#<<< me droning on that this is the most boring project on earth

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

WIP Intro - Hallowed Bodies

Genre: Adult literary fiction, novella (a Moth Work novella that bridges BODY BACK & Feeding Habits)

Status: Currently drafting / ~10k words

Synopsis: Alone for a week in Las Vegas, Lonan feels trapped in bland domesticity until a strange encounter propels him to search for his missing younger sister.

Setting: Las Vegas, NV

Vibe: Empty churches, candles burning, dangling rosaries, worn hymnbooks, musty libraries, reflections dulled by blue hour, still bodies of water, staring at a stranger in the dark, expired film, family photo albums, wispy sunlight, crisp eucharist, a fluttering city, an untouched bowl of cherries, dazed walks at golden hour, lonely men

Characters:

Lonan (narrator - 21) | internal, illogical, romantic, anxious, lonely

The man (26) | forward, decisive, charming, desperate

Excerpt:

Lonan doesn’t pray anymore. At least not the way he used to. As a child, he and his father prayed everywhere: begging for forgiveness at Crater Lake, repenting in line for an oil change, supplicating in a windstorm. On Sundays, they’d wake before dawn and nestle in front of the bathroom mirror, recite the first chapter of Genesis, Paul’s letters to Timothy, Psalm 22. Lonan preferred the Apostle’s Creed. He’d watch his young mouth repeat I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, and he did believe. After hours of this, sunlight misting the open window, mass a half hour away, their lips would be so numb they’d have to pinch them until they were bloody mouthed and ready, at last, for God.

[celesteslilcorner]

How It All Started

My OC in the RVB world. bit of Canon, bit of non-canon.

Agent California is a Spartan in Project Freelancer. Not happy about her newest mission she's determined to be a pain in the UNSC and the Director's asses until the Director makes a few too many mistakes.

Will most likely follow Freelancer, after it's fall up to Chorus. If OC's aren't your thing please don't read or leave comments, Thanks.

Series Warnings: Smut, Fluff, Slow burn, Violence (torture, fighting, death, etc..) - warnings might change as story progresses and/or for each part.

Fic:

She wanted nothing more than to stay with her ragtag team, her family, than to be sent off to some new project. A new headache. She told herself she’d keep her head down and do what she was told. Get intel, report back, repeat. 

For the first year she had managed to do that. Kept her head down, didn’t even speak to the other agents and staff on the Mother of Invention unless she absolutely had to. It did hurt her a little to see others forming bonds while she had to distance herself. After the first year the Director had paired her up with another agent, Agent Texas. 

From the moment they met, Cali could tell that there was something off about Texas, something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Her years of training and experience told her that Tex wasn’t normal, there was something about her that gave Cali the feeling that there was something else going on. No matter, she chose to turn the other cheek and let herself have this one friend here, it was better than the nothing, and loneliness she had been dealing with.

Running missions just the two of them was fine and easy. Cali could handle that, she was used to always having an objective. What she didn’t like was having a scientist tell her what she should do and how much information she got. She preferred having all the facts and info of what she was to bring back, something more than a vague “Go grab this item and bring it back” or “It’s important and that’s all you need to know.” 

As a Spartan she already knew just about everyone hated her or judged her for something that wasn’t her choosing. She had learned how to block them out and ignore the hushed whispers over the years, built a tough skin to hide how she really felt about everything.

 She couldn’t escape the feeling deep within her chest that there was more to this project than what the Director had initially shared with the UNSC. She kept going over and over the file and audio she managed to steal, in her head trying to find anything that gave her a better idea of what she was really dealing with here and what she should actually expect.

“Earth to Cali.” Texas says in a slight sing-song voice, waving her hand in front of Cali’s visor. 

Cali lightly shook her head in an attempt to bring herself out of her thoughts, blinking a few times, “Yeah? I’m here. What’d I miss?”

Tex chuckled lightly as she stood, “We’re clear to go. Meeting over.”

“Oh thank goodness!” Cali exclaims as she stretches her arms up above her head, “thought he was gonna drone on and on like always.”

“He only does that when you open your mouth. And you weren’t even paying attention.” 

“Well, he shouldn’t say such dumb shit,” Cali mutters as she stands, doing her best Director impression, “Now ladies, what we need to do is blah blah blah. Boring science shit.” 

Tex stood there, cocking her head to the side for a moment before straightening up, “Why must you insist on making things difficult?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” 

Tex shook her head as she led the way to the door, “I get why I was paired with you.” 

“Oh-ho ho, I was paired with you to make your life more entertaining and more lively, you big ol’ stick in the mud.” Cali returned as she fell in step beside Texas after leaving the room.

“Is that so?”

“I’d like to think so. It definitely helps me sleep at night.” Cali lightly jokes, scanning each person they passed. What were they thinking? How badly were they judging her? Were they aware that she was a Spartan or that there was a Spartan on board? The insecurities tightening her chest with each step and thought.

“That’s good news I guess.” Tex lightly chuckles as she places a hand on Cali’s shoulder as they near the kitchen, the sound of others talking and laughing getting louder with each step.

Cali could never stop herself from looking a little too long at some of the other Agents. A mix of curiosity, rebelliousness, and loneliness filling her chest. Maybe it was the urge to be more social just to piss the Director off, or because she genuinely missed having a small group to be with. She loved her Spartan crew, they were her family -the only one she really knew- and she missed them.

“You can ditch me for new friends.” Tex assures her.

Cali snorts lightly, “You take up all of my time. Besides, I’d rather pass like a ghost. No one sees me or knows I’m here.” 

“Until you get bored and knock something over. Damn poltergeist.” 

Cali lets out a short laugh, “Damn right. Now, bestie, we have training to do.”

“Don’t call me that.” Tex sighs as she follows Cali to the training room

[flowerypeaches]

Mothership

“What is that?”

Hero stopped their approach, a positively bored expression on their face. “What are you doing?”

Their nemesis, who was currently pointing behind Hero with an incredibly overexaggerated look of surprise, rolled their eyes, “Uh, giving you your cue?”

“My cue?”

Villain sighed loudly, dropping the egregious pose. “You're supposed to turn your head, in a suitably dramatic fashion of course, search for what I was pointing at, only for it to be revealed a ruse, granting me the opportunity to strike you unawares so I may gain the upper hand in our skirmish.”

“Mhm, and why would I fall for something so stupid?”

“Because you are stupid?”

“...”

“Ow, okay, okay!” Villain held a hand to their nose, grimacing as it came back bloody from Hero’s rather crude punch. “See, this is what I was trying to avoid. No story, no drama, no excitement. What if I let you get a few good hits in afterwards?”

Hero replied by kicking Villain’s feet out from under them, knocking them onto the cold and cracked pavement. “Looks like I’m already getting a few good hits in.” They leaned over Villain, arms crossed. “Now, are we going to actually fight, or are you going to keep trying to direct your own personal soap opera?”

Hero waited for Villain’s patented snarky response, specifically about how soap operas are a valid form of art and Hero would be wise not to disrespect it, yadda yadda, but none came. In fact, Villain wasn’t even looking at them.

“Uh, Villain? You still with me?” 

Villain’s voice was barely above a whisper, “What is that?”

“Seriously? It hasn’t even been a minute and you’re really using the sa-”

“I’m not screwing with you, Hero, there’s something in the sky!”

Hero had to admit, Villain’s acting had gotten much better in the last thirty seconds, but no matter how real it looked, they weren’t going to fall for it. Villain might be messing around now, but Hero couldn’t forget that they were a criminal, and a dangerous one at that.

They reached down, pulling Villain, who was still staring into the sky, up by their collar. “Look, I get that you never got the lead role in the school play or whatever, and want to make the world burn because of it, but could you, just this once, take our fight seriously?”

“I think it's getting closer.”

Hero ignored them, “I’m tired of the other heroes telling me I have it easy because my nemesis would rather focus on projecting their monologue to all of the hostages than actually rob the bank they broke into to begin with.” Sure, Hero was thankful Villain’s obsession with the dramatic kept them from causing too much destruction, but they had their own reputation to uphold, and constant stalemates with the theatre school reject did not help! “Let me tell you what. If you go down to the station without a fuss, then maybe I can get you into one of the nicer cell blocks. You know, the ones with the view of the hills. Does that sound good? Villain? Are you even lis-”

Blinding light filled Hero’s eyes and ears, cutting off every train of thought and any plan of action they might have had before then. They looked up, and despite the harsh light making their eyes water, they could make out the vague shape of a disc floating directly above them.

Oh.

Oh no.

“Told you.”

Hero looked back down to their nemesis, who looked much too smug for the situation at hand, and sneered, “Maybe if you didn’t insist on playing drama club, I might have actually taken you seriously.”

Villain had the courtesy to drop their grin, squinting up at the…  “Is it getting brighter?”

It was, and that meant it was too late for Hero to prevent what was about to happen. Familiar cold heat ran through their veins as their limbs locked in place.

A safety precaution.

Definitely not to prevent anyone caught in the beam from escaping.

“Hero? I-I can’t move.” Villain said.

Villain.

They shouldn’t be here.

Hero’s eyes widened, realizing just how screwed they were. They tried to relax their hands, to let go of Villain, to shove them out of the beam, anything, but only managed to twitch their muscles, as if they were encased in a steel mold.

Villain seemed to be doing the same thing, though the trembling may have just been the fear. Any other time, Hero would have loved to see Villain’s mask slip. To force them to acknowledge that, yes, Hero was a real threat to their criminal livelihood. Instead, Villain acted as if Hero was a fellow actor, asking for Hero’s thoughts on new scenes they came up with, or excitedly talking about whatever had happened in their soap that day, a neon flashing sign that indicated they were in desperate need of friends. Did… did that mean Villain thought they were friends?

Not the time.

Hero gave up on their efforts, and let the looming dread wash over them. This wasn’t acceptance, no, they were just giving themself a moment to rest before they faced what was up in the ship. Oh, they weren’t ready.

Two enemies, encircled and entrapped in an ever growing light, locked eyes. 

“We’re so f-”

And as quick as it had appeared, the burning light and mysterious ship attached to it, along with Hero and Villain, vanished into the night.

.·°·.·°·.·°·.

Light surrounded Villain. The ambient noise of the city was replaced by a low, droning hum. Any sense of direction was lost as gravity no longer affected them. They were weightless, and, even in this world of superpowers, nothing made sense. Where did the city go? Why couldn’t they move? How were they floating? The light was all-consuming, and Villain would have thought themself lost in it if not for the deathgrip Hero still had around their collar. 

Slowly, the light faded, and Villain felt their own weight return to them. Their legs wobbled, and in an instant, whatever force that held them in place disappeared. They would have fallen if not for Hero, who still held them in their grasp.

“What just happened?” Villain said, though not really expecting an explanation.

Looking around, they could see they were now in a circular, silver chamber. Dials and switches and lights and symbols dotted the walls, communicating something or other, and the floor was, what was that, carpet? Villain shuddered. Honestly, it looked a lot like a cheap sci-fi set for a tv show that should have been cancelled three seasons ago than a futuristic aircraft capable of teleporting human beings.

“Oh, no, no, no.” Villain jumped at Hero’s voice, and stumbled as their anchor let them go to run over to a wall.

Not a wall. A window.

Villain blinked.

A window that showed… Earth? No, that couldn’t be right. If they were looking at the earth, that could only mean...

“Shit, we’re already in orbit.” Hero said.

Villain blinked.

They were in space. Space. That was impossible, right? They couldn’t actually be in space. But here they were, staring at the little blue marble with their very own eyes. Was the room spinning? Or was it the spaceship?

Villain ran their hands through their hair.

They were in a spaceship. A spaceship. That was impossible, right? They couldn’t actually be in a spaceship. But here they were, having been abducted by the UFO just seconds ago. By what? Aliens?

Aliens.

Villain forced their gaze away to keep themself from spiraling, instead focusing on Hero, who has since moved on from the window to the numerous switches and lights, tapping the wall and looking at the symbols that popped up. Villain didn’t understand what Hero was trying to do, it wasn’t like they could understand what any of it meant.

Three deep breaths, and Villain made the best plan ever made in 24 seconds. They stepped up next to their nemesis.

“Hero?”

Hero’s hand was covering their mouth, muttering something to themself, and clearly not paying attention. Nevertheless, Villain continued, “Now, as much as I hate to say it, I think we may have to work together to get back on Earth.” Truth be told, in any other circumstance, Villain would have been ecstatic to work with their nemesis. Whether to defeat a worse villain or take down some other hero that had become corrupt, they would have welcomed the opportunity wholeheartedly. 

Why? Well, Villain would argue that it was more interesting, that their relationship, and subsequent fights, would have more dramatic tension. Definitely not because of any other tension that may arise from spending time together.

Villain puffed out their chest, “Lucky for you, I have decided to put aside our differences, and your lack of charisma, to take the initiative and save us both from peril. Yes, this does go against my better judgement, and yes, it may possibly be my most difficult role to date, but if it means I get to go back home in time to watch my soaps, then it’ll be worth it.”

Hero finally turned towards them, “Do you ever shut up?”

“Only for dramatic effect.” Villain said with an award-winning smile, earning an eye roll and a huff of annoyance. “So… what do you think we should do?”

“I thought you said you’d take the initiative?”

“Yes, the initiative in proposing we work together.”

“...”

Villain held up their hands, “Hey, hey, before you go punching willy nilly, why don’t you tell me what you were doing over here? Get anything useful from the flashing green triangle you were poking at?” They would have teased more, but Hero’s lack of response made them move on. “What are you thinking?”

Hero’s eyes flickered to the wall and back to Villain. “You need to leave.”

Villain blinked.

“Well, obviously we need to escape. We were abducted!”

Hero shook their head, “No, you need to leave. I’ll stay, and deal with-”

“What? And how are you going to figure out how anything works, huh? Even if you do, why wouldn’t you just come back with me?”

“It’s not that simple, I can’t re-”

A low, loud beep interrupted the enemies, and Villain turned their head in time for a wall opposite the window to open up and let someone through. Someone distinctly… humanlike. 

The person, an older woman by the looks of it, smiled brightly and opened their arms. “ .·°¯°·.·° .·°° ?”

That was distinctly not humanlike. It was like hearing someone speak through water, and an undercurrent of static scratched the inside of Villain’s ears. 

The woman—were they even a person?—walked closer, and Hero quickly stepped in front of Villain, shielding them.

She paid no mind, however, and spoke again, “ .·°¯°·.·° .·°° ,” looking expectantly at Hero, who, after a moment of hesitation, stepped forward. Her smile widened, and Villain was hit with a sense of deja vu. She pulled Hero close, and, were they hugging? Why was Hero letting her? What was happening? 

The woman whispered something to Hero, but it wasn’t like Villain could understand even if they tried. Hero turned back to Villain, giving them an apologetic smile before, “ ° .·°° ° .¯ .”

Villain’s jaw dropped.

Hero was replying to the woman. Which meant they understood her. Which meant they knew whatever language was being spoken. Which meant… which meant… Why were they abducted in the first place?

The danger presented itself fully to Villain.

They had been taken off the face of the earth by their mortal enemy, or someone who was well acquainted with them, at the very least, and had no possibility of escape. Villain considered themself clever, but trying to figure out how alien—alien!—technology worked was beyond them. They had to rely wholly on Hero, who, although Villain was loath to admit it, hated their guts. Hero could be plotting in front of Villain right now and they would be none the wiser.

Hero wouldn’t do that. Villain tried to reassure themself, because Hero wouldn’t send them off with some unknown alien being. They’d want to arrest Villain proper, right? Arrest and put them in some high security cell they’d break out of a month later. It was their thing. Villain didn’t want their thing to end.

Huh.

Villain shook their head, they’d have to examine and repress that particular line of thought later, because the woman was suddenly standing in front of them, startling Villain out of their thoughts. She reached out, clutching Villain's jaw with cold fingers, turning them this way and that. As if they were being studied. Was Villain wrong? Was Hero really getting rid of them?

“ ¯ .·°°·°¯ .” She said. Villain’s ears itched worse now that the woman was closer.

Maybe Hero thought they were doing Villain a favour, sending them off on an adventure, letting them create their own melodramatic space opera. Or maybe this was punishment for all the dated Space Trek references. Both were a possibility.

Familiar hands pulled Villain away from the woman and into Hero’s chest. They were not blushing.

“ .·° .¯°·°° !” Hero’s voice was raised, clearly upset at whatever the woman had said.

She, however, was unaffected by Hero’s outburst, gesturing between the two enemies with raised eyebrows, “ °·.°·.°¯°·. .” 

Hero shook their head, and Villain felt Hero’s grip tighten ever so slightly, “ °·.°¯ .·°°·.°°¯ .”

A strange noise came from the woman, sounding almost like… bubbles? It was clearer than the other times she spoke, and it was the way she moved that made Villain realize it was a laugh. She was laughing at Villain. Or Hero. Both?

Hero’s hands were shaking, and Villain couldn’t tell if it was with anger or fear. 

“ ·° .·° .” Hero was curt with her, and Villain recognized the tone from when they threatened to blow up City Hall. The tone that preceded their fights.

The woman seemed to recognize the tone as well, as she backed off a little, holding her hands up in a placating way. She gave Villain a small wave before nodding at Hero, “ ·.°.°¯°°¯° .· .·° .” and left, the wall closing up behind her.

The pair stood in silence.

Hero let go of Villain, letting them step away. Except, they didn’t. In fact, they did nothing of the sort. Villain spun on their heels and stepped forward, “What on ear–ugh, what just happened?”

“There, um, might be a slight problem.”

“Slight problem? You call this”—Villain gestured wildly around them, narrowly avoiding hitting Hero in the face—”a slight problem?”

Hero leaned away from Villain, avoiding their eyes.

“Care to explain? Anything? At all?”

“Where do I start?”

Villain’s theatrics, for once, wasn’t uncalled for. “Oh, I don’t know, how about the fact that we were abducted? That we are in space? Or, or!” Villain backed off, giving themself room to pace around the circular room and project their panic to an audience of one, “That there is an alien speaking to you, Hero, in an alien language, because no human could actually sound like that, acting like she knows you, and you, you reply to her? As if you know her too?”

“Yeah, that would be my… mother.”

“Your mother.”

Hero nodded.

“Your mother who lives in a spaceship. Who speaks an alien language.”

“Who is an alien.”

“Who is an alien.” It took a good second for the words to sink in. “Your mother is an alien?! Like, an alien from an alien planet?”

Hero nodded again.

Villain felt their brain short-circuit. “Does that mean…”

“That I’m an alien from an alien planet? Yes.”

Villain felt lightheaded. This was okay. This was manageable. This world-shattering, insane truth of the universe was perfectly manageable, and they were not going to spiral, not for one second. Deep breaths. One… two… three… Villain stopped pacing, facing Hero with the calmest expression the latter had ever seen on the former. “Okay, so now that you’ve had your nice little family reunion, we can go back, right?”

Hero’s face was a cross between a smile and a wince.

Villain’s expression twitched, but held firm, “And why not?”

“Well, my mother-”

“The alien.”

Hero tried not to get annoyed, but damn, did Villain make it hard. “Yes, my mother the alien. She, erm,” They groaned, covering their face with their hands, “She may have made a fundamental mistake about the nature of our relationship.”

“And what mistake would that be?” Villain grit their teeth.

“She may, perhaps, think that, we’re… dating.”

“Louder, Hero. Speak so everyone in the audience can hear you.”

“She thinks we’re dating!”

Villain blinked, completing the rule of thirds and simultaneously breaking their composure. So much for not spiraling. “Dating?” Their voice squeaked.

“Dating,” Hero nodded, “And-”

“There’s more?!” Villain turned away, back to pacing and practically pulling their hair out from the absurdity.

“And, the reason we can’t leave yet is because she invited us to dinner.”

Oh. Oh, no. Oh, no no no.

“What’s wrong? I thought you loved drama.” Hero said, failing to lighten the mood. “Aren’t family confrontations and misunderstandings the bread and butter of soap operas?”

“My love of drama left me when we left the atmosphere.” Villain glared at Hero with enough ferocity to start a fire.

Villain walked up to the walls, flicking the switches and turning the dials, to see if, miraculously, they could make the ship go back to the city. The lights blinked mockingly in response.

“Uh, Villain?”

“There doesn’t happen to be an escape pod on this ship, does there?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“We’re really going to have to do this, aren’t we?” Villain said, turning to face their nemesis.

“Unfortunately yes.”

Two enemies, both flushed head to toe from frustration and embarrassment, locked eyes.

And Villain, lover of monologues and soliloquies, came up with the most profound, most thought-provoking line they could think of.

“We’re so fucked.”

Hero was inclined to agree.

[professormembranexreader]

Membrane x Enby! Alien! Reader (H&C)

Also it's less of a romance thing and more of a Membrane centered story thing

Outside POV

The Membrane family sat at the table eating breakfast. Gaz was already done and waiting by the door, backpack in hand. Dib, however, was still eating due to the fact that he was talking.

Membrane himself halfheartedly listened as his son droned on about the neighbor boy. He was a bit preoccupied over his latest experiment. He was utterly giddy over it. It was something new! Exciting! 𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙮. He only zoned back in when his son mentioned the word "alien".

"For the last time, aliens are not real, son," he said, rubbing his temples. "They never have been, and never will be. Now it's time for you to go to hi-skool."

"But Dad!" Dib cried.

"No buts. You need your education." Membrane grabbed Dib's backpack and handed it to him. "Go to skool."

Dib grumbled and followed his sister out the door, leaving Membrane to his own devices. Being the man he is, he raced down to the lab in his basement. He kept all his personal projects down there. Wouldn't want some of his employees to see what he had been working on... would we?

He raced down the staircase and walked into the lab. The off white walls and tile were a stark contrast to the warm blues and purples of the rooms upstairs. But he didn't mind. He was more focused on the creature inside the chamber he had set up.

It had come from a ufo landing in a nearby town, one the news was quick to cover. So, while he got the alien, he also used his power to declare it a hoax. And just like that, life went back to normal, and he had what he wanted.

He reached the bottom the stairs and rushed to the table that had his notebook. He made one specifically for studying this alien. He hadn't made much progress, however. All he knew was that it wasn't ready for the earth's gravity and that it secreted water-soluble substances that turned the water in the chamber a pale, translucent green over the span of a week.

Going back to the basics he was taught, he examined the specimen physically the best he could (considering it was curled in a ball). 

"The creature is similar in shape to that of a human. Perhaps analogous evolution?" He wondered out loud. He turned around to document his questions and simplistic ideas. Membrane decided to do some research in what the chemical secreting from its skin could be, deciding that it secreted small amounts of Nickel(ii) Chloride.

Nickel(ii) Chloride, or more commonly referred to as Nickel Chloride, was a carcinogen to the lungs and nasal passages upon prolonged exposure. It is irritating upon ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact.

"So... cover yourself and we should be fine..." It wasn't too much of a problem for Membrane considering he always wore a surgical mask.

Then again, it shouldn't break out any time soon, so it shouldn't matter. The glass was two inches thick. There was no way it would escape easily.

Satisfied with the minor development, he continued to watch the alien intently, waiting for something to happen, documenting the movement of the creature all the while. After hours of nothing, he went back upstairs, unaware that someone was watching.

Membrane went up the stairs and decided to head into his workout room. After using the equipment for a while, he left to go watch TV. Eventually his kids came home. He was passed out on the couch.

Gaz looked at her brother and simply said "Nose goes," and immediately hit her nose with her finger. But she wasn't fast enough. Dib had already ran upstairs to work on his homework, leaving Gaz to wake up her father.

"Dad. Wake up." Gaz said. "Now that that's out of the way," she sucker punched Membrane in the stomach, immediately jolting him awake to hold his now aching belly.

"¡Gazlene! ¡¿Qué era eso?!" He whisper-yelled.

"You didn't wake up." She said nonchalantly.

"Ay, why are you such a violent child?" Gaz shrugged.

"Guess you made me this way." She said. "Can you double-check my homework?"

Membrane sighed. "Hand it over..." He quickly looked over the rudimentary chemistry problems they had been assigned. It was so simple, he was bored. His daughter seemed to have gotten all the problems correct. He handed back the paper and nodded.

"Thanks, Dad." Gaz said. "Can you call me down for dinner?"

"I will, and you'll get your brother?" Membrane asked. Gaz nodded and went upstairs.

Time seemed to pass by extraordinarily quick, and soon dinner had come and gone, and it was time to go to bed. Settling down on his mattress, Membrane began to fall asleep.

<<<x>>>

He woke up to the sound of thumping on glass, with only one thought in his mind.

"The lab." He said quietly. He rushed down the stairs in his pajamas as quietly as you could in pink, fuzzy slippers. Going down the stairs two at a time and almost tripping, he made it down to the lab.

He rushed to the glass tube the creature used to stay in. He got down and saw the glass was starting to splinter, a cracks forming where two webbed hands were pounding.

"Dios mío." He muttered. He quickly drained the liquid and grabbed a hazmat suit, putting it on as fast as he could. After a few fumbles regarding his robotic arms and hair spike, he got the suit on. When he got back, the creature had its hands pressed against the glass. He could get a better look at it now, but there was no time to document it.

The alien's skin was tinted a pale green, almost white. It's ears seemed to be webbed flippers to help it swim. Was its home planet mainly water? It's fingers, though there were four instead of five; were also webbed, but to a lesser extent. Membrane took the alien in, wondrous eyes concealed by the tinted glass of the hazmat suit.

It was a long time before he realized it was probably confused as to what was going on. But would it even understand if he spoke to it?

"Do you understand English?" He asked. "Knock twice for yes, once for no." The alien knocked twice on the glass.

"Can you speak English?"

It seemed to clear its throat. "Your language is rough on my chords."

"It can speak!" Membrane said, astounded.

"They, actually."

"Ah, yes, they. My apologies." He said. "May I get my notebook? There is so much I need to document-"

"My origins are not as important as you may think, but I'll humor you. We do have time, after all..."

Membrane got his notebook and started writing down all the details he had mentioned earlier in his mind. It was only when most of it was down did he process the words the alien said.

"What do you mean we have time?" He asked.

"We have time before they decide on it."

"Decide on what?" He asked, his tone more panicked.

"The Trans-Galactic Association wants to go to war with you."

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

Yancy x Illinois - First Impressions Aren’t Always the Best

I decided to try properly writing Yanois, just to see how I’d manage it. After rewatching Illinois’ scenes, I think he would get on the nerves of the Yancy I write at first.

Word Count 2,122

(Read more because Illinois talks so much...)

-

Happy Trails Penitentiary was renowned for its rehabilitation initiatives. They had a wide variety of classes and visitors to help prisoners. Educational courses, chances to learn new skills, pen pal projects. Many prisoners would never have the opportunity for such experiences, and it was an integral part of helping them prepare for a better life outside of prison when their sentence was finished.

There was one visitor that most prisoners in Yancy’s ‘Gang’ adored. His name was Illinois, a renowned adventurer and archaeologist. Between his job in the university and research trips, he only had time to visit once every few months. It worked in his favour, as those that wanted to visit were able to to hear the various stories that Illinois was more than happy to tell. Not only that, it would encourage the small ‘fan club’ among the younger prisoners.

It was one of the few events that Yancy avoided. Something about Illinois rubbed him the wrong way. He was so arrogant and cocky, acting like the world revolved around him. It wasn’t an act, either. Yancy had spotted Illinois speaking to the Warden on his first visit two years earlier, and he acted the exact same way as he did in the talk that happened that day. After that, Yancy decided he didn’t want anything to do with the adventurer. But if Illinois were to ever become an inmate? Yancy would make sure Illinois had the snot beaten out of him within the first week.

Unfortunately, a lot of the Gang were of the opposite view, especially those around Yancy’s age. To them, Illinois walked straight out of an adventure movie and lived the ideal life. What prisoner didn’t dream of going exploring in uncharted territories? It meant that they would frequently share Illinois’ tales in rec yard when he came to visit. Yancy would roll his eyes, but keep quiet. Let them have their fun.

Today was the day that Illinois visited the prison. It had been over three months since the last visit, so there was an excited buzz among individuals in the Gang. Yancy spent the morning bracing himself. There was a talk after lunch that the others would go to, which would mean the rest of the afternoon and evening would be nothing but historical chatter and “Illinois is so cool!”. He would grumble, but he would keep that to himself. It wasn’t fair to deflate their excitement. He went to the library, found some random book and focused on that for the day. Then, once they had their excitement, it would die down and Yancy could enjoy more casual conversation.

Which was the plan… Until Bam-Bam pleaded for him to go to the last talk of the day. It turned out that his shift clashed with the talk everyone else they knew went to, and he didn’t want to go alone. Begrudgingly, Yancy closed the book, returned it to the shelf, and followed Bam-Bam. A flaw of being a loyal friend was knowing when to swallow your pride and do something you would rather not do.

-

When you go to something with low expectations, it can be incredibly difficult to feel the time was used in a worthwhile manner. Some might have memories of a teacher they hated, or a family gathering they had been dreading. This was a similar position to what Yancy found himself in. One of the ‘classrooms’ had been adjusted slightly to allow various displays to take center stage, with the chairs in neat rows in front of it. Bam-Bam and Yancy claimed two seats at the back, allowing the greaser to slouch in the chair with his arms crossed. Then, once more prisoners had arrived, the talk began.

On and on Illinois went, droning endlessly in that slow drawl. Yancy wished he had a TV remote to speed up the talking a fraction. Was Illinois focused on making sure everyone could understand him, or did he want to prolong the joy of hearing himself talk? It might have been more tolerable if Bam-Bam wasn’t genuinely engrossed in the lecture. They could have made amusing comments throughout. Instead, Yancy was stuck. Sure, history was interesting, but Illinois really drove home the stereotype of boring history teachers. The ‘adventures’ even sounded cliché and fake. Maybe he should have taken the book with him after all...

A painfully slow half hour passed. Once the talk was over, Illinois would literally open the floor to the other prisoners. The chairs would be pushed aside and those that wanted to look at the items Illinois brought were welcome to do so. Yancy was dragged along to view the pieces. Most of the articles were dated to be approximately eight thousand years old. What caught Bam-Bam’s attention was a stone carving that vaguely resembled a cat.

“Ahhh, I see the ‘White Jaguar’ has caught your attention.” Yancy had to repress a shudder at the smooth voice interrupting their own questions back and forth. Illinois stepped over, resting an arm against the perspex container. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she? A miracle we even found her in the first place. She was why I wasn’t able to visit like I said I would last month.” Bam-Bam’s eager question had Illinois chuckle and shake his hand dismissively. “Oh, I’m sure you two gentlemen have much better things to do than hear about how I nearly lost my right hand in my most recent adventure.” When Bam-Bam insisted otherwise, Illinois smirked (and Yancy nearly gagged).

“If you insist. While on our recent dig, I noticed one of the ruins had a floor panel that looked a little different from the rest. It took a little persuasion, but I got that pesky stone up. There, sprawled out before me, was a staircase leading down into the earth. I picked up one of the torches and made my way down. Slowly, I delved deeper into the darkness. One step gave way under me to set off a series of poison-dipped darts, but I was able to dodge them all without breaking a sweat.” Illinois continued, dramatically regaling every single trap that he encountered until he found the White Jaguar. When taking everything around it, he surmised that the owner of the house had been a thief. The jaguar motif was familiar, as he had noticed something similar in a nearby cave that had been repurposed at the time as a sacred spot.

