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nonsensenook · 15 days ago

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Chapter 4 | Lingering Scars, Heavy Sighs

Synopsis: You and Bajie leave The Hollow heavy with separate burdens which you both chose to drown out with alcohol. A continuation of this unapologetic take on you, the reader, accompanying the Destined One on his journey.

Word Count: 5,035

Warnings: Sadness, Violence (Brief Mentions)

Author’s Note: A bit heavier of a tone than previous chapters, at least in the beginning. Is it just me or are these chapters getting longer? I thank you very much for your patience, kind words, and I hope you enjoy!

Requested Tags: @joyfulllittlething, @servamp01, @suntizme

Ch. 1 - Ch. 2 - Ch. 3 - Ch. 3.5 (Optional) - Cont.

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Arriving at the Webbed Hollow had you go against a rule you’ve enacted on yourself since you came to this world: try to change the course of the story. You had time to think through your plans again before you and your group arrived at the Village of Lanxi. While smuggled in the chest carried by two pig Yaoguais you were silently deep in thought as Bajie rolled his eyes at the petty gossip the two were exchanging. You could tell he was getting impatient from how often he peeked out from the chest. In your lap was the Destined One in his bird form, cradled in your arms. You absentmindedly pet him as the village came closer.

You had a chance to alter the course of the future. Maybe some lives can be spared and some stories re-written. After all, your presence is proof enough that things can be skewed off course, at least a little. But no matter how you went about it you couldn’t see a future where things went the way you wanted them to. You couldn’t shake the dreadful feeling that your actions would be in vain. At the same time, you wouldn’t forgive yourself if you didn’t try.

You had warned Bajie of the dangers that came from trying to trick the ladies of the house. You were careful not to teeter too close to the edge when warning Bajie, cautious of him questioning the knowledge you held and if he were to begin asking questions you couldn’t answer. In the end, you couldn’t give an explanation that justified not going through with Bajie’s plan, at least not one good enough to satisfy him. They needed to infiltrate the Hollow, even if they were seen through. And so, the Weavers Needle landed its mark. You swallowed the bitter taste of failure and carried onward.

The Hollowed Web was the most perilous of all lands you’ve traveled to so far. Knowing this beforehand didn't change that fact. You were hesitant to jump into it with the Destined One, but there were no other ways for you to continue forward without him. You were grateful that the kindness of the Fourth Sister extended to you as well. She had safely taken you both into the Hollow.

The Fourth Sister was another one whose outcome you tried to rewrite. Knowing her fate if the Destined One were to continue tearing the talisman made you consider deeply whether or not you should advise him not to do so. You ultimately chose to stay your hand as your companion tore each talisman. You hoped your choice was the right one; that a chance of a future outside of this Hollow was one she’d take even if it meant becoming a captive of the Celestial Court. You wanted to believe in that chance and couldn't make yourself take it away.

You spent much of the time in The Hollow clinging to the Destined Ones back or having him catch you as you traversed from platform to platform. Your guard and stress were at an all time high as you thought of every possibility while Yaoguais ambushed you from above and below. Nothing was changing. Even when you warned Bajie or the Fourth Sister, everything was falling into place as they should. As the Destined One kept you both alive you worked to think of a way, any way to make just one change. You felt yourself sink further into despair as every moment played out as it had before. Your unprecedented presence had made no difference.

You were silent as The Hollow was left behind. Bajie was the same, both of you were deep in thought, matching the usual energy which The Destined One carried with him. Your gaze was unfocused, your mind elsewhere. Many times you were stopped by the Young Sage from walking into a tree or off a dangerous ledge. His arm would wrap around your waist protectively or his hand would be placed on your shoulder to redirect you. You would apologize to him before sinking back into your stupor.

Bajie was the same, if not worse. It would take several attempts to get his attention and once he acknowledged you with a grunt his mind would go back to where it was the very next moment. When a hostile Yaoguai appeared on your path, Bajie didn’t even glance at it until he was flung back from an attack. This made him turn into his boar form, crushing the Yaoguai against a tree. When he returned to his usual self, he made no acknowledgement of what happened. He simply kept walking.

You couldn’t stop wondering how you could have acted differently, how you could’ve guided them from this preordained path. If you have been more clever - if you have figured out a way, then Bajie wouldn’t be mourning. The Fourth Sister wouldn’t have been captured. Five daughters wouldn’t be digging a grave. You clutched at your arm, nails digging into your skin. What use was your knowledge if you could do nothing with it? What use were you to any of them? Your hands ran through your hair as the same question was brought forth. For what reason were you here?

At some point a fire was started and a blanket draped gently around you. You shook out of your state briefly to look up and see the Destined One stirring something in a pot over the fire. You hadn’t noticed the sun had begun to set. You weren’t even sure when you had even sat down. You looked around and found that Bajie was nowhere to be seen. Looking at the inventory the Destined One laid out you noted some items were missing: several jars of brew and a few pieces of food. You gave a strong guess or two as to what happened to them and Bajie.

The Destined One produced a bowl and spoon, ladling out hot broth. You watched him walk to you, crouching down to hand you the bowl. You accepted it, but made no movement to begin eating. The Destined One plopped down beside you. You could sense he was troubled as he took the bowl back from you. He stirred the broth once, then filled the spoon half-way before holding it beside your lips. You gazed up at him.

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” you said. In response the Young Sage bumped his head against yours as his tail wrapped around you. His arm pulled you closer to him as your vision began to blur. “I’m sorry…” you repeated quietly. The Destined One held you knowing that your last apology wasn’t for him.

His brow was slightly furrowed, mouth tilted in a small worried frown, and his eyes were urging you to please eat. You felt your heart ache. Guilt washed over you as you looked at his expression. You turned back to the food, leaning forward to sip at the broth. You quietly continued to let him feed you. When you asked if he’d prepared any for himself he interrupted your question by spooning you more broth. You swallowed quickly then put your hand up as a barrier.

“I’m not going to eat anymore if you aren’t going to eat at all,” you said. The Destined One stared at you for a beat then took the bowl to his lips. You felt yourself smile a little watching his tail lash behind him. You then obediently ate the rest of the soup. You had him finish off the last spoonful himself then leaned into his shoulder.

You found Bajie at the edge of a nearby lake with a jar of brew in hand. Several jars were already emptied and tossed aside. You sat down beside him as he finished another and added it onto the growing pile. He wiped his mouth, eyes trained on the still lake.

“What do you want?” Bajie asked bluntly, tearing another bottle open.

“A drink,” you answered, grabbing a bottle of your own.

You felt Bajie’s gaze shift to you as you tore the brew open and tilted it back, taking in large gulps of alcohol. You almost slammed the bottle down as you let out a heavy sigh.

“You don’t drink,” Bajie said incredulously.

“Since when?” You responded, glancing sideways at him.

Bajie seemed to think for a moment then held out his jar towards you. In return you held out your own drink, tapping it against his. With that small toast you both took a swig from your drinks and sat in silence staring out onto the lake. The last colors of twilight were fading. As the full moon began to rise you watched as fireflies slowly blinked awake.

You didn’t know what to say to Bajie. No apologies would come without explanations you couldn’t give. Bajie was the same, bound by a similar rule that had you both brood in silence. You thought of the little girl; the youngest of the Spider Sisters. You remembered the expression on her face as she watched Bajie walk away. Again and again everything brought you back into the same loop, the same feeling of helplessness. You felt you wanted to throw something to hear it shatter and break apart. Instead you took a big swig in a pathetic attempt to drown and shut those thoughts out.

The night continued like this until the moon shone its reflection onto the center of the lake. You and Bajie continued to drink, neither of you stepping from your own worlds. The alcohol was coursing through you. You felt buzzed as the ground swayed ever so slightly. Your mind felt like it had been soaked, half-heartedly rinsed, then left out to dry as the brew washed over your senses. Out of the corner of your vision you saw Bajie turn from the lake and sigh heavily as he closed his eyes.

“Do you regret it?” the question left you before your mind fully comprehended it. Yet, you didn’t feel any panic once you did. You just wanted to hear the answer. You watched the subtle ripples of the reflected moon as Bajie kept his eyes closed. You thought he hadn’t heard you. A small part of you was grateful, ready to rebuild the broken silence. Then Bajie opened his eyes.

“A better question is,” Bajie said, picking up a rock and turning it in his hand, “would I do it all again?”

You stared at the lake, watching the fireflies lazily dancing on its surface.

“Would you?” you asked.

“Would you?” he asked right back.

Your hand went to the scar on your arm. Flashes of memories flipped through your mind. From the moment you fell into this world to now. You thought of all those times your life was in peril, the struggle it took for you to adapt, the fear, the ache of home, the helplessness, and this evolved deep rooted guilt. You felt your hand clutch at your drink harder as your arms held yourself together. Then the Destined One appeared in your mind. You thought of his eyes, his smile, his little mannerisms, his gentle hands, the moments you two shared, his warmth, his fury, his joy, his pain. Him. You thought of Bajie. The stories he’d tell you as you rested. The times he’d fight alongside the Young Sage. The way he cared for you beneath that layer of gruffness. How he’s sitting beside you now, sharing a moment to drink with you.

“Yes…” you said.

“Then you have your answer,” replied Bajie.

Even if this journey ends in pain and tragedy you already knew. If given the choice, you’d choose to do it all again. Bajie makes a sound between a grunt and a hum. He turned the rock once more then tossed it into the lake where it skipped twice disturbing and dispelling the image of the moon. You watched the ripples smooth itself out, sipping from your drink.

Bajie spoke up, “Your turn,” he said.

“Hm?” you picked at the grass, becoming more aware of how warm your body had become from the drink.

“I’m owed a story,” said Bajie.

You laughed then emptied the last sips of your bottle before wiping your mouth. Your hand went to grab another, humming as you undid the seal on the brew.

“Have I ever told you about the time I was captured by bandits?”

Bajie choked on his drink, “Those idiots thought you-” Bajie burst into laughter, hitting the ground as he did so. You could only make out some snippets of what he was saying in-between his cackling.

“No, but I am not surprised. You attract unwanted dangers like our Master had. Might as well wear a sign reading Free Morsel.”

“Funnily enough, they thought I was your master,” you said, ignoring his quip.

“They thought-you! A pious monk! Oh yes, I see you are just brimming with virtuosity.”

You rolled your eyes as Bajie’s laughter settled down to a controllable chuckle.

“I couldn’t have been this cheeky when I first asked you for a story,” you grumbled.

“Oh no, you were much worse,” countered Bajie.

“Can I tell my story now?”

Bajie tilted his drink to you, “Floor’s all yours, kid.”

Bajie listened as you recounted the event of your capture. You skimped a bit on the details regarding the argument you and the Destined One were going through. He mumbled about how you were “Just like Master” when you shared how you were caught unawares to be consumed. He seemed to enjoy your description of the rats and their little tussle. He snickered when you told him the lie you had fed them.

“They really believed that?”

“I’m still telling the story, Bajie.”

Bajie seemed gripped as you told him about the rising tensions the group had when they argued on what to do with you. Then came the moment the rat leader opened his mouth to take a bite of you. You built on that suspense up to when the Destined One dramatically appeared to save you which had Bajie grunt.

“What a surprise,” Bajie said sarcastically.

You must’ve been a bit too descriptive in how you described the Destined One as he battled the rats because Bajie interrupted you by saying, “Yes, yes the dashing little monkey prince came and rescued you. What happened afterwards?”

You paused. “Afterwards?” you repeated. You blinked as the events of ‘afterwards’ replayed in your mind. You were grateful your cheeks were already flushed from the alcohol. You cleared your throat, absentmindedly swirling your drink around and feeling there was a little over half of it left. You avoided looking at Bajie.

“Nothing much, we just continued the journey as usual,” you said casually.

“Huh, figured the kid wasn’t one to take advantage of the situation.” Bajie commented.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, such a romantic rescue usually ends with a kiss at the very least.”

You froze. You couldn’t tell if the way Bajie was leaning forward out of the corner of your eye meant he was knowingly teasing you or you were just imagining it. Bajie continued, “So nothing hap-”

You threw your drink back, gulping it all down loudly as some of it spilled from the corners of your mouth.

“Woah, slow down, kid. You’ll drown yourself drinking that much all at once,” Bajie warned.

You didn’t listen. Tossing your empty drink aside, you grabbed and ripped into another, giving Bajie a brazen smile.

“Scared I’ll out drink you, old man?”

Bajie seemed taken aback for a moment then flashed you a grin. He emptied his drink down his gullet, mirroring you in grabbing another.

“Big words from such an impudent human. You’ll be regretting that tonight,” Bajie said.

“Such a powerful Yaoguai like yourself s’got more to lose,” you replied spilling a little of your drink as you offered him a toast, “And only tonight, Bajie? No, you’ll be the one regretting this come morning.”

Bajie snorted, almost crashing his drink against yours.

“We’ll see about that.”

You couldn’t stop laughing. The ground was constantly moving. The world seemed to take a moment to catch up every time your gaze shifted. Your words were slurring, tumbling over each other. You and Bajie were constantly switching between tearful laughter and heated arguments. All of which were nonsensical. The arguments escalated into petty bets. Who can chug the fastest without pause? Who can throw the most accurately? Who can stack the taller brew tower? Though you won your fair share Bajie was quite ahead in wins which made you challenge him again and again. More and more silly bets came and went. You’d just beaten him in a very fair and not at all skewed agility test when Bajie spoke up, almost tripping over an empty jar.

“Alright, I know one-one thing. I can summon that kid without speaking a single word.”

You tilted your head in thought, your drink tilted with you spilling a bit on the ground. You didn’t pay that much mind as you squinted at Bajie.

“And no using your powers?” you questioned.

“Not one,” assured Bajie.

Bajie stumbled over to you and waved you closer like he’s about to share a secret. Without much or really any thought you leaned down. Bajie reached his hand out and flicked you hard on the head. You yelped, clutching your head as you fell to the ground. You went back and forth cursing at Bajie and groaning out “Why.” The answer came when two familiar hands pried yours from your face. The Destined One had been successfully summoned. The Destined One turned your head to examine it. Joy at seeing him sparked back into irritation towards Bajie as you heard him cackling on the ground. Bajie pointed to you, “Take that one back to camp before they drink all my alcohol.”

“Don’t listen to him, he’s drunk,” you huffed.

“You’re drunk!” Bajie retorted.

The Young Sage made to take you into his arms, an offer you’d never thought you’d turn down. In your drunken stupor indignation and stubbornness flared, catching ablaze on the alcohol coursing through you.

“Now it’s fair,” you threw an arm around the Destined One and pointed at Bajie, “As a team we’re taking you down, old man.”

Bajie guffawed, “You think adding the kid is enough to match the Zhu Bajie?”

“If you’re too scared now that my monkey prince is here, then go ahead and cut me off,” you challenged. Bajie’s ear twitched. He walked up to the Destined One and shoved a drink into his hand. The Young Sage looked at the drink then at Bajie.

