#whoops i slipped and fell and drew some angst

[kidpickarus]

what happened in the ever after?

[random-mha-thoughts]

Kiss of Death pt 2 (Todoroki x Reader)

Pairing: Todoroki x Reader

Genre: Angst

Summary: If the Angel of Death came upon you but you had half an hour, what would you do?

Part 1.

BGM: Ateez “Inception” slowed + reverb (Insomnio on YT)

Word count: 1,284

Warnings: Character death and bodies

Tags: @rintomoj @yuki-osaki @yamichxn​ @lonelyfangirl453 @cyanide9602 @liviitehe @bigkoalafications

a/n: Feels good to be back to writing here~ As promised, this sequel part is the day after the first part.  Am I sorry for my first post after hiatus being angst? Not really, whoops 😉.  Enjoy suffering~

Todoroki didn't know what kind of dream that was; it was too realistic for him to categorize it with his other dreams.  He even began to doubt that it even was just a figment of his imagination.  Normally, the images in his head would be too abstract and scattered to remember all the details; although still spotty and scattered, the images his mind had conjured up were too defined than anything he'd experienced before.  Even the kiss felt irresistibly real, and he wondered how his inexperienced mind conjured such a sweet taste.  In a way, he was disappointed that his mind dangled such an opportunity over his head teasingly.

"I have feelings for you.”

As Todoroki opened his refrigerator to look for some breakfast, he frowned to himself.  The images held a strangely incomplete weight to it, something he can't put his finger on.  The entire scenario seemed like call to action in disguise for some unknown reason.  Perhaps this was his sign that he should seize the opportunity, take matters into his own hands, make his dream a reality.  The powers at be were giving him the green light; this was some divine signal that his confession would be reciprocated and he has nothing to fear.

His heart skipped a beat and his cheeks rushed with heat at the thought of his reality aligning with his inner fantasy, the memory of your soft lips ghosting over his.  It seemed too good to be true, but still somehow within his reach.

Fueled by this affirmative omen, he decided to pay you a visit after breakfast for a coffee date.

~

Todoroki pulled his scarf slightly looser as he entered your apartment building, his body temperature suddenly warmer.  Numerous times on the walk over did he have to remind himself of why he was here, the light that was mostly likely waiting for him at the end.  Picturing your smiling face and how precious you would be standing with him kept his feet moving.  If he didn't take advantage of this sudden flash of confidence today, he couldn't be confident that it would strike him again.

He called the elevator and took another calming breath.  The doors opened almost immediately and he stepped in.  In a daze, Todoroki pushed the button to your floor, his mind palace painting lovely images of you two going on casual dates strolling through the park, having fun at amusement parks, and cuddling under the stars.  He almost missed the desperate call of someone rushing towards him.

"Hold the door!"

He snapped out of his daze and pushed the open button right before the steel doors shut.  The breathless figure stumbled in, heaving for breath.  "Thank you- Oh, Todoroki."  The figure straightened up.

Todoroki bowed his head briefly in greeting.  "Good morning."  He recognized them as your close friend whom you talked fondly about often.

Their eyes flickered to the button for your floor that's already illuminated as the doors shut.  "Here to see (Y/n)?" they asked cheerily.

"Yes, just to visit," he responded vaguely.  "I haven't seen them in a while, I thought I would drop by."

"I'm sure they would appreciate that," the shorter friend smiled.  "Especially since they need help cleaning today, they would love the extra set of hands."  They checked their phone.  "I wonder what suddenly got into them that they decided to message me at almost 3 last night."

"Yeah, I came at 3 am to confess to you, I’m sorry.”

His clock in his dream and your words flashed through his mind and he cocked an eyebrow to himself before shrugging it off as a strange coincidence.  In regard to your friend's words, he decided to rework his plan.  He didn't mind helping you clean your place.  It would make his request to take you out to coffee afterwards more natural as a job well done for cleaning.

The elevator opened on your floor.  "They must be sleeping still, they didn't answer my text."  The two of them approached your door and the friend knocked.  "(Y/n)!  Wakey wakey!  Your cleaning crew has arrived!"  Without waiting for an answer, they lifted the doormat to retrieve the spare key hiding under it, unlocking the door and bursting in.

As they announced their arrival, Todoroki closed the door behind him and removed his shoes and quietly took in your home.  He smiled to himself because the atmosphere and decorations remind him of you.

"(Y/n), come on!  Get up!"  Your friend quickly slipped off their shoes and coat, messily throwing them onto your couch before dashing straight to your room.

Todoroki hung back instead, opting to stroll around your living room instead.  It's not his first time here, but he didn't think you were close enough to enter your room so brazenly; he respected your privacy.  He occupied himself with rehearsing how he would confess his feelings to you.  He wanted to make it as earnest but smooth as possible.  Should he take your hand when he's done?  Should you be walking around or remain inside the coffee shop when he says his piece?  There were so many options, but he wanted to make that moment as perfect as possible because you deserved nothing less.

"Todoroki!  Come over here!"

The alarm in your friend's voice prompted him into action.  All his thoughts scattered into incoherent fear.  What in the world could've happened?  He didn't know.

Todoroki burst into the room and wildly surveyed the scene.  Your friend stood frozen over your bed where you lay, but something seemed off.  Why would you be sleeping over your sheets and blanket?

"I-I came to wake them up, they didn't respond to me calling them- When I went to shake them, they-they-"  They stepped back before knocking into the desk.

Todoroki's mind raced with a thousand thoughts, none of them pleasant.  A shaky hand hesitantly grazed the crook of your neck and his breath stalled.

You were cold.

He drew his hand back, refusing to believe any of this.  His world suddenly spun on its head.  How could you be-?

The rest of his dream echoed in his mind.

"I have to tell you something It can’t wait until morning.”

"I didn’t want to leave without finally saying this to you."

He stumbled back a few steps as he remembered you suddenly vaulting off his balcony.

Your friend sank to the floor, clutching a paper and envelope, body wracked with a sudden onset of sobs as they cried your name.  "(Y/n)!  T-They're gone!"

The pieces finally click together, Todoroki's body grows cold.  Last night was no dream, it was your final goodbye to him.

That was your goodbye kiss to him.

It was his turn to fall to the floor, shudders wracking his body as his throat threatened to close because of the sobs welling up inside him.  The sweet kiss he savored only a minute before suddenly tasted bitter, the future he'd built up for you two ripped away from him.  Todoroki fell apart to the feeling of guilt, regret, anger, misery, distress, and so many other ineffable emotions.  Various self-loathing what-if's and if-only's consumed him.

Todoroki couldn't bear to see your face; even if he wanted to, his body shuddered too much to move and his tears blinded him.  His heartbeat nearly deafened him as your friend read your note aloud as their voice broke and wailed.  He felt cheated by fate.  He refused to believe this was when you were meant to depart, not when he'd experienced just a few seconds of the bliss of you two being together, regretting that he hadn't acted on his feelings sooner and stupidly believed he was sleeping during your final moment together.

Never again would he indulge in your cheerful expressions, your endearing mannerisms, your sweet voice.  You now only lived in his memories and in his dreams, as you'd never live in his reality anymore.

[monsterfuneral]

the vampiric pros and cons | the lost boys

Relationship: Poly!Lost Boys x Fem!Reader

Summary: One year anniversaries were always important, it was a mark of a year long commitment to one someone or something but what happens when your four someone’s seem to forget?

Warnings: Angst with a happy ending, the reader has a breakdown, the boys being dumb, fluff, swearing.

Words: 3.3k

Author’s Note: I hope you like this as much as I liked writing it, thank you very much anon for the request  <3 

Idk what is giving me this 3k word juice but I really enjoy it

REQUESTS OPEN 

(please read my “I do NOT write” section before sending in anything <3)

---

There were pros and cons of being a human. One very important con being time perception, whether it be what time you had to be at work, what year it was, or even what special occasion fell on what day. Time was something your very undead boyfriends hadn’t had to deal with in decades, while they attempted to adjust to your much more human life it did come with difficulty, which today just proves how much. With your eyes flitting from the mirror to the clock on your nightstand and back to your reflection, you couldn’t help but let out a slow sigh. They were an hour late. 

While at first you assumed at least one of them- Dwayne- would be able to keep track, that thought now seemed futile. You knew that as a vampire you didn’t have to stress over something as trivial as time management, especially since they quite literally had forever to do something. But you couldn’t deny it hurt every time you watched the clock tick by without any signs of revving engines outside your apartment complex. You couldn’t deny that it stung when they seemed to have forgotten your one year anniversary. 

Your eyes locked back onto your reflection’s, looking over your outfit for probably the thirtieth time. While you weren’t wearing some fancy ball gown and your hair wasn’t perfectly styled, it was a lot more effort you put in your everyday appearance. You had switched out your worn leather jacket for a fancier, seemingly spotless one. You even put on your best pants, not a rip in sight, along with a pair of black combat boots that looked brand new. The effort probably wasn’t worth it knowing the boys would probably be dressed in their regular clothes, which you didn’t mind, but thinking about that now it made you feel slightly ridiculous for even caring so much.

With another glance at the clock on your nightstand you felt a harsh pang in your chest, 1:21am it read in big red blocky numbers, they were supposed to pick you up at twelve. You tried to keep the tears at bay but the more you stared at the clock the blurrier the numbers got. Was it stupid to have put hope in them in the first place? Could you really blame them? You knew what you were signing up for, so why were you getting so upset?

You brought your hands up to your face and sniffled, wiping the tears away rather harshly. 

“Fuck.” More tears slipped from your eyes in retaliation and you let out a groan, realizing just what you had to do. You walked over to the chair in the corner of your room, one that served more as a laundry hamper rather than something to sit on, and plucked your bag from top of the pile searching for your keys. 

If they weren’t going to come here then you were going to come to them, and you were not happy. 

---

You white-knuckled your steering wheel the whole drive to the bluff, music playing low on your radio yet still feeling all too loud. Even though they had forgotten you couldn’t help but feel like it was your fault. But that was ridiculous right? You had reminded them almost every night and they had seemed to be listening, did you just not try hard enough or did they really just not care?

The tears were pooling again, blurring the lines on the road before they morphed into dirt and you were finally parked at the rickety wooden stairs leading down to the cave. You shut the car off and just sat for a few seconds trying to level your breathing. You glanced at your wristwatch and it read 1:53am, you couldn’t suppress the growl that crawled up your throat. After everything you did for them, after all the times you reminded them, they fucking forgot. 

With that in mind you threw the rusty car door open and slammed it shut, your fists clenching beside your thighs before you drew your jacket closer to shield yourself from the ocean breeze. You stomp down the creaky stairs, angrily muttering to yourself before coming up to the gate entrance and slipping inside, careful not to snag your jacket like you’ve done many times before. 

You walked through the tunnel leading towards the flickering light coming from the candles and metal barrels. It usually warms you from the inside out but in this moment all you felt was cold. There was no smile growing on your face, no hands guiding you carefully so you didn't bust your ass on the way down, no whooping vampires flying overhead. It was silent inside the cave. Nobody was here. They must have been out feeding. That thought only served to enrage you even more.

Of course they had time to remember their own needs but not yours when it was your anniversary? You hadn’t even asked for much either, all you wanted was to go down to the beach and have a cute little night-time picnic with them, a bonfire lit off to the side and all of you having a great time, that’s all you wanted. 

