff back to you. I heard it with my own ears."

In Vox's Studio, Vox was grinning like a mad man, holding Alastor's staff in his hands. Valentino was sitting on the couch while Velvet was texting on her phone, taking pictures of Anna who was tied up and sitting across from them. Beside her, was Vox's pet, a mutated shark with arms and legs, Vark, was eyeing her with a hungry look in his eyes.

"I can't believe I finally got Alastor's staff!" Vox laughed maniacally.

"You bastard!" Anna shouted. "You are not going to get away with this!" Velvet crammed a sock into Anna's mouth and taped it.

"So, when are you going to keep your promise and turn the human over to me?" Valentino asked. "I can't wait to have her for my business. I have clients wanting to try her out. Maybe I can squeeze in a little time for myself as well." Anna's eyes widen and she screamed. She struggled against the moth demon trying to get him off. 

"You'll have your chances with her later." Vox stopped him. "I still have use for her." 

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion heard not to far off. Vox turned his head towards the monitors. He grinned.

"Looks, like bambi brought a few friends." the TV demon said and turned to Valentino and Velvet. "Mind taking care of them."

Valentino and Velvet left the room, leaving. Vox walked over to Anna and picked her up by the ropes.

"You're coming with me." He said, dragging Anna behind him. 

Angel, Cherri, Niffty and Baxter walked into a dimly lit room. In a flash, all the lights came on. Angel eyes widened at who was standing in front of him, not too far off from the room.

 "Val,"

Valentino smirked as his high heels clicked on the floor, heading towards the group. Angel froze as Valentino came closer. "Angel cakes, so glad to see you again." 

"Where's Anna, Val?" Angel asked. "Tell me where she is."

"The human pet is with Voxxy at the moment." Valentino laughed. "I can't wait to have her for my edition."

"You don't need her, Valentino." Angel said. "I'm not going to let that happen." Valentino stared at Angel for a moment, thinking. He hummed.

"You know, I'll be willing to forgive you for disobeying me. Stop this redemption nonsense and take care of them and come back."

Angel flinched as he clenched his fists.

"We can totally take this bastard down." Cherri said, looking at Angel. "Let's fuck him up!"

Angel laughed. Everyone stared in surprised. Valentino growled. 

"What's so funny, Angel?"

"You are such a loser, Val!" Angel shouted then he reached up towards his mouth and began pulling on the gold tooth. He ripped it out and tossed the tooth on the floor. It slid stopping at Valentino's feet. 

"Go fuck yourself!" Angel screamed. "I'm done listening to you anymore!" 

Valentino glared at Angel, furiously. "Then so be it!" He growled.

Charlie and Vaggie stopped at a room and walked inside. They were met with someone, clapping slowly. The lights came on, and velvet was lounging in a chair, sitting in front of them.

"Where's Anna?" Charlie demanded.

"She's preoccupied with Mr. V at the moment." Velvet explained, standing up. "So you two will have to settle for me, instead!"

"Let's take out this payaso," Vaggie said.

As everyone else were fighting there own battles, Alastor went on ahead. He stopped in front of the door to Vox's main studio room. He opened it and walked inside.

He came to a halt when he heard an distorted laugh. Alastor looked up to see Vox above him, along with Anna.

 "So you actually came, Alastor? I was starting to think that you weren't going to show."

"Return them to me." Alastor ordered. Vox laughed.

"Not so fast. You can thank your lovely human here for this little get together." He said. Alastor stood with a frozen grin as he saw his microphone in Vox's hand. Vox noticed and smirked wickedly.

"Not so tough without your stick are you, bambi?" He asked, holding out Alastor's staff.

"Let me go, you stupid, over egotistical, yellow bellied, pompous, narcissistic, cultish, bastard!" Alastor's microphone shouted.

"Enough of this bushwa, Vox!" Alastor growled. "Let her go and give me back my staff and we'll settle this on our own terms." Vox hummed, thinking for a moment before making a sickening grin.

"No," He replied. "I'd rather watch you suffer by my own hands." He gripped Alastor's microphone, tightly. Alastor felt a stabbing pain throughout his entire body like a thousand knives. He let out a screech, followed by loud distorted static. Alastor fell to his knees, his claws scratched the floor, roaring in pain.

Anna's eyes widened, watching Alastor in front of her writhing in pain. She struggled against her bindings trying to break free. Vox laughed in amusement.

"You know, Alastor I might make your suffering less painful if you admit that TV is more superior to music than that antique radio."

Alastor groaned. "Your music is all just screaming nonsense! Mine is an art!" He shouted. Vox scowled and gripped Alastor's microphone, harder, causing Alastor scream more in pain. Anna watched the two with disbelief as she had just manged to slip her arm free, taking off her gag. Two grown men seriously debating and fighting over which entertainment is better?

Anna sneaked quietly behind the TV demon's back, unnoticed, and kicked Vox from behind his knees, making him lose his balance. He dropped Alastor's staff, sending it sliding across the floor. It landed right in front of Alastor. Vox growled and turned to Anna. He began advancing his way over towards her.

"You bitch!" He shouted. Vox slapped Anna, hard knocking her to the ground. Soon, Anna was unable to breathe as Vox grabbed her throat with his hands. Anna gasped. She tried to push Vox off of her but he squeezed harder. "You've ruined everything!"

Anna vision was clouded with black spots. She struggled to breath, but was unable to. She tried to pry Vox's hands off from her throat but she had no strength. Her mind began to drift as she saw Vox's face in front of hers. She felt her whole body beginning to go numb as she couldn't move a muscle.  She was going to die. 

Just as her vision was going black, Vox was suddenly knocked away from her. Alastor's had swung his staff and it landed directly into Vox's screen, shattering it.

Anna coughed and wheezed, trying to breathe. She looked up to see Alastor standing in front of her in between her and Vox. Vox groaned as he sat up only to back away In fear to see Alastor with a deranged and terrifying look on his face. 

"N-Now hold on," Vox stammered, as he scrambled away from the radio demon who was slowly inching towards him. "You can take a joke can you? It was just a goof!" Alastor raised an eyebrow as he stopped in front of him. He hummed as he tapped his finger on his chin. Then Alastor made a dark grin.

"Sure, I can, Vox," He replied. Alastor pulled back his fist. "Here's my punchline!" He punched Vox right into the screen, shattering it completely. The TV demon fell to the floor unconscious.

Outside, of Vox's Studio, everyone was celebrating their victory. Valentino and Velvet were lying on the floor. The two of them groaned in pain in a pile of bruises and broken teeth and bones. Angel was talking about stealing Vox's limo, Cherri agreed along with him. Charlie was trying to talk them out of it, along with Vaggie. Niffty was with Baxter. Alastor and Anna sat alone from everyone else, watching them. Alastor watched with a strained smile as he saw Niffty kissed Baxter, uncomfortably.

"Alastor, I-" Alastor turned to Anna when he heard her spoke. "There's something that I want to tell you."

"What is it?" He asked.

"I want to tell you that I love-"

"Anna?" a voice called out interrupting Anna. Alastor and her heard someone gasp, followed by the sound of running footsteps. 

"Anna banana!" Anna's eyes widen and she felt her cheeks burn red with embarrassment. That awful nickname! Only one person in the world would call her THAT! It can't be...

Suddenly, Alastor was shoved as he was knocked away from her. Anna was pulled into a tight hug by another strange deer demon. With red eyes glowing, Alastor looked up and glared dangerously as he angrily stared in front of him at whoever dared to touch him! 