“Your pre-requisite,” Bajie said slyly.

The Destined One looked at you still hanging onto his shoulders. You were grinning stupidly back at him, giving him a thumbs up for encouragement. The Young Sage downed the drink in one breath. You watched mesmerized as the drink spilled from his lips and trickled down his throat. You felt something smack you on the shoulder. Tearing away from the Destined One you looked at the ground where a pebble was rolling to a stop. You frowned at Bajie.

“Quit your gawking, I can see you drooling from here,” said the Pig Guai.

The Destined One threw the empty jar aside looking roguishly, sinfully, and devastatingly handsome as he wiped his mouth with his wrist. You grinned at Bajie who responded with a chuckle, “You’ve got some catch-up to do, Nephew. I’ve got ‘em beat eight to one.”

“You lying piece of-”

The games began.

An outlooker could describe the scene and sound like they’re about to tell a joke. A monkey, a pig, and a human were drunkenly running around near a lake scattering the nearby fireflies and small wildlife. Every so often the human would be yelling at the pig as he shoved more drinks into the monkey’s hand. The monkey remained unphased by the amount of alcohol he consumed and was the only one not swaying on their feet. At some point, someone's mother was being insulted.

Bajie’s challenges were becoming more ruthless. The beginning was a simple game of rock skipping. Bajie had made an impressive six skips while your own rock sank to the bottom of the lake immediately. The Destined One had picked up a rock without much thought and flicked it across the lake's surface. The rock skipped across the lake, going well beyond six and continuing into the distance. You jumped onto his back with a fist in the air. Bajie was quick to prepare for the next game.

The Destined One dominated them all. No matter the amount of drinks that Bajie handed him he didn’t seem even the slightest bit buzzed. You saw that he wore a subtle grin; his tail swayed to and fro as Bajie challenged him again and again. He was fully enjoying himself. You didn’t mind at all that he was carrying you in almost every challenge being much too busy laughing and stumbling around as you cheered him on. Eventually, Bajie threw up his hands.

“Alright! Final challenge,” Bajie swayed heavily pointing back and forth between the two of you. You were being carried on the Destined Ones shoulders as you switched between drinking and having him drink from the same jar. Bajie had just lost to a simple game of rock paper scissors in which you were the victor. The Destined One had held you up as you laughed victoriously.

Bajie’s words were heavily slurred as he went back and forth between the line of drunken delight and vexation. Bajie patted around his body then produced a small jade pendant which he almost dropped. Bajie held it up for you and the Young Sage to see.

“A simple game,” Bajie hiccuped, “of keep away.”

You watched as Bajie took a few steps back, making some distance between you and the Destined One. Bajie walked into the lake till the water reached his waist. You patted the Destined One gently on his head. He set you down from his shoulders. You knew this one was truly for everything.

“Five minutes should be enough for you two numskulls,” Bajie said, “Come at me, the both of you!” Bajie tossed the pendant up. You followed its trajectory as it ascended, readying yourself to dash towards it. Beside you, the Destined One did the same. In slow motion, your eyes followed the pendant as it descended. In the next moment, you watched as a catfish met it halfway and swallowed it. The very same catfish fell back into the lake with a small plop, disappearing below the surface. You stood there, staring as the ripples of the lake smoothed out again. It took you too long to comprehend what just happened. For a moment, you and the Destined One stared at the silent, unmoving lake. In the next, you were wading through the water calling Bajie a list of colorful names and terms which this world had yet to hear.

You addressed the Young Sage. “Any fish-like transformation in your arsenal?” you asked, already knowing the answer. The Destined One shook his head. You kicked at the water in vain. As sudden as it came, you felt your anger douse itself out. That little cheater. You couldn’t say you wouldn’t have done the same if you were in Bajie’s shoes. Or would it be hooves?

You laid back onto the water, mindlessly floating about. You let yourself swear at Bajie one more time with a smile as you swore revenge. Fireflies flew in and out of your sight. The moon was outdoing itself tonight as it shined brightly in a sea full of twinkling stars. A familiar face appeared in your vision. The Destined One looked down at you as your head bumped against his leg.

“I’d ask you to join me, but I’m not too sure if you float,” you said. He seemed happy enough to simply watch you.

After five minutes, Bajie appeared bursting from the lake shaking off excess water onto you and the Destined One. You stood up to glare at him and give him a splash back. He tsked at you.

“Hey now, it’s a bad look to be so sore after losing,” Bajie chided. You flicked water at him defiantly. Bajie ignored the little water droplets you pelted at him.

“As winner,” he continued, ignoring your jeering, “I declare you both cut off from drinking anymore of my alcohol and you shall call me King Bajie the Unparalleled from now on.”

“We’re not doing that,” you said then sneezed into your elbow. Your drenched clothes clung to your body as the Destined One scooped you up into his arms, ignoring how his own clothes were getting soaked.

“Yes, take that insolent human away, Nephew.” said Bajie in a haughty tone, waving you both off.

You opened your mouth to reply, but ended up sneezing again. The Destined One turned away quickly, wading out of the lake to get you onto dry land. You turned to Bajie, ready to counter him with an insult. Your tongue stilled as you looked at him. Where Bajie was just standing, a young man now stood watching you both leave with a forlorn smile on his face. He was tall, handsome, with an almost exalted air surrounding him. As the fireflies blinked in and out around him, he turned away from you, his long dark hair shrouding his face. You didn’t dare blink, not even when the trees and foliage began obscuring your vision. You watched as the young man looked up at the moon, turning that little jade pendant in his hand.

You were snuggled in the Young Sage’s arms as he carried you back to camp. A blanket of drowsiness wrapped itself around you. Cut off and kicked out, you finally felt the exhaustion of the day catch up to you. Looking up through half-lidded eyes, your hands went to trace the Destined One’s face. Dreamily, you brushed through his fur.

“It’s so soft,” you said as you scratched the back of his head. He leaned into your hand then tilted his head this way and that to make sure you get every good spot.

You laughed, “You are adorable.”

The Destined One blinked. That was a newer compliment. You knew it was one you typically kept to yourself, but you didn’t care. Your inhibitions had been washed away, perhaps abandoned at the edge of the lake a drink or two ago. In this moonlight, underneath the sky dusted full of stars the Destined One looked much too- “Handsome,” you said out loud. The Young Sage seemed surprised, but fully embraced your sudden praise with a smile. You kept them coming, his subtle joy at your words pushing you on until you were babbling. You talked about how fun tonight was, you wondered if he’d ever gotten drunk, then you would double back to complimenting him again. His eyes, his smile, his hands, that tail of his, everything about him you flooded with shameless praise. The Young Sage looked close to laughing.

You couldn’t make out the details of anything. The world was an unfocused blur on an unfinished painting. The only thing clear to you was him. You smiled wistfully, looking into his eyes.

“You know, before I came here I-” a sudden wave of nausea hit you. You covered your mouth as you felt yourself salivate. The Destined One quickly put you down where you braced yourself against a tree and emptied your stomach. The Destined One steadied you with a hand on your back. You felt sick and dizzy, no longer able to open your eyes without the world spinning out of control. The next instances came in snapshots: being cleaned up, changed, asking for water, groaning, more vomiting, more water. You fell asleep curled up next to the Young Sage, clutching at his robes while he combed his hands gently through your hair.

The next morning, you woke up feeling dehydrated with a throbbing headache. You squinted in the light of the sun, catching your pig guai companion fairing the same across the way. Both of you groaned as the consequences of your actions produced an unforgiving hangover.

The Young Sage was just fine, you could make out his fuzzy shape warming up in the distance with his staff. He’d left a little kettle beside the embers of a dying fire already heated and ready. You forced yourself up and poured a cup of hot tea with shaky hands. Bajie stayed where he was, but continued his lament of groans as he tried to cover his eyes from the sunlight. He hadn't made it to his bedding last night which sat unused only half a foot away from him. You placed the steaming cup near Bajie, his ear twitched as it followed your movements. You poured yourself another cup and took a sip, shivering as the hot liquid coursed through you.

Bajie slowly sat up, taking the drink you’d given him. He took a sip and shivered as he closed his eyes.

“Thanks, kid,” Bajie said.

You gave him a small hum in response. Birds were greeting you with their chorus as a warm breeze blew through your hair. The Destined One returned, sitting beside you and handing you breakfast already prepared. You looked at him as you held your pulsing head. Your memories after leaving Bajie were hazy and jumbled, as if someone wiped at the pages of your mind while the ink was still drying.

“Did I say anything weird last night?” you asked.

The Destined One tilted his head in thought. He gave you a small, almost indiscernible, mischievous smile and shook his head. You probed him more as that tail of his flicked back and forth. The Young Sage took your cup and sipped at it, remaining unmoved as you pestered him on what you could’ve possibly said. Bajie, with eyes still closed, spoke up, “Silence,” he said, “The Unparalleled King Bajie commands it.”

A passerby could describe the scene that happened afterwards and sound like they’re about to tell a joke.

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shadowynn · 2 years ago

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| the paradigm complex | three |

pairing: ot8 ateez x fem! reader

genre: yandere!vampire!cult!poly!ateez au

warnings: yandere behavior, some cursing, negative thoughts, cheating, toxic relationships, (like, um, things aren't really healthy here in anyone's relationship except for reader and felix. sorry.)

summary:

They'll do whatever you ask. Anything you need. Anything you want. It's yours. They'll fulfill your every desire and whim. Give you the life you had always dreamed about.

And in exchange, you wouldn't just give them your soul. Oh, no, They weren't demons. What good was your soul when your purpose was better served alive and well? Your soul was nice, sure, but it wasn't all they wanted. It wasn't all they needed. They needed your body, your mind. Your blood. You entirely. Every single fiber of your being would soon be theirs and theirs alone.

The moment you signed that contract, everything would change. For them and for you.

And there was nothing you could do about it.

word count: 8.3k

a/n: i'm sorry it took this long, but i think i finally got this where i want it to be. i'm also laughing at my past self for saying this wasn't going to be serious and not really a novel and more of a series of one-shots, and yet, here i am, writing a novel because apparently i can't write anything else. oops. but, seriously, i hope you all enjoy. and let me know if i missed anyone on the tags or if you want to be added/removed.

| two | three | four |

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You stared at the open trunk of your car, wondering just how the hell you were going to get either box up to your new apartment by yourself. When you had ordered the new mattress and bedframe for your new place, you had been counting on Felix to help you move things in, but then he had called earlier stating he was sick and leaving you by yourself for the day.

You couldn’t blame him. Not when you knew he had been looking forward to this day almost as much as you had, eager for an inside look at The Paradigm and a possible peek at your future coworkers. But the timing of it all couldn’t have been worse for you, having already picked up your new furniture from the store by the time he had called you to let you know. If your situation had been normal, you could have just left them in your car until the following weekend, but you knew that would only put you in a worse situation. One where you might be forced to kiss your new life goodbye before it had ever even started.

Knowing there was an elevator did give you a slight boost in confidence, and you thought you could very possibly get the box that contained your bed frame up to your place. The mattress, however, was a different story. Perhaps you might have been able to do it if you dragged it, but even then, you risked making a commotion and you didn’t want to accidentally damage anything in the endeavor either. The last thing you needed was to make a worse impression than you already had; the fact you had been late to your lease signing still haunted your mind despite Seonghwa’s insistence it was fine.

The only other option you could think of was to ask one of your future coworkers for help. Since you had signed the lease last Monday, you had been added to a group chat with the eight of them, each who had been nothing short of sweet and welcoming to you. And though there had been multiple offers of help extended your way, you hadn’t actually expected to take any of them up on it. You didn’t want to bother them on a Saturday afternoon, especially with such a late notice, but your fear of keeping the boxes in your car for another week only to risk your boyfriend seeing them far outweighed your fear of asking for help.

Running a hand through your hair and doing your best to ignore the anxieties that popped up from the thought, you pulled your phone out of your back pocket and opened up the group chat. Your eyes briefly skimmed over the previous messages, unable to keep your cheeks from tinting pink at their content, especially knowing the face behind each name.

They chatted often. Not enough to where your phone was always blowing up, but enough for you to see the clear bond between them, leading to many occasions of you feeling like you were an intruder, not quite familiar with many of their jokes or references. But just when you would begin to wonder if they had forgotten you were there, someone would direct the conversation your way, directly asking your opinion on the matter or apologizing on the behalf of someone else in the chat.

You scrolled past the messages that had come through on your drive over as you hesitated - someone had borrowed one of Hongjoong’s jackets a few weeks ago and had yet to return it - fingers hovering over the screen for a few seconds as you wondered just how to word the message without sounding too needy. By the time you had come up with something and typed it out, you quickly deleted it before retyping something else before deleting and repeating the process all over a second time. This time however, you hit send before you could even think about talking yourself out of it and attempting to move in by yourself to avoid the anxiety asking for help always brought.

Your regret was immediate, and you quickly locked your phone up and slid it in your pocket to avoid seeing any responses the request might pull and wondering just what you were thinking. Your phone buzzed almost immediately, and you froze, wanting to pull it out, and yet, terrified all the same. When it buzzed once again a few seconds later, you slowly pulled it out, preparing yourself for the worst, but finding two acceptances instead. Jongho had been the first to respond with a short, but enthusiastic Me! while Mingi had followed a few seconds later, stating he was also free if an extra set of hands was needed.

There was relief in knowing you would be able to unpack your car this weekend, but the solution had come with its own set of problems. Not only did you still feel like an inconvenience for bothering them on the weekend, but you really didn’t know any of them at this point, and had yet to even meet either of the two who had offered to help you today face-to-face. From your previous experiences with each of them, you were confident you could get along well enough, but it would still be a while before you became comfortable enough around them that you didn’t always feel slightly on edge.

You sifted through a few of the other boxes and bags in your car as you waited for Jongho and Mingi to come, briefly checking your own appearance in your car’s rear view mirror. Now that you no longer needed your savings to rent a place of your own, you had been free to spend some of it on furnishing your new apartment and had spent the majority of the morning out shopping. Besides your clothing, books, and a few other belongings you couldn’t bear to part with, there was little you would be actually taking from your current place and you wanted this place to be as move-in ready as it could be by this time next week. And while you hadn’t gotten everything you needed, not quite having enough on hand to buy any other major furniture pieces besides a bed, you were able to snag some new towels, bedsheets, and enough dishware to get you started for the time being.

Your eyes glanced behind you every so often as you waited, looking out for the two who had stated they were on their way down once you had given them your location. You weren’t sure exactly what either boy looked like, but you did have a sneaking suspicion you would be able to spot them nonetheless. All you had to do was likely wait for the next two attractive strangers to leave the apartment building and you were sure to find them.

And though you did your best to not let your mind dwell there, you found yourself growing self-conscious of your own appearance, checking and straightening your hair up once more in the mirror. You had dressed simply for the occasion, putting your own comfort first, and merely pulling on a pair of joggers, cropped tee, and a jacket that you had since wrapped around your waist from the lingering summer heat. Before, you had at least tried to fit in with the higher class of the complex, but one brief look at the tenants who had just walked inside, and you were swiftly reminded of how much you stuck out here.

