#[ this house is just safe to live in unlike the last one but now we have no fucking water or wifi . ]

[astr0logies]

waking up in this house feels like a fucking nightmare now .

[rafeandonlyrafe]

safe

words: 1.1k

warnings: home break in (not really described though), drug dealer!rafe and reader, pregnant!reader, husband!rafe

“r-rafe.” your voice is timid and shaky, so unlike what rafe is normally used to hearing. he instantly knows something is off, wrong.

“baby, what is it?” rafe asks into the phone, wishing he could see your face right now, could read the emotion in your expression.

“something uh-something happened. the police are here.”

“shit, are you alright?” rafe is suddenly moving away from the party, needing the noise of music from the live band and people talking and laughing to stop drowning out your words. “is the baby alright? did barry get caught?”

“yeah, we are both fine.” you press your hand against your stomach, the spot your baby always kicks, glad when you feel her stomp against your skin, reminding you she's okay, even if you don't currently feel like you are. “its not the business. there were some um… robbers.”

“what?” rafe shouts, knowing he probably just made you jump over the phone, but he can't help the loud reaction, needing more information, and needing it now.

“yeah they came into the house. i hid in the closet, but they found me. they didn't do anything, just shoved me a bit. they did take a lot of the jewelry you got me, i don't know what else, you'll have to talk to the police and give them a full invento-”

“shit, y/n!” rafe interrupts you. “i don't care about our stuff! i only care about you and the baby. im coming home right now.”

“okay.” you whisper over the phone. “im sitting on the front porch.”

“and police are watching you?” rafe asks, hurrying to his car, not bothering to explain to anyone his sudden leaving as he tears out of the parking lot.

“yeah, they're here. don't worry, im safe. i don't think they even had weapons, at least none that i saw.” rafe can hear you take a shuddering breath, his heart breaking that he wasn't there with you, foot pressing down even harder on the pedal to get him there faster. “the police think they broke in and expected no one to be home because of midsummers.”

you look down, rubbing your hand over your belly. “guess they didn't expect me to be home because none of my heels fit anymore and even the maternity dresses make me look like a whale.” you mean it as a joke, but it has tears flowing down your eyes, wishing you would have just sucked up your insecurities and gone with rafe. you still would have got robbed, but without the trauma of being there during the break in.

“im two minutes, baby. two minutes and you'll be safe in my arms.” rafe tries to keep his voice calm for you, but it's a struggle.

“i… i just wanna be safe.” you mutter the last words of the call, voice breaking as you begin to sob. rafe hears an officer try to calm you, but he knows it won't work, knows the only thing you need is him.

he parks haphazardly behind the police cars, fully blocking the street without a care in the world, not even taking the car keys out as he runs across the yard, sprinting until he reaches you.

“im here.” his arms are finally around your shoulders. “im here.”

you continue to sob, only lessened by pressing your face into rafes chest as he cradles you, even managing to pull you onto his lap despite your protruding baby bump.

“ive got you, princess.” rafe kisses the top of your head, continuing his reassuring words, the police officers giving you some space, but not retreating any farther than the steps leading onto the porch.

“oh my god, i was so scared.” you whine out, managing to blink back your tears enough to look at rafe.

“im so sorry baby.” rafe sighs. “i should have been here.”

“no.” you shake your head. “you had to go to midsummers. it's okay.”

“as soon as you said you weren't coming, i should have canceled it. should have never left my pregnant wife at home alone. im the worst fucking husband.” rafe knows his words aren't comforting, but he needs to make sure you know that he is the one to blame for what happened.

“what?” you press your fingers against rafes cheeks. “you couldn't have known, baby.”

“i still should have been here.” rafe leans in, taking your mouth in a strong kiss. “i love you, baby.”

“oh my god, you're not gonna leave my side for the next year, are you?” you let out a tiny laugh, the noise relieving rafe, loosening some of the tension in his chest.

“definitely not, my love.” rafe pulls you closer.

“thank you for coming so quickly.” you whisper, letting your head rest against rafes chest. “i really am okay. just freaked out.”

“don't worry, baby.” rafes voice suddenly changes tone. “the second they try to sell any of your jewelry, ill find them. they won't make it far at all. ill make sure they can never hurt you or anyone else ever again.”

you know you should tell rafe to let the police handle it, to not get personally involved in clearly dangerous men, but any man who lays their hands on a pregnant woman doesn't deserve to breathe, let alone only be punished to a few months in jail like what would no doubtabley happen if you went the legal way.

“im surprised you haven't called barry already.” you laugh softly, knowing he will be just as pissed as rafe. you came into their life and helped expand the business, turning them from lowly dealers to something bigger, better. still dealing, of course, but offering protection and other services as well.

“figure id let the police leave first.” rafe rubs your back, glad that you're slowly getting back to your jokey and sharp witted self. “before he insisted on being your personal armed guard until those guys are put in the ground.”

“yeah, once baby girl pops, im going to have to ask him to teach me to shoot. just in case anything like this happens again.” you feel bad that you relied so heavily on rafes protection, that you let yourself slack to the point where an emergency arose and you hid in the closet instead of grabbing a glock.

“hey, what about me?” rafe whines, knowing he'd never let another man teach you how to shoot, not even your joint business partner barry.

“fine.” you joke, sighing and sliding off rafes lap. “you better go talk to the police about what else might be missing. i wouldn't let them snoop around.”

you don't keep anything illicit in your house, but just in case you weren't about to give the law open access to your home.

“in a minute.” rafe keeps his arms around you, not willing to let you move too far from his hold. “need to just keep my wife in my arms for a few minutes longer.”

you look out onto the sky, the stars glimmering in the darkness of light, allowing yourself to take a full, deep breath, at peace held in your husband's arms.

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[curseofaphrodite]

Midnight Chase

REGULUS BLACK X READER

one more marauders fic before I move onto Avengers :) Also, I keep writing Reggie as moody and silent so I wanted to explore the headcanon of him being more like his brother. Have some flirty and sarcastic Regulus for a change!

"Let's try to see this in a positive light," James said, in the middle of the pitch-dark forest which was possibly infested with dementors or worse. "We could think of this as camping!"

Your groan was in sync with Lily's.

"Right, Sirius? Didn't we always want to go camping—?"

"Oh I don't know, I'm not sure I find the death-eaters-made-us-dissapparate-to-an-unknown-forest-while-a-literal-war-is-going-on part all too pleasant!" Sirius replied, which was the closest to a disagreement he had with James. The latter feigned hurt.

"We're all tired," you sighed. "Let's just find a place to rest and we can go back to the headquarters in the morning."

"What if it's too late then?" Sirius said, almost nervous. His mood being depressive was very unlike his usual self, but you weren't too surprised either. The Order was the closest thing to a family Sirius had, and it seemed as if everyone's lives were hanging on by a thread.

"We'll be fine," James, ever the mother of the group, tried his cheerfulness again. "I'll pull up Hogly's tent charm and—"

"No!" Lily said quickly. "Are you stupid? Don't answer that. If we use magic, there's a good chance they'll trace us to where we are."

"But we're of age," Sirius said, outraged. "The Ministry wouldn't trace us — unless, yeah they're infiltrated. That makes sense."

"No magic?" James's mouth fell open. "At least we could use lumos?"

"No," you shook your head. "It's better not to take any chances."

"But then how would we see?"

Even in the darkness, you could feel Lily's gaze on the back of your head. Being two muggle-born witches of the group, you realized there was a lot you needed to do to survive the night.

"Bring me a couple of sticks. And dried leaves. Lots of them."

---------------------------------------------------------

THREE HOURS LATER

---------------------------------------------------------

Light snores came around you, but you were far from asleep. If your guess was right, it was over two in the morning, so the sun would be coming up soon anyway. It took everything in you to focus on the stars and not on the events that led you to apparate here.

Y/N! Get out of the way! Moody had yelled as the death eaters appeared. It was your first time seeing them in cloaks and lifeless masks. You felt exposed, but with the headquarters three feet away, you couldn't run in and let the death eaters follow you.

Moody's sound from the inside had already tipped them off, but they couldn't find the location of the safehouse as long as the charms held up.

Feet rooted to the spot, you felt ashamed to feel your hands shaking.

Can't even hold my wand right, you thought to yourself. And as if on point, your friends had gotten out of the house and placed themselves by your side. If you couldn't get in, they weren't going to let you get outnumbered on your own.

Sirius, Lily, and James were three of the bravest people you knew, but you couldn't let them get hurt on your behalf.

So you did what you should have done at the start. You held on to Lily's hand who grabbed James by instinct. Sirius was to your left, so you placed your other hand on his shoulder, and with every inch of your determination left, you disapparated on the spot.

Now with the same guilt washing over you, was it even a surprise that you couldn't sleep? You won't rest your eyes for five seconds before you let your friends get in the headquarters safely without any nasty surprises.

A soft rustle interrupted your dark thoughts. Being hyper-alert as you were, you snapped your neck towards the source. Another rustle rang out — this one sharper than the last. You stood up, cautiously walking to the root of the sound.

Bunny. Please let it be a soft, cute bunny.

You held your wand high, and someone — a human — let out a startled sound. More rustles followed, and before you could figure out what was happening, a person dashed off right in front of you.

"Hey, STOP!" Was it stupid to follow a stranger in the middle of nowhere simply because they appeared scared? Yes. Did you do it anyway? Also yes.

Both of you sprinted through the forest, the trees being a bare blur. They refused to slow down, so you kept up the chase. The adrenaline helped through most of it though the unknown silhouette was almost non-human in its speed. You pushed harder with your muscles burning, and finally, with a hopeless leap, you collided with the stranger.

They hit the ground hard, rolling over the damp earth. The impact knocked the wind from your lungs. Your fingers dug into the rough fabric and the stranger's hood fell back.

You gasped.

"Regulus?!"

He looked shocked to the core, either from your strength or from the fact you knew his name.

"How do you even know me?" he asked, his voice a whisper from all the gasping for air.

You pointed your wand at his throat.

"Well, you're a little unrecognizable without your mask."

His face drained what's remaining of the blood.

"I just wanted to — can you stop poking that thing inside my nose?"

"I'll poke it wherever I want, you traitorous little scrumbag!"

"I thought you were above that sort of thing."

"Why would you think I'm above name calling?"

"No, the poke it wherever you want part."

Your face reddened. "Shut up while I decide what to do with you."

He laughed. "I'm sorry, it's like you're not hearing yourself!"

Why the fuck is the usual depressed emo Regulus Black as happy as can be? Then again, it was the midnight in a deadly forest so he might have felt right at home.

"That's it, I'm charming your mouth shut." You pointed the wand even further, and he let out an ouch!

"I'm telling you again, get that thing out of my face before I sneeze all over it."

"Ewww," you stood up on instinct, and he used that moment to get his own wand and point at you.

A moment passed.

"You're so... crude," you said in distaste. "I thought you weren't supposed to be like your brother?"

"Something to do with genetics, I assume." He smiled warmly. "Now, I'm only going to say this once."

"Expelliarmus!" you shrieked.

Nothing happened.

He sighed. "I'm skilled in occulumency. I used a shielf charm the moment you said expel. Spells always have too many syllables, don't they?"

You lowered your wand in exasperation. He did the same.

"What do you want?"

"Didn't realize this land belonged to you."

"You could have disapparated the second you saw me. Why didn't you? Why are you here in the first place?"

"The Dark Lord sent me."

You tilted your head and thought for a second. "I highly doubt he'd send only one of his death eaters if he knew where we were, let alone the youngest and most inexperienced."

He gasped, just as dramatic as Sirius. "Are you saying I came here just to be pinned down by you?"

Yup, exactly like Sirius.

"Barty has pull in the Ministry," he went on under your shrewd glance. "I tracked down my brother."

"But we never did any magic here..."

"I've been tracking him since he left home."

You blinked in surprise. "You what?"

"Just to make sure he's alright. . . though I doubt you'd believe it."

A man in moonlight trying to explain his sins. You'd be a fool to believe his words. And even more stupid to ignore them altogether.

"What do you want?" you asked again.

"I was just checking in on my brother, as usual. And I saw someone stargazing. I recognized it was you."

"And?"

His gaze softened, then he immediately cleared his throat. "And I was wondering if you'd speak aloud like some damsels in distress do. I thought I could reply from the trees and surprise you like the skies have replied. But you didn't move, nor did you speak."

"Do you usually go to Elizabethan english when you lie, or is that a quirk?"

He laughed, though it appeared forced. "Trust me, I was just caught leaving."

"Why didn't you disapparate then?"

"Do you honestly think they'd only track the Order? I wasn't going to take any chances."

Regulus Black was... nice?

"Well, I'm not sure how much I trust your words," you said, face high. "Come back with me to see Sirius, and let him make something out of all of this."

"No." It's the first time he sounded serious through the entire conversation. "My brother hates me. He does. I don't want to talk to him."

"But—"

"Y/N." His voice was stern. "I have to go. Take care of my brother — just until I'm back, okay?"

"You'll be back?"

"I've to take care of something," he said, his hands unconsciously touching his locket. "But after that, I'd be back. The freest man in the continent, you'd say."

"I don't trust you."

"So you've said." He walked towards you, giving you a quick hug. It felt awkwardly sweet, as if he's giving a hug for the very first time. You froze, but before you could do anything, he already let go.

"Time's running short," he grinned. "Now, the real chase begins. Do start running."

"Wait, wha—"

But he had already gone, disappeared in the blink of an eye. How can he disapparate if he said he wasn't going to take any chances?

Oh shit.

You remembered how you broke the protection first when you tried to disarm him. How the expeliarmus might have made death eaters alert. Regulus Black had cleverly evaded the scene and you probably had seconds to warn others.

You disapparated on the spot to your makeshift tent, but not before looking at the spot Regulus Black had previously stood.

I'd be back.

You found yourself hoping that was a promise and not a possibility.

THE END

_________

commissions | kofi

[amethystwrytes]

Safe. (Part Two)

Pairing: Hwang Hyunjin x Fem. Reader x Lee Minho

Summary: A broke ER Nurse offers up her services to a large crime organization in exchange for much higher pay and benefits that are unconventional, but lucrative. The life proves to be questionable at best, and downright isolating at worst which leaves her feeling unsure, unstable and dangerous. 

Warnings: Explicit language. Explicit depictions of sex (some chapters will be more explicit than others sexually). Violence. Blood. Trauma injuries. (Organized) Crime. Emotional manipulation. Medical inaccuracy galore. Smoking. Past addiction. 18+ Only.

Chapter WC: 6.5k

Read Pt. One Here

- PART TWO -

When you wake up this time, unlike the previous evening,  you’re on the couch in the living room. You hear whistling and dishes clanking from the kitchen, and the roar of a load of laundry going. You sit up and rub your eyes. You know Hyunjin isn’t feeling well enough to be bustling about your kitchen and Seungmin would never. So, you’re not surprised to see Han Jisung floating around the kitchen, putting things where they don’t go, while he flip flops between whistling and singing random songs. 

The scent of coffee is in the air, and that takes precedence over other thoughts. So you lift your stiff body off the couch to greet him. 

“Where did my best buddy go off to?” you joke dryly as you grab a mug from the cupboard. 

“Oh! Good morning, uh…Seungmin? He and I switched out shifts, I didn’t figure you cared so we didn’t wake you up,” Han explains, tossing a dish towel over his shoulder. 

“Thank you for cleaning,” you look around. He’s cleaned everything from last night, the counters, the floors, the sheet you put over the dining table is in the laundry, along with some bloody towels and clothes. The kitchen and dining area look like a normal house again, and not a surgery center.

“Eh,” he shrugs, pouring himself a refill, “I assumed it was a hard night if you passed out on the couch, just wanted to help. Um…how is he?” Jisung asks. 

“Let’s go see, besides, he needs to eat here in the kitchen, needs to walk around so that wound doesn’t start healing in the wrong position,” you say, then take a big gulp of coffee before setting it down on the counter. 

Hyunjin is awake when you and Jisung walk into the room, he’s got his tongue tucked between his teeth and he’s concentrating hard on an open notebook, a simple #2 pencil seems to be possessed by something as he drags it across the page. For several seconds he doesn’t even seem to notice anyone has walked into the room until Jisung runs into the chest of drawers near the door. 

Like a shot, Hyunjin snaps the notebook closed and his face goes from wild concentration to that cool, unbothered demeanor you’ve grown accustomed to with him. 

“What are you drawing?” you can’t help but wonder. 

“I just like to doodle, it’s nothing,” he says a little too quickly and you get the feeling he doesn’t want you to see his work, fine, you’re not here to argue. 

“Up you go,” you stand by his bed and beckon him with your fingers. “We’re going to go eat at the kitchen table, you need to walk around.” 

“Uh, pardon? Was it not you that sewed my damn side back together last night? Can’t you just bring it in here?” he asks. 

“You have stitches Hyunjin, there are women in hospitals all over the world right now who just had seven layers of their guts sliced open, a literal human being dragged out, and then those guts stitched, cauterized, and stapled back together - and they have to get up and walk as soon as the spinal block wears off - so get your ass up, go sit at the table, and I’ll make you some breakfast,” you instruct, patting the side of his face with a smug smile. 

“You’re kind of mean, you know that?” he half smiles. 

“I know,” you wave as you walk back to the kitchen. 

“Seven fucking layers? I didn't even know there were seven layers…” you hear Jisung whisper as he assists Hyunjin out of bed. 

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

Later in the afternoon Minho pays another surprise visit. You think he must favor Hyunjin, he’s never been this diligent on checking in. Or, maybe he wants to make good on his promise to make you his when there wasn't a man bleeding out on your table. The thought gives you an unhealthy excitement.

“You’re alive!” Minho grins and gives Hyunjins shoulders a shake. 

“Yes sir,” he nods, “Gonna take more than some bitch ass blade to take me out.” 

“Of course,” Minho smiles, then looks at you, “You did wonderfully love. He looks right as rain.” 

“Well, I’d still like to monitor him for infection, though I do have him started on antibiotics, but yes, I think he’ll be back to normal in a few days,” you report. 

“Good! Then you’ll both join me this coming Saturday evening,” Minho casually goes to the fridge and plucks a water out. 

You and Hyunjin look at each other quizzically. You’ve never been asked to do anything aside from bandaging Minho’s guys. 

“You mean me?” you ask, looking around. Jisung is upstairs taking a nap, so there are no other people in the room. 

“Yes, I mean you,” Minho confirms. “This Saturday I’m hosting a meeting of sorts with some of our associates. Specifically, I want to ensure they’re on our side of things. The intel on your attack leads to Kim Taehyung. I guess those guys that attacked the three of you were planted there by him. I’ve had just about enough of the Kim organization pushing back lately, after we’ve been so generous in letting them live and operate around the gun sales - but the attack on the three of you last night - in addition to him selling to our clients, that was the last straw,” he explains. “I plan to obliterate their ops, and make sure Kim Taehyung never sees another daylight.” 

You shift uncomfortably in your seat, you have no idea who Minho is talking about but the visions of all the ways this Kim Taehyung is going to pay for what he’s done is overwhelmingly gruesome. 

“Anyway,” Minho clears his throat, “Saturday at the Casino, I’ll make sure our business partners and associates are all on the same page, if not then I’ll assume they’re enemies now, but in order to keep the tension down I’d like it to be casual - which is where you come in darling,” Minho looks at you. 

“I don’t understand…you need first aid on site or?” 

Minho laughs, “No love, I want you there as my date, so to speak, I’ve told the others to bring their wives, mistresses, whomever - it’s a party, and I want to keep it light, I’ll look less uptight if I’ve got something to occasionally hold my attention,” he smiles, then looks at Hyunjin, “I’m sure Kim will have some of his guys planted around the casino and I want them to see you there Hwang. I know they targeted you because of your reputation as my best, and they need to know it was barely a scratch.” 

Hyunjin nods, “Of course.” 

“Good, then it’s settled.” 

You say nothing, still too stunned to speak. You don’t really want to go to his Casino. You don’t want to be seen as his…anything. You feel like you’re being debuted as something you never agreed to, and you’re also sure if you bring it up he’ll brush it off as nothing, that you’re reading too much into his invitation or worse, he’ll be livid for your insubordination. You don’t like this, you didn’t agree to dates, or public appearances. When Minho approached you in the hospital parking lot that morning all those months ago, the parameters were clear: He’ll pay you and keep you supplied with medical necessities if you tend to he and his men. Period. 