"Chris?"

[oliviaischillin1204]

roman’s experiment

Pairings: Platonic Royality, Platonic Logince, Platonic Prinxiety (none of them interact w each other except roman but everything can be LAMP if u believe)

Word Count: 3,498

inspired by (and directly stolen from) (jk jk i love you) this post by @ssm0lb34n which. is VERY good y’all. i was just going to comment on their post but then this hit 1.5K and i said “hm maybe not”. anyways that’s it love u mwah

also i didn’t realize til i was almost done that, thematically and storywise, tis very similar to ‘music to my ears’, but. it’s a good formula lmao (although i got hella carried away again lmao. idk if it’s bc it was the last pairing or bc i am prinxiety trash, but anything prinxiety is just gonna end up being twice as long as the others and i’m just gonna have to be ok with that)

Roman glanced curiously as his hands. He had been playing around with his appearance in the Imagination, and had somehow accidentally given himself long nails. He flexed his fingers, wiggling them back and forth. It felt kinda weird, but he decided they weren’t that bad. Especially, he realized suddenly, because of how useful they could be in certain... situations.

He paused, smirking to himself. Oh, this could be fun.

~

“Hey, Padre!”

Patton looked over his shoulder to see Roman standing behind the couch.

“Hey, Ro!” He responded with a smile. “What’re you doing back there?”

“I had an idea,” Roman replied. “Would you care to be my guinea pig?”

Patton’s grin brightened. “Of course! What do I do?”

“Right now, nothing. Just sit there and stay still. Okay? No moving.”

Patton quirked his head a little, but he nodded. “Alright, here I go!”

He turned and faced forward, scrunching his face in concentration. Roman was silent for a few seconds, and the longer he waited, the more Patton wanted to squirm.

Finally Patton had to speak up. “Am I doing it right, Ro-oman!”

Patton cut himself off with a gasp at the feeling of… something drawing slow circles on his upper back. He tensed, grabbing his legs as a couple giggles escaped his mouth.

“Ro-Roman, what is thahahat?”

Roman didn’t answer, just hummed playfully. Patton was about to ask again when the senstions moved from the top of his back to lightly scraping over his shoulderblades, reaching the back of his ribs and scratching up and down relentlessly.

Patton laughed outright, jerking forward in an attempt to escape the tickly feeling, but the tickles just followed him, ruthlessly not deviating from that one little spot where his waistline met his back. He brought his arms up against his chest, uselessly clenching and unclenching his fists.

“Better keep still, Patton,” Roman sang. “Otherwise I’ll have to start my experiment all over again!”

But Patton couldn’t stop squirming now if he tried, throwing his body left and right as his laughter increased in volume.

“Ah! Rohoman, no!” Patton squealed. “That’s not fahahair!”

The tickly feelings left the back of his sides (thank GOD) before returning to his shoulder blades (oh, come ON!). Patton felt several different pokey things begin to dig in all around those sensitive bones, spidering over his left shoulder blade while clawing in circles around his right.

Patton couldn’t help the shocked laughter that burst from his lips. “ROMAN! NO! NO-O, NO, NO NO NO!”

He threw himself backwards, slamming his back against the couch cushions, but all that did was pin Roman’s evil hands behind him. The tickles seemed to intensify even more, which he didn’t even think was possible.

Patton barely heard Roman chuckle over his own laughter. “You gotta free my hands, Pops! If they can’t escape, they’ll just keep tickling and tickling and tickling…”

Patton screamed, throwing himself forward yet again, this time rolling all the way to the floor to escape the sensations at last. He laid there, taking greedy breaths as he tried to make his back stop tingling.

“Whahahat was that, Ro?” He asked through his lingering giggles, catching the creative side’s eye over the back of the couch.

Roman just smiled and held up his hands, showing off his unusually long nails. Patton’s eyes widened.

“That’s all it was? Just your nails?”

Roman nodded, coming around the couch to help the paternal side of the ground. “How did it feel?”

“Oh, my gosh, Ro,” Patton replied, still a little breathless, “that tickled like crazy! I thought I was gonna lose my mind!”

Roman quirked an eyebrow. “And imagine what could’ve happened if I had gone for your neck, or your ears, or-”

“No!” Patton exclaimed, covering his ears and scrunching his neck defensively. Roman burst out laughing.

“Don’t worry, Padre, I’m done with you. For now,” he added sweetly, causing Patton to giggle lightly in nervous anticipation.

“I’m off to find my next guinea pig.”

~

He didn’t have to look very far.

Roman passed Patton’s bedroom open bedroom door, coming to the next closed door in the hallway: Logan’s room.

He rapped his knuckles on the door and promptly hid his hands behind his back. “Logan!”

No answer. Roman bounced on his heels.

“Yo, Teach! Open up!”

Still nothing.

“Logan! I need your help with an experiment!“

Immediately the door swung open. “Hello, Roman. How may I help you?”

Roman grinned. “I’ll tell you how you can help me.” He pulled his hands out from behind his back, wiggling his clawed fingers menancingly.

“You can start laughing!”

Roman waited for Logan to react with fear, or excitement, or… well. Any reaction, really.

Instead, Logan raised a single eyebrow. “Why would I be laughing?”

Roman paused. “Because I’m going to tickle you.”

Logan’s brow furrowed. “Ah. I see. No, thank you.”

He went to shut the door in Roman’s face, but the creative side held it open.

“Come on, Specs! It’ll be fun.”

“I do not see how forcefully stimulating my nerve endings would be fun,” Logan replied, returning to where he had been reclining on his bed. “I was having a perfectly satisfactory afternoon, and I wish to continue it now.”

Roman moved to stand the foot of Logan’s bed. “Logan,” he whined. “I wanna try tickling you with my new nails! Please?”

Logan sighed, crossing one leg over another as he picked up the book on his bedside table. “Do whatever you want, but please don’t bother me.”

He opened his book to the bookmarked page without another word.

The creative side pouted. It wouldn’t be any fun if Logan wasn’t going to play along. He let his gaze drift around, until he caught sight of Logan’s socked feet near the end of his bed.

Roman felt himself begin to smile as the gears turned in his head. He knew how to make it fun.

He quietly knelt down, leaning his elbows on the end of Logan’s mattress. The logical side did not react, although whether he was absorbed in his book or simply ignoring Roman, he couldn’t be sure.

He stayed there for a few seconds, not doing anything, before lifting one finger and dragging the sharpened nail slowly down Logan’s foot.

He watched the serious side for any indication that he should stop. He didn’t want Logan to actually get mad at him, after all. But Roman was surprised to find that there was pretty much no reaction, except-

Except his fingers tightened slightly where they held the book. Roman grinned widely. Bingo.

He repeated the motion, this time with one nail on each foot, pressing not hard enough to hurt, but certainly hard enough to send tickly sensations through Logan’s socks.

He heard the other side inhale just a little to quickly, exhale a little too forcefully for it to be natural. But he still didn’t say anything.

Roman repeated these little motions for a while longer before he sighed. “I guess this isn’t working, because you’re clearly not ticklish,” he admitted with a fake frown. Logan cleared his throat.

“Clearly,” he replied, although there was a tremor in his voice.

“Well, since you’re not ticklish… and since you haven’t asked me to stop…” Roman said, relishing in the way Logan’s eyes widened when he realized his mistake, “You wouldn’t mind if I continued? You know, for my experiment?”