You didn’t have to wait too much longer. Just a few minutes later and you found you had been right in your earlier assessment. At the sound of the door opening behind you, you glanced back to find two men walking out, both equally as attractive as the others. The one on the left was tall, just as tall if not taller than Yunho had been, while the other was just a few inches taller than yourself. Something that had been said must have annoyed the shorter one, as he shoved the other as they made their way outside, but a smile was planted on each of their faces and the earlier action done playfully.

Upon seeing you standing by your car, both of their faces instantly lit up and the taller one was quick to wave. His smile was infectious, leaving you to follow suit with your own before returning his wave as well.

“You must be y/n.” It was the taller one who addressed you first as they drew close, holding out his hand for you to shake. “I’m Mingi.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mingi.” Now that you were close, you could see his hair was not black like you had originally thought, but a dark blue. that shone through in the fluorescent lights of the parking garage.

His smile nearly had you melting up close, instantly setting your nerves to rest as you took his hand. So, this was the other doctor who served at the complex, seemingly just as sweet and gentle as Yunho had been. And with his appearance just as young as the former, you wondered if the two had met in medical school. They definitely appeared around the same age as each other.

“I’m Jongho.” The other swiftly stole your attention, his smile just as endearing as the one before. All it took was one quick look and you were struck with the sudden urge to know just what it felt like to be hugged by him, all but craving to be wrapped up in his warm embrace.

“So, you needed some help moving things in?” Mingi asked, snapping the strange spell that had grabbed hold of you in that moment, a slight edge to his tone that surprised you. You turned your gaze back to him just in time to see the look he had given Jongho, not quite angry, nor was it quite frustrated either, but almost reprimanding. But a smile was quick to replace it when his gaze met yours once more, leaving you wondering if it hadn’t just been a trick of the light.

“Yes, sorry.” Your smile became bashful, once again embarrassed by having to ask for their help. ��My friend was supposed to be here with me today to help, but then he came down with something and wasn’t able to make it, so thank you, truly, for your help. I really appreciate it.”

You ran your hand through your hair, wondering if you would ever feel completely at ease around any of them. You had no want for any sort of romantic relationship once you finally broke things off with your boyfriend the following week, but the strange attraction you felt towards each of them was enough to keep you on edge, leaving you flustered more often than not, all but craving to get in closer.

“It shouldn’t take too long. I just needed some help with these two boxes,” you motioned to the two larger ones, inwardly cursing yourself. You had never had this problem before, not even with Haneul, who you had been silently crushing on since he had started working with you. “So, maybe just five or so minutes of your time and then you can return back to whatever it was you were doing beforehand.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re both more than happy to help.” Jongho waved your concern away, moving past you to grab the heavier of the two boxes. “Neither of us were up to anything important. We were just hiding out at Wooyoung’s place while he started prepping for dinner tonight, which he said you are more than welcome to come to as well, by the way.”

“Careful, that’s-” You barely registered the invitation to dinner, more concerned about helping Jongho with the box he was pulling out, but he lifted it with ease, “...heavy.”

You found it impossible not to stare, watching it awe as he shifted the box onto his right shoulder to help support the weight, and unable to keep your eyes from wandering over the muscles on his arms. You had struggled to lift the box into your car earlier, and yet, he had made it look like it was nothing.

Just how much did this guy workout?

“Careful, Jongho,” Mingi’s voice held a similar tone from earlier, breaking you out from your thoughts once more. You were acutely aware you had been staring at Jongho in that moment, and shifted your gaze away, but not before Jongho had caught your wandering eyes out of the corner of his own.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it.” He waved both of your concerns away, an innocent, yet almost smug smile on his face.

Mingi didn’t seem nearly as amused, but his expression lightened when he turned to address you. “Don’t worry, I can get the other one if you don’t mind getting the doors.”

You nodded, watching in a similar awe as Mingi grabbed the box that contained your new bed frame with just as much ease as Jongho before. You knew you weren’t that strong, but you didn’t think you were that weak either. Sure, you didn’t go to the gym every day, or even every other day for that matter, but you liked to think you had some muscles from casually working out with Felix over the past few years when you had the time.

It took you several seconds to comprehend Mingi’s request, body and mind not quite catching up to what was currently happening until Jongho called for you from further ahead. You shook your head, snapping yourself out of the daze and grabbing a few bags from your trunk before running up to grab the door for Jongho before he reached it.

You didn’t have to direct either of them to your unit. Upon reaching the elevator, Mingi had pressed the button for the sixth floor before you could even think to say something and guided you effortlessly down the hall to where the door to your apartment lay.

“Where would you like us to put them?” Mingi asked as he slid past the door you held open and into the main room. “Upstairs?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great.”

It felt strange coming back here, once again in complete awe of the space around you. It was more than you could ever dream of, and completely yours. A fact you didn’t think would ever settle completely in your head.

“Hey, y/n, this is your bed, right?” Jongho pulled you from your thoughts, leaning over the banister of the lofted area to address you. “You want us to put it together for you while we’re here?”

“Oh, no, that’s okay. I can get it myself later.” You shook your head, waving his offer away. “I’ve taken enough of your Saturday as it is.”

“Trust me, neither one of us minds. And if I’m being honest, you’re really doing us a favor. Hongjoong was trying to rope us into running a few errands for him since we were free and I did not feel like driving around town all afternoon.” Propping his elbows up against the edge, he rested his chin down into his hands. “So, we are now your humble servants for the rest of the afternoon, ready and willing to do whatever you need of us.”

He winked, and you hoped he couldn’t see the blush that tinted your cheeks as you turned your head away and used all your current brainpower to come up with a proper response.

“C’mon, while Jongho starts putting the bed frame together, why don’t you and I get the rest of the stuff from your car?” Mingi didn’t seem to have any reservations about Jongho’s former statement as he came back down the stairs, motioning with his head for the two of you to head back out. “And then we can help him finish when we’re done.”

He didn’t wait for you to agree, leaving you no choice but to follow after him and accept their offer of help.

“So, how long have you lived here?” You asked once the two of you had made it back down to your car, shuffling around some of the boxes to have a better grip.

“I’ve been here since The Paradigm opened,” Mingi replied, taking the heavier boxes from your hands and leaving you with just the new bedsheets and towels to carry. “Hongjoong and I have known each other for a long time, so when he introduced a new business venture he was interested in, I signed right up. The rent was free and it certainly beat the long shifts at the hospital.” He shrugged, closing your trunk for you now that it was empty. “What about you? Have you always lived in the city?”

You shook your head, readjusting the bags in your hands to open the door for the two of you. “I grew up in a pretty rural area up north, but moved down here for college, so I’ve only been in the city for about… three years now, I think.”

“And what do you think about it?”

“City life definitely has its pros and cons, and for the most part, I really do love living here, but I don’t know,” you shrugged, “sometimes it’s just a little overwhelming being in such a big place all on your own.”

“You’re by yourself?” Mingi’s head tilted, surprised by your words. “I’m sorry, I just assumed you had been living with someone else.”

“Well, you’d be right about that. I pretty much moved in with my boyfriend as soon as I arrived, but,” you paused, unsure how exactly to word your current situation, “I guess I've always felt like I was still all by myself.”

“Is that why you’re getting a new place?”

You shook your head. “We’re actually breaking up, so I was in need of a new place to stay.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Thank you, but it’s really for the best.” It was hard to meet Mingi’s eyes as you waited for the elevator, fingers nervously fidgeting with the bags in your hands. “The two of us might have been fighting the inevitable for a while, but it’s really something that’s been coming for a long time now, and honestly, as terrified as it makes me being out on my own again, I’m also relieved to finally be able to get away.”

“And why’s that?” It was hard to place Mingi’s expression. He was empathetic towards your situation, that was obvious, but there was something else there. Something more than the vague curiosity he presented alongside it.

You could feel your body freezing up on you, wondering if it was appropriate to dump all your past trauma on someone you had just met, but Mingi felt nothing but genuine next to you. His gentle nature all but encouraging you to tell him what was on your mind.

“Well, let’s just say the guy has never learned how to keep it in his pants.” The words rolled out with ease, prompting you to continue. “And I know, I’m an idiot for staying with him through it all this time, but each time I talked to him about it, he truly seemed sorry and willing to change, and it’s not like I had anywhere else to go.”

Your words trailed off, feeling self-conscious over your past attempts. It was so easy to see how foolish you were now. To see how you should have left. To see how anyone in their right mind would have left, and yet, you hadn’t. You had allowed him to convince you to stay each and every time, fully believing everything would work out.

You tugged the bags you were holding closer to your chest, suddenly feeling very small and insignificant in that moment. As much as you knew the problem lay with him and not yourself, you still fought against the lies that told you it was your fault, that if you had only been better, none of this would have ever happened. He would have never cheated on you; you would have never gotten yourself hurt.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dump that all on you.”

“I don’t mind. After all, it’s not good to keep feelings all bottled up inside and if it makes you feel better, I can listen to you rant about him as long as you need.” Mingi’s shoulder bumped against your own as the elevator came to a stop, and you could see his smile reflecting in the doors as they opened, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes this time around. “But I can’t help but feel a little concerned over the fact you’re still living with him over this next week. Are you sure that’s safe?”

“It’s not ideal, sure, but it’s not like I have any other choice. I would have loved to move in as soon as I had signed the lease, but he knows where I work and he would have just come in one day and convinced me to change my mind. He can be very persuasive when he wants to be.” You could feel your body tensing, not quite comfortable with the direction the conversation had taken. It was uncomfortable to talk about this side of your past, embarrassing to see just how easily you had allowed him to manipulate you. “But it’s nothing to worry about. I’ve been with him for the past three years, so I can do one more week as long as he doesn’t catch on that I’m leaving. And despite his cheating ways, he’s never done anything to hurt me. Well,” you frowned, instantly taking note of the lie you had just spoken, “not physically, at least.”

You drove the conversation to its end as you made it back to your apartment, motioning for Mingi to set his boxes on the kitchen counter for now. And while you made your way upstairs to check on Jongho and leave the conversation completely, Mingi excused himself out into the hallway to make a quick phone call once he remembered he had forgotten to list a few of the supplies he had needed Hongjoong to pick up during his time out.

“You want some help?”

Jongho had made some progress in your absence, the majority of the pieces scattered around him in the relative shape of a bed, and you couldn’t help but feel partially guilty for leaving him to do the task for you when it was your bed frame.

He nodded, motioning for you to come over. “If you could hold this together for me real quick, that would be great.”

“Of course.”

You matched his smile as you settled down on the ground beside him to take hold of the pieces he was talking about, and it didn’t take long for you to become aware of how close the two of you were in that moment. Especially, when he leaned in closer to screw together the two pieces you were holding for him.

“Once again, thank you.” You spoke after a few minutes, hoping to alleviate some of the tension you felt from being so close to him, and hating how on edge he made you. It was the same way with the others, and yet, it was distinctly worse around some than others. Jongho’s presence fell towards the latter, and you had a much harder time keeping a grip on your thoughts and emotions around him than you had with Mingi, and yet, one look at both of them was enough for all your solid reasoning to leave your body. “I really appreciate your help.”

“It’s no problem at all,” Jongho replied, arm brushing up against yours. “Like I said earlier, you’re really doing us a favor in return. We were looking for an excuse to be busy until dinner tonight.”

“Oh, yeah, you mentioned Wooyoung was making dinner for you. That’s very sweet of him.” You thought Jongho might have mentioned Wooyoung had also extended an invitation towards you, but didn’t want to make any assumptions in case you had heard him wrong, distracted by the show of strength of the boy next to you.

“He’s just about the only one of us who’s actually any good at cooking. Well, Seonghwa’s pretty decent as well, but he doesn’t enjoy it the way Wooyoung does, nor is he as willing to share with the rest of us. Woo usually hosts a dinner once or twice a week, but you’ll definitely have to watch out for him,” Jongho continued. “Baking is pretty much that man’s love language and he’ll load you with more goods and sweets then you’ll know what to do with.”

“Oh, well, if that’s how he is, I guess it’s a good thing I have a sweet tooth.”

The words were out before you could stop them, and it took you a few seconds to realize just what you had said and how it might have sounded, especially the chuckle it had pulled out of Jongho. You hadn’t meant anything by it, but as you quickly ran through the words in your head once more, you began to question what exactly Jongho had meant by his statement and if it hadn’t been as innocent as you had first believed. Especially when he was quick to quip back, “You’re not the only one.”

And was it your imagination, or had he shifted closer to you than necessary? Leaning forward into you as he reached around your body to tighten the piece he had you holding.

Thankfully, you were saved from responding when Mingi came up the stairs behind you, though the way he cleared his voice to announce his presence didn’t make you feel any better from the position Jongho had taken around you.

“Fucking hell, Mingi.” Jongho’s string of curses was almost too low to hear, leaving you once again wondering what exactly was going on around you as Jongho straightened back up. His eyes rolled, agitation once again lining his features, or at least you thought it had. One blink and the look was gone, replaced with another innocent expression as he motioned to his left hand. “Sorry, cut myself.” His hand rose to his mouth, briefly sucking on the end of his middle finger to get rid of the blood that had begun pooling on the tip.

You averted your eyes, shaking your head in an attempt to clear it and wondering just what was up with you today. Perhaps you were simply coming down with whatever illness Felix had. You had seen him the day before, after all, so you very well could have caught it from him then; the beginning of a fever clouding your mind and judgment. And yet, your forehead felt cool to the touch when you brushed the back of your hand against it despite the heat that flooded you.

Things calmed down once Mingi joined the two of you, helping you finish putting the bed frame together. Once it was completed, you directed them to where you wanted it to lie before unboxing your mattress and allowing it time to air out before tugging on the set of sheets you had bought.

By the time you were all done, it was nearly five and you were far more exhausted than you expected to be, especially knowing you had the opening shift tomorrow morning. You were supposed to be working it with Felix, but now you weren’t so sure since he had come down with something. You didn’t really have any qualms with the rest of your coworkers, nor with your managers, but working with Felix was always a lot less exhausting than working a shift with anyone else.

“Thank you again for helping me out,” you said as you made your way back downstairs, rolling out the kinks in your back. “I really appreciate all your help and I don’t mean to seem rude, but I should probably get ready to head back to my place soon.”

“You’re not going to stay for dinner?” Jongho asked, seemingly disappointed as he reminded you of the offer he had extended towards you earlier in the day.

“Oh, right.”

You had forgotten about the invitation until now, and quickly debated over what you should do. On one hand, you were exhausted and craved an evening to yourself, but on the other hand, you didn’t want to seem rude and turn down the offer either. It would be good to get to know them and the others a bit better, and if you wanted everything here to go smoothly as possible, it would be best to get on good terms with each of them.

“If you’re sure I wouldn’t be interrupting anything, I’d love to join you, but I probably can’t stay too long. I have work tomorrow morning and a fairly long drive back to my place.”