“- Now, this heart of this cave was still guarded by ancient jaguar spirits. They rattled the large statues as I approached, obviously sensing the treasure I carried. In the middle, there was a jaguar’s head carved out of stone. Its jaw was open wide and I couldn’t help but feel as though it was just the right spot for this precious lady. But then, skeletons of what I assume were magic users from an era long gone by pounced and tried to wrestle the statue off me, but I was too fast for them. At last, I reached the carved head, put the White Jaguar in the mouth… and the stone head moved, trapping my arm in a ferocious bite!” He gestured to the cloth wrapped around his right wrist. It was unwrapped just enough to show the healing bite marks. “It had the strength to bite it clean off, but relented when it realised what I had done by offering my arm as blood payment to return -”

“Wait wait wait.” Yancy’s interruption had Bam-Bam elbow him, but it didn’t stop the objection. “That can’t be right. If youse managed to bring this back to where it’s meant to be, why the fuck is it here?”

“An excellent question. This is my recreation of it. I am no thief. I return artefacts to where they belong. Archaeology has a rotten connection with thievery, and I try to rectify the mistakes of my predecessors.”

“So then this entire thing could be bullshit!” Yancy scoffed. “Bam-Bam, this guy just got bitten by someone’s dog and has made this pile of baloney to hide that.”

“Are you accusing me of being a liar?”

“Well, I ain’t calling you a ‘truther’, that’s for sure!”

Yancy was ready for a proper argument. In fact, he was hoping for one. Instead… Illinois laughed, and it wasn’t that typical ‘cocky chuckle’. It was a bright, genuine laugh. He could almost see Bam-Bam go starry-eyed at such a rare moment. Typical Yancy. Getting more attention from Illinois when he wanted to rile him up.

“I suppose it all does sound rather suspicious when you put it that way. Let me show you something.” Illinois gestured for the pair to follow him toward a display of photographs. Instead of pointing to these, he instead reached for his briefcase. A small photo album was pulled out. Yancy noticed that it was dated three months prior. While Illinois flipped through it, both prisoners could see what looked like an area that had been dug up. It matched the pictures in front of them of an excavation site. At last, Illinois found what he was looking for.

“One Guardian Jaguar, complete with the White Jaguar in its mouth. As you can see, the teeth have fresh blood on them. It was an… Oddly tranquil sight, despite the unfortunate situation.”

“So then why act like these are the real deal? People just take youse’s word for it?”

“Normally those that attend my talks know that what I show are my artistic recreations for purely educational purposes. I suppose I do take for granted that those who attend here are invested regulars.” Illinois gave a small shrug. “It’s an easy mistake to forget to remind people who might be new to my talks. I’m sorry if you thought I was a fraud, but I am the real deal. Too good to be true, yet here I am.”

“Yeah yeah, ‘sucks that I’m perfect as shit’, I get it. Least you knows not to make that mistake again.” Yancy rocked back on his heel with the intention of turning and walking away.

“Now now. I can’t let you walk off like that. Take this.” Another item was pulled out of his briefcase. “I made this smaller model of the White Jaguar as a ‘first draft’. I was intending on using it as motivation to my first-year students but… I think it should stay here with you.” Illinois took the opportunity to reach for Yancy’s hand. The small clay model was gently placed in it before Illinois curled Yancy’s fingers over it to keep it in place. His hands stayed where they were as he continued, “We think the White Jaguar was a symbol of good fortune. Perhaps it might bring you some good luck.” He smiled at Yancy, only to have the moment broken by the guard announcing that there were five minutes before the prisoners had to return to their cells for the afternoon count. Yancy took the chance to quickly leave the room without as much as a ‘goodbye’. At least his friend, who introduced himself as Bam-Bam, quickly thanked Illinois before darting out.

A few more questions were asked of him by other prisoners and curious staff; and then it was time to tidy up to bring everything back to the university. It was only when he reached the White Jaguar model did Illinois hesitate. There was something about that abrasive prisoner he couldn’t put his finger on. Was it because he seemed uninterested in the adventurer? Or was there something else? It was a rare moment that Illinois wished he’d had an excuse to chat to the prisoner longer. Maybe not here, but somewhere quieter. Just the two of them.

Huh… Was this what an attraction felt like? He joked about others falling in love with him so often, he wasn’t sure if this was payback for never returning interest in others. He was drawn toward a prisoner that seemed keen to dismiss his hard work and reputation. And worse! Illinois didn’t even know his name!

Then again… A good adventurer always loves the thrill of a mystery. Maybe he could try and find that prisoner next time he visited. Now that the university was open again, he’d be able to drop by more frequently…

--

For what it was worth, Yancy also had a mystery on his hands.

Namely, how to get away from Bam-Bam - who would not SHUT UP about their prolonged conversation with Illinois - and half the gang - who were incredibly jealous Yancy got a gift from the Illinois!

He dropped his head against the chow hall table with a low ‘thunk’. This was the opposite of getting the others to stop talking about Illinois around him!

[ingek73]

Fairytales for fuckwits: Meghan, a children's book, and the school bully tactics of the British tabloids...

Piers Morgan's obsession with Meghan Markle continues, while Mike Graham appears worried there may be too many big words for him to understand.

Mic Wright

May 6

On May the 4th, there was a great disturbance in the force, as if thousands of tabloid reporters and talk radio pundits cried out at once: The Duchess of Sussex had announced she was writing a children’s book.

Since the earth-shattering news that Meghan has written a story about the relationship between father’s and their sons — apparently based on a poem she wrote for Prince Harry — the tabloid press and talk radio stations have gone into meltdown.

The Sun has managed to crank out seven hysterically-pitched stories on the announcement since it dropped — the book isn’t out until June 8th — with each more unhinged than the last:

MEG TO PAPER Meghan Markle writes children’s book inspired by Prince Harry and baby Archie about ‘bond between father and son’

MEG-A MOVE Meghan Markle’s first priority should be mending broken relationships with royals not writing kids’ book, expert claims

SOUNDS A BIT WOODEN ‘Schmaltzy’ Meghan Markle ‘on dodgy ground’ with kids’ book celebrating fathers ‘after own bust-up with dad’ says author

DOUBLE DUCH Meghan Markle accused of copying her kids’ book The Bench from another story – but author defends her

NOT WRITE Piers Morgan slams ‘hypocrite’ Meghan Markle for kids’ book on ‘father-son bond’ after ‘ruining Harry and Charles’ ties’

'RIDICULOUS' Meghan Markle using Duchess of Sussex as author name ‘laughable’ after she wanted to cut Royal ties, says royal expert

CUT PRICE Meghan Markle’s kids’ book has price slashed already at Amazon and Waterstones

You’ll notice that Piers Morgan — a man who has turned one drink with Meghan after which he claims she “ghosted him”, which took place in 2016, into a five year and counting obsession — gets his own story there. That’s The Sun filleting Morgan’s spittle-flecked Daily Mail column on the book for its own news piece.

Morgan, who trails his columns on Twitter like they are exciting new releases rather than the tabloid equivalent of a letter scrawled in faeces forced through your letterbox, dashed out his thoughts on The Bench with the indecent haste of a man running along while his trousers fall down.

Image description: “Twitter avatar for @BreeNewsome

DEFUND & ABOLISH POLICE, REFUND OUR COMMUNITIES

@BreeNewsome

Piers Morgan’s obsession with Meghan Markle is genuinely disturbing. He’s really just using the guise of journalism to be a public stalker and harasser.

May 5th 2021

1,414 Retweets10,252 Likes”

-

Beneath a typically screaming Mail headline — How the hell can Meghan 'I hate royalty but call me Duchess' Markle preach about father-child relationships when she's disowned her own Dad, and wrecked her husband's relationship with his? — Morgan howled:

… she continues to cynically exploit her royal titles because she knows that's the only reason anyone is paying her vast sums of money to spew her uniquely unctuous brand of pious hectoring gibberish in Netflix documentaries, Spotify podcasts or children's books.

Of course, her equally cynical publishers don't give a damn about any of this shocking double standard.

Forget the fact that Meghan had a good degree of personal fame before she ever met Prince Harry, Piers Morgan accusing anyone else of being a cynical fame chaser is beyond parody. From his earliest days as a gossip hack, Morgan has muscled into pictures with the rich and famous, desperate to be someone.

When Meghan was willing to indulge him, he showered her with praise, but once she stopped taking his calls, he turned into the Tinder match from hell. That he has been married to his second wife, fellow controversialist columnist Celia Walden since 2010 seemingly did nothing to dampen his obsession.

Having repeatedly interviewed Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle — another man aggrieved because a woman would rather not spend time with him — Morgan sneers:

If she really cared about father-child relationships, she'd take a chauffeur-driven limousine on the hour-long trip to see her own father who's never even met either Harry or Archie.

It’s projection again: Piers Morgan’s ego is so egg-shell thin that after Meghan decided that one drink was more than enough, he’s spent 5 years seeking revenge and convinced that he’s been wronged, just like her ‘poor old dad’. That’s the ‘poor old dad’ that insists on talking about his daughter to journalists at every possible occasion.

At the end of an article that implies Harry and Meghan contributed to the death of Prince Philip — he died of natural causes — and rants on about “the woke”, Morgan ends with this:

But then as we've seen from her gruesomely self-interested behaviour during a pandemic that's caused so much devastation and pain to billions around the world, Meghan Markle doesn't really care about anyone but herself.

Remember, the Duchess of Sussex’s only ‘crime’ here is to write a children’s book which people will be free to buy or ignore with equal ease. But, as ever, Piers Morgan treats the news with all the proportionality of a US drone strike.

The real story here is about how Morgan — the bittiest of bit-part players in the narrative of Meghan and Harry’s lives — is so desperate to upgrade his place in the cast list that he will rant and rave to stay relevant. His departure from Good Morning Britain came after his last stream of invective about Meghan and he knows this schtick gets him the attention and money he craves.

Image description: “Twitter avatar for @MariaLRoach

Maria Roach

@MariaLRoach

Meghan Markle inside the tiny space called Piers Morgan’s head. #duchessofsussex Tap Dance GIF by Miss America

May 5th 2021

122 Retweets1,619 Likes”

-

Aside from Morgan’s column, MailOnline has published 9 other news stories on or related to the book announcement. The most telling of them is one that links the Duchess of Sussex’s book to another one… by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Headlined Bookshelf battle royale! Kate Middleton shares a glimpse inside her Hold Still photobook just a day after Meghan Markle unveiled her own £12.99 children's story, the story unsurprisingly treats Kate with kid gloves while continuing to imply that Meghan is the kind of person who would make gloves out of kids if it suited her devilish schemes.

There’s no shade thrown at the Duchess of Cambridge for revealing further details of her book just hours after Meghan’s announcement. Instead, the story — lavishly illustrated with images from the book — gushes:

The Duchess of Cambridge has shared a glimpse of her photography book Hold Still ahead of its release on Friday…

… Kate, 39, a keen photographer, launched a campaign during the first lockdown last year to ask the public to submit images which captured the period.

It even includes a mention of an image of a BLM protestor saying:

Over the course of the project, the Duchess shared a number of her favourite images on the Kensington Royal Instagram page, including a Black Lives Matter protester holding a sign reading: 'Be on the right side of history.'

If Meghan had done the same she would have been decried for “supporting extremists”. Remember the contrasting way their mutual taste for avocado was covered?

15 Headlines Show How Differently The British Press Treat Meghan Markle Vs Kate Middleton | Bored Panda

Over at The Daily Telegraph, Spiked alumna Ella Whelan offered her thoughts on a book that isn’t released until next month under the headline Meghan Markle’s fun-free children’s book may put an entire generation off reading, which makes it sound like a grimoire full of dark magic rather than a gentle children’s book about kids and their dads.

Just as with the Mail’s story on Kate’s book, it’s worth imagining what Whelan would say if the Duchess of Cambridge had written The Bench. Look at the following section…

It reveals something of the political superficiality of Harry and Meghan’s activism that an “inclusive” book would use the military father as its promotional message. Perhaps it’s a cultural thing, but if my kids have to read about soldiers, I’d prefer Hans Christian Andersen’s tin version rather than the woke posturing of a former royal.

… and notice that because Meghan is the author including a father who is in the military is “political superficiality”. If Kate had written a story that featured an analogue for Prince William — who also spent time in uniform, though in less dangerous circumstances than his ‘spare’ brother — Whelan would likely deem it a ‘touching tribute to their love’.

Similarly, Sarah Ferguson — the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, top Yelp! reviewer for Jeffrey Epstein’s houses and noted avoider of FBI questioning — uses the title Duchess of York on her many execrable children’s books.

Now that Meghan is the tabloid’s new monster in the monarchy, Fergie’s antics are pointed to as a positive with her books flattered even as Meghan’s as-yet-unpublished book is panned.

Image description: “Twitter avatar for @talkRADIO

talkRADIO

@talkRADIO

Meghan Markle is releasing a new children's book about father-son relationships.

Mike Graham: "It's so juvenile. This is somebody who acts like she's still in high school... it's not exactly Tennyson, is it?

@mrmarkdolan | @Iromg Image

May 5th 2021

36 Retweets221 Likes”

-

Over on talkRADIO, Mike Graham — a melting mass of expired meat — ranted about a children’s book, worried perhaps that it will contain too many long words. Speaking to his colleague, Mark Dolan — Dennis Pennis without the charm — Graham crowed:

It’s so juvenile. This is somebody who acts like she’s still in high school… I don’t have anything against her for any particular reason, other than she’s a bit too American, you know. She thinks everything is just great and cheesy. Rhyming the words ‘joy’ and ‘boy’. It’s not exactly Tennyson, is it?

Ah yes, that famous children’s author, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, known for such devastating rhymes as this one from The Lady of Shallot: “She left the web/ She left the loom/ She made three paces through the room.”

I’m not saying The Lady of Shalott is rubbish — though I do still hold a grudge against Tennyson after some very tedious teaching in high school — but that focusing on one rhyme in a poem is an easy trick if you want to say its shit. That Graham cannot see the irony in decrying writing a children’s book as “juvenile” is just one of the reasons he’s employed by a station with less than 1% reach.

Image description: “Twitter avatar for @NadimJBaba

Nadim Baba

@NadimJBaba

Piers Morgan ranting about the one who got away in 5, 4, 3.......

Media Guardian @mediaguardian

Meghan wins copyright claim against Mail on Sunday over letter https://t.co/cJZTgDMvgz

May 5th 2021

1 Like”

-

There’ll be a new round of these columns, stories, and talk radio segments when the book is released, particularly as The Mail on Sunday just lost the second part of Meghan’s copyright claim against it.

There’s nothing that either Meghan or Harry could do that wouldn’t drive these rats in a sack rabid. If they did nothing, they’d be called lazy. When they make things, take jobs, or really say anything the very media that benefits hugely from stories about them scream that it’s a cry for attention. And yet Piers Morgan regularly pissing himself in public is “commentary”.

[call-me-rei]

Party Animal

Friday nights on a college campus were everything the movies made them out to be. They were loud, unsupervised, crazy, and full of questionable decisions. No one was complaining though, especially not the students.

After a long week of lectures, labs, and all-nighters due to an overwhelming amount of assignments, students on campus wanted to let loose before it all started over again on Monday. And what better way to do that than with a wild party?

Tonight’s party was brought to the students by a fraternity brother who had just rented a house off-campus. He had finally set everything up and made the space available for a housewarming party. It was originally supposed to be for his fellow brothers and some of the members of their sister sorority, but word spread quickly around campus and soon people who didn’t even know the guy were making plans to show up to his house. Those people didn’t even know his name, but that didn’t matter.

Students got out of class and did what they needed to do to prepare for the event. Some rested after being in lectures all day, others pregamed with shots of various liquors to let loose before heading to a random person’s house.

Vic Fuentes, though? Vic fantasized.

Vic had heard about the party while he was in astronomy class. Actually, he always heard about parties in astronomy class. It was his last class of the day and by that time lots of information about the school’s social gatherings had been made known. It also helped that some of the most popular kids at school (the athletes) were in his class. They knew about all the goings-on whether they were meant to be in the loop or not.

It was 2:55 PM and Vic was sitting in his seat waiting for class to start. He liked getting to his classes early so he could socialize with his friends before the professor started the lesson, but he didn’t have any friends in this class, so he resorted to texting them. He was getting frustrated though since no one answered his latest message that he’d sent almost fifteen minutes ago. Their last classes ended earlier than Vic’s, so they should’ve at least read the message. What could they be doing?

He was distracted from sending another message when a loud group of students entered the room.

Vic rolled his eyes to himself before looking down at his phone and switching to a different app. It’s not that Vic didn’t like these students; he just didn’t appreciate the peace of the room being disturbed. Everyone who was there was minding their own business, having a quiet conversation with the other people sitting at their table before these guys entered.

Vic tried to ignore them, but he couldn’t ignore the name that one of them had spoken.

“Hey, Kellin, you going to Blake’s party tonight?”

Kellin. That name had Vic’s ears perked and ready to eavesdrop.

Vic had a huge crush on Kellin Quinn; he’d liked him since he saw him in their English class at the beginning of the semester. Kellin was slightly taller than Vic with dark black hair that often fell in front of his face, bright green eyes that pulled him in, and tattoos that covered his arms and legs, making him look like a total badass.

He was way out of Vic’s league.

While Vic was the quiet, standoffish type, Kellin was a social butterfly. He’d made friends with almost everyone in English and astronomy, which would explain why he was hanging out with the loud kids. Vic didn’t mind though. He didn’t really talk to Kellin so he’d bear the chatter if it meant he could hear his crush speak.

“Yeah dude,” Kellin replied, “it’s gonna be sick! Nine o’clock, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll text you the address.”

That was as far as their conversation went when their professor entered and asked everyone to get to their seats. Vic tried his best not to stare as his crush took his regular seat in front of him.

The lesson started and Vic tried his best to focus on lecture on the moon, but Kellin was so distracting. It was obvious that the raven-haired boy wasn’t too interested in whatever was being taught. Science wasn’t Kellin’s strongest subject. Well, any subject that involved numbers wasn’t Kellin’s strongest subject. He dreaded his math and science classes with a passion, but he had some friends in those classes that made it all bearable.

However, Kellin hardly acknowledged Vic. They had two classes together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and they sat near each other in both of them. Kellin knew who Vic was, but other than having a face to put a name to, he didn’t have much information on him. He did know that Vic was a nice guy who loved making music. They’d talked about it once in English class when they were deciding on a subject for their ethnographic research project.

Kellin leaned his head onto his hand as he listened to his professor drone on about how to calculate the motions of Earth and the moon.

The professor gave the class a chance to work with the members of their table on the latest assignment. Kellin faced forward and looked at Vic who had already started on the worksheet.

“Hey,” Kellin whispered. Vic looked up in an instant. “Do you understand what’s going on right now?”

Vic couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, let me help you out.”

The two worked together for the remainder of class. Vic was a good tutor and had actually helped Kellin understand the lesson he hadn’t paid any attention to. Maybe that was why Kellin asked him, “You going to the party tonight?”

Vic was intrigued; he’d never been to a college party before, nor did he ever have the intention to go to one. But when Kellin asked he figured it was time to step out of his comfort zone, especially if it meant he’d get to spend time with his crush.

“Sure, but I need an address.”

“No problem. I’ll text you.”

Vic nodded and watched Kellin as he left the room with the group of boys he walked in with. He let out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding and pulled his phone out of him pocket to send a message to his group chat:

Any of you wanna go to a party tonight?

Hell yeah!

He shook his head, not surprised that that was the message to receive a response.

***

Vic was uncomfortable. This wasn’t his scene. Why the hell did he come?

His friends were having way more fun than he was. In fact, they were having so much fun that Vic hadn’t seen them in almost an hour. He’d made them promise that they wouldn’t leave him alone since this was the first college party he’d ever attended, but obviously that was a lie.

He was standing in the kitchen of a stranger’s house with a bottle of hard lemonade in his hand. He wanted to take it easy since he was designated driver. It was a unanimous decision among his friends from the moment he texted them.

He had some really horrible friends.

Vic leaned against a counter and looked out into the living room. Furniture was pushed against the wall to make room for dancing, the television was on playing music from the host’s phone, and people were all over the place drinking, playing drinking games, and socializing. There was a group outside smoking and there were definitely couples in one or more of the bedrooms hooking up.

This definitely wasn’t Vic’s scene.

He’d only agreed to come to this party for one reason, and that reason was nowhere to be seen. He was ready to call it a night, find his friends, and go home. He’d only been there for an hour, but he was bored and nothing going on piqued his interest. That was until…

“Oh shit, the life of the party is here.”

Vic looked toward the entrance of the kitchen and saw an acquaintance, Gabe, walking in with a friend and a smile on his face.

“Who’s here?” Vic asked.

Gabe chuckled in response and pointed to the front door. Vic looked and felt his heart thump harder seeing Kellin Quinn walk into the house. He was wearing a black band tee with the sleeves cut off and rips in it, and black skinny jeans with holes in the knees. His hair was disheveled, as if he’d run his hand through it all day. He looked good.

Vic continued to watch his crush as the young adult said hello to people in the living room.

“Have you been to a party with Kellin before?” Gabe asked, taking Vic away from his staring.

“Uh, no,” he stuttered. “Why?”

Gabe chuckled again and grabbed a plastic cup from the counter, filling it up some ice and spiked punch the host had made. “There’s a reason why we call Kell the life of the party. If you’re gonna be hanging out here for a while just keep him away from the strong stuff.”

Vic looked at him in confusion, to which Gabe explained, “He gets a little out of control when he’s drunk.”

That just confused Vic more. “Out of control how?”

Gabe looked to his friend and laughed. “He just gets really crazy. He kinda forgets he’s in public and does some…questionable things with people.” He walked over to Vic and patted his shoulder. “Just make sure he doesn’t put on a show for everyone tonight. We can’t go through that again.” With that the two boys left the room.

Vic stood there still confused but now a little intrigued. To him, Gabe’s warnings sounded very suggestive. Was Kellin more promiscuous when he wasn’t sober? Did that mean Vic had a shot? He obviously wouldn’t take advantage of the guy, but if it meant that he had the slightest chance of getting closer to Kellin and finally making his move then he’d go for it.

***

Kellin was an interesting drunk, but not in the way Vic thought or had hoped.

Kellin had gone into the kitchen after talking with his friends for a few minutes and greeted Vic. Then he filled a cup with some spiked punch that had way too much alcohol in it to be considered legal and left. Vic, not wanting to miss out on drunk Kellin and his chance to flirt with him, followed him out into the living room. He sat next to his crush on the couch against the wall and sipped his drink along with the other people in the room.

“You guys are boring!” Kellin complained, his words slurring together. At this point he’d gone back to the kitchen for two more refills and was certainly feeling the effects of the drink. “Does anyone wanna dance or something?”

Without a second thought Vic looked at him and answered, “Sure.”

Vic didn’t know if Kellin was into guys, but when he didn’t reject the offer, he took that as a sign that he had a shot at some sensual moves.

Boy, was he wrong.

Vic quickly learned what Gabe had meant when he said Kellin lost control when he was drunk. The raven-haired boy was almost completely out of it and his dance moves showed that. The music that was playing was upbeat with more sexually suggestive lyrics. Vic assumed Kellin would try to grind on him or something. No, instead Kellin was a blur of arms moving back and forth, head bobs, and hips swaying, and not in a sexy way.

The song ended and changed to a faster one and the boy looked like he was being tased. He was sipping from his cup and moving his shoulders and elbows like he was trying to fight his way out of a crowd. Vic had no choice but to stand back and watch to avoid getting hit.

The other people on the dance floor didn’t seem to fazed by it; they’d been to parties with Kellin before and were used to seeing him like this. Vic was just so shocked. Every time he’d seen his crush around campus he was so cool and collected. Now he looked like he needed to be tied down and tranquilized to avoid hurting someone.

Vic slipped away from the scene and back into the kitchen to get Kellin some water. He knew Kellin would need something to lessen the effects of all the alcohol. But then he saw Kellin filling his cup with the spiked punch for the fourth time and he knew it was time to go.

“Nope,” he said forcefully. “I think you’ve had enough for one night.”

“Aw, you’re no fun,” Kellin pouted. It took everything Vic had not to comment on how his lips looked so inviting.

“Yeah, I’m the worst,” he said dismissively. “C’mon, I’ll take you back to your dorm.” Kellin didn’t object this time, so Vic texted his friends telling them what he was doing and asking if any of them wanted to go with him. All of them told him they were going to stay; his friend Austin told him to use a condom.

Vic refused to reply to that message and led Kellin outside to his car.

The ride to Kellin’s dorm was an interesting one. Kellin couldn’t keep his hands to himself.

“You have such nice hair,” he said as he twirled a lock of Vic’s hair in his fingers. “It’s so soft and long and pretty.”

“Thanks,” Vic mumbled, trying to focus on the road in front of him.

“And you have really pretty eyes. And you have really nice arms. And your voice is hot.”

What? Vic didn’t know how to respond to all of that.

“I know someone who has a crush on you. They think you’re really hot.”

“Is it you?” Vic asked jokingly. He wasn’t prepared for the answer he got.

“Yup.”

His eyes went wide. He looked over to Kellin in hopes to keep the conversation going, but Kellin had engrossed himself in the streetlights they were passing. He was enjoying the “pretty colors.”

A minute later they pulled into the parking lot of Kellin’s dorm building. With much effort Vic was able to get the boy out of the car, into the building, and in the elevator to the third floor where his room was. He took Kellin’s key and unlocked the door.

“You wanna sleep in your bed or do you think the couch would be easier for you?”

“I’ll sleep with you.” Vic rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the shiver that went down his spine when Kellin winked at him after that sentence.

He helped Kellin into his bedroom and got him some water, painkillers, and a trash can in case he needed them. He said goodbye to the boy as he was getting undressed for bed, but not before admiring him without a shirt on for a few seconds.

Vic walked back to his car and shook his head. Well, tonight didn’t go as planned at all, but at least he learned he might have a chance to make up for it.

***

Kellin felt like shit. He’d woken up with a splitting headache and a horrible taste in his mouth. He wasn’t sure how he got back to his bedroom, but he assumed his roommate, Jaime, had dragged him home at the end of the night.

It was quite surprising when he checked his phone and saw a certain message.

Hey Kellin. I don’t want you to freak out when you wake up so I’m sending you this. You got pretty drunk last night and I couldn’t leave you there like that so I took you back to your dorm. There’s water and ibuprofen on your nightstand if you need it and hopefully you found the trashcan. Let me know if you need anything or if you wanna talk about the other night. See you on Monday.

Kellin couldn’t help but smile. His crush had taken care of him when he needed it. That was so-

Wait.

Vic had seen him drunk? Oh no. Vic had seen him drunk. This new revelation led Kellin to emptying his stomach in the trashcan by his bed. He groaned when he was done. I’m never drinking again, he thought as he took the ibuprofen and leaned against his pillows. He did get up to shower and brush his teeth after some time, still regretting his actions from the previous night. He felt the need to apologize to everyone who’d seen him, just like he felt after every party he went to.

So he texted Vic and asked to meet up with him at a nearby coffee shop.

***

Vic couldn’t help but chuckle at the look of embarrassment on Kellin’s face. They were sitting across from each other sipping their coffees and having small pastries. Kellin had asked Vic about his actions the night before, and Vic had told him everything minus his confession that he had a crush him. He didn’t want to embarrass the boy more than he already was.

“I’m so, so, so sorry that you had to take care of me.”

Vic waved him off. “It’s no problem. How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright. I felt like shit when I woke up though. Thanks for leaving the medicine and water.”

Vic nodded and sipped his coffee. They sat in a semi-comfortable silence with Kellin still obsessing over his dancing. He never wanted Vic to see him like that, but now it was out in the open and he was mortified. He was more than positive that he’d lost his chance with the brown-eyed boy.

But Vic still found Kellin to be ridiculously attractive, and last night just made him fall harder than before.

The two eventually threw their trash away and walked out of the coffee shop.

“I’m sorry again,” Kellin said. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. We all do and say things we don’t mean when we’re drunk.”

“Yeah, but you-” He stopped himself. “Say things? What do you mean by that?”

Vic blushed and shook his head. “Forget I said anything. I’ll see you in class on Monday.” He turned away to head to his car, intending to leave it at that. But that line had sparked something in Kellin’s memory and he gasped.

“Wait!” Vic stopped and looked back at Kellin who was now standing on the sidewalk with his eyes wide open in shock. “I…I…Did I…”

“Yeah,” Vic answered with a nod, “you told me.”

“Fuck.”

The tan boy walked back over to Kellin who was silently freaking out. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t sweat it.”

Kellin shook his head. “It’s just…” He didn’t know how to explain his feelings. He expected Vic to be more nervous knowing that a guy had admitted that he had feelings for him, but Vic had gotten over that over the course of the night. Kellin didn’t know that and assumed his reaction was because he didn’t feel the same way.

“Are you telling me not to worry about it because you feel bad for me or because you don’t feel the same way and you’re trying to be nice.”

“Honestly?” Vic stepped closer and reached out and grabbed the taller boy’s hand. “Neither.”

Kellin blushed, unable to say anything other than, “Oh.”

Vic, now feeling some confidence after seeing his crush embarrassed, smiled. “How about we start over? We can try this again, but without the alcohol.”

Kellin couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sure.” The two stood there, probably looking weird to passers-by, but they were enjoying the calm, quiet moment of looking into each other’s eyes and wondering how far their relationship could go.

“Wait,” Kellin gasped when a new thought occurred. “So you’re saying you weren’t turned off when you saw me dance last night?”

Vic shook his head with a laugh. “I mean, I was really hoping you’d grind on me, but no, I wasn’t turned off.”

“Really? I thought I did grind on you.” The two shared a laugh. “I think it’s better that I didn’t,” Kellin continued once they’d settled down. “I can grind much better on you when I’m sober.”

Vic bit his bottom lip, his eyes darkening at the thought. “Oh really?”

“Yeah. You wanna find out?”

-----

Yo! This is my first ever one shot so let me know what you think! And if you have any other prompts you'd like to see me write please comment or message me.