Logan opened his mouth to respond, but immediately slammed it shut again when Roman began focusing all of his attention on the balls of his feet, scratching his nails roughly to really make the tickles unbearable.

Roman leaned back with a smug look on his face. Oh, this was delightful. Logan was blushing, a rare sight on the normally stoic side. He was biting his bottom lip fiercely, clearly doing everything in his power not to laugh, but there was no hiding that wobbly smile on his face.

“You, okay, Logan?” Roman asked, lacing his voice with faux-concern. “You look a little funny.”

“I am fi- mmph!” Logan clamped his lips shut again, his smile fully dominating his face. Maybe it had something to do with the way Roman had just dug his fingers right underneath his toes.

“Are you sure?” Roman asked. “You seem to be having trouble talking- not that I’m complaining.” He smirked up at Logan from his position by his feet. The logical side refused to look at him, keeping his gaze solely on the book that Roman was sure he hasn’t read a word of in the past five minutes.

“Is this the way to shut you up, Lo?” He teased, watching in glee as the blush on Logan’s face deepened. “Just some itty bitty scratchies right under the teacher’s ticklish toesies? Aw, but it surely can’t tickle, because you’re not ticklish, right?”

The baby talk pushed him over: Logan finally broke into desperate giggles. He tried to pull his feet away, but Roman was too quick, pinning both ankles with one hand while he used the other to rake his fingers down both of Logan’s soles at the same time.

“Ro-man!” The word barely escaped Logan’s mouth before he succumbed to full belly laughter, fruitlessly jerking his legs in Roman’s grasp.

The creative side merely laughed. “I wonder what these nails would feel like on your bare feet-”

“NO!” Logan screamed, the word ripping through his throat as he finally yanked his feet out of Roman’s clutches.

Roman couldn’t stop the laughter that exploded from him even if he wanted to. Logan’s face, flustered and embarrassed and slightly murderous, was just too funny.

When he finally regained his breath, he smiled cheekily at Logan. “Wasn’t that so much fun, Logi Bear?”

Logan scowled at the childish nickname, but his lips still threatened to curl up at the edges.

“You are atrocious,” he muttered. Roman raised an eyebrow and reached for his feet.

“I could keep going-”

Logan pulled his knees up to his chest. “Please don’t.”

Roman smiled at the panic in Logan’s voice. “Alright, alright. I’ll leave you alone.”

As he left Logan’s room, shutting the door behind him, he grinned. These nails were a better idea than he’d ever expected.

~

Roman retreated to his room after what he considered a very successful day. His experiences with Patton and Logan definitely proved to him how strategic long nails could be. The one thing that somewhat dimmed his excitement at his discovery was the fact that there was one side in particular that he hadn’t gotten a chance to use them on: Virgil.

He had tried to look for the anxious side after he was done with Logan, but he was nowhere to be found. In fact, they didn’t see him at all for the rest of the evening. Patton had been a little concerned (Roman was as well, but he’d never admit it), but Logan assured them that it was perfectly normal behavior for Virgil to spend a prolonged amount of time by himself, and that there was nothing to worry about.

Roman was comforted by Logan’s assurance that everything would be okay (although, again, he’d never admit it), but he was a little disappointed the grumpy side hadn’t gotten to be a part of Roman’s experiment. However, Roman knew it wasn’t the end of the world. Virgil didn’t always want to play in the same way Roman played with the others, and that was totally fine.

Besides, Roman thought as he examined his nails, they weren’t just good for tickling, and in fact they looked rather good on him anyway. As he reclined in his bed, Roman pulled out a nail file, making sure to maintain his nails to their ideal shape and length.

He hadn’t been filing his nails for very long before his door was opened rather forcefully. He looked up in surprise to find Virgil standing in the doorway.

“Um, knock much?” He asked, frowning at the intrusion.

“Nah,” Virgil replied, uncharacteristically flippant. He walked over to Roman’s bed and flopped next to the creative side, jostling him quite badly.

Roman watched him with a confused look on his face. “Can I help you?”

“Nah,” Virgil repeated. Roman’s eyes narrowed.

“Did you come in here just to be a nuisance?”

“Yup.”

Roman sighed, bringing his attention back to his nails. “Well, keep still. I’m trying to work on something here.”

There was no snarky response from the other side, which was suspicious. Roman shot another glance at Virgil, only to realize that his focus was solely on Roman’s hands.

He glanced down at his nails, smiling a little as he wiggled them. “You like ‘em? I’ve had ‘em like this all day.”

Virgil snapped out of his little trance, shooting an irritated look at Roman. “Does that have anything to do with why Patton and Logan were screaming so loudly earlier?” 

Roman smirked, fondly remembering the shenanigans from that afternoon. “Afraid so. I hope we didn’t bother you.”

“You did,” Virgil replied bluntly. “You interrupted my naps. I couldn’t sleep all day.”

If Logan were here, he’d probably lecture Virgil about the importance of a regular sleep cycle and how detrimental mid-day naps can be, but Roman was not Logan. Instead, he tried to summon his inner Patton.

“I’m sorry, Virgil,” he said genuinely, “I didn’t realize we were being so loud-”

“It’s fine,” Virgil interjected. “You can make it up to me by letting me sleep in here.”

With that, he crawled right over Roman’s legs, attempting to... lay on top of him, for some reason?

“What the-? Get off!” Roman insisted, grabbing the emo side. The two wrestled for a few moments before Virgil ended up lying on his back in Roman’s lap.

“Virgil!” Roman wasn’t really angry, just highly confused. “What are you doing? Go sleep in your own bed!”

“Shh,” Virgil insisted, closing his eyes and folding his arms across his chest. “Let me sleep.”

Roman was almost at a loss for words. Virgil was normally so closed off, reserved, and totally aversive to unnecessary or intimate touch. Yet here he was, laying right across Roman’s lap for absolutely no reason. He and Roman bickered often, but Virgil was never this outwardly and intentionally annoying.

... Well. There was one reason that would make Virgil act like this.

Roman’s eyes flicked to the file in his hand, then to Virgil’s stomach, and back again. His eyes widened, and he smirked. Oh, he knew what Virgil was doing. But if he thought it was gonna be that easy, he had another thing coming.

“Okay, then,” Roman replied, and went back to filing his nails.

It was quiet for a bit, just the light shuffling sound of Roman’s file. Out of his peripheral, he saw Virgil frown at the lack of attention.

Suddenly he heaved a great sigh, wiggling around in Roman’s lap and jostling his hands yet again. A little bit of his hoodie and t-shirt pulled up, revealing a small stretch of tummy.

“Virgil, can you stop moving? I’m busy.”

Roman made sure to keep his face neutral at Virgil’s petulant look, but the emo side said nothing as Roman returned to the task at hand (pun intended).

This continued for several minutes, Virgil shifting around in increasingly obvious ways, while Roman ignored him in favor of meticulously perfecting his nails, giving the task much more attention than he normally would.

By the time he finished, almost Virgil’s entire tummy was exposed, but Roman had not done a single thing about it. Instead, he let the anxious side become more and more desperate, knowing that the anticipation was making him even more sensitive than he already was.

As Roman set aside the nail file, he noticed that there was a bit of nail dust left on his fingers. He grinned to himself, returning his hands to their place over Virgil’s torso before taking a deep breath and blowing the dust away, making sure that the stream of breath hit Virgil’s tummy.

The emo side jerked under him, his sensitivity through the roof after waiting so long for Roman to tickle him. He looked at Roman with wide eyes, but the creative side just smiled sweetly.