And with reassurances your presence was more than welcomed, you followed them out of your apartment and down to the floor beneath yours where Wooyoung’s own unit lay. The door was unlocked, and neither boy even bothered knocking and made their way inside as though it was their own apartment. You followed behind a bit more hesitantly, slipping off your shoes at the doorway and pushing them to the side.

The layout to Wooyoung’s place was vastly different from yours, having actual bedrooms towards the back instead of a lofted studio like your own. A large kitchen was directly to your right, which then flowed directly into a small dining room with a view of the city behind it, while the living area was to your left.

Wooyoung was busy in the kitchen upon your arrival, and you could faintly make out two figures sprawled out on the couch playing what looked to be Super Smash Bros.

“Oh, y/n, you came!”

Wooyoung was the first to notice your presence, but one mention of your name was all it took for the game on your left to pause and the two seated there to give you their attention as well. Now that their heads were turned towards you, you were able to see it was Yeosang and San seated there.

“Thanks for having me over, and for dinner too.” You returned his smile, shuffling awkwardly at everyone’s attention. “I’ve heard a lot about your cooking and can’t wait to try it.” And if it was anything like the cookies you had earlier in the week or the smell wafting from the kitchen, you knew it probably matched up to the hype.

“Well, unfortunately you’ll have to wait another hour or so before it’s ready and everyone else gets here,” Wooyoung turned as the timer on the oven went off, “but feel free to make yourself at home in the meantime and just let me know if you need anything.”

“Hey, y/n, we have plenty of controllers if you want to join.” Before you could thank Wooyoung, you were being waved over by San and Yeosang, the former waving a controller your way.

“Sure, I’d love to,” you politely excused yourself from Wooyoung as you were guided over to the living room by Mingi, “though I must warn you, I’m not very good. I never really got any of the combos down, so I’m usually just button mashing and hoping for the best.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be the only one,” San replied, motioning to the spot between him and Yeosang on the couch and handing you a controller when you had sat down. “Even the bots can beat Yeosang.”

“May I remind you that we only switched to this game because you got tired of me kicking your ass in Mario Kart.”

“Don’t feel too bad, I’m even worse at that game.” You giggled as Yeosang ended the game he and San had been playing, loading up a new preset for the rest of you to join. “Thankfully, though, I can always do pretty decent in Mario Party. Which is kind of sad, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“Well, we have that too if you want to switch.” Yeosang replied, but you shook your head, not wanting to ruin their fun.

“No, this is perfectly fine with me. I might be terrible at it, but I still enjoy playing.” You contemplated which character you were going to pick as you spoke. You had thought about starting with Link, but upon seeing Mingi get to him before you, you decided to just go with your other go-to for the first round.

“Sephiroth, huh?” Yeosang was the first to remark as you solidified your character.

“Mmhmm.” You shifted in your seat, pulling your legs up to your chest as you nodded. “Final Fantasy and Zelda were pretty much my childhood growing up, so I usually tend to orient towards those characters. Well, them and Joker. I never really got into the Persona games like my friend Felix, but I do love his aesthetic.”

It took you a few rounds to get back into the swing of things, having been several months since the last time you had played. You rotated between characters as you went, going from Shiek to Joker and then back to Sephiroth, but it was clear you were nowhere near the level of the others. Occasionally you would beat Yeosang, and even once managed to outlast Mingi, but on most occasions you would be the first one dead, proving your lack of skills for the game.

After a few more games, you decided to take a break, excusing yourself to go check on Wooyoung and feeling a little guilty from all the work he was doing by himself while you played. You weren’t much of a cook yourself, at least not on the level he was, but surely there was something you could do, even if it was just keeping him company for the time being.

He lounged against one of the counters, head buried into the phone he held. As his eyes scanned the small screen, a frown worked its way across his features and his fingers danced across the screen to form a reply to whatever had upset him.

“Can I help with anything?”

His head whipped up at your soft approach, and whatever had upset him was quickly replaced with a smile. With one last glance at his phone, he pocketed it and shook his head. “I don’t think so. Everything’s pretty much ready , so we’re really just waiting for the others to make it back. Hongjoong had some errands to run and it seems they had to make a few detours on their way back, so they’re running later than expected. Can I get you anything to drink in the meantime, though?”

“Water if you don’t mind.”

You took a seat at the island counter as Wooyoung fetched your drink, wondering if you would ever get used to living like this. If you would ever get used to living here at The Paradigm. Despite knowing you now had your very own place one level above, you couldn’t help but feel like it was all some hazy dream. That you would finally wake up and realize nothing had changed because you knew how crazy this whole situation was. It was just too good to be true, and yet, here you still were, seemingly still wide awake.

You chatted idly with Wooyoung as you waited, munching on a small snack he had given you when you had accidentally let it slip that you hadn’t eaten anything all day. You hadn’t meant to skip lunch, but it had just slipped your mind with everything else going on. Yeosang joined the two of you shortly after, giving video games a rest for the night after being severely beaten once more.

The others arrived shortly after, just as the sun was starting to set. You couldn’t help but grow slightly more on edge at their appearance, fully aware of Hongjoong’s and Seonghwa’s position above you in your new job, but it didn’t take long to ease back into a more relaxed state. Well, as relaxed as you could be around them.

Yeosang and Wooyoung kept their positions beside you, while Hongjoong took up the empty bar stool beside you. As you ate, you spoke of your childhood, your family, as well as your interests and how you had ended up in the city. You were aware of the way the attention seemed to be directed towards you, but any time you attempted to direct the conversation elsewhere and ask them about themselves, it didn’t take long for the conversation to drift its way back to you once more. You didn’t mind, not really, having nothing to hide about your past, but you couldn’t help but feel a little bad and hoped they didn’t think badly of the fact you were doing the majority of talking.

It didn’t take long for you to lose track of time, your phone laying forgotten beside you on the counter. It wasn’t until you looked outside and saw the sun had long set that you were suddenly reminded of the fact you still had a long drive back to your apartment. You grabbed your phone to check the time, barely recognizing it was much later than you had anticipated when you noticed several missed calls and a few texts from Felix alongside a message from your manager.

“Is everything alright?” Hongjoong was the first to take note of the confusion that crossed your features as you scanned over the text from your manager, the source of Felix’s concern.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s good. It’s just…” Your words trailed off, trying to make sense of what she had sent you and understanding why Felix had now been trying to get a hold of you. “Do you mind if I go make a call real quick?” You excused yourself from the bar, making your way out of the apartment and out into the hallway for some privacy as you returned Felix’s call.

“Jesus, y/n, do you know how badly you just scared me?” Felix didn’t even bother with a greeting, leaving you cringing as you realized exactly what sort of state he was in. “Don’t tell me that fucking bastard found out you were moving.”

“No, no, nothing like that.” You frowned, understanding how it must have looked from his side, and yet just as lost as he was over the whole situation. “I’m sorry for scaring you, Lix, I really didn’t mean to, but to be honest, I’m just as confused as you are. For some reason Hana texted me an hour ago saying not to bother showing up to work for my last few shifts. I texted her back asking why or if I had done something, but all she’s said is that she just got someone else to cover me.”

“Wait, so she just took you off the schedule and said not to bother finishing up?”

“That’s what it looks like.” You took a screenshot of the conversation with your manager, sending it over to Felix to show him exactly what had been said. “I mean, I guess I don’t really mind. It’s not like I need the money now, but I just don’t understand why she did it without asking me first. You don’t think I did something do you? Something that might have made her mad?”

You had never had any problems with Hana before. Sure, you had your shared frustrations towards the way she managed the store occasionally, but the two of you had always gotten along, at least you thought you had. She had always seemed to appreciate your work ethic and she had never expressed any concern towards you before. But what if something had happened? What if she had overheard one of your conversations with Felix about you wishing you could just finish up this job and move on with your life and had gotten upset over it?

“No way, you were Hana’s favorite, so maybe she just wanted to give you a break.” Felix replied, pushing back any anxieties that had popped up from it. “You’ve covered a lot of shifts for her in the past, so maybe she just wanted to repay the favor here in the end, especially knowing how excited you are.”

“I don’t know.” You leaned back against the wall behind you, still trying to run the situation over in your head. Because of the delicate position you were in, you had only simply told her and your other coworkers you were moving. The only one who knew exactly where was Felix. “Maybe.”

“Well, regardless of what or how it happened, it looks like you now have the week off, so what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know.” In all your confusion over what had happened with your schedule, you had yet to even think about what that meant for you or what you might be able to do with it. “I guess I could move in early now, but…” You paused, the weight of the situation hitting you. You had known all along what was happening, and yet, it had never quite hit you like it did now.

“But, what? Don’t tell me you're getting second thoughts about it all again, because if you are, I will drive over to your place right now and drag your ass out of there whether you want me to or not.”

“No, no, it’s not that.” At least you didn’t think it was. You wanted to leave, you did, but why did it suddenly scare you so much? “And I’m not even there right now, so your drive would be wasted.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still unpacking, are you?” You could hear the pity in Felix’s voice, fully aware he still felt terrible for having to bail on you earlier in the day.

“Oh, no. I got some help from Mingi and Jongho and we finished up hours ago.” You quickly waved his concern away. “It’s just that I got invited to dinner and lost track of time.”

“Dinner?” You didn’t have to see Felix to know what expression had crossed his face, and you did your best to hide your blush regardless of the fact you couldn’t see each other.

“No, it’s not like that at all. I guess Wooyoung hosts dinners occasionally, so I just got roped into going as well.” Your body shifted, growing uncomfortable by the inclination his voice had held and lowering your voice. “There’s absolutely nothing going on and they’re just being friendly, Lix. Just friends hanging out with friends, nothing more.”

“Well, at least for now.”

“Oh, come on Felix, it’ll never come to that and you know it.” And despite the teasing tone his voice had taken, you could feel yourself beginning to sink into yourself, realizing how stupid it would be to ever think otherwise. “I don’t doubt that most of them are already in a relationship, and even if they’re not, they wouldn’t be interested in me. I mean, why the hell would they?”

“Well, if you ask me, they’d be dumb not to be.” Felix’s voice softened. “I mean, if I swung that way, I’d snag you right up before anyone else could have a chance to steal you. You’re the ultimate package, n/n. You’re sweet, kind, smart-”

“You’re only saying that because you’re required to as my best friend.”

And he had to be, didn’t he? After all, how could you believe something like that when everything in life had told you otherwise? The only person to ever express an interest in you before had swiftly shown you weren’t worth it and continued to tell you so for years. He had proved that there was something wrong with you, because otherwise, he would have cared enough about you to not break you completely.

“I know it might be hard to believe it at times, but you are worth it, y/n, truly. And one of these days you’ll finally meet someone who will help to teach you that, but for now, you’ll just have to take it from me. And I promise you, I’m not saying any of this because I’m required to, but rather because I believe it.”

“Oh, Felix.” You wiped your eyes, brushing away the tears that had fallen and biting back the apology that fell at the tip of your tongue. You had had this conversation or similar ones enough in the past to know Felix would only immediately refute it, saying there was absolutely no need to apologize. “I don’t know what I would do without you.” You repeated the words you had said to him so often, truly wondering why he had ever decided to become your friend with all the baggage that came with you. In all the time you had known him, he had been a bright light in your life and a steady force that had gotten you through some of the roughest times in your life.

You talked for a minute longer to help lift your spirits back up, confirming with Felix that you were in a fit state to drive and would head back to your boyfriend’s place for the night and start packing up so that you were ready and gone before he came home tomorrow night. You strayed in the hallway for a bit longer once the call was over, attempting to get your emotions under control once more and prayed that your eyes weren’t red from crying.

Taking one last breath and doing your best to compose yourself, you made your way back into Wooyoung’s apartment to thank him, Mingi, and Jongho one last time before heading back for the night.

“Everything alright?” Hongjoong was the first to address you at your return, but you shook off his concern as best you could, fully hoping the smile you wore met your eyes.

“Yeah, it was just some stuff that came up with work.” Your hands fiddled with the end of your jacket’s sleeves, shuffling awkwardly at the eyes that watched you. “Apparently my manager found someone to take the rest of my shifts for the week and was just letting me know.”

“So, you’re now done?” Mingi asked, turning from his conversation at the table with Yunho to address you.

You nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I’ll still need to drop a few things off sometime this week, but I’ll probably do that sometime tomorrow after I’m done packing.” You paused for a moment before continuing, hoping you wouldn’t make things awkward by leaving directly after the phone call. “Which I have quite a bit to do now in a short amount of time, so I should probably go ahead and leave for the night-”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Hongjoong asked, stopping you from heading back to the door when he took hold of your wrist. “You did have quite a bit of wine earlier, and I don’t think it would be safe for you to drive.”

“What are you talking…?” Your head tilted, confused as to what he was talking about. You hadn’t drank anything tonight because you had known you would be driving back home. You had made sure of it.

And yet, now that you thought about it, you weren’t so sure. You didn’t think you had drank anything, but then why was there an empty wine glass next to your plate alongside the faintest memories beginning to pop up of you drinking it. Hadn’t Wooyoung offered you a glass before dinner had begun, and you had accepted thinking it would be fine if you drank it early enough?

God, how could you have forgotten you had been drinking? Were you really that drunk that you had completely forgotten what you had been doing? And how could you, when you could so clearly feel the effects of the alcohol in your system now, leaving you unsteady on your feet. What had you been thinking earlier? You were in no state to be driving. Not when you were now struggling to stand on your own two feet.

“Right, um…” You struggled to get your thoughts together, suddenly aware of how hot it was in there.

“Woah, you okay there, pretty?” It was Yeosang behind you who spoke, grabbing hold of your shoulder to help steady you when you attempted to take your jacket back off, the action leaving you stumbling forward.

He, alongside Hongjoong, who still had a hold on your wrist, used their grip on you to guide you back down to your seat, leaving your vision racing momentarily. When your eyes managed to focus once more, you saw Hongjoong leaning over you, his close presence doing little to calm your racing thoughts, and only serving to scramble them more than ever. And as you looked up into his eyes, all your mind could focus on was how breathtakingly beautiful he was alongside the deep yearning to feel his lips pressed against your own.

“Why don’t I take you back to your room?” His hand brushed the hair out of your eyes, expression painstakingly sweet. “And then maybe we can go over and help you pack the rest of your stuff in the morning when you’re in a better mindset, yeah?”

You didn’t hear exactly what he had said, your brain too scrambled to comprehend what exactly was going on, but you nodded your head in agreement anyways, ready and more than willing to do whatever it was he asked of you.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

taglists in reblogs :)

#ateez #ateez x reader #vampire ateez #ateez fanfic #ot8 x reader #hongjoong x reader #seonghwa x reader #yunho x reader #yeosang x reader #mingi x reader #jongho x reader #san x reader #wooyoung x reader #yandere ateez

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karkkidoeswriting · 1 year ago

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BEAR CASTLE CYCLE CAST

Faerathos Cor Mantgamia

"Physics makes sense. It's hard and complicated, sure, but if I study it enough, learn enough, there is a truth I can find and understand. Then all the pieces fall into their places. People though..." Faerathos sighed and took a long sip from his wine. "The more I learn, the less I understand."