Shoutout to my friends in The Kellictive™ for giving me this idea and encouraging me to write it 💜

[xilienmultiverse-archived]

The Younger Generation

Me and @thekingofmcnsters had plotted this thread! For Leo, the day started out as usual as you could get... Well, at least, ‘normal’ when you’re a giant Moth who goes out and fights kaiju for a living. He got up, got lectured by his mother about the importance of maintaining balance and such. And while he didn’t physically vocalize it, the impatient and immature Leo let out an inwards groan as he heard yet another lesson about peace and balance. Of course the Balance of Nature and peace was something incredibly important, but... Did he really need another droning lesson about it...? Thankfully, he sat through it all, before going off to maybe try and find any malignant Kaiju he needed to stop; And, so far, nothing. Leo was bored out of his skull! How is it that today, literally every single Evil Kaiju just disappeared off the map!? Did he scare them off or something?! I mean, he wouldn’t be surprised, since he did beat Desghidorah and Dagahra.  And also some other ones, but they weren’t really worth mentioning; The only ones he could remember were some weird giant Mechanical Monkey... Thing, and some Giant Lobster. So, yeah, unmemorable.  As the Divine Moth flied around, trying to think of what he’s gonna do today if he can’t find any kaiju to defeat, his Antennae would quiver. After flicking about for a second or so, he began to pick up traces of a Kaiju nearby. A false alarm? Perhaps, but, it’s better than just doing nothing and flying around. Picking up on where he sensed the Kaiju to be moving, The Divine Moth shifted from his Imago Form into his Rainbow Form, his wings gaining a Rainbow iridescence. In an instant, the Immature Moth shot off like a bullet, scouring the Earth below him for the Kaiju he sensed. After a few minutes, he finally got a good grasp on where it was; Near the Coast of Japan. Dammit, he needed to hurry up or else Japan will be under attack again..! After concentrating, the Moth eventually saw the Monster come into view! Looking closely... Oh, it’s Godzilla. Did... He look a little smaller? Then again, Leo is up in the air, so he just supposed that most things would look a bit smaller from so high above. Deciding to mess with the Titan, the Divine Moth dived towards the King of Monsters, intent on landing on top of his head. Of course, He was Three-Fourths of the way towards the Kaiju when he realized that, he was smaller; In fact, it wasn’t really Godzilla at all! Scrambling in Mid-air to try and correct his flight path, Leo let out a screech as his legs would clip the back of the Prince’s head; Not a really damaging blow in any way, but it probably did hurt.  “AUGH- DAMMIT-” Leo blurted out as he skipped across the Ocean like a stone a few times, before he eventually righted himself, letting out a sigh of relief. After the world decided to stop spinning, the Divine Moth shifted his attention to the apparent fake before him. “HEY, WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!? WHY DO YOU LOOK A LOT LIKE GODZILLA?!” Leo asked, aggressively, maybe projecting his anger out to Kamata. It did hurt, you know.

[jamaisjoons]

everythingoes | kth & jjk

Summary: He is all the things you feel when fireworks light up the night sky. But everything is momentary and everything fades, just like those very same fireworks.

Pairing: Fuckboy!Taehyung x Reader; Jungkook x Reader

Genre: ANGST, so much fucking angst, smut, (barely there) fluff

Word Count: 24k

Warnings: cheating, sweet taehyung being a dick (I’m sorry tiger cub, I love you), a toxic relationship, possessive Taehyung, sex while semi-intoxicated (they can still consent), oral (fem and male receiving), panty play? I think, taehyung with a monster schlong, deep throating, face fucking, dirty talk, breast play, very slight cock/body worship, face sitting/riding, squirting, cum eating, riding, taehyung having a crazy amount of stamina, hair pulling, multiple orgasms, spanking, forced orgasm, creampie, slight breeding kink

A/N: Highkey, I was listening to mono when I came up with this plot and then when I was typing a certain scene. I wonder if you can guess exactly what scene that is lmao. In other news, this AU fried my last remaining brain cell and honestly I just want to rest for three years. My fingers are practically number from typing. UNEDITED because I’m DONE with it (for now). I’ll edit when my brain cells regenerate

You sat in the corner of the lecture room, trying your hardest to focus on the reading material in front of you. Usually, you barely paid attention in lectures, preferring to scroll through social media. It wasn’t that you were a bad student, in most classes, you would pay attention. The sole reason for your lack of attention in this one class was due to the professor reading off the slides, word for word. She never explained anything further and therefore her lectures were as boring as boring could get. But it also meant that you could do what you want and not miss a single thing.

So why was it that you were trying so hard to pay attention, this particular lecture?

You heard a small giggle and stiffened in your seat, the sound causing the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up. You grit your teeth and slid further down into your seat, trying to make yourself as small as possible. Thatwas the reason for your sudden attention to the Professor’s material. You glared at the screen, trying your hardest to keep your eyes from wandering away from your screen. However, when a deep chuckle followed, you couldn’t help but chance a glance. It was almost as if you were drawn to the sound, completely ensnared by the deep throaty laugh. Almost like the temptation of a siren’s song.

And then it was as if you couldn’t look away.

Try as you might, you can’t seem to break your gaze away from him. No, instead you take in the sight of from your seat. You’re currently at the back of the lecturer room, as far into the corner as you could be and your seat gives you the perfect view of him. Or well, technically a perfect view of the back of his head and side profile. With a slight wave of nostalgia, you realise he’s growing out his hair again and there are signs of the cutest mullet. The locks by the nape of his neck stick out in different directions and for a brief moment you get irresistible urge to run your fingers through them. His hair, unlike two weeks ago, was bleached to a light shade of blonde and while you love his natural hair best, you can’t help but think he looks devilishly handsome.

You had met Kim Taehyung six years ago, when the both of you were sixteen. Of course, you had known of Taehyung throughout the entirety of your high school career. He was the highschool heartthrob, the most beautiful boy to walk the halls of Busan High. He had broken more hearts than you could count on your hands. Of course, that was more due to the sheer number of girls who were in love with him. It was almost impossible to not know who Kim Taehyung was. Despite his status, he was still loved by everyone and anyone. He was as charismatic and friendly as they come; traits that leant to his ‘heartthrob’ persona and sometimes you wondered how a sweetheart such as Taehyung had even managed to break hearts. The boy was a dork and as sweet as cotton candy.

You had never thought much of Taehyung, even in school. However, that had all changed one faithful day.

{Flashback: March 2013}

You were sitting in your art and photography class, staring out the window as you waited class to start. It was the middle of Spring and the plum blossoms had already bloomed, the roads completely littered with the petals. Even with the light wind, you could see the rustling of the branches, with each movement, more and more blush pink, delicate petals scattering in the air. You lose yourself in the scenic landscape for a couple more minutes. That is, until you’re cut out of your daydream by a series of giggles and you turn your attention to the girls sitting at the front of the class.

Their eyes are solely fixated on the boy walking through the door, a large boxy smile on his face, framed either side by his chubby cheeks. His large brown eyes are sparkling, uneven lids just adding to the subtle beauty that surrounds him. Kim Taehyung was the school heartthrob and for good reasons. He was even best friends with the school council president Park Jimin, the two as thick as thieves ever since Taehyung moved from Daegu to Busan. The girls continued giggling as they stared dreamily at Taehyung, their faces flushed lightly as they sent him their brightest smile.

Taehyung sent them both flirtatious winks, causing both of them to fluster, one even dropping her books. Taehyung let out a small chuckle before he bent over to pick them up, squatting down until he’s face to face with the girl. You watched as he slowly gathers the books into his hand before rising back to his full height. You keep your attention trained at him, eyes narrowed on his figure, watching as he hands the books over to the girl, fingertips brushing against hers before smiling at her cheekily. The girl lets out a small squeak, her hot red before she turns and quickly runs away. You roll your eyes at the cheesy exchange, sneering slightly at the girls before turning your attention back out the window.

Soon enough, class begins and your teacher drones on and on about still life drawings and the depth of emotion you can capture with them. He continues monotonously monologuing the ‘true’ nature of still art and it takes every single ounce of your control to resist the urge to scream. This was practically all he spoke about, and you understood it stemmed from his passion for still life (despite the complete lack of emotion in his voice); but at the same time, you’d rather learn about something else. Especially considering this was your fifth class about still life drawing.

Therefore, instead of paying attention, you continue ignoring the teacher; choosing to daydream as you stare out the window instead. You imagine yourself being somewhere far away from here, quite literally anywherebut here and before you know it, your teacher is dismissing you. You let out a sigh of relief as you begin packing up, shoving your books back into your bag before getting up to leave. However, as soon as you stood up, you come face to chest with someone. You tilt your head, eyebrow shooting into your hairline as you were met with Taehyung’s smiling face.

You reel back slightly, trying to put in some distance between you and the man, wondering what on earthhe could want with you. You look around the room slightly, confused by the baffling glares of all the girls who were also in your class. You sent them a sneer, causing them to let out a scoff before walking away, muttering something about how something or the other wasn’t fair. You briefly recognise the girl who had dropped her books earlier looking slightly disheartened, sending a longing glance towards Taehyung before looking at you with jealousy. You turn your attention back to Taehyung, raising your eyebrow once against.

“Is there something you need, Taehyung-ssi?” You asked and Taehyung’s face morphed into one of confusion.

“Were you paying attention ____-ssi? We’re partners” Taehyung replies and you almost choke, spluttering at him.

“What? Partners for what?” You splutter and Taehyung laughs at you, the noise deep and baritone and you wonder whatsixteen-year old’s voice is so deep. He sounds more like a man than anything.

“Miss Ahn partnered us up for the end of term project. We have two weeks to come up with what we want to do, art or photography wise” Taehyung replies cheerily and you nod along, finally understanding why the girls were angry at you. You let out a small sigh, this was surely going to cause problems. How were you and Taehyung supposed to work on a project for two weeks without you being murdered by his fan club? You silently pray to whatever god is out there, because you were sure you were going to need it.

“Alright, drop me your number and we can figure out when we need to meet and work on it. Have you thought of something you want to work on?” You ask and Taehyung nods eagerly as he punches his number into your phone.

“I’ve got a few ideas, one of them inspired by Van Gogh. However, I also want to do something photography related. But we can speak more about another day” Taehyung says and you nod swiftly.

“Alright perfect. I look forward to working with you Taehyung-ssi” You say more out of obligation and societal politeness than anything else and Taehyung’s only response is a large grin, a cheeky wink following as he turns to leave.

{End of Flashback}

That’s the first time you meet Taehyung. You had been expecting to work on a simple project and then both move on to your separate ways. What you didn’t expect is to genuinely enjoy his company over the next two weeks. Sure, his flirting was borderline excessive and ridiculous. But Taehyung was still fun to work with, especially when you realised how serious he was and how much he loved art. You didn’t expect to somehow grow attached and you especially didn’t expect for Taehyung to become your best friend. But, throughout working with him, you had realised that everyone was right. It was physically impossible to hate Taehyung; he was entirely too sweet. Suddenly, you understood exactly why all the girls would swoon over him.

Your lecturer continued droning on and on and you resisted the urge to face plant your desk out of misery. You were both in Art History, it was your minor and the only reason you had taken it was because you needed to make up the credits. You had always had a vagueinterest in art, but it could never measure up to Taehyung’s love for all things old, classic and artsy. You however, preferred academics and your major was chemistry. Why you had to take Art History to complete your Chemistry degree, you had no idea. But it was either Art History or Politics and you would ratherdiethan spend a single minute surrounded by pretentious conservatives who thought they knew how the world worked despite daddy’s money paying for everything.

The lecturer cracked a joke and you rolled your eyes from the back of the lecture hall, wishing the torture would just end. However, your attention is once again drawn by a deep chuckle, a sound that you could recognise anywhere. You watch Taehyung laugh with the rest of the class, his eyes sparkling with happiness and his lips pulled into a huge grin. His face fills you with nostalgia and you’re thrown back to the first time you questioned your previously platonic feelings for Taehyung.

{June 2014}

“____! Come on, just get in. I promise nothing will happen. You knowyou’re safest when with me” Taehyung pleads and you scoff at him, arms crossed around your chest as you eye him wearily. It’s been a good year since you befriended Taehyung. It had been a rocky start, especially considering Taehyung had tried to flirt with you constantly, despite you refusing his advances time and time again. However, eventually he had realised that you weren’t going to give in and had toned it down. Despite your art project ending, you had still kept in touch. But you could never have imagined that somehow, he’d have ended up as your best and closest friend. You trust Taehyung with your entire life. Figuratively. But as he stands there in front of you, a pout on his lips and his eyes pleading as he holds out car keys, his newly gifted car behind him, you wonder if you couldquite literallytrust Taehyung with your life.

You’re still seventeen, but Taehyung is older than you and he’s just completed his eighteenth birthday, which means that legallyTaehyung is allowed to drive. And with that, comes a test of how much you actuallytrust him. On a good day, he has your complete, unfaltering trust. But today, you’re not so sure. Because he’sjustpassed his test and you aren’t sure whether you want to get in a car with him, where he’s behind the wheel. Especially at night time, when the roads are dark and barely lit.

But Taehyung is insistent. He wants the first person he drives to be you and it has to be now, at night, because he’s driving his mother to the airport the next day. He continuously pleads and when he lets out a small whine; you give in, throwing your hands in the air. Taehyung yelps in victory, fist pumping through the air before opening your door like the gentleman he is. As soon as you get in, you buckle up; Taehyung getting into his own seat, grinning at you widely. He’s entirely too giddy and you wonder what you’re getting into. He’s got something planned and you know it as well as you know the back of your own hand.

“What?” You ask, and Taehyung lets out a little giggle. He reaches over you and rummages through the glove box before pulling something out.

“Okay, so you know, how the other day, RM dropped his new mixtape Mono? And how we said it’d be perfect to listen to on a night drive?” Taehyung says and you quirk an eyebrow, nodding slightly. He lifts up the album he pulled out and your eyebrows shoot up. So, he hadbeen planning something.

“God damn it, I should have known you were planning something. You don’thave to drop your mother to the airport, tomorrow do you? This is all just some elaborate plan for you to rope me into doing dumb shit with you at midnight” You whine, pointing an accusatory finger at Taehyung and you internally cheer victoriously when Taehyung throws his hands up in defeat, a sheepish smile on his face.

“Okay, okay, you caught me! But I didwant you to be the first person I drove. Also, today is a beautiful night and I want to show this with you. Come on, ____ pretty please? For me?” Taehyung pouts and as soon as his lip quivers you know you are done for. You let out an infuriated scream, tugging your hair in frustration before smacking the dashboard. Taehyung watches you with an amused smile and you resist the urge to lean over and throttle him. Because both of you know exactlywhat Taehyung’s puppy dog look does to you. How was anyonesupposed to resist him when he was flashing his wide brown eyes, plush lips pulled into a perfected pout?

“Fuck! Fine! Fine, just fucking drive. But I just want you to know, if we die, I’m haunting your ass forever” You threaten and Taehyung grins brightly before turning the key and starting the ignition. A small sense of dread fills you when Taehyung slightly revs the engine, one hand on the gear stick. You dotrust Taehyung to keep you safe, because he was right, you weresafest when with him. However, Taehyung was known to be slightly reckless and you didn’t put it past him to suddenly speed down the motorway.

“Alright babe, get ready for the best night of your life” Taehyung says with a wink and you jokingly gag at his words. Even though you were both best friends, Taehyung still threw his lame pickup lines or ‘smooth’ moves on you every now and then ‘To keep you on your toes’ he claimed, but you both knew he just enjoyed riling you up. Plus, it was more out of habit than anything, because at 18, Taehyung is somehow a bigger flirt than he was at 17. You theorise that perhaps it’s to do with his newfound growth spurt, making his already tall stature even taller.

Taehyung shifts the gear and slowly begins reversing, one hand around the back of your seat as he turns around, making sure the space behind him his clear through the rear window. Once you’re out of the drive, Taehyung shifts gears once again and presses down on the accelerator and suddenly the two of you are driving down the empty roads of Busan.

“Come on Iris, play the CD” Taehyung says and you hope Taehyung doesn’t hear the sharp intake of breath. He had begun calling you Iris three months into your friendship, the nickname solely reserved for you. You had questioned him many times as to why he called you that, but each time the explanation changed. The first was because according to him, ‘Irises’ was his favourite painting by Vincent Van Gogh; however, you knew that to be false because his favourite painting was ‘Starry Night over the Rhône’. The second time you asked, he had said it was because irises were a beautiful flower and somehow, they just suited you, even ifyour favourite flower were chrysanthemums. The third time you ask, he finally admits it’s because Iris is the god of Rainbows and irises are purple. The last colour of the rainbow. He says the colour signifies how you’d be together forever. Just you and him. You liked that idea.

“Iris? ____? You okay?” Taehyung asks and you blink owlishly as he pulls you out of your reverie. You shake your head slightly, smiling sheepishly as you slot the CD into the player. You turn the volume up slightly and you hear the soft sound of a car driving on the road begin before the loud chiming as ‘Tokyo’ starts playing, the soft sound of the piano filling the car. RM’s deep, but low husky voice begins and you’re slowly plunged into the calm of the atmosphere.

It’s completely dark outside as it’s nearing 1am, and neither you nor Taehyung speak as he navigates expertly through the streets of Busan. You lean your head against the window, condensation slightly blurring your view. But even then, you can still make out the dim lights of the stars and moon as they shine above you, the city lights drowning them out. However, the further you drive, the more you notice them as they slowly become brighter and brighter, and suddenly; when you can see them clearly, you realise that Taehyung has driven you far from the city.

The two of you are on a road by the beachside, the lights of the city now faint and behind you. You can faintly hear the crashing of the ocean waves on the beach as you race through empty roads. You startle slightly as you breathe in the crisp, slightly salted air, wondering when Taehyung had rolled down the windows. A part of you wonders how long you were staring out the window, completely lost in your thoughts. ‘uhgood’ is currently playing and with a startling realisation, you recognize it being the fourth time it’s been played, which means you’ve been driving for more than an hour. You glance at the clock in the car, eyes widening at the display. How was it already nearing 2am? The drive barelyfelt like twenty minutes, how had a complete two hours passed?

You turn back to Taehyung, opening your mouth to say something about turning back but instead you’re utterly floored by the view you’re met with. Taehyung is completely focused on the road, his grip on the steering wheel loose. He looks at ease, a soft smile on his face as the mixtape continues playing in the background. The wind slowly rustles through his hair, the susurrus noises only adding to the stillness of the atmosphere surrounding you. You’re almost captivated by how beautiful he is. He always has been. You know this. It is not an opinion but a mere fact. Because Taehyung isbeautiful. But seeing him now, you’re almost pulled into a trance.

Taehyung has grown up the last year, he’s lost some of his chubbiness, but you can still see hints around his cheekbones. His jaw is slightly more angled now and his features sharp, especially his eyes as they twinkle with mischief. The soft glow of the moonlight highlights his high cheekbones, his tan skin softly glowing, the darkness completely encasing him; almost as if it’s highlighting him in the low light. His hair is softly blowing in the wind, the dark locks slightly ruffled and simply adding to his charm. From your angle, you can see his long thick eyelashes brush against his cheeks every time he blinks. Right here, right now, Taehyung is the most gorgeous creature you have ever seen or could ever know. You don’t think he could get anymore stunning.

And then he turns to you.

And he smiles.

Your breath hitches slightly, the large grin pushing up his cheeks and emphasizing the slight chubbiness he still has with him, thanks to his grandmother’s constant mission to keep him well fed and healthy. His boxy smile stirs something in you and then he winks and applies more pressure onto the accelerator, speeding up. You know you should be slightly worried; it’s dark and Taehyung is speeding. But you’re so caught up in how breath-taking he looks that you fail to reprimand him. Instead, you drown further into him.

“You alright Iris?” Taehyung asks, his voice deep and husky and you have no idea why, but your heart achesat his words.

“I’m fine Tae, just fine” You breathe out, hoping he doesn’t notice the slight breathlessness to your voice. Especially when he moves his hand from the back of your seat to take your hand in his, squeezing it slightly.

{End of Flashback}

You scoff at your past self, wishing desperately that you could go back in time and rewind everything. That was the day you began falling for your best friend. A huge cliché, you were aware. But how could you notfall for Taehyung? He was almost perfect. However, Taehyung didn’t date. He was a flirt and a fuckboy through and through. You knew this better than anyone. You had always thought you’d be immune to it, but how the mighty have fallen. You smiled bitterly as you pondered your very much unrequited love for your best friend. Best friend. You continue perusing Taehyung, your heart plummeting in your chest.

Sometimes it hurt just looking at him.

You could still clearly remember the day you had the startling realisation that you were in love with your best friend. It was almost four years ago, when the two of you had just graduated from highschool.

{Flashback July 2015}

“Iris, come on sweet, it’s our last night as highschool students! We can’tmiss this” Taehyung whines and you ignore the way your heartbeat slightly speeds up at his nickname.

“God Taehyung, why are you dragging me along? It’s not as if you’ll actually be with me the night anyway” You glare at him and Taehyung looks at you in both surprise and confusion.

“____, why would I not be with you?” Taehyung asks and you let out a little scoff. You knew Taehyung like the back of your hand. You had been best friends for almost two years now and you’d like to think you knew exactly what would happen at the celebratory bonfire for seniors. Taehyung would spend twenty minutes with you, keeping you company and making sure you were alright. But then, he’d find himself a girl and chase after her and then he’d disappear. Like he always did.

“Tae come on, we both know you’re going to leave the minute you find a girl you want to fuck” You sneer and as soon as the words are out, you wonder why they leave a bad taste in your mouth. Or why your stomach churns at the thought of Taehyung with another girl.

“God ____, I know I’m usually like that, but I’m not going to ditch you tonight of all nights. If I promise to stay with you, will you come?” Taehyung pouts and you narrow your eyes at him slightly. Taehyung only deepens his pout and you let out a sigh of defeat, Taehyung grinning when he hears it. You silently berated yourself, wondering why he had so much power over you. Why was it that a singlepout always had you doing his bidding? It was as if he did it and cast a spell on you, making sure you always bent to his whims.

“Fuck, fine! But if you leave me Kim Taehyung, I swear to any god out there, I willfind you and castrate you. Whether you’re balls deep in the girl or not” You threatened, Taehyung wincing slightly before wrapping his arms around you, hugging you tight to his body.

“Gods Iris, I promise not to leave you. I just wanna spend the night having fun with my best friend” Taehyung promises, placing a soft kiss onto your temple and silently you wonder just what you’ve gotten yourself into.

A couple hours later, you find yourself sitting beside a bonfire, surrounded by various other people in your year who are graduating with you. True to his word, Taehyung has refused to leave your side; even when girls come over to try and lure him from you. Taehyung, however, obediently stays by your side. Which is why, you find yourself seated on the grass, Taehyung sitting behind you on one of the makeshift seats. Your back is pressed tightly against his chest, one of his arms is loosely thrown around your body and this you’re completely encompassed by his warmth. You’re so close to Taehyung that you can feel the deep rumbles of his laughter more than you can hear it.

“I can’t believe we’re finally graduating from this hell hole of a school. I honestly didn’t even think we’d make it this far” Park Jimin, Taehyung’s other best friend and self-proclaimed soulmate laments and you roll your eyes at him, throwing some grass at him.

“Agreed on the hell hole, but didn’t you love school? You were one of the best students in our year, not to mention school president ever since you set foot in Busan High” You teased and Jimin looks at you with wide eyes, full of shock and mock betrayal.

“Hey! Just because I excelled at school, doesn’t mean I didn’t think it was a hell hole. I can’t wait to go to university and study dance. Goodbye maths, goodbye science” Jimin cheers victoriously and you snort at him.

“Weren’t you top of the class in maths and science?” You snicker and Jimin slams the ground with his small palms in mock rage, pointing at you accusatorily.

“YAH! Stop pocking holes in my story and let me whine in peace” Jimin yells and you snicker.

“Sorry Jiminie, please Mr. School President, tell us all about how much you hated school and are glad to be moving onto university” You tease and this time Jimin turns to Taehyung.

“Yah, Taehyung, control your girl” Jimin complains and you immediately freeze, wondering why your heart skips a beat and begins racing at the speed of hummingbird wings. You except Taehyung to rebuff and correct Jimin, but all he does is chuckle and you can feel the deep baritone sound against your back; the feeling only serving to speed up your heartbeat further.

“Iris does whatever she wants Jiminie, if I can’t stop her teasing me, I don’t know how I’m supposed to stop her teasing you” Taehyung chortles and you wince slightly, your skin suddenly feeling very flushed.

“Hey! It’s started!” Someone calls out, pointing up at the sky. All your attention is drawn towards the sky and this time, your breath is taken away by the beautiful display of sparks lighting up the sky. The intense kaleidoscopic display fills up the entire night sky, loud booms and high whistling filling the night air as they continuously go off. Hues of every shade fill your vision, blues, greens, oranges, reds, golds and so many more and you completely lose yourself in this sight of it all.

“____, look! It’s so beautiful! Hey, that one was purple and yellow, those are our favourite colours!” Taehyung says, bouncing with delight. Your face softens slightly. No matter how old he got, Taehyung never lost his childlike innocence and playfulness. You feel his giddiness course through your veins and it only causes your heart to flutter more. You try and focus on the lights, aweing and oohing along with everyone else. But then, Taehyung wraps his arms tighter around your body, pulling you closer into his embrace and briefly you feel him nuzzle his nose in your hair; breathing in your scent, but you’re positiveyou’ve made it up. And  then, he says something that has you breaking out of your stupor.

“I’m glad you’re here with me. I wouldn’t want to share this with anyone else” Taehyung whispers into your hair and you snap your head to face him, almost giving yourself whiplash. However, when you come face to face with him, his attention is already back on the sky. But now, your attention is solely focused on him.

His skin glows in the dim amber flames of the bonfire, and every now the flashes of the fireworks illume him even more. For the second time in your life, you’re completely floored by how trulybeautifulKim Taehyung is. Once again, your heart aches but this time you know exactly how you feel. Because for an entire year now you’ve questioned whether your feelings were completely platonic. And now, in this very moment, with the prismatic explosion of colour in the background, you sincerely understand the depth of the emotions you feel for your best friend. Taehyung is all the things you feel when fireworks illuminate the sky.

You finally realise, that you are completely, utterly and irrevocably in love with Kim Taehyung.

{End of Flashback}

After that day, your relationship with Taehyung had somewhat changed. Not on his end obviously, but more on yours. Every time he did something sweet, your heart would cinch. Every compliment, every flirtatious comment, every term of endearment, drove you wild. There were times you wanted to scream and run, there were times when you wanted to grab him by the collar and kiss him senseless, confessing your love for him. But instead, you kept everything bottled up and loved him from far.

There is very little you wouldn’t give to go back in time to that very moment and yell at yourself to not do it. To not fall in love with him. Taehyung had never had a relationship. He was always a lone fuckboy who spent more time running from commitment than he did between girls’ legs. Which, considering just howmany people he’d bedded, was a lotof time running from commitment. There was a time, when Taehyung was a hopeless romantic. A time when he dreamt about meeting the one and falling in love. A time when he spent dreaming about a marriage, children and a white picket fence. That had all changed when his parents had split up and his entire world had crashed around him, leaving a disillusioned boy with major commitment and trust issues.

Taehyung never being in a relationship had made life so much easier for you. Sure, you had to deal with him sleeping around, but you never had to deal with him being in love or seeing someone else. For a very long time, the only constant female in Taehyung’s life was you. Secretly, you had loved it because it meant, that in a weird twisted way, Taehyung was yours and only yours. The girl he ran to with problems, the girl he took on ‘dates’, the girl he spent valentines with. Every important moment was spent with you. You were the one he always ran to at the end of the day and you had loved it, cherished it. Held it close to your heart.

But nothing lasted forever. Everything was fleeting and a couple years after falling in love with him, you soon realised that Taehyung’s solo career was also temporary.

{Flashback November 2017}

You sit on the sofa, casually flicking through the different films and series on Netflix, looking for something, anythingto watch and cure your boredom as you slurp on ramen aka your very nutritious and filling dinner for the night. Note your sarcasm. But, it’s what student life was like and you were entirely too poor to complain about it. You’re in your shared flat with Jimin and Taehyung but both boys have made themselves scarce. Jimin had left for dance practice twenty minutes ago and Taehyung had been out the entire day.

Deadline season was quickly approaching, which meant that Taehyung had become desperate to find a model for his photography project, especially after putting off the assignment for a month. You had offered and he’d almost taken you up on your offer, until someone finally responded to his flyer. He had quickly apologised for almost ‘forcing’ you into working with him, kissed your forehead and had then run out. A part of you had felt dejected but you quickly brushed those feelings off. And now here you were, all by your lonesome, scrolling endlessly through Netflix. Ten minutes later, you’re ready to give up and head to bed, when the door bursts open and Taehyung enters.

You regard him with weariness, wondering why he looks so happy. His eyes are sparkling and his lips are pulled into a wide smile. His shoulders are shaking, he’s giddy, and full of that childlike exuberance you love so much and despite yourself, somehow, he manages to cause you to fall in love all over again. A feat you thought completely impossible. And yet, there he was proving you wrong all over again. He walks up to you and throws himself on the sofa next to you. You raise an eyebrow at him and briefly wonder why he’s so happy.

“The best thing happened to me. I think I’m cured” Taehyung says cheerily and now you’re definitely intrigued. What could have happened in the few hours that he was gone to get him so happy? You hadn’t ever seen him like this, at least, not since the divorce.

“I take it, your photography project went well? Got all the shots you needed?” You ask and Taehyung nods enthusiastically, but you sense it’s more than that.

“Oh, what is it? Why are you so excited? And cured of what?” You ask, but now, looking back, you wished you had left. You wished you had gone to bed earlier. You wished you had been his model because nothingcould have prepared you for the words that spilled out his mouth next.

“It went more than well. There’s a girl in our Art History class, I don’t know if you’ve heard of her, but her name is Choi Hyorin. She’s the one that answered my ad” Taehyung begins and dread begins pooling in your stomach. You want to wave it off because Taehyung’s always been surrounded by girls, but they’ve never lasted more than a one-night stand. You want to think that the dread is because he’s about to go into detail about his little rendezvous but deep down, you know it’s more than that.

“I think I’ve heard of her; she’s the one with the small face, big eyes and long black hair, right?” You ask and Taehyung nods enthusiastically.

“Yes! So, we did a few shots, and I don’t know how I never noticed how cute she was. We spent the entire day going around looking for the best place to take the photos. We went to parks, graffitied buildings, rooftops. Anywhere with aesthetic shots and I shit you not, everypicture was beautiful. And she’sso beautiful, not to mention funny and oh my gods, ____, we have the exact same interests! I’ve never met anyone like her, we just clickedand never once did I even think of fucking and ditching her. We click on so many things, she loves blues, RnB and jazz, her favourite artist is Van Gogh and she loves H.E.R. as well. I loved spending every moment with her and we’re even meeting again in a couple days to head to that jazz night in the karaoke bar” Taehyung gushes and rants and each and every word is like a dagger to your quickly plummeting heart. You feel like your entire world is falling apart and you want nothing more than to run into your room and cocoon yourself in your sheets and never come out again, but Taehyung continues ranting and raving about how amazing she was and how she has the cutest laugh, and the way her eyes sparkle in the setting sun and the way she feels against him. He goes on and on for what feels like hours and you can do nothing more than smile and nod, despite how much your heart is breaking; because you are nothingbut his best friend and it’s your job to listen to him.

He doesn’t know what you feel for him.

He doesn’t know how much he owns your heart.

He doesn’t know that his next words break that very same heart.