And yet. On the other hand, you can’t quite explain the flicker of giddiness in your stomach at the thought of having a night out with him. It’s exciting and yet simultaneously makes you hate yourself. 

This is your fault. You never should’ve fallen for that face, that misleading smile that conceals the evil within, that makes you think he’s harmless. He’s not, and you climbed into bed with him literally and figuratively, you’ve done this to yourself. You know you’re in too deep even as he looks at you now from across the room and motions up the stairs with his eyes, the excitement pools immediately between your legs and you get up and lead the way, not caring your house is occupied with two other people, not caring about Saturdays Casino night, only caring about feeling good. You’re in too deep, and you don’t think you can pull yourself out.

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

“So, about Saturday,” you say, pulling the sheets up under your arms, concealing your nudity. 

“Hm?” Minho is just out of the shower, he wraps a towel around his waist and sits back down on the bed, picking his phone up to check it. 

“I’m just a little concerned…” you trail off, not sure what to say or how to say it. 

“If you’re worried about what to wear, don't be,” he says casually without looking up from his phone, “I’ll send Christopher over with dress options and accessories that afternoon for you to choose from.” 

“That’s not really what I’m worried about, but that’s nice of you,” you say. 

“Then what?” he finally looks over at you. 

“It’s just…It’s just that surely there’s someone else you’d rather have with you than me, I’m just for emergencies you know? Medical emergencies,” you clarify. 

He laughs dryly, “You said you felt lonely here, that you’re not sure how to act normal when you’re not with us, so I figured I’d take you out into our world, that way you don’t have to worry about how to act or not act. It’ll be fun, you’ll get to dress up, have drinks, eat delicious food, and play some games if you’d like. Why are you concerned?” he looks genuinely confused and closing in on irritated. 

“People are going to think we’re together,” you blurt, “I mean Seungmin already - ugh, it doesn’t matter, but I just want us both to be clear about things, about this,” you gesture towards the bed. 

“I see…” Minho says tightly, “So, you don’t want to be seen with me, is that what I’m getting from this?” 

“It’s not that! I mean if you want to whittle it down, completely ignoring all context and nuance then fine, but what I’m actually saying is that I’m just a nurse, when we made this arrangement you never said anything about going to Casinos or being on your arm to keep things casual amongst your associates. You told me that you’d pay me to take care of any injuries your guys get and that’s the position I accepted. Then we started fucking each other, and now we’re going to be playing a couple at your Casino and that’s…a lot,” you explain. 

“Right,” Minho looks half amused, half pissed as he gets off the bed and starts dressing himself. You watch in silence as he flits around the room without a word and you grow increasingly nervous. It’s as if the very temperature in the room has dropped. 

“Can you say something, please? It’s not my intention to hurt you-,”

“I don’t know what you want me to say. Me coming up here and fucking you a couple times a week is perfectly fine, but suddenly I ask you to do me a favor - which is just to spend an evening out with me at a fucking Casino for God’s sake - and that’s the line you draw? That’s too much?” he looks at you, and you’ve never seen him look that way before, not at you. It chills you. 

“I just-,” 

“Stop talking,” he sighs, “You’re prettier when you don’t talk.” 

Your eyes widen at his words. 

“What? This is what you expect of me, correct? The big, bad, wolf? Fine. So here’s how it works now - I tell you where to be and when to be there, and you’re there. I enjoy fucking you, very much, but at the end of the day you can just be my employee. Now, back in the hospital I’m sure that comes with boundaries and scopes of responsibilities but here, all it comes with is: I tell you what to do and you do it. There is no HR complaint box, there’s you getting in the car I’ll send for you Saturday, and smiling and pretending like you’re having the time of your life while I assess the people in attendance to see if I’m going to allow them to live and operate their organizations peacefully in this city, or if I’m going to have a very bloody few months on my hands.” 

You shake under the covers, fight the tears that are burning your eyeballs. 

“Do you understand? Have I made myself unclear in any way?” he asks. 

You shake your head. 

“Words please,” he stares into you. 

“Yes. I understand,” you answer, hoping he doesn’t see the way your chin wobbles. 

“Good. Then from now on we don’t have to flirt around what we are or aren’t, since that’s so fucking important to you suddenly. You’ll  know exactly where you stand,” he heads towards the door, “Oh, and before you get any bright ideas about running back to your miserable life at the hospital, try to remember you don’t walk away from this life. You don’t walk away from me. There’s not a hospital on this planet that will hire a nurse who sells controlled drugs out of her house.” 

“I don’t sell-,”

“Oh don’t you?” he slowly walks back over and leans down close, “Because the cops on my payroll who will turn this house upside down if I ask them to, will write a report that says differently - think of the pharmacy you’ve got going on down there, my goodness. Jail time won’t suit you Kitten, so be a good girl,” he grabs your chin and kisses you hard on the lips. 

You watch in absolute horror as he opens the door and steps out, your face hot and wet with tears, jaw clenched so tight in fear that you feel like your teeth might break. 

“See you soon baby.” 

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

“___?” 

You hear Hyunjins voice softly call through the closed bedroom door before he gently opens it. 

“What are you doing in here?” you demand, not bothering to roll over to look at him. 

The room is dark, you’ve laid in the same spot, naked, all day. Your pillow is damp with the tears you’ve shed between cat naps. You’ve no idea what time it actually is but his wound needs to be cleaned and the dressings changed. He’s probably also not had any more medication, and you’ve no idea what his vitals look like but you imagine he’s still dehydrated and weak from all that blood he lost. 

“I haven’t seen you all day, I just…I wanted to make sure you were alright I guess,” he says, and you can hear his uneven steps hobbling towards the armchair in the corner of your room. 

“You shouldn’t have walked up the steps, you’ll put too much stress on the wound,” you say flatly, though you can’t seem to find it within you to care. 

“I’m turning this light on,” he says. 

“Don’t! I’m not dressed,” you say, your chest flooding with shame and humiliation, a fresh batch of tears start flowing. 

“Hey,” he stands up again and you hear him grunt, “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” you sob, which only makes more tears because how pathetic is it to say I’m fine when you’re clearly not? “Just go back downstairs - I’ll be there in a minute okay? Please Hyunjin…” 

“Okay,” he says softly, “but if you’re not down there within the hour I’m coming back up here and annoying the shit out of you until you get up and eat something.” 

“Fine.” 

When you come down into the kitchen you say nothing to the two men who sit at the table. Jisung still seems to be on duty and is enamored with some game that’s too loud on his phone. Hyunjin on the other hand, you can feel staring at you as you make your way to the fridge and grab a yogurt. 

You eat it standing over the sink, your back towards the men. 

“What have you had to eat or drink today?” you ask Hyunjin as you toss the spoon into the sink, the half eaten yogurt into the garbage. 

“I’ve eaten, and I’ve been drinking the gatorade and water back and forth. I’m fine,” he says with an emphasis that implies he knows you are not fine. 

“Good, let’s go to your room and take a look at that wound, I’ll get your vitals too for good measure, then I’m going to bed,” you tell him. 

At this Jisung looks up from his phone, “Haven’t you been asleep all day?”

“Well, considering I didn’t really sleep last night, and honestly the fact that you people keep me from sleeping most nights, I figured I’d fucking play catch up Jisung. Is that okay with you?” you snap. 

“Yeah, jeez,” he huffs, “Sounds like you need it.” 

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

“Ouch,” Hyunjin winces as you peel the bandage off his stitches. 

“The wound looks good, it’s a little sticky but that’s normal. Tomorrow we can have you leave the bandage off, let the air get to it,” you say. 

“What happened?” 

“You got stabbed in a fight,” you answer as if you don’t know what he’s really asking. 

“When Lee left and you didn’t come back down I figured you were just taking some time, and then an hour passed and I thought you were just napping or something, but then the whole day went by and I thought he…” Hyunjin trails off. 

“Killed me?” you finish for him, hyper focusing on carefully opening the clean bandages. 

“I mean…I know that doesn’t make any sense, but yeah, kind of,” he nods. 

“Well, I’m not dead,” you say. 

“I can see that. Did he… do something else…” he trails off again and his dark eyes meet yours for a split second before he looks back down. 

You know what he’s implying and it makes you feel sick. You’ve never done anything nonconsensual with Minho, but that was before his fucking second personality showed up. 

“The only thing that happened in that room was me being made painfully aware of what I’ve really gotten myself into Hyunjin.” 

“What have you gotten yourself into?”

You sigh, your fingers faltering over his skin as new tears make their way down your cheek, “You know. You know exactly,” you sniff. 

Hyunjin takes the pad of his thumb and wipes some of the tears away. 

“Seeing you cry kills me,” he says softly, “When we first started bringing the guys here, I thought you were this tough, bitchy Nurse Ratched type, you’d tell us all what to do, what to get, make us tell you what happened like fifty billion times. Then I realized what you were really doing.” 

You sniff and wipe your tears with the back of your hand, “What are you talking about?” 

“You make us do all those things, you talk us through everything so we won’t freak out. You’re tough, I’m not saying you aren’t,” he laughs, “but you’re sweet to us, to every patient you’ve ever had probably. Like last night when Felix and Bin were freaking, and you asked them about the knife and what happened and made them part of it so they had something to do - that was intentional.” 

“You heard all that?” you wonder. 

“Well yeah, some crazy nurse had her finger in my guts, I wasn’t taking a snooze,” he smiles. 

You laugh through your snot and tears and he smiles. 

“I guess my point is that I don’t know what Lee said to you upstairs, but I do know what you’ve gotten into because I’m in it too, in the thick of it. I’ve killed people ___, but you, you heal them. So if there’s even a shred of goodness in any of this, it’s you. You are the good, and I don’t want you to forget that.” 

You smile and look up at him, “Why are you being so nice, hm? I think the entire time I’ve worked for Lee you and I have spoken maybe three times in passing.” 

Hyunjins smile falters a little as he looks down at you, “Just because you’re always too busy to notice me doesn’t mean I don’t notice you,” he tucks a piece of hair behind your ear then clears his throat, “And I’m not being nice, I’m being honest. Okay? Forget whatever Lee said to you, we all get chewed out from time to time when he’s in a bad mood but that’s just part of the business. I’ve got your back, okay?” 

You nod, and because you need the extra confirmation you look at him, “Promise?” 

“I promise.” 

You tape his new bandage on and squeeze his hand, “Thank you Hyunjin.” 

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

You sleep all night, it’s the first night in a long time that you’ve slept well. Surprisingly. Minhos words haunted you. He had been like a light switch going from light to dark. You had known from the get go that Minho was dangerous, you weren’t that naive, but he’d never made you feel like you were in danger. Well, that certainly was no longer the case. Maybe you slept so well because now there’s no confusion, no guessing about where things stand. He’d said that you weren’t his prisoner, and maybe you weren’t locked up or chained, but in every way that matters you are most definitely his prisoner. 

When you walk down stairs you’re disappointed that Jisung is gone, you owe him an apology for snapping at him. Instead Seungmin is back, making a mess in your kitchen and not caring to clean it. 

“Are you really necessary?” you groan, smacking his arm and shooing him from the kitchen. 

“Meaning?” he frowns. 

“Is the security detail necessary? I mean, nothing has happened this entire time and I’m getting tired of you all tracking your shit all over my house,” you gripe as you pour yourself some coffee. 

“It’s not your house, is it?” Seungmin sneers, sitting down at the table with the breakfast he helped himself to.

“You’re a dick, you know that?” you smile as you sit across from him. 

“And you-,”

“Shut the fuck up!” Hyunjin whines sleepily as he walks into the kitchen from the guest room. He’s getting around better. His hobble from yesterday has turned into a minor limp today.

“Minho says he’s been texting you with no response,” Seungmin chastises Hyunjin before his butt hits the chair at the table. 

“My phone’s in the room,” he whines, bracing himself to stand back up. 

“I’ll get it,” you say. 

You see the phone on the bedside table and walk over to it, Hyunjin has left the notebook he’d been sketching in yesterday on the bed, wide open. You feel bad for peeking, considering he didn’t seem like he wanted anyone to see his drawings, but you can’t stop yourself from looking down at the page. 

To your surprise, he’s drawn you. You pick up the book and stare at the lines. It’s good, really good actually, and you start flipping through the pages. Most of them are of you. Standing over the dining room table, sitting on the side of his bed, smiling, sad…he’s drawn you at least ten ways and all of them make you feel so…seen. If anyone ever asked you to describe yourself, you’d never be this kind. Never this beautiful. Never this vulnerable. Is this how he sees you? 

“Like them?” Hyunjin asks from the doorway and you drop the notebook back onto the bed. 

“I’m sorry,” you say, “I should’ve asked to look.” 

“It’s okay,” he shrugs, “It’s not that I’m violently opposed to people looking. I mean, Jisung brought it to me yesterday while you were sleeping and I know he snuck a peek. It’s just…” he trails off. 

“Personal?” 

“Yeah.” 

“May I?” you pick the book back up slowly and he nods, limping to the chair nearby and sitting down. 

“These are so good Hyunjin, truly,” you tell him as you flip through more images. 

Hyunjin seems to have drawn everyone around him to perfection. They could be black and white photographs. There’s Seungmin, whose grumpy, distanced demeanor is so well captured you giggle. Felix's angelic, ethereal face with every freckle included. Changbin’s thoughtful expression that he always wears, like he’s constantly planning his next steps. Jisungs sweet smile. Even Minho, whose eyes are just as dark and wild on the page as they are in real life. Then there’s pages of you, more than the others and you feel your face heat. 

“You draw me a lot,” you state quietly. 

“Yeah.” 

“Why?” 

“Like I said sweetheart, just because you’re always too busy to notice me doesn’t mean I don’t notice you. I like drawing you, it relaxes me,” he chuckles. “The lines of your profile, the way your hair falls in your face when you’re working, the expression you wear when you're worried about us,” he looks at you, “I love watching you. You’re so beautiful.”  

“I didn’t realize…” you say softly, suddenly at a loss for words, as you place the book gently back on the bed. 

Hyunjin licks his lips and shrugs, “That’s understandable, I mean, Lee demands most of your attention since you’ve been around, and when he’s not here you’re usually elbow deep in blood so I just keep my distance.”��

At the mention of Minho you’re reminded of the reality of your situation and you take a breath, picking up Hyunjins phone as you originally intended. You walk it over and gently hand it to him, his fingers envelop yours for a moment and he looks up at you wantingly. You remove your hand from his as gently as you can and lay it on his shoulder giving it a squeeze. 

“Don’t look at me like that, okay?” you say softly. 

“Why not?” 

“It makes me want to kiss you,” you say shyly. 

“Would that be so bad?” he half smiles and you screw your eyes shut. 

“I’m not a whore for you all to pass around,” you say stiffly. 

“No, you’re not, is that really the impression you got from everything I just said? That I think you’re the resident whore, here for our pleasure?” he frowns. 

You sigh, “No, I’m sorry I just…” you grab his hand again, “I’m scared of him, Hyunjin. Terrified. I’m scared to do anything that will make him angry.”

“He doesn’t have to know, and I’ll protect you,” he whispers, his fingers tracing lines down your arm, he grabs your hand and kisses the back of it. 

“He knows everything, eventually, and you and I both know he’s the only person you can’t protect me from,” you pull away again and this time leave the room. 

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

Later that evening you sit in the living room with Seungmin and Hyunjin watching some horror show on Netflix. You’ve not paid a bit of attention to it, though Seungmin is hooked from his favorite recliner. Every few moments you look over to the other side of the sofa and see Hyunjin looking back at you in the darkness, playing with his bottom lip and looking like he wants you so badly it makes your insides clench. You’ve never been so grateful to have Seungmin sitting in your living room, because you’re not entirely sure you wouldn’t crawl over to Hyunjin and take his lips with yours if Seungmin wasn’t there. 

Suddenly your phone rings and movie night comes to a screeching halt. 

“Hello?” 

“Jeongin got shot!” Jisungs voice cries into the speaker and Seungmin and Hyunjin both stiffen up. 

Jeongin is the baby, and the other men treat him like their pet. They love him, from what you’ve observed, and you know your every move is going to be watched like a hawk. 

“Where?” you ask, standing up to flick lights on in the kitchen. 

“At some assholes house, we were there to ask some questions about what happened to Hyunjin and-,”

“Where on his body, Jisung?” 

“Shoulder, in his shoulder,” he answers. 

You breathe a sigh of relief, you can handle a shoulder. 

“We’ll have everything ready, come quickly,” you say, then hang up the phone and get back to work. 

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

“You’re not to use this arm for several days, you hear me?” you look at Jeongin who looks way too proud to have gotten his first gunshot wound. 

“Yeah, I hear you,” he smiles, a little dopey from the pain pill you gave him. 

“You’re lucky I was able to pry that thing out of you whole,” you remind his smug ass. 

“Mmhmm,” he yawns. 

“Someone drive this kid home so he can sleep,” you laugh. Jisung rushes to Jeongin to help keep him upright.  

“I’ll drive them home,” Seungmin offers. 

“Make sure to remind him not to sleep on that side, and keep his arm in the sling while he’s up and about,” you tell them as Seungmin and Jisung help Jeongin out the door. 

“Thank you sweet princess,” Jeongin grins like a doped up disney character and blows you a kiss from across the room. 

The door shuts and you start cleaning up the mess. It was pretty clean, so not as much blood as there was with Hyunjin just a few days prior. You toss the sheets into the wash, and get rid of the bullet you pulled out of Jeongins shoulder. Everything else goes into a steamer for sanitation. 

“You did good, taking care of the kid,” Hyunjin says walking into the kitchen. In the rush of things you’d almost forgotten he was here, almost forgotten about the suggestive things he’d said to you earlier. Now you’re alone with him. 

“It was an easy one,” you shrug, not turning around, instead you start on some dishes left over from supper. 

“I locked up,” he says, voice getting closer, “checked the perimeter outside, we’re all good.” 

“Thank you,” you slightly turn your face and give him a soft smile. 

“You’re welcome,” he whispers, you can feel him behind you as you splash suds around the sink, you can feel his body heat against your back. 

You turn to face him, drying your hands on the side of your shirt, “What are you doing?” 

“I’ve never had the chance to be alone with you,” he shrugs. 

“We shouldn’t be close like this…” you whisper. 

“Why not? Don’t you feel something here? Because I do, and maybe it’s just the stupid crush I’ve had on you since you started, but it feels deeper than that,” he whispers back, his hand falls gently on the small of your waist, pulling you impossibly close. 

You laugh, resting your head on his shoulder, “I’m so turned around I don’t know what I feel, or what I want, or what to do with myself.” 

“Then let me help you not feel so turned around,” he says, he lifts your chin up with his fingers and brushes his lips over yours softly. 

It starts so slow, so soft it feels like kissing a ghost. His lips roll against yours with more and more pressure, your back pressed against the kitchen cupboards. You let your arms wrap around him, being careful not to hurt him where he may be sore and his hand gets buried in your hair, his thumb tracing gentle lines over your cheek as he anchors you to him. 

His tongue darts out and you meet it with your own, his urgency more palpable now, his body pressed harder against yours. He makes a soft noise into your mouth and you melt, not a moan, but a plea. It’s not until he attempts to lift you up onto the counter that your eyes pop open and you pull away. 

“You’ll hurt yourself,” you remind him breathlessly. 

“I don’t care,” he smiles, pressing himself against you again, capturing your mouth once more. 

You wrap your arms around him again, but then a familiar pounding hits the front door. 

“Minho.”

You both say it simultaneously and leap apart. 

To be safe, Hyunjin picks up his gun from the side table before he opens the door, you’ve come to recognize this as standard protocol with them anytime someone opens a door. You wonder if they do this everywhere, or just at the safe house, it must feel ridiculous to have to open your own door armed. 

“Where is he? Is he alright?” Minho brushes past Hyunjin and comes in, looking for Jeongin, “I came as soon as I saw the text. I was in a meeting.” 

“He was shot in the shoulder, I pulled the bullet out whole, patched him up, gave him something for the pain and sent Jisung and Seungmin to drive him home and get him settled. He’s fine,” you report. 