Faerathos is the oldest child of the previous Duke of Cabalusia, and publicly known to be the only surviving one. After the civil war, where Mantgamia clan was ousted from their power and largely killed, Faerathos was taken as a hostage to the Imperial Court as a deterrent for any surviving sympathizers and especially his uncle, who survives in exile. While he has been imprisoned in the court for 13 years, he is treated as a quest and has been able to pursue his passion in science and become a physicist. He has not been allowed political freedom though, for being labeled as a traitor, but certainly his support for the republican cause is not doing him any favors. He is an utopian dreamer, intelligent, empathetic, stubborn and kind of a mess.

The court, where he is under constant surveillance, was a lonely and hostile environment to grow up in, but he at least has his uncle, his aunt's widow, sir Marcus K'irhinzaham with him. Marcus became his unofficial guardian and has since tried to keep him safe, which turned out to be not the easiest mission. Faerathos is impulsive and prone to self-destructive behavior, which often puts him in less than safe situations. Not least of them committing actual treason and poking around court secrets. Marcus is like a father to him, but his protectiveness often clashes with Faerathos' lack of self-preservation. Faerathos has also found an unlikely friend in the young emperor, Augustus, who also feels like a prisoner in the court under his mother's iron rule. (And who Faerathos may or may not be in love with.) However, he also has an on-and-off affair with Augustus' wife, empress Eirdene, which is very much treason. Augustus' marriage is miserable and he cheats on his wife as much as he has time to, but Faerathos still hates himself for betraying his only friend. Despite that and that the affair itself is very much toxic and definitely not good for him, or perhaps because of it, he still always comes back for more.

He has an insatiable desire to make sense of the world, including the seemingly senseless civil war. His clan was accused of conspiring the murder of the previous emperor, which according to the official narrative, caused the civil war. Faerathos doesn't buy it. And when the events of the war are given a critical look, some questions arise. Why would the Mantgamias kill the aging emperor and risk everything, when a Mantgamia (on mother's side) was first in line to the imperial throne? Why did Faerathos' uncle, who was executed for the emperor's murder along Faerathos' aunt and cousin, leave a cryptic message about knowing too much and a diary with dozens of torn off pages? And most importantly, how and why was there an ancient colossal dragon in the siege of the Bear Castle?

Asking those questions is dangerous business under the authoritarian rule of the empress dowager Verginia. As he dives into the secrets of the court, he finds dangerous magic, assassinations, political power struggles, cults and ancient gods.

The Oldest | The Second Oldest | The Second Youngest | The Youngest

Tag list under the cut. Let me know if you want to be added or removed!

BCC tag list: @siarven @worldbuildng @emilyoracle @frvnwrites @kainablue @writingrosesonneptune @contes-de-rheio @faelanvance @outpost51 @dotr-rose-love

#writeblr #writing #my writing #fantasy #writers of tumblr #my wips #my ocs #writers on tumblr #original writing #my characters #moodboard #aesthetics #bcc #bear castle cycle #faerathos #bcc aesthetics

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sirensea14 · 5 months ago

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I hate the fact that i need to divert a bit from my usual content, guys. But i have no choice but to do this😭 its the best i can do in this situation as a teenager who is scared for war. This post is a clearer explanation of the theories I mentioned in my previous post .

(i will provide translation for certain sentences)

(red italic highlight means user in tiktok)

Purple text means my comment

Translation:

Jeo; What if she(Alice Guo)'s being used as a distraction of the [Chinese] government to the [Filipino] people so that it would not be obvious that they are doing something in private? (Ur not sure)

Bat mo natanong; The fact that that when the issue about Alice Guo started, China suddenly became active [and aggressive towards our navy] ☠️☠️☠️

misskonasiya: while the [Philippine] government is busy bc of Alice Guo's case, china is already preparing☠️

Kai: it makes sense, since after the case of Alice Guo, China became aggressive too

Translation:

R (replying to destenee_.) : maybe the secret agreement with china was true. Based from his [prev Pres. Duterte] statement that was shown on tv "that's just water" lmao

Translation:

angel; and i dont know why but it seems like there's a connection [Of this WPS situation] to Inday Sara[current vice pres.]'s resignation[resigning from a position in DepEd or Department of Education]

[(user); connecting the dots fr]

Angel (replying to user); i also read somewhere that there's lots of chinese [people] in Cataduanes😭😭 [Cataduanes is an island province located in Luzon]

destenee_. ; its also suspicious that the news went crazy about inday Sara spending millions [of pesos] in 11 days, like??? And her[VP Sara] suddenly resigning smells fishy, its like she's stepping away from the government to wash—

destenee_. : —herself once war starts or whatever happens, she could easily say "i dont have anything to do with that" bcuz what if after [prev. Pres] Duterte stepped out of the government, he warned Sara that smth will happen then and there, this and that—

Translation:

miss jaii ; the sole reason why the Duterte family wants to separate Mindanao from Luzon and Visayas is bcoz Duterte and Chinese president [Xi Jinping] had a secret gentleman's agreement that the Philippines will be given to China

miss jaii ; but the Mindanao island will be separated because they[Duterte family] wants to build their own [country]

Translation

(user) : what if Duterte called the chinese pres to ask help in a way of causing harassment to the west philippine sea so that Marcos [our surrent president] will feel pressured in the situation and then he will resign, prompting for sara + (cont. in my own words and understanding; to take over the position of president)

Translation:

"wps can be yours[china] but you're only mine[referring to a gf or bf or crush]"

I appreciate the possessiveness, but youre so petty bcuz u dont even have a label on that person (hayup ka kase)

Translations:

"just give the WPS [to china]"

"that sea is more important than our lives[?]" (This is said/read in a more insulting/harsh way)

"what if you just give it[wps] up"

"[theyre] thinking about the sea more than the million lives on line]

"give it[wps] up"

Source: tiktok user @ysabel.777

If you dont trust this source as much as i do, then go ahead and check out the tag #west philippine sea and/or #atin ang west philippine sea. Users out there certainly explains the situation best than i do.

Or if you want, you can do your own research about this situation.

Do note that these are SIMPLY THEORIES. Theories that possibly connect the dots of the chain of events happening here😭 I really cant believe that im living the day I post shit about wps. China has just been much more aggressive towards us, i cant keep silent about this especially that i have a platform to post to. This is my voice, and im screaming whatever the hell i can to make y'all aware of this situation.

#Amin ang West Philippine Sea‼️🇵🇭🇵🇭

#atin ang west philippine sea #west philippine sea #the philippines #filipino #spread awareness #p.s. my head still hurts but idc #i just founf the tiktok post and i had the urge to post this to update about the prev post i did #im so upset about the fact that i need to post about this when all of my planned content was just bullshitting memes and art #mostly art but u get it #please be aware of this situation at least give it a little bit of attention #im doing this bc if what i fear is going to happen well obviously I'll fell silent #and if i did fell silent then these posts will be the reason why #but hopefully in the name of God. war will NEVER happen #🙏🙏🙏🙏 amen

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inafieldofdaisies · 1 year ago

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WIP Wednesday | Tagged by @euryalex some days back to share a WIP ❤️

Moving onto a John x Sabrina chapter now that chapter 12 is finally posted.

The morning after his midnight run-in with Sabrina John left the ranch early, somehow successfully managing to avoid another risky encounter despite her irregular sleep schedule. He had spent as little time in the kitchen as he could, feeling on edge as he made himself a coffee, the sight of the spot where she had been sitting hours prior involuntarily dragging his thoughts back to her and how her hands had felt on his skin. He couldn't imagine having to deal with her if she was going to appear like she had the previous day, wearing a shirt that refused to stay in place, or how much willpower it would take him to not finish the challenge they had started. He knew it was necessary to keep at a distance, especially since he had been so close to giving into his urges the night before and that if she hadn't left the way she had, he no doubt would have lost himself in her completely upon the very first taste. A part of him whispered how if he had done that maybe, just maybe he'd emerge as the man he was before she had stepped a foot in his region. It won't work. Just how moving her into the ranch only made things worse.. All he could do was attempt to resist, to stay on the path chosen for him because no matter how much he tried, he couldn't bring himself to put a stop to whatever was put in motion at the night of the arrest. I'm being tested, it's what Joseph would say. I won't give in. He wholeheartedly wished he had as little trouble as Sabrina seemed to have at reigning in the temptation. Mathias was waiting on him outside, wearing indistinctive clothes yet again just as he had ordered to ensure Savannah wouldn't get frightened by the presence of a "Peggie". He fought back a smile at the memory of her approaching Bennett with curiousity and how direct she always ended up being, asking whatever questions she had on her mind and pushing for answers with the same conviction her sister possessed.

"Good morning.", John could tell just by the man's face he was bearing what could only be considered unpleasant news and the sun hadn't even risen. "I'm listening, Mathias. You better not further ruin my already awful morning." "Boss. Joseph called, asked for update on the Sinner.", Mathias nodded towards the house. "Deputy Donovan.", the correction slipped from his lips, shocking both of them, John recovered quickly, refusing to think too much of why he didn't like Sabrina being called a Sinner, "I assume you followed my instructions." "Yes. I told him to talk directly to you." "Good. Anything else?" "I'm sure Wyatt would be more than capable to fill you in on the progress with Deputy Hartley. But… it's not looking good, boss. The Sinners find him inspiring." John wanted to laugh at that, at the idea that Calahan Hartley was making headway, turning people into fighters, but he knew there was something about the Sinner that drew everyone in, a reason why Sabrina valued him, to a point she risked getting caught to ensure he escapes. Only he still failed to see what everyone else did in him and why Joseph considered him worthy and pushed for the man's passage into the Project when all he symbolized was chaos and danger. To Eden. To their people. I'd find out what's so special about him when he's in my chair. "He's not going to destroy everything we've built, Mathias. I'm heading out.", he strode to his truck, calling out as he climbed in, "And be more welcoming towards the child. I hear again she's been upset by your treatment, there will be consequences." Mathias nodded, as John slammed the door shut and turned on the engine, the radio coming to life and reminding him of how Sabrina had switched it on on their way to her cabin. A smile broke free at how she had found his song amusing, that it had pulled out a genuine laughter out of her, followed by brazen remarks he would have considered as contempt, had they come from anyone else. He sneaked a final fleeting look at the ranch, eyes focusing on the drawn curtains of her room as he turned the truck around and headed to his Gate.

In minutes, he was parking in front of the bunker, his men greeting him, their smiles and cheerful address not quite reflected in their tired gazes. Morning greetings and "Praised be the Father, John." resonated on the way to his office. Wyatt was waiting for him by the door, coffee in hand, which he passed to John the second he neared him. The man was younger than Mathias and took on his role in the rare occasions when Bennett was too sick to perform his duties.

"Morning, brother." "Wyatt.", John replied as he headed into his office and took a seat at the desk, sipping his second coffee for the day. After Sabrina had left him completely hot and bothered in the kitchen in the same manner that any dream involving her did, not even the recommended by her "cold shower" had proven successful at getting rid of his desire and thanks to his refusal to cave in and have another repeat of his weak moment in her bathroom, he had ended up lying wide awake the whole night, knowing only trouble awaited him on the other side. Maybe I should give in once, it's impossible she'd ever compare to the wretched fantasies I'm being tested with. Certainly, the urges would die down then. But he couldn't, he shouldn't. It was the sin within him talking. "I wanted to ask, is brother Mathias alright? He's rarely been absent like this…" "He's just been tasked with something elsewhere. You're taking off his workload until then. That's all you need to know, Wyatt." "Understood.", the man gave him a strange look, like he was dreading a confrontation upon his next words. "Ask away, Wyatt." "What do you want me to do with the bloody uniform?", he pointed at the leather couch where Sabrina's clothes from the crash sat neatly folded, "Should I throw it away, it has sat there awhile…" "I will take care of it.", John narrowed his eyes in warning. "Understood." Wyatt was still standing by the door, looking on edge as he patted his unrully dark beard, so he gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk, "Sit down, I was told you have a report for me. Let's hear it."

"We're proceeding with the Cleansings as planned, things here have been quiet since the Sinners tried to breach their way in.", the man took a seat, his brown eyes hardened when he added, "The Deputy has been even more restless in the day you were away, two of our outposts are now in the hands of the Resistance. The bodies we've managed to recover… all seemed to have been through a carnage." "They've sacrificed their lives for Eden, Wyatt. We knew there will be a price to be paid, that not all of them would embrace what's coming or join us peacefully. Which strongholds did he take?" Hartley was running around claiming what was John's, trying to hinder their progress in the Reaping, yet Joseph expected him to accept the Sinner. To answer to his violence with love and patience. Wyatt winced, "Kellett Cattle Co and Sunrise Farm. He's clearly securing locations around Fall's end, expanding further each day. They've been successful at keeping us out of there so far." "You make sure the security around the other outposts is tight. Double the men if you have to, instruct them keep their guards up, even when they're peeing. Hartley steps a foot in, they make sure he's caught alive. Set up road checks, distribute his picture to every patrol, double the posters with his face if you have to. Whoever delivers him to me, can expect a raise in the ranks." John gripped the edge of the desk, keeping his temper in check as he took a deep breath, waiting for Matthias' subordinate to say more. He was dreading to hear what else Wyatt had to report, it seemed like since the Reaping had started everything that could go awry had or was about to. "The Sinner has been, uh, blowing up our silos, brother. Leaving notes addressed to you by the sites and on the bodies we've managed to recover from the capture parties…" "What notes?" "I'd rather not quote them, if you don't mind. They're not… good-natured." John gritted his teeth, "Do you have them?" Wyatt nodded, "But I think it might be best if you don't read-" "You bring them to me." "Understood." "What else, Wyatt?" "Joseph called this morning, right before Mathias left, he took care of the call." John drummed his fingers on the desk, close to pulling Sabrina's knife out. Holding it in his hands felt like he had her around, for the same reason he hadn't been able to throw away her uniform. The thoughts of her offered a distraction from the violent urges bubbling at the mentions of Hartley and the mess he was creating, "I will deal with my brother personally. You have any good news for me or just messes to address?" Wyatt smiled, "I do. As you know, we marked Rae-Rae for Reaping as instructed and we're waiting for your call to take control of her farm." "We gave her enough chances to turn over the land and that dog to us voluntarily. Tell the capture party they have the green light to proceed as planned. Rae-Rae is to be brought here just like all the others, her Confession has been postponed long enough." "And the dog?" "Upon capture, have it shipped to the Whitetails right away. Jacob would ensure it becomes an asset to our cause." "Understood." "Anything else?" Wyatt shook his head, "The first Sinner for the day would be waiting for their Confession when you're ready, brother." John waved him off, picking up his now cold coffee, "I will be right there. And Wyatt, the Sinner's notes, have them on my desk when I return."