You couldn’t help but once again feel like you were overreacting, was it really their fault for forgetting? While they certainly weren’t perfect when it came to remembering everything, at least they tried. But what stopped them from trying this time? Stop over thinking so much. Did they still care for you or did they lose interest? You’re being ridiculous. You felt tears begin to streak down your cheeks once again, the frustration building more and more. 

When you plopped down onto the couch a small puff of dust followed, clouding around your hips as you cradled your head pathetically and cried into the palms of your hands, very certain the makeup you had put on earlier in the night had been fully cried off. 

You weren’t sure how long you had been sitting on the couch after your last tear dropped, but it felt like hours. Your body felt vacant of all emotion, your eyes locking onto the flickering candle sat atop the fountain, it held all of your focus as it danced and swayed with the occasional breeze that would push itself inside the cave. The fluttering of wings sounded so much louder now too with it being so quiet, Marko’s pigeons flying back and forth every now and then. Your head didn’t even lift up when you heard the distant whoops of your vampiric partners. The anger was now completely washed away and was replaced with a cold nothingness, all emotions having been exhausted from your body when it had been racking with sobs. 

The fluttering of clothes sounded overhead when they finally flew inside, circling the top of the cave before finally realizing there was an unmoving figure sat upon their couch. David was the first to touch down, cold blue eyes staring at you with concern as you just continued to stare ahead at the flickering candle. His heavy steps echoed off the cave walls as he drew closer saying your name gently as if it would break you to say it louder. If you were being completely honest with yourself, it probably would have. 

David kneeled down in front of you and carefully placed a hand on your knee which you moved slowly away from. He raised a brow and looked back at the other three, Marko was chewing on his thumb nail, closely watching the scene in front of him unfold. 

“Kitten?” David’s voice was probably the softest you ever heard, his eyes locking with yours once you were finally jolted from your daze “Hey are you okay?” You almost felt guilty, he looked so worried even with how little he showed it on his face, it was in his eyes. 

“Babe what’s wrong? Did someone do somethin’ to you?” Paul chimed, stepping closer to the couch cautiously. You still didn’t speak, mind still in a thick fog. “Babe?” Paul sounded worried too and you couldn’t bring yourself to lift your head up to look at him.

“I think something’s wrong guys.” Marko said from where he stood behind David. 

Paul let out a scoff “Yeah no shit, man.” You could practically hear him roll his eyes. 

Finally your mouth opened, prying your chapped lips apart and muttered a raspy “You forgot.” It felt like the littlest bits of energy were finally sinking back into your skin, allowing you to lift your head and look at your four worried boyfriends. “You forgot about our anniversary.” 

Their eyes widened almost comically after hearing you say that. A groan coming from Marko as he threw his head back, fingers knitting through his perfect curls “I told you guys there was something wrong tonight! I knew we forgot something!” Paul let out a long sigh and leaned back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Dwayne finally got closer and kneeled himself down next to David. 

“Hey sweetheart…” He whispered, reaching out to gently take your hand in his colder one “We are so sorry. You gotta understand that we wouldn’t do this to you on purpose.” He squeezed your hand gently, looking back at the others. You knew that if you had any more tears left you would have probably started crying again. “We’re so sorry that we hurt you like this…” He brought his hand up to your chin and lifted your head up so he could look you in the eye standing up and bending over to bring his face closer to yours “Please let us make it up to you.” His hair was veiling over your face as he leaned in, almost shielding you from the outside world, his chilled lips met your cheek softly delivering the gentlest kiss you’ve probably ever received. 

“Yeah babe please let us make it up to you.” Paul practically begged. You turned your head stiffly to look at him, seeing how frantic he almost looked. 

“Would you like that?” Dwayne asked, voice soft as if he was telling you a secret. You couldn’t deny the tug on your heart when looking into his dazzling brown eyes, the desperation to earn your forgiveness all too evident. 

“Okay…” You whispered back, afraid to speak any louder.

---

The bonfire in front of you danced with the ocean breeze, a breeze that softly weaved through your hair and would have made you shiver if it wasn’t for the blanket David wordlessly wrapped around your shoulders. He sat next to you staring into the amber flames too, the yellows and oranges lighting his face up beautifully. The hollowness from your breakdown was finally beginning to melt away, a small smile creasing your lips before bitterly falling again.

“I’m sorry.” You muttered quietly, but not quietly enough as the rest of the group raised their heads and voiced their curiosity of what the hell you were apologizing for. “I was being a drama queen.” You chuckled humorlessly “You guys have told me so many times how hard it is to manage time as a vampire and I still got so worked up over something so stupid.” 

Marko was the first to shake his head and voice his opinion “Hell no, you’re not going to feel sorry for something that isn’t even your fault!” You looked at him from over the fire, his expression hardened “It’s us who should be sorry- who are sorry- not you. I’m not letting you blame yourself because you’re dating a set of dumbasses.” Paul nodded in agreement, not even trying to start some childish argument for being called a dumbass. 

“And it’s not stupid either. We’ve been together for a whole year, which is a long time to commit yourself to one person, let alone four vampires.” Dwayne chimed, soothing your remaining guilt. You gave him a grateful smile while David pulled you closer to him, arm slung around your shoulder and letting you lean against him.  

Silence had settled over the five of you again for a good ten seconds before you heard Paul yelp, making you jump. Marko had him pinned to the sand, their bodies both flailing as they wrestled. “Oh your ass is grass pipsqueak!” Paul threatened when Marko flew up into the air, Paul following closely, some sand falling back onto the ground below. David shook his head and chuckled as he watched the two rambunctious blondes play fight, growling and hissing at each other. 

“Children...” He muttered playfully smirking at you when you giggled. 

“Come on up guys!” Marko called a few feet above the fire, Paul pulling harshly on his hair making the shorter blonde let out a yelp of his own. 

“Yeah, how does it feel asshole!?” They pushed each other, flying in opposite directions before colliding again.

“Paul I will fucking dunk you in the ocean!” Marko threatened. 

David squeezed your side a little tighter “You wanna go for a ride princess?” He asked, eyes still locked on Paul and Marko. 

You felt yourself start to smile “Yeah I want some front row seats to this.” You shrugged the blanket from your shoulders and handed it to Dwayne who took it without a word. 

David gave you an encouraging squeeze before helping you stand up and kneeling down a little so you can jump onto his back. He tightened his grip on the backs of your thighs and told you to hold on tight, which you did. He slowly rose from the ground and you let out an excited giggle next to his ear, having gotten used to the heights of flying a long time ago. Marko and Paul’s petty argument got louder as you both got closer, they were punching and kicking and even clawing at each other like feral alley cats. 

“I’ll tie you to a tree and leave you there, fucking test me.” Paul seethed, you would have thought he was serious if you hadn’t known them, plus the wide smile on his face was an immediate giveaway. 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah!” 

You squeezed your arms tighter around David’s neck and muttered next to his ear “I bet you ten vinyls Marko completely wastes Paul.” 

David let out a quiet snort and turned his eyes over to you “You’re on. If you lose you have to sleep over at the cave for a whole week.” You rolled your eyes at the counter before he continued “Let’s just say you won’t be getting much sleep if I win a kitten.” He winked at you and turned his head back just in time for Marko to grab a hold of Paul’s jacket harshly and began flying towards the ocean so fast you could barely see them. 

Paul screamed before hitting the water, not being able to catch himself as he was catapulted into the waves. He came to the surface with a string of colorful curses being thrown at Marko who was cackling loudly just above him, curling in on himself as he shook, looking as if he was laying down in midair. When Paul rose from the water you could practically see the steam rolling off of him as he grabbed Marko and brought him underwater. You were glad they were dead because Paul was literally forcing Marko to stay underwater while he laughed, traunting the curly haired blonde, watching as he thrashed the water around frantically. 

When Marko surfaced he let out a growl and was about to give Paul the same treatment but David calling out to them drew his attack short. “Come on boys! We don’t have time for your little drowning session, the sun’s gonna be up soon!” 

“You owe me ten records.” You pat David’s chest triumphantly and he hummed in response. 

“I guess I do.” He turned his head to the side and gave you a slow kiss, one that made your heart flutter in your chest and your cheeks heat up. 

Paul and Marko flew up slowly, Dwayne joining the four of you as well with your blanket still in his arms. The two blondes looked like wet dogs as they tried to shake the water from their hair, effectively spraying all of you with water. 

“Hey watch the jacket!” You half teased, wiping the droplets off onto David’s jacket which made him shake his head in slight annoyance. “You’ve had this jacket for years calm down.” 

---

The fly back to the cave wasn’t a long one, five minutes or less, but David knew you didn’t feel like walking all the way back and honestly neither did he. So the wind blew your hair from your face as he and the boys weaved playfully past each other, laughing and calling out into the night sky. You finally felt like yourself again, all the previous emotional exhaustion now replaced with a simmering happiness in your chest. You were still harboring a little anger at being so easily forgotten but that was a conversation for another night, right now you just wanted to enjoy yourself, flying through the sky without a care in the world before finally touching down on the cave floor next to the fountain. Most of the candles that were still lit before you all left had been blown out while you were gone. You looked around and watched as the boys all settled down, Marko lighting the barrels again and setting the torch inside to burn too. 

You settled yourself back down on the couch between Dwayne’s legs, his back against the arm of the sofa. He threw an arm over your chest and held you against him, settling a few soft kisses on your cheek. “You feeling like sleeping here tonight sweetheart?” noticing as you attempted to stifle a yawn. 

“Oh are we having a sleepover.” Paul teased with a wiggle of his brows. He leaned over the back of the sofa and tried to kiss you but a strand of his still wet hair smacked you in the face making you groan. 

“How are you still wet.” You chuckled, peeling the wet strand from your right cheek moving it behind his ear. 

“Blame it on that douchebag chihuahua.” He sent a playful glare in Marko’s direction who yelled out a defensive “Hey!” in response. 

You looked down at your watch and muttered a quiet ‘jesus christ’ at the time, 4:39am. You hadn’t even realized how late it had gotten, the night seemingly passing by in a haze while they were gone. 

Dwayne moved your hair over to your right shoulder “You can go ahead and sleep sweetheart.” His voice was soft in your ear, lips brushing against your neck as he kissed your neck softly. “I can take you to your nest, tuck you in and shit.” He chuckled, the sound vibrating against your back. You turned over on your side and snuggled closer to the tall vampire, your face buried in his neck.

The night may have had a much more than rocky start but in the end you were happy. You couldn’t stay mad at them, especially when they didn’t truly mean to hurt you. It was a mistake and they made up for it and will probably continue to do so for weeks. You knew what you were getting yourself into when they told you what they were, and you loved them even when the cons sometimes outweigh the pros, you were willing to go to the ends of the world for them and they were more than willing to do the same.  

---

Paul getting absolutely fucking dunked was inspired by the amazing @tweedracer​

Links to their stories here, please read them they’re amazing: 

POLY! LOST BOYS x HIPPIE VIBES READER by Tweetracer

[mylovelyfandoms]

Soonyoung’s backstory

The Symbol of the Star

Basic Information

A/N: Haven’t edited again and crappy ending whoop whoop. I feel like I went off topic a lot so sorry.  