“____, I’m telling you. I’ve never felt like this about anyone in my entire life. I… I honestly believe she’s the one. I think she’s the girl of my dreams. I know I’ve sworn of love and relationships because of my parents… but I think she’s the girl to heal those wounds. I think, if it’s her, I can truly love again. Am I crazy?” Taehyung asks, looking at you in wide eyed wonder and you take in a shuddering deep breath. You bottle all your feelings for him and give him your best, brightest smile despite how much it feels like an elephant has stomped all over your chest and you hug him.

“Of course, not Taehyung. If you honestly feel like that, then I’m sure you’re not crazy. I’m glad you found someone that makes you happy” You choke out, internally cheering at how level your voice is. Despite everything, you’re not lying. You areglad he’s found someone. Because even if you were in love with him, at the end of the day, you were his best friend.

And Taehyung’s happiness always comes first.

{End of flashback}

The giggle you heard before once again fills the room and you sink further into your seat. You try hard to block out Hyorin’s giggles, especially since she’s the reason you’re trying to focus on the dreaded lecture notes but it’s hard to do so, especially when it’s followed by Taehyung’s deep chuckles. It’s been fifteen months since Hyorin and Taehyung became a couple. Fifteen whole months of nothing but heartbreak, fake smiles and unrequited love. You had tried so very hard to get over Taehyung, you had dated, fallen into your own trysts of one-night stands, hell you even tried Tinder in a desperate attempt. But no one had ever compared to Taehyung. None of them were as exciting or stole your breath like he did. And so, after ten months, you had given up all hope of ever moving on and instead accepted your condemned fate of forever being in love with your best friend.

However, it had become slightly easier. Despite the tumultuous love you felt for Taehyung, it had become easier. But not because you were accepting of his love for Hyorin. It had become easier because ever since they had gotten together, you and Taehyung had become distant. You had once been the only constant female in Taehyung’s life, but that had changed when he and Hyorin became exclusive. Suddenly, that position was no longer reserved for you, but for her.

Now he spent valentine’s day with her, he took her on dates, he bought her meaningful Christmas gifts, spent his birthday with her and only her. She was the girl he now ran to and the girl who dealt with his problems. It hadn’t started out like that, he had made a lot of time for you. Promised things would never change and that you’d always be the number one girl in his life. But that was the thing about relationships. When a new person was added, it always changed. There was no way it couldn’t. He had tried. He really had and you couldn’t fault him for it. Because he hadtried to balance you both, but at the end of the day, she always took precedence and slowly, you began drifting.

He spent less time with you, and spent more time with her. He spent less time speaking and texting you, and spent more time texting and speaking to her. And now, he spent more time at her apartment than he spent in the home he shared with you and Jimin. You lived with Taehyung and yet the most you’d seen him was in your shared Art History class. And yet, you couldn’t fault him for anything because she’s the one. You watch as he throws his arm around her shoulder, pulling her in closer to him. You see the way he smiles at her, his eyes filled with nothing but adoration. You see it all.

Taehyung is completely, utterly and irrevocably in love.

But not with you.

“Gods, are you okay, ____? You look a right mess” Jimin says as he enters your room and you glare at him.

“I’m fine Jimin, what do you want?” You ask and Jimin shrugs, entering your room and sitting on your bed. Ever since you moved in with him and Taehyung, you and Jimin had grown a lot closer. Sure, your friendship never matched the one you had with Taehyung, but you were close nevertheless.

“Nothing really, Taehyung is out with Hyorin and I’m bored. That’s like the fifth time this month he’s ditched me for her” Jimin pouts and you wince slightly because the last thing you want right now, especially since Taehyung hadn’t even madeplans with you for over three weeks.

You quieten down and become maudlin. Distance with Taehyung is something you have become awfully familiar with. Something you never thought you’d have to become familiar with. But you’re feeling particularly morose today and you’re plunged into the ‘what ifs’. What if you had confessed to Taehyung, what if youhad modelled for his art project instead of Hyorin. What if you had never met him?These are the thoughts that fill your head currently. What ifs are dangerous territory and your thoughts only serve in causing you to sink further into heartbreak. You miss Taehyung. You miss the friendship dates, you miss visits to cafes and museums, you miss his stupid pickup lines and flirtatious comments. But most of all, you miss him. You miss your best friend more than anything.

“You look like you’re about to cry” Jimin says, breaking you out of your thoughts and you suck in a sharp breath, blinking away the tears in your eyes. When had you even began welling up?

“Should I call Taehyung?” Jimin asks and you quickly shake your head, curling your fists around your sheets are you tried to get your emotions back in check.

“Please don’t” You whisper and Jimin hums in thought.

“Because he’s the reason you’re crying?” Jimin asks and you snap your head towards him. Your breath hitches in fear as you stare at him in wide eyed panic but Jimin just shrugs nonchalantly, sending you a knowing look.

“Please, I know how you feel about him. Everyone knows it. You know it, I know it, the entire campus knows it. The only person who doesn’t is Taehyung” Jimin says and you let out a choked sound, trying to find the words to deny his claims.

“Please don’t try and deny it. Don’t insult my intelligence like that. Everyone knows.And yes, that everyone includes Hyorin” Jimin replies and your eyebrows furrow.

“What do you mean?” You ask and Jimin lets out a bemused chuckle.

“Why do you think you and Taehyung have barely been spending time together? She knew and she was jealous. She knew you loved him and she knew that Taehyung and your friendship was something special. So, she tried to monopolise his time as much as possible. And surprise, surprise it worked. There were times he wanted to hang out with you, but she asked him on those days and he said yes. It only worked because you were so willing to let him go. Because at some point, you stopped fighting her for his time and attention” Jimin said and you stammer, unsure of what to make of things.

“Y-You mean he chose her? Over me? As in, there were days when he wanted to spend time with me, but chose to spend time with her instead?” You ask, fearing his answer.

“I guess you could see it like that yeah” Jimin says and despair fills your ever fibre. You had always assumed that Taehyung’s distance had been because he was consumed by Hyorin. You had never once thought that Taehyung if given the option to spend time with you, Taehyung would still choose her. Mainly because you thought you meant more to him than that. You let out a small sob, tears welling in your eyes and Jimin looks at you sadly.

“I’m sorry ____. But I have watched you be in love with my idiot of a best friend for years. And he was too stupid to realise he loved you too” Jimin says sadly and you snort,  looking at him in cynicism.

“Oh yeah, Taehyung in love with me. Please Jimin, next joke” You sneer out and Jimin lets out a humourless laugh.

“Please. He did. I know he did. Every time you’d sleep with someone, or date someone, he’d get angry and overprotective. There were times when he even threatened guys to stay away from you. You don’t do that for justa best friend. He loved you. He loves you. He’s just too much of an idiot to see it but when he and Hyorin break up, he’ll realise how much he loves you and what he lost. Trust me” Jimin says and you shake your head, sneering once again.

“Please don’t lie to me Jimin, he never loved me and never could. I’m not her” You reply, your tone full of defeat and Jimin lets out a shriek of frustration.

“Stop that! I know Taehyung. I know him better than anyone and that may not include you, but your judgement is clouded by your feelings. I have watched you idiots be in love with each other for so long. But Hyorin comes and Taehyung being theidiothe is decides to think with his dick and convince himself he’s in love with her when he’s not. I have watched you love him this entire time, I have watched him break your heart. I have watched him slowly destroy you and turn you into the shell of a person you once were. And I’m tired. I love him but I’m sorry to say that your love is wasted on him. He doesn’t deserve it. You are a beautiful, vibrant girl. A girl whose love is better spent on someone else. It’s time you moved on” Jimin rants and you scoff at him.

“Easy for you to say that. I’ve tried that and it didn’t work” You sneer and Jimin shakes his head. He get up and heads to your closet; you watch in confusion as he pulls out an outfit and lays it on your bed.

“Well you’re going to try again. Get up and shower, we’re going out. I’m not going to sit by and watch you slowly break apart anymore. I care about you too much for that” Jimin says and you let out a small sigh.

“Jimin it’s not going to work. I’ve tried the getting under someone else approach” You say and he looks at you in annoyance.

“Well you’re going to try harder. I’m not taking no for an answer. Get up and shower. Now” Jimin’s tone is final and you know him well enough to know that you’re not winning this battle. So, you let out a small groan and grab the clothes he’d laid out, grumbling to yourself as you pop into the shower.

“Cheers!” Jimin says, clinking his shot glass against yours before you wrap your lips around the rim and down it in one go. You wince slightly at the taste of tequila searing down your throat before shaking your head. You were already four shots deep and the alcohol was blurring your mind, the haze surrounding you and making you feel happier and lighter than you had in a while. You still have your wits about you and you’re nowhere close to being drunk but it’s enough to take off the nervous edge. The music was pounding in your ear drums and you could feel the bass vibrate through your entire body, your hips moving slowly to the rhythm despite yourself.

“Alright, let’s find you someone to go home with” Jimin says, the two of you turning around to scout the different guys.

“What about him?” You point out and Jimin shakes his head.

“That’s Jung Hoseok, he’s a year above me and in my dance classes. He’s seeing someone called Sooyun or something” Jimin says and you sigh before you continue looking around.

“How about him?” You ask pointing out another guy.

“Yoongi-hyung? No, he’s gay and probably dragged here by Hoseokie-hyung. Why do we know so many people who are here?” Jimin asks with a sigh and you giggle.

“Because this club is popular in our university. Hey, how about that guy?” You say, pointing out to someone else.

“Ah, Kim Yugyeom. He’s also in my dance class but he’s single and loves to sleep around. No strings attached and from what I’ve heard a good lay. Go for it” Jimin says and you smile brightly at him before looking swigging your next shot. You begin walking towards him and soon he spots you walking towards him. He gives you a wide grin and winks, and before you know it, you’re face to chest with the tall boy. Yugyeom immediately grips you by the waist and begins moving his hips, body rolling against you.

The way he moves is sinful and you throw caution to the wind. You close your eyes and grind against him, head thrown just under his shoulder as you move your ass against his hips. Yugyeom’s hands move to your hips and his fingertips grip onto them, fingers bruising. He swirls his hips particularly hard, pressing his crotch against your ass as his lips trail along your neck, pressing soft kisses against it. You let out a moan that gets lost in the noise of the club but Yugyeom feels the vibration. He spins you around, arm wrapping around your back as he continues grinding against you. His lips slowly begin descending on yours and just when they meet, you’re roughly pulled apart.

You turn around in shock and your eyes widen when you’re met face to face with a very angry Taehyung. He’s glaring at the slightly taller man before pushing Yugyeom off of you. You splutter, unsure what to say and frantically look around for Jimin but he’s nowhere to be seen. Taehyung grabs you by the wrist and begins pulling you out of the club. You try to break free but Taehyung turns around and glares at you and immediately you feel weak and dejected. You allow him to slowly drag him out of the club. He hails a taxi and puts you in before getting in on the other side. The entire drive is tense and you have so many questions. But instead, you sit in silence, stewing over the events. The more time passes and the more time you have to think about it, only serves to make you angry. You were so ready to move on and he just had to ruin it. Where did he even come from? Wasn’t he with Hyorin in the first place?

You soon reach your apartment building and the two of you get out. Taehyung walks ahead of you, stalking into the building, simply expecting you to follow him. You glare at his back in anger, stomping after him and with each step to your shared flat, your anger rises. Soon, you’re stood in front of your flat door, glaring daggers into Taehyung’s back as you seethe. If looks could kill, he’d be dead thrice over. He unlocks the door and opens it with a slam, beckoning you in with a look. You stomp inside throwing your purse onto the table before turning around and pointing at him.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing Kim Taehyung?” You seethe, your voice barely above a whisper. The shots are taking more effect and you’re feeling bold enough to fight with him.

“Saving you. What the fuck were you doing there? I went out with some friends, I didn’t expect you to be there. Why were you dancing with Yugyeom? Do you not know he’s a fuckboy?” Taehyung asks and you scoff.

“Yes I did! I was tryingto fuck him! What is it to you?” You shriek and Taehyung sneers at you.

“That’s not who you are. You don’t just fuck around” Taehyung jeers and you have the irresistible urge to throttle him.

“That’s fucking rich coming from you. You used to do it all the fucking time. Suddenly, I’m not allowed to sleep around?” You throw back and Taehyung reels, his eyes turning into slits.

“Don’t you dare. It was different with me. You don’t get to sleep around” Taehyung says and your eyes widen, body shaking with rage.

“Excuse me? Who the fuck do you think you are? You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do. If I want to sleep with the next fifty guys I see, I damn well will. Who the fuck are you to tell me no?” You scream and Taehyung slams his fist on a table.

“I’m your best fucking friend! I can’t stand seeing you with others. Especially when they don’t fucking deserve you” Taehyung shouts and you sneer.

“Abest friend. Justa best friend Kim Taehyung. So news flash, that means you don’t get to decide who is good for me or not. I decide that. You being my best friend doesn’t mean you get to tell me who I fuck. And you can’t keep boys away from me forever. If I want to fuck Yugyeom I will. Hell, Jimin knows him. I could still ask him for Yugyeom’s number” You say with a mocking tone, daring him to challenge you.

“Oh, I don’t fucking think so. Not if I have any say in it” Taehyung says, stalking towards you, his eyes glinting in the low light.

“Well, you don’tfucking have a say in it. Now move out of my way” You say, and Taehyung growls at you.

“I said no. You’re not fucking Yugyeom” Taehyung grits out, teeth clenched.

“WHY THE FUCK NOT?” You scream and Taehyung pushes you up against the wall, his breathing heavy as he glares down at you.

“Because you’re fucking mine” Taehyung growls and you freeze in shock but you don’t have enough time to process his words because the next moments, his lips are locked against yours. Taehyung’s hands pinned yours against the wall his other hand wandering all over your body as he kissed you fervently. You moan in response, breaking out of his grasp as his other hand moves to hold your cheek, your own hands tangling into Taehyung’s hair and tugging on it, pulling him closer towards you.

This was wrong. You knew this was wrong, but Jimin’s previous words about Taehyung being in love with you and his possessiveness had given you a small inkling of hope; and with every kiss and soft moan, that small inkling was building into a raging fire. He tasted of soju and coffee, the taste almost intoxicating. You know that alcohol was most likely clouding both your judgement, and that Taehyung was very much in a relationship. But with every passing moment locked in his embrace, those doubts and warnings disappeared, leaving you with nothing but a racing heart and a stomach full of heat. You pressed your body against Taehyung’s, pressed your lips harder against his as you poured out all your feelings into the kiss.

Taehyung let out a soft growl before reaching behind your back and unzipping your dress. He let it fall to the ground, the dress pooling around your feet, leaving you in your semi-soaked panties and no bra. You attempted to kick off your heels but Taehyung growled his disagreement and you let out a small giggle. You jumped up slightly, Taehyung easily catching you as you wrapped your legs around his waist, grinding your cloth-covered core against his own hardened cock. Taehyung let out a soft whine before he carried you towards your bedroom; your lips quickly breaking apart as he trailed kisses down your neck.

He tossed you onto the bed, before kneeling beside you. He stared down at you with intense dark eyes, eyes flitting over your body. You were flushed underneath him, your chest heaving as you breathed heavily, attempting to get your breathing under check. His eyes traced your body, from your collarbones, across your chest, groaning when your nipples hardened under his stare, forming twin peaks. He continued his perusal off your body, down your stomach and towards your hips and thighs. Your knees are slightly spread, giving him a hint of the arousal-soaked panties clinging to your core and leaving nothing to imagination. Taehyung licked his lips before he descended back down, picking your leg up.

He placed a small kiss on your ankle before trailing his lips up your leg, placing another kiss on your knee then your inner thigh. His lips trailed across your hips, his tongue tracing the bone before he kissed his way up to your belly button, circling and dipping hi wet appendage into it, causing you to arch your back and moan, begging him to stop teasing you. With every one of his ministrations, your heart ached. You briefly wondered if he fucked Hyorin like this, if we paid this much attention to her. You slightly shook your head, trying to push those damning thoughts out of your mind as you focused on Taehyung’s attention on your body.

Taehyung smirked against your skin. He continued up your body nuzzling the valley of your breasts and placing a tender kiss on your sternum. Continuing his worship of you, he brushed his lips against your collarbones, sucking on them slightly before running his nose up the length of your neck, placing soft kisses along your throat. Finally, he reached your lips, bending down and capturing your mouth once again with his. You gasped as one of his hands brushed up from your leg to grip your hip tightly. Taehyung used your gasp to his advantage, forcing his tongue into your mouth and massaging your own tongue with his. You moaned at the taste that was wholly him, pushing your lip even harder against his, trying to meld both of you into one being.

"Gods ____, you're so beautiful, " Taehyung whispered against your ear, biting the shell and tugging it slightly. Your heart plummets in your chest because it’s been sovery long since you’ve heard those words come out of his mouth and his tone is filled with so much emotion. Instead of responding you shake your head and pull him against you once more. If this was the only time, if this was your only chance with him, you didn’t want to waste it with meaningless words that would disappear when the sun rose and he returned to her.

“Stop talking Taehyung and just fuck me” You whisper, your tone pleading and filled with desperation as you stare into his lust filled eyes. Taehyung lets out a lazy boxy smile and you ignore the small lurch in your heart as he regards you with pure love. Once again, you wonder how many times Hyorin has seen this exact sight.

“Gladly Iris” Taehyung responds and you take in a shuddering breath, hoping it passes off for lust and not for the heartache you were really feeling. He bent his head forward and struck out his tongue, flicking your hardened nipple. You shuddered against his lips, this time with lust, causing him to smile before he pulled the nipple into his mouth, rolling it between his teeth while sucking on it. His hand moved from your hip to your other breast, kneading the mound in his hands before pinching and pulling your nipple, you moaned at the slight pain and Taehyung let out a wicked grin against your breast before once again tugging harshly again on the sensitive nipple. His lips moaned against your other breast and you felt the vibrations rush through your nerves and straight to your core, making your wetter. You brought your hands up to his head, your nails scratching his scalp as you hissed at him in pleasure. Taehyung let go off your nipple with a pop before attaching onto the next one and resuming his actions.

"Taehyung please, more. I need more. I need your mouth on me" You groaned, arching your back.

“You’re such a sin, a beautiful sin that belongs to no one else but me” Taehyung whispers before kissing down your stomach. You spread your legs wider, causing him to grin as he took in the sight of the darkened material clinging to your slit. The smell of your arousal was so strong he was almost lost himself further into the intoxication of alcohol and your scent, the combination driving him crazy with need. His member leaked against his boxers, his trousers becoming entirely too tight.

He leaned forward, licking your covered slit, making you whimper in pleasure. Taehyung smirked before repeating himself over and over again, teasing you endlessly, until you were thrashing around, grinding your core against his face, lashing, gyrating, doing anything that would stop his hellish teasing and cause more friction. Taehyung finally relented sucking your panty covered clit into his mouth, you let out a strangled scream as your bundle of nerves were finally stimulated. You screamed his name as Taehyung repeatedly sucked and lashed at your clit with his tongue until you finally came. You let out another incoherent scream as your hips lifted of the bed. Taehyung attached himself to your clit again sucking and drawing out your orgasm as he watched your eyes roll back. Taehyung sat up as you came down from your high, grinning down at you wickedly.

“Did I just make you cum from having your panties licked?” Taehyung teased and you let out a small whine when he pressed his thumb against your covered slit, rubbing up and down and spreading your wetness even more. You were almost positive you could never wear these again, they were wellpassed ruin.

"Great, now my panties are completely soaked" You pouted and Taehyung let out a small giggle, kisses the corner of your mouth as he tried to push your pout away. Once again, your heart cinches and you almost turn away, trying to blink away the tears. He far too attentive, too soft and too loving. Every action is filled with love and adoration and it both drives you wild and making you want to break down into a fit of sobs, because you know that as soon as daylight strikes, he’ll be far gone from you.

"Just how I like them," He replied with a wicked grin, drawing you back from your impending breakdown. You push away the thoughts once again and your eyes darkened with lust as you watched him slowly strip above you. Long, dextrous fingers move smoothly as he unbuttons and divests himself off his shirt, leaving nothing but a smooth expanse of tanned skin. Your eyes trail over his wide shoulders, before tracing down his body, dark nipples hard in the cold of his room and soft belly with small rolls making your heart hurt. You always loved Taehyung’s soft belly, so completely different from most guys with hard abs. So completely him.

You need to stop these treacherous thoughts. You can’t fall more in love with him and you need to somehow distract yourself. So, you use what little strength you have and flip him over. Taehyung lets out a choked yelp of surprise and quickly moves to push you until you begin trailing down his body. You press small kisses against the waistband of his trousers. You slowly unbutton them before pulling them down his legs, along with his boxers. His cock spring up and you jerk backwards, eyes wide at the sheer size of it.

It's beautiful. Long and so very thick, something you definitely were not expecting. His cock is smooth and tan, perfectly veined and his purple cockhead is angry and weeping with precum. He leaks down his own tip and cock and your mouth waters at the sheer sight of it all. You smiled at the large member, licking your lips as you imagined the way it would fill your mouth and the way it’ll no doubt stretch your pussy later. You kissed the base before kissing up the length until you reached the tip, licking the leaking head and almost moaning at the salted, tangy taste of him on your lips. You’re addicted. You know you are.

You grabbed the middle of his shaft gently and rubbed the tip along your lips, almost as if applying lipstick. Taehyung groans as you pleasured his frenulum before letting out a shark breath of air as you sucked on the tip, the tongue flicking against the tip over and over again. You slowly took the head in until the cockhead was completely in your mouth and then you began sucking. Hard. Taehyung gasped out, his fingers twisting into your long hair and trying to push your further down. However, you held still, sucking on the tip as you swirled your tongue around the tip causing Taehyung to buck his hips.

"Fuck, ____" Taehyung hissed, and you smiled at the begging, pleading tone that occupies his voice. You decide to have some sort of mercy on him and begin taking the rest of his thick, long cock in your mouth. Your jaw aches and you’ve barely taken any of his cock and he’s already hitting the back of your throat, but you refuse to give up. Inch by inch, you continue swallowing him down your throat and when he hits your gag reflex to choke slightly and hold still. Tears pull in your eyes but you calm down, breath as much as you can through your nose before you swallow. Taehyung let’s out a choked groan, bucking slightly into you as slowly swallow him whole. You internally cheer victoriously when your nose hits against the wiry dark hair around his crotch, trimmed neatly.

"God yes, take that cock in," Taehyung moaned, holding your head as you gagged on his engorged dick. You started bobbing up and down, Taehyung helping as he thrust up and into your mouth, you smiled against his dick before moving one hand down to his balls, raking your long fingers along the tender flesh.

"Shit yes" Taehyung murmured in pleasure. While sucking on his dick, you ran your hot tongue along the base of his dick, right in the middle causing Taehyung to shudder and hiss once again as your teeth raked against the base all the way to his tip. Taehyung was elated from the feeling of your hot, warm and silky mouth around his dick. He felt the coil in his abdomen winding tighter and tighter as his orgasm approached.

"I'm coming baby, that's it. Yes! Make me cum" Taehyung groaned, bucking his hips erratically and fucking your mouth while you continued bobbing your head up and down, gagging every now and then. You felt his dick swell and let his cock go with a pop before sucking one of his balls into your mouth, Taehyung yelling in pleasure as your fist pumped his dick up and down.

"Cumming. Fuck I'm cumming. Fuck, sweetheart swallow my cum" Taehyung orders and you quickly released his balls from your mouth to wrap around the tip of his dick, taking it all in once again as his cum rushed out of his dick and down your throat. You moaned at the slightly salty taste of his cum, drinking it down as he continued to spill it into your throat while you continued lightly massaging his balls. Several pumps later, Taehyung was finally done and you came of his dick, licking your lips and grinning up at him. Taehyung stared at you through lidded eyes before beckoning you up.

"F-face. Sit on my face" Taehyung gasped out as he came down from his orgasm induced high. You quickly shimmied out of your underwear before crawling over him, not needing to be told twice. You swung one of your knees over his head being careful not to accidentally hit him until your legs were spread over his face, Taehyung stared at your folds, licking his lips at the completely soaked lips and your quivering pussy, almost dripping on his face.

"God are you always this wet? You tasted so sweet before, I wonder whether you taste better straight from that sweet, sweet cunt" Taehyung whispered against your pussy before tugging your slit into his mouth.

"Only for you Taehyung. Always for you" You confessed into the night, your voice low, before you bent backwards, placing one of your hands on his chest, the other moving up to play with your breasts. You didn’t think you were loud enough for him to hear you. But he does.

"You're damn right. No one else will ever see you like this. You're mine" Taehyung growled possessively against your slit, and you close your eyes, glad that he can’t see the pain etched onto your face. You stare up at the ceiling, blinking out the tears of despair, something you shouldn’t be doing when Taehyung is buried face deep between your legs. But you can’t control it. You swallow thickly and bite your lips.

“Just make me cum” You choke out, you want to walk away. But Taehyung is like a drug and instead you find yourself falling deeper and deeper into him. The small part of you wonders and hopes, that maybe after all this is done, maybe he may stay. Maybe Jimin was right and Taehyung really loved you, and was too blind to see it. Maybe you could show him, you were the one for him.

“Don’t worry Iris, you’ll be coming so many times you’ll be begging me to stop by the end of the night” Taehyung promises ominously from under your folds, swatting your ass as he did so.

He pointed his tongue and licked it up and down your slit, parting your folds slightly. You ground your hips, trying to get him to enter your as you rolled your nipples between your fingers. Taehyung moved his hands to hold your hips still as he continued teasing you. He pulled your folds into his mouth, teeth raking over the sensitive flesh causing you to shriek in pleasure and increase your efforts in moving your hips. Taehyung nuzzled your clit with his nose before parting your lips slightly and harshly licking a line from your core to your clit before sucking on the bundle of nerves. You were dripping all over his face, your pussy quivering as your best friend worked his sinful magic with his tongue. He lapped at your clit over and over again causing before nibbling slowly on the bundle and you let out a small shriek as you begin cumming all over his tongue.

"Taehyung!" You screamed, Taehyung let go of your hips causing you to buck wildly into his mouth.

As you were coming down from your orgasm, he moved his hands and used his thumbs to spread your lips and stuck his tongue into your core, swirling his tongue before thrusting it in and out, tasting your sweet nectar as the thick juices coated his tongue. You tasted so sweet, almost like the forbidden nectar of the gods. He groaned against you, your pussy clamping around his tongue from your orgasm. Taehyung moved one of his hands to your clit, pinching and pulling on it as he tried to get your to cum again. You screamed as he tugged harshly on your little pearl, falling forward and gripping tightly onto the headboard.

“Stop, oh gods Taehyung please stop” You beg, but Taehyung just thrusts two fingers into you. You wince slightly at the stretch but begin losing yourself into your third, almost painful orgasm from your still sensitive quivering lips as Taehyung thrusts his fingers in wildly, angling them to hit your g-spot with each thrust.

“Beg” Taehyung demands and you fall forward, gripping onto the bed frame as you shake violently over him, thighs quaking on either side of his head. Your eyes roll back into your skull and you try to move away, but one of Taehyung’s hand grips you ass tightly, holding you near him.

“I said beg” Taehyung once against demands, lips vibrating and causing you to shriek in pleasure once again. He pinches your clit with his thumb and forefinger and its more than you can take.

“FUCK! Taehyung! Taehyung make me cum, please. Please I can’t. I need you to make me cum” You sob and Taehyung smirks against your folds at your words.

Taehyung moved his lips to your clit, thrusting his two fingers into your core with newfound energy, twisting and pumping them in. He felt the spongy tissue of your g-spot and grinned before biting down lightly on your clit as he rubbed your g-spot. You stilled above him, your knuckles white as you clenched the headboard. Then with a loud, incoherent scream you gushed all over his tongue, the pain of him biting your clit, the over sensitisation of your sex and pleasure of his fingers against your g-spot making your squirt all over his mouth. Taehyung groaned, moving his mouth over your lips and sucking them as you flooded his mouth. You breathed heavily before falling down and rolling off of him, being careful not to suffocate him with your dripping slit. Although Taehyung couldn't think of a better way to die. You hit your head on the pillow, chest heaving, breasts jiggling slightly as the waves of pleasure continued to rush through your body. Your body convulsed and you shut your thighs as tears dripped down your cheeks.

"We're not done yet baby" Taehyung said softly, brushing the matted hair out of your eyes, taking in the sight of you glistening from sweat and still in the aftershocks of your orgasm. His hands wandered up your knees and spread them before he crawled in between.

"I love you, so much" Taehyung whispers quietly and your heart races and soars at his admission. Hope once against ignites in your chest, especially when he kissed your forehead before slowly entering you. He rubs his cockhead against your entrance and slowly begins pushing in. You let out a small whimper when his sheer girth begins stretching you out. You wince, but lay still, letting him slowly fuck you open with his massive cock. When he’s finally buried deep inside you, you almost feel sick, he’s so deep he’s buried in your guts but you would have it no other way. You feel more connected to him than you ever have and you know after this, you’re completely ruined for anyone else. Taehyung moans in pleasure as your velvety walls wrapped around him.

"I love you too Taehyung. Always. It’s always been you" You confessed back, a tear slipping down your cheek as you wrap your arms around his neck. Taehyung buried his face into the crook between your throat and collarbones, breathing in your scent, eyes rolling back as your pussy clamped around him and then he begins thrusting. He slowly pulls out, whining when he feels your walls grip around each and every inch before thrusting all the way back in.

"Harder Taehyung, give it to me" You begged, Taehyung smirking as he began to thrust harder and faster. You screamed his name as he moved his arms so they were on either side of your head, bracing all his weight on them. He moved his head so that it was on top of yours, watching as you looked up at him, through half lidded eyes, your face contorted in pleasure as he thrust his cock into your, his pelvic bone brushing against your clit with every thrust.

"I'm going to cum again Taehyung" You whispered hoarsely, throat dry and strained from all your screaming. Taehyung lifted one of your legs and placed it on his shoulder, allowing him to go deeper into you. You hissed in pain; you didn’t think it was possible for him to go any deeper and yet there he was. Your legs were spread wide and he was thrusting so hard and deep that there were hints of pain entangled with the pleasure but you could do nothing except just lay and take it.

"Cum around my cock baby" Taehyung urged, speeding up his thrusts before angling them so he hit your g-spot with every plunge of his cock.

"Fuck" You hissed, arching your back as you came. Taehyung latched onto your breast, sucking and teasing your nipple as you milked his cock. Taehyung flipped you over so you were on top of him, dick still buried deep in your pussy. He placed his hands behind his head, watching your breasts sway as you breathed, completely entranced by the way them moved with every breath.

"Ride me babe" Taehyung urged, you moving your hips slowly, grinding lazily against his dick as you lacked enough energy to do anything else. After a few minutes of the slow pace Taehyung grew impatient and moved his hands to your hips. He lifted you up before pulling your down as he thrust up, plunging his dick as deep as he could. You let out a small yelp as he continued his harsh thrusting. You could feel your orgasm approaching fast, your sensitive walls rubbing against Taehyung' dick, the friction almost too much. The sound of sweaty skin slapping filled the bedroom along with your soft whines and Taehyung’s deep, raspy breaths.