Minho sighs with relief and nods, “Good, thank you.” 

The room goes silent, the only noise is Hyunjin sitting down on the creaking couch. You’ve got no idea what to say to Minho, the mere sight of him makes your skin crawl, makes you angry, but most of all makes you scared. You ball your fists up in case your fingers start to tremble. 

“I uh, I owe you an apology,” he looks at you, closes some of the distance between you but not close enough to scare, “The things I said yesterday, I think I was a little too harsh with you, I hope you can forgive me Kitten.” 

He touches the side of your cheek gently and you fight every fiber of your body not to recoil, afraid he’ll take it personally and hurt you. 

“Of course,” you manage, though your voice sounds shaky, breathless. So you clear your throat and look at him directly, steeling your nerves, “Forgotten.” 

He smiles and pulls you into him, resting your head snug between his neck and shoulder and you wrap your arms around his waist. Looking beyond into the living room Hyunjin stares at you, your eyes locked in a knowing glance, a sad smile on his face. 

“Good,” Minho says gently, then kisses your cheek. He heads towards the living room to sit with Hyunjin while you finish what you were doing in the kitchen. 

“How are you feeling, then?” he asks. 

“Sore,” Hyunjin shrugs, “Don’t feel much else.” 

“How about I drive you home tonight?” Minho suggests and you drop the plate you were scrubbing into the sink with an annoyingly loud crash. 

“Oh, I…uh,” Hyunjin looks in your direction, “If the doc gives me the go ahead then sure.” 

“Darling? What do you think? I feel like Hyunjin would rest better at home, in his own bed, can you get anything he needs to take with him?” Minho asks. 

“Um, sure,” you nod, not really having a better reason and not good enough at lying to think of anything. “He’s been on antibiotics more than 24 hours and there’s no sign of infection or any other issue. The wound will be sore for several more days but you can treat that with Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen. I’ll get your antibiotics and some clean bandages,” you smile. “Oh, but you will need to come back in about a week so I can remove the stitches.” 

You gather up Hyunjins things, his antibiotics and stuff he’ll need to treat himself at home. You feel robbed of time with him and it makes you feel ridiculous. You know this is probably for the better. Minho was very plain with you in that he’s not your boyfriend, but all the same, something tells you he doesn’t share well. All Hyunjins crush will achieve is both of you dead or at least very fucked up. Besides, you don’t know what you feel, you’ve not had a spare moment in the last few days to slow down and work yourself out - such a thing will probably take a lifetime you think. 

“Here’s a bag of everything,” you hand it to him back in the living room, “I want you to continue the antibiotics twice daily until this bottle is empty. Try to let your stitches air out when you can, but keep a clean bandage on when you sleep, or if anything is going to be rubbing against it. Okay?” 

“Got it doll,” he nods, “I’m going to go grab my stuff, be right back.” You watch as he skulks off to the guest room, leaving you alone with Minho. 

“I really am sorry, ___,” he wraps his arms around you from behind, “I hope you know I’d never harm or hurt you unless I had to.” 

You could pick apart that sentence for a year and still not unpack all the things wrong with what he just said. You want to snap at him, push him off you, but now you know what devil lies under that surface of sticky sweetness. 

“Stop apologizing,” you force a smile, “You’ve been under a lot of stress these last few days, and I shouldn’t have even said the things I said. You’ve been good to me Minho, let’s just put it behind us,” you lie to the best of your ability. 

“I don't deserve you,” he brushes some hair out of your face and kisses you softly. You try not to think about Hyunjins lips on you just moments ago. “Christopher will be here around one or two in the afternoon tomorrow with your dresses, wear something pretty for me, yeah?” 

You nod and smile as Hyunjin walks back into the room, a bag of his personal effects over his shoulder. 

“Thank you for everything ___, I owe you,” he smiles and pats your shoulder as he and Minho make their way out the door. You lock it behind them then turn to face the house you’ve been living in for the last few months. You’re alone again. 

You couldn’t sleep if you wanted to, so you decide to go strip Hyunjins bed and toss the sheets in the wash. When you pick up the pillow to remove the case you see a folded piece of paper underneath. You recognize the sheet from his sketchbook and frantically unfold it. 

It’s a sketch of you, with a note.

This one is my favorite so far. You’re the good in this shit show we’re stuck in, don’t ever forget that beautiful. Love, Hyunjin.

Endnotes:

1. Taglist: @katieraven @linocz @screamobubbles @hpnsfwaddict @simpforleeknaur @the-sweetest-rosie @hyunjinhoexxx @aeri-skzver @mbioooo0000 @seungminindabuilding @moni-logues @shioriyametho - if your @ is in bold then I couldn’t tag you for whatever reason - if you need to adjust settings go do the thang or if I need to do something let me know (I am not technologically competent).

2. Eeek! Part two. I am always so nervous to do multi-chap fics bc I worry people won’t like the direction I’m going and that it will effect my decisions lol also I just typically like working with smaller worlds BUT this fic has thus far been a fun little ride, so I hope you all like it. More to come soon, and as always here’s your virtual smooch😘

[aceyanaheim]

So I've been trying really hard not to make this post but I've found myself in a really bad situation.

As you all know I recently moved out of my mom's for what I'm hoping is permanent. The original plan was to move to MIami with my qpp and platonic polycule and use the time I had with them to find a job in my field in Miami or at least one that would make living here sustainably. 

This ended up not working out. I’m not gonna go into details but the bare bones of it is this: I had to safety plan my way around my ( now ex) qpp’s fiancee and at one point got on an uber and left the apartment because things escalated to a point where I no longer felt emotionally safe around her. She then talked to the leasing office and I was moved without any warning and against my will. 

I’m now in a new apartment with a new roommate who doesn’t drive me to tears for forgetting things but needless to say my relationships and plans for the future are more or less in free fall right now. 

Moving with my mom or dad’s isn’t an option as the last time I stayed at my mom’s I was constantly on a hotline so I’m trying to crowdfund for a car. Miami is incredibly high in rent and it’s taken two jobs to barely make ends meet. It’s come to the point where a car isn’t just for transportation but for survival. 

If I manage to stay here, which is unlikely, a car will mean more job opportunities as I’m really limited in finding jobs right now. It’ll help me not sink too much money on Ubers which will make it easier to pay rent and also doctors appointment ( as I'm epileptic)

If the worst happens and I have nowhere to go a car will mean shelter for me and Indi ( she has to come with me wherever I go and a lot of places I could bunk at might not be dog friendly) even if I find somewhere to go if I can’t renew my lease a car would be the only way to get me and Indi there since she isn't allowed on public transit and Ubers Have turned me away because of her.

Even if I end up bunking at my mom’s ( tho I refuse to go there for longer than a week) having a car would greatly reduce me relapsing into unhealthy coping since I’ll have a way to leave the house when my brain gets bad. 

All options lead to the fact that I need a car for survival. I talked to some friends and we figured out for a used car that I would at least want to have 10 thousand. There’s also driving lessons which at the cheapest will still run me over 200 and the license will be 50 but I could swing that. The car is the main thing I need help with.

My parents are both…only sometimes supportive ( the last time I talked to my dad about living with him he said “We’d both hate each other and it’d be your fault” not only that but they’re both disabled and in their 60s so they aren’t an option even when they want to be. My siblings are also striking out on their own and don’t have anything to spare and that’s all the family I have in the states so it’s gotten to the point where I’ve had to make this post even tho I’ve really tried not to.  

If you’re in strife yourself please don’t donate but reblogs help. 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-a-trans-person-in-miami-secure-a-car-for-safety/cl/s?utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp8_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&attribution_id=sl%3A2d64a1db-d26d-4d9c-a305-44f9042d5945

[zepp-l1n]

Escape

Pairing: Adam Stanheight x (Photographer) GN!reader

summary: after Laurence leaves Adam behind, someone stumbles upon him accidentally. fic type - hurt/comfort, angst warning - cannon saw violence, oc involved that I made for the plot word count - 2,149 a/n: I love the Saw franchise so much and now that it's getting closer to Halloween I'm gonna write some scary stuff :D

"I have to go and get help. If I don't.... I'm going to bleed to death." Lawrence groaned out, clinging onto Adam.

"Don't leave me!" Adam begged. His hands tried to hold onto Lawrence's shirt tighter, but he was unsuccessful. Lawrence pulled away, slowly crawling towards the open door. Adam cried out to him as he made his way further and further away, but stopped as Lawrence turned back to him.

The older man pulled himself up a bit, using the wall and pipes as leverage. "Don't worry, I'll bring someone back. I promise."

Lawrence turned back to the door but stopped again when Adam called out. "Lawrence! We're going to be okay?"

"I wouldn't lie to you." he muttered back. Adam watched defeatedly as the doctor left the room, presumably to find help. He watched as the body in front of him came to, taking it's time gathering things and walking towards the door Lawrence had escaped though. He watched as the man spoke to him before shutting off the lights and locking him back in the room. He watched as he was left alone in the dark, screaming and crying, waiting for someone to come and release him from his personal hell.

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●

"Chris, I don't see why I have to do this." (Y/N)'s groaned out. The two were both in their collage's photography course, and had decided to help each other out on their current assignment. They were told to take photos of local rundown areas in an attempt to capture unusual beauty. Chris had taken the lead, taking (Y/N) to a part of town they had never been to.

In their search around the block, the two had stumbled upon an abandoned building. It outsides weren't to disheveled so Chris brought up the idea of going inside and trying to find any scenes that would show the story of whoever lived here before.

"Dude, imagine what shit was left behind. There could be whole living set ups that would be perfect for what the professor wants." Chris responded.

"Are we really gonna risk our lives for these photos, though?" (Y/N) asked.

Chris removed one hand off of his camera, letting it weigh down a bit more on his neck, and slapped (Y/N) on the back of their head "Oh, shut up. We're not gonna die, idiot." Chris laughed out. He placed his hand back on his camera and moved his shoulder out, nudging his friend.

"If you say so." (Y/N) walked forwards, making their way towards the back door of the abandoned house. "But you're walking in front the entire time."

Chris let out a laugh and stepped in front, guiding (Y/N) into the building. "Yeah, yeah." The duo made their way through the building, pushing past cobwebs and old sheets. The two friends uncomfortable glanced around, seeing boarded up windows and gross looking floorboards.

"Chris, maybe we should go, man." (Y/N) muttered, stepping around a broken chair.

"Don't be a wuss, just come on." Chris moved into the next room, walking around and taking pictures as he went. (Y/N) followed behind, going along with him as they made their way throughout the entire house. Each room was a little more disgusting than the last. Glass from the windows was broken, floors and carpets were stained, furniture was broken and flipped. Everything had obviously not been used in years, and Chris was having the time of his life getting pictures. (Y/N) would take a few every few rooms, but didn't take half as many as their friend.

They made their way to the last room of the house, finding the door opened, unlike most of the other rooms, and it empty other than the giant safe inside. "Holy shit." Chris muttered, snapping a picture. After getting the picture he moved forward, taking a good look at the safe. "Hey, look at this." he motioned for (Y/N) to step forward. They did, taking the spot next to him.

"What?" they asked.

"Underneath the safe, look." he spoke again.

Glancing down, (Y/N) saw what looked to be like the outline of a door underneath the safe. "What the...."

"Here, help me move this." Chris took off his camera, set it a few feet away, and started pushing the safe away from it's current position. (Y/N) was quick to join him, placing their camera near his, and going back to push it too. Once the safe had been pushed away, the duo took in the trap door, looking at it cautiously. "Well shit." he mumbled.

"C'mon, help me open it up." (Y/N) hesitantly asked, making sure to grab their camera before hand.

"What?" came from their friend. "Weren't you the one that didn't want to enter the building in the first place?"

"Yeah, well now it's getting weird, and I'm curious, so stop being a bitch and help me." they responded. Chris moved towards the trap door, and the two fiddled with it for a few minuets before finally unlodging it. "There we go..." (Y/N) grinned. The two pushed the door open, and glanced down into it. (Y/N) took a picture into the vast darkness, causing it's flash to brighten up the space. "C'mon...."

The duo took off down the hatch, taking photos along the way to give themselves light. Each flash gave them a glimpse of the dingy and cobweb filled halls, and helped them find their way around. "Hey, (Y/N), why don't we just head back?" Chris mumbled.

"No man," they turned to their friend and took a picture at him, letting the flash hit his eyes. "If you wanna go back, just wait for me at the trap door. I want to look around."

Chris huffed out an exhausted sigh and nodded before turning back the way they came. "Listen dude, just don't take to long. We've still gotta' take these to my dark room and get them ready for the deadline." Chris shook his camera as he spoke and gave them a cautious grin, then took off back to the hatch.

(Y/N) watched their friend leave before snapping a picture and continuing on their walk. The young adult stumbled around, going up and down halls, looking for anything unusual or interesting.

(Y/N) walked around for a while before finally making it to a dead end. As they went to turn, taking one last picture, they noticed that something was different about the wall. It's color was different in comparison to the walls they had been passing for the past little while, although it was obvious that it had been crafted in an attempt to keep it hidden. "What the....?" They stepped forward, taking another photo. At the left edge of the door they noticed a small and dusty handle. Reaching forward, (Y/N) lightly pulled at the handle, but hurriedly retracted their hand when feeling a gross sticky substance. They let out a groan in disgust, wiped the mysterious gunk on their shirt, and went back for the handle. "Ewwww...." they whined as they put their hand back on it.

(Y/N) used both of their hands this time, pulling a bit harder. As the door opened, (Y/N) took one hand back, and brought it up to their camera. They hesitated for a second before clicking the shutter-release button. The flash went throughout he entire room, giving (Y/N) a somewhat decent look at the bathroom in front of them. They could tell it was just as gross and disheveled as the rest of the house - if not worse.

Taking another picture, (Y/N) looked more around the room, attempting to see more of their surroundings. In a small moment of growing curiosity, they stepped inside and felt around the nearby walls, hoping to find something useful. To (Y/N)'s surprise, they did. Their right hand grazed against a switch on the nearby wall, it's hard structure jutting out from the tiled wall. The photographer flipped the switch slowly, watching and waiting as each light flickered and turned on.

During their moment of distraction, (Y/N) missed the small figure in the corner that was curled in on itself. The figure, a young man, most likely their age, lifted his head slightly in (Y/N)'s direction. Although he was very much conscious, the man had been starved and hadn't been given water in days, causing his movements to be slow and small. A soft cough made it's way out of his throat as he attempted to get their attention, causing (Y/N)'s gaze to fall over to him.

"Holy shit..." At first glance, they took in his bloody shirt and chain-clad ankle. "Holy fucking shit!" The longer they looked at the man the more recognizable he became. For months his face had been on missing posters around New Jersey - 15 of them could be seen on every street corner, and once (Y/N) saw the sad older women putting them up, who they now assumed was his mother. Slowly stepping forward as to not scare the man, (Y/N) attempted to speak to him. "Hello? You're...." they paused, trying to remember the name on the posters, "Your're Adam, right?"

The man quickly nodded, his eyes still darting around as he adjusted to the new lighting. "Yea..." Adam's voice caught in his throat causing him to cough again.

"Okay, Adam. I'm.... listen, my friend is waiting on my upstairs, I'm gonna go get him and then I'll be back to save you, okay?" (Y/N)'s statement seemed to throw him into a panic. His weak body jerked a bit, and he found himself reaching up, a scared look on his face.

"No! Don't leave me! Please, don't leave me like he did!" he begged. Adam's arm flung out at (Y/N), hand open and pleading.

(Y/N), not having been expecting his reaction, stepped forwards to comfort Adam. "Hey, hey, it's just for a moment. I promise." This didn't ease Adam's pleas. From (Y/N)'s perspective, it seemed as if it almost made them worse. In a quick and mostly unpondered decision, (Y/N) dropped down near the hysterical man, and grabbed onto his reaching hand. "Adam, look at me."

Adam glanced forward at them, trying to hear them over his own worries. "I-" as he tried to speak, (Y/N) softly cut him off.

"Adam, I can't get this off you myself." they pointed towards the chain holding him to the bathroom pipes. "I'm just gonna step outside the door and yell for my friend Chris, okay? I'll be in your line of sight the whole time, and I'll have him call 911 for us. I'm gonna get you out of here Adam."

Softly releasing their grip on him, (Y/N) moved back towards the doorway, not missing the way his hand still lingered out where theirs's had been. (Y/N) took one last reassuring glance at Adam before stepping through the doorway. Once exiting the room, the photographer let out a sharp breath, and took a moment to collect themself before yelling for help. "Chris!" their yell echoed through the halls and they hoped it would be loud enough for him to hear.

Moments passed before (Y/N) heard the soft call of Chris yelling back. "Chris, I need you to call the police!"

"What?" came his quick responce.

"Call 911, Chris! I found someone down here! For fucks sake, just hurry!" they screamed. "Call an ambulance, just something!" Without waiting for a proper response, (Y/N) made their way back to Adam, hoping he was still okay. "Adam?" they softly spoke, walking back into the bathroom.

He was still where they left him - sitting up, back against the wall, arm lightly tugging at the chain. Carefully taking off their camera, (Y/N) moved back to him, sitting in the same spot they had been before. "Chris is getting help. We're getting you out of here." Adam's eyes lightly watered as he looked at his unexpected savior. "You're safe now, Adam."

Leaning next to his shaking body, (Y/N) grabbed onto his side and arms, attempting to give him any comfort possible. Adam's hands gripped onto (Y/N) in a similar manner, and tucked his head into their shirt. Quiet thank you's escaped his lips as he finally let himself relax after the weeks of torturous solitude and constant fear of whether or not he would be saved. The two sat quietly in the bathroom, holding onto each other. They didn't have to say anything in the moment, both just sharing an understanding that things would be getting better for Adam. He was now safe. He was now out of Jigsaw's clutches.

Slowly, in Adam's moment of calm, (Y/N) noticed his breath level out. Looking down, they could see his content expression and decided to let him have his moment of peaceful sleep as they waited for Chris and the police to show up. (Y/N)'s arms wrapped further around him, falling into the same sense of calmness. "Your safe now, Adam. Your safe...."

[gallavichsreddie1128]

After The Fall (Hannibal/Will)

Description: What would happen if Y/N was there doing the fall?

Word Count: 1,515k

Y/N gasped as Will pushed her out of the hug, all three were sharing and pushed himself and Hannibal off the cliff. She fell to the ground with a groan. She got up and yelled their names as she ran to the cliff. Except, she didn’t see them. She didn’t see any bodies, didn’t hear any noise besides waves of the water. Tears welled up in her eyes, thinking the worst.

Will had gotten hurt pretty bad during the fight. She looked down at the wounds she had and thought she was in no better place. She turned to look at the body of the red dragon. The memory that happened 5 minutes ago played in her head. They killed him. She, unlike Will and Hannibal, had never killed anyone. Not even as self defensive. Though she didn’t feel bad for what she did, how could she? This man, this thing had tried to kill her husband and their boyfriend. The Red Dragon, what a joke, she thought. She couldn’t believe what Will just did, that wasn’t part of the plan. Though to her, none of this was.

“Are you sure?” She asked Will as they drove to the prison that Hannibal was in. He shook his head and chuckled. “No, I’m not sure.” He said and looked over at her. “I’m not either.” She looked down at her hands. “I love him. We both do.” She said, looking over at him. “But this is our way out. Out of Jack and all that’s come with it.” He gave her a small smile. “Yeah, that would be nice.” He said, she looked at him. “I’m serious Will. Maybe we shouldn’t go.” She said. “We’ve thought long and hard about this, Y/N. We love him and if all goes well. Years from now we can be a happy family.” He said and placed his hand over her stomach that held their 2 month old baby.

Though they’ve been married for years, she just recently got pregnant. The baby was Will’s given the fact that Hannibal has been in prison the last 3 years. “I don’t know. I just have an odd feeling about this.” “Y/N, I can’t promise you that everything will go right in the end. But you will be safe, no matter what.” He promised. Luckily, the wounds were on her arms and not near the baby. Hanni and Will made sure of that. She felt sick and it wasn’t because of her pregnancy. Why would Will do that? What was his goal? He lied to her, except he really didn’t. She was okay, physically but mentally she was not. Did they drown?