Warnings: Fire, Arson, an OC, death, depicts of torture, angst ish

(GIF not mine)

- When Soonyoung was born, he took his mother’s life

- It wasn’t exactly his fault, and his father knew that

- After the death of his wife, Soonyoung’s father vowed to take care of his son and make her sacrifice worth it

- So, even when Soonyoung started to show symptoms of being a part of the affected, his father hid him from the soldiers

- He hid him from the world

- Soonyoung’s father didn’t want anyone taking his family away from him

- He cherished and loved his son to the best of his ability

- Soonyoung was born as a fire elemental

- His body temperature was burning right when he was born

- But his father still didn’t care

- One day, when Soonyoung was three, he was laying in his crib

- His father was downstairs, heating up a bottle of milk 

- While he was messing around, Soonyoung accidentally shot a fire ball at the curtains next to him

- They started to catch on fire

- Soonyoung started screaming and crying, not liking the sudden light that erupted in his room

- The smoke detector went off and started to sound alarms all throughout the house

- Getting more and more fussy, Soonyoung shot more fireballs around without realizing

- Soonyoung’s father realized what was happening and sprinted up the stairs

- He saw his baby crying in the crib and lunged into the burning room

- Soonyoung didn’t stop shooting out fire

- The feet of his pajamas were burnt completely off and fire came from all four of his hands and feet

- As his father approached him, Soonyoung shot out another fireball, hitting his dad right in the chest

- Soonyoung’s father stumbled back, letting out a loud and pained scream

- Still, he was determined to get his son out of the building

- He trudged forward and held onto the bar of the crib, wheezing in an attempt to catch his breath

- “Papa!” 

- Soonyoung’s sobs, triggered something in him

- He stood up from the floor, clutching his chest, and reached down to hold onto his child

- When he laid his hands on the toddler, his skin started to burn

- Soonyoung was terrified

- He had made fire before, and he hated it every single time

- He was used to the heat from the flames, but he hated the way the smoke smelled and the way it burned his eyes since it was so bright

- Though, he had never made a fire that spread this fast

- As Soonyoung was carried out of the room, his father’s steps were staggering

- When they were just at the door, Soonyoung’s father collapsed onto the floor with a coughing fit

- He held Soonyoung close to him, trying to ignore the burning feeling that it caused him

- He knew he wasn’t going to make it

- But Soonyoung didn’t

- “Papa! Why aren’t we going anywhere? I’m scared!”

- “S...Soonyoung”

- His father stopped coughing

- Soonyoung thought that was a good thing, that he was getting better

- But he wasn’t moving

- His chest wasn’t rising and his grip went loose

- Soonyoung pushed himself up and looked down to see burnt skin from where he was laying

- His tears came back as he realized what he had done and he dropped to his knees, shaking his father’s lifeless body

- He barely even heard when the door downstairs was kicked open or when the firemen came running in

- One of the firemen tried to pull Soonyoung off of his father’s body while the rest put out the flames

- Soonyoung screamed and screamed, more fire shooting out with every breath

- Eventually, they managed to pry him off

- Once they dragged him out of the house, they tossed him into the back of a soldier’s truck

- The words that they spoke would forever ring in Soonyoung’s mind

- “The monster killed his father. He should be ashamed of himself”

- And as time went by, he was

- He had nightmares almost every night about what he did, screaming and crying in his cell at the facility

- As the years passed, his fire powers faded and his senses grew

- When he finally took the tests when he turned five, Soonyoung was a senser

- They tattooed him and brought him into a new cell with the rest of the stars

- For a long time, he was depressed

- He was ashamed of what he did to his father and the new senses that he inherited were hard to adjust to

- He sat away from the others in the cell, hands covering his ears in order to keep the noises away

- Until one day, he was approached by one of the older kids

- Soonyoung sensed her from even before she was near him

- She crouched down and gently tugged his wrist away from his ears

- “Hey, kiddo”

- Her voice was soft and gentle, but Soonyoung heard it as if she was screaming at him

- “Try to focus on my voice and my voice only”

- From that day forward, the girl, who told Soonyoung to call her Star, taught him how to deal with his powers

- He clung onto her like a child with their mom

- She basically adopted him

- She was a kind soul and knew almost everyone in the facility

- And since everyone knew her, they knew Soonyoung too

- She helped him learn how to isolate his senses and get adjust to his new powers

- One night, he woke up from a particularly bad nightmare

- He climbed to her bed, where she was already awake, and cried into the shirt of her uniform

- He hadn’t had a nightmare in a long time

- She held him close, the feeling bringing flashes of memories to his mind

- He pushed her away

- She didn’t react or seem hurt like he thought she would be

- Instead, she grabbed his hand and walked over to the door of their cell

- “Why don’t you keep lookout for me, okay?”

- Soonyoung nodded and listened in to see if anyone was near

- “I learned this little trick from one of the brains”

- Star picked at the lock, wiggling it around and around until it clicked open

- She swung the door open as quietly as she could and stepped out

- Soonyoung was hesitant

- “It’s okay, I’ve done this many times”

- Hesitantly, Soonyoung followed her out of the cells 

- She took him out of their cell room and up to the roof

- Soonyoung was amazed by the view 

- He felt tall for once and for a split second, his nightmare slipped away

- But then, Star pulled him into her lap and started to ask her about it

- She sat with him that night and guided him through his feelings

- She helped him understand why he was feeling so ashamed and taught him how to move on

- “You know my name’s not actually Star, right kid?”

- Soonyoung’s innocent eyes widened

- “It’s not?!”

- “My real name is Lee Chun-ae. I did a couple things that I’m not proud of when I was your age. So, I wanted a new start. That’s why I have people call me Star.”

- She took a look at Soonyoung’s shocked expression and chuckled

- “Not everyone is what they seem to be”

- Soonyoung took her words into consideration and decided for a new name for himself

- From that day on, Star would take Soonyoung up to the roof whenever he felt sad and they would look up at the sky

- All of their cell members were too scared to sneak out, so they knew that the roof would be their spot

- Eventually, a year had passed and it was Star’s birthday

- She spent it in the cell with Soonyoung and a couple more of her friends

- It was the most fun they’ve all had in lifetimes

- Until guards started storming into the cell

- “Look, I know we’re skipping out of work, but I’m 20 now, can’t you make some sort of exception?”

- “That’s not why we’re here”

- Soonyoung will never forget the look that fell onto her face as she realized what they meant

- Immediately, she turned to Soonyoung and gripped onto his shoulders, a look and smell more serious than he had ever witnessed

- “Listen to me, Hoshi. No matter what happens, remember my words. Remember that you have the power to know what others are feeling and help them just like I helped you.”

- “Star? What’s going on?”

- “I’m going to go away for a little, okay? You might not see me again, so I just need you to promise me that you will stay true to who you are”

- With tears in his eyes, Soonyoung nodded

- He watched as the soldiers grabbed onto her shoulders and pulled her out of the cell, disappearing out of the room

- Soonyoung never saw her again, but her words stayed in his mind

- As he grew up, he made more and more friends, just like Star had done

- He always used his power to sense who was feeling as bad as he was and tried to help them 

- So one day, he was transferred into a different cell 

- He did the same thing, using his senses until he was met with a strong scent that he knew was the chemical released from sadness

- Soonyoung saw a kid a little bit younger than him in the corner, a dark aura surrounding him

- He asked a couple other kids about the boy and found out that he was a brain

- Not needing much more information, he approached the kid with a hopeful feeling

- Once he approached the brain, he was met with a glare

- There was nothing threatening that Soonyoung could sense about the boy, so he continued

- “I’m Hoshi, what’s your name?”

- The boy was shocked and Soonyoung realized that people were probably too scared to talk to him

- “Ah, well you don’t have to tell me. But I did want to ask you something.”

- At this point, Soonyoung was just finding an excuse to spend more time with this boy

- He came up with the excuse that he wanted to learn from him 

- He wanted to spend more time with the boy, not only to help him but because there was something about his energy and smells that drew Soonyoung to him

- The boy agreed to teach and introduced himself as Woozi

- As time went by, Woozi focused on teaching Soonyoung basics of math and reading and science

- And while Soonyoung was learning more than he thought he would, he also made progress in getting Woozi to open up more

- One day, Woozi asked Soonyoung to help him sneak out of the cell

- Soonyoung stared at the shorter boy in shock

- It was then that he realized why he was so drawn to Woozi

- He reminded him of Star

- Without hesitation, Soonyoung stood by the cell door and listened in for any of the soldiers like he had done so many times before

- He told Woozi when it was safe and the soldiers were lazily dozing off

- Woozi picked the lock of the cell, making Soonyoung look at him with a sense of nostalgia

- The rest of their cellmates hissed at them, telling them it wasn’t safe, but the two didn’t care

- Soonyoung started to see Woozi as more of a friend than just someone he had to fix

- From then on, the two would sneak out almost every night

- Woozi would start to talk about plans of escaping, but Soonyoung never thought of it as anything too serious

- Soonyoung would help Woozi explore the grounds of the facility and humor him with different ideas of how they could get out

- One day, Soonyoung had gotten in trouble for slacking off his work

- He was sent into the south wing to get hit and beat as a punishment

- It was the first time he had gotten punished in a long time, so that night when he went back to his cell, he had a nightmare

- He hadn’t had a nightmare since Star left

- So, when he woke up, he made his way to where Woozi was sleeping and woke him up

- Soonyoung took Woozi up to the roof and laid down, looking up and thinking about Star

- Woozi laid next to Soonyoung and started pointing to all of the constellations that he could find

- Soonyoung nodded along distractedly

- He missed Star

- He wanted to know what happened to her 

- Woozi quieted down and Soonyoung pushed the thoughts away

- He tried to distract himself with thoughts of his friend

- But his mind started wandered back to the first conversation that he had with Star up there

- Soonyoung turned to Woozi 

- “Is Woozi your real name?”

- Woozi paused for a beat, and Soonyoung could sense that he caught him off guard

- “No. Is Hoshi yours?”

- “No.”

- There was more silence between the two

- “So what’s your story?”

- Soonyoung listened intently as Woozi explained his childhood to him

- Suddenly, Woozi’s attitude made sense. Soonyoung had a better understanding of his friend

- Woozi explained that he chose a different name to give himself a fresh start, having Soonyoung perk up slightly

- He explained that he did the same thing and shakily started explaining his childhood

- Though, he left out the details of Star, wanting to keep their story to himself

- They then decided to say their real names 

- Soonyoung swallowed back the dark feeling he had in the beginning of his time at the facility

- “Lee Jihoon”

- “Kwon Soonyoung”

- He hadn’t thought of his name in a long time

- And he didn’t like the way that his chest felt heavy when he finally did

- Woozi seemed to have noticed the way Soonyoung’s breathing became uneven as he stood up and offered a hand

- “Come on now, Hosh. We should get back in before the sun rises”

- One day, Woozi was caught with some things he had collected from teaching

- So Soonyoung had no one to talk to

- Throughout the years, Soonyoung clung onto Woozi and didn’t really talk to anyone else but him

- Woozi became the one person he was truly comfortable around, so Soonyoung’s previous social butterfly state only came out when he was around him

- When he was alone, he fell into a ‘won’t talk until you talk to me’ mood

- So, since Woozi wasn’t around, Soonyoung kept to himself 

- Soonyoung only looked up from his tray when he heard someone sitting in front of him

- Their scent signaled that it was someone he had never met before, so he looked up

- He was met with a boy who looked around his age with a muzzle over his mouth

- Soonyoung furrowed his eyebrows as another boy with the same muzzle took a seat next to the first boy

- “Hello”

- The two boys snapped their eyes to Soonyoung and gave little waves

- “I’m Hoshi, a senser”

- He tugged his collar down to show his tattoo

- The one across of Soonyoung turned his hand to show a lightning bolt with the letter ‘S’ next to it

- The one next to him lifted his wrist and showed the same one

- “Oh, so you two are screamers”

- The two nodded

- “Do you know how to spell your names?”