Tagging @socially-awkward-skeleton @direwombat @clicheantagonist @josephseedismyfather @adelaidedrubman @thesingularityseries @detectivelokis @nightbloodbix @aceghosts @madparadoxum @vampireninjabunnies-blog @theelderhazelnut @purplehairsecretlair @dumbassdep @shegetsburned @poisonedtruth @cassietrn @voidika @harmonyowl @v0idbuggy @strangefable @schoute @jacobsneed @strafethesesinners @g0dspeeed @trench-rot @nightwingshero @josephslittledeputy and anyone with something to share ❤️

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elkenbulwark · 1 year ago

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@thiefcant cont.

" nah, no one asked me to watch y'. i'm a curious sort myself when i see someone wandering away from the others. " he perches on a piece of fallen brick and mortar that was probably once a living room wall, soundless as he slips onto the perch and looks birvor up and down in a way not unlike a magpie examining a particularly interesting shiny rock. there was something that always lingered in rixian's expression that spoke of detached curiosity, ever since he had crawled out of the zhentarim hideout beneath the burning waukeen's rest. " i meant it. the music is nice. i always had an interest in playing myself, but these fingers are best suited to popping open locks and plucking things outta pockets. " he waves his hands a bit as an example, the hidden pockets of his gloves jingling as he did. " what song is that? i'm not familiar with it. must not be from 'round waterdeep. "

The explanation was simple enough, and though he's somewhat grateful for that, he can't help but shake the motivation behind tailing him to the ruins above the camp was somehow rooted in securing self preservation given the way the half-orc had stormed off from yet another shoving match between him and his brother that ended with him shoving the other a bit harder than intended into a stack of Gale's books. And while Ren had rounded on him shortly before assisting Gale with the mess, Birvor had taken the cut of eyes around the camp as his hint to hole up some place away from the ire of the evening, much as he desired to grasp his brother's jaw and turn it about in search of injuries he may have sustained from the lapse in his own judgement.

"Yeah-? Well," The half-orc grumbled, taking note of the tag-along's sizing up of him as he tugged the lute in closer to his stomach whilst the splotched ends of oversized fingers worked surprisingly assured of themselves tuning the bent thing. "If you're naught but lookin' for more commotions to spice up a bland eve'nin, I'd turn your nose elsewhere." Playing a lute or any instruments often drew crowds, and his outbursts like the one below were cut from a similar vein in the way that both a bad performance in both music and manners were capable of driving him away to sulk about it in private.

Sparing his company a side long glance while his fingers continued to twist and twine, he murmured with the tamed tone of one at least somewhat calmed by the crash of water upon the rocks. "-and these hands are bet'r suited for knockin' folks into chasms. Just 'bout any trade can get beaten well enough into ya. Ask anyone ya know what's named 'Jack' how mis'rable they feel on account of it." Jack of All Trades and what not.

"...must ev'ry thing have a name for it?" He grunted after a moment's more of fiddling before he tucked the instrument's edge under his sternum again for a better grip as he strummed a few notes of the previous melody, though its origin failed him in memory over the muscle variety. "You and that wizard down there muck about from Waterdeep, do ya?"

#tiefcant #long post #//! :j he has been voted off the island ty for visiting lmao

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shinakazami1 · 1 year ago

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I am reblogging this from myself instead of Indigo as I want this to be a closure to this whole situation, as different things from the original post were brought up and I do think they deserve a response.

This will, however, be the last post I make on this matter.

TSPCC has become a semi-public server (as the link was shared multiple times publicly on Twitter) and a huge part - 300+ people - of the fandom is there. If this were done in private, I would not come out either.

However, as I have been harassed and asked about it by people, I do consider making a public statement myself was appropriate, especially when I was banned from the server on 28.07 of this year and assumed that it was no longer relevant.

I shared the link to my original post with Indigo and asked for clarification that I am not a groomer, but I have not received a private response from them.

But I am not looking for an apology anymore. I want to only state my clarifications about the newly mentioned parts.

1. Sharing NSFW Fic Online (cont.)

Had I made mistakes? YES. I stated that in my previous statement and said, I am sorry and I want to change.

But I also have proof of me already acting upon it.

With the Twitter response - while it might seem obvious with their "school era" in the name - I use a mobile phone typically (as many people know I am mostly a phone artist) and this is how I see their username:

I simply did not think about checking their full username or bio. I will try my best to check that better in the future.

However, I did so when someone pointed it out to me, and I acted on it immediately and deleted the message I planned on doing before it.

The same thing happened with the under-tagged fic.

The talk in the screenshots below happened a bit before I was notified by a friend that Indigo made the TSPCC announcement about me.

I posted a link to the fic with the same TW in another server and a user informed me of my mistake. I planned on deleting the public links after my study session but before I could do that, I was told about the announcement and tried to read all the messages I'd received first at the time.

This is how that talk went:

I have already admitted in the first statement that I had incorrectly tagged the fic and shouldn't have posted the links on my socials. But I changed the tags after this and added a warning later as I thought that a tag were enough - but all that was needed was someone directly telling me it wasn’t.

2. Filk (cont.)

I had not sent the actual Filk draft anywhere besides a private server.

EDIT: I've decided to let adult people read the unfinished draft to see what it really is though but more on it in this post:

It was only ever an inside joke between my friends and while sentences from an unfinished draft have been taken out of context.

I can give more insight into something else though.

One of the TSPCC moderators (but not yet at the time of the screenshot) had messaged about it on the 8th of July.

(I censored the minor's username as it's a different handle than in Indigo's post)

By 'knows the story', I meant only knowing the name and the general premise like from the previous statement.

In Indigo's post, the messages are from the same day as the notice I received, as I stopped messaging about Filk anywhere publicly as this message made me realise my crack fic could be seen in a different lighting than intended.

So, at the time I decided then to not discuss it publicly again nor did I really intend on finishing it. I also decided not to bring this up on the server to not bring more unwanted attention to it and since at the time, that user wasn't a mod, I also didn't think I had to mention that decision to them.

3) Conclusion

I am stating this publicly as I do not think staying silent about this would be appropriate, especially when I see my mistakes and have been trying to change them. While I wish this would have been dealt with privately and I understand the motivation behind the original announcement, I will not discuss this matter further.

I wanted only to respond to things that I felt were not mentioned before or out of context and state my position on them.

Thank you for reading.

I’ve received notice that there was a callout on me in the Stanley Parable Creator’s Club server and I would like to address it as I am a bit tired of people talking behind my back. I wasn't contacted by anyone from the server directly about the issue.

The specific accusations were that I openly discussed a fic with NSFW themes to a minor, shared NSFW fic online without properly warning it for minors, and encouraged a self insert ship of one of my Narrator designs with a minor.

These accusations are false, or blown entirely out of proportion. I have never intended to hurt people nor endanger minors and based on screenshots I've received, people have been spreading even more extreme misinformations, like me being a groomer. I want to tell the story with the mentioned earlier things, in hopes to clear up this matter and stop the harassment me and people received.

1) Sharing NSFW Fic Online

I have been informed that I posted a link to my fic, "A broken promise", without a proper warning.

I did put appropriate warning in the tags, however I did forget about archive warnings options and I misjudged that the T rating would suffice. I also had only mentioned the rape in tags and not in the ao3 warning. I will be more careful when publishing work in the future.

I've deleted the links on my posts and privated the work, as I do not want anyone else to get possibly harmed.

2) Filk

I was informed my never written fic was discussed in the discord as well with a completely incorrect premise and I would like to mention the idea to give people more insight into what it actually is supposed to be, despite the fact that it was never actually written.

Filk (Fernator's milk) is based on a joke someone made from another fic of mine, "Bon appetit 1.5 - Chicken soup is served " where Stanley buys milk and pickles, and we called it pilk. Somebody made a joke that this is like a pregnancy craving and I decided that that would make a funny CRACK fic premise. Again, I never have written this fic, and the only place it ever existed was in a series of messages in a private discord.

The whole point of crack fics is that it has a stupid premise. In here, it was one of my Narrator's, Fernator, telling Stanley he would make him pregnant. I know that this sounds like the problem, but that was just a premise.

What really happens in the fic is that Fernator tells Stanley about human reproduction but after that, the majority of the fic is a sfw adventure on how viruses, bacteria, and plants reproduce.

With bacteria, Stanley just gets copied, with viruses, Fernator creates a computer virus and it doesn't work so they move on, and with plant, the title filk comes in which is milk with fern spores in it. It ends up just in Stanley's foot. The end goal was for them to just get the cutout Baby as their child and then, the main fic that I talked about would end. After a while, they would realise they didn't really succeed and would try to make something, pouring filk onto Fernator and creating Pickle Rick.

The accusations of this being a non con confuse me as Stanley is happy to be brought onto this journey and there are no actual sexual activities involved in this not written project.

3) Art with minor

One person was very supportive of one of my Narrators, Jester (they drew him a bit), and even started to call him their husband. Since they're my friend, I wanted to make them happy, so I drew something I deemed wholesome and platonic. They also took my drawing this way.

In my eyes at the time, when I made the art, I never thought of this 'ship' as anything other than admiration for a design.

However, that context got lost when they reposted my art on that server with my permission.

I now see how people could think otherwise and I will be far more wary about this topic in the future.

However, while the announcement didn't use the exact word 'groomer', it highly implied it. I feel wronged for that as I received a lot of harassment in my direct messages.

I would like a statement and an apology from the announcers because their words caused a lot of harm.

4) Conclusion

I want to finish this off with being honest about the mistakes I've made of not properly checking sfw spaces - which started all this - and talking about suggestive matters within them. The fanfiction link was certainly a slip up but I will be more careful in the future of what I post.

However - I also want to say that it's not okay to harass people who got involved in this.

I myself have received false accusations already and seen my work be misinterpreted. I only learnt about this through buds giving me a notice and I do ask, if a similar situation would ever occur, which I don't plan on, to message me directly first about my mistake.

In the future, I will remember to double check where I discuss my fic ideas and I'll do everything in my power for this situation not to repeat.

Thank you for reading.

#i don't know how to tag this post #Tspcc #The Stanley Parable creators club #I forgot to say this tho #Thanks to everybody to reached out and showed support.#I appreciate every single one of you

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cafeinthemoon · 3 years ago

Text

Don't Leave Home - Chapter VI

Chapter 6/?

Wordcount 2,8k

Title Something I Cannot Break

Fandom Jujutsu Kaisen

Pairing Toji Fushiguro X reader

Read the previous chapters

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5

Symbols ⭕ . ➕ . 💛

Warning (s) The attempt of robbery, harassment, threat of violence

Tagging @brumous11 (if you want to be tagged in any of my stories, just send an ask or a message 😉)

N. A. So yeah, finally a brief demonstration of Toji's capacities! It was so exciting to write this scene 😭 It might open the way for closer, intimate interactions between him and reader, and longer conversations as well.

About the doctor's diagnosis: infections (food poisoning, specifically speaking) use to have vomit as a symptom, and I considered including this detail in Megumi's condition, but I thought it would be too much, so I left it out of the descriptions (and I also hope it doesn't affect their credibility).

I'm sorry for posting this note in the previous chapter (it became some sort of spoiler about the baby's condition) so let's pretend this is the first time you're seeing this okay

Hope you enjoy this chapter despite that :)

The doctor was gentle enough to take time in calm you down before starting the procedure itself. He talked to you both and then to Megumi, who cried minutes before entering his room and now was quiet, staring at that old man with large glasses and a friendly smile, trying to decide if he was going to trust him or not among ll the strange people he saw since his arrival.

When you were all at will with the situation, the doctor asked you about his symptoms and his health history. In this latter, Toji was the one with the best conditions to speak: he described his first weeks of life and his current circumstances, explaining why his situation was making you so worried. On the other hand, you told him what he was feeling and the measures you took to relief his discomfort. The doctor approved them and finally started examining the baby.

He did it in calm, careful manners, understanding how stressful it must have been for a child to leave his house at that hour and stay in an unknown place in the company of people he never seen before, all of this while staying sick, at the same time assuring the people responsible for him that whatever the problem he had now, it was going to be fixed and they were going to see their boy healthy again.

He returned to his chair and spoke with you for the second time.

- According to what you both told me and what I could observe in him, my conclusion is that he caught an infection.

- Infection? – Toji asked – Is it too serious?

- No. I would say its gravity is from low to medium – the doctor stated – It is not an uncommon situation for children at his age, but most people don’t know about the first things they’re supposed to do to help the child, which is crucial for their recovery. However, not only he is a strong boy, but also you have been taking excellent care of him, and this will make all the difference.

He then pulled his notepad and started writing a list of measures for you to take alongside the medication, which you could start giving to him that night already. Now you and Toji could breathe in relief: the mystery about Megumi’s sickness was solved, and you had a solution for it in your hands; even the baby seemed more relaxed with it.

However, the surprises of the day weren’t over.

You stood up and thanked the doctor for his services, but you both stopped in your way toward the door when you heard his comment:

- I’m sure Megumi-chan will be alright soon, especially when he has such dedicated parents to watch over him!

Your cheeks burned. Should you correct the doctor or wait for Toji to do it? You glanced at him, hoping he was going to undo the mistake, but almost scolded him with what you saw instead: no shame could be sensed in his manners, and he even dared glance at you – of course he wouldn’t miss the opportunity of appreciate your embarrassment, even more when he could directly contribute to it. You saw his scar curving itself in a growing smirk and thought you were going to act yourself…

But before you could open your mouth, you heard him talking to the older man in a serious tone you weren’t expecting to hear that time:

- I guess I don’t deserve much credit in this, doctor. Despite being his babysitter, y/n made all the hard work here. I’ve been out for this entire day and only arrived here right after her.

You bit your lip to hold back the words you were about to say and the fact that Toji has surprised you one more time: never you would expect this to be the way he would choose to clarify things.

After looking from him to you and then back to him, not disguising all his incredulity, the doctor cleaned his throat and apologized for his mistake, but you replied that it was okay. You thanked him again for his work and left the room.

***

Megumi slept during the entire travel on the train, less crowded now. The experience of taking serum to prevent dehydration and waiting for his father to solve minor bureaucratic stuff at the reception before he could finally go back home was something the little boy would certainly want to forget. Before leaving the hospital, you changed him one last time in the children’s area while Toji talked to a nurse about the medication prescribed and their usual prices, then you met at the exit and headed to the station.

On the train, you took the seat at the window and he had the one beside you, at the corridor. You had your head turned to the glass for a while and your neck started to ache; you looked at the opposite side and startled when your eyes met Toji’s over you. He didn’t blink, but looked away suddenly, not even trying to hide the fact that he has been staring at you for some time until that moment. You took a deep breath and passed your hand on your neck, massaging the aching spot.

- You okay? – you heard him ask.

- Yes. Just a bit tired. And what about you?

He raised his eyebrows.

- Same, I guess – he sighed – You know, I had to run to get to the hospital at that hour. I wish I had seen your message earlier.