A million questions ran through her head, none that she had a reasonable answer to. She walked into the house and sighed. Anywhere she looked, she thought of them and what the hell happened. She didn’t have her phone on her or anything. She walked out of the house and to the cop car. She remembers them stealing it and thought it wouldn’t be best to drive it. Hannibal was still a wanted man. She began walking away from the house, praying that nobody would see her. She began the walk down the road away from the house. Tears streamed down her face as she came to the worst conclusion. Will and Hannibal were dead. She didn’t think that Will survived that given the wounds he had. Hannibal, maybe but even then.

It would be months later that she was back at her and Will’s house with the many dogs they collected over the years. She was now 7 months pregnant and she lived alone. Occasionally, Alana would come visit. Y/N tried her best to forget the events that happened 5 months ago but it was hard. She didn’t sleep in the bed anymore. She just couldn’t, not without Will. She barely went in there. The dogs missed Will as well, she could tell. When she opened the bedroom door the cold air hit her. She hadn’t been here in months. The bed was still made as they left it that very morning before the fall. Pictures of them littered the bedroom which made her tear up. She walked up to one of the pictures and sighed. Will was such a happier man before all this happened. Hannibal, Jack, The FBI. She missed that life.

But it was no longer and hadn’t been in a long time. She walked over to Will’s closet. She opened it and saw his clothes. She looked through them before grabbing a shirt. She brought it up to her face and sniffed it. It smelled like him, and god did she miss that smell. She sat on the bed and held it up to her face. The scent of him entering her nose. She started sobbing into the shirt, not being able to control herself. She did this for the next 2 minutes before she heard a knock at the door. She looked up from the shirt and got off the bed. She sat the shirt on the bed and wiped the tears from her face. She tried to make it look like she hadn’t been crying.

She walked to the door as the dogs went crazy. She sighed and opened the door. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped. Will and Hannibal. They gave her small smiles but she couldn’t move. She didn’t believe what she was seeing. They looked the same, I mean it had only been 5 months but they looked good. When it finally clicked in her head that they were there and real she started sobbing. Will went in and hugged her. She sobbed on his chest as Hannibal watched the two with a smile. “You were dead.” She sobbed. Will shook his head, “No, I wasn’t. We survived.” She pulled away and looked up at him. He looked down at her with awe in his eyes. She reached up to grab his face but ended up slapping him.

“Why did you do that?” She asked, hurt lacing her voice. “Why didn’t you contact me?” She sobbed. Hannibal and Will felt guilt lace through them. “We didn’t want the police finding us.” Will said. “Why’d you throw yourselves off a fucking cliff?” He sighed and shrugged. “I told you that I couldn’t promise that everything would work out but I did say that you would be okay and you are.” He said. “No I’m not. What were you gonna leave me to raise our baby alone?” She yelled. He shook his head, “No, of course not we planned this out. I’ll be here for our baby and you.” “So will I.” Hannibal said. She looked over at the man.

She missed him as well but wanted to punch him and scream at him. A part of her blames him for what has happened. “You guys planned this without me?” She asked. “We didn’t want the police to know anything. It was for the best.” Hannibal told her. She scoffed and walked in the house. The two men look at each other and follow her. Will greeted the dogs and let them tackle him to the ground. Y/N walked back into the living room and watched them play with the dogs. She felt relief knowing that they were safe but she was still so mad at them.

Will stood up from the dogs and noticed that she wasn’t wearing her ring. “Where’s your ring?” He asked her. “It’s in the bedroom. I thought you were dead so I put it in there with everything else.” “Everything else?” “The memories Will. The day that you decided to fall off a fucking cliff and leave me.” She yelled. He understood her anger as did Hannibal. “I’m sorry baby.” She shook her head. “Yeah I bet.” “I’m here. We are here and will be spending the rest of our lives making it up to you.” He said. Hannibal agreed with him.

She sighed and looked at them. No matter how mad she was, she still loved them with all her heart. “Well what are you waiting for? Get over here so we can hug and this time don’t push me.” She warns Will, making him laugh. They walked over to her and hugged her. She sighed and drowned in their scent. After what felt like seconds but was minutes, they pulled away. They looked down at her stomach that was bigger than it was before.

“It’s a girl.” She told them. Will smiled with tears in his eyes. Hannibal kissed the man’s head as they looked at the woman. “Wow.” Will whispered. Y/N couldn’t help herself and she kissed him. He immediately kissed back and they fell into the kiss. It felt good to be kissing him again. She never thought she’d get the chance. They pulled away when they needed air. She looked at Hannibal and did the same. He smiled into the kiss and pulled her closer. They pulled away and she sighed, happily. Her two boys were back and better than ever.

[itssideria]

re: Martyrs, Palestine, Islam, and the 'death cult'

Since the start of the Gazan genocide, I have seen dozens of posts and speeches along the line of "Those crazy Palestine supporters! Those crazy Palestinians! They are so obsessed with death! They celebrate death, isn't that just disgusting? Isn't it disgusting?" In the wake of Aaron Bushnell's passing, such statements are becoming more frequent. They now point to a perceived celebration of suicide—"Those Palestine supporters and their glorification of self-harm! How could you ever stand with such a cause? The entire culture glorifies death!"

This post isn't meant to argue with the people saying this. For a group that is supposedly so anti-death, you see them constantly equivocate on genocide. Instead, I'm hoping to reach those who might have questions—and they are fair questions! Why are the killed Palestinians martyrs, rather than victims? Why do Palestine's supporters hold this as a badge of honour? Why are Palestinians, and Muslims at large, 'so obsessed with death'?

Hello! I am your local non-Palestinian Muslim! Hopefully you'll find some answers here.

In the context of the genocide—and, let's be real, the last 75 years of Israel's existence—the word 'martyr' is a translation of the Arabic word shaheed. 'Shaheed' comes from 'shahad', the verb 'to witness'—to witness, because in Islam, their status is that of eternal reward. They witness heaven before anyone else. Unlike a non-martyr, whose soul remains buried until the Day of Judgement, a shaheed's reward is immediate and indisputable—heaven, eternally, no matter what.

You may then wonder what exactly being a martyr encompasses. The Western image of the martyr is often centred on war—someone killed in battle, holding a gun or a sword. With this image, it is easy to make the leap that Islam therefore rewards war and conquest: this is how you get the whole 'Muslims are violent and want to kill everyone in jihad' bullshit. (And FYI, jihad likely does not mean what you think it means, but whatever. More on that in a bit.)

However, that is just blatantly untrue! Martyrdom in Islam can include death on the battlefield when protecting a just cause, yes. Martyrdom in Islam also includes death by plague (COVID, influenza), death by drowning, crushing, or fire (natural disaster, unsafe housing, travelling), death by internal disease (cancer, infection), death in childbirth, and, finally, death when protecting one's family or property from an oppressor.

That last one seems familiar, I hope.

Why these specific instances? Well, one, because we have them recorded in reliable hadith. But also because these individuals die in a state of jihad—literally, in a state of great effort. Like martyrdom, jihad can encompass fighting in some war somewhere, but often, just means exerting effort to do something that pleases God.

And these people? They die in the process of exerting massive effort to pursue a good cause: to protect their loved ones. To become well after illness. To travel toward safety. To survive. Shuhada (the plural of shaheed) have died exerting the greatest effort of all, and for this, they are beloved to God. They attain heaven immediately. They are forgiven for whatever sins they may have incurred.

For Muslims and Palestinians, this invocation of martyrdom isn't some celebration of death. In a just world, zero Palestinians die. But this world is unjust, and thousands are still dying. The invocation of martyrdom, therefore, is an expression of hope, of resilience, of comfort to those still living: yes, they have died, but they have died in a state of jihad. Yes, they have died, but they are up there in heaven, they are happy, they are safe again. To a parent who has lost a child, to a sibling who has lost a sibling, to people with dead friends, this insistence on martyrdom is a comfort in the midst of a massive, unending grief. They did not die a victim, they died a witness—and insha'allah, they will receive their reward. To decree someone a shaheed is to honour them. It doesn't celebrate their death, but rather affirms the circumstances of that death, and celebrates the subsequent reward.

TL;DR: Martyrs are martyrs because in Islamic scripture, they have died fighting oppression. Martyrdom is a form of death that guarantees heaven, and for those who have lost loved ones, it is a comfort and hope that their loved ones are receiving the ultimate reward. Stop being fucking rude to Palestinians.

Sources: who is classified as a martyr?, wikipedia page on shahid

[sumicchin]

CHIMES OF THE HEART

❃ a wind breaker (satoru nii) reader insert

Chapter 6

Umemiya regrets telling everyone that conversation = fist fight. (1.9k words)

cw: female reader, umemiya spoiler, tsubakino referred to as they/them, i made up stuff about makochi

"You're just going to let her go, Sakura?" Suo says next to him, eyes not tearing away from the direction you went.

Sakura clenches his fist, forehead scrunching from the sudden stress, "I..."

"(F/n) probably won't go out of town, r-right? She did say she had to find something! I'm sure we can help her out!" Nirei optimistically says as he catches up to the two after giving Kakiuchi to his other classmates. He takes a good look at Sakura's face and sees his eyes wide.

Sakura is reminded of your conversation last night—of how he saw himself in you, and how much pain your eyes held.

It wasn't his concern, but he knew you needed help. He wasn't letting anyone go through what he did before.

"Sa...kura?" Nirei attempts to calm him down, until he sees Sakura take out his phone.

He gestures his hand towards the phone and Nirei becomes even more confused, "I need to call him... he'll know what to do."

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

Umemiya, despite his childhood, grew up to be a fine man. No one would imagine that a well-rounded guy like him, oh so cheery and charming, experienced hell on earth as a child. Anyone would feel bitter about losing their parents, and Umemiya was not free of that. He struggled, thinking he wasn't deserving of being saved.

Survivor's guilt.

But he grew to see what was important in front of him—to honor his parent's sacrifice by giving back love to those around him. To make everyone feel like family, and never let anyone feel like they're alone in this world.

"You're...amazing, Umemiya," you both stare into each other's eyes, holding massive respect for what he's been through and how he achieved his goals.

Umemiya chuckles, ruffling your hair, "I didn't tell you my story to pity me, you know? Was hoping you'd reconsider and stay here in Makochi, with us."

With...them?

It's too strange. Everyone in this town is strange. Were city folks always this welcoming towards outsiders?

"I don't want to keep bothering anyone...I can't go back to the shrine so I'm practically homeless." Supposedly, you were to be taken away by your husband after the vows, but now you aren't so sure if he's hot on your trail. But one thing was agreed upon—the shrine people and all its inhabitants except you were to remain unharmed. So long as you didn't go back to your previous residence, everyone was safe. Hayami, the friendly Mikos and the priest who you were thankful for secured the shrine. If anything else happens, Sojiro can take care of it. He was strong, unlike you. Everyone can trust in him.

Unlike you, already causing havoc in a new place.

"Sakura must be uncomfortable with me staying at his house," you mutter. "It doesn't sit right with me to live like everything's handed to me."

You're thankful, really, for the help you've received thus far. But how were you going to repay the kindness they've showered you with if your tracks only lingered with danger?

"You're all too kind... I'll carry the guilt of bringing danger to this town if I stay too long."

An overthinker that you are, Umemiya observes. "Makochi wasn't always like this, you know?"

He proceeds to tell you how Makochi used to be terrorized by delinquents day and night, the local businesses having trouble with their operations and families often fearing for their safety. Umemiya mentions a couple who led and funded the restoration of Makochi's properties, him in particular being a recipient of their kindness.

"The orphanage I grew up in was funded by a couple," he starts, pointing at the statue nearby the fountain. "I discussed the situation with the staff earlier and had my hunch confirmed. Everything checks out, you'd be the same age as their child if she were alive today. You're a split image of them too."

Then, that means...

He shows you a picture from his phone. Just like he says, you had their features.

Umemiya notices your trembling figure, immediately reaching out to pat the small of your back.

"I could've met my parents."

You grab Umemiya's blazer tight, tears threatening to fall from your eyes, "They're not gone yet, r-right? They're waiting for me?"

For once, you held onto hope—but Umemiya's look said otherwise.

"I'm...sorry," he says, almost whispering.

You couldn't help but let the tears flow uncontrollably, hanging onto Umemiya while he continued to calm you down in his own way. He knows the feeling all too well, and this time he'll be sure to help you out.

"Even if you were an outsider, we'd still help you to the best of our capabilities." He says, wrapping his arms around you, shielding you from any negative thoughts. "I...and the rest of Bofurin will protect you, (F/n)."

You look at Umemiya, giving you a bittersweet smile. "Welcome back, (F/n)."

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

Sakura, Nirei, and Suo found themselves walking to the park where Umemiya had instructed them to go. They eventually find Bofurin's leader and (F/n) in an embrace.

"Oh, if it isn't my favorite first years!" The boys look at the new group approaching them, led by Tsubaki and the Sakaki twins.

Sakura immediately signals to keep quiet, earning him a chuckle from the newcomers. "It's all fine! Ume told us to gather here, didn't you receive a message?"

Nirei checked his phone and lo and behold was a message from their leader, "Ah! We were too occupied searching for (F/n)."

Suo lets out a grin next to him, "It all worked out in the end, thanks to Sakura's plan!"

Said boy became heated from the mention, saying it was all Umemiya who did the work. He knew it was the right call to let Bofurin's leader handle the situation seeing how at ease you were next to him. Almost like they were intruding a special moment between two lovers at the park. He blushes at the sight, feeling a pang in his chest.

Now aware of more people's presence, you immediately get out of Umemiya's embrace and bow your head down, not letting him see your puffy red eyes and runny nose that may or may not have gotten into his uniform. He places his hand on your shoulder and gently asks, "Think you can face them?"

Standing up to acknowledge his peers, you turn your head towards the large group of students now approaching their leader. "Yo! Looks like everyone's here," Umemiya scans the group, "Even Kaji came, that's surprising!"

Kaji tenses at the special mention and feels all of his peers stare at him. His vice-captains laugh and Enomoto talks for his defense, albeit in a teasing manner, "Kaji said he wanted to fetch his jacket back and definitely not because he was worried about 'er or anything." Now this puts a nail in the coffin and everyone swore Kaji would've pounced on his friends if it weren't for Hiragi pulling him back.

"You're all too lively," Tamon's captain says as he drags Kaji by the hoodie, "Give (F/n) a break, don't wanna overwhelm her."

You watch the boys bickering and Umemiya notices the faint smile from your lips.

"Fun bunch, aren't they?" You nod.

"You can trust them, just open your heart."

Trusting them, a couple of teenagers who seemed rough around the edges, with your heart?

Maybe you should let loose this time. Umemiya, Kotoha, and Sakura are just the few people you've met today, yet they all radiate the same warmth and comfort you've been yearning for all these years. If everyone shares the same kindness, you'd probably think you're living in some kind of fantasy.

Recalling Hayami's last request for you—to live an earnest and free life. Maybe you can trust them to achieve it.

In a daze, you didn't notice someone approaching you giddily, almost a hope to their step.

"I'm so glad you're doing better now!" A tall figure immediately stood in front of you, but it didn't phase you one bit. Their presence wasn't trying to intimidate you. "I'm Tsubakino Tasuku, but Tsubaki-chan or anything will do, love!"

Tsubaki lets out a wide smile, enthusiastic to see you well and standing despite your puffy eyes and cheeks. You stand still though, and this immediately raised a concern with everyone.

"A-ah, did I scare you—"

Your eyes suddenly twinkle with excitement, and you yell what was running on your mind without a filter. "You're really beautiful! Very much!"

"It's a great honor meeting you!" Shaking hands with Tsubaki, everyone was startled with the sudden change in personality. This was most likely the enthusiasm you've been hiding all these years, suppressed by loneliness. Umemiya beside the two of you finds your exchange with Tsubaki very endearing, already making notes on how he'll elicit this kind of reaction from you soon. Hopefully you like plants!

Tsubaki on the other hand was already enamored with you, listening to every word you say. "Your hair and the way you dress, and the makeup really accentuates your features! The ones I see in the magazine don't compare to Tsubaki-chan!" You stop your rambling and see Tsubaki endearingly smiling at you with a blush.

"S-sorry! I just, get too excited seeing new things." You chuckle and Tsubaki does too.

It's hard to resist not taking you out this weekend, Tsubaki thinks. The trip will probably take a huge hit on their savings, but money can always be earned. Seeing your smile is a reward in itself for Tsubaki.

Everyone watches as Tsubaki continues to coddle you, happy to see you engaging enthusiastically. Suo lightly pushes a blushing Sakura, whose romance sensor has been going rampant since earlier, towards you and Tsubaki.

"H-hey! What gives?!" Sakura exclaims towards his eye-patched friend who only signalled a gesture for friend, linking his hands together.

Oh right, you probably hate him right now for what he did earlier at Pothos. Tsubaki seemed to understand the situation with how tense the two of you were, patting your head before leaving to stand next to Umemiya.

Just you and Sakura again, this time not so comfortable. "U-uh...about what happened earlier," his mouth becomes pouty, struggling to look you in the eye but he does so anyway, "I shouldn't have forced the idea...s-so...sorry."

His irises were trembling, searching desperately for a reaction from you. Sakura, despite his tough and standoffish attitude, always meant well and tried his best to help his peers. Last night's conversation was purely between two aloof individuals, both yearning to be in the presence of others, yet their struggles distinct. Hearts that were afraid of being vulnerable, not knowing if they were worth of affection.

"You were just looking out for me," you trail, "It's me who should be apologizing...for being stubborn."

Similar to how Anzai tried to reject everyone's help during the fight with KEEL, there was no escape from Sakura's headstrong personality. He'll find a way to worm in and help you out. He was just that selfless.

"He probably filled you in already on how this town operates and stuff," Sakura points at Umemiya, referencing his request earlier during their phone call. "Violence isn't something this town's had enough of."

"So you don't have to worry about us. Don't be afraid of asking for help, that's just how it is here."

You were indeed afraid. The concept of friendship and trust blurry to you not until yesterday, with Sakura declaring he was there to help you out, as a friend. It was a foreign feeling, and the boy reciprocated the confusion you must've felt before his bold intrusion. Even he was surprised by his actions last night. Everyone in Makochi must've been rubbing off of him—in the best possible way.

So, he tries to apply what he's learned so far.

"If you're still not convinced, let's settle this with a fight."

Or not.

"H-hey now, there's a time and place for fighting Sakura." Nirei visibly sweatdrops, "You can discuss things with (F/n) like a normal person, you know???" The boy looks to his other side and sees Suo with an approving smile. This is hopeless, Nirei concludes.

"If you win, I'll let you do what you want. If I win, you stay here in this town and let us protect you."

Hiragi, Tsubaki, and Umemiya all look confused.

Kaji and his vice-captains are all in awe with Sakura's naivety.

The Sakaki twins think this is a regular Friday. They've heard about you and how you can fend for yourself, so front row seats to see the real deal were nice.

The two first years, Suo and Nirei, were concerned, but Suo was just a tad bit curious to intervene. Nirei on the other hand thought otherwise.

Surely you're not that crazy enough to actually go with it?

"Fine with me," you reply.

Nirei just wants to curl up and do the pillbug stance right now.

tag list: @wutap, @the2ndl

[qedart]

Time Warp AU - #14 Well this update just didn't want to come together. But finally it's done (all 8K+ of it 😬) and I'm actually rather happy with how it turned out. So I hope you all enjoy this offering of Pete emotional H/C with a side of parental Icemav.

Honestly, Pete had never really got the big deal about birthdays. Sure, when he was little they seemed important. They’re supposed to, when you’re young. But he wasn’t a child anymore. 

He’d learned a long time ago that simply managing to make it through the year wasn’t exactly cause for celebration. A few rounds of people forgetting, ignoring, or scoffing at him for waiting for some kind of acknowledgment of the date had made it all very clear to him - nobody gives a damn about stuff like that, and you look pathetic if anybody catches on that you might. 

So he didn’t. Doesn’t. 

For the longest time now, the only real significance that that day held for him was as a marker of his being one year closer to independence. Living with Mav and Ice, even that didn’t provide the same spiteful satisfaction that it once had. 