- The two nodded slower this time

- “Okay, how many letters do you have in it?”

- The boy across from him held up two fingers

- “Okay, I’ll sing the alphabet and you can tap the table to stop me at the letter that spells your name”

- Soonyoung sang the alphabet and the first boy stopped him at ‘D’ and ‘K’

- The second boy had eight letters in his name and after many verses of the alphabet, Soonyoung finally spelt out Seungkwan

- “How come I haven’t seen you two out here before?”

- DK and Seungkwan both started to mime out explanations with Soonyoung guessing quite horribly

- Eventually, everyone was called back to work and Soonyoung never saw the two again

- When Woozi got back, Soonyoung’s heart dropped to his stomach

- His friend was covered in purple bruises and bleeding cuts 

- No matter how much he fussed and tried to help, Woozi brushed him off with a fake smile

- Soonyoung knew that Woozi wouldn’t want to talk about it, so he decided to give up

- As weeks passed, they went back to normal

- Soonyoung tried keeping an eye out for the two screamers, but still never saw them again

- One day, while the stars were working in construction, one of the guards approached Woozi

- Soonyoung had his back turned to the two, but he could hear every word they exchanged

- All of a sudden, as Soonyoung smelled the fear emitting from Woozi, he turned around

- Woozi was being held up by his shirt and feigned a brave look

- As Woozi scoffed and spoke teasing words, Soonyoung was preparing himself for the beating that he knew the guard would give

- Instead, he heard footsteps going towards the two, making his head turn

- Soonyoung saw the sun on guard approaching Woozi and the guard while tugging his gloves off

- Soonyoung watched as the sun charged forward and stuck his hand out, pulling the guard away from Woozi

- “What is that boy doing?” Soonyoung heard a guard muttering

- “That damned Seungcheol”

- So Seungcheol was his name

- Soonyoung was grateful

- He was grateful that the sun protected his friend when he couldn’t do so himself

- Soonyoung’s thoughts always wandered back to the sun, remembering all the times he and Woozi had made fun of his and regretting it

- He started to think back to Star’s words and realized that perhaps he wasn’t as different as the two originally thought

- He mentioned him to Woozi whenever he got the chance

- Woozi, of course, was never listening since he was too focused on his escape plan

- If he wasn’t tuning him out when Soonyoung spoke about the sun, Woozi emitted a fear chemical

- He was too stubborn to admit that he was scared, of course

- So Soonyoung used it to his advantage

- “You know, if you’re not scared of the sun, you should prove me wrong and thank him the next time we see him”

- “You’re funny”

- Soonyoung was sure that that method would work

- “Fine. Then I’ll stop talking to you for a month”

- Woozi gave in, making Soonyoung very satisfied

- The next time the sun made an appearance, Soonyoung pushed Woozi in his direction

- He chuckled as he heard Woozi cursing him out under hit breath

- Soonyoung listened in to the conversation

- After a one sided conversation, Woozi scoffed and stormed off, giving Soonyoung a window 

- “Hello, what do they call you?”

- Soonyoung could smell the sun’s nervousness and discomfort

- “You can just say it, you don’t have to be nervous”

- Right when Soonyoung let the words slip from his mouth, the sun snapped his head towards him in alarm 

- Soonyoung chuckled slightly and showed the sun his tattoo

- “I can smell it”

- Standing in front of him, the sun didn’t seem like that much of a threat anymore. He was just a victim like the rest of them

- So Soonyoung was determined to make friends

- He offered a hand

- “They call me Hoshi. I heard your name is Seungcheol, is that true?”

- Soonyoung regretted it right when he said it, smelling the anger that rose from the sun

- The sun looked away and Soonyoung dropped his hand

- “S. Coups”

- Soonyoung smiled at the acceptance and tried out a joke, just to see how he would react

- “What is that, French?”

- S. Coups grunted and Soonyoung could sense the embarrassment washing over him

- “Don’t be embarrassed”

- He spoke almost immediately after with a glare

- “Kwon Soonyoung”

- Soonyoung flinched as if someone just hit him

- The name that he only told to Woozi slipped out of the lips of a stranger

- His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened

- “W-what?”

- “That’s your name isn’t it?”

- Soonyoung was speechless 

- His mouth opened and closed as he tried to find the words to say

- Saving him, Woozi stepped in between the two with a hateful glare towards S. Coups

- “His name is Hoshi. Just like yours is S. Coups”

- Soonyoung sensed S. Coups’ emotions turn into regret, snapping him out of his paralyzed state

- “Come on, Hosh, I told you this was a bad idea”

- Woozi dragged Soonyoung away before he could say anything else

- Over time, Soonyoung decided to talk to S. Coups again

- He knew that S. Coups regretted saying his name, so that meant that he was just mean because he was embarrassed

- And he didn’t know that the name would have an affect, so maybe he was just trying to start a conversation

- “Hey, S. Coups!”

- Soonyoung cheerily walked up to S. Coups who greeted him with a smile

- It had been a couple of months already and Soonyoung had talked to S. Coups everyday. 

- At first, S. Coups was stubborn and tried not to respond, but he eventually gave in and started conversing

- Soonyoung then convinced Woozi to properly introduce himself, and the three became friends

- “Hey, Hosh. Where’s Woozi?”

- “I told him to start over there without me. I just had a question”

- There was a question that had been gnawing at Soonyooung for the past years, but he never had anyone to ask

- S. Coups nodded to signal Soonyoung to go on

- “What exactly happens when we turn 20?”

- S. Coups’s gaze went dark

- “Why do you want to know?”

- Soonyoung looked at his fingers

- “I uh...I had a friend...”

- “Well, when one of the affected turn twenty, they’re given two options; either they can stay in an underground building in the eastern wing to get experimented or tested, or they’re given the choice of ‘freedom’”

- S. Coups did air quotes

- “But they just say that, knowing that most of the affected will choose it. Then, they kill them. Sometimes, if it isn’t a star, they make their own kind kill them, just for the fun of it.”

- Soonyoung gulped 

- “Do you where the underground ones are exactly? I’ve been all over the grounds and I can never smell or hear them”

- “That’s because it’s deep under the ground in some sort of soundproof and odor proof-ish building. I’m not sure where it is, I’ve only heard about it.”

- Soonyoung nodded and thanked S. Coups before walking back to work

- He thought about Star and how there was a possibility that she was still alive

- All day, he was lost in his thoughts until Woozi suddenly started jumping while they were on their nightly walk around the grounds

- “Hosh! I’ve got an idea on how we’re getting out of here!”

- Woozi started telling him all about his plan, only missing one key part; the distraction

- Soonyoung’s mind wandered to his past and he let out a dry laugh

- “Why don’t we light that tree on fire”

- Soonyoung was entirely joking, but Woozi perked up

- “And that’ll make the soldiers think it’s a fire elemental! You’re a genius!”

- Soonyoung’s smile disappeared

- He didn’t think Woozi was actually going to go with it

- But, as much as Soonyoung hated fire, he didn’t want to say anything that took away the light from Woozi’s eyes

- And so, he went with it

- Woozi was so excited that he finally had a full-proof escape plan and Soonyoung knew it

- He just had to wait a couple of days for Woozi to put the plan in motion

- Days turned into weeks

- Soonyoung knew that he needed some sort of push to start it

- And Soonyoung was starting to get sick of the place

- So, he hatched a plan

- One day while they were eating, Soonyoung went up to put his tray away and listened in for any soldiers

- He heard a soldier walk behind him and Soonyoung stepped back onto his foot

- “Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t see you there”

- “Like hell you didn’t”

- The soldier growled and grabbed Soonyoung’s shirt in his fist

- Soonyoung could sense that Woozi was getting worried

- It was all a part of his plan

- He was going to get sent to the south wing, take a couple of hits, and then Woozi will break him out and they’ll be free

- But then, the soldiers started dragging him past the south wing

- “Where are we going? Why aren’t we going to the south wing?”

- “I’m in  a bad mood”

- The soldier pushed him into a cell in the west wing

- It had a foul stench that brought tears to Soonyoung’s eyes

- He pinched his nose but the soldier yanked his wrists away

- The soldier pushed him to the corner and shackled him up 

- The feeling of the wall behind him and the floor beneath him caused shivers to go up and down his spine in disgust

- “You know what’s next”

- The soldier was smirking, holding onto the band that was supposed to cover his eyes and the headphones that were connected to his phone

- “Please, no”

- The soldier laughed and put the headphones on Soonyoung’s head before tying the band around it and his eyes

- All of a sudden, blasting music played, making Soonyoung scream in agony

- There was a piercing pain in his ear and everything around him just caused more pain

- He could smell the dried blood and all of the dirty deeds that were done in that cell

- He could feel the grime and dirt from the walls and shackles

- He couldn’t see anything, which frustrated him beyond belief

- And with the loud music in his ears, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to hear again afterwards

- Soonyoung cried out everytime the volume got louder

- The bass was enough to make his brain pound

- The feeling was painful and frustrating so he screamed and thrashed around, begging for someone to get him out of there

- He wasn’t sure how much time passed until he felt hands on his shackles

- A hand fell onto his shoulder, and he flinched away, scared of what the soldier would do

- As one of the figures came closer, Soonyoung caught the slight scent of Woozi mixed with the stench of the room

- He stopped thrashing 

- The band and headphones were removed from his head, causing his ears to ring and eyes get adjusted to the light

- “W-woozi? Is that you?”

- Woozi’s mouth opened as he spoke, but Soonyoung could only hear ringing

- “Get...get me out of here”

- Soonyoung couldn’t take it anymore, he was so close to tears that he would do anything to get out of that horrid room

- “Come on, we’ve got you”

- The ringing in Soonyoung’s ear started dying down as S. Coups grabbed one of his arms and swung it around his shoulders, helping him up

- When they got out of the building, Soonyoung took in a deep breath of the fresh air, only to smell smoke

- For a second, he was back in his room from when he was a toddler

- But then, he felt the thicker air all over his body and turned to S. Coups

- “I smell smoke, what happened?”

- Woozi gave him a gentle smile. 

- “The plan”

- The three got to the gate of the facility and sent S. Coups in to deal with the soldier that worked the controls

- Soonyoung sank down to the floor and put his head in his hands, trying to get all of his senses back to normal

- “Hoshi, why did you do that?” Woozi growled

- Despite the agressive tone, Soonyoung didn’t even need his senses to know that Woozi was only angry because he was worried

- “Why the hell would you do that?”

- Soonyoung looked up to him, plastering on the biggest smile he could

- “You needed the push”

- Before Woozi could say anything else, the gates started to open and S. Coups ran out

- “Come on!”