“Oh, sorry, Virgil. I didn’t mean to bother you, I know you’re trying to sleep. In fact, let me get out of your way, I don’t want to be a distraction-” He began to manuever himself out from underneath Virgil, but the emo side grabbed his sleeve rather forcefully.

“Roman...” Virgil pleaded, his voice low and slightly strained. Roman stopped, giving him an innocent smile.

“Yes, Virgil?”

The emo side didn’t respond, just folded his arms across his face and groaned.

“Sorry, Virgil, what was that?” Roman asked, sitting back fully.

Virgil muttered something unintelligible, his voice muffled by his hoodie.

Roman tsked. “Virge, you know you gotta speak loud and clear for me. Otherwise there’s nothing I can do to help you.”

Knowing that Virgil wasn’t looking at him, Roman hovered both of his freshly manicured hands over Virgil’s tummy.

“So I’m gonna ask you one more time: what do you want, Virgil?”

Virgil groaned even louder, slamming his arms down. “I want you to tickle me!”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Virgil’s gaze flicked from Roman’s face to his hands, now mere inches away from his vulnerable tummy. He gasped, sucking in his gut, but Roman only laughed.

“Oh? That’s it?” He responded, wiggling his fingers as he slowly edged them toward Virgil’s tummy. “Well, why didn’t you just say so?”

“Wait wait wait wahahait,” Virgil begged, giggles already coming out of his mouth.

Roman hummed in consideration. “No, I think you’ve waited long enough.”

With that, he touched down on Virgil’s skin, drawing delicate designs with his newly-filed fingernails.

There was no hiding his laughter this time; Virgil was already way too keyed up to even try that. Instead he broke into nervous giggles immediately, a steady stream of laughter that increased in volume whenever Roman moved too close to certain spots- like his bottom rib, for instance. Or just above his naval. Or the dip of his hipbone. Or halfway down his side. Or- well. Let’s just say there were a lot of ticklish little spots for Roman to work with.

“Aw, Virgil,” Roman cooed as the usually grumpy side laughed his head off, half-curled up in Roman’s lap, “I had no idea you’d like my nails so much! I wish I’d known sooner- we could’ve played together like this all day long.” He made sure to lace his words with as much sugar as he could muster, knowing that the one thing that made Virgil more ticklish, was talking about his ticklishness.

Well, Roman thought as he remembered how desperate the emo side had been for some tummy tickles, who was he to deny his good friend Virgil what he so obviously desired?

“Now Virgil, this is an experiment, you know,” he continued as if Virgil wasn’t giggling uncontrollably. “So I need to know, what tickles more? When I do this-” 

He spidered his nails on either side of Virgil’s belly button, causing him to squeal.

“-Or this?” He finished, slowly raking his nails down Virgil’s ribs. Virgil’s laughter turned into gasps as he struggled not to pull Roman’s hands away from his belly, instead waving his arms rather uselessly around him.

“N- no- Ro- I cahahahan’t!” He cried, his wide smile lighting up the room.

Roman laughed. “Didn’t you ask for this, stormcloud? Isn’t this what you wanted?” Virgil couldn’t answer through his laughter, but the blush across his cheeks told Roman that he was right. He redirected his hands yet again, one hand raking his nails across where Virgil’s side met his tummy, and the other dipping it pointer finger inside Virgil’s bellybutton.

“Ahahahahaha- Roman!” Virgil shrieked, kicking his legs as his peals of laughter left him.

Roman hummed. “If it’s such a problem, then move away.” He did slow his tickle attack, just in case Virgil really wanted to stop, but the other side made no move to escape.

“Sh- shuhuhut up!” He spit through his giggles, which grew back into loud laughter as Roman resumed his fierce tickles.

“No one tells me to shut up!” Roman declared, not holding back as he scratched and skittered his nails all over Virgil’s tummy, sides, and hips. “Prepare for death!”

Death was right; by the time Virgil batted Roman’s arm, giving the signal to stop, he was nearly out of breath altogether. Roman rubbed away the tingles with the palm of his hand, making sure to keep his nails from accidentally grazing Virgil’s skin.

“So? What do you think?” He asked Virgil once he caught his breath.

He shrugged, looking up at Roman with a content expression. “It was your experiment. What do you think?”

Roman stopped and pondered, before smiling. “I think these nails will definitely come in handy around here.”

[sagesparrow394]

Insecure

AUs: Human, Chubby Logan

Summary: Logan was nervous enough for his first date, but when his date walks in and reveals himself to be ripped, he gets even worse.

Pairings: Analogical

Based off the post by @snakeboicouldbegayer. Also tagging @noahlovescoffeebecause heck, their art was so good and everyone needs to know about it.

Logan Berry bit his lip as he sat in the booth at the coffee shop. Why on earth was he doing this? He should just run, it would be best if he just ran.

Logan’s two best friends had convinced him to try online dating. Now, Logan wasn’t exactly a romantic. He’d never dated before, or shown interested in having a romantic relationship. This was mostly because of him focussing on college. However, Roman Prince and Patton Foster had got it in their heads that Logan was insecure about his weight. Which he wasn’t! Sure, he was small and chubby, and did not have the ‘ideal male body type’, but he wasn’t worried about it. He definitely wasn’t wearing a baggy sweater in the middle of summer to hide his belly and love handles…

Anyway, the point was, Logan was on his first date ever. He was going out with Virgil Storm, who he’d met on a dating site. Virgil had dark skin, black hair which he’d dyed purple, and wore the same baggy black hoodie with purple patches in all the photos on his profile. He liked many emo bands, and his favourite movie was A Nightmare Before Christmas, and he said he was looking for a guy who was smart and could keep him grounded. The two had messaged for a while, before arranging to meet up.

So here Logan was, sat alone in a booth in a coffee shop, waiting for Virgil to arrive.

Then, suddenly, Virgil stepped into the shop. Logan’s face drained of any colour it had.

Due to the high Florida summer temperatures, Virgil had his hoodie tied around his waist, and was wearing a purple Fall Out Boy tank top and black denim shorts. This clothing revealed something that had not been clear on his dating profile: he was ripped.

Logan should have ran. Maybe if he slid down under the table, Virgil wouldn’t see him and would just leave. Yes, that’s exactly what Logan would-

Too late, Virgil had seen him and made eye contact. Now he’s coming over. Oh dear god.

“Hey, Logan. I, um… It’s nice to meet you in real life properly.”

“Uh… Hi.”

Wow, great start, Logan. Perfect. Fabulous.

Virgil took a seat opposite Logan, scratching the back of his head. “So, erm… Nice place you chose. You want a drink? I can buy.”

Logan smiled. “Really? Thanks. Just a black coffee, please. Oh, and maybe…” He trailed off, catching himself. “Nevermind.”

“What is it? I don’t mind getting you more if you want it.”

“No, it’s okay, really, I- “

“Logan?”

Gosh, why was Virgil so darn pretty? There’s no way Logan could not listen to him.

“Well… they do some really nice chocolate cake here.”

Virgil smiled. “Got it. I’ll be right back.” He got up and headed to the counter.

Logan let out the breath he totally hadn’t been holding to suck in his stomach. Okay, he had to make sure not to demolish the slice of cake when he got it. Eat it slow so Virgil didn’t think he was a pig.