These days, he didn’t count down the months until he was free of the people he found himself in the midst of. Quite the opposite really. Ice, Maverick, Tom, the Daggers, the uncles… they were good people. Good, kind, safe people - and they actually seemed to like Pete being around. 

Nothing lasts forever though, of course. He knew that. He was well aware that he was one big screw up away from blemishing whatever image they all had of him, one proper misstep from sending the whole house of cards he’d built around himself from falling to the ground in one way or another. And he was well overdue for one of those mistakes. Unfortunately, it was an inevitability. The sky is blue. Water is wet. Pete Mitchell messes up nice things. 

He tried not to let it bother him too much. 

It was better to just live in the moment, and at this particular moment he had far bigger concerns than inevitabilities or the fact that he was turning 17 in a week. The chief among them - Maverick was turning 60. 

Unlike Pete’s birthday, that was something significant. That was important. That was worthy of celebration. 

Up until this whole time-warp fiasco went down, Pete would have put money on him (any version of him) not making it past 30. 60 was double that! It demanded celebration, even if Mav himself had developed a habit of referring to the subject of his age merely as ‘the situation’.

So when Ice suggested a little lunchtime get-together by the Hard Deck the coming Saturday ‘for the birthday we’ve got coming up’, he agreed that it was a fantastic idea. 

“Penny’s got a barbecue there that we could use I’m pretty sure,” Tom chipped in over his cereal. 

“Nice. I’ll be there if there’s food,” Pete grinned as he made a bowl for himself. 

Tom rolled his eyes. 

“You were going to be there anyway, numb-skull.”

“Boys, please,” Ice sighed, before Pete could return fire. “I’ve not had my coffee yet, let’s just hold off on the bickering for a little while longer.”

Pete sniffed when Tom promptly shot him an exceedingly smug smirk. 

“I’d get drinking if I were you.”

“Pete.”

“Fine,” Pete huffed, before turning back to Ice. “The beach sounds great though. Want us to bring anything?”

“Just yourselves,” Ice replied, shaking his head. “Mav and I will sort out the logistics.”

And that was that. Party at the beach to celebrate Mav’s 60th, be there at 12. Sorted. 

The rest of the week went by like normal, for the most part. He was asked if he was excited about the party a bit more often than he expected he would be, but he figured it was just people making conversation. He and Tom spent most of Thursday trying to find the old man a fitting birthday present. 

“You’ve seen the hanger! How are we supposed to top that?!”

“I think we should probably start by setting our sights a little lower.”

In the end they decided to both go in on a new camera, figuring it was the most affordable of Mav’s hobbies to tap into. 

When the day itself eventually did roll around, Pete was up and out of bed by dawn. Not due to excitement, and not due to any additional birthday gestures like he’d been contemplating (a fry up was always a good start to the day, after all), no - due to Tom. 

“We’re going for a ride and you’re going to enjoy it,” he announced the second Pete woke (with a start, thanks to the other boy dropping his riding jacket and boots on top of him). “Up and at ‘em.” 

“But what about Mav’s-?”

“We’ll see him at the party, I’ve left a note,” Tom announced, grabbing the end of Pete’s quilt and dragging it out of the room with him. “Mush.”

“I hate you!”

“Hate me on the move. There is breakfast with our name on it somewhere.” 

“Ugh!” 

The ride, annoyingly, was fantastic. The roads were mostly clear, and riding with Tom was always a blast. Tom even bought him breakfast and a couple of pastries for after (“It’s your birthday, idiot. Of course I’m shouting”). It was… well, nice. Pete didn’t care about birthdays, he really didn’t, but even still… it was just nice. Sitting at the look out, munching on the food his best friend had bought for him, he found himself feeling genuinely content with life and how it was turning out. A year ago, he wouldn’t have been able to bring himself to even imagine that. It was a moment he resolved to savour. 

“You feel any different?” Tom asked, smirking as he dusted the icing sugar from his Pączki off his fingers. 

Pete scoffed at the question, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh yeah,” he replied, nodding seriously. “I feel like I’ve levelled up, you know? Way more mature now. I feel like I’ve really grown as a person.”

“And yet not an inch vertically? Life’s not fair, is it-?”

“Fuck you!”

Tom snickered, ducking out of the way of the hand Pete swung at the back of his head, before holding his own up in surrender. 

“Seriously though, happy birthday,” he said, shooting Pete a warm smile that made his stomach do that fluttering thing he’d noticed it doing more and more often lately. 

Smiling himself and ducking his head, Pete shrugged. 

“Thanks,” he said. “It’s not really a big deal.”

“Well as somebody with a vested interest in your being born, I reckon it is,” Tom retorted, rolling his eyes. 

Pete scoffed, a teasing grin tugging at his lips as he folded his arms over his knees. 

“A vested interest, huh?”

“Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Nawww, you do like me,” Pete snickered. 

“You’re letting it get to your head.” 

“Is that why you brought me out here, to confess your undying love?” 

“In. your. dreams,” Tom scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Bringing you out here was my present to both you and Mav.” 

“How is me going to go for a ride and being bought breakfast a present for Maverick? 

“You going for a ride and being bought breakfast means both you and I are here, not at home. Which means Mav and Ice have the whole place to themselves, all morning. And there’s no chance of either of us overhearing anything and being scarred for life.” 

Pete blinked at that, before pulling a face at the thought of Mav’s birthday ride and announcing, utterly serious, “You’re the best friend a guy could ever ask for.”

“I know,” Tom drawled, before shrugging as he tucked the rubbish from his breakfast into his backpack. “And maybe I wanted to get in first with the birthday wishes.” 

“Always a competition with you, isn’t it?” Pete scoffed, ignoring the other boy’s derisive snort as he jumped back to his feet. “Race you back to the Hard Deck!” 

“Absolutely not!” Tom snapped, hurrying to his feet all the same as Pete bounded over to the bikes. “That flies entirely in the face of the contract!” 

“I laugh in the face of the contract!”

“Yes! That’s why it took so long to draft! Pete!” 

They didn’t end up racing back, much to Tom’s relief. As a result, by the time they pulled up, pretty much everybody had arrived at the beach. Bradely, Hangman, and Phoenix were still by the Bronco though, pulling the last of their stuff out the back.

“Ah, the birthday boy has arrived,” Hangman cried as they wandered over.

“Ha ha,” Pete scoffed, rolling his eyes before turning to Rooster. “Hey, can we dump our helmets and stuff in your car?”

“Sure, the back seat should be free,” he replied as he hefted the cooler from the trunk. “But really, happy birthday, Pete.”

“Ah, thanks?” Pete replied, a confused smile tugging at his lips as he stepped out of the way for Tom to stow his stuff away as well. That’s two times today. Weird. 

“What’s with the face?” Phoenix asked, laughing. “17 is a big deal.”

Pete laughed. 

“Yeah right,” he replied, stooping to grab one of the bags from their pile. “16’s supposed to be a big deal, and 18 definitely is. 17’s just there.”

“Agree to disagree. But, that raises a good question,” replied Jake, a mischievous grin spread across his face. “What sort of Sweet 16 fiasco are we competing with today?” 

Pete arched a brow at the question, but figured it made sense. Out of all the milestone birthdays, 16 was the only relevant one he and Mav had an overlap on. Though he wasn’t sure how much “I spent most of it in the ER with a broken arm’ would help with gauging the temperature for how this one was going.

Instead he just shrugged. 

“Nothing really special. I’m sure this’ll be way better.”

“That’s what we’re aiming for,” Jake replied with a grin, ruffling Pete’s hair (and then, far more amusingly, Tom’s), before leading the way over to the sand. 

Pete blinked as they drew closer. A lot of people had turned up. All of the daggers were here, pitching up chairs and umbrellas or tossing a football (actually, two footballs) around while almost all the uncles and even Viper milled about among them. Mav, Ice, Slider, and Penny were getting the barbecue started, chatting with Warlock and Cyclone (which was weird, but probably Ice’s doing). He even spotted Amelia and Theo slip out of the Hard Deck, deep in conversation with Hondo (about something nerdy and interesting no doubt) to join the group. 

“Damn, Mav sure invited a lot of people for someone who pulls faces whenever anybody utters the number 60 around him,” he laughed as he hefted the bag further up his shoulder. “Or are you all gatecrashing just to torment him?”

Jake snorted at that, rolling his eyes. 

“Nah. Though he is being a baby about it, so if we did it would be his own fault,” he replied. 

“He actually ordered us not to mention ‘the situation’ the other day,” Bradley scoffed, shaking his head.

“In fairness, Roo - you and Bagman were having a lot of fun at his expense,” said Phoenix as they all dropped their bags on the sand and set about making camp. She grinned at Pete and Tom. “There have been lots of fossil jokes. These two even smuggled a walker on base and swapped it with his lectern before debrief. He had to walk it to the side of the classroom.”

“Cruel,” Tom snickered from beside him. “Funny, but cruel.”

“You know it,” Jake cackled, dropping his bags down on the sand before stretching his arms over his head. “But nah, he’s opted out of a group celebration. Don’t know why. But I’m afraid that means you’re flying solo today, baby bro.”

Pete blinked again. 

“...I’m what?”

“You’ve got the spotlight pretty much to yourself today,” Bradley replied, shrugging like it was the simplest thing. “Apparently he’s got some day-trip planned with Ice tomorrow, so he’s sorted. That just leaves you with all of the attention. Reckon you can handle that?”

…Shit. 

Shit, shit shit - he had not prepared for this. He’d not expected this. What the hell even was this?! He’s turning 17. Who gives a shit?! Why the hell would all of these people come out here, some of them a hell of a long way, just for him?! They wouldn’t. Had they not been told it was just for him? Did Mav wriggle out of this at the last second and now he had 20+ people who’d pretty much written off half their weekend for no reason on his hands? 

“Pete, you alright?” Tom asked, shaking his shoulder, a worried expression on his face. 

Pete grimaced, before glancing around at the others and finding them all looking at him with concern. 

He pulled on a wide grin and laughed. 

“Me? Yeah, of course!” he replied cheerily, mind racing all the while. He needed a minute to himself. To come up with a plan. To fix this. 

Quickly turning back to the others, slapping his forehead as he did, he said, “You know what? I think I left my phone on my bike. Just gonna go grab that, can’t lose another one. Are you guys good here for a sec?”

“I mean, yeah,” Tom said slowly, frowning. 

“Great!” Pete cheered (perhaps a bit too overzealously, but whatever) before spinning around and, with a quick “Back in a moment!” taking off back up the beach. 

Right, step one, calm the hell down. He had to get a hold of himself and he had to do it now. 

Alright, it was a surprise. Alright, there were probably going to be some irritated people down there. So what? He could deal with irritated people. He could deal with people that actively wanted to kick his ass, irritated is nothing. Why the hell was he freaking out so much? Less than a year of being treated nicely and he’d gone completely soft, seriously?

He shook his head roughly. 

He was fine. This was fine. He’d make it work somehow. He just needed to stop acting like a baby and come up with a plan of action. 

He could direct attention back to Maverick. The old man can try and wriggle out of it all he likes but two can play this game. He’ll stick around for an hour, direct as much attention to Mav as possible, whip Jake and Bradely up into enough of a frenzy to keep the momentum going and then make a classy exit. Nobody will even remember he was here and they’ll forget all about this misunderstanding. That’s good. That’ll work. 

…Unless Mav launches a counter-attack. Which he would. 

Shit!

“Pete?” 

Pete whirled around and found Mav and Ice approaching, both looking concerned and not all that surprised to see him up here. Goddamnit, Tom, the snitch!!

“What’s going on, kiddo?” Mav asked, cocking his head to the side. 

“I mean, that’s a pretty good question man,” Pete replied, running a hand through his hair anxiously as he glanced down at the beach once more before turning his attention (and frustration) back to the older man. “I get that you’ve got some sort of three quarter life crisis going on about turning 60, but seriously, throwing me under the bus so you can avoid that is a dick move.” 

Mav, the bastard, looked more confused than chastened at the rebuke, exchanging a bemused glance with Ice. 

“You’re going to have to spell this one out for us, buddy.”

Pete groaned, folding his hands on top of his head. 

“First, explain it to me, guys,” he replied. “What was the plan? Trick everyone here by saying it’s a party for Mav and then hope people aren’t too put out when it turns out it was for the other Mitchell? Jeez guys, I mean, what the hell? Why the hell?! Nobody gives a damn it’s my birthday. I don’t give a damn it’s my birthday. Now it looks like I do, and now I get to look like the stupid little moron who needed people tricked here to pad things out!”

“Pete,” Ice said slowly, holding his hands out like he was trying to calm down some wounded animal. Like Pete was being irrational about this. “You do know this party is for you, right?”

“Yes,” Pete replied with every ounce of patience he possessed. “I’m aware of that. That’s exactly my point”

“No. He means it was always intended to be just for you,” Mav weighed in. 

Pete sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried his very best to channel Ice and remain as diplomatic as he possibly could (it did not help, mind you, that Ice was joining in on this nonsense. But he tried nevertheless). 

“Look,” he said with forced calm, “I see what you’re trying to do, and it’s a nice thought. I appreciate that you guys care and want to make a fuss, I do. But you can’t just expect to trick people into writing off half their weekend for one thing, and then bait and switch with a discount offer at the last second. Wood and Wolf flew in from Texas for this, guys. Please. I’ll see if I can get the Daggers to lay off the fossil jokes, but- …what’s this?”

“Read it,” Ice replied, holding his phone out to Pete until he took it and did as he was told. 

Jake has named the group chat: Big Effing Deal Jake: First of all, how. dare. you? Nat: Seconded! Both for leaving us out and forcing me to agree with Bagman. Jake: Look what you’ve brought us too!!!  Nat: I feel physically sick.  Jake: Ditto. Bradley: Wow, you guys really are in sync today.  Nat: You take that back!!! Ice: Could somebody please explain what we’re being accused of here.  Jake: Betrayal!!!  Coyote: Dude - you’ve been hitting the expresso machine again, haven’t you? Mav: Guys. BOB: Rooster mentioned you are having a get together for Pete’s birthday on Saturday and we’re all handling the rejection differently. Fanboy: How could you, Mav? Mav: Well first, there’s no rejection for anybody to handle. We floated the idea of a beach party this morning and he seemed alright with it. So if you guys are free and want to come along, you’re more than welcome to.  Jake: Was that so hard?!!!! Mav: If you’d waited a few more hours I’d have invited you in person at work tomorrow. Jake: But Roo gets his invite right away??? :(  Ice: Rooster was over during the day, so yes, he heard first. Rooster: Remember how you were supposed to help me fix their gate today?  Jake: Nope. Poorly communicated on your part.  Jake: Moving swiftly on - we need times. And gift ideas. Nat: What a crappy brother. I got my present for him weeks ago.  Payback: Burn.  Payback: Also, same. Jake: You’re a pair of goody-goodies, I’m not surprised in the slightest.  Jake: Besides it doesn’t matter how early you got it. It’s how good it is. Nat: Got you beat there too Bagman.  Jake: Bullshit. Pete and I have a connection.  Payback: Is that what we’re calling you being a terrible influence now? Coyote: Just before these three properly kick off - is this a joint birthday bash? Or Pete-specific? Mav: Pete specific.  Mav: I’ve already got plans for mine.  Ice: And by that he means I have already made plans for him.  Ice: They’re on Sunday though, so we’ll be there regardless.  Mav: And people think I’m the competitive one. My point is, I’m covered, so don’t go worrying about that. Coyote: Roger that!  Fanboy: This is going to be great!! I can bake a cake if you like!!! Lil bro likes chocolate, right? Payback: Guys - take him up on the offer!  Phoenix: This! ^^^^^ Ice: That would be lovely, Fanboy, thank you. And yes, chocolate would be well received I expect.  Fanboy: Yeeeeeesssss!!  Mav: Right, we’re just going to leave you guys to this.  Rooster: Oh, actually, just before you go… Bradley’s added Sly-Guy, Chip_P, E!News, Full_M00ning…  Mav: Oh you little shit stirrer.  Sli-Guy: First of all, how dare you?! 

Pete blinked, utterly mystified, as he scrolled through the group chat (which seemed to go on for quite a bit) before eventually turning back to Ice and Mav. 

“I… I don’t understand,” he uttered. 

“Join the club, kiddo,” Mav replied, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“You helped plan this,” Ice pointed out, a baffled expression on his ordinarily nonplussed face. “I specifically asked you if you would like a party at the Hard Deck?” 

“I thought you were asking for my input for Mav’s party,” Pete muttered, his cheeks blazing with embarrassment as he realised just how stupid he apparently was. 

“The daggers have been talking to you about it all week?” Mav pointed out, equally confused. “Bob asked you what snacks you’d like him to bring.” 

“I thought they were coming to me because they couldn’t get anything out of you!” Pete snapped back hotly. 

Ice held up a hand, cutting that line of conversation off before it could get too heated. Taking a deep, exceedingly put upon breath, he sighed “Once again, it appears that this family’s outstanding communication skills have come back to bite us all in the ass.”

He turned back to Pete.  

“If it’s any consolation, it wasn’t meant to be a surprise party,” he said.

Pete scoffed softly, in spite of himself, but soon enough the begrudging amusement gave way to confusion once more. 

“I still don’t understand,” he said. “Why would all of them come out if they knew it was just for me?” 

“How’s it any different from them coming out for me?” Maverick asked with a frown.

Pete shrugged. 

“They’re your family,” he replied simply. “They’re supposed to show up for you.” 

“They’re your family too,” Maverick argued, his frown deepening. 

“You do know that, don’t you?” Ice said slowly, eyes narrowed suspiciously. 

“Yeah. Course,” Pete muttered, cutting a quick glance to the group in question. Nobody seemed to have noticed they were gone yet, thank goodness. Somehow Pete felt like he’d find himself even more outnumbered if they did. He had to bury this quick though, if he wanted to avoid that fate. 

Unfortunately, when he turned back to the oldtimers, Ice had his signature ‘so you’re just going to lie to my face now?’ expression in place. Never a good sign. Also almost never directed at Pete he realised with a dull pain. 

“You know, you pull that face every time this topic of conversation comes up.”

“What face?” 

“The ‘well if it makes them happy’ face,” Ice replied, folding his arms over his chest. “Be honest with us, Pete. What’s going on here?”

Pete shrunk back a little at that, feeling very much under a spotlight all of a sudden and not entirely sure why. 

“N-nothing. Nothing’s going on.”

“Well clearly something is. And just to be clear, do you honestly believe that we’d have all been fine throwing a party for Maverick and doing absolutely nothing for you?” the older man asked, arching a brow pointedly. 

“I… I mean… I… I’d get it,” Pete stuttered, heart pounding in his chest. What the hell was going on? What did he even do? He took a step back, giving into the instinct to at least be out of arm's length, only to knock into the back of Ice’s Jeep when he tried. Crap. He was trapped. And he was in trouble. And he didn’t know why. 

His alarm must have shown on his face too, because soon enough Ice was taking a step back himself, hands held up disarmingly. 

“Pete, I’m not angry with you,” he said, calmly and far gentler than before. “I’m sorry.”

Pete swallowed thickly, but nodded all the same as he tried to rein himself in, to calm down for goodness sake. He was being so damn stupid!!

“I just don’t understand,” Ice continued. “You know everybody here loves you, don’t you? We haven’t dropped the ball that much I hope.” 

Embarrassment and shame twisted sickeningly in the pit of Pete’s belly. Because he did know that. He knew how hard everybody had tried to make him and Tom feel welcome. And not just as novelty extensions of Mav and Ice either, but as their own, separate people. They’d all tried so hard to bring them into the family and make them feel like they belonged in it, Pete knew it. He saw it each day. For the most time, he felt it too, but there was just this part of him that wouldn’t allow him to accept it fully. Wouldn’t allow him to trust it. To trust them. 

“I’m sorry,” he uttered weakly, staring down at the tips of his boots. “I… I know it doesn’t make sense. It’s not anything you guys have done, or haven’t done. I know how much you’ve all tried to be welcoming. And you have, truly. I love it here… so much. But… but every time I try to… it’s just in the back of my mind I’m always… I…” 

He flinched sharply when something touched his arm, but it was just Ice reaching out to him. All of a sudden, that contact, that offer of reassurance was all he wanted. Sighing heavily he stepped forward and leaned against the old man’s chest, dragging in a deep, calming breath as Ice’s arms wrapped around him, squeezed him in a tight. 