- The three ran, S. Coups and Woozi laughing

- Soonyoung sent one last look at the facility and couldn’t help but feel as if he were abandoning the people there

- As if he were abandoning the only mother he ever had

- But as time went by, Soonyoung helped S. Coups go back into the facility and break people out

- The three started a clan with S. Coups as the fierce leader and Soonyoung and Woozi as subleaders

- Soonyoung became the lookout for most of the clan, making sure that everything was in order and that no one was near

- He protected the clan like it was his own family, as if to make up for not being able to protect Star

- With the clan, everyone celebrated each other’s tragedies and mistakes, so Soonyoung never had to be ashamed again

[itsnamjoonssi]

hot like a smokin’ gun | Park Jinyoung, GOT7 | Spy!AU, Soulmate!AU

1

[2nd work in “long live the reckless]

long live the reckless (and the brave) | Series Masterlist

GOT7 Masterlist

BTS Masterlist

Title taken from “Me and My Drum” by Swingfly.

Genre: attempt at humor, very slight angst, action

Warnings: graphic and non-graphic depictions of violence, Yugyeom being the cool motherfucker he is, Jackson’s just tryna have a good time but the maknae line is bursting his bubble, Mark doesn’t want to be here, Jaebum has grey hairs, Jinyoung being a salty hoe, Youngjae being an angel, Bambam being a lil shit and the reader is just tryna prove something

Pairings: Jinyoung/Reader, background GOT7/Reader, GOT7/GOT7

Summary: You might’ve been an ED Agent, but you were still human as you were coming to realize with the help of your team.

[ 1 ] [ 2 ]

............

“I’ve never done this before.” you said nervously while fiddling with your earpiece and microphone, Jinyoung squinted at you from his seat opposite you. He was fastening his parachute and vest tightly to himself, Mark, Jackson and Jaebum did the same from their seats. 

“You’ve driven a car off a building and into another one.” Jinyoung said shortly, his eyes still narrowed as he started checking his weapons. The others watched in various forms of amusement as your usually steady hands shook slightly.

“Yeah.” you agreed, tucking an extra grenade into your vest. Youngjae interrupted to tell Jackson that his suit-cam had been knocked loose, the older swearing before quickly fixing it. Jinyoung continued before Youngjae had even finished calling to Jackson.

“You’ve drop-kicked someone off of a train roof just before said train exploded.” he continued listing different mission events he read off your file (strange that he hadn’t read the one that explained your anxiety), you could tell he was frustrated with your sudden apprehension. You knew he didn’t really like you even though you had been on the same team for about four months now. Everyone else had warmed up to you, but he seemed to dislike you even more. He didn’t think you were competent (even though you’d proven you were before), he didn’t trust you (even though you proved you were loyal to a fault), you had shot him once (with a BB gun during training); the list of reasons for his dislike of you were piled high. 

“Are you afraid of heights?” Youngjae asked curiously, though his gaze was still on one of his various screens.

 Your face flushed with shame as a sudden laugh from the front of the plane was heard, Bambam and Yugyeom were piloting for this mission. Yugyeom was the team’s resident fly-boy, he joined the agency when he was incredibly young and passed the practice flight tests four times before he was put into a team at the age of 16. He was a lethal agent and was one of the best pilots they had ever seen, he could fly any and everything. 

Bambam had also passed the flight tests but his field was more… explosive. Youngjae was knowledgeable in all things technological and medical (and a downright genius when it came to either field), Jinyoung was their master of disguise and a damn good sniper, Jackson was their powerhouse and resident thrill-seeker (he did a lot of the riskier things along with you and Mark), Mark was the team’s assassin (he wasn’t always quiet, but in the field it was a deadly silence) he had mastered many forms of martial art and often picked his way through enemies like it was nothing; and Jaebum, well, he was the team’s leader. He was an amazing strategist and no one (besides Jinyoung) was on par with him when it came to bringing people down. All of you as a team could easily wipe out a base of bad guys, but Jaebum, before he was the leader he had done it himself. Just him and a few grenades and a thirst to complete the mission. 

So the shame that flooded you was understandable being surrounded by all of these amazingly talented individuals. You might’ve been an ED agent but you were still human as you were coming to realize with the help of your team. 

“You’re afraid of heights?” Bambam asked in amazement, Yugyeom had a slight smirk on his face but was otherwise unmoved. He had on a pair of dark aviators that made him look really fucking cool, his blonde hair was barely mussed from the headset he wore. 

“It’s more like... a fear of falling.” you explained weakly, pausing as a memory flashed before your eyes, you blinked and it was gone. You hurriedly tucked your handgun back into it’s holster after checking it. Bambam laughed again as Jackson shouted for him to keep his eyes on the sky (even though Yugyeom definitely had things sorted), Jinyoung snorted, eyeing you distastefully before looking away. 

You said nothing at his clear disgust but felt the sting of hurt anyways, you sighed and let yourself mope before your face hardened. Get it together, Y/n. You’re supposed to be one of the most dangerous people on this plane and here you are whining over a little bit of airtime. The only sound for a few minutes was from Youngjae typing away at a keyboard while looking at the large array of monitors in his corner of the team’s plane, Yugyeom and Bambam murmured to each other up front and the rest of you checked and rechecked your gear in preparation for the jump.

Mark watched your face change and nudged your shoulder with his own, your heart warmed at the slight concern in his eyes. It was safe to say you and the eldest of GOT7 got along fairly well, you were both fairly quiet at times (though you could be as loud as Bambam when you wanted to be), he seemed to radiate calm and you found yourself drawn to it. 

You found that Jaebum was also calm but his was different, more authoritative, more attention drawing (as the leader tended to be, he was incredibly intimidating). But where Jaebum drew attention, Mark didn’t. He was an assassin after all, he went unseen by his enemies and often his allies, as well. When you were with him it felt like you could be unseen together, which you craved after having been under a microscope for most of your life.

You gave him a short nod to reassure him and he returned it after a moment of searching your face, you turned your head to face forwards again and found Jinyoung watching you. He had an unreadable expression on his face but he didn’t back down from your gaze, your eyes were torn from his when Youngjae announced that the plane you were going to intercept was close by, Yugyeom voiced an affirmative and you let out a hard breath through your nose before standing up. 

Mark stood with you as Jackson peeked over the maknae’s heads to watch. Jaebum made his way over to Youngjae, looking over his shoulder as Jinyoung made his way to the door of the jump plane. He slid it open and looked out to fix his eyes on the plane, he wouldn’t be jumping first but he was always the most cautious besides Jaebum himself. 

No, he wouldn’t be going first.  You  would. It was your plan in the first place. The original mission had been to infiltrate a container shipyard, the package was said to be in one of the containers. Long story short, the package had been moved, several times to throw off anyone trying to steal it (like your team) and instead of being shipped by boat like you had been told, it was being shipped by plane so you had to get creative. Of course, it had slipped your mind at the time but you had a certain dislike for heights. More specifically falling from a great height.

“Get in position.” Jaebum ordered sternly, Jackson let out a whoop of excitement and adjusted his goggles before challenging Mark and Jaebum to a game of “who can down the most assholes” (Jackson loved challenging the members to some strange game before a mission, he had challenged you to one where you had to collect as many bullet casings as you could in the middle of a firefight once). You could practically hear Jaebum roll his eyes as Bambam placed a bet on Mark. The eldest on the team heaved a sigh but didn’t say anything as Bambam cackled that Jaebum might come in a close second.

“Yah, brat! What about me?!” Jackson shouted indignantly, Bambam laughed again but before he could reply Yugyeom cut in.

“Youngjae hyung would get more kills than you, hyung. And he’s not even going.” he said coolly and Youngjae exploded into laughter as Jackson threw C-4 clay from a pocket of his vest at Yugyeom’s head. Bambam squawked as Jackson tossed something else at him and the plane swerved dangerously as Bambam threw himself into Yugyeom to dodge the projectile. 

Jaebum started shouting for them to get their shit together as Mark sighed again, though he had a small smile curling his lips. You couldn’t help the grin that came to your lips as the plane swerved again, you placed a hand on the wall to stay upright. Jaebum marched to the front of the plane to remove Jackson from the cockpit as Youngjae choked out that they were almost in position for the jump through his laughter. 

You stepped up to the door and felt Jinyoung’s eyes on you, he was waiting for a show of weakness. For you to cave and ask someone else to go first, your face fell into a fierce glare. Is that what he thought of you? That you’d decide you were too scared to jump and beg him to do it? Fuck that. (Maybe he had read that mission report, after all). You would show him, you were a fucking ED, if you could go through all that your old agency could throw at you, you could deal with him. And you could definitely jump out of a fucking plane.

……..

“Y/n, I bet on you.” Youngjae’s voice murmured from your earpiece as you jumped.

You had wanted to smile, maybe say something back but your breath was stolen by the violent rush of wind. Fuck that, indeed. Your heart was in your throat (and so was your stomach) and you struggled to focus, you might’ve jumped first but the others would be right behind you. You can do this, you can do this. You’ve done worse, what are you even afraid of? You felt like Jinyoung was still watching you, waiting for you to mess up, your lip trembled and your eyes stung in a moment of weakness before you straightened your spine. Get a grip. 

“Have a nice trip! See you next fall! ” Bambam shouted through your earpieces, you flinched at the volume before Youngjae protested the younger’s pun, saying that because they didn’t trip the pun is in bad taste. 

“Jackson hyung is tripping if he thinks he’ll get more kills than Mark or JB hyung.”  Yugyeom mumbled, Jinyoung snorted a second time as Jackson let out another yell of Yah! Brat! 

Jaebum audibly groaned and Mark let out a quiet giggle, you looked back up behind you to see Jackson facing the plane with a considering look on his face. Mark kicked him in the thigh before he could pull out a gun and fire off a shot at the plane, Jaebum didn’t have the energy to reprimand the maknaes for their chatter and instead let them continue their debate about which puns counted and which didn’t. You shook your head with another grin, fully distracted from your anxiety, what is up with this team? Some of the fear came back as you neared the cargo plane.

Your job was to land on the plane by any means necessary and secure yourself to it using the nylon rope you had just pulled from the thick black carabiner attached to your vest. The others only had to land on the plane and make their way to you, or, if they found a way to secure themselves you only had to be there in case they fell. 

Luckily, Youngjae had thought of a new experimental device. Grav boots, he called them. They were based (quite literally) off of the boots in The Expanse, a TV show you had forced him to watch, he didn’t think he’d like it but he’d ended up leaving with more ideas for new tech than he’d had when the episode started. 

He didn’t know if they would work but thought it better safe than sorry when he heard your plan. Mark’s job once he was secured, was to expose a small patch of wires in the hull that he would then insert one of Youngjae’s devices into so he could infiltrate the plane’s systems and override the bay door commands.

You had two minutes approximately before you would hit the plane (you weren’t looking forward to  that  landing) so you needed to be quick, you could feel the shake in your hands but continued rigging the rope around your person. You saw Jinyoung come up beside you and you turned to him, he wasn’t glaring anymore, he looked entirely focused on the mission but you knew he was watching your every move. 

He reached out a hand and after pulling you to him you hurriedly rigged the rope to him as well, making sure you didn’t make eye contact and that your knots were sturdy along the way. He must have jumped right after you did, you thought before turning back to the plane that came roaring up beneath the five of you. 

…….

He was looking at you again. You were huddled against the roof of the cargo plane, having used the force of your landing and a tool to pierce the hull and secure the carabiner and rope to the plane. The main cargo door was along the left side of the plane a few feet in front of you, the other boys had secured themselves with their boots, marvelling at their effectiveness. You didn’t understand why he was still staring.  You wanted to snap at him to quit it but decided to leave it alone, if this is what he needed to try and trust you then fine. But that didn’t mean you had to be happy about it.