He was honestly surprised, though. He had had no idea Virgil was ripped! It wasn’t clear in any of his photos, and he never mentioned working out or anything like it when they were texting. It wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, he was, to put it as Roman would, ‘flaming hot’. The problem was it didn’t do a lot for Logan’s self-image.

Which he was perfectly confident with, by the way!

Totally.

Virgil came back a few minutes later with two black coffees and the slice of cake Logan requested. “There you go.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Virgil sat back down. He paused. “You know if you’re hot, you could just take off your sweater.”

“Huh?”

“You’re sweating a lot. I understand sweating from the nerves caused by a date, but this is on a new level.”

“O-oh, um…” Logan bit his lip for about the tenth time that day. “I, uh, I’d rather not…”

“Why?” Before Logan could respond, Virgil spoke and answered his own question. “Oh, wait, I understand. It’s like a comfort or safety item right? I’m the same way with my hoodie. It’s boiling hot, but I still brought it with me. It’s like a constant. Everything around you is changing, but you’ve got something that won’t change unless you want it to. For me my hoodie, for you that sweater. I did wonder why you were wearing that sweater in all the photos in your profile.”

Logan nodded because that was definitely true, not because he was constantly trying to hide his gut.

Virgil smiled reassuringly. “In that case, I won’t force you to take it off.”

“Thanks. You know, for understanding.”

“Don’t mention it.”

There was another small silence. Logan picked up his fork and cut off a small piece of cake, putting it in his mouth. It was delicious… but he shouldn’t go straight in for another bite. He needed to make a good impression.

“How’d you know about this place? It’s really nice. Cosy.” Virgil looked around the café.

“I actually work here,” Logan replied, glad to be moving onto a different subject. “Just to get me through college. It’s my day off, and I knew this place is good, so I figured it’d be a nice place for us to come.”

“Well, now I know where to come when I want to ask you on another date,” Virgil smiled a little, looking at the table and fiddling with his hoodie sleeve.

Logan’s face flushed bright red. Well, redder than it already was due to the heat. “Wh-what? Uh, don’t you mean ‘if’?”

Virgil shook his head. “I like you, Logan. I was nervous when we first started messaging, but you really made me feel comfortable with you. Not many people can do that… I want to see you more.”

Logan couldn’t help but smile. “Well… I want to see you more too.”

After he said this, a squeal gained Logan and Virgil’s attention. They looked around, and Logan didn’t know whether to chuckle or groan.

Patton and Roman were sat at a nearby table, watching the two of them. Patton gave a little awkward wave when they were noticed, while Roman grabbed his hand and pulled him over to Logan and Virgil’s booth. Roman slid in next to Virgil, while Patton went next to Logan.

“Hi, Roman Prince, and this is Patton Foster. We’re Logan’s best friends. Nice to meet you.”

“Um, hi. Virgil Storm.”

“What are you doing here?” Logan asked, looking between them.

“‘Dad’ here got worried for you,” Roman replied, gesturing to Patton. “Which is understandable. You can’t trust those dating sights, you might have been being catfished for all you knew.”

Logan rolled his eyes. He guessed they were right… But they could have at least told him they’d be coming!

“So, how’re things going with you two?” Roman asked, leaning forward, elbows on the table.

“Uh, pretty good,” Virgil turned to Logan, giving him a small smile.

“I think better before you two showed up,” Logan added.

“I’m sorry, Lo, I didn’t want to ruin anything. I was just a little worried, that’s all,” Patton replied. “Speaking of being worried, you’re a waterfall right now. Why are you wearing a sweater and baggy jeans in the middle of summer?”

“U-um…”

Shoot.

“Lo, I don’t want you getting heat stroke. You need to take off the sweater.”

Logan looked between Patton and Virgil, feeling his hands shaking under the table. He tried his best to keep his voice steady. “Patton, I would prefer to keep it on- ”

“Logan, I’m not letting you get overheated and dehydrated.”

Roman tutted. “Uh oh, Lo, you got the Dad Voice.” He turned to Virgil. “You do not want to mess with Patton when he’s in Dad Mode.”

Roman wasn’t lying, which was why Logan was so torn. He couldn’t let Virgil see what he really looked like… but Patton would not let him sit there and continue to melt in his sweater.

After a moment of hesitation, he did the only thing he could think of: squeeze past Patton, leave the booth, and run from the shop.

He ignored his friends and Virgil’s calls after him as he ran. He sprinted all the way back to his, Roman and Patton’s apartment. He locked himself in his room, curling up in his bed. Tears streamed down his face. He’d ruined it, he never should have tried dating in the first place, he wasn’t good enough for Virgil, he wasn’t good for anyone...

-

The next day, Logan was at work, trying his best to avoid looking at the booth where everything went wrong. He had refused to pick up his phone all of the last night and that morning, not wanting to see the countless messages Virgil had undoubtedly sent.

After serving café regular Remy Sleep, Logan turned to the next customer, reciting his usual welcome. However, he only got through, “Hi, what can I- ” when he froze.

It was Virgil.

Oh dear god… Logan was in his uniform, which was a plain polo shirt with the shop logo and a pair of shorts. The outfit very clearly showed his size. He wanted to run, but was frozen with shock.

After a moment, he managed to choke out some words. “P-please, just… just go.”

Virgil looked hurt. “But… if I go I wouldn’t be able to give you these.” He pulled one of his arms out from behind his back, revealing a bouquet of blue and purple flowers.

Logan’s eyes widened. There was no way… After yesterday, and seeing what he actually looked like today, there was no way Virgil could want to give him those.

“Look, I don’t know what happened yesterday…” Virgil continued. “But I meant it when I said I wanted to see you again. Since you weren’t responding to my messages yesterday, I figured I’d come here.” He leant forward on the counter. “If something’s bothering you, you can talk to me, Lo. I really like you. Nothing could change that.”

Logan blinked, feeling tears welling in his eyes. “I… I don’t understand…”

“Understand what?”

“Why you like me! I… Look at you,” Logan sniffled, trying and failing to hold back his tears. “You’re so so handsome, and have the perfect body. Then, compare that to me… Short and chubby. The second I saw you step in yesterday, I thought us being together was hopeless, so I tried to hide it, but I guess I failed. Now you know I’m fat… and I just can’t understand why you still want to go out with me.”

Virgil paused before putting his hand to Logan’s chin, lifting the barista’s head, so they were looking each other in the eyes.

“Logan, listen to me. I couldn't care less about your weight. Stuff like that doesn’t bother me. Sure, I may work out, but that’s just because exercise can reduce stress, and I am an anxious mess. Weight and body shape does not, and will not ever bother me. An anyway… I think you’re beautiful, Lo. Just the way you are.”

Logan gave up trying to hold back the tears. “R-really…?”

Virgil nodded. “The way I see it, a little chub just means you’re nice and soft like a teddy bear. Perfect for hugs.”

Logan’s face broke into a smile. Both he and Virgil started to lean forward, closing their eyes, their lips about to meet over the counter…

“Logan, get back to work! Have you seen the line?!”

Logan cursed under his breath at his manager, eyes opening and wandering to the queue that had built up. “Sorry, I’m on it!”

Virgil stepped back, allowing Logan to take the orders of the people in the queue. About fifteen minutes later, everyone had been served, and no new customers were coming through the door. Virgil stepped forward again.

“Want to have a second try?”

Logan smiled. “I’d love to.”

This time, their lips met as they leant forward.

Logan smiled against Virgil’s lips. He loved his body. And this time, it wasn’t a lie.