“I love it here,” he uttered. “And everybody here… and I know they- you all care - about me and Tom. But I just know…” 

He sighed deeply. 

“It’s just… self-preservation, I guess. I know it’s going to really hurt, so much, when I mess up.  I didn’t care, when it was just some other home I was stuck in longer than usual, but now… now it’s probably too late already. When I mess up and have to go-”

“Hey, who said anything about you going anywhere,” Ice said with a frown, holding him closer. “We told you, you have a place in this family for life. Nothing will change that.”

Pete sighed sadly, shaking his head where it was pressed to Ice’s sternum. They didn’t get it. They felt that way now, but it wouldn’t last. 

“No matter how hard you try, you’re going to end up alone.” 

Both Pete and Ice froze at that, before turning to face Maverick, who looked all the world like he’d just commented on the weather rather than putting one of Pete’s deepest, most painful fears to words. And he wasn’t done. 

“We’re going realise just how messed up you really are. How much damage has been done. How much of it can’t be undone. And, most importantly, how much of it you probably deserved. And sooner or later we’ll change our mind about you. It’s all well and good to say we’ll always want you in the family if we haven’t seen the full picture yet, because let’s face it, you’re on the good behaviour streak of a lifetime right now. But sooner or later, you’re going to mess up, because that’s what you do. And then we’ll see the real you. The screw up. The waste of space. The guy everybody else can see clearly. Eventually the rose-coloured glasses will come off and  we’ll really see you for what you are. We’ll get tired of trying to bring somebody into a family who doesn’t deserve to be in it and clearly is meant to be on their own. It’ll be better for everyone to just stop trying. We probably won’t kick you out, to be fair - but when you head off to college or the academy… the calls and emails will peter out. Tom will probably find his own people too, when he’s got other options. He’ll stop spending time with you too. It’ll probably be pretty amicable really. But everybody will just go on with their life and there will be no room for you in them. That will be that. Better to just accept it now, try not to get too attached to how things are, so when it happens, at least you won’t look like you were blindsided by it all. It’s a bit less pathetic if you at least saw it coming.” 

Pete’s stomach sunk so fast through the blacktop it felt like he was pulling negative G’s. Mav knew. Mav saw how this was going to play out just as clearly as he did. The first card in his little house was beginning to wobble. 

To his horror he felt his face beginning to heat up and his eyes beginning to sting. He dragged in a deep, shuddering breath, squeezing them shut tight. He wasn’t a baby. This wasn’t a surprise. He wasn’t going to start crying in the middle of the car park where everybody could see him like some child. 

He jumped as an arm wrapped around his shoulders and looked up to find Ice, holding him close again, and leading them to the space between his jeep and Bradley’s Bronco - more or less out of sight from the rest of the group.

“Sit down and take a few deep breaths for me, kiddo,” he murmured, manoeuvring Pete until he was sitting down on the gravel, back pressed against the rubber of the Bronco’s tyre. Biting his lip, he folded his arms tight over his chest, knees drawing up as Ice kneeled down beside him and wrapped an arm back around his shoulders, rubbing up and down his arm soothingly all the while.. “In and out. Just like that. What the hell, Mav?” 

“Just trying to work out what we’re dealing with here,” Maverick replied, sounding tired and sad now. “Pete, can you look at me?”

Pete really didn’t want to. This was all humiliating and painful enough without risking bursting into tears the second he made eye contact with the old man as well. But, at the same time, this was the reality of the situation, and closing his eyes and hiding from it wasn’t going to change anything either, except to make him look even more childish. So whether he wanted to or not, he didn’t have much of a choice. 

Clenching his jaw tight and breathing in deeply through his nose, he (as resolutely as he could manage) lifted his head and met Mav’s eye. He wasn’t expecting to be met with a sympathetic expression. How could Mav see him so clearly, and still look at him like that. 

“Does that about sum it up?” the old man asked, cocking his head to the side. “What’s going on in that head of yours.”

Scrubbing roughly at his face, Pete nodded his head. 

“M-more or less.” 

Mav hummed thoughtfully, pausing a moment, before smiling and sitting down properly across from them. 

“You know,” he said, leaning back on his hands. “The first time I met Carole, she scared that absolute crap out of me.” 

Pete blinked, confused at the strange turn their conversation had taken, but interested all the same. Mav wasn’t shy with talking about Goose or Carole, but he’d never heard that. 

A fond smile tugged at the edges of the old man’s mouth as he looked up wistfully at the sky. 

“People underestimated her. She was so loud and joyous all the time, most people figured she was probably a bit dim. But they had no idea. Sure she was smart enough, but her real strength was with people. She had this way of looking at a person, just looking at them, and seeing past all the bullshit.”

He shook his head. 

“The first shore leave after Goose and I became a team, Goose insisted that I come home with him. He hadn’t realised until we were literally docking that I didn’t have anywhere to go, so the second he put the pieces together it was, ‘Come on, you have to, Mav! It’ll be great. You can meet Carole. You guys will get on like a house on fire, I know it’. And I, for the life of me, couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse to convince him otherwise. I think I was a bit blindsided that he was offering to spend more time together at all.” 

He scoffed. 

“Either way, the pressure was dialled up to 11,” he drawled. “Not only would I have to stay on my best behaviour for even longer, to keep Goose on side - and I’d been on a 6 month streak at that point and felt the end looming. But I also had to become best friends with his wife, immediately. Otherwise he’d wonder how he got that one so wrong. Then he’d look closer, and he’d see everything he’d somehow missed about me before. See exactly where I was lacking. Me getting to keep the one person in the navy, hell, the one person in the world that gave a damn about me - depended on this month going well.”

Rubbing at his scratchy eyes, Pete leaned a little more into Ice’s side, before asking. “You managed to pull that off?”

“Hell no, I lasted less than a week,” Mav scoffed, shaking his head. “And it only lasted that long because Goose and Carole had the patience of saints.”

Pete frowned. That didn’t make sense. He might not know this story but he knew a hell of a lot of the others that came later. He knew Mav stayed friends with Goose, and Carole as well, for years after when this would have happened. How could it not have worked? How did he screw up that badly and still manage to keep them around? 

He shot Ice a confused glance, receiving a ‘just roll with it’ shrug in response. 

“Carole was living in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere Texas at the time. Her aunt needed help moving or something. Unfortunately that meant I had had about six hours of travelling to work myself up and come up with a game plan for how I was going to make it all work. Going in with a charm offensive wouldn’t have done it, Goose would feel like making moves on his wife, Carole would feel like I was a creep, and I’d be stuck with both of them feeling like that for a month. I couldn’t risk being myself, for reasons already discussed. So I decided on the red carpet treatment. From the second I got out of Goose’s truck to the second we got back in it to head back to the airport, Carole Bradshaw would be shown a level of respect and deference that no admiral had or has ever received from me. The queen of England could have come around and found it excessive. But it was the best I had.

“I addressed her as ma’am, I stood when she walked into the room or got up from the table, I tried to help out around the house as much as I possibly could. A big part of the plan was also trying to give her and Goose as much space and time to themselves as possible. I wasn’t supposed to be there, and the absolute last thing I wanted is for them to miss out on time together because Goose felt obliged to bring me along with him. On paper, I thought it worked. Be respectful and stay out of the way. Unfortunately, in practice it went more along the lines of me actively avoiding everybody like it was my job and, whenever I couldn’t, making the situation so awkward it was uncomfortable for everybody. And it was uncomfortable. My god. Goose and Carole, they tried so hard to get me to relax, come out of my shell, do the exact opposite of what I was trying to do essentially. It was not going well,” Mav laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head at the memory. 

“Goose knew I was acting off, which was putting me even more on edge. And I knew I was quickly moving past that ‘meeting new people is awkward sometimes’ grace period straight into ‘this little twerp I’ve known for a few months has got a problem with the love of my life’ territory. So not ideal. And Carol… Carol knew from the beginning that I was putting up a front, which made settling around her pretty much impossible.”

Pete grimaced sympathetically at the thought of it all. 

“At least you stuck it out,” he muttered. “I would have just left at that point.”

“Oh, I did,” Mav replied without missing a beat. “About five days in everything finally bubbled over. Goose tried to coax me into telling him what was wrong for about the millionth time and… well, after days of constantly being on red alert, barely sleeping from the stress, just second guessing every single move or sound I made while knowing, in spite of trying my best, it was all going to hell - I sort of lost it on him. Told him he could take whatever friendship he thought we had and shove it where the sun don’t shine because I sure as hell didn’t need it or him. That I'd been on my own for over half my life and I didn’t need anybody, thank you very much, least of all some hapless, sheltered country-boy who clearly didn’t know what was good for him if it smacked him in the face. Then I grabbed my bag and went straight to the train station.”

Pete blinked owlishly at that, confused to say the least. 

“But I thought Goose was your best friend,” he said. 

“He was,” Mav replied. 

“Even after that?!” 

“I know, I was surprised too.” 

Pete frowned, puzzling it over as Mav laughed softly and shook his head.. 

“This being the tiny town it was, the train didn’t run very often, and I’d missed the one for that day - which was just the cherry on the top really. I figured I’d just spend the night on the platform. Didn’t want to risk missing the next one, and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself at the time so it seemed fitting. Which was exactly where Carole found me three hours later.”

Ice scoffed softly beside Pete, shaking his head with a fond smile of his own. 

“Mother Goose sent in the big guns then,” he drawled. 

“I honestly have no idea if Goose even knew,” Mav replied, smiling reminiscently himself. “I think she just figured she’d given us both enough time to sulk and decided enough was enough.” 

He chuckled, tilting his head back as he recalled the encounter. 

“She came over and sat down on the ground beside me,” he said, looking around them, the corner of his lips twitching a fraction higher. “Sorta like we are right now.”

Pete smiled weakly at that. 

“She sat with me for the longest time, didn’t say a word, just waited me out, until she could tell I was ready to actually listen to her. Then she took my hand and said, “You know what, honey? If you were half as rotten as you’re afraid you are, you wouldn’t care nearly as much as you do”.”

Pete ducked his head as, all at once, tears started welling up once again. God he wanted that to be true. With every fibre of his being he did. He bit his lip as he felt Ice pull him a little tighter against his side, and heard Mav scoot closer himself, reaching out and rubbing his arm himself. 

“Do you think she was right about that,” he uttered, voice crackling with the strain of keeping himself together. 

Mav smiled, squeezing Pete’s arm gently as he inclined his head. 

“Honestly, I always had my doubts,” he confessed. “But these days… I think she probably was.” 

Before he could stop them, a couple of the tears Pete had been battling against broke free and rolled down his cheeks. 

“Oh, buddy,” Mav sighed, reaching up to rub the moisture away. “I’m so sorry. Sometimes I forget how much all of that stuff hurt.” 

Pete leaned into the contact, the corner of his mouth twitching a little as he did so.

“Actually pretty good to hear that from my perspective,” he murmured, drawing soft scoffs from the oldtimers. 

Shaking his head fondly, Mav patted Pete’s arm one last time before folding them over his crossed legs. 

“I’m telling you this for two reasons,” he said, ducking his head to meet Pete’s eye once again. “First, and I really am sorry for this but, unfortunately, this is just one of those cards that you and I got dealt. This is something that you were always going to have to work through. Being on your own for so long, and getting told so many times and in so many ways that nobody wants you, and nobody will ever want you - it leaves a mark. That doesn’t mean you’re broken. It's just a hurdle that we get that some people don’t. Everyone’s got their own set. For us - it’s being very, very aware of just how much other people can hurt you, while at the same time knowing how much the alternative hurts too.”

Pete sighed softly, but nodded all the same. That point wasn’t exactly news to him, but it still sucked hearing it all the same. 

“And second,” Mav said, reaching out and brushing Pete’s hair back from his face with a small, reassuring smile. “Even though it doesn’t always feel like it, and that feeling will flare up from time to time unfortunately, some people really do stay.”

Pete lifted his head to look at the old man properly, something like hope fluttering weakly in the pit of his belly. 

“They stick by you as long as they possibly can, through more crap than you could possibly imagine. I know it’s hard to really let yourself believe that right now. I know it feels like the second you do it’ll all fall apart around you, like a house of cards. But that will fade with time and with evidence. You’re just going to have to trust me until then. You’re not meant to be alone. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong or bad about you. The people who are worth a damn, they stay - you just have to let them in in the first place.”

The older man leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially, “Just be careful, because once you do, it’s all bets off. I had one moment of weakness around Slider 36 years ago and now I’m stuck with him.” 

Pete laughed wetly at that, smiling back as Mav practically beamed at him. 

“I hope you’re right,” he uttered, rubbing again at his face. 

“I am,” Mav replied, nodding firmly. “And look, I’m not going to lie to you and promise forever. Nobody knows what’s around the corner. Hell, a tsunami could take us all out right now.” 

Pete scoffed softly, rolling his eyes as Maverick ruffled his hair teasingly. 

“But the stuff you’re worried about, the mistakes you’re worried about making, I’m sorry but they’re just not gonna cut it.” 

Ice nodded at that. 

“Unfortunately, to shake us at this point you’d have to do things that you’re simply not capable of. And they certainly wouldn’t be accidental.” 

Pete frowned slightly, glancing between the two of them. 

“...Could you give me a clue?” he asked. “You know, to be safe.”

Ice scoffed softly, before cocking his head to the side thoughtfully.

“Alright. We’re talking about doing things that would deliberately traumatise others. Not accidents, like a car crash or getting in a really bad fight, though we’d all rather you avoided that too. Stuff that’s just evil. Things specifically done to make somebody else feel afraid or humiliated or less than” Ice replied calmly, brow rising pointedly. “Do you feel that avoiding that sort of behaviour would be a struggle for you?”

“Fuck, no,” Pete replied, nose wrinkling at the thought of doing anything along those lines.

Ice  nodded. 

“There you go. There’s the bar,” he replied simply. “Anything above that? Worst case scenario, you’re the pain in the ass of the week. And that’s a title we’ve all held at one point or another.”

“Even you?”

“Unjustly,” he sniffed. 

“Ask Uncle Sli about it some time,” Mav replied without missing a beat, before turning back to Pete before Ice could retort. “Honestly kiddo, do you really think Bradely was an angel growing up?” 

“Well… yeah?”

“Think again,” Ice drawled. 

Mav hummed, nodding seriously. 

“Off the top of my head, there was that time he threw a party with his baseball team while we were out of town and trashed the house.”

“The bike he borrowed without asking, rode unlicensed, and totalled - on a dare.” 

“The kitchen he nearly burned down because ‘guys - you can’t pause online games, how many times do I have to tell you?’ and ‘I want bacon’ turned out to be a bad mix.”

“The spy-phase that ended with him trying to sneak onto a military base, ours that is, and then refusing to answer any questions or co-operate after getting caught.” 

“I maintain that that was mostly Hollywood’s fault for taking him to watch True Lies.” 

Pete blinked, stunned by the antics of, by far, one of the more mature ‘big brothers’ he had. 

Ice scoffed, rolling his eyes with a fond smile. 

“And we still love the kid. Did back then when it happened and through much less amusing run-ins too,” he said, before squeezing Pete a little tighter to his side. “So try not to worry so much. You’re a kid, you’re supposed to do stupid things. Mav does stupid things every other day and we still keep him around. And that’s these days. He was an absolute menace when I first met him. And six years older than you are now. You’re a dream in comparison.”

Mav huffed. 

“You are a delight,” he said, patting Pete on the shoulder, before shooting his husband a pointed look. “But I think some people are forgetting which one of us introduced himself by immediately talking shit.”

“We were competing and the fact that you still bring it up almost 40 years later just further emphasises what a sound psychological victory that introduction was for me.”

“I mean I wanted to kick your ass all the more afterwards, so I’m not sure how much of a victory it was.”

“Well you never did, so a big one I would say.”

“Bullshit I never did-!”

“Go-ddddddd,” Pete groaned, though he couldn’t help but grin at the bickering, which, in the span of 10 months, had somehow become the comforting soundtrack of home for him (which probably said a lot about Ice and Maverick, but who cares). “Wher’es Tom when you need him?”

“Our point,” Ice said pointedly, shooting Mav a look that said quite clearly ‘we’re supposed to be a united front, genius (also, you know I’m right), “Is that you’re going to make mistakes. Everybody does. You’re going to do stupid things, things that we don’t approve of. And, because we’re here to help you become the best person you can be, we’ll call you out on it. At one point or another, we’ll disagree, we’ll argue, feelings will probably get hurt, egos will get bruised. And then, we’re going to be here anyway. Because you’re a member of this family and that’s not going to change.” 

“And we’ll remind you of that however many times you need,” Mav replied, smiling warmly at him, before slapping his own knees and leaning back. “Now, how would you like to proceed from here? Are you alright breaking the Birthday Drought today or would you like to go home and we can just have a nice family dinner tonight. Which would you rather?”

Pete bit his lip, fiddling with a loose thread on the hem of his t-shirt. 

“I guess I… I wouldn’t mind staying,” he replied, his heart and stomach fluttering again at the thought of all these people, his family, turning up just for him. But this time, he found his emotions leaning more on the side of nervous excitement rather than all-consuming dread. “I mean, It’s been a minute.” 

“You’re sure?” Ice asked seriously, rubbing Pete’s back reassuringly. “Don’t feel like you have to if you don’t want to.” 

Pete ducked his head, a small smile spreading across his face as, for the first time since this whole miscommunication came to light, and before that really, something seemed to settle inside of him. Some knot of tension that had been there for so long that he’d just learned to live with it, seemed to ease just the littlest bit. He did not doubt, for a second, that if he decided to leave now, Ice and Mav (and Tom) would cover for him, would back him up and stand in his corner. Whether they needed to or not, and Pete suspected things would probably topple in the direction of ‘not’ because the others would understand.

Drawing in a deep, calming breath (like Ice had been teaching him) he lifted his head a smiled a little wide. 

“I want to,” he said. “Seriously, if I ever say no to chocolate cake I want you to assume that somebody’s stolen my face and is impersonating me.” 

“Mark that down for both of us,” Mav replied, nodding empathetically. 

“Noted,” Ice scoffed, smiling as the three of them got back to their feet. “In that case, we should probably get back. Tom said he’d try to keep them all in one place to give us a moment alone but the fact that he seems to have managed it is making me nervous.” 

Pete snickered as Mav shot him an amused grin, before they both followed Ice back to the beach. It turned out the old man may have been right to worry. 

“In my defence,” Tom drawled as he jogged over to meet them. “I didn’t expect them all to lose their minds.” 

Pete felt like that was a pretty accurate description for the mayhem they’d just walked into. Almost all the daggers and a few of the flyboys were shouting, waving their arms about, jabbing fingers in faces or, in Fanboy’s case, cackling rather manically. And those that weren’t seemed content to either enjoy the show or stoke the fires all the more. It was pandemonium. 

“What did you do?” Ice sighed as they drew closer. 

Tom shrugged. 

“I casually mentioned that Pete and I watched Die Hard for the first time, and asked what other Christmas movies we should watch. And, well...” 

“IT’S SET ON CHRISTMAS EVE, BAGMAN!!! HOW MUCH MORE OBVIOUS DO YOU NEED IT?!” 

“THAT’S ALL YOU’VE GOT! IT’S AN ACTION MOVIE-”

“ON CHRISTMAS EVE!” 

“OH MY GOD! SO WHAT?! SO WHAT?!!” 

“Well, it did distract them,” Ice replied, arching a brow as he took it all in. “They’re going to go full Lord of the Flies any moment now, but it worked.” 

Tom grinned, before slinging an arm around Pete’s shoulders and drawling, “Wanna make it worse?”

“You’ve been a terrible influence on him,” Ice sighed, shooting Mav a despairing glance as Pete laughed softly and shrugged. 

“Sure.”

Tom winked before calling over the noise, “Alright, maybe Die Hard can go one way or the other-”

“NO IT CAN’T,” Jake and Nat hollered in unison, before immediately shooting each other disgusted glares. 