Mark quickly got to work looking for the covered patch of wires. Once he found it, exposed it and inserted the device, he, Jackson and Jaebum slowly made their way to the cargo bay door, not wanting to be flung from the plane even though you and Jinyoung were waiting to catch them just in case. But they didn’t seem to need it. Everything was going according to plan which was strange considering the team you were with, shit always seemed to hit the fan with them.

Everything seems to be going swimmingly, you thought to yourself just as Youngjae forced the doors open from his computers. The boys made their way inside and soon there was the sound of gunfire through your earpiece, Jaebum grunted a curse and Jackson shouted in surprise.

“Shit. They must’ve known we were coming.” Jinyoung hissed, you mumbled your agreement as Jinyoung unfastened himself from the rope. Yugyeom swore and you could hear Youngjae frantically mumbling as Bambam quickly prepared to jump if backup was needed. But suddenly there was a body flying from the plane, two more followed it and you paused in unfastening the rope.

“3! ” Jackson called out, your brow furrowed and you shared a look with Jinyoung before Jackson's shout of 4, now! brought a laugh of disbelief tumbling from your lips.

“Jackson, I don’t care!” Jaebum shouted, the last word emphasized with a grunt of effort before he started in on a lecture about taking things seriously and how constantly talking distracted from the mission. Jinyoung scrubbed a hand down his face as Bambam suddenly interjected that Jaebum hyung was only upset because he was losing. There was silence before Jaebum spoke up again.

“ 6.” You laughed even louder as Jackson let out a whoop, Mark sighed again and you couldn’t help the grin that lit up your face. Jinyoung was saying something to Youngjae but you were focused on the plethora of bodies flying out of the plane. Mark let out a quiet mutter of 12, causing Jackson to sputter in surprise and Yugyeom to cheer the eldest’s name. You shook your head in amusement as you finished gathering the rope, your boots holding fast to the hull of the plane.

The cargo plane shuddered with turbulence and you weren’t sure of the exact moment that Jinyoung’s boots gave out. But you remembered the surprise on his face as he was swept off his feet and into open air. And you remembered the scream of his name that tore your throat before you leapt after him.

[team-free-will-oneshots]

Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time

Title: Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time

Request/Prompt: The reader is a very cold and apathetic hunter. She has worked with the Winchester’s for years and never softened up. One night she gets drunk and it’s like a switch has been flipped-she’s affectionate and happy and just the opposite of her sober self. You can end it there or keep it going and I also don’t care if there’s a pairing or not - @not-zari-tak also heavily inspired by Panic! At The Disco’s ‘Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time’, hence the title!

Pairing: Sam x Reader

Warnings: Some mentions of blood etc at the start, alcohol consumption (!!!), minor swearing if that bothers u (s-word said like twice), also tiny bit of angst at the start but not for long i promise

Word Count: 2,196

note; i kinda got carried away with this one, but hope u like it!!

_____

   You set your jaw at the all too familiar scene before you.

  The corpse was twisted and bloodied, barely even recognisable as human after the gruelling werewolf attack. Worst of all, his fate was your fault.

  He’d been bait - you’d been so sure that your plan would work, and to your credit, it did. But you’d been so cautious, you hadn’t anticipated his untimely demise. Regardless, you knew that no hunt was certain - you’d witnessed firsthand the unspeakable atrocities that could fall upon the most undeserving and unwitting victims. By the time you’d met the Winchesters, you’d been hardened by the cruel hunting life. You’d learned not to dwell on what couldn’t be changed, to always move forward.

  Some might call you cold - you preferred to label yourself ‘resilient.’

  “Well, that’s that,” you remarked, swallowing hard. You wiped your bloodstained hands on your jeans. “Let’s go, yeah?”

  Sam and Dean nodded solemnly, muttering their agreement. They were used to your apathy by now - they understood burying painful feelings more than anyone.

  There was no buoyancy in your step as the three of you trudged towards the Impala, slicing through the balmy night air. Sam’s hand found yours, and you laced your fingers with your boyfriend’s, giving them a comforting squeeze. He offered a tired smile that didn’t reach his eyes, before opting to cram his tall frame into the back seat with you.

  The gentle purr of the engine almost lulled you to sleep as you returned to the bunker, where you were quick to shower. As you wiped the mist from the mirror, wrapped in only your towel, your gaze found that of your reflection. Hard, and guarded, in perfect synchronicity with the scars marring your skin - evidence of your hunting lifestyle. You clenched your jaw and turned away from the mirror, running your fingers through your wet hair before changing into your pyjamas and meeting Sam in bed.

  You weren’t one for physical affection, whether public or private, but tonight you inched a little closer to Sam’s chest. He’d fallen asleep almost as soon as he’d hit the mattress, but even in his slumber, his arm found its way around your shoulders. In his resting state, the youngest Winchester seemed to find at least some semblance of peace. His slack jaw and the quiet snores grazing past his lips made you smile, and you pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek before laying to sleep yourself, your hand tight within his.

---

  Barely a week later, you and the Winchesters finally found reason to celebrate.

  The salt and burn was as straightforward as it sounded, and for once, it felt like you had caught a break. And so, the three of you unanimously agreed to stop by the cheapest bar you could find in lieu of returning to the nearby motel.

  The boys were only four drinks in before they challenged you to join them.

  “C’mon, just one,” Dean prompted. “You never have any fun - you deserve one drink, you smashed that research today,” he added encouragingly.

  “Yeah!” Sam supported eagerly, eyes lighting up as you smiled at his overeager expression. “My shout, you want a beer?”

  You raised an eyebrow. “Oh, honey, if I’m drinking, then I’m drinking. Break out the tequila,” you informed him, raising an eyebrow slyly. Sam grinned, whilst Dean looked mostly impressed as you downed shot… after shot… after shot…

  “Okay, maybe it’s time for some water,” Sam interjected, gently taking your seventh shot glass from your hand. You looked up at him with wide doe eyes, suddenly realising exactly how attractive he was.

  “Nooo,” you slurred, surprising yourself as you stumbled. Sam caught you before you could fall, and you beamed up at him. “Thanks!” you exclaimed, and he chuckled.

  “You take a seat. I’ll get you some water, okay?”

  You made a face. “That’s no fun. You gotta get on my level,” you informed him, and he bit back a grin.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah!” you said firmly. Sam moved towards the bar, but you leapt forward and grabbed his arm, clinging to him like a koala. “Wait!” you cried, clutching his arm tightly. He glanced down in concern.

  “What is it?”

  You smiled cheekily. “I wanna hug,” you announced, and Sam laughed as you threw your arms around him. He hugged you to his chest, running his hand lightly down your back as he did so. You nuzzled into his neck affectionately, your body flush against his. You drew away slightly, gazing up at him in admiration.

  “You’re really pretty,” you told him solemnly. He nodded seriously.

  “Thank you. You’re really pretty too, Y/N,” he returned, and you giggled, moving your hand to his neck and pulling his tall frame down to yours in a kiss. He paused in surprise at your blatant affection, but was quick to lean into it, his hands resting on your waist as he kissed you softly. You pulled back with flushed cheeks and bright eyes.

  “You’re a great kisser,” you informed him. “Why don’t we do that more often? Who cares about these people anyway, we’re never gonna see them again!” you rambled, and Sam laughed, kissing your temple affectionately.

  “You’re right,” he allowed, “but I really think it’s time you have some water.”

  “I’ll have some water if you do shots with me,” you bargained. Sam considered for a moment, before nodding.

  “Fine,” he allowed. You obediently drank a glass of water, before the two of you fell into what was certainly a very dangerous drinking competition that resulted in the two of you becoming slurring, stumbling messes of human beings.

  “No, I love you more,” you argued, slinging your arms around Sam’s neck as you held fast to him in a vain attempt to walk straight. Before he could reply, you caught sight of Dean across the bar, clearly flirting with the blonde bartender. “Dean!” you cried in excitement, and he turned around with a raised brow, only to release an oof of surprise as you slammed into him, giving him a firm hug. He returned it as he laughed.

  “Look at you,” he remarked, chuckling, as the two of you drew away. “Someone’s gonna be hungover in the morning - this isn’t like you, Y/N,” he commented, but you brushed him off with a wave.

  “Pshh, this is exactly like me,” you slurred. You turned around to find Sam, only to see him drunkenly attempting to play a game of pool with a guy in a chiffon skirt. He laughed good naturedly as he tossed down the pool cue, obviously having lost a bet. His competition tugged off his shoes - a pair of stilettos - and handed them to Sam with a shit eating grin. Sam held fast to a pole as he kicked off his own shoes and slipped on the heels. Meanwhile, Dean stood to the side, quietly pissing himself with laughter.

  You giggled hysterically as you stumbled towards your boyfriend, your arms looping around his neck as you caught yourself. He almost fell, but you pulled him towards you and met his lips with yours in a sloppy, drunken kiss, all tongue and teeth as the two of you pressed together.

  “I love the heels,” you remarked breathlessly as you drew away, and Sam laughed.

  “I lost a bet, but I totally make them work,” he slurred, and you nodded seriously.

  “Definitely,” you said, your eyes widening in delight as you glanced over his shoulder and out the window to see what was possibly the most exciting sight you had ever witnessed: an abandoned shopping cart.

  “Sam!” you hissed, nodding pointedly towards the cart. His gaze followed yours, and his eyes lit up. The two of you made eye contact, and you didn’t even have to speak before you were both stumbling out to the near empty parking lot.

  By the time you reached the cart, one of Sam’s new shoes were already missing, and the other was missing a heel. Sam held the trolley as you leapt inside, cheering as Sam began to run, pushing the trolley and whooping gleefully as the two of you charged through the empty streets, the night air filled with the metallic rattle of the wheels and your ecstatic cries.

  The two of you found your way back to the motel, sweating and panting between giggles. The two of you stumbled inside, and you patted down Sam’s pockets until you found the room key card. You paused as the two of you found yourselves in an unfamiliar corridor.

  “Where’s our room again?” you asked breathlessly, and Sam shrugged, looking around curiously. You felt a surge of excitement as you saw the waist-high metal gates to the motel pool, the rusted metal peering through strips of peeling white paint.

  “Sam!” you exclaimed, elbowing him sharply to get his attention.

  “Ow! What?”

  “Pool!” you said simply, and your boyfriend grinned before following you as you sprinted drunkenly towards the fence.

  “What are you doing?” he called as you refused to slow down.

  “I’m gonna jump it!” you announced, but the gate seemed to sneak up on you, and before you could stop yourself the metal had slammed into your stomach and you were propelled to the other side. You grunted as you hit the cement, but giggled as you realised you couldn’t feel the pain from the fresh scrapes on your palms.

  “Shit, are you okay?” Sam slurred, fumbling with the gate before finally getting it open in spite of his clumsy fingers.

  “The floor attacked me,” you grumbled as Sam pulled you to your feet, his hands on your waist as he steadied you despite his own swaying stance. You laughed, spinning around and looping your arms around his neck. “Dance with me!”

  His grin was intoxicating as one hand moved to the small of your back, the two of you oscillating unsteadily.

  “Spin me, spin me!” you ordered, hiccuping. He did so, but instead of letting him pull you back, your balance escaped you and you tumbled into the pool with a splash, tugging Sam after you.

  You yelped as the icy, waist deep water engulfed you, but easily got to your feet. You and Sam appraised each other silently, clothes drenched, before bursting into laughter.