Some people I thought might want to see this: @ab-artist, @ravens-rambling, @im-a-queer-fander, @fangirltothefullest, @wildheart49

[mama-m1na]

Oh My Goddess...:Chapter 1

                                                     ~~~I~~~

Eight years later in Seosan, a town to the west of Hanyang, a sixteen-year-old ravenette groaned as she saw one of her companions rolling on the second floor of the ravenette’s shop, drunk off her ass.

Her long black hair which usually fell down to her butt was held up in a bun with two black chopsticks with gold decorations and her gold-speckled brown irises glared with a sense of tiredness as her tan skinned hand was brought to her forehead.

She wore a pastel pink underdress with a longer black skirt and a black shawl.

“Kerstin, how the hell did you even get this strong of alcohol?” she sighed as she looked at the bottle a redheaded female handed her, “We can’t even afford this kind of shit!”

“That Su-won guy gave it to me,” the brunette on the floor giggled.

“What the fuck did I say about trusting Su-Won?!” another brunette standing next to the sixteen-year-old squealed, “You know he’s shady as shit!”

The brunette on the floor said nothing else as she continued to roll on the floor.

“Rhamina, you have my permission to kill that motherfucker,” the seventeen-year-old groaned.

“Trust me, Sophie, I was going to do that with your permission or not,” sighed the ravenette as she walked downstairs into her tailor shop.

“So, what’s going on upstairs?” a younger blonde female asked from the front counter.

“Fucking Su-Won got Kerstin shit faced,” an emerald-eyed female spat from the top of the stairs as the ravenette marched out the door, “Most likely to bed her.”

The teenager was seething with rage as she walked the streets of the market place muttering curses under her breath and avoiding many of the people around her.

“Oh, wow, Miyu, sure is angry,” a man said to his wife as the female marched passed.

“Someone was probably harassing one of the girls again,” the woman responded as she laid the vegetables in their display, “Poor things always having to deal with ridicule.”

“It honestly doesn’t make much sense either, they’ve worked harder than most of the nobles here,” the man continued, “They deserve some respect.”

“Dear, you mustn’t say that about the nobles!” the wife hushed, “Who knows what they’ll do if they hear you!”

“Su-Won!” Rhamina screeched as she saw the blue-clad male in the plaza.

Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier two males dressed in burlap sat in front of a tea shop with a view of the plaza in front of them.

“Your Highness, is this really such a good idea?” the older male asked looking over the busy people.

“This is the place where the creatures are appearing are they not? It’s our job to protect the kingdom even if my father will not acknowledge it.” replied the young male with longish black hair which was partly tied up while the rest was left down with bangs over his forehead, “And don’t address me like that in public.”

Before the older male could speak they turned to where a female screamed, “Su-Won!”

In front of them an enraged teenage girl stood in front of what looked like to be a nobleman wearing blue silk.

“What the hell was that?!” she screamed earning looks from the crowd around them glares from the male’s entourage and a smirk from the male himself, “Giving Kerstin that potent of alcohol?!”

“You dare address Lord Su-Won in that manner?” an older male spat at the clearly working classed female.

“It’s nice to see you again, Ms. Miyu,” the male spoke clearly ignoring the female’s complaints.

“This is the last straw, Su-Won,” growled the ravenette, face contorting into a snarl, “if you even get near me or any of my girls I will rip out your throat.”

As she turned to leave the male suddenly chuckled and cooed, “That’s my feisty girl.”

Slap!

The pair of males immediately stood as two of the nobleman’s company took hold of the girl and threw her to the ground.

“I swear I will end you! You- you pig!” the ravenette screamed as she struggled against the two larger men.

“Let her go,” commanded the younger dark-haired-male as he stepped up to the crowd.

“And who do you think you are trying to order us around?” spat one of the men as he struggled to keep the female pinned to the ground.

“Who do you think you are to speak that way to the Imperial Prince Ye Min-Ho?” growled the other male who stood next to the boy as he pulled out a golden pendant brandished with a four-clawed dragon, the royal crest.

With wide eyes the males immediately let go of the ravenette and began to sputter out apologies.

Min-Ho ignored them as she strode over to the girl whose clothes her now dirty and hair messy but still up.

“Are you alright? What happened?” he asked as he helped the girl to her feet.

“Su-Won has been continuously trying to push himself onto all of my girls who all expressed their clear distaste for him,” the female spat as she dusted off her skirt, “and two of which were under the age of 15.”

“How disgusting,” the male accompanying the prince scoffed as the royal stepped forward to the cowering group.

“From this point on you are to behave yourself and if I hear of you harassing anyone like this again, you and the rest of your family will be stripped of their status,” the male spoke, glowering down at the older man, “Is that understood?”

“Yes, Your Highness, thank you for your consideration!” the group spoke before fleeing down the opposite direction.

“Thank you very much, Your Highness,” the female said in a ninety degree bow once Su-won had left, “I don’t have much to show my gratitude; however, it would be an honor if you would join my girls and I for tea if you’d like.”

“There’s no need to thank me but tea does sound nice,” Min-Ho chuckled as the female rose with a small smile.

The female had small conversations with the two as she led them back to her shop.

“Oh, I almost forgot to ask for your name,” the prince said earning a small chuckled from the female.

“My name is Miyu, Rhamina Miyu, I’m a tailor,” the ravenette said as she stopped in front of a large building with a sign over it that read ‘Tailor’.

“Before we go in, I must apologize in advance for the behavior of many of the girls as well as myself,” the ravenette sighed with her hand on the door, “We were all living on the streets and have picked up some… vulgarities to say the least.”

“Don’t worry, Ms. Miyu, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” the prince reassured before the female opened the doors of the shop.

“Guys, I’m home and please act civil we have important guests!” Rhamina announced as the head of a fourteen-year-old with glasses appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Mina!” she chirped before looking over at the two males, “there are people with you…”

“Yes and they-” Hissssssss!!!

Rhamina was cut off by the darkette hissing at the sight of two males and running back off somewhere upstairs.

“I’m sorry about that, she usually behaves around others,” the ravenette sighed as she shook her head, “... Unless…”

The teen walked over to a drawer next to her work table to find all of her needles missing… All. Of. Them.

“She hid my needles again,” sighed the ravenette as the two males in the doorway chuckled.

“Anyway, let’s just head upstairs and I’ll start making the tea,” the female said trying to distract herself from the mischief Chloe caused.

Once they reached upstairs Rhamina left the two in the living room with the red-headed Hannah and Sophie.

Things were going well the four were talking for a bit and as Rhamina came out of the kitchen with her shawl now wrapped around her waist and a tray of tea filled cups Sophie asked, “So why are you in Seosan?”

“Living here, I’m sure you’re aware of the creatures that have begun to appear at night,” Min-Ho started as the three females in the room looked at each other, “My father will not do anything about it so I am here instead.”

“That’s very kind of you, Your Highness, but are you sure you’ll be fine?” Rhamina asked as she set a cup in front of each male before giving one to each of her companions and taking a seat across from the two males, “Even the guards stationed here are having a hard time.”

“My safety is not of any concern to me, it is the safety of the people,” the eighteen-year-old boy stated firmly causing the female to bite her lip.

“If that’s your choice then I welcome you to stay here for the duration of your stay if you wish,” Rhamina offered, ignoring a loud thump that came from one of the rooms down the hallway.

“It’s quite alright, I don’t want to intrude,” the prince said looking as the girl bowed her head to avoid making eye contact.