Your instinct of making amends was still awake despite your lack of disposition.

- You don’t need to worry about that now – you looked down at the sleeping child in your lap – We know what’s going on with him now, and also know what to do. He’s a strong boy. He will recover soon.

- I know. Still…

And he shut his mouth for various minutes then.

After glancing at him a few times to make sure he didn’t fell asleep too, you spoke again.

- And what about the medication?

He took the prescription’s sheet from his pocket and unfolded it, showing the list to you.

- It’s just two items, and none of them are hard to find. A common drugstore is the right place to get them.

You recognized one of them.

- That’s true. And this second one is really effective, by the way. We used to have it at home when I was a kid. It has countless uses. That doctor knew what he was doing.

Toji giggled and put the sheet back on his pocket. After that, there was no meaningful talking between you, under the excuse of not waking the baby up after that tiring day, but you knew you just had too much to process on your own before exchanging any ideas regarding it. At least in this you were similar, you thought. You were so used to carry things and not count on anyone that you needed some time to learn how one accepts help.

The good thing about that was the fact that no explanation was needed in this sense thanks to this mutual understanding of yours. It was weird to think of it that way, but it was what you needed to get through that night and keep your loneliness at bay.

***

While you walked up the stairs at the subway’s exit, you suggested that Toji would take Megumi directly to home while you would go to the nearest drugstore and buy the medicine. He was going to refuse and state that he could do it right now, but you argued that Megumi needed to rest.

- I know where it is and it’s not so far from here. I can go and take them for you quickly. And he needs to go home as soon as possible, right? It was a long day for him.

Toji licked his lips, giving up the argument.

- For all of us, I guess – he sighed and took some cash from his pocket – Fine. You go to the drugstore, we go home.

He took the baby in his arms and you took your bag from his shoulder, then put the money in an outside pocket on it. Before you left, he asked you to buy some bandages and antiseptic solution for him. You frowned at this request and he gave you the reason before you could ask why.

- I just remembered I’m running out of them. I need them when I come back from my hardest days at work.

You wouldn’t discuss anything after hearing the word work. You nodded and followed your way to the drugstore as he turned his back and took the baby home.

***

The drugstore was almost empty when you entered it, except for the client already on the counter, ready to leave, and the attendant that greeted you with a nod. You chose the stuff Toji asked for and showed the prescription to the pharmacist, who was quick to find the medicine and to give them to you.

You went to the counter and then left the place, happy to find everything you needed and to see that they kept them at reasonable prices.

Toji’s address was just two streets away from the drugstore, so you would reach his house in at least five minutes. That was long enough for you to put the items’ change in your bag and to check your phone to see if there was a message or a missed call. You found a text from Mari asking if you could bring something for her in the next day and two calls from unknown numbers, probably promotional stuff.

You walked fast through the empty streets while deleting the call history and replied to Mari. You were re-reading the message to check for typos before sending it, a habit of yours that you’ve developed when you started your studies in Human Resources and that would take most of your concentration no matter the place or the circumstances.

And thanks to it, you didn’t notice you had company when you were just meters from your destiny.

- Alone at this hour, babygirl?

You stopped and gasped when you heard the harsh voice coming from nowhere. You took your eyes off the phone and looked at all directions, finally finding its owner leaning on the wall at your left, ahead your spot. He left his place and came to you with erratic steps; was he drunk or under the effect of other things you weren’t willing to guess? Probably. Damn it, that was a problem: you were almost reaching the place you were supposed to go to and this idiot had to show up exactly at that moment. But you wouldn’t have any advantages in case you tried to fight or pass by him; the only thing you could do now was to run back to where you came from.

But you didn’t have time for this, neither you could think of anything else, for the man was fast and in a second he was before you; besides, he didn’t have his hands empty: he raised his right hand and through the streetlight’s pale glow you saw the sharp shape of a knife.

- Why don’t you come closer so we can talk – he mumbled; and realizing you already noticed the blade, – No? Give me your phone then! I’ll have good use for it!

You took a step back when the stranger tried to grab the phone from you and this infuriated him.

- Hey! Where are you going?! I said give it to me!

He moved his knife at your direction and you almost stumbled. This slowed your reaction and took away the chance you had to leave. There was no escaping for you now. You shut your eye tight...

But noticed that his hand never reached you. You looked again and saw someone grabbing his wrist from behind. The man froze in his spot with the unexpected response from the shadows behind him; the dread in his disoriented eyes was such that it fell into yours, stopping any reactions you could have had.

- Easy, man. That’s not how you come to a girl.

You almost smiled when you recognized Toji’s voice, but the realization that nor you or the stranger sensed his arrival kept your lips closed. Yes, you’ve already noticed how quiet he could be when he wanted, but was he really able to go unnoticed like that? It was too much, even for you.

Once he woke up from his startle, the man tried to pull his hand out of his grip, but Toji just sighed and held it tighter, as if the guy was yet to understand the foolishness of trying to escape from him; he tried to release himself a second time, but the grip only increased until he moaned and let go of the knife. Toji passed his free arm over his shoulder and with the same hand around the man’s wrist, in a way your eyes couldn’t follow, he caught the object and examined it for a second, his scar twisting in disgust for the low quality of the blade, tiny and insignificant in his hand.

- You call this a weapon? – he clicked his tongue – You should be ashamed.

With his free hand, he forced the man to turn to him and grabbed his collar. The man mumbled unintelligible words of desperation and you considered closing your eyes or just leave, for you wouldn’t like to witness what was going to happen, but to your surprise no violence was seen in the next moments.

Instead, something scarier took place.

Without thinking of how unnatural it could seem for the ones watching, Toji squashed the knife between his fingers as if it was a paper sheet. You didn’t understand why he was doing that until the object started to curve itself to his grip’s pressure. You thought your eyes were caught in some kind of illusion: was the knife just a toy or was it a real one, crushing under his strength? No, it wasn’t a toy. What happened when it broke couldn’t let you be deceived: with a sudden crack, both the knife’s base and its blade broke in small pieces. Toji opened his palm and the rest of them fell on his feet, the clinging of the metal echoing in the silent surroundings.

However, that was not what made you gasp: you turned your attention to his face and the line of teeth out in an imitation of a smile – something different from the grin you were used to see – sent a chill all over your body. The fear he was provoking in that man, the incredulity in your gaze – he was enjoying all of this. For a moment, you remembered of the first time you saw him, of how scary he was just by standing there, his green eyes being enough to shut your mouth and force you into place. That was the real Toji – and you couldn’t believe you just forgot about this. But now you were reminded of it in the most abrupt way, and this time you wouldn’t forget it.

The man was trembling so violently that it was only thanks to Toji that he was still standing; no sound left his mouth, but his lips wouldn’t stop shaking and you thought that if you came closer, you would be able to hear his teeth gritting.

Toji tightened his hand around his collar and brought him closer.

- Now leave – the grin faded as he spoke – And don't show up again unless you bring something I cannot break.

The stranger shook his head in agreement. Once he was free, he didn’t waste time and started dragging himself away from the other man; he stumbled near you, and you stepped back to open the way for him, who passed without even glancing at your direction and disappeared in the next corner.

You were still looking at the shadows ahead, in which the man has entered, your feet glued on the spot, your mouth dry. You didn’t realize that you were trembling as much as the stranger until you felt Toji surrounding you with his arm, covering your sight of the street and making you turn to him. What you did next was instinctive: your hands seeked for support and found it when they grabbed his shirt, while you hid your face in it. He passed his other arm around you, bringing you even closer, smelling your hair. You thought he was going to kiss the top of your head, but he didn’t do it.

Unlike you were expecting, his voice was clean, composed when he spoke to you.

- Am I late? Did he do something to you?

- No – you mumbled against his chest – He didn’t have the time… We didn’t even see you coming…

- Fine. Let’s go.

Toji gave you space to breathe. Without waiting for questions, he started leading you to his house, your feet just following his command.

#jjk #jjk fanfic #jjk x y/n #jjk toji #toji #toji fushiguro #toji x reader #toji fushiguro x reader #jjk megumi #megumi fushiguro #baby megumi

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4dtk · 3 years ago

Text

more than a bet (cont. from a sweet bet)

anon: “ohmygod i loved that sub!jae work sm😭😭 would you be able to do more?? maybe with a soft femdom and whiny jae? its truly heartbreaking seeing the lack of sub!jae on here 😔” i’m glad you liked it!!!!! hope u like this one too <3 i might have made reader a bit of a mean dom i’m sorry ;;

ps was gonna make jae orgasm untouched but…. aha / you don't have to read the previous part to understand but anon is talking about this fic!

warnings/tags: pegging, bit of dacryphilia, handjob, sub!jaehyun, soft femdom!reader, brief face-sitting, brief cunnilingus

NSFW UNDER THE CUT, MINORS DNI!

“back for more already?” you laughed, eyeing the timid boy standing in front of you with fists clenched onto the straps of his book bag. his knuckles turn white from how tight he’s holding it and you don’t miss the nervous shifting he does with his feet.

all jaehyun lets out is a dreamy sigh, a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips as he ignores the calls of his friends a metre from him.

he’s tall, although all the male wants to do right now is turn to mush with the uncomfortable rub of his thighs against each other and the gaze you’re looking down at him with.

it’s no different when you have him in your bed later and in the palm of your hand, literally, as the other clutches onto the sheets with the same intensity earlier, the skin of his neck exposed from how far he’s dropped his head back in pleasure.

jaehyun’s dick leaks pre-cum like no other while his tip throbs red, begging to be touched impatiently by your rather patient hand. it stays at the base of his cock, squeezing and unsqueezing as the other’s whines reach your ears.

“(y-y/n)… hurts s’bad!” jaehyun groans, eyes which were scrunched tight opening as they plead with you. it was shameless in the way his legs were spread to accommodate you in between, with the occasional buck of his hips that made the rustling of sheets ever resonant in the room. he was at your mercy, from day one in the quiet classroom, and he was at your mercy, now, with mouth parted as delicious moans spilled from his lips.

“what does, baby?” you ask, knowing full well what he was hinting at before leaning down to place a harmless kiss on his tip. you relish in the way you make him feel, the gesture making his thighs almost close, something that he does out of habit if not for your hands holding them open.

“t-that! that hurts, (y/n)-ssi!” he chokes on the moan he lets out, twitching with sensitivity when you finally move your hand along his shaft, giving him what he wants. your hand moves easily with how much he’s leaking, the lewd noises increasing in volume as you increase your pace. you make sure to pump his full length, up, down, up, down, with his arousal providing for sufficient lube.

jaehyun lets out a sob, slapping a hand over his mouth as the knot in his stomach tightens and tightens, threatening to release at any moment with how good you’re making him feel. your lips feel dry with the desperation in his movements, sounds and noises alike bringing much wetness to your underwear. it’s not the priority on your mind for now, rather more fixated on helping jaehyun to his high.

“you wanna cum, hm?” you mocked with a grin, speeding up your hand while the other goes up to tweak at his nipples, rolling them in between your thumb and index as his moans become more prominent and frequent. there’s multiple affirmations spilling from his lips, yes, yes, yes, i wanna c-cum!

“go on, then, cum,” you prompt with a pant and it hits. it hits like truck as a sultry groan rips from his throat while you observe how his veins pop out in frustration and quads flex when the string snaps. jaehyun’s eager to get more pleasure as he jerks into your already moving hand.

there’s endless profanities mixed in with mewls as he spills all over your hand, white hot spurts of cum dripping from his tip and down the back of his hand. you so skillfully lick it up while it’s still wrapped around his cock, deliberately avoiding the shaft.

as jaehyun catches his breath, there’s a whispered question of do you think you’re ready? you don’t push it when he shakes his head, but you realise that you’re thankful. so so thankful he’s come back a second time for you to be able to see this again.

and again.

the next time, you’re lapping at his hole, prodding and teasing with your tongue while his face stays buried in his sheets. he’s struggling to keep a quiet front even when you slip a finger in, both from embarrassment and the family movie going on outside and sticks his ass up into your face achingly.

“that’s it, baby boy, relax for me. gotta prepare you for my cock, now, yeah?” you moan at how easy his hole is sucking in your finger, no doubt doing the same to your strap later on.

jaehyun watches in awe as you remove your outfit, eyes lingering on the obvious bulge sticking out of your underwear. his mouth hangs open, both in fear and excitement with you having worn the strap-on for the whole day of university, lips turning up at the mere thought of you ruining him in the next few minutes.

“whatcha smiling about?” you grinned, guiding his chest down onto the bed again as he mumbles with a whine, something that makes you freeze up in the midst of lubing your cock.

“just thinking of how dumb you’d fuck me, (y/n)-ssi.” you’re sure it’s the innocence laced within the voice, so pure, so needy, yet so dirty.

your breath is shaky as you ease the strap-on into him. every inch that disappears into him only make you groan in the sight, while the male bites down on a finger to prevent any noise. by then, you’re unable to keep a cap on your lust, snapping your hips to deliver a hard thrust that has jaehyun’s moans hitting the walls.

“you doing okay, honey?”

jaehyun only hums, a pleased smile spreading across his lips as he turns back to you with eyes that take your breath away. they’re dilated, tinted with something you never knew you could bring out of jaehyun.

as his back arches to get more of your cock, you have to swallow. it’s the only way to take your mind off the sweat glistening off his back and the tight grip his hand has on your thigh.

“’s so good, (y/n), ’s so so good- mmh!” he drawls out his speech while you continue to thrust in and out at his confirmation, losing just a bit of control with how smoothly your name rolls of his tongue.

your hips meet his ass continuously, feeling the burn of your thighs and the roughness of the sheets below you. there’s distant chatter outside the door, fortunate enough for jaehyun’s room to be at the end of a passageway and away from the living room.

“h-harder! faster, p..pleeease-!” he almost screams when your cock meets his prostate, mouth dropped at the immense pleasure and tongue lolling out.

tears lingered at the corners of jaehyun’s eyes, making you want to cum on the spot with the expression on his face. beautiful, beautiful, all spread out for me. it repeated like a mantra in your head.

jaehyun cries out when your hand wraps around his cock and he swears he sees heaven for a second with eyes rolling back. you’re stroking with fervour, matching the pace of your satisfying thrusts and the squelching sounds only contribute to the atmosphere, room smelling like sex and musk and desperation.

“c’mon, baby boy, cum on my cock. do your worst.”

and he really does.

“hhhn- cumming, cumming, so good- so full!” jaehyun whimpers into the sheets, just loud enough for you to hear when you’re hovering over his body. it’s the most the male’s cummed since the last time, white staining both the sheets below you and your hand while his body jerks at the intense orgasm.

you hum, easing out the strap that jaehyun moans at the emptiness. nevertheless, he relaxes when you place a kiss on his shoulder, still recovering from the hypnotising high.

“what about.. you… (y/n)-ssi?” he slurs, turning his head on the pillow so his eyes could see you in your glory.