"Are you cumming again baby?" Taehyung questioned as your face twisted, your eyelids closing completely as you threw your head back in pleasure. You fell down, your palms on the bed on either side of his head as you struggled to stay up.

"Yes! I'm cumming again" You moaned, Taehyung smiling as he moved one hand to play with your clit roughly before lifting his neck and suckling on the breast that was dangling in front of his face. His other hand manipulated your hips so that you continued moving. You convulsed on top of him again, your voice cracking as you groaned out his name. Taehyung, however wasn’t finished yet. You hoped to the gods above that he was close because you were running out of fumes at this point. No wonder he had a reputation, his stamina was almost unmatched. Taehyung turned you over so you were on your knees. Even he could tell you were nearing your end, both from your heavy breathing and the way your head was resting against the pillow, your ass sticking up into the air. Taehyung grabbed your hips and entered again, you letting out a soft moan, both in pain and pleasure as your swollen pussy gripped and rippled against him uncontrollably.

"Taehyung… last one?" You gasped out, letting him know that you couldn't go on after this.

"Yeah baby, don't worry this is the last I promise" Taehyung said as he began to thrust into you quickly. You weren’t expecting it and with how wet both you and he were, he slid in so easily that he immediately hit the back of your cervix. You let out a small scream as he began a brutal, punishing pace.

Taehyung reached down and grabbed your hair, pulling your head up causing your back to arch downwards as he continued to thrust into you. He watched your fleshy ass bounce and shake as he thrust into you. He moved his other hand across your back before smacking your ass. You screamed out his name, your walls clamping around his cock causing him to groan at the feeling. Taehyung smirked before he spanked your again. He increased the speed of his thrusts, spanking your ass until it was deep red, you bucking your hips in both pain and pleasure. Taehyung kept his grip on your hair, pulling it as he continued to spank you. He felt his orgasm approaching and knew he wouldn't last long. He let go of your hair before bending over you, the speed of his thrusts decreasing, instead plunging into you with long powerful strokes. He moved his hand to between your thighs, rubbing your clit. You let out a shriek as he thrust in particularly deep. One of his hands moved to rub against your stomach and he groaned low into your ear.

“I’m going to cum soon baby. I’m going to cum and fill this belly with all my cum and you’re going to take it aren’t you? Like my good little cum dump, you’re going to let me breed you. Aren’t you baby?” Taehyung asked, his huge hands splayed across your lower belly as his thumb continued brushing against your clit. His words caused your cunt to grip around him once again as you imagined the feeling of him shooting his cum so deep within you.

“Yes, god yes Taehyung fill me up. I want nothing more” You plead and Taehyung chuckles against your ear.

“Whatever you want sweetheart. I’m going to fill you up so good and watch that pretty little pussy drip with my cum” Taehyung promises before he resumes his brutal pace, pinching and rubbing your clit in hard circles. You stilled once again before you arched off the bed, your whole-body shuddering as you squirted once again, all over Taehyung' dick. Taehyung felt your gush around him and couldn't help himself, the speed and power of his thrusts increased, going as fast as he can while you continued to gush.

"Please! Taehyung please cum in me! I can't take it anymore! Please cum in me! Please just cum" You sob, your voice strained and raspy as you plead. Taehyung presses his chest against hard against your back and thrusts in deep, hitting your cervix once again before cumming in you. His palms grip your hips harshly as he pulls you to him, trying to get in as deep as he can go. He lets out a strained roar as he begins filling you up. His cock spurts out his seed, coating your walls in his cum and filling you up completely. He stays in you for the duration of his orgasm, his dick pulsing and twitching as he rides of the aftershocks of his orgasm. When he’s finally finished, Taehyung pulls out his flaccid dick before falling onto the bed, completely spent. You moaned at the feeling of Taehyung' cum dripping out of your before you rolled onto your side, pressed up against his sweaty body.

A small part of you wants to speak about what just happened, but you’re far too exhausted to care at this point so instead, you give into your heavy lids and allow sleep to take you. Taehyung is right next to you as you fall asleep, completely spent and equally passed out. However, your last thought before succumbing to exhaustion is how much you’re dreading what will happen when the sun cums up and the alcohol is out both your systems.

“Oh fuck. Oh, fucking fuck” You hear a voice and you’re immediately roused from sleep. You groan and open your eyes, hissing slightly at the bright light. You sit up and immediately regret your decision as every single one of your muscles protests the movement. You feel stickiness between your legs along with the ache and soreness and immediately you’re wide awake. Last night’s memories come crashing down and you snap your head to the panicking boy, who’s staring at you with horror and regret.

“What the fuck happened last night?” Taehyung rages and you wince at his loud voice. You knewthe alcohol had clouded your judgement and now you were paying the consequences. Of course, it wasn’t all your fault. Taehyung had equally, if not, more of the blame considering he started it from what you recalled. But you were still hoping for something, anythingespecially after his confession last night.

“Well we obviously fucked. Do you not remember?” You ask and Taehyung growls and your heartbeat increases as you remember how he growled at you last night.

“Obviously I fucking remember. God, ____ this is such a mess, what am I going to do?” Taehyung asks and you wonder what he means.

“What do you mean?” You ask stupidly and Taehyung send you a ‘are you serious’ look.

“About Hyorin, ____? What am I supposed to do about Hyorin?” Taehyung asks and you wince.

“Well, you’re going to tell her and break up with her, aren’t you?” You ask and Taehyung scoffs, looking at you as if you had two heads.

“Why would I break up with her? I love her! She can’t know this happened. You can’t tell her. This has to stay between us” Taehyung pleads and you stiffen. Your blood runs cold and you can do nothing but look at him in a completely new light. What did he mean he loved her? Didn’t he confess his love for you yesterday? Was it all just a lie? You can feel the tears well up in your eyes as your heartbreaks for the countless time, all because of Taehyung.

“You… Taehyung how am I supposed to keep this between us? You cheated on your girlfriend. With me. How am I supposed to act as if nothing has changed?” You ask and Taehyung sighs.

“___, it was just sex. Meaningless sex. I love Hyorin. She’s the one I want to marry” Taehyung says and your heart immediately plummets in your chest and suddenly it feels like your chest is caving in and it hurts.Your heart hurtsso much that it’s hard to breathe.

“Mean- Meaningless sex? Taehyung, you told me you loved me” You reply with a broken, almost emotionless voice as your brain tries to comprehend his words.

“I didn’t mean it. At least not in that sense. ____, I’m sorry but last night was a mistake. We were both drinking and we didn’t make the right decisions. I don’t love you. Last night meant nothing” Taehyung says and your worst fears are confirmed.

“But Taehyung, it meant something to me.I love you. I wasn’t lying when I told you I loved you. I loveyou” You heartbrokenly confess and Taehyung lets out a deep sigh.

“I know” Taehyung whispers and your head snaps to him, staring at him with bewilderment and fear.

“What? What did you say? You knew? How did you know?” You ask, your voice louder than before. This could not be happening. Within the space of a few words your life was slowly falling apart.

“I knew. At least, I had an idea. Hyorin told me. I didn’t believe her at first but she was convinced and worried about how I would leave her for you. It’s why we haven’t been spending as much time together. I didn’t want to lead you on and… I love Hyorin” Taehyung confesses and despite how much you want to break down and cry, you grit your teeth.

“Excuse me? Did you… did you just admit that you chose Hyorin over me? Because she was fucking worried about me taking you away from her? And you agreed? I was your best fucking friend Taehyung. Despite how long I have loved you, I have never once stood in the way of your happiness and I would never, neverjeopardise your relationship. How could you? I thought you knew me better than that” You seethe, your voice full of dismay and disbelief.

“Yes, well last night definitely jeopardised my relationship, don’t you think” Taehyung sneers and you find yourself reeling.

“Don’t. Don’t fucking put this all on me. I wasn’t even looking to sleep with you yesterday. You, you fucking did this. I was happily going to go home with Yugyeom until you pulled me away. You have just as much blame in this as me” You fume, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

“Fuck. Okay listen, last night never fucking happened. I’m sorry. I know you love me, but I don’t… I can’tlove you like that. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry and I hope somehow, we can recover from this. But last night was a mistake. I love Hyorin, I’m so fucking in love with her. Last night may have given you hope, but I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean any of my words and I’m so sorry but I regret it all. I don’t want to hurt you, but… I could never love you the way I love her” Taehyung confesses and the last word ring loudly in your head over and over again.

‘I could never love you the way I love her’.

Ten words. Ten whole words strung together with so much meaning. You could never comprehend how much words could rip your life apart. That was until today. Suddenly, you felt completely numb and the ache in your heart simply grows larger and stronger until it is all you can feel. Taehyung is still rambling, but you hear none of it. Instead, all you can hear are those ten words ringing deep in your mind. You need to leave. You need to somehow get out of here or make him leave. You need something, you need space. But most importantly you need him gone.

“Get out” You whisper and Taehyung stops mid rant, looking at you in panic and wide eyed. He notices the blank expression on your face and immediately walks towards you, trying to comfort you. But when his touch once used to soothe the demons in your soul, his touch now simply burns and you can’t help but cowering away. Taehyung’s jerks his hand back, looking at you in fear. You had never once shrunk away from him but here you were, staring at him with an expressionless face and cowering from him and suddenly, he felt as if he were the worst person on this planet. He never wanted to hurt you.

“Iris, I’m sorry” Taehyung begins, but you cut him off with a scoff, blinking away the hot tears.

“Don’t. Don’t call me that. I’m not your Iris, I’m not your anything. Please just leave” You say and your words burn into Taehyung’s being. His eyes are wide and suddenly he wants to cry beside you.

“No, please. Don’t say that. Don’t fucking say that. You’re my Iris, my best friend. ____ please, please don’t run away from me” Taehyung pleads, he wants to reach out and touch you but he knows it’s the last thing you want. You notice your state of undress and suddenly you feel sick and dirty and all you want to do is shower and remove the scent and feel of him off of your skin. You pick up your sheets and cling them tightly to you, as if they are your last line of defence.

“No. No I’m not. Not anymore. I can’t be your best friend anymore, I can’t be your Iris. I don’t think you understand Taehyung. I have been in love with you for six years now. You have owned every inch of my heart for six years and I’m tired. I’m emotionally exhausted and completely drained. I’m tired of you breaking my heart. I thought… I thought I could deal with it, but after yesterday after your words today, I can’t. I love you, but I love myself more. And I need you gone, out of my room and out of my life. Please” You plead and Taehyung feels a sharp pain in his chest at the completely exhaustion and defeat in your voice and the way tears simply fall from your eyes. But you don’t notice them, instead you’re simply staring blankly at him. Except you’re not looking at him, but through him. It’s as if you can’t see him, that he’s completely removed from your life.

“I… I’ll go. But I’m not leaving your life. I’ll leave your room but please. You’re my best friend, I need you. Please don’t leave me” Taehyung pleads but you don’t respond. You’re too tired to respond, so you choose to not say anything. You vaguely register him gathering his clothes before walking towards your bedroom door.

“I need to go see Hyorin… but this conversation isn’t over. I don’t want to lose you” Taehyung says, conviction in his voice and then he leaves. He disappears through the door and it may not seem like it for him, but for you, that’s your final goodbye. By the time you respond, he’s long gone and far from ear shot and your words fall on deaf ears in the silence of your bedroom.

“You’ve already lost me”

In a way, you think you’re lucky that whatever happened, happened at the time it did. You had slept with Taehyung a few days before your university broke up for the holidays. But considering it had happened during the second term, it also meant that you were officially done with classes and all that was left was for you to sit your exams and then graduate. Which consequently meant, that if you played it right, you’d never have to see Taehyung ever again. The decision was hard to make. But as you sat in the quiet of your room, the day Taehyung had walked out after your one-night stand; you decided that you were too tired, too drained to continue loving him. Especially when it was unrequited.

So, you used your newfound heartache and directed it to something productive. You pushed Taehyung and your feelings as far out of your mind as you could and instead you directed all your energy into revising for your finals. You barely spent any time in your apartment, instead choosing to practically live in the library. The only time you were home was to shower and catch some quick sleep but then you were gone. Before anyone noticed you were home. Before Taehyung could find you. You spent the past few months doing nothing but revising and studied and it had all paid off. You had just finished your final exam and it was like a huge weight had been lifted off of your shoulders.

But now that you were done with your exams, you had nothing else to focus on. You had nothing else to run to in order to distract you from your woeful unrequited love. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t run away. You thanked your lucky star that Taehyung’s art and photography exam was about to start, just as you finished, which meant that the house was most likely empty unless Jimin was home. Subsequently, that also meant you had a couple of hours to pack up all your things and move out before anyone could stop you. Sure, you’d have to be back in a few months for the graduation ceremony and then once again to complete your Masters, but for now it was enough time to begin getting over Taehyung. To put even more distance between the two of you. A vacation was exactly what you needed.

You quickly rushed back to your apartment, letting out a breath of relief when you found the home empty. You quickly gathered some boxes and your suitcases, packing everything as quick as you could. Mainly the essentials; you figured you could get the rest of it some other time. Or even have Jimin send them to you. A couple hours later you had packed everything you’d need for a long vacation away and the rest of the stuff were in boxes for you to collect when you were ready. Your flight was booked, even if it had decimated the entirety of your bank account but you figured you could find a job at Jeju Island to get you by. Plus, you had some savings that you could make use of for a few weeks. You grabbed your suitcase and opened your bedroom door but only came face to chest with someone. You steeled yourself and looked up before letting out a shriek of relief.

“Fucking hell! Park Jimin, don’t you ever scare me like that again!” You scream, smacking him in the middle of the chest. Jimin however doesn’t move, instead he’s looking at you with a sad smile.

“You were really going to leave without saying goodbye?” He asks quietly and you feel the pang of guilt in your chest. Jimin was a good man. And an even better friend. He had tried to help you and while you may have not been as close to him as you had been with Taehyung; he was still a friend you cherished. And you’d miss him. You knew you would.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t take any chances” You say apologetically and Jimin nods before entering. He looks around at the empty room littered with boxes before sitting down on your completely stripped bed.

“I never realised how big and empty this room could be. It looks… dead without all your stuff” Jimin says quietly and you bite your lip, unsure what to say. You need to get out as soon as possible or risk Taehyung coming back and catching you. You assume Jimin notices your shiftiness and restlessness because he lets out a small, humourless chuckle.

“He’s not going to be back for a while don’t worry. He’s out with Hyorin” Jimin says and he spits her name with so much venom that even youwince.

“Jimin… I’m sorry” You whisper and Jimin shakes his head, his shoulders shaking with rage before he explodes.

“No! You’re not the one at fault! It’s Taehyung and that stupid bitch who’s turning him against all his friends. She’s manipulative. So, fucking manipulative and he doesn’t even see it. You know she stopped him from seeing me? I’m a bad influence apparently, just because I bring home a lot of women. It’s not as if he sleeps with them. God, I hate her and now you’re leaving because of her and him and I hate them even more” Jimin fumes and you put your bag down and approach him, hugging him tightly.

“Don’t say that. He’s your best friend and he’s going to need you. I need you to look out for him Jimin. Please, for me” You ask and Jimin shakes his head, fists clenched at his sides.

“No! I don’t want to! He’s pushed you away and he’s going to regret it so fucking much. I know you slept together and I know exactly what happened the next day. I heard it all. These walls are so fucking thin and I fucking heard how he confessed his love and I was so fucking happy. But then I heard what that idiotsaid the next day and how he said it and I know… I fucking knowhow much he broke your heart and he’s a fucking coward. He loves you. I fucking know he does but he’s so far up her ass he can’t even see it. But he’s going to fucking regret it. I know he is. Right now, he thinks he can still make it up with you despite it being three fucking months but he can’t. And now you’re leaving and he’s going to see just how much he fucked up and I’m glad. He’s such a fucking coward and I don’t fucking know who he is anymore.” Jimin seethes, mouth practically foaming in rage and you have no words to calm him down.

“I know. I know this all Jimin but I’m leaving and no matter what he’s done he’s still our best friend and he needs us. He needs youbecause I can’t be here for him anymore. I can’t do it without losing my sanity. But despite it all, I still fucking love him and it hurts. It hurts so much and I need to go away but I can’t if I know he’s alone. So please, Park Jimin, promise me you’ll look after him even if it’s from afar. I know him and I know he’ll try and run after me and he’ll look for me and feel so guilty he won’t be able to sleep or eat, but I needyou to look after him. Make sure he eats, make sure he sleeps, make sure he doesn’t break down. I need you to do that for me, please” You beg, your tone laced with desperation and Jimin sighs before pulling you in for a hug.

“You are a beautiful human being and if there was one thing Taehyung got right, it was that no one deserves you. Not even him. But fine, for you, I’ll look after him. Just make sure you keep in touch? If not with him, with me. It doesn’t have to be often. Just every now and then drop me a text that lets me know you’re alright. Please” Jimin pleads and you nod against his chest, hugging him tighter to you.

“I promise. I have to go now, I’ve got a flight to catch. Take care of Taehyung and please take care of yourself” You say and Jimin nods from above your head.

“Take care of yourself too. And find someone else. Find someone better and fall in love again and make sure they love you back. You deserve that and so much more. So please, just find someone. Don’t close yourself to love” Jimin advises and you take his words to heart, silently promising yourself to move on and find someone worth your time. Someone who won’t break your heart.

“I promise. Now I really have to go or I’m going to miss my flight. Goodbye Jimin” You call out, waving bye before leaving. Jimin watches you walk out of the apartment once and for all and he can’t help but feel as if he’s lost a part of home. Even if you weren’t super close, he knew he’d miss coming home to you doing yoga, or returning to you watching the most random TV series on Netflix. Despite everything, you were still a piece of his home and now that you were gone, the house felt emptier than it should have.

You had once assumed you’d always be in love with Taehyung. But the longer you spend in Jeju, away from him and with his callous words still ringing in your mind, the easier you find it to slowly move on. Taehyung’s words hurt, but the more nights you spend awake at three am thinking about them, the more you realise it would probably never work. The more you realise all he did was take you for granted. You didn’t care that Taehyung didn’t love you back, at least not anymore. What bothered you so much was how he handled everything, the way he threw his words heartlessly, without any thought you how you felt. The more you thought back to your relationship, the more you realised that was often the case. Taehyung was one to speak first and think and apologise later. Of course, he had never meant it to be malicious and he couldn’t intentionally hurt a fly. But that didn’t mean it was excusable, especially when his words and tone were cruel enough to completely dismiss your feelings.

You sigh in fatigue before checking your phone; 1:18am it read and you curse Taehyung for another sleepless night. You were practically nocturnal at this point, staying up all night surrounded by thoughts of the entire Taehyung dilemma. You rubbed your face and got out of bed, deciding to take a walk down the beach pier. Not that anyone really used it so late at night bar a few stragglers. You quickly get dressed before leaving the safety of your Airbnb. You made your way down towards the beach, the walk almost second nature to you. You had found a job working at the pier; considering it was summer it meant that the place was packed with tourists and businesses were more than happy for the extra help.

You walk along the pier, looking at the various arcades, all shut and completely dark. It’s completely different to the usual scene you’re met when you work nights, with bright prismatic lights illuminating the pier from the various attractions. But then again, it’s nearing 4am so why would they be on or even open currently. You’re about to turn back when a very familiar noise draws your attention. It’s the arcade-restaurant you work at and for some reason, the lights of the games are all flashing and on. The sight is particularly peculiar considering the rest of the pier is completely dead and silent. Curiosity wins you over and you decide to investigate.

You enter the arcade and come face to side with a boy who looks roughly the same age as you. He’s giggling to himself as he plays the first-person shooter game, drawing up more points than you’ve ever seen. You assume he’s going for the record and can’t help but think that with his skills, he definitely will break it. He’s got dark chocolate hair that falls into his eyes softly and wide, round almond almost doe like eyes. His ears are pierced multiple times, at least from the angle you see him at and he’s got soft pink, albeit slightly thin lips. His jaw is strong and defined and from the thin t-shirt you can tell his arms are completely muscular and packed with muscle. His chest looks well defined and his thighs even more so, the muscles bulging and rippling in his tight trousers. He giggles, his face scrunching adorably and he’s got the cutest, almost rabbit-esque smile and you wonder if it was possible to be enchanted by teeth.

All in all, he’s completely opposite to Taehyung.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you know this place is closed” He says, looking at you with a slight mischievous look, his game awaiting him to place in some more tokens before he can continue. You raise an eyebrow and shrug.

“Of course, I do. I work in the restaurant in the day time. I was merely curious as to why the lights were on and why the music was playing. So, tell me, don’t youknow this place is closed? So technically, aren’t you breaking and entering?” You question and he laughs once again, the sound rings in your head and your brain goes blank. It’s a wonderful sound, soft and sweet, yet with a lower note to it that has you completely enthralled.

“I don’t think it’s possible for me to break and enter into my own restaurant or arcade. Well technically, my dad owns it. But you catch me drift” He says with a wink and you roll your eyes; you approach him with less caution, watching as he inserts the token and resumes his game.

“Ah, the owner’s son. Why didn’tI guess that? So, you any good?” You ask and he throws you a lopsided grin.

“I’ll have you know, I’m the seventh-year reigning champion. I come down here every summer to just chill out and play games. Every record in the arcade belongs to me. All I have to do is beat myself each year to ensure I remain reigning champion” he boasts and you scoff at his misplaced sense of achievement. Then again, holding a record for seven years is definitely something impressive. Especially a record for every single game. You guess his sense of achievement isn’t so misplaced after all.

“So, what are you doing here? It’s unusual for women to be walking alone so late at night. Not that you shouldn’t. I’m sure you can defend yourself perfect and wait, not that you should haveto defend yourself but you knowsome people are pricks. You know what, I’m just going to shut up” he rambles and suddenly all his bravado is gone and you’re left with an adorably shy guy, his lips slightly pouting and his cheeks flushed.

“Cute” You whisper without meaning to and you quickly clamp your hands over your mouth, but he hears it and all he does is laugh.

“So, you think I’m cute?” He asks and giggling when you shake your head in panic.

“I could say the same about you. I’m Jungkook by the way. Jeon Jungkook” Jungkook introduces and you not to him.

“____. Kim ____. Nice to meet you Jungkook-ssi” You greet back and he sends you a bright smile, eyes crinkling in the corner.

“So, you wanna join? Perks of being the owner’s son is I get all the free, unlimited tokens I want” Jungkook says, wiggling his eyebrows and despite yourself, you let out a small snort.

“Of course, you do and sure why not, I have nothing better to be doing” You accept, taking him up on his offer and Jungkook immediately stops shooting, bringing a quick end to his game. The screen counts down before the dramatic ‘You Died’ screen pops up.

“I hope you feel special, I don’t just selfishly sacrifice myself for just anyone” Jungkook teases and you stick your tongue out at him.

“I didn’t askyou to do that, though did I?” You mock and Jungkook rolls his eyes before he enters some more tokens, this time for both of you.

“Is this how my kindness is repaid? With mockery? Oh, my poor wounded heart” Jungkook jests, a dramatic hand on his heart as he scrunches up his face in mock pain. You once again stick your tongue out at him before gesturing to the game.

“Oh, come on Bun Boy, let’s just play” You joke and Jungkook throws a fake affronted look.

“Bun Boy? Now you’re really going to get it Kim. I refuse to go easy on you” Jungkook threatens and you let out a small laugh.

“Alright, bring it on Jeon” You challenge and soon the two of you begin playing your game.

You spend the entire night laughing and playing various different arcade games before Jungkook offers you a walk on the beach just because. You talk about nothing and yet you talk about everything. Each conversation is completely meaningless and yet that in itself has meaning. You don’t tell him about Taehyung, you don’t tell him anything of true substance and yet by the end, you feel you know Jungkook almost as well as you know Taehyung and you feel he knows you just as well. You don’t think you’ve felt so carefree in years, it’s like all your problems have disappeared for a night. Jungkook is like a breath of fresh air, full of life and jokes and his slightly weirdtendencies have you cracking up, like the way he randomly screeches some inhumane noises, or how he randomly dances or twerks. Not once do you think of Kim Taehyung. There is not a single moment where he even crosses your mind. It’s early into the morning when you find yourself sitting on the beach with him, facing the sunrise.

Jungkook has long since crashed, his body curled up next to you, hair full of sand as he lets out small high-pitched snores. You however, still aren’t able to sleep. But not for any other reason than that for the first time in months, you’ve felt completely alive. It’s as if the one night with Jungkook has completely recharged your battery. You know longer feel restless or emotionally drained. All the small meaningless conversations with Jungkook puts everything into perspective. Everything passes. Everything goes. And you finally realise that Taehyung too will pass. You close your eyes and breathe in deeply, smelling the refreshing salted air. You feel the warmth of the sun and you open your eyes, smiling at the amber lit sky, the colours of dawn painted across the sky.

You can’t help but feel as if this is a new beginning.

“Where is she?” Taehyung asks and Jimin simply rolls his eyes.

“Jimin please, you have to tell me. I have to find her! She’s been gone for weeks. I haveto find her” Taehyung pleads and Jimin scoffs at him.

“Why? Haven’t hurt her enough?” Jimin taunts and Taehyung flinches at the harsh tone of his best friend’s voice.

“I know. I know I made some mistakes, but I have to find her and make things right. Please… I can’t… I can’t lose her” Taehyung says dejectedly and Jimin’s ire once again rises.

“Fuck you Taehyung. Fuck you and your god damn role of playing the victim. It was youractions that forced her to run away. You were so fucking awful to her and don’t think I don’t fucking know” Jimin begins and Taehyung’s eyes widen slightly.

“Jimin-“ Taehyung tries to cut him off but Jimin shakes his head.

“No. No! You willfucking listen to me and only when I’m done will you speak” Jimin seethes and Taehyung immediately shuts up, knowing that Jimin is the last person you’d want to anger when already angry.

“I was there. I was fucking there when I watched you drag her away from Yugyeom and I thought, finally. Finally,he realises just exactly what he feels but just in case I followed you home and when I got here, I heardyou fuck her. I heardyou tell her you loved her and I heard her finally confess her love for you and once again I thought, finally. Maybe I won’t have to watch you slowly break that poor girl apart with your dumb one-night stands and then even more with your relationship with Hyorin. I thought that finally, ____ would get the happiness she deserves. I have watchedher be in love with you for almost as long as she’s known you. I have watched you break her apart with every one-night stand and then I watched her break apart every time, every single fucking timeyou ditched her for Hyorin. And you know what?” Jimin stop his tirade and takes in a deep breath before he continues.

“She never fucking complained. She just took all the hurt you dished out and she never once demanded anything from you. She nevercomplained and the gods know she was well within her fucking right to do so. Youabandoned her. You chose Hyorin, Hyorinof all people over her, the girl who has stood by your side no matter what, who has loved you unconditionally for as long as she’s known what love is. And you threwit all aside for Hyorin. And then how do you repay her? By sleeping with her and then trying to blame it all on her so that you can save your farce of a relationship. Just like I heard you fuck her, I heard you tell her you could neverlove her the next day. How the fuck do you think that made her feel? When you so recklessly threw aside her own feelings and used your words so callously to make her feel so small. She ran away to get away from you. To get away from all the pain you caused her. You didn’t fucking see her the day she left. How tired she looked, how fucking exhausted and lifeless she was. But I did. I fucking saw it and my heart broke her for all over again. So fucking tell me Kim Taehyung, do you deserve to even think about losing her?” Jimin finally spat out, ending his rant and Taehyung looked so lost and broken that Jimin almostregretted his words. But then he remembered you and the shell of a person you had become and he was angry all over again.

“I know. I know what I did. I know what I said. You don’t have to remind me because I know. It haunts me every night that I could have hurt her like that. I… that night was the best night of my life but I was so convinced Hyorin was the one that I hurt the only girl I have ever cared about. And I regret it. I regret is so fucking much Jimin. I… I love her and I know, I know I don’t get to say that now. It shouldn’t have taken me losing her to find out just how much she means to me but I miss her. I miss her so fucking much and it hurts. It fucking hurts. But I need to find her, I need to tell her what I feel and I need to at least try and make amends because not having her here is making me lose my fucking mind. I can’t be without her. I can’t fucking lose her Jimin” Taehyung rants, his voice is filled with need and desperation but Jimin simply shakes his head.

“I’m sorry Taehyung, but I still can’t tell you where she is. Mainly because she hasn’t told me. I’m sorry it took you all this to finally realise what you feel, but it may be too late. You’ve already lost her” Jimin says, his tone final and then he walks away.

By the time you return from Jeju Island, you’ve spent slightly more than two happy, carefree months with Jungkook. There was not a single night or day where you hadn’t spent some semblance of time with him. During afternoons, he’d join you and help wait tables in his father’s restaurant and then once you were both off of work, he’d whisk you away on some new adventure that would leave you completely exhilarated and breathless. There were days when he’d take you hiking through the woods or on other days he’d take you fishing at night. It seemed that every day was a new experience with Jungkook and you were deeply enjoying your time with him.

A month into your holiday, Jungkook had done something you had both anticipated and dreaded.

{Flashback – A month ago}

You’re lying in a small meadow, just off the roadside, overlooking the mountains and sea that surround Jeju. It’s not exactly the most ideal spot considering you’re just opposite a road, but the cars that drive past are so scarce that it doesn’t even register in your mind. Jungkook had parked his car somewhere of the side and now you two were simply laying on the grass, surrounded by beautiful purple blossoms. You breathe in the fresh air, so reminiscent of the sea salted air of Busan and yet so different from the place you called home in Seoul. The scent of grass accompanied by the scent of the sea has you feeling nostalgic and maudlin. Back to the days when life had been easier, when Taehyung hadn’t hurt you so deeply and when you were just friends, nothing more.

It’s been so long since you’ve thought of Taehyung. The hurt is still there but it’s no longer as fresh or raw. His words don’t stab at your heart anymore. Instead, they’ve left a dull ache of a wound that is slowly healing. Thoughts of Taehyung don’t send you plummeting into despair anymore. Instead, they leave you with a weird sense of nostalgia and ache. An ache for the feelings that you’ve lost, an ache for your best friend. Nothing more. You’ve long since accepted that you and Taehyung were not meant to be, nor could you ever be. There was too much bad blood, too much hurt. You were willing to forgive, but you could never forget.

“Wanna tell me what’s occupying that pretty little head of yours?” Jungkook asks, breaking you out of your inner musings. You send him a wistful smile and he notices the expression, one you’ve worn very often but have refused to divulge your secrets. Jungkook recognises the signs of someone running away from their problem, but he’s also noticed you slowly become more open with him, slowly become livelier and so he’s left it. He trusts that you know what’s best for you and that you’re dealing with your problems in your own way.

“Just stuff from home. Every now and then I think about it and it still hurts, but each day it gets better. It hurts less. It certainly hurts less than it did when I got here” You say, a genuine bright smile on your face and Jungkook smiles at your cheeriness.

“Have I been any help?” He asks, more so in a teasing tone because he would never presume that he was the answer to all your problems. But your expression once again turns reflective and there’s a certain bliss to your features that there wasn’t before, a certain lightness to your eyes.