“Your, Highness, it would be more convenient to stay here than an inn and this building’s location is closest to where the creatures supposedly enter the city from,” the prince’s guard stated.

“Yeah, also Mina keeps logs on those things when she sees them,” another female voice said from the hallway.

“Tijarah, you didn’t need to accentuate how strange I am,” Rhamina said as she turned to see the slightly taller, dark-skinned, female walking towards the kitchen, “and greet our guests please.”

“Hm? Oh, hi,” the female said not even looking back at the males.

“Tijarah, you literally just dismissed the Imperial Prince of Lemuria,” Sophie cried as she and Rhamina brought their hands up to hide their faces.

“Wait, shit, seriously? Fuck!” the female began to panic as a slur of curses spilled from her lips and Rhamina bowed before the prince again.

“Once again I apologize for the vulgar state of my girls,” Rhamina said right before one of the doors slammed open.

“Mina!” Chloe called from the hallway as a door slammed open, “we couldn’t keep her in her room!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...I’m just going to get some air,” the ravenette sighed as she stood up and began to make her way down the stairs.

She was more sober than before but still pretty drunk.

“Guys!” Kerstin called before turning to the prince and his guard, “Who the fuck are you?”

Ignoring the drunken teenager, the guard replied, “I believe it would be best for us to stay here for the time being.”

“Alright, we have an extra room but it only has one bed,” Sophie explained as Chloe and Aurora attempted to return the brunette to her room.

“That will be fine,” Min-Ho replied, “we can just alternate who takes the bed.”

“Well, follow me then,” Sophie stated as she stood up and led the pair down the hall to a smaller, mostly bare bedroom.

“If you have any questions about those things just ask, Mina,” Sophie said as the males entered the room, “I’m sure she’ll help out as much as she can.”

About an hour later everyone was sober and gathered in the dining area except for the ravenette that had ‘gone on a walk’.

“Fucking shit, where is she?” Tijarah scoffed, “I want to start eating already!”

“You can start eating without her you know,” Hannah said as the others were already putting food on their plates.

“I made a bet with Sam and I don’t intend on losing,” Tijarah continued as she turned to look at the door.

“Is it always this exciting here?” Min-Ho asked as he waited a bit for his food to cool off enough to where he wouldn’t burn himself.

“In this house yeah,” Sophie replied before eating some rice, “There’s always something happening. Like today Kerstin drank some really strong alcohol Su-Won gave her. That’s why Mina went to tell him off.”

“She didn’t just tell him off,” Sam said, “Heard from Kim that she fucking slapped him.”

“Fina-fucking-ly someone did!” Hannah exclaimed.

“Yeah, but Su-Won’s people aren’t really happy about it,” Sam said as she picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks, “They want to have her thrown in prison.”

“That’s surprising they would even think of doing such a thing when I threatened to strip them of their status,” the dark-haired prince said.

“They’re obviously as petty as Mina if they’re risking to say that,” Sophie said suddenly gasping, “Oh my god what if she got jumped!”

Before anyone else could say a word the door downstairs opened as a familiar voice excitedly called, “Guys I found a snake!”

“Oh my fudge nuggets, she’s so cute!” the ravenette squealed as she came up the stairs and into the dining area to reveal the white snake around her neck which was about the length from her elbow to her fingertips.

“Mina, did you actually just pick up a snake?” Sam asked as the rest stared at the overjoyed female.

“You’re asking her that?” Tijarah asked as Rhamina began to show the snake to Sophie, “she fucking got a lizard stuck in her hair.”

“Tijarah, language please,” Rhamina said as she took the only open seat which was next to the prince and let the snake slither onto the table top.

“It’s quite alright, it’s good to know people will act themselves around me,” Min-Ho said as he observed Rhamina’s eyes light up whenever the snake did something, “But it is surprising to see a girl such as yourself be so eager about handling a snake.”

“Oh, yeah, I am a strange person,” Rhamina chuckled as she put some food on her plate, “But I didn’t even reach out for her this time, she slithered on up to me.”

“Ms. Miyu, I hope you don’t mind but after dinner would you mind informing us about the creatures?” the prince’s guard asked causing the girl to choke on her food.

“Shoot! We’re eating dinner right now, the sun’s going to go down soon!” she exclaimed after drinking some water to clear her throat, “I wouldn’t mind informing you about them but for tonight I suggest you stay indoors and if you must observe them from inside. We need to lock up everything right now.”

She then stood up from her spot and said, “You guys lock your claimed exits and I’ll get downstairs!”

As the girls stood from their spots the snake looked up at the prince and flicked it’s tongue at him.

You sure?

“What? Jae-Yong, did you say something?” Min-Ho asked his guard.

“Hear what, Your Highness?” the older male replied.

It me!

‘There it is again,’ the male thought looking around before down to the snake who was looking directly at him.

You want kill monster?

“Hey, can someone help me, please? I’m too short!” one of the girls called from another room.

Min-Ho nodded towards Jae-Yong who walked off to find her.

Once he was gone Min-Ho turned back to the snake and asked, “Are you the one who owns that voice?”

You want kill monster?

“If you mean those creatures that I came for then yes,” he replied causing the snake to shake its head.

You need Mayari help!

“Mayari-” “Done!” the ravenette called as she came back into the room to finish her meal.

Mayari!

The snake then rubbed itself against the hand of Rhamina who chuckled and stroked its head.

“Ms. Miyu-” “You can call me Rhamina you know, its weird calling me by my last name if we’re around the same age. You’re only eighteen right?” she stated before smiling up at the taller male.

“I guess,” the male chuckled, “Do you know what is the meaning of the word ‘Mayari’?”

The female slowly dropped her head before saying, “It’s Fiipinol… It’s their equivalent of what would be Shrine Maidens here…”

Min-Ho’s eyes widened at the information he was given. As far as the court knew the execution of the Shrine Maidens was successful, except for one.

There was one who was unaccounted for. She was a child, no older than ten but they dismissed the idea of her surviving due to the surroundings being dense forest and the fact that she probably had no clue how to survive on her own.

“...No reason,” he replied as the sun began to go down.

Once the sun went down completely past the horizon howls began to sound from across the river that separated Seosan from the plains.

“They’re up,” Rhamina stated as she cracked open the curtains to reveal the grass in the distance moving as well as shadows, “You should be able to see them better once they actually get into town.”

“How have they not made it to the capital?” Jae-Yong asked as they made their way to the front windows.

“No one knows, it’s like there’s a barrier for them,” Rhamina explained as four shadows made their way onto the dirt streets allowing a better view of themselves, “I just know that they can’t make it past the Eastern Gate.”

In the moonlight it was revealed they had a smokey appearance and they all seemed extremely thin and deformed.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Rhamina took action and practically tackled Min-Ho out of the way as an arrow shattered the glass and embedded itself in a wall behind them.

“Close the curtains and get away from the window!” Rhamina ordered as she took a scrap piece of fabric that was lying around and wrapped it around her right hand before taking the arrow out of the wall and running into the kitchen.

“What happened?!” Sophie asked as she ran into the room to see the still dazed prince on the floor and Jae-Yong closing the curtains to a shattered window.

“It’s the Huntsman!” Chloe yelled after checking another window and quickly closing it.

“Shit! Get in your room and don’t open the curtains or look out the window at all,” Sophie said helping Min-Ho off the floor, “Where’s the arrow?”