“you’re tired, aren’t you? come, let’s rest up-“

“no…” jaehyun whines, and you’re so close to edge him again, “wanna eat you out, (y/n)…”

your lips can taste his cum when you bite a finger out of nervousness, hands fumbling to remove your strap almost immediately. you’re positively soaked when you touch yourself after, caving in to your desire when jaehyun drags you closer.

“just relax, (y/n). take your seat,” he’s still delirious, giggling when your surprise shows. and when you eventually do? it’s the best fucking seat that he offers, his mouth sucking on your clit as your legs tremble around his ears.

“you’re delicious, (y/n).”

it’s the best fucking seat and jaehyun’s glad to clean up after you, worshipping you at the foot of your throne adorned with gold and velvet that he always comes back to. it’s addicting, but how could he resist when you’re a queen that never stops giving?

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limitlessgojo · 3 years ago

Text

Blood Bound: Unyielding

Warnings: Action, Coarse Language, Fighting, Graphic Depictions of Blood and Violence, Death, Gore, Japanese Mythical Folklore, No Major Character Death, Slight Horror, War

Previous Chapter: Home (Nori’s POV)

Next Chapter: Melting (NSFW)

Word Count: 2.85k

Tags: Kamo Noritoshi x Reader, Soulmates AU, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fem!Reader

Notes: Pardon the hiatus, but I’m back~ It’s the last book/arc for this story and there’s only a handful of chapters left. Funny thing is that I have such a hard time deciding the chapter titles, I probably spent more time pondering on those than writing out the actual story (Just kidding ofc). I hope you enjoy reading it^^

Chapter 21: Hearth

You woke up again later in the day, with Noritoshi’s arm slung over your side. He was already awake with eyes slightly opened, just sleepily watching over you. His eyes, although soft and gentle, had a sharp look that you couldn’t figure.

You hurriedly wiped your face in case there was drool or snot anywhere, not wanting to seem untidy.

“Good morning, love. How are you feeling?” Noritoshi pulled you close to plant a kiss on your nose. His lips were plush, pressing against you for a moment before he gave a little nip. The atmosphere around him was so serene that you had to fight to stay awake.

Noritoshi had just woken up, but it looked like he had a halo around him and his skin was glowing. You’ve never seen anyone prettier. Butterflies fluttered around your insides. You couldn’t even remember the last time he held you like this.

“Much better now. How about you Toshi?”

“I’m okay. I'm not too eager to get back to the Kamo estate just yet,” He sighed. “I wonder if father will let me stay here one night longer.”

“You can ask,” you yawned, covering your mouth. “And if you stay you can meet some of my family.” You laced your fingers through his and held it over your heart, not wanting to part with him just yet.

His eyes twinkled at your words, then he reached for his phone on the bedside table. You crawled closer to him and settled your head against his shoulder, feeling him press his face against your hair after he turned back around.

He always smells good, but now he smells like your lavender body wash, which was even better. And it was too comforting, too difficult to resist rubbing your face into his clothes.

“Y/N.” You froze. Maybe it was because you both just got up, but his voice seems deeper than normal, with a heavy rumble to it.

His eyes closely tracked your movements, not missing the way your legs shifted in response to his voice. You didn’t miss the glint of mischief, before he composed himself once more.

Noritoshi kept one arm around you and stroked your back gently as he called his father.

“Noritoshi. How are you? Are you ready to come home?” you could hear his father’s voice through the phone.

“I may need to rest for a bit longer, and the Tsuchimikado clan has excellent healers. Might I be permitted to stay for one more night? I can leave for home past noon tomorrow.”

You closed your eyes and uttered your prayers.

“Hmmmm… Okay then, I permit it. Make the most out of your time there, and I’ll have Obi pick you up tomorrow at 1pm. Do not be late.”

“Thank you father, yes I will. Yes. Goodbye.”

He barely just hit the end call button as soon as you jumped on top of him, fiercely hugging him. Noritoshi flushed with pleasant surprise, arms coming up to firmly wrap around your waist.

“One more day and night with you. Since it’s the school holidays I won’t be able to see you for 2 more weeks.” You buried your face in his chest, breathing in his scent.

“We just have to make the most out of today then, right love?”

He threw the covers over both of your heads and pressed you against the sheets.

Everything around was so warm, soft and cozy. The heavy curtains and blinds by your windows blocked most of the sunlight, letting you both stay in the dark. You could only hear the soft sounds of his lips pressing repeatedly into your skin.

You couldn’t control the shivers that crept all throughout your body as his tongue darted out to lick your ear.

Badly wanting to make up for the time you both lost, you reached up to grip his pajama shirt tightly, and threw your head back as he latched onto your neck. “Toshi, I-”

And you were both interrupted as your stomach let out another gurgle.

Silence followed.

“I need food.”

“That’s the second time today. You really can’t last a second without munching on something can you?”

You pouted as Noritoshi pulled the sheets off of you and dragged you to the bathroom. “Let’s go then.”

All was well, until your scream was heard, followed with a loud smack. “TOSHI YOU IDIOT YOU LEFT A MARK ON ME!”

◇◇◇

“Eat up! Both of you must have been so exhausted. And very good work during the war. Can you tell me more about it, Noritoshi-kun?” Your grandmother smiled and patted his cheek, as to which he pleasantly agreed.

You had a late afternoon lunch with your family and Noritoshi. The household attendants kept stopping and passing by to have a peek at your boyfriend.

No doubt that they will come to bug you about him later on. Nearly the whole family was present save for those still fixing up matters with the war.

“Well… I expected this.” You muttered under your breath. Noritoshi’s hand instantly came to rest above yours, hidden from sight under the table. You looked calm on the outside, but your emotions were a mess inside. It was the same for Noritoshi.

Your grandparents were asking him questions. Your father was closely watching the both of you.

Another squeeze on your hand. He’s nervous. You can feel Noritoshi’s inner squeamish emotions at being the center of such close attention, but he’s managing it quite well. And it seems like he’s used to such things.

“So you’re the oldest son in your household? Do you see your mother often? Do you get along with your step-siblings?”

“Yes. When I have free time I do meet up with her. We get along okay.”

You really wanted to stop them from asking him such personal questions in front of everyone, but his hand squeezed yours really tight, to the point that it was almost painful, just when you were about to move.

‘Don’t stop them.’ You could feel such vibes just wafting off from Noritoshi.

His mess is now your mess and vice versa. He was right, there isn’t any point in stopping it.

Your grandparents seemed to have finally calmed down from their initial excitement from meeting Noritoshi. The room quieted to small murmurs as the 8 year old twins Kousuke and Kaito entered the room.

“Ah! Aniki, good afternoon!” The older one ran and threw himself at Noritoshi’s lap.

“Kousuke! Mind your manners, he is an important guest.” Your grandfather scolded him.

“He’s just y/n oneesan’s boyfriend right? I already met him this morning when they were cooking ramen in the kitchen.” He shrugged, enjoying how Noritoshi struggled to accommodate him in his lap.

Shit. Noritoshi shared a small smile with you. Caught red handed.

“When did you both …?” One of your cousins asked, and Noritoshi sheepishly explained the events earlier that morning.

“I was the one who offered him food and cooked Ramen. You can’t expect us to starve.” You huffed.

Kaito ignored the ongoing discussion and clambered over to you. He was always looking for cuddles, and you were one of the few who indulged him daily.

“Aren’t you warm in that, neesan?” Kaito asked you, eyeing the thick muffler around your neck. It was winter, but the heaters were in full blast.

“Nope, it’s just right. I’m still feeling a bit cold right now.” You tried to rub your arms as naturally as you could. You were lucky that you were able to keep your hands ice cold thanks to your cursed technique.

The rest of the lunch went smoothly and Noritoshi felt himself relax the more time passed by. At least in this house, nobody had ulterior motives against him. Although even just the thought of it was saddening, it was the truth. He was seen as more of a tool to the Kamo family than a beloved person.

Kousuke reached up upon seeing Noritoshi’s face slightly darken, “Does it hurt anywhere, Aniki?” The boy was young, but incredibly sharp witted and good with reading people. He was also aware of the war that had just ended.

Noritoshi was surprised for a moment before shaking his head, “It will get better. All wounds heal with time.”

Something about Noritoshi’s current demeanor made you feel like he wasn’t talking about his physical injuries. Your heart squeezed as you watched your lover hug your cousin. His eyes filled with such gratitude over a small yet sincere act from Kousuke.

◇◇◇

“I’m still so full.” Noritoshi felt slightly overwhelmed at all the good attention he received today. Everyone kept shoving him more food to eat every time he polished off his plate. He had to politely explain that he was on the brink of exploding.

“Same here. I have to workout so much to burn these calories.” You groaned.

The both of you just finished playing video games with the kids, as promised, and were heading back to your room. Noritoshi found out that he was actually quite skilled at Mario Kart, despite losing the first 3 rounds spectacularly against the twins.

The sky was already darkening with the sunset in the distance.

“Did you enjoy yourself today?” you asked Noritoshi. The question you really wanted to ask was “Are you okay?” but it didn’t feel right.

His chest warmed. “Of course I did. Your family is lovely. And besides, I’m never unhappy when I’m with you.”

You turned away to hide your smile, but Noritoshi didn’t need to see your face to know how you felt at that moment. He reached out with a pinky and linked it with yours. You glanced down before swaying your hands back and forth.

You looked back up at Noritoshi to see him watching you as though you held all the good things the world had to offer in your hands. It made your breath halt for a moment.

Silver lined his eyes, as though tears were about to fall. ‘Why though?’, you wondered in confusion. The sun was going down, but the last remnants of the golden glow cast itself upon his skin.

“Love?” Noritoshi’s voice was only just slightly louder than the passing wind. He bent down to press his forehead against yours.

“I love you. I hope you know that,” you whispered, your eyes shutting as he neared. You reached up to wipe away his tears.

“I know, since I feel the same,” he murmured against your lips, before dragging you behind a pillar, out of sight, and pulling you flush against his body, not leaving an inch of space between the two of you.

Noritoshi didn’t hesitate to part your lips with his tongue, wanting to taste every inch of you. He’s been holding himself back for how many weeks and all he wanted was you in his arms. Your smell surrounding him, everything about you overwhelming his senses.

You were forced to push back your head and surrender to his kiss. It was harsh and deep, so unlike his usual gentle demeanor around you. You didn’t realize that you slipped a hand underneath his loose sleeve, hand traveling upwards to hold onto a bicep.

But Noritoshi didn’t mind. Instead, he reached down to lift one of your thighs and hooked it around his waist. You pulled back from the kiss, gasping for air, your face already so red.

“Out of breath already? Use your nose.” Noritoshi bit on your lower lip before his lips traveled downwards. His smirk widened upon seeing the scarf you so hastily put on before lunch. “You look way too warm in this.”

Your eyes burned with the force of the glare you shot him, “No thanks to you,” You spat.

He simply ripped off your scarf in reply, caging you against the pillar before latching onto your neck. Marks coloured it from this morning’s activities.

For all your feistiness, you shut up quickly as soon as Noritoshi set to adding more red and purple marks on your skin. You didn’t need the scarf anymore, feeling feverish simply from the way he bit and licked your neck.

You lost track of time, not realizing that the sun set already. Your fingers tangled themselves in his hair, tugging relentlessly against the back of his head. Noritoshi’s hands found both of themselves under your sweater, moving up-

Footsteps sounded from afar, and the both of you parted quickly, breathing heavily.

Disappointment shined from Noritoshi’s eyes, but the unspoken words hung clearly in the air. We are not finished with this.

On the other hand you were beside yourself in horror. What were you thinking, doing such brazen acts in public? And in your family home no less.

You scrambled for your scarf, hastily trying to drape it back over your neck. Noritoshi did not help you for a moment, his eyes filled with sheer delight over how messy you looked. It wasn’t like him to be so reckless in public. It seems like his longing for you snapped the remaining bits of his sense of reason.

And anyways, he didn’t think he’d get treated so badly here in the Tsuchimikado estate. If anything, your parents and elders seem to have been unsurprised by the lack of distance between the two of you. Your father not even batting an eyelash whenever you both hold each other’s hands in public.

A small perk to be grateful for, that both of your families easily approved of your union.

“Oi! Piggy sis!” A clear strong voice called out from behind the two of you, making you both turn around.

‘How much did Hiroki-nii see? How long was he even there?’

“Who the fuck are you calling a pig? Loser.” You spat.

Noritoshi found the interactions between you and your cousin amusing. He couldn’t guess if it was a good relationship or not, since it often sounded like both of you argued all the time.

But it seems like it was just rough sibling banter. In one second you're both sweet, in the next you're at each other's throats.

Hiroki came up to the both of you. You could see that he had some bandages around his wrists, and he seems more well rested than the previous day.

“Wanting to see how my little sis and her boyfriend are doing. Is it so bad?” He huffed a laugh, but paused upon seeing both of your disheveled states.

His eyes narrowed further upon seeing your scarf messily made over your shoulders. You hated wearing mufflers in the estate, and you do pretty okay in the cold thanks to your technique. He zoned in on a red and purple bruise just peeking ever so slightly above the fabric. Ah.

“Scandalous.”

“It’s not,” you sighed trying to think of an excuse even though you were caught red handed. “I just- A dog bit me.”

The two men stared at you for a moment before bursting into breathless laughter.

“That is the weakest comeback you’ve had for me so far.” Hiroki was nearly howling. “We don’t mind, you know. I’m happy to see you both getting along so well in fact. Just do it in a room please.”

You frowned as Noritoshi pulled you to him, burying his face in your hair for a moment. His teeth were out as his shoulders shook in amusement. Oh well, at least you made him laugh for a bit.

“Noritoshi, I take it, you're also doing well?"

He nodded, eyes shining with uncovered mirth. “I’ve enjoyed myself a lot. Everyone’s been too kind and welcoming. Thank you Hiroki-san.”

“We have a guest room ready for you if you’d like? Though the head of the clan is aware of your special relationship, and well, they’re surprisingly comfortable enough to let you stay in y/n’s room.”

“I’m more than happy to stay with her. There’s only one night left anyways and it would be more trouble to set up another room.”

Hiroki’s gaze softened as he watched Noritoshi adjust your scarf for you.

Noritoshi cleared his throat amidst the silence, “I’d like to have lunch with you sometime, Hiroki kun. With y/n of course, just the three of us. It would be good for us to get to know each other better.”

Hiroki brightened. “Looking forward to it. Well then, don’t let me keep the both of you from your, ” he paused momentarily to make jazz hands “thing. Also, can you keep it down, my room is just down the hallway. No funny business. I’d appreciate it if you could both keep it in your pants-”

You slapped a hand over your cousin’s mouth, not realizing that you floated up to reach his stupidly tall height. “Shut. It. That’s none of your shit to worry about.”

He licked your hand and you had to let go. “Mmm hmmm, sure sure. Good night then~” Hiroki was more than happy to leave, seeing that you were already so flustered.

Noritoshi just shook his head. “Your household is like a typhoon.” You only sighed in agreement.

---

Blood Bound: Table of Contents

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