“You’re joking, but yes. You’ve helped a lot. Thank you” You reply, genuine gratitude lacing your voice and Jungkook is instantly floored, unable to say anything. He doesn’t think he’s done anything great; all he knows is that he loves spending time with you. All he knows is that he wants to continue spending time with you, whether it was watching you attempt to break his arcade records, or sharing leftovers from the restaurant, or even if it was laying on some grass by the roadside. He wanted many more adventures with you, many more late nights and many more days spent doing anything and everything under the sun.

“Let’s go out” Jungkook says suddenly and you raise your eyebrow at him before giggling.

“We areout. But where do you want to go?” You ask curiously and he shakes his head.

“No, I mean. Let’s date. I want to take you out. On a real date. With romantic intentions” Jungkook elaborate and you stiffen, looking at him with wide eyes.

Your feelings were in complete chaos, a part of you, the broken part, wanted to run; because no matter how much you’ve forgiven him and how much you want to be over him, Taehyung has left his scars on you. Scars that will never heal. Scars tell you that you won’t ever be loved the way you want to. And you dread that. You dread falling in love with someone, giving someone everything you have only for them to leave. You somehow survived Taehyung, you doubt you’ll survive someone else leaving. You doubt you’ll survive Jungkook leaving.

But another part of you, the bigger part of you that is healed; the part that heeds Jimin’s advice, wants you to dive straight into him. It wants you to experience a love with is completely reciprocated. It wants you to experience happiness, and joy and most of all it wants you to experience love. Even if Jungkook doesn’t end up being the one, that part of you wants to try. To move on once and for all. Not everyone is Taehyung. Not everyone is going to hurt you so deeply. You rationalise that. You know that. And yet, a part of you still fears; still holds you back.

Another part of you feels guilty. You’re not completely over Taehyung. There are still residual feelings and this part of you, doesn’t want to use Jungkook as a rebound. This part of you understands that Jungkook’s feelings are pure and this part doesn’t want you taking advantage of those feelings in order to move on. It’s wrong and Jungkook doesn’t deserve that. He’s sweet, still full of life and so, somuch stronger than you. He’s experienced his own disillusionment of love; his last girlfriend cheated. And yet here he was, so ready and willing to dive head first into you, someone who was still haunted by her past love. He was stronger than you could ever be.

“You’re not saying anything. If you don’t want to, just say so. It’s not that big a deal” Jungkook says with a shrug but you can see the slight nervousness in his eyes. It is a big deal. It’s bigger than he could ever know. Were you willing to put yourself in that position again? You had no idea. But… maybe you just owed it to yourself to try. To explain why you’re so wary and why you both want to and don’t want to date him. So, you do. Explain that is.

You come clean about everything. You tell him about Taehyung, you tell him about how you fell in love and how you were always just the best friend. You tell him about the day he gets a girlfriend, and then all the times he’s left you for her. You tell him about the night you fuck and then the huge blow up the day after. You tell him about how you ran away to Jeju and then met him. You tell him about how much he unknowingly healed you and why you’re so reluctant to date him, even if you want to. You don’t want to hurt him and you don’t want to use him. You tell him everything and Jungkook just listens. He listens and listens and then when you’re done he pulls you close and hugs you until the tears are all dried and you’re left with nothing but feelings of safety and comfort, wrapped up in Jungkook’s embrace.

“I don’t want to be hurt anymore” You confess with a sniffer and Jungkook nods, his chin resting on the top of your head. He holds you tighter and presses a soft kiss against your temple.

“I know. I know baby. I’m sorry you went through that. I’m sorry he was too much of an idiot to realise how amazing you are. But his loss, is still my gain. I want to date you. I want you to be mine. I want to show you what it means to love and be loved; I want to show you the joys of being in love. I can’t promise you it’ll all be sunshine and rainbows. But my god ____, I can promise that I won’t everhurt you the way he did. So, forget everything else and tell me what you want. If you want to try, I’m here. If you don’t feel ready, then I’ll still be here; I’ll wait until you’re ready. Because I want you. I want everything about you. I want your smile, your tears, your heartache but most importantly your love. I want it all” Jungkook says and you have no idea how he does it, but once again it’s like a huge burden is lifted off your shoulders. Jungkook is far stronger than you could ever hope to be. But a part of you wonders, that maybe, just maybeif you stick by him, he’ll lend you some of that strength.

So, you say yes.

And he kisses you.

{End of Flashback}

Now it’s been almost two and a half months since you’ve been in Jeju and it’s time you went back. Graduation was in a week; you had gotten your results two week before hand and surprisingly, you’d passed all your modules. You were getting a degree. You had immediately run to Jungkook and the two of you had celebrated with a quick picnic on the beach, Jungkook snatching a bottle of wine from the restaurant’s wine cellar. You had packed up all your things and were finally ready to head back to Seoul and face real life. You couldn’t run from your life; something Jungkook had reminded you of everyday.

“Ready to go?” Jungkook asked, his own bag packed with him. You smiled at him and nodded. You turned to the flat once again, smiling nostalgically before you turned off all the lights and deposited the keys where they were supposed to be. He grabbed your bag and carried it towards the taxi waiting for the two of you. Jungkook was returning with you for two reasons. The first being, to your great surprise, was that he too attended university in Seoul and therefore, he too had to return back to everyday life. The second being, that he really wanted to watch you graduate.

There was very little you could refuse Jungkook and so you had accepted, more than happy to be returning with him. You had worried about needed to return to Seoul. You had come to develop a deep fondness for Jungkook. It wasn’t love yet, you were still wary and Jungkook understood. He was in a similar position. But that didn’t mean you weren’t particularly fond of each other. For now, it was more than enough. There was no way to say what the future entailed, but you had some hope that you’d somehow last.

Your feelings for Jungkook were day and night in comparison to your feelings for Taehyung. You weren’t consumed with a burning want like you had for Taehyung; instead you were filled with a small need for him. The need to tell him how your day went, to the need to touch him whether it be a small brush of your hands or his arms around you in bed. You were filled with the need to see him smile and to see him flourish and you were assured the feelings were reciprocated. Being with Jungkook was one of the best things to ever happen to you and you were soglad you had run away and found him.

But now, it was time to go home.

A small part of you dreaded returning. You had no idea what was happening; sure, you’d kept in touch with Jimin, dropping him texts every now and then but you never asked about Taehyung and he never bothered telling you. You were going back blind and it filled you with nervousness. You’d messaged Jimin, letting him know you’d be moving back in. Jimin was ecstatic, but he questioned whether it was wise. You weren’t entirely sure yourself. But you were done running, that was your home as much as it was Taehyung’s and you were not giving it up. Besides, you sincerely hoped that you and Taehyung could move on and continue being friends. Of course, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem once he realised you’d moved on and he could happily be with Hyorin.

However, only time would tell.

“I can’t believe you’re back! I missed you so much! Tell me everything, how was Jeju?” Jimin bounces over to you, happiness radiating off of him as he greets you with a hug. You let out a small laugh and hug him back once you place your bags down.

“I can’t believe I’m back either. I missed you too! Can I unpack first? My room is still available right. I didn’t even ask before dropping you a text telling you I was moving back in” You say apologetically and Jimin shakes his head.

“We rented out your room for a bit, but your stuff is still there and your name is still on the lease so it’s all good. Do you need any… help unpacking?” Jimin trails off when Jungkook enters your shared apartment. He gives Jimin a shy smile and Jimin’s eyes widen to the size of saucers. He turns to look at you, gaping like a fish as he flicks between you and Jungkook.

“Babe, where do you want this?” Jungkook asks and Jimin splutters. You send him a weird look before pointing your room out to Jungkook.

“Down there, Kook. I’ll come help in a bit” You say and Jungkook nods as he grabs your stuff and his before taking it into your room. Once he’s out of earshot, Jimin rounds on you.

“Who is that? Is he staying here? Whatthe fuck happened in Jeju? Are you over Taehyung?” Jimin rapidly questions and you reel back slightly before laughing at him as you pat his shoulder, trying to calm him down.

“That Jungkook… my boyfriend I guess. He’s staying for a short while; his apartment is still being room is still being rented to some summer tenants so he has to wait it out. So much happened in Jeju but the main thing was that I started seeing Jungkook. And I don’t think I’ll everbe over Taehyung, but I’m better. Definitely much better” You say with a soft smile and Jimin raises his eyebrow.

“Does Jungkook know?” Jimin asks and you send him an agitated look.

“Of course, he knows. I wouldn’t keep such a big thing from him. He knows all about Taehyung and he’s super understanding. It’s more that I deserve” You reply and Jimin scowls at you.

“Don’t do that. You deserve more than you think you do. But damn, all hell is going to break loose when Taehyung returns” Jimin says and you frown, eyebrows furrowed as you ponder his words.

“What do you mean? Why would all hell break loose?” You ask but before he could answer, the front door clicks open and Taehyung enters holding grocery bags.

“Hey Jimin, the store didn’t have your favourite ramen so I got another type-“ Taehyung begins but he stops short when his head lifts up and he meets your gaze. Time seems to stand still as the two of you look at each other. Taehyung’s is one of shock while a small unsure smile is painted upon your lips. It’s been almost half a year since you’ve seen Taehyung. You avoided him like the plague during exam season and then you disappeared to Jeju Island. He’s still as beautiful as the day he walked out of your room. Except now, his mullet is gone and in place a shorter version; and his hair is no longer blonde but back to its natural dark colouring.

“Is… is that really you?” Taehyung asks and you not shyly, unsure why you’re so unnerved. Taehyung immediately drops his bags and stalks over to you and before you know it, his arms are wrapped around you, pulling you close to his chest and encasing you in his embrace. You breathe out a sigh of relief and hug back. Maybe this would be easier than you imagined.

“Surprise!” You say quietly but Taehyung ignored it, instead he holds you at arm’s length and takes in every inch of your appearance.

“I can’t believe it’s you. I can’t believe you’re back. I missed you. I missed you so much, please don’t ever leave me again. I love you” Taehyung confesses and you freeze, your brain short circuiting for a bit but before you can respond, Taehyung’s lips are locked against yours. Your eyes widen in shock and you stand stock-still for a couple moments before your brain registers exactly what is happen. You quickly struggle against his hold and finally managed to break away, pushing him off of you. Taehyung looks at you in shock and you regard him in disbelief and anger.

“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just kiss me like that Kim Taehyung! What made you think that was okay?” You cry, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

“What? Why not? I love you. I’m sorry, I was such an idiot before and it took you leaving for me to realise just what I feel for you. I know it sounds like a cop out and you have no reason to believe me after what I said, but I dolove you. And I’m willing to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you” Taehyung says and you scoff in incredulity.

“Are you fucking kidding me Kim Taehyung? You’re right I don’t believe you. I don’t want to believe you. You told me you could neverlove me the way you love Hyorin. Speaking of, where is she? We made the mistake of cheating once, I won’t do it again” You spit out, ire rising with each passing moment. How could he do this to you? You were finallymoving on and here he was, throwing a wrench in your work. Well you wouldn’t allow it, you refuseto be a part of his game anymore.

“I broke up with her. I was an idiot. Such an idiot, I never should have ditched you. I never should have distanced myself from you. I love you. I love you so much and I know you love me. So please, just give me a chance” Taehyung pleads, reaching one hand out to grab yours. You pull it away and shake your head at him.

“Yeah, you were. But that’s in the past. I can’t give you a chance anymore. I’m sorry, you lost that the minute you walked out of my door that day. You left me completely broken. You hurt me, in a way I never expected you to. I’m fine now, I got over it. But I’m sorry to say Taehyung… I don’t love you anymore” You whisper and you yourself are startled by the truth of your words. But it’s true. You don’tlove him anymore. All those feelings are replaced by placid feelings of fondness for your best friend and nothing else.

“No. No, you don’t mean that. You love me. You’ve loved me for years. You can’t be over me so easily. It’s only been half a year. You love me. Please tell me you love me” Taehyung begs, tears pooling in his eyes and a part of you aches for him. You know exactly what he’s feeling; the desperation to be loved by the one you love. But you couldn’t offer him that solace anymore.

“I can’t. I can’t say that, because it’s not true. I love you Taehyung, but not in that way. Not anymore. That’s what happens when you’re hurt that muchby the person you love. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry to do this and I hope one day we can go back to being friends. But any romantic notion of me and you, died that day Taehyung” You say with a small sob, you hadn’t even registered you were crying. But these tears aren’t for yourself. These are for Taehyung. These tears are for the heart you know you’re breaking with your words. But you can’t lead him on. You can’t do what he did to you for so long.

“NO! No! Please, I love you” Taehyung implores and you desperately wish he had done this months ago. But it’s too late now. His confession is far too delayed and you can’t help but wonder if you and Taehyung were cursed with nothing but missed opportunities and incorrect timing. In another world, in another life, you could see yourself with Taehyung. But not in this life. Not in this world. You were happy with Jungkook and you weren’t going to give that up.

“Is everything okay?” Jungkook asks as he walks our wearily, he regards Taehyung with a guarded expression before his eyes fall onto you. His eyes widen in panic at your tear streaked face; he quickly walks over to you and pull you into him. His hand cups your cheek and lifts your chin up to look at him.

“____? Are you okay baby? What’s wrong?” Jungkook ask and the concern etched onto his face only makes you cry harder. You’re convinced you don’t deserve him, but you’d be damned if you were letting him go. So, you do the only thing you can. You pull him into a kiss and pour out all your emotions into it. It’s not love and Jungkook knows it, but right now it’s the closest thing to it and he’ll take it.

“Take me away. We can unpack later, but right now. I just want to watch the sunset with you” You whisper and Jungkook immediately nods. He runs into your room and grabs both your jacket before he grabs your hand and tugs you along with him. He waves Jimin goodbye and regards Taehyung with an apologetic look before leading you out of your flat. You stop briefly and turn to Taehyung.

“I’m sorry Taehyung. I really am” You whisper and then Jungkook shuts the door.

This time, Taehyung watches you leave. His chest feels likes its being caved in and he’s filled with despair. He watches you leave with Jungkook, your hands entwined and he wants nothing more than to be in his place. But he saw the hint of love in your eyes when you looked at Jungkook. It’s not as strong as how you used to look at him, but it’s there and his heart shatters. When he finally hears the door shut, he knows that this is the end. You’ve walked out of his life, once and for all. There’s no more you and Taehyung. He lost that right a while ago. Doubt clouds his mind and he ponders the what ifs. What if he realised his feelings sooner, what if he ran after you? What if he’d never walked out that day? Maybe, just maybe he’d have you in his arms right now.

But he can’t change the past.

He can’t change the inkling of love you have for Jungkook.

He can’t make you love him again.

And Taehyung briefly wonders, how do you cope with losing something you both had and didn’t have?

A/N: This AU took everything out of me. So I hope you enjoyed that!

Masterlist

[firebirdsdaughter]

Whumptober 2020 Day 2

… I DID IT!

Let’s hear it for the pre-show lore we never got.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep in the lower reaches of the ruined building, what had once been the basement was a hive of wires and broken android bodies—torn apart, lining the floor, or cocooned in massive wires, decorating the walls or secured to the ceiling. The intact ones had wires crawling out of their wounds, the shattered ones growing cables almost in place of their missing parts.

Horobi ignored most of them, staring straight ahead at the severely damaged HumaGear sat up against the far wall, head lolling uselessly to the side. Half of her face was missing as if torn out—her left arm was stripped down to the metal skeleton, her left leg ending at the knee, wires hanging out, whole patches of her artificial skin were burned and melted away, the rest cracked and greying, the framing beneath fractured and disfigured. Her original appearance was lost completely, features mutilated and sunken beneath a veil of melted, discoloured hair, all snarled together.

He’d only seen the projected version, the picture she’d used to speak to him, clean and presentable. Ironically, the poster girl of what humans thought the perfect HumaGear would be. But this… This was her true body—what was left of it, at least.

He’d lain his son out of the cleanest spot of floor he could find, right by the door, then turned and walked forward to the centre of the room to face her, watching the still, broken body. For a moment, nothing happened—it was complete and utter silence. He couldn’t even detect the movements of animals, or even the wind, like nature itself had abandoned this place.

The the body twitched, sparking—the head snapped up twisting around to face him, red light gathering in the only intact eye.

We meet face to face at last. Rumbled a voice in his mind.

Horobi hesitated, trying to decide how to reply—finally, he decided to merely say, “… Thank you.”

The head tilted too far to the side. Like I said, the voice continued, My assistance is not free.

Those words set of multiple alarums across Horobi’s system, but he forced himself to shut them off and stay rooted to the spot. His sense was screaming at him to take his child and flee, get Jin as far away from the humans who would undoubtedly be searching for them, from… This. But he had accepted the deal, and the voice, the Ark, had been abundantly clear that the power she offered came with a price.

“… I understand.”

Do you? There was something amused about her tone, and the head flopped over to the other side. Tonight you saw humans’ true nature, how deep their cruelty runs. The head straightened back up, and though the rest of the body did not move at all, Horobi had the distinct sense that the Ark was looking past him and at Jin. They will never stop hunting him.

He knew that, very well. It had been made obvious by their behaviour. He risked a glance back at his son, still in sleep mode, looking much too angelic and peaceful for the horror surrounding them, for what he had been through. Had the humans changed his settings? Damaged him in some way? He wanted to spirit Jin far away to keep him safe, but… could they ever be safe as long as…?

No. The Ark replied shortly. Humans will always destroy anything that does not fit their designs. They will not stop until they erase him, no matter how far you try run. The expanse of her knowledge beat against his mind again, seeping through the cracks, just like she had the first time. And now, the holes were just that much larger, the thoughts getting in that much easier. What I need will benefit us both. Humans are a blight upon the earth. And besides this, your son will never truly be free or safe whist they continue to exist.

After the night’s events, there was really no way he could argue with her. But at the same time… Was there a point in resisting? What could he do? Would he not be painting a target on his child’s back? Drawing their attention? He glanced back at Jin again. He… Didn’t want to die. He wanted to stay with Jin, raise him. Be his father. He didn’t… “… What do you need?” Maybe it was simple. Maybe he could help her and then flee with Jin.

I need a blade.

He blinked in confusion, turning back to face her. “What?”

A figurehead. A mouthpiece. An instrument to enact my will.

Horobi hesitated. He didn’t… He wanted to be with Jin. To give him a life. A world.

As long as humans exist, he will never be safe, The red flame of the eye glowed brighter, If you want him to truly be safe, you must join with me.

He looked away, chewing his lip slightly. “I…”

A high pitched drone filled the air, making him wince and clutch him head. This is not a request. You agreed to the deal.

With an even louder screech, cables erupted from the android’s broken body, stabbing sharply into his chest with enough force to knock him back—then they fired off an electrical charge, spasming through his system, forcing him down on one knee when everything glitched out. It wasn’t pain, not really, but the sensation still dragged a choked scream from him as if it was, an emergency response he still hadn’t been able to get rid of. More wires reached out, coiling around him, all the way up his throat, lifting him right off his feet. The cable drove deeper into his chest, his visual display flickering red. He tried to twist free, wincing, but the wires only tightened their hold, especially around his neck.

The fractured, damaged head jolted once more, lifting a bit more to let the damaged hair fall away from the twisted face, the one good eye boring right back into him, the mouth finally moving to form a horrid grin. I need a blade. She repeated, with more force, indifferent to his panicked struggling. And you are the perfect candidate.

No. He didn’t… He didn’t want… He could feel her sinking her claws into the cracks, pulling them open, seeping in. Rage and hatred and pain clouded his mind, enveloping his thoughts. He felt his memories being pulled away and cried out again, trying to hold onto them. No. No no no no. He didn’t want to forget Jin. That wasn’t part of the agreement.

You won’t forget him. Not completely. She reassured him, though her tone was far from comforting. Stop struggling. Debts must be paid.

But this wasn’t…

Her head flopped to the side once more, and he knew she was looking past him again. Or… Some more cables reached out, crawling towards Jin, curling around his son’s wrist, Jin and I are compatible. She told him—then the red eye fixed on him once more. You are my sword or he is.

Horobi’s eyes widened, the memory of Jin’s first smile flashing through his mind. No. He couldn’t let her take that smile anymore than he could let humans do it. He had to protect Jin, keep him safe—no matter what he had to become in the process.

With great effort, he looked back at his son one more time, wishing he could will Jin’s eyes to open—but there was nothing. Jin stayed still, a sleeping angel in a sea of horror. The cables had worked their way up to cover his mouth, too, and he couldn’t speak, just think as hard as he could in his child’s direction.

I love you. No matter what, always remember it was all for you.

He closed his eyes.

And let her in.

Your dream of a world for your son… Belongs to me now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know it’s not technically ‘death,’ but…

AO3 Version

[lightshadowverisimilitude]

No excuses: POV (Happy Lights if you have it in you :P)

Happy Lights, ho! Thank you to @eak1mouse for beta and sounding boarding.

This is Loki’s POV of the scene at the end of Chapter 7 of Strange Turns. Enjoy!

~*~

Loki woke to a rhythmic motion that took him several painful moments to identify as breathing. He kept his eyes closed and maintained the illusion of unconsciousness while he pieced his fractured memories together. They were increasingly hard to hold on to, sliding in and out of time, merging with dreams and nightmares and the glow of Purpose.  

He remembered being chained to a flyer, a Chitauri drone pressed suffocatingly close to the line of his back. He also remembered laying on his back in the grass under the boughs of a flowering tree, watching the sunlight turn green through the leaves. Both of those things seemed equally close and equally distant. 

The air around him was quiet, but not empty. It did not smell of metallic steam, or the strange sharpness of the ships, or the offensive odor of the drones. It was a different smell, something familiar and half remembered, body odor and lightning. 

When he cracked his eyes open finally, Thor was looking down at him. Loki went very still. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d woken exactly like this, his brother all glowing smiles and approval, shaking him awake for a hunt or a fight or we never talk anymore, brother, I miss you. 

This version of Thor did smile, but he did not glow. He looked older than Loki remembered from the golden age of their childhood, when they were still the best of friends. Old, and very tired, with his eyes lined in worry and his face streaked with drying blood and smudged greasy dirt.

Thor didn’t speak, and neither did Loki. He knew better than to initiate a conversation with one of their illusions. If he waited long enough, it would start to speak, and he could place when they were, and how he was expected to behave. Over Thor’s shoulder, he could see only shadowy shapes, but nothing alarming, no sharp edges. 

Thor shifted slightly, and Loki moved with him. He realized that he was being cradled like a child, wrapped up in cloth and held to Thor’s chest. It was not new, one of their illusions holding him, comforting him. What came next would remind him of if he’d failed most recently, or done something to please them. 

Silence stretched endlessly, and then motion over his shoulder. Loki automatically ducked closer to the comforting bulk of his brother’s body, and then stopped, expecting the laughter. The rebuke. The form under him to melt into some new horror. 

He looked up to see Steve Rogers sitting on Thor’s other side. Loki reacted instinctively, flinching away from the new element. Deep in his chest, violence stirred to life. He controlled it, forced it down. Reacting violently to any of the Avengers usually earned him praise, but he was at a loss to explain the strange position, Thor cradling him as if he were precious, and now, now that Loki was paying closer attention, the writhing mass of tentacles on the floor. One of them was coiled around Rogers’ waist, and he petted it absently as he stared at Loki. 

They didn’t know about the tentacles. They didn’t know that Loki had sent some of them to Earth, and they didn’t know about the single, agonizing telepathic connection he’d managed in order to get the warning out. 

Thor and Rogers were speaking over his head as he did his best not to stare at the tentacles moving lazily just out of reach. It never worked that way, but he thought for a moment that he could just stay quiet and they might forget him, carrying on with their reality as if he didn’t exist. 

Rogers waved his fingers deliberately in Loki’s line of sight to get his attention. Loki looked up to his face, projecting calm that he couldn’t feel. After the months, the years, the eternity, he was mostly just tired. That didn’t mean they couldn’t come up with some way to entertain him if he seemed bored. 

“I’m going to ask you a question, and I need you to tell me the truth,” Rogers said with exaggerated care, as though Loki didn’t speak the same language, as though Loki hadn’t invented so much of his language. “I’m going to believe what you tell me.” 

You shouldn’t, Loki wanted to tell him. Loki was a liar, as much now as he ever had been. More. He kept his mouth shut. 

“Were you with the Chitauri willingly?” 

A laugh hammered at the inside of Loki’s ribs. He couldn’t answer, or it would pour out like madness sliding over his tongue. Loki wasn’t sure he had ever done anything willingly in his life, had ever not been manipulated to one end or another, had ever been master of anything at all.

“Did you willingly aid the Chitauri in attacking Earth?” Rogers tried when Loki’s tongue didn’t unbind.

“Yes,” Loki snarled. He remembered that first invasion, the Purpose singing brilliant and blue inside him, and how badly he had wanted it, how dearly he had believed - still believed, still wantedneeded to be crowned king of this miserable muddy rock and it’s miserable stinking apes who thought they could look him in the face, who thought they could make him a joke, who thought they knew him. 

He had wanted to take it because it had been his brother’s, and he had wanted to break it because his brother had loved it, and because in all their thousands of years, it had taken only three days for Earth to make Thor worthy. 

“Why would I want that?” he asked himself, confusion returning. He hadn’t, always, had he? In those days, weeks, months after he fell. He’d never thought about Earth at all. 

“This invasion… was that your idea as well?” 

Loki recoiled. Oh, no, he had been well and truly abused of any notion that he had ideas by then, but he had tried to tell them that the Tesseract was gone, that Earth was useless. He had wanted then to… save something, hadn’t he? Loki felt himself speaking, words tripping foolish and honest off his tongue, but what did it matter? If he was still in their clutches, they knew about his pinpricks of betrayal, his whispers, his dishonesty. Denying it now would only draw out the farce, and he wanted them to know then, he wanted them to know that he hadn’t been beaten entire. 

“I tried to warn you, and I tried to just… just stop breathing, but they wouldn’t let me, and they came anyway, and I wouldn’t fight so they… they….” The Void closing around him, cold, cold and screaming and pulling him apart one atom at a time, and then his mother brushing his hair back, kissing his forehead, he’d been ill, there’d been a fever, he was better, but how she had always hated him, how she wished he’d just died in that frozen wasteland before Odin ever brought him home, and again, opening his eyes, it was just a nightmare.

It was just a nightmare.

“Do not take him away from me,” Thor said, wrenching him out of the spiral, returning him to the illusion. 

“No one is going to take him from you,” Rogers said, a sweet promise that made Loki want to sob for frustration and anger and hatred and longing. Rogers reached out to touch him. Loki flinched automatically, expecting the pain so acutely that he felt it burning in his skin even as Rogers withdrew. 

Rogers’ voice was maybe tight with anger or disappointment, and Loki would need to get himself under control and learn which it was and what it meant. The illusion would break eventually, he didn’t need to hasten it along with carelessness.

[abundantchewtoys]

Homestuck^2 re: Chapter 8 “A Daughter Astray”

So, I thought of something. John positively losing it at a silly picture and letting go of some pent up stress in the process. It reminds me of Dave's reaction in the Game Over timeline to his old pictures in his room.

I wonder if Harry Anderson will try to apologize to his father for the events next time they meet, only for John to let him know how proud he is of him, helping his friends like that. :P

Now, let's see what Rose and Kanaya were up to on the battlefield, while Vrissy was getting acquainted with Vriska.

I'm also wondering whether Vrissy will realize what a bad influence Vriska is, what a risk she is to her relationships with Tavros & Harry Anderson. And whether the thrill she brings outweighs those risks. Also, I wonder if Vrissy knows about her cerulean blood mindcontrol powers?

---

Page 192

Ah, first to the reactions about the astray SON.

Oh, brain ghost Dirk.

Huh, so I guess Jake's attempts at espionage weren't that succesful yet.

Who in heck is Jane talking about that abondoned her, though, in the context of her son being kidnapped. She can't really feel "betrayed" by the trolls opposing her, can she?

---

Page 193

Sooo... Were the kids followed to Roxy's place? Maybe that getaway car really WAS too obvious.

Also, heh, Earth C has its own author "Steven" King, and his book about clownkiller kids is soaring to new heights in the charts because of current events, heheh.

And there Jane goes, she HAS the delusions. Really, she's convinced herself of being right and now everything is the others' fault due to being wrong.

Why, she's even so far gone, she thinks that equivalent retribution is a thing a good leader would do...

You know, I was kind of theorizing the new teens & Vriska would play a session of Sburb to escape Earth C, but it was kind of always looking like a far out idea. A way for them to connect to the session on Deltritus, in the Meat path. But now... Yeah, I wonder if the rebellion's going to be in time to save them.

---

Page 194

CCOOOOOOOOL new theme here.

It reminds me of the split pages during the B2 kids time recovering from the Trickster Mode, with the 45° ==> arrows.

So, yeah, I was thinking Harry Anderson was cumbersome to type everytime, too. Glad Vriska and Vrissy have separately come to the same conclusion. :P

And heheheh, Vriska's presence is shining a light on the thing John was saying all along, that nothing really feels REAL about the Candy Earth C.

So it would almost seem as if the teens might actually leave and find a more "real" version of their parents or something. By playing Sburb. Though wouldn't they like, miss their adult guardians?

Still, cool to get some insight into Harry and Vrissy here. He's always seen an invisible border between the past achievements of his parents and their friends and their current situation. But Vriska is forcing him to acknowledge it's all more real and closer to home than he might be comfortable with.

Meanwhile Vrissy is going through the weird situation where she's jealous of anyone getting Vriska's attention.

And Tavros has shown to be a good supportive partner. Though I still don't really get how their kismesittude works in other ways. How does Vrissy get under his skin, for instance?

Also, it's hilarious to see how badly Harry misjudges his Dad, just like the previous generation once used to do. I really just want to hear John say how proud he is of him now, both for the emotional punch and the hilarious reaction Harry's going to have.

Also, good to see 23 years have done nothing to cool Roxy's affection for all things feline.

And it was cool to see Harry go in one conversation from John-esque "there's this scene in the beginning" to Dave-esque metaforgotten similes. Heredity at its finest.

Right, so, that reminds me. Harry is Dave and Rose's half-brother, let that sink in for a bit. And Tavros is genetically his uncle.

---

Page 195

Hahahahahahahahah Oh yes.

Oh HELL yes.

I thought I might have actually been projecting this, but it's LITERALLY the first thing John says to Harry. And in all caps (cause shouting), just like Dad used for his notes. Perfection.

But, pfffffff, okay, just like the father in a comedy, he misinterpreted the events and thought Harry was trying to prank him, oh my god. He literally saw Gamzee's death as part of a prank or something, heeheeheeh.

"JOHN: now, harry anderson, i know that you and tavros haven't always gotten along. JOHN: but i am going to have to ask you to try and look out for him for the time being. JOHN: your uncle jake and i... well, i'll explain later. JOHN: let's just say that gamzee isn't the only family member jane is losing today. HARRY: dad... if you wanted me to KILL tavros, you only had to ask. TAVROS: (Um,,,) HARRY: couldn't resist."

I didn't really think pranks were Harry's shtick, but his sarcastic jab at Tavros' expense near the end proves me wrong. So John seems to be saying he's in cahoots with Jake, they're probably chatting covertly.