“But surely we can all agree that Nightmare before Christmas-” 

And they were off again, with renewed vigour and with previous alliances suddenly shattered. 

Pete laughed as he took it all in. Tom’s arm around his shoulders; Mav and Ice squeezing his arm and ruffling his hair respectively as they walked by to try and reign in the chaos; Rooster and Hangman each elbowing their way through the crowd, hollering for him to back them up. 

The fears were still there, bubbling away beneath the surface. Pete felt that they probably always would. Allowing himself to stay this attached, to actually believe that maybe this time, just this once, things truly would turn out different… it was risky. Frankly it was downright dangerous. 

“Right, enough of this!!” Rooster hollered over the noise. “Let’s settle this properly.” 

“Agreed,” Jake replied, nodding firmly. “Dogfight football. I bags the babies.” 

“What?!” 

“You can’t take both of them!”

“Can. Did. Pete, Tom, come on.” 

Sometimes, the risks were worth taking. And, well, he’d always liked to think he was a little dangerous.

[mimiccry]

Raincoat

Summary: you and Venti hang out a lot. Will you finally admit your feelings after years of playing it safe?

notes: — ehem: this is a venti x reader! reader isn’t described, gender - neutral reader, modern au, fluff, uhhh yea i don’t wanna spoil it through any pre - story notes here. enjoy! :}

word count: 2027

warnings: none!

———————————————————————————

“That was tiring…” you sigh, stepping down from the last step of the grand building behind you. Your friend huffs a laugh.

“Sorry,” Venti says. “I didn’t think the museum would take this long to get through.” The pedestrian light turns red. You wiggle your toes in your shoes to pass the time. Or maybe it was to ease the damp cold in your feet.

“Next time, we could go somewhere more peaceful.” He suggests.

White.

The amount of people you had to dodge to cross the road was not dissimilar to the crowds of people you had to weave through in the museum. Was it a new exhibit or just a busy day? The rain makes a lovely noise when you walk through it on the pavement, over the chipped white zebra stripes. You lean to your left towards Venti to whisper,

“Maybe the aquarium? I heard it’s not very popular on Mondays.” You glance at him. He nods lightly.

“Hmm, that could be nice!”

You notice your face is soaked and your hair is sticking to your face.

“On second thought, that might be too much water.” You say, shaking your head.

Both of your steps reach the other sidewalk in unison just in time for the crossing light to start flashing red, a warning to hurry up. But you were safe. When you turn left to the rural area you live in, your finger grazes a wet plant sticking out disorderly from the beside the walkway. It’s cold, so you shake it off in slight shock. Venti giggles at you.

“Hey! Weren’t you the one who thought he was allergic to the statue of a cat? You have no right to laugh at me.” You sniff. This only spurs on his laughter, which only escalates when the rain starts pouring heavily, soaking you.

“Ugh…” you try wipe away your hair from your face and neck. Something drapes itself around your shoulders. Looking up, Venti is adjusting the hood to cover your head. His raincoat. He smoothens it out for you, his face focused, then looks up at your face and smiles.

“There you are. Now you won’t get any more soaked until you get home!” He grabs your hand to start skipping on towards your block. You’re stumbling along with him, unlike he, who is pretty much gracefully dancing through the puddles.

“W-wait! Venti, what about you? You’ll catch a cold!”

“Worry not! I’ll be fine. I don’t get sick easily after all.” He stops and turns to you.

“But, I know you do!” He taps your nose with the pointer finger of his free hand. You sigh, knowing he’s right. Oh well.

Venti readjusts his grip on your hand, then continues leading you forward. Something stirs in your lungs.

“So, let’s hurry up, so you can dry yourself off sooner!”

When you reach your house, you search for your keys in your pocket. Ah, Found it! While turning it in the lock, you remember something.

“Your coat! How could I forget?” You bring a palm to your face in disbelief with yourself. You quickly take off the coat and hand it to him.

“Thank you kindly!” He takes it from you and puts it back on. You realize that he doesn’t seem to be very wet from the rain. Weird. But your thoughts are interrupted by Venti clasping your hands with his own.

“Thank you for today, I had a lot of fun.”

You reciprocate his grip and smile. He looks around, then at his watch, and folds the coat under his arm. You interrupt him.

“So where are we going tomorrow, then?” He looks up at the underside of the roof that hung over the porch in thought.

“You decide!” He nods at you. He turns to leave before looking back at you again.

“Maybe it’ll rain less next time.”

•••

You grumble at the rain flooding along your window like a racing river.

‘So much for the aquarium.’ You think,

‘What a shitty Monday.’

It won’t stop you from hanging out with Venti again, though. You open up his messages. He doesn’t have a cell phone - only a landline - despite you recommending it to him many times. He claims it “scrambles the brain”. So he opts for using a home phone and an analogue camera instead. He even sends you postcards and photos when he goes on vacation. You look over at the picture sitting on the shelf. Golden ginkgo trees frame the edges, and a big mountain towers over from the distance. If you look closely, you’ll see some small buildings with dark grey shingles in the meadow. Maybe one day, you could see it too. You sigh.

You pull up your list of hangout ideas in a little teal notepad. On it were various ideas, such as ‘forest hike’, or ‘drive around idk’. You deliberately ignored the scribbled out ‘aquarium’ on the top of the small page, with mini hearts dotted around the page. You slammed your notebook shut in frustration. How could finding a place to hang out be so hard? Especially for a guy like Venti. He just goes with the flow, you admire that about him. He’d probably by okay with anything. As you stare at the notebook in your hand, the bright blue colour reminds you of something…

You grab your phone and dial his number. The phone rings for a few seconds before you hear a familiar voice on the other end.

“Hey, [Name]!” He sounds very cheerful. His joy is contagious, and you find yourself smiling to the sound of him speaking.

“Hi Venti!” You stop, not really knowing what to say afterwards. That’s okay though, when he’s around, there’s no shortage of witty jokes in your conversations.

“Nice weather today, huh?” He teases, to which you roll your eyes. You almost want to blame the rain on him. So you move ahead to your own point instead.

“I was thinking about what you said yesterday, and…” you pause, for you realize you’re admitting to thinking of him a lot, even for one day.

“…I wanted to let you choose what we’re doing today. I think it’s only fair since even my mind is clouded today. I… could use something to cheer me up.”

You done hear anything from the other end for a few long seconds before he responds.

“I’ll be there in twenty.”

•••

The two of you end up at an art gallery. It’s much less crowded than the museum, aside from some art class student groups quietly flowing through the rooms. Every footstep softly echoed in the wide spaces, and no one spoke, unless it was by hushed whispers. You find the setting to be quite comforting, even though you felt way too compelled to say at least something to Venti, or even just to think out loud a bit. Maybe the amount of people here is a curse after all…There you go again being pessimistic. You look at Venti in an attempt to cheer yourself up. He’s smiling. It isn’t the usual cheeky mischievous grin he wears, but a soft and genuine looking one. One you rarely get to see. It feels warm and fuzzy, like sitting on a cloud in a late summer sunset, with the stars twinkling above. If you entertain that thought a bit longer, you’ll see him sitting next to you, the same gentle smile on his face.

Suddenly you are reminded of the painting you saw an hour ago. Maybe the artist felt the same thing, and presented their feelings through those calculated blotches and hues on a canvas. Maybe they, too, were in -

Venti taps your shoulder, and discreetly points towards a room in the distance. His face suggests, ‘That way?’ You can barely make out a wall and protective glass case, inside a giant city scene. He waits for your approval. You smile and nod, as a ‘Let’s go see!’

•••

The walk home is a lot quieter than the last time you went out together. It’s as if the quiet and calm energy from the art gallery bled on into the rest of your day. You are again, wearing Venti’s raincoat. He couldn’t resist offering it to you once again after yours got lost at the gallery’s coat check. Truly unbelievable how you always end up using his coat instead of your own, it’s like a curse.

Once again at your doorstep, this time you insist on giving his coat back. He reluctantly agrees, taking it from you and slinging it over his left shoulder. He opens his mouth to bid you farewell, when-

“Wait. No no, you’re not leaving like that.” You frown at him.

“Hm, what?” He laughs. You huff in frustration, and snatch the coat back, unfolding it and putting it over both his shoulders.

“Well? Arms in sleeves, Venti.” You order, and he obliges.

“Why so strict, [Name]?”

“I’m not letting you leave without you wearing it properly!” You sternly say adjusting the torso of the plastic-like material. He laughs softly, waiting with patience while you fumble with the zipper. The concentrated look on your face makes his heart feel warm, knowing you care this much. He wants to be more close to you. To be near you forever. But what if…

His coat tightens shut around his body as the zipper closes, snugly held by your firm hands. Your eyes meet his and a tense silence hung in the air enveloping you like a cozy winter blanket. Your hand is still gripping his coat zipper, just under his chin. He’s looking curiously at you.

Meanwhile, you’re reliving all the time you’d spend with him through his hypnotizing, kind blue eyes. The good and the bad. There was a time when you both got hurt on a hike, and Venti remained with a positive attitude the whole way down the hill back home.

“What’s life without a little rain?” He had said, wrapping gauze around your knee while humming a lovely tune. You pointed towards the door,

“There’s a second first aid kit in the kitchen.” He stopped you from standing up to lead him.

“I know.” He said.

There was the time you spent the whole day together(as per usual), watching cheap movies all day and laughing at their bad writing and dialogue.

“What was that?!” You exclaimed at the screen, where the words ‘The End’ proudly stood centre stage. Venti sat on the floor in front of your couch, trying to contain his laughter and not spill the can of fizzy water in his hand. You sighed and climbed down to join him, leaning your head on his shoulder. You then heard the sound of a can being placed on the floor before an arm wrapped itself around your right side and held you closer to him.

You feel like he’s slipping away now, and you don’t want him to. You want it to be you and him, together forever. You and him, now standing and waiting for each other to speak while you hold him still. This feels like it could be your final moment. And Venti wanted to seize that moment.

He leaned forward to give you a tender kiss on the cheek. It tickles, his hair drifting close to your face. Some raindrops roll from the top of his hood and drip on your already - damp head, but you don’t notice. When he moves away from you, you bring your hands loosely back to your chest. He finally looks away and adjusts his coat and steps backwards.

“I’ll see you later, then!” He says waving goodbye at you.

‘No!’ You grab the hand that’s waving at you and held it back. When you see his face, well, that’s new: You managed to surprise Venti, his eyes wide. You held his hand gently with your own, feeling embarrassed by your impulsive action. So you look down to ease your thoughts. All these bottled up thoughts and feelings shuffling around in your head, quick like a magician’s card trick, so fast that all that comes out of your mouth is,

“Don’t go.”

•••

a/n: i was gonna have him smooch reader on the lips but i can’t help but feel uncomfy around fics that have kisses without any clear consent in unexpected moments, so here’s a cheek kiss for ya

[oriley42]

long time reader, first time caller! i just read all of “adventures in polyamory” after watching approximately 3 episodes with amber in them, and it breaks my heart that you made me fall in love with her wilson-style (with reckless immediacy) while the way she’s depicted in the show is so…woman written in the 2000’s…so i’m here to shake a tin cup and ask for any amber headcanons you’d be willing to share

hello and welcome from KZ-HouseMD, the radio station for all your hatecrime-hits! ;) <3

loving Amber is so painful and so worth it; we will punch through the Noughties' misogyny together babes 🌈

headcanons and over-explanations ahoy!!

Amber's got a WASP-y background, and has spent her life both living up to and rejecting these standards. Unlike Wilson, who is delusionally attached to the idea of being Good and Normal but is unhappy living the reality, Amber recognizes that these concepts are absurd performances HOWEVER she logically recognizes that they come with benefits--and she wants those. "Love and respect" seemed impossible, because respect comes with being the best according to society's rules, and love couldn't survive that stifling environment. Now, she can hold on to the respect she craves: money enough to feel safe, wearing pearls and skirts to look proper and upper-middle-class femme, having a handsome-doctor-man-partner, an MD of her own + also still be herself, including un-ladylike cruelty, dishonesty, being part of House's chaotic evil orbit, sexual freedom, atheism, etc.

Amber has spent 110% of her life trying to get enough success to feel safe and stable and happy, so she hasn't developed interests and hobbies because who has time for that give me another coffee and another go at that medical text

Related: Amber hates everything about organized sports, but if she had the time and a friend (*cough* Thirteen) she could be one of those sapphics who gets incredibly obsessed with a women's soccer team or the WNBA

Also related: a sufficiently "productive" hobby I think she'd love is antiquing. Waking up at six AM to drive three hours and wait outside an estate sale and then barge in and make a grab for that antique bureau, fighting off old ladies and viciously snarling down the price--bloodsport for classy femmes!

Amber is a basic chocolate girlie. Caramel is a close follow-up. Vanilla is fine, and she'll pretend to like fancy amaretto or pistachio flavors etc but really she would prefer an Oreo. (Or two...) She will eat max veggies for Health tm and the spiciest food to prove she is Tough tm but really just wants a grilled cheese. A chicken nugget. A spaghetti. Food sensitivities + eating disorder, though she'll only barely cop to the latter, and will not be exploring the former thank you very much she's fine

Amber gets along well with older kids, where she can take on the role of Cool Babysitter, but I think she's secretly a little terrified of being left alone with the tiny incomprehensible, breakable ones, who don't follow the social contract yet and rely on her (!) for self preservation

Amber is naturally a night owl, but medical-land is all early bird, so she's mainly been sleep deprived for the last decade, since she refuses to have a 10 PM bedtime just because she has to get up at 5 AM to make her shift.

Amber's not that interested in fiction ("who has time for that in this reality?") but she ironically enjoys rom-coms for the absurdity, the laugh factor, and the easy comfort of a formula + unironically enjoys action movies because she likes seeing people get punched in the face repeatedly

Amber should take Taekwondo lessons so she can beat the ever-loving shit out of people for fun, and maybe she will after she realizes that the Lulu Lemons in her yoga classes are unbearable, and instead befriend some weirdos gathering at the local gym to spar (Wilson would think this is a great and very attractive idea, House would be annoyed+scared+horny because jesus now he has to wear an athletic cup full-time or she'll crush his nuts for target practice, won't she, c'mon Wilson it's not funny)

okay hitting the brakes here before this gets so long it demands a read-more! 😜 thanks for the ask <333

[gemtopia]

Niney the Na’vi girl

This is a short story I wrote about my Avatar OC named Niney. Niney is the half-human/half-Na'vi child of So'lek, a Na'vi warrior, and Ziva, a human who used to work for the RDA but is now part of the Resistance. The story is told from Niney's point of view and explores the ups and downs of being a hybrid, what it's like to be rejected by your own people, and finding a friend in the most unlikely places.

This was an idea that came to mind after playing Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. For reference, here is a list of Na'vi words that I used in the story and what they mean in English.

Sempul- meaning "Father" Sa'nok- meaning "Mother" 'itetsyip- meaning "little one" Kaltxi- meaning "Hello"

“Toruk Makto!” said Sempul.

“So’lek! It’s good to see you brother.” said Jake.

The first time I met Jake Sully and his family was when I was nine years old. The year was 2170 and the Resistance had been talking about how the RDA had been tracking Jake Sully down ever since they arrived back on Pandora. There was a lot of talk about the RDA’s new base called “Bridgehead City” and how it was supposedly five times the size of “Hell’s Gate”.

“It’s been a long time,” said Jake in Na’vi.

The two of them talked for a few minutes before I slightly peaked out from behind my Sempul’s legs, catching Jake’s gaze before quickly hiding myself again.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.” said Jake.

Was he talking to me?

“She does not get to see many Na’vi.” said Sempul, “And she has been through a lot in the last few months… we both have.”

Sempul placed a hand on my back and urged me to come out from behind him. I was hesitant but did as my Sempul wished. Jake kneeled down to my level but was still much taller than me.

“Your name is Niney, right?” asked Jake.

I nodded my head yes.

“There are some people I would like you to meet.” smiled Jake.

As he stood up I suddenly became very shy and hid my face in my Sempul’s side. Just a few months beforehand I had lost my Sa’nok to the RDA.

My story begins at the first Resistance headquarters. The year was 2161 and my Sa’nok almost died giving birth to me.

Sa’nok’s name was Ziva Shapiro and back before she joined the Resistance she was a pilot for the RDA with her friend Trudy Chacon. The day Sa’nok and Sempul met was the day of the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains. My Sempul, So’lek, was a hunter who had a vengeance towards the humans. My parents didn’t fall in love immediately because after the battle Sempul kept to himself but over time they found peace in each others company. Their relationship was a secret for a long time but when Sa’nok discovered she was pregnant with me the secret could no longer be kept hidden.

I grew up in an old RDA field lab that had been confiscated by the Resistance.

It sat on the outskirts of the Kinglor Forest in the Waterway Valley. Life was peaceful and we were happy… until the RDA arrived.

Sempul’s intentions of bringing us to the island were to keep me and Sa’nok safe and to this day he still blames himself for what happened. On the morning that it happened Sempul wasn’t even home, he was on a mission with the Resistance to rescue a group of kids from the RDA called the Sarentu. It started with soldiers in these tall machines coming onto the island. Sa’nok knew their intentions and feared for our lives so she sent out an emergency frequency to the Resistance as they made their way onto the island.

Everything happened so fast. Somehow word got back to John Mercer, a very powerful man in the RDA, of my existence and he had sent the soldiers to bring me to him.

“Come on out Shapiro!” shouted one of the soldiers, “We just wanna talk.”

Sa’nok didn’t trust them and was afraid of what Mercer would do to me.

I had been swimming when I spotted them coming and so we hid in the lab. Sa’nok was already prepared by the time they reached the front yard with stun grenades on her hip and a shotgun at her side.

“When I tell you to run, you run out the back and hide in the tree house. Understand?” whispered Sa’nok.

I was beyond scared and a little bit confused as to what was actually going on.

“John Mercer sent us here. We have a great opportunity for you and your kid!” taunted the soldier, “John says if you two come with us back to Bridgehead City that he’ll drop all charges from the RDA.”

“What does that mean Sa’nok?” I asked.

“It means they’re going to do experiments on you and God knows what else to me if we go with them. It’s a trick Niney.”

Sa’nok went over to the tarp door and looked through the crack. From the looks of it we were surrounded by AMPs.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“You see that large tote over there in the corner? I want you to go over there and dump everything out and crawl inside and close the lid. Okay?”

I ran over to the tote and dumped out all of the clothes and gear that was inside. I took one last deep breath before Sa’nok closed the lid and stacked the clothes ontop. I could hear her shuffling around and then I heard her shout back at the soldiers.

“Your too late fellas! She’s not here. Her father took her back to his clan.”

“Is that so?” said one of the soldiers, “And what clan would that be?”

“You really think I’m gonna tell you that?”

“If you value your life you will.”

There was a moment of unnerving silence.

“The Zeswa clan,” said Sa’nok, “Up in the plains, that’s where they are.”

“Much obliged!” said the soldier, “But you see, John wants you too and we need to know if your going to come willingly or by force.”

My heart was pounding out of my chest. I could hear heavy stomping outside coming from all around followed by what sounded like metal gears grinding.

“There’s no need for any kind of brute force,” said Sa’nok, “I’m compliant.”

Sa’nok shuffled around some more and I heard her whisper to me.

“Don’t come out until you hear total silence. I have to go with them in order to lure them away but I’ll be fine. Knock if you understand.”

I knocked on the side of the tote.

I was starting to smother and my chest was becoming tight.

The heavy stomping started up again except this time it was rapid.

“Alright boys!” said the soldier, “Light her up!”

I remember hearing Sa’nok scream in horror and then everything became really hot really fast. The soldiers had flamethrowers and were given orders to burn everything down. I scrambled to get out of the tote but it wouldn’t budge. That’s when I felt the tote being dragged and the lid was ripped off. Sa’nok had managed to break free and run back inside but we weren’t safe yet.

The entire lab was filled with smoke and bright orange flames engulfed the ceiling. We crawled along the floor to where Sa’nok had placed her shotgun. She grabbed one of the grenades and pulled the key.

“Cover your eyes.” she said.

She through the grenade and there was a loud boom. We were now under fire from the soldiers.