  “I can’t believe you two are more wasted than me,” a voice grumbled, and the two of you looked up to see Dean standing at the gate and shaking his head. “Come on, out. You two are getting some water, aspirin, and going to bed,” he said firmly. You narrowed your eyes at him, shaking your head stubbornly.

  “Nuh-uh! Look, there’s plenty of water here!” you informed him, and Sam laughed like you’d just made the funniest joke in the world. Dean groaned, putting his head in his hands.

  “Fine! Just stay here all night, see if I care!”

  You and Sam exchanged glances. “Look like Dean’s mad,” he whispered theatrically, and you erupted in a fit of giggles.

  “I think you’re right! C’mon, let’s get out, I’m cold,” you slurred, taking Dean’s outstretched hand and letting him haul you out of the pool. The moment you were in the motel room, you caught sight of the full bottle of whiskey sitting on the shelf. Your eyes lit up.

  The night was far from over.

---

  You woke up on the floor, wearing nothing but your underwear, though your modesty was preserved with a towel. Your head throbbed, your stomach churned, and you groaned. Rolling over, you saw Sam laying next to you with a kid’s party hat strapped to his head, using an empty beer bottle as a pillow.

  A voice laughed, and you turned around with bleary eyes to see Dean sitting on his bed with a cup of coffee and an amused smirk etched onto his features. “Morning,” he greeted with a nod. “How’s the head?”

  You ignored him, moaning as you laid down and threw your arm over your eyes, which were burning with the morning light. Sam stirred next to you, but didn’t awake.

  “What happened?” you mumbled. “I… I remember the pool, then…”

  “Then you and Sam thought, hey, we already can’t taste, let’s share Dean’s whole friggin’ bottle of whiskey,” he said irritably.

  “And my clothes..?”

  “Apparently being in the same room as Sam made you ‘too hot.’” Dean made a face of disgust. “Then you started singing ‘Hot in Herre’ and stripping. And then Sam saw some kids old crappy party hat in the trash, and thought it’d be a great idea to wear it.”

  You chuckled, shaking your head. The pounding in your skull was quick to make you regret the movement. Something hard and plastic hit your chest, and as you lifted it to the light you saw that it was a water bottle, provided courtesy of Dean.

  “Thanks,” you muttered. Sam released a guttural moan beside you.

  “Can you two shut up? I’m so hungover I think I can see sounds.”

  You chuckled, and even as you swallowed back a wave of nausea, you were surprised at your realisation:

  Hungover as you may be, you didn’t regret a single moment of the night before.

[cclkestis]

survival of the fittest

character(s): ruthless!connor x fem!reader, nines

word count: 3k+

warning(s): death, mention of blood, angst(?) - it’s a hunger games!au so you probably get the gist

a/n: OKAY SO this was supposed to be a drabble inspired by this (shoutout to @imaginovator and @the-darklings for that!!) and instead I may have gotten carried away just a smidge whoops - this isn't properly proofread or edited because I am sleepy but I hope I've at least attempted to do this idea justice and yeah enjoy my nonsense I guess?? Disclaimer that I also haven't read or seen thg in a couple of years so I apologise if I've made mistakes with things!!

–

That ominous, haunting boom shook the air around you not for the first time since that glaringly bright fake sun had risen in the sky.

Another one was dead. Another wasted life. Another chance for you to hope that maybe this time it was him.

If only you could let yourself believe that someone else might have managed to get the upper hand over him – how could they possibly hope to, when the other tribute from his district had been felled by his own hands. Did she anticipate him betraying her like that so early on, you wondered, unable to even begin imagining what it would be like to have that one person you might have been able to trust turn around and stab you in the back – literally.

The crack of a branch sounded below you, eyes snapping down to scan the ground for the source and desperately keeping your fingers crossed that it was an animal of some sorts.

It had been two days since you'd eaten something that wasn't berries or plants and you were well aware that you wouldn't last long if things continued that way. Neither of you would last long unless you could find something decent to eat.

In reality though, you were more hopeful that it was anything but another person or creature dead set on tearing you apart and leaving you for dead.

The softest of breaths left you in a sigh as a familiar figure passed below you, yet still you hesitated.

You had to be sure that it wasn't the bastard who'd been hunting you from the very beginning of the games. The brother of the one who held your heart, intent on doing whatever it might take to come out of this Hell as the victor.

He paused below you, so still that for a moment you might have imagined he'd fallen prey to some horrific trap of the arena if you'd simply stumbled across him in such a position.

And then those dark eyes you adored were turned upwards, finding you easily among the branches as if he knew exactly where you would be. You didn't understand how he was somehow always aware of where you were, but you weren't complaining. That uncanny ability of his had saved your life on more than one occasion.

Seeing him looking up at you like that, a distinct lack of emotion gracing his features, you'd never been happier to see him alive and in one piece – despite the blood that stained his hands a shining crimson.

Four days ago, the sight of that ugly red had you wanting to throw up. Now it brought you a strange sense of relief, which perhaps disgusted you more. It had been only days, and already you barely recognised yourself.

But at least you had Connor.

Hearing your name called at the reaping would forever be one of the worst moments of your life – however long your life might last for now – but it was nothing compared to knowing what was going to be quick to follow.

“I volunteer.”

You can't even remember whose name was drawn out of the other bowl now, only the pain that came with realising what Connor had done – and realising why he did it.

For you. It was always for you.

It had taken years for you growing up to finally start worming your way past the harsh, cold shell of a man that he was – although if Connor was being honest, there was something inexplicable about you that drew him in right from the very beginning.

A burning curiosity had been lit in him, a desire to figure out just how you were managing to tear down his carefully crafted defences without even trying. He wanted to see you happy and safe – things that were hard to come by in your district – no matter what that might cost.

He would go to the ends of the Earth for you – words that he'd spoken to you himself in one of the quiet moments you'd shared, with lips touching and breath shared between you. How you wished there was time for more of those moments.

Those softly spoken words and the threat they held were perhaps what made him the most dangerous person in the arena that had become your prison.

You weren't consciously aware of your decision to climb down from your perch in the branches, your only desire being to feel Connor's arms around you in that moment. And he didn't disappoint.

“You're alive.”

With your simple statement as one of his hands tangled in your hair and held you against his chest, it felt like an invisible weight was lifted from your shoulders. You hadn't wanted to acknowledge the fear that hearing the cannon had brought you – the fear that someone might have gotten the better of him.

“I told you – Nothing is going to happen to you. I'll always come back to you.”

He pulled back to study your features, a bloodied hand gently grasping your chin, smudges of red smearing in a stark contrast against your pale skin. Tilting your head up as he met your gaze, you were reminded how Connor was the one person who always saw right through you

You had no doubt he would easily be able to read all of the emotions you were trying so hard to lock away upon hearing those words from him.

They filled you with a hope that you desperately needed, a reassurance that you weren't alone in the terrifying scenario you'd been thrust into. Yet with them also came a looming sense of dread that couldn't be ignored.

You had no doubt that he meant what he said – that he intended to keep his promise of keeping you safe no matter what. If he succeeded in that, it would bring you both to an end you didn't want to think about.

There could only be one of you walking out of this torment alive. Neither of you had brought it up, but you both knew what was more than likely to happen if you two remained after all of the others were dead and gone.

An unspoken understanding of what Connor was planning to do. The idea of what he was willing to do for you was more painful than the thought of meeting your own death. But arguing with him would be pointless, you knew without a doubt that his stubbornness would always outweigh yours. He would restrain you so you wouldn't be able to stop him if it came to it, of that you also had no doubt.

You will be the one emerging on top, if he has anything to say about it. Never mind the fact that it wouldn’t really be you walking out at the end. How could you possibly hope to keep going after that, especially when you already felt like you'd lost yourself.

“(Name), look at me.”

The instruction was sharp, leaving you no choice but to obey as you forced yourself to really look at him. His usually blank expression had softened a little, but that softness didn't reach his eyes. You knew you should be more on guard, asking the important questions – like whose blood he had on his hands, or whether he'd found anything useful whilst you’d been split up.

You couldn't though, and Connor seemed to realise that you were on the verge of spiralling off into the thoughts plaguing your mind – any edge of gentleness was scrubbed from his face as his cool lips slammed against yours, the hand previously in your hair slipping down to wrap around your waist and pull you tighter to him.

Suddenly, you were able to forget just where you were. All you could think about was Connor and the safety that came with him as he stole your breath from you, actions relentless as he walked you backwards until rough bark scraped at your back.

Chest heaving when he finally pulled back just enough to let you breathe, you almost missed the next words that he spoke.

“Do I have your attention now?”

His question was serious, but you could've sworn there was some of that rarely seen amusement in the mix somewhere too. It was enough to jolt you back to the reality of what was going on.

“Did you find anything?”

Another question directed at you, this time one that you responded to with a shake of your head.

“No luck, did you- “

Silencing yourself the second Connor's head whipped around, you felt your blood run cold as voices echoed through the trees far too close for comfort.

“We need to move. Now.”

He didn't need to tell you twice. You'd only had one proper encounter with the Careers thus far and it had been a close call – the sound of a knife ripping through flesh was still all too fresh in your mind, and it wasn't something you wanted to hear again let alone be on the receiving end of.

Besides, the Careers meant that he was nearby. Nines. You were sure that couldn't possibly be his real name, but then again, the people in the richer districts had different ideas of normal names.

Not that what they called him mattered, at the end of the day. He was brutal, trained his whole life for this one moment. And he wasn't about to let you or his brother stand in his way – unfortunately for you, that wasn't just a fact. It was a promise. The icy words had plagued you from the first time you'd met him in the training room.

You'd never asked Connor how he and Nines had come to end up being raised in two completely different environments – admittedly, you were afraid to ask. There was a darkness that took over Connor’s perfect features any time his brother was even hinted at, giving you enough information to know that nothing good had happened between them in the past.

“You can't run forever, little rabbit – he can't protect you from all of us.”

That same icy voice was taunting, now, as you took off through the trees with Connor hot on your heels. There was no point in being quiet, all you could hope to do was outrun them until they got bored – for Nines and the Career pack, this truly was a game. You were fighting for your life – Connor was fighting for your life – whereas they were simply playing to win. For the honour. Killing meant nothing to them, not if it got them the glory they'd been training to earn all their lives.

A whistling sounded off to your left and was promptly followed by a dull thud and the glint of metal as the thrown knife lodged itself firmly into a tree just ahead of you. He wasn't just taunting you with his words now – you'd seen Nines working with knives in training.

He never missed.

Too late you realised that the knife was intended to force you right into their trap. Your terrified shriek was mingled with a snarl of anger from Connor as you crashed to the ground, ropes tangled around your legs and only seeming to tighten as you scrabbled at them with desperate fingers.

No. No, no, no.

You couldn't go down like this.

A weight slammed into you, your head connecting with the ground as you felt the knees pinning your shoulders and the edge of a blade on your neck, digging into the soft skin with enough pressure to draw a whimper from you.

“How disappointing. I really thought you were going to put up more of a fight- “

The girl – Alison? Anna? Amanda. – pressed down further with each word, leaving you certain that this was it for you until surprise flitted across her face a fraction of a second before she slumped forwards like a puppet with cut strings.

Another cannon shot sounded.

Silence surrounded you for a moment before her weight was pulled from you and a figure cast her aside as if she wasn't a living person just seconds before. Blinking, you felt yourself relax the smallest bit at the figure looming over you.