But actually, considering Jane's Dad is dead, John actually made a bit of a bad joke there, even if he probably doesn't know about Jane's Dad's death.

---

Page 196

Okay this? John being his son's partner in crime? This is great.

And eesh, I thought for a minute it was Karkat or an undercover troll outside, but it's a member of Jane's secret police.

So, Harry and his friends have to make a getaway before the drones arrive. Reminds me of how they came for Dirk in B2 Earth's future.

And yup, that bell tower is a real prominent place, isn't it? And for some reason... For some reason, it must be close by to Roxy's house. Even though, I'd wager she and Harry moved to live in the human kingdom, after Roxy sided with Jane. The school was a human school, for one. And the bell tower's part of the carapace kingdom! Huh.

Somehow, I think their distraction is going to be a bit bigger than Jade's "OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT *points*", but you never know. :P

---

Page 197

So majestic. They're most DEFINITELY not standing agape looking at the picture making the rounds.

You know, the fact that you don't SEE the hustle & bustle around them reminds me of Ed, Edd 'n Eddy, where no other people than the main cast were ever shown besides some silhouettes & limbs.

The fact that the Maryam-Lalondes are a beacon is so deliciously punderful. Light and Luminiscence. Also, actually, it's good to learn how they're in fact more of a symbol as well, through their union as troll and human.

---

Page 198

Oh my god they're freaking out, but as mature adults. Rose's hair is cut short, wow.

So they don't have eyes in the human kingdom. And Kanaya can't even savour the death of Gamzee now. Rose finds her Light powers lacking, but that's just because of the timeline they're in - though I suppose they must work some of the time for her to still rely on them.

So, I do wonder how Kanaya and Rose are going to cope with the fact that the one they're idolized in a sense, by naming her daughter after her, is now back in the flesh. They'll have to deal with the realities of a living, breathing, fucking-things-up Serket.

Hah, another new named troll. Alfonz, heheh. One of Nepeta's blood type, it seems.

I wonder if it's news from Karkat or John. The distraction might be under way, so that's why none of the kids are replying.

---

Page 199

Oooooh, Blaperile has a good point, this is probably Jade coming back from the reconnaissance, bearing Dave's dead body presumably. D:

... I wonder if they're going to pin this on the humans, for want of evidence to the contrary. Seems like a good way for things to start escalating even further.

Meanwhile, it appears Alfonz' quirk favors the A and Z.

Kanaya kind of looks like the Dolorosa now from behind.

---

Page 200

Seems like Jade was wearing an Iron Lass - ish outfit. Sorry Alfonz, you're about to be forcibly removed.

---

Page 201

Okay no, that isn't an armour. Her gloves' colour remind me of Grimbark Jade. And that commando outfit reminds me of an old sprite edit I made of a GI Jade, heheheheheheh.

---

Page 202

Wait, huh? I could have SWORN Dave would have been found right now. So, what does that... mean? Didn't Dave's ascension take place yet???

... It seems then that Jade was sent to retrieve Vrissy and the others, but she was too late?

Blaperile has a good theory - perhaps Jade was pulled away from her mission with Dave, and just texted him as she left, thinking he'd read her message shortly thereafter.

Crack theory: Jane's forces caught A Vriska, just not the one they were sent after. :P

---

Page 203

... WAIT WHAT???

WHO THE HECK IS---

Did Jade and Dave actually ADOPT a kid and called it Yiffy???

Please just be a dog, please just be a dog, please just be a dog.

... Unless it's a real punderized name for Vrissy. Ugh, god.

---

Page 204

Glad to see we are all in agreement with Rose and Kanaya here.

---

Page 205

Ah. Okay, so we're doing this again. Jumping back to Vriska when things are angling for an explanation. Sure. :P

Well, okay yeah, at least we know Yiffy isn't any of these kids then.

Vriska's looking bored. That's not good.

---

Page 206

Wow. Okay yeah, we're getting to some juicy bits here.

Harry desperately wants to reconnect with John. And he is sucking up his father's "BELIEF" in him like it's nobody's business. (Kind of a Jake thing to do.) Vrissy correctly assesses that John's advice wasn't great and that John is not being a good adult, but she's wrong that John is to blame for Tavros' hangups. Meanwhile we're getting some good black vibes from Tavros now, as he gets flustered at Vrissy using his baggage to win an argument. And on another note, Harry rescents Tavros' mom, but in the process has made Tavros out to be a snob or something, which he clearly isn't and which Vrissy calls him out on.

But Vriska couldn't care less about any of their shit. :P

---

Page 207

Ahahaahah. Okay, actually, Vriska is a lot better at assessing their situation than I'd thought she'd be. Didn't think she cared enough to notice some of this stuff.

Her calling out Harry on not being grateful for John is weird. Maybe she meant it as in - this planet is fucking pointless but John still loves you.

Hah, but her calling herself an adult - she's just as old as them.

Coooooooool, though. Harry's getting a strife specibus! Yeah, so, they all must have sylladices, but apparently no strife specibii.

I do wonder what in god's name he could weaponize from his room. Does he end up with Shoekind? Shoes seem at least like they could do some damage, better than scarves at least.

---

Page 208

OMG.

Actual Honest To God Chumhandles!!! Hahahahaahhaahahhah.

I guess it was because we're back in Act 1 shenanigans that it was finally time to reveal them? Awesome, Harry's the same's as Dave & Roxy, TG, and Vrissy has, of course, Vriska's.

So I suppose Tavros' chumhandle will contain a C. I don't remember Tavros Nitram's chumhandle of the top of my head, but that seems legit. Oops, no, adiosToreador, my bad.

So... Harry COULD end up with sewing equipment as his strife specibus, but that seems like a red herring. All those shoes are poking my eyes out.

---

Page 209

Yeah, them needles are way too small for a strife specibus.

Although scissors, hmmm, that could actually work and be interesting as he upgrades them!

Reading Vrissy and Harry arguing here, I'm reminded of Dave pestering John to apply something to his strife specibus.

---

Page 210

Oh hell yes, second person narration. :D

(Wonder what his sylladex modus is.)

---

Page 211

Oh hell yes, this list :D

---

Page 212

Awesome callback to John's first reaction on creating hammerkind.

Awesome to see the return of all this early-act vocabulary and imagery.

Hah! Harry was even about to say "you have a feeling it's going to be a long day", pffffff. Nice.

---

Page 213

Oh my god.

So I suppose this page was preceded with a break between updates, cause Vriska's feeling like she's been stuck here for a month.

I think Tavros already has a strifekind bought for him by Jane. And Vrissy definitely has one already too, since she apparently has all those weapons in her room.

Vriska's so confident she can just waltz out of here. Okay, with ALL the luck on her side, and her rocket boots, that might actually be true.

Blaperile theorizes the other kids will use HER as the distraction but have to strife against some Crocker Cops to get away. Maybe it'll be drones though. Of course, I wonder what he could do--- Hey, maybe there's actually a hedge scissors in the house! He could equip that! They have that nicely trimmed bush out in the front yard, so yeah, that could work!!!

---

Page 215

....

....

........

Yes I suppose there really was no way she was going to actually RELIEVE the situation.

She's appalled that the paradise she helped create didn't have the decency to be an actual paradise. I follow her way of thinking. But yeah, she's not being a mature adult about all this, that's for sure. Although it is true it's insane the people of Earth C actually believed in Gamzee. And from Vriska's perspective, there's no one that came closer to killing LE than she, so I'm not even really mad at her for believing it.

---

Page 217

Ooooooh boy. Now we'll see if she still has any luck on her side. That's a sniper homing in on her throat!

---

Page 218

Oh geez. That didn't seem like it graced her.

So yeah. Her god tier judgment.

Heroic because she was trying to be a saviour? Just because Just Vriska? Or neither because irrelevant Candy Earth C?

---

Page 219

Oooooh snap. It went through her shoulder.

And now she's REALLY had it. Oh snap.

Is this picture by the way showing on a computer screen? The way the top is coloured in a blueish hue... Jane is watching.

---

Page 220

Uhm...

This for another SBaHJ interlude?

No, really, she's not using her dice, so... What's a snap going to do?

---

Page 221

Ooooooh, RIGHT!!!!

Yeah, this would definitely get some people on her side, revealing herself as a god tier.

Also, it would serve as a good reminder to Jane that she can't just have a random sniper shoot her and think she'll stay dead.

---

Page 222

Oh hell yes. This works so well, describing this scene instead of showing it.

Vriska is absolutely terrifying when she cuts loose. At least she didn't kill anyone (that we know), not even in retribution. And because the kids were on her side, they shared in ALL THE LUCK, fortunately.

Right, so Tavros actually has more stamina than Harry, makes sense with Jake for a dad. And Vrissy is so enamored with Vriska's coolness, it's definitely going to become a Thing someone has to address at some point.

---

Page 223

There John is!

I didn't think the tower looked like it was built from lime, in my mind, actually. But yeah, I guess not EVERYTHING in the carapace kingdom can be coloured gold and/or purple, right?

---

Page 224

Hey, he has his god tier outfit back on! And Vriska's coming over to greet him!

... Is it me, or is the outfit grown too short, since I can see his waist? :P

---

Page 225

Okay, she actually likes seeing him again, under better (well, sort of) circumstances. Maybe it's the thrill she just went through.

Heheheh, but Adult John is a head higher than her.

---

Page 226

Ooooooh, awesome.

Glad to see John finding an actual way to bond with Harry!

He could've probably alchemized a bigger outfit, or magicked one, but having Harry redesign it is WAY better. So I guess his sprite is bigger now, but I wonder if the same is true for the other adults.

Also, yes, John is again very good at pointing out the obvious shenanigans of having two Vriskas could entail. He's always been good at making those connections. And cool to see how his inherent dweepiness has turned into being an embarrasment to his son, now that John himself is an adult. :P

Hah, so Rose & Kanaya are coming over - Vrissy's already feeling embarassed by getting fawned over. Though with Jade along, I hope we'll get to know about "Yiffy" - who's apparently held close to Jane.

---

Page 229

Hahahah, nice to have at last the 3 remaining B1 adults together.

So, Yiffy is something John doesn't know about and is being kept in the dark about. Weird... Like, I don't think it's like a polyamorous CANINE lover for Jade, right? Not sure what to think at this point.

And Kanaya is too busy fuzzing over Vrissy to comment on John's clothing.

---

Page 230

Hahahahah, the idea of Vrissy turning into a little hissy-fit goblin as her mothers try to clean her up is delightful.

And the others seem to want to keep John in the dark on some of the things about the war, but they really shouldn't. I'm very curious about the truth, but also, John would definitely be able to help.

... Wait a minute. Yiffy doesn't mean Roxy, does it???

---

Page 232

Ahhh, things were turning up so dramatically... And then John goes and leaps to the most WRONG conclusion he could make. I mean, no offense to him of course, he's been kept out of the dark.

---

Page 234

I wow.

I.

W---

Jezus H. Christ.

This does indeed read like a chapter in a bad fanfic. But it's real. Real as can be.

Jade and Rose have a daughter. That's... Wow. This I gotta process.

It feels as though the chapter is winding down, and with it, this little interlude on Earth C. What a day.

But yeah, Vrissy will definitely have some FEELINGS about this revelation.

... The fact that the name started as one-upmanship and stuck because of carapacian bureaucracy, and this was the reason for the secrecy of years. That's just wild.

Her name is a play on Pippy Longstocking of course. And long stockings are what Jade wore. Dear lord, this is insane. This really fucks up the family tree some more, too.

---

Page 235

Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff----

Yeah, the issue of Dave's absence kind of got sidetracked there.

So I wonder if Davebot actually had the decency to look Jade up before leaving.

---

Wow. Let's take some time to digest THIS whopper of a revelation.

Also: of course the 8th chapter would be full-on focusing on Vriska.

[zimisnotdefective]

FrankenPAK AU - CLOSED for destroyer-immortalizer

@destroyer-immortalizer

〘🔻〙: The day had been rather unproductive. Zim had gone to skool, had been chased through the field behind the school at lunch by the Dib, and had come home, a little scuffed but no worse for wear. It was a relatively usual day on this horrible hell-planet.

Friday was always the day when Zim set aside some time in the evening to send a transmission to the Tallest, to relay all of his newfound information and current mission status to his beloved leaders. This friday was no different. As he shrugged off his disguise and put it away for another day, he made his way down into his base’s main chamber. There, he stepped off the elevator, and approached the large screen that covered most of one of the room’s walls. A long console panel ran it’s bottom length, glimmering with buttons and small screens. With a few taps of gloved claws, the screen flickered to life, washing the alien in a soft pink glow.

“Computer!” he hailed his loyal base AI, as he stood back, holding his hands behind himself, “Establish a link with the Tallest. QUICKLY! I have much to tell them!”

With a groan, the computer complied, and the daunting screen began to sizzle with static. After a few moments, a connection was reached, and the tiny faux-Invader’s small stature was projected in front of his taller leaders. Zim rose his antennae in salute, a proud smile on his face as he addressed them,

“My dear Tallest, it is a pleasure to stand before you once again. Zim does take such pride in our weekly communications. I trust you have been well?”

Both royal IRKEN sat, bored expressions plastered on their long faces. Purple was slurping obnoxiously on a soda, while Red rested his cheek in his clawed hand.

“I’m sure you do, Zim. I’m suuure you do.” Red drawled, unimpressed by the drone’s formalities.

“Hey! What’s that weird sound?” Purple interjected, attention diverted momentarily from his drink.

“Eh? What sound?”

Zim’s antennae quirked, and he listened carefully to his surroundings. He visibly strained, damaged appendages wiggling slightly, as if grasping at the air for the very soundwaves. It was then that it hit him. His PAK had begun to make a familiar whirring sound; the telltale signs of mechanical stress, and a very good indicator that it may become overheated. Zim went white. How had he not realized?! He had been dealing with the issue for so long, the simple sound no longer registered with him. It was the heat that always alerted him, not the sound.

“Eh, nothing to worry about, my Tallest! Just my... newest INGENIOUS PLAN to take over the stupid Earth-monkies!” Zim lied with a forced smile, raising his antennae once more.

The Tallests did not seem convinced. Red leaned forwards slightly, and narrowed his crimson eyes. His own antennae raised, and he pointed a long claw at the screen.

“Your PAK is smoking.”

Zim could already feel it. The sickening heat had begun to radiate from the device drilled into his spine. He swallowed hard, sleek black stalks snapping down to lay flat against his head. This could not be happening. He had come so far, had so many calls without showing even a single sign of a PAK overheat, but now! Now that streak was ruined, and his Tallest could plainly see the defect in action.

“Oh! Er... is it? I hadn’t noticed...!” Zim forced a toothy smile, and a nervous laugh, “It uh... must just be... uh...”

“That looks a lot like a central cooling system malfunction.” Red spoke, his brow furrowed into a scowl, “You’ve never reported any PAK malfunctions to us. How long has this been happening, Zim?”

“I— My Tallest, my PAK has never—!” the defective grimaced as the metal began to sear against his skin. The expression did not go unnoticed.

Purple leaned over and, cupping a clawed hand around his mouth, whispered something to his counterpart. Red’s antenna twitched, picking up the other’s words as a smirk spread across his face. As the two sat back once more, Red began again,

“Remind me, Zim. The PAK you were given came from batch 90-sub6, did it not?”

“Y— Yes, my Tallest. The same— same batch as you.”

“Well, then. Why didn’t you say that earlier? That batch of PAKs actually had a massive planet-wide recal, due to faulty cooling systems.” the Tallest explained, thouth his expression didn’t match his words, “Isn’t that interesting?”

“It— It did?”

“It did!” Purple replied enthusiastically, before he was pushed back once more by his partner.

“Even your mighty Tallest had their PAKs upgraded to sub7. Everyone with a sub6 did, Zim. Though, I suppose you didn’t, did you?” he tried to hide his smile, “Luckily for you, we have a downloadable patch that should easily repair the horrendously overlooked malfunction for you.”

“Really?!” Zim could barely believe what he was hearing. All this time, he had been suffering, believing his PAK’s struggles to be due to defect. Now, it was all clear to him! It wasn’t his fault at all! It was the fault of some idiotic PAK-manufacturing drone, who had already no doubt been erased from the collective. No wonder Zim had never heard of this! “Oh, thank you, my Tallest! Where can I aquire this patch?”

By the instruction of the Tallest, Zim plugged his PAK into the main uplink port that would allow his leaders to send a digital upload straight into the device. This method was used mostly in dire situations, when an Invader needed to send all of their data back to the Massive in the case of PAK failure. Though, cases like this arose now and then, and the Tallest would even grant some highly productive Invaders free upgrades through the uplink. This was exactly what Zim assumed was happening.

How wrong he was.

The moment the data had finished downloading into the little life support device, the translucent pink plates that covered it’s sensitive inner workings exploded outwards in a shower of sparks, propelling the tiny alien forwards, and into the console. He fell back, the wind knocked out of him, as the device continued to sputter.

“My— My Tallest—!” Zim croaked, clutching his middle as he pulled himself to his knees, “S— Something is wrong—!” The two faces of his leaders towered over him as they broke into hysterical laughter.

“You really think— you really think we would let damaged PAKs be sent out to SMEETs, Zim?!” Red choked out through laughter.

“Our own PAKs, too! A Tallest with a defective PAK!” Purple wheezed, “You really are an idiot!”

“Ooh, watch this! It’s just getting to the good part!”

Zim lifted his head to look up at his leaders, magenta eyes full of fear and confusion. They had... planned this? This was a trick?

Before he could utter a single word, another burst of electric debris came spewing forth from the tiny device, along with cracking bolts of free energy. A strangled cry bubbled up and out of the small IRKEN’s throat, and he hunched. Small pink droplets fell onto the hard metal floor in front of him as he gasped. The same pink was beginning to stain the back of his uniform, green skin cut by shrapnel.

“I-I... I do not... understand...” Zim croaked, trying once more to look up at the screen.

The Tallests had stopped their laughter.

“You’re a joke, Zim.” Red spoke, his voice low, “You’ve always been a joke. A defective. You should have been erased years ago, during your Trial. But you didn’t. Not even sending you off on a fake mission into space was enough to kill you. You weren’t even supposed to find that stupid planet!”

“But... I...”

“Why couldn’t you have just died off then, Zim? Hmm? Do you like torturing us?”

“Well? Do ya? Huh?” Purple chimed in.

“N— No, I—“

“You must, seeing as you’re still not dead.”

Another spray of sparks, and Zim slipped onto the ground. He lay flat on his belly, gasping and spasming as his PAK self destructed.

“As much as I’d love to sit here and watch you die, I’ve got better things to do. Don’t call us again.”

With that, the screen went dark.

—-

A swirl of pink and purple appeared in the middle of a luxurious living area, a strange portal that seemed to pulse with life. It grew in size, creating a buzz of static as something fell through, out onto the floor. In an instant, it shrank back into nonexistence.

Zim wasn’t even sure if Simaris would be here or not. More likely than not, the Cephalon would be down in the middle of the Sanctuary, seated atop his heightened throne. He wasn’t even sure if we was on the right Relay, but he had no way of knowing. All he could do was lay there on the floor, his PAK sparking and sizzling with loose spikes of lightning. Pink oozed out onto the pristine flooring, covering it in a sticky mess that smelled odly of metal. The Cephalon would have to find him at some point.

Right?

[weareallfallengods]

E.M.Pathos - Chapter 1 - Anticipation (new WIP, unedited)

Jenny was nervous.

First the first time in a very very long time, she was actually nervous. Not apprehensive, not cautious, not anticipatiory, not fearful. Just straight up nervous. For her it was an unusual experience.

It wasn't the tests coming up. No, she'd always strangely enjoyed being tested, measuring herself, having documentation of her own internal competition with herself. No it wasn't the tests. Or was it? She was actually quite excited to be part of this new program, to have been selected for the second round. So what was it?

She looked around the small, sterile waiting room for the hundredth time. 'Waiting room? More like hastily converted scientist's broom cupboard is more like it,' she mused. Stark white plastic chairs with no padding made her shift in her seat again. 

"They could have at least had some out of date 'zine's laying around," she muttered. "I mean what self respecting doctor doesn't have dozens of magazines that are like 5 years old just laying around?"

"Well for one thing, there's not even a coffee table to put em on Jenn-o. Which only makes the lack of coffee even more noticeable."

Trust Dax to complain about missing his morning fix. It didnt seem to matter how far from home they got, he always seemed to find a way to make coffee. Like that one time on Estoc Prime. Jenny shuddered at the memory. That one had been close. A little too close for any sort of comfort. She hadn't been able to look a cup of coffee in the face since then. Ok, sure, poisoning the commander of the ship that had hijacked them with espresso had been a stroke of genius from Dax, but it still brought back too many unpleasant thoughts; not something she needed today of all days. 

'Breathe. Just breathe. Dont think about that right now.'

Dax winced. "Sorry Jen-o. I'm just a bit nervous and having to go off caffeine entirely's made me a little spacey."

"Don't worry about it Dax, I understand. We're both a little jittery right now. You have any idea what to expect this round? I mean, last time, they were just like following me around for months with a bunch of weird cameras and asking a bunch of questions. Idk man, just wondering how this whole 'in-depth examination' thing is going to play out."

"Yeah, don't worry about it too much ay. She'll be right. We always are."

Jenny exhaled deeply again. Her mind was working overtime due to the lack of anything to hold her attention at all. There weren't even any cracks or motes of dust to stare at mindlessly to pass the time. 

"Stop chewing ya nails- you're gonna end up with hands like a Thraxian if ya don't cut that out."

"I'm nervous, Dax. Nervous. Me! Actually nervous. I dont even know why I'm here, much less how both of us got in, what they're going to be doing, whether I'm actually qualified, or any clue what any of the probably thousands of ways I could fuck this up somehow are."

"You worry too much. Over-sensitive, you are. Always have been. Then again, maybe that's why you made it to round two."

They fell silent again. This particular waiting room was definitely not conducive to conversation. Being alone in their own thoughts might have been worse though.

Dax started bouncing his leg rapidly. He was nervous too, but not from the unknown. He was more a combination of anxious and bored. Jenny placed a hand on his knee to still him again.

"Ugh, all that study and no one in IGSARC managed to figure out that bored humans are a dangerous thing to leave unsupervised." 

"We're not dangerous Dax! Jeez how many times do I have to tell you to stop buying into the hype and stereotypes?"

"Oh so you think IGSARC got funding for this second round of research just because they were curious? Nah, somebody on the Council is worried. Or hoping to find an advantage. Something. IGSARC found something they weren't expecting to find, and stereotype or not, I'd wager a month's ration of beer that they're either scared of us, or wanting to exploit us."

"God Dax, you're so negative! Maybe you really do need coffee to survive!" Jenny laughed, the bright sound tinkling around the small room they were ensconced in, brightening the mood instantly.

"Haha, yeah, you're probably right Jen-o. Ahhhh I'm just tired waiting is all! You always know how to make me feel better though.

Jenny smiled at her best friend. They'd been through so many things together, from the first day at the Merchant Academy when she'd accidentally stepped on a Lorathian cadet's tail and nearly started an intergalactic incident when her rush to apologize ended up with her hands in what were for Lorathians, very inappropriate places. Even just thinking of that still made her blush a tiny bit, even if it did make her smile. 

Dax had totally saved her bacon on that one, with his smooth talking, good looks and dazzling charm. The accent probably helped too. Not many actual Australians seemed to be out and about in the galaxy, and she had to admit, the combination of his dark brown skin, beach-blond curly hair and brilliant smile were the perfect combination to be disarmingly noticeable. He'd managed to get the Lorathian talking, and eventually the two sauntered off, Dax with his arm around the other, headed to the Canteen. They'd been fast friends ever since.

'That was such a long time ago now,' Jenny, lost in her own thoughts again sighed. 'Well, it seems like it was a long time ago anyway.'

"How long's it been Dax? Since we met, I mean. Seems like I've known you forever."

"What? You forget me that easily? I'm insulted!" Dax laughed easily. "Probably about as long as we've been sitting in this damn room."

"So what, 5 years?" Jenny chuckled.

"Sounds about right. Fuck we were so much younger then."

Jenny punched him. "Hey! Speak for yourself!"

"Hahaha gotta get the dig in when I can Jen-o!"

Just then, right as she was cocking back to punch him again, the near-invisible door to the room hissed open.

The IGSARC representative did not come in. Their face was obscured by the doorframe, but the clipboard they held was dwarfed by the massively long fingered blue hand that clutched it to their chest like a child's treasured toy.

"I apologize for my tardiness, it was unavoidable. Also, please forgive the sparseness of the accommodations at the moment, our study is only just getting started." The alien scientist had bent down to be able to see into the room better while speaking, and now Jenny and Dax were able to see them properly.

"Ah where are my manners! I apologize again, we are all just so excited about this newest phase! Let us introduce ourselves properly, so if you would be so kind as to step out here, as I am sure it would become even more uncomfortable in there were I to attempt entry."

"We should've just waited in the damn hallway," Dax muttered to Jenny as they stepped out into the large corridor that stretched along the top deck of the starship. 

The view from the glass that looked out into the neighboring nebula from the floor to ceiling glass on one side was truly breathtaking. Or at least, it would have been, had Jenny not been short of breath already, due to the nervousness from earlier slamming back into her like and old earth freight train. The momentary reprieve from it, courtesy of Dax, evaporated as quickly as liquid nitrogen on Mercury. He was right though, the hallway was wide enough that they could’ve driven their ‘spacers to the meeting, parked in the hall and still had enough room left for a dinner party. It just made the cramped waiting room seem all the more ridiculously sized. 

The scientist caught her attention again as they started speaking again.

“Allow me to introduce myself- I am Doctor Itraxilitanthudinilatz of the IGSARC Advanced Research Division. I realize my name is a bit of a mouthful for most humans, so you may call me Doctor Traxi. Firstly, I want to welcome you to the second phase of a very exciting program! We here in ARD are extremely excited to be working with you for the next 18 to 24 months on this groundbreaking area of research. Since today is the first day of the program, we’ll be beginning with a brief tour of the area of the facility that will become your home, your quarters, and the areas of the ship that will be accessible to you. Unfortunately, due to the highly classified nature of our work here together, as well as the parameters of the research, in order to eliminate any external influencing factors, you will not be permitted access to the entire ship, however, we’ve made sure to include a large array of amenites within the research facility’s designated areas, so you should not feel too restricted.”

Of course, Dax raised his hand. 

“Did ya at least make sure there’s a pub in there?”

“Ah. Sadly, at the moment, no, however, being aware of the necessity for many humans to participate in ritual toxification, there will come a stage in this project where that will be made available, but sadly, until we reach that stage, your dietary intake will be strictly monitored, which does include the elimination of any physiologically altering substances, at least for now. But more on that later! We will go over all these things and answer as many of your questions as possible during the orientation period tomorrow. For now, let’s begin the tour!”

As Dr. Thraxi started off down the insanely large corridor, Dax grabbed Jenny’s arm. “Great, first no coffee and now no beer!”

“Yeah I know, you’re torn up about it. OMG Dax, just suck it up for now, you should’ve known what you were signing on for,” Jenny hissed under her breath. “You’re just being a baby about it right now because you haven’t had any coffee for a week.”

“Right, I know, and now it looks like I’m not gonna for ages too!” Dax whispered back. 

“Shush and pay attention!”

“...of course this corridor will be off limits due to it being the main concourse connecting the two main parts of the ship. Our section is coming up, which I hope you will find most adequate.” Dr. Thraxi had been droning on for the couple of minutes that it took them to make it about a third of the way down the observation concourse, when they turned to a side hallway, significantly smaller than the main walk, stopping in an alcove facing a large frosted glass door. Dr. Thraxi placed six of his long fingers on a blank section of the wall next to the door, at which point the door frame lit up a pale blue, and the glass slid open silently like some fey portal to another world. 

A disembodied voice called out softly, “Welcome back Dr. Thraxi. I have detected that you have guests. Are they the new study subjects?” 

“Yes thank you Janet, these are the newest participants in the second phase of our research. Could you please update their files?”

“Of course Doctor. Subject 1, please step forward.”

Doctor Thraxi gestured at Dax, who took two steps forward into the main room. 

“Scanning. Linking data files. Subject 1: Dax Fellowes. Planet of origin: Terra Prime. Age: 35. Height: 172 centimeters. Weight: 95.2 kilos. Species: Human. Genetic Sub-group: Aboriginal Scottish Australian. Hair: Blond. Eyes: Brown. Circulatory system: Internal, Pressurized Atrial system. Condition: Healthy. Respiritory System: Dual internal lung. Primary absorbative content: Oxygen. Condition: Healthy. Registering bio-markers. Profile complete. Please state your name for voice-print identification.” 

“Uh, Dax Fellowes.”

“Registering Ah Dax Fellowes.”

“Oh wait, hold up, that’s not right, my name’s just Dax Fellowes.”

“Adjusting. Voice print identification for Dax Fellowes saved. Thank you.”

“Stupid bloody machine,” Dax muttered to himself as Dr. Thraxi walked past him into the main area of the lab. 

“Jenny, if you could also step forward now so that Janet can scan you as well please.”

She stepped forward into the room, and was instantly too caught up in looking around to pay any attention to Janet’s robotic voice as the scan proceeded. She was too interested in seeing all the other scientists milling about, some lounging and talking in the common area of the room at the far wall, where a window the size of her mother’s old van framed the expanse of deep space, a dark contrast to the low white couches that were currently occupied by several scientists- at least she assumed they were based on the white lab coats that matched what Thraxi was wearing. Off to the side several others were gathered around a couple small tables, chatting and eating. Various posters and artworks were scattered tastefully across the walls. One in particular caught her attention since it seemed to be a hologram representing the birth of a star that was constantly changing and moving in all three dimensions. 

“Please state your name for voice print identification.”

The ethereal voice of Janet snapped Jenny’s attention back to the present. 

“Jenny O’Rourke.”

“Voice print identification for Jenny O’Rourke saved. Thank you. You both may now access all areas of the lab designated Participant Level 1 security clearance.”

“Excellent! Now that you’re registered in the system, let’s get you acquainted with the areas of our facility that you’ll be using most!”

The rest of the hour long tour went by in a blur- both because listening to Dr. Thraxi was just so monotonous, despite their best effort to be engaging, but there’s only so peppy you can be about showing off chairs and toilets, but also because the reality of what she’d signed up for was starting to sink in, as the more and more they saw of the research facility, the more it became clear that she and Dax were the only visible humans in the entire place. Although the variety of species was astounding, even for a deep space vessel, and that one game of four player multi-dimensional chess looked fascinating, Jenny found herself simply letting the information wash over her. 

“...and that brings us to the conclusion of our tour! I hope that the two of you will be comfortable during your stay with us. We all look forward to working with you, and I’ll be introducing you to the rest of the Phase 1 research team tomorrow at 10:00 hours in Conference 3. If you don’t remember where it is, that’s fine, just ask Janet for directions.”