“I have it- Mother fuck!” Rhamina exclaimed as a crash was heard, “I am the epitome of darkness you will bend to my will you nonexistent projectile!”

“Don’t worry about her she’s fine,” Aurora said attempting to block vision of the kitchen where a shadow began to seep out from.

“Then what is that?” Min-Ho asked as a tendril began to creep into the room.

“Holy shit, Ramen, keep that thing contained!” Aurora screamed as she jumped away.

“Shut up and get them in a room!” Rhamina screeched back from… somewhere… in the kitchen?... mass?... thing?

“She needs-” “She’s fucking fine now get into your room Your Royal Teenager,” Kerstin said as she forced the teen into his shared room as Sophie did the same to Jae-Yong.

The rest of the night was filled with loud noises outside of the room to which the males could not see due to the girls barricading it.

When morning came the door was opened by a disheveled Sophie who sighed, “Alright, it’s safe to come out now.”

“What happened?” Min-Ho asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

“We’ll tell you but you need to come out to the living room so we can all explain it properly,” Sophie sighed obviously fatigued from whatever happened when the sun was down.

As the two males warily followed the eighteen-year-old brunette into the living room they took note that most of the home was trashed; however, what concerned them most was when they arrived into the living room to see Rhamina with her arms covered in black/purple injuries, outstretched to Kerstin and Sam who were cleaning them as much as possible with water.

“Good to see you two are safe,” Rhamina chirped at Min-Ho and Jae-Yong who stood in shock, “First thing I should tell you about those creatures, you don’t touch them or anything they secret with bare skin.”

“Otherwise this happens,” she continued raising her right arm so the males could better see the damaged skin.

“How are you so nonchalant about this?” Jae-Yong asked as Kerstin applied a salve to the marks on her left arm before proceeding to bandage it, “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Of course it does. The first time I found out about this I wasn’t able to move my hands due to the pain but I got used to it the more it happened,” she explained allowing the same thing to be done to her right hand, “Plus it isn’t really detrimental as long as it’s treated correctly.”

“And don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I want to have frequent encounters with those things but due to my horrendous luck I was able to record a significant amount of information about them,” Rhamina said slowly curling and flexing her fingers once her hands and arms were bandaged.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a nerd, I’m fucking tired after that shit,” Tijarah yawned, “I’m going to take a nap.”

“Same,” Hannah yawned and one by one the girls retreated to their rooms leaving Min-Ho, Rhamina, and Jae-Yong in the living room.

“Were you able to get any sleep?” Rhamina asked to her guests who still stared at her with an unreadable expression.

“I’m going to take that as a no,” she then sighed as she leaned back into the couch, “I really appreciate you going through all the trouble to come out here when the King wouldn’t send anyone but do you really want to do this on your own?”

“Like I said yesterday the safety of the people is my main priority,” Min-Ho answered as the fatigued female gazed up at him.

Mayari!

The white snake from yesterday suddenly slithered up onto the couch and onto the ravenette’s lap.

“Hi, Honey,” she softly greeted before turning up to the males, “If you aren’t that tired I can answer some of the questions you have about those things.”

“If you don’t mind,” Min-Ho requested as he took a seat on a cushion in front of the coffee table across from where Rhamina sat.

“One of your girls called the creature that shot the arrow by a name?” he asked as the girl stretched.

“ All of the creatures that have been seen have names based on their appearance and what they do?”

“Could you list all of them?”

“Of course, there are three in total that have been clearly seen and described. The Huntsman. He has a the form of a half man, half horse with a bow in his skull. The human torso is extremely skinny and he has long thin appendages for arms. The Water Bearer. It has a humanoid like body except for the head which is a water vase which is constantly spilling fluid. Like the Huntsman and most of the other humanoids, it is deathly thin and has claw like hands. The Siren. She has a human like form except for her fingers are webbed like a frog and her head is in a bowl of water. Two things to mention about her, like her name suggests she has an extremely alluring voice and so far we have not found a way to break anyone from her spell until she leaves at sunrise. Second, she has two pets with her at all times, even if you can’t see them if she’s there they’re nearby and vice versa.”

“Do you know where they come from?”

“As you saw they come from somewhere in the plains but we haven’t been able to find exactly where.”

The interview continued on for awhile until all three slowly fell asleep in their spots. They stayed like that for a few hours, passed out in their seats, finally relaxing after the hectic night until there was a knock at the door.

Rhamina blinked a few times before getting up with a yawn and groggily making her way down the stairs to the locked door.

Surprisingly, the damage had not made its way down into the shop for which she was grateful. If it did, her current works would have been either completely destroyed or set back by a few days.

“Hello?” she asked as she opened her door to reveal the normal person who came every month to deliver her fabrics.

“Morning, Ms. Miyu,” the male greeted, “Would you like help bringing these in?”

“Yes, please,” she said with a yawn as she opened the door further to let the man bring in a crate before going out to take another.

Around midday everyone in the house was up and helping to clean up the mess.

“You really don’t have to help you know,” Rhamina said as she picked up larger pieces of glass.

“It’s only fair that I do, you saved me after all which reminds me, I never thanked you for that. So thank you,” Min-Ho said as he looked over at the female who still wore the same things from the previous day.

“You really don’t need to,” Rhamina said putting the glass in a basket, “It’s human instinct to help others. If one willingly ignore those in need, then they are scum.”

“Even worse are those who cause others pain just for the fun of it.”

“Ramen, your hand!” Aurora exclaimed seeing red seep from where the ravenette was unknowingly clutching a shard of glass.

“Shoot,” Rhamina hissed as she tossed the shard of glass into the basket to inspect the wound she had just given herself, “I’ll be right back.”

The female then left the room as the others kept up their work.

“Why is Mina’s hand bleeding?” Hannah asked as she walked in.

“Broken glass,” came the collective reply from the other girls earning a nod in understanding from the ginger.

“Ms. Rhamina isn’t from here is she?” Jae-Yong asked as she swept up splinters.

“Hm, what do you mean?” Sam asked.

“Now, that you mention it she doesn’t,” Min-Ho added thinking back to the female’s appearance, “Is she from the Islands of Phi, perhaps?”

“Yeah, she is, why do you ask?” Tijarah asked, “I’m not from here either you know.”

“Her skin tone and nose, just made me curious,” Jae-Yong said, “People from Phi don’t really live outside of their islands.”

“Well, I don’t really blame her for leaving, her family wasn’t that pleasant,” Kerstin scoffed, “They wouldn’t let her do anything and were constantly putting her down her for her talents until she came here for schooling when she was five.”

“Even then all the letters she would get from them were just her parents telling her how much of a disappointment she was so she just decided to become completely independent,” Sam added.

“She’s educated?” Jae-Yong asked causing all the girls to stiffen, “And yet she lives in this region?”

Kerstin and Sam had said too much.

“Yeah-yeah, partly but she never finished schooling to spite her family,” Sophie said hoping to save the situation.

“Seems like a waste,” the prince commented, “She could have been making much more money than she does now.”

The group almost laughed at that statement. She made lots of money alright. It wasn’t one hundred percent legal the way she did but who would even think about snitching?

Definitely not her partners that would be stupid of them to even think of doing if they wanted to keep up their high income.

“Yeah, but think about it if she did finish school, take up some high end job, then her parents would have forced her to hand over all the money she earned so they could use it,” Aurora stated, “she wouldn’t have been happy at all. She chose to be here with her own choices over status where she would just be a puppet for her parents.”

                                       ~~~Fin. Chapter 1~~~