Until he crouched down in front of you, revealing the steely eyes that spoke of nothing but bad intentions.

“What a waste,” You realised then that he wasn't looking at you, but at the unmoving body beside you. “She didn't listen.” Almost lazily, those eyes were turned towards you, a hand casually reaching out to stroke across your cheek as he ignored your flinch. His fingers came away damp – with tears, you realised suddenly. “You two are mine.”

“Don't fucking touch her.”

You'd never heard Connor so livid before. He didn’t even need to raise his voice, the anger clear in the surprisingly low words. Trying to turn your head to seek him out, you were stopped as Nines grabbed a fistful of your hair and stopped you from moving anywhere.

“You're not really in a position to be making demands, brother – and I'm starting to lose interest in this chase we've had going on.”

The monster in front of you didn't look away as he spoke, seemingly amused by the way you shrunk back under his harsh gaze and how unsettled you were by his eerily calm approach to everything that had happened over the space of the last few minutes.

“Besides, I don't understand why you're so attached to her – don't you realise you'd be so much better off without her? Without such a…weakness.”

“Why don't you stop playing games and just get this over with.”

Light sparked off metal again in response to your words as another knife came too close for comfort – although this time it was to free you from the ropes binding you before you were hauled to your feet, Nines towering above you as he held you firmly in place.

“Tell me, (Name) – is it a brave rabbit who challenges the wolf, or a stupid one?”

Your reply – “It's one that's already dead.” – was on the tip of your tongue when a gurgling sound interrupted the conversation.

Connor was on his feet. The tribute who'd been holding him down was not so lucky. Of the other three in the Career pack, the closest one to him made a move towards him, stopped only by Nines lifting his free hand in a gesture to stop.

Stalking towards you both, Connor radiated an aura of danger that had every nerve in your body screaming at you to run. And how you would have run, if you weren't being forced to stay where you were by a grip far stronger than you could hope to fight.

As if reading your thoughts, Nines shoved you away from him and into the waiting arms of one of the other tributes as he stepped forwards to match Connor's movements, the two of them circling each other. The tension in the air was suddenly through the roof, watching these two predators coiled and ready to pounce.

But that wasn't the only change in the air. Something was wrong – something that you couldn't initially put your finger on. Connor felt it too, you realised, watching his every move and not missing the way his gaze flitted towards the sky and then towards you for the briefest of seconds. The flash of concern you registered on his face was not reassuring, but somehow you understood.

You both needed to get away from there fast.

It was then that Nines lunged, like a coiled spring being released. Your heart jumped to your throat, but Connor was just as fast – just as deadly, despite having nowhere near the same training that any of the Careers had.

Their collision was a distraction you could take advantage of – and you did just that. Throwing your head back, there was little time for you to be satisfied by the crunching of bone or the whoosh of breath you heard as you wrestled the knife from your captor's hands and wasted no time sinking it into his leg.

If only you had the chance to celebrate that small victory, but it would seem the Gamemakers had other plans as the world seemed to explode around you, electricity striking the ground with enough force to send you all flying in different directions.

You hit the ground for a second time, although this time it was much worse. There was a lingering charge in the air, building and warning of more danger to come. Your ears were ringing and eyes struggled to focus in the aftermath of the strike, but you did feel a hand on your wrist and another on your upper arm guiding to your feet and prompting you to move.

Connor must have avoided the worst of the blast, you realised, as you were urged to move. It was difficult, with your head spinning and legs shaking uncontrollably, but this might be your only chance to get away from those intent on seeing you dead.

Maybe the Gamemakers weren't quite ready to see either of you dead yet, which really wasn't a comfort. It no doubt meant there was worse to come.

A crackling filled the air behind you, the flickering light bouncing around the forest alerting you to the second strike without any need for looking back. Still, you glanced behind you, regretting it when you stumbled and your knees hit the ground.

Before you could catch a breath, you were jerked up again, hands clutching at Connor's forearms as you drew in a breath and found your voice.

“Connor, please – just give me a minute.”

You hated the way your voice sounded so pleading as you tried to blink away the spots clouding your vision.

“We can't afford to stop,”

A supporting arm wrapped around you, fuelling the sudden disgust that flooded your system at the contact and in response to the horror that would have floored you if he hadn't been holding most of your weight.

“I can't have my brother catching up to us again, can I now? But don't worry, little rabbit, we're going to have a lot of fun, you and I.”

–

Tagging: @connorshero @finding-jericho @wecanbe-heroes @deviantsupporter @connorfixinghistie @feminist-violinist @becomingrk800 @mynahx3 @liveloveandbekind (I may have forgotten some people who asked to be tagged because it's been a while, so please just yell at me if you want to be added <3)

[buttsonthebeach]

Hey Butts! "Ashara in her teen years, discovering love for the first time" for DWC! ALL THE FLUFF 😇

I did my best to give you some fluff, although there is the teeniest bit of angst woven in as it references the fact that the Anchor is still killing Ellana (whoops). But this is the first time I have ever written about Clan Lavellan and Ashara having a crush, and I hope you enjoy it!

@dadrunkwriting

Pairing: Solavellan, and teenage shenanigans

Rating: G (the teenage shenanigans don’t go anywhere)

Ashara was convinced it was love.

It had to be.

She’d only been visiting Clan Lavellan for a week. She’d only met Faron at the beginning of that week, had only kissed him on the third day, had only kissed him for real on the fourth day, had only spent an hour walking hand in hand with him around the perimeter of the aravels on the fifth day, but she knew she had to love him. Her heart sped up when she saw him. An embarrassing torrent of words fell out of her mouth whenever she spoke to him. She could picture his blue eyes with perfect clarity when she closed her own. She had even memorized the unfamiliar shape of his vallaslin, too. She’d kissed a couple of other boys back home in Enasan’s capital, but those were quick, curious affairs, and they didn’t make her so - moony. (He was whittling her a halla! All on his own!) So it had to be love.

“We’re not actually related to anyone here in the clan, are we?” She asked on the seventh night, when she was lying in the aravel she was sharing with her parents.

“No. You know that - I’ve never had any blood relatives here,” Mamae said. She was still readying herself for bed.

“Why do you ask?” Papae asked from somewhere in the darkness nearby.

“No reason.” Ashara felt her cheeks heat.

“Oh?” Mamae said. “I think there is a reason, and he has blue -”

And then Mamae hissed in pain, and something fell, and Papae lurched up from their bed, and the aravel filled with green light.

Ashara knew she was in love with Faron, if only because when she was with him she forgot Mamae was dying. When she was with him, she was any other sixteen-year-old with a fluttering heart and fidgeting hands.

That was why they were visiting the clan of course. Keeper Deshanna was sick, too, and she finally wrote and said she’d had enough of Mamae’s nonsense, and that she was twenty-two years late in coming home from that damned Conclave at this point, and that people were starting to get impatient.

But when she was with Faron, Ashara didn’t think of about sickness and death.

“You get up early too?” he said the next day when he saw her emerge from the aravel into the pale morning light.

“Most days, yes.”

“But you live in the city. My mother always says it’s a Dalish thing, getting up so early.”

“Well, my mother is Dalish.”

Faron shook his head. He had long dark hair that fell in a braid down his back. He was not quite as tall as she was but that didn’t matter. He had a nice smile, and he kept glancing at her and looking away and smiling, and maybe this was how Mamae and Papae were those twenty-two years ago. Nervous, shy, excited. Looking for peace in the midst of tragedy.

“Ah. Right. My father says it was really strange, you know. Hearing about all the things she did. He still remembers when she was taller than him and would push him into the river because he teased her about her hair.”

Ashara laughed, though she knew that her mother found that less funny than Faron’s father did. The elves of Clan Lavellan were had pale skin and smooth hair by and large. It was a sore spot for her mother growing up. Being the dark-skinned, curly-haired, odd child out. Those were things that happened before their time, though. Not things that should stop her from taking his hand now.

“I enjoyed our walk the other day,” she said as she did.

“Me too. Would you - want to go for a walk again?”

“Of course - if you have time.”

“Yes. I do. Have time, that is.”

They were both laughing. There was no one in the world but them. Nothing in the world except the way her stomach lurched when he gave her hand a tug and led her out of the circle of the aravels and towards the trees. Nothing, nothing, nothing at all except for the warmth of his hand and the way he knew his way through the forest, and the way he kept making plans for them for the next week that she would be with the clan. She’d never felt anything like the wonder she felt slipping further and further from the clan with him, hearing him talk about what it was like taking care of halla, why his parents still chose to live with the clan even though they were in Enasan now, why he still wanted vallaslin even after everything they’d learned. There was wonder in the leaves and the earth and the sound of his voice - and then there was nothing but the way it felt to kiss him when they paused and rested on a large flat rock, nothing but the way it felt to kiss him longer and longer and bolder each time, reaching out to touch his cheek when she did, it was such a thrill that it had to be love -

“I hope I’m not interrupting.”

It was Mamae’s voice.

They sprang apart.

All the wonder in the world flooded straight into Ashara’s cheeks again.

She was probably going to pull fire across the Veil and into the world out of sheer embarrassment.

Mamae just chuckled.

“Come on, then. This isn’t the first time I’ve been sent to bring some stray lovers back to the clan.”

“Mamae!”

“What? You two were the ones with your -”

“Mamae.”

“Fine, fine. Faron, you should know that I told your father I was pushing him into the nearest river if I found you with my daughter. I trust you’ll be able to lead us to one when the time comes?”

Faron ducked his head.

“Yes, hahren.”

Mamae laughed again. “Nothing makes me feel as old as being called hahren by a boy whose father I grew up with. His youngest child, at that. A boy whose vallaslin is still wet.”

Mamae had little turns of phrase like that hidden away in her brain. Little signs that once she’d had vallaslin too, that she’d chased other young apprentices back to camp when they strayed for a tryst. That she’d had a whole other life before the Inquisition and Papae and Ashara herself.

“You’re lucky I’m the one who came and got you,” Mamae murmured when Faron drew ahead, clearly having had enough of the situation for now. “Your father was not pleased to wake up and find out that no one was sure where either of you were. I’m not terribly fond of the idea of you sneaking off, either.”

“We weren’t sneaking,” Ashara insisted, angry, suddenly, at Mamae’s intrusion, at her teasing. At her sickness. It wasn’t fair. Any of it. “We’re in love.”

She expected her mother to laugh. Instead she hesitated.

“Oh?”

“Yes. We are. So - there.”

Mamae hesitated again. She looked away. Why would she look away?

“I see. You still can’t go sneaking off, you know. Whether you’re in love or not.”

A dizzying rush of embarrassment flooded her again. She knew at once how stupid she sounded, hearing Mamae say the words. She saw the way her parents looked at each other. The way they went to each other and made their own little pocket in the world with a gesture or a smile or a touch or an embrace, a world so entirely their own that even she couldn’t reach it. She knew that was love.

It was hard being sixteen, she decided as the aravels came into view, as Faron slipped away with one sheepish backward glance and an awkward half wave. Hard to know what was real and what wasn’t. What was just a rush, and what was solid as stone. Maybe it could be love, with him. For right now she would make her own sheepish escape, ignoring her father’s reproachful glare, and make a beeline for Keeper Deshanna so she could show her the spell she’d been practicing, and she would raise her eyes now and then to catch Faron’s, and she wouldn’t think of the way Mamae winced and reached for her back now and then. She would think only of the flutter in her heart.