“Get to the treehouse!” yelled Sa’nok.

I crawled over to the back entrence and made a run for it. I didn’t get far before I something snagged my braid. Whatever it was began to lift me up into the air and I felt an excruciating pain radiate throughout my head.

“I caught it sir!” yelled one of the soldiers.

Suddenly there was a bright flash and the soldier dropped me. I couldn’t see anything but I could hear repeated gunfire so I stayed close to the ground. I was afraid I was going to be stepped on by one their machines but I couldn’t see where to go.

Once my sight came back I crawled my way to the little space underneath the foundation of the lab. From there I could see everything that was happening. Sa’nok was hiding behind a massive tree, jumping out every little bit to shoot at the soldiers. In the distance was the treehouse that they hadn’t yet burned. The main soldier leading the fight noticed me tucked under the foundation and began making his way over to me, the ground shaking as he grew closer. 

“Sa’nok!” I cried.

Sa’nok heard me and ran through the gunfire. It was too late though and the soldier in the big machine grabbed ahold of the structure of the lab and lifted it off the ground flipping the entire thing over. As he reached down to pick me up Sa’nok yelled for him to stop. The soldier turned around holding me by my braid.

“You just had to make this difficult.” said the soldier.

Sa’nok was aiming at him as she slowly walked closer.

“Put her down!” said Sa’nok, “I’ll do whatever you say just put her down!”

“Lower your weapon! NOW!”

“Put her down!”

“I said lower your weapon or I will shoot her!”

Sa’nok lowered her shotgun to her side. The soldier sat me down but kept his grip on my braid.

“Now here’s how this is gonna go. You and your abomination are coming with us back to Bridgehead City and if you try to stop us we will kill both of you right here on the spot. Do I make myself clear?”

Sa’nok regetable tossed her shotgun to the ground and raised her hands.

“Book ‘em.” said the soldier.

Sa’nok made eye contact with me as one of the other soldiers walked up behind her to place hadncuffs on her and shouted to me in Na’vi.

“Run to the tree!”

That’s when Sa’nok reached behind her back pulled out a real grenade and threw it at the soldier that was holding me. He threw me to the ground at the sight of the grenade and raised his gun towards Sa’nok. I quickly ran as the grenade went off causing me to lunge forward.

As I layed on the ground covering my head, my ears started ringing. I raised my head to look around and just as I did I saw Sa’nok fall to the ground, her body riddled with holes.

My heart stopped.

“Sa’nok!” I cried.

I ran over to her lifeless body.

“Sa’nok! Sa’nok!”

The remanding soldiers pointed their guns at me as the began to surround me. All I could do was sit there, holding her in my arms as I screamed and cried. The soldiers were yelling at me to stand up but in that moment something in me changed. Something strange happened that I don’t even know how to explain. Everything felt as though it were in slow motion.

I remember raising my hand out infront of me and screaming as if to stand my ground.

That’s when it happened…

Suddenly, dozens of thanators appeared out of nowhere and began attacking the soldiers.

I don’t remember the carnage or the gore of what the thanators did but I do remember entering a trance-like state where everything around me was like a dream.

According to Alma it was nightfall before anyone could get to me. When the Resistance finally showed up they said they had never seen anything like it before. I was laying next to my Sa’nok’s body, asleep, while dozens of thanators were encamped around me as if to protect me. Supposedly it took them forever to actually reach me, having to work their way around the vicious thanators.

I was covered in Sa’nok’s blood. I don’t remember the next few weeks after that and apparently I didn’t talk for a long time.

Sempul was lost without Sa’nok and was emotionally absent for while as well.

“I believe Eywa has a plan for people like us,” said Kiri, “You just have to believe it and keep faith.”

Growing up I was never treated or seen as an equal by other Na’vi but by some ironic twist it was always Sa’nok’s people, the humans, who treated me with kindness. I didn’t have any friends until I met Kiri. I remember telling Kiri that I had lost all hope and recently questioned the Great Mother’s very existence.

To put things into perspective allow me to fully describe what people witness when they see me.

I don’t look like a human and I definitely don’t look like the average Na’vi.

I don’t stand at a towering ten feet tall, I’m only four foot ten and that’s how tall I am now. When I was nine years old I was even smaller than that. I don’t have blue skin, I have white human-like skin with faded pink markings. I do have a tail along with Na’vi facial features like a big yellow eyes and pointed ears. I also have a tswin or as the humans call it, a neural queue, like other Na’vi that starts at the top of my head and goes all the way down my back. I don’t have black hair but a whitish blonde that gives me an albino appearance and instead of having only four fingers and toes I have five.

When I met Ney’omi along with the other Sarentu they were fascinated by my very existence. They were taken from their clan and raised by the RDA in a residential school and were used to seeing humans and Avatars but not hybrids, not people like me.

Ney’omi was kind and Teylan was fun to be around but I could tell Nor and Ri’nela were leary of me. As time went on and the RDA grew closer to HQ, Nor became more bitter towards the humans and got to where he wouldn’t even enteract with the humans in the Resistance.

He especially despised Alma but at the time I didn’t realize what she had done to the Sarentu. Even before Nor stabbed Alma I didn’t like him. The day I lost all respect for him was the day he told Alma to stop teaching me about other Na’vi cultures because she wasn’t a true Na’vi and neither was I. Sempul didn’t like that and told me to stay away from Nor. I won’t lie when I say that I was relieved when Nor ran away and despite Ney’omi and Teylan being kind to me and playing with me every now and then, even they were distant from me at times but I like to tell myself that it’s because they were so much older than me.

“Niney,” said Jake, “I want you to meet my kids.”

Right from the start it was Kiri who was the most excited to meet me.

There was four of them and they were all captivated by me. There were two boys that almost looked like twins, a little girl who was still much bigger than me, and there was Kiri.

I was nervous and backed into Jake’s legs.

“Everyone, this is Niney,” said Jake, “So’lek’s daughter, the one I told you about.”

Kiri clasped her hands together and smiled at me with pure joy as she slowly made her way over to me, the others following behind.

“Kaltxi,” greeted Kiri signing Hello.

I sheepishly smiled and signed Hello back.

“Niney, this is my oldest daughter, Kiri, and my youngest daughter, Tuk.”

“Your so cute!” exclaimed Tuk.

“Tuk!” scolded the oldest boy, “She’s not an animal.”

“I didn’t mean anything bad! She’s just so small.”

“Tuk!” scolded their Sa’nok.

“You’ll have to forgive Tuk. She’s never seen anyone quite like you.” said Jake, “This is my son, Neteyam and my other son, Lo’ak.”

The two boys stepped forward and signed Hello.

Neteyam went as far as to kneel down and shook my hand like a human. Gathering up a little more courage I stepped closer to them. 

“And this is their Sa’nok, Neytiri.” said Jake.

Neytiri smiled at me and got down on her knees, gently cupping my tiny face in her hands as she spoke to me in Na’vi.

“Hello, little one.” said Neytiri.

For whatever strange reason a wave of emotion hit me as I looked into her eyes and my heart began to ache. I felt my eyes swell with tears and in an instant I threw my arms around Neytiri’s neck and began to silently cry.

“I miss my Sa’nok.” I whispered in Na’vi.

Neytiri wrapped her arms around me and stood up, holding me as if I were one of her children.

“What’s wrong?” asked Tuk, “Was it something we said?”

“No, Tuk. I think she’s just been through too much.” said Kiri.

Jake walked over to Neytiri who was also emotional by my sudden embrace, and layed a hand on my back. Sempul joined us outside. Neytiri smiled at my Sempul and handed me to him where I hid my face in his neck.

“I’m sorry for your loss, brother,” said Jake.

“We will manage with Eywa’s strength.” said Sempul, “I am just thankful that they did not take my ‘itetsyip.”

“I can’t imagine losing Neytiri that way,” said Jake, “The RDA will pay for all the lives they’ve stolen.”

“Ziva was my everything… but now she rests in Eywa’s embrace.”

The Sullys stayed at the Resistance for a few days before they returned to the Omatikaya. They were there to trade weapons and help restock essential items like medicine, bandages, food, and ammunition. While they were there Kiri and I grew very close. We talked about our favorite things and exchanged stories. She showed me simple weaving patterns and taught me about basic herbal medicines. She was very passionate about the wildlife of Pandora and showed a strong faith in Eywa.

The day before the Sullys left HQ Kiri sat me down and had a heartfelt talk with me.

We were sitting on the floor, relaxing, in the lounge area of HQ when she took my tiny hands in hers.

“Niney I wish to talk to you about something.” said Kiri.

“What is it?”

We had been putting little braids in each other’s hair and adding beads. I was slightly distracted by one of my braids but kept listening.

“Tomorrow morning we have to leave and something you said has really been on my mind.”

I knew where this was heading and I tried to change the subject.

“Sa’nok used to do my hair in something called a dutch braid. You want me to show you?” I asked.

“Niney,” said Kiri, “I know you miss your Sa’nok and I know you lost her in horrific way… but I don’t want you to lose hope.”

I lowered my head to avoid the conversation we were about to have. Kiri could see that this was painful for me and hugged me in an embrace.

“I know what you did that day,” whispered Kiri, “I know what happened with the thanators and how they kept you safe.”

My heart dropped.

How did she know about that?

“I want you to know that I can do weird things too,” said Kiri, “And I want you to understand that the Great Mother hasn’t forgotten about you. This thing that you and I are capable of it’s strange but it’s a gift.”

I looked up at Kiri and she was smiling at me with the most loving and motherly presence.

“Eywa loves all her children Niney. Please, promise me you won’t give up on her.”

The love and concern in Kiri’s eyes was legitimate and sincere. I could tell that she truly meant everything she was telling me.

“I promise.” I said.

“Have you ever connected with Eywa, Niney?”

“I did once when I was a baby but… I don’t remember.”

“When you and your Sempul come to visit us we’ll take you to the Tree of Souls and we’ll connect to Eywa together. Would you like that?”

I smiled back at Kiri.

“Sounds exciting.” 

The morning the Sullys left, Kiri ran up to me and handed me a trinket.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“It’s a wooden shell I made to match the one on my songcord. I figured you could add it to yours to represent our friendship.”

“But I told you, I lost my songcord in the fire.”

“I know but it’s never too late to make another one. The songcord is a symbol of your entire life! It’s important for every Na’vi to have one.”

“I’m not a real Na’vi, not like you are.”

Kiri looked crushed at my statement. She reached into the pouch on her side and pulled out three different kinds of cord along with a few stray beads and gave them to me.

“You are more than Na’vi…” said Kiri, “you are my sister.”

I felt a twinge in my chest, not one of heartache but one of love and hope. Kiri hugged me and for just a moment I felt at peace. As the Sullys flew away I held onto the things Kiri gave me and watched as their ikrans disappeared into the Pandora sky. Little did I know that that would be the last time I saw Kiri for a very long time. Within a week after their stay at HQ, we got word that the Sullys had to flee the Omatikaya clan to avoid being caught by the RDA. They fled to the islands of the Metkayina clan where they still ran managed to get caught. As for me things were just getting started. While the Sullys were going through their own battle across the ocean we at HQ were about to go to war with John Mercer and Colonel Angela Harding. Luckily, I was kept far away from the battlefield but as I grew older and the war grew closer to home I learned quickly how to fully use my “gifts” from Eywa… and so did Kiri.

[mondaymelon]

yoosung's letter ˖◛⁺ ⑅ ♡

(yoosung x gn!reader)

warnings! yandere: implied stalking

I uh… texted you last night… but you didn’t respond. Then again… it was three in the morning - so… Okay, before you go off and nag me about how I should get more sleep, bla bla bla… I just wanted to play one more match of LOLOL!! It really was supposed to be my last one, I promise. But then I realized there was a really big event that I hadn’t done yet and it ended the next day and if I had slept I would’ve missed out on so many rewards… so…

Haha, you’re mad at me, aren’t you? Sorry… Anyways, since I couldn’t get through to you on the messenger, I figured I would leave this at your doorstep instead. That way, I’d be on your mind first thing in the morning~!

Oh- and about how I know your address…! Haha… it’s a really long story. So uhm- let’s just leave it at I have a really good memory, okay?

I don’t follow you home, alright? Th-That’d be creepy!! A-And even if I did, it would just be because I wanted to make sure you were safe… okay?

…

You’re not scared of me, are you? I mean-! There’d be no reason to… but… y'know, sometimes I wonder what the others talk to you about.  Especially Zen… we all know how disgustingly flirty he can get. Ah- but do you like guys who do that? I-If you really wanted me to, I could act the same…

Ugh, what am I even saying?? Sorry if I’m acting unlike my usual self lately. I’ve just come to a really important realization, is all!

Hehe, you’re curious to know what it’s about, aren’t you? Hm~ maybe I should give you a hint? Or maybe you’ll just never know- Haha~

Alright, alright, I’ll give you one hint. It’s about you~

Now you’re really dying to know, aren’t you? I’m sure the look on your face is absolutely priceless~ Hm, maybe I should come over just to take a picture of it? Don’t worry, I won’t use it for blackmail or anything like that. Hehe~ I’ll just be holding onto it for… personal… reasons.

You should come over to my house instead! It’ll be really fun. I’ll teach you how to play LOLOL, and I’ll cook you lunch. I know you aren’t fond of coffee, but you would try some of mine, right? After all, I had to pour in my dedication and time into learning how, and you wouldn’t deny me, right?

I trust you! ♡

Ah, but if you did come over, I’m not sure I’d let you leave… after all, living with me is the best possible thing you could ever imagine, right? I’ll cook all the meals you want and make sure that no one will hurt you… or take you away from me ♡

Anyone who even attempts to… haha, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll take care of it, so all you need to do is enjoy yourself, mkay? Hehe, I can already imagine it~!

You’ll come over, right? Ah, even if you say no, I’ll just drag you out there myself… Ahem-!

You didn’t hear- or I guess read- anything.

I’ll- uhm- see you then. 

Make sure not to miss any more of my calls, okay? I might get worried- or mad~ It depends.

I’ll wait for you, no matter how long it takes.

Yoosung.

[camlannpod]

Character Playlist: Peredur Green

Happy off-week! We'll all pretend this one was on time. If you're new, hi! Since Camlann releases every two weeks, on the off weeks I'm posting these breakdowns of the character playlists. You can find Morgan's here and Dai's here.

This week it's time for our favourite knight, Peredur!

Brother by The Brilliance

When I look into the face Of my enemy I see my brother I see my brother

Perry's big problem is that they're a knight. And they love the other knights. They feel a siblinghood with them which is incredibly hard for them to ignore. The knights are their family, their home, their story - the place they're meant to be. But it's a family that won't accept them as they are. Perry so badly wants the knights to change their mind.

2. Battle Cry by The Family Crest

Oh, my love, my heart don't cry We were born to die But for this moment, for all time Oh, I will fight for you I will die for you

Perry's a knight! They very much see it as their duty to fight and die to protect the people they love. Right now, that especially means Morgan and Dai, who they've been travelling with since their escape from the Knights. Perry will risk life and limb to keep them safe. (This song is also about Dai. A lot of these songs are about how Perry feels about Dai)

3. Cypress Queen by The Last Bison

On and over the northwest river We go trusting in the Cypress Queen She'll keep us afloat We retreat into our fortress gold To a sanctuary in the trees That i call home

I'm 90% sure this song is about a boat? But I took it literally - this is Perry's feelings about Guinevere, or Shújūn - a woman who they certainly do not trust for us, but to whom they are drawn by their story and with whom they, deep down, have a lot of sympathy. Perry knows exactly what it's like to have a major role in someone else's narrative.

4. See You Through My Eyes by The Head and The Heart

Until you learn to love yourself The door is locked to someone else I'm just as damaged as you are

Perry is just as traumatised by the apocalypse as everyone else, they're just better at hiding it. In general their approach toward their emotions is to pack them up tightly in a box and pretend they're not happening, which is obviously wildly unhealthy. Perry spends so much of their time inspired by and loving their friends, especially Morgan and Dai, but they never open up when they need to and trust them with the more 'difficult' parts of themself.

5. Carry by Branches

I'm feeling like Moses and my arms are getting heavy Brother, would you come and lift them up for me?

Perry has been single handedly carrying Morgan and Dai through the apocalypse. They would never admit it, but this is exhausting, and they desperately need a break. Unfortunately for them, they live in a riddle-twisted landscape full of magic and monsters, so they can never truly relax. They need to stop and they can't, and sometimes they think hey, if they lost the next battle at least they wouldn't have to get up and fight another one.

6. House a Habit by We Are The Guests

Let's make this house a habit Let's make the sun shine

Partly because Perry is Permanently Exhausted, they very badly want to turn the cottage into a real, meaningful home base that feels safe. Perry has always been the kind of person to put down roots, and the last six months of trekking back and forth across Britain has really worn them down. They desperately want this place to be a real home.

7. Selkie-Boy by Spell Songs, Julie Fowlis

Go now, Selkie-Boy, swim from the shore Rinse your ears clean of human chatter And empty your bones of heather and moor And your mind of human matter

Honestly, Dai fascinates Perry. He is completely unlike them in almost every way and they find that beautiful and addictive. They've always felt that there was something ethereal about him and his ability to find hope and love in even the darkest places. Perry would follow Dai anywhere.

8. Church Key by Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Have you gone farther looking in the dark For a fire that can keep you warm Wander off the trail, lose track of all the details Till we make it to our door, where we can sleep

Oh Perry wants answers. The Cataclysm is an apocalypse of contradictions and mysteries and Perry so very badly wants to untangle the cat's cradle of stories in which they are caught. They are also exactly the kind of obsessive academic who will wear themself thin looking for the information they seek. Eventually, they just need to rest.

9. We Will All Be Changed by Seryn

We can write with ink and pen But we will sew with seeds instead Starting with words we've said And we will all be changed

The song on every main character playlist! For Perry, the apocalypse is a lesson in moving from theory to applied learning - from writing about flowers to planting seeds in the soil. It's fieldwork! In more ways than one, and in more ways than one, it's good for them, despite everything.

[hojiteaversion]

Mehmed x Laia Headcanons

One of his pet names for her is "leydim" (my lady)

Sometimes he'll just say her full name reverently, when he's admiring her or relishing the fact she's here, happy and well. Bonus points if he kisses her hand right after

At some point before the confrontation with Mephis, Mehmed cupped her face and vowed, "Laia Burnell, let me make a promise to you that you will live a long, safe, happy life. Nothing will get in the way of that. I won't allow it. This, I promise to you." And we all know he achieves whatever he sets his mind to 🙏

They have the most amazing dates in Istanbul. He knows the best places and when each is at its most beautiful, and he relishes the way she falls in love with every one of them. But also, this is a way he shares his and the country's history too, sharing things most books don't capture

When they decide to get married, they essentially skip the engagement period. Look, last time they tried to get married, Lale died and Mehmed signed a deal with the devil to cope. I imagine they get married quickly, quietly and without fanfare, and only organize a huge ceremony once it's already official.

(By the way, Mehmed wanted the wedding celebration to last for at least a full week, and probably wanted to have a house built for her as a gift or something. Laia convinces him they can do with a normal, smaller ceremony.)

(But imagine, once the document is signed and it's official that they're married, that he brings her (ringed!) hand to his lips and recites a line of her favorite poem that he wrote for her.)

Speaking of, I imagine he kept writing all those years, but, after meeting Laia, all his poetry is about her. He's inspired like he hasn't been in centuries

Now bear with me. He's a light sleeper/insomniac, so sometimes he'll watch her sleep. It's just, a good opportunity to take in her presence without her going shy/self-conscious, and unlike normal people, she probably still looks like the angel she is, so 🤷‍♀️ And... imagine if he sometimes circles her neck with his hand, but it's just to feel her pulse and because the sight is 🔥🔥🔥. Imagine if he puts his lips right over that vein in a slow kiss while she's asleep so he can feel her pulse and be close to her (and he loves her neck, let's not forget)

🔞 - After a particularly intense scene (I'm thinking CNC), and after he does her aftercare and she's back to being able to speak and think, she does his aftercare too. One specific thing I can see is him, while holding her, quietly asking, "Do you forgive me?" because he needs the reassurance (and the answer is "Yes. I have and I do.")