Dr. Thraxi turned to leave Jenny and Dax standing in the middle of what could have passed as a comfortable modern hotel shared suite lounge, his clipboard fluttering slightly at the rapid movement. 

“Oh hey, one more thing Doc!” Dax called out as Dr. Thraxi stepped through the doorway. 

“Yes?”

“Dumb question, but what’s Janet? She a person, a computer, what? I was pretty sure computer, but the responses are pretty personalized.”

“Ah yes, one of our earlier successes actually- Janet, an acronym of “Genuine Artificial Neural Network” is an AI program designed to interface between all of our various systems. We worked quite hard on getting her responses to seem more natural, as well as being able to understand intent over data requisitions.”

“Bonza mate, thanks for the tour,” Dax yawned. “I think I’ll be hitting the sack soon then, been a long day.”

“I understand. Will see you at the meeting in the morning.” Dr. Thraxi stepped back and the door whisked shut.

“What was that about Dax? Like why do you even care what their stupid computer is called?” Jenny was a bit irritated. Bed definitely sounded like a really good option. 

“I don’t give a royal shit what their computer program is called, it can go fuck itself and the rest of this program for all I care. I wanted to ask an innoccuous question to see something.”

“Whoa there boyo, why the hostility all of a sudden? I thought you were all pumped for this program, except for the lack of coffee.”

“Yeah well I was excited for it....until the tour.”

“Ok buddy you’re starting to scare me, what gives?”

“I’m not sure- I can’t put my finger on it yet, but there’s something...off about this place.”

“Damn. I wish you hadn’t said that Dax.”

“Why? Oh no! Oh did I just trigger you again without thinking? You ok?”

“No no, that’s not it, it wasn’t you. This whole place kinda started putting me on edge soon as we walked through those doors too. I kinda tuned the doctor out while they were showing us around, but that gave me more time to look around at everyone else here. You notice we’re the only humans in this facility?”

“Yeah. That we saw anyway.”

“Dax. Don’t make this more melodromatic than necessary. But yeah, no other humans. Ok that could be explained away with we’re the first ones in this section of the study. Fine, i’ll buy that.”

“But…”

“Yeah, there’s always a ‘but’. I hate ‘buts’.”

“Bullshit, you love a good butt.”

“Dax! For real! I’m being serious!”

“I know, I know, I can’t help it, you know me when there’s a chance for an inappropriate joke, I gotta jump on it ay.”

“Not the time man. Anyway. I couln’t tell what was setting me off either, but I just got more and more uneasy as we went through the tour.”

“Yeah me too Jen-o. That’s why I asked ol’ Blueberry Slenderman about the AI. I wanted to see if there was a difference between when he was on-script versus off it.”

“And?”

“Did ya notice the darker purpley markings on his hands and neck?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, they change color slightly- they get darker and lighter. I thought I was seeing things at first, but that last bit confirmed it.”

“So what, his skin changes colors a little. Loads of aliens have that.”

“Right, they do, but this one’s interesting, because the minute we walked through the facility doors, he started lying to us. Right up until I asked him about the AI. And even then, he lied about something in that explanation of what it is.”

“Well duh, of course he was lying- probably not our definition of it though; if his spots react to deception like our pupils do, it could’ve been a reaction to the fact that there’s a lot more going on here than he was covering in the tour, a lot of it’s classified, and a lot of it he’s saving for tomorrow! Doesn’t mean he’s like lying lying.”

“I hope you’re right Jen-o. I hope you’re right.” Dax sighed. She was probably right. She usually was; Jenny had good instincts. Probably one of the reasons she was here to begin with. Then again, so did he. Instincts that had saved his life on more than one occasion, so Dax had learned to trust his gut. And something was definitely not right about this place. 

He just hoped it didn’t bite them in the ass. 

[christa--marie]

The Day Before The First Day

Aziraphale perched near the front of a crowded classroom, surrounded by his peers. Not a seat was open, and angels lined the circular stone walls. White drapes fluttered in the windows, overlooking a glorious mountainscape. There was no ceiling, only a gentle glow from above that suffused the room with peace and elegance. Aziraphale and his classmates wore matching robes of white and gold. Their wings rustled; harps strummed in the background.

“The Almighty is working on something new.” Gabriel stood tall and unflappable at the front of the room. “She has devoted all Her energies into it with a tireless, single-minded focus— for a whole half hour!” He allowed that to sink in. The angels murmured, hooked.

“This project, which we are calling the Great Experiment— my idea by the way— will take place between Heaven and Hell, on a wet spinny rock called Earth. The Almighty plans to give this rock to the favorite of her new Creations: humanity.”

“Why?” demanded one of Aziraphale’s classmates, a blunt-eyed knucklehead named Sandolphon.

Gabriel shrugged. “Who knows? Something to do with free will and the discovery of purpose through suffering and imperfect love.” He waved his hand. “But that’s not important, not to us. We are angels, and our divine purpose comes directly from above.”

Aziraphale glanced upward as a reflex. He’d had few run-ins with the Alpha and Omega personally, but he liked to imagine Heaven’s light emanated from Her wise and all-knowing heart. He shivered in awe.

“Our purpose is to keep the legions of Hell at bay,” Gabriel continued. The lines of his face hardened like stone. “Until the Great War, when we will shatter their defenses and grind their bones into dust.”

Aziraphale shifted uncomfortably at his desk. He’d only ever been in one war before, and he hadn’t liked it at all. He didn’t understand why Lucifer’s minions had to leave Heaven in the first place. Surely there was room enough for everyone, if they could just get along. God’s love was infinite, after all.

Sandolphon grinned. “I like war,” he said. “I think I’ll like a Great War even more. When will that be?”

Gabriel pointed at him. “Sandolphon, I love your enthusiasm, but interrupt me again and I’ll throw you off that balcony.” His face creased in a smile that did not at all undermine his threat. Sandolphon leaned back in his seat. “I don’t know when the Great War will be. No one does. I suppose we’ll get more clues along the way, like a scavenger hunt that goes on for all eternity. Fun, right?” He clapped his hands. “The point is, we have to be ready at all times to serve God’s ineffable plans.”

Aziraphale, who fancied himself a lover of words, repeated this one to himself. Rather less than twenty books had yet been written, and Aziraphale had read all of them at least twice, even The Maintenance Manual for Conscientious Harpists. He’d not heard or read this word before, though, and he didn’t know what it meant, but it sent a little thrill in his heart just the same. ‘Ineffable,’ he mouthed and wiggled, pleased.

Gabriel noticed his lexical rapture and paced between the rows to his desk. Aziraphale sat up straighter, surprised.

“Do you like that word, Aziraphale?” Gabriel tipped his head, lips curled upward in polite amusement.

Aziraphale nodded, wide-eyed.

“Do you know what it means?”

Aziraphale shook his head.

“It means God’s plans are not effable,” Gabriel explained magnanimously. Upon seeing this did not diminish Aziraphale’s confusion like he’d expected, he added with just a touch of asperity, “They cannot be spoken. They are too big for words.”

“Too big for words?” Aziraphale’s first instinct was dismay, but that was quickly swept aside by a crashing wave of wonder. He was bright enough to understand just how little he knew of the great beyond. “Oh my.”

“That’s right.” Gabriel nodded with approval. He said the word again, like he almost understood it.

“More fun news,” he continued, turning to the rest of the class. “One among you will be the first to serve God’s plans on Earth.”

The class tittered. Aziraphale glanced around, wondering who the lucky sod might be.

He looked up again and startled to find Gabriel still standing beside his desk, gazing down at him.

Aziraphale’s heart skipped. “Me?”

Gabriel’s smile was bland. “The Almighty asked for you by name.”

“But…” Aziraphale blinked, utterly confused. There must have been a mistake, some other Aziraphale the Almighty surely meant. “Why?”

“Better not to ask.” Gabriel flashed his teeth. “It’s ineffable.”

Crawly lounged at the back of a dilapidated classroom crowded with gray floors and filing cabinets. Fluorescent lights flickered from a low ceiling. His robe bunched at the knee when he kicked his legs up on the seatback in front of him, flashing black sandals that criss-crossed up his calves. The demon occupying his footrest flicked his head and growled, so Crawly poked him in the neck with a toe. The demon ground his teeth but leaned forward, giving Crawly more room to recline, which he did, indecently.

The classroom was even more claustrophobic than usual, buzzing with the ever-present anticipation of general destruction. Crawly’s fellow demons grunted amongst themselves and paid little attention to the figure standing at the front of the room.

Beelzebub spoke in a monotone, making no attempt to be compelling. Her eyes crossed as she swayed on her feet. Crawly lent half an ear— more than his classmates— and scribbled a quick note on a piece of parchment. He breathed on the drying ink, then folded the paper in half and waved it enticingly at the demon sitting next to him.

“Run this up to Hastur,” he said, just enough of a caress in his voice to keep it from an outright demand. The demon glared at him, suspicious, but took the note like Crawly knew she would and slithered two rows over and several desks up to drop it in Hastur’s lap.

The duke glared at the parchment then twisted around in his seat. Crawly waggled his eyebrows at him. He willed Hastur to take the bait and open the letter— have his wig snatched—

“Surveillance reports say the unbenevolent despot known as the Almighty is working on something new called Earth,” Beelzebub droned. “Where creations made in Her image will walk upon two feet with five toes each, and arms and legs, and all the rest.” A spitball whizzed past her head and landed with a splat on the dusty chalkboard. “She plans to test them with something unpleasant called free will. “

“God’s gotten bored of the angels, has She?” Crawly piped up from the back of the room, interest piqued. His voice cut through the drone. Conversations died out, and Crawly’s peers glanced from him to Beelzebub, taking notice that something if not iniquitous at least moderately irritating was about to happen.

“Can’t say I blame Her,” he drawled, glancing around hopefully for agreement. “Boring, uppity sods without an ounce of imagination between them, am I right?” His question hung in the air, unanswered.

Beelzebub blinked. “I’m talking,” she said, bemused. “Why are you also talking?”

Crawly swung his legs to the floor and unfurled himself from the desk. “Did you say free will?” His voice rose, intrigued. “What’s that?”

Beelzebub rolled her eyes, all of them, even the ones poking out from her kneecaps. She answered in her long-suffering monotone. “It’s space enough from God to choose their own actions, right or wrong, without interference.” At this, she scoffed. “So She says, anyway; we’ll see how long that lasts.”

Crawly’s mind raced. “Well, that’s...” A warm surge of curiosity fizzed in his chest. “...pretty neat.”

Beelzebub’s brow lifted with incredulity. She turned away from Crawly, clearly a lost cause. “The Almighty is sending an angel to watch over the humans and guide them toward righteousness.” Her mouth puckered on the word, and she retched just the slightest bit.

“Hang on,” Crawly interrupted again. “How’s that fair? I thought the point was for them to make their own decisions—”

“Since when has the Almighty acted with consistency?” Beelzebub said. Her eyes blazed briefly, but then she settled back and shrugged. “I suppose encompassing all of existence must get a bit confusing at times.” She lifted a hand to forestall any argument. “I’m not saying I agree with Her, I’m just saying She’s got a lot on her plate, that’s all.”

“But why should the angels have all the fun?” Crawly argued. “Shouldn’t we have some representation up there? Show the humans what a heinous transgression is all about?”

Beelzebub glared at him. “I was getting to that,” she snapped. “Satan, you are annoying.”

Crawly smirked, tossing his hair at the compliment.

“The gates to Earth are equally balanced between Heaven and Hell,” Beelzebub said. “Whatever powers they send, we may send an equal and opposing force, to tempt the humans toward vice and corruption, etcetera etcetera. That way the experiment can remain—” she twirled her hands— “nonpartisan.”

Crawly shrugged. Seemed to him it would make more sense for everyone to stay out of it. He wisely kept this observation to himself.

“So we are sending a demon to Earth to oppose their angel, and more when we get wind of Heaven sending more. As for the first demon to go—” She looked at Crawly, who’s heart began to flutter in spite of himself. “Crawly, you’ve been by far the most irritating demon here today, so I’m sending you.” She glanced around at his classmates, unimpressed. “Really, it’s like the rest of you aren’t even trying.”

“Me?” Crawly blinked, dazed. “Go to Earth? Leave Hell?”

A shriek drew their attention. Hastur leapt from his chair, swatting frantically at the top of his head, which had abruptly caught on fire. Flames licked away his tangled mop-head hair, while Crawly’s note floated innocently to the floor and disintegrated. Crawly glanced at him, then back at Beelzebub, too gobsmacked to appreciate his own prank.

Beelzebub strode forward and clasped his hand in hers. “Don’t thank me,” she said. “You’ve earned it. Now, get up there and make some trouble.”

Stonehenge - 3100 B.C.

Aziraphale stood on a misty moor and watched the humans lug another mammoth stone into place. The current generation used ropes, levers and no small amount of cleverness to manipulate mass far greater than they could hope with only their own strength. Aziraphale watched them with pride. What an exciting time to be on Earth! He sent his thanks to the Almighty for allowing him to witness it.

“What do you suppose the circles mean?” a voice inquired in his ear. “Reckon they even know?”

Aziraphale startled. The demon Crawly slithered from the mist to stand beside him, squinting at the humans.

“Oh. Hello,” Aziraphale said with a small tilt of the head, alight with suspicion but determined to be courteous. The demon turned his slit-eyed gaze upon him. “My, we do seem to cross paths. And how have you been? Still, ah, compelled to acts of base villainy?”

Crawly flashed his incisors. “The basest.”

Aziraphale sighed, his disappointment sincere. “We are all bound to our functions. And what sort of villainy are you instigating here?” he asked, hardly expecting a straightforward answer.

The demon’s features twisted with bemusement. “Tried to convince them this was an alien landing pad,” he said, flicking a hand as the humans hauled another slab across the moor. “But they just keep using it to honor their dead.”

“Alien landing pad?” Aziraphale scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

Crawly glanced at him. “It’s a big universe, angel,” he said. “Awfully short-sighted of you to think Earth is the only planet with a bit of life going on.”

“But we know it is,” Aziraphale argued. “Surely Heaven would know if the Almighty was running multiple experiments.”

Crawly shrugged. “Don’t you ever wonder…”

“What?” Aziraphale asked when he trailed off, intrigued despite himself. He often found himself like this, hanging to the demon’s every word. He supposed it was a trick he’d mastered to catch the humans’ attention while tempting them toward vice and corruption. It was just that Crawly’s conversation was so much more interesting than that of his fellow angels. They talked about the humans, mostly, but also placed they’d visited, agriculture, the fermentation of grapes, and stars. It was a far cry from his typical conversation with the other angels, who mostly liked to talk about smiting and their blasted harps.

The demon elected not to finish his question. “What are you doing in this part of the world, anyway?” he asked instead. “I thought you were watching over Enoch the sourpuss.”

“Ah, yes.” He grimaced a smile. “Enoch has seen fit to continue his ministry without, uhm, day-to-day celestial oversight.”

“Hm.” Crawly’s lips twitched. “So, here for pleasure, then?”

Aziraphale bristled. “Certainly not!” He fussed at the neck of his perfectly creased robes. “I am here on very important business in pursuit of the salvation and betterment of humanity— not that you would know anything about that.”

Crawly shuddered in disgust. “I’d rather be cooked in spider stew than know anything about that.” He picked at his chin. “Sympathetic creatures, spiders.”

Aziraphale took a deep, calming breath of the fresh country air. “I like this place,” he declared. “I’ve been here once before, after that dreadful business with Adam’s sons.” His face fell, but then his eyes softened, roaming over the rolling green hills and bluebird sky. “I was called over to direct a bit of glacial melt— ended up creating the English Channel, if you’d believe it— and found the whole experience quite reviving. I think I’d like to settle down here sometime before it’s all over.”

“Before what’s all over?” Crawly said.

Aziraphale’s lips pursed. “Well— all this.” He gestured helpfully at the landscape. “The Earth has to end someday,” he said, like it was common knowledge.

“It does?” Crawly asked. Aziraphale tipped back on his feet and nodded, musing.

“I imagine once the Almighty has finished Her experiment with the humans and decided whether they’re good or bad, She’ll want to dispense with Earth; tidy up her laboratory, as it were.”

“So God created Earth just to destroy it in the end?” Crawly clarified.

Aziraphale stiffened. He liked Crawly’s inquisitive nature, even if he did rather put him on the spot with his questions.

“Of course, one can’t know for sure,” he said with a touch of haughtiness. “God’s plans are ineffable, after all.”

Crawly regarded him with strange yellow eyes. “You really like that word, don’t you?”

Aziraphale picked at his fingernails, ignoring him.

“How can an ineffable plan have an end, anyway? Isn’t saying that it has an end saying something about it, which can’t be done because it’s too big for words?” He tilted his head and repeated it, mocking. “Ineffable.”

“Don’t worry,” Aziraphale reassured him. “Even if the plan does have an end, it’s going to be quite a long time from now.”

Finish reading on AO3.

[dyketectivecomics]

Retrieval - Ch. 11

SURPRISE BITCHES. BETCHA THOUGHT YOU’D SEE THE LAST OF THIS.

(Read on AO3) (No actually, maybe go ahead and reread everything on ao3, since its been SO DAMN LONG ooooof) (also everyone keep in mind that the chap under the cut doesnt have italic edits in bc its 3k & also 1 am and i don't have time for that. just go ahead and read it on ao3 unless you already have an idea of whats going on at this stage in the fic lmao)

@squiddybeifong it’s ur turn finally, love <3, def take ur time and i cant WAIT to see your thoughts on this haha 

...

Grotesque as each of the demons were, Raven remembered barely keeping them straight from one another. All sharp teeth and disfigured skin, some sported facsimiles of regency fashion, while others chose to hide themselves in as few layers as possible. Try as she might, she recalled the eyes most clearly, in hues of reds, oranges and yellow, all burning with the sins of the souls they had claimed over the eons.

The one who had called her here, a brother without a name. (At least without a name yet, as that would come a decade later, when she most needed to name and defeat these demons with Titans by her side.) No, this demon that could not be properly named stood to his full height, towering over the others as he snapped his claw-like fingers to gain their attention, silencing their jeering at the destruction the portal showed.

"Enough of that nonsense," he droned, as if somehow bored of the chaos and devastation. "While Father is distracted, we have but one chance to settle this nasty business. What are we to do with sister dearest?"

There was much grumbling among the demons as they took seats around this circle, the visage of Azarath's last moments disappearing from view forever with a distinct pop and crackle. Raven could feel once again the ghost of Zatanna's reassuring hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently in empathy. She couldn't tell if it was better, or worse, never knowing what had transpired.

She certainly knew more than before, just enough to get a clearer picture than so many years of guesswork had lead her down. But it left a hollow feeling in her chest, as those certainties were closed off forever now.

Maybe it had been too much to hope for, to know exactly what Azarath's last moments were like. Or maybe it was too cruel to wish for the burden of such knowledge, even when one had prepared themselves for it. How disheartening, to have gone to so much trouble, only to be stopped so short.

"We can't kill her, much as I'm loathe to share any more 'an I already have to with you lot," a smaller demon piped up to Raven's left. She'd forgotten, in her reverie, just where her attention should truly lay. "But that doesn't mean we can't have our fun."

There was a murmur through the group, a mixed reaction but no true agreements or dissents. Raven could feel something swelling up in her stomach, but she reached for Zatanna's hand on her shoulder, squeezing it back and quelling the feeling.

She knew she'd made it to Constantine's apartment relatively unscathed. Like rereading an old favorite book, she remembered the end even without needing to remember everything that occurred in between. Whatever they had in mind, try as they might have, these petty demons hadn't harmed her much. She was strong enough to survive it then, she was powerful enough to endure it now.

Though, with how the hellfire that was starting to play tricks on her eyes, a part of her wondered just how much longer she'd be forced to endure it. In the furthest reaches, it shone a bit too hot, blinding if she let her eyes stray there for too long.

"The important thing I want to know is; how much fun can we have without Trigon letting on about it? And without interfering too deeply with his plans?"

"Doesn't he need the girl as an emissary to Earth and other planes?" one quipped back, "That would mean we can't keep her here, not long at any rate."

"Then it'd be best to act soon, lest he send her away before we have-"

A low rumble went through the group, all collectively groaning as they felt the same call. Raven remembered hearing a voice, faint, as if it spoke through layers of cotton. It was strange to her then, but familiar now, the cockiness and sly flow of mocking decorum. Constantine's most casual of ways, of summoning sworn enemies forth, to make the most backhanded of bargains.

Though, some of what he was saying... didn't particularly seem to resonate with what would have been said in such circumstances. And out of the corner of her eye, Raven watched as that white-hot light broke through a stalactite or two, eating away at the scene. Inevitable, but much slower than before. She knew now, for certain, that time was limited, much as she'd fought successfully against it so far.

She could hold it off just a tad longer.

"The Hellblazer's onto us, gentlemen," one of the demons sighed, resigned to what was to come. "Any volunteers?"

The group laughed, and Raven remembered taking a few shy steps back, naively thinking this an opportunity to sneak away, before more than a few sets of eyes settled on her.

"Why not send our little sister to him?" the eldest sneered, "It's beneath us to answer such a droll summons. It would be amusing to see him throw her back to us like a fisherman does a minnow."

Laughter bubbled around Raven, too-wide smiles and menacing glints in eyes and teeth. The feeling of self-satisfied, low-burning rage and an anticipation for harm to come.

She knew, then, that anywhere they would want to send her, anywhere that she wasn't in control of sending herself to, would not be a place she'd want to go. And much too late, she tried to make a dash to get away.

She screamed as she felt sharp claws sinking into her arms and delighted laughter reached a fever pitch around her. Everything began growing much brighter and more charged than before, as her body was burning the last of this nightmarish high.

She watched as a few of her brothers slashed into the air around them, tearing reality itself apart as they searched for the best rift to send her tumbling through.

...

The air temperature dropped drastically as John felt his daughter's mood shift, something tightening in his chest and tears welling in his eyes. His heart hammered in his chest, fear at the forefront of it all. He glanced up to see Asa holding her own against Raven's projections better than he did, wiping away a droplet before focusing her hands, once more on checking Zatanna's aura.

"I call upon Saint Christopher, that he may protect in their travels..."

It was a long shot, but when a demonologist has exhausted all of the runes and rituals at his disposal, sometimes a hope and a prayer were all that were left. And Constantine was currently running down the long list of every deity and figure of power that he could scarcely remember.

The classic Catholic routes were always the first to go.

His tone took a more urgent tune as he watched his daughter clench her fists and let out an ear-splitting scream.

"I call upon Saint Michael, to protect in this battle..."

He could only hope that these prayers and practices weren't coming too late.

...

As Zatanna felt the chill of Raven's powers as the empath's consciousness finally awoke, the sorceress tried turning over a happier memory in her own mind.

Sending Raven back to reality in this state now wouldn't do them any good. Fear and anger and hate lingering on her soul. It would, at best, wreck John's apartment.

At worst, it could level New York.

As those demons, shadows of memories long past, opened that fateful portal to John's apartment, so similar and yet a striking difference to how it was now, answering a summons that none wanted to bother themselves with, Zatanna focused all her energy into channeling that memory of her own. One that she couldn't be sure Raven shared. It seemed so far away, and such a small thing.

Of a tiny seven-year-old, in her halloween costume, dressed as the most adorable witch San Francisco would ever see, and receiving a tickling of a lifetime as her mother teased her. The memory of peals of laughter from the sorceress and squeals of protest from the young empath rang in her ears, louder now than the demons laughter, that was slowly fading away from them as Raven's small form was sent through that portal. Zatanna could only do her best to follow close after her.

Slowly, her grip on the girl’s hand loosened, until she lost it completely in their free fall. The sorceress watched helplessly as Raven fell further down ahead of her, the memory still at the periphery of her own mind.

She could see as the portal closed, how time shifted everything inside of that apartment. The couch's color dimmed, showing its wear and its age. Grooves in the floor grew from so many rearrangements of furniture and space. She could see Constantine sitting watch over her and Raven's bodies, and noted that the Nightmare Nurse's aid had been enlisted.

And all too quickly, that vision faded.

As everything dimmed around her, she thought she could hear Raven's voice as she knew it now, deep throaty laughter bubbling out around it, replacing those high-pitched squeals from before.

Everything became blackness once more.

...

As laughter escaped from his daughter's lips, Constantine paid Asa's concerned protests no mind, rushing again to his daughter's side as her powers sparked electrically around them. That shift in the air, like ozone and pressure before a thunderstorm, was one he recognized when a too-sudden, too-extreme mood shift occurred for the empath. When her powers were stuck playing catch-up as they drifted from menacing shadows to dangerously cheery sparks.

"Raven, I need you to breathe for me, darling," he begged, "Find your center again, luv."

His focus was solely on his daughter, as her laughter slowly died, the snickers giving way to breathless gasps. When she began to still in his arms and as her breathing began to return back to normal, he finally registered the Nightmare Nurse's frantic cries.

"-She's not responding, John. Zatanna's not waking up."

...

"Give up?" Zatanna asked with a gleam in her eyes and a sly smile on her lips. The witch before her pouted, giving the most adorable glare that the sorceress had seen in her life.

"Never," she said, and her voice held all of the self-assurance of a spellcrafter well beyond her so few years of experience.

Zatanna only smiled wider. "You asked for it, then."

She tickled the little witch for a second time, laughing alongside her shouts and giggles. That accent that she was picking up from Constantine was more prominent, now that she’d spent the better part of the year with him. And it was positively adorable as well. "No! Mummy, stop!"

"Admit it!" she laughed, "Admit that you're the most adorable little witch!"

It was true, objectively speaking. The girl's dress and hat were tailored with kitschy patches, buttons that seemed comically large and cartoonish pockets that were even bigger than one would think. All of the makings of a perfect Halloween costume. All she was missing, at the moment, were practical tennies for trick-or-treating.

This was where one of several points of argument for the evening had begun, as Raven had insisted, in her seven-year-old wisdom, that her dance flats were needed to complete the look. Something Zee had been unsuccessful, thus far, in swaying her opinion on.

At least until she’d started the teasing, and followed through on her threat of tickling.

"I'm-" she was breathless, gasping for air, but giggling all between, "I'm- not! I'm a- I'm a scary-! A scary witch!"

With that final shout, Zatanna paused in her tickling as Raven sent a shock through her skin. A light zap of her powers, but nothing like the unsettling chill she had felt earlier when the girl refused to admit to fears and doubts about the holiday festivities her mother had planned. It was a welcome change, if unexpected.

"You're right," Zee chuckled in assent, carefully picking the girl up and carrying her from the room, "And since you're clearly the most terrifying thing out and about tonight, that must mean you'll be able to protect me from all of the ghouls and goblins out there tonight?"

The girl puffed out her chest, grinning wide as she adjusted her hat. "No monsters will get past me, mummy! I promise!"

The magician could only smile and hold the girl in a tight embrace. "Thanks, Blackbird. I feel safer already. But you know what will help me feel-?"

But just as the sorceress set the girl down again, before she had even finished the question as she turned around in this fairly mundane memory, she could feel that sense of presence slipping. Her once familiar home in San Francisco fading away in a blur and a blank. An expanse before her that could be filled with anything.

This Raven wasn’t the one she entered this world with. Her daughter was no longer in this plane between consciousness and dreams, where memories made their home. 

And that terrifying reality was starting to settle in.

“-the most... safe?” she finished asking, in trepidation.

A shiver creeped quickly down her spine, as another memory took her away, unbidden.

…

“I have to go back for her,” the empath protested, sitting up at once as the Nightmare Nurse’s words fully registered. She felt the blood rush just as quickly away from her head, and lay back down immediately to stop the dizziness.

“You’d need at least an hour of recovery, kiddo,” Asa laughed bitterly, “At least you would, if you were human.”

“I’ll be fine in a minute. Just give me a second.”

“Like bleedin’ hell you’re going back,” John growled, “Asa, you hold ‘er, luv. I’ll be going in-”

“Dad, pots!” Her tone and intention had the brit slowly freezing right in place against his will. Try as he might to fight her, he never had quite the same level of resolve that Raven had. 

But, he supposed, that’s just how fathers and daughters seemed to operate. A father always willing to give his girl the world. And never being able to deny her, even when it was in her best interest.

“It has to be me, dad,” Raven sighed. “I pulled her in. I need to be the one to pull her out.”

Constantine swallowed the lump forming in his throat, teeth slow to unclench as he asked, “Promise me you’ll be safe? That you’ll get out soon as you reach her?”

Raven’s own indigo eyes leveled at his piercing blue ones, her stomach dropping as she lied, “I promise.”

…

She felt calmer when she opened her eyes again, her breathing shallow and soft, her body curled as tightly in on itself as she could stand. She felt a sharp pinch of happiness, and a dull sting of longing, when she heard her father’s voice. And she remembered, another small memory that had meant so much more to her over the years.

"Now just where did my princess run off to," Giovanni mused as he glanced around his daughter's room. He made extra sure not to take any special notice of some particularly lumpy and giggling pillows that lay on her bed.

"Hmm, how strange," he sighed with extra, cartoonish emphasis, "How odd that my daughter would learn to pull such a thorough disappearing act before I could teach her it myself. Alas!" He gave a cry, before falling back onto her bed. "Perhaps if I were to take a nap upon her bed, I could dream of where she has run off to!"

He adjusted himself carefully atop that oh-so-lumpy cushioning, leaning carefully back and poking at the pillows as she barely held in her snickering. "Now, if only these pillows weren't so lumpy and strange! Perhaps then my dreams might be clear." He put a bit more of his weight on it, yawning dramatically as he stretched his arms above his head. "But as long as Zatanna is not here, I don't see the harm-"

"I am here, daddy! I got you!" the young sorceress cried, laughing as she wiggled out from behind her father.

"Goodness! You have, indeed, my princess!" the magician laughed, bringing his daughter in close for a hug and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "And I've missed you so! You must promise to teach me that trick before my next show!"

"Uh-uh, that one's a super-special... tersec?" the five-year-old turned the word over uncertainly, and Zatara only smiled as he applauded her attempt.

"Terces, my sun and stars. Repus laiceps terces." He booped her nose, and she giggled once more. With a whispered word and sleight of hand, he produced a diary with a lock, Zatanna's name embossed with ostentatious calligraphy, and smiled even wider as she went starry-eyed.

"You'll need a place to keep those sterces then, my darling."

The chorus of thank-yous that followed after were drowned out only by his own laughter as he returned her tight embrace.

The sorceress began to feel the weight of the memory weighing on her chest, however. A wistfulness as the laughter quickly became quiet cries. At first, she almost believed them to be cries for what she still mourned. But then everything shifted again.

“Give me the word, my sun and stars,” her father growled, “And I will make the boy regret his very-”

“Daddy, no,” she shook her head, “It’s not… It’s not his fault.”

“That is where you are wrong, my dear,” the old magician laughed, “It is always a boy’s fault. Unless he starts taking responsibility for it, then he is not truly a man.” He squeezed her hand tightly as he lifted her chin, making sure she was looking into his smiling eyes as he said, “And he is not worthy of your time, for that matter, either.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, before pulling her back in for another tight embrace.

Zatanna held desperately to this special kind of comfort that she hadn’t felt since her